dhvani technical_term

,1 [Chapter-III] [The description of ragas] [Propitiation] 'Bhm' 1 stands for light and hamsa2 (Atman) delights in it. Hence He is known as Bharata³ The knowledge of Bharata is born of Him. The splendid Bhāratī⁴ is born of that (knowledge). (260) [ The definition of raga and its etymology ] [ Thus said Nārada? ] What is conveyed by the word rāga, what again is the definition of rāga? You should properly speak out its etymological definition. (261) Thus spoke Matanga – The form of the course of raga which has not been spoken of by (authorities) like Bharata, 5 is being described by us by combining the lakşya (the defined) and lakṣaṇa (definition). (262) Therein initially - That which colours or delights the mind of the good through a specific svara (interval) and varṇa (melodic movement) or through a type of dhvani⁶ (sound) is known by the wise as rāga. (263) Or- That which is a special dhvani,7 is bedecked with svara and varna and is colourful or delightful to the minds of the people, is said to be rāga. (264) Lakṣaṇa (definition) is known to be two-fold viz. general⁸ and particular.⁹ The general one is four-fold and the special is (in the form of) amisa and the like. (265)

¹ Ė ¹⁵¹ VIMARŚA ì 2. Gita (lit. song or the act of singing) stands for the melodic aspect of music which is rendered through the voice or stringed and wind instruments. BṛD does not mention vādya along with gīta here, nor in verse 14 where desī music is defined as 'that which is sung.' Since voice sets the model followed by stringed and wind instruments, gita is the word for the melodic aspect of music and the content of the above instruments is included in it. This extension of the meaning of gita gets established when the word vādya is juxtaposed with it, because in that case vādya gets restricted to drums. But here, in absence of that juxtaposition, gita would acquire a further extension by way of also including vādya in its orbit. Hence gīta stands here for the totality of music. It is notable that gita is followed by svara in this verse. This looks like a repetition because svara is the main constituent of gita. This could be construed as an emphasis on 'svara' through an independent reference to it. 3. Nrtta generally stands for pure dance where the delineation of artha (meaning) of kāvya (poetry, literature) is not intended (vide NŠ IV, 263). Nṛtta is dependent on nāda, because it has to be accompanied on instruments, specially drums. 4. The statement that the world is made up of nāda seems to be somewhat out of place here, because the context is that of nada being the essence of music and dance. But if one recalls the exposition of the order of manifestation or formation of gandharva beginning from bindu and moving forward through nāda - mātṛkā - varṇa - pada - vākya - mahāvākya - to Veda ( alongwith its auxiliary disciplines), it would become clear that 'gīta' (representing gāndharva) incorporates all the stages upto gandharva and hence the fundamental nature of nāda as established in gīta could be logically extended to the 'world' because the world or phenomenon itself is a manifestation of nāda through the above stages. SR expresses the same idea in the following manner - "Nāda manifests the letters ( of alphabet ), letters constitute the word and words make a sentence; so, the entire business of life is carried on through language and therefore, the whole phenomenon (i.e. the world) is based on nāda". (SR1, ².2) Just as SR has related the business of life with nāda through verbal communication that is based on the same, BrD has used gita in an extended meaning, including in it all the manifestations of nada and has expounded nada to be the essence of the whole world. It would be interesting to note here that S R also speaks of nāda being the essence of gita, vādya and nṛtta but the 'world' is not connected with nāda in that context. "Nāda is the very essence of vocal music, instrumental music is enjoyable as it manifests nāda. Nṛtta (dance) follows both (i.e. vocal and instrumental music); therefore, all the three together depend on nāda". (SRI, 2.1) 5,6,7,8. Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Maheśvara (Śiva) form one group as Trideva (three gods), representing three aspects of the manifestation of the Ultimate Reality into the phenomenon of the universe, viz. creation, preservation and destruction. Although the three of them occur in Vedic literature, yet the idea