The document discusses classical Indian concepts of rasa (aesthetic experience or flavor) and pratibha (intuitive understanding). It examines passages from Bhartṛhari and Kalidasa that reference pratibha arising from comprehending the meaning of words and sentences. Pratibha is described as an ineffable flash of insight that co-originates from logically understanding linguistic meaning. Later sections discuss Abhinavagupta's views on pratibha and rasa, including how rasa is born from an intuitive sight or pratibha during artistic experiences.

1. ENLIGHTENING FLAVOR
Classical Indian Concepts in Art and Rasa

2. BHARTṚHARI
The Creative Flash of Understanding

3. The meaning of the
sentence as a flash of
insight (pratibha) is
described—when the word-
meanings in a sentence are
detached (from out of the
sentence) and (thus)
understood, a different
flash of insight is produced
(out of it) T
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
143
Glancing at the amaranth’s glossing sprays
glowing in exquisite loveliness, just-revealed,
–loveliness that rightly belongs to the beloved’s
face–
how can a sensitive heart not flutter in pain
stung by proud Love’s flying arrows, my love?
—Kalidasa, The Gathering of the Seasons
(Rtusamharam), 18

4. That (flash of insight)
presented by the word-
meanings is described as
the meaning of the
sentence. It is by no means
describable to others in
such terms as "it is like this"
Having been formed from
the function of one's inner
self, its nature is not known
even to the person.
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
144
[Glancing at ((the amaranth’s glossing sprays)
glowing in exquisite loveliness)]

5. It effects the fusion of the
(individual) word-meanings,
without itself being logically
thought out, and it is
comprehended as
seemingly taking the form
of the collection (of the
word-meanings).
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
145
She will come into your view absorbed
in the day’s rites of worship or drawing my
likeness
imagined wasted by separation
or asking the melodious songster in the cage,
sweet one, do you remember our lord?
You were a favorite with him.
—Kalidasa, The Cloud Messenger
(Meghadutam), 84

6. or asking the melodious
songster in the cage,
sweet one, do you remember
our lord?
You were a favorite with him.
In the matter of the
knowledge of what to do,
no one transgresses it (i e
this flash of insight) which
is either produced directly
from speech or is a result of
recollection. The whole
world looks upon it as
authority (for their conduct )
Even in animals the
knowledge of the beginning
of behavior dawns by virtue
of it.
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
146-7

7. And this (flash of insight)
arises from precepts
accompanied by
recollection The precept is
qualified by either proximity
or distance (That is, it may
be of the near past, or of
ancient times).
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
151-4
The impassioned loverhaving passed some
months
on that hill, parted from her unsupported
—the golden armlet slipping down
to lay bare his wasted forearm—
saw on Asadha’s most auspicious day
a cloud embracing the crest of a hill,
strikingly shaped like a sportive elephant
bent down to butt a river bank
—Kalidasa, The Cloud Messenger
(Meghadutam) 2

8. That flash of insight is
considered to be of six
lands, as obtained (1 ) by
nature (2) by action (3) by
practice (4) by meditation
(5) by invisible causes and
(6) as handed down by the
wise—(similarly) although a
word functions as denoting
an object, which is
associated with shape,
color and parts, it does not
denote these (as part of its
meaning)
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
151-4
a cloud embracing the crest of a hill,
strikingly shaped like a sportive elephant
bent down to butt a river bank

9. —that through the
instrumentality of the
scent of a jasmine, or of a
lotus flower, the
accompanying which are
invariably associated with
the scent, are also
apprehended. The word
("water") functions as
denoting water whether it
is a drop or a mass—
without reference to
attributes, number,
quantity and location
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
157-8
Having rested, go on, sprinkling with fresh
raindrops
clusters of jasmine-buds in the gardens by
woodland streams,
enjoying a fleeting togetherness
as your gift of shade touches
the faces of flower gathering maidens, who
each time they wipe the sweat off their cheeks,
bruise
the wilting lotuses hung at their ears
—Kalidasa, The Cloud Messenger (Meghadutam)
28

10. The burnt man understands
burning in a certain way
from his (direct) contact
with fire, but the meaning
burning is conveyed by the
word in a different way. The
meaning of the sentence is
grasped as of the nature of
a synthesis, when the
individual word-meanings
are in mutual association.
Its essential nature is not
presented (at the individual
word-meanings)
A preception is not identical
with its actual constituents
(the sense-data), and
similarly that formless one
(the meaning of the
sentence) is understood m
the form of the synthesis of
the word-meanings
–Bhartṛhari Vākyapadīya
418-22

11. BHARTṚHARI—PRATIBHĀ
Pratibhā is an ineffable intuitive understanding
co-originating from the logico-linguistic
apprehension of the meaning of a thing.

12. REFLECTIONS
What aesthetic terms would you use to describe Swades or the music in
the film?
Where would Bharata place Swades in his list of rasa? Where would
you? What inflections (other rasas) might Bharata make on the primary
rasa? You?
Is Swades more heroic or marvelous, in Bharata’s senses of the terms?
What is the relation between rasa and pratibha? How do each apply (or
not) to Gowariker and his film? To your experience of the film?
Compare and contrast the film scene in Swades with the drama scene.
Consider how to describe them in terms of pratibha.

13. ABHINAVAGUPTA
A Flash of Insight for Art

14. Abhinanavagupta on Rasa and Prathiba
n whose heart possesses a spotless power of intuition (pratibhana

15. Abhinanavagupta on Poetic Sight
ribing it). Nor is actual eyesight (wholly intended) and subservient

18. The Birth of a Rasa

19. The Birth of a Rasa