Kohala and Nṛtya (8): The concept of Nikuṭṭaka-karaṇa

1 Nikuṭṭana

(९) निकुट्टकम्
“उन्नमनं विनमनं स्यादङ्गस्य निकुट्टनम् ।”
इति कोहलः ।
तेन हस्तस्यालपल्लवस्य कनिष्ठाङ्गुलिपतनोत्पतनप्रकारो निकुट्टनम् ।
इहापि वक्ष्यते । अञ्चित इति पादस्याप्युद्धट्टितरूपता ।
“स्थितिवा पादतलाग्रेण पार्ष्णिं भूमौ निपातयेत् ।
यस्य पादस्य करणे भवेदुद्धट्टितस्तु सः ॥”—(ना.शा.९-२६६)

(9) nikuṭṭakam
“unnamanaṃ vinamanaṃ syādaṅgasya nikuṭṭanam |”
iti kohalaḥ |
tena hastasyālapallavasya kaniṣṭhāṅgulipatanotpatanaprakāro nikuṭṭanam |
ihāpi vakṣyate | añcita iti pādasyāpyuddhaṭṭitarūpatā |
“sthitivā pādatalāgreṇa pārṣṇiṃ bhūmau nipātayet |
yasya pādasya karaṇe bhaveduddhaṭṭitastu saḥ ||”—(nā.śā.9-266)

चकारेण मण्डलस्थनकमुच्यते । स्वबाहुशिरस इत्येकवचनाद्धस्ताविति द्विवचनाच्च पर्यायेणाङ्गद्वयेन प्रयोगः । एवकाराद्दक्षिणेन प्रयोगे दक्षिण एव पादः वामेन वामः । तेन मण्डनस्थनके स्थित्वा चातुरश्र्यादनन्तरमुद्वेष्टितकरणेन हस्तं नीत्वा स्कन्धशिरसि निकुट्टयेत् । तमेव पादमुद्धट्टितं कुर्यात् वामं तु हस्तं यथावस्थितं पुनराविद्धवक्रवर्तनतया तं हस्तं चतुरश्रीकुर्यात् । तत्समकालं चोक्तविधिना द्वितीयमङ्गं निकुट्टयेदिति योजना ।

cakāreṇa maṇḍalasthanakamucyate | svabāhuśirasa ityekavacanāddhastāviti dvivacanācca paryāyeṇāṅgadvayena prayogaḥ | evakārāddakṣiṇena prayoge dakṣiṇa eva pādaḥ vāmena vāmaḥ | tena maṇḍanasthanake sthitvā cāturaśryādanantaramudveṣṭitakaraṇena hastaṃ nītvā skandhaśirasi nikuṭṭayet | tameva pādamuddhaṭṭitaṃ kuryāt vāmaṃ tu hastaṃ yathāvasthitaṃ punarāviddhavakravartanatayā taṃ hastaṃ caturaśrīkuryāt | tatsamakālaṃ coktavidhinā dvitīyamaṅgaṃ nikuṭṭayediti yojanā | 

—(Abhinavabhāratī, Commentary on 4.69-71, GOS Vol. I, p.101) 

This extract is a commentary in the nikuṭṭita karaṇa. 

Bharata has defined nikuṭṭita karaṇa thus:

निकुट्टितौ यदा हस्तौ स्वबाहुशिरसोन्तरे ॥ ४.६९च्द् ॥
पादौ निकुट्टितौ चैव ज्ञेयं तत्तु निकुट्टकम् ॥
अञ्चितौ बाहुशिरसि हस्तस्त्वभिमुखाङ्गुलिः ॥ ४.७० ॥
निकुञ्चितार्धयोगेन भवेदर्धनिकुट्टकम् ॥ ४.७१अब् ॥

nikuṭṭitau yadā hastau svabāhuśirasontare || 4.69cd ||
pādau nikuṭṭitau caiva jñeyaṃ tattu nikuṭṭakam ||
añcitau bāhuśirasi hastastvabhimukhāṅguliḥ || 4.70 ||
nikuñcitārdhayogena bhavedardhanikuṭṭakam || 4.71ab ||

Bharata says that when the hands placed between the shoulder and the head in the nikuṭṭa movement, and the feet also in the same nikuṭṭa movement, that karaṇa is called nikuṭṭaka. Though he gives such a definition, Bharata does not supply information as to what exactly this movement called ‘nikuṭṭana’ is, and how it is to be represented. 

