Gati pertaining to Characters

The chapter on prakṛti vicāra explains the types of characters in a drama according to their age, nature and character. Men according to their nature are classified as uttama, madhyama and adhama. In dramas, there are four classes of heroes as belonging to the superior and middling types possessing different characteristics.

They are known as:

1. dhīroddhata—vehement in nature,
2. dhīralalita—brave and light hearted,
3. dhīrodātta—Noble in nature,
4. dhīrapraśānta—self-controlled and calm.

According to Bharata, Gods are dhīroddhata’s, kings are dhīralalita’s, commanders, ministers are of the dhīrodātta classes, Brahmins, and merchants are classified as dhīrapraśānta’s.

The four types of heroines are:

1. divya—celestial one,
2. nṛpapatnī—queen,
3. kulastrī—lady of nobility and
4. gaṇikā—courtesan.

Bharata says,

“After taking to consideration the aspects like gait, speech, movements of limbs, actions, mental fortitude and nature of the character (of the play), the experts should employ particular persons for that role.”^[1]

There are three types of characters in nāṭya. They are:

1. anurūpa–natural, when female actors put on the role of women and men take the role of men;
2. virūpa–unnatural, when a male puts on the role of an old man and vice versa; and
3. rūpānusāriṇī–Imitative, when a male puts on the role of a female.

Gait of characters are described in many instances by Bhoja and Kalidasa in their dramas:

madasalalitagāmī mattamātaṅgalīlaḥ^[2]

Hanumān explains the gait of Rāvaṇa like an elephant in rut. Thus, Rāvaṇa enters and walks around Sītā.

mattamātaṅgalīlaḥ salilanicayamabhyādutthitastveṣa śīghramavanatamiva^[3]

Gait of Varuṇa described by Lakṣmaṇa. He says Varuṇa rises up in haste from the ocean and walks like a tusker in rut.

These gaits can be performed by madaskhalitakam karaṇa.^[4]

parijanavanitākārārpitābhiḥ parivṛta eṣa vibhāti dīpikābhiḥ |
giririva gatimānapakṣalopādanutaṭapuṣpitakarṇikārayaṣṭiḥ ||^[5]

Gait of the King Purūravas is described beautifully. Kālidāsa says the king’s gait looks like a mountain possessed of motion because of its wings not being cut off. Bharata says kings are semi divine beings. So, their gait is like that of gods. In the gait of superior persons, the knee should be lifted upto the level of the hip. He should move about in the cāri called pārśvakrāntā.

Bharata describes it as,

“Raise the bent foot high so that knee is placed on a level with the breast and then place it on the ground hitting the same with the heel to form pārśvakrāntā.”

kuñcitaṃ pādamutkṣipya jānu stanasamaṃ nyaset |
udghaṭṭitena pādena pārśvakrāntā vidhīyate ||^[6]

Bharata also describes the gait of a man of superior nature. He says,

“Assuming the stance called avahittha the left hand is turned downwards and placed near the naval while the right hand is posed in the kaṭakāmukha. The right foot is gracefully lifted at a distance of a tāla and placed over the left foot. Now the left hand is to be hung down as a creeper and swung to and fro. The right side is to be bent and the right hand is placed at the hip near the naval. The left hand is then made to enclose the other hand. The left foot is then put forward and the right hand swung down. With gracefully shaking the head, move forward with a slightly bent body. Five strides may be thus taken. This is the gait assigned to men of superior caliber.”^[7]

iti vṛkṣasecanaṃ rūpayati |^[8]

“Śakuntalā gesticulates watering the trees.”

Rāghavabhaṭṭa, the commentator says,

“The hands are to be kept in nalinīpadmakośa and by bending the body slightly and bringing down the hand, this action of watering the trees are to be done”.

nalinīpadmakośa is a nṛttahasta.

“The hands assumed as padmakośa are to be turned down for nalinīpadmakośa.”

padmakośau yadā hastau vyāvṛttaparivartitau |
nalinīpadmakośau tu tadā jñeyau prayoktṛbhiḥ ||^[9]

Bending the body should be done by the nata movement of the pārśva (sides).

