________________
1550
SAHṚDAYĀLOKA
prolonged discussion of the nature and number of permanent mental states which have a psychological basis. We will now try to understand this
The psychological basis of the sthavin
We have seen that Bharata in his Nā.śā. ch. VII deals with the nature of sthāyins etc. The tasting or chewing- carvaṇa-of these bhāva-s is 'rasa'. Bharata has, -we have noted above,-shown the difference between the sthayin and vyabhicārin by citing the illustration of a king and his servants. Abhinavagupta here attempts to explain that this difference is rooted in a deeper mental or psychological background.
Abhinavagupta observes that out of the various sentiments, only some are condusive to the ends of life, i.e. to dharma, artha, kāma ad mokṣa. Thus 'rati' or delight is conducive to pleasure, kama-and its resultant things. 'Krodha' or anger is profit-artha-oriented, but can also end in pleasure and merit. Eenergy-utsäha-has all the three ends i.e. dharma, artha and kāma. 'Nirveda' or dispondancy born of knowledge of the Highest Spirit, reality, delivers 'mokṣa' or summom-bonum. These four sentiments viz. śṛngāra, raudra, vīra and bibhatsa (or śānta) are the predominant rasa-s. At best one of these is predominant in dramas. At times all these four are seen in one and the same drama, in different situations or parts, in a predominant position.
Abhinavagupta further observes that all these rasas are dominated by 'sukha'or pleasure : "tatra sarvémi sukha-pradhānāḥ sva-samvic-carvanarūpasyaikaghanasya prakāśānanda-saratvāt" (pp. 17, Gnoli, ibid) "In this connection, all these Rasas are dominated by pleasure (sukha), for the essence of the closely dense (eka-ghana) light consisting of the gustation of our own consciousness, is beatitude."
Gnoli here adds a foot-note (no-2, pp. 72, ibid): "The intimate essence of consciousness or the "I", according to the Saiva is beatitude. The absence of beatitude and suffering are due to a need, privation, or desire for something separated from self. Beatitude is the absence of this desire, the resting in oneself of the exclusion of everything else. The "I" contains all things; everything that exists arises from its unconfined liberty. It cannot be the seat of any deprivation and can desire nothing but itself. Aesthetic experience is the tasting of one's own consciousness and, therefore, of one's own essential beatitude. In this sense, rasa is single. This tasting is coloured (anu-rañjita, rūṣita) by latent impressions
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
