Bahujan and Swaraj

Epistemology of Bahujan

What does the word Bahujan connote?

Why do we need to use the word and where do we need to use it?

Bahujan in plural can mean:

• Bahujan – Ordinary people
• Bahujan – Majority of people
• Bahujan – Collection of people not having access to power
• Bahujan – Working people (working classes)
• Bahujan – Non-professionals working in unorganised sectors
• Bahujan – Collection of SCs, STs, EBCs, OBCs. (all castes other than savarnas)

Bahujan in Singular can mean:

• Ordinary person
• Man in the street, common man
• Aam Aadmi
• Antim Vyakti
• Any person belonging to working class
• Any person who is not a savarna

Problems may arise in universalising the term Bahujan. Bahujan may not carry any meaning outside the Indian subcontinent or outside regions of Buddhist influence. For example, Bahujan may not carry any meaning in Europe, in the Americas, in Africa and Oceania.

If we were to divide humanity into different civilisations, different culturally coherent societies, different communities (sharing a common vocabulary/language/culture), as human societies historically evolved and are still evolving, then it is difficult to come up with a single word to typify the “ordinary people” (Bahujan) of these culturally and civilisationally different societies.

Should we attempt such an exercise at all? Is it at all needed in any discussion of Swaraj? It may appear that it is not needed. Because, in any imagination of Swaraj, there is very little scope for universalising terminologies and symbols. Yet, we need to create meta level words and symbols to conduct meaningful dialogues across languages, cultures and civilisations. Bahujan (ordinary people) and Antim Vyakti (the last person) have the potential to be such meta words.

A related question is – Is there a Swarajist way of transcending identities of exclusion (the extreme form of exclusion being apartheid) prevalent throughout the world? The uneven growth of capitalism in the world has resulted in people migrating to seek a better life in countries other than their native ones. Globalisation has only added to the pace of this migration. In their own native countries, migrants face discrimination based on identities like  caste, race, language, culture, religion, gender, and so on. This, along with unemployment and lack of economic opportunities pushes the discriminated and disadvantaged to migrate. The attraction of better working conditions, standards of living, employment opportunities and so on pull them to foreign countries. However, once the migrant worker shifts to the foreign country, she faces many of the same identity based discriminations that she had faced at home. Populist leaders in foreign countries exacerbate the identity based discrimination and exclusion by targeting the migrants for the problems faced by the native people.

Exclusion arises from differences in the practice of knowledge as well. Experts, professionals, and specialists  who are part of structures of organised knowledge like universities and research institutions both traditional or modern, form the privileged minority in society. On the other hand, Lokvidyadhars, or ordinary people, who are outside such structures of knowledge, constitute the majority and are denied recognition. The minority of “experts” establish hegemony over the majority – the ordinary people, whose knowledge is dismissed as of no consequence.

In such a scenario, we need to coin an inclusive term that encompasses all ordinary people everywhere, and simultaneously transcends identities of exclusion. This would facilitate Swarajist discussions on ordinary people everywhere in the world, cutting across languages and cultures. Perhaps the word Bahujan (translated as ordinary people) that transcends identities of exclusion including those related to knowledge would serve that purpose. This means that Bahujan cannot be defined as any collection of people based on exclusive identities of caste, race, faith, language, culture, civilisation or region. Bahujan (singular) typifies the ordinary person present in all societies and transcends multiple exclusive identities. The only distinguishing characteristic of Bahujan will be that she is neither recognised as an expert, nor does she claim to be one.

The ontology of Swaraj

In the Swarajist imagination, the entire humanity (the ensemble of all human societies everywhere) can best be described as “The Autonomy of autonomies”. This is analogous to “The Internet” being the network of networks. In the Swarajist view, humanity constitutes an ensemble of autonomies which doesn’t have a centre/periphery differentiation. Again, to give an analogy, this would correspond to the universe and the distribution of galaxies in it. Nor is there a hierarchical ordering of civilisations / cultures / nations within the ensemble of autonomies. No single entity controls the processes of evolution of the ensemble. The evolution has no deterministic goal or inevitability of outcome. The evolution is open ended: very many outcomes are possible.

In that sense, there doesn’t exist a blueprint or a predetermined template on the basis of which the future Swarajist society will be built. The future is open ended and depends on what course of actions we opt for today. The Swarajist view denies the “Ends versus Means” dichotomy that characterises today’s narrative of human development. If “End” means the future goal of the establishment of a Swarajist society, and “Means” the path towards that goal, the Swarajist approach will be to uphold the primacy of the present, that is the path, over the future, that is the goal. That is, the future goal cannot dictate our present actions. In that sense, Swaraj is not something that we wait for to happen, or anticipate, or design in advance. It is something that needs to be circumscribed by the present, exercised and executed here and now, without being dictated by any blueprint or design of future Swaraj.

Therefore, in the Swarajist approach, Begumpura or Amaradesa of Sant Ravidas / Sant Kabir or any such imagination of an utopia is not what motivates our actions now. The ontology of Swaraj tells us that it is not the goal of a Swarajist society in future, but the Dhamma of Swaraj that should guide us in our present, in our daily life. This Dhamma must not only facilitate the introduction of new elements of Swaraj and also strengthen the old elements at every level in human society. Begumpura or such imaginations leading us to the goal of  Swaraj at some point in time in future are teleological exercises. They carry the risk of the “Means” being made subservient to the “End” (abandoning the path of Dhamma in the pursuit of Swaraj).

Swaraj thus must be conceived as an inseparable existential dimension of our daily living . The Dhamma of Swaraj will be a conscious and deliberate exercise of Swaraj that communities and individuals must constantly and continuously engage in. This will result in an unbroken struggle to assert the autonomies of the individual and the collective, to whatever degree, whatever be the situation. At every moment, and in every situation, there will always be a choice between the path of Swaraj or the path of slavery. How that choice is exercised will determine whether humanity will move ahead on the path of Swaraj. We must constantly remind ourselves that Swaraj is a path and not a destination.

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Swaraj Panchayat: Bahujan, Bahujan Consciousness

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Bahujan: some reflections

We seem to have a concensus that Bahujan Samaj is more or less coterminous with Lokavidya Samaj and therefore can be used interchangeably. We may have serious concern for the Bahujan of this country. We have defined the Bahujan as majority of our people, not all ‘rural’ and lower castes or OBCs and SCs and STs. In fact, we may have to include some of the so called upper castes in Bahujan if they fall below a certain income level. Thus our Bahujan Samaj is not very different from the majority or common or ordinary people of India.

What is our concern for the Bahujan of India? I suppose we ‘feel’ for them, we think they are getting exploited, deprived and generally neglected by the ‘system’. We may also think our Bahujan possess enough of talent, knowledge, wisdom, skills and values that are in no way inferior to the elite of India, the ‘experts’ and the well educated . If we think our economy, polity etc are dominated by an elite or a class that has no concern for our Bahujan, then our efforts should be aimed at making our Bahujan get their due share, place, dignity, recognition etc.

A couple of things may be stated here. Our Bahujan is a category. By that we mean it is we who have categorised a vast majority of our people, rural and urban, belonging to a number of castes, communities; from a variety of occupations, from peasants to craftsmen to service providers and also perhaps those who live largely by manual labour as Bahujan Samaj. The problem arises in treating this agglomeration of castes, of occupations, ethnicity, tongues, etc as one monolith. If we hold that the Bahujan of India, though not a monolith, are similar in being deprived, exploited, etc, then one has to ask why or how are they deprived and exploited. If the deprivation and exploitation is mainly on account of an economic system which is largely alien to them, a system that is not their own; that has been imposed on them, then we may have to answer further questions as to what was the system that was there before the present system had taken hold of us. If the argument is that our coming under colonialism and consequently an industrial capitalist system is largely responsible for the Bahujan Samaj being deprived, exploited etc, then one has to show that the Bahujan Samaj by and large lived a better life before colonial rule and that it is quite possible for the Bahujan to get back a certain lost freedom, control or strength and a more satisfying life. Wishing and working for a better life for the Bahujan is not very different from the liberal democratic ideal of Jeremy Bentham and others who speak of the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people.

