Conclusion

The present thesis on the topic of “A Critical Study of the Daśarūpaka with Special Reference to the Mudritakumudacandra” is mainly based on the Daśarūpaka. This takes into account all the ten types of dramas for the critical study. In the study the ten types of dramas have been analysed according to the theme, rules and regulations provided by the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka written by Bharata and Dhanañjaya respectively. The main purpose of the study consists in the analysis of the rules, regulations and the contemporary ideology of the society. It has also given the brief idea on Western dramatic tradition, which has very rich dramatic tradition. The tradition continued from Greek to Elizabethan tradition and produced many prominent play writers such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, Aristophanesandronicus, Noevius, Plautus, Shakespeare, Christopher, Thomas Middleton and Ben Jonson and their precious dramas are The Persians, Antigone, Electra, Hercules, The Trojan Woman, Hamlet, Othello, The Silent Woman etc. However, the tradition cannot be compared with Indian dramatic tradition, because Indian dramatic tradition is totally different from the West. Though some opine that Indian dramatic tradition was influenced by the Western dramatic tradition, because the characters like Yavana girls etc., those who were imported from the Greek, are known as “flute girls”, means they used to sing, dance and play flute and these girls used to do the role of courtesans in Bhāṇa type of drama. It should be noted that our dramatic tradition might have imported such characters (i.e. flute girls), but our tradition was not influenced by the Western dramatic tradition. We had quite different dramatic tradition, which was started much before them.

However, it is interesting to note that some of the Western dramas consist of very similar characteristics found in the Indian dramas. For instance, the dream scene in the “Twelfth Night” of Shakespeare and the “Svapnavāsavadattam” of Bhāsa, the description of spring season in “A mid-Summer Nights dream” of Shakespeare and the “Mālavikāgnimitram” of Kālidāsa are quite similar. The humorous scenes in “The Silent Woman” of Ben Jonson and the “Mṛcchakaṭikam” of Śūdraka, the tragedy in the “Macbeth” of Shakespeare and the “Veṇīsaṃhāra” of Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa are also very similar. Even the tragedy in Scandinovia’s dramas like “The Bridge” and “The Killing” are very similar to the Veṇīsaṃhāra of Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa.

But some Western dramas are very similar with our dramatic genres. The excellent example is Euripides’s “Andromache and Daughters of Toy” an “Utsṛṣṭikāṅka” type of drama. Some monologue type of dramas, such as Brownian’s “Andrea Drell Satron”, “From Marne to Mid-night” and Ellen Glasgow’s “Barren Ground” are very similar to Bhāṇa and Vīthī type of dramas. Then comedy is one of prominent type of dramas in Western dramatic tradition and they have lots of works in this genre, like Aristophanes “The Clouds”, “Frogs” and “Beggars” etc. can be compared to Prahasana type of genre. Then Prakaraṇa is a humorous and imaginary type of drama, which has similarity with the Western drama like Shakespeare’s “A Mid-Summer Nights Dream” and Aristophanes “The Banqueters”. The other Indian genres like Ḍima, Īhāmṛga and Samavakāra are the mythological dramas, though such type of genres are not available in the Western dramatic tradition, it has plenty of mythological dramas. Again, Nāṭaka is a different Indian genre, which contains all types of sentiments etc. and such type of genre cannot be thought of in the Western dramatic tradition, as it does not belong to either tragedy type or comedy type of dramas. Thus, both Indian and Western traditions are quite different.

The study has done on the ten types of dramas with the illustrations of the ten important works out of available dramas. This again has been achieved by taking into account the important contributions of the dramas and the authors to the field of Indian drama.

The ten types of dramas are:

1. Nāṭaka,
2. Bhāṇa,
3. Prahasana,
4. Ḍima,
5. Vyāyoga,
6. Samavakāra,
7. Vīthī,
8. Aṅka,
9. Īhāmṛga and
10. Prakaraṇa.

They have been analysed and studied critically with illustrations in the due order.

1) Nāṭaka:

For the study and analysis of the Nāṭaka, Vśākhadatta’s Mudrārākṣasa has been taken from among the Nāṭakas. According to the scholar, like M. R. Kale, Viśākhadatta belongs to the seventh century A.D. His play though based on political affairs, has very few characters that are known from the historical records and several other characters that are the creations of the author. This mix of characters makes the story very interesting and gives a kind of contemporary social effect. The story revolves around Candragupta belonging to Mauryan dynasty. The play has about twenty characters most of whom are the inventions of Viśākhadatta. Contrary to the general principle of drama (Nāṭaka), there is no leading female character except Candanadāsa’s wife, who is not a leading lady and only appears in the seventh act. The Mudrārākṣasa deviates from the rules of Bharata that only four to five characters should appear in an act, but in the Mudrārākṣasa more than five characters appear in a number of acts. Here the drama could also be classified as Prakaraṇa as it includes both historical facts and imaginary characters. It could also be classified as Vyāyoga type as the story is both historical and social and displays heroic sentiment. However, by strictly applying principles of Prakaraṇa, it may not qualify to be a Prakaraṇa. Again, strictly speaking, it cannot be a Vyāyoga, as Vyāyoga has a single act, but the Mudrārākṣasa has seven acts. According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, Nāṭaka should have all types of styles. However, the Mudrārākṣasa does not have gay style, though it has other three styles, i.e. verbal, grand and violent styles. Again, the play is based on politics and therefore does not use female character as one of the main lead characters. The play includes violence, arguments and fighting, which are the essential characteristics for such type of drama.

