Dance is an accessory to bhakti yoga and cannot be separate…

Dance is an accessory to bhakti yoga and cannot be separated from bhakti. The origin of dance is mentioned in the vishNu dharmottara. Reproducing that section here.

As some parts of the text are blurred, I have indicated a few missing words with "?"+

Bharatanatyam is a shastra. Natya Shastra. It is religious by character. The stupid adage 'Art has no religion' doesn't apply to Bharatham. https://t.co/zXRMm4PTpE
— SriVaishnava Alucard (\u092a\u0930\u0915\u093e\u0932\u0930\u093e\u092e\u093e\u0928\u0941\u091c\u0926\u093e\u0938\u0928) (@BMidou124) March 30, 2022

The story begins like this - When bhagavAn rose up from his bed in the Ocean of Milk to kill madhu and kaitabha, and retreive the Vedas for brahmA, lakshmI observed his walk and was mesmerised by his graceful gait+

अङ्गहारैः सुललितैस्तथा पादपरिक्रमैः । तथा भ्रमन्त तम् देव ददर्शायत् (?) लोचनाम्

[lakshmI, who only has eyes that see Hari, saw that God exhibiting beautiful movements of his limbs and strides of feet as he walked]+

His walk was something beautiful and very rare. I had explained in an earlier thread that he rarely walks in devaloka or in avatArAs as he has garuDa. Only in rAmAvatAra, he walked+

Hanuman tells bhIma - “चचार वसुधातलम्” - “rAma walked all around the Earth”.

The divine walk of bhagavAn, usually reserved for the muktAs, not seen even by gods, was manifested in front of those in bhUloka who don’t even realize what a great and rare sight that walk is!+

परिक्रमन्मया तोये दृष्टः सललितः प्रभो । अतीवरमणीयाङ्ग किं तत्ब्रूहि मे प्रभो।

[lakshmI – “One who attracts the minds of all! I saw your beautiful walk as you rose up in the Ocean. Master of all! What is the vidyA behind that extreme loveliness of the walk? Tell me.”]+

नृत्तमुत्पादितं हेतन्मया पद्मानिबेक्षणे। अङ्गहारैः सकरणैः संयुक्तं सपरिक्रमैः

[bhagavAn: Lotus eyed one! This art of dance, which is performed by graceful movements of limbs as well as the organs like eyes etc. and feet, is my body – ie, I am it’s sustainer]+

When bhagavAn walked, it does not mean he danced as he walked. Rather, he attributes his graceful walk and movements to the art of dance, as arthavAda.

He calls nAtya as his body, ie, it is a vidyA supported by him as the self+

Those who learn this art, will attain some gracefulness in their movements. Obviously not equal to bhagavAn, but a fragment of his power. Hence, the text goes on to say he taught this art to others+

नृत्तेनाराधयीष्यन्ति भक्तिमन्तरतु मां शुभे । त्रैलोक्यस्यानुकरणं नृत्तं देवि प्रतिष्ठितम्

[bhagavAn: One who brings auspiciousness to me! Those who are my bhaktAs, will worship me with dance. The similarity to Brahman, the self of the 3 worlds is established in this dance]+

त्रैलोक्यस्यानुकरणं नृत्तं देवि प्रतिष्ठितम् - By sharIrAtma bhAva, bhagavAn is referred to as having the 3 worlds as his body. "अनुकरणम्" means "परमं साम्यं" and hence refers to the state of mukti.

He says, dance leads to mukti as it is a limb of upAsana+

एतावदुक्त्वा तां देवो ब्रह्माणां वाक्यमब्रवीत् । गृहाण नृत्तं धर्मज्ञ लक्ष्यलक्षणसंयुक्तं

[Speaking thus to lakshmI, that supreme god told brahmA, “Knower of “dharma” – the proper means to worship me! Learn this dance, endowed with Brahman as the object & bhakti as the quality]+

एतावदुक्त्वा ब्रह्माणं ग्राह्यमास केशवः । तं गृहीत्वा ततो ब्रह्मा ददौ रुद्राय वेधसे

[Keshava, speaking thus, taught dance to brahmA. Receiving the vidyA, brahmA gave it to rudra]

“केशवः” – Having lovely hair - implies his entire form is lovely & graceful, as origin of dance+

गृहित्वा तच्च रुद्रोऽपि तोषयामास केशवम् । तेन नृत्तेन सततं देवेशं भक्तवत्सलम्

[Receiving this vidyA, Rudra engaged himself in constantly pleasing with dance that Ruler of Gods, Keshava, affectionate to his devotees]+

एवमुत्पादितं नृत्तं वासुदेवेन पार्थिव । एकार्णवे पुरा लोके नष्टस्थावरजङ्गमे

[King! vAsudeva created this dance formerly when the movables and immovables were all destroyed, ie, prior to secondary creation]+

ततः प्रभृति देवेशः शङ्करः शङ्करो नृनाम् । नृत्तेनाराध्यस्त्रास्ते देवं चक्रगदाधरम्

[Since then, Shankara, the ruler of gods and who imparts knowledge of Hari to bhaktAs, worships with dance that god who bears the chakra and gada]+

“शङ्करः” – who performs auspicious acts of devotion like dance.

“शङ्करो नृनाम्” – Who performs auspicious acts like teaching this dance to bhaktAs+

नृत्तेष्वरत्व चावाप्य (?) तुष्टान् मधुसूधनम् । सोऽपि तुष्यति नृत्तेन सम्यगाराधितो हर

[Having obtained the name of “nR^itteshvara” (naTarAja), he ever pleases madhusUdhana. Hara is also pleased when worshipped for knowledge with dance.]+

As Rudra is bhagavAn's body, he is also pleased when worshipped with dance, granting j~nAna. What pleases the self, pleases the body.

This is indicated by his name “हर” – who “captures” madhusUdhana in his mind by bhakti.

"मधुसूधन" - who draws in the senses to his lovely form+

अन्येनपि देवास्तुप्यन्ति सम्यग् नृत्तेन तोषिता । आप्यायन् (?) पर हेतत्कयति (?) तु दिवौकसम्

[Other gods are also pleased by this art of dance, which promotes the well-being of the gods (due to pleasing Hari)]+

The other gods are also his bodies. As dance pleases Hari, the self of the gods, and his pleasure is the means for lokakshema, it promotes welfare of the gods who are then pleased+

स्वय नृत्तेन य (?) देवदेवस्य पुजनम् । विशेषेण महाभाग तस्य तुष्यति केशवः

[Keshava is particularly pleased with the bhakta who worships the God of Gods (himself) with dance].

All this shows dance is a limb of upAsana and should not be performed without devotion to bhagavAn//