“In nata, the waist is slightly bent and the shoulder is drawn away a little.”^[10]

Her gait can be in the nitamba karaṇa here.^[11]

halā śakuntale atraiva tāvanmuhūrtaṃ tiṣṭha yāvattvayopagatayā latāsanātha ivāyaṃ kesaravṛkṣakaḥ pratibhāti |^[12]

Śakuntalā turns when she is asked by her friend to stand for a while near the tree. This can be performed by the thigh movement called nivartana wherein the heels are drawn in. Bharata recommends this for a quick movement.^[13] Śakuntalā just stands for a while near the kesara tree. This can be done by taking the stance of aśvakrānta, as Abhinava recommends this for the stance of hanging on to a bough of a tree.^[14]

She is holding the water pot on one side of the waist and her body weight is on that side. The foot can be in sūcī on the toes and other hand can be hang down as latāhasta, which holds the bough of the tree. Taking the support of the bough is due to her quick turn. “When the hands are extended horizontally and hung on the sides it is called latā”^[15] This gait-and-stance should be performed by her. Here, just a pose of Śakuntalā makes her look very beautiful. On seeing her in that picturesque pose, Duṣyanta describes her beauty.

Thus, the gati and sthiti are described here by Kālidāsa, which can be enhanced by the leg movement given by Bharata.

śakuntalā rājānamavalokayantī savyājaṃ vilambya saha sakhībhyāṃ niṣkrāntā |^[16]

Śakuntalā after taking leave of the king, delays her exit in some pretext in order to have a look at the king for few more minutes.

She started walking a few steps and she stops suddenly saying that her foot has been pricked by a darbha grass and her garment was tangled in the branch of a tree.

darbhāṅkureṇa caraṇaḥ kṣata ityakāṇḍe tanvī sthitā katicideva padāni gatvā |
āsīdvivṛttavadanā ca vimocayantī śākhāsu vaëkalamasaktamapi drumāṇām ||^[17]

The king describes her gait to Vidūṣaka;

“Having gone only a few steps, the slender only suddenly stopped, alleging that her foot was pricked by a blade of darbha; and she stood with her face turned pretending to disentangling her bark-garment, through it was not caught in the branches of trees.”

Here the gait of Śakuntalā can be visualized by the karaṇa called krānta and parīvṛtta.

“Place one foot forward after bending the other and holding it backwards, hold both the hands without extending outside and this is krānta.”

pṛṣṭhataḥ kuñcitaṃ kuryādatikrāntakramaṃ tataḥ |
ākṣiptau ca karau kāryau krāntakekaraṇe dvijāḥ ||^[18]

Rāghavabhaṭṭa quotes Rativilāsa,^[19] where it is mentioned that delaying should be done by turning back and looking.

This can be done with parāvṛtta śiras.

“When the turning of the face is emulated it is called parāvṛtta. This is employed in turning the face away, looking behind, and the like”

parāvṛttanukaraṇāt parāvṛttaṃ śiraḥ smṛtam |
tatsyānmukhāpaharaṇe pṛṣṭhataḥ prekṣaṇādiṣu ||^[20]

Abhinava says, in the parāvṛtta karaṇa body should be turned back.

tato'pi bhramarikayā trikaṃ parivartitamāhuḥ |

So this suits the gait of Śakuntalā here.

gatibhaṅgaṃ rūpayitvā (iti parāvartate)^[21]

“Gesticulating obstruction to her walking and turns round.”

A little doe clings to Śakuntalā’s garment, impeding her movement. This can be portrayed by ūrūdvṛtta karaṇa continued by parivṛtta karaṇa. While performing ūrūdvṛtta one leg is in the back, which looks as though someone is pulling her back.

In parīvṛtta body is turned back through which she can see the doe clinging to her.

