ebook img

The sangitasuryodaya of Bhandaru Laksminarayana: a study in history PDF

9 Pages·2001·2.6 MB·English
Save to my drive
Quick download
Download
Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.

Preview The sangitasuryodaya of Bhandaru Laksminarayana: a study in history

The Sangitasiiryodaya of Bhan.d.aru Laks.mlnarayana: A Study in History R.SATHYANARAYANA The age of Vijayanagar (A.D. 14-16 century) was crucial 10the development ofthe cultureofSouthIndia-itsmusicinparticular.Thereareseveralreasonsfarthis.India's culturehaddevelopedmanyinternaltensionsandexternalstressesduetoconllictsbetween theold andthe new.Many adefinitiveorformativeconcepthad lostits vigourandvitality and had become fossilized. There was a strong interaction between traditional and elite cultural values on the one hand and folk and foreign influences on the other. Vijayanagar becametheconfluenceofmanyreligions. artforms,andcultures. Butitgrewnotsomuch by eclectic absorptionand assimilationas by reaction,protest,revoltandindependence. It preserved traditional purity and historical continuity by assimilation and nativization of contendingoropposingalieninfluences.Theseculturaltrendsandobjectivesweresustained. fostered andcherishedeven afterthe fall ofthe empireby Anegundi,Penukonda,Tanjore. Mysore, Madurai, Ikkeri and several otherfeudatory states. ItwasattheheightofthegloryofVijayanagarthatgreatsaint-composerslikeSripadariya. Vyasaraya, Purandaradasa, Vadiraja, Kanakadasa, Tallapakam Annamacharya and his descendants, and Nijagunasivayogi flonrished.The most influential musical forms-K!1i, Siiladi. Ugabhoga, Dandaka,Vrttanama, Narnavali,Mundige, GIla, Thaya and Prabandha -deYeloped dnring this period.TheTambiiri (Tanpura) was introduced and stabilized as theprincipaldrone instrument,A widerangeofexperimentsandinnovationswerecarried outon Vina-keyboardsinrespectofaccordatura,tonal range.and instrumentalparameters. Griimayielded placetome/a,thetheoretical possibilitiesofwhichwerefully explored and exactlydeterminedthroughmathematical schemesoftabulation;newclassificatorycritena emergedforragas;scalesandintervalswererationalizedandalignedtocontemporarymusicM practice through psychoacousncal principles of temperament-smyambu-svara (upper partials), paryiiya-svara (alternative svara denomination), and pratinidhi.S''tara (representativenote),Many melodic and rhythmicstructures wereadmittedintothefoldof anmusic.AUmusicbecamedeii;miirgamusicpassedintooblivion,asdid themadhylJ1Tl/l' griima and its paraphernalia; the totality of melody came to be referred to ~a4ia·griJmD alone.Thenumerous desitiilas. which had grown arbitrary and prolific, were replaced withsuliiditiilas; these were madecomprehensiveand versatilethroughlen vital elements caUedtiilodaiaprana:Theoreticalandpedagogicalscalarstandards,asweUaspropaedeubC e~~rcises (abhyiisagiina) which are relevant even today, were the contributioDS of VIJay~nagar. oSti Gopa-tippe~dra. Musicological luminaries like Vidyaranya. Sa!ya Lak~niinaraYana, Som~atha. Kallioatha,_Kumbhakarna,Ramamarya, Pandarika Vi!Jbala, Lochanalhii, andHrdayanarayanadeYabuttressedthetheoretical foundationsofmuSICbod> in South and North India during this period while Tanappacharya, Goy;nda DikSitaand SallgtdNal4kVol.XXXVI.No.2. 