6. PART ONE-SANSKRIT DRAMA

PART ONE-SANSKRIT DRAMA

CHAPTER ONE. SANSKRIT DRAMA AS AN ART. The human babe is the most helpless of all the young ones of living beings. It is so not only in that a long period of nurture is required for it to grow into a self-supporting man but also in the fact that as compared with others its helplessness continues practically till the end of its career. But in this very helplessness lies its superiority over others. Whereas the young ones of others when fully grown have their energy exhausted in procuring food and making of nests or other habitations etc. for them, the human being does not run short of energy. The latter he has in plenty. He utilizes it first in getting together the necessaries of life, such as, food-stuff, clothing, habitation etc. The energy that is yet left in him is constantly trying to express itself in some form. The form that it assumes naturally is not so much concerned with utility. It is concerned rather with the satisfaction of the inner longing towards perfection1 which is all truth, all beauty and all goodness. It, therefore, finds vent in the form of play2 which expresses itself in various arts of which the drama marks the culmination. This is an evolutionary approach to art as explained by Western psycho- logists. The Indian Science of dramaturgy which deals with the principles of drama-the best form of art-propounds 1. Mendelssohn says, " ... art is the development of the beautiful obscurely recognized by feeling till it becomes the true and good. The aim of art is moral perfection." (T. W. A. p. 93). 2. P. D. L. ch. I ..

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a similar view though in the usual orthodox manner. Mytho- logy shrouds things in mystery, no doubt ; the fact, however, shines out. The god Indra with others approached the Grand-father Brahma and said, "We want a plaything which may be fit for spectacle and audience."1 And this demand was reciprocated by the Grandfather with the gift of the Science of dramaturgy to the divine beings. That it was given as a plaything to the Apsaras as has been re-affirmed.2 The Western Science of Aesthetics accounts for the origin of art in the same way. Schiller influenced by Lessing, Kant and Aristotle had his affinities with the second to whom he clung to the end. His theory of the origin of art from the play- impulse ( Spiel-trieb ) centred round Kant's statement: "Art, compared with labour, may be considered as play."3 The Indian and the European theories, thus, both meet at one point as regards the origin of drama. Indian drama like European drama is an art which had its birth when enough time as leisure was left after the fulfilment of the necessities of life. Drama had its place among the ancient Kalās '(arts or sciences) or (arts and sciences).'4

1. N. S. (K. S. S.) I. 11. 2. Ibid XXXVI. 66. 3. K. P. B., pt. I., p. 62. 4. In V. K. 'Kalās ' are translated as 'arts and sciences ' in the preface and as ' Arts or sciences' on p. 5. In the different lists in this book explicit mention of 'Nātakākhyāyikādarśanam' on pp. 29 & 33, 'Nātyam' on pp. 22 & 32, 'Nāțakāni' on p. 37 occurs. In some lists 'Kavya' has been enumerated as one of the arts. H. P. V. gives certain lists in the appendix. In the IV list which is traced to some source other than V. K. is to be found the mention of 'Kavya'. In the absence of clear mention of Nātya, Kāvya in- cluded Nätya as will be seen later on when dividing Kāvya, accor- ding to Sanskrit writers, into Drsya and Sravya,

3 Leaving aside the arts catering to the necessities of man's life the consideration of those other arts which satisfy his aesthetic longing is but pertinent. Man builds habita- tions for himself with different materials. He may place rocks in any random order with the sole object of providing himself with shelter. But when this necessity in the form of shelter has been fulfilled, there may arise in him the desire for making it strong, massive, delicate but durable, sublime etc. Then symmetry, strength, delicacy, sublimity and such other qualities weigh in his mind. Here the art of Architec- ture has its birth. But this art has been placed lowest1 as it employs media which are most concrete and tangible. Bricks, stones, lime, mortar etc. supply the media which are visible, lasting and stable. The range or scope of this art is, therefore, limited. The life of this art fully depends upon the media used. No marble can defy the wear and tear of weather and no pigment is ever lasting. The effects also of a piece of this art are not the expressions of those emotions which go to the very foundation of the human heart and make the whole frame vibrate. It is only certain elementary emotions that find expression here. The art of Architecture could succeed only so far in satisfying the inner longing towards perfection. It resorted, however, to another means and a more subtle means too, though unconsciously. The archives of grand halls, the corners of huge mansions, the massive pillars of large buil- dings looked empty and did not convey the impressions 1. In W. J. L. on p. 4 Hegel is mentioned placing Architecture lowest and poetry highest in order of dignity due to their dependence upon various grades of material basis.

4 intended. Hence images of different designs, wonderful make and strange patterns came to fill up these gaps. This was a stage marking an advance towards the ultimate goal. The media here became a bit less concrete, the three dimensions practically fading in significance. The range became less limited and the length of life more lasting due to the pieces of this art being of decorative nature and hence mostly placed in protected spots. More subtle emotions could be con- veyed and sentiments could have their full scope here,1 but then only one phase could be represented. Sentiments give rise to various expressions on the face but in the statue only one found favour. Only one pose was represented. If any motion was to be represented, it could be the representation of arrested motion in one pose.2 The aesthetic sense could hardly remain satisfied with the art of Sculpture. It sought its partial satisfaction in depicting figures of different living beings on different plates which served the media. The three dimensions reduced themselves to two. The range grew wider as background could be represented and the painting could be expected to last longer. Sentiments found full expression3 but only in poses. They, however, were more clear and expressive than their representations in Sculpture. But then this art of Painting could represent only selected poses and motion was also arrested here. The art of Music could give higher satisfaction to the 1. B. M. K., pp. 84, 96 & 98 (referring respectively to the images at Amravati, those of the Gupta period and the statue of the Buddha at Sarnath). 2. Ibid p. 132. (ref. to Națarāja's image). 3. B. C. K. p. 49.

