The Natya Shastra (Sanskrit: Nāṭyaśāstra नाट्य शास्त्र) is an ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.

The Natya Shastra is incredibly wide in its scope. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, classical Indian dance, and literature as well. It covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft. It is very important to the history of Indian classical music because it is the only text which gives such detail about the music and instruments of the period. Thus, an argument can be made that the Natya Shastra is the foundation of the fine arts in India. The most authoritative commentary on the Natya Shastra is Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta.

Date and authorship[link]

The text, which now contains 6000 slokas, is attributed to the muni (sage) Bharata and is believed to have been written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD. The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) which contained 36000 slokas.^[1] Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of the Natya Veda. Though many scholars believe most slokas were transmitted only through the oral tradition, there are scholars who believe that it may have been written by various authors at different times.

The document is difficult to date and Bharata's historicity has also been doubted, some authors suggesting that it may be the work of several persons. However, Kapila Vatsyayan has argued^[2] that based on the unity of the text, and the many instances of coherent reference of later chapters from earlier text, the composition is likely that of a single person. Whether his/her name really was Bharata is open to question^[2]: near the end of the text we have the verse: "Since he alone is the leader of the performance, taking on many roles, he is called Bharata" (35.91^[3]), indicating that Bharata may be a generic name. It has been suggested that Bharata is an acronym for the three syllables: bha for bhāva (mood), rā for rāga (melodic framework), and ta for tāla (rhythm). However, in traditional usage Bharata has been iconified as muni or sage, and the work is strongly associated with this personage.

Title and setting[link]

Written in Sanskrit, the text consists of 6,000 sutras, or verse stanzas, incorporated in 36 chapters. Some passages are composed in a prose form.

The title can be loosely translated as A compendium of Theatre or a A Manual of Dramatic Arts. Nātya, or nāṭaka means Dramatic Arts. In contemporary usage, this word does not include dance or music, but etymologically the root naṭ refers to "dance".

The discourse is set in a frame where a number of munis approach Bharata, asking him about nāṭyaveda (lit. nāṭya=drama,performance; veda=knowledge). The answer to this question comprises the rest of the book, which is thus loosely a dialogue. Bharata says that all this knowledge is due to Brahma. At one point he mentions that he has a hundred "sons" who will spread this knowledge, which suggests that Bharata may have had a number of disciples whom he trained.

Performance Art Theory[link]

Classical Indian dance:
the inheritor of the Natya Shastra

The Natya Shastra ranges widely in scope, from issues of literary construction, to the structure of the stage or mandapa, to a detailed analysis of musical scales and movements (murchhanas), to an analysis of dance forms that considers several categories of body movements, and their impacts on the viewer.

Bharata describes 15 types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. The principles for stage design are laid down in some detail. Individual chapters deal with aspects such as makeup, costume, acting, directing, etc. A large section deals with meanings conveyed by the performance (bhavas) get particular emphasis, leading to a broad theory of aesthetics (rasas).

Four kinds of abhinaya (acting, or histrionics) are described – that by body part motions (angika), that by speech (vAchika), that by costumes and makeup (AhArya), and the highest mode, by means of internal emotions, expressed through minute movements of the lips, eyebrows, ear, etc. (sAttvika).^[4]

Rasa[link]

"A Yakshagana artist expressing emotions on stage. Vaachikabhinaya is an important part of Yakshagana"

The Nātyashāstra delineates a detailed theory of drama comparable to the Poetics of Aristotle. Bharata refers to bhavas, the imitations of emotions that the actors perform, and the rasas (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience. He argues that there are eight principal rasas: love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different rasas but be dominated by one.

Each rasa experienced by the audience is associated with a specific bhava portrayed on stage. For example, in order for the audience to experience srngara (the 'erotic' rasa), the playwright, actors and musician work together to portray the bhava called rati (love).

Music[link]

After the Samaveda, which dealt with ritual utterances of the Vedas, the Natyashastra was the first major text that dealt with music at length. It was considered the defining treatise of Indian classical music until the 13th century, when the stream bifurcated into Hindustani classical music in North India and Pakistan, due to the influence of Persian and Arab music, and Carnatic classical music in South India, the stronghold of the Hindu kingdoms.

While much of the discussion of music in the Natyashastra focuses on musical instruments, it also emphasizes several theoretical aspects that remained fundamental to Indian music:

• Establishment of Shadja as the first, defining note of the scale or grama. The word Shadja (षड्ज) means 'giving birth to six', and refers to the fact that once this note (often referred to as "sa" and notated S) is fixed, the placement of other notes in the scale is determined.

