Essay name: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
Author: William James Arraj
The essay represents a study and partial English translation of the Svacchandatantra and its commentary, “Uddyota�, by Kshemaraja. The text, attributed to the deity Svacchanda-bhairava, has various names and demonstrates a complex history of transmission through diverse manuscript traditions in North India, Nepal, and beyond.
Page 447 of: Svacchandatantra (history and structure)
447 (of 511)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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440
Therein, preceded by a description, in full, of the types of objects
called sound, he [will] state that the organ of hearing is an
effective means of obtaining that [sound]:
Sadjah, Rá¹£abhaá¸�, GÄndhÄraá¸�, Madhyamaá¸�, Pañcamaá¸�, O
Dear One, Dhaivata�, and Niṣadha�, are called the seven
notes (svara�);/15/
GÄndhÄraá¸�, Madhyamaá¸�, á¹¢adjaá¸�, are the three basic scales
(grÄmaá¸�), O Parvatiá¸�;
In this fashion,
the seven notes, the three basic scales, the twenty-one
secondary scales (mÅ«rchanÄ),/16/
[9] the forty-nine tertiary scales (tÄnaá¸�); this is the sphere
of the gods.
Thus, in this fashion,
These subtle sounds are said by tradition to be located in the
animate and inanimate [worlds]./17/
[Subtle sounds, i.e.,] they have the form only of subtle vibration
(dhvani�), and for that reason are located as sheer vibration,
under the form of sounding (rava�), everywhere, in the animate
and inanimate [world].
Next,
I will proclaim the gross [sounds]; learn them, accordingly,
from me: [that] produced by the bheri [drum], the paá¹aḥaá¸�
[drum], and the conch; [that] produced by the mṛdanga�
[drum], and the paṇava� [drum];/18/
the sound of the flute (veṇu�) and of the gomukham; the
mardala� [drum], 1 the dardura�, the resonance (dhvani�);
the varied string instruments, and those hand
instruments;/19/
[that] produced by contact and separation; [that] produced
by sticks, stones, and water; [10] [human speech, such as]
1 Conjecturably read mardala� for mandala�.
