Kohala and Gītā (15): The concept of Prastara

1 Prastāra (Abhinavabhāratī)

तत्र च तालविधिमाह—
गुर्वादिरथ लघ्वादिर्युग्मः सर्वलघुस्तथा । (न्स् ३२.२४३)
इति शीर्षकाणामुत्तमविषये विनियोग इति युग्म एव चञ्चत्पुटः ।
चतुरष्टषोडषात्मकभेदास्त्रयः । तथेति । तेन वृत्तप्रकारेण योज्यम् । अन्येन चञ्चत्पुटस्य कलापादवैचित्र्ये ये प्रभेदा भवन्ति तेषु दिग् दर्शिता । तदाह । गुर्वादिरिति । प्रथमप्रस्तारभेदः । तथा लघ्वादिः । प्रस्तारान्तरप्रकारः । सर्वलघुरिति । सर्वान्त्यभेदेन प्रस्तारसमाप्तिरिति पिशुनतया..........
कोहलादिप्रदर्शितमिति भवति ।

tatra ca tālavidhimāha—
gurvādiratha laghvādiryugmaḥ sarvalaghustathā | (NS 32.243)
iti śīrṣakāṇāmuttamaviṣaye viniyoga iti yugma eva cañcatpuṭaḥ |
caturaṣṭaṣoḍaṣātmakabhedāstrayaḥ | tatheti | tena vṛttaprakāreṇa yojyam | anyena cañcatpuṭasya kalāpādavaicitrye ye prabhedā bhavanti teṣu dig darśitā | tadāha | gurvādiriti | prathamaprastārabhedaḥ | tathā laghvādiḥ | prastārāntaraprakāraḥ | sarvalaghuriti | sarvāntyabhedena prastārasamāptiriti piśunatayā..........
kohalādipradarśitamiti bhavati |

(Abinavabhāratī, Commentary on 32.243, GOS Vol. IV, p.345) 

The above commentary of Abhinavagupta occurs in the context of śīrṣaka in the chapter on dhruvā compositions. Śīrṣaka, literally meaning -the ‘crown’ indicates the end of the main section of a gītaka. 

N. Ramanathan says—

“Śīrṣaka is normally a small section and is invariably in ekakala uttara tāla—ŚISSIŚ. In some gītakas śīrṣaka of the dvikala and catuṣkala forms also occurs. The śīrṣaka is an optional aṅga in the oveṇaka gītaka, but has to be present in madraka, aparāntaka, rovindaka and uttara”^[1]. 

Bharata prescribes the mātrās and gaṇas to be used in a śīrṣaka. 

शीर्षकाणामनियमो भवेत् पादविधानतः ॥ ३२.२४२ च्द् ॥
नानावृत्तसमुत्पन्नं कुर्याद्वै शीर्षकं बुधः ।
गुर्वादिरथ लघ्वादिर्युग्मः सर्वलघुस्तथा ॥ ३२.२४३ ॥
चतुर्मात्रो गणो ज्ञेयः पूर्वच्छन्दो विकल्पितः ।
अर्धाष्टमगणाः पादाः शीर्षकस्य भवन्ति वै ॥ ३२.२४४ ॥
चतुर्मात्रा च विज्ञेया युग्मौजाक्षरकैः पदैः ।
शीर्षकस्यैकविंशत्य षड्विंशतिपरस्तथा ॥ ३२.२४५ ॥
अक्षराणां भवेत् पिण्डः पादे ह्येकत्र निश्चयात् ।
युग्मा ओजा मिश्रा वादौ कार्या गणास्तु चत्वारः ।
नियतं शीर्षविधानेपश्चाल्लघुसंचयः कार्यः ॥ ३२. २४६ ॥

