1
Indian Music, which is called sangita, is divided into three sections, gayan - singing, vadan - playing, and nirtan - dancing; for the vibration takes three forms of expression: in the voice in singing, in sound in playing, and in movements in dancing. Singing, however, is considered to be the principal part in sangita.

Sangita in these three sections forms part of Hindu worship, and even the paradise of the Hindus contains players, singers and dancers. Musicians and dancers are used to playing, singing and dancing in the temples of India. It may be surprising that a dancer should be dancing in the temple, but travellers in the East will know that in the Hindu temples musicians and dancers dance and play in praise of God. According to our view, all things may seem to us high or low, praiseworthy, or not. So-called religious people who condemn all enjoyable occupations have always called dancing sin. The whole world is the manifestation of God, and we may see God in all. The musician praises God in his music; the painter and sculptor see the praise of God in their paintings and statues, and the dancers too may devote their dancing to the praise of God.

2
The word dance has been much debased because the dance has been taken up mainly by entertainers who have made of it an amusement, and we see that, when a thing is made into an amusement, it always degenerates.

The voice that comes from the lungs and the abdomen cannot express itself fully without the bones of the head, the lips, the teeth, the tongue, the palate. So we see that this body is an instrument of sound. When the tree swings in the wind, each leaf gives a sound. The breeze alone cannot produce the full sound. The leaves of the tree rustle and become the instrument for the air. This shows us that the whole framework of this world is the instrument of sound.

If, while speaking to you, I remained as still as a statue, my words would have much less effect than when accompanied by gesture. If a person says: 'Go away from here!', and does not move, his words will not have much expression. If he moves his arm, they will have more expression.

In India the pupil is taught to sing with gestures; these take the place of notation and guide him. A person might think: 'Notation would be a much surer method', but Indian music is so complicated that no notation can render it exactly. Then, too, the intervals are all filled up, and the movements of the hand and arm can express and guide more easily than any written signs.

The third part of music, dancing, is not the made-up dance, but the expression through movement. Mahadeva, the greatest Avatar, himself danced. If you sing or play to a dervish he may begin to move his head and to move his hands.
A great Indian poet, when speaking of what a singer should be, says: 'He must have a good voice. He must know the Ragas, and be able to sing them. He must be a master of graceful movements. He must be calm, unaffected by the audience. He must impress the audience'.

Our life is so full of occupations that we have little time to observe animals. If we did, we should see that most of their language is movement. They speak little with one another, mostly they express through their motions. If you call a dog, the dog will at once begin to wag its tail; it will move its whole body to show its joy and affection. If you speak roughly to the dog, its whole body shows that it feels sorry. If the cat is pleased or becomes angry, it shows its feelings at once by its movements.

We waste much energy in useless speech. Among the old races we see that a motion of the hands, an inclination of the head, takes the place of words for many things.

As soon as a person comes into the room we see by his movements, by his manner of walking, what he is, how much refinement he has. If we compare the horse whose price is five thousand guineas with the horse whose price is fifty guineas, we see what a difference there is in their movements. The horse of five thousand guineas has not been taught to move as he moves, but in every movement he is graceful. We see also that the beauty given to the peacock has inspired its graceful movements.

3
Dance is a very wonderful thing, and is in itself a great proof of mysticism. We have each of us in us the nature of the bird, and the nature of the animal. The nature of the bird is to fly, the nature of the animal is to jump. The tiger will jump from here to the top of the wall. If we cannot do this, it is because by eating, drinking, sleeping, we have lost the power to do it. If a man sits in an armchair, and to get up he pulls himself up by the arms, and then by eating, drinking and sleeping has become so heavy, he is not what he should be. That government is proper which knows what each of the governed is doing. Our mind governs the body; our mind should have every muscle, each atom of the body, under its command. When we move upward, all must come up; when we turn to the right, all must turn to the right; when we turn to the left, all must turn to the left.

4
Motion is the significance of life, and the law of motion is rhythm. Rhythm is life disguised in motion, and in every guise it seems to attract the attention of man: from a child, who is pleased with the moving of a rattle and is soothed by the swing of its cradle, to a grown person whose every game, sport and enjoyment has rhythm disguised in it in some way or another, whether it is a game of tennis, cricket or golf, as well as boxing and wrestling. Again in the intellectual recreations of man, both poetry and music - vocal or instrumental - have rhythm as their very spirit and life. There is a saying in Sanskrit that tone is the mother of nature, but that rhythm is its father.

