NAME : Dr .

LATA SURENDRA
(INDIA)
TITLE OF PRESENTATION :
ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS THROUGH THE TEMPLE ART
FORM OF BHARATA NATYAM .

INTRODUCTION:

In this material world, we are tiny specks in an unfolding evolutionary process

of life. In our struggle to establish our innate identity, we are incessantly seeking
to sieve a cosmos from a chaos. We are constantly striving to distil the essential
meaning sifted from a physiological, philosophical and psychological journey; a
journey, kindling our awareness and striving to elevate our lives from the
mundane levels of survival to the sublime. Here is an awareness that opens our
eyes to the dualistic aspect of a changing environment around us. Today, more
than ever, we are increasingly aware of the environment as the generator of life.
The didactic aim of the performing art of Bharata Natyam engenders this
awareness in a sensitive manner so as to motivate the onlookers to issues vital to
mankind at large!
1. THE DANCE FORM & THE DUALITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT

What exactly constitutes this environment? Environment is the surrounding

atmosphere; it is an essential natural processor, an outcome of any occurence
engendering conditions essential for our existence.

There are two different environments juxtaposed incessantly against each other;
one that is positive and the other that is negative. Life forms that are conditioned
to thrive, prevail in both envionments. What is vital to understand is that these
negative and positive factors are the life-cycles that constitute an environment.

Each element in the life cycle, possesses a duality that can generate or
degenerate life. Water is vital to life and it can also take life through natural
calamities .Sunlight is vital to life and yet, excessive heat could also take lives.
Global warming poses alarming threats to the Planet today! Thus, any change in
the balance of the equations in an environment can affect man either in a
positive manner or a negative manner.

Man can also alter or change an inherent environment to a positive or a negative

one by virtue of his practice. Positive thinkers motivate humanity whilst negative
thinkers adversely finish humanity. Deforestation, pollution at all levels is
negative environment for us.  Awareness of this is endorsed in the literature around
the world by great pens in varying streams of life through a variety of ways.

However, it is only the didactic medium of the Performing arts that can effectively
convey any significant message in the shortest duration of time possible. An epoch
can be condensed in the shortest of Time span, pages of history can be brought to
life, lyrics can be visually woven in the syntax of the art form, to enlarge the higher
pressing Truths of Society at large!

The Temple art form of Bharata Natyam, with its lyrical content derived
from the Great Indian Epics, Puranas, mythologies, the works of great saints
and sages etc has always endorsed and awakened Man to the morality of life
sieved through the tussle of the positive and negative!
 The dance form elucidates allegorically, the pining of the individual soul for
harmony by seeking to merge with the universal soul. If, on a physiological level
‘dust returneth to dust’, on a moralistic level, righteous deeds beget righteous
results for humanity at large! . Thus, if the Ten incarnations depict the stages of
man’s evolution in life on one level, it also endorses the ethical path of Dharma or
righteouness, wherein life cycles are saved through the incarnation of Providence,
enframing various levels of evolution. In the dance of the created beings and in the
elemental symphony of the environment, Providence is venerated as the cause of
all causes and the effect of all effects. This is brought out through the dance form
of Bharata Natyam as a solo performance or even as a fusion with other dance
forms . In the ‘Abhinaya Darpana’ (one of the texts related to dance by
Nandikeshwara), it is stipulated that the Dance should elevate the thinking of
the common man and direct him towards elevated levels of thought
engendering a harmony with the universe around him!. The temple art form
strives to do this through

 The Symbolism Within its .Symmetry

 The lyrical content and Its Interpretation
 The Animal symbolism Of The Dance
 2. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE DANCE

Bharata Natyam is considered to be a ‘fire Dance’- the mystic manifestation

of the metaphysical element of fire in the human body.
The movements of an authentic Bharata Natyam dancer resembles the
movement of a dancing flame.

The hand positions in Bharata Natyam usually frame the body in

symmetrical lines. They include positions stretched above the head,
through the positions around the body, to positions in which the hands are
stretched downwards. The symmetrical patterns formed around the body of
the dancer convey the relationship between the dancer and the universe
around her. The dancer sieves a symmetry through the harmony
established from relating to the five elements around her.

