Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

KRAMA-PHA Author(s): G. V. Devasthali Source: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Vol. 58/59, Diamond Jubilee Volume (1977-1978), pp. 573-582 Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41691728 . Accessed: 14/05/2013 16:18
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KRAMA-PTHA1 By G. V. DEVASTHALI Three modes of Vedic recitation finda mentionin the Aitareya Araand ubhayama3. 1. 3 under their old nyaka pratrnna, nirbhuja, designations 2 to and Krama ntarena, respectively. But the corresponding Samhit,Pada, Krama appears to be muchyoungerthanthe other two, because while they are almostfreefromvariants,the same does not appear to be the case with the Krama. The earliestworkdealing withthe formation of the Krama, the Rk-prtikhya, not only has two chapters differing from each other in severalrespects, but has also noted severaldivergent viewson various points the formation of the Krama.' This shows that,in the days of the concerning RV. Pr., there was no unanimity of viewsamong the authorities ; and this in its turn,would seem to indicate that the Krama did not hold the same as the Samhitand even the Pada, which appear to have inviolable sanctity been handed down almostfreefromvariants. This, however, need not and as minimising of theKramaas a means cannotbe understood the importance .4 at the preservation of our sacredtext,the Rgveda of,or perhaps,an attempt It is also the earliestattempt of this type,and formsthe basis of eight similar attempts, knownas the eightvikrtis.6 In fact, the Krama is considered to stand on a par with the Samhit and the Pada, which totraditionally as the threepraktisamhits. It is equally intriguing are described gether to know thatKrama is an attempt to preserve in one and even bringtogether work both the Samhit and the Pada texts. An attemptis made in the the salient featuresof the Krama as briefly and following pages to present as succinctly possible. The Krama is a recitation of the words of a hemistich( ardharca) taken two at a time,as a general rule, in a chainlike manner,concluded dealswith 1. Thispaper theKramaptha oftheBgveda ontheB V . , andis based only Pr. chapters 10and11. 2. Samhit, Pada, andKrama inthis forthe ( with capital S, P, andK ) stand paper three respectively. pfhas ofspace, it is notpossible 3. Forwant to dealwith here. They them be found may 10and11. inRV. Pr . chapters inthecaseoftheKrama 4. Thisholds oftheSamhits also. other good 5. Cf.*idlhi<ikI<sii I Uii il r#, ffcra#, s, fw tfrr:

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with parigraha (a technical term meaning 'repetition of a word withiti ' interposed ) of the last word.6 The two wordsthus taken togetherform a sub-unit called varga will consistof several ? Thus the Krama of a hemistich one consisting of the two initial words, and the succeding vargas,thefirst ones having the last word of the precedingvarga coupled with the word is coveredup ; it. This continues tillthe last word of the hemistich following and thenwill followtheparigrahaof the last word of the hemistichas the finalvargaof the Krama. It may be noted that,in the Krama, wordswithin one and the same varga only are combinedby sarhdhi rules. Let us now take the gyatrlmantra and note its Samhit , Pada , and Krama respectively. Samhit: fpft Pada I : ^ I fob I 1: I 5: I l^lr q: i i T:i 5: II KV. 3. 62. 10. I I II vftafii 1 | I

Krama : 11

It will be seen thatin the Krama everyword in the Samhit ( and the is takentwice,firstat the Pada also ), exceptthe first one8 of the hemistich, the of the latter varga end of the former , and thenagain at beginning varga ( the avasna and thepratydna9 positions respectively); the last word of of the penultimate varga as the the hemistich avasna , is then occurring the hemistich.10 of The to the form in concludingvarga repeated parigraha 11 same processis repeatedin connectionwiththe third pda (of the mantra) . A perusal of the Samhit to formits krama , Pada , and Krama of the gyatrimantrawill make it clear thatthe Krama includesthe othertwo. At this stage it may be noted that,thoughthe individualwordsin the in Samhitand the Pada are the same, they are bound to appear different is in the Samhit the to is form the fact due form , that, ; and thisdifference 2. 6. Cf.BV.Pr. 10. oreven 7. or ^T. and I BV.Pr. 10.15, 8. Butread: I SOT : I. 1 I vjqsremark 9. For 5. and3TTORT seeBV. Pr. 10. io. Cf. ' bv. Pra. 10.9. is to bo metre ofKrama 11. Fortheformation pdaofa rkintheGyatr 3thethird a hemistich. considered

