1. With reference to the drama “Shakuntala”
Original Writer: Kalidas
Presentation by Ravi Kumar, Hindi Center
University of Ottawa

2. 
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Context of rasa theory
Structure of rasa theory
Rasa theory in Action
“Shakuntala”: Translation and Story Presentation”
Discussion & Conclusion
Audio –medial Clip

3. Rasa theory finds its root in late vedic period in
Atharvaveda ( 200 BC-100 BC)
Bharatmuni (First century AD approx.) gave
major statement in his Book Natyashastra
Natyashatra is Indian treatise on the
performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance
and music

4. Bharatmuni says
“rasa is realization of one’s own
consciousness as colored by emotions”
“rasa and emotions cannot be expressed
directly through words, their essence
being immediate experience; so they can
be only suggested by words”

5. Philosophical side of rasa theory
“rasa school emphasizes on experiential aspect
of literature, the qualitatively new product that
must be directly experienced in order not to
confuse with an aggregate of its natural
constituents. It is unworldly pleasure which
accompanies it as transcendental”

6. Analogy by Bharatmuni
“The unique taste delicacy arises from coming
together of many ingredients each of which has its
particular taste like conditioned response, but the
taste of dish is different and of a higher order than
that of each component”, the later one is
unconditioned response or called cultivated
response.
“Similarly cooking involves providing heat as well
as expertise – thus it not only involves bhavas but
poetic inspiration and poetic art as well”

7. New dimensions
Accepted as the core literary theory by all
major dramatists as well as theoreticians
including Abhinavgupta, Viswanatha, Pt.
Jagananatha and Kapil Kapoor who have
contributed towards a more subtle
understanding of this theory.
Equated with words like – flavour, sentiment,
passion, mood or no translation at all

8. 

The Rasa theory is built around the concept
of bhava which is subdivided into vibhava
sthayibhava
,
sancaribhava
, anubhava
and sattvikabhava
.
Bharata enumerates forty-nine bhavas - it is
a claim about the range of human
experience.

9. Rasa is an emotion experienced by the audience created by the facial
expression or the Bhava of the actor. Our discussion will focus only on
following sthayibhavas
.
RASA
BHAVA
MEANING
COLOUR
Shringar(love)
Rati
Love/delight
Pale Light Green
Hasya (humorous)
Hasa
Laughter
White
Karuna (Pathetic/kindly) Shoka
Sorrow
Grey
Raudra (furious)
Krodh
Anger
Red
Veera (heroic)
Utsaha
Heroism
PaleOrange
Bhayanaka (Fearful)
Bhaya
Fear
Black
Bibhatsa (Odious)
Jugupsa
Hate/disgust
Blue
Adbhuta (Wonderful)
Vismaya
Wonder
Yellow
Shanta (Peaceful)
Shanta
Peace
White

11. Rasa can be experienced individually or collectively
Rasa
Awakened Emotion
Representation of
objects
Impersonal
contemplative mood
Natural situation
Known characters/
artists
Artists actions & their
physical expressions
of emotions

12. Experts
Patrons
Poets
Audience
Familiar
with text/
context
Elders
Singers
Buffons
Level of response depends on aesthetics sense of an individual/a
group determined by their world view of the people. ( Kapil Kapoor
links it to Sanskar and explains cab drives story in Chekov’s writings)

13. text /actors
Cosmic balance
create beauty
text and
context
important
coherence of
bhavas
evoke emotion
dominant
emotions
readers/ audience
subservient
emotions
Cosmic balance
Rasa

14. Kalidasa (Devanāgarī:
"servant of
Kali") was a renowned Classical Sanskrit
writer, widely regarded as the greatest poet
and dramatist in the Sanskrit language.
His plays and poetry are primarily based on
Hindu Puranas and philosophy.
The text of Abhijñānaśākuntalam itself is
adapted version, “re-telling of story from the
epic Mahabharata. A radical departure from
the basic text. Focus: Political
Books:
Abhijñānaśākuntalam, Raghuvaṃśa,
Meghadūta,
Vikramōrvaśīyam,Kumārasambhava

15. 
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As per the available records, the play was the
first Indian drama to be translated into a Western
language, by Sir William Jones in 1789. ( Precolonial India)
Monier – Williams in 1855 ( colonial India)
Kale in 1898 – Colonial India
Chandra Rajan – Post –colonial India
Currently there will be more 200 popular
versions of translation available in different
languages.

