1. Tragedy And Sanskrit Drama Bhat G.K

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Title - Tragedy And Saskrit Drama

Author - Bhat,G.A

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TRAGEDY

and

SANSKRIT DRAMA

By the same Author

In English

THE DRAMATIC THEMES OF BHĀSA AND THEIR TREATMENT

(Doctorate Thesis Not printed Copy in Bombay University Library)

THE VIDŪSAKA

(Independent original work, 1959)

PREFACE TO MRCHAKATIKA

(A study in Literary Criticism and Culture, 1953)

SVAPNAVĀSAVADATTA

(English translation, Introduction, Exegetical notes, etc, 1952)

UTTARA-RĀMA-CARITA

(English translation, Notes, Appendices, Introduction, 1954, 1965)

BHĀSA STUDIES

(Collected papers, 1968)

In Marathi

ŚVAPNAVĀSAVADATTA (A complete edition, 2nd ed 1972)

VENĪSAMHĀRA (A complete edition, 1957)

MĀLAVIKĀGNIMITRA (Introduction, Translation, 1961)

THREE ONE ACT PLAYS OF BHĀSA

(Introduction, Translation, 1963)

SANSKRIT KĀVYASHATRACHI PRASTAVANA

(Preface to Sanskrit Poetics, 1960)

VIDŪSAKA (1959)

PANCHA SANSKRIT NATAKEN

(Five Sanskrit Plays A Criticism, 1960)

SANSKRIT NATYASRSTI

(Khadilkar Memorial Lectures, 1964)

KĀLIDĀSA-DARSHAN (Venus Lectures, 1968)

In Gujarati

SVAPNAVASAVADATTA

(A complete edition with Translation, Notes Introduction, etc, 1955)

TWO ONE-ACT PLAYS OF BHASA

(In collaboration with Prof R B Athavale, 1954)

Tragedy

and

Sanskrit Drama

G. K. BHAT

POPULAR PRAKASHAN

BOMBAY

POPULAR PRAKASHAN PVT LTD

35C Tardeo Road, Bombay 400 034

© G K BHAT, 1974

First published

1974

(3115)

Printed in India

by Nanmohan S Bhatkal at Popular Book Depot Printing Division Dr Bhadkam-

kar Road Bombay 400 007 and published by Ramdas G Bhatkal for Popular

Prakashan Pvt Ltd. 35C, Tardeo Road Bombay 400 034

PREFACE

Tragedy is a fascinating problem for literary and aesthetic study As a student of Sanskrit drama I was intrigued by

the virtual absence of formal tragedy in this dramatic literature, although both literary theory and practice furnish

abundant evidence of a proper appraisal of Karuna Rasa, the literary presentation of the pathetic in human experience

and its aesthetic enjoyment by readers and spectators The present essay is an attempt to tackle the problem of tragedy

in Sanskrit drama as I see it and understand it

Tragedy is a Western concept It will have to be viewed,

I assume, according to the direction provided by Western thinkers from Aristotle downwards, and by the criteria

implicitly present in the tragedies written by Western dramatists Very little has been written on the subject of

tragedy in Sanskrit drama by Indian scholars, and the one or two articles that have been published seem to be written

with the ostensible purpose of proving the existence of tragic drama in Sanskrit It appears to me that these

attempts are either misguided as to the proper criteria for a formal tragedy, or else, they are an apology for a possible

shortcoming in Sanskrit literature

In the first Section of this essay I have presented the theoretical data on tragedy and made an attempt to formulate

some requirements essential for tragic concept and design.

Section II examines the whole field of Sanskrit dramatic literature and analyses in detail a number of Sanskrit plays

v

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

for discovering the possibilities of real tragic motive and

its formal realization I find that the Sanskrit dramatists

do not aim at constructing a tragedy, although some plays

are quite serious in tone and deeply pathetic in their emotional

impact The governing pattern in Sanskrit drama is that of

comedy in all its possible shades

Two plays of Bhāsa, the Ūrubhanga and the Karnabhāra

are, however, an exception to the prevailing form and can

very well be described as formal tragedies

Section III argues the case for these two one-act plays

To enable the reader who may not have a direct access to

the original Sanskrit text to follow my analysis and argu-

ment, I have prepared an English translation of the two

plays This is presented in Section V

Since barring the two plays of Bhāsa there are no formal

tragic plays in Sanskrit, it was necessary to investigate the

whole question of the absence of tragedy in Sanskrit drama

This I have done in Section IV I find that there are a

number of reasons for the absence of tragedy like the

psychology and conditions of audience-response, the attitude

of the Sanskrit dramatists to play-writing and play-produc-

tion, the Sanskrit dramatic theory itself and its influence on

writers, the tenets of religion and philosophy which mould

the life of people and establish inviolable values for them

The cumulative effect of these powerful factors should

explain why formal tragedy was not attempted by Sanskrit

dramatists

In the course of this essay I have not used diacritical signs

for Sanskrit words, names and titles of works It is usual

for Sanskritists to do so The diacritical marks indicate the

phonetic spelling of a Sanskrit word or name and help cor-

rect pronunciation of the same But a general reader is not

expected to be familiar with these marks, and I wished to

give him my text uncluttered with technical signs More-

vi

P R E F A C E

over, the English and the European languages do not spell words phonetically and one has to learn the correct pro-

nunciation only from some authoritative source I wonder why this could not be done, at least, for Sanskrit proper

names Anyway, I could not use diacritical marks in my first section on the theory of tragedy, and so, for the sake

of consistency, I avoided using them in the text of the essay I have however, used them in the footnotes where I had

to quote from Sanskrit works and render Sanskrit words in Roman script I have done the same for Index

As far as I know, this is a first major attempt to deal with the problem of tragedy in Sanskrit dramatic literature

on a comprehensive scale, dealing with the whole field of literature and providing a full analysis of significant dramatic

works I do not claim to have said the last word on the particular problem But let this be the beginning of a

serious literary and critical judgement

I finished this work and handed over the press-copy in March 1972 However, owing to insuperable difficulties that

the publishers encountered the book could not see the light of the day till April 1974 I do hope that the delay in

publication will not adversely affect critical response to my sincere effort

Bhandarkar Oriental

Research Institute

Poona 411 004

G K Bhat

Vaishakh 3 (Akshaya Tritya)

Shaka 1896

April 25 1974

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I express my sincere gratitude . . .

1 to the Directorate of Education, Government of Maharashtra, Poona, for the grant of Rs 1,500 for purchase of books, typing and stationery expenses, during the course of my study;

2 to the Marathwada University, Aurangabad, for the grant of Rs 750 towards the cost of publication of this book,

3 to Mrs K. Wood, formerly Principal, Elphinstone College, Bombay, now Professor and Head of the Department of English, University of Bombay, and to Dr G S Bedagkar of the English Department, Elphinstone College, for reading my first section on tragedy and for making valuable suggestions towards improvement and greater usefulness of the theoretical material presented; and to Miss Saroj Merani of the English Department, Elphinstone College, for helping me with the preparation of bibliography on tragedy;

4 to Shri A N Gokhale, Research Assistant, and Shri V. L Manjul, Librarian, Bhandarkar Institute, for helping me in part in preparing the Index

G K. Bhat

CONTENTS

Preface

v

Acknowledgements

ix

SECTION I

Some Thoughts on Tragedy

1

SECTION II

Search for Tragic Designs in Sanskrit Dramatic Literature

36

SECTION III

Two Plays of Tragic Design and Tragic Intent

69

SECTION IV

Absence of Tragedy

87

SECTION V

(A) The Urubhanga

103

(B) The Karnabhāra

133

Notes

145

Bibliography

155

Index

159

xii

I

Some Thoughts on Tragedy

I

MEANING OF THE TERM TRAGEDY

We seem to be using the word 'tragedy' in a variety of senses while describing the happenings in our daily life. missing a bus or a train, failing to get tickets for a longed for cinema or dramatic performance, being required to wait in long queues for necessary things, are all small tragedies for the common man

On an ascending level of thinking, loss of valued things loss of one's own nearest and dearest, accident and death, are described as tragedies of mortal life

In the context of literary art, a mere spectacle of sorrow that has the power to bring us to the brink of tears becomes tragic for many of us

Those who have a feeling for literature and an understanding of literary art, however, may have a few reservations

They would think that the sorrow or pathos has to spring from some kind of disaster, may be the death of a good or great person (who is ostensibly the 'hero' of the literary work), in order to be adequately described as 'tragic'

Language may possibly permit such uses of the word 'tragedy'

But we must also remember that when words in a language are used to denote special concepts of art, science or philosophy, they cease to be common coins of linguistic exchange, they become 'terms' of special significance, they acquire a special connotation

The term 'tragedy' is to be used in the context of literary art, especially drama

We should view the meaning of tragedy only in this context, judging its significance from the literary compositions of the tragedians and from the commentaries of their

[17

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

that is fetid in the manner of a goat, this is made plain by the

example of Seneca in his tragedies "1

In Europe tragedy arose first in Greece It developed mainly

out of ritual of which the corn god Dionysus was the centre

The dithyramb or leaping dance enacted events from his life This

was supplemented by obsequious rites in worship of tribal heroes

and by totemic rites There was a sacrifice in which the sacrificial victim, a goat, was cut up into pieces It is interesting to

note that this practice survives in Bacchae of Euripides It is

equally interesting to note that the goat was apparently given

away as a prize to the victorious dramatic contestant!

II

FROM GREEK TO MODERN TRAGEDY

Aristotle had the Greek tragic plays before him when he

formulated his definition of tragedy He traced tragedy to the

Satyr plays in which the characters were half human and half

goat, but he applied the term only to dramas of high seriousness

The Greek tragedies show some variations in structure and build,

nevertheless, they possess some common features They are built

round a mighty disaster, which involves serious action and serious

characters They contain an element of curse under which the

tragic hero is compelled to act in a certain way Agamemnon

and Orestes for instance, belong to the Atreus family which has

been under a curse So is Oedipus, who is driven by an inner

compulsion to commit a tragic error and die in the process

Medea is driven by jealousy to cause the death of the princess,

of her father, and murder her own sons in order to have her

revenge on her own husband Jason Along with an element of

curse or blind necessity which leads to tragic error or hamartia

there is another element in the Greek tragedies namely hubris

which is an overbearing attitude an arrogant defiance on the

part of the heroes which the jealous gods do not approve and

consequently punish Prometheus rebelling against the gods,

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Agamemnon walking on the red carpet or taking Cassandra to

his bed, the Trojans constructing a wall around their city, Anti-

gone defying King Creon are such tragic 'heroes' who by their

overbearing attitude and defiance are led to tragic death The

heroes of the Greek tragedies thus act under a curse, or a blind

necessity, Nemesis but they are great and cannot but behave in

an overbearing way, which is hubris their behaviour often leads

them to a tragic error, which is hamartia The gods are jealous

of such an overbearing pride or arrogance of man and bring the

punishment of heaven on him In the Greek tragedy, to be great

is to be tragic, the greatness leads to hubris and that brings dis-

aster and death by the compulsion of a curse or necessity The

subjects of these tragedies are exalted and this is no doubt due,

partly to the myths from which the plots are derived and

partly to the greatness of the characters Consequently these

tragedies acquire also a magnitude, and dimensions which exceed

the events of ordinary life.

Aeschylus based on his tragedies a further dimension, as

cording to some critics, by composing the trilogy form, three

plays devoted to the development of a single theme Sophocles

and Euripides wrote single tragic plays but the action was ex-

tended and the dimension did not really suffer In the structure

and presentation of these tragedies the chorus played a very

important part and comprised a large portion of the play In

its reflections and comments the chorus recalled the active past

and provided the spnnes of the immediate action It also best

owed on the play philosophic and reflective dignity, adding in

a way to the magnitude of tragic presentation The number of

characters in the chorus and the length of their comments varied

but the presence of the chorus remained an essential feature of

Greek tragedy Add to this the formal poetic style, the Alexandrine

verse which was sum and you have the general structure

of Greek tragedy nearly before you The embellished or poetic

language is yet another direction in which the magnitude of

tragedy may be apprehended

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

cept of 'tragedie' as exemplified in the Prologue to the Monk's

Tale was only that of

"

a certeyn storie

Of hym that stood in great prosperitee,

And is yfallen out of high degree

Into miserie, and endeth wretchedly"

It was Shakespeare who gave a new direction to tragedy Follow

ing the trend of Romanticism or the tastes and beliefs of the

contemporary audience which he exploited for his dramatic

purpose, Shakespeare employed ghosts, witches, wild scenes of

storm and thunder, murder and death, battle ard fight and brought

in also comic scenes and comic characters He ignored the unities

of time and place He created a different idea of a tragic hero

utilizing neither hubris nor the element of curse present in Greek

tragedy, but by exploring the war of the human soul in agony

Shakespeare probed the human heart to such depths as were

never before reached

The Greek tragedies show that defiance of the gods, pride and

arrogance, are sins against divinity and cause the downfall of

men Such moral offence coupled with acts of extreme violence

creates a curse that dogs the foot steps of men and they are com

pelled to act in a certain way, which leads to disaster and death

This is how Nemesis fate, works in a Greek tragedy The Orestian and Promothean trilogies seem to show a conse ous design

in the workings of fate It is more or less a pre destination, a

pre disposition a force that stands by the side of the gods In

the tragic plays of Shakespeare the spring of tragedy is the charac-

ter himself a flaw in the otherwise great character which leads

to tragic consequences and destiny, when it is present, is a symbol

of the inevitable course which the actions of the tragic character

take

The shift in tragic emphasis is clear in Shakespeare's design

Yet, the greatness of the character and the disaster that he brings

on himself and on those connected with him keep the Shakes-

[5]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

The term 'tragedy' has gone through a variety of meanings,

although they are somehow connected together To the ancients,

in the context of Greek drama, tragedy meant a 'serious drama'.

it may not necessarily have an unhappy ending, so as to accom-

modate the ideas of expiation and redemption In the medieval

period, tragedy meant a story with an unhappy close. In its

modern sense it is a drama with an unhappy end, disastrous enough

to evoke tragic emotions Some would insist, as Lucas says, that

the 'tragic' must contain also a cosmic sense of the problem of

evil, the mystery of the cruelty of things 2

III

ARISTOTLE'S DEFINITION OF TRAGEDY

IMPLICATIONS AND CRITICISM

It is obvious that in order to understand the requirements of

tragedy we must begin with Aristotle's definition

("Tragedy". Aristotle says, "is a representation of an action,

which is serious, complete in itself, and of a certain length it is

expressed in speech made beautiful in different ways in different

parts of the play, it is acted not narrated, and by exciting pity

and fear it gives a healthy relief to such emotions"3,4

( Aristotle's definition is restricted by two considerations ) He

has framed his definition on the basis of the Greek plays as they

were enacted in his days unfortunately, the Greek literature, at

the time, was in a decadent stage, and what Aristotle thought to

be classic and ideal was perhaps not really so The second con-

sideration is Aristotle's attempt to expound by elaboration and

refute by critical comment the views which Plato expressed about

poetry These considerations circumscribe Aristotle's concept of

tragedy Nevertheless, the main directions for the variations still

flow from Aristotle's definition

[71

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

(a) ‘REPRESENTATION’

(The ‘representation’ in the above definition stands for Mimesis

This Greek word means imitation, expression or recreation

Aristotle rejects the sense of mere ‘imitation’ which Plato attach-

ed to the concept and understands by it creative imitation ‘Ex-

pression’ too is not only realistic presentation, but a re-creation

on the artistic level of emotions) So, ‘mimesis’ means, accord-

ing to Lucas, ‘the artificial reproduction of things in real life-

recreation by re-creation’

(b) ‘ACTION’ PLOT AND STRUCTURE

The ‘action’ contemplated by Aristotle (Muthos) is a parallel

to action in real life (Praxis) But it does not mean outward

deeds or events but something much more like purpose, aim, or

motive It should include "movements of the spirit in response

to sensuous or emotionally charged images, as well as consciously

willed purpose"5

(Action is not ‘deeds’ but action is not possible without resulting

deeds The arrangement of outward deeds or incidents constitu-

tes the ‘plot’ of the play "The dramatist imitates the action

first by means of the plot, then in the characters, and finally in

the media of language, music and spectacle"6 (Thus, action is

the matter, the spiritual content of the tragedy, while plot is the

‘first form’, or as Aristotle puts it, the ‘soul of tragedy’ ?

(1) When (Aristotle demands) action in tragedy to be ‘serious’.

he probably means ‘nobody serious’ But this meaning also im-

plies that Aristotle is thinking of plot and structure of tragedy)

Critics have disapproved of certain representations in tragedy

Aristophanes did not like Euripides bringing beggars and lovers

on the stage of Dionysus Racine’s making the Emperor hide

behind the curtain was similarly criticised Coleridge did not

approve of the Porter scene in Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Probably what is expected by ‘serious’ is that the tragic repre-

sentation ought to be serious in motive and in nature, in its

ethical implication and consequence If this is assured in the

treatment of the dramatic story, a lighter vein on occasion need

[8]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

not necessarily go against the seriousness of tragedy De Quincey

expounds the significance of the Porter scene, and Richards

approves of opposed impulses provided they are integrated into

an orderly whole and achieve an emotional equilibrium

(Aristotle conceived three principal elements inherent in tragic

structure Plot (Muthos), Character (Ethos) and Thought

(Dianoia))

To him/plot was the most important element in tragedy, and

that for definite reasons The characters in Greek tragedy and

the happenings in their life were mythological facts known to

the audience. The tragedy therefore depended on how the dra-

matist constructed these events and represented them in the

dramatic form Representation of a character was, therefore a

minor issue, his acts were more significant A man's happiness

or misery depended, according to the Greek concept, as much on

his character as, in fact more, on his actions for, after all, even

the character must develop into an action (Besides, the emo-

tional effect of tragedy, pity and fear, could result effectively

not so much from the revelation of character as from the way

his actions are unfolded in the story Aristotle's emphasis on

plot is thus understandable, although it may not be perfectly

justified in the construction of later tragedies)

There are other principles which are vitally connected with

tragedy and which Aristotle mentions by peripeteia and anagno-

ris s)

The meanings of these terms are rather uncertain Peripeteia

is generally translated as 'reversal of fortune' Lucas insists that

'A peripeteia occurs when a course of action intended to produce

a certain result produces the reverse of it For instance the

messenger from Corinth tries to cheer Oedipus and dispel his

fear of marrying his mother but in the process he reveals the

identity of Oedipus and produces exactly the opposite result '8

The 'reversal of fortune' may also be due to an untoward fate

but when the hero is crushed by such superior forces outside

himself the tragedy has an element of coincidence or wantonness

of superior powers On the other hand when the disaster stems

directly from some action or step which the hero either personally

[9]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

takes or is led to take, the tragedy is deeply moving for it seems

to be connected with the very life of human beings and it has

its roots in man's ignorance of things

Sometimes there is an awareness of a wrong done, an error

committed, though it is too late to prevent the disaster This is

Aristotle's anagnorisis recognition With this recognition comes

the knowledge of truth, of higher values of life But sometimes

there is no knowledge or awareness, the wrong step or action

however, inevitably leads to disaster, although the person respon-

sible for it may remain ignorant or even innocent of what he

has done )

With the Greeks tragedy was more or less, an assertion of

divine powers against which man offended this is Aristotle's

hubris as we have seen Combined with this overbearing arro-

gance against the gods is man's ignorance or blindness which

leads him to wrong actions, resulting in offending behaviour and

the inevitable punishment This is the principle of hamartia,

which denotes, 'something wrong'

The principles of peripeteia and anagnorisis are related to the

structure of a tragedy and would appear to be valid even for

modern tragedy Nora, for instance, in Ibsen's A Doll's House

forges her husband's signature in order to save him, and it is this

very action that leads to the loss of their married life which she

tried to save Towards the close of the play Nora develops a

new awareness which shatters the established values for her

she leaves her husband to ponder over the meaning of this new

awareness

Hamartia may have, for Aristotle a moral or ethical implica-

tion The context is altered in modern tragedy Yet it may

be possible to trace the element of hamartia in the form of a

wrong', an error, on the part of either the character or the forces

against which he is pitched

These principles have a vital bearing on the emotional effect

of tragedy Reversal of fortune and tragic error intensify our

sense of pity and fear; a tragic character who develops an aware-

ness seems also to grow in stature, he impresses us as much by

[ 10 ]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

his awareness of values as by his courage in facing the inevitable-

end

(2) For Aristotle the action in tragedy must be complete in

itself He wanted the action to have a beginning a middle and

an end ) Normally this would mean a full length play depicting

a whole life This may not be acceptable to modern taste which

is satisfied with une tranche de vie, a slice of life But Aristotle's

phrase has a significance which may not be missed (The action

represented must have a fulness whether it is a single incident

or a chain of events whether it is represented in a full length

play or in a single act or a few scenes which constitute the play

The action that is the plot or story must not presuppose any

incidents which are the real beginning or the motive of the action

and which the dramatist has failed to present or mention. Also

the action must not anticipate any consequences so that the ac-

tion does not appear to have ended The 'completeness of action'

is this fulness an experience which is a whole

(There is another implication of action 'complete in itself' By

the completeness of action Aristotle contemplated a causal se-

quence among the beginning the middle and the end of the plot

a necessary and inevitable causal connection which binds them

together This produces the effect of inevitableness which is-

vital for all literary structures and is especially important

for serious art that tragedy is This is really a principle of art.

The Romantic writers do not care much for such logicality because

theirs is an escape into an imaginary or imaginative 'ideal world'

The Realistic writers are apt to think that I fe is full of coinci-

dences and that there is no causation or logic in the events that

happen in life. But those artists who care for classical purity in

art form have always respected this causation and logic govern-

ing the structure of art But the principle is valid We are

aware that art is imitation make believe whatever may happen

in life which defies explanation or logic we expect that the con-

stituents in art work will not be loosely connected but will appear

as logical and inevitable Such a consciousness demands an

inherent logic of its own in an art form A tragic structure

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

satisfying this demand of logic and causal connection is very

satisfying on the level of art

(3) Aristotle wants a certain length to the tragic drama which

in practice came to be a stage performance lasting for two to three

hours As a literary principle, this should mean only that the

tragic form must be sufficient to reveal fully the beauty and

significance of the plot, and the elements of the plot and its total

form ought to be complementary to each other, one must not

obscure the other

(4) The phrase, acted not narrated in the definition is rather

vague Even in Greek tragedy this was not true, the chorus was

a narration a link, a comment and a prophecy Besides the

Greek drama had some taboos, so that certain events could not

be presented on the stage ("Let not Medea slay her sons before

the audience") The Sanskrit drama affords an interesting parallel

in this regard Bharata enumerates in his Natyasastra several

"avoidables" which must not be shown on the stage The later

theorists repeat the injunctions and the Sanskrit dramatists care-

fully observe these taboos, except an carly Sanskrit dramatist,

Bhasa The criterion, therefore, must refer to the 'art' of drama-

tic representation What and how much should be narrated and

what must be represented in action are to be determined by the

dramatist Aristotle's insistence may mean that the action in

tragedy must have the tenseness and thrill of real drama [display

of stylistic graces and sentimentalism cannot be substitutes for

drama]

(c) CHARACTER

Aristotle ranked character second to the plot probably with

the idea that the relations between events were more fundamental

and inevitable than between character and event

(1) Aristotle's concept of Ethos character, has a moral or

ethical colouring He expects the character in a tragedy to be

good The Greek concept included in this epithet such qualities

as courage and heroism The epithet thus connotes the idea of a

personality more impressive than ordinary human beings Cor

nette interpreted 'good' to mean 'magnificent'. Cleopatra, he said,

[12]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

was wicked, but she had greatness of soul Lucas thinks that

Aristotle meant by ‘good’ only ‘fine’, so that he wanted the charac-

ters in tragedy to be finer than they are, possessing the idealized

beauty of Greek sculpture

This concept of ‘goodness’ in a tragic character no longer holds

in the development of tragic drama Probably Aristotle too did

not demand moral goodness of tragic characters in his Poetics

elsewhere (xiii 2) he says that the tragic hero shall not be too

good Aristotle is aware that, just as the fall of a wicked character

can never excite pity and fear, in the same way a morally, ideally

good man coming to a bad end will only be shocking to specta-

tors What is meant, therefore, by the ‘goodness’ of the tragic

character is that he has a certain nobility, courage, grandeur which

raises him above the common man The tragic character has in

a sense, a character of his own, and either an untoward fate (as

Aristotle thought) or a weakness in his own nature (as the later

tragedies show) brings about the tragedy, this alone can make it

sufficiently dramatic and produce the effect which a tragedy is

expected to do

(2) Aristotle’s other demand of tragic character is that he

should be ‘appropriate’, that is to say, representing truly the class

to which he belongs )In earlier writings such a classification of

men into set classes was unavoidable, perhaps even natural Today

the literary artist seeks variety and individuality Aristotle’s dic-

tum is of no use to him Human beings defy classification What

is truly significant is that tragedy is not built round the manner

of men

Yet, Aristotle’s principle could be understood to mean that

the characters in a tragedy should be truly human they should

not be so one sided or eccentric as to be incredible Whatever

the personal traits of a tragic character, however ‘different’ he

may be from the ordinary run of humanity, he must be human

enough to permit our understanding and sympathy)

(3) The third demand of Aristotle that the characters should

be ‘consistent’ or ‘true to themselves’ could be interpreted to mean

that they should be ‘like the reality’, like ourselves in their general

humanity, ‘natural’, although on the more heroic scale of tragic

[13]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

dignity9 In the Greek tragedy this meant 'true to tradition', so

that Medea, for example, could not be shown as soft hearted But

such a strict interpretation would not do for later tragedies, it

would restrict unnecessarily the freedom of the literary artist

What is possible artistically is to represent a character that has a

convincing humanity, and even if there were some inconsistency

in his speech or action, it would have a consistency and a logic

of its own It is in this sense, that the tragic characters can be

both 'natural' and 'human'

(4) Aristotle's other principle that the tragic characters (men

and women) should be distinguished persons of high estate had

a validity and a meaning in the context of early tragedies The

religious origin of tragedy, the mythological or legendary stories

from which the plots were derived, bestowed on the characters a

natural status of divinity or heroism There is a psychological

reason too in the demand for an exalted tragic character It is the

misfortune of the great, who are larger than life, that makes their

fall greater and evokes instant and greater sympathy from humanity

The fall of a high and lofty tree makes greater noise than

that of the one which is small and low If our neighbour's wife

is abducted we may feel a little sorrow, but when Sita is abducted

by Ravana and the heart of Rama bursts into uncontrolled agony,

even the 'stones weep and the heart of the thunderbolt melts'10

But we do not need this principle today when literary art has

moved from men of 'high estate' to the common men Euripides

set the trend by introducing simple folk like a herdsman in his

tragedy Shakespeare did likewise, although in his tragedies 'men

of high estate' were central figures The French drama stuck to

the classical norm It was Ibsen who really made serious drama

out of the lives of common men like Dr Stockmann and gripped

us with the poignant struggle in their souls What is important

for tragedy, therefore, is not the greatness of the accepted status

of a character but the greatness to which a character can rise in

his tragic struggle

(5) The central tragic character need not necessarily be a man

Aristotle curiously allowed that 'even a woman may be fine', al-

though the Greek civilization allowed very little freedom to women-

[14]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

folk.) It is interesting to observe that women have dominated

tragic plays by their initiative in the history of tragedy Greek

tragedy has produced figures like Clytemnestra, Cassandra, Anti-

gone, Phaedra, Medea In Shakespeare's plays the initiative lies

with women, like Lady Macbeth Racine's tragedies bear their

heroine's names Even in Ibsen there are no men who could

match Nora, Hedda Gabler and Hilda Wangel

(6) And so finally, Aristotle's dictum that plot is more im-

portant than characterization which is true of the Greek plays

need not be taken very seriously The history of the tragic drama

and the tragic writings of the masters have demonstrated the one-

sidedness and insufficiency of the Aristotelian doctrine The

modern trend in dramatic art and the advances in psychological

science bear witness to the fact that character is as important as

plot Nay, tragedy can evolve from a character The events

in the torn soul of a character, rather than physical happenings

can provide the stuff of which tragedy is made

(d) Diction Style

(Aristotle demands speech made beautiful in tragic drama

Thought and beautiful language were natural for Greek tragedy

with its religious origin The characters in Greek tragedy were

divine, mythological heroic The chorus too displayed the omni

science of prophetic vision The Greek stage also was simple,

bare The emphasis therefore on the 'spoken' part of the drama

was inevitable The Greek tragedy was, therefore, a verse drama

and made use of poetic and embellished language)

(The chorus and the dialogue in verse spoken by the characters

in Greek tragedy answer Aristotle's demand of 'speech made

beautiful' ) These have not completely disappeared from modern

drama Eliot uses both But the (general tendency is to achieve

tance the gaps in the situations which cannot be actually repre-

sented and which were filled by the chorus could be covered by

narration or description by characters that are part of the story,

the right type of mood around the action could be created with

out a chorus by the use of suggestive imagery the comments

[151

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

and reflections, expressing the view and philosophy of the author,

could similarly come from a dramatic character who is an inte-

gral part of the action, or from a suggestive symbolism, such as

dramatists like Ibsen and Chekhov use

Similarly the verse is replaced by prose and embellished ex-

pression by natural speech in modern writing This was inevitable

because, unlike lyric and poetry, the drama is 'spoken' on the

stage and the speeches therefore have to be as easily understood

by the audience as possible and must approximate to the natural

speech From Aeschylus to Euripides, Shakespeare to Ibsen, this

change in diction and style of the serious dramatic writing is

plainly discernible betokening conformity to, or at least acceptance

of, the natural and realistic speech on stage,

Shakespeare took his characters from the top-level of nobility

They were military rulers and heroes, princes and aristocrats, men

of high order generally It was also natural for Shakespeare to

use blank verse and poetic language But he could not ignore the

minor characters drawn from the common level of humanity.