2001 TIIESANGITASURYODAYA 31 VenkatamakhinlaidthefoundationsnfmodemCamaticmusicfromTanjoreaboutacentury later. Theory kept pace with musical practice closely throughnut the Vijayanagarperiod, maintaining a remarkable spatio-tempornlcontinuitythroughthetheoretical works. Each workrecords arevolutionary and seminal conceptordevelopment, cumulativelyresulting inmodemCamatic music. Nine such musicological treatises werecomposed in the Vijayanagar period. These may be called the VijayanagarMusicologicalNonetor the Vijayanagarsangitaiiistranavaratna.ThefirstoftheseisthesageVidyaranya'sSangitasiira composedinthesecond halfofthefourteenthcentury.Partsofthiswork.dealingwiththe fifteenmelasandtheirfiftyjanyariigas,aswellascertaintypesofsingers,wereparaphrased byGovinda Diksita in his Sangitasudhii(nidhi) in the early seventeenthcentury. The innovationoftheconceptofmelaandorganizationoftheentiretyofcontemporarymelodic material underits umbrella are among the most influential andenduringcontributionsof Vijayanagartothemusicof India. The secondof the Nonet is,chronologically,SalvaGopa-tippendra's Tiiladipikii.The authorwasthebrother-in-lawofPraudhaDevarayaII,andaviceroyundertheVijayanagar empirewhoruledfromMulbagal(nearmodemKolar)inthemid-fifteenthcentury.Besides describingmorethana hundreddesitalas(andinventingquiteafewofthem),hementions thetaladasapriiI)a (len vital elements of tala) forthefirsttime; all temporal activities in musicanddancingcame tobeorganized.collocatedandcollimatedundertheseelements. TothesameperiodbelongsthethirdworkoftheNonet,Kallinatha'sSarigitaka/iinidhi,the greatversatilecommentaryonSamgadeva'sSangitaramakara,anencyclopaedicmagnum opusonIndianmusic,dancingand aestheticsofthethirteenthcentury.Besidesannotating. explicating.criticizingandemphasizingallthecentralissuesoftheRamakara,Kallinatha illuminesthetextthroughcompurisonwithcontemporarypractices.theories.andnormsof musicanddance.Heanticipatesmany developmentsinthesearts. Bl1aI)Qiiro(.ri?}Vi!!halesvaracomposedaTelugucommentaryontheSangitaratniJlw,a inthelastquarter ofthefifteenthcentury.ThisworkisthefourthoftheNonet Bha¢iiru Vi!lhalesvara claims that his father Kesavawas honouredfor his musical prowess with threethousandtolasofgoldbyGhiyasuddinSultanofMandwainGujaral.HissonBhandaru ~-ri?) Laksminarayanacomposedthe fifthtreatiseofthenavaratna,theSangitasiJl'yodaya. me.1525underthepalronageof~~adevariiyaofVijayanagar.lntheverynextgene~on. Achyutadevariiya'simportanttreatiseonWa,theTii/aka/iihdhi/fa/aka/iiviiridhi,waswn_tt~n: ThisworkorganizesforthefirsttimeinsU/Jgita.iiistrathetheoryandpracticeofthesuiad. talasintenus ofthe dasapranas. Healsocompilestheviewsofmanyprec~dent workson tala suchas Tiilakaliiviliisa, Sang7tavidyiivinoda, Ialnamata, Sairg'tamarga. Chatura sabhiivi/iisa.(Sangita-)chudiimaJ)i,Anjaneyamara,NrttachU4iimaJ!i.Sangira~idarpa1)ll . Kiityiiyaniya. Sangitamava, RangariijaBharatabhiifYu, Kapardi, andParamesvara,and ex~_~e refutesthem. These w;"'ks are no longer available. Achyutariiya -,copeand functionof the stiladitalasby applyingallthefivelaghujatis toeachsu!oo: tiila.Atthe sametime.AstavadhanaSornabhattacomposed.probablyunde~Achyu~!a sp~n:'nage. andundertheguidance of his guru S1tiiriima. Srarariigasudhiirasa.orl\atyachWfZunarJI. whichis now available only infragments.ThefmalgemIn the senes IS the momentous JZ R.SATHYANARAYANA SvoromelakalanidhiofRamamiitya.whowasKallinatha'sdaughter'sson.Ramamatyawas theroyal composerandroyalarchitect, anddescribed himselfasabhinava-bharatiicharya and todara-malla. The last epithet is usually interpreted by scholars as belonging tothe Iineag~ of Todarrnal, the ministerof the Mughal emperorAkbar, notwithstanding the