16. Sir William Jones (Orientalist from England)
“Great praise for Indian civilization. Equated Kalidas with
Shakespeare”.
Domesticated Shakuntala to suit the sense of morality of his
target readership”. Example:
Heavy hips of shakuntala toned down to elegant limbs.
Passages explaining love between shakuntala and
Dushyant appeared too erotic for his European readers.
The translation sanitized and made appropriate for the
receptor.
Presented his opinion and felt apologetic about explicitness of
the text

17. Sir Monier Williams – Sanskrit Professor at Oxford
Administrative control from East India company transferred to
crown of England. Inspite of great praise for India, Sir Monier
Williams shifted focus towards prevailing attitude of crown
towards India
The subtle romance and elegance of shakuntla is depicted as
rustic shakuntala
She is seen as representative of hindu way of life
Depicts victorian disapproval of sexuality hence expression of
art is manipulated

18. M.R. Kale – Sanskrit Scholar and Grammar expert from India
Appreciates the work of Monier Williams but develops totally a different attitude
towards his version of translation
Applies literal (word–to–word) that makes it very difficult for the English reader
to understand the text as well as the context
He gives detailed analysis of the play in terms of background, life of kalidas,
plots, character and structure but he does not discuss translation strategy
Sanskrit text and its corresponding translation go in parallel
Intended for Indian reader who is familiar with Sanskrit and the culture, appears
to be purely scholarly piece
Text was translated during colonial period and Kale is not aware of post
colonial theories

19. Chandra Rajan - Translator and English expert with connections
in India and Canada
Takes feedback from Indian as well as foreign readers before
publishing
Target readers are from India as well as outside India
Gives lengthy introduction introducing Sanskrit, drama and
Indian traditions
Follows sense for sense – meant for reader not familiar with
Sanskrit tradition
Scholarly too but streamlined to meet the demands of a
receptor culture

20. Sir William Jones
Sir Monier Monier-Williams
The damsel is fatigued, I imagine, by pouring
so much water on the cherished plants.
Her arms, graced with palms like fresh
blossoms, hang carelessly down; her bosom
heaves with strong breathing; and now her
dishevelled locks, from which the string has
dropped, are held by one of her lovely hands.
Suffer me, therefore, thus to discharge the
debt.
Sir Monier Monier-Williams
Spare her this trouble, gentle maiden. The
exertion of watering the shrubs has already
fatigued her.
The water-jar has overtasked the strength
Of her slim arms; her shoulders droop, her
hands
Are ruddy with the glow of quickened pulses;
E'en now her agitated breath imparts
Unwonted tremor to her heaving breast;
The pearly drops that mar the recent bloom
Of the [S']irísha pendent in her ear,
Gather in clustering circles on her cheek;
Loosed is the fillet of her hair; her hand
Restrains the locks that struggle to be free.
Suffer me, then, thus to discharge the debt for
you.

21. Kale
Chandra Rajan
Gentle maiden, I see that this lady is
exhausted just by watering the trees.
For her arms, on account of
lifting up the jar, have their shoulders
drooping, and their palms extremely
reddened; her abnormal breathing, still
causes her breasts to heave; on her face
has gathered a mist of the drops of
perspiration,
obstructing (the play of) the Sirisha
flower placed on her ear; and the knot
of hair being loosened, her
tresses, held (by her) with one hand, are
disheveled. I will, therefore, discharge
her (lit. make her free from
debt).
I see that the lady is exhausted from
watering the trees; as it is,
Her arms droop, languid, her palms
glow
reddened lifting up the watering-jar;
her bosom still heaves as she draws
deep breaths.
The Sirisa blossom adorning her ear,
caught in the sparkling web of beads of
sweat,
ceases its delicate play against her
cheek.
With one hand she restrains her hair,
straying wild,
unruly, released from its knot undone.

