Bharata’s <i>bibhatsa-rasa</i>, Shudraka’s <i>Mrcchakatika</i> and Christian missionaries’ disgust

Abstract

The ancient Indian aesthetic theory identifies bībhatsa, “disgust / aversion”, as one of the nine sensory states that determine the mood of dramatic and poetic works and by means of visual / verbal techniques affect a spectator/a reader. This term from Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra was adopted by Christian missions in India and used as an argument against the cultural traditions of the conquered subcontinent. The translation into Marathi (1864) of The Little Clay Cart, a Sanskrit drama by Shudraka, became the object of violent public controversy initiated by Rev. Henry Ballantine who found the image of the protagonist Vasantasena, a hereditary courtesan, “disgusting” and the play “shameful”. The final subjugation ofIndia after the defeat of the Sepoy Mutiny (1857–1858), and its transition under the British crown rule intensified the process of emotional indoctrination of subjects by resort to the notion of “disgusting” understood as anything not compatible with the Christian morality norms.