Donna Wulf Religion Aesthetic India

American Academy of Religion
Religion in a New Mode: The Convergence of the Aesthetic and the Religious in Medieval India
Author(s): Donna M. Wulff
Source: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol. 54, No. 4 (Winter, 1986), pp. 673-
688
Published by: Oxford University Press
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Journal of
the
American Academy of Religion. LIV/4
RELIGION IN A NEW MODE:
THE CONVERGENCE OF THE AESTHETIC
AND THE RELIGIOUS IN MEDIEVAL
INDIA
DONNA M. WULFF
Religion,
we
commonly assume,
is distinct from art. In Western
newspapers,
at
least,
the arts are
usually grouped
with entertainment
and
leisure; religion,
if it has a
place
at
all,
is elsewhere. We
may speak
of certain art
forms-say,
those of the medieval West-as
inspired by
religion,
but we view the relation as adventitious rather than essential.
Despite
the
insights
of such writers as Rudolf
Otto,
Susanne
Langer,
and Gerardus van der Leeuw
(267-71),
western students of
religion
continue to focus
largely
on the discursive
symbols
of
theology
and
philosophy
rather than on the
presentational symbols
of
music, drama,
and the visual arts. This characteristic
emphasis
reflects a Christian
bias that tends to
identify religion
with doctrine
(Smith, 1979:13-15;
1963:37-40). However,
such
impressive religious
monuments as Gre-
gorian
chant and the medieval cathedral
expose
the severe inade-
quacy
of an
exclusively theological preoccupation
even for
comprehending
the Christian tradition
(see Irwin).'
In
India,
more so than in the
West,
religion
and the arts have
long
been
integrally
related. Their intersection is evident from the numer-
ous artistic forms of obvious
religious significance
found
throughout
India,2
and from a class of influential theoretical treatises with no
Western
parallels.
Here we shall consider two authors of such treatises
who
perceived
and articulated the relation of the aesthetic and the
religious
with
particular clarity
and force. The first is the
great
Kash-
mir Saiva
philosopher Abhinavagupta
(10th-llth
c.),
and the second is
Donna M.
Wulff
is Associate Professor of
Religious
Studies at Brown
University,
Provi-
dence,
Rhode Island 02912.
1
The
"Arts,
Literature and
Religion"
section of the American
Academy
of
Religion
has
been in existence
only
since 1973.
Moreover,
its
program
at the Annual
Meeting
did not
include a crosscultural
panel
until 1983.
2
On
the
of music in
India,
see
Wulff,
1984a.
674
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
the
Bengali Vaisnava
Rfipa
Gosvami,
a
prominent disciple
of
Caitanya
who wrote in Brinddvan
during
the first half of the sixteenth
century.
Despite
their different
conceptions
and
expressions
of aesthetic
experi-
ence and
religious realization,
for both thinkers the term
rasa,
the cen-
tral
category
of Sanskrit
aesthetics,
had
profound religious significance.
Most scholars
writing
on
rasa,
both westerners and
Indians,
have
treated it
primarily
or even
exclusively
as an aesthetic
concept.
For
Abhinava and even more
obviously
for
Rfipa,
however,
the term is of
central
importance
for
interpreting religious experience.
Examination
of their use of this
key
term will thus
prepare
us to reconsider the
range
of facts and
phenomena
that constitute
primary
data for the
study
of
religion.
The term rasa is a rich one with
multiple
levels of
significance.3
Apte
enumerates in his
dictionary
no fewer than
thirty meanings,
among
which the fourteenth is the technical sense in which the term is
used in Sanskrit
poetics.
Yet several of the
remaining meanings, espe-
cially
such basic ones as
"juice," "liquid extract," "essence," "flavor,"
and
"delight,"
are
important
constituents of its
specialized poetic
meaning,
a relishable
"sentiment"
or
"mood"
awakened in the reader
or
spectator through
the combination of elements in a
given poem
or
drama.4 The standard
analogy
is that of a blend of a basic
food,
such as
yoghurt,
with a number of
spices;
the
resulting
substance has a
unique
flavor
(rasa),
which is not identical with
any
of the
single
elements
comprising
it.5
Rasa is so
important
to Indian
literary
critics that it has
been termed the soul of
poetry,6
and no criticism of a work of art is
considered so
devastating
as the
allegation
that it is devoid of rasa.
3
See Ingalls's admirably
lucid discussion of the term. He summarizes the
meanings
given
in
Bohtlingk's Petersburg
Worterbuch.
4
Beginning
with
Abhinavagupta,
writers on Sanskrit aesthetics have
generally
not
treated
poetry differently
from drama. The act of
imagination
involved in
reading
a
poem
is described
by
Abhinava and others as one of visualization.
(Masson
and Pat-
wardhan, 1970:II, 70-72, n.390).
Edwin Gerow has
argued persuasively, however,
that
for earlier writers the term rasa served to differentiate drama from other
genres
(1981:228-231).
5
This
sentence and the
preceding
one are modified from
Wulff,
1984:25-26. The anal-
ogy,
first found in
germ
in Ndtyasdstra (NS) VI.35,
and elaborated
by
Abhinava in his
commentary
on NS
VI.31,
is used
by
Rfipa
in his
Bhaktirasdmrtasindhu (BRS) 11.5.57,
where he refers to the mixture as
rasdla,
a drink made of
yoghurt
and water mixed with
sugar
and
spices.
