Ram Dayal Rakesh
Alexander Baumgartner (1714‑1762) a famous German philosopher, coined the word ‘aesthetics’ from its Greek root aisthesis, which means ‘sense of perception’. It is the philosophy of beauty or of art. Aesthetics since Baumgartner’s time, has been defined as ‘The study of the beauty in nature and art, of its character, of its conditions, and of its conformity to law.’
Human being has been lover of nature since time immemorial because nature is the storehouse of beauty. The secret of beauty lies in nature. It has puzzled man for centuries. The eternal beauty of the Himalayas has enchanted human beings from the time of creation. The philosophy of Nepalese aesthetics and its practice lies in the recognition of the interrelation between nature and man. Man is a part and parcel of nature. The Nepalese try to evaluate the aims and objectives of their life in terms of this aesthetic sense.
Nepal is the only blissful country in the world. Naturally, Hinduism has manifested itself in diverse and multiple forms though all the diversities merge again the same basic unity‑unity between man and nature. The acceptance of cosmic identity of man is its main philosophy. Hinduism is basically a tolerant, basic‑values oriented and aesthetics-oriented way of life which many times does away with the necessity of god.
Nepalese aesthetic perception and identity is based on the above‑mentioned theory, which is Hindu but not necessarily theistic or secular. Aesthetic perception and cultural identity of Nepal is such a whole which conforms to above‑mentioned essential nature of Hinduism and yet has its own historically developed separate and national identity. Hindu people believe in Satyam (Truth) Shivam (Good) and Sundaram (Beauty). They have their firm faith in Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya (lead me from darkness to light). There is a saying in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
O Brahman, lead us from the unreal to the real,
Lead us from darkness to light,
Lead us from death to immortality.
Boris Pasternak emphasized beauty as a secret of life, can solve all the problems. Greek aestheticians considered the universal quality of beauty and harmony. Pythagoras forwarded a mathematical approach to beauty through musical harmony while developing the concept of the harmony of spheres. Another philosopher, Heraclitus, pioneered the dynamic concept of perception of beauty, which can be understood through contemplation.
Sublime personalities reveal expansion, like the Buddha, the Christ, and the Krishna. Lord Krishna is considered as the incarnation of beauty. Pushkin’s ode extolled the sublime. Poetic beauty can be found in the similes of Kalidasa, excellence of meaning in Bharavi, Milton’s sublimity, Wordsworth for healing power, John Keats’ Beauty is truth’s smile, Tennyson’s lyrical craftsmanship, Browning’s dramatic monologue, Arnold for his elegiac depth moral profundity, clarity, melancholy, and surety, Swinburne for splendour and fervour, and Longfellow for enigma.
Aesthetics of riddles is found in Pindar, Theocritus, Symphosius, and Swift. Beauty is inherent in Goethe’s sagacity of mind, Lord Byron’s force of mood while Coleridge speaks of beauty as harmony and unity. Apart from these Plato, Aristotle and Lessing were the outstanding defenders of objective force of beauty whereas Edmund Burke, and David Hume defended the subjective position. According to Hume‑ It must be allowed there are certain qualities in objects which are fitted in things themselves. It exists only in the mind which contemplates them. The eternal and enchanting beauty of nature is to produce these particular feelings. Beauty is quality. The highest peak Mount Everest creates soothing effect on human mind. Its beauty is splendid and tranquil. The Great Himalayas, the snow‑clad abode of snows and rivers of ice consists of natural beauty of birds, animals, climate, landscape, jade‑green mountains, temples, vernal meadows, rushing streams, rivulets and shaligram, an ammonite found exclusively in the Kali Gandak, river of Nepal. Nepal is like to Crest‑Jewel of the Himalayas (Majupurias 1982). It is the lovely land of Pashupatinath, the all‑ seeing guardian‑god of Hindus. Nepal has a rich temple architecture, stupas, and monasteries, Pagoda style temple, i.e. Nyatapola, five‑storeyed temple reflects the Hindu heritage. Nepalese sculpture seems superb and elegant. The bell‑shaped crown or pinnacle of Nepalese temple serves the purpose of protection. It is traditionally believed that the lake Manasarovara is the source of the Mandala, a symbol of prayer, a path towards righteousness and a yantra of meditation (Bernier 1979) In the lap of the Himalayas and in the valleys and near the river‑basins, villages come to be settled by the people of Mongoloid and Indo‑Aryan origin. These Himalayan people are well‑known for their religious beliefs, cohesion, bravery, simplicity and above all their peace‑loving nature. Augustine says, “Unity is the form of all beauty infinite good, truth and beauty are the attributes of the deity and communicated by God to things.”
The Nepalese culture had its extreme diversity but at the same time having a hard core of unity in diversity flourished under the expansive shadow of the Himalayas. This worked as the basic factor, which inspired integrated affinity between Man and Nature. A great Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar says very beautifully” “Meri bhi hai chah bilasini sunderata ko shish Nabaun jahan jahan madhumai basiho, wahan wahan besantanil ban jaun.”
