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Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam
In control Swaadhheenabhartrika’s innocence might be conveyed by showing her as shy and gentle in addressing her lover, even as she celebrates his commitment to her, an expression put across by Bharatanatyam dancer Souraja Tagore here.
Dance
Swadheenabhartrika, Swadheenapatika: One of the Ashta Nayikas (Learn the Lingo of September 14, 2007), the Swaadhheenabhartrika is the woman who is aware of her own (swa) complete control (adheena) over her lover or lord (bharta or pati in Sanskrit). She rejoices in this knowledge.
The nayika may be a mature person, well versed in the ways of love. In such a case, her confidence comes through more forcefully. However, she may also be a young nayika whose innocence stems from her not having been through many relationships. In such a case, her innocent nature might be conveyed by showing her as shy and gentle in addressing her lover, even as she celebrates his complete commitment to her.
In the Gita Govinda of Jayadeva, which describes the love between Radha and Krishna in vivid detail, Radha at the end of the epic poem, epitomises the Swadheenabhartrika. Having quarrelled with and later reconciled with Krishna, she has spent a rapturous night with him. She then tells him to restore her dishevelled appearance as his ardour is the cause of her being in disarray. She ‘orders’ him to set her hair neatly again, to paint the decorative marks of musk and sandalwood paste on her body that have been smudged by him, and in other ways to make her presentable for the world!
Music
Yati: Now not often referred to, the term yati is used in describing the shape of a rhythmic pattern in a musical composition. There are six types of yatis. These are the sama, vishama, mridanga, damaroo, gopuchchha and srotovaha yatis. Sama means straight, and the sama yati is one in which the rhythmic progression is fairly straightforward.
The mridanga yati is one in which the rhythmic syllables at the beginning and end of the pattern have less counts than those in the middle of the pattern. Thus, if they were written down, the shape of the mridangam could be traced around them, as a mridangam is large in the middle and tapers towards the two ends. A highly elementary example would be:
Ta dhin gi na tom
Ta ka ta dhin gi a tom
Ta dhin gi na tom
The damaroo yati is shaped like the hourglass drum after which it is named. So a damaroo progression could go look something like this:
Ta ka dhi ku ta dhin gi na tom
Ta ka ta dhin gi na tom
Gi na tom
Ta ka ta dhin gi na tom
Ta ka dhi ku ta dhin gi na tom
The gopuchchha yati is named after the cow’s tail. Thus it starts big and tapers down to the end. For example:
Taka tadhin gina tom
Tadhin gina tom
Dhin gina tom
Gina tom
Tom
And the srotovaha yati is named after a waterfall, which starts small and spreads as it proceeds. Thus, if the above yati were turned on its head, beginning with one syllable and progressively adding syllables to reach the longest line, it would qualify as an example of srotovaha yati.
In contrast, the vishama yati is one in which the pattern cannot be confined to one of these shapes.
The various yati shapes can be discerned in notation patterns of musical compositions, as well as in dance patterns and in the lyrics of songs (a famous example is “Tyagaraja yoga vaibhavam, Raja yoga vaibhavam, Yoga vaibhavam, Vaibhavam, Bhavam…” in which the reducing number of syllables yields a recognisable word in each case).
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Friday Review
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