• Principle of Consonance: Consists of two principles:

• • The first principle states that there exists a fundamental note in the musical scale which is Avinashi (अविनाशी) and Avilopi (अविलोपी) that is, the note is ever-present and unchanging.

• • The second principle, often treated as law, states that there exists a natural consonance between notes; the best between Shadja and Tar Shadja, the next best between Shadja and Pancham.

• The Natyashastra also suggest the notion of musical modes or jatis which are the origin of the notion of the modern melodic structures known as ragas. Their role in invoking emotions are emphasized; thus compositions emphasizing the notes gandhara or rishabha are said to be related to tragedy (karuna rasa) whereas rishabha is to be emphasized for evoking heroism (vIra rasa).

Jatis are elaborated in greater detail in the text Dattilam, composed around the same time as the Natyashastra.

To prove the utility of śrutis in music, Bharata Muni, while explaining Shadja grama and Madhyam grama in chapters 28 and 30 of Bharat Natya Shastra, expounded the Sarana Chatushtai – the only experiment according to Bharata to obtain the correct physical configuration of Śruti Swara arrangement to Shadja Grama notes on any musical instrument (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ni Sa, corresponding to 4-3-2-4-4-3-2, totalling 22 śrutis in a Saptak). Sarana Chatushtai in recent centuries has been demonstrated and proven by Avinash Balkrishna Patwardhan in the year 1998 on flute as well as on sitar (this has also helped him develop a methodology for producing perfectly tuned flutes for different thatas). This is the only known correct interpretation of the Bharata Muni's Sarana Chatushtai after Bharata Muni himself and probably Sharang Dev.

The Natyashastra also suggests several aspects of musical performance, particularly its application to vocal, instrumental and orchestral compositions. It also deals with the rasas and bhavas that may be evoked by music.

Impact[link]

Natyashastra remained an important text in the fine arts for many centuries; so much so that it is sometimes referred to as the fifth veda. Much of the terminology and structure of Indian classical music and Indian classical dance were defined by it. Many commentaries have expanded the scope of the Natya Shastra; most importantly we may include Matanga's Brihaddesi (5th–7th c.), Abhinavagupta's Abhinavabharati (which unifies some of the divergent structures that had emerged in the intervening years, and outlines a theory of artistic analysis) and Sharngadeva's Sangita Ratnakara (13th c. work that unifies the raga structure in music).^[5] The analysis of body forms and movements also influenced sculpture and the other arts in subsequent centuries.^[2] The structures of music outlined in the Natya Shastra retain their influence even today, as seen in the seminal work Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi^[6] by Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande from the early 20th century. The theory of rasa described in the text has also been a major influence on modern Indian cinema especially in the Malayalam Film Industry.

List of chapters[link]

Kuncitam, one of the 108 karanas described in Natya Shastra

• Origin of drama
• Description of the playhouse
• Puja (offering) to the Gods of the stage
• Description of the karana dance
• Preliminaries of a play
• Sentiments (rasas)
• Emotional and other states
• Gestures of minor limbs
• Gestures of hands
• Gestures of other limbs
• Cari movements
  

  

  Sanskrit drama tradition Kutiyattam
• Different gaits
• Zones and local usages
• Rules of prosody
• Metrical patterns
• Diction of a play
• Rules on the use of languages
• Modes of address and intonation
• Ten kinds of play
• Limbs of the segments
• Styles
• Costumes and make-up
• Harmonious performance
• Dealings with courtesans
• Varied performances
• Success in dramatic performances
• Instrumental music
• Stringed instruments
• Time measure
• Dhruva songs
• Covered instruments
• Types of character
• Distribution of roles
• Descent of drama on the Earth

References[link]

1. ^ Ghosh, Manomohan (2002). Natyasastra. ISBN 81-7080-076-5 page = 2. 
2. ^ ^{a b c} Bharata: The Natyasastra (1996). Kapila Vatsyayan. Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi. p.6
3. ^ Manmohan Ghosh, ed. (1950). Natyashastra,. Asiatic Society,.  See introduction p. xxvi for discussion of dates
4. ^ Dr. Asawari Bhat. "Glimpses of Natyashastra". course notes, IIT Mumbai. http://www.hss.iitb.ac.in/courses/HS450/notes2.htm. 
5. ^ Musical Nirvana – Introduction to Indian Classical Music – The Origin
6. ^ Hindustani Sangeetha Padhathi (4 volumes, Marathi) (1909–1932). Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande. Sangeet Karyalaya (1990 reprint). ISBN 81-85057-35-4. 

Other books and references[link]

• Nanyadev. Bharat Bhashya. Khairagarh Edition.

