सङ्गीत-दर्पण:- Sangita-Darpanah: Gaurisvara-Sammatah (Sangita-Darpana, As Created by Gaurisvara)

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

I wish to share with all of you, some memories and thoughts of mine regarding an ancient treatise, which is very close to my heart. This treatise was scribed by my ancestors in calligraphy, which is slightly difficult to decipher. It has been preserved and protected with great care and concern by my ancestors. The treatise will be a treasure trove of knowledge for the Kathak world.

Five to six generations before me, my ancestors scribed this; it is bound together in various metrical patterns and is written continuously, without space between words and verses. In this treatise along with tala, raga, nayika classification, gati classification and desți classifications; the usage of old dance bols has been done, making it a complete confluence of all the elements of music, some of which are sometimes difficult and rare to find in other treatises. The contents of the treatise have been culled together in a logical, sequential and deliberate format. It is my undying faith that this treatise will be an asset to the entire world of art, music, literature and dance lovers, who can increase their knowledge exponentially by immersing themselves into the study of this treatise.

It has been estimated that the provenance of this treatise dates back to the time of my great-great-great grandfather Tularam ji (grandfather of Pt. Bindadin Maharaj). It may be possible that one of our forefathers had composed this treatise and given it to Tularam ji, who in turn passed it to my ancestor Durga Prasad ji. Thus passing down from generation to generation it reached my uncle Lachhu Maharaj ji and later to me. Though there were other treatises, they were lost due to various unfortunate reasons, and this is the only one that finally reached my care. This treatise also mentions our forefathers, gharana and tradition. The treatise has been translated both into Hindi and English so that the new directions and thoughts resulting from the study of this treatise can be accessible in India as well as internationally. This is how the treatise can become a contribution to the Kathak world, which now has a global reach. Through this treatise, one will also gain information regarding our ancestors, especially regarding where they hailed from. They came from the old Kashipur, which is today near Varanasi and Prayagraj. While some of them stayed back in Handia, others migrated to other places.

Due to the difficulty of understanding the script, it had previously been an uphill task to read and decipher the treatise. The central thought put forth by the treatise is that dance and other forms of music reached Gandharvaraj Tomara through his interaction with Brahma, Visnu, Mahesh, Naradji, Hayavadan, Ganeshji and Adisakti Ma Sarasvati. Gandharvaraj then took this knowledge forward and brought it into the human world through the training of Rsis and Munis. In due course of time, this knowledge also seeped into the commonfolk.

The first research attempt on this treatise was done by Kalpana Verma. She did progress in the work upto some extent, but the work could not be completed. Now with the grace of the divine, the research work was started afresh by the new team, who are soon completing the work of bringing forth the manuscript (pothi) for the benefit of everyone.

It is my hope that this work is completed by Vasantotsav this year. A number of scholars are playing important roles in this landmark work, notable among whom are Shatavadhani Dr R Ganesh, Arjun Bharadwaj, Sunil Sunkara and Sudarshan Muralidhara. A lot of hard work has been put into this project. Myself and my daughters Anita and Mamta and grand-daughters Ragini and Kannu have created some paintings for the book. I have also contributed some poetry inspired by the treatise. Various other members of the team are contributing in their own ways. Our intention is that all this work together will culminate into a noteworthy book.

It is my duty to my ancestors to ensure that this unforgettable treasure reaches the entire Kathak world and I humbly offer this work to all of you.

It is GLADDENING to know that my esteemed friend and colleague Sri Arjun Bharadwaj is bringing out a definitive edition of Sangita-darpana, a hitherto unpublished Sanskrit treatise on music and dance. I am all the more delighted to contribute a small Foreword to it as a token of my heartfelt appreciation to Arjun's sustained effort in bringing out this interesting work. However, I am a bit hesitant as I have no great experience in textual criticism and manuscriptology. My practical learning in music and dance, too, is elementary. Despite such handicaps, I am here to say a few words, and this is entirely because of my deep love for our classical arts and the compelling indebtedness I have for the elevating joy that they have evoked in me.

I will not bore my readers by holding forth on the present text Sangita-darpana. Arjun has brought out everything that could be said about the text in his introduction and annotated translation; so, I shall be content by shedding light on a few points that are often unfortunately ignored even by well-trained scholars, artistes and academicians. I am concerned more about the mindset that is needed to study, evaluate and absorb the essence of traditional texts such as the Sangita-darpana.