anachronism. Actually, however, theKannada term means hero(maUa) who wears the honorific anklet (todar).The Svaramelakaliinidhi brings up theory to dale, rationalizes intervals and scales, introducesthe conceptsof svayarnbhii-svara (self-generatingnote, upperpartial),adhara-srutiparyiiyatattvaandpratinidhitattvaofsvaras,establishesmukhiui asthesuddhasvarasaptaka,standardizesandfixesmusicalintervalsonthekeyboard.defines theaccordatura,range,preferredstrings(forparticular notes),etc.,fora varietyofstringed keyboards, innovates and dedicates a new keyboard to Achyutariiya, and proposesa new scheme for classifying ragas into uttama (superior), madhsama (middling), and adhama (inferior)onthebasisoftheirexpressivepotential;italsoresolvestheproblemoftheantara andkaiiikinotes. l.A~miniirii)'af.Ul TheSangitasiiryodaya ofLaksrninarayana isavailable in print aspublication no.4(1986) oftheIndiraKalaSangitVishwavidyalaya,Khairagarh,Itiseditedby PanditKamalaprasad Tripathi ofthesameuniversityunderthesupervisionofthethenVice-chancellor,DrPrem Lata Sharma.The edition is based on the transcript ofa single Pandu-scriptmanuscript (No. R 5510) of the work deposited in the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai,acopyofwhichisavailableintheVaralakshmiAcademy,Mysore.Themanuscript isfullofscribalerrorsandsomecruciallacunaeinthebeginning,A fragmentofthedance chapterofthisworkispreservedintwocopies(Nos,10667,10668)asLaksmana-bharotam wronglycalled Matanga-bharatam in the records ofthe TMSSM Library, Tanjore'. But these are notusedascollativesources inthepreparationoftheaboveedition.Theeditor seemstohavedependedconsiderablyonSamgadeva'sSangitaratnakaraanditscommentary byKalliniitha,theSangitakalanidhi.Suchdependence iscommon to most post-RamiJkara authoritieson music anddancein A.D. 15-18century. TheSangitasiiryodayahasattracted thenoticeof some modem scholars includingM. Krishnamachariar', H. K. Sherwani-,V. Raghavarr', K. C. D. Brihaspati", Subhadra Chaudhary',andthepresentwriter',M.RamakrishnaKavihascompiledusefulinformation abouttheworkand itsauthor", The author, Lak!minaray3J.13, furnishes some information about himselfand his royal patron, ~~adeVariiya. The dataaboutthe latterareof somehistoricalinterestand willbe examinedbelow.TheauthorabbreviateshisownnametoLaksmana:thisiswhythetreatise iscalled l-aksmand-bharatam,In the colophons to the second,third and fifth chaptershe bha~t/iiri gives the epithet orbhandiiru(edited to the lectiosimplicior'bha{{iJral+kal' in the tmpressi typisv; which is probably his family name, 'Bhandiiro' means treasury; 'bha~t/ari'/'bha~t/aru' means treasurer in Telugu and Kannada.'The word also meansa special~anetyofturmericandaparticular kindofplant,Laksminarayanadescribeshimself asa briihmana,thesonofBhandarit-ru)Vitthalesvara, as abhinava-bharatiichiiryo.raya bayakiira (royal composer), suk!jma.bharatachiirya, and todara-malld'; in the course of rns SMGiTASURYOOAYA JJ the work. he alsodescribeshimselfaskaraT}iigra'}i (headaccountant?chiefscribe?chief revenueofficer?). The latterdescription was also applied by 5anigadeva tohimself. The treatise commences with a salutation to the greatteacherof Srivaisnavism, Sri Ramanuja.AHayagriva-srzmisgivenasmangutiicharanainchapters[Illand1I1l;salutation isoffered to this deity at thebeginning of chapterIV12• Therefore Laksminiirayana is a Srivaisnava brahmana, commonly called ayyailgiir in South India. He belongs to the Bharadvajagotra;heisthegrandsonofKesavawhosewifeisGauravamba(c-Gowrarnma"). HisfatherisVitthalaandhis