6 The
Ndtyasdstra may
contain the earliest form of this assertion in its statement that
nothing
in drama has
any
value without rasa
(NS VI.31, prose following,
as translated in
Masson and Patwardhan
1970:1,1;
cf.
46).
Viivandtha in his
Sdhityadarpana (14th c.)
defines
poetry
as
speech
that has rasa as its essence
(vdkyam
rasdtmakam
kdvyam,
Sdhi-
tyadarpana 3).
Wulff: Religion
in a New Mode 675
Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta
was not the first in India to use the term rasa in a
religious
sense. Some fifteen centuries before him the
Taittiriya
Upanisad,
in a
frequently quoted
but obscure
passage,
had
identified
sat
(being),
the ultimate
reality
in the
universe,
with
rasa, adding
fur-
ther that when one attains this essence
(rasa)
one becomes blissful
(dnandi).7
Writers on aesthetics
during
the
century
or two immedi-
ately preceding
Abhinava made
significant
contributions to the evolv-
ing
discussion: Anandavardhana
expresses religious
concerns in his
Dhvanydloka, (Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1969:vii, x)
and
Bhattanayaka,
in a lost work
quoted by Abhinava,
draws the seminal
analogy
between
rasdsvdda,
the
"tasting"
that occurs in aesthetic
experience,
and
brahmdsvdda,
the
"tasting"
of ultimate
reality (Masson
and Pat-
wardhan, 1969:21).8
Yet it was Abhinava whose works articulated this
relation are the earliest to have survived and whose formulations have
influenced the entire
subsequent
course of Indian
literary
criticism
(Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1977:290, n.28;
Pandey:270).
The transcen-
dent
quality
of rasa for Abhinava is evident from the
enthusiasm-
even reverence-with which he
speaks
of it. To understand the reli-
gious significance
he attributes to aesthetic
experience,
it is
necessary
to consider his vision of the nature of ultimate realization.
In the Kashmir Saiva
system interpreted by
Abhinava in his Tan-
trdloka-as in Sankara's
Advaita,
from which it draws much of its
phil-
osophical
structure and
terminology-the
fundamental cause of
human
suffering
is
ajfidna,
ignorance.
Yet,
unlike
avidyd
in Advaita
Vedanta,
ajaidna
in Kashmir Saivism is not illusion or false
knowledge,
which a
person
must
give up; rather,
it is
imperfect knowledge,
a lim-
ited consciousness that does not illumine the whole of
reality
(Baumer:64).
The transcendence of this limited
view,
the
profound
recognition
(pratyabhijad)
of
one's
fundamental
identity
with
Siva,
brings
about final liberation. The ultimate realization is a blissful
expe-
rience in which the devotee is
utterly
absorbed into the fullness
(ptirnam)
of the divine
being,
the luminous
intelligence
(prakddsa)
of
Siva himself
(Biumer:65-66).9
Yet this is
simultaneously
the self-reve-
7
Taittirfya Upanisad 11.7.
In his
commentary
on this
passage,
Sankara
simply gives
the
ordinary worldly
sense of rasa as a
flavor,
such as sweet or
sour,
that
gives
satisfaction
and
delight.
8
Bhattaniyaka's great work,
the
Hrdayadarpana,
has
unfortunately
not
survived,
except
for
passages quoted by subsequent
writers.
9
The
fact that the four
stages
on the
way
to liberation are
designated
modes of knowl-
edge,
as well as
ways
of
entering (samavesa)
into Siva
(Biiumer:63),
is
significant
for
understanding
the
potential
value for Abhinava of aesthetic
experience,
which he like-
wise calls a mode of
knowing (bodhartpa),
for
achieving
the
highest religious
realiza-
tion. See Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:I,
32.
676
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
lation of one's own true nature
(svardtpa-prathanam) (Baiumer:64),
for
one's
highest
consciousness
(samvid)
is identical with Siva.
The
soteriological problem
for Kashmir
Saivas, then,
is how one
makes the transition from
ordinary
mundane
consciousness,
with its
egocentric
limitations,
to the universal and unmediated
(anupdya)
consciousness that is absolute freedom. In his
Tantrdloka,
Abhinava
enumerates four
stages
on the
path
to
liberation,
each
consisting
of a
characteristic mode of
knowledge,
and he
specifies
certain
practices
to
be undertaken at each
stage (Baumer:63).
As in so
many
Indian
sys-
tems, especially
tantric
ones,
the
key
to the
possibility
of transcen-
dence is the ambivalent
quality
of the world: the second of the three
principles recognized by
the
system,10
s akti
(immanent
divine
energy),
is understood as both the cause of
bondage
and the means of liberation
(Biumer:63).
Various
practices, including
tantric
rituals,
that use
objects
in the world
may
thus serve to weaken the narrow
ego-con-
sciousness and
bring
about a more universal vision. For
Abhinava,
aes-
thetic
experiences
have
because
they
do
precisely
that. The bliss
they bring
is both akin to and
preparatory
for
the ultimate
salvific
experience.
