सङ्गीतरत्नाकर: प्रथम भाग (शार्ङ्गदेव - स्वरगताध्याय सविस्तार व्याख्या व अनुवाद सहित)

176 Treatment of Svara Section 4 : Grāma, Mūrcchanā, Krama and Tāna 177
order. These⁴ are mūrcchanā-series (krama-s) and their num-
ber is three hundred and ninetytwo. (19-20b).
These series of tonal order do not stand in the descending order and
are therefore called krama-s or mūrcchanā-krama-s-i.e., mūrcchanā-series.
Since each of the fiftysix mūrcchanā-s has seven series, the total number of
such sub-varieties comes to (56 x 7 = 392) three hundred and ninetytwo.
The purport is that each one of the fiftysix mūrcchanā-s spoken of
above, has seven series of mūrcchanā-s of its own which are formed by
commencing the mūrcchanā with the first, the second, the third, the
fourth, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh note, keeping the śruti-value
of the notes unaltered. Now, 'S' poses the problem that, if the mūrc-
chanā is commenced with the second note and so on, how can it have
seven notes in it ? The text resolves the difficulty by suggesting that
the last notes may be sung in the first instance and the preceding notes
may be sung in their respective order. Moreover, it is notable that in
this scheme the basic scale is not altered and so the mūrcchanā does not
change, what changes is the order of notes in it, and actually each
mūrcchanā has seven possibilities of such a variety in the order. These
series are therefore called krama-s, literally 'orders'; they are useful in
the computation of kūṭatāna-s (permutational note-series). The series of
mūrcchanā-s are therefore sub-varieties of the mūrcchanā-s and are distin-
guished from the mūrcchanā-s proper by the fact that they are formed only
in the ascending order of notes, whereas the mūrcchanā-s are formed in
the descending order as well. For instance uttaramandrā, the first
mūrcchanā, of the ṣaḍja-grāma is sa ri ga ma pa dha ni : ni dha pa ma
ga ri sa; but the series of this mūrcchanā are recorded as follows :-
These krama-s, named as mūrcchanā-series are considered to be
mūrcchanā-s only in so far as the notes in their ascending order are placed
consecutively and exhibit some sort of order in their arrangement.
Mataṅga, following Bharata, classifies the seven-tonal mūrcchanā-s
in slightly a different way, viz. pūrṇā (complete), ṣāḍavitā (hexatonic),
auḍuvitā (pentatonic) and sādhāraṇī (mixed), the first one of which
incorporates all the seven notes, the second is composed of six notes, the
third is formed with five notes only, while the fourth includes kākalī
or/and antara forms of niṣāda and gāndhāra.
Bharata has defined mūrcchanā as a group of seven notes placed
in order, and he derives mūrcchanā-tāna-s (also called only tāna) from
them by the omission of one or two notes (cf. N. S., G. O. S. IV.
32-33, p. 25). Śārṅgadeva too, basically follows this classification
but technically he applies the term tāna to all those modifications of
mūrcchanā-s that are formed by the omission of one to six notes in the
combinational and permutational note-series (śuddha and kūṭa tāna-s).
(vii) मूर्च्छनानां देवताः
यक्षरक्षोनारदाब्जभवनागाश्विपाशिनः ॥२०॥
षड्जग्रामे मूर्च्छनानामेताः स्युर्देवताः क्रमात् ।
ब्रहेन्द्रवायुगन्धर्वसिद्धद्रुहिणभानवः ॥२१॥
स्युरिमा मध्यमग्राममूर्च्छनादेवताः क्रमात् ।
(vii) The presiding deities of the mūrcchanā-s : 20c-22b
The presiding deities of the mūrcchanā-s of the ṣaḍja-
grāma respectively¹ are yakṣa², rakṣa³, Nārada⁴, Brahmā⁵,

		8	9	10	11	12	13	14
1st series	:	sa	ri	ga	ma	pa	dha	ni
		14	8	9	10	11	12	13
2nd series	:	ni	sa	ri	ga	ma	pa	dha
		13	14	8	9	10	11	12
3rd series	:	dha	ni	sa	ri	ga	ma	pa
		12	13	14	8	9	10	11
4th series	:	pa	dha	ni	sa	ri	ga	ma
		11	12	13	14	8	9	10
5th series	:	ma	pa	dha	ni	sa	ri	ga
		10	11	12	13	14	8	9
6th series	:	ga	ma	pa	dha	ni	sa	ri
		9	10	11	12	13	14	8
7th series	:	ri	ga	ma	pa	dha	ni	sa
(Chart 15, adopted from K.R. with modification)

1. That is, from the first mūrcchanā-series to the seventh series.
2. Yakṣa is a class of demigods who are considered to be the
   guards of the treasures of Kubera, the god of wealth.
3. Rakṣa is the name given to evil spirits 'K. R.' in his note
   on verse 20 considers rakṣa-s along with yakṣa-s to be semi-
   celestial beings. He does not elaborate on their function.
4. Nārada is a celestial figure, a sage elevated to be a divine
   roaming minstrel of the three worlds (i.e. the heaven being the
   abode of gods, the earth being the abode of mortals and the un-
   der world below the earth, being the abode of nāga-s or reptiles).
5. The creative aspect of the Hindu trinity.
   this verse; they may be understood as subvarieties of the seven
   mūrcchanā-s, called krama-s in the text. The word krama is used
   in the sense of series in this particular context.
   12