CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

General Introduction
The ancient Indians always tried to accomplish something which they
believed worth doing. This attitude is noticed in their aims of reaching even
goals of worldly life. A completeness, a balance, a sense of fulfilment
pervaded their life. In those days of peace and abundance of leisure there
was enough time to think and to experiment with flights of imagination to
attain an amazing degree of progress in the fields of art, science and
philosophy. Ordinary man's conduct throughout life was then guided by
certain rules and precepts, which fall into three broad categories. They are :
(i) dharma, outlining the religious duties and fire governing principles of
rights and obligations of individuals, (ii) artha, the part of human activities
relating to social welfare and political exigency, and (iii) kdma, concerned
with exploitation of senses and pursuit of pleasure. A full integrated life was
expected to become possible only through a good balance of these three
(dharma, artha and kdma).
In such a frame of ideology, the life style followed by the princes and
the monarchs, remained at a height beyond the capacity and comprehension
of common people. Since, these common people had little place in the
contemporary history and documentation efforts, any account or annals on
the daily life of the kings in ancient India generates special topical interest for
developing insight into the religious,cultural, political and economic fabric of
the contemporary society.
 2

The present work is designed to make an investigation on

Abhilasitarthacintamani, otherwise known as Manasollasa, by Somesvara, a
Karnata monarch of KalyanI based Western Chalukya dynasty, dating back
to the 12th century A.D. The Abhilasitarthacintamani is indeed an
encyclopaedic Sanskrit exercise, revealing vast fields of knowledge ranging
from iconography to architecture, music-dance-painting to ayuroeda,
gemology and animal husbandly to hunting and sex-sport et al of a king.
This veritable thesaurus in five prakaranas (uimsatis), each having twenty
chapters, deals with 100 diverse topics of interest highlighting discussions on
the life style to be followed and the requisite knowledges to be acquired by a
king in fine with dhartna, artha and Kama.
The text is the quarry which is being drawn upon and analysed for a
critical and comprehensive comparison with similar authoritative texts, viz.
Dharmasdstra, Arthasastra, Kamasutra, Bjhatsamhitd, different Purdnas and
Upapuranas, e.g. Visnudharmottara, Vdyu, Agni, Garuda, etc., Ndtyasastra,
Vdstusdstra, Ndradtya samhitd, Dattilamata, Mdnasdra, Mayamata, K/myamTmdnisa
and other relevant works of importance. After being compared and
contrasted with reference texts, in alignment with principles of dharma, artha
and kdma, the present study endeavours at throwing light on the
contemporary life style of elites and ndgara people.
Attempts are further made to explore the progress or otherwise in the
thinking made by the author in these aspects from his predecessors.

Aim of the present study

The attempt of the present study is directed towards the critical
examination of the contents of the encyclopaedic Sanskrit text
Abhilasitarthacintamani, otherwise referred to as Manasollasa, authored by the
Karnataka king BhTdokamalladeva of the Western Chalukya dynasty. The
investigation, is mainly based on the edited volume Manasollasa of king
 3

Bhffibkamalla Somesvara by G.K Shrigondekar, Ex. Superintendent, Ms.

Oriental Institute published from the said Institute at Baroda (Vols. I, II & IH
in the year of 1925,1939 & 1961 respectively bearing GOS No. 28, 84 and 138)
as the source material.
Another work entitled Abhilasitarthadntamani, containing sections 1, 2
and 3 only, edited by R. Shamasastry, published from the University of
Mysore in 1926 (Oriental Library Series No. 69) has also been considered
during the critical examination. Since the title Manasollasa was found much
more popular for the text, late Shrigondekar named his edited volumes as
Manasollasa. The author Somesvara himself, however, preferred the naming
of the text as Abhilasitarthadntamani, while the nomenclature Manasollasa
appeared only as the second best To get better understanding about the
dialectics of these titles, the colophons of the two books, Manasollasa edited
by Shrigondekar and Abhilasitarthadntamani edited by R. Shamasastry, could
be compared.
The colophon of Manasollasa at the end of the fifth section, i.e. at the
end of the whole text runs as :
iti smnaharajadhirajasatyasrayakulatilaka - calukyabharana -
Srimadbhulokamallasrisomesvaradevaviracite
abhilasitarthacintamanau rajamanasollase
sukhopapadikakridakathanam pancamaprakaranam samaptam;