22. Bhavas and Rasas at work
In each successive acts and scenes, the characters play their
roles through variety of bhavas, but the dominance of rati,
shoka, utsaha and vismaya makes the play more receptive,
hence at successive acts, well informed audience
experiences heightened emotions and rasa that has
combination of love and karuna. Simultaneously, veera and
adbhut rasas play their subservient role.
Separation of
Shakuntala from his beloved creates
imbalance in the environment influencing the emotional
response of the audience. Her longing for her husband
(shoka-bhava) moves the audience toward karuna rasa. Once
she re-unites with the king Duhsyant, harmonay is restored,
the audience gets heightened delight.

23. Shakuntala is the daughter of sage
Vishwamitra and the beautiful
Apsara, Menaka who left her in an
ashram of rishis.
This tale revolves round the love of
Shakuntala and the mighty king,
Dushyanta.
Originally mentioned in the
Mahabharata, the story of Shakuntala
has been immortalized by way of the
Abhijyanashakuntalam, written by the
great poet and dramatist Kalidasa.

24. Shakuntala's childhood was spent
happily roaming around in the
greenery of the hills, along with her
two closest friends, Anasuya and
Priyamvada.
So gentle and soft-spoken was she,
that even the birds and animals
residing in the forest were drawn to
her.
She grew up to be a strikingly
beautiful young woman, who radiated
youth and elegance, though simply
clad in cotton garments and flowers
for ornaments.
Dominant Bhava: rati
Dominant Rasa: shringar

25. While on hunt in Jangales, King
Dushyanta the most powerful
king of his time meet
Shakuntala and instantly fell in
love with her.
When he expressed his love for
her, he realized that Shakuntala
too reciprocated his feelings.
Dominant Bhava: utsaha, rati
Dominant Rasa: veera, shringar

26. Shakuntka and Dushyanta
secretly got married as per
Gandarv Vivah rules prevelent at
that time. Dushyant spends
overnight in the ashram and then
left for his capital city, promising
Shakunatala that he would return
soon to take her back to his
kingdom, as his lawfully wedded
wife.
Before leaving, Dushyant gave his
precious ring to Shakuntala, as a
sign of his love for her. He also
particularly asked her not to lose
it under any circumstance.
Dominant Bhava: rati
Dominant Rasa: shringar

27. 
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After Dushyanta's departure from the ashram,
Shakuntala spent much time dreaming about him
and was often in her own dream world, neither
eating nor sleeping properly. One day, rishi
Durvasa, who was infamous for his nasty temper,
came to the ashram. Lost in her thoughts,
Shakuntala failed to notice the sage and did not
greet him properly.
Enraged by this insult, Durvasa cursed
Shakuntala, saying that the person of her dreams
would forget about her altogether. As he was
about to depart, one of Shakuntala's friends
explained to him the real reason behind
Shakuntala's distraction and that it was never her
intention to insult the rishi.
Understanding Shakuntala's state and realizing
that she was truly innocent; Durvasa modified his
curse saying that the person who had forgotten
Shakuntala would recall everything if she showed
him a personal token of love that had been given
to her.
Dominant Bhava: krodh, shoka
Dominant Rasa: raudra, karuna

28. 
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Dressed in beautiful silk attire, Shakuntala left
the ashram along with her foster father. On the
way to the kingdom, the ring given to her by
Dushyanta slipped off her finger into the river
without her realizing it.
Meanwhile, a fish swimming in the river
swallowed the ring.
When she reached Dushyanta's court,
unfortunately, the king Dushyanta had lost his
memory, due to Durvasa's curse. He did not
recall anything at all about Shakuntala and their
wedding. Hence, he refused to accept
Shakuntala as his wife.
In a final bid, Shakuntala told him about the
ring he had given her and raised her hand to
show it to him. Only then did she realize that it
had fallen off somewhere and that she had lost
it forever.
Dominant Bhava: rati, shoka
Dominant Rasa: shringar, karuna

