Ashta Nayikas and Dance Forms (study)

by V. Dwaritha | 2013 | 71,711 words

This page relates ‘Introduction and definition of Virahotkanthita’ of the study dealing with the Ashta-Nayikas—a classification of eight kinds of “Heroines” representing the eight emotional states (avastha) employed in the classical Indian dance and performing arts (otherwise known as Natya Shastra). These Ashtanayikas reflect the eight types of romantic relationships and have hence formed the expressive subject of many classical painting, poems and dramatic plays.

Go directly to: Footnotes.

Part 1-2 - Introduction and definition of Virahotkaṇṭhitā

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Virahotkaṇṭhitā often known as Utkā is a lady yearning owing to the separation from her hero. She is extremely disturbed by her lover’s absence. She dislikes every thing in the form of pleasure or happiness. She is immersed in sorrow and pours forth her sorrow to others. She pines for him and dislikes her loneliness.

She cries and laments suggesting that her heart is sinking. She droops down on the couch. She exhibits weakness and a lack of enthusiasm to continue living without him. She ponders over the reasons for his failure to turn up at her door step. Sometimes she is also depicted as requesting her friend to go to him with a handwritten or verbal message of her plight. She is an excellent example of Vipralambha Śṛṅgāra.

Many songs are found based on her probably for the varied dimensions that could be portrayed by her.^[1]

नोपगतः प्राणेशो गुरुणा कार्येण विघ्नितागमनः ।
यस्याः किं तु स्यादित्यकुलचित्तेत्यसावुत्का ॥

nopagataḥ prāṇeśo guruṇā kāryeṇa vighnitāgamanaḥ |
yasyāḥ kiṃ tu syādityakulacittetyasāvutkā ||^[2]

Why has not my Lord come, what could have been the significant reason for his delay?–like this, the nāyikā who feels anxious is called an Utkā.

Authors who agree on the general definition of a Virahotkaṇṭhitā being separated from her lover and yearning for him: Bharata, Rudraṭa, Vidyānātha, Rudrabhaṭṭa, Viśvanatha, Śiṅgabhūpāla, Rāmānanda Śarmā.

वाराहनि केलीगृहे यस्या न पतिरूपैति ।
शोचन्ती तदनागममुत्कण्ठितामवैति ॥

vārāhani kelīgṛhe yasyā na patirūpaiti |
śocantī tadanāgamamutkaṇṭhitāmavaiti ||^[3]

Here, the nāyikā is yearning and wailing beyond control as her husband has not come and is not near her in the bedroom.

1 Doubting the hero

There are two theories of whether a Virahotkaṇṭhitā nāyikā could be doubtful as to what is retaining her lover.

Authors of books like Pratāparudrīya, Rasārṇavasudhākara, Śṛṅgārārṇavacandrika believe that the heroine is undoubtful and knows that the hero tarries away due to some other matter arresting his attention while authors of books like Sāhityadarpaṇa and Nāṭyaśāstra do not agree to this.

Śiṅgabhūpāla in his Rasārṇavasudhākara describes her as

अनागसि प्रियतमे चिरयत्युत्सुकातु या ॥
विरहोत्कण्ठिता भाववेदिभिः सा समीरिता ।

anāgasi priyatame cirayatyutsukātu yā ||
virahotkaṇṭhitā bhāvavedibhiḥ sā samīritā |^[4]

She is said to be a Virahotkaṇṭhitā nāyikā by exponents of bhāva, when she yearns for him as he delays without being at fault.

The word “anāgasi” proves that she thinks he is not at fault. This establishes that she does not doubt him. An example from Pratāparudrīya also clearly establishes her doubtlessness.

न शङ्काऽन्या तादृग्गुणपरिमले रुद्रनृपतौ कया वा गोष्ठ्यासौ चिरयति सखीभिर्न सुलभः ।
समानेतुं कान्तं व्रज मदन बद्धोऽञ्जलिरयं यतो विष्वद्रीचः किरति किरणांस्त्वत्प्रियसखः ॥

na śaṅkā'nyā tādṛgguṇaparimale rudranṛpatau kayā vā goṣṭhyāsau cirayati sakhībhirna sulabhaḥ |
samānetuṃ kāntaṃ vraja madana baddho'ñjalirayaṃ yato viṣvadrīcaḥ kirati kiraṇāṃstvatpriyasakhaḥ ||^[5]

O! Manmatha (Cupid) I fold my hands in salutation to you. Your friend, the moon, is spreading his rays in all directions increasing my longing. So, please go and bring my lord who is famous for his good qualities. I am sure he is delayed by some meeting and hence is not easily accessible even by friends.

