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

APPENDIX III
THE CONCEPT OF ŚRUTI AS RELATED TO SVARA*
The concept of śruti as related to that of svara forms
the very basis of understanding the grāma-mūrcchanā
system, as originally propounded by Bharata, expounded by
Mataṅga and represented by Abhinavagupta, Śārṅgadeva
and the subsequent writers such as Kumbhā etc. It seems
that historically the perception of svara is prior to that of
śruti, and that the concept of śruti was necessitated by the
need for an adequate apprehension, analysis and appreciation
of tonal phenomenon, both for the sake of understanding
and for an effective and creative endeavour. Music is as old
in the history of civilization, as speech, if not older; and its
significance in the development of human personality from
prehistoric times is of no less importance; for, the revelation
of the Vedic hymns was almost immediately accompanied
with the need for their employment in the sacrificial form,
giving rise to Sāmagāna. Tracing the origin of Nāṭyaśāstra,
Bharata states that the creator "extracted the pāṭhya (verbal
text) from the Ṛgveda, gīta (music) from the Sāmaveda,
abhinaya (action) from the Yajurveda and Rasa (aesthetic
delight) from the Atharvaveda". And it was in the perspec-
tive of the origin of dramatic arts, that the phenomenon of
music and dance was first comprehended. Consequently,
aesthetic delight was recognised at the outset as the distin-
guishing characteristic of musical sound. Therefore, when
a scientific study of music was first made, prevalent practice
and the natural perception of tone on the basis of delight-
fulness formed the primary data for investigation, systematic

• Paper read by Dr. R. K. Shringy at the annual conference of
  the Madras Music Academy, Madras, Dec., 1972.
  १—जग्राह पाठ्यमृग्वेदात् सामभ्यो गीतमेव च ।
  यजुर्वेदादभिनयान् रसानथर्वणादपि ॥१७॥
  Nāṭya Śāstra Ka shi Ed. 1.17.
  Appendix III 399
  formulation and adequate comprehension. It is quite in this
  context that Bharata's statement—"Tones (svara-s) are
  organised into the grāma through jāti-s and śruti-s"—
  becomes significant. Thus what was spontaneously perceived
  in the jāti-gāna was tonal movement i. e., the svara-s, which
  after an analytical investigation were organised into grāma
  on the basis of their śruti-content. So, we find that the con-
  cept of śruti was formed as a means of precisely measuring,
  relating or comprehending pitch relations spontaneously
  perceived as tones.
  That the tones are spontaneously perceived is
  affirmed by all the musicologists right from Mataṅga who
  says, "Because it is perceptible by itself, it is called svara".³
  Since delightfulness was already implied as the essential
  quality of tone, Śārṅgadeva, improving upon the definition,
  as it were, made it explicit when he said : "Immediately
  consequent upon śruti, creamy and resounding, the sound
  that delights the listener's mind by itself, is called svara."³ᵃ
  The essential fact is that whereas svara is given to
  spontaneous perception, śruti is intellectually conceived
  subsequently for organising the svara-s into a perceptible
  scale called grāma. This has been done on the basis of
  certain observable facts; but since those facts can be observed
  only by trained ears, the question whether this concept has
  any objective validity or not always keeps on hanging fire.
  Another reason for the controversy raised on this point is the
  fact that the concept is not almost as universal as the concept
  of tone obtaining in the various systems of music in the
  world today. It is obviously peculiar to Indian Music,
  specially the ancient Indian music; for, even in India there
  २ —जातिभिः श्रुतिभिश्चैव स्वरा ग्रामत्वमागताः ।
  N. S., K. ed. 20.5.
  ३—स्वयं यो राजते यस्मात् तस्मादेष स्वरः स्मृतः ।
  Bṛhaddeśī.
  ३ ए—श्रुत्यनन्तरभावी यः स्निग्धोऽनुरणनात्मकः ॥२४॥
  स्वतो रंजयति श्रोतृचित्तं स स्वर उच्यते ॥२५॥
  Saṅgīta-ratnākara I. 32.4-25