Rasa (aesthetics)

In Indian aesthetics, a rasa (Sanskrit: रस) literally means "juice, essence or taste".^[1][2] It is a concept in Indian arts denoting the aesthetic flavour of any visual, literary or musical work that evokes an emotion or feeling in the reader or audience, but cannot be described.^[2] It refers to the emotional flavors/essence crafted into the work by the writer or a performer and relished by a 'sensitive spectator' or sahṛidaya, literally one who "has heart", and can connect to the work with emotion, without dryness.

Rasas are created by one's bhava: ^[3] one's state of mind.

The rasa theory has a dedicated section (Chapter 6) in the Sanskrit text Natya Shastra, an ancient text on the arts from the 1st millennium BCE, attributed to Bharata Muni.^[4] However, its most complete exposition in drama, songs and other performance arts is found in the works of the Kashmiri Shaivite philosopher Abhinavagupta (c. 1000 CE), demonstrating the persistence of a long-standing aesthetic tradition of ancient India.^[2][5][6] According to the Rasa theory of the Natya Shastra, entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal. Instead, the primary goal is to transport the audience into another, parallel reality full of wonder and bliss, where they experience the essence of their own consciousness, and reflect on spiritual and moral questions.^[5][6][7]

Although the concept of rasa is fundamental to many forms of Indian arts including dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture, and literature, the interpretation and implementation of a particular rasa differs between different styles and schools.^[8][9][10] The Indian theory of rasa is also found in the Hindu arts and Ramayana musical productions of Bali and Java (Indonesia), but with regional creative evolution.^[11]

Role in art

According to the Natya Shastra, a rasa is a synthetic phenomenon and the goal of any creative performance art, oratory, painting or literature.^[11][12] Wallace Dace translates the ancient text's explanation of rasa as "a relish that of an elemental human emotion like love, pity, fear, heroism or mystery, which forms the dominant note of a dramatic piece; this dominant emotion, as tasted by the audience, has a different quality from that which is aroused in real life; rasa may be said to be the original emotion transfigured by aesthetic delight".^[13]

Rasas are created through a wide range of means, and the ancient Indian texts discuss many such means. For example, one way is through the use of gestures and facial expressions of the actors.^[14] Expressing Rasa in classical Indian dance form is referred to as Rasa-abhinaya.

The theory of rasas forms the aesthetic underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kudiyattam, and others.^[8]

In Indian classical music, each raga is an inspired creation for a specific mood, where the musician or ensemble creates the rasa in the listener.^[12] However, predominantly all ragas and musical performances in Hindu traditions aim at one of six rasa, wherein music is a form of creating "love, compassion, peace, heroism, comic or the feeling of wonder" within the listener. Anger, disgust, fear and such emotions are not the subject of rasa, but they are part of Indian theories on dramatic arts. Of the six rasa that are aimed at in Indian music, each has sub-categories. For example, love rasa in Hindu literature has many musical flavors, such as erotic love (sringar) and spiritual devotional love (bhakti).^[12][15]

Rasa is a fusion of word and meaning,
that bathes the minds of readers,
with savor of bliss.
It is the truth of poetry,
shining without cessation.
Clear to the heart,
it is yet beyond the words.

—Hrsikesa^[10]

In the theories of Indian poetics, ancient scholars state that the effectiveness of a literary composition depends both on what is stated and how it is stated (words, grammar, rhythm), and this creates its rasa.^[10] Among the most celebrated of these theories of poetics and literary works, are the 5th-century Bhartrhari and the 9th-century Anandavardhana, but the theoretical tradition of integrating rasa into literary works likely goes back to a more ancient period. This is generally discussed under the Indian concepts of Dhvani, Sabdatattva and Sphota.^[16][10][17]

