HUMOUR AND SOCIAL CRI'T'ICISM

Transcription

1 BHANA AS A SOURCE OF HUMOUR AND SOCIAL CRI'T'ICISM Rasa is the E!ssence of any dramatic presentat~on.the word rasa means aestheticdelight. It is a state of self identification with the situation conceived. The etymology of the word rasa is often traced as'rasyate iti rasah' Bharata' classifies the sentiments as eight in num- ber. They are Smggra, Hisya, Karuna, Raudra, Vira, Bhayanaka, ~hrbatsanld Atbhuta. They have also their own stsyibhavas, Rati, Hasa, Soka, Krodha, Utsaha, Bhaya, Jugupsa and Visrnaya2. The incongruities seen around makes us laugh. We laugh because we compi~re the actual with the ideal. The laughter finds expressiorl in several forms - humour, sat- ire, irony parody and caricature. Laughter has two sa- lient features. 1. The elaboration of Vibhavas as in the case of other rasas, is not alwajfs necessary here. We simply laugh watching oth~ers laughing. 2. All the other rasas are felt in the heart and relished, but humour is knoirvn in the intellect and relished. Knowing, not feeling is the root of it. It is interesting to study the concept of Hasya in the Sanskrit theorists along with its modem interpretations. The two major types- humour ;and satire- are studied seperateiy

2 .\,;... ', >' 8..7, to bring out the importance of the latter in the monhigye- type of Sanskrit dramas. CONCEPT OF I-IUMOUR IN SANSKRIT DRAMAS HASYARA Hasya comes second among the rasas enunciated by Bharata3. Hasa is; its sthiiyi. The VibhSvas are: de- formed dress or ornaments of the other person, fickle- ness, quarrel indecent talk, showing of bodily deformity, finding of faults etc. The Anubhavas are movements of lips, nose and cheeks, expanding or contracting of the eyes, perspiration, rt?ddening of face, pressing of sides etc. The VyabhicSribhSvas are languidity, dissimulation, sleep, dreaming, awakening envy etc. It is of two varieties- Atmastha and Parastha. Bharata himself explains that the comic is atmastha or residing in oneself when one hirnself laughs and it is Parastha or re- siding in another when a person or a circumstance makes another laugh4. CLASSIFICATIOP4 It is again of six kinds Smita, Hasita, Vihasita, Upahasita, Apahasita and Atihasitas. Smita is described as the smile in which there is slight heaving up of the cheeks, glances are charming and the teeth are not visible. When the mouth and eyes are raised up, cheeks are beaming with pleasure and the teeth are slightlly vis- ~ ~

3 ible, then it is called hasita When the eyes arid cheeks are contracted, some sweet sound is also procluced when there is an occasion for it, and the face is reddened, then it is called Vihasita. In upahasita there is an elevation of nose, eyes lookside ways, and the shoulder,and the head are contracted. Apahasita is a laughterwithout occasion, in which eyes become watery and there is a violent shaking of the shoulders and head. When there is an agitation of the eyes and tears flow from the copiously, when there is a sort of wildness accompanied by shrill screams and both sides are pressed with hands it is atihasita. Of these six varietiies, smita, vihasita and apahasita are atmastha and the hasita, upahasita and atihasita are parastha. The nature of laughter according to the types of characters are - Srnita, Hasita - Uttama Vihasita, Upahasila - Madhyama Apahasita, Atihasita - Adhama. Hasya in Sanskrit dramas is mainly confined to VidGsaka. He is a Brahmin -friend of the hero depicted as an idiot and glutton. ith hi and Bhiina has also comic elements in them. But it is the Prahasana which is exclu- sively set for HSsya. It may be noted that amongst the play forms the Bhana and Prahasana are closely related to each other as they have much in comnnon between them from the point of rasa, the incidents and the types of characters. It is for

4 this reason that Bharata deals with BhSna immediately after Prahasana in the Daharupakadhyaya. In Prahasana these are humorous speaches of Saints, ascetics, Brahmins and the like. The!;peach and the manners of the characters are not indecient and the various feelings are singnificantly representeid. THE CONCEPT OF HFSYA IN PRAHASANA Among the eight rasas hssya is employed in Prahasana. HSsya arise!: from spgira. So a mimicry of the erotic is called comic. When hesya is said to be pro- duced from smgara it is meant that the improper love pro- duces the comedy. The impropriety is the cause of laugh- ter. Hasya would be produced by the impropriety of any other sentiment. But prirn~arily itwould go with smgzira. Prahasana is so called because it causes extreme laugh- ter. The subject matter i:s imaginary. The hero is a low character. The mainobjed of the Prahasana is to ridicule and satirise certain aspects of the contemporary society and describe certain classes of people in an interesting manner. Bharata describes lwo varieties of the Prahasanas- the pure and the mixed. The former being higher and the latter being lower. The pure type of Prahasana includes the characters like holymen, Brahmins, and the like, as also cowards and similar characters are to be featured. Their speeches are full of 1,aughter. But neither theirwords nor their actions shall be low. The mixed type of Prahasana is lower variety with the characters like courtesans, rogues