Like the definition given above, the word “na śaṅkā anyā” clearly establishes that she has no doubt about his fidelity.

The example given by Viśvanātha in Sāhityadarpaṇa clearly shows that she doubts him and may be he has another affair. The same example is found in Śṛṅgāratilaka and in Rasabhāsa aur Bhāvabhāsa too.

किं रुद्धः प्रियया कयाचिदथवा सख्या ममोद्वेजितः, किं वा कारणगौरवं किमपि यन्नाद्यागतो वल्लभः ।
इत्यलोच्य मृगीदृशा करतले विन्यस्य वक्त्राम्बुजं दीर्घं निःश्वशितं, चिरं च रुदितं क्षिप्ताश्च पुष्पस्रजः ॥

kiṃ ruddhaḥ priyayā kayācidathavā sakhyā mamodvejitaḥ, kiṃ vā kāraṇagauravaṃ kimapi yannādyāgato vallabhaḥ |
ityalocya mṛgīdṛśā karatale vinyasya vaktrāmbujaṃ dīrghaṃ niḥśvaśitaṃ, ciraṃ ca ruditaṃ kṣiptāśca puṣpasrajaḥ ||^[6]

Has he been prevented from coming by some dear one? Or has he been agitated by my friend? Or is it some other serious thing that prevents him from coming here even today. Thus thinking, the deer eyed girl kept her lotus face on her hands, sighed deeply and cried long and threw away her flower garlands.

Bharata too in his Nāṭyaśāstra, shows her as doubting the hero with another lady.

व्याक्षेपाद् विमृशेच्चापि नायकागमनं प्रति ।
तैस्तैर्विचारणैश्चापि शुभाशुभसमुत्थितैः ॥
गुरुकार्येण मित्रैर्वा मन्त्रिणा राज्यचिन्तया ।
अनुबद्ध प्रियः किं नु धृतो वल्लभयापि वा ॥

vyākṣepād vimṛśeccāpi nāyakāgamanaṃ prati |
taistairvicāraṇaiścāpi śubhāśubhasamutthitaiḥ ||
gurukāryeṇa mitrairvā mantriṇā rājyacintayā |
anubaddha priyaḥ kiṃ nu dhṛto vallabhayāpi vā ||^[7]

Worried to the core, she should ponder over the reasons for the failure of the hero to arrive by looking for good or bad omens. She wonders if he was held up in some important matter or delayed by his friends or ministers or some political emergencies. She doubts if it could be owing to some other woman whom he is fond of.

A Tamil Padam is an example that she doubts him:

Rāgam—Suruṭṭi^[8] Composer—Subbaramayyar	Tāḷam -Miśra Cāpu
Pallavi Itaṟkō nāṉ peṇ piṟandēṉō iṉṉam eṉ sāmiyaik kāṇēṉē	Was I born as a woman for this? I have not yet seen my lord
Aṉupallavi ādarik kum endaṉ aḻagu turaiyai endap pādaki kaivasap paḍuttik koṇḍāḷō	Which unscrupulous woman has captivated my supportive and beautiful lord
Caraṇam Āḍum mayil mēl varum aḻagaṉaik kāṇbēṉō ādi nāḷ pōl magiḻ pūṇpēṉō pāḍipparavum subbarāmaṉ padattukkaruḷ seyyum maṉṉavaṉai pirintum maṇṇiṉ mīdum vāḻvēṉō	Will I see the beautiful lord coming on the peacock? Will I feel the happiness of olden days? Will I live in this world after being separated from my lord who graces the poet Subbaraman’s ode?

