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4
Abhinavabhārati on Dasarūpaka-vidhāna lead a careful student to believe that it is more likely than not that the whole discussion is taken over from the A.Bh. (on Ch. VII) now lost. The theoretical discussion in Alamkāracudāmaņi may briefly be presented in the words of the late Professor M. V. Patwardhan as follows:
The word sattva means vital force (or energy) because of the etymology, viz. : the mind is lodged in it, and because vital force consists in an excess of sattva-guna and because of its inherent goodness (sattva = sädhutva). The sättvika-bhāvas have their origin in sattva (in the vital force) and hence they are known by the name sättvika.9. The sättvikabhāvas are associated with the emotions such as rati (love) etc., which arise from prāņa-bhūmi - the bed-rock (bhūmi) of the vital force. They are distinct from the physical effects such as tears, etc., which are extraneous (to the vital force) and which are non-sentient (? bodily, of physical nature) in their or form (jadarūpa). They are produced only by the vibhāvas associated as causes with the emotions or psychic states such as rati (love), etc. and are beyond the pale of aesthetic experience, and their presence (i.e. the presence of the internal sāttvika-bhāvas) is intimated or suggested by their consequents. To explain : The psychic states, when they enter into the predominantly earth-allied element in the vital force give rise to stambha (the blocking of sensation, when they enter i.e. affect) the predominantly water-allied element in the vital force give rise to tears. But as tejas (heat) is intimately allied to the vital force either intensely (acutely) or in a feeble manner (mildly) and it gives rise to perspiration and paleness of the body (? face) it is spoken of in that way. Perspiration due to the infusion (of tejas) into the water-dominated element of the vital force, for example, is thus illustrated in the following stanza, cited in Viveka (p. 146) : -
“When in the course of gambling (with dice) for amusement (or diversion) her embrace was first won (as a wager) by her dear consort, and then, thereafter, the charming (delightful) offering of the lower lip (for being kissed ) was won by her dear consort as a wager, he again inquired of his beloved about the next) wager to be put forward by her, she silently stretched out (extended) her perspiring hand in order to throw (east) the dice sāra-visāraṇāya = akşa-utkşepanāya), while her cheeks began to throb ( quiver ) because of the outburst of passion accumulated in her (mind) but held in check with a suppressed (inchoate) smile (sāntarhāsa). But (physical) paleness or loss of colour due to the infusion of tejas into the water-dominated element of the vital force in a feeble manner is thus illustrated in the following stanza, cited in Viveka (p. 146) :
