OLA Session #2
Part 1
King Bhoja was lying on the bed and idly watching the scenes outside his window. A lady was carrying a pot of water and climbing the stairs when the pot fell and rattled down the stairs… ṭhāṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhāḥ
King Bhoja loved it! His creative juices rushed wild! He called his courtiers with a swift clap of his hands and presented this line to them:
ठाठंठठंठंठठठंठठंठा: ||
ṭhāṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhāḥ
‘Solve this!’ He commanded.
They were dismayed. A set of sounds, that was all. How meaningless was that!
What was expected of the courtiers was this: using that one line of sounds develop a meaningful verse of story around it, such that it delivers great meaning while using that line in the verse/story as well.
They say Kālidāsa was one among those present. [While they are not contemporaries, Kālidāsa seems to be the ‘go to’ poet when the authorship of some lines is unknown!] Anyway, Kālidāsa pondered over these lines in silence, and came up with the following verse that solved the purport of that onomatopoeic line:
rāmābhiṣeke jalamāharantyā
hastacyuto hemaghaṭo yuvatyā|
sopanamargeṇa karoti śabdaṁ
ṭhāṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhāḥ||
Seeing the beauty of śrī Rāma, all decorated for the abhiṣeka , a palace girl carrying a golden pitcher of water for the abhiṣeka, drops the pot or, loses balance and the pot goes hurtling down the stairs creating the sound ṭhāṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhāḥ… and great poetry! The last line captures the sonorous music that the golden pot makes on the stone steps!
What King Bhoja used above for his own creative recreation, is the celebrated samasyāpūrti , one of the 64 kalā-s of ancient India.
Samasyāpūrti (a form of problem-solving) or kāvya-samasyā-pūraṇa was the art of completing an incomplete verse started by another, where the problem solver has no idea of the background, as in the case of the ṭhāṭhaṁṭhaṭhaṁṭhaṁṭha …while at the same time he applies his poetic skills, his language, his creativity and together entertains his audience.
All learning and art is blessed by Goddess Śāradā, Goddess Sarasvatī, who is known to us as the Goddess of learning and knowledge. Any skill to become a skill needs to be studied and learnt till one is proficient. Thus, all that is under the umbrella of learning and hence we see Mother Śāradā as vīṇā and pustakadhāriṇī – holding the vīṇā (music) and the pustaka (texts).
India has been the fountainhead of great arts and skills and their origins date far back as the Veda-s! The 64 kalā-s are so vast and all-encompassing that everyone should find something of interest in it, for art is innate to humans. That itself is so intriguing. Maybe that is why Dr. Mahulikar quotes Bhartṛhari, in Nītiśatkam, where the poet scholar makes a very strong case for art when he says:
साहित्यसङ्गीतकलाविहीनः साक्षात्पशुः पुच्छविषाणहीनः।
तृणं न खादन्नपि जीवमानस्तद्भागधेयं परमं पशूनाम्॥
sāhityasaṅgītakalāvihīnaḥ sākṣātpaśuḥ pucchaviṣāṇahīnaḥ|
tṛnaṁ na khādannapi jīvamānastadbhāgadheyaṁ paramaṁ paśūnām||
Translated, it means: A person destitute of literature, music or the arts is as good as an animal without a tail or horns. It is the good fortune of animals that he doesn’t eat grass like them.
Just like Vedavyāsa’s exhortation re the Mahabhārata that ‘whatever has been said here, is found elsewhere, but whatever is not found here does not exist anywhere else’, likewise, the Nāṭyaśāstra, a Sanskrit text on the performing arts, says proudly, ‘in this Nāṭyaśāstra if you cannot find any branch of knowledge, or performing art or activity to entertain the people, then it is not available anywhere in the world’.
Is not that amazing?
While we know the basic singing dancing, painting to be kalā-s, Kāmaśāstra says there are 64 kalā-s in the India tradition.
That was how developed our civilisation was, how high our awareness and brilliance was. So high that that brilliance considered so many skills as arts. Such as the art of making and solving riddles (like the one above that completes incomplete verses) was considered an art!
Or such as, the art of conversation and effective communication. These were not stated idly, but in fact, had deep processes that were result-oriented if practised correctly. Or vaināyikīvidyā, the art of enforcing discipline. Extracting discipline was an art that assured cooperation; not brute force that elicits rebellion. Hence, ancient Indian methods promoted civilised living. Why, even the education of royalty and princely families was not considered complete if these arts were not included!
Dr. Mahulikar in this, her second lecture on Indian Knowledge Systems, says one lifetime is not enough to even touch upon these 64 kalā-s! In her lecture, she explains 4-5 kalā-s in depth, touching upon their origins, their application, their history and so on. Once we look at the list of the 64 kalā-s, we cannot stop pondering over them and wondering about them.
Here is a list of these 64 kalā-s by just their names. Let us be fascinated by the spread of learning that an individual was taught in ancient India and which were considered an important part of development and culture. Lord Śiva, it is said, taught these to Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma!