As an example, the literary work Bhagavata Purana deploys rasa, presenting the bhakti of Krishna in aesthetic terms. The rasa it presents is an emotional relish, a mood called Sthayi Bhava. This development towards a relishable state is created through emotional conditions which are called Vibhavas, Anubhavas and Sanchari Bhavas. Vibhavas means Karana or cause: it is of two kinds - Alambana, the personal or human object and substratum, and Uddipana, the excitants. Anubhava, as the name signifies, means the ensuants or effects of emotion. Sanchari Bhavas are those passing feelings which are ancillary to a mood. Later scholars added more emotional states such as the Sattvika Bhavas.^[18]

In the Indian theories on sculpture and architecture (Shilpa Shastras), the rasa theories, in part, drive the forms, shapes, arrangements and expressions of images and structures.^[19] Some Indian texts on sculpture suggest nine rasas.^[20][21]

Sahṛidayata

Abhinavagupta defines sahṛdaya in Locana, his commentary on Dhvanyāloka. Saṛdaya-s are those spectators who:

1. "have been exposed to appreciation of literary work and who have made it a habit to think about the literary work"^[22]
2. "because of this previous exposure, attuned their minds to create the reflection of poetic emotions in their minds"^[22]

In his philosophical work, Abhinavagupta believed that sahṛidayata (aesthetic sensitivity), is crucial within the context of music and bhakti. Abhinavgupta suggests that fullness of delight is essential for developing aesthetic sensitivity. This delight is not limited to pleasant experiences but also includes painful ones, as both can lead to an expansion of consciousness. He emphasizes that the capacity for enjoyment is closely linked to receptivity to the ultimate experience and labels those unable to appreciate good music as "ahrdaya" (heartless, insensitive). Aesthetic sensitivity is viewed as a necessary condition for spiritual sensibility, both of which are expressed by the term sahrdayata.^[23]

History

The word rasa appears in ancient Vedic literature. In Rigveda, it connotes a liquid, an extract and flavor.^{[24][note 1]} In Atharvaveda, rasa in many contexts means "taste", and also the sense of "the sap of grain". According to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, rasa in the Upanishads refers to the "essence, self-luminous consciousness, quintessence" but also "taste" in some contexts.^{[24][note 2][note 3]} In post-Vedic literature, the word generally connotes "extract, essence, juice or tasty liquid".^[1][24]

Rasa in an aesthetic sense is suggested in the Vedic literature, but the oldest surviving manuscripts describing the rasa theory of Hinduism, are of Natya Shastra. The Aitareya Brahmana in chapter 6, for example, states:

Now (he) glorifies the arts,
the arts are refinement of the self (atma-samskrti).
With these the worshipper recreates his self,
that is made of rhythms, meters.

— Aitareya Brahmana 6.27 (~1000 BCE), Translator: Arindam Chakrabarti^[27]

The Natya shastra presents the rasa theory in Chapter 6.^[4] The text begins its discussion with a sutra called the rasa sutra:^[28]

Rasa is produced from a combination of Determinants (vibhava), Consequents (anubhava) and Transitory States (vyabhicaribhava).

— Natyashastra 6.109 (~200 BCE–200 CE), Translator: Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe^[24]

According to the Natya shastra, the goals of theatre are to empower aesthetic experience and deliver emotional rasa. The text states that the aims of art are manifold. In many cases, it aims to produce repose and relief for those exhausted with labor, or distraught with grief, or laden with misery, or struck by austere times.^[27] However, entertainment is an effect, yet not the primary goal of arts, according to the Natya shastra. The primary goal is to create rasa so as to lift and transport the spectators towards the expression of ultimate reality and transcendent values.^[5][29]

The Abhinavabhāratī is the most studied commentary on Natyasastra, written by Abhinavagupta (950–1020 CE), who referred to Natyasastra as the Natyaveda as well.^[30][31] Abhinavagupta's analysis of Natyasastra is notable for its extensive discussion of aesthetic and ontological questions.^[31] According to Abhinavagupta, the success of an artistic performance is measured not by the reviews, awards or recognition the production receives, but only when it is performed with skilled precision, devoted faith and pure concentration, so that the artist gets the audience emotionally absorbed into the art and immerses the spectator with the pure joy of a rasa experience.^[32]