“He wants to bow down before beauty, He wants to be wind and embraces it everywhere. He is fond of beauty. All Nepalese poets have described beauty in their poems. Great poet of Nepali Literature Lakshmi Prasad Devkota has composed a poem entitled “To a Beautiful Prostitute”. Allow me to quote some lines from his poem:
Autumn feels like delicious wine of garnering and gains,
It is man’s gala season! Lo!
The rich Earth blooms and swells,
And smiles in golden splendour, you! Like earth
That pull thin silk over your swells and smiles
By nature wanton lavishly, you girl
You, matchless beauty, flutter to me
Do you your silken kerchief flutter out to me?
Indreni…
As famous Sanskrit poet Jayadeva elaborates the passion of Radha and Krishna, he creates an aesthetic atmosphere
If you are my ornament,
My life,
My jewel in the sea of existence.
Be yielding to me forever,
My heart fervently pleads
Radha, cherished love,
Abandon your baseless pride
Love’s fire burns my heart
Bring wine in your lotus mouth.
The grand grandeur of the Himalayas has immensely and intimately influenced the Nepalese poetry from its very beginning.
There has been a tremendous change in the attitude of the today’s Nepalese poets who see beauty in ugliness.
Shiva Adhikary has aesthetic sense to a great extent. That’s why his poetry diction is full of beauty. He is fond of natural beauty. He has expressed this aesthetic sense in the following lines:
Bees and butterflies are always there
Where flowers are blooming
Flowers are all beauty in themselves
And their smell,
The truth is beauty. (Shiva Adhikary: “Everything Beautiful Has a Form.” Pratik, p. 83.)
Nepal is a beautiful country which is rich and resourceful in many fields. Its beauty is boundless and limitless. This has immensely impressed, influenced and inspired all Nepalese poets old and new alike. They all have love in their inner hearts for this beautiful country. Krishna Prasad Parajuli is one of them who has limitless and fathomless love for his own beautiful country
“My country cries out In the Kernels of my heart in the language of my eyes in the colours of the rainbow Sweet imagination fills in the waterfalls and hills. Sprinkling dreams so sweet” (Krishna P. Parajuli: “My Country” Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 41.)
Some poets are themselves in the mood of melancholy but they want beautiful things to grow around them, and to dance before them. They have tears in their eyes but long for beautiful objects. They want also to smile in pensive mood. They want to enjoy the godly gifts having heavy hearts and long sighs:
According to Aristotle ‘Beauty is the gift of God’. One example is enough here:
Let there be the gift of green on meadows and the slopes
Though for me it and eyes are filled with tears.
Despite the odds please do convey I’m living with a smile
To the playful peacock who’s dancing to my tears. (Durga Lal Shrestha: “Migrant Love”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 46)
Ishwar Ballav, a very powerful poet is of this opinion that fife is short. It is transitory. It is like a day dream. Likewise beauty is also transitory. It is decaying day by day. So one should not boast of his or her beauty because it is an object of decay and destruction. He expresses his view about beauty in the following stanza:
What is life to talk about?
It could just be a dream
What is beauty yours today
And what my songs for you. (Ishwar Ballav: “What Is Life?” Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 56)
One of the Nepalese poets who has broken heart in love requests the milky moon not to come closer to him because he is unable to share the light and delight of the moon. He is also not in favour of the exchange of his expression. It is quite impressive:
Beautiful you are and so tender
Blooming in youthfulness
But how could I give you somebody else’s
Symbol of sweet kisses. (Ratna Sumsher Thapa: “Desist! Moon”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 74)
Kiran Kharel, a lovely lyricist wants to present beautiful gifts to his beloved. He is very fond of the natural objects and wants to possess it for his beloved. He wants to give beautiful spring and dewdrops wherever his beloved goes. He wants to present everything pretty to his beloved. He expresses his wishes in the following lines:
I will cover you with the coruscating (glittering)
Canopy of my sky
And the process colourful
I’ll offer you the spring
At every step your foot might rest
I’ll sprinkle dewdrops sweet
Every comer where you breathe
I’ll fill with fragrance sweet. (Kiran Kharel: “I’ll Gift My Life to You”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 81)
But today’s poets have bitter experiences of beautiful objects be it natural or humane. That’s why the full moon does not provide them solace and sympathy but it burns their tender hearts. Bishwa Ballav is one of them whose bitter experience is expressed explicitly here:
Even the glowing full moon
Bums the heart sometimes
Even love‑flower like
Somewhere pricks and hurts. (Bishwa Ballav. “Full Moon”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 117)
Manjul has immense aesthetic sense which is his richest possession. His heart is full of love when he beholds a rainbow in the blue sky. His experience is like Romantic Poet William Wordsworth‑ who says “My heart leaps up when I behold a rainbow in the sky”, Let us see Manjul’s expression when he sees seven colours of a beautiful rainbow. He is mingled with the moon.
