(Prabandhas) 1. Prabandhas are said here to form part of desi music contradistinct to märga. 2. The ascription of the origin of prabandhas to the faces of Siva is an important statement as it embodies an attempt to give a divine halo to desi music (See Vol. III). 3. The reference to Matanga in the body of the text rather than as an independent statement like "thus spoke Matanga" is notable. 4. Pāṭakaraṇa has been mentioned here as an independent prabandha, whereas later texts treat it as one of the eight varieties of karana (cf. SR IV. 132c-144).¹¹ 5. Karaņa has been mentioned as being independent of pāṭakaraṇa. 6. The mention of rāga is significant, suggesting that specific rāgas would be prescribed in each prabandha, but actually that is not the case. 7. The reference to Karṇāta language is notable. 8. Totaka is mentioned as a prabandha in SR IV.244, 245; but our text does not describe it. 9. 'Svara' stands for solfa syllables here, sung according to the intervals indicated by them. 10. 'The object of description' is notable in prabandha which is a musical form independent of drama. 11. 'Pāţa' means syllables associated with drums. · 12. Biruda is a panegyrical phrase. Sanskrit language being very rich in potential for formation of compounds, lends itself to composition of such phrases. 13. See note 7. Varņa is a compositional form profusely used in Karnatic music even today.¹³ 14. Arilla is a Prākṛta metre having 16 mātrās in each foot that ends with two laghus or one laghu and two gurus.⁶ Adila could, perhaps, be related to this metre. 15,16. Tenaka or tenna is the name for syllables like 'tenna' or 'tena' used in prabandhas. Today the tānam of Karnatic music uses similar syllables and so does the ālāpa, joḍa and jhālā of dhrupad.¹ 17. 'Vastu' is used in later texts as a generic name for composition i.e. as almost a synonym for prabandha and also as a particular prabandha (cf. SR IV.6, 275, 276). 18. Rhyme or prāsa does play a very important role in the text of musical compositions.

19. Šuka is a parrot and sārī or sārikā is mainā in Hindi, the Latin name being Turdus Salica. The pair of these two is profusely used in folklore and other poetry as the characters that carry on a dialogue. The parrot is the male and sārī is the female. The śukasārika prabandha uses this well-known motif for presenting a dialogue in song.² 20. 'Rāga' seems to signify 'rāgālapti' of later texts (cf. SR III.190 c-196). 21. 'Vicitra' in Sanskrit means variegated and not strange which is the general meaning attached to it in Hindi. 22. Tribhangi literally means having three bends or curves.³ 23. This name is still current in oral tradition to-day for a composition that uses a dialect of Hindi svaras (sarigama), drum-syllables or tena syllables and a text of some other language, usually Persian or Sanskrit or drum syllables and tena syllables. In any case, four types of text have to be used. But the prescription of four ragas and talas is not followed to-day. 24. Mālā is a figurative word for a form that 'strings' together a number of varieties of something in a definite order; e.g. akṣaramālā or garland of letters/syllables.⁴ 25. This word is also used in explaining a sthaya that has succeeding phrases beginning with the last svara of the respective preceding phrases (Kalā on SR III. 112). Literally it means a circle. 26. Gandharvas are semi-divine beings, but a musicians' caste also bears this name. Here the latter seems to be relevant.⁷ 27,28. This is again one of the eight kinds of karaṇa prabandha. See note 4. Pāța is figuratively identified with the hands of the prabandha- puruşa on account of its being produced with the hands on drums. 29. 'Vastu' seems to be used here as a synonym of prabandha. 30. Here rhyme or antyānuprāsa alone is not intended; hence 'anuprāsa' has been rendered as 'alliteration'. 31. Ganas are syllabic groupings of three syllables each, embodying different formations of longs and shorts.⁸ See note 42 under Chapter II. 32. The word marga, though literally meaning path, has been used here for order or system. 33. Nāda is all-pervasive in music; the special mention of nāda here could perhaps be taken to mean tonal phrases without the combination of text or solfa-syllables, rendered generally with akara. 34. Kaiśikī is the fourth among the four vṛttis or modes of presentation in drama. It embodies song, dance and gentle or soft movements.⁹