Ever since Lucy lit the Olympian flame, the curiosity of her progenies have led them to different paths- collectively enriching the human library of cerebration. Every generation aspires to inspire and transmit the acquired knowledge to the next. Designed by Ingrid Kallick, the logo of Gitika Trust pays homage to this living tradition and captures humankind's odyssey in the quest of the knowledge.
"Gitika" (pronounced Gītikā) or an anthology of songs, derives its origin in Sanskrit Sandhi and can be split into morphemes "geet" (song/poetic meter) and "ika" (suffix indicating daughter of). While the history of literary traditions in Sumerian, Egyptian and Greek civilization can be traced back to the development of writing as a medium of communication, in Indic civilization, adherence to lyrical stylistic quality ensured that oral traditions chronicling the odyssey of humankind survive to this day. Sanskrit hymns of Vedic Samhitas, Upanishads and Itihasas have survived in the form of intangible knowledge transmitted by the Guru to his/her students as per Gurukul traditions for centuries before being transcribed. Buddha's teachings, according to Theravada traditions, were preserved for five centuries by communal recitation before being written down in Sri Lanka in 29-17 BCE. The animal fables of Panchatantra and Jataka tales based on rich oral traditions have been translated in vernaculars and integrated with local folklore across South East Asia, West Asia and Europe since millennia. Antonius von Pforr's German translation of Panchatantra (Das Buch der Beispiele) was printed by Gutenberg's press in 1480/82 CE and remains testimony to the cross-cultural transmission of Sanskrit scholarship via successive translations in Persian, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin.
Pingala's Chandashastra promulgates more than six hundred chandas or poetic meters, documenting the quintessential prosody dictating rhythmic structures of oral traditions in Sanskrit. Gitika (also denoted as gita/giti) belongs to 'krti', the 20 syllabilic subclass in the family of even meters (sama-vrtta). The strategies laid down by Pingala and subsequently other scholars for the usage of meters were borne out of tryst with explorations in permutation-combination of speech variables. According to Rachel Wells Hall, Saint Joseph’s University, these rigorous exercises to enlist and classify meters, "led them to important mathematical discoveries: Pascal’s triangle, the Fibonacci numbers, and even the rudiments of the binary number system. The use of recursion and iteration led to generate lists of rhythms. Mathematicians solved the same problem in different ways, revealing the quantum of mathematical development at the time. Their discoveries also apply to rhythm patterns in traditional and popular music." A notable instance of a composition in the gitika meter, Dasagitika or the first chapter of Āryabhaṭa's astronomical treatise known as Āryabhaṭīya contains the earliest extant sine table hitherto known.
"मखि भखि फखि धखि णखि ञखि ङखि हस्झ स्ककि किष्ग श्घकि किघ्व | घ्लकि किग्र हक्य धकि किच स्ग झश ङ्व क्ल प्त फ छ कला-अर्ध-ज्यास् ||"
William J. Gongol, University of Northern Iowa translates this verse as "The (twenty-four) sines reckoned in minutes of arc are 225, 224, 222, 219, 215, 210, 205, 199, 191, 183, 174, 164, 154, 143, 131, 119, 106, 93, 79, 65, 51, 37, 22, 7."
The usage of 'Gitika' diversified and evolved consequently as a synonym of lyrical compositions irrespective of meter employed. Texts composed by Luipa, Tattvasvabhava-Dohakosha-Gitikia-Drishti-Nama and Luipada-Gitika (of Charyagitika) and Saraha, Saraha Gitika, developed between the 8th and 12th centuries have been instrumental in contemporary comprehension of Buddha's teachings. Dipankara Srijñana Dharma-gitika and Dombi-gitika, in addition to offering lyrical mysticism and glimpses of prevalent social life in Tibet, symbolize the 600 miles trans-Himalayan journey across perilous glaciers at elevations of 5000-7000 meters that scholars in this part of the world have been undertaking since time immemorial. This truly is a tribute to the invincible feat of humanity in pursuit of knowledge.
In medieval Bengal, Odisha and Mithila, the eternal romantics Jaydev (Gitgovindam) and Vidyapati (Padavalli) initiated the tradition of celebrating the music of love drawn from the legendary iconography Radha and Krishna. Richly adorned themes such as the milkmaiden of Braj experiencing a state rapture as the cowherd professes his love or a melancholia stricken Radha waiting by the banks of Yamuna as the melody of Krishna's flute fades away in the distance, were conceived during this phase and have reverberated in performing arts, literature and contemporary culture ever since. These poetic verses (gitikavya) heralded progressive social movements in the subsequent centuries and remain sung even to this day by the wandering minstrels of India and Bangladesh -Bauls and Fakirs. The first Asian Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore's 'Navagitika' consists of an anthology of songs with musical letter notation. The influence of Vidyapati on Tagore's early composition can be best exemplified by 'Bhanusimha Thakurer Padavali', Geeti Padavali chronicling the emotional connection between the young lovers and nature. Similarly, 'Nazrul Gitika' represents an anthology of songs by Kazi Nazrul Islam.
Contemporary (19th Century onwards) usage of "Gitika" has been primarily for denoting a collection of folklore, apalog, ballad or other diverse forms of folk literature/commentaries thereof, preserving these traditions for posterity. The spontaneity of thoughts and expressions in this genre captures the myriad of human emotions and acquires a vitality of its own. For instance, the mangnum opus, Myemansingh Gitika (East Bengal ballads), painstakingly collected and edited by Dinesacandra Sen captures the essence of this spirit.
Other noteworthy instances in Bengali include: Md. Abu Talib's Lalon Gitika, Pramathanatha Caudhuri's Gitika, Rangpur Gitika and Sylhet Gitika edited by Badiuzzaman, Caru Mukhopadhyay's Gitikatha, Abinas Dasgupta's Brajagitika, Harendra Narayan Kar Choudhury's Shri Krishna Gitika, Yatindranatha Mukhopadhyaya's Gitikadamva, Haridasa Gosvami's Sri Goura-Gitika, Abdul Hai's Caryagitika and Arun Kumar Mukhopadhyay's Unbimsa satabdir bamla gitikabya.
In Hindi, representative examples of the Gitikavya tradition are illustrated by Paramananda Sastri's Samskrta gitikavya ka vikasa, Laladhara Tripathi's (Pravasi) Gitikavya ka vikasa, Asakisora's Adhunika hindi gitikavya ka svarupa aura vikasa, Rama and Kuntha Jaina's Parinaya gitika and SuryakantaTripathi's (Nirala), 1896-1961 Gitika. Similarly in Marathi and Odiya, G. D Madagulakara's 'Cara sangitika', Bala Sitaramana Mardhekara's 'Natasrestha ani cara sangitika', Gauramohana Pradhana's Gitika, Baidhara Pathi's Maulika Gitika and Sanskritized version of 'Bharat Gitika' anthem of Utkal Union Conference, provides demonstration of this tradition.