Society as depicted in the Chaturbhani (study)

by Mridusmita Bharadwaj | 2022 | 64,215 words

Summary: This is an English study of the Chaturbhani: a collection of four Bhanas which represents a genre of dramatic performance peculiar to the ancient Indian tradition of theater and performing arts (i.e. Natya-Shastra). More specifically, this study examines the state of ancient Indian society as reflected in these four plays collected in the Caturbhani, by looking into their historical, literary, cultural, and satirical aspects.

The four Sanskrit dramas part of the Caturbhani are:

(1) Padmaprabhritaka of Shudraka; शूद्रक’स् पद्मप्राभृतक, Śūdraka’s Padmaprābhṛtaka, Sudraka’s Padmaprabhrtaka, Padma-prabhritaka.

(2) Dhurtavitasamvada of Ishvaradatta, ईश्वरदत्त’स् धूर्तविटसंवाद, Īśvaradatta’s Dhūrtaviṭasaṃvāda, Isvaradatta’s Dhurtavita-samvada.

(3) Ubhayabhisarika of Vararuci, वररुचि’स् उभयाभिसारिका, Vararuci’s Ubhayābhisārikā, Vararuchi’s Ubhaya-abhisarika.

(4) Padataditaka of Shyamilaka, श्यामिलक’स् पादताडितक, Śyāmilaka’s Pādatāḍitaka, Syamalika’s Pada-taditaka.

Copyright:
Creative Commons Licence Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)

Source 1: exoticindiaart.com
Source 2: shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in