Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c86.14

v2.c86.14

Following up his own definition of poetry as "a sentence of which the soul is the *rasa*", Viśvanātha gives us an elaborate analysis of *rasa* in almost all its aspects. He sums up at the outset the characteristics of *rasa* in two verses thus : "The *rasa*, arising from an exaltation of the quality of *sattva* or goodness, indivisible, self-manifested, made up of joy and thought in their identity, free from the contact of aught else perceived, akin to the realisation of Brahma, and having for its essence supernormal wonder (*camatkāra*), is enjoyed by those competent in its inseparableness (as an object of knowledge) from the knowledge of itself". He explains *camatkāra* as consisting of an expansion of the mind and as synonymous with *vismaya*. In this connexion, Viśvanātha quotes with approval an opinion of his ancestor Nārāyaṇa who put a premium on the sentiment of the marvellous (*adbhuta rasa*) and maintained that it was essential in all *rasas*.