The colophon of the edition of Abhilasitarthadntamani at the end of the

third section reads:-
Iti maharajadhiraja - satya^rayakulatilaka - calukyabharana -
srimadbhulokamalla - srTsomesvaradevaviracite
abhilasitarthacintamanau rajamanasollasasastre rajyopabhogakathane
trfiyam prakaranam.
 4

The two colophons are evidently identical, the only difference being
that the first one writes rajammasollasa whereas the second one reads sdstre
after it In the edition of Shamasastry also the component word sdstra is not
uniformly retained in the intermediate colophons at the end of the first and
second section. It may also be noted that the word raja is also not uniformly
retained in the intermediate colophons of either of the editions. It is
needless to mention that both of the readings is structurally sound and
grammatically correct
Apart from this, many other books are also known to bear the title of
Manasollasa. A careful scrutiny for the same was undertaken. Dr. S.B.
Vamekar in his Samskrta Vdtimaya Kosa1 pointed out different Vedanta texts
entitled Manasollasa. Vamekar discussed about Manasollasa, otherwise
known as Abhilasitarthacintamani, authored by the Chalukya monarch
Somesvara ID, dating back to 12th century A.D. According to his opinion this
book is perhaps the first encyclopaedic compilation in the world. It could
thus be presumed that the author Somesvara was well aware of the above
said Vedanta commentaries and in order to avoid the fumes of confusion he
preferred the title Abhilasitarthacintamani for his work and then referred to it
as Rajamanasolldsa. The reason for referring the contents of the present
investigation as AbHlasitdrthacintdniani, instead of Manasollasa, is in the line of
assuming the spirit of king Somesvara.

Survey of previous works

The purpose of the present investigation, is to explain the vastness of
the text aiming at searching out the traditional roots of the cultural evolution
in India. It is worth noticing that many works related to Manasollasa are
appearing in recent years. Some more are also detected to quote this
encyclopaedic text as supporting reference. No critical analysis of the text, is>
 5

however, attempted till date though the promise and potency of the
contextual vastness of Manasollasa has for long been remaining as a store­
house of constant interest of the distinguished scholars. In Vastumandana of
Sutradharamandana.Somesvara and his work Manasollasa is referred to in the
• * *

following terms : ity aha manasollase somamahtpatih2. The Discourse Studies

in Indian Cultural History Vol. I, by P.K. Gode was published in 1961 from
VVRI, which refers to Manasollasa as an encyclopaedic text like the
Brhatsamhitd and Agnipurana. Gode has taken the help of the essence of
Upabhogammsati of Manasollasa in writing his essays regarding perfumes,
cosmetics and Indian plants.
Polity and Administration in the Matsyapurdna by S.K. Jaiswal has been
published from Jaipur in 19%. It offers information about political life of
ancient India which has got a similarity with the Manasollasa. The author
used the text of Manasollasa as a comparative text 3
Sobhana Gokhale of Deccan College (Poona University) wrote an
article entitled 'Annabhoga in the Manasollasa' which had been included in
Social life of in Andent India edited by D.G Sircar of the University of Calcutta
in 1971. Different vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes referred to in the
Manasollasa were discussed there.
Dr. Lalmani Misra had amply pointed out and discussed on the
instruments used in Manasollasa in his Ph.D. dissertation, Bharatiya Samgita
Vadya which on late years was published from Bharatiya Jnanapitha
Prakashana in 1973. The discussion on ekatantn mna and kinnaft vtnd as cited
in Somesvara's work were the central point of excellence in Misra's
dissertation.
Royal life in Manasollasa by P. Arundhati appeared in 1993. This work
is based on the Manasollasa of King Somesvara published by GOS (Baroda,
Vols. I, II & lit). Arundhati made it clear that no effort from her part was
harnessed either to make a comparative study or critical examination or
interpretation,whatsoever, of the verses. Her aim was perhaps only to
 6

