BACKGROUND OF EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE OF GESTURES IN KERALA'S VEDIC RECITATION STYLE Mudras or hand gestures are used in Indian culture in widely divergent areas ranging from Iconography to dance. The earliest extant description of mudras occur in Bharasta's NS, a text dealing with dance, music and drama from the beginning of the Christian era, but it is likely that they were mentioned half a rnillenium earlier in the Natasutras that existed in Paninis' time. Over the centuries mudras have become a common feature of religious worship in Hinduism, Buddhism and Tantrism. Here the mudra is used as a meduim of communication with the 'Unknown' .With the spread of Indian civilization, they travelled over large parts of Asia. The style of recitation of the Vedas by the Namputiries of Kerala is a clear evidence which underline the tradition of the use of mudr-as in Kerala-theatre. The Namputiries use two sets of mudras:- one to accompany the recitation of Rgveda and the other to accompany the chanting of Samaveda. (It is uncertain where Vedic mudras are older than any of the others). Whatever be their origin, the Vedic mudras could not have resulted from a simple adaptation of other varieties, since they are characterised by a feature that is distinctively Vedic. Unlike other mudrus which represent meaning, Vedic mudras represent sound also.
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BACKGROUND OF EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
OF GESTURES IN KERALA'S VEDIC
RECITATION STYLE
Mudras or hand gestures are used in Indian culture in widely
divergent areas ranging from Iconography to dance. The earliest extant
description of mudras occur in Bharasta's NS, a text dealing with dance,
music and drama from the beginning of the Christian era, but it is likely
that they were mentioned half a rnillenium earlier in the Natasutras
that existed in Paninis' time. Over the centuries m u d r a s have become
a common feature of religious worship in Hinduism, Buddhism and
Tantrism. Here the mudra is used as a meduim of communication with
the 'Unknown' .With the spread of Indian civilization, they travelled over
large parts of Asia.
The style of recitation of the Vedas by the Namputiries of Kerala
is a clear evidence which underline the tradition of the use of mudr-as in
Kerala-theatre. The Namputiries use two sets of m u d r a s : - one to
accompany the recitation of Rgveda and the other to accompany the
chanting of Samaveda. (It is uncertain where Vedic mudras are older than
any of the others) . Whatever be their origin, the Vedic mudras could not
have resulted from a simple adaptation of other varieties, since they
are characterised by a feature that is distinctively Vedic. Unlike other
mudrus which represent meaning, Vedic mudras represent sound also.
MUDRAS OF THE NAMP~TIRI RGVEDA
The rnudriis of the Nampfitiri Rgveda a re not s imple
representations of sound. They are used to represent the ends of words
(pada) in the word-for-word recitation (padapiitha) of Rgveda. Their function
is to disambiguate the text in doubtful places. For example, the continuous
recitation (samhitdp~tha) R.V.3.56.1, na td minnnti has for its pudapcilha
nu/t/tLi/minanti. But the padapctha might have been na/ t&h/minanti. A
ten year old pupil learns the samhitii and padapntha without knowing
Sanskri t grammar and the rules of sandhi . So he is taught the
appropriate mudm, which distinguishes between ta and tah. In other
cases the pupil may have learned the rules of sandhi from practice, but
he does not know which are the words of Sanskrit language and which
are not. According to the modern historical point of view, the padapzfha
is an analysis of the samhitdpiilha, and the latter results from the former.
According to the traditional point of view, the samhita is eternal, and
the padapdtha is one of its modifications (vikdra).
Ambiguity may also be inherent in accentuation. The accents
are expressed by the position of the entire hand (this parallels to some
extent the position of the head, inculcated when the accents were taught
for the first time).
In the movement of head, no distinction is made between the
svarita (the accent immediately following the uddtta) and the pracaya
(the "accumulated" accent of syllables neither immediately following a
svarita nor immediately preceding an udatta). As will be seen from the
descriptions, some of the mudriis correspond to the shape of the mouth
or vocal tract that produces the corresponding sound. For example, the
mudrii for the vowel 'u ' imitates the rounding of the l ips that
characterises its pronounciation. Unlike dance m u d r z s , all Rgvedic
mudrcis are executed b y the right hand only. (If the form of the rnudra is
the same as in Kathakali, this can be noted even though the significance
is always different). This is because the mudrci can indicate different sub-
ject or object which one has accepted according to the content of the
text. The kartarimukha rnudra is common to several persons, like kings.
The pataka i n the samyuta samiina state denotes a king. His name is
indicated by the kartarimukha mudrE. eg. Nala, RugmZngata etc.. Who
the king is to be understood from the context.
Accent
Udatta
Anudgtta
Svarita
Pracaya
Position of the hand
UP
down
up to the right
to the left
LIST OF RG VEDA MUDRAS
I . Hrasvamudra - Mudrd for short (hrasva) syllables. All fingers are
extended in all joints and all fingers except the thumb are i n
apposition with each other.
Eg:-Devdsyd, AS&, Ggygta
2. Mnrdhanyamudrs - Mudra for retroflex (miirdhanya). Consonants,
viz, !a, !ha, da, dha, na, . sa . and la followed by short vowel or e .
R i n g f inger f lexed a t metacarpophalangeal joint and f i r s t
interphalangeal joint, extended at last interphalangeal joint, all
other fingers extended and separated from each other. Hand in
supination.
Eg:- Raksa, ~ r i n i , Aila (RV.10.95.18), Kgne (RV. 10. 155.1) The
same mudrn is used for syllables ending Sya or p a unless they
are accented with svarita. Eg:-Zirusya, K~nusva
For syllables ending with sya or p a and marked with
svarita, the HrasvamudrZ is used. Eg:- Arnu~ya
3. Ghosamudri - Mudrh for unaspirated consonants with a voice
( g h d ~ a ) , viz: gha, jha, dha, dha, bha and ha.
All joints extended except metacarpophalangeal joints
of little, ring and t h e middle fingers which are flexed. Hand in
semipronation.
Eg:- Gha, Adhi, Tustumbha, Abhi, Nahi.
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4. ~ ~ r ~ h a v i s a r ~ a m u d r g - Mudrii for long (dirgha) syllables ending
i n visarga ( h ) , and for syllables ending - na and - ni. The little, ring
and the middle fingers flexed at metacarpophalangeal and first
interphalangeal joints, while the thumb rests on the outer surface
of the middle phalanx of the ring and the middle fingers. Hand
is in pronation, except for sarvanudutta, where it is in supination.