• Chākyār, Māni Mādhava. Nātyakalpadrumam, Sangeet Natak Academi, New Delhi, 1975

• Brahaspati, Dr. K C Dev. Bharat ka Sangeet Siddhant.

• Natya Sastra- The English Translation, is published by Sri Satguru Publications/ Indian Books Centre, Delhi,India.

Hariprasad Chaurasia
Hariprasad Chaurasia at Bhubaneswar, Orissa
Background information
Born	(1938-07-01) 1 July 1938 (age 73)
Origin	Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Genres	Hindustani classical music
Occupations	Composer, flute player
Instruments	bansuri
Website	hariprasadchaurasia.com

Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia (born 1 July 1938) is an Indian classical instrumentalist.^[1] He is a player of the bansuri, the Indian bamboo flute.

Early life[link]

Hariprasad Chaurasia was born in Allahabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.^[2] His father was a wrestler. His mother died when he was 6. He had to learn music without his father's knowledge, for his father wanted him to become a wrestler. He did go to the Akhada and train with his father for some time, although he also started learning music, and practising at his friend's house. He often credits his wrestling training for giving him the immense stamina and lung power that are the hallmarks of his flute playing, stating that,

Career[link]

Hariprasad Chaurasia started learning vocal music from his neighbor, Pandit Rajaram at the age of 15. Later, he switched to playing the flute under the tutelage of Pandit Bholanath Prasanna of Varanasi for eight years. He joined the All India Radio, Cuttack, Orissa in 1957 and worked as a composer and performer^[3][4][5] Much later, while working for All India Radio he received guidance from the reclusive Annapurna Devi, daughter of Baba Allaudin Khan.

He is considered a rare combination of innovator and traditionalist. He has expanded the expressive possibilities of the bansuri through his masterful blowing technique.

Apart from classical music, he has made a mark as a music director for Indian films along with Pt. Shivkumar Sharma, forming a group called Shiv-Hari. He has also collaborated with various world musicians in experimental cross-cultural performances, including the fusion group Shakti.

He serves as the Artistic Director of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory in the Netherlands.

He has collaborated with several western musicians, including John McLaughlin and Jan Garbarek, and has also composed music for a number of Indian films. He has performed throughout the world, winning acclaim from varied audiences and fellow musicians including Yehudi Menuhin and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Personal life[link]

Chaurasia is married to Anuradha, a classical vocalist from Orissa.^[6] They have a son Rajiv.^[7] From his first wife Kamla Chaurasia he has two sons Ajay and Vinay Chaurasia.

Awards[link]

• Sangeet Natak Academy - 1984
• Konark Samman - 1992^[4]
• Padma Bhushan - 1992
• Yash Bharati Sanman - 1994
• Padma Vibhushan - 2000
• Hafiz Ali Khan Award - 2000
• Dinanath Mangeshkar Award - 2000
• Pune Pandit Award - 2008, by The Art & Music Foundation, Pune, India
• National Eminence award, NADA VIDYA BHARTI by Visakha Music and Dance Academy, Vizag - 2009

Honours[link]

• Honoured by Dutch Royal family at Amsterdam,and was conferred with the title Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau (“officier in de Orde van Oranje-Nassau”) and was honoured by Princess Maxima herself.^[8]
• Ministry of Culture of the Republic of France.^[9] He has been appointed as Knight in the Order of Arts and Letter (“Ordres des Arts et Lettres”) in appreciation of the significant contribution he has made to spread culture in France and the rest of the World - 2009
• Honorary Doctorate by the North Orissa University for his unparalleled role and contribution to the world of Indian Classical Music - 2009

Books[link]

• Official biography "Woodwinds of Change" by Surjit Singh - 2008
• 'Hariprasad Chaurasia and the Art of Improvisation', by Henri Tournier^[10]

Discography[link]

These are major albums released by Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, categorized by release dates.²

Chaurasia in 2011

Chaurasia in 2007

With Ustad Zakir Hussain (2012)

1967

• Call of the Valley with Shivkumar Sharma and Brij Bhushan Kabra

1978

• Krishnadhwani 60

1981

• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute

1984

• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute (different set of ragas,same album name)

1987

• Morning to Midnight Ragas - Morning Ragas

1988

• Call of the Valley

1989

• Venu
• Live in Ahmedabad '89

1990

• Immortal Series

1991

• Megh Malhar

1992

• Night Ragas
• Live in Amsterdam '92
• Morning to Midnight Ragas - Afternoon Ragas
• All time Favorites
• Live from Sawai Gandharva Music Festival - Video (VHS)
• Raga-s DU Nord Et Du Sud
• Immortal Series - Flute Fantasia

