Music in Tamil Lexicons

AuthorVidya Jayaraman / Posted on

Musical References in Tamil Lexicons

Nikaṇṭ u-s or lexicons are collections of vocabulary lists as understood by the commentary of Cankaranamaccivāyar for the Nannūl,“கூட்டம் எனினும் நிகண்டு எனினும் ஒக்கும் (நன்னூல் 460)”. Nikaṇṭ u –s also contain key information and definitions pertaining to musical terminology. This information is especially pertinent when constructing the history of Tamil Music where there is a greater reliance on secondary sources due to the survival of very few primary sources and musical treatises. Musical history about Tamil music is generally gathered from works of poetry and the explanatory notes offered by commentators such as arumpatavuraiāciriyar or atiyārkkunallār and their quotations from other textual sources accessible to them. With the exception of Pancamarapu, many of these sources are no longer accessible. In addition, literary references also present a layer of obscurity due to their usage of musical terms as metaphorical aids to poetry or in some cases the story line of an epic poem. An example would include a passing reference in kallāṭ am to iṇai, kiLai, pakai and naṭ pu in the context of a descriptive nature motif. The passage thus takes for granted that the reader is aware of the terminology it employs. It is only in the commentary of —- that we find the specific quote from Icai nuṇukkam of CikaNTiyAr. Unike literary references, Nikaṇṭ u-s offer factual information in the form of definitions of terms though they are far from being exhaustive. Nikaṇṭ u-s thus provide an insight into the transformations and evolutionary changes in Tamil music in the medieval period.
Some of the important nikaṇṭ u -s are, tivākaram, Pinkalantai, uriccolikaṇṭ u, navamaṇikkārikai nikaṇṭ u, kayātaram, bhāratideepam, āciriyanikaṇṭ u, kailāsanikaṇṭ u, cūṭ āmani, Vaṭ amalai nikaṇṭ u and Tamil uriccol panuval (1984). The history of Nikaṇṭ u-s in Tamil begins with the uriyiyal (qualifying words) section of the Tolkāppiyam. This section provides a selected list of one hundred and twenty words and their meanings but restricts itself to uncommon words. The term nikaṇṭ u is however first used by Maṇṭ alapuruṭ ar only in the cūṭ āmaṇi Nikaṇṭ u as, “நிகண்டு சூடாமணி என்று ஒன்று ச ால்வேன்”. The early nikaṇṭ us were written in the form of sūttiram, most often with the second syllable correspondence (etukai). Nikaṇṭ u-s are traditionally organized into ten sections with last two sections of homonyms and a thesaurus-like section containing many words that carry the same meaning.

Tivākaram:

The oldest of the Tamizh Nikaṇṭu-s is the Tivākaram. It is also known as Centan Tivākaram. It is traditionally believed that the Centan Tivākaram was culled from an original and more voluminous work known as ātitivā karam. The author of this work is considered to be a Jaina by some and a Saiva by some and the patron of the work is said to be King Centan. This is understood from the verses at the end of the Chapters in praise of the King Centan. According to the Madras Tamil Lexicon, this work is said to have been written before the rāṣ ṭ rakūṭ a-s rose to power ie about the middle of the 8th century.1Prof.Gregory James dates it between the 8th-9th centuries.2

ஒருவற் கொருவன் ஆகி யுதவியும் பரிசின் மாக்கள் பற்பல ராயினும் தானொரு வன்னே தரணி மானவன் செந்தமிழ்ச் சேந்தன் தெரிந்த திவாகரத் தைந்தாவது இடப்பெயர்த்தோகுதி முற்றிற்று.
The Tivākaram contains twelve sections written in suttiram
form.
1.தெய்வப்பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Dealing with the names of Gods

