Various Streams of Indian Aesthetics

Dhvani- is Vyanjana. Infuenced by the Sphota theory of

grammarians, developed systematically by Anandhavardhana, it
holds that diferent elements of a composition, in combination,
reveal a deeper meaning unepressed by the original parts. Its
central thesis is that !ords or combination of !ords perform three
functions in conveying senses " the denotative function #abidh$%,
the indicative function #la&sn$% and the suggestive function
#vyanjan$%.
Rasa: 'asa can be roughly translated as aesthetic emotion or relish
!hich is contained in a !or& of art and !hich gets communicated to
the competent reader or vie!er. (his vie! assumes that the
ultimate aim of any !or& of art is to provide aesthetic delight to the
perceiver, a delight !hich is communicated through the aesthetic
emotions presented in a !or&. Aesthetic emotions are distinctively
diferent from ordinary emotions since they do not have a cause in
our !orld #!hy does one feel delighted at the hero)s happiness or
sad at the hero)s sufering*% and are pleasurable #else !hy do !e
relish tragedy !hich !e shun in our real life*%. And in order to ta&e
delight, !e must, for sometime, forget ourselves and our !orlds
#achieving aesthetic distance% and get totally involved in the
eperience of aesthetic emotion #aesthetic identi+cation !ith the
!or& of art%. ,inally, such an experience, even if short lived,
comes close to spiritual delight (nanda) and has neither a
eginning nor an end!
Aucit"a# adaptation- standing for the perfect harmony !hich parts
bear to each other and to the !hole.
Aucitya or appropriateness. -harata recogni.es it in the contet of
performance #say, aptness of acting to the contet, social stature of
the hero, etc%. /nanda discusses it and so does 0unta&a. -ut it gets
central focus in the hands of $semendra !ho highlights the +t
among the elements, the subject, and the contets and so on.
Again, here is a concept that can etend !ithout much modi+cation
to the various art forms. In simple !ords, there must be a +t
bet!een theme and form and this is so in all aesthetic +elds.
Alam%ra &heor"
Alam&$ras or poetic embellishments +gure +rst in the 1$tya S$stra.
2ater, in the hands of -h$maha, they attain great importance and
are considered the essence of poetry. (he object of literary art is
beauty, and it can be best epressed through adornment "
alam&$ras. 3oetry is thought of as having a body that re4uires
adornment. (he eploration is remar&able etending to hundreds of
+gures of speech #sabdalam&$ra% and +gures of sense
#arthalam&$ra%. A notable theory, primarily in the contet of poetry,
later it gets etended to certain other art forms as !ell.
Dosas and 'unas
In literary theory dosas #fa!s to be avoided% and gunas #4ualities of
good !riting% +gure since the time of -harata. 2ater aestheticians
also discuss them. 5hat is signi+cant here is that dosas and gunas
are relative to contets and diferent ages and are rephrased
diferently by diferent theorists. 5hile primarily discussed in the
contet of literature, they stand on solid foundations for applicability
of all art forms. A !or& of art, in order to be successful must avoid
certain defects and display certain positive 4ualities. (his applies to
+ne arts as !ell as to the other art forms.
Riti
'iti or style #not necessarily in the modern sense% is +rst discussed
implicitly in 1$tya S$stra !hen diferent &inds of v$ci&$bhinay are
discussed and can be lin&ed to the theory of dosa-guna. It depends
on the !ay diferent gunas are combined in a composition. 6iferent
aesthetic emotions re4uire diferent treatments " some soothing,
!hile some bold or harsh. 5hile elaborated in the contet of poetry
by V$mana, it logically etends itself to use in all forms of arts. ,or
instance, the very enactment of nava-rasas in dance !ould re4uire
diferent styles of presentation for each rasa. Appropriateness of
style to theme is its essential point, #its relative nature recogni.ed
by 6$ndin%, and thus it pervades all art forms, consciously or
unconsciously.
Va%ro%ti
According to -h$maha, all poetic speech is mar&ed by round about
turn of epression or va&ro&ti as opposed to straightfor!ard
epression of everyday language. It seems, these theorists !ere
obsessed !ith the problem of diferentiating poetic language from
ordinary language. In the hands of 0unta&a, the term becomes
enlarged in import. 6eviation in epression from the commonplace
6havni, 'asa and 7nnaya8Anumana- 2iterary content8Artistic
(hought-
Auchitya- represents the synthesis of 'asa, 6hvanu and Anumana
and greaer sysnthesis of form and content
9n the Side of epression---Va&roti and :unas-- Alam&aras and 'itis
come !ithin it;2iterary ,orm
&hought( Sense is )ider than speech
- If speech ful+lls its purpose, there ought to be some
amount of suppression.
- (hought is al!ays !ider than form.
- Speech and thought are never co-etensive, more so in
literary art. If it !ere not so, the !orld !ould have been
deprived of the pleasure of art.
- (he synthesis bet!een form and content is the greatest
achievement in the realm of art, achieved through the
doctrine Vyanjana..
&he *igh)a"s of +iterar" ,riticism:
- 'asa- oldest and permanent- the ancient high!ay of
literary appreciation
- 6havani and Anumana- 3laced at the bottom of the triangle
side by side
- (hen comes -amaha !ho emphasi.ed alam&ara
- 6andin- :una
- Vamana- 'iti
- 0unta&a- Va&roti