12
The Parts of a V#n# Ananda K. Coomaraswamy Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 50. (1930), pp. 244-253. Stable URL: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0279%281930%2950%3C244%3ATPOAV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G Journal of the American Oriental Society is currently published by American Oriental Society. Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/journals/aos.html. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission. The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academic journals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers, and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community take advantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. http://www.jstor.org Thu Nov 29 07:23:04 2007

Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

The Parts of a V#n#

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy

Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 50. (1930), pp. 244-253.

Stable URL:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0003-0279%281930%2950%3C244%3ATPOAV%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G

Journal of the American Oriental Society is currently published by American Oriental Society.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/about/terms.html. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtainedprior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content inthe JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/journals/aos.html.

Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.

The JSTOR Archive is a trusted digital repository providing for long-term preservation and access to leading academicjournals and scholarly literature from around the world. The Archive is supported by libraries, scholarly societies, publishers,and foundations. It is an initiative of JSTOR, a not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the scholarly community takeadvantage of advances in technology. For more information regarding JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

http://www.jstor.orgThu Nov 29 07:23:04 2007

Page 2: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

THE PARTS O F A VPNA

INMONIEE-WILIA~WS'Sanskrit Dictionary, s. v. vind we find a description only of the modern instrument consisting of a long, narrow sounding board with a gourd a t either end (in the southern form there is only one gourd), seven strings, and nineteen frets. This type of vinB, in use a t the present day, is also illustrated in numerous Rajput and Mughal paintings, and these take us back to the early seventeenth or late sixteenth century. Decidedly earlier than this is a representation in a fresco a t EliirB but this cannot possibly be of earlier than Rlstrakiita date, and before this time we cannot point to any illustration of an instrument resembling the modern vina. In any case, a vina of the modern type, but simpler form, is constantly represented, in Pkla sculptures, as held in the hands of Sarasvati.ln Possibly, too, the anuttclncildbu-vind of H., 8 145, a " rounded-gourd " may have been of the later sort. On the other hand, we have a very large number of representations, ranging backward from the late Gupta period to the beginning of the second century 11. C . (Bhkjii and B h a r h ~ t ) ~ in which the vinii is consistently depicted as a kind of harp.2a It is obviously with reference to this harp-vFF;i. (German " Bogenharfe") that the word as it occurs in classical Sanskrit and in Pali and early Prakrit literature is used. We may safely assume that the same harp-ving is referred to in the still earlier Vedic literature; partly because of the a priori probability of a continuity of the tra-dition backward, partly because harps of various kinds actually existed in very early times (as recent discoveries at Ur have demon-

* See Ostasiatische Zeitschrift, N. F. 3, 1926, p. 5 and fig. 3. laBhattasali, N. K., Iconography of the Buddhist and Brahmanical

Images in the Daeca Museum, pp. 181ff. and P1. LXIII. a Thus certainly three centuries older than suggested by Sachs, 139,

and long before the time of the Periplus. The latest representation of the old Indian harp-vinii I am able to cite

is held by Sarasvati, who is associated with V i g ~ u in a sculpture from LakgmfanakBti, dateable about the eighth century A. 1). (Bhattasali, Zoo. oit., p. 87 and PI. XXXII.)

244

Page 3: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

I.'iu. .i. , $

The old Indian vinL in use.

Page 4: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

- - -

245The Parts of a V i f l

strated), and also because the Aranyaka sources give us the same terms and imply the same forms as those later current. It is true that in some places various kinds of vinii are mentioned (cf. Keith, I, p. viii, note 2, and s. v. tantra below) ; but aside from this fact, the descriptions and actual representations are so consistent and so much in agreement that we are justified in speaking of the harp- vinii here described as the old Indian vina.

