________________
1588
SAHRDAYĀLOKA
caksus, gifted to Arjuna by Lord Krisna to view the 'virāj' form of His Divine self. Art experience also serves as an incentive for an individual to grow permanently into higher self.
Art strips you, for the time being, of all vestures of the six-enemies, the 'sadripu'-s, that cover the inner self. Thus art-criticism is pondering over the beautiful aspect of the Divine, and it transforms the enjoyer of cultivated taste, into a man of purer self. It becomes a gate-way, so to say, to the higher plane of spirituality, it opens up the "yoga-mārga” for the enjoyer. Thus, art-experience is a special perception; it is exclusive to art; it is sui generis, This experience, according to Abhinavagupta, is free from onstacles,-it is a "vīta-vighna-pratīti", an apprehension, free from all worldly obstacles. It “may be said to enter directly, (ni-viś) into our hearts, to dance (vi-parivrt) before our eyes", są to say. (Trans. Gnoli. pp. 56, ibid). In such an art-experience, "one's own self is neither completely immersed (tiraskrta), nor in a state if particular emergence (ullikh), and the same thing happens . with other selves. As a result of this, the state of generality involved is not limited (parimita), but extended (vitata), as happens at the moment on which is formed the idea of the invariable concomitance (vyapti) between smoke and fire, or, in fact, between trembling and fear.” (Trans. Gnoli, p. 56, ibid). It is a perception, free from obstacles; call it by any name such as 'camatkāra', nirveśa (immersion), rasana (relish), āsvāda (tasting), bhoga (enjoyment), samāpatti (accomplishment), laya (lysis), or viśrānti (rest). It is art-experience and nothing else. A rose, is a rose, is a rose, and will smell as sweet, even if we call it by any other name !
Thus, any art, be it dance, music, painting, drama, literature, sculpture, or any fine art we may name, through its own vibhāvādi' content, draws the enjoyer closer to the Divine. It transforms his total personality beginning with the physical and passing through the mental and intellectual and the emotive, and ending in the spiritual. It is a transformation of body and mind into the spirit. So, rasa-experience does not end merely in evocation or enhancement of this or that feeling or emotion only to the plane of a sentiment; no, it is not just this, but it covers the volitional as well as the intellectual or rational portion of a man's personality also. Precisely for this that the great Anandavardhana has reserved a place for vastu-dhvani or suggestion of an idea or matter, wherein human intelligence has a greater role. It is childish on the part of Viśvanātha to dismiss vastu-dhvani as a foolish riddle, a 'prahelikā-mātra'. Actually, it is a sort of intellectual exercise cau experiences. This part of dhvani covers all modern art-forms where the intelligence or rationality of a man of cultivated taste is tested. All absurd poetry and newer
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
