Abhinavabharathi in English translation

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PIŒFACÈ I ^I ,.. ^ ^ That.t^jW^J^ôsira qf ^barata is the most important single jtext on the performing ^ ta the Indip tradition, p^haps not be disputed. Nevertheless, it isa regrettable fact that this text ha^ not iecei^^ as mûci critical attentif at the handsof mod^scholar, especiíJly^historí^^ls it deservesi One reason for thi^ is that the text bristles with techmcSaíitíés which can only be tmdnstood properly with the help of traditional e*pJa>|ations. Unfortunately, of the seve^ ancient commences qn the NätyaSästra the only; añcúmÍ is usedowmg to omission of lyap It has been said that where samvadiand anuvadi 2xe sodded with emphasis, such as a note in the lower octave, there, the samvadi and the flnuvädTfunction like aksa even without being amsa. (A) doubt (anses). Will not theú jáíi be from the vivadis ? On that account, for considermg the Umit in the tära sthana, 'he' will describe the positions m tara and mandra from üie paHcama eie}'" That which occi^frequenUy com­

pared to aU oüier notes in üie whole song (i.e., Üiat which itself determines Üie five forms of graha etc.. or its samvadi, anuvadi foTws, butneverav/v5dr.i^^ Grato etc., are Üie content to be determmed by Üiat (i e aàia determines graha etc.). That which colours oüier notes even as ii ceases, just as one may cover what has its face turned the o&er way That a/kio, being Üie principal, has'ten charactensUcs . Allûiœe characteristics togeüier suffice to produce tiie character of amsa. Hence. Üie first characteristic has been mentioned separately from Üiat

ainsa. Now. 'he' describes tiie tära "Üie movement of tiie tara is up to five notes". Objection, if tiie rule is,1hat one has to ascerïd from tiie ama svara along tiie order of ascent (atoha krama) as far as tiie fiftii from tiiat, then it will greatly contradict practice {Msya virodha). F«' Sadjl, from tiip sadja ainia^me would need to ascend upto tiie fiftii from tiiat veïy note. So it is seenm practice in So# dha dha m sa m dha pa ni dha pa, tiius. fii ArsabM'ihe ascent would be upto dhaiyata. But, it is seen upto nisada, noidha, ri. ni, ma. go, ma. In Ni^vati.aroha is seen upto tiie pcmcama • pa, pa, ri, ga thus. •

cf. Panmal ed.

TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT : NATYASASTRA AND ITS COMMENTARY

91

h*

Similarly, it Has to be thus considered in other places also. Hence, this is not the proper explanation. What would it be thai ? Listen. Wehave already gathered that the aináa is to be produced by mürcchanä, from the madhyama sapiaka. From this, it follows, that all the notes in that (madhya) saptaka are tobe used, disregarding (here such) considerations (as) of iara and mandra. With respect as to how many notes within the octave produce worldly and other worldly good, what is formulated, is, only the limits of Üienotes vibrating inthe head andheart (éirasyaurasyas-

varanisthä)}^' Objection : When thrae is already the middle saptaka,should all the notes of the tära saptaka be used after that ? The answer is, not always. If sadja is the amàa, then the tära saptaka should be upto ri, ga, ma (pa), if one is capable of doing so (i.e., stretching the voice so high). But even if one is capable, one should not go beyond that But taking a lower note, too, B not an error. This is shown by the word para. When rpibha is the aihia, the notes are to be taken upto dhaivata (fix)m) the rsabha of the tära saptaka. When gändhära is the aináa then the seven notes are to be takaï ^ding with ntsäda. In madhyama, pancama, dhaivata, nisäda, mthese (being ^e AN^A) the notes are to be taken with nisada at the end. ID these five arnàas, the vídíole of the tara saptaka is to be taken. If the capacity (range of the voice) is medium, [madhyamah is possibly madhyama] then the äfoha is only upto four notes. But in the Nandayanñ, the extreme limit (is reached) in thetära.It is explained there thus, that "the movement in the iöra saptaka never goes beyond (iSra) sadja". Hence, it is not correct to explain, as others havedone, that the.text 'upto tiie fourth note' refers to Nandayanñ^'^ The Imrika 'ainââttâragatim vidyät ' has this meâniûg. It says that, when the middle saptaka is the source of the mürcchariä, then depending on the amáa, the movement in the iära or aroha is to be upto the note in the tära saptaka, flot beyond.it. Aináa has been earlier defined as the leader oFthè tära and mandra. This has not been properly considered by those comhiéiîtators. In rsabha and gändhära, dhaivata and riisada are not to be employed, since they lack rakti, they cannot be svaras.' It is not correct to say, that if one does not (go upto täradha and ni),one does not have the power (to stretch the voice so high).

