[INDOLOGY] question regarding Sanskrit Gana

[Olivelle, J P]

Thank you very much, Thomas. Let us hope someone can find this article.

Patrick



> On Jul 8, 2017, at 2:05 PM, Thomas Kintaert <thomaskintaert at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> The following article might be relevant as well:
> 
> Wadhwani, Yashodhara: Trika-s in metrical music and in tantric
> mantra-s. In: Saṃskr̥ta-saṅgīta-jagadīśvarī = Jewels in Sanskrit and
> musicology: Ācārya Jagadīśa Sahāya Kulaśreṣṭha abhinandana grantha,
> ed. by Suṣamā Kulaśreṣṭha et al. Dillī, 1995; p. 441-449.
> 
> If I remember its contents correctly, some tantric text(s) associate
> each gaṇa with one of the pañcabhūta-s and other elements. Since fire
> and water are incompatible, a fire gaṇa should never occur next to a
> water gaṇa. According to Wadhwani, this indeed conforms to prosodical
> practice. I don’t recall exactly which gaṇa-s conform to fire and
> water, only that this rule seemed to me to make sense from a
> metrical/rhythmical point of view.
> 
> Unless someone on this list can provide a digital copy of this
> article, I could make a scan of it in about two weeks.
> 
> Best,
> 
> Thomas Kintaert
> 
> -----
> Dr. Thomas Kintaert
> Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde,
> Universität Wien
> Uni-Campus AAKH
> Spitalg. 2, Hof 2.1
> 1090 Wien, Österreich
> http://univie.academia.edu/TKintaert
> thomas.kintaert at univie.ac.at
> 
> 
> On 7/7/17, Olivelle, J P via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>> Friends:
>> 
>> I received this query and do not have an answer. I always thought these were
>> mnemonic devices to remember Sanskrit meters. Has anyone come across this
>> kind of meanings attached to them? Thanks.
>> 
>> Patrick
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> I have a Sanskrit-related question; any insights you could offer me about
>> this would be much appreciated!
>> 
>> As you may remember, I'm researching Kandyan drumming in Sri Lanka, and how
>> it has changed during the 20th century.
>> Many traditional drummers that I've spoken to have been convinced that the
>> important bera pada (drumming patterns) have special astrological
>> significance, but none have had any idea about how this worked.
>> 
>> I've since discovered that auspicious drumming pieces such Magul Bera start
>> with gana (tri-syllabic groups) such as na and ya, and that Vina pada
>> (drumming patterns intended to cause harm) start with gana such as ta and
>> sa.
>> This makes sense, since Sinhala astrologers consider the gana ma, na, bha,
>> and ya to good, and the gana ja, ra, sa, and ta to be bad.
>> 
>> Of course, these are the same gana that are defined for Sanskrit prosody by
>> writers such as Pingala, but while Sinhala astrologers place a lot of
>> significance on good/bad (suba/asuba) gana - for example when naming babies
>> or writing seth kavi and vas kavi - I have so far found no evidence that
>> people in India have done the same. To be fair, I haven't talked to any
>> Indians about this, but so far I've been unable to find any written sources
>> about the topic.
>> 
>> My question is: in Sanskrit prosody and/or any form of astrology in India,
>> were/are gana (tri-syllabic groupings) categorized as good and bad? Or is
>> this something unique to Sinhala astrology?
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> --
> Dr. Thomas Kintaert
> Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist
> Studies<http://stb.univie.ac.at/>
> ,
> University of Vienna
> Uni-Campus AAKH
> Spitalg. 2, Hof 2.7
> A-1090 Wien, Austria (Europe)
> Tel.: +43-1-4277-43561
> Fax: +43-1-4277-9435
> http://univie.academia.edu/TKintaert
> thomas.kintaert at univie.ac.at