Natya Shastra
(Gandharva UpaVeda)
Natyashastra
is the most detail and elaborate of all treatises on drama and acting ever
written in any language and is regarded as the oldest surviving text on
stagecraft in the world. Natyashastra
demonstrates every facet of drama covering areas like music, stage-design, make
up, dance and virtually every aspect of stagecraft. Natyashastra was attributed to the Sage Bharata (No connection
with Bharata of Ramayan or King Bharata
of Mahabharta).
Background of Natyashastra:
Natyashastra composed of two words, Natya means Dramaic Art, and Shastra means
holy writ dedicated to a particular
field of knowledge. The Natyashastra
consists of six thousands sutras
and has been divided into some thirty
six chapters. The background of Natyashastra
is framed in a situation where a number of Munis approach Bharata to know about the secrets of NatyaVeda. The answer to this question comprises the rest of the Natyashastra book.
Lord Brahma created the fifth veda called Natyaveda (Natya
= Drama, Veda = Knowledge, thus the
art of drama), which can be studied and practiced by everybody. Natyaveda was handed over to Indra and Indra handed
it over to Bharata. While creating this Natyaveda, Brahma adopted its constituents from four Vedas,
such as:
- Pathya (Text) including the art of Recitation and Execution in performance taken from the Rig Veda.
- Geet (Songs) including instrumental Music from the Sama Veda
- Abhinaya (Histrionics, Acting) the technique of expressing the poetic meaning of the text and communicating it to the spectator from the Yajur Veda,
- Rasa (Sentiments) or aesthetic experience from the Atharva Veda
Subordinate vedas called Upavedas
were also connected with Natyaveda such as:
- Ayur Veda was used to show expressions of diseases, their symptoms & certain mental moods
- Dhanur Veda (archery) was made use of in the representation of fights on the stage
- Gandharv Veda was used in the preliminaries and in the actual performance of drama
- Shilpa Veda (architectural science) was necessary for construction of the playhouse
Sage
Bharata says that all the knowledge of Natyashastra is due to Lord
Brahma. At one point he mentioned that he has a hundred "sons"
who will spread this knowledge, which suggests that Bharata may have had a number of male disciples whom he trained in
dramatic art. However to play the role of male counterpart female, Lord Brahma created Apsaras
(celestial maidens), who were experts in dramatic art.
Chapters of Natyashastra:
Concisely, Natyashastra covers every aspect of art and drama. In its first chapter, Bharata
gives account of Natyashastra’s
creation. The natya was created by Brahma,
the god of creation, to meet the demand of a plaything a source of pleasure to
minds; tired of strife, wants and miseries of daily existence. An art form like
a drama does it very easily because it has a visual and aural appeal. Any piece
of advice communicated through a visual-aural form has more impact on human
mind than any other form. A drama, besides offering entertainment, can also
influence and uplift the minds of spectators.
Natyashastra
contains chapters mainly on:
·
Involvement of
the audience in drama
·
Design and
Construction of theatre architecture, auditorium
·
Prescribes Rituals
to deities (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) to bless the space related to theatre
·
Emotional
notions and aesthetics of Rasa and
·
Dance, it forms
such as Tandava, Lasyangas (feminine dance) and classical Bharata Natyam etc.
·
Forms of drama
and Natika
·
Structure of
drama, Types of Dramas (Dasharupaka)
·
Dhurvas, songs
to be use in Drama
·
Types of
characters in Sanskrit drama
·
Principles of
make-up, costume, properties, masks, and minimal stage decor
·
Success and
Philosophy of performance
·
Music and its
different types employed in theatre
·
Bharata
concluding the ends of his Natyashastra by stating the glory of theatre
Abhinaya - Histrionics (Acting, Emotional Behavior)
in Bharata Natyashastra:
In Bharata’s Natyashastra, the drama is communicated to the audience
in the following ways:
·
Angika
Abhinaya - Communication through body movements
The movements of major limbs like
head, chest, hands and feet as well as movements of minor limbs like eyes,
nose, lips, cheeks, chin etc. are involved in it.
·
Vachika
Abhinaya - Communication by speech
The vowels, consonants and their
places of origin in the mouth, intonation, modes of address etc. are discussed
in it.
·
Aaharya
Abhinaya - Extraneous representation
By means of costumes, make up, ornaments,
stage properties etc.
·
Sattvika
Abhinaya - Representation of temperament of the characters
It is the highest quality of abhinaya expressing the inner feelings
of the character by subtle movements of lips, nasal, trembling of body, turning
the face red, rolling down the tears etc.
Bharata describes how to represent the
phenomena like sunrise, sunset, different times of the day, rains etc. which is
called Chitrabhinaya. He also
mentions in detail how to show the animals on stage, how to make them
artificially and with what material.
Musical Instruments in Bharata Natyashastra:
In Bharata Natyashastra, musical instruments divided into four groups:
S.#
|
Instrument Name
|
Examples
|
1
|
Stringed
Instruments ( Tata )
|
Veena, Human
Body
|
2
|
Wind blown
Instruments ( Sushir )
|
Flute,
Shahanai
|
3
|
Percussion
Instruments ( Avanaddha )
|
Drums,
Mrudanga
|
4
|
Cymbals ( Ghana )
|
Manjira
|
Human
body is also called veena, a musical instrument as it produces musical notes
through vocal cords.
The
stringed and wind blown instruments naturally produce pleasant notes so they
get upper hand in musical instruments.
Cymbals
supplied rhythm, i.e. taal. Taal is derived from tala, i.e. stability. Taal is the foundation necessary for
music. It is indicated by clapping of hands also
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