An Alchemy of Emotion: Rasa and Aesthetic Breakthroughs

Author(s): Kathleen Marie Higgins

Source: The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Vol. 65, No. 1, Special Issue: Global
Theories of the Arts and Aesthetics (Winter, 2007), pp. 43-54
Published by: Wiley on behalf of The American Society for Aesthetics
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4622209 .
Accessed: 13/05/2013 15:18

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Wiley and The American Society for Aesthetics are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 KATHLEENMARIE HIGGINS
An Alchemy of Emotion:Rasa and Aesthetic
Breakthroughs
"Now they're cookin'!" my companion an-
nounced.Thiswas the firstlive jazz performance
I had ever witnessedand I was intriguedby his
comment. Somethinghad changed for him just
then. Lackingmuch exposureto jazz before this,
I was not certainwhathad changed,but I wanted
to know.
The Westernaesthetictradition,for all it says
about aesthetic experience,says little about the
breakthroughthat precipitates it. The case of
FriedrichNietzsche, a notable exception, is in-
structive. In The Birth of Tragedy he describes
the experienceof music as provokinga sense of
transformedidentity,in whichawarenessof one's
ordinaryroles drops away.He describesthe way
in which this transformationrenderedthe spec-
tator of Athenian tragedya veritableDionysian
votary,suddenlyable to see throughthe actorto
the character,and throughthe characterto the
god.' Nietzsche'semphasison thesemagicaltrans-
formations,however,is not generallypickedup by
laterWesternphilosophy.
By contrast, we find a great deal on these
mattersin traditionalIndianaesthetics,whichfo-
cuses on aestheticbreakthroughto a far greater
extent than the aesthetics of our own tradi-
tion. (Significantly,Arthur Schopenhauer'sac-
count of spiritual transformation,which influ-
encedNietzsche'sanalysisof Greektragedy,draws
directly on Indian thought.2)The Indian tradi-
tion analyzesthe psychologyof aestheticbreak-
throughsandsituatesthemin the broadercontext
of humanaspirations.Theworkof Abhinavagupta
(eleventh century), in particular,also analyzes
the relationship between aesthetic experience
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
and other breakthroughswithin human experi-
ence.3Indianinvestigationof breakthroughsboth
withinand beyondaestheticschallengesWestern
philosophy to investigate further art's connec-
tions with the ethical and spiritualdimensionsof
life.
I consider these Indian analyses of aesthetic
breakthrough, beginningin SectionI witha discus-
sionof the conceptof rasa,the emotionalflavorof
an aestheticexperience.In Section II, I consider
the mechanismsinvolvedin the productionof rasa
in the contextof a dramaticperformanceandshow
thatthe experienceof rasais itselfan indicationof
a breakthroughon the partof an audiencemem-
ber. The spectatoroptimallymoves from aware-
ness of the emotional content of a performance
(whichis evident to virtuallyany memberof the
audienceof a competentlyperformeddrama)to
a state of savoringthe drama'semotionalcharac-
ter in a universalizedmanner(somethingthat de-
pendson the particularspectator'sdegreeof spir-
itual development,as we shall see). I proceedin
Section III to considerAbhinavagupta'sauthori-
tative interpretationof rasatheory.Abhinavaex-
plicates a numberof stages involved in the ex-
perience.He also suggeststhat the experienceof
rasa has a trajectoryof developmenttowardan-
other breakthrough,this one into a state of tran-
quility,which I discuss in Section IV. Abhinava
comparesattainingthe latterconditionto achiev-
ing the most importantbreakthroughpossiblein
a humanlife, thatof spiritualliberation,or moksa.
Thus,the breakthroughsinvolvedin aestheticex-
periencefacilitatespiritualaspirationby offering
a taste of the achievedaim.4
44
I.
The key to any analysisof aesthetictransforma-
tions in the Indiantraditionis the theoryof rasa,
the emotional flavor of aesthetic experience.In
this section, I discussthe basic terms bhava and
rasa, which are discussedin the oldest surviving
Indian text on aesthetics,the Natya~dstra.The
termsarenot alwayskeptdistinctin thistext,but I
follow the interpretationof Abhinavagupta,who
uses these terms to make a basic distinctionbe-
tweenemotionas it is renderedin dramaticperfor-
mance and aestheticexperienceof an emotional
state, whichis an achievementon the part of the
spectator.5
The Ndtyasdstra,attributedto Bharata (200-
500 CE), is a detailed compendiumof technical
knowledgeaboutthe performingarts.6A practical
manualfor the productionof successfuldramati-
cal works,whichincludedmusicanddanceas well
as acting,the Natyaidstraarticulatesrasa theory
in light of the dramatist'spragmaticgoal of con-
veying emotionalstates to the audience.Specifi-
cally,it is concernedwith the practicalmeansfor
creatinga distinctmood throughthe performance
that can be transformedinto a rasa,aestheticrel-
ish of the emotionaltone,in the suitablycultivated
audience member.7(Bharataassumes that only
the moreculturedanddiscerningtheatergoerswill
havethisoptimumexperience,a matterthatI con-
sider later in more detail.) Everythingwithinthe
dramashouldbe subordinateto the aimof produc-
ing rasa, includingthe constructionof the plot.8
Alreadywe can observethe contrastbetweenthis
Indianconceptionof aestheticexperience,which
emphasizesthe audiencesavoringparticularemo-
tionaltones,and variousWesternnotions,suchas
ImmanuelKant'scognitive"freeplayof imagina-
tion andunderstanding" or DavidHume'sgeneric
aesthetic"sentiment."
The statusof the Natyaidstrais akin to that of
Aristotle'sPoetics.Both offerdetailedaccountsof
whatit takesto writea goodplay(albeitthePoetics
is restrictedto such a discussionof tragedy),and
each providesits respectivetraditionwith basic
criteriaof artisticsuccessnot only for theater,but
for other arts as well. Yet there are some reveal-
ing contrasts.Both focus on action,but with very
differentemphases.Aristotlestressesthe plot, the
actions of the characterwithinthe drama,while
Bharatadoes not. This is appropriate,for Indian
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
GlobalTheoriesof the Arts and Aesthetics
dramais less focused on decisive events than is
Westerndrama,and the conventionis to idealize
characters'actionsby presentingthem as accord-
ing with dharma(the morallaw). The actionsthat
Bharataemphasizesare those of the personplay-
ing the role of a character.Specifically,Bharata
analyzesin detailthe physicalmovementsandges-
turesof the actor,a topic ignoredby Aristotle.
Similarly,althoughboth thinkerstake unity to
be a criterionof successforthe work,the unitythat
Bharataconsidersstemsfromthe achievementof
a dominantmood or emotionaltone, while Aris-
totle seeks unityprimarilyin the plot (throughits
focuson a singleaction,its constrainedlength,and
so forth).9Moreover,both Aristotleand Bharata
contendthatthe aimin dramais to conveycertain
emotionsto the audience.However,Aristotlecon-
fines his discussionof the arousalof emotion by
tragedyto a few remarks(for example,his con-
tention that tragedyshould arouse pity and fear
for the purposeof catharsisandhisclaimthateven
hearingthe basicplot outlineshouldarousethese
emotions).Bharata,on the otherhand,developsa
detailedtaxonomyof emotion and emotionalex-
pression,the topic to whichI now turn.
