Some Aspects of Rasa Theory

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

Page 48

36
SOME ASPECTS OF THE RASA THEORY
ily feel sorrow in oneself. For instance, when one finds one's enemy in sorrow one is delighted. In other cases (i. e. those of persons who are neither one's friends nor foes) one remains indifferent. Now as regards the answer they gave to their own objection that it is the very nature of the emotions that when they are portrayed in a drama they give rise to pleasure) it is no answer at all. In our opinion, in aesthetic experience it is one's own consciousness which consists of uniform bliss that is enjoyed. How can there be any suspicion of sorrow? The various permanent emotions like love, sorrow, etc. only serve to lend variety to the enjoyment of this bliss. Acting (abhinaya) etc. serve to awaken to life these permanent emotions."25
In these passages Abhinavagupta dwells upon his favourite theme that all rasas are essentially pleasurable. Even the painful emotions of anger, fear, sorrow and disgust (krodha, bhaya, śoka and jugupsă) of our real life, when poetised or represented on the stage, are contemplated in their idealised form, completely divorced from reference to personal interests, one's own or those of others, (and from all reference to time and space); and when they are thus contemplated they yield pure joy.
___ (xiv) Locana : p. 40, p. 399, p. 455 : Abhinavagupta states that oyutpatti (instruction in regard to the four well-known puruşarthas-ends of human life, or as the term has been sometimes interpreted, moral instruction, intellectual refinement) and priti (pleasure, joy, delight) constitute the goal of literature. If vyutpatti is half of the goal of literature, prīti is the other half. But he does not fail to state that moral instruction and delight are not really different from one another but are two aspects of the same thing; for they both have the same cause-both are aroused by poetry-both are the result of one and the same aesthetic experience. 26
25. ये तु रत्याद्यनुकरणरूपं रसमाहुः, अथ चोदयन्ति शोकः कयं सुखहेतुरिति । परिहरन्ति च अस्ति कोऽपि नाट्यगतानां
विशेष इति । तत्र चोद्यं तावदसत् । शोको हि प्रतीयमानः किं स्वात्मनि प्रत्येतुर्दुःखं वितनोतीति नियमः । शत्रुदःखे प्रहर्षात् । अन्यत्र च मध्यस्थत्वात् । उत्तरं तु भावानां वस्तुस्वभावमात्रेण (मात्रता) इति न किञ्चिदत्र तत्त्वम् । अस्मन्मते संवेदनमेवानन्दघनमास्वाद्यते। तत्र का दुःखाशङ्का । केवलं तस्यैव चित्रताकरणे रतिशोकादिवासनाव्यापारः। तदुबोधने चाभिनयादिव्यापारः।
- -A. Bh. I. pp. 291-292 26. (i) तत्र कवेस्तावत्कीर्त्यापि प्रीतिरेव संपाद्या। यदाह-कीर्ति स्वर्गफलमाहुः' (काव्यालङ्कारसूत्रवृत्ति १.१.५)
इत्यादि । श्रोतृणां च व्युत्पत्ति-प्रीती यद्यपि स्तः, यथोक्तम्धर्मार्थकाममोक्षेषु वैचक्षण्यं कलासु च। करोति कीर्तिं प्रीतिं च साधुकाव्यनिषेवणम् ॥ इति ॥ तथापि तत्र प्रीतिरेव प्रधानम् । अन्यथा प्रभुसंमितेभ्यो वेदादिभ्यो मित्रसंमितेभ्यश्चेतिहासादिभ्यो व्युत्पत्तिहेतुभ्यः कोऽस्य काव्यरूपस्य व्युत्पत्तिहेतोर्जायासंमितत्वलक्षणो विशेष इति प्राधान्येनानन्द एवोक्तः। चतुर्वर्गव्युत्पत्तेरपि चानन्द एव पार्यन्तिकं मुख्य फलम् । ...
---Locana, pp. 44-41 (ii) ...रसास्वादवैवश्यमेव स्वरसभाविन्यां व्युत्पत्तौ प्रयोजकमिति प्रीतिरेव व्युत्पत्तेः प्रयोजिका । प्रीत्यात्मा च रसस्तदेव नाटयं नाटयमेव वेद इत्यस्मदुपाध्यायः । न चैते प्रीतिव्युत्पत्ती भिन्नरूपे एव । द्वयोरप्येकविषयत्वात् ।
-Locana, p. 336