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inner craving for perfection. The media here became more abstract, mere tunes and notes supplanting the tri-dimensional or bi-dimensional materials. The range or scope became much wider and vaster than in the case of previously con- sidered arts. The musician is concerned 'not with mere sounds, but with those thoughts and emotions of which they are the symbols ......; not with material elements-though the medium he employs is half physical -- but with the joys and sorrows, the aspirations, the struggles, the losses and the triumphs of the race.'1 The limitation is no more felt, it is, as it were, thrown to the winds. With its tunes ' we find ourselves suddently freed from limitation. We have the consciousness not only of liberty, of joy, and of insight, but also of the Illimitable opening up before and around us.'2 The life of the composition was prolonged as tunes and notes could be reproduced based as they were on materials almost abstract. The effects also were the expressions of almost all kinds of emotions as music could play the whole gamut of them -- joy, sorrow, fear, hope, longing, triumph, love, admiration, ecstasy, wonder etc. Even though the sense of limitation was in a way felt as if dispensed with, yet im- perceptibly it existed. Certain tunes have been enjoined to be played upon in certain seasons or fixed occasions. Others are to be sung in particular parts of the day and night.3 Emotions also were vague4 as they were excited by sounds which were not so precise by themselves. Full satisfaction of the longing

1. K. P. B. pt. II. p. 141 2. Ibid p. 131. 3. Cf. for example, the particular times when the Ragas as Bhairavi, Vihāga etc. are sung. 4. Cf. K. A. S. V. 2.

6 lying at the root of aesthetic creation was not yet obtained. In other words art was yet to reach a stage which would mark its culmination. This it, after all, reached in Poetry where the media became words, instead of tunes of the previous art (Music), much more abstract in this sense that a single word could suggest remote associations and excite a wide emotional context.1 The range or scope became very very wide and vast as anything and every thing normal or abnormal, natural or supernatural, earthly or divine, human or superhuman, hellish or terrestrial etc. could find satisfactory representa- tion in this art. The life of the art was still more prolonged as any number of reproduction was possible in every case. The media also contributed towards the length of its life.2 The effects were the expressions of emotions of all kinds, elementary or otherwise. The vagueness that attended the tunes and notes of Music disappeared here due to emotions given an intellectual setting.3 Here there was no vague longing but precise emotions at first aroused from the state of dormancy and then intensified. 'The effect of this ( poetry ) is to intensify the emotion aroused ..... '4 This effect was achieved in Poetry only when the mind of the poet was seized, and his heart taken by storm by some happening great or small but momentous and stirring in nature and after 1. The mere mention of the Kadamba before the devotees of Lord Krșna revives a whole series of emotions, associated as that tree is with the love of Radha-Krsna and the rainy season. 2. Various recensions of different Vedas are still available even after the lapse of so many centuries since they were first composed. 3. K. P. B. pt. II. p. 69. 4. Ibid p. 115.

7 sustained brooding found outlet. It had its counterpart in the arousal of latent emotions in the reader or the hearer. Poetry, thus, was the highest stage in the development of the five fine arts. As art developed from the lowest to the highest stage there was a marked change from all points of consideration. The media most material in the beginning ( for example, in Architecture ) lost their grossness, gradually growing finer and finer till it was etherealized into the waves of musical Poetry. The range or scope also widened, new vistas opening at every advance and finally any and every- thing could come in properly and appropriately. Man and Nature with every thing around and about them found expression. The life of the work of art formerly depending on material basis became more and more lasting as the media grew independent of the inclemency of weather, and such other affecting elements. The effects gained in intensity with gradual progress and the final step was taken towards the arousal of emotions, mild or violent, ordinary or momentous, thrilling and shaking the living frame. The appeal of these effects added more and more to its width. Architecture, Sculpture and Painting touched the human beings only and among them, too, practically those more, who were initiated into the subtle technicalities of these arts. Music and Poetry had their appeal driven home to the world of beasts as well.1 The means of this appeal grew more subtle. In the case of Architecture, Sculpture and Painting the appeal was through the eye, "Arts of the 'Eye',"2 as Worsfold 1. The antelopes are charmed with the tunes of the lyre. The sound of the musical instrument, qamarū, fascinates snakes. The poet Guņādhya's work in Paiśāchi charmed the beasts. 2. W. J. L. p.4.