Thecentralimportanceof affectivetransforma-
tion in the Natyasastrais underscoredby the dis-
tinction, suggested by the text, between bhdvas
and rasas.10 The dramatist'sgoal is to facilitate
the transformationof a bhdva,an emotion rep-
resentedin the dramaand recognizedby the au-
dience member,to a rasa, an experience of the
spectator.Thetermbhavameansboth"existence"
and "mentalstate," and in aesthetic contexts it
has been variouslytranslatedas "feelings,""psy-
chologicalstates,"and "emotions.""Bhdvasare
emotionsor affectivestatesas they typicallyoccur
in ordinarylife. In the contextof the drama,they
are the emotionsrepresentedin the performance.
According to the Natya?dstra, "Bhdva is so called
because of its representing(bhdvayan)the inner
feeling of the play-wrightby meansof an expres-
sion comingfromspeech, limbs,face and Sattva"
[thatis, involuntaryemotionalexpression,suchas
shudderingor becomingpale].'2Bharataproposes
thatthe playwrighthas experiencedan emotion,a
bhava,whichis then expressedthroughthe play;
actors representthis emotion throughtheir per-
formance.
Rasas, by contrast, are aesthetically trans-
formed emotional states experienced with
Higgins An Alchemy of Emotion: Rasa and Aesthetic Breakthroughs
enjoymentby audiencemembers.The term rasa
is not restrictedto aesthetic contexts. Arindam
Chakrabartiobserves that the term has many
uses, all of whichinflectits aestheticmeaning:"a
fluidthattends to spill,a taste such as sour,sweet
or salty, the soul or quintessenceof something,
a desire, a power, a chemical agent used in
changingone metal into another,the life-giving
sap in plants,and even poison!"13In its aesthetic
employment,the word rasa has been translated
as "mood,""emotionaltone,"or "sentiment,"or
more literally,as "flavor,""taste,"or "juice."'14
The gustatorycharacterof the term resembles
that of the Westernaestheticterm "taste."How-
ever, rasais not a faculty,as is Western"taste";it
is literallythe activityof savoringan emotion in
its full flavor.'1
In a dramatic production, the sthdyibhdva
(durableemotion) is the overarchingemotional
tone of a play as a whole. Table 1 shows the
Natyasastra's lists of the sthdyibhdvas and the
rasas.16
Only certainemotionalflavorsare counted as
rasas.17The list of rasas comprisesan inventory
of emotions as objects of aesthetic relish. Sig-
nificantly,they are characterizedimpersonally,as
emotionsin themselves,a matterto whichI shall
return.Each of the rasaslisted in Table 1 corre-
spondsto a sthayibhdva,an emotionthatcanserve
as the basicaffectivetone of an entireplay.Inclu-
sion of emotionson the list of sthdyibhavas is de-
termined,accordingto scholarsA. K. Ramanujan
and Edwin Gerow,by the fact that they are "so
basic,so universal,so fundamentalin humanex-
perienceas to serve as the organizingprincipleof
a sustaineddramaticproduction."'1These basic
emotions were taken to be inherentpossibilities
for all humanbeingsand thuseasily recognizable
in a drama.19
Table 1
Durable Emotions
(sthdyibhavas) Rasas
Erotic love (rati) The erotic (Srnigdra)
Mirth (hasya) The comic (hasya)
Sorrow(?oka) Thepathetic,or sorrowful
(karuna)
Anger (krodha) The furious (raudra)
Energy (utsdha) The heroic (vira)
Fear (bhaya) The terrible (bhaydnaka)
Disgust (jugupsd) The odious (bibhatsa)
Astonishment (vismaya) The marvelous(adbhuta)
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
45
11.
TheNatya dstraconsidersseveralaffectivedimen-
sions,all of whichplay a role in the productionof
both the sthayibhdvaand the rasa.In this section,
I describethese,pointingout thatthey are insuffi-
cientfor the achievementof rasawithoutthe audi-
ence member'stranscendenceof narrowpersonal
interest.The aestheticbreakthroughof rasa, ac-
cordingly,dependson the moralcultivationof the
spectatoras well as on featuresof the aesthetic
object.
How does the presentationof a sthdyibhava
lead to the experienceof rasa?The Natyasastra
states: "Rasa is produced from a combina-
tion of determinants (vibhdvas), consequents
(anubhavas),and complementarypsychological
states (vyabicari-bhavas)."''20
The vibhdvas (liter-
ally the "causes"of "emotions")are the con-
ditions, the objects, and "other excitingcircum-
stances"that producethe emotionalstate in the
characters.21Forexample,in Hamlet,the determi-
nants of the emotion withinthe play (and hence
of a spectator's specific rasa) are the circum-
stances of Hamlet's mother's remarriageto his
uncle, his encounterwith his father'sghost, the
suspicionsthisencounterleadshimto harbor,and
so on.
Theanubavas,translated"consequents"or "re-
sultant manifestations,"include the performer's
gesturesandothermeansof expressingemotional
states.22Someof these maybe involuntary,for ex-
ample,sweating,horripilation,andshivering.Oth-
ers are voluntary,includingpatternsof actionand
deliberategestures.Hamlet'spale aspect,his de-
meanor, his raving remarksin conversation,his
arrangingfor the productionof The Murderof
Gonzago, his accusationstowardhis mother,his
killing Polonius,and so forth, are all among the
consequents.
The vyabicdribhavasare the complementary
psychological states, also translated "transient
emotions."These are those relativelybrief con-
ditions that, although fleeting, contribute to
the basic emotional tone of the play. The
Ndtyasdstracites thirty-threeof these transient
emotions, including"discouragement,weakness,
apprehension,envy, intoxication,weariness,in-
dolence,depression,anxiety,distraction,recollec-
tion, contentment,shame, inconstancy,joy, ag-
itation, stupor, arrogance,despair, impatience,
sleep,epilepsy,dreaming,awakening,indignation,
46
dissimulation, cruelty, assurance, sickness, insan-
ity, death, fright and deliberation."23
This list includes many things that we in the
West would not consider to be emotions at
all, such as sleep, epilepsy, death, and deliber-
ation. These may, however, occur as side ef-
fects or consequences of an emotional state, and
that is enough for Bharata to classify them as
vyabicaribhdvas.In the drama, these and the other
vyabicdribhdvas are represented only in passing,
but they strengthen and provide shadings for the
durable emotions they accompany, though they
are of brief duration. In Hamlet, for example,
Hamlet's fear of the ghost, his wistful recollec-
tion of Yorick, his sarcastic attitude in speaking to
the king, his wrathful outburst toward his mother,
are all among the temporary emotional states that
Hamlet undergoes and that contribute to the im-
pression of his avenging anger as the prevailing
emotional tone of the play.
In addition to the vyabicdribhdvas, other
sthayibhavas can sometimes serve as transient
affects that contribute to the formation of a
sthdyibhdva. For example, in Romeo and Juliet,
the relatively enduring sthdyibhava rati (erotic
love) contributes to the sthdyibhava ?oka (sor-
row), which is the overarching emotional tone of
the play.
The transformation that precipitates aesthetic
experience is the conversion of a sthdyibhdva (that
is, a durable emotion) into a rasa. How does this
happen? The Ndtyasastra compares the produc-
tion of a rasa to the preparation of a dish from its
various ingredients. "As a (spicy) flavour is created
from many substances (dravya) of different kinds,
in the same way the bhavas along with (various
kinds of) acting, create rasas."24Bharata elabo-
rates the gustatory metaphor in a way that empha-
sizes the impact of well-combined elements of the
drama on the sensitive member of the audience.
