313. THE TECHNIQUE OF SANSKRIT DRAMA 349

THE TECHNIQUE OF SANSKRIT DRAMA 349

(i) it may be split up into two acts,

(ii) the less important parts of it may be presented in an informatory scene.1

It may be pointed out here that the informatory scene also cannot cover a period of more than a year2. And even if in the original story the events be scattered over a longer period, the dramatist has to modify the plot so as to compress them within the prescribed time.

Just as the principle of unity of time is maintained within an act, so the principle of unity of place also is upheld within the same. The scenes of action within an act cannot lie so far apart from one another as cannot be reached by the hero within the time necessary for the presentation of the act. If they be far distant, from one another they have to be presented in separate acts. If after an event or action that is presented in an act, there is to be presented another which is related to a far distant place, so that the hero cannot reach within the time limit of an act, the act should terminate with the presentation of the hero as starting on his journey. But if the hero has got the means of transport e. g. æroplane, such as can enable him to reach far distant places within the prescribed time, the scenes of action lying far apart may be presented within the same act3.

Thus, it is clear that the statement of Professor Keith in his "Sanskrit Drama" that Sanskrit dramatists were ignorant of the principles of unities of time and place, is based upon his own ignorance of the dramatic technique of the Sanskrit drama.

1. A. Bh. Ch. 19 (20 ?) V. 30 (MSS). 2. N. S. 228. 3. N. S. 228.