Gamaka, Gāmaka, Gama-ka: 21 definitions
Introduction:
Gamaka means something in Hinduism, Sanskrit, Jainism, Prakrit, Buddhism, Pali, Marathi, Hindi. If you want to know the exact meaning, history, etymology or English translation of this term then check out the descriptions on this page. Add your comment or reference to a book if you want to contribute to this summary article.
Alternative spellings of this word include Gamak.
In Hinduism
Natyashastra (theatrics and dramaturgy)
Gamaka (गमक, “grace”).—Graces (gamakas) are the ornaments of notes, according to the 17th century Sangitadarpana (commentary 2-4). When, in singing, a note rises from its own pitch and moves towards another so that something of the expression of the second sound passes like a shadow over it, this is called a grace (gamaka). (Saṅgītasamayasāra 1.47) Gamakas, also called‘roaming about’ (caraṇa), are said to be of twenty-one kinds. (Saṅgītamakaranda 2.17) All the ways in which notes can be attacked, ornamented or resolved, are known under the general name of gamaka.
The grace that pleases the mind of the hearer is a gamaka. These are of fifteen different kinds, called tiripa (flurry), sphurita (throb), kampita (shake), līna (melting away), āndolita (swing), vali (ripple), tribhinna (threefold), kurula (curl), āhata (struck), ullāsita (laughing), plavita (overflow), gumphita (tied), mudrita (sealed), nāmita (obeisance), miśrita (mixed). See Saṅgītaratnākara 2.3.87-89
Gamaka (गमक, “ornamented note”) refers to ornamentation that is used in the performance of Indian classical music. Gamakas involve the variation of pitch of a note, using heavy forceful oscillations between adjacent and distant notes. Each raga (melodic tone) has specific rules on the types of gamakas that might be applied to specific notes, and the types that may not.
Gamaka (गमक).—The sensational art of making a melody pulsate (svarasya kampaḥ) is called gamaka. “A gamaka is any graceful turn, curve or cornering touch given to a single note or a group of notes, which adds emphasis to each rāga’s individuality”. According to Saṅgīta-darpaṇa, there are fifteen different gamaka styles which are called: tiripa, sphurita, kampita, nīla, āndolita, bali, tribhinna, kuvala, āhata, unnamita, plavita, hankrita, mudrita, namita and miśrita. Other Indian music texts give other numbers of gamakas.
Natyashastra (नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) refers to both the ancient Indian tradition (shastra) of performing arts, (natya—theatrics, drama, dance, music), as well as the name of a Sanskrit work dealing with these subjects. It also teaches the rules for composing Dramatic plays (nataka), construction and performance of Theater, and Poetic works (kavya).
Gitashastra (science of music)
Gamaka (गमक, “embellishments”) refers to an essential element of the sthāyas (technical phrases) of a rāga (melodic mode) in Indian classical music (gāndharva), according to the Saṅgītaśiromaṇi 14.83-94. Accordingly, “performing a note with a vibrato (prakampana) which has a very pleasing effect on the listener is what people call gamaka”.
There are fifteen aspects of gamaka (‘embellishment’ or ‘ornamentation’) defined:
- vali (wrinkle),
- āndolita (swung),
- līna (pressed),
- kampita (shaken),
- sphurita (trembling),
- tiripa (stressing),
- tribhinna (divided into three),
- kurula (curl),
- ullāsita (jumping),
- āhata (struck),
- huṃphita (humming),
- plavita (prolonged),
- mudrita (closed),
- nāmita (bent),
- miśrita (mixed),
Gitashastra (गीतशास्त्र, gītaśāstra) refers to the ancient Indian science of Music (gita or samgita), which is traditionally divided in Vocal music, Instrumental music and Dance (under the jurisdiction of music). The different elements and technical terms are explained in a wide range of (often Sanskrit) literature.
Vyakarana (Sanskrit grammar)
Gamaka (गमक).—Capable of conveying the sense; intelligible; the word is often used in grammatical works; cf. सापेक्षत्वेपि गमकत्वात्समासः (sāpekṣatvepi gamakatvātsamāsaḥ); cf. also अवश्यं कस्याचिन्नञ्स-मासस्य असमर्थसमासस्य गमकस्य साधुत्वं वक्तव्यम् । असूर्यपश्यानि मुखानि (avaśyaṃ kasyācinnañsa-māsasya asamarthasamāsasya gamakasya sādhutvaṃ vaktavyam | asūryapaśyāni mukhāni) M. Bh. on II. 1. 1.
Vyakarana (व्याकरण, vyākaraṇa) refers to Sanskrit grammar and represents one of the six additional sciences (vedanga) to be studied along with the Vedas. Vyakarana concerns itself with the rules of Sanskrit grammar and linguistic analysis in order to establish the correct context of words and sentences.
In Jainism
Jain philosophy
Gamaka (गमक) refers to “indicative”, as occurring in the Anekāntajayapatākā-prakaraṇa, a Śvetāmbara Jain philosophical work written by Haribhadra Sūri.—[Cf. Vol. I, P. 173, l. 14]—‘Gamaka’ a homonym, here means indicative. The word in this sense is used in Mālatīmādhava (I, 7).
