Lucky Number 9

In mystical thought and faiths all throughout the world, the number nine has long been linked to a divine meaning. In these enigmatic nine, both negativity and positivity exist. Not to mention that many people these days consider the number 9 to be "lucky"!

Nine graces make up the "Fruit of the Spirit": love, peace, suffering, gentle, good, faith, meekness, and temperance. There are nine "gifts of the Spirit": languages, interpretation of tongues, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, word of wisdom, and word of knowledge. The West isn't far behind either, if the English proverb that a cat has nine lives is to be believed.

The significance of the number nine is emphasised in Islam as well, which is practically identical to ancient Indian thought (Sanatana Dharma), which speaks of man's nine openings and the nine-month gestation period for birth, which is, of course, similar to all humans!

A common myth describes the divine feminine power as the creator of the cosmos, the embodiment of unadulterated purity and truth, destroying the demons standing in for the bad powers, and it was widely accepted on this land even before the Aryans adopted it.

In order to defeat the strong rakshasas (satanic force) and provide deliverance to the entire universe, the mother goddess fights a war for nine days.

On a more philosophical level, the nine bad forces that bother man are nothing more than nine different manifestations of his own negative character, such as ego, self-conceit, self-deprecation, and so forth, which are ever-present obstacles to realisation, the ultimate aim. The holy mother is meant to serve as our compass, guiding us away from giving in to the evil within! Since the number nine has long played a crucial role in the Indian psyche, those who developed our traditional arts discovered nine creative moods or emotions that are a part of how we express ourselves in daily life.

These nine emotions, known as "navarasa," came to be connected to artistic expression in ancient Indian dance, music, drama, sculpture, painting, and any other kind of artistic expression. If Bharata Muni's Natyasastra is clear about the navarasa signifying nine bhavas or emotions, then it is also apparent that similar emotions were defined and conveyed in specific ragas (musical notes) or lyrics (kritis), just as they are in sculptures and paintings.

Lord Rudra presided over the "Roudra rasa," or wrath, which was appropriately red in colour. The "Hasya rasa," or merriment, is supposed to be white in colour, and Pramata is the deity. Yama ruled over "Karunya" (compassion/mercy) with the colour grey; Lord Shiva was the deity for "Bhibatsa" (disgust), which was represented by the colour blue.

The black-colored deity Kala oversaw the fearful emotion known as "Bhayanaka". Lord Indra stood in for "Veera rasa" or bravery (saffron), whilst "Adbhuta" or wonder had creator Brahma as its deity and yellow standing in for the emotion. It cannot be denied that later, "Vatsalya" (parental love) and "Bhakti" (devotion) also became accepted as significant emotions in the context of artistic expression.

The traditional dance book also discusses the mood or bhava created by these nine rasa, including: rati (love), hasya (laughing), shoka (sorrow), krodha (anger), utsaha (exuberance), bhaya (scare), jugupsa (disgust), and vismaya (wonder). All genres of Indian classical dance have their artistic foundation in the navarasa doctrine.

Ragas like Kunthalavarali incite joy and merriment (Hasya rasa) in music, but ragas like Mohana produce Veera rasa.

While some ragas, such as Dwijavanthi, Behag, Kamas, or Kapi, are inherently romantic (Shringara), not to mention the lyrical compositions where the bhava/mood is clear, the well-known Mayamalavagowla is synonymous with Kaarunya (Karuna rasa).

The wellspring of the supposedly aesthetic expressions is nature. The moods of the sea, for instance, can roar fiercely one moment, run steady and serene the next, go into a frenzy at times, play around with its rippling waves gradually as it licks our feet, and so on. This is an example of a navarasa manifestation.

The other components of nature also share this quality. What about us, then? Aren't we the containers for nine moods?