PAPER 5 DANCE, POETS AND POETRY, RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE MODULE 8 VAISHNAVA PHILOSOPHY THROUGH DANCE Although many first generation scholars use the spellings “Geeta, Gita, and Geet” we stick with correct meaning of the work: Song of Govinda, hence Geet. It is a common mistake to loosely translate Indian words like Yog as Yoga and Geet and Geeta, especially Sanskrit words ending with halant (:). Every dance rasika and dancer would probably connect the dots between Shiva as Nataraja and classical dance. But, few are familiar with how Vishnu plays an important role in Indian classical dance. In the Natyasastra, the fountainhead for all Indian Classical Dances, Bharata muni has dedicated an entire chapter on Styles (Chapter 22), where he starts from the origin of various styles of dance or vrittis / वत्ृ ति and what they are. The chapter begins with the story of Lord Vishnu and the two ferocious asuras called Madhu / मधु and Kaithaba / कैथबा. Once, the divine Vishnu by his maya withdrew from all the worlds and turned them into an ocean and lay on Sesha’s coils. There, the asuras, Madhu and Kaithabha intoxicated with their strength and itching for a battle began to threaten him. The Asuras attacked with various harsh words of abuse, hearing which even the ocean shook. Listening to these verbal insults Brahma, who resides in a lotus that originates from Vishnu’s navel, felt perturbed and asked as to what this exchange of abuse was. Abuses and counter•abuses are flowing without an end. Then, Brahma requested that Vishnu kill these asuras. The words that were exchanged came out to be the Bharathi 1 Vritti / भारिी वत्ृ ति. Listening to Brahma, Vishnu said, I have invented this Bharati to serve my purpose. During the fight, the steps and gaits of Vishnu were placed in various positions and they became a heavy burden (bhara) to the earth and the bharati style came into existence because of the bhara. The bow of Vishnu called Saarnga, during the fight was brilliantly turned and it was flashing in quick turns, and its steadily increasing sattva (strength) created the Sattvati style. The knot, by which Vishnu tied his hair (kesha) and his various graceful angaharas, brought into existence the Kaisiki style. During the course of the fight various caris were used as the fighters were enraged and excited. These various movements of the fight produced the Arabhati style. Basically, whatever movement Vishnu employed, Brahma made it as the origin of a Vritti and accepted it. When both Madhu and Kaitabha were killed by Vishnu, Brahma said, Oh Vishnu! You have destroyed the demons by graceful angaharas which were unusually straight forward, expressive and graceful. 1 The Four Vrittis It is believed that the sages utilized that behavior of words and gestures as the abhinaya conceived the natyaveda and sage Bharata has used them for plays as ordered by Brahma since they are desirable and naturally arise out of various cari movements. The Bharati Vritti, taken from the Rigveda, is the style in which prominence is given to speeches made in Sanskrit. It is employed only by male actors who announce their own names. The Sattvati Vritti, taken from Yajurveda, is endorsed with the quality of Sattva (vigour) and where there is nyaya and good behavior, exuberance of joy, absence of shoka / शोक (sorrow). In it, there is very little karuna / क셁णा (pathos) and shringara / �ीĂगार (erotics) but plenty of veera / 2 वीर (heroism) atbhuta / अिु (wonderment) and roudra / रौद्र (terror). In contrast, Kaisiki Vritti / ककसीकी वत्ृ ति, taken from the Samaveda, is predominantly performed by women, wearing charming costumes in a colourful way and where there is plenty of dancing and music and the story is of love and its enjoyment. Finally, Arabhati Vritti / अरभािी वत्ृ ति , taken from Atharvanaveda, is about deceit, fraud, falsehood etc. 1 Back to the topic in hand, thus any Vaishnava theme in dance involves depicting Vishnu and his avatars. Accordingly, dancers have multiple ways to depict Vishnu in their dances. The standard representation as per Abhinaya darpana / अभभनय दऩपण for Vishnu, aptly called Vishnu Hasta / ववष्णु हस्ि, is to have the both hands in tripataka and bringing them close to the chest, palms facing the viewer. A related hasta to Vishnu hasta is Padmanabha Hasta / ऩनाभ हस्ि , where the right hand is in Padmakosha and held at navel level, while the left hand is in Ardhachandra held below the right hand at the waist. As the name suggests this hasta depicts the lotus that blooms of Vishnu’s navel, where Brahma resides.2 There is another hasta called Vaishnava Hasta / वश्नव हस्ि, which is a variation of Vishnu Hasta, where the two hands in Tripataka hasta are pointed upwards. This hasta is categorized under Gramthantara hastas, i.e. sourced from texts other than Nandikeswara’s Abhinaya darapanam. 