Navarasas : Decoded
A play of emotions in proper proportion
I once met this child at a conference. He stood in a corner crying as he looked around, seemingly in search of his parents. I watched on as he went looking around the entire hall without speaking one word. He didn’t wail. It was only the tears and his saddened face that told me he was lost. As I kept looking at him, a couple ran towards him and hugged him tight as his face beamed with delight. I could say that if he wasn’t the happiest person in the room, no one else was. I later met his parents who told me that he had lost his voice at a very young age. After this, I corrected my earlier statement. To me, he wasn’t just the happiest person around. Amidst the several speakers, he was the one who spoke the most on that day.
Emotions — they set moods, bring out expressions, aid in visual communication and most of all, define the atmosphere a person is living in. Even in a world where words don’t exist, a simple smirk or a forlorn frown on the face could convey a million thoughts. A child’s laughter is the best piece of music to a mother’s ears while the smile on a bride’s face is the most satisfying sight for her father and the groom. So what are these emotions or rasas? These indescribable states of the mind, that stand tall over any other form of expression and make a mortal ‘body’ a human ‘being’.
A rasa literally means “essence or taste” (writing it for people who demand definitions). People on the internet define it as “the flavour of any visual, literary or musical work that evokes an emotion or feeling in the reader or audience but cannot be described. It is the essence provided to the work or some form of art by the performer and is relished by a ‘sensitive’ spectator”. While I do accept the fact that a rasa is something that’s felt and not defined, the impression left in the spectator’s mind is something that can be described to some extent with words.
Exposited first in the 1st millennium BCE by Bharata Muni, rasas are most commonly related to Indian artforms. They are used frequently to convey tales from the great Indian epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata and Puranas like Srimad Bhagavatam. Rasas were broadly split into nine forms and enunciated by Bharata Muni in his ancient Sanskrit text, Natyasastra. These nine types form the Navarasas. Each rasa, according to the Natyasastra, has a presiding deity and a specific colour. There are 4 pairs of rasas, with one rasa in the pair emerging out of the other. The final rasa, Shanta, was defined later by Abhinavagupta.
The Navarasas are namely:
1. Shringara (Love)
2. Hasya (Laughter)
3. Raudhra (Anger, Rage)
4. Karuna (Compassion)
5. Bhibatsya (Disgust)
6. Bhayanaka (Fear)
7. Veera (Courage)
8. Adbhuta (Astonishment, Surprise)
9. Shanta (Peace, Tranquillity)
Shringara :
Known as the king of rasas, this is the emotion used to represent that which appeals to the human mind, that which one finds beautiful, that which evokes love. It is the most frequently portrayed rasa in any art form and depicts love and beauty. Rich imagery and deep passion is associated with this rasa and it gets portrayed at many different intensities. Depicted through ragas such as Mohanam and Bilahari in Carnatic Music and through Sampanna and Sambhoga in Bharatanatyam, this rasa sinks deep into one’s heart and sows the seeds of love.
Hasya :
Hasya is the rasa used to express joy or mirth. It can be used to depict simple light-heartedness or riotous laughter and everything in between. Teasing and laughing with a friend, being amused and carefree or simply feeling frivolous and naughty — these are all characteristic of Hasya. A major source of Hasya in Indian art-forms are the ancient tales of Lord Krishna’s childhood, that include accounts of his naughty activities. Hasya fills the atmosphere with joy and leaves a person wanting for more.
Raudhra :
Any form of anger comes under Raudhra. Probably the most violent of rasas, Raudra consists of every form of fury, starting from the self-righteous wrath of kings to the rage evoked by disrespect and anger over injustice. Divine fury and the fury of nature, including natural calamities also are a part of the Raudhra rasa. This rasa is often related with Lord Shiva in the Hindu mythology, where he is thought of as the destroyer — the master of all disharmony and dissonance. Raudhra is also related to the Ramayana, where Sage Valmiki describes Rama to take the Raudhra Rupa — an avatar of extreme rage and fury. It is often expressed in Bharatanatyam through bhavas such as Matsarya (jealousy), Droha (Animosity) etc.