The Mudrārākṣasa play is based on political affairs of the Gupta dynastyand has the heroic sentiment as the principal sentiment. The associate sentiments are violent, furious, pathetic terrible, low laughter, low erotic and marvellous sentiments. It does not have the strong erotic and laughter sentiments. It has employed five types of junctures along with five types of elements and actions. The title of the drama, the Mudrārākṣasa, is justified by the search of Rākṣasa by Cāṇakya through the signet rings of Rākṣasa. The enactment, the dialoguesand the intensity of searching for Rākṣasa have all been well portrayed in the play and they are well reflected in the first juncture, where Cāṇakya gets the signet ring in the first act.

The author Viśākhadatta, has applied all the technical aspects of the drama except interlude scene or Viṣkambhaka in the prologue. He has not dealt much with contemporary society and does not speak much about women of the period as the story is mainly based on politics. Only in one case woman is shown as a secret agent. In fine, it can be concluded that the Mudrārākṣasa, an excellent play, brings out Viśākhadatta’s mastery of play writing. It is one of the finest plays and largely fulfils the technicalities prescribed by both Bharata and Dhanañjaya excepting a few deviations, which are the creations of the author for the poetic excellence.

2) Bhāṇa:

Bhāṇa is supposed to be enacted by a single interlocutor on the stage. The interlocutor may portray several characters of different sexes belonging to different strata of the society, place and position. It is assumed that the interlocutor who is enacting, delivers the dialogues, proposes question and answers questions by using dummy characters behind the stage.

Date of monologue can be traced back to Greek sources, where they have been used first. The appearance of monologue in Indian tradition can be dated back to the Vedic period. Vedic monologue was the formative phase of Bhāṇa, where the rules and regulations, were yet to be formed. Thus, Vedic monologue does not betray all the characteristics of Bhāṇa, which we see in the later period.

By Bhāṇa, we mean a play enacted by an interlocutor on the stage narrating and organising the whole play all by himself. In the play, he understands the importance of the characters and depicts all the characteristics of the characters through the language and dialogue delivery.

The characters are also portrayed according to their status, place and position in the society. Besides the dialogue delivery, physical feature, dress and ornament are adjusted according to the characters.

Though the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka assign different characters and associates with different dress and ornament, the Viṭa might imagine different characters with different dress or ornament befitting the characters in the background.

Thus, Bhāṇa can be held to be a unique type of play where the tempo of the play mostly rests on the dialogue delivery, ornament, dress, ability, the status in the society, weakness, egos and characteristics like valour, treacheryand belief etc. of the characters.

The Ubhayābhisārikā is the earliest existing play in the category of Bhāṇa, which is believed to be written by Vararuci. There are controversies about the period of the play. Taking various accounts into consideration and arguments by various scholars, the play can be dated back to the Gupta period, i.e. around fifth or sixth century A.D. This was the golden era of the Indian art and culture where some of the most beautiful cultural creations in the form of temples, sculptures were found. The temple building in the central India, the Viṣṇu temple at Deogarh, the Varāha and Bhūdevī panel at Udayagiri, the contemporary paintings at Ajantā under Vākāṭakas reflect the ethos of the period, where the play of Bhāṇa was developing.

The story of the Ubhayābhisārikā, takes place in the city Kusumapura. The play Ubhayābhisārikā begins when the lover (Kuberadatta) and beloved (Nārāyaṇadattā) have gone to attend the dance performance in the temple complex. The hero i.e. Kuberadatta praises in the course of the performance, the performance of the female dancer (Madanasenā), which hurts the ego of his beloved. She leaves the place with anger and hurt. The hero does not react immediately, seeks the help of the Viṭa (Vaiśikācala)and narrates the incidents. He requests the Viṭa to appease and pacify the heroine for the reunion. Then Viṭa goes in the search of the heroine. On the way, he meets the maiden of the heroine and upon enquiry; she says that both the hero and the heroine have already met near the Vīṇāvādaka’s (Viśvāvasudatta) house. So Viṭa goes to the teacher’s house and finds them there and blesses them. In the whole play, there are about twenty characters. They betray the common bonding by living in the same City and being compassionate to each other. According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, Bhāṇa should contain heroic sentiment, while according the Daśarūpaka, Bhāṇa should contain the erotic sentiment. The Ubhayābhisārikā contains more of the erotic sentiment both by narration of the story and characters depicted like the beautiful dancer (Madanasenā), the heroine (Nārāyaṇadattā)and the assistant of heroine (Kanakalatā) and the presentation and use of harlots in the play.

The study reveals the following characteristics of the Ubhayābhisārikā:

a) The play has used Viṭa as the lone character.

b) It has used both verbal style (bhāratīvṛtti) and gay style (kaiśikīvṛtti) in the play Ubhayābhisārikā.

c) The play has used erotic (śṛṅgāra) sentiment as the main sentiment.

d) It has used harlots.

e) There is use of both opening (mukha) and concluding (nirvahaṇa) junctures.

f) The play has used technical aspects like conversation with imaginary person (ākāśabhāṣita), intimation scene (nepathya), prologue (sthāpanā) and epilogue (bharatavākya).

The play (Ubhayābhisārikā) lacks the following characteristics:

a) The play has not used the character of rouge (dhūrta), which is suggested by Bharata.

b) There is no use of heroic (vīra) sentiment.

c) There is no use of sub-divisions of the gentle dance (lāsya).

d) It has not used the technical aspects such as benedictory verse (nāndī), aside (svagata), aloud (prakāśa), personal address (janāntika)and confidential (apavārita).

