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Kohala in the Sanskrit textual tradition (Study)

by Padma Sugavanam | 2011 | 95,782 words

This page relates ‘Citations of Kohala in the Bharatabhashya� of the thesis dealing with Kohala’s contribution to the Sanskrit textual tradition of ancient Indian performing arts. The study focuses specifically on music (Gita), dance (Nritya), and drama (Natya). Although Kohala’s original works have not been found, numerous references to him across Lakshana-Granthas (treatises) and works by modern scholars indicate his significance.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Part 6 - Citations of Kohala in the 󲹰ٲṣy

󲹰ٲṣym (1097-1154 C.E.) or ī-ṛdṅk of Բⲹ𱹲, does not contain any references to Kohala per se. But a study of Kohala through the eyes of Abhinavagupata indicates the relevance of this work. While commenting on the Ҳٲⲹⲹ (Chapter 12) of the ṭyśٰ, Abhinavagupta, on many occasions refers to (such as ܲ󲹻, , ñᲹ첹 et.) that were spoken of by Kohala. The names or defintions of these are not seen in works like Dattilam or ṛhśī and for that matter even Abhinavagupta does not explain these . The editor of the GOS edition of ṭyśٰ and 󾱲Բī, M. R. Kavi gives definitions in the form of citations from Kohala and Tumburu for many of these (ref.para 2.1.14). Unfortunately, he does not mention his source for this information. However, on a study of the manuscript of 󲹰ٲṣy[1] many of these were found in the section dealing with ṅg . Dhruvā gāna included some which were classified as ṅg, viṅg and upaṅg . In the commentary of the thirty second chapter of ṭyśٰ, Abhinava suggests that these were created out of the process of ṅg (breaking up, like ٱṭa) which was also clearly delineated by Kohala. From Abhinava’s words, it appears that the process of arriving at these ṅg as well as the individual descriptions of each of these was explained by Kohala in his work. The ṅg have not been spoken of by Bharata, nor do they find a place in any of the śī works like ṛhśī, ṅgīٲٲ첹 etc. It is Bharata-ṣy which offers us information regarding these ṅg (which could even be a reproduction of what was found in Kohala’s work) and hence is significant from the perspective of understanding Kohala.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

󲹰ٲṣym: GOML: Acc. No. R20159/ SR5631

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