indian aesthetics ppt
#1

hi i am Ruhul , i would to get indian aesthetics p p t.plz help
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#2

Indian aesthetics is a vast field. Any attempt to discuss it in such a brief space as this can only be sketchy and deal with the broad tendencies. Hence, here I have only attempted to give its brief overview with reference to major trends. I begin with a few queries about the term “Indian Aesthetics” in the light of our Western orientation. Next I attempt to look at the grand text of Indian aesthetics–Nâtya Sâstra–and briefly discuss its contribution to an understanding of various art forms. From that point onwards, the focus is on Indian aesthetics with special focus on poetics, its important concepts and commentators – since many of the aesthetic issues dealt with in poetics are significant to dance, music, painting and sculpture. I manage only to touch upon a few points about other art forms; and neglect dance in the process. This is partly due to my orientation in poetics and partly due to my ignorance. But I hope that this brief discussion will encourage others to rectify this shortcoming and extend the discussion of Indian aesthetics in a more balanced and integrated manner.

Defining Indian Aesthetics

Aesthetics or the branch of philosophy dealing with beauty and taste has a rich tradition in the West, with many major philosophers exploring the concept of “beauty” and its relation to “good.” But each culture has its own configurations, ways of categorizing objects and concepts; and ways of doing things. As Professor M. Hiriyanna points out:

It is usual for every prominent philosopher in the West to regard the question of beauty as a part of the problem he is attempting to solve. Hence aesthetics has come to be recognized as a regular part of philosophy. The intrinsic relation implied in this between aesthetics and philosophy is not denied in India; but the former of these studies is carried on by a distinct class of thinkers – alamkârikas, as they are called or literary critics – who are not, generally speaking, professional philosophers. (Hiriyanna 48)

Besides, when we use the English word “Aesthetics,” we hardly mean alamkârasâstras per se. Our way of traditionally categorizing things is distinctively different and all I wish to say is that this difference has to be kept in mind when one wishes to explore theorizations about the Indian concept of beauty and taste. I shall try to illustrate this point with a slightly more concrete word – art.

What I wish to say is that what ‘art’ covers in the context of the English language may not be covered by kalâ in the Indian context. The Saivatantras and later the Kâmasutra list 64 kalâs which include the following:

1. Singing (Gitam), 2. Playing on musical instruments (Vâdyam), 3. Dancing (Nrutyam), 4. The union of the three (Nâtya), 5. Writing and drawing (Alekhyam), 6. Playing on musical glasses filled with water (Udakavâdyam), 7. Picture making, trimming and decorating, 8. Culinary skills, 9. Making birds and other shapes out of yarn or thread, 10. Mimicry or imitating, 11.Reading including chanting and intoning, 12. Architecture, 13. Colouring jewels, 14. Composing poems, 15. Making clay figures.1

I take these fifteen categories out of the 64 for discussion since they have a distinct relation to kalâ or art (since we often use them interchangeably) the way we use it today in India. Coming to the categories, an interesting element is the distinction between playing musical instruments and playing on musical glasses – which is not considered as a subset of the category “musical instruments.” Architecture is considered an art form, modelling is included as a category, but there is no mention of sculpture in the Kâmasutra. On the other hand, what we consider craft (and not art) today – folk traditions (pallikalâ, lokokalâ) like colouring jewels, making shapes out of hemp or rope, making clay figures etc – is included. It is thus with aesthetics. In any modern exploration of Indian tradition in the light of aesthetics, we are inadvertently using a western way of classifying things – which we have incorporated during our colonization – upon material Indian. This is all the more so since what we understand by “literature” today does not necessarily fit the Indian way of classifying sâhitya. For instance, is Mahâbhârata a dharmasâstra or a literary composition? – till Ânandavardhana (9th century) it does not figure in any discussion of poetics. Is Vishnudharmottara Purâna a work of aesthetics since it includes a significant portion on various art forms?

The other point I would like to emphasize is that the most detailed and finely constructed theories about beauty and taste (aesthetics) centre on literature – one often finds that most 19th and 20th century English works in the field use the terms “Indian Poetics” and “Indian Aesthetics” interchangeably. Often, it is assumed that what is discussed in the context of poetics, in general, applies to aesthetics. We find this tendency in Ananda Coomaraswamy, M. Hiriyanna and K. C. Pandey, to name a few. This emphasis by modern scholars is only a reflection of what has happened in our tradition, since most philosophical exploration of the concept of beauty, taste, author and perceiver in our tradition is in the field of poetics or by alamkârikas. However, such a view is not entirely true. There are two sides to the coin and the reader must decide how to resolve them. On the one hand most of the theorists in our tradition have written about a number of things – music, painting, performance, along with poetics. The first extant example is Nâtya Sâstra. And we know of at least four significant commentators of Bharata’s Nâtya Sâstra – Sankuka, Lollota, Bhattanayaka and Abhinavagupta. Only Abhinavabhârti survives while the other works are lost. Similarly, many of the other writers on poetics also wrote on other art forms – unfortunately these works are lost. Finally, even in the works of poetics, in our tradition, there is discussion (in passing or as illustrations) of fine art, music, dance and performance. The interrelationship among the various art forms is also illustrated in Vishnudharmottara where it is pointed out that fine art comes from dance and dance from music 2:

