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

Left Column

Treatment of svara
mṛdu, and tāra is also called 'dīpta'. In notation, mandra is
indicated by an overhead dot, tāra by an overhead vertical
dash and 'pluta'$^2$ by the figure 3 (following the tone)$^3$. (6c-8)
as 'S' elucidates, if the prior tone is in the lower register (in the scheme
of three registers) it is called mandra and its tāra will be in the middle
register, but if the prior tone is (mandra) in the middle register, the
subsequent tone (tāra) will be in the high register. 'S' further distin-
guishes this view from the first one by pointing out that, "accordingly
the prior tone, in this view need not be the commencing note of the
mūrcchanā" (cf. S. on 3-8, p. 154).
The terms mandra and tāra in their relative sense may be rendered
as 'lower' and 'higher' in the technical and the specific sense in this
section.
It is interesting to observe that Bharata hardly seems to speak of
the three registers (saptaka-s) in terms of mandra, madhya and tāra. He
no doubt speaks of the three sthāna-s as the places of voice production
in the context of the excellences of verbal expression (pāṭhya-guṇa-s) and
kāku (intonation), e. g.
त्रीणि स्थानानि-उरः कण्ठः शिरः इति...
उरःशिरःकण्ठात् स्वरः काकुः प्रवर्तते ॥
(N. S., G. O. S., IV. 17.106)
But the details of context in which the sound is to be produced respect-
ively from the chest, the head and the throat show that these places of
sound-production are not necessarily related in terms of pitch relations
contained in the concept of registers, though pitch is naturally involved
in kāku (cf N. S., G. O. S. IV, 17. 107-108).
Again the terms dīpta and mandra are defined by Bharata in the
context of the embellishments of pāṭhya :
उच्चो दीप्तश्च मन्द्रश्च नीचो द्रुतविलम्बितौ ।
पाठ्यस्यैते ह्यलंकारा लक्षणं च निबोधत ॥
(N. S., G. O. S., IV 17.113)
Ucca is defined as śiraḥ-sthānagata (located in the head), dīpta is defined
as śiraḥsthānagatatāratara (that which is located in the head and is higher),

Footnotes (Left Column)

2. The term pluta is taken from the terminology of Sanskrit
   grammar. Vowels are considered to be of three degrees, viz.,
   hrasva (short = 1 mātrā), dīrgha (long = 2 mātrā-s) and pluta
   (prolonged = 3 mātrā-s). 'S' interprets 'pluta' in this context
   as 'thrice'.
3. Literally, the expression 'trirvacanāt' would be rendered as
   'on account of being pronounced thrice', and 'S' interprets it
   as स त्रिप्रच्चारणीय इत्यर्थः, i. e. "Pluta is that which is to be
   pronounced (or produced) thrice."

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Right Column

Section 6 : Varṇālaṅkāra [Page] 241
mandra is uraḥ-sthānagata (located in the chest) and nīca is uraḥ-sthānastha-
mandratara (located in the chest but lower).
Thus, he has high and higher (viz. ucca and dīpta) on the one hand
and low and lower (mandra and nīca) on the other; but he has no mean
point, the middle (madhya). Consequently the terms dīpta and prasanna
are equated with tāra and mandra only in the relative order and not in
the perspective of the three registers.
Abhinavagupta also defines dīpanam as tāratā and prasāda as
mandratā and thereby relates dīpti to be the acoustic phenomena invol-
ving the listener and the singer (cf. Abh. Bh. N. S., G. O. S. IV, p. 88).
Besides, the general atmosphere created by Bharata's expression
with regard to pitch-relation suggests that the terminology had not as
yet crystallised in his time and the two extremes of high and low pitch
were recognised as a relative phenomenon without any reference to the
concept of three registers though the three registers were known to
Bharata. This may be compared with N. S. (G. O. S. IV 29.39) which
speaks of tāra, mandra and tāratara as produced respectively from the
throat, the chest and the head. This indicates that though the three
registers were recognised, the terms in which this recognition found
expression were conditioned by the tradition which supplied words only
for the opposites.
(घ) स्थायिवर्णगतालंकार-निरूपणम्
1. प्रसन्नादिः
मन्द्रद्वयात्परे तारे प्रसन्नादिरुदीरितः ।
सं˙ सं˙ संˈ । (१)
(d) The embellishments of the steady tone-pattern : 9-13
(1) Prasannādi
If two lower (mandra) tones are followed by one higher
(tāra) tone, it is known as prasannādi$^1$, e. g. $^2$'sa sa sá' (9ab)
The author now defines and illustrates the sixtythree embellish-
ments. The illustrations are given just by way of specimen and are
based on uttaramandrā, the first mūrcchanā of the ṣaḍja-grāma.
Bharata defines Prasannādi as :
क्रमशो दीपितो यः स्यात् प्रसन्नादिः स कथ्यते ।
(N. S., G. O. S. IV 29.33)

Footnotes (Right Column)

1. Literally, having prasanna (mandra or lower) in the beginning.
2. It has not been possible give tāra-mandra signs in the English
   version.
   16