Rasa, Bhav and Abhinaya : A pathway to ‘Meditation in Motion’
Radhika Gowardhan
Abhinavdhara International Journal of Innovation in Indic Studies September 30, 2026 DOI: 10.67754/ijiis.special.edi2.vol02.0016 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that the three pillars of Indian dance — rasa (essence), bhava (feeling), and abhinaya (dramatic expression) — together lead to a complete meditative state in which the performer is fully in the present, without self-awareness or ego, and becomes one with the character and performance. |
Abstract
Dance is one of the earliest and most fundamental modes of human expression, emerging alongside the evolution of humanity as a means of communicating emotion through bhava and expression through rasa and abhinaya.From spontaneous movement to structured forms, dance has developed across countries in different forms and is part of human rituals, celebration and festivals.Rasa -The Sanskrit word for 'essence' can directly lead to a meditative state; by engaging deeply with the present moment through emotions, art, or sensory experiences, rasa serves as an entry point to calm the mind and enter a meditative state.Bhava -The Sanskrit word for feeling can naturally lead to meditation.By directing and channelising one's emotional energies by focussing on mind and transitions your awareness into a state of deep one-pointed concentration.Abhinaya -The art of dramatic expression and acting) can be a profound pathway to meditation both practices require intense present moment awareness breath control and the ability to detach from the ego to fully embody a subject.Thus, a combination of the three pillars of dancing rsa, bhava and abhinaya leads to a complete meditative state of the mind where there is a performer is only in the present and is without self-awareness and ego and had become one with character and the performance just flows though just like soft wind touches the nostril whole breathing.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |