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SAHṚDAYALOKA
auspiciousness, and “Sundaram” or pure divine beauty. Perhaps the Vaisnava artcritics Rūpa and Jiva Goswami aimed exactly at this only.
1590
Thus, the theory of rasánubhuti or art-experience, and then the theory of vyañjana-dhvani-rasa as promulgated specifically with reference to poetry, as advanced by Indian art-critics, takes in its fold, all art-forms, including all modern attempts in the direction of absurd theatre and absurd poetry, and is capable to meet with any challange posed by modern creative play-wrights and poets.
It is the most catholic art-theory we can ever imagine, and it can stand the test of world-literature of the present day.
We will try to consider specific illustrations. Absurd plays such as "The Chairs" by Eugene Ionesco or, "Waiting for the Godot" by samnel Beckett can serve our purpose. The dramatists have made use of symbolism to convey their inner unrest, or dissatisfaction with the world-order, or, say, their quarrel with the great creator, i.e. God. Even lauguage seems to be a poor, poorer medium to convey their unrest and they take recourse to the use of images and symbols for which we have to be in tune with their psyche, their intelligence, their conscience, their conviction. May be their creations suffer from a blemish that Indian art-critics recognise as "atigudha-vyangya" i.e. suggestion being too much personal. We will not worry about this. But what emerges is that the poet or the artist concerned wants to suggest his deep-rooted discontent with existence as it is. And this he does through literary art and also by the art of drama at his command. The dictionary meaning i.e. the expressed sense of the lines they have written do not take us to their inner experience. But the whole thing is suggested by the play as a whole. It is "prabandha-dhvani" i.e. suggestion resulting from the whole composition. Only men of cultivated taste and intelligence can reach this point which we will call the moment of 'rasánubhuti' or 'art-experience.'
Dr. S. D. Desai, a young friend of mine who is an art-critic with the Times of India, (Ahmedabad, Edn., dt. 3/12/00) has brought out the inner message of a play named "Purusa", directed by Vijaya Metha, with the characters being played by Nana Pateker, Ayesha, and others. He writes, under the caption : "Contemporary Issues masterfully portrayed," :-"Great play-wrights, who believe in a moral vision of emerging societies in the history of civilization, have always held a mirror to them and exposed its tragic flaws. In to-day's decadent world, inadequacies of drama skills, ethical perspectives, and moral concerns stare man in the face.
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