Seven-mātrā phrases in ekakala may represent the first indication of the advent of desi talas
"that would not fit into the ancient tāla system and could,
perhaps, be taken as the first indication of the advent of desi talas."
VIMARŚA
<sup>187</sup>
75. If ekakala is related to phrasing then sarigā and each of the other units
will be taken to be forming one phrase each; if it is taken to be related to the
duration of kalā, then the duration of each phrase will have to be taken as two
mātrās; there also each kalā of time will be related to each phrase.
76,77. Identical with note 52 above.
78. All the four sa belong to the tāra-sthāna.
79. See note 47 above.
80. Samyuktam is used as an adverb, its implication is not very clear, most
probably it has been used because the units of phrases here are not equal, they
are 3+2+2=7. There is no other alaṅkāra like this in BrD.
81. Here the traditional rule of having a shake only on svaras with three
śrutis seems to have been abandoned.
82. Kalā obviously means phrase-unit here.
83. Ekakula could not, perhaps, be understood as the first degree of kalā
being of the measure of 2 mātrās. It perhaps indicates that each svara will be of
the duration of one mātrā; that would make each phrase of the duration of
seven mātrās which would not fit into the ancient tāla system and could,
perhaps, be taken as the first indication of the advent of desi talas.
84. It is notable that BrD has not classified alankāras into varņas.
85. The names like tāramandra and mandratāra do occur in NŠ (XXIX, 31)
but they have not been described.
It is notable that NS has the name dipta for tara and prasanna for mandra.
While BrD profusely uses prasanna for mandra, it does not even once use dipta
for tāra.
86. The seven gitakas are described in NS XXXI. They are - madraka,
aparāntaka, ullopyaka, prakarī, oveņaka, rovindaka and uttara. Apart from these,
āsārita and vardhamāna have been extensively described in NŠ (ibid.); they are
outside the above seven, but are very important on account of special tala
patterns and association with dance. All these forms are prescribed in
pūrvaranga (preliminaries of drama). Since no dramatic situation is required
to be highlighted in Pūrvaranga, the music there could be autonomous and
hence the units of text of songs could be stretched by the melody through
alankāras, the comprehension of the meaning of the text of songs being not
important there.
87. In dhruvās (songs prescribed for highlighting different situations in
drama), as distinct from gîtaka, the comprehension of meaning of text by the
listener is very important and hence stretching of the syllables of the text is not
desirable.
88. The implication of this statement is not clear, because alankaras of the
sthāyi-varņa are being described immediately after this verse. Abhi Bhā on NŠ
XXIX, 33 says that the alankāras of sthāyi-varņa could be used at will (in
dhruvās ); there is no restriction prescribed for them.
89. Brightening means movement towards high svaras.
90. Reverse order would mean proceeding from high to low.
e le par Alle
and the second