Manuscripts of Bhagavad Gita & Natyashastra added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

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Mains (GS I) – Indian History and Culture

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Manuscripts of the Bhagavad Gita and Bharata’s Natyashastra are among the 74 new additions to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register this year.

The Natyashastra

Natyashastra is an ancient Sanskrit treatise on performing arts.
Authorship – Traditionally attributed to sage Bharata.
Time period – Estimated between 500 BCE to 500 CE.
Composition – Comprises 36,000 verses.
Significance – It provides a comprehensive set of rules that define,
- Natya (drama)
- Abhinaya (performance)
- Rasa (aesthetic experience)
- Bhava (emotion)
- Sangita (music)
It is often referred to as the fifth Veda, as it integrates elements from the four Vedas.

The 4 Vedas are Rigveda (words), Samaveda (music), Yajurveda (gestures/actions), and Atharvaveda (emotions).

The Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita is a Hindu text in the ancient intellectual Indian tradition.
Authorship – Attributed to sage Vyasa.
It is embedded in the sixth book (Bhishma Parva) of the epic Mahabharata.
Composition – 700 verses organized in 18 chapters.
Time period – Generally dated to first or second century BCE.
Central theme – Dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna before the Mahabharata war and Krishna’s responses to Arjuna on dharma (duty), karma (action), and the nature of the divine.

India's Representation in the Register

India has 13 submissions to the Memory of the World Register (including two joint submissions).
Notable entries
- Rig Veda (added in 2005)
- Abhinavagupta's works (added in 2023)
- Non-Aligned Movement archives (joint submission with Algeria, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Serbia, 2023)
- Dutch East India Company archives (joint submission Netherlands, South Africa and Sri Lanka, 2003)

UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme

It is an initiative to safeguard the valuable archive holdings and library collections all over the world against the collective amnesia, preserve and ensure their wide dissemination.
Aim – Facilitate preservation of the world's documentary heritage, particularly in areas affected by conflict and/or natural disaster.
Enable universal access to documentary heritage worldwide.
Enhance public awareness about the significant of documentary heritage among the wider public.
Established in – 1992.
Central Project – Creation of a register of documents of world significance and outstanding universal value.
The Register has been biennally updated, with the exception of a lengthy gap between 2017 and 2023 with between nine (in 1999) and 78 (in 2017) additions.
It includes Books or collections of works, Drawings, Manuscripts, Audio recordings and Video recordings.
Selection Process – Maximum two submissions from a country are added biennially.
Current Status – 570 entries after the latest additions.