The Theatre of Ecstasy

The present essay is a reflection on the nature of bhakti, the Krishnaite way of devotion, and an impassioned attempt to unveil some of the hidden links between mystical experience and the traditional art of theatre. It is based on The Ocean of Nectar of the Flavours of Devotion (Bhaktirasāmṛtasindhu), a major work by Rūpa Gosvāmī (1489-1564).

In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Bengal was alive with an exceptional mystical fervour. The famous Caitanya-a madman of God-was at the origin of a new religious current that would come to be called Krishnaism. His disciple Rūpa Gosvāmī, the movement's theorist, developed a particularly daring theology on the instructions of the master. He mapped out the devotional impulses of Krishna devotees with extreme meticulousness, taking up one by one the teachings of the ancient Bharata Theatre Treatise (early Christian era). This original approach is perhaps unique in the history of humanity. Far removed from sterile puritanism, it celebrates the indissoluble marriage of mysticism and art.

The present essay unveils some of the secrets of this unexpected marriage and shows its astonishing fruitfulness. It is addressed not only to lovers of India in general, but also to all those, whether theatre-lovers or not, who sense or know the importance of art in the spiritual life.

This book highlights two areas of reflection that are usually very little explored in exegetical literature.

The first is that of the extraordinary convergence illustrated in Rūpa's work between art and mysticism. In India, more clearly than anywhere else, art touches on the universal and is not anything other, in its fundamentals, than a sacred activity linking man to the divine.

The second area, in the comparison of Christian mysticism and Krishnaite bhakti, is the uncommon field of comparative mysticism, which is so necessary in our times of misguided exoterisms and insufficient esoterisms.