1. MusicMadhvaMonks Sathya Narayan R

MUSIC OF MADHVA MONKS

OF KARNATAKA

CHI KALA ANDIR R GIKM GNA

31 B, 4 TH BLOCK RAJAJI NAGAR BAnGALORE-56O OIO.

MAHA MAHO PADHYA RASTRA BHOOSHANA DR. R. SATHYANARAYANA

Late Shri M. D. Nagabhushansa

India is a country of righteousness. It is the birth place of religiousness and benefaction. Late Shri Nagabhushansa who was born in such a country was the eldest son of Dharma Prakasha, Dana Chintamani, Abhinava Kempegowda, Shri Magoji Dhondusa. Shri Nagabhushansa was the Partner of Shri Narayana Silk Throwing Factory and managing the Magoji Dhondusa Religious Insitutions. He was also helping his revered father in his religious activities. He is now no more.

Shri Nagabhushansa was a kind hearted and always cheerful. His motto was 'Work is Worship". His hardwork in the industrial field and his encouragement towards religious work can never be forgotten. He was a great lover of Art, Literature and Music. He had great reverence towards Artists and Musicians and always respected them.

Shunning all publicity he served people enthusiastically. He died very young leaving the sorrowing family and friends.

He was an active patron of our Institution and had taken keen interest in all our Cultural and Social Activities. The Book, Music of Madhva Monks of Karnataka written by Mahamahopadyaya Rashtra Bushana Dr. R. Sathyanarayana has been dedicated to the memory of Shri M. D. Nagabhushansa as a mark of our respect to his devotion to music and Musicians. May his soul rest in peace.

D. MADHAVA MURTHY PRESIDENT GNANAJYOTHI KALA MANDIR (R) AND EDITORIAL COMMITTEE GNANA SUDHA KANNADA QUARTERLY

MUSIC OF MADHVA MONKS OF KARNATAKA

By Mahamahopadhyaya, Rashtrabhooshana Dr. R. SATHYANARAYANA

The Karnatic Music Book Centre 14, Sripuram First Street, Royapettah, (Near Ajantha Hotel), Madras - 600 014, Phone: 8260147

GNANA JYOTHI KALA MANDIR BANGALORE

Musie of Madhva monks of Karnataka by Mahā maho- padhyaya, Rashtrabhooshana Dr. R. Sathyanarayana, pub. Gnana Jyothi Kala Mandira, 31/B, 4th Block, Rajajinagar, Bangalore, 560 010, pp. xii+187+appx. Price: Rs 40/-

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Price : Rs. 40/ -=

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE

We are privileged to place this monumental work of Mahamahopadhvaya, Rashtrabhooshana Dr.R.Sathyanarayana entitlea "Music of Madhva Monks of Karnataka" in the hands of distinguished readers. Dr.Sathyanarayana needs no introduction. By his versatile scholarship and lifelong devotion to musi; and dancing he has caived for himself a permanent place in the cultural field of India and abroad. We are extremely grateful to Dr. Sathyanarayana for permitting us to publish this book on a subject which is so dear to his heart. We are also grateful to Dana Chintamani Sri Magaji Dhondusa and his family for their munificient grant to publish this woik,to Shri M.N. Gopinath and Sons of M/s. Udaya Ravi Printers, Krishnamurthy Puiam, Mysore, for neatly executing the printing work, to Shri B.V. Thipparaja Shetty for printing the cover page beautifully and scores of known and unknown sympathisers of Gnana Jyothi Kala Mandir for the ir co-operation and assistance.

D. MADHAVA MURTHY H.G. RAMACHANDRA RAO

President General Secretary

Gnana Jyoti Kala Man dir

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

'Music of the Madhva Monks of Karnataka' attempts to examine the contribution to our music of five monks belonging to the mādhva faith viz. Šrīpādarāya, Vyāsarāya, Vadiraja, Vijayindra tīrtha and Rāghavendra tīrtha. When my friend Sri H.G. Ramachandra Rao, Secretary of the Gnana Jyoti Kala Mandira desired from me an article on the contribution of Raghavendra tirtha to Karnataka music for inclusion in a souvenir, I pleaded that the available data on the subject was too meagre. When I was allowed a wider latitude in the choice of the subject, my thoughts turned to the theme of the contribution of the madhva monks to Indian music in general and to Karnataka music in particular because such contribution is significant to both the founding and structuring of our modern music and because a separate, systematic study on this subject has not been so far taken up. About a century after the sage Šrī Vidyāraņya laid the foundations of Karnataka music through his raga mela concept, a tiain of composers belonging to both the vyasakūța and the dasakūta iecensions of the madhva faith continued the work in Karnataka and contributed foundational, empirical structures, especially in tāla and prabandha. Šripādarāya inaugurated, proliferated o1 stabilised many new musical forms which served as archetypes or prototypes, thus defining or characterising in part the genius of Karnataka music; Vyāsarāya became a bridge between the textual stream and the new, popular stream of this music ; his brilliant disciple Vadiraja still remains the most prolific and the varied composer among the monks; another monk-disciple Vijayindra tirtha was also a composer; yet another brilliant disciple, Purandaradāsa is widely venerated as 'Karnāțaka-sangīta- pitāmaha' because of his multiple musical contributions.

VI Traditional midhva orthodoxy associates Madhvācarya and his second successor Narahari tirtha with musical accomplishment. I have questioned elsewhere (in a mono- graph on Sripadaraya being prepared for the press) the authenticity and antiquity of the songs ascribed to Narahari tirtha. Traditional belief in the musicianship o Madhväcarya may be traced to two verses in the Sumadhva- vijaya : ayam-eva go-vişayato 'pi kutracit sadasi janārthito javāt 1 puspam-uta phalam aho vidadhe jana-suptidā 'nupama- gāna-sampadā 1l1 [At the request of the people of the place called Go(a), he sang such rich music that it lulled them to sleep and thrilled the trees there to blossom and bear fruit (out of season) to their wonder.] tām padya-praņi-gaditām tu mūrchayitvā tānanām-ucitatayādya pancamādyāh 1 gāndharam dyu-vişayam-ujjvalam șrjanto grāmam te prajagur-akāki-kamra-kaņthāh ll2 [ (The gandharvas) sang in faultless voice the (lauda- tory) stanza (composed by the gods on Madhvācarya) setting it to the celestial gandhira grama, modulating it in terms of appropriate tanas beginning with pancama etc.] The second verse refers, not to the musical abilities of Madhvacarya but to those of the gandharvas, who sang his praise The first verse indicates that Madhvacarya was a

1. Narāyaņa, Pandita-, Sumadhva-vijaya, 10.53; with the comm. of Chalari Seshacharya, ed. Krishnacharya, D.S., Sri Ramakrishna Dvaita-vedanta- pathashala, Bangalore, 1952 2. ibid. 16.50

VII

music performer par excellence but does not say that he was a composer. No musical composition is ascribed to him, even by tradition. The Sumadhva-vijaya contains nothing which could refute a suggestion that this verse may contain only a poetic license or hyperbole. It may be noted that the supernatural power ascribed to music here viz. thrilling plants to yield sprouts, flowers and fruits out of season is a poetic convention of which the composers of both the vyasakuța and the dasakuța were aware, as has been shown in the present study (pp. 181,182). This is why Madhvācārya and Narahari tirtha have not been taken up for study in this book. The present work is confined to the musical contri. butions of only those samnyasins who ascended mādhva- pithas. It is interesting to ponder that these belong to a, particular, single strand of sisya-paramparā. Material composed by the dasakuta composers such as Purandaradāsa Vijayadāsa, Jagannāthadāsa, and Heļavankațțe Giriyamma is used here only for illustration, comparison or for tracing the course of evolution of a given musical form. Thus, Vijayīndra tirtha was a disciple of Vyāsarāya, as indicated above. More songs of Vijayindra tirtha than are examined here are said to be available in manuscript ; unfortunately, I did not have access to these for examination, analysis or evaluation. Raghavendra tirtha is Vijayindra's disciple's disciple ; only one song ascribed to his authorship is now available. He is included here only because he flourished in both Tamilnadu and Karnataka in a period which was crucial to the evolution of the vina keyboard, and therefore of the intervallic and melodic aspects of our music. As a vaiņika who held an influential position in society, it is not unlikely that he participated in such evolution. The development of the vina keyboard is discussed in this book in some detail in terms of intervals, accordaturae etc. of the times so that the melodic frames which were contempoiary could be attempted for reconstruction and restoration.

VIII

The term 'munitraya' is applied in madhva orthodoxy collectively to Madhvācarya, Jayatīrtha and Vyāsarāya ; the term 'yatitraya' is occasionally employed in the present work to refer collectivel to Sripadarāya, Vyāsarāya and Vādirā ja. (orthodoxy: body of received beliefs and doctrines, esp. in religion or theology). 'Music of the Madhva Monks of Karnataka' is a new endeavour in Indian musicology: it subjects purely empirical (literary) material to structural analysis in al historical method and arrives at tenable musicologicae conclusions. So far as I am aware, this is the first book of its kind in material and treatment. There is still an important and urgent need to collect and collimate the musical tradition of the vast material of the haridasa litera ture. I hope such a study would be taken up soon before even the traces of such musical tradition - such as it is today - are eroded from our musical soil by the spate of arbitrary usage and individual fancy in musical setting or performance. I am very thankful to the Gnana Jyoti Kala Mandira Bangalo e,especially its President Sri D.Madhavamurthy and Secretary Sri H. G. Ramachandra Rao for the honour accorded to this small work by publishing it. My thanks are due to the Director, Kannada Adhyayana Samsthe, University of Mysore, Mysore and to Dr. T.N. Nagaiathna, Head of the Section cn Research on Haridasa Literature therein, for permission to peruse some of the songs of Vadiiāja and Prasanna Venkațadasa before publication. I am also thankful to Messrs Udaya Ravi Printers, Mysore før the printing and get up of this book. I apologise for the printing errors which have crept into the book. ovb

CONTENTS

17 I Introduction 1 II Šrīpādarāya : Musician-Composer ... 8

III Šrīpādarāya : Musical Climate 27 .... IV Vyāsarāya : Musician and Composer ... 42

V Tāla Reorganisation 51

VI Vyāsarāya Vrttanāma and Gadya 63

VII Vadirāja Musician and Composer 71 a. Rāga and Tāla 71 b. Formal analysis 74 c. Krti : Structural Analysis 77

VIII Vadira ja : Long Musical Forms 87 a. Vaikuņtha varņane 87 b. Suvvālis 89

C. Lakşmī šobhāne 91 d. Svapna gadya 94 e. Gajendiamoksn 95 f. Guņda kriya 96 g. Koravañji : South Indian Opera 98 h. Nārada koravañji 104 i. hramaragita 132 i. Other Xorks 146

IX Vijayindra tīrtha ... 149

X Raghavendra tirtha ... 152 a. Viņī mela 153 b. Vināmela . Notation 157 c. Śuddha mela 158 d. Svayambhū principle 160 e. Key Distribution 162 f. Madhyamela Viņā 164

g. Comparison 165 h. Pakkasaraņi 166 i. Other Keyboards 167 j. Hrdaya nārāyaņa 170, k. Rudra Viņā 174, 1. Modern Viņā Keyboard 175 XI Referen :e: to Music and Dance 181

XII Vrttanāma (Addendum) 184

APPENDIX

A 1. Index to Authors and Composers 2. Index to Works 3. Index to Rāgas 4. Index to Talas 1020 5. Index to Song Types 6. Index to Songs Cited 7. Index to Metres 8. Index to Names 9. Index to Geographical Names 10. Index to Words

B Bibiography

ix

I have Written Music of the Madhva Monks of Karnataka' in the hope that it would stimulate more and better studies in the field and that it would create an awareness and appreciation of the sustained and significant services rendered by the Madhva Monks of Karnataka to our music and culture.

Trayeelakshmi R. SATHYANARAYANA

Mysore, m

September 11, 1988

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED

WITH THE

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE OF TTD

X

The following scheme of transliterati n of the devana geri alphabet is adopted.

e ai o au m h k kh gh

ch jh ñ

t th ḍh ņ

t 1h d dh n AAHAYASAWAYHTA p dh b bh m

y V h 1 ks jñ

HT HTIW LHI2 BOOK 12 BABPICHED

НОЙАТ2І22А ЈАТОЙАЙІЧ

CTT HO

I INTRODUCTION

In the cultural history of India, a renaissance was inaugurated in about the 12th cent. A.C. It convoked its sources, internal and external forces and stresses, culminated into a distinct morphic entity and manifested in the South; it reached its zenith in the 15th-16th centuries. The role of the vaisnava saints of Karnataka in this renaissance is major, influential, still functionally relevant, manysided.

The hoary brähmanical religion of the vedas had in the Karnataka of the 11th-12th cent. become prey to superstition, uncritical custom, dissipated concepts and values and to over-rigid conventions as well as conformities; it had hence lost its vigor and rigor. Since samskrta alone was deemed language of the gods and language fit for gods, the spiritual aspirations, religious, doctrinal and dogmatic values, philosophical enquiries and the code of conduct which were enshrined in samskrta became inaccessible to the common man who therefore receded from them. The vernacular languages were proscribed from disseminating these. Incessant Islamic invasions had eroded economic, social, religious and cultural bases in the life-style of people ; disunity and anarchy loomed large on the political scene. As a consequence, dark and heavy clouds of discontent, discord, turbulence, insecurity, bigotry, excessive prescription of conduct and morality gathered on the firmament of Karnataka ; the thunder of revolt, the lightning flashes of brilliant harmonisation, the rainstorm of re-creation became inevitable.

2 Music of Madhva Monks

One such protestant force was the virasaiva religion. Its proponents protested against the prescriptions and proscrip tions of the vedic religion which had grown irrational they resented the hypocritical conduct and discrimination ushered in by the system of vaiņa-as ama, violence practised in the sacrifices etc. They diew inspiration from āradhya- saiva, pāsupata and various foims of saivism which were already prevalent in Karnataka, as also from the many schools of saiva philosophy prevailing in Kashmir, Andhra and Tamilnadu and founded the 'viia'saivism or endowed it with a new dimension ; they beat a new, independent, eclectic path in spiritual endeavour, religious doctrine and practice, society and culture. This religion had its bases in love of all humanity, equality of all men, the sustenance and enichment of the individual's moral and ethical conduct, dignity of earning one's living by one's own physical labour, envisioning of God and auspiciousness in everything that exists, equal respect and status for all social strata, simplified code of conduct; mystic experience gained for itself an important and prominent role in this religion.

This revolution is witnessed in the literary expression of the sivasarana-s, reflecting novelty in theme, poetic structure, style etc. Thus a song form called vacana emerged which is not set to t-la, not constrained by specific restrictions, lies structurally between prose and verse and outside the perimeter of 'classical' music-reflecting the attitude anu olidante pa duve (I sing as I please). For the first time in a vernacular language, the vacana gave expression to intros- pection, self criticism, self exploration, ethics, philosophy and a code of personal and social conduct; it became the confluence of bhāva-anubhava-anubhāva. Other musico- literary forms such as mantragopya, kālajñāna, nāmāvali, sīsapadya and tattvapada as well as tripadi, ragaļe and kanda which emerged in their new forms in kannada at this time were also sung in these times. The virasaiva literary Productions appear to conform to an implicit convention that

Introduction 3

the subject matter shall not veer from siva, sivasarana and saiva doctrine. The literaiy style of old kannada moulted its complexity and terseness so as to realise poetic beauty in simple forms. Poetic beauty extended into musical forms. Music and literature became important means in the search for the soul ; simple devotion became important among the pathways of worship. eimdus 1o

By and large, vīrasaivism stood in opposition to brahmana-religion and emerged as an explosion from it. Its leaders felt that refutation of other faiths-especially brahmana- was as important as defence of their own in order to strengthen the common man's faith in it. Such refutation often became extremist. Condemnation and intolerance are too often the characteristic of the exuberance of compaigners of new religions. It is true that the brāhmaņa dharma appeared to lose its vigor and glow for about two hundred years because of dominance of virasaivism. It is equally true that brahmana dhaima gathered its forces to meet the challenge of the aggressive rivalry and sharpness of refutation by virasaivism. In a sharp reactionary movement the brähmana dhaima was revitalised by the saints of both vyasakūța and dasakuța of the newly emerging madhava philosophy. They reified again the hoary values of sanatana dharma and culture on the anvil of contemporary relevance in the frame of dualistic philosophy and of bha gavata dharma; they reinteipreted, propagated and stabilised these values. In order to accomplish this, they preferred the aid of the language of the people - the nonliterary, colloquial variety- and of music. They achieved their objective in two mutually complementary streams; a scholarly exposition in samskrta of the doctrines of dvaita philosophy by ascetic heads of monasteries ; popular exposition in kannada of the message of the vedas and upanisats transcending creed, caste or color, using music as the medium. The learned and the lay were alike embraced thus by them.

4 Music of Madhva Monks

First, they replaced samskrta with kannada in the everyday religious practice of ritual compendium, conduct and custom in the context of brahmana dhaima. This was inaugurated by Naraharitiitha in the 14th century and was firmly established in popular use in the next century by Šrīpadaraja. Second, the musical compositions of 'classical' music of the day had for their theme piaise, piayer, devotion or submission to the king, patron etc. This yielded place to the praise, self offering and surrender to God. This is a characte- ristic ofthe 15th century religions in South India.The haridāsa-s and madhva monks, virasaiva saints such as Nijaguņa and Sarpabhūşaņa, Andhra saint composers such as Tāļļapakam Anņamācarya, his descendents, and Bhadiācala Rāmadāsa, Tamilnadu composers such as the musical trinity (Tyāgaraja, Muddusvāmi Dikşita, Šyāmāsāstıī) and a host of their sişya- parampara took this up in the 16th-19th centuries and built up new mutual dimensions among spiritual quest, devotional literature and music. It has thousands of songs in which the sung word dominated to such an extent as to render musical aesthesis almost secondary, swelled our music. These enabled the use of music as an instrument of propagation of cultural and spiritual values, ethical and virtuous conduct. As a consequence, vedic culture could be revitalised and carried to every nook and corner of the country. The vyāsakūța and dāsakūța composers and singers pruned music to an attractive medium so that even the common man could sing or play it without detracting from its 'classicity'. They elevated it into such a great, pervasive institution that the qualifications prescribed for a composer by sangītasāstra were brushed aside so that even erdinary men and women could pour out into this musical format their poetic urges, spiritual and mystic experience etc. and sing them in glow and ecstacy. This amazing institution continues to thrill and throb with life even today. It is possible to witness the mira- cle of young and old persons who are not learned or skilled in the ways of the mundane world but who are intensely involved with sanatana dharma, deeply loyal to their own religious

Introduction 5

faith, and who live everyday the life of bhagavata dharma- compose ex tempore and sing many a lovely devaranāma, ugäbhoga and sulādi even in these humdrum, starkly realism- ridden days. The rhythms, tempos, and the raga-bhavas which are enshrined in such traditional, popular lore could be a challenge, even inspiration to the 'white collar' or high-brow musician.

Thus while the music of virasaiva saint singers spread and settled in a folk format against a background of religious practices in an anibaddha (not set to tāla) form, the music of the vaisnava saint singers adopted this background in both nibaddha (set to tala) and anibaddha format and developed for itself for the first time a 'classical' or 'sastriya' format. The royal patronage it enjoyed-except perhaps in the case of Vyasarãya-was little enough. At least two other facts led to this situation: our music had developed over the centuries such internal pressures that it was ripe for a renaissance ; the vaisnava saint singers allowed themselves to become instru- ments of this because of their integral vision of our culture and the role of music therein, their establishing an unbroken line of composers and singers and their sustained propagation of both the form and content of this musit. They had acquired high expertise in both art music and cemposing ; each generation took up the work of its predecessors and conti- nued it through pioliferation of songs and consolidation of form. They helped to erect the four pillars of our music edifice-rāga, tala, prameya (theory and research) and prabandha (song) and Wrought impoitant and fai-reaching changes in each of these.

This is not to say that vernacularisation, bhakti move- ment and bhägavata dharma were confined to Karnataka alone. These had taken firm roots in Tamilnadu and Maharashtra. The madhva ascetics and saints had assimi- lated these traditional values and contemporary influences,

6 Music of Madhva Monks

travelled over most of South India, settled in Karnataka and endeavored over some five centuries to enrich the soul of the common man in both these areas.

The way that Indian music has grown is interesting. its foundations were laid by seers and sages ; its textual tradition was fostered by kings, philosohers, yogis, ministers generals, yājñikas, tāntriks; the corpus of compositions has come into being because of saints, devotees, seekers of the soul ; this is not to say that professional musicians, composers and musicologists did not contribute to its growth ; it is they that maintained the mainstieam of music. But little of professional contribution to sastra and the prabahndha has remained today compared to nonprofessional contribution

This is a peculiarity of Indian music ; this is true, and large, even today.

Karnataka music is a case in point. It is not only the professional music composers who have given us a wealth of song forms, but detached ascetics, God-intoxicated devotees, saints seeking the eternal soul, compassionate men of God who sought to refoim their fellowmen. It is monks and savants of the madhva faith who bieathed new life into our music and transmuted it into what is Karnataka music today. Anattempt is made here to describe briefly the contributions of the great sannyasins Šrīpādarāya, Vyāsarāya, Vādirāja, Vijayīndra and Rāgha- vendra Tirtha who flourished as the pontiffs of various mädhva mațhas between the 15th and 17th cent. A.C. as well as the musical climate prevailing during their times.

The discussion of the musical climate surrounding these mādhva monks will be based on data obtained strictly from musicological treatises which were composed by kannadiga-s

Introduction 7

in times and regions from which the hailed so that both theory and practice of music may be mutually conciled. Only three songs of Narahari Tiitha are available today. The 'adya-s' of the vaişnava bhakti movement in Karnataka are assumed here to belong to a post-Srīpādaraja period.1 Therefore Śrīpādarāya is considered here as beginning this epoch. The following chronological equations are adopted in this paper.

Šrīpādarāya Kallināthā : Sangītakalānidhi, comm. Šārngadeva, Sangītaratnākara

Vyāsarāya, Vādirā ja = Rāmīmātya : Svaramelakalānidhi Puņdarīkavițțhala : Sadrāgacandrodaya, Rāgamālā, Rāgamañjarī, Nartana- nirņaya

Vijayīndra Tīrtha, Raghavendra Tirtha = Somanātha : Ragavibodha, Govinda Dīkşita : Sangītasudhā, Venkața makhin: Caturdaņdīprakāsikā, Mudduvenkațamakhin Rāga lak şaņam, Tulaja : Sangīta sārāmrtam

Somanatha is included here because of his significant contribution to the viņā keyboard. Mudduvenkațamakhin and Tulaja are included here because they form a facile bridge between the above texts and our own times.

ameds pitoio

1 Varadaraja Rao, G. (ed.), Šrīpādarājara krtigaļu* introduction, pp. xiv-xviii

II ŠRĪPĀDARĀYA : MUSICIAN-COMPOSER

Šripādarāya was born at Abbūru near Cannapattaņa (c. 80 km. from Mysore City), probably spent his early days there, received initiation into sannyāsa fiom Svarņavaiņa tirtha at Srirangam in Tamilnadu, spent several years there, finally came to Mulubāgilu in Kolar district in Karnataka and settled there till his last days. He lived probably for 98 years (1404-1502 A.C.)2 Of the 101 songs noticed, collated from 8 palm leaf MSS, 74 paper MSS, and 30 impressi typis sources, 65 have different degrees of consensus, from a minimum of 2 to a maximum of 22 sources. Two are variants, 6 are of ambi guous authorship; 28 compiled from unique sources. Besides, 10 songs of Purandaradasa are received in transmission as Sripadaraya's,3 part of one song is possibly of Jagannathadāsa rather than of Sripadaraya (and is collated from 11 paper MSS and 2 printed sources).4 A typological analysis of these yields 3 suladis, 15 ugabhogas, 1 vrttanāma, one daņdaka. one antiphonal song; the rest are 'padas'. The vrttanama structure is called bhiamaragita or irngara-parijata. Among the padas may be recognised the prototypes of the modern krti and javali; two are lullabies; besides the e types, Šripādarāya has also pioneered in kannada and in Karnataka music veņugita (glories of the Lord's flute music), gopi-gita (pangs of separation of the gopis and their yearning for Krsna) and bhiamaragita (a song on the same erotic theme inspired from the Bhagavata puranam5).

2 Ibid. loc. cit. p. xxxiii Ibid. loc. cit. pp. Ixxxiv-lxxxvii, 345-349 4 Ibid. no. 20, pp. 49-65 5 Sukamuni, Bhagavata purāņam, 10.47.11-28

Šrīpādarāya : Musician-Composer 9

The feregoing song types may be briefly analysed for structural characteristics and trends. The three suladis (nos. 2, 7 and 30) have 8, 9 and 5 stanzas 1e pectively, followed by the 'jati'. Together, they use all the suladi talas, but not ragaņa mațhya and jhombada; the tālas are not indicated by their laghu-jatis, thus suggesting that the tala-s weie employed in their chapu forms in fast tempo. This a trend which is observed in all later sulādis. In each suladi, the length of lines in a given stanza is approximately the same and differs from stanza to stanza, more or less parallel with the avaita length of the tala. In ugabhogas, the number of lines is vaiable ; in any given ugabhoga the lines may or may not be of the same or similar length.

Šrīpādaıāya's daņdaka6 is called uddaņda by him7 and is entitled Lakşmīnrsimha-prādurbhāva. It has for its theme the manifestation of Lord Narasimha as an incarnation of Visnu at the prayer of Prahlada. It is a metrical translation of the 8th chapter of the seventh book of Bhagavata puraņam with scintillating flashes of originality. It is the only dandaka of its kind in kannada.8 It is composed in 22 sections (kadavaka), 544.5 lines and 2178 five-morae prosodial (ra-gaņa) units. Each kadavaka is thematically selfsufficient. The prosodial structure is very close to that of lalita ragale in kannada. It is replete with a wealth of beautiful alliteration and onomatopoeia.

Vrttanama is a musical form in which a metrical structure (vrtta, sometimes also called sloka) alternates

6 Varadaraja Rao, G., op. cit. no. 23, pp.225-242 7 ibid loc.cit. 11. 537-8, p.242 8 Krishtacharya, Hulaguru-, Karnațaka Sangītavū, Dasakūțavū, pp. 116, 117; idhem, Haridāsasāhitya, pp. 272-276

10 Music of Madhva Monks

with the stanza (called nama or pada) of a song. Vrtta and nama together form a unit. Such units vary in number from composition to composition. The metrical form as also the pada (=nama) structure are also variable. The vrttanāma commences with a pallavi which may or may not be followed by anupallavi and the padas which follow are regarded as the carana-s of the same song. Thus the whole vrttanama is one single song-a mahaprabandha, to borrow a term from Sarvajña Somesvara" - possessing unity in both literary and musical theme, with alternately recurring nibaddha and anibaddha segments. The entire song may have been sung in a single iaga and a single tāla; or, it may have been sung in rāgamalika and tālamālika.

The vrttanama is a creation of Vaișnava saints, probably of Srīpadarāya himself; for, the earliest available model is his. He may have drawn inspiration from two song types which were widely known during his time in art music : vrtta and rāgakadamba.

Vrtta is a prabandha of ancient Indian music. It is described by Matanga in a passage, which is unfortunately full of lacunae; it states that it was composed in any one of the metrical forms: āryā, dvipatha, gāthā, jethaka, totaka, etc. without the restricting, specific tāla prescription.10 Jagadekamalla (?Jagannāthamalla?) is extracted by Ramakrishna Kavi1l to say this song is set to a tala which is appropriate to the metre and is sung with or without svaras. Haripaladeva describes it as composed

9 Someśvara, Sarvajña-, Manasollāya, 4.16. 192, p. 60 10 Matanga, Brhaddesī, 378, p. 143 11 Ramakrishna Kavi, (comp.), Bharatakosa, p. 632. Extant MSS of Jagadekamalla's Sangītacūdāmaņi do not describe vrtta prabandha.

Šrīpādarāya : Musician-Composer 11

of pata (onomatopoeic percussive syllables), tenna (auspicious syllables te and na) and birudas (laudatory words) appropriate to the subject and sung to all (or any) rāgas.12 According to Somesvara, vrtta, is the name of a particular prosodial structure in which a ra-gana is followed by a jagaņa three times, ending with a guru and laghu. He offers an illustration of his own.13 Pingalanaga describes it as a metre in which the line is composed of ten units of guru-laghu.14 Halayudha Bhatta offers, while commenting on the above, an illustration.15 Kedāra Bhatța describes a metrical form called vrtta as consisting of na-gaņa, na-gaņa-sa-gaņa followed by two gurus.1ª His commentators Narayana Purohita17 and Kalidāsa18 offer two illustrations. Sarngadeva interprets the word in both the general and specific senses in describing the composition.19 He compiles the latter from earlier authorities (presumably from Somesvara) and the former from his own preference or from Matanga; the kanda, hayalilā, krauncapada, āryā, gatha, dvipatha, kalahamsa, dvipadi, toțaka etc. prabandhas may also be designated vrtta prabandha because they are composed in their namesake metres by prescription. Thus any four-foot metre with a definite prosodial structure 12 Haripāla deva, Sangitasudhakara, 5.7.63-64, p.216 13 Somesvara, Sarvajña-, op. cit. 4.16. 244,245 14 Pingala-nāga, Pingalacchandas, 7.23 15 Halāyudha Bhatța, Mrtasañjīvani, comm. Pingala- nāga, op. cit. loc. cit. 6 Kedara Bhatța, Vrttaratnākara, 3.12 7 Naiāyaņa Purohita, Maņinidhi, comm. Kedāra- Bhațta, op. cit. loc. cit. 18 Kālidāsa, Šrutabodha, comm. Kedāra Bhațța, op. :cit. loc. cit. 19 Šārngadeva, Sangitaratnākara. 4.246-248

12 Music of Madhva Monks is vrtta according to the general sense of the term. The term vrtta in vrttnama appears to be taken in this sense by the composers of the madhva tradition. $ 10

The application of tala to this prabandha is worthy of note. It has been noticed above that the tala should be appropriate to the prosody. If this means that the vrtta is itself set to tala, vrttanama does not result; on the other, hand, if it means that the vrtta is sung anibaddha i.e., gamakālapti, then tala is applied to other word-structured song. This yields vrttanāma.

The vrtta was prescribed to be sung as follows: of its four feet, the first and second constituted udgraha (opening segment) ; the third and fourth were together performed as dhruva (the song-body). The abhoga or concluding segment was sung to (additional) words other tham in the first two segments. Accoiding to some, solfa passages were performed at the end of each foot oi at the conclusion of the whole song; according to otheis, there are no such svara passage. Thus the vrtta prabandha has three dhātus viz. udgrāha, dhruva and ābhoga ; since it has two angas viz. pada and tala, it is classified as a tārāvalī jāti song ; if it has svaras also, it has three angas and its jati then becomes bhavani. I have discussed this prabandha elsewhere.20 From the foregoing it is clear that in the early days of its career, the vrtta was a metrical form set to a raga and to a tala ; it was interspersed with svara passages ; it was performed in three musical segments.

20 Sathyanarayana. R., ed. tr. comm. Puņdarīkamālā : Puņdarīka Vițțhala, Nartananirņaya, pp. 450-452

Srīpādarāya : Musician-Composer 13

At least five other compositional forms which are based on vrttas were known to ancient Indian music : vrttagandhi, vritadandaka, yugmine, vrttabandhini and Vrttamālī. Of these, vrttagandhi is a variety of gadya prabandha; it is admixed with verse; bharati vrtti, pāñcālī style, peaceful theme, drutamadhyā tempo and yellow complexion are prescrided for it.21 Vrttadandaka is described by Jagadekamalla as a variety of daņdaka, composed enthely of vrttas.22 The remaining three viz- vrttabandhini, yugminī and vrttamīlā are varieties of the dhenki prabandha. These are composed respectively in one, two and many vrttas. These vrttas may be syllabic, trisyllabic (gana) or moraic. Hence they each give rise to three subvarieties called varņikā, gaņikā and mātrikā. They were optionally set to dhenki tala or kankala tala.23 Ragakadamba is also an ancient piabandha. It is composed of many elemert: viz. rāga, tāla, vrtta, angas, dhatus, prose sections, veises and rasas. The e may occur in any desiied crder. Depending on whether the segments were 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 etc. with a corresponding number of rigas, talas and vrttas, the rāgakadamba was named nandyāvarta, svastika (abjapatra), abjagarbha, bhramara, amredita etc. Tach egment or its part may be sung in a different raga. Pada and tila occur constantly in every rāgakadamba variety. Of the remaining angas viz. svara pata, biruda and tena, if one, two, three or all four are also composed, (in any optional order), the prabandha is of bhavanī, dīpani, anandinī or medinī jati. Whatever the variety or jäti, the first half of the rāgakadamba is always the udgraha while the second half is the dhruva. Abhoga is composed in additional, different words.24 This means that the words in the song were only those in the vrtta. 21 ibid. pp. 427-431 22 ibid. p. 473 23 ibid. p. 419 24 ibid. pp. 454-456

14 Music of Madhava Monks

Therefore the vrttanāma is derived by Šıīpādarāya (or any one who composed it earlier) by inseiting stanzas of a krti between two successive vrttas. Four vrttanāma compositions are known today (1) Paliso Pandharipura- rāyā.25 (2) Rakşisu Venkatagirirāja of Gopāladāsa.26 (3) 'Kelayya enna prārthane' of Vyāsarāya.27 and (4) 'Mananidhi Sıi Krșņa' of Šiīpādarāya.28 Of these, (1) is merely mentioned by Keshavadasa as a musical exemplar for (3). (3) will be briefly discussed under Vyasarāya in the next section. (2) may be briefly described before taking up (4).

'Rakşisu Venkațagirirā ja' is a vrttanāma of Gopāladāsa. Its raga is not specified; it is set to atta tala. It commences with a pallavi of two lines which display rhyming on the initial and final syllable. There is no anupallavi. The pallavi is followed by vrtta-nāma series. The vrtta is in sārdūlavikīridita metre. There are eight such vrttas, each followed by a nama. The first and fourth vrttas are. in samskrta. The iest of the composition is in kannada, it carries the composei's signature in the last line of the last nama. Each nama is in four lines, each rhyming on the initial, final syllables as also on the final syllable of the medial passage. It is ornate with alliteration and euphony. The pallavi is sung as a refrain at the end of each nama ; only the nama-s and not the vrttas are set to atța tala, which is performed in its chapu form. It is possible to perform each vrtta and nama unit in a different

25 Kıishtācharya, Hulaguru, Karnāțaka Sańgītavū, Dāsakūțavū, p. 117; Keshavadūsa, Beluru-, Karnāțaka Bhaktavijaya, vol. 1, p.107 26 Keshavadāsa, Beluru-, Sri Haridasa Sāhitya pp. 272-276 27 idhem, Karnāțaka Bhaktavijaya, vol. 1, p. 107 28 Šiīpādarāja., op. cit. no. 43, pp. 113-123

Šrīpādarāya : Musician-Composer 15

rāga thus making it a ragamalikā composition. The composition rests on the pallavi line after the final nama is perfoimed. Thus the vrttanama differs in its musical setting from that of the vrtta or the rāgakadamba.

Šrīpādarāya's vrttanāma 'Mananidhi ŠrīKrsna' may now be examined against the foregoing background. It is called 'Srngārapārijata' in some MS sources appropriately, because it has for its theme the apprehension, yearning and pangs of love of the gopis when they learn of the imminent departure of Krsna to participate in the 'bow- festival' at Madhura at the behest of his uncle-king Kamsa. This is a theme inspired by the Bhagavata purāņa.

The opus commenaes with a pallavi, followed by anupallavi and three caranas. In some collative sources pallavi and anupallavi are not separated but are together treated as a unit under the name of 'dhruva', short for 'dhruvapada'. In one instance anupallavi is called 'upapallavi'. After the third carana, there are nine vrttas, each followed by a nama. Both vrtta and nama are composed of four lines each. The line length varies within both vrtta and nama. None of the vrttas can be identified with any defi. ite metrical form because of vaiiation in syllabic or moraic quantity, though the structure ra-sa-ja-na-na-sa-la (ganas) is faintly discernible now and then.

The distribution of syllabic quantity in the composition is as follows.

Nāma : pallavi 15.9 first caraņa 15.8.16.14 anupallavi 14.15 second carana 15.9.17.16 third carana 18.10.16.16

91 Music of Madhva Monks

Vrtta Nama 119 215801120

1 21. 22. 21.21 15. 8.14.17

2 22. 20. 20.16 17. 9.15.15

3 21.22.20.20 15. 8.16.17

21. 20. 20. 18 14. 9. 14.18 19.18.21.20 15. 8.16.14

6 20.20.22.19 15. 9. 16.16

7 16. 15. 17.15 18. 10.15. 18

8 15.15. 16.15 17. 8.15.15

9 20. 19. 19.20 16.10.17.16

vd Thus the syllabic quantity averages 21 per line in the vrtta with a tendency to slight diminution in the last line. The line length in (7) and (8) approximates to that in the nama. A rough pattern may be discerned in the nama-s. The first line averages some 15. The quantity of the second line is about half of the first, rounded to the next higher integer (except in (4), (6) and (9). The third and fourth lines are approximately equal to each other and to the first in length. The edition of the text of the song is based on seven more or less independent sources. Variation in both syllabic quantity and moraic distribution cannot be conciled with the name vrtta. Perhaps 'vrtta' was employed as synonym for 'anibaddha' here in contiast with the nāma (pada, nibaddha) parts of the song and the term came to be normalired or justified in later compositions. It may be noticed that pallavi and anupallavi together (or dhiuvapada according to the noith Karnataka exemplar, whe.e Hindusthani music is practised and the name dhruvapada is appropriate to it) constitute a unit which has the same pattern as the nāmas. This is a trend which is found in other krti compositions of Šripadarāya and other vyāsakūța and dāsakūța

Šripadarāya : Musician-Compcser 17

composeis also. The song has an antiphcnal character in pait be ause while the gopis address Krsna in every vrtta and coriesponding näma entieating him not to leave them, he replies in vrtta and nāma no (7) reassuiing them of his eaily return. An enti.e song in antiphony is also composed by Šrīpadarāya as will be noticed presently. He is thus a pioneer in the creation of this form also.

One other vrttanama-the fifth-may be briefly noticed here. This is composed by Vijayadasa and is called Ši Piāņadevara Pārijata. It is edited by Gorabāļa Hanumantha Rao and is given in 'Sri Vijayadāsara Pada- galu' (pt. I, pp. 65-67), published by Sii Varadendra Haridāsa-sāhitya-maņdaļa, Lingasugur, 1958. Its iāga is not given, but tala is chapu. Its text is somewhat corrupt. It consists of a one-line pallavi which is followed by eight units of vrita (called pada). The slokas are composed in the s rdūla-vikridita metre with considerable vowel and consonantal accommodation. The syllabic quantity of the lines in each padya is comparable but varies from nama to nāma and averages some 24 syllables : 23, 21, 22, 20; 25, 22 22, 22; 25, 24, 22, 23 ; 24, 22, 25, 25 ; 23, 23, 24, 22 : 25, 19, 38; 24, 25, 23, 24 ; 25, 21, 23, 23, 16. It may be noticed that the sixth nama has only three lines, the la t of which may be split into two lines of 16 and 22 syllabes ; the final nama has five lines .; of these, the last line carries the composei's signatuie and is to be regarded as a seperate colophoni: addendum to the song. The sardūla vikridita lines aie uniformly marked with a caesura between the 12th.and 13th syllables. The nama-s are composed with abundant vadi (internal rhyme).

