14. NĀȚYASĀSTRA 11

NĀȚYASĀSTRA 11

the remaining pages deal with many matters such as the meaning of nātya, vrttis, literary structure, kinds of plays, plot and its development, play-house, costumes and make-up, early and later writers on Drama, the two recensions and commentators of the Nātyaśāstra. In this brief Introduction it is impossible for want of space to go deeply into the question of the text of the Nātyaśāstra. Certain important points alone will be noted. The mss. and the editions do not agree as to the number of ślokas in each chapter, about the number of chapters and also about their places in the book. The recent K. M. edition contains 37 chapters, while the Ch. edition contains 36, the last chap. combining into one the two chapters of the K. M. edition viz. 36 and 37. Abhinava in his 2nd Introductory verse ( षटत्रिशकं भरतसूत्रमिदं विवृएवन ) and on p.8 of vol. I (मध्ये षटत्रिंशाध्याय्यां) says that there are 36 chapters. Abhinava further says that the extent of the Natyasastra is 6000 ślokas (each śloka being taken as equal to 32 syllables); further, no two corresponding chapters of the two editions have the same number of verses (except chap. 6 and chap. 19 of K. M .= 21 of Ch. on Sandhyangas). Chapter IX of K. M: edition is split into two chapters IX and X in the Ch. ed. Therefore, the numbering of the chapters in the two editions differs from that stage onwards. Some of the verses of chapter 21, sāmānyābhinaya, of the K. M, edition, occur as chap. 34 in the Ch. ed. and the rest (verses 90-115) are placed in chap. 35 of the Ch. ed. Some portions of the text of the. Natyasastra were published from time to time during the last 85 years. Hall in his edition of the Dasarūpa of Dhanañjaya (B. I. series, 1865 ) added at the end four chapters of the Nātyasāstra viz. 18, 19, 20 ( which correspond with chapters 18-20 of K. M. edition, the verses in Hall's edition being respectively 132, 133 and 63 as against 198, 133, 66 of the K. M. edition) and chap. 34 having 121 verses (which corresponds with chap. 24 of K. M. ed. that has only 116 verses and with chap. 34 and a portion of chap. 35 of the Ch. edition ). In Annales du Musee Guimet, vol. II pp. 69 ff. P. Regnaud published two chapters of the Natyasastra on Metrics, viz. 15th and 16th ( with 68 and 160 verses), corresponding with chapters 14 and 15 of the K. M. ed. ( with 120 and 172 verses ) and chapters