The Hastalakshanadipika has two hundred and forty-seven lines. It is divided into two parts, except for Manuscript C which is unique because it contains a third part. This third part is included in this edition but is separated from the first two parts chosen for inclusion because it deals with the chanting of verses in the kutiyattam and not with the gesture system.
Part One contains a hundred and seventy-seven lines. After an opening verse saluting Sri Ganapati and Sri Krishna, lines three through ten list the twenty four hasta (literally, “hand gesture”), the gestural “alphabet” of the sign system. Lines eleven through one hundred and seventy-seven take the hasta, one at a time, first describing how the gesture is formed and then listing meanings which it signifies, in each case beginning with hasta meanings to be executed with both hands (samyukta) followed by those to be executed by only one hand (asamyukta).
Throughout the text, the word hasta is used interchangably to denote the hand alphabet as well as the gesture meanings associated with it. Unfortunately, like its famous predecessors, the Natyasastra and the Abhinayadarpana, it does not describe the necessary movement patterns for conveying each gesture meaning. And so, like a bizarre cookbook, it lists only the ingredients and neglects to provide the baker with the recipes!
Part Two is divided into two subsections with a total of sixty-nine lines. Lines one hundred and seventy-eight through two hundred and seven list pairs of gesture meanings which are executed with the same gesture (samana), as well as three gesture meanings which are executed in an identical way.
The second subsection beginning with line two hundred and eight lists meanings which are to be executed with a mixed (misra) alphabet, that is, in which there is a different hasta for each hand. For example, line two hundred and eight lists five meanings which are to be executed with kataka hasta in one hand and mushti hasta in the other.
The work concludes rather abruptly and unceremoniously with line two hundred and forty-seven. Manuscript C contains an additional forty lines.
Organization of the Hastalakshanadipika
The Hastalakshanadipika has two hundred and forty-seven lines. It is divided into two parts, except for Manuscript C which is unique because it contains a third part. This third part is included in this edition but is separated from the first two parts chosen for inclusion because it deals with the chanting of verses in the kutiyattam and not with the gesture system.
Part One contains a hundred and seventy-seven lines. After an opening verse saluting Sri Ganapati and Sri Krishna, lines three through ten list the twenty four hasta (literally, “hand gesture”), the gestural “alphabet” of the sign system. Lines eleven through one hundred and seventy-seven take the hasta, one at a time, first describing how the gesture is formed and then listing meanings which it signifies, in each case beginning with hasta meanings to be executed with both hands (samyukta) followed by those to be executed by only one hand (asamyukta).
Throughout the text, the word hasta is used interchangably to denote the hand alphabet as well as the gesture meanings associated with it. Unfortunately, like its famous predecessors, the Natyasastra and the Abhinayadarpana, it does not describe the necessary movement patterns for conveying each gesture meaning. And so, like a bizarre cookbook, it lists only the ingredients and neglects to provide the baker with the recipes!
Part Two is divided into two subsections with a total of sixty-nine lines. Lines one hundred and seventy-eight through two hundred and seven list pairs of gesture meanings which are executed with the same gesture (samana), as well as three gesture meanings which are executed in an identical way.
The second subsection beginning with line two hundred and eight lists meanings which are to be executed with a mixed (misra) alphabet, that is, in which there is a different hasta for each hand. For example, line two hundred and eight lists five meanings which are to be executed with kataka hasta in one hand and mushti hasta in the other.
The work concludes rather abruptly and unceremoniously with line two hundred and forty-seven. Manuscript C contains an additional forty lines.