Gati performed in Nṛtta

The gati of a person is very much important for rasotpatti, the production of aesthetic experience. Each character should move about on the stage keeping in mind of the bhāva and rasa competent to that particular scene. Generally, a drama consists of many persons taking the roles of different characters. Gaits for types of characters vary according to their age, situation, and the like. Suitable roles will be given to the actors, where they bring out the traits of the characters through proper gaits. “The dress should be suitable to the age, the gait and movements to the dress, words follow the gait and gesticulation is done according to the words.”^[1] Bharata enlists nearly twenty varieties of gatis to be performed in dramas.

The researcher suggests some more occasions for the performance of gaits and its nature in Sanskrit dramas. Thus, the researcher has taken examples of different characters and situations from various dramas and visualizes their gaits based on elements seen in the Nāṭyaśāstra.

Gati becomes an important aspect in the dance elements of dramas. Gati is generally based on the rhythmic sequences in dance. The instruments can be played based on the structure of the song, the svaras or the mnemonic syllables and for which the nṛttagati can be performed.

This varies based on dramas and the characters.

 tataḥ praviśatyacāryapratyavekṣyamāṇāṅgasauṣṭhavā mālavikā |^[2]

Kālidāsa says:

“Mālavikā enters the dancing hall maintaining her sauṣṭava posture. She is a dancer and so her structure has to be in sauṣṭava, which is a basic body position where the gait and the dance is to be done. Persons of middle and superior type should always present this since dance, drama and everything is dependent upon sauṣṭava.”

kaṭīkarṇau samau yatra kūparoṃ'saśirastathā ||
samunnatamuraścaiva sauṣṭhavaṃ nāma tad bhavet |^[3]

The talent of a student is vividly explained by Kālidāsa in this śloka: Gaṇadāsa, the dance teacher of Mālavikā says,

“Whatever action expressive of sentiment is taught by me to her in the way of acting, she teaches me the same in return by her superior performance of it.”

yadyatprayogaviṣaye bhāvikamupadiśyate mayā tasyai |
tattadviśeṣakaraṇātpratyupadiśatīva me bālā ||^[4]

Here, the word ‘karaṇa’ means performance. But it can also be taken as the karaṇas referred in the Nāṭyaśāstra. The teacher, Gaṇadāsa, has taught the bhāvas which has to be exhibited and the student, Mālavikā, embellishes that with the karaṇas appropriate to that particular expression.

According to Bharata, one has to first express the song through abhinaya and then should perform the nṛtta for that song.

prathamaṃ tvabhineyaṃ syāt gītakesarvavastukam ||
tadeva ca punarvastu nṛttenāpi pradarśayet |^[5]

Here, nṛtta can be done through the nṛtta karaṇas. The teacher has to teach her the abhinaya of the song and due to the great talent of Mālavikā she dances the song by adding appropriate karaṇas. Kāṭayavema, in his commentary, mentions that this dance is known as nṛtya, as it has both nṛtta and abhinaya elements.

He says nṛtya is defined by later authorities as:

āṅgikābhinayaprāyamalpavācikasāttvikam |
bhāvānāmāspadaṃ nṛtyaṃ padārthavyañjanātmakam ||^[6]

idānīmeva pañcaṅgābhinayamupadiśya mayā viśramyatāmityabhihitā dīrghikāvalokanagavākṣagatā pravātamāsevamānā tiṣṭhati |^[7]

Kālidāsa refers to a dance called pañcāṅga abhinaya. This dance is taught by Gaṇadāsa to Mālavikā. Kāṭayavema in his commentary says, abhinaya, which comprises of five parts is also called as Preraṇa. He refers to Nṛttaratnāvalī, which mentions the five limbs nṛtta, kaivāra, ghargara, jāgara and gīta. For few others, the actions of the five limbs are citta, akṣi, bhrū, hasta and pāda. According to Vācaspati, it can also include āṅgika, vācika, āhārya and sāttvika.

This is also known as calitakanṛtta, which is concluded with pañcāṅga abhinaya.^[8]

deva catuṣpadodbhavaṃ calitaṃ duṣprayojyamudāharanti |^[9]

Kālidāsa refers to a special kind of dance called Calita, which is danced by Mālavikā. Kāṭayavema in his commentary says, “This is a kind of dance, wherein the incident taken place earlier, is exhibited by the dancer indicating her mind.

