Description of Vyāyoga

Vyāyoga or a Military spectacle is a type of shows wherein several charaters disagree with one another^[1]. A Vyāyoga deal with a popular topic and its chief charaters are also well-known (Khyāta). The term “well-known” is used here in the same sense as in the case of a Nāṭaka^[2]. The body of the play is shorn of two junctures, the Development and Pause, and is made up of only three junctures, the Opening, the Progression and the Conclusion. The style is, on the whole, vehement; and the dispute is related to anything save a woman. The hero of the play is invariably of Dhīrodatta nature mostly behaving in a sober way or the Śāttati Vṛtti. The behaviour of his adversity is mostly vehement and characterized by the Ārabhatī Vṛtti. The majority of characters in this type of play should be of men. Whereas the entire play has hardly any womanly softness about it there is paucity of female characters. It is a one-act play, and the duration of action is generally limited to the course of one day only. Bharata, however, directs that the hero of a Vyāyoga should not be a divine figure, or a king, or a sage^[3].