 

As we seem to think of our Bahujan as somewhat coterminous with Lokavidya Samaj, we are faced with additional difficulties. As we have always maintained that the Lokavidya Samaj is adequately endowed with knowledge and skills, and a certain wisdom to organise their lives based on nyaya, bhaichara and tyaga, a question naturally arises as to what do we want the Bahujan / Lokavidya Samaj to strive for or obtain or preserve and protect. Unlike others who have been arguing for a better life for the Bahujan or majority, and therefore want them to be educated, suitably skilled and given a new set of values, ideas,  we are maintaining that our Lokavidya Samaj has inherent strength in terms of knowledge,  skills and values for a sustainable / rich life. We must therefore answer what is it that we want the Bahujan Samaj to acquire. We must also give details of what is the nature of the ‘struggle’ that Bahujan Samaj has to go through. We must also identify the ‘enemies’ of Bahujan Samaj, and how to overcome their onslaughts. We must recognise that the Bahujan Samaj is,  under the influence of a number of factors, getting transformed into classes. Also, under changes brought about in the 20^th century,  the Bahujan are no longer skilled or knowledgeable to deal with the emergent 21^st century. Most of the skills that they possess have not much of relevance or value today. The new skills required to deal with the fast changing world are not easily acquired without formal schooling and training. Thus our Bahujan have to enter all walks of modern, urban,  IT ruled economy with a disadvantage of having to unlearn many of the things that sustained them till recently. From simple financial transactions to handling new materials,  the Bahujan are required to acquire a whole lot of new attitudes and values that put them under great stress. To navigate the new world of materials and ideas they have to make a number of ‘structural adjustments’. That means, from a social life based on ascriptive roles and statuses they have to come to terms with achievement based roles. From groups and communities based on identities,  they have to deal increasingly with people for what they are instead of who they are. From primary relations they must get used secondary relationships based on formal rules. Large organisations will replace the community life of intimacy and informality. If today nearly 50 per cent of the world population lives in urban areas, our Bahujan are also going to be more urban by the end of this century. Thus our concern for the Bahujan should try to answer in what ways other than the prevailing model of development can one imagine their future . We seem to have a clear idea of the strengths of our Bahujan / Lokavidya Samaj. We must also pay sufficient attention to their weaknesses if only to ensure that the Bahujan of India have a better life .

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The Bahujan of Indian Society: Some Questions

By Bahujan, we mean the majority of people in India. Presumably, our interest in the Bahujan lies in understanding their lives and circumstances; and having understood it, to imagine a process that leads to their liberation from the chains that bind them to poverty, indignity and continuous dispossession of the fruits of their labor.

Several thoughts arise in this context, addressing which may help us develop our ideas further.

1. Evidently, we seem to have rejected a “caste” view of the composition of the Bahujan Samaj (by excluding from it the “developed” sections of castes). In that case, while speaking about its empowerment, we must be able to differentiate it from the rule of the people, that is, a system that promotes the greatest good for the greatest number, which is a standard definition of (utilitarian) democracy. And list out distinctions that go beyond the observed fact that “democracy” seems to have failed everywhere, having served as a proxy of imperialism for the last few centuries, except for a brief period in the 20^th century in some parts of the world.
2. At first glance, it appears that Bahujan is an “outside-in” category that helps us categorize it as a conceptual entity from the outside. To understand this more clearly, a few questions need answers:
   1. The Indian society is deeply divided along caste, class, language and regional lines, implying that the Bahujan Samaj is currently a mere large collection of people. Obviously, the Bahujan Samaj does not constitute a homogenous category. The point however is, are there dimensions along which their heterogeneity may be potentially superseded? If yes, what are they?
   2. It seems that a partial pre-requisite for their self-recognition as a Samaj is for them to understand the circumstances that have led to their enslavement. Does the Bahujan Samaj consider its state to be one of distress whose evolution needs to be understood?
   3. Since its members do not consider themselves today as forming a Samaj, how will such a consciousness come about? Can they derive that by themselves, or do they need something from us, that is, the outsiders?
   4. We are of the belief that the Bahujan Samaj collectively possesses Knowledge and Skills derived outside of the formal education system which serve its livelihood needs against all odds, the values of cooperation and Bhaichara which serve its conduct and the mechanisms of Nyaya and Spirituality which serve its need for justice.
   5. What then do they lack due to which the lives of the Bahujan is in deep distress?
   6. What type of transformation of the Bahujan Samaj are we interested in? Does the Samaj desire to be transformed?
   7. As we understand, how should the Bahujan be transformed: economically, culturally or in some other fashion?
      1. If economically, what is the cause of their sad state? If through exploitation, by whom and how?
      2. If culturally, how has this come about? Who has done this?
      3. If in some other fashion, what is it?
   8. What is holding them back from making changes to their lot themselves? Why are they unable to articulate what ails them?
      1. Are these factors economic? In which case we may have to look at the structure and practice of production, consumption, distribution, capital, wages, profits, rent etc. And how the means to impoverish people are created and sustained.
      2. Is the problem due to society being Sanskritic, Patriarchal, dominated by markets influenced by imperialism, etc.?
      3. If they have knowledge, skills and bhaichara, why are they unable to forge a collective consciousness that can help them overcome the impediments to their lives?
   9. For nearly 75 years now, there have been sections of the Bahujan Samaj that have been elevated to the status of the elite classes through various mechanisms including reservation policies etc. Why are these erstwhile members of the Samaj unable to create changes in it and what underlies their turning away from it?
   10. What are the mechanisms through which the Bahujan Samaj can find its feet again and break the chains that bind it?
   11. Marx had a theory for this. So did Gandhi and perhaps a few others. What is that theory which enables us to understand the distress of the Bahujan Samaj considering its roots, connections with the ruling classes, mechanisms for economic and cultural deprivation, etc.? Or to find methods to overcome the oppressive structures underlying these?

Meanwhile, there is a great churn in the international arena with great power rivalries, economic upheavals, challenges to the unipolar world and dangerous wars developing all around us. What are the implications of this for the Bahujan Samaj?

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पिछले कुछ समय से वैश्विक पैमाने पर राष्ट्र और राज्य की कल्पनाओं पर नई बहस आकार लेती रही है. ये बहस ज्यादातर दक्षिण अमेरिका में मूल निवासियों की नई राजनीति के उदय और दुनियाभर में कई देशों में नवरूढ़िवादियों (नियो कंज़र्वेटिव) की सरकारें बनने के चलते अस्तित्व में आई है. जिन विचारों के इर्द-गिर्द ये बहस हो रही है वे हैं – बहुराष्ट्रीय-राज्य (प्लूरिनेशनल-स्टेट), सभ्यतागत-राज्य (सिविलिज़ेशनल-स्टेट), राष्ट्र-राज्य (नेशन-स्टेट), उदार लोकतंत्र (लिबरल डेमोक्रेसी), सांस्कृतिक राष्ट्रवाद (कल्चरल नेशनेलिस्म). इस सबके बीच क्या ‘स्वराज’ पर बात करने की जगह बनती है? क्या स्वराज के नाम पर एक नई राजनीति के उदय की संभावना बनती है? क्या किसान आन्दोलन के ‘न्याय, त्याग और भाईचारा’ के नारे/मूल्य इस वैश्विक बहस में शामिल करने की पहल बहुजन समाज ले सकता है?

यह ‘बहुजन’ और ‘स्वराज’ पर एक बहुआयामी ज्ञान संवाद/विमर्श के आयोजन का प्रस्ताव है, जिसमेंउपरोक्त प्रश्नों के सन्दर्भ में विविध वैचारिक कोणों से विचार किया जायेगा.