The
soteriological
value of aesthetic
experience implicit
in
Abhinava's work is evident from several terms that he uses to charac-
terize it and
designate
the
steps
that lead
up
to it. Such
expressions
and
descriptions
are scattered
throughout
his two chief works on aes-
thetics,
both of them commentaries on earlier texts: the Locana on
the
Dhvanydloka
of Anandavardhana and the
Abhinavabharati
on the
Ndtyasddstra
attributed to Bharata. We shall consider his views of the
prerequisites
for aesthetic
experience,
the
stages
in its
realization,
and
the most
important
terms that he uses to refer to it. We shall then be
in a
position
to relate it to his
conception
of
moksa,
final release.
According
to
Abhinava,
the basis for aesthetic
experience
is found
in the structure of human consciousness
itself,
in the subsconscious res-
idues or latent
impressions
of
past experience,
termed vdsands or
sam-
skdras. These include all
possible emotions,
for each
person
has had an
infinite series of lives in the
beginningless
round of
samsdra.
Through
the
characters, gestures,
and other elements found in a drama or
described in a
poem,
one of these
vdsands,
termed a
sthdyibhdva,
a
basic, underlying
emotion,
is aroused and enhanced. The sensitive
spectator (sahrdaya)
then
responds sympathetically
(hrdayasam.vdda)
10These
three are
anu (the soul),
sakti
(divine power),
and
Siva (the Lord).
Corre-
sponding
to these are the first three of the four
stages
of realization
(updyas)
on the
path
to release:
dnava (individual knowledge
or
perception),
idkta
(divine pow-
er),
and idmbhava
(a
derivative from
Sambhu [Siva]
that
signifies
divine
knowledge
or
perception).
The fourth and final state is
designated anupdya,
"unmediated"
(Bdiumer:63).
Wulff: Religion
in a New Mode 677
and
ultimately
loses his
ego-consciousness
in an identification
(tanmayfbhavana)
with the mental states
being represented (taccit-
tavrtti).11 Sensitivity
and the
capacity
to
identify
with what is
presented
are thus further
prerequisites;
Abhinava
says
that "the mir-
ror of the hearts
(of sahrdayas, "appreciators")
has been
polished
through
constant recitation and
study
of
poetry."'12
Yet even the
hearts of those whose emotions are uncontrolled can be softened
by
the music and dance that are an
integral part
of
drama.'3
An
important quality
of literature termed
sadhdranfkarana,
"universalization,"''14
is
indispensable
for the
spectator's
or
hearer's
sympathetic response
and
subsequent
indentification.
Situations
por-
trayed
in drama or
poetry
are shorn of their
particularity;
as has often
been
observed,
the characters of Indian
literary
works
normally repre-
sent
types
rather than concrete individuals. Abhinava
speaks
of rasa as
transcending
the time and
space
of both the
original
character and the
actor.15
The aesthetic
experience
indeed frees the
sahrdaya
alto-
gether
from the confines of time and
space
as well as from all mundane
preoccupations (Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1970:II, 19, n.130).
The sim-
ilarities with the universal consciousness attained in
yoga
and realized
fully
in
moksa
are obvious: in aesthetic
experience,
as in
yogic
trance
and in final
release, subject
and
object disappear,
and one transcends
all desires and
limited,
ego-bound perceptions.
Abhinava terms the
highest
state of aesthetic
joy vigalitavedydntara,
"one in which the
object
of
knowledge
has
dissolved."'16
Two further characteristics of rasa bear
importantly
on its relation
to the ultimate
salvific
experience.
Abhinava
repeatedly
describes
rasa as alaukika or
lokottara
(supramundane
or
transcendent)
and
often
equates
it with dnanda
(bliss). Although
he refers to the
"tasting
of
rasa"
as a
particular
mode of
perception
(pratftir vilistad)
(DhAL, p.
187,
as
quoted
in
Gnoli:58, n.1)
or
knowledge (bodhartipaiva) (ABh I,
p. 285,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:I, 32),
he is careful
11 Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:II, 37-38, n.234,
translated in
1:27-29;
cf. 1969:48-49.
It is
significant
that Abhinava uses
precisely
the same word in the Tantrdloka in
speak-
ing
of the
highest
realization: "Identification
(tanmayibhavana) [with Siva]
is the attain-
ment of one's
highest
self."
(Tantrdloka IV.209,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan,
1969:49, n.4).
12
DhAL, p. 38,
as translated in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:1, 6,
and
quoted
in
II, 10,
n.65. Full versions of the abbreviated Sanskrit titles are
given
in the list of works cited.
13
ABh, p. 290,
as
quoted
and translated in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:II, 70-72,
n.390.
14
This concept
was taken
by
Abhinava from
Bhattandyaka (Gnoli:xxi).
15ata eva
ubhaya-desa-kdla-tydgah (DhAL, p. 205,
as
quoted
in Masson and Pat-
wardhan, 1970:I, 32).
Cf. the
passage
from the
beginning
of the Abhinavabhdratf
quoted by
Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:I1, 46,
and translated in
I,
33.
16
Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:II, 70,
n.388. Cf. Gnoli: xxi-xxii.