as also the love of the Elizabethan audience for song and dance

Shakespeare's tragedies thus present a mixture of highly poetic

language expressed in verse and the language of the common

people as it was naturally spoken in colloquial prose

This balance between poetry and prose came to be lost gra-

dually, due possibly to the demands of the popular stage Ibsen

wrote his serious plays in prose, dramatists like Synge tried to

give a free vent to the speech of the common people. It is possi-

ble that a drama written entirely in verse would appear to be

unrealistic in modern times Eliot's plays and the response of an

'glish audience to them are probably an exception The epic,

lyric and poetry proper are today held to be the natural medium

for the expression of emotion and impassioned utterance The

drama, nearer to life in its events, characters and their speeches,

is written in prose A verse drama today is likely to be either

an exercise in poetry in dialogue form or, at best, a poetic experi-

ment in stage production

Yet the emphasis which Aristotle Jud on 'speech made beautiful

in different ways in different parts of the play' may not lose its

[16]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

significance The drama moves on two levels of representation,

visual and aural Bharata describes drama in his Natyashastra

as a drishya kavya that is visual poetry The appeal of the drama

is to the eye and to the ear, a theatre goer would probably expect

satisfaction on both these levels That is one reason why drama

however realistic it may be in its subject and expression can ill

afford to ignore the spoken part and the beauty of the language

implicit in this aspect Besides it cannot be forgotten that the

appeal of tragedy is to the emotions to pity and fear as Aristotle

would say The emotional tension to which tragedy rises the deep

admiration that it stirs the pathos and compassion it arouses

cannot be adequately expressed unless the language is vibrant with

these emotions In other words a dramatist may not use the

medium of verse but his prose has to be the vehicle of pro

foundly stirred emotions Even the serious drama of today which

leans more on thoughtful and intellectual appeal and expresses

itself in prose cannot eschew the poetry of profound experience

and reflection Ibsen we know, uses poetic symbols (the wild

duck and the toy forest doll's house and the Tarantulla dance)

to convey to the audience the emotional tension that lies at the

back of intellectual reflection Chekhov is careful to preserve the

poetry of language in the prose dialogues of his plays A tragic

drama therefore which purports to carry a tense emotional appeal

may avoid verse but cannot avoid poetry

Even in our ordinary life we occasionally realize the poetry of

an event or an experience How could then tragedy which depicts

life, though realistically, on a higher than ordinary level be

detached from poetry? A tragedy may deal with the life of gods,

mythological and legendary heroes men drawn from princely or

noble and heroic orders of life or simple common folk, but on

every level of life there is a touch of poetry, especially in the

experience and emotions of life and tragedy and the lan uage of

tragedy do communicate this poetry A word, a phrase, a sen

tence acquires tremendous emotional significance if it is part of

a master artist [It is thus that tragedy becomes a work of art,

a piece of significant literature and not merely an article of use

production]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

(e) EMOTIONAL EFFECT OF TRAGEDY

Aristotle says that tragedy excites pity and fear in order that

'by pity and fear we may effect the catharsis of such emotions'

This, catharsis, Aristotle regarded as the function of tragedy

Aristotle's view and especially his use of the word catharsis have

provoked such a variety of interpretations and explanations11 that

the question of the emotional effect of tragedy appears to be sur-

rounded by a mess of ideas and the very concept of tragedy seems

to have become baffling)

It is known that Aristotle developed this doctrine partly as an

answer to Plato's view about poetic writing and partly on account

of the philosophy of life which the Greeks held and which Aris-

totle accepted

Plato rejected art because he regarded it as an imitation twice

removed from reality He regarded the world as full of evil and

injustice and art incapable of giving an awareness of reality Worse,

according to him, art excited emotions instead of controlling them,

which it ought to do, and so, he chose to banish poets from his

ideal world Aristotle controverts this view of his preceptor and

holds that art or poetry does not render man weak, a victim of

his emotions but effects a catharsis of his emotions, gives them a

free vent and a relief, in reducing the overpowering influence of

human passions and emotions art fulfils its function of achieving

a healthy state of mind

The Greek view of life regarded that man who has been en-

dowed with reason is perpetually involved in the conflict between

his physique and psychic (body and mind or spirit) Men like

Plato (and later, religious teachers also) advised a withdrawal

from human passions and their quelling by avoidance or indiffe-

rence Aristotle seems to suggest that the control of passions

could be effectively achieved on a level of philosophical thinking,

by accepting the passions and conquering them Art and drama

provide one such device to conquer excessive passions, thanks to

the healthy outlet that art provides, we are in a position to rid

ourselves of the excess of undesirable passions and emotions It is

on this line of thinking that Aristotle's doctrine of catharsis origi-

nated

[18]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

One of the meanings given to the word is 'sublimation' which

has attracted many minds But it is now generally accepted,

I think, that catharsis does not mean sublimation Aristotle was

an apothecary's son and used the term in a purely medical sense

Catharsis means "purgation by providing an outlet, a partial re-

moval of excess 'humours' " The Greeks believed that mental

states, which could be linked with bodily states, were open for

medical treatment, often of a homeopathic kind It was in this

sense that Aristotle used the word, so that 'purgation' does not

mean the use of purges in a modern sense nor even 'purification'

implying the removal of waste products In Aristotle's sense

catharsis implies only a kind of a control, a healthy relief of the

passions.12

Aristotle speaks of the catharsis of pity and fear and the relief

of such emotions This raises several questions What is exactly

meant by pity and fear? Pity and fear of what? Do we really

possess them in excess, so that a balance is necessary for the

health of our minds?

Pity, for example may be of a useful kind which results in

sympathetic action there is a useless pity which is lost in senti

mentalism, there is also pity for oneself What kind of pity is

meant in the tragic context? It is easy to see that there could

be too much pity of the second and the third kind Men lose

themselves in sobbing sentimentalism this is not healthy and it is

often necessary to tell them like Stephan Zweig, to Beware of

Pity pity that softens the mind and persuades to undertake a

burden that can never be carried through It is also true that

men often pity themselves this too is a weakness which distorts

one's outlook on life and robs man of the strength to face the

conflicts of life It is not certain but it is likely that Aristotle

wanted a healthy relief to such emotions of pity through a tragic

spectacle, he may also have meant pity of the right kind, that

is, deep and enlightened sympathy, for the tragic hero

The idea of 'fear' is likewise complicated Does it mean fear

of what happens on the stage, the horrors on the stage, like the

ghost in Hamlet? or the sympathetic fear for the tragic hero as

when his inadvertent action or unawareness is likely to lead to a

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

terrible disaster? or is it men's dread of life, of the cruelty of

fate? The first may be ignored although there are a few people

who are affected by spectacular horrors Aristotle probably meant

sympathetic fear, and when it is felt through tragic dramas it is

likely to give us a proper perspective on the third kind of fear

man may be able to control his dread of destiny by a proper

understanding of life through serious literature

But granting that tragedy may affect us by rousing pity and

fear of the right kind, do we really need an outlet for such excess

emotions? A modern theatre goer, weary of the dull and mono-

tonous life, may want perhaps not relief but stimulation of his

emotions, thrills which he misses in his life An average spectator

may possibly want entertainment and pleasure from out of a

dramatic performance A person who takes a more serious view

of literary art probably expects a sharpening and a widening of

his sensitivity; he is willing to read and see scenes of moving

pathos again and again, not because he wishes to get rid of his

feeling of pity but rather to intensify his compassion so that he

could have a better and enlightened awareness of human life

This is not to say that Aristotle's doctrine is altogether wrong

For Greek tragedy, which was offered on religious occasions, the

emotions of pity and fear were no doubt true The Greek drama

may have provided a healthy relief by exciting pity and fear,

though this may not be true of all Greek tragedies, the plays which

use the idea of expiation and redemption are apt to end on a

note of gratification, even of exultation The Greek concept ad-

mitted the inevitability of fate and even justice of the divine

powers but the Greek tragedians like Euripides and Sophocles also

showed human greatness and heroism, the marvellousness of man

Even Shakespeare might be conveying his own admiration for man

through the words of Hamlet, 'What a piece of work is man!'

So, pity or compassion for the great hero and fear or awe for the

crushing power of Destiny or the Divine, may not be exactly out

of place in tragic feeling

But the attitude to tragedy has changed through the ages The

poets and dramatists seem to have retained their interest in human

beings, and they do not care too much for 'purgation' or any such

[20]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

emotional effect of tragedy The common man probably loves

to shed a few tears, at least in the theatre The medieval age and

the eighteenth century were content with a sad tale and an unhappy

ending which roused pathos and pity The philosophers on the

other hand exhibit a different trend Hegel, for instance, has no

use for pity, it will almost be an insult to the tragic hero who,

according to Hegel, stands in his greatness above our ignorant

compassion, tragedy is the assertion of the Divine in its worldly

realization, and therefore the only feeling that may be connected

with tragedy is that of reconciliation, Hegel would say Nietzsche

looks upon tragedy as the play of the Primordial Being, where the

death of an individual is insignificant, even necessary Schopen-

hauer sees tragedy as the enactment of the blind Cosmic Will The

philosophical view, thus, negates pity and fear and substitutes en-

lightened consciousness as the proper effect of tragedy But many

would disagree with this view of tragedy and the effect it produces

on our mind, although such a view may be true in the case of

some particular instances of tragedy

For opinions in another direction we may refer to Bradley's view

that tragedy (at least, Shakespearean) brings a sense of waste,

of wasted goodness Jean Anouilh expresses an opinion which

seems to reject any sense of depression, pessimism, sadness or sor-

row The chorus in his Antigone says "Tragedy is clean, it is

firm, it is flawless It has nothing to do with melodrama

In a tragedy, nothing is in doubt and everyone's destiny is

known That makes for tranquillity Tragedy is restful, and

the reason is that hope, that foul deceitful thing, has no part in

it There isn't any hope The whole sky has fallen on you,

and all you can do about it is to shout"7 Anouilh strikes a note

of peace and tranquillity which, I think, is not reconciliation in

the Hegelian sense but a courageous and final acceptance of the

inevitable Richards goes back to the pity and fear of Aristotle

and suggests that tragedy depicts a balance or reconciliation of

these opposing impulses Pity, the impulse to approach, and

terror, the impulse to retreat are brought in tragedy to a recon-

ciliation Their union in an ordered single response leads to

release, restoration repose, balance, and that is catharsis13

1211

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Such divergence among the opinions of poets and critics is indeed bewildering But we cannot escape the feeling that these views may explain a particular type of tragedy but cannot be a general description of it For example, the common view that pathos or sorrow is what tragedy depicts is only partially true, because though pathos may be natural in a tragedy, it goes far beyond this feeling The philosophical view of Divine order and justice, again, has no meaning in modern tragedy Even Anouilh's view may be a good explanation of some aspects of tragedy, namely the nature of the conflict which the tragic hero (or heroine) faces, but it does not include the entire tragic concept Do all tragedies create a sense of restfulness and tranquility for the reader or spectator? The balance of opposing impulses of fear and pity, of which Richards speaks, likewise appears to be rather restrictive It is true of Shakespeare's tragedies, probably of Ibsen's serious plays and of Brecht's Mutter Courage But it is doubtful whether spectators feel this union and balance of impulses.14

How can we judge then the emotional effect of tragedy? It is necessary, I suppose, to adopt a psychological approach to this problem We cannot afford to forget the aesthetic angle too, the fact that tragic drama is a work of art, and as such must yield aesthetic pleasure Any ethical, moral or philosophical direction to our feelings has to be incidental, and will probably be determined by the kind of tragedy we are witnessing The essential interest in tragedy is its psychological appeal It is interesting to note that Aristotle has not regarded catharsis as the only function of tragedy It is clear from his Poetics that he accepts that tragedy must delight us as a work of art The music the beauty of diction and style, the beauty of the spectacle, are all factors that must contribute towards our pleasure and satisfaction in a tragic representation And it is probably not without reason that Ibsen affirms that his aim, above all, is to be an artist

So if a reader or a spectator has a place in tragedy, and its emotional effect is to be judged so far as he is concerned Aristotle's concept of pity and fear will not be so irrelevant as it

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

may appear on the surface Only, it is necessary to understand

pity as broad compassion which wells up in our heart by the

spectacle of suffering, but also by innocence, and by determined

courage in facing the inevitable Likewise, tragic fear is not

merely the horror on stage, or the terror which stocks us and

impels us to escape, at least mentally, from the object or expe-

rience of fear "Terror", as Joyce tells us, "is the feeling which

arrests the mind in the presence of whatsoever is grave and con-

stant in human suffering."15 It comes close to awe and also

admiration; not the cold and detached admiration for something

or some one outside our reach, but the moving admiration born

of compassion for suffering and of the feeling of heroic grandeur

The feelings of such sympathy and awe will not be strangers to

tragedy Steiner says, "to experience tragic compassion we should

look to Desdemona To feel the kind of elemental terror pro-

voked by the Seven against Thebes or Euripides' Medea we need

only turn to King Lear and Richard III 16

Chu Kwang Tsien states17 that in tragic emotion we must in-

clude, besides Aristotle's pity and fear, wonder and admiration,

which heroic grandeur arouse (and which are the accompani-

ments of the feeling of sublimity) Kwang Tsien says that the

object of aesthetic pity or sympathy is the graceful, which is

usually tinged with a feeling of sadness the object of aesthetic

admiration is grandeur, in the case of tragedy, heroic grandeur;

and the object of awe in tragedy is the power of fate Tragic

emotion must include pity and fear both because pity alone

would give us the sense of sad gracefulness thus by itself is not

tragic because not uplifting pity can be merely sentimental We

must add heroic grandeur which arouses wonder and admiration.

Kwang Tsien assumes that the hero's submission or abasement

may also be a part of our feeling of tragic pity Raphael, on

the other hand, says that sympathy is important in tragedy but

only because it leads us to appreciate the hero's sublimity more

warmly than that of the power which confronts him', and so, he is

not prepared to include the concept of submission in tragic

feeling

[23]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Any way, pity or compassion or sympathy, fear or awe and

the sense of heroic grandeur which uplifts the tragic hero to the

level of sublimity and evokes our sense of wonder and admira-

tion for him seem to be the elements of tragic emotion We

witness tragedy to have this grand and moving experience The

experience is satisfying too because it brings to us an awareness

of the dignity of effort and courage in the face of overpowering

disaster, a sense of the sublime roused by heroic grandeur and

accompanied by the feeling of wonder and admiration This is

aesthetically satisfying and therefore conducive to pleasure which

is what a work of art like tragedy is expected to achieve

This I hope, could be acceptable as a general description of

the emotional effect which tragedy produces It is at least true

of most of the tragedies we know or of a conspicuous type of

tragedy

But there are other forms of drama which appear to be trag-

ic and which yet may not produce the feeling of heroic grandeur

leading to wonder and admiration Chekhov has a story of a

child Vanka, who is apprenticed to a hard and cruel master, the

child is victimised and suffers terribly there is nothing it can do

against the tyranny and cruelty of his master then on some one's

advice Vanka writes a letter to his grand father in the village,

pouring his innocent heart and such is Vanka's feeling and belief

that only postage the letter becomes an end of his unbearable

agony he sleeps with a smile on his face the sleep of the per-

fectly innocent ! Is this a tragedy? We certainly feel a terrific

concern for the child and a deep resentment against the sens-

ess cruelty, our heart melts in profound sympathy for the inno-

cent victim of a social order that places the power of tyranny in

unworthy hands Yet there is no heroic grandeur about the

child and we cannot exactly admire him But in spite of this

the tragic feeling is unmistakable This is probably due to the

fact that innocence, true and perfect innocence, is also a kind of

courage

Another case is that of Brecht's Mutter Courage Mother

Courage is seen in the play dragging her soldier filled waggon

from battle to battle Every trip one of her sons is killed yet

[24]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

she does not stop The plain truth that those who sell death

must buy it also, is beyond her understanding Her personabagony

has no lesson for her But according to Steiner, the stupidity of

Mother Courage conveys to the audience the horror and the utter

uselessness of waste, and this is the essence of this modern tra-

geds 1* Raymond Williams°° interprets the play differently

"It is action illumined by tragic conse ousness " We are not

called upon to judge our feeling about the hard liveli opportunism

of Mother Courage, but only to see what is happening to these

people When the Chaplain compliments her on her courage,

Mother says "The poor need courage Thes are lost, that's

why they have to hang each other one by one and slaughtes

each other in the Jump, so if they rant to look each o'her in

the face once in a 1 hile, well, it takes courage " There are, no

doubt, pity and fear in the action of this play, and, i hether we

are able to admire Mother Courage or not, her courage is un

mistakable It is either the p-verse courage which stup dly

lends in the midst of disaster and death wh ch surround a cha-

racter, or the courage of utter helplessness in facing an ine itable

end v hich envelops human beings

IV

SUBSTANCE AND FORM OF TRAGEDY

It appears, in the ligh: of the entire history of tragic drama

and the wide divergence of opinion among poets and critics, that

it will be futile to speak of a tragedy it is better to speak of kinds

of tragedy rather, and attempt to discover some common ele-

ments essential to tragic concept and design

1 As tragedy originated with the Greek festive ritual, i e can

not dispense with the idea that it is Dionysian The Dionysian re-

presents the spuit of man as an individual who either through

some kind of compelling force (curse, Nemesis) or on account

of his personal pride and arrogance (hubris) gives himself up to

excess in behaviour This is antagonistic to divine order and

justice The Apollonian spirit therefore manifests to restore

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

order In the process Dionysus suffers dies and is either re-conciled or his sacrifice is regarded as necessary for the assertion of the divine power Philosophically, Dionysian represents such a conflict of an individual with the gods In the literary art of drama Dionysian represents the gay excess of man, manifested through dance and music, and in the primitive enjoyment of pain 21

The philosophical context will not be valid for later and, especially, modern tragedy However, the ideas of rebellion, conflict and suffering are important, and it is quite possible to say, in this sense, that tragedy is Dionysian

It is equally possible to accept Richards' view22 that tragedy is Manichean, meaning only, that it involves a conflict and is accompanied by suffering and death 23

Suffering and death are a necessary part of tragic action In the ancient days, death of the King or a hero had a ritual significance, it was the symbol of the annual cycle of birth and resurrection the dying hero was also a scapegoat to whom the sins of the people were transferred In a work of art like tragedy, death is a natural terminal, a closing of the circuit It has also a profound effect on the spectators We are quietened by a noble death The hero is beyond the pale of any moral judgment And the emotional impact may even make us contemplative, so that the tragic death may not appear as an end, but a beginning of new values of life 24 That is why tragedy may better show or at least plainly suggest death

2 However, suffering and death, though necessary for tragedy, will lose their tragic significance if they were not to spring from the idea of conflict The tragic action is an action of conflict and this, I think, is basic to tragedy Tragedy is deeply and profoundly concerned with conflict Whether the tragic hero is involved in the conflict or whether it evolves from him is a variation of theme that may determine the kind of tragedy But conflict is at the heart of tragedy

The interpretation of conflict has varied In Greek tragedy the conflict originates from a curse, ignorance or arrogance its resolution by the downfall of the character marks the triumph of

[ 26 ]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

eternal justice, and sometimes the tragic hero too attains reconciliation or expiation But the Greek myths are a concentrated

picture of a whole people, to use Nietzsche's phrase, the hero's,

too, represent families, and so the tragedy for the Greeks was

not an individual's tragedy Their response had, therefore, a

marked ritual character They could accept tragedy as connected

with the problem of evil

This idea has somehow persisted down the line Thinkers have

sought to interpret tragedy by metaphysical theories Hegel's

interpretation25 is based on his idea of individual will and freedom. The world of man's will and action is ruled by certain

powers These form his 'ethical substance' There are other

powers like family and state, bonds of affection and love, religion

and science These form the substance of mankind because they

are common to all civilized men, and as such they claim human

allegiance. When conscious individuality clashes with these other

powers, tragic action is the result The clash of these two iso-

lated powers is the condition and source of tragedy According

to Hegel, the tragic resolution of such a conflict is the restoration,

in and along with the downfall of the individuality, of the 'ethical

substance' and 'unity', that is, the restoration of the powers of

the world of the individual and of the world of man Tragedy,

therefore, provides, over and above mere fear and tragic sym-

pathy, the feeling of reconciliation in virtue of its vision of eternal

justice

Hegel recognises suffering in tragedy, but suffering only of a

particular kind He rejects such cases as 'illness, loss of property,

death, and the like' as 'ordinary morality', which do not arouse

tragic emotions He similarly rejects ordinary pity But, for him,

it is not suffering as such which is important in tragedy, but its

causes, and they are to be traced to the conflict of the ethical

substance of a conscious individuality with the powers of unity

On this view of tragedy, there is neither pity, nor fear, nor ad-

miration even, for the demolished hero The reconciliation and

restoration may bring a philosophical calm to a contemplative

mind

[27]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Bradley is obviously impressed by Hegel's theory of tragedy, although he shifts the emphasis from ethical substance to self-division and self restitution producing a kind of psychological theory of tragedy He writes, " any spiritual conflict involving spiritual waste is tragic And it is just one greatness of modern art that it has shown the tragic fact in situations of so many and such diverse kinds 26

According to Nietzsche,27 tragedy dramatises a tension which it resolves in a higher unity There is a certain resemblance here to Hegel's theory, but there is a difference also Nietzsche looks upon existence as mere phenomena Behind the phenomena there - is a higher unity of the Primordial Being Perceiving the phenomena only is Dionysian, the ordinary joy that we feel in existence, and in which we are likely to lose ourselves, forgetting the higher unity Art lifts this veil, removes the illusion of phenomenal existence, and for a moment we are the Primordial Being itself This is Apollonian We are now able to look behind the phenomena We perceive that all that comes into being must be ready for a sorrowful end we see the terrors of individual existence

Yet this does not cause torpidity or sorrow, because the struggle, the pain, the destruction of phenomena, appear to us as something necessary "We are pierced by the maddening sting of these pains at the very moment when we have become, as it were, one with the immeasurable primordial joy in existence, and when we anticipate, in Dionysian ecstasy, the indestructibility and eternity of this joy" Tragedy, thus, is "an Apollonian embodiment of Dionysiac insights and powers", a perception of the joy of being, of higher unity Consequently, the effect of tragedy is that, "In spite of pity and fear, we are the happy living beings, not as individuals, but as the one living being, with whose procreative joy we are blended "29 And this, according to Nietzsche, explains also the metaphysical delight in tragedy

He regards the action of tragedy not as moral, nor purgative, but aesthetic Man is an incarnation of dissonance, "to be able to live this dissonance would require a glorious illusion which would spread a veil of beauty over its peculiar nature This is the true function of Apollo as deity of art" The two art-

[28]

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

impulses - "The Dionysian substratum of the world", the basis of all existence, and "the Apollonian transfiguring power," these two - "are constrained to develop their powers in strictly mutual proportion, according to the law of eternal justice"30 This is the metaphysics and the aesthetics of the art of tragedy

Such theories of tragedy are inseparable from a general philosophy of which they are a part. Whether they are convincing or not is an open question. Hegel's emphasis on conflict and its causes, and Nietzsche's aesthetic inclination are valuable in the understanding of tragic concept. But is it necessary to envelop the idea of tragedy in metaphysical and ethical theories? I doubt whether this will enable us to interpret all kinds of tragedies from Greek to modern

Is it, again, necessary to interpret conflict in terms of evil and its resolution? Not all tragedies that we know in modern times are concerned with the problem of evil in a moral and ethical sense? And even if a tragedian were so concerned, the business of art could not be to offer a solution of the problem, at best, it could be to bring an awareness of it. Art is thus amoral. As a matter of fact, evil may appear under different forms31 Besides the moral evil or sin, there is intellectual evil or error; and also, emotional evil or suffering. Tragedy could well be concerned with the problem of human error and human suffering, and evoke pity and fear, that is, awe at the human predicament and true compassion for the suffering.

I am, therefore, not inclined to give a moral or ethical colour to the tragic conflict, but regard it as a conflict of two rights that is to say, what an individual holds to be right and what the force of opposition regards as right. This conflict is tragic, because here the two apparent 'rights' clash with each other.

3 The nature of the conflict may vary according to the theme or story a dramatist has chosen for tragic depiction

(a) It may, for instance, be a conflict between the Divine forces that lie beyond the power of man and the individual force which man represents. The Divine may be represented by gods in heaven or by the force of Nemesis - Destiny - understood as a power akin to the Divine and serving the ends of the Divine.

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

This is the world of Greek tragedy particularly Oedipus is driven by a compelling power to the tragic error and is destroyed Antigone is given the fatal choice of either obeying her natural instinct or the law of the kingdom and is destined to die as preordained for her by the powers above The Greek audience believed that there was justice in the death of the hero or the heroine because the Divine was fulfilling a purpose But there is no doubt that the hero is driven blindly along the path of disaster and death

In the words of Gloucester in King Lear

As flies to wanton boyes, are we to the gods, They kill us for their sport 32

Aristotle describes this kind of tragedy as 'simple', that is, tragedy of Simple Circumstance Considering that mythological and legendary plots are used in such tragedies, we may describe this kind as Cosmic tragedy

(b) The tragic conflict may take another form It may not be that an individual is pitched against Supernatural or Divine forces, he may be pitched against himself There is a flaw, a weakness in a man's nature, it clouds his reason and leads him to act in a disastrous way, he commits a fatal error (what Aristotle calls hamartia or tragic error), so that his efforts produce exactly the opposite results to what they were intended to do (Aristotle's peripeteia) He acts in blindness. The discovery of his error, the realization of the truth (Aristotle's anagnorisis) may or may not come to him, it may come on the eve of his end or when it is too late, in either case his actions have already produced the disaster which cannot be escaped, and so, tragedy becomes inevitable Agamemnon's ambition which leads him to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia, Hamlet's hesitation and failure to act, Macbeth's blind and overmastering ambition Othello's credulity and jealousy, Lear's folly, Romeo's miscalculation such and others are the instances of human flaw or weakness which lead to tragic errors and final tragedy 33

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

The flaw in human nature which brings on tragedy need not necessarily be moral It may be a simple weakness or error in an otherwise 'good' character, but having the potentiality of disastrous consequences (as Romeo's miscalculation) Often it is the excess of a psychological trait that turns it into a fatal flaw, as excess of pride, ambition, love, too much thinking, in the classical examples, the generosity of Bhasa's Kama is likewise worked up to the extreme and ultimately heads his downfall so that even too much of a 'virtue' may prove to be fatal These tragic heroes display a complete blindness to the fatal flaw in their nature, and that is how they are destroyed

Modern dramatic practice uses this tragic concept and in a way widens it too The tragic flaw may show itself in a further variety of ways It may be a mere intellectual error, the failure to grasp intellectually the ways and the laws of society and the impulse to act in one's own blind, one sided belief Nora, in A Doll's House, acts blindly to save her husband and the very step she has taken (forging her husband's signature on a cheque) results in her losing her husband 34

Likewise, the fatal flaw may be perfect innocence as in Che-khov's Vanka, or perfect stupidity or utter helplessness as in Brecht's Mutter Courage They also lead to tragic error Aristotle's hamartia and peripeteia are present here anagnorisis only is absent We may, if we like describe tragedies of this kind, as tragedies of innocence and tragedies of stupid helplessness But the main factor is individual, psychological Lucas calls them tragedies of Error, which justify the words in King Lear

The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to plague us 35

This kind of tragedy could as well be described as Psychological tragedy

(c) Modern tragedy shows us another aspect in which an individual is pitched against external circumstances, these unlike the Divine forces in a Cosmic tragedy, are here represented by

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

the forces of society Man battles with social forces and is crushed by the sheer might of society In this regard love is a useful tragic theme Another source is the conflict between the poor and the rich of the society Galsworthy’s Silver Box is a case in point The greed of selfish men who wield power may likewise result in perpetrating human tragedy Sometimes a man may fight for certain principles and go down because he stands alone against the might of society as Dr Stockmann is crushed in Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People A tragedy of this kind may well be described as Social tragedy

Such forms of tragedy could be distinguished by the direction of its emphasis. There cannot be rigid classes The handling of tragic plot is often very complex Several elements enter into the tragic design Macbeth for instance uses not only the idea of tragic flaw and error, but also of external circumstances and of fate symbolised by the three witches Such complexity has to be granted Yet the main direction of the tragedy is generally clear and so the classification may be useful in determining the nature of conflict presented The factors of peripeteia anagnorisis and hamartia belong to the structure of tragedy their presence or absence is contingent on the tragic action and the plot constructed to express it However, they are apt to influence the emotional impact of tragedy, as stated earlier

4 The conflict in tragedy is what a person confronts It is his conflict As such he must stand at the centre of tragic action hold the centre of the stage as it were and the other characters in the play may only surround him so that it is distinctly felt that it is his tragedy that we are witnessing

I mention this as a necessary factor in the structure of tragedy because the tragic plot is often complex there are other things that happen to other characters which appear to be very pathetic even tragic and if our sympathies are directed towards such incidental happenings or characters and lose themselves only there the intended effect of tragedy is likely to be completely lost Ophelia’s death for instance is very sad and moving but the play is not her tragedy it is Hamlet’s tragedy In the same way,

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

Valmiki's Ramayana is not the tragedy of Ravana This factor is vitally connected with the structure of tragedy, the way a dramatist treats his tragic story, the affirmed intention of the dramatist and the direction in which tragedy moves

Basically this is a question of dramatist's art and his intention The observance of Unities in plot construction, the use of comic element to balance the tension of emotions, poetic style and diction are other aspects of the dramatist's art which are important, but only in a contributory way Some dramatists may use them, others may not, their presence or absence would affect not the direction of tragedy, but only the level of their art Our minimum requirement is only of unity of action, so that the events follow each other in a logical, orderly manner, we are convinced about the inevitable flow of dramatic action, and unmistakably feel that everything that happens (physically or psychologically) is centrally connected with the only character whose tragic story is being presented We may also expect a minimum poetic feeling about the language and diction which tragedy uses because it helps to sustain and enhance tragic feeling

The tragic hero may be drawn from any level of life It is not the basic nobility of the character that is important for tragedy (as Aristotle thought), it is the noble level to which he rises in his tragic struggle that is vital for tragedy

The dramatist's intention is equally important, for, he may, if he chooses, present a tragic story not as a tragedy but only as a story of deep and moving pathos, having planned to end the hero's agonies on a note of happiness This is particularly true of Sanskrit drama Such plays are very pathetic, in that they present a spectacle of human sorrow and suffering but they are not tragedies because they were never intended and planned to be so This leads us to a final requirement vital to tragic conception

5 The keynote of tragedy is conflict and the way the hero meets it In order that a tragedy should be aesthetically satisfying, a hero must face the conflict with courage and in the process rise above the level of common humanity It is this display of cour-

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

age, walking unflinchingly towards the brink of a precipice and

never even looking back, that bestows on the hero a grandeur,

which some one only among the human beings can reach Our

sympathy for the hero is warmed by such heroic courage, be-

cause in the moment of defeat and death, he has proved to be

nobler than the forces and powers he was opposing Apart from

pity and fear which, in a way, have to be inherent in the tragic

design, there are the feelings of wonder and admiration, at least

a deep impress of courage

Raphael describes tragedy in the following words "The inner

conflict of tragedy is between the two forms of the sublime, the

awe-inspiring strength of necessity (fate, external forces) and the

grandeur d'âme which inspires admiration Each triumphs on

its own plane, but the triumph of the human spirit is the more

elevating And that is why the tragic fate of the hero gives us

(aesthetic) satisfaction The tragic hero is given a nobility

greater than that of life" "Tragedy exalts man in our eyes"36

This I think, is a good description of the kind of tragedy in

which the hero is pitched against cosmic or social forces But

could we think of two levels of sublimity in (what I described

as) Individual or Psychological tragedy? What is the sublime

form that Macbeth or Lear or Nora or Vanka or Mutter Courage

is confronted with? But it is the fighting spirit and courage

which the tragic character displays in the face of insuperable

odds that calls for our admiration, for, it is aesthetically satis

fying too

V

SUMMING UP

To keep the tragic notion sufficiently comprehensive, it will

be better, in my opinion, to describe tragedy as a conflict between

the right and the right The Cosmic or social powers are right

in their own way, and so is the hero right in opposing them

according to his own light and his might Hamlet or Nor

SOME THOUGHTS ON TRAGEDY

follows a path of action that he or she thinks to be perfectly

'right' from their own point of view, but it conflicts with the

'other right' which is present in them or outside them and of

which they were not aware and in the process they are physically

or psychologically destroyed

So tragedy is to my mind a story of a serious conflict between

two rights. The conflict terminates in the triumph in a way,

of the wrong kind of right this involves acute suffering. But

being a record of the development of such conflict, tragedy also

shows the growth of a consciousness of higher values of life,

and in asserting them or in implying them the central character

impresses us as a singular example of uncommon courage This,

the courage and the new awareness is the source of our aesthetic

satisfaction

I have used the words 'right and 'values' in order to avoid

moral or ethical direction as a sole criterion of tragic design it

may be emotional or intellectual and the values may be certain

norms of action and behaviour which human beings accept or

are expected to accept as values of life The growth of a consciousness

should appear essential but a hero may assert it if only

he has himself reached that consciousness else his innocence

or even stupid helplessness may produce it by implication only,

the former kind of tragic design is more satisfying to us and more

elevating than the second kind

As tragedy is concerned with the opposition of two rights it

is equally essential that we are deeply moved by the one or the

other the right which the tragic character holds or the other

right which he opposes depending on the motive and action of

tragedy In the final analysis tragedy is concerned with values

of life The possibility and appeal of tragedy must depend upon

our acceptance or rejection of such values.