The five elements (Paµca-Mah¡bh£ta ) are Earth-Prithvi, Water-jal, Fire-agni,

Air- Vayu, Ether- Akasha. It is said that an artist is one who has the
knowledge of the Circle and the line. The elements constituting the
Universe affect all spheres of life and activity whether consciously or
unconsciously assumed. No artistic activity can take place without the
involvement of the five elements.
This could be understood better with a diagram that relates the elements
and their flow around us.
 The fullness of the Universe is represented by a circle and its epicentre
is the ‘bindu’- the Marman. A cosmos has to be sieved from a chaos to
achieve that harmony vital to life . Any creation for that matter has to deal
with the differentiation of orderliness from unorderliness because creation
has to do with differentiation!. Thus the lines having a symbolic value and
an inherent dynamism corresponding to the element they represent and
serve to differentiate the undivided totality through a symbolic recreation of
the physical and metaphysical creation of the universe.

The symbolic recreation of a creation arising through the five elements is

depicted as a circle divided by two central lines. The vertical line is the
fire-line or the agnirekhi’. The horizontal line is the water-line or
‘aprekhi’. The nature of fire is in rising upward and the nature of water in
creating a horizontal surface to flow as does a river. The diagonal lines
have nature of the wind, expressing movement and dynamism. The
element Earth or Prithvi is depicted as a square or a rhombus inscribed
within the circle and symbolizing the Universe. The element Akasa or ether
is invisible and all-pervading and hence is not depicted by any form. It is
within akasa that all these stipulated forms emerge.
All the elements are constantly interacting with each other and out of these
interactions comes the duality in the environment around us. Thus from an
interaction of wind and water -- bubbles , waves, tsunamis can arise.
Similarly with wind or air interacting with fire, the fire can be constructive or
destructive as instead of moving vertically it can spread in multiple
directions. Hence wind alone is invisible unless it comes in contact with
water . The basis for all these is the earth represented by a rhombus or a
square which is divided into cross sections by the central, vertical and
horizontal lines into four continents.

The opposing elements of water and fire play an important part in the
Temple rituals. Their geometric extensions too are significant. The triangle
with the apex above is fire and the triangle with the apex below is water.
The combination of both is a hexagram vital to all Yantras and malas. On a
cosmic plane fire and water are opposing elements . They are eternally
conflicting with each other being mutually destructive. However it is the
union of these opposites that can make man transcend the limitations of
earthly life.

The dancer is aware of these elements and their dualistic aspects.

Each element has a distinctive characteristic that is to say one that is
perishable and the other which is eternal.

Earth (Prithvi), has the characteristic of touch and smell. At the same time
it is eternal (nitya) in the level of atoms (Paramanu) and perishable (anitya)
at the animate and inanimate levels of matter. Thus Jiva or life is perishable
but atoms get disintegrated to its original form which is eternal whether we
bury or burn a body!.

Water or jal has characteristic of being eternal in the shape of atoms and
and perishable at different levels of its ‘Karya ‘ or work. The river, pond, sea
is perishable . The sea water evaporates to the sky, then from moisture-
laden clouds comes down as rain. The eternal atoms in the water is only
changing the nature of its work and what we perceive through our senses is
its perishable form. We can touch it to feel and taste it as well.

The third element is Air or Vayu. It has like water and earth, two levels
that is, the eternal atom and the perishable Karya or work . One can feel
the air we breathe in and out. One can feel the breeze upon us but these
are temporary and air on an eternal level is perennial.

Fire or agni is the fourth element. It has eternal and perishable elements.
The essential quality of fire is to generate heat. According to hindu
mythologies, agni is one of the eight guardians ( ashta-dik palakas) of our
universe and is in the south-east.There are four fires, fire of the sky, of the
earth, of the stomach, and the domestic fires.

Then comes Ether (Akasha); This has only one character and that is of
being eternal. Ether is the carrier of sound and it is the only eternal
element . Great sages have meditated upon it. The primordial mantra
‘AUM’ is vital to the harmony in the Universe outside as also within man.

Like Ether, TIME or KALA is the cause of all actions leading to the interactions of
elements –constructive or destructive.

Direction or Dhiku are part of space wherein North, south, east or west remain
eternal no matter whatever changes are happening in the universe around.

Soul or Atman is related with the knowledge system of man as Jeevatman

(Individual soul) and the eternal knowledge of God or Paramatman

( Omnipotent universal soul).

