The Body of the Musician: An Annotated Translation and Study of the Piṇḍotpatti-prakaraṇa of Śārngadeva’s Sangītaratnākara

Description

The Sangītaratnākara («The Ocean of Music») written by Śārngadeva in the 13th century is the most important theoretical work on Indian classical music. Its prologue, the Pindotpatti-prakarana («The Section of the Arising of the Human Body»), deals with the Indian science of the human body, i.e. embryology, anatomy, and the Hathayogic heory of Cakras. The sources of this work are found in the classical medical texts (Āyurveda) such as Caraka, Suśruta and Vāgbhata, the Hathayogic texts as well as in the encyclopaedic texts (Purāna). After philologically analyzing the mutual relation and background of these texts, the author demonstrates the reasons why the human body is described in this musicological work. His investigation reveals the Indian mystic thought of body and sound. This study, although an Indological one, is an attempt to answer the universal question what music is, i.e. how music is created in the human body, what the effect of music on the human body is, and what music aims at. The second half of the book consists of a translation of the original text of the Pindotpatti-prakarana, including commentaries, with plenty of annotations. Contents 5 Preface 7 Abbreviations 9 Preliminary remark on citing sloka-s 11 Prologue 13 §1. Sangitaratnakara (SR) and Sarngadeva 13 §2. Two Commentaries: Kallinatha’s Kalanidhi and Simhabhupala’s Sudhakara 15 §3. Pindotpattiprakarana of SR 16 §4. Studies on Pindotpattiprakarana: SHRINGY 1999 and FUNATSU 1991 17 §5. Meditation of sound 19 §6. The validity and nature of the statements of the SR 25 §7. On my translation method 27 §8. Philosophical matters 27 On the editions of the SR 29 Situating the text 31 §1. Introduction 31 §2. Comparison with the two parallel texts 44 §3. The body and music 84 §4. Embryology, asceticism and music: Yajñavalkyasmrti and SR 95 §5. Comparison of the human body with the musical instrument in Indian literature 100 Situating the text: Appendix I 109 Situating the text: Appendix II 115 English translation 117 On my translation method 117 Remarks on the English translation 118 Section: Arising/Origination of the [human] body (pinda) 120 Bibliography 319 Index 341