ABHINA¥AGUPTA~S CONCEPTION OF HUMOUR...ABHINA¥AGUPTA~S CONCEPTION OF HUMOUR Its resonances in...
Transcript of ABHINA¥AGUPTA~S CONCEPTION OF HUMOUR...ABHINA¥AGUPTA~S CONCEPTION OF HUMOUR Its resonances in...
ABHINAyenAGUPTA~S CONCEPTION OF HUMOUR
Its resonances in Sanskrit Drama Poetry Hindu mythology and spiritual practice
By
D Sunt haralingam
qhfSis subYlitt~J l or tk
~ g)~gr~~ 0 DOCTOR OF PH ILOSOPHY
IN
PHI LOSOPH Y
[Jnder tlte Supervision of
PROF A K CH ATTERJEE
DEPARTMENT OF PHILOSOPHY BANARAS HI D UNIVERSITY
Yay 1983 Enrolment No 11533
- gt 1 middot6 ~ p v
shy shy
ar~~a J ~ rv~~rmiddotiy
ABUINAVAGUPTAS CONCEPTIOU OJ HttMraquoltftl ~2ir~ RESONANCES IN SANSKRIT DRAHA ilOETR( tUNDU H~THOlaOGY AND
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
(ABSTRACT)
bull ThJs contribution to the psycholo9Y and 3Ociology of humour
aDd laughter and to tha aesthetics of hasYa is primarily conceiwd
of as a stepping-stone to a total understanding of the function and
significance of the middotyidu~ who though the prime focus of haSYa
on the Sa1skrit stage has alwa1s been criticized for not serving
this function aaequ ate ly bull His stereotyped traits in all the
Classical play s and the inexplicable and seemingly unconnected
prescriptions laid down by the dramaturgists with regard to him
point insistently to some other function than th-a comic one and
this has led Prof F BJ ltUiper in his maanum oeus to assert that
his original role was a non-comic one rooted in certain fundamental
metaPhysical ana mythological representations of Vedic cosmogony
Though Kuiper has brought forth cogerE arguments for identifying
him with Vaxuna there ace so many other features that tni idoantity i3 (adrnittelllY) unaole to aCoount for and whiCh moreover tend to
ass~late ~r~ vidusectaka to other real or symbolic figures (Brahma
- i-purohita or prallman-prlest brahmacarin Vrskapi I asupat a Ganesa - bull etc) outside the tneatre some of whom are characterized by comic
elements absentia VaruQa The problerr befCre me was to isolate
thE central non-comic function that would not only explain the
imbrication of all these disparate identities in the vidii~~ but
I
2
lt
also accomrnodate his haSYA aspect so that the OD does not negate the
other Abhinava s attr ibution of the mere semblance of hisya
(lJiaylbaaa) to the yidusak whose hAsect1a function he nowhere deniesbull
convinced me I was OIl the ri9ht track
In delving into the complex symbolism of the vidusaka more bull
and more of his features show themselves to refer back directly or
indirectly to a central function of bein9 the institutionalized
tranS9ressor of brahminical socio-reli9ious norms and taboos
bull especially founded on the pureimpure opposition which sustains the
Hindu socio-reli9ioLls hierarchy The vidusaka is a comic figure
preCisely because he re-enacts this esoteric transgressive function
in a purely symbolic mode before an exoteric audience in the public
SOCial setting of the Sanskrit drama where these taboos still blve
all their binding force Further research revealed that this transshy
gressive dimension retained and elaboratea in the latez T antr ic
systems (like the Kaularrika)J is rooted in Vedic religion where
it is integrated harmoniously into a total system that finds
expression in cosmogony ritual (esp the pre-classical sacrificial
system centexeo on tr~ impure gIka+ta as a basic type comprisingbull
other figures lika the granmn-gijlOhilK5ii brQhmacarin etc ) society
(saturnalia) and other planes as well and Chat these other aspects
of the system have be~n deliberately retained in the symbolism of
the yiduiuka and determine his relation and interaction with the
hero anCi other characters Mathodologically our approach presupposes
that Hindu culture and especially its symbolic universe forms a total
coherent system that has been oerived tbro-lQl1 a series of socioshy
religious transformations from an e~ally coherent Vedic system of
religious representations All the Indologists whose works we have
reliea upon for our- general frameworJ~ (Kuiper Durnezil Heestennan
RerC)ltl Dumont diarcieau) whatever their individual differences
share this totalizin O1lC synthe sizing approach The relation
betvreen the nayaKa (hero) ana the vid~~aka especially seems to
reflect tnat between the Yajamana (or king) aaa Lhe brahmcill (or
2urohita) ti1e latcer in fact repre senting a1d COIDLJr isingthe
dik~itg-aspect of tne YSiarnana s own gter sonalitj intne ritual drama
of tnG pre-classiCal sacr ifice 11any otaeurolltlise inexgtlicable fa aturE s
of -he yidUsarg become inc~lli~ible in terms of cnecransposition of this monel intQtde ae Stfllt cic anu liter ary aecerminatigtus )f the
Classical (llama altlail a socio-cltllt-lral n~ilel governed y the
refonneci classical saC iiice il1lere ltilis impure )01lt had been
All oltline of oUr ltederaldorJ(ing
hYi-gt0thesis on trleuro yiC1l~i5a a~lCl tne wanner in INhicn it is Capable
of synthesizinJ on tne Oasis of nis tran39res~3ive dibension the
mutuallj 2xclusiv02 Hr)(ltels gtro)oseuoJ earliel senolar snip bas been
given in tne Int100Uction Ii is als) shovo 1i1at llis theory which
insists on the mity of coacegttion underly iL19 the viQU~aka and his
specificity to tne sympoundlOlic univer3E of radian CraaiCion is nevershy
tnelBss ill i1armony with cne ethLlolo-Jjgtt h comic transgressive
function 01 elleuro ritual clovln as a universal gthenoJuenon (lakarius)
1vhich resupposes a tt1Fory of transgression being the founuation
of tne original Sacred (Caillois r3ataille lJaKarius)
In this thesis Vie are only interestea in demonstrating that
there is a bisociative theory 01 nasia and nasa) implicit in
Abhinavagupta s sCat~ered 9r)I1oJacements on the same and exploring
how precisely this stJltlctur6 gtermits hasYa to effectively vehicle a
non-comic function in the Y1dusalsa and how to some extent evenbull
this hiSVa function itself comes to signify something that is
independent of it Thus wherevet incursions are made into various
aspects of the Vidufakas symbolic behaviour it is primarily with
the view of determining hoW it has been adjusted and accommodated
to better serve his hasYa-function One of our aims here is to
question the validity of a purely PSYChological approach to the
problem of humour and laughter drawing inspiration from primarily
biologiCal models based on analyses in terms of functionnorm or at
most from sociologizing models based on analyses in terms of
conflictrule Our intention is to shift the emphasis to a linguisshy
tic mooel that though derived from and accommodating the above
perspectives is based primarily on analyses in terms of significashy
tionsystem Laughter is the pleasurable dischaJge of superfluous
energies OCCasioned by the mutual neutralization of two opposing
simllltaneous impressions (cognitive emotional andor sensory-motor)
of a single stimulUS our method is to show how tnis basic blsocishy
tive structure rooted in the physiology and functioning as a safetyshy
valve for superfluous eneqjjies in the organism inevitably lends
itself--by its very structure--to social exploitation of laughter
as a censure-meChanism against transgressions of SOCia-religious
norms This situation is exploited in inverse by an esoteriC
perspective valorizing taboo-violation to the point that it
preseribes a generalized comic behaviour (as in the PaLpata ascetic)
even independently of sjecific modes of transgression 1i1ltew-
since laughter as an uncontrolled natural waste of energ s is
frowned upon by cultural norms that recommend its repression the
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taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
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naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
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4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
