Santarasa and Abhinavagupta's philosophy of aesthetics

Abhinavagupta is generally considered to be the greatest of the many Indian writers in the field of poetics.The breadth and profundity of his intellect, and the originality and brilliance of his critical insight, entitle him to a distinguished place in the ranks of philosophers of aesthetics of all lands and all periods of history. This tenth century Kashmiri scholar advanced ideas in every way as interesting and sophisticated as those propounded by Aristotle, yet his work is virtually unknown in the West beyond a very small circle of Sanskritists It is to remedy this situation by making some of the centralinsights of Abhinavagupta available to literary critics and theinterestedlayman that the authors offer the present volume. Most of the material they present has never before been translated. Contents Foreword Preface Abbreviations Introduction Part I.: Abhinava’s Philosophy of Aesthetics A. Influences: (1) Literary Influences— (a) Asvaghosa (b) Anandavardhana (c) Bhattatauta (d) Bhattanàyaka (2) Philosophical Influences— (a) Vedanta (b) Vijnànabhairava (c) Yogavàsistha (d) Kashmir Saivism (3) Influence from speculation on santarasa— (a) Visnudharmottarapurana (b) Anuyogadvàrasùtra (4) Tantric Influence— Tantraloka B. Abhinava’s Philosophy of Aesthetics (1) Translation of key passages from his philosophy works and the Abhinavabhàrati (2) Text and translation of the Locana on Dhvanyàloka (3) Text and translation of the Locana on Dhvanyàloka Part II.: Santarasa (A) Interpolated verses in the Natyakastra (B) Rudrata (C) Dhvanyaloka (D) Locana on same (E) Dhvanyaloka (F) Locana on same (G) Santarasaprakarana from the Abhinavabharati (H) Dasarupaka and Avaloka passages Part III.: Conclusion: (A) Verse from the Dhvanyaloka (B) Locana on same (C) Similarities between aesthetic experiences and mystic experiences (D) Differences Appendix— Later writers on santarasa and rasasvada (1) Mammata (2) Visvanatha (3) Rasagangadhara Bibliography Addendum Index Errata