Rasa Theory

Rasa Theory

^{Indian Poetics: Rasa theory and natya shastra}

Name: Parmar Dipali K.

Roll No. : 26

Assignment Sem. 2

Email Id: dipaliparmar247@gmail.com

Submitted to: The Department of English, MKBU.

v Classification of Literary Theories:

            It is possible to classify the literary theories on the basis of what aspect of literary composition is central to them. Accordingly, we have theory of:

1. Language, namely alamkara and vakrokti.

2. Style and compositional value, namelyguna/dosa, riti, and auchitya.

3. Verbal symbolism, namely, dhvani.

4. Aesthetic experience, namely, rasa.

5. Narrative, namely, mahakavya.

6. Discourse analysis, namely, yuktis.

7. Comprehensive analysis.

8. Interpretation.

v Introduction to Major Literary Theory “Rasa Theory”:

The rasa theory originates with Bharatain Natyasastra. It claims that the object or meaning that is sought to be conveyed in literary compositions is in the nature of an emotional effect of diverse human experience on man’s mind and heart. It is possible, Bharata demonstrates, to enumerate the whole range of emotions, or states of being born of experience, and to analyse the structure of those emotions in terms of cause, physical correlate and their effect on man’s being. The theory thus becomes in effect a theory of literary experience which is strongly rooted in the empirical human reality.

Bharata, the first enouncer of the theory, gives the most comprehensive analysis of its sources, nature and its categories. Subsequently the theory found major commentators in Dhanika Dhananjaya who re-examined Bharat’s typology of drama and added to it a typology of uprupakas, sub-plays, plays within plays, and one-act plays. It is Abhinavagupta, however, who enriched the theory by elucidating its philosophic foundations and by analyzing in depth the aesthetic dimension of the theory in terms of the nature, cognition and effect of literary experience.

The rasa theory has been accepted as the core literary theory by all major poets both before and after Abhinavagupta.

v  The Rasa theory and its determinants:

Rasais said to be aroused when the sthayibhavaof individual is awakened.

Sthayibhavais awakend by individual’s perception of vibhavas, anubhavas, vyabhicharibhavas and sattvicbhavas. 

1. Vibhavas:

Vibhāvas are the stimuli such as the story, the stage and the actors responsible for the awakening of the sthāyi, i.e. the latent sentiment in the spectator.

Vibhavasare of two kinds: 

1. Alambana Vibhavas

2. Uddipana Vibhavas

ālambanavibhāva is the basic stimulus capable of arousing the sentiment, whereas uddipanavibhāva is the enhancingstimuli, the environment in which the basic stimulus is located.

i.e., In case of arousing the sentiment of pity or karuna rasa, the perception of an old weak woman on the stage is the ālambanavibhāva; and that of thatched hut in which the old woman is lying and the surrounding atmosphere of neglect and poverty is the uddipanavibhāva.

        However, it must be noted that vibhāva is not the ‘cause’ of producing any emotion but only the ‘medium’ through which it passes to spectator by means of ‘sympathetic induction’. Thus, in aesthetic induction, everything is a medium rather than a cause and this is because ‘what is transferred is always a generalized feeling’ (neither a result nor a knowledge). This transference however, implies not the production of any new emotion in the spectator, but only the awakening of latent sentiment.

2. Anubhavas:

            Anubhāvas are the deliberate manifestations of feelings on the part of the actor (in accordance with the mood at aim). They consist of the various gestures and glances etc. of the actor which are intended to develop the basic stimulus or thevibhāva.

i.e., In the case of śrngāra rasa the presence of a beautiful young girl on the stage is a vibhāvaand her movements and glances are the anubhāvas.

3. Vyabhicharibhavas:

            Vyabhicāribhāvas are the transient emotions which arise in the course of maintaining and developing the basic mood; they are the ancillary emotions determined by the basic emotion (in the scene or the story) and Vyabhicāribhāvas in turn reinforce the basic mood.

i.e.,If the basic mood is love, riti: joy in union and anguish in separation will be the accompanying ancillary emotions.

4. Sattvicbhavas:

            Sāttvicbhāvas are the involuntary expressions such as blushing, perspiration etc. which arise as a result of (successfully) experiencing and portrayal of the emotion.

As a result of the (successful) joint operation of all these factors, the sthāyībhāva (the latent sentiment) is aroused in the spectator and becomes Rasa; it develops into rasawhen awakened and brought to a relish able condition as a result of the complex stimuli. Rasa which arises as a result of all these factors is distinct from all of them just as a dish is distinct in taste from each of its ingredients.

Now let’s see how Abhinavagupta has described rasanubhava;

v Process (psycho-physical) of rasanubhava by Abhinavagupta:

Abhinavagupta holds that in the case of a truly poetic composition, after having grasped the full significance of the words and their meanings, there is a mental intuition as a result of which the actual temporal and spatial character of the situation is withdrawn from the mental field and the emotion suggested therein loses its individual character and also becomes dissociated from such conditions as might have led us to any motivation. The emotion is apprehended and intuited in a purely universal character and in consequences there of the ordinary pathological symptoms of emotion lose their significance and through all the different emotions bereft of their pathological characters we have one enjoyment of ‘joy’. It is for this reason in the experience over tragedy we find as much enjoyment as in that of a comedy, for the experience of a grief would have been unpalatable if it was associated with its pathological consequences. These pathological consequences are always due to a sense of self-struggle, self-motivation, loss and the like. But in the intuition of the Rasa we live through the experience of a pure sentiment bereft of all its local characters and personal emotive associations.

