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The Doctrine of rasa:
Rasa, literally "sap" or "juice," may be defined in
this context as "the essence of impersonal emotion" A. B. Keith,
in his The Sanskrit Drama, explains rasa is "one, it is a single,
ineffable, transcendental joy, but it can be subdivided, not according
to its own nature, but according to the [eight] emotions [bhavas] which
evoke it."
According to Bharata, the drama should create "a dispassionate delight
in the audience who have been able to look at life steadily and see it
whole as a result of the dramatist's skill in presenting before them the
eight major sentiments arranged in a harmonious spectrum."
Balancing the eight "stable sentiments" and using the thirty-three
"unstable sentiments" as needed should "in a harmonious
way" should produce rasa, the 9th bhava.
1. The eight major, or "stable," bhavas or sentiments:
a. Rati or sringara: desire, affection, erotic longing
b. lasa or lasya: laughter, comic or farcical joy, not involving
cynicism or derision
c. krodha or raudra: anger arising from ill treatment
d. shoka or karuna: sadness resulting from separation from a
loved one
e. utsasha or vira: pride in one's own powers which lead to
a display of energetic enterprise, bravery, charity or forgiveness
(Note the contrast with the Greek notion of hybris)
f. bhaya or bhayanaka: fear of reproach or attack
g. jugupsa or bibhatsa: aversion or loathing
h. vismaya or adbhuta: wonder, the connotation being that something
evoking childlike surprise in encountered |
ii. The thirty-three "unstable" or "transitory"
bhavas:
a. discouragement
b. weakness
c. apprehension
d. weariness
e. contentment
f. stupor
g. joy
h. depression
i. cruelty
j. anxiety
k. fright
l. envy
m. arrogance
n. indignation
o. recollection
p. death
q. intoxication
r. dreaming
s. sleeping
t. awakening
u. shame
v. demonic possession
w. distraction
x. assurance
y. indolence
z. agitation
aa. deliberation
bb. dissimulation
cc. sickness
dd. insanity
ee. despair
ff. impatience
gg. inconstancy
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"A
Glimpse of Theatre History"