Introduction to the Vedic Art and Culture (64 Kalas/Art Forms)

Vedic Culture is full of life and inquisitiveness which provokes a person to experience the true nature of his/her existence and then exhibit that through his/her own selected Kala(s). Culture is an umbrella term that encompasses the social behavior and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.

The Wheel of Konark Sun Temple

Q. What is the technical definition of Culture?

A. Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music, and arts. The Center for Advance Research on Language Acquisition(University of Minnesota) goes a step further, defining culture as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs, and understanding that are learned by socialization. Thus, it can be seen as the growth of a group identity fostered by social patterns unique to the group. 

"Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music, what we believe is right or wrong, how we sit at the table, how we greet visitors, how we behave with loved ones, and a million other things," Cristina De Rossi, an anthropologist at Barnet and Southgate College in London.

The word "Culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin "Colere" which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture. "It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth," De Rossi said.

** This Definition and Explanation of it is credited to livescience.com.

Now let's move to the Vedic definition of Culture. Culture is an English word, in the Sanskrit and Hindi and in Bengali Languages the word "Samskriti" is used to identify the concept of Culture, which is a word to describe a collection of different forms of Arts which ultimately developed by Humans for Humans to celebrate and express the capabilities, achievements, understandings, and experiences about Life and Fundamental Nature of Truth and Reality.

If I use the mathematical term to explain the above idea then the word "Samskriti" is the name of a Set and different forms of Arts are its elements. For those who don't have any idea about Sets they please click on this provided link to have that:- Introduction to Sets and Venn Diagram .

The word "Samskriti" is made by two different words one "Sams" which is an indicative word and it means "Egalitarianism" but in a simple sense it means "Togetherness" and the second word is "Kriti" which means "Act of Creation". This "Samskriti" word has the Feminine gender when we combine both these words then Samskriti word born which simply means "Egalitarianism in the Act of Creation". Vedic Samskriti is full of Darshan and lifestyle. Let me first describe the list of the Art forms then I will describe. In the Vedic Samskriti, there are 64 Kalas which are called "Choushat Kala". The word "Choushat" means "64(Sixty Four)" and Kala means "Art Form/Performing Art". The List of these Art forms are...

1. Geet vidya: Art of Singing.
2. Vadya vidya: Art of Playing musical instruments.
3. Nritya vidya: Art of Dancing.
4. Natya vidya: Art of Theatricals.
5. Alekhya vidya: Art of Painting.
6. Viseshakacchedya vidya: Art of Make up.
7. Tandula kusuma bali vikara: Art of preparing different designs on the floor with rice powder and colorful flowers. There is a Sanskrit word called "Alimpana" which means "To Coat with" from there a word appeared which is "Alpona" which is another name for this Art. Both in Sanskrit and in Bengali languages this word is still used in people even in their daily conversations.
8. Pushpastarana: Making the covering of flowers for the bed or for a surface, like decorating Car or Hall for Party, etc.
9. Dasana-vasananga-raga: Applying preparations for cleansing cloths, in the simple term "Laundry".  
10. Mani bhumika karma: The Art of inlaying gems into pavements or floorings, in the simple term "Mosaic work".
11. Sayya racana: Covering the bed or Preparing the bed for sleep.
12. Udaka vadya: Playing on music in water.
13. Udaka ghata: Creating music by splashing water.
14. Citra yoga: Art of mixing of different colors to create a new color.
15. Malya grathana vikalpa: Designing a preparation of wreaths.
16. Sekharapida yojana: Practically setting the coronet on the head.
17. Nepathya yoga: An Art of Dressing sense according to the situation and place.
18. Karnapatra bhanga: Art of creating holes in the earlobes. In simple term, it is called "Earlobe Piercing".
19. Sugandha yukti: Art of application of aromatics for Spiritual Sadhana or for Foreplay to create the environment as per the need of the situation.
20. Bhushana yojana: Art of choosing of ornaments or accessories as per your dressing.
21. Aindra jala: Art of Juggling. This word also uses for Magic tricks.  
22. Kaucumara:  The art of disguise by using makeup accessories.
23. Hasta laghava: Sleight of hand or in a simple term Dexterity.
24. Citra sakapupa bhakshya vikara kriya: Art of Cooking with attractive plating.
25. Panaka-rasa-ragasava-yojana: Preparing palatable drinks (basically Cocktails) with red color.
26. Suci-vaya-karma: Needleworks and weaving.
27. Sutra-krida: Designing different artistic designs with thread.
28. Vina-damuraka-vadya: Playing on Vina a stringed instrument and small two-headed drum in a rhythmic way.
29. Prahelika: Making and solving riddles.
30. Durvacaka-yoga: A skill of Pronunciation difficult words and statements easily.
31. Pustaka-vacana: Reciting books in a melodious fashion.
32. Natikakhyayika-darsana: Enacting Plays only by Body gestures without any dialogs or voice.
33. Kavya-samasya-purana: Solving enigmatic verses.
34. Pattika-vetra-bana-vikalpa: Designing preparation of shield, cane, and arrows.
35. Tarku-karma: Spinning by the spindle.
36. Takshana: Carpentry.
37. Vastu-vidya: Civil engineering.
38. Raupya-ratna-pariksha: Testing silver and jewels.
39. Dhatu-vada: Metallurgy.
40. Mani-raga jnana: Tinging jewels.
41. Akara jnana: Mineralogy.
42. Vrikshayur-veda-yoga: Practicing medicine or medical treatment, by herbs.
43. Mesha-kukkuta-lavaka-yuddha-vidhi: Knowing the Fighting strategy of lambs, cocks, and birds.
44. Suka-sarika-prapalana (pralapana): Having a good communication skill with convincing power. 
45. Utsadana: Healing or cleaning a person with perfumes.
46. Kesa-marjana-kausala: Decorating Hair by flowers or by colors or having a stylish haircut.
47. Akshara-mushtika-kathana: Art of speaking to a deaf person using finger movement.
48. Mlecchita-kutarka-vikalpah: The art of understanding and writing in cypher, and the writing of words in a peculiar way which is also known as Calligraphy.
49. Desa-bhasha-jnana: Knowing provincial dialects.
50. Puspa-sakatika-nirmiti-jñanam: Knowledge of how to build toys with flowers or flower-like soft things like papers, tree leaves etc.
51. Yantra-matrika: Knowledge of Mechanics or Mechanical Engineering.
52. Dharana-matrka: The knowledge of amulets.
53. Samvacya: Art of communicating in public.
54. Manasi kavya-kriya: Composing verse mentally.
55. Kriya-vikalpa: Art of strategic planning of something.
56. Chalitaka-yog: Art of Bamboozlement.
57. Abhidhana-kosha-cchando-jnana: The knowledge of lexicography and meters.
58. Vastra-gopana: Concealment of cloths.
59. Dyuta-visesha: Knowledge of tricks of gambling to win.
60. Akarsha-krida: Playing with dice in such a way that it ultimately shows the result what the player wants.
61. Balaka-kridanaka: Art of being childish to pamper.
62. Vainayiki vidya: Art of behaving humble or Knowledge of humility.
63. Vaijayiki vidya: Art of gaining victory.
64. Vaitaliki vidya: Awakening someone from sleep at dawn or at any point of time in a day.