The last or the Mind (Manas) is the sense organ or path to experience the world
eternally or otherwise.

The temple Art form allegorically seeks to describe the void in the individual
soul or (Jeevatman) in its being distanced from the (Paramatman ) or the
universal soul. The awareness or the Manas of the Rasikas or viewers is
awakened through the pure Dance or NRITTA which is the heart of the dance
style and mime or Abhinaya which is the soul of the dance, bringing to life the
lyrics set to music indicative of varying moods in the creative venture.

It is precisely on account of this that the basic steps of the dance are codified
in a manner to achieve self-control rather than physical control awakening the
vision of both the dancer and the audience from the realms of the particular to
the universal.
The Human body is thought of as mass that can be divided along a central
median. All the movements that are resulting are deflections from this central
median. Bharata natyam conceives of these movements in space as
Straight lines or as triangles.
The head forms the first unit and lateral movements of the head are common. The torso is
seen as another unit and is hardly ever broken up into the upper and lower torso. The
lower limbs are seen as either straight lines or two sides of an imaginary triangle in space.
The upper limbs either follow geometric patterns in terms of diagonals, straight lines,
circles semi/quarter circles along different planes in space sieving a visual harmony. The
totality is given a strong framework by the triangular positions of the lower limbs lending
unto the dance its characteristic form and structure. In Bharata natyam, as in most other
Indian classical Dances, the body weight is pressed down to the floor unlike in Ballet where
one raises the body above the floor and the joints and muscles dictate the movement. In
BharataNatyam, the neck, shoulder, elbow, wrist, waist, knee, ankles, eyes, eyebrows, lips,
cheeks that is to say the minor , major limbs and the core of the dancer ( that are
distinctively called Angas, Upangas and prathyangas ) are involved in a particular
movement of the dancer.
The disciples are thus trained with the aim of gaining self-control more than
physical control. The execution of hastas and mudras have a considerable
psycho-physical effect upon the cerebral cortex as they accord a stimulation of
acupuncture points on fingers making the agni-chakras more active. The semi-
sitting positions relieves the entire nervous system. Herein the two principles
inherent in the universe ( Male or Purusha and female or Prakruti )are cohesively
balanced. The symbol of the male and female energies can be represented by an
imaginary line between the knee- positions. The triangle with the apex upward
is the male and the other with Top downwards is the female principle. Hence the
basic posture or ardhamandalam engenders a bio-energetic harmony.

The body sheds its ‘bodiness’ to relate to the Oneness in the universe around
thereby defeating the corporeal element in our consciousness. A dancer’s ego
liberates itself from the material world and strives to blend with the cosmic dance
of the universe. What we see and perceive in the material world through our
five senses is matter. But what we have to understand is that dance exists in
the form of vibrations even in atoms. The whole universe is filled with dance.
The whole universe in fact is a manifestation of Lord Shiva.
3. THE LYRICAL CONTENT & ITS INTERPRETAION

The Dance form originated from the Natyaveda or the fifth veda. Bharata’s
Natya shastra (Manual of Dramatic Arts in sanskrit containing 6000sutras),
(200 BC) comparable to the Poetics of Aristotle, testifies that all knowledge is
due to the scribe Brahma who also created the Natyaveda –the fifth Veda
containing the arts of Drama & Dance to be practised by everyone.
The Vedas compiled by Vyasa Krishna Dwaipayana (1500 BC), are probably the
earliest documents of the human mind. The general assumption is that“Veda”
means wisdom, knowledge or vision. The four Vedas that is -the Rig Veda, Sama
Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda are the primary texts of Hinduism. contain
spiritual knowledge encompassing all aspects of our life and are considered as the
earliest literary record of Indo-Aryan civilization, and the most sacred books of
India. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.
Traditionally the text of the Vedas was coeval with the universe.

The Natyashastra claims that all Drama originated because of the conflicts in
the Society when the world declined from harmony and therefore a Dance or
Drama should represent the conflict and its resolution. Thus the visual arts had
a primary didactic aim to reach out to mankind and resolve to elevate life .
Today, in the transition of the dance from the Temple and Stage to mobile
platforms, Classical Dancers who are creative , seek to reach out to the
audience at large with the potency of their chosen dance form , to visually
recreate the conflicting contemporary issues so as to engender an awareness
vital to erase the surfacing flux of life around.

