Verse 2.18.6

Bengali text, Devanagari and Unicode transliteration of verse 2.18.6:

এক-দিন প্রভু বলিলেন সবা-স্থানে আজি নৃত্য করিবাঙ অঙ্কের বিধানে ॥ ৬ ॥

एक-दिन प्रभु बलिलेन सबा-स्थाने आजि नृत्य करिबाङ अङ्केर विधाने ॥ ६ ॥

eka-dina prabhu balilena sabā-sthāne āji nṛtya karibāṅa aṅkera vidhāne || 6 ||

eka-dina prabhu balilena saba-sthane aji nrtya karibana ankera vidhane (6)

English translation:

(6) One day the Lord informed everyone, "Today we will perform a drama according to prescribed rules.

Commentary: Gauḍīya-bhāṣya by Śrīla Bhaktisiddhānta Sarasvatī Ṭhākura:

The Sāhitya-darpaṇa, Chapter Six, text 7 explains: The word aṅka refers to one of the ten types of theatrical performances. Each scene of a drama is called an aṅka. In each aṅka the hero must be directly or indirectly featured so that the mood and mellows will manifest. The dialogue should be concise and easily understood, and the passages should not include many compound words. Irrelevant subjects should be completed within one aṅka. Although irrelevant subjects should be completed within one aṅka, topics related with the principal subject should be present in each aṅka and should continue till the final aṅka, when the principal subject will be concluded. Many main themes should not be described in one aṅka. The conclusion of the drama should not be presented in a preceding aṅka but should only be presented in the final one. Each aṅka should consist of many events. There should be more dialogue than poetry. There should not be any subject in an aṅka that is opposed to the hero’s execution of religious rituals. A prolonged event should not be condensed into one aṅka but should be presented in serialized form.

Although the hero may not be present in each aṅka, topics related to him

must be present. An aṅka should generally be presented by three or four actors. In one aṅka there should not be too many subjects like calling from a distance, killing, fighting, revolution within a state or country, marriage, feasting, cursing, offering garlands, death, playing chess, biting lips in lust, touching breasts or other embarrassing acts, sleeping, drinking, seizing a city, taking bath, or applying cosmetics. An aṅka should not be too long. The characters of a queen, the subjects, the ministers, and the merchants should be clearly defined and should awaken emotions and sentiments within the audience. During a fight, no one should be present on stage other than the participants.

The phrase aṅkera vidhāne means “according to the rules prescribed for an aṅka.”