Rasa and its Pleasurable Nature

Bharata nowhere in his Natya-Sastra makes any explicit statement that the rasa by its very nature is pleasurable. There are, however a few clear indications in the text of Natyasastra of its pleasurable nature. The Indian tradition of the origin of the drama as preserved in the Natyasastra says: Natya, the completely new form of

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कुलकर्णी ध्यान दिलाते हैं कि भरत ने कहीं स्पष्ट नहीं कहा कि रस स्वभावतः आनन्दरूप है, और इसके संकेत एकत्र करते हैं — नाट्य का नेत्र-श्रवण के क्रीडनीयक रूप में सर्जन, दशरूपक तथा अवलोक में धनंजय और धनिक का आनन्द-कथन, और अभिनवगुप्त की करुण-रौद्र-बीभत्स-भयानक-विषयक व्याख्या। Kulkarni notes that Bharata nowhere states that rasa is by nature pleasurable, and assembles the indications that it is: nāṭya made as a plaything for eye and ear, Dhanañjaya and Dhanika on the delight of the ten rūpakas, and Abhinavagupta's account of the four painful rasas.

Written by the archive’s cataloguers, not by the author.