Elements

Expression of Sringāra (Romance) in Bharatanatyam

Raudram rasa of the destructive fury of goddess Durga in Bharatanatyam

Bharata Muni enunciated the eight rasas in the Nātyasāstra, an ancient Sanskrit text of dramatic theory and other performance arts, written between 200 BC and 200 AD.^[4] In the Indian performing arts, a rasa is a sentiment or emotion evoked in each member of the audience by the art. The Natya Shastra mentions six rasa in one section, but in the dedicated section on rasa it states and discusses eight primary rasa.^[24][13] 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:^[33]

• Śṛṅgāraḥ (शृङ्गारः): Romance, Love, attractiveness. Presiding deity: Vishnu. Colour: Śyāma (Dark Bluish)
• Hāsyam (हास्यं): Laughter, mirth, comedy. Presiding deity: Shiva. Colour: white
• Raudram (रौद्रं): Fury. Presiding deity: Rudra. Colour: red
• Kāruṇyam (कारुण्यं): Compassion, mercy. Presiding deity: Yama. Colour: grey
• Bībhatsam (बीभत्सं): Disgust, aversion. Presiding deity: Mahakala. Colour: blue
• Bhayānakam (भयानकं): Horror, terror. Presiding deity: Kāla. Colour: black
• Veeram (वीरं): Heroism. Presiding deity: Indra. Colour: Bright White
• Adbhutam (अद्भुतं): Wonder, amazement. Presiding deity: Brahma. Colour: yellow^[34]

Śāntam rasa

A ninth rasa was added by later authors. This addition had to undergo a good deal of struggle between the sixth and the tenth centuries before it could be accepted and the expression "Navarasa", (the nine rasas), could become established.

• Śāntam: Peace or tranquility.^[35] deity: Vishnu. Colour: perpetual white.

Shānta-rasa functions as an equal member of the set of rasas, but it is simultaneously distinct as being the most clear form of aesthetic bliss. Abhinavagupta likens it to the string of a jeweled necklace; while it may not be the most appealing for most people, it is the string that gives form to the necklace, allowing the jewels of the other eight rasas to be relished. Relishing the rasas and particularly shānta-rasa is implied to be almost as good as, but never quite equal to the bliss of self-realization experienced by yogis.

List of bhavas

According to the Natyashastra, bhavas are of three types: sthayi (stable), sanchari (travelling) and sattvika (pure) ^{[clarification needed]}. These classifications are based on how the rasas are developed or enacted during the aesthetic experience. This is seen in the following passage:

पुनश्च भावान्वक्ष्यामि स्थायिसञ्चारिसत्त्वजान्॥६.१६॥ (transl. Again I shall declare the beings born of the permanent and moving beings.)

Sthayi

The Natyasastra lists eight Sthayibhavas with eight corresponding rasas:

• Rati (Love)
• Hasya (Mirth)
• Soka (Sorrow)
• Krodha (Anger)
• Utsaha (Energy)
• Bhaya (Terror)
• Jugupsa (Disgust)
• Vismaya (Astonishment)

Sattvika

The Natyasastra outlines eight anubhavas or sattvika bhavas:^[36]

• Stambha (Stupefaction)
• Sveda (Sweating)
• Romancha (Feeling thrilled)
• Svarabheda (Break in voice)
• Vepathu (Trembling)
• Vaivaranya (Pallor)
• Ashru (Tears)
• Pralaya (Swoon or death)

Influence on cinema

Rasa has been an important influence on the cinema of India. Satyajit Ray has applied the Rasa method of classical Sanskrit drama to movies, for instance in The Apu Trilogy (1955–1959).^[37]

In Hindi cinema, it is the theme of the film Naya Din Nayi Raat, where Sanjeev Kumar plays nine characters corresponding to nine Rasa.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Abhinaya
• Natya Shastra
• Rasa lila
• Telugu literature
• Sanskrit Literature
• Sanskrit Theatre