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modified , while in the Pada it is unmodified owing to absence of by samdhi samdhi. And we have to note that the Krama aims at covering both these in one text. Here we see thatthe Krama is able to do this, because in it everyword occurs twice,so as to coverboth theforms. But is thereany fixedrule regarding the exact place whichtheseforms are to occupy? Yes, the generalrule is thatthe modified formis to be kept to forma varga; and naturallythe withthe word,by whichit is modified, unmodified formwill go in the othervargawith the other word going with it. Generallyit may be said that if a word is modified in the initial part it will go withthe precedingword as the finalmemberof the varga.12 If, howmemberof the in the latterpart, it will formthe first ever,a word is affected following varga along withthe following ( modifying ) word.13 This will be clear if we look at the following : illustrations I ( 7. 33. 4 ) ( i ) Samhit : IfftT : Pada I crafts fm I Krama : I I ffrTT Samhit : 5T I ( 9. 44. 1 ) m : 5TIr:I Pada I Krama : srar: 1r I In these,the word is initially modified and hence the modified formmakes a with the word. varga preceding ( ii ) Samhit : Pada : Krama : Samhit : Pada : Krama : I ( 1. 63. 5 ) spta I I I spttSfWwflr.srfrfl I I spN I ( 10. 141. 1 ) ra I I r | I arit ^ I

In these,the word is modified in thefinalpart and hencethe modifiedform makes a vargawiththe following word in the word is caused by neither But in cases wherethe modification nor the following formalone is to be putin the preceding word,the modified both the vargas. Thus, forexample, Samhit : I ( 3. 37. 6 ) rraffra Pada : jpfS I I I 12. cf. i^ ^ snzTKTwmermt: i W- Pr. 10.5. 13. In all theillustrations the and also thp Krama contains theSamhit given above, forms the of words, respective Patfa

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In thiscase, we have to note thatthoughthereare two forms,ssahih ( Samhit) and sasahih( Pada ), onlyone ( the modified ) formis includedin the two vargas of the Krama. What about the unmodified form ? Will it not be represented by the Krama1 The answeris yes,it will be represented, but by anotherdevice,whichwe shall see below. This now bringsus to certainwordsoccurringin the Samhit which look like unwarranted modifications15 of the formsin which they are representedin the Pada. Such, for example, are ( i ) daksi, duksi , and duksan ( fordhaksi,etc. in Pada ) ; ( ii ) raik ( withelongatedinitial) ( foraraik in Pada ) ; and ( iii ) words like susuma,and vvrdhna ( = susuma, vavrdhna in Pada, modifications not caused by any extraneousfactor ).16 Let us look at the following illustrations : | 2. 1. 10. ( i ) Samhit : 15 Pada : erg I r% I I Krama : rg I 3% I [ 1% I ] Samhit : 1. 121. 8. I fvj Pada : I Krama : I prq.ffcr Samhit : srfoqwmii 1. 113. 16; sngsrramfrr 1 1. 157. 1 Pada : I qwjra;I I wfRT I arggfFTTH. Krama : I ] ngs?T5imfrcT I i] [ and sn^yirrm; TTO5 beingthe opening words of the hemistich,they are foundonlyin one varga,the initialone. Here also the unmodified ( the Pada ) formis not represented in the varga. Similaris the case with 55^1 I qnj; I ( Samhit), gg* | TT Pada Krama and also, I Satnhit I ; I ; ( ), 3*1 qtn* ( ) ) j^VTTCT qifMtwi 5*: ( and Krama where also I the I unmodified S*T: {Pada)-, ( wifsinT ), {Pada) in the varga. forms are not represented The same is the case with padas ( words) which, in the Pada, are splitup by an avagraha,or capped withiti. Such, for example, are 14. Alltheillustrations inthis aregiven intheSatnhit for paper , Pada,andKrama view thebrackets areused to show how the ; andintheKrama comparative given hereafter, intheregular form intheKrama (ofa pada),notrepresented . kramavarga , is included almost 15. Onemay be tempted todescribe them as incorrect. Or maywe describe as only a casualvagary thephenomenon inthepronunciation in spoken form ? aregiven for all these 16. Illustrations below.

