Book reviews: Kathakali: the art of the non-worldly edited by D. Appukuttan Nair and Ayyappa Paniker; Text tone and tune: parameters of music in multi cultural perspective by Bonnie C. Wade and Brhaddesi of Sri Matanga Muni edited by Prem Lata Sharma

11 Pages·1993·0.47 MB·English

BOOK REVIEWS
Kathakali: The Art of the
Non-Worldly
Ed. D. Appukuttan Nair
& K.Ayyappa Paniker
Marg Publications, Bombay,1993
203 pages, Rs. 895
The publication adds richly to the meagre
critical writing in English on this highly
developed and internationally known per
formance form. Besides the two scholars
who haveedited thework,greatmastersof
the Inldition-Kalarnandalam Ramankutty
Nair, Kalamandalam Govinda Warrier,
Kalamandalam Gopi, Kalamandalam
Gangadharan and Kalamandalam
Padmanabhan Nair-havewrittenonvari
ousaspectsof performance,aestheticsand
training of theactor. the quality and performance potential of
In the first section of the book, "The some ofthe playsbymajorpoets.
Background", Dr. Nair discusses the phi. The opening section also gives some
losophy of enactment of attakmha. If the useful material such as a bibliographyof
text is a surra. the actor is a bhashyakar, attakathas with the names of authors and
commentator. according to Dr. Nair. He dates, indicating also where a work is
elucidateshis ideasbygivingexamplesof anonymous or the names of authors and
select scenes and episodes from the plays. dates are uncertain. The list of patrons,
He hasalso discussed the qualities and the major troupes and great performers, with
role ofthesahridaya,the aesthelically ini their photographs in some cases, and the .
tiated spectator, who plays an important enumeration of major Kathakali training
participatory role. Prof. Paniker identifies institutioos will be of value for
the SOUrceof KathakaJiplaysfrom the two researchers.'Also included inthissectionis
epicsand thepuranas.Healsoexplainsthe alongchapteron theillitiation andtraining
poetic structureofattakasha,and discusses of the Kathakali actor by Kalamandalam
StJlfgutNaklk No.110:October- December1993
BOOKREVIEWS 43
Padamanabhan Nair. Illustrated with pho asoloperformance,andrevealthepotential
tographs,theexpositionisofgreatinterest. and power of the Kathakali actor.
Inthe second sectionofthe book, "The Regretfully the excerpts are more in the
Performance", various aspects such as nature of descriptions of performance; in
aharyabhinaya. angikabhinaya, sattvikab some cases,howeveractors' bodilymove
binaya,rasabhinaya.musicandrhythmare mentsand hand-gestures have beenrelated.
covered.Illustrationshelpinunderstanding to the rhythmic cycle,which plays a vital
theirmeaning and purpose. However, the role instructuring theperformance.
discussion of certain aspects is not ade The book covers all the aspects of
quate. The chapter on angikabhinaya. Kathakali fromtrainingtolhedramatictext
including the use of mudras, the most dis to the performance text,and combines the
tinguishing feature of Kathakali and features of both a manual and a reference
Kalasam,whichplaysan importantrole in book.This, however,also putslimitations,
the structure of the performances and and does not allowthe discussion of some
designing the overall choreography, and ofthe importantthemesin-depth,and with
conventions of space and time have not a theoretical angle.
beendiscussed soastobringouttheirrole Dr. Nair has discussed at length the
increating the performance text and their symbolic roleofthe lamp. Butthe lamp as
contribution tothe aesthetics of Kathakali. the focal point in the performance arena
Abcutthemudrasithasbeenmentioned also playsacrucial role indetermining the
inpassingthattheirsourceisinthemudras treatmentofspace.Actorsmovingtowards
usedinthevedic chant, Tantric rituals and the lamp, back-ward and sideways, nse a
daily life, but these sources have not been small area, constantly treading the same
identified.Thecomplexprocessoftheexe groundlikea shaman.
cution of mudras and their application InhisdiscussionofKathakaliasathree
involvingbodilymovements,facialexpres dimensional poetic text, Dr. Nair has
sions. movements of the eyes. and poetic observed that its performance techniques
imageprovided by the dramatic text have and conventions are different from and
notbeendiscussed. independent of the Natyashastratradition.
