7.1. The Sixty-four Fine Arts

“Art is life” is the meaningful definition to explain the statements “art is for art” and “art is for life”. Because the latter statements shows the needs to be fulfilled from art. It may change according to the need and choice of people. But the essence of the definition “art is life” signifies that what should be the art or what is the role of art in the fulfillment of any of the need in our life” (Kuttikrishna Marar, 1996: 7).

One of the major highlights of Kāmaśāstra is the importance of arts. According to the authors of erotics the mere knowledge of sex is not sufficient to enjoy copulation. It needs skill and that skill has been described by them in a systematic way. Vātsyāyana in Kāmasūtra proclaims that one should learn Kāmasūtra and the allied arts sciences subordinate thereto without curtailing the time dedicated to the other studies^[1].

It is difficult to explore about the origin of arts even it seems archaism. Mythological references about the origin of arts can be seen in Purāṇic literature. But while thinking authentically that the inborn tendency of man to enjoy material life with amusements may be the developmental backdrop of arts. The number is always controversial by comparing with the other texts dealing with arts. Alain Danīlou says; both in the texts Śukranīti and Tantra works mention the sixty-four arts and others are sometime added. The Lalitavistara counts the arts as eighty-six in number. According to Kṣemendra’s Kalāvilāsa, thirty-two conform to the three aims of life (10. 1-6) and thirty-two have a bad influence on character (10. 7-10), thirty-four concern goldsmiths (8. 4-12), sixty-four serve prostitutes for seducing citizens (4. 2-11), ten concern medicine, sixteen for Kāyasthas (scribes), who take fees for writing messages and, by knowing the art of writing, are able to deceive the people and the authorities(5. 12-17). The arts mentioned by astrologers number more than one hundred different kinds (1994: 55-56). Besides these, texts like Śivatattvaratnākara, Śrītattvanidhi, Purāṇārthasaṅgraha, Śrīdharasvāmi’s Bhāgavatapurāṇa commentary, Kāmadhenu (commentary of Vāmanālaṅkārasūtravṛtti), Śrutirañjinī, Rāmacandra’s commentary on Rāmāyaṇacampū, Samavāyasūtra etc tabulates arts with numerical variations. But Vātsyāyana’s Kāmasūtra is the well accepted treatise which discusses about the sixty-four varieties of fine arts (Catuṣaṣṭikalāh).

These sixty four includes both entertainments and intellectual lessons.

1—singing;
2—playing musical instruments;
3—dancing;
4—painting;
5—cutting leaves into shapes;
6—making lines on the floor with rice powder and flowers;
7—arranging flowers;
8—colouring the teeth, clothes, and limbs;
9—making jewelled floors;
10—preparing beds;
11—making music on the rims of glasses of water;
12—playing water sports;
13—unusual techniques;
14—making garlands and stringing necklaces;
15—making diadems and headbands;
16—making costumes;
17—making various earrings;
18—mixing perfumes;
19—putting on jewellery;
20—doing conjuring tricks;
21—practising sorcery;
22—sleight of hand;
23—preparing various forms of vegetables, soups, and other things to eat;
24—preparing wines, fruit juices, and other things to drink;
25—needlework;
26—weaving;
27—playing the lute and the drum;
28—telling jokes and riddles;
29—completing words;
30—reciting difficult words;
31—reading aloud;
32—staging plays and dialogues;
33—completing verses;
34—making things out of cloth, wood, and cane;
35—woodworking;
36—carpentry;
37—architecture;
38—the ability to test gold and silver;
39—metallurgy;
40—knowledge of the colour and form of jewels;
41—skill at nurturing trees;
42—knowledge of ram-fights, cock-fights, and quail-fights;
43—teaching parrots and mina birds to talk;
44—skill at rubbing, massaging, and hairdressing;
45—the ability to speak in sign language;
46—understanding languages made to seem foreign;
47—knowledge of local dialects;
48—skill at making flower carts;
49—knowledge of omens;
50—alphabets for use in making magical diagrams;
51—alphabets for memorizing;
52—group recitation;
53—improvising poetry;
54—dictionaries and thesauruses;
55—knowledge of metre;
56—literary work;
57—the art of impersonation;
58—the art of using clothes for disguise;
59—special forms of gambling;
60—the game of dice;
61—children's games;
62—etiquette;
63—the science of strategy;
64—and the cultivation of athletic skills—

[These] are the sixty-four fine arts that should be studied along with the Kāmasūtra”^[2]