पहला दिन: बहुजन ज्ञान विमर्श

• • बहुजन की पहचान
  • बहुजन-समाज का दर्शन – न्याय, त्याग और भाईचारे की परम्परायें
  • बहुजन की राजनीतिक और आर्थिक विरासत
  • बहुजन सशक्तिकरण में आरक्षण की भूमिका
  • बहुजन की शक्ति का ज्ञान आधार-लोकविद्या

दूसरा दिन: स्वराज ज्ञान पंचायत

• • क्या सामाजिक न्याय आन्दोलन का लक्ष्य स्वराज हो सकता है?
  • क्या अमरपुरी, बेगमपुरा… के मूल्य स्वराज में आकार ले सकते हैं?
  • क्या व्यापक बहुजन चेतना ‘स्वराज चेतना’ है?
  • आज स्वराज की ओर बढ़ने में साहित्य और कला की भूमिका
  • स्वायत्तता, स्थानीय बाज़ार, स्थानीय स्वशासन, लोकपहल और लोकविद्या की स्वराज में भूमिका

तीसरा दिन : प्रस्ताव

दो दिन हुई चर्चाओं को समाहित करते हुए एक वक्तव्य पेश हो. उस पर चर्चा हो. क्या बहुजन और स्वराज पर किया गया यह ज्ञान-संवाद/विमर्श हमें स्वराज पंचायत के नाम पर आगे बढ़ने का आधार देता है? यदि हाँ, तो उस प्रक्रिया पर बात हो और एक ठोस निर्णय पर पहुँचने का प्रयास हो.

संभावित वक्ता

राहुल राजभर, रामजी यादव, सुनील कश्यप, रामजनम, फ़ज़लुर्रहमान अंसारी, पारमिता, हरिश्चंद्र, लक्ष्मण प्रसाद, अनूप श्रमिक, धनञ्जय, अली अनवर, लोटन राम निषाद, मुनीज़ा खान, सुरेश प्रताप सिंह, युद्धवीर सिंह, आनंद कुमार (स्वराज अभियान), सृष्टि वाजपेयी (विकल्प संगम), नीरज (लोकायत), खाप पंचायत से, कृष्णस्वरूप आनंदी (स्वराज विद्यापीठ), रामाज्ञा शशिधर (हिंदी साहित्यकार), समता परिवार बी.एच.यू., छेदीलाल निराला, राजीव यादव, एकता शेखर, चित्रा, सुनील, कृष्णराजुलु, कृष्ण गाँधी, गिरीश.

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Swaraj Panchayat

7-8-9 October 2025 Vidya Ashram, Sarnath

Building Swaraj with Bahujan Initiative

A debate on the ideas of ‘the nation’ and ‘the state’ has been shaping up at the global level for a while now.  The context in which the debate has arisen is two-fold: the rise of a new politics of the indigenous peoples in the  South American continent, and coming into power by neo-conservative political parties in several countries of the world. The debate has centered around the ideas of the pluri-national state, the civilizational state, the nation state, liberal democracy and cultural nationalism. Where and how may the idea of ‘swaraj’ be located in this debate? Is it possible that the idea of ‘Swaraj’ inspires the inauguration of a new politics?   Can the Bahujan Samaj take initiative to bring the values of nyaya, tyaga and bhaichara to this global debate?

This is a proposal for organizing a multi-faceted knowledge dialogue on ‘Bahujan’ and ‘Swaraj’ in the context provided by the above questions and from various points of view.

Day 1: Bahujan Knowledge Dialogue

• • The Bahujan identity
  • Philosophical thought of Bahujan Samaj – Traditions of nyaya, tyaga and bhaichara
  • Economic and political legacy of Bahujan Samaj
  • Role of Reservations in Bahujan empowerment
  • The knowledge basis of Bahujan strength – Lokavidya

Day 2: Swaraj Gyan Panchayat

• • Should the social justice movement have Swaraj as its goal?
  • Can values of Amarpuri, Begumpura, … be realized in Swaraj?
  • Is the broad Bahujan consciousness Swaraj-consciousness?
  • The role of literature and art in advancing Swaraj
  • The place of autonomy, local market, local self-governance, Bahujan initiative and lokavidya in Swaraj

Day 3: Resolutions

Presentation of a Statement capturing the debate over the Day 1 and Day 2. Discussion over the Statement. Address the question: Does the dialogue on Bahujan and Swaraj over the two days provide a basis to move forward as Swaraj Panchayat? If so, then discuss the process and try to reach a definite outcome.

Likely Speakers

Rahul Rajbhar, Ramji Yadav, Sunil Kashyap, Ramjanam, Fazalurrahaman Ansari, Parmita, Harshchandra, Lakshman Prasad, Anup Shramic, Dhananjay, Ali Anwar, Lotan Ram Nishad, Muniza Khan, Suresh Pratap Sinh, Yuddhavir Singh, Anand Kumar (Swaraj Abhiyan), Srishti Vajpayee (Vikalp Sangam), Neeraj (Lokayat), Speaker fro Khap Panchayat, Krishnaswarup Anadi (Swaraj Vidyapeeth), Ramagya Shashidhar (Hidi literateure), Samta Pariwar B.H.U., Chhedilal Nirala, Rjeev Yadav, Ekta Shekhar, Chitra, Sunil, Krishnarajulu, Krishna Gandhi, Girish

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JnaanKiRajneeti	== ज्ञान की राजनीति == इंदौर बैठक में लोकविद्या जन आन्दोलन की राष्ट्रीय संयोजक डा. चित्रा सहस्रबुद्धे ने ‘ चुनाव और ज्ञान की राजनीति ‘ के विषय पर एक नयी प्रस्थापना दी. उन्होंने कह
JnaanMuktiBook	= ज्ञान मुक्ति आवाहन = === ज्ञान की राजनीति पुस्तक माला -३, लेखक : सुनील सहस्रबुद्धे === [[https://www.vidyaashram.org/..|ज्ञान मुक्ति आवाहन|target=”_bl  PoliticsOfKnowledge
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OrdinaryLife	= OrdinaryLife = —- OrdinaryLife is life without condition. It assumes no science, no technology, no religion, no methods of organisation and communication of knowledge, … Lokavidya, LocationsOfKnowledge, EmancipatoryResistance, ConstantReference, MethodsOfOrganizationAndCommunicationOfKnowledge
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किसान आन्दोलन	—- == किसान आन्दोलन == सन् १९७९ में महाराष्ट्र और कर्णाटक में हुये किसान आन्दोलनों ने तहलका सा मचा दिया था। आन्दोलन ने १३ रु प्रति कुंतल गन्ने का दाम देने वाली सरक्रारों को   JnaanMuktiBook, LokavidyaBook, JnaanKIRajneeti
NEW PAGES / IDEAS / TERMS: Suggestions for Inclusion
KnowledgeAssembly and related – GyanPanchayat, SwarajGyanPanchayat,
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A (/An Evolving) Note on the Arts and Lokavidya

(With valuable inputs from GSR Krishnan and Girish Sahasrabudhe)

Summary

All studies of art in our times tend to become encyclopedic, framed in terms of completeness of detail and objectivity of observation. Simultaneously, a study also imposes the need to summarize, compare and contrast one type of art with another. Summarization is another word for reduction. Reduction is made more acceptable by requiring an art to possess an essential structure, form or function, which then are either proposed or “discovered” and justified through rigorous scientific or philosophical inquiry, and acquire the status of “principles” that define the art. One may set up such inquiries even without insisting that essence precedes existence.

As the study of art proceeds from the better known to the less known, the need to summarize is also driven by the need to compare and contrast. In line with this, the well-studied arts begin influencing the less-studied, because the structure, form or function ascribed to the former slowly becomes a template applied to describe the latter. This creates the likelihood of describing the less-studied art in terms of the “principles” of the well-studied when they are somewhat similar, or in terms of their lack of the “principles”.

