In the Indian tradition, aesthetic experience is explained in terms of
the concept of Rasa. Rasa can be explained as the aesthetic relish of the
emotional tone in the suitably cultivated audience member. Bharata compiled the
meaning of the multifaceted word Rasa into one sentence.
rasyate anena iti rasaḥ.
i.e. that which is relished is Rasa.
Bhāva, literally, means ‘existence’ and ‘mental state’. In aesthetic
contexts, it has been translated as ‘feelings’, ‘psychological states’ and
‘emotions’. Bhāvas, in the context of performance, are the emotions represented
in the performance. According to the Natyaśāstra, the oldest surviving
compendium on the knowledge of performing arts:
“Bhāvas are so called, because through Words, Gestures and
Representation of the Sattva, they infuse (bhāvayanti) the meaning of the play
(into the spectators).”
According to the Natyaśāstra:
Vibhānubhāva vyabhicāri samyogada rasanispattih.
i.e. Sentiments (Rasa) is produced from a combination of Determinants
(vibhāva), Consequents (anubhāva) and Complementary Psychological States (vyabhicāri
bhāva).
The ‘vibhāvas’ or Determinants are the conditions and objects which give
rise to the emotions. For example, in Hamlet, the determinants of
the emotions within the play are Hamlet’s mother’s hasty remarriage to
Claudius, the brother of her murdered husband and the visit paid to Hamlet by
the ghost of his murdered father, among others. These factors arouse Hamlet’s
suspicion against his uncle and mother.
The ‘anubhāvas’ include the performer’s gestures and other means to
express the emotional states. These may be involuntary such as sweating,
shivering and trembling or voluntary such as deliberate actions and gestures.
Hamlet’s madness, pale countenance, unexpected behaviour, irrelevant remarks in
conversation, his accusation of his mother and killing of Polonius are the
consequence of the emotional state caused in him by the suspicions he harbours
about the murder of his father.
The ‘vyabhicāri bhāvas’ are the Complementary Psychological States which
exist temporarily in a performance but contribute to the overall emotional tone
of the play. In Hamlet, Hamlet’s fear of his father’s ghost, angry
outburst at his mother, sarcastic attitude towards the king, his feigned
insanity, despair at the death of Ophelia are some of the fleeting emotions
which contribute to the major theme of the play. The Vyabhicāri Bhāvas are 33
in number.
The overarching emotional tone of the play is known as the ‘Sthayibhāva’
or Durable Psychological State. The Natyaśāstra ascribes a kingly position to
the Sthayibhāvas as ‘they have a large suit’ i.e. they have a larger sphere of
influence that the bhāvas which come and go (Vyabhicāri Bhāvas). For example,
the Sthayibhāva in Hamlet is that of Hamlet’s avenging anger.
These are 8 in number and correspond to the Rasa as follows:
Durable Psychological
State
Rasa
Love
(rati) The
Erotic (śŗngara)
Laughter
(hāsya) The
Comic (hāsya)
Durable Psychological
State
Rasa
Sorrow
(śoka) The
Pathetic (karuna)
Anger
(krodha)
The
Furious (raudra)
Energy
(utsāha)
The Heroic (vīra)
Fear
(bhaya) The
Terrible (bhayānaka)
Disgust
(jugupsā) The
Odious (bībhatsa)
Astonishment
(vismaya)
The Marvellous (adbhuta)
Thus, the transformation that precipitates aesthetic experience is the
conversion of the Sthayibhāva into Rasa by the addition of Vibhāvas
(Determinants), Anubhāvas (Consequents) and Vyabhicāri bhāvas (Complementary
Psychological States).
Pramod Kale in his book “The Theatric
Universe” explains that the Natyaśāstra is a practical guide to effective communication
addressed to the performer in theatre. He explains the concept of Bhāvas and
Rasa saying that Bhāva enables the performer to “recreate the images contained
in a dramatic text, so as to bring about the proper effect” and Rasa is the
“framework of rules and regulations, to explain and achieve an effective
communication, a rapport between the performers and the spectators. He gives us
a table of the Sthayibhavas (Constant Modes) and their corresponding Vibhāvas
(Indicators) and Anubhāvas (Sensors).
|
Constant
Modes
|
Indicators
|
Sensors
|
|
Pleasure
(Rati)
|
The
season; decorating the body with garlands; anointing it (with colours and
perfumes); ornaments; feasting; being in beautiful house etc.
|
Smiling
face; sweet talk; play of the eyes and eyebrows; sidelong glances etc.
