Reconsideration of Sri Śaṅkuka’s Views on Rasa‑Nispatti

This paper re‑examines the tenth‑century thinker Śrī Śaṅkuka’s explanation of how rasa (aesthetic flavour) arises. Śaṅkuka contested earlier theorists like Lollaṭa by asserting that rasa is not a feeling literally experienced by actors or spectators but an imitated state constructed through performance. In his view the performer assumes the role of a character and signals emotions through gestures and voice; the spectator identifies the actor with the character, imagines the context and infers the underlying sentiments. Rasa therefore emerges through a two‑stage cognitive process – identification followed by inference – rather than through direct contagion. Śaṅkuka further argued that this inferential process differs from logical inference because it is carried by suggestion and artistic convention. The author summarises Abhinavagupta’s critique of Śaṅkuka: Abhinavagupta contended that rasa cannot be reduced to imitation or inference because aesthetic enjoyment transcends the duality of self and other; it is a unique, self‑luminous experience accessible only in the theatrical context. The paper concludes that although Śaṅkuka’s imitation theory emphasises the spectator’s active role, it cannot account for the immediacy and fullness of rasa.

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