The song consists of a prayer to Mukhya-prana for mukti. It describes briefly the achievements of his three in carnations viz. Hanuman, Bhima and Madhva and rigorously conforms to the dogma of dvaita philosophy. It

18 Music of Madhva Monks

also accoids well with the general features of cther vrtta- namas. It is possible that the woid 'Paiijata' in the name of the vrttanama may signify the vrttan?ma form.

Finally, the krtis of S, ipadaiaya merit attention because, after Narahari Tirtha's two or three krtis, this is the first time in the history of Kainataka music that as many as some 80 krtis are available from a single composer. This foim has ieceived extensive experimentation at his hands in structure and verbal themes. It contains the seeds of nearly all later innovations in segmentation, proportion of segments, number of lines in each segment and their syllabic quantity and so on. It developed naturally from the concept of udgraha, melapaka and dhruva elements of a prabandha. Dhruva is interpreted in two ways: as a dhätu segment : it is the constant, indispensable part of the song which cannot be omitted. It constitutes the body of the song. It is also a segment which constantly recurs i.e. a refrain : Thus udgraha, melapaka and dhruva correspond to pallavi, anupallavi and caiana in a krti. In the sense of recurrence pallavi is both udgrāha and dhruva ; thus iecurience of a refrain after each of a number of segments results This yields a krti with pallavi and a number of caranas, the music of which may or may not recur. If it does, a song of the kind of divyanama sankirtana iesults. This is realised in the devaranāma- like padas of Narahari Tirtha and his successors in which the anupallavi does not occur. If the music does not recur i.e. if each carana is performed to a different dhätu of the same (or different) räga, a song of the type of Pancaratna of Tyagaraja results. If the caiana is missing and there is only the anupallavi, this is the prototype of the samasti-carana-krti type of Muddusvāmi Dikșita. Rarely, as in the case of așțapadi

Šrīpādarāya : Musician-Composer 19

or Tyāgarāja's pañcaratna krti in ārabhi rāga ('sadhincene'), the anupallavi (melāpaka) performs the recurrent function of the dhruva. The pallavi-carana/s structure of the krti was so well established by Šripādarāya that the krti structure became settled by the early 16th cent. A.C. so that Annamācārya describes it in his Sankiıtanalakşaņamu29. Another significant contribution of Siīpādarāya to the krti structure is its differentiation through verbal content. Sturcture remaining the same, it was called krti if its words spoke of a religious, spriritual, moral, social, nariative etc. subject. (This is again subdivided somewhat artificially in recent days into kiitana which contains the piaise of God and krti which bespeaks of other themes). If it contains a theme of erotic love, it came to called, in the 17th cent. A.C., pada or jāvaļi. The former describes the sublimated, subtle shades of vipralambha srngāra, set to slow tempo in a serious, rakti raga. The latter describes the physical, overt love set to middle tempo in iakti or dešya raga30. The foundations of both are laid by Šiīpādarāya in some of his songs31, especially his gopi gitas.

Šrīpādarāya has inaugurated through the self same frame of krti, Kannada song types called veņugīta 29 Annamācārya, Sankīrtanalakşaņamu, extr. Sathya- naıayana, R., Karnāțakadalli kale: Sangīta, pt.1, pp. 151-152 30 For a detailed discussion of pada and jāvaļi, see Sathyanarayana, R. ; Karnāțaka Sangitāvāhini, pp. 380-390 31 Šrīpādarāya, op. cit. nos. 13, 16, 17, 32, 39, 43 55; Unique Exemplar, nos. 2, 10 etc.

20 Music of Madhva Monks (flute-song)32 and bhramaragita (bee-song)33 which became prototypes of nume. ous songs composed by later Vaișnava saints, These were inspied from brief descrip- tions in the Bhagavata purana of the glories of Krsna's flute playing and of the bee-incident34. These seven songs of Siipādarāya may be regaided as foiming an opus in themselves because of thematic affiliation. Thus 'kēļidyā kautukavannu' (no. 16) recoids a monologue/dialogue of gopis in which they pour out their appiehension and pangs of separation at the news of Krsna's impending departure to Madhura. In 'mananidhi s.īkrșņa' (no. 43) they go to Krsna in a group to confirm the rumour ; they express their hungry love for him and fear that he may forget them and their love in the pleasures of Madhura. Krsna allays their fears and promises to return to them at the earliest. 'terale ni madhurege' (Unique Exemplars ibid. no. 13) reiterates their apprehensions and requests for early return; it adduces evidences from Krsna's exploits which feed their doubts and appiehension. When he leaves for Madhura and does not retuin, the gopis sing their sorrow and blame the ill fate which tore him away from them in the song 'vidhige dayavillavakka' (no. 52); 'had we but wings, we would fain fly to him'. After some time Krsna sends his friend Uddhava to Vraia to bring back news of the wellbeing of his (foster) parents (and beloved gopis ?). On beholding him, the gopis bur t foith into a vociferous expression

32 Ibid. nos. 12, 17 33 Ibid. nos. 39, 51

34 Vide foot note no. 5

Šrīpadarāya : Musician-Composer 21

of their fond memories of and yearning for Krsna in the beautiful suladi 'I vanadedegalu' (no. 7). Finally, the song 'bhrnga ninnattidane' (no. 39) is the famous 'bhramaragita' (the bee-song). The gopis see a bee (flitting among flowers) and imagine it to be a messen- ger from Krsna ; they plead with it to convey to him their undying love and yearning.

Three fuither instances of the pioneering brilliance of Śrīpīdarāya dese,ve at lea t a brief mention here ; for, these served as excellent models for succeeding generations of Vaisnava composers in Kannada. Also, they repiesent the first systematic attempt by a composer to expand the repertoiie of classical Karnataka music with materials drawn from folkmusic and stage music. The first two are lullabies fashioned after folksongs (no. 5, 21, 50). Each consists of a two - line pallavi, and two-line anupallavi followed by four-line caraņas (7 and 27 iespectively). The first has dasāva- tara for its theme ; both describe the cradle-swinging of the infant Lord by gods and goddesses.

The third song 'kuñja netre subha mañjuļa gātre' (no. 13) is of special historical interest. It is an anti- phony, consisting of a dispute in dialogue between Rukmiņi and Satyabhāmā as to who enjoys the better love of Krsna. It has a two-line pallavi followed by 17 four-line caranas. The lines are of approximately equal syllabic content, rhyming on the second syllable. This is undoubtedly a evival by Šrīpādarāya of an ancient prabandha of Indian music viz, šukasārikā.

Matanga describes, almost 1300 yeas ago, the šukasārikā as a song composed of pada (words), pāța (onomatopoeic instrumental syllables), and of questions and answers or dialogue which are set to Kannada

22 8r Music of Madhva Monks

(or Lața) or an admixture. It is set to two talas35. Nanyadeva concurs with this desciiption and adds that the song has many verse feet3e. This ag.ees with the description of Somesvara III who adds that the dialogue may be in prose or veise and contributes a lovely illustration of his own37. Somarājadeva limits his desciīption of šukasārika to words of dialogue in Kannada or Līța. Pāršvadeva's aphoristic description mentions its components as pada, pāta and tāla38. Haripaladeva endorses the descriptions of Matanga and Somesvara; he adds that the song is set to any suitable raga and that its concluding section should be performed to two spans of the tala3. Jagadekamalla concurs with this ; he further prescribes that the patas should be composed at the end (of each carana 40. Thus the abovementioned song of Sripadaraya should be sung as follows: The dialogue verses of Rukmiņi should be sung in one single rāga and single tāla, those of Satyabhama, in a different contrasting rāga and tala. The two-lines of the pallavi should be composed respectively in the e two rāgas and tālas so as to offer the necessary tiansition through refiain. Each caiana should conclude in a jati passage on mrdanga

35 Matanga, op. at. 410-411, pp. 144-145 36 Nānyadeva, Sarasvatī-hrdayālankāiahāra, Ms. in Š1ī Varalakshmi Academies of Fine Arts, Mysore, Vol. 2, p.421 37 Somesvara, Sarvajña-, op. cit. 4. 16. 326-329, pp. 36, 37 38 Pāršvadeva, Sańgītasamayasāra, 4.32, p.26 39 Haripaladeva, op. cit. 5.7. 162 40 Jagadekamalla, op. cit. Ms. in Sri Varalakshmi Academies of Fine Arts, Mysore

Šripādarāya : Musician-Composer 23

or other percussive or a sollukattu on the voice. I have attemrted such reconstruction of this song in part elsewhere41. It is not unlikely that the sukasārika and Šiipīdarāya's above song are inspired by the stage.

The krti may now be studied for structure with special reference to Srīpadaiaya since his contribution is crucial to the evolution of this form. It has been indi- cated above that this foim has been logically created by Narahari Tiitha and the succeeding composers of vyāsakūța and dāsakūța by interpreting the dhiuva element of prabandha dhitu as both body and refrain, thus deriving its main variant structures. In fact, the term 'dhiuva' as the dhatu element meaning refiain (pallavi) is found in many collative sources in the apparatus criticus of Siipadaraya's songs (nos. 15, 20, 28, 34, 36, 37, 39, 44, 52, 58, 59; Unique Exemplar : 4, 9). It is significant that these sources hail from northern paits of Karnataka.

Thus the krti has a pallavi and caranas, corres- ponding to udgräha and dhruva. The melīpaka corres- ponding to anupallavi has played a ciitical role in the diversification of the krti foim. In its absence the krti is dvidhatuka prabandha, with two angas viz. pada and tala. When it has anupallavi, the krti is tridhā- tūka; it has the same angas and may be classifed in the taiavali jati. Some krtis came, in course of time to include pața, biruda and svara, especially those of Purandaradasa. The inclusion or omission of anupallavi is quite in conformity with tradition and convention

41 Sathyanarayana, R., Beru-Meru : Musical feature broadcast from A.I.R., Bangalore on May 18, 1981. This also features a lullaby (no. 50) described above.

24 Music of Madhva Monks

that the dhatu elements which could be optionally omitted are melipaka and abhoga. in this order of prefer- ence. These trends may be clarly distinguished in Śripāda- raya's krti-songs. Thus the anupallavi is unambiguously piesent in his following songs : nos. 1, 3, 4, 8, 12, 21, 29, 31, 32, 41, 48, 53, 55, 56; Variants, no. 2; Ambiguous Signature, no. 6; Unique Exemplar : nos. 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12-15, 19-22, 26. The anupallav! is unambiguously omitted in the following song nos : 6, 11, 13, 15, 27, 42, 44, 46, 57, 60. Unique Exemplar : 1, 4, 9, 11, 24, 25, The use of anupallavi is sometimes ambiguous ; that is, when it is absent in the vulgate, the pallavi lines are decomposed into pallavi and anupallavi in a section of the collative sources, When pallavi and anupallavi are both present in the vulgate, they are reconstituted or fused into only the pallavi in a section of the critical apparatus. This is noticed in song nos. 5, 9, 10, 17, 19, 22, 23, 24, 26, 35-39, 41, 43, 45, 47, 49-52, 58, 59, 61; Ambiguous Signature : 6. Examples of this include 2 pallavi (p) lines decompcsed into 1 p and 1 a (anupallavi); 4p = 2p+2a ; 3 p=lp + 2a; 7p=3p+-4a42.

The caranas occur always in odd number, there are rare exceptions to this rule in later krti composers. In Šrīpāda- rāya's krtis the caiana number ranges through 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 17, 23, and 27 (30). By and large, the carana is made of couplets or quatrains, though caranas with 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and even 16 lines aie also occasionally found.

42 Abbreviations used in this and following sections : p-pallavi, a-anupallavi, c-carana; /-normal length of line in a song of the composer under consider- ation; s-short (c.half '/'); V1-very long (c.1.5/ or Siltno more), Vs-very short (c. 0.25 '/' or less); AS- 1801 appendix containing songs of Ambiguous Signature; bsdUE-appendix containing songs from Unique Exemplars ; V=Variant Text.

Šripādarāya : Musician-Composer 25

The wide range of quantitative experiments which S.ipādarāya has conducted may be summarised thus : the first number indicates the lines per carana and the second, the number of caranas in the song. Those in brackets indicate song numbers listed by Dr. Vaiadaraja Rac43. 2-3 (6,33, 37, 56, AS3, UE 24) 2-5 (17, 34, 46, 54, UE 25) 2-7 23, 26); 2-9 (54V); 2-10 (54V) 4-3 (3, 8, 9, 9, 10 etc.); 4-5 (2, 4, 5 11 etc.); 4-7 (21, 51); 4-11 (36), 4-17 (13), 4-23 (50), 4-27/30 or 4-37/40 (20), 5-5 (53), 6-3 (16, 59), 7-3 (35), 8-3 (UE 10, 15), 8-5 (AS 8), 8-9 (39), 8-11 (47), 9-3 (49), 10-3 (UE 2), 12-3 (UE 12), 16-3 (UE.19). Next, the quantitative relationships p-a-c in teims of number of lines therein may be briefly considered in Sri padaraya's krti songs. In the notation used here the first, second and third numbers refer to those in pallavi, anu- pallavi and carana iespectively (the number of lines in every carana is the same in a given krti) while those in brackets refer to the song numbers in the source cited. Thus, 1-0-4 (15), 1-1-2 (54, 56, AS 3), 1-1-4 (1, 3, 4, 8, 48, 52), 1-1-6 (59), 1-2-4 (UE-14), 1-2-5 (53), 1-4-6 (16), 2-0-2 (17, 23, 26, 33, 37, AS 3, 24, 25), 2-0-4 (5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 35, 36, 38, 42, 44, 50, 51, 57, 58, 60), 2-1-4 (32), 2-2-2 (34), 2-2-4 (21, 24, 29, 31, 33, 41, 43, 50,55, 61), 2-2-8 (47, AS 6), 3-0-4 (45), 3-0-9 (49), 3-4-7 (35) 4-0-2 (46). 4-0-4 (4), 4-0-8 (39, 47, AS 6). It is seen that the composer has pieferred 2-0-4, 2-2-4, 2-0-2, and 1-1-4 combinations in the decreasing order of frequency. It is found that both experimental models and preferred models are taken up by later composers of both vyāsakūta and dasakūța such as Vadirāja, Puiandaradāsa, Gopāladāsa, Mahipatidāsa, Vijaya- dāsa, Jagannathadasa, Pra anna Venkațadasa and others.

One more quantitative analysis of Srīpadaraya's songs would help in revealing trends in structure; this is in reference

43 Vide foornote no. 1

26 Music of Madhva Monks

to syllabic quantity per line in p-a-c. This is expressed in ielative rather than absolute values so that form may be related to structure in a general way. For this purpose the notation indicated in footnote 42 is used here ; 'l' is here the length of the line (related to syllabic quantity) which is normal or appropriate to the particular composition and is roughly the mean of the syllabic quantities or lengths of all its lines. Since these are musical compositions, it is assumed that the composer has arrived at 'l' with due consideration to the extent of the tala avarta and to the laya (tempo) in which the song is intended to be performed. This does not necessarily reflect the intention of the composer for these songs are not tiansmitted in the original dhatu to which he had set the song. However, the rāga-tala ascriptions are traditicnal, plausible in terms of contemporaneity and are based on chronological seniority of the source materials. In any case, the songs are received in both musical and textual transmissions ; therefore 'l' would have received the two considerations of tala avaita and laya at the hands of the performers, if not the original composer. Therefore 'l' and its derived quantitees are not entirely arbitrary in their choice or definition. Thus, many krtis of Šrīpādarāya reveal 1-1-1 structure (e.g. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 13, 17, 21, 26, 27, 34) within fairly narrow limits. However, there are many interesting models which differ from such uniform syllabic distribution. Some of these are : p-+a=c (35, 43, UE 20), Vs-O-Vs (UE 14), 1-1-V1 (UE 26), s-1-1 (31); caranas of some krtis conform to a definite pattern : 1sls ........ (11, 18, 19, A S6, UE 2, 10, 13, 21), Isll (8, 43, 45, 49, 57, 61, 62, UE 1, 3), lslsl111 (12), Islsls1s11111111 (19). Such structural models are stablised and others innovated by subsequent composers in Karnataka, Andhra and Tamilnadu by proliferation.

3. ŠRĪPĀDARĀYA : MUSICAL CLIMATE

We shall now proceed to consider briefly the musical environment in which Sipadaraya sang and composed. Šri Vidyāranya founded not only the empire of Karnataka but the empire of Karnataka music as well. He laid the foundations on which Kainataka music began to be built in the 15th century. This is reflected in theory by Kallinstha and in practice by Šripadarāya and other musician- composers of the age, who were contemporaries and flourished in the same region, The 15th cent A.C. was critical in the history of the Vijayanagara empire-that is, South India ; several native and foreign cultural influences and circumstances had conflu- enced therein : a classical tradition derived from Sarngadeva, and Gopalanayaka, who flourished under the patronage of the Yadava rulers Jaitrasimha, Simhana and Harapala ; Sii Vidyāranya ; another stream of music from the Vaișnava saints and savants who broke through the prestigious usages of samskrta and mirga sangita, led by Šrīpādaraya, Vyasaraya etc; the patronage and promotion which their desi music secured from kings and the people; the gentle but firm influences of exotic music from the neighoouring Bahmani kingdoms, the distance Mughal empire, Persia, Afghanistan, Poitugal etc; and an Indian music which had developed internal stresses, the dead weight of fossilized and archaic conventions and prescriptions - which had grown just ripe for a conceptual and piagmatic change. There were major changes in three areas of our music at this time : raga, tala and prabandha. A revolutionary, fundamental change in raga was the replacement of grama with mela. Madhyamagrama lost its functional relevance and merged its identity into the sadjagrama. Several corollaries followed: dual tonicity

28 Music of Madhva Monks had changed to sadja exclusively, so that the music now gravitated to, and only to, this lowest note of the scale. All the functions of madhyamagrama and its paraphernalia were now accommodated in the sadjagrama itself. Every melodic structure derived from the forme. had these chara- cteristics : it invariably commenced on madhyama ; the 3- šruti pañcama served as tritone, and the 4 - sruti dhaivata which distinguished it fiom sadjagrama had to be inevitably employed so as to retain its character. This pancama was further diminished by a sruti - from the 16th to the 15th and served to iepresent its ma-giama analogue but as a modification of madhyama. Hence it was ramed prati(nidhi) madhyama. Madhyama now lost its nonomissi- bility (avirasitva) and gained modification by expression at the following, not precedent srutis. Thus it became a 6-sruti interval. This was but part of on extensive scalic reorganisation. Originally, ga and ni could function as two - or four sruti intervals under the svarasadhārana technique and were proscribed from a 3-sruti value. These weie called sadhāraņa gāndhāra and kaišiki nişīda; thus sadja and madhyama also could assume three sruti intervals for the fiist time. Also, consecutive intervals (ni-sa, ga-ma) could each have 3 srutis ; ri and dha could be modified only by expression at the subsequent srutis. For the first time, they had 5 - siuti intervals. The grama sy tem had defined only 3 kinds of intervals viz. of 2, 3 and 4 srutis. tI became possible now to have intervals of 5 and 6 srutis also. Indeed, this century was witness to an experiment with 4 srutis for ri and dha also. Because the ma-grama became obsolescent, the relationship of sa-ma invariance was tiansferred to sa- pa in consonance with the character of sa-grama. Indeed, no pait of the scale was left untouched. Foundations for two revolutionary principles for musical intervals in the scale were laid at this time. These were the principles of representation (pratinidhi tattva) and

Šiīpāđarāya : Musical Climate 29

alternative denomination. Because intervallic magnitude was liberated from the restriction of a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 4 srutis and was expanded through a range of 1 to 6 srutis, overlap became possible; that is a single expressive sruti position could be occupied by either of a pair of consecutive note: depending on the context. This came to be known as the paryaya tattva. Because of the principle of representation, it became possible for a ncte to represent its next higher semitonal value. Because the mini- mum and maximum size: of the intervals were revised to 1 and 6 srutis respectively, concepts of consonance and dissonance underwent a drastic change44.

The principle of svara modification was made uniform viz. displacement from a standard (defined) position (called suddha) to the fiist, second, third (or even fourth) sruti. The scale now had seven suddha and seven vikrta (modified) notes. Therefore, except antara gāndhāra and kakali nişīda which were lower by one sruti than their analogues of today, all other note positions were aligned into their present state. Musical intervals came to be reckoned for the first time in relation to the reference pitch:adharasruti. Hence drone instrument - the tambu,i - was developed to provide the reference pitch for the entiiety of music, the melodic body of which was aligned to a structural homogeneity. The tambūri is mentioned for the first time in its caicer by Srīpādarāya in one of his songs (no. 54). It is also mentioned in two inscriptions of the Vijayanagaia period45, and represented in a sculpture48 belonging to the same period.

44. Kallinātha, Sangītakalanidhi, comm. Šārngadeva, op. cit. 2. 159, p.115; for detailed discussion see Sathyanarayana, R., Karnāțaka Sangītavāhini, pp. 130-157 45. Epigraphia Carnatica, 8, Sb. 379 46. Saletore, R.N. Vijayanagara Art, p. 237

30 Music of Madhva Monks

It is of course, mentioned by many subsequent vaisnava composers such as Vyasaraya, Vadirāia, Purandaradāsa, Kanakadāsa etc. It may be recalled that Šripādarāya is des- cribed by Vyāsarāya in his Š ipādarājasiaka as having been honoured by the Vijayanaga a ruler Saļuva Narasimha47. The tamburi brought with it the structural alignment of the corpus of all iagas to sadjagrima i.c. to the tonicity of șadja ; thus sadja became their graha, amša and nyāsa. This means that even the ragas originally affiliated to madhyamagrama now commenced on sa of the middle regis- ter ; an interesting relic of this grama is the tuning of the tambüri to madhyama sruti with ma as reference pitch to accommodate high pitched voices and the performance of some rāgas like punnagavarali and maņirańgu48. No holograph of the songs of Sripadaraya (nor of any of the composers considered here) being available, it is not possible to say to what iagas and talas he (or they) had set the songs generally or specifically. However, the melas and their janya ragas as described by Sri Vidyāianya in his Sangitasara and again described by Govinda Dikşita49 must have been in vogue in Sripadaraya's time and place. Govinda Dikşita seems to have preserved Vidyāraņyamata in its original purity in ragalakșana, for he resentfully criticises the views of 'moderners' such as Ramāmatya. Therefore the following 15 melas and their 50 janya ragas of Vidyaranya are likely to have been employed by Šripāda. āya for his songs. These aie :

47. Keshavadasa, Beluru-, Karnāțaka Bhaktavijaya, vol. 1, p.25 48. For a detailed discussion, see Sathyanarayana, R., op. cit. pp. 134-157 49. Govinda Dīkşita, Sangītasudhā(nidhi), 2. 413ff pp.152 ff.

Šripadarāya : Musical Climate 31

1. natta 2. gurjari 3. saurāștra 4. mecabauli 5. chāyāgaula 6. guņdakriyā 7. sālaganāțī 8. šuddha- vasanta 9. nadarāmakriyā 10. gaula 11. bauli 12. kar- nāțabangāla 13. lalita 14. malahari 15. pādi 16. sāveri 17. revagupti 18 vara ți 19 åri 20, sālagabhairavi 21. ghantārava 22, velāvali 23. devagāndhāri 24, ītigaula 25. mīlavašıi 26. madhyamīdi 27. dhanāšī 28. bhairavi 29. jayantasena 30. bhinnașadja 31. hindolavasanta 32. hindola 33. bhupāla 34. sankarabharaņa 35. āiabhi 36. pūrva- gaula 37. nārāyaņi 38. nārāyaņadešīkși 39. āhari 40. abheri 41. vasantabhairavi 42. sāman'a 43. kannadagaula 44. kāmbodi 45. mukhāri 46, šuddharāmakriyā 47. kedāra- gaula 48. nārāyaņagaula 49. hejjujji and 50. dešākşi

In the foregoing a mela is shown in italics. Its janya ragas follow in roman script. These are discussed in some detail elsewhere50 and need not be repeated here. Sii Vidya- ranya inaugurated the mela in Indian music. This developed into an interesting synonym viz. janaka-janya relationship between the mela and its constituent rāga ; thus there was a conceptual shift from grouping to derivation in the classi- fication of ragas as indicated by Kallinatha : 'iti janya- janaka-yor - melanabhedo ras di- viniyoganiyamas - ceti lakşya-lakşanayor bahudhā virodh. ḥ'51.

In conclusion, three rägas occurring in a song (no.50) of Šrīpādarāya may be mentioned viz. kalyāņi, ānanda -- bhairavi and devagandhäri. The text of this song is collated from two printed and two manuscript sources. The editor acknowledges that he has largely depended on the printed sources since the MSS are incomplete and generally unsatisfactory. He seems to feel that the transmitted text is not reliable. He is right, at least in so for as the names of these three ragas are concerned. For, they are apocryphal.

50. Sathyanarayana, R., op. cit. pp. 77-121 51. Kallinatha, op. cit., loc. cit.

32 Music of Madhva Monks

A nandabhairavi is mentioned for the fiist time by Tulaja in his Sangitasārāmrta (p. 104) in the 18th cent. Kalyaņi is mentioned for the first time by Pundarika Vitthala in the 16th cent. in Sadrāgacandrodaya (2.2. 70-71), Ragamanjari (2. 49-50) as a mela and in Rāgamālā (178) and Nartana- nirņaya (3.1.200) as a janya rāga. Devagīndhāra is an ancient räga. Therefore it is probable that this is a case of apocryphal signature and must be assigned to the late 17th or early 18th cent. A.C. Hence these ragas need not be discussed here. Next, we may examine the musical environment in res- pect of tilas. It has been mentioned above that Srīpādarāya has used the seven sulādi tālas viz, dhruva, mathya, rūpaka, jhampā, tripuța, atța and eka -exclusively for all of his songs, Three facts may be noticed in this connection. 1) in none of the songs is any tala specified in respect of its laghujati. 2) adi tāla is used as an entity independent of tripuța tala 3) ragaņa mațhya and jhombada tālas are not used. Two possibilities may be considered: 1) talas were assigned by the composer himself 2) they are the products of usage by later performers, received by oralh textual trans- mission. This second possibility seems more reasonable as much as in the case ofräga usages for the songs in the matter of specific application. That is, it cannot be asserted that Siipadaraya composed a given song in this or that raga and tala. But since only suladi talas are used without exception in all lines of transmission to the exclusion of every other kind of tāla such as mārga, desi, sankara, mišra, khaņda, marma, bhanga, urupu etc, which were undoubtedly in vogue during his days, we must assume his preference of these talas to all others. He is thus indisputably the pioneer in bringing about the revolutionary change in the talas of Karnataka music52.

52. Only two songs of Narahari Tirtha are available but no sulādis.

Šrīpādarāya : Musical Climate 33

Thus it may be inferred that Sripadaraya applied the totality of suladi talas to the totality of his songs. The absence of laghujati prescription shows that this concept had not yet operated in the talas of this time and that each tila was used with an exclusively the same and only laghujati e. g. jhampā tala in misra laghu, atta in khaņda laghu, tripuța in trišra laghu, and the rest in caturasra laghu. It is also probable that they were employed, especially in suladis, in their chapu forms. Ādi and eka tālas had, in their desi forms a laghu and a druta for their anga respectively. In their suladi foims however, they have laghu, diuta, druta and laghu for their angas respectively. The jhombada tala had a druta, druta and laghu. It is clear therefore, that the jhombada was transformed to the present aditala by inversion, and that the jhombada itself was constituted from one avarta (span) of the desi aditala and two avartas of the desi ekatala, and that the desi aditala was synonymised with the suladi ekatala. Because of its rena- scence from the desi to the suladi fold, aditala was re- tained in the beginning as an independent entity. It is only in about the 17-18th cent. when the jati as a tālaprāņa matured into universal application that āditala merged into tripuța tala as a variety. It will be shown presently that the comprehension of the conceptual and empirical totality of tala through collimation into the dasapiana principle emerged at the very place and time in which S.ipadaraya lived and worked.

The vyāsakūța and dīsakūța composers were moti- vated to ring in drastic changes in the tila aspect of our music by the utter confusion, duplication, irregula- rity and anaichy which prevailned in the woild of dēsi talas. Their contribution will be discussed in Section (VI). It suffices here to say that the variability of the dura- tion of the laghu and consequently of the guru, pluta

34 Music of Madhva Monks

and kakapada, the impracticably fiactional durations which the virama introduced into the tila avarta, fancy, whim or caprice which replaced creative genius in formulation of new talas etc. led to the existence of a large number of talas with the same name but different structures same structures but different names and same structures but different durations etc.53 It is interesting that the very fiist attempt to bring system and science to this melange came from the self- same Mulabigalu where Siipidaraya lived and composed This is found in Taladipika of Saļuva Gopatippendia who was the viceroy of Devaraya II at Muļabāgalu; his grandfather Siluva Tippa had married Harima, elder sister of Devaraya II. It is under this Devaraya's patronage that Kallinatha wrote his commentary Sangītakalinidhi on Šārngadeva's Sangitīratnākara. Gopatippendra records his awarenes of the proliferation of (duplicate) tala structures ( to which he himself contributes as many as 220!). Gopatippa ( which is colloquial deterioratiion of the sam krta Gopatripurahara ) intro- dues the concept of tala dasapiana for the fist known time at the end of the second chapter of Taladipika : kālamargakriyāng ni graho jitiņ kalā layaņ yatih prastarakas-ceti talapraņā das-eritahs We shall conclude this section on Sripadaraya with a brief study of the state of musical compositions in his time. Indian music had, by the end of the 13th cent. A. C. developed a huge iepeitoire in number and variety. Some 75 song forms had bred more than 4,200 subvarieties; proliferation had gone wild as in tala and raga. The va iety in these is quite impressive. It catered to a broad spectrum of taste and requirement. 53. Kallinātha, op. cit. on op- cit, 5. 254-260, pp. 139-142 54. Gopa Tippendra, Taladipika, MS. copy in Sri Varalakshmi Academies of Fine Arts, Mysore

Šrīpādarāya : Musical Climate 35

Thus there were songs which were delimited by specific restriction in rāga, tala, chandas, rasa and language (niryuk- ta) and those which were so unrestricted (aniryukta), but simply retained the traditional or conventional character in words (matu) and music (dhatu). There were very short songs such as dvipathaka, dvipadi, tripadi and harşavard- hana; also lengthy ones like rāgakadamba, elā. Songs set to tala, songs without tila, songs set to tala but containing gamakalapti passages; songs sung only to pros dial struc- tures without tala; songs set to a single raga and single tala, songs set to a garland of rägas but to a single tala; songs set to a single raga but to a garland of talas; songs in both rāgamslika and tīlamālikā, songs in a series of prosodial forms (vrttamalikā) set a single raga; songs in parallel but connected garlands of raga, tala and vrtta (rāga-tala-vrtta- malika)etc. were sung in our music, In fact, Kallinatha records the instance of a ragakadamba variety called amredita which was composed by Gopilanayaka ( in the 13th century ) which jeatured 64 caranas (stanzas) cach of which was performed in a different raga and a different tala and a different vrtta.55

Time-honored or 'classical' compositions such as the suddha sūdas (e. g. the ela, dhenki or karaņa)were performed in a music recital; metrical forms like tripadi and satpadi were alio featured. The musical repeitoire included songs meant for special occasions and festivals e. g. the spring fe tival, holi etc., and dida tic songs which exhorted the listeners to detachment and spiritual quest e. g. caccail; songs for rituals, celebrations and ceremonies such as for wedding, or vietory when dhavala-varieties were in demand; songs to suit special occasions for particular religious faiths : e. g. mangala and mangalicara. Folk song forms such as ovi, danti, dhollaii, lolli, each segment of which concluded with a refrain of the namesake word were available. There were songs to accompany daily chores like

55. Kallinātha, op. cit. on op. cit. 4. 255. p. 305

36 Music of Madhva Monks

corn-pounding, grinding or threshing, for narrating heroic exploits, pastoral pastime etc; also songs to stimulate valour in battles (rahadi, virasri), laudation of great achieve- ments (kirtidhavala). There were songs in prose without prosody or rhyme (gadya), songs without segmentation; songs with many segments (bhramara), songs with onomato poeic instrumental syllables (pancabhangi); songs in which a literary/poetic theme, descriptive theme or a narra- tive (story) theme was predominant.56 These and other songs were composed in samskrta, kannada, telugu, tamil, Iata etc. Also a special language called bhandira with its own autonomy of grammar and vocabulary was developed for music compositions. This is an apabhramsa form of samskrta and employs nonsensic syllables such as tuma, kuma, aya, iya, tiya, voyi, re- amva etc. Bhindira songs of Somesvara III Vițhalīmātya Lakşminārāyaņa, Vyāsaraya, Purandaradasa, Venkațamakhin, Mudduvenkațamakhin, Paidāla Gurumtti Sastri and others are preserved even today. It is a sad mystery that this huge wealth, gathered over several centuries disappeaied almost unaccountably in just about three hundred years. There is an inexplicable chasm in the history of our music between oral and textual transmissions in which the old submerged and the new emerged. None of the musical treatises composed after the 14th cent. - with the notable exceptions of Puņdarika Vițthala's Naitanani ņaya and Bhavabhațța's Anüpa Sangītaratnākara and Annamācārya's Sankīrtana lakşanam - describes even a single song form which held sway on the concert platform or in popular usage of the times, such as the krti, suladi, vrttanāma, ugābhoga, pada, jāvali, vaiņa, tillāna, așțapadi, daru and many forms which were employed in the classical 56. Puņdarīka Vițțhala, Nartana-niiņaya, 3. 2. 54-329; also see, Sathyanarayana, R., Puņdarīkamāla, p. 418 comm. in

Šripadarāya : Musical Climate 37

or folk theatre fiom about the 15th to the 19th cent. A.C. The chapter on riga in Tulaja's Sangitasarāmrta where illustiative passages from numerous contem- porary musical forms is a happy exception; but its chapter on prabandha is strangely barren of such material! It is in this context that a study of the song types composed by the vyasakūța-dasakūța savants should be taken up, Mention is already made of the possible deri- vation of the krti form and vrttanama by Šrīpadarāya. The nascent state of these forms is indicated by the diverse trends and directions as well as them etastasle condition revealed by them in Sripadaraya's compositions. The emergence of the sulidi and ugibhoga as two dis- tinct entities from the salagasuda prabandha is discusesd by me elsewhere. 57 Since the veiy first availabie suladis and ugābhogas are of Šrīpādarāya; he must havė pioneered this change.

Such splitting was but the culmination of disinte- grating stresses which were building up within the sālagasuda to a climax in the 15th cent. This is reflected in the writings of Kallinatha .* The very first and structurally the most massive and elaborate of the salaga sūda viz. the dhruva prabandha reveals these symptoms in the 14th-15th centuries. According to Rigarnava 9 it had evolved into uttama, madhyama and kanişțha varieties with 6, 5 and 4 component lines respectively. Uttama was obtained by adding another line to the abhoga in the standard dhiuva prabandha (which had 3 lines

57. Sathyanarayana, R., Sulādis and Ugābhogas of Karnāțaka Music, pp. 68-74 58. Kallinatha, op. cit. on op. cit. 4. 314-316, pp. 336-340 59. ?, Rāgārņava, extr. Šārngadhara, Sārigadhara paddhati, 1966-1975, pp. 293 - 294 et seq.

38 Music of Madhva Monks

of udgraha, the third line also functioning as dhruva dhatu; and two lines of abhoga) so that it now had three lines of udgraha and thiee of abhoga. Its udgraha was also altered by inserting a gamakalapti into its third (dhruva) line. The last line of the uttama dhruva (or the third abhoga line) contained the composer's signature and was sung in a higher key and in gama- kālapti. The madhyama dhruvaka conformed to the standard dhruva: its 5 lines were divided into 3 - udgraha and 2-abhoga lines, but the final line contained the compo- ser's signature and was sung in a higher key. The kanistha had only 2 - instead of 3- lines in udgrāha as also in abhoga. The second and fourth lines were sung in a slightly higher key and the latter incorpora- ted the composer's signature. Prescription of syllabic content (varņaniyama) was rendered more elastic to mean word content (padaniyama) if there could be no conformity to the former. Even when vaina niyama had to be rigidly followed, it was delimited only to the first two lines. The impoitance of the dhruva prabandha is brought out by Sarngadhara who says that a gīta (i. e. salagasūda song) without dhruvaka is like knowledge without wisdom, contemplation without harmony with the soul, gift without sincerity. Similarly, Sudh kalaša likens such a gīta to a lake without water. 60 Kallinatha delineates vividly the fluid state of the salagauda. Varnaniyama was no longer followed in any of the sixteen dhruva varieties; the order of udgraha etc. was arbitrarily changed; talas applied to them were diawn from heterogeneous sources; therefore even though many of them were shown under different names, they had the same tem- poral and rhythmic structure. The salagasūdas no longer con- formed to prescriptions of akşara, tāla, rasa and dhatu elements etc. Therefore they had begun to lose their

60. Sudhākalasa, Sangītopanișat-sarocdhāra, 1. 51, p:9

Šrīpīdarāya : Musical Climate 39

tructural and formal identity. Such violation of prescriptive suthority had extended from the dhruva to mantha and other songs of the salagasuda class. Kallina ha defends their nominal and formal retention by arguing that they might have lost the power to bestow indirect .or unseen- fruits (adrstaphala) such as auspiciousness, affluence, longe- vity etc. because of such nonconformity; they may have even lost their distinctive identity as musical forms; but hey still retain their most important, directly perceptible fruit viz. popular appeal. The salagasuda underwent three major changes during it transformation into the suladi: the first was thematic. Unti now they could be composed on practically any subject ranging from k ma to moksa; but from the 15th cent. onwards they were written to express love of God or to exhort he common man to higher social, moral or culturas1 values. The second change was in the talas; the salaga- sūda prabandhas employed only desi tālas, whereas the suladis employed only the seven suladi t las viz. dhruva, mațhya, rūpaka. etc. This transition occurred in three phases: i) selection of simple and short desi tala struc- tures and their fixation in anga with respect to number, order and type of accent in the tala-avarta: preference was given to such a tala or talas if they were already used in the corresponding sālaga sūda prabandha. Such tala, after -due processing if any, was named after the praban dha itself; hence it acquired the name sulidi tala. ii) rendering these talas unambiguous, comprehensive and adequate by giving them a form in which all rhythmic requirement: of current and potential musie (or dance) practice could be accommodated. Two opposite qualities had to be confarred on them: enough rigidity to give them identity and stability; and enough elasticity to accommodate additions and subtractions necessitated by changes in aesthetic requirements and conventions of present and future generations. iii) the development

40 Music of Madhva Monks

of a single, uniform scheme by which these talas could be applied, coordinated, stabili ed, and propagated in contemporary musical practice. These phares as well as the methodological principles will bediscussed in section (V). The third change was formal in which plurality was transformed into a single, continuous, coherent form. This was made possible by providing the three basic unities-unity in theme, unity in mood and unity in musical i. e. melodic and rhythmic structure. This was done by prescribing a sequence suited to the particular requirements of the song and a rhythmic contiguity during transition which ensured cohe.ence and cont nuity. In other words, seven different p abandhas were now strung together as stanzas of a single song. This was accomplished by offering them a recurrent melodis pattern; in other words, a rigidly presoribed form which had the strength and potentiality of generating a tradition. This last seems to have been strictly safeguarded in vaisnava monasteries till comparatively recent times but owing to sociocultural changes now sweeping through our society, it is unfortunately becoming extinct.

