Kavyanushasana Critical Study

SR No.: 001713
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: A N Upadhye
Publisher: A N Upadhye
Publication Year: 1987
Total Pages: 558
Language: English
Classification: Book_English, Literature, & Kavya
File Size: 10 MB

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Vibhāvas, Anubhāvas and Vyabhicāribhāvas, leading up to the Rasa. This Rasa is a matter of experience, not of statement. It is impossible, in fact, to experience Rasas like Vira, Śțngāra etc., in a composition which is totally devoid of the delineation of their respective Vibhāvas etc., though there is only a mention of Vira, Sțngāra etc. Thus by both Anvaya and Vyatireka - positive and negative concomittance, the conclusion is inescapable that Rasa is portrayed not by its proper name, but by development (Upacaya) through the representation of the appropriate Vibhāvasāmagri i.e., aesthetic situation. Even here, a word of caution is necessary. It should not be supposed, as is done very often, that these Vibhāvas and the other accessories generate or produce Rasa like so many worldly causes, for they only suggest Rasa. Thus, Hemachandra emphasises at this point that Rasādi are always suggested and never expressed.
This Rasadhvani is a class by itself because it outshines what is expressed and it occupies the most dominant position in high class poetry. Indeed, this Rasadhvani, as Abhinavagupta repeatedly stresses, is the soul of poetry.59 Here it may be noted that it is not the personal grief or pain of the poet (Dhv. Al. I. 5) that develops into a poem which is full of Rasa, For, personal bereavement in life produces tears, not in poems, as we know. Abhinavagupta, therefore, explains that the poet is a sympathetic spectator whose heart is touched and he imaginatively experiences that sorrow in an ideal, impersonal kind of way which results in expansion of his consciousness which is indescribable bliss, pure as well as unique. Thus, "The sorrow of the bird gets transfigured in the vision of the imaginative poet, and the result is a poem. The sentiment of compassion (Karuņa) has pity for its immediate primary impuise, and the essence of Vālmiki's verse has of course to be sought in the Karunarasa that is suggested therein. Of the three varieties of Dhvani mentioned, Rasadhvani alone happens to be the most important."60 Thus Rasadhvani
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