678
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
to
distinguish
it from all
ordinary
forms of
cognition.17
Its transcen-
dent
quality
is due in
large
measure to the freedom from
worldly
desires and
preoccupations
(sdm.sdrikabhdva)
(DhAL, p. 432,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:11, 18)
that characterizes the
experi-
ence of
being
absorbed in a
play
or
poem. Although
the
vdsands,
the
latent
impressions produced by earthly experiences,
are activated
by
the dramatic
production,
the result is not an
ordinary
emotion
(bhdva),
for the aesthetic medium transforms the basic emotion
expressed by
the characters in such a
way
that the
spectator experiences
it as a tran-
scendent condition
(alaukikdvasthd) (Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1970:1,
23).
Abhinava identifies this state with rasa. The
greater universality
of the vision attained in the aesthetic
experience prefigures
the com-
plete
and
permanent
transcendence of
particularity
in the ultimate
recognition
that one is Siva.
Although
he does not
say
so
explicitly,
Abhinava seems to
imply
that such
experiences,
like the tantric medi-
tative
practices
that
they closely resemble,
are effective means of
attaining
this ultimate realization.
A related characteristic of the aesthetic
experience
that links it
intimately
with
moksa
is its
utterly
blissful nature.
Significantly,
Abhinava
prefers
the word
dnanda, "bliss,"
with its
strong religious
connotations,'8i
to the more common terms
priti, "pleasure,"
and
vinoda, "enjoyment,"
as the
appropriate designation
for the chief
goal
of
poetry (Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1969:xvii).
Even a drama that
por-
trays
sorrow does not cause
pain
in the
spectator,
for what one
exper-
iences,
as we have
already seen,
is not the raw emotion of the
character
being represented
but an aesthetic transmutation of that
emotion
through
one's own consciousness. Because
one's
true con-
sciousness is
wholly blissful,
the
repose (visrdnti)
of aesthetic
absorp-
tion is
comparable
to the bliss of
supreme
realization
(DhAL, p. 432,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:11, 18)
and is itself termed
dtmdnanda
(Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1969:xiv.).'9
A related term
used
frequently by
Abhinava is
camatkdra,
the sense of wonder that is
evoked
by
a
poem
or
play.20
This term also has transcendent over-
17 kintu
bodhdntarebhyo laukikebhyo
vilaksanaiva
(ABh I, p. 285,
as
quoted
in Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1970:I1, 32).
18
The
chief
predicates
of brahman found in Indian
philosophical-religious
texts from
the
Upanisads
onward are sat
(being),
cit
(consciousness),
and dnanda
(bliss).
19
Masson and Patwardhan
point
out that another word used
frequently by Abhinava,
carvand, lit., "chewing, savoring," similarly
communicates the sense of a
slow,
medita-
tive
process (1970:I1, 21).
20
A
line found in both the
Abhinavabhdrats
and the
Dhvanydlokalocana
defines the
experience
of rasa as transcendent wonder
(alaukika-camatkdrdtma rasdsvddah, quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1970:II, 37-38, nn.233-234).
Wulff: Religion
in a New Mode 679
tones,
and it is
closely
associated with dnanda in the later tradition
(Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1970:I, 18).
Although
Abhinava notes that ultimate realization
(brahmdsvddd)
shares neither the
temporary
nature of aesthetic
experience
(rasdvdda)
nor the
beauty
that arises from the aesthetic
absorption
in
objects,
he otherwise
repeatedly emphasizes
their close
kinship.
At
various
points
in his
writings
he
appears
to
suggest
the value of the
aesthetic
experience
for the attainment of
moksa,
and in
quoting
and
commenting
on a
charming
verse of
Bhattandyaka
he even seems to
value rasa over the
highest
trance of
yoga:
The cow of
speech (vdc) gives
a
special
drink
(rasa)
out of affec-
tion for her
young;
That
(rasa) laboriously
milked
by yogfs
cannot be
compared
to
it.21
Abhinava's comment
emphasizes
the contrast between the effortless
attainment of rasa
by sahrdayas
and the strenuous exertions of
yogis
(DhAL, p. 91,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1969:23, n.5);
his
sympathy,
at least as
expressed
in this
passage,22 clearly
lies with
the
former.
Abhinava was
obviously intrigued by
the
parallels
between
rasdvdda and brahmdsvdda.
Although
he is careful to
distinguish
them in certain crucial
respects,23
his astute
perception
of their kin-
ship
should stimulate critical reflection on the
adequacy
of our own
interpretive categories.
I am
arguing
in
particular
that we reexamine
the often unreflective
compartmentalization
of
experience
into the
largely separate
domains of the
religious
and the aesthetic.
Three
examples
of distinctions that have been drawn too
sharply
21
vagdhenur dugdha
etam hi rasam
yad bdlatrsnayd
tena na
asya samah
sa
sydd
duhyate yogibhir
he
yah (DhAL, p. 91,
as
quoted
in Masson and
Patwardhan, 1969:23,
n.4).
A similar verse in
Ruipa's Vidagdhamddhava (11.17)
contrasts
Radha's
involuntary
obsession with
Krishna,
whom she is
vainly trying
to
forget,
with the arduous efforts of
munis and
yogis.
For a
translation,
see
Wulff,
1984a:29.