This old Indian vinii is a harp without a post; i t has a hollow belly covered with a board or stretched leather; this belly is broader towards the back, where its end is rounded, and tapers toward the front, where i t is continued into an upstanding curved arm, which often terminates in a little scroll like the head of a violin. The seven strings, one above the other, are stretched from this arm to the belly, forming as i t were arcs to the crescent of the whole frame; they pass through holes in the flat surface (wooden or parchment sounding board) of the belly and must pass through and be fastened to its rounded under side. The weight of the instru- ment lies well back; i t is held under the left arm or in the lap, with its thin arm projecting forwards and upwards. From Mayiir@$aka, I (M. p. Ti'),where the heroine is baddhazlinii, "girt with a viqii " it would appear that the VInL was, or at least might be, supported by a kind of sling (cf. s. v. patta, below), as apparently indicated in our Plate, fig. 2.

This old Indian vi@ was used equally by men and women, either as a solo instrument (e. g. Guttila Jdtaka), or as an accompaniment to song, as by Paiicasikha on the well-known occasion of Indra's visit to the B ~ d d h a ) , ~ but even more often to accompany dancing (e. g. Div. 553, where queen Candraprabhii nytyati, and Aus. Erz., 31, where the queen aacc~i ) , whether dramatic or processional. In representations of dancing scenes it is not uncommon to find two vinBs in use together; sometimes also with an ensemble of flutes and drums, and (or) another stringed instrument, more like a European mandolin or Japanese biwa, described at the end of this article.

The old Indian vina seems to have passed out of use altogether after the Gupta period; but the modern Burmese sauri which "has a boat-shaped body of wood, with a skin stretched over it for a sounding board ",4 and thirteen silk strings, is very like it.

a Sakka-paAha Suttanta (Digha Nikaya, 11, 2 6 5 ) ; Avadana Sataka, story 17.

'Ferrars, Burma, 1900, p. 176; Sachs, fig. 96 (after Scott O'Connor).

Page 5: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

1246 A m a d K. Coomaraswamy

The accompanying illustration is a restored representation of the old Indian vinl, based on numerous representations in the early reliefs (esp. Bharhut, Amargvati, Pawiiytt) .

Fig. 1 . The old Indian harp-vi~8.

The designations of the various parts of the old Indian vintt will now be dealt with in alphabetical order.5

Ambhana (Skr.) , the belly. Hit. Hr., 111, 2, 5; BHr., VIII, 9 (compared to the belly of the human body). Evidently the boat-shaped, hollow body of the mii; not merely the sounding board a s rendered by

Abbreviations : Zit. Ar. : Bitareqa Branyaka. Aus. Erz.: Jacobi, Ausgewiihlte Erzahlungen in Michcirdshtri, Leipzig,

1886 (= Devendra, Uttaradhyayana T i k a ) . CT.: Cowell and Thomas, trans. of H., 1897. DhA. : Dhammapada Atthakathic. Div.: Divydvaddna, edited by Cowell and Neill. H. : Barsacarita of Bsna. Jnt . : Jictaka, edited by Fausboll. Keith, 1 : Keith, A. B., Sicfikhdyana Hra%yaka, 1908. -- , 2 : --------, Aitareya Branyaka, 1909. M.: Quackenbos, Sanskrit Poems of Maytira, 1917. Miln. : Milindapafiha (Trenckner ) . NS.: Bhicratiga Ndtya Sastra. Sachs: Die Musikeninstrumente Zndiens und Indonesiens, Berlin, 1915. SHr. : Sicfikhdyana Branyaka. SN.: Namyutta hTik&qa (ed. Feer, P. T. 8.). BBS. : SQfikhdyana BrQuta Btitra. V . : Vicsavadattic of Subandhu, trans. by Gray, 1913.

Page 6: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

The Parts of a V ip i 24'1

Keith, 2, 254. Synonyms: don%, donikd (Pal i ) , Miln. 53. SN., IV, 197; bhdnda, Manu, X, 49.