śīrṣakāṇāmaniyamo bhavet pādavidhānataḥ || 32.242 cd ||
nānāvṛttasamutpannaṃ kuryādvai śīrṣakaṃ budhaḥ |
gurvādiratha laghvādiryugmaḥ sarvalaghustathā || 32.243 ||
caturmātro gaṇo jñeyaḥ pūrvacchando vikalpitaḥ |
ardhāṣṭamagaṇāḥ pādāḥ śīrṣakasya bhavanti vai || 32.244 ||
caturmātrā ca vijñeyā yugmaujākṣarakaiḥ padaiḥ |
śīrṣakasyaikaviṃśatya ṣaḍviṃśatiparastathā || 32.245 ||
akṣarāṇāṃ bhavet piṇḍaḥ pāde hyekatra niścayāt |
yugmā ojā miśrā vādau kāryā gaṇāstu catvāraḥ |
niyataṃ śīrṣavidhānepaścāllaghusaṃcayaḥ kāryaḥ || 32. 246 || 

—Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharatamuni: 2006: GOS Vol. IV: pp.345-347

At this point, Abhinava, with a view to further explain what Bharata has said, makes the interpretation seen in the above extract.

Abhinava cites the Bharata’s words—

गुर्वादिरथ लघ्वादिर्युग्मः सर्वलघुस्तथा ॥ ३२.२४३ ॥

gurvādiratha laghvādiryugmaḥ sarvalaghustathā || 32.243 || 

And begins his discussion with cañcatpuṭa tāla which is ayugma. This cañcatpuṭa tāla has three varieites—

1. ekakala which has four mātras (SSIŚ-1+1+½+1½=4),
2. dvikala which has 8 mātras, and
3. catuṣkala which has 16 mātras. 

These are to be applied in the different types of vṛttas (which are explained in the immediately preceeding section of the Nāṭyaśastra-Ch. 32). The different varieties that can be obtained by the breaking-down of the kalās of cañcatpuṭa tāla have been indicated^[2].

The word ‘gurvādiḥ’ he says, is indicative of the first step of prastāra. The cañcatpuṭa tāla by default begins with a guru. So, if the normal procedure of keeping the rightmost aṅga intact and proceeding with the prastāra beginning from the left is followed, then a guru cannot be in the ‘ādi’—initial position. It is possible that Abhinava reckons these aṅga-s from the right hand side (instead of reading left to right) and is talking about performing prastāra on the pluta of cañcatpuṭa which would yield guru in the initial position (when reckoned from the right hand side). The second stage of prastāra will involve having laghu in the ‘ādi’ position (again reckoned from the right hand side), because when a guru is broken down it will yield laghus. The very final stage of the prastāra involves all aṅgas becoming laghus. Abhinava says that this method has been shown by Kohala and others. 

It is interesting that Bharata and Abhinava speak only of guru and laghu. The pluta is automatically included as it is an innate aṅga of the cañcatpuṭa tāla which is being described here. The other aṅgas like druta and virāma have not been touched upon in this context. But at a later point, Abhinava does speak of druta and virāma in connection with prastāra. Also, Bharata here, seems to be speaking only about metrical aspects. It is Abhinava who brings up a link with tāla (in this case—cañcatpuṭa tāla) and interprets this verse to indicate the prastāra of cañcatpuṭa tāla. 

Here a question may arise as to why tāla prastāra has been brought in while enumerating metrical forms of dhruvā compositions. Unlike present day musical compositions, those of the ancient times were all metrical in nature. Though the dhruvā compositions strictly followed rules of vṛtta, they were also performed with tāla. Now, when singing a piece in cañcatpuṭa tāla, usually the citra mārga is used wherein a guru will comprise of four units. In this case the cañcatpuṭa tala will have (SSIŚ=4+4+2+6) 16 units in all. At the same time, when rendering a dhruvā the guru of cañcatpuṭa becomes almost the same duration of a dīrgha metrical syllable (guru). By the process of prastāra, the forms obtained might match with some of the vṛttas of dhruvā gāna. This could probably be the reason for performing prastāra. And this is also perhaps the reason Abhinava introduces the concept of prastāra, though Bharata himself does not mention prastāra at all in this context. 

Bharata speaks about prastāra, while describing chandas in the pāṭhyavidhāna. But even there, the prastāra is not related to tāla. Abhinava says that Kohala and others have shown this method. Dattila speaks of svara prastāra. Therefore, from the perspective of Kohala it is an important point that this process of prastāra of the aṅgas of tāla in relation to the performance of dhruvā compositions has been demonstrated by him even when Bharata is silent on the issue. This also consequently leads to an important inference that Kohala did speak on subjects of mārga contrary to opinions of scholars that Kohala belonged to the deśī tradition. It appears likely that Kohala was as much an authority in mārga.