22
In
criticizing
Masson and
Patwardhan,
Gerow and
Aklujkar astutely point
out "the
henotheistic
tendency (extolling
as
supreme
the
purpose
of
present concern)
of Sanskrit
authors" as well as "the ease with which Sanskrit authors
move, by pertinent qualifica-
tion,
from one level of discourse to another." Thus it is
meaningless
to
attempt
to estab-
lish the absolute
superiority
of either rasdsvdda or brahmdsvdda in Abhinava's view
(1972:85). However,
Abhinava's
quoting
of
Bhattandyaka's
verse
may
also be
part
of an
overall
polemic against rigorous,
ascetic
yogic practice,
in line with
Buddhist, tantric,
and devotional
critiques
of the extreme self-mortification involved in certain forms of
yoga.
23
See
Gerow and
Aklujkar,
and
Larson,
who
qualify
and criticize certain of Masson and
Patwardhan's
interpretations. They argue
that Masson and Patwardhan are insuffi-
ciently precise
in
spelling
out the senses in which Abhinava sees these two as
compara-
ble. The statement that "he combines
philosophy
and
poetics" (1969:1)
indeed stands in
need of
qualification,
as Gerow and
Aklujkar point
out
(1972:83, n.10).
680
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
may help
to make the
point
clear.
First, rendering
rasdvdda as "the
aesthetic"
and brahmdsvdda as "the
religious" (Larson:371), although
not
inaccurate,
is somewhat
misleading, given
that an aesthetic term
(dsvdda, "tasting")
is used for both. The term is
clearly
to some
degree
metaphorical
in both
instances, yet
its
very use, together
with that of
such terms as
dnanda, "bliss,"
to denote
spiritual experience, suggests
that this
experience
has aesthetic
qualities. Similarly,
as I have
shown,
rasa as characterized
by
Abhinava has transcendent
qualities.
Second,
it is true that rasdsvdda for Abhinava is
always savikalpa,
dependent
on a
vikalpa-medium,
such as the
group
of words
compris-
ing
a
poem,
or a dramatic
representation,
whereas the ultimate
experi-
ence of the
yogi according
to Abhinava and to classical Hindu and
Buddhist traditions of
yoga
is
nirvikalpa,
devoid of such a medium
(Larson:378). However,
this distinction does not serve to differentiate
religious experience
as a whole from aesthetic
experience,
but rather
to
distinguish
the
highest
form of
yogic experience
not
only
from aes-
thetic
experience
but also from all other forms of
religious experience.
Brahmdsvdda thus
denotes,
not
as a
whole,
but
rather its
acme,
and at least in this
respect
aesthetic
experiences
stand
on the same
footing
as most
religious experiences
in
being potentially
preparatory
for the ultimate realization.
Finally,
the contrast that some scholars see between "the
'real'
world of
philosophical, spiritual experience"
and "the
'transient'
one of
art"
(Gerow
and
Aklujkar:82), although
based on Abhinava's statement
that
rasdsvdda,
unlike
brahmdsvdda,
is
transient,
is
similarly
too
sharp.
Yogic experience
and tantric mediation-short of
moksa,
final libera-
tion-are likewise
acknowledged by
Abhinava and others to be tran-
sient
states;
it is not the
experiences,
however
profound,
that are
real,
but brahman or
paramadiva,
their ultimate
ground.
For
Abhinava,
the aesthetic
experience prefigures
and
presuma-
bly prepares
one for ultimate realization
primarily through
its tran-
scendence of the limited vision and
hindering preoccupations
of the
individual
ego,
in a state that is characterized
by repose (vi'rdnti)
and
bliss
(dnanda). Thus,
for him the two
goals
of
poetry
identified in ear-
lier
texts, vyutpatti,
"moral
instruction,"
and
prfti,
"pleasure,"
are not
strictly separable.
Abhinava asserts that
prfti
or
engrossment
(vaivas'ya)
in the
imaginative experience
is itself the cause of
vyutpatti,
which he understands to mean instruction in the means of
attaining
all
four ends of life
(purusdrthas) (Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1969:54-55).
In relation to the
highest
of these
(moksa),
as we have
seen,
"instruc-
tion" need not be didactic; rather,
it
may
consist
in
the bliss of
an
expe-
rience that is in
many respects
identical with that of final beatitude.
The
process
would seem to be one of
loosening
the
ego's
hold on one's
Wulff: Religion
in a New Mode 681
consciousness
through
the
gaining
of ever wider vision and more
embracing sympathy.
In addition to its
apparent
role in the
economy
of
salvation,
aes-
thetic
experience
is of intrinsic value for Abhinava. From the terms he
uses to characterize
it, especially
alaukika, dnanda,
and
camatkdra,
and from the
images
he uses to
express it,
one sees
clearly
that rasa
touches his entire
being
and causes him to
respond
with
delight
and
awe. As a
designation
for a transcendent and wondrous condition val-
ued for its own
sake,
as well as for what it
may
reveal about the nature
of
reality,
rasa for Abhinava is thus itself a
religious category.
But this
is a far
cry
from the
deification
of art. Abhinava's views are based on a
subtle and
penetrating analysis
of levels of consciousness and on a uni-
fied
metaphysics
that
regards
drama,
like the universe
itself,
as a dis-
play
of
fleeting,
unreal forms that
,may paradoxically
allow one to
partake
of the consciousness that is
Siva,
the
only
true
reality,
and so
attain to final liberation.