2 According to Hindu mythology, Vishnu took the Dasavataras (10 incarnations) to instill dharma when adharma gained more power in the last three yugas. As these Dasavatar stories are highly popular 3 since ages, it is no wonder that Nandikeswara / नĂददकेस्वर gave directions for depicting them in dance. Matsya avatar / मतस्य अविार – Showing the matysa hasta at shoulder level. Kurma avatar / कु म प अविार – Left hand has the Shukathunda hasta and is placed below the right hand in pataka. Varaha avatar / वराह अविार – Showing the varaha hasta at shoulder level. Narasimha avatar / नरभसĂह अविार – Left hand in Simhamukha and right hand in Tripataka denotes Narasimha avatar. Also, sometime Shakatam (showing teeth) is also performed following this to accentuate the character. Vamana avatar / वामन अविार –Left hand is in mushti hasta and raised, and right hand also in mushti hasta and lowered. Parasurama avatar / ऩरसुराम अविार – Left hand is placed on the left side of the waist, and right hand in Ardhapataka hasta is Parasurama avatar. Rama avatar / राम अविार – Right hand in Kapitha lowered and left hand in Shikara and held upwards. Balarama avatar / बऱराम अविार – Right hand in Pataka and left hand in mushti is Balarama avatar. Krishna avatar / कृ ष्ण अविार – Both hands in Mrigashirsha hasta and placed near the right cheek. 4 Kalki avatar / कत्कक अविार – Right hand in Pataka and left hand in Tripataka hasta indicates Kalki avatar. Some literature on Deva hastas include Buddha avatar as well. This is shown with both hands in Dola hastas, while standing. Bhagavatha Mela / भागवि मेऱा In the southern India, Bhagavatha mela had been performed in villages of Thanjavur district such as Melattur, Soolamangalam, Oothukadu, Saliyamangalam, Nallur, and Theperumanallur until few decades ago. As of now, this art form now exists only in Melattur, Soolamangalam, and Theperumanallur. All the Bhagavatha mela dance dramas are the creative genius of a single author, Venkatarama Sastri , who lived 200 years ago in the Melattur village. The repertoire of a Bhagavatha mela is lengthy enough to command an all-night performance, starting from Patra pravesham (introduction of characters) followed by a dance to Ganesha, after which many scenes unfold. Some of the compositions and songs, set to Carnatic ragas, used in the Bhagavatha mela are Padyas / ऩ饍य (verses), Darus / द셂, Sabdhas / श녍द, Churnikas / चुर्नकप , Padams / 3, 4 ऩदम ्and Padavarnams / ऩ饍वानपम. These Bhagavatha mela dance dramas have all predominantly Vaishnava themes. The most favorite ones is Bhakta Prahlada / भक्ि प्रह्ऱाद, where the art form is believed to have reached its zenith. Other equally favorite ones are Usha Parinayam / उषा ऩररणय , Harishchandra / हररश्चĂद्र, and Markandeya / माकंडेय. There are others that are frequently performed, such as Rukmini Kalyanam / 셁कमनी 5 ककयाणĂ, Sita Kalyanam / सीिा ककयाणĂ, Dhruva / ध्रुव , Kamsavadha / क륍सवाध, Gollabhama / गोकऱाभामा, Rakmangada / रकमĂगडा. All these have either Vishnu or an avatar of Vishnu performing an important role. 3, Araiyar Sevai In the temples of Srirangam / �ीरĂगम, Alwar Thirunagari / अऱवर थथ셁नागरी, and Srivilliputhur / �ीववकऱीऩुथुर in Tamil Nadu a unique ritualistic performance occurs in the month of December-January called Araiyar Sevai. Araiyar meaning Kings of music and Sevai meaning service is a solo theatrical performed by a male priest. Performing this dance is strictly a hereditary right. The costume of the performers, unlike other dancers, looks like a Harikatha / हररकथा th th or Kathakalakshepam / कथाकऱऺेऩम artist. Created in the 9 -10 century by the Vaishnavite saint Nadhamuni, it is believed that the cymbals, the sacred garland and the crown the Araiyar wears were gifted by the Lord Ranganathar of Srirangam. The Arayars also wear ankle bells and this helps highlighting the rhythm by stomping the feet. Melkote temple in Karnataka also has a variation of Araiyar Sevai, where only the recitation and chanting of the hymns are sung. 5 A typical performance of an Araiyar sevai, lasting for 10 days, includes singing the verses of Nalayira Divya Prabandham / नाऱार्यरा ददव्या प्रबन्धम or the Scared 4000 Hymns, set to specific ragas and talas by Nadhamuni / नाधामुनी. After the sacred wedding of the Lord Ranganathar to his consorts (Andal in the case of Srivilliputhur), the Lord witnesses this performance in mandapam or hall, inside the temple complex. Standing opposite to the Lord, the Araiyar performs 6 by sitting, standing, walking backwards, and dancing all the while singing the hymns without missing a beat. Unlike Bharatanatyam, the gestures are not very pronounced as this would distract the audience from the flow of the text being sung. Simple footwork, hand gestures and facial expressions serve only to highlight the text.