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Languages of India and abroad
Pali-English dictionary
gāmaka : (m.) small village.
Gāmaka, 1. =gāma Vin.I, 208; J.I, 199 (Macala°), 253; IV, 431 (cora°); PvA.67 (Iṭṭhakāvatī and Dīgharājī); DhA.II, 25 (dvāra°).—2. a villager J.V, 107 (=gāmavāsin).
1) gamaka (ဂမက) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[gamu+ṇe+ṇvu]
[ဂမု+ဏေ+ဏွု]
2) gamaka (ဂမက) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[gamu+ṇvu]
[ဂမု+ဏွု]
3) gāmaka (ဂါမက) [(ti) (တိ)]—
[gamu+ṇvu]
[ဂမု+ဏွု]
4) gāmaka (ဂါမက) [(pu,na) (ပု၊န)]—
[gāma+ka]
[ဂါမ+က]
[Pali to Burmese]
1) gamaka—
(Burmese text): (က) သွားတတ်သော၊ သူ။ (ခ) ရောက်သော၊ သူ။
(Auto-Translation): (a) The one who can go. (b) The one who has arrived.
2) gamaka—
(Burmese text): သိစေတတ်သော။
(Auto-Translation): To inform or to notify.
3) gāmaka—
(Burmese text): ရွာ၊ ရွာငယ်။
(Auto-Translation): Village, small village.
4) gāmaka—
(Burmese text): သွားတတ်သော၊ သူ။
(Auto-Translation): He who can go.
Pali is the language of the Tipiṭaka, which is the sacred canon of Theravāda Buddhism and contains much of the Buddha’s speech. Closeley related to Sanskrit, both languages are used interchangeably between religions.
Marathi-English dictionary
gamaka (गमक).—n (S Causing to go.) A proof, an evidence, an argument for: also support, sanction, authority, warrant, grounds for assurance or admission. 2 A deep expectorated tone in singing. Singers speak of three tones, ālāpha, jōra, gamaka.
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gamakā (गमका).—m P Airs, affectation, strutting, swelling, swaggering.
gamaka (गमक).—n A proof, an evidence; support, sanction, authority. A deep ex- pectorated tone in singing.
Marathi is an Indo-European language having over 70 million native speakers people in (predominantly) Maharashtra India. Marathi, like many other Indo-Aryan languages, evolved from early forms of Prakrit, which itself is a subset of Sanskrit, one of the most ancient languages of the world.
Sanskrit dictionary
Gamaka (गमक).—a. (-mikā f.) [गम्-ण्वुल् (gam-ṇvul)]
1) Indicative or suggestive, a proof or index of; तदेव गमकं पाण्डित्यवैद- ग्ध्ययोः (tadeva gamakaṃ pāṇḍityavaida- gdhyayoḥ) Mālatīmādhava (Bombay) 1.7.
2) Convincing.
-kaḥ A kind of musical note (of which there are seven cf. svarotthāna- prakārastu gamakaḥ parikīrtitaḥ | sa kampitādibhedena smṛtaḥ saptavidho budhaiḥ || sthānaprāptyā dadhānaṃ prakaṭitagamakāṃ mandratāravyavasthām Nāg.1.12).
Gamaka (गमक).—[adjective] convincing, conclusive; showing, betraying (—°). Abstr. tā [feminine], tva [neuter]
1) Gamaka (गमक):—[from gam] mfn. causing to understand, making clear or intelligible, explanatory, leading to clearness or conviction (e.g. hetu, ‘a convincing reason’), [Sarvadarśana-saṃgraha i, 35]
2) [v.s. ...] indicative of ([genitive case]), [Mālatīmādhava i, 7]
3) [v.s. ...] n. (in music) a deep natural tone, [Purāṇa-sarvasva]
Gamaka (गमक):—(vom caus. von 1. gam) adj. zur Ueberzeugung führend: hetu ein Grund mit zwingender Beweiskraft [MÜLLER] in [morgenländischen Gesellschaft 7. 294.] zeugend von (gen.): yatprauḍhatvamudāratā ca vacasāṃ yaccārthato gauravaṃ taccedasti tatastadeva gamakaṃ pāṇḍityavaidagdhyayoḥ [Mālatīmādhava 3.] ult. Davon nom. abstr. gamakatva n. und gamakatā f. zwingende Beweiskraft [DĀYABH. 363, 1. 17. 19.]
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Gamaka (गमक):—[SARVADARŚANAS. 4, 7.] tva [Sāhityadarpana 122, 2.] gamaka n. in der Musiklehre ein tiefer Brustton [Murathee] [Oxforder Handschriften 87,a,14. 200,b, No. 477.] Das danebenstehende ālapti bedeutet nach [Murathee] (u. alāpa) tuning the voice previously to singing; running over the notes to catch the key; humming a tune.