“Stand placing one foot forward and the other backward, put the hand on the hip and keep the shanks apart and straight that is ūrūdvṛtta.”

karamāvṛttakaraṇamūrupṛṣṭhe'ñcitaṃ nyaset |
jaṅghāñcitā tathodvūtta hyūrūdvṛttaṃ tu tad bhavet ||^[22]

“When hands are raised high entwined together and held in the reverse direction; sacrum is turned round and feet transposed resting on the toe that is parivṛtta.”^[23]

tataḥ praviśataḥ kusumāvacayaṃ nāṭyantyau sakhyau |^[24]

Two friends representing the gathering of flowers enter the stage. Rāghavabhaṭṭa says, gathering flowers can be represented by keeping the left hand turned up to hold the flowers and right as arālahasta to pick the flowers. Here the left hand can be in sarpaśīrṣa hasta to hold the flowers. They can perform appropriate cārīs and the karaṇa of nitamba for plucking the flowers and talapuṣpapuṭa for gathering the flowers.^[25]

Gait of kañcukī

parikramyāvalokya ca |^[26]

Kañcukī walks around enjoying the evening scene. Here the chamberlain is middle aged. This is because, later at a place while seeing the name written on the arrow, he says he had become old. His gaits should differ.

Bharata says

“The gait of a chamberlain should be represented in accordance with his age and other conditions. If he is not old, the actor should represent it as follows; the feet are to be kept raised at a height of half a tāla. It should look like as if the body is carried forward by someone. The feet should appear slow, as if they are stuck in mud.

kañcukīyasya kartavyā vayo'vasthaviśeṣataḥ |
avṛddhasya prayogajño gatimeva prayojayet ||
ardhatālotthitai pādairviṣkaṃbhaiḥ ṛjubhistathā |
samudvahannivāṅgāni paṅkalagna iva vrajet ||^[27]
ācāra ityavahitena mayā gṛhītāyā vetrayaṣṭiravarodhagṛheṣu rājñaḥ |
kāle gate bahutithe mama saiva jātāprasthanaviklavagateravalambanārthā ||^[28]

“The staff which I took care to carry with me simply as a matter of firm, in the harem of the king, the same staff, after the lapse of considerable item, serves me whose gait falters while walking, as a support.”

The gait of the Kañcukī differs according to his age and here he seems to be old.

Bharata says,

“In the case of an old chamberlain he should move about with shivering limbs and tottering steps leaning heavily on a long staff. The feet should be raised and put down slowly”.

atha vṛddhasya kartavyā gatiḥ kampitadehikā |
viṣkambhanakṛtaprāṇā mandotkṣiptapadakramā ||^[29]

Gait of Vidūṣaka

tataḥ praviśati ḍiṇḍikaveṣo vidūṣakaḥ^[30]

In pratijñāyaugadharāyana vidūṣaka enters in the guise of a joker.

Here the vidūṣaka can enter in ākṣipta or argalam karaṇa.

tataḥ praviśati gaṇikāsambhrāntā viṭena śakāreṇa cānugamyamānā |^[31]

Courtesan Vasantasenā enters with great flury chased by viṭa and śakāra. Here Vasantasenā can perform the sambrāntam karaṇa and the other two characters have to move as the gait referred by Bharata for nica characters or by eḍakākrīḍita karaṇa referred by Abhinava.^[32]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Ibid. XXXV.1-2.

[2]:

AN.II.9.

[3]:

Ibid.IV.15.

[4]:

Ibid.V.15.

[5]:

Vik. A-III.V-3.

[6]:

Nāṭyaśāstra XI.32.

[7]:

Ibid.XIII.172-176.

[8]:

Abh.Sāk. A-I.

[9]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IX. 197.

[10]:

Ibid.VIII.12.

[11]:

Ibid.IV.145.

[12]:

Ibid.IV.145.

[13]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IX.257.

[14]:

Ibid. XII.172.

[15]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IX 188.

[16]:

Abh.Sāk. A-I. PH

[17]:

Ibid.A-II.V-12.

[18]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IV.110.

[19]:

Ibid.A-II.com.p.76.

[20]:

Nāṭyaśāstra VIII. 33.

[21]:

Abh.Sāk. A-IV.

[22]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IV.157.

[23]:

Ibid.IV.133.

[24]:

Abh.Sāk. A-IV.

[25]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IV.61.

[26]:

Vik. A-II.

[27]:

Nāṭyaśāstra XIII. 111,112.1.4.5.14.

[28]:

Abh.Sāk. A-V.V-3.

[29]:

Nāṭyaśāstra XIII.113.

[30]:

P.Y.III.p.64.

[31]:

Cār.I.9.p.415

[32]:

Nāṭyaśāstra IV.com.p.134.