Notes

1. See Rigvedic hymns 1.187.4–5 composed by Agastya, for example. The entire hymn praises liquid extracts of foods as the spirits of great gods, the source of great strength within humans, as Agastya glorifies foods. Sanskrit: तव त्ये पितो रसा रजांस्यनु विष्ठिताः । दिवि वाता इव श्रिताः ॥४॥ तव त्ये पितो ददतस्तव स्वादिष्ठ ते पितो । प्र स्वाद्मानो रसानां तुविग्रीवा इवेरते ॥५॥^[25]
2. Many Upanishads use the word rasa. For example, the "Ananda Valli" section of the Taittiriya Upanishad states, "rasa is essence par excellence, the universal essence/bliss". (रसो वै सः । रसँ ह्येवायं लब्ध्वाऽऽनन्दी भवति ।)^[26]
3. The philosophical or mystical meaning of rasa is common in the bhasya or commentaries on the Principal Upanishads of Hinduism. For example, Adi Shankara comments that rasa means "bliss as is innate in oneself and manifests itself even in the absence of external stimuli" because bliss is a non-material state that is spiritual, subjective and an intrinsic state of a human being. Happiness, to Shankara, does not depend on others or external, material things; it is a state one discovers and reaches within oneself through atma-jnana (self-knowledge).^[24]

References

1. Monier Monier-Williams (1899), Rasa, Sanskrit English Dictionary with Etymology, Motilal Banarsidass (Originally Published: Oxford)
2. Rasa: Indian Aesthetic Theory, Encyclopedia Britannica (2013)
3. Farley Richmond. "India" in The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre. ed. James R. Brandon (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 69.
4. Natalia Lidova 2014
5. Susan L. Schwartz (2004). Rasa: Performing the Divine in India. Columbia University Press. pp. 12–17. ISBN 978-0-231-13144-5.
6. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe (2005). Approaches to Acting: Past and Present. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 73, 102–106, 120. ISBN 978-1-4411-0381-9.
7. Ketu H. Katrak; Anita Ratnam (2014). Voyages of Body and Soul: Selected Female Icons of India and Beyond. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-4438-6115-1.
8. Wallace Dace 1963, pp. 249–252.
9. Rowell 2015, pp. 327–333.
10. W.S. Hanley (2012). Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka (ed.). Analecta Husserliana, Ingardeniana III: The Performing Arts, the Fine Arts, and Literature. Springer. pp. 299–300, 295–309. ISBN 978-94-011-3762-1.
11. Marc Benamou (2010). RASA: Affect and Intuition in Javanese Musical Aesthetics. Oxford University Press. pp. 122, 172–194. ISBN 978-0-19-971995-2.
12. Peter Lavezzoli (2006). The Dawn of Indian Music in the West. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 23. ISBN 978-0-8264-1815-9.
13. Wallace Dace 1963, pp. 249–250.
14. Farley Richmond, "India", in The Cambridge Guide to Asian Theatre, ed. James R. Brandon (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p.69.
15. Emmie Te Nijenhuis 1974, pp. 34–42.
16. Sebastian Alackapally (2002). Being and Meaning: Reality and Language in Bhartṛhari and Heidegger. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 78–97. ISBN 978-81-208-1803-3.
17. Harold G. Coward (1980). The Sphota Theory of Language: A Philosophical Analysis. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 17–23. ISBN 978-81-208-0181-3.
18. C.Ramanujachari and Dr. V. Raghavan. The Spiritual Heritage of Tyagaraja.
19. Alice Boner; Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā; Bettina Bäumer (1996). The essence of form in sacred art. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 72–78, 45–46, 57–58, 115–116, 121–122. ISBN 978-81-208-0090-8.
20. Alice Boner; Sadāśiva Rath Śarmā; Bettina Bäumer (1996). The essence of form in sacred art. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 73–74. ISBN 978-81-208-0090-8.
21. Ariel Glucklich (1994). The Sense of Adharma. Oxford University Press. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-0-19-508341-5.
22. Hardikar, A. R. (1994). "The Aesthetic Appreciator or Sahṛdaya". Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 75 (1/4): 265–272. ISSN 0378-1143.
23. Bäumer, Bettina (1 January 2008). "The Lord of the Heart: Abhinavagupta's Aesthetics and Kashmir Śaivism". Religion and the Arts. 12 (1–3): 214–229. doi:10.1163/156852908X271033. ISSN 1079-9265.
24. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe (2005). Approaches to Acting: Past and Present. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-1-4411-0381-9.
25. Laurie L. Patton (2005). Bringing the Gods to Mind: Mantra and Ritual in Early Indian Sacrifice. University of California Press. pp. 100–101. ISBN 978-0-520-93088-9.; For original text: Rigveda 1.187, Wikisource (in Sanskrit)
26. Dinkgrafe Daniel Meyer (2011). Consciousness, Theatre, Literature and the Arts. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 243. ISBN 978-1-4438-3491-9.; For Sanskrit original, see: तैत्तिरीयोपनिषद ब्रह्मानन्दवल्ली, Wikisource
27. Arindam Chakrabarti (2016). The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Aesthetics and the Philosophy of Art. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-1-4725-2430-0.
28. Narendra Nath Sarma (1994). Paṇḍitarāja Jagannātha, the Renowned Sanskrit Poet of Medieval India. Mittal Publications. p. 75. ISBN 978-81-7099-393-3.
29. Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe (2005). Approaches to Acting: Past and Present. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 102–104, 155–156. ISBN 978-1-4411-0381-9.
30. Ghosh, Manomohan (2002). Natyasastra. p. 2 note 3. ISBN 81-7080-076-5.
31. Ananda Lal 2004, p. 308, 492.
32. Tarla Mehta 1995, p. 24.
33. Ghosh, Manomohan (2002). Natyasastra. ISBN 81-7080-076-5.
34. "The Navarasa". Retrieved 22 April 2012.
35. Pollock, Sheldon (26 April 2016). A Rasa Reader: Classical Indian Aesthetics. Columbia University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-231-54069-8.
36. Long, Jeffery D.; Sherma, Rita D.; Jain, Pankaj; Khanna, Madhu, eds. (2022). Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. pp. 85–86. doi:10.1007/978-94-024-1188-1. ISBN 978-94-024-1187-4.
37. Cooper, Darius (2000), The Cinema of Satyajit Ray: Between Tradition and Modernity, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–4, ISBN 0-521-62980-2

