Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c79.86

v2.c79.86

Nothing definite can be concluded from all this except that, in Bharata’s opinion, the *sthāyi-bhāva* or the principal mood in a composition is the basis of *rasa*, the essence of which consists in *āsvāda* or relish by the reader or spectator, while the *vibhāva*, *anubhāva* and the *vybhicāri-bhāva* awaken this state of emotional realisation or ‘relish’ in the reader’s mind. But this explanation by its very ambiguity or vagueness taxed the ingenuity of theorists and commentators, its general trend anticipating theories like the *utpatti-vāda* of Lollaṭa and the *anumiti-vāda* of Śaṅkuka, and special terms in the passage in question like *vyañjita* and *sāmānya-guṇa-yoga* suggesting specialised doctrines like the *vyakti-vāda* of Abhinavagupta and the *bhukti-vāda* of Bhaṭṭa Nāyaka.