RASA – DIVINE IN INDIA

Rasa is a Sanskrit word which means essence or juice and basically is aconcept of Indian aesthetics, where there’s a blend of divine through music, dance, drama, poetry, etc. There is uniqueness in the poetry and it’s due to rasa as it has the worthiness. An individual who is expert in this field can experience it through eyes and ears and these rasas create sensations of happiness, sorrow that directly reaches the mind and automatically emotions are being awakened. It’s like the stronger the sensations the stronger is the emotion and are reflected on human body as well. When at such point the emotions are reached at the peak level then other organs also react to it. These rasas depict poets in such a way that it becomes the living experiences for the person who is listening. As the person also goes with the flow then. Then the rasa described in the form of poetry and experience of the person goes hand in hand.

            Bharat Muni gave eight rasas and it is believed that Natya shastra is the first work that forms the process of Rasa. Natya shashtra was an ancient work of dramatic theory and each rasa has a unique meaning with different colour. And each rasas are paired to one other. The rasas are as follows –

NAME OF RASA	MEANING	COLOUR
Srinagara	Love, attractiveness	Light green
Hasya	Laughter, mirth, comedy	White
Raudra	Fury	Red
Karunya	Compassion, tragedy	grey
Bibhatsa	Disgust, aversion	Blue
Bhayanaka	Horror, terror	Black
Vira	Heroic mood	Yellowish
Adbhuta	Wonder, amazement	yellow

            However while researching it has been found that before Bharata Acharya and Vasuki also gave birth to two different rasa traditions. Abhinav Gupta gave the ninth rasa and this had undergone great research - Santam (peace) – white. Later on more two rasas were also being added likewise Vatsalya (parental love) and Bhakti (spiritual devotion). That poetry which involves or evokes emotions within the person and determines the quality of rasa is called as rasyukt. Rasa includes specific emotions like anger, happiness which are treated as characteristics of mind. In India, rasa is the emotion inspired by the performer to the audience. these rasas are also called aesthetics which are used in Indian classical dances as well like Bharatnatyam, kathak, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Manipuri, Kudiyattam, Kathakali and others.

Rasa’s have a great influence on the cinema especially in India. The element which differences Indian dances from western is only rasa, which is so unique and different. Rasa is a relish to create a better mood.