The need for studying or acquiring knowledge in these arts also said as a courtesan, endowed with a good disposition, beauty and other winning qualities, and also versed in the above arts, elevated as gaṇikā, of high quality, and is honoured in public assembly. She is, moreover, always respected by the king, and praised by learned men, and her favour being sought for by all, she becomes an object of universal regard. The daughter of a king too, as well as the daughter of a minister, being learned in the above arts, can make their husbands favourable to them, even though these may have thousands of other wives besides themselves. And in the same manner, if a wife becomes separated from her husband, and falls into distress, she can support herself easily, even in a foreign country, by means of her knowledge of these arts. Even the bare knowledge of them gives attractiveness to a woman, though the practice of them may be only possible or otherwise according to the circumstances of each case. A man who is versed in these arts, who is loquacious and acquainted with the arts of gallantry, gains very soon the hearts of women, even though he is only acquainted with them for a short time^[3].

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

dharmārthāṅgavidyākālānanuparodhayan kāmasūtraṃ tadaṅgavidyāśca puruṣo'dhīyata || (kāmasūtra, 1. 3. 1)

[2]:

gītaṃ, vādyaṃ, nṛtyaṃ, ālekhyaṃ, viśeṣakacchedyaṃ, taṇḍulakusumavalivikārāḥ, puṣpāstaraṇaṃ, daśanavasanāṃgarāgaḥ, maṇibhūmikākarma, śayanaracanaṃ, udakavādyaṃ, udakāghātaḥ, citrāścayogāḥ, mālyagrathanavikalpāḥ, śekharakāpīḍayojanaṃ, nepathyaprayogāḥ, karṇapatrabhaṃgāḥ, gandhayuktiḥ, bhūṣaṇayojanaṃ, aindrajālāḥ, kaucumārāśca yogāḥ, hastalāghavaṃ, vicitraśākayūṣabhakṣyavikārakriyā, pānakarasarāgāsavayojanaṃ, sūcīvānakarmāṇi, sūtrakrīḍā, vīṇāḍamarukavādyāni, prahelikā, pratimālā, durvācakayogāḥ, pustakavācanaṃ, nāṭakākhyāyikādarśanaṃ, kāvyasamasyāpūraṇaṃ, paṭṭikāvetravānavikalpāḥ, takṣakarmāṇi, takṣaṇaṃ, vāstuvidyā, rūpyaratnaparīkṣā, dhātuvādaḥ, maṇirāgākarajñānaṃ, vṛkṣāyurvedayogāḥ, meṣakukkuṭalāvakayuddhavidhiḥ, śukasārikāpralāpanaṃ, utsādane saṃvāhane keśamardane ca kauśalaṃ, akṣaramuṣṭikākathanaṃ, mlecchitavikalpāḥ, deśabhāṣāvijñānaṃ, puṣpaśakaṭikā, nimittajñānaṃ, yantramātṛkā, dhāraṇamātṛkā, saṃpāṭhyaṃ, mānasī, kāvyakriyā, abhidhānakoṣaḥ, chandojñānaṃ, kriyākalpaḥ, chalitakayogāḥ, vastragopanāni, dyūtiviśeṣāḥ, ārṣakrīḍā, bālakrīḍanakāni, vainayikīnāṃ vaijayikīnāṃ vyāyamikīnāṃ ca vidyānāṃ jñānaṃ, iti catuḥṣaṣṭiraṃgavidyāḥ kāmasūtrasyāvayavinyaḥ || (kāmasūtra, 1. 3. 15)

[3]:

ābhirabhyucchitā veśyā śīlarūpaguṇānvitā | labhate gaṇikāśabdaṃ sthanaṃ ca janasaṃsadi || pūjitā sā sadā rājñā guṇavadbhiśca saṃstutā | prārthanīyābhigamyā ca lakṣyabhūtā ca jāyate || yogajñā rājaputrī ca mahāmātrasutā tathā | sahasrāntaḥpuramapi svavaśe kurute patim || tathā pativiyoge ca vyasanaṃ dāruṇaṃ gatā | deśāntare'pi vidyābhiḥ sā sukhenaiva jīvati || naraḥ kalāsu kuśalo vācālaścāṭukārakaḥ | asaṃstuto'pi nārīṇāṃ cittamāśveva vindati || kalānāṃ grahaṇādeva saubhāgyamupajāyate | deśakālau tadapekṣyāsāṃ prayogaḥ saṃbhavenna vā || (kāmasūtra, 1. 3. 16-22)