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

116 Treatment of Svara
obliquely⁶, and twentytwo⁷ śruti-s successively higher and
higher in pitch, are produced by the force of wind acting
upon them. (8c-9)
Similarly, twentytwo śruti-s are discerned in the throat⁸
as well as in the cerebrum⁹. (10ab)
however, have not as yet been identified in terms of modern physiology
or anatomy. Nevertheless, the concept of relating twentytwo śruti-s to
twentytwo nāḍī-s is not confined to Śārṅgadeva but is shared by at least
one more author known to us, viz., Śāradātanaya who is a contempo-
rary of the author. He not only relates twentytwo śruti-s with twentytwo
nāḍī-s branching off from the central nāḍī, viz., suṣumṇā in the region of
the heart but he further relates them to the seven places of pronouncing
letters of alphabet, viz., the throat, palate, lips, cerebrum and teeth
either independently or from more than one place put together. Thus
he goes on to relate the seven tones to these places of pronunciation
assigning to them the number of nāḍī-s equal to the number of their
śruti-s. The whole theory is illustrated in the following chart:
svara-s and varṇa-sthāna-s

S. No	Place of pronunciation	No. of nāḍī-s attached	Name of the note produced	No. of śruti-s	Remarks
1	Throat	4	Ṣaḍja	4	Compare Saṅgītamaka-
2	Root of the palate	3	Ṛṣabha	3	randa (1.11-12) for the
3	Lips	2	Gāndhāra	2	relationship of col. 2 and 4
4	The centre of cerebrum	4	Madhyama	4	Being produced from five places it is called pañcama
5	Teeth, throat, cerebrum, palate & lips	4	Pañcama	4
6	Throat & palate	3	Dhaivata	3
7	Throat & lips	2	Niṣāda	2	Total no of śruti-s 22
(Chart—1)

6. ‘K. R.’ translates it as ‘crosswise’. Literally it also means horizontal.
7. The number twentytwo is not repeated here in the text, but the expression ‘of the same number’ is used.
   8 The throat and the cerebrum are the other two places from which nāda finds voice; along with the heart these three refer to the three registers.
   Section 3 : Nāda, Śruti and Svara 117
   In other words, he relates not only the śruti-s but also the svara-s to
   the nāḍī-s. And alternatively, he also presents another theory according
   to which the seven svara-s (notes) are related to the seven supportive
   tissues (dhātu-s) in the body, viz., serum, blood, flesh, fat, bone, marrow
   and semen. The theory seems to rest on the contention that the internal
   heat (ūṣmā) of the tissues in conjunction with prāṇa gives rise to the
   seven tones through different dhamanī-s (arteries) that are associated to
   the particular tissues in the same number as that of the śruti-s of the
   particular tones which they produce. Thus the number of dhamanī-s
   associated with the production of the seven notes through the seven
   supportive tissues is also twentytwo.
   In this way both the theories seek to present physiological evidence
   to support the view that the total number of śruti-s is 22 only (cf.
   Bhāvaprakāśanam, pp. 184-188). The following detail of the topics dealt
   with gives an idea of the subject matter :
   “The creation of nāda and the letters of alphabet—the places of
   pronouncing the letters—22 nāḍī-s as related to these places—the seriatim
   production of nāda, śruti and svara—the rise of seven notes from seven
   places—the svara-s and the supporting tissues 22 dhamanī-s etc.” The
   following chart shows the relation of svara-s and the supportive tissues
   according to the above theory.
   Svara-s as related to dhātu-s (supportive tissues)
   | S. No. | Dhātu | Svara | No. of supporting dhamanī-s | Location of the substratum |
   | :---: | :--- | :--- | :---: | :--- |
   | 1 | Semen | Ṣaḍja | 4 | Brahma-granthi (centre of the body) |
   | 2 | Marrow | Ṛṣabha | 3 | Navel |
   | 3 | Bone | Gāndhāra | 2 | Heart |
   | 4 | Fat | Madhyama | 4 | Throat |
   | 5 | Flesh | Pañcama | 4 | Root of palate |
   | 6 | Blood | Dhaivata | 3 | Cerebrum |
   | 7 | Skin | Niṣāda | 2 | Sahasrāra |
   (Chart—2)
   It may be kept in mind that these tones are related to the heat
   (resident fire) of the above tissues and not the tissues themselves. The
   related dhamanī-s are supposed to feed the tissues concerned and the
   tones produced are the modifications of nāda that is produced primarily
   in the suṣumṇā.
   Thus it will be seen that the relation of 22 śruti-s and the seven
   tones with the nāḍī-s is not without a scientific basis. However, the