''Rasa'' () or ''Raso'' is a certain didactic literary form in Apabhramsa. It is a genre of poetry in Old Gujarati language popular during early period of

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarat, Gujarati literature () may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, other than its composers. Gujarat Vidhya S ...

. Sometimes the term is used interchangeably with ''

Prabandha Prabandha is a literary genre of medieval Indian Sanskrit literature. The ''prabandha''s contain semi-historical anecdotes about the lives of famous persons. They were written primarily by Jain scholars of western India (Gujarat and Malwa) from 1 ...

'' of medieval literature.

History

''Rasa'' developed during the period of Gurjar Apbhramsa. It is a period between

Hemachandra Hemacandra was a 12th century () Śvetāmbara Jaina acharya, ācārya, scholar, poet, mathematician, philosopher, yogi, wikt:grammarian, grammarian, Law, law theorist, historian, Lexicography, lexicographer, rhetorician, logician, and Prosody ...

and

Narsinh Mehta Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsinh Bhagat, was a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat, India, honored as the first poet, or ''Adi Kavi,'' of the Gujarati language. Narsinh Mehta is member of Nagar Brahman community. Narsinh became a devotee of ...

. They are mostly written by Jain monks and were performed in

Jain temple A Jain temple, Derasar (Gujarati: દેરાસર) or Basadi (Kannada: ಬಸದಿ) is the place of worship for Jains, the followers of Jainism. Jain architecture is essentially restricted to temples and monasteries, and Jain buildings ge ...

s on certain occasions. Early examples are ''Updeshrasayan Rasa'' (1143) by

Jinadattasuri Jinadattasuri was a Jain Apabhramsa poet and monk. He was born in 1075 and died in 1154. He was a contemporary of Hemchandra and a disciple of Jinavallabhsuri. Works His ''Upadesharasayana-rasa'' (1143) is a didactic Didacticism is a ...

, ''Bharateshwar-Bahubali Raso'' (1184) by Shilabhadrasuri, ''Jeevdaya Raso'' (1200) by Asigu. ''Sandesa Rasak'' (15th century) by Abdul Rahman is one example of non-Jain composition. The literary tradition till 19th century. ''Gajsinh-Raja-no-Rasa'' (1851) is one late example.

Form

During its earliest form, it was a musical ''Roopaka'' (theatrical performance). Vagbhatta describes ''Rasaka'' as a soft and vigorous musical ''Roopaka'' with a variety of ''Tala'' (beat or measure) and ''Laya'' (rhythm). ''Rasaka'' was played by female dancers. The number of pairs participating can increase up to 64. There were two types of ''Rasa''s; ''Tala Rasa'' and ''Lakuta Rasa''. In ''Tala Rasa'' the beats of time were matched by claps of hands while in ''Lakuta Rasa'' it was matched by clashing of wooden sticks in the hands of performers. So the ''Rasa'' was a type of literature intended to be performed by pairs of females dancing and singing in a circle. ''Tala Rasa''s were mostly played by females while ''Lakuta Rasa''s were mostly played by males. The form is somewhat similar to ''Rasa'' dance played in ''

Rasa lila The Raslila (), also rendered the Rasalila or the Ras dance, is part of a traditional story described in Hindu texts such as the Bhagavata Purana and Gita Govinda, where Krishna dances with Radha and the gopis of Braj. Rasalila has also been a ...

''. As the early ''Rasa''s were intended to be performed, they were not lengthy. But over the years, they became lengthy and narrative with elements of story. So the performance aspect may have been diminished. It is doubtful that the ''Rasa''s written in 17th and 18th centuries were actually performed. It is most likely that they were only recited. The ''Rasa''s were written in a variety of

metre The metre (or meter in US spelling; symbol: m) is the base unit of length in the International System of Units (SI). Since 2019, the metre has been defined as the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of of ...

s like

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Chaupai or Deshi. ''Rasa''s were divided into ''Khanda'' and different parts were called ''Bhasha'', ''Thavani'', ''Kadavaka''. They had historical as well as mythological themes. Due to their basic composition meant to be didactic, the early ''Rasa'' like the ''Buddhi Rasa'' includes only words of advice. In late compositions of 16th to 18th century, they reads heavy and artificial due to incorporation of elements of narration, description, moral instructions and sectarian principles.

References

{{reflist Genres of poetry Gujarati literature Cultural history of Gujarat