Beds (Skr.), the hollow body of the harp, hence the harp itself. Manu, X, 49, bhwda-vddana. Synonym: avnbhana, doni.

Carma (Skr.), camma (Pa l i ) , leather, viz. the parchment sounding board. Iiit. iir., 111, 2, 6 ; Blir., VIII, 9 ("with a hairy skin they used to cover vinds ") . Miln. 53. SN., IV, 197. Cf. godhd-parivddentikd, " sounding lizard skin " (of a harp?) , Jgt. VI, 580. Synonym: pokkhara.

Chidrani (Skr.), chidddni (Pal i ) , holes. Blir., VIII, 9. The holes in the sounding board, through which the strings pass. These holes, each ringed like an eyelet, can be clearly seen in a Bharhut pillar relief, unpublished, but in the Indian Museum, Calcutta; they are taken from this source in the restored sketch, Fig. 1. In Jutaka No. 432 ( J B t . 111, 607), a certain actor or dancer (na ta ) fastens his big harp (mahdninam) about his neck and enters a river. The water enters the holes of the harp (vindchiddehi pdvisi), and then its weight causes him to sink. In DhA., I , 215 a serpent is inserted through one of the holes (chidda) in the sounding board (pokkhara) of a hatthikanta-vind, in order that i t may later emerge and bite the owner of the instrument (Story of Udena; for an Amarsvati illustration, see Rev. des Arts Asiatiques, VI, pp. 101-2, and P1. XXXII ) .

D e d a (Skr.), danda, dandaka (Pa l i ) , the arm of the ni@, forming with the ambhana the whole frame.6 Hay.lird@aka, VII (hf. p. 77) , vinidanda (sic) compared to a "raised quivering arm "; SN., VI, 197; Miln. 53. In Huqacarita, 252 (H.. 223), vinddandah kopdbhighdtqu, a man is compared to the arm of a vinj by reason of the many cudgellings he has reccived. It would seem to be im- plied that not only the strings, but also the arm of the instrument might be intentionally struck with the plectrum (kona, vddana) ; this would produce a different kind of sound, and i t would be possi- ble in this way a t least to emphasize the tdla. This possibility is supported by the Guttila Jataka episode (Jut., 11, 253) where the competing players break successively all the strings of the vinti., and play finally on the arm alone (suddhadandaka). The arm of the vinii is proverbially bent (not "broken " as rendered in Jst., trans., 11, 156) like a hunchback or an old man (JXt., 11, 225, uinddaqdako viya sa7hku?ito). >At., 11, 226 resumes sarhkutito . . . chinmtanti-vipa 'ti which the Commentator interprets as "bent like the body and arm (sadoniko vigdda?~dako) of a vinl with broken strings ";

Thus the rendering of danda alone as "frame " in S. B. E. XXXV, 84, is too comprehensive.

Cf. the use of danda in Subandhu, VBsavadattd, 266-7 (V., pp. 127, 187); and the term daqdahasta used iconographically to designate the straight upper left arm of a Natariija image.

Page 7: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

and indeed, the curved shape of the whole frame would be still more conspicuous when the strings were broken.

The A v d n a Sataka, story 1 (Speyer, Bibl. Buddh., 111, 1902, I , 95, 11, cited by Sachs) specifies Paficaiikha's vin2 as a vGidtZrya-danda v w d ; in this case I hesitate to accept the meaning "beryl " or " lapis " for the material of the arm.7 In Dh. A. 1.433 the same vini has its dapda made of veluva (vilva) wood.

A synonym is vamsa, occurring in Aus. Erz., 56, and rightly identified with datzdaka by Meyer, Hindu Tales, 196. Here the varitsa is said to be asuddha, "not clear ", and thois defect in the particu- lar instrument is found to be due to the presence of a small stone in the v ~ h s a . ~Thus the arm of a v i ~ 6is hollow, and no doubt this hollow is continuous with that of the belly; perhaps, as the word vamsa itself suggests, the arm may sometimes have been made of bamboo. In any case the use of vamsa here goes far to explain SAr., VIII, 9, where we have "As this (human harp, i. e., body) has a vamda, so that divine harp has a d-da"; in other words, the human spine and the arm of the vig6 are correlated, inasmuch as both are firm upstanding elements.