2 Prastāra (Abhinavabhāratī)

नन्वर्धकलिका कलिका च गतिरुक्तेति तावत्यपि स्याद् ध्रुवेति भ्रमं वारयति । न ह्येककला द्विकला ध्रुवाविरामा इति । कलायां निषिद्ध......मार्गस्वरूपनिरूपणा.......
पञ्चलघ्वक्षरपरिमाणं लघ्वक्षरमिति । इत्थं ध्रुवस्य प्रतिपादितं तेन प्लुतो गुरुरेव । गुरुस्तदपेक्षया लघुः । लघ्वपेक्षया लघुरेवेति प्रस्तारे विभागः । तत्र प्रस्तारविधिरुच्यते—

आद्यगुरोर्लोपः स्यात् पर(द)मुपरि पदादितो गुरुः पूर्णे ।
लघुना पूरणमत्र च यावद्गति गुरुलघुत्वं स्यात् ॥

तेन प्लुतस्तद्भङ्गेऽष्टादशभेदास्तेन सह षड्भेदः । लघू द्वौ । तद्यथा । एतेषां प्रत्येकं विरामभेदतुल्यो द्विगुणस्त्रिगुणश्चतुर्गुण इति पञ्चधा विरामभेदः षष्ठकलायाः कलार्धस्य सार्धकलायां वा अत एव च विरामो मध्यविरामो मूलं भवत्येव । आद्ये सन्धानादिति हि कोहलाचार्यः । तेन प्लुतभेदाश्चतुर्दशादिकं शतम् (११४) । गुरुभेदाः षट्त्रिंशत् । लघु भेदा द्वादश । तेन चञ्चत्पुटस्य तावता गुणने (५३७७) तस्य द्वादशभिर्गुणने तस्याङ्कस्य चतुर्दशोत्तरेण शतेन (गुणने ७७५५७३६) । एते गुणकृता भेदाः । अवान्तरभेदानां तु निस्संख्यत्वमेव । चञ्चत्पुटवत् चाचपुटादिभेदेन भेदान्तराण्यपि दर्शनीयानि । यथोक्तं ।

असंख्यानि सहस्राणि कोटीनामयुतानि च ।
तालद्वयप्रभेदेन पुरा प्रोक्तानि शम्भुना ॥

इति एवं मिश्रभेदोऽप्यनुसर्तव्यः । अत एव त्र्यश्रचतुरश्रमिश्राणां षट्पितापुत्रकस्य च मूलप्रकृतितया ध्रुवाशब्दवाच्यानां भञ्जिनाट्ये प्लुतगुरुलघुद्रुतमयास्ताला विरामभेदा विचित्राः । तथा भङ्गव्यपदेशेन यदाहुः । ध्रुवाणां भञ्जनाद्भङ्गा इति । एवं त्रिचतुष्षष्टकध्रुवातालभञ्जनं भङ्गानां रूपस्य । उपभङ्गास्तु सङ्कीर्णस्वरूपेभ्यः कलाः पञ्चे (भ. ना ३१.२४)त्यदिनोक्तस्य भञ्जनादपि भवन्ति । तथाऽभिनयनकाले त्र्यश्रा । त्र्ययगत्र्यद्वैगुण्या । मिश्रा च दशकलाचतुष्कं वलयमथ गत्रयमित्येव (वं)रूपी(पिणी) । यत्र तु द्विविधत्वाद् गुरुलधुप्लुतद्रुतविरामादिरूपेण भञ्जनं तेऽपि भङ्गाः । लयभेदेन तु यत्र वैचित्र्यं तद्यथा द्विविधानां चित्रपदानां गुरुरूपप्रस्तारसाम्येऽपि लयकृतविभेदः । एवं भङ्गोपभङ्गविभङ्गलयरूपा तावच्चतुर्धा तालजातिर्गोबलीवर्दवृत्त्या लक्ष्यते । तद्व्यपदेशाद्विभक्ताः संव्यवहारसिद्धये कोहलाचार्यप्रभृतिभिः । भट्टगोपालभट्टलोल्लटप्रभृतिभिस्तु तथाविभागं विनियोगशेषं च दूषितम् ।