 

This is called Patta Painting. A form of folk Indian Painting. In the Image, this is Jagannath Swami

The ranking order of these Kalas (Arts) in which these are mentioned above is not important. According to Vedic Scriptures, each Kala (Artform) has its own individuality and importance, it is impossible to compare these Kalas with each other. But there is a Mantra in the Second Section of Bhrigu Valli (Chapter 3) of Petal 9 of Taittiriya Upanishad. The Mantra is...

"अन्नं ब्रह्मेति व्यजानात्‌। अन्नाद्‌ध्येव खल्विमानि भुतानि जायन्ते। अन्नेन जातानि जीवन्ति। 

अन्नं प्रयन्त्यभिसंविशन्तीति। तद्विज्ञाय।पुनरेव वरुणं पितरमुपससार। अधीहि भगवो ब्रह्मेति।तं होवाच। तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व। तपो ब्रह्मेति।स तपोऽतप्यत। स तपस्तप्त्वा॥" (Mantra Number 1)

Pronunciation:- annaṁ brahmeti vyajānāt | annāddhyeva khalvimāni bhutāni jāyante | annena jātāni jīvanti| annaṁ prayantyabhisaṁviśantīti | tadvijñāya punareva varuṇaṁ pitaramupasasāra | adhīhi bhagavo brahmeti |taṁ hovāca | tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva | tapo brahmeti |sa tapo'tapyata | sa tapastaptvā||

Translation:- He (Bhrigu) knew food for the Brahman. For and from food alone, it appeareth, are these creatures born and being born, and into food, they depart and enter again. And when he had known this, he came again to Varouna his father, and said “Oh! Father, teach me that Brahman.” And his father said to him “By ascesis does thou seek to know that Brahman, for concentration in thought is the Brahman.” He concentrated in thought and by the energy of his brooding.

                                             Like other mantras, this mantra also has three layers of elucidations. which are vast and profound. I will explain that when I will discuss Upanishads specifically Taittiriya Upanishad. But for now, a simple overview, this Mantra tells us that "Annam" which means "Food" is Brahman. For now, in a simple term the word "Brahman" means "Absolute State", this is just a nominal meaning of the word. This mantra tells us that Food represents this Absolute State; Thus from the list of the Kalas, the Kala number 24 which is "Citra sakapupa bhakshya vikara kriya: Art of Cooking with attractive plating", can be ranked as number 1 because of its role in the existence of us, this is my own standpoint and comprehension. I came to this conclusion because Food is the basic yet essential element for our livelihood. There is a proverb in the Hindi Language...

