Namaste and greetings Bharata's Nātyaśāstra 18.76 (and Bhoja's Śṛṅgāraprakāśa 11.248) mentions usage of metres like gāyatrī, uṣṇik, etc. (except for Udbhaṭa who reads *kavibhirnaiva prayojyāni *as mentioned in abhinavabhārati itself). Other works like Rāmacandra & Guṇacandra's Nāṭyadarpaṇa specifically mention about *avoiding* these metres and insist upon usage of sragdhara, etc., (padyaṃ ca sragdharādikam 2.15) longer metres. They themselves clarify the same in auto-commentary as -
*padyaṃ ca sragdharādikaṃ, ādiśabdādbahvakṣaraṃ śārdūlādi ojoguṇayuktaṃ gr̥hyate, na punargāyatryādi. tena hi bahvarthābhidhāne kliṣṭatā syāt. *kecit punaralpākṣaraṃ gāyatryādikamardhasama-viṣamādikaṃ cātra padyaṃ manyante** One of the reasons I suspect upon the insistence of using longer and non-Vedic metres is the employment of kaiśikī vṛtti and śṛṅgāra as main sentiment in samavakāra. For those who insist on the use of Vedic metres, it can be explained through reasoning that the nāyaka of samavakāra is divine (a god or demon, except in Daśarūpaka, which allows even a human to be the nāyaka) and Vedic metre like uṣṇik, gāyatrī can create an air of divinity. I hope this helps. Best regards, Vyom A. Shah On Thu, Jan 2, 2025 at 3:40 PM Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY < [email protected]> wrote: > Dear list members, > > In the description of the *samavakāra* the *Nāṭyaśāstra* (18, 76) > mentions that in this type of play the *uṣṇik*, *gāyatrī* and and other > uneven/complex metres should be used (or should, instead, be avoided (*vl. > kavibhir* *naiva prayojyāni*): > > *uṣṇig gāyatryādyānyanyāni ca yāni bandhakuṭilāni* > *vr̥ttāni samavakāre kavibhis tāni prayojyāni* > > The "classic" example of the *samavakāra *(*NŚ* 4, 4) is the > *Amr̥tamanthana*, in which gods and demons violently compete for > possession of the *amr̥ta*. Can someone enlighten me of what is so > special about the *uṣṇik* and *gāyatrī* metres (and those of the > *bandhakuṭila* type) that they should be used or, instead, be avoided in > a play of the *samavakāra *type. > > With kind regards, > Herman > > > Herman Tieken > Stationsweg 58 > 2515 BP Den Haag > The Netherlands > 00 31 (0)70 2208127 > website: hermantieken.com > > *The Aśoka Inscriptions: Analysing a corpus*, New Delhi: Primus Books, > 2023. > > https://primusbooks.com/ancient/the-asoka-inscriptions-analysing-a-corpus-by-herman-tieken/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology > -- Vyom A. Shah Blogs: https://svyoma.github.io/blogs & https://the-vak.github.io LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vyom-a-shah/ Academia: https://gujaratuniversity.academia.edu/VyomShah Initiatives: Saṃskṛta Hitāya <https://twitter.com/sanskrit_hitaay>, Prākṛta Hitāya <https://twitter.com/prakrit_hitaay>& Jaina Literature <https://groups.google.com/g/jaina-literature>
_______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list [email protected] https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
