Aesthetic Science and Saḿgiita
23 December 1979 · Kolkata
You know something about aesthetic science.
There are subjects that are not expressed in normal language; subtler feelings are expressed through the most subtle modes of expression.
Suppose I saw some particular thing for a certain length of time and enjoyed it.
The feeling behind such enjoyment, i.e., the [I]bháva[/I] or idea – the reason why I liked it – all these when expressed through sweet, subtle language are what is called aesthetic science.
Flowers can be put in a haphazard way on the floor of a house.
However, if you instead pick up the flowers and arrange them meticulously in a decorative style, it will come within the purview of aesthetic science.
Tables and chairs are not sparse in your house; rather they are at sixes and sevens.
The sight is not pleasing.
If you regroup them fashionably, it will come under the category of aesthetic science.
Suppose you want to convey to others the intrinsic beauty of all things that gives delight to every one.
You may arrange those things artistically, or you may not only arrange them, but also convey them to others in a very sweet and lucid language; yet finally you need not even achieve this objective through exquisite language; the message can also be driven home with the help of brush or pen.
This is what is known as aesthetic science.
The feeling that is at work behind aesthetic science is nothing but pleasure.
But what is behind this pleasure?
I like this flower.
I take delight in a particular arrangement.
I feel amused with a special style of speaking.
This is how dramas came into being and how human beings invented recitation.
When this pleasure fills my mind, ́I' becomes the subject or possessive case, and that which enthralls me becomes the objective case.
When such a state of affairs continues, a stage is reached when that Entity feels that ́I' am dear to him.
Thus the reverse occurs.
If this stage continues over a considerable length of time, one loses oneself.
As long as I enjoy, my unit existence persists.
As I exist, I can enjoy, and when I lose myself, when ́I' becomes dear to that Entity, when ́I' becomes the source of joy to that Entity, a stage is finally reached when my unit existence is completely lost in that Entity.
The losing of oneself, the state of being lost or as a matter of fact, the beginning of the process of losing oneself to the very source of joy, is known as [I]mohanavijiṋána,[/I] or the science of supra-aesthetics.
And the Entity to whom we lose ourselves is [I]Mohana,[/I] or the embodiment of enchantment. [I]Parama Puruśa[/I] is [I]Mohana[/I] as He enchants one and all.
Had not [I]Parama Puruśa[/I] enchanted the world, no one would have wanted to live here.
Can you imagine the gravity of the countless problems in the world?
Exasperated at the acute problems, human beings would have bidden goodbye to the world and fled.
But one fails to do this because one has come under the overwhelming influence of [I]Mohana,[/I] i.e., [I]Parama Puruśa[/I] and thus has become unable to flee from this world.
Even if one does not like this world, one somehow remains here due to love for [I]Parama Puruśa.[/I] And when one falls in love with [I]Parama Puruśa[/I], and when one is dear to [I]Parama Puruśa[/I], where will one go?
For this very reason it has been said that human beings invented Dharma as a result of their love for [I]Mohana,[/I] or due to falling into His charming clutches.In this way, Dharma or spirituality first appeared in human life.
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