Rasa as Sentence-Meaning
Andrew Ollett
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Madison South Asia Conference
October 12, 2018
licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 
Meaning arthaḥ
the content of an awareness produced by a linguistic expression
COW
Bhaṭṭa Jayanta
Racemose Reasoning Nyāyamañjarī, 900 ce, Kashmir
The power of expression abhidhātrī śaktiḥ
nābhidhātrī śaktir anvitaviṣayā, kiṁtu anvayavyatirēkānugataniṣkr̥ṣṭasvārthaviṣayaiva.
To the domain of the “power of expression” belong not relational meanings, but the proper meanings of words that have been isolated through positive and negative concomitance.
The power of purport tātparyaśaktiḥ
tātparyaśaktis tu tēṣām anvitāvagamaparyantā sahavyāpārād vyāpārasyaitadīyasya nirākāṅkṣapratyayōtpādanaparyantatvāt.
The “power of purport,” by contrast, extends to relational meanings, since it operates together with the power of expression, and its operation extends to the production of an awareness that has no further dependencies.
Summary
anyathaiva pravartantē pratyakṣādyudbhavā dhiyaḥ ~
arthaṁ pūrṇaṁ apūrṇaṁ vā darśayantyaḥ puraḥ sthitam ~~
anyathaiva matiḥ śābdī viṣayēṣu vijr̥mbhatē ~
pratipattur anākāṅkṣapratyayōtpādanāvadhiḥ ~~
Cognitions that arise from other sources of knowledge, and that present a stable meaning that is either complete or incomplete, operate in one way; completely different is the verbal cognition that extends over its objects, terminating in the production of an awareness that has no further dependencies on the part of the listener.
Bhaṭṭa Nāyaka
Mirror of the Heart Hr̥dayadarpaṇam, 900 ce, Kashmir
Fragment 13
bhāvasaṁyōjanāvyaṅgyaparasaṁvittigōcaraḥ ~
āsvādanātmānubhavō rasaḥ kāvyārtha ucyatē ~~
Rasa, the object of an awareness oriented towards something that is manifested by the configuration of aesthetic elements, and an experience consisting in savoring, is said to be the meaning of the literary text.
Fragment 12
saṁsargādir yathā śāstra ēkatvāt phalayōgataḥ ~
vākyārthas tadvad ēvātra śr̥ṅgārādī rasō mataḥ ~~
Just as a sentence-meaning in the Veda is thought to be the conjuncture, or whatever one wishes to call it, of word-meanings — since, in view of its connection with a result, there must only be a single meaning for a given sentence — so too are the rasas, such as the erotic, here in literature.
Dhanika
Observations on the Ten Dramatic Forms Daśarūpāvalōkaḥ, 1000 ce, Malwa
The proponent of manifestation
rasavākyēṣu ca vibhāvapratipattilakṣaṇadvitīyakakṣāyāṁ rasānavagamāt.
In rasa-sentences, moreover, rasa is not understood in the second stage, that of overall sentence-meaning, or purport. For it is the factors that are conveyed in this stage.
Ten Dramatic Forms 4.37
vācyā prakaraṇādibhyō buddhisthā vā yathā kriyā ~
vākyārthaḥ kārakair yuktā sthāyī bhāvas tathētaraiḥ ~~
Just as an action—whether directly expressed or understood as being present by virtue of context or some other factor—constitutes sentence meaning when construed with its factors, so a stable emotion constitutes a “sentence meaning” when construed with the other aesthetic elements.
tr. modified from Pollock (2016: 170)
Observations on 4.37
na cāpadārthasya vākyārthatvaṁ nāstīti vācyam, kāryaparyavasāyitvāt tātparyaśaktēḥ. tathā hi — pauruṣēyam apauruṣēyaṁ vā sarvaṁ vākyaṁ kāryaparam. atatparatvē ’nupādēyatvād unmattādivākyavat.
Don’t go saying that something which is not actually the meaning of any of the constituent words cannot be the sentence-meaning. For the power of purport culminates in something to be done. Let me explain. Every single sentence, whether man-made or not, is oriented towards something to be done. If that were not the case, then we would simply disregard it, like the words of a madman.
Observations on 4.37
kāvyaśabdānāṁ cānvayavyatirēkābhyāṁ {...} pratipādyapratipādakayōḥ pravr̥ttiviṣayaprayōjanāntarānupalabdhēḥ {...} svānandōdbhūtir ēva kāryatvēnāvadhāryatē.
In the case of literary language, we determine that what is to be done is precisely the production of the bliss proper to it, and we do so on the basis of positive and negative concomitance: for we do not encounter any other motivation for its use, either for the speaker or for the addressee.
Observations on 4.37
tadbhūtinimittatvaṁ ca vibhāvādisaṁsr̥ṣṭasya sthāyina ēvāvagamyatē. atō vākyasyābhidhāśaktis tēna tēna rasēnākr̥ṣyamāṇā tattatsvārthāpēkṣitāvāntaravibhāvādipratipādanadvārā svaparyavasāyitām ānīyatē.
It is the stable emotion, conjoined with the other aesthetic elements, that we understand as the cause of the production of this bliss. Hence a particular rasa will draw the power of expression of a sentence towards itself until, through conveying at an intermediate stage the other aesthetic elements upon which the various proper meanings expressed in the sentence depend, it leads it to culminate in that very rasa.
Observations on 4.37
tatra vibhāvādayaḥ padārthasthānīyās, tatsaṁsr̥ṣṭō ratyādir vākyārthaḥ. tad ētat kāvyaṁ vākyapadīyam. tāv imau padārthavākyārthau.
In such a sentence, the other aesthetic elements take the place of word-meanings, and the sentence-meaning is a stable emotion, such as desire, that is conjoined with them. Hence a literary text, so described, is a work of words and sentences (vākyapadīyam), the word-meanings being the aesthetic elements, the sentence-meanings the rasas.
