Abhinaya and rasa theory

Four kinds of abhinaya

Abhinaya means "carrying the meaning to the audience". The Natya Shastra names four kinds:

• Angika abhinaya: expression through the body: limbs (anga), smaller limbs (pratyanga) and features of the face (upanga), including hand gestures, eye and eyebrow movements.
• Vachika abhinaya: expression through words: speech, song, recitation and voice.
• Aharya abhinaya: expression through external means: costume, make-up, ornaments, masks and stage properties.
• Sattvika abhinaya: expression of inner feeling through involuntary physical states, such as tears, trembling, sweating, change of colour or horripilation. There are eight sattvika bhavas.

Rasa theory

Rasa is the aesthetic pleasure or "taste" that the spectator experiences. Bharata's rasa-sutra says: rasa arises from the combination of vibhava, anubhava and vyabhichari (sanchari) bhava.

• Sthayi bhava: the lasting, dominant emotion that becomes rasa (for example rati, love).
• Vibhava: the cause or stimulus. Alambana vibhava is the person or object on which the emotion rests; uddipana vibhava is the setting that excites it (moonlight, a garden).
• Anubhava: the outward signs that follow the emotion, such as a glance or a smile.
• Sanchari or vyabhichari bhava: passing, temporary feelings that support the main emotion; Bharata lists 33.

Navarasa and their sthayi bhavas

Shringara (rati), hasya (hasa), karuna (shoka), raudra (krodha), veera (utsaha), bhayanaka (bhaya), bibhatsa (jugupsa), adbhuta (vismaya) and shanta (shama or nirveda). Bharata described eight rasas; shanta was accepted as the ninth by later thinkers.

Key points

• Angika = body; vachika = speech; aharya = costume; sattvika = inner states.
• Rasa = vibhava + anubhava + vyabhichari bhava.
• 8 sthayi bhavas in Bharata, 33 vyabhichari bhavas, 8 sattvika bhavas.
• Shanta rasa was added later to make nine.

Common mistakes

• Treating aharya as facial expression; it means costume and make-up.
• Mixing sthayi pairs: karuna = shoka, bibhatsa = jugupsa, adbhuta = vismaya.