Laughter isn’t just comedy — it’s a philosophical weapon, and Abhinavagupta knew it. In this second session, Dr. Sundar Vishwalingam explores the paradox at the heart of Abhinavagupta’s theory: how the Vidushaka, the Sanskrit drama’s court jester, deploys humor as semblance (abhasa) to smuggle subversive truths past social resistance.Drawing on Voltaire’s wit as a parallel, Dr. Vishwalingam explains how humor creates space for serious critique where direct argument fails. The Vidushaka’s unique placement beside the king — licensed to break rules — is revealed as a structural necessity of dharmic theatre, not mere comic relief.The session builds toward Abhinavagupta’s deeper point: that haasya (laughter) as an aesthetic rasa arises from the semblance of shringara, making the theory of humor inseparable from the theory of love and beauty in Sanskrit aesthetics.

About the Speaker:
Sunthar Visuvalingam’s 1984 PhD from BHU on “Abhinavagupta’s Conception of Humor: Its Resonances in Sanskrit Drama, Poetry, Hindu Mythology, and Spiritual Praxis,” was strongly recommended for DLitt. An independent researcher based in Chicago, his subsequent publications are developing its interdisciplinary insights in multiple directions, including comparative religion, aesthetics, and anthropology.

Prachand Praveer has published fifteen books, with notable fiction such as Alpahari Grihtyagi , the non-fiction prose viz. ‘Abhinav Cinema’ and its English translation ‘Cinema Through Rasa’, and an introductory book of Indian Classical phonology ‘Varnochchar Vidhan’.