Impression of "Bhava and Rasa" on Indian arts

 

Rasa is the key word to Sanskrit literary criticism. Rasa is the essence of art and literature and it is the interconnecting link between all arts. All the Sanskrit aestheticians have acknowledged the significance of the theory of Rasa in the appreciation of natya (drama) and kavya (poetry). In his Natyashastra, the first available source of literary criticism in Sanskrit.

In Sanskrit this literally means ‘juice’, ‘extract of a fruit’ or ‘essence’ and refers to the finest qualities of taste. This goes back millions of years to the evolution of our senses as ways to detect what is good or bad for us. The colour, taste and smell of food, can usually tell us whether or not it is safe to eat it. It is therefore logical that an aesthetic theory would begin with an understanding of qualities linked to the testing of food.

Rasa in an aesthetic sense is suggested in the Vedic literature, but the oldest surviving manuscripts, with the rasa theory of Hinduism, are of Natya Shastra.There was much stylistic innovation and hybridisation of art forms and it was the ‘rasa’ tradition of aesthetics that allowed this to happen. Visual art, poetry, music and dance began to cross-fertilise each other’s art forms.

Sanskrit aesthetician, recognizes the crucial role of Rasa in aesthetics for the first time. In the sixth and seventh chapters of Natyashastra, Bharata deals at length with theprocess of the genesis of Rasa through his famous Rasa sutra or the aphorism on Rasa. Rasa means the essence of all literature, it is the source of creative and artistic inspiration for both theauthor and the reader or spectator.

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. The word aesthetic gives us the meaning of ‘perception’ or ‘feeling’. To feel or to perceive, more or less, is the common characteristic of all Indian philosophies.

According to the Rasa theory of the Natya Shastra, entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal, and 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.

-Vibhava is the objective conditions or reasons for producing an emotion. Vibhava is thekarana for a bhava. It is divided into two kinds- Alambana vibhava and Uddipana vibhava.Alambana vibhava refers to the person or persons with reference to whom an emotion is aroused. Uddipana vibhava refers to the circumstances or background features which enhances the dominant emotions. 

For instance, in Shakunthala, the princess Shakunthala can be said to be the Alambana of Dushyantha’s love where as the beautiful background, the flora and the fauna in the surrounding of the hermitage etc are the Uddipana vibhavas.

 Anubhava is the karya caused by the karana. Anubhava refers to the facial expressions orthe bodily gestures by which an emotion is expressed. For example, the longing look of a lady,her inviting smile, sight etc.

 Bhavas are the transitory emotions such as anxiety, sorrow, disappointment,etc which feed the dominant emotions, or the expression of dominant Sthayi bhavas. Bhavas are the emotional states which a character produces in natya by means ofimitation and passed on to the spectators by means of sympathetic induction.

The bhavas bringabout the poetic contents (kavyartha) through words, physical gestures and movements and  psychophysical representations. Bhavas are integral in effecting Rasa. Bhavas areproduced and expressed in characters and situations. There are eight Sthayi bhavas, eight Sathvika bhavas.

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. Expressing Rasa in classical Indian dance form is referred to as Rasa-abhinaya.

All the dormant feelings of the aesthetic experience are virtually impersonal, though they appear otherwise. Love relished aesthetically does not stimulate sex. Laughter cuts joke with nobody, pathos result in no pain, anger provokes none to hit and wonders strike no astonishment, but every feeling matures there in pure and impersonal happiness.

 The eight Sthayi bhavas identified by Bharata effect eight dominant Rasas. Sthayi Bhava Rasa - 

 1.Rathi : Sringara,  2. Hasam : Hasyam,  3. Shokam : Karunam,  4.Krodham : Roudram , 5. Uthsaham : Veeram,  6. Bhayam : Bhayanakam,  7. Jugupsa : Beebhathsam,  8. Vismaya - Athbhutham

Bhavas are expressed in connection with the vibhavas and anubhavas. And bhavas revealthe poetic content of a work, from which rasa is aroused. The bhavas are blended in a literarywork to arouse a certain emotion in the spectator or reader which is accomplished by a thrill andsense of joy and which will lead him to the experience of Rasa.

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), that is the suggested meaning and the experience of rasa.

Poets like Kālidāsa were attentive to rasa, which blossomed into a fully developed aesthetic system. Even in contemporary India the term rasa denoting "flavor" or "essence" is used colloquially to describe the aesthetic experiences in films.

Rasa, the bedrock of Indian Aesthetics, cannot be realized if we are carried away by non-aesthetic and therefore misplaced ideologies like those of religion, politics, and economics. However, once the significance of rasa is understood and its pulse realized, all these ideologies automatically find their level.