Indian Poetics: Rasa Theory

Indian Poetics: Rasa Theory

Indian poetry has one sutra (rule) to define poetry, ‘A work of art is artistic only when it evokes the experience of Rasa.’ Rasa is a theory based upon the emotion evoked by any literary work. The theory is dominant concept in Indian Poetics. The Natyashashtra is giving some basic correlation between human mind, its certain status and feeling related to the particular states of mind. The basic or universal feelings which felt by reader or audience , was targeted. The actor plays or acts in play carry the emotions of the character he is acting. It present it in a such a way that the performance evokes the relevant emotions or feelings among the audience. The intensity of the emotions and feelings may be very from person to person. Although the sthayi bhava(basic sentiments) are same. Sthayi bhava is believed that already lied in human mind. It is the psychological conditions which are changed with the situation. When the person involved in the literary work, he feels the emotion. That emotion is brought out from the various psychological conditions he is passing through; during the involvement. Those emotions are transitory. That emotions are called Vyabhichari bhava. Rasa is the aesthetic pleasure thet generated in human being while watching the pla or drama or reading any literary work.

There are different types of sthayi bhava from which nine rasas are engenderwed. Tey are as given below.

Sthayi Bhava	Rasas
1.      Rati (Love)	Shringar Rasa (Erotic)
2.      Shok( Grief)	Karuna  Rasa(Pathetic)
3.      Utsaah( Energy)	Veer Rasa (Heroic)
4.      Krodh (Wrath)	Raudra Rasa (Fierce)
5.      Hras (Humor)	Hasya Rasa (Comic)
6.      Bhaya (Fear)	Bhayanak Rasa (Terrible)
7.      Jugupsa (Disgust)	Bibhatsa Rasa (Loathsome)
8.      Vismaya (Wonder)	Adbhut Rasa (Marvelous)
9.      Sham/Nirved (Tranquality)	Shant Rasa (Tranquility)

           

 

 

 

Sthayi bhava and Vyabhachari bhava are the two types of bhavas. Rasas are engendered from the combination of these three elements. Vibhanubhavvyabhicharisanyogaad rasanishpati :the savouring of the emotion is possible through the combination or integration of these elements: vibhava (causes and determinants of the rise of an emotion).  It means that vibhav, anubhav, vyabhichari bhav and sanyog are essential for rasa.

Let’s elaborate it in brief.

1.      Vibhav: Vibhav has two elements a). Alamban (supportive cause)

  b) Udipan (features or circumstances that accentuate the feelings of hero or heroine).

a) . Almban (supportive cause): it is the means of expression of feelings through which feelings reaches to the viewer. They are the characters of the literary work and performers of the drama.

b). Udipan (features or circumstances that accentuate the feelings of hero or heroine).They are the events happens in the drama and the stage decoration as well as the atmosphere created by music, light effect on the stage and depiction of the atmosphere through words in text.

2. Anubhav (Voluntary Gestures) : Anubhavas (gestures expressive of what is going on in the heart or the mind of main characters) are the physical changes due to the rise of an emotion. In actual life they are known as effect of emotion.. These changes are voluntary as they can be produced by an effort of the will. They are called anubhavas because;

i) they communicate the basic emotion to the characters, present on the stage

ii) they make known the nature of emotion in the hero

iii) they make the spectator experience an identical emotion.

3. Vyabhichari Bhav (transient emotions): Vyabhicharibhavas are transient emotions. They are like waves, which rise from the ocean of the basic mental state and subside into the same. Though they are mental states, they appear as it were embodied. These supporting feelings are short lived and they can enter into alliance with a number of sthayi bhavas. There are thirty three vyabhicharibhavas.

Rasa determind the dominant emotions of literary work and the abstract enjoyment of such an emotions, a work may well engender several emotions, some are independent and some are not. When there is no such spiritual emotional connection between the actor and the audience then it is called ‘rasabhas’( the abhas of rasa). Rasa offers a more “comprehensive and convincing account of poetic  semantics and a consistent general theory of poetry”

There are various factors helps the viewer to feel the aesthetic pleasure i.e. Rasanubhuti like purpose of poetry, status of mind , relishable state,Nature of rasa and Four kind of knowledge  .  To, the Indian acaryas kavya prayojana (the purpose of poetry) is to impart this experience. Bharat holds that dramatic presentation primarily aims at giving rise to aesthetic experience in the aesthete and later this experience is followed by moral improvement. He further says that dramatic presentation imparts pleasure to all who are unhappy, tired, bereaved and ascetic. This account shows that poetry helps in promoting all the good ends of life, both mundane and supramundane and imparts anand (immediate pleasure) to sahrdaya. Indian tradition of critical appreciation has crystallized ultimately in the acceptance of anand as the function and purpose of poetry. The experience is both a means of achieving perfect mental balance and ultimate salvation.In Indian aesthetics this rasa or anand has been understood as kavyanand or rasanand or brahmanandsahodara which can be translated as art experience. Anand is closely associated with rasa which is the soul of Kavypurusha. It crumbles down discrimination. It is because of this rasa or anand, kavya is different from jagat(world) . It is again because of this rasa or anand Acarya Mammat holds Kavi’s creation to be greater than that of God. Unlike Kavya, world lacks this rasa or anand. There is only either pleasure or pain in jagat. This poet has extraordinary or say superhuman power. In this regard he is said to be greater than a yogi even in relation to their respective states and approaches to this world. To know this one needs to know the process of the composition of the kavya.