Meta-knowledge, subjective interpretation, objective meanings, mental states in experiencing art, etc. are further aspects that need to be critically examined to achieve or rule out a unified understanding of arts;  or to discover whether distinctions such as “regional vs. national or transnational”, “folks vs. classical”, “formalized vs. non formal”, “elite vs. people”  are meaningful or not.

Preface

I am not conversant with the theory of arts. Even so, whenever I have made feeble attempts to understand it in the past, several questions remained unanswered. I recognize that what I say below may be elementary for those well-versed with its theory or practice. I invite responses to these puzzles, prefaced by a background that describes my rudimentary understanding of arts. Note that, although the title refers to Lokavidya, there are no direct references to it here. Yet.

Background

1. The problem of art is that it is easy at one level to understand and explain, while being difficult to grasp at another. All we know at a basic level is that it is a human expression and that even its creator may not often know or be able to explain what it articulates. We do know that ordinary people have a need for expressing themselves through art. Some of their work may be deemed to be excellent without being so considered by the artist herself.
2. One reason for the difficulty in understanding art generally is because it is an ocean of millions of instances and thousands of types. This means that we need to know a bit about a specific art in order to appreciate it: e.g., Indian painting styles, Yakshagana, Cubism or Burra Katha etc. It seems to us therefore that making an overarching statement about it is not only difficult, but fraught with peril.

• Additionally, art is capable of being understood differently from the outside as compared to from the inside. For example, when the performance of an art form like dance, music or drama is in a setting where its inter-subjective context is the place of its origin or in a proximal culture, it yields one set of meanings. However, when it is not (e.g., when it is experienced by a different culture), it acquires another. Which of these is correct and which not is a question that cannot be answered. Moreover, we are not even clear as to what “a wrong understanding” means in this context.

1. Meanwhile, it is observed that a person’s faith, beliefs, emotions like Bhakti or conviction play a part in appreciating art. For example, if I believe that a simple life is the best life, I am likely to be inclined towards appreciating tribal art, art depicting village life, art that deprecates urban life, etc. Or, a believer in Advaita siddhanta may be visibly moved while hearing a song based on a composition of Shankara, while leaving cold a person who is not.
2. Furthermore, the impact and interpretation of art is unlikely to be the same for the audience and the creator. For example, why does a song, painting or mural move some people to tears and leave others untouched? And why do some communities or people consider Ravana and Karna as heroes whilst others don’t? A movie considered his best by a director flops in the box office, whereas something made casually may win the hearts of the people!
3. What is more, an appreciation of arts seems to be a cultivated response. Cultivation appears to condition us to look for specific things in it in order to appreciate it! Can this explain why art affects some people in certain ways and not others? vii. Is it possible that although we describe art as having multiple layers of meaning, a search for specific meanings in art might be a futile exercise?

• Every age has a theory of art and one is not sure which is right. A consensus about art in a given age seems to guide people’s assessment of it rather than its actual “worth”, and we have no knowledge of how such a consensus is arrived at.

Art and Specialization

1. It seems reasonable to assume that art initially develops in a small scope through informal actions, expressions and rules that lie within approved boundaries in a face-to-face community and represents agreed (variations of) meanings that are common to performers and their (non-specialist) audience. This may be called an elementary art where shared meanings of words and gestures in the community is essential to its performance and appreciation. Over time, via the “outsider” or the critical insider perspective of the reviewer/ theoretician, an elementary art may acquire systemic characteristics and become a specialized art.
2. The degree of specialization appears to be dependent on factors that are not easy to understand, although in the past, royal patronage, caste/ community, cross-community and village celebrations, social unrest, etc. are known to have driven it. Specialization of the art seems to accrue in cycles over time as in, e.g., Carnatic Music (respectively over the times of Shangradeva, Purandara, Ramamatya, Venkatamakhi, Govinda, etc.) or folk dance traditions that evolved over centuries.

• Two major processes for specialization may be recognized in the history of arts.
  1. One is where an elementary art develops in the royal court or the temple – where they undergo a transformation through a deep integration with the stories, belief systems and practices of the Sanskritic traditions involving ascription of specific meanings to various elements of the art covering its (re-)creation and experience. Almost inevitably, its requirement of the knowledge of the Shruti-Sastra-Purana triad to fully experience its various facets makes it exclusive, even when it acquires wide popularity. A good example of it can be found in the reconstruction of the essence of the Madras music festival over the last century and more.
     1. The Sanskritic traditions further enhance the royal and temple arts by embedding them into a framework built around the divide of para (पर, ಪರ, பரம்) and iha (इह, ಇಹ, யஹம்).
     2. Accordingly, this framework subordinates the contemporaneity of the art through the time transcendent concepts of karma, paapa, punya, and social division. This results in an art form that has a timeless quality in which the here and now only makes a weak appearance.

• What do we name these arts as? The term Marga is a bit troublesome and we may therefore choose to call them Imperial arts.

1. In the second process, the elementary art develops amongst the ordinary people for whom the here and now is central, and its connection with the past is largely through myths, Jati-Puranas, folk beliefs, rituals and the like; the traditions it borrows from are all of what have existed over millennia – Buddhist, Jain, Hindu, Muslim, Tribal, etc. and from all sorts of local and non-local locales. While elements of the Shruti-Sastra-Purana triad may be incorporated into these arts, authority is not derived from them. Because these arts are strongly rooted in the ideas of Desha, Kaala, Guna and Sampradaya, they exude an earthiness and richness that is different from that of the Imperial art. These arts therefore become capable of producing a rich variety of outputs that address contemporary socio-political, economic, philosophical and religious trends as evidenced by the hundreds of Ramayana’s or styles of painting, writing and dance that have developed in India. It is possible that this aspect of contemporaneity lends it a vibrancy where conformance to rules, traditions and formal expressions is secondary to energy, spontaneity and the celebration of the moment. We may call this the People’s arts. iv.

1. However, the above distinctions are not strictly observed on the ground. Both types of arts influence each other in practice while remaining separate. Their paths often intersect and overlap, and mutual exchanges continue even as they serve different audiences, purposes and interests over time. They live differently, grow differently and are extinguished differently – both spatially and temporally.
2. Specialization or systematization of art involves first the separation of symbols and meanings, referents and sense, structure and content, etc. followed by their re-synthesis using a set of principles. When this process is repeated, art acquires multiple layers and meanings. The performance of a specialized art is understood at two levels, the immediate and the reflective. In the immediate, “direct” and “obvious” meanings are attributed to the performance which are usually aligned with those ascribed to elementary art (“See how bold the colors are in the painting!”, “Chandramati’s sorrow on hearing of Lohitaswa’s death breaks your heart!”, “This Yakshagana will remain fresh in my mind forever!” etc.). A reflective inference offers greater symbolism and assigns wider meanings to it. Over time, it feeds back into the art to enable its continuous refinement through additional symbols and meanings. In the process, the art become more rigorous, rule-bound and somewhat inflexible.
3. Systematization also provides a robust structure to art that allows it to distinguish itself from other types of arts, non-art, etc., eventually leading to a hierarchy of art, which is considered “natural” over time. Thus we have specialized styles of painting, drama and dance in India, in both the imperial and people’s arts.