The third and last section of the book, Coming from a reputed scholar of
"Dramatic Vignettes", gives the Kathakali and KeraIa's performance tradi
attaprakaram (performance text - of tion, this,I am sure,willgenerateadebate
excerpts from four important plays) amongstscholars ofthe Natyashastra.The
"KaJyanasougandhikam" "KamaIadalam", basicconceptsand formulationofthefour
"Nalacharitam" and "Tapassattom't-s-in fold aspects of abhlnaya;dharmis, vrims.
Englishtranslation by Chitra Paniker. Tho poorvarangaprocedures, centrality of the
performance text is illustrated with colour actor in a dramatic performance, actor
photographs sothatthereader,whilegoing spectators relationship, performance as an
amalgam of poetry, music, dance and
through the description of performance,
movements, treatment and conventions of
can refer to the photographs and under
space and rime enunciated in the
stand the process of creating the perfor
Natyashastrahavesucha universalcharac
mancetextbyadding bodymovementsand
ter that they are applicable in varying
hand-gestures to the words. The excerpts
degree to the performace modes of our
havebeenchosen with care. All these are
most demanding situations on the actor, conntry ranging from Bhand Pathar of
Kashmir to Kathakali of Kerala,and from
oftenUsedfordemonstrationpurposesoras
.u SURESIIAWASTIU
Ankia Nat of Assam to Bhavai of Gujarat. several in large full-page size. TheyCover
These are also applicable to a great extent such aspects as performers. scenes from
to the performance modes of the countries performances, mudrasandtheirexecution.
ofSouth-EastAsia,Japanand China where musicians,playingofmusical instruments,
traditionaltheatrelikeoursisthetheatreof singers, make-up process, jewellery and
known and shared myths, and celebrates demonstration ofcostuming,trainingexer
the valuesof stylisation and conventions. cisesand massage.Thephotographsareby
Inthecaseof Kathakaliwithgreatempha the well known photographer Pankaj Shah
sis on angikabhinaya which is part of and aptlycatchtheessenceofamovement,
Bharata's scheme of four-fold abhlnaya; mudraorfacial expression.
the repertoireofmudrashas beenenlarged It is regrettable that the book neither
and their ,execution highly cultivated in gives aselectbibliography nor anindex.A
order to make up for the underplaying of book such as this by Kerala scholars
theverbalvachikabhinaya. should even have given a select bibliogra
The Natyashastra, though attributed to phyofbooksinMalayalam.Theproblemis
Bharata, is a compendium which evolved that theMargpublicationsare special num
and developed over a period of three or ber of the Marg journal converted into
fourcenturiesbyaddingnewideasand the hard-coverbooks,Thoughthisisbeneficial
oriesbasedontheatrepracticeasprevalent commercially. it should not have been
indifferentregionsand periods. It certain allowedtohappen inthecaseofabookco
lyisnotregion-specific,Itistheproductof sponsored by the SangectNatakAkademi.
a living. flourishing theatrical tradition;
SIJRESHAWASTID
and its ideas and precepts have taken into
account theatricalpractice.Also.following
ourshastric traditionitsformulationskept
changing in the light of changing Text. Tone, and Tune
naryaprayog. The distinctive features of Parameters of Music irt
Kathakaliinregardtothetreatmentoftext, MultiCUlturalPerspective
art ofabhinaya,nature andfunctionsofthe
Bonnie C, Wade
mudras, highly stylised and elaborate
make-up,areinawayregionalandartistic American InstituteofIndian Studies
variationswithastrongimprintofregional & Oxford and IBH,Delhi, 1993
performancecultureandshastrictraditions xiv +245 pages (with audio cassette)
within theschemeandaestheticsofperfor
fianceasdiscussedintheNatyashastra. Thebookisinthe simplest.and inthemost
Nearly 500 technicaltermsandSanskrit significantsense,anexplorationofinterre
and Malayalam words have been used in lationships.Andthis realisationenablesme
the text, Even if this impedes a smooth to resist the temptation ofdiscussing each
reading of the text, it helps in giving the of the twelve essays individually. It isa
feel ofKathakaliculture.Aglossary ofthe strong temptation indeed, for most of the
technical terms and Malayalam words has essays reflect vast field experience. coura
been given with their phonetic rendering geous attempts at new formulations and.
