Association of Rasa and K¡la (time) with R¡ga-s.

(Premalatha Nagarajan)

Rasa and k¡la have been associated with music for quite some centuries. Rasa
refers to eight or nine kinds of tastes that a spectator experiences when he
witnesses different feelings portrayed in a drama. K¡la refers to the time of the day
or the year, with which certain r¡ga-s are associated. This section will examine
whether music evokes rasa and has intrinsic quality which can be related to a
particular part of the day or the year.

Rasa
Rasa as mentioned above is the aim or the aesthetic import of n¡¶ya or drama as
mentioned by Bharata in his N¡¶ya¿¡stra. Rasa is also one of the vehicle for the
enjoyment of literature and poetry. Bharata very clearly explains the process of rasa.
"vibh¡v¡nubh¡va vyabic¡ri samy°g¡d rasaniÀpattiÅ"
"Rasa is realised in some way from the combination of the sth¡yibh¡va (permanent
and dominant emotional mood) with the vibh¡va-s (the objects of emotions such as
the hero and the heroine, and the exciting causes such as the spring, flowers,
moonlight and the bower), anubh¡va-s (the external manifestations of emotions such
as the movement of the eye-brows, glances and smile) and the vyabhic¡ribh¡va-s
(accessory moods) which come and go helping in the manifestation of the rasa).
Bharata mentions eight dominant emotional moods, or sth¡yib¡va-s, that may be
aroused by a dramatic representation into the state of aesthetic pleasure. These are
rati (love), h¡sa (laughter), ¿°ka (sorrow), kr°dha (anger), uts¡ha (energy), bhaya
(fear), jugups¡ (repugnance) and vismaya (wonder); the rasa-s corresponding to
these are respectively called ¿¤´g¡ra, h¡sya, karu¸a, raudra, v¢ra, bhay¡naka,
b¢batsa and adbhuta. Later writers accept a nineth rasa called ¿¡nta corresponding
to the sth¡yib¡va of nirv®da (detachment). Really the rasa or the aesthetic pleasure
derived from literature is one and the same in all cases; the division into various
 2

rasa-s is based on the difference in the sth¡yib¡va-s which contribute to the rasa-s.
This rasa is a condition produced in the spectator, is a single feeling and a
pleasurable one". (p.286-287 Indian Theories of Meaning, by K Kunjunni Raja)

Drama or n¡¶ya is a composite art built up of g¢ta (melodic forms), n¤tta

(movements of the limbs of the human body), abhinaya (body movements
representing human ideas) and v¡dya (syllabic forms created by drum instruments).
The feelings that transpire between different characters in the drama are tasted or
enjoyed by the audience. And this is rasa. Apart from vibh¡va, anubh¡va and
vyabhic¡ri, which are the main contributors to the evoking of the rasa, the other arts
like music and drumming also help to reinforce these feelings. In this way, music
within a drama has its aim set towards aiding the actors in the evocation of rasa. It is
for this reason that music has been associated with drama.

The melodic basis for music mentioned in N¡¶ya¿astra has been the j¡ti and
Bharata in the 29th chapter of his work, specifies the relationship between the aƿa
of a j¡ti and the rasa. Or he specifies which j¡ti, defined in terms of the dominant
aÆ¿a, should be associated with which rasa. For instance, if a j¡ti has ‘sa’ and ‘ri’
as aÆ¿a, then it should be used in the v¢ra, raudra and adbhuta rasas.
If ‘ma’ and ‘pa’ are the aÆ¿a-s, then those j¡ti-s should be performed in ¿¤´g¡ra
and h¡sya rasa-s.
The j¡ti-s having niÀ¡da and g¡ndh¡ra as the principle aÆ¿a-s, should be used in
karu¸a rasa.
The j¡ti-s having dhaivata as the aÆ¿a, should be used in b¢batsa and bhay¡naka
rasa-s.