The suladi had grown strong, prolifeiated and stabi- lised to such an extent that in the 16th century, two futher changes were introduced in its form; enlarge- ment and athetisation. Athetisation was carried out in respect of an appendage of other associated prabandhas such as kanda and vrtta which the salaga suda had in- herited; enlaigement by the addition of two moie prabandhas viz. yati and jhumari in the form of stanzas; in the 17th cent. they were changed to jhompata and ragaņa mathya; yati was ietained as a concluding appen- dage under the name 'jati' 61

61. For details, see Sathyanarayana, R., op. cit. pp- 21-26

Šiipadarāya : Musical Climate 41

A fourth change was nominal. In the 16th-17th cent, the suladis were separated from the generality of song and was given the speeial distinguishing name 'gita' as cont- rasted with prabandha, The suladi was so important and integral a part of karnataka music that they formed one of the four supporting pillars viz. caturdandi. I have dis- cussed elsewhere how the term gita underwent another-and f inal-change in connotation in our music.62 It remains to mention that the three suladis of Sri- padarāya employ only the seven suladi talas: of these the first (no. 2)falls beyond the classificatory scheme proposed by me elsewhere, 43 the second (no, 7) in class IV and the third (no. 30) into Ib roughly. The name suladi or gita does not appeal to have been used by him for this composition, though in the next hundred years the term gita is definitely associated with this form by Ramamātya, 64 while Purandasadasa has unambigu- ously used the name suladi at the same time 5 and by Prasanna Venkațadāsa in the 17th cent. contempo- arily with Venkatamakhin. 67

62. idhem. Karnātaka Sangita-vahini, pp. 271-277; idhem. Karnațakadalli Kalegaļu: Sangīta, pt. 1, pp. 114 63. idhem. Suladis and Ugābhogas of Karnātaka Music, pp. 36-39 64. Rāmāmātya, Svaramelakalānidhi. 5. 6. p. 29 65. Purandaradasa, Krti: Vāsudevana namavaliya klrptiyanu in Purandara Sāhitya Daršana, vol, 1, p. 119 66. Prasanna Venkatadasa' Krti: Tande Purandara dasara smarisuve, in ibid, vol. ii, no. 6, p. 78 67. Venkatamakhin, Caturdaņdi prakasikā; 3. 111

IV VYASARĀYA : MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

Šri Vidyāranya laid the foundations of Karnatak music; Vyasarāya came some 250 years later and helped build its edfice. He was a genius of many parts; he was an austere ascetic amid the pomp and pageantry of Krsnadeva raya's royal court; he served the cause the dvaita faith in both ways: he addressed dialectical scholarly works for the polemic; he propagated the simple tenets of the faith among the laeity through melo- dious short songs in their own colloquial language; he transcended frequently the confines of his own philoso- phical and religious outlook and taught enduring human values. Vyāsarāya spearheaded a true renaissance in music. He was a sturdy bridge between elitist (classical) music and the people's music. Some songs of ait music such as the Srivardhana prabandha are available in manuscript sources; a few panegyric songs composed by Venkaja mantri (son of Bhandāru Lakşmīnaiāyaņa) and others describing Vyasarāya as abhinavabharata muni, sangīta- gama, a veritable Tumburu, Narada and Dattila in musi: etc. are preserved in old manuscripts. es Early in the 18th cent. Tulaja praises him as a renowned sangitavidyā- sampiadāya pravartaka, (renowned promoter of the anci- ent tradition of musical learning) 'vidyāsimhāsanadhyakşab (sovereign of the throne of vidya [nagari ?], kalpanā catuianana (veritable fourfaced creator-qcd Brahma in musical composition) and illustrates Vyāsa aya's song

Vyāsarāya : Musician and Composer 43

biginning with words 'jayakarnatadhara' for the ancient Šrīvardhana prabandha in the rāga nati. He refers to Vyāsarāya as 'vyāsapācāryo eva asmat-pūrvācāryo' 'tjivišrutaņ" i.e. a very famous precedent authority in music.( Thus he is described by both contemporary composers and a later musicologist as being both an authority and composer of prabandhas of traditional, elitist music. The suffix <appa' indicates that he was fondly and respectfully referred to Vyāsappa-ācarya ; this is in agreement with similar popular usage of his times e.g. Rāmappa (for Rāmāmātya), Kallappa (for Kallinatha); (both of whom were also "abhinava bharata muni'-s), Kanakappa (Kanakanāyaka), Sīnappa nāyaka, Varadappa nāyaka, Venkațappa nāyaka (Venkatadri), Acyutappa (Acyutarāja), Timmappa (Timmarasa) etc. etc.

Vyasaraya witnessed, and contributed to, the acme of music in the Vijayanagara empire. Devarāya II, Acyutarāya Krşņadevaiāya and Venkațādri nāyaka etc, of Vijayanagara were themselves highly proficient musicians, musicologists, and patrons. Under their patronage flourished and wrote such brilliant musicologist - composers like Ramāmatya, Vițțhalāmātya, Bhaņdāru Lakşmīnārāyaņa, Puņdarīka Vitthala was another gieat musicologist of this time. Tallapākam Annamācrya was a prolific composer from Andhra; so also Nijaguņa Šivayogi from Karnataka. Vyasaraya attracted to himself such brilliant disciples as Purandaradāsa, Vādirāja and Kanakadāsa who stabilised and expanded Karnataka music through their prolific com- positions. He founded two schools for promotion of dvaita philosophy and literature the vyāsakūța and dāsakūța.

Perhaps the most enduring contribution of Vyāsaraya is the development of music for the people, instead of music

69. Tulaja, Sangitasārāmrta, 12, p. 158

44 Music of Madhva Monks

for the kings or the elite, through his own songs and the songs of his disciples. So, this contribution of his will be examined here in some detail. This study suffers from the lack of critically edited source materials-and as is common with early composers, lack of mitu or dhatu in holograph. Some 110 songs of Vyasaraya are analysed in this study; they are obtained from three sources : Kesavadāsa (K) Hanumantha Rao (H) and Kavyapremi (Kp)70, the last has yielded 85 krtis (pada), 7 suladis and 10 ugabhogas; the first offers a vrttanama, the second, 12 suladis, some of which occur in the last also, with some significant musical variants.71 The krti (pada) format includes gopi-gitas which later came to be called javalis (nos. 50-2, 86, 88, 89, 91, 95-1), veņugītas (92, 93, 95-2, 98) and one Uddhava- gita which is part of a bhramaragita complex (102). Both format and theme are inspirations from and follow-ups of the analogues from Sripidaraya. It is quite probable that Vyasaraya has composed other songs which may be classified in the bhramaragita complex corresponding to those of Šrīpādarāya (nos. 7, 13, 16, 32, 39, 43) and will come to light when more of his songs are discovered, because it is in the 15th-16th cent. that the cult of Krspa-bhakti reached its zenith in both North and South India; Vyāsarāya was undoubtedly its leader in South India in the 16th cent. The treatment of the krti (pada) form by the yatitraya viz. Šrīpādarāya (S), Vyāsarāya (Vr) and Vadiraja (Vd) will be studied for growth and trends through a comparative, quantitative and structural analysis in a following section. It is convenient to take up a similar study of the suladis composed by the above ascetic triad here. Each suladi of

70. Keshavadasa, Beluru-, op.cit., Hanumantha Rao, Gorabaļa-Haridāsara Vyāsarayara Hādugaļu. pada-suļadigaļu ; Kavyapremi,

71. References to songs in this source (Kp) are to page numbers.

Vyasaıāya : Musician and Composer 45

the respective composer is indicated in brackets by its serial number occurring in the respective source. Variant names for raga and tala offered by the respective apparatus criticus are shown in brackets. Each tala-name is abbreviated into its initial letter." Ragas and talas supplied conjecturally are shown by asterisk.

Ragas ascribed to these suladis may now be examined. Three suladi: of S are known : nāti (pantuvarāli) (2) bhai- ravi ** 73 (7) and saranga (30). G and Kp have together offered thirteen suladis of Vr in which ragas aie ascribed to only six : nați (1, 10, 12), bhūpali (9), pantuvarali (11) and sāranga (13). Ten suladis of Vd are noticed." Of these one (UE 91) has no specific raga aseription. Ragas used for the others are nilimbari (bhairavi) (6), pantuvarali (UE4, 30), varăli (UE 126) and sāveri (UE2 -5). Raga is conjecturally supplied 75 four sulidis of Vd : mayamalava gaula* (32, 151) mohana* (UE 127) and pahadi* (ES 5). The antiquity (earliest mention) and evolution of these ragas are described by me elsewhere: nati (natta) c 5th cent.,7e bhairavi c.10th- 11th cent.,77 bhupali c.15th cent.79 saranga 16th cent.,79

72. Dhruva-d, mațhya-m, rūpaka-r, jhampā-j, tripuța- t, atța-a, eka-e, ādi-A, jati-y 73. conjecturally supplied by the present writer. 74. From Nagaratna, T.N. (ed.), Šrī Vādirājara Krtigaļu 75. By Vijayaraghavan, B.S., ibid. pp. xxxxvi-xxxxvii 76. Sathyanarayana, R., Karnațaka Sangita Vahini pp. 207-209 77. ibid. pp.91-92 78. idhem. Viņālakșaņa-vimarše, p.177 79. ibid. pp. 221-236 388

46 Music of Madhva Monks

pantuvarāli 17th cent.,s0 nilambari c.1700.,81 varāli (varāțī) c. 5th cent,92 saveri (savari) 11-12th cent8a. The name māyāmālava gouda occurs for the first time in the 18th cent.S4 Both name and form evolved from malavagauda which Šārngadeva equates with turuşkagauda.86 (13th cent); the latter is described by Jagadekamalla, c. 115080. Mohana occurs for the first time in the late 17th or early 18th cent.97 while pahadi (padi) occurs in the 15th-16th cent.ss for the first time.

Vijayaraghavan's conjectural supply of tāla names is anachronistic; in any event, since no holograph of the dhatu or matu of any of these composers is available, it has to be concluded that all the above ragas, notwithstanding the great antiquity of some and the comparatively recent origin of some, were used by performers rather than by the original composers and therefore represent a living, popular tradition. The sequences of talas occurring in the above suladis may now be examined:

S 2) dmt(r)r(j)ajatey 7) dmtra(d)j(r)e(j)j(r)e(A) 30) d(r)mr(t)ae(A)y

80. idhem. Karnāțaka Sangītavāhini, p.306 81. idhem. Vīņalakşaņa-Vimarše, pp. 153-154 82. Matanga, op. cit., p.129 83. Sathyanarayana, R., Viņālaksaņa - Vimarse, pp. 313-321 84. ibid. pp. 151-152 85. Šārngadeva, op. cit. 6.769, p. 383 86. Jagadekamalla, op.cit. loc. cit. 87. Sathyanarayana, R., Vīņālakșaņa-Vimarše, pp. 182 -- 184 88. idhem. Karnāțaka Sangītavāhini, p8.4

Vyāsarāya : Musician and Composer 47

Vr 1)89 dmrjjtaey 2) dmrjtaey 3) dmraey 4) dmrjey 5) dmtaetry 6) dmrtaAey 7) dmrjtaey 8) dmt(j)a(t)ey 9) dmrtey 10) dmtaey 11) dmtaAy 12) dmrjtaAy 13) dmtaAy Vd (6) d(j)m(a)t(d,j)rj(t)A(a,c,t)e(A)a(t)A(j)r (a,e,m)y 32) dmdjratey 151) dmrjtacy UE 4) dmtrjraaAy UE 30) dmrjtaaAy UE 91) dmr*(jA)taAey UE 126) dmtjtaAy UE 127) (dmtjrae)*y ES 5) (dm)*tajtae UE 2-5) dmrtjaAy Since the number of suladis available is small, the validity or generality of inferences which may be drawn from them would not be high. Bearing this in mind, a few observations may be made. Occurrence of variant tālas indicates that the composer's original prescription or assign ment or sequence was not always followed by performers ; i.e. the niryukta character of the suladi was eroded.

89. Numbers correspond to those in G.

48 Music of Madhva Monk

This is reflected in Kallinatha's comment as mentioned above.90 This supports further his statement that the word- text of the suladi no longer confoimed to rules prescribed in respect of number of syllables or words per line, as seen in the variable application of talas to the same stanza. Some collative sources indeed do not contain tila names for one or more stanzas in the same suladis. Thus it is not possible to unequivocally determine the original tala ascription for these suladis by the composer. Howeve., theie is a general and rough compatibility in the relative line-lengths i.e. syllabic quantity of the stanzas and the corresponding tala-āvarta in most of these suladis.

The suladi emerged foim salaga uda prabandha which was prescribed in respect of sequence of its components. It retained this sequence by and large during its transition in the 15th-16th cent: This is reflected in Vr (1, 2, 7, 12), Vd (151). The order is maintained more or less even if one or more tilas do not occur in the song e.g. S (30), Vr (3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13), Vd (UE 30). As indicated above, prescrip- tional autherity had begun to erode and new trends were beginning to emerge. One such trend was some liberty taken in the sequence e.g. S (2, 7), Vd (32, UE 4, UE 126). Theoretical texts are silent as to whether each constituent prabandha among the salagasudas should be necessarily used and if used, only once in a single suladi. No examples of salaga suda prabandhas are now available ; hence it is not possible to resolve this silence in terms of contempoiary musical practice. It is clear howevel, that when the salaga sūdas transited into the suladi, the composers of the latter assumed the liberty to omit one or more of the constituent prabandhas and to repeat one or more of them; as a corollary, this omission or repetition applied to the

90. Vide footnote no. 58

Vyasaraya : Musician and Composer 49

corresponding talas. Instances of such omission are found in S (30), Vr (3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13), Vd (UE 126). Examples of repetition are S (2,7), Vd (6, 32, UE 126, Es-5). There are two interesting cas:s of successive repetition : Vd (UE 4, UE 30). It is fuither interesting that repetition is re tricted to 't as in S(2), Vr (5), Vd (UE 126), 'a' Vd (UE 4, UE 30), and 'A' (Vd 6). Successive repetition may be discounted as they are esthetically poor and since they occur in unique exemplars. Other repetitions are fairly distant in a single song and may be esthetically tolerated

The next observation refers to the use of aditala (A). This tala was derived as an inversion of jhompata tala which was constituted from druta, druta and laghu. This existed as a desi tala viz. dvitiya. When the laghu jati concept was uniformly applied to the suladi talas, this merged into caturašrajāti tripuța tāla. Its name i.c. 'adi- tala was ratiocinated in two ways : it could be considered as formed from the name sake desi tāla to which two ekatala units were added ; also, it was employed as the first tala to which the beginner was introduced in the abhyāsagāna in Karnataka music. Again, the jhompata tāla probably derived its name from the namesake, parent suddha sūda prabandha which was prescribed to be sung to one of six tālas: gīrugi, dvitiya, trtīya, nibsāru, pratimaņțha and ekatala according to Somesvara91 and to one of the following ten talas according to Sārngadeva92 nibsaru, kudukka, tripuța, pratimaņțha, dvitīya, gārugi, rāsa, yatilagna, addatalī, eka. The jhompața(-da) prabandha was known after the name of the respective tala. Of these, dvitiya jhompața and a varicty of mațhya called ragaņa- mațhya were admitted into the suladi complex so that the

91. Somesvara, Sarvajña-, op. cit. 4. 16. 537-538, p.80 92. Šarngadėva, op. cit. 4. 166, 167. p.260

50 Music of Madhva Monks prabandhas as well as talas were nine in the suladis.93 It is noteworthy that the sulidis of the haridasas are conspicuous by the absence of jhompata tala and that aditala is used instead. (A few manuscript sources reveal the use of ragana mațhya tala also). Thus 'A' is used doubtfully in S, but increasingly in Vr and Vd. This reflects an important change which was occurring in the times viz. introduction of the laghujati concept and reorganisation of tāla structures. It may also be noted that 'A' occurs almost always terminally (or occasionally penultimately) and replaces 'e'. This is probably because the avarta span of the ekatala is too short and has no distinguishing rhythmic (or 'beat*) personality of its own.

93. Venkațamakhin, op. cit. 3. 111-113 Ece

V TĀLA REORGANISATION

It is now opportune to examine the contribution of haridasas in geneial and of the yatitraya in paiticular to the revolution in tala which swept over Karnataka music at this time. These changes were profound and farreaching. Hindustani music, influenced by Persian music, employed the tabla as the tala expounding instrument through the concept of theka which enunciated the organisation of the avarta in terms of accentuation. This became a differenti_ ating and enduring feature of Hindustani music. It is characteristic of Karnataka music that it rang in all the transformations strictly within the limits of tradition and thus retained historical continuity.

That classical Indian music had the same, uniform, single tala system before the 14th cent. may be inferred from music and dance treatises of the period. Tala may be defined as a temporal device which performs the following functions: it measures out sangita i.e. singing, instru- mentation and dancing in time; it quantitatively deter- mines and fixes these agglutinative arts in terms of duration of their elemental events: thus it is a time matrix for them ; it provides unity of pe formance through simultaneity i.e. several performers may execute the same event at the same moment; each event may be exactly located against a continuously fluent tempoial background through conti- nuity; thus tala resolves the linearity of time into these two dimensions. The measuring unit is a spirally recurrent (avaita) constant span of time, the quantity of which- neither too long nor too short-is dete mined by aesthetic and technical exigencies : the span is divided into 'organs, (avayava, anga) by constantly placed accents or beats

52 Music of Madhva Monks

(ghata or pata); because of its continuity, the tala measures and fixes not only an event, but also silences or pauses in music and dance; it bestows spatiotemperal unity on the fluent corpus of melody and on the fluent corpus of formal kinematics in dancing, it also provides a temporal foil to the song or dance through a constantly and uniformly recuriing rhythmic background against which a predeter- mined or ex tempore cross-rhythmic theme, inherent in music or dance or independent, may be compared or contrasted; it confers convergence, direction and stability on the intrinsic and extrinsic rhythmic content of song or dance.

Talas were classified as marga or desi in ancient Indian music. The former were five viz. caccatputa, cacapuța, udghatța, șațpitaputra and sampakveșțāka; these were regarded as the archetypes of all other talas - collectively called desi-which were derived or geneiated fiom them. The marga talas were constituted only from three angas viz. laghu, guru and pluta which were inspired from, and corres- ponded to their prosodial, nameake analogues. The desi tālas had three more besides these viz. viama, druta and niņšabda (= kakapāda or hamsapāda). Of these, druta was defined with a duration of half that of the laghu and laghu of five short syllables. Guru, pluta and nihsabda had double, tiiple and quadruple durations of the laghu respectively. The desi talas were formed by various permutations and combinatious as well as different numbers of these. By dividing each unitary duration of the avarta (padabhaga) into three, four and five parts, techniques of triple (tryasra), quadruple (caturasra) and quintuple (khanda) times became possible. The quantity of the tala span (avarta) could be expanded or contracted through the prāņas (vital aspects) kāla, kalā and mārga. The consti- tuent organs (anga) of the tala were marked by sounded (sasabda) and silent (nibsabda) manual acts (kiiya). The

Tala Reorganisation 153

commencing position of the melody line in the tala-avarta was maiked by graha. The overall pace of the tala, deter- mined by the quantity or matrā of each unit (padabhāga) of the tala was defined as laya. The temporal pattern emerging from the inherent distribution of the angas was defined as yati. The scheme of tabulating all possible permutations of angas to yield together the same total time span of a given tāla-avarta or an anga thereof was known as prastara. Laghu, which determined the durations of the guru and pluta, was rigidly assigned a duration of five short syllables in mīrga tālas; the number of desi talas was not fixed; indeed, they numbered several hundreds in the haridasa-age in Karnataka music and were still prolifer- ating. Laghu still determined the quantity of the avarta because guru, pluta and nibsabda were defined relative to it, but its quantity was variable; there were three kinds of laghus with durations of four, five and six syllables respectively in practice in desi talas. The virama was defined with half the duration of the anga preceding it; therefore its quantity was also relative and often, was of inconvenient fractions.

This then, is briefly the conceptual and empirical material which the madhva saints inherited from their musical forebears. The endless permutative possibilities and extensive practice had yielded a huge crop of desi talas; paradoxically these very reasons for their prolificity also tolled the knell of their dissipation. For, excessive proli- feration and excessive usage led to excessive permissiveness and consequently to insecurity, slackness, anarchy and disorganisation in tala. The yatitraya and their haridāsa disciples guided our musie with vision, wisdom and brilliance in these critical times and conferred on it direction and destination in piactice ; musicologists of Karnatāka and from Karnataka stabilised and authenticated it in theory. Their main contributions may be briefly listed here.

54 Music of Madhva Monks

1. They replaced hundreds of desi talas obtaining wide usage with only nine or ten talas. In this, their genius lies in the faet that the latter were not of their own creation, but were derived from an earlier parallel tradition; they constructed necessary theoretical paiameters, refined them with adequate methodology and established them with revised names and revised forms. They used three sources for this purpose : i. The revised forms or names were not unknown to practice or theory ; even as long ago as in the 12th cent. Haripaladeva94 mentions them. That these were well known in Karnataka is proved from references to them by the Kannada poets Aggaļa,"5 Palkurikļi Somanatha,9 Candrasekhara,97 Bahubali98 etc. ii. Folk music and metrical structures had already contained time measures such as ragaņa mațhya, kuru (= turupu = are) jhampe, tivude etc. The haridasas refined them theoreti- cally and brought them into the fold of ait music. iii. These talas were already prescribed for salagasūda prabandhas from early times. The hatidasas transformed these talas into sulidi talas and the prabandhas into suladis. For this purpose they adopted the talas which were then already in wide usage viz. pratimațhya, baddhāpaņa = adda - tripuța, yatilagna, jhampā, dvitīya = turańga, kudukkā = prati = varnayati and eka = adi and adapted them with minor changes; these were established in different names and slightly different form :. It should be noted that in order to achieve this, sometimes both name and form had to be exchanged.

2. Haripaladeva, op. cit. 5.184-200 95. Aggaļa, Candiaprabha-purāņam, 15. 52, 72 96. Somanātha, Palkuriki-, Panditārādhya Caritramu, Parvata-prakaraņamu, pp.446,447,449 97. Candrašekhara, Pampāsthāna-vaiņanam, 74, p.27 98. Bāhubali, Nāgakumaracaritam, 22.98

Tala Reorganisation 55

2. Further changes were introduced in the concept of desi, and in the anga, technijue and method of tala. Many talas such as vijaya, darpaņa, caccaii were called desi but were never associated with folk music ; they were desi only to the extent that they were different from caccatputa etc. just as all musical material which we now regard as classical was defined as desi by Matanga. But the tala complex erected by the haridasas was truly desi in origin ; the haridasas not only endowed them with a 'classical' status but stabilised them to the exclusion of all other talas which had come down in use over hundreds of years in art music. This was indeed a significant contribution.

Musicians and musicologists of the haridasa-age athetised guru, pluta and nihsabda from contemporary tāla practice and retained only druta and laghu. Guru and pluta commenced on a single sounded beat and their relatively longer durations had to be executed without the prop of intermediate kriya-s; kakapada indeed, had to sustain the duration of four laghus through only niḥsabda kriyas. These were neither useful to, nor compatible with ordinary contemparary melodic usage. The guru however, was at once completely cut off but was retained at first for some- time in nātya daņdī dhruvatāla. Since they adopted, adapted or retained only such talas in which no anga was longer in duration than the laghu, they lent themselves readily to universal, popular use.

3. It is at this time that the laghu was revised and reorganised. Its variable value of the durations of four five or six short syllables in desi tala practice was fixed at the constant value of four syllables uniformly in all talas. This provided a natural rhythmic base of quadruple movement so that the entire corpus of melody gained unifor- mity, convergence and balance. This standard value has remained in usage even today.

56 Music of Madhava Monks

4. Before the standardisation of the laghu, musical practice in respect of tala wa rampant with confusion and inconsistency. Even from merely theoretical descriptions, it could be seen that the tālas jhantuka, adda, and vaikunda (a variety of nih aru) all had the same structure viz. two drutas and two laghus; similarly, darpaņa madana- makatanda, niḥsāru-hamsalilā-hamsa, jayašil :-- kamala, udikșaņa-saundara - sagaņa mantha, dhenki-vaiņamantha karuņa-amara, tribhangi-satilila, krīda-nanda, sankha- prati, mangalābhaiaņa-pratimatțha, kāntā-iati, kalapa- vicāra, trtīya -- antarakrīņā, vaiņabhinna -- rājamrgānka, abhanga -- utsava, vijaya-dvitiya etc. revealed only nominal. but no structuial difference. Differences in them were in term of relative durations because the laghu and hence the other angas had different sizes. When the mirga talas became obsolescent, their laghu of five syllables also disappeared. With this also disappeared the arbitrariness of the laghu-size in desi talas. Hence the quantitative differences between the above talas disappeared, leaving only norminal differences. In such a state of confusion and inconsistency, the practical exponents, led by the haridasas obviated such talas and hence their ambiguity and incon- sistency, and in their place established a simple, compre- hensive, compact and logical tala system. 5. The standardisation of laghu led to the standaidisa- tion of druta also. Defined with half the duration of laghu. use of druta led to very complex values for the tala avarta which were impracticable in actual musical practice; with the standardisation of laghu into four syllables, this difficulty was removed ; fuither, the druta was defined with a duration of two short syllables as an independent anga in its own right. The excessiveness of the number of laghus and drutas in desi talas was now avoided, limiting each of them io a minimum of one and maximum of three. Thus the avarta value became viable, neither too long nor too short.

Tala Reorganisation 57

6. In the early days the position and scope of the virama were indefinite and ambiguous. All ancient autho- rities have described the virama but have not offered it the status of a separate tāla-anga; by and large, it was regarded as of the form of pause occurring ofter the kriya of a given anga. It lacked ghata or silent manual acts such as avapa and had no independent existence. It could be suffixed to every anga and assumed, as indicated above, half the duration of the latter. Therefore both the angas and the avarta could assume alternative values ; thus with the same set of angas, the avaita could take various values by adding the required number of viramas; also it was possible to resolve similar or same tala structures into different entities by adding an adequate number of virāmas arbitrarily or by design at appropriate positions. Thus when suffixed to druta, laghu, guru, pluta and niņsabda, it assumed 0.25, 0.5, 1, 1,5 and 2 times the value of the laghu respectively ; when the laghu came to be standardised into a value of four short syllables (aksara) and thus equated with the matra, these values were 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 aksaras respectively.

Even though talas were endowed with variety, vari- ability in duration and differentiability, these very reasons resulted in uncontrolled proliferation of tala structures because of whimsically or capriciously designed order and number of angas; thus the virama became a curse instead of a boon ; many an impracticable tala was created through or only because of, permutative possibilities. Some effort was also made at this time to elevate the virāma into an anga.

The brilliant acumen displayed by the haridasas and other musicians of this age in this context is admirable : when the laghu is standardised with a value of four syllables, druta-virāma assumes a duration of one syllable. This was now given an independent status and named 'anu (anu-)druta' ; when it thus became an anga, it was

58 Music of Madhva Monks performed with the sasabda kiiys of a ghata. This auto- matically obviated its use as an appendix to guru, pluta and nihsabda in desi-talas ; for if the virama were retained, the avartas of talas such as dvitiya and trtiya would involve complex, residual time frartions, thus rendering their performance both complicated, imprecise and unbalanced, ending up with a vigama yati. Therefore its use was necessarily limited to druta and laghu. In fact, the notion of triputa tala arose fiom such considerations : its structure was inaugurated as druta-virama, druta, druta. When the virama was transformed into anudiuta, the beats (ghata) now had syllabi: duiations of 2, 1. 2, 2-since the laghu was prescribed with a value of four short syllables. Jhampa tala also commenced its career with the structure druta-virāma, laghu, druta, druta, anudruta, laghu. But when tilas had to commence with a laghu by conventional rule (exception : rupaka tala), the initial drutavirāma of tripuța tala was naturally transformed into a laghu of a duration of three short syllables. This was facilitated with the application of the laghujati concept to talas. Similarly, jhampā tāla was transformed into laghu, anudruta and druta. An unwiitten rule that a tala should not commence with an anudruta appears to emerge from this age. In any case, the exemplar desi talas which were adapted as stladi talas started from a laghu with the above two exceptions ; these two instances show that the drutavirama was tians- formed by decomposition into anudruta and druta. However the virama was used in the desi talas, the manner in which the anud. uta was performed in the suladi talas had no alternative. For when as an appendage with a value of one half of the precedent anga, the value of the tris.a, khanda, mišia and sankīrņa laghus with the vi ama would have been 4.5, 7.5, 10.5 and 13.5 short syllables. This would have rendered inoperative the basic principle that the duration of a single syllable is unit or irreducible minimum of time in the kriya, anga or avarta of a tala. Nor could it

Tala Reorganisation 59

be retained as a suffix of the caturasra-jati laghu; for, in that case it would become a duplication of the trisrajati laghu in dvikala or have a value of six short syllables which had just then been scrapped in desi tilas. The anudruta successfully circumvented these problems and entered the jhampa tala in an unequivocal way. Thus the anudruta which was born ambiguously during Simhabhupala's times, became a definite, independent entity in the Talakalabdhi of Acyutaraya due to the experimentation it received from the Vaişnava saint singers of Karnataka. 7. When the anudruta, druta and laghu were so un- ambiguously determined, triputa tala was left with a laghu of three syllables even though the laghu was standardised with four syllables. The haridasas now proceeded to extend the concept of laghu. They continued to regard the laghu as determining the nature and structure of the tala. An earlier form of the laghu which had six syllables duration and was called tryaśra was now diminished to half size and retained as tris.a laghu. Durations of 4, 5, 7 and 9 syllables weie now enunciated for the laghu which was called cuturas.a, khanda, miš.a and sankirņa respectively. These were iegarded not as independent entities but as compre- hended in the concept of the laghu and hence as kinds (jati) of laghu. Thus the puipose and scope of the laghu were now extended to cover the functions, though not the quantities of the guru and pluta. The laghujati is fiist enuaciated by Acyutaraya in the 16th cent. At first, the laghu was employed trisra jati only in the tripuța tala, in the caturasra jati only in dhruva, mațhya, rūpaka and eka tālas, in the khaņda jati only in atțatala, leaving the sankirga jati without application. Owing to such specific associations, each laghu jati became integrated into the definition of the respe tive tala, for almost two hundred years, till the end of the 1 th cent. The only reason for this is that the Vaisnava saint singers employed three talas with the above specific laghu-jatis in suladis and other

60 Music of Madhva Monks songs, Thus triputa tala came to be synonymous with a trišra jati laghu, jhampa tala with a misra jati laghu, atța. tala with a khanda jati laghu, and dhruva-mațhya-rūpaka- eka talas with caturasra jāti laghu. In other words, trisra- jati tripuța tala for example, was a distinct, independent tala, uniquely but not generally defined, not a variety of tripuța tāla. In course of time, this concept was extended : laghu was conceived of as genus and its jati as species; laghu was general; its jati was particular. Thus the laghu could assume any or all the jatis in all the talas, since anudruta and druta could not be processed. Similarly, the laghujati, prefixed to the tala name, became quantitatively descriptive whereas the tala name, till now quantitatively descriptive became only qualitatively descriptive. But it did not gain much ground with the Music Trinity or their Schools, for their compositions assume the above restrictive synonymi- sation, on the lines laid down by the haridasas. Talas with all the laghujatis are found only in svarajati, varņa and pallavi-only in demonstration of scholarship or sophistry. These forms emerged in our music only some 250 years ego. 8. Yet another feat performed by the haridasas in the construction of the suladis may be noticed. This is in respect of jhompata tala to which reference has already been made. It iemained an independent entity till the 15th-16th cent, for tripuța tala was applied in its caturasra jati laghu and was synonymised with aditala only compaiatively recently in the history of Kainataka music, probably not earlier than the 18th cent. Therefore the collative sources which give aditala for the suladis which aie discussed here should be dated from this period. 9. A consequence of regarding each tala as a distinct, independent entity possessing an invariable affinity for a specific laghujati may be noticed here The haridasas reconstructed and stablished these talas for the purpose of

Tala Reorganisation 61

setting their several thousands of songs to them. These songs were not composed solely for their aesthetic beauty: rather, they were intended primarily as attractive, popular vehicles of the social religious, spiritual, ethical and other values enshrined in their word-content. Their objective-and achievement-lay in the dissemination of these values among the common man without making demands on him for special training, taste or equipment in art music. Such propagation had to pioceed at the level of the common householder with his unlearned womenfolk and children. Therefore the quantum of music required for this puipose was just enough for the laeity to sing for themselves in attractive and popular tunes and rhythms, simple, colloquial direct words enshrining the essence of veda, upanişat, puriņa, itihīsa; smrti, dharmasistra, nitisistra and other traditional lore. In short, talas had to applied to songs in which the words were of prime importance and the melody was secondary. If these words were set in prosodial structures, they would have missed the song-format and universal usage. Therefore factors such as loose prosody (if any), variable syllabic quantity per song-line, approxi- mate rhyming, non-conformity to syllabic phrasing (gaņa- vinyasa) etc. became virtues instead of defects. Therefore many of their songs were, in all probability, yathakşara prabandhas originally (i.e. songs in which musical duration closely approximated to syllabic duration). So, talas in expansive, slow tempo-or extended matra quantities,-even middle tempo-became irrelevent for such songs : close contiguity of the constituent elements of pattern is an important criterion for the ready intelligibility or discern- ment of the pattern. Therefore, the haridasas contracted the padabhaga du.aticn (i.e. duration between any two succesive 'counts' of the tala and adapted the tala structure to diuta-laya; the talakiiyas which accordingly were fast, were reduced only to the initial beats (ghata). Such a sounded beat is called 'chapu'. Such talas were then called

62 Music of Madhva Monks chapu talas. Such abbreviated forms of the tala have survived even now as rūpaka chāpu, khaņda chāpu and mišra chāpu. It suffices to observe here that the nibsabda kriyas have comple- tely disappeared from them and that though originally designed for fast tempo, they serve the madhya and vilamba layas also in contemporary musical practice. 10. One more contribution of the haridasas to the suladi tala system may be mentioned here in conclusion. Some among the ten vital aspects of the tāla (taladasa prāņa) had outlived their usefulness and grown overcomplex. The haridasas athetised marga, yati and prastara; they limited the scope, but focussed the function, of kriyā. Kala prāņa perhaps did not exist per se before their time, or if it did, it was nebulous. The haridasas gave it a new dimension in the sense of progressively doubling relative speeds. e.g. first speed, second speed, third speed etc. Similarly, they obviated the technique of expanding/magnifying the avaita span (e.g. dvikala, catuskala etc.) progressively in doubling quantity (kala praņa) and strengthened instead the laya praņa. Tryas.a, caturasra etc, in ancient Indian tāla system connoted equal divison of the padabhaga into 3, 4 etc. equal parts so as to yield distinct gaits. Indeed talas were classified as tryasra or caturas.a. With the passing of desi talas, this important kinemaric technique was trans- planted into the suladi talas by the haridasas. Thus they tiansferred the concept from the tala to its unit viz. tāla- bhäga. In modern parlance 3, 4, 5, 7 or 9 equal divisions of the padabhaga and kinematic events occurring in such patterns are called trišra, caturašra, khaņda, mišia and sankiina gati or nadai in music or dance. In other words, the jati concept was extended from the laghu to its unit viz. the padabhaga. Nadai has become both important and integral to Karnataka musie and to various forms of classical and folk dances. Such nadais or gatis may be observed in whole stanzas of sulsdis.

VI VYĀSARĀYA : VRTTANĀMA AND GADYA

Let us return to the study of Vyasarāya and examine his two remaining musical forms : vrttanama and gadya. His vrttanāma, beginning with the words 'kelayya enna mata parthane' is extracted by Keshavadasa"" in chaputala and in a tune which he identifies with that of a song 'palisu pandharipuriraya' which must have been popular some 50 years ago but which is now lost. It consists of a one-line pallavi and nine units of vrtta-nama in which a vrtta is followed by a nima. These aie called sloka and pada by him respectively, though elsewhere100 he designates them as vrtta and nāma. Each sloka and each pada has four lines. The slokas do not rhyme and possess variable syllabic extent,101 and have no discernible metrical paitern. However, there seems to be a caesura ofter the 5th syllable in most lines. The pada (nama) stanzas also have variable extent and no discernible moraic pattern per line. There is some internal rhyming. The stanza line is roughly double that of the sloka. The composer's signature occurs in the final line of the final pada. The theme is the content of Bhagavadgita, delineated in a simple, direct literary style. The song takes on an antiphonal character, being dialogues between Dhrtaraştra-Sanjaya and Arjuna-Krsna. A similar song of Purandaradasa may be noticed here.102

99. Keshavadasa, Beluru-, op. cit. p.107 100. idhem. Šrī Haridāsa Sāhitya, pp. 272-276 101. 13-13-14-13; 13-12-14-13; 12-11-11-13; 12-12-13- 12; 14-13-12-11; 12-13-12-13; 13-13-13-15; 12-13- 12-13; 13-13-13-12 102. Purandaradasa, Purandara Sahitya Darsana (ed.) Ramachandra Rao, S.K., vol.2, no. 142, pp.312-319

64 Music of Madhva Monks

This is closely affined to the vrttanama, from which it differs in three ways : i. Its slokas aie in samskrta. ii. The slokas are probably borrowed.103 iii. The padas are free translations of the respective slokas.

This song commences with a samskrta šloka 'nabhimūle sthitam padmam'. It is called 'hrdayakamala-mīnasapūja* with some aptness and 'bhagavadgitasara' with little justi- fication. Its theme is the description of the nidicakras and their presiding deities in the yoga body. It teaches practice (sadhana) for liberation (mukti). The song consists of 17 sections, in which each contains a number of metrical lines in samskrta, followed by its translation or paiaphrase in Kannada. The sloka is not designated with iaga ; the translation is always in the form of a song (pada) for which raga and tala are given. The song lines invariably rhyme on the second syllable. The slokas were sung, if at all, in the same raga in which the tianslating stanza was rendered. The slokas are all in the anustubh metre, except in the second section, which is in indravajra metie. Following is the analysis of the song.