mother Rukmini".RamakrishnaKavistares" thaiBhandaru -T~lugu Vi!Jhalacomposed,asmentionedabove.a commentaryontheSOIigitaratnclka;a in which he refers to his own father (Kesava) as having beenhonoured witha giftofthree thousand tolas ofgold for his musicnl scholarshipbySultanGhiyasuddin. Laksrninariiyana mentions Visnu-bhattaraka ashis sangitaguru fromwhomhe learnt both the theory and practice ofsangita (probably meaning the gita-vadya-nma triad) as wellas the bharata treatises ofDattilaand Kohalaalong withtheircommentaries.(Ifthis statement is reliable, it points to the existence of acommentary ontheDattilam prayogastahaka?- mentionedby Simhabhupala,andofahitherto unknown commentary on Kohala, who is cited by Bharata, Matanga, Nanyadcva, Abhinavagupta, Samgadcva, etc., orof a commentary on theSanguomerui.Thus equipped,he wrote theSmip,ita siiryodayal'. Itisnotimprobable thathenamedhiswork thusunderthe inspiration ofthe Sonkalpa-suryodaya, aplay in tenactscomposedbythe greatSrtvaisnava teacher and authorVedanta-desika(aliasVenkatanatha)inthefourteenthcentury.Laksmtnarayanaclaims tohavecomposedallthefaultlesscompositions(inmusicanddance)accordingtotheway of Bharatamuni, such that allexperts in music wouldnodat them inappreciation". He further says that he was awarded the honorific title 'Abhinava-bharatiichiirya' and was honouredatvarioustimesbyKrsnadevaraya,oncewithanornamentedgoldpalanquin.and atanothertimewithtwoumbrellas,eachofwhichwasdecoratedwithahundredtasselsof pearls;and that he was appointed the permanent head ofdance in the royal household". Evenasthe emperor Kartavfrya ruled a large sectionof the earth. ~minaraya':la also ruled,through the kindnessofKrsnadevaraya,alargesegmentoftheearth".(This maybe apun onhismasteryoverafonnoftiila-prastiiracalledkhar.u!amem.) K{$fJadevaraya la~miniiriiYaQadescribes 5rividyiinagari succinctly as ajewelinthe top-knotof Mother Earth.surroundedbytheriverTungabhadra,thehappiness-bestowingmotherofKarnataka. whichissurroundedbythe highpeaks of:'11i1yavanlaandHemakiita.andbytheIuminous Viriipiik~a ~n auraofthecompassionateglances ofgod andgodVijaya-vtn!Jala". usgolden throne reigns King Narasirnha ofTurvasu-kula"'.This refers to NarasittIhanayaka of the des~endants Tulucountry. 'Turvasu-kula' maysuggest thatNarasaniiyakaandhIS claimed descentfrom Turvasu ofChandra-varnsa.secondsonofYayiitibyDevayamandbrotherof Yadu, to whose lineage S'riKrsna belonged.ThiIS lirneage I.Sdescribed in the Bhi.i~gavata- purii1Jalfl(9.23).ToNarasanayaka wasborn K!>Qadevariiya who becamelearned Inallthe artswhilestill a boy". '1 . . I<!>QadevariiyacapturedaliveGangariijaanddestroyedhisimpregnableforts-.Thisrsa 34 R.SATHYANARAYANA reference toGangaraja, thechief of Ummattiiru, who revolted against Vijayanagar and ruledfrom theforts ofSrirangapattanamandSivasarnudram (Laksminarayana's"Siviiniim samudram"). Krsnadevaraya proceeded against him, recaptured Penukonda, pursued Gangaraja first to Sivasamudram and thento Srirangapattanam. razedbothfortstothe ground.killedGangaraja,annexedhisterritoriesandappointedKernpegaudaandtwoothers astheiradministrators. TheSatigltasri.ryodayanextreferstothecampaignsof'KrsnadevarayaagainsttheGajapatis of Orissa: Krsnadevaraya captures the Udayagiri fort and KOJ)qavIQu, capturesalive Gajapati's sonandheir, anderectsavictory-pillaratPonumat-pattana. Havingscoredhis victoryoverGajapati,healsowinsthehandofthelatter'sdaughterinmarriage, aswellas