MANIFESTATION OF NATURE : SRSTI-VISTARA
THE beautifully printed volume is the fourth in the Kalatattvakosa series by IGNCA. The previous volume dealth with Primal Elements (Mahabhuta), and hence Manifestation of Nature (srsti-vistara) logically follows. The present volume discusses the following concepts: (i) Indriya;paris: (ii) dravya, (iii) dhatu and (iv) guna/dosa; triads: (v) adhibhuta/adhidaiva/adhyatma; (vi) Sthula/suksma/para; and (vii) srsti/sthiti/samhara.
These terms may appear disparate but a perusal of the volume shows that they are inter-related per se and with terms like sarira and atman in the first volume.
The first article on indriya is a comprehensive survey of the connotations of the terms from the Vedic down to the Darsanic one contributed by Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan. With a self-explanatory chart, Dr. Vatsyayan explains how the Samkhyas developed an impressive theory of the relationship of the senses, body, mind and consciousness. She shows how the Samkhya influences the Ayurvedic system of Medicine.
It is around sense perceptions that the theory of aesthetics developed, I however, think that the author rather overemphasized Natya Sastra which is an audio-visual presentation or rasa and dhvani. The carvana of rasa as pointed but by Abhinavagupta in his commentary Abhinavabharati on the Natya Sastra is analogous to Brahmananda.
The subject is very vast, but one wishes some elucidation as to how arts like architecture, painting and dance developed techniques to evoke sense perceptions. Dr. Vatsyayan points out that Sramanic religion like Buddhism recognized the importance of primacy of sense (in Abidharma Kosa). Relics of Buddhist arts (even in Greater India) testify to the interest Buddhists have taken in Arts. Dr. Vatsyayan emphasizes the similarities in the puja or sadhna of Tantric cults as can be seen from their iconography and instructions in their texts. Dr. Vatsyayan deserves our thanks for lucidly compressing a vast topic in limited space.
The term dravya (dru – ‘to dissolve’) and dhatu (dha ‘to place) are material and non-material dimensions of a single entity. But owing to their basic roots, they developed different conontations. Thus in Ayurveda, dravya is ‘a medical herb’, while dhatu is ‘a constituent of the body’.
In architecture dravya is ‘building material’ while dhatu means ‘a colouring substance’. In Buddhism dravya is ‘a substance’ (there are four major and four secondary substances). It is one of the basic concepts of Indian arts (including stupa).
The term guna in ordinary parlance means ‘a string’ or ‘a quality’. Technically however, guna means:
(1) a political device or move (Kautaliya Arthasastra)
(2) excellence (in Poetics, Dramaturgy),
(3) an ingredient of Prakrti (in Samkhya, Mimamsa),
(4) a property or characteristic of a thing (in Vaisesika system)
(5) A string of a robe in Buddhism, Strangely enough, in Buddhacartia (as in Kashmir Saivism) quality and qualified are regarded as inseparable.
In trantrism, it is a stage between Buddhi tattva and Prakrti. In Sangita and Kamasutra, it means excellence. The calssification of guna, given on PP. 202-205 shows the great variety in the connotations of the term guna.
Dosa is deficiency in guna. But in Ayurveda, tridosa is an important topic. The author has ably treated the topic. But as the learned author points out, though the term is based on samkhya and Nyaya Sastras, it is an enquiry into the Ultimate Reality.
Out of three triads, the first two are closely related. What is adhibuta is gross, adhidaiva is subtle, while adhyatmika is para. Collectively these terms represent a concept revealing in physical, psychological and metaphysical states of the Reality at the outer, inner and transcendental level, suggesting a movement in the ascending and descending order. All human activities bear testimony to this.
The cluster of sthula/sukasma/para represents the concept of Reality at the gross, subtle and transcendental level suggesting a reversible movement. All human activity, be it poetry, music, painting, architecture or sculpture is a manifestation of para which supports and nourishes both sthula and sukasma.
All the above concepts culminate into the fundamental triad of srsti (creation), sthiti (maintenance) and laya or samhara (dissolution). The essence of the raid is the unending movement of the kinetics of origin, evolution and dissolution.
The representative incnographic form of the cycle is seen in our Ganesa festival. We install the god ceremoniously with great pomp; worship him with great fanfare for a particular period and immerse the idol in water loudly requesting him to return the next years, a ritualistic symbol of the cycle of involution, evolution and dissolution of the universe.
The icon of Nataraja; the treatment of Kalacakra Mandala in Tibetan Buddhism express the same concept. It would have been better if the term drsti-srsti-vada and drsti-srsti-vada were expalined in details. It is, however, a scholarly article explaining the basic dynamism of India Arts. The wide range of quotations and high standard of scholarship in this volume establish "the underlying artistic conceputalization in the traditional Indian Arts".
An indispensable reference book to students and lovers of India Arts.
Book review by Dr. G.V. Tagore, Pandit Maharashtra State, Mandar, Madhav Peth, Miraj – 416410
Manifestation of Nature: Srsti-vistara
Kalatattvakosa (A lexicon of fundamental concepts of the Indian arts) Volume IV
Edited by: Advaitavadini Kaul and Sukumar Chattopadhyaya
Published by: IGNCA and Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 1999
pp. 429, Illustrations: 10, Rs.450/-
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