While describing the characters of the play, it provides a glimpse of the society and their various aspects such as it has given beautiful picture of city Kusumapura, like market, lanes, palaces, decorated houses and common people. The educational system was well established. People were studying Vedas and their subdivisions. The girls were learning dance and music.

While describing the environment and place, it gives a very good description of city life, whether it is imaginary or real, it is difficult to establish, because many times the play writers have used imagery and imaginations beyond the actual happenings or surroundings.

The study of Bhāṇa certainly projects the literary achievement of the period. The story and the characters within the confined environment of the city tell about a contemporary society, their aspiration, achievements, pass-time, leisure and availability of different facilities. Overall, the characters and the descriptions in the play reflect cultural achievements of the period.

3) Prahasana:

The learned Pallava King Mahendravarman who flourished in the seventh century A.D., was the author of the Mattavilāsaprahasana and ruled Kāñci, a seat of learning and culture surrounded by large number of learned persons.

The Mattavilāsa Prahasana has been composed with a very small plot. It should be noted that a Prahasana type of drama is supposed to be full of laughter and joy. There is no sorrowful or pathetic scene in the drama. There are no abusive sentiments either. The story revolves around the quarrel between the two Śaivite ascetics and a Buddhist monk on the subject of the begging bowl, which was lost by the Śaivite ascetics. It is a one-act play and has only five characters. These characters are mendicants or ascetics from different sects and a mentally unstable person, i.e. mad man. The plot with different characters and the dialogues fully satisfy the requirements of a pure Prahasana type of drama. According to Bharata, a Prahasana should consist of verbal style (bhāratīvṛtti), as the drama is based on humour. Here the humour is produced from the dialogue and the costume, which form the characteristics of Verbal style. This style has four parts, i.e. preface, propitiation, farce and ancillaries of vīthī. The parts of verbal style are well illusrated by Mahendravarman in his drama. However, the Mattavilāsa Prahasana does not strictly follow the rules prescribed by Dhanañjaya, as he probably flourished after Mahendravarman. Though it is a comic drama, it has used lucid and appropriate language. It is basically a quarrel laced with humor. The author has applied ancillaries of vīthī such as prapañca, asatpralāpa and other aspects, as mentioned above in the relevant chapter. The drama basically uses Bharata’s principles, as Dhanañjaya florished probably later. Dhanañjaya states that the ancillaries of vīthī should be applied in the saṅkīrṇa type of Prahasana and the characters should be used as courtesans, harlots, roughs and Parasites. However, Mahendravarman’s Mattavilāsa does not consist of these characters and hence it should be classified as pure type of Prahasana. As the comic is the main ingredient of the Prahasana, Bharata does not mention the six types of laughter; however, Dhanañjaya elaborates that Prahasana should have six types of laughter, i.e. smita, hasita, vihasita, upahasita, apahasita and atihasita, but, the Mattavilāsa has used only vihasita type of laughter.

According to the rules laid down by the Nāṭyaśāstra, Prahasana should have two junctures, i.e. opening (mukha) and concluding (nirvahaṇa). Both the junctures are essential for a Prahasana and it is well reflected in the Mattavilāsa of Mahendravarman. The drama applies a few technical aspects as well. However, it does not contain benedictory verse before the prologue and does not contain interlude scene (viṣkambhaka) after the prologue and the drama starts immediately.

All these limitations could be because of the Mattavilāsa, which is a short play, revolves around the religious functionaries, i.e. the monks and the ascetics. It should be observed here that it not only brings out religious aspects of the society but also depicts the behaviour of the common people and the administration to some extent. As the drama is male oriented, it supplies very little information about the women, but, indirectly informs the participation of women in the social and cultural activities. The drama hints that women could change their religion more freely and move with male associates and participate in the dancing and drinking of wine. In the play, the author has tried to depict the transition of the Buddhism. The Buddhist monks were attracted towards good food and lovely woman around and probably were interested in enjoying the worldly things. It also indicates the acceptance of polygamy in the society.

Finally, it could be concluded that the Mattavillāsa is an excellent type of Prahasana written by Mahendravarman and it follows the principles laid down by Bharata largely and shows the advancement of literature during the time.

4) Ḍima:

Vatsarāja who was contemporary to Candels of Bundelkhand dating back to tenth to eleventh century A.D. has written several types of drama. For the study and analysis of Ḍima type of drama, Vatsarāja’s Tripuradāha has been taken. This is a unique drama taken from Śivapurāṇa. The drama narrates the fight between the gods and demons keeping the contemporary happenings and flavours in the mind.

The divine characters of the drama are modified in accordance with the modern day situation. Though the author adopted a well-known plot prevalent in the methodology, the treatment takes place keeping in mind, the conflict between natives and probably foreign invaders. The Muslims are treated as demons and natives are treated as the Hindu gods.

Though the story is well-known, the treatment differs. According to Bharata, there should be sixteen highly ranked dignified heroes in a Ḍima. However, according to Dhanañjaya, the sixteen heroes could be proud and arrogant. But Vatsarāja has used the sixteen heroes as having both the characteristics. As the drama is composed with the modern perspective, the characters like Gandharvas etc. are not used in the Vatsarāja’s Ḍima. Again, not keeping with the interpretations of Bharata and Dhanañjaya, Vatsarāja has introduced the new characters like Pṛthivī and Śeṣa, who are considered as feminine characters.

