Celebrating Emotion: A Study of Rasa in Qutban Suhravardi’s Mirigavati or The Magic Doe

Abstract

Sufism began as a movement in Indian literature during the medieval period. It was during this period that a number of Sufi poets began writing in the vernacular and a new genre known as the ‘Prema kahāni’ or love story was developed. This genre, written in Hindavi, was a major development in the field of Sufi romances and marks the beginning of a new movement in the literary and devotional culture of the regional language. One of the most important features of these romances is that they are replete with emotions of love and devotion towards God. Sufi writers express these emotions through what the Sanskritic theory refers to as rasa or bhāva. The present article aims to bring out the various rasas or emotions generated by the Sufi romance Mirigavati or The Magic Doe by Qutban Suhravardi in the minds of the readers as they read this romance.