Sambodhi 1988 Vol 15

Author(s): Ramesh S Betai, Yajneshwar S Shastri
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 13

In the course of his refutation of the rival theories of rasa Abhinava. gupta briefly mentions the Samkhya - view which holds that rasa is sukha - dulkhälmaka - 'pleasant and painful'. This view is not made clear. Whether each rasa is both plcasant and painful or some rasas are pleasant and some others painful. Abhinava however rejects it summarily out of hand.
In his Kavyanušāsana Hemacandra reproduces the whole section from Abhinavabhārati dealing with the exposition of the rasa-sutra and in unmistakable words declares that in regard to the doctrine of rasa he follows Acārya Abhinavagupta.
It is very interesting to find that Hemacandra's close and devoted disciples, Rāmacandra and Guņacandra, enunciate in their Nātya-darpana that rasa is sukha-duh khatmaka and thus provide an exception to the ancient rule “yathopädhyāyan fişyah"; we have no means to know whether these disciples had discussed their view with Ācārya Hemacandra and what the Acārya's reaction was. But for a spirited defence of their view with cogent arguments they have won praise from some modern writers on poetics.
Another Jain scholar, Siddhicandragani, a contemporary of Jagannātha, in his commentary Kävyaprakāśakhandana observes -
" 1 ffat-5- T-E9T-FEIT Al-faq AITTEET-FT=श्रवणाभ्यां सुखविशेषो जायते । स एव तु रस इति नवीनाः ।"
-9.98 According to the view fo the Ancients, the rasa is paramānandarūna. The Moderns (Navināh, including Siddhicandra himself-most probably) however, say: “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. This peculiar pleasure is itself rasa. In other words, the Moderns regard the aesthetic pleasure as on a par with ordinary pleasures of the senses as only (lauk ika) worldly. As a corollary to 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, the furious, the terrifying and the disgusting to the title rasa. From this description of the nature of rasa we can easily see how 1. atalea TE -T-ETua- Tai ya Tai: Feui&tat 91 a muca
aer Tema 1...372 Furietai yra tarafa , gaua-...5 374491 ऽपि रत्यादिवत् 'स्वप्रकाशज्ञानसुखात्मका इति तदुन्मत्त-प्रल पितम् । एवं भयातिशयवर्णन तत्तदव्यक्तीनां मादवप्रतिपादनाय । वस्तुतस्तु कविभिः- वशक्तिप्रदर्शनार्थमेव-पद्यबन्धाबन्धादिनिर्माणवत तत्र तत्र प्रवयत इति । पृ. १६-२२