[INDOLOGY] uṣṇik and gāyatrī metres

[Vyom Shah]

 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 <
indology at list.indology.info> 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
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> 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>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20250102/3adad2c7/attachment.htm>