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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 7 - Vacikabhinaya according to Bharata’s Natyasastra

Page:

4 (of 29)


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. 4 has not been proofread.

Bharata has enumerated ten main demerits to be avoided in kavya- 1.Gūḍhartha (obscurity) 2. Arthäntara (digression) 3. Arthahina (meaninglessness) 4. Bhinnartha (obscenity) 5. Ekārtha (tautology) 6. Abhiplutārtha (incoherence), 7.Nyāyāpīta (illogicality) 8. Viṣama (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. Śleṣa (double meaning) 2.Prasada (obviousness) 3.Samatā (balance) 4.Samādhi (terseness) 5.Madhurya (sweetness) 6.Ojau (grandeur) 7. Saukumārya (delicacy) 8. Arthavyakti (directness) 9.Udarata (exaltedness) and 10.Kānti (brilliance). Sambuddhividhāna 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

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