Kohala in the Sanskrit textual tradition (Study)
by Padma Sugavanam | 2011 | 95,782 words
This page relates ‘Kohala and Nritya (11): The concept of Abhinaya� of the thesis dealing with Kohala’s contribution to the Sanskrit textual tradition of ancient Indian performing arts. The study focuses specifically on music (Gita), dance (Nritya), and drama (Natya). Although Kohala’s original works have not been found, numerous references to him across Lakshana-Granthas (treatises) and works by modern scholars indicate his significance.
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Kohala and Nṛtya (11): The concept of Abhinaya
1 峾ԲԲⲹ
कोहलमतानुसारिभिर्वृद्धैः सामान्याभिनयस्तु षोढा भण्यते � तथ� हि कोहल�
शिष्टं कामं मिश्रं वक्र� संभूतमेकयुक्तत्व� �
सामान्याभिनय� यत� षोढा विदुरेतदेव बुधा� � इत�kohalamausāribhirvṛddhai� 峾ԲԲⲹstu ṣoḍh bhaṇyate | tathā hi dz�
śṣṭ� 峾� ś� vakra� saṃbhūtamekayuktatva� |
sāmānyābhinaye yat ṣoḍh viduretadeva budhā� || iti�(Բī, Commentary on 22.1, GOS Vol. III, p.146)
This excerpt is the commentary of Abhinavagupta on the very first verse of the twenty second chapter of ṭyśٰ.
Bharata begins his exposition of 峾ԲԲⲹ with the following verse�
सामान्याभिनय� ना� ज्ञेयो वागङ्गसत्त्वजः �
तत्र कार्यः प्रयत्नस्त� नाट्यं सत्त्व� प्रतिष्ठितम् � २२.� �峾ԲԲ 峾 jñeyo vāgaṅgasattvaja� |
tatra kārya� prayatnastu ṭy� sattve pratiṣṭhitam || 22.1 ||[1](Trans:—The harmonious representation ( 峾ԲԲⲹ) is known to depend on Words and Gestures. [Among these] one should take special care about the sattva, for the dramatic production has this as its basis.[2])
G.H. Tarlekar explains that 峾ԲԲⲹ refers to basic representation which is presented using the head, hand, waist, chest, shanks and the thighs simultaneously. According to him, it is produced by the representation of speech, gestures and temperament (sattva)[3]. Manmohan Ghosh mentions that 峾ԲԲⲹ appears to refer to the harmonious use of all four kinds of abhinaya and must be distinguished from ٰԲⲹ which relates to the special representation of objects and ideas[4]. Mandakranta Bose says that the movements involved in 峾ԲԲⲹ are usually self-explanatory, and though they have been codified, these are not seen as stylised, with symbolic meanings attached to them. According to K. D. Tripathi, amongst all living dramatic traditions in India, the 峾ԲԲⲹ is presented in its entire dimension in ūḍiṭṭ alone[5].
Abhinavagupta gives a vyutpatti for the word 峾ԲԲⲹ (峾+anya+abhinaya). He then refers to the older authorities who followed the school of Kohala, who consider 峾ԲԲⲹ to be of six varieties.
He proceeds to quote a verse of Kohala’s which gives the names of the six kinds of 峾ԲԲⲹ£:&Բ;
Abhinava only quotes the verse listing out these six varieties but does not give an explanation/ definition for these.
Bharata has not spoken of these six varieties of 峾Բⲹ, but does mention six aspects of 峾ԲԲⲹ Բ�
This quotation of Kohala by Abhinava, seems to indicate that Kohala had spoken on the topics relating to the ṭy () tradition too. And even here, his doctrines and principles seem to be quite divergent from Bharata’s. From this, it could be inferred that Kohala was a well-established author even at the time Bharata wrote his ṭyśٰ. On the other hand, authors like G. H. Tarlekar feel that the chapter on 峾ԲԲⲹ was a later addition which found its way into the compendium of ṭyśٰ[6].
2 侱ٰԲⲹ
सामान्याभिनयात� प्रभृत्येतदध्यायपर्यन्तं ये कर्तव्यतारूपाभिनयाना� विधय उक्ताः तान् सम्यग् विज्ञायेति वदन् कोहलादिशास्त्रलक्ष्यप्रवासिद्धमप� चित्राभिनय� सूचयति � ततश्चोदाहरणार्थान् दर्शयामो माभूत्सम्प्रदायप्रवाहविच्छेद इत� �
sāmānyābhinayāt prabhṛtyetadadhyāyaparyanta� ye kartavyatārūpābhinayānā� vidhaya ܰ� samyag vijñāyeti vadan kohalādiśٰṣypravāsiddhamapi ٰԲⲹ� sūcayati | tataścodāharaṇārthān darśayāmo mābhūtⲹviccheda iti |
�(Բī, Commentary on 25.123-124, GOS Vol. III, p. 287)
Bharata, while concluding the chapter on ٰԲⲹ �
नानाशीला� प्रकृतयः शीले नाट्यं प्रतिष्ठितम् �
तस्माल्लोकप्रमाण� हि विज्ञेयं नाट्ययोक्तृभिः � २५.१२� �
एतान� विदींश्चाभिनयस्य सम्यग्विज्ञा� रङ्ग� मनुज� प्रयुङ्क्त� �
� नाट्यतत्त्वाभिनययोक्ता सम्मानमग्र्य� लभते हि लोके � २५.१२� �nānāśīlā� prakṛtaya� śīle ṭy� pratiṣṭhitam |
tasmāllokaṇa� hi vijñeya� ṭyyoktṛbhi� || 25.123 ||
e vidīṃścābhinayasya samyagvijñāya raṅge ԳᲹ� prayuṅkte |
sa ṭytattvābhinayayoktā sammānamagrya� labhate hi loke || 25.124 ||[7]
Bharata says that the director of a drama should take loka-ṇa as the ultimate authority with regards to drama because different people involved in the presentation of a drama are made of different temperaments and it is this ‘temperament� on which the drama is founded. He also says that a director who creates and presents on a stage, a drama according to all the prescribed rules will be the recipient of great honour and esteem.
