Essay name: Arts in the Puranas (study)
Author:
Meena Devadatta Jeste
Affiliation: Savitribai Phule Pune University / Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Pune
This essay studies the Arts in the Puranas by reconstructing the theory of six major fine arts鈥擬usic, Dance, Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, and Literature鈥攆rom the Major and Minor Puranas. This thesis shows how ancient sages studied these arts within the context of cultural traditions of ancient India.
Chapter 1 - Music in the Puranas
8 (of 72)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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8
. important constituent of the 'Svaramandala' is the Grama. The relation of one note to another is expressed by the ratio of their vibrations. This ratio is technically called the 'interval' between the two notes and is expressed by the number of Srutis between the two notes. Srutis are fixed notes with the smallest possible intervals. These interval fractions are approximately in the proportion of 4, 3, 2. Therefore the whole interval between the first note and its octave is 4 + 3 + 2 + 4 +4 + 3 + 2 or 22 Srutis. +3 The series of notes with these intervals was known as the Grama. In short a Grama is a particular arrangement of the Srutis. 23 The earliest specific reference to the Gr膩mas is found in Bharata's Natya sastra. Bharata does not give a definition of Grama. A regular definition of it is to be found in Sarahgadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th cen. A.D.) which came about thousand years later. 24 Grama is the collection of svaras which forms the
basis for Murcchan膩s etc. The commentator Kallinath explains
'Murcchanadi' as Murcchan膩, Krama, T膩na, Varna, Alankara,
Jati etc.
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The old Indian music before the time of Bharata (4th
Century A.D.) recognised three gramas Sadja Grama, Madhyama
Gr膩ma and the G膩ndh膩ra Gr膩ma. N膩radi Siksa refers to these
three gramas. When the 'Svarasaptaka' begins with the Sadja
it is called 'Sadjagrama'. In the Madhyama grama it starts
with the madhyama svara and if it begins with the Gandhara