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the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
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within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
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as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
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COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
- gt 1 middot6 ~ p v
shy shy
ar~~a J ~ rv~~rmiddotiy
ABUINAVAGUPTAS CONCEPTIOU OJ HttMraquoltftl ~2ir~ RESONANCES IN SANSKRIT DRAHA ilOETR( tUNDU H~THOlaOGY AND
SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
(ABSTRACT)
bull ThJs contribution to the psycholo9Y and 3Ociology of humour
aDd laughter and to tha aesthetics of hasYa is primarily conceiwd
of as a stepping-stone to a total understanding of the function and
significance of the middotyidu~ who though the prime focus of haSYa
on the Sa1skrit stage has alwa1s been criticized for not serving
this function aaequ ate ly bull His stereotyped traits in all the
Classical play s and the inexplicable and seemingly unconnected
prescriptions laid down by the dramaturgists with regard to him
point insistently to some other function than th-a comic one and
this has led Prof F BJ ltUiper in his maanum oeus to assert that
his original role was a non-comic one rooted in certain fundamental
metaPhysical ana mythological representations of Vedic cosmogony
Though Kuiper has brought forth cogerE arguments for identifying
him with Vaxuna there ace so many other features that tni idoantity i3 (adrnittelllY) unaole to aCoount for and whiCh moreover tend to
ass~late ~r~ vidusectaka to other real or symbolic figures (Brahma
- i-purohita or prallman-prlest brahmacarin Vrskapi I asupat a Ganesa - bull etc) outside the tneatre some of whom are characterized by comic
elements absentia VaruQa The problerr befCre me was to isolate
thE central non-comic function that would not only explain the
imbrication of all these disparate identities in the vidii~~ but
I
2
lt
also accomrnodate his haSYA aspect so that the OD does not negate the
other Abhinava s attr ibution of the mere semblance of hisya
(lJiaylbaaa) to the yidusak whose hAsect1a function he nowhere deniesbull
convinced me I was OIl the ri9ht track
In delving into the complex symbolism of the vidusaka more bull
and more of his features show themselves to refer back directly or
indirectly to a central function of bein9 the institutionalized
tranS9ressor of brahminical socio-reli9ious norms and taboos
bull especially founded on the pureimpure opposition which sustains the
Hindu socio-reli9ioLls hierarchy The vidusaka is a comic figure
preCisely because he re-enacts this esoteric transgressive function
in a purely symbolic mode before an exoteric audience in the public
SOCial setting of the Sanskrit drama where these taboos still blve
all their binding force Further research revealed that this transshy
gressive dimension retained and elaboratea in the latez T antr ic
systems (like the Kaularrika)J is rooted in Vedic religion where
it is integrated harmoniously into a total system that finds
expression in cosmogony ritual (esp the pre-classical sacrificial
system centexeo on tr~ impure gIka+ta as a basic type comprisingbull
other figures lika the granmn-gijlOhilK5ii brQhmacarin etc ) society
(saturnalia) and other planes as well and Chat these other aspects
of the system have be~n deliberately retained in the symbolism of
the yiduiuka and determine his relation and interaction with the
hero anCi other characters Mathodologically our approach presupposes
that Hindu culture and especially its symbolic universe forms a total
coherent system that has been oerived tbro-lQl1 a series of socioshy
religious transformations from an e~ally coherent Vedic system of
religious representations All the Indologists whose works we have
reliea upon for our- general frameworJ~ (Kuiper Durnezil Heestennan
RerC)ltl Dumont diarcieau) whatever their individual differences
share this totalizin O1lC synthe sizing approach The relation
betvreen the nayaKa (hero) ana the vid~~aka especially seems to
reflect tnat between the Yajamana (or king) aaa Lhe brahmcill (or
2urohita) ti1e latcer in fact repre senting a1d COIDLJr isingthe
dik~itg-aspect of tne YSiarnana s own gter sonalitj intne ritual drama
of tnG pre-classiCal sacr ifice 11any otaeurolltlise inexgtlicable fa aturE s
of -he yidUsarg become inc~lli~ible in terms of cnecransposition of this monel intQtde ae Stfllt cic anu liter ary aecerminatigtus )f the
Classical (llama altlail a socio-cltllt-lral n~ilel governed y the
refonneci classical saC iiice il1lere ltilis impure )01lt had been
All oltline of oUr ltederaldorJ(ing
hYi-gt0thesis on trleuro yiC1l~i5a a~lCl tne wanner in INhicn it is Capable
of synthesizinJ on tne Oasis of nis tran39res~3ive dibension the
mutuallj 2xclusiv02 Hr)(ltels gtro)oseuoJ earliel senolar snip bas been
given in tne Int100Uction Ii is als) shovo 1i1at llis theory which
insists on the mity of coacegttion underly iL19 the viQU~aka and his
specificity to tne sympoundlOlic univer3E of radian CraaiCion is nevershy
tnelBss ill i1armony with cne ethLlolo-Jjgtt h comic transgressive
function 01 elleuro ritual clovln as a universal gthenoJuenon (lakarius)
1vhich resupposes a tt1Fory of transgression being the founuation
of tne original Sacred (Caillois r3ataille lJaKarius)
In this thesis Vie are only interestea in demonstrating that
there is a bisociative theory 01 nasia and nasa) implicit in
Abhinavagupta s sCat~ered 9r)I1oJacements on the same and exploring
how precisely this stJltlctur6 gtermits hasYa to effectively vehicle a
non-comic function in the Y1dusalsa and how to some extent evenbull
this hiSVa function itself comes to signify something that is
independent of it Thus wherevet incursions are made into various
aspects of the Vidufakas symbolic behaviour it is primarily with
the view of determining hoW it has been adjusted and accommodated
to better serve his hasYa-function One of our aims here is to
question the validity of a purely PSYChological approach to the
problem of humour and laughter drawing inspiration from primarily
biologiCal models based on analyses in terms of functionnorm or at
most from sociologizing models based on analyses in terms of
conflictrule Our intention is to shift the emphasis to a linguisshy
tic mooel that though derived from and accommodating the above
perspectives is based primarily on analyses in terms of significashy
tionsystem Laughter is the pleasurable dischaJge of superfluous
energies OCCasioned by the mutual neutralization of two opposing
simllltaneous impressions (cognitive emotional andor sensory-motor)
of a single stimulUS our method is to show how tnis basic blsocishy
tive structure rooted in the physiology and functioning as a safetyshy
valve for superfluous eneqjjies in the organism inevitably lends
itself--by its very structure--to social exploitation of laughter
as a censure-meChanism against transgressions of SOCia-religious
norms This situation is exploited in inverse by an esoteriC
perspective valorizing taboo-violation to the point that it
preseribes a generalized comic behaviour (as in the PaLpata ascetic)
even independently of sjecific modes of transgression 1i1ltew-
since laughter as an uncontrolled natural waste of energ s is
frowned upon by cultural norms that recommend its repression the
5
taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
2
lt
also accomrnodate his haSYA aspect so that the OD does not negate the
other Abhinava s attr ibution of the mere semblance of hisya
(lJiaylbaaa) to the yidusak whose hAsect1a function he nowhere deniesbull
convinced me I was OIl the ri9ht track
