Rasa (Hinduism) in Sakuntala

The term of Rasa pertains to a hindu term that explains the concept of grasping an emotional and affecting  sentiment during the experience of a literary, musical or visual work of art. In the sanskrit language, rasa directly translates to “juice, essence, or taste”. According to the Rasa theory of the Natya Shastra, the fundamental objective of a project is to transport the audience to a parallel reality where the individual gets the chance to undergo absolute bliss and question a numerous amount of moral and spiritual concepts of life. There are eight mentioned rasa that evokes a sense of divine and metaphysical emotion in an individual. These consist of love, comic, disgust, fury, compassion, heroic, fear, and amazing.

“When she looked lovingly  at someone or something else, When she moved with heavy hips as though slowed down by love, When she spoke so sharply to the friend who tried to halt her, I read all these as secret signs For me alone— Such is the power that lovers have To make the world their own.” The lines of the king recalling Sakuntala evoked emotion in me, feeling sentiments and questioning what love must feel like for the king. There are many more contributions of rasa in The Recognition of Sakuntala as the actions and dialogue of the characters strive to conjure a visual portrayal of their emotions.

Kalidasa. The Recognition of Sakuntala: A Play In Seven Acts (Oxford World’s Classics) (p. 22). OUP Oxford. Kindle Edition.