Unlike the first two posts in this series (this and this), today's offering concerns itself with sounds of instrumental origin. All forms of South Asian music – classical, folk, and popular – make extensive use of an impressive variety of percussion instruments, and several systems of mnemonic syllables have been devised to describe the notes they produce (see this and this). Drums have also traditionally been used for making public announcements, in warfare, and in religious ceremonies.
In each of the first two epigrams quoted below, the author has chosen an onomatopoeic string of syllables that can be assigned a meaning in the Sanskrit language to denote the sounds emitted by a specific type of drum; the last two couplets do not involve onomatopoeia but use the structural features of a traditional Indian membranophone to great comedic effect.
In each of the first two epigrams quoted below, the author has chosen an onomatopoeic string of syllables that can be assigned a meaning in the Sanskrit language to denote the sounds emitted by a specific type of drum; the last two couplets do not involve onomatopoeia but use the structural features of a traditional Indian membranophone to great comedic effect.
दुन्दुभिश्च सुतरामचेतनस्तन्मुखादपि धनं धनं धनम्|
इत्थमेव निनदः प्रवर्तते चेतनो यदि जनः किमद्भुतम्||
इत्थमेव निनदः प्रवर्तते चेतनो यदि जनः किमद्भुतम्||
dundubhizca sutarAmacetanastanmukhAdapi dhanaM dhanaM dhanam|
itthameva ninadaH pravartate cetano yadi janaH kimadbhutam||
Loose translation: The kettledrum is totally insensate, yet the only sound that issues forth from its mouth (see below) is 'Dhanam! Dhanam! Dhanam!' ('Wealth! Wealth! Wealth!'). Is it really surprising that people who are sentient beings (behave in a similar manner)?
Notes: The author is punning on mukha (मुख) which, in general, denotes the mouth or the face but is also a technical term for a drumhead.
Source: Udbhata Sagara Part II Verse 187; Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, Chapter entitled धनप्रशंसा (dhanaprazaMsA), "the glorification of wealth", Verse 12 (last quarter: किं पुनर्यदि जनः सचेतनः||).
Notes: The author is punning on mukha (मुख) which, in general, denotes the mouth or the face but is also a technical term for a drumhead.
Source: Udbhata Sagara Part II Verse 187; Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, Chapter entitled धनप्रशंसा (dhanaprazaMsA), "the glorification of wealth", Verse 12 (last quarter: किं पुनर्यदि जनः सचेतनः||).
(2) This one was definitely not meant to be a joke but I find its witty handling of onomatopoeia (typed in boldface below) quite amusing.
Devanagari text:
येषां श्रीमद्यशोदासुतपदकमले नास्ति भक्तिर्नराणां
येषामाभीरकन्याप्रियगुणकथने नानुरक्ता रसज्ञा|
येषां श्रीकृष्णलीलाकथननिशमने सादरौ नैव कर्णौ
धिक् तान् धिक् तान् धिगेतान् कथयति नियतं कीर्तनस्थो मृदङ्गः||
येषामाभीरकन्याप्रियगुणकथने नानुरक्ता रसज्ञा|
येषां श्रीकृष्णलीलाकथननिशमने सादरौ नैव कर्णौ
धिक् तान् धिक् तान् धिगेतान् कथयति नियतं कीर्तनस्थो मृदङ्गः||
yeSAM zrImadyazodAsutapadakamale nAsti bhaktirnarANAM
yeSAmAbhIrakanyApriyaguNakathane nAnuraktA rasajJA|
yeSAmAbhIrakanyApriyaguNakathane nAnuraktA rasajJA|
yeSAM zrIkRSNalIlAkathananizamane sAdarau naiva karNau
dhik tAn dhik tAn dhigetAn kathayati niyataM kIrtanastho mRdaGgaH||
dhik tAn dhik tAn dhigetAn kathayati niyataM kIrtanastho mRdaGgaH||
Loose translation: "Fie on them! Fie on them! Fie on those people who are not devoted to the lotus-feet of the glorious son of Yashoda, whose tongues are not fond of recounting the merits of the beloved of the daughters of cowherds, and whose ears do not listen reverentially to narrations of the mirabilia of Krishna!'' – this is what the mridanga drum, used in kirtana, keeps saying every day.
Notes: I have translated AbhIra (आभीर) simply as "cowherd" since this word, as well as its cognates abhIra (अभीर) and ahIra (अहीर), has been used in Vaishnava literature to refer to the community of traditional dairy farmers living in the Braj area; but, the term is highly complex and controversial (see this, this, this, this, and this).
mRdaGga (मृदङ्ग), "clay-bodied", denotes a drum with a terra-cotta shell. At present, it has become an umbrella term for certain types of double-headed drums (see this and this), and is sometimes even applied to those with wooden shells!
kIrtana (कीर्तन), literally "recounting", refers to devotional singing usually by a group as part of a religious service, accompanied by instrumental music and sometimes by dancing.