Mârkandeya said: Lord of men, he who does not know properly the rules of chitra can, by no means, be able to discern the characteristics of image. . . . Without a knowledge of the art of dancing, the rules of painting are very difficult to be understood. . . . The practice of dancing is difficult to be understood by one who is not acquainted with music. . . . without singing music cannot be understood.3

Professor Bharat Gupt also specifically mentions this point in his paper “Indian Aesthetics and its Present Day Problems.”

But one must also look at the other side of the coin. Looking from a distance, across centuries, a power hierarchy is discernable. Although high respect was given to the various kalâs, one finds strict social divisions as well as unequal power relation. Sankara referes to silpa in Saundaryalahari as pujabidhâna or the path to worship4. But such comments are more in the way of exceptions than the general rule. And this, in spite of Bharata’s emphasis in the Nâtya Sâstra (Chapter 1) that nâtya takes into consideration dharma and can lead to moksha, as well as his calling it the fifth Veda. A possible reason for this can be located in the persons who practiced these kalâs as professionals.

Distinguished silpis were given special place in courts, shown respect, rewards, etc., but their social position was not high although their art was appreciated at the highest level5. They belonged to guilds, and often, their work was directed not so much by an individual pursuit of beauty or truth as by custom and directives6. In spite of what the Kâmasutra might say, Manu forbids the householder to dance or sing or play on musical instruments. He considers architects, actors and singers as unworthy men who are not to be invited to ceremony of offerings to the dead. Chânakya groups musicians and actors with courtesans while tolerating them.7 In spite of the fact that according to Kâmasutra, paints, brushes and drawing board were essential accessories of a citizen, in reality there existed two kinds of painters – the professional and the non-professional. The same goes for the other art forms as well, with one exception. Literature, kâvya, along with literary theory and darshna, and other written forms, belonged to the higher strata and were practiced by the upper class chiefly – King Harsavardhana, the royal Visâkhadatta, King Mahendravikrama, King Bhoja, as well as many Brahmins8. This is also illustrated by the fact that according to legends, Kâlidâsa married a princess.

To sum up, although some reflection is available in Indian tradition on all the fields covered by aesthetics, it is primarily poetics that dominates, not so much as texts (we have abundant texts on each art form) but they are neglected by the power structure that has persisted to this day. Secondly, most literary theorists discuss the other art forms as well – especially music, painting and dance. Thirdly, theories applied to poetics – especially the rasa theory – later finds application to other fields of art as well. The ground is prepared by Nâtya Sâstra and its focus on communicating aesthetic emotion (rasa). Fourthly, a point that is of significance in looking at Indian aesthetics is that in many cases, the distinction between the spiritual and the secular is very thin. This point is highlighted by Dr. Ranjan Ghosh in his paper “Indian Art: Some Philosophical Musings.” If Abhinavgupta uses concepts from Shaiva-Tantra to aesthetics, Rupa Goswâmi uses aesthetic concepts when looking at Bhakti. Finally, Indian aesthetics as we know it today is primarily “Hindu Aesthetics” – and even here, dominantly Sanskrit aesthetics. It is true that classical music after the 15th century has strong Muslim influence; so also is the case with fine arts and architecture. But these elements are sadly under-explored in aesthetic studies; and it is only recently that the Tamil Tolkappiyam is getting critical attention.

Jain tradition talks of six blind men who went to perceive an elephant. They touched different parts of the animal and came up with different definitions of the elephant – viewpoints. When we look at our tradition across time, and across culture, we can never experience what each author on poetics experienced in his milieu. In fact each one of them was bound to the perspective of his time and wrote and interpreted within it. We are chained by ours. But even here, one will come across different viewpoints, diverse critical awareness. The purpose of this discussion is to develop a critical attitude towards all that we read in the field of “Indian aesthetics.” Without doubt, the categories created by Indologists and modern theorists are useful, but one must be careful of too much dependence on Western paradigms and simplistic one-to-one equations. This is a point that comes up both in Professor Gupt’s paper on problems facing Indian aesthetics and in Dr. Binda Paranjape’s paper on “Colonial Context and Aesthetic Identity Formation.” Modern texts on Indian aesthetics are many, by Western scholars and by Indians, and even among Indians there are scholars who are trained in tradition or in Western philosophy and literature. Professor Radhavallabh Tripathi’s paper “Indian Aesthetics on Crossroads” beautifully reviews the different phases in the study of Indian aesthetics in modern times. But diverse approaches, attitudes, translations (even transformations) can make the field confusing. So, while there is no one standard way of looking at Indian aesthetics, a critical and cautious reading is always to be appreciated. The rest is left to the reader’s good judgement.
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