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Abhisarika Nayika goes to meet her lover with a coquettish expression as shown by dancer Samira Koser here.
Dance
Abhisarika nayika: The Abhisarika, one of the Ashta Nayikas (Learn the Lingo of 14 September 2007), could be described in today’s terminology as a proactive nayika. She is a woman who decides to do something about her state of separation from her lover. Her name derives from the Sanskrit verb meaning ‘to go towards’. The Abhisarika nayika goes out to meet her lover instead of waiting for him to come to her.
She may go out in search of him, or she may set off for a pre-decided destination. Images of the Abhisarika braving the elements, sometimes walking fearfully in the dark, abound in traditional painting and literature. Popular mental images of the Abhisarika include her leaving her house in secret, covering herself with a dark shawl to merge with the night. Though a full moon night is apt for romance, the journey of the Abhisarika is helped by a moonless or cloudy night, when extra light doesn’t threaten to give her away. The dark night, however, brings its own problems. Wild animals howl. Thorns prick her. A very common depiction of this nayika is of a girl trying to dislodge a thorn from the sole of her foot. Also, she chides her tinkling anklets and bangles, whose sound might disclose her wanderings to prying neighbours or family members. The need for secrecy is due to several factors. Traditionally, a woman is supposed to be the retiring, shy partner, whose venturing out alone is considered brash and bold. Also, as in the case of Radha and the other gopis, she is not married to her lover but to someone else, so she has to endure the censure of society over this liaison. Therefore, depending on her age and life experience, the Abhisarika is assailed by two conflicting concepts. One is her innate hesitation to defy convention (and often, brave the dangers of the forest too). The other is the overpowering love that makes her fearless, convincing her that there is no need to hide her feelings.
In the Gita Govinda, Radha can be found as the Abhisarika on two occasions. One is when, readied and advised by her sakhi, she goes to meet Krishna in the forest bower, after having earlier quarrelled with him and sent him away in a rage, convinced that he spent the night with another woman. Appeased by him, she goes to his side, hurried on by her sakhi. The same epic poem contains another example of Radha as Abhisarika, when she describes to her sakhi her first tryst with Krishna in the forest. This particular piece is an example of a shade of one of the Ashta Nayikas coming into another. The Abhisarika here appears as a ‘flashback’, whereas the main state of Radha is a nayika in separation, probably Vipralabdha (Learn the Lingo of 5 October 2007), since she is hurt by Krishna sporting with other gopis.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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