hugewealth", This refers to the military campaigns of Krsnadevaraya against the Gajapati kings of Orissa, whichwas planned in five phases:capture ofUdayagiri, captureof Kondavidu, surrenderofKondapalli, erection ofa victory-pillarat Potanur near Simhadri, and finally theattackonCuttack, thencapital ofOrissa. Krsnadevaraya lay seige on Udayagiri, the southernmost, supposedly impregnable,hill fortofOrissa,foreighteenmonths andinflictedadevastatingdefeatonGajapatiPrataparudra, capturingUdayagiriin1514.HethensenthisgeneralSaluvaTimmatocaptureKOQ.Qavlqu. hehimselftakingapilgrimagetoTirupatiforadarsona ofLordVenkatesvara, Onhisway toKOl).4avIQu,Timmacapturedmanyfortresses suchasKondahara, Addanki, Vinukcnda, Bellamkonda Nagarjunakonda,Tangeda,Ketavaram,etc.,andreachedKondaviduin 1515. Kf~l).adevarayajoinedhimatthistimeandcapturedthefort.HealsotookcaptiveVTrabhadra Gajapati,sonandheirofPrataparudraandhiswife,appointedSaluvaTimmaasadministrator, andreturned toHampi afterpilgrirnagingtoAmaravati andSrisailam, Inthethird phase, Kr!~adevarayasubjugatedthe fort ofKondapalli wherePrataparudra hadgatheredtogetherallhisforces,planningabattleagainstKrsnadevaraya, Butthelatter tookPraharcsvara (commander oftheenemy forces) andotherscaptive, andconquered many minor forts, including Anantagiri, Udrakonda Urlakonda Aruvapalli, Jullipalli, Khamm~~~e!!u,K~n'akagiri, Kantikonda, Kappalavagavi, Nalagonda, and SaiIkaragiri. He finally arrivedatSirnhadri.In thefourthphase,he erecteda tall victory-pillaratnearby Pota_nuru. Meanwhile, Virabhadra Gajapati died. Losing all enthusiasm for battle, Prataparudra could notconfront Kr~l).adevaraya again,transactedatreaty ofpermanent peace,a~dsealeditbygivinghisdaughterJaganmohiniinmarriagetoKrsnadevaraye.who magnamm~usly restored toPrataparudraallhis lostterritories. .. Theava.I!~bletextofSangitasuryodayaisconfusedandcorrupthere,andreads"Kopadrk for Kondavldn and "Pogamat-pagani' for Ponana-pattana (Potanuni). It athetises the camp:ugns of Kondapalli and Cuttack, and omits the names ofPrataparudra, V-Ifabhadra andJaganrnohini. ~a"it~istorical Lak~mInaraY3Q.a The referenceby istothevictoryofKrsnadevarayaagainst a Muslim king who was ruling at a fort called Gojjuru with horses, elephants and great Kr!~adevaraya wealth. But generously gave back all he had won. Later, he crossed the Kr~~a river,setfiretotheking's palaceandkilledhim", Thetextiscorrupthereandhasa crucial lacuna. THESANGITASURYODAYA 3S TheMuslimrulermentionedhereisIsmailAdilKhanofBijapur,who,growingenvious andapprehensiveof Krsnadevaraya's ever-increasingvictories and territorialexpansions. tookadvantage of Krsnadevaraya's preoccupation with the Gajapatis, andoccupiedthe fortressof Raichur with his residence and cantonment at nearby Gobbiiru.Raiehurhad beenaboneofcontentionbetweenVijayanagarand the Bahmani kingdomforovertwo generations.KrsnadevarayacrossedtheriverJ{ryQiiin1520anddefeatedIsmailAdilKhan. massacredhisarmy,andlook thefort.SoonthevanquishedIsmailsentanenvoy10 Hampi prayingrestorationofhislostterritory. Krsnadevarayaagreedandfixedarendezvousfor3 meeting,butIsmail AdilKhanfailedtokeeptherendezvous.ThisangeredKrsnadevaraya, whomarched against Bijapurand crushed Ismail Adil Khan's army tolallyinadecisive battleatSagarin 1523.Subsequently,hesubjugatedtheBahmaniSultanMohammedShah ofGulbarga, but later restored to him his territories and reinslalledhimon the throne. Krsnadevaraya commemoratedtheoccasionby assumingthe title 'Yavanarajyasthapana charya'. Thus. by