When commenting on this portion of ṭyśٰ, Abhinavagupta says that all the activities of this world have been codified by the 岵 with a strict prescription of do-s and don’t-s. In that case, he raises a question as to why Bharata mentions the word �lokasya� in this context. That is because Bharata’s intention is to emphasise the importance of �śī’ĔiԳԳ nature or character of humans. Abhinava feels that Bharata has summarized that inherent śī when he speaks of loka-ṇa.
Abhinava indicates that the words �e vidhīn�, should be taken to mean that all the rules that have been prescribed from the chapter on 峾ԲԲⲹ (ṭyśٰ�chapter 22) till the present one (ٰԲⲹ, ṭyśٰ—chapter 25) should be learnt well. He also mentions that this refers to the ٰԲⲹ shown by Kohala in his śٰ using the testimony of ṣy. Abhinava says that in order to prevent the interruption a continuous tradition, he will present examples of the same.
This is followed by thirty eight verses explaining varieties of ٰԲⲹ. From Abhinava’s statements, it is clear that these verses belong to the tradition of Kohala but are not direct quotations from his work. It appears that Kohala has explained in detail what Bharata has merely indicated. This would seem to suggest that Kohala’s work was a massive one, which dealt with the aspects of dramatic performance in much more detail than Bharata. Also Abhinava’s words—�mā bhūt ⲹ 岹�� indicate that even in his (Abhinava’s) own time, the tradition of the Kohala-school was slowly fading away if not completely extinct. In order to bridge the gaps in the then-current ṣy and safeguard the principles held by Kohala, Abhinava himself seems to have put together this exposition of ٰԲⲹ. By the time of Abhinavagupta, Bharata’s ṭyśٰ had perhaps outshined any other work (of its time), and was the considered the sole authority on the ancient art of dramaturgy which led to works of other great authorities like Kohala into a state of relative oblivion.
3 Āⲹ
प्रत्येक� लक्षणान्येषा� कोहलीये हि सन्त� � �
मय� नोक्तानि बाहुल्यभीत्� सिद्धानि तानि हि � �.१७� �ٲ첹� lakṣaṇānyeṣāṃ kohalīye hi santi ca |
mayā noki bāhulyabhītya siddhāni i hi || 3.176 ||�(ṅgīٲⲹṇa, Vol. II, p.482)
This verse is found both in ṅgīٲⲹṇa as well as ṅgīṇaԻ[8] with minor variances in readings. This excerpt occurs in ṅgīٲⲹṇa when the different types of ṅk are being described. ʳܰṣoٳٲ Miśrā first makes a general classification of ornaments into 屹ⲹ (pierced), Իīⲹ (fastened), ṣeⲹ (worn) and ropitam (set). Then he gives the definitions for each along with a few examples.
This is followed by the names of ornaments that are to be worn on different body parts. These are�
i. | Ornaments for the ears | ṭaṅk, ṇa貹ٰ, ṇḍ, Karṇapuṣpikā, Kāravellī, Lambita, ṇaū, ī, 岵ś |
ii. | Ornaments for the nose | Unnata, Lambita, īԲ |
iii. | Ornaments for the neck | ѳܰ屹ī, Ჹṣa, Sūtrakam |
iv. | Armlets | ū, ṅg岹 |
v. | Ornaments for the chest | վūṣaṇa, Trisara, |
vi. | Ornaments for the hip | Tilaka, Mantraka, ñī |
vii. | Ornaments for the wrist | ṅkṇa, Valaya, ū첹, Vadhita, Nikuñcaka |
viii. | Ornaments for the ankles | ṅgṣa, ṭa첹 |
ix. | Ring | Worn in the thumb (only by women) |
ʳܰṣoٳٲ Miśra lists out all these ornaments and then says that each of these ornaments has been described in detail in the work �dzīⲹ�. And therefore, he says, he shall not be venturing to do the same for fear that his work will become too unwieldy in size.
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
ṭyśٰ of Bharatamuni: 2003: GOS Vol. III: pp.146,149
[2]:
ṭyśٰ of Bharatamuni: 2006: Vol. II: p.798
[3]:
Studies in the ṭyśٰ: with special reference to the Sanskrit Drama in Performance:1999: p.122
[4]:
ṭyśٰ of Bharatamuni: 2006: Vol. II: p.798
[5]:
Report on the International Conference on ṭyśٰ: 2011
[7]:
ṭyśٰ of Bharatamuni: 2003: GOS Vol. III: p. 287
[8]:
ṅgīṇaԻ첹: 1995: p.219