Calita contains the four abhinayas and it is of jāti and svara comprising of śṛṅgāra and laya.”

tadevatacca(ccha)litaṃ nāma sākṣādyadabhinīyate |
vyapadiśya purāvṛttaṃ svābhiprāyaprakāśakam ||^[10]

This dance is mainly of the śṛṃgāra rasa and is based on catuṣpada, a song consisting of four parts. This dance is considered to be the most difficult to be enacted and what Mālavikā performs here is a catuṣpāda calita composed by Śarmiṣṭā.

Bharata describes thus: Catuṣpada is the dance, which begins with delicate movements and relates to the erotic sentiment and has been created by goddess Pārvatī. This should be performed by women, mostly in madhya laya.

A song with four vastus is a catuṣpada.

ekavastu dhruvā jñeyā dvivastu parigītikā |
trivastu madrakaṃ jñeyaṃ caturvastu catuṣpadā ||^[11]

Here, the nṛttagati can be performed by the aṅgahāras of sukumāra variety in medium tempo.

Sthiti or sthāna is important for a gati. Only when the character stands in perfect sthāna, the gati will be beautiful. The posture of Mālavikā is beautifully described by Kālidāsa.

He says,

“Her standing attitude is lovelier than her dancing in which the upper half of her body is straight, drawn up and she has placed the left hand on her hip her, with its bracelets sticking motionless to the joint of the wrist and made the other hang down loosely like a branch of the śyāma creeper. She is casting her eye on the pavement and the flowers are being gently pushed aside by her toe.”

vāmaṃ saṃdhistimitavalayaṃ nyasya hastaṃ nitambe kṛtvā śyāmāviṭapasadṛśaṃ srastamuktaṃdvitīyam |
pādāṅguṣṭhālulitakusume kuṭṭime pātitākṣaṃnṛttadasyāḥ sthitamatitarāṃ kāntamṛjvāyatārdham ||^[12]

The sthiti always leads to the gati and the vice-versa.

This stance of Mālavikā is the avahittha sthāna, which is one of the female sthānas mentioned by Bharata.

“A foot is bent at the knee as a triangle and moved forward. The other foot in the sama posture is moved backwards at a distance of one tāla and placed there. The back of the hip is raised a little; one hand is suspended freely while the other is placed on the waist. Such a posture is called as avahittha. This is used in the amorous dalliance like vilāsa (sportiveness), līlā (dalliance) and bimboka (indifference through pride) as well as in the sentiment of śṛṅgāra. It is also used in gazing at the road in expectation of the arrival of the husband.”

puro vicalitastryaśrastadanyo'pasṛtaḥ samaḥ | pādastālāntaranyastastrikamīṣat samunnatam ||
pāṇirlatākhyo yatraikastadanyastu nitambagaḥ | avahitthaṃ samākhyātaṃ sthanamāgamabhūṣaṇaiḥ ||
vilāsalīlābiṃbokaśṛṅgārādinirūpaṇe | sthanametat prayoktavyaṃ tathā mārgāvalokane ||^[13]

Though many scholars refer this pose as āyata sthāna, the slight movement of Mālavikā’s toe makes it clear that it is avahittha sthāna. Moreover, śṛṅgāra rasa is depicted in the verse, which she danced earlier and still she is in the same mood, so this pose will suit the occasion. Her shyness is brought out through her eye movements, which is downcast.

This should be depicted by the dṛṣṭi called sāci.

pakṣānugatatāraṃ yat tryakṣaṃ sācīkṛtaṃ tu tat ||^[14]

Thus, the sthiti of Malavika, after performing the gati in nṛtta, should be enacted.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Naṭāṅkuśa

[2]:

Mālavikāgnimitra A-I. V-16

[3]:

Nāṭyaśāstra X. 92,93.

[4]:

Mālavikāgnimitra A-I. V-5.

[5]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IV.299, 300.

[6]:

Mālavikāgnimitra I. com.p.15.

[7]:

Ibid. I.

[8]:

Ibid. A.I.Com.p.16.

[9]:

Ibid. A-I.

[10]:

Ibid. A.I. Com.p.6.

[11]:

Nāṭyaśāstra XXX.II. 7.

[12]:

Mālavikāgnimitra A-II. V-6.

[13]:

Nāṭyaśāstra XIII.164 -166.

[14]:

Ibid. XIII.107.