his information on the Gobbiiru battle and Krsnadevaraya"5 victory. Laksminarayanaadds to our knowledgeof what iscommonlyknownasRaiehuru-vijaya. Gobbiiruhas graphically deteriorated into Gojjiiru in the impress!typis (and theerroris conjecturallyrepeatedbytheeditor).GobbiiruhasnowphoneticallydegeneratedtoGabbiiru. Itisnow a village situated to the south-eastof Devadurga inRaichurdistrict.Originally namedGopura(> Gobbiiru),itwasreputedsincethetwelfthcenturyasacentreoflearning. Remnantsofastrongfort are stillvisibleinthepresentvillage. TheSangitasuryodaya:Special Features The Sangitasuryodayadoesnotmention itsdate ofcomposition. which may however be inferredfromthefollowingcircumstances.ItwaswrittenduringtheruleofKrsnadevaraya. i.e., 15()<}-1529.The lastpoliticalincidentmentionedbyLaksminarayanaisthecaptureof Gobbiiruin the conquest of Raichur, in which Krsnadevaraya engagedtwicewith Ismail AdilKhan---in 1520and 1523.SincethecrossingoftheK!eQiiriverandtheburningofthe "Yavanajanapada" by Krsnadevaraya arementioned, thelatter datemaybe inferred. Therefore,theSangitasiiryodaya maybe inferredtohavebeenwrittenbetween1523and 1529,probably 1525±. . . . The Sangitasiiryodaya is a treatise ondancingand music,written In Sanskrit In five chapters:"rilla'(525slokas),'Nrtta'(1075slokas),'Svara'(269slokas),'Jiiti'(117SInk,,:,) and'Prabandha' (641slokas), thustolalling2,627 slokasbesidessomeprosepassagesm the'Svara' chapter. The metreemployedismostlyanustubnandonlyoccasionally(inthe meU1c~ beginning)JongeronessuchasnuJluJilkriintiiandsragdharii.Anunusualfeatureof Use is that in a few instances the first half and second half of a versearecomposed m different metres.Thearrangementofsubjectsdiffersfromtheconvention~ ~ne:.i.e.,gila S~ngltas~r,.odDya (svara, raga, prakirna, prabandha), tala, viidyaand nrtta. Instead. the presents t:ila nrtta svara, jati andprabandhainanunevenquantitative distribution.ItIS. ' ". '. . ' th d ethod andmagnitudeoftreatment however,notunique Inthisrespect.because eor er,m . . ' . are maners 0f im..diIVliduaIprerlerence.p.urpose.andFme!heoxadomlopgleicaHlacno.pniv-ileardneenvcae'sSwiathn.ign-ltaan- accepted definition and scope of subJect·matter. or . 36 R.SATHYANARAYANA sudhiikara, alsocomposedinfivechapters.preferstheordernrtta,tala.vadya, naJakaand gila.Laksminarayana adoptsthe traditionaltextualdefinitionofsangita asconstitutedof gita.vadyaand nrtta,probablyinspired byJagadekamalla and Samgadeva. Theorderandquantitativedistribution of subject-matter inthe Sangitasiuyodayamay beratiocinated fromthe factthatitsauthorwastheniuyaguru of theroyalhouseholdand hismainobjecthereistheteachingofdance.Talaisdefinedasthesubstrate andcommon denominatorofalllimbsofsangita andisthereforetakenupfirst.Thisisdirectlyfollowed by the central theme of the treatise, which occupies nearly half of the bulk ofthe whole. Dancecannotbeperformedwithoutsong,whichisthereforedescribedinthefinalchapter, logically preceded by its infrastructural elements (svara and its paraphernalia in Chapter III.anditsmelodiccrgamzaticn.jdn,inChapterIV).Twoglaringomissonsintheworkare indefensible:ragaand vadya, Ragawas, andcontinues to be. the ubiquitous, universal, indispensable.cbaractering melodic base inIndian music;jati had become obsolete,even archaic,inLaksrninarayana's time.Yetragaisomitted and onlyjatiis described, andthat toocursorily. Atime-honouredaxiominsanglta isthatinstrumentalmusicdependsonor follows vocal music. anddancing depends onorfollows