My Questions

• When we speak about frameworks of understanding arts, we must recognize that their systematization poses a peculiar problem: through centuries of development, imperial art has come to dominate the imagination of what an art form must be. Due to this, normative criteria to compare or contrast “other” arts naturally are derived from it. In other words, imperial art can understand any other art, including the people’s art, only through its own categories. Or at best through its own classification of what other arts are, which is primarily what it is not. How then are we to evaluate people’s arts?
• When we speak about the wider notion of arts of India, what do we mean?
  1. Do we mean the small number of refined, specialized and well-studied systems of imperial arts that have evolved through centuries? Or,
  2. Do we mean the people’s arts that are more numerous, evolve and refined differently from the specialized, and are sometimes patronizingly valorized and cheered on, based on a general principle that although relatively unrefined, they must be celebrated because it is the “people’s” expression?
• Regarding the question above, if we agree that we refer to the systems of imperial art, how are we sure that the symbolism and meanings associated with its presentation, gestures, acts and flow etc. are also shared by either its sub-systems or the people’s art forms that they are said to be an abstraction of (e.g., Hindustani music is said to be a refined version of many people’s musical forms prevalent across India for millennia)? In other words, how do we know whether Bharatanatyam or Kathak is capable of representing anything but itself?

If on the other hand, we say that we are referring to the people’s art, how do we understand their meanings and symbolism outside the framework created by imperial art structures? Usually, when describing folk arts of India, we have two choices: either borrow terms from the formal theories (that describe them in terms of what the imperial arts are not) or assert that there are no greater meanings or symbolism associated with them. For example, we may borrow imperial systemic terms to describe a folk art:

“The song is an instance of a ragamalika”,

“This style is Madhubani, known for its realist representation of the bliss that is in the form of Krishna, displaying the tatva of oneness of Prakriti with Purusha, achieved through bold strokes of red, blue and ochre painting”,

“The dance is set to Bhairavi Raag and this Taal is usually used to indicate the cosmic effect of Shiva’s dance”, etc.

On the other hand, we may choose to go “off” the framework by praising their raw energy, exuberance and simplicity, or describing them as expressions of ritual – all of which essentially defines them in terms of what they are not: systematized, formally describable and with very few layers of meaning.

• A legitimate question that may arise here is: Do you mean to say that there are no common elements between different art systems in India? How do you explain the common theories that various music, dance, drama etc. systems of India are said to share, the similar semantics they seem

to possess, etc.? Don’t they all have a common base by which it is easy to see that they are of this land, and different from say, that of Europe or China?

I have no clear answer to this, and we can debate this point in another note. A small indication of the difficulty in answering this question arises when we ask ourselves, “How would a typical man or woman in a village react to a sequence of Kabir Sangeet, Yakshagana, a Kalidasa drama in Samskrita, and a tribal dance? Would he see a pattern that ties the stories together through a degree of essential similarity at a real and abstract level, or would he see an arrangement of pieces that a Kaleidoscope presents – attractive but disjoint?

• How do we understand spontaneity in arts? In the imperial art, it is either frowned upon or allowed to exist in defined ways as an accepted violation of the rule (e.g., Manodharma in Carnatic music). However, it is common knowledge that people’s arts are centered on expression which means that spontaneity overrides rules. Spontaneity is in fact an important aspect of the informality and participative breadth of folk arts, while the opposite is true of the imperial arts where adherence to rules and specifications are seen as their distinguishing property.

Further Thoughts

The following thoughts summarize the foregoing:

1. The relationship between the Palace and the arts in history has contributed significantly to the systematization of Indian arts with the result that some forms have come to be highly systematized and therefore considered specialized and classical. The acceptance of the notion that systematized high arts are the most evolved form of Indian arts has accelerated in the last century as a by-product of nationalism, centralization and modernization.
2. Meanwhile, although the less systematized people’s arts have received a fillip since the middle 1900’s, they no longer dominate the society either in spread or in perception of quality. This could be the result of a cultural shift that modernization and communication have created through the introduction of new forms of pan-regional art, such as films, which in turn have progressively weakened sub-regional arts.

• When it comes to aesthetics, there are two serious problems that we encounter in understanding arts. The first is that the tools through which we comprehend arts, largely derived from imperial art, cannot assess the intent, purport and emotions of other art forms in a given discipline? For example, can a harvest dance be classified as Nritta (pure dance), Nritya (expressive dance), or Natya (drama)? If yes, we acknowledge that we are reducing the art form based on non-internal categories. If not, we may have to accept that such art forms are incommensurate with the imperial and that the idea of a common aesthetics for Indian art is not only ill formed, but is incapable of application on arts except those derived from its basic type! iv. A further problem is in distinguishing arts from rituals.
  1. How do you distinguish between art and ritual? Is it possible that what appears as dance to you is merely a ritual rote performance by the dancers in an ensemble?
  2. What is the relationship between rituals, symbolism and meaning? Do rituals need to represent something “out there” or mean something? How do we distinguish the meanings of rituals from ex-post-facto confabulations?
  3. Is the meaning ascribed from the “outside” to an art the same as what is intended in the “inside”? How do we know if they are, or if they aren’t?

1. Is it meaningful to infer that arts are essentially about something? Is it not a teleological search to so assert?

Conclusion

While I have a deep distrust of the idea of aesthetics of art, I admit that the arguments above sound a bit like an appeal for cultural relativism, which again is an idea I am uncomfortable with. However, I am unable to resolve that problem at this time.

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लोकविद्या और कला विचार

लोकविद्या समूह की पिछली बैठक में ‘कला, ज्ञान और समाज’ पर बात हुई है, जिसमें अविनाश ने नवज्योति और सुश्रुति के लेखों में लिखी बात को चर्चा में लाया. इसी चर्चा की निरंतरता में मैं अपनी बात निम्नलिखित बिन्दुओं के मार्फ़त रखना चाहती हूँ.

