335. 37 2 AMASO CHAPTER VI

37 2 AMASO CHAPTER VI

the introductory scene is unnecessary. In the famous drama of Kālidāsa, Abhijnāna Sakuntalam, for instance, we have no such introductory scene. It is necessary here to point out the distinction between the general introduction to every drama and the special introduction to a particular type of drama, in which the beginning of the story lacks æsthetic value. The general introduction is presented by the characters, common to all dramas, such as Nandī, Sutradhara and his wife and attendants. This is necessary in all Sanskrit Dramas. It is called Prastavana. The special introduction is that in which one or more characters of the main plot appear and talk of the unpresentable part of the story in the beginning. It is technically called Viskambhaka. The latter may or may not be in a Sanskrit drama, according to the need of the subject-matter, but the former has got to be there in any case. It is the latter which is comparable to the intro- ductory scene in some of the dramas of Shakespeare. There is nothing like the former in the Shakespearian dramas. The dramatic necessity of such a general introductory scene we will explain when dealing with it in detail. oal Another point which needs mention here is that when the subject-matter of a drama does not need the special introduction, one of the two functions of such introduction, i. e. the determining of the attitude of the audience, is per- formed by the general one. If we analyse the introductory sceue in Shakespeare's Julius Cæsar, we find it similar to the special introduction in Sanskrit Dramas. It tells us of the chief cause of the presented action. It informs us of the circumstances, in which the action begins. We know that the main-spring of the whole action in this drama is the fickleness of the