present the essence of Manasollasa in English medium for the benefits of the
readers and the future researchers.4
Dr. Shringy noticed that Sarngadeva had taken gamakas, gum and dosa
of musicians from Gitavinoda section of Manasollasa in composing Prakvrnaka
chapter of SamgUaratridkaraA
Dr. Premlata Sharma has, likewise, taken the help of Manasollasa in
reconstructing the different slokas on prabandhas of BrhaddesT, wherever these
are found missing in the original manuscript
Dr. Mukund Lath, successfully utilised the contents of Vol. 3 of
Manasollasa, in editing his text of Dattilam. As such, Bruno Dagens has
commented that the Manasollasa is an encyclopaedia of royal inspiration. The
Abhilasitarthacintamani or Manasollasa is, therefore, not only a text about
music, dance, Architecture or Ayurveda but it is one of the distinguished
encyclopaedias of different streams of knowledge merged into one. It not
only depicted bare reference on different sdstras but also spoke out factual
depth and diverseness. The Agnipurdna, the Visnudharmottarapurdna and the
Garudapurdna are most often classified as illustration of encyclopaedic texts,
but those texts are seldom found to furnish detailed descriptions on
particular sdstra, as it is evident in the Manasollasa. The
Abhilasitarthacintamani or Manasollasa could, thus be deemed as an
unexplored mine of knowledge. The distinctive feature of the work lies in
the fact that it deals with diverse disciplines furnishing maximum
information in minimum space. The observation of Bruno Dagens regarding
Vastu-sdstra, realised during editing and translating the text on MayamatOyhas
somewhat tempted this investigator to take this ardent venture. D age ns's
significant remark in this respect reads - "The body of Sanskrit literature
dealing with architecture and iconography is voluminous, even if scattered
and insufficiently surveyed and it is matched by a vernacular literature, more
scattered and less known. It comprises, first of all, independent works which
can be classified under the general heading of "technical treatises"
 7

(silpasastra) or under the more precise one of "treatises on dwelling"

(vastusastra)"6. It is of course noteworthy that the work Manasollasa, on the

contrary, spoke at length, on architecture in the most articulated and

sophisticated manner.
Essays in Early Indian architecture and Introduction to Indian Art by

Coomaraswamy are of immense help to understand the verses of

AbhUasifdrthacintdmani on architecture. D.N. Shukla's Vastusastra (in two
volumes) covers both Architecture and Iconography. His base text was
Samarahganasutradkdra. In order to make a comparative study he further
consulted six more related texts like Visvakarmdprakasa, Aparajitaprccha,
Manasara, Mayamata, and Silparatna of Srikumara. Shukla's observations are

valuable for making proper assessment of Somesvara's rendering on

architecture. L.K. Shukla's A Study of Hindu Art & Architecture with special
reference to terminology, P.K. Acharya's Encyclopaedia of Hindu Architecture, and

A Dictionary of Hindu Architecture appear to be much useful towards

understanding the technical terms of Abhilasitarthacintdmani. An attempt to

decipher and make a glossary of different hitherto unexplored technical
terms in the text under examination is appended in the dissertation.
The Samgita section (gita, nrtya and vddya) of Abhilasitarthacintdmani is also
remarkably rich. This part has been briefly referred to by Swami
Prajnanananda in his works on music; namely, Historical development of Indian
music, A historical study of Indian music, Music its form function and value, The

form and function of music in Ancient India. Dr. Premlata Sharma's brilliant

exercise of the editions of BrhaddesTand Samgitardja may also be mentioned in

this connection. The critical analysis of Somesvara's articulations on music
helps to enter into the lost world of DesT Prabandha, which incites quarries
towards the genesis of differential matrics of KanidtakTmusic and Hindustham
music. This could be corroborative with Sambamoorty's South Indian Music
and Usha Sharma's Heritage of Indian Music. Many ancient texts, viz.
ArthaSastra, Agnipurana, Brhatsamhitd, Matsyapurdna, Garudapurdna and
 8

