Under the Ivy - Vasakjja

["Bullard, Claude L (Len)" <clbullar@ingr.com>]

I've read some of the debates on the meanings 
of Kate's Under the Ivy.  Here's one to add to 
the list of potential interpretations.  I've no 
evidence, but am struck by the similarity.

In one Indian (Bharatta, not Amerindian) philosophy, 
there are eight types of archetypal heroines (ashtanayikas).  
The resource I am reading states that these are 
archetypes of eight states of love.  These archetypes 
are described in terms of the love-situation (avastha).  
The avastha typically use well-understood metaphors 
and scene-setting descriptions (birds singing, gold of 
evening sky, forest glade, stream in virgin jungle, 
verdant meadows, etc).  

One of these ashtanayikas 
is vasaksajja in which the nayika (heroine) is described waiting 
longingly for her lover/hero (nayak) in a lush bower of 
flowering plants and creepers.  Many paintings and 
sculptures depict the vasaksajja as the 
jivatma (individual soul) yearning to unite with the 
paramatma (absolute soul - maybe the matmos 
of Barbarella).

The beautiful thing about this philosophy is that 
while it discerns among types of passions and 
love, it essentially binds the sacred and profane 
and reveals sexual love as a form of worship or 
devotion.  That is, sringara (love) and bhakti (religious devotion) 
share many connotations and associations.  In the 
resource it says that such love is the leitmotif of 
Indian creativity.

len