Notes to Chapter 8: The Role of hāsya in śṛngāra
1) [page 249>] Considering the close association of the vidūṣaka with the �hero� or chief male protagonist (nāyaka) in the love-dramas, it would no doubt be legitimate to interpret Bharata�s derivation of hāsya from the erotic sentiment (śṛngāra) as a reflex of this coupling of roles fixed by tradition. The possibility must also be left open that the association may have been ritually determined, even if only indirectly�if we think of the Vedic antecedents of the term narman, or even of the comic �lewdness� (śṛngāraNa) of the P�zupata ascetic. But here we are only concerned with their relationship from a purely aesthetic angle.
2) Bhoja�s śṛngāra Prak�za (SP), V. Raghavan, p.425 (Madras 1978, 3rd edition).
3) [250>] This is the well-known aesthetic principle of �incompatibility of rasas� (rasa-virodha), which states that certain rasas cannot be combined with certain other rasas, such insensitive combination by the poet or dramatist amounting to an �aesthetic defect� (doSa). Nevertheless, the master poet can well demonstrate his artistry through the exploitation of various auxiliary techniques to achieve such juxtapositions, not only without marring but actually heightening the aesthetic effect thereby; or the discordant effect may be justified by some special purpose, etc.
The
Rasagang�dhara (p.192) gives śṛngāra
and hāsya as being compatible: śṛngāra-h�syayoh�avirodhah
/. The S�hityadarpana also mentions the
incompatibility of hāsya with �terror� (bhay�naka),
�pathos� (karuNa),
�fury� (raudra) and �tranquility� (z�nta).
For rasavirodha and its resolution, see especially
Abhinava�s commentary on
4)
[251>]
We are not thinking here of the function of comic relief afforded by the vidūṣaka during the hero�s love-in-separation: �A
formal Tragedy was eschewed in the Sanskrit drama; and, therefore, in creating
the character of the vidūṣaka,
the dramatists devoted their literary effort to the production of laughter
only. What is called �comic relief� and what provides psychological equilibrium
to an intensity of tragic passion is, therefore, rather rare in Sanskrit drama.
It is to be found in a few plays only where the development of the story
reaches a real pitch of agony�. Bh�sa, śūdraka and K�lid�sa were certainly aware of the principle of comic
relief in the midst of tragic situations; and they utilized the character of
the vidūṣaka
for fulfilling this artistic function� (G.K. Bhat, The vidūṣaka,
pp140-41). In such instances, the �support� (�zraya)
of hāsya (the vidūṣaka)
and the �zraya of pathos (nāyaka)
are separate and so there is no breach of rasa. We do
not deny that Maitreya in śūdraka�s play �The Little
Clay Cart� (MrcchakaTik�) affords some kind of �comic
relief� in the two crucial scenes of the betrayal of the jewels. But given the
total context of the intimate bond between him and the hero C�rudatta, this
function does not sufficiently justify the precise mode of his intervention. We
suggest that this comic aspect, whatever its own value, is primarily intended
to camouflage his disguised opposition to the nāyaka.
It may be explained as a form of narmadyuti: �h�sya
exploited to conceal a defect (doSa).� Cf.
5) Raghavan, śṛngāra Prak�za, p.499:
Cint�(ma)Niadaiasam�gamamammi kaamantu�i
bhari�Na / sunnam
kalah�ant� sah�hi ruNN� Na ohasi� //� G�th� Saptasat�
I.60
Cint�-n�ta-dayita-sam�game
kRta-manyuk�ni smRty� / z�nyam kalah�yam�n� sakh�bh�
rudit� na upah�sit� // �[Sanskrit version]
ZRng�r�d api na dRzyate /
6) [252>] This is in the context where he expresses the opinion of earlier rhetoricians that the �permanent emotional disposition� (sth�yin) may be distinguished from the �transitory emotional states� (vyabhic�rin) in that the former is fully nourished by a profusion of determinants (vibh�va) whereas the latter is merely introduced, but not developed, by a meager number.
Prar�Dhatv�prar�Dhatve bahv-alpa-vibh�vajatve / tad-uktam ratn�kare �
�Raty-�dayah sth�yi-bh�v�h, syur bh�yiSTha-vibh�va-j�h / stoka-vibh�vair utpann�s ta eva vyabhic�riNah //� iti� /
Evam ca v�ra-rase pradh�na krodhah, raudre cots�hah, zRng�re h�sah, vyabhic�r�-bhavati n�ntar�yakaz ca /
Rasagang�dahara pp.139-40. In the examples of the �isolated verse� (muktaka � �pearl�) to be analyzed below, will be found situations depicting śṛngāra where only some of the vibh�vas, etc. simultaneously introduce hāsya.