|
|
Mirth
(Hāsya)
|
Mimicking
others’ actions; nonsensical speech; forwardness; foolishness etc.
|
Laughter
and other expressive emotions as already mentioned.
|
|
Sorrow
(Sokā)
|
Separation
from dear ones; loss of wealth; execution; imprisonment and other sad
experiences etc.
|
Weeping
profusely; moaning; crying; loss of colour; breaking of voice; weakness of
limbs; falling down on the ground; lamentation; screaming; deep sighing etc.
|
|
Constant
Modes
|
Indicators
|
Sensors
|
|
Wrath
(Krodha)
|
Manhandling;
dragging; quarrel; debate; antagonism etc.
|
Dilation
of nostrils and eyes; biting of lips; throbbing at temples etc.
|
|
Vigour
(Utsāha)
|
High
spirits; strength; courage; bravery etc.
|
Poise;
courage; sacrifice; learning etc.
|
|
Fear
(Bhaya)
|
Offence
against the king or teacher; a view of wild beasts; deserted house, forests,
mountains, elephants; a stormy day, dark night; hearing the cry of owls and
other nocturnal beings; getting berated etc.
|
Hands
and feet trembling; palpitation of the heart; immobility; drying of the mouth
and the tongue; perspiration; shivering; seeking refuge; running; getting
dragged etc.
|
|
Disgust
(Jugupsā)
|
Hearing,
seeing or telling of things unpleasant.
|
The
whole body drawing in; face pinched; head jumping; spitting.
|
|
Wonder
(Vismaya)
|
Illusions,
delusions caused by magic and supernatural powers; excellence of man’s art in
painting, sculpture etc.
|
Widening
the eyes; starting without batting an eyelid; raised eyebrows; hair-raising;
head shaking; saying ‘well done’ etc.
|
The Natyaśāstra analogizes this relationship with the preparation of
food. It states: “Just as well-disposed persons, while eating food cooked with many kinds
of spice, enjoy (āsvādayanti) its tastes, and attain pleasure and satisfaction,
so the cultured people taste the Durable Psychological States while they see
them represented by an expression of the various Psychological States with
Words, Gestures and Sattva, and derive pleasure and satisfaction.”
J.A Honeywell states that: “(Rasa) is not an objective entity which
exists independently of the experience as the object experienced; the existence
of Rasa and the experience of Rasa are identical.”
Thus, without an audience to discern
Rasa from the anubhāvas of the performers, Rasa does not exist. Similarly,
without the performers or a performance, Rasa does not exist. For Rasa to
exist, there needs to be a source which transmits certain emotions and a
receiver who will receive and feel these emotions. The transmitter- receiver
can be a theatrical performance and its audience, a written poem and its
reader, a piece of music and its listener or a painting and someone who looks
at it.
Theatre is a kind of mimesis of the
world and thus Rasa, as the specific quality of theatre, also derives from it,
this special relationship. Theatre takes place in the world and the world too
has a presence in theatre. By imitating the actions of the world in their
universality rather than their actuality, theatre is often more ‘real’ than the
real world.
Angelika Heckel states that: “The essential trait of the
theatrical performance is to be sought in the presence of the situation, the
sphere between the stage and the audience is the place of this presence.” ‘Abhinaya’ is the
means of conveyance that uses the stage to establish this ‘between’ in a
theatrical performance.
Abhinaya, however, cannot transport Rasa. Only when the relationship
between the stage and the audience is realized as an event, Rasa is realized,
for which there are requirements, also, on the part of the audience. This
‘between’ appears when the audience grasps the ‘artha’ of the play through the
‘bhāva’ which is unfolded in the performance.
References:
1. http://rinistudytable.blogspot.com/2012/08/bhava-and-rasa-in-bharatas-natyasastra.html
2. The Natyaśāstra translated by Manomohan Ghosh; Calcutta; Granthalaya;
1967.
3. Rasa: The
Audience and the Stage; Angelika Heckel; Journal of Arts and Ideas (17-18);
1991.
4. An Alchemy of
Emotion: Rasa and Aesthetic Breakthroughs; Kathleen Marie Higgins; Journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism; 2007.
5. Reflections on
Some Aspects of the Theory of Rasa; Eliot Deutsch; in the book Sanskrit Drama
in Performance edited by Rachel Van M. Baumer, James R. Brandon; University of
Hawaii Press; 1981.
6. Rasa in Sanskrit Drama; Princy Sunil; Indian Review of World
Literature in English, 2005.
7. The Theatric Universe; Pramod Kale;
Popular Prakashan Pvt Ltd; 1974.
No comments:
Post a Comment