Part 6.1 - Introduction and Source of the Kauhalīyaśikṣā

The Vedas are a comprehensive body of sacred literature that have guided the Indian way of life for millennia. These texts have been preserved in their pristine form over time, by the study and application of many special techniques. The vedas have six auxiliary śāstras, also called the ṣaḍaṅgas (six limbs) which a student has to master before he is said to be a proficient. These are Śikṣā (phonetics), Vyākaraṇa (grammar), Nirukta (Etymology), Chandas (Meter) and Jyotiṣa (Astronomy), Kalpa (Ritual). Of these, śikṣā enjoys the pride of place, due to the paramount importance that ancient Indians placed on phonetics and phonology. It can be said that it is because of the level of perfection that has been achieved in śikṣā that Vedic recitation has been preserved intact, over such a long period of time, in a country of such vast geographical proportions, and a people of such diversity.

Mantras, when broken down into their basic elements, are made up of letters and sounds. Śikṣā is the technical study of these letters, their sounds, accents, pronunciations and intonations, mātrā-kāla of the alphabets and such like. They also deal with the way the Vedas are to be taught and learnt. Each of the Vedas has its own set of śikṣā texts which prescribe rules relating to the study of its contents.

There also exists a body of literature called the Prātiśākhyās. There is a very thin line that separates śikṣā and prātiśākhyā texts. While śikṣās are texts on general phonetics, prātiśākhyās are believed to be more in the order of applied phonetics. Though prātiśākhyā texts contain most of the information available in śikṣā, there are still some aspects such as accents, relations between vowels and consonants and such like which are rarely seen in prātiśākhyās. In fact, many commentators on prātiśākhyās have relied on śikṣā texts for minute knowledge of phonetic principles.

There are several śikṣā texts that belong to the four Vedas. Some of the prominent ones are, Pāṇinīya Śikṣā, Vāsiṣṭhī Śikṣā, Māṇḍūkī Śikṣā, Kātyāyanī Śikṣā, Pārāśarī Śikṣā, Nāradīyā Śikṣā etc. Some like Nāradīyā Śikṣā, due to their association with the Sāma Veda, speak of musical aspects in great detail. There exists one Śikṣā text titled Kauhalīyaśikṣā which belongs to the Yajur Veda that claims an association with Kohala.

1 Source of the Text 

The text of Kauhalīyaśikṣā has been edited (based on Manuscript -MD 893) by Sadhu Ram and has been published in the ‘Journal of Vedic Studies’, edited by Dr. Raghuvira. It has also been reprinted in the book titled ‘Vedic Studies—A collection of Research Papers of Dr. Raghuvira’, edited by Mrs. Sharada Rani.

2 Contents of Kauhalīyaśikṣā

Kauhalīyaśikṣā is a small work consisting of eighty one anuṣṭup verses. Unlike some Śikṣā texts like Vyāsa Śikṣā, this work has not been divided into chapters. 

It is a common practice for Śikṣā texts to begin with the statement—‘atha śikṣāṃ pravakṣyāmi.........’

Kauhalīyaśikṣā too begins the same way:

अथ शिक्षां प्रवक्ष्यामि कौहलीयमतानुगाम्

atha śikṣāṃ pravakṣyāmi kauhalīyamatānugām 

This is followed by the definitions and the different qualities (dṛḍhatā, mṛdutā, sthaulyam, etc.) associated with the four svaras (accents) namely udātta, anudātta, svarita and pracaya. Subsequently, the names of the ‘seven varieties of the svarita svaras’ and their definitions are given. 

The names of the svaritas mentioned are—

1. Nitya;
2. Kṣaipra;
3. Abhinihata;
4. Praśliṣṭa;
5. Prātihata;
6. Pādavṛtta;
7. Tairovyañjana;

It is interesting to note that these varieties of svarita are also found in Nāradīyā Śikṣā. However, there are some minor differences. 

For instance, the note called nitya is called jātya and the note called pratihata is called tirovirāma in the Nāradīyā Śikṣā. 