5 and parasites. In both the types whatever seen in daily life among the people with all its variety and hypocricy and the mutual conflicts of the character are to be depicted. Comic, of course, is the main object in Mattavilasa and Bhagavadajjukiya but there is some thing more than that in these plays. THE HUMOUR IN THE BH~NAS There is some amount of comic in the dramatic monologue called Bhana. The dramatist holds a mirror up to the society in which the real life of the society is reflected. The theme of Bhana is more serious with occa- sional touches of humorous situations. They consist of several interesting characters drawn from day to day life. They include Vitas, Courtesans, Bawds and Licentious Brahmins, destitute lovers and others. They poet often create fun through ihese characters. They poets often create fun through these characters. The poets satire is directed against the licentious Brahmins, students, priests and teachers. The characters are treated as realistically in scenes of subtle comedly. It seems that the humour in BhHna is different from the humour of Vidusaka cir from that of the Prahasanas. The dramatist here has a definite intention to improve the conditions of the society. The laughter is not for its own sake, but for something else.

6 HUMOUR AND SATIRE Modern critics ha~s tried to distinguish between the two types of laughter-humour and satire. Humour is de- fined as a type of stimulation that tends to elicit the laugh- ter reflex. Spontaneous laughter is a motor reflex pro- duced by the co-ordinated contraction of fifteen facial muscles. Humour is the only form of communication in which a stimulus on a high level of complexity produces a stereo- type. Satire, the artistic fbn, chiefly literary and dramatic, in whch human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or short comings are held up to censor by means of ridiculed, de- cision, irony or other methods sometimes with an intention to bring about improvement. The intention of the satirist is to improve the society by criticising it, the humourist on the other hand has no such intention. He is satisfied by causing a mere flutter in his listener. Satire is a powerful weapon of humour in literature. Its chief object is to cure man in his oddities and aberra- tions and thus do something wholesome for the society. But unlike humour, satire retains an isolated indentity, be- cause the satirist is to play the role of Judge or a critic of human characters. Thus the ultimate result of satire is doing good to both the individual and the society. A study of the BhSr~as in Sanskrit'will reveal on the hisya there is of satirical type intended to ameleorate a

7 degraded social structure. The Bhanas of Kerala present a variety of themes like love of a Vita or a king or a pleasure-seeker for a courtesan. They consists of several interesting charac- ters drawn from day to day life. They include vita-s, cour- tesans, bawds pleasure-,seekers and licentious Brahmins. The poet often create fun through the destitute lovers and pleasure-seekers, beaten by the courtesans. The poets satire is directed against the licentious Brahmins, students, priests and teachers. The activities of these characters in their search for sensual delight are got through suitable dramatic situation and setirised. They lost and their prop- erties and are beaten up by the courtesans. Some old teachers and priests are seen chased away by bawds for violating the agreement with them. The characters are treated as realistically in scenes of subtle comedy. Though the 'comic and serious are different, the comic may prove a povverful weapon in the hands of a serious poet. The aim of the comic and its morepurpo- sive manifestation, the satire and parody is given as a corrective to cure man o;f his wickedness. For him laugh- ter is the best medicine. One who is laughed at, certainly will not repeat the same thing. Humour belongs to those who want to improve theworld. The h2sya of Vidkaka in Sanskrit dramas more or less belongs to the pure type of humour. In the Prahasanas they have a purpose, but it is hidden. When we came to the Bhinas the purpose is explict. There is no wonderthat

8 the kittu of the Kerala tradition which has a direct bearing on Bhana in its proces!j of evolution was considered to be the forth estate to explose the frailities and fickleness of those in power. These ixt forms were not mere pass times, but were powerful weapons for social change.

9 REFERENCES 1. Bharatha, N.S., N.iP.Unni (Ed), Nag Publishers, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi, Vol II, P lbid P lbid P. 168 ~ ~ 4 ~ ~. ( 6 1 ' t y ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1 c g ~ : 8vrw~ya?11-ri~~ iqflla<.nr: '.p~ 4. Dr. V.Raghavan, Th~e Comic element in Sanskrit Literature, The Sarrlskrta Ranga Annual Madras, P lbid P.4