Week 21:
3rd April 2022 / 9:15AM
Opening Prayers and Stotras:
Class began with opening prayers. 3 OM's and followed by Sahanavavathu,
Om shrI Ganeśaya Namaha, shrI Saraswatyai Namaha, shrI Sat Gurubhyo Namaha.
Mahabharata- After Dhritharashtra, Gandhari and Kunti go into Vanaprastha, they live a simple life meditating. Once in the forest fire, they stay calm in the meditative state and are eaten up by the wildfires. Vidura keeps wandering in the forest and Sanjaya turns a sanyasi and goes to the Himalayas. Almost 36 years have passed since the bloody war. In Dwaraka, the Yadavas decide to play a trick on visiting sages. They bring Samba, a man in a pregnant woman's disguise and get blessings from the sage. The furious sage blesses "her" with the birth of the "child" who will eradicate the vrishni clan. To everyone's surprise that person gives birth to a mace and then begins all negativity around. The people think the mace is a bad omen and crushes to pieces and dump in the sea. At the dumped spots all unwanted weed starts to grow, it keeps growing as being plucked each time. Gradually the people in the Yadava vrishnis clan started to show hatred towards one another. Satyaki and Kritavarma start arguing which leads to a big sword fight until they kill each other. Balarama assumes a yogic meditative star and gives up his life. Krishna, before going to the forest, calms the rest and sends a message to Arjuna to save them. The Lord goes deeper into the woods and sits in a meditative position. His feet positioning made Jaraa the hunter think it's the face of the deer. He shoots an arrow and the Lord is killed. Arjuna tries to save the people but he couldn't do it fully as he seems to be losing his capabilities, that's when he understands that the Lord has left the world and he runs to Sage Vyasa for a solution. Sage says, Arjuna and Krishna were born as Nara Narayana and their duties are completed and the purpose of pandavas life in the world is completed. Arjuna goes to Hastinapur and tells Yudhishtra about his meeting with sage Vyasa. Arjuna's grandson Parikshit is crowned the king and the brothers and Draupadi walk towards the Himalayas to ascend to heaven. Out of nowhere, a dog follows them quietly. One by one, each of the group falls down while ascending, the first one to be Draupadi who liked all her husbands, but favored Arjuna. Then Sahadeva fell down as he was proud of his wisdom, then Nakula, who was proud of his beauty. Arjuna fell next as he did not keep his promise to kill the entire Kaurava army in one day and finally Bhima who boasted of his strength and over-ate without concern for others. Lord Indra comes to take Yudhishtra to Heaven but Yudhishtra says he would go only if Indra allows the dog with him. In Spite of Indra's entreaties, Yudhishtra stands firm, refusing to give up someone who is loyal to him and has sought refuge with him. Lord Yama, who took the form of the dog to test Yudhishtra, is pleased with his steadfast adherence to Dharma and blesses him. He enters Heaven and notices Duryodhana there and not his brothers and Draupadi. Shocked, Yudhishtra asks to see his dear ones. The attendants take him over a long and torturous path to Naraka, where every second is painful. Seeing his beloved ones going through such suffering, Yudhishtra decides to stay by their side even though Indra asks him to return. Yudhishtra's innate sense of dharma is lauded by Indra and he clears up the illusion he had created. None of the pandavas or Drauapadi were indeed suffering. A king, due to the inherent nature of his duties, has to suffer through Hell for a period of time. So Yudhishtra had to experience it momentarily. Indra reveals that all the people who had died in the war had attained their deserved position in Heaven regardless of if they were on the Kaurava side or the Pandava side. There are no enemities in the after-life. Thus ends the Mahabharata, the repository of all wisdom that is applicable throughout the ages.
India the Sacred land - Today we learned about,
Dances of India
*Brahma Ji created "Natyaveda", the fifth Veda, by taking kavyam (poetry) from Rig veda : Sangeetham from saama veda : Abhinayam from Yajurveda and Rasa from atharvaveda.
*The art of Natya (dance) became the entertainment for devas.
*Bharathamuni's natya shastra is based on Natyaveda.
*Dance is a form of communication and brings out the innermost feelings and depicts cultural aspects of civilization.
*Dance of the mind and soul- traditional in nature.
*Abhinaya (expressions and mudras) Nritta (adavu/footwork) are two sides of the coin- Natya
*9 rasas - Dance forms are structured around nine rasas or emotions that form the integral part in this art form - happiness, anger, disgust, fear, sorrow, courage, compassion, wonder and serenity.
Our lesson- India the sacred land (The classical dance forms of India) The most famous classical dance forms are Kathak of Uttar Pradesh, Odissi of Orissa, Kuchipudi of Andhra Pradesh, Manipuri of Manipur, Bharatanatyam of Tamil Nadu, Kathakali and Mohiniattam of Kerala.