• लोकविद्या समूह में इस विषय पर चर्चा का उद्देश्य कला को समाज की शक्ति के रूप में देख पाने का है. कला दर्शन और कला परंपराओं की चर्चा इस सन्दर्भ के साथ करने के लिए यह ज़रूरी है कि कला को ज्ञान के ऐसे रूप में देखने की कोशिश करें, जो हर मनुष्य में सहज दिखाई दे.
• लोकविद्या दृष्टिकोण से कला ज्ञान का वह रूप है, जो समाज में बसता है, यानि जिससे समाज का हर मनुष्य (स्त्री और पुरुष) सिंचित और पोषित होता है. यह ज्ञान सामान्य-जीवन की भूमि पर फलता-फूलता है और सही-गलत, न्याय-अन्याय, नैतिक-अनैतिक आदि की पहचान के लिए जटिल अथवा परकीय अवधारणाओं एवं व्यवस्थाओं पर निर्भरता को नकारता है.
• उपरोक्त दोनों ही बिन्दुओं के समर्थन में आनंद कुमार स्वामी, निहार रंजन राय , प्रेमचंद, हजारी प्रसाद द्विवेदी, विद्या निवास मिश्र, जैनेन्द्र कुमार, अज्ञेय, मैथिलीशरण गुप्त, नामवर सिंह, निर्मल वर्मा, श्रीकांत आदि अनेक चिंतकों के विचार मिल जाते हैं. हिंदी क्षेत्र के अलावा अन्य भाषाई साहित्य में भी होंगे ही. नवज्योति और सुश्रुति के लेखों के जो अंश पढने को मिले हैं, वे कला में ज्ञान के प्रकार को देखने के किसी एक दृष्टिकोण के अंश हैं और काल के सन्दर्भ में दूरस्थ मालूम पड़ते हैं. इस दिन की चर्चा में रामकृष्ण गांधी ने ज़िक्र भी किया कि कलाओं में आज भी रामायण, महाभारत या पौराणिक कथाओं का प्राधान्य बना रहना यह कला को जीवंत समाज से अलग करता है. मेरे ख्याल में यह समाज में स्थित जीवंत ज्ञान को भी बहिष्कृत करने में मददगार बनता है.
• कला यह स्वायत्तता, सहजीवन, सौन्दर्य और नैतिक मूल्यों के सृजन का स्रोत है और इसलिए इसमें  ‘स्वराज’   को गढ़ने का एक मज़बूत आधार है.
• हमारे कला विचारकों के अनुसार संगीत, नाटक, सिनेमा और वास्तुकला ऐसे कलाकर्म हैं, जिनमें कला की अनेक विधाएं, प्रकार, शैली, और साधन आदि एक साथ आकर अपनी विशिष्टता और स्वायत्त सत्ता को एक दूसरे में इस तरह समर्पित करते हैं कि अंतिम कृति में हर एक की सत्ता का एहसास/अस्तित्व बना रहता है और एक विलक्षण कृति का सृजन होता है; एक ऐसी कृति जिसका सृजन पूर्व कोई भौतिक रूप नहीं होता. और यही अंतिम कृति उन सारे लोगों और उनके भाव-संसार को भी शामिल कर लेती है, जो इस कला सृजन में प्रत्यक्ष भागीदार नहीं रहे होते. यह कला का चरम है. समाज के सृजन और उत्सर्ग का भी यही प्रकार है, जो स्थान और काल की सीमाओं में नहीं बंधता. समाज के सृजन और सञ्चालन में कला के इन बुनियादी तत्वों को समाहित होना चाहिए.
• मनुष्य की गतिविधियों को सृजन या कला के रूप में देखने का मतलब है उसके ज्ञानी होने को मान्यता देना, उसकी स्वायत्त सत्ता को स्वीकारना. किसान, कारीगर आदिवासी, महिलायें आदि सब सृजनकर्ता, यानि कलाकार होते हैं. समाज के सृजन में लगे ये सभी समाज कलाकार और ज्ञानी माने गए हैं. महत्वपूर्ण है कि भारत के कला-दर्शन और वैचारिकी में ‘शास्त्रीय और लोक’ इस तरह का वर्गीकरण नहीं किया जाता रहा और जीवनोपयोगी वस्तुओं को बनाने की कला (ज्ञान) और शास्त्रीय कला (ज्ञान) में कोई ऊंच-नीच नहीं मानी जाती रही . इसलिये जीवन संगठन की व्यवस्थायें साइंस के स्थान पर कला-मूल्यों पर खड़ी की जायें तो इस दुनिया को बेहतर बनाने के नए मार्ग खुलेंगे.
• भोजन, वस्त्र और आवास वे क्षेत्र हैं, जिनमें अनेक प्रकार, शैली, विधा, और साधन से युक्त विविध ज्ञान-धाराएँ एक साथ उपस्थित होती हैं और अपनी विशिष्टता और स्वायत्तता का पूर्ण एहसास दिलाते हुए अंतिम रचना को समर्पित होती हैं. इसलिए इन कार्यों और समाजों के संगठन में संवेदना, स्वायत्तता, सहजीवन, भाईचारा जैसे मूल्यों के आधार हों तो आज के विद्रूप-समाज को निश्चित ही बेहतर बनाने के रास्ते बनेंगे.
• लोकविद्या आन्दोलन एक ऐसे ही ज्ञान-आन्दोलन का वाहक है, जो समाज सृजन में विविध ज्ञान-धाराओं की सहभागिता का पैरोकार है और इस सहभागिता में ऊंच-नीच को नकारता है. स्वराज अथवा वितरित सत्ता के आधार पर समाज-सृजन की क्रियाओं में लोकविद्या और कला आन्दोलन एक हो जाते हैं.

परिशिष्ट

सच्चिदानंद ‘अज्ञेय’

राष्ट्रीय पुनर्जागरण या एक से अधिक पुनरुद्धारों के बावजूद भारतीयता का लोप ही हुआ है और आधुनिकता की उपलब्धि हुई है या नहीं, यह संदिग्ध है. इतना अवश्य है कि कला की समीक्षा के लिए एक शब्दावली हमें मिल गई है, जिसका हमारी चिंतन अथवा सौन्दर्य की परंपरा से कोई सम्बंध है ही नहीं. और उसका पश्चिम की कला से भी अगर सम्बन्ध है, जिससे वह प्रेरित है; तो इतना ही कि उसने नक़ल को एक शास्त्रीय आधार दे दिया है.

आनंद कुमार स्वामी

आनंद कुमार स्वामी ने इलाहाबाद के 1910 में हुए पांचवे औद्योगिक सम्मलेन में भारत की कलाओं पर ‘स्वदेशी सत्य और असत्य’ नाम का लेख प्रस्तुत किया था. आनंद कुमार स्वामी के अनुसार भारत की कलाओं में लोक और शास्त्रीय का भेद नहीं है.

निर्मल वर्मा

सभ्य समाज  की चेतना में ‘आइडियोलाजी’ ‘मिथक ‘ का स्थान लेती है. आइडियोलाजी के विरुद्ध कला ने ही चुनौती प्रस्तुत की है. कला वही भूमिका अदा करती है जो आदि-कला में मिथक चेतना संपन्न करती थी.

ई.बी. हेवेल (1861-1934)

भले ही भारत के कारीगर विश्वविद्यालयों में न गए हों परंतु वे अपने शिल्प शास्त्र, लोक संस्कृति और जातीय महाकाव्यों से बहुत अच्छी  तरह परिचित होते हैं और वे औसत ग्रेजुएट से अधिक ज्ञानी होते हैं. हेवेल के अनुसार पाश्चात्य देशों में जिस तरह का फ़र्क धार्मिक और लौकिक में किया जाता है वैसा भारत में नहीं है.

प्रेमचंद

भारत की जागृति का सबसे शुभ परिणाम बैंक और डाकखाने नहीं हैं, जो पिछले कुछ सालों में स्थापित हुए हैं और होते जा रहे हैं; न वे विद्यालय हैं, जो देश के हर भाग में खुलते जाते हैं , बल्कि वह गौरव जो हमें अपने प्राचीन उद्योग-धंधों और ज्ञान-विज्ञान व साहित्य पर होने लगा है और वह आदर का भाव जिससे हम अपने देश की कारीगरी व प्राचीन स्मारकों को देखने लगे हैं.

विद्यानिवास मिश्र द्वारा उल्लेखित आनंद कुमार स्वामी के बारे में

कुमार स्वामी ने नाटक पर लिखा, संगीत के ऊपर भी लिखा, शिल्प पर और कविता पर भी लिखा, हस्तशिल्प पर लिखा, यहाँ तक कि कुम्हार और जुलाहे पर लिखा. उन्होंने यह कहा कि विभिन्न कला व्यापार अलग-अलग होते हैं, लेकिन ये सभी एक ही भाव से अनुस्यूत हैं, उत्पादन सामग्री के रूप में अलग-अलग हैं, पर कौशल की एकाग्रता, आत्म-विसर्जन के धरातल पर, कला को चित्रसंज्ञा के रूप में देखने के धरातल पर  और जीवन के उपादान के प्रयोजन के धरातल पर सभी एक हैं.

जॉर्ज बर्डवुड (1830-1917)

जॉर्ज ने 1880 में लिखा कि भारतीय स्त्री-पुरुषों को इस संकल्प को अपनी संस्कृति का अंग बना लेना चाहिए कि वस्त्र, आभूषण आदि अनिवार्यतः स्थानीय स्तर पर बनाये जायें और उनके डिज़ाइन भी स्थानीय ही हों.

श्रीकांत वर्मा

कला जिस अर्थ में जीवन की ‘खोज’ करती है, उससे भिन्न अर्थ में जीवन का ‘आविष्कार’ करती है, कला के लिए आविष्कार आवश्यक भी है; क्योंकि यदि कला का कार्य केवल खोज ही होता, तो वह भी एक प्रकार का समाज शास्त्र होकर रह जाती. समाज शास्त्र कला नहीं है.

‘खोज’ और ‘आविष्कार’ दो अलग-अलग चीजें हैं. खोज अर्थ-निर्धारण और अर्थ-परिवर्तन की प्रक्रिया है. वस्तुएं निश्चित हैं, लेकिन वस्तुओं के अर्थ निश्चित नहीं. वस्तुओं के अर्थ की खोज वैज्ञानिक का काम है. कला वस्तुओं के अर्थ ही नहीं संबंधों की भी खोज करती है. वस्तुएं जीवन नहीं हैं, वस्तुओं के सम्बन्ध जीवन है. कला इसी अर्थ में जीवन का आविष्कार है.

