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
Vatsarāja is also responsible for a Samavakāra, the Samudramathana, in
three Acts, which again owes its existence doubtless to the naming of a
work with a kindred title in the Nāṭyaçāstra as the model of a
Samavakāra. Here again we find after a Nāndī of two stanzas the
Sūtradhāra and the Sthāpaka engaged in conversation. The former and his
eleven brothers seek simultaneously to attain wealth; how is this
possible? The Sthāpaka suggests either homage to Paramardi or to the
ocean, a statement duly caught up by a voice behind the stage, which
asserts that from the ocean comes the fulfilment of wishes, followed by
the entry of Padmaka. The play is based on the legend of the churning
of the ocean by the gods and demons with its sequel, the winning by
Viṣṇu of Lakṣmī and the gaining of other desired objects by the
participators in the enterprise. The treatment fails to rise above the
commonplace; Lakṣmī appears in Act I with Lajjā and Dhṛti, her
companions, in the normal occupation of gazing on a picture of her
beloved, who later appears also on the scene. The artificiality of the
type is proved by the absence of other dramas of this kind.
The An̄ka, or one-Act play, is represented by very few specimens. The
term is often applied to denote a play within a play, in the
Bālarāmāyaṇa the name Prekṣaṇaka is applied generally to such plays.
The same name is also given to the Unmattarāghava [564] of Bhāskara
Kavi, of unknown date, though the Vidyāraṇya mentioned in it may be
Sāyaṇa or his contemporary. The play is a stupid imitation of Act IV of
the Vikramorvaçī; while Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa pursue the golden gazelle,
Sītā, by the curse of Durvāsas, is changed into a gazelle herself; Rāma
returns and wanders miserably in search of her, but finally wins her by
the help of Agastya.
The term Prekṣaṇaka is also applied to the Kṛṣṇābhyudaya of Lokanātha
Bhaṭṭa, written for the raintime procession of the Lord of Hastigiri,
Viṣṇu, in Kāñcī. A number of modern plays, which may be styled An̄kas,
are also known, while the Çarmiṣṭhāyayāti in the Sāhityadarpaṇa may be
identical with the work of that name by Kṛṣṇa Kavi. [565]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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