Dance as in Hindu sacred scripts
Subashini Pathmanathan
King Indiran possessed a passion for
art and dance. He employed a number of dancers and musicians to
entertain his guests. One such dancer who stands out in history is
Urvasi
Hinduism is totally based on vedas, puranas, sastra, suthras, epics,
mythology and philosophy. In all Hindu vedas and Dharma dance plays an
important role. Vedas are considered as general guideline to all the
humans, and lead them towards the right parth.
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Dance was considered as a part of life in the past |
The Natya Veda is considered as the fifth veda in Hinduism. The
Brahma enacted the fifth Veda from the earlier existing Vedas. The
earlier Vedas are Rig Veda, Yajur Veda, Saama Veda, and Atharvana Veda
in Hinduism. The Brahma derived verses from Rig Veda, Abinaya from Yajur
Veda, music from Saama Veda, Rasa from Atharvana Veda. King Indiran felt
that all the existing Vedas did not reach the common masses so he
appealed to the Brahma to enact a separate Veda.
In King Indiran’s kingdom dancers and musicians were employed.
According to Rig Veda even King Indiran himself was an artiste who
supported and provided full patronage to the performing dance and music
artistes.
In Rig Veda, there are some beautiful references about Apsaras, who
were considered as divine yet not professional dancers. However there
are some references about Urvasi too. Urvasi was considered as a
professional dancer. Hence during that time, we can come to the
conclusion, that there were differences among the professional dancers,
divine dancers and common dancers.
In this period dance was considered as a part of life. Dance was
practiced at special functions, social functions social ceremonies
social occasions, religious festivals, ritual functions, and during sad
movements of life. Even these dances were considered as highly
technically art forms on rhythmic pattern and movements.
According to Natya Veda the Brahma gathered the verses from the Rig
Veda, hence the Rig Veda played an important role than other three
Vedas.
Yajur Veda is another important Veda in Hinduism; the Brahma gathered
the abinaya from the Yajur Veda. In this Veda there is no reference
about King Indiran. According to Yajur Veda and Rig Veda ashwins are the
twin gods for dance and music. During the Yajur Veda period the dancers
and actors were treated as the best members of the society, and were
given due respect in the society. So during this period the concrete
distinction appeared between the dancers and actors prevailed.
During the Sama Veda period, there was a distinction, which grew
between the classical and the folk dance forms, which were very much
influenced by customs, tradition, religion, and habits of the people.
According to Atharvana Veda the dancers and Apsaras were the most
beautiful ladies in the society. |
