Ras (रस) — The Nine Rasas, Their Sthayi Bhav and the Four Parts That Build Them

Ras (रस) is the emotional flavour a reader or listener experiences from a poem, a scene or a story. The feeling already sleeping inside every human being is called the sthayi bhav (स्थायी भाव); when a poet awakens it through situation, expression and passing moods, the awakened feeling becomes ras. Bharatmuni set this out in the Natyashastra with the famous sutra 'विभावानुभावव्यभिचारिसंयोगाद्रसनिष्पत्तिः' — ras arises from the union of vibhav, anubhav and vyabhichari bhav.

For an exam, this is the cheapest chapter in Hindi. There is no reasoning, no calculation, no interpretation — only a fixed table of nine rasas and nine sthayi bhavs, four component terms and two or three numbers. BPSC TRE-4, Bihar STET, CTET Hindi and the Hindi sections of SSC and Railway all set at least one question here every cycle, and it is always the same question wearing a different sentence.

1. The sthayi bhav of Veebhats Ras (वीभत्स रस) is —

2. Which ras is called 'Rasraj', the king of rasas?

3. The sthayi bhav of Shant Ras (शांत रस) is —

4. The number of sanchari (vyabhichari) bhav is —

5. The ras-sutra 'विभावानुभावव्यभिचारिसंयोगाद्रसनिष्पत्तिः' was given by —

6. How many avayav (components) does ras have?

7. The sthayi bhav of Veer Ras (वीर रस) is —

8. The sthayi bhav of Vatsalya Ras (वात्सल्य रस), counted as the tenth ras, is —