and Englishequivalents, above all, a freshness generated by an
Like all Marg publications. the book is anthropologist's close listening, with a
profuselyillustrated withalarge numberof sharpened and cultivated awarness of a
black-end-whjn, and colour photographs. society'smusic.
BOOKREVIEWS 45
Whatwesee inText, Tone and Tune is
an attempt to understand music through
tracingpossible interrelationships amongst
thethree.Thechoice and useofthese three
astheordinates that constitute aperforrna
thetraditionispreventedfrombeingstruc
turalisticby whatseems like a consensus
among\he participants that none of these
categoriesoftext,toneandtunearedefini
tionallyfixed.Thecategoriesare fluid and
are beingdiscovered incourseof reading,
writingandhearing a culture. It says a lot
fortheapproach of the work that the intro
duction unhesitatingly admits how each
termisuseddifferentlybythe participants,
and how they in fact shift meanings in
COUrse of the discussion. Ashok Ranade
sees'text' asa purposeful putting together
oflinguisticunitstonarrateastory,express
anidea oranemotion-l-from his location
typeisassigned to, say,thehelplessyoung
asessentially atheoreticianof Indian clas scholar, a male role melody to the stoic
sical music trained in Sanskrit treatises. matriarch.OnkarPrasadtalksofgroupspe
Anthony Seeger, on his part, views the cific tunes: how the biraha signifies the
'text'asverbaldiscoursefrom hisposition social life of theahirs around Benaras. In
as an ethnomusicologist living with the suchcases thetune-lone isthesymbolical
SuyaIndiansofBrazil.Again,forAnthony ly significant element in the texted genres
Seeger'tone' indicatesactualpitchorman under discussion. Regula B. Qureshi. on
ner of pitch change; K. Subramanian as theotherhand,tellsusofexactlytheoppo
pitch,tonal arrangement and tonal colour site situation.InIslamic culture thepurely
ing; Onkar Prasad as modes of sounding sensoryimpactofmusicistobecontrolled.
wordsinspeech;and Ranade as indicating The controlling isdone by thepresenceof
acertain senseof feeling,oftenassociated the text; accompanying instruments ~
withthetext. . either banished altogether or kept as a
The interrelationships between tone, drone, to provide an articulation of the
textandtunethenemergenotasanyfixed ongoing textual metre. Thus the text pre
structurethatdefinesmusic a-socially, and vails over the tune. Onkar Prasad shows
formallyasart,but associo-culturally spe what tune-requirements do to the text:
cificmovementsthatconstitutethemusical since the karam binti of the Santals takes
significance of a tradition, which differs hours to complete, the text is oftenelabo
and shares as well across cultures and ratedthoughsungtothelimitedlinesofthe
undergoeschangethroughtime.Inthecase melody.In showinglbetune-tonerelation
?fthePekingopera, Rulan Pian tells us, it ship, Onkar Prasad (for'whom tone is the
IS the tune/melodic mould that mainly modeofsounding wordsinspeech)tells us
communicatessymbolicallythepersonality howthewords endingordinarilyinspeech
oftheprotagonists-afemalerolemelodic withcheckedsoundsarestretchedbykeep-
46 JAYASRIBA.'"ERJEE
ing the checks silent and stretching the tical manner. does admit incourseoflite
vowels preceding them-mal, nelok thus discussionthe needfora rang theoryofthe
contextofmusicreception.
become ma,nelorespectively.
