Part 5.1 - Manuscript Details of the Abhinayaśāstra / Kohalīyam

Among the manuscripts attributed to Kohala, Abhinayaśāstram/ Kohalīyam is the only one that deals entirely with the subject of dance. The New Catalogus Catalogorum and the unpublished doctoral thesis of V. Premalatha mentions four manuscripts which bear the title Abhinayaśāstram. Of these, only one is attributed to Kohala. 

The details of the manuscripts of Abhinayaśāstram are given in the table below.

S.No.	Title	Name of Library	Acc. No	PL/Paper
i.	Abinayaśāstram	GOML	D12986	Paper
ii.	Abinayaśāstram	GOML	D12987	Paper
iii.	Abinayaśāstram	GOML	D12988	Paper
iv.	Abinayaśāstram-Kohalīyam	GOML	D12989	Paper

 

Abhinayaśāstram—D12986 is a paper manuscript which is in good condition. The manuscript has been written in telugu script and the handwriting is good. This codex contains the manuscript of Abhinayaśāstram from folio 1a up tp 13a. The other manuscripts in this codex are Bharatārṇava (Folio 13a to 30) and Nṛttatālalakṣaṇa (From folio 30a). All these works are incomplete. The manuscript begins quite abruptly in the middle of a śloka and then proceeds to list our the saṃyuta hastas, a saṃyuta hastas and Nṛtta hastas. Subsequently, each of these hasta-s are explained in detail giving the definitions and viniyoga. Vakṣa bhedas are taken up next and the manuscript ends with the beginning of Raṅgapūjā. 

The New Catalogus Catalogorum mentions that the contents of this manuscript could be from Saṅgītasudhākara of Haripāla. Also there is mention of authorities like Abhinavagupta and Śārṅgadeva prove that this manuscript cannot be that of Kohala.

Abhinayaśāstram—D12987 is also a paper manuscript. It is in very good condition and has been written in Telugu script in a very clear hand. 

The codex contains the following manuscripts 

-) Abhinayaśāstram — From fol. 1a
-) Bharatārṇava — From fol. 8a and fol. 28a
-) Bharatārthacandrika — From fol. 23b
-) Nṛttatālalakṣaṇa — From fol. 36b 

The manuscripts are incomplete. It is interesting to note that D-12986 also contains the very same titles, but the content of the manuscript of Abhinayaśāstram in each of these is different. The contents of D-12987 appear to begin where D-12986 have ended. Hence, it is possible that it is a continuation of D-12986. The manuscript of Abhinayaśāstram (D-12987) starts in the middle of a sentence. The subject being discussed appears to be Raṅgapūjā. This is followed by a detailed treatment of ālāpacārī, nikuñcaka lakṣaṇam, kuṇḍalāsya lakṣaṇam etc. There is mention of the names of Bharata. 

The manuscript also contains the name of Haripāladeva.

मोहनारिदिं संज्ञोसौ कथितो हरिभूभुजा

mohanāridiṃ saṃjñosau kathito haribhūbhujā

This suggests that this manuscript could be a part of Saṅgītasudhākara of Haripāladeva. This work is yet to be published.

The portion of this manuscript that contains the description of ālāpacārī is found to match exactly with that which appears in Bharatārṇava. In the case of Bharatārṇava, the reading is as follows—

करणान्यनुकृत्यदि तालादिनर्तनं भवेत् ।
देशी आलापचारीत्थं कथिता कोहलादिभिः ॥

karaṇānyanukṛtyadi tālādinartanaṃ bhavet |
deśī ālāpacārītthaṃ kathitā kohalādibhiḥ ||^[1]

The very same śloka, in the present manuscript reads ‘Hehalādibhiḥ’ instead of ‘Kohalādibhiḥ’. It is a known fact that the works Saṅgītasudhākara and Bharatārṇava have much material in common and therefore it is very probable that the present manuscript is a part of Saṅgītasudhākara, which also happens

³⁴⁴ Bharatārṇava of Nandikeśvara:1989: p.502

to include the views of Kohala on ālāpacārī. This manuscript therefore, cannot be ascribed to Kohala.

Abhinayaśāstram—D 12988 is a paper manuscript of 13 folios and according to the catalogue is incomplete. From the descriptive catalogue, it contains material about saṃyuta and asaṃyuta hastas and is slightly different from the content of D-12986. This manuscript is a part of the codex numbered D-12983. Unfortunately this entire codex is missing.

Abhinayaśāstram—D12989 is the only manuscript amongst all those which have the title Abhinayaśāstram to be attributed to Kohala The catalogue also gives an alternate title namely Kohalīyam. It is a paper manuscript written in Telugu script. This manuscript is also part of the codex described under D-12983 and is currently missing. This research scholar has seen this manuscript in 2009. Most of the pages were in powder form. Even in a few remaining bits, the writing had become very dull and unintelligible. According to the New Catalogus Catagorum this manuscript also had a telugu commentary. The authorities of GOML also state that IGNCA has not made a copy of this manuscript It is unfortunate that the only manuscript of this title is now lost to us.

Footnotes and references:

[back to top]

[1]:

Bharatārṇava of Nandikeśvara:1989: p.502