Preparing for Krishna NOTES AND REFERENCES 1. It is significant in this regard that the taboo against speaking aloud does not prohibit the lower castes from learning Sanskrit. According to Sri L.S. Rajagopalan, a knowledge of certain technical subjects can be acquired only through Sanskrit texts. The carpenter, the ayurvedic doctor, the astrologer, all have to leam a bit of Sanskrit. It is not uncommon for a Nair astrologer to quote profusely from Sanskrit verses while making predictions and assessing planetary positions. Even a carpenter (who is both untouchable and unapproachable) can quote Sanskrit slokas in connection with the building 58 work or repair of a temple. In certain emergencies, he may even be permitted to enter the sanctum sanctorum. However, the priest is obliged to perform a purification ceremony after he leaves. These examples indicate a few exceptions to the rule which assumes that, while access to Sanskrit is permitted to the lower castes, they are prevented from speaking it aloud within the temple premises. 2. A few words about the use of Sanskrit terms in this essay. Wherever possible I have added a few explanatory notes in English. But in the case of complex terms like natyadharmi and lokadharmi, which are generally (and erroneously) translated as 'stylized' and 'realistic' modes of presentation, I believe it is necessary to keep the original Sanskrit terms without providing innaccurate English 'synonyms.' In the course of this essay, which deals extensively with the lokadharmi conventions of Krishnat-tam, I hope it will become dear to the reader that lokadharmi is lokadharmi, not 'realistic', or 'popular', or 'daily^as opposed to the 'extra-daily' representation of natyadharmi, which is 'embellished', 'stylized', and 'formal'). The problem with technical words is their seeming neutrality in print. But in actual performance, what is 'stylized' in one culture may be 'realistic' in another, and vice versa. Therefore, it is imperative to situate these words in their individual performance contexts, and this can be done only when we see these performances in action. It is for this reason that I have preferred to describe Krishnattam rather than explain the performance through quotations from the Natyashastra. In the only complete translation of Bharata's text in English, we read: If a play depends on natural behaviour (in its characters) and is simple and not artificial, and has in its (plot) profession and activities of the people and has (simple acting and) no playful flourish of limbs and depends on men and women of different types, it is called Realistic (lokadharmi). (Natyashas-tra, XIV 62-63, tr. Manmohan Ghosh) I think it is very dear from this literal translation that words like 'simple', 'artifidal', 'natural' are open to many meanings. They could just as well apply to lokadharmi as to nineteenth-century European realism. Only when these words are rooted in a specific performance context (necessarily culture-bound) do they convey a predse meaning and resonance. 3. All quotations to the background narrative of Krishnattam are taken from the prose translation of Krishnagithi by the late V. Subramaniam lyer. Though the translation (as yet unpublished) is literal and occasionally summarizes the padams and slokasm prose, it is the only available text of Krishnagithi in English. I am grateful to Sri L.S. Rajagopalan for reading sections of the original text in Sanskrit and in the authoritative Malayalam translation of Krishnagithi by Sri Elaydth. 4. See Kunjunni Raja's excellent introduction to Koodiyattam published by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. 5. For the finest accounts of the Saranas and Alwars in English, accompanied by pithy translations of their vachanas and lyrics, read A.K. Ramanujan's Speaking of Shiva and Hymns for the Drowning (both volumes published by Penguin). 6. m his cogent presentation Bhakti versus Vibhakti at the Bhakti seminar organized by Dhvanyaloka, Mysore, in May 1987, Ayyappa Paniker elaborated on the 'self-consdous' and 'learned' poetics of Mdppattur Narayana Bhattatiri, as opposed to the selfless, spontaneous lyridsm of Poontanam. 'For Mdppattur, it seems as if bhakti comes as a result of consdous effort and prayer. He sees the Lord 'before him (Agre pasyami), not within himself as Poontanam does.' While the Narayaneeyam is written in the mahakavya tradition, Poontanam's Jnanappana is just a pana or song, where God's name is repeatedly invoked in the namasankirtana tradition with no show of erudition or false piety. 7. For a comprehensive summary of bhakti cults, focusing on 'play' and feminine modes of behaviour, read David Kinsley, The Divine Player: A Study of Krishna Lfla, Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, Chapter 4 'The Play of the Saints'. Journal of Arts & Ideas