Most parts of the Vedas are allegorical and metaphorical in style. Knowledge of this symbolism is the only avenue through which the meaning of the hymns can be accessed. It was necessary for the ancient sages to employ symbolism because of the esoteric content and also because it predates the evolution of systematized language as we now know it. For the same reason everyday words were made to perform multiple tasks: allusions to natural phenomena were mythologized.

Nature and Art

Books written and institutions established by Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam for the promotion of Art and National Integration

1.Śiva’s form as Naṭarāja

This article is an adapted version of the talk presented by Arjun Bharadwaj at the Swadeshi Indology Conference in December 2017

The following sections describe how Padma Subrahmanyam’s art presentations and research suggest the inclusive nature of sanātana-dharma and all regional variations as an integral part of the classical mārga tradition.

This article is an adapted version of the talk presented by Arjun Bharadwaj at the Swadeshi Indology Conference in December 2017

Abstract

The current paper attempts to explore the contributions of Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, an artist and scholar, in the context of the Dravidian movement and her artistic rebuttal of the same.

Several people have the tendency to find parallels between Bhūtārādhana and Yakṣagāna. They classify Bhūtārādhana as ‘folk’ (Jānapadīya) and as a corollary, conclude that Yakṣagāna is ‘folk’ as well. However, Yakṣagāna’s allied forms of art such as Terukkūttu, Kūcupuḍi, Bhāgavatameḻa, Dūḍālapāya, Doḍḍāṭa and Keḻike are not influenced by Bhūtārādhana at all. Among these, one can say that only Kathakali has faint reflections of Bhūtakola in it. When this is the case, how can the argument that Yakṣagāna is also ‘folk’ be substantiated?

In his insightful essay titled ‘Uparūpakas and Nāṭyaprabandhas’, Dr. V Raghavan classifies these (i.e., the lyrics/ scripts used for different theatrical/ Yakṣagāna-like presentations) as ‘Kāvya’ or ‘Citrakāvya’, a kind of Uparūpaka. (Refer –

[caption id="attachment_13946" align="alignleft" width="166"] Dr. V. Raghavan[/caption]

The word ‘Śāstra’ refers to a well-structured presentation with novel insights (Śaṃsana Śāsana-prajñā). Anything that has these characteristics can be said to be ‘Śāstrīya’. A Śāstra usually is in the form of a written set of rules as well as unwritten but traditional practises that come along with the community conciousness. Although folk forms of art might not conform to a set of written rules, they are the products of the tastes of people belonging to the particular community and have come down with time.

The terms ‘mārga’ and ‘deśī’ which have been in use for thousands of years in our tradition are today translated as ‘Classical’ and ‘Folk’ respectively, terms which hardly capture the original sense of the Sanskrit words. This equivalence was drawn by some western scholars and it is hard to say when exactly these were thought to be equivalents of the original Sanskrit words. The downfall and corruption of traditional knowledge systems of India has taken place because we have been taught to look at ourselves through the lens given by the West.