Here is a peep into my first ever book.
What
is it that makes a dance beautiful and what is the mechanism of reacting to
dance in a spectator? Where does the onus for relishing aesthetic pleasure lie
and how does it come about? These are the questions, which receive attention in
my book.
Some
of the best known critical-aesthetic thoughts and theories right from the
ancient Greco-Roman philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero,
Longinus, and Augustine, the ancient Indian aestheticians like Bharata,
Anandavardhana, and Abhinavagupta to the much later Japanese aesthetician
Zeami, and the later European theorists like Kant and Brecht, are discussed in
the book and it is pointed out that they all speak of an element of the
metaphysical in art.
Indian
Dance and Music in the traditional classical format are ingrained in the psyche
of every Indian as 'divine'. This nature of dance encompassed the myriad
aesthetic theories on the existence of beauty in art, its universal nature and
its portrayal that lead the spectator to experience the sublime. The ‘divine
origin’ theory of Bharata in the Natyasastrawas propounded as a proof of
the divinity inherent in dance. The excessive usage of pious vocabulary with
reference to dance by one and all, its metaphysical content and the realisation
of bliss as a spectator of dance is not uncommon. The primary Indian aesthetic
theory ‘Rasa Sutra’ does not offer any explanation as to how the ‘aesthetic
relish’ experienced is next only to the supreme divine bliss, brahmananda. It
is also limited in the explication of the process/mechanism of its attainment
in the spectator. While it applied to the poet, choreographer and the dancer
and the process of production of the theatrical spectacle, the enumeration of
the process of the reception of the beauty of the performance and attainment of
aesthetic relish by the spectator did not receive much attention.
However,
Abhinavagupta in his commentary on Natyasastra, the Abhinavabharati,
does offer some insight into the subject. What is it that the spectator undergoes
or ought to undergo in attaining the aesthetic relish? Can such aesthetic
relish ever be equivalent to the supreme divine bliss of brahmananda,
if at all such an experience is definable and is a possibility?
K.
VasudevaSastri’s book on SangitaDarpanam, a 17th century treatise on
music and dance, in an appealing section—sariraviveka—in its very first
chapter, and the SangitaRatnakara both describe a subtle
metaphysical apparatus in the human body in the context of perception of dance
and music. This, I think constitutes a theory or mechanism of spectatorship. Sariravivekaboldly
proposes the presence of a metaphysical apparatus in the human body consisting
of a primordial energy and an assortment of energy centres, which together
appear to be an instrument for perceiving the essence of music and dance. This
section of SangitaDarpanamaddresses the theory of spectatorship and thus
contributes to the historiography of spectatorship.
Sahaja
Yoga, a form of meditation propounded by Dr. NirmalaSrivastava, known to her
followers as ShriMatajiNirmala Devi, has a vast body of research in medicine on
the apparatus similar to the one described in the section sariraviveka
in the treatise SangitaDarpanam.The subtle body similar to the one
described by sariraviveka in SangitaDarpanam has been amply
elaborated by the late U.C. Rai, an eminent physiologist of India in his book
“Medical Science Enlightened —New Insights into Vibratory Awareness for
Holistic Health Care” is of significance here. He has explained the
working of the metaphysical apparatus in the body and has supported it with
research on Sahaja Yoga. Rai’s findings are collated with the apparatus
described in the sariraviveka.
The
book tries to examine the philosophy wherein the fine art over the ages has
been propounded to have a ‘metaphysical’ aspect. An examination of various
theories is to suggest that the age-old primary aim of the artistic process is
not a mere expression of the self, as is popularly asserted by artists today.
It is about relating the artistic process to self and striving for the
elevation of the self by both the artist and the spectator. Fine art and its
aesthetics have ever been intimately connected with beauty, morals,
ethics, spiritual uplift, education, and daily living. It was not seen merely
as a skill or a knowledge intensive entertainment tool that happens to portray
higher values and morals or merely as a tool of ritual in its religious
context; its core purpose was always the discovery of self through the
perception of universal truths.
The
book stresses that an aesthetic theory ought not to focus only on the nature of
art and its basic and formal principles but should also address the mechanism
of the perception of beauty or the attainment of ‘aesthetic relish’ by the
spectator.
It
is generally argued that one cannot understand the classical arts without being
thoroughly educated in the several forms and genres and acquiring a good
knowledge of the fundamentals of aesthetics. Without being thus equipped, it is
claimed that one cannot know what to look for in the high art of any ‘Great
Tradition’. The book accepts this argument in the case of a scholar, teacher,
performer and writer of art, but declares it incorrect in the case of a
spectator.The book argues that one can lucidly perceive the arts even with a
minimum of empathy and open-mindedness to one’s culture and with only a little
knowledge about artistic pursuits. The indirect, implicit, and the universal in
the arts portrayed successfully can be perceived, appreciated and even
understood by the most ordinary of viewers through the innate subtle mechanism
with which humans are equipped. This is the thrust of thought contained in the
concept of sariraviveka. Thus this book proposes that the most highly
encoded art can be perceived and appreciated by the most ordinary of viewers
through an innate mechanism that all humans are equipped with.
The
book also examines the various classical dance forms of India and dwells on the
salient elements in their form, technique, and repertoire and also the content
that contributes significantly to the important dimension of the experience of
‘the sublime’ through the art form.
