Name : Gohil HetalbaI.
Std : M.A. I Sem : II
Roll No. : 8
Topic : Literary Theory &
Criticism
Papers : Paper No. 7
Submitted To : Dr. Dilip Barad
Department of English M.K.
Bhavnagar
University
Rasa Theory
Indian ancient criticism was a mildestone in itself.
Ancient criticism is rich and beyond comparison. The vedic texts annauced that
the poets were “gods”. They projected the term ‘kavi’ for the poets. A human
being could become poet only in so far as he attained to the nature and status
of a god. The poet was the seer of truth having a subtle, profound and
penetrating, consciousness. He was a creator or maker, the builder, fashioner
and lastly he embodied the principle of delight( ) He saw the principle of beauty
in all things and was filled with utter ecstasy and raised the earth to the
level of Heaven. The vedic conception of a poet took into account all aspects
of poetry its creation, its manifestation and its impact upon the reader The
vedic kavi was also yogi and ‘Jagrat’ (the waking state), the Upanishads spoke
of subtler states such as (swapna) the dream state(susupti) deep sleep and
(turiya) the transcendental state not mention infraconscious levels. He could
also see objectively what he has created and evaluate it.
Every vedic scholar who has learnt his traditional way
would talk about the importance of ‘swera’ and how it determines the meaning.
The critic is one who is capable of ‘ ’. Bharata was the first art critic
to define ‘ ’ for us the literary Theories are
classified into-
1)
Language namely ‘alankara’ and
‘vakroti’(principle of figuratweness & principle of deviation)
2)
Style and compositional value, namely,
‘gunaf dosa’ (excellence faults) ‘riti’ (made of expression), and ‘aucitya’
(proproety)
3)
Verbal symbolism, namely, ‘dhvani’
4)
Aesthetic experience namely, ‘rasa’
5)
Narrative, namely mahavakya
6)
Discourse analysis namely, yukties
7)
Comprehensive analysis
‘Rasa’
Theory has its arigin in the Natyasastra of Bharata. ‘Rasa’ claims the object
or meaning should be conveyed in literary composition and it’s nature should
have an emotional effect. It has diverse human experience on man’s heart and
mind.
Bharata demonstrates to enumerate the
whole rangte of emotions, or states of being born of experience and to analyse
the structure emotions as cause, physical correlate(effect) and their effect on
man’s being. Thus ‘Rasa’ can be said to be a theory of literary experience.
Bharata gave the analysis of its sources, nature and its categoeies
Dhanika-Dhananjaya reexamined Bharata’s typology of drama and added to it a
typology of ‘uparupakas’ subplays, plays within plays, and one-act
plays.abhinava gupta enriched this theary by elucidating its philosophic
foundations and by analyzing, it in depth the aesthetics in terms of nature,
cognition and effect of literary experience.
The ‘Rasa’ theory has been accepted as
the core literary theory by all mayor pacticians both before and after
Abhinavgupta. Pt.jaganath and viswanatha also contributed to Rasa Theory.
‘Rasa’is said to arise when the
athayibhava in the individual is awakened by his peaception of the
vibhavasanubhavas, vyabhicaribhawas and sattuic bhawas.
Vibhava is the stimuli like the story,
the stage and the actors responsible for the awakening og the sthayi The
vibhavas are of two kinds
(1)
Alambana
vibhave
It is the basic stimulus that is capable
of arousing the sentiment, whereas
(2)
Uddipana vaibhava is the enhacing stimuli, the
environment in which the basic stimulus is located.
In
case of arousing the sentiment of pity or ‘karuna rasa’, the perception of an
old weak woman on the stage is called alambana vibhava and the thatched hut in
which the old woman is being and the atmosphere around is of negbct and poverty
can be rightly called ‘uddipana’ vibhava.
Yet
it is important to note that vibhava is not the ‘cause’ of proelucing any emotin but only the mealium by which
pases to spectator by means of sympathetic induction This way in aesthetic
concition of induction, everything is a medium and not a cause and it so
happens because what is transferred is always a generalired feeling which can
neither be called result nor it can be called a knowledge. This change implies
not the production of any new emotion in the spectator but not only the
awakening of ‘latent’ sentiment
‘Anubhava’ is the deliberate manifestations’ of
feelings on the part of the actor. They include various gestures and glances of
the actor which are intended to develop the basic stimulus or the vibhava.
‘Vyabhicaribhavas’ are the transient
emotions arising in the cause of maintaining and developing the baisic mood
they are the ancillary emotions which are determined by the baisic
emotions and vyabhicaribhavas in turn
reinforces the basic mood.
If the basic mood is love, ‘riti’ joy in
union and anguish in separation will be the accompanying ancillary emotions.
Sattvic bhava are the involuntary
expressions such as blushing, perspiration tec. Which arise as a result of
experiencing and portrayal of the emotion.
When
all the above factors join the sthajibhava is aroused in the spectator thata
becomes ‘Rasa’, it actually develops into ‘rasa’ when it is aroused and brought
to a relishable condition as a result of the complex stimuli ‘Rasa’ arises as a
consequence of all these factors is distinct from all of them as a dish is
distinct in taste from each of its ingredients.
·
Process of rasanubhava by Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta
believes that grasping 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 withdrown from the mental field and the
emotion suggested there in toses its individual character which becomes
dissociated from such condition as might have led is to any motivation.