It will be observed that suddha and asuddha applied to danda as cited above are not corresponding terms; the suddhu danda is "noth-ing but the arm of the vin% ", the asuddha danda is one that does not ring true.

Dhdtu (Skr. and Pkt.), style of harp playing. There are four such styles, of which one, the vyahjanadh8tu has ten variations (NS., 29, 52 and PmyadarSikQ, 111, 10 ) .

D w i , donik& (Pa l i ) , the belly or body of the vina, synonym of ambhwa. SN. IV., 197; Miln., 53; Jat., 11, 226 (sadoniko v5?zdda?dako, "b d y and arm of the vinL ", i. e. the whole frame.

Koca (Skr. and Pal i ) , plectrum. H., 84, "he taught the vin%, the plectrum firmly grasped In his hand ". Miln. 53. S. N., IV, 197. hfonier Williams cites Ricm@yana I T , 71, 26 and 81, which I have not consulted.

Synonym: vcidana. In Keith 1, p. viii, vddini, H., p. 63, kona and 8.B. B. X X X V , 84, kona, the terms are mistranslated "bow ", and Monier TTTilliams s. v. kona has " fiddle-stick " as well a s "quill of a lute ". Actually, no Indian ving, whether ancient or modern, was ever played with a bow, nor for th,at matter is the European

7 Just as vajra is not always "diamond," but very often adamantine ",

lute. The representations show that the plectrum with which the

" etc.

8AccOrding to NS., XXVIII, 25, imperfections in sound (being out of tune, etc.,) are attributed to defects either of the danda, or of the vddana (mistranslated "resonance" by Grosset, Contribution a 1'6tude de la rnusique himdoue, p. 57) or of the strings. The vina of Aus. Erz., 56, was at fault not only with respect to the danda, but also in having a hair on one of the strings.

9

Page 8: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

The Parts of a Viw

old Indian viga was played had the form of a thin rectangular or pointed piece of wood, held between the thumb and forefinger. With such a plectrum, not only the strings but also the arm of the lute could have been struck, when necessary, with considerable vigor, and this elucidates kondbhighdtesu, cited above from H., § 252, s. v. danda.

The plectrum is very clearly shown in some of the illustrations on the Plate; also in PaAcaBikha's hand in a Gandharan Visit of Indra, Foucher, L'Art gre'co-bouddhique du Gandhwa, I, fig. 247; where the player's hand is raised above his head as though he were striking with considerable force. But some reliefs seem to indicate a use of the fingers only without any plectrum.

H~Zrchanzd (Skr) , mucchand (Pa l i ) , pitch. SN., IV, 197 (with bandhana, possibly =sddhdrqa of the NS). In JBt., 11, 249, Masila, viwm uttamamucchandya mucchetvd vcidesi, "having tuned the ving to a high pitch, played "; he then tunes the vina lower to a medium pitch (majjhimamuochandya), and finally plays with the strings slack (sithile). In Mahdvagga, V, 1, 16 we are told that if the strings of a ving are too much or too little stretched, i t is not in a fit condition to be played on.

Mwchand is evidently used above (colloquially ? ) in the older sense equivalent to sthdna, pitch or register, as in the older Rkpra- tiddkhya where also we have three registers, uttama, madhya, and mandra (cf. Caland et Henry, L'Agnistoma, p. 462). Sthdna is used in this sense in the NS (XXVIII, 3 5 ) , but now marchaw3 has come to mean mode, and there are seven mQrchands in each register, of which (fourteen) seven are called jdtis, a term practically equiva- lent to rdga. The NS. (XXVIII, 25) illustrates these points by citing the tuning of two vinls, a t first alike; the changes made by altering the pitch of the strings of one of them, and the comparison of the resulting notes with those of the other, show that a vin8 could be so tuned as to take account of the twenty-two s'rutis, in other words lent itself to all the niceties of musical theory and practise.