śloka pada

unit no lines lines rāga tā la 1 1,2 2-+3 2*4-3 sāveri jhampe 2 3,4 4 4 3 5,6 4 7,8 8 kalyāni chāpu 5 9 2 4 alta 6 10,11 2-13 bhairavi chapu 7 12,13,14 2+2+3 8 15,16 2+4 9 17,18,19 6 33 sāveri eka 10 20,21 4

103. Ramachandra Rao, S.K., op. cit. ncte on p.315

Vyāsarāya : Vrttanāma and Gadya 65

11 22,23 8 12 24 2 4 13 25 3 14 26,27 4 pantuvarāli chapu 15 28,29 16 30,31 17 32,33 8

The first two lines of pada in section (1) marked with an asterisk above and commencing with the words 'hrdaya- kamaladaştadala' (hence the name of the song) are indicated as pallavi, presumably to be sung as refrain at the end of each pada. This segment does not fulfil the normal semantic, textual function as in a normal song because it is continuous in theme with the remaining three lines of the same section and does not naturally dovetail in meaning at the end of each pada. Presumably, the slokas were sung without refrain. A possibility is that the slokas were not sung at all, so that the song consisted of 17 stanzas following a pallavi, and that the slokas were a transmis- sional interpolation wherein the scribe indicated the original texts of which the padas were translations. In this case the song has no affinity with vrttanāma.

It is useful to study three other available vrttanamas at this point.

The first is by Purandaradasa. It begins with the words "šri krșņarāyana torise mātanādise' and is set to rāga āhiri and tala eka.104 It consists of a one . line pallavi and five units of vrtta-nama, each vrtta and nama being in four

104. This song is available in two sources: Ramachandra Rao, S.K. (ed.), op. cit. vol.4, no.16, pp. 68 -- 69 (R); Rama Rao, Subodha-, Šri Purandaradasara Krtigaļu, pts. 1-2, no. 379, p.246 (S) ; S does no t give the tāla.

66 Music of Madhva Monks lines.105 The syllabic quantity of the vrtta-lines is variable106 and no metrical pattein is discernible, The pada-line is also variable in syllabic quantity and somewhat shorter than the vrtta-line. The woid theme is vipralambha srngara, being an expression of the pangs of separation of a gopi for Krsna; she pleads with a friend-duti to bring the latter who has left her because of a lovers' tiff. The whole vrttanama may be construed as a javali. The literary style is simple and adequate. The composer's signature occurs in the first line of the final pada. The second is by Gopaladasa, extracted by Keshava- dasa.107 The word 'pada' occurs in the place of raga, which is not given. The song is given in atta tala. Its beginning words are : 'rakşisu venkatagiriraja'. It has a one - line pallavi followed by cight units of vrtta-nama. The vrttas are set in sirdulavikridita, sometimes the terminal short syllable serving as guru. The lines in nāma-stanzas are approximately equal in syllabi: content. The word theme is praise of and supplication to Visnu. Both vrtta and nāma reveal second syllable- and internal rhyming. The literary style is simple but involves the frequent use of samskrta words. The vrtta-line is subdivided into two portions and the nama-line into three portions, for purposes of musical setting and rhyming. The composer's signature occurs in the last line of the last pada. The third example is from Jagannitha dasa, beginning with the words 'paliso panharipuraraya pavanakaya'.108 It is given in the rāga kanada and tala rupaka. It begins with 105. S gives the tvrttas in couplets in terminally rhyming sections. 106. 12-12-12-14 ; 12-12-13-12; 12-12-13-13; 12-14-14- 13; 12-13-13-14 107. Vide footnote no. 100 108. Venugopala dāsa, T.K. (ed.) Šrī Jagannātha dāsaru, inter alia

Vyāsarāya : Vrttanāma and Gadya 67

a one-line (or two - line ?) pallavi, followed by nine units, each consisting of a vrtta (called sloka by the editor) followed by a nama (called pada by the editor). The vrtta apprroximates to malini under atisakvari. The pada lines are approximately mutually equal and roughly 1.5 times the vrtta-line in syllabic quantity. Both vrtta and nama stanzas have four lines each. The theme consists of a praise of and supplication to Panduranga Vitthala of Pandharapura. Hence it is also called Pandurangastaka or Pāņduranga Pāri- jata. The literary style is scholarly, with ihyming in the second syllable both in vrtta and nama and occasional terminal ihyming in the slokas. The composer's signatuie occurs in the penultimate and final lines in the last pada.

Therefore, the vrttanama may be summarised as a musical form consisting a brief pallavi and a number of vrtta-nama units (the number is left unprescribed). It has no anupallavi. Each stanza of the vrtta and nama has four lines. The namc vrtta (or sloka) is only occasionally appropriate and is set to a metre. It may also consist of free-verse lines of comparable and slightly variable syllabic content ; in this case, the name vrtta or sloka has to be liberally interpreted as anibaddha i.e. not set to tala or metre. The pada-lines are also mutually comparable but generally longer than the vrtta lines. The entire compo- sition is performed in a single iaga; only the padas are set to (the same) tala. It is probable that the vrttas were sung to different dhatus in the same raga while the padas were performed to the same recurrent dhatu. The literary style is geneially simple and direct. The theme may be meta- physical, stuti, supplication o: srngaia. The composer's signature invariably occurs in the final pada.

Before concluding this study of vrttanama, two notes may be offered : the first is that the suddhasuda prabandha dhenki has a variety called vrttamila which has further subvarieties called varņikā, gaņikā and matrikā. Each of

68 Music of Madhva Monks these three may be further divided into samālankaraņa, vişamalankrti and citrālankrti. Thus there aie nine types of vrttamala dhenki. They are formed from various metrical - structures.103 This may have been one of the sources which inspired the genesis of vrttanama; to combine a song consisting of many caranas with a song consisting of many vrttas with alternation would be a natural inclination towards innovation. Secondly yamaka, a rind of sabda- lankāra has many subvaiieties including one called vrttamala. 110 This is irrelevant to the vrttanama. Another musical form of Vyasaraya which merits examination is a song which has been designated here 'gadya' for want of a better description. This is given by Kp.111 It begins with the words 'marugu molle mallige' and consists of a description of Lord Krsna of Udupi in detail from foot to head and is a valuable tieasure-house of the names of ornaments in vogue in Karnataka of the 15th - 16th cent. It is given with rāga regupti and tāla atța. Alternatively, bhairavi and tin tal of hindustani music are also given. The word-or line structure gives the impression of free verse. However, certain features of the composition, or their absence argues against the form being a gadya prabandha. Thus it has 59 lines, aveiaging some 13.5 syllables per line. The shortest line bears 11 syllables (no. 22, p. 68) while the longest (no. 23, p. 68) has 16 syllables, the others ocsillate between 13 to 15 syllables. If this is a yathaksara prabandha, the ascription of atta tala may be justified, though the caesura in the lines do not generally correspond to the tala-anga. If the services

109. Sarngadeva, op. cit. 4. 145-152; cf. Sathyanarayana, R., (ed. tr. comm.), Pundaiikamālā, foot note no. 76; Puņdarīka Vițțhala, Nartananirņaya, 3.2.83-90, p. 419. 110. Bharatamuni, Națyašāstram, 16. 59-86. 111. Kavyapremi, op. cit. pp. 60-69.

Vyāsarāya : Vttanāma and Gadya 69

mentioned in the song are performed in the early hours of the morning, the ascription of the raga regupti is also justi- fied because it is traditionally sung as udayarāga. The song is not segmented. This has contributed to the impression that it may be a form of gadya prabandha. However, none of the features described for this form in textual tradition11ª is found in it. For instance, it has no correspondence at all with other examples of gadya or its cūrņika variety available in Karnataka music or bharata- natya. Its lines possess approximately equal syllabic extent. It is not a string of names (vide infra). It reveals unmistakable grouping in terms of rhyming, which is invariably on the second syllable, On the basis of rhyming, the 59 lines may be grouped into 17 segments containing 4, 2, 4, 4, 2, 4, 4*, 6*, 2, 4*, 2, 4,* 2, 4, 5, 4 and 2 lines respectively. Those marked with an asterisk carry one line which does not rhyme. The song contains the composer's signature in the penultimate line, but does not carry the name of the prabandha as requiied in theory. In this context, a gadya prabandha of Purandaradasa may be offered in comparison.113 No raga or tala is ascribed to this song; it is not segmented. It is a string of 180 names of Vişnu, such that His divine qualities, incarnations, holy places of His divine presence, His grace protecting the devotees etc. are interwoven with the names. Such a composition is also called namavali. The names are in vocative case and the song ends in words of obeisance : 'namo namah'. This also does not conform to requirements in the theory e.g. name of the prabandha, the initial occurrence of pranava, the provision for solfa passages etc. 112. e.g. cf. Sathyanarayana, R., (ed. tr. comm.) Puņdarīkamālā, pp. 427-432 on Puņdarīka Vițțhala, op. cit. 3. 2. 112-124 113. Ramachandia Rao, S. K., op. cit. vol. 2, no. 76, pp. 202-203.

70 HD Music of Madhva Monks However, it fully corresponds to the type of song called cūrņikā, a variety of gadya prabandha, which is generally ung in the raga arabhi such that the final syllables of musically expendent phrases carry brief ex tempore passages of alapana of the raga, a form which is performed uniquely in the Mysore School of Bharatnatya at the beginning of the recital. However, because of significant departures from norms and theory, it cannot be definitely stated whether the composition of Vyasaraya under discu- ssion is a gadya at all. It is quite possible that Vyasarāya may have pioneered a new musical form or has innovated the traditional gadya prabandha.

VII VĀDIRĀJA : MUSICIAN AND COMPOSER

The coffers of Karnataka music overflowed in the 16th cent, with the compositions of Vadiraja, Purandaradasa end Kanakadāsa in number and variety. Our music attained to great heights and range during this period. Several exotic and indigenous tributaries joined to swell its flow in several dire tions and lands. Šii Vādirāja (nee Varāha) (1480-1600 A.C.) was born at Hūvinakere near Kumbhasi, Kundapur taluk in Dakshina Kannada. His mother was Sarasvati and father, Rāmacarya. Even before birth, he was promised as disciple and heir to Vagisatīrtha of the Svadi (vulg. Sode) Mutt, one of the 8 mutts of Udupi founded by Madhvacarya. Vagisatirtha was the 19th monk who headed this Mutt, descended in the line of Vişnutirtha, younger brother of Madhvacarya. Young Varaha was initiated into samnyāsa order in his 8th year with the asrama-nama 'Vadiraja'. He received his education from Vidyānidhitīrtha, Vyāsarāya, Vijayīndra and possibly Vagisatirtha also. He travelled all over India in an endeavour to propagate the dvaita school of philosophy, yet retaining a catholicity of outlook. He has authored many scholarly works in samskrta expounding, supporting, defending or explicating the philosophy-school of dualism. Some 313 songs are available under his signature, including 291 krtis 10 suladis and 12ugabhogas.At least 170 of these are unambiguously his; 5 occur under ambiguous signature, 138 in unique exemplars. He has also composed unique and long songs viz. bhramaragita, guņdakriya, vaikuņțļa vaiņane, svapnagadya, lakşmīsobhane, narada-koravanji; his tattva-suvvali is yet to be traced. VII (a) : RĀGA AND TĀLA Before analysing Vadiraja's songs for formal or structur- al characteristics, it is pertinent to make a few observations

72 Music of Madhva Monks

on the räga and tala ascriptions since these songs them- selves are derived from rich, widely distributed and chrono- logically heterogeneous collative sources. Altogether 86 ragas are eclectically ascribed for the 313 songs mentioned above in the apparatus crilicus. Personal opinion or taste rather than historical validity has been the criterion in the choice of räga in some cases. The ragas found in the various collative sources largely reflect the time and place of their origin and are therefore excellent indicators of the same. If historical validity i.e. the probability of the raga being chosen by the composer himself because of its popularity during his time, is admitted as a criterion in the choice of the raga, many now found in the collative sources or chosen by Vijayaraghavan become improbable. For example, the following 18 found in MSS of Vadiraja's songs are only recent borrowals into Karnataka music : kāpi, kānada, j(h)anjūți, tilang, darbar, des, dvijavanti, dhanisari, pilu, bagesri, brndavana saiang, behāg, bhimpalas, māravi, yaman, sahāna, hindūstāni kāpi and huseni. The following three are names of melakartas which emerged in the 18th century : kharaharapriya, cakravaka and simhendramadhyama. The following 33 are of late (much later than Vadiraja) or recent origin : amrtavahini,ațh ņi, asavēri, abheri, anandabhaiavi, ārabhi, kannada kāmbodi, kalyāņa vaanta, kaly ņi, gumbha (= gumma) kīm odi, gauļipantu, telugu kāmbodi, navaroju, nilāmbari, pū vi pu.avi kaly ņi, pantuvarāli, bilahari, begade, maņilangu, m yamalavagauļa, mukhāri, mohana, mohana kalyāņi, mnji, yadukula (yarakla)= kāmbodi, itigauļa, vasantaohairavi, suddhasāveri, sāma, suruți, ham adhvani and hamsanandi.

These are, clearly, the ragas in which Vadiaja's songs were performed and tiansmitted over the last five centuries, but not originally composed. The ragas in which they were probably composed are those which are described in the musical treatises of the time in Karnataka souh as

Vadiraja : Musician and Composer 73

Ramāmītya's Svaramelakalānidhi, Puņdarika Vițțhala's Sadrāgacandrodaya, and Lakşmīnārāyaņa's Sangitasūryodaya. This anamoly between performed music and originally composed music extends to all the haridasas (including the yatitraya) in particular and other saint singers (such as Nijaguņa Šivayogi, Tāļļapākam Annamayya, Bhadrācala Ramadasa and others) in general. This situation may be traced to the following: neither these composers, schools of their disciples, listners, nor performers regarded the songs as dhätupradhina and hence most songs were left without a fixed notation : these songs were sung by a very large number of persons who regarded them as matupradhana and who were, by and large, not trained in 'classical' music. The 16th cent. witnessed a political-and therefore social and religious-upheaval in the South, as a consequence of which many cultural values and modes became dormant. The anamoly between performance tradition and probably originally composed music is serious, with respect to ragas ascribed by Vijayaraghavan because such ragas preferred by him to those found in traditional MSS sources, are of recent cmergence in Karnataka music. In the following examples, his preferences are shown first. followed by the ragas given in the critical apparatus, with the song number given in brackets : cakravāka-kāmbodi (56), rītigauļa - nāți (62), bilahari-kāmbodi (68), amrtavāhini- nādanāmakriyā (97), nilāmbari-ānandabhairavi (102), des for desiya, desya, meaning hindūstani rāgā, 106), anandabhairavi and bhairavi (114), abheri-anandabhairavi (134), kalyaņavasanta - mukhāri (140), des (148), huseni (152), jañjhūți - šankarābharaņa (155), kharaharapriya- regupti (AS 3), kedāra (UE 7), yadukulakāmbodi (UE 14), double ascription of sriraga-varali (UE 16), bāgesii (ES 13), tilang (UE 2-5), bhimpalas (UE 2-7). If it is conceded that historical validity is not attempted in the selection of ragas, the choice is reduced to personal equation and therefore not open to a critique.

74 Music of Madhva Monks

The talas found ascribed to the songs in the various Sources do not present a serious anamoly in toto, for only the suladi talas are exclusively used. Of these, only are- jhampe and pancaghata merit some observations. The ormer, also called kuru-jhampe, is extensively (e-g. 56, 61, 65, 68, 89, 90, 91, 92, 113, 119, 126, 131, 132, 140, 147 148, UE 45, 60, 106, 116, 128, UE 2-4, 6). It is a folk Thythm structure of a duration of ten short syllables in which the accent (or ghata) occurs on the first, third and eighth. It is found frequently employed in jakkiņi darus in Tamilnadu, yakşaganas of Andhra and Karnataka. In the latter, jhampa tala occurs in mainly three foims viz. nidhana jhampe and tvarita (turupu or duduku) jhampe and kuru- jhampe. Pancaghata (UE 2-50, 117, 120) is also called pañcagati and pañcagati through phonetic degeneration. It is known as panjari in the kathakali in Kerala. It is khaņda jati mathya tala played with five accents. Its full name is paficaghatamathya. The mathya tala may have been frequently used in the songs of the haridasas, in both its regular and raganafoims, notwithstanding that the manuscript sources do not specilfy the latter. The iagana mathya may have been employed in its trisia, caturasra and khanda forms in sulādis which promote the ihythmic sense of triple, quadruple and quintuple movements. The iagana mathya offers a facile, uniform, prosodial coustruction. The foiegoing observations admit the inference that Vadiraja's songs received wide experimentation in teims of folk musical materials. The use of dhavala (AS 4) and udayaraga (59, 137) funes may be mentioned in this connection.

VII (b) : FORMAL ANALYSIS Vadiraja has composed both unsegmented and segmented songs. Under the former may be mentioned prose passages (in opera), ugabhogas, svapnagadya etc. The latter include such forms as the krti, suladi, gundakriya etc. The segmented form in the krti includes a pallavi,

Vādirāja : Musician and Composer 75

(often) anupallavi and caranas (stanzas); there are also many segmented songs without a refrain at all : i.e. without pallavi or anupallavi; the sulādi is segmented, unrefrained, but unlike the latter, are talamalika songs. Besides these, Vadi aja has also composed musico-prosodial structures like the tripadi, satpadi etc. The longe: songs of Vadiraja such as bhramaragita, nārāda koravaāji, koluhādu, vaikuņțha varņane, svapnagadya, lakşmi šobhāne, guņdakriya, tattavasuvvali will be taken up separately together for a brief, synoptic study later.

Among the unsegmented compositions of Vadiraja there are 12 ugābhogas (2, 3, 45, 64, 75, 87, 88, 136, UE 88, 119, 123 (BS 1). None of these cariies a raga ascription. This is a feature of the ugabhoga. The composer appears to offer here to the performer the choice of his own räga. This is true nearly of all ugābhogas and the majority of suladis. These ugabhogas have variable number of lines (4 to 11) with variable syllabic quantity. One ugābhoga (64) may be specially noted here. It has 24 lines and has a regular syllabic pattern : Isls .... It is doubtful whether this is an ugā- bhoga at all in view of such length and pattern. Also, it is set to the raga nați and tāla jhampā in some of its sources.114 Among the segmented songs, Vadirāja's sulādis have been examined above. The format of the krti has, by the- matic difference, given rise to several musical forms such as javaļi (11, 52, 55, 90, 133, 138, 152, UE 1, 14, 15, 49, 54, 61, 79, 84, 99, 101, 120, 129, ES 3, 9, 13), and antiphonal (sukasārika) songs (41, UE, 15, 79, AS 5). It should be clearly understood that the name and the form javali were not known at this time but appear in about the 17th cent. But the theme and its musical treatment were known from at least the times of Siipadarāya. Besides these,

114. There is a school of musical practice which sings ugabhogas in specific raga and tāla. Vide Keshava- dasa, Beluru-, Šrī Haridāsa Sāhitya, pp. 68-69.

76 Music of Madhva Monks

Vadiraja has composed a few traditional (sampradāya) songs which are sung by womenfolk on ritual, festive, or ceremo- nial occasions which have overtones of religious or spiritual practices, being dedicated to God. Such instances are arati (waving of light before deity), lali (lullaby), urutane (play of rolling a coconut or a ball made of flowers between bride and groom in a playful mood during a conventional wedding cermony in Karnataka), maigala (benediction) sung to the ten incarnations Visnu (10), arati (115), uruțane (129), anna pissana (ceremony of the first feeding of an infant with anna', one of the 16 samskaras prescribed for the brähmana by the Veda) (UE 2), arogane (food dedicated to God) (100, UE 8, 9), daily ritual upaciras and worship of Lord Krsna of Udupi (UE 20), awakening the Lord from His slumbers eaily in the morning (uppavada) (UE 21, 22), uyyale (play on the swing) (UE 31), lali (lullaby e.g. UE 113, 114). Song forms inaugurated by Sitpadaraya and sustained by Vyāsāraya, Purandaradasa and others in the context of Krsna-bhakti in Kannada are continued by Vadirāja e,g bhramaiagita (1, UE 2, 49 etc.) veņugita (70, 134), Several songs aie also available which unequivocally diaw inspi- ration from folk themes and may be regarded as Vadiraja's contribution to classical music from folk music: 67 (lullaby : jo jo), 74 (dimmisale, prob. from holi festival), 135 (saraņu) 143, 144 (suvvi), UE 26 (each line ending 'mya'),115 UE 38, 48 (kolāta), UE 113 (lāli) ES 7 (gubbiyāļō). Several songs with a single word recurring at the end of each line, couplet or stanza serving as refrain or preface to the refrain are composed by Vadiraja within the krti format : 25, 67, 108, 135, UE 18, 45, 46, 74, 75, 83, 118, ES 6, 10 etc. Such songs of the haridasa were favourites of the brahmaņa

115. Kanakadāsa, Krti no. 77, p. 85, Krishna Sharma Betageri and Huchu Rao, Bengeri, Guru Rao (ed.), Kanakadāsara Bhaktigītegaļu.

Vādirā ja : Musician and Composer 77 housewife till a generation ago in her morning prayer-or household routines. A song eminently suitable for dance, set in the krti form may also mentioned here en passant (UE 85).

In common with other vaisnava saint singers, Vadiraja has also composed songs in musico-prosodial forms such as tripadi (UE 29, 39, 56, 92) and satpadi (82, UE 17).

VII (c) KRTI: STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS The musical form called dasara pada, which was also called krti and kirtana in the context of classical Karnataka music, received the widest experimentation and treatment by Vadiraja among the yatitraya. A comparative study of the structures composed by the yatitraya in this format would indicate the evolution of this form in the 15th - 16th cent. For reasons explained elsewhere116 the krti became, and remains the most popular form in modern Karnataka music and is the mould in which other musical forms such as the svarajati, jatisvara, varņa, pada, javaļi and tillāna were cast.

The krti has three parts : pallavi, anupallavi and carana. Pallavi is the udgraha dhatu (with rare exception). anupallavi is the melipaka dhātu and caraņa is the dhruva dhatu; the latter half or the last line of the carana consti- tutes the abhoga. If these are denoted by u, m, d, a respectively, the mode of singing of the krti is u-m-u-d-a-u. The carana consists of many stanzas, usually odd in number. All the caranas are set to the same dhatu with a few exceptions e.g. ragamalikā krtis, pafcaratna krtis of Tyagaraja etc. The composer's signature occurs in the last caraņa.

116. Sathyanarayana, R., Karnațaka Sangitavāhini, pp. 366-370.

78 Music of Madhva Monks

S. has used 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 17, 23 and 27+3 or 37+3 caranas in his padas. One song has 4 caranas (UE 11) and another, 12 (43). Vr. has composed 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 17 caranas in his songs. In the limited number of songs (edited without the benefit of textual criticism), there is no example of even-numbered caianas while Vd. has generally composed the caranas in odd number (3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 21, 25, 27, 35, 45), there is also a fair spiinkling of even numbered caranas also : 4 (128) 6 (17, 129, 155, UE 35, 38), 10(4, 41, 43, 55, UE 26, 109, 118, UE 2-6) 12 (85), 14 (U.3 20), 26(70, UE 60 and 30). Several songs of the haridāsas composed without pallavi or anupallavi are of course availa- ble; these are however, metrical structures like the satpadi. Vd. is perhaps the first composer to have experimented with this segmented form in several caranas, without pallavi or anupallavi. The number of lines per carana and the number of caranas are both variable 2-3117 (97), 2-7 (UE 2-1), 2-17 (UE 2-7), 2-24 (UE 46) 3-28 (UE 56), 4-3 (UE 16, UE 103), 4-11 (115), 4-26 (98), 10-40 (101). The instance of (26) is interesting : the editor admits the textus constitutio with anupallavi, but no pallavi. Three of the eight collative sources used give the variant reading 'pallavi' for 'anupallavi'. On extrinsic probability, the 'anupallavi should be emended to 'pallavi'.

Now the krtis of the yatitraya may be subjected to a stiuctural analysis, 118 reproducing for the sake, of conveni ence (and the risk of repetition) the data fiom S.

117. The first digit indicates the lines per caraņa: the second indicates the number of caranas in the song.

118. The four numbers given here are those of lines in pallavi, anupallavi, carana and aumber of caraņas respectively.

Vādirāja : Musican and Composer Šiīpādarāya

1044 (UE 11) 204,11 (36, 60) 1045 (5, 15) 204.17 (13) 1123 (56) 204.30/40 (20) 1125 (54) 2063 (59) 1143 (3, 8, 48, 52) 2143 (52) 1145 (1. 4, UE 8) 2243 (29, 41, 55, 61, 1243 (12, UE 14) VS 2, UE 5, 6) 1245 (WE 22, ES 4) 2245 (31) 1255 (53) 2247 (21) 1293 (49) 224,12 (43) 1463 (16) 224.23 (50) 1563 (UE 20) 2263 (UE 3, 21) 2023 (6, 26, 33, AS 3, UE 24) 2273 (UE 26) 2025 (17, 34, UE 25) 2283 (UE 10, 15) 2027 (23) 2285 (AS 6, UE 13) 2043 (9, 10, 19, 22, 27, 28, 38, 42 228 11 (47) 57, VS 1, UE 4) 22.10.3 (UE 2) 2045 (11, 18, 44, 58, UE 1, 9) 22.12.3 (UE 12) 79 2047 (24, 51) 22.16.3 (UE 19)

80 3043 (45) 1243 (4, 10-1, 38-1, 3473 (35) 38-2, 47, 50-1) 4025 (46) 1245 (3) 4089) (46) 1273 (6) 1143 (8, 10-2, 14, 22, 25, 1283 (29, 102) 31, 33, 34, 53, 54-2, 56, 1293 (93) 57, 59, 60, 75-1, 79, 82) 1453 (15) 1145 (2, 17, 20, 25-2, 41, 1493 (89) 42, 48, 52) 2027 (24, 75-2) 1147 (5, 11, 58, 72) 2043 (28-1, 54-1, 62-1, 90, 98) 1149 (18, 95-2) 2045 (27, 28-2, 32, 43, 65, 97) 114.11 (80) 2047 (45, 69, 101) 1223 (99) 204. 17 (83) Musicof Madhva Monks 1225 (46, 61) 2153 (55)

Vya arayalı

1123 (44, 49) 1453 (15)

119. Referen es are to page numbers in Kp. Hyphenated number indicates the number of the song on the given page when the latter carries more than one song.

Vad raja : Mucican and Composer 2243 (16, 32-1, 62-2, 76, 92, 2283 (39, 86) 95-1, 103) 2335 (100) 2245 (50-2, 91) 2393 (73) 2249 (77) 2463 (88) 1100 Vadirā ja 1021 (UE 60) 1143 (23, 24, 25, 28, 39, 50, 60, 1023 (37, 135) 68, 71, 99, 112, 119, 146, 147) 1025 (137, UE 34,95, 102) 1145 (124, UE 115) 102.12 (85) 1147 (21) 102.15 (UE 60) 114.25 (128) 1043 (22, ES 12, UE 8, UE 2-4) 1183 (132) 1045 (65) 1223 (13, 62, 66, 138, 148, AS1) 1049 (UE 9) 1225 (15, 74, 130) 104.10 (41,UE 26, UE 2-6) 1243 (30, 48, 81, 117, UE 42) 104.25 (UE 60). 1245 (96, UE 2-3) 108.14 (UE 20) 1255 (29) 1123 (47,51, 104, 110, 142, 149) 1263 (UE 75) 1125 (44, 106, 108. AS 3) 1287 (150) Tott 1126 (17, 29) 1443 (UE 116) 1127 (UE 108) 1463 (19, 139) 81 112.10 (UE 113) 148.23 (114)

82 1495 (UE 6) 120, 122, ES 14) 1575 (125) 2044 (UE 76, 128) 2023 (46, 102, 156, UE 19, 2045 (9, 11, 20, 53, 54, 58, 1,

1130 39, 44, 111, ES9, UE2-5) 113, 113, 140, 153, UE 3, 4, 10, 2025 (78, 122, UE 18, 68, 96, 12, 33, 61, 67, 72, 74, 94, 104,

1133 112, 129, ES 2) ES 4) 2027 (UB 83) 2046 (UE 35, 110) 2028 (UE. 71) 2047 (31, 40, 69, 94, 95, UE 49, 2029 (UE 27) 52, 81, 99) 202.10 (43, UE 109) 2049 (73, 92, UE 21, 36)

1045 202-11 (36, UE 31) 204.13 (UE 107) 202.13 (36, UE 31) 204.15 (UE 56) 202.25 (UE-45) 204.26 (70) Music of Madhva Monks 105 2031 (UE 76) 2053 (126)

100 2033 (UE 40, 57, 78, 82, 104) 2065 (86) 2035 (47) 2077 (UE 80) 2043 (10, 12, 27, 34, 42, 57, 2079 (7) 62, 72, 76, 77, 80, 90, 91, 2083 (UE 53) 63, 100, 107, 109, 118, 120,131, 2093 (UE 43) 141, ASS, UE 2-11, 14, 23, 25, 2123 (123) 32, 41, 54, 55, 63, 64, 65, 2223 (84) 69, 70, 73, 89, 90, 1.1, 114, 2225 (UE 7)

Vadirā ja : Musician and Composer 2243(8,14,16,49,52,59,67,133,134,UE2) 304. 13 (UE 79) 2245 (5, 35) 304. 35 (143) 224. 11/12 (83) 3053 (UE 98) 224. 21/27 (33) 3073 (UE 77) 2263 (155) 3083 (UE 66) 2283 (89, 116) 3283 (127) 22.13.3 (UE 28) 3361 (79) 2478 (105) 4043,(AS4,UE84,100,105,UE2-13ES13 26. 10, 3 (145) 4045 (1, UE 87) 3025 (UE 85) 4046 (UE 38) 302. 10 (UE 118) 4047 (UE 130) 3032 (UE 92) 4049 (UE 62) 3033 (UE 29) 404.10 (4,55) 3035 (144) 404.22 (152) 3043 (UE, 11, 117, 121) 4069 (UE 38) 3047 (UE 93) 4083 (18, UE 50)

6109 CUT

83

84 Music of Madhva Monks

The above data represent the constituted text arrived by collative consenus or collative majority. A small discount should be allowed for different organisation of lines between pallavi and anupallavi. The preferences of the composers for various structures in decreasing order are : S-2043, 2243, 2045, 2023, 1143; Vr-1143, 1145, 2243, 1243, 2045; Vd-2043, 2045, 1143, 2243, 2023. It may be noted that the preferred structures or more or less the same, but the order is different i.e. personal equations are different. The preference is for only 3 or 5 caranasi; S and Vd appear to favor 2 line pallavis, while Vr seems to prefer 1-line pallavis. It should be remembered that p-a relationships are rather fluid in the apparatus criticus. Thus the following transformations or alter- natives may have occured at the hands of composers or performers : 11-20, 20-11 and less frequently, 22-40. The composers have used such structures to maintain musical and textual coherence, employing highly nume- rous caranas for narratives and detailed exposition of word themes.

Now the foregoing structures may be analysed for patterns in syllabic content.120 As seen above, unequal syllabic content in the lines occurs to the largest extent in S. Some 8 songs reveal an approximate equality in the carana lines. An equal number has an Is ... series. About 10 songs show an Isll patern in the caianas. The other patterns may be summarised thus : vl (39, 53, 54, UE 26), Isls-ssss(49), lllss (53), 1sllll (UE 3), lslslsls 1111 (UE 12), Islsls1s1lIlIIl (UE 19). Of about 100 songs of Vr examined, some 27 show in equitable syllabic distribution in the carana lines, 17 contain more

120 For abbreviations vs, s, 1, vl, p, a, c etc. vide foot note no. 42

Vadiraja : Musician and Composer 85

or less equitable distribution, 8 possess the Is ... pattern while about 20 songs contain the Isll series in the caranas.Some noteworthy patterns are Islslsll (p. 88) ssll (p. 44), Isll-Islslsll (pp. 39, 86) and Ill ssssss (p. 93). A few interesting p-a-c relationships also emerge : p+a=c(pp. 15,88), p+a+11=c (p.8), 4 s 3-1= 2a + 3-1 = c (p.6).

The same overall pattern develops in the compositions of Vd also. Thus nearly one fourth of all the songs show in equitable syllabic quantities in the carnas, about a fifth accounts for an equitable or comparable distribution. Nearly 40 songs contain ls or ls ... series in the stanzas; roughly 30 songs reveal lsll series; the other patterns are ls1s1s11 (77, 86, 132, 150, UE 20, 55, 81, 84), vl (15, 92, 99, 105, 123, 135, UE-92, 109, 110, 117); 111s (18), Ils (UE-29. 77), Isl (UE 47, 57, 76), Iss-lss (79) vs (25, 87, 135, 138, UE 6, 110), slsl (UE 28), 11slslslls (101), Islllsls (119), slslls11 (UE 23), llls-1l1s (UE 53, 66), Islv1 (ES 13). Two interesting instances are available (UE 6, 20) in which a 11-unit shifts its position from one carna to another. While some songs (33, 79, 139, 153) contain p+a=c relationship, one song (155) has a peculiar relationship : c=p+a+21. Thus Vd among the yatitraya has extensive- ly experimented with both p-a-c structure and their syllabic proportions. Many of these become trendseters in future generations and culminated into distinct patterns in Tyagaraja and his school.

It has been mentioned above that Vd hailed from Dakşina Kannada district in Karnataka But he travelled extensively all over India, perhaps even more than the other vaisnava saint composes. His travels entended over North Karnataka especially, where his songs gained much popularity. This is reflected in his songs in an interesting way. Some 5 collative sources (ka.sam 3,

86 Music of Mådhva Monks

la 24, be 41, m 49 and pim. 5); use 'dhruva' for pallavi in several songs (5, 7, 12, 14, 20, 23, 27, 31, 36, 37, 39, 43, 47, 67, 69, 72, 76, 111, 112, 150, AS 3). This is an abbre- viation for 'dhruvapada' which means refrain. However, one source (Ka.sam 3) is ambient in this regard, since it also uses the term on two occasions (26, p. 65, 39, p. 100). It may be remembered that nearly all relevant songs of Mahipatidasa who hailed from North H Karnataka, contain the word 'dhruva' instead of pallavi, their format being unequivoeally that of krti.

VIII VĀDIRĀJA : LONG MUSICAL FORMS

It has been mentioned that Vadiraja is an experimenter and trendsetter in musicoliterary forms. This is evident not only in the forms such as krti, ugabhoga, suladi, musico- poetical structures, folk musical forms etc., but in many other larger forms also. At least ten such compositions of Vadiraja are available viz. Vaikuņțhavaiņane, madhva suvvali, birudina suvvali, tattva suvvali, bhramaragita' lakşhmi šobhāne, gajendra mokşa, nārada korvañji gundakriya and svapnapada. These may be examined briefly here. Of these, two are from Udupi edition by Pavanje Guru Rao published by Šriman-madhva-siddhāntā- laya, Udupi viz. gajendra mokșa and svapnapada. Of the remaining, four are from the critical edition of Vadiraja's songs by T. N. Nagaratna published by the Institute for Kannada Studies, Mysore University, Mysore viz. birudina suvvāli, tattva suvvāli, nārada koravañji and guņda- kriya. The remaining four are fiom Sii Vadirajara Dirgha krtigaļu' critically edited by T. N. Nagaratna and recently published by the same Institute.

VIII (a) VAIKUNTHAVARNANE

As indicated by the name, vaikuntha varnane is description of Vaikuntha, abode of Visnu.121 It purports to be a Kannada version of Pūrņaprajña's Tattvasāra (1.3)

121 Vādirāja, vaikuņțha - varņane, in Šrī Vādirājara Dirgha Krtigaļu, (ed.) Nagaratna, T.N. pp. 1-96

88 Music of Madhva Monks

based on the Sruti and Puranas (introductory poem), composed in nati and other ragas as well as (suladi) talas (1.2). The woik is composed in four chapteis or sandhis: mukti, laya, srsti and sthiti. It is written entiiely in four- lines stanzas, entaining 140, 55, 83 and 109 of these in the four sandhis respectively, totalling 387 stanzas. The work begins with an introdaction in bhimini satpadi metre. A total of 33 sloka, borrowed from samskrta sources are inserted into the woik, but not counted. Each sloka serves a nucleus which functions as the basis for translation, or elaboration of Vaikuntha description paraphiase in the stanzas which follow immediately. These slokas occur after the following stanzas in each sandhi : mukti-3, 4, 7, 34, 38, 40, 49, 57,64,68 70, 77, 83,102, 120, 124 (16) ; laya-1, 7, 35, 40,46,47 (6); srsti- 1, 3,22, 70(4); sthiti - 1, 17, 24,29,32,70,86 (7). Besides these,. verses from Vedic literatuic are also extracted under the caption 'sruti' (but not counted). Thee authorities are not documented in the work. The 'sruti' insertions, totalling 6, occur after the following stanzas : mukti - 8, 88 (2); laya- 14(1); srsti - nil; sthiti - 11, 27, 31 (3). Adug

The textus constitutio is based on four collative sources viz. Sa. Va 32. Mu-26, M-66. The first two lines of the first stanta of the work are separated by Mu-66 as pallavi and the latter two lines presumably as anupallavi. Rāga-tāla ascriptions are not admited into the constituted text for unknown reason, and are always treated as adscripts from the apparatus criticus. The raga and tala positions are indicated in the text by one or more asterisks; in between two such consecutive asteirsk notation, the stanzas are presumably sung to the same raga and tala. Presumbly, the

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 89

Scuti-verses are not sung to a raga. The ragas employed are: nāți, šuddha gaula, nādanāmakriyā, saurāştra, vasanta- bhairavi, bhairavi, mecabauli, todi, pādi, mukhāri, kāmbodhi, kedāragaula, pantuvarāli, gaulīpantū, šuddha- varāli, āhari and bhūpāli. Of these seventeen rāgas, vasantabhairavi and pantuvarāli appear in Karnataka music much later than. Vadiraja; the others were in vogue during his life. But it cannot be determined whether these latter were originally set by the composer or by later performers. All the sulidi tilas except mathya and eka but including adi are used. There is a single instance (2.43) where the tvarita atta tala is used ; no raga is mentioned in the source (Mu 66). No pattern is discernible in the distribution of rāgas and talas : Some are consecutive (e.g. 1. 8, 9; 2. 1, 2; 2.18,19 ; 2.27, 28 etc.) and some are quite distant (e.g. 1. 103-116; 2. 2-15; 3. 4-23; 3. 30-49; 3. 52-71 ; 4. 71-94 etc.)

