Page:The Indian Song of Songs - tr. Arnold - 1875.djvu/15

 sonified and described in such works as the "Ratnamala:" thus "Gurjjarî"—a melody frequently indicated here by Jayadeva—is represented as a feminine minstrel of engaging mien, dressed in yellow bodice and red saree, richly bedecked with jewels and enthroned in a golden swing, as the third wife of the Raga Megh. Musical science was divided into seven branches—Surudhyaya or sol-fa-ing, rag or melody, tal or time, nrit or rhythmical dancing, aurth or poetry, bhav or expression, and hust, answering to method, "touch." The gamut contained seven notes singularly named—Su was suruj, the scream of the peacock; ri was rikhub, the cry of the parrot; gu was gundhur, the bleat of the sheep; mu was muddhun, the call of the crane; pu stood for punchum, and the note of the Koïl; dhu for dhyvut, the neigh of the horse; and ni for nikhad, the trumpeting of the elephant. Endless subtleties characterised their musical terms—thus tal, or "time," is a word made up of the first letters from tand, the dance of Mahadeo, and las, the dance of Parvati, his consort; but these are mere etymological niceties, characteristic of the hard language in which one single word may be written in a hundred and eight ways. Enough has been said to show, from sources