The dance choreographer has to have an awareness of the mathematics of the

Music related to the dance idiom, the unfolding symphonies of life around , its
sepulchral immensity, its profound philosophy encompassed in
Mythologies,Puranas and Great epics. She has to be sensitive to the
compositions of great Poets, Sages , Saints and Acharyas, and writers around
her. There is no denying the fact that Hinduism has always been a philosophy
that is environmentally sensitive. The Mahabharata, Ramayana, Vedas,
Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Puranas and Smriti contains the earliest didactic
messages endorsing ecological and environmental balance. Bharata Natyam
visually brings to life the encushioned lyrics in the great works; enframing
them within the syntax of the dance form. What the dancer seeks to establish is
the recognition of divinity prevailing in all elements, including plants and
animals. All material manifestations around are portrayed as a shadow of the
spiritual. Ecology therefore is pivotal to the spiritual world the dancer is
constantly drawing the viewers attention to it. The Dance thereby becomes a
medium of communicating its enormity to the audience. Awareness of the
syntax of the dance, facilitates a dancer to go beyond the curtain of illusion
separating her and the audience and to unfold the inherent message in a
given Productive venture.

Thus the dancer brings to life visually that which has inspired a pen to etch
verses in time for all times!. The dancer interprets the lyrics with the help of
a language of gestures called hastas and mudras as stipulated in
Bharatamuni’s Natyashastra or Abhinayadarpana by Nandikeswara. The solo
repertoire of a traditional secular Bharatanatyam consists of (a MARGAM ) about
seven items embracing the pure dance and mimetic aspect of the dance. The format
has a unique architectural conception.
The significance of this traditional pattern from an aesthetic point of view is very
interesting.
The invocatory item (Alarippu), based on rhythm brings out the elements of pure
dance and her control of the minor and major limbs. The structured movements of
the Alarippu gives the onlooker a feel of walking into the
Gopuram (outer hall ) of a temple.
The jathiswaram that follows has pure dance patterns woven to melody. melody
has a greater power to stir the awareness of man sensitively and the vocalist and
the supportive orchestra has to compliment the dancer in creating the ambience of
walking into the half-way hall of a temple.!
Sabdam : Herein the introduction to compositions begin. The mimetic aspect of
the dance comes to the forefront wherein gestures and moods compliment and
bring to life the meanings and essence of the lyrics penned by a composer. It
carries the onlooker to a different level and gives the feel of having entered the
Mandapam or the great hall of a temple !
Varnam: Herein you have the merging of pure dance (nritta), Expressional dance
(Nritya) and the damatic aspect of the dance (natya). The colour that comes with
the merging of these elements of the dance highlights the allegory of the Dancer
(individual Soul) or the Jeevatman seeking to merge with the Paramatman ( the
universal Soul ). Varnam is the Continuum of the Temple and in the dancer’s
capacity of elaborating the essence of the lyrics the viewers are carried to the
expansive vastness and universality beyond. The Catharsis engendered is not
exclusive therefore to the dancer alone but embraces the audience as well!.
The Padams that follow urges the viewers to a profound journey within and it is
like entering the inner sanctum of a temple from its ebullient corridors
outside. The calculations and equations and the mathematical variety of a varnam
and its complexity like the ebb-tide of life now gives way to the realms of the soul
wherein Abhinaya (expressions) are given predominance. Bringing to life of a
padam is like sharing that closeness with the idol in the altar. A silent communion
that has words trailing far behind with the soul surrendering to the divine
oneness and harmony of the universe, epitomized in the universality and epicenter
that is Providence.
The Thillana is like the final invocation of the idol with camphor and bells
within the temple. It visually highlights the invocation of the lord within the
temple of our hearts! The Thillana highlights the absolute joy of merging with
Paramatman or the Universal soul who is the epicentre of all symmetry in the
Universe, symbolically represented earlier as marman . Thus the entire repertoire
enframes the profound belief of ‘Aham Brahmasmyam’ - that which is within is
the microcosm of a macroscopic world and the viewers now are like devotees who
take to their hearts the Providence they have been glorifying outside!
Hence the entire repertoire is the symbolism of a meaningful moving inwards
into the epicentre or Marman that is to say distilling a cosmos out of the
diversifying chaos outside! Artistic creation therefore like cosmic creation is
like ordering a chaotic material. Cosmic elements are the foundation blocks of
the creativity in Art!

