The word "dance" has been so much debased because the dance has been taken up only by entertainers who have made of it an amusement, and we see that when a thing is made an amusement it always degenerates. When we come to Indian music we find that it has three parts: singing, playing, and dancing. The voice that comes from the lungs and abdomen cannot express itself fully without the bones of the head, the lips, the teeth, the tongue, the palate. So we see that this body is the instrument of sound. When the tree swings in the wind, each leaf gives a sound. The breeze alone cannot produce the full sound. The leaves of the trees rustle and become the instrument for the air. This shows us that the whole framework of this world is the instrument of sound.

If, while speaking to you, I remained as still as a statue, my words would have had much less effect than they can have when accompanied by the gesture. If a person says, "Go away from here," and does not move, his words will not have much expression. If he moves his arms, they will have more expression. In India, the pupil is taught to sing with gestures. These take the place of notation, and guide him. A person might think, "Notation would be a much clearer method." But Indian music is so complicated that no notation can render it exactly. Then, too, the intervals are all filled up, and the movements of the hand and arm can express and guide more easily than any written signs.

The third part of music, the dancing, is not the made up dance, but the expression by movement. Mahadeva, the greatest avatar, himself danced. If you sing or play before a dervish, he may begin to move his head and to move his hands. A great Indian poet, when speaking of what the singer must be, says:

He must have a good voice,

He must know the ragas,

And be able to sing them.

He must be a master of graceful movements,

He must be calm, unaffected by the audience,

He must impress the audience.

Our life is so full of occupations that we have little time to observe the animals. If we did, we should see that most of their language is movement. They speak little with one another, mostly they express by their motions. If you call a dog, the dog will at once begin to wag its tail; it will move its whole body to show its joy and affection. If you speak roughly to the dog, its whole body shows that its feeling at once by its movements. We waste much energy in useless speech. In the old races we see that a motion of the hands, an inclination of the head for many things takes the place of words.

As soon as a person comes into the room, we see by his movements, by his manner of walking, what he is, how much refinement he has. If we compare the horse whose price is five thousand guineas with the horse whose price is fifty guineas, we see what a difference there is in the movements. The horse of five thousand guineas has not been taught to move as he moves, but in every movement he is graceful. We see that the beauty given to the peacock has inspired in him graceful movements.

Dance is a very wonderful thing, and in itself a great proof of mysticism. We have each of us, in us, the nature of the bird and the nature of the animal. The nature of the bird is to fly; the nature of the animal is to jump. The tiger will jump from here to the top of the wall. If we cannot do this, it is because by eating, drinking, sleeping we have lost the power. If a man sits in an armchair and to get up he pulls himself up by the arm, then by eating, drinking, and sleeping he has become so heavy that he is not what he should be. That government is proper which knows what each of the governed is doing. Our mind governs the body. Our mind must have every muscle, each atom of the body under its command. When we move up, all must come up; when we turn to the right, all must turn to the right; when we turn to the left, all must turn to the left. In India there is a dance, the tiger dance. It is kept for the religious festivals. They paint themselves as tigers, and show the tiger dance. This dance has come to us from Egypt as a sacred dance.