Any form of art is appealing due to the aesthetic delight it evokes. Literature being the queen of arts evokes the aesthetic delight in human beings to a higher degree and also guides them to a better and more purposeful life. The rasa theory formulated by Anandavardhana in his work Dhvanyaloka though related to poetry and drama is applicable to all the fine arts.
According to the writers on Indian Poetics, the sole aim of a kavya - poetry, prose, or drama is rasa which is of nine kinds and Smsara is one among them. And Smgara is of two kinds Sambhoga-Smgara, and Vipralalitbha-Srilgara. These two kinds differ from one and another as follows: when the lover (nayaka) or the beloved (nayika) has the mental state of the form "1 am united with my lover or the beloved", then this mental state would develop itself to sambhoga-srngara- rasa. On the other hand, if the lover or the beloved has the mental state of the form "I am separated from my lover or the beloved", then this mental state would develop itself into Vipralambhti-smgara. This Vipralambha or separation between the nayaka and the nayika may be caused by five factors. Dr C. Murugan, in the present work being his doctoral research discusses in Seven well-defined Chapters the theory of Rasa and the various factors that govern the concept of Vipralambhu-Smgara-rasa in Sanskrit dramas.
The discussions are scholarly and well presented. The numerous passages from original works reproduced at the back of the work support the argument of the work at every stage and reveal the author’s skill in documentation.
The work is characterized by meticulous scholarship, critical acumen and breadth of appreciation. The style is clear and lucid. It is an important work in English on India Poetics.
This observation is so decisively and significantly relevant to the understanding of what has been discussed in the book
I congratulate Dr C. Murugan, on this welcome valuable addition to literary theory.
The present book entitled "Portrayal of Vipralambha-Srngara In Some Dramas” represents the research work completed under the guidance of Dr. Meera Sarma, Professor, Department of Sanskrit, University of Madras, for the Ph.D. Degree of the University of Madras.
I take this opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to the authorities of the University of Madras for according me permission to publish my Ph.D. research work in the Department of Sanskrit.
To My Research-Supervisor, Dr. Meera Sarma, I am greatly indebted for guiding my research work throughout. An authority in the field of Indian poetics, she gave me valuable suggestions and constructive criticisms. This thesis owes much of its quality to her.
I studied the Sastri course in Sanskrit during 1 988 1993 at the Sri Candrasekharendra Sarasvati Nyayasastra Mahavidyalaya at Kancipuram under Professors Vishnu Potti, Narayan Jee Jha, and G. Srinivasu. I offer my deep salutations to them.
I am a grateful recipient of the gracious blessings of the Preceptors of the great Sankarite Institution at Kanci and I shall treasure them up in my heart for ever.
To Dr. Maa. Selvarasan, Former Professor of Tamil, University of Madras, I express my deep sense of gratitude for his unfailing loving and encouragement which pulled me through many a difficulty.
I am extremely thankful to Dr. S. Revathy, Professor, Department of Sanskrit, University of Madras, for her help and encouragement in completing this work. I shall always cherish in my heart her kindly words of advice and her interest in my academic work.
The Sanskrit word for Poetry is kavya, i.e., the work of a kavi. The word kavi means an omniscient being (krantadarsi), who's skill consists not in identifying the essential features of the world-the Creation of God and in portraying them precisely as they are, but rather In creating a new situation for our contemplation-the new situation which is superior to Nature. Mammata in his Kavye-prekase which is one of the classical works on Sanskrit poetics contrasts the poet with the Creator thus:
In the vrtti on the above karika, Mammata states that the work of a poet unfolds a creation which is not fettered by the rules of Nature; it is comprised of joy alone and is charming on account of presentation of nine rasas. These characteristic features of the work of a poet show its superiority over that of the supreme Creator, God.
Having thus outlined the sublime nature of the work of a poet, Mammata sets forth the benefits that accrue from a kavye. The composition of a kavya, he says, would bring forth widespread renown to the poet, and would enable him to get money and other support from a wealthy patron of arts. Further, it would make the responsive reader acquainted with formal rules of conduct and behaviour in society; it would bring about the removal of illness of the body and mind and would instantaneously give forth supreme delectation or aesthetic delight and would offer wise counsel like a loving wife.
From the above, it emerges that a kavya, possesses a double aim-the direct one of giving aesthetic delight (sadyah paranirvitih) and the indirect one of enabling one to acquire material comforts and some lesson or criticism of life. But it is only the former, i.e, aesthetic delight that is of immediate value for the reader or a spectator of a kavya.
According to the general Indian theory, there are two types of kavya, one dealing with objects of external nature and the other with emotional situations in life. The former one may be characterized as "Nature-poetry" and the latter as "Soul-poetry” The experience that results from the study of "Nature-poetry" is detached joy as there is total absorption in the objective factor by forgetting the subjective one. But the case is entirely different in the case of "Soul- poetry". The central feature of the situation that is to be portrayed herein is an emotion or feeling. And, no emotion can directly be communicated. The poet can only suggest it to the reader by delineating its causes and consequences. The content of "Nature-poetry" such as natural scenery too may be suggested (vyangya), but they are at the same time expressible and so vacya too. Emotions, however, can only be suggested and cannot be expressed. The poet, therefore, has to adopt an indirect method in dealing with emotional moods. And this method is known as dhvani, and the kavya too which is characterized by it is designated by the same term. The poet may indirectly suggest a fact (vastu) or an imaginative situation (alamkara) instead of directly expressing it. In the former case, the theme of poetry is vastu, and in the latter case, it is alamkara. Accordingly, they are called vastu-dhvani and alamkara-dhvani, respectively. If the theme of poetry is emotion, then the resulting experience is called rasa-dhvani. The experience that results from the study of these three types of kavya is no doubt, detached joy. But, as pointed out earlier, the experience that results from the study of the first two types of kavya takes the form of contemplating the poetic object, while the one that results from the study of the last type takes the form of an inward realization. This is precisely on this ground, the kavya that deals with emotional mood is considered to be of a higher order than the other two types. It is the higher experience that results from the study of "Soul-poetry" that is called Rasa.
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