Gati in Theory and Practice

by Dr. Sujatha Mohan | 2015 | 88,445 words

This page relates ‘Natya—The Sanskrit theatrical art form’ of the study on the Theory and Practice of Gati (“gait”) which refers to the “movement of a character on the stage”, commonly employed (as a Sanskrit technical term) in ancient Indian Theatrics and the Dramatic arts, also known as Natya-shastra. This thesis explores the history and evolution of Gati and also investigates how the various Gatis are employed in regional performance traditions.

Nāṭya—The Sanskrit theatrical art form

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Nāṭya is a capsule of arts, which caters to the taste of different class of society. While dance, vocal and instrumental are auxiliaries to nāṭya, sculpture and painting are the arts through which the dramatic scenes can be visualized. The theory of dance is well understood by sculptures and painting and thus, they act as a commentary to the works on dance. Nāṭya can also be defined as an audio-visual dramatic art, from which drama, music and dance branched out as different forms of art and entertainment. In a general sense, the word kāvya means both poetry and drama. Later alaṅkāra śāstra (poetics) and Nāṭyaśāstra (dramatics) became two different branches of study. The term nāṭya meant dṛśya kāvya, ‘that which can be seen’ and kāvya meant śravya kāvya, ‘that which can be heard’. The varieties of dramatic forms such as rūpakas and uparūpakas come under the dṛśya kāvya. Nāṭya is a stylized form of story telling enacted by the characters making use of hand gestures, facial expression, body movements and voice modulations along with the feel that is produced through the concentration of mind of the actors. This is enhanced by the costumes, make-up, stage, props, vocal and instrumental music. The dramas though they are written and read, they are to be visually represented live on stage for the audience to see and experience the rasa. Thus, nāṭya becomes a visual poetry.

In olden days the term nāṭya referred to the Sanskrit theatre. Dr. Raghavan opines that, ‘while Greek drama was growing in the 6th century B. C., Indian drama had also developed’.^[1] The one common language, which was spoken all over Asia, was Sanskrit and it was known as devabhāṣa and the regional variations were the prākṛt languages. Nāṭya played an important role for the amusement for people as, in those days people had no modes of communication or entertainment facilities, and many of them were not literate and scholars and the only source of enjoyment was by witnessing performances. Many famous historical, social and mythological stories were chosen for these dramatic performances. Thus, the purpose of nāṭya is to entertain, educate and elevate the audience to a higher level.

Nāṭya is a capsule of arts, which catered to the taste of different classes of society. Nāṭya is also referred to as Hindu Theatre.^[2] Nāṭya is thus created by the poet (anukīrtana), presented by the actors (anukaraṇa) and visualized by the audience (anubhāvana). Dr. Radhavallabh tripati opines that, ‘the fusion of this re-creation, re-presentation and re-visualization is nāṭya’.^[3] Nāṭya is the art of Eurasia. Danseuse and research scholar Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam views that this theatric form was prevalent in the whole of Jambūdvīpa and Bhāratavarṣa, present Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.^[4] Historians of Indian drama opine that it had a native, religious and ritualistic origin. The various situations of life are re-lived through the dramatic art, says Tarlekar.^[5] Sanskrit drama is based on the theory of imitation, as man generally likes to imitate and reciprocate the same, says Manjul Gupta.^[6] Possibilities of Vedic, religious, secular and even Greek origin is discussed by scholars such as Max Mueller, Sylvan Levi, Oldenburg, Pischel. Prof.Luders, Dasgupta, A.B. Keith, P.V.Kane,^[7] Daśarūpaka Mankad^[8] and others.

Ṛgveda has references of dramatic qualities in some dialogues between Purūravas and Ūrvasi^[9] Yama and Yamī^[10] and monologues of Indra.^[11] These should have been taken as base for the discussions on Vedic origin. This ancient theatre form is said to have been prevalent in Panini’s period, as he has referred to Śilālin and Kṛśaśva, the composer of naṭasūtras, which were aphorisms for actors.

pārāśaryaśilālibhyāṃ bhikṣunaṭasūtrayoḥ | karmandakṛśāśvādinaḥ ||^[12]

Nāṭya is a holistic theatre form of the Hindus, from which almost all types of these dramatic forms emerged. They spread their wings in the whole of Eurasia. The stories from the Vedas, itihāsas, purāṇas and other literary forms were taken for performance and thus this art form was propogated as entertainment to enrich the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of a person. The cultural value was enhanced among the people. This was also used as a mode to propogate the political issues of the country. This Sanskrit theatre form, which emerged as an entertaining art, had seen many famous playwrights like Bhāsa, Kālidāsa, Śudraka and so on, in forthcoming centuries. This concept of theatre still prevails in several parts of Asia under different forms of dramas, dance dramas and many more varieties in various vernacular languages.

There are many views regarding the traditional origin of nāṭya given in various texts starting from Nāṭyaśāstra, Saṅgītaratnākara, Abhinayadarpaṇa, Bhāvaprakāśa, and many more. The Vedic origin is discussed by Prof. Max Muller, Prof. Sylvan Levi, Prof. Schroeder and many more. P.V.Kane^[13] opines that the dialogue hymns seen in the Ṛgveda were the precursors of classical dramatic art, which developed later. The dialogues in Ṛgveda and the gesticulations in the Yajurveda are taken to be the source for nāṭya by many scholars.