Gati in Theory and Practice

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

This page relates ‘Manifestation of Gati in Caris and Karanas (Introduction)’ 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.

Manifestation of Gati in Cārīs and Karaṇas (Introduction)

Cārīs prescribed by the rules and connected with different limbs relate to one another constitute a vyāyāma. (Vyāyacchante from vyā-yā, stretch out to). A cārī is a correlated movement of the whole leg. The movement mainly with a single foot (pāda) is called the cārī. The movement of the two feet is called the karaṇa.[1] If one leg is moved in various ways, direction it is cārī and generally the other leg is static, and when the other leg starts to move it becomes karaṇa. Both legs can be moved simultaneously on the ground or even off the ground in some of the movements like leaps and jumps. However, this cārīkaraṇa is different from the nṛttakaraṇa, which is a simultaneous movement of the hand and leg. Maṇḍalas are the combinations of various cārīs, which are the sequence of movements. Gati is mainly based on these movements.

Bharata says, nāṭya is completely dependent on cārī, and without the performance of cārī nothing can be done in a nāṭya.

yadetatprastutaṃ nāṭyaṃ taccārīṣveva saṃjñitam |
nahi cāryā vinā kiñcinnāṭye'ṅgaṃ saṃpravartate ||[2]

Karaṇas are combined movements of hands and legs, which can be used for depicting the gatis in nāṭya and nṛtta.

Footnotes and references:

[2]:

Ibid.X.6.

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