            In the subconscious and unconscious regions there are always lying dormant various types of emotion-motive complexes. When through artistic creation a purely universal emotional fear, amour, etc., are projected in the mind, they become affiliated or apperception or implicit recognition of identity immediately transforms the presented artistic joy there is a kinship and identity among all art-enjoyers.

Abhinavagupta’s teacher BhāttaTauta, in his work Kāvya-kautuka, says that a dramatic play is not a physical occurrence. In witnessing a play we forget the actual perceptual experience of the individuals on the stage playing their different parts or manifesting their individuality as associated with their local names and habitations. The man who is playing the part of Rama does not appear to us that his actual individual character and it does not also appear to us that he cannot be the Rama about whom Valmiki wrote. He stands somewhere midway between the pure actuality and the pure ideality. This together with all the scenic associations and those of music (vibhāvādis) produces an experience which vibrates with exhilaration; and as a result thereof the whole presentation of actuality becomes veiled, as it were, in so far as it is an actual occurrence of presentative character. The past impressions, memories, associations, and the like, which were lying deeply buried in the mind, became connected with the present experience and thereby the present experience became affiliated and perceived in a new manner resulting in a dimension of a new experience, revealing new types of pleasures and pains, unlike those associated with our egoistic instincts and the success or failures of their strivings. This is technically called Rasāsvādana, camatkāara, carvana which literally means the ‘experiencing of a transcendent exhilaration’ from the enjoyment of the roused emotions inherent in our own personality. 

Rasa in Natyasastra

v Rasa the Aesthetics:

A rasa (Sanskrit: रस lit. 'juice' or 'essence') denotes an essential mental state and is the dominant emotional theme of a work of art or the primary feeling that is evoked in the person that views, reads or hears such a work.

Although the concept of rasa is fundamental to many forms of Indian art including dance, music, musical theatre, cinema and literature, the treatment, interpretation, usage and actual performance of a particular rasa differs greatly between different styles and schools of abhinaya, and the huge regional differences even within one style.

v Elements:

Bharata Muni enunciated the eight Rasas in the Nātyasāstra, an ancient work of dramatic theory, written during the period between 200 BC and 200 AD. Each rasa, according to Nātyasāstra, has a presiding deity and a specific colour. There are 4 pairs of rasas. For instance, Hāsya arises out of Sringara. The Aura of a frightened person is black, and the aura of an angry person is red. Bharata Muni established the following.

1. Śṛngāram (शृङ्गारं) Love, Attractiveness. Presiding deity: Vishnu. Colour:green.

2. Hāsyam (हास्यं) Laughter, Mirth, Comedy. Presiding deity: Ganesha. Colour: white.

3. Raudram (रौद्रं) Fury. Presiding deity: Rudra. Colour: red.

4. Kāruṇyam (कारुण्यं) Compassion, Tragedy. Presiding deity: Yama. Colour:dove colored.

5. Bībhatsam (बीभत्सं) Disgust, Aversion. Presiding deity: Shiva. Colour: blue

6. Bhayānakam (भयानकं) Horror, Terror. Presiding deity: Kala. Colour: black

7. Vīram(वीरं) Heroic mood. Presiding deity: Indra. Colour:whitish brown

8. Adbhutam (अद्भुतं) Wonder, Amazement. Presiding deity: Brahma. Colour: yellow

v Navarasa:

As the tradition of alankara-shastra developed from the sixth through tenth centuries CE, a ninth rasa was contentiously endorsed by certain scholars; this rasa was only widely accepted after an extended philosophical and aesthetic theorization by Abhinavagupta. Subsequently, the nine rasas were accepted by the majority of the Alankarikas, and the expression Navarasa (the nine rasas), could come into vogue.

9. Śāntam Peace or tranquility. deity: Vishnu. Colour: white

            In addition to the nine Rasas, two more appeared later (esp. in literature): Additional rasas:

9(I) Vātsalya (वात्सल्य) Parental Love

9(II) Bhakti (भक्ति) Spiritual Devotion

However, the presiding deities, the colours and the relationship between these additional rasas have not been specified.

v Bhavas:

The Natyasastra identifies nine rasas with nine corresponding Bhava (mood):

1. Rati (Love)

2. Hasya (Mirth)

3. Soka (Sorrow)

4. Krodha (Anger)

5. Utsaha (Energy)

6. Bhaya (Terror)

7. Jugupsa (Disgust)

8. Vismaya (Astonishment)

9. Shant (Peace)

v Conclusion:

In the Indian performing arts, a rasa is an emotion inspired in an audience by a performer. They are described by Bharata Muni in the Nātyasāstra, an ancient work of dramatic theory. Rasas are created by bhavas: the gestures and facial expressions of the actors. Expressing Rasa in classical Indian dance form is referred to as Rasa-abhinaya. The Nātyasāstra carefully delineates the bhavas used to create each rasa.

The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as Bharatanatyam, kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kudiyattam, Kathakali and others.

The expressions used in Kudiyattam or Kathakali are extremely exaggerated theatrical expressions. The opposite of this interpretation is Balasaraswathi's school of subtle and understated abhinaya of the devadasis. There were serious public debates when Balasaraswathi condemned Rukmini Devi's puritanistic interpretations and applications of Sringara rasa. The abhinaya of the Melattur style of abhinaya remains extremely rich in variations of the emotions, while the Pandanallur style expressions are more limited in scope.

References

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasa_(aesthetics)

http://www.google.co.in/search?client=ms&tdm=isch&sa=1&ei=ypPdVrSqMYicugSn2JfoBA&Navarasa&btnG=

To Evaluate my Assignment click on this image.