As gourmets(sumanas)are able to savor the flavour
of food preparedwith manyspices,and attainpleasure
etc.,so sensitivespectators(sumanas)savorthe primary
emotionssuggested... by the actingout of the various
bhavasand presentedwith the appropriatemodulation
of the voice, movementsof the body and displayof in-
voluntaryreactions,and attainpleasureetc. Therefore
they are called ... ndtyarasas(dramaticflavours).On
thissamesubjectthereare the followingtwo traditional
... verses:As gourmets... savor food preparedwith
many tasty ingredients(dravya)and many spices. So
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Global Theories of the Arts and Aesthetics
sensitivepeople (budha)enjoy in their mindsthe per-
manentemotionspresentedwith differentkindsof the
actingout of (transient)emotions(and presentationof
their causes).This is why (these primaryemotions)are
knownas natyarasas.25
The ingredients-a combination of vibhavas
(determinants), anubhavas (consequents), and
vyabicdribhdvas(transient psychological states)-
are conjoined and altered through the chemistry
of acting into a form that can be aesthetically
relished by the audience. This passage is one in
which the Natya?dstraequates the bhdvas (that is,
sthdyibhdvas) with rasas.
However, the Ndtya'sdstra makes it clear that
even though a play competently conveys a durable
bhdva, every audience member does not automat-
ically experience rasa. Bharata emphasizes that
the people who experience rasa are (according
to various translations) "sensitive," "cultured," or
"learned." He compares them to connoisseurs or
gourmets. The tastes and understanding of peo-
ple varies depending on age, sex, and class. The
cultivation necessary for rasa according to the
Natyaadstra involves general cultural sophistica-
tion (high social status and the education that at-
tends it, as well as awareness of cultural conven-
tions) and also knowledge of the dramatic arts
and their conventions. Bharata sets the bar for the
ideal spectator much higher than the requirements
Hume sets for the true judge of taste. Bharata stip-
ulates that ideal spectators are:
possessed of [good] character,high birth, quiet be-
haviourand learning,are desirousof fame, virtue,are
impartial,advancedin age, proficientin dramain all its
six limbs,alert,honest,unaffectedby passion,expertin
playingthe four kindsof musicalinstrument,very vir-
tuous,acquaintedwith the Costumesand Make-up,the
rulesof dialects,the fourkindsof HistrionicRepresenta-
tion, grammar,prosody,andvarious[other]Sastras,are
expertsin differentartsand crafts,and have fine sense
of the Sentimentsandthe PsychologicalStates.
Moreover, the ideal spectator should be a paragon
of "unruffled sense, ... honest, expert in the dis-
cussion of pros and cons, detector of faults and ap-
preciator [of merits]" and also experience "glad-
ness on seeing a person glad, and sorrow on see-
ing him sorry," and be one who "feels miserable
on seeing him miserable." Bharata acknowledges
that "[a]ll these various qualities are not known to
Higgins An Alchemy of Emotion: Rasa and Aesthetic Breakthroughs
exist in one single spectator."He concludesthat
in a generalaudience"the inferiorcommonper-
sons ... cannotbe expectedto appreciatethe per-
formanceof the superiorones."26Only superior
individualsare likely to experiencerasa.
Of Bharata'sprerequisitesfor the ideal specta-
tor, later interpretersemphasizethe requirement
of being capable of empatheticresponse to the
emotions of others as indispensableto the spec-
tator'sabilityto experiencerasa.The capacityto
take joy in the joys of others and feel sorrowin
responseto the sorrowsof othersis crucialto the
spectator'sabilityto thoroughlyimbibethe emo-
tionalaspectsof the dramaand therebytake them
as objectsof aestheticsavoring.In this sense, the
rasika(the connoisseurwho experiencesrasa) is
characterizedby a superiorityof moralcharacter,
not just eminencewithinsociety.
Practicaldetailsof performanceand play con-
structionare subordinatedin the Natyaidstrato
the goal of the presentinga sthdyibhdvaandfacili-
tatingthe experienceof rasa.In thisendeavor,the
text detailsthe optimalway to sequenceepisodes
withina plot. It also elaborateson the waythe ac-
tor should representthe unfoldingof emotional
expression,on the basis of how such expression
occursin ordinarylife. Forexample,Bharatalists
the stages of erotic love: longing,anxiety,recol-
lection,enumerationsof the beloved'smerits,dis-
tress, lamentation,insanity,sickness,stupor,and
death.27He proceedsto itemizethe natureof each
of these andhow one indicatesthemon stage.For
example:"Whena womanintroducestopic about
him(i.e. the beloved)on all occasionsandhatesall
[other]males,it is a case of Insanity.To represent
Insanityone shouldsometimelook with a stead-
fastgaze,sometimesheavea deep sigh,sometimes
be absorbedwithinoneself and sometimesweep
at the [usual]time for recreation."28
Properlypre-
sented, the variousgesturesand behaviorsof the
actors will replicatethe real sequence of stages
experiencedby a person undergoinga particular
emotion.The sensitiveaudiencemember,by em-
patheticallyattendingto this affectivetrajectory,
experiencesthe tasteof the emotionin its essence,
that is, rasa.
III.
The Natya•dstraremainsvague on the details of
whathappenswhenthe spectator'srecognitionof
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
47
a sthdyibhdvagives way to an experienceof rasa.
Laterinterpreterselaboratevariousaccounts,but
the definitive analysis is provided by Abhinav-
agupta (eleventh century).29Abhinavaguptais
one of the giantsof Indianthought.A theologian
and mysticas well as a philosopher,he explicates
the psychologicalpreconditionsforthe attainment
of rasa.I considerhis analysisin this section.
AlthoughAbhinava,like Bharata,took the rasa
producedby dramato be paradigmatic,he also
acknowledgedthe productionof rasain purelylit-
erary works.In this he follows the dhvani theo-
rists (in particularAnandavardhanaof the ninth
century),who claimed that poetry conveys rasa
by means of suggestion (dhvani). Dhvani (also
termed'vyaiijand')was proposedas a thirdpower
of language,in additionto abhidhd(denotation)
andlaksand(secondarymeaning,ormetonomy).30
While these other two powers convey meaning
conceptually,dhvani conveys affective meaning.
Abhinava,endorsingthe idea of this thirdlinguis-
tic power,claimsthat rasa can be communicated
only throughdhvani.Describingrasaas it is pro-
ducedin poetry,Abhinavaassertsthat "rasais ...
of a form that mustbe tastedby an act of blissful
relishingon thepartof a delicatemindthroughthe
stimulation... of previouslydepositedmemoryel-
ementswhicharein keepingwiththe vibhdvasand
anubhavas,beautifulbecauseof theirappealto the
heart,whicharetransmittedby [suggestive]words
[of the poet]."31
In this statement,Abhinavapostulatesthe role
of unconsciousmemorytraces(samskdras)in the
arousalof rasa.He spells thisout in greaterdetail
in his discussionof a vignettefromthe Ramayana,
in which the sage Valmiki,the epic's traditional
author, describes his coming to write the epic.
