Abstract
In Indian knowledge traditions, Vyākaraṇa describes the rules for the formation (prakṛti-pratyaya-vibhāga) and use of correct words (sādhuśabda). The Vākya (sentence) is postulated as the primary unit of communication. “śābdabodha” deals with the cognition of sentential meaning. Similarly, in Indian music, every rāga has a lexicon and grammar (rāga-lakṣaṇa): a rāga only allows some notes and not others, and it has rules for constructing phrases—notes to be highlighted, notes to end phrases on, ornamentation, etc. These phrases of the rāga are comparable to “vākya” which when presented with due regard to certain other considerations generate an apprehension of the rāga (rāgabodha). During presentation of a rāga, an artist aims to evoke the rāga-cchāyā or rāga-svarūpa and also an emotive state in the listener. There is a cognitive aspect to the informed listening of a rāga that is parallel to linguistic communication. We seek to understand how these parallels work between śābdabodha and rāgabodha. We postulate that the conditions of expectancy (ākāṅkśā), logical consistency (yogyatā) and proximity (sannidhi) in combination with the theory of sphoṭa provide a framework to explain how a rāga is expounded and cognised.
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Notes
Form and Function in Human song, Samuel A. Mehr, Manvir Singh et al.
Heinrich Besseler's Gebrauchsmusik and eigenständige Musik—everyday and stand alone music.
साधुत्वज्ञानविषया सैषा व्याकरणस्मृतिः ।
अविच्छेदेन शिष्टानामिदं स्मृतिनिबन्धनम् ।। VP 1.141.
अस्वगोण्यादयः शब्दा साधवो विषयान्तरे |
निमित्तभेदात् सर्वत्र साधुत्वं च व्यवस्थितम् ||VP 1.148.
आख्यातशब्दः सङ्घातो जातिः सङ्घातवर्तिनी |
एकोऽनवयवः शब्दः क्रमो बुद्ध्यनुसंहृतिः ||
पदमाद्यं पृथक्सर्वं पदं साकाङ्क्षमित्यपि |
वाक्यं मति मतिर्भिन्ना बहुधा न्यायवादिनाम् || VP 2.1–2.2.
पदे न वर्णा विद्यन्ते वर्णेष्ववयवा न च |
वाक्यात् पदनामत्यन्तं प्रविवेको न कश्चन || VP 1.73 .
इन्द्रियाणां यथा कार्यमृते देहान्न कल्पते ।।
तथा पदानां सर्वेषां पृथगर्थनिवेशिनाम् ।।VP 2.419 cd 420 ab.
पृथक्सर्वं पदं साकाङ्क्षम् VP 2.2.
आकाङ्क्षा संन्निधानं च योग्यता चेति च त्रयम् |
सम्बन्धकारणत्वेन क्लुप्तं नानान्तरश्रुतिः || TV V1 P.455.
पदस्य पदान्तरव्यतिरेकप्रयुक्तान्वयानुभावकत्वम् आकाङ्क्षा | (परस्परम् अविनाभावः) (TS 49).
वाक्यसमयग्राहिका आकाङ्क्षा | सा चैकपदार्थज्ञाने तदर्थान्वययोग्यार्थस्य यज्ज्ञानं तद्विषयेच्छा 'अस्यान्वय्यर्थः कः' इत्येवं रूपा पुरुषनिष्ठैव | PLM आकाङ्क्षा विचारः | (PLM P.77 आकाङ्क्षा विचारः).
अर्थार्बाधो योग्यता | TS 49.
पदानाम् अविलम्बेनोच्चारणं सन्निधिः | TS 49.
नानार्थस्थले लोके तात्पर्यन्तु एतत् पदं वाक्यम् वा एतदर्थप्रत्ययाय मया उच्चार्यते इति प्रयोक्तुः इच्छारूपम् | PLM तात्पर्यविचारः P.84.
न यद्यनाकाङ्क्षे | A 3.4.23 | This disallows ktvā (or ṇamul) in an utterance in which yad occurs if this lacks ākāṅkṣā.
अनर्थकानि -दश दाडिमानि षडपूपाः कुण्डमजाजिनं पलालपिण्डः अधरोरुकमेतत्कुमार्याः स्फयकृतस्य पिता प्रतिशीन इति | MBh. on A 1.1.1.
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The authors wish to thank Dr. George Cardona and Mahamahopadhyaya Prof. Mani Dravid Sastri for their inputs in clarifying some concepts and Dr. N. Ramanathan for his feedback.
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Sreeram, L., Jayaraman, V. Rāgabodha: A Śābdabodha-Based Framework for a Theory of Rāga. J. Indian Counc. Philos. Res. 36, 417–429 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-019-00181-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-019-00181-7