Essay name: Musical Instruments in Sanskrit Literature
Author:
S. Karthick Raj KMoundinya
Affiliation: University of Madras / Department of Sanskrit
The essay studies the Musical Instruments in Sanskrit Literature and its relationship with the South Indian musical tradition. The study emphasizes the universal appeal of music and documents how it pervades various aspects of life, art, literature, painting, and sculpture.
Chapter 1 - Introduction: Musical instruments in India
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External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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Vedic literature consisting of the four Vedas, the Pr膩ti艣膩khyas, the
艢ik峁Ｄ� - s奴tras, the Br膩hma峁嘺s, the 膧ranyakas and the Upanisads, works
on Grammar like those of P膩峁噄ni and Pata帽jali lay emphasis on the
aspect of sound which is fundamental to music also. The great epics, the
R膩m膩ya峁嘺 and the Mah膩bh膩rata, the Pur膩峁嘺s, the Mah膩k膩vyas, Dramas,
Prose, Campu, Fables and Devotional literature - all contain references
to Music.
Music is almost synonymous with Musical Instruments. Musical
Instruments form an integral part of music, both as accompanying
instruments as well as main instruments on appropriate occasions.
Musical instruments have played an important role in the civilization of
man since every action of the World and its creation has a rhythmic
background. All activities of life such as walking running, working,
speaking etc. has a rhythm. The heartbeat has a rhythm and if the
rhythm misses a beat, it is dangerous. Rhythm is indeed the very essence
of life. The entire Indian Philosophy centers around the mystic syllable
of 'Om'.
The oldest instrument is the human body itself, particularly the
voice. The musical texts describe it as the G膩tra V墨峁嚹�. With regard to
Musical instruments, India possesses a large number of varieties of
various kinds: V墨峁嚹�, Ve峁噓, M峁沝anga, Panava, Dundubhi and Damaru
are mentioned so often, that they became common household terms.