7)
[253>]
hāsya-śṛngāra-bahul� kaizik� paricakSit� /�//
Definition
of kaizik�: Y�
zlakSNa-naipathya-vizeSa-citr�, str�-samyut� y�
bahu-nRtta-g�t� / k�mopabhoga-prabhavopac�r�
t�m kaizik�m vRttim ud�haranti
// 53. // Bahu-v�dya-nRtta-g�t�
zRng�r�bhinaya-citra-naipathy� /�. // 54// hasita-rudita-roS�dyaih / str�-puruSa-k�ma-yukt� vij�ey� kaizik�-vRttih // 55 //
8)
narma ca narma-sphu�jo narma-sphoTo�tha narma-garbhaz ca / kaiziky�z
catv�ro bhed� hy ete sam�khy�tah // Nāṭya Z�stra
GOS XX.56. Dazar�paka II.78 has narma-sph�rja instead of narma-sphu�ja.
9)
sth�pita-śṛngāram vizuddha-karaNam
nivRtta-v�ra-rasam / hāsya-pravacana-bahulam narma tri-vidham vij�n�y�t // NZ GOS XX.57
�rSy�-krodha-pr�yam sopalambha-karaN�nuviddham ca / �tmopakSepa-kRtam
savipralambham smRtam narma // 58 //
The eighteen-fold division proper is to be
found in the Dazar�paka II.48ff.
[Sanskrit text]
10) [Sanskrit text]
11) Dashar�paka commentary gives as an instance of �pure h�sya� (zuddha-hāsya) based on speech Kum�rasambhava VII.19; for �narma based on costume� (veSa-narma), N�g�nanda III where the vidūṣaka dressed in female attire is taken for a woman by the drunken rogue (viTa) Zekharaka; for narma based on gesture, M�lavik�gnimitra IV, where the maid drops his own kuṭilaka on the drowsy vidūṣaka, who is startled awake thinking it to be a snake. This last may be included with the �pure fear� variety of narma as well, for the vidūṣaka takes it good sport.
12) [255>] For the śṛngāra-type expressing one�s own love, Dashar�paka gives a verse (unidentified) where the tavern-woman pleads with the traveler to tarry awhile to repose himself and not leave hastily thinking that there is nothing here in store for him. Though she says that he is no doubt devoted to his beloved and least interested in the women of the tavern, she is in fact suggesting her own desire to enjoy him. Here hāsya is introduced because the suggested śṛngāra is conveyed through words whose explicit meaning would seem to deny it and stress his fidelity. For the type expressive of desire for enjoyment, Dashar�paka gives H�la 130 where the wife at dawn laughingly shakes the feet of the laughing but reluctant husband. For jealousy in love, Dashar�paka cites M�gha II.33 where the lover is chided for his infidelity through words which on the surface seem to be commending him for his truthfulness. Here too the humor is due to the linguistic ambiguity whereby the positive element of śṛngāra is bisociated with the negative element of jealousy also based on śṛngāra (the theoretical import of this remark will be clearer by the end of this chapter).
13) For the narma based on fear (bhaya-narma) but of the �pure� category, Dhanika cites Susangat�s threat in Ratn�val� ad II.14 where she laughingly frightens the king and the vidūṣaka into believing that she is about to report their love-mischief to queen V�savadatt�. Their momentary consternation provokes our humor because we know that she is actually in league with the heroine. Here the fear is not really an element of the śṛngāra but clashes with it to generate hāsya, which enlivens the erotic situation. This is not to deny the possibility of instances where the hāsya combined with an element of fear wholly external to itself, but they are of little relevance for our purpose.
For narma based on �fear subordinated to (another rasa) śṛngāra,� Dhanika presents the following verse probably of his own composition:
[Sanskrit text]
This is an excellent illustration of hāsya based on the bisociation of a negative (fear) and positive (love) emotion, and is more complex than it looks at first sight.
14) [256>] [Sanskrit text]
15) [Sanskrit text]
16) [257>] [Sanskrit text]
17) [258>] śṛngāra eva madhurah parah prahl�dano rasah / tanmayam k�vyam �zritya m�dhuryam pratitiSThati // Dhvany�loka II.7.
translated from
ZRng�re vipralambh�khye karuNe ca parakarSavat / m�dhuryam �rdrat�m y�ti yataz tatr�dhikam manah // Dhvany�loka II.8.