In delving into the complex symbolism of the vidusaka more bull
and more of his features show themselves to refer back directly or
indirectly to a central function of bein9 the institutionalized
tranS9ressor of brahminical socio-reli9ious norms and taboos
bull especially founded on the pureimpure opposition which sustains the
Hindu socio-reli9ioLls hierarchy The vidusaka is a comic figure
preCisely because he re-enacts this esoteric transgressive function
in a purely symbolic mode before an exoteric audience in the public
SOCial setting of the Sanskrit drama where these taboos still blve
all their binding force Further research revealed that this transshy
gressive dimension retained and elaboratea in the latez T antr ic
systems (like the Kaularrika)J is rooted in Vedic religion where
it is integrated harmoniously into a total system that finds
expression in cosmogony ritual (esp the pre-classical sacrificial
system centexeo on tr~ impure gIka+ta as a basic type comprisingbull
other figures lika the granmn-gijlOhilK5ii brQhmacarin etc ) society
(saturnalia) and other planes as well and Chat these other aspects
of the system have be~n deliberately retained in the symbolism of
the yiduiuka and determine his relation and interaction with the
hero anCi other characters Mathodologically our approach presupposes
that Hindu culture and especially its symbolic universe forms a total
coherent system that has been oerived tbro-lQl1 a series of socioshy
religious transformations from an e~ally coherent Vedic system of
religious representations All the Indologists whose works we have
reliea upon for our- general frameworJ~ (Kuiper Durnezil Heestennan
RerC)ltl Dumont diarcieau) whatever their individual differences
share this totalizin O1lC synthe sizing approach The relation
betvreen the nayaKa (hero) ana the vid~~aka especially seems to
reflect tnat between the Yajamana (or king) aaa Lhe brahmcill (or
2urohita) ti1e latcer in fact repre senting a1d COIDLJr isingthe
dik~itg-aspect of tne YSiarnana s own gter sonalitj intne ritual drama
of tnG pre-classiCal sacr ifice 11any otaeurolltlise inexgtlicable fa aturE s
of -he yidUsarg become inc~lli~ible in terms of cnecransposition of this monel intQtde ae Stfllt cic anu liter ary aecerminatigtus )f the
Classical (llama altlail a socio-cltllt-lral n~ilel governed y the
refonneci classical saC iiice il1lere ltilis impure )01lt had been
All oltline of oUr ltederaldorJ(ing
hYi-gt0thesis on trleuro yiC1l~i5a a~lCl tne wanner in INhicn it is Capable
of synthesizinJ on tne Oasis of nis tran39res~3ive dibension the
mutuallj 2xclusiv02 Hr)(ltels gtro)oseuoJ earliel senolar snip bas been
given in tne Int100Uction Ii is als) shovo 1i1at llis theory which
insists on the mity of coacegttion underly iL19 the viQU~aka and his
specificity to tne sympoundlOlic univer3E of radian CraaiCion is nevershy
tnelBss ill i1armony with cne ethLlolo-Jjgtt h comic transgressive
function 01 elleuro ritual clovln as a universal gthenoJuenon (lakarius)
1vhich resupposes a tt1Fory of transgression being the founuation
of tne original Sacred (Caillois r3ataille lJaKarius)
In this thesis Vie are only interestea in demonstrating that
there is a bisociative theory 01 nasia and nasa) implicit in
Abhinavagupta s sCat~ered 9r)I1oJacements on the same and exploring
how precisely this stJltlctur6 gtermits hasYa to effectively vehicle a
non-comic function in the Y1dusalsa and how to some extent evenbull
this hiSVa function itself comes to signify something that is
independent of it Thus wherevet incursions are made into various
aspects of the Vidufakas symbolic behaviour it is primarily with
the view of determining hoW it has been adjusted and accommodated
to better serve his hasYa-function One of our aims here is to
question the validity of a purely PSYChological approach to the
problem of humour and laughter drawing inspiration from primarily
biologiCal models based on analyses in terms of functionnorm or at
most from sociologizing models based on analyses in terms of
conflictrule Our intention is to shift the emphasis to a linguisshy
tic mooel that though derived from and accommodating the above
perspectives is based primarily on analyses in terms of significashy
tionsystem Laughter is the pleasurable dischaJge of superfluous
energies OCCasioned by the mutual neutralization of two opposing
simllltaneous impressions (cognitive emotional andor sensory-motor)
of a single stimulUS our method is to show how tnis basic blsocishy
tive structure rooted in the physiology and functioning as a safetyshy
valve for superfluous eneqjjies in the organism inevitably lends
itself--by its very structure--to social exploitation of laughter
as a censure-meChanism against transgressions of SOCia-religious
norms This situation is exploited in inverse by an esoteriC
perspective valorizing taboo-violation to the point that it
preseribes a generalized comic behaviour (as in the PaLpata ascetic)
even independently of sjecific modes of transgression 1i1ltew-
since laughter as an uncontrolled natural waste of energ s is
frowned upon by cultural norms that recommend its repression the
5
taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
reliea upon for our- general frameworJ~ (Kuiper Durnezil Heestennan
RerC)ltl Dumont diarcieau) whatever their individual differences
share this totalizin O1lC synthe sizing approach The relation
betvreen the nayaKa (hero) ana the vid~~aka especially seems to
reflect tnat between the Yajamana (or king) aaa Lhe brahmcill (or
2urohita) ti1e latcer in fact repre senting a1d COIDLJr isingthe
dik~itg-aspect of tne YSiarnana s own gter sonalitj intne ritual drama
of tnG pre-classiCal sacr ifice 11any otaeurolltlise inexgtlicable fa aturE s
of -he yidUsarg become inc~lli~ible in terms of cnecransposition of this monel intQtde ae Stfllt cic anu liter ary aecerminatigtus )f the
Classical (llama altlail a socio-cltllt-lral n~ilel governed y the
refonneci classical saC iiice il1lere ltilis impure )01lt had been
All oltline of oUr ltederaldorJ(ing
hYi-gt0thesis on trleuro yiC1l~i5a a~lCl tne wanner in INhicn it is Capable
of synthesizinJ on tne Oasis of nis tran39res~3ive dibension the
mutuallj 2xclusiv02 Hr)(ltels gtro)oseuoJ earliel senolar snip bas been
given in tne Int100Uction Ii is als) shovo 1i1at llis theory which
insists on the mity of coacegttion underly iL19 the viQU~aka and his
specificity to tne sympoundlOlic univer3E of radian CraaiCion is nevershy
tnelBss ill i1armony with cne ethLlolo-Jjgtt h comic transgressive
function 01 elleuro ritual clovln as a universal gthenoJuenon (lakarius)
1vhich resupposes a tt1Fory of transgression being the founuation
of tne original Sacred (Caillois r3ataille lJaKarius)
In this thesis Vie are only interestea in demonstrating that
there is a bisociative theory 01 nasia and nasa) implicit in
Abhinavagupta s sCat~ered 9r)I1oJacements on the same and exploring
how precisely this stJltlctur6 gtermits hasYa to effectively vehicle a
non-comic function in the Y1dusalsa and how to some extent evenbull
this hiSVa function itself comes to signify something that is
independent of it Thus wherevet incursions are made into various
aspects of the Vidufakas symbolic behaviour it is primarily with
the view of determining hoW it has been adjusted and accommodated
to better serve his hasYa-function One of our aims here is to
question the validity of a purely PSYChological approach to the
problem of humour and laughter drawing inspiration from primarily
biologiCal models based on analyses in terms of functionnorm or at
most from sociologizing models based on analyses in terms of
conflictrule Our intention is to shift the emphasis to a linguisshy
tic mooel that though derived from and accommodating the above
perspectives is based primarily on analyses in terms of significashy