*Kathak originated from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.Two major lineages of the art form- Jaipur Gharana and Lucknow Gharana. Concept of Bhakti and dance performance restricted to within family members in Jaipur Gharana and the concept of entertainment to all prevailed in the Lucknow Gharana.
*Odishi- originated from Oriya. Sculpture poses are strikingly unique in this dance form. The temples Bhasveswara and the Konark sun temple have these poses carved in pillars.
*Manipuri- from Manipur. Based on Bhakti bhava and the RadhaKrsna Rasa Lila more popularized through this form.
*Kuchipudi from kuchelapura in Andhra Pradesh. State of Telengana is also famous for this dance form. Small Pot of water on the head and feet on a brass plate, the dancer proves his/her mettle in displaying balance along with hand gestures and abhinaya (the facial expression)
*Bharathanatyam-Oldest dance form originated from Tamilnadu. Sathir is even before bharatanatyam where the performer sings are dances (more of expressions) The dancers are mostly Devadasis who will dance to please only the Lords. In the later years, bharatanatyam gained prominence and there was a proper setup in the musicians where it is led by the guru who is the conductor or the nattuvanar and a separate singer along with instrumentalists/accompaniments. The art form gives equal importance to both nritta (footwork) and abhinaya (expressions)
*Kathakali and Mohiniattom- originated from Kerala.
Kathakali is a Myth and mime drama. God/goddesses themed performances. Loud drums- Maddalam, chenda and Edakkya played depicting the courage of heroes and cunningness of evil. Eye expressions are highlighted. The performers are all males members and follow a strict diet. Makeup takes long hours and the colors used symbolizes the good and the bad characters. Bearded makeup shows the older characters.
Mohiniattom is a graceful, womanly dance form derived from the Lord's Mohini avataram.
The forms of folk dances:
Folk music/dance has no written grammar but has been sung/performed for a very long time, deeply rooted with the traditions, customs, religions etc. It talks about the lifestyle, culture, food, nature as well. Most folk dances are sung and performed by the dancers themselves. Some have only drums played, some have sticks to make the beats etc.
The popular folk dances are Hikkat from Kashmir, Bihu from Assam, Bhangra from Punjab, Garba from Gujarat, Kolattam from Tamilnadu/Kerala and Karakattam from Tamilnadu.
Hikkat- from Jammu and Kashmir. No musical instruments played while performing
Bihu- Harvest dance of Assam (happens in the mid April)
Bhangra- From Punjab. Famous in the baisakhi festival times. They make loud sounds (hoi hoi) while dancing at super speed. Men dressed in lungis, fancy tops and turbans, Women in colorful skirts, tops and dupatta, both holding scarf-like pieces of cloth tied to each pointer (index finger) The drum/dholak player takes the center spot.
Garbha/Garaba- From Gujarat, danced in circular moves around a pot, clapping hands in rhythm- Navarathri, sarad purnima, vasant panchami festivals have garbha. Almost like the Kummi of Tamilnadu, where mostly the dancers sing songs- say stories while singing (with tunes) or express lifestyle. Goomar (Rajasthan) almost on the same lines (Clapping hands and twirling moves with colorful long skirts, sometimes holding a pot of fire -where it talks about the royal lifestyle of Rajput culture as well.
Dandia (Gujarat) has sticks, rhythmically played along while dancing- same as Kolattam from Tamilnadu. Pinnal Kolattam rope tied on a roof/ long sturdy rod where dancers braid those colorful cloth ribbons in patterns and un-braid them with timing.
Kavadi and Karagam from Tamilnadu are danced on religious festivals (mostly)
Kavadi consists of two semicircular pieces of wood or steel which are bent and attached to a cross structure that can be balanced on the shoulders of the devotee. It is often decorated with flowers and peacock feathers (the vehicle of God Murugan) among other things. Some Kavadis are very heavy to carry.
Karagam is an ancient folk dance of Tamilnadu performed in praise of the rain goddess.The ancient Tamil epic says that this type of dance derived from a mixture of multiple forms of Tamil dance forms like Bharatanatyam postures and mudras. The offering of this dance is to the goddess to bless rain.
Oyilattam- It was traditionally a dance where a few men would stand in a row with two scarfs in each hand and perform rhythmic steps to the musical instrument- Thavil (percussion) One Oyilattam was performed by a few volunteers this year sankranthi celebrations in our ashram.
Theyyam is a popular ritual form of worship in Kerala.
Yakshagana literally means the people(gana) who are the Yaksha (nature spirits) Yakshagana is the scholastic name used for art forms formerly known as Kelike, Ata, Bayalata (North kerala, Tulu Nad and south Karnataka)
Our next class is on April 10th 2022.
Please feel free to reach out in case you have any questions. Hari OM
Abhirami Shrinivas and Vidhya Aiyer