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I ( Samhit), ffsfr: I ( Pada ), I ( Krama), and I ( Samhit), fr-ffiti I TTTr I ( Pada ), and I ( Krama) wherethe Pada formsof the ( padas ) wordssfffsfr: and ffrare not in the of represented vargas the Krama. It may be declaredhere in generalthatthe formswhich go thus unin the regular vargas of the Krama are taken note of by the represented device called parigraha,to be noted below. special . In the mean whilelet us turnto cases requiringthe use of parigraha In general,it may be said that in everyvargawhich,forsome reason or the other,is made up of morepadas than two,we have a case ofparigraha. Vargashave to include more than two padas when we come across wordswhichare not allowed to stand at the end of a varga. Such words are : (i) the particles and u; ( ii ) cerebralised su and sma followed by nah ( = nah) ; ( iii ) the word im truncated into 1; ( iv ) words with initial vowel elongated withthe initials elided; (vi) the words ; (v) skambhanena ihahand var followedby sirica ta and tamah ; ( vii ) the pair of wordssvasram askrta( in thisorder) ; and ( viii) the word etana comingafter the word virsah ,16" To the same category belong what are known as annupwrvyP samhit( Samhitpassages in whichthe orderof the wordsis irregular ). In otherwords,theseare passages in whichone pada ( narathsa or unahepa ) is intercepted by anotherpada ( such as ca, cit or v ). These are noticedin RVPr. 10. 4 ( ^ ya In thisand theprecedingparagraphs are noted all cases where the , to includeall such words,will have to be made up of, not two words vargas all these onthenext 16a.Illustrations for aregiven page. andone such inthe areonly three 17. There giving i?F.,two giving trihramay passages Forannupurvya seeBV.Pr samhit catuslsrama. . 2.78. in BV, Pr, 2.75-77. So I7a. ThegcffR been enunciated caseshave byniptana means the thegTR theexpression after what comes means ) ; andthis ( T*PTTTT wehave that noticed ). Other ( orthethree cryas , passages already annuprvyasamhitah in BhPr. 10.3 from to meanall items plutdiupto however, interpret plutdiprabhrti this instead tothem, siitra for virsa etana ; andtakeca to stand v,so that according param intheir that oflaying areoptionally so. Thus, that down areanavasnlya these they , rules have been Trikramas or optionally dvikrama. wehave trihrama etc.inthese cases, opinion, be : st ra will, admitted, shown above. Thedvikramas, already bythis optionally I Tfa:I I I g!^ppJTftf I 3IffT OTft IWH'C II I 3TT3f^TTf: II. II OTT II R I 3TPT: I fir ftWT I ffrwr andhenpe forced not to be rather evident thatthis ofapare view It is,ofcourse, appears justified. quite D.J.J 73 Annlas

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as usual, but threein may cases, fourin a few,and fivein one. All cases of 18 varga havingthreewords). one anavasniyaword are cases of trikrama ( These may be illustrated as follows: 1 Krama ( i ) Sam. Tf ^"7^ I Pada an I I I T I I I an Krama Sam. Pada ^ I f I[ f I trf I ) Sam. Krama o: I g ) Pada ig I | ) 5 op | ( S;i^zr:> (iii) }**<**> Sain. V f^SMUWIifa <MM*U Pada f^SSTWI. I Tffnt I) I ' ) ( Tfjfcqfj&i Sm. I (v) Pada I) I I ^fcn^l ) ( ^TVt^f?r I . . ( vi ) Sam. qft^ ) "**" <****> ) Sam. l ninh (yU) } *nrafc.:l (mfiawi) Pada i wraf^TH:I rt:l ) i i i *fforer i to (viii) Sam. to Pada to I sffais:I fR I 3 ( ?T^ttHI ) (iv) } [sn^^i] ] g I)

( ii )