In the Avaddna Sataka, 17th story, i t is expressly stated that Paficas'ikha playing on one string of a vinl produced the seven notes (sapta svarqdni ) and the twenty-one modes (msrchands); i t is hardly implied that there was anything miraculous about this, except in that the effects were obtained from a single string. MzZrohand is used here evidently in the later sense of "mode ", as in the NS. But the NS knows only fourteen msrchands, seven for each grdma; perhaps the passage could be used to support the theory of the third gvdma, not mentioned in the NS, but referred to by Biirbgadeva in the thirteenth century as having " retired to Indra- loka ".9

For the marchanii problems see Fox-Strangways, A. H., Music of Hin-dustan, pp. 106-1 12.

Page 9: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

The word jdtivind occurring in Jgt. 11. 249, must I think mean, not as the translators have it " a beautiful vi~ti," but one adapted to the playing of jdtis. But whether i t is to be deduced that not all vinss were so constructed as to make this possible, I cannot say.

It is evident from the above passages, and implied by many others in which the skill of the player is so emphasized and the effects of the music described as so moving, that the viug could be tuned and kept in tune, and the same must he true of the modern Burmese saun; the music cannot have been a mere drone. I t is nevertheless very difficult to understand how such harps as this (which were also known to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans) could be tuned or kept in tune; not so much because no tuning devices are to be seen in the representations, as because it would be impossible to make an instrument with a curved frame and no post, were the frame even of steel, so rigid that a change of tension in one string would not alter that of all the others.

Patta (Pal i ), only in Miln., 53 ; rendered "bridge of metal " in b'. B. E. XXXV, 84, but apart from the fact that there is no autharity for "metal ", the use of a bridge on the harp-vina would be impossible, as the strings do not reach the sounding board side by side, but one above the other.

I am inclined to think of "sling" as a probable meaning, as we know from MaytZrcistaka, 1, cited above, that the vina was or could be supported in some such manner as )by a sling.1° This meaning also accords with the initial position of the word in the Miln. list of parts. A sling, passing over the right shoulder, seems to be repre- sented in our Plate, Fig. 2.

Pokkhara (Pal i ) , the sounding board of a harp, made of stretched skin. I t is pierced by the chidddni, through which the strings pass, DhA., I, 215. Cf. pokkhara as skin of a drum. Synonym: carma.

Siras (Skr.), head, i. e. the top of the arm (danda) of the vmB. In the representations the arm very often ends in a little scroll, which is evidently the " head ". Kit. KT., 111, 2, 5 ; BHr., VIII, 9.

Possible synonym: upavina. Stbdna (Skr.), register, high, middle, or low. See s. v. mzirchaa; and

Caland et Henry, L'Agnistoma, p. 462, with reference to Sdmavidh. Br., I, 1, 8, 3.

Svara (Skr.), note. The se*-en svaras are produced by the seven strings (Avadcina Sataka, 17th story; Caland et Henry, L'Agnistma, pp.

461, 4 6 2 ) . Tantra, tantri (Skr.), tanti (Pal i ) , strings. Kit. Kr., 111, 2, 5; BHr.,

VIII, 9 ; MS., XVII; SN., IV, 197; Miln., 53; and passim. The strings are seven in number; one above the other, they pass through holes in the sounding board into the hollow of the body (ambhana)

loTn Div. 553, hastdd vinG grastd bhtimdu nipatitci, i t is perhaps implied by Grastd that the sling is loosened, and therefore the vina slips out of the player's hand.

