Musical world of Valmiki
Pappu Venugopala Rao
MUSIC IN VALMIKI’S RAMAYANA: Subhadra Desai; Shubhi Publications, 232 City Centre, II Floor, MG Road, Gurgaon 122002. Rs. 1795.
The Ramayana is an unfathomable epic of eternal character. The life and culture of this country revolve round this great epic. While the Ramayana is intended to elevate human beings, the Mahabharata tells us how to live in society and the Bhagavata Purana helps us to attain spiritual elevation. These three works are like three concentric circles that one travels through phases in one’s life.
The Ramayana is the first work of poetry outside the Vedic literature. To the scholars it is poetry unparalleled, for the artists it is a drama unsurpassed with a variety of emotions, to the refined it is a work of righteousness ( Dharma), for seekers it is the royal path to liberation and in a nutshell it is history, geography, ethnology, astronomy, music and the art of warfare. It is an amalgamation of everything that the human race wants for all time to come. There are many versions of the Ramayana in all Indian languages. However, the original Valmiki Ramayana retains its glory forever. Different artists from different fields find Ramayana as a source of inspiration and relevant to them.
Inherent music
This book is one such scholarly exercise focused on music in the Valmiki Ramayana in five chapters scientifically dealing with the subject of music. The first chapter deals with the traditional tenets of Indian music. The ancient literature and the metrical form of the Ramayana establish the fact that there is an inherent music in the Valmiki Ramayana. Valmiki initiated Lava and Kusa into Ramayana singing and asked them to render the Ramayana composed by him in Margi style.
The author quotes more than 120 verses from the chapters of the Ramayana which have references to music or dance. The book carries some very ancient paintings of the Ramayana from different periods like the Bikaner, Kangra and Mughal schools. The next chapter deals with the Vedic hymns, Vedic chanting in the Ramayana and the technical terms of music used in the epic like Margi, Karana, Murchana, Sthana, Jaati, Laya and Tala.
Objective
The third chapter deals with classification of musical instruments in the Ramayana according to the traditional categorisation. The fourth is a key chapter, wherein the author deals with the backdrop of music in society in the Ramayana era and etymologically classifies musicians and dancers in the Ramayana. The last chapter dealing with the nature of music is a very natural topic in a book like this. The crowning and interesting component of this work is the four appendices where some interesting topics such as the influence of Ramayana on the music and culture of the subcontinent, selected reference to music in the Ramayana, definition of some technical terminologies of music and references are given.
The bibliography also reads as an enchanting and enlightening component of this wonderful book. Wherever there are Sanskrit verses, the author has very scrupulously given the English transliteration with diacritical marks and translation.
This is a book that needs to be there in every library. The highlight of this book is the objectivity of the author in dealing with the topic without being swayed away by any sentiments or religious fervour. The quality of the content, production and pictures add immensely to the value of the book.
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