tionsystem Laughter is the pleasurable dischaJge of superfluous
energies OCCasioned by the mutual neutralization of two opposing
simllltaneous impressions (cognitive emotional andor sensory-motor)
of a single stimulUS our method is to show how tnis basic blsocishy
tive structure rooted in the physiology and functioning as a safetyshy
valve for superfluous eneqjjies in the organism inevitably lends
itself--by its very structure--to social exploitation of laughter
as a censure-meChanism against transgressions of SOCia-religious
norms This situation is exploited in inverse by an esoteriC
perspective valorizing taboo-violation to the point that it
preseribes a generalized comic behaviour (as in the PaLpata ascetic)
even independently of sjecific modes of transgression 1i1ltew-
since laughter as an uncontrolled natural waste of energ s is
frowned upon by cultural norms that recommend its repression the
5
taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
non-comic function in the Y1dusalsa and how to some extent evenbull
this hiSVa function itself comes to signify something that is
independent of it Thus wherevet incursions are made into various
aspects of the Vidufakas symbolic behaviour it is primarily with
the view of determining hoW it has been adjusted and accommodated
to better serve his hasYa-function One of our aims here is to
question the validity of a purely PSYChological approach to the
problem of humour and laughter drawing inspiration from primarily
biologiCal models based on analyses in terms of functionnorm or at
most from sociologizing models based on analyses in terms of
conflictrule Our intention is to shift the emphasis to a linguisshy
tic mooel that though derived from and accommodating the above
perspectives is based primarily on analyses in terms of significashy
tionsystem Laughter is the pleasurable dischaJge of superfluous
energies OCCasioned by the mutual neutralization of two opposing
simllltaneous impressions (cognitive emotional andor sensory-motor)
of a single stimulUS our method is to show how tnis basic blsocishy
tive structure rooted in the physiology and functioning as a safetyshy
valve for superfluous eneqjjies in the organism inevitably lends
itself--by its very structure--to social exploitation of laughter
as a censure-meChanism against transgressions of SOCia-religious
norms This situation is exploited in inverse by an esoteriC
perspective valorizing taboo-violation to the point that it
preseribes a generalized comic behaviour (as in the PaLpata ascetic)
even independently of sjecific modes of transgression 1i1ltew-
since laughter as an uncontrolled natural waste of energ s is
frowned upon by cultural norms that recommend its repression the
5
taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
5
taboo-violator laughs freely and loudly (even when there is nothing
to laugh at) because such sacred laughter (eg the attahasecta of Rudra imitated by his P~~pata devotee) has thereby corne to signify
his transgressive function which is greeted by society with profane
laughter Ultimately a signify in9 function (worked into a rigorous
system of representations) derived fronl the psychology and sociology
of laughter begins to react in turn upon this psychology ana
sociology not only interfering with their regular functioning but
under certain conditions itself becoming primary and reorientating
the Be infrastructure s bull Not only is such an apprQach the only
adequate one to the clowning of ll1e lauli)hing P aJLpata (and sacred
ritual clowning in other societies) but it alone Can do full justice
to the exploitation of hasya in the yiaUsaka bullbull
Ln order to establish the possibility of c~ vidusakas haSiI function simultaneously and without contradiction vehicling a
pIofound oon-comic one it is not sufficient to oemonstrate that
Abhinava has an implicitly bisociative concepti)n of hClilCa that
WOulc permit it to serve both exigencies ie nas to be further
shown tnat this conception COlLesponOs tv reality and reflects the
basic structure of humour anti laughter as a universal phenomenon
Here r have restricted Iny efforts to the follolllina taskslshy
1) To show that humour-and-laughter remains an unsolved problem
of Western philosophy psyChology aesthetics and sociology and
that the variety of conflicting approaChes theories and conclusions
should warn against scholars of Indian aesihtH ics and literatureshy
especially sludents of the yipMfua (or of the anthropology of
-Ilaughter and clowning in cult eg the Pasllpatas)--from mechanicall
applying 80m3 ready-made West9rn conceptions to the problem ~f biaa
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
6
naSla or to evaluating the comic exploitation of the yidusalsa in bull
the Indian context (ch I III-VI) What is needed is to analyse
Indian theory and practice in terms of each other and in the light
of the discussions of the problems involved by native commentators
like Abhinava (Jagannatha etc~ not hesitating to draw amply upon
parallel Western concepts wherever these axe ablll to clarify the
more obscure points of the treatment of the comic in Indian
tradition In this way whatever is specific to the latter and its
tacit inner unity however complex will not be lost in the attempt
to arrive at a universally valid definition of humour and laughter
2) To bring together in a single work not only all of Abhinavas
more significant remarks directly tOUChing upon aAu and haSls (ch
IV VII IX) but also other relevant passages and some examples of
his practical literary criticism (eh VIII X) that may contribute
towards clarifying his insi~hts thereon Special care has been
taken to show by internal criticism and by replacing it within his
total aesthetics of kasa the inner coherence of Abhinava s
pronouncements from different point s of view on naSi aw hasla
3) To show that coherence can be restored to Abh1nava s
SCattered insights on incongruity superiority role of pain
social-censure mechanism identifiCation pan-emotionalism (of hasya) I
r asAbhasa haslsectbhasa etc only on the basis of an impliCit bisoshy
ciative theory whiCh can provide the framework for synthesizing
whatever is of value in the sociologiCal psychoanalytic behaviourshy
1stie etc approaches to humour and 1s moreover capable of aCcommoshy
dating recent ethnological data on the comic aspects of ritual
clowning
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
7
4) Since Western theorising on hwnour and laughter is far
more explicit and offers a variety of systematically constructed
models each accounting for specific aspects of the phenomenon we
have found it much more convenient to arrive at Abhinava s implicit
bisociation-theory by starting off from a presentation of Gurjieff s
model which is not only explicitly bisoCiative but finds this
structure at every level (intellectual emotional mo~ instinctive)
from which laughter may spring (ch II) We then proceed to refine
this basic structure with the help of the conceptual tools (Qoperative
fields selective operators bisociative junction etc) contrishy
buted by A Koestler and show how it alone Can simultaneously
acoomnodate Bergson s theory of laughtel as a social censur e-mechanism
and Freuds theory of jokes (and the laughter provoked) as vehicles
of represaed tendencies and pre-logical modes of thought (tirtlO theories
which are otherwise aifficult to reconcile with each other)--ch III
The remaininltj three chapters are aevoted to showing how the re sults
of experimental psychology bear out this theory of bisociation which
alone again accounts for the role of variable negative emotions inl1
the genesis of laughter lch IV) for the differing roles of suddenshy
ness in laughter (Hobbes etc) ana in surprise (ch V) and for the
validity of the incongruity principle central to the Indian aestheshy
