Part 4.3 - Bharataśāstram and Kohala

The name of Kohala appears several times through the manuscript of Bharataśāstram. Now, each of these references shall be examined.

i. The following excerpt occurs around folio no. 40.

पुरा -मि-तेः शृङ्गे सुरम्ये हैममण्टपे ।
माणिक्य वज्र वैडूर्य वितान परिशोभिते ॥
प-न् गातसभामध्ये ब्रह्माण जन तेजनम् ।
-भोपविष्टं वरदम् -व-भ-त बं
कृतां -पुयो भूताप मतङ्गः पर्यपृच्छत् ।
कति रागाः प्रगातव्याः प्रभाते मुनि सत्तम ।
तदैन कति रागाश्च सायङ्काले शुभप्रदाः ।
मद्दना-कि को—-न रागा—— ।
क(र्सि) रागे प्रगीतेतु गातुः श्रोतुस्सुखं भवेत् ।
तत् सर्वं श्रोतुमिछा(मि) -वद कोहल तत्त्वतः ।
मतङ्गस्य वचः श्रुत्वावदत्कोहलो मुनिः ।
सा—-मुनि श्रेष्ठा यदा तत्व— ।
इदानीं संप्रवक्ष्यामि रागवेला वि-यः ।
यत्सुरैरपि न ज्ञातंष सुर किन्नर गायके ।
विरागे.... सार प्रतंश्वणु तत्वतः ।

purā -mi-teḥ śṛṅge suramye haimamaṇṭape |
māṇikya vajra vaiḍūrya vitāna pariśobhite ||
pa-n gātasabhāmadhye brahmāṇa jana tejanam |
-bhopaviṣṭaṃ varadam -va-bha-ta baṃ
kṛtāṃ -puyo bhūtāpa mataṅgaḥ paryapṛcchat |
kati rāgāḥ pragātavyāḥ prabhāte muni sattama |
tadaina kati rāgāśca sāyaṅkāle śubhapradāḥ |
maddanā-ki ko—-na rāgā—— |
ka(rsi) rāge pragītetu gātuḥ śrotussukhaṃ bhavet |
tat sarvaṃ śrotumichā(mi) -vada kohala tattvataḥ |
mataṅgasya vacaḥ śrutvāvadatkohalo muniḥ |
sā—muni śreṣṭhā yadā tatva— |
idānīṃ saṃpravakṣyāmi rāgavelā vi-yaḥ |
yatsurairapi na jñātaṃṣa sura kinnara gāyake |
virāge.... sāra prataṃśvaṇu tatvataḥ |

This reference occurs around the beginning of the codex. It is a conversation between the sages Mataṅga and Kohala. Here, Mataṅga is asking Kohala as to the number of rāgas to be sung in the morning and those that are to be sung in the evening. This particular excerpt called Kohala-Mataṅga -saṃvāda, can be found in the text of Kohalamatam^[1] and Kohalarahasyam. Interestingly the same matter is also found in the text of Saṅgīta Makaranda^[2] of Nārada, except that the conversation is presented as being between Brahmā and Nārada.

ii. This is the first available reference to Kohala in this manuscript—

विष्णुं लोकगुरुं प्रणम्य शिरसा सन्मार्ग सन्दर्शकम् ।
कीर्ति प्रीतिकरं जनस्य लघुना कालेन कामप्रदम् ।
सेव्यं सद्यतिभिः धृत प्लुत- न्यासात्तलोकत्रयम् ।
तालानां कथयामि लक्षणमहं पूर्वोक्त शास्त्र क्रमात् ॥ इति कोहल वदनम्

viṣṇuṃ lokaguruṃ praṇamya śirasā sanmārga sandarśakam |
kīrti prītikaraṃ janasya laghunā kālena kāmapradam |
sevyaṃ sadyatibhiḥ dhṛta pluta- nyāsāttalokatrayam |
tālānāṃ kathayāmi lakṣaṇamahaṃ pūrvokta śāstra kramāt || iti kohala vadanam 

This verse appears to be a Nāndī śloka used by the author of this work. It is noteworthy that the same śloka has been used as the nāndī for the work Tālalakṣaṇam^[3] and is also found in the printed edition of Saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi of Jagadekamalla (ref. p.6, V.42). Interestingly, Tālalakṣaṇam also appears to be a part of this codex of Bharataśāstram, and thus we have a double entry of this śloka. We also find a connection to Kohala in both these instances. In Tālalakṣaṇam, this verse follows an introductory passage which attributes the work to Kohalācārya. In the second instance, the reference is more direct and can be seen in the succeeding statement “iti kohala vadanam”. 

The manuscript catalogue has attributed this particular codex of Bharataśāstram to Kohala. As it has been discussed in the preceding pages, we can with certainty say that the works Svaramelakalānidhi, Tālalakṣaṇam (Tālakalābdhi) and Saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi have definitely not been composed by Kohala. The possibility of connecting Kohala as the author of a portion of this codex exists only in the unknown section. Even in this section, the statement “iti kohala vadanam” rules out the possible authorship of Kohala. Because, it seems redundant for an author of a work to quote his own words. Therefore, it seems more than likely that Kohala was not the author of this section. 

iii.

