Essay name: Hastalaksanadipika a critical edition and study
Author:
E. K. Sudha
Affiliation: Government Sanskrit College (Tripunithura) / Department of Sanskrit
This is an English study on the Hastalaksanadipika—a manual depicting the Mudras (gestures) of the Kerala theatre. It is a very popular text supposedly dating to the 10th century A.D. This study also touches the subject of Krsnanattam, Kathakali and Kutiyattam—some of India's oldest theatrical traditions in Kerala.
Chapter 2 - Bharata’s Dramaturgy
11 (of 56)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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general, characters are of three types-uttama (the superior), madhyama (the medium) and adhama or nica (the inferior). There are four main categories of heroes between the superior and the medium character according to the NS available to us, who have the common characteristic dhirata or composure. 1. Dhirōddhata or the vehement and composed. The celestials 2. Dhiralalita or the refined and composed. The kings. - 3. Dhirōdātta or the magnanimous and composed. The ministers and the commanders - 4. Dhiraprasanta or the calm and composed. - The Brahmins and the traders. 43 Bharata has made yet another classification of the heroes-in-
love, pati (the husband), upapati (the paramour) and vaiśika (an expert
in dealing with courtesans). Bharata has expatiated on the thirty-three
qualifications of a vaiśika. A completely different type of classification
of vaisikas or adepts in sexual matters of sex appears in ch. XXIII. They
are catura (the resourceful), uttama (the superior), madhyama (the
medium), adhama (the inferior) and sampravṛtta (the complex).
In Ch. XXIV Bharata discussed the women characters. Here also
he stuck to the main three-fold classification: the superior, the medium and
the inferior. Just as the heroes, there are four types of heroines - divya (the
divine), nṛpapatni (the queen), kulastri (the housewife) and gaṇikā
