Aesthetic Distancing In Sanskrit Drama
Summary
Aesthetic distancing in Sanskrit drama examines the theoretical and practical separation between art and life in Sanskrit theatrical traditions. B.K. Thakkar contrasts Patanjali’s view of words as phonological representations of objects with the Parvamimamsa school’s emphasis on abstracted commonness, citing Vedic statements like *na brahmapam hanyat* to argue for words’ universal referentiality. This dichotomy extends to literature’s relationship with reality, where Patanjali’s framework implies direct correspondence between words and objects, while Parvamimamsa introduces abstraction, creating initial distancing. Bharata’s *Natyasastra* addresses this tension by stylizing drama (*Kridaniyakam*, *bhavanukirtanam*) to prevent misinterpretation as real-life experience, exemplified by demons attacking a performance until enlightened to its artistic nature. Stylized gestures, costumes, and the use of *marvellous sentiment* (e.g., *deus ex machina*) further distance art from life by negating responsibility and conceptualizing fate. Unlike Western tragedies (e.g., Oedipus, Shakespeare), Sanskrit drama avoids moral tension or character agency, instead resolving conflicts through divine intervention that absolves agents of consequences. Western drama relies on thematic enunciation and character consciousness, whereas Sanskrit drama prioritizes aesthetic closure over moral or psychological realism. Thakkar highlights how these mechanisms—stylization, abstraction, and fate—systematically distance art from life, ensuring aesthetic experience remains distinct and non-judgmental.
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Conclusion
This analysis of aesthetic distancing in Sanskrit drama reveals a fundamental tension between mimetic representation and artistic abstraction, highlighting the necessity of formal techniques to prevent misinterpretation of art as reality. By examining Patanjali’s and Parvamimamsa’s divergent theories of language, the study underscores how Sanskrit poetics implicitly addresses the triadic relationship between words, objects, and literary representation. The exploration of Bharata’s dramatic framework demonstrates that stylization—through gestures, costumes, and the resolution in the marvelous sentiment (bhavanukirtanam)—serves as a deliberate mechanism to create conceptual and perceptual distance, safeguarding art from being conflated with life. This dual distancing, both immediate (through performance conventions) and abstract (through emotional transcendence), emerges as a critical aesthetic strategy, ensuring the integrity of artistic experience while engaging audiences intellectually and emotionally. The paper thus positions Sanskrit drama as a sophisticated interplay of mimesis and abstraction, reflecting a profound understanding of art’s role in mediating, rather than replicating, reality.