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Dances of India
A Poem on Hastamudras
I am a seeker
A bird soaring high in the sky!
 In that moment of flying
A blissful state in the air
Where you are free-full of space
A vast expanse of azure blue sky
I move my hands with gestures
Like Pataka,Mudrakhya,Kataka
Oh ! is there a Mushti
of strength
To break away from the dwarfed Kartarimukha ?
Yes of course, for I am a
Shukatunda
Not just a winged being that can fly
But a lark as well that can sing
Plaintive notes so sweet and melodious.
My hands extend like wings
My fingers formulating the
Hastas-Kapitha,
Hamsapaksha,Shikhara
My feet in samapada moves softly and gently
Like a snow-white swan
moving in calm waters.
With Hamsasya it is the
beauty of the body
Fulfilling the yearning of the self
With Anjali-the palms joined
together
It is the expression of the devotion for the infinite
With Ardhachandra-the half
moon
It is the trinity moving in three directions
Undulating and swaying in life’s vicissitudes.
Mukura and Bhramara are
the bees that buzz
Around the
honey filled blossoms and
The peacock that proudly parades its hues
Is that Suchimukha pointing
a forefinger
At what you are or who ?
Pallava
and Tripataka cautions you
To limit your desires.
Mrigashirsha is the four
legged animal
That stands firmly on the ground
With two horns to protect itself from the unpredictable.
Slimy and poisonous is the Sarpashirsha
Yet a friend of Shiva curled around his neck
Like a jewel in the crown.
Vardhamanaka is the ultimate
seeker
Of moksha- the ultimate salvation
Removing the selfish motives is Arala
And finally we hold the Urnanabha
The eternal dish of contentment and
Encompassing the eternal values in its
Katakamukha hasta
– safe and secure
With
Alapadma it is the
expression of joy
Or Ananda- the fathomless
bliss
That all dancers strive
for
Let me dance, dance and dance
Like the bird that flies
In the boundless skies
Higher and higher – farther and farther
Into the wide blue horizon.
– Geeta
Radhakrishna
March 8, 2001
The hastamudras
mentioned in the poem
are
taken from Hastalakshanadeepika
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Dances of India
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