हजारी प्रसाद

(साहित्य में) सहज भाषा के लिए कठोर तप आवश्यक है. सहज का अर्थ है सहज ही महान बना देने वाली भाषा. जब तक आदमी सहज नहीं होता तब तक भाषा का सहज होना असंभव है. कबीरदास और तुलसीदास को यह भाषा मिली थी; महात्मा गाँधी को भी यह भाषा मिली क्योंकि वे सहज हो सके. तपस्या और त्याग से मनुष्य सहज होता है और उसी हालत में वह सहज भाषा का प्रयोग कर सकता है. भाषा तो साधन मात्र है.

 नामवर सिंह

कथा-साहित्य में ‘सहज दृष्टि’ के बारे में लिखते हैं कि जनसाधारण बहुत-सी बातों का अनुभव ‘सहजबोध’ से ही समझते हैं. पोथी-पढूए पंडित जहाँ चूक जाते हैं वहां ‘सहज दृष्टि’ जड़ तक पहुँच जाती है. चाहे जिस भी कारण से हो, कथा समीक्षा की यदि कोई शास्त्रीय प्रणाली नहीं बनी तो, एक दृष्टि से यह अच्छा ही हुआ. इस संभार ने कहानी पढ़ने की ‘सहज-दृष्टि’ का पुनरुद्धार ही नहीं किया, बल्कि साधारण पाठक की ‘सहज-दृष्टि’ से अपनी साहित्यिक दृष्टि को समृद्ध कर लिया.

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Annotations of Talk-Videos

Workshop on Foundations of Dance

Talks By Prof. Navjyoti Singh, Centre for Exact Humanities, IIIT Hyderabad

(Held at Department of Indian Music, University of Madras, 15th and 16th September, 2017)

DAY 1

https://youtu.be/gqYI68P1lC8?si=JfUP54T1jwUwI1tw

Origin of Dance

1.10

Lecture begins. Two stories about origin of art which reflect certain attitudes about art. How art has to be conceived? First story from Tibetan sources (originally from Sanskrit) is from 1st chapter of a work called Chitra Lakshan by Nagnajit and it takes place in Satyug. Second story is from Natya Sastra. This story deals with Treta Yug.

4.17

In the kingdom ruled by Bhayajit no body suffered untimely death. A boy dies without any apparent reason. Bhayajit inquires with Yamaraj as to what is the fault in his rule that resulted in this untimely death. Nor receiving an answer he goes to war with Yamaloka. Brahma has to intervene to restore peace and order and he says that the boy can’t go back to Kritiloka with his original body, he has to get a new body. He also teaches Bhayajit how to make a new body by using canvas and paints etc. In this body the spirit of the boy could live. He also declares that from now on the king Bhayajit will be known as Nagnajit, conqueror of the realm of Paraloka where no one has body.

13.00

Art is to give a new body to some Nagnas.

13.15

Though the story is about painting, it could apply to dance and other forms as well.

In dance, one lends one’s body to some other spirits. When acting you lend a body to some characters. In dance the body becomes transparent. You can see some interiors through the body (Bhāva etc.). Like in painting pigments of colour disappear and you see a person there. Pigments become invisible. In dance, your personal life becomes invisible and something else becomes visible.

16.40

All arts deal with material formations – pigments, living bodies etc which can stand for imagined spirits.

17.33

The second story is from Nātya Sastra (1st and last chapters). The story takes place at the end of Satyug. Satyug ended because people became too concerned with Sukkha and Dukkha – they began clamouring for happiness and avoiding suffering. Dharma was disturbed, people would not pursue higher ends and interfere in each other’s quests. Rishis became worried. They went to Brahma.

The idea was now to introduce Krira (playfulness) in the universe. How will that help? There should be a sastra of krira and that is how Natya Sastra begins.

Two conditions for Sastra of Krira. It should be Sarva-vārnik (independent of all identities), unlike the four vedas. And that Krira should have the property of Sādhārikaran (Immersion). You forget worries, duties, responsibilities, everyone becomes like ordinary people. Minimal, simple people.

First chapter gives a drama about the theory of drama, a kind of meta-drama.

Brahma is able to conceive a Sastra of playfulness with these two conditions and teaches it to Bharata and his hundred sons.

28.04

Art is about surrogate beings, but not the being of the artist. It is about imaginary people. Devatās can’t perform as they do not have bodies and motor organs (having motor organs is a condition for art).

When performance commences all kinds of obstacles (vighnās) are observed. Drama included fight between Devatās and Dānavās and Devatas were winning. Dānavas were unhappy and complained to Brahma why Sastra should be partial. They created obstacles. Brahma not worried about impartiality, about who is good or bad. This should be decided by the spectator. His worry was that Sādhārikaran was broken. Immersive state should not be broken. All art requires immersion including painting.

35.18

Treta Yug is beginning. World is going its way according to causal laws.

Anukriti – Kriti Loka can be suspended for a while on a stage where a new world can be created away from Sukkha and Dukkha etc. People participate in this new world are ordinary people irrespective of their convictions.

Sāmājik is who rise and fall together. Audience rises and falls together in a performance. Sāmājik is born in Treta Yug.

40.17

One has to construct an abstract stage to conceive a new world. This is constructed out of the material conditions in order to project a persona. Playfulness can be initiated on this stage. All playfulness is a kind of removal from reality, like the playfulness of children. We give a material formation to our imagination.

Kalpa-Vikalpa-Sankalpa-Kalpa

Cognition-Memory-Imagination (private)-Sankalpa (public, motor activities, can be seen by others)

45.00

There is one more condition. What happens on stage should be Drsta and Sravya (seen and heard). Among the five sense organs two have objects are distant (vision and sound). The object is distant and it can be fictitious. These two senses do not have the condition that their object be present. Play is creating an artificial reality on the stage with visual and sonic objects and their togetherness. There can be tactile and smell imagination but it requires simulating the objects in the internal body.

52.20

When we imagine something how do we know whether it is good or bad (eg. some imagination you want to hide from others), whether it is worth expressing or not? Who is to judge what is to be given a new body? It is the audience (when put on the pedestal of Sādhāranikaran) who has been put on the stage of judgment. Sāmājik in sādharanikaran is an unbiased state.

In Treta Yug a structure of neutrality comes in through the agency of the Sāmājik. Natya Sastra is a body of theory of this Anukriti.

58.23

There is a curse in art, on artists. There is a reason why artists tend to loose sight of their duties and responsibilities easily because they are engaging so much in artificial, artistic reality.

1.00

Weeping as a sāmājik when watching a drama is different from the emotional weeping say when you are betrayed in life. Analysis of the hindi film audience weeping in the film ’Tare Jamin Pe’.

People who wrote plays, Kathas, etc. deal with the revision of habits of judgment that we have by putting us in a seat of judgment. Art is a reformative act in that it is a reform of the habits of judgment.

Art is a site of reflectiveness.

1.07

Treta Yug also has a fallacy. All art is about Maryāda (normative) in Treta Yug.

All yugas are there in us at this moment. They are layers within us.

DAY 2 (PART 1)

Begins with Questions and then Answers on the first lecture

4.30

Question on Sāmājik

Samāj – A term used in astronomy and dramaturgy. It is only recently it has been used for society. Shifting positions of planets, when they align in one line, is called samāj in astronomy.

Aryabhatta

7.00

Bharat Muni Samāj is when people are watching Natya or drama. First use of samāj in Indian tradition. Etymologically, rising together and falling together.

9.20

Kalpa Vikalpa Sankalpa

In the same kalpa all cognitions are different. Kalpana.

