The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hindusim vol 2

Nudity
The two most basic genres of Indian classical dance are natya and nrtya. This dancer, performing in the
natya genre, uses dance to tell a story. In the nrtya genre the dance conveys only the dancer's skill.
Kalivarjya, or “forbidden in the Kali
[Age].” Kalivarjya, which first appeared in
the twelfth century, was a legal strategy
used to forbid certain religious practices
that were prescribed in the sacred literature,
but were no longer acceptable in
contemporary times.
Nrtya
In classical Indian dance, the word nrtya
refers to the genre of “pure” dance, in
which the dance conveys nothing more
than the dancer’s skill. Nrtya is one of
the two most basic dance genres. The
other genre, natya, is an acting dance, in
which the dancer’s expressions, movements,
and gestures convey a story to
the audience.
Nryajana
(“sacrifice to human beings”) One of the
Five Great Sacrifices (panchamahayajna)
that is prescribed in the dharma literature,
which describes religious duty.
These Five Great Sacrifices are daily religious
observances prescribed for a
twice-born householder. This is a person
who has been born into one of the
three twice-born groups in Indian society—brahmin,
kshatriya, or vaishya—
and who has received the adolescent
religious initiation known as the “second
birth.” Each of the five sacrifices
(yajna) is directed toward a different
class of beings—from the Ultimate
Reality of Brahman down to animals—
and is satisfied by different actions. The
nryajana is directed toward fellow
human beings, and is satisfied by showing
hospitality to one’s guests. Although
Hindu religious life has undergone significant
changes and some of the other
rites have fallen into oblivion, this rite is
still widely practiced; the ethos of hospitality
is still very strong in Hindu society.
Nudity
Nudity is often seen as both inauspicious
and forbidden, and is subject to
numerous taboos: according to some
authorities, one should not bathe
(snana) naked (a more understandable
taboo in times when people would
bathe outdoors) and one should not be
naked during sexual intercourse. In
some cases there are also taboos on a
husband seeing his wife naked, since it
is widely believed that this will cause
Lakshmi, the goddess, to forsake her,
taking away her auspiciousness as a
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