Mythological Background of music—Vedic and Natural Origin

In Indian context all art forms are traced back to a mythological background. Music and Musical Instruments are no exception to this general rule. Thus we find that Vina is associated with Goddess Sarasvati and Flute with Lord Krsna. Siva has a small drum called Damaru in his hand. It is said that musical notes emanated from the five faces of Lord Siva named as Sadyojata, Vamadeva, Tatpurusa, Isana and Aghora. Lord Siva taught these notes to his consort Parvati and the tradition was passed on to Goddess Sarasvati, the divine bull Nandikesvara and to the divine sages, Tumburu and Narada. Saint Tyagaraja's kriti in Cittaranjani Raga substantiates this viewpoint. nadatanumanisam sankaram namami me manasa sirasa | satyojatadi pancavaktraja sarigamapadhani varasaptasvara | I bow down my head along with my mind to Lord Sankara, who is the embodiment of Nada, from whose five faces the seven svaras have sprung out. 2.3 Vedic Origin—The Vedas, particularly, the Samaveda is considered to be the Origin of Indian Music. According to Mythology, Brahma derived music from Samaveda. It will be found that the Sama saptaka, the basic scale of Indian music is a perfect scale of high consonance.

32 The Vedas are recited in a musical fashion involving at least three notes. In the Samaveda recitation as many as five notes are employed and sometimes two more notes are used indirectly. Sometimes the Vedic hymns are recited to the accompaniment of Musical instruments. We also find that there are three terms in vogue with respect to recitations. Simple recitation was called as 'vacana', singing in chorus was called as 'prakirtana' and the term 'ghosa' referred to the chanting of Vedic mantras or simply making a loud noise. Initially Vedic music was restricted to religious purposes. Vedic religion was related to the performance of sacrifices in order to propitiate the gods. Music formed an important part of the ritual and sacrifice. In fact, singing, instrumental music and dance were described as divine in Vedic literature; it was believed that they pleased the respective deities. Lord Krsna Himself states that he is present in the place where His devotees are singing, neither in Vaikuntha, nor in the hearts of Yogis or in the sky. naham vasami vaikunthe na yogihrdaye na khau | madbhaktah yatra gayanti tatra tisthami narada || Padma Purana Chapter VIII - 2 Vedic music is the earliest instance of the deep relationship between religion and music in India. Many features of this music later percolated in various ways and in different proportions into different kinds of Indian music.

33 The Rgveda consists of recited hymns (rcha). The musical chanting of the Samaveda employed more notes (finally settling on seven notes), and is said to be the source of the later secular and classical music. In fact, the word Sama itself is a compound expression and includes two entities: the first component 'sa' refers to hymns, i.e. rcha, and the second component, 'ma' refers to the musical notes. It may also be noted that 'sa' and 'ma' are the first and the fourth notes of the seven-point scale in Indian music. Vedic music also included instrumental music of various types. Music was used mainly for two functions: to propitiate deities and to accompany sacrificial offerings. Both solo and choral music were in vogue. Four major forms of music were prevalent in Sama-gayan, taken as a whole. Each kind of music effected different changes in Vedic mantras as were perceived to be necessary by the concerned musician. The singing of Sama, was accompanied by the Vina in accordance with a procedure that connected body-movements, gestures and correct intonation in singing. Seated properly, the singer was to touch the middle phalanx of the fingers of the right palm with the right thumb according to the pitch of the note intended. A disciple learnt this procedure by imitating his preceptor in pitch, intonation as well as in finger movements.

34 As the early Indian music was based on ritual and mantra, correct pronunciation was of great significance. Often, even a slight mispronunciation signified 'death'. And yet, music makers in the Samagayan did not hesitate to bring about changes in the words of the mantras they sang! Freedom was so liberally enjoyed that rules were made to regularize these deviations because they added to the quality of music produced. The systematized rules were recorded in the Siksa texts. Siksa is the first branch of Vedic learning. It deals with the science of correct pronunciation of vowels, consonants and syllables. Basically six aspects are dealt with: Varna (syllable), Svara (notes), Matra (duration), Bala (articulation), Sama (a kind of balance in the total utterance) and Santana (the spacing of the words). Some of the wellknown Siksas are Paniniya, Yajnavalkya, Vasisti, Katyayani, Manduki and Naradiya, the last being associated with the sage, Narada, who is acclaimed as the originator of music. 2.4 Natural Origin—A number of musical sounds are naturally produced, e.g. the sound emanating from the bamboo reed when air passes through its hollows. Ancient man observed this phenomenon and designed the first flute! Some ancient treatises describe the connection of the origin of svaras to the sounds of animals and birds. Man, with his keen sense of observation and perception tried to simulate these sounds. Man's ability to distinguish between sounds of different frequencies; qualities and timbre would have been an important factor in the evolution of music.

2.5 Philosophical aspects—Apart from these sources, many saints and scholars believe that music is the greatest form of tapasya (penance) and the easiest way to reach godhead or to attain salvation. Most of the musical compositions are either philosophical in content or describe the various deities or incidents from Hindu mythology. There are others who believe that music by itself is divine and that the perfect synchronization of the performer with the musical sound, Nada, is the real divine bliss. This practice is called Nadopasana. Many musicians and music lovers visualize divine forms in the ragas, i.e. melodic entities.