Valmikiwas bathingand enjoyingthe sight and
song of matingbirds,a pair of curlews.Suddenly,
he sawan arrowkill one of the birds.Valmiki'sre-
sponseto thisscenewasto cursethe hunter,andas
he didso, his wordscameout in the formof a verse
(Sloka).Afterward,he was remorsefulat having
cursedthe hunter,but also amazedby the poetic
form that his curse had taken. Brahma,the Lord
of Creation,appearedto Valmiki and said that
thesloka hadcome throughhis intention.He tells
Valmikito writethe Ramayanain?lokas, whichhe
does. Valmiki'spower to write poetry,according
to this legend, sprangforth as a consequenceof
a powerfulemotionalexperience.Indeed,in that
Valmikiis consideredthe first poet, the sugges-
48
tion is that poetry itself came into being in his
manner.
Characterizing Valmiki's experience as rasa,
Abhinava explains:
The griefwhicharosefromthe separationof the pairof
curlews,thatis,fromthedestructionof thematingarising
fromthe killingof the bird'smate,a griefwhichwasa ba-
sic emotiondifferent,becauseof its hopelessness,from
the basic emotion of love found in love-in-separation:
thatgrief,by the poet'sruminatinguponits [alambana-]
vibhdvas[i.e.,the birds]in their[unhappy]state andon
the anubhdvasarisingtherefrom,suchas the wailing[of
the survivingbird],met with a responsefrom his heart
andwithhis identifying[of the bird'sgriefwiththe grief
in his ownmemory]andso transformeditselfinto a pro-
cess of relishing.32
Abhinava describes the poet's rasa as arising
from his response to the emotion expressed by the
surviving bird.33The stages involved in Valmiki's
experience of rasa, then, include:
1. His recognition of the emotion expressed by
the surviving bird, through witnessing the emo-
tion's vibhdvas (the circumstances causing it)
and anubhdvas (the bird's involuntary emo-
tional expressions).
2. His rumination on this emotion.
3. His feeling response, predicated on his sense of
sharing the emotion expressed by the bird.
4. His aesthetic relishing of his continued rumi-
nation on the emotion, which is now felt to be
intersubjective.
Why should the poet relish what would seem to
be a very painful experience? Abhinava goes on
to explain that grief is transformed into the rasa of
compassion. To explain how this differs from ordi-
nary grief, he compares the emotion transformed
into rasa to "the spilling over of ajar filled with liq-
uid."34Where Plato uses an image of iron rings be-
ing joined together through magnetism, Abhinava
uses the image of overflowing liquid to describe
the rasa giving shape to the form of the poem, and
the further communication of rasa from the poet
to the receptive reader or listener.35
The poet's own experience of rasa depends on
empathy with the bird. According to Abhinava,
the poet was experiencing rasa, however, not the
bhdva of grief. According to Abhinava, this em-
pathy arises because the poet has latent impres-
sions of grief in his own memory, which are stimu-
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Global Theories of the Arts and Aesthetics
lated, and he identifies this remembered grief with
that of the bird.36However, he does not wallow
in memory of his own experience. Daniel H. H.
Ingalls interprets Abhinava as implying that when
the poet relishes the grief of others, "he has lost
his own griefs within them.""37 As Abhinava him-
self puts it:
Grief is the basic emotion of the rasa of compassion,
for compassionconsistsof relishing(or aestheticallyen-
joying) grief. That is to say, where we have the basic
emotiongrief,a thought-trendthatfitswiththe vibhavas
andanubhdvasof this grief,if it is relished(literally,if it
is chewedover and over), becomesa rasa and so from
its aptitude[towardthis end] one speaksof [any]basic
emotionas becominga rasa.Forthe basicemotionis put
to use in the processof relishing:througha succession
of memoryelements it adds together a thought-trend
whichone has alreadyexperiencedin one's own life to
one whichone infersin another'slife, andso establishes
a correspondencein one's heart.38
The elements of resuscitated memory enable
one who experiences an artwork or other affect-
producing stimuli to recognize the convergence of
one's own experience and the emotion one en-
counters in another.39This recognition of common
emotional experience depends on moving beyond
a narrowly egoistic outlook to a more general-
ized, transpersonal sense of the emotion.40 One
interprets the perceived emotion as an instance
of a type and recognizes its common character
with one's own remembered emotion, thereby un-
dercutting one's sense of personally owning one's
emotion. This breakthrough is essential for rasa to
occur.
An everyday example might help illuminate the
delight one experiences in rasa. An older adult, ob-
serving the emotional expressions of a small child,
is often reminded of his or her own juvenile emo-
tional experiences, particularly at times when the
adult is not called on to control the child's be-
havior. The grandparent, for example, who finds
virtually all the grandchild's responses charming
might well find the child's emotion familiar from
his or her old childhood (or that of the child's par-
ents). Or a parent at a nonconfrontational mo-
ment might feel a certain delight in the sense that
the adolescent child's emotions and responses are
steps along a well-traveled trail that the parent has
also navigated. Although these reactions may be
limited to a sense of sharing between oneself and
Higgins An Alchemy of Emotion: Rasa and Aesthetic Breakthroughs
a close family member, they might also prompt re-
flection on the emotional repertoire and trajectory
of human beings generally. If the adult moves on
to this more general reflection, he or she is close to
the type of contemplation that precipitates rasa.
The breakthrough that initiates the experience
of rasa can be impeded by various obstacles.
Abhinava identifies seven.
1. Inability to find the drama convincing.
2. Overly personal identification.
3. Absorption in one's own feelings.
4. Incapacity of the appropriate sense organ.
5. Lack of clarity within the play.
6. Lack of a dominant mental state.
7. Doubt about what emotion particular expres-
sions are meant to convey.41
The elimination of these obstacles makes room
for the experience of rasa. Several of these (Nos.
1, 5, and 7) depend primarily on the play and its
performance; even No. 6 can be considered a con-
sequence of the play's inept focus. One (No. 4)
concerns the fact that sound sensory organs are
necessary for artistic enjoyment. The remaining
impediments (Nos. 2 and 3) are psychological; they
are forms of inability to overcome narrow self-
absorption.
The transformation of a bhava to a rasa de-
pends on transcendence of the narrowly personal
sense of self. Accordingly, any experience of rasa
requires the overcoming of egoism. This break-
through enables the artistic audience member to
achieve rasa, a condition of pleasure, or rapture.
IV.
Beyond analyzing the breakthrough involved in
the attainment of rasa, Abhinava also discusses
the possible development of the experience into
a further breakthrough. In this section, I consider
his suggestion that rasa involves an inherent ten-
dency toward tranquility, a condition that he sees
as resembling that of ultimate spiritual liberation.
Abhinava considers the delight of rasa to be
basic to the value of drama, and he considers this
as antecedent to any instruction that drama might
offer.
[T]hepurpose(of the drama)forthosewhoareunhappy
(is threefold):it calmsthe painof thosewho aregrieved,
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
49
it gives immediatepleasure,andit giveshappinesslater
(throughinstruction,whichif followed leads to happi-
ness).As forthosewhoarenot in sorrow,butarealmost
alwayshappy,such as princes,etc., even for them the
dramaprovidesinstructionin the waysof the worldand
in the meansleadingto the (four)goals of life, such as
dharma,etc.... Question:does the dramainstructthe
way a teacher(or an elderlyperson) does? (Answer:)
No. Ratherit causesone's wisdomto grow.42
Valuable as enhanced wisdom is, aesthetic plea-
sure is the primary purpose of drama, according to
Abhinava. Indeed, aesthetic pleasure is the means
to the wisdom available through art. "Even of in-
struction in the four goals of life delight is the final
and major result." Abhinava continues, "Nor are
pleasure and instruction really different things, for
they both have the same object," that is, happi-
ness.43
The kind of happiness Abhinava has in mind is
"mental repose."44The detachment and profound
pleasure involved in rasa produce a sense of tran-
quility, or equanimity, in the person who experi-
ences it. Tranquility, or dantarasa,is the putative
ninth rasa defended by some later interpreters of
the Ndtyasdstra, including Anandavardhana and
Abhinava.45 The legitimacy of this ninth rasa is
not a minor issue for Abhinava. He argues that all
other rasas guide one toward tranquility and that
this is their ultimate goal.