Thisunderstandingofmusicaltraditions
In trying to thus locate music through
the playof text,tone andtune we arrive at as constituted by their performance-recep
tionin a societalcontext,i.e.attheinter
amuchsubtlerconceptionofwhatmusicis
initself.Manyofuswhohavelearntmusic faceof music and life,permitsadialogical
rememberthatirresolubleparadox ofeither comparisonbetween various traditions,a
trying 10abstract music from within songs 'meeting of minds'. This brings foob
and trying to formalistically analyse it or agreeable generalisations that congealeth·
envisionthemeaningofmusicastheliter nomusicology as a project, rather than
aVemotionaltranslationofthe wordsbeing rigid. academico-analytical creation of
sung. frameworks and disciplinary bounds.Take
Thework underreviewbringsouthow whatemerges outofthisseminarasafair
the continuous process of text, tone and lydeep,generalunderstandingoftheprob
tune interactingwith eachother andwith lernatic oforalityand literacy,Manyofthe
the context of its performance perpetuates participants illustrate from their experi
music,cultureandsociety.AndthisIseeas enceshowmemorabilityandfamiliarityare
a methodological move forward. It is a .ensuredinoralmusicaltraditions bysetting
move forward from the structuralist analy ofmelodicmouldswhichsignifycustomar
sesof folktraditions, whereintheelements ily a certain meaning, into which anyline
within thetradition are organisedvisavis of the text or repertoire can be fitted
eachotherinasynchronic,staticmanner evenwherechoreographic documentation
anapproachthatdisallowsthevoice ofthe and preservationarenotavailable.Inacal
people who constitute that tradition in the ture where textualisation is available ata
understanding of the same, refuses to see certain level, but communication is pre
the historical dynamics embedded in that dominantly oral, Qureshi shows how a
traditionand mostoften conducts a bound familiarity and fixity of form, rhyme
to-fail analysis for a universal structure of scheme, metre, basic textual themes and
the 'primitive' or 'savage' mind a 1aLevi idiom(asinghazal)allowsmetaphoricand
Strauss. Now. via the concept of 'social expressive subtleties thatkeepthe tradition
aesthetic' Susan Wadley and Bonnie C. alive and meaningful.
Wade place music at the interface of the True, and it is a good thing, that the
play oftext, tone, tune and context of the workunder reviewdoesnol make anypre
performance, thehourofthedayorseason, mature epistemological or methodological
privateorpublicperformance,personnelof commitment It probably could not have;
performance, status, class, age, gender, for itis clear from reading the articles th.1t
degree of formality or ritual, intention of the authors hold very different theoretical
the performance,etc.This permits ustogo positions, statedor not, say betweensusan
'beyond theText' (of Wadley)and yetnot
.Wadley and Prem Lata Sharma, Bruno
to fall inthe trapofsociologicaldetermin Nettl and Ashok Ranade. Bonnie Wadeas
ism.RegulaQureshidiscusses thesense of
theeditorisabletolocatesomeagreemenlS
tarannuminitsfunctionalaswellasmean on methodologicalpoints:forexample that
ingful context. Even Ashok Ranade who
factors of time. silence. context, music
givesasetschemeofcharacteristicsofart.
acquisition by children, intertextualily,
folk and popular music in the strict analy-
accompaniments to music, continuitY
BOOKREVIEWS 47
through various genres from speech to
song.andthefunctionofatradition insoci
ety must be emphasised more.
Unfortunately all the essays would not
standup tojudgement even vis a vis this
list.Yetwhatemergescollectivelyfrom the
bookis beyond the intentions of the indi
vidualessayists.And thaI isheartening.
J,\YASRIBAr-.'ERJEE
Brhaddesiof Sri Matanga Muni
Ed. Prein Lata Sharma. assisted
byAnil Bihari Beohar
IndiraGandhi National Centre
fortheArts& Molilal Banarsidass.
Delhi,1992
at all. Like many other valuable Sanskrit
Theworkispublished as Number 8 in the
texts it had survived in Kerala, where two
KalamfiJa§astra series being published by
manuscripts of it became available to
IndiraGandhiNational CentrefortheArts.
