Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c84.4

v2.c84.4

Having realised the importance of *rasa* in poetry, Abhinava, however, went a step further than the Dhvanikāra and Ānandavardhana in boldly setting it up as the only essence or aesthetic foundation of poetry, a view which has greatly influenced all later speculation on the subject. From the earlier drama and dramatic theory, no doubt, the authors of the *Dhvanyāloka* had worked up the idea of *rasa* into poetry and poetic theory; but as the emotional mood in poetry, which the fact of *rasa* emphasises, came to be more and more prominent, the *rasa* stood out more and more in relief as its essential aesthetic basis. We have seen² that Abhinava’s predecessors in the Dhvani school consider *rasa* only as one of the elements of the unexpressed, which may take other forms in the shape of an unexpressed matter (*vastu*) or an unexpressed imaginative mood (*alaṃkāra*). No doubt, their theory puts great emphasis on the *rasa-dhvani* or suggestion of *rasa* in poetry; but both the Dhvanikāra and Ānandavardhana are yet careful in taking into account other kinds of suggestion and do not, as they could not, erect the *rasa* into the very ‘soul’