[35]

II

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Search for Tragic Designs

1

EARLY MYTHOLOGICAL PLAYS

SANSKRIT DRAMA moves in a world of its own It is the world

of mythology, legends and folk tales, and of kings, their courts

and their ladies of the harem Occasionally there is a second

order of society, that of wealthy Brahmin merchants and ministers,

sometimes the story descends to the common level of humanity

However, there is a certain definite angle of presentation, what-

ever the level on which the dramatic theme moves.

The earliest plays were naturally stories of gods or divine

incarnations showing the victory of gods over the forces of evil

and wickedness The first play which Bharata muni (the mythical

founder of Dramaturgy) is supposed to have produced, at the

instance of Brahmadeva, the god of creation, for the pleasure

of gods and demons, on the majestic tableland of Mount Kailasa,

is Trmutadaha 1 It is the story of god Shiva burning down the

three citadels of a demon Patanjali (about 200 B C ) refers to

two dramatic productions, Balibandha and Kamsavadha The first

is the binding of the demon king Bali and the second, the killing

of a cruel selfish tyrant Kamsa, the hero in both is god Vishnu

in different incarnations One convenient use of mythology was

thus a dramatization of the heroic exploits of gods These, gene

rally always consisted of the victory of Devas over Asuras, of

Divine Power over Demoniac forces The heroic nature of these

myths involved terrific battle or fight or show of Divine might,

there was also slaughter and death, and the inevitable lament of

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SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

the women of the demon antagonist who would be finally sub-jugated or slain at the hands of the Divine But none of these events would move the audience to tears of compassion For, the drama was always of the victory of Good over Evil The good is inevitably and invariably on the side of the gods, the agony and the sorrow of the demon antagonist is, in this light, a richly deserved consequence of entertaining evil designs and of opposing the power of righteousness The feelings that such a mythological drama produced were of joy and satisfaction, of divine assurance that evil would always be punished, truth and goodness would triumph Heroic themes from ancient mythology, therefore, could never produce any tragedy

11

HUMANIZATION OF MYTHOLOGICAL THEMES

When Sanskrit drama moved from the very ancient days to the semi historical period of which some literary evidence is available, the picture did not change much for the simple reason that the intention of the dramatists and the set of moral and religious values that they accepted did not undergo any change

As an attractive form of popular entertainment the drama tried, it seems, to come as near as possible to the life of ordinary men and women Instead of the heroic myths of gods and demons the dramatists attempted now to depict the stories of gods from human angle, describing their private life, as it were, ascribing to them the passions and emotions of human life The gods were human, only super-human, and they had their love life, some of them practised polygamy, as the aristocracy of the day did they were confronted with the personal jealousies of their rival wives, they had to propitiate one or the other goddess, and occasionally had to undertake an adventure (like, bringing Celestial flowers or a special flowering tree to gratify the whim of a particular beloved The gods were regarded, more or less, as

[37]

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

III

TALES OF HEROIC SUFFERING

A slightly different genre in the field of mythology and ancient legends is the theme of apparently heroic suffering and agony which is generally due to the incidence of a curse Some plays of a much later date deal with such suffering of the legendary heroes For instance, the story of Harishchandra is presented in six acts by one Ramachandra,4 and also by Acharya Kshemlshvara5 in five acts These plays are called Satya Harishchandra and Chandakaushika, respectively The story of Nala has been dramatized by Kshemlshvara in his Nashadhananda The legend of king Shibi who sacrificed his life to save a dove from the clutches of a hawk (both, disguised celestial characters) is presented in one act, Karuna-vajrayudha by a Jain writer, Acharya Bala chandra In fact, several plays of this kind have been composed between the eleventh and the seventeenth centuries 6 An analysis of a play or two will be enough to reveal the character of the dramatic treatment of this type

The stress in these plays is on suffering and on the pathos which the development of the story creates. King Harishchandra, in Chandakaushika invites upon his head the wrath of Kaushika or Vishvamitra, and the entire story is a prolonged tale of agony which, at points, is apt to be unbearable to the audience Harishchandra sees the sage Vishvamitra sacrificing a young girl in the ritually kindled fire, and moved by pity and horror takes objection to the procedure He succeeds only in offending the sage who was merely trying to assume mastery over all sciences by an unorthodox ritual procedure The enraged sage curses Harishchandra for his uncalled for, gallant act Pardon is secured when the King surrenders his vast kingdom of the earth and a promise to pay a thousand gold coins to accompany the gift For this 'rata, Harishchandra sells his queen Taramati and son Rohidasa to a Brahmin and himself to a Chandala, the professional executioner The tale of separation, suffering and humiliation continues Eventually, the queen comes to the cemetery with the dead

[39]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

body of their child whom she is accused of murdering as a witch

Harishchandra, as a servant of the Chandala, has to perform the

duty of beheading the woman, his own wife True to his sterling

qualities, he lifts his sword to cut her neck, when, lo † the gods

appear in person to stay his hand Everything then turns out for

the best Harishchandra has fulfilled his promise, lived up to his

words and vindicated his noble character The sage is satisfied

and the King is restored to his former glory

A story of this type, it may not be denied has tragic possibilities

But they could be unfolded only if the central character is pre-

sented as a person who stands for certain principles or values and

is consciously prepared to fight for them even at the cost of his

own life, so that the story really takes the colour of a serious

conflict of values What happens, on the contrary, in the plays

of this kind, is that the hero is a paragon of virtues and his suffering

appears to be completely undeserved, the result of a freak, or

an eccentricity of a character who, without any need, becomes the

'villain' of the piece. Such a suffering, instead of rousing our

sympathy, is likely to arouse our righteous indignation And the

balance between sorrow and anger is invariably restored, towards

the end of the play, by the happy end, the just reward of virtue,

often meted out by divine intervention Harishchandra's suffering

is unmerited at least completely disproportionate to the offence

he is supposed to have given to the sage Vishvamitra The piling

of incidents in the play no doubt creates an agony which borders,

however, on horror, the needed, almost expected, relief comes

towards the end The divine intervention in these plays is, drama-

tically, as flat as the suffering is unnecessary In other words, the

treatment of these themes by the Sanskrit playwrights turns out

to be only a trial and test of a virtuous character, which definitely

promises vindication and divine justice The accumulated suffer-

ings may jerk some tears, catering to the maudlin appeal of a

rhetorical Karuna rasa but they cannot evoke tragic emotions The

hero is too 'good' to suffer And as Aristotle says, the suffering

of a good man is only shocking The playwrights' dramatic design

too shows that their motive was not to show tragedy, but the

vindication of virtue through trial and suffering

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SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

1

STORY OF SELF SACRIFICE

The theme of a 'hero' moved to self sacrifice for a noble cause

is akin to the type mentioned above in that it is also a trial and

test of character, but it is different too, because the hero here goes

willingly and deliberately out to sacrifice himself, as the mythical

or legendary king Shibi did

NAGANANDA

As a play however, Shri Harsha's Naganarda is a far better

literary composition than the Karuna vijrayudha of Acharya

Balachandra which describes in one act the story of king Shibi,

converting it into a Jain version But Harsha's play is rather a

curious mixture of a love theme and a story of self sacrifice The

first three acts of the play describe the love and marriage of the

Vidyadhara prince Jimutavahana and princess Malayavati The

development of love is rather luke warm, but it ends in marriage,

and the third act presents a loose incident, as part of the marriage

celebrations in which the hero's companion, the Jester, is molested

and ridiculed by a palace maid and her drunken beau The play

shifts in the fourth act to a new incident, the plight of Shankha-

chuda, a member of the Naga (serpent) clan, whose turn it is

to offer himself as a victim to Garuda, the celestial Eagle, accord-

ing to the stipulated agreement Obviously, this incident is a

dramatization of the mythical enmity between Garuda (Eagle,

vulture) and the Nagas (serpents) The play immediately assumes

pathetic colours in the fourth act, as Shankhachuda moves into

vision donning the red robe of a victim and mounts the slab-stone

of execution, and as the atmosphere is rent by the heart-bursting

lament of Shankhachuda's old mother The hero, Jimutavahana

who happens to be nearby, hears the whole story and offers in

substitute himself for Shankhachuda In the fifth and the final

act, he dons the red robe, is pounced upon by the Eagle and is

bleeding to death The play could have ended with his death

but the goddess Gauri appears in the end

[41]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

hero to life by sprinkling nectar over his body The hero comes

to life as also the skeleton's of the dead Nagas, the enmity bet-

ween the Eagle and the serpents is over; all the dead Nagas are

restored to life and thus the play ends in the 'joy of the Nagas'

and happiness for everybody

As a play Nagananda suffers from loose structural design and

lack of unity of action The only link that holds the love story

and the Naga episode together is Jimutavahana, the hero of both

the pieces The dramatist has made an attempt to predict the

sacrifice of the hero by showing him to be completely unmoved

by the charms of a beautiful young girl, by his abhorrence of

killing and by his predilection towards sacrificing his own life for

the happiness of others But this is, at best, only a dramatic anti-

cipation, the two incidents are inherently unconnected, there is no

dramatic necessity why they should be brought together, and so,

the Naga episode involving the hero's self-sacrifice and death

remains a detached incident tagged on to the story of the drama

The absence of a coherent single motive spoils the dramatic design

and ruins the play as a remotely possible tragedy too

Even if the play were considered for the Naga episode shown

in the last two acts, it is not the tragedy of the hero, it may be

that of the Naga clan, Jimutavahana is actuated by the motive of

Karuna mercy, to relieve the sorrow of suffering mortals and is

thereby on a plane of super human religious martyrs, who are

clothed in glory and create a feeling of exultation and a moral

uplifting Shankhachuda as a representative of the Naga victims,

who could have evoked the ordinary pity and fear, is denied this

role by the dramatist by showing him to be a man who goes to

fulfil his duty unmindful of the cost and the consequences, like

a war hero who walks with joy and pride into the van of the

battle This is no stuff for tragic emotions If at all, this is a

disaster for Shankhachuda's mother who has to lose her only son

for a cruel helpless stipulation agreed to by the head of their

clan' But that is neither here nor there The dramatist's motive

and design are not intended to show the tragedy either of Shankha-

chuda or of his old mother And though the pathos may be senti-

mentally arousing any semblance of tragic intent is finally des-

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SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

troyed by the divine intervention of the goddess who brings every

one back to life The final impression the play produces is of

vindication of a noble character and the triumph of the good which

divine justice assures According to the canons of the Sanskrit

theory, too, Jimutavahana would exemplify, not Karuna Rasa the

sentiment of pathos, which is an accompaniment of tragic delineation,

but Daya-Vira the type of Heroic sentiment where the hero

is moved by compassion to perform an act of supreme sacrifice

Abhinavagupta thinks that the play exemplifies Shanta Rasa the

basic emotion being that of renunciation or tranquillity

V

PATHETIC EPISODES

Dramatists do present episodes either in the context of war or

of conflict involving religious or moral values which are sufficiently

pathetic But they seem to lose tragic value either because they

are mere incidents in the total action with which they are not

necessarily integrated to compel an impression of unified action

or because the focus of the total presentation is not at all tragic

(1) Abhisheka

Bhasa11 has two plays on the Ramayana theme The story of

the Ramayana contains quite a few pathetic episodes and the main

story in the epic treatment, at least, is undoubtedly tragic But

it seems that the dramatic treatment does not care to emphasise

such aspects of the epic story Vali vadha, the killing of the

Monkey chief Valin by Rama, and the death of King Dasharathia,

for instance, are episodes which can be tragic themes if a dramatist

tist chose to treat them as such But the Abhisheka of Bhasa which

uses the Valin episode shows Rama justifying the unheroic killing

of Valin, Rama says that he killed Valin when he was engaged

in fighting with his brother Sugriva by shooting an arrow from

behind a tree, because Valin was an 'animal', killing which brings

no sin to a hunter, and also because Valin deserved to be punished

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

for his own moral sin in taking his younger brother's wife to him

self The treatment of the episode, thus, is intended to assert

that a low morality (from the point of view of the killer, Rama)

must be punished and the method or the means used for punish

ment do not matter Valin is shown as accepting this explanation

This case is an example of divine justice in punishing evil It

does not evoke even ordinary pity and pathos

(2) Pratima

The death of Dasharatha is an episode of a different order

Dasharatha had to send his own beloved son Rama into exile

for a period of fourteen years, depriving him of his rightful kingly

inheritance, in fulfilment of his promise given to his wife Kaikeyi

The exile of Rama, the disaster that followed culminating in

Dasharatha's own death by unbearable shock and sorrow, are the

results of Dasharatha's own promise His own doing proves to

be his undoing It is a perfect case of what Aristotle calls hamartia

or tragic error Aristotle's peripeteia and anagnorisis are also pre-

sent here, little did Dasharatha imagine that the two boons he

had promised Kaikeyi on an earlier occasion would bring such a

'reversal' of fortune and when the 'discovery' is made it is too

late to do anything ! Dasharatha must either keep his word as an

upright man or break his' promise and invite ignominy on his

proud head Caught in this inevitable dilemma, Dasharatha makes

the only choice that is in keeping with his honour The result is

exile for Rama and inevitable death for Dasharatha himself It is

a neat stuff for tragedy Bhasa's treatment of this episode in the

Pratima brings out the tragic colours and the pathos of this situa-

tion But although the first act of the play is given to the con-

flict of Dasharatha and the second act shows his agony and actual

death on the stage, the Pratima is not a tragic play, because the

action of the play, the motive of the dramatist, is different Bhasa

does not hesitate to present a real tragedy, as I will show further

But in this play he is concerned with the theme of loss and resto-

ration of kingdom to Rama This is the happy note on which

the sccnith ctc final act closes Like all serious comedies the

play begins harshly, but concludes happily In Bhasa's design of

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SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

the play the death of Dasharatha, as also the scene of statues12 in

the third act which brings the knowledge of Dasharatha's death to

Bharata, gives him a shock, makes him disown his mother Kaikeyi

and sets him on the task of bringing his eldest brother Rama back

to the kingdom with a serious determination, are all only a part

of the earlier grimness of this comedy The pathetic appeal of

some of the scenes and acts is real, yet, it is not intended as the

central note of the play What is more, the impression that the

play carries suggestively is that of the triumph of the innate good-

ness over an evil

(3) VRNISAMHARA

Like the Ramayana the Mahabharata also has many episodes

which are full of tragic potentiality In fact, the fratricidal war

between the Kauravas and the Pandavas of which the great epic

is a semi historical record is in itself a tragic story of disaster

and annihilation But the native tradition does not look upon the

epic story as a formal tragedy And a dramatist like Bhatta

Narayana13, choosing this vast canvas for his six act drama,

Venusamhara carefully essays to keep within the traditional frame

work of the story, while altering or modifying or adding incidents

and characters and observing the approved literary canons for

his dramatic presentation Actually, Venusamhara means the

gathering and tying the loose hair or braid of Draupadi this

Bhima could accomplish only when he had wreaked his vengeance

on the Kauravas by killing them especially Duhshasana who had

dragged Draupadi by the hair before the full royal assembly, and

Duryodhana who had ordered and gleefully permitted this supreme

insult to a woman's honour so that Venusamhara also means the

annihilation that the incident of dragging Draupadi by the hair

caused The two are related by mutual causation Draupadi's loose

hair is the result of the insult and its tying up is a fulfilment

of Bhima's vow consequent on the killing The dramatist certainly

succeeds in weaving the varied epic incidents into a unified pic-

ture However his motive and design are not directed towards

constructing a tragedy There is ample pathos in the play, in fact,

Bhatta Narayana seems to excel in the rhetorical delineation of

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

the pathetic sentiment The personal tragedy of Ashvatthaman due to the death of his father, the death of Karna, the agony of Duryodhana and his parents as the battle progresses disastrously for them, the moving scenes of mortal hurt and death which the messenger Sundaraka describes, even the misguided sorrow of Yudhisthira and Drapadi based on a villainous bluff about Bhima's death all show the horror of war and the human sorrow which it entails We are apt to be moved by these episodic tragedies But the dramatist does not wish us to be moved by pity and fear For in his treatment the annihilation of Kauravas is a necessary result of their vile disposition and black deeds The end of the Kauravas is a moral punishment of the evil The destruction of the evil and the triumph of the good are promised from the Prologue of the play, and Krishna who is shown as a god head pronounces the final blessing on the victory of the Panda-vas The pathos in the play is therefore only a rhetorical achievement and, like the 'love' of Duryodhana and the 'disgust' mixed with 'laughter' about the demon couple, is intended only for a variety of sentimental appeal Dramatically, the three rhetorical sentiments of pathos, love and disgust are planned to show the vileness of the antagonist Duryodhana cannot abstain from sexual interest in his wife, though she is in ritual purity at the moment and though disaster is waiting on the threshold The odious demon couple is introduced partly for relief by laughter and partly to whitewash the hero Bhima, by suggesting that the demon, not Bhima, will actually drink the blood of Duhshasana And the several deaths on the Kaurava side emphasise, by lingering pathos, how villains and all those who are somehow associated with them are bound to come to grief The Venisamhara has thus the right motive of vindication of divine justice, which is the theme and the conclusion of the play

Religion and religious morality are not conducive to real tragic presentation ' Uplifting of the good', says Raphael'' 'and a casting down of the wicked - this kind of plot does not produce tragic emotions ' And Miss Ellis Fermor' who has examined the relation of religion to tragedy with penetrating understanding

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

"The tragic mood is balanced between the religious and the non religious interpretations of catastrophe and pain and the form content and the mood of the play which we call a tragedy depend upon a kind of equilibrium maintained by these opposite readings of life, to neither of which the dramatist can wholly commit himself"

The commitment of the Sanskrit dramatists to the religious values accepted and hallowed by tradition makes the tragic mood impossible

VI

TRAGIC POSSIBILITY IN POLYGAMOUS CONTEXT

The prevailing and probably the popular pattern of the Sanskrit drama is the court comedy of love The dramatists choose legendary stories of love either from folklore or from the storehouse of the epics The drama develops from love at first sight and passes through the usual tribulations obstacles and schemes to overcome them to the final denouement of marriage and union of the lovers In legendary themes drawn from the epics and occasionally from mythology the important outline of the original story is generally retained but the story is set in an atmosphere of contemporary realism, so that the hero is a ruling king and the heroine a princess in disguise or a near-celestial maiden and the other characters belong to the king's court or harem This air of realism brings in polygamy also which was a socially accepted fact among the aristocracy and the economically well to-do classes of the day

Here there was material for social tragedy had the dramatists chosen to present as the main theme the agonies of the estranged first wife when the princely hero took to new love But no Sanskrit dramatist ever made this choice for art presentation Bhavabhuti stands alone in giving a passionate expression to the tragedies of a woman's life in a world governed by social and religious norms

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play, which is the development and consummation of the new

love

VII

SERIOUS COMEDIES OF LOVE

This comedy of royal love is usually light, mostly merry; and

occasionally even hilarious, as when the hero is caught red-handed

by his previous wife in a romantic situation with the heroine

And, in spite of the momentary storm, it invariably ends happily

for all

But the theme of love assumes a serious colour when the

dramatist makes it complex, that is to say, when the dramatist

does not present it merely as a story of love and marriage but

as a story of love, separation and reunion of lovers Here in

this turn given to the story by the incident of separation, there

is a potential for tragedy But, it will be seen that the dramatists

do not end the plays on the note of separation they strive to

bring about the re-union of the estranged or separated lovers, and

once again we miss a real tragedy

(1) SVAPNAVASAVADATTA

The reported death of Vasavadatta in a palace fire is a personal

tragedy for King Udayana He looks and behaves like a tragic

hero trying to reconcile himself to the tragic loss of his dearly

loved wife, going through the motions of living (suicide on his

part being carefully warded off by his faithful and vigilant minister

and personal attendants) and doing his duties mechanically, and

yet unable to forget Vasavadatta in waking or dream experiences

This picture of Udayana is spread over the canvas of Bhasa's

Swapnavavasavadatta But the dramatic intent of the play is diffe-

rent Bhasa has taken the audience into confidence who know

that Vasavadatta is alive The play opens as she walks on the

stage in a disguise which the audience is aware of In fact the

forced separation is a necessary part of the chief minister

Yaugandharayana's political scheme to recover Udayana's lost

kingdom, wresting it from the hands of his enemy The details

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

of this plan are revealed to us in the opening scene by the minister

himself who accompanies Vasavadatta in a suitable disguise

Yaugandharayana assures us, moreover, that the separation is

only temporary, is to last till the political objective is accom

plished and then he will take the personal responsibility of res-

toring Vasavadatta back to her husband, this is actually done in

the final act Thus, however genuine Udayana's tragic sorrow

may really be, and Vasavadatta's personal misery too, in being

required to stay near her husband in the Magadhan palace but

avoid meeting him, and in watching her husband being married

to the Magadha princess Padmavati, the entire design and action

of the play are not intended to create tragic mood and produce

tragic emotions The suffering is temporary and holds the promise

of happiness We are moved by pity or compassion at the spec-

tacle of human sorrow, but we are not afraid even for a moment

that an unexpected twist will destroy the coming happiness

Udayana unconsciously, Vasavadatta consciously and trustingly,

and the audience confidently, bide the necessary period of time

for the final happiness to materialize

(2) Vikramorvashiya

Kalidasa uses legendary themes which are preserved in epic

and puranic cycles but may go back to antiquity The Vikramor-

vashiya presents the story of the love between the earthly king

Pururavas and the celestial nymph Urvashi In the dialogue hymn

of the Rigveda the king does not meet Urvashi again she holds

out no promise and persuades him to forget her In the Brahmana

version of the story, there is a fulfilment of love and further meet-

ings are made possible by ritualistic observance of a particular

order Kalidasa rescues the story from ancient mythology, ritua-

listic conditionality, and makes it human In a way, he bridges

the distance between the heaven and the earth and makes the

marriage of the two possible, as much by the sincere passion of

the two lovers as by Indra's favour which Urvashi wins because

Indra likes her immensely, and which Pururavas also wins by

obliging Indra in destroying the latter's demoniac enemies. It is

the personal valour (vikrama) of Pururavas that brings the lovers

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together for the first time and starts them on the course of pas

sionate love and it is Pururavas valour again that enables him

to have the celestial wife in his earthly residence for a life time.

The art of Kalidasa in reshaping the hazy ancient myth is un

mistakable but so is the fact that although complex, the story is

intended as a comedy The first three acts of the play deal with

the development of love like any court comedy or like Kalidasa s

own first play the marriage and union are suggested towards the

end of the third act The interlude to the fourth act introduces

the unexpected complication Pururavas and Urvashi had gone

for their honeymoon to the Gandhamadana forest Pururavas

happened to be attracted by a Vidyadhara girl who was playing

on the sandy beach of a river and neglected Urvashi who was

by his side for a moment Urvashi jealous and intolerant in her

possessive love left Pururavas and angrily strode into the park

reserved for the celibate Kartikeya and was instantly transformed

into a creeper The separation comes about in this way Pururavas

has no knowledge of what actually happened but the loss of

Urvashi is such a shock to him that his mind is unhinged he

becomes insane and wanders through the whole forest region like

a mad man, asking every bird and animal monsoon cloud or wind

tree or hill the whereabouts of his lost beloved The main scene

of the fourth act is devoted to this search for Urvashi. Kalidasa

handles the scene with great poetic ability avoiding excessive

sentimentality and turning it into a spectacular opera with judi

cious use of song, dance and colourful poetry If the play had

ended here, it would have been a tragedy of love a tragedy of

misunderstanding which the lovers had had no opportunity of re-

moving. But, of course the dramatist s design is not set for perma

nent estrangement of the lovers. Indra the master of Urvashi is

watching her interests. And it appears from the dramatic treatment

that the heavenly powers are planning for the reconciliation of

the lovers after giving them a judicious dose of suffering for their

temperamental bévaviour Pururavas discovers a gem and be fore

he throws it away a heavenly vo ce instructs him to pick it up

it is the gem of reunion born directly from the lacdye applied

to the feet of Gauri the divine spouse of Lord Shiva Naturally

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

when Pururavas embraces a creeper with the gem in his hand, the creeper becomes Urvashi the search and agony are both over

The final act shows that the marriage of Pururavas and Urvashi has been blessed with a son born to them it also ensures unbroken association of Pururavas with Urvashi for his life time. Urvashi being herself immortal The play thus ends on a high note of happy comedy

(3) ABHIJNANASHAKUNTALA

The Abhijnanashakuntala is the story of love between the Paurava King Dushyanta and Shakuntala who is half celestial, being the daughter of the nymph Menaka and the sage Vishvamitra. She is fostered by the sage Kanva But she retains a link with the heavenly world, Menaka is continuously keeping a motherly eye on her It is this connection that enables Shakuntala to be rescued by her mother when Dushyanta rejects her and to live in the heavenly hermitage of the divine sage Maricha, where her son is born and brought up and where the final reunion of the couple takes place Once again Kalidasa bridges the distance between the heaven and the earth Dushyanta too, like Pururavas, is able to visit the heavenly world, being a personal friend of Indra But the two worlds are not merely juxtaposed here, as in the Vikramorvashiya they coalesce In this play Kalidasa has softened the edges of the supernatural, made nature a living companion to Shakuntala's fortunes and endowed the whole action with deeply moving human emotions

The development of the beautiful love is shown in the first three acts towards the end, there is a promise expressly given and a suggestion of the Gandharva marriage The opening of the fourth act shows the consummation of the marriage and Dushyanta's departure to his capital Dushyanta has put his signet ring on Shakuntala's finger and promised to send a royal escort, "within as many days as there are letters to my name inscribed on the ring" (that is to say, in three or seven days), to take Shakuntala to her new palatial home But probably on the very day Dushyanta left Shakuntala, the haughty sage Durvasas walks into Kanva's hermitage uninvited, and demands to be duly

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received Shakuntala is lost in her own thoughts about her hus-

band from whom she is only recently and for the first time

separated, she does not hear the sage announcing his arrival

The irascible Durvasas is not prepared to brook a moment's

delay, he pronounces a curse on Shakuntala's head that her

husband will not recognise her A little later, the companions

of Shakuntala pacify the sage somehow and secure from him

the revocation of the curse, Durvasas concedes that the effect

of the curse will disappear at the sight of a 'token of recogni-

tion' 29 For a while, there is a feeling that everything will

out smoothly But this is not to be so Dushyanta's memory

has been already affected by the power of the curse He has

forgotten Shakuntala The promised escort never arrives Kanva

returns after some months from his pilgrimage, and promptly

sends the pregnant Shakuntala to her husband's house with a

touching farewell When Shakuntala arrives in Dushyanta's

court, with her tapovana escort, the storm has gathered its full

force and is ready to burst

The dramatic tension is at its height in this fifth act The superb

art of Kalidasa turns this meeting between Dushyanta and

Shakuntala into a mighty conflict of moral and ethical issues,

in which tempers rise, words clash like weapons and emotions

reach a bursting point For, in addition to Dushyanta's amnesia

as a result of the curse, Shakuntala has lost the ring of recognition

during her journey, and the only means which could have easily

avoided this conflict is no longer available Her words have no

power of conviction, mere words cannot be a proof, and since

Shakuntala had kept her love-affair private, the tapovana people

too cannot lend any support to her words although they have

innate sympathy for her and believe that a daughter of the great

ascetic would never tell a lie In fact, in telling Dushyanta that

she was his lawfully wedded wife, Shakuntala was speaking nothing

but the truth, the readers or spectators know this But, such is

the dramatic situation contrived by the great artist, it is only her

word against Dushyanta's word It is absolutely necessary to

remember that Kalidasa's portraiture of Dushyanta is that of a

noble, upright and thoroughly righteous king, had it not been for

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

the effect of the curse, in which he was unwittingly involved, nothing of this kind would ever have happened But as Shakuntala is an innocent victim of the circumstances, so is Dushyanta helpless in the present situation His memory is blank, his love marriage to Shakuntala is not known to any one in the palace, so far, his companion in Kanva's hermitage, the Vidushaka, who might have guessed the affair and lent a possible support to Shakuntala's words, is not present at the moment, and Shakuntala has failed to produce any concrete proof of her marriage Dushyanta therefore cannot but think, under the influence of the curse, that the entire business is a mischievous plot engineered by the party to foist a pregnant woman on him, either by deceptive argument or by appealing to his good nature on humanitarian grounds Kalidasa shows very significantly that Dushyanta's reaction to the situation is entirely moral and guided by considerations of the prevailing code of social conduct and the obligations that rest on him as a protector and promulgator of religion Though Dushyanta begins by listening to the arguments with formal courtesy, takes a little, patronising attitude towards Shakuntala and, once in a while, mocks at her, he is only on his guard His mind is still open Though unconvinced by Shakuntala's statements he is frank enough to admit to himself that the anger which she exhibits is not faked and therefore there may be some truth in what she says, although he is not able to divine what that truth is When the issue of the dispute comes to a head, Dushyanta succinctly puts before the assembled group the dilemma that he is confronted with

Either I am stupid and do not perceive the truth or else this woman is telling a lie. In either case what am I supposed to do? Shall I incur the ignominy of being a deserter of the wife, or commit the sin of accepting some one else's wife as my own?