Gamaka (गमक):——
1) Adj. zur Ueberzeugung führend , zeugend von (Gen.) Nom.abstr. tā f. und tva n. —
2) n. ein tiefer Brustton.
Gamaka (गमक) in the Sanskrit language is related to the Prakrit word: Gamaga.
Sanskrit, also spelled संस्कृतम् (saṃskṛtam), is an ancient language of India commonly seen as the grandmother of the Indo-European language family (even English!). Closely allied with Prakrit and Pali, Sanskrit is more exhaustive in both grammar and terms and has the most extensive collection of literature in the world, greatly surpassing its sister-languages Greek and Latin.
Hindi dictionary
Gamaka (गमक) [Also spelled gamak]:—(nf) fragrance; a kind of musical ornamentation; the sound of a drum.
...
Kannada-English dictionary
Gamaka (ಗಮಕ):—[adjective] impressing upon the mind; making clear or intelligible; convincing.
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Gamaka (ಗಮಕ):—
1) [noun] that which helps understanding the meaning (of something) clearly.
2) [noun] a way or method in which something is done, happens or must be done or must happen.
3) [noun] the quality of being worthy of esteem or honour; dignified manner, style, etc.; elegance.
4) [noun] the condition of being enthusiastic or thrilled.
5) [noun] a reciting of poetry melodiously, using musical modes suitable to the sentiments of the situation in the poetry, and depicting the meaning lucidly.
6) [noun] the act or process of giving moral or religious advice; a counselling.
7) [noun] the advice so given; counsel.
8) [noun] one who preaches or advices.
9) [noun] (gram.) a kind of compound of words in which the former word is a number, pronoun, adjective or noun formed from a verb.
10) [noun] the enhancing of the beauty of a musical note by moving or oscillating it around its natural position in a regulated manner.
Kannada is a Dravidian language (as opposed to the Indo-European language family) mainly spoken in the southwestern region of India.
Nepali dictionary
1) Gamaka (गमक):—n. Mus. 1. deep tone or sound of a vina or drum; 2. a deep natural tone;
2) Gamaka (गमक):—n. fragrance; aroma;
Nepali is the primary language of the Nepalese people counting almost 20 million native speakers. The country of Nepal is situated in the Himalaya mountain range to the north of India.
See also (Relevant definitions)
Partial matches: Gamu, Ne, Ka, Gama, Na.
Starts with: Gamakakale, Gamakamma, Gamakammakaranatthana, Gamakana, Gamakantaka, Gamakarama, Gamakarisu, Gamakaritva, Gamakasamasa, Gamakasaptaka, Gamakasetthi, Gamakata, Gamakatha, Gamakatva, Gamakavasa, Gamakaveru.
Full-text (+83): Nalakagamaka, Gamakavasa, Gamakasetthi, Nibbutigamaka, Dasagamaka, Nesadagamaka, Nivutthavaddhakigamaka, Naditiragamaka, Samgamaka, Beluvagamaka, Gamakarama, Coragamaka, Chadditagamaka, Catugamaka, Janapadagamaka, Kasikagamaka, Rajagahanagaradvaragamaka, Miśrita, Kampita, Sphurita.
Relevant text
Search found 23 books and stories containing Gamaka, Gama-ka, Gāma-ka, Gāmaka, Gamakā, Gamakas, Gamu-ne-nvu, Gamu-ṇe-ṇvu, Gamu-nvu, Gamu-ṇvu, Gamu-nvu, Gamu-ṇvu; (plurals include: Gamakas, kas, Gāmakas, Gamakās, Gamakases, nvus, ṇvus). You can also click to the full overview containing English textual excerpts. Below are direct links for the most relevant articles:
The Nyaya theory of Knowledge (by Satischandra Chatterjee)
Part 2 - Arthapatti or postulation as a source of Knowledge < [Chapter 20 - Other sources of Knowledge]
Musical Instruments in Sanskrit Literature (by S. Karthick Raj KMoundinya)
Texts on Music < [Chapter 2 - Origin and evolution of Music and Musical instruments]
Ancient stringed instruments—The Yazh < [Chapter 2 - Origin and evolution of Music and Musical instruments]
Dictionaries of Indian languages (Kosha)
Page 107 < [Hindi-English-Nepali (1 volume)]
Page 537 < [Hindi-Gujarati-English Volume 1]
Page 521 < [Bengali-Hindi-English, Volume 1]
A History of Indian Philosophy Volume 1 (by Surendranath Dasgupta)
Part 9 - Inference < [Chapter IX - Mīmāṃsā Philosophy]
Kohala in the Sanskrit textual tradition (Study) (by Padma Sugavanam)
Kohala and Gītā (10): The concept of Sthāya < [Chapter 2 - Kohala as seen in citations]
Part 1(a).4 - A Comparison of Kohalamatam with other Lakṣaṇagranthas < [Chapter 4 - Works attributed to Kohala]
Part 1(a).3 - Contents of Kohalamatam < [Chapter 4 - Works attributed to Kohala]