Rhythm produces an ecstasy which is inexplicable, and incomparable with any other source of intoxication. This is why the dance has been the most fascinating pastime of all people, both civilized and savage, and has delighted alike saint and sinner.

The traditions of the Hindus have as a most sacred record the mystical legend of their Lord Sri Krishna dancing with the gopis. The story relates how Krishna, the charming youthful Lord of the Hindus, was moving among the dwelling of the cowherds, and every maiden, attracted by his beauty and charm, asked him to dance with her on the night of the full moon. On the night of the full moon there assembled sixteen hundred gopis, and the miracle of Krishna was performed when he appeared as a separate Krishna to each gopi, and all of them danced with their beloved Lord at one and the same time.

There is a tradition in Islam, where music, dancing and all amusements and light occupations are strictly prohibited, that on one occasion - it being a holiday - the Prophet called his wife Ayesha to look at the dance and listen to the music of some street musicians. In the meantime his great Khalif happened to come by and was shocked at seeing the Prophet, who had prohibited such things, himself permitting music in front of his house. When he stopped the music of the street players, pointing out to them that this was the house of the Prophet, Prophet Muhammed requested that they might continue, saying that it was a holiday, and: 'There is no heart that does not move with the motion of rhythm'.

There exists in all people, either consciously or unconsciously, a tendency toward rhythm. Among European nations the expression of pleasure is shown by the clapping of the hands. A farewell sign is made by the waving of the hand, which makes rhythm.

All labor and toil, however hard and difficult, is made easy by the power of rhythm in some way or other. This idea opens to the thinker a still deeper scope for the study of life.

Rhythm in every guise, be it called game, play, amusement, poetry, music or dance, is the very nature of man's whole constitution. When the entire mechanism of his body is working in a rhythm, the beat of the pulse, of the heart, of the head, the circulation of the blood, hunger and thirst - all show rhythm, and it is the breaking of rhythm that is called disease.

When the child is crying and the mother does not know what ails it, she holds it in her arms and pats it on the back. This sets the circulation of the blood, the pulsations and the whole mechanism of the body in rhythm; in other words sets the body in order, and soothes the child. The nursery rhyme 'Pat-a-cake', which is known all the world over in some form or other, cures a child of fretfulness by setting its whole being in rhythm.

Rhythm plays a most important part not only in the body, but in the mind also. The change from joy to sorrow, the rise and fall of thoughts, and the whole working of the mind show rhythm, and all confusion and despair seem to be accounted for by the lack of rhythm in mind.

The words 'thoughtful' and 'thoughtless' signify a rhythmic or unrhythmic state of mind, and balance, which is the only upholding power in life, is kept by rhythm. Respiration which keeps mind and body connected, and which links the mind and soul, consists in keeping rhythm every moment when awake or asleep; inhaling and exhaling may be likened to the moving and swinging of the pendulum of a clock. As all strength and energy is maintained by breath, and as breath is the sign of life and its nature is to flow alternatively on the right and left side, all this proves rhythm to be of the greatest significance.

As rhythm is innate in man and maintains his health, so upon rhythm depend all a man's affairs in life; his success, his failure, his right acts and his wrong acts, all are accounted for in some way or other by a change of rhythm.

A keen observation shows that the whole universe is a single mechanism working by the law of rhythm; the rise and fail of the waves, the ebb and flow of the tide, the waxing and waning of the moon, the sunrise and the sunset, the change of the seasons, the moving of the earth and of the planets - the whole cosmic system and the constitution of the entire universe are working under the law of rhythm. Cycles of rhythm, with major and minor cycles interpenetrating, uphold the whole creation in their swing. This demonstrates the origin of manifestation: motion has sprung from the still life, and every motion must necessarily result in a dual aspect. As soon as you move a stick, the single movement will make two points: the one where it starts and the other where it ends, the one strong and the other weak. To these a music conductor will count 'one, two'; one, two: a strong accent and a weak accent, one motion with two effects, each distinct and different from the other. It is this mystery that lies hidden under the dual aspects in all phases and forms of life. And the reason, cause and significance of all life is found in rhythm.