Vada in Theory and Practice: Studies in Debates, Dialogues and Discussions in Indian Intellectual Discourses c10.s6.22

c10.s6.22

It was Paṇḍitarāja Jagannātha in seventeenth century who raised vital issues and introduced some very refreshing ideas in the discourse of *rasa* aesthetics. He not only gave a genuine Vedāntic interpretation to Abhinavagupta’s Śaivite moorings, he even rejected the whole framework of absolutist aesthetics, to suggest two alternate new theories on *rasa* experience as a deliberately created and maintained illusion. He also added a fifth category in the four types of Vīra Rasa. *Dānavīra*, *dayāvīra*, *dharmavīra* and *yuddhavīra* — these are the four types of Vīra Rasa. Paṇḍitarāja Jagannātha said that there is a fifth type of Vīra Rasa, i.e. *pāṇḍityavīra*. It would find an expression in intellectual debates and intense philosophical discussions pursued with an involvement and commitment. This is in fact recasting the whole framework of *vāda* in an aesthetic framework.