(“tastes”) The nine
emotions that diverse sorts of creative expression might elicit in an audience
in Indian aesthetics: sexual, comedic, sympathetic, cruel, heroic, scary,
disgusting, magnificent, and tranquil.
Sexual excitement, laughter, sorrow, anger, energy, fear,
loathing, wonder, and peace are the nine rasas that correlate to the nine
bhavas ("states"): sexual excitement, laughing, sadness, rage,
energy, fear, loathing, wonder, and peace.
The nine bhavas are the most fundamental, unadulterated
emotions, and although each rasa correlates to one of the bhavas, there is a
significant variation between them.
Emotional states in humans come and go in response to events
that are mostly beyond of our control.
Such emotional states are seldom maintained, and they are
hardly never the subject of artistic satis fication.
Aesthetic mood (rasa), on the other hand, may be sustained
since it is intentionally manufactured via creative expression.
In the Hindu tradition, the primary objective of the
performing arts is to create and maintain such a mood for an audience.
