Arts

Art Experience (Part 2)

3. Kāvya

This has three stages too.

1. Manaḥ-prasāda – The nāndī-padyas in a kāvya, the description of city, country, mountains, forests, rivers, forts, palaces – these establish a context for the story; these are the embellishments and charming aspects.

2. Bhāvāveśa – The core flavour lies in the scenes of the story and in the human characters. Tyagaraja  in one of his lyrical melodies narrates this story:

Art and Artistes

It is rather unlikely that experts in music and dance will find immense value in the episodes narrated here[1]. These have been written by an ordinary man who has no knowledge of the śāstras[2] [related to art] nor the strength of rigorous practice but is merely a connoisseur of good music and dance.

The Prerequisities for Rasābhinaya - Part 2

One must be familiar with the language of the song for which the choreography of abhinaya is done, at least to the extent that the different shades of meaning and the possible interpretations of the lyrics can be imagined. One must also be conscious of the meter (chandas) of the song and ensure that the metrical melody of the lyrics blends well with the rhythmic pattern of the tāla.

Saṃskṛta-saurabha in Śaṅkarābharaṇam’s Title Song

Telugu literature is known for its dexterous use of Sanskrit. While the language of the gods is a brilliant but hard diamond for many, it becomes supremely malleable for Telugu poets who weave their lyrical magic in it. This deft use of Sanskrit extends even to Telugu movie songs whose lyricists are not mere commercial song writers but poets in the truest sense of the word.