NATYASHASTRA

The Natyashastra (Sanskrit: नाट्यशास्त्र, nāṭyaśāstra) is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts encompassing theatre, dance and music. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, dance and literature. The text covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft. It is very important to the history of Indian classical music because it is the only text which gives such detail about the music and instruments of the period. Thus, an argument can be made that the Natyashastra is the foundation of fine arts in India. The most authoritative commentary on the Natyashastra is the Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta.

 

The text comprises of 6000 verse stanzas incorporated in 36 chapters attributed to the muni (sage) Bharata. Some scholars believe that is the work of several scholars, not one person. It has also been suggested that Bharata is an acronym for the three syllables: bha for bhāva {mood/emotion/disposition}, rā for rāga {melody}, and ta for tāla {rhythm}. However, in traditional usage Bharata has been iconified as muni or sage, and the work is strongly associated with this personage.

 

The title Natyashastra can be loosely translated as {Compendium of Theatre/Manual of Dramatic Arts}. Nātya means Dramatic Arts. In modern usage, this word does not include dance or music, but in Sanskrit, the term natya refers to the troika of drama, dance and music.

 

The discourse is set in a frame where a number of munis approach Bharata, asking him about nāṭya. The answer to this question comprises the rest of the book, which is thus loosely a dialogue. The Natyashastra ranges widely in scope, from issues of literary construction, to the structure of the stage (mandapa), to a detailed analysis of musical scales and movements (murchhanas), to an analysis of dance forms that considers several categories of body movements, and their impacts on the viewer. It also educates the spectator in observing correct behaviour while watching a performance. It also deals in the theory of rasa {dominant emotional theme}.

 

Bharata describes 15 types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. The principles for stage design are laid down in some detail. Individual chapters deal with aspects such as makeup, costume, acting, directing, etc. A large section deals with meanings conveyed by the performance (bhaavas) get particular emphasis, leading to a broad theory of aesthetics (rasas).

 

Four kinds of abhinaya (acting) are described – physical (angika), verbal (vaacika), that by costumes and makeup (aahaarya), and the highest mode, by means of internal emotions, expressed through minute movements of the lips, eyebrows, ear, etc. (saattvika).

 

It delineates a detailed theory of drama comparable to the poetics of Aristotle. Bharata argues that there are eight broad categories of rasas {dominant emotions}: love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different rasas but be dominated by one.

 

Each rasa experienced by the audience is associated with a specific bhaava portrayed on stage. For example, in order for the audience to experience shringaara (the 'erotic' rasa), the playwright, actors and musician work together to portray the bhaava called rati (love/coitus).

 

The Natyashastra is one of the first major texts that dealt with music at length. It was considered the defining treatise of Indian classical music until the 13th century, when the stream bifurcated into Hindustani classical music in North India and Pakistan, due to the influence of Persian and Arabic music, and Carnatic classical music in South India, the stronghold of Hindu kingdoms.

 

While much of the discussion of music in the Natyashastra focuses on musical instruments, it also emphasizes several theoretical aspects that remained fundamental to Indian music:

 

The Natyashastra remained an important text in the fine arts for many centuries; so much so that it is sometimes referred to as the fifth Veda. Much of the terminology and structure of Indian classical music and Indian classical dance were defined by it. Many commentaries have expanded the scope of the Natya Shastra; most importantly we may include Matanga's Brihaddeshi (500–700 CE), Abhinavagupta's Abhinavabhaaratii (which unifies some of the divergent structures that had emerged in the intervening years, and outlines a theory of artistic analysis) and Sharangadeva's Sangiita Ratnaakara (13th century work that unifies the raaga structure in music).

 

The analysis of body forms and movements also influenced sculpture and the other arts in subsequent centuries. The structures of music outlined in the Natyashastra retain their influence even today, as seen in the seminal work Hindustani Sangeet Paddhati by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande from the early 20th century. The theory of rasa described in the text has also been a major influence on modern Indian cinema especially in the Malayalam Film Industry.

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