Speech and sound / The Saṅgītaratnākara
The Saṅgītaratnākara (सङ्गीतरत्नाकर)
Niḥśaṅka Śārṅgadeva (निःशङ्क शार्ङ्गदेव). The sittings follow the verses of the text printed with Kallinātha (कल्लिनाथ)'s Kalānidhi (कलानिधि) and Siṃhabhūpāla (सिंहभूपाल)'s Sudhākara (सुधाकर). The verses are taught as the verses. A commentary reads several of them once as nāda (नाद) and once as Brahman (ब्रह्मन्). That reading is the commentary.
He wrote under the Yādava (यादव) king Siṅghaṇa (सिङ्घण), at Devagiri (देवगिरि). The first prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) gives the family. That prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) is not sat. The book's own name for the first adhyāya (अध्याय) is svaragatādhyāya (स्वरगताध्याय). Writers also say svarādhyāya (स्वराध्याय). A verse is numbered by adhyāya (अध्याय), prakaraṇa (प्रकरण), and verse, the way that text numbers inside each prakaraṇa (प्रकरण).
The seven adhyāyas (अध्याय)
| Adhyāya (अध्याय) | Name | What it takes up |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Svaragatādhyāya (स्वरगताध्याय) | Sound, the body, śruti (श्रुति), svara (स्वर), grāma (ग्राम), jāti (जाति), gīti (गीति). |
| 2 | Rāgavivekādhyāya (रागविवेकाध्याय) | The rāgas (राग), told apart. |
| 3 | Prakīrṇakādhyāya (प्रकीर्णकाध्याय) | The mixed matters of song: the singer, the voice, gamaka (गमक), and the rest. |
| 4 | Prabandhādhyāya (प्रबन्धाध्याय) | The prabandha (प्रबन्ध) compositions. |
| 5 | Tālādhyāya (तालाध्याय) | Tāla (ताल). Paths, beats, and the measures. |
| 6 | Vādyādhyāya (वाद्याध्याय) | The instruments. The four kinds are tata (तत), suṣira (सुषिर), avanaddha (अवनद्ध), and ghana (घन). |
| 7 | Nartanādhyāya (नर्तनाध्याय) | Dance. Nāṭya (नाट्य), nṛtya (नृत्य), and nṛtta (नृत्त), and the rasas (रस). |
Adhyāyas (अध्याय) 2 through 7 are named from the book's own contents and colophons. Their verses are not sat.
The first adhyāya (अध्याय), eight prakaraṇas (प्रकरण)
| Name | Here | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padārthasaṃgraha (पदार्थसंग्रह) | The list of what the book will teach. Not sat. |
| 2 | Piṇḍotpatti (पिण्डोत्पत्ति) | The arising of the body, because nāda (नाद) appears in it. Verses 1–3 are sat. The prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) runs to 167. |
| 3 | Nāda (नाद), sthāna (स्थान), śruti (श्रुति), svara (स्वर) | The full name goes on through jāti (जाति), family, deity, seer, metre, and rasa (रस). Verses 1–7 are sat. From the twenty-two śrutis (श्रुति) on, not sat. |
| 4 | Grāma (ग्राम), mūrchanā (मूर्छना), krama (क्रम), tāna (तान) | Not sat. |
| 5 | Sādhāraṇa (साधारण) | Not sat. |
| 6 | Varṇa (वर्ण) and alaṅkāra (अलङ्कार) | Not sat. |
| 7 | Jāti (जाति) | Not sat. |
| 8 | Gīti (गीति) | Not sat. |
The verses that are sat
- 1.2.1. Song has nāda (नाद) as its own form. The instrument is praised by nāda (नाद)'s becoming manifest. Dance follows those two.
- 1.2.2. From nāda (नाद), a phoneme. From phonemes, a word. From words, the sentence. From the sentence, conduct. Therefore the world.
- 1.2.3. Nāda (नाद) is struck or unstruck, and it appears in the body. Therefore the body is taken up.
- 1.3.1. We worship nāda-brahman (नाद-ब्रह्मन्).
- 1.3.2. By that worship, Brahmā (ब्रह्मा), Viṣṇu (विष्णु), and Maheśvara (महेश्वर) are worshipped.
- 1.3.3. The self that wants to speak impels the mind, the mind strikes the fire, the fire impels the wind.
- 1.3.4. The wind brings sound out in navel, heart, throat, head, and mouth.
- 1.3.5. Five names, in the order of those places.
- 1.3.6. The syllable na (न) is breath, the syllable da (द) is fire, and their joining is why it is called nāda (नाद).
- 1.3.7. In practice, three: mandra (मन्द्र) in the heart, madhya (मध्य) in the throat, tāra (तार) in the head, each next one double.
Sangeet Yatra is where those registers are practiced. A line of Mataṅga (मतङ्ग) that the commentary quotes, na nādena vinā gītam (न नादेन विना गीतम्), is Mataṅga (मतङ्ग)'s. It is not verse 1.2.1.
The grammarian's three speeches are the Brahmakāṇḍa (ब्रह्मकाण्ड). Vaikharī (वैखरी) is speech that has reached air and phoneme. The path in 1.3.3–1.3.4 is the musician's account of how sound comes out in a body. The two books are using sound at two depths. Read the verse you have open.