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describes them and the sense of touch co-operated where the materials were tangible. Music appealed through the ear. It, therefore, tended to vagueness. Poetry harnessed both the eye and the ear for its appeal. It set aside vagueness and tended towards preciseness handling themes from all regions and fields : material, spiritual and psychic. Poetry, thus, comprised all that could be experienced through any sense but aimed primarily at the arousal of emotions culminating into sentiments. But Poetry is not to be taken only in the sense of expressions in all recognized technical forms characterized by finish and polish prescribed. It also stands here for any spontaneous and unpremeditated expression of emotions so powerful and vehement as seeking keenly for outlet. Poetry is 'the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings'1 as Words- worth puts it. The form which the expression assumes need not invariably be the prescribed one. It rather becomes prescribed when once unconsciously arranged. The great sage, Vālmīki, had not premeditated over, and fixed from beforehand, the stanza or verse. He was touched with the incident to the core, his heart was magnetized and mono- polized by it. The emotion that was vehemently aroused became inevitable and irresistible. The outlet that it sought and got was bound to be harmonious and rhythmic as it indicated the inner harmony and rhythm. This consonance of the innermost emotions combined with the consequent rhythmic movement of the limbs and parts of the body resul- ted in the corresponding rhythmic expression in the form of verse. ' ... And, in hoary past, of the first poet, sorrow born of the separation of the Krauñcha couple found expression 1. K. P. B. pt. II. p. 97.

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through the śloka metre.'1 The poet himself was hardly aware of the miracle he had done. He was surprised at the first introduction of metre other than the Vedic in the world.2 Others, no doubt, were wonderstruck. 'Wonderful ! A new revelation of metre different from that of the Veda.'3 The acceptance of such conception of Poetry hardly left room for the heated discussions and controversies which arose in the West as regards the form of Poetry. Metre is an essential element in no case dispensable; metre is not indispensable as it is not essential -- are not the cries of Sans- krit rhetoricians.4 To them what mattered was the spon- taneous expressions of emotional experience of the soul. The Western critic also realised it in the long run.5

1. D. L. I. 5.

2. V. R. I. II. 16.

3. B. U. K. II. p. 54.

4. 'The doctrine that prose is the opposite, not of poetry, but of verse, which began to be realised rather late in European critical theories, was very early admitted without question by Sanskrit authors with whom metre does not play the same part as it does in European poetry ; for in India from the earliest time, it was usual to put down even the driest teachings in a metrical form.' D. S. P. Vol. II. p. 58. 5. Literary art, that is, like all art which is in any way imitative or reproductive of fact-form, or colour, or incident,-is the representa- tion of such fact as connected with soul, of a specific personality, in its preferences, its volition and power.' P. A. S. p. 10.

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With this conception of Peotry the division they made was the most comprehensive. The tablel given below

Kāvya

Śravya Drśya Rūpaka (10 Rūpakas) (The Uparupakas are mainly based on the Nrtya, hence not considered as will become clear later on.)

Padyamaya Gadyamaya Gadyapadyamaya

Koșa Mahākāvya Viruda Karambhaka Champū Khaņdakāvya

Ākhyāyikā Kathā

will facilitate the understanding. Explanation of each division will also be given. Poetry is divided firstly into two kinds : Śravya ( audible ) and Drśya ( visible ). The first kind is the art of the ear, as it is meant to be listened to. The second is the art of the eye but the help of the ear is not eliminated. These two divisions are, however, not mutually exclusive. They do not constitute two watertight compartments cancelling the probability of flowings-in from the one into the other and vice versa. The Uttararāma- charita of Bhavabhuti and the Faust of Goethe are dramatic poems rather than pure dramas. On the other hand, the Krauñcha incident in the Rāmāyaņa of Vālmīki is more of a drama. The actions and speech of man are based on imita- tion, no doubt, but the Drśya Kāvya requires a simultaneous development of many factors before it can be produced.

1. S. D. VI. 1. & 313 and following.

Only a very high type of civilization and culture can produce dramatic works in their finished form.1 The germs of the drama are present at all times, indeed but the production marks a high tide in life. The Śravya Kävyas, on the other hand, have been produced even in the infancy of civilization of mankind. Vālmīki's Rāmāyana, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the German Nibelungenlied etc. are styled as the 'Natural' Epics for the above reason. They mostly recorded the traditions of yore as they were handed down from ge- neration to generation. The Drśya Kāvya required the full maturity of civilization when advance on all sides had been made. Music, Dancing, Scenic and Histrionic arts and other arts were to be first cultivated and harmoniously combined before the drama could be produced. Literary forms other than the drama had also to contribute their quota to this literary type which required high demands from the genius of the dramatists.2 Comparison of other forms with the drama will make the comprehensiveness of the latter quite clear. This will be seen later on. The Śravya Kāvya is further divided into Padyamaya (metrical), Gadyamaya(prose)and Gadyapadyamaya(mixed). The first is subdivided into Koşa, Khaņda Kāvya and Mahā Kāvya. The second is subdivided into Ākhyāyikā and

1. Greece, India and China-these three countries only have left dra- matic literatures of which others had no idea. It is curious that Egypt and Babylon with their highly developed civilization did not produce any drama. 2. Vaughan says, "It is something surely to study the growth of any one form in which the imagination of man has taken body; above all, when the form in question is that on which the highest poetic genius has been spent." T. T. D. p. 1.

