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Learn the lingo
Photo: K.V. Srinivasan
Keeping a distance Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subramaniam looks repelled
Dance
Vibhatsa: One of the navarasas (Learn the Lingo, 23 November 2007), vibhatsa is the mood of disgust, or odiousness. This sentiment, the shastras of dance tell us, occurs as a result of someone performing vulgar or odious actions. However, they may be only perceived by another character or the audience to be disgusting, rather than meant to be so by the protagonist. A famous instance of the vibhatsa rasa is found in the story of Kannappar, a devotee of Lord Shiva. This is a story that has been staged by numerous dancers in group and solo portrayals.
Kannappar is a hunter who one day finds a Shiva idol in the form of a linga. Kannappar begins to worship the linga in the middle of the forest. His pure heart and simple lifestyle ensure that he loves the image like a true friend. Ignorant of the rituals associated with idol worship in temples, he offers to the deity some of the meat he has hunted every day. While Kannappar is away at work in the forest, the priest looking after the forest shrine discovers the meat and blood strewn about, and his reactions are the quintessence of disgust. From his point of view, someone has defiled the shrine. He cleans up the area, only to find the same situation the next day. Eventually he decides to find out who is behind the ‘insult’ to the deity. The moral of the story is that true devotion is not bound by rituals and rules, and Kannappar is raised to the level of Shiva’s highest devotees.
Another instance of the vibhatsa rasa is the killing of Hiranyakashyapu, when Vishnu emerges from a pillar in the form of Narasimha — half-lion, half-man. Though the overarching theme is the victory of good over evil, and the man-lion form is taken as a way of outsmarting Hiranyakashipu’s boons of being infallible to attack by either man or beast, the manner in which his entrails are pulled out by Narasimha is certainly evocative of vibhatsa rasa.
Since the depiction of vibhatsa instigates a disgusted reaction in the audience, this is a rasa not often dwelt on at length by dancers. Therefore, sometimes this part of the episode is treated sketchily. In Kathakali though, a traditional depiction includes cloth stuffed inside Hiranyakashipu’s costume being pulled out to represent the entrails.
Vibhatsa rasa could also be used in a more subtle situation, such as a woman disgusted at the idea of taking any husband other than the lover to whom she is devoted.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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