Vatsarāja has used all the three styles or vṛttis, i.e. verbal, grand and violent. The verbal style (bhāratīvṛtti) is used in the prologue (prastāvanā). His play includes more gods than the demons, which is a requirement of the grand style (sāttvatīvṛtti), which dominates the drama. This brings out the heroic sentiment of the gods indirectly reflecting the sentiments of the contemporary rulers. The drama involves the violent scenes and hence violent style (ārabhaṭivṛtti) predominates. Vatsarāja has justified contemporary ethos keeping in mind the main theme. Vatsarāja has used all the six sentiments, i.e. furious, heroic, terrible, odious, pathetic and marvellous. However, the drama involves the fighting and hence more of furious and heroic sentiments have been depicted. Vatsarāja has applied all the four junctures (opening, progression, development and concluding) in the Tripuradāha drama as prescribed by Bharata and Dhanañjaya.

Though Vatsarāja has followed most of the rules and regulations laid down by Bharata and Dhanañjaya, he has used an interlude scene (viṣkambhaka) in the second act, where two low types of characters speak in the Prakrit language, which is prohibited by Bharata. The intention of the author seems to depict a peaceful society, though the society was facing continuous foreign invasion, especially by the Muslims. The main purpose of the drama was probably to send out a massage of peace, where the people and the king came together to wade away the foreign invasion. However, he also brings out the weakness of the people while narrating the story.

It should also be observed here that the women have been depicted as having freedom in the case of learning, working and choosing their own partners. However, sometimes they have also been depicted as oppressed. Thus, women were both free and oppressed in the society.

5) Vyāyoga:

For the study and analysis of Vyāyoga type of drama, Bhāsa’s Dūtavākya has been taken. Bhāsa, a celebrated poet has written several dramas. It should be noted that there is a controversy regarding the date of Bhāsa and his plays. Some scholars, like A. D. Pusalkar, opine that Bhāsa may have belonged to Pre-Mauryan period. Dūtavākya deals with the matters relating to Duryodhana and Kṛṣṇa. However, the plot of the play is enriched by the imagination of the poet. The introduction of imaginary characters makes the drama interesting to the viewer. However, the play only incorporates the male characters. It has all the ingredients prescribed by the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka, viz. fight, altercations, squabbling, anger, frustration etc. It avoids the death scene on the stage. The story of the play is quite appropriate for a Vyāyoga type of drama.

However, the non-use of the female character is not prescribed either by Bharata or Dhanañjaya. Dhanañjaya only suggests that the war should not be shown onstage due to the presence of the female characters. Bhāsa has used good number of off-stage characters as well, who are known from the reciting of monologue.

The most of the conversations belong to monologue. Since only a few characters appear on the stage, the drama does not come under the preview of Samavakāra, where a large number of characters appear on the stage. Further, it should be noted that only a few male characters are depicted on the stage and the rest are off stage. The imaginary characters introduced are Śārṅga and Kaumodakī etc. Their presence and association in the play makes the play interesting. Bhāsa projects Duryodhana as a saintly character, unlike the one depicted in the mythology.

Bhāsa has used the grand style (sāttvatīvṛtti) and the verbal style (bhāratīvṛtti) extensively in the Vyāyoga. Since Bharata prohibits gay style (kaiśikīvṛtti) in it, Bhāsa has not used it in the drama. It should be noted that Bhāsa applied mostly Bharata’s rules. According to the rules of Bharata, Vyāyoga should consist of sentiments like heroic, furious and marvellous. Though the Dūtavākya consists of all the sentiments except the erotic, pathetic, odious and terrible are not necessary in the Vyāyoga. The comic or laughter sentiment is not found frequently and is used very rarely.

Bhāsa has adopted minimum technical aspects such as prologue and hence excluded even benedictory verse and interlude scene. However, he has used monologue extensively for various characters. The drama overall depicts a well cultured society and people with dignity, compassion and education. The drama indirectly gives predominant place to Hinduism and its tradition. For example, Duryodhana offers seats to the guests as a token of respect.

As the play is male oriented, there is no place for the women in it. Further, the drama depicts very little cultural attainment of the general populace. However, taking into consideration of all the characteristics, it can be said that Bhāsa’s Dūtavākya is an excellent example of Vyāyoga.

6) Samavakāra:

For the study and the analysis of the Samavakāra type of drama, Vatsarāja’s Samudramanthana has been taken. Vatsarāja is one of the authors who dealt with most of the rare types of dramas showing his mastery over the rules and regulations laid down by the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka. Like in his other dramas, here too he has displayed his mastery over technicalities, imagination, language and contents of the acts and concludes the drama deviating only at times from the rules of the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka.

Like in his earlier works, here too Vatsarāja has chosen a plot of good and bad in the backdrop of what was happening during the Candel rule. There was fight between the king and the foreign Muslim invaders. The story involves the conflict between gods and demons who were churning the ocean. He has used more than twenty characters. Some of the characters in the play like Viṣṇu, Maheśa, Vali, Śukrācārya and Lakṣmī have been portrayed as very important entities. The character of Samudra has been depicted as a self-less, tolerant and generous individual who can donate everything which belonged to him. The marriage of Viṣṇu and Lakṣmī is the second most important aspect of the drama.

