Bhanu Datta’s Rasamanjari classifies heroes (nayakas) and heroines (nayikas) on three bases. Under which of these bases does the term ‘padmini’ fall?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Physiognomic trait of appearance
Option (1) Age — Incorrect. The age groups are baal, taruna and praudha; padmini is not one of them.
Option (2) Emotional state — Incorrect. The emotional states are names such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika and utka.
Option (3) Physiognomic trait of appearance — Correct. Padmini, chitrini, shankhini and hastini are types by appearance.
Option (4) Time of the day — Incorrect. This is linked with each raga in Ragamala, not with the classification in the Rasamanjari.
Note: This topic was not named in the CUET 2026 syllabus, but it was part of the NCERT chapter. In 2025 and 2026, NTA also asked questions on topics in NCERT that the CUET syllabus did not name. So our mocks have questions from every part of the NCERT chapter, to give you enough practice. Read the whole chapter, not only the sub-topics named in the syllabus.
NCERT (2026-27): “Themes of Paintings – An Overview …Bhanu Datta, a Maithil Brahmin who lived in Bihar in the fourteenth century, composed another favourite text of artists, Rasamanjari, interpreted as the ‘Bouquet of Delight’. Written in Sanskrit, the text is a treatise on rasa and deals with the classification of heroes (nayakas) and heroines (nayikas) in accordance with their age — baal, taruna and praudha; physiognomic traits of appearance, such as padmini, chitrini, shankhini, hastini, etc., and emotional states, such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika, utka, etc.” |