सदाशिवः शिरो ब्रह्म भरतः कास्यपो मुनिः ।
मतङ्गो याष्टिको दुर्गाशक्तिः शार्दूलकोहला ।
विशाखिलो दत्तिलश्च कम्बलस्य तलस्त-
-युर्वि—सु रंभार्जुनस्तुम्बुरुनारदौ
आञ्जनेयामातृगुप्तौ रावणो नन्दिकेश्वरः ।
स्वाति र्गलो देवराज क्षत्रराजश्च काहलः ।
रुक्मसेनोध भपालो भोजो भूवल्लभस्तथा ।
एते हि नाट्यशास्त्रप्रवक्तारो युग क्रमात् ॥ इति कोहल वदनम् ॥

sadāśivaḥ śiro brahma bharataḥ kāsyapo muniḥ |
mataṅgo yāṣṭiko durgāśaktiḥ śārdūlakohalā |
viśākhilo dattilaśca kambalasya talasta-
-yurvi—su raṃbhārjunastumburunāradau
āñjaneyāmātṛguptau rāvaṇo nandikeśvaraḥ |
svāti rgalo devarāja kṣatrarājaśca kāhalaḥ |
rukmasenodha bhapālo bhojo bhūvallabhastathā |
ete hi nāṭyaśāstrapravaktāro yuga kramāt || iti kohala vadanam || 

The nāndī śloka is followed by verses of veneration of earlier authorities on nāṭya like Sadāśiva, Śira, Brahmā, Bharata, Kāśyapa, Mataṅga, Yāṣṭika, Durgāśakti, Śārdūla, Kohaḷa, Viśākhila, Dattila, Kambala, Rambhā, Arjuna, Tumburu, Nārada, Āñjaneya, Mātrugupta, Rāvaṇa, Nandikeśvara, Svāti, Devaraja, Kṣatraraja, Kāhaḷa, Rukmasena, Bhapāla, Bhoja, Bhūvallabha in chronological order. As mentioned earlier, this entire passage with the exception of the final two lines, is an interpolation from Saṅgītaratnākara.

In these verses, there is mention of a “Kohaḷa” and a “Kāhaḷa”. At this point Saṅgītaratnākara reads ‘Rāhala’ instead of ‘Kāhala’. It is curious to see the statement “iti kohala vadanam” repeated here too, especially since the name Kohaḷa appears in the verses. Why would Kohala include himself in a verse of veneration to the authorities? He also mentions that this list is chronological and he places himself quite close to the top of the list. This seems to be a little inconsistent.

iv. There is reference to Kohalācārya in the Tālalakṣaṇam section in an introductory passage that follows the maṅgalācaraṇam.

इह खलु सकलभरतपण्डितमण्डलाखण्डलसकलभरतप्रवर्तकशिखामणिः कोहलाचार्यनामकः परमः कारुणिकः कश्चित्विपश्चित् सकललोकोपकाराय तौर्यत्रिकोपकाराय तौरञ्जकं तदाश्रयत्वेन दशप्राणसमेतं तालस्वरूपं सप्रपञ्चं प्रतिपादयितुकामश्चिकीर्षितस्य निर्विघ्नपरिसमाप्तये सर्वेश्वरनमस्कारात्मकमङ्गलाचरणपूर्वकं चिकीर्षितं प्रतिजानीते—विष्णुमिति ॥

iha khalu sakalabharatapaṇḍitamaṇḍalākhaṇḍalasakalabharatapravartakaśikhāmaṇiḥ kohalācāryanāmakaḥ paramaḥ kāruṇikaḥ kaścitvipaścit sakalalokopakārāya tauryatrikopakārāya taurañjakaṃ tadāśrayatvena daśaprāṇasametaṃ tālasvarūpaṃ saprapañcaṃ pratipādayitukāmaścikīrṣitasya nirvighnaparisamāptaye sarveśvaranamaskārātmakamaṅgalācaraṇapūrvakaṃ cikīrṣitaṃ pratijānīte—viṣṇumiti ||

Though we find the name of Kohala appearing in this passage, internal evidences in the text indicate that the actual author of Tālalakṣaṇam is King Acyutarāya of Vijayanagara. This has been discussed in detail in para 4.3.2. Therefore, this reference to Kohala too is inconsequential. 

This leads us to the question as to why the name Kohala has been associated with this codex at all. Evidently, none of the works namely Svaramelakalānidhi, Tālalakṣaṇam (Tsālakalābdhi), Saṅgītacūḍāmaṇi or the unknown works have been authored by him. Though there are colophons of Rāmāmātya and Jagadekamalla in the manuscript, it is curious that the catalogue mentions only the name of Kohalācāryakavi. This has perhaps been taken from the introductory paragraph found in the manuscript of Tālalakṣaṇam.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Kohalamatam: Kariavattam: Acc no. C.1724: Fol.13

[2]:

Saṅgītamakaranda of Nārada: 1920: p.14

[3]:

Tālalakṣaṇam: GOML: Acc no. R7979: Fol. 3