Proverb :- "भूखे पेट भजन न होय गोपाला"

Pronunciation:- "Bhuke Pet Bhajan naa Hoya Gopala"

Translation:- "It is tough to do Bhajan on Empty stomach".

**Bhajan is a type of singing where names of Istha are chanted in a melodious way with a spiritual message or life lesson(s) for people who have gathered in that session of singing. For Example...

Credits:- Maithili Thakur Youtube Channel

Bhajan Name:- सीताराम सीताराम सीताराम कहिए (भजन) 

Singers:- Maithili Thakur, Rishav Thakur, Ayachi Thakur

Now, let's get back to our discussion topic, If anyone looks carefully at the list of the Kalas then he/she would find that all the Kalas are related to livelihood and all these are products of human intelligence to make our own lives joyful and full of polychromatic diversity.

Q. What is polychromatic diversity (Bahuranga Vividhata)?

A. It is a version of diversity that embraces Life itself by the amalgamation of mostly both Creative Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence but sometimes it also uses Logical Intelligence and Intellectual Cognition of the human mind too. Thus this is a product of Human intelligence; so I told above that all the Kalas are products of Human Intelligence.

** This link is for those who don't have any idea of what Diversity is:- "What is Diversity?".

  

In the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam Canto, 12 Chapter number 11 from slokas 1 to 30 a list of 64 Kalas are mentioned. Those are as follows...

Pingalâksî, Vis’âlâksî, Samriddhi, Vriddhi, S’raddhâ, Swâhâ, Svadhâ, Mâyâ, Sañgñâ, Vasundharâ, Trîlokadhâtrî, Sâvitrî, Gâyatrî, Tridas’es’vsrî, Surûpâ, Bahurûpâ, Skandamâtâ, Achyutapriyâ, Vimalâ, Amalâ, Arunî, Ârunî, Prakriti, Vikriti, S’rîsti, Sthiti, Samrhiti, Sandhyâ, Mâtâ, Satî, Hamsî, Mardikâ, Vajrikâ, Parâ, Devamâtâ, Bhagavatî, Devakî, Kamalâsanâ, Trimukhî, Saptamukhî, Surâsura vimardinî, Lambosthî, Ûrdhakes’î, Bahusîrsâ, Vrikodarî Ratharekhâhvayâ, S’as’irekâ, Gaganavegâ, Pavanavegâ, Bhuvanapâlâ, Madanâturâ, Anangâ, Anangamathanâ, Anangamekhalâ, Anangakusumâ, Visvarûpâ, Surâdikâ, Ksayamkarî, Aksyobhyâ, Satyavâdinî, Bahurûpâ, S’uchivratâ, Udârâ and Vâgis’î. These are the sixty four Kalâs.

Now, it seems like both these lists do not match each other. Actually, the list of the Kalas from Srimad Devi Bhagavatam is presented in an inscribed fashion. In Sanskrit, these are called Vibhuti. All these Noun forms (Vishasaya Pada) are names of the different Vibhutis of Param Paratpar Devi Aadhya Adi Parashakti. 

Q. What is Vibhuti?

A. Vibhuti is a set of characteristics and personality traits of a person to accomplish a predefined goal.

For Example Skandamata, this word is made by two words 1. Skanda which means "Part/Section" and 2. Mata which means "Mother". It is a Vibhuti of Devi who takes care of her infant baby. The word "Skanda" indicates the infant baby. When a woman got pregnant and delivered the baby that the woman has to develop few characteristics (whether she likes it or not) within her, like Breastfeeding, Creating Emotional contacts with the baby by touching the baby, and talking to the baby in the endearment ways, try to maintain a positive atmosphere within the house, etc. This set of characteristics is not the part of that woman, she has to adopt all these within her either from external sources like from her own mother or from her internal self cognizance. Devi Parvati had perfectly portrayed these characteristics within her, thus she was also known by this name, and her elder son Kartikeya known as Skanda. Here, we have to remember one thing, the characteristics are not fixed or static in nature rather it is dynamic and diverse; it changes as per the demand of the situation. Sometimes as a Mother a woman needs to let go of her son/daughter to a distant place for the betterment or for the safety of her child or children; like Devi Parvati did, after the birth of her first son Kartikeya. She handed over her child to Kritikas for the safety of the Kartika, because during this phrase an evil persona named Tarkasura had been trying to kill Kartikeya because Tarkasura had a boon that only Mahakal's Son was able to kill him.

