Can animal characters be ‘receptacles of rasa’? An overview of the positions held on this issue in classical Indian treatises on poetics

Abstract

In classical Indian aesthetics, the ultimate goal of kāvya (dramatic and literary art) is the arousal of aesthetic experience, called rasa (‘juice’) in Sanskrit. A fundamental role in this process is played by the characters in the works, as some theorists place in them the locus of manifestation of rasa, while others consider them the necessary medium through which rasa is aroused in the spectator/reader. As a rule, Indian theory admits only human characters to this process, sometimes also semi-divine or divine characters; however, there are cases in which it seems clear that the role of receptacle of rasa is played by characters in animal form. This article presents an overview of the views of leading pre-modern Indian theorists on the admissibility of an animal character being the locus of rasa.