Vatsarāja has followed Bharata and Dhanañjaya to a great extent in his Samavakāra of Samudramanthana. It should be noted that Vatsarāja has applied six ancillaries of vīthī out of thirteen like avalagita, prapañca, trigata, chala, vākkeli and adhivala. He has also applied three types of depictions (kapaṭa), three types of flight (vidrava) and three types of erotic (śṛṅgāra) in various acts. Here, Vatsarāja has used metres such as triṣṭubh, anuṣṭubh and viṣama and others, while avoiding the metres like gāyatrī and uṣṇik, ascribed by Bharata. Regarding the duration of various acts there is a controversy between Bharata and Dhanañjaya. However, they both agree that the first act should be of twelve nāḍikās, probably due to the presence of a desired female character who is associated with some erotic sentiment. Again, Bharata holds that the Samavakāra should avoid mutual connection between the stories of the acts, whereas Dhanañjaya does not hold so. The Samudramanthana, at times does not have mutual links. Though Dhanañjaya recommends āmukha in the Samavakāra, like in Nāṭaka, Bharata is silent on this. However, Vatsarāja has employed āmukha in his Samavakāra. Hence, this drama involves the absence of both drop (bindu) and introductory scene (praveśaka), which are not necessary in the Samavakāra type of drama. Vatsarāja has applied all the styles, ignoring Bharata’s restriction on gay style (kaiśikīvṛtti). However, Dhanañjaya states that in such dramas, the lower gay style may not be out of place, as it is useful to subdued erotic sentiment. The other styles (vṛttis), viz. verbal (bhāratī), grand (sāttvatī) and violent (ārabhaṭī) are essential in the drama. As far as the sentiments of the drama are concerned, heroic sentiment is the primary sentiment and other sentiments are secondary. Bharata however, is flexible and states that it can have violence, altercation, war and fighting. In this scenario, several sentiments can be applied. The Samudramanthana has basically applied heroic sentiment as the main sentiment with subsidiary sentiments like pathetic, terrible, erotic, laughter and marvellous. All the sentiments here have been judiciously employed by Vatsarāja. Humour is portrayed in the ancillaries of vīthī, the flight creates panic resulting in pathetic sentiment, the fighting and altercations between gods and demons bring out furious and heroic sentiments.

The author has applied four junctures with the three acts. Each act has different duration of time; the first has the longest duration, the second has the smaller duration and the third has the smallest. Both the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka give different measurements of nāḍikās. Bharata suggests nāḍikā is equivalent to half of muhūrta, this was probably equal to 48 minutes; hence, according to Bharata, the first act should be of six muhūrtas (twelve nāḍikās) that is 4.8 hours. However, according to Dhanañjaya, the first act should be of 24 ghaṭikās that is 9.6 hours as a ghaṭikā is calculated as equal to 24 minutes. Hence, there is a huge difference in the calculation of the duration of time stipulated by the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka.

Vatsarāja’s command over the dramaturgy in general and technicality in particular is superb. He has not used introductory scene (praveśaka), as it is not necessary in such a play. He has also not used other intermediate scenes that are arthopakṣepakas except sometimes intimation scene that is cūlikā or nepathya.

As the drama is based on an epic story and has been written during the 12th century A.D., it reflects contemporary views like a king showing aversion towards the wrong things like the Muslim invasion. It also reflects the ethos of the period where Candel kings influenced the contemporary rulers to come together to fight the foreign invasion, in which they succeeded. It indirectly tries to unite the rulers of India and defeat the Muslims like the gods had united to defeat the demons. Vatsarāja’s use of language and choice of words have elevated the drama to a greater hight. During the course of narration we get a glimpse of the status of women where it has been suggested that they should not be tortured by the enemies. It also reveals that the women folk are protected, given freedom and taken care of by the men folk and by the rulers.

Thus, in conclusion, it can be observed that the Samudramanthana is an excellent drama with all its technicalities, use of characters and sentiments.

7) Vīthī:

Vīthī forms a rare type of drama written by the authors such as Sāgaranandi (Vakulavīthī). The Līlāvatī is written by Rāmapāṇivāda, who was a renowned poet th belonging to 18 century A.D. He served under various rulers in the south Malbar coast. He is known for his various contributions to Sanskrit literature, Drama, Kāvya and Campū. This contemporary social drama elaborates a complicated plot evolving out of various relationships. The king of Karṇāṭaka fearing the abduction of his daughter Līlāvatī by his enemy, kept her under the care of Kalāvatī, the queen of the king Vīrapāla of Kuntala. During the span of time, Vīrapāla falls in love with Līlāvatī. However, when the queen came to know the matter, she becomes annoyed and creates obstacle, but Vidūṣaka and Yoginī change the mind of queen Kalāvatī through illusion. However, in the mean time, the enemies abduct Līlāvatī and the king releases her fighting with them. Finally, the queen has agreed to the proposal of the king getting married to Līlāvatī. This is one of the excellent examples of Vīthī type of drama. The plot is a clear imagination of the author who brings out love relation between Vīrapāla and Līlāvatī.

The drama has followed the technicalities and the rules prescribed by both Bharata and Dhanañjaya. However, the play does not apply all the thirteen types of ancillaries of vīthī. It uses a few of them like avalagita, udghātyaka, nālikā, chala and gaṇḍa. It also has avoided gentle dance or lāsya. This might have happened because the author probably has not felt the necessity of the lāsya in his Vīthī type of drama. Actually, the play revolves on monologue by two characters on the stage only.

While Bharata states all three strata of the society should be part of the play, i.e. noble, middle and lower class, Dhanañjaya does not make any distinction, allows all types of people in the drama. However, the Līlāvatī does not take seriously all these views and only uses two noble types of characters, i.e. Vidūṣaka and the king on the stage and rest of the characters appear and operate behind the curtain. Here, this is basically a monologue type of drama.

According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, Bharata suggests Vīthī should have verbal style; however, Dhanañjaya states it should have gay style. But the Līlāvatī combines both views and employs both the styles, i.e. verbal and gay style. Again, Dhanañjaya states that the sentiment should be more of erotic. Bharata is silent about the erotic sentiment. The Līlāvatī consists of erotic and laughter as the main sentiments and to some extent heroic and marvellous sentiment as the subsidiary sentiments.