29. Utterly humiliated and dejected,
Shakuntala returned to a remote
part the forest, where she, in due
course of time, gave birth to a
beautiful baby boy.
Bharata gradually grew older and
turned out to be a strong,
handsome youth. He used to ride
the wild animals and often made
a sport of opening the mouths of
lions and tigers in order to count
their teeth.
Bharata, as she named him, was
one day destined to become one
of the most powerful icons of
Indian history.
Dominant Bhava:shoka, utsaha
Dominant Rasa: karuna, veera

30. 
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In the meantime, a fisherman
was utterly surprised to find a
royal ring inside the belly of a
fish he had caught.
Recognizing the royal seal, he
took the ring to Dushyanta.
As he held the ring, Dushyanta
immediately recalled his past his love for Shakuntala, the
wonderful time spent with her
and the memories of his lovely
bride.
Dominant Bhava: vismaya, rati
Dominant Rasa:adbhuta, shringar

31. 
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Wasting no more time,
Dushyanta immediately sets out
to find Shakuntala. As he did not
find her at her father's ashram,
he moves deeper into the forest
to find her.
In the forest, he saw a young lad
playing with lion cubs.
Utterly amazed, Dushyanta asked
the boy his name. The boy said
that he was Bharata, the son of
King Dushyanta, the king gets a
pleasant surprise.
Dominant Bhava: utsaha, vismaya,
Dominant Rasa: veera, adbhuta

32. 
Upon Dushyanta’s requests, the boy took him to
Shakuntala.

Dushyanta meets Shakuntala and narrates about his
memory loss.

He asked her to join him again and thus, the family
gets reunited.
Dominant Bhava: utsaha, vismaya shoka, rati, shanta
Dominant Rasa:veera, adbhuta, karuna, shringar,
shanta
Audience gets heightened delight – the mixture of
many rasas

33. 
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Domestication by William Jones
Domestication by Sir Monier Williams
Literal Word to word by Kale
Sense to Sense by Chandra Rajan

34. RK:
Story telling or adaptation with of support of images: Rewriting and trans-creation
Little closer to
Structuralists: jackobson – Intersemiotic - written text translated into different mode Cinema /
drama / music
Functionalists: Katharina Reiss –Communication approach - audio-medial.
Nida’s dynamic equivalance: Meaning of ST with same impact of TL audience
Skopos: Reiss and Vermeer: Based on scope / aim translator decides how to maintain functional
adequacy in intercultural context
Even – Zohar’s polysystem at play but mix of innovatory and conservative is needed
Toury DTS (norms, rules and idiosyncrasies) idiosyncrasies related to behavior characteristics
provide part support as does manipulation school
Bassnett and Lefevere’s idea of cultural turn helps more as it deals with power, ideology,
institution and manipulation. Refraction also fails as Kalidas is already classists, however, the idea
of greater popularity in different culture remain within the context. So is the role of idea of after
life or continued life by Walter Benjamin

35. More closer
hermeneutics of translation ( philosophical approach to translation) by George Steiner as
philosophical as well as intellectual working of translator are at work : first Kalidas as rewriter or
transcreator, later, the other translators from Sanskrit to English) . Thus his four motions:
initiative trust, aggression, incorporation as well as compensation brings us closer to understand
rasa theory. I remain critical to the concept of aggression though.
Where
“rasa is based on conditioned responses, but in itself is something higher: unconditional or
cultivated response.
However, all theories discussed before fail to address
“Realization of Rasa when self looses its egoistic, pragmatic aspect and assumes an
impersonal contemplative attitude – highest modes of being – free from all carving, striving
and external necessity – it is blissful”.
This is one of the most
“Striking Difference between western thoughts and Indian traditions”

36. The answer may be sought in Indian Drama
and Indian Cinema where, a very careful
approach is taken to arouse the feelings of the
viewers and provide heightened experience
through a story based on action, love,
romance, separation and reunion supported by
songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47G2aZ3sl
-c&feature=youtu.be
Hindi Center