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

416 Treatment of Svara
by the śruti-s. This viewpoint is however rejected by
Kumbhā on the ground that it implies co-existence of the
manifester and the manifest, which is in contradiction with
the observed fact.
Kumbhā has discussed this relation from the point of
view of almost all the schools of Indian philosophy including
the Buddhists, but without going into smaller details; what
is observed is that all these theories are applied to determine
the relation of śruti and svara on the basis of change, for all
these are the theories of causation attempting to explain the
phenomenon of change. The concept of change is funda-
mentally twofold—one view is that reality is a flux, a per-
petual change, and the other view is that reality is eternal;
the former view does not in effect admit any cause-effect
relation; for it holds the dissolution of one whole to be the
creation of another whole, while the latter view admits this
relation. The first view is held by the Buddhist and the
other is held by the orthodoxy of Hindu Philosophers, in one
form or another. The Buddhist view has to be rejected for
it precludes the study of all relations; the Hindu view is
represented by three important viewpoints viz., i) that
creation implies a substantial change, ii) that creation
implies transformation or manifestation of the inherent or
iii) that creation represents the appearance of the real. The
last of these views cannot probably be applied to explaining
the relations within the empirical field. So, we are left with
only two alternatives viz., that of substantial change and
transformation or manifestation.
The theory of substantial change implies that śruti-s are
evolved into svara-s, while that of transformation implies
that svara-s are involved into śruti-s. This analysis resolves
the problem. There seems to be no categorical difference
in the two viewpoints that describe the same relation in
different terms, from the two different ends. Therefore, the
utility of bringing in these theories for explaining the rela-
tions of svara and śruti can as well be questioned. As a
Appendix III 417
matter of fact, śruti and svara are no absolute entities and
both have musical sound i. e., nāda as their substance. So,
there is no difference as far as their substance is concerned.
Therefore, it will be irrelevant to conceive of any sub-
stantial change taking place in-between them. Nāda, as
modified into twentytwo forms called śruti-s variously cry-
stallises to appear as seven tones. Therefore, śruti-s arising
into different groups in temporal sequence give rise to self-
perceptible tones. Since śruti-s are not substantially different
from svara-s, any attempt at relating them as cause and effect
will be irrelevant. To understand the true significance of
this relation, one must not lose sight of the fact that funda-
mentally we are dealing with nāda. Śruti and svara are only
two different forms of nāda, related as the digits of the same
figure, every digit contributing to the formation of the figure
in a spatio-temporal sequence.
Dr. B. C. Deva's definition that, "Śruti-s are additive
measures of pitch relations in music,"³⁹ seems to highlight the
functional aspects of the relation of śruti and svara. Aspects of
this relation can be defined, but no definition would perhaps
be adequate; for śruti and svara are related as the constituent
parts integrated by a temporal sequence into the dynamic
whole, and are neither different from nor identical with each
other.
३९-B. C. Deva, Phycho acoustics of Music & Speech p. 121.
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