In my previous episode 7, I covered five out of nine Navarasas and in episode 8 covered the Bhayarasa in details. There has been lots of response and discussions about this topic and many have asked me where the balance rasas are? Due to my busy schedules I have been inactive in my blogging department for a while and felt missing my contacts with you. Here are my thoughts on balance rasas.
Recap:
The nine Rasa’s are:
1. Hasya – Humour
2. Adbudha – Wonderment
3. Shringara – Romance (very approximate translation)
4. Raudra - Anger
5. Karuna – Compassion
6. Veera – Valor (Fearlessness)
7. Bhaya (Fear)
8. Bibhatsa – Disgust
9. Shanta – Peace
Rasa is the manifestation of our feelings at different situations in our daily life; another words they are the state of our being which is dynamic and in a state of a flux all the time. I would say they are the involuntary response of our mind which is not under our control. All rasas are like different taste of food some are liked and some are not. If the diversity in taste has not been there the food will not be palatable. Similarly if different rasas don’t manifest we are not a balanced personality and if few rasas are too dominant then we become a split personality; for example if Bhaya rasa is dominant we are withdrawn from the society and not noticed. If our Hasya rasa is dominant then people think that we are not serious and so on. Now I am presenting the balance Rasas for your study.
Bibhasta Rasa:
The nearest English translation for Bibhasta is “Disgust” a feeling of dislike. The dictionary meaning of disgust is distaste, aversion, hatred, antipathy etc. We often say we are disgusted with ………; something we hate, may be food or a person or a situation. Let us examine why there is “like” and “dislike” present? For everything Nature created an opposite; for light-darkness, for white-black, happiness-sorrow, rich-poor, sweet-sour and so on. In Zen they say it is the two sides of the same stick or two sides of the same coin.
Let us examine scientifically why we need pair of opposites. Light cannot be defined if the darkness is not present! White cannot be defined if black is not present; rich cannot be defined if poor is not present. In other words white depends on black and light depends on darkness to be defined. Just imagine all human beings are looking alike then you cannot define white and black race or beauty and ugly. Beauty depends on ugly to be defined. Vedic scriptures say that an enlightened person transcends the pair of opposites. Ramakrishna Paramahansa took gold coins and dropped along with mud in the Yamuna River! For a materialistic man it looks like madness; whereas for an enlightened soul we are the mad people running behind wealth and perennially miserable.
When the Bibhasta rasa is dominant we hate a situation or a food or a person and trying to run away from it. Recognizing the fact there are certain situation from which we cannot run away as we don’t like them; it could be taking a bitter medicine or dealing with your nagging boss or wife/husband or taking a marketing call in your cell and so on. Whenever you are dominant with the attack of Bibhasta rasa, please remember the pair of opposite nature has created and try to move in the scale of enlightenment accepting the situation as a pair of opposite. The World is full of hatred feeling due to colour of the skin, race, religion, sect and so on. Please remember there is no hatred feeling among the animal kingdom and they live in perfect harmony. Bibhasta is a form of hatred feeling which has negative response in our state of being and health and let us learn to come out of it soon.
Tip-1:
Remember all that is good for your health are “Tasteless” or “Bitter” – Karela is bitter but extremely good for health and Bibhasta is also like that. When you are “disgusted” about something, remember there is an opportunity for growth. When I was disgusted with my service career, I founded my organization SSA Business Solutions (P) Ltd. When I was disgusted with my puny stature I commenced body building. All feeling of disgust carries a seed of equivalent benefit in it. If you are mad you will through that seed; if you are wise you will be curious to put the seed in the ground and pour water to reap its fruits later.
Tip-2:
Beware of a continuous feeling of disgust which is a sign of lack of alignment with the nature. Sometime you may be disgusted with life as a whole as nothing seems to be interesting. This is a sign of depression which is a common disease haunting the modern human beings. You start looking for “High” through indulgence in food, sex and drug at last. If you experience a prolonged sign of “Bibhasta” either consult a psychiatric or pursue spiritual masters.
Veera Rasa:
The Veera Rasa is “Fearlessness”, “Courage”, and “Valour”, “Prowess” etc. Veera Rasa is opposite of “Bhayarasa”; another words it is an antidote for Bhaya (Fear). Courage helps you to move forward in any given situation. One of the major psychological blocks is “Fear of Failure” which always intimidates us from exploring unknown domains; be it a corporate presentation or public speaking or trying something which is not complying with the traditional known methods. We find some of us “Dare devils” and many are “Darpok” (Hindi). We have hesitation in everything as the Veera rasa is almost non-functional. By design or default we are inhibitive. The root cause of our lack of courage is due our childhood conditioning where we faced many put-downs by the parents, teachers and society. Our social system is founded on obedience which stems from our epics where Lord Rama has to accept an unjust verdict from his parents. The western society is founded on “Liberty” and “Standing up for your rights”. In the absence of Veera rasa we miss many opportunities to be noticed.
Tip-1:
When the courage is lacking or you are inhibited by fear, please remind yourself you are a worthy person and you have brilliant idea to share. Let not the fears of ridicule grip you; no idea is a silly idea; Accepting or rejecting your suggestion is their problem. Be brave to express.
Tip-2:
One of the characteristics of achievers is taking risk. Not trying something big gives you a notional feeling of comfort. The only way you can avoid making mistake is “not trying anything unknown”. After all life is a game in which winning and losing both have no meaning at the end of your life. There are two paths for your rest of your live; one is “Average” and another is “Memorable”; the later one is less treaded and the former is treaded by many – the beaten path. Always Choose the “Road less travelled”.
See you soon with Shanta Rasa
May Lord bless you with balanced Rasas
Love
NC
