189. ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 211

ABHINAVAGUPTA'S THEORY OF MEANING 211

change was so sudden and touching that the sage could not but be moved by it. He was moved and moved to the very depth of his heart. His basic mental state of grief was aroused. He was so touched that he completely forgot himself and was for the moment completely identi, fied with the helpless sorrowing female. Then spontaneously flowed forth the expression of grief as follows : na bal

"Hunter, may you never get any peace. You have killed one of the pair of Krauncas in the state of in- fatuation with love." Here the following questions may be raised :- 1. How can Valmīki's experience be called 'æsthetic experience'? Because it is due to the facts of nature and not to a work of art, presented in any artistic medium, such as paints, lime, stone, musical sounds or words of language ? 2. If Valmīki identified himself with the female Kraunca, how is it that this identification did not find expression in words such as female Kraunca would have spoken ? Why did he say "you have killed one of the pair of Krauncas" and not "You have killed my mate ?" 3. Are there any texts to show that these objections had been anticipated and answered ? In reply to the first question we may say that the view that æsthetic experience is possible from a work of art and not from nature (Natya eva rasah na loke) refers to actor and spectator only and not to the artist himself. The original experience of an artistic genius, which he represents in a work of art, is not from art itself. It is from a fact of life and nature, which the genius transforms into an artistic fact with his imaginative and other gifts. That this is the view of Abhinavagupta himself, is made clear by his use of expressions "Vibhava"