2 Different Definitions

Rudraṭa, unlike Bharata and others, differs in his definition of Virahotkaṇṭhitā or an Utkā. He associates her with a tryst which is generally associated to a Vipralabdhā.

उत्काभवति सा यस्याः संकेतं नागतः प्रियः ।
तस्यानागमने हेतुं चिन्तयत्यकुला यथा ॥

utkābhavati sā yasyāḥ saṃketaṃ nāgataḥ priyaḥ |
tasyānāgamane hetuṃ cintayatyakulā yathā ||^[9]

On the same note, Bhānudattā in his Rasamañjarī defines her as follows:

सङ्केतस्थलं प्रति भर्तृरनागमकारणं चिन्तयति सा उत्का । अवधिदिवसानागतप्रोषितपतिकायां नाव्याप्तिः, तस्या भर्तृरवधिदिवसे भवनागमननियम इति सङ्केतपदेन तद्व्यावर्तनात् ।

saṅketasthalaṃ prati bhartṛranāgamakāraṇaṃ cintayati sā utkā | avadhidivasānāgataproṣitapatikāyāṃ nāvyāptiḥ, tasyā bhartṛravadhidivase bhavanāgamananiyama iti saṅketapadena tadvyāvartanāt |^[10]

When the hero does not turn up on the appointed day or time at the meeting place, the heroine who becomes anxious is called an Utkā. He goes on to say that a Proṣitapatikā’s husband, on the appointed day comes to her house and not to the meeting place. Hence, there is no over lapping of a Virahotkaṇṭhitā with a Proṣitapatikā.

Rasacandrika also gives the same argument.

प्रोषितभर्तृकाया विरहोत्कण्ठितायाश्च भिन्नत्वेन मुनिना । परिगणितत्वात् ।

proṣitabhartṛkāyā virahotkaṇṭhitāyāśca bhinnatvena muninā | parigaṇitatvāt |^[11]

Śṛṅgāramañjarī states that Āmoda, of Rasamañjarī refutes the definition of both Śṛṅgāratilakā and Rasamañjari. It says that while this definition overlaps with the Vipralabdhā on one side, it is too narrow a definition to incorporate (a) Pūrvānurāga Vipralambha ie. A maiden longing to meet her lover and (b) a lady who is at home and her union is being delayed due to manifold domestic work. Thus Āmodakārā gives his own definition as

अप्रोषिताविप्रलम्भकप्रियसंभोगाभावकृतोत्कण्ठा विरहोत्कण्ठितेति ।

aproṣitāvipralambhakapriyasaṃbhogābhāvakṛtotkaṇṭhā virahotkaṇṭhiteti |^[12]

She is yearning for the hero because of lack of union. The separation is neither due to travel nor cheating on the part of the hero.

Akbar Shah in his Śṛṅgāramañjarī rejects all three definitions. He comes up with his own definition: Virahotkaṇṭhitā is one who though being in the same place as the hero, is separated from him and yearning for him because of pre-occupation on his part.

निवास एव कार्यान्तरव्यासङ्गप्रयुक्तप्रियविरहवती विरहोत्कण्ठिता ।

nivāsa eva kāryāntaravyāsaṅgaprayuktapriyavirahavatī virahotkaṇṭhitā |^[13]

3 Definition conclusion

Sambhoga is just not physical love making; looking at each other, seeing eye to eye, flirtatious touches, smiles, loving glances, sweet talking, talking with a suggestive meaning all these are also Sambhoga.

Even seeing the loved one is considered Sambhoga.

अनुकूलौ निषेवेते यत्रान्योन्यं विलासिनौ ।
दर्शनस्पर्शनादीनि स संभोगो मुदान्वितः ॥

anukūlau niṣevete yatrānyonyaṃ vilāsinau |
darśanasparśanādīni sa saṃbhogo mudānvitaḥ ||^[14]

Thus, the definition of the hero being in the house yet not uniting with him due to reasons of work, limits the realms of not only this nāyikā but also the whole Sambhoga.

This definition also seems to leave out many situations like the continuation of a Vāsakasajjā or a Proṣitapatikā and a doubting heroine.

Thus the definition should be something like a nāyikā who is disturbed by her lover’s prolonged absence. She could doubt him too.