tics of hsva and to the comic function of the viciusMa despite the bull
criticisms of Bergson Freud and some contemporary behaviourists
lch VI)
pound5) The chief objection shared by Bergson Freud and others
to tneories of the bislciatioaincongruity type that they leave
the p~siology of the laughter mechanism unaccounted for is anticishy
pated in advance by starting from Gurdjieff I s presentation of the
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
8
the bisociation theory in order to arrive through successive clari shy
fications at Abhinava s understanding of the same The convulsion
(0) consisting in the mutual neutralization of the two opposing
irreconciliable impressions of a single stimulus not only provides
the bisociative structures responsible for hUlTPur a firm rootedness
in the physiological mechanisms responsible for the pleasurable
laughter-discharge but also accounts for the tacit skill of recognishy
zing ana ewking humour This phenomenological aspect is especially
important for the relishing of hasYa which as a uas (for Abhinava
not an object of cognition but the relishable cognizing itself- shy
pratIti lodha) is primarily the skilful exploitation of cognitive
structures for bringing about bisociative emotional effects Whereas
in compulsive (siddha) worldly hiu the bisgtciated perception imposed
by the stimulus automatiCally provokes laughter through the passive
mediation of the convulsion 0 in the aesthetic relish of hasla the
sUbject (swgaya) actively exploits 0 as a sensor for reorganizingbull
the given stimuli so as to heighten and diversify the bisocl ative
possibilities offered ana no more than suggested by the objective
form and content of the poem joke etc fo
6) Abhinava s most original and promising insight for the
psychology of hunour is the structural definition implied itl his
dltaclaration that all the other (aesthetic) enotions are comprehended
within nisya which is generated by incongruities in some of the
members of the operative field that would normally have evoked the
emotion concerned alone (ch IX) The fact that any of the other
emotions Can be an ~ffe9tivsect constituent of hasYa clearly reveals
that Abhinava conceived the latter as a structure that includes
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
9
within itself any emotion whatever and also at the same time some
other element that opposes and impedes the development of this
emotion The analysis of hasYa in love-poems (Ch VIrI) reveals
that this opposing element is itself most often a contrary
incompatible emotion and the theorymiddot behind the exploitation of
this emgttional bisociation for hasYa-effects is deduced from
Abhinavas interpretation of the maxims governing the delineation
shyof love-in-union ( sambho9asrnQarg) bull Though privileging in thisbull context and in keeping with the ~ae8thetic the emotional
components and JQssibilities of bisociation Abhlnava is alive to
its cognitive aspect as well as is evidenced by his introduction
of the incongruity principle in the genesis of rasAbhasa and by
bull
his appealing to the same in order to reject the imitation theory
of drama for the bisociated cognition of both the ~tated and
the imitating elements can result only in haSii (eh VII n 20)
It is on the basis of emotional bisociation again that an attempt
is made to explain Abhinavas otherwise cryptic remark on the
component of momentary pain or distress in determinate laughter
(sAnysandhana-liu) and it is further demonstrated that such an
interpretation is in harmony with Freuds insight into humour as
a defence~chanism against incipient unpleasure and also supported
by the experimental results of behavioural and social psychology
and by ethnographic data on ritUal clowning (ch IV) The relevance
of these findings for contemporary humour research and theorising
are two-fold 1) the pre sent models whiCh seek to isolate specific
laughter- (or hwnour-) stimuli from those of other emotions or
which seek to separate the laughter from other emotional affects
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
10
in their examination of slimuli which seem to generate bo1h (either
simultaneously alternately or alternatively) could more profitably
be replaced by a structural model that reveals how the stimuli of
these other emotions are reorganized to produce the bisociative
effects responsible for laughter (or humour) 2) the reinterpretation
of incongruity as the objective correlate of bisociated perception
and response will obviate the more serious of the current objections
to incongruity theory
7) To pro~jQse that from the point of view of aesthetics
Abhinava s principal contribution to mociern humour-theorising would
lie in his having provided the necessary theoretical framework for
distinguishing between ~ as worldly self-subsisting emotional
bisociation provoked by common (s~dharaIja) stimuli (and normally
immediately discharged as pleasurable lauvhter) ana its transformation
into the transcendental (alaukika) relish of hasectYa whiCh is deliCately
-I
bull sustained through aesthetic identification with charaCters (asraYA)
representeo as reacting in emotionally incompatible ways to stimuli
that are peCUliar to them alone (ch VII) Through a literary
critiCism of several verses depicting mutual love (sambbOge) as
prime sentimnt but yet overflowing with haYe in terms of the
psychology of the Characters represented ana the mode of participashy
tion of the connoisseur (~~) it is shown that this theoretical
aistinction merely reflects the techniques for evoking higsect exploited
by the poets in actual practice (en VIII) It is argued moreover
that the prescription of hasYa as an inevitable ancillary of (Sambho9a-)
knsara though partlY accountea for by the pleasurable nature of laughter that makes it a natural stimulant and side-effect of kama
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
11
as a purusKth is primarily intelligible only in terms of its bull
essentially bisociative strllcture and the aesthetic norms governing
the poetic delineation of sambhog q bull The analysis relies primarily
on Abhinava s own critical comments on the aesthetic techniques
utilized and comes to the conclusion that the rasa-aesthetic
privileges above all the epptional centre in its treatment of
haiya
The ~plicat1on of this distinccion to Western aesthetics
would require not the abandonment of the stiltUlus-organism-response
model of behaviourism (which is also basic to the ~-aesthetic)
but its refinement to include processes like tanmavThhavAPi
(aesthetic identification) and iadhiranIkarana (universalization) based on and cie1- iwd from this model but becoming primary and
bull
modifying its whole functioning in certain contexts esp that of
aesthetics This is wholly clear in Abhinavas third criterion that
unlike the stimulus of hasal the vibhiva of haSYa is uncomrron
(asadhMana) ie uniquely related to a particular ilrala whosebull
perceived responses and the transitory emotions they sU9gest are
integral and indispensable to the relishing of hasYa It is here
that the principle of tanmavIbhavana intervenes to make the crucial
separation between the ~-aesthetics with its sthiYin~
distinction and the behavioural approach of those like IA Richards
(cf his synaesthesislt) which is unable to distinguish between the
two though the neea is acutely felt Nevertheless Abhinava himself
admits that the distinction ~haSyg though perfectly valid in
theory and easily recognizable in privileged cases like the love-
verses above is often blurred and difficult even in theatre
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
12
(QrahASana vidUMil) it would therefore lle preferable to speak
in terms of degrees of aestheticization of hasa into hasYa
It is clear moreover that the ~ha~ya distinction cannot
