The Rasagola theory is derived from a combination of Rasa and Gola. Rasa is a fusion of word and meaning that bathes the minds of readers with savour of bliss. It is the truth of poetry, shining without cessation. Clear to the heart, it is yet beyond the words. Gola means circle which is a simple shape. It is the set of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently it is the curve traced out by a point that moves so that its distance from a given point is constant.
Rasa also means sugarcane juice and gola symbolises a circle which is made of boiled Paneer which is also made from milk. The combination made of the two ingredients makes a sweet dish called Rasagola, a tastiest sweet with sugar soup.
A rasa literally means "juice, essence or taste". It connotes a concept in Indian arts about the aesthetic flavour of any visual, literary or musical work that evokes an emotion or feeling in the reader or audience but cannot be described. Although the concept of rasa is fundamental to many forms of Indian arts including dance, music, theatre, painting, sculpture, and literature, the interpretation and implementation of a particular rasa differs between different styles and schools. The Indian theory of rasa is also found in the Hindu arts and Ramayana musical productions in Bali and Java (Indonesia), but with regional creative evolution.
The word rasa appears in ancient Vedic literature. In Rigveda, it connotes a liquid, an extract and flavor. In Atharvaveda, rasa in many contexts means "taste", and also the sense of "the sap of grain".
According to Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe, a Professor of Drama, rasa in the Upanishads refers to the "essence, self-luminous consciousness, quintessence" but also "taste" in some contexts. In post-Vedic literature, the word generally connotes "extract, essence, juice or tasty liquid".
Bharata Muni enunciated the eight Rasas in the Natyasastra, an ancient Sanskrit text of dramatic theory and other performance arts, written between 200 BC and 200 AD. In the Indian performing arts, a rasa is a sentiment or emotion evoked in each member of the audience by the art. The Natya Shastra mentions six rasa in one section, but in the dedicated section on rasa it states and discusses eight primary rasa.
Raudram rasa of the destructive fury of goddess Durga in Bharatanatyam is related to love, humour, comic, pathetic, disgust, fury, anger compassion, sympathy, heroic, terrible, horrifying, marvellous and amazing.
Rasagola is produced from a combination of determinants (vibhava), consequents (anubhava) and transitory States (vyabhicaribhava).
Vibhava (hetu, karana, nimmita) means ‘cause’ of what happens or is happening in life. Bharata has termed it as ‘Vibhava’ and has described its primary purpose as, creating the awareness of the emotions that the creator (poet/author) intends to. With the reference to artistic presentation (creative expression), Vibhava can be inntepreted as, ‘developing the knowledge or understanding of a specific emotion (mental state) that the creator (poet/author) intends to convey through the means and modes of acting. The Vibhavas are of two types; one is ‘Aalambana Vibhava’ and the other is ‘Uddipana Vibhava’. In broader sense, they are the internal and external causes of something. ‘Alambana Vibhava’ is source of a particular emotion that determines its nature and ‘Uddipana Vibhava’ is the one, which enhances the emotion caused by a stimulant. It has no direct bearing or connection with the cause or consequence and it is not a part of the process but indirectly plays the role of enhancer of a particular emotion borne out of a stimulant. This can be best explained by many literary presentations such as works of Kalidasa or other renowned authors.
‘Anu’ is a Sanskrit word and in this context, it means “in reaction to”! Here in this case since it is the natural reaction of body to ‘Vibhava’ it is termed as ‘Anubhava’. Apparently, there is a very thin demarcation between the two; yet they cannot be termed as the same because Vibhava is the cause and Anubhava is its consequence. Vibhava is definitive whereas Anubhava is not definitive.
The simple reason for this is it is not possible to link Anubhava with a specific emotion (mental state). For example, physical reaction like ‘strenuous expression on the face’ is a sure physical reaction which is a manifestation of a definite ‘cause’ or Vibhava. Therefore, the physical reaction of strenouous expression on the face will be the ‘Anubhava’.
Nevertheless, since such a reaction could be the result of either a body ache or mental stress or for being thrown in to an awkward condition. As mentioned earlier, the Vibhava is definitive because it is the internal state, which triggers the anubhava, which is the external manifestation.
Vyabhicaribhava “variants” or Sacaribhava refer to the “accessories of
permanent emotions” (like rati etc.) according to Chirañjiva Bha??acharya (fl. 17th century).—These vyabhicaribhavas are thirty-three in
number. These vyabhicaribhavas are neither permanent nor inborn. Madness is a variant in the case of sgara specially in vipralambha-sgara. These three treated above are very much needed for the manifestation of rasa.