VIII (b) SUVVĀLIS

Suvvi; suvvali, suvvāle, suvvali are the alternative names of a folksong sung by women while pounding or grinding corn and on auspicious occasions such as marriage, it is performed solo or in duet on the former occasion and in chorus on the latter. It derives its name from the words suvvi, suvvi-suvvale sung at the end of each line or stanza of the song. It is widely prevalent in rural Karnataka, Andhra and Tamilnadu. It is usually a narrative or benedic- ction, composed in couplets or in the tripadi metre. Somesvara states that the tripadi was used in pounding corn, in themes of vipralambha srngara (of separated lovers) eto.12ª

122 Somesvara, Sarvajña-, op. cit. 4. 16. 549, p. 81

90 Music of Madhva Monks

Three suvvalis of Vadiraja are available. The first is called 'Avatira-traya Madhva Suvvali'128 As the name indicates, (the song describes the exploits of Madhvacarya in his three incarnations as Hanuma, Bhima and Madhvacurya in 230 couplets ( in the syllabic pattern ls ), devoting stanzas 1-2 to invocation, 3-12 to dasavatara, 14-70 to the incarvation of Hanuma, 73-155 to that of Bhima, 159-228 to that of Madhvacarya and 229 to the fruits of reciting the work. The incarnations are linked by stanzas 71-72 and 157-158 respectively. Each avatara section ends with a suvvi-refrain stanza (72,155,230.) No raga or tāla is ascribed to the song because suvvi or suvvale is a wellknown folk music tune. The edition seems to be based on two collative sources viz. Li 2, Mu 86. The work carries the composer's signature in the stanza 229 (i.e. the final stanza; stanza 230 con ains the suvvi refrain).

The second is called 'Jaga-birudina suvvali' and is so named by Vadiraja (stanza 35, 37).124 Its theme is the description of the glories of Hari and refutation of advaita philcsophy. It has a pallavi of an introductory tripadi, followed by 35 tripadis, and 3 of phalastuti. Every second line ends with the word 'suvvi'. The song conforms fully to the traditional pattern of tripadi singing in which the second line is repeated in the third line which carries an additional short suffix and this continues into the fourth line and completes the music and sense of the stanza. The tripadi is also called 'onake vadu' because it is sung while

123 Vadiraja, Avataratraya Madhva-suvvāli, in Šti Vādirajara Dirgha Krtigaļu, (ed.) idhem. pp. 97-153 124 idhem. no. 143, Šrī Vādirājara krtigaļu, (ed.) idhem. pp. 319-328

Vadirīja : Long Musical Forms 91

pounding corn with a stamp (onake) and also ankamala if it extols the heroic deeds of a patron in battle.1#5

The jagabirudina suvvali commences with a refrain pallavi (p), invocation (1, 2) and foilows with the exploits of Krsna (3-10), exhortation to a life of devotion and virtue (11-15), refutation of advaita (16-29), description of Vaikuntha (30-34), benediction (35) and phalastuti (35-37)

The edition of this composition is based on three collative sourccs viz. M.53-a, Mu-27 and Be-41. It carries, mp robably, the ascription of todi rāga and ādi tāla.

The third suvvali is called tattvasuvvali.1 It is structured identically with the second ; it commences with an introductory tripadi serving as pallavi, and proceeds to describe the following: invocation (1, 2) dasavatara (3), refutation of advaita and enunciation of dvaita (4-12), yogic meditation on dieties presiding over various parts of the body (12-32), three incarnations of Madhvacarya (33-35) The edition of this composition is based on two collative sources viz. Pam. 4, Mu. 27. Vijayaraghavan has supplied anandabhairavi raga and fast-tempo aditala. In suvväli has a distinctive well-known tune and rhythm of its own, these (conjectural) ascriptions appear to be superfluous.

VIII (c) LAKSMĪ ŠOBHĀNE

Vadiraja claims divine revelaticn of dogma through

125 Puņdarika Vițțhala, Naitana-niiņaya, 3. 2. 194-196; see also Sathyanarayana, R., Puņdarikamāla, pp. 463.464 126 Vādiraja, op. cit. no. ibid, pp. 329-336

92 Music of Madhva Monks

dreams at least on three occasions : Laksmisobhane (stanza 109), svapnapada (q.v. satpadi 1) and a song (6).

As the title of the song indicates, Lakșmišobhāne is a folksong variety known as sobhane or sobine. It is reoited by women in a wedding as benediction to the bride and the groom. The song under discussion narrates the wedding of Lakşmi with Narayaa and is traditionally performed by women in weddings of Madhva adherents. It also has a distinctive, wellknown tune and ihythm. It is composed, as the suvvali, in quartettes and is rendered in the same manner described under suvvali.

The Laksmisobhane has a pallavi of sobhane followed by 112 stanzas in quertette structured as lsls.127 The pallavi is presumably repeated after each stanza. After invocation (2) the song proceeds with the theme as follows: arising of Lakşmi from the churing of the milk occan (3), her bridal preparation and ornamentation (4-14), rejection of all other condidates a the bridegroom (15-25), her conviction that Hari is the best, the faultless (26-49), her synonymisation of Hari with Krsna and therefore Krsna is the highest and best of all gods (50-65), wedding of Laksmi with Hari (66-70), worship of Hari by Samudraraja (Lakşmi's foster father), by the sages, celebration with music and dance (71-75), calling of Krsna to the wedding dais by sumangalis (76-91), Krşņa and Lakşmi adorn the dais (91), divinities like Ganga, Yamuna etc. perform the arati and sing bene- dictory dhavaļa (92-93), different divinities present them- selves and offer tributes (94-96), a feast is served to bride and groom (97), Krina assumes the incarnation of Mohin

127. idhem. Lakşmi-sobhane, no. 4, Sri Vadirajara Dirgha Krtigalu, pp. 155-182; idhem, Lakşmī-i sobhana-hādu, pub. Guru Rao, Pavanje, & sons, Udupi, 19th impression, 1969

Vadiraja : Musician and Composer 93

(98-99), and serves nectar to the guests(100); the concluding wedding rituals are conducted (101), guests are given gifts (102-104), Samudraraja builds a mansion for the newlyweds on the ocean (106), benediction (107); phalastuti (108-111), promise of bliss to the bride and groom and longevity of saumangalya (i,e, longevity of husband) if the song is per formed in a wedding (112). The composer has signed this song both in his own name (Vadiraja) and the nom de plume viz. hayavadana (107-112).

The song has been edited on the basis of ten collative sources viz, La-12, 20, 30; M-53a, Mu-26, 43, 45, 64, 65 and Na. Pantuvarali rāga is ascribed to it. This raga is described in musical treatises composed some two gonera- tions after Vadiraja ; therefore it is possible that this raga may have just crept into musical practice durring the last days of Vadiraja. The greater possibility is that this raga is preserved in Mss sources in a transmission of performance tradition; so also the ascription of dhruva/adi tala. For, sobhane is a wellknown, distinctive folktune and has a characteristie rhythmic flow. The formal ascription of rāga and tala to this song indicates that it came to be accepted into the fold of 'classical' music in the mid 17th or early 18th cent.

The Lakșmi sobhāne contains a few references to music: Vadiraja mentions the musical instruments tala, maddale, tammațe, bheri, pațaha, sankha, dollu, mauri and dundubhi; Narada and Tumburu as celestial expert exponents of music (71-72); dance by celestial nymphs (90). He refers to two musical forms, ovi and dhavala, both of which were sampradaya songs of gieat antiquity and are performed by women during celebrations of wedding, heroic deeds etc. (74-75). I have discussed these songs elsewhere.128

128. Sathyanatayana, R., Puņadrikamalā, pp.490-497

Music of Madhva Monks 94

VIII (d) SVAPNAPADA

Svapnapada means dream song and purports to be Hari's commandments revealed to Vidiraja in a dream, I is a metrical work, composed in bhimint satpadi metre 129 This metrical structure is employed by other vaisnava composers in Kannada also e.g. Purandaradasa, Kanakadāsa, Jagannatha dasa etc.

The contents of svapnapada may be summarised thus : introductory announcement (1), Hari fulfils the de ires of worshippers and punishes others (2), He subordinates to devotees (3-6), His ten in carnations (7-8), importance of reciting His name, pilgrimage ete., (10-12), Jiva-parmātma relationship (13-19), refutation of advaita (19, 20), Hari- sarvottamatva (21-23), His auspicious qualities (26-37, 40-41), assurance of granting liberation to sincere worshippers (42), excellence of Madhva religion (43), phalastuti (44), Hari's revelation to Vadiraja in dream (45).

The edition of this song is based on six collative sources viz. Ta-23, M-53a, Va-31, 33, Mu-26, 45. The song is divided into 9 groups of 5 satpadis each to which raga is ascribed as follows: pantuvarali (1-5), kambodi (6-10), mukhāri (11-15), Kālyāņi (16-20), toại (21-25), madhyamā- vati (26-30), kedaragauļa (31-35) bhairavi (36-40) ard āha i (41-45)130. Thus it has been transmitted as a rāgamalika. Since it is a metrical composition, no tala is ascribed to it.

129 Vadiraja, Svapnapada, no. ES. 11, Šrī Vādirajara Krtigaļu, 1 p. 591-605

130 idhem. op, cit. pub. Guru Rao, "Pavanje-, & Sons, Udupi, 4th impression, 1958, pp. 1-9

Vadiiaja : Musician and Composer 95

VIII (e) GAJENDRA MOKSA

Gajendramokșa means grant of mokșa (liberation) to the elephant king (gajendra) by Hari. It is based on a story from Bhigavata purana131 in which the (mythical) Pandya king Indradyumna was deeply merged in meditation on Vişnu once and did not therefore heed the presence of Agastya muni; Irate at this negligence, the muni cursed the king to reincarnate as an elephant. He relents at the supplication of the king and modifies the curse that the king would be restored to his original self when the elephant's incarnation is terminated by Visnu with His sudarsana cakra. Accordingly, the king takes birth as an elephant, goes to drink water in a lake, is caught by a crocodile and prays to Visnu with abandon and undivided devotion. Vișnu arrives and kills the crocodile with Sudarsana cakra. When the cakra touches the elephant, its incarnation is terminated and Indradyumna is restored io his original self.

Gajendramoksa is composed by Vādirā ja in 50 quartette stanzas without pallavi or anupallaviaaa that is, the song is a continuous narrative; here Indradyumna is made king of Guuda desa instead of the Pandya kingdom. The words narāyana-krsna are repeated at the end of each stanza or each couplet-half. No raga or tala is ascribed to the song because it is a udayarsga i.e. song recited in a distinctive folk tüne by womenfolk early in the morning while performing household chores. The tune often corresponds to the rāga bhūpāli of Karnataka music. Vādirāja's

131 Šukamuni, op.cit. 8.4 132 Vadirāja, Gajendramokşa, Pavanje-, & Sons, Udupi, 1968, pp. 1-10. pub. Guru Rao,

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signature (hayavadana) occurs in the final stanza of the song (50).

VIII (1) GUNDAKRIYA

Another long song of Vidiraja is the gundakriya. The reason for this name can now be only conjeetured, for Vadiraja himself has not called it gundakriya, this name seems to be applied to the song by tradition which seems to be at least a hundred years old if not more. Two conjeutures may be offered in explanation of this name; the fiist is musical: gundakriya is the name of the raga in which it is set. This used to be a popular raga in the days of Vadiraja, a janpa under Malavagauda which was again, the most important or popular mela and had the largest number of ragas grouped under it, accounting for nearly one third of all the ragas prevalent in the 16th cent.133 It may be recalled here that Puiandaradasa is credited o have erected this mela as the pedagogical standard exactly in this period. Of all the dorivatives of milava- gauda, gundakriya may have a held in special fascination because of its legendary association with Hanuman (who is a very important diety in dvaita theology as Mukhyapraņa) who is said to have melted rocks by singing this raga. Since the composition under discussion has for its main theme religious dogma of dvaita, the choice of this raga would be deemed doubly appropriate.

The second canjeture is lexical. Gunda means a pit (fall) and crushing. The composition endeavours to warn

133 e.g. Puņdarika Vițțhala, Sadraga-candrodaya 2. 2. 7-75

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 97

the devotee of the pitfalls or traps which other religious or metaphysical systems place in the path of the earnest seeker and to crush them. So the name may be regarded as appro- priate. These conjectures are however, balanced by some counterpoints. Firstly, the Udupi edition of the work134 assigns the raga vasantabhairavi and tala jhampe to the song, just after the title 'Gundakriya'. No other composition called gundakriya in the entire range of dasa sāhitya has come to my notice so that these conjectures may neither be confirmed nor rejected.

The gundakriya is a song of 40 stanzas. Of the two collative sources viz. Va-12 and Mu-26, used for constituting the text, Va-12 gives the first two lines of the first stanza as pallavi; so, according to this source the song is not continuous but interrupted with a refrain repeated after each stanza, while according to the other it is continuous unsegmented. The Udupi edition assigns jhampa tala at the beginning, again for 8th stanza and atta tala for the 9th and subsequent stanzas. No raga is assigned for the composition in the IKS (Mysore) edition. Each stanza has 10 lines, rhyming on the second syllable. The- stanzas reveal a general structural pattern llslslslls. A special feature of this song is that every stanza carries the composer's signature in the penultimate or antepenultimate line.

As mentioned earlier, this composition is devoted to the refutation of rival religous or metaphysical systems and to expound its own dogma and theology. Its contents may be summarised as follows: Hari protects His devotees refutation of carvaka system (2,3), refutation of jainism

134. Vadirāje, Guņdakriya, pub. Guru Rao, Pāvanje-, & Sons, Udupi, first impression, 1928, p.1

98 Music of Madhva Monks

(4), refutation of buddhism (5-8), auspicious qualities of Hari and His supremacy (9, 11-13, 20, 21, 23-37), refutation of advaita (14-19, 22), supplication to Hari (39, 40).

VIII (g) KORAVANJI AS A SOUTH INDIAN OPERA Narada-Koravanji is among the firsts achieved by Vadiraja in musico-literary composition; for this is the earliest vernacular folk dance-drama in South India and probably in India to be composed and included within the perimeter of classical music and dance. The name of this composition means that the sage Narada functicned as the koravanji or fortune- telling gypsy with Rukmini who was yearning to wed Krsna.

The name koravanji refers to a tribe in which men are variously called korava, koraba, korabu, korama, etc. and the women as kuruvanji, koravanji, koravi, koratti, kotavajji etc. They are a wandering gypsy tribe whose profession is weaving and selling mats and baskets and fortune telling. They derive their name probably from kuruve (kannada, basket) i.e. a professional name. The koramas and koravañjis are known in Karnataka from at least 1200 A.C. The women are usually pictured as carrying a child on the arm, a basket on the head, wearing a dirty round of cloth and with head of matted (uncombed) hair Their dance is known as koravanji nātya, koravañji katțaļe etc. in Karnataka. Kannada poets such as Karņapirya (1140),138 Bandhuvarma (c. 1200),137 Mahabala (1254),138 Mangarasa (1508),1a9 Saļva (c.1550),140

136. Karņapsrya, Nemipuraņa, 8.52 137. Bandhuvarma, Harivamsabhyudaya, 9.60 pr. 138. Mahābala, Neminātha purāņa, 8 139. Mangarasa III, Nemijinesa-sangati, 21.52 140 Salva, Bharata, 19.21

Vadirāja : Long Musical Forms 99

Ratnākaravarņi (1557)141 tetc, refer to the koravañji or her dance. Koravanji natya appears to to have been an organised body of dance in Karnataka since Govindavaidva mentions koravan ji. kattaleia in which the theme was composed ir four languages viz. kannada, telugu, tamil (tiguļa ?) and prakrta. The word kattale means order or scheme of dance.143 There used to be variety of folkdance, widely prevalent in Andhra in the 16th cent. called desi kattada (-na)144 This is called katțari nrtta also.145 Ramakrishna kavi equates katțaņa = kațțada - kațțara as synonymous, well known in Karnataka, Andhra and Tamilnadu as a form of jati (? jati) nrtta. 148 This is obviously a vernacular word, and of kannada origin; since da is replaced by la to accommodate phonetic transformation, it is reasonable to conjecture that this is a reference to the kattale mentioned above.

Perhaps the earliest reference to the koravañji is found in tamil; Silappadikaram mentions the kurava (korava) and kuravaikuttu (koravanji dance) several times.147 Here kuravas (and kuravis) are a pastoral, hilly

141 Ratnīkaravaiņi, Bharatesavaibhaya, 12. 91; 14. 51 142 Govindavaidya, Kaņthiravanarasarajavijaya, cit. Durga, S.A.K., The Opera in South India, p. 47 143 idhem. op.cit. 7.107, 8.66, 21.116; Bihubali, Nagakumaracaritam, 22, 102 144 Pundarika Vițțhala, Nartananirņaya, 4.856 145 Damodara, Catura-, Sangitadarpaņam, 7 255-259; Sourindra Mohun Tagore, Sangitasara sangraha, 6, p. 269 146 Ramakrishna kavi, M., op. cit. p. 102 147 Ilango Adigal, Šilappadikāram, (e,d) Swami- natha Iyer, U.V., pp. 26-28, 57, 60, 79, 80, 88, 99, 141, 158, 159, 191, 235, 410, 413, 450, 454, 460, 461, 464, 503, 516, 541, 544, 584, 588

100 Music of Madhva Monks

tribe who dance and sing; the kuravaikūttu (the dance of kuravis) is distinguished from vari by the fact that the dancers join their hands, clap etc. Silappadikaram decribes two occasions on which this dance was performed: kuravaikūttu is a pastoral dance in honor of Krsna. When Kovalan was executed by order of the Pandyan king, ill omens appeared in Madurai. To ward off the evils so portended, Madari and her daughter Aiyai arranged and performed this dance in presence of Kannaki. Secondly, when, in anguish at the death of her husband, Kannaki curses, Madurai is in conflagration, she stands under the shade of the vengai tree on the Neduvel kunram, a celestial car (ratha) comes and takes her away to Heaven. This is cele- brated by the kuravis with a kuruvaikuttu, which is described in an entire (24th) chapter of the Silappadikāram, entitled 'kunrak-kuravai'.

Durga gives valuable information on the koravañji form, which is now a popular, folk dance-drama,14> and lists as many as fifty koravanji plays. 149 She traces kuram to the ancient play vari and equates kuram with the people, their land, with their profession of fortune-telling and with their nataka of singing and dancing. She derives kuram from kuratti song (song of the kurava woman) which is defined in the Panniruppattiyal. Kuram is the musico-dance form in which kuratti plays the dominating role; on the other hand, in kuluva nāțaka the kuruva (- kulava) or male gypsy dominates. The kuratti and kurava are also called singi and singa respectively. Composers of koravañji națaka combined the kuram and kulava nāțaka somewhat loosely. Kursam means a tribe of kuravas, palmistry practised by their women and their song, kurattippattu.150

148 Durga, S.A K., op.cit. pp. 44-47, 54, 56, 74-82, 87 149 ibid. pp. 117,118 150 Winslow, T., A Tamil-English Dictionary, p. 340

Vadira ja : Long Musical Forms 101

Durga adopts this derivation. It is equally plausible to derive it from the word kuruva which means a hill since they are a hilly tribe.151 The koravanji plays follow a sterotyped theme: The hero (the presiding diety of the place or the king) comes in a procession. The heroin sees the procession, with her friends and falls in love with the hero; her yearning for him becomes so intense that she sends a friend as a messenger (duti) to the hero urging him to come to her. At this point, a gypsy woman-the koravanji-appears on the scene, proclaiming her prowess in reading the palm to divine the past, present and future and singing the beauties of her hilly homeland. The heroine calls her in and shows her palm. The kuratti divines the heroine's mind accurately and predicts that the heroine's secret desire to unite with the hero will be fulfilled. The heroine is delighted with this and gives the kuratti rich presents. The play continues in a loosely attached second part, the kulavan nataka; here the kuravan and his friend kulavan appear in scene in which they are catching birds. The kuravan (singa) remembers his wife kuratti (singi) praises her qualities, and sends kulavan to fetch her. (Occassionaly, the kuratti appears on the scene by herself, by coincidence or design.) Kuratti is now bedecked with the jewels gifted by the heroine. He seeks an explanation. The kuratti explains her divination about the heroine. The kurava and the kuratti are happy and retire. The koravanji play usually commences with the appea- rance of a sutradhara (kattiyakkaran). The play used to be performed all night on special occasions in temples. Characters appear first on the stage behind a cloth held by two persons, similar to such appearances in yakşagāna; pure dance (nrtta) and thematic dance (nrtya) have an equal

151 Kannada Sāhitya Parişattina Kannada-Kannada Nighantu, Vol. 2, p. 2217

102 Music of Madhva Monks

share in the koravanji plays. The more important literary forms employed in a koravañji play are asiriyappā, venbā, taravura, koccakam, kalitturai lāvaņi, āsiriya vrtta and kali vrtta; cindu, kanni and various forms of daru (eg. pravesa-, sthala-, varņana-, samvāda-, manmatha-, candra-, kokila-, pangi-, kura-, nirai-, nātya- and kirtana-), which are sung in rakti ragas by a singer to his own accompaniment of hand cymbals (tala); the talas used are usually misra cipu, rūpaka (trisra) and khanda capu and adi. The koravanji is written in tamil telugu, kannada, malayāļam, marathi-and with even passages in english ! The themes may be hindu, muslim or christian. The earliest koravanji nāțaka is Tirukuțrāla koravañji written by Tirikooța Rasappa kavirāya in 1720 A. C. In the malayalam language, the koravanji play is called korattiyātțam. Laksmi and Parvati appear on the stage and perform abhinaya (with gestures but no foot- work) to an antiphonal theme in which a dialogue on the merits of Vişnu and demerits of Siva and. vice versa is performed to singing which is accompanied by the rhythm of hand cymbals.15ª Srīrama Appa Rao studies the koravanji plays in a scholarly, historical perspective : Ramabhadra rāju (1500- 1580) 153 mentions koravanji for the fiist time in telugu literature. Cengalvaraya equates the yerukala with koravat (singa) and korati (singi) in his Yerukala kātha; koravañji refers to both the tribal person and to the play. References to both the koravanji women and koravañji play are found a variety of telugu

152 Durga, S.A.K., op. cit. pp. 44-47 153 Ms. no. 486, vol. 10 : Andhra-višvakala-parișat, (it. Srirama Appa Rao, Poņangi-, Telugu-nāțaka- vikāsamu, p. 184

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literary sources, 154 Prabhakara Šastri opines that the term koravañji is a compound of kurava+añji; añji means a (folk) dance like cindu, gantu, gondali etc. It originated as a simple folkdance but gradually accumulated themes of the respective regional sthalamahatmya, myths of Visnu and Siva and was transformed into a musico-dance play. He further holds that the tamil yaksagana has evolved from the koravañji.150 Sangamesam broadly classifies the telugu- kannada koravañji plays into three groups on the basis of their literary theme : a) koravanji yakşaganas such as Gārudācala Mihātmya, codigānikalapa delineate the love between the korava (singa) koravi (singi) themselves They enact the roles of Ceficulaksmi and Narasimha or Parvati and Siva respectively and their mutual divine love. The Kirātavilāsa of Šāhaji Mahārāja of Tanjore is patterned on this theme. b) The hero is disguised as a korava, meets the heroine, examines her palm and predicts that

154 e.g. extr. Šrī-Sūryarāyandhra-nighaņțuvu, vol. 2, p. 438 : Kadirīpati-nāyaka, Šuka-saptati, 1.17.97 Gaņavarapu Venkațakavi, Prabandharāja-Venka- tesvara vijaya-vilasamu, 1.160 Paidimerri Venkațapati, Candrāngada-caritramu, 2.90 Dharaņi-dhavaļa-Rāmayāmātya, Dasavatāra-cari- tramu, 7. 1. 288 Kanuparti Abbayāmātya, Kavirāja-manoranjanamu, 3.88 Cengāļva-kavi, Rājagopāla-vilāsamu, 1.22 (sīsa-padya), p. 9

extr : Srirama Appa Rao, Ponangi-, op. cit. pp. 156, 184, 185 Ramabhadra, Rāmabhadrābhyudayamu, 2.131 Kakutstha-vijayamu, 3.86

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she will unite with the swain of her choice; Ramulaviri eruka, Sitakalyāņa in telugu and Arjuna koravanji, Krşņa koravanji etc in kannada belong to this class. c) the koravañ ji (= yeruka) woman, is introduced into the theme with little or no relevance to the main theme, she reads the palm of the heroine and predicts her union with the hero; the korava (= yerukaraja) is now introduced through humorous descriptions; an argument between him and koravanji ensues and is resolved to their mutual happiness and they exit. The rest of the story is perfunctorily treated.155 Some koravanji plays such as Prabodhacandro- daya also have a theme of spiritual enlightenment. In ea. ly telugu literature, descriptions of only the koravanji dance and koravanji roles are found, then the koravanji entered the stage in yakşagana and vithinațaka (street plays); the singi-singa theme was magnified into a play. Ko avañji as a distinct litera y-or art form emerged in the 19th century in telugu.156 VIII (h) NĀRADA KORAVANJI OF VĀDIRĀJA Vadiraja's Narada koravañji may be studied against the foregoing background. It has insprid latter haridaasa com- posers such as Mahipatiraya, Prasanna Venkatadasa and Helavanakatte Giriyamma to bring forth similar compositions. It is the forerunner of other kannada koravañji plays: kandarpa koravañji of Brahmaņīnka (c. 1800), koravañji kathe (c. 1700), Krsņa koravañji and Brahma koravaîji of Lakşmīnarasimha, Rāma koravañji of Venkatesa, Śri Prasanna krşņa koravañji of Krishnaraja Wadiyar III (ruler of Mysore) etc. etc. Many koravañji plays are performed as yakşagāna.

155 Prabhakara Šāstri, Vețūri-, Sugrīva-vijaya-yakşa- ganamu, introduction, pp. 4-6 156 Sangamesham, Mutnuri-, Kannada-yakşaganamulu, Bharati, Feb. 1956, p. 68

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 105

Sangamesham states that koravañji nataka is not found in kannada before the 17th cent.157 Srirama Appa Rao concurs with this view.is8 But the Naiada koravanji belies this belief because it was composed in about the mid-16th cent. It is not simply a song or dance set to a literaiy theme performed by a single koravanji as it did in its early phase but has a well defined diamatic element and clearcut dramatis personae, It has several features which are common to later koravanji plays and therefore may be rega.ded as the archetype or exemplar for this literary musico-dance.

The contents of this koravanli nātaka may be briefly summarised thus. The passage number (as given in the imp essi typist59) aie shown in brackets ; invocation (1); Rukmiņi, princess of Kundinapura is in love with Krsna and is determined to marry him; Narada assumes, the disguise of a koravañji and come to Kundināpuia to please Rukmiņi with his prediction (2); Koravanji i: described(3-11); she is called in by Rukmiņi for a reading of her palm (11 pr-12 pr); koravañji comes singing sri.aga and dancing; she is described (13-15 pr-1). Koravañji asks Rukmiņi to show her pam (15 pr-2.3). She praises Rukmini for her beauty 15pr), desclibes her own travels and prowess (16-21). Rukmiņi asks the koravañji to read her palm and make veri- fiable predictions (22). Koravañji asks her to hold in her own mind her innermost daseire while showing the palm (23-24). The koravañji invokes her patron dieties (24 pr) and proceeds to predict that Krsna will be her husband and mentions her achievements in support of her predictions (25-33). Rukmiņi admits her love for Krsņa. Koravañji praises the qualities and glory of Krspa as bridegroom and

157 ibid. loc. it. 158 Śrirama Appa Rao, Poņangi-, op. cit. pp. 156-157 159 Vādirā ja, Nārada koravañji, Krtigaļu, pp. 462-471 in Šrī Vadirājara

106 Music of Madhva Monks

Promises that he will come to her soon to take her away (37-46); she reiterates Krsna's early arrival and assuages Rukmini's doubts and fears, and draws her attention to Krsna who is speeding to Kundinapura in his chariot (46-51); Krsna arrives and carries Rukmiņi away in hi: charict 5ipr). glory of Krsna is sung to celebrate his arrival (52-54); koravañji state, that her prediction is verified and demands gifts (55-57) ; shc is benediction (58). richly ewarded (57 pr)

This koravañji nițaka has certain novel features: The koravañji is the mythical semicelestial vaisnava saint Naiada in disguise. He aleady knows that Rukmini's love for Krsna is recipiocated by him. The heroine Rukmini dos not see the hero during a procession of the latter as is common with later koravanji plays; nor does she send a dūti to confess her love for Krsna and to plead with the hero to come to unite with her; this has been already accomplished before the play commences in terms of a letter she has written to Krsna sent through a brahmana emissary (36 pr.) The hero's rescue of the heroine by abduction is also novel; but the composer is committed to these differences because of the restrictive influence of his exemplar viz the Bhagavata puiana, in both outline and details. The only major innovation is the role of Naiada a: koravanji, presumably assumed by the former at the instance of Krsna himself.

In other respects however, the Narada koravanji pre ents features which correspond to those of later koravanji plays in Karnataka and elsewhere. The koravanji is dressed in a saree, carries a basket on her head and catries the singa (fetish ? child ?) on her back. She wears earrings, banges, ankle bells and a waist band; she desciibes her travels and predictive achievements. She enters the stage dancing. She is incidental to the main theme viz. the love of Rukmini and Krsna but dominates the play while only a small fraction of the play deals

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perfunctorily-the coming of Krsna and his elopement with Rukmiņi at the end. The koravanji is conversant in kannada and telugu; there is no indication of her belong. ing to a hill tribe. A peculiarity is that she appears at the very begining and stays till the very end of the play. There are narrative passages throughout the play in both prose and verse which are presumably recited by a sütradhara; in fact, the whole Narada ko.avanji is a narrative with interspersed dialogues. Therefore, the sutradhara or narrator stays from the beginning to the end, even before the appearance of the koravanji. The story does not record the return of koravañji back to being Narada. The main character of the play is referred to as koravi twise (19, 35) and as koravañji eleven times (2, 4, 10, 11 pr, 12 pr, 13, 15 pr, 21 pr, 36 pr, 45 pr, 57 pr). The composer's signature (hayavadana) occurs in the open- ing and concluding passages. The edition is based on a unique exemplar which is not specified by the editor. No riga or tala is mentioned; it is probable that seveial ragas and several talas were used to confer musical variety, to effectively portray the mood and ihythm of the words. It is also probable that Vadiiaja had a model (from a predecessor composer or from folklore) after which he ha. fa hioned the Narada koravanji- which is the first available play of its kind. He may have used folk tunes and rhythms obtaining in the model to anthenticate it. On structuial analysis, the 58 (numbered passages) may be resolved into the following : 2 line stanzas -28 (8-10, 13, 16-18, 20-27, 29, 36, 38-40, 44-49, 51, 53), 3 line stanzas-7 (30, 35, 37, 50, 52, 54, 56), 4 line stanzas-17 (1-6, 11, 12, 28 31, 32, 34, 41, 43, 55, 57, 58), 5 line stanzas-6 (7, 15, 19, 33, 42, 55), prose passages-18 (not numbered; occuring after stanza numbers 11, 12a, b, 14, 15a, b, c,d, 21, 22, 24, 36, 41, 43, 45, 51, 54, 57). Of these, 11 passages aie in telugu: stanza numbers 20-22, 38-40 (2 line stanzas), 41 (3 line

108 Music of Madhva Monks

stanza; prose pas ages after nos. 43, 51, 54. It is interesting to note that the koravañji performs them in blocks (20-21) (22), (38-41 pr), but not as separate units, but continuous with kannada passages. The stanzas rhyme, with few exceptions viz. 7, 19, 25, 27, 30, 32, 33. 34, 41, 43, 54, on the second syllable. Some of these exceptions may be resolved into smaller, rhyming units. The syllabi: quantity is varia- ble in the stanzas, but approximately equal in many stanzas. The prose passages are replete with allite.ation and enphony and are composed in the style of cūrnika and daņdaka.

The Nirada koravañji is a short (for a koravafji națaka) beautiful composition and deserves to be revived on the contemporary bharatanattya stage. A few more compositions affiliated to the koravanji may be mentioned in passing. The first is a kani-song. Kaņi- garti, kanigati is synonymous with koravanji and means a women who divines the future with the reading of a palm, face etc. The male analogue is called kaņigāra. Kaņi means an astrologer in tamil. The song mentioned above is of Kanakadāsa160 in which he, as a kanigāra teaches the rejection of superstitious faith in sundry dieties, and un- swerving faith in the one and only God. This is only a song with a structure 2045 with no dramatic element, theme or dramati: personae. The second is a koravañji pada of Mahipatidāsa.161 A koravañji seeks to predict to Satya- bhama (!) who is pregnant that she will beget Lord Krsna as her son and takes the opportunity to describe the glories a nd ten incarnations of Visnu as also yogic techniques o,

160 Keshavadisa, Beluru-, Šrī Haridasa-sāhitya, pp. 227. 228 161 Mahipatidāsa, koravanji-pada, Šri Mahipatidasara krtigaļu, ed. Varadaraja Rao, G. ES 4, pp. 461-470

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selfiealisation. It follows the conventional pattern of kora- vañji theme. It: refers to a koravañji. (5, 10, 57, 63) and koravati (1). t has dialogus between Satyabhāmā is here inconsistent, unless the term is intended (implausibly) to refer to a woman in general. It is more likely addressed to Devaki (Krsna's mother). It has no prose passages, nor passages of other languages than kannada. The whole composition is one single song : 10.4.64, unlike the Nārada koravanji in which no separate song-units are composed A one-line refrain in the form of pallavi shows that this was intended to be sung rather than enacted as a play. Syllabic distribution in stanza-lines falls broadly into three ianges : the longest stanzas are nos. 36, 37, 59, 60, 61, 62 (22-25 syllables), longer stanzas are nos. 19, 20, 21, 30,31,32, 33, 35, (12-20 syllables) ; the rest aie of noimal in length (11-16 syllables). The koravanji described here bears close resemblance to the one described by Vadiraja in her appearance and words. As is common with songs of Mahipatiraya, this is strongly oriented to metaphysical and spiritual dimension. A more detailed discussion of this aspect of the song lies outside the scope of the present study.

Prasanna Venkațadasa is mentioned16! as having composed a Narada koravanji ( under print). This will also be briefly described presently.143

162 Indubai, T.K. (ed.) Šrī Prasannadāsara Bhāgavata, Introduction, p. xiv 163 a. Prasanna Venkațadāsa, Nārada koravañji, ed. Patil, A.T., Prasanna Venkatadāsaru Mattu Avara Krtigaļu, pt. 9, Višeșa Krtigaļu, pp. 94 ff b. idhem. op. cit. ed. Indubai, T.K., Haridāsa- sahityamale, No. 12, Institute for Kannada Studies, University of Mysore (under print)

110 Music of Madhva Monks O

Two koravanji songs of Helavanakatte Giriyamma are availabie: Brahma koravanji and Krşņa koravaji. Of these, the first is complete and the second is now available only in a fragment. Brahma koravanji 164 is constituted from three collative sources : O-13, Kha, Mu-91,16% The first offers the longest version, consisting of 71 stanzas and 11 vacana (prose) pasages. Mu-91 contains the shortest version with a total of 45 stanzas,inclusive of prose pas ages. Kha offers 56 stanzas, again including prose passages. The last two enumerate all the passages seriatim while O-13 attempts serial enumeration at the begining only, excluding vacanas. Kha offers an additional vacana at the end of section 9 (vide infra). The textus vulgate appears to be that of O-13, which divides it into 22 sections, each a self- contained unit of dialogue between the koravanji and Devaki, and separated from its predecessor by the ascription of a tila or of a tala and raga, which are found only in this source. Each section consists of a small number of stanzas. Of the 71 stanzas, 4 are couplets (15. 1, 2, 3; 20. 2), 9 are triplets (8. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5; 16.2; 22. 1, 2, 3), 3 are quintets (4. 1, 2, 3), one is a sextette (19.2) and the remaining 54 are quatrains. Since the vacanas are also divisible into stanza-feet rhyming uniformly on the second syllable as the stanzas do, they are also treated as stanzas (hence their inclusive enumeration by Kha and Mu-91), but inferably without being set to tala Of the 11 vacanas, one has only one line (10), one has two lines (3), one has thiee lines (2), 7 have four lines (1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9) and one has 164 Giriyamma, Heļavanakatțe-, Brahma koravañji, ed. Indubai, T.K. Heļavanakațțe Giriyammana Hadugaļu, pp.153-173 165 O-13: Ms. no. 1642, Kannada Adhyayana Kendra, Bangalore University, Bangalore Kha : Ms. in Kannada Adhyayana kendra,Bangalore University, Bangalore Mu-91 : Brahma koravañji, ed. Mugali, R.S., in 'Sadhane', vol. 9, no. 1

Vadiiaja : Long Musical Forms 111

five lines (11). On the other hand, Vadiraja has composed these, called gadyas, without rhyming; these are thus incapable of being resolved into stanza-lines.

O-13 structures . the Brahma koravañji musically as follows in terms of stanza content and rāga / tala

section no. no. of stanzas rāga tila

5 nāți/jhampā 2 3 - trivude 3 3 vilambita eka 4 3 - eka

V 5 5 bhairavi/pañcaghāta v 6 3 eka

v 7 3 vilambita eka

V 8 5 eka

v 9 3 - asta (atța) 10 3 kambodhi/aşța

V 11 3 eka

V 12 5 eka

V 13 3 kedaragaula/trivude 14 3 - aşta 15 3 - trivude

v 16 3 - asta 17 3 vilambita aşta 18 1 -- eka

112 Music of Madhva Monks

V 19 3 eka 20 3 jhampā 21 2 - eka v 22 3 nil

Kha ascribes the raga punnata at the beginning of the song but no tala The composition is segmented but without the refrain of pallavi or anupallavi. The word content is continuous, but is conveniently divisible into Csegments, consisting of narration or the whole passage of each party in a dialogue : this is maiked by a change in the rhythm structure or in the melody-rhythm structure as indicated above. This is an ingenious and adequate mu i:al technique in a dramatic theme. Each segment has, with two exceptions (no. 19 which inse ts a sextet between two quatrains and no. 20 which inserts a couplette between two quatrains) the same single kind of stanza type, piobably intended to sustain the same single affective environment. Vadiraja employs a musical technique at variance with this. It is not clear from Kha whether the song was performed to one or more talas, or if performed to tala at all. If not, changes in verbal and affective flow would depend on general changes in rhythm structure somewhat loosely executed, because the stanzas or the vacanas are not prosodially structured but contain only approximately comparable syllabic quantities as will be shown presently.

Many songs of Giriyamma have been transmitted in both hindusthani music and karntaka music; they are/were performed to rigas and talas of both as revealed in their textual sources. This is natural because she hailed from north Kainataka where hindusthani music flourishes, but became equally popular in south Karnatake where karnataka music flou. ishes; this is true of every haridāsa. However, the Brahma koravanji appears to have been sung

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 113

only in ragas and talas of karnataka music. This so because 0 13 is fiom Bangalore and the copy p.obably prepaied in the Old Mycore area.

