Observations on Gati aspects

The concept of gati is very important for the dancers and the dramatists. Scholars who have written works on dance and drama have not elaborated the concept of gati, which is beautifully explained by Bharata in the Nāṭyaśāstra. This is because, the change took place due to the non-performance of rūpakas and performance of uparūpakas, which were more dance oriented. Jayasenapathi, author of Nṛttaratnāvali, who had followed Bharata in many aspects have not expanded on gaits in his work but has mentioned about nṛttagati, which must have been popular during his period. Śārṅgadeva who has completely followed Bharata for his chapter on dance has not taken this topic in his work. Yet, as some karaṇas for the performance of gati had been mentioned, we come to know that Śārṅgadeva was familiar with Bharata’s concept of gati. It is astounding to know that even Dhanañjaya, who had followed Bharata in writing his work Daśarūpaka, which gives all the details about dramatics, has also not explored into the topic of gatipracāra.

It is interesting to know that neither the scholars who wrote works on dance, nor drama, have included the chapter on gati in an elaborate manner. Bharata has commenced the chapter on gati, as it determines the character on the stage and it is an important element, which gives the rasānubhava to the audience. Therefore, it should have been an important element in Sanskrit dramas. Before the advent of the deśī works on dance and drama, these dramas should have been performed as nāṭya, based on Bharata’s technique. Even the commentaries on nāṭakas of Kālidāsa and other famous authors explain only the literary aspect. The performance of Sanskrit plays as per Bharata’s norms should have been obsolete after the 10^th century. It must be the reason why no major works on dramaturgy starting from Daśarūpaka, which is dated 10th century, had elaborated the gati aspects.