जात्यः क्षैप्रोभिनिहितस्तैरव्यञ्जन एव च । तिरोविरामः प्रश्लिष्टः पादवृत्तश्च सप्तमः ॥ १.८.१० ॥

jātyaḥ kṣaiprobhinihitastairavyañjana eva ca | tirovirāmaḥ praśliṣṭaḥ pādavṛttaśca saptamaḥ || 1.8.10 || 

—Nāradīyā Śikṣā: 1986: p. 50

Apart from the Vedic svaras Prathama, Dvitīya, Tṛtīya, Caturtha, Mandra, Kruṣṭa and Atisvāra, the Nāradīyā Śikṣā also names of the seven svaras used in music—namely Ṣaḍja, Ṛṣabha, Gāndhāra, Madhyama, Pañcama, Dhaivata and Niṣāda which can also be found in the second kaṇḍikā. But it must be borne in mind that the Nāradīyā Śikṣā belongs to the Sāma veda and therefore music/ singing related topics become part and parcel of its content. Kauhalīyaśikṣa however, belongs to the Yajur veda and hence does not need to deal with subjects relating to predominantly musical practices. 

The enumeration of the svaras is followed by an explanation of the seven varieites of the svarita svara, kampa, vikrama svara, nine types of svara-combinations in words (padānām svaralakṣaṇam), hasta-svara-vinyāsa and mātrālakṣaṇam.

3 Significance of Kauhalīyaśikṣā 

The Kauhalīyaśikṣā is recognized as an important work on Śikṣā. In the Siddhānta-śikṣā-vyākhyā, Śrīnivāsa places this work fifth while delineating the nine important Śikṣā texts. 

भारद्वाज-व्यास-पारि-शम्भु-कौहल-हारीत-बोधायन-वासिष्ठ-वाल्मीकि

bhāradvāja-vyāsa-pāri-śambhu-kauhala-hārīta-bodhāyana-vāsiṣṭha-vālmīki

Raguvira also quotes three verses listing the most important works on Śikṣā and which mention the work of Kauhali in the eighth place therein.

प्रथमं व्यासशिक्षा तु लक्ष्मीशिक्षा द्वितीयकम् ।
भारद्वाजी तृतीया तु शिक्षारण्य तुरीयकम् ॥
पञ्चमं शम्भुशिक्षा षष्ठं चापिशलं तथा ।
सप्तमं पाणिणेश्शिक्षा अष्टमं कौहलेस्तथा ॥
वासिष्ठशिक्षा नवमी नवशिक्षाः प्रकीर्तिताः ।

prathamaṃ vyāsaśikṣā tu lakṣmīśikṣā dvitīyakam |
bhāradvājī tṛtīyā tu śikṣāraṇya turīyakam ||
pañcamaṃ śambhuśikṣā ṣaṣṭhaṃ cāpiśalaṃ tathā |
saptamaṃ pāṇiṇeśśikṣā aṣṭamaṃ kauhalestathā ||
vāsiṣṭhaśikṣā navamī navaśikṣāḥ prakīrtitāḥ |

Kauhalīyaśikṣā has been quoted by later authors in their works. For instance, in a commentary on Taittirīya-prātiśākhyā titled Vaidikābharaṇa, V. 57 and 75 have been quoted. 

The latter quotation has been introduced with the words—

अनुवाकादीनां समाप्तिषु विरामकालः शिक्षायां स्मर्यते ।.

anuvākādīnāṃ samāptiṣu virāmakālaḥ śikṣāyāṃ smaryate |. ^[1]

Dr. Raghuvira mentions another commentary on the Taittirīya-prātiśākhyā titled Tribhāṣyaratna which refers to the views of Kauhaleya.

एवमेव कौहलेय आह—द्वयोः पूर्वो अणुमात्रिकास्त्रिषु पूर्वावणुमात्रिकावुत्तरः प्रकृत्येति

evameva kauhaleya āha—dvayoḥ pūrvo aṇumātrikāstriṣu pūrvāvaṇumātrikāvuttaraḥ prakṛtyeti 

The same work also has another reference:

तथा कोहलीये हस्तविन्याससमयेऽपि
स्वरितप्रचययोरन्तरावृत्तिरुपदिश्यते—
उदात्तमाख्याति वृषो अङ्गुलीनां प्रदेशिनीमूलनिविष्टमूर्धा ।
उपान्तमध्ये स्वरितं धृतं च कनिष्ठठिकायामनुदात्तमेव ॥
शिक्षावचनमपि चैव वक्ष्यते—
कनिष्ठकानामिका च मध्यमा च प्रदेशिनी ।
नीचस्वराधृतोदात्तानङ्गुष्ठाग्रे निर्दिशेत् ॥

tathā kohalīye hastavinyāsasamaye'pi
svaritapracayayorantarāvṛttirupadiśyate—
udāttamākhyāti vṛṣo aṅgulīnāṃ pradeśinīmūlaniviṣṭamūrdhā |
upāntamadhye svaritaṃ dhṛtaṃ ca kaniṣṭhaṭhikāyāmanudāttameva ||
śikṣāvacanamapi caiva vakṣyate—
kaniṣṭhakānāmikā ca madhyamā ca pradeśinī |
nīcasvarādhṛtodāttānaṅguṣṭhāgre nirdiśet ||^[2]

It is interesting to note that the latter verse is found verbatim in the text of Kauhalīyaśikṣā as verse no.37, and the former is not.