PanditK. SambasivaSastri, whopublished
under the general editorship of Kapila
it in 1928 as part of the Trivandrum
Vatsyayan. The Brhaddeti is a large text
Sanskritseries.The manuscriptsareappar
and what we have here is the first part of
ently nottobehadanymore.Dr.PremLata
thefulltext; the second partis expected 10
beoutSoon. Sharmanotesinher Introduction(see foot
noteonpagexi)thatshehasusedtheprint
Thepresentation follows a general plan
ed edition of the textas herbasic manu·
adoptedinthe KaliimUla§iistra series forall
script material. Obviously. she could not
similartexts.The original Sanskrit is print
get hold ofthe manuscripts themselves; a
ed in nagar. letters along with piitha
significant pointer. I think. to the manu
bhedas given just below them in smaller
scripts no longer being available, though
Ieners. This makes variant texts available
Prem Lata Sharma does not say so in so
to~ereadersimultaneously asalternatives
many words. Had the manuscripts been
aVaJlahleonan almostequal basis with the
available the resourceful Indira Gandhi
accepted piuha. Perhaps the device might
NationalCentre fortheArtswouldcertain
h~veto bechanged if a text has too many
lyhave procured copies for her.
palha-~hedas. Though there are many' However, the loss ofthe manuscripts is
Sanskrit texts which have survived in a perhaps not a very important factor in the
large number of manuscripts strewn all attempt to recoverthetext in itsoriginal
OVertheCountry andavailableinmanyver- form. SambasivaSastri was a knowledge
SIOns &L- - . . .
• •fUlUJUJe,Sf- anImportant text In Us ableeditorwhoknewthesangitaiiistra;he
Ownfieldwellknowntosangiraiiistrlsfor notonlycomparedthetwomanuscriptsbut
~centuries-is not one ofthem. also consulted quotations of Brhaddei! in
eare lucky that the text has survived other texts forarrivingathisownporhas.
.as MUKUNDLATH
And.in fact.itis the processofconsulting another feature of the Kallimillasastra
quotations whichseemsto be the key fac series, And in the interest of clarity,Prem
torin reaching Brhaddeii in its original Lata Sharma has also provided the text
form in as much as we can, though this with subject headings and divided it into
approach has difficulties of its own, Prem sections called anuviikas on a more
Lata Sharma has been able to use this detailed thematic basis. The anuviikas
approach much more thoroughlyandcriti occurintheprosepartof theworkorwhat
cally, with much greater textual insights has been called its vrtti. The rest of the
thanwould havebeen possibleforanyear work is in verse, forming what may be
liereditor, Her rationaleforthepiuhasshe describedasitskiirikiipart;thereare many
presents is itemized in the section called iiistras, both technical and philosophical,
Pii/ha-t-'imarsa. another feature of the which are written in a kiirikii form, The
KalfunUlasastra series, The series has also kiirikii has the same approach towards
usefullychosentoprint an Englishtransla brevity and conciseness as the surra,
tionsidebysidewiththeoriginal,insuch3 whereas the vrtti is more discursive and
way that they face eachother, expansive. Insanglta, we have theuseof
Prem Lata Sharma's translation is lucid kdrikds in the earlier Niityaiastra and
and will help readers unacquainted with Dattilam. Indeed, Brhaddesi both quotes
Sanskritto haveapravd ainthetext,This and incorporates kiirikiis from these two
is no meanachievement since, totell the earlier texts, both avowedly and una
truth,even, a good knowledge of Sanskrit wovedly, Whether the kiirikiisand the\.(Iti
isnotenoughtogiveapravesa intosucha belong 10 the same author and! or were
text as Brhaddeii, A translation of this written at the same period is a difficult
qualitywouldnothavebeen possibleinthe question. leading us into the same kindof
daysof Sambasiva Sastri, despitea greater speculation that surrounds many Sanskrit
currency of traditional expertise in the texts. Whal is important regarding
sastms in his days. The reason is that a Brhaddesi is that we should first have'
praveia into the earlier texts of sangita clean and clear text as far as possible
sastraneeds animaginative hermeneutics before suchquestions can be meaningfully
which is both historical as well as cog asked.This PrernLataSharma hasprovid
nisant of the complex relation between ed us with, A readeris bound to askahos
prayoga andsiistra. PremLataShararn has of other questions. historical, textual and
been the major architect of such interpre theoretical, regarding Brhaddeii. Theedi
tation, Herowndevoted work in thisfield lor has raised them, too, bUIwe shallhave
has made possible the lucidity she has to wait a while before her reflectioa!