nanvardhakalikā kalikā ca gatirukteti tāvatyapi syād dhruveti bhramaṃ vārayati | na hyekakalā dvikalā dhruvāvirāmā iti | kalāyāṃ niṣiddha......mārgasvarūpanirūpaṇā.......
pañcalaghvakṣaraparimāṇaṃ laghvakṣaramiti | itthaṃ dhruvasya pratipāditaṃ tena pluto gurureva | gurustadapekṣayā laghuḥ | laghvapekṣayā laghureveti prastāre vibhāgaḥ | tatra prastāravidhirucyate—

ādyagurorlopaḥ syāt para(da)mupari padādito guruḥ pūrṇe |
laghunā pūraṇamatra ca yāvadgati gurulaghutvaṃ syāt ||

tena plutastadbhaṅge'ṣṭādaśabhedāstena saha ṣaḍbhedaḥ | laghū dvau | tadyathā | eteṣāṃ pratyekaṃ virāmabhedatulyo dviguṇastriguṇaścaturguṇa iti pañcadhā virāmabhedaḥ ṣaṣṭhakalāyāḥ kalārdhasya sārdhakalāyāṃ vā ata eva ca virāmo madhyavirāmo mūlaṃ bhavatyeva | ādye sandhānāditi hi kohalācāryaḥ | tena plutabhedāścaturdaśādikaṃ śatam (114) | gurubhedāḥ ṣaṭtriṃśat | laghu bhedā  dvādaśa | tena cañcatpuṭasya tāvatā guṇane (5377) tasya dvādaśabhirguṇane tasyāṅkasya caturdaśottareṇa śatena (guṇane 7755736) | ete guṇakṛtā bhedāḥ | avāntarabhedānāṃ tu nissaṃkhyatvameva | cañcatpuṭavat cācapuṭādibhedena bhedāntarāṇyapi darśanīyāni | yathoktaṃ |

asaṃkhyāni sahasrāṇi koṭīnāmayutāni ca |
tāladvayaprabhedena purā proktāni śambhunā ||

iti evaṃ miśrabhedo'pyanusartavyaḥ | ata eva tryaśracaturaśramiśrāṇāṃ ṣaṭpitāputrakasya ca mūlaprakṛtitayā dhruvāśabdavācyānāṃ bhañjināṭye plutagurulaghudrutamayāstālā virāmabhedā vicitrāḥ | tathā bhaṅgavyapadeśena yadāhuḥ | dhruvāṇāṃ bhañjanādbhaṅgā iti | evaṃ tricatuṣṣaṣṭakadhruvātālabhañjanaṃ bhaṅgānāṃ rūpasya | upabhaṅgāstu saṅkīrṇasvarūpebhyaḥ kalāḥ pañce (bha. nā 31.24)tyadinoktasya bhañjanādapi bhavanti | tathā'bhinayanakāle tryaśrā | tryayagatryadvaiguṇyā | miśrā ca daśakalācatuṣkaṃ valayamatha gatrayamityeva (vaṃ)rūpī(piṇī) | yatra tu dvividhatvād guruladhuplutadrutavirāmādirūpeṇa bhañjanaṃ te'pi bhaṅgāḥ | layabhedena tu yatra vaicitryaṃ tadyathā dvividhānāṃ citrapadānāṃ gururūpaprastārasāmye'pi layakṛtavibhedaḥ | evaṃ bhaṅgopabhaṅgavibhaṅgalayarūpā tāvaccaturdhā tālajātirgobalīvardavṛttyā lakṣyate | tadvyapadeśādvibhaktāḥ saṃvyavahārasiddhaye kohalācāryaprabhṛtibhiḥ | bhaṭṭagopālabhaṭṭalollaṭaprabhṛtibhistu tathāvibhāgaṃ viniyogaśeṣaṃ ca dūṣitam | 

—(Abhinavabhāratī, Commentary on 32.409, GOS Vol. IV, pp.391-392) 

The above discussion of Abhinava is on the subject of bhaṅga or prastāra. In the mārga system, kalā referred to a basic unit of time. For instance in the cañcatpuṭa tāla, the ekakala form would have—SSIŚ—which is four kalās. However, if another mārga called dhruva is used, then ardhakalikā or half a kalā would have to be taken as the basic unit. This would mean that we are descending lower than the citra mārga.Having said this, Abhinava removes the confusion that it is dhruva. He then quotes a verse of some other author describing the process of prastāra.

