Concerning philosophical foundations of Indian music
Dr. PK Rejimon
In Indian philosophical tradition, the word sabda (sound) has many levels of meaning. The technical meaning of sabda, apart from its ordinary meaning of just ‘sound’, is that one of the four pramanas (pratyaksha, anumana, upamana, and sabda). The concept of sabda however reveals more through going parallels between the two traditions. Sabda is brahman; sabda is with brahman from the beginning; without the sabda nothing at all can come into existence. The synthesis of art, literature, science, mythology, religion and philosophy the history of Indian music can be traced back several millennia and has been discussed in Sanskrit theoretical treatises for around two thousand years. Thus the historical background of Indian music is highly relevant in the context of this study for the proper understanding of its features and philosophical ideas relating to it. Like all the other Indian classical performing arts, classical music too is a journey of the jeevatma towards the paramatma or the divine. Indian music represents the emotions of the soul in the presence of nature. The origin of Indian music is said to be rooted in the Vedas. It is said that God himself is musical sound.