instrumental music. Yetthe Sail.':"illlsuryoda."t'adoesnotevenmentionmusical instruments. TheSangitosuryodaya isinlargepartaborrowalorrecastoftheSangitaramakara with orwithoutacknowledgement. Butitmentionsmanyearlierauthoritiesonmusicanddance suchasBharata,Dattila, Kohala, Matanga,Narada,Sardiila,Katyayana,Urnapati,Arjuna, t).inidhara. Somesvara, Sarilgadeva and his commentators. Except for Bharata and Samgadevaandhiscommentators. mostoftheotherauthorities arecitedat secondhand andsomeevenapocryphally, In viewof the brevity and limited scope of this paper, only some unusual featuresof omissionandcommissionintheSangitasur)'odaya maybementionedhere: J.Tiiliidhytl.m I. Thechaptercommenceswith3systematictreatmentofthetaladasapranas,Thefivejatis (~f)·asra.chaturaira,khanda,miira,andsankima)areextendedtothelaghuofallsuIadi talasanddesltalus. 2. Themarga talasaretreatedcursorily. 3. Alludrufa replaces viriima asafalanga. Many prastara-fonnsareextended10 both anudruta andvirama,thoughsomeauthoritiesquestiontheusefulnessofsuchpasraras· 4. ~esides describing the time-honoured 120 deS!Was, Laksrninarayana mentions defI talas of hisowncreation. some of whichhave structuresidentical withthoseofthe ~orm~r sec;somecontainanudrutasandsomecontainlaghu-jiJtivarieties.Thet3laswith Identicalstructures may differquantitatively because of differences inthe sizeofthe ~ew laghu.A ofLak!minaraYUl)a'sinventionssuchasKalpa-bhiiruha, GUl)<ja-bheruQ4a. Ranabhenmadotsava,andGopati(=Krsna,Gopa-tippendra,authorofTiiladipikii?)may pan~gy~c be dedications to Kr!Qadevaraya,while Bharatajna-kulesvara may celebrate Lak~mmaraY:l~a himself, THE SANGITASURYODAYA 37 II.Nrttiidhyiiya 1. Mostofthischapterisborrowedorrecastfromthe'Nananiidhyoya'ofSangltarormikora. Nevertheless,thesevenposturalvarietiestsausthava chaturaira visanna trvaira sama ~itional ti~';ti'~ns~saml';aday~ to/a and antariila; are collectively designated as rachanii. 2. Three prefatory forms ofpu~pii;,jalicalled mukhaliifi, created by Kiirya (?). Siirdula. andUrnapati,are describedbyLaksminarayanaforthefirsttime.Thesemusthavebeen popularin Karnataka because Pandarika Vi!~aladescribesoneofthese independently SOmetwo generations later in Akbar's courtinhisNananonimava:again, tater,these are mentioned by Chatura Damodara in hisSangitomakaranda. 3. Laksmlnarayanahascreatedanewnmokaranacalled~J.1aYalaraJ.1a(cf.Gangavatamna) indedication to Krsnadevaraya, ill.Svariidhyiiya I. Thechapterisanadmixtureoftopicsofthe'S\,aragariidhYQya'and ·Prakif7J.ukiiJhyoya· oftheSangitaramakara. 2. Eachofthe sixty-six srutis spread over the threeregisters(twenty-twoperregister)is givenaseparatename.similartotheonesgivenbyParsvadevainhisSanK'tasamnyasiira. 3. Obsoleteandarchaicgramas,miirchhaniis,andtiinasaredescribed.buttheconspicuously prevalent raga and rnela are not described. Gandhiira-grama and ill; murchhanfis are unconvincinglysoughtto beshownasintegra)tocontemporarymusicalpractice. 4. ALamkiiraisdefined withcloserelevancetoraga.RamakrishnaKaviextractsapassage fromLaksminarayana",purportingthatthe\-·af1)llS.slhiiyi,etc.,constitutethechutunkmdi accordingtoNaradaandothersages.ThisisI)(){corroboratedintheimpressitypisofthe Sangllasul)'odaya. IV.Jiityiidhyiiya Thischapterisaddedonlyasagesturetothepun'asas/ro,asjatisweretotallyirrelevantto themusicofthesixteenthcentury.Ragasaswellasmelasareconspicuousbytheirabsence. !hough they were irreversibly and firmly established in Ihe musical practice of Ihe lime. Lak~minarayat)astatesatthebeginningofthechapterthatthejfitisaremothersofragas.but thediscussion goes nofurther. V. Prabandhiidhyaya Pra~andh.a ~nd Even though the Sangitasiiryoda...