TRANSLATION OF THE TEXT: NATYASASTRA AND TTS COMMENTARY

ABHINAVABHARATI

92

93

illustration and the lak^a corresponding to it. Therule isthat in the laksam of gändhära\as nyäsa),the mandrais reachedby being (onenote) beyond the nyäsa. So why repeat? Thäre is reason which will be mentioned later on. 'The rsabha may be omitted in the mandra'. So 'he' shows that this option is with respect to the limitations laid down.

As to what others have explained - from the ainka svara four or five notes of the iära saptaka be used, for example^whensad;a is amsa, sa, ri, ga, ma, pa; in rsabha ri, ga, ma, pa, dha; in ^2ndAaro - ga, ma, pa, dha, ni; in madhyama ga, ma, pa, dha, ni, and similarly > pancama dhaivata and nisäda. It is these that are established by practice (laksya). Thus in Nisädavaü, where nisada is aHièa, tara sadja is seen toough the arliiaasthemeansMtisunnecessarytosaymore-Theexplanationasgiven

Objection, the Sage puts forwardstatements as indications, then why this mention of gändharva ^ossibl^ gändhära)! But this has already berai said before, so there is no harm.

brings out the laksam and should be respected. 'N5ía/iparamiíi',oneisfreetostopearlierinthetáraíapíafai.Vfteíi', the idea is! that, this is with respect to iht jätis. This idea does not hold ahontgräma-rßgas etc.'Budhmriti','he' is saying, that, those who re^d anote as due to be omitted, they SÜU have to countthe_omitted note.-mus VisSkhiläcä^a "The näsl svara is counted in the tara vidhi". ^ Tära

Now there are twenty one nyäsas. Nyäsa is the concludingnote of an aitga (a specific unit or division of the melodic composition). In the same way, apanyasa is (used) in the middle of an aitga (i.e., on semi-completion). There are fifty-six nyäsas. Namely— V?rse-72 ; Nyäsa is (to be used) on the completion of an aitga and

means that which causes the voice to cross forcefully.

they aretwenty-one in number.The apanyasasare fifty-sixin number and they are used in the middle of an aitga.

Now 'he' mentions the mandra. 'Tridhä mandragatiriti'. The root mad has the sense of rejoicing. Mandra is delightful {lalim) because it is low («amra i.e.. bends down). That(note) which is theamsasvaram the mc^hya saptaka, upto that (very note) in Üi&,mandra saptßka should be taken.x,r upto'the n^ösa svara, or beyond that, meanipgthe note that is beyond the nyäsa svara. The useofparashowstheadmissibihty of one

Sannyasa and yinyasa arealso in the middleof an aiigaonly. Since they are not fixed, they are prolific.