Only four rāgas viz. nați, bhairavi, kambodi and kedaragaula arc given in the Ms. for 71 stanzas and 11 vacanas. These are inserted haphazard in the woik with no regard to change in verbal or dramatic theme : e.g. bhai avi-pancaghata are more logical after rather than before 5.1, where Devaki begins to speak, but the shifting of pancaghata tala would not be justified because the entire section 5 is a single structural unit. The two others-kambodi- asta (atta) and kedāragaula-trivude are slightly better placed because they indicate a definite phase change in nariation It is not improbable that these are erroneous scribal insertions. It may be recalled that Kha ascribes a single räga viz. punnița foi the entire song, which conforms to similar practice (at least in textual tradition) in the long songs of haridisas.

The talas given for this song are jhampa, trivude (= triš ajāti tripața)vilambi(+ta)eka, eka, pancachāta, asța = ațța) and vilambi (+ta) asța. These are more or less appropriate for the corresponding syllabic structures. The technique of juxtaposing two different tempi of the same tala (sections 6, 7, 8; 16, 17) to handle widely different syllabic contents of stanza lines is note- worthy, though the apolication of the same tala in adjacent segments (nos. 8, 9: 18, 19) containing different lengths of stanza feet is questionable. The epithet vilambi and the names trivude, asta and pancaghata suggest a folk usage, especially of yakaşagana. The noimal speed in tāla movement in yakaşagana corresponds to the middle tempo (madhyalaya) of karnataka music. Therefore it is necessary to indicate a slower tempo with the term 'vilambi (+ta)'. The use, and naming, of talas in terms of tempi found in

114 Music of Madhva Monks

hindustani music or yakşagāna has no coriespondance in karnataka music. Since eka-vilambi eka and aşta-vilambi asta have different rhythm patterns, their use in adjacent sections is both appropriate and justified. Pancaghata (phonetically deteriorated into pancāgati in yakşagāna) is khandajati mațhya tāla rendeied with five (panca) beats (ghata). This is described by me elsewhere.160 The iagas nați, bhairavi, kāmbodi and kedaragaula are also discussed in detail elsewhere.167

It has been mentioned above that the stanzas of Brahma koravañji are compcsed in couplet, triplet, quat.ain. quintet and sextette. These may be examined for structural patterns in teims of syllabic quantity. Among the couplets, three reveal a pattern of /, /+1,2 where / is the length of the shorter line (15. 1, 2, 3) and one (20. 2) has /, /+2. The triplets have these patterns : /.1,2, /-2 to 4 (/=16) in 8.1,2,3,4.5); 1, 1-1, 1-1 (/=16) in 16.2; 22.1,2,3 In the quinteis (4. 1, 2, 3), lines 2, 4, 5 are approximately equal while 1 and 3 ate appioximately equal but slightly longer. -In the only available sextette (19.2) syllabi: distri- bution is 16-17 in lines 1, 2, 4 and 13-14 in line: 3, 5, 6, thus containing roughly couplet structure of /s .... Quatrains occur in the largest number in this song. These may be bioadly grouped into these in which the syllabic quantity in the stanza line is small, middle and large. Many quatrains are composed such that the lines are roughly equal within a tole.ance of + 2 e.g. 3.3 (/=14 to 18), 5. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 10, 2,3 (average=14), 14,1,2 (average= 12,13), 21. 1,2 (average-

166 Sathyanarayana, R., Suladis Karnataka Music, p. 36 and Ugābhogas of

167 idhem. Karnāțaka-sangita-vāhini, pp. 77, 91-92, 106-109, 117-118 respectively

Vadirāja : Long Musical Forms 115

224 1). In some quatiains, the last line is longer by 20-25 p.c. e.g. 1. 1,2,3,4,5 (av. = 15+1), 2.1,2,3 (av= 20-+2), 10.1. Many other quatiains may be decomposed into Is/s : e.g. 6. 1, 2, 3 (/=13, 14; = = 9, 10); 12.1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (/ = 12, 13 s = 7, 8): 13. 1. 2, 3 (/- 13 to 16 x= 5 to 9); 17,1,2,3 (/ = 12 to 14 s=8,9). There are some Is// patterns e.g. 3.2, ssll e.g. 7.1,3. Some quatiains ieveal a progressive tapering of syllabic quantity towards the last line e.g. 1. 1, 2, 3 (19 to 13, 21 to 13 o1 14). Finally, there are stanzas in which the lines 1, 3 are somewhat longer than the lines 2,4 but cannot be accommodated under the /sls' pattern e.g. 7, 1, 2, 3 (2-4= 13,14; 1-3 = + 2, 3); 9. 1, 2, 3 (2-4 = 12, 13; 1 3 = + 2, 3); 16.1 (2-4 = 14,13; !- 3 = 15); 19. 1, 3 (2.4=15, 14; 1-3 = 17. 16): 20.3 (1-3 = 15; 2-4 = 13, 14). There is a quatiain which may be roughly classified as 'Ist/'. Some stanzas have syllabic quantities which seem to be ambiguous in pattern e.g. 14.3, 16.3, 18.1.

Finally, the word content of the Brahma koravañji may be described : composer's laudation of Venkatesvara (iştadaiva) from foot to head (1.1, 2, 3, 4, 5); Devaki is suffering impiisonment by Kam a: Biahma becomes a koravanji to give her hope and courage that Narayana would be incarnated in her to de troy Kam a (2.1); koravañji is described (2.2, 3; 3.1, 2, 8). She comes to the town of Madhurā and is beckoned by Devaki (3. 2, 3); koravañji describes her own prowess in divination (4. 1, 2, 3; V-1, 5, 1); Devaki prepares for divination and describes her woes (5.2, 3, 4, 5). Koravañji invokes her favourite gods (V-2), promises that Devaki would beget the eighth issue as a son who would de stroy Kamsa and liberate her and reassures her (6, 1, 2, 3, V-3) and assures her of the veracity of her predictions (7. 1, 2, 3, V-4). She prediets the birth of Krşna and describes him (8. 1, 2, 3, 4); Vasudeva's exchang- ing the infant with Durga; Durga's rebutial of Kam a and

116 Music of Na hva Monks

escape (V-5, 9, 1, 2), Kamsa's anxiety and his deputing several rākșasas to kill the child; Krspa's destroying them (10. 1, 2, 3). Child Krsna's pranks and adventures (V-6, 11: 1, 2, 3; V. 7. 12. 1 to 5), Kamsa sends Akrūra to bring Krsna for the bow-festival (V-8, 13.1) Ksrna's journey Madhura; and confers fulfilment to devotees on the way (14. 1, 2, 3), Koravanji again reassures Devaki that Krsna would destroy Kamsa, coronate Ugrasena, release Devaki and Vasudeva, destrays, Kaurava's protect Pāņdavas (15. 1, 2, 3; V.9); Devaki ieiterates her sorrow and difference (16. 1, 2, 3), koravanji assures again of the correctness of her divination (17. 1, 2, 3), Devaki grieves over her imprisonment (18.1). Koiavañji expresses her self onf dence and describes he self punning on Brahma (19. 1, 2, 3) and pleads for gifts; praises Devaki and bids fa.ewell (20, 1, 2, 3; 21. 1). Devaki promises precious gifts to koravañji if her predications come true (21.2). Kcravañji vouchsafes her predictions (V-11) and leaves (22. 1, 2, 3). As started above Krşna Koravanji, Giriyamma's second composition of this type is only fragmentary.168 It is constituted from two sources, both being impressi typis. viz, Ma 73 and Mu-76.16ª It consists of three passages, of 10, 7 and 6 lines respectively, such that they fo.m couplets, rhyming on the second syl able and is roughly patterned in Is series, the first line in the second passage could be

168 Giriyamma, Heļavanakațțe-, Krşņa koravañji, ed. Indubai, T.K., op.cit. pp. 175-176. 169 Mu-73 : impressi typis, Heļavanakațțe Giriyamma Hadugaļu, ed. Kāvyapremi, Samaja Pustakalaya, Dharwad, 1977 Mu-76 : impressi typis, Sarojini Mahishi, Karnata- kada Kavayitriyaru, Dharwad, 1965

Vādirāja : Long Musical Forms 117

split into two ihyming smaller lines. The last two lines of the third pas age are approximately twice as long as lines 2 to 4. Neither source ascribes raga or tala to the song. The first passage is invocation, the second describes the koravanji and the third the proclamation of her powers The last two lines suggest that her divination is addressed to a woman. It is possible that this may be a koravañji song on Rukmiņi pariņīya. The Nāiada koravanji of Pracanna Veikatadasa is constituted from five collative sources : Be 41, Mu-50, Go- 13, 17 and 23.170 It naiates the story of how the sage Narada took the gui-e of koravanji to biing hope and courage to Rukmini-who was pining for Krsna-thicugh her divinatien and expertise in palmistry. The ko avanji is vividly described both by the composer and through her own words. This coriesponds closely to the pic ire painted by Vadirsia and other haridasas. The song commences with laudation, followed by invccation. The entire p.abancha has 34 songs of which 24 are set in the krti feimat while the iemaining ten are prose pas ages which are divided into two classes called vacana171 and curnika"7#. It is clear that the e carried different conno ations and functions because they are used consecutively (nos. 25, 26) and given as variants only once (no. 11) in the collative sources. Va ana means recited prose ; cūrnika is a variety of the ancient musical form called gadya described in early treatises on Indian music.

170 Be-41 : D. R. Bendre's collection of MSS. Dharwad Mu-50 : impressi typis, Patil's edn. (vide footnote 163 a) Go - 13, 17, 23: MSS. in the collection of Haridāsaratnam Gopāladāsa, Bangalore. 171 nos. 9, 11, 13, 23, 26, 31 172 nos. 11, 15, 17, 19, 25

118 Music of Madhva Monks

It is an aprosodial text prescribed to be set to the t.anquil emotion (santa), vaidarbhi iiti and sattvati vrtti.17ª Curnika is now preserved only in the Mysore School of bharatanatya as an introductory item. It consists of a prose passage which is replete with euphony and alliteration.174 The passages called curņika in this Narada koravanji do not seem to confoim to these descriptions. The 4th and 23rd songs have passages in tamil.175 Except for nos. 13 and 21 they have neither ihyme nor alliteration. One song (21) is devoted to divining (kaņi) An interesting feature of the song is the ascription of rāgas to prose passages. Another interesting feature is that there is no anupallavi in any krti or pada. There are a few which contain neither pallavi nor anupallavi but simply a sequence of stanzas. This is a song foim frequently employed by most haridasa composers. Again, the krti structures contain only couplets or quatiains. The musical data in the song may be summarised thus : (variants are given in brackets). Song structures are notated in terms of four numbers, the first of which gives the number of lines in the pallavi, the second the number of lines in the anupallavi, the third, the number of lines in the carana and the fourth, the numer of caranas. The sequence here is: se ial number of composition, rāga (raga in variant readings), tala (tala in variant readings), song structure.

173 Šarngadeva, op. cit. 4.185-196. pp. 270-274 ; for details vide Sathyanarayana, R., Puņdarīkamāla, pp. 427-432 174 Sathyanaiayana, R., Bharatanātya : A Critical Study, pp. 224, 229-232 175 Vadirāja, Nārada koravañji, loc, cit, nos. 20-22, 29-32, 38-41, 41 pr., 51 pr., 54 pr., pp: 465-743

Vadirā ja : Long Musical Forms 119

1 nați jhampa 2043

2 saurīştra tripuța (bilandi) 0047 3 s.i jhampā (tripuța) 0043

4 madhyamīvati rdi (trisra gati) 4043 S šankarābharaņa atta 2023 (mohana) (tiištagati) 6 madhumadhavi eka 0043 (madhyamivati) (trisragati) 7 regupti jhampā 0043

8 bhairavi adi 2047

(ghaņtārava) 9 kannada kimbodhi vacana 4 lines

10 kedaragauļa arta 4045

11 todi vacana (cūrņika) 6 lines

12 regupti ațța (tripuța, adi) 4043

13 kāmbodhi vacana 4 lines*

14 sāveri jhampã 0041

15 saurastra cūrņika 20 lines*

16 mohana adi 0043 (sankaribharaņa)

17 sankarabharaņa cūrņika 20 lines

18 mecabauli att 0027 (rudrābharaņa) 19 kalyaņi cū ņika 26 lines

20 saranga adi 0023

21 bilahari (bilāvarā) adi 4047

22 bhairavi bilandi 004

23 mohana (ahari) vacana 8 lines

• 1hyme on second syllable

120 Music of Madhva Menks

24 nārāyaņa gauļa atta 0046 25 erakala kāmbodhi cūiņika 30 lines 26 desi (mukh iri) va ana 7 lines 27 bauļi (mukhāri,deši) adi 0043 28 surati jhampā 0043

29 mukhāri adi (atta) 2023 30 kannada kambodhi jhampā 2031 (mand,mecabauli) (atta) 2042

31 kapi vacana 8 lines* 32 nīdanāmakriyā ihampā 1043 (rāmakriyī) (adi) 33 nāgagindhāri (dhanaś.i) adi 004. 34 dhavaļāra adi 0042

Rāga variants (in 21, 30, 33) indicate the influence of hindustani music, and thus suggest a late origin of the manuscripts. Dhavaļa (-ära) in the final song is the name of a popular folktune in Karnataka, used in benediction there is a namesake song, described in textual tradition in Indian music from early times,17s The two seem to be unrelated.

As mentioned eailier, the koravanji theme commenced its career as folksong. It is p.eserved in kannada in the form of koravanji-or kani songs. Such form is used by some virašaiva vacana-composers as a vehicle for religious or spiritual themes in a mystic style. Ja. Caa. Ni. brings to light three such songs.177 Of the 26 authors he lists in his

• rhyme on seco-d syllable 176 Šārngadeva, Op. cit .- 4. 298-303; for details vide Sathyana.a; ana, R., Puņdarīkamilā, pp. 490-494 177 Ja. Cha. Ni, koravañji Sāhitya, pra. 2, Šiišaila Nidimāmidi Pustaka bhandara, Bangalore, 1964

Vadiraja : Long Musical Ferms 121

Koravañji Sāhitya (page facing modal-nudi on p.2), three have composed koravanji songs : Cannamallikārjuna (pp.5- 13, telugu kāmbodhi raga, Guru-šāntaramaņa (pp. 14-17, suddhakamboji rāga), Guru-šanta (pp. 42-43, deši rāga); the work also contains other folkforms such as nātya gita (pp. 21, 60, kolu hādu (p. 22), antiphony (p. 52), bedagu or (metaphysicali conundrums (pp. 49, 72, 103, 113), canda- mami (p-102), livani (p. 64) and lullaby (p. 130). Each of the koravanjis is set only in raga but not in tala. The first(in telugu kambodi, which originated as a folktune in Andhra) has a song and prose passages; the song has a pallavi followed by 8 stanzas. Since no tala is ascribed uniformly for all thiee koravafji songs here, it is clear that the song has a rhythmical- but not tala- format. Prose passages are inserted ofter each stanza to explain and expand what is said in the stanza : the narrative is in the form of question and answer in the prose passages. The second is a kaņi song, set to suddha kimbodi (a raga which was archetypal to kamboji but which gradually was eroded into a tune), but to no tila. This is also similarly patterned, consisting of a pallavi and five stanzas interspersed with prose passages in a question-an wer format, in exegesis and expansion. The third, set in the raga desi (which means folk-or borrowal from hindustani music) has only a pallavi and three stanzas but no prose passages. The literary style is realistic and all three songs are a study in double entendre

It has been said above that the koravanji has been experimented with as a yaksagina also. One such interesting instance is Brahma koravanji. This is inserted as a play within a play in the Krsna Carite yaksagana by Partisubba.178 Krana Crite extends over a total of125passages.

178 Parti Subba, Yakşaginagaļu, ed. Krishna Bhatta, Kukkila-, Kannada Adhyana sams the, University of Mysoie, Mysore, 1975, pp. 446-512

122 Music of Madhva Monks

including songs, şıtpadidvipadi, kandapadya, šāidūla- vikridita, mattebhavikridita,etc. Of these, Brahma koravañji has 22 pasages; these consist of a vaidhaka satpadi (25), a prose passage (26 pr), a sāngatya (35), 2 dvipadis (28, 42), 5 kandas (30, 34, 36, 39, 44), songs without pallavi or anupallavi (26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 38, 40, 41, 43, 45, 46), one song with a pallavi : CC82 (37). The entire yakşagana features some 29 songs in the foimat of krtis (2-1244, 9-2033, 18-2043, :9-1243, 37-2082, 48-1053, 52-2042, 54 2084, - with a structure Illlssll-, 56-2043, 60-12.10.2, 61-2042, 64-2043, 70-3043, 74 3043, 82 2052, 84-1241, 90-2042, 91-2023, 97-2025, 99-2023, 101 3052, 104-2045, 105-2072, 109-2023, 110-2252, 113-2443, 114-2042, 116-2043, 117-4024).179 Thus the songs in this (and other) yakşaganas are of two kinds: those segmented thiough a iecurring pallavi and those in which the nariative is continuous without the intervention of a iecurring musico- literary theme. In the first variety, the nar.ative is not continuons; both music and woids of eve y stanza are conditioned to end in a passage which naturally leads to the pallavi. Both varieties are used by Vadiiaja in his bhiama.a gita. Both varieties are set to both raga and tala.

The Brahma-koravanji (25-46) of Parti Subba is so named because Brahma becomes a koravañji. Afe. Kam a kill; the first six ehildren of Varudeva and Devaki ard imprisons them, Brahma decides to bring solace, comfo.t and joy to Devaki by foretelling her, the guise of a koravanji, that Vsnu would be incarnated as her son (25, 26, 26 pr.); she is described in her conventional appearance and form (27-30). She comes to Madhura, tell to Devaki her foitune (30). The two are engaged in a dialogue; Devaki gives koravañji pre-

179 ibid. pp. 491-509

Vadiraja : Long Musi al Forms 123

sents and shuws her palm (31-34). Koiavañji invokes Ganapati and a ks Devaki to explain her problem and Devaki does so (35-37). Koravañji predicts the birth of Vişnu as Krşnt and hit explbits, and promises a bright: happy future (38-39). Devaki expiesses app.ehension of Kamsa's determination to kill the forthcoming child also and receives koravañji's reassurance and advice that she must solace herself becau e none is exempt-including even such great pecple of tne past as Sita, Damayanti Candravati (Candra mati) from suffering; She assures that Devaki the birth of Krsna will soon end all her sufferings and sorrow; she asks-as is customary with their kind- for some food for her child and some oil for her hair, (receive: them) and departs. The similarity of this with that of Mahipatidisa's Brahma-koravanji may be noted. Though the koravanji form is of folk origin and its princi- pal dramatis persona viz. the koravanji is a tribal womar' it is ambient and has somewhat diffused into the peri- meter of classicism also as borne out by the following circumstanses : it i; t. eated by composers of cla sical music such as Vadiiaja, Pra anna Venkatadīsa, Sartarsi and and Serfoji; it frequently borrows from the idioms and structures of karnataka musie and bharatanatya; it was fiequently composed for performance in temples and royal courts; its literary theme pertains to divine or semi divine beings rather than to folk; its literary style is more compatible with the classical than colloquial; it was some- times composed in sam krta also. However, it has also retained its folk or semifolk flavour, among other things, in the following : costumery and make up; certain literary and performance conventions; all the damatis personae e.g. kuratti, kurava, his friend, sūtadh .. a, kațțiyakāran eto are of folk oligin except the heroine (and thie hero, who seldom appears on the stage); folk structures such as

124 Music of Madhva Mohks

the kalitturai are employed; the wondering profea sien of the koravanji is brought out in her mention/de cription or many near and dimant lands and people; she uses other dravidian languages. Before cencluding this brief study of koravanji form, two exampls frcm Tan jore may be noticed : Mohini vilasa- nāțya națakam and Devendra kuiavañji. Mohinivilisa koravañji is the woik of Saptaiși,180 court court poet of Sihaji II who ruled at Tanjore from 1684 to 1710 A.C. This title clearly reccgnises the hybrid growth of the koravanji from dance (natya) and diama (najya). The colophon reads however, 'Mohinivila a kiratik .- car itam samaptam'. The te.ms knavanji and kirātika are used synonymously in tamil and sam krta respectively. The work describe the love of Kamalavati for Sahaji, and the koravanji's divination of the fulfilnent of the former's yearnining for union with the hero. The composition has fifty song units; of these 33 are composed in samskrta (1-6, 9-13,17, 22, 25-37, 41, 42, 44-46, 49. 50), 13 in tamil (7, 17, 19-21, 23, 24, 37, 39, 40, 43, 47, 48) and 2 in telugu (15, 16) Thematically, the song units may be dist.ibuted a: follows: nandi (benedi-tion) consisting of a praise each Sa.asvati, Vinīyaka, Subrahmaņya and Tyagaraja (1-4): todaya (declamation) (5); sutradhira's summary of the play (6); entry of Kamalavati with her companions; the latter sing of the heroine's love for the hero (7-11); heroine confesses her love and pining for the hero (12), the kirati enters, proclaims her powers of divina ion; heroine secks to be reassured about the koravanji's abilities and the latter replies to her satisfaction (Kamalavati-25, 27, 34, 36, 38;

180 Saptarshi, Mohinivila a Kuravanchei, ed. Srinivasan N., Tanjore Sara vati Mahal Series No. 205 Tanjoie Maharaja Se.foji's Saiasvati Mahal ow tLibiary, Thanjavur, 1985

Vadi aja : Long Musical Forms 125

koravañ i 26, 28, 33, 35, 37, 42); ko avañii seeks gifts (39.41); buffoon's ent.y and anties (43 45); korava's compa- nion cemes (46); singa and singi sing in antiphony (saruval sindhu) and retire (47-50).

An unusual and interesting feature of the work is the composition of not only tamil verses but samskrta verses also in tamil prosodial structures; while mixing words of both languages in the same metrical structrre is common enough in verse or prose in tamil Vaisnavite literature, this work offers these metrical compositions separately in each language. Thus there are 17 arucir stanzas (1-4, 7, 9 14, 21, 23, 27, 29, 34, 36, 38, 39, 46, 49), one is in agaval-pā (6), one in venbi (41), two in mattu-vritta (42, 43) and one in vrtta (48). Besides these metrical structure which were probably musically recited, there are cthermusicalstructures, such as daru, pada, padya and (katțalaik-)kalitiuai. The darus number 18. These inclade as todayam i.e. invocatory prologue (5), a samvada (antiphonal) daru, called saruval sindhu (47) and mangala (benedictory) daru. The.e are six kațțlaik-kalittu ai's (13, 15, 17, 19, 26,30,. These are unifoimly quatrains with 16 syllables, per foet, and a.e well known tamil metrical species with many sub-va. ities. The Mohinivilisa kuravañji has two pada : (14, 45) and one padya (18). The first pada has a two-line iefrain, but no pallavi, which is repeated after ea h of its th. ee segments; each segment opens with two line; with second and third syllables form a rhyming unit, followed by caesura.The other (no. 45) a 2-short-line pallavi, 2-line anupallavi and three 5 line-caranas cach carana has the syllabic structure of; 14+2, 14+2, 14, 10, 10 syllables in which the last two lines are composed of two parts of 5 syllables each. Thus the two padas do not reveal any structural similarity. It is not clear why they are similarly named, nor how they differ from padya or daru. Analogous classification or aifferentiation in other works has not come to my notice.

Music of Madhva Monks 126

The padya (no. 18) opens with a one-line pallavi and continues with a one-line anupallavi and thice 2-line caranas, each line divisible into two approxi- mately equal segments both of which ihyme on the second syllale; so the pallavi, anupallavi and caranas could also be regarded, on the criterion of rhyming, as consisting of 2, 2 and 4 lines iespectively. This is common enough in the krti form. A krti is also called (haridisa) 'rada', but the name 'padyam' for this composition is intriguing. 'Daru' does not seem to signify a unifo:m musical structure in the Mohinivilasa koravanji. This name is applied to 2-line songs (8, 22) ; however, it is not possible to read.these lines in the latter (22) as a 2. line pallavi segment or a 1-line pallavi segment and 1-line anupallavi segment as belonging to the daru which occurs immediately next (but not separately numbered) with the structure 0044, because of thematic change.181 Next, thereare darus with no pallavi or anupallavi but only a few quatrains as caranas, in which the lines possess an approxi. mately equal syllabic quantity e.g. 0043 (10) 0023 (16), 0028 (28). 0048 (31), 0024 (35).18* Three darus (5, 14, 22) occur which do not have a separate pallavi segment, but the the first line of the first stanza is used at ref.ain. In one daru (12), an ext.aneous word viz. Tyicaiaja i: used as refiain for each of the five couplets. The other darus have a clear-cut krti format, in which the song is divided into pallavi, anupallavi and caraņas (20: 1144; 24 2221; 37: 1223; 40: 2223). Thiee darus have no anupallavi (25. 33. 44) : among the e, the pallavi is indicated as dhru(+va) in the first two. In the samvada da:u (47), the first line is a separate segment but not a iefrain, and runs on to the next couplet as a passage sung by the singa

181 In the initial 2 lines. Sumukhi, maid in attendance goes to fetch the koravanji. The latter enters and performs in the next four quatrains, invocatory music and dance. Thus there is no thematic cohe- * 182 sion as in the krti, for numerical notation, vide footnote no. 118

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 127

(korava). In the remaining 12 couplets the first line is sung by the singa ; it is taken up in the list word i.e. in atita graha by singi, such that it iuns into the second line, in antipheny. Finally, cne daru is given as elipadam (16). Thi: has the stru ture 0 23 in which the last word of the first line in each couplet runi on to the second line. Elipada, also called yala ada, is a well knewn metrical structure in folkrongs in kannada, tamil and telugu. It is treated as a classical metre by kannada prosodists; it consists of a couplet with a total of seven ganas, divisible into groups of 2, 2, 3, in which six are vişņu ganas while only the sixth is brahma gana .! 83 It is also derived from the tripadi mene by omittin : the third foot of the latter.184 In musi:howve, it is an honored, ancient prabandha consisting of 3 feet, which may be differently organised in respect of the language of the words or prosody. In the forme., there are 5 varieties viz. karņāți, lați, gaudi, andhri and drividi in which the words are of kannada, lata, gauda, telugu and tamil languages ; these are appropriately called desaili. In the laiter, organisation pro eeds in te ms of gana, va ņa or mitiā, giving rise to gaņailā, va. paili and mitiaila. Bach of both has many subvarieties, totalling some 356.185 It suffi e: to nute here that the elapadam found in the Mohinivilasa kolavañji does not seem to correspond to the des :. iptions or examples found in the petical or musicological streams of ela. Thiee depaitures from convention may be noticed in this koravanji: i. applisation of tamil metrical patterns to

-183 Nagavarma, Chando'mb dhi, 5.13 184 Jayakirti, Chando'nušāsanam, 7.14 185 Sirngadeva, op, cit, 4.33-132. Detailed discussion of the ali is found in Sathyanarayana, R., Ela: Ondu Š strīya Vivecane' (under print).

Music of Madhva Monks 128

samskrta verses ii. kuravan is intrcduced directly, with minimum mediation of his companion, as if he we.e already looking for the kciavanji iii. complete absencc of raga-tala ascription in the entire text.

Devendra kuravanji was composed by Se.foii II, ruler of Taniore (1798-1833 A.C.); in the first qua.te. of the 19th cent.186 It is wiitten in marathi. in a reficed literary style called king's marathi. The theme is geographical and the pietense to a poetie, diamati : or romantic theme is but thinly veiled. The efore the autho atheti es many conven- tions of the koravanji play suth as the initial scene in which the heroine and her hermaids in attendane sing of the oine's amour for the hero,invocation to Vighnesva.a by the maids in attendance to ward off obstacles to the su.ces: cf the play, entry of the clown, heroine's ent: eaty with clouds, winds, birds and the moon to cairy her message of love and yearning for the hero etc.

In the Devendra ku avañji however, the kuravañji is the p.incipal drama'is persona; the play opens with her entree, singing the beauties of Amarapuri and proclaiming her professi n and prowess. Indrani gets her called in and seeks to kncw where she came from, and the places she has seen and practised her piofession in. This is the cue for the koravanji (and the author) to give a detailed account of the solar system, of the earth, its continents, provinces, rivers, mountains etc. etc., which covers thiee of the four acts of the play. The conventional theme of the play is cursorily and hurriedly treated in the final scene, wherein Indraņi, now convinced of the gypsy's abilities, seeks to

186 Serfoji II, Devendr kuravaāji, Tanjore Sarasvati Mahal Series No. 18, ed. Thyagaraja Jatavallabhar, T:L., TMSSM Libiary, Tanjore, 1950

Vadirja : Long Musical Forms 129

know her fortune. The koravani reads her palm and assures her that she would soon meet her lover. She. receives lich gifis in ieturn, departs, meets her husband singa on the way and both go home happily.

This dance drama consists of 143 song units, covered in four opuses devoted to the geopraphical descriptions of Burope, Asia, Africa and America respectively, but omitting the Au tialian continent. These units break up into 94 darus, 48 metrical structures (consisting of 29 vrttas and 19 aryas) and a single prose passage (occurring on p. 7) Of the vrtias, called slokas in the work, there are 14 šārdūla-vikiīdita (pp. 12, 13, 15-18, 24, 28, 30, 39, 50), 4 sragdhari (pp 12, 15, 36), 3 bhujanga-prayata (p. 18), 2 vasanta-tilaka (pp, 15.24), 2 mālinī (pp. 58, 59), 1 sālinī (p. 54), 1 svāgatā (p. 8). 1 sikhariņi (p. 58); three (pp.18,30) are indeterminate because their structures are too diffuse. The sloka names are not given in the work; the aryas though so named (pp. 5, 15, 24, 37, 39, 40, 43 45, 51-53, 55), donot reveal structuial uniformity in syllabic or moraic arrangement. Darus are the most prolific song units in this koravaniji. With the numerical notation already employed above,187 and adding a hyphenated number at the end to indicate the number of such song units available in the play (i.e. paen-r) these may be broadly grouped into the following : i. only stanzas without pallavi or anupallavi (i.e. 00cn-1) ; these occur in the largest number among the darus-78 out of 94. They are quantitatively distributed thus: 0023-1, 0041-25, 0042-28, 0043-21, 0044-2, 0061-1. ii pallavi-

187 foot no. 118; hyphenated mumber at the end of each structural variety gives the number of such song units.

130 Music of Madhva Monks

anupallavi but no caranas (i.e. pocn-r) ; their distributicn is: 1041-2, (p. 60), 2041-1 (p. 58). iv: pallavi-anupallavi- caranas (i.e. pacn-r). Only one of each variety is available (i.e. r=1). In the order of increasing values of 'p', 'a', 'c' and 'n', they occur thus: 1112 (p. 61), 1123 (p. 2), 1124 (p. 2), 1125 (p. 3), 1142 (p. 8), 1244 (p. 4), 2241 (p. 11), 2242 (p. 5), 2243 (p.1); only 2245 occurs twice (pp. 6, 10). The pallavi and anupallavi segments in these songs aie indicated appropriately by their initial syllables 'pa' and 'a' respectively in these songs. It may be further noted that the stanzas are all quatrains in type (i) except in a unique instance (p. 9) ; their incidence is the largest in the other three types. There is a unique case of a single-line stanza (p. 61); couplet stanzas occur only three times (pp. 2,3). No triplet stanzas are employed in the whole koravanji. All four daru types are met with clectically in the bhagavata- mela plays of Meļattur Venkațarāma sāstri, the kuchipudi plays, yakşagāna prasaņgas in kannada, telugu and tamil' Sivaksmasundari-parinaya of Tulaja, Prahlada-bhakti- vijaya and Nauka-caritam of Tyagarāja etc,

The slokas and aryas are not set to raga and tala ; they were probably recited, as the single prose pasage was, to two or three tones. On the other hand, the work ascribes a rãga and a tala to cach of the darus; these rāgas and talas were quite popular at the time and place of composition- and performance- of the Devendia kuravanji It may be recalled that in Mcinivilasa-koravanji which ,was composed about a hundred years earlier, no such rāga t:la ascription is found for any song. Serfoji has set the 94 darus in the following rāgas: ahāna 2, 62,1*8 asāveri 14, anandabhairavi 5, arabhi 23, āhari 38, tsani 25, kakubha 53, kannada 11, kamāch 46, kalyāņī

188 These numbers refer to pages in the Devendra kuravaāji

Vadiraja : Long Musical Ferms 131 karnāțaka-devagāndhiri 47, kāpi 51. kāmbodi 1, kurvañji - kuranji 36, kedī a 9, kedāragaula 3, gummkāmbodi 49, gopikava anta 30, gauri 2, gauļipantu 58, ghaņțā 11, jañjuți 41, 56, jūjivanti 41, todi 62, darbār 18, deša (-ši)- todi 43, dhanīsa.i 5, dhanyīsi 14, 16, navaroju 32, nigachvani 40, nāgavarāli 61, 67, nāța-kurañji 50, nați 31. nādan makriyā 42, nāyaki 60, nārāyaņa-gaula 28, nīlām- bari 34, pantuvarāli 48, punnāga-varāli 34, pūrņacandrika 42, rū vakalyāņi 44, phaiaja 7, 63, bilahari 35, brindāvana- sāranga 24, begadā 20, behāg 60, bhairava 29, bhairavi 10, mangalaka š.ki 44, maņiańga 7, madhyamāvati 54, 62, mifiji 19, 62, milavaš i 33, mukhiri 47, mohana 8, 25, mohana-kalyāņi 23, ye.akala-kāmbodi 4, yamunā-kalyāņi 21, 57, rāmakali 46, iitigaula 43, lalita 27, varāli 37, vaianta 22, vasanta-bhairavi 40, vibhāsa 50, velāvali 55, sańkaribharaņa 13, 55, šāhanā 52, šuddha-sāveri 37, šyāma- kalyaņa 7, 59, šri 9, sāma 56, sāranga 26, 58 sālaga-bhaiiavi 39, saveri 6, 16, surața-mallaia 61, surați 19, saindhavi 31, sauraştra 52, hamir 49. It is thus found that of all the rāgas employed only 13 viz. aļhāņa, jañjūți, dhanyāsi, nāgava:āli, pharaja, madhyamīvati, mañji, mohana, yamunā- kalyīņi, šıaka. ābha. aņa, šyāmı-kalyāņa, sāranga, sāveri are favoured with a repeated use while every cther daru is set to a diffe: ent laga. The use of so many ragas in a single play, intended for being enacted at a single session is indeed a musical achievement beth for composer and performers. The darus of this kuravañji are set to ādi, mišra (chāpu), tis a,atta, marhya and jhampā talas and to a variety of tiš.a called tisra duia presumably a fa t tempo version of thetisia. This order is also the one of their fre juency viz. 36, 26, 14, 12, 4, 1, 1. Mis a and tisra probably coriespond to fast tempo tisra tripuța and khaņda chāpu; ațța, mațhya and jhampa presumbly are of the khanda, caturasra and inis a jati varieties, but perfoimed in fast tempo only in

132 Music of Madhva Menks

terms of the beats, as is appropriate to their application to songs in which the word content rather than music is more important. It is hoped that the foreccing study of the koravanji form would show how Vadin ia laid it: foundations and has imbued it with nucleal potential which developed into its several dimensions through out South India. Two other koravanji plays from Tanjore may be men- tioned en passent. Rajamohana kuravafji in telugu and Kuravanijn? in miraghi. Their study lies beyond the scope of the present work. VIII (i) BHRAMARAGĪTA The Krsna-bhakti movement reached its summit in the 16th cent. in India. Valla ha, his son Vitrhala and their eight disciples speaiheaded this movement in the north while Chiatanya led this mevement in Bengal and Mirābai in Rajastan and Madhura. In Ka nataka this was alieady inaugurated by Sripadaraja in the 15th cent. This rose to its peak with Vyasaraya and his disciples, notably Vādirāja and Purandaradāsa. Krsna-bhakti found expression in the ninefold devotion (navavidha blakri); of these modes, vatsalyabhava (love cf mother for her child) and madhuta bhava (eicti: love) are probaoly the mot favoured by vaisnava composers. The Bhagavata purana formed of course, the souice for material and inspiration. It is thus that the bhiamaragita took its birth in this period. Su h peetic and devoticnal expression of love for Krsna had al. cady permeated pe.vasi- vely before; while Jayadeva's Gitag svinda remained outside the sphere of the Bhagavata purina for source material in the 12th cent., those that emeiged in the 15th 16th cent. depicted the madhura bhava in the form of vipralambha srogāra of the gopis for Krsna, more or less in the frame of 189 Rajamohana kuravañji No. 543 and kuravanji No 66, Descriptive catalogue of Telugu MSS in the TMSSM Libiary, Tanjore, cit scetna, S. Tanjore As A Seat of Music, p. 631.

Vādira ja : Long Musical Forms 133

Bhagavata purana itself. In a brief passage of just 16 verses,190 this puraņa narrates the story : Akrūra comes to Gokula and takes away Krsna and Balarāma to Madhura so that they would participate in the bow-festival (which opportunity Krsna seizes to kill the evil demons Caņūra, Mustika and his own uncle Kamsa). The gopis plead with Krsna not to subject them to the pangs of separation. Krsna reossures them with a promise of early return, After his exploits in Madhura, he sends his friend Uddhava to Gokula to comfort the desolated gopis with news of himself and of his early return. At the sight of Uddhava the dam of the pangs of love of gopis bursts; they make a wandering bee an occasion to vent their fear that Krsna may be tarrying at Madhura because of the attraction of its lovely and erotically sophisticated damsels (and Krsna is like the bee which enjoys the nectar of a flower and than feits to another), their fear that Krsna may be staying away from them because he may have taken offense at the (as they thought) harmless jocular remarks, which can, in any case be justified, and can be interpreted mean also his glory and greatness. Uddhava reassures them of Krsna's unchanged love for them and of his impending early return. This theme was enthusiastically adopted by the saint singers in both the north and the south into bhramara gita (song of the bee) weaving a symbolism of the individual soul (symbolised by the gopi) separated from the universal soul (Krsna) into the transactional world (symbolised by Gokula) and yearning to reunite with it. Thus more than a dozen bhramara gitas are available in hindi alone,191

190 vide footnote 5 191 Sarala Shuki, Hindi-sahityakī Bhramaragita- paramparā, cit. Varadaraja Rao, G., op. cit. intro- duction, p. lvi

134 Music of Madhva Monks

the most notable of which are those of Surdas and Nanddās, written in the 16th cent. In kannada there are at least two bhramara gitas viz. of Šripsdaraya and Vadiraja. There are some songs of Vyasaiaya and of Purandaradasa which together undoubtedly constitute a bhramaragita complex. This is true of Sripadaraya also; for, besides the vrttanama (no. 39) which is called srngara-parijata and bhramaragita in the MSS. there are at least six other songs viz. 7, 16 43, 51, 52 and UE 13 which have a close thematic unity with it. But these have no formal and structural unity; one receives the impression that Srīpadaraya, Vyasaraya and Purandaradasa composed different songs on various subthemes occuring in the Bhagavata story, as separate entities. Only Sripadaraya seems to have given the name bhiamaragita, but not Vyasaraya or Purandaradasa. On the other hand, Vadiraja has composed it as a single opus with thematic, structural and formal coherence among its constituent elements. He has also named the whole as bhramaragita.

