How does the Nāṭyaśāstra work as a philosophy of the embodied, performing body (nāṭya, rasa, the “extra-daily”), and how have later thinkers, performers and critics extended, reinterpreted or tested it?

The Nāṭyaśāstra is usually introduced as the oldest treatise on Indian theatre, dance and music. This project follows a second question: what does it assume about the body, consciousness and experience? Gathered here are Poorvam’s published articles on Bharata’s system (cosmic emanation, embodiment and the “extra-daily”, the yogic and tantric grounding of nṛtta), the aesthetic process of sādhāraṇīkaraṇa and rasa, and their continuation in later aesthetics through Abhinavagupta. Alongside these sit interviews and talks with working practitioners and scholars, which show how the theory is lived and contested in performance today. The project does not offer a new translation or a chapter-by-chapter commentary. Scope: Poorvam’s own publications, from classical theory to contemporary practice. Out of scope for now: passage-level citation tracking.