The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practiceKeith, Arthur Berriedale
History
The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practice
Keith, Arthur Berriedale
Sanskrit drama -- History and criticism
The Dhūrtanartaka [547] of Sāmarāja Dīkṣita is of the seventeenth
century. It deals with one Mureçvara, who, though a Çaiva ascetic, is a
devotee of a dancing girl whom he entrusts to his pupils on having to
go away. They seek to secure the favours of the damsel and, failing in
this, denounce him to the king, but Pāpācāra, Bad Conduct, is merely
amused and allows the saint to keep the damsel. Rather earlier is the
Kautukaratnākara [548] by the chaplain of Lakṣmaṇa Māṇikyadeva of
Bhūluyā, which centres in the carrying off of the queen, though the
chief of police sleeps beside her to guard her, and the adventures of
the hetaera who is to take her place at the spring festival.
The Bhāṇa, despite its antiquity, attested by the theory, is not
represented early in the history of the drama. To Vāmana Bhaṭṭa Bāṇa,
about A.D. 1500, we owe the Çṛn̄gārabhūṣaṇa, [549] which is typical of
the class. The chief Viṭa, Vilāsaçekhara, comes out to pay a visit to
the hetaera Anan̄gamañjarī on the evening of the spring festival. He
goes into the street of the hetaerae, and takes part in a series of
imaginary conversations, giving the answers himself to his own
questions, or pretending to listen to some one out of sight and then
repeating the answers. He describes the hetaerae, ram-fights,
cock-fights, boxing, a quarrel between two rivals, the different stages
of the day, and the pleasures of the festival. Much on the same lines
is the Çṛn̄gāratilaka [550] or Ayyābhāṇa of Rāmabhadra Dīkṣita, which
was written to rival the Vasantatilaka [551] or Ammābhāṇa of
Varadācārya or Ammāl Ācārya, the Vaiṣṇava. The play was written for
performance at the festival of the marriage of Mīnākṣī, the deity of
Madurā. Bhujan̄gaçekhara, the hero, is vexed at the departure of his
beloved Hemān̄gī, but is assured of meeting her again, despite her
return to her husband. He makes the usual promenade in the hetaerae’s
street, has the usual imaginary conversations and describes the
ordinary sights, including snake charmers and magic shows of gods and
their mountains and so forth. Finally he succeeds in rejoining Hemān̄gī.
We have similar lengthy descriptions in the Çāradātilaka [552] of
Çan̄kara, who places the scene in the feigned city of uproar,
Kolāhalapura, and whose satire extends to the Jan̄gamas or Çaivas and
the Vaiṣṇavas. Nallā Kavi (c. A.D. 1700) is responsible for the
Çṛn̄gārasarvasva, [553] which deals with Anan̄gaçekhara, who has to part
from his beloved Kanakalatā, but he is helped to meet her by the advent
of an elephant which terrifies all the others in the street, but is
worshipped by the lover as Gaṇeça and Çiva’s answer to his prayer for
help. A slight variant is presented by the Rasasadana [554] by a
Yuvarāja from Koṭilin̄ga in Kerala; the hero here is a chief Viṭa who
has promised his friend Mandāraka to look after his loved one for him.
He goes about with her to a temple, and then to his house; wanders out
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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