Rtipa
Gosvdmf
Like
Abhinavagupta,
Rfipa
used the term rasa in a
religious sense,
and
although
he did not
quote
Abhinava
directly,
the broad
affinity
between their views has led some scholars to
suggest
at least indirect
influence
(Masson
and
Patwardhan, 1969:xv).
It is true that in
develop-
ing
his
theory
of bhaktirasa
Ripa appropriated
the entire structure
and
terminology
of the classical rasa
theory. Yet,
there are
major
dif-
ferences between his views and those of Abhinava. These reflect both
the different
religious
sensibilities of the two writers and the
divergent
philosophical
and devotional orientations of their traditions. Bhakti
(loving devotion),
rather than
jiddna (metaphysical knowledge),
is the
ultimate
religious goal
of the
Bengali
Vaiisnava,
and this
strong
devo-
tional
emphasis
is reflected in the transformations made
by
Rfupa
in
the classical aesthetic
theory.
Ripa's general analysis
of bhaktirasa follows the classical model
quite closely.
The
basic,
underlying
emotion
sthdyibhdva),
which in
Ripa's theory
is love
(rati)
for Krishna24 in
one of
its
forms,
is
gradually
transformed into a
rasa,
a refined "sentiment" or attitude that
can,
like
Krishna
himself,
be
perpetually
relished. Involved in this
process
of
transformation are the
remaining "ingredients"
of rasa in the classical
theory:
the
vibhdvas,
which awaken the emotion
(here primarily
Krishna and his close
associates,
and
secondarily
such stimulants
[uddtzpanas]
as Krishna's flute and the
beauty
of
Vrndvana,
which
24
srfkkrsnavisayd
ratih,
"love that has Krishna as its
object,"
BRS 11.5.2. Yet elsewhere
Rfipa
makes it clear that love for
Radha
and the other associates of Krishna is also an
important part
of bhakti.
682
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
serve to
heighten
the
emotion);
the anubhdvas and sdttvika
bhdvas,
words,
gestures,
and
involuntary physical
reactions
through
which the
emotion is
expressed;
and
finally
the
vyabhicdribhdvas,
transient feel-
ings
that
may temporarily accompany
and to a certain extent color the
permanent
emotion.
Despite
such
strong
continuities, however,
there are several
important ways
in which
Rfipa's
analysis
differs
formally
and substan-
tively
from those of Abhinava and other classical writers on aesthetics.
First,
the
process
he outlines is not limited to a
single
dramatic
per-
formance
lasting only
a few
hours,
but is conceived as
extending
through
a
devotee's
entire
lifetime.
Related to this first difference is a
second,
that of the rasas enumerated and
emphasized
in each
theory.
Among
the five bhaktirasas that
Rfipa
designates
as
primary (mukhya),
he includes
only
one of the
original eight given by Bharata,
the rasa of
erotic love
(sdrngdra,
here called
madhura), together
with a
ninth,
sdnta,
the
"peaceful" rasa,
which was later added to the
eight
and ele-
vated
by
Abhinava to a
position
of
supremacy.25 Underlying
these two
differences is a more fundamental one:
Rfipa's
theory
refers not sim-
ply
to
earthly dramas,
but to a cosmic
play,
the eternal
lild
of Krishna
with
Radha
and the other inhabitants of
Vrndavana.
The entire
Vraja
lild is understood to be
occurring continually
in an unmanifest
(aprakata)
form in the
"heavenly"
Vrnddvana
(De:238, 248-249,
343-
348).
The devotee is to live each
day
in a state of constant
absorption
in this eternal
drama,
which is ultimate
reality
for the
Bengali Vais-
nava. The
subject
of
Rfipa's
work is thus not
primarily
aesthetic
expe-
rience-even in the sense in which that
experience
is understood
by
Abhinava and others as
prefiguring by analogy
the ultimate
experi-
ence of liberation
(moksa)26-but
rather
religious experience,
bhakti
toward the Lord conceived
largely through
the
categories
of dramatic
analysis.
Because
Rfipa
is interested in the
development
of
enduring
rela-
tions of love between devotees and the
Lord,
he subordinates seven of
the
eight
rasas of the classical
theory
to five rasas that
designate
such
ideal relations. These he further differentiates from the seven-which
he declares to be
ephemeral (sdmayika,
BRS
11.5.33),
thus
effectively
demoting
them to the
position
of transient
emotions-by asserting
that
they
are in
reality
a
single
rasa because of the
unity
of
rati,
the love
that inheres in all of them as their
sthdyibhdva.27
He then
presents
25
The
eight
rasas are listed in NS
VI.15
and in
De, History of
Sanskrit Poetics
11,23.
For the
ninth,
see Masson and
Patwardhan,
1969.
26
See
Masson and
Patwardhan, 1969, esp.
153-164.
27
BRS 11.5.87. Here and elsewhere we see the
primary importance
of love in
Ripa's
theory.
Cf. BRS
11.5.35.
Wulff: Religion
in a New Mode 683
the five in a
graded
series
(BRS 11.5.26, 88)
and illustrates them with
examples
drawn
primarily
from the
Bhdgavata
Purdna.
