Prof. Vinod Vidwans , Professor and Chair, School of Fine and Performing Arts, FLAME University, Pune, India has come out with his new work a monograph entitled "The Doctrine of Shruti in Indian Music" .

Here is the conclusion part of the work:

This monograph concludes with five important insights about the concept of shruti in Indian music. Firstly, it provides clarity about the five types of shrutis mentioned in Naradiya Shiksha and their applications. Secondly, the monograph conclusively proves that Bharata’s octave has strong foundations in Vedic swaras that eventually resulted in twenty two shrutis. Thirdly, the monograph conclusively establishes Bharata’s paradigm of equal temperament twenty two shrutis with thorough analysis of Bharata’s original text from Natyashastra. Bharata’s `Shruti Nidarshanam’ experiment as thoroughly discussed is a conclusive proof of the equal temperament twenty two shrutis. This also tells a musician, how to establish shrutis on Veena and perceive them in a step-by-step manner. Fourthly, an attempt has been made to integrate Narada’s paradigm of shrutis with Bharata’s paradigm of shrutis. Each of Bharata’s shruti is considered as a cluster called Shruti-Punja or Shruti Megha. Every such cluster is divided into five types mentioned in Naradiya Shiksha to fine-tune Bharata’s paradigm. Finally, this monograph attempts to accommodate the latest findings of the empirical and computational research in the above-mentioned Shruti Punja model.

 

Other important conclusions of this monograph are as follows.

Bharata’s paradigm is completely different from Naradiya Shiksha. For Naradiya Shiksha, shrutis are sonar qualities of a Vedic swara while for Bharata shrutis are twenty two microtones or distinct places equally distributed (having equal temperament) across the octave. Thus shrutis have physical existence and in modern times can be understood in terms of their frequency values. Shrutis are not merely mental concepts. Bharata gives highly sophisticated Shruti-Nidarshanam or Sarana-Chatushtaya experiment to experience and demonstrate twenty two shruti that conclusively demonstrates the existence of equal temperament twenty two shrutis. The present monograph also developed a different variation of the Shruti Nidarshanam experiment as discussed. Computational simulation of the `Shruti-Nidarshanam’ experiment has helped to clarify many concepts more conclusively. It suggests that computational approach towards musical research is worth exploring and fulfilling at the end.

This monograph puts forth two types of arguments: a stronger or primary argument and few secondary arguments. The stronger argument is based on the critical analysis of Bharata’s original Sanskrit text from Natyashastra and then the analysis of the `Shruti Nidarshanam’ experiment as a confirmatory proof of equal temperament twenty two shrutis. This stronger argument is the crux of this monograph while other arguments are supplementary in nature.

Apart from the stronger argument, this monograph provides a step-by-step method of establishing swaras in an octave (swara-sthapana or swara mandala sadhanam) based on the original text of Bharata. This was not attempted in any other earlier studies. This is another original contribution of this monograph.

Computer simulation of `Shruti Nidarshanam’ experiment and further analysis help in re-establishing Bharata’s paradigm. This led to the development of a `Shruti-Punja’ or `Shruti-Megha’ frame-work of equal temperament hundred and ten microtones in an octave.

This monograph attempted to argue that Bharata’s paradigm is very robust and highly relevant for Indian music in modern times. With the help of advanced computational technology it can help exploring newer possibilities to enrich Indian music. 

Those interested in the full work may contact me offline. I shall send the pdf.  

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Nagaraj Paturi

 

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

 

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

 

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

 

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )