Ever thought of singing film songs in the tune of the vṛttas (Classical metres)!!! The participants of the workshop on Chhandaśāstra did!
A three-day workshop on Chhandaśāstra– an applied science was organized by the Department of Sanskrit, University of Mumbai and Ṛtāyana between 28th – 30th April 2025. The workshop was skillfully conducted by Dr. Shreehari Gokarnakar. Dr. Gokarnakar is an alumna of the Sanskrit Department and an expert in Chhandaśāstra. He was accompanied by his colleague who supported with guitar and beats. Every session began with a musical prayer mostly taken from the Vedas or Subhāśitabhāṇḍāra. It set the tone and ensured participation of the student, teachers and professionals alike, who had come from across Mumbai to participate in the workshop.
The first day began with the introduction to Piṅgalācārya – the composer of Chhadasūtra. It was astonishing to know how minutely the metres are formed. Concepts of permutation and combination and binary were touched. The actual discussion on chhandas began with the basic difference between chanda and vṛtta. The ones used in the Veda are chhanda and the ones used in the classical literature and beyond are vṛtta. Gāyatrī- the mother of all chandas opened the doors to several Vedic Chhandas. Dr. Madhavi Narsalay, Associate Professor of our Department also added her observations. Dr. Gokarnakar discussed how the Vedic chhandas follow the strict pattern of number of syllables. He called these chandas as the dynasties from which the vṛtta used in the classical literature emerged. Each slide of his presentation, increased the curiosity and interest of the participants. As the discussion on vṛtta began, it was explained that they are of two types – akśaragaṇa and mātrāvṛtta. By the end of the first day, the participants were equipped with tips and tricks to identify the Vedic Chhandas and most of the vṛttas. The practice sheet in the form of homework helped the participants practice whatever they had learnt.
The second day dealt with more vṛttas, its types like the ardhasama, viśamavṛttas etc. comparison between similar vṛttas. Dr. Shreehari ensured that the participants sang the verses in the tune of the metre. He himself sang several variations displaying creativity within metres. The last day was memorable as the session dealt with the vṛttas seen in film songs. So the participants sang the songs as per the vṛttasand our own student Samruddhi sang the actual song as played in the movie. The entire exercise was an eye-opener to the fact that vṛttaswere not unknown to most of our old time lyricists. The metres in Marathi were also discussed as the patterns are same only the names differ.
Another feature of this workshop was that Dr.Gokarnakar encouraged the participants to compose poetry and the three days saw some spontaneous poets reciting their poems. The workshop ended with a vote of thanks, of course in the form of poetry composed by our Head of the Department – Dr. Suchitra Tajane.-
Report By Kanak Donde