Rfipa
lists the five chief
bhdvas,
relational modes that
may
be
experienced
as rasas
by
the sensitive
devotee,28
in the order of increas-
ing intimacy.
Least intimate is that of
sdnta,
the
"peaceful"
mode in
which one
contemplates
the Lord in his exalted nature
(ifasvarfipa,
elsewhere referred to as
aisvarya, lordly majesty) (BRS 111.1.6-7).
The
somewhat closer relation of
ddsya,
that of a servant to a
master,
is
expressed through
attitudes of
humility
and obedience
(BRS 111.2.13).
The third
relation, however,
sakhya, "friendship,"
is characterized
by
mutuality
and thus
by
the absence of the
respect
so
prominent
in the
first two. In the fourth
bhdva, vdtsalya, "parental affection,"
the ine-
quality
is
reversed,
and the devotee
experiences
Krishna as an adora-
ble child.
Finally,
the
highest relation, culminating
in madhura
bhaktirasa,
is a
transfiguration
of
srngdra rasa,
the
"sentiment"
or
"mood"
of erotic
love,
which is the most
important
rasa of classical
Sanskrit
poetry
and drama. The
gopis
of
Vraja
are the
exemplars
of
this
rasa,
and of these
Rfipa
explicitly designates
Radha
as
supreme
(BRS 111.5.3, 5, 9). Although
Rfipa
clearly
values each of the five bhak-
tirasas,
he
gives by
far the most attention to the
highest
and most inti-
mate of the
five, madhura,
dedicating
an entire
treatise,
the
Ujivalanflamani,
to its detailed
exposition,
and
centering
each of his
three dramas
upon
this devotional mode.29
It is
hardly necessary
to
argue
that rasa in
Rfipa's
writings
is a reli-
gious term,
for he uses it in
compound
with
bhakti,
and he considers
the
experience
of bhaktirasa to be the
highest
ideal of the
religious
life.30 The extent to which
Rfipa's
theory
is
simultaneously
a valuation
of aesthetics is
perhaps
less obvious.
Witnessing
the
performance
of a
classical Sanskrit drama such as Kalidasa's Sakuntald would not be a
for
Rfipa,
or even an
experience preparatory
to
final
realization,
as it
might
well be for Abhinava. Yet
Rfipa
did not
appropriate
the
rasa
theory simply
in order to have a framework for
talking
about bhakti. On the
contrary,
his
conception
of devotion is a
fundamentally
aesthetic
one,
in which the
development
of bhakti
toward the Lord involves a
gradual refining
and
intensifying
of emo-
tion
through repeated
encounters with the eternal drama of Krishna
and his close associates in
Vraja.
Rfipa
repeatedly
describes this lild
and all its
components
as
beautiful,
and the
highest
form of bhakti in
28
Most
of these relations have come to be known
by
the names of their bhdvas rather
than
by
those of their
corresponding
rasas.
29
This paragraph
and the
preceding
three are based on
Wulff,
1984:26-28.
30
Rfipa distinguishes rdgdnugd bhakti,
devotion that has as its
inspiration
the
sponta-
neous love for Krishna of his closest associates in
Vraja,
from vaidhi
bhakti,
that which
follows the
injunctions
set forth in authoritative texts
(BRS 1.2.4-5; 69-71).
684
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
his view involves
developed
aesthetic
sensibility
as well as
depth
of
religious
emotion.
The
convergence
of aesthetics and devotion that found formal
expression
in
Rfipa's
treatises culminates a
process long underway
in
India. At least as
early
as the
Harivamns'a
and the
Alvars'
hymns,
Krishna and his deeds were seen as
charming,
and various art
forms,
especially drama, dance,
poetry,
and
song,
were
employed
to make
this
beauty
manifest.
Beginning
in the twelfth
century
with
Jayadeva's
"dramatic
lyrical poem" (Miller:9, cf.15-16),
the
Gftagovinda,
we find
an
increasing
number of Sanskrit
works,
alongside
a rich
profusion
of
vernacular
forms,
that
expressed
and nourished Krishna devotion.
Riipa
thus
gave systematic
formulation to an aesthetic mode of
piety
that had ancient roots and that has continued to
flourish, shaped
in
part by
his theoretical works as well as
by
his own
dramas.31
Conclusion
The
preceding analysis
of rasa in the works of Abhinava and
Rfipa
shows how
integrally
related
they
saw the aesthetic and the
religious
to be. To illustrate this relation
further,
let us consider the
way
in
which some Indians
respond
to the
writings
of the
great fifth-century
poet
and dramatist
Kalidisa.
Although
he has
commonly
been
regarded by
scholars as a secular
author, Kalidasa
took the love of
Siva
and
Parvati
as the theme of one of his
major works,
the
Kumdrasamhava,
and his
poetry
and dramas are filled with
sophisti-
cated allusions to
passages
from earlier
religious
texts.
Moreover,
when Indians
steeped
in the classical Sanskrit
literary
tradition
quote
verses from
Kalidasa's
writings, they
often do so with a reverence-
indeed
rapture-that suggests
a
profound spiritual
involvement with
these works.
