Essay name: Hastalaksanadipika a critical edition and study
Author:
E. K. Sudha
Affiliation: Government Sanskrit College (Tripunithura) / Department of Sanskrit
This is an English study on the Hastalaksanadipika—a manual depicting the Mudras (gestures) of the Kerala theatre. It is a very popular text supposedly dating to the 10th century A.D. This study also touches the subject of Krsnanattam, Kathakali and Kutiyattam—some of India's oldest theatrical traditions in Kerala.
Chapter 2 - Bharata’s Dramaturgy
18 (of 56)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
Download the PDF file of the original publication
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
aspects on the stage like war, murder, eating, kissing etc., since it is not possible to present some of them while the rest are not sufficiently decorous. He has indicated that these could be effectively conveyed through the suggestive devices or improvisation. He has also prohibited tragedy in Nāṭaka and Prakaraṇa since it amounts to the annihilation of the ideal, as far as Indian idealism is concerned. Even when it is absolutely necessary to represent the fall of a hero on the stage, it has to be averted by creating a solution in which the hero flees, gets arrested or effects a compromise with his opponent. An elaborate discussion on Nāṭyadharmi and Lōkadharmi will be done in later. MODES OF ACTING [वृत्ति� ] [vṛtti� ] ] Vṛttis or modes of acting are many, but Bharata has classified them into four for the sake of convenience. They are Bhārativṛtti (vocal acting), Sātvativṛtti (emotional acting), Kaiśikivṛtti (delicate acting dominating in the elucidation of the Sṛngārarasa) and Arabhativrtti (virile or dynamic and battle like acting). Each of these four modes of acting have again four angas (subdivisions) which may be adapted to suit a particular situation. It is stated in the NS that Lord Brahma, the creator, derived these four modes of acting from the four forms of combat the Almighty employed to conquer the evil forces. It is these four modes of acting that differentiate abhiniya (presentable) and anabhiniya (non- presentable) aspects of literature. Hence these vṛttis are called 50