Visnudharmottarapurana, axe known, which incorporate discussions on special

topical interest as witnessed in the Manasollasa such as architecture,
iconography, metal casting, music, dance, etc. But in none of these texts
much detailed descriptions of all of the sastras are given. Somesvara
expressed his indebtedness to ancient masters like Maya, Visvakarma, and
others for the section on architecture; and Matanga and Bharata for that on
music. Varahamihira also regarded the authorities of Maya and
Visvakarman for the science of architecture. In the Manasollasa Somesvara
composed 100 chapters to dispose hundred different topics. This indicates
the author's close acquaintance with the premier ancient texts like Rgveda,
Atharvaoeda, Agniptwdna, Visnudharmottarapurana and Varahamihira's
Brhatsamhita. The enumeration of 20 kinds of king^s duties vis-a-vis lawful
political affairs shows the author's acquaintance with the elements of
Political Science as envisaged in Kautilya's Arthasastra, Manusamhita and
Yajnaoalkyasamhita. Enunciations of different kinds of upabhogas and vinodas
explain various royal sports and enjoyments as encountered in the works of
celebrated poets like Kalidasa, Bana, Sudraka and Magha et al. Author's
erudition on poetics and prosody and acumen in music resemble those of the
great musicologists like Bharata, Narada, Matanga and Dattila. Descriptions
of kridas are in conformity with the essence put forward in the Kdmasutra of
Vatsyayana, Brhatsamhita of Varahamihira, and different other Puranas.
Somesvara, however, did not discuss all the 100 topics with equal stress.
Amidst those 100 chapters Somesvara attached great importance on the
chapter Dmanathartabandhubhrtya posanadhyaya, in which the principles of
public health following the injunctions of Ayurveda are highlighted. The
intricacies of metal casting, iconography and inconometry in the chapters on
Istdpurta and Pratimalaksana are discussed. In the respective sections of
'Grhopabhoga', 'Gitavinoda', 'Nrtyaainoda' and 'Vddyaoinoda', the renderings
on the arts of architecture, music, dance and musical instruments are detailed
out In the present dissertation, a summary of the 100 chapters are given in
 9

general. Critical studies are, in particular, tried on the chapters which had
been largely appended by Somesvara himself in his text Half of the total
granthaparimdna of the Mdnasolldsa is noticed to be devoted to the writings on
important technical sciences like Ayurveda, architecture, metal casting,
iconography, iconometry, painting along with the performing arts like music,
dance and instrumental music. The Ayurveda section discusses about the
common diseases caused due to imbalance of vayu, pitta and kapha together
with their possible remedies. The discussions on metal casting and
iconography seem to be much relevant even today for the knowledge of idol
making and the associated philosophy. Two schools were in general
prevalent in the field of architecture in ancient India. Amongst these, the
northern school is widely discussed by many authorities. But the discussion
on the southern school is quite scanty. Somesvara's work may be deemed as
the mirror of the socio-cultural heights attained by the southern parts of
India.
Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy has recorded in The Dance of Shiva that
"The art of music of the present day is a direct descendant of those ancient
schools, whose traditions have been handed down with the comment and
explanation in the guilds of the hereditary musicians......"7
So to enter into the field of music all types of development of music
should be analysed. To define the present day folk song the DesI music of
Somesvara in Abhilasitdrthacintdmani should properly be analysed. Dr.
Coomaraswamy has rightly observed that the regional folk music was much
in vogue in the general class people who were often indifferent and negligent
to the rules and regulations required for composing and practising the
musical form. From Matanga's BrhaddeSi (5th - 7* cent A.D.) various
sophisticated music of desT type are known which are said to have evolved
from different regional songs and tunes. Sarhgadeva in his Samgitaratnakara
has also defined two types of music, i.e. marga & de£T.
 10

Thus a wilful effort has been made in the present study to detect the
influence of other authoritative texts on it How that had influenced the
cultural scenerio of South India in later years is also being sorted out with
possible identification of induction lines in vitro fertilising the art and
cultural life of mediaeval Bihar and Bengal.