achievedinhertranslation.
appear inthe final volumeofherambitious
Still,atextsuchasBrhaddeSialsoneeds work.
an exposition besides a good translation. And yeteven as much ofthetextas,e
The translator has promised that she will havebeforeusinacomparativelytranspar
publishathird volumetogo with themula ent form reveals knots which seem to be
text. which will be concerned with a cri almostinherentin the text and areperhapS
tique of the text and its contents, author many centuries old. Matanga Muni. !he
ship, date, style, earlier authorities etc. author of the text, is a quasi-mythological
Short, helpful notes on the text are, how figure. Isay 'quasi'.sinceheisknownboIh
ever. incorporated in the presentvolume
asaMuniinPauranic storiesaswellasan
itself, in the section entitled 'Vimaria', iiciirya in the fieldofsang/taoInthis,he~
BOOKREVIEWS 49
likeBharata, Narada, Kohala, Yastika and mised intobijiiksaras: sa. ri, ga .. . and
numberof other hoary figures. The tone related to variousgods.Here, interestingly.
andtextureofhistexthasthestampofboth we perhapsalsohavethebijaofour useof
anoCQrYGand amuni.Theverybeginning saragamwhichseems[0haveoriginatedin
ofthetextis likethatofa Purana, opening Tantrabutwasthenshornofitsmystic sig
with a dialogue between Narada and nificance,remainingjustashortenedname.
Matanga,withNaradaasking Matanga,the ThedominanceofTantrainourculture is
Mahamuni. to reveal to him the secret of saidtobeacomparatively later phenome
deiJmusic.Thequestion posed.however, non, belonging to aperiod after the Gupta
isverysasrra-like and intellectual: "How, age, acquiringdeeperrootslaterstill.
being amurta ('fonnless" or perhaps This throws an intriguing light on the
'abstract') Narada asks, "does (musical) relation, historically speaking,between the
kiirikiis and the vrtti of Brhaddeii. The
sound acquire regional characteristics,
saragam bijiiksaras and the process by
limited in space?". And so begins an
which they are obtained is given in the
Deary'a-like discourse, breaking new
kiirikiis.But thekiirikiisdonotactually use
ground in the history of music. Earlier
the abbreviated form ofthesvarasin nam
iiutrashad nottalked about thedeii.
ing them. They always use the full form:
Itcanbe argued that what Ihave point
'sadja,rsabha, giindhiira,..' This ishow
edtoasaPura~a-likeformatandapproach
the earlier Nii{yasQstra and Dattilam also
is actually Agama.like. The Agamas
name the svaras, referring to them with
Sai"G.SaktaorVai.glGVa-shareasimilar
their full narnes. The kiirikiisbear witness
ity of format with the Pura~ and yet,
to a shortening of the names, but they do
despite a similarity of tone and texture.
not use the short form for musicaldescrip
theyarevery differentkindsoftexts,being
tion. Evidently, when the kiirikiis were
concerned mainly with specific things
composed,thesa,ri,ga,rnawasthoughtof
important for ritual or religious practices.