The idea that all rasas tend toward tranquility
suggests a further breakthrough that is possible
within aesthetic experience. Relative to the other
rasas, which correspond to emotions that are in
some sense driven toward an end, adntarasais the
most placid.46 The other rasas are more transi-
tory in character than is ?dntarasa, and sdntarasa
is the aim of the others. Abhinava compares this
supreme rasa to the experience of moksa, or spir-
itual liberation, the supreme goal of human life.
Abhinava's interpretation of moksa is based on
his religious views as a Saivite (a devotee of Siva).
His monistic theological vision has become the
canonical view of Kashmiri Saivism. Abhinava's
system holds that the only ultimate reality is the
consciousness of Siva. The world is a manifestion
of Siva, literally a play of Siva's consciousness.
The spiritual goal of the human being is to over-
come the misconception that one has a distinct
individual being and to recognize one's identity
(and the identity of the whole world) with Siva,
one's true Self. This recognition involves seeing
50
one's individual consciousness as a play of the uni-
versal consciousness. Compared with many other
Indian systems, Kashmiri Saivism is highly life-
affirmative, for it considers the world a manifesta-
tion of the supreme reality and holds that realiza-
tion of one's true Self and the liberation, moksa,
that comes with it are possible within this life.47
The experience of rasa borders on the experi-
ence of moksa. Lifting one to a transpersonal per-
spective on the emotion one tastes, rasa moves
one past the limitations of ego-identification and
closer to liberation. The kinship of rasa and moksa
becomes evident in Abhinava's analysis of the
durable emotion correlating with idntarasa. The
debate about the legitimacy of including ?dnta as
a rasa led to consideration of what sthdyibhava
would correspond to dantarasa.The reasoning was
that if ?antarasawere really a rasa, it should corre-
late with a sthdyibhdva, as does every other rasa.
Abhinava contended that this sthdyibhdva,the sta-
ble basis for a rasa, would be the state of mind that
is conducive to moksa. This state of mind would
be recognition of the Self, and the rasa associated
with it involves the blissful taste of knowledge of
the Self. As in the case of other rasas, the con-
tent of the sthdyibhdvacarries over into adntarasa.
Knowledge of the Self is the basis for the tran-
quility that becomes ?dntarasawhen aesthetically
enjoyed. However, this sthdyibhava is much more
stable than the others, just as adntarasais the most
stable of the rasas.
(Theotherstates)suchas sexualpassion,whosemodeof
existence(ever)is to be (either)facilitatedorobstructed,
in accordancewiththe appearanceor disappearanceof
variouscausalfactors,are said to be "stable"relatively
[apeksikatayd], to the extentthatthey attachthemselves
for a time to the wallof the Self,whosenatureit is to be
"stable."Knowledgeof the truth,however,represents
thewallitself(on whicharedisplayed)allthe otheremo-
tions [bhavantara],and is (thus), among all the stable
(emotivestates), the most stable.... Before the stable
(affectivestate),knowledgeof the truth,theentiregroup
of mentalstates,both mundaneandtranscendental, be-
comes "transitory."48
?dntarasa, however, is not identical to moksa.
Like all the other rasas, it is premised on the art-
work or other aesthetic phenomenon as its condi-
tion, for in rasa one aesthetically relishes an ob-
ject (for example, an emotion presented through
a play). Rasa is also transient. In the case of the
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Global Theories of the Arts and Aesthetics
performing arts, rasa continues while the perfor-
mance continues but does not persist beyond it.49
Moksa, by contrast, endures. It is not dependent
on a play or any other aesthetic phenomenon. In-
stead, it is the blissful state of identification with
universal consciousness. The experience of moksa
is thus the most stable of all possible states of mind.
All other emotional conditions are transient in re-
lation to it, even idntarasa.
Nevertheless, Abhinava takes santarasa to be
both a foretaste of moksa (liberation) and a means
to understand it.50 Although similar to moksa,
idntarasa is a response to the separate "world" of
the artistic performance, whereas moksa pertains
to reality.51However, we tend to be deluded about
our real situation, and Abhinava considers the ex-
perience of rasa through drama to be an ideal
metaphor for our actual status. As a Saivite, Abhi-
nava believes that Siva expresses himself through
our consciousness and action. In our world, Siva
in effect takes on the role of individuals in a play
that he produces for his own delight. Siva identifies
with all the characters in the drama of our world.
Through rasa in response to drama we begin to
approximate Siva's impersonal identification with
every conscious being and all the actions of our
world. Rasa thus gives us a taste of the impersonal
identification that, sustained, would be liberation
itself.
The Western reader might wonder whether
Abhinava's theory has much relevance to some-
one who does not share his spiritual vision or the
Indian conviction that moksa is the supreme end of
human life. Abhinava's suggestions that aesthetic
experience leads to tranquility, and that this has
some significant but complex relationship to equa-
nimity in "real" life are, however, transposable
to Western formulation, regardless of whether we
want to consider the possibility of a universal con-
sciousness. In secular Western terms, Abhinava's
analysis also prompts the question of whether aes-
thetic experience is a generic thing, or whether dif-
ferent kinds of aesthetic experience have different
preconditions and trajectories. Of interest, too, is
Abhinava's view that pleasure, not moral message,
is the means by which the aesthetic dimension el-
evates the soul and improves the character, a posi-
tion that somewhat resembles Friedrich Schiller's
but is largely foreign to Western aesthetics.
More generally, the Indian aesthetic tradition
builds its account of aesthetic experience from a
psychology of emotions, and this serves as the basis
Higgins An Alchemyof Emotion:Rasaand AestheticBreakthroughs
for analyzingaestheticbreakthroughs.Rasa the-
ory offers an explanationfor the power and in-
tersubjectivityof aestheticexperiencethat serves
as an alternativeto both the Kantianinterplay
of intellectualfacultiesand Hume's genericsen-
timentof taste.The psychologicalemphasisof In-
dianaestheticsalsocontrastsstrikinglywithrecent
Westernaesthetics.Since the mid-twentiethcen-
tury,anglophoneWesternphilosophyhas for the
most partresisteddiscussinginnerstates,with the
resultthatthe spiritualaspectsof art(andof other
phenomena)are approachedonly obliquely.Tra-
ditionalIndianaestheticsremindsus of how much
more there is (whether on heaven or on earth)
than contemporaryWesternphilosophyis willing
to dreamof. 52
KATHLEENMARIE HIGGINS
of Philosophy
Department
of TexasatAustin
TheUniversity
Austin, 78712,USA
TX
INTERNET:
kmhiggins@mail.utexas.edu
1. See FriedrichNietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy(with
The Case of Wagner),trans.WalterKaufmann(New York:
Vintage, 1966), ? 8, pp. 61-67.
