1.1. Definition and Origin of Drama

Whenever and wherever men have progressed beyond the mere struggle for existence, there has been theatre in some sense. It is clearly stated by Sheldon Cheney in his book.^[1] Though the exact point of the origin and evolution of Drama cannot be determined as it is hidden under varied forms and confused accounts, the seed of the Drama is originally sprouted in various dialogue hymns of the Ṛgveda. Those particular hymns of the Ṛgveda are obviously presented through the dialogues of different characters which created a dramatic sense to the readers. So it can be said that the amalgamation of prose and verse in Sanskrit drama may be counted as a legacy of dialogue hymns of the Ṛgveda. Viśvāmitra-nadī-saṃvāda-sūkta (3.33), Yama-yamī-sūkta (10.10), Pururūvā-uravaśī-sūkta (10.95), Saramā-Paṇi-sūkta (10.108) etc. are famous dialogue hymns of the Ṛgveda and those can be taken as roots of the dramatic dialogue.^[2]

Drama is an amalgamation of nṛtta i.e., Dance^[3] , gīta i.e., Music^[4] and vādya i.e., musical instrument^[5] and it is considered as tauryātrika in Amarakośa.^[6] Indian tradition, preserved in the Nāṭyaśāstra, the oldest of the text of the theory of Sanskrit drama, claims for the divine origin of Sanskrit drama and points out a close connection with the sacred Vedas themselves.^[7] A.B Keith has clarified this exhaustively in his book.^[8]

A divine and traditional origin of Drama is found in Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra. It is explained there that in ancient time, there had been prevailing a chaotic situation in the society and people were addicted to sensual pleasure and were obsessed with greed, jealousy, and anger.^[9] As the Vedas were not accessible to the śūdras and women, the dramaturgy had been developed as the Fifth Veda.^[10] To fulfill the demand of the society, Brahmā-the creator recalled the four Vedas to his mind and after taking different elements from each of the four Vedas, He created the Fifth Veda i.e., the Nāṭyaveda. The book tells us that the text of the Nāṭyaveda was derived from the Ṛgveda, songs were taken from the Sāmaveda, the acting part was deduced from the Yajurveda and the sentiments were taken from the Atharvaveda.^[11] After that Brahmā passed on this Nāṭyaveda to Bharata. Thereafter, with the help of the Tāṇḍava form of dance by lord Śiva and also with the help of the apsarasas, gandharvas i.e., celestial musicians^[12] and singers, a play was enacted under the supervision of Bharata in the Indradvaja festival for the first time.^[13] Thus the tradition of giving knowledge through entertainment came up in the form of Sanskrit drama. As time passed on, this form of art achieved much popularity and the rules and regulations of staging a drama got formal recognition in the pages of the book of rhetorics at different point of time.