Karuna :
Karuna involves grief and compassion. Cases of extreme tragedy, utter hopelessness and heartbreak etc. lead to the existence of Karuna. Karuna is the also compassion and empathy that arises in a viewer upon seeing someone in despair. Karuna can be both personal and impersonal. Personal Karuna is caused when one finds oneself in a state of absolute melancholy while the despair regarding the human condition in general, comes to be called Impersonal Karuna. It is Karuna of this sort that Lord Buddha was trying to overcome on his path to salvation.
Bhibatsya :
Bhibatsya is disgust. The sight of something that nauseates us, one that is revolting or sickening is Bhibatsya. When Prince Siddhartha, the mortal past of Buddha, as a young nobleman, saw for the first time sickness, old age and death, he was moved to disgust which later metamorphosed into sorrow, deep introspection and peace as he transformed into Gautama, the Buddha — or the Enlightened one. But on a positive note, Bhibatsya is an emotion that acts as a catalyst and eventually paves way for more pleasant emotions. The sight of something visually pleasing after one has experience Bhibatsya, provides the viewer with Shringara or Shanta.
Bhayanaka :
Bhaya is fear. The indescribable anxiety caused by the presence of something evil around, the feeling of helplessness evoked by a cruel ruler are all aspects of Bhayanaka. Bhayanaka is the feeling of hopelessness caused when awaiting something big and destructive. Dread, cowardice, agitation, panic and timidity are all outcomes of the Bhayanaka rasa. In ancient epics, Bhayanaka is often related to the sight of seeing someone mighty and destructive like Ghatotkacha, the son of Bhima.
Veera :
Veera depicts valour and heroism. Fearlessness is a major characteristic of Veera. Courage and intrepidity when facing the worst of times, bravery during a battle, the valour with which martyrs sacrifice themselves are all aspects of Veera rasa. Rama’s extreme courage is usually stated as an example of Veera. A different type of heroism is also displayed by characters like Abhimanyu, who went to war knowing that he would certainly die and yet fought so bravely as to earn praises even from his enemies. Lively tempos and dramatic, high-octane music and dance are used in Indian artforms to represent Veera.
Adbhuta :
Adbhuta is the feeling of wonder and curiosity. The sight of something divine or supernatural that leaves one in awe, a glimpse of something that is remarkably beautiful or powerful — one that hasn’t been seen before is Adbhuta. The glory of a king returning from a successful battle, the magical feats of the Gods, looking at a remarkably constructed structure, watching a man miraculously survive an almost certain death are all Adbhuta to a common man. Adbhuta is very commonly used in many dance forms, with astonished facial expressions depicting this rasa.
Shanta :
Shanta is the state of ultimate peace and serenity. It represents the state of calm and unruffled repose that is marked simply by the lack of all other rasas. The absence of all emotions in Shanta has even lead to a controversial question of whether it is a rasa at all. Shanta is what Buddha felt when he was enlightened, when he reached the higher spiritual plane that led him to salvation or nirvana and freed him from the cycle of life and death. Shanta represents complete harmony between the mind, body and the universe. In spiritual terms, it is defined as the attainment of Moksha. It is this state, to attain which Sages in India undergo long penances for. Slow and steady tempos in music represent Shanta. Ultimately, Shanta is the loss of every other rasa and the key to eternity.
Rasas exist everywhere and in everyone. The extent to which a rasa is expressed by a person defines his/her character. A person who gets angry often (raudhra) is usually antagonized by the society, while a person with too much hasya is christened a clown. A right balance of proper rasas or emotions expressed according to the situation and surrounding makes a person respectable among others. With this, I’ll wrap my article up but not before leaving you with a question :
Which rasa did this article provide you with?
This article was written in collaboration with R.Aaditya Rangan