Abhinava, anticipating the apparent contradiction between verse 7 where �śṛngāra alone (eva)� is the sweetest and verse 8 where it is said to reach its highest pitch in �pathos� (karuNa), explains the eva as not excluding another rasa but as meaning that it is the rasa (śṛngāra), and not the union of words and meanings that evoke it, that is really characterized by �sweetness�, which is then applied by figurative extension to the objective form of the poem as composed of words and meanings (Krishnamoorthy, p.349, 1.6, notes). But the problem is that this interpretation seems to be contradicted by �nandavardhana himself who, as the commentator (vRRti-k�ra), says: śṛngāra eva ras�ntar�pekSay� madhurah prahl�da-hetutv�t / ad II.7. The privileged position given to śṛngāra in this respect may perhaps be due, even if less �melting� (�rdra) than karuNa, to both the character of love (rati) itself and especially to its being relished simultaneously through the reciprocity (paraspar�sth�-bandha) between� both its supports (�zrayas).
18) [Sanskrit text]
19) [259>] [Sanskrit text]
20) Though the sentiments of 'terror' (bhay�naka) and 'disgust' (b�bhatsa) do not involve expansion of the mind, Abhinava [text]
21)
[260>]
It is explicitly stated that the narma should not be vulgar,
but rather indulged in �a refined and playful manner such that it delights the
beloved.� Cf. Dhanika�s comment ad Dashar�paka II.48: agr�mya iSTa-jan�varjana-r�pah
parih�so narmah
/ Abhinava himself says that the vidūṣaka�s
laughter is intended to provoke that of the queen or �heroine� (n�yik�)
� Abhinavabh�rati I, p.297, cf. our chapter IX,
p.295, note 7). But the problem remains that the
K�vya-h�syam tu vij�eyam asambaddha-prabh�SaNaih / anarthakair vik�raiz ca tath� azl�la-bh�SaNaih //
(
22) �rdrat�m it / sahRdayasya cetah svabh�vikam an�viSTatv�tmakam k�Thinyam krodh�di-d�pta-r�patvam vismaya-h�s�di-r�gitvam ca tyajat�ty arthah / (Locana p.219, ad II.8). The mention of h�sa here shows that it is incompatible with the extreme pitch of �sweetness� (m�dhurya) evidence in �pathos� (karuNa). Hence, it may be legitimately deduced that even when hāsya participates in the m�dhurya of �love� (-in-union, sambhoga-śṛngāra), it introduces a certain element of �energy� (ojas) into the latter. We hope to demonstrate that this element is especially due to the component of negative emotion in the form of indignation, fear, etc., in the bisociative structure of h�sa.
23) [[264>] Sanskrit text]
24) [Sanskrit text]
25) [Sanskrit text]
26) MammaTa�s argument is that without the explicit mention of �eagerness� (autsukya) the mere mention of its consequent (anubh�va) �hastening forward,� is insufficient to convey the desired meaning. To support this he cites the verse from Amaru where, though the various modifications of the eye of the faithful heroine before the faithless lover suggest, by means of appropriate consequents, the succession of transitory states she is experiencing, her eagerness at his approach from the distance is directly conveyed as in the verse under discussion. But does this argument really hold water? The �turning aside,� for him an evident consequent of �bashfulness,� is on the contrary and with greater justification one of indignation for Amaru�s commentator Vemabh�p�la: vivalitatvam apar�dhina draSTum asaham�natay� / � m�na-kRto vipralambha-śṛngārah / �rSy�-krodha-pr�yam narma / (śṛngārad�pik�, p.57). Even if one does not agree with Vemabh�p�la, it will certainly be recognized that there is at least doubt as to the transitory state (vyabhic�rin) suggested by �turning away� also, and yet the implied mental state is not stated. Secondly, Gaur�s �turning back� should be likewise sufficient and yet HarSa makes superfluous mention of her �shame,� as he does for her �horripilation� (s�dhvasa). Finally, if �eagerness� is directly mentioned instead of being suggested through �impetuous advance� (sahas� prasaraNam), this is not because the meaning could be dubious in this particular context but because it would be wholly inappropriate to describe the fixed eye (-ball) in this manner when all its other attributes have been chose with an eye to their exquisite realism. It is preferable therefore to justify HarSa�s liberty with the rules on different grounds, viz. the presence of hāsya.