·.o classifies musical compositions into Gita, the latter is left totally undescribed. Descriptions of Prab~ndhas: their vaneaes, classification. apparatus. etc., are closely borrowedfromtheSangllaram.at.t:ra. However, des~ptlOn. ~nd, themajorcontributionoftheSangltasuryoda:rainthischapteristhe atthe:. or'ancientTuruska-deiiyaprabandhas".Six"Tunl~ko"provincesarementlo~ed:Kharas:na (Khuriisan), Parsva(Persia),MUlalriina(Multan),La!"(partsofmodem Gujarat).Avasrya andGhana.The Prabandhasoriginatingfromthemhavefortheire~otivethe~arrogance Pars~.a. (drunkenness?);gajalu (Ghazal) from Kharasana, Kaulu (Qawwah)from !'a.<aka fromMUlalrii\1a.pratitii/a fromLa!".maiijari fromAva."(three vartenesofmanjan called 38 R.SATIlYANARAYANA deiaja-,artha-,andanartha-s.andjluJirkan,(calledjakkan,jakkaifi,andjakkinielsewhere) from Ghana. Ten kinds ofjhankadare mentioned: ghota.jilin,iindhri,simhala,variiJiga, giiru.,saindhra,priiniii,andgaurjaii.The textisopaquehereandhasalacunaforthetenth jhankari'variety.These song-anddance-formsnative toIslamiccountriesmay haveentered the court of Vijayanagarfrom the neighbouring Bahmani kingdoms or the Mughal court, and were perhaps also introduced by musicians and dancers brought in by the Persian ambassadorAbdur Razakaodgifted to PraudhaDevariiya(1422-1446) ofVijayanagarin 1443. Butsome ofthese and other songs are already mentioned by the court poet ofthis king, A~\3bh~vi Cbandrasekhara, in his Pampiisthiina-val7Janarrr' (c. 1430):gaja/u. tau/II. bhaitu. turige.dndolanaandjakkari. IImaybementioned inpassing thatDomingoPaesvisited thecourtofVijayanagarand hasrecordedinhistravelogue thewonderful dancinghall, the lovelyimageofthepresiding deitySarasvati,andtherowsofnumeroussculptureddanceposestherein.ftisnotimprobable that Laksminarayana was influenced by these in his descriptions and taught them to hi, disciples oftheroyal household as their naryaguru, Inconclusion,itmaybesaidthattheSangitasiayodayaisaninterestingprimarydocument in constituting the cultural history of Vijayanagar. It deserves a competent translation,a critical introduction andevaluation. andacomprehensivereferenceapparatus. REFERENO:S me 1. Sasm, P.P.S.(comp.) A DescriptiveCatalogue of SanslritManuscriptsin TMSSMLibrary,Tanjort. Vol. 16.7231-32. 2. Krishnamachariac,M.AHistory ofCla.uiealSanskrit Lnerature, J937.865. 3. Sberwani,IiK.HistoryofMedin>alDeccan, Vol.2.1974, 134. 4. Raghavan.V.'SomeEarlyNamesinSaJigitaLaererure',Sang~~1NatalAJwdnniBulletin,Vot 17.12-13. 5. Britwpari.x C.D.SongikJ-rinJiDnmJi.50. 6. SubtladraCbaudhary.BhiJrafiya-3ailg"ilmLUJ.TalOUTRUpa Vidhan.254. 1. Soathyarwayana.R (ro.)emu'dm}4ip,aJ,Qjikii,Introduction. idem, Nartanani17J'lJll. Vol.I.Comm. 231-69andelsewhere. 8. Ram.UrishnaKavi,M Bharrua1o¥l.Introduction.xxl,562.695andimeralia. 9. ~mInato.-Songitasij')OO.rya_CcIophons;Ol. 2,275;Ol. 3,332;o,5,448_ 10. ibid. I. 18. ibid, 1.16.5. 11. ibid.. 117. 19. ibid, 1.3.2 12. ibid..333. 20. ibid..1.4,2 13. ibid.. I.10.II.3-4. 21. ibid, 1.5,6,2-3. 14. R.rnakri>hnaK.1v;,M."P-cit,,-.~.~~~-,xxi, 22_ •ib_id 1.1,S01>,3. IS. ~minaray;u:Ja.cp.cit. 1.18.5. 23. ibid... I.Sbed,3. 16. ibid., 1.12.4. 24. RamakrishnaKavi,M.op. cit., 199_ 17. ibKJ.. 1.12,4. 25. A>~viCbandra.'eklwa.pan>PiJsthiiN'- WI~.88.

See more

The list of books you might like

Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.