Some Aspects of Rasa Theory

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

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GERMS OF THE LATER RASA DOCTRINE IN BHARATA'S NĀTYAŚĀSTRA
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delightful nature of the soul immediately after the removal of the shroud of the dense infatuation (enveloping the soul), by the artistic portrayal of an emotional situation by a poet.
In the passage from the Natyaśāstra cited in note 12 and explaining how rasa is relished, Bharata says that cultured, sensitive readers obtain delight, : etc. (harşădin). According to Abhinavagupta, who holds the view that all rasas, without exception, are delightful, the word adi in harşädin does not stand for śoka (sorrow), bhaya (fear), jugupsă (disgust) etc., but for moral and intellectual enlightenment, cleverness in worldly matters, etc. 16 In addition to this view of Abhinavagupta regarding the uniformly and invariably delightful nature of all rasas (kevalanandavāda), there is another view (called vibhajyavåda, propounded by Rāmcandra and Guņacandra in the Natyadarpaņa, according to which some rasas (śrngāra, hāsya, vira, adbhuta, and santa) are of a delightful nature, while other rasas (karuna, bhayānaka, raudra and bibhatsa) are of a painfui nature.17 It is quite possible that Bharata believed in vibhajyavāda. This is shown by what he says in Natyaśāstra 27.55, about the different mental reactions of a cultured spectator to the various emotions depicted in a drama. 18 Thus the seeds of both kevalanandavāda and vibhajyavāda can be found in Bharata's phrase harşādin, depending on how the word adi is interpreted.
In Natyasästra VI, pp. 288-289 Bharata uses the word sumanasaḥ to qualify connoisseurs (puruṣaḥ) and spectators (preksakāh) while comparing the gustatory enjoyment of culinary preparations with aesthetic enjoyment of emotional situations. The phrase sumanasaḥ preksakāh is used here in the sense of cultured, responsive and sensitive spectators, and it is clearly a forerunner of the sahțdaya frequently used in the Dhvanyaloka by Anandavardhana and in the Locana by Abhinavagupta. The word sahệdaya is found used in Vāmana's Kavyalankārasūtravrtti19, I. 2.21, stanza 2, in the sense in which it is used by Anandavardhana, Abhinavagupta and later writers. Abhinavagupta explains the word in Locana, I, p. 38, as follows: "sensitive readers are people who have the capacity of identifying with matter under description in poetry because the mirror of their heart has become clean (or polished) due to their repeated reading and contemplation of poetry".20 In the introductory stanza at the commencement of the Locana, Abhinavagupta says 16. Abhinavabhārati Vol I. p. 289 : FIAT Alfogcqrmacizle1917 341F9EETH!"**Bp I
'आदिशब्देन शोकादीनामा संग्रहः। स च न युक्तः। सामाजिकानां हि हकफलं नाट्यं न शोकादिफलम् ।। p. 282 : sta 3119666 991 ga Hatari ; p. 292 : 34 CFH 3119799977 377fiaal aa
का दुःखाशङ्का। 17. Nāļyadarpaņa III (pp. 141-142, : Baroda edition, 1959). 18. यस्तुष्टौ तुष्टिमायाति शोके शोकमुपैति च। दैन्ये दीनत्वमभ्येति स नाटये प्रेक्षकः स्मृतः॥ 19. उदयति स हि तादृक् क्वापि वैदर्भरीतौ सहृदयहृदयानां रञ्जकः कोऽपि पाकः । 20. येषां काव्यानुशीलनवशाद् विशदीभूते मनोमुकुरे वर्णनीयतन्मयीभवनयोग्यता ते स्वहृदयसंवादभाजः सहृदयाः। . Cf. Dhvanyāloka, p. 359, line 6: AFHE Tegar ga nagu