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Katha. The third has three sub-divisions : Viruda, Karam- bhaka and Champū. Sanskrit rhetoricians define Padya as Chhandobaddhapada ( metrical ). One stanza is called Muktaka, two together Yugmaka, three together Sandānitaka, four together Kalā- paka and five together Kulaka.1 A collection of independent stanzas or of stanzas of the same kind is called a Kosa.2 A Khanda Kāvya is one wherein the conditions of the Mahā Kāvya are partially fulfilled.3 The Mahā Kāvya is the most comprehensive form as it has in its compass the requirements of the above two kinds together with others which do not find place in them. Its definition is to be analysed and arranged into (1) Plot, (2) Hero, (3) Aim and (4) Effect. The plot either is based on history or treats of the lives of great and good persons. It has to be divided into cantos called in Sanskrit Sargas ( in case of the Mahā Kāvya written by a Rsi a canto is called an Ākhyāna; when it is written in Prakrit a canto is called an Āśvāsa, the metres then are Skandhakas and sometimes Galitakas; when it is written in Apabhramśa a canto is called a Kadavaka; and sometimes due to the peculiarity of the rules of languages and dialects it is devoid of cantos, then it has got metres con- verging to one sense but the Sandhis etc. are absent ) neither very short nor very long, which are to be eight or more in number. The beginning is to be made with the salutation unto the presiding deities or cherished god or gods, or with the indication of the subject-matter itself or with censure

1. S. D. VI. 314-15. 2. Ibid VI. 329-330. 3. Ibid VI. 329.

13 of the wicked and praise of the good. A canto is to be in the same metre throughout but the concluding stanzas are to be in a different metre. A certain canto is even seen with stanzas in different kinds of metres. The concluding portion of each canto should indicate the incidents of the succeeding one. The dramatic Sandhis are to be observed. The follow- ing items with their accessaries and ancillaries are to be described according to requirement : twilight, sunrise, moonrise, night, evening, darkness, days, morning, midday, hunt, mountains, seasons, forests, oceans, union, separation, hermits, heaven, cities, sacrifices, wars, departure, marriage, counsel, birth and prosperity of sons etc. Every canto is to be named after its contents and the Mahā Kāvya after the poet or the plot or the hero. The hero is a god or a Ksattriya of good family, endowed with the qualities of the Dhirodatta type. Many kings of one family or many persons of high and pure families also figure therein. All the four Vargas-Dharma, Artha, Kāma and Mokşa- are to have their full scope, but the predominant aim to be achieved by the hero must be one. The Śrngāra, the Vīra and the Sānta-only one of these is to be principal, others should be made subordinate to it. This injunction has obviously been laid down to bring about a unitary effect.1 The Mahā Kāvya deals sometimes with a whole dynasty of kings or with the lives of persons of good family, the drama in its major types, on the other hand, concentrates on one personality. The Mahā Kāvya is named after

1. S. D. VI. 315-328.

14 the hero, no doubt, but the hero here must be the originator of the dynasty or the most illustrious among all those figuring who do not act as satellites but independent entities. There are certain types of drama which have got many heroes. The canvas of the Mahā Kāvya is very very wide1 whereas the drama treats of a particular portion of life and that, too, from a particular angle of vision.2 This curtail- ment in width has, however, a corresponding gain. The subject-matter in the Mahā Kāvya appears mostly loose and unwieldy whereas that in the drama compact and well arranged. In the Mahā Kāvya the writer can express his own thoughts and give his own opinions but not often to advantage; the reader may not have left anything for his thinking. The length, sometimes enormous, of the Mahã Kāvya makes it impossible to finish it at one sitting and the white heat of suspense is not maintained. Drama, on the other hand, is the shortest distance from sentiment to sentiment where the interest of the spectator is not allowed to flag. The hero of the Maha Kāvya is to be of the Dhīrodātta kind; in the drama heroes of different kinds-Dhīrodātta, Dhīralalita, Dhīroddhata and Dhīrasānta-may lead the action. In such types of drama as the Bhana the heroes can belong even to low strata of society. The aims of the Maha Kāvya have full application to the drama as all those aims are also to be kept in view in the latter case for achievement. 1. The Raghuvamsa of Kalidāsa treats of the whole family of Raghu, that is his ancestors and descendants. 2. The Mrchchhakatika of Śūdraka shows Chārudatta mainly as a lover, his other qualities are depicted only to emphasize his con- centrating love.

The Rasas ( sentiments ) which the Mahā Kāvya depicts are limited in number. Those in the drama, on the other hand, have no such limit. All the orthodox eight or nine sentiments find scope here. Viewed as such, the Mahā Kavya stands much inferior to the drama. The writer of the Maha Kāvya does not emphasize the effect whereas with the writer of the drama the effect is the primary con- sideration. The Maha Kāvya stands indebted to the drama. The first treatise of Sanskrit literary criticism is the Nātyaśāstra of Bharata. Different kinds of heroes have been enu- merated there. The injunction that the hero of the Dhiro- dätta type should be the hero in the Mahā Kāvya is to be traced to that source. Added to it, the harnessing of the dramatic Sandhis is another proof of its indebtedness to the drama.1 Despite these efforts to bring the Mahā Kävya on a par with the drama, the former remained much inferior to the latter. The latter utilized one means which lifted it very high in point of effect and this was the theatre.2 The Maha Kāvya described action which remained rather static. Everything was left to the imagination of the readers or those who listened to its recitations. Imagina- tion may work in a wrong direction, be misguided or even fail to work, being left without any aid. All this is not possible in the drama. Even those, in whom imagination ran riot or in whom it became perverted, found sufficient aid in the means, theatre. Heroes in action are represented 1. 'The term Sandhi is taken from the drama.' F. I. P. p. 140 (Foot-note). 2. How far the Sanskrit drama utilized the theatre will be discussed later on in the third chapter of this part,

