[Buddha-l] Fw: Esthetics: Natyashastra rasa and Buddhism, Part 1. ctd.

[jkirk]

Two years ago I was wrestling on this list with the question of aesthetics 
in Buddhism vis a vis the Pali suttas. Aside from a strong rejection of the 
Indian rasa theory by a monk (not included here) in a text much later than 
these, this array from the Theragatha seemed of interest.
Joanna
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> Part 1--continued
>
>
>
> Drawing again on the Theragatha, these verses also reveal a poetics of a
> nature/culture contrasted esthetic similar to Talaputa's:
>
>
>
> http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/sutta/khuddaka/theragatha/thag18.html
>
>
>
> From Theragatha, Chapter XVIII -- The Forties--trans. Thanissaro Bhikkhu
>
> Maha Kassapa--selected verses:
>
>
>
> ...
>
> Spread with garlands of vines,
>
> places delighting the mind,
>
> resounding with elephants,
>
> appealing:
>
>        those rocky crags
>
>        refresh me.
>
>
>
> [Kassapa here hints at human-crafted garlands in opposition to natural 
> ones
> formed by wild vines. Delight ("delighting the mind") is cited as a
> sentiment that could be viewed as mudita (Mudita [pp. of mud, modati]
> pleased, glad, satisfied --Pali dictionary online)
>
> not precisely akin to a natya rasa--for reasons noted above.
>
>
>
> The color of blue-dark clouds, glistening,
>
> cooled with the waters
>
> of clear-flowing streams
>
> covered with ladybugs:
>
>        those rocky crags
>
>        refresh me.......
>
>
>
> [He delights in the beauty of closely observed nature here, including even
> ladybugs, as a setting for jhana, not as a "set" in the theatrical natya
> sense.]
>
>
>
> Like the peaks of blue-dark clouds,
>
> like excellent peaked-roof buildings,
>
> resounding with tuskers,
>
> appealing:
>
>        those rocky crags
>
>        refresh me......
>
>
>
> [Here a hint of civilisational value appears in clouds compared to
> "peaked-roof buildings," but those of nature are preferred. ]
>
>
>
> Flax-flower blue, like the sky
>
> covered over with clouds;
>
> filled with flocks
>
> of various birds:
>
>        those rocky crags
>
>        refresh me.
>
>
>
> [He takes pleasure here in colors: the color qualities of the sky and of
> various birds...blue being the only cited color, a cool color as 
> contrasted
> with red, color of lust and fertility.]
>
> ...
>
>    Uncrowded by householders,
>
>    frequented by herds of deer.........
>
>
>
> [Plainly stated desirable absence of householders, contrasted to herds of
> deer
>
> (as opposed to crowds of men?)]
>
>
>
> With clear waters & massive boulders,
>
> frequented by monkeys & deer,
>
> covered with moss &
>
>    water weeds:
>
>        those rocky crags
>
>        refresh me.
>
>
>
> [Delighting here in the nature features usually scorned by humans: 
> monkeys,
> water weeds, moss...]
>
>
>
> There is no such pleasure for me
>
> in the music of a five-piece band
>
> as there is when my mind
>
>    is at one,
>
> seeing the Dhamma
>
>        aright.
>
>
>
> [and finally the rejection of the conventional natya esthetic is clearly
>
> stated here as "no such pleasure for me in the music of a five-piece 
> band."
>
> (It would be interesting to know what Pali words got translated in this
> vigorous
>
> way by Thanissaro.) Mahakassapa has arrived at the shanta rasa, peace and
> calm, quiescence, which is not even considered a proper rasa by some 
> because
> it is not re-presented in natya action. However, see Abhinavagupta, 
> later.]
>
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>