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

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अथ षष्ठं वर्णालङ्कारप्रकरणम्
(i) वर्णलक्षणं, तद्भेदाश्च
गानक्रियोच्यते वर्णः स चतुर्धा निरूपितः ।
स्थाय्यारोह्यवरोही च संचारीत्यथ लक्षणम् ॥१॥
स्थित्वा स्थित्वा प्रयोगः स्यादेकस्यैव स्वरस्य यः ।
स्थायी वर्णः स विज्ञेयः परावन्वर्थनामकौ ॥२॥
एतत्सम्मिश्रणाद्वर्णः संचारी परिकीर्तितः ।
Section 6
VARṆĀLAṄKĀRA :
Tone-patterns and Embellishments
(i) The definition and classification of tone-patterns (Varṇa) :
1-3b
Varṇa (tone-pattern) is the act of singing¹ which is
demonstrated to be fourfold, viz. sthāyī² (steady), ārohī³
In Section 4 the author has dealt with the permutations and
combinations of tones, but in actual practice all of them are not actually
employed in singing. Now, therefore, the author analyses the actual
singing in the tonal patterns and melodic phrases as employed in the
process of singing the musical compositions. Since in the composite
concept of saṅgīta (instrumental music and dance, i. e. vādya and nṛtya
essentially followed the vocal i. e. gāna, the terminology of the entire
musical theory is centered around vocal music; that is why, varṇa, i. e.
tonal pattern is defined in the context of singing, though it is equally
applicable to the instrumental music, or dance music and so on.

1. Gāna-kriyā rendered as the "act of singing" indicates the
   process of singing or the action of voice-production in the
   process of singing.
2. Sthāyī literally means unvarying, e. g. 'sa sa sa' or 'ri ri ri' and
   so on.
3. Ārohī is ascending in pitch, e. g. 'sa ri ga ma pa dha ni' and
   so on.

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Section 6 : Varṇalaṅkāra 235
(ascending), avarohī⁴ (descending) and sañcārī⁵ (circula-
tory). These are defined as follows. (1)
When the same tone is put to a halting⁶ use it is known
as the steady (tone) pattern. The two subsequent⁷ patterns
Varṇa literally means colour, taste or a syllable. In the context of
music the word is metaphorically used in the sense that the particular
manner and order in which the tones are employed contributes to their
musical value, and also lends colour or taste to the composition. In
short, the value of tone-pattern is comparable to the colour-pattern of
the visual arts. But more than that varṇa in the sense of 'a syllable' is
applicable in musical parlance; for, as the syllables go to form a
meaningful word and then a group of words goes to form a sentence
which is the significant unit of language, so also tones organised into a
particular fashion go to form melodic phrases, that are the units of a
melodic composition. The concept of varṇa is as old as Bharata, since
he too has spoken of these four types of tonal patterns (varṇa-s), (cf.
N. S. Kāśī ed. 29. 24).
The classification of tone-patterns, as pointed out by 'K' is based
on the predominant element viz. if in the process of singing it is the
steady pattern that is predominant, then the tonal pattern will be called
the 'steady'. In other words, the four types of tonal patterns are not
used exclusively.
Steadiness in the steady pattern is obtained by harping on the
same tone for sometime. The nature of ascending and descending
patterns is well described by their names. The sañcārī (i. e. the circu-
latory pattern) is defined by Mataṅga (as quoted by 'K') as under :
यत्र ताने सञ्चरन्ति स्वरा अन्यान्यसंहिताः ।
एकैकशो द्विशो वा स सञ्चारी वर्ण उच्यते ॥
4. Avarohī is descending in pitch, e. g. 'ni dha pa ma ga ri sa' and
so on.
5. Sañcārī literally means moving around not having any fixed
order. This is an admixture of the above three types and is
illustrated in the order of such phrases as 'sa ri sa ri ga sa ni
dha sa ri ga' and 'sa sa sa ni ma ma ni ma pa ni ri ri pa' etc,
6. Halting on a tone by repetition as 'sa sa sa'.
7. Subsequent to the steady (sthāyī) pattern as mentioned in the
previous verse i. e. the ascending (ārohī) and descending
(avarohī) patterns.