Arrangement and Method of the present Work

The subject of the dissertation is A critical study of Somesvara's
Abhilasitarthacintamani otherwise known as Mdnasolldsa.
* t
The dissertation
comprises of six well-defined chapters. The title of the dissertation and the
methodology of analysis have been explained in the Introduction. Apart
from this a brief survey of previous works and the aim of the present
investigation are also indica-ed in the first chapter. It introduces the
Abhilasitarthacintamani or Mdnasolldsa of King Bhulokamalla. In this
discussion the meaning of the title of the work and the significance of its
double naming have been rationalised.
In the second chapter the structure of the text of
Abhilasitarthacintamani is presented. Further the author of the work and his
identity is established with supporting information collected from historical
sources. Further the historicity of the king Somesvara, the author of
Abhilasitarthacintamani, his dynasty, the socio-cultural background of his time
have been put forward. For this purpose the brilliant works of K.A.
Nilakanta Sastri & R.G Majumdar are found to be much useful, particularly
in searching out the geneological lines of the relevant South Indian dynasties,
their religious beliefs, cultural achievements, and the then social conditions,
The third chapter depicts a short account of the Sanskrit literatures
dealing with the kings and their daily life starting right from the life of Vedic
age. Information collected from ancient records, classical literature, coinage,
inscriptional sources, travelogues and outstanding notes by foreign travellers
is presented here.
 11

Life in Ancient India in the age of the Mantras by P.T.S. Iyengar, Kalidasa

& his times by K.C Jain, Studies in Cultural History by P.K. Gode, Studies in the

upapurdnas by R.G Hazra and Some aspects of Indian Society 2nd Century B.C. to

4th Century A.D. by S.G Bhattacharya. Bhdratvarser itihas 1000 B.C. to 1526

A.D. by Romila Thapar, Some aspects of Kautilya's political thinking of R.G.

Basak are some of the important critical studies which were taken care of
during the discussions presented in this chapter.
The fourth chapter of this dissertation affords a summary of the 100
chapters of the Abhilasitdrthadntdmani or Manasolldsa. Studies in the

Mahdpurdnas by S.G Banerji, Studies in tire Upapurdnas by R.G Hazra, Studies

in Indian Cultural history, different discourses on architecture like Vastusastra

by D.N. Shukla, A study of Hindu Art & Architecture with special reference to
terminology by L.K. Shukla, A Dictionary of Hindu Ardutecture by P.K. Acharya

have been of great help for making a generalised assessment

The fifth chapter of this dissertation prepares a critical analysis of
some important items involving technical sciences and fine arts. The
comparative estimation on architecture are furnished in the light of the
reputed texts of the predecessors of Somesvara, viz. Mayamata and Mdnasdra.
The works Samardnganasutradhdra, Silparatna of Srikumara, and Silparatnakosa
of Niranjana Mahapatra, outlining the influence that the Manasolldsa exerted
the later architectural texts upto 17th century are also undertaken. The
substantive discussions are being enriched with the help of different relevant
discourses on Architecture by An and a K Coomaraswamy, Stella Kramrisch,
P.K Acharya, Percy Brown, Manorama Jauhari (South India & its architecture),
S. Rajasekhara (Karnataka Architecture), M.A. Dhaky (Encyclopaedia of Indian
Temple Architecture), Bruno Dagens (Architecture in the Ajitagama texts), etc.

The making of a glossary of architectural terms has also been attempted

taking the help of Mayamata edited by Bruno Dagens, Encyclopaedia of Hindu
Architecture treating Sanskrit Architectural terms with illustrative
Quotations, Silparatnakosa - a glossary of Orissan Temple Architecture, A
 12

