Ragas and Raginis: A Pictorial and Iconographic Study of Indian Musical Modes Based on Original Sources c9.19.2

c9.19.2

The *devatās*, no doubt, stand as the symbols or the personifications of the essential *rasa*—the theme, or objective of each rāga. But their plastic representation invariably takes a dramatic rather than an iconic form, a dynamic as opposed to a static visualisation. In the iconography of images, it was necessary to distinguish the bewildering conceptions of Brahmanic gods—by devising differentiating features of heads, arms, weapons (*āyudha*), vehicles (*vāhanas*), and poses (*mudrās*). In describing, or symbolising the character of a *rasa*, it was possible to suggest the same by an individual icon, or image. *Rasa* is a state of the mind—its expression can only be effective and adequate in a dramatic form,—it lives in an environment and in relation to other realities,—in moods and in phenomena. The *rasa* of the presiding principle of a rāga is rendered through actions—rather than in images through symbolised icons. The *Devatās* of the world of music—have also their *dhyānas*—contemplative prayer-formulas,—but they usually take a dramatic pattern,—rather than the static iconic phrase—of the religious images. They are the picturization of emotions in a concrete and plastic form answering to, rather than symbolising, the abstract states of the mind. They are depicted in an appropriate dramatic and emotional setting—the surrounding circumstances which give rise to the various emotion. In a general sense, music is the universal language of emotions.