Abhinava says that the pluta, in its bhaṅga (prastāra) has eighteen varieties. But this is possible only if the aṅga druta is also included. And even in that case it would sum up to a total of nineteen including the original pluta. Guru has six varieties and a laghu has two. Abhinava says that if the prastāra is done for a tāla such as cañcatpuṭa, then the pluta will have 114 (i.e. 18x6) varieites, guru 36 (6x6), and laghu 12 (2x6). And the entire tāla would have (SxSxIxŚ=36x36x12x114) 5377 possible varieties. Abhinava says that there are also other innumerable varieites. 

Abhinava mentions that this process of bhaṅga on the dhruvā tālas has come from Kohala. Bharata himself speaks of prastāra, but only in the context of metrical aspects. Abhinava says that it is Kohala who has spoken of this method of performing bhaṅga on tālas. Even in chapter 12 of Nāṭyaśāstra, Abhinava mentions several bhaṅga tālas which are to be used in gati-parikramas of characters and he ascribes them to Kohala. As seen earlier in this chapter, M. R. Kavi has also provided many of Kohala’s definitions of these bhaṅga tālas. Saṅgītaratnākara has also spoken of prastāra in detail. But his enumeration belongs to the deśī tradition. Kohala’s method of performing prastāra was different. Abhinava’s statements on Kohala and his style of bhaṅga perhaps is indicative that the process of prastāra was very much a part of the gāndharva tradition also.

Abhinava also mentions that by changing the laya (layabhedena) further varieties can be obtained. On a similar note, Kallinātha discusses two tālas which have the same aṅgas and raises a question as to whether or not they are one and the same^[3]. He says that the kālapramāṇa of the aṅgas are different and therefore, the two tālas themselves are different entities.

It is noteworthy that in dhruvā, the cyclic, āvarta -type of tāla rendition can be seen. And these too are done using the bhaṅga tālas. And these bhaṅga, vibhaṅga and upabhaṅga tālas which have been obtained by the process of prastāra (bhaṅga) have been spoken of by Kohala. This prastāra is not connected to the deśī system of prastāra as seen in Saṅgītaratnākara and later works. 

Though Bharata is considered the foremost authority on all subjects related to the mārga tradition, he does not speak of Bhaṅga tālas in his work, Nāṭyaśāstra. Neither have these been included in any of the deśī works such as Saṅgītaratnākara and others. Then under what system do these tālas fall? Bhaṅga, Upabhaṅga and Vibhaṅga tālas are very much a part of the mārga tradition because of their use in gāndharva and gāna. Also, by the time of Abhinavagupta, the deśī tālas were already well established. Even then, he talks of Kohala only in relation to mārga tālas. In that case it appears strange that Bharata has not spoken of them. This could be an indication that there existed aspects of mārga outside the ambit of the Nāṭyaśāstra and perhaps Kohala and others belonged to this sampradāya. 

From the above extract of Abhinava, it is clear that this represents the bhaṅga tālas which were earlier spoken of by him in the 12th chapter of Naṭyaśāstra. Further, there has been a system of prastāra in the case of dhruvā tālas also. And Kohala has established/ propagated this system.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Musical Forms in Saṅgītaratnākara: 1999: p.143

[2]:

Here, N. Ramanathan says that in the reading—“anena cañcatpuṭasya kalābhaṅgādivaicitrye ye prabhaidā bhavanti teṣu dige darśitā”, the word ‘Kalābhaṅga’ would bring out the aspect of prastāra. (Bhaṅga=prastāra)

[3]:

Saṅgītaratnākara of Śasrṅgadeva: 1951: Vol. III: pp. 139-141