4 Kohala as the author of Kauhalīyaśikṣā

Regarding the true name of the author of this work, there seems to be some uncertainty. Some possible names that arise are Kohala, Kauhala, Kauhalīya, Kauhaleya and Kauhaliputra. At the outset it must be understood that this work (i.e. Kauhalīyaśikṣā) has not directly been composed by any of these authorities. This work represents the versified presentation of his views.^[3] Here an attempt is made to determine whether this work is connected to Kohala. 

The title of this work Kauhalīyaśikṣā can be interpreted as ‘Kauhalīyasya Śikṣā—(The Śikṣā of Kauhalīya). Some possible grammatical derivations for the name ‘Kauhalīya’ are given below. These are based on the sūtras from Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī.

i. If the word that is to be derived should mean a book/work composed by the subject (Kartā), the following derivation is to be used.

Step No.	Sūtra	Meaning	Derivation
i.	kṛte granthe (4.3.116)	aṇ pratyaya along with ādi vṛddhi is added to the base	kauhala +a(ṇ)
ii.	yasyeti ca (6.4.148)	The first akāra is elided	kauhal + a
iii.	ḍyāp prātipadikāt	Addition of sup
	svaujasamauṭ.....		kauhalaḥ

The compound word that means ‘a work of Kohala’ would have the form ‘Kauhalaḥ’.

ii. If the word that is to be derived should mean ‘spoken by’ (views of) the subject, the following derivation is to be used.

Step No.	Sūtra	Meaning	Derivation
i.	tena proktaṃ—(4.3.101)	cha pratyaya is to be added	kohala + cha
ii.	āyaneyīnīyiyaḥ pha-ḍha-kha-cha-ghāṃ pratyayādīnām (7.1.2)	cha pratyaya is replaced by īy	kohala + īy
iii.	yasyeti ca (6.4.148)	The first akāra is elided	kohal + īy
iv.	svaujasamauṭ.....	Addition of sup	kohalīyaḥ

The taddhita word that means ‘the opinions spoken of by’ Kohala would have the form ‘Kohalīyaḥ’.

If Kohala is assumed to be the author of this work, then neither of the first two mentioned formations would give us the required form—kauhalīyaḥ. “kohalena kṛtaḥ granthaḥ” would result in the form ‘kauhalaḥ’ and kohalena proktaṃ would result in the form ‘kohalīyaḥ’ and not kauhalīyaḥ. Therefore on the basis of the grammatical derivations of the words in the title, it can be said that Kohala is not the author of this work. That being the case, a question arises as to whether there is at least an indirect connection between Kauhalīyaśikṣā and Kohala. To answer this, the taddhita forms in apatyārtha are being examined. 

iii. If the word that is to be derived should mean ‘offspring of’ the subject (Kartā), the following derivations are to be used.

Step No.	Sūtra	Meaning	Derivation
i.	tasyāpatyam (4.1.92)	Addition of aṇ pratyaya after the base word	kohala + a(ṇ)
ii.	taddhiteṣvacāmādeḥ (7.2.117)	ādi vṛddhi	kauhala + a
iii.	yasyeti ca (6.4.148)	The first akāra is elided	kauhal + a
iv.	svaujasamauṭ.....	Addition of sup	kauhalaḥ

If the apatyārtha is taken into consideration, then the form that will arise as a result of combining the words kohalasya apatyaṃ will be kauhalaḥ.

There is another taddhita form which can be obtained in the apatyārtha. The derivation is as follows:

Step No.	Sūtra	Meaning	Derivation
i.	ata iñ (4.1.95)	iñ pratyaya is to be added after the base word	kohala +i(ñ)
ii.	taddhiteṣvacāmādeḥ (7.2.117)	ādi vṛddhi	kauhala + i
iii.	yasyeti ca (6.4.148)	The first akāra is elided	kauhal + i
iv.	svaujasamauṭ.....	Addition of sup	kauhaliḥ

Thus a second possible form if the apatyārtha taddhita is performed is ‘Kauhaliḥ’. 

