As a cinema lover, I’m a person who can watch a particular film multiple times with the same kind of excitement and surprisingly each time it evokes a different emotion in me. However, I had never given a thought as to why I never get ‘bored’ of watching them over and over again until recently. Neither could I fathom how a person can listen to a song on loop or reread books basking in every bit of them every time. But before actually proceeding to ‘whys and hows’, at the risk of slightly deviating from the topic, let me quote a Sanskrit pun here, to corroborate my point, that goes like this:
कादंबरीरसज्नानां आहारोपि न रोचते
Kadambari in this context implies two meanings. One, it refers to the greatest literary work of Bhanabatta. Two, Kadambari also means liquor. So the pun roughly translates as a person absorbed in the Rasa of Kadambari can even forget about food.
The pun very appropriately captures the essence of Art! Art can transform lives; Art can make one forget everything including oneself; Art is Experience; Art is transcendental; Finally Art is Art in itself.
At any time between 200 BC to present if you ask a student of Hindu Darshana about the objective of art, he/she would invariably say, ‘Rasa’. And if you ask the point of that, you will find that Rasa has a transcendent value, it creates a Bhava (feeling) which is very difficult to explain using rationale and logic. Rasa can evoke the emotion of Bhakti, Prema, pain, pity, fear etc. The primary goal of Rasa is not to entertain but to raise the audience’s consciousness, to rise above the material and aim for something higher.
Art connects the human with the transcendental. It’s an expression of gods and goddesses, a way to rise above the human consciousness and experience the divine. When we listen to a beautifully composed melody, observe a beautiful painting, read a beautiful written prose, witness a beautiful dance momentarily we tend to forget our surroundings, our pains and pleasures, we get lost in the artform.
In the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), Oscar Wilde argues that “all art is quite useless”. For Wilde, Art, hence beauty, had a value higher than usefulness. People need useless things even more than they need things which are useful. Just think of it, what’s the use of love, friendship, worship? None.
Our consumer society puts usefulness first and beauty is merely a side effect. We discard everything that’s not useful or when something doesn’t serve our appetite.
Art in modern times is largely viewed through the lens of usefulness or a kind of gain that we are likely to derive from something. Usefulness is often limited to materialistic realm which is mostly arranged on the lines of consumption and satisfaction relationship. This relationship, in turn, stems from the need to possess or own something. In this context, the initial question can be answered by asking ourselves another question as to why we listen to music or read books, for example. The answer to this one is quite simple: that it has no definite answer. One may agree to the fact that we simply fail to offer any reason as to why we enjoy Art. We may only feel hunger but cannot explain the reason we do. Art is an experience which is beyond ‘whys’. An experience which cannot be restricted to the consumption-satisfaction relationship. The Sanskrit pun quoted above captures how Kadambari (or literature in general) keeps one immersed and transports him/her to a new world. To further extend this, the pun inherently suggests that the ‘enoughness’ or the satisfaction may not always be derived from Art. In other words, Art serves a higher purpose which is beyond any logic.
It is more or less an undeniable fact that humans have sought refuge in art in myriad ways from time immemorial. Turning back the pages of history we learn how Indian kings were great patrons of art and/or artists themselves. In fact Natyashastra—the greatest treatise on performing arts—categorises Nayaka (loosely translated as ‘hero’) into four types of which Dheeralalitha is one of them. A Dheeralalitha Nayaka is typically a lover of Art. King Udayana in the play Svapna Vasavadatta is a classic example of Dheeralalitha Nayaka where the character is not only an exceptional patron of Art but also a great artist (Veena Vadaka) himself. Art has, therefore, been an integral part of Indian civilisation or any civilisation for that matter.
Drawing reference from Srimad Bhagavata Purana, one of the 18 Puranas in Hinduism, we can understand how Art is a medium to connect with god—the divinity. The Navavidha Bhakti or the nine ways of worshiping god mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana prescribes Keertanam (singing/music) as one way of expressing Bhakti to the god. In other words, Art serves as a medium for one to experience divinity. Many times a painting or a music concert may often arouse a kind of inexplicable overwhelming feeling in us or what is known as a transcendental experience. It is the same feeling of divinity which can make one forget the world. The larger purpose of Art is, therefore, to connect with divinity where a person is one with the divine.
Art is also a tool through which we can figure out philosophy, and learn how to think and build arc of logic. I, in fact, believe that art is a better way to discover philosophy when compared to philosophical books. Most Indians may not be able to absorb the crux of Ramayana by studying it but they often do through Ramlila (plays on Ramayana), through bhajans or through cinema. Most of the teachings of sages may not reach the common public but they may more easily relate to it through folk songs, dance or other artforms . Art becomes a medium to translate complex ideas to a simpler language which common people can easily understand. We may not always understand the concept of right, wrong, Dharma, Adharma, Satya, Asatya, righteousness, indecency through lectures but it becomes easily relatable through Art.
Culture develops around Art. We may see every sophisticated society in the world would have Art in its center. Be it dance forms like Kathak, Garba, Bhangra, Bihu, Flamenco,Waltz or Ballet. Be it music like Carnatic classical, Thumri, romantic era classical, or Opera or be it paintings like Pahari, Impressionist, or miniature paintings. And the list is endless. A good culture and hence a good society can only be built around beautiful art.
Authors
Nikita Nagaraj
Abhinav Pathak
Abhinav's Blog 