The drama has applied both the junctures, i.e. opening and concluding. The Līlāvatī though here is a monologue type of drama has incorporated all the necessary technical aspects such as benedictory verse, prologue and conversation with imaginary person. The story of the drama narrates the contemporary socio cultural life, the status of respect to the women in the society and also dominance of male in the society. This is probably evidenced from the abduction of Līlāvatī and queen Kalāvatī being impressed upon to accept the second marriage of the king. In the backdrop of ruling class are the foreigners like Dutch, Muslims and Britishers in the Mālābār Coast. It also talks about the black magic, which was very much prevalent in the society. The women could freely study and take part in the social activities like men. The Līlāvatī is a projection of excellent narration of Vīthī type of drama of ancient times.

8) Aṅka:

For the study and analysis of Aṅka type of drama, Ūrubhaṅga of Bhāsa has been taken. Bhāsa was not only a great poet, but was also a great dramatist. He has also composed almost all types of dramas. In the Ūrubhaṅga, Bhāsa has taken the wellknown story from the Mahābhārata, regarding the fight between Duryodhana and Bhima. In the drama, Bhāsa has used nineteen characters including Sūtradhāra and Pāripārśvika. Besides the regular characters that appear on the stage associated with the episode, the other six characters remain behind the stage. Here in the drama, Arjuna, Vyāsa, Vidura and Yudhiṣṭhira are the observers. Kṛṣṇa is the most important character in the background. Without his advices, the Pāṇḍavas would not have won the war.

Baladeva rightly recognizes Kṛṣṇa as the most cunning person helping the Pāṇḍavas. It upsets Baladeva and he decides to finish the Pāṇḍavas. However, to bring out the benevolent personality of Duryodhana, the character is portrayed in a saintly way and hence Duryodhana advises Baladeva not to do so. Duryodhana is depicted as an honourable, gentle, loving, obedient and affectionate person. The character of Duryodhana derives sympathy from the audience and the tragedy touches the heart of the viewers. Moreover, his father Dhṛtarāṣṭra and mother Gāndhārī praise the brave action and bestow love and affection upon their heroic son. Even Gāndhārī is proud of her fearless son and wishes to be the mother of him again in his next birth. The wives of Duryodhana are so hurt with the death of Duryodhana that they wanted to sacrifice their lives in the funeral pyre. Durjaya, the son of Duryodhana, is too young. He does not understand the gravity of the situation but accepts the advices of his father Duryodhana to be calm, fearless and obedient. Further, even when Aśvasthāmā gets angry and wants to kill the Pāṇḍavas, Duryodhana advises him not to do so. The last activities of Duryodhana constitute the essence of the drama, which are a deviation from the characteristics depicted in the Mahābhārata. Bhāsa brings out the best out of Duryodhana’s character here.

Bhāsa has clearly changed the plot keeping in mind that of the contemporary society. His vivid description of the war and the destruction that happened in the battlefield has been compared with the sacrificial ground. However, the violent scenes have been avoided on the stage and they occur behind the curtain. It is a tragic drama well executed.

Bhāsa is believed to be prior to Bharata and Dhanañjaya. However, the drama follows almost all the rules and regulations prescribed by both Bharata and Dhanañjaya. At times, Bhāsa has applied his own rules and hence unaware of the restrictions imposed by Bharata. For instance, the death scene of Duryodhana has been shown on the stage, which is prohibited by Bharata. Again, Bhāsa has not followed the restriction imposed by Bharata that only four characters should be present on the stage; however, in the Ūrubhaṅga, there are nine characters present on the stage in the last scene. Bhāsa has used the verbal style (bhāratīvṛtti) as violent scenes are not depicted on the stage. However, the depiction produces the odious (bībhatsa) sentiment, which is a part of the verbal style. In the last part of the drama, Bhāsa brings out pathetic sentiment during the conversation between Duryodhana and Durjaya. This pathetic scene further is intensified by the crying of both the queens and mother Gāndhārī. The other sentiments like marvellous (adbhuta), furious (raudra), tranquility (śānta) and odious (bībhatsa) are used just as the subordinate sentiments. The drama applies all the rules of junctures including the use of the seed (bīja), denouement (kārya), beginning (ārambha) and the result (phalaprāpti).

The drama begins with the war scenes and ends with Bhīma breaking the thighs of Duryodhana. The opening juncture occurs behind the curtain or off the stage and the concluding juncture of Bhīma breaking the thighs of Duryodhana is depicted on the stage. Bhāsa has applied all the technical aspects like sthāpanā and nepathya etc. in the drama. It does not have benedictory verses and begins with the prologue called sthāpanā. The prologue is conducted by the Sūtradhāra and then the interlude scene occurs. It covers almost half of the drama. As soon as the actor appears on the stage, the drama begins. The warriors on the stage narrate the actual horrific events that happened in the war chronologically. Thus, it can be observed here that the Ūrubhaṅga is an excellent Aṅka type of drama in Sanskrit literature.

9) Īhāmṛga:

Vatsarāja, the author of several rare types of dramas like Ḍima, Īhāmṛga Prahasana and Samavakāra, was a court poet and the minister during the rule of Candel th th kings, viz. Paramardideva and Trailokyavarman in the 10 and 12 century A.D. His Rukmiṇīharaṇa, an Īhāmṛga type of drama, is one of the best examples of this category.