Possessing
the
power
to mediate the
transcendent,
to
transport
its hearers
temporarily beyond
the cares and distractions of
the
workaday world,
to communicate a sustained and
inspiring
vision
that
organizes
and transforms mundane
experience,
such
writing
must
surely
be deemed
religious.
I would in fact
argue
that the recollection
and
savoring
of
Kalidasa's
verses is no less a
religious
act for certain
Hindus than the recitation of a mantra or the
adorning
of an
image
is
for others.32 It is therefore
significant
that nowhere in our current
31
For a detailed
study
of one of
Rfipa's
dramas and its relation to earlier texts of
Krishna
devotion,
see
Wulff,
1984a.
32Three
such rasikas
("connoisseurs")
come
immediately
to
mind:
Professor
J.L.
Mehta, formerly
of the
Department
of
Philosophy
of Banaras Hindu
University
and
Harvard
Divinity School,
Pandit Ambika Datta
Upadhyaya
of
Banaras,
and Dr. Prem
Lata
Sharma,
Head of the
Department
of
Musicology,
Banaras Hindu
University.
Nor is
such an aesthetic mode limited to Sanskrit
poetry; many Bengalis,
for
example, respond
in much the same
way
to the
poetry
of Rabindranath
Tagore.
Wulff:
Religion
in a New Mode 685
introductions to the Hindu tradition is such literature mentioned. It
would indeed seem that in a
sophisticated
Hindu's
contemplation
of
Kalidasa's verses,
the aesthetic and the
religious converge
in the direc-
tion of that ultimate
unity
toward which the
writings
of
Abhinavagupta point.
In addition to
showing
that rasa is a
religious category
as well as an
aesthetic term for both Abhinava and
Ripa,
the
foregoing
has aimed
to demonstrate the value of
studying
two
types
of material often
ignored by
historians of
religion.
First,
we need to devote
systematic
inquiry
to works on aesthetic
theory,
in India and
elsewhere,
as a
source of
insight
into a realm of existence that has for
many persons
held
religious importance.
In the case of
Abhinava,
the relation
between the
religious
views and ritual
practices surveyed
in his Tan-
trdloka and his
writings
on aesthetics merits full
exploration. Equally,
we must
give
more attention to aesthetic
forms, especially
to those
acknowledged
as avenues of
religious insight
or devotion. But a work
of
music,
poetry, drama,
or visual
representation
that has
formerly
been
regarded
as
purely
secular
may
also reveal
something
of its
author's
religious
vision and serve as a source of
inspiration
for its audi-
ence or viewers.
Our
study
of Abhinava and
Rfipa
has revealed the distortions and
severe limitations that result from an uncritical
assumption
that the
religion/art dichotomy
is valid for the
study
of the Hindu tradition.
We must therefore abandon this
dichotomy
if we wish to discern and
portray
the richness of the
religious
life of India as well as of other
cultures, past
and
present.33
REFERENCES
ABh Abhinavabhdrati. In Masson and Patwardhan
(1970) I;
II:
passim.
33 This
article was written for a conference
honoring
Wilfred Cantwell Smith that was
held at Harvard
University's
Center for the
Study
of World
Religions
in
June
of 1979. It
reflects his
teaching
and
example
both in its detailed treatment of a
single religiously
significant
term and in its
advocacy
of
sensitivity
to the
of art. I
dedicate it to him with
gratitude
for his
continuing inspiration.
I would also like to thank Daniel H.H.
Ingalls,
whose
helpful
comments on an earlier
draft resulted in some
significant
refinements in
my
treatment of
Abhinavagupta,
and
Gary Tubb,
who
helped
me
clarify
certain
key
issues in Abhinava's
thought
on aesthet-
ics. I am also
grateful
to Wendell Dietrich and
Jack Hawley,
who read an
early
draft and
encouraged
me to
publish
it.
686
Journal
of the American
Academy
of
Religion
Biumer,
Bettina
1978 "Die
Unvermitteltheit
der hochsten
Erfahrung
bei
Abhinavagupta," Transzendenzerfahrung, Vollzug-
shorizont des Heils. Ed.
by
Gerhard
Oberhammer.
Wien.
Bharata
1971
Ndtyasdstra,
with the
Abhinavabharati
commentary
of
Abhinavagupta.
Ed.
by
Madhusfidan
Sastri. Varanasi:
Kashi
Hindu
Vi*vavidygilaya.
BRS Bhaktirasdmrtasindhu of
Rfipa
Gosvami.
De,
S.K.
1960
History of
Sanskrit Poetics. 2nd Ed. 2 volumes. Calcutta:
Firma K.L.
Mukhopadhyay.
1961
Early History of
the
Vaisnava
Faith and Movement in
Bengal.
2nd Ed. Calcutta: Firma K.L.
Mukhopadhyay.
DhAL
Dhvanydlokalocana.
In Masson and Patwardhan
(1969
and
1970) passim.
Gerow,
Edwin
1981 "Rasa as a
Category
of
Literary
Criticism." In Sanskrit
Drama in
Performance, pp.
226-257. Ed.
by
Rachel Van
Meter Baumer and
James
Brandon. Honolulu:
University
of Hawaii.
Gerow,
Edwin and Ashok
Aklujkar
1972 "On
Santa
Rasa in Sanskrit
Poetics," Journal of
the Amer-
ican Oriental
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