The Power of Suggestion: Rasa, Dhvani, and the Ineffable

Terceira Margem, 2021

As a spiritual discipline leading one towards the universal, Indian performing arts involve a pedagogy of disclosure, showing things as they really are: art in not a matter of unpredictable inspiration, but an effortful exploration into the extraordinary residing in the ordinary. As such, while embracing the ever-present essence of things, art is defined by Tagore as a means of disclosure of the essentiality of life, rather than a representation of it. In other words, art is a means of bringing transparency to life, getting one rid of the dust, the fantasies and the distractions that dominate one's quotidian dealings. It is, finally, a kind of meditative performance, a radical exercise of paying attention to one's immediate reality.

This paper undertakes an intersectional reading of visual art through theories of literary interpretation in Sanskrit poetics in close reading with Deleuze's notions of sensation. The concept of Dhvani – the Indian theory of suggestion which can be translated as resonance, as explored in the Rasa – Dhvani aesthetics offers key insights into understanding the mode in which sensation as discussed by Deleuze operates throughout his reflections on Francis Bacon's and Cézanne's works. The paper constructs a comparative framework to review modern and classical art history, mainly in the medium of painting, through an understanding of the concept of Dhvani, and charts a course of reinterpreting and examining possible points of concurrence and departure with respect to the Deleuzian logic of sensation and his notions of time-image and perception. The author thereby aims to move art interpretation's paradigm towards a non-linguistic sensory paradigm of experience. The focus of the paper is to break the moulds of normative theory-making which guide ideal conditions of 'understanding art' and look into alternative modes of experiencing the 'vocabulary' of art through trans-disciplinary intersections, in this case the disciplines being those of visual art, literature and phenomenology.

Asian Resonance, 2017

Music and poetry, which are the essentials of Drama, form a multidimensional phenomenon which cuts across many levels of human experience. A correct understanding of Indian Aesthetics and the theory of rasa enables us to keep all these dimensions and levels simultaneously in view. In this essay the different theories of Rasa and Dhvani have been analysed, heavily borrowing from various critics in order to develop an understanding in the minds of the readers. The concepts of rasa and dhvani are rooted in Indian linguistics and embedded in language.

INTERNAL JOURNAL OF CREATIVE RESEARCH THOUGHTS, 2024

Rasa is an essence of every work of art like dance, music and Literature that can only be suggested and not articulated. It is a type of thoughtful abstraction in which the world of physical forms is permeated by the interiority of the human feelings. However, the word may seem magical at first but it is not so in actual because to experience rasa one does not need any magical spell but has to be sensitive enough to connect with the emotions of the work. It is the concept of emotions, connections and feelings. This research paper aims to explore the meaning, history and scope of rasa theory in present scenario.

Neither are there chariots, nor horses or the paths. Hence, [the self ] creates the chariots, horses, and the paths.

The Journal of aesthetics and art criticism, 2007

Indo-Iranian Journal, 2024

On the basis of a parallel passage in Abhinavagupta’s commentaries on the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā, this article considers the ways in which Abhinav- agupta theorized “transmission” (saṅkrānti) in his descriptions of aesthetic experience and the reception of knowledge in non-dual Śaiva philosophy. We argue that this notion of transmission, in which the lines between author and qualified audience are blurred, is indebted to a number of earlier sources that explain the way in which knowledge and liberation are transmitted, most significantly the Kaula Śākta traditions in the imme- diate background of Abhinavagupta’s tantric exegesis. Here the terms saṅkrānti and saṅkramaṇa are employed in descriptions of initiation, the transferal of lineage, and a Guru’s awakened awareness passing into the body of a disciple. In Abhinavagupta’s parallel passages, he expands upon this notion of “transmission” by showing how it can emerge even when a teacher/poet and a student/audience are separated by time and space. In both accounts, what allows an ideal audience to internalize or identify with a teaching or text is an act of participation that effectively dissolves the limitations of time, space, and individuality. Interestingly, in both the aesthetic and non-dual Śaiva context, this process of transmission unfolds through an indirect mode of expression that cannot be reduced to reasoning. The article concludes with an exploration of the purpose of Abhinavagupta’s vision of transmission, particularly related to the notion that texts can encode, preserve, and, in the presence of a sensitive audience, reenact the awareness of their authors, even after lineages break or traditions fragment.

Routledge, 2024

Emotion addresses the problematic of representation of feelings in art form. Critics believe that it is crucial to address the crisis of representation and harbour their faith in aesthetics of emotion which is otherwise known as “affect”. Affect has been defined as the cognitive aspect of emotions and feelings whereby the interiority of the exterior is represented. Western aesthetics adheres to the prescriptions laid down in Aristotle’s Poetics in order to address the complex phenomena of emotion. But this seems to be rather limited since it does not take into consideration the multidimensionality of emotion and its expressions. In this context Indian poetics or rasa theory of Bharata Muni and his successors appears to be more adequate in handling these complex cognitive phenomena. In this paper I propose to discuss the sringara rasa in Gitagovindam, a classical literary text written by Jayadeva in the 12 th Century CE which depicts in verse the love frolic of Lord Krishna and his consort Radha. I shall analyse the text translated by N.S.R. Ayengar, namely, Gitagovindam- Sacred Profanities: A Study of Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda (2000). My argument would be that this literary text has used various human and non human agents embodied in the verse-narration to capture complex human emotions. Since Western poetics will not be adequate to address the complex psychological condition of temporary bereavement in love and the subsequent reunion of the lovers in Gitagovinda, I have resorted to using the framework of Indian poetics, that is, rasa theory. Keywords : emotion, Western Aesthetics, Rasa theory, Sringara Rasa, Gitagovindam