In the Rukmiṇīharaṇa, Vatsarāja has taken a well-known plot from the epic Mahābhārata, which involves the fighting between Śiśupāla and Kṛṣṇa for marrying Rukmiṇī. Though Śiśupāla and Kṛṣṇa are the main characters as per the epic, Vatsarāja has adopted some imaginary characters like Tārkṣya and Subuddhī. They are the imagination of the author. His drama has more than twenty characters make it complicated and interesting at the same time for both actors and viewers. Vatsarāja follows the rules laid down by both Bharata and Dhanañjaya. The Rukmiṇīharaṇa is full of scenes depicting violence, anger, arguments, challenge and subsequently alliance. As far as the Īhāmṛga is concerned, the hero and heroine are to be divine characters, whereas others could be imaginary or human. Here the divine characters are Kṛṣṇa and Rukmiṇī. According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, there should be some amount of erotic sentiment depicted in an Īhāmṛga, but the same eroticism should not be the main thrust in the sentiment of drama. Here the author has used erotic sentiment in a very subdued form. However, the drama depicts the very intensive heroic sentiment. As far as the style is concerned, it has employed all the three styles, i.e. the verbal, the grand and the gay style. Though Bharata is not in favour of the gay style, Dhanañjaya approves its use to some extent in Īhāmṛga. Vatsarāja has been more influenced by Dhanañjaya’s rules.

Again, Bharata states that Īhāmṛga is almost similar to Vyāyoga, in sentiment, style and plot. However, Dhanañjaya is silent about the similarity of Īhāmṛga in the sentiment, style and plot with Vyāyoga. He does not accept even very strong erotic sentiment in the Īhāmṛga. It seems that Vatsarāja has accepted Dhanañjaya’s view projecting excited sentiments like furious, heroic, marvellous and to some extent the low erotic sentiment.

Vatsarāja has employed three type of junctures in the Īhāmṛga. According to the Nāṭyaśāstra, the interlude scene should occur in the first act itself; however, Vatsarāja has avoided this. Moreover, it can be noticed that monologue appears after the prologue in the drama. It could have been better if this monologue had been converted to Viṣkambhaka or interlude scene.

Since the theme of the drama is based on the epic love story of Rūkmiṇī and Kṛṣṇa, the society depicted does not suit the period of enactment. However, it gives a glimpse of different aspects of the society and the occupation dominated caste systems. The positions of women seem to be quite similar to that of the men folk, in the case of education, marriage and social status. The marriage was to be solemnised in the house of the bride, a system which is still pre-dominant.

The Rukmiṇīharaṇa of Vatsarāja has all the ingredients and the characteristics, which suit to a great extent to Īhāmṛga type of drama. Thus, in conclusion, it can be stated that the Rukmiṇīharaṇa of Vatsarāja is the best example available in Sanskrit as a Īhāmṛga.

10) Prakaraṇa:

Prakaraṇa is another type of drama, which basically revolves around imaginary concepts and characters created by the author. While doing so the author may have been influenced by social and historical events. Hence, the drama is a disguised form of several characters, plot arising out of happenings in the surroundings; some may have historical characters originating from epics and celestial bodies. However, it is a pure imaginary depiction of the author.

Yaśaścandra’s drama the Mudritakumudacandra is one of the well written dramas during tenth century A.D. The drama developed having a concept of a debate between two ascetics who have different views about the philosophy and nature of acceptance and observance. The debate is enacted in the court in the presence of nobles, contemporary religious bodies and learned persons. It is a debate between the ascetics belonging to the Śvetāmbara and the Digambara to prove their superiority to the society. Though the characters are imaginary, a few characters have historicity. The drama has thirty characters; however, the story revolves around two ascetics, others have very little function. Most of the characters are visible on the stage.

The main character in the drama is Devasūri who is known as an ascetic of Śvetāmbara sect of Jainism. He was a historical character during the time of Jayasiṃha. Due to his knowledge of his religion and debating capabilities, he could overcome the argument proposed by Digambara ascetic Kumudacandra. This helps in the preservation and protection of Śvetāmbara sect in Gujurat. It should be noted that the drama begins as well organized, but, the plot ends abruptly. The background of the drama was a contemporary conflict between the two sects. The purpose of the drama could have been to take this conflict to the audience to educate them about the different aspects, nature and ritual associated with them.

Yaśaścandra follows almost all the rules of Bharata and Dhanañjaya except some rules like Prakaraṇa where it should have employed Dhūrta and Viṭa. As Prakaraṇa is considered a mixed humorous type of drama and the drama is based on religious aspects there was no place for the restriction especially as mentioned by the Nāṭyaśāstra. Again, Bharata prohibits the use of divine characters. The drama uses Yoginī as blessing the king and disappears to the heaven. Bharata states Prakaraṇa should be imaginary while Dhanañjaya proposes that it could be fiction and the author has the liberty to take characters, stories from history and from his imagination. Here the author has used his imagination to a great extent making it a very different type of drama deviating sometimes from the rules laid down by the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka. In the brief description of characters, their historicity and their relations have been described in the concluding section of Prakaraṇa, in the third part.

The Mudritakumudacandra has employed the Vṛttis according to the requirement, while the Sāttvatīvṛtti is employed in several occasions. The Kaiśikīvṛtti and the Ārabhaṭīvṛtti are not used in the drama Mudritakumudacandra. The Bhāratīvṛtti finds its use as in all the dramas. The sentiments are employed judiciously as the drama often did not require laughter, erotic, odious and terrible as it was debating on a religious aspect. In the process of argument, the ascetics betray a sense of dignity and tranquility, which often project furious sentiment.