Page 10: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

251The Parts of a Vipi

and probably through its under side, there to be fastened as in the modern Burmese saun; a t this point on the under side of the belly the tuning devices must also have been placed. For the question of tuning see s. v. mGrchand. Hit. Hr. and BHr. have tardmavati, appar- ently " tightly strung ".

I n JBt. 11. 253, the seven strings are broken in .succession, the player performing on those remaining, and finally on the arm alone. The first string to be broken is called the bhamaratanti, "bee-string "; as the first string to be broken would naturally be the top one, and as this being the longest would have the lowest note, we are able to identify the "bee-string " as the top string. I n the case of a harp for charming elephants (hatthikanta-vi@) three of the strings have magical effects when struck (DhA., I, 215).

The vinas shown in the representations have sometimes seven, sometimes as many as ten strings.

The VIQB with a hundred strings of BSS., XVII, XVIII, must have been a quite different instrument. I have seen in IZashmir an instrument resembling a Tyrolese zither, but with as many as a hundred strings, and played like a dulcimer.

Pace PTS Pali L)ictionwy, s. v. tantu, this word in J;it., V, 196, is the string of a toy, not of a musical instrument.

Stringed instruments generally, including the vinB in particular, are called tantrikrta (NS., XXVIII, 9 ) .

Synonym of tantra: satm; Buddhacarita, V, 55 (suvarnnastZtrdn), "golden strings ", the instrument being here designated by the less usual term parivcidini.

Vdd, Skr. root used of playing the vinii, e. g. Div. 553, w vddayati; JBt. 11, 248, vo vddesi; Aus. Erz., 31, w vdei; and passim. Instrumental music in general, as distinguished from song (gitd) and drama (ndtya) is called vddya (NS., XXVIII, 7 ) .

Vddaka (Skr. and Pali) , vciyaga (Prakrit), (vind-), vin8-player. gkr., VIII, 10 ; Ja t . 11, 248 ; Aus. Erz., 56; and passim.

Vddana (Skr.), vdyanaya (Prakri t ) , the plectrum. Ait. Ar., 111,2,5; gAr., VIII, 9 (compared to the tongue of the human body, as a clapper, striker; &SS.,XVII, XVIII (vddini). NS., XXVIII, 25. Aus. Erz., 31 (the vdyonaya slips from the players hand).

Synonym : kova, q. v. Vin6 (Skr. Pali, and Prakri t ) , in classical and earlier Sanskrit, etc., the

harp-ma, Bogmharfe. Buddhacarita, V. 48, rukmapatracitrdm . . . vindm, a vin% decorated with gold leaf. Jdtivinci, Jnt. 11, 248, sea s. v. mzlrchana. I n the Sakka-paiLha Ruttanta, also in the Dhamma- pada Atthakathd, 111, 226, Paficasikha's vwd is made of "yellow vefiuzla wood"; in the Avadcina Sntaka, story 53, its donda is made of (or decorated with) vdidlirya. This vinB originally belonged to Mdra (veLt~va-danda-vo,DhA., I, 433). The word vigB is, of course, of constant occurrence, and i t would be superfluous to accumulate loci. According to Monier-Williams, the word pwivddin:, which occurs in Buddhacarita, V, 55, where i t is called big, and has golden

Page 11: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

strings, is a seven stringed lute (sc. harp-vin8) ; cf. pwivbdentikd, s. v. carma. Hatthikanta-u%6, for charming elephants, DM.,I, 215. Anuttdntildbu-vtgd, " rounded gourd v i n ~ ",H., 5 145.

I t may be added that many of the terms already listed occur not alone, hut with the word vZga prefixed adjectivally, e.g. oi$-dwdaka, etc.

V%d-drG (Pkt. =Skr. vi@c&ya), an expert vina-player, occurs in Priyadariiikci, 111, 5.