as sacred bijamantra and not as useful
Music, like architecture, was an important
abbreviation. Butthe vrtti. in itsdescrip
elementinAgamicritual and devotion.The
tions. uses the saragam form freely and
connection of NaD'Qsiistra and Dattilam
profusely. notating Sl'ara-structures
with the Saivas comes through in certain
through them and thus foreshadowing a
ways, though these texts are not sectarian
practicewhichhascomedowntoourown
inanysenseofthe word and their connec
times. This seems toindicate atime-gap
tion with Agama is remote, if any. But between the kiirikas and the vrtti, though
Brhaddesi directly uses the Agama, speak
there isno indication whichmight provide
mg of how Sl'Gras.are symbolised there. a measure for the gap. The already fully
Thisitdoesinaninterestingsection(vers
constituted conception of the 'sa. ri, ga,
es61 to70a, pp. 44 to 47), which it calls rna... .' form inthekiirikiisseemstosug
the'iigamasthah svaroddharah' translated
gest thatthe gap was one between an idea
as"the analYSis'of svara names contained and its practical use, and so may not beof
in'iigamu'.The Agama referred tois not a great duration. I do not know how Prem
anyspecifictext,butacertainmethodroot Lata Sharma views this matter, but her
~ in esoteric symbolism which seems of third volume will surely reflect on u. And
Agamicinspirationofthe Tantrickind.The any full review must await the complete
n~mes of the s""ras [sadja, rsabha, work includingthecritique.
g~dhiira .. .Jare abbreviated and epito- But from what we have, we can still
50 MUKUNDLATH
form an idea of Matanga's grand sastrie recognition. It is a conceptualrelation. at
plan. Brhaddeii forms a crucial watershed once powerful and subtle, and mif.'ll)e
inthetraditionof sal)gita-siisrra; itis the calledan 'intellectual'janya-janaka-bhava
earliestavailabletextdevotedtocharacteri between thejaIl and the raga.The ragais
singanddescribingragas.Italso hasasec conceivedonthe modelofthejati,withthe
tionontalainitsoriginalformbutthatpan jati as the paradigm. Its theoretical and
of the text is now lost. However,we still grammatical framework is extended to the
havepart ofasectionconcernedwithpra comprehension and formulation of raga
bondha. the genericname given to a rich forms,Thisprocess ofextendingthesastra
variety of compositionsandsongs. struc to include fresh forms becomes a standard
turally analogous to our bandish forms. for later texts such as the Sangita-rat
The prabandhas were forms in which niikara.Thus the ,astra and the prayoga
ragas wererendered inperformance;they beginning with the jat; reaches out to
had a great numberof types, much greater embrace our own current raga music.
thanourbandishes,and seemtohavebeen maintainingacontinuityoftraditionwhich
much more strictly formalised. it both shapes and articulates, while
Nothing remains of Brhaddeii beyond remainingopentochangeandinnovation.
thebrokenprabandhapan.Itisdifficultto The evocative key terms with which
assesshowmuchofthetextislost,butwe 8rhaddeSi itself expresses the relation
cansee a reflection of its design in later between the jiui and raga are margi and
texts suchastheSangita-ramakara. More deii,occurringrightat the beginningofthe
than this.we discoverthat what we have text. Here, perhaps, we have the firsr
here are the majorthemes of theconceptu known use of these two meaning-loaded
alseedsofourownunderstandingof raga concepts.They are given a kindof formal
and its rendering, the mainstay of our laksana or definition almost at the begin'
siistriya smlgira. Theragasare. gramedly, ning of the text, but their suggestiverange
much older than Bjhaddeii and a definite of meaning and influence extends beyond
cognisance of raga-like forms is to be theconfinesofthenotvery clearand saris
found in Dattilam and NaIYaSastra. But factory 'definitive' laksanas. Indeed,
these texts treat them as peripheral forms Brhaddeiiasa wholecan be understoodas
outsidetheirken,spokenofjustinpassing. anexerciseinrelatingthedesitothemargI
In Brhaddeii they are the centre of auen even though matanga himself does notput
tion;wehave hereanewandpotentsastra this in so many words and does not self,
which has itsfocus entirely towardsthem. consciouslyreflecton therelationheisIt)'.
