The work aims to comprehend the Importance of the Aesthetic (Rasa) perception of Song of Songs. The study focuses on how men and women relate to one another in the text and modern life, which will begin a new aesthetic perception of the present. The main objective is to propose a parallel existence to the reader so they can have a sense of consciousness, raising ethical and spiritual concerns about themselves.
Rev. Asher Mathew is an ordained priest of Mar Thoma Syrian Church and secured a Bachelor of Divinity from Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam. Currently serving as the Vicar of St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Kodinjal, and Missionary of Manjappara of Mar Thoma Congregation.
I would consider it as a great privilege given me to pen a few words on the work ""Aesthetic Perception of Song of Songs: Reflections of Rasa Theory"" done by Rev. Asher Mathew, which was his B.D. thesis done under my supervision. The work seems distinctively innovative and exceptional in engaging with the brilliant love lyric included in the Bible, the Sacred Scripture, where the commoners do always have a stereotyped and different notion on sexuality, erotic love and spirituality which has always been put in different and discrete compartments as sacred and profane. As a matter of fact, this literary critical work would essentially have questioned our pseudo-notion of spiritual upbringing and orientation on keeping such binaries of human emotions by stamping Kama or Sringara as unholy and Bhakti as divine and sacred.
Here, it is affirmed that the love as an emotion expressed by human and non-human living beings is obviously divine which the Creator God has gifted and endowed the creation for the meaningful sustenance and continuation of life in this biosphere. In this regard, he has taken the book, Song of Songs as a unique piece of literary work with its own aesthetic beauty embroidered with Sringara rasa which expresses the reciprocal gestures of a man and woman contributing to the mutual enjoyment of Love in their relationship which could genuinely be the rationale to include such writings in the sacred Scripture. It is argued in the work that reading the Songs with this interpretive frame would counter the existing predominant spiritual and sexist binaries by taking the lyrics of the Songs as the celebration of human sexuality.
Moreover, the book invokes the readers for a new imagination and a transformation of gendered, racial/casteist, and human sexual relationships in their accepted and legal inter-personal relationships which would definitely provide a creative and respectful space for the expression of love and sex which are expressed in the Bhava in the Song by embellishing one's self-dignity. As it is written in the work, ""each person has a distinctive emotion with specific features, capacities, and desires that are similar to and different from those of others in determinate respects because it is God-given"" which would unmask the emotions and feelings based on ethnicity, race, and gender.
As we do witness today globally in the public space, the dominant mass media and all similar communication agencies have often categorized women as mere sexual objects -vulnerable and flexible individuals who could be exploited and suppressed with multiple interests and used for commercial purposes as well. Within such universal scenario, the Song of Songs challenges such market ideology by resisting the dominant structure by affirming the self-dignity of both men and women. Concluding the work, the book invites the churches to interrogate critically such dominant marketized ideologies in the existing consumer world by promoting the values of the Kingdom of God intervening creatively in the public sphere to promote the freedom and rights of all who seem to be weak and vulnerable which must definitely be an inevitable element in the mission of the churches.
I do really appreciate the author for his brilliant and challenging work and do really expecting more useful creations from him for the growth of the Kingdom through his pastoral ministry in the church. Best wishes.
The study is intended to understand the significance of the Aesthetic (Rasa) understanding of Song of Songs from an Indian Perspective. The study also examines the relationship between men and women in the text and contemporary life, which will initiate a new Aesthetic perception of today.
Indian aesthetics is a unique philosophical and spiritual point of view on art and literature. Aesthetics in the Indian context is understood as Rasa. The primary goal of rasa theory is to create a parallel life in front of the reader or the audience to experience a sense of consciousness and ask spiritual and moral questions about oneself. Rasa is a kind of sentiment, and the audience gets the sentiment from a piece of creative object or narrative. Rasa etymologically refers to liquid, flavor, taste, essence, pleasure, beauty, etc. Literary Rasa means, as Bharata Muni defines it, that which is relished or enjoyed. The ultimate goal of Rasa Theory is to act as a catalyst to enhance aesthetic delight in literature.
Bharata Muni mentions eight Rasas linked with eight unique Sthayi Bhavas or permanent moods, such as Sringara (love or crotic), Hasya (humour), Karuna (Pathos), Raudra (Wrath), Vira (Hiroism), Bhankara (terror), Vibhatsa (disgust), and Adhbuta (Wonder). Among them, Sringara Rasa is referred to as the mother of all rasas. Sringara in Sanskrit means Love, Romance, Beauty, and Aesthetic Sense. Sringara also implies that there is inherent beauty everywhere and that everything can be loved. It denotes love and attraction. Sringara Rasa or mutual enjoyment of love between male and female is the reciprocal gestures of a man and woman contributing to the mutual enjoyment of Love. The Sringara Rasa arises from the mood of Rati or Love.
The Song of Songs is intensely sexual and erotic. Biblical scholars tend to ignore the gains offered by theorists of sexuality, and by doing so, they mute some of its wisdom. Song of Songs is the only book in the Old Testament that describes sexual yearning, sexual desire, fantasies of coupling, and description of body arousal. Through the poem, the poet shares a message of mutuality, a celebration of human sexuality and physical intimacy. Thus, this study tries to identify the use of Sringara Rasa and other Rasas in Song of Songs, which share the message of love and mutual enjoyment of love in a relationship. In the present scenario, through advertisements, movies, and culture, men's and women's marriage relationships and the portrayal of Aesthetics of these relationships have become vulnerable. The study also tries to identify the aesthetic experience and Aesthetic purpose of Song of Songs in the present context.
Biblical passages primarily chosen for study are Song of Songs 1:2-8; 3:1-4; 4:1-7; 5:2-5:9; 6:1-3; 7:10-8:4 and 8:5-7. The proposed study is confined to the selected texts with an assumption that the texts help in identifying the use of Rasa in the Book. Moreover, the study deals with men's and women's relationships, which are relevant in contemporary society. Megan Fullerton Strollo in the article ""The value of the relationship: An intertextual reading of Song of Songs and Lamentations"", portrays the importance and value of relationships in Song of Songs. S. Y. Agon in the article ""The Life of Metaphor in Song of Songs: Poetic, Canon and the Culture"", mentions the metaphorical usage of the lover's body and the relationship between men and women. Adma Clarke in his notes on the Song of Songs, composed in 1798, mentions many of its passages from Gita-Govinda.
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