Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c9.7

c9.7

Under Gandharva-veda or music was also cultivated the science of dramaturgy or Nāṭya of which the earliest reference is found in Pāṇini mentioning the dramaturgical texts produced in the Vedic Schools of Śilālin and Kṛiśāśva. The ancient tradition of Śilālin's Naṭa-sūtras was handed down in the School of Bharata. It appears that the above four Upa-Vedas dealing with the practical arts useful for life began to be cultivated originally under the aegis of the Vedic Academies (Caraṇas) with the approval of those very teachers who were occupied with the study of Vedic texts. This healthy tradition gained in strength and popularity in course of time, leading to the independent organisation of Śilpas and allied sciences. The Śrauta-Sūtras and the Jātakas give a vivid picture of the bee-hive activity in the villages by members following different Śilpas who had become organised into local guilds (Śreṇī) mentioned conventionally as 18 (aṭṭhādasa Sippa, Jātaka II. 243). Sippas were of two kinds, superior and inferior (Ukhaṭṭha-Sippa, Hīna-Sippa, Vin. 4.6). Generally the Śilpins received social honour from the people and also from kings and rulers, e. g. we learn of potters being invited by the king to manufacture bricks, big and small cooking utensils required for Yajña (Baudhāyana ŚS, 15.14). A number of other pots and plates and pitchers as well as storage vessels like Kumbha, Kumbhī, Kusūla were manufactured and the potters seem to have had a flourishing trade in ceramics for which a new term Kaulālaka was introduced in the language. From his making vessels of many shapes for storing waters, ghṛita, oil and grains, the potter received the new title of Kumbha-kāra.