be applied as such and withollt modification to Western or other
literatures which are not organically and self-consciously dependent
on an aesthetic tradition of the SlsectA-type 11or to a whole Category
of jokes and witticisms which though possessed of a certain
aesthetiC appeal hover in a kind of limbo between art and worldly
life Though unable to aevote special attention to such frequent
instances of -hwrour which do not exploit bisociative strategies
for primarily emotional effects l we nevertheless try to show (Ch VIr)
that similar mechanisms of identification with the emotional attitudes
of others are often involved even if subordinated to other purposes
like satirical intent Often again the humour lies rather in the
ingenuity and artistry with which the bisociative Clash is brought
about or the brilliant non-comic ideas that are vehicled by the formal
technique of the bisociated pattern to achieve a str iking contrast
of ideas to question the field operators involved to bridge different
planes of thought so as to present them in an entirely novel light
or to reveal their hidden connections or similarities and so on
An essential component of such wit or humour is no doubt the separashy
tion of thought from the inertia of the emotions as rooted in the
biologiCal instincts (separatien of the cortical layers from the
sympathetic system on the physiological level)1 so much insisted upon
by Koestler Being a commentator on an existing artistic practice
based on the rasa-aesthetic and not a systema~ic theoretician aiming
at a universal theory of h~ur and laughter Abhinava has naturally
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
13
COIngtlelely neglected the se aspects of humour-theory Ilhat is
significant however is that hasYs insofar as it is the aestnetici shy
zation or relishing of the emotional bisociation that constitutes
hasa laquo is based not on he aivorce of thought from the inertia of
the constituent emotions but xatIler on their reconciliation tbre
than that the cognitive strategies and idenlificatory mechanisms
involved are subordinated to tne evocation of emotion and it is
their inoispensable mediation that ensures that the emotions evoked
aXe purified of their bioloical inertia into the relishable state
ot~ vne would be justified in Claiming tnat the ~-aesthetic
including hasYa is based not so much on the principle of Consciousshy
ness seekindto esCape its biological determinations but Iather on
lhe quasi-tantric principle of its turning baCk to infuse the
oiological tunctions in their emotional expressio(1 with its own
lightness mobilitj and detaChment Unless this principle is kept
in mina OLle is aouna to lose si~ht of what is specific to the
exploitation of the universally valid bisociaeive structure L~ the
aesthetics of hisYa
8) Another irnJJOIta11t contribution of Abhinava to humour-theorj
is his advocation of che exploitation ot hasYa (or hasa) as a means
of reinfolciag the (proper plX suit oi) the purui~rthas through
negative exarilple (cll LX) dis assirnila1ion Jf incongruity (a
cognitiveaesthetic principle) to s0cio-religioltls irnroprietj despite
the pound aCe tnat the two ehough of1en coincidini I are no1 synonymous
reflects his concern to harmonise and mutually superJose the aesihetic
(or pleasuraoly cathar1ic in the Case of laughter) and the socialshy
cenSUl-e functions of naSia and it is precisely tne bisociative
structure of the latter tnat naturally lends itself to such eX910icashy
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
tio11 wherever this social function ana the enjoyment of laughtcr
tiains ttle upgterhana over the Jurely aesthetic dimension chE~ L1Cshy
tion retvJen ~ and hasia loses most of its relevance 1nou)h
chis ideolo~ical anll3xation laughter in the ser vice of safeshy
9uaraing social norrns is harolt alfierent frol 3eIg SOl I s essenLial
contr ibution to hurnour-tileorj (~sgteciallj as tur 1111 claDor aced
LttQ behaviJUlal models chat syntnesize Llco11yruitf social-ccflsorshy
shi~) anu enhaHceo self-esteem) the vital Ciif1ereilCe is that Abhinava
lith the bu1t as cOilstitutive vf l1~sYa even when ic functiolls as a
censurc-mecnanism sowetning tIl at 3er9SOH Jlimpsea bULiJaS unable 5
LO recOflcile with 1h~ cnastzing eftec1 of ridiculin 1 aughcer and
0middotJr oissociation from the laughable social lnisaemeanour It
on Lne basis oi silch iaentirication tlat MhilllVa recouizes a
loical uisti(iction--even tempo al sequence--betweenche semblance
vt (any) rasSl (rasabhasa) and 1he ensiliil9 hasya chat iuterrugtts
tais momtntalY or paltial iaentiiicatlon it is his irnplicit
bisociation tneory alone tnat Can justiiy chis simultaneous identishy
tication with ana rejec1ion of tne butt ana it is sugested that
~ ar irU1l detr actiug frol tile chastising eftect of the laughwr
it is this J~xtial iaentification tna1 reiloer s it 9articul3rly
numiliating for the butt A further aifference is the )ossibly
cm)tio(lal nature of this partial id~ntification whereas for Bergson
all particigtative emotion is uetrinental to SOCialized laughter
lhoultn tilrougn its social function haSla bcomes ancillary to all
1h fcgtilI c)rimary purusartha-gtriewated ~s it nevertheless stands in a sJecially fgtr ivileged relation with (sambho9a-) poundnigara and karna un account ot the catnaltlc pleasure it
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
l5
9) l1Ost sitniiiCant anG with far-reaChL19 repercussions ouisiac
tile ralnl ) aE scheeics ana the social hierarchy especially 1fJhen
le)laced lithia his total concepti0n of hasYa is his attribution
)1 tae rnere It semblance of hasta to tne YLdu~aka whose haSYa funcLion
bull
InterjjreteCi in the light ot all tne r itual
notations that hi3Ve 10(19 been rec)gnized (culminating Prof Kui)er s
recent co nt r ibution anCl Es~eciallt those tl1at converye to unoerline
his cntral eilnctlon as the transrressot oi bIahwLlical SOC1middotJshy
re 1iiou3 norITl5 this necessar ili irn(lie s ttlat fOl Abniuava til8
dimensions ao not exnaUst the eqloication 01 haeLd in loLL vidil~Msl
thar hasta coulu Silhultaneousli serve the Giarnetr ic illy or90site
function of )ernittiLl9 the exteriorizatioLl Qf an esoteric cransressshy
bull yidUsgKil s c0mic lJei1JvioJr )uc the irt2tular mods ooscenebull
te )
Cannot De at C iou t8a tv 1n~ lack iJt crea~iV8 in ag inatioll in the
J)So( s tor the se aonormal and inexcllicably r-e str J(eu moues of
conV8Llti0l1 Llto ddri3lIiltic nQill into lawful irre9Jlaritiesi to
the play ana the i10rms governin that function alrEady strongly
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
16
SUi)1ltoatstilat ene nasia is simultaneouslj servin~ as tne vehicle
enat exa9~Jel ate s C(rtaill comic LJO ssibilit S vhil injlioiting
elillliuatL1l Otl1 5 Tnat tile hasia oa the aeschG1ic level is
model 01 tne orthociox or ahmin sc go ac tIe atlle nl
cou-Jled~itil claims 0 111( sCat-us 0L lli3~lci~dJ~lHIa=lil--
5LnultalleY-l5ly excgtloit the haSi a fUnccion tor cnastisL1S) tn is
du t he
C Jl ) an Ll emiddot i a1 1 la c c J r 0 1 -c vF t i - h~~ ~ - ( ~ 1 k 1 ) - _- 1 -- - _ J - - -- u~ -J - gt -I - I
motel of )urusarthashy-shyI bull -
~ 1pl1 dL a)J i ( ~l)
of its cnastisiflJ role in tile conflict OEt~veen brahItlLllcal socloshy
eL)C comiC cJnflict Oil thE Oci
al110iQuousU resolves chat contlicc scrol1ly sugiests tl1at the hasa
is 3imult1ileOu3ly s(~ v ins to disu ise an intGntional valor ation of
ana )artly neutralizes its role as an instrument at social censure
L1a1neS ()f gturE bralll11inical -Jeoigree central role in cl1c drama
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
17
upound Sinll1taneO~5 (exoCer ie) ueva1or izaCiof1 adO (e sJtel iC) valor izoshy
the ae sthetic leWd
L1 ra1 as a mooe of incoi19IUOUS boh2Lvi)Ul acting as a comic
stinu1us lhouin SLlcn tr aasgE ssian Can ptvVo lJUle1l nE~9 0lt i ve
kutilaka shy i
cille au