We find that the later works like B¤hadd®¿¢ and Sa´g¢taratn¡kara, actually
mention the use of r¡ga-s in n¡¶ya. And here too we find that the r¡ga which is
prescribed in a particular rasa, would also have that svara as the aƿa which has
 3

been prescribed by Bharata to be associated with that rasa. For instance, the r¡ga
v®saraÀ¡·ava, is prescribed to be rendered in h¡sya and ¿¤´g¡ra rasa-s. This r¡ga
is a gr¡mar¡ga, in which madhyama is the aÆ¿asvara.

It is very important to note here that all these texts like B¤hadd®¿¢ and
Sa´g¢taratn¡kara specify that such and such a r¡ga should be used in such and
such a rasa. The manner of specifying this has to be noted carefully. It is never
mentioned that a r¡ga will evoke a particular rasa. It is always stated that in a
particular rasa a particular r¡ga has to be employed. In other words the rasa is
created primarily by sth¡yib¡va which is generated through vibh¡va, anubh¡va and
saµc¡r¢bh¡va-s. And with the rasa having been created, it is to be reinforced
through the song or the r¡ga. R¡ga, in this context, has to be understood more in
the sense of a tune. Because today, r¡ga has the notion of a melodic basis or a
melodic type, from which several tunes couldbe created. If a r¡ga is prescribed for a
particular rasa today, then one could ask which tune based on it should be
employed? As for instacne, a r¡ga like k®d¡ragaula or mukh¡ri may have two or
three tunes, and one may wonder, which one is to used. Hence it is presumed that
in the context of drama r¡ga perhaps denoted a tune. And it has to be borne in mind
that it is not the r¡ga or music that evoke the rasa, but other factors.

Of course, it is possible that a r¡ga (tune) which is associated with a particular

rasa, even when rendered independently outside the drama could perhaps generate
the same feeling due to earlier associations. We find that in the later d®¿¢ period,
when r¡ga came to be part of 'non-drama' music, or art music, the lakÀa¸a relating
to its association with the rasa, continued to be included. This is seen in many of the
medieval works like Sa´g¢tadarpa¸a.
However in the medieval and modern periods too, the traditional theatre forms
like Bh¡gavatam®lan¡¶aka of M®la¶¶ur, G®yan¡¶aka-s like Nauk¡caritramu, the
dramas of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and the films of the early 20th
 4

century continued to have the association of a particular r¡ga with a particular rasa.
Some scholars have interpreted the term rasa to mean the general aesthetic
import of any art and thus describe non-drama arts like music, dance etc. to be
evoking rasa. In this rasa has to be understood not as being eight fold, but just
simply as artistic enjoyment. In the case of music terms like 'g¡narasa' have been
coined to describe the aesthetic enjoyment of music.

K¡la
Just as in the case of rasa, in the case of k¡la too, there has been a strong
association of time of the day with r¡ga, especially in the context of n¡¶ya. In works
like Sa´g¢taratn¡kara, along with the prescription of rasa, we find the specification of
the time of the day during which the r¡ga should be sung. Since to start with, the
r¡ga-s come to be seen only in the context of drama, it is presumed that this
specification of time must have also been related to the drama. In the ancient times,
when devices like light effects were unavailable, it is the specifying of the r¡ga-s that
must have helped conveying to the audience the time of the day during which the
action in the play was going on.
Outside drama, there were other situations when r¡ga was associated with k¡la.
These were the temple rituals and social functions. In a temple, the Ëgamic texts
prescribe rituals which had to be performed during different parts of the day.
Invariably with every ritual, there was performance of music, in the form of singing or
playing the N¡gasvara and for each part of the day, a particular r¡ga or some r¡ga-s
were prescribed. In social functions like marriages too, specific r¡ga-s are
prescribed to be played on the n¡gasvara during early morning and other times of
the day.

Thus the association of r¡ga with k¡la had begun with drama, temple and social
functions. When dissociated from such contexts, as for instance in art music,
association of time with r¡ga, seems to be an extra-musical factor. And as in the
 5

case of rasa, in the case of k¡la too, the texts belonging to the later d®¿¢ period,
continue to include k¡la as one of the lakÀa¸a-s of r¡ga-s, even though r¡ga came
to be a part of art music. This association still survives very strongly in the North
Indian system of music and has not affected the South Indian Music.