15. 18 CHAPTER I

18 CHAPTER I

accomplished fact, by means of three types of acting (Vacika, Āngika and Sāttvika) and (ii) because they pervade, inten- sely affect, the1 minds of the spectators. The first meaning is applicable to the word when it is used with a view to instructing the dramatist or the actor. The second meaning is implied when the word is used to explain how the mental states, called "Bhavas", affect the spectator.

The idea may be elaborated as follows : - There are two recognised meanings of "Bhava" in Sanskrit (i) one that causes something to be (Bhavana) and (ii) one that affects (Vasana). In both the cases it has causal sense. Thus, Bhavas (mental states), present in the actor, when represented by means of three types of acting, bring into being, produce, Rasa (relish or relishability) in the stage- presentation. Similarly Bhavas, present in the dramatist, when represented in appropriate language, expressive of various physical movements and changes, in which they find natural expression, produce Rasa. In these cases Bhāva is used in the first sense of one that causes something to be.

But if we take "Bhava" in the second sense of perva- ding, we have to confine ourselves to the spectator's point of view. We know2 that a sweet-smelling thing, like musk, pervades substantially other things, which are in contact with it. It is due to substantial pervasion by musk that cloth, in which it is put, acquires the fragrance of musk. This process, by which a thing, which has no strong perceptible smell of its own, acquires the smell of another, is known as "Bhava" or "Bhavana". Thus, the mental states are called 'Bhavas" from the point of view of the spectator, because they pervade the mind of spectator exactly as does musk the cloth, with which it is in contact.

1. A. Bh., Vol. I. 347. 2. A. Bh., Vol. I. 345.