Vastu-shastra (Vol. I: Hindu Science of Architecture; Vol. II: Hindu Canons of Iconography and Painting) v2.c74.s2.204

v2.c74.s2.204

Again we know that these ‘Hasta’ poses which are so much talked of, in the manuals on Iconography, really owe their origin to the institutions of dance and drama. Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra treats this subject of ‘Hasta’ poses in relation to the different dancing modes for not only the production of the rhythm, so essential in the art, but also for the conveying of the expressions latent in the physical manifestation of the art. It is the mute expression of some of the noblest and highest ideas of poetry and philosophy on the part of the ‘Naṭa’, the dancer, to bring home to the spectators, the ‘Sabhyas’, the ‘Sahṛdayas’, the ‘apperception’ by means of which they too identify themselves with this apperception leading to the appreciation of the true meaning of the art with all its sentiments, emotions and underlying message.