Vadiraja states that he would expand with his own eommentary the Bhagavata mahapurana and (its part) the bhramaragita (3, p. 121) and compose it in suladitalas, in the form of a novel (abhinava) play (nātaka caritra) and exhoits his audiences to listen (keli) (3* - 121); the bhramaragita is replete with all nine rasas; he would direct performance as a dance-drama (natyavan-adisuve) in the immediate, august presence (sammukha) of Lord Govinda- presumbly of Udupi (1, 122). Thus the bhramara gita was intended to be an audiovisual experience involving words, music and dance. It may be performed as an oratorio, opera or ballet. If his statement that he directed its (first) performance before Lord Govinda (not his upāsya mūrti viz. Hayavadana) is taken literally, this must have oecured at Udupi; if so, it must have taken place when he had ascended the paryaya pitha. He did so five times

Vadirāja : Long Musical Forms 135 (the only yati to have done so in the history of the Udupi Krsna mațha) viz. 1532-33, 1548-49, 1564-65, 1580-81, 1596-97. He did so the last tim eat Svadi and abdicated its performance at Udupi to his disciple and successor, Veda- vedya. Vyasarāya and the Vijayanagara emperor Acyuta- raya were present during the first paryaya. The bhiamara gita was probably performed then. In this composition he employs both signatures i his āsrama-nāma Vadirāja (2, 4 - 121; 3 - 125) and his nom d .- plume Hayavadana (3-122, 4-125, 8-129, 9-127, 11-131, 3,4-132, 8,10-134, 11 136, 10-138, 5-139, 5-142, 3-143, 34, 35, 36-150, 7-152, 7-154) If this may be construed as indicating his early phase as composer when he had at yet not settled down to a stable signature, it supports the date assigned to the first performance of the composition. Vādiraja states that his bhramara gita is a novel-or new- form (abhinava-nataka-caritra). This claim is fully justi- fied; for this is the very first available composition of its kind in any South Indian language. Other music plays and music-dance plays followed in its wake in South India soon : Singararya's Mitravindā-Govinda, Cikadevarāya's (Tirumala- rya's?) Cikadevarāya-Saptapadi, Gitagopāla, Bhāgavata- melas of Melattur in Andhra, Pallaki-seva-prabandha of Sihaji etc. in Tanjore, Tyāgarāja's Naukā-caritra and Prahlada-bhakti-vijaya etc. The literary contents of bhramara gita may be now briefly summarised: invocation to Ganapati (1-121),1"ª 192 Two editions of Vadiraja's Bhramaragita are avail- able in print: i. Udupi edition (Šriman-madhva siddhanta Granthalaya, Pavanje Guru Rao and sons, Udupi, 1922). This is now out of print and is not readily available. ii. Mysore edition (ed. Nagaratna T. N., Institute for Kannada Studies, University of Mysore, Mysore 1987. This is avail-

136 Music of Madhva Monks

preface in samskrta verse : vasantatika metre, a variety of sakvari (1 *- 121), introduction : authorship, name and nature of composition (2 *. 3 *- 121), production of play (1-122) : gopis of Madhura come on stage(2-122),they suppli- cate to Krsna and sing his glories (1,2,3-122); they lament the long absence of Krsna and seek news of him (*1-123); in Madhura, Krșna has completed his mission vanqui hing the wrestlers, killing Kamsa, coronating Ugrasena; he wants to eomfort the gopis with news of his wellbeing (2 - 123), he sends for his friend Uddhava and commissions him with going to Gokula and conveying to the gopis his message of love and reassurance. Uddhava agrees and goes to Gokula (3 - 123,1,2,3 - 124);the gopis seek to knowthe purpose of his visit and pour out their unbearable pangs of separation (1, pr. 1,2,3-125); a gopi espies a flitting bee (1, 2 *- 125); she perceives in it a likeness to Krsna: both are flitters and fiauds(kitava),and are therefore friends of the same ilk. She sings to the bee at length (hence the song is called bhramara gita), pleading with the bee to bring back Krsna. The song assumes many hues of moods such as prayer, supplication, surrender, ire, irony, humour metaphysical exegesis, criticism, jealousy, disire etc. etc. She fears that he may have, amidst the pleasures of the

able in a critically edited text, and is used here for documentation. However, the latter does not employ a uniform scheme of numbering the passages in the song. Prose passages are left unnumbered. Two or more stanzas on the same page are given the same number. Therefore the following scheme is adopted in the present discussion : the first or second repetition of such number is suffixed with 'r', the fiist number/s inside brackets indicates the passage under study; the number following the hyphen gives the page.

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 137 company of the attractive, city girls of Madhura, forgotten them, the poor, pastoral, rustic maidens. They have said many things of him in frustration, jealousy, anger; they are now afraid that these words may have offended Krsna and kept him away. The song hastens to cover up, pleading that these words were said in jest or should be interpreted as highest metaphysical symbolism and glorious praise. She laments the piognant suffering of all the gopis at their separation from Krsna and fervently pleads for his immediate return (pp. 125-145). Uddhava knows that this address to the bee is meant for his ears and that he is to convey this message of gopis to Krsna. He returns to Madhura and pleads thecauseof gopis(p.153).Nowthereisnews of Krspa's return to Gokula. The gopis are ecstacy, especially in states called vibhrama vilāsa, bibboka, moțțāyita and kilikincita (pp.145-152) They are overjoyed when Krsna deci- des to dwell in their hearts (pp, 153-154). The bhramaragita is an allegory. The gopi is the individual soul-jiva- separated from and yearning for Krsna who is thejuniversal soul (brahman). The bee symbolises the proclivity for and involvement of the individual in the sensory world. The composition has drawn freely upon Ramāyaņa, Mahābhārata and Bhāgavata and conforms to the orthodoxy and dogma of dvaita religion. An analysis of bhramaragita for form, structure and music may now be attempted. For this purpose text-division scheme adopted in the Mysore edition will be followed. In this edition the text is divided intoportionsorpassageseach of which is preceded by an asterisk mark. Each such segment of the composition is separately assigned a rāga and/or tāla or is formally different. Its status as a distinct entity is sometimes indicated by the presence of the composer's signature which occurs at the end of the segment. This edition divides the text into 40(or 41 including the colophon) Such segments.

138 Music of Madhva Monks

Vadiraja has employed three musico-literay forms in composing the bhramara gita : prose passages, stanzas in krti format, stanzas (one or more) constituting a continuous narrative without recurring musico-literary motifs. Formal, structuial and music information available from the apparatus criticus of the bhramaragita is tabulated below.

sor12 to1 gninteoy bne moil botuigse -avii luor foubrvibni.

Vadiraja : Long Musical Farms 139 Table 1.193 1. Page 2. No 3. Form 4. Structure 5. Rāga 6. Tala 7. Signature 8. Remarks 121 1 pr ? st? 4.1 nāti Invocation 7* sloka 4.1 V 3 preface 2* st 4.1 H1 2* st 4.1 V 3

193 Notation used in this table is as follows: col. 1 pagination of edn of Nagaratna, T.N., Institute for Kannada Studies, University of Mysore, Mysore. col. 2 serial number of the passage in the text ; these are not consecutively numbered in this edition, but the numbers are supplied by the present writer; such serial numbers marked with * in this column indicates that it is no tnumbered on the respective page of the Mysore edition. col. 3 pr-prose, kr-krti, st-stanza only (without pallavi) col. 4 digit sequences : pr-no. of lines, kr-no. of lines in pallavi, in anupallavi, in caraņa and no. of caraņas respectively col. 7 H-Hayavadana, V-Vadiraja ; first number-no. of carana ; second number-line in this carana in which the signature occurs

140 Music of Madhva Monks 122 3 st 4.12.1 nāți 4 ki 304 pantuvarāli adi 123 5* pr šankarabharana st 4.1 6' 124 ghantarava 7* pr 10 mukhāri st 4.1 adi 125 9* pr 5 10 kı 2023 bhairavi/bhai- atta V 3.2

183 ravi-mukhāri 11* St 21 jhampa 12* st 21 adi 126 13 st 49 saurastra jhampā H 8-1, 9.3 [8-1,2mațhya 9-3, 4 adi] 127 14 st 47 kambodhi jhampa 21 H1 128 15 st 4.10 kedāragaula o jhampa 131 16 st 21 adi 17 st 42 vasantabhairavi ādi 18 st 41 adi H 3-3

dira ja : Long Musical Forms 141 132 19 st 43 madhyamāvati jhampā - 20 st 41 adi H 3 133 21 st [47 nādanāmakriya jhampā 22 st 42 st 21] H 23 st 4.11 padi jhampa H 136 24 st 49 kalyāņi jhampā 138 25 st 41 atta H4 26 kr 4045 todi ađi H 5-1 140 27 st I43 bilahari/kedāra jhampā gaula 28 st 21] - H 2 29 st 44 pantuvarāļi jhampa 141 30 st [44 jhampa 142 31 st 21] adi H-5-2 32 st 45 adi 143 nādanāmakriya 33 st 43 atta H 3-3 144 34 kr 2025 saurāșțra adi 35 st [4.35 mecabauli rūpaka

142 Music of Madhva Monks

150 36 st 21] - adì H2 37 st [44 saurāsțra/mārava- jhampā dhanyāsi st 21]

151 38 kr 2047 mecabauli/megha- adi H 7-1 raf jani

153 39* pr 14 H-8 40 kr 2047 ahiri atta H 7-2 154 41 pr 3 šri H1 V3

Vadirāja : Long Musical Forms 143

Thus the bhramaragita has 7 prose passages consisting of varying number of lines, one samskrta sloka (in vasanta tilaka metre), 6 songs in the krti format and the rest in stanzas. Irrespective of the form, the lines uniformly rhyme on the second syllable and sometimes internally, and occasionally show alliteration and euphony. The kftis reveal a structure in which the anupallavi is uniformly absent, even though Vadiraja employs it widely in his other krtis. The yatis and dasakula composers of the madhva faith have favoued stanzas stiucturer with 2 or 4 lines composed as 3 or 5 caranas. These are represented in the krtis in the bhiamaragita. It is the krti structure without anupallavi but with couplet caranas which later energed as the divyanāma kirtanas of Tyagaraja etc. The placement of the stanza-structures without refrain does not appear to inhere any pattern. There one 2-line and 4-line stanzas inserted individually after prose passages ; couplets are added at the end of a group of 4-line stanzas to provide formal and ihythmic variety. A single stanza is inserted between two prose passages ; krti is followed by stanza series without a break;stanza series are arranged consecutively; e.g.49.47-21-4; 10-21,42-41-43:41-47.42-21-4.11-49-41 etc. (First number indi- cates no. of lines;second number shows no. of stanzas). They form different components of the composition, not by formall or structural differences but by change in raga, tala or word theme. There is one component of stanzas which is exceptionally long viz. 4.35+2.1 set to a single raga viz mecabauli and single tala viz. iupaka which would prove musically monc tonous and this would diminish the interest in, or attentiveneis to the word content. Many compositions-krtis or others-are available in karnataka music, composed by the saint singers of Karnataka, Andhra and Tamilnadu which have a very large number of caranas, with or without a pallavi recurrence. These defeat, by and large, the composer's purpose ; in such songs the words are more important to the composer

144 Music of Madhva Monks

and music is used only as a vehile. The song is reduced to only a chanting or tuneful reading at the hands of people to whom also the words are more important; the musicians would athetise all caranas except the one which contains the composer's signature. Most such long compositions were probably not intended for the concert platform. But the bhramaragita was intended to be-and probably was- staged. It would have suffered monotony unless the different stanzas or sets of stanzas were arranged in different music for different voices etc. The bhramaiagita has only a few roles; sutradhara, Krspa, Uddhava and the gopis. Vadiraja must have commanded the participation of a number or male and female vocalists, an instrumental orchestra and few expert danseuses if he produced and directed the bhramaragita as a music-dance play, which unlike the Naradakoravañji is a presentation in classical music and dance. This arguesfor Vadiraja an intimate knowledge and experience in at least music if not in dance also.

The Mysore edition of the bhramaragita has lost some important features which the Udupi edition has. Firstly, the Udupi edition includes verses from the Bhagavata purāņa which serve as the original source material (and textual authority) for Vadiraja. These slokas offer interesting variant readings for those available in the extant impressi typii of the purana. Since Vadiraja occasionally incorporates such extracts from original sources in the body of his songs, it is not impiobable that these verses formed pait of the original text. Secondly ragas and talas are ascribed to various parts of the bhiamaragita. The slokas are omitted attogether in the Mysore edition, and the raga-tala ascriptions are relegated to footnotes. Since the bhramara gita is a professedely musical (and dance) work, the musical aspect of the composition deserves serious consideration, meriting at least as much effort in reconstruction and

Vadiraja : Long Musical Forms 145 restoration from both textual and traditional sources as literary texttial criticism. Raga-tila ascriptions in the available apparatus criticus show the use of the following 21 ragas : nati, pantuvarali, sankaribharaņa, ghaņțārava, mukhari, bhairavi, saurāstra, kambodhi, kedāragaula, vasantabhairavi, madhyamāvati, nadanamakriya, padi, kalyaņi, todi, bilahaii, me abauli, mirava dhanyisi, megharanjani, ahiri and sri. Some of these are repeated : nāti (1), pantuvarāli (1), saurasția (2), kedaragaula (1), nādanāmakriya (1), mecabauli (1). Tlie only ragas in the foregoing which appeared in karnataka music later than Vadiraja are pantuvarāli, kalyaņi, bilahari and maiava. The last occurs as a variant ieading Even though the raga kalyana was known in the 16th cent.in4 kalyani emerged in its modern form only from about 1650 A.C,1% Pantuvarali is discussed above. Bilghari in its modern form occurs for the first time 'in. about 1730 A.C.1s The occurtence of raga-tala ascription shows that the composition was in musical vogue; the occarrence of their variants shows that its practice was widely spread over space and time. The collative sources for bhramaragita in the Mysore edition are four viz. Mu-9, Mu-85, Na and Sa. The fiist two arc impressi typli; of these, the second is said to be the Udupi edition, which is not, as indicated above, fully used. Both ascribe the same raga and tala(sl. nos. 1, 3, 7,12, 13, 14, 17, 26, 36, 37, 38, in Table 1) and are sepafated only in iare instances (sl. nos. 28, 31). Therefore, they have a common ancestor or the ene is derived from the other- 194 e.g. Puņdarika Vițțhala ; Sadrāga-candrodaya, 2.2.69-71 ; Ragamala, 178, Rāgamañjaii, 2.47-49, Nartana-nirņaya, 3.1.200 195 e.g. Venkatamakhin, op. cit.4. 85, 171-174; 5. 107 196 Sathyanarayana, R., Vjņālaksaņa-vimarse, pp. 159-162

146 Music of Madhva Monks

Talas ascribed in the bhiamaragita are adi, mathya fūpaka, jhampa, tripuța and atța. The most favoured aie adi and jhampi. An interesting feature of the composition is that the same song is set to two talas, the second being applied to the last stanza. There aie several instances in which the second tila is employed terminally to generate an impression of difference, coiresponding to the dhātu element known as abhoga (8, 11, 12, 16, 18, 20, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33, 35, 38). t may be noted that these tala insertions are supplied by the same collative source viz, Sa (except in sl. nos. 12, 28, 30, 36). Only raga is supplied in four instances (sl. nos. 1, 5, 6, 7). These are prose passages, and donot conform in form or structure to the musicological descriptions of gadya prabandha; nor are they mutually comparable in number of lines and syllabic or moraic quantity per line. There are some 18 instances carrying both raga and tāla viz. sl. nos. 3, 4, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26, 27, 31, 32, 34, 37, 38 ; most of these are from the collative source 'Sa' It also assigns kalyāņi (24) and pantuvarali which are anterior to Vadiaja by about 50 years; bilahari is ascribed by both impressi typii and Na. Therefore 'Sa' may be inferred to be derived from a line of transmission whose origin is nearer to Vadiraja than the otheis. The ragas used in the bhramaragita are discribed by me elsewhere 197 in a historical perspective and need not be described here again.

VIII (j) OTHER SONGS Nagaratna has edited thirty more songs of Vadiraja in Šri Vadirājara Diigha Krtigaļu from unique exemplars (UE). 197 idhem. op. cit. passim; idhem. Karnataka- sangita-vāhini, pp. 66-120, [198-219, 233-253 inter alia

Vādira ja : Other Songs 147 Of these, 24 are in krti format and 5 are suladis. Among the krtis two are long having 49 (1) and 29 (7) stanzas respectively ; one is a suvvāli (10), one is a lullaby (jo-jo song, 12), one is a dasivatara song (13), one is a mangala (benediction, 19) and two are arati songs (3, 20). One song has the composei's signature (hayavadana) in the penultimate (3rd) line of cach stanza (14)one song ends with 'nārayana' at the end of each ca: ana; one is a ugabhoga in the raga todi (15). The following table summarises the ftructure and (syllabic) quantitative pattern of caranas in these songs with the usual notation (vide foot no. 42; col. 2; n-no. of caranas), col. 3; o - approximately equal) TABLE 2 I UE 2 Structure 3 Pattern 1 UE 2 Structure 3 Pattern No pacn No pacn 1 222.47 131s cn 14 2243 2 2243 1s11 15 ugābhoga 3 1227 Is 16 suladi incomplete 4 2045 İsIs 17 124 5 1125 18 1043 1s11 6 1123 19 104 7 204.29 20 202.13 8 1049 lsls 23 2243 9 2243 pa : ls 25 2235 10 404.15 Isls 26 3049 11 3045 28 004.10 no pallavi or anupallavi 12 2249 30 2063 13 224.11 1sls

Of the 5 suladis, one is raga-tala-malikā. The others may be characterised as follows with the usual notation (vide footnote nos. 72, 48) 21. rāga mukhāri (hari-sorvottama-sulādi)-dmdrjtaey

148 Music of Madhva Monks

22. raga ahiri-dmdrjtaey (amdrjtaey)v 24. rāga nadanāmakriya-dmdrjtaej (Amdrjtaej) v 29. rāga guņdakriya-fmdrjjtaey (r-ragaņa mațiiya. drjjtaey) v No. 27. is called saptaraga (suddhagaula !) sulidibecause it is set to seven ragas, one per carana. It is not known whether this suladi was composed as ragamiliks by Vadira a or was so transformed by later performers. Its tala structure is dmrjtaey; raga ascriptions arc : d-mukhāri, m-suddha varāli, r-kāmbodhi, j-bhairavi, t-kederagauļa, a- mecabauli, e-gaulipantu, y=saurastra. This could represent a line of transmission originating near Vadiraja's time because the ragas are coevol with the composer. The first two suladis have an identical tala pattern, the third is different only in replacing 'y' with 'j'. The fourth is unusual in commencing with a tala other than 'd' and featuring a consecutive iepetition of 'j'; all fotr feature therepetition of a tala : 'd' in 21, 22, 24 ; h' in 24. No 27 Has a regularly ordered sequence of the suladi talas with no repetition.

IX VIJAYĪNDRA TĪRTHA

Like Vadiraja and Purandaradasa Vijayindra Tirtha nee Vișnu Tirtha was also a disciple of Vyasaraya who gifted him to Surendra Tirtha of the Kavindra Ti:tha-bianch at Kumbhakonam to succeed him. This mutt is renowned in the name of Raghavendra Titha (q.v.) who succeeded to the same pitha later. Vijayindia Tirtha was born in 1517 A.C. He died in 1595 A.C. According to another school of thought, his death occuried in 1614 A.C. Vijayindra is acclaimed as proficient in all the 64 kalīs (arts). Thus he is extolled as catubsașțikalā vidyā pu na, 193 catuhşışțikalividye jușe199, sphuțavidita cațubşaştividyā višeşah,00 Šiī Vijayindrayatısvarab catubşaş- tikalipurno201 et .. Narayana praises him as be ng honoured by Rāmarāya of Vijayanagar with ratnabhişeka, grant of several villages etc. for his versatile scholarship.20" An epigraph of the time also extols him similarly.20a It is probable that as a disciple of Vyasarāya Vijayīndra was proficient in music also, though no evidence of this is available in the foim of musical compositions or otherwise. Gururajacharya's nariation of incidents to support

198 Sri Vijayind:a Stotra, extr. Gururajacharya, Raja-, S., Ajayya Vijayīndraru, p. 146, foot note 199 Narāyaņa, Rāghavendra-vijayam, ed. Lakshmi- narayana Upadhyaya, P.P., 1.9, p 4 200 Šrī Gururāja-stavanam, extr. Gururajacharya, Raja-, S., op. cit. loc. cit. 201 Vijayindra stutib, extr. idhem, op. cit. loc. cit. 202 Nārāyaņa, op. cit. 2. 21, 22 203 Epigrapbia Indica, 12, p. 345

150 Music of Madhva Monks Vijayindra's expertise in music viz, triumph over Ganamār- t nda and over (an unnamed) expeit singer of karnataka music is unauthenticated and suffers from anachronism.204 Vijayindra tirtha has composed a few songs in kannada under the signature Vijayindrarsma. Only three of these appear to be available in print and others, a dozen of which are known to be elsewhere are not accessible to me at the moment of writing this. Thus I have to be content with notising only these : 'yogivara-Vyasarayaremba' in raga anandabhairavi, tāla atța,205 the sulādi 'yākela manave* in an anonymous raga20s and 'parabomma-hariyuta' in rāga nati.207 The first is a laudation to his guru vyāsarāya. It has the structure 1143. The pallavi and anupallavi rhyme together on the second syllable. Each stanza rhymes on the second syllable; this i: in conformity with the literary format of the krti; both raga and tala are plausible and reasonably appropriate. Vyasaraja is compared to a rain- bearing cloud which indicates the celestial abode of Lord Vişnu's feet, obscu. es the miyi (advaita) mata etc. The simile is laboured but detailed. Pallavi and anupallavi are of equal length (15 sylliule ) and the first two stanzas are patterned in the 'Isls' structure while the last is approximately 1sll. The available material is too scanty to merit generalisation.

204 Gurura jacharya, Raja , S., op.cit. pp. 216-225 205 Vijayīndra Tīrtha, 'yogīšvara-vyāsarāyaremba' etc. extr. Vedavyasachar, H. K., Karnatakada Hari- dasaru, p. 267 206 idhem. 'yakela manave' suladi no. 13 ed. Hanu- mantha Rao, Gorabala, Horidasara-pada-suladi- gaļu, p. 71, Sii Varadendra Haridāsa-sāhitya- maņdala, Lingasugura, 1957 207 idhem. 'parabomma hariyu tā' suladi no. 14, op. cit. p. 73

Vijayindra Tirtha 151

The second and third are suladis. The first of these has the sequence dmrjtaAj. Each stanza ihymes on the second syllable and the penultimate line uniformlycarriesthe signature 'vijayindra rama', This is true of the other suladi also, while the above mentioned krti carries the signature 'vijayindia' in the last line of the last stanza. The syllabic content of the stanzas has a general correspondence with the span of the respective tala cycle within wide limits of tolerance. The stanza set to jhampa tāla in this suladi is cited as an independent 'pada' of Vijayindra tlitha else- where 08 but without the final line. This is a common enough occurrence in the songs of the haridasas because of their extensive and widespread usage. Except the Dharwad edition of Purandaradasa's songs, and the critical editions of the songs of some important haridasas brought out by the Institute for Kannada Studies in Mysore, textual criticism is still a keen desideiatum in this field, in which uncriti al enthusiasm and religious fervour are often substi- tutes for objective and systematic scholarship. The same may be said of the vacanas of the sivasaraņas of Karnataka. The third song is a suladi bearing the tala sequence dmrjtaAj. It is similar to the other suladi in rhyming, syllabic quantification, signatuie ete. Vijayindra tirtha's contribution to the haridasa lite.ature and music, if the above material is typical, dees not seem to be substantial.

208 Ramachandra Rao, S. K., ed. op. cit. vol. 2, intro- duction, p. 36

X RĀGHAVENDRA TĪRTHA

Raghavendra tirtha is the ienowned 'rayaru' of Mancale (Mantralaya). He was born as Venkata Bhatta in 1601 A.C. of Timmanna Bhatța and Gopiksmbā, succeeded Sudhindra tirtha, disciple and successor of Vijayindra in 1623 A.C. and entered the Brndavana in 1671 A.C. in Mancale. Narayana. Raghavendra tirtha's biographer describes the musical proficiency of the latter's ance tors. Thus, Krsna, his maternal greatgrandfather was a teacher of Krşņa(devarāya, presumbly of Vijayanagar) in viņī and was presented by the latter with a thick garland of pearls and other insigma of honour (birudali)20". He is thus a contemporary of Lakşmi-nārāyaņa, author of Sangīta-sūryo daya, who makes a similar claim on Krsnadevarāya, and of Rāmimītya. Puņdaitka Vițțhala, Nijaguņa Šivayogi etc. Krana begot a son Kanakācala; his son was Timmaņņa who is described as acquiring proficiency as a boy in many sistras including singing and vini playing, and as living in Vijayanagara. He is said to have vanquished oppo. nents in a sastra disputation in the royal court and in conse- quence to have received an honorific day-toich (hagalu- divațige).210 one of these forefathers appeais to be a music composer, nor to have been influenced by Vyasarāya or his disciples. Raghavendia tirtha was thus a contemporary of Govinda Dikşita, prime minister of Tanjore and author of Sangitasudha and of his son Yajnanārāyaņa Dīkşita, and his another gson Venkatamakhin, author of Caturdaņdi-prakāšikā. Indeed, Nārāyaņa describes a meeting between Raghavendra Uirtha and Yajñanarayana Dikşita at Tanjore and records the pleasure of the former 209 Narāyaņa, op.cit. 3. 6, 7, pp. 36, 37 210 ibid. 3. 8-13, pp. 37, 38

Rāghavendra tī. tha 153

at the scholarship of the latter.#11 Krishnaswamy Ayyanga 21ª and probably following him, Keshavadasa21" have misinterpreted the above mentioned veises as yajña- nārāyana Diksita being vanquished by Venkatabhațța (who later became the pithadhipati under the name Raghavendia tirtha) in a disputation on the term kakatalīya (coincidence) and consequently as having recieved taptamudra (religious branding) from the latter. Keshavadasa, in the fervour of and enthusiasm of his dogmatic faith, goes as far as to say that Yajnanarayana Dikșita became a chief disciple of Righavendra titha ! His faith and fervour are commend- able but his lack of concern for historical truth is deplorable. Only one song, attributed to Raghavendra tirtha has been transmitted to us and is so sung. It commences with the words 'indu enage govinda' and is set in the rāga bhairavi and tāla mis.a chapu It has the structure 2243, and cariies the signature 'Venugopala' in the last line of the last carana. It describles piognantly the travails of the soul in its solourn and enjoins the Lord to forgive the ignoranee, omissions and commissions of the jiva and to Steer him to the other shore of the ocean of worldliness. The text is not available in a critical edition,

X (a) RAGHAVENDRA TĪRTHA : VĪNĀMELA One other musical matter ielating to Raghavendia tirtha needs to be discussed here. This is in regard to the vina. which the popular pictorial representations of Raghavendra

211 ibid. 6.16, 17, p. 86 212 Krishnaswamy Ayyangar, K., Sources of Vijayanagar History, p. 253 213 Keshavadasa, Beluru-, Karnāțaka Bhaktavijaya, p. 318

154 Music of Madhva Monks tirtha are made to carry. Such representations are recent or contemporary in origin, and the vint is probably an apocryphal addition, coniecturally made in the expectation that he would have continued the musi:al tradition derived doubly from his great-grandfather, and father on one side and from Vyāsaraya and Vijayindra (?) from another. There is no evidence of Raghavendia tirtha's proficiency in the vina. Even if credence is acecrded to the above conjecture or expectation, the vini pictured in the hands of the saint is ludicrously anachronistic; it should be pictured to correspond to the vina which may be reconstructed from authentic sources, if there is any concern for historical accuracy. Therefore, an attempt is made in the following to present such historical reconstruction of the vini which was in vogue during Raghavendra tirtha's times. In defence of this apparent lengthy digression, I advance two reasons : the vaisnava saint singers themselves refer to forms of the vini such as dandi, kinnari, vina etc; an exegesis of this term thiough de cription would the within the scope of the present study ; moie importantly, the pe. iod in which the yatit.aya, Vijayindia and Raghavendra ti tha flourished in their musial a :tivity was critical to the eme gence of Karnataka mu ie in its present form ; the melodie aspect of our music was defined and determined through revolutionary changes in the keyboard of the viņa. The development of our music is synonymons with the development of the trilogy of svaiamela, viņāmela and rāgamela, each progressively leading to the next. There. fore, the melodic aspect of the music which these compo- sers prac ised can be reconstructed only with a knowledge of svaramela, which was precisely in corporated into the vīņīmela, The anachronism in regard to the vina shown in the hands of the popular pictorial representations of Raghavendra tirtha lies in the fact that its keybooud emerged as late as about 1730 A.C. in a form called

Rāghavendra tirtha 155 Tulajendravīņă, described by Tulaja in his Sangitastrā- mrta.ma It culminated into its present form and posture comparatively recently.215 The concept of keyboard instruments is ancient in India, but the first systematic exposition is found in Strn cadeva.He describes for example, that the brhati kinnari had a length of 50 (indian) inches with a bridge at 24 in. from one end. Frets made of the ribs or toe-bone of an eagle. bronze or steel were fixed on the key-board with a mixture of beeswax and burnt cotton. They were 1! in. in length. Di tances between bridge (meru) and fret jor be:ween succssive frets were measured between the midpoints. There were seven frets per register; thus fourteen altogether and one more for tarasadja. The seven frets generated the seven notes particular to the desired rāga. Thus reckoning from the meru, the frete were placed at c n ccutive distances of 4 1/6 21/3, 11/6, 2 3/4, 1 5/6, 1 1/12, 1 7/12, 1 1/2, 1 1/3, 1 1/4, 1 1/4, 5/6, and 5/6 in respectively. This is the archetype of ekaragamela vina which evolved in the following two hundred years. Since the length of the free string is not mentioned in theoretical texts, the intervals produced by these string lengths cannot calculated 216 It is interesting to note that Bhima corroborater in 1369 A.C. the existence of ekarāga mela vīņi in Karnataka; he mentions that a separate viņa i.e. keyboard was prepa. ed for each of the 32 (battīsa) rāga :. 217 The theoretical sources from which the vipakeyboard of the times of yatitraya, Vijayindra Ti. tha and Raghavendra Ti. tha may be reconstruted are : Rāmamāthya : Svaramela. 214 Tulaja, op. cit. Introduction (by Raghavan V.), pp. xx, xxi 215 Sathyanarayana, R., Vīņālaksaņa-vimarše, pp. 285- 287 216 Šārngadeva, op. cit. 6. 279-306, pp. 288-292 217 Bhīma kavi, Basava-purāņam, 11.6, p. 257

156 Music of Madhva Monks

kalanidhi (1550 A.C.), 218 Puņdarīka Vițțhala : Sadrāga candrodaya (1550-1600), =19 Šrikantha. Ra akaumudi (C. 1580)220, Somanatha : Ragavibodha (1609).2ª1 Govinda Likşita (Sangita sudhā (nidhi) (1620), 22 Venkaļamakhi: Caturdaņçī prakāšikā (c. 1650) .-. 3 Of these, Ramāmātya, Puņdarika Vitțhala and Šrikaņtha hailed from kainataka corresponding to the period of Vyasaraya, Vadiraja, Vi ayin- dıd and Purandaiadāsa; Govinda Dikşita and Verkața makhin were kannadigas who lived and wrote their woiks in Tanjore during the life of Raghavendia tirtha, who piobably knew them personally. Therefoie the e souices may be regarded as giving a true pieture of the state fof the vin /keyboard in their respective times. They will be used eclectrically in the following pages.

Vinā keyboard in the 15th-17th cent. was of two kinds viz. suddha mela (Š) and madhya mela (M) each of which had two varieties, ekarāga mela (E) and saivarāga mela (also called akhilarāga mela, A). Besides these there were Acyutarājendia mela (Rāmā mātya), Raghunāthendia mela (Govinda Dikşita), Venkatādhvari mela (Verkațamakhin) eto. These were varieties of keyboards which could be fitted onto any kind of Vina such as rudra, kinnari, Vipanci or villaka which prevailed in these times; the keyboards diffe- red from each other in accordatura, iange, p.eferential or alternative use of intervals on a given string etc. Sarvarāga mela (A) had frets fixed for all (chromatic) intervals of the octave in three registers, obviating the

218 Rāmāmātya, op. cit. 3. 12-78, pp. 15-20 219 Puņdarīka Vițțhala, Sadrāga-candrodaya, 2.1-43 in Sath,anaiayana, R., ed. tr. comm. Pundarika-milā, pp. 88-92 220 Šıīkaņțha, Rasakaumudi. 2 1-55, pp. 15-18 221 Somanatha, Ragavibodha, 2.1-53, pp. 53-78 222. Govinda Dikșita, op.cit. 2, 420-444, pp. 153.155 Venkațamakhin, op. cit. 1.6-179, pp. 149-160

Rāghavendra tīrtha 157 need for moving the keys to svara positions appropriate to the desired raga. This was called vajra thata in hindustani music in the 17th cent. In E however, fiets were fixed for all (chromatic) intervals in the mandra register only but in the madhya and tara registers only those keys were placed which were appropriate to the desired raga ; these keys were moved to other appropriate positions when performing other iagas. The sarasvati viņi of kainataka music and sitar of hindustani music are examples of A and E respectively. In SE keys were movable to any or all positions of desired svaras in the madhya and tara registers and beyond, whereas in ME only keys for dha and ni could be moved, while others were fixed in the madhya register ; however, all the keys were movable in the tara register. This is the view of Somanatha.

X (b) VINĀMELA : NOTATION The following notation is used in describing the intervals occurring in the above viņi melas : şadja-s, pratimadhyama-m, suddha riabha-rr antara gardh ra-gs pañcama -p pafcasruti risabha suddha madhyama mr suddha dhaivata-d1 = suddha gandhēra-gr pañcašruti dhaivata sādhāraņa gāndhāra-g. = suddha nişāda-nr kaisiki nişada-n, kīkali nişāda-ng These are the svaras which are admitted by all the above authorities as manifesting on sruti nimbers 4,7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16, 17, 20, 22, 1 and 3 in the scheme of 22 srutis. Among these antaragāndhāra, pratimadhyama and kākali nişāda refer to theis mcdein usage and pailance. These gandhāra, madhyama and paficama have been transacted by the abcve authorities with the prefixes mrdu, laghu, cyuta or pata. Ramāmatya has referred to the antaragandhāra as cyuta

158 Musie of Madhva Monks madhyama gāndhāra and to the kākali nişida as cyutaşaļja- nişada, and to the prati-madhyama as pratinidhi madhyama. The svaras originally named antaragāndhara and kskali nisida by the above and earlier authorities manifested on the 11th and 2nd srutis respectively. They weie musically and acoustically complex intervals and were prescribed in theory to be only minimally employed. Therefore Ramamatya and other authorities mentioned above, reflect the musical practice of their times (e.g. Vyisaraya, Vadiraja, Vijayindra, Purandaradasa etc.), did not provide sepaiate frets for these notes on the vina keyboard, but delegated the functions of these notes to the ones which manifested at the 12th and 3rd srutis respectively. Register in which a note occurs is notated thus : anumandra-two dots,below; mandra-one dot, below;madhya- dot; tara-one dot, above mandra-ne dot, below atitara-two dots, above

X (c) ŚUDDHA MELA Suddhamela is considered by convention in Indian musical theory the base from which all other melas are derived. Therefore it will be described here first It has four strings on the keyboard. Reckoning the (brass) string farthest from the performer as the first, these free strings are tuned to s-p-s-m respectively. Six frets aie placed across the entire width of the keyboard to generate six notes which are contiguously consecutive. Then the six frets generate the following notes on the four strings.

Rāghavendra tīrtha 159

TABLE 3

S p S m 1 d1 m, 2 g1 81 P 3 83 d1 4 5 m1 s m1 6 T1 n3

It is clear that each line (repiesented by a fret) in the above fingerboard, involves adjacent consonance of s-p, p-s (i e. s-m) and s-m. The consonances g1-p (second fiet) and m1 ng (fifth fret) may be noted : they involove s-m, (subdo. minant) relation. This consonance is admitted by all the above authorities (except Somanatha) because they have an inte. val of eight srutis as piescribed by Bharata and other ancient writers: Their acceptance reveals a tacit attitude that prescribed interval is more important than svaia nomenclature. But the ancient authorities had stated consonance between specific pairs of notes in each grāma by definition iather than by the uniform application of the same single criterion. Thus consonance was restricted by them to s-m, s-p, r1-d1, g1-nt in the sadjagrama and to s-mı, rı-p, 11-di, gı-nr in madhyamagrāma. No other note-pairs could be regarded as consonant. This was consistent with both theory and practice of music of their times. But madhyamagrama lost its significance and usefulness in beth theory and practice in the 15th-16th cent. and merged into sadjagrāma. The above authorities were quick to acknowledge this change and to substitute new parameters to accommcdate contemporaiy growths and trends in music. However, Somanatha alone continues to honour such specific-pair definition of consonance and therefore proposes an alternateive finger-board arrangement.

160 Music of Madhva Monks

According to him the consonances of g1-p (2nd f.et), gg-d1 (3rd fret),gg-n1(4thfret)and m1-na(5th fret)should be eected because they do not conform to sistra. Therefore the 3.d fret coriesponding to the portion of the 4th sting is omitted ; sho,t fiets for d1 and n1 a.e placed only for the 4th string at the 4th and 5th frett respectively ; a separate 7th fret should be placed for ng on the 4th string. Such hair- splittng finesse could not be accommodated in contemporary musical practice Therefore the subsequent discussion will omit Somanatha's considerations.

X (d) SVAYAMBHU PRINCIPLE

The vin keyboard has been derived in three ways : consonances impli it in the svayambhu (/ir. self-gencrating) notes. (The fouith and fifth degrees of the scale are self generated from a given tonic on a string and are therefore so named viz. the major third:5 : 4 ie. the fifth harmonic is also a svayambhü note and came to be used as one of the bases for tuning comparatively recently in karnataka music.) Secondly, the notes lying within the consonantal region: s.p, s-m, p-s require string lengths which bear a simple numerical ratio to the lengths generating these consonant intervals. The first is enuneiated and adopted by Rāmāmstya, Puņda ika Vițțhala, Srikantha and Somanatha. Its results are adapted by Govinda Dikşita. Verkatamakhin and Tulaja. The second method is enunciated and adopted by Hrdayanārayana in the 17th cent. and Ahobala in the 18th cent. The latter is probably indebted to the former in this. A third method of a progression of consonantal tiilogy viz. s-g,-mi-p was evolved in the 18th-19th cent. in which every note of the keyboard was fixed by such triangulation. Its indications are seen in Paramesvra's Viņālakșana and Narada-Bharata of the namesake (apoe. yphal, recent) authors.