Yet another taddhita form in apatyārtha is derived thus:

Step No.	Sūtra	Meaning	Derivation
i.	śubhrādibhyaśca (4.1.123)	ḍhak pratyaya is to be added after the base word	kohala +ḍha(k)
ii.	kiti ca (7.2.118)	ādi vṛddhi	kauhala + ḍha
iii.	āyaneyīnīyiyaḥ pha-ḍha-kha-cha-ghāṃ pratyayādīnām (7.1.2)	ḍha pratyaya is replaced by ey	kauhala + ey
iv.	yasyeti ca (6.4.148)	The first akāra is elided	kauhal + ey
v.	svaujasamauṭ.....	Addition of sup	kauhaleyaḥ

“kohalasya apatyaṃ” would result in one of three forms namely—Kauhaliḥ, Kauhalaḥ or kauhaleyaḥ (son of Kohala). If the forms Kauhaliḥ or Kauhalaḥ (meaning ‘offspring of Kohala) are subjected to the sūtra ‘Tena proktam’ (Ref. Para 2), then the taddhita form kauhalīyaḥ (Meaning-that which is spoken by the son of Kohala) can be obtained. If the title of this work ‘Kauhalīyaśikṣā’ is treated as a Karmadhāraya—‘Kauhalīyā ca asau śikṣā ca’ then grammatically, this work can be interpreted as being that of ‘the son of Kohala’. Therefore it can be said that from the vyākaraṇa perspective, there does not seem to be much of a connection between the name Kohala and Kauhalīyaśikṣā. 

V. Raghavan refers to a Kauhalīya, as one of the 18 sages who wrote Śikṣā granthas. He also states that this Kauhalīya is probably the son of Kohala the Nāṭyācārya.^[4] (In that case a simple tatpuruṣa samāsa—‘Kauhalīyasya śikṣā’ would suffice to explain the title of this work.) R. Satyanarayana also opines that the author of Kauhalīyaśikṣā is different from that of Kohala. It is interesting to note that there is a set of about 40 verses that appear after the 5th chapter (pūrvaraṅga vidhāna), which bear a colophon attributing these verses to Kohala. 

Here, the form ‘Kauhalīya’ seems to have been used:

इति भारतीये नाट्यशास्त्रे कौहलीयं पूर्वरङगविधानं नाम पञ्चमोध्याय-परिशिष्टम् ॥

iti bhāratīye nāṭyaśāstre kauhalīyaṃ pūrvaraṅagavidhānaṃ nāma pañcamodhyāya-pariśiṣṭam ||

—Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharatamuni: 2006: Vol. I: 217

Raghuvira mentions an opinion found in the Taittirīya-prātiśākhyā which refers to the views of a phonetician called Kauhalīputra—

तीव्रतरमानुनासिक्यमनुस्वारोत्तमेष्विति शैत्ययनः । समं सर्वत्रेति कौहलीपुत्रः । (१७.१.२)

tīvrataramānunāsikyamanusvārottameṣviti śaityayanaḥ | samaṃ sarvatreti kauhalīputraḥ | (17.1.2)

It is noteworthy that the opinions mentioned there do not match with the present work of Kauhalīyaśikṣā. The New Catalogus Catalogorum mentions ‘Kauhalīputra-s’ as being a Vedic school mentioned in the Taittirīya Prātiśākhyā (17.2)^[5]. The Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa refers to a name—Kahola (2.4.3.1), the Kāṭhaka Samhitā mentions a Aryalaḥ Kāholiḥ, Kapiṣṭhala-kaṭha-samhitā mentions a Ayalaḥ Kāphoḍiḥ (39.5:218.5) and the Śivādigaṇa of Pāṇini mentions a Kahoḍa and a Kohaḍa together.^[6]

The different variant names are as follows:

1. Kohala;
2. Kohaḍa;
3. Kahola;
4. Kahoḍa;
5. Kāholiḥ;
6. Kāphoḍiḥ;
7. Kauhalīya;
8. Kauhaleya;
9. Kauhalīputra;

It is noteworthy that such differences in the names are found only in works dealing with phonetics, grammar and other linguistic aspects. Works on Nāṭya seem to uniformly use the name—Kohala to refer to the Nātyācārya.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

Vedic Studies-A collection of Research papers: 1981

[2]:

Vedic Studies-A collection of Research papers: 1981.

[3]:

The work begins with the statement—‘atha śikṣāṃ pravakṣyāmi kauhalīyamatānugām’

[4]:

Collected Writings on Indian Music: 2007: p.122

[5]:

New Catalogus Catalogorum: 1969: Vol. I: p.98

[6]:

Vedic Studies-A collection of Research papers: 1981: p.390