Article By: María J. González
This article had its origin in the most unexpected way. Madam Sashikala had shared with me the article she had written for the Ritambhara website and some of her students. It was titled ‘tAla in vAstu Shilpa shAstra’. It was a very interesting exposure to the very high importance of ‘ratios’ and ‘proportions’ in this ancient, as well as a current science.
I started to read it and when I had finished, I felt myself like a little child discovering the world through the eyes of vAstu Shilpa shAstra. Madam Sashikala explained in her article that tAla is the name used for rhythm when this concept is related with music, and mukham, tAla, pada, or module when it is related with the visual field. She also mentioned that this concept has an important role in Indian classic music, dance, and Vedic chanting too.
She shared the following fundament of vAstu Shilpa: ’When a form or vastu that inhabits a space is out of alignment, then there is a disturbance in the inner alignment of people who occupy the space’ and after reading this paragraph, it was unavoidable that thoughts and images came to my mind. The first image was about Nature. More from intuition than from knowledge, I concluded that Nature must grow and manifest itself following its own inner tAla. A second thought was related with the effect that this tAla in Nature produces, especially in us, the human beings. I remember to have said with surprise ‘that is why Nature is so calming and revitalizing!’; that’s why when we are surrounded by her or look at her, we feel peaceful, connected, and experience harmony inside. In the same way that a form or vastu that inhabits a space produces a disturbance, it is also possible that a vastu produces harmony to the space which surrounds it, that was a kind of conclusion I made. I conceive Nature such as a huge vAstu or space which produces a powerful harmony in all the vastus linked to her. I was completely fascinated with the discoveries I was making!
Then, I started to ask myself about the proportions, which are the measure that gives the origin to rhythm. How important is the first tAla or module that creates the pattern, which will be followed by a structure! In that moment, another image came to my mind, a drop falling into a container with still water. The waves formed when a drop falls on it go from the smallest to the largest. They follow their own tAla which makes the waves look so harmonious.
At one point, I realized that these concepts, tAla and proportion were everywhere!
I have been very interested in Ayurveda and I thought that it would be amazing to find how these concepts fit in this science. And it did not take me too much time to realize that Ayurveda is based totally in tAla! This tAla is not only manifested in the way the Ayurvedic texts are written in Shlokas, verses, for facilitating the memorization and understanding of it, but everything in Ayurveda is tAla, has tAla, seeks to create tAla in the body, mind, and spirit of each human being, because the acharyas and rishis knew its importance to create and maintain good health. Here is the definition given by Acharya Charaka for health: ‘It follows that the doshas must be in equilibrium, the digestive fire must be in a balanced state and the tissues (dhatus) and malas (wastes) must work in a normal state. The sensory and motor organs, the mind and atma must be also in a pleasant state’. The complete definition is full of references to balance, equilibrium, pleasant state, which is tAla and proportion working together.
This exercise with Ayurveda made me think about our mind. I could observe that there are some patterns in which the mind is used to fall into again and again. Some of them make us happy, others make us really unhappy. There is a tendency of the mind to think and act according to this ‘rhythm’. These tendencies are called ‘gunas’ in Ayurveda. And as it occurs with the doshas, when there is a balance between the gunas, the mind can work in favour of the human being, not against him/her. In this matter, I remember that once I read somewhere that the ideal state for the mind is to be established in sattva, and as long as the mind could stay in this way, more sattvic thoughts and actions could be generated in our lives as a result. This sattvic effect could be manifested inside us as detachment, happiness, and other virtues, which would maintain us in the real state of inner balance. We are talking once again about proportions. If there is a strong sattvic proportion in the person, faster is the way she may return to her inner balance point. The dance of the mind, crazy and suffering or loving and harmonious depends on tAla, again.
