Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
Bharata, in the Natyashastra, reminds us that language and performance thrive on comparison. A simile (upamā) can praise, rebuke, or elevate. It can make audiences see mountains in elephants and divinity in human acts.
For dancers, actors, and storytellers, similes are not abstract. They are embodied. When you perform a simile, you do not simply say it. You make it felt through voice, gesture, expression, and movement.
The Natyashastra (16.49–55) lists five kinds of simile: praśaṃsā (praise), nindā (censure), kalpitā (conceit), sadṛśī (uniqueness), and kiṃcit sadṛśī (partial likeness).
Let us look at each with meaning, performance practice, and examples.
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1. Simile of praise (praśaṃsā upamā)
This simile elevates. It associates a person or act with something noble or divine.
Textual example
“The king was pleased to see that large-eyed lady just as the sages are pleased to see the success incarnate after it has been achieved with austerity.”
Performance guide
- Voice: Speak or sing with a lifted tone. End phrases on a higher pitch.
- Body: Expand the chest, lift the chin slightly, and let the eyes shine.
- Abhinaya: A gentle smile or stillness adds grace.
- Dance suggestion: In Bharatanatyam, raise one hand in patāka and softly curve the other in ardhacandra near the heart. In Kathak, turn with open palms and upward gaze to suggest admiration.
2. Simile of censure (nindā upamā)
This simile criticises. It shows attachment to the unworthy or to what is harmful.
Textual example
“The woman clung to that rough-looking person devoid of all good qualities just as a creeper clings round a thorny tree which has been searched by the forest-fire.”
Performance guide
- Voice: Flatten the tone. Cut the words short, almost with distaste.
- Body: Contract the shoulders, frown lightly, and gesture downward.
- Abhinaya: A sneer, side glance, or shiver works well.
- Dance suggestion: In Odissi, use mukula hasta near the chest to show clinging, then thrust away sharply to indicate rejection.
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3. Simile of conceit (kalpitā upamā)
Here the comparison is imaginative, almost extravagant. It makes the ordinary seem cosmic.
Textual example
“Elephants exuding ichor and moving slowly with gracefulness look like mobile mountains.”
Performance guide
- Voice: Slow tempo, long syllables, as if weighing each word.
- Body: Heavy gait, lifted shoulders, broad steps.
- Abhinaya: Eyes half-lowered, creating grandeur.
- Dance suggestion: In Kuchipudi or Kathakali, show the elephant’s sway with large diagonals, then freeze in stillness like a mountain.
4. Simile of uniqueness (sadṛśī upamā)
This simile says: nothing else compares. It underlines the matchless.
Textual example
“What you have done today to satisfy someone else’s desire is worthy of you and is comparable only to your other superhuman deeds.”
Performance guide
- Voice: Use a firm, steady pitch. Pause deliberately before the word “only.”
- Body: Upright stance, wide stance, arms slightly open.
- Abhinaya: A flash of pride in the eyes, controlled but luminous.
- Dance suggestion: In Kathak, circle the wrist outward in ardhapātāka and bring it back to self, showing uniqueness residing within.
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5. Simile of partial likeness (kiṃcit sadṛśī upamā)
This simile draws multiple comparisons. One part of a person is like the moon, another like a lotus, another like an animal.
Textual example
“Here has come my lady friend whose face is like the full moon, eyes are like the petals of a blue lotus, and the gait is like that of an elephant in rut.”
Performance guide
- Voice: Light, playful tone, with slight variation for each comparison.
- Body: Shift weight for every simile. Turn slightly to show new imagery.
- Abhinaya: Quick changes in expression, serenity for the moon, delicacy for the lotus, grandeur for the elephant.
- Dance suggestion: In Bharatanatyam, move from alapadma hasta for lotus, to a circular ardhacandra for the moon, to heavy footwork for elephant gait.
Frequently Asked Questions
They are praśaṃsā (praise), nindā (censure), kalpitā (conceit), sadṛśī (uniqueness), and kiṃcit sadṛśī (partial likeness).
They guide abhinaya by shaping expression, gesture, and movement to embody comparisons in performance.
A king admiring a lady, just as sages rejoice at the success of austerity.
It helps actors and dancers create vivid imagery that strengthens rasa and audience connection.
Yes. Bharata encourages drawing similes from poetry and folk traditions, making them timeless.
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Conclusion
The five similes of the Natyashastra are not dry categories. They are instruments of performance. Each has a rasa. Each has a rhythm.
- Praśaṃsā lifts.
- Nindā strikes down.
- Kalpitā expands imagination.
- Sadṛśī asserts the matchless.
- Kiṃcit sadṛśī plays with variety.
When a performer understands these, simile stops being ornament. It becomes embodied poetry. And that is the true spirit of Bharata’s vision: words, gestures, and imagination fused into one art.
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