Śārṅgadeva (1175–1247),[1] also spelled Sharngadeva or Sarnga Deva, was a 13th-century Indian musicologist who authored Sangita Ratnakara – a Sanskrit text on music and drama.
[6][7][8] Śārṅgadeva presented his ideas on music and dance in seven chapters of Sangita Ratnakara, but integrated it with philosophical context.
[2] He systematically presented his ideas on the nature of sound, register, the smallest distinct sounds that humans can hear and musical instruments can produce (shruti), musical scales and modes, 264 ragas, beats and role of time (tala), prosody (chhandas), relation between performance arts and human emotions and sentiments, musical and vocal ornaments, the composition of drama and songs, and the limitless opportunities available to the artist to express and affect her audience.
[10] Śārṅgadeva's views on music, states Fletcher, exemplified ideas in the Bhagavad Gita relating to non-attachment.
According to Don Randel, a professor of musicology, Śārṅgadeva's text is the most comprehensive treatise that interprets the Natya Shastra and Brihaddeshi of the ancient Indian music tradition.