Some Aspects of Rasa Theory

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

Page 73

RASA THEORY AND THE DARŠANAS
first pronounces the character of rasa as the sthāyin qualified by uncovered - consciousness; and later rectifies the statement by saying that in fact, rasa is uncovered consciousness engulfed by the sthāyin.'10 The difference between these statements is like that between the coloured glass illuminated by the sunlight' and 'the sunlight filtered through the coloured glass. As a true philosopher, he makes it categorically clear that the experience of rasa, engulfed by objects such as vibhāva, is quite distinct from the experience of the Brahman in meditation.11 As a true Vedāntin, he has traced rasa to a śruti passage, the oldest possible authority respected by all devout traditionalists. In the third interpretation which he has ascribed to the moderns', he presents rasa as on a par with the appearance of silver on a shell shining in the sun,-both caused by imperfections in cognitive conditions, and equally anirvacanīya, indeterminate.12 Others would like to call them both illusions. These are practically extensions to rasa of various khyatis in philosophical systems which attempt to explain what happens when X is cognized as Y.. CONCLUSION:
From what has been stated above it would seem that the distinctive doctrines of more than one system of philosophy are found mentioned in Sanskrit works on poetics. The Samkhya and the Vedānta systems however appear to have exercised a profound influence in moulding the rasa theory. The very concept that rasa is not produced but already exists, it is only revealed, it is one with the Sthāyin, has a close resemblance with the Samkhya doctrine of Satkāryavāda. The concepts of 'bhoga' and 'sattvodreka' are also primarily derived from the Samkhya system. The idea of sadharanikarana, first propounded by Nāyaka, has its roots partly in the Sāṁkhya concept that the purusa (really not related to the guņas which cause bhoga) is subjected to the worldly experiences of pleasure and pain because of his identificationand sadhāranikarana is practically a form of identification-in error with the Prakrti (which is constituted of the three gunas) and partly in the Vedānta idea that all is Brahman. (Yet another probable source for sādharanikarana is the concept of sämänya of the Nyāya-Vaiseșika systems which is the common heritage of most of the philosophical systems.) It is particularly significant in the context of identification and bhoga to find that the Sāmkhyas compare the role of Prakrti to that of an actress who presents the dance of pleasure and pain on the stage of the world, that is, the samsāra, in which
10. इत्थं चाभिनवगुप्तमम्मटभटादिग्रन्थस्वारस्येन भग्नावरणचिद्विशिष्टो रत्यादिः स्थायी भावो रस इति स्थितम् । वस्तुतस्तु
वक्ष्यमाणश्रुतिस्वारस्येन रत्याद्यवच्छिन्ना भग्नावरणा चिदेव रसः। ...अस्त्यत्रापि 'रसो वै सः, रसं ह्येवाय gozaltret Haid' sa fa: ... Rasaganyādhara I, p. 55 in R. B. Athayle's edition (Poona
1953). vol. 1 11. U a TTATIEASTI AARTSTUTT, fahiangramarsaraan-perancata i loc. cit. 12. नव्यास्तु...सहृदयतोल्लासितस्य भावनाविशेषरूपस्य दोषस्य महिम्ना...स्वात्मन्यज्ञानावच्छिन्ने शुक्तिकाशकल इव
Tage: 9499Aradacia:...T#: Op. cit, pp. 56-57