2. See Arthur Schopenhauer, The World as Will and
Representation,in 2 vols., trans.E. F. J. Payne (New York:
Dover, (vol. I) 1969 and (vol. II) 1958), vol. I, ? 68, pp. 378-
398, especially pp. 388-389. Nietzsche was later critical of
Schopenhauer,but his thought remained profoundlyinflu-
enced by the latter.
3. Abhinavagupta,who lived from the middle of the
tenth centuryinto the eleventh centuryCE, was prolific.He
wrote numerous philosophical works, including commen-
taries and surveyson Tantraand the pratyabhijfid(recogni-
tion) school of Saivism,literarycriticalworks,and religious
poetry.Abhinava'scontributionsto aesthetics are multiple.
He is noteworthyfor elaboratinga theory of the philosophi-
cal foundationsof aestheticsin two importantcommentaries,
the Locana (on Anandavardhana'sDhvanyaloka) and the
Abhinavabhdrati(on the Natya?dstra).These commentaries
presenta numberof innovations,suchas the strictdistinction
between the emotion of the characteron stage and rasa,and
an analysislinkingrasawith religion.(These innovationswill
be discussed below.) Despite his relative lack of interest in
historyas such, Abhinavais also the primarysource through
which we know the aesthetic views of other importantaes-
thetic theorists,such as Bhatta Lollata, who contended that
rasa was just an intensified form of a durable bhdva, and
Bhattandyaka,who sought to undermine the concept of
dhvani, or poetic suggestion. See Daniel H. H. Ingalls,"In-
troduction,"in The Dhvanyaloka of Anandavardhanawith
the LocanaofAbhinavagupta,ed. Daniel H. H. Ingalls;trans.
Daniel H. H. Ingalls,Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, and M. V.
Patwardhan(HarvardUniversityPress,1990),p. 17nand pp.
30-32.
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
51
Abhinavagupta is not the only Indian aesthetician to
analyze aesthetic breakthroughs. A school of Bengali
Vaisnavites (devotees of Vishnu) in the sixteenth cen-
tury, among them Rupagisvamin,offer an alternative ac-
count. For them, the supreme rasa was ?rnigara(the
erotic), which they considered to reach its pinnacle in
devotion to the god (bhakti). They interpreted Irrigdra
as encompassing not only many other kinds of love be-
yond the erotic, but indeed all emotion. I will not, how-
ever, consider this school here, given the restrictions of
space. For a more extended summationof their views, see
Edwin Gerow, "Indian Aesthetics: A Philosophical Sur-
vey," in A Companion to World Philosophies, ed. Eliot
Deutsch and Ron Bontekoe (Malden,MA:Blackwell,1997),
pp. 319-321.
4. This point is made by Edwin Gerow. See Ed-
win Gerow, "Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"Journalof the AmericanOrientalSociety 114(2)
(1994): 191.
5. The exclusionof rasa from the emotion that was pre-
sented on stage was an innovationof Abhinava. See Ingalls,
"Introduction,"p. 35.
6. I follow the customary practice of referring to the
positions taken in the Ndtyaidstraas Bharata's,despite the
fact that modern scholarsdo not believe that this work was
written by a single author. See Edwin Gerow, A Glossary
of Indian Figures of Speech (The Hague: Mouton, 1971),
p. 75. See also Gerow, "IndianAesthetics: A Philosophical
Survey,"p. 315. There,Gerow points out that "the properly
aesthetic portions of the treatise are thought to be among
the latest matters added to the collection, perhapsin or by
the sixth centuryCE."
7. "Aesthetic relish" is V. K. Chari's characterization
of rasa. See V. K. Chari, SanskritCriticism(University of
Hawaii Press,1990),p. 9. Gerow characterizesrasaas "emo-
tional 'tone."'See Gerow, "IndianAesthetics:A Philosoph-
ical Survey,"p. 306.
8. See Bharata-muni(ascribed),TheNdtyaidstra,vol. I,
chs.I-XXVII, rev.2nd ed., ed. andtrans.ManomohanGhosh
(Calcutta: Granthalaya, 1967) [hereafter N.S.], XXI.104,
p. 396.
9. See Gerow,A Glossaryof Indian Figuresof Speech,
p. 76.
10. Again, this distinction is sharp in Abhinavagupta's
interpretation,which I follow here. The meaningsof these
terms are not consistently distinct in the Ndtyadstra itself.
Nevertheless,the termsare differentiated.Gerow notes that
even in the Ndatyaistra,rasa has "elements of the contem-
plative, the platonic, and the vicarious,"and he emphasizes
the universalcharacterof rasa.See Gerow,"IndianAesthet-
ics: A PhilosophicalSurvey,"p. 316.
11. RichardA. Shwederand JonathanHaidt, "TheCul-
tural Psychology of the Emotions: Ancient and New," in
Handbook of the Emotions, 2nd ed., ed. Michael Lewis
and JeannetteM. Haviland-Jones(New York:The Guilford
Press,2000),p.399;A. K. Ramanujanand EdwinGerow,"In-
dianPoetics,"in TheLiteraturesofIndia:an Introduction,ed.
EdwardC. Dimock, Jr. (Universityof Chicago Press,1974),
p. 117;N.S., 1.2, p. 100 and VI.15, p. 102;Arthur Berriedale
Keith, TheSanskritDrama in its Origin,Development,The-
ory, and Practice (Oxford University Press, 1924), p. 319;
Bharata-Muni,Aesthetic Rapture:The Rasidhydya of the
Nadyaidstra,ed. and trans.J. L. Masson and M.V.Patward-
han (Poona:Deccan College, 1970), p. 43.
52
12. N.S., XXIV.8,p. 443.
13. Arindam Chakrabarti,"Disgust and the Ugly in In-
dian Aesthetics," in La PluralitdEstetica:Lasciti e irradi-
azioni oltre il Novecento,Associazione ItalianaStudi di Es-
tetica,Annali 2000-2001 (Torino:Trauben,2002), p. 352.
14. Ramanujan and Gerow, "Indian Poetics," p. 117;
Gerow,"IndianAesthetics:A PhilosophicalSurvey,"p. 306.
15. ThisfollowsAbhinavagupta'saccount,whichempha-
sizes that rasais a type of perception.See J. MoussaieffMas-
son and M. V. Patwardhan, ~intarasaand Abhinavagupta's
Philosophy of Aesthetics(Poona:BhandarkarOriental Re-
searchInstitute,1969),pp. 73 and 73n [hereafterSantarasa].
16. The translationsgiven are those in the translationof
the Ndtya dstraby ManomohanGhosh. See N.S., VI.15, p.
102. See also B. N. Goswamy, "Rasa: Delight of the Rea-
son," in Essence of Indian Art (San Francisco:Asian Art
Museum of San Francisco,1986), pp. 17-30; Gerow, "Abhi-
navagupta'sAesthetics as a SpeculativeParadigm,"p. 193n.
Gerow points out that it is appropriatethat the names of the
rasas are formulatedas "descriptiveadjectives ... or their
appropriateabstractions."Interestingly,Bharatadivides the
rasas into four that are more basic and four that are out-
growths of them. He describes the Erotic, the Furious,the
Heroic, and the Odious as the "four [original]Sentiments,"
and goes on to say, "the Comic [Sentiment]arises from the
Erotic, the Pathetic from the Furious,the Marvellousfrom
the Heroic, and the Terriblefrom the Odious."More specif-
ically, he says that "a mimicryof the Erotic [Sentiment] is
called the Comic,"while in the other cases, the second rasa
results from the first (N.S., VI.38-41, p. 107).