  1. மக்கட்பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Makkat peyar tokuti – Dealing with the names of people
  2. விலங்கின் பெயர்த்தொகுதி -Collections of (words dealing with) the names of animals
  3. மரப்பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names of Plants
    5.இடப்பெயர்த்தொகுதி – -Collections of (words dealing with) the names of the world, directions ,sea, mountains
  4. பல்பொருள் பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names of miscellaneous things
  5. செயற்கை வடிவப் பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names of non-natural things
  6. பண்பு பற்றிய பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names of qualities
  7. செயல் பற்றிய பெயர்த்தொகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names of actions
  8. ஒலி பற்றிய பெயர்த்தோகுதி – Collections of (words dealing with) the names related to sound
  9. ஒரு சொல் பல்பொருள் பெயர்த்தோகுதி – Collections of homonyms
  10. தொகைப் பொருளைச் சொல்லும் தொகையாகராதி – Collections of synonyms

Among these, Chapters nine and ten are of interest in that they contain many words pertaining to dance and music. Chapter two contains names of people associated with music and dance such has pāṇar and those that play the skin-covered instruments.

  1. வான் வகை – The Heavens
  2. வானவர் வகை – Of The Divinities
  3. ஐயர் வகை – Of People
  4. அவனி வகை – Of the world
  5. ஆடவர் வகை – Of common folk
  6. அனுபோக வகை – Of enjoyment / pleasure
  7. பண்பிற் செயலிற் பகுதி வகை- Of qualities and actions
  8. மாப்பெயர் வகை – Of Animals
  9. மரப்பெயர் வகை – Of trees
  10. ஒரு சொற்பல்பொருள்வகை – Homonyms

Pinkalantai:
The Pinkala Nikaṇṭ u attributed to Pinkala munivar. No biographical information is available on him but the author is said to be a student (and sometimes son) of Tivākara munivar and appears to closely follow the Tivākara Nikaṇṭ u in some of the sections on music and comprises of 4121 sūtra-s with 14700 words. This work is dated around the 10th century with an upper limit of 12th CE AD, as Pavaṇanti in Nannūl (S.405) quotes from this work. Based on the presence of many places in the Chola desa, the author is considered to have been a resident of that region.

Among these Chapter 6 or anupoka vakai contains musical terms.

Cuṭāmaṇi nikaṇṭu:

The author of this work is Maṇṭ alapuruṭ ar and the work is written around the 16th century.The author praises a king kiruṭ ṭ iṇarāya and this king is identified by some with Krṣ ṇadevarāya and by others as the rāṣ ṭ rakūṭ a king Krṇṣna II (880-911) The work contains an invocatory verse or Arukan before each chapter and thus is said to be a Jaina work. The work is composed entirely of virutta-pa. Many of the musical terms in this text are repetitions of the content found in the Tivākaram and Pinkalantai and the compiler of this work does not take into account any of the contemporaneous musical developments in the region.

தெய்வப் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
மக்கட் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
விலங்கு பெயர்த் தொகுதி
மரப் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
இடப் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
பல்பொருட் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
செயற்கை வடிவப் பெயர்த் தொகுதி
பண்பு பற்றிய பெயர்த் தொகுதி
செயல் பற்றிய பெயர்த் தொகுதி
ஒலி பற்றிய பெயர்த் தொகுதி

An examination of the Musical References in the Nikaṇṭu-s:

Migratory Quotations:

One aspect that we can observe in Nikaṇṭu-s is that a certain set of definitions seem to have migrated from text to text and reproduced verbatim irrespective of whether they are relevant to the time frame they are written. This typically includes “carried down” beliefs such as the varieties of dance attributed to various deities, the varieties of yAzh and the drums parai-s associated with various geographies. The information about the āṭ al of the various deities is the same as that contained in the urai of the Cilappatikāram, texts such as the kaṭ avul vāzhttu of Kalittokai listing the dances of Siva included paṇṭ arankam, kapālam, koṭ ukoṭ ṭ i, that of māyon as alliyam, kuṭ am, mal and marakkāl etc.