The exact sense of some other terms is not so clear:

ABgulifigraha (Skr.), WHr., VIII, 9 (compared to the joints of the human body), translated "finger catches ", Keith, 1, 55. Perhaps the bind- ings on the arm of the vina, but the word order of the lists (see below) does not support this.

&a.stravati (Skr.) of SHr. VIII, 9, is rendered " sounding board " by Keith, 1, 55; but as the corresponding passage in Air. Br has iabdauati, I am inclined to think that iiastravati is merely a predicate, "gives out sound."

Upastara+a (Sltr.), BHr. VIII, 9, rendered "covera" by Keith, 1, 55. cannot offer any suggestion.

U p a v i ~ a ,upmen@,perhaps the same as Siras, part beyond or added to the body of the viqa. Miln. 53, rendered "neck " in S. B. E. XXXV, 84; ,but the position of the word in the Miln. list, immediately following danda (arm or neck), would secm to imply the meaning "head" only; it is found also in the same position in SN., IV, 197.

I t should be observed that Sltr. upavinaya means the playing of the vin& before someone, and not any part of the instrument itself (cf. upanyt) ; i t occurs in H. 3 82 in a charming passage where the bees are said to play with their feet a tiny (bala-) vi?zd, the strings of which are the rosy rays of the royal earring (cf. "bee- string ", s. v. tantra).

In conclusion of this section, i t will be worth while to cite the lists of terms as given in Miln. and SN., as they seem to be arranged in logical order, and this gives some clues to meaning. In Miln., 63, we have patta, camrna, don% d u ~ d a , upavana, tantiyo, kona: in SN., IV, 197, the same, omitting patta. In S h . , VIII, 9, we have a reverse order; disregarding iastravati which comes first, we have iiras, datzda, ambhana, chidr&ni, afigulinigrahds,

Aiaother instrument

It remains to be observed that another stringed instrument, more like a lute or mandolin, also very like a Japanese biwa, is repre-

I

Page 12: Ananda Coomaraswamy - Parts of a Vina

253 T h e Parts of a Vipi

sented less often in the reliefs, either replacing the harp (e. g., Descent of the Bodhisattva, Amariivati, Indian Museum, Calcutta, reproduced in Burgess, Buddhist S t u p m of Amaravati and Jaggay- yapeta, fig. 7) or used together with it (our Plate, fig. 6, also in one of

Fig. 2. The old Indian lute or mandolin.

the Amariivati dancing scenes in the British Museum). This instru- ment has five strings, struck with a plectrum; and a corresponding number of tuning pegs at the top of the long neck (see accompany- ing restoration based on several representations). We do not know what this instrument was called; but as the other is best called a harp, so this is best referred to as a kind of mandolin. It seems to survive in the Travancore dunduni (Sachs, fig. 79), which is played with a plectrum, and has frets.

1. Two seated female harpists, part of the chorus of a dance of apsarases, Bharhut, ca. 175 B. C. Indian Museum, Calcutta.

2. Harpist (possibly Paficahikha) walking, accompanying a processional dancer, Amariivati, ca. 200 A. D. British Museum.

3. One of two seated female harpists in a scene similar to fig. 1, from a Bunga railing pillar from Besnagar. Gwalior Museum.

4. Two seated female harpists, part of the chorus in a dancing scene, railing medallion from AmarBvati, ca. 200 A. D. British Museum.

5. (Seated female harpist, part of the chorus in a dancing scene, from a pre-Kuslna architrave, now J 626 in the Lucknow Museum.

6. Dancing scene from an architrave, Pawayii, Gwalior; Gupta. Harpist on right, "mandolin" player on left.

For illustrations of Paacaiikha with his vMci see my " Early Indian Iconography 1, Indra," Emtern Art, Vol. 1, 1928. A Gandharan relief in which the plectrum is clearly shown is reproduced in Me'moires concernant l'asie orientale, 111, 1919, PI. IV, Fig. 5; but ib. Fig. 4 the vin% seems to be played with the thumb without any visible plectrum.