Source: Early 20th century Udbhata Sagara Part III Verse 36; the compiler Purnachandra De attributes the verse to Baneswar Vidyalankar (बाणेश्वरविद्यालङ्कार), citing the popular anecdote that it was composed extemporaneously by this renowned 18th century scholar at the behest of his patron Maharaja Krishnachandra Roy of Nadia during a kirtana session. However, the 1888 Bombay edition of vRddhacANakyanItidarpaNa (वृद्धचाणक्यनीतिदर्पण), a collection of epigrams on morality traditionally ascribed to Chanakya, also contains this couplet with a slight variation (कथननिशमने is replaced with ललितगुणरसे in the third quarter) as Verse 5 of Chapter 12.
Notes: I have translated AbhIra (आभीर) simply as "cowherd" since this word, as well as its cognates abhIra (अभीर) and ahIra (अहीर), has been used in Vaishnava literature to refer to the community of traditional dairy farmers living in the Braj area; but, the term is highly complex and controversial (see this, this, this, this, and this).
mRdaGga (मृदङ्ग), "clay-bodied", denotes a drum with a terra-cotta shell. At present, it has become an umbrella term for certain types of double-headed drums (see this and this), and is sometimes even applied to those with wooden shells!
kIrtana (कीर्तन), literally "recounting", refers to devotional singing usually by a group as part of a religious service, accompanied by instrumental music and sometimes by dancing.
Source: Early 20th century Udbhata Sagara Part III Verse 36; the compiler Purnachandra De attributes the verse to Baneswar Vidyalankar (बाणेश्वरविद्यालङ्कार), citing the popular anecdote that it was composed extemporaneously by this renowned 18th century scholar at the behest of his patron Maharaja Krishnachandra Roy of Nadia during a kirtana session. However, the 1888 Bombay edition of vRddhacANakyanItidarpaNa (वृद्धचाणक्यनीतिदर्पण), a collection of epigrams on morality traditionally ascribed to Chanakya, also contains this couplet with a slight variation (कथननिशमने is replaced with ललितगुणरसे in the third quarter) as Verse 5 of Chapter 12.
अधिकाराभिषेकेषु मृदङ्गवचनं शृणु|
बद्धा दण्डहता रिक्ता भविष्यसि यथा वयम्||*
बद्धा दण्डहता रिक्ता भविष्यसि यथा वयम्||*
possible grammatical error (see notes)
adhikArAbhiSekeSu mRdaGgavacanaM zRNu|
baddhA daNDahatA riktA bhaviSyasi yathA vayam||
– Anonymous
Loose translation: Listen to the beats of drums during the inauguration of a new official – (it is as if they are screaming,) "You will be tied up, thrashed with beaters, and hollowed out, just like us!'
Source: 13th century Suktimuktaavali Chapter 89 (हासपद्धति: chapter on comedy) Verse 30.
Notes: abhiSeka (अभिषेक) denotes the ritual bathing of a deity on certain occasions or that of a monarch as the central rite of the accession ceremony, but the term has been generalized to refer to ceremonial induction into any office or initiation into an order. The drums the author describes here are being played perhaps to provide musical accompaniment to the inaugural celebrations or (more likely) just to announce the new installation at a public place.
This snippet betrays a dire worldview in which anyone with administrative duties is assumed to be corrupt and oppressive. baddhA (बद्धा) alludes to the lacing of drums and the fettering of arrestees and prisoners; daNDa (दण्ड) refers to a drumstick on the one hand (which is somewhat surprising to me since, to the best of my knowledge, present-day drums of the mridanga variety are all played with bare hands) and to a punishing rod or a general punitive measure (e.g. a fine or even verbal admonition) on the other; a drum is literally rikta (रिक्त), "hollow", while the people addressed by the poet are sure to be rendered "destitute" (another meaning of the same word).
I believe that there is an onomatopoeic aspect to the sequence baddhA daNDahatA riktA (बद्-धा-दण्-ड-ह-ता-रिक्-ता), but I might be overthinking.
Unless the poet is addressing a woman (and exactly one), there might be a grammatical error in the verse as quoted in Suktimuktaavali. But the issue can be easily fixed by changing the second half to बद्धो दण्डहतो रिक्तो भविष्यसि यथा वयम्||, assuming a male addressee, or to बद्धा दण्डहता रिक्ता भविष्यथ यथा वयम्||, assuming multiple addressees.