Dictionary of Hindu Architecture by P.K. Acharya A Sanskrit-English

Dictionary of Monier Williams and Vedic Concordance provide a good help to
explain the architectural terms in the proper method.
Then the techniques of metal casting, iconography and iconometry as
referred to in the Manasollasa are critically assessed with suitable references
from different texts and scientific journals. A brief history of iconography is
formulated with references so far available in different Indian literature.
Different discourses like Metal sadptures of Eastern India by Bimal Banerjee,
Vastusastra Vol. II of D.N. Shukla, Copper in Ancient India by Panchanan
Neogi, Minerals and Metals in Ancient India by A.K. Biswas, Pratima Kosha by
Ramachandra Rao, Visnudharmottarapurdna Vol. HI ed. By Priyabala Shah,
Iconography of composite images by D.C Bhattacharya, Elements of Hindu
Iconography by Gopinath Rao are found to be of immense use during critical
evaluation.
As Ayurveda was always an important part in the discussion of
technical sciences in ancient India, such was pronounced by Somesvara in his
Abhilasitdrthacintamani. A comparative study on this is presented in the
dissertation with the help of Caraka Samhita, Susrutasamhita, Garudapurdna,
Agnipurdna & Astdngahrdaya of Vdgbhata.
Finally the elements of fine arts, viz. painting, etc. and performing
arts, viz. gita, nrtya and vadya, of the Abhilasitdrthadntdmani are investigated
in consonance with the discourses on music by Dr. Premlata Sharma,
Mukund Lath, Shringy and other authorities on Indian music, which furnish
adequate collative materials for the work. In each of these discourses one or
two previous texts like Bharata's Ndtyafastra and/or Matahgas Brhaddest are
taken into accountable consideration, side by side one or two texts of later
period like Samgitaratnakara of Sdrngadeva and Samgitardja of Mahdrdna
Kumbha has been consulted resulting in the clarity of vision in the
evolutionary pathways of Indian music. A resume on the development
spiral of classical music, i.e. gita, nrtya & vadya has been framed out with the
 13

help of the masterpieces like as A history of Indian music, The form and function
of music in ancient India, Music its form, junction and value, A historical study of
Indian Music and Historical development of Indian Music by Swami
Prajnanananda. Besides these his Bharatiya Samgiter itihas (in 3 vols.) in
Bengali had been of immense value during these critical studies. Swami
Prajnanananda in Music, its form, junction & value observed that following the
form of Vedic music, different forms of non-Vedic gdndharva and desT music
evolved. The gdndharva type is known as gandharva because the gdndharva
type was designed on the image of Vedic music. The word marga means
anvesana, i.e. it was 'searched after' that means the marga type of music of the
post Vedic time took a new shape with some modifications. The
Abhilasitarthaeintdmani explains different types of desT music, which are
mainly of the prabandha type. This type of musical text is important in the
light of in situ evolution of culture and prevailing society.
Besides these Heritage of Indian Music by Usha Sharma, South Indian
Music by P. Sambamoorthy have clearly categorised the division between
KarnafokT music and Hindustham music and identified its emergence. For the
critical studies on the development of Indian dance, the works of Kapila
Vatsyayan, Swami Prajnanananda and Projesh Banerjee have been of much
help. Musical instruments of India by Chaitanya Deva and Bharatiya Samgtta
vddya by Lalmani Misra are found useful for preparing a concise history on
the development of musical instruments. Sanskrit texts on music by Dattila,
Bharata and Sarhgadeva have been collated with the relevant portions of the
Manasolldsa to understand their changes from the source and implication
over the descendants. Such a study has not been attempted before. History of
Indian Music by Swami Prajnanananda, B. Chaitanya Deva and other musical
texts highlighted the particular side of music to ascertain the development
alone. But the critical study of the development of music of ancient India has
not yet been properly undertaken. Though Premlata Sharma and Mukund
Lath have opened a new field of critical analysis during editing of musical
 14

texts, they have compared slokas of different musical texts for the purpose of
reconstructing the texts. The search for inherent theory and history of music
has, however, not been sufficiently done.
Prabandha type of music is one of the most valuable part of
Abhilasitdrthacin tamani or Manasollasa. Prabandha is known by its constituent
four dhatus and six ahgas. The four dhatus are the four ancient music parts
like udgraha, meldpaka, dhrnva and abhoga and six ahgas are the six limbs like
svara (note), viruda, etc. There are two types of musical forms of music
anibaddha (abstract) nibaddha (concrete). The dldpa is known as abstract music
and prabandha is also considered so. Swami Prajanananda rightly observed
that the function of music involves some definite plans and purposes, so as to
preserve the age-long tradition of Indian culture and also to create new
things for enriching the treasure of Indian music. The intuitive composers
and artistes of different ages knew the secret of devising new things,
resulting new prabandha songs like Dhruvapada, dhatriar, khyal, thurnri, klrtan,
bhajan, etc. These are the products of different ages, and these products also
gave rise to other types of song and dance8. In the PJdmdyana, Mahabharata,
Harivamsa and other purdnas, music in different dramatic performances and
socio-religious occasions is noticed. Even in the 19th and 20th centuries
different functions of music with different plots - social, political and
religious, - are observed. The function of music was also adopted
exclusively for spiritual purpose in different periods. During the period
between 10th and 11th century, the Buddhist Vajrayam monks used to sing the
songs of gtti, carya and vajra: they communicated their ideas of spiritual
practices with the help of those songs, along with some suggestive code
language, (sandhyd-bhdsa). In the 12* century, the Gltagcroinda-padaganas were
practised, and they were known purely classico-religjous songs. In the
Gttagovinda 24 forms of prabandhas are observed, the aspect which is also an
essential part of Somesvara's Abhilasitdrthadntdmani and Mantanga's
 15

