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

114 Treatment of Svara
(v) गीतव्यवहारे त्रिधा नादः
व्यवहारे त्वसौ त्रेधा हृदि मन्द्रोऽभिधीयते ।
कण्ठे मध्यो मूर्ध्नि तारो द्विगुणश्चोत्तरोत्तरः ॥७॥
(v) The threefold nāda in music.
However, in actual practice¹ it² is threefold, called
mandra³ in the heart, madhya⁴ in the throat, and tāra⁵ in the
head and is successively double (in pitch). (7)
The author has already spoken of a fivefold classification of nāda
based on the location spots in the body in verse 3 (ante). Here, he
opens the verse with 'however', indicating that the threefold classifica-
tion of nāda into the 'low', the 'medium' and the 'high' is presented
notwithstanding the earlier classification, as this one is devised from
a purely practical point of view. As the commentators have pointed
out, the practical point of view relates to the practice of singing etc.,
i. e., to musical performance; and therefore, the function of this
classification is to be clearly distinguished from the earlier one, which
is more or less of a theoretical value.
The same nāda, when produced from the heart is called mandra,
when produced from the throat is called madhya and when produced
through the head, i. e., the cerebrum, it is known as tāra, and each
successive nāda is double (in pitch) than the preceding one, i. e., the
three aspects stand in the ratio of 1:2:4. 'K' gives another significant
interpretation for this idea. According to him, if the effort involved
in the articulation of ṣaḍja and the other notes of the lower register
(mandra) is taken as the standard unit measure, then the effort involved
in producing ṣaḍja and the other notes of the middle register is twice as
much and the effort required for producing the same notes of the high
register (tāra) is double than that (i. e., that of the middle). That is
how madhya is double the mandra and tāra is double the madhya.

1. Vyavahāra is conduct, i. e., actual practice; in this context
   'gīta', i. e., the tonal aspect of music.
2. 'It' refers to nāda.
3. Mandra literally means 'low'.
4. Madhya literally means 'medium' in this context.
5. Tāra literally means 'high'.
   Section 3 : Nāda, Śruti and Svara 115
   ख. श्रुतिः
   (i) श्रुतिः, तत्सङ्ख्या च
   तस्य द्वाविंशतिर्भेदाः श्रवणाच्छ्रुतयो मताः ।
   हृदूर्ध्वनाडीसंलग्ना नाड्यो द्वाविंशतिर्मताः ॥८॥
   तिर्यञ्च्यस्तासु तावत्यः श्रुतयो मारुताहतेः ।
   उच्चोच्चतरतायुक्ताः प्रभवन्त्युत्तरोत्तरम् ॥९॥
   एवं कण्ठे तथा शीर्षे श्रुतिर्द्वाविंशतिर्मता ।
   B. Śruti
   (i) Śruti and its number (8-10b)
   Nāda¹ is differentiated into twentytwo grades which,
   because of their audibility², are known as śruti-s³. (8ab)
   It is believed⁴ that, closely associated with the two
   upward nāḍī-s⁵ in the heart there are twentytwo nāḍī-s placed
   By this time it would have been clear that the term nāda is
   increasingly being used in a specific sense. Whereas nāda signifies in the
   general sense, the consciousness of sound, here its meaning has been
   restricted to musical sound. In this sense, it has been said in the pre-
   vious verse, that nāda is of three types, with reference to the place of
   production in the body or the pitch, so to say. Now, such a nāda is
   further distinguished into twentytwo varieties, produced by twentytwo
   upward nāḍī-s each of the heart, the throat and the cerebrum.
   What is important to note is that twentytwo variations, grades or
   intervals have been recognised in the scale. The twentytwo nāḍī-s,
6. In this context the author is dealing with the manifest (āhata)
   nāda, and therefore nāda means musical sound.
7. The word 'śravaṇāt' of the text literally means 'on account of
   hearing'.
8. Śruti-s literally could be rendered as 'audibles'.
9. The word 'matāḥ' of the text has been literally translated here
   as it seems to have been so used. But sometimes it is not
   necessarily so used, it is otherwise used in the sense of "it is
   known" or "it is considered."
10. 'K' interprets the word nāḍī of the text as indicative of dual
    number and accordingly names them as iḍā and piṅgalā, but
    'S' seems to take it as singular and accordingly identifies it
    with suṣumṇā.