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

are people who think that they can easily do away with the
concept of śruti altogether and yet be able to explain the
structure and the technique of modern Indian music. Strange
as it might seem, śruti does not find any significant mention
in its technical sense in the Pauranic tradition. Grāma,
mūrcchanā, jāti and svara etc. constitute musicological
terminology for the Vāyu Purāṇa, Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa and
the Viṣṇudharmottara Purāṇa.⁴ This would suggest that
there had ever been two different traditions of musicologists
with reference to the concept of śruti—one considering it as
the pivot of grāma-mūrcchanā system and the other ignoring
it completely.
This does not, however, mean that the concept of śruti
has absolutely no relevance to Indian music today, but this
view rather points out the necessity of a fresh inquiry into
the true significance of the concept of śruti; and this can be
done by investigating into the relationship of śruti and svara,
and thereby determining the true function of śruti in the
grāma system. Such an enquiry may enable us to reassess
the value of the concept in its proper perspective.
Indeed, a lot of work has been done to explain and to
reinterpret the relevance and validity of the concept of śruti
in the context of Indian music, in the recent past; but, the
subject is so abstruse that any attempt from a different angle
can always be considered helpful. The subject is indeed
multidimensional, and there are many intriguing questions
challenging our attention. For example, we find that the
authors of medieval India have allocated different number
of śruti-s to the same svara-s; or, there is enough scope for
studying the outlook of ancient writers on music such as
Bharata, Dattila and Mataṅga etc. to formulate the right
opinion regarding the śruti-s being equal or unequal. These
questions are quite formidable and merit an independent
inquiry; and moreover, all the secondary questions, such

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४—Alain Danielou, Texts des Purāṇa Sur la Theorie Musicale.
as these, can be satisfactorily answered only when the funda-
mental concepts are properly understood. It is, therefore,
intended here to bring out the significance of the concept
of śruti as related to svara by studying its function and its
relationship to svara as expounded in the traditional works
of Indian music. We shall first try to arrive at a tentative
definition of the two terms and then arrive at a conclusion
by investigating their relationship.
1. The concept of Śruti:
The word śruti, as it is well-known, is derived from the
Sanskrit root śru, to hear, etymologically, by Mataṅga⁵ as
well as Śārṅgadeva.⁶ “Śrūyate-iti-śruti i. e., that which is
heard is śruti. Now, what is it that is heard ? Does it imply
that whatever is audible, musical or unmusical, is śruti ? or
does śruti, in whatsoever general terms it might be defined,
have a particular signification ? Bharata speaks of śruti in
the context of the constitution of grāma; so we have to look
to Mataṅga and Śārṅgadeva, to answer this question; for,
even Abhinavagupta echoes Bharata when he says : “There
are two grāma-s, ṣaḍja-gārma and madhyama-grāma; and
twentytwo śruti-s are established here, in one tone-cycle
(i. e., saptaka)”.⁷ Incidentally, it may be noted that he too
considers that the function of śruti is to constitute grāma.
Mataṅga seems to present the concept of śruti in a
systematic way, for obviously in his time this was perhaps the
burning issue in the field of musicology. He begins with the
literal meaning of the term; ‘Śrūyante-iti śrutayaḥ’, the śruti-s
are so called because they are heard. So primarily, śruti to
him, denotes sound, the object of hearing. Then he refers
५—श्रवणार्थस्य धातोः क्तिन्प्रत्ययं च मुनीश्वते ।
श्रुतिशब्दः प्रसाध्योऽयं शब्दज्ञः कर्मसाधनः :
Bṛhaddeśī ·
६—श्रवणात् श्रुतयो मताः
Saṅgīta-ratnākara I.3.8.
७—अथ द्वौ ग्रामौ षड्जग्रामो मध्यमग्रामश्चेति ।
अत्राश्रिता द्वाविंशतिश्रुतयः स्वरमण्डलसाधिताः ॥
Abhinavabhāratī, Baroda Ed. p. 15.
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