Rasa

The Sanskrit word "rasa" (रस) derives from a Proto-Indo-European root, possibly related to "to flow" or "to taste." It first appeared in ancient Indian texts, notably the Natyashastra, an early treatise on performing arts, where it denotes the fundamental emotional states experienced by the audience.

The my.stery-dance performed by Krishna and his Gopis, tlie shepherdesses, represented in a yearly festival to this day, especially in Rajastan. Astronomicallj' it is Krishna — the Sun — around whom circle the planets and tlie signs of the Zodiac symbolised by the Gopis. The .same as the "circle-dance" of the Amazons around the priapic image, and the dance of the daughters of Shiloh (Judges xxi.), and that of King David ai-onnd the ark. (See Isis Unveiled, II., pp. 45. 331 and 332.)

Blavatsky's definition, while focusing on the specific rasa-lila of Krishna, touches upon a deeper current of the term. Rasa, in its broader application within Hindu traditions, is not simply an emotion, but the very savor of existence, the distilled essence that art and devotion aim to reveal. Mircea Eliade, in his studies of comparative religion, would likely see in rasa a manifestation of the sacred breaking into the profane, a moment where the ordinary world is imbued with divine presence. It is the juice of life, the nectar of the gods, that which nourishes the spirit.

The Natyashastra, attributed to Bharata Muni, meticulously outlines the eight (or sometimes nine) primary rasas—like shringara (love), karuna (compassion), vIra (heroism)—and how they are evoked through dramatic performance. These are not simply subjective feelings, but archetypal emotional states that resonate with the cosmic order. When an audience member experiences rasa, they are, in a sense, participating in the divine play, the lila, of the universe. This is not unlike the concept of "active imagination" explored by Carl Jung, where engagement with symbolic imagery can lead to profound psychological and spiritual integration.

The rasa-lila, as mentioned by Blavatsky, is a particularly potent example. The dance of Krishna with the milkmaids is not merely a pastoral scene but a symbolic representation of the soul's ecstatic union with the divine. The "astronomical" interpretation—Krishna as the Sun, the Gopis as planets—hints at the cosmic scale of this union, a dance that mirrors the celestial movements. This echoes the Sufi concept of sama, the whirling dervishes' ecstatic dance, which aims to achieve a state of divine intoxication and union. The essence, the rasa, is the divine presence tasted through the ritual and the devotion.

For the modern seeker, understanding rasa offers a way to re-enchant the world, to find the sacred not just in scripture or pilgrimage, but in the profound resonance of a piece of music, the evocative power of a poem, or the shared joy of a community. It suggests that the divine is not an abstract concept but a palpable flavor, a juice that can be savored when we approach experience with an open heart and a receptive spirit, ready to taste the essence of being.