17. Later Indianthoughtdebated whether Bharata'slist
should be considered as exhaustive.Some later thinkersac-
cepted a ninth rasa, ?dntarasa(tranquility),as we shall see.
S~ntarasawas also added to the list in a probablyspurious
edition of the Nadtyaadstra.
18. Ramanujan and Gerow, "Indian Poetics," p. 135.
See also Manomohan Ghosh, "Introduction," in The
Nadtyadstra,rev.2nd ed., p. xxxvii.
19. So characterized,the list of sthdyibhdvasbears some
resemblance to proposed lists of "basic emotions" that are
the topic of cont emporary debate in psychology and phi-
losophy. See, for example, Paul Ekman, "An Argument for
Basic Emotions,"Cognitionand Emotion6 (1992): 169-200;
Robert C. Solomon, "Back to Basics: On the Very Idea of
'Basic Emotions"' (1993, rev. 2001), in Not Passion'sSlave:
Emotions and Choice (Oxford University Press, 2003), pp.
115-142. However, Richard Shweder and Jonathan Haidt
have pointed out manydivergencesbetween the list of rasas
and Ekman'slist of basic emotions.See Shwederand Haidt,
"The Cultural Psychology of the Emotions: Ancient and
New," pp. 397-414.
20. N.S., VI.31, p. 105.
21. See Ghosh, "Introduction,"in The Ndtyaadstra,p.
xxxviiin; Gerow, "Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Specu-
lative Paradigm,"p. 194n; V. K. Chari, Sanskrit Criticism
(University of Hawaii Press, 1990), p. 17.
22. See Gerow, "Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Spec-
ulative Paradigm,"p. 194n.
23. N.S.,VI.18,p. 102.The firsttermon this list is nirveda,
which is often translated as "world-weariness."An argu-
ment was sometimes made that because this was the first
term on the list of vyabicaribhavas,it might also be read as
the last in the list of durable emotions (sthayibhavas).See
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
GlobalTheoriesof the Arts and Aesthetics
Masson and Patwardhan,Sdntarasa,p. 123n;Gerow, "Abhi-
navagupta'sAesthetics as a SpeculativeParadigm,"p. 195n.
Alexander Catlin points out that while the argument was
in circulationby the time Abhinava wrote his commentary
on Bharata, Abhinava rejected it. It was not demolished
by Abhinava'sargumentation,however, for the later figure
Mammata(active mid-late eleventh century) repeated this
argument.See Alexander HavemeyerCatlin,"TheElucida-
tion of Poetry:A Translationof ChaptersOne throughSix of
Mammata'sKdvyaprakasawith Commentsand Notes" (un-
published dissertation,The University of Texas at Austin,
2005), ch. 4.
24. The Ndtyaidstra,VI.35, as translatedin Masson and
Patwardhan,in AestheticRapture,pp. 46-47.
25. The Ndtya dstra, VI.37, as translated in Aesthetic
Rapture,pp. 46-47. Ghosh translatesthe passage as follows.
[A]s taste (rasa)resultsfroma combinationof variousspices,
vegetables and other articles,and as six tastes are produced
by articles such as, raw sugaror spices or vegetables, so the
Durable PsychologicalStates,when they come togetherwith
various other PsychologicalStates ..., attain the quality of
a Sentiment [rasa] [that is, become Sentiment (rasa)] ... it
is said that just as well disposed persons while eating food
cooked with many kinds of spice, enjoy ... its tastes, and
attain pleasureand satisfaction,so the culturedpeople taste
the Durable Psychological States [bhdvas] while they see
them representedby an expressionof the variousPsycholog-
ical States with Words,Gestures and the Sattva [involuntary
emotional responses], and derive pleasure and satisfaction
... Forin this connnexionthere are two traditionalcouplets:
Just as a connoisseur of cooked food while eating food
... which has been prepared from various spices and
other articles taste it, so the learned people taste in
their heart (manas) the Durable Psychological States
(such as love, sorrow etc.) when they are represented by
an expression of the Psychological States with Gestures.
Hence these Durable Psychological States in a drama are
called Sentiments [rasas]. (N.S., VI.31-33, pp. 105-106)
'Dravya'is the basic term for "substance."'Budha,'like the
term 'Buddha,' comes from the root "budh,"which Hein-
rich Zimmer translates as meaning "to wake, to rise from
sleep, to come to one's senses or regain consciousness;to
perceive, to notice, to recognize, to mark; to know under-
stand, or comprehend; to deem, consider; to regard, es-
teem; to think, to reflect." See Heinrich Zimmer, Philoso-
phies of India, ed. Joseph Campbell,Bollingen Series XXVI
(PrincetonUniversityPress, 1951),p. 320. This also the root
for "buddhi,"the intellect or faculty of (intuitive) aware-
ness, which is understoodto be independent of the ego, the
ego being dependent on it. It is the source of the insights
of the conscious mind, but the conscious mind does not
control it.
Manas is the thinking faculty, or mind. Sometimes the
term manas is used to refer to the buddhi, but sometimes
(as, for example, in the Sdrikhyasystem) it is used for the
mental faculty as it is mediated by the ego (that is, the indi-
viduated sense of self).
26. N.S., XXVII.50-58, pp. 523-524. Bharata character-
izes the way different types of people respond to drama in
N.S.,XXVII.60-62, p. 524. His variousaccountsof the differ-
ent types of emotional display in persons of superior,mid-
dling, and inferior quality also illuminate his conception of
Higgins An Alchemyof Emotion:Rasaand AestheticBreakthroughs
these different social strata. See, for example, N.S., VII.14,
p. 123, and N.S., VII.40-44, p. 130.
27. N.S., XXIV.169-171,p. 465.
28. N.S., XXIV.184-185,p. 468.
29. Abhinava is our only source of knowledge of many
other contemporaneousinterpretationsof rasa theory. See
Navjivan Rastogi, "Re-Accessing Abhinavagupta,"in The
VariegatedPlumage:EncounterswithIndian Philosophy (A
CommemorationVolume in Honour of Pandit Jankinath
Kaul "Kamal"),ed. N. B. Patil and MrinalKaul "Martand"
(Delhi: Motilal Banarsidassand Sant Samagam Research
Institute,Jammu,2003), p. 144.
30. "Metonomy"is Gerow'stranslation.See Gerow,"In-
dian Aesthetics,"p. 313. Laksaniasometimes is translatedas
"metaphor,"but it has particularcharacteristicsthat make
this translationtoo broad. Lakniasdinvolves those alternate
meanings that make sense of a locution when the obvious
denotation is blocked for some reason. Withouta blockage
of the most obvious denotation, however, laksariadoes not
occur. A classical example of laksaridis: "The village is on
the Ganges."The "on"in Sanskrithas a very stronglocative
force, meaning "placed on top of." Since the village is not
literally built on top of the waters of the Ganges, the state-
ment is construed to mean that it is alongside the Ganges.
See K. KunjunniRaja, Indian Theoriesof Meaning (Chen-
nai: Adyar Libraryand Researc Centre, 1969), pp. 232-233.
Raja does, however, translatelaksandas "metaphor."
31. Abhinavagupta, Locana, in The Dhvanyaloka of
Anandavardhanawiththe Locana of Abhinavagupta,1.4aL,
p. 81.
