1. A Note on Music

The way of conveying inner feelings and emotions through sound associated with rhythm, melody and harmony is simply understood as Music. It is a kind of performing art which has been being practised through the ages. In Sanskrit, the word saṃgīta is used to denote the entire compass of Music.^[1]

In the Saṃgītaratnākara of Sāraṅgadeva it is said that—

gītaṃ vādyaṃ tathā nṛttaṃ trayaṃ saṃgītamucyate.^[2]

That means, the Saṃgītaratnākara includes:

1. gīta i.e., vocal Music,
2. vādya i.e., instrumental Music and
3. nṛtta i.e., Dance under the jurisdiction of saṃgīta i.e., Music.

Moreover, according to the Saṃgītaratnākara, gīta i.e., vocal Music is the main constituent of saṃgīta.^[3]

The derivation of the term gīta is found in the Śabdakalpadruma as—

gīyate iti gītaṃ^[4]

I.e., vocal Music is that which is sung.

Moreover, a specific definition of gīta is also found in the Saṅgītadāmodara of Śubhaṅkara as—

dhātumātusamāyuktaṃ gītamityucyate budhaiḥ/
tatra nādātmako dhāturmāturakṣarasañcayaḥ//^[5]

From the above definition, it can be seen that in the Saṅgītadāmodara, the word gīta is taken to denote instrumental and vocal Music together by applying the words dhātu and mātu respectively. It is more clear from the second line of the definition. According to this line, dhātu is said as nādātmaka i.e., which belongs to nāda i.e., sound^[6] and mātu is said as akṣarasañcaya i.e., which gathers words in it. So, it can be said that dhātu denotes Music through instrument or we can say that instrumental music which creates sound and mātu denotes vocal Music which holds syllables or words. Moreover, the Saṅgītadāmodara accepts two kinds of gīta viz., yantra and gātra.^[7] Yantra denotes Music originated from instruments like veṇu, vīṇā etc. as well as gātra denotes vocal Music which is originated in mouth.^[8] In the Viṣṇudharmottarapurāṇa also a detailed discussion on the three parts of Music viz., vocal Music, instrumental Music and Dance is found. In this present chapter the vocal Music and the instrumental Music are discussed together where as Dance is discussed separately in another chapter of this dissertation.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

V.S Apte, The Student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.577

[2]:

Saṃgītaratnākara, 1.21

[3]:

[...] Ibid., Vol-1, 1.24

[4]:

Śabdakalpadruma, Vol-2, p.329

[5]:

Saṃgītadāmodara, 2.p.16

[6]:

V.S Apte, The Student’s Sanskrit English Dictionary, p.284

[7]:

[...] Saṃgītadāmodara, 2.p.16

[8]:

[...] Ibid., 2. p.16