.  

4. ANIMAL SYMBOLISM IN THE TEMPLE ART FORM

Bharata Natyam through its all absorbing syntax, its elevating structure , its deep
Philosophy unfolds through technique and representation the absolute awakening
of the Jeevatman or the individual soul. The pantheon of Gods are
venerated and eulogized in every composition and the dance is the potent medium
of elucidating the intense reaching out towards them. The longing for
enlightenment is depicted through Bhakti or devotion. Hindu philosophy has
always endorsed the sacredness of all forms of life. Every action begets a
reaction and the karma cycle affects each being evident in the place accorded
unto each in the symbiotic chain of life and environment.
The present environmental crisis definitely needs a spiritual response.
It necessitates the motivation of man’s awareness and redirection of his
consciousness into actions coupled with commitment. The best way to do it is to
regenerate these values through the Arts thereby bringing to life the values of
texts and facilitating an easy awareness through the visual impact of the spoken,
written and delineated word! . The Puranic texts of Indian literature has
always stipulated compassion towards environment and sub-human terrains
of life. The dancer therefore leads the audience to a journey into the conscious
awareness of the Ultimate by aligning them in a subtle way to the variety of
manifest forces in the illusory and transient world around.
In fact the Classical dancer/dancers commences and concludes any recital
with the Bhoomi vandana, (granting obeisance to the Earth) where upon she asks
pardon for the varying time-measures she would be relentlessly and forcefully
etching upon her. In fact the Vedas contain a beautiful hymn endorsing its
significance:
“O Goddess Earth, the consort of Vishnu,
whose garments are the oceans,
whose ornaments are the hills and mountain ranges,
Please forgive me as I walk on you this day”

All through the repertoire , the Dancer draws upon analogies with nature. Her pain
in being separated from her Lord is reflected in nature all around. Her love for the
Paramatman (universal soul) is endorsed by sensitively relating its pristine purity
to everything in the manifest world. Her joy is reflected a million times over in the
dance of the created beings. The Omnipotent God is visualized as the Creator,
Preserver, Destroyer in order to engender creation and its cyclic regeneration.
The dancer sees divinity in all living creatures.This is evident because in the
Hindu mythology all creatures are exalted. Animals therefore occupy an important
place in Hindu Dharma. Animals are depicted as forms of transport or the mounts
of various Gods and Goddesses. Thus, depending on the composition and the Gods
or Goddesses being eulogized by the saints, Poets or Composers, the Dancer
symbolically depicts the God by virtue of his mount.. This alignment and
binding with divinity in a way ensures and engenders reverence and
protection of the created animals/ birds around vital to the Ecosystem. Each
animal or bird is depicted as complimenting the forces or elements that the
Gods controlled. Thus to enumerate a few:
Aditya (Sun)- seven horses
Agni (Fire) - the ram
Brahma - seven swans
Durga - the lion
Ganesha - the mouse
Indra - the elephant
Kartikya - the peacock
Lakshmi - the owl
Goddess Saraswati's vehicle, the graceful and beautiful peacock denotes that she is
the controller of the pursuit of performing arts. Vishnu sits on the primal serpent,
which represents the desire of consciousness in humankind. Shiva rides the Nandi
bull, which stands for the brute and blind power, as well as the unbridled sexual
energy in man - the qualities only he can help us control. His consort Parvati,
Durga or Kali rides on a lion, which symbolizes mercilessness, anger and pride -
vices she can help her devotees check. Ganesha's carrier, a mouse represents the
timidity and nervousness that overwhelm us at the onset of any new venture -
feelings that can be overcome by the blessings of Ganesha.
The ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu also depict his supremacy over the varying
elements as follows:
Matsya (Fish) (supremacy over water)
Koorma (Tortoise ) (supremacy over land and water)
Varaha (Boar) (Supremacy over land or Earth by saving her )
Narasimha (halfman-half Lion) (supremacy over earth and sky)
Vaaman (Dwarf ) ( Supremacy over all elements)
Parasurama (vanquisher of evil on earth and saviour of the downtrodden)
Rama (the Perfect Man )
Balarama ( the agriculturist)
Budha (Saviour of animals in preaching Ahimsa )
Kalki the Tenth yet to emerge on Doomsday when the equation of the elements
change to an absolutely negative environment