'

Verse-73 : Thus the nyäsa nòte was ùsed iathe Middle of the firsf vidañ (a sub-division of the melodic structure): Having avoided the vivödT,'one may speak of sannyäsa. Since anywhere it has been kept (vihyäsät) at the conclusiotf of a pada, it is called vinyäsa.

lower note being taken.-This gives a certain latitude. Objection-.Inthatcase,how can d/iaivaiabe the limitof the mandra

The reduction (alpatva) of notes is-efFected by laitghana (gliding over ä note saàs to leave it unemphásized) and by anabhyasa (avoid­ ing Its repetftfon)! Thus, there is noif-repetition of noiies wliich are,

in ffid/T? Why should not the limit be upto (mandra) sadja"] (The answer is. that) whUe it is admissible to use the frill mandra sapíafaitiptosad;a;onemayópüonallygo(only)uptod/íaivaía.Thatsa^;a. which is graha and nyäsa (ih SädyT). is used from the mandra^ toÄQ madhya (to the tara- this is missiûg in the text). The rule whiqh speaks of mandra does not mean that iära (sa) is excluded, because m Sä4}i, sadja is heard in aU -three octaves% .They read this Kärika íhcr^ mandrastvaàiâtparo riäsRtL Thus, m the Nisadavañ. where ntsada is the ama and graha svara in^the madhya saptahi, the range is not seen upto mandra nisäda qply. but upto the nyasin these two jatis. It seems simply a matta of prescription in the Sästras.

139.

Possibly, Abhinava means the recounting of the numbo" of amsas which do not permit sädava and auduidta. Abhinava probably means sixty-three. That this is what he has in mind isobvious by the next sentence. By subtracting mne amàas from the total number of arnsas he arrives at the number fifty-

140.

141

142.

rraidering was not p«nutted. Sadjodicyava belonged to the sadjagrama where a jsaàvâda existed between ri and dha. In úásjati, sadava was effected by the dropping of ri.Tiüsßti had four amias viz. sa, ma, ni, dha. When dhaivafa (which was indispensible in the sadja gräma) was the ruling àn^a, ri could not be dropped because of the rule of sàfnvadcC. He, i.e., Bharata sums up the sevai amàas which prevent hexatonic rendering in certainyoiis. These are ni, ga, pa, pa, pa, ga, dha. In case of either ni or ga being the (ruling) amia, the jati Sadja-madhyama cannot berendered hexatonic. If pcmcatM^ is the dominant^imia in the threeyölis Gändhäri, Rakfagändhan and KaisiG thrai these jatis cannot be rendered sadava. If gändhärifis Jhe amàa in Sad/T and dhaivata in Sadjodicyava, then both lhese j'ätis cannpt be rendered sädava.

four. The four ever puma j'ätis were Madhyamodicyaya (1 amsa), Sadjakaiàilâ (3 ' ai^as), Kärmäravl (4 arhàas) and GändhärapaUcaml (I ainàa), thus giving a total of 9 o/nsas-jn Sadjamadhyamä (ga or ni), Sädji,(ga), Kaiàilâ (pa), Gändhan (pa), Raktagändhän (pa) and Sadjodicyavä (dha). These sevoi amàas prevented the sädavita rendering of these yáíis. Thus subtracting 16 (=9+7) from 63 amàas, we are left with 47 amias. It is these remaining forty-seven amiaswhich when used permit the j'ätis to be rendered as sädava.

155

NOTÉS

TheevCT pürm jätis have

63 amàas

Sädxvsi jätis have

47

"

Atiduva jätis have

30

"

7

"

Jöftsnamed 7 notes have

147 amàas With this total of hundred and forty-;seven arhàas both the gramas can be obtained. See also Brhaspati ibid., pp. 100-101. 143.

Probably what is meant is gräma räga (not,gräma and rägd) belonging to the popular dhruvä gäna system of singing. But as to what 'may happen' is not clear. Probably it may refer to the violation of rules regarding soavità and auduvita (\v1iich was the context earÜCT). Z)Ar«v5g5na wasnotgovonedbysuchrigid t inles.

144.

This passage is quite cryptic and does not give clear reading. In the látt« part, however, Abhinava seems to refer again to the twelve amàas which prévoit auduvita viz., eight in Gändfmfi and Raktagändhän (sa, ma, pa, ni eäch), two (ga, ni) in Sadjamadhyamä and two in Pañcanñ (ri) and Kaiàilâ (dha) respectively.

145.

