Rasa Analysis of Girish Karnad's Hayavadana

Rasa is an aesthetic feeling aroused in the reader or spectator when he witnesses an effective presentation of art. Sage Bharata in ancient India pioneered and Abhinav Gupta elaborated the theory of Rasa. According to the Rasa Sutra, rasa nispattih is a result of the conjunction of vibhāva, anubhāva, and Vyābhicāribhāva, which appeals to the Sthāyibhāva and leads to rasa realization. Hayavadana is a two-act play, originally written in Kannada by Girish Karnad. He himself has translated the play Hayavadana in English. There are two stories, one is of two best friends, Kapila and Devadatta, and a lady named Padmini, another is about a horse headed man- in search of completeness. Author has used various dramatic techniques like, Narrator/ Sutradhar, Puppets, Use of masks, and subplots. Any literary work consists of Rasa in it. In this research paper, the researcher wishes to study Hayavadana in the light of Rasa Theory. This play has already been studied from different perspectives like myth, realism, identity crisis, portrayal of woman, and incompleteness. There is a scope to study this Indian work of art in English from the point of view of Indian Poetics, specifically Rasa Theory.