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________________ SOME UNCONVENTIONAL VIEWS ON RASA 351 plays depicting them to our mental absorption in the acting going on in front of us. "So the rasa of karuna is of a peculiar kind and is particularly due, not to the nature of the emotion itself, but to our contemplation of the art with which an actor presents it."l1 Kavyaprakasakhandana 12 of Siddhicandra : Finally, we have this commentary which presents altogether new and novel ideas regarding the nature and number of rasas. These may briefly be stated as follows : As compared with the supreme joy (or rather delight) of rasa of the Vedantins, a peculiar pleasure which arises on watching a dramatic performance or hearing the recitation of poetry is similar to the pleasure of anointing one's body with sandal-paste or of pressing the breasts of a young beautiful woman and is itself rasa--this is the view of the moderns (navinah) who belong to the 17th century A. D. In other words, the navinas (including the author himself) regard the aesthetic pleasure as on a par with ordinary pleasures of the senses--as only worldly (laukika). As a natural consequence of this view they hold that there are only four rasas : the erotic, the heroic, the comic and the marvellous, and they reject the claim of the pathetic (or compassionate), the furious, the terrifying and the disgusting to the title of rasa. The pathetic and others, arising from sorrow, etc., although are revealed with cit (=caitanya)-consciousness consisting of delight, they cannot be called rasa since the sthayi-amsa (part) is opposed to the state of rasa. Again, if you argue that they, being revealed by alaukika vibhavas etc., deserve to be called rasa like the pleasurable bites inflicted in the course of love game, our reply is : "No". For following this line of argument you will have to call mental distress, caused by hunger, thirst, etc., as new or different rasas. The bites in the course of sexual enjoyment remove the pain caused by overpowering passion and give a sense of relief as when a burden is taken off one's shoulders. But to say that sorrow, etc., like love etc., consist of or lead to light, knowledge and joy is simply a madman's prattle. Further in Aja-vilapa (Aja's Lament), etc., because of varnaniyatanmayibhavana (identifying one's self with the event or situation or mental mood portrayed), how could there arise the aesthetic joy similar to Brahmananda [the supreme delight arising out of the direct vision of the Highest Reality (the Absolute)-- brahmasaksatkara] ? In the disgusting rasa which arises out of vivid description of flesh, pus, etc., the reader or spectator does not vomit or spit is itself a matter of surprise; how could it produce rasa consisting of supreme delight ? It may be granted that the santa somehow deserves the title rasa with reference to persons who have given up completely all vasanas (various instincts) but certainly not with reference to sensualists as it (the santa) involves abstention from all Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org
| SR No. | 001868 |
| Book Title | Studies in Jain Literature |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | V M Kulkarni |
| Publisher | Shardaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre |
| Publication Year | 2001 |
| Total Pages | 114 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English, Literature, & Story |
| File Size | 14 MB |