:19 Two of the annuprvya-samhit passages also yieldtripadakrama Sam. sptfNH fq%rq: i I sprfMHfatare; i Pada I I I I j ( ) Sam. TOWT^R>^imi 1 TO 3T WU Pada I I %fsrjl) I ( KRtlff UKIUH.

at theendofa 18. Trikrama occurs when tostand oneword only (pada) notallowed finds itself This is whathas between arenotso prohibited. two kramavarga padaswhich inthecaseofpassages i-viii cited below. happened 19. Trikrama occurs inthese twoannuprvya-samhit unlike the passages, because, ofthis third with and nar which these thewords are unah passage begin type, passages tostand at thebeginning. with notprohibited next Butthepassage cited theword begins at theend of a with theresult that thetwo after unable to stand words iyate split it,being thispassage for to make thenext room word kramavarga , areforced daivyam.Thismakes atuskrama.

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DEVASTHALI : Krama-Ptha

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The following are instances of catuskrama, and pcmcakrama : respectively The annuprvya passage : Sam. Pada ( vii ) TO ^ I I^ I I ) Krama ) RI ^ ( TRIW^I%%^r I ) ) fN I 1(1: I WWfilft

Sam.20 I WUiHfo-WqJl Pada ft:1 $ ffol yFTRS I WfT I

In all thesecases it may be observedthat the words, standing in the and the last words,represent the Samhitform kramavargabetweenthe first only,while the Pada formof these words ( which may be seen in the Pada at all. Parigrahais the device givenin each case ) has not been represented this for invented , catuspurpose. Thus in trikrama by ancientauthorities krama , and three , we shall have parigraha of one, two , and pancakrama words( the middlewords) respectively. These have been shownin brackets afterthe Krama in all the illustrations givenabove. In the case of 21we have to note three possibilities. Non-nasalised , a, not standingat the end of a hemistich,is never subjected to parigraha and succeedingwordsit formsa trikrama Withthe preceding ; and then is 15 again repeated with the word comingafterit. Thus : Sam. Pada I TT I 3TT I I ; Krama cK'u^I. it willform a dvikrama If, however,it standsat the end of a hemistich, ; Pada only and then will be subjected to parigraha. Thus, Sam. 1 I. A nasalised > whereverit stands, will I ; Krama I TT and be subjected to parigraha. Thus Sam. TPftr formtrikrama s I; Pada TPfft I TT I I. I I; KramaTivfasf^TTg%T 22 which take place Now we have to note thatthereare some samdhis are absent in the Pada ) and whichhave to be in the Samhit( and naturally of nakra, the removedin parigrahain Krama. They are: ( i ) smavadvrttam the original nakra; (ii) pluta (lengtheningof removalof whichrestores

in it u, and svasram words because asJsrta 20. Thisis,paftcakrama ( three ) are inin theBV. instance at theavasna. Theonly ofstanding capable that is anavasnya 21. Note byBV, Pr. 10.3; and also read: ?IT^Tt UMlcnSJ" 10. 10. BVPrI qifcMi. rules hold that caseofaccents the usual sarndhi here inthe 22. It may beobserved good' inparigraha).Theonly iti (i. e. iti occurring to inthecaseoftheanrsa even exception remain as it is andafter would iti followed is the anrsa this bysvah. Thus, a supposed with between thetwowords weshall have samdhi avagrdha preventandUvata's onit. in accentuation. Cf.BV, Pr. 10,17 remark ingthechange

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the vowel), removalof whichrestoresthe original shortvowel; ( iii ) uptheoriginalvisar cariia (change of visargato s), removalof whichrestores ga; nati of which restores the iv cerebralisation removal ( ) ), original dantya ( letter; (v) pralesa ofpragrhya vowels,the removal of which restoresthe ; pragrhyaposition; ( vi ) augments ( called auddhksara ) are removed dbhva vii r for is to substituted viii visarga; ( ) ) visarga again changed ( of d fordur) and the consequent changes are removed; and ( substitution ; ( ix ) svadhit'iva pada properis restored ( irregularsamdhi ) changed to the x reduction of dh and gh to d and svadhitir iva and form, ; ) pada finally ( is and are restored.23 This removed and the dh g gh may be seen in original the following illustrations : ( i) Sam. srwr arrft fg; l Pada I similarly SRntf: <ng:I Sam. Pada Sarii. Pada ) [parigrahain the Krama] I ) [ sirfn I) fwwifarTraH i, ' I ) [ ") 5^^% I ) [ 3^:$^

and

(ii) ( iii ) (iv)

I I I I

I] I I]

Sam. 55^1 | Pada | sn | similarly fi^|ui Sam. rHN Bg^T I ( Pada ) Sam.