Earlier texts had already remarked upon ingtoestablish. However,Matanga'sinteo\
arelationofantecedencebetweenthe form is similar to the grammarians of the
they are mainly devoted to, namely the Prakrits and Apabhrarnsa such as
jatis, and the emergent raga. But besides Hemchandra, who quite assertively relate
this janyii-janaka-bhiiva or a relation of the forms and grammarof these languages
'parenthood' between the jalis and their to Sanskrit, calling it the source of these
'offspring'theragas,thereisanother,anda languages as well as the prakrti or model
~3strically more momentous and conse for understanding them.
quentialrelation that was thoughttoobtain
Thedeiiisdefined thus(toquotethe
between them:arelationwhichstillcontin
translation):
ues in spirit although the jiuis no longer
exist and ragas have changed beyond That which is sung by women,
BOOKREVIEWS S1
children,cowherds and kings outof rest,intheviewofMatanga,isamorphous,
their own will with love (and plea being the deSi kind of deii. or, in other
sure) in their own (respective) words, the truly deii, within which the
regionsiscalled deli(music).(verse mdrga forms a chartered territory. Verse
II) 14,translatedabove,gives usadescription
ofthis realdeii,the music freely produced
Themarg/has the following charac
and enjoyed bypeople indifferentregions,
teristics:
according to differenttastes.Deii issome
This miirga (course) (of deSi) is timesequated with 'folk-music'.Butitisa
knowntobetwo-fold viz.thatwhich much larger category, which includes the
is nibaddha (structured, literally folk butreachesbeyondit.II is not limited
bound) and that which is anibaddha to whatwe todaycall 'folk',asociological
(L::bound,relatively less structured). category associated with the village, the
That which is structured through oral, non-learned people, lying outside
iiliipa (melodic elaboration) etc. is 'high',cultivated traditions.Noticethatthe
called marga (path), but the one music of kings is included in the deii.
devoid of aldpa etc. is called desi. Malangagivesustwoequallybalancedsets
(verses 15-16a) of persons who sing the deii: abalii bdla
Thelastpartofthedefinition wheredeii gopiila and ksitipdla. What makes music
itself is described a> a kind of marga deiiforhimisnotwhosingsit,whetherthe
devoid of Q/iipa etc. and thus of any personbelongstowhatwecallthe 'folk' or
'bound' or systematic structure-iiliipiidi not, but how it is sung- for pure pleasure
vihinastusacadeiiparkirtitah-wasmiss and freely, without following any rules.
ing in the Trivandrum text and has been Now. we know that any music can be
restored to it from a later quotation. It brought under the paleof some systemati
appearstogiveastrangeand contradictory sation,however'spontaneous'and 'free'it
rumtothedefinition.Earlierwe have been might appearon thefaceofit.Musicology
toldthatdeSihasatwo-foldpath ormiirga. is trying todo thisallthelime. But sucha
thenibaddha and the anibaddha. But this musicology isnotwhat Matangaseemsto
panof the passage denies the earlier con be attempting. The deii of verse 14 is, I
tentionandsays thatonly theanibaddha is think, a residual category which remains
defi.Thereis obviously a confusion here. outsidethelimitsofanysastraorsystema
PJ:m
LataSharma'explains bysaying that tisation. however much it might be
margahasbeenusedintwodistinctsenses, stretched;itis theopen-endedcreativityof
a.generalsensemeaning 'kind',anda tech man: the pure anibaddha remainder
mCal?rspecificsensedenotingand narning beyond any sastra, irreducible to any
~dIstinctkind. Thus, as she puts it, "Deii nibaddha,and yet the source of ever new
: ~i~ided into mdrga and desl and this nibaddha:theopenfield whichisassumed
VlSlonitself is known as the margo of in the process of reaching out to newer
des;music"(see her section Yimarsa p. fo-ms, It seems. in this sense. almost a .
150). ' ' ,
logicalcategory,withoutwhichtheprocess
This isreasonable and provides clarity of a continuous extension of systematisa
andleads to interesting conclusions. What tionormiirga cannotbemeaningful.
we~ave is the vision of a large body of The 'pure' des! is not described by
muslCbem' gconstantly created by the peo- Malanga. It cannot be. What he does
ple. Some of it follows a system but the describe can be perceived a>a large spec-