The dilemma is ethical moral, and the implication is obvious that accepting Shakuntala is, under the circumstances, a greater moral sin

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

The beauty of the *situation is that neither Shakuntala nor Dushyanta is telling any kind of lie Both are right in their respective stand and in their statement We, who are taken in confi dence by the dramatist, are fully aware of this The situation is a real confrontation between two rights, and, as said earlier, a perfect situation for tragedy

But the development of the play shows that Kalidasa does not intend to present a tragedy The dramatic design is not planned for such an effect The helpless Shakuntala is saved from disgrace and possible suicide by her heavenly mother Kalidasa even risks the fortuitous recovery of the ring, which ends the effect of the curse and restores Dushyanta's memory Dushyanta is given an apportunity to travel to the heavenly region and meet his wife and son who are looked after by the divine parents of the gods

The sufferings of Shakuntala and Dushyanta, no doubt very real and moving become, however, the agonies of separated lovers who have to bide their time till they are finally reunited The role of Menaka's personal friend Sanumatı in watching Dushyanta's behaviour after his memory wakes, Indra's invitation to Dushyanta, and the explanation Mancha gives of all that happened, are clear indicators that the heavenly powers are interested in uniting the lovers and bless them The possibility of presenting a tragedy of star crossed lovers is thus not exploited at all The play assumes serious colours but they only deepen the absorbing interest of this comedy

7

VIII

BHAVABHUTI'S KARUNA RASA

Bhavabhuti 20 uses the theme of union and reunion in presenting the story of Rama and the abandonment of Sita This is part of the epic Ramayana but the story has acquired the character of mythology, Rama being accepted as one of the divine incarnations Bhavabhuti, however, is interested in the human aspect of the story, and in his dramatic treatment it is an exemplary

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illustration of the most perfect love that ever bound two hearts

in an inseparable, blissful union

The epic story ends sadly The disaster originates from the

'talk' of the people who are wondering about Sita's purity, since

she was required to live for a very long time in the captivity

of Ravana, before Rama killed him in a major battle and rescued

her Bhavabhuti begins his Uttararamacharita from this point

The whispering scandal among the people has spread like a mad

dog's poison When the spy of Rama, who was specially deputed

to move secretly among the subjects and find out their reactions

to the newly crowned king (Rama himself), brings the report,

it hits Rama like a bolt from the blue Bhavabhuti employs the

hand of a master artist in heightening this effect by contrast and

dramatic irony Before the arrival of the spy, Rama was showing

to Sita, who is far advanced in pregnancy, pictures of incidents

in their early life As the loving couple witnessed scenes of their

lives from childhood to the death of Ravana and Sita's fire ordeal

on the ocean beach at Lanka to vindicate her moral purity, they

recaptured the variety of emotions they had experienced The

past had merged into the present as it were, making it more vivid

and alive Rama became sentimental and felt, as the tired Sita

fell into sleep in his arms, that there could not be a happier

husband than him in all the worlds and that his love for his

lovely and loyal wife could bear no parallel And it is on this

background that the report comes to him! Rama removes his

arm with care and tenderness from below Sita's head and tries

to stand up, like a tall tree struck by thundering storm and hell-

fire Again, with masterly touches Bhavabhuti proceeds to paint

the pangs of Rama's mind as he is suddenly called upon to take

the most momentous decision of his life Rama debates with

himself, weighing the pros and cons of the issue, the weighty conse-

quences of the conflicting decisions, in a long soliloquy - of which

Shakespeare too would have been proud In this agonising

struggle, duty triumphs over love, Rama orders his younger

brother to take Sita in a chariot to the banks of the Godavari

and leave her there There is a final touch of tragic irony Sita

is without any suspicion and thinks that her dear husband is only

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

carrying out the priceless whim of a pregnant wife, a little earlier, she had herself asked for such a charıot ride to the places of her forest life She is not aware that King Rama, who as an ıdeal Ruler wished to have his wife abore suspicion, had silenced the voice of the Husband Rama and crushed the ırrepressible lore, at least temporarily

The decısion of Rama is extremely cruel to Sita But it is more cruel on him personally For, he has the conviction of his soul that Sita is absolutely pure, and the whıspening campaign is therefore, a terrible insult to her Do the holy waters and fire need a test to demonstrate their purity? Moreover, Rama knows that he loves Sita intensely, to go through life without her is living death Yet, the call of duty - that 'stern daughter of the roice of God' - has demanded this ruthless unjust sacrifice of a wife who was his very life, and what is still more tragic and d-vastatingly ironical is that Rama must murder his own precious love, bury his grief and face his subjects with a cheerful exterior and never let them suspect that Rama regretted his decis on to abandon his wife for the pleasure of his people This personal 'traeedv' of Rama's later life is very vividly shown by Bhavabhuti in almost all the later acts of the play To see this august King break down in the solitude of Panchavati, miles away from his subjects, at the sight of the familar objects and scenes and with the memory of Sita still fresh after the lapse of twelve years, would melt the heart of adamant and make even stones weep Yet Rama retains the uncommon courage, the heroic sincerity, to tender an apology to his absent subjects for shedding tears for Sita Rama shows similar heroic courage in going through the fire of criticism that his abandonment of Sita has evoked from his near and dear on's Some of them, like Vasanti, Sita's companion in her forest life accuse Rama that he never loved his wife really some I ke Janaka, Rama's father in law, accuse Rama of a precipitate stupid decision in trying to satisfy the stupid lot of citizens others like 'ins own mother's, are 'wuthungly compassionate but feel that Rama's decision was unworthy of him and unfair to S ta Rama meekly bears the burden of this criticism which is added to his own silent suffering The 'tragedy' of Sita is more moving in her

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utter helplessness and to her sorrow is added the shame of aban-

donment by the husband Both Rama and Sita arouse our deepest

sympathy and compassion Both are victims of a cruel fate Sita

is an innocent victim of her husband's one sided decision, Rama

is a victim of his own one-sided idealism The 'tragic error' of

Rama is obvious Janaka and Vasanti point it out in smashing

words Rama's own action has led to the tragedy of his life and

dragged Sita into it

Here are the perfect potential and even the various colours of

a tragedy And for a moment the reader feels that Bhavabhuti,

too wanted to write a tragic play For, in one place Bhavabhuti

says that 'the only emotion that has an aesthetic appeal is that

of pathos, other sentiments are mere variations of the pathetic

emotion, as eddies, bubbles and ripples are of water' 21 Scholars

have interpreted this statement in different ways Some find in it

an attempt to produce a new synthesis of rhetorical sentiments

in which love, laughter, anger, heroism etc could be assumed as

only aspects of pathos More probably, pathos is meant to colour

all human experiences, so that it'underlies most of our emotions

and thereby it makes them more appealing from the point of view

of art It is also possible that Bhavabhuti intended to show that

not only love and heroism should dominate literary compositions,

as the traditional theory recommended but that pathos too could

take the principal role and include other emotions in its element 22

In the Uttararamacharita, at least, Bhavabhuti has tried to deli-

neate pathos as the governing emotion of every act, all the inci-

dents in the play, connected as they are with different emotions

of married love, love for child, heroism, anger, laughter, marvel,

are rooted in the life of Rama and Sita, and take on the colour

of pathos which is the moving emotion of their life Bhavabhuti

has justly earned the title of a 'master of pathos' Tradition, in

spite of its conservative attitude, seems to have admired Bhava

bhuti's adventure in rhetorical presentation

All this, however, does not make the Uttararamacharita a tragedy

The motive of the poet and his dramatic structure belie all tragic

intention Bhavabhuti says that he has recounted in his play the

purifying story of Valmiki's Ramayana giving it only a represen

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tational dramatic form 23 But this is not wholly true Bhavabhuti

has changed the denouement of the epic story In the original,

Sita performs a second ordeal to convince Rama and the public

of Ayodhya of her purity, she is swallowed up by mother earth

Rama and Sita are never re united after her abandonment, and

Rama dies a lonely death It is obvious that Bhavabhuti did not

want such an end to his dramatic story In the Garbhanataka

play within the play, which he has arranged to demonstrate Sita's

purity, Bhavabhuti makes Lakshmana shout a protest against the

swallowing up of Sita in the womb of the river in which she

throws herself after her abandonment The words of Lakshmana

("This is the content of your poem Is it?") clearly imply that

the disappearance (and death) of Sita may be tolerated in a

poem but not in a drama ! By an inspired stroke of pen, Bhava-

buti has imagined Valmiki himself as having written a play on

the story of Rama's life, which is presented by celestial actors,

only the real Sita playing her own part in the dramatic perfor-

mance before a mixed audience of celestial beings and the citi-

zens of Rama's kingdom But this is Bhavabhuti's own innova-

tion And when he makes his Valmiki perform a miracle showing

Sita rise up from the waters of the Ganges Bhavabhuti divulges

his dramatic intention that he does not want Sita to disappear from

the face of the earth and out of Rama's life This is also true

about Rama In the second and the third acts, Rama is called

upon to kill Shambuka24 and is then led to Panchavati and the

hermitage of sage Agastya The renewed association with the places

in which Rama spent his earlier life with Sita was apt to stir

his memories of love and bring his pent up sorrow to the bursting

point Rama, in fact, resembled 'a sealed pot of medical brew

heated to a boiling point' there was obvious danger to his very

life on this emotionally tense background, especially when he was

all alone and far far away from his people for whom he was

keeping a heroic face The dramatist therefore makes poetic but

careful arrangements to help Rama in his uncontrolled agony and

sustain his precious life The rivers are called upon to send cool

and wet breezes to fan Rama if he swooned one river Tamasa

comes on the scene in human form to watch Rama and Sita too.

[59]

and what is significant, Sita herself is brought near Rama, invisi-

ble to Rama and other mortals by divine arrangement, and is

continually available to revive Rama from his swoons by the lov-

ing, life giving touch of her hand In the fifth and the sixth acts,

when Rama is in and near Valmiki's hermitage, Arundhati and

the royal mothers are also present, by a dramatic arrangement, to

look after Rama The dramatist lets the sorrow of Rama and of

Sita full play, but is not lax even for a moment in guarding their

life In fact, an assurance is provided, from the very prologue of

the play, that 'all will end for the best' The development of the

drama the various incidents used in the play, especially the central

part that Valmiki is imagined as playing, carry out this assurance

Valmiki is shown here as bringing about the re-union of Rama

and Sita by the device of his play production and this is planned

to convince the public of Rama too, by bringing to them an aware-

ness of their shameful suspicion about Sita's purity, which even

the gods in heaven never doubted for a moment Arundhati, the

wife of the family priest, Vasistha, of the Raghu dynasty, is aware

of Valmiki's design and helps him in carrying it out The entire

story is thus designed as a story of the great love of the husband

and the wife, which is strengthened and made unique as the couple

goes through the sorrow of separation and the agony of the un-

certainty of reunion

And although Rama is under the impression that Sita must

have perished in the wilderness of Panchavati and his grief is

truly tragic for him, we are in the confidence of the dramatist, as

some dramatic characters are and to us the sorrow of Rama and

Sita is not 'tragic' but is born out of the separation of lovers 25

The omniscience which the audience is granted is not intended to

give them the knowledge of the 'tragic error' of the hero and his

disastrous actions leading to the final catastrophe, as in a formal

tragedy, it only evokes a very compassionate response from the

audience and makes them keenly aware of the profound love of

the couple In spite of the serious emotional appeal, therefore,

the play is not designed as a tragedy but as a solemn comedy Like

Dante's Divine Comedy Uttararamacharita too, brings the divine

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scales to assert the eternal values of love and righteousness and

offer justice to the meritorious couple

IX

SOCIAL PLAYS OF LOVE

In an entirely social context, the theme of love and separation

has greater tragic possibilities because the dramatist has the free-

dom to invent the plot and he is not hampered by the fixed frame-

work of an old legend. Such a social drama is known as

'Prakarana' drama and is illustrated by Shudraka's Mrichchha-

katika6 and Bhavabhuti's Malatimadhava

(1) MALATI-MADHAVA

Of the two, the Malatimadhava is not of much consequence

for the present purpose. Bhavabhuti is interested solely in a com-

plex story, steeped in a variety of sentiments, and presented in

an elegant style27 The play is a romantic adventure of love with

the usual ups and downs promising the hero's final victory and

the reward of the heroine's hand in marriage. The temporary set-

backs and separations, the sorrow of the young lovers, the heroine's

mysterious disappearance and intended sacrificial slaughter by a

religious fanatic, the hero's desperateness and attempt at suicide

are incidents in the plot which are calculated to create dramatic

suspense and pathos and hold the audience spell bound if possible.

The conflicts and dangers in the developing story are not real

but romantic, they could thrill or impress a reader, but they can

never produce emotions which a tragic presentation does

(2) MRICHCHHAKATIKA

By contrast, the Mrichchhakatika is a grand and unique play.

This too is, basically, a story of love spread on the vast canvas

of a complex social life. Charudatta is a young Brahmin mer-

chant who has spent his colossal wealth in charity, building tem-

ples, parks, places of amusement, houses for the poor in the city

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of Ujjayini where he lives and in helping all needy persons by

generous donations and by giving gifts in appreciation of virtue

art or public service Though reduced to penury and driven to

constant worry his basic generous impulse has not abated He

gives away his jasmine scented shawl to Karnapuraka in appre-

ciation of his courageous effort in saving the life of a monk from

the attack of a mad elephant he feels sorry that the thief who

broke into his house at night must have gone away in utter des

pair because there was nothing worthwhile left to be lifted in his

house he tries to redeem Vasantasena's ornaments kept with him

in trust and unexpectedly stolen away by offering a jewelled

necklace worth the treasures in four oceans which his wife had

preserved as a family heirloom Charudatta has other fine traits

too He is religious minded and is careful in observing the daily

rituals he is a lover of books and of music and has a keen eye

for beauty he is very handsome in appearance and devoted to his

family and friends Though sparing in words, his generosity is

unbounded rather shy he has the magnificent courage to stake

his own life for giving asylum to a political revolutionary an

escaped prisoner who finally becomes the ruler of Ujjayini And

it is this Charudatta who has very soft feelings for Vasantasena,

the most beautiful belle of Ujjayini This is a perfect background

for tragic love

Vasantasena on her part is similarly placed in tragic circum

stances Born as the daughter of a professional prostitute, she is

herself a courtesan 'a creeper by the roadside' whose flowers are

free for picking Chained by social stigma and wearing the badge

of a heartless money minded public woman her desperate love

for the poverty stricken Charudatta can neither be permitted by

the accepted code of social conduct nor appreciated in reality

Vasantasena's own mother is against her overtures of love towards

Charudatta and wants her to accept the rich gifts presented by

Shakara a bastard brother in law of the King who is madly after

her And although determined absolutely to win the love of

Charudatta Vasantasena is handicapped in her own mind and

effort Charudatta's response is uncertain and there is a possi

[62]

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

bility that he might consider her love if not fake, at least as a passing fancy of a young rich courtesan who is trained in the arts of love Vasantasena s initial tragedy is thus both social and personal

It is through these social and psychological threats that Shudraka weaves the story of this unusual and unique love Charudatta is aware of Vasantasena's feelings for him and he is convinced of her sincere love when she comes to his house, through pouring rain and roaring storm to return the precious necklace which Charudatta had sent as a substitute for the stolen ornaments Charudatta himself displays magnificent moral courage in accepting the love of Vasantasena against all social conventions He permits her to spend the stormy night in his house The mutual love is consummated The possible tragedy of unfulfilled love is averted

But the plot of the Mrichchhakatika is complex and was not likely to end on this simple but tense note Shudraka's dramatic design includes other components so that the structure of the play is planned for complexity Shudraka promises in the prologue that [besides the central theme of the love of Charudatta and Vasantasena he is going to show in his play the machinations of a villainous character ruthless miscarriage of justice and the incomprehensible working of destiny]

[In Shakara Shudraka has created an unusual villain probably the only real villain in the entire field of Sanskrit drama] Shakara is a coward and a fool and yet murderous in his animal instincts He covets Vasantasena and wants her for himself The first act of the play presents a scene in which Vasantasena is pursued on the road by Shakara and his attendants Stupidity on the part of Shakara in which he gives out that they all are near the house of Charudatta sympathetic attitude of his gay companion Vita the evening dusk the fortunate coincidence that Vasantasena was hid ing from her pursuers near the side entrance of Charudatta's house and the hand of luck that the door of the entrance is opened at the critical moment by Charudatta's maid and the Jester coming out to place the ritual evening offerings on the road these are factors that help Vasantasena to escape from the hands of Shakara But though disappointed Shakara does not leave with

[63]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

out an open threat to Charudatta He wants Charudatta to return

Vasantasena to him 'without any judicial proceedings in a court

of law', else, he promises, 'our enmity will end only in death'

Charudatta was not likely to pay any heed to the abusive ut-

terances of a cowardly bully though he was backed by royal power

But Vasantasena too, despises Shakara and spurns his offer of

'a chariot and an ornament worth ten thousand gold pieces'

But as fate would have it Shakara gets his opportunity Charudatta

has fixed a tryst with Vasantasena to meet her in the old garden

on the border of the city Charudatta has gone ahead and his

cart was to take Vasantasena out when she was ready to leave

his house Vasantasena gets, by mistake, into Shakara's cart and

is unexpectedly delivered into the villain's hands Shakara tries

to cajole her please her, win her love by alluring offers and

threats but Vasantasena treats him with open defiance and con-

tempt Her love for Charudatta and its consummation the night

before have filled her mind with unutterable happiness and have

also given her uncommon courage Instead of using cunning,

as she did before, she provokes Shakara Lustful, desperate and

baffled, Shakara strangles her in that desolate old garden Vasanta

sena closes her eyes and collapses with Charudatta's name on her

lips

The personal tragedy of the lovers is deepened by other for-

tuitous circumstances Shakara charges Charudatta with the murder

of Vasantasena and takes the suit to the court of law The circum-

stantial evidence is against Charudatta A woman's body was

found near the old garden crushed under a huge tree fallen by

the heavy storm of the previous night the mutual love was known

to everybody in the city the facts that Vasantasena had gone to

Charudatta's house had stayed overnight and was seen last leav-

ing his house in supposedly his cart, are brought out in the exami-

nation of the defendant and witnesses like Vasantasena's own

mother And the issue is clinched when the Jester unwittingly drops

Vasantasena's ornaments on the floor of the court in his angry

scuffle with Shakara Charudatta is proved guilty and is given

death penalty

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

To make the tragic outcome still more complex, Shudraka uses

a bye plot of the political revolution which he has woven into

the fabric of this breath-taking drama Charudatta had given his

personal cart to Aryaka, the rival to the throne, who had escaped

from prison and was running for safety That is why he aban-

doned the idea of going to the o'd garden to meet Vasantasena

and apparently returned home on foot. Charudatta could have

proved this, and if he had the charge of murder would have

been dropped But Charudatta does not explain his movements

at all on the day of the murder because doing so would be a

betrayal of Aryaka, the virtuous prince of Ujjayini, and a treason

against Palaka the ruling tyrant and the usurper of the throne

Like Vasantasena, Charudatta displays uncommon courage in fa-

cing death for defending the noble prince- his only agony is the

charge of murder. which he never did, and which no magnanimous

soul could ever do in the case of the very beloved whom he

loved passionately

Here is a perfect set up for tragic denouement, for a tragedy

brought partly by personal factors but more by circumstances and

an untoward fate The pity and fear are there One is appalled

at the cruel miscarriage of justice and in seeing an innocent noble

soul being led to the gallows. The dramatist brings out the mount-

ing pathos of the situation by vivid touches of description the

whole city weeps as Charudatta is led in procession towards the

place of execution The dramatist creates some moments of tense

suspense as when the slave Cheta, chained down by Shakara lest

he gave evidence of the eye-witnessed murder against his master,

leaps from the terrace and starts running to the execution ground,

or when Charudatta's wife Dhuta decides to perform the act of

Sati and throws herself on the burning pyre the Jester leading her

into the flames. There is a spectacle of uncommon courage too

as both Charudatta and Vasantasena rise to noble heights beyond

the reach of humans. They evoke our compassion, wonder and

profound admiration

But Shudraka avoids the tragic end We are aware that Vasanta

sena is alive a monk (the former gambler Samvahaka whom she

had obliged) has saved her life Yet it was necessary for Vasanta

[65]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

sena to make a personal appearance at the place of execution to

prove that Charudatta was innocent It was also necessary that

Sharvilaka, the leader of the revolution, carried out his plan

successfully, dealt a death-blow to the ruling tyrant, and announced

the political change, at the nick of the moment It was also neces

sary that someone carried the news that Charudatta was set

free and was alive to Dhuta who was preparing to immolate her-

self at a little distance from the gallows, before she jumped into

the fire There could have been some miscalculation of time, had

fate or circumstances willed so Vasantasena could have arrived

with the monk a moment too late, the news of the success of the

revolution could have been brought by Sharvilaka a moment too

late. Or, as the police-officer Chandanaka who turned a revolu-

tionary tells, the whole city had turned up on the grounds of

execution, there was a terrific confusion, shouting and cries of

distress, everybody believing that Charudatta was killed, and in

this bewilderment, Chandanaka's words that Charudatta was safe

had failed to reach people's ears and convince them, as they had

failed in the case of Dhuta too, her mind completely paralysed

by grief Even Sharvilaka is shocked, for a moment, at the tragic

frustration that cruel circumstances had brought all round 29 The

tragic tension is kept up till the last moment of the dramatic action

But, that is all Shudraka times Vasantasena's arrival and of

Sharvilaka on the scene before any disaster actually takes place

We are on the brink of a well ordered tragedy But in a real

tragedy, there is no turning back Here, we turn back to life and

happiness, to justice and the final triumph of innocence and virtue

Shudraka may not have avoided the tragedy only out of respect

for Bharata's dictum His design is quite serious and leans towards

tragic disaster But probably he wanted only to present the varied

panorama of human life with all its cruel twists and turns hopes

and despairs, successes and failures, so that one could realise

that life is an experience of opposites, and that happiness has a

better taste after one wades through misery and sorrow 3 It is

equally probable that Shudraka wanted to assert certain accepted

values of life, like, for instance, that the good and the innocent

may suffer at the hands of a malicious fate or wicked characters,

SEARCH FOR TRAGIC DESIGNS

but the final victory is theirs; the good shall not be trampled down permanently Either Shudraka believed in these values, or his audience did It was therefore not possible to let the loving Vasantasena die at the hand of a lustful beast, to let Charudatta die on the gallows, to let the just political revolution fail That would have been perhaps the destruction of values to which a whole society of people clung and so, we have in the Mṛchchha-kaṭikā a serious play bordering on tragedy, not tragedy, but a tragi-comedy

[67]

III

Two Plays of Tragic Design

and Tragic Intent

I

If the Sanskrit playwrights find the moral or ethical values too important to be rejected even on the personal and social level of life and avert a formal tragedy, they could never conceive a tragic design on the mythological or legendary plane where a tradition of several centuries had fixed the outline of the story and predetermined the salient traits of characters The innovaton of the literary artist has to operate within the given frame and it does not generally go beyond a new motivation an orientation of the old myth or legend, or new causal links forged between accepted or acceptable incidents and actions

( This is particularly true of Sanskrit drama which uses by far plots from mythology and legend If a dramatist could invent new events or transpose the fixed events so as to give them a new causation and change the fixed outline of a character, reshape in fact, the old legend and give it a human turn, then only could he produce tragic structure out of the ancient material A bold experiment of this kind was not attempted by Sanskrit dramatists with the single exception of Bhasa )

( The mythical and legendary 'heroes' are too good and virtuous to merit suffering and disaster of a permanent kind A story of their life and actions might show moments of intense sorrow and set-backs but it could never have a tragic denouement, such an end would upset the scales of divine justice and destroy the faith

[63]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

in the religious and moral values of life. The possibility of tragic

motive, therefore, lay only in exploring the depths of the so-called

'wicked' characters and showing their downfall as truly heroic. If

literary art attempted such a delineation of character and action,

it would be a denial of the existing legend and the fabrication of

a new one. But there does not seem to be any other artistic

possibility. That is, perhaps, why there is a solitary example of

a bold experiment in Sanskrit dramatic literature.

(Bhasa has a flair for looking down into the souls of characters

that old legend has painted and long tradition has accepted as

wicked. Valin and Kaikeyi of the Rama legend, Kamsa of the

Krishna legend, are neither black nor villainish in Bhasa's plays;

they have some very fine traits of humanity and appear like mis-

guided persons who act wrongly either by their own impulse or

under the compelling power of a force beyond human understand-

ing and control.' But not all of them are central characters in

the plays in which they figure; they are only a small part of the

total design of the play; their humanity and sincerity evoke our

sympathy; but they retreat into a corner.) Kamsa, in Bhasa's

Balacharita, however, is at the centre of the action. 'This Kamsa

of Bhasa, unlike his prototype, expresses regret and promises com-

pensation to Devaki for being required to kill her new-born babies

in order to preserve his own life. In an unusual and unique scene

Bhasa presents the dream-vision of Kamsa in material form;

Chandala women enter to take possession of Kamsa's house. Then

the curse of Madhuka sage called Vajrabahu, which hangs over

the life of Kamsa, appears before him, proclaiming that he has

come to take possession of his heart; the Curse persuades the

goddess of Royal Fortune herself to leave Kamsa's body at the

order of Vishnu. The materialization of the dream in dramatic

terms brings out the sub-conscious agony of Kamsa's soul; he

looks like a desperate creature driven to the brink of disaster and

powerless to retrace his steps before the might of superior forces

crushes him. The scene is certainly moving and demands from

us a sympathetic response for the desperate but courageous man.