27) [267>] [Sanskrit text]
28) [268>] [Sanskrit text]
29) [269>] Cf. Arjunavarmadeva's commentary: Mat-k�raNeneyam va�citety antar-nibhRta-h�sa-lasad-gaNDa-maNDal�m / yasy� netre mudrite s� jyeST� / tasy�m api nāyakasya pr�tir asty eva / yatah -- "dakSiNo'sy�m sahRdayah" iti vacan�t p�rvasy�m api n�yik�y�m hRdayena saha vyavaharati / tasm�d vihita-kr�D�nubandha-cchala iti yo'yam chala-zabdah sa cumbita-n�yik�pekSayaiva n�yakena punar v�stavenaiva kr�D�nubandhena pratham� prathamam sambh�vit�, dvit�yasy�m ca netra-mudraN�c cumban�tmakasya sambh�van�-prak�rasya vaiziSTy�t sapulaktv�c ca viziST� pr�tih / N�tana-n�yik�y�m ca viziSTa-pr�ti-pratip�dan�d eva p�rvasy�m d�kSiNya-m�tr�d upac�ra evetyanena; dvayor api n�yikayoh priyatame ityuktatv�d (p.36 ad no. 19). �The play is a pretext (chala: �as if�) only from the perspective of the beloved who has been kissed, for the lover is really intent on playfully giving due honor to the elder one first.
30) [270>] VivakS� tatparatvena n�ngitvena kad�cana / k�le ca grahaNa-ty�gau n�ti-nirvahaNaiSit� // II.18 Nirvy�dh�v api c�ngatvena yatnena pratyavekSaNam / r�pak�der alank�ra-vargasy�ngitva-s�dhanam // II.19 // Dhvany�loka p.62. This example illustrates how the poet bent upon the sole object of delineating sentiment will desist from carrying a figure of speech too far: Rasa-nirvahaNaikat�na-hRdayo yam ca Nāṭyantam nirvoDhum icchati / yath� :- [example]
31) [Sanskrit text] Dhvany�loka p.62. The opposing rasa rendered subsidiary can be made so either naturally or through figurative superimposition: anga-bh�va-pr�ptir hi teS�m svabh�vik� sam�ropa-kRt� v� / (loc. cit.). This example illustrates non-contradiction of another rasa introduced through an artificial figurative technique: sam�ropit�y�m apy avirodho yath�� / (Dhvany�loka p.168).
32) [Sanskrit text] Dhvany�loka III.24. Abhinava cites this example as illustrating the second category of the above maxim, viz. that transitory states (vyabhic�rins) incompatible with the main rasa should not be over-abundantly introduced or, where [271>] introduced, should be immediately counter-acted by those vyabhic�rins favorable to the primary rasa: angi-rasa-viruddh�n�m vyabhic�rin�m pr�curyeN�nivezanam, nivezane v� kSipram ev�ngirasa-vyabhic�ry-anuvRttir it dvit�yah / Dhvany�loka ad III.24, p.178-79).
33) Whereas �nandavardhana�s version reads s�yam (�evening�), Devadhar�s critical edition of Amaru reads svairam (�freely�) or �on her own initiative� (yatheccham: Vemabh�p�la), though his translation reads �at the hour of evening,� following the other commentators.
34) Similarly, whereas �nandavardhana reads �never again� (bh�yo maivam), Devadhar offers no manuscript evidence for it, and reads the opposite �Ah, again he acted thus� (bh�yo�py evam). It makes little difference to the suggested sentiment whichever reading we take.
35) Amaruzataka no. 10. As with the other verses, we have offered our own translation (sometimes modifying a previous translation considerably or only slightly) in order to preserve as far as possible, despite all the difficulties posed by grammar, syntax and rhythm, the movement of the original. �Often the lyrics assume a dramatic form which dynamically unfolds the working to a climax of a set of actions and circumstances evolved from one another (nos. 41, 50). Thus these pictures�are not static, though they seem to have arrested and frozen the lovers� thoughts, moods, actions and desires into the span of just four lines� (Devadhar, p.23). For our argument, it is important to recapture the moment, the precise juncture, at which the laughter erupts.
36) [272>] [Sanskrit text]
37) [Sanskrit text] Locana, p.247.
38) [273>] [Sanskrit text] Ad Dhvany�loka III.20, Locana p,406.
39) [Sanskrit text] Locana ad III.24, p.423. It is important to note that Abhinava interprets anu-vRtti, where the prefix favors the sense of (quick) succession, as anu-sandh�na (�ascertainment, determination�) where succession is not necessarily implied. The incompatible transitory state (vyabhic�rin) could just as well be accompanied by or, rather, juxtaposed to a favorable one.
