Rasa (literary form)

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Rasa (Gujarati : રાસ) or Raso is a certain didactic literary form in Apabhramsa. It is a genre of poetry in Old Gujarati language popular during early period of Gujarati literature. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with Prabandha of medieval literature.

Gujarati language one of the official languages of India, primarily spoken in Gujarat state

Gujarati is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is part of the greater Indo-European language family. Gujarati is descended from Old Gujarati. In India, it is the official language in the state of Gujarat, as well as an official language in the union territories of Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli. As of 2011, Gujarati is the 6th most widely spoken language in India by number of native speakers, spoken by 55.5 million speakers which amounts to about 4.5% of the total Indian population. It is the 26th most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers as of 2007.

The history of Gujarati literature may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers.

Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The prabandhas contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India from 13th century onwards. The prabandhas feature colloquial Sanskrit with vernacular expressions, and contain elements of folklore.

Contents

History

Rasa developed during the period of Gurjar Apbhramsa. It is a period between Hemachandra and Narsinh Mehta. They are mostly written by Jain monks and were performed in Jain temples on certain occasions. [1] Early examples are Updeshrasayan Rasa (1143) by Jinadattasuri, Bharateshwar-Bahubali Raso (1184) by Shilabhadrasuri, Jeevdaya Raso (1200) by Asigu. Sandesa Rasak (15th century) by Abdul Rahman is one example of non-Jain composition. The literary tradition till 19th century. Gajsinh-Raja-no-Rasa (1851) is one late example. [2] [3]

Hemachandra 12th-century Jain scholar, poet, and polymath

Acharya Hemachandra was a Jain scholar, poet, and polymath who wrote on grammar, philosophy, prosody, and contemporary history. Noted as a prodigy by his contemporaries, he gained the title kalikālasarvajña, "the all-knowing of the Kali Yuga".

Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsi Mehta or Narsi Bhagat, was a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat, India, notable as a bhakta, an exponent of Vaishnava poetry. He is especially revered in Gujarati literature, where he is acclaimed as its Adi Kavi. His bhajan Vaishnav Jan To was Mahatma Gandhi's favourite and has become synonymous to him.

Jain temple the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism

A Jain temple is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism.. Derasar is a word used for a Jain temple in Gujarat and southern Rajasthan. Basadi is a Jain shrine or temple in Karnataka. The word is generally used in South India. Its historical use in North India is preserved in the names of the Vimala Vasahi and Luna Vasahi temples of Mount Abu. The Sanskrit word is vasati, it implies an institution including residences of scholars attached to the shrine.

Form

During its earliest form, it was a musical Roopaka (theatrical performance). Vagbhatta describes Rasaka as a soft and vigorous musical Roopaka with a variety of Tala (beat or measure) and Laya (rhythm). Rasaka was played by female dancers. The number of pairs participating can increase up to 64. [3] [1]

There were two types of Rasas; Tala Rasa and Lakuta Rasa. In Tala Rasa the beats of time were matched by claps of hands while in Lakuta Rasa it was matched by clashing of wooden sticks in the hands of performers. So the Rasa was a type of literature intended to performed by pairs of females dancing and singing in a circle. Tala Rasas were mostly played by females while Lakuta Rasas were mostly played by males. The form is somewhat similar to Rasa dance played in Rasa lila . [3] [1] [2] [4]

Rasa lila

The Rass lila or Rass dance is part of the traditional story of Krishna described in Hindu scriptures such as the Bhagavata Purana and literature such as the Gita Govinda, where he dances with Radha and her sakhis. The Indian classical dance of Kathak evolved from the 'Raslila of Braj and Manipuri Classical Dance' (Vrindavana) also known as Natwari Nritya, which was revived in 1960s by the Kathak dancer, Uma Sharma.

As the early Rasas were intended to be performed, they were not lengthy. But over the years, they became lengthy and narrative with elements of story. So the performance aspect may have been diminished. It is doubtful that the Rasas written in 17th and 18th centuries were actually performed. It is most likely that they were only recited. [3] [1]

The Rasas were written in a variety of metres like Doha, Chaupai or Deshi. Rasas were divided into Khanda and different parts were called Bhasha, Thavani, Kadavaka. [3] [1]

In poetry, metre (British) or meter is the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse. Many traditional verse forms prescribe a specific verse metre, or a certain set of metres alternating in a particular order. The study and the actual use of metres and forms of versification are both known as prosody.

Doha is a lyrical verse-format which was extensively used by Indian poets and bards of North India probably since the beginning of the 6th century AD. Dohas of Kabir, Tulsidas, Raskhan, Rahim and the dohas of Nanak called Sakhis are famous. Satasai of Hindi poet, Bihārī, contains many dohas. Dohas are written even now.

A chaupai (चौपाई) is a quatrain verse of Indian poetry, especially medieval Hindi poetry, that uses a metre of four syllables.

They had historical as well as mythological themes. [2] Due to their basic composition meant to be didactic, the early Rasa like the Buddhi Rasa includes only words of advice. In late compositions of 16th to 18th century, they reads heavy and artificial due to incorporation of elements of narration, description, moral instructions and sectarian principles. [3] [1]

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Manbhatt were Brahmin priests of south Gujarat (India) narrating stories called Akhyanas to the accompaniment of music played on copper-made water pitcher or large globular metal pot (man) having a narrow mouth and bloated mid-part, used for beats of rhythmic beating time as required. The manbhatt has been an important fixture in the religious lives of middle-class Gujaratis for several hundred years. Today, this once extremely popular art of story-telling is almost extinct.

Fagu, also spelled Phagu, is a genre of poetry in Old Gujarati language popular during early period of Gujarati literature.

Old Gujarati form of the Gujarati language before the 16th century

Old Gujarātī, the ancestor of modern Gujarati and Rajasthani, was spoken by the Gurjars, who were residing and ruling in Gujarat, Punjab, Rajputana and central India. The language was used as literary language as early as the 12th century. Texts of this era display characteristic Gujarati features such as direct/oblique noun forms, postpositions, and auxiliary verbs. It had three genders, as Gujarati does today, and by around the time of 1300 CE, a fairly standardized form of this language emerged. While generally known as Old Gujarati, some scholars prefer the name of Old Western Rajasthani, based on the argument that Gujarati and Rajasthani were not yet distinct. Factoring into this preference was the belief that modern Rajasthani sporadically expressed a neuter gender, based on the incorrect conclusion that the [ũ] that came to be pronounced in some areas for masculine [o] after a nasal consonant was analogous to Gujarati's neuter [ũ]. A formal grammar of the precursor to this language, Prakrita Vyakarana, was written by Jain monk and eminent scholar Hemachandra Suri in the reign of Chaulukya king Jayasimha Siddharaja of Anhilwara (Patan).

Jinaharsha was a Jain ascetic poet who lived in 17th and 18th century.

Udayaratna was a Jain monk and one of the leading Gujarati poet of 17th-18th century. He was a disciple of Shivaratna of Tapa Gaccha of Svetambara Jainism.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Jhaveri, Mansukhlal (1978). History of Gujarati Literature. Sahitya Akademi. p. 242. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20.
  2. 1 2 3 Sujit Mukherjee (1998). A Dictionary of Indian Literature. Orient Blackswan. p. 327. ISBN   978-81-250-1453-9.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Shah, Parul (31 August 1983). "5". The rasa dance of Gujarata (Ph.D.). 1. Department of Dance, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. pp. 124–156. hdl:10603/59446.
  4. ↑ Sheldon Pollock (19 May 2003). Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia. University of California Press. p. 571. ISBN   978-0-520-22821-4.
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