Pathological results are always due to a sense of self struggle,
self-emotivation, loss and son on. In Rasa, we live through the experience of
pure sentiment bereft of all its loval characters and personal emotive
associations in the subconscious and unconscious regions there are always
complexities. When through artistic creation a purely universal emotional fear
armour, etc, are projected in the mind they become affiliated or appereception
or implicit recognition of identity immediately changes the artistic joy there
is a kinship and identity among all art-enjoyers.
Abhinavagupta’s teacher Bhatta Tauta in
‘Kawya-kawluka says that a dramatic play is not a physical occurrences. The man
who plays Rama’s role does not appear to us that he cannot be the same ‘Rama’
about valmike wrote. He stands somewhere midway between the pure actuality and
the pure ideality. Revealing new types of pleasures and pains, unlike those
associated with our egoistic instincts and the success or failures of their
strivings. “This is teachnically called Rasasvadance, camatkaara , carvana
which literally means the ‘experiencing of a transcendent exhilaration’ from
the enjoyment of the roused emotions inherent in our own personality”
The
‘rasa’ theary has been accepted as the core literary theory by all major
poeticians both before and after Abhinavagupta. Anandvardhana integrates ‘rasa’
theory with his ‘dhvane’ theory. “Dhucine” is the method, the means for
achieving or evoking ‘rasa’ which is the effect of suggestion.
‘Rasa’ is the constant aesthetic pleasure in
all literature its divisions are based on sthayibhavas which evoke the rasas, states of mind. The
‘rasa’ is a state or condition produced in the spectator a single feeling and a
pleasurable one. Bharata’s Natyasastra-‘rasasutra vibhavanubhava vyabhicari
samyogada rasanispatti’ has been interpreted in a different way from the
different point of view-
(1)
Who is the sabstratium(asraya) of
‘rasa’.
(2)
Have it is experienced
There
are various opinions on ‘rasa’. It is ungiven that ‘rasa’ exists in the
heroine(Lollata)
Also
it is suggested that the experience of “Rasa” is a matter of inference
(sankuka). Bhattanayaka cleary depicted that ‘rasa is experienced by the
spectator, that it is the spectator’s aesthetic experience that the enjoyment
of ‘rasa’ is a subjective experience. Bhattanayaka differentiated poetic
language from ordinary language the poetic language besides abhidha, primary
meaning has two other functions
(1)
Bhavakatha univer satization or
stripping ‘vibhava’ and ‘sthayibhava’ of individuall and personal aspects, is
the abstraction of the emotion , by the spectator from its immediate location
and context.
(2)
Bhayakatva-tasting or experiencing the
emotion in one’s self-consuning for one self the emotion represented in the
performance text.
There are three stages in the realization of ‘rasa’ in
literature accordingly are-
(a)Cognition
of the forman, intellectual elements of the poem means to the second stage
(b)Idealisation
of things in poetry or drama by the power of imagination in the
reader/spectator.
(c) intensification of the inexpressible effective
emotional condition of the reader/ spectator
The eight
rhetorical sentiments(Rasas) recognized in drama and dramatic representation
are
(1)
Erotic
(2)
Comic
(3)
Pathetic
(4)
Furious
(5)
Heroic
(6)
Terrible
(7)
Odious
(8)
Marvelous
The
high-sauled Druhina(Brahima) proclaimed the above rhetorical sentiments.
Bhava & Rasa
Bhava
and Rasa are the emotional states turned out from the rhetorical
sentiments(raras) or it may be opposite. It is a matter of actual perception
that the rhetorical sentiments are turned out of the emotional states and not
that emotional states are turned out of the sentiments. There are traditional
couplets about this.
“The
emotional states are known by the designers of the dramatic art because they
(the bhavas) bring to the spectators an emotional awareness of the sentiments
as connected with various modes of action or dramatic representation”
“The
term ‘rasa’ has a twofold significance. It means the ‘aesthetic content of
literary art and also ‘aesthetic relish’ which the reader-spectator enjoys”.
“As
from a seed a tree grouse, and from the tree flower and fruit, so all the
sentiments stands as the root the emotional states have their settled position
for the sake of tebhyah the purpose of manifesting the sentiments (rasas).
The
sources of origin of these ‘rasas’ are the four basic sentiments ‘erotic’
‘jurious’, the heroic and the odious.
The
comic sentiment becomes possible from the erotic, and the pathetic from the
jurious, the origin of the marvelous is from the hroic, and of the terrible
from the odious.
A
mimicry or imitation of the erotic is fittingly described as the sentiment of
laughter And the consequence of the jurious is to be known as pathetic
sentiments the heroic is properly described as the marvelous and the odious is
terrible.
The
erotic sentiment is light green (syama), the comic is described as white
(sita), pathetic is grey (kapta) and fearful is red (rakta), the heroic is
yellow-red (gaura), terrible is black, the odious is (blue)(rala) and the
marvelous is yellow.
The
‘erotic’ (sentiment) has visnu as deity, the ‘comic’ is pramatha, the furious
is rudra, the pathetic is yama, odious is mahakala, terrible is kala, the
jderoic is mahendra and the marvelous has Brahma as its deity.
Bharatamuni
ascribed the natyasastra to many reiualistic Indian critics during the last two
hundred years, Bharata is the makers of Rasa theory. One cannot deny his
fascinating insight in the psychology of aesthetic reception was a phenomenal
triumph of intellect, it is necessary to remind ourselves that the natyasastra
is not devoted solely to the exposition of ‘rasa’ theory.