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

The Kamsa legend is potentially capable of a tragic treatment

But apparently Bhasa did not choose to treat it in formal tragic

colours He strongly emphasises the divinity of Krshna, and so,

the actual killing of Kamsa on the stage, against the rules of

Sanskrit dramaturgy, has the appearance of divine justice being

executed

It is in treating the characters of Duryodhana and Karna from

the Mahabharata that Bhasa breaks with the epic framework and

works out a full tragic design

11

Bhasa's Urubhanga dramatizes a well known incident in the

epic war described in the Mahabharata the mace-fight between

Bhima and Duryodhana, in which Duryodhana receives a mortal

wound, and which practically symbolizes the end of the fratricidal

war between the Pandavas and the Kauravas. The incident and

the major characters are drawn from the epic. But a close exa-

mination of the structure of this one-act play will show that

Bhasa has completely re-oriented the incident and presented it

with a new motivation unknown to the epic author The actual

incident of the mace-fight which results in 'the crushing of

Duryodhana's thighs', which forms really the centre of the action,

is presented in an opening interlude1 through the report of three

soldiers who are supposed to be witnessing the duel As the main

scene opens, Duryodhana is seen crawling on the stage, his thighs

broken and in a bloody mess This means that urubhanga (break

ing of the thighs) which is supposed to be the end of the incident

is already over before the main scene of the play opens But it

will be incorrect to say that the rules of Dramaturgy forbid the

showing of actual fight and death on the stage and so, Bhasa

had to place the incident 'behind the scene' and use the inevi-

able method of narration or reportage this is true about most

of the Sanskrit dramas but not about Bhasa Bhasa does not seem

to care for the injunctions and prohibitions of Dramaturgy He

has shown actual fight between Bhima and his son Ghatotkacha in

[70]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

his Madhyamavyayoga and Kamsa is killed on the stage in the

Balacharita If therefore Bhasa relegated the mace-fight to back-

ground, it should only mean that he had a special dramatic pur-

pose in planning the structure of his play as he did Obviously,

Bhasa is not interested in the physical showing of the mace fight

but in the psychological reactions that follow the incident, and

which form the picture of his main scene To understand these reac-

tions, the context and the background were necessarily to be pro-

vided Bhasa does not leave this background to be assumed by

the audience by their familiarity with the epic story, because that

would cut the picture away from the main stream and make it

look like a detached incident Within the framework of his dra-

matic design Bhasa intends to present a complete picture, leaving

nothing for imagination or assumption and so he includes the

context of his dramatic story Bhasa has taken the same care in

showing the end of his play Contrary to the epic source, Bhasa

brings about the death of Duryodhana on the stage, before the

fall of the final curtain as it were In the epic, Duryodhana dies

after Ashvatthaman has completed his midnight murders not be-

fore, as shown in the play The dramatist's intention is not to

keep any loose ends the opening is arranged with complete back-

ground and the end is also fully shown, ignoring the epic se-

quence of events This makes the Urubhanga a complete, unified

piece of dramatic presentation, and not an isolated, detached

scene from the epic

But achieving structural unity for aesthetic satisfaction is only

one of the purposes that Bhasa seems to have had in his mind

His most important purpose is to achieve a complete change in

characterization The structure of the play now places Duryo-

dhana at the centre of the dramatic action The incident of

urubhanga is no longer a simple event in the long war which

means the end of a wicked character The epic paints Duryo-

dhana as a bad character whose end appears therefore as a case

of divine justice-meted out And although the victorious Pandavas

used foul means to accomplish it, the epic poet's sympathy re-

mains still with the Pandavas because their stand was correct

[71]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

and the Kauravas were evidently in the wrong in depriving their

cousins of their rightful share of the ancestral kingdom Bhāsa

wipes out this impression created by the epic by presenting the

incident not from the point of view of the Pandavas but from

that of Duryodhana Duryodhana is the centre and the heart of

the dramatic action and our emotional response is solely direct-

ed towards Duryodhana's personal reactions to the outcome of

mace fight in particular and to the war in general which he was

waging against the Pandavas Bhāsa's Urubhanga is a personal

story of Duryodhana And since a tragic play cannot be con-

structed with a 'villain' or a 'wicked character' as the focus of

the entire dramatic attention and as the centre of the total emo-

tional response, at least in using a legendary theme, it follows

that Bhāsa's Duryodhana cannot be a villain In other words,

Duryodhana is the hero of the Urubhanga² and a tragic hero at

that, because (besides other things) the play ends with his death

Bhāsa accomplishes this reversal of the epic story by creating

a new structural design and a different connection of events. He

departs from the Mahabharata and uses his deviations and inno-

vations to reinforce his concept of Duryodhana's character that

of a man who is neither too good, nor too bad; a human

being who has his weaknesses and vices but who also has some

noble traits of humanity, and who, above all, has the heroic

courage to accept the consequences of his actions Bhāsa accom-

plishes this by a number of skilful details

Bhāsa handles the epic material with a freedom which his

artistic design demands To begin with, he has altered the

details of the mace-fight reported in the scene of the interlude.

(i) The epic states the opinion of Krishna that Duryodhana

cannot be won in a straight and fair fight Bhāsa makes the

reporting soldier to observe that 'Bhima is physically stronger,

but Duryodhana is better trained and more skilful in mace fight-

ing' And there is a moment, in Bhāsa's description, when

Duryodhana's skilful blow brings Bhima down and Duryodhana

stands over the swooning Pandava, assuming that a true hero

does not strike at his fallen adversary (ii) Bhāsa has cut the

[72]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

role of Arjuna, it is not he but Krishna who gives the secret

signal to Bhima to use his mace on Duryodhana's thighs against

the rules of the duel (iii) Bhasa has similarly omitted the ac-

tion of Bhima in kicking the fallen Duryodhana which the epic

shows Such a savage action even on the part of Bhima was

unnecessary for Bhasa's dramatic purpose of sustaining the dig-

nity of Duryodhana's character (iv) In the epic, the mace fight

is witnessed, apart from the Pandava brothers and Krishna, by

princes who stand around in a circle Bhasa shows that import-

ant personages like Vyasa Vidura and Duryodhana's preceptor

Balarama were present on the occasion Their reactions are sig-

nificant Vyasa flies to heaven instructing the Pandavas to remove

Bhima to a safe place. This also enables the dramatist to state,

through a character's line that the foul trick used in bringing

about Duryodhana's downfall was eyewitnessed by important

people, like Balarama The changes bring an intensity to the mace

fight There is a clear impression that Bhima was really no match

for Duryodhana, his fraud emphasises his weakness On the other

hand, Duryodhana appears to us as a more skilful and dignified

fighter who was the victim of a conspiracy and foul practice An

unbiased reader is bound to feel sympathy and admiration for

Duryodhana

The immediate reactions of the spectators of the mace-fight

are shown differently by Bhasa. (i) In the epic Krishna takes

upon himself the responsibility of calming their outraged feelings

He asks the princes to go away He consoles the Pandavas

who are terribly disheartened by telling them that their action

was justified under the circumstances A little later he goes to

Hastinapura to console the parents of Duryodhana. The play

does not use these incidents (ii) Krishna addresses himself to

the bleeding Duryodhana and reviles him Duryodhana in his

com abues Knstra for his coming Bhasa has omitted all these

details In fact, he does not bring Krishna on the stage at all

This saves Krishna from assuming an unconvincing and com-

promising role What is more significant for the play is the

reaction of Duryodhana himself which is completely different

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

from what it is in the epic In omitting the confrontation between

Krishna and Duryodhana, Bhasa has preserved the dignity of

Duryodhana's character and enabled him to rise to the level of

tragic grandeur (11) The epic Krishna argues with his elder

brother Balarama justifying the action of the Pandavas Balarama

is not convinced, unable to hold his anger, Balarama curses

Bhima and withdraws both from the battlefield as well as from

the war The dramatist's deviation is, again, bold but signifi-

cant The main scene of the play opens with the confrontation

between the fallen dying warrior and his outraged Guru who

is shouting vengeance A more effective beginning could hardly

be imagined, which is filled with menace, dire consequences and

awe Balarama is perfectly capable of turning Bhima's body

into a furrowed field drenched in the mire of flesh and blood

and his concern for his pupil who is a victim of foul play

is genuine and profound Who could ever pacify Balarama, if it

were not for Duryodhana himself? The dramatic change is

psychologically most convincing and artistically most satisfying

And it is important to remember that, in Bhasa's presentation,

Balarama is pacified not merely by the personal appeal which

Duryodhana makes to him but by observing Duryodhana in the

circle of his family and parents, listening to what he says to

each of them it is the general attitude of Duryodhana and the

spirit that he displays that ultimately calms Balarama down

This unusual confrontation between Balarama and Duryodhana

is followed by the visit on the battlefield itself of Duryodhana's

parents, his queens and his son This again is a complete

departure from the epic The epic does not speak of Duryo-

dhana's wives or son and the blind parents do not visit the

battlefield This is a pure dramatic invention on the part of

Bhasa But then Bhasa has succeeded in making the Urubhanga

a picture of the last moments of Duryodhana as he lay on his

death bed surrounded by his near and dear ones Duryodhana

really holds the stage and the total emotional response not only

of the dramatic characters but also of the audience must now

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TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

spring from Duryodhana's personality

To appreciate this response fully, we must delve into Bhasa's characterization of Duryodhana Besides the Urubhanga three other plays of Bhasa deal with the character of Duryodhana The Pancharatra, Dutavakya and Duta Ghatotkacha The Pan charatra which in the chronological sequence of the epic story would stand first, shows Duryodhana in an expansive, generous and joyous mood He has celebrated the Rajasuya sacrifice betokening the sovereignty of his kingdom He asks his preceptor, Drona to accept a gift on this occasion and on Drona's intimate questioning, promises to give away anything that the preceptor might ask. Drona asks him to hand over half the kingdom to the Pandavas which he will regard as his Guru-dakshina (the Preceptor's fee) Duryodhana is at once ready to part with the share of the kingdom in order to make good his promise and satisfy his Guru fully Shakuni, his maternal uncle, intervenes hastily and stipulates that Duryodhana would keep his promise only if the Pandavas who at that time were in hiding spending the thirteenth year of their exile incognito were discovered with n five nights They are so discovered and for tunately the term of their exile is also over When the play therefore ends in the third act there is a clear implication that Duryodhana will keep his word and the Pandavas will get half the Kuru-kingdom This is an exceedingly bold departure from the epic story Bhasa has shoved the epic war out of existence, the war which is the very basis of the Mahabharata But this absolute innovation gains a new light on the character of Duryodhana, this seems to be the dramatist's purpose in giving an unprecedented twist to the epic story Duryodhana here impresses us as an upright and prosperous king who is magnanimous by instinct and who values his word of promise above anything in the world and is prepared for any kind of self sacrifice There is also an implication that if he acted wrongly or wickedly it would be at the instigation of an 'evil genius' like Shakuni and the headstrong advice of his counsellors

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

The other two plays especially Dutavakya which dramatizes the epic incident of Krishna's embassy on the eve of the outbreak of open hostilities have to be viewed from the angle forged by the dramatist in the earlier play If Duryodhana defies Krishna, attempts to hold him prisoner against the canons of political behaviour, gloats over the humiliation of the Pandavas in the gambling match and of Draupadi, it is now the wickedness and pride in Duryodhana's nature that have gained the upper hand under the influence of men around him In the Duta Ghatotkacha5 too, Duryodhana appears in an arrogant mood, justifying the slaughter of the child Abhimanyu as an inevitable casualty of war It is his kingly pride and arrogance which goes with it that colour his behaviour and he tries to justify it as a military necessity and as a warrior's privileged duty Earlier, he had asserted that 'Kingdoms cannot be had by begging or as gift they have to be won by dint of military valour' 8 The savagery of Duryodhana thus, apparently springs from the code of a warrior and the obligation of a king to defend his territorial possessions irrespective of the means used in the process of defence The stand may not be ideally justifiable But Bhasa's treatment of the character clearly makes Duryodhana a mixture of good and bad He is not the villain a bad character past correction, that the epic paints him to be Duryodhana is human If he has some wicked traits found in most men, he has some grand traits too, found in the rare type of men Bhasa seems to use his entire dramatic ability to make a human hero out of Duryodhana

And in the Urubhanga Bhasa once again focuses the light on the heroic nobility of Duryodhana's character Confronted with the members of his family at the moment of his death on the battlefield, Duryodhana experiences pangs of unbearable agony he had never experienced before The appearance of his old, helpless, blind parents seeking a way through the confusion of corpses, mangled animals and battered chariots clutching the tiny finger of Durjaya the appearance of his queens bare headed in

[76]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

mourning and of the bewildered tiny son who is yet incapable

of understanding the meaning of war and death this scene

hits Duryodhana so hard as to make the pain of Bhima's blows

and of the crushed and bleeding thighs only an inconvenient

irritation. A greater blow to Duryodhana's sensitive heart is that

Bhima has deprived him of the prostration at the reverential feet

of his parents And the greatest blow is that Durjava is robbed

of his seat on the lap of his father the most severe blow to the

paternal affection of Duryodhana, 'the unkindest cut of all' The

deeply moving pathos of the scene is matched only by the

grandeur of Duryodhana's unbroken spirit Our feelings of

compassion and admiration vie with each other as tear-drops

reflect a rainbow of finer emotions of the human heart The

image that Bhasa presents to us of Duryodhana is that of a

proud warrior who is unconquered in his defeat, a solicitous

husband, an affectionate father and a dutiful, loving heroic son

This image is sustained in the play by unbroken courage and

profound understanding on the part of Duryodhana Balarama

in stakes the words of Duryodhana and thinks that defeat and

frustration have drowned Duryodhana's warring spirit in an

overwhelming feeling of remorse But Balarama is wrong To

Ashvatthaman too, who thinks on similar lines, Duryodhana

warns "Pride and honour are the stuff of which princes are

made I waged a ceaseless war to protect my pride and honour "7

It is not distress born of defeat that makes Duryodhana use the

language of reconciliation while speaking with Balarama and

Ashvatthaman or while advising his son Durjava. As death

peeps at the window of his soul Durvodhana finds himself

awakened into a new light. The sudden illumination reveals to

him the utter futility of all feuds the meaninglessness of war

and killing, and of man's pride of possessions He tells Bala-

rama that not Bhima but Krishna killed him and the statement

has a double significance. In Bhasa's play it is Krishna who

gives to Bhima the fatal signal primarily he is responsible for

Duryodhana's death, and Bhima is only an instrument of des-

truction This is true not only in the physical sense but also

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

philosophically Krishna is the Divine Lord of the universe,

'the darling of the world' He entered Bhima's mace and

accomplished Duryodhana's end It is God's will that Duryo

dhana should die With the new awareness that has come to

him, Duryodhana is ready to bow before human antagonists

Bhasa clearly shows, in contravention of the epic story,

that Duryodhana is glad that his young son is coronated by Ashvat

thaman as the next heir to the Kuru Kingdom, that the line of

kingly rule continues without break and that, probably, the hosti

lities may take a favourable turn So, Duryodhana is submitting

only to the Will of his Maker and closing his personal account,

as it were The state of his mind is a state of new awareness

In keeping with his characterization, Bhasa finally departs

from the Mahabharata in showing the death of Duryodhana

Gods in heaven do not shower down flowers as in the epic, to

hail the fall and destruction of a wicked person On the con

trary, Duryodhana sees a dream vision, in which he meets his

ancestors, dead friends and brothers but also the young Abhi

manyu for whose slaughter he was responsible Duryodhana

has a vision of the great oceans and the celestial nymphs, and of

the aerial car drawn by a thousand swans which arrives to take

away the soul of a heroic fighter Duryodhana does not die

like a frustrated, sulking villain, he dies like a hero who has

fought his last battle and made peace with his own soul

It is quite possible to describe the Urubhanga on the model

of Greek tragedy Duryodhana's sense of pride and honour is

wrong because it involves defiance of the principles of righte-

ousness (symbolized apparently by Krishna and the Pandavas)

This is hamartia it leads to a series of wrong actions on the

part of Duryodhana they bring about a reversal of fortune or

peripeteia In his last moments Duryodhana realises his errors

but it is beyond his control to turn back, either because of his

own nature or because the forces that he has unleashed are too

powerful to be checked in their precipitate consequences An

awareness of this comes to Duryodhana, this is anagnorisis

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

What makes Duryodhana a tragic hero is not merely his death but the heroic courage and calm determination with which he accepts his inevitable end

Alternatively, Duryodhana's pride and honour may be regarded as hubris which is an offence against the forces of goodness Krishna stands for the Divine power; and Bhima and other circumstantial factors symbolize the divine plan to crush this hubris by the death of the arrogant monarch However, Duryodhana is given an opportunity to realise his error and make his peace with the divine through reconciliation and redemption

Bhasa's Urubhanga is therefore a real tragedy It is true that Bhasa had to depart from, twist and reverse the epic story to present Duryodhana as a real hero Perhaps Aristotle may not have approved such liberty being taken in treating legendary characters and their actions in a drama. The average Indian reader would certainly find it very difficult to accept Bhasa's delineation of the theme of Urubhanga The Mahabharata is deeply rooted in the Indian tradition It is a cultural heritage that has taken complete possession of the Indian mind Any liberty taken with the epic story will jar the traditionally fixed attitudes And so the average reader is likely to look upon this play from the epic angle and treat Duryodhana's death as an act of Divine justice which destroys evil implying that it does not call for any tragic emotions What is perhaps surprising is that some Sanskrit scholars in India have shown the same attitude to this play8 But the rejection of Urubhanga as a tragedy is a total rejection of the play itself It is a refusal to accept Bhasa's dramatic innovation One cannot accept the play and reject it as a formal tradegy that would be disregard or ignorance of the essence of tragic drama

111

The Mahabharata does not show Karna in any favourable light. There is very little in the epic Karna to call for our sympathy or admiration. He is ranked with the headstrong and

[79]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

is puzzling to me is that the same responsive reader or critic or

scholar who is willing to permit such liberty to art in the cha

racterization of Karna is not prepared even to understand much

less to tolerate, the courageous artistic effort in treating such

characters as Kaikeyī, Kamsa or Duryodhana

As it is the image of Karna as a tragic hero is fixed in the

Indian mind No special effort is perhaps necessary to demon

strate any literary composition about Karna as a piece of tragic

writing Even then, to avoid the effort at literary analysis will

mean denying to ourselves the aesthetic pleasure that arises from

the appraisal of an artist's design s ructure and literary art

Bhasa's Karnabhāra certainly deserves such an analysis

As in the Urubhanga in this very short one act play also

Bhasa handles the epic material with complete freedom that his

dramatic conception requires Karnabhara is also a picture of

the last or the penultimate moments in Karna's life, as Karna mar-

ches towards the battlefield with a heavy burden on his mind

Bhasa builds the play round the meeting between Indra and

Karna in which Karna parts with his armour and ear rings which

he had received at his birth from his father, the Sun god and

which had put him beyond the pale of human or divine weapons

and had virtually made him deathless. The unerring artistic

instinct of Bhasa uses this incident as the centre of his drama,

for, it is also the heart of Karna's personality Karna has a flair

for generosity; it brooks no limit, he is prepared to cut his

head and offer it as a gift to satisfy a supplicant It is a great

virtue, which men rarely possess and even all gods may not have

But carried to the level of self sacrifice it is a fatal vice Karna's

Kavacha Kundalas Karna was signing his own death warrant The

incident, therefore, is representative of Karna's heroic grandeur

and incomparable nobility; it is also a symbol of his tragic error

which inevitably leads to his death Karna's limitless generosity

could easily be described as hamartia in Aristotelian sense and

Karna is comparable to the Shakespearean tragic heroes like

[81]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Macbeth or Lear Obviously Bhasa's dramatic intention is to project the tragic personality of Karna and his impending doom, using psychological light.

To gain artistic unity for his drama's structure, Bhasa has altered the sequence of epic events, changed the characterization, omitted unwanted details and added new touches, disregarding the Mahabharata story. As a matter of fact, the meeting between Karna and Indra occurs in an earlier section of the epic. Karna's confrontation with Parashurama is narrated in a later section, and Karna's command of the Kuru forces and his death are described in a still later section of the Mahabharata.11 In transposing these episodes and fusing them in a new sequence the dramatist is evidently forging unity of action through the structural parts of his drama which are made to converge on the central note of tragedy. And while the main episode is intended to spell Karna's nobility and also his inevitable doom, the other incidents are designed to create a sense of tragic gloom and compel unmixed compassion for the tragic hero.

The Karnabhara opens in an atmosphere of unaccountable gloom. The soldier who brings a message of the call of battle is surprised to find Karna consumed by inner torment, weighed with sorrow, 'like the Sun lost in a bank of black clouds'. Karna is himself unable to explain why nerve-rattling misery should descend on his mind when he should have been enthusiastic about the prospect of fight. He remembers that Pandavas are his younger brothers. He also remembers the promise he has given to his real mother. All this is beyond explanation for Karna who has moved on the battlefield like the angry God of Death. The picture that Bhasa creates of Karna's despondency at the beginning of his play is unsupported by the epic story. But what potent suggestion the sad beginning carries of the sad end!

It is now logical that the reminiscent mood should evoke the buried memory of a curse. The Mahabharata mentions a double curse, that of Parashurama which is narrated here and of a

[82]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

Brahmin the calf of whose sacrificial cow was inadvertently kill

ed by Karna Bhasa omits the Brahmin's curse as redundant and

immaterial to his dramatic purpose and narrates Parashurama's

curse in great detail as it has a direct bearing on Karna's present

command of war The new juxtaposition of the incident of curse

and the supreme situation of war is yet another dramatic sugges-

tion of the coming catastrophe The story of Parashurama s curse

creates besides a dazzling p cture of Karna the inner urge and

unswerving effort of a pupil to acquire the knowledge of m ssiles

fighting against the social barriers of caste the superhuman

courage in bearing the agony when an insect bores a hole through

t'ie thighs and draws out a stream of blood the supreme devo-

tion to the preceptor these are uncommon qualities to be found

only in a grand and noble hero And the shades of human help-

lessness and sadness are also mixed n this p cture It is impos-

sible not to admire Karna and sympa hise with him

King Shalya is acting as Karna's charioteer and is a

listener to the tale of Parashurama's curse as in the epic But

the epic Shalya appears to bear malice towards Karna He

picks up a hot argument with Karna on the eve of the battle

uses abusive language and does everything in his perverse power

to dishearten Karna Bhasa has transformed the character of

Shalya who is a picture of sincere sympathy, consistent with the

tragic design of the play Shalya is eager to listen to Karna s

narration it evokes a genuine sympathetic response from him

and this attitude strengthens the pathetic impact of the narration,

and the feeling of sympathy for the unfortunate hero On this

background the heroic courage that Karna shows in going ahead

with his task lifts him to the level of tragic grandeur Karna

tests the power of his missiles and finds that they have become

useless His sterling steeds bred in Kamboja which always carried

him to certain victory now stumble heipJessly as they march

towards the battlefield and their eyes are closed in misery His

invincible elephants that led the van of his forces betoken

retreat The conch and the drum are silent The signs are

ominous and predict a catastrophe Shalya is overpowered

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Macbeth or Lear Obviously Bhasa's dramatic intention is to project the tragic personality of Karna and his impending doom using psychological light

To gain artistic unity for his dramatic structure Bhasa has altered the sequence of epic events, changed the characterization, omitted unwanted details and added new touches, disregarding the Mahabharata story As a matter of fact, the meeting between Karna and Indra occurs in an earlier section of the epic Karna's confrontation with Parashurama is narrated in a later section and Karna's command of the Kuru forces and his death are described in a still later section of the Mahabharata 11 In transposing these episodes and fusing them in a new sequence the dramatist is evidently forging unity of action through the structural parts of his drama which are made to converge on the central note of tragedy And while the main episode is intended to spell Karna's nobility and also his inevitable doom the other incidents are designed to create a sense of tragic gloom and compel unmixed compassion for the tragic hero

The Karnabhara opens in an atmosphere of unaccountable gloom The soldier who brings a message of the call of battle is surprised to find Karna consumed by inner torment, weighed with sorrow, 'like the Sun lost in a bank of black clouds Karna is himself unable to explain why nerve rattling misery should descend on his mind when he should have been enthusiastic about the prospect of fight He remembers that Pandavas are his younger brothers He also remembers the promise he has given to his real mother All this is beyond explanation for Karna who has moved on the battlefield like the angry God of Death The picture that Bhasa creates of Karna's despondency at the beginning of his play is unsupported by the epic story But what potent suggestion the sad beginning carries of the sad end!

It is now logical that the reminiscent mood should evoke the buried memory of a curse The Mahabharata mentions a double curse, that of Parashurama which is narrated here and of a

[82]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

Brahmin the calf of whose sacrificial cow was inadvertently killed by Karna Bhasa omits the Brahmin's curse as redundant and immaterial to his dramatic purpose and narrates Parashurama's curse in great detail as it has a direct bearing on Karna's present command of war The new juxtaposition of the incident of curse and the supreme situation of war is yet another dramatic suggestion of the coming catastrophe The story of Parashurama's curse creates besides a dazzling picture of Karna the inner urge and unswerving effort of a pupil to acquire the knowledge of missiles, fighting against the social barriers of caste the superhuman courage in bearing the agony when an insect bores a hole through the thighs and draws out a stream of blood the supreme devotion to the preceptor these are uncommon qualities to be found only in a grand and noble hero And the shades of human helplessness and sadness are also mixed in this picture It is impossible not to admire Karna and sympathise with him.

King Shalya is acting as Karna's charioteer and is a listener to the tale of Parashurama's curse as in the epic. But the epic Shalya appears to bear malice towards Karna He picks up a hot argument with Karna on the eve of the battle, uses abusive language and does everything in his perverse power to dishearten Karna Bhasa has transformed the character of Shalya who is a picture of sincere sympathy, consistent with the tragic design of the play Shalya is eager to listen to Karna's narration it evokes a genuine sympathetic response from him and this attitude strengthens the pathetic impact of the narration, and the feeling of sympathy for the unfortunate hero On this background the heroic courage that Karna shows in going ahead with his task lifts him to the level of tragic grandeur Karna tests the power of his missiles and finds that they have become useless His sterling steeds bred in Kamboja which always carried him to certain victory now stumble helplessly as they march towards the battlefield and their eyes are closed in misery His invincible elephants that led the van of his forces betoken retreat The conch and the drum are silent The signs are ominous and predict a catastrophe Shalya is overpowered

[83]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Macbeth or Lear Obviously Bhasa's dramatic intention is to project the tragic personality of Karna and his impending doom using psychological light

To gain artistic unity for his dramatic structure, Bhasa has altered the sequence of epic events, changed the characterization, omitted unwanted details and added new touches disregarding the Mahabharata story As a matter of fact the meeting between Karna and Indra occurs in an earlier section of the epic Karna's confrontation with Parashurama is narrated in a later section and Karna's command of the Kuru forces and his death are described in a still later section of the Mahabharata 11 In transposing these episodes and fusing them in a new sequence the dramatist is evidently forging unity of action through the structural parts of his drama which are made to converge on the central note of tragedy And while the main episode is intended to spell Karna's nobility and also his inevitable doom, the other incidents are designed to create a sense of tragic gloom and compel unmixed compassion for the tragic hero

The Karnabhara opens in an atmosphere of unaccountable gloom The soldier who brings a message of the call of battle is surprised to find Karna consumed by inner torment, weighed with sorrow, 'like the Sun lost in a bank of black clouds Karna is himself unable to explain why nerve rattling misery should descend on his mind when he should have been enthusiastic about the prospect of fight He remembers that Pandavas are his younger brothers He also remembers the promise he has given to his real mother All this is beyond explanation for Karna who has moved on the battlefield like the angry God of Death The picture that Bhasa creates of Karna's despondency at the beginning of his play is unsupported by the epic story But what potent suggestion the sad beginning carries of the sad end!

It is now logical that the reminiscent mood should evoke the buried memory of a curse The Mahabharata mentions a double curse : that of Parashurama which is narrated here and of a

[82]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

Brahmin, the calf of whose sacrificial cow was inadvertently kill-

ed by Karna Bhasa omits the Brahmin's curse as redundant and

immaterial to his dramatic purpose and narrates Parashurama's

curse in great detail as it has a direct bearing on Karna's present

command of war The new juxtaposition of the incident of curse

and the supreme situation of war is yet another dramatic sugges-

tion of the coming catastrophe The story of Parashurama's curse

creates, besides a dazzling picture of Karna the inner urge and

unswerving effort of a pupil to acquire the knowledge of missiles,

fighting against the social barriers of caste the superhuman

courage in bearing the agony when an insect bores a hole through

the thighs and draws out a stream of blood the supreme devo-

tion to the preceptor these are uncommon qualities to be found

only in a grand and noble hero And the shades of human helpless-

ness and sadness are also mixed n this p cture It is impos-

sible not to admire Karna and sympathise with him

King Shalya is acting as Karna's charioteer and is a

listener to the tale of Parashurama's curse as in the epic But

the epic Shalya appears to bear malice towards Karna He

picks up a hot argument with Karna on the eve of the battle,

uses abusive language and does everything in his perverse power

to dishearten Karna Bhasa has transformed the character of

Shalya who is a picture of sincere sympathy, consistent with the

tragic design of the play Shalya is eager to listen to Karna's

narration it evokes a genuine sympathetic response from him,

and this attitude strengthens the pathetic impact of the narration,

and the feeling of sympathy for the unfortunate hero On this

background the heroic courage that Karna shows in going ahead

with his task lifts him to the level of tragic grandeur Karna

tests the power of his missiles and finds that they have become

useless His sterling steeds bred in Kamboja which always carried

him to certain victory now stumble helplessly as they march

towards the battlefield and their eyes are closed in misery His

invincible elephants that led the van of his forces betoken

retreat The conch and the drum are silent The signs are

ominous and predict a catastrophe Shalya is overpowered

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Macbeth or Lear Obviously Bhasa's dramatic intention is to project the tragic personality of Karna and his impending doom using psychological light

To gain artistic unity for his dramatic structure Bhasa has altered the sequence of epic events, changed the characterization, omitted unwanted details and added new touches disregarding the Mahabharata story As a matter of fact, the meeting between Karna and Indra occurs in an earlier section of the epic Karna's confrontation with Parashurama is narrated in a later section, and Karna's command of the Kuru forces and his death are described in a still later section of the Mahabharata 11 In transposing these episodes and fusing them in a new sequence the dramatist is evidently forging unity of action through the structural note of tragedy And while the main episode is intended to spell Karna's nobility and also his inevitable doom the other incidents are designed to create a sense of tragic gloom and compel unmixed compassion for the tragic hero

The Karnabhara opens in an atmosphere of unaccountable gloom The soldier who brings a message of the call of battle is surprised to find Karna consumed by inner torment, weighed with sorrow, 'like the Sun lost in a bank of black clouds Karna is himself unable to explain why nerve rattling misery should descend on his mind when he should have been enthusiastic about the prospect of fight He remembers that Pandavas are his younger brothers. He also remembers the promise he has given to his real mother All this is beyond explanation for Karna who has moved on the battlefield like the angry God of Death The picture that Bhasa creates of Karna's despondency at the beginning of his play is unsupported by the epic story But what potent suggestion the sad beginning carries of the sad end !

