Prekshaka, Samajika and Sahridaya
[taken from pp. 277-281 of:
Adhikary, N. M. (2014). Theory and practice of communication - Bharata Muni. Bhopal: Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication.]
In Bharatavarsha, as Ghosh (2007, p.
xxxiii) observes, a play was considered "to be specially 'a spectacle' (preksa) or things to be visualized;
hence persons attending the performance of a play were always referred to (NS.
XXVII. 48-57) as 'spectators' or 'observers' (preksaka) and never as audience (srotr), although in it there was always the speech-element."
Chaturvedi (2005)
takes the Sanskrit word Samajika and
the English word audience as equivalents. She discusses that 'audience'
represents both viewer and listener, whereas in Natyashastra tradition the word Samajika
represents the same (p. 15).
The varying tastes
of individuals have been taken into consideration by Bharata in Natyashastra (XXV. 59-61):
Young people are
pleased to see (the presentation of) love, the learned a reference to some
(religious or philosophical) doctrine, the seekers after money to the topics of
wealth, and the passionless the topics of liberation. Heroic persons are always
pleased in the Odious and the Terrible Sentiments, personal combats and
battles, and the old people in Puranic legends, and tales of virtue. And common
women, children and uncultured persons are always delighted with the Comic
Sentiment and remarkable costumes and make-up. (Trans. Ghosh, 2007, p. xxxv)
The same view is
expressed in Trilochanaditya's Natyalochanam
in this regard: "This is the pastime of the rich, sustenance of the
content persons, it is educative for the blundering persons, (it brings)
realization that 'such are the ways of life in this world' in the minds of
various ascetics, (it leads to) appreciation of delineation of sentiments in
the literary works, it brings out the new talents and achievements of poets,
(infact) this embodiment of wisdom & knowledge called Nataka is the goddess
whose munificence can benefit the whole world" (NL– I.22).
Bharata has given
importance to individual spectators by considering that they are the decisive
ones in the success of any dramatic performance. It is to note that, for
Bharata, success is of two kinds: divine (daiviki)
and human (manusi). He describes them
elaborately in the 27th Adhyaya
of NS.
Of these two, the
divine Success seems to be related to the deeper aspects of a play and came
from spectators of a superior order i.e. persons possessed of culture and
education (NS. XXVII. 16-17), and the human Success related to its superficial
aspects and came from the average spectators who were ordinary human beings. It
is from these latter, who are liable to give expression to their enjoyment or disapproval
in the clearest and most energetic manner, that tumultuous applause and similar
other acts proceeded (NS. XXVII. 3, 8-18, 13-14), while spectators of superior
order order expressed rather calmly their appreciation of the deeper and more
subtle aspects of a play. (Ghosh, 2007, p. xxxv)
Ghosh also notes
that, in the Natyashastra tradition,
The specialists
in dramatic production never forgot that this was basically a social amusement
and as such depended a great deal for its success on the average spectators. In
the NS. it has been said clearly more than once that the ultimate court of
appeal concerning the dramatic practice was the public (XX. 125-126). (p.
xxxix)
Thus, in Natyashastra tradition, "Judgement
of the worth of dramatic pieces should be the prerogatives of the laymen
attending the presentation" (A Board of Scholars, 2003, p. xviii).
Bharata instructs
that one should compose the Nataka
with pleasant and easily intelligible words (NS– XXI.127). It is also written
that the plays (lit. poems) containing harsh words is repulsive (NS– XXI.128).
