सङ्गीतचन्द्रः- Sangitacandrah: A Treatise on the Art of Dance By Vipradasa Alias Suklapandita (Amritmahotsav Granthmala- 35)

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About fifteen years ago, I had an opportunity to co-present dance on The Tirumala Music Inscription under the aegis of my Guru Dr. Uma Ramarao, the work on stone slabs that was brought to light by illustrious scholar-researcher Sri Veturi PrabhakaraSastri. The predominantly Sanskrit inscription is attributed to late 15th century from palaeographical evidence. In preparation to understand the meaning of the lyrics for abhinaya, I have learnt about another luminary Dr. P. Sriramachandrudu, with who I also had an opportunity to interact briefly. Little did I know at the time, that I shall be instrumental in working on something that the eminent scholar brought to light. At the time, Sangitacandra remained only as part of the appendices and textual references on performing arts.

My tryst with Sanskrit continued when I, in my pursuit of further learning, enrolled in the first ever online course on Natyashastra announced by Natyashastra Anusandhana Kendra, Bhopal in view of the Covid pandemic. It is then that I have developed a huge interest to read more about Sangitacandra, the treatise on dance assigned to 14th century. After few monumental efforts, I could lay my hands on a copy of the Sanskrit text published by Dr. P Sriramachandrudu based on a single manuscript available. It is believed that the manuscript was taken to Nepal and then received back in South India in about 1940. With a curious disposition for knowledge acquisition, I was all the more excited to learn that new details on Hastakas and theatre have been included in this work Vipradasa, the author intermittently referred to in the text, the aspects that are not found in the Natyashastra.

Since Sangitacandra is in Sanskrit, an entire generation who cannot read the script or understand the meaning would unfortunately miss out on a great opportunity to learn about the work. Very few even know such an extensive text of 2168 verses exists on the subject. I therefore developed a strong intent for getting the text translated and published in English, a culturally significant and valuable milestone for Indian heritage, performing artists, historians, linguists, litterateurs and researchers globally.

I am immensely thankful to Prof. Shrinivasa Varakhedi, honourable Vice Chancellor of CSU for this commendable milestone and for enabling to place the English translation of Sangitacandra in the hands of scholars and to the wider world, Prof. Radha Vallabh Tripathi for directing me to Dr. C. Rajendran whose considerable efforts led to this Volume 1 of 750 verses. I am grateful to everyone who worked in the background for the fruition.

Starting from Natyasastra of Bharata, there are multitudinous works on the system of Indian classical dance and dramaturgy. Sangitacandra, assigned to Vipradasa is one of the major treatises of post Bharata era on this topic. Vipradasa aslo known as Suklapandita existed in the latter half of the 14th century. Sangitacandra consists of 2168 verses, written in Sanskrit, dealing with all aspects of dance in an exhaustive manner. It is based on Bharata's Natyasastra, Nandikeshvara's Abhinayadarpana and Sharngadeva's Sangitaratnakara. The esteem with which it was regarded in tradition can be guaged by the fact that King Jagajjyoti, took all the trouble to bring its manuscript to Nepal from the distant south considering its uniqueness among the plenitude of works related to performing arts. A perusal of the work would defenitely make a reader aware of the encyclopaesic range of the author with regard to theatre in general and dance in particular. The work is a valuable addition to the literature on the subject precisely because it provides answer to many querries uncovered by early works. It is a must-read book for any serious performer or scholar interested in Indian dance. This work provides us not only with abundant information indetail, but also with new insight for understanding the core of Indian music. We need to study all works till the recent work by Shri Bhatkhande, who has consolidated all theories and practices at one place. This particular translation will certainly help the readers to identify the features of Indian music in those times and in susequent period.

Dr. Ragasudha Vinjamuri, the Founder, Sanskruti Centre for Cultural Excellence, London and Fellow, Royal Society of Arts, working as Associate Lecturer, University of Sunderland has edited this volume with a part of the text (up to 750 verses) of Sangitacandra along with an erudite English translation by Prof. C.Rajendran, former Professor of Sanskrit in University of Calicut and Visiting Professor in Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris and Jagiellonion University, Krakow. The book is going to be published jointly by Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi and Sanskruti- the Centre for Cultural Excellence, London. I wish both Dr. Ragasudha Vinjamuri and Prof. C. Rajendran for their unique efforts to bring out this incredible litarary output. I also appreciate the assistance extended by my colleague Prof. Sugyan Kumar Mahanty and others in publishing the work. I hope, this book, published by Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi under the series of Amṛtamahotsavagranthamala will serve the scholars, researchers as well as performers.

Sangitacandra, a treatise on dance, authored by Vipradasa alias Suklapandita, was originally published in 1982 by the doyen of Sanskrit, the late Dr. P.Ramachandradu. Dr. Ramachandradu, in his learned introduction states that the edition is based on a single manuscript presented to him by Dr. PS.R Appa Rao which, as testified by him was presented to Dr. Rao by Sri Manavalli Ramakrishna Kavi. The manuscript contained 198 folios and was in good condition. At the end of the manuscript, a postscript states that it was copied at Kathmandu from a copy of the work in the Library of H.H The Maharaja of Nepal. Dr. Ramachandradu conjectures, on the basis of the appearance of the manuscript that 'it must be at least one hundred years old'.

According to Dr.Ramachandradu, the name of the author can be ascertained as Vipradasa on the basis of the statement made by the author, sarvesam laksanam vacmi vipradaso vidam varah (Verse no 1068). In all probability, he must be a South Indian as per a statement at the end of the manuscript which records:

King Jagajjyoti, like Garuda bringing nectar with great effort, brought this commendable work from the distant south thinking that though there are a lot of works on music, there is no other work like this.

Prof. Ramachandradu further suggests that the profuse quotations from Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, generally assigned to 13th century can be taken as the lower terminus of the date of the author. Sarigadeva was a scholar in the court of a king of Deogiri which reinforces the conjucture that the author hailed from South India. The author refers to himself with some other names and epithets, like sukla, Suklasuri, and Suklapandita. His father's name seems to be Nidhikara as he refers to himself as Nidhikaratmaja and Naidhikara. Dr. Ramachandradu also conjectures that Suklapandita must be the real name of the author and other terms like Vipradasa, Satyavak, Manisin, Vidvaccaranasevin etc., should be taken as epithets indicating his qualities.