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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

Page:

28 (of 56)


External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)


Download the PDF file of the original publication


Copyright (license):

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)


Warning! Page nr. 28 has not been proofread.

The description of the apsaras is also symbolic. It is said that their feet do not touch the earth. It could be interpreted in such a way that the women in Indian concept were given an elevated position. नार्यस्त� पूज्यन्त� रमन्ते तत्र देवताः ( [nāryastu pūjyante ramante tatra devatā� (] Manusmrti) is also relevant here. They were even worshipped as goddesses. Another symbolism is the name Viśvakarmâ itself. Viśvakarmā is the architect of the Devas. Pazaru húfa sia fazanf. He is the one who designs the world. Brahma asks him to construct a Natyagṛha. He constructs the same, which is a miniature of the world. World is the macrocosm and the NG is the microcosm. NG is the cross section of the world. After constructing the NG he posted Indra as the gatekeeper, Varuṇa in the green room, Vayu and Moon as the securities. Yama for discipline and Kubera as the casheir. He appointed Mṛtyu and Nirṛti as the doorkeepers and fixed one spear and stick on the top and bottom respectively. The weapons are warning symbols for negative forces. After the constriction of the NG Viśvakarma put a flagstaff, called jarjara there. It is the main part of the NG. In short the introduction of Viśvakarma and his actions are symbolic. The name Bharata itself is symbolic. Hundred sons of Bharata are the symbols of the essential components of dramaturgy. The content of the NS can be gone through now. The NS divided into 36 chapters consisting of 6000 verses. Few scholars opine that there are 37 chapters in it. 60

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