0ncectlis
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
18
centered arounu tr ansgressionboth airectly andor ii1directly
through symbolic assimilation with other (comiC or non-comic) figures
hat belong to the same sysem (something which is facilicated by
the polyvalence of symbols) This would immeuiately explain the
irregularity of tl1e 1OrmS governing his hasta function at the aestheshy
tic level for they wJuld have simultaneouslY selved to ensure the
signify ing function of these ostensibly comic stimuli Likewise
che valorization of the viouiaka is only the deliberate valorization
opound he symbolic W1iverse mediated by him whereas his eX91icit
oevalorization ana rioiculous aspect would be a function of that
central transgressive aimension which is wnolly censurable from the
purely e(Qteric point of view of life-in-society governed by the
9raded hierarchy of the 2uru sirthas This total atJproach to the viau~~ that consiaers him pr imar ily as a sign and only seconda-
r ily in terms of his social and ae sthetic function by aetermining
how these latter are reintegrated into this signifying function
is alone capable of explaining all the otherwise impossible contrashy
dictions in his individual psychology (wise fool indisfeDsable
but bungling helper lewd cnastity I ueformed and monkey-like
favourite of the queens maius etc) his literary Imiddotcharacterizashy
tion (stupid brahmin counselloJ of the exemplary king obscene
but free access to harem nonsensical jokes Prakrit-speuroaking
me at-eating and wine-dr inking br ahrnin etc) ana social status
(boy ~ abused by lower char acteJs but honourea by the herobull
ete) bull
To the esoteric gaze that has already lealnt to accord
supreme valorization to the most raoical modes of transgression
when replaced within their delimited context governed by a profourd
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
19
metaphysical andor r itua motivation the recognition of the
transgressive function invested in the vidu~m s symbolism Can be
no cause for laughter On the contrary the recognition of the
significations hidden in the various signifiers brought together
in his comic lntexventions and the displacement of the altention
towards restorin9 their coherence on the esoteric plane can only
detract from 1pound not largely efface I his hasXe function Mgtreover
even the instances of really incongruous behaviour speech or
co stume and the comic aura that surrounds them are now rather
perceived as the tranSjgtarent symbols of a transgressive function
that has nothing intrinsically comic about it For these symbols
despite their adaPtation and elaboration to suit the comicr ole of
the yidU~~ in the drama acquire their capacity to signify only
by virtue of their participation in a pre -oxistin3 5i9nifjin9 syst~
that encompasses the entire domain of Iiindu culture ald reaches back
to its Vedic origins where they recur in an arunistakeably non-comic
ltritual cosmogonic ep1c etc) context gtr at least with a primarily
non-comic Irotivation (GaxteJias or Agnis enornlOus appetite or the
former oS DRdakas1 the contrary speech or donkey-like gtraying of
Brahma s fifth heach the braynacilL11 s abllse of the hetaera in the
Ilahavrata etc) Replaced in this total system by an esoteric gaze
forearmed with the comprehension and mastery of its secret corresponshy
dence s the hasye aspect of the vidufaka 5 interventions-on the
aestlltlc literary level of the ploy and in the txoterlc soc1oshy
religl)U5 context that encompasses thE performance of the drama-
is redu=ed to a mere semblance To just Iihat extent Abhinavagllpta
had assindlated the traditional symbolic universe underlying the
figure of the vidu~~ and to what extent he effectively recognized
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
bullbullbull bullbull
bullbull
20
it in the latters traits (e_g_ Varuna) and interventions can onlybull
be matter of futile speculation for us who have ourselves only just
cOJll(1enced the task of deciphering What matters is that he himself
waS the crowning theoretician of the transgressive ideology of
Trika (rather Kaula) tantrism attributing his hignest metaphysical
realization of the supreme all-devouring Bhairava-Consciousness to
precisely such transgressive praxis At the same tine he clearly
recognized the dichotomy between the esoteric and the exoteric domainIbull the latter governed by rigorous socio-religious norms from which
perspective alone he comments on the Sanskrit drama He even
insists on the continuity oatween the Vedic and the T antric tradition
of esotericism exploiting extreme impurity and radiCal transgression
in order to transcend the pureimpure distinction and attributes
the reticence of the Vedic R~is on this transgressive dimension of
their realizations to their concern with preserving the exoteric
order founded on norms of purity I avikalgena bhavena mynayomiddote
tathaanavan 243 lokasaruraksaoarthem tu ~ tattvam taih
praaopitam 244 TA IV As such it seems to us that Abhinava
combines in himself all the necessary conditions for recognizing a
central transgressive function in the viOuiaka that though deeply
rooted in Vedic esotericism would have also found manifold expression
in the symbolic universe of Hinduism But like the Vedic Rsis
he describes he would have been even more committed to preserving
and reinforcing the exoteric order OOW governed by the graded
hitI a1chy of the Quru ~irtbas which it was the duty of the 1lt1a11 aveda
to inculcate And it is in the midst of this order that the
yiduialsa appears at the centre of the stage to hold us laughing
spellbound by his own laughter Indeed seen in this light what is
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
bullbull
21
really striking is not Abhinavaguptas reticence on the true role
of the xidUaka but on the contrarY the various hints he has
dropped for us-at least for those among us who are prepared to
take him wholly seriously-that the vidu~~ s role is not exhausted
by hisYa ie his properly aesthetic ana SOCial aspect He has
no hesitation in emphasizing to explain the vidusakas being
protected by OMkara that he is along with the nay aka the principal
male character of the play Taken together with his casual remarks
attributing not hasya but the semblance of hasya (hasy3bhasa) to
the ~=aampamp this valorization of his otherwise inexplicable role
proves conclusively tnat not only did Abhinavagupta know a great
deal more about his role than he ever put into his AbhinayabharatI
but that he had deliberately left these clues behind for the
initiated like himself to recognize and fOllow up systematiCally
It will be clear by now that a cOflvinclllg exposition of
the esgtteric significatioJls ~rked into the hasYa function of the
~~~ will first opound all have to reconstitute the total signifying
systenl (the basic principles un6erlying it the symbolic techniques
imiddott employs an inventory of its chief motifs and their complex
interrelations and substi~utions the his~orical ~ransformations
and distortions it has undergone etc) by virtue of which the
clusters of signs that fuse to constitute even a single comic
intefvention of the yidUlaka are able to evoke an entire complex of
ideas practices and doctrines Though we have already deciphered
a great portion of this symbolism and at least enough to confirm
beyond any doubt the transgressive function we have only presented
some of these materials in the body of this thesis and that too only
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
bullbull
--
22
sporadically wherever the possibility showed itself of demonstrating
hoW they have been exploited for hasya effects The reason Was not
only limitations of space but that whereas the focuss of this
thesis is on hasya (humour and laughter) and hasyAbhasa and their