Existing Terminology and New Definitions

In addition to the above category of earlier ideas repeated verbatim, texts such the Tivākaram and Pinkalantai redefine terms to include some contemporaneous ideas. This also reflects the influx and migratory influence of other elements and musical concepts into the Tamil region. For example , we notice that the usage of the term yāzh has been extended and is also used in a sāmānya sense to mean a range of stringed instruments. The Tivākaram adds this definition in addition to reproducing an earlier definition of narappuk karuvi or kuyiluvakkaruvi.

தந்திரி வீணை கின்னரம் விபஞ்சி கருவிகோடவதி
அறு சரம் வல்லக்கியென் றறைபவையோசை யாழின் பெயரே

Another interesting feature is the rdefinition and understanding of the term ‘sangItam’. The Tivākaram defines it as ‘ சங்கீதம்பல்லியந்தழுவு பாடல்’. The term palliyam means “A variety of instruments’ and also ‘time measure’. Thus this term could be understood as song sung to the accompaniment of instruments or a song set to a time measure.
Another redefinition or modification that we encounter in th Tivākaram is its specific definition for the term pann making explicit the stipulation or constraint that it should contain all the seven notes. It also defines tiRam as the term used for varja scales.

Another redefinition or modification that we encounter in th Tivākaram is its specific definition for the term pann making explicit the stipulation or constraint that it should contain all the seven notes. It also defines tiRam as the term used for varja scales.

நிறை நரம்பிற்றே பண்ண்ணெனலாகும்
குறை நரம்பிற்றே திறமெப்படுமே

This differs significantly from how the arumpatavuraiaciriyar and atiyArkkunallAr define pann and tiram. According to their definition,

பண்ண்ணென்றது – நரப்படைவால் நிறந்தோன்றப் பண்ணப்படா
நின்ற பண்ணும் பண்ணியற்றிறமும், திறமும் திறத்திறமும்.

The terms panniyal tiram and tirattiram are absent in the nikantu-s while the commentators to the Cilappatikāram are silent about the constraints on pann.

Contemporaneous Concepts:

In addition to repetitions and redefinition, we also find some significant changes that mark this period of Tamil Music. We see here the beginnings of classifying ragas based on their names such as grouping the names of pann-s ending in varATi, kolli or kurinji. Similarly those melodies that carry the suffix raga are grouped as ragattin peyar. Earlier melodic classification included those based on geographies and the ones from each yAzh and pAlai. This perhaps could be indicative of newer means of deriving melodies and represent a change from a system of modal shift of tonic.

The following Tevara Panns are mentioned in the TivAkaram but classified according to the nomenclature. For example all the panns ending in kurinji are presented together.

புறநீர்மை, காந்தாரம், வியாழக்குறிஞ்சி, மேகராகக்குறிஞ்சி,
குறிஞ்சி, அந்தாளிக்குறிஞ்சி, நட்டபாடை, இந்தளம்
பஞ்சமம், தக்கேசி, கொல்லி, கௌவாணம், நட்டராகம்
பழந்தக்கராகம், தக்கராகம், கௌசிகம், காந்தார பஞ்சமம், செந்துருத்தி,
பழம்பஞ்சுரம், செவ்வழி, பியந்தை (காந்தாரம்)

Among the tevAra pann-s only சீகாமரம்,திருநேரிசை , திருவிருத்தம் , திருத்தாண்டகம் are not mentioned perhaps because the melody of the last three are tied with the musical form.
This aspect of classification of pann-s is specially important when considering the differences between the Tivakaram and the Pinkalantai. It is in the listing and classification of panns and musical notes that the two nikantus differ. The pinkalantai mentions the notion of perumpaNN and lists 12 paNNs and 21 tiRams as part of the perumpaNNs. It appears that by the time of Pinkalantai and the passing of a few centuries, there occurred a proliferation of new melodic material and the aspect of the same melodic material having multiple names – perhaps due to cultural
flux. There is also a certain amount of regrouping of material and the list of palaiyazh tirams differ between the tivAkaram and Pinkalantai. We find ragas like nArAyaNi, rAmakkiri, nagadhvani making an appearance in Pinkalantai.