32. Abhinavagupta,Locana, 1.5, p. 115.
33. Whetherpoets or actorsexperiencerasais the subject
of serious debate. See Masson and Patwardhan,?dntarasa,
p. 84; Gerow,"Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"p. 188.Abhinavahimselfindicatesvariousviews
on this topic, noting the difference between Lollata, who
contended that the actor felt rasa, and ?ankuka, who de-
nied this. See Masson and Patwardhan, idntarasa,pp. 68-
69. See also Goswamy,"Rasa:Delight of the Reason,"p. 25.
Goswamy points out that many commentators argue that
the actor can experience rasa only if he or she imagina-
tively takes on the point of view of a spectator.The Bengali
Vaisnavitesof the sixteenth century also held that the actor
experiencesrasa.Theiranalysis,whichemphasizesthe role-
playingaspect of the humanbeing within the cosmic drama,
largely eliminated the distinction between the actor and
the audience. See Ripagisvdmin, "BahktirasPmrta," trans.
Jose Pereira, in Hindu Theology:A Reader, Jose Pereira,
ed. (Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1976), p. 339; David
L. Habermas, Acting as a Way of Salvation: A Study of
RdgdnugdBhaktiSddhana(Oxford University Press,1988),
pp. 7-11 and 30-39.
34. Abhinavagupta,Locana, 1.5L, p. 115.
35. Abhinava characterizesthe experience of the recep-
tive spectator as a "meltingof the mind,"a state that Mas-
son and Patwardhandescribe as "a state when the mind
is exceedingly receptive." See Masson and Patwardhan,
?dntarasa,p. 83n.
36. Abhinavagupta,Locana, 1.5L, pp. 115-116. Masson
and Patwardhancontend that even if the poet ever does feel
grief, he or she must take some distance on this immediate
emotional response in order to be able to compose poetry.
See Masson and Patwardhan,?dntarasa,p. 84.
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
53
37. Abhinavagupta,Locana, 1.5L, p. 118n.
38. Abhinavagupta, Locana, 1.5L, pp. 116-117. Al-
though the translationrefers here to inferring in another
person the same thought-trendone has experienced one-
self, we should not conclude that Abhinavaguptaconsiders
rasa to be a matter of inference. Indeed, he devotes a con-
siderableportion of the Locana to refutingthis idea.
39. For Abhinava,sarnskiras, or latent memory traces,
include karmiclatencies from previous lives as well as from
the present one.
40. Abhinavaattributesthe view that all representations
withina play were generalizedto Bhaia Narilaya, a thinker
with whom he agreed on many points. See Gerow, "Indian
Aesthetics: A PhilosophicalSurvey,"pp. 316-317.
41. Masson and Patwardhan,Santarasa,pp. 47-48.
42. Abhinavagupta, Abhinavabhdrati, on the
Ndtyadastra, 1.108-110, as translated in Masson and
Patwardhan,?dntarasa,p. 57. See also Sdntarasa,pp. 54-57;
Gerow, "Abhinavagupta's Aesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"p. 188. TraditionalIndian thought postulates
four basic goals for human life: kama (sensual pleasure),
artha (material well-being), dharma (moral and religious
duties), and moksa(spiritualliberation).Patankarcontends
that the durable emotions on which the rasas are built
are dominant within the psyche precisely because they do
promote these ultimate goals. R. B. Patankar,"Does the
Rasa Theory Have Any Modern Relevance?" Philosophy
East and West30 (1980): 301-302. Masson and Patwardhan
point out that Abhinava considers four mental states,
which correlate with the four basic goals of life, to be
most important. Abhinava's correlations are as follows:
erotic love (rati) corresponds to the goal of kama; anger
(krodha)correspondsto artha;energy (utsaha)corresponds
to kama, artha, and dharma;and a fourth, which Masson
and Patwardhan identify as nirveda (world-weariness),
corresponds to moksa. See Masson and Patwardhan,
pp. 47-48. Gerow's notes to his translation of
mdntarasa,
the Abhinavabharfti (Abhinava's Commentary on the
Natya~dstra)characterizesnirvedaas "that sense of futility
following upon the recognition of the transiency of all
attainments, and leading to the desire for liberation."
See Gerow, "Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"p. 195n. In his translation, Gerow challenges
Masson and Patwardhan'sidentification of nirveda as the
sthdayibhdva of moksa. See pp. 196-197nn and p. 198n. I
follow Gerow's readinghere.
43. Abhinavagupta,Locana,as translatedin Massonand
Patwardhan,?dntarasa,p. 55.
44. See Masson and Patwardhan, p. 56.
45. Masson and Patwardhanpropose as its translation
•antarasa,
"the imaginative experience of tranquility."See Aesthetic
Rapture,vol. I, p. III. The originsof this proposedadditionto
Bharata'slist of rasasare obscure;Masson and Patwardhan
estimate that this idea may have been formulatedsometime
aroundthe eighthcenturyCE. See Massonand Patwardhan,
Snmtarasa, p. 35. Although Abhinava seems to acknowledge
that Bharata's list included only eight rasas, he considers
Santarasato be consonant with the Nftyaaastra.The appro-
priatenessof this addition continues to be debated.
46. ContemporarypsychologistNico Frijdaanalyzes all
emotions as involving action-tendencies.See Nico Frijda,
The Emotions (Cambridge University Press, and Paris:
54
Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1986),
pp. 69-90. Aesthetic emotions might seem to be counterex-
amples, but action-tendencies need not be geared to en-
ergetic activity.Aesthetic emotion has a tendency to seek
the continuation of savoring,as Frijdaargued in Nico Fri-
jda, "Refined Emotions,"presented at the general meeting
of the InternationalSociety for Research on the Emotions,
University of Bari, July 12, 2005.
47. See Dr. KapilaVatsyayan,"?aivismandVaisnavism,"
in The VariegatedPlumage:Encounterswith Indian Philos-
ophy, pp. 124-125.
48. Abhinavagupta, Abhinavabhdrati,as translated in
Gerow, "Abhinavagupta's Aesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"pp. 200-201.
49. Indeed, the rasas'dependence on conditions is what
differentiates them. My thanks to Alexander Catlin for
pointing out that this is how Abhinava avoids collapsing
This content downloaded from 132.248.101.205 on Mon, 13 May 2013 15:18:58 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
GlobalTheoriesof the Arts and Aesthetics
experience of rasa into a homogenous notion of aesthetic
experience.See Catlin, The Elucidationof Poetry,ch. 4.
50. Contemporaryscholarsdisagree about whether Ab-
hinava'stheologicalcommitmentsshape his aestheticsor the
other way around.Massonand Patwardhan,AestheticRap-
ture, pp. 32-33, contend that Kashmiri?aivism is the basis
for Abhinava'saesthetictheory. Gerow suggests that Abhi-
nava's aesthetics came first, and that his aesthetic thought
helped him articulatehis theologicalandmetaphysicalviews.
See Gerow, "Abhinavagupta'sAesthetics as a Speculative
Paradigm,"pp. 186-192. On this point I follow Gerow.
51. This distinctionbetween the theatricaland ordinary
worlds is denied by Rupagisvamin and other sixteenth-
centuryBengali Vaisnavites.See Gerow,"IndianAesthetics:
A PhilosophicalSurvey,"pp. 318-321.
52. My thanksto StephenPhillipsand his aestheticssem-
inar for their insightson this topic.