There are five aspects of staus of mind—srasti (creation), stithi (preservation), samhar(transformation), tirobhava (diffusion) and anugraha (grace)— involved in the composition of a poem. Here srasti is aesthetic intuition that charges the poet; stithi denotes objects of inspiration which captivate the mind of the poet; samhar is indication of expression which is the depth of the poet; tirobhava is resulting stimulation which diffuses illusion and finally anugraha is the manifestation of the universal rhythm. All these aspects are not found in every poem. Kavya which has these aspects offers truth, meaning and knowledge; kavya lacking them is not a poem but merely a verse.  The ability of recognizing the universal rhythm takes place in a particular state of mind of a poet.

According to the ancient theorists  each of us is fitted with a built-in structure of ‘sthayi bhavas’ or basic mental states which are the modified forms of basic drives or instincts as a result of centuries of evolutionary process of humanization and social living. These sthayibhavas (permanent emotions) . It is practically admitted on all hands, on semi-psychological considerations of poetry, that the rasa is a state of relish in the reader, of the principal sentiment in the composition, a subjective condition of his mind, which is brought about when the principal or permanent mood (sthayibhava) is brought into a relishable condition through the three elements vibhava, anubhava and vyabhicharibhava exhibited in the drama. The poet succeeds in doing this by resorting to the devices of concretization.

In this process the spectator changes from laukik (worldly)into alaukik (super-human) and hence now the spectator gets anand even in weeping. Here it is noteworthy that the spectator transcends the world but does not enter into a divine a world. Citta is like sealing wax which melts in the company of heat. Like sealing wax, citta also melts and converts into a liquid form. Rasa melts itself and liquefies rajas and tamas and now reader’s chitta experiencesrasa. It is because rajas and tamas that the citta have different experiences of life. In fact, rajas and tamas limit one’s realization but the moment these gunas are melted, the limitations of citta are removed and we have rasa. The liquefaction of chitta takes place due to the mixture of rajas and tamas which get subdued for the time being, affording scope for the sattva to inundate the inner consciousness.

In order to explain the nature of rasaubhuti or anand Shankuka has pressed into service the analogy of the chitraturanganyaya (logic of the picturehorse).It is extraordinary, forming a distinct species in itself. Looking at the picture of a horse, one does not assume that it is a real horse; one does not fail to understand that it is a horse; one does not, further, harbour any doubt whether it is a horse; and likewise, one does not think that it resembles a horse. All that suggests that the despite the perception of the picture –horse not confronting to any of the four types of knowledge, it strikes as real or living creates delight in us. Accordingly, the samajika comes to regard the nata as the real hero and associates the rasa with him on the line of picture-horse logic. That is the secret of his dramatic enjoyment.

We have sadharanikarana or generalization. Explaining to sahradaya, Abhinavagupta remarks that those , who by constant reading of practice of reading poetry have acquired in their cleansed mirrorlike minds, the capacity to identify themselves with the poet and are thus attuned to the poet’s heart, are sahradaya. But it is again impossible for a reader to attune to the heart of the poet, if he is not to savasana i.e. one who has vasana (desires) which are of two types—idantini(desires related to the past lives and praptakalik (desires of the present life). Abhinavagupta holds that sthayibhavas reside inherently in the human chitta (psyche) in the shape of vasanas (desires) and transmit from generation to generation of mankind. He adds that they are evoked under the impact of art or poetry in such a manner as to be animatedly felt and experienced. A child has the desires related to the past lives but the desires of this life have not developed in him fully so far. Hence he cannot experience rasa.

According to Dimock Indian Poetics may be appropriated for Indian Literature. He believes ‘Sanskrit critics have taxonomic approach to the psychology of emotions’. The ‘taxonomic’ involves to more from the ‘personal’ to ‘transpersonal’. There is a highly particular level. It is the level of interpersonal aesthetic delight.

“An exhibition and enjoyment that is more like spiritual realization is very much present in Indian Literature”

-       K. R. Shrinivas Iyanger

Rasa theory has its own limitations as well as so many version in Indian literatureas Ramayana has. It is like gigantic tree with many branches.  The vague interpritations of various Indian Scholars about the Rasa theory demand more attention to study an emphasis for the criticism of Indian text.