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

अथ तृतीयं नादस्थानश्रुतिस्वरजातिकुल-
दैवतर्षिच्छन्दोरसप्रकरणम्
क. नादः
(i) नादब्रह्म, तस्योपासना च
चैतन्यं सर्वभूतानां विवृतं जगदात्मना ।
नादब्रह्म तदानन्दमद्वितीयमुपास्महे ॥१॥
नादोपासनया देवा ब्रह्मविष्णुमहेश्वराः ।
भवन्त्युपासिता नूनं यस्मादेते तदात्मकाः ॥२॥
Section 3
Nāda, Śruti and Svara
A. Nāda
(i) Nāda-brahman and its worship (upāsanā) : (1-2)
We¹ worship Nāda-brahman, that incomparable² bliss
which is immanent³ in all the creatures as intelligence and
The benedictory verse is addressed appropriately to Nāda-brahman.
The author, having described the genesis and the structure of human
embodiment, which is the instrument of voice production, now turns to
give a detailed treatment of voice, its constituent elements and other

1. The use of plural is significant. ‘We’ includes the author and
   the readers, and the construction is suggestive of the expres-
   sion, ‘let us worship’ Nāda-brahman.
2. The bliss which is one without the second, which is incompara-
   ble, absolute, i. e., not relative. ‘K’ takes ‘advitīyam’ as directly
   qualifying Nāda-brahman.
3. Caitanyaṁ sarvabhūtānāṁ literally means the sentience in all the
   creatures. It has already been explained that Nāda-brahman
   refers to the undifferentiated state of manifestation and as such
   it is all-pervading, without any limitations of individuation.
   Caitanya is the essence of ‘being’ without implying any
   opposite. Sentience, for example, implies inert matter as
   non-sentience. It is in this light that Caitanya has been trans-
   lated as intelligence. Caitanya is the life-essence inherent in
   all the creatures.
   Section 3 : Nāda, Śruti and Svara
   is manifest⁴ in the phenomenon of this universe. (1)
   Indeed, through the worship of nāda⁵ are worshipped
   gods (like) Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva, since essentially they
   are one⁶ with it⁷. (2)
   related matters; in the words of ‘K’, having dealt with the producer,
   the author now proposes to deal with the product.
   We have already come across the concepts of nāda (I.1.1 & I.2.
   1-3 ante) and Brahman (I.2 4-5), and here we are confronted with the
   concept of Nāda brahman. The commentators explain it grammatically
   as ‘nāda eva Brahman’, i. e , nāda is itself Brahman, or it may also be inter-
   preted as ‘nāda is Brahman-like’. If nāda is taken as an adjective to
   Brahman, then it will qualify the word Brahman, in which sense ‘K’ inter-
   prets nāda as an object of superimposition of Brahman which takes place
   due to the common character of both, viz , sentience. How is it that
   nāda is taken to be sentient ? ‘K’ would say, as he actually does, that
   nāda is the object to which the sentience of Brahman is lent by superim-
   position. But, the grammatical approach is likely to be misleading;
   for, though nāda and Brahman are two words representing two different
   concepts, the word ‘Nāda-brahman’ is a compound word representing
   a single concept, viz., Brahman manifest as nāda. Thus ‘nāda eva Brahman’
   may be understood in this light.
   The commentators have offered a double interpretation, i. e., from
   the point of view of Brahman and nāda. But obviously such an endea-
   vour does not seem to be necessary.
4. As intelligence and bliss, Nāda-brahman is immanent in all the
   beings. This immanence indicates the state of non-differentia-
   tion, which is manifest in the differentiated consciousness as
   the universe in the relationship of the seer and the seen, the
   subject and the object. Moreover, nāda as the primordial
   sound having space or ether as its base is the subtlest of all the
   elements and precedes them in the order of manifestation.
   Thus Nāda-brahman is the cause of the manifest universe. ‘K’
   rightly points out that nāda is the source of śruti-s, letters and
   words, etc., on which is based the conduct of worldly affairs.
   The world and the events taking place in it are perceived in
   the consciousness as name and form only; there is no wonder
   therefore, if it (nāda) is credited, erroneously though in the ulti-
   mate analysis to be the very substratum of the manifest universe.
   But, such an interpretation becomes unnecessary if Nāda-
   brahman is taken to be a single concept and is not split into
   nāda and Brahman.
5. Nāda implies Nāda-brahman in this context.
6. The word ‘tadātmakāḥ’ of the text literally would mean that
   gods Brahmā, Viṣṇu and Śiva have nāda as their essence.
7. ‘It’ implies nāda.