It is now logical that the reminiscent mood should evoke the buried memory of a curse The Mahabharata mentions a double curse that of Parashurama which is narrated here and of a

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

in disguise speaks in Prakrit, like the Vidushaka of the Sanskrit

plays; he talks and acts exactly like the Court Jester, wrapped

in his selfish insatiable greed The light of ridicule and depravity

in which Bhasa introduces his Indra evidently magnifies the great-

ness and nobility of Karna It also lays bare the tragic weakness

of Karna Karna's desire to satisfy the beggar is itself ridiculous

in the circumstances. But it appears that Karna is in love with

his own magnanimity When Shalya warns him not to give away

his coat of mail and ear rings, Karna refuses to listen to him

and teaches him a lesson in religious philosophy that sacrificial

offerings and gifts earn immortality for a man ! And when Shalya

tells him further that Indra has duped him, Karna refuses again

to accept this sane and rational judgment. Karna contends that

Indra probably did not expect that Karna

would give him the gift of his choice, in belying Indra's expectation, Karna has satisfied him as no one did before, and scored

a personal victory over the King of the gods ! Karna appears to

glory over his gift This is where an uncommon virtue turns into

vice and becomes an instrument of self wrought destruction

This is hamartia

By another stroke of dramatic genius Bhasa introduces the

Devaduta, an angel, who brings a message and a gift from Indra

The deviation from the epic serves to gain additional colour to

the personality of Karna Unlike the epic figure, Bhasa's Indra

is filled with remorse for having required to use fraud and deception against the noble Karna in order to protect his own son

Arjuna For a moment, Indra appears to have a conscience, the

counter gift of the 'divine power' is a result of the pangs of

conscience Indra becomes human and thereby the great Karna

becomes greater still

As in the Urubhanga Bhasa has concentrated his art in this

play, too on using the physical events only to build a psychological picture of the hero The tragedy of Karna is a personal

tragedy,12 like that of Duryodhana in part it is made possible

mainly by the fatal flaw in their characters the element of fate

or destiny is no doubt present and contributes towards the final

[85]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

by sadness But it is Karna who cheers him Death or victory,

both are welcome for a warrior's code. Karna recites a final

prayer and turns his face resolutely to fight with the Pandavas

and engage Arjuna in a personal combat. Karna marches ahead

'like a lion in a jungle'

It is at this crucial moment that Bhasa places the central scene

of his drama It appears that Bhasa has expended his creative

energy fully on building up this scene In the epic the encounter

between Karna and Indra takes place earlier, in transplanting it,

as it were, on the background of the battlefield the dramatist

seems to be using it as a final eloquent suggestion of the tragic

end of Karna. Towards that dramatic effect, the epic incident

is considerably altered and modified The epic shows Karna expe-

riencing a dream in which the paternal Sun warns his son of

the roguery of Indra, urges on him not to part with his armour

and ear rings, and when Karna says that he could not possibly

refuse a gift begged for, the god Sun insists on Karna asking from

Indra a divine 'po ency' in exchange for his gift Bhasa omits

these details The result is that the encounter comes in the play,

not like a pre view shadowing the natural spontaneous impulses

of Karna, but as an unexpected happening and a mysterious

coincidence full of ominous implication Further, Bhasa's Karna

does not bargain, his gifts are not attached with strings, in fact,

Karna refuses to accept a counter g ft By omitting the epic

details Bhasa alters the character of Karna and places him on

a dazzling height of self effacing munificence

The dialogue between Karna and Indra is a piece of fine

creative art The successive offers of Karna are very generous.

The prompt refusals of the begging Brahmin are, therefore, appa-

rently ridiculous but they are mysterious and sinister too They

have the effect of rousing Karna emotionally, driving him insanely

to offer his own head and life with the object of satisfying the

beggar and avoiding at any cost, even the shadow of a slur on

his own instinctive generosity The emotional tension that this dia-

logue builds is overpowering. But the mas ter stroke of Bhasa's

art is in representing Indra not in the simple disguise of a Brah-

min as the epic does, but as a depraved Brahmin Bhasa's Indra

[84]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

in disguise speaks in Prakrit, like the Vidushaka of the Sanskrit

plays he talks and acts exactly like the Court Jester, wrapped

in his selfish insatiable greed The light of ridicule and depravity

in which Bhasa introduces his Indra evidently magnifies the great

ness and nobility of Karna It also lays bare the tragic weakness

of Karna Karna's desire to satisfy the beggar is itself ridiculous

in the circumstances But it appears that Karna is in love with

his own magnanimity When Shalya warns him not to give away

his coat of mail and ear rings, Karna refuses to listen to him

and teaches him a lesson in religious philosophy that sacrificial

offerings and gifts earn immortality for a man! And when Shalya

tells him further that Indra has duped him Karna refuses again

to accept this sane and rational judgment Karna contends that

he has duped Indra Indra probably did not expect that Karna

would give him the gift of his choice, in bellying Indra's expectation,

Karna has satisfied him as no one did before, and scored

a personal victory over the King of the gods! Karna appears to

gloat over his gift This is where an uncommon virtue turns into

vice and becomes an instrument of self wrought destruction

This is hamartia

By another stroke of dramatic genius Bhasa introduces the

Devaduta, an angel, who brings a message and a gift from Indra

The deviation from the epic serves to gain additional colour to

the personality of Karna Unlike the epic figure, Bhasa's Indra

is filled with remorse for having required to use fraud and deception

against the noble Karna in order to protect his own son

Arjuna For a moment, Indra appears to have a conscience, the

counter gift of the 'divine power' is a result of the pangs of

conscience Indra becomes human and thereby the great Karna

becomes greater still

As in the Urubhanga Bhasa has concentrated his art in this

play, too, on using the physical events only to build a psychological

picture of the hero The tragedy of Karna is a personal

tragedy,12 like that of Duryodhana in part it is made possible

mainly by the fatal flaw in their characters the element of fate

or destiny is no doubt present and contributes towards the final

[85]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

by sadness But it is Karna who cheers him Death or victory,

both are welcome for a warrior's code Karna recites a final

prayer and turns his face resolutely to fight with the Pandavas

and engage Arjuna in a personal combat. Karna marches ahead

'like a lion in a jungle'

It is at this crucial moment that Bhasa places the central scene

of his drama It appears that Bhasa has expended his creative

energy fully on building up this scene In the epic the encounter

between Karna and Indra takes place earlier, in transplanting it,

as it were, on the background of the battlefield the dramatist

seems to be using it as a final eloquent suggestion of the tragic

end of Karna Towards that dramatic effect, the epic incident

is considerably altered and modified The epic shows Karna expe-

riencing a dream in which the paternal Sun warns his son of

the roguery of Indra, urges on him not to part with his armour

and ear rings, and when Karna says that he could not possibly

refuse a gift begged for, the god Sun insists on Karna asking from

Indra a divine 'potency' in exchange for his gift Bhasa omits

these details The result is that the encounter comes in the play,

not like a pre view shadowing the natural spontaneous impulses

of Karna, but as an unexpected happening and a mysterious

coincidence full of ominous implication Further, Bhasa's Karna

does not bargain, his gifts are not attached with strings, in fact,

Karna refuses to accept a counter gift By omitting the epic

details Bhasa alters the character of Karna and places him on

a dazzling height of self effacing munificence

The dialogue between Karna and Indra is a piece of fine

creative art The successive offers of Karna are very generous.

The prompt refusals of the begging Brahmin are, therefore, appa-

rently ridiculous but they are mysterious and sinister too They

have the effect of rousing Karna emotionally, driving him insanely

to offer his own head and life, with the object of satisfying the

beggar and avoiding at any cost, even the shadow of a slur on

his own instinctive generosity The emotional tension that this dia-

logue builds is overpowering. But the master stroke of Bhasa's

art is in representing Indra, not in the simple disguise of a Brah-

min as the epic does, but as a depraved Brahmin Bhasa's Indra

[64]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

by sadness But it is Karna who cheers him Death or victory,

both are welcome for a warrior's code Karna recites a final

prayer and turns his face resolutely to fight with the Pandavas

and engage Arjuna in a personal combat Karna marches ahead

'like a lion in a jungle'

It is at this crucial moment that Bhasa places the central scene

of his drama It appears that Bhasa has expended his creative

energy fully on building up this scene In the epic the encounter

between Karna and Indra takes place earlier, in transplanting it,

as it were, on the background of the battlefield, the dramatist

seems to be using it as a final eloquent suggestion of the tragic

end of Karna Towards that dramatic effect, the epic incident

is considerably altered and modified The epic shows Karna expe-

riencing a dream in which the paternal Sun warns his son of

the roguery of Indra, urges on him not to part with his armour

and ear rings and when Karna says that he could not possibly

refuse a gift begged for, the god Sun insists on Karna asking from

Indra a divine 'po ency' in exchange for his gift Bhasa omits

these details The result is that the encounter comes in the play,

not like a pre view shadowing the natural spontaneous impulses

of Karna, but as an unexpected happening and a mysterious

coincidence full of ominous implication Further, Bhasa's Karna

does not bargain, his gifts are not attached with strings, in fact

Karna refuses to accept a counter gift By omitting the epic

details Bhasa alters the character of Karna and places him on

a dazzling height of self effacing munificence

The dialogue between Karna and Indra is a piece of fine

creative art The successive offers of Karna are very generous.

The prompt refusals of the begging Brahmin are, therefore, appa-

rently ridiculous but they are mysterious and sinister too They

have the effect of rousing Karna emotionally, driving him insanely

to offer his own head and life, with the object of satisfying the

beggar and avoiding at any cost, even the shadow of a slur on

his own instinctive generosity The emotional tension that this dia-

logue builds is overpowering. But the master's stroke of Bhasa's

art is in representing Indra, not in the simple disguise of a Brah-

min as the epic does, but as a depraved Brahmin Bhasa's Indra

[84]

TWO PLAYS OF TRAGIC DESIGN

in disguise speaks in Prakrit, like the Vidushaka of the Sanskrit

plays he talks and acts exactly like the Court Jester, wrapped

in his selfish insatiable greed The light of ridicule and depravity

in which Bhasa introduces his Indra evidently magnifies the great

ness and nobility of Karna It also lays bare the tragic weakness

of Karna Karna's desire to satisfy the beggar is itself ridiculous

in the circumstances But it appears that Karna is in love with

his own magnanimity When Shalya warns him not to give away

his coat of mail and ear rings, Karna refuses to listen to him

and teaches him a lesson in religious philosophy that sacrificial

offerings and gifts earn immortality for a man And when Shalya

tells him further that Indra has duped him Karna refuses again

to accept this sane and rational judgment Karna contends that

he has duped Indra Indra probably did not expect that Karna

would give him the gift of his choice in belying Indra's expectation,

Karna has satisfied him as no one did before, and scored

a personal victory over the King of the gods Karna appears to

gloat over his gift This is where an uncommon virtue turns into

vice and becomes an instrument of self wrought destruction

This is hamartia

By another stroke of dramatic genius Bhasa introduces the

Devaduta an angel who brings a message and a gift from Indra

The deviation from the epic serves to gain additional colour to

the personality of Karna Unlike the epic figure Bhasa's Indra

is filled with remorse for having required to use fraud and deception

against the noble Karna in order to protect his own son

Arjuna For a moment Indra appears to have a conscience, the

counter gift of the 'divine power' is a result of the pangs of

conscience Indra becomes human and thereby the great Karna

becomes greater still

As in the Urubhanga Bhasa has concentrated his art in this

play too on using the physical events only to build a psycho-

logical picture of the hero The tragedy of Karna is a personal

tragedy,12 like that of Duryodhana in part it is made possible

mainly by the fatal flaw in their characters the element of fate

or destiny is no doubt present and contributes towards the final

[85]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

catastrophe. Karna does not die on the stage But his death is

very eloquently suggested The actual showing of the death

would probably have jarred the delicate structure of suggestive art,

the unassuming poetry and the fine balance of emotions that the

play sustains The epic has made us familar with the fact that

Karna's principal adversary was Arjuna, Karna engages the

Pandavas in battle, but only discomfits Yudhisthira by depriving

him of his weapon Karna gives the fight of his life only to

Arjuna and finally dies at his hands Karna, in Karnabhara com-

mands his charioteer to "take my chariot to where that Arjuna

is likely to be" This command is repeated, with dramatic im-

pact, three times in this small play first, when Karna appears

on the scene and announces his intention to engage Arjuna in a

fight to gain a victory for his Kaurava masters then after Karna

has narrated the curse of Parashurama, tested his weapons, and

given a heroic boost to his own courage and the falling spirit of

Shalya, and just before the appearance of the disguised Indra,

finally, the play closes on this command The dramatic art of

Bhasa leaves no doubt in our mind that Karna, in asking to be

driven "where that Arjuna is". was asking to be driven to death

Karna's march to the battlefield is, in fact, a march towards in-

evitable death The Karnabhara has to be accepted, therefore,

as a piece of tragic writing

IV

---

Absence of Tragedy

. I

Barring the exception of two one act plays of Bhasa, the Sanskrit dramatic literature never did produce a formal tragedy If in the West the problem is to explain the decline and death of tragedy,1 a student of Sanskrit drama has to explain the almost total absence of tragedy The reasons why the Sanskrit dramatists did not develop the tragic form are, I think, many And they are connected with the individual and social life of man, the contemporary conditions in so far as they promote response to dramatic entertainment, the conventions of literature and art, and the social, ethical, religious and philosophical values which a society accepts

II

The existence of a pure literary drama is a theoretical possibility that must be accepted But it is also true in practice This is probably more pertinent about Sanskrit literature which treated the dramatic form as an exercise in literary composition and stylistic display, witnessed in such dramatic patterns as the one character Bhana or in the dramas of the decadent period The use of dramatic form as a convenient instrument for propagating religious or philosophical ideas by means of an obvious symbolism or by exploiting a mythological theme is yet another indication of the divorce of drama from living theatre

However, drama does mean stage production, and the expec-

[87]

tation as well as the reaction of an audience about dramatic

performance are quite important factors, at least for a prelimi

nary consideration An average theatre-goer expects to be amused

and entertained He will be prepared to shed a few tears, to be

jolted from his established attitudes or even shocked, for a

moment But what he wants most is pleasure He wants to leave

the theatre in a happy mood Life is already full of misery and

sadness The playgoer wants to forget it and escape into a sort

of dream world of art he wants to make the most of his time,

leisure and money, for which life does not afford him much

opportunity He reacts, therefore well to a comedy he likes the

spectacular on the stage and, of course, loves very much the

elements of song dance and music This psychological picture

of the average playgoer is not changed through the ages, it is

not likely to, also considering what man and his needs are ?

Such an attitude of the audience is presupposed in the Sans-

krit drama and some evidence can be adduced in favour of the

supposition

It is well known that Sanskrit drama and poetry thrived under

the patronage of ruling princes and royal houses Many writers

like Kalidasa Banabhatta, Bhavabhuti in his later years and

Rajashekara are known to have been court poets and some

kings like Shudraka and Shri Harsha were themselves poets and

dramatists some on the other hand, like Vishakhadatta may

have been very closely connected with the houses of ruling fami-

lies This fact of royal patronage or contact with political rulers

must have played an important part in shaping the form and

pattern of Sanskrit drama The princes and their courtiers must

have used drama principally as a form of entertainment They

must have naturally preferred light or hilarious comedy, a spec-

tacle of song and dance, or, at best, a dazzling display of poetic

powers to a serious or tragic drama The aim was amusement

and pleasure and these were what the dramatic writers were ex-

pected to provide

The first play that Kalidasa compos'd is a hılarious court

comedy of rosal lose ending iery happily in the marrıag

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ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

the King hero Agnimitra with his queen's beautiful maid Malavika, who (for dramatic effect and for harmony of social laws and conventions) proves to be a princess in disguise This

play, Malavika Agnimitra has two professional dance and music masters who were in the employ of King Agnimitra and his senior queen Dharini, they were training the queen's maid and the younger queen in these twin arts Malavika actually presents in this play, a technical performance of song and dance, and it is an important part of the dramatic action of the play It is equally interesting to find that Kalidasa in his second play, the Vikramorvashiya presents the grief of the hero, King Pururavas in his insane search for his lost beloved Urvashi, as a song and dance spectacle supported by orchestral and vocal music There

is a very important reason of art for such a treatment of lament of a single character, for, prolonged grief, spread over almost a whole act, cannot be presented by a monologue (or even a dialogue) on the stage, lest it became either boring or unbearable to an audience in the theatre The proper literary form for such overwhelming sustained pathos is lyrical, not dramatic However, the use of the element of song and dance is a significant point in the context of dramatic production Kalidasa's final play, the Abhijnanashakuntala is a serious comedy, and has some grim moments like the curse of Durvasas, and solemn scenes like that of the repudiation of Shakuntala and of Dushyanta's agony But

the play begins with an enthralling song of the Nati in the prologue, there is queen Hamsapadika's song sung 'behind the scene' but in full exhibition of classical melody, and there is also a display of Cupid's Spring Festival, although it is hurriedly with drawn for dramatic reasons Kalidasa is the artist who insists, through his important characters Pandita Kaushiki, an expert on musical and dance lore, and Ganadasa, a professor of dance-drama, that the test of a drama lies in its stage performance, and the producer director of Kalidasa's masterpiece, the Shakuntala says in the prologue, that until the learned experts showed their complete satisfaction he would not consider that he had really achieved perfection in the technical knowledge and skill of dramatic production ³ This heavy leaning on the production

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

values of a drama is quite realistic and practical, but it also underlines the importance of audience-response.

The evidence from other plays points in the same direction Bana's tribute to Bhasa, properly interpreted, shows that the plays he presented won 'banners', on several occasions, in recognition of the merits of dramatic production and performance from the judges appointed by royal authority 4 Harsha presents a play within the play, in his Priyadarshika and both are light romantic comedies of royal love It appears, therefore, that the dramatic performances given at royal command and at the auditorium in the palace had generally a light character or a mythological-legendary pattern, and contained an obvious element of song, dance and music

Normally, the performances were given on occasions of religious and social festivals The atmosphere of festival is a part of many a dramatic theme, and it is well known that Bhavabhuti arranged the production of his plays, through his actor friends, at the festival of Kalapriyanatha 5 The holiday crowds would naturally expect to be amused by fun and laughter, entertained by song and dance and sent home in a happy and pleasant mood

The royal patronage, festive occasions of production and the general psychology of audience response, all determined, probably, the mould in which Sanskrit dramatic writing was cast Its ob vious emphasis was on entertainment and pleasure, through a pattern of comedy

111

The overall picture which Sanskrit drama presents is that of plays with a happy ending, and this is very suggestive of the dramatists' attitude to play writing and play production

That Sanskrit drama heavily leaned on comedy structure may be accepted with the necessary caution caution, because many a Sanskrit play, as other works of literature, have been lost in the limbo of time The Sanskrit theorists, in the course of illustrating a literary point or principle, refer to plays and poems which are no longer available and which therefore exist only in

[90]

ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

Literary allusions A sweeping observation about the nature and characteristics of Sanskrit drama may be erroneous However, what literature has survived the ravages of time and neglect and has been handed down by tradition could justify the assumption that the dramatists preferred dramatic stories with a happy ending to tales of disaster and death

The prevailing pattern is that of the Romantic comedy of love; and there are a few plays built round the theme of heroism The latter use elements of fight and death, both happening 'behind the scene' and conveyed by report, and also the element of pathos which is shown on the stage for dramatic effect and as an emotional appeal of the play The love themes contain elements of despair and agony before fulfilment comes and in some plays there is separation of lovers with its attendant agony and pathos But the tension in both the kinds of plays is temporary, and all of them end on a note of victory and happiness Even such plays as are serious in intent avoid final catastrophe and return from the brink of tragedy to a state of joy in which all sighs are submerged and all tears are dissolved The analytical review of the serious plays taken in an earlier section will prove this It appears that the Sanskrit dramatists guided themselves by the motto that "All is well that ends well" Such an attitude is likely to have been formed by the consideration, among other things, of drama as a form of popular entertainment

Safe as this deduction is it is strengthened by theoretical statements which some dramatists have occasionally made, defining their concept and function of drama An important pronouncement in this direction comes from Kalidasa A dramatic character in the Malavikagnimitra Ganadasa who is shown as a professor of dance and drama, explains his pride in dramatic art in the following words

The ancient sages aver that the dramatic art is a pleasant, visual sacrifice offered unto the gods

Rudra divided this art in the two halves of his body mingled with that of Uma

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

In this art is exhibited the life and behaviour of the people as

it arises from an interplay of three modes and as comprising

diverse sentiments

The dramatic art, alone, yields complete pleasure to the people

of diverse tastes in a variety of ways.

Kālidasa is, in a way, summarising some significant ideas about

the evolution of drama from the Bharata Nātyaśāstra in present-

ing this view of dramatic art

But certain overtones and sugge-

tions of additional meaning that these statements carry deserve

to be noted The view that the dramatic art is a kind of sacrifice

bestows on it a religious character, and Sanskrit drama could

never divest itself of a religious tone, at least in its preliminaries

to the performance, and in the opening benedictory prayer with which it closed

In other words, whatever the theme of the drama, a dramatic composition and its

performance were looked upon as a kind of a ritual, a worship

offered to the gods The people, it seems, gratefully acknowledged

this ritual offering and the practice of Kālidasa, as of the rest

of the dramatists shows that the writers too accepted this view

and shaped their compositions accordingly

The reference to Rudra, Shiva, and his spouse Umā implies the

mythical, divine origin of drama It also carries two additional

suggestions The first is that the dance of Shiva and that of Umā

are taken as nāṭya dramatic art In the evolutionary history of

Sanskrit drama, dance must have played an important role in

fact, before the spoken, prose and verse dialogue was added in

the composition, dance, acted with the rhythm of music and the

expression of moods and feelings, must have been the most signi-

ficant form of dramatic exhibition What is more, Kālidasa and

his dramatic character Ganadāsa do not distinguish dance from

drama I am inclined to believe that the formal 'acting' in the

stage-performance of a Sanskrit drama was allied to dance tech

rique in the old theatrical tradition

The second suggestion arises

from the idea of the division of drama in the two inseparable halves

of Shiva's body As Shiva's body is blended with that of Umā,

so is drama a blend of the terrible Tāṇḍava of Shiva and the

tender graceful Lāsya of Umā that is to say, a harmony of the

ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

fearful and the pleasant The Sanskrit dramatists seem to have derived the idea of the blend from the Rudra Uma concept, and from it, they seem to have derived religious sanction too for their dramatic compositions which are, as we have seen either completely pleasant or a blend of the serious and the pleasant carefully balanced

The third statement implies that the drama derives its stuff and material from human life. Philosophically, human life and human actions are a result of the interplay of Sattva, the mode of goodness and enlightenment which results in happiness, Rajas, the mode of passion and lust which leads to ceaseless activity and ends in misery, and Tamas, the mode of infatuation and ignorance leading men to blunder, lethargy and stupor In simple language, human life is a mixture of happiness, misery and infatuation, actions of men lead to mixed experiences and evoke, in the process, a variety of feelings This philosophical view of life is eminently practical Further, it is true that human life and experiences are the material of dramatic and literary art. But the Sanskrit dramatists appear to have taken also the converse of the philosophical proposition as perfectly true That is to say, the dramatic art is a representation of human life based on the interaction of the three modes and comprises a variety of feelings Conversely, if a drama is to appeal to a variety of human tastes, it must present a mixture of happiness and misery and try to evoke a varied response, it must not concentrate only on misery and pathos, pity and fear, it must judiciously balance these harsh feel-

ings with other soft feelings like that of love, laughter and wonder which evoke pleasure and admiration In the Vikramorvashiya Kalidasa mentions a play, Lakshmisvayamvara supposed to have been written by the goddess Sarasvati, and produced and directed by the hoary Bharata, and it is described as ashta rasashraya based on all the eight rhetorical sentiments This seems to be Kali dasa's ideal He is apparently justifying this attitude to dramatic art by providing for it a theoretical sanction. There is here a covert implication too, that in achieving a balance of varied experiences and diverse feelings the dramatic art will be truer to life

The last statement emphasises pleasure as the aim of dramatic

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

art Of all arts, the drama is supposed to satisfy all possible

tastes most effectively, obviously because it is a meeting place of

visual and aural arts The dramatic art can convey a sense of

pleasurable enjoyment in a variety of ways by its poetry and

literary quality, by its thought and philosophy, by its impressive

spectacle, its gorgeous drapery and costumes, its histrionic appeal,

its song dance and music This is true, but it is also a concession

to popular demand and popular taste

Kalidasa expresses this view through a dramatic character, in

the natural course of his literary construction Yet it is possible

to assume that it has his personal approval Bhavabhuti on the

other hand, is a self-conscious artist and expresses definite opinions

in the prologue of his second play 'Vedic study and training in

various branches of philosophy are of no account', he says, 'for

achieving success in dramatic composition What is required is

a dignity of expression, a flawless and graceful diction, to achieve

a rich suggestion of meanings and a manifestation of emotional

content A composition is deemed of high order if it contained

a profuse variety of sentiments and their profound employment,

actions that grip the heart through human attachment, a theme

of adventure and love, a wonderful concoction of episodes and a

polished expression' 12 This is a neat formula for a good and

successful play, but not necessarily a great play When Bhava-

bhuti turned to his Uttara rama charita he changed his tone and

demanded a Karuna dominated play But that did not lead him,

as we saw earlier, to a tragic design His art stopped at a profu-

sion of pathos, striking dramatic situations cleverly built round

irony, and an exuberance of stylistic expression

Vishakhadatta is a serious and able writer and has produced

a political play based on an historical theme It stands apart

among the sentimental comedies of love by its serious theme,

intellectual tone and a strict adherence to its central purpose,

although it is not a tragedy Vishakhadatta states, incidentally

through his dramatic characters, that the construction of a play

resembles a well planned strategy of a politician the planting

of the seed, watching its gradual growth, the set-backs and their

removal denoting a crucial point of development, the slow but

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ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

sure gathering of scattered results, and the achievement of the

final fruit The construction, moreover, has to be perfectly logi-

cal and consistent, if a play began one way and ended in quite

another, it would indeed be bad art 13 These statements are valua-

ble, but they are not relevant to the purpose of tragedy, the

principles of unity of action and its logical development enun-

ciated here could apply to any dramatic composition, irrespective

of its form and pattern

The later dramatists have nothing special to say, if at all they

do so, and the writers of the decadent period are more noteworthy

for their bragging about poetic excellences than for any original

accomplishment As it happened, the drama turned its attention

more and more to the literary aspect and severed, in the process,

its vital link with the stage

But what we have is sufficient to determine the dramatists’ atti-

tude to their art Kalidasa and his successors accepted drama as a

ritual on the one hand and, on the other, as a supreme art mode

to carry pleasure to the audiences on different levels of visual and

emotional appeal This is affirmation of dramatic art as the most

satisfying popular entertainment, but it is also a denial of tragedy,

of a serious drama that ends on a note of disaster and suffering

Dramatists like Bhavabhuti emphasise cleverly manipulated situa-

tions, a judicious mixture of emotions, an appeal to the feelings

of love and heroism, and a masterly, elegant style that establishes

the poet’s command of language and rhetoric These are factors

that are calculated to attract and please the audiences at best,

they are aspects of good and successful play writing It appears,

therefore, that the Sanskrit poets were either incapable of conceiv-

ing the tragic drama, or preferred to avoid it deliberately

IV

The theory of drama in Sanskrit is, in its own way, responsible

for the absence of tragedy Bharata ascribes a divine origin to

the drama Brahma, the god of creation is supposed to have

created it, out of elements selected from the four Vedas, as a

‘Fifth Veda’ 14 This statement will not puzzle a modern student

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

of drama, because he can understand it as consistent with the

ancient practice of writers of investing their works with a hoary

antiquity and an undisputed authority Besides, there is a rational

explanation too The elements that were selected from the Vedas

were recitative part, gest culation or acting music and human

emotions These of course are aspects of a dramatic composition,

and the statement implies that the formal drama probably arose

in a ritual context and through an observance of ritualistic prac-

tices This is a part of the historical origin and evolution of Sans-

krit drama It need not have completely overshadowed further

development. But, in practice, the name of Bharata and the divi-

nity of drama seem to have been held in such sacrosanct autho-

rity as to negate any possibility of divergence from the precepts

of the Natyashastra Sanskrit drama could never shed its ritual

and religious context

Bharata also tells us that the Natya as the fifth Veda was

created to fulfil a special need The Age had changed, people

were affected by vulgar behaviour and swayed by passions life

was no longer happy Under these conditions the denizens of

different worlds and human sages approached Brahma and begged,

through Indra for a plaything that could both be seen and

heard This is rather fanciful but it has had a far reaching in-

fluence on shaping the form and pattern of Sanskrit drama The

divine context in which the account is presented and the reverence

which Bharata claimed, already passing into the realm of ancient

holies, must have combined to mould the minds of common as

well as thinking men That the drama is both a 'visual' and an

'aural' art, that it has to appeal to the eye and to the ear, is

perfectly true But in Bharata's theory it means an inclusion of

spectacular dance and costumes and of poetic styles and music

According to the Natyashastra a full orchestra of drum and cymbal

players and players on lute and flute sits at the back of the stage,

in full view of the audience, and accompanies the chief singer and

his female assistant singers throughout the dramatic performance

Bharata prescribes several types of songs, technically called

dhruvas which are to be sung to mark the preliminaries, the en-

trance and exit of important characters, and as an accompaniment

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ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