In order to fill this gap, Abhinava presents Kohala’s definition of the act of nikuṭṭana. Kohala says—

उन्नमनं विनमनं स्याद् अङ्गस्य निकुट्टनम्.

unnamanaṃ vinamanaṃ syād aṅgasya nikuṭṭanam. 

In other words, when a limb is moved up and down, that movement is called nikuṭṭana. 

When applied to the karaṇa called nikuṭṭaka, the alapallava hasta is to be brought in between the shoulder and the head and the little finger is to be moved up and down. The word añcita has been used to indicate that the feet should also be in the udghaṭṭita movement. Abhinava also makes a cross reference from the ninth chapter of Nāṭyaśāstra where the term udghaṭṭita has been defined. He says that when one stands on the toes and then brings the heels down, it is called udghaṭṭita. 

First the dancer starts in the maṇḍalasthānaka. The mention of the word ‘bāhuśirasa’ in singular and ‘hastau’ in the dual number, indicate that this movement is to be performed by both hands, one after the other. When the right leg is moved, correspondingly the right hand is also moved and with the left leg, the left hand is also moved. Abhinava then makes a reconstruction of the nikuṭṭaka karaṇa. He says the dancer must stand in the maṇḍalasthānaka with caturaśra nṛtta-hasta. The right hand should start performing the nikuṭṭaka karaṇa along with the right leg performing the udghaṭṭita. After this, the right hand will perform the āviddhavakravartanā and come back to to caturaśra hasta near the chest. This action is repeated with the left hand and leg. 

Bharata’s definitions of the karaṇas are very brief and terse. Reconstructing the actual movements based only on this would prove very difficult. Abhinavagupta supplies much additional information that is required to practically be able to understand and present these movements. In this case of the nikuṭṭaka karaṇa he supplies the Kohala’s definition of the action of ‘nikuṭṭana’ on which this entire karaṇa is based. But for a clear understanding of the basic action of nikuṭṭana, it would be rather difficult to present the nikuṭṭaka karaṇa.

2 Nikuṭṭaka Karaṇa (Nṛttaratnāvalī)

निकुट्टकं मुहुर्वाक्ये स्वस्य श्लाघा प्रधानके ।
अलपद्मकनीयस्याः पतनोत्पतनात्मकम् ।
निकुट्टकमिह ज्ञेयं स्कन्धे कोहलसम्मतम् ॥ ५१ ॥ (निकुट्टकम्) (९)

nikuṭṭakaṃ muhurvākye svasya ślāghā pradhānake |
alapadmakanīyasyāḥ patanotpatanātmakam |
nikuṭṭakamiha jñeyaṃ skandhe kohalasammatam || 51 || (nikuṭṭakam) (9)

—(Nṛttaratnāvalī, Chapter IV, p. 108) 

Jāya Senāpati presents this definition of nikuṭṭaka karaṇa and says that this has been accepted by Kohala. 

The definition is mostly on the lines of Bharata, but does not mention the movement of the legs. On comparison of the sculptures of the nikuṭṭaka karaṇa found in three temples in South India namely—Bṛhadīśvara temple (Tanjore), Śārṅgapāṇi temple (Kumbhakonam) and Śrī Naṭarāja temple (Chidambaram), V. Raghavan makes the following observations:

‘While Chidambaram and Tanjore agree on this, Kumbhakonam which bears the number 9 and name nikuṭṭaka clearly, presents the hands differently; without both hands being nikuṭṭaka in shoulder, the left is at chest as in the next karaṇa, with the right hand gracefully let loose as ḍolā’.