We perceive of the creative power in the Universe as manifesting through Polarity

–as masculine or feminine and this same creative power lives in all people and
functions through interaction of the Masculine (Purusha) and feminine (Prakruti).
Thus the Goddess cannot exist without the God and both are vital for Creation .
Neither can be accorded greater value for both have unique roles in the creative
cycle of life.. Therefore, the dancer has a fund of symbolism and literature to
delve into, comprehend and delineate. Bharata Natyam therefore unfolds the
manifestation of the eternal Universe through the celebration of the body as a
temple. Its awareness of the Creator, the Creation and its Sustenance is etched in
the effulgent form of Lord Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of Dance ) with his dance
endorsing five-old activities vital for ecological balance.
In the embodiment of Lord Shiva is evident, the innate didactic aim of the dance, drawing
attention to the elemental activity of creation!. The dumaroo on the right hand denotes
vibrations that form the prelude to all creation or shrishti. His matted locks with the Ganga
flowing is representative of the entire ecosystem with Mountain ranges and rivers
originating from them as streams of life! The serpents around his neck and his blue tinted
throat on account of the poison he drank, saving the universe from anhilation, enframes his
activity of sthithi (preservation and sustaining of life) and his Trident and his attire of
leopard skin symbolically represents destruction (samhara) and his identity with all
creatures in the animal kingdom. His form with Parvati as his consort enframes the
complete oneness of male (purusha) and female energy (prakruti ) vital for creation
weaves illusion (Tirobhara) misleading the demonic and His necklace of Rudraksha-
(Elaeocarpus spp) endorse his oneness with the forests and sacred groves and his stance as
the savior of mankind and his devotees according grace or Anugraha (salvation) unto
them. Thus in his form of Lord Nataraja and in Ananda Tandavam (the dance celebrating
life and engendering the vibrations that form a prelude to all activity in the Universe), he is
the manifestation of eternal energy of electrons perennially involved in the above
mentioned five-fold activities .His foot rests upon the dwarfish body of the demon apasmara
purusha or (Muyalaka representing ignorance). Thus, with his body smeared with holy ash
depicting the negation of all ego, he dances within the golden temple of the devotees heart
(Chid) negated of all illusions and negativity!
The allegory of the dance therefore necessitates the preaching of Dharma
(ecological balance). It truly awakens the audience to the fact that nature
cannot be destroyed without mankind also being destroyed.
 5. CONCLUSION
Long centuries of rampant exploitation of the resources of our
planet, the absolute rat-race in the materialistic world and the
desecration of the word at all levels, has created an alarmingly
negative environment around us. It is time we awakened to the
nightmare looming upon us and awaiting us- in the wings of
Time!. Do we need to wait until the Zero-hour to gather
ourselves as one race; going beyond caste, creed religion to save
ourselves from the pathetic struggles of survival taking
precedence over the lofty realms of spirituality??. Can we not
awaken to the concept of ‘One Universe and One Family’-
VASUDEVA KUTUMBAM , before it is too late???.
It is said in the scriptures that ‘God sleeps in the rocks, dreams
in the plants, stirs towards wakefulness in the animals and in
mankind is awake as wisdom…’
Indeed, as humans, all of us are blessed with a choice that could
be sieved through this wisdom . Let us lift our minds from the
realms of the particular to the universal and reach out to the
ultimate path of Dharma or righteousness ,to sieve an order out
of all chaotic interjections; to weave a cosmos amidst an
impending chaos and partake of the pristine stream of life
flowing by us, around us and….within us~
I conclude with beautiful lines penned by Gurudev Rabindranath
Tagore:
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world and
dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my pride
is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

References:
* Swami B.V Tripurari -Ancient Wisdom for Modern Ignorance
*Kapila Vatsyayan –Indian Classical Dance, 1974
*Alice Boner- Analysisin Principles of Compositions in Hindu Sculpture, Cave temple Period,
Delhi (Motilal Banarsidass) 1990
* Marg Publications
* Gurudev Shri Rabindranath Tagore-Geetanjali

*Natyasastra of Bharatamuni (Translated by a Board Of Scholars)

*Nandikeshwara-AbhinayaDarpana
*Holy Bhagavad gita-translated by His holiness , Bhakti Vedanta Srila Prabhupada