to significant moods and emotions portrayed in the development

of the dramatic story Such a musical accompaniment could not

in itself, be antagonistic to tragic mood and design But the

prescription and an occasional corroboration from dramatic prac-

tice reflected in the text of a play18 suggest that the orchestral and

vocal music was used as a formal element of dramatic production

Abhinavagupta, the famous commentator of the Bharata Naty

shastra, says that the use of proper head gear and masks by actors

helps the audience to forget the private individuality of the actor,

and the eye-catching scenic arrangements, as well as the use of

song and dance, enable the spectator to forget his private preju-

dices and 'worries and be lifted into a new world of delight and

pleasure.17 It may not be wrong to assume therefore that the

spectacular and the musical aspects of dramatic production were

planned principally for pleasure

The other part of the 'aural appeal of the drama is the dramatic

speeches in prose and verse. This should really be connected to the

art of delivery and intonation of the actors Bharata appropriately

calls it vachika abhinaya the art of verbal acting and prescribes

different kinds of writing and performing styles to suit the mood

and emotion. This should be the heart of any dramatic perfor-

mance for, even in the absence of spectacular aid, the acting can

reach the hearts of the spectators by the sheer force of acting and

vibrant speech delivery The dramatist's art as a script writer has

also a vital part to play in this regard Dramatists of the calibre

of Bhāsa, Kālidāsa and Shudraka carried this responsibility with

the insight and skill of true artists. But it is also true that the

majority of dramatists, and especially the later ones understood

this responsibility to mean stylized expression and believed that

their flights of fancy and rhetorical language were a poetic delight

to their audiences

Bharata's description of the birth of Sanskrit drama as a play

thing has had a profound influence on its development. Bharata

himself has a wide vision and shows a minute awareness of the

psychology of people He says 'The young are pleased by the

sight of love, the cultured men are satisfied by the philosophical

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

content in a drama, greatly men are satisfied by stories of wealth,

and the other worldly by a tale of salvation, the adventurous love

heroism anger, disgust, and like to see fights and battles, old men

are interested in mythological stories and religious ideas on the

other hand, women, children and the uneducated delight in laughter

and are attracted by make up and costumes 18 Considering the

varied appeal of dramatic art Bharata also postulates a variety of

functions that drama can perform Entertainment and restful

pleasure is one But the drama can also have an educative func-

tion in rewarding the good and chastising the wild imparting

knowledge to the ignorant and making the educated wise It

can also bring a message of cheer to the depressed, of courage

to the timid of inspiration to the industrious and the brave of

hope and peace to the weary and the distressed 19 It is difficult

to know how Bharata reconciled the idea of drama as a play-

thing a toy, with this wide vision of dramatic function and his

later prohibition, among other things, of violent scenes and death

on the stage 20 The Sanskrit theorists, however, have accepted

the doctrines of Bharata along with his injunctions and prohibi-

tions They merely echo Bharata without adding much new

thought to the dramatic theory, except filling in a few gaps

elaborating some points spinning out new illustrations and multi

plying varieties postulated earlier The theory has remained

more or less static This is surprising It means that the

theorists lacked the capacity or refused to grasp new literary trends

out of respect for Bharata, or the dramatists in their faithful prac

tice of Bharata's preaching failed to produce any new trends and

the theorists had no new material to work upon In practice the

dramatists have scrupulously followed the rules of Bharata and

have tried to cram the variety of functions and appeals in every

single dramatic piece, as far as possible, with the ultimate aim of

pleasing their audiences of diverse tastes in a variety of ways

Taking their cue from Bharata, some later theorists like

Dhananjaya and Vishvanatha speak of five 'components' of the

drama, five 'stages' of plot-building and five 'junctures' or

joints which link up the stages 21 This theory pertains to the

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ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

elements and the construction of dramatic plot but it has a

relevance here in so far as the concept of drama that it implies

In this theory, the dramatic plot is regarded as a manifestation

of a hero's effort The hero, it is assumed, has to achieve some-

thing it may be the love of the heroine, victory in battle a goal

the fulfilment of a vow, or a significant idea. He acts to obtain

this something, and the drama is a story of his sustained effort,

which shows the stages of 'beginning' in which what he wishes

to achieve is indicated 'effort', in which his actions for the

achievement are shown 'set back', in which the obstacles are

shown, creating suspense and a temporary despondency, 'definite

hope', in which the obstacles are lifted away and the effort runs

towards fulfilment, and 'fruitfulness', in which the hero finally

obtains the fruit of his efforts.22

The Sanskrit dramatists naturally use this theory in their plot

construction It is a fairly general description of plot structure

and could be shown to apply to almost any dramatic pattern.

But, in practice, this has definitely meant a negation of tragic

design because no hero' could be said to be striving for

obtaining disaster and death.

As a matter of fact, this is a one sided, imperfect understand-

ing and application of the theory of dramatic structure Why

could not a hero be shown to be obtaining disaster and death

as a result of his efforts and actions? Why has the 'fruit' to be

invariably pleasant and happy? Apparently some writers were

willing to permit an epic story to be tragic Valmiki ended the

Ramayana story with the disappearance of Sita and the suicide

of Rama Vyasa showed in the Mahabharata, the horror and

destruction of war, and other epic poets like Kalidasa have

described death in their stories But Bhavabhuti protests against

the tragic ending of the Rama story in a dramatic form as if,

tragedy were permissible in an epic but not in a drama. The

epic writers, of course, have described violent fights disaster and

death as also intimate scenes of love forbidden on the stage

Bharata s prohibitions in regard to the drama are in certain cases

justified For scenes of mass fight and war, outbreak of fire

and such other calamities cannot be represented on account of

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TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

the very limitations of a theatre-stage; and certain other things like sleep-scenes and intimacies of love may not be acted in the presence of a mass of people who come to witness a play, for reasons of propriety and good taste. But why should there be any objection to tragic death, either shown or suggested ?

A poetıcan of great calibre and orginalıty like Anandavar-dhana writes.

"As in the delineation of love in separation, it is no fault if only its organic parts like disease etc., and not other things which are not its organic parts, are described And even if death is possib!y its organ c part, introducing it is not good [ Death of a hero or heroine will mean ] destroying the substratum of aesthetic emotion and, with this, aesthetic pleasure will be totally cut up If it is argued that in the case of a subject like death, karuna, pathos, will certainly be developed, we demur because it is irrelevant, and because what is relevant (viz the emotion of love) w ll be cut up However, where the sentiment of karuna happens to be the principal content of a poetic composition, there is no objection Alternatıvely, in the delınea tion of love, if the union [ of separated lovers ] were to be possible in a short measure of time, then the literary inclusion of death will not be very objectionable If, however, the union were to come after a long time, then in the interval [ between death and reunion after death ], the stream of the story will only be cut up so, a poet principally occupied with a composition of emotional form and content should carefully avoid the writing of such incidents [ as death ]"23

I have translated and quoted this long extract from Ananda-vardhana for a purpose Anandavardhana and his equally famous commentator Abhinavagupta are regarded as the greatest autho-rity on the theory of aesthetics of literary art, after Bharata The extract will enable us now to understand the limitation of the theoretical view Anandavardhana apparently permits the showing of death in a purely pathetic composition This probably applies to epic stories like the Ramayana or single episodes treated in poetry No Sanskrit dramatist has used karuna as the governing sentiment of his composition Bhavabhuti wanted to.

[100]

ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

in his Uttara rama-charita but he did not approve of tragic ending for a drama 'The dramatists have followed the dictum that 'either love or heroism should be the dominating emotion of a dramatic composition' 24 Other emotions like sorrow, laughter, anger, disgust, fear, wonder, are to be used for variety, as Bharata prescribed to enrich the composition and to achieve a variety of emotional appeal The heroic drama uses the incident of death but only of the hero's opponents In a story of love and separation, Anandavardhana permits the showing of death only if it were followed almost immediately by a reunion of the lovers in heaven This is possible to be described only in a poem Abhinavagupta assures us that this refers to Aja's suicide after Indumati's accidental death described in the epic poem Raghu-vamsha of Kalidasa and their immediate blissful reunion in the pleasure houses of the heavenly garden. Barring such a possi bility a poet should avoid the showing of death, according to Anandavardhana for two reasons Death will terminate the story and it will also mean termination of aesthetic pleasure which arises out of the tasting of an aesthetic emotion.

It is difficult to agree with Anandavardhana unless his words are taken only as a safe advice given to a budding poet who is asked to stick to the path of ordinary success and popularity Anandavardhana's view is surprising because all theorists from Bharata downwards have maintained that all aesthetic experience culminates in supreme pleasure 25 including experience of such emotions as fear, anger, disgust and sorrow If so why the exception in the case of death and sorrow or pathos arising out of it? That there will be a break in the story and in our aesthetic enjoyment because death will terminate everything, is rather a poor reason for avoiding death and averting a formal tragedy It is also unsound aesthetically If the dramatic art is an imitation of 'I fe', as Bharata says,26 and if life is a mixture of happiness and sorrow, why should art temper the sorrow with happiness and always strive for a happy ending? But this is what the theorists maintain and the writers practise. Cannot a tragedy and the karuna bhayanaka and vīra (pity fear and the heroic) in it, be aesthetically enjoyed? The Sanskrit dramatic theory and practice

[101]

are clearly one sided Failure on the part of the dramatists and

theorists, both, to grasp the real aesthetics of art appears to be

an important reason for the absence of tragedy It is a failure

of aesthetic perspective

But if the theorists maintained certain views for reasons of

their own, is not a literary artist free to choose his subject and

treat it in his own way? The Sanskrit poetic theory concedes

such a freedom to the poet, who is described as another Creator,

unhampered by the laws of nature and of life27 It will also not

be wholly correct to imagine that the Sanskrit writers had a poor

view of life and death, even if they followed certain literary tradi-

tions If they have adopted a particular view of literary art, it

may not be a mere compulsion of art theories or of the desire

to please by streamlined art processes The possibility of more

compulsive reasons cannot be denied This must take us to the

values of life, religious and philosophical, which both the drama-

tists and their audiences accepted and also held inviolable.

The tragic sense must depend on our acceptance that an indi-

vidual is free to act, act even wrongly, that he has a right to

stand for and defend his convictions, even if they are opposed to

the established order of society or the universe that if he suffered

in the course of his struggle or even met with death he would be

willing to go down fighting in a heroic spirit Basically, this

is a question of explaining human actions and human suffering

The Indian religion which believes in a continuity of life through

a cycle of births and deaths assumes that a man's life is in a

way, pre-ordained by his own actions What he does in one life

time determines what he will be in the next birth A man is

thus placed in life with a pre disposition which is partly innate,

being the result of his actions in the previous life, and partly

environmental which also is adjusted to his actions of the previ-

ous birth The nature, prakriti of man, inherited and shaped by

appropriate background, will lead him to act in a particular way

and not otherwise A 'good' man will act correctly and righte-

[102]

A B S E N C E o F T R A G E D Y

ously; a 'bad' man will blunder and suffer The suffering, how-

ever, being the result of his own actions in the previous birth and

of his own folly in the present existence, he has no moral right

to grumble or grieve over his personal state Thus is the law of

Karman and it is inexorable The Ind an mind explains suffering

and sorrow by the law of -arman and the characters which the

writers create do the same Sita does not blame Rama for her

unjust and cruel abandonment she calls it the result of her sins

in her previous birth Shakuntala is at once ready to forget her

inexplicable suffering and forgive Dushyanta, because she believes

that her own 'adverse fate' made Dushyanta callous to her In

life, as in literature, the Indian mind is always prone to trace suffer

ing and sorrow to its own fate However, 'fate', in Indian religion

and philosophy, does not represent an external power, either

opposed to the divine power or parallel to it, as in some Western

Philosophies Fate is only a force, created by the accumulation of

ment and dement of one's own actions in previous births It can

be favourable or untoward, depending on our actions As such,

one's suffering is of one's own making, it may evoke normal sym

pathy; but it does not call for any heroics only fortı'tude and

patience

This does not mean that religion leaves an individual to his own

mercy True, God never interferes with the actions of men He

only hands over to each individual his full dues. God is abso-

lutely Right and Just. To question Divine Justice is an act of

supreme folly and will be punished To imagine that God could

be wrong and man right is the height of 'rreverence, and is anti-

religious. But God is also a beneficent Parent, full of mercy and

kindness and ever eager to help s ncere men to reach Him If

'good' men appear to suffer, it is probably only a test of their

courage and their faith in God and if 'bad' men suffer, they

deserve such punishment for their deeds. God cannot withhold or

commute punishment. But He will save you from further torture

by opening the gates of heaven for you and by breaking the cycle

of birth and rebirth if you win His grace by devotion God is so

full of kindness that He will allow Himself to be born in this

mortal life for the protection of the righteous and the destruc-

[103]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

tion of evil doers28 Religion thus solemnly assures that the good,

the righteous and the truthful will finally triumph, as the vicious

and the untruthful will go down With such an explanation of

action and suffering and with the promise of God's grace, the

Sanskrit writers dared not show the good suffer except tempo-

rarly, and permit sympathy and admiration to be aroused for the

wrong doers, because their destruction and death are an act of

divine justice.

Philosophy, especially the Vedanta Philosophy, strengthens these

religious tenets Death, is only a phase in the cyclic life of crea-

tures, it is a pre-condition of rebirth But what is death after

all ?

Only the severance of body and soul This is no cause for

regret or sorrow For, the body which is a product of material

elements is liable to perish and the soul that lives in the body

as a temporary tenant is immortal, being identical with or at least

a part and parcel of the Supreme Soul which is the ultimate

Reality of this universe This union of the mortal body and the

immortal soul is what we ordinarily call the 'life' of a creature

The union is designed as temporary, the soul cannot be perma-

nently chained to the mortal coil Death only marks the libera-

tion of the soul from the perishable body It will be a temporary

liberation, if the soul has not succeeded in wiping out the effects

of the Karma completely and is, therefore, required to take on

a new birth to complete the process of actions, very much like a

man discarding old clothes and donning new ones If however,

the Karma is wiped clean by perfect devotion, by acting in a

spirit of dedication and service to humanity and God or by

perfect knowledge, the soul is completely liberated This is

moksha emancipation, the state of knowledge and bliss in which

the soul becomes the Universal Spirit or lives in divine light eter-

nally But death is not only*an inevitable phase of life, it is

also a cosmic necessity God has to keep the wheel of birth and

rebirth creation and re-creation continually moving For, all crea-

tures cannot reach the state of liberation simultaneously, indiv dual

karma being different for every individual, and the mortal world

is the only place where God can provide the experience of the

fruits of an individual's actions so that, just as birth is a neces-

[104]

ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

sary result of actions of the past life, death is a necessary condi-

tion for opening up new life Religion and philosophy therefore

represent birth and death as necessary phases in the evolution of

the Cosmos. God creates life; He sustains it, but He also des-

troys it, as a necessity for next creation This is the trinity of

Cosmic function, which Indian religion represents by the symbol

of Trimurti, Three Gods forming a Unity Strangely enough, the

later Vedanta holds a pessimistic view of life; it looks upon life as

an un-truth, an illusion, at best a truth of a lower order, whose

validity melts away before the Sun of true knowledge; the only

value of life is that it is a training ground and an opportunity

for salvation But the Vedanta in its ultimate reach is deeply

optimistic It promises that at the end of this mortal life there

is immortality, this is a passage from darkness to life, from igno-

rance to knowledge. To the philosophically wise, therefore, death

is no occasion for pity and sorrow, on the contrary, it may be

an occasion of joy, joy, because death may be the beginning of

spiritual liberation.

These tenets of religion and philosophy have had a firm hold

on the Indian mind If an artist tried to shake off this hold, his

audiences would probably never be able to understand and accept

him He, therefore stuck to the beliefs and doctrines fostered by

religion and philosophy, he showed the ups and downs of life,

but ended on a note of ultimate happiness, consistent with the

assurance of religion and philosophy The result, of course was

that there was no tragedy

It may be said that religion and philosophy are anti tragedy

This is true of all religious and theological creeds Religion is

always optimistic, it holds that evil and suffering are necessary

as a means to greater good, and man is able to achieve the greater

good only when he bows down before the sublimity of God

Raphael writes "The religion of the Bible is immical to tragedy.

Tragedy is hardly possible against the background of Bibli-

cal religion "29 "The least touch of any theology," says I A

Richards, "which has a compensating Heaven to offer to the tragic

[105]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

hero is fatal " And Miss Una Ellis Fermor says that, "Progression

into beatitude (Richards' 'compensating Heaven') makes tragedy

impossible "30 The Sanskrit dramatists never did reject the tenets

of religion or did not think them worth rejecting And so, there

is no tragedy in Sanskrit drama

Tragedy demands a different set of values from those of theo-

logy and metaphysics Tragedy does not treat evil as a necessity,

it is sorry for the waste of human worth of any kind it does not

think that innocent suffering can be justified 31 Tragedy only

shows an intense awareness of evil and pain, it looks upon suffer-

ing as a mystery, which cannot be explained In this sense, tragedy

keeps God away The dramas of Ibsen presuppose the with-

drawal of God from human affairs. Ibsen substitutes the forces

of disruption from within, the cancer of the so called idealism, like

the mask of hypocrisy and self deception behind which men try

to hide against the realities of personal and social life 32 But

tragedy need not be actually atheistic, it is enough if the author

shows that it is too late for God to do anything Tragedy is

agnostic or Manichean, as Richards says Unless this is so, the

hero's conflict and confrontation will have no meaning from an

aesthetic point of view

Besides, tragedy accepts, unlike religion, the sublimity of human

effort Tragedy does not draw its real strength from the spectacle

of suffering and death, but from the courageous fight that the

hero gives against the forces of opposition There is an underly-

ing current that the forces of opposition are not necessarily

'right' This impression and the spirit of the hero raise him to a

tragic grandeur; they also lift us This is the effect of tragedy

We feel that the sublimity of the hero is a match for 'higher

powers', in this is a feeling of aesthetic satisfaction

That is why, I am inclined to believe that tragedy, in the final

analysis, is dependent on certain values of life, the acceptance or

rejection of which will make or not make tragedy possible.

Steiner writes " the decline of tragedy is inseparably related

to the decline of the organic world view and of its attendant con-

text of mythological, symbolic and ritual reference " The Greek

drama was founded on this and the Elizabethans adhered to it

ABSENCE OF TRAGEDY

imaginatively 33 The modern writers have lost this view of life

Ibsen succeeded in creating a new 'mythology' (that is to say, a

set of values and a new symbolism) and so could write tragedies

It is significant that Jean Anouilh revived the Greek myth of

Antigone, and was able to translate the Greek values into con-

temporary anguish Arthur Miller constructed the Crucible round

an old historical conflict between the pagan adherants of witch

craft and magic and the believers in a Christian God These trage-

dies were possible due to an accep.ance of old values or their

relevance in present context. Equally, if certain values cannot be

rejected or allowed to be lost tragedy could not be possible 34

So, Sanskrit drama has no formal tragedy, except the two one

act plays of Bhasa Bhasa set aside the conventions of stage and

the values of religion by showing the sublimity of characters who

were merely 'bad men' for the old tradition No other dramatist

attempted this, and we know now, I hope, why From a purely

aesthetic point of view, the absence of a formal tragedy is in

itself the tragedy of Sanskrit drama, a tragedy that was inevitable

[107]

V

---

(A)

BHASA'S

Urubhanga

(The Breaking of Thighs)

CHARACTERS

(In order of their appearance)

STAGE-DIRECTOR

YOUNG ASSISTANT

}: In Prologue

THREE SOLDIERS

: In Interlude

BALADEVA

: Elder brother of Krishna, Duryodhana's

teacher in mace-fight

DURYODHANA

: Kuru King, eldest of Kauravas

DHRTARASHTRA

: The blind king, father of Kauravas

GANDHARI

: Dhritarashtra's wife, the mother of

hundred Kauravas

MALAVI

PAURAVI

}: Duryodhana's queens

DURJAYA

: Duryodhana's son

ASHVATTHAMAN

: Son of Drona who was preceptor of Kuru

princes

SCENE OF ACTION

Samantapanchaka (Kurukshetra)· Vicinity of the battle field

[108]

URUBHANGA

PROLOGUE

(Enter the Stage-Director after the Benediction)

STAGE-DIRECTOR :

The river of enemies -

of which Bhishma and Drona were banks,

Jayadratha was waters,

the Gandhara King1 the whirlpool,

Karna, Drona's son2 and Krpa3

were waves, alligator and crocodile,

Duryodhana, the current,

the arrows and swords its sands .

The boat

with the help of which Arjuna crossed this river,

may that boat, Lord Krishna Himself, serve you

(also)

in crossing the (river of your) enemies !

(1)

Thus I implore the honourable gentlemen. But, oh ! why, while

I am engaged in this entreaty, something like a voice is heard ?

Well, let me see

( Behind the scene )

"Here we are, O, here we are !"

STAGE-DIRECTOR Well, I know

ASSISTANT (Entering) Sir, why are these -

Men moving round ?

They have held their bod es to be sacrificed

in the mouth of battle

to gain heaven .

the r limbs are mangled by hundreds of arrows

and iron-clubs :

their bod es are scratched by the tusks of big

wild elephants .

and they seem to be the touch stone of each

other's valour

(2)

STAGE DIRECTOR My friend, don't you know ? Now that Dhrta-

rashtra's side is deprived of the eyes4 of a hundred sons with

only Duryodhana as the survivor, when Yudhishthira's side

[109]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

(too) has the Pandavas and Krishna surviving and the Saman tapanchaka5 is strewn with the corpses of kings —

This battlefield —

elephants, horses, kings and soldiers all killed on t —

looks like a torn picture cloth

crammed with mixed paintings

(However ) as the combat

between Bhima and Duryodhana starts,

the soldiers have entered

(the battlefield),

— the one house of death for kings!

(Both go out)

(3)

End of Prologue

Interlude

( Now enter three soldiers )

All (together) Here we are O here we are!

First Soldier

We have arrived at the hermitage

called battlefield

the home of hostility, the touchstone of valour

the house of honour and glory,

the groom choosing halt for nymphs among fights

valour and glory for men,

the hero c bed for kings to lie down for the last time.

the sacrifice in whose fire lives are oblations,

the bridge to pass to heaven for the kings

Second Soldier You have said it.

On this battlefield

where fight or death are the only alternatives

the bodies of huge elephants

take the place of rugged mountains.

The chariots

with their matchless fighters killed,

[110]

URUBHAṄCA

are turned into haunts of vultures

in every side and direction

The kings in a face to-face combat

have done what they could,

have struck down and killed (each other) at last,

and have reached heaven

(5)

THIRD SOLDIER It is so

The sacrifice of war

has come to a close

The trunks of excellent elephants

were its sacrificial pillars,

the arrows were the spread out sacred grass.

the killed elephants were its tall woodpile.

it was kindled with the fire of enmity.

the banners made its extensive canopy

the war cries were its loudly recited mantras,

and the fallen men were its animal victims.

(6)

FIRST SOLDIER Look to this other thing, both of you

Here are kings

their life has been taken away by mutually discharged arrows,

and they have resorted to the quadrangle of battle-field with their bodies

And here (some) birds,

their beaks watery with flesh,

are loosening ornaments from the bodies of kings

(7)

SECOND SOLDIER

(This) elephant,

fully equipped and made ready for battle,

is felled by an unbroken volley of arrows

and, with shattered armour

and (the load of) bows and arrows,

is pèrishing like a king's storehouse of weapons

(8)

THIRD SOLDIER You two look at this other thing

A chariot fighter

dead, with a single powerful arrow

stuck (into his heart),

[111]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

his head wearing ceremonial wreaths in virtue of the gar-

lands fallen down from the top of the banner.

the jubilant female-jackals

are pulling him down from the front of the chariot,

as rejoiced female relatives help the bridegroom

alight from the (ceremonial) vehicle'

(9)

All (TOGETHER) Oh, really, the terrifying awe of the Samanta

panchaka!

its extensive grounds impassable due to the

killed and fallen elephants, horses, men and their blood

littered with scattered armours, shields, parasols, chowries,

javelins arrows, spears, helmets, headless trunks and such

other things. . strewn over with such weapons as pikes, darts,

axes, slings, lances, pestles, hammers, iron-bars shaped like a

boar's ear, barbed arrows, short spears and frightful maces.

First Soldier Here indeed --

Rivers of blood are forded

with the bridges of killed elephants.

The horses drag the chariots

without kings, with the charioteers fallen down

Headless trunks are running

by force of habit.

Wild elephants bereft of their conductors

are wandering helter skelter

(10)

Second Soldier You too look at this other thing

These vultures

their eyes yellow red and protruding like the madhūka buds,

their beaks as sharp as the bent goad

(used for) the elephant of the Demon king.

their broad and long wings spread out in the sky,

and with bits of flesh (in their grip).

they look like fans studded with coral

(11)

Third Soldier .

With horses, e'lephants, kings

and soldiers thrown about,

with iron shafts, spears, arrows,

javelins and swords strewn over,

[112]

URUBHANGA

this (battle-) field,

forced on vision all round

by the sharp rays of the Sun,

seems to bear up a host of fallen meteors

(12)

First Soldier Ah, (even) in this condition the Kshatriyas look

bright in their unmitigated splendour1 Indeed, here --

With the fearless faces of the kings,

a lotus plant,

growing on land and motionless,

seems to be arranged

on the front of the battlefield ·

the eyes, fallen down and rolling

are like the swarms of bees,

the red lips are like a heap of petals-

the curved eyebrows are like the curly filaments,

their own crowns are like bent sprouts,8

(the face lotuses) were opened by the Sun of valour

and are held up on iron shafts

resembling straight stalks

(13)

Seco d Soldier If Death ruled over even such Kshatriyas, it

is indeed not possible for (ordinary) men, fallen on calamities,

to muster up their courage.

Third Soldier It is plain that Death alone rules over

Kshatriyas.

First Soldier Could there be any doubt ?

Second Soldier I would not like you to say so

Arjuna touched his bow

that had its string darkened by the

smoke of the Khandava,

that had extirpated the Samshaptakas

that silenced the cry of heaven

and offered as a present the life of Nivata kavachas

and with the prowess of his missules

and with arrows left over from his fight with Lord Shiva

he made Death receive,

in the van of battle,

the kings swayed by pride and arrogance9

(14)

[113]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

All (TOGETHER) Oh, a sound !

Are the clouds thundering ?

Are the mountains pulverized by the repeated fall

of thunderbolt ?

Or is the earth being torn by earthquakes

terrible and tumultuous in their noise ?

Or, is it the ocean that is letting out a roar,

as it dashes against clefts

in the belly of the caverns

of the Mandara mountain

and surges up with a labyrinth of waves

lashed up by the wind ?

Well let us see

(All walk round 1°)

First Soldier Ah, the mace fight has started between the

middle Pandava, Bhimasena, who is enraged at the dragging of

Draupadi by hair and the Emperor Duryodhana who is furious

at the death of his hundred brothers, it is witnessed by pro-

minent men like Vyasa, Balarama, Krishna and Vidura - the

idols of Kuru and Yadu families

Second Soldier

As Bhima's chest,

as massive as a beautiful slab of gold, is struck,

as Duryodhana's broad shoulders

as hard as the trunk of Indra's elephant, are broken,

and as their weapons clash against the broad surfaces

between their arms,

a sound

caused by the stroke of the terrific maces

rises up

Third Soldier Here is the Emperor

The tossing of the head sends a tremour in his crown

his face shows his eyes blazing with the fire of fury,

his body is bent to take a forward leap for a firm

stance

URUBHAN̄GA

he is continuously lifting his hands lugh,

and his mace,

wet and greasy with enemy's blood,

looks, in his palm,

like Indra's flaming bolt

resting on a peak of Kailasa mountain.

(17)

FIRST SOLDIER Look at this Pandava for a moment, his body

drenched in blood by mighty blows

Blood gushes from his split forehead,

the elevations of both his shoulders are broken

his broad chest is bathed in streams of blood

thick and flowing due to blows

his deep wounds are wet with blood from the blows

& of the mace

This Bhima looks like mountain Meru

—its rocks dyed by streams of water mixed with

red chalk.

(18)

SECOND SOLDIER

The King11 hurls the terrible mace,

roars as he dances about

quickly withdraws his arm

and foils the design of his (opponent)

he moves in a circle

and deals incessant blows

The King is beautifully trained

but Bhima is very strong

(19)

THIRD SOLDIER Here is Vṛkodara12

His limbs are drenched in blood

flowing from a deep cut on the head

Incomparable in battles

he resembles a mountain

He is sinking on earth like Meru

the prince of mountains

of golden peaks

burnt by thunderbolt,

its red minerals loosened and scattered

(20)

FIRST SOLDIER Seeing Bhima falling down, his limbs drooping

[115]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

owing to deep blows ~

Vyasa stands dazed,

his upturned face propped by the tip of one

finger

SECOND SOLDIER

Yudhisthira feels miserable,

Vidura's eyes, now, are brimming with tears

THIRD SOLDIER

Arjuna makes for his Gandiva bow;

Krishna is looking up at the sky

ALL (TOGETHER).

Balarama, who has been a spectator of the fight,

is waving his plough,

thoroughly pleased with his pupil!

FIRST SOLDIER Here the Emperor,

his head full of colours of a variety of gems,

equipped with pride, trained humility,

splendour and adventurous spirit,

(he) speaks the words, making fun,

"O Bhima a true warrior never kills a fighter

in misery

Cast aside your fear!"