Brhaddest. But later on Rani Kumbhakarna in composing Samgitaraja shows

different forms of prabandhas. In this way the development of prabandhas and
its use in different ages are summarised.
Finally, the conclusion is made on the basis of observations made by
collation of different texts of different periods. The emergence of Karnataka
people in Bihar and Bengal and their direct influence on the contemporary
literary works of Bengal and Bihar are testified.
In comparison with other works on Samgita/dstra
Abhilasitdrthacintdmani treats all the steps of dest music giving much
information in a small pace. It can be said a compendium of gita, nrtya and
vadya. There are many texts on samgita but nowhere all sections of music, i.e.
gita, nrtya and vadya are available in the same chapter and in so concise form.
In considering the scope of Abhilasitdrthacintamani it will be useful to
compare it with other important treatise on Samgita. No other author of
Samgitasastra has attempted a collection of definitions and explanations at
one place in a treatise or a generic compendium of principles and injunctions
of Samgita, which are found usually scattered here and there^ throughout the
pages of a work.
The present investigator pays her gratitude to the predecessors who
had profound researches on the various subjects of Science, Architecture and
Fine arts of ancient India. She further, acknowledges her debt to them all, as
she finds their ideas and works as the guideline approach for her present
study. The subjects, they had dealt with, have provided collative materials
which have in some cases been incorporated in the present studies. Though
discussions on all the 100 chapters of the text are included in the general
discussion of the dissertation, each these are not all critically estimated. For
critical evaluation, the portions covering the technical sciences, viz. Ayurveda,
architecture, bronze casting and iconography and on the fine arts, viz. music,
dance and instrumental music have been taken up. A glossary of the terms
and terminologies of these topics is appended. For critical estimation, one or
 16

two earlier texts as source material and one or two later texts as collative
material are taken into consideration to ascertain the points of agreement and
difference. A history of South India and the contemporary kings has been
traced and their relationship has been established. A kinship relation in the
cultural lives of South Indians and Bengalees have been searched out
enroute from Karnataka to Bengal. The temple culture of Karnataka and
Bengal has been correlated. And the influence of Karnataka dest music on the
deSi prabandhas of Jayadeva has been established in the concluding part
A select Bibliography is given and it is arranged following the
alphabetical order.
 17

REFERENCES

1. S.B. Vamekar: Sanskrta Vdnmaya Kosa, p. 13, 268.

Cf. infra, ch.2,
2. Cf. Mss. G 5505 (lb), Asiatic Society;
5317 (lb), Oriental Institute, M.S. University, Baroda;
1113 (lb), Sampurnananda Sanskrit University, Varanasi;
33876 (lb), Sampurnananda Sanskrit University;
405/1882-83 (la), BORI, Pune.
3. S.K. Jaiswal: Polity and Administration in the Matsyapurana, p. 11.
4. P. Arundhati: Royal Life in Mdnasollasa, see preface.
5. R.K. Shringy: Sahgitaratnakara of Sarhgadeva. Intro (XXVII).
6. Bruno Dagens (Ed. & trans.): Mayamata, p-Intro XXXV.
7. A.K. Coomaraswamy: 77ie Dance of Shiva, p. 10Z
8. S. Prajnanananda: Music: its form, Junction and value, p. 87.