1993

• Indian Classical Masters
• Daylight Ragas
• Flute - Hariprasad Chaurasia

1994

• Thumri - The Music of Love
• In A Mellow Mood
• Possession
• Immortal Series - Devine Drupad
• Classic Greats1 - Ideas on Flute

1995

• In Live Concert
• Cascades of Hindustani Music
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Sunrise Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Morning Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Midday Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Afternoon Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Evening Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Sunset Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Midnight Melody
• Maharishi Gandharva Veda - Late Night Melody
• Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute
• Malhar-Chandrika
• Music 157 - Live in London
• Music - Flute
• Great Jugalbandis
• Music from the world of OSHO - Above & Beyond
• Prem Yog
• Written on the Wind
• Romantic Themes
• Saptarishi - Live at Siri Fort
• The Mystical Flute of Hari Prasad Chaurasia
• Maestro's Choice
• Basant Bahar
• Chaurasia's Choice

1996

• Hari Prasad Chaurasia & his Divine Flute
• Flute Recital
• Valley Recalls - In search of Peace, Love and Harmony
• Krishna's Flute - Master of the Bansuri
• Classical Encounters - A live Experience with Pt. Hari Prasad Chaurasia
• Fabulous Flute
• Pundit Hari Prasad Chaurasia
• In Concert - Vancouver, B.C
• Hariprasad Chaurasia - Flute
• The Bamboo Flautist of His Generation
• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - Nada in Jerusalem

1997

• Classical Encounters - A Live Experience with Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia
• Great Jugalbandis
• The Golden Collection (Classical)
• Immortal Essence
• Golden Raga Collection
• Bustan Abraham - Fanar (Guest appearance alongside Zakir Hussain)

1998

• Samarpan-VCD Special 60th Birthday Edition
• The Charms Companion
• Morning to Midnight - Morning to Dusk
• Music for Reiki

1999

• Jugalbandi
• Rasdhaara
• Live Inside Khajuraho
• Live in New Delhi - '89
• Golden Raga Collection
• Musical Titans of India - Jugalbandhi Video (VHS)
• Pure Joy - Positive Energy Music

2000

• Music without Boundaries
• Maaya - Far East
• Hriday - Cuba
• Caravan Spain
• Live Concert at Savai Gandharva Music Festival
• Gurukul - The Guru shishya Parampara

2001

• Adi-Ananth
• Love Divine - Parables of Passion
• Power & Grace - Live at the Saptak Festival 2001
• Discovery of Indian Classical Music
• Flute Duet

2003

• Flute Deity Hariprasad Chaurasia
• The Greatest Hits of Hariprasad Chaurasia
• Salvation - Instrumental Bhajans

Albums (release year unknown)[link]

• La Flute De Pundit Hariprasad Chaurasia
• Hariprasad Chaurasia - The Most Celebrated Flautist of India
• Sound of Silence
• Charm of the Bamboo flute
• Kalpana - Imagination
• A Kaleidoscope of various ragas
• Krishna Utsav
• Kali - Classical Instrumental
• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - the Living Legend of Flute
• Moon Light Moods - Flute Recital
• Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia - The Living Legend of Flute
• Indian Music
• HariDhwani
• Fusion India - Passage of India Series
• Being Still
• Dhammapada - Sacred teaching of Buddha
• The Charms Companion
• Eternity
• Nothing but wind (1988) - Composed by Ilaiyaraaja

With Zakir Hussain

• Making Music (ECM, 1986)

Music for Bollywood films[link]

Along with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma he composed music for

• Chandni
• Darr
• Lamhe
• Silsila
• Faasle
• Vijay
• Sahibaan

Music for Telugu films[link]

The music for the movie Sirivennela is composed by K. V. Mahadevan which revolves around the role of Pandit Hari Prasad, a blind flautist played by Sarvadaman Banerjee and flute renditions by Hariprasad Chaurasia.^[11]

Music for English films[link]

Some of his music is used in Mithaq Kazimi's 16 Days in Afghanistan.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Hariprasad Chaurasia

• Official website
• Interview with Choodie Shivaram
• Hariprasad Chaurasia by Mohan Nadkarni
• Interview with The Scholars' Avenue, IIT Kharagpur

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Amar Nath Kak (1889–1963) was a prominent Kashmiri lawyer and author who's most important books are Hamara Vrittanta and the Gayatri, both written in Hindi. He was the older brother of Kashmiri archaeologist and politician Ram Chandra Kak.

Hamara Vrittanta contains information on the social and religious life of Kashmiri Pandits in the first half of the 20th century. It also presents the drama of the war between India and Pakistan.

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