mode of superposition such an undertaking would have lifted us
out completely from the domain of hasya and the Sanskrit drama
as an aesthetic spectacle into the vast symbolic universe of
Indian religious lipounde Even the x1dUsak would have to be ruthlesslybull
dissected to systematiCally compare the individual elements of his
symbolism with the same dispersed elsewhere in the tradition before
we reintegrate them-with all their fullness of signification-to
resuscitate his comic essence Even then since this symbolism is
scarcely explicitated in an overt sy stematic manner anywhere we
WOuld have to linger long over these variolls models to demonstrate
conclusively that these inaividual symbols which they share with
the yiduAsectA indeed do have the precise meaning we attribute to
them and are ultimately fragments or facets of a single semiotic
8Y stem Though this is impossible within the scope of this thesis
it would suffice if we have convinced our readers that the vidU$~s
hASV a function also vehicles a non-comic symbolic function and
provided ample indications that the latter comprises an essential
transgressive dimension
10) But as a preparation to this larger undertaking we have
attacked the xJgiisaka s incongruous speech as a form of middotpoeticbull
humour (kaVYallasYA) to show that it is indeed teeming with the
kind of comic riddle-oevioes that would have served to transpose
complex symbolic equivalences like those found in the ritual
brahmodYgs or the Rigvedic hymnology into the aesthetic setting
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
23
of the drama OUr analy sis of the vrthI in terms of the at first
sight arbitrary definitions of its thirteen constituent elements
and in the light of both their comic exploitation by the vid~~
- in the ritual verbal contest of the puryaranga-~ata and the nonshy
bull
comic mechanisms moments and roodes of the brahmodYa led to the
conclusion thatl- 1) the vlthI was originally the comic exposition
of enigmas by a single persgtn or a comic wit-combat between two
persgtns fully exploiting a rich variety of riddle-mechan1smsl
2) these riddle-mechanisms of the vltnyaf1gas )etray a scheme to
facilitate the deliberate transposition of the riddle-cotltests
with their profound cosmo-ritual motivations of the brahmodYas
onto the aesthetico-literary medium of the drama 3) despite their
progressive exploitation for purely literary effects their original
function would have been best tetained in the COmic yidieas2 with his
licence to speak iocongruously I 4) the predominance of hasya in the
yItbyenaOgas is primarily to permit the superposition of the exoteric
incongruity and the esoteric coherence of the hidden equivalences
that constitute the enigma (cf esp g~A and Asatpralapa both
charaCteristic of the yidUsaka)j S) their exploitation by the vidusect~ shyin both ritual trigata (prolongation of the Vedic Vivie) and the
profane plaY confirms his Itready-wit (pratibha prescribed by
the NS) but of a type akin to that of the Rigvedic poet-seersshy
his Itfoolishness I like his comic function is the secondary elaborashy
tion of the exoteriC incongruity of his interventions at the purely
literary level (WhiCh harmonizes with the explanation of the same
in terms of his transgressive function) I 6) as bearer of the
~11aka presented by Brahma (himself the projection of the branmAn)
and as the protJ9~ of OMkira taken together with the monotonous
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
bullbull
bull bull
24
insistence on his brahminhood par excellence the xkdusoka is bull
indeed a comic caricature of the brahm4n (or HrohitA) precisely
because he is the revelation of the esoteric dimension of the latter
as bearer of the brahmtn-enigma Taken together with his primary
cooperation with the (Indra-)nAyaka of the play this implies the
yid[~s symbolic identity with the Brahma-atradhara of the
purYara69a-trigata and the latterts partial identity with the
Varuna-~eaka (whose antithesis he reintegrates into the thesis bull ~I-
of the Indra-giriRiJ~vika so as to arrive at an~comprehendiI1g
synthesis) The vidusaka of the 91ay proper as Brahma with anbull exaggerated VarUIJic aspect would represent that Mitra-VarUQa
incal-nated in the brahmAn-purghitas par excellence like the Vasisthas bull For it is by regressing as the (pre-classical) d1ksita in what
bull amounts to a metaphysical transgression to the embryogonic chaos
(Asat) of Varuna t s realm (Varunas 2ingaxa-pot held by the viduOakabull
like the largE basket-ears of the Brahma-v1dUaaka is clearly a wombshy
symbol) that the bronAl attains to the totality of cosmic connectbns
constituting the jatavidva In this way the vidUaka s kuilaka
would symbolize not only his mastery of the crooked speech of the
enigma but also signify (among other things) the perversitymiddotmiddot of
the transgression (~dayakuila) that lies at the heart of the enigma
Abhinava s contribution to these conclusions is amb4luous
and necessarily so for the very principle of esotaricism excludes
the possibility of his dwelling explicitly upon this hidden function
of the ythYaiigas or their ritual exploitation in the yidusaka bull bull
iet it is relevant to note the striking discrepancies between his
(already slightly aestheticized) interpretations of these formulas
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
2S
and the (highly aestheticized) illustrations he provides of them
He is clearly aware that it is the enigma and its I11E9chanisms that
holds these formulas toether and often provides details of context
motivation procedure that clarify the manner in which they could
have served as transpositions Yet as a traditional commentator
faced with the double task of being faithful to the definitions
handed down by Bharata and at the same time registering and legitimishy
zing the current practice of adapting them for purely aesthetiC
effects (independent of ritual notations) he also often inflects
the terms of each definition so as to justify and facilitate this
later usage Only an independent analy sis in terms of the symbolic
function of the vidisAkas comic utterances in the plays can reveal the precise extent and varied modes in which these formulas have
been exploited to retain his hidden role as the bearer of the
braPm~-enigma (in Prakrit~)
bull But to do this we would have to leave behind the aesthetics
and psychology of hiS1a to delve into the total symbolic universe
in which the yidusaka participates In this thesis we have restricshybull
ted ourselves to drawing out the inpl1cations of Abhinava 13 implicit
theory of haSyena and to showing how in the vigiifaksh the structure
of haaya permits it to simultaneously serve and disguise a non-comic
symbolic function This function is centered on ritual transgression
from which we have suggested that most of his attributes and behaviour
Can be derived either directly or indirectly It is the biaociative
structure of hasYa that in this way permits the vidUaag to mediate
between these two opposing yet complementary domains of Indian
religious life governed respectively by the sacred of interdiction
and the sacrality of transgression It is through the as it were
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull
bull
-
26
unconscious identificatory pole of the bisociated perception that
the exoteric vision comes to participate in spite of itself in a
symbolic universe whose coherence it does not recognize and whose
values it is as yet not prepared to accept In the laughing
vidu~~ an exoteric vision wholly enmeshed in the hierarchical
order of the purusarthaswhich he entertainingly reinforces by his bull
laughable negative example~ is nevertheless forced to submit itself
to the claims of an esoterie vision that encompasses it and is all
the more effective for the reason that it is carefully hidden bull