14.45

It is difficult to find any portion of reality without any human signature, without a stamp of human imagination.

16.40

Story of Indra and Vrttasur about Kalpa. Monument to Indra’s victory.

20.30

There is a difference between what you can imagine and what you can do. Vishnu puts Indra in his place.

24.48

Discussion of question about the Objection by Dānavas about bias in drama.

27.00

Truth of perception is determined by the objects. What determines the truth when we imagine? It is the audience who determines. If the immersion of audience is broken, the work of art is not good. Sāmājik is at the centre of art.

Artist has a surrogate audience in mind when creating. Sakshi Pada – to be able to watch yourself.

31.13

The question about Dharma and Art

Basic question: Everybody lives according to one’s own dharma. How is it possible to put it aside and adopt someone else’s dharma like an actor adopting the dharma of a queen.

Swang, Upadhi. Role switching by actors. Adopting roles in life – we don’t have a dharma of our own.

37.48

Whether you can have a person who can adopt all kinds of roles?

A fundamental role-switching is between men and women, femininity and masculinity. Radha-Krishna. Chaitanya. Most difficult problem of dance of the medieval tradition.

40.50

Idea of a pure dance, dance which is not for audience but as a means of self-liberation. Natraj. Dervish dance. Idea of pure dance in Europe. Idea of passion dance – dance as expression of my being. Modern dance. Pure dance in the form of swāng of animals.

48.00

The problem of transcending of gender in dance in the Vaishnava tradition. A serious theoretical and dance issue. Kshemenra’s mangalācharan – when Vishnu has put kājal.

51.50

Dance as an art form where everything is artificial. Bodies become transparent. Postures in dance are artificial. Forces used in dance are concocted. Forces used in lifting something with your hand and in acting of lifting something are different.

53.30

Traditionally three types of role playing that happens in dance. Pedagogy is not dance. We have to look at dance in a fundamental way and not in a pedagogic way. Dance traditions in some way have tried to solve some philosophical problems.

1.03.40

Long exposition on Gotipua begins and the origin story (shristi natya) of Gotipua is shown through a dance video.

Gotipua is a dance form from the village Raghurajpur in Orissa where only artists have lived for last 150-200 years. It is a boys only dance.

1.05.06 (Shristi Natya)

Children playing. Two boys in Navdweep. Playfulness leads to competition. Link between play and conflicts.

Two boys going for higher studies in Navya Nyāya to Mithila. One boy is naughty, the other is serious. Naughty boy is able to finish a treatise, the serious boy could not.

They are going back to Navdweep in a boat. Seeing the unhappy serious boy, naughty boy throws his book in the river telling his friend: Your reward will come later.

They are Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and Raghunath Shiromani who later became a famous scholar.

Chaitanya goes to Kashi. He is a dancer and he finds Shiva Tattva in dance. He goes to Vrindavan and Krishna Tattva and Bhakti is introduced. He goes to Puri in search of being able to completely give up his ego. He wants Jagannath Darshan. He is disappointed because Jagannath is too constricted here. He wants to see the Virāt rupa of Jagannath.

He joins an Akhada for 14 years. He picks up certain movements which will become Gotipua. He has traversed three institutions – Pathshala, Tola, and Akhada.

Story of Kelucharan and Odissi and Gotipua.

1.46.55

Swāng or Pretense

Kshemendra (Kala Vilas) – Theory of pretence. All art as pretence.

1.50

Story of Dambha.

1.56.42

Who is more vyapak – Brahma or Dambha?

Long intervention by Jayachandran clarifying some issues presented before and comments on the Tamil Nadu context of the art of dance.

2.15.28

Question from the audience – How to proceed from where we are now?

Response from Prof. Navjyoti Singh.

One way is to think of Shristi Natya for any dance form. Other way is to have dialogues with new forms that are born like duet, break dance etc. in order to understand them. New forms are being born in India right now. Dancing mind is not sitting quietly.

Question about the difference between sports and dance. And about artificial nature of dance and Sātvik Abhinaya.

Response: Artificial is something good. Dance as the artificial motion of Manas. Satvik Abhinaya is Abhinaya of Manas.

Story of two birds from Upanisads. Sakshitva or the Witness. Having a feeling and knowing that we have that feeling.

Response to a question by Jaichandran.

DAY 2 (PART 2)

https://youtu.be/UdYqofPAqBk?si=LzIFjj_gLCMiEaKV

Begins with Jaichandran’s presentation (and discussion) of a video clipping of a song from the film Navratri acted by Shivaji Ganesan and Savitri.

18.07

Prof. Navjyoti’s presentation begins. This lecture deals more with the dramatic dance.

When body is transparent, what is visible? Many things are visible, but usually we can say that story is visible.

20.00

Meta-elements of a story – Theme, Characters, Relations, Things, Locations, Phenomena (Death etc.). Story unfolds through a dance drama.

22.40

Kachh Devyani Story from Mahabharata

32.00

Having heard this story you may tell this story to someone else. And then to someone else. There is a thinking that there must be a skeleton of a story, the minimal story. Rest of it is like embellishments and improvisations. These will be done in different ways in movies, drama, poetry etc.

36.50

Formal structure of a story. Seed-Fruition structure. Parts of the story could also have seed-fruition structure. Recusive.

The structure in Lilavati from Bija Ganit. Bija are seeds.

All stories have this structure. Dilemma, or conflict etc are seeds. Content always has something unresolved which has to resolved in the story.

Dashrupak gives the details of the seed-fruition structure.

44.00

There are three levels on which dance is done. Nrit, Abhinaya, and Story.

Dance depends on what body can ‘afford’ to do. All three elements of dance exist in any dance form to a greater or lesser degree.

47.22

Grammar of dance. We generate language from a minimal set of rules. Similarly can we generate all dance from a given set of rules.

There is a suggestion that what Tandu (Nātya Sastra) did was similar to Shiv Sutra of Panini where 14 groupings of sound are given from which Panini’s grammar begins. It is said 108 katanas were danced by Tandu. These could be the fundamental movements from which all movements can be constructed. It is an open question.

57.00

Panini’s grammar is written in an artificial language with no verbs.

58.00

Myth and History

Mythic mode of knowledge – the belief that whatever is the oldest is the deepest.

Without stories, without myths, teaching becomes impossible.

Mythic politics is aversion to other people’s stories rather than telling one’s own story.

Ergodic Theorem.

1.07.00

Mythic is the beautiful portion of the world.

1.08.27

Like we did with Gotipua, we made a story of its origin which is fictitious but it may be truer than anything else. We made a myth out of Gotipua to appraise its depth.

1.13.20

Identities can be deconstructed only through myth. Mythic content makes world humbler.

1.14.55

Propaganda

1.16

Story-telling is one of the prime engagements of man.

We are continually reading each other’s actions and wondering who fits into what story. A society which is not telling stories to each other is a poor society.

1.27.50

You can’t be Nagnajit without being Bhayajit. To be mythic you have to be fearless.

1.30

There is an attitude which says that by engaging in art or imagination you go away from society, you are doing it only for your own benefit. Also an attitude that engagement with art takes you away from truth. And there is reaction to these attitudes. And there are wars too. What is the way to handle the violence?

1.35.40

Prof. Navjyoti refers to one of his articles. It is about repetitive actions. Through repetitive actions that we do all the time we achieve depth. One of the sources of warring attitude is that we should not do repetitive actions. We should only do new actions. The idea of Shisht Vyavahar and Adab is based on repetitive actions. People who are shisht are able to resolve conflicts. These people whichever religion they belong are the ones who are creating world order. People who cultivate depth in repetitive actions. Unity of people cannot be found by discussion among doctrines.

1.43.30

Poverty is only of imagination.

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Summary of  Session 2: Kannada Knowledge Traditions

 20 Feb 2025 Convention on Knowledge in Society, Kuvempu University

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