There are a few textual scholars who are satisfied by critically editing treatises, without spending any thought on their practical relevance, if any. Textual scholars are often oblivious to the practical aspects of the art forms with which the texts are primarily concerned. If, by chance, they are well exposed to the practical or performing aspects of the respective arts, they usually lack an imaginative mind to apply the insights that are furnished by the traditional texts. Typically, they end up blindly following the texts. This is mostly due to their scant regard for the universal aesthetics rooted in classical canons such as rasa, dhvani, aucitya and vakrata.

The second group of people are gifted artistes imbued with extraordinary practical training and zeal to experiment with their chosen classical art. Unfortunately, performers seldom have a philosophical vision of their art. They are happy with cosmetic buntings and festoons they manage to attach to their performances by randomly picking up ideas from ancient texts. They even get away with the glamorous tag of 'traditional innovation.'

There is a third and larger group that lacks both textual learning and practical training rooted in classicality. People who belong to this group often grossly ridicule the aforementioned pursuits. The most alarming part here is the hot-headedness with which these people carry out their mudslinging campaigns.

There is yet another group of people, perhaps the largest, who have a vague but intuitive feel of the universal canons of aesthetics. They enjoy our classical arts in a superficial manner but with humility. Perhaps their being unschooled is the saving grace.

I am pained to say that none of these four groups is capable of understanding. interpreting and evaluating our traditional texts satisfactorily and employing them for practical purposes. The foremost requirement is a logically sound and philosophically deep understanding of Indian aesthetics. This should be coupled with rigorous training in the practical aspects of our classical arts. Interdisciplinary studies should be encouraged with respect to traditional treatises.

THE CURRENT WORK titled Sangita-darpasa attributed to Gaurisvara is based on the manuscript material that has been safeguarded by Padma Vibhushan Pt. Birju Maharaj and his ancestors for about two centuries. The current work is the first publication of its critically edited Sanskrit text with accompanying translation and elaborate notes. The treatise provides valuable insights into music and dance of the medieval period and also serves as a historical documentation of the artistic thoughts of the author. Along with some hitherto unseen features, the treatise documents aspects which can be put in practice especially with respect to dance.

The Manuscript Material

The team has been able to procure only a single copy of the manuscript. A thorough search in the manuscript catalogues of libraries around India and abroad did not yield favourable results. While there are quite a few manuscripts with the title Sangita-darpana, they don't appear to be the copies of the current treatise.

Thus, the current work, the Sangita-darpana attributed to Gaurisvara is codex unicus, i.e., so far as the current knowledge goes, there seem to be no other recensions (editions and scribal copies) of the manuscript available.

Details about the current manuscript

Number of folios/pages: 200

Material: Paper

Script: Devanagari

Number of lines per page: 11 or 12 (except the last folio which has 7 lines)

Number of verses: 1,172

Ownership

The manuscript has been safeguarded by the descendants of the Kalka-Bindadin Gharana of Kathak, Lucknow at least from the times of Pt. Bindadin Maharaj, who was born in 1830. It was with Pt. Lachhu Maharaj till he passed away in 1978, and subsequently in the possession of Pt. Birju Maharaj. Presently, it is the property of his descendants.

Script and Paper

The script and the paper used appear to be at least two hundred years old. The manuscript also appears to have been examined and used by someone after its preparation, as some writing between the lines is found in a few pages (see folios 67, 68, 69 and 124-pages lvii, lviii, lxi), Some corrections and appending of syllables are found in some places as well. Thus, the work was read and was probably in use from the time the current copy was made.

The material is certainly a scribal copy and not the original author's writing, ie.. it is not an autograph. It is clear from the kind of errors present in the manuscript that the scribe has little understanding of the subject, Sanskrit grammar and prosody. The author is a good scholar, well versed in the topic he has written about. As with most cases in the pre-technological era, a scribe, whose handwriting is appealing, seems to have been employed to make a copy. The copy might have been made based on another copy or, perhaps, the author's original was accessible to the scribe who wrote the current copy. A scholar who is well versed in various streams of knowledge wouldn't have made the kind of grammatical and metrical flaws seen in the manuscript. Therefore, it is also unlikely that the author would have dictated the material to the scribe.