16 on the stage. Action which was static in the Mahā Kāvya became dynamic in the drama. That the Drśya Kāvya is to be acted, represented on the stage, is the verdict of the Sanskrit rhetoricians.1 The appeal, therefore, of the drama is very direct and goes home. The Mahā Kāvya, on the other hand, has its appeal limited to those who read or listen to, and understand, it. No such restriction imposes itself on the drama when staged.2 The writer who has seen through the reality and has had a vision of 'the light that was never on sea or land', is under agonies to express it to be shared with sympathetic persons. He utilizes all kinds of means to effect this purpose. Of these means the drama naturally effects this purpose most satisfactorily as its appeal goes direct to the heart. The drama, thus, stands superior to the Mahā Kāvya. The Khanda Kavya partially fulfils the conditions laid down for the Mahā Kāvya. The Kosa is much inferior even to the Khanda Kāvya, as it is a mere collection of stray stanzas or stanzas inter-connected. The drama, thus, stands very superior to these two kinds. All these three kinds of the Śravya Kāvya, are, therefore, inferior to the drama. The Gadyamaya, the second sub-head of the Śravya Kāvya, is divided into the Ākhyāyikā and the Kathā. The Sanskrit rhetoricians include the gadya in the Kāvya. They have exalted it to a height which is the standard for

1. S. D. VI. 1. 2. The Śakuntalā episode as it occurs in the Mahābhārata is a closed book for the mass, but the Abhijñānaśākuntala of Kālidāsa on the stage is accessible and intelligible to all and sundry.

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the poets.1 Such was their estimation of it in their eyes. The gadya has been defined as the Vrttagandhojjhita, devoid of metres. It is called the Muktaka when there are no compounds; the Vrttagandhi when it contains metrical parts; the Utkalikāprāya when it is rich in long compounds; and the Chūrnaka when the compounds are short. The two divisions of the gadya, the Ākhyāyikā and the Katha, engaged many rhetoricians in hot contro- versies which arose in connection with their necessary ingredients. Bhāmaha, Dandin and Rudrata have des- cribed their requirements, form etc. but their descriptions are mostly the criticism of the predecessors' opinions. Moreover the extant instances of the two kinds do not fully bear them out. The instance of the Ākhyāyikā is fur- nished by the Harsacharita of Bana and those of the Kathā by the Kādambarī of Bāņa and the Vāsavadattā of Suban- dhu. Nobel in 'F. I. P.' has paid attention to these defi- nitions and has come to the conclusion that they have been arrived at on consideration of different instances and not the Harsacharita, the Kādambarī and the Vāsavadattā as these lead to different results. In the seventh century the chief characteristics of the Ākhyāyika were as follows : '(1) The subject-matter gives historical facts. (2) It is not necessary that the hero himself is the narrator. (3) There are chapters called Uchchhvāsas. (4) Every Uchchhväsa, but not the first, opens with two stanzas (metre usually Āryā ), which indicate what will happen in the Uchchhvasa in question.

1. K. L. S. I. 3. 21 (Vrtti). 2

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(5) The whole story begins with a metric introduc- tion of a literary character.'1 The treatment of the historical facts combined with the injunction that the hero himself narrates his own deeds, for in point No. (2) the hero himself may sometimes be the narrator to which Bhämaha bears testimony,2 naturally makes one take the Ākhyāyikā to be an autobiography.3 On the other hand, the criticism of this point to the effect that in the Ākhyāyikā persons other than the hero speak and consequently there cannot be such restriction4 leads one to take it as a biography. It may be an autobiography or a biography but its inferiority to the drama will become quite obvious. The Ākhyāyikā, when considered as an autobiography, deals with different incidents in the life of the hero who is himself the narrator. This aspect evidently will put it on a level lower than that of the drama. The incidents in the life are dark and bright, interesting and dull, attracting and repulsive etc. and the autobiography has to take stock of all of them. The drama, on the other hand, concentrates only on the bright, interesting and attracting incidents from a particular angle of vision. Its whole canvas, there- fore, appears attractive. With the autobiography it is bound to be otherwise where sincerity to reality has got a greater value. Then again with a number of incidents the subject-matter in arrangement may become loose and un-

1. F. I. P. p. 184. 2. K. L. I. 26. 3. ' The Ākhyāyikā, then is, as it were, an autobiography' F. I. P. p. 174. 4. K. D. I. 25.