Bibliography

• Wallace Dace (1963). "The Concept of "Rasa" in Sanskrit Dramatic Theory". Educational Theatre Journal. 15 (3): 249–254. doi:10.2307/3204783. JSTOR 3204783.
• René Daumal (1982). Rasa, or, Knowledge of the self: essays on Indian aesthetics and selected Sanskrit studies. Translated by Louise Landes Levi. ISBN 978-0-8112-0824-6.
• Natalia Lidova (2014). "Natyashastra". Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/obo/9780195399318-0071.
• Ananda Lal (2004). The Oxford Companion to Indian Theatre. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-564446-3.
• Tarla Mehta (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-1057-0.
• Rowell, Lewis (2015). Music and Musical Thought in Early India. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-73034-9.
• Emmie Te Nijenhuis (1974). Indian Music: History and Structure. BRILL Academic. ISBN 90-04-03978-3.
• Farley P. Richmond; Darius L. Swann; Phillip B. Zarrilli (1993). Indian Theatre: Traditions of Performance. Motilal Banarsidass. ISBN 978-81-208-0981-9.

External links

• Rasa (sentiments) in the Natya-shastra, Translated into English by Manomohan Ghosh
• "Rasas" as Springs of Art in Indian Aesthetics, Radhakamal Mukerjee (Archive)
• "Rasa" as Aesthetic Experience, G. B. Mohan Thampi (Archive)
• The Theory of Rasa, P. J. Chaudhury
• The Aesthetics of Ancient Indian Drama, V. Raghavan