The author has employed five types of junctures with actions and elements in the drama. They are found in all the five acts. He has also employed all the technical aspects such as intimation scene (nepathya), interlude scene (viṣkambhaka), aloud (prakāśa), aside (svagata) and personal address (janāntika), wherever needed. However, technical aspects like introductory scene (praveśaka), continuation scene (aṅkāvatāra), anticipatory scene (aṅka) and confidence (apavārita) have been avoided. All the acts have interlude scenes (viṣkambhaka) though there are some contradictions, because somewhere the author has used three characters (third act) and somewhere he has used Prakrit language (fourth act) and he describes them as only viṣkambhaka instead of śuddhaviṣkambhaka. Probably the author has taken the pre-caution not to designate the act as śuddhaviṣkambhaka where the characters have used both Sanskrit and Prakrit whether directly or indirectly.

The drama has little scope for projecting about the society except in a few cases, where the states like ego, jealousy have been shown. All the characters in the drama are shown to have a religious bent of mind and they are well aware of the contemporary religious faith and belief especially Jainism.

As far as the position of the women in the drama is concerned, the arguments revolve around liberation of women. The drama projects how the Digambaras had little tolerance for woman folk. Women had little freedom in the society. It also reveals like common people, the kings, the ruling class and the learned people had interest in various aspects of sciences, society activity and religion. The Prakaraṇa Mudritakumudacandra reflects the contemporary social behaviour, psychology, ethos and cultural attainment of the medieval India.

Deviations from the Rules:

After examining all ten types of drama by means of the rules prescribed by both Bharata and Dhanañjaya in the Nāṭyaśāstra and the Daśarūpaka respectively, it is evident that every drama has deviated from the rules given either by Bharata or Dhanañjaya. Often the authors have applied their own rules at various circumstances and preferred to introduce characters, styles, sentiments etc. as to their suitability. Obviously, those do not match with Bharata and Dhanañjaya. This clearly shows that deviation from the rules prescribed by Bharata and Dhanañjaya presently concerned with is inevitable. This has also been supported by Bharata who states that to make a drama successful one, author, if required, can deviate from the rules (samutkarṣāt phalasya ca–XXI.5).

If all dramas would be strictly abided by the rules prescribed by Bharata and Dhanañjaya, then the very purpuse of drama for entertaining audience would be affected. Bharata himself has said the motivation of drama is to entertain audience (Nāṭyaśāstra,I.11). But often it is felt that deviation from such rules by different authors, is again for the purpose of entertaining audience. For instance, even though Mudrārākṣasa is the Nāṭaka type of drama, it does not accommodate all types of sentiments like erotic and laughter. As per Bharata’s rule there should not be more than four to five characters in an act, but this drama has exceeded such number. An attempt of suicide on stage is generally prohibited in any drama, but, it has been employed in the Mudrārākṣasa. Nāṭaka type of drama demands gay style (Kaiśikīvṛtti), leading female characterand any divine character, which are absent in the Mudrārākṣasa. Author violates the rule by introducing the fictitious characters in this drama.

Deviation from rules has also been witnessed in Prakaraṇa type of drama namely, Mudritakumudacandra, while employing the historical characters like Devasūri and Jayasiṃha and the divine character.

In a Bhāṇa type of drama, gay style and erotic sentiment are prohibited by Bharata, but, Vararuci preferred them to introduce in Ubhayābhisārikā.

It is mandatory to have shown all six types of laughter sentiments in Prahasana type of drama for a good humour. However, Mattavilāsa belonging to this category of drama, violates the rule as it finds only one type of laughter sentiment i.e. vihasita.

As to Bharata and Dhanañjaya the Ḍima type of play should have the characters like Ghosts, Spirits and Goblin etc. Vatsarāja, however, does not include such characters in Tripuradāha, belonging to Ḍima type.

The Dūtavākya is a drama of Vyāyoga type. In this drama, divine character is prohibited. But Bhāsa has applied divine characters (armours) such as bow, club, sword and conch etc.

Vatsarāja does not seem to follow the rules prescribed for Samavakāra type by Bharata and Dhanañjaya, as he neither has used erotic sentiment as much as required particularly in the first act, nor has he considered the metres like Uṣṇik and Gāyatrī in his drama Samudramanthana.

Rāmapāṇivāda composed the Līlāvatīvīthī, which falls under the category of Vīthī. This drama excludes gentle dance and includes divine character. However, this is not approved in Bharata’s scheme.

In the Ūrubhaṅga, Bhāsa employs pathetic sentiment by those characters other than the women as Aṅka type demands. This play also shows death of hero on stage. Royal women characters without veil and with bare foot are appearing in the battle field. In fact, all these are not permissible.

In the Rukmiṇīharaṇa, Vatsarāja has used more grand and violent styles violating the rules of Īhāmṛga. The play has also used the heroic sentiment as the principal sentiment instead of erotic sentiment.

From the above, it appears that these dramas do not follow any uniformity of rules. Most of them are deviated the rules prescribrd either by Bharata or by Dhanañjaya. Often, we do find authors have employed their own imaginations and rules while composing dramas of different types. At the same time, it has also been noticed that mostly they do not ignore the rules prescribed by Bharata and Dhanañjaya.

It makes me happy presenting the thesis “A Critical Study of Daśarūpaka with Special Reference to the Mudritakumudacandra”, which has the essence of different types of dramas written in the past keeping contemporary socio-political and religious life of the country and the people. It is expected that the work will be helpful to all the students and the scholars. It will also be helpful to all because the dramas have been discussed from various angles like social, historical, psychological and technical aspects. Further, the important thing is that in one place one can find out the description of all the ten types of Indian classical Sanskrit dramas.