1800 F. Wilford in Asiatick Researches 6 503 The Greeks supposed that mount Parnassus was the favorite abode of the Muses. The Hindus have not limited their residence to any particular spot... They are called Rasa in Sanscrit, in which language this word signifies juice in general, but is more particularly understood as the honied juice of flowers: it implies also any thing which we particularly delight in.

1828 H. H. Wilson in Asiatic Researches 16 118 The Bhakti of the followers of this division of the Hindu faith is supposed to comprehend five Rasas or Ratis, tastes or passions.

1926 in P. Hartog On Relation of Poetry to Verse 6 With them [sc. Sanskrit authors] what is essential in poetry is something incomprehensible, something which cannot be directly expressed, but only suggested—the aesthetic delectableness which they call rasa, a subjective condition of the reader's mind.

1968 Jrnl. Music Acad. Madras 39 8 In one sense there is only one Rasa, Bhakti, that runs through the songs of Tyagaraja... Thus Bhakti Rasa can wear different complexions... In these songs the melody is itself suggestive of the Rasa of the song.

1977 S. Pandit Approach to Indian Theory of Art & Aesthetics ii. 32 An object which does not contain rasa cannot be classified in the category of an art work, and no experience without it can be called aesthetic.

1997 A. Waldman Iovis II. 174 There are eight distinct categories of rasa, including the erotic, comic, heroic, horrific, odious, angry, pathetic and awed.

2005 Hindu (Nexis) 17 Apr. The dancer's hands can shape a lotus convincingly only in the absence of the real lotus on the screen, a pre-requisite for the creation of rasa in stylised art.

1912 Encycl. Relig. & Ethics V. 889/2 The rāsa, or sportive dance, performed by Kṛṣṇa's cowherds and cowherdesses.

1933 S. Sitwell Canons of Giant Art 122 And now he pipes for them the pastoral rasa, The dance, the shepherds' dance, the Indian cordax.

1969 Femina (Bombay) 26 Dec. 27/1 The beautiful garba and ras dances, with their unforgettable rhythm and sheer vitality.

1972 N. Hein Miracle Plays of Mathurā vi. 129 Krishṇa favored the gopis by dancing with them a circular dance, which the Vishṇu Puraṇa calls the rasa.

2006 Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) (Nexis) 2 Apr. B9 (caption) Jasmine Mavani, 11,..and Eeshani Singh, 11,..demonstrate the Ras, another Indian folk dance.