In the chapter on Rasa, the normative Sanskrit text the Natya Shastra makes the following points: that there is no limit to the infinite shades of human emotion (bhava) and to the types of artistic treatment of them, and yet there is a canonical recognition of eight rasas (what may be translated as affects); these rasas may be further subdivided into derivations and relations between these eight – of particular interest to us is the kinship presumed between karuna and raudra (terror/rage); there is a general pre-eminence of sringara (erotic/romantic); that these affects are not abstractable but are intrinsically related to variables such as the types of acting, the music (vocal and instrumental) and dance played, and the shape (oblong, square or triangle) of the stage and theatre.
For the Natya Shastra, rasa is tangible, and the favored analogy is the palpable satisfaction of a well-cooked meal. The meal in its entirety includes the haptic raptures of delight of the spectator – be it the spectator in the diegetic space, or the spectator in the audience. Likewise, in the chapter on plot, the text makes the following points: the plot is imaged as a set of sandhi (joints), and the action of the hero is sequenced…
Source: How ‘Uttara Rama Charita’, ‘Adhyatma Ramayana’, ‘Ramcharitmanas’ offer a new look at Rama’s story