Bharata clearly refers to the indispensability of only the-madhyama-(NS. 28,33; 28,65). He does not say this about the other notes..But according to Abhinava therewas anothra opinion also and in this context he (AB. NS 28,34) quotes Dattila (Dattilam. 20), Viiökhiläcörya and others. These theoreticians held the opinion that dhaivata was mdispensable in the sadja gräma, pmicama in madhyama gräma and madhyama in both the gramas. They do not accq>t the opinion of Bharata that it was only madhyama which was indispraisable.

146.

As said, a peculiar feature of gändharvawas the indispraisability of madhyama in both the grämas. It seons to have been bor­ rowed iiom sämagäna. Bharata speaks of this as a common feature of gändharva and soman music."Madhyama is the chief

m

ABHINAVABHARATI

NOTES

of all notes and is tomed as mdispensable - so it has been said in the rules of gandharva and soman" (28,65). The reason given by Abhinava, for its importance m gandharva and soman is that it holds a position of equilibrium. Madhyama is the central note dividing the octave into two parts: So, ri, go and pa,dha ni,the IOWCT three being consonants to the upper tinee. So to pa, ri to dha and go to ni Between these two divisions, madhyama,the nucleus, stands alone and has no note left as its samvadi. Hence it is not to be dropped due to its solitary and cmtral focal position.

147.

148.

157

graha and amáa were the same, there weresome exceptions too, as in Nandayanñ Jäti, hence each had then- independent status too. Graha, being the intial note had a limited role, whereas amáa was a much larger concept It was the note which determined the form of a melodic structure and was the dominant note in it The grahas specified for a jäti are exactiy the same as then amáas, exc^t for Nandayanti 149.

'Sadgrahäh' here does not make, sense, höice the alternative reading 'sodjogrohah' is suggested. Sadja is graha, amáa and nyäsa oi Mâlavokaiàika (Brftaddeái, 346). Abhinava also says this while referring to grämarägas at the end of the chapter. The meaiung, then, would be that in the various forms m which Mâlovakaiàika issung, all do not regularly have sadja as graha. (Hoice the need to define graha and amáa sqiarately). In the jäti-gäna the graha and amáa are invariably thesamefexcept for Nandayanñ. HOWCVCT, this was not always so in the grämarägas, as is evidoit fixim the example of Mâlavokaiàiko as given by Abhinava.

150.

This means that, aiháo is the note which governs the movemoits in the tära and mandra octaves.

In this context (the indispeaisability of madhyama) Bharata uses the word gandharva kalpo. Abhinava interprets the term gandharva kalpo to mean not only gandharva but also grama rogos wiiich were those forms of dhruva gäna that were closest to the jätis.These i.e., gräma rägas were bom directiy of the jätis in contrast to the bhäsä, vibhäsä etc., which were bom not of gändharva forms but out of grama rägas. Kallinôtha explaining the significance of the name grama roga and its relation to 'gräma',connects this form directly with the j'ätis, "even though the grama rägas are not directiy bom of the grämas but only by way of the j'ätis, yet they are less removed from the grämas than such forms as bhäsäs, rägas etc. Hence they are called gramo rägas {Kalänidhi on SR 2,1-8-14). Hence in the gräma-rägas, too, as in the jatis, madhyama is said to be an indispensable note. However, it did not have this position in other dhrum forms such as bhäsä etc.

151.

Amáa is the most prolific note as conq)ared to all others and, hence, it is the dominant note. 'Svasvaräpeksa^' here, seems a mistakes for 'sarvosvoräpe^ayä'.

1^2. , nVi-

The word 'rakti' has been translated by Dr. Mukund Lath as 'musical charm', whichdoes not seem to do justice to its subjec­ tive, experiential implications.

In relaticm to amáa, otha notes are established such as sammdi, anuväiS etc., and on it depoid the five factors graha, apanyäsa, vinyäsa, sannyäsa and nyäsa. The amáa is, however, in no way related to tho vivädi note.

153.

Even if some of thenotes (not samvâdi,anifvâ