Some Aspects of Rasa Theory

Author(s): V M Kulkarni
Publisher: B L Institute of Indology

Page 18

SOME ASPECTS OF THE RASA THEORY
a drama apart from human emotion. This means that according to Bharata, portrayal of the emotions of various characters is the main business of a play. A drama necessarily deals with the emotional ups and downs and emotional conflict in the minds of various characters. For many of the thoughts and most of the actions of human beings are prompted directly and indirectly by some emotion or the other in their minds. This holds good as much in the case of poetry as in that of drama. In fact the rasa-doctrine and the supreme importance of the portrayal of rasa in drama as propounded by Bharata has been accepted in toto by all writers on poetics and the portrayal of human emotions has been regarded by them as the essence of poetry and drama.3
In Natyasāstre 14.2 (Vol. II, p. 220), while dealing with vāgabhinaya (i.e. vācika abhinaya), Bharata says that the utmost care must be taken by an actor in the matter of the recitation of speeches assigned to the character represented by him (and by implication, also by a playwright in regard to the composition of those speeches), because these speeches are the corpus (tan) of a drama.4 since a drama is predominantly a vocal performance. This statement of Bharata, coupled with his earlier statement about the paramount importance of rasa in a drama, clearly shows that he foreshadows the idea set forth by later writers on poetics, that rasa.is the soul of poetry (including drama) and that words (and their literal senses) are the body of poetry.5
Later writers on poetics, such as Anandavardhana, while stressing the importance of rasa as the soul of poetry, say that rasa' (emotion) is always to be suggested in poetry through the description of its causes (vibhāvas) and its effects (anubhāvas) and is never to be mentioned by its name. In this connection they have propounded the doctrine of vyañjanā or dhvani
3. अग्निपुराण, ३३६,३३ : वाग्वैदग्ध्यप्रधानेऽपि रस एवात्र (काव्ये) जीवितम्। ध्वन्यालोक, १, ५ (पृ. ८६):
काव्यस्यात्मा स एवार्थः (=रसरूपः एव अर्थः); ३, पृ. ३३६ : कविना रसपरतन्त्रेण भवितव्यम्।...न हि कवेरितिवृत्तमात्रेण किंचित् प्रयोजनम् , इतिहासादेव तत्सिद्धेः।। ४, ५, पृ. ५२९ : व्यङ्ग्यव्यञ्जकभावेऽस्मिन् विविधे (= त्रिविधे) संभवत्यपि। रसादिमय एकस्मिन् कविः स्यादवधानवान् ॥; anonymous stanza quoted by प्रतीहारेन्दुराज in his commentary on उद्भट' काव्यालंकारसारसंग्रह, ६, ७ (पृ. ८३, BORI edn) : रसायधिष्ठितं काव्यं जीवद्रूपतया यतः। कथ्यते, तद्रसादीनां काव्यात्मत्वं व्यवस्थितम्॥; राजशेखर, काव्यमीमांसा, ३ (पृ. २६, Chowkhamba Series edn, 1934) : रसः आत्मा।; अभिनवगुप्त, लोचन, पृ.१७५ : रसेन एव जीवति काव्यम्।; मम्मट, काव्यप्रकाश, ७,४९ (पृ. २६३, BORI edn.) : मुख्यार्थहतिर्दोषः, रसश्च मुख्यः (=मुख्यः अर्थः)। विश्वनाथ, साहित्यदर्पण, १, ३ : वाक्यं रसात्मकं काव्यम्। It will be seen from these quotations that Bharata's statement cited in note 2 has inspired subsequent writers on Sanskrit poetics to emphasise rosa as the soul or quintessence of poetry. वाचि यत्नस्तु कर्तव्यः नाटयस्यैषा तनूः स्मृता| On this Abhinavagupta says (Vol. II, p. 220) : वाचि यत्नस्तु कर्तव्यः कविना निर्माणकाले, नटेन प्रयोगकाले। कुत इत्याह-एषा हि तनुर्नाटयस्य सकलप्रयोग-भित्तिभूतत्वेन
आतोद्यगीताभिनयानुग्राहकत्वात् , स्वयम् अभिनयरूपत्वाच्च। 5. दण्डिन् , काव्यादर्श, १, १० : तैः शरीरं च काव्यानाम् अलंकाराश्च दर्शिताः। शरीरं तावदिष्टार्थव्यवच्छिन्ना
पदावली; राजशेखर काव्यमीमांसा, ३, पृ. २५ : शब्दार्थों ते (= काव्यपुरुषस्य) शरीरम्। विश्वनाथ साहित्यदर्पण, १, २ पृ. ३ (Kane's edn.) : काव्यस्य शब्दार्थो शरीरम्।