Part 3.6-7 - Significance of the Tālalakṣaṇam

Tālalakṣaṇam is a rare work which deals with the subject of Tāladaśaprāṇas in such detail. One very important piece of information that can be gleaned from this work is about the many lakṣaṇagranthas that the author so often refers to. 

Ramakrishna Kavi has made the following observations about this work.

कृष्णदेवरायसोदरेण अच्युतरायेण विरचितः । अत्र पूर्वाचार्यमतानि बहूनि तालविषये खण्डितानि । तालकलाविलास, सङ्गीतविद्याविनोद, जैनमत, सङ्गीतमार्ग, चतुरसभाविलास, चुडामणि (सङ्गीतचूडामणि), आञ्जनेयमत, नृत्तचुडामणि, सङ्गीतमणिदर्पण, कात्ययनीय, सङ्गीतार्णव, रङ्गराजभरतभाष्य, कपर्दी, परमेश्वरादीनां मतानि खण्डितानि । टीकायुक्तोऽयं ग्रन्थः । तालप्रस्ताराध्यायारम्भे सीतारामगुरुं नत्वा सोमाभट्टेन तन्यते । ग्रन्थे तालकलावार्धौ इत्यस्ति । तस्मादच्युतरायनाम्ना सोमाभट्टः इमं ग्रन्थं (तालकलाब्धिं) रचितवानित्यूह्यते । अष्टावधान सोमनार्यस्य नाट्यचूडामणिकर्तुः गुरुः सीतारामः । सोमाभट्टः सोमनार्य एवेति वा तत्सतीर्थो वेति निश्चयः ।

kṛṣṇadevarāyasodareṇa acyutarāyeṇa viracitaḥ | atra pūrvācāryamatāni bahūni tālaviṣaye khaṇḍitāni | tālakalāvilāsa, saṅgītavidyāvinoda, jainamata, saṅgītamārga, caturasabhāvilāsa, cuḍāmaṇi (saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi), āñjaneyamata, nṛttacuḍāmaṇi, saṅgītamaṇidarpaṇa, kātyayanīya, saṅgītārṇava, raṅgarājabharatabhāṣya, kapardī, parameśvarādīnāṃ matāni khaṇḍitāni | ṭīkāyukto'yaṃ granthaḥ | tālaprastārādhyāyārambhe sītārāmaguruṃ natvā somābhaṭṭena tanyate | granthe tālakalāvārdhau ityasti | tasmādacyutarāyanāmnā somābhaṭṭaḥ imaṃ granthaṃ (tālakalābdhiṃ) racitavānityūhyate | aṣṭāvadhāna somanāryasya nāṭyacūḍāmaṇikartuḥ guruḥ sītārāmaḥ | somābhaṭṭaḥ somanārya eveti vā tatsatīrtho veti niścayaḥ |

He says that this work refutes the views expressed in several earlier lakṣaṇagranthas such as

1. Tālakalāvilāsa;
2. Saṅgītavidyāvinoda;
3. Jainamata;
4. Saṅgītamārga;
5. Caturasabhāvilāsa;
6. Saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi;
7. Āñjaneyamata;
8. Nṛttacūḍāmaṇi;
9. Saṅgītamaṇidarpaṇa;
10. Kātyāyanīya;
11. Sangītārṇava;
12. Raṅgarājabharatabhāṣya;

Many of the works mentioned herein (Tālakalāvilāsam etc.) are yet to see the light of day. Tālalakṣaṇam is our only source of information regarding many of these lakṣaṇagranthas. It is also quite fortunate for us that the author goes one step further and gives us actual quotations from these works. Thus, even though we do not have direct access to many of these works, we have the very words of those authors through this work—Tālalakṣaṇam. Such a style, where several works are consulted, opinions discussed and conclusions reached, makes Tālalakṣaṇam a rare work where the mūla text itself is composed with a research-spirit that one might come across in commentaries. Another fact relates to the date of the work. It is a well-known fact that King Acyutarāya ruled between 1530 and 1543 C.E. and during this period composed the work Tālalakṣaṇam.

Some early lakṣaṇagranthas in which we find the concept of Tāladaśaprāṇas being dealt with as a composite unit are:

S.No.	Title of the Text	Author	Date
i.	Saṅgītasūryodaya	Lakṣmīnārāyaṇa	1509-1529 C.E.
ii.	Rasakaumudī	Śrīkaṇṭha	1575 C.E.
iii.	Saṅgītamakaranda	Nārada	16th Cent C.E.
iv.	Saṅgītadarpaṇa	Damodara	1625 C.E.
v.	Saṅgītapārijāta	Ahobala	1650 C.E.
vi.	Tāladaśaprāṇapradīpikā	Polūri Govinda Kavi	17th Cent C.E.

From this, we can infer that Tālalakṣaṇam was probably one of the earlier works which spoke about the Tāladaśaprāṇas. Furthermore, it is significant that this work speaks of no other subject, unlike the other lakṣaṇagranthas mentioned above. Tālalakṣaṇam deals with the Tāladaśaprāṇas alone. 

Further, in this work, he quotes several other authors who have composed works which carry information about the ten prāṇas. Therefore we can safely presume that, if Acyutarāya had access to all these works at the time of writing Tālalakṣaṇam, they must all pre-date Acyuta. This shows us that these concepts had reached a good level of refinement well before the time Acyuta wrote Tālalakṣaṇam. This work is very significant in the study of the evolution and concept of the Tāladaśaprāṇas and is worthy for further research.

Connection with Kohala

After a study of the text Tālalakṣaṇam, it can be stated that Acyutarāya is the author of this work and not Kohala. The reasons for bringing the name of Kohala in connection with this work can at best be speculated. There is no evidence, except the introductory passage (which in itself might be an interpolation) to suggest that Kohala is the author of this work. But, analyzing the subject matter, which belonged to the period around the 16th century C.E. (more than a thousand years post-Kohala) prove that Kohala, the contemporary of Bharata, could not have been the author of Tālalakṣaṇam.