Svara, Sruti :
The Tivākaram mentions the svara mnemonics for kural etc as ‘savvum rivvum gavvum mavvum’ , and the Tamil netil vowels used. It is somewhat surprising that Pinkalatai only mentions the Tamil dIrgha vowel extensions and does not list the mnemonics of the svara-s. The seven svara-s, their Lords,the sounds and even the smells associated with the svara-s are listed.

‘savvum rivvum kavvum mavvum pavvumtavvum nivvumenrivai
Ezumavattrin ezuttEyaakum’

A I U E Ai O au enum ivvEzhezhuttum Ezhisaikkuriya

குரலது தெய்வம் பிரமன் புரைதீர்
துத்தத்து கிழவ னொத்த வாதிரையன்
தாரக் கிழவன் காசிப னென்ப

The arumpatavurai of the Cilappatikāram contains many quotes given as snippets with the first few words and the last word including a one verse from the Pancamarapu occurs in the arumpatavurai. There are other sUttirams that are in the arumpatavurai but there is no “named” quote from either the Tivākaram or the Pinkalantai. It is notable that the quotations provided in the commentaries do not pertain to music. Similarly the names of the panns as listed in the nikantu-s and atiyārkkunallār’s commentary are also absent in the arumpatavurai.

There are some quotes from the Tivākaram in the commentary of atiyārkkunallār
We also found one cUttiram (identical in the Tivakaram and the Pingalandai) in the Indira Vizha oor etuttha kāthai in the Cilappatikāram about kuravai kUttu (kuravaik kUtte kaikkottāTal). This could perhaps be indicative of the fact that both texts drew upon common older material in these definitions or that Atiyārkkunallār relied upon musical treatises and not on nikantu-s for musical terms.

Another notable aspect is that there is a significantly close relationship between some of the sections of the Pancamarapu and the pazhaiya urai of the Pancamarapu and the nikantu-s This includes the close correspondence between the pann-s listed here and that of the Pancamarapu and urai indicating that some portions of the Pancamarapu in particular the classifications of pann-s according to the yAmams (as opposed to the concept of pozhtu-s in early Cankam literature and the list of pann-s) may be contemporaneous.
This and definition of Pancasattam only in the Pinkalantai and not in the TivAkaram leads us to surmise that the Pancamarapu five sections and AtiyArkkunallAr’s commentary both reproducing some older content was compiled sometime during the 9th- 10th centuries.

பஞ்சசத்த கருவியின் பெயர்

தோறொளைநரம்பு கஞ்சம் பாடல் பல்பேத பஞ்ச சத்த மாகும்

சொல்லிய நற்றோல் துளை துய்ய மென்னரம்பு
கல்வி மிகுகஞ்ச மிடறெனவே – வெல்லுமதன்
அஞ்சப் படும் விழியாய் ஆயுங்கால் இவ்வைந்தும்
பஞ்சமா சத்தமாய் பார் (PM – 66)

Another significant development during this time was with respect to a transition to a culture where layers of mythology, and beliefs were added. This is also the age when sthala mahatmya-s were written and temples were built and procedures and customs were added on. Thus we find notions such as adhidevata-s for svara-s and even smells associated with them etc and an emphasis on auspiciousness. The Pancamarapu has belief systems regarding the use of certain letters designated as auspicious and the ideal letters to begin songs with. There is a parallel verse in the Pinkalantai which talks about the same idea.

பாலன் குமார நரசன் விருத்தனுடன்
கொலு மரணமெனக் கூறினார்- ஞாலத்தோர்
பேர் முதலாமூன் றெழுத்தும் பேணிக்கொள் பின்னிரண்டுஞ்
சீர்மையிலை என்றும் சிதை (PM 84)