| Indian classical music |
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| Concepts |
InIndian aesthetics, arasa (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 indescribable feeling in the reader or audience.[2] It refers to the emotional flavors/essence crafted into the work by the writer or a performer and relished by a 'sensitive spectator' orsahṛdaya, literally one who "has heart", and can connect to the work with emotion, without dryness.
Rasas are created by one's bhava (one's state of mind).[3]
Therasa theory has a dedicated section (Chapter 6) in theSanskrit textNatya Shastra, an ancient text on the arts from the 1st millennium BCE, attributed toBharata Muni.[4] However, its most complete exposition in drama, songs and other performance arts is found in the works of the KashmiriShaivite philosopherAbhinavagupta (c. 1000 CE), demonstrating the persistence of a long-standing aesthetic tradition of ancient India.[2][5][6] According to theRasa theory of theNatya 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 ofIndian arts includingdance,music, theatre, painting, sculpture, andliterature, the interpretation and implementation of a particular rasa differs between different styles and schools.[8][9][10] The Indian theory ofrasa is also found in the Hindu arts andRamayana musical productions ofBali andJava (Indonesia), but with regional creative evolution.[11]
According to theNatya Shastra, arasa 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 ofrasa 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] ExpressingRasa in classical Indian dance form is referred to asRasa-abhinaya.
The theory of rasas forms theaesthetic underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such asBharatanatyam,Kathakali,Kathak,Kuchipudi,Odissi,Manipuri,Kudiyattam, and others.[8]
InIndian classical music, eachraga is an inspired creation for a specific mood, where the musician or ensemble creates therasa in the listener.[12] However, predominantly allragas and musical performances in Hindu traditions aim at one of sixrasa, wherein music is a form of creating "love, compassion, peace, heroism, comic or the feeling of wonder" within the listener.[citation needed] Anger, disgust, fear and such emotions are not the subject ofrasa, but they are part of Indian theories on dramatic arts. Of the sixrasa that are aimed at in Indian music, each has sub-categories. For example, loverasa 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.
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 itsrasa.[10] Among the most celebrated of these theories of poetics and literary works, are the 5th-centuryBhartrhari and the 9th-century Anandavardhana, but the theoretical tradition of integratingrasa into literary works likely goes back to a more ancient period. This is generally discussed under the Indian concepts ofDhvani,Sabdatattva andSphota.[16][10][17]
As an example, the literary workBhagavata Purana deploysrasa, presenting thebhakti ofKrishna 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 calledVibhavas,Anubhavas andSanchari Bhavas. Vibhavas means Karana or cause: it is of two kinds -Alambana, the personal or human object and substratum, andUddipana, 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 theSattvika Bhavas.[18]
In the Indian theories on sculpture and architecture (Shilpa Shastras), therasa theories, in part, drive the forms, shapes, arrangements and expressions of images and structures.[19] Some Indian texts on sculpture suggest ninerasas.[20][21]
Abhinavagupta definessahṛdaya inLocana, his commentary onDhvanyāloka. Saṛdaya-s are those spectators who:
In his philosophical work, Abhinavagupta believed thatsahṛdayatā (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 termsahṛdayatā.[23]
The wordrasa appears in ancientVedic literature. InRigveda, it connotes a liquid, an extract and flavor.[24][note 1] InAtharvaveda,rasa in many contexts means "taste", and also the sense of "the sap of grain". According to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe,rasa in theUpanishads 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 therasa theory ofHinduism, are ofNatya Shastra. The AitareyaBrahmana 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]
TheNatya shastra presents therasa theory in Chapter 6.[4] The text begins its discussion with asutra called therasa 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 theNatya shastra, the goals of theatre are to empower aesthetic experience and deliver emotionalrasa. 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 theNatya shastra. The primary goal is to createrasa so as to lift and transport the spectators towards the expression of ultimate reality and transcendent values.[5][29]
TheAbhinavabhāratī is the most studied commentary onNatyasastra, written byAbhinavagupta (950–1020 CE), who referred toNatyasastra as theNatyaveda as well.[30][31] Abhinavagupta's analysis ofNatyasastra 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 arasa experience.[32]
Bharata Muni enunciated the eight rasas in theNātyasāstra, an ancient Sanskrit text ofdramatic theory and other performance arts, written between 200 BC and 200 AD.[4] In theIndian performing arts, arasa is a sentiment or emotion evoked in each member of the audience by the art. TheNatya Shastra mentions six rasa in one section, but in the dedicated section onrasa it states and discusses eight primaryrasa.[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 ofSringara. TheAura of a frightened person is black, and the aura of an angry person is red.Bharata Muni established the following:[33]
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.
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 byyogis.
According to theNatyashastra, bhavas are of three types:sthayi (stable),sanchari (travelling) andsattvika (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.)
TheNatyasastra lists eightSthayibhavas with eight correspondingrasas:
TheNatyasastra outlines eightanubhavas orsattvika bhavas:[36]
Rasa has been an important influence on thecinema of India.Satyajit Ray has applied theRasa method of classical Sanskrit drama to movies, for instance inThe Apu Trilogy (1955–1959).[37]
In Hindi cinema, it is the theme of the filmNaya Din Nayi Raat, whereSanjeev Kumar plays nine characters corresponding to nineRasa.[citation needed]
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