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Studies in Indian Philosophy
terms. This clearly indicates that Bharata did not intend to use these terms indiscriminately. In spite of this clear distin. ction Abhinavagupta repeatedly says that Nātya is poetry. Kāvyam Natyameva. 14 This clearly shows that while writing his famous commentary on Nāțyasāstra, Abhinavagupta did not have the same concern with the staging of drama (Prayoga) as did Bharata.
It is necessary at this stage, to dilate further on the meaning of Natyā. Abhinavagupta himself defines Nāļya as follows : Yattu dasarūpakam tas ya yo arthah tadeva nātyam. 15 That is the 'Artha'16 of Dasarūpaka is nātya. This definition, though in a sense correct, is very ambiguous and is likely to be misused, unless the primary meaning of 'natya' is borne in mind. The object or Visaya'17 of Dasarūpaka may change inasmuch as the artistic medium changes. If the medium is word or ordinary language, this object could be easily identified with poetry; Nāļya would thus be equated with poetry. This is what Abhinavagupta is trying to do. It appears to me that he wrongly quotes from Nāțyaśāstra in supporting his point. He says : “ Yat vaksyate - Nāțyasya eşā tanuh". The chapter from which this passage is taken, really deals with the importance of speech in acting. Separated fro.n its context, the quotation 18 is likely to be misleading. The passage runs thus :
Yo vāgabhinayah prokto mayā pūrvam dvijottamāh, Lakşaņam tasya vakşyāmi svaravyañjanasambhavam. vāci yatnastu kartavayo, Natyasyeyam tanus smịtā anga-nepathya-tattvāni vākyārtham vyañjayanti hi.19
To use this passage for proving that Natya is the same as kāvya is, therefore, not quite fair. It is much better to define Nāțya as Anukarana, following Bharata as I have done. It appears to me that Abhinavagupta and R. S. Ramaswami Shastri, the learned editor of Abhinavabhāratia • are both wrong in insisting that Nātya should not be defined as Anukarana.91 Once, however, the distinctiveness of the medium that is employed in Nātya is recognised it can easily be seen
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