Natyashastra by Bharata Muni (Summary)

 

Natyashastra

by Bharata Muni

(Summary) 

Natyashastra has been given the status of the Fifth (5th) Veda. It contains the ancient Indian treaties on the performing arts, that is theatre, music and dance. This book was written in the form of dialogues between sage Bharata and other sages. It was compiled between 200 BC and 200 AD. It contains 36,000 shlokas in verse style. There are total 36 chapters in it.

The title is a combination of two Sanskrit words – Natya and Shastra. Natya refers to technique of dance and drama, and shastra refers to science. Natyashastra describes – relation between director and audience, structuring a play, acting techniques, costumes and make-up, music and musical instruments to be used, the dimensions of the stage and its decorations with lighting, and size of the hall and seating of audience. Directors and producers of plays agree, that its relevance is high even today.

There is not much information about the author of Natyashastra. Many scholars believe that the author of Natyashastra is Rishi Bharata.

The word Bharata has its own meaning and expresses three thing-

1.     BHA: bhava (bhao)

2.      RA: rasa

3.      TA: taal

Natyashastra is based upon the much older Gandhrava Veda. It is believed that Rishi Bharata collected different knowledge, wisdom and experience from the four Veda and compiled it into one book named Natyashastra. The four Vedas are: -

1. Rig-Veda

2. Yajur-Veda

3. Sama-Veda

4. Atharva-Veda

Rig Veda is the oldest Veda.

The Natyashastra consist of four element i.e. text taken from the Rig-Veda, songs from the Sama-Veda, acting from the Yajur-Veda and rasa or aesthetic experience from the Atharva-Veda.

Natyashastra classifies instruments as (1) “tata” – stringed, (2) “avanadha” – covered percussion, (3) “sushira” – hollow (flute), and (4) “ghana” – rhythm supports like cymbals. The text has even codified the dimensions of the instruments, the material to be used, treatment of the material before they are deployed, and the artisanship to convert the various parts into a single whole instrument. Artisans involved in handcrafting / making instruments today follow the broad directions mentioned in Natyashastra.

The (1) first chapter of Natyashastra talk about the response and involvement of the spectator in the drama. The (2) second chapter describes the method of building different type of stage. The (3) third chapter talks about the religious ceremony (puja of god and goddess ) to be performed in the auditorium. The (4) forth chapter tells the story of Amritamanthana. Various aspect related to dance and music have discussed at length in the fourth (4) and fifth (5) chapter.

Here are some names of Indian Classical dances:

 1.      Bharatanatyam: Tamil Classical Dance

 2.      Odissi: Odisha Classical Dance

 3.      Kuchipudi: Telegu Classical Dance

 4.      Manipuri: Manipur Classical Dance

 5.      Mohiniaattam: Kerala Classical Dance

 6.      Sattriya: Assamese Classical Dance

 7.      Kathakali: Kerala Classical Dance

 8.      Kathak: North Indian Classical Dance

The only two dance style that have their origin in Bharata’s Natyashastra are Bharatanatyam and Odissi.

In the sixth (6) Bharata Muni has given special emphasis on “rasas” and discuss about the nature of rasas. In this chapter, he talked about the process, by which different type of rasas are generated. According to Bharata Muni there are eight type of rasa:            

Shringar Rasa

Hasya Rasa

Karuna Rasa

Raudra Rasa

Veera Rasa

Bhayanka Rasa

Vibhasta Rasa

Adbhuta Rasa

Rasa Sringara Hasya Karuna Roudra Veera Bhayanaka Bibhatsa Adbhuta

Bhava Rati Hasa Shoka Krodha Utsaha Bhaya Jugupsa Vismaya

Emotion Romance Humour Compassion Anger Valour  Fear Disgust Marvel

In the seventh (7) chapter of Natyashastra a detail description of Bhavas, Vibhavas, Anubhavas and Vyabhichar has been given. Bharata Muni talks about the requirement of these bhava for the generation of Rasa. In chapter eighth (8) to thirteenth (13) Bharata Muni explains about the physical and spoken presentation on the stage. Pure acting is a major requirement for effective generation of Rasas.

In the fourteenth (14) chapter Bharata Muni shows how scenery is to be set on the stage. Further he classifies drama in twentieth (20) chapter. In the 21st chapter, different ingredients have been talked about by Bharata Muni. In the 22nd chapter Bharata Muni highlights the distinct feature of four style of acting. These styles were;

1.      Eloquent

2.      Glamorous Style

3.      The Great Style

4.      The Vigorous Style

The 23rd chapter deals with male qualities and patterns of sexual behaviour as well as of feminine youth. 24th chapter discusses the type of characters in Sanskrit drama. Chapter 25th defines the specific way of expressing different states and objects, and the use of gesture, posture, walking and theatrical agreements. 26th chapter presents the principles of makeup and nature of dramatic image.

The chapters 27th to 30th deals with music, songs and instruments. Chapter 31st deals with cymbals, tala, rhythm and musical cycles. Chapter 32nd explaining dhruva songs. Chapter 33rd explains the qualities of instrumentalists and vocalist. Chapter 34th relates the origin and nature of drums. In the 35th and 36th chapter, Bharata Muni shows how to assign different roles to actor and actress.

Bharata Muni explains the relationship between performers and audience through rasa-bhava anubhava. He defines eight types of “rasas” and their corresponding “bhavas” that is emotions. A “rasa” is an emotional state. It means “juice” or sap. A “rasa” is usually the dominant emotional theme through a work of art. It is the delight and pleasure experienced directly from art. “Bhava” means to become. It is a state of mind whose outcome is a “rasa”.

Bhava is the emotion felt by the character and communicated to the audience via various dramatizations by the performer, resulting in the audience experiencing the rasa. Bhava by itself is incomplete and carries no meaning without the rasa.

Bharata Muni stressed on a 22 swara octave. It is said he performed a large public experiment to demonstrate the 22 swaras. Natyashastra defines these in detail in addition to explaining the organising of swaras as vadi, samvadi, anuvadi and vivadi for the jaatis and murchanas.