Sahitya-kaumudi by Baladeva Vidyabhushana
by Gaurapada Dāsa | 2015 | 234,703 words
Baladeva Vidyabhusana’s Sahitya-kaumudi covers all aspects of poetical theory except the topic of dramaturgy. All the definitions of poetical concepts are taken from Mammata’s Kavya-prakasha, the most authoritative work on Sanskrit poetical rhetoric. Baladeva Vidyabhushana added the eleventh chapter, where he expounds additional ornaments from Visv...
Text 4.11
अथ तद्-विशेषान् आह,
atha tad-viśeṣān āha,
Now he states its particulars:
śṛṅgāra-hāsya-karuṇa-raudra-vīra-bhayānakāḥ |
bībhatsādbhuta-saṃjñau cety aṣṭau nāṭye rasāḥ smṛtāḥ ||4.29||
In dramaturgy, there are eight rasas: śṛṅgāra (love, romance), hāsya (humor, laughter), karuṇa (lamentation), raudra (anger), vīra (heroism), bhayānaka (fear), bībhatsa (disgust), and adbhuta (wonderment). (Nāṭya-śāstra 6.15)
Commentary:
Rūpa Gosvāmī changed Bharata Muni’s system. Nonetheless, according to tradition Bharata Muni was taught by Brahmā.[1] Bharata Muni based his methodology on the latter’s teachings: ete hy aṣṭau rasāḥ proktā druhiṇena mahātmanā, “The eight rasas were stated by Druhiṇa (Brahmā), the great soul.”[2] Śānta-rasa is mentioned ahead, as the ninth rasa of poetry (4.41).
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
[2]:
śṛṅgāra-hāsya-karuṇā raudra-vīra-bhayānakāḥ |
bībhatsādbhuta-saṃjñau cety aṣṭau nāṭye rasāḥ smṛtāḥ || ete hy aṣṭau rasāḥ proktā druhiṇena mahātmanā |(Nāṭya-śāstra 6.15-16)