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VACIKABHINAYA ACCORDING TO THE NATYASASTRA RELEVANCE OF VACIKABHINAYA "Speech is the vocal presentation of words and is the basic structure for building up a drama. So, it is essential that this branch of expression should be very carefully exploited. Angika, Aharya and Satvika abhinayas interpret the speech. All sastras or sciences are given form in words and are controlled by them. So, all knowledge is gained through word and speech. Therefore, there is nothing that is superior to speech and it is the basis of all activity." Bharata began the explanation of vacikabhinaya with these sentences.³5 Speech has been described as the main structure of drama since it affords the canvas for expressing all emotions; the basis for the instrumental and vocal music itself is an independent branch of historionic expression. The various branches of vacikabhinaya are as follows: I Bhasabhedas (Language and its regional variations), 2. Vyakarana (grammar), 3. Chanda (prosody) 4. Laksanas (poetic embellishments) 5. Alamkaras (figures of speech), 6. Gunas (merits) 7. Dosas (demerits) 8. Sambuddhividhana (forms of address) 9. Namavidhana (naming of 35. vaci yatnastu kartavyo natyasyaisa tanu smrta | anganaipathyasatvani vagartham vyanjayanti hi || vanmayaniha sastrani vanisthani tathaiva ca | tasmadvacah param nasti vagdhi sarvatra karanam | Natyashastra XV 2-3 209

characters) 10. Kakusvaravyanjana (modulation in voice) and 11. Virama (pause). It is essential that both the authour and the actor should have clear concepts of the form and nature of the above mentioned branches of voice. 210 The language used in drama is divided into four categoriesAtibhasa (the language of the superhuman), Aryabhasa (the language of the commoner) and Yonyantaribhasa (the language of the animals and birds). The language spoken by a character is specified by regional variation, accent, intonation and dialect. Bharata has elaborately explained these aspects. According to Abhinavagupta, knowledge of grammar is necessary to understand the beauty of the word and to clearly express its meaning in its pure form, particularly in the case of drama, where nepathya or speech (the text proper) occupies an important place. The main languages used in drama are Sanskrit and Prakrt. Speech, in these two languages. occupies a prominent place in the Natyashastra The combination of letters results in the creation of words and knowledge of the identity and value of words is to know about the following words or parts of speech - Nama (noun), Akhyata (verb), Nipata (adverb), Upasarga (preposition), Pratyaya (terminal syllable, especially in Indian languages), Taddhita (nominal affix), Vibhakti (case), Linga (gender), Sandhi (conjunction of words) and Samasa (grouping of words or compound words)

All poetry follows prosody. Therefore Bharata has stated that there is no word that does not fit into prosody and there is no prosody without words. And it is this union of word and prosody into poetry that embellishes drama. Words are of two kinds, nibaddha and curna, pertaining to poetry and prose respectively. Thirty-six types of laksanas or embellishments are found in creative works in literature. The embellishments are based on the emotions, the determinants the consequents and the transitory emotions. These are considered to be as highly ornate to drama as ornaments to a woman. Propriety with reference to rasa has to be observed in providing these embellishments -bhusana (ornament) aksarasanghata (brevity) etc. and defined each one of them. What valour is to a man and beauty is to a woman, so is an alankara (figure of speech) to a kavya. It adorns the kavya. There are three main types of figures of speech - those based on sense, those based on sound and those combining both. While an embellishment is natural to kavya, a figure of speech is highly aesthetic in function and depends. upon the creative genius of the author. Just as wearing appropriate ornaments enhances the looks of a beautiful woman, the values of the embellishments in a kavya shine more brilliantly by using appropriate figures of speech. 211

Bharata has enumerated ten main demerits to be avoided in kavya- 1.Gudhartha (obscurity) 2. Arthantara (digression) 3. Arthahina (meaninglessness) 4. Bhinnartha (obscenity) 5. Ekartha (tautology) 6. Abhiplutartha (incoherence), 7.Nyayapita (illogicality) 8. Visama (Anomaly) 9. Visandhi (hiatus) and 10. Sabdacyuta (slang). It is an acknowledged fact that a kavya should be devoid of all demerits. Bharata has stated that it matters little or nothing if one does not write poetry, but writing bad poetry is tantamount to homicide; broadly speaking, all improprieties come under demerits and should be avoided. It is not enough if a kavya is devoid of demerits but should also incorporate merits. The merits enumerated by Bharata are ten-1. Slesa (double meaning) 2.Prasada (obviousness) 3.Samata (balance) 4.Samadhi (terseness) 5.Madhurya (sweetness) 6.Ojau (grandeur) 7. Saukumarya (delicacy) 8. Arthavyakti (directness) 9.Udarata (exaltedness) and 10.Kanti (brilliance). Sambuddhividhana pertains to the forms of address in which the superior, medium and the inferior characters address each other in a play. Where it is not etiquette bound to address a character by name, certain standard forms of addressing have been evolved. Eg. great sages, saints and other respected persons are to be addressed as Bhagavan ("Holly one"!). 212

When a story is based on the classics, the names that are given to the characters should correspond to those pertaining to the respective classics. There is no necessity in such cases to introduce new names, where as in cases of original themes, the names that are given to the respective characters should indicate the nature of such characters. Here, the author has full liberty to create characters and name them. However, Bharata has given examples of naming such characters.