Source: 13th century Suktimuktaavali Chapter 89 (हासपद्धति: chapter on comedy) Verse 30.
Notes: abhiSeka (अभिषेक) denotes the ritual bathing of a deity on certain occasions or that of a monarch as the central rite of the accession ceremony, but the term has been generalized to refer to ceremonial induction into any office or initiation into an order. The drums the author describes here are being played perhaps to provide musical accompaniment to the inaugural celebrations or (more likely) just to announce the new installation at a public place.
This snippet betrays a dire worldview in which anyone with administrative duties is assumed to be corrupt and oppressive. baddhA (बद्धा) alludes to the lacing of drums and the fettering of arrestees and prisoners; daNDa (दण्ड) refers to a drumstick on the one hand (which is somewhat surprising to me since, to the best of my knowledge, present-day drums of the mridanga variety are all played with bare hands) and to a punishing rod or a general punitive measure (e.g. a fine or even verbal admonition) on the other; a drum is literally rikta (रिक्त), "hollow", while the people addressed by the poet are sure to be rendered "destitute" (another meaning of the same word).
I believe that there is an onomatopoeic aspect to the sequence baddhA daNDahatA riktA (बद्-धा-दण्-ड-ह-ता-रिक्-ता), but I might be overthinking.
Unless the poet is addressing a woman (and exactly one), there might be a grammatical error in the verse as quoted in Suktimuktaavali. But the issue can be easily fixed by changing the second half to बद्धो दण्डहतो रिक्तो भविष्यसि यथा वयम्||, assuming a male addressee, or to बद्धा दण्डहता रिक्ता भविष्यथ यथा वयम्||, assuming multiple addressees.
को न याति वशं लोके मुखे पिण्डेन पूरितः|
मृदङ्गो मुखलेपेन करोति मधुरध्वनिम्||
मृदङ्गो मुखलेपेन करोति मधुरध्वनिम्||
– भर्तृहरि
ko na yAti vazaM loke mukhe piNDena pUritaH|
mRdaGgo mukhalepena karoti madhuradhvanim||
Loose translation: Is there anyone in the world who cannot be brought under control by having the mouth stuffed with a morsel? Even a drum emits sweet sounds after tuning paste is applied to its head.
Notes: The aptness of the comparison is somewhat lost in translation: mukhalepa (मुखलेप), which refers here to the application of a specially prepared pitch-modifying patch on the membrane of a drum, literally translates to "smearing the mouth" – an allusion to feeding (or, by extension, offering gifts to) someone to make them speak in your favor; add to this the fact that a major ingredient of this tuning paste is rice flour, rice being the staple of many Indic cuisines, and you have the kind of multi-layered analogy expressed in simple language that is the hallmark of poetic genius.
Source: Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, chapter on general morals samanyanIti (सामान्यनीति), Verse 156; this modern anthology cites the nItishataka (नीतिशतक), "a hundred verses on moral edification" , of Bhartrihari as its source. This author, who is sometimes identified with the semi-legendary king-turned-ascetic Bhartrihari, is noted for his shatakatrayI (शतकत्रयी) or trishatI (त्रिशती), a collection of three sets of (purportedly) one hundred verses each, dealing with morality (नीति), erotism (शृङ्गार), and renunciation (वैराग्य) respectively. However, since there is a great variation in the available manuscripts of this collection, the authorship and antiquity of all verses ascribed to him are not firmly established.
Notes: The aptness of the comparison is somewhat lost in translation: mukhalepa (मुखलेप), which refers here to the application of a specially prepared pitch-modifying patch on the membrane of a drum, literally translates to "smearing the mouth" – an allusion to feeding (or, by extension, offering gifts to) someone to make them speak in your favor; add to this the fact that a major ingredient of this tuning paste is rice flour, rice being the staple of many Indic cuisines, and you have the kind of multi-layered analogy expressed in simple language that is the hallmark of poetic genius.
Source: Subhashita Ratna Bhandagara, chapter on general morals samanyanIti (सामान्यनीति), Verse 156; this modern anthology cites the nItishataka (नीतिशतक), "a hundred verses on moral edification" , of Bhartrihari as its source. This author, who is sometimes identified with the semi-legendary king-turned-ascetic Bhartrihari, is noted for his shatakatrayI (शतकत्रयी) or trishatI (त्रिशती), a collection of three sets of (purportedly) one hundred verses each, dealing with morality (नीति), erotism (शृङ्गार), and renunciation (वैराग्य) respectively. However, since there is a great variation in the available manuscripts of this collection, the authorship and antiquity of all verses ascribed to him are not firmly established.
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