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wieldy; this, however, can never happen in the drama. The division of the subject-matter into the Uchchhvāsas or the Aśvāsas may correspond to the division into Acts, but then the end of one Act naturally leads to the beginn- ing of the other and no breathing space seems to be required. The Uchchhvāsas or the Āśvāsas, on the other hand, do mean 'breaths' and they, as it were, mark the pauses for breathing. It is quite another consideration that the godd- ess Sarasvati does not feel fatigued at the end of an Uch- chhväsa.1 With such a wide canvas the whole work can- not be finished at one sitting meant as it is to be read out or listened to. The drama, on the other hand, can be seen on the stage at one sitting. The harnessing of the metres is not a distinctive feature of the Ākhyāyikā, for the drama utilizes many kinds of metres. The indication of what is to happen in the name of another2 is enjoined in the be- ginning of an Uchchhvāsa; this device is out-numbered by the dramatic devices of a like nature, such as, the Patākāsthānaka, the Ankāsya etc. The hero of the Ākhyāyikā may not have the qualities enumerated in the types of heroes of the drama. The qualities required of the heroes in the drama raise them very high and they differ from type to type. Want of mention in this respect bears witness to the fact that this aspect hardly engaged the attention of the rhetoricians in connection with the Ākhyāyikā. The drama is more fasti- dious in this matter and hence superior to the Ākhyāyikā. The aims to be attained in an Ākhyāyikā have not been

1. B. H. C. I. 10. 2. S. D. VI. 336.

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put down whereas those of the drama have found express mention. As regards the effect no express mention has been made. It has, however, been written that the 'Ākhyāyikā should be like the Katha.'1 And it has been said that the 'plot in the Katha should be rich in sentiments.'2 It, therefore, can be concluded that the plot oft he Ākhyāyikā also should be rich in sentiments. The Ākhyāyikā, thus, aims at producing sentiments in the readers. But these sentiments are not so vividly and directly aroused as in the case of the drama where every item is directed to this effect. The drama, thus, is far superior to the Ākhyāyikā. Considered as a biography also, it can hardly be placed on a par with the drama. Instead of the hero himself being the narrator some other person or persons narrate the experiences of the hero. The narration could not in some cases be as graphic or vivid as it ought to be, for it found mediate expression. The hero, the aim and the effect practically remained the same as in the autobiography, hence no point to raise it higher was added. The drama outstripped both nearly in all points of comparison, partly because of its excellence in these points and partly due to its use of the theatre-a means of the use of which these two kinds, the autobiography and the biography, were quite devoid. The characteristics of the Katha have been summarised as follows :

1. S. D. VI. 334. 2. Ibid VI. 332

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'(1) The subject-matter is a story for the most part invented by the poet, a love story ending with the union of the lovers. (2) The narrator is not the hero himself. (3) The story is not divided into chapters. (4) At the beginning there is a literary introduction in verse.'1 The subject-matter here dealing with a love story in- vented by the poet and containing 'the description of the seizure of the girl, of a struggle, of the separation ( of the lovers ) and the prosperity of the hero'2 combined with point (2) gives ground for assumption that the Kathā is a novel or a romance.3 The Katha deals with a very wide canvas; in the drama, however, the canvas has to be straitened. This is required to be done because other means, as theatre, come to help in making the appeal direct. The Kathā has subject- matter as vast as that in the Maha Kāvya but there is the corresponding disadvantage. As in the Mahā Kāvya, the subject-matter of the Kathā may become unwieldy in arrangement and links in the plot may be broken. The novel consists of everything for the enjoyment of the reader, it 'is self-contained; that is, it provides within its own compass everything that the writer deemed necessary for the comprehension and enjoyment of his work.'4 The drama, on the other hand, requires the aid of the theatre

1. F. I. P. p. 187. 2. K. L. I. 27. 3. 'Katha is the novel.' 'F. I. P. p. 175 ; The Katha is, if we may be allowed to say so, a novel.' Ibid p. 176. 4. H. I. L. p. 229.

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where the actors represent the action. Therefore the drama merely in the form of the book is only in its, so to say, incomplete form. The book merely gives the outline which is to be filled in by the actors. But when the drama is represented on the stage, it gives the greatest enjoyment to the spectators as no imagination is to be exercised there. On the other hand, imagination to a certain extent is to be exercised in the reading of the Kathā, as so many details have to be filled in. The Kathā and the Ākhyāyikā have many points in common; the comparison, therefore, of the Kathā and the drama in points of hero, aim and effect is practically the same as of the Ākhyāyikā and the drama. It has been made quite clear by comparison that the drama is superior to the Ākhyāyikā; it, therefore, stands superior to the Kathā also. The two sub-divisions of the Gadyamaya Kāvya, the Ākhyāyikā and the Kathā, are, thus, not on a par with the drama. The third sub-head of the Śravya Kāvya is the Gadya- padyamaya. It is divided into Viruda, Karambhaka and Champū. The Viruda is the praise of the ruler or the rulers com- posed in prose and verse; and the Karambhaka is the praise composed in various languages.1 The Champū is the poetic composition partly in prose and partly in verse.2 It is like the Ākhyāyikā, may have Anka and be divided into Uchchhväsas.3 Little recognizing the differ-

