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For those who live under the shadow of Veda, don’t really need entertainment. But we have our own Kalaj (Time-bound) limitations. But, does that mean we accept anything and everything in name of entertainment?
I personally consider present day entertainment as dangerous weapon, destroying various shades of Indian society. One new friend asked: Why animosity against entertainers? Anyhow no one take them seriously in life.
Entertainment for mass is not new for our society. Annual Ram-leela for example or all dance forms from various regions.
Central theme of mass-entertainment (As per Natya shashtra) was always to rejuvenate tired minds (due to total commitment to grihasthi) and re-instill principles of dharmic living by audio-visual demonstration. The life-degenerating or life-decaying forces were never glorified. Sickness of mind was shown won and triumphed. Relative goodness win. Sattva and Rajas glorification.(Based on target audience)
Modern entertainment glorifies psychos, sick and decaying factors related human existence. Tamas Glorification.
न तज्ज्ञानं न तच्छिल्पं न सा विद्या न सा कला ।
नासौ योगो न तत्कर्मंनाट्येऽस्मिन् यन्न दृश्यते ।।
कोई ज्ञान, कोई शिल्प, कोई विद्या, कोई कला, कोई योग, कोई कर्म ऐसा नहीं है, जो नाट्य में दिखाई न देता हो।
No Wisdom, No Craftsmanship, No Knowledge of Subject, No Arts, No Yoga, No Work which is not seen in Dance(Natya). – Natya Shastra, 1-116
Our folklores, poems and stories were never written for the sake of providing entertainment. Take any scholastic work beyond Ramayana and Mahabharata, you will find reference to niti shashtra, Ayurved and other terrains of life.
Totally opposite to this purpose, current form of Bollywood is so destructive in nature that it consumes all senses at full throttle and yet there is no benefit produced. Time wasting and life destructive activity. This is the fundamental reason why external sensuality focused Bollywood is useless to society and I will keep opposing it.
What were the circumstances which led to creation of the fifth Veda or Natya Vidhya? And for whom it was created?
When you put yourself as audience with self-analysis mode, you realize certain impact of plays/drama. One of the primary thing we all realize it that any drama brings self-identification with the focus on drama situation. Purpose of drama was to make audience realize through experience 4 purpose of life 1) Dharma 2) Artha 3) Kama 4) Moksha (Modern entertainment does not fulfill this criteria so it is not entertainment but peversion to me)
But why when the 4 Veda(s) already teaches the same?
As per the Natya Shashtra, during treta yuga, gods (Deva) headed by Indra requested Brahma to create play thing which can automatically silently drive humans towards the path of dharma. This was needed because, under the influence of Treta Yuga, majority were with Rajas predominant nature. Since Rajas dominates, life is lived for selfish desires and emotions. They lead to pain and pleasure mixture. Play-thing is for them as a diversion to make them realize dharma. Such diversion was necessary for humanity. For humanity, deviating from right path under the influence of Rajas, it was necessary. This could not be achieved by the instructions of Veda (As majority’s senses are not fit for Vedic recitation).
In short, purpose of dramaturgy was to keep humanity aligned with sva-dharma.
Now, do your own fact check. Is Bollywood or any modern form of entertainment medium doing it? No. Hence, it is junk and we really shouldn’t waste precious life behind it.
Reference: The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Comparative Aesthetics Vol.1 by Pandey, Kanti Chandra, 1950 (Chapter 1, Page 6)
