Indian Poetics

Friday, 18 February 2022

Indian Poetics

Rasa Theory:

According to an entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica, 

rasa, (Sanskrit: “essence,” “taste,” or “flavour,” literally “sap” or “juice”) Indian concept of aesthetic flavour, an essential element of any work of visual, literary, or performing art that can only be suggested, not described. It is a kind of contemplative abstraction in which the inwardness of human feelings suffuses the surrounding world of embodied forms.

The theory of rasa is attributed to Bharata, a sage-priest who may have lived sometime between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE. It was developed by the rhetorician and philosopher Abhinavagupta (c. 1000), who applied it to all varieties of theatre and poetry. The principal human feelings, according to Bharata, are delight, laughter, sorrow, anger, energy, fear, disgust, heroism, and astonishment, all of which may be recast in contemplative form as the various rasas: erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, heroic, terrible, odious, marvelous, and quietistic. These rasas comprise the components of aesthetic experience. The power to taste rasa is a reward for merit in some previous existence.

Rasas are created by bhavas the state of mind:

The rasa theory has a dedicated section (Chapter 6) in the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra, an ancient scripture from the 1st millennium BCE attributed to Bharata Muni. However, its most complete exposition in drama, songs and other performance arts is found in the works of the Kashmiri Shaivite philosopher Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 CE), demonstrating the persistence of a long-standing aesthetic tradition of ancient India. According to the Rasa theory of the Natya Shastra, entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal, and the primary goal is to transport the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder and bliss, where they experience the essence of their own consciousness, and reflect on spiritual and moral questions.

Although the concept of rasa is fundamental to many forms of Indian arts including dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture, and literature, the interpretation and implementation of a particular rasa differs between different styles and schools (Wikipedia Rasa).

The word rasa appears in ancient Vedic literature. In Rigveda, it connotes a liquid, an extract and flavor. In Atharvaveda, rasa in many contexts means "taste", and also the sense of "the sap of grain". According to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe – a professor of Drama, rasa in the Upanishads refers to the "essence, self-luminous consciousness, quintessence" but also "taste" in some contexts. In post-Vedic literature, the word generally connotes "extract, essence, juice or tasty liquid".

Rasa in an aesthetic sense is suggested in the Vedic literature, but the oldest surviving manuscripts, with the rasa theory of Hinduism, are of Natya Shastra. The Aitareya Brahmana in chapter 6, for example, states:

Now (he) glorifies the arts,

the arts are refinement of the self (atma-samskrti).

With these the worshipper recreates his self,

that is made of rhythms, meters.

The Sanskrit text Natya shastra presents the rasa theory in Chapter 6, a text attributed to Bharata Muni. The text begins its discussion with a sutra called in Indian aesthetics as the rasa sutra:

Rasa is produced from a combination of Determinants (vibhava), Consequents (anubhava) and Transitory States (vyabhicaribhava).

1. Vibhava (Determinants)

These are the causes or stimuli that lead to the emotional experience.
👉 Who or what causes the emotion?

• E.g. a hero, a beloved, a setting like a moonlit night.

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2. Anubhava (Consequents)

These are the visible expressions or reactions shown by the character after feeling the emotion.
👉 How does the character express the emotion?

• E.g. smiling, trembling, looking down, tears, etc.

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3. Vyabhicharibhava (Transitory States)

These are the fleeting or changing emotions that support the main emotion (called sthayi bhava).
👉 What are the side emotions that come and go during the experience?

• E.g. doubt, fear, shame, anxiety, hope, etc.

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4. Rasa

The aesthetic experience the audience feels after all these components work together.
👉 The emotional flavour we relish as spectators.

💡 Example: Shringara Rasa (Romantic/ Love Emotion)

Let’s imagine a scene from a play:

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🎭 Scene:

A young woman (heroine) waits under a blooming tree in the springtime, hoping to meet her lover.

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• Vibhava (Determinants):

  • The heroine, the lover, the garden, the spring season, the fragrance of flowers, the promise of a meeting.

• Anubhava (Consequents):

  • The heroine's blush, her gentle smile, her nervous glances, adjusting her veil, restlessness.

• Vyabhicharibhava (Transitory States):

  • Her shyness, hope, anxiety, impatience, joy when she sees her lover approaching.

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✅ Together, all these elements evoke Shringara Rasa—the aesthetic enjoyment of love—in the audience.

According to the Natya shastra, the goals of theatre are to empower aesthetic experience and deliver emotional rasa. The text states that the aim of art is manifold. In many cases, it aims to produce repose and relief for those exhausted with labor, or distraught with grief, or laden with misery, or struck by austere times. Yet entertainment is an effect, but not the primary goal of arts according to Natya shastra. The primary goal is to create rasa so as to lift and transport the spectators, unto the expression of ultimate reality and transcendent values.