“Behold! I am a rainbow with seven colours bright
Flaunting colours all the way
I consecrate my love” (Manjul. “Rainbow”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 123)
Neer Shah a prominent poet of the Nepalese literature is the true worshipper of beauty. He is so fond of beauty that he wants to be its slave. He is eager to embrace her beauty‑queen. He is lover of his sweet heart who is the paragon of beauty: Allow me to quote his one stanza:
I am a slave of your beauty
of this sweet embrace
And of this warm heart beat
My Basanti! Loving Basanti. (Neer Shah: “My Basanti”. Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems, p. 162)
Vishnu Vibhu Ghimire is right when he says that beauty is both exciting and intoxicating. It fills the entire eyes with intoxication. According to Zimmerman also “Beauty is worse than wine, it intoxicates both the holder and the beholder. Mr. Ghimire is also of the same opinion. So he opines in the following stanza:
Above the two lovely mountains
there is the sky
The sexually agitated moon
And the rainbow of youth
Filling the entire eyes with intoxication. (Vishnu Vibhu Ghimire: “The Youthful Pond”. Selected Nepali Poems, p.159)
Dinesh Adhikari is presenting lovely landscape in his poem named ‘The Beauty of Foam’, A husband and a wife are enjoying on the sandy riverbank and fond of natural beauty express their ideas.
Lying on the sand on the river banks
Baking in the winter sun
When she witnessed
She lifted both her palms
Turning red, she covered her face
Wonder what her husband thought (Dinesh Adhikari, “The Beauty of Foam”. Mode of Life, p. 115-119)
Love without beauty is meaningless. It also needs ornamentation and touch of human quality only then it is complete and compassionate. This feeling has been described here:
“Here love has been maintained and ornamented only with the quality of being a man” (Bairagi Kainla: “My Will”. Contemporary Nepali Poems, p.36.)
Nature, a store-house of beauty has been the perennial and permanent source of inspiration for poets of the whole world. All the elements of nature inspire them while composing their poems especially beautiful flower with its sweet smell and fresh fragrance. Vasu Shashi is such kind of poet who is immensely inspired and influenced by its amazing beauty:
One such flower is needed
which can sacrifice the good fortune
of becoming an offering to God,
which can sacrifice the desire
To be woven into a garland.
I will dissolve its crimson beauty
Into my blood
Lifting it will my eyes;
Pumping it into my veins and arteries
I will offer it all my years
And it will know that a flower can bloom twice; once in a Hant.
Then in a man’s mind. (Vasu Shashi: “One Such Flower is Needed”. Contemporary Nepali poems, p. 55.)
Nature does not have door in the Nepalese poetry. So it is boundless, bountiful, beautiful and borderless. Beauty lies in concealing beauty.
“Nature does not have door
So it is open to all
her lap
Her embrace
And her blessing is forever
In nature that’s why there is peace. (Bhism Upreti)
In the last I want to quote one Korean poet named
Ja Hyo Yoo
Rain fell for a couple of days
And now, washed free of worldly dust
The wind is transparent
From Seoul, we can see Mt. Song-ak
As we see the Mount Everest from Kathmandu.
The Korean Peninsula extends southward from the northeast past of the
Asian continent over the course of thousands of years, korea has
developed an incredibly variety of cultural and artistic expression.
In addition, it has blended foreign influences, especially Chinese, with indigenous elements to create unique beliefs ways of living literature and handicrafts. In more modern times, western influences have been added to the mixture to create a sometimes heart stopping blow of old and new, and contrasts and juxtapositions in the texture of Korean life.
Hello from Korean P.35.
References:
1 Benedetto Croce: Aesthetics as Science of Expression and General Linguistics. Rupa & Co. Calcutta, 1973.
2. Nadezhda Kashina: The Aesthetics of Dostoyevsky. Trans. by Julius Kaster, 1987.
3. S. Mozhnyagun: Problems of Modem Aesthetics. Moscow, 1969.
4. Satya Malhotra: Nayee Kavita Me Saundrayachetna. Arya Book Depot, 1990.
5. Yuri Borev: Aesthetics. Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1981.
6. Sonja Servomaa (Editor): Dialogue & Universalism, 1997.
7. Yuyutsu, R.D. Sharma: Pratik, 1990.
8. Phatah Singh: Bharatiya Saundarshastr ki Bhumika. National Publishing House, Delhi, 1967.
9. Robin Sharma (Trans and Ed.): Selected Nepali Lyrical Poems. Kathmandu, 2001.
10. Tara Nath Sharma (Trans & Ed.) Selected Nepali Poems. Kathmandu, 1999.
11. Toya Gurung (Ed.) Contemporary Nepali Poems. Royal Nepal Academy
