Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c79.80

v2.c79.80

It is worth noticing, however, that although all theorists take Bharata as their starting point and build up their own theories round his authoritative, if somewhat meagre text, Bharata himself, like all old masters, is tantalisingly simple in his statements; for the subject does not appear to have yet been brought into the realm of scholastic speculation. Bharata’s work is encyclopaedic in its scope, but its primary theme is the drama and its conception of poetry dramatic, a view which perhaps inspired Vāmana’s partiality towards dramatic composition already alluded to, and which is concisely put by Abhinavagupta by saying *kāvyam tāvad daśarūpātmakam eva*. In such a composition *rasa*, according to Bharata, should be predominant, and there are numerous passages which clearly indicate that there can be no sense of poetry, in his view, without *rasa*⁴⁷. Although Bharata does not enter into technicalities, he seems to be of opinion that the *vibhāvas* and the *anubhāvas*, which later theory takes to be essential factors, call forth or evolve *rasa*; but he is not clear to as what this process of evolution exactly is. He takes the *bhāva* as the basis of *rasa* and explains it generally as that which brings into existence the sense of poetry through the three kinds of representation, viz., through gestures, words, and internal feelings (*vāg-aṅga-sattvópetān kāvyārthān bhāvayantīti bhāvāḥ*). This *bhāva*, which consists of an emotional state of the mind, reaches, when permanent and not transitory, the state of *rasa* through the elements known as *vibhāva* and *anubhāva*. A *vibhāva* is explained thus: *vibhāvo nāma vijñānārthaḥ, vibhāvyante'nena vāg-aṅga-sattvābhinayā ity-ato vibhāvaḥ*. The term *vibhāva*, therefore, is used to connote knowledge or cognition, and is explained generally as denoting that which makes the three kinds of representation capable of being sensed. In the same way, the *anubhāva* is explained as that which follows upon and makes the three kinds of representation actually sensed. The third element of *rasa*, the *vyabhicāri-bhāva*, consists of accessory emotional facts which help and strengthen it, and is etymologically explained as *vi abhi ity-etāvupasargau, cara gatau dhātuḥ, vividham ābhimukhyena rasān carantīti vyabhicāriṇaḥ*. As to what relation these elements bear to *rasa* and how this state of relish is brought about, Bharata simply lays down in a cryptic formula : *vibhāvānubhāva-vyabhicāri-saṃyogād rasa-niṣpattiḥ*, a formula which, in spite of his own explanation, is so ambiguous with respect to the exact significance of the terms *saṃyoga* and *niṣpatti* that a great deal of controversy has centred round their interpretation, giving rise to a number of theories about *rasa*. Bharata’s own explanation, if it can be called an explanation, is that just as a beverage is accomplished through various seasoned articles and herbs, so the permanent mood (the *sthāyi-bhāva*), reinforced (*upagata*) by various *bhāvas*, attains the state of *rasa*; and it is so called because its essence consists in its taste or relish (*āsvādyatvāt*), this being the etymological meaning of the word *rasa*⁴⁸. He also explains⁴⁹ that the *sthāyi-bhāva* is the basis of *rasa* because it attains, as it were, mastery or sovereignty among forty-nine different *bhāvas* mentioned by himself⁵⁰.