Siddhicandra on Rasa

Summary

This paper focuses on Siddhicandra Sūri’s treatment of the aesthetic notion of rasa in his polemical work against the kāvya-prakāśa tradition. Siddhicandra was a seventeenth‑century Jain monk and scholar who wrote the Kāvya-prakāśa-khaṇḍana, a refutation of Mammata’s celebrated manual of poetics. The article begins by outlining the intellectual background of the rasa theory, describing how Ānandavardhana and Abhinavagupta formulated the rasa-dhvani doctrine, and how Mammata systematized it. It then introduces Siddhicandra’s critique, noting his rejection of the view that rasa is the essence of poetry and his insistence that śabdālaṃkāras (figures of speech) and arthālaṃkāras (figures of meaning) are equally important. Drawing on close readings of the Kāvya-prakāśa-khaṇḍana, the author analyzes Siddhicandra’s arguments against the permanence of rasa, his reinterpretation of the rasasūtra, and his proposal that literary pleasure arises from the interplay of suggestion and conventional meaning rather than from an innate emotional essence. The paper also highlights Siddhicandra’s use of Jain philosophical concepts, such as anekāntavāda (the doctrine of manifold viewpoints), to challenge monolithic definitions of rasa. It demonstrates how he appeals to multiple scriptural authorities, including earlier Jain thinkers and Sanskrit grammarians, to support his position. Finally, the article assesses the broader significance of Siddhicandra’s contribution. By questioning the privileging of rasa, he opens up space for alternative aesthetic theories and illustrates the cross‑pollination between Jain epistemology and Sanskrit literary criticism. His work thus enriches our understanding of the diversity and dynamism of premodern Indian aesthetics.