- Gītavidyā: Singing
- Vādyavidyā: Playing musical instruments
- Nṛtyavidyā: Dancing
- Nāṭyavidyā: Theatrics, drama
- ālekhyavidyā: Painting
- Viśeṣakacchedyavidyā: Painting the face and body with colour, like tattoos, mehendi etc.
- Taṇḍulakusumabalivikāra: Preparing offerings using rice and flowers. Similar to rangoli.
- Puṣpastaraṇa: Making bed covers using flowers.
- Daśanavasanāṅgarāga: Basic hygiene skills such as preparations for cleansing the teeth, cloths and painting the body.
- Maṇibhūmikākarma: Making the groundwork for jewels.
- śayyaracanā: Covering the bed.
- Udakavādya: Playing music using water
- Udakaghaṭa: Splashing water.
- Citrayoga: Practically applying an admixture of colours.
- Mālyagrathanavikalpa: Designing and preparing wreaths.
- śekharapīṭhayojanā: Practically setting the coronet on the head.
- Nepathya yoga: practically dressing in the tiring room.
- Karṇapatra- bhaṅga: Decorating the tragus of the ear.
- Sugandhayukti: Practical application of aromatics.
- Bhūṣaṇayojanā: Applying or setting ornaments.
- Aindrajāla: Juggling
- Kaucumāra: A kind of art.
- Hastalāghava: Sleight of hand.
- Citraś-akapūpa-bhakṣya-vikāra-kriyā: Preparing varieties of delicious food.
- Pānakarasarāgāsavayojanā: Preparing palatable drinks and tingingdraughts with red colour. āsava is a fermented drink, and pānaka sharbat.
- Sūcivāyakarma: Needlework and weaving.
- Sūtrakrīḍā: Playing with thread.
- Vīṇāḍamarukavādya: Playing the flute and small drum.
- Prahelikā: Making and solving riddles.
- Durvācakayoga: Practicing languages difficult for others to understand.
- Pustakavācana: Reading of books.
- Naṭikākhyāyika-darśana: Enacting short plays and anecdotes. Not necessarily with costume and makeup. But voice modulation, abhinaya etc.
- Kāvya-samasyā-pūraṇa: Solving enigmatic verses.
- Paṭṭikā-vetra-bāṇavikalpa: Designing and preparation of shields, canes and arrows.
- Tarkukarma: Spinning using a spindle.
- Takṣaṇa: Carpentry
- Vāstuvidyā: Engineering
- Raupyaratnaparīkṣā: Testing silver and jewels.
- Dhātuvāda: Metallurgy
- Maṇirāgajñāna: Tinging jewels.
- ākarajñāna : Mineralogy.
- Vṛkṣāyurveda-yoga: Practicing medicine or medical treatment using herbs.
- Meṣa-kukkuṭa-lavaka-yuddha-vidhi: Knowledge of staging fights of lambs, roosters and birds.
- śukasārika-pralapana: Understanding the conversation between male and female cockatoos.
- Utsadana: Healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
- Keśa-marjana-kauśala: Combing of hair.
- Akṣara-muṣṭika-kathana: Conversing with gestures.
- Dhāraṇa-mātṛkā: The use of amulets.
- Deśa-bhāṣā-jñāna: Knowledge of provincial dialects.
- Nirmiti-jñāna: Knowledge of prediction by heavenly voice
- Yantra-matṛkā: Mechanics
- Mlecchita-kutarka-vikalpa: Fabricating barbarous or foreign sophistry.
- Saṁvācya: Conversation.
- Mānasikakāvyakriyā: Composing verses mentally.
- Kriyā-vikalpa: Designing a literary work or a medical remedy.
- Staupika/ Calitaka – yoga: Practicing as a builder of shrines called after him.
- Abhidhāna- kośa-cchando-jñāna: The use of lexicography and metres.
- Vastra–gopana: Concealment of clothes.
- Dyūta-viśeṣa: Gambling, playing dice.
- ākarṣakrīḍā: Playing with dice or magnets.
- Bālaka-krīḍanaka: Using children’s toys.
- Vainayikī-vidyā: Enforcing discipline.
- Vaijayikī-vidyā: Gaining victory.
- Vaitālikī-vidyā: Awakening the master at dawn using music.
What becomes clear to us is this: The scope of education in the old days was wide and all-encompassing, unlike modern-times when the emphasis is on income potential. In the past, all the softer skills were considered necessary parts of education.
The spread and detail is immense and enriching. Each had its place as an art form, but as Dr. Mahulikar later says, once it becomes an addiction, an obsession, it brings ruin. Even the simple innocence of ‘playing dice’, comes to be known as ‘gambling’, when it takes over one’s intellect and seizes the mind. But just looking at the list, one can see a certain sense of discipline that pervaded the learning of skills.
To be continued...
Read Part 2 here: https://blog.cvv.ac.in/64-kala-s-part-2/
