Story of Bhāsa

A very prominent dramatist in Sanskrit. As Bāṇa and Kālidāsa have noticed him in their works, it may safely be assumed that Bhāsa lived in an earlier period. Since Pratimā nāṭaka and Abhiṣeka nāṭaka, which are universally admitted to have been composed by Bhāsa, depend for their themes on the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, it is clear that Bhāsa lived after Vālmīki. Kālidāsa’s period has not yet been fixed beyond doubt. It is almost settled that Bāṇa lived sometime between the sixth and seventh centuries A.D. Prof. Keith has been of the view that Vālmīki lived before the 4th century B.C. In the light of all such factors it could be presumed that Bhāsa lived in the period between the 4th century B.C. and 6th century A.D.

Though Bhāsa has so many glories to his credit he does not fully match Kālidāsa, and this might have been the reason why Indians did almost forget Bhāsa with the advent of Kālidāsa on the literary arena.

We are not in a position to name with unerring definiteness the works of Bhāsa. The general belief is that he has written nearly twenty three dramas. In 1922, Pandit Gaṇapati Śāstrī unearthed from various sources thirteen dramas of Bhāsa. Three out of them, viz. Pratijñāyaugandharāyaṇa, Śvapnavāsavadatta and Avimāraka owe their themes to the Bṛhatkathā, while Pratimā nāṭaka and Abhiṣeka nāṭaka have Rāmāyaṇa as their basic inspiration. Out of the eight remaining dramas six, viz. Madhyama vyāyoga, Pañcarātra, Dūtavākya, Dūtaghaṭotkaca, Karṇabhāra and Ūrubhaṅga owe their themes to the Mahābhārata, while the last two dramas, Bālacarita and Cārudatta are dependent for their themes on anecdotes about Śrī Kṛṣṇa and on yakṣa stories.

Though Dr. Gaṇapati Śāstrī has strongly contended that all the above thirteen dramas were written by Bhāsa himself, his view has not yet received universal acceptance. Whatever that be, it is an admitted fact that Svapnavāsavadatta is by far the best among the thirteen dramas. It is a continuation of the story of Pratijñāyaugandharāyaṇa. The wedding of king Udayana and Vāsavadattā is the subject matter of Svapnavāsavadatta.

With his killing of the Rākṣasa 'Avi' the Sauvīra king comes to be known as Avimāra, and Avimāra’s falling in love with Kuraṅgī, daughter of Kuntibhoja forms the theme of the drama, Avimāraka. In Pratimā nāṭaka is told the story narrated in Rāmāyaṇa from Ayodhyākāṇḍa to Paṭṭābhiṣeka. Abhiṣeka nāṭaka codifies the stories in the Kiṣkindhā Kāṇḍa and Sundara Kāṇḍa of the Ṛāmāyaṇa and describes the coronations of Sugrīva and of Śrī Rāma. Though the characters in Pañcarātra are borrowed from Mahābhārata the story is entirely Bhāsa's. Madhyama vyāyoga, Dūtavākya, Dūtaghaṭotkaca, Karṇabhāra and Ūrubhaṅga are one-act plays. These five plays have as their basis some of the anecdotes in the Mahābhārata. In Cārudatta is treated the love story of Cārudatta and Vasantasenā.

Indisputable evidence is still lacking to credit Bhāsa with the authorship of all the thirteen plays referred to above.