prabandha core_concept

[ षष्ठोऽध्यायः ] [प्रबन्धा] [तत्र प्रबन्धानामुद्देशः] देशिकारप्रबन्धा ये हरवक्त्राभिनिर्गताः । ^•प्रवन्धोऽयं(?) असंख्यातास्तु कथिता न ज?्ञायन्तेऽल्पबुद्धिभिः ॥ ३६०॥ तेषा मध्यात् समुद्धृत्य युक्तलक्षणलक्षितान् । श्रीमतङ्गमुनिः प्राह मुनीनुद्दिश्य तद्यथा ॥ ३६१॥ ९आद्यः प्रबन्धः कन्दाख्यो वृत्तो नाम द्वितीयकः । क(ज?ा?न्दा) वृत्ता गद्यरूपस्तृतीयः स्याद् दण्डकः स्याच्चतुर्थकः ॥ ३६२॥ पञ्चमो वर्णकः ख्यातः षष्ठ आर्याभिधानकः। ॰पिधायकः सप्तमी कथिता गाथा ततो द्विपथकोऽष्टमः ॥ ३६३॥ कर्शिता ^२पद्धडी नवमी प्राहुरडिला दशमी भवेत् । क्धंटी एकादशमिते स्थाने गदिता सा चतुष्पदी ॥ ३६४॥ न्मये स्थाते दोधको द्वादशः प्रोक्तस्तोटकः स्यात् त्रयोदश[:]। दोधको ततश्चतुर्दशो ज?्ञेयो वस्त्वाख्यस्तु प्रबन्धकः ॥ ३६५॥ ॰र्द(शा?शो) ततः क्रौञ्चपदस्तूर्ध्वं हंसपात् षोडशः स्मृतः। सप्तदशः प्रबन्धस्तु शुकसारिकसंज?्ञकः ॥ ३६६॥ अष्टादशश्चाश्वलील एकोनो गजलीलकः। ॰श्मलीला दश ॰ विंशश्च स्यात् सिंहलीलः शरभलील एकोत्तरः ॥ ३६७॥ द्वाविंशतिमः

207 TRANSLATION The twenty-second is said to be śukacańcu, the twenty-third is vicitra and the twenty-fourth is tribhangika. (368) Caturanga has been placed on the twenty-fifth position, after that is the one named jayavardhana. (369) That ankacāriņī is known to be the twenty-seventh, simhavikrāntaka is known to be numbered twenty-eighth. (370) The one named kalahamsa should be known by the wise to be the twentyninth, ghața is the thirtieth (and) cakravāla is known as the thirty-first. (371) The thirty-second is tripadī (and) sometimes satpadī; that bandhakaraņa has been said to be the thirty-third. (372) Pāṭakaraṇa 4 has been said to be the thirty-fourth (and) kaivāṭa has been said by the knowledgeable ones in the same, to be the thirty-fifth. (373) Dvipadī is known by the good ones as being numbered thirty-six and that which is the thirty-seventh is accepted by the muni as vartanī. (374) Elā, elaborate with many varieties, is the thirty-eighth and similary, jhombada is one less than forty (thiry-nine). (375) After that dhvanikuţţanī should be known as the fortieth, dhenkī is one more (than forty) and ekatālikā is two more (forty-two). (376) Here itself the prabandha bearing the name mātṛkā is known to be three more (than forty), the prabandha (numbered) four above forty (forty- fourth), again, should be known by the knowledgeable ones in music, as this

²⁴¹ TRANSLATION [43. Varņasvara] That which is composed with pāṭas of the hand and is again combined with tenakas, is combined with svaras, padas, pāṭas and tenakas (and) is sung in combination with tāla, that is known as varņasvara. (486) [44. Muktāvalī] (That which) is sung with charming padas having anuprāsa (and where there) is the name of the object of description, that is known as muktāvalī. (487) [45. Pratāpavardhana] Well combined with pāṭas generating enthusiasm and also with svaras, tenakas (and) where singing is accomplished with the birudas of the object of description, that is said to be the prabandha pratāpavardhana. (488) Thus eight above forty 92 (48) beautiful prabandhas are clearly to be seen. (489) [The blemishes of gita] One should avoid (the song) that is defective by the standard of the people (loka),93 defective by śāstraic94 (critical) standard, repetitive, defective in metre and vulgar or indecent, embodying deviation from proper order, devoid of meaning, 95 having dubious text and meaning, indulging in violation of (kalās 96 and) split.97 (490)

. . . . TRANSLATION 243 . [Conclusion] I have spoken of the prabandha for the entertainment of the wise. Now I shall speak of the demonstration of instruments.⁹⁸ (491) Thus ends the sixth chapter in Bṛhaddeśī composed by Matanga Muni (entitled) Prabandhādhyāya. • • 4 • 4

Vimarśa (ANNOTATIONS) Chapter I Section I ( Desi ) 1. Upto verse 13 a dialogue between Matanga and Nārada is explicit; accordingly, Matanga has been identified here as the first speaker, to whom Nārada responds. The name of Matanga appears only once again in the beginning of the Prabandha chapter (verse 361 cd) where Matanga is said to address anonymous munis. 2. Since the quality of pleasantness in sound is mentioned here, it could be conjectured that musical sound is being referred to, although later (verse 13) desi has been identified with syllabic sound. Tonal sound ( nāda ) has not been separately mentioned in this section, except in verse 7 where the svaras ( şadja etc.) of music have been said to be different from svaras (vowels) in language. 3. 'Jantu' means living being, including the human beings, but since 'people' and 'kings' are separately mentioned here, jantu could be taken to stand for sub-human creatures. 4. The manifest form or level of sound is referred to here and its spatial or regional aspect is being emphasised in the context of desi (pertaining to desa, i.e. space or region or location). 5. Dhvani at the metaphysical level is beyond space and time, it is all- pervasive ( vyāpaka ) and eternal ( nitya ). How could it be said to be related to desa (space or region or location)? This is the question. 6. Sound at the manifest level is perceived according to its direction (up, down, right, left etc.) in relation to the listener. 7. Sthāna stands for location of sound in the human body. Five such locations are identified; viz. the navel, chest, throat, palate or cerebrum and mouth, the first and the last being omitted in music. The vital air is propelled from the seat of energy in the body known as brahmagranthi and as it travels upward it touches the various locations, producing low and high sounds. This is the purport of sound being the 'follower' of sthana. 8, 9, 10. In Tantra the concentrated form of energy is identified with bindu (lit. point or drop) and the flowing form of energy is called nāda. At the aural level bindu manifests as the anusvāra ( nasal sound marked with a dot on the line) and nāda as tones and vowels (combined with consonants) without specification and at the visual level bindu is the point and nāda could bear the analogy of rekhā (line) without specific form. Mātṛkās (lit. mothers) are the subtle and unmanifest forms of letters of the alphabet; thus they are the matrices of all sound-forms, they could be said to stand for the subtle level of individualised specific letters. These three and the manifest form of mátykas viz.