1. S. D. VI. 337. 2. Ibid VI. 336. 3. H. K. S. p. 340.

23 ence between the Akhyayika and the Katha the author, Trivikrama Bhatța, of the Nala Champū styles it as Kathā.1 This Champū satisfies the definition given by Hema Chan- dra. At the end of each Uchchhvasa the line occurs, 'Iti Śrī Trivikrama Bhatța Virachitāyām Damayantīkathāyām Haracharaņasarojānkāyām Prathama (Dvitīya etc. ) Uch- chhvāsah.' The drama stands on a level higher than that of either the Viruda or the Karambhaka. At the most they can be called approximations to the Mahā Kāvya. Even considered as such, they cannot equal the drama, not to say of excelling it. The Champū is a story or a novel in prose and verse. It, therefore, also does not reach the level of the drama. The three forms of the Gadyapadya- maya, thus, stand inferior to the drama. This admitted superiority of the drama in point of technique and appeal attracted people from all ranks of society.2 The young and the old jostled one another in the theatre. Ladies of family also formed the audience.3 They fully realized that of all the divisions of the poetry, the drama was the best and highest. (Kāvyesu Nāțakam Ramyam). The rhetoricians recognized this fact. It was quite another thing that because of the affinities to differ- ent schools, all of them did not express it open-heartedly. Yet there were some who did not fail to do so. Vāmana, who belonged to the Riti School in Sanskrit poetics, has written most emphatically that 'among compositions the drama is the best. It is variegated like a picture due to the

1. N. C. I. 24. 2. M. A. I. 4 in K. G. 3. N. S. (K. S. S.) XXIV 289.

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complete presence of all characteristics therein. Out of that, other kinds of literary compositions have come.'1 Abhinava corroborates Vāmana when he says that com- plete Rasāsvāda is posible only in the representation of the drama. And that poetry is but drama.2 The Science of dramaturgy was a complete source of highest pleasure to 'all kinds of peoples of all the worlds ( Sarvalokānurañ- jinī )3. It attracted and pleased the mortals, the denizens of the nether world, the aerial beings and the divine beings who had realized the ultimate truth, and 'was, thus, higher than the ultimate bliss otherwise how it could fascinate the minds of Närada and others.'4 Even the four Vedas contributed their quota to this form of poetry and added to its superiority.5 Every knowledge, every sculpture, every learning, every art, dexterity and minute work- all these were to be utilized in the drama.6 All the other fine arts-architecture etc .- were harnessed to the service of drama. The stage required the first three with their auxiliaries and the orchestra was the prominent element. Recitations and lyric effusions scattered here and there were the instances of musical elements. Such was its estimate in the eyes of the people that huge amounts of money were spent over it. It is said that the Athenians were ready to spend a large amount of money for one tragedy of Sophocles as they regarded the drama to be the

1. K.L. S. I. 3. 30-32. 2. N. S. (G. O. S.) VI. p. 288 (com.) 3. N. L. R. K. p. 2. 4. A. D. M. 10-11. 5. N. S. (K. S. S.) I. 17. 6. Ibid. I. 113-114.

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most rational, most instructive and most delightful com- position the human wit arrived at. The drama, thus, stood as the culmination of art in point of unity and artistic harmony. Many artists had made it their aim to harness the different arts to the service of the drama. 'More than any other artist in Music he ( Richard Wagner ) made it his aim that all the arts should contribute their share towards the production of Drama; not Music and Poetry only, but Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture as well; so that perfect unity, or full artistic harmony, may be reached.'1 The highest development in art had been reached in the drama, no doubt; but its contents kept the scholars engaged in a hot controversy. The problem whether the drama is realistic or idealistic loomed large with them awaiting solution. The two words, realistic and idealistic, are used in different senses. It is due to this fact that in different con- texts, different arts and sciences these words convey differ- ent meanings. The word realistic on the most material level stands as expressive of objects which can be perceived by the senses. Here the objects are generally those which have got dimen- sions. They may be material, animate or inanimate. The stones, the earth, the flora, the fauna, the birds, the beasts and the human beings-all come under them. All and sundry present in Nature furnish items in the list of objects. There is no doubt that to the subtle senses there are objects which are very abstract, yet 'realistic' in this sense applies

1. K. P. B. pt. II. p. 153.

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to those which are very gross, concrete and material. The Latin term 'Res' ( material thing ) conveys the sense very appropriately. The drama deals with these objects. Its contents are the treatment of what is in Nature. The word 'realistic' is, therefore, not applicable to the drama here as it cannot be placed on the same level as objects in Nature. Drama, no doubt, deals with Nature but it is not crude Nature as we see her. The drama is not gross or material as the objects of Nature are. It may be contended here that drama in the form of a written book is an object in Nature, hence it can be called realistic. That drama is not merely the written book but has got some cons- tituents by virtue of which it is called drama will become clear later on when those constitutents are considered. It is, therefore, something quite other than those objects. The word 'realistic' as regards the contents of a written dramatic piece may also mean that what the drama presents is the exact prototype of what is seen or perceived in the material world. Particular phases of lives of persons with objects in Nature in different combinations are the subject- matter in the drama. It is said that just as a camera takes. the photograph of man or Nature, so the drama records. the photographic replica of the world of everyday life. Drama, being an art, never does it or even attempts to do it. What the camera does is to reproduce the original in all its exactitude and details at a particular moment. It is a machine which catches the pose of a particular moment and adds nothing of itself to that pose. It has no life, it is dead. The historiographer may approximate to the camera as his function is merely to write down, without any exercise of intellect of his own, the events in the lives.

