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

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4 Treatment of Svara
Incidentally this shows that, since the benedictory verse is offered
to Lord Śiva, Śārṅgadeva belongs to the Śaiva cult. This gives his
religious orientation, though as it would be clear in the subsequent
passages of the text, he seems to belong philosophically to the Bhedābheda
system of Vedānta Philosophy. It is in this context that the concept
of a personal God as iṣṭadevatā becomes all the more significant.
Apart from serving the purpose of maṅgalācaraṇa, this verse figura-
tively also points out the salient features or the main topics of the
subject matter of this chapter. The figure of speech employed is known
as samāsokti by which, such qualifying words are used that are capable
of double meaning and are so composed in a verse or a sentence as
briefly to indicate some other purport not directly implied by the pri-
mary meaning of the words (cf. Kāvyaprakāśa 10.97). Hence the verse
is differently interpreted above with reference to music.
(ii) ग्रन्थकृद्वंशवर्णनम्
अस्ति स्वस्तिगृहं वंशः श्रीमत्काश्मीरसंभवः ।
ऋषेर्वृषगणाज्जातः कीर्तिप्रक्षालितदिङ्मुखः ॥२॥
यज्वभिर्धर्मधीधुर्यैर्वेदसागरपारगैः ।
यो द्विजेन्द्रैरलंञ्चक्रे ब्रह्मभिर्भूर्गतैरिव ॥३॥
तत्राभूद्भास्करप्रख्यो भास्करस्तेजसां निधिः ।
अलङ्कर्तुं दक्षिणाशां यश्चक्रे दक्षिणाऽयनम् ॥४॥
तस्याभूत्तनयः प्रभूतविनयः श्रीसोढलः प्रौढधी-
र्येन श्रीकरणप्रवृद्धविभवं भूवल्लभं भिल्लमम् ।
आराध्याखिललोकशोकशमनी कीर्तिः समासादिता
जैत्रे जैत्रपदं न्यधायि महती श्रीसिंङ्घणे श्रीरपि ॥५॥
एकः क्ष्मावलये क्षितीश्वरमिलन्मौलीन्द्रनीलावलि-
प्रोदञ्चद्द्युतिचित्रिताङ्घ्रिनखरश्रेणिर्नृपालाग्रणीः ।
श्रीमत्सिङ्घणदेव एव विजयी यस्य प्रतापानलो
विश्वव्याप्यपि दन्दहीति हृदयान्येव द्विषामुद्गुरः ॥६॥

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Section I : Introductory 5
तं प्रसाद्य सुधीधुर्यो गुणिनां गुणरागिणम् ।
गुणग्रामेण यो विप्रानुपकारैरतीतृपत् ॥७॥
ददौ न किं न किं जज्ञौ न दधौ कां च सम्पदम् ।
कं धर्मं विदधौ नैष न बभौ कैर्गुणैरयम् ॥८॥
(ii) Author's lineage : 2-8
There¹ is a family line, an abode of beneficence,
founded by the sage Vṛṣagaṇa in the beautiful (valley of)
Kashmir, which has spread its fame in all the quarters of the
world through the descendant dignitaries representing
Brahmā² on the earth as it were, the best among the brahmins,
the masters of the vedic lore, the upholders of religious order
and the presiding priests of vedic sacrifices, who have
enriched its lineage. (2-3)
In that family was born a treasure-house³ of extraor-
dinary excellences bearing the name Bhāskara⁴ (lit. the sun)
who, with a view to grace the southern⁵ direction by his
presence, migrated to the south. (4)

1. 'S' informs that Vṛṣagaṇa is the name of a sage (i. e., ṛṣi) as
   well as a surname (i. e., gotra).
2. The creative aspect of pure being, one of the gods of the
   Hindu trinity Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva. The significance of
   this metaphor is brought out by the words bhū-deva and
   bhū-sura which are the synonyms of brāhmaṇa. The brahmins
   are accordingly considered to be the gods of earth, gods in
   the sense of beings of extraordinary religious spirit.
3. The receptacle of divine glory or spiritual pre-eminence result-
   ing from a sacred knowledge, as per one of the interpretations
   of 'S'.
4. That is, to mention one of the pioneers of the family line.
5. 'S' puts forward two other interesting interpretations, viz. i)
   'he set out in search of a generous patron', ii) 'he set out to
   answer the call, to meet the demand of the experts'. The word
   dakṣiṇa in Sanskrit has three different meanings, viz. right (as
   opposed to left) or south, efficient or clever, and favourable.
   The word is actually loaded with all the three connotations,
   as its meaning as 'right' is suggestive of his sectarian affilia-
   tions, since there are two paths dakṣiṇācāra and vāmācāra, the
   positive and the negative approaches to the fulfilment of life.
   Besides, in Indian tradition, charity and gifts are given by the
   right hand and that is how the word dakṣiṇa is suggestive of the
   meaning that he set out in the search of a generous patron.