I spent many days thinking and applying the above mentioned concepts to my daily life and to the universe as I experience it. Some questions that came were easy to answer. The experience was fantastic until I could not find an answer to a specific question: ‘Everything is great! yes, everything has tAla, but, what about the measure of this tAla? How are the proportions defined in everything? How to answer this question? I didn’t even know how to formulate the question. My best shot was to write down on the internet ‘tAla and the creation of the universe? To my surprise the first image I found was of Nataraja, the dancing Shiva! I learned that He dances to create and transform. These two faces of the same coin keep the rhythm in the universe. Thinking about Lord Shiva is to think about eternity and on the other hand, thinking about proportions and rhythm is to think about mathematics. So, I could conclude that tAla is eternal as the eternal dance of Lord Shiva. However, the question was not answered… I needed a mathematical answer and in that moment the name of Harish Johari came to my mind. Once, I had read a book of this professor, titled ´Numerology’ and I thought that maybe he could help me. He explains that the numbers can be categorized in two basic groups, odd and even numbers. The odd ones are solar, masculine, electric, acidic, and dynamic while the even numbers are lunar, feminine, magnetic, alkaline, and static. For example, the number 2 is static, it does not move because it is in balance, it is complete, while the number 3 is dynamic, this disparity produces movement. If I translated the phenomenon to what I watched in nature, to numbers, to this language, I thought it could be possible to understand how the numbers (these energies of dynamism and passivity) interact to create the patterns, the proportions, and tAla. I would say that the universe uses the numbers as music uses notes to create. Sounds and silences in music are the analogy to dynamism and passivity in numbers when they work together.
With the simple explanation from Professor Johari, I thought that the question had been answered somehow, at least for me. Yes, I know, it is a very simplistic and full of deficiencies as an explanation. I only can say that this is my way to say that I’m sure that there is an explanation, a wise and logical way in which tAla works inside this universe. Again, it is more my intuition which speaks for me than the knowledge I have about the subject.
The questions that emerge from the concepts I have been talking about are infinite! I could start to question myself about the ‘music sheet’ of the magnificent creation of the universe and the generator of the primordial tAla, but I think someone with the necessary knowledge should do it.
To find my own tAla, to keep myself in silence and listen to it; to find my own rhythm in the music sheet of my life and generate a harmonious connection with the other instruments (everything and everyone around me), will be now my target and possibly an incredible experience that I would like to live.
What a journey for me! I invite you to have your own experience. Please read Madam Sashikala’s article mentioned above and experience tAla and the proportions around and inside you. I’m sure that you will be touched and moved by her words and the amazing wisdom of vAstu Shilpa shAstra.
María J. González – Mexico City – October 2023.
tAla in vAstu Shilpa shAstra, Article By: Ar. Sashikala Ananth , https://ritambhara.org.in/2023/08/01/tala-in-vastu-shilpa-shastra/
Anoop is a student of Yoga, an entrepreneur, a coach and a father of two young boys. He has led successful leadership stints in both the corporate and non-for-profit sectors. On encountering the country’s water/farmer crises at close quarters, he decided to pause and examine the impact various ‘isms’ – capitalism, colonialism, etc., were having on us as individuals, families, the society and the environment at large. This quest led him to formally engage with traditional Indic knowledge systems while also learning from the latest advances in science – about our physical and mental wellbeing, importance of body and mind work in healing trauma and the urgent need for a conscious rebuilding of family / work / social structures if we have to thrive individually and collectively. Insights, frameworks and processes gleaned from these on-going studies, an anchorage in his own personal practice and his wide-ranging experiences is what Anoop brings to facilitation/coaching spaces in Ritambhara and his various professional engagements.
Priya is a Yoga therapist in the Krishnamacharya tradition. She adapts Reiki & energy work, Vedic chanting, life coaching & Ayurvedic practices in her healing spaces. She is committed to nurturing collectives that have the praxis of Yoga at their heart.
Anisha has been on an exploration to understand herself through yoga for the last 15years which led her to teaching yoga, yoga therapy and inner work through yoga.
Apoorva chanced upon Yoga in her early 20s. A spark was lit within and there was no turning back. Her exploration led her to the Krishnamacharya tradition more than a decade ago. Curious about human behaviour and what drives it, she was thrilled when her search ended (and also began) when she first came upon the Yoga Sutra, which illuminated a path towards answering many questions that had been held for a long time.
Anita is a yoga teacher and therapist in the tradition of Sri.T.Krishnamacarya and Sri T.K.V. Desikachar, a Reiki practitioner and a Life Coach. She is also the founder of Vishoka, a center for learning Indic and energy-based frameworks for living and healing. Her deep concern for human suffering and the problems of unsustainable living kept her on the path of seeking an integrated approach to looking at life, living, learning and healing.
Ankit is a seeker in the wisdom traditions of India. The core of his work includes creating dialogic spaces where people can look within and see the connection between their inner and outer lives. Inspired by the likes of Gandhi, Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Guru Gobind his experiments in service took him back to his roots in Punjab where he is creating a community-led model of higher education which is open, inclusive and accessible for all. Ritambhara for him is a space for engaging in a community which is committed to a DHramic life. He anchors his work of learning and leadership in the Antaranga Yoga Sadhana and the humanistic wisdom of Mahabharata.