So, these are also Kalas but not the Kalas which are related to the Art and Culture of Vedic Civilization. In the domain of Vedic Civilization, there are two kinds of Choushat Kalas (64 forms of Arts) One which is known as Choushat Kala (64 Forms of Arts) or Mul Choushat Kala (Primary 64 Forms of Arts), and Second which is known as Vishasa Choushat Kala (Special 64 Forms of Arts).  The list which is mentioned in the Srimad Devi Bhagavatam is fit for this Vishasa Choushat Kala section. Now, A question arises here...

Q. Why are these Kalas known as Vishasa Choushat Kala?

A. These Kalas are recognized by this phrase because all these Kalas are actually a set of characteristics and personality traits of Women that can not be taught to women even if a woman wants that to teach these to other women. All these Kalas have to learn by women all by themselves. The Teaching methodology does not work in this system. I will explain each of these Kalas in future Articles.

For Example: Consider the "Skandamata", a woman has to learn these characteristics on her own effort using her self-awareness, no one can teach her these. Since the beginning of Human Civilization, this trend has been following throughout the globe.       

If we look carefully, at the Mul Choushat Kala list then there are few Kalas that have potentiality in them, which can create controversy. Like...

• Kala number 56, which is "Chalitaka yog/Art of Bamboozlement". 
• Kala number 60, which is "Akarsha krida/Playing with dice in such a way that it ultimately shows the result what the player wants". 
• Kala number 23, which is "Hasta laghava/Sleight of hand or in simple term Dexterity". 
• Kala number 22, which is "Kaucumara/The art of disguise by using makeup accessories"

These four Kalas are also equally important. To understand this aspect, we need to look into the Darshan of the Vedic Civilization. Before that, the definition of the word Darshan which I have already mentioned in one of my previous articles, I have provided the link for those who want to read that:- "Rig Vedic civilization chapter 3".

** For the reader's convenience the term "Darshan" is mentioned at the end of that Article.

The primary or the foundational Darshan of Vedic Civilization is "The World is full of diverse stationary principles which have a single characteristic, known as Change". In Sanskrit, this is called "Karma Siddhant/ Tenet of Karmic Cyclical Process". By the phrase "Diverse Stationary Principles" means in this world, different people follow a different set of rules to administer their own society and all those rules are stationary in nature means those rules are made by those people for them as per the eco-system of their zone. But that's not all, these rules will only show best results if and only if it follows within their ambiance but with the flow of time when those rules would start generating negative outcome(s) even within the home ecosystem then the time has arrived when old rules need updating or alteration.

Because of this in "Diverse Stationary Principles", system some specific action or deed consider as good in one zone and bad in another zone. For Example: In Christian theology drinking Wine is considered Good and in Islam, theology drinking Wine is considered Bad or rather Haram. As we can see these are the theological ideology of both these religious systems, it is an individual perspective of these two religious systems to behold Wine. In reality, the Wine is neither Good nor Bad, it is a liquid fermented drink, if anyone consumes it within his or her limits then it is good, it will generate health benefits like it can help protect against heart disease and harmful inflammation because it has antioxidants in it but if anyone overtakes his/her own limits then this same wine will generate health issues like damaging liver and kidneys, etc. Same with these Kalas also, the intension of the person who is executing these Kalas that can be evil or virtuous but not the Kalas. For Example, consider "Hasta laghava/Sleight of hand or in simple term Dexterity", it can be seen in big kitchens where top or star rated Chefs chop vegetables using their chef knife. For example... Look at this video...

Credits:- Kunal Kapur Youtube Channel 

Starring:- Kunal Kapur (One of the top Chef in India)

 

But at the same time, if someone uses this Kala to kill someone (Murder) then that is the destructive use of this Kala. "Dexterity" means "skill and ease in using the hands manually", so this Kala includes all those tasks where hand(s) play an important role. Same with the rest of the Kalas. Consider another one "Akarsha krida/Playing with dice in such a way that it ultimately shows the result what the player wants", here, it looks this Kala is talking about "Gambling" and promoting it. In the Vedic culture, there is an epic known as "Jaya" commonly called "Mahabharatam/Mahabharat", in that epic, there is a chapter which is known as "Vastra-Haran Adhaya", where "The Queen of Indraprastra Drupadi was humiliated in front of an assembly of men by taking off her clothes", this is happened because of this "Gambling" and this Kala played a most important role in that gambling session. But this same Kala can help a student to understand a concept from Mathematics, which is known as "Probability". So, in this time also, not the Kala but the intention behind using this Kala provokes the impact of it.

Kalas play a major role in making humans, human. The humanitarian aspect in humans comes from Kalas which ultimately helps humans to build a society with an eco-friendly atmosphere for humans and the rest of the living beings.

Thank You