*TTra;l j I ) [^Afd ggrr n^n I ] | ) I asgfsRtf I ) I Tren* 1 I]

( v) ( vi )

(vii )

Pada^s^t^ similarly Sam. argn I tfrc: ) Pada i tfr?: i ) [ I similarly qg; I ^ Sam.Q Pada :sren*i srar similarly

I ) i *rsren*i; I

I ^s^reji: i ]

(viii)

( ix )

Sam. frifafa ) ftq%I Pada I ffaft I t [

) fptrr i ) [ fAsrfrf i ^nrvr- i I

i]

I]

23. Forall these V. Pr. 10. 20ffr see^i?

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DevaSTHALI : Krama-Ptha ( X) Sam. * Padcm i^^ni similarly srg I r: I } * igTc ; ' |

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1]

Finally we have to note the krama formationin the case of hemistiches containingwithinthem what are technically knownas samaya. The rule in this is If connection : the samaya comes afterthe uddha general ( non-samaya) portion, kramas ( or vargas) are formed as usual for withthe first the uddhaportiontogether pada of thesamaya; and thereafter, the whole samaya ( up to the end of the hemistich ) is taken in the Samhit and is followedby the uddha porform. If the samaya beginsa hemistich tion,take the whole samaya in the Samhitform,togetherwith the followkrama) and complete the Krama of the padas ( as the first ing two uddha as usual. If the samaya is on eitherside of the uddhaportionin hemistich the Krama will be formedby followingboth the rules for the a hemistich, respective samaya portions. It may be observed here that the section of the Krama coveringthe samaya portion will be found to resemble thepacakramain havingthree ( or even more) madhyamapadas. But it krama ( in no case more padas in ordinary may be noted thatthe madhyama in with than three are Krama while those in the krama ; repeated ) parigraha withsamaya are neverrepeated. And thisis quite as it should be. For, in in their , all thepadas have to be presented pada formwhich ordinaryKrama has remainedunrepresented, while in the Krama with samaya , the samaya to so for not be have absent in the padas represented, they,being altogether Padaptha,24have no Pada format all. Illustrations : Sam. Pada srsr ( tsti ( i) I 8. 69. 1 i I i I I I g^ft28

Krama sprw. | sftfr srst I ( 'tftgnfiH ) Sa?h. ( qtfire rWl ( sppif* ) Pada ( sftfre I ) rr I) <=mt ( Krama ( qtfite fp? I ) I( snpift

that the as a whole 24. It may benoted isrepresented inthe Pada MSS. samaya portion of indicate the existence and at the to same to show that time the samaya byzero, samaya outintherecitation is to be left ofthePada. Thispractice oftheMSS.hasbeen setaside theresult that thetopic ofsamaya oftheRV,with in byall oureditions , though important has itsown for remained almost Yedic An of edition theRV.Padaway studies, neglected. thesamayas a desideratum. is,indeed, pthaindicating arefrom cited theRV. 25.. All theillustrations

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of the Krama with triple ( SamThis cursory studyof the formation forcomparativeoutlook, is, I believe, hit,Pada , and Krama) illustrations is a very ancient mode of Vedic that Krama i the to show : ( ) enough to and the the Pada' Samhit next recitation, only (ii) that there is a about several details of formaof views among ancientauthorities diversity is only a later growth; tion, though it would appear that the diversity one aim of its into has that it achieved iii Pha, the Samhit combining ( ) and iv their and the Pada withall ; finally ( ) that it undoubtpeculiarities in the fieldof Vedic studies. edlyhas its own importance

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