Thirteen Plays of Bhasa
Thirteen Plays of Bhasa

Author: A. C. Woolner

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Published: 2015-01-01

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 8120809084

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This translation is of thirteen Sanskrit plays discovered in South India by the late Pandit Ganapati Sastri and edited by him in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. It comprises the following titles: 1. Pratijnayaugandharayana, 2. Svapnavasavadatta, 3. Carudatta, 4. Pancaratra, 5. Madhyamavyayoga, 6.Pratima-nataka, 7.Dutavakya, 8.Dutaghatotkaca, 9.Karnabhara, 10.Urubhanga, 11.Avimaraka, 12.Balacarita, and 13.Abhiseka. Sastri attributed all the thirteen plays to Bhasa and the prevailing opinion of the scholars is in agreement with him, though the available evidence is not conclusive and so the question still remains open. The translation was done by two eminent Sanskrit scholars. It was published s early as 1930 and a reprint is now issued in view of a persistent demand of scholars. Pandit Ganapati Sastri attributed all thirteen plays to Bhasa, a famous dramatist earlier than Kalidasa. Some verses are ascribed to Bhasa by medieval anthologies, but only ten with unanimity. We are told that he composed a Svapnavasavadattam (his best play) and that in another play the device of the wooden elephant was used. Characteristic features of his work are described by Bana, and other poets evidently held him in high estimation. One or two verses from his plays are quoted by writers on poetics. Otherwise, the text of BhasaÍs numerous plays had completely disappeared. The learned editor of the Trivandrum plays found that they contained a Svapnavasavadattam (the best play in the collection), and, in the Pratijna-Yaugandharayanam, a scene dealing with the wooden elephant. He noticed also certain peculiarities in the technique of the plays which he regarded as signs of antiquity. All these points confirmed the opinion that Bhasa was the author.

Sanskrit Drama and Dramaturgy
Sanskrit Drama and Dramaturgy

Author: Biswanath Bhattacharya

Publisher:

Published: 1994

Total Pages: 464

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Sanskrit Poetry is traditionally divided into two types, viz. that which is capable of being presented on board and that which is capable of being read out and heard. The first type springs from the role played by visual effect in appreciation of a specimen of Poetic Art and is called Drama . Sanskrit Dramaturgy is required to analyse in details the plot and its divisions in a drama and the different stages in its development. It is also required to analyse the different techniques of acting, that are to be employed for presentation of different types of plays, projecting diverse pre-dominant emotional moods.Sanskrit Dramaturgy has been considered as an essential component of Sanskrit Poetics, because, while Sanskrit Poetics in general has tried to emphasise the process of Aesthetic Experience presented through the medium of Poetry in general, Sanskrit Dramaturgy has attempted to expound the process when presented through the medium of Drama, where apart from the music of sound and sense, the visual effect makes itself felt to a great extent. Though much been said of Sanskrit Poetics through the medium of English and the concepts projected by Sanskrit Poetics have been made known to the Western world through the efforts of P.V. Kane, S.K. De, V. Raghavan, and such other stalwarts, the area of Sanskrit 'Dramaturgy has remained in the cool shade of neglect for a pretty long time and sufficient number of serious attempts have not been made to project these concepts and to trace the similarity and distinction between the concepts presented by Indian Dramaturgy and those by Western Dramaturgy, available in the works of Aristotle and Butcher. The author has chosen a comprehensive analysis of Sanskrit Dramaturgy as the subject matter of the present work and has presented all the concept tackled by numerous writers on Indian Dramaturgy. His deep penetration into all the original texts dealing with Indian Dramaturgy and Western Dramaturgy has helped him in making this comparative analysis as clear as possible.

The Playworld of Sanskrit Drama
The Playworld of Sanskrit Drama

Author: Goodwin Robert E.

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Published: 1998-01-01

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 8194137454

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The 'Playworld of Sanskrit Drama' is the 'poetic universe' (kavyasam) posited by Anandavardhana and other poeticians. Each of the seven plays studied here - works of Bhasa, Kalidasa, Sudraka, and Visakhadatta- provides us with a different angle of approach to the crucial issues of kavya, and their fundamental ambivalence, which cannot be understood or even delineated by the conventional approach to Indian aesthetics.