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V. M. Kulkarni
question : 'How can sorrow b: the cause of joy? They answer their own question by saying that sorrow (and similar other painful mental states) when portrayed in drama acquire a peculiar or special property (whereby they become a source of pleasure). But to start with, the very question they ask is false. For, is there an invariable rule that when one perceives sorrow in somebody else it necessarily produces sorrow in oneself ? It is observed in actual life that when one sees one's enemny in sorrow, one experiences extreme joy. In other cases (ie., in the cases of persons who are neither one's friends nor foes) one remains totally indifferent. Now, regarding the answer they give to their own questioni, viz., it is the very nature of the mental states or emotions that when they are depicted in drama, they attain a peculiar or special property they come to possess speciality and produce joy is no answer at all (lit., there is no substance in it.)1"In our opinion, (says Abhinavagupta) (in aesthetic experience) what is enjoyed is one's own consciousness which consists of a compact mass of bliss. How can there be any question of sorrow ? Different emotions like love, sorrow, ctc. only serve the purpose of lending variety to the enjoyment of this consciousness consisting of bliss). Acting, etc., helps or serves to awaken it (i.e. the sarvedaná, consciousness): 11
| Abhinavagupta is firmly of the view that all the (eight or nine) rasas are pleasurable (anandaripa). When commenting on Natyaśāstra (L. 119, p. 43) be declaros : The four permanent (or dominant) mental states of love (rati), laughter (hasa), dynamic energy (utsäha) and wonder (vismaya) are primarily pleasurable (sukha-svabhava). But the other four permanent (or dominant) mental states of anger (krodha), fear (bhaya), sorrow (foka) and disgust (jugupsā) are primarily painful. These permanent mental states, however, do not exclusively consist in happiness or misery, joy or sorrow, but are pierced through an etement of sorrow and joy respectively. 12
In the course of his discussion of the sixth obstacle to the realization of rasa, viz., the lack of some predominant factor (apradhānatā), he observes: "All these permanent mental states (when portrayed in a drama) are predominantly pleasurable. For, the essence of compact light (prakasa) consisting in the aesthetic relish of one's own consciousness is transcendental delight. To explain : In actual life also women when they are completely absorbed in the rumination of their consciousness charactrised or circumscribed by profound sorrow find full rest or repose in their own heart. For happiness consists in complete rest or full repose without any obstacle. Pain, on the contrary, is nothing but absence of complete rest
