FOREWORD
The eighth in the series of the Kalāmūlašāstra, research and publication
programme of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts is the Brhaddesi.1
As the name suggests, it is extensive and comprehensive.
This is rightly
considered the most important text on music after the Nāṭyaśāstra and Dattilam.6
In the Foreword to
Mātrālakṣaṇam and
Dattilam I had drawn attention to
the
importance of Mātrālakṣaṇam as embodying and manifesting musical structures
of the Sama-Veda.8 Dattilam is the first autonomous text of music which
enunciates a theory of sound, structure and composition quite distinct from the
Nātyašāstra tradition.2 The Chapters of the
Nātyašāstra dealing with music have
posed many complex problems of editing and translation. While the Indira
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts will publish this seminal text, it will take
some time.
Bṛhaddeśī, without doubt, is the next most important text between
the Nāṭyaśāstra and Dattilam on the one hand and the fully evolved text, namely,
the Sangita Ratnäkara on the other hand.7
In the case of
Dattilam the editor had to rely on one manuscript. In case of
Bṛhaddeśī the editing job is even more hazardous because
the text has had to be
reconstructed from excerpts by later writers.9 This task is challenging and
requires mastery of the skills of collation and editing of a very high order. Dr.
P.L. Sharma, the editor of this Volume who has devoted a life-time in
unravelling the mysteries of the textual corpus in relation to the unbroken
traditions and the practice of Indian music has assiduously reconstructed this
text on the basis of the citations, has provided annotations, explanations and,
naturally, translation. The work is being presented in three Volumes. The first
two will present the text with a translation, notes and annotation. The third will
be on the critique of the text in its totality with glossary, indices, appendices, etc.
There has been only one printed edition of this text so far, i.e. Trivandrum
Sanskrit Series in 1928.4 The present editor has considered that edition and has
corrected the errors and many mutilations and confusions in that edition.
In the context of music, one of the most common and fundamental questions
which is asked is: "Did the Nātyaśāstra mention the Rāgas?". "When did Rāgas
emerge?". In critical literature there has been a vast body of discussions on the
subject and, naturally,
scholars have taken pains to state that the Natyaśastra
makes scanty mention of the Ragas.5 The source of musical structure and
composition, both of Hindustani and Carnatic music, has to be traced back to
the Brahaddesi.
It is the Brhaddesi which for the first time makes a distinction
between Jātis, Mūrchanās and Rāga.3 The author deals, at some length, with the
forms and the characteristics of the seven pure Grāma Rāgas.10 Since this is the
firm foundation of the system of Indian music, the text assumes great