Rāghavendra tirtha 161

Rimimstya derives the suddhamela keyboard employing only the s-mr and s.p consonances using a well known method viz. proceed form the known to the unknown. The scale so derived is the pythagorean natural diatonic scale. The four strings of the suddha mela generate, at meru (bridge) the four svayambhu notes s-p-s-m, which are natu- rally generated without effoit, well known and do not require any special knowledge or effort from the experi- menter. The note 'p' obtained on the second string recurs as its octave on the 4th string. A fret is placed in the posi- tion where p is generated. This is the second of the six frets which must be located on this keyboard. On this fret then, the first three strings sound the notes gr-nr-gt respecti. vely. Thus two notes gr and nr aie geneiated in this first ope.ation.

The note nr so obtained on the second fret recurs at an octave on the 4th string. Where it thus heard, a fiet is fixed. This is the fourth in the series of six frets required to be placed. On this newly placed 4th fret, the first three strings give the notes ga-n,-ga respectively. Thus two more notes viz. ga-ng are obtained by this second operation The note n, thus generated on the 4th string on the 4th fret recurs at an octave on the 4th string; a fret is placed where this note is head. This becomes the 6th fret in the series The other three strings sound mg-Ir-mg respectively. So. by this third operation, two other notes, m, and ry are determined on the keyboaid. These three operations, it may be noted are carried out in the ascending order. The notes obtained so for are s, rn, gtr ga, mt, mg, P, nr and n3. Now three more operations are carried out in the descending order. The notes s, mr and p which sound on the meru recur at an octave; if a fret (5th) is placed at this position, n, is generated on the 4th string. This is the 4th operation. The note ng so generated recurs again in a

162 Music of Madhva Monks

lower octave on the 2nd string. A fiet is placed at this position. This is the 3id fret in the series and 5th opera- tion. From the other strings two newnotes viz. g, and dr are obtained. Lastly, dr got on the 3id string is found to recur on the first string at the lower octave; a fret-this ftrst fiet and the final in the series is fixed here. As a result of this sixth and last operation, the iemaining note fr is go on the first and third strings. So, four notes, na, gg, dr and T are determined from these three operations in descent. Altogether, all twelve semitones of the scale or realised on the keyboard. Ifs (tonic) assumed to have a frequency of 240 c.p.s., the scale obtained in this method may be shown as in Table 4

TABLE 4

note ratio frequency cents name in western music 240 0 fundamental 2187/2048 255 28906 114 pythagorean apotome 9/8 270 204 major tone, 9th harmonic 32/27 288.44 251 37th harmonic 81/64 303.75 408 pythagerean major third 4/3 320 498 pythagorean (just) fourth 729/512 341.71875 612 pythagorean tritone P 3/2 360 702 pythagorean (just) fifth dt 128/81 379.259 792 pythagorean minor sixth 27/16 405 906 pythagorean major sixth 16/9 426.66 996 minor seventhi 243/128 455.265 1110 pythagorean major seventh 2 480 1200 octave

X (e) KEY DISTRIBUTION

Venkatamakhin is silent on the method of deriving the

Raghavendra tirtha 163

the vina keyboard; he tacitly assumes without acknowledge- ment, Ramimatya's method described above; there are indications of such assumption when he quantifies the srutis. His svara nomenclature is as follows (the first is theoretical name; the second is the name given in musical practice of his times; the thiid, a notation which he proposes)

Tr : suddha rişabha/gauļa rişabha/ra Ig : pancašruti rişaoha s.īrāga rişibha/ri Ia : sațšruti rişabha/nița rişabha/1u gı : šuddha gāndhāra/mukhāri gāndhāra/ga ge : sādhāraņa gāndhāra/bhairavi gāndhāra/gi 8a : antara gāndhāra/gauļagāndhara/gu mr : suddha madhyama/ma m. : pratimadhyama/va.āļi madhyama/mi p : pancama/pa di : suddha dhaivata/gaula dhaivata/dha d2 : pancašruti dhaivala šrirāga dhaivata/dhi da : satšruti dhaivata dhu Dy : šıddha nişīda/mukhā, i nişāda/na ng : kaišiki niş da/bhairavi nişida/ni na : kākali nişida/gauļa. nişāda/nu

Venkatamakhin describes clearly the method of deriving the key positions on the keyopards of suddha mela, madhya- mela, Raghunathendra mela and Venkațādhvarimela vīņās. These details are not available in the other sources. Since this coincides exactly with the period of Raghavendra tiitha, this method of key distribution may be discussed here briefly. Thus the suddha mela ekaraga viņā has the same key board a: in Table 1. The next three notes also have simi- lar long frets. These generate p, dr, n, 'in the first string, gt, ga. ga in the second, p, dr, n in the third s, rt. g, in the last string. Only the fourth string is provided with further

164 Music ef Madhva Monks

frets. These are fixed on a platform specially made to accomodate keys corresponding to the notes m. p, d, n and s in such vikrti except p and s)as are required in the desired raga. All these five are short frets provided only for the f ourth string. Thus this key board as 9 long and 5 short frets.

The suddhamela sarvaraga mela viņa also has the self- same 9 long frets. After these, five short frets are fixed only for the fourth string to generate the notes g1. g2, 83, mr and m2 of the madhya register. Next comes a long fret for p covering all four strings; this is followed by four short frets provided only for the fourth string, generating dr, nr, na, ng of the middle register: as before, these short frets are fixed to a (narrow) platform specially fixed for the purpose under the fourth string. In this manner, this key board has 10 frets and 9 short frets.

X (f) MADHYAMELA VÍNĀ

The keyboard of this vina alto had four strings which sounded (in the full length) the notes p-s-p-s reckoning the string forthest from the performer is the first and the nearest to him as the fourth. There are seven long frets fixed underneath them, resulting in the keyboard- (meru) : p-s-p-s l. dr It.dt, It 2. MI, g1 D1, Bt 3. n. ga Dz 8: 4. Da.8a 0g 83 5. 8 mr s mt 6. Fr ma rr mg 7. gi P St P

After this two short frets are provided for d and n (in the vikrti forms which are appropriate to the desired raga) on a special platform only for the fourth stiing followed by a long fret for all four strings (giving p-s-p-s respectively) followed again by thiee short frets provided as before for the fourth string only to generate r-g-m in vikrti forms which are appropriate to the desired raga. Then follows a

Raghavendra tirtha 165

single long fret (generating p-s-p-s respectively). The long frets are immovable while the short ones may be moved to any desired position. This keyboard has ten long frets and 7 short frets. The location of the keys is achieved in the same way as in the suddhamla viņa The keyboard of the madhyamela sarvarāga viņī also has the same seven long keys as in the ekaraga vina of the same mela. Then four short frets are fixed on a special platform underneath the fourth string only for the notes di, nt, Ilg and na. Then follow; a long fret which generates the notes p-s-p-s on the four strings respectively. After this, six short frets are provided on a special platform for only the fourth string for the notes rr, St. Sa, g3, mt, and ma. Next comes a long fret generating g1-p-gr-p respe tively on the four strings. This is followed by two short frets for the notes d1 and ng on the fourth string Because the space available is quite small, the fret for n functions for ng also (being so shifted to that position) when needed. Some performers used to insert a separate short, fret for ng. Finally, there is a long fret sounding. p-s-p-s on the four strings respectively: Thus this keyboard had 10 long and 12 short (or 13 includ- ing one for na) frets

X (g) COMPARISON

The differences between the suddhamelaand madhyamela keyboards may be now noted. The madhyamela via has a range less than itssuddhamelaanaloguebyonlyhalfofaregister but has more keys. The highest note attainable in both is s. In the ekarāga viņs of both, all twelve chromatic intervals of the octave are established in the first (lowest) register to serve as exemplars for short frets which are placed for the appropriate forms of the notes (r-g-m-d-n)

166 Musie of Madhva Monks

taken by the desired raga in the higher registers. But p and s always have long frets. Sometimes the fiet for n, was optionally left out and the fret for n, had to double for n, also in madhyamela sarvarāga vīņā. In short, music was performed in a range of 16 notes viz. d-n in mandra,and seven each in madhya and tara registers. If the keyboard was provided with a fret for s, one fret for d or n in madhya register was omitted. This method was called sarani marga. If both d and n frets were employed, the range consisted of 17 notes ; in vocal music they were d-n in anumandra, seven each of mandra and madhya and s in tara register. Here also, either dor n of the anumandia register could be omitted by conventional sanction. The four pillais of music (caturdandi) viz. gita, alapa, țhāya and prabandha were systematised and established in the above range in both vocal and instiumental music by Tānappacarya, Venkațamakhin's illustrious guru. Besides the four upper strings. Each keyboard also carried three strings to the right. They were collectively called sruti strings, and were tuned to s-p-s. They were individually named țipi, (tantrī ?), and jhallikā.

X (h) PAKKASĀRANI

In order to obviate exclusive movement of melody in the middle and high registers and to provide for its flow into the low register, a technique called pakkasāraņi was developed in the 17th cent. i.e. during Raghavendra tirtha's life and is described by Venkatamakhin. It derives its name from a performance technique in which a note is preferentially played on given string (sarani) rather than on its (precedent) adjacent (pakka) string alternativly. The pakkasāraņi and sāraņi were alternative approaches to the question of tonal range which was admitted into contempo- rary musical practice, both vocal and instrumental. The

Raghavendia tirtha 167

former was evolved to extend the range into the mandra region also. This is retained in the technique of violin playing even today in which p, d, etc. are often performed on the first and third strings (from the left) rather than on the second and fourth (last) strings even though these free strings are tuned to p. Thus in both suddhamela and madhyamela, sāraņi method limits performance to the use of s-r-g-m only on the first string, pakka sarani allows the use of pord also. Similarly, the use of frets for p-d.n only is admitted in the technique on the second string while pakkasarani allows the use of (one or more of) s-r-g also. Again, sāraņi technique permits the use of s-r-g only on the third string in the suddhamela while mr etc may also be peiformed on it in the pakkasarani. Thus, 17 intervals are used in all : two (d, n) in anumandra, seven each in mandia and madhya and one (s) in tāia iegister. Venkatamakhin makes out this iange and di t.ibution for Tamilnadu only (wheie Raghavendia trtha lived a major portion of his life) for he clearly states that the musicians of Karnataka, Andhra and Turuka (Arcot and probably Bijapur etc.) provinces used (four moie notes) r-g etc. also in the tara register, thus making 21 intervals in all.

X (i) OTHER KEYBOARDS It is clear from the foregoing that 15th-17th cent. was a period of experimentation and exploration in Indian music. This is echoed in the trilogy of melatraya also. Viņa keyboard of this period was characterised by varietiey in opinion and custom, in number of strings, their accordatura, the number of keys, which among them should be long and which short, the determination of the lowest and highest notes in tonal range, in theory and practice, the allovance or disallowance of particular noteS on a given string etc.

168 Music of Madhva Monks

Thus, a key for s was used by some in the suddha mela ckarāga viņi and not by cthers, thu resulting in a total of 22 or 23 keys; a range cove ed originally by 14 or 15 keys on this keyboard was extended by seven moie keys covering an additional iegister. In the suddhamela sarvarāga viņī there were 32 or 33 fiets (omitting or including one for s) instead of 19, and sometimes, only 29 or 30. In both keyboaids the caturdandi i.e. the enterity of the corpus of musical practice, was performed only on the fourth string, while the other three were retained only for the derivation or determinaticn of the interval: The lat er served as sources of comparison and fixation for their analogues on the fourth string,

The svaramela also underwent a transition in this period. The antara gindhara and kakali niş da, relics of the gräma age were now transfermed into, and sta ilised as mrdu (or laghu) madhyama and mrdu (or laghu) sadja at the next, higher respective srutis. Two notes, risabha and dhaivata of four siutis each were experimentally inserted between the (theoretically and empirically well- established) trišruti risabha-pancasruti risabha and trišruti dhaivata-pancasruti dhaivata pairs at the 8th and 21st srutis respectively to accommodate two new intervals which were emerging from the practice in sriiaga etc. These were enly metastable ; subsequent practice resolvel them into the respective pan asruti intervals. Mrdu (or trisruti) pancama was diminished by one sruti and was reorganised in the scale as dvisruti or prati(nidhi) madhyama at the 15th sruti. These notes notes were still metastable and were in need of resolution into stability. Therefore, they Were not fixed in the scale with definite keys, but were btained by deflection of the string at the just precedent fret. In other words, catubsruti risabha was obtained at t.iš.uti iişabha, anta.a gīndhāra at sādhāraņa gāndhāra, piatimadhyama at šaddha madhyama, catubšruti dhaivata at

Raghavendra tīrtha 169

trišruti dhaivata and kākalinişāda at kaišiki nişāda by deflection of string. Kaisiki nişida sometimes had and sometimes not, a separate fiet. In the latter instance, it was obtained by deflection at suddha nisada. Because of congestion in space, some musicians preferred to have only one key for dor n and obtained the other by gamaka (string deflection). The madhyamela ekaraga keyboard on the other hand had 4 keys less i.e. 18 or 17 depending on whether there was or was not a key for s. The keys on the sarvaraga keyboard of the same mela were 24 (without s) or 25 (with s) i.e. 7 less than in the coiresponding suddhamela keyboard. Some omitted s, some included it while yet others extended the range up to p. Venkațamakhin himself describes as many a3 18 different keyboaids but retains only 12 on the ground that the others had no aesthetic appeal. These 12 were as follows : suddhamela, madhyamela and Raghunāthamela had each two varieties viz. ekarāga and sarvarāga. There was another variety of suddhamela keyboard which omitted the first thiee strings (because they largely served the purpose of determiration, siandardisaticn, fixation and comparison of the keys which were functionally employed in the performance of music); this was known as ekatantif Venkațamakhin himself had designed two dvitantri vīņās. Each had a brass string and a steel string. The brass string was tuned to s ; the steel string was tuned in one to m1 and and in the other to p. After this must be placed keys appropriate to eka rāga or sarvarāga keyboard as the case may be, in all three registers. Therefore, the fingerboard of the ekatantri and dvitantri viņas was longer than in the conventional four stringed keyboard. Since cach of the suddhamela, madhyamela, Raghunsthamela, ekatantri and two varieties of the dvitantri vinis had two varieties of

170 Music of Madhva Monks

keyboards viz. ekarāga and sarvaraga, the total came to 21 keyboards. The suddhamela had an accoidatura, as mentioned aboye of s-p-s-m. If the fourth string was tuned to 'p' instead and was played as if it was turned to 'p' instead and was played as if it was turned 's, it was called Raghunatha mela vīņī. Venkațamakhin states this was designed by his father Govinda Diksita and dedicated to his king Raghunātha Nayaka. But it is found that a similar viņa wae already designed by Ramāmātya some 70-80 yeras earlier and dedicated to his king Acyutarajendra. Somanātha mentions (1609) the existence of such a vini during his times. per- haps Govinda Dikșita inaugurates technique of regarding the final pancama string as sounding sadja. Such techinique is still in vogue in karnataka music in the name of 'madhyama srutl' in the performance of ragas such as jhanjuți, pannāgavarāli etc.

If the string sounding 'p' in the suddhamela madhya- mela and Raghunathamel vina is turned to 'mr', three new keyboa,ds with the accordaturae s-m-s-mr (suddha mela), m1-$-mi-s (madhyamela) and s-m1-s m: (Raghunatha mela, madhyama sruti). These again have two varieties each viz, ekarāga add sarvaiāga. These six are rejected by Venkata makhin as possessing no aesthetic potential. However, Somanatha compiles the variety m1-s-m1-s from another school of performers.

10 (j) HRDAYANĀRĀYANA An alternative method of determing musical intervals through string-lengths has been mentioned above, besides the svayambhu-svara method. This is first described by Hrdayanārāyaņa in his Hrdayaprakāsa (c. 1660). This was

Raghavendra tīrtha 17i

in Gaphi in Madhya Pradesh. This yields slightly different intervals occasionally, and will be briefly discussed here because it happened during Raghavendra tirtha's life time and came to be integrated into the modern practice. This mcthod is also diseribed by Ahobala in his Sangita-pārijata (c. 1720),in a passage which has a literal correspondence with the former. In this method, the speaking (or full, free) length of the string is taken as unity; the various intervals are expressed as fractions of this. As a first step, the lengths required to generate the svayambhu notes m1 and p are derived. The othsr intervals are obtained as simple fract- ions of the iengths bounded by the pairs s-m, s-p, p-s. Thus s is generated by the full free length (1), & by 1/2, m, by 1/4, p by 1/3, Then g. is generated at 1/2 sp, rg at 1/3 sp- The note d, is obtained at 1/2 ps, d1 at 1/3 ps, and ne at 2/3 ps. R1 is obtained at 2/3 srg ga at 1/2 sdg, ng at 2/3 dgs and m, at 2/3 g,š The feature of this method is approximation of the actual, precise string lengths required to generate the various notes to yield simple ratios, except for the svayam- bhu notes which already bear simple numerical ratios. In evitably, the intervals obtained in this method differ slightly from those derived in the pythagorean method involving cyclic ascent by just fifths or cyclic descent by just fourths. These are compared in string lengths in Table 5.

172 Music of Madhva Monks

TABLE 5

Note S g1 m p S Rāmāmātya 36.0 33.75 32.0 30.375 28.44 27.0 25.284 24.0 22.782 21.3 20.25c 19.0 18.0 Hrdaya nārāyaņa 36.0 33.33 32.0 30.0 28.5 27.0 25.0 24.0 22.0 21.0 20.0 19,0 18.0

The inteivals derived in the latter method (Hrdayanarayana) are detailed in Table 6.

TABLE 6

Interval ratio frequency cents correspondence in Western music

s 1 240 0 fundamental 27: 25 259.2 134 great limma 9:8 270 204 major tone 6:5 288 316 just minor third ga 24: 19 303.15789 404 mean of equal major third and pythagorean thiid m1 4:3 320 498 pythagorean (just) fourth

Raghavendra tirtha 173 36 : 25 345.6 632 p 360 acute diminished fifth 3:2 702 pythagorean (just) fifth 18:11 392.72727 853 fourth of neutral third (355 cents) 12:7 411.42857 933 septimal or super major sixth 9:5 432 1018 acute minor seventh 36: 19 454.73684 1106 mean of equal major seventh and pythagorean seventh octave 2:1 480 1200

It is thus seen that s, g my pare identical; ng is approximately equal, being very slightly sharper while ga is slightly flatter in the second method.

174 Music of Madhva Monks

X (k) RUDRA VINĀ Of the several kinds of vina which were in vogue in India in the 15th-17th cent. the rudra vina was highly favoured; its description is available in Somanatha and Śrikaņțha. According to Somanātha its daņda consists of a hollow tube of uniform bore, 46 (indian) inches long, 6 in. in circumferance, made of faultless wood '(bamboo, khadira or acacia catechu, red sandal) or bronze. (Šrikantha prescribes a length of 40 in. and admits a longer danda from an alternative school). At the 6th inch from one end a hole is made horizontally for an immovable peg to which the strings are anchored. The peg has a thick head and tapers along the length. At a similar distance from the other end another hole is made to hold a movable peg (6 in. long) with which the strings may tightened or loosened. One inch from the immovable peg is placed a meru 2 in. high and 4 in. wide. A gourd is fixed below the meru to the underside of the danda. Another gourd is fixed 28 in. distant from it. (According to Š.ikantha the second is fixed to the underside of the danda in between the third and fourth fret, the movable peg is situated 4 in. from the end.) The bridge (kakubha) is of wood, 2 in. high and 4 in. square with a smooth upper surface to which are fixed with lac four smooth, curved thin plates (patrika) each a little higher than the precedent commencing from the side of the performer. Four strings are stretched from the fixed peg to the movable peg over the bridge and meru. Two parallel wooden strips 11 in. long are fixed on the upper side of the danda (pattika) along its length to serve as base for the frets. The frets are made of the rib or clawbone of an eagle, steel or bronze. They are fixed to the pattika with a mixture of burnt cloth, brick powder, and beeswax and have the same length as the width between the pattikas. Very thin bamboo fibers are inserted between patiiki and st.ing to serve as jiva i.e. exciter (to render the tone rich).

Rāghavendra tīrtha 175

X (1) MODERN VINĀ KEYBOARD There is prevalent an erroneous belief that the modern viņā keyboard in karnataka music was inaugurated by Govinda Dikşita; he does not describe any keyboard other than suddhamela, madhyamela and Raghunatha mela. As mentioned above, it is Tulaja who inaugurated the viņa in its modern form. The musical intervals which are now in collective usage in karnataka music are summarised in Table 7.

176 Music of Madhva Monks

TABLE 7 !nterval ratio frequency cents interval ratio frequency cents

5 1 240 0 mg (iii) 729 : 512 341.71875 612 r2 (i) 256:243 252.84 90 (iv) 36:25 345.6 632 (ii) 16:15 256 112 p 3:2 360 702 (iii) 2187:2048 256.28906 114 d1 (i) 128:81 379.259 792 (iv) 27:25 259 134 (ii) 8:5 384 814 g1(i) 10:9 266.66 182 (iii) 18:11 392.7272 853 (ii) 9:8 270 204 #1 (i) 5:3 400 884 ga (i) 32:27 284.44 251 (ii) 27:16 405 906 (ii) 6:5 288 316 (iii) 12:7 411.42857 933 g, (i) 5.4 300 286 ng (i) 16:9 422.66 996 (ii) 24:19 303.15789 404 (ii) 9:5 432 1018 (iii) 81:64 303.75 408 ng (i) 15:8 450 1088 m1 4:3 320 498 (ii) 36:19 454.73684 1106 ma(i) 45:32 337.5 590 (iii) 243:128 455 265 1116 (ii) 64:35 341.33 610 2:1 480 1200

Raghavendra tirtha 177

These notes should not be regarded as occurring in the exact frequency or eent values given in Table 7. In fact, in the whole range of karnataka music there are very few musical notes except s and p which may be characterised with a single pitch value. Nevertheless, when svaras occur in different melodic situations, affective contexts, with a special or characteristic appeal, as a shade or as an illusory note, even though they are in a dynamic flux, it would be necessary or convenient for purposes of characterisation or measurement to assume a midpoint or average of the moving note. It is such value; which are given in Table 7. The interesting fact is that the intervals in Table 5 comprehend those derived from both methods viz svayambhü notes and string lengths, even though the values and the criteria of derivation are different. It is further interesting that some intervals in this table are found in neither but are derived from yet another method viz. the consonance of s-g, (386 cents) and ga-$ (814 cents) besides those of s-m1 (498 cents) and s-p (702 cents). Thus g, is also accepted as a svayambhū note in karnataka music since the 19th cent. Hence the keyboard is derived by a progression of triangular consonance : s-g,, s-mI, s-p, a method obliquely suggested by a 19th cent. manuscript work apocryphally entitled Narada-Bharata and claiming a namesake joint authorship.

The modern intervals occurring in Table 5 may be computed with s-ga and s-p consonances thus : Tt (16:15; 256:243)- descend one p and one g, from s gt (10:9; 266.66:240)-descend 2 p from s and ascend one g, gg (6:5; 288:240)- ascend one p from fundamental and descend one g3 m, (45:32;337.5:240)-ascend 2p and one g, from fundamental; this yields the 45th harmonic, which is ieduced to the original octeve.

178 Music of Madhva Monks

mg (64:15; 341.33:240)-descend 2p and the none g, from $ dt (8:5; 384:240)- descend one ga from s nr (5:3;400:240)-descend one p from s and then ascend one g, n 3 (243:128; 455.265:240) ascend 5 p from fundamental and reduce to original octave. Finally, the functional relevance of the two streams of intervallic derivation in Indian music as integrated into the present musical practice (see Table 5) may be examined in terms of the triangular consonances mentioned above. The results are summarised in Table 8.

Raghavendra tirtha 179

TABLE 8

note s-p s-m s-ga note s-p s-mr s-gg note s-p S-IT S-g3 r -- i dr-i m1-i ng-i n1-i ga-i ii dr-ii m-ii mT-i m .- i ii ga-iii g1-ii iii mg-ili ng-1 iv ma-iv gg-ii gr-i nr-i m .- i iv ng-il gg-ii ii nz-ii P n3-i m3-i ga-i g .- i n2-i d1-i p n3-ii ii gg ii ng:ii di-ii p p gr-ii na-ii iii m _- iii ga-iii na-i n -- i d7-i ga-i rr-i

li ng-ii ii ga-ii rz-ii

na-iii ny-ii

180 Music of Madhva Monks

Of these relationships, s-mr is the most abundant (20/28), s-p is abundant (18/28), s-g, relatively few (12/28). Four intervals viz. ma-ii, iii, dr-iii, n1-iii do not have any consonances. Five intervals have no dominants (s-p) at all viz. rr-iii, iv; mg-i, iv; ng-ii. Five of them have no subdominants (s-mt); rr-i, gr-i, ga-ii; m,-ii, iv. Among these consonance-poor intervals, rr-iii and m,-iii are contributed by Ramamātya, while Hrdayanārayaņa has given rr-iv, gs-ii, ma-iv, dr-iii, nr-iii. The others are of recent origin, but possess consonance with other intervals not shown in Table 5 but used, though infrequently in our present music. Intervals 135:128, 128:81, 128:95, 27:20, 25:18 are some illustrations of this. Such intervals as are naturally deficient in consonance are adapted through minor approximations and included in the vina keyboard. In enunciating an octave of 22 srutis, Bharata and his followers had restricted consonance to specific note pairs which are at an interval of 8 or 12 srutis. By 15th-17th cent. the rule of consonance was generalised to include all note-pairs which are separated by these sruti-distances. This endowed the scale with greater balance and aesthetic potential. If this rule is followed it becomes difficult to accommodate and organise intervals with no consonances at all or even without s-p and s-mr consonances, in the scale. Even if at first intervals are included because of their simple numerical ratio, or are exatly derivable through a mathematical scheme, they can be retained in musical practice through seme degree of ratiocination and rationalisation viz. f eomplete absence of consonance ii consonance defect (i.e. the degree of departure from exact censonance) is beyond aural perception, iii occurrence as a shade of a given note during a melodic flux iv when a note which could be, but is not, a consonant can be tempered enough to serve as an ad hoc consonant, When such intervals lose empirical transactability, they 'go to heaven'. to borrow an expiession from the ancient masters. When they do, the vina keyboard moults and beccmes efferves- cently young again.

XI REFERENCES TO MUSIC AND DANCE References to music and dance made by the above vaisnava saint singers may be mentioned in conclusion of this presentation. Such references made by Šripādaiāya have been already discussed above. Vyasaraya mentions Tumburu (pp. 26, 100), Narada and the siddhas (p. 100) as (mythical) ancient exponents of music Tumburu and Narada have been discussed as ancient authorities in music by me elsewhere .* 4 He mentions the tamburi as drone accompaniment, (pp. 245). He describes the power of music; the deer listens immobile to the sound of the bell and is thus captured by the hunter (p. 30).225 Vadiraja also makes a similar reference in a song in his bhra maragita .=** Krșna's music can melt even rocks (pp. 94, 97) cattle forgot grazing (p 99), the river Yamuna slowed down in order hear to Krsna's flute the longer(pp. 97, 99), the trees were horipilated with an abundance of buds (p. 97). Krsna danced on the Govardhana hill such that there was a diffe- rent foot work for each tala, there was a different hand movement for each rasa, there was a different glance for each bhava (p. 84). This occasion was celebrated with music and dance both in the heaven and on the earth : song by kinnaras in the heaven and cowherds on earth; dance by celestial nymphs and cowherds, Narada's viņa cowherd's kinnari, celestial dundubhi and cowherd's mura ja, dance by Rambha and other apsaras, tandava by cowherds (p. 84).

224 Sathyanarayana, R., Viņālaksaņa-vimarše, pp. 296- 299; 306-308 225 idhem. Niḥsanka-hrdaya, comm. Sārngadeva, op. cit. p. 21 226 Vadiraja, Bhramaragita, ed. Guru Rao, Pavañje- inter alia, (pp. 14,15)

182 Music of Madhva Monks Vyasarāya's view of music may be summarised thus : music which is devoid of love and does not sing the glories of God is not music at all (p. 40). Music and dance are for worship and service to God (p. 52); music means harikantha (pp. 34, 38, 60). Some songs of Vadiraja may be adapted for dance (e.g. 48, UE. 85). He also refers to ancient (mythical) celestial and semicelestial exponents such as Nārada, Rambhā, ūrvaši and Menakā (30), kinnaras and gandharvas (UE 58) as performing both song (gita) and dance (nrtya) (30). He holds that music originated from Krsna on earth listening to whose music the trees horripilated, all animals became still, birds and animals were lost in themselves, and the gods were delighted (70). There is an interesting . reference to an astaka song (eight-stanza song) which is probably the Krşņāştaka composed by Madhvācārya (UE 20). He men- tions several musical instruments : dundubhi (dundume?), vālaga (a version of nāgasvara (30), tāla (cymbals), šankha (conch), tammate (tom -tom), tamburi which are together called melu(mela-)pancaka the renowned group five honorific musical instiuments (30, 69). Mela pancaka here means quintitte ensemble i.e. a group of five musical instru- ments. He also mentions pancamahavādya, honorific insignia used in processions and pageantry of God or kings (74)#27. Sarvavādya, simultaneous performance of all musical instruments, mainly percussive in temples is also mentio- ned (UE 20). This includes-bherimauli(?) mauļi (! mauri) vādya (a form of nāgasvara), mauļimauļi (?) and cakravādya' in a song which does not enjoy the benefit of collative support. This passage is further interesting because these instruments are said to be performed in tāratamya (heirarchical order). 227 For various groups of pañca-maha-vadya mentioned n inscriptions, vide Chidananda Murthy, M.' Karnāțakada Sāsanagaļalli Sāmskrti Adhyayanaka' pp. 335-337

References to Music and Dance 183 Vadiraja makes an interesting musical mention : Hanu- manta is said therein to have delighted God Hayavadana through ragas. The passage reads : rāgagaļa mēļaisi hayavadana nolisi'. The word 'melaisi' may mean 'classified' (rägas) or blended (his singing of rägas) with (other instru- ments). The first implies theat he is a musicicological authority, the second, a great performer. Hanuman or or Ãñjaneya is associated in legend, myth and textual tradition in musicology in India with both. This is discus- sed by me elsewhere. ?28 Hanumin is a very important diety occupying a high position (3rd tier in ascending heirachy) in the heirarchical order (taratamya) of dvaita theology "a and is known Mukhyaprāņa. Madhvācārya i believed to be an incarnation in the series : Vayu-Mukhya praņa-Hanuman-Bhīma-Madhvācārya. There is thus an attempt here to integrate a music legend into the corpus of dvaita dogma.

228 Sathyanarayana, R., op. cit. pp. 299-303 229 Ramachandra Rao, S. K., op. cit. vol. 2, pp. 43-46

VĀRTTANĀMA (ADDENDUM) Some additional information on vrttanama, gathered since wiiting the abovel is now presented here. Jagannathadasa's vrttanama discussed aboveª is now available in a critical edition.3 Its text is constituted from six collative sources viz. Bha 4, Ta 4, Tå 13, Li 1, Gõ 2 and Mu 274 Is commences with a two-line pallavi and has nine units of sloka-pada. The Mlokas conform only approximately to the malini vrtta. Such approximation in this and other metrical structures (in kannada, marāthi, tamil etc.) used in musical composition is applicable only in their written form and disappears in oral presentations by appropriate adjustments. The vrtta-lines in this compo- sition also reveal more or less uniformly a caesura after the eighth and fifteenth syllable and internal rhyming at the beginning in the two segments so formed. 1 vide supra, pp. 9-18, 63-70 2 ibid. pp. 12, 66, 67 3 Jagannatha dasa, 'paliso pandhara-puri-raya', No. 78, Šrī Jagannatha dasara Krtigaļu, ed. Nagaratna, T.N pp. 161-163 Bha 4: MS. in the collection of Sri Bhagoji, P.K Ta 4 MS. in the collection of Sri Hanumantha Rao. Talür-, Bellary Ta 13: MS. in the collection of Sii Hanumantha Rao, Talur-, Bellary 1 Li 1: MS. in the collection of Smt. Lilavathi, Surahkal Go 2: MS. in the collection of Haridasaratnam Sri Gopaladasa, Bangalore Mu 27; impressi typis, Jagannāthadāsara Krtigaļu, ed. Guru Rao, Pavañje-, Sriman Madhvasiddhan ta-granthālaya, Udupi, 1926

Vrttanāma (Addendum) 185

Four of the six collative sources ascribe the raga pharaju and tala chapu to the song. Interestingly; one exemplar, viz. Ta 4 prescribes the rāga sankarābharaņa after the first pada, but no tila. If the latter is not a scribal error or transmissional lacuna, this would appear as a trend to a ragamālika (and less plausibly rāga-tāla-mālika) composition. Indeed, it is surprising that the composers or performers of vrttansma in the past did not conceive of it as a rāgamālika because a garland of rāgas offers an appro- priate, and excellent facility for the affective and aesthetic flux which the word content inheres. Helavanakatte Giriyamma has composed a vrttanāma which is popularly known as 'parijata".5 The critical edition of this text is based on two exemplars viz. Be 41 and Na 23.° It consists of 9 units of sloka-pada. Its unique feature is the absence cf pallavi. The sources also lack ascription of raga and tala ; this may be attributed to the fact that the composition being of a relatively unknown, unostentatious woman, it did not gain entry within the perimeter of 'classical' music. The term sloka appears to have been applied in a loose or elastic sense in this song to mean a passage which is not set to tala but is not a prose. The syllabic content varies from 12 to 15 per line within a sloka and does not conform to any metrical pattern. The syllabic content in padas varies from 23 to 26 per line, thus being roughly double the shortest sloka line. Both sloka and pada uniformly rhyme on the second syllable (except

5 Giriyamma, Heļavanakațțe-, Pārijāta, No. 11, Helavanakațțe Giriyammana Hādugaļu, ed. Indubai, T. K. pp. 17.21 6 Be 41; MS. in the collection of (the late) Dr. D.R. Bendre, Dharwad Na 23:MS. in the collection of Sri Naraharidasa Surahkal

186 Music of Madhva Monks

the third line in the first pada);the sloka lines also rhyme on the last syllable (except the last line in sloka 5, the variant for which offered by Be 41 is a better reading and obviates the exception). The Jine length in the padas suggests a middle or fast tempo in contrast to the slow tempo which is appropriate for the slokas here. As indicated by the title, this vrttanama narrates the story of the flower of the wish-ganting celestial tree, parijata. It is the second7 of such trees which arose when the milk ocean was churned the milk ocean.s Krsna stole it from paradise and planted it in the gaiden" of his consort Rukmini Satyabhama, another consort of Krsna becomes jealous and Krsna conciliates her. In Giriyamma's vritanāma, the sage Narada brings the parijata flower from paradise when Krsna is in court with Rukmiņi (sl. 1); Krsņa presents it to Rukmiņi; Satyabhamā hears of this, and is offended (pd. 1). She bewails Krsna's love for Rukmini and hypocricy towards herself (s1. 2, 3, pd. 2); but she suffers pangs of separation (pd. 3, 5, $l. 4) and condemns Narada's mischief. She is jealous of Rukmini sl. 5) and expresses her anger by word and deed (pd. 5). Krsna repents for neglecting Satyābhāma ($1. 6) and is diffident of facing her (pd. 6), seeks to meet her (s1. 7, pd. 7); he has brought for her also the pārijata flower (s1. 8); she asks him angrily to return to Rukmiņi (pd. 8. s1. 9); Krsna conciliates and consoles her ; he is restored to her love (pd.9) Like the vritanamas of Šripāda- raya and Purandaradasa, this is also an antiphony between

7 mandāra, pārijata, santāna, kalpa and haricandana 8 Vyāsa, Mahabharata, Adi-paivan, 5.18; Šuka, Bhagavata purāņam, 8.8,6 Vyāsa, op. cit. Sabha-parvan, 5.57. 40, 41, Šuka, op. cit. 10.59 ; Harivamsa, 2.64

Vrttanāma (Addendum) 187

Satyabhama and Krsna in short but effective phrases (units 7, 8, 9).

Finally, a vrttanāma of Prasanna Venkațadāsa may be noticed.10 Its theme is the same as the foregoing and is called Satyabhama-vilasa also and pārijāta piabandha. The author, whose signature occurs in padya no. 44, has called it pārijata in a padya but also 'satyabhāmā-vilāsa-padya- pada' in the colophon. Its text is constituted from two collative sources viz. Be 41 and Na 11.11Neither source prescribes a rã ga or tala, despite the fact that the authol indicates in the colophon that he intended it as mus car composition. It consists of 45 pieces. Of these, there are 12 units each consisting of two slokas followed by two padyas ; the finale consists of three padyas (49, 50, 51) in succession which are colophonic. The slokas are set in sārdūla-vikiīdita metre while the padyas are structured in Isis. Both sløka and padya lines rhyme on their respective second syllable.

10 Prasanna Venkațadāsa, Pārijāta prabandha, no. 202, Śri Prasanna Venkața dāsara Krtigalu, Haridāsa Sahityamile No. 10, ed. Indubai, T.K., Institute for Kannada Studies, University of Mysore, Mysore (under print) 11 Ba 41; MS. in the collection of (the late) Dr. D.R. Bendre, Dharwad Na li: MS. in the collection of Sri Naraharidasa, Suratkal

MAHAMAHOPADHYAYA RASHTRABHOOSHANA Dr. R. SATHYANARAYANA

R. Sathyanarayana is an internationally renowned authority on Indian Music and Dance and has published about 12,000 pages on these subjects He has received national and international awards, recognitions, honorific titles and degrees. He

is broadbased in several Physical Science, Humanistic and indological disciplines and knows several languages. He has served as President, Director, Moderato etc., in numerous national and international seminars, conferences and workshop:

on music and dance and has read by invitation, papers on Ayurveda, Astrology Yoga, Tantra, Clinical Psychology. Acoustics at Indian and International Congresses etc., He has frequently and widely Travelled abroad on Cultural missions. His life and work are described in many world Biographies, Professional Directories

Who's - Who-s.

Music of the Madhva Monks ot Karnataka is a new kind of work in Indiar

Musicology. It describes Musical and musicological contributions of five colossa

pontiffs of Madhva faith : Sripadaraya, Vysaraya, Vadiraja, Vijayindra Tirtha anic Raghavendra Tirtha. This is the first time that these composers and the musica

environmentwhich influenced them and was in turn influenced by them are studied systamatically. It brings to light many little known or unknown facts

The work examines critically all available songs of these composers in a historical

perspective for characterstics, trends, evolution and structure. It also subjects

both internal and critical evidence available to a critical examination. The

materials studied here are among the foundation on which Karnataka music was

built and shaped.

'MUSIC of the Madhva Monks of Karnataka is an influential work and will

probably serve as a model for further research work in the field.

H. G. RAMACHANDRA RAO GENERAL SECRETARY GNANAJYOTHI KALA MANDIR EDITOR GNANA SUDHA

SRI SRIPADARAJA SRI VYASARAJA

SRI VADIRAJA SRI RAGHAVENDRA