Nardiya Shiksha (100 AD-200 AD)

One of the most important aspect of Vedas is that the vedic hymns should be pronounced perfectly. Absolutely no change is allowed. This is the reason Vedas have been orally transmitted unchanged for over 3,000 years. Nardiya Shiksha was written to help students in this regard.

We know little about Narada or this text except that portions of it date from about the 100 AD with other portions added later. The students for whom Narada intended this, learned about vedic chant, how to deal with the all-important issue of pronunciation, and, notably, issues of musical pitch. In this last context, links between the musical scales used in sacred chant (sama gana) and secular singing (gandharva / laukika gana) are explained. Narada spoke of two important pitch distinctions: svara and sruti. The former refers to the musical pitches of a musical scale, while the latter covers a quality of the tone that can be heard, but which the listener will find difficult to distinguish.

Dattilam, ascribed to Dattila Muni, is a remarkable treatise from the earliest known period of systematic writing on music in India. The work can be placed in the same period as that of the available recension of the Natyasastra of Bharata Muni (c.1st cent. AD) and it presents a well developed sastric tradition of analytical thinking on music.

The treatise is devoted to the description of gandharva, a sacred corpus of music, derived from the still more ancient saman, the sacred Vedic form. Gandharva was also the source of later musical forms from which the present forms have descended. As a text the Dattila is not important merely in the historical context but also as a text of perennial significance, for it articulates a framework and approach in musicology by which our understanding of musical forms is still formed.

Dattilam consists of 244 verses. The language makes one feel that this may be an edited version of a voluminous work. The author has adopted traditional as well as rational method in analysing the subject. It has 12 chapters dealing with sruthi, swara, grama, murchchana, tana, sthana, sushka, jathi, varna and alankara. The author has mentioned his work as a mere attempt to join the system propounded by his predecessors and teachers.

The time after the epic period, during which several Puranas were composed is called the puranic period. They are the ancient narratives, compendiums of Hindu mythology, history, philosophy, ritual and much else. Many discuss technical subjects such as architecture, ethics and medicine (human and veterinary). It is traditionally agreed that there are 18 major Puranas, however, it is not always agreed upon as to which these 18 are. In the Puranas, the scriptural teachings are presented through stories and parables. They were developed in a question and answer form, to explain the subtle teachings of the Vedas, through stories and legends of the ancient Kings, heroes, sages and divine personalities.

There are several musical legends and myths in various puranas. The Vishnu purana says that poetry and music are aspects of the Lord in his form as sound. The Linga purana narrates the story of a musician-devotee of the Lord refusing to sing of any one other than God and the local king victimizing him for that. The story exemplifies the idea that music should be used only to praise the God. This is an idea which returns during the Bhakthi movement.

Vayupurana refers to music as gandharva. The music of this Purana deals with the rituals performed during the different phases of a sacrifice. Markandeyapurana has a dialogue between Saraswati and Ashvatara, a king of Nagas or serpents, where Saraswati offers a boon to the King who desires nothing but the knowledge of the musical notes or swaras.

The earliest literary work in Tamil are called Sangam texts. Though, legends place them ten thousands of years back, they were possibly composed during the Pandyan Kings between first and fifth centuries AD Tolkapiyam, belonging to the middle Sangam period, is a Tamil grammatical work, on the lines of Panini's Ashtadhyayi. It is written by a Jain scholar, popularly called Tolkapiyar. Though a grammatical work, Tolkapiyam mentions quite a bit of music related theory. Other sangam works give reference to music, its theory and many musical instruments. The author was aware of Panini and Manu.

The music described was septatonic, with the seven notes termed as kural, tuttam, kaikkilai, uzhai, ili, vilari and taaram. The octave was called mandilam. The 16 Panns mentioned can be compared to Raaga. The parent scales were called Palai, and were seven in number. From these Pallai 103 Panns could be derived. Among musical instruments different types of Yals (lute) have been mentioned.

Chilappatikaaram is an old Tamil epic dated before 500 AD Though, music is not the central theme of the epic, there are detailed explanations about the prevailing music and dance in the epic. Thus, it is frequently compared to Natya Shastra, as a basic source of classical music in India. It talks about seven notes, 22 shrutis and several Raagas (called Pan). It also talks about various instruments like the flute and harp (JAl - native Tamil stringed instrument), percussion instruments like mirutangkam (a precursor of the modern Mridangam). Many of the modern Raagas have a corresponding Pan mentioned in Chilappatikaaram.

It is difficult to say to what extent the musical system prevalent at the time was influenced by Natya Shastra. No doubt there was a lot of give and take between the south Indian music and the north Indian even in those days.