Consciousness, Literature and the Arts

Archive

Volume 1 Number 1, April 2000

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Dance and God Realisation

 

by

 

Kalamandalam Radhika

 

Dance is the outward      expression by both body and soul of culminated ecstasy. Dance may be said to be an instinct, some compelling  emotion within us that urges us to find expression in outward rhythmic movements which gradually seem to come to assume certain forms. Dance is obviously an outward mode of a deep inner feeling. Humans have been moved to dance on joyous as well as painful occasions. Even children dance before they learn the use of all their limbs. There is rhythm manifest in all nature in the firmaments. Dance symbolises an inspiration which elevates us from the earthly bonds that bind us down, to higher levels, thus revealing the warped and suppressed feelings, and creates, if it be fleetingly, those moments of the soul when we become one with the universe.

 

It was believed from earliest times that certain currents generated by repeated rhythmic movements of the body created moods and atmosphere that wrought powerful results affecting man and nature alike e.g., sun, wind, thunder, lightning, rain, fire, harvest, and a good catch. Thus evolved seasonal dances, Festival dances and Ritual dances.

 

Over a period of time dance became more of a spiritual experience, a medium of worship, an experience of the upliftment of the soul. Indian dance demonstrates the deeply philosophical and the highly religious moods of the Indian people. Nature has inspired man to the noblest ideals and caused him to worship its forces since the earliest recollection of history. The Vedas are full of such instances: we find in them that the Rudras (thunder & lightning), Indra (lord of the sky), Vayu & Varuna (wind & water), Soma (moon), Agni (fire), and Mithra (sun) are glorified into splendid celestial beings. In many of the poetic hymns in the Rig-Veda sentiments are expressed showing man's inner response to the glory and wonder of nature. These god-like immortals gave help to their devotees from their high dwellings, yet they were like idealised men, tangible to the minds and hearts of those who worshipped them. They were gods who were noble and all-powerful and at the same time they took delight in aesthetic pastimes and were capable of experiencing human emotions.

 

Steeped in this heritage, where mind sought inspiration constantly from nature it is no wonder that all Indian thought and art, which is the outcome of man's creative expression, became saturated with the same ideals. Indian art in all its forms, therefore, possessed this underlying spirit of understanding of god through the beauties of his natural creation and became the medium whereby the outward expression connoted a deeply spiritual urge.

 

According to Indian mythology the supreme lord of dance is Shiva. He is the source of cosmic harmony and rhythm. There are three aspects of his dance, destructive, Yogic, and gift-giving. Destructive: He dances on the burning grounds. He is 10-armed denoting great power, celestial and miraculous. Shiva dances as the destroyer who destroys the chains that hold each soul to the fleeting world of illusion. The burning ground or crematorium is symbolic of the hearts of his followers, cleansed by fire of the ego and signifying the state where there is burning away of all illusion and deeds. Freed of the ego and unhindered, the soul gains eternal liberation. Yogic: This is the evening dance performed on Mount Kailas, the Himalayan hermitage of the lord. He is two-armed and his dance is one of calm and beauty. When the sun is setting and there is a magical contemplative stillness resting like a mantle on the world, Shiva dances with divine, almost expressionless face, calling his followers to worship him with peace in their hearts. At his feet there are no worldly ambitions, sorrow or arguments, no fear or destruction, no pride or mockery, only peace and beauty of contemplation. The mind of man drinks deep of the essence of yogic self-forgetfulness and is cleansed and purified not by force or destruction but by the renunciation of the ego. The gift giving: Here Shiva is dancing with four hands. One right hand sounds the drum (sound representing the primal creative force and the intervals of the beat in the time process) the other right hand is in the pose of abhaya hasta,  giving protection to his devotees. One left hand holds the sacred flame (fire of sacrifice) and the other left hand points to the upraised foot signifying the blissful refuge to those who seek his love and grace. The right foot tramples down on the dwarf Muyalagan, signifying the stamping down of evil. Shiva performs this dance in Tillai (centre of the universe signifying the heart of man).

 

Similarly we have many other God & Goddesses dancing and these are engraved beautifully in the different temples, which you may be visiting. The classical dances of India are the magnificent expression of artistic urges as well as the outward normalisation of religion and philosophy. According to the theory of aesthetics the expression of bhava and the evocation and consequent experience of rasa are the true function and purpose of all art. Expression of the mood is technically referred to as bhava, which evokes rasa, sentiment or flavour that leads to complete aesthetic experience. These components of dance would be just mime, but thala or rhythm transforms them into dance. Thala, a cyclic system of intricate metrical time measure and laya or rhythm in all its complexities are  but the manifestations of the primal rhythmic energy. This in brief is the basic concept of classical dance in India. Authorised by canon, sanctified by tradition and stabilised by usage these laws are as operative today as they were when formulated over three thousand years ago.

 

The most outstanding feature of Indian classical dances is the gesture code called abhinaya and mudras. Abhinaya is the medium of expression, meaning ‘to take towards’ or ‘present a theme’. The abhinaya consists of four limbs: Angika Abhinaya or the gesture, movements and poses of the different parts of the body; Vachika. Abhinaya or the uttered words, speech or song; Aharya Abhinaya or the external aids; such as costumes and make up; Sattvika Abhinaya or the physical outward manifestation of the psychic state of mind. Mudras or the finger movements involved in the performance of a religious rite, mimetic or imitative gestures symbolising an act, attribute, object or person, gestures in everyday use stylised and made more decorative for the dance and gestures that seem to have been deliberately invented and invested with different interpretations. This symbolic vehicle enables the dancer to interpret and suggest anything from the least significant of created things to the supreme creator of all. Thus we can say that dance is the art form of religion: a vehicle of ultimate self-realisation. To the true devotee dance is a form of yoga; a process of disciplined self-realisation towards that final identification with the Supreme Being.

 

The world has been divided into Shiva and Shakti. Shiva being the male energy and Shakti the female. Shiva and Shakti are so deeply joined that they are unaware of their differences and beyond time. Shiva is paramatma (the immortal) and Shakti the jeevatma (mortal). Whenever they are separated there is a deep yearning to unite. This is the law of nature. God is the male energy and all his creations the female energy. This yearning is the essence of Indian dance. We have many poets, scholarly kings, mendicants writing love poems, intense earthly passionate verses to express the complexities of divine and human love. They all assume the female form and express their longing, yearning to unite with the divine. The highest form of union is the man-woman union. Hence god being the man, the poets both male and female assume the female form. Most of the dance lyrics express in its variation the theme of separated lovers’ passion.

 

Dance in India has been so closely related to religion, rituals and festivities that it is impossible to separate them from one another. Religion expresses in words the concept of Divinity; dance expresses it in the form of body movements, finger movements (mudras) and facial expressions (abhinaya). Dance if properly understood and performed, becomes a bridge between man and Divinity. Dance helps man at least temporarily to gain control of mind over matter.