The importance
given to common people can be seen in the following instruction in Natyashastra (XXII. 119-122):
The playwright
should make efforts to use in his composition sweet and agreeable words which can
be recited by women. A play abounding in agreeable sound and sense, and
containing no obscure or difficult words unintelligible to the country people,
having a good construction, fit to be interpreted with dances, developing
Sentiments ……… becomes fit for representation to spectators. (Trans. Ghosh,
2007, p. xlviii)
In the 26th
Adhyaya of NS, Bharata consideres the
people, the Vedas and the spiritual faculty (Adhyatma) as the three authorities on the matters of Natya. "The drama which has its
origin in the Vedas, and the spiritual faculty (adhyatma) and includes [proper] words and metre, succeeds when it
is approved of by the people. Hence the people are considered to be the
[ultimate] authority on drama" (NS- XXVI.120-121). Again, Bharata writes
(NS- XXVI.125-127): Rules regarding the feelings and activities of the world,
movable as well as immovable, cannot be formulated (lit. ascertained)
exhaustively by the Shastra. The
people have different dispositions, and on their dispositions drama rests.
Hence, playwrights and producers should take the people as their ultimate
authority as regards the rule of the art. Thus attention should be paid to the
feelings, gestures and the Sattvas in
representing the Bhavas
(Psychological States) through various characters [that may appear in the
drama]. Bharata's viewpoint on success also implies the ultimate authority of
people (commoners).
The author of Natyashastra seems aware of what the
concept of media literacy envisions.
For instance, in the 27th chapter, "there is enough matter
educating the Preksaka also in the manner and substance of the appreciation of
the remarkable points on the part of the actors and the actresses" (A
Board of Scholars, 2003, p. xviii).
In the 27th
Adhyaya of Natyashastra, Bharata outlines the characteristics of an ideal
spectator (Prekshaka) of a
performance. According to him,
"Those who
are possessed of [good] character, high birth, quiet behaviour and learning,
are desirous of fame, virtue, are impartial, advanced in age, proficient in drama
in all its six limbs, alert, honest, unaffected by passion, expert in playing
the four kinds of musical instrument, very virtuous, acquainted with the
costumes and Make-up, the rules of dialects, the four kinds of Histrionic
Representation, grammar, prosody, and various [other] Sastras, are experts in
different arts and crafts, and have fine sense of the Sentiments and the
Psychological States, should be made spectators in witnessing a drama"
(NS- XXVII.50-53).
"Anyone who
has (lit. is characterized by unruffled senses, is honest, expert in the
discussion of pros and cons, detector of faults and appreciator [of merits], is
considered fit to be a spectator in a drama" (NS- XXVII.54). "He who
attains gladness on seeing a person glad, and sorrow on seeing him sorry, and
feels miserable on seeing him miserable, is considered fit to be a spectator in
a drama" (NS- XXVII.55).
However, "All
these various qualities are not known to exist in one single spectator. Hence,
because objects of knowledge are so numerous, and the span of life is so brief,
the inferior common persons in an assembly which consists of the superior, the
middling and the inferior members, cannot be expected to appreciate the
performace of the superior ones" (NS- XXVII.56-57). "And hence an individual
to whom a particular dress, profession, speech and an act belong as his own,
should be considered fit for appreciating the same" (NS- XXVII.58).
Then, Bharata
makes distinction between various classes of spectators and their
dispositions.And, the provision of assessors in performance resembles to the
practices of media critics these days.
It was the
importance given to the spectators that led Bharata and other theorists to the
theory of Rasa. It is to note here
that Rasa is not present in the
actor; rather, he/she "simply is the means to convey the sentiments in the
drama to the spectators. Hence the actor is called the 'patra' (i.e. pot). The
pot does not relish the taste of the wine but is the means to serve it to the
drinker" (Tarlekar, 1999, p. 56). Thus, it becomes essential to understand
the experience of Prekshaka/Samajika in order to understand the
process of Rasa experience.
As Ghosh (2007, p.
xxxvi) describes, "It was not enough for them that the spectators enjoyed
witnessing a successful dramatic performance. They were also curious to find
out the process through which it provided enjoyment to them, and discovered
what may be called the psychological basis of this enjoyment." The theory
of Rasa is crucial to understand the
theory of communication as envisioned in Natyashastra.
It is to note that a Prekshaka/Samajika has
been ideally named as Sahridaya in
Sanskrit poetics. A Sahridaya is one
who has attained Sahridayata. Further
discussion on Sahridayata will be
done later on in this book.