The Abhinavabhāratī is the most studied commentary on Natyasastra, written by Abhinavagupta (950–1020 CE), who referred to Natyasastra also as the Natyaveda.^[18][19] Abhinavagupta's analysis of Natyasastra is notable for its extensive discussion of aesthetic and ontological questions. According to Abhinavagupta, the success of an artistic performance is measured not by the reviews, awards or recognition the production receives, but only when it is performed with skilled precision, devoted faith and pure concentration such that the artist gets the audience emotionally absorbed into the art and immerses the spectator with pure joy of rasa experience.

(Refrence: — Aitareya Brahmana 6.27 (~1000 BCE), Translator: Arindam Chakrabarti

— Natyashastra 6.109 (~200 BCE–200 CE), Translator: Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe)

Rasa:

👉The rasa school stresses this experiential or subjective side of poetic meaning. 

👉Rasas are created Bhavas means State of mind.

"સાહિત્ય જ આપણી ભાવસૃષ્ટિને વિચારસૃષ્ટિમાં ફેરવે છે."

 Literature is the combination of Bhava and language. Bhava+ Language = Literature. 

Bharat Muni beautifully states that life itself is a kind of drama school, where each one of us plays the role of a character. In such a world, the expression of various bhavas (emotions) becomes essential. As it is said in Sanskrit:

"रसात्मकं वाक्यं काव्यम्"
Rasātmakam vākyam kāvyam — Only that sentence which is infused with rasa (emotion) can be considered true poetry.

The Natyashastra begins its discussion on Rasa with a well-known aphorism called the Rasa Sutra:

विभावानुभावव्यभिचारिसंयोगाद्रस निष्पत्तिः।
"Rasa is produced from a combination of Vibhava (Determinants), Anubhava (Consequents), and Vyabhicharibhava (Transitory States)."

This Rasa Sutra can be understood in four parts:

1. Vibhava (Determinants)

2. Anubhava (Consequents)

3. Vyabhicharibhava (Transitory or Complementary Emotions)

4. The Combination of all three, which leads to the experience of Rasa.

According to Sahitya Darpan, rasa emerges when Sthayi Bhavas (permanent emotions) are combined with Vibhava, Anubhava, and Vyabhicharibhava. Therefore, before we delve deeper into the Rasa Sutra, let us first understand what Sthayi Bhavas are.

Sthayi Bhavas

Sthayi Bhavas are the permanent or stable emotions that naturally reside within us. These emotions are fundamental and powerful—they cannot be entirely suppressed. While we may control their outward expression, or even intensify or diminish their impact, they remain present at the core of our emotional experience.

As Aristotle says in his definition of tragedy:

"Tragedy is an imitation of an action that is serious, complete, and of a certain magnitude... through pity and fear affecting the proper purgation of these emotions."
This idea resonates with the concept of Sthayi Bhavas—emotions that are deeply rooted and, when expressed in the right combination, lead to aesthetic enjoyment or rasa.

According to Bharata, there are eight Sthayi Bhavas. However, Abhinavagupta, a later scholar and commentator on the Natyashastra, added a ninth emotion, Shanta (peace), which Bharata had not originally included. Therefore, today, we generally recognize nine Sthayi Bhavas, each giving rise to a corresponding Rasa.

As Abhinavagupta describes in the following verse:

शृङ्गार करुण वीर रौद्र हास्य भयानका।
बिभत्साद्भुत् शान्तश्च नव नाट्ये रसास्मृताः॥

This means that the nine Rasas of drama are:
Shringara, Karuna, Vira, Raudra, Hasya, Bhayanaka, Bibhatsa, Adbhuta, and Shanta.

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📜 Table of Rasas and Their Corresponding Details

Rasa (रस)	Sthayi Bhava (भाव)	Presiding Deity	Colour
1. Shringara	Romance, Love, Attractiveness	Vishnu	Light Green
2. Hasya	Laughter, Mirth, Comedy	Shiva	White
3. Raudra	Fury, Anger	Rudra (Shiva)	Red
4. Karuna	Compassion, Mercy	Yama	Grey
5. Bibhatsa	Disgust, Aversion	Shiva	Blue
6. Bhayanaka	Horror, Fear	Yama	Black
7. Vira	Heroism, Courage	Indra	Saffron (Golden)
8. Adbhuta	Wonder, Amazement	Brahma	Yellow
9. Shanta (added)	Peace, Tranquility	Vishnu	Perpetual White

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In addition to the Sthayi Bhavas, there are also Asthayi Bhavas—temporary or fleeting emotions—which are described in the Rasa Sutra under the term Vyabhichari Bhavas.