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

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14 Treatment of Svara
गायनी गुणदोषाश्च तयोः शब्दभिदास्तथा ।
गुणदोषाश्च शब्दस्य शरीरं तद्गुणास्तथा ॥४०॥
तद्दोषा गमकः स्थाया आलप्तिर्वृन्दलक्षणम् ।
ततः प्रबन्धाध्याये तु धातवोऽङ्गानि जातयः ॥४१॥
प्रबन्धानां, द्विधा सूदः शुद्धश्छायालगस्तथा ।
आलिक्रमप्रबन्धाश्च सूदस्था आलिसंश्रयाः ॥४२॥
विप्रकीर्णस्ततश्छायालगसूदसमाधिताः ।
गीतस्या गुणदोषाश्च वक्ष्यन्ते शार्ङ्गसूरिणा ॥४३॥
तालाध्याये पञ्चमे तु मार्गतालाः कलास्तथा ।
पाता मार्गाश्च चत्वारस्तथा मार्गकलाऽष्टकम् ॥४४॥
गुरुलध्वादिमानं चंककलत्वादयो भिदाः ।
पादभागास्तथा मात्रास्ताले पातकलाविधिः ॥४५॥
अङ्गुलीनां च नियमो भेदा युग्मादयस्तथा ।
परिवर्तो लयास्तेषां यतयो गीतकानि च ॥४६॥
छन्दकादीनि गीतानि तालाङ्गनिचयस्तथा ।
गीताङ्गानि च वक्ष्यन्ते देशीतालाश्च तत्त्वतः ॥४७॥
निःशङ्कशाङ्गदेवेन तालानां प्रत्ययास्तथा ।
षष्ठे नानाविधं वाद्यमध्याये कथयिष्यते ॥४८॥
सप्तमे नर्तनं नानारसभावाः क्रमेण च ।
(viii) Synopsis of the work: 31-49b
Now in the first chapter concerning svara¹ (tone) etc.,
the topics of study are :
(i) human embodiment²,

1. 'K' explains svaragata in svaragatādhyāya as स्वरानुगताः स्वरगताः
   श्रुतिग्रामा—etc, i. e the topics pertaining to svara such as śruti,
   grāma, mūrcchanā and so on dealt with in this chapter.
2. Human embodiment is discussed in this context because
   human body is the instrument of voice production, i. e. the
   manifestation of nāda.

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Section I : Introductory 15
(ii) the process of sound production (in the body),
(iii) the places (of sound production, i. e., the three
registers),
(iv) the śruti-s³ (micro-tones),
(v) the seven śuddha⁴ (standard) svara-s (notes or tones)
along with twelve vikṛta⁵ (modified forms),
(vi) the family, caste, colour, terrestrial region, origi-
nator sage, presiding deity, metre and the proper
application⁶ of each of the svara-s,
(vii) the generic groups of śruti-s,
(viii) the grāma-s (basic scales),
(ix) the mūrcchanā-s⁷ (modified prototype scales),
(x) the śuddha⁸ and kūṭa tāna-s (specific combinational
and permutational note-series) with their number,
(xi) the prastāra⁹ (sequential permutation),
(xii) the khaṇḍameru¹⁰ (permutation indicator),
3. Śruti-s are the twentytwo divisions of the scale of seven notes,
to be defined and demonstrated later in the text.
4. Śuddha svara-s are the seven tones of a definite pitch compre-
hending 4, 3, 2, 4, 4, 3 and 2 śruti-intervals respectively.
5. Vikṛta-svara-s comprise these very seven tones with more or
less modified pitch in the terms of śruti-intervals, explained
later in the text.
6. Viniyoga indicates the proper context in the terms of drama-
turgy and aesthetic delight, i e., rasa for which a particular
melody is employed. See Ragadhyaya (Chapter II) for
illustrations.
7. Series of seven notes in ascending and descending order,
commencing with different notes.
8. In the ancient sense, when one or two notes are omitted from
a scale, in the act of singing, it becomes a tāna; and if such
omission does not alter the order of the rest of the notes, it is
called a śuddha tāna, while kūṭa-tāna is related to the permu-
tation of notes in groups of two to seven.
9. Prastāra represents an actual working out of these various
permutation and combination patterns.
10. Khaṇḍameru is the name of a mathematical device in the form
of a numerical graph which indicates naṣṭa and uddiṣṭa, where
the former points out the particular permutation for a given
number and the latter gives the number of a given permutation,
to be explained subsequently in the text. (63-70 of Sec. IV)