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of persons. Even when he compiles the, events, he does it dispassionately. Whatever exercise of intellect is re- quired is merely for the arrangement of the matter. With the playwright the case is quite the reverse. He sees what is happening in this world; he sees the dark and bright phases of persons' lives set in the background of those happenings. Or he reads books and comes across illu- minating events and incidents in the lives of certain per- sons. He also sees the black, shady and sunny aspects of Nature. Then he cogitates over one particular aspect and with the alchemy of brain, produces a work totally different from what he perceived. Thus the original in Nature passed through the alembic of his genius which enabled him to see through her ( Kavayah Krānta-Darśinaḥ) and also urged him on and made him create something quite new and at the same time much above her. The mind and the soul both co-operated in this creation. In the case of the camera it records the pose then and there without allowing a single moment of time to pass. The accuracy and promptness of the machine worked here on the spur of the moment. But the playwright stands on a different level. He is not an automaton producing the same thing in any number without even the least change. He is all instinct with life. Time is passing. Its passage brings change in his cogitations and the final product, after the mental agony, is a thing which is not the exact photogra- phic replica of what he perceived. This accounts for the fact that two works on the same subject by the very same writer are never alike. In the third sense as it is understood by some the word 'realistic' is applied to those works which are mere imita-

28 tions of Nature. What is this imitation ? Is it the bare copying of what is perceived in Nature ? Is it reproduc- ing her slavishly in all her details ? Certainly this is not the sense intended. 'If art were reduced to the imitation of Nature, to mere copying, Nature would soon supersede it, for the simple reason that the artist would be eliminated from his art.'1 Nature has objects in all their details. They are present in all their possible combinations. The playwright will find it out of his power to have in his scope these objects in their accurate details. And even if the artist succeeds to some extent in doing so, he is a mere imitator. The qualifying word 'artist' will hardly apply to him. It is when these details have touched the play- wright, excited his dormant emotions and made him aflame, keenly longing for the expression, that a composi- tion can be called art and the writer the artist. The agony of the soul is the determining element in art. 'Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term "art", I should call it the "reproduction of what the senses perceive in nature through the veil of soul." The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of "artist".'2 Bharata, time and again, specially towards the end of chap. 14 of the N. S. (K. S. S.) lays emphasis on the fulfilment of certain requirements which he classifies under the dramatic needs. He calls these the Nātyadharmī as distinguished from realities, the Lokadharmi. As the drama is an imitation of the world, the propriety or adequacy in the presentation of

1. K. P. B. pt. II. pp. 23-24. 2. E. A. Poe (1809-1849), Marginalia in T. P. E. p. 46.

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life on the stage is rightly stressed. No doubt each item must conform to what obtains in life. Hence are the prescriptions of the Muni in connection with languages. and dialects used, forms of addresses adopted, ornaments worn etc. etc. All the above, however, have also to obey the needs of the drama. For instance, people standing very near overhear one another in everyday life but the needs of the drama prescribe them as not doing such in case of the 'Svagata', or the 'Janantika' which are the 'Natyadharmīs'. Again the theatrical properties used, the different kinds of abhinaya and sundry others are ex- amples of the Natyadharmi. The Nartyadharmi, thus, turns verity into verisimilitude, realitiy into simulation of reality and actual truths into imaginative truths. The representation on the stage may be said to make the drama realistic, for the actors by many different means imitate the original character. The latter's actions etc. are taken up for imitation. The dresses they wore and their speech are also imitated. But is all this a slavish copying ? Decidedly it cannot be. The original characters were once real and their representation is being put up by the actors in all possible reality. 'But the representation of the real by the real is not identical with the reality of ordinary life ...; the fact that actuality, not reality, reality heightened and intensified by concentration, something that is not less, but more than reality, is the essence of drama.'1 The play- wright aims at presenting Nature as transformed by his genius, the baser metal transmuted into pure gold, as it were. Nature cannot fetter his imagination in its work-

1. W. P. C. p. 184.

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ings; on the other hand, she has to undergo transforma- tion in the alchemy of his imagination. This is the aim of all arts. No art keeps before it imitation in bare details as its aim, much less the drama. 'This ( that the true func- tion of the drama is to "copy nature," to "hold up the mirror to nature," to reproduce human life exactly as it is. ), however, is hardly the function of art in any shape. It has certainly not been the function of the drama, as under- stood by its greatest masters.'1 These three different interpretations put on the word 'realistic' may now be illustrated, for the second and the third seem to be overlapping. In Nature there are objects and objects which are gross, concrete and tangible. According to first interpretation the drama is not one of them as it is much more than a mere written literary piece. The second interpretation says that what is contained in the drama is not merely the exact replica of a series of objects in the same form in which they are selected from Nature. Then again these objects of Nature may be copied in all exact and accurate details and these imitations may be the subject-matter of the drama. The third interpretation seems to tend towards this view, but such, however, is not the real position. Mere objective side does not cover the whole distance. Attention has to be paid to the subjective side also so that the com- bination of the two may produce the work of art. The word 'idealistic' may mean something which is ideal, 'embodying an idea.'2 Here the particular 'idea' may work in two ways. Firstly, it may have suddenly flashed in the mind of the playwright and guided him through 1. T. T. D. p. 5. 2. C. O. D. p. 562.