40) [274>] [Sanskrit text]
41) [Sanskrit text]
42) [275>] [Sanskrit text]
43) [277>] [Sanskrit text]
44) [Sanskrit text]
45)
[278>]
Both are described by Vemabh�p�la as m�n�nantara-sambhoga-śṛngārah
/ (ceST�-kRtam: no. 21) sangecch�-r�pam zRng�ri narma
/ where the juxtaposition of positive and negative emotions is clear. It may be
objected that there is nevertheless no h�sa produced
in MammaTa�s citation. It is most likely that the
irate lady turned her neck impatiently only to be confronted by the sheepish
grin of the lover, though this is not explicitly stated. But even without such
a �projection� (�kSepa) of a �support� (�zraya,
as recommended by
46) Actually, Abhinava cites this verse again in chapter 14 of Abhinavabh�rati (II, pp.221-23), taking �dissolving in a gale of laughter� (sah�sa-rabhasa) as referring to the transitory emotion (vyabhic�rin) of h�sa itself, in order to justify, along with many other examples, that the expressed mention (sva-zabda-v�cyat�) of vyabhic�rins is not always a fault, though elsewhere in the Locana had had whole-heartedly endorsed �nandavardhana�s rejection of the same. The passage is long, technical and involved (not to say obscure) and requires close analysis, which we cannot undertake here. The gist seems to be that such explicit mention may be conducive to rasa if kept secondary (guNa-pratipattih) and serving to enhance the action of the determinants (vibh�va) and consequents (anubh�va) in evoking the rasa. In any case, the hāsya in the present verse depends primarily on the combined effect of the determinants and consequents of its opposing constituent emotions, the mention of h�sa serving only secondarily to bring the bisociative pattern into focus.
47) [279>] [Sanskrit text]
48) [280>] The separation in time permits, with telling effect, the juxtaposition of �love-in-union� (sambhoga) and even fully developed sorrow, without contradiction, in instances of �pathos� (karuNa) like that cited ad Dhvany�loka III.20: ayam sa razanotkarS� p�na-stana-vimardanah /�. karah // on the severed hand of the fallen master-swordsman Bh�rizravas in the Mah�bh�rata.
49) Laukika-mithuna-dRz�va s�ms�rika-harSa-krodh�nvayit�patter�. Abhinavabh�rati I, p.35. Amaru himself sometimes does portray glimpses of actual sexual union in vivid physical details, but if these intimate scenes still retain all their appeal to sensitive minds, this is because they only set the stage for the real action, primarily on the emotional plane, upon which his artistry induces the connoisseur to focus his attention. A careful analysis of these verses will no doubt reveal that they owe their excellence precisely due to this displacement of the attention, one of whose common techniques is that proper to hāsya, to be described below.
50) [281>] [Sanskrit text]
51) [282>] [Sanskrit text]
52) [Sanskrit text]
53) [283>] [Sanskrit text] Dhanika illustrates it with M�lavik�gnimitra IV.13, where M�lavik�s fear of the queen intervenes in the midst of her union with the king; there is no touch of hāsya in this example.
54) [284>] [Sanskrit text] Abhinavabh�rati III, p.101 ad XX.59. The interventions of the queen in the �love-drama� Ratn�val�, though most embarrassing for the amorous couple, are full of hāsya for the spectators and, one may suspect, for the vidūṣaka as well.
55) The only example of narma-spanda (-sphu�ja) mentioned by Vemabh�p�la, viz. Amaru no.35, would seem on the surface to contradict the function we have attributed to it, for it portrays the intensity, culminating in a swoon, of actual physical union. But closer examination will reveal that the aesthetic appreciation is focused on the swooning fear of the beloved (and the inner absorption of the lover). Cf. note 49 above.
56) [285>] [Sanskrit text] Dhanika cites here M�lat�m�dhava I.20, Makaranda�s description of M�dhava�s recent but still languishing love for M�lat�; there is no trace of hāsya in this instance of �love-in-separation� (vipralambhah). S. L�vi (Le Th�atre Indien, p.907) mistranslates the definition of narma-sphoTa as �physical signs manifesting a recent passion.�
57) [Sanskrit text]
58) [Sanskrit text]
59) [Sanskrit text]
�[this concludes the Footnotes to chapter 9: �The Role of hāsya in śṛngāra�]