An Indian Art

Aspects of Abhinaya

The expressions which are shown to express poetic meanings is Abinaya. Here the emphasis is more on facial expressions than rhythmic movements. The Abinaya is divided as

• Angikabhinaya
• Vachikabhinaya
• Aharyabhinaya
• Satvikabhinaya

Angikabhinaya : Expressing the meanings of lyrics using the body parts like Head, Hands, Legs etc. is Angikabhinaya. The Bhedas which i have explained above come under Angikabhinaya.
Vachikabhinaya : Expressing the Story using narrations in the dance drama is Vachikabhinaya.
Aharyabhinaya : Imitating the Costumes, Jewellary, Make-up etc. in a dance comes under Aharyabhinaya.
Satvikabhinaya :Showing the Bhava(moods) come under Satvikabhinaya.

Lord Shiva is praised as the embodiment of the above 4 types of abinaya in this following shloka.

Angikam bhuvanam yasya
Vachicam sarva vangmayam
Aharyam chandra taradi
tam vande satvikam shivam.

Meaning for the above shloka is

We bow to Him the benevolent One
Whose limbs are the world,
Whose song and poetry are the essence of all language,
Whose costume is the moon and the stars..."

In Lord Shiva's well-known pose of NATARAJA,
his right hand holds the drum of creation - symbolising a new awakening
his left hand holds fire - representing destruction of the old order
his other right hand is raised in blessing
the other left hand points to his left foot, which has crushed demon Muyalaka - representing ignorance.

There are nine main or primary emotions, Sthayibhavas. It is also termed as Rasa(Mood).

• Shringara - Love
• Hasya - Mirth
• Veera - Heroism
• Roudra - Anger
• Bhayanaka - Terror
• Bheebatsa - Disgust
• Adbhuta - Wonder
• Karuna - Compassion
• Shanta - Tranquility

Vatsalya(Parental fondling) rasa is also sometimes included as one of the stayibhava.
Vibhava (cause of emotion), Anubhava (effect of emotion) and Sanchari bhava (subordinate emotions) constitute the state of rasa.

Now i would like to talk about Nayika(the Heroine) and Nayaka (the Hero) bhavas.

The Nayika Bhava

The shastras have classified the basic mental status of woman, the Nayika, into Eight divisions, called Ashtanayika bhavas. These divisions portray the heroine in different situations, express different feelings, sentiments & reactions.
The Ashtanayika bhava are

• Abhisarika
• Kalahantarika
• Khandita
• Proshitapathika
• Swadheenapathika
• Vasakasajjika
• Virahotkantita
• Vipralabda

Abhisarika - She is the one who boldly goes out to meet her lover.
Kalahantarika - She is the one who is repenting her hastiness in quarrelling with her lover, which has resulted in their seperation.
Khandita - She is the one who is angry with her lover for causing dissapointment.
Proshitapathika - She is the one who is suffering in the absence of her beloved, who is away on a long journey.
Swadheenapathika - She is the one who is proud of her husband's or beloved's love and loyalty.
Vasakasajjika - She is the one who is preparing for the arrival of her beloved, by decorating herself and her surroundings. to provide a pleasent welcome to her lover.
Virahotkantita - She is the one who is seperated from her lover & is yearning for reunion.
Vipralabda - She is the one who is dissapointed that her lover has not turned up at the tryst as he promised.

Other classifications of the Nayika bhava are
Mugdha - Inexperienced in love.
Madhya - Partly Experienced in love.
Pragalbha - Matured in the art of love.
This Pragalbha Nayika is further classified as

• Dheera
• Adheera
• Dheeraadheera

Sweeya - Married & faithful to her husband.
Parakeeya - Married but in love with another man.
Samanya - A free woman, who truly belongs to any man for a price.
Jyeshta - The preferred one.
Kanishta - The other woman.

Further classifications are
Uttama - Self-controlled & tolerant.
Madhyama - Literally the middle one, who gives as she gets.
Adhama - Literally the low one, who has no self restraint.

The Companion to the Nayika plays an important role in any padam, javali or Ashtapadi. This Companion is the one to whom the Nayika will convey her feelings, she is the one who will take the message,if any, from the nayika to the nayaka, she is the one who will sort out the differences between the nayika & the nayaka. This companion is usuallly a girl who is close to the Nayika.
The classification of the Companion is as follows.

• Daasi - Servant
• Sakhi - Friend
• Kaaroo - Woman from a lower caste
• Chatriya - Step Sister
• Prativamshini - Neighbour
• Lindini - Saint
• Shilpani - Artist
• Swaa - Nayika herself as a messenger

The Nayaka Bhava
Just like the heroines, the moods and emotions of the hero are also classified into different divisions. The main division is

• Dheerodaatta eg. Lord Rama
• Dheeroddhata eg. Demon Ravana
• Dheeralalita eg. Vatsaraaja
• Dheerashanta eg. Buddha

The other classification is
Pati - Married & faithful to his wife.
Upapati - Married but in love with another woman.
Vaisika - One who pays & enjoys women.

Further Nayaka classifications
Anukoola - Faithful to the Woman. eg. Lord Rama
Dakshina - Loves all his wives or women. eg. Arjuna
Drishta - When rejected, pleads to be accepted by his woman. eg. Vaali
Shatha - The deceitful one. eg. Lord Krishna

Most of the ashtanayika bhavas are experienced by the Nayaka also though the depiction of ashtanayika is more than the nayaka.
Nayaka's Companion plays an important role too. This companian is categorised as

• Peetamardhana
• Vita
• Cheta
• Vidooshaka