SECOND SOLDIER Encouraged by the sign, here is the son of

Wind3 ~

Contracting his eyebrows,

wiping away with his hand the perspiration

from the depressions on his forehead,

collecting his own Chitrangada mace in both the

arms,

of fearsome countenance,

eyes (glowing) like those of a mighty lion,

drawing strength, as it were, given by Wind

who saw his son in misery,

rises up again from the ground

with a roar

FIRST SOLDIER Lo the mace duel has started once more! This

URUBHAN̤GA

one —

Rubbing hard both the palms of his hands on

the ground,

wiping both his arms with accelerated force,

has bit deeply his lips in arrogance of his

valour

and roared in great fury,

this son of Pandu

has abandoned all regard for pious duty,

thrown away agreed rules,

and has let his mace fall

on the thighs of Gandhari’s son !

(24)

All (together) : Oh, alas ! the Emperor has fallen !

Third Soldier · Here, at the sight of the Kuru King falling down,

his body gleaming with the flow of blood,

the revered Dvaipayana14 has jumped up to the sky ! Here, now —

Balarama has barred his sight covering his eyes

with his garland 15

Seeing Balarama lost in anger in consideration

for Duryodhana,

the bewildered and hurried Pandavas have

secured Bhima inside the cage of their arms,

as instructed by Dvaipayana,

and are carrying him away,

as Krishna’s arms support his steps

(25)

First Soldier Aye, the revered Balarama, his eyes dilated

and excited with rage as he is witnessing the same removal of

Bhimaseṇa, is coming this very way He is —

His crest is dishevelled and moving,

his eyes are dilated and red with anger;

gathering after him his blue garment hanging

loose from his body,

and having lifted slightly his garland bit by

the mouths of bees,

he has descended to the earth like a moon

encircled by clouds

(26)

[117]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Second Soldier So, come on We too will try to be close to

the Emperor

The (other) Two. Yes, an excellent idea

(All go out)

End of Interlude

Main Scene

(Now enter Baladeva)

Baladeva You, you Kings! This is not proper!

Regardless of my plough,

the death of enemy's power and army,

ignoring, out of arrogance,

the fraud perpetrated in fight

and defying me,

in bringing down that mace,

at the height of fighting.

on Duryodhana's thighs

he caused his fall

and also of the nobility of his own family

and the dignity of courtesy!

Dear Duryodhana, bear up for a moment

Till today -

I lift up the plough in my hand

and draw busy furrows

on the field of Bhima's broad chest,

so that the plough is besmeared

with the wet mud of his blood and sweat

-The ends of the plough (still) carry

the remains of Saubha,

it was a hook (to pull) the tall ramparts

of the great Asura city.

it directed the course of the waters of

Yamuna,

it has been worshipped by offering of the

lives of enemy's amies.1°

[118]

URUBHAN̄GA

(Behind the scene)

"I would the revered Halayudha had mercy, mercy!"

BALADEVA Ah, the poor Duryodhana's coming after me even

in such a plight. He is -

The magnificent prince

his lustre is smeared wet by blood,

the sandal paste of battle.

Crawling on the ground,

his arms are reddish with dust

an infant's role has been inflicted on him

He resembles Vasuki,

loosened from the mountain by gods and demons

after the churning for nectar was over,

and left alone and exhausted to drag his

body through the waters of the ocean 17

(29)

(Then enters Duryodhana, both his thighs broken)

DUR YODHANA Hi, Oh!

Bhīma violated established rules

my thighs are wounded and shattered by the

blow of the mace

I take my body forward -

half-dead -

pulling it on the ground with my two arms

(30)

I would the revered Halayudha showed mercy, mercy!

I have fallen down on the ground

and this head has fallen at your feet today,

for the first time

Give up anger

Let the clouds, betokening libations18 of the

Kuru family, live

The feud all talk of war and we ourselves

have come to an end

(31)

BALADEVA Dear Duryodhana, bear yourself up for a moment

DUR YODHANA What will the Worthy do?

BALADEVA Ah, listen

[119]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Their bodies furrowed

by the points of the plough tossed (at them),

their shoulders and chests torn up by the

blows of my pestle,

killed in battle along with their chariots,

horses and elephants

I will make a present of Pandu's sons to

attend on you

in your journey to heaven

(32)

DURYODHANA I do not want you to do so

Bhima has completed his vow

My hundred brothers have gone to heaven

and I am reduced to this plight

What can war do now, O Rama?

(33)

BALADEVA You were treacherously dealt with in my presence

That roused my anger

DURYODHANA Does the Worthy think that I was treacherously

dealt with?

BALADEVA Any doubt?

DURYODHANA Oh, I am glad It's like, my life has been

paid its price For,

Bhima -

who with his intelligence saved himself

from the house of lac,

dreadful with fire,

who in the fight in Kubera's place

attacked with the vehemence of mountain rocks,

who took the life of Hidimba,

the Demon chief 19

if you think that that Bhima vanquished me

today with fraud,

O Rama,

I am not so vanquished!

(34)

BALADEVA Now, Bhimasena fought with you by fraud stood

he live?

DURYODHANA I ask was I duped by Bhimasena?

[120]

URUBHANGA

BALADEVA : Then who brought you to this condition ?

DURYODHANA : Be pleased to hear :

He —

who carried away the Panjata tree from Indra,

along with his pride,

who playfully slept on the waters of the ocean

for a thousand divine years,2°

that Krishna,

the darling of the Universe,

suddenly entered the sharp mace of Bheema,

and delivered me — who love fair fight —

unto death !

(35)

(Behind the scene)

"Move away, move away, Sirs, move away !"

BALADEVA (Looking) Ah, here is the Honourable Dhritarashtra

turning this very way : Gandhari also, Durjaya is showing him

the way, the harem ladies are following him, his heart heavy

with grief, his gait frightened He is —

A mine of valour;

his eyesight is divided up

among his hundred sons.

he has an overweening pride;

his arms are long

like a golden sacrificial pillar

The gods,

as if doubtful about the safety of heaven,

created him,

after hitting his eyes with handfuls of

hostile darkness !

(36)

(Then enter Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, two Queens and Durjaya)

DHRTARASHTRA · Son, where are you ?

GANDHARI : My dear child, where are you ?

QUEENS: Where are you, our Lord?

DHRTARASHTRA Oh, what misery !

When I heard today that my son was struck

down in fight with fraud,

[121]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

my face — already blind —

was blinded still more with tears

flowing inside.

Gandhari, are you alive?

GANDHARI I have no luck, I am alive.

Queens Our Lord, Master !

(King21) DURYODHANA Oh, this is miserable that my own

Queens should openly cry!

Before (this moment)

I did not feel the pain caused by the blows

of the mace

now I do

inasmuch as my queens22 have entered the battlefield,

their hair unveiled !23

(38)

DHRTARĀSHTRA Gandhari can you see him? he is full of

family pride the name is Duryodhana

GANDHARI I cannot see him, my lord!

DHRTARĀSHTRA How so? Can’t see? Today - I realise how

blind I am, that I cannot see my son when I must find him!

O Death you wretch!

Dhritarashtra procreated a hundred sons

who were capable of striking the enemy

in battle,

they blazed with pride and valour,

were extremely courageous,

heroes, pride incarnate

but (now they are)

scattered over the surface of the earth!

However, does not the same Dhritarashtra

deserve to enjoy funeral libation of water,

at least once,

given by (one, living) son?

(39)

GANDHARI Suyodhana, my child! answer me Console the great

King grieved at the loss of a hundred sons.

BALADEVA Ah, this is her ladyship Gandhari

[122]

URUBHANCA

She was not at all eager to see the faces

of her sons and grandsons :

all her fortitude is drunk up by sorrow

at the downfall of Duryodhana ;

she wears,

as a mark of absolute loyalty to her husband,

a bandage on her eyes

which now is drenched in ceaseless tears !

(40)

DHRTARASHTRA : Son, Duryodhana. Sovereign commander of

eighteen army divisions ! Where are you ?

DURYODHANA : A Sovereign am I . . . today !

DHRITARASHTRA : Come, Eldest of hundred sons ! answer me.

DURYODHANA : I am answering you, really. But this that happened

has put me to shame.

DHRITARASHTRA : Come, son ! Won't you greet me.

DURYODHANA : Sure, I do come (Makes a gesture of rising up

but falls) Oh, fie ! This is a second blow to me ! Oh, misery !

When, today, Bhumāsena

clutched my hair and hurled the mace,

he robbed me not only of my thighs

but of salutation also

at the feet of my father !

(41)

GANDHARI : Here, my daughter —

QUEENS : Noble mother, we are here.

GANDHARI : Find your husband, both of you

QUEENS : No luck for us too . . . we go

DHRITARASHTRA : Oh, who is this one pulling the end of my

garment and directing my steps?

DURJAYA : Grandfather, it's I, Durjaya.

DHRITARASHTRA : Durjaya, my grandson ! search for your father

DURJAYA : Grandfather, I am tired . . really.

DHRITARASHTRA : Go, rest in your father's lap

DURJAYA : Grandfather, I am going. (Making an approach)

Father, where are you ?

DURYODHANA : Has he come too ! Oh, love for the son, ever-

present in the heart, is consuming me, whatever my condition

[123]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

If you ask me -

What will Durjaya

• a stranger to sorrow,

accustomed to lie in my lap -

will say to me

when he sees me completely vanquished ?

(42)

DURJAYA Here is the great king he is sitting down on

the ground !

DURYODHANA My son, why did you come here ?

DURJAYA Because you tarnished

DURYODHANA Oh, even in this condition the love for my son

burns me !

DURJAYA I will also sit down on your lap

(Tries to climb on his lap)

DURYODHANA (Stopping him) Durjaya, Durjaya ! Oh hell !

This boy -

who was the delight of my heart,

and himself the festival of my eyes -

through change of circumstances,

that (very) moon

has come to possess the quality of fire !

(43)

DURJAYA Why are you stopping my sitting in your lap ?

DURYODHANA My son,

leave the accustomed (lap) and sit anywhere else

This seat

which you enjoyed so far

has ceased to exist for you,

beginning from this day

(44)

DURJAYA Where are you going, great King ?

DURYODHANA I am going to follow my hundred brothers

DURJAYA Take me there

DURYODHANA Go, son, say this to Bhima

DURJAYA Come, great King, they are looking out for you

DURYODHANA Who, my son ?

DURJAYA Grandfather, grandmother and all the ladies of the

harem

[124]

URUBHAN̄GA

Duryodhana : Go, son. I have no power to walk.

Durjaya : I will carry you

Duryodhana : You are but a child, my son !

Durjaya : (Moving round) Sir, Ladies, here is the great King.

Queens : Woe, woe, our Lord !

Dhritarashtra : Where is the great King ?

Gandhari : Where is my dear son ?

Durjaya : Here is the great King.. he is sitting down on the ground.

Dhritarashtra : Good god ! Is this the Sovereign ?

Indeed, the incomparable Chief

of all kings of the earth

in this world :

he had the proportion of a golden pillar :

that same, my poor son,

laid low on the ground,

has been reduced to half the proportion

of the iron-bolt of a big door !

(45)

Gandhari : My dear son, Suyodhana, you must be tired

Duryodhana : But I am your son

Dhritarashtra : Eh, who is that ?

Gandhari : My Lord, it's I, the mother of fearless sons

Duryodhana . Today ..I consider myself to be truly born. O

Father, what is the use of grief now ?

Dhritarashtra : My son, how can I be without grief !

Your hundred brothers,

proud of their valour and strength,

initiated for the sacrifice of battle,

have already perished ..

But they were undone

when you only were struck down

(46)

(Collapses)

Duryodhana : Ah, fie ! the Noble one has collapsed ! Father,

you have to console my noble mother

Dhritarashtra : Son, what shall I say to console her ?

Duryodhana : Say that her son was killed as he fought face to

[125]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

face in battle! Oh, Father, be kind to me and restrain

your sorrow

My forehead bent down

only at your feet

I will go to heaven,

without slightest thought of the burning fire,

with the same pride and honour

with which I came to be born.

(47)

DHṚTARĀŚṬRA

I am an old man with no desire to live.

Nature made me blind

(But) violent sorrow for my son

that has sprung in my heart

suppresses my fortitude and overpowers me

(48)

BALADĒVA Oh how sad!

I am unable to announce myself

to this Worthy one

who has no hope about Duryodhana (surviving)

and whose eyes have been closed for ever

(49)

DURYODHANA I have a request for my noble mother.

GANDHĀRI Speak, my child

DURYODHANA

I bow to you and say

'If I have any religious merit,

then even in the birth to come

you alone be my mother!'

(50)

GANDHĀRI You have given words to my inmost desire

DURYODHANA: Malavī?* you now listen

My brows were broken by the blows

of the mace

dealt at the time of the terrible duel

The streams of blood gushing out

as a result of weapon wounds on the chest

have usurped the place of the necklace

Look at these two arms --

they wear the bracelets and armlets

of wounds

[126]

URUBHANDA

They are perfectly beautiful.

Your husband was killed in battle

as he faced the enemy . . .

You are a Kshatriya's wife,

Why should you weep ?

(51)

QUEEN (MALAVI) : I am but a girl, your wedded wife, and so I weep

DURYODHANA : Pauravi, you too listen :

I performed many a cherished sacrifice

in accord with the prescription of the Vedas

I supported my kinsmen.

I lorded it over my enemies.

Never refused my dependents a hundred coveted gifts.

I controlled kings commanding eighteen army divisions,

in battle,

and made them fret and fume.

Look at my pride and honour,

O proud woman !

Wives of men like me do not weep

(52)

PAURAVI : I am not weeping. . . . . . I have decided to enter with

you (the burning pyre).25

DURYODHANA : Durjaya, it is your turn to listen

DHRTARASHTRA : Gandhari, what do you think he is going to

say?

GANDHARI : I too am wondering about the same.

DURYODHANA : You should serve the Pandavas as you served me,

and you should obey the orders of the noble mother, Kunti.

To the mother of Abhimanyu and to Draupadi both you should

show respect due to your own mother. Look here, son :

Duryodhana - his glory be praised !

whose heart burned with self-respect,

is your father . . .

He was killed in a face-to-face fight

by his match :

With this thought, give up all sorrow.

And touching the long right arm of

[127]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Yudhishthira clad in silk,

you should give libations of water to me,

along with the Pandavas,

when my name will be taken

(53)

Baladva Oh, hostility has been turned into remorse ! Aye,

do I hear a sound ?

In this silence

due to the absence of the sounds of war-drums

and other equipage,

when arrows, armours fans and parasols

are thrown about,

when charioteers and warriors have been

killed

whose bow is making a twanging sound

filling the sky with frightened crows ?

(Behind the scene)

(54)

"The Sacrifice of war

which I had entered along with Duryodhana

who had stretched his bow

I am entering the same again -

desolate as it is -

as one would enter a Horse sacrifice,

completed,

and left by the officiating priest "

(55)

Baladeva Aye, Ashvatthaman, the preceptor's son, is turning

in this direction This one -

His eyes are clear and large

like the petals of a full blossomed lotus

His arms are long and hang straight

like a sparkling golden sacrificial pillar

As he stretches his terrific bow

with great force,

he resembles mount Meru,

blazing with fire

and a rainbow sticking on its peak

(Then enters Ashvatthaman)

(56)

Ashvatthaman (Repeating the aforesaid6) O Ye, Kings !

[128]

URUBHANGA

Extollers of war127 when the two armies full of the fury of fight met like two oceans the lifted up weapons like rising crocodiles cut up your bodies your ebbing life is linked with the little breath that is left ! Listen Sirs !

I am not the Chief Kuru Prince28

whose thighs were split by fraud.

Nether am I the charioteer's son28

whose weapons lost their power

and became useless.

Here I am today,

the son of Drona, all alone,

standing firmly on the victory ground

looking up furiously !

(57

But what is the use of this glory of war with its profitless praise of victory ? (Walking around) No this will not do In my occupation for offering funeral libations to my father, the Kuru King the ornament of Kuru race was duped, I hear Who would have believed this ? As I see -

Kings of eleven divisions of army

mounted on chariots and elephants

and with bows in their hands stood,

with folded hands raised high,

eager for his command

Bhishma whose armour was licked

by the arrows of Parashurama

and my father

were his chief fighters in the war

It is obvious that

that matchless warrior, Duryodhana, too

has been finally vanquished by Destiny !

(58

So where could the son of Gandhan have gone ? (Walking round and looking about) Ah here is the Kuru King

inside the rampart formed by shattered elephants horses, men and chariots He has crossed the sea of battle.

He now -

With his dishevelled hair scattered,

like the rays of the Sun,

[129]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

on his drooping head,

with his limbs wet with blood

from his wounds

caused by the blows of the mace,

he looks like the westerly Sun

plunged in evening twilight,

resting on a smooth slab of rock

at the top of the setting mountain

(59)

(Coming near him) O Kuru King what is this?

DURYODHANA Son of my preceptor, the result of discontent

ASHVATTHAMAN O Kuru King I will bring to you the very root

of honour

DURYODHANA What will you do?

ASHVATTHAMAN Listen

I will throw down on the battlefield,

with a network of my weapons,

Krishna -

of four form dable arms,

ready for fight

with lifted bow and disc

and riding on the back of Garuda,

and also the sons of Pandu

as one would throw away a picture scroll

with a confused medley of drawings

(60)

DURYODHANA I do not want you to do anything of the kind

The whole race of crowned kings has gone

to the lap of mother-earth

Karna has repaired to heaven

Bhishma is lying low with his body

My hundred brothers have disappeared

in the mouth of battle

as they faced it

And I am reduced to this condition!

Son of my preceptor,

I would like you to throw away your bow

ASHVATTHAMAN Ah, Kuru King

(61)

[130]

URUBHANGA

When the son of Pandu clutched your hair

and brought down the mace

in close fight,

he seems to have carried away

along with your two thighs

your pride too !

(62)

DURYODHANA Do not say that. Pride is the body of Kings. I

took to fight only for the sake of pride. Son of my preceptor,

look you -

That, at that time, in the gambling match,

we dragged Draupadi

seizing her curly hair in our hand

that we killed, in the brunt of the battle

Abhimanyu

• Our son, a mere child

that we conquered in dice-game by fraud

the fact that Pandavas had to resort to forest,

in the company of wild beasts

In contrast,

they, initiated for the ritual of war,

have done very little

by way of humbling my pride,

don't you think ?

Oh consider !

(63)

ASHVATTHAMAN Any way, I have taken the final vow

I swear by you,

by my self

and by the heroes of the world,

that I will start war at night

and burn the Pandavas in battle !

(64)

BALADEVA Whatever the son of the preceptor said will come

about

ASHVATTHAMAN The revered Balarama I suppose ?

DHRITARASHTRA What a blow ! The fraud was perpetrated in

his very presence !

ASHVATTHAMAN Durjaya please come here

[131]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

In spite of actual coronation,

I utter the words of a Brahmun

and proclaim you King29 of this Kingdom

which has been won by the might of arms

the share of your inheritance

as your father's valour

(65)

DURYODHANA : Oh, I am pleased

my heart would consent to

what has been done! But

my life seems to be deserting

me

30 Here are my fathers and grandfathers, the revered

Shantanu and others

Here, my hundred brothers rise up,

making Karna their leader

Ah, Abhimanya too, wearing

the sidelocks of a small child

securely placed on the

head of Aravata, holding on to the hand of Indra

he

is angry

is threatening me!

Urvashi and other

nymphs

are coming towards me

These great oceans

have materialized

Here are the great rivers, the Ganges

and the rest

Here is the aerial car, sent down by Death,

drawn by a thousand swans to take me away!

I am, coming!

(Goes to heaven)

(Some one covers the body with a cloth)

DHRTARASHTRA

Fie upon this Kingdom!

The death of my sons has made it useless!

I am going to the penance groves

which righteous men treasure

ASHVATTHAMAN

I am going this day,

the arrows ready in my hand,

to slaughter the sleeping enemy

EPILOGUE

BALADEVA

May our Lord of men

extinguish the tribe of enemies

and protect the Earth!

(66)

(Exeunt Omnes)

END OF THE PLAY CALLED "URUBHANGA"

[132]

V

---

(B)

BHASA'S

Karnabhara

(Karna's Burden)

Characters

(In order of their appearance)

Stage-Director

A Soldier

Karna

: Lord of Anga-country

Commandar-in Chief of the Kaurava army

Shalya

• King of the Shalyas, acting as Charioteer to Karna

Shakra

• Indra, the King of the gods, disguised as a begging Brahman

Angel

: Messenger from Indra

Scene of Action

Near Karna's camp, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra

[133]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

PROLOGUE

(After the Benediction the Stage Director enters)

STAGE-DIRECTOR :

Looking at whose brilliant Man-Lion

incarnation

all women, men, the hosts of demons and gods,

as also the nether world,

were confused with terror :

Who, with His crescent-shaped nails,

tore open the chest of the Demon Chief1:

The Killer of the armies of the gods enemies .

May the Lord Shridhara be for your glory !

Thus, do I entreat the respected gentlemen : (Moving round,

listening) But oh ! as I am engaged in making my request,

something like a sound is heard Well, let me see.

(Behind the scene)

"O, O Ye ! Please inform His Excellency, the Lord of Anga" -

STAGE DIRECTOR - Well, I got it.

As the fight has mounted to a tense pitch,

the servant,

bewildered and in haste,

is bringing a message to Karna,

with folded hands,

at Duryodhana's command

(2)

(Exit)

THE MAIN SCENE

(Enter a Soldier)

SOLDIER O, O Ye ! Please inform His Excellency, the Lord of

Anga, that the time for battle has come.

KARNABHARA

Kings, as valorous as a lion,

mounted on elephants, horses and chariots,

have given a war-cry2

in front of the flag of Arjuna

Realising the meaning of the confrontation,

the Emperor (Duryodhana),

flourishing his Naga banner,

the (incomparable) hero of the world,

has proceeded, in all haste, to the battle,

rendered intolerable by the cries of the enemy

(Walking round, observing) Ah1 here is the Anga-Lord,

wearing the full paraphernalia of battle, stepping out of his

own camp along with Shalya, and is turning in this very direc-

tion But, oh, what's this? he (usually) presides over the

festivity of battle why should his heart be in torment ?

this has never happened before! He is —

Dazzling in his unbearable lustre,

takes the very front in battle

as in valour,

the wise and courageous (hero)

is stepping out in dejection

Karna looks like the Sun,

who is naturally brilliant

as the Summer season approaches,

(but) is blocked by a bank of clouds.

But let me move away

(Exit)

(Then enter Karna as indicated, and Shalya)

KARNA

The masters of the earth

having become targets in the path of my

arrows

could arrive with their life in tact

this would never be possible'

I must accomplish the cherished good of

the Kauravas

[135]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

at the van of the battle

if only I could cast my eye on that

Dhananjaya3

King Shalya, please drive my chariot exactly where that

Arjuna is likely to be

Shalya Alright

(Drives

Karna Ah, how is it?

During the (progres, of) great battles

when the fall of mutual weapons

cuts away limbs from the warriors,

horses, elephants and from chariots,

and when the hour for (my) fighting has come,

why should black despair visit my heart -

I, who, in valour,

am the image of the angry God of Death?

(6)

Oh, alas!

I was already born from Kunti,

(though) am known throughout as the

son of Radha

As it happens,

Yudhisthira and the other famous

Pandavas are my younger brothers

(7)

This is the time come in ordered sequence,

and so beautiful

The day has arrived

which will show the perfection of my virtues!

But the missiles and all that I learnt

should prove useless?

Besides, I am already forbidden by the

words of my mother!

O, King Shalya, I would like you to hear the story about

my missiles

(8)

Shalya I too am curious to hear that story

Karna Long ago I had approached the famous son of

Jamadagni4

Shalya Yes, and so?

[136]

KARNA : Then,

I went to the revered sage,

the banner of Bhrigu family,

the destroyer of Kshatra clan :

tall and yellow-red like a wavy lightning :

He held an axe which manifested circles

of flashing lustre :

I bowed before him

and stood near him, without word.

(9)

SHALYA : What happened ?

KARNA : The son of Jamadagni then gave me a word of blessing

and asked me : 'Who are you ? Why have you come here ?'

SHALYA : And then ?

KARNA : Then I said : 'Revered Preceptor ! I wish to learn

in full (the use of) all the missiles'

SHALYA : Then what ?

KARNA : Then I was thus addressed by the revered Preceptor :

'I will give instruction to Brahmins, none to the Kshatriyas'

SHALYA : Yes, the revered one indeed bears hereditary enmity

towards the offsprings of the Kshatriya clan But what

happened ?

KARNA : I said then, 'I am not a Kshatriya' : And I started

receiving instructions in missiles.

SHALYA : I see What happened then ?

KARNA : Some time passed .... then, one day, as the Preceptor

had gone to fetch fruits, roots, sacrificial wood, sacred grass

and flowers, I had accompanied him.

SHALYA : What then ?

KARNA : Then—

An insect, known as Vajramukha.5

bore through both my thighs

— as bad luck would have it !

I endured the pain, at that time,

with courage

for fear that the Preceptor's sleep may

not be broken

[137]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

When he got up he was drenched in blood

All of a sudden he was inflamed with anger

He recognised me and cursed me to the effect

'May all your missiles be useless

at the nick of time !'

(10)

SHALYA Oh, the revered one uttered a miserable curse !

KARNA Let us try testing the story of the missiles (Having

done so) These missiles appear to have lost their power !

And further -

These horses

have surely closed their eyes in misery,

they are faltering again and again.

they are helpless !

And the elephants,

as smelly in their rut as the Saptachchhada,6

seem to tell me

to turn back from the battle!

(11)

The conch and the drums too have lost their sound

SHALYA Oh, misery ! What really is this ?

KARNA King Shalya, no need to despair, no need !

Even if killed

one gets Heaven,

If, on the other hand,

one is victorious

one acquires glory.7

Both are highly prized in the world

There is nothing futile in battle !

(12)

Besides,

These horses,

who have never turned back to the (retreating) quarter

• who have never turned their back on hope8 in battles,

who, in their speed, resemble the Eagle,

who are the offsprings of the rich Kamboja pedigree,

will protect me -

[138]

KARNABHARA

if I deserved protection.

May the cows and Brahmins be free from decay ! May faithful and virtuous women not meet destruction ! May not death visit the fighting soldiers who do not turn their back in battles !

May I continue to live whose time has come ! Look, O ! I am quite happy

I will enter the irresistible front of

Pandavas’ attack,

I will take prisoner Dharmaraja

— endowed with a host of wellknown virtues,

I will cause the fall of Arjuna

by the speed of my excellent arrows,

and I will produce an easy access,

as in a jungle

from which the lion has been killed.

King Shalya, let us mount the chariot now

SHALYA As you please.

(Both gesticulate mounting the chariot)

KARNA Oh, King Shalya, drive my chariot exactly where that

Arjuna is likely to be

(Behind the scene)

“O Karna ! I beg for mighty alms ! ”

KARNA (Listening) Ah, the voice carries power !

He is some one of great glory,

not merely a big Brahmin,

hence, the great prowess

Hearing his deep, resonant voice,

these my horses on move

have become figures drawn in a picture,

as it were

ears raised up,

eyes unseeing, eyelids bent down,

the tips of their mouths stuck on turned necks !°

Losing control over their stiff bodies

they are suddenly standing up

Call the Brahmin up. No, no ! I will call him myself.

[139]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Revered Sir, please come this way

(Then enter Shakra in the guise of a Brahmin)

Shakra O Clouds turn back along with the Sun You may go

(Approaching Karna) O Karna, I beg for mighty alms !11

Karna Revered Sir, I am very much pleased

I have been counted today

among 'the blessed' in the world !

my fine12 feet were coloured

by the crest jewels of emperors

But my head has received sanctimony

by the dust of the feet

of a prince among Brahmins !

Shakra (To himself) What indeed am I to say? If I say, 'May you have long life!' he will live long If I do not say (this),

he will think me a fool and humiliate me Avo ding bo'th

(the alternatives) therefore what am I to say really? I think,

I know (Openly) O Karna, may your fame abide ! ke the Sun,

like the Moon, like the Snowy Mountain like the Ocean !

Karna Revered Sir, did you not want to say 'May you live long'? Well this is handsome itself For -

Religious piety is to be accomplished

by men

with (unceasing) efforts

The glories of a king are as unsteady

as the tongues of a serpent

Therefore entertaining the only thought

of guarding one's subjects,

when human bodies perish,

virtues will hold eternally

Revered Sir, what is your wish? What can I give?

Shakra I beg for mighty alms.

Karna I will give you mighty alms. Listen to my riches

Virtuous

showering streams of nectar like milk

their satisfied calves following at their heels,

young and holy

[140]

KARNABHARA

solicited by a large number of supplicants :

such a thousand cows,

their horns bedecked with gold,

I will give you

Will you like this, excellent Brahmin ?

(18)

SHAKRA : Did you say, 'the words of a Brahmin'?

I never disobeyed

a while I do not desire, Karna, I do not desire it

KARNA : The Worthy does not desire this? Listen then to this :

I will give you at once

many thousands of horses :

they are comparable to the horses of the Sun,

a means to royal splendour;

they are comparable to the horses of the Sun,

and are born in the noble Kamboja family;

they possess excellent qualities,

have the speed of the wind,

their brilliance has been demonstrated

in battles

(19)

SHAKRA : Is it 'horse'?. . I will ride for a while . . No Karna,

I do not, do not wish this

KARNA : Does not the revered one wish this? Listen, please,

to someth ng else

Rivers of ichor flowing from their temples,

served by many bees,

they resemble in mass mighty mountains;

their grunt is deep like the roar of a cloud;

their nails and tusks are white,

they crush the enemy's onslaughts :

I will readily give you

countless herds of such elephants.

(20)

SHAKRA : 'Elephants', that's what you said? I will ride for a

while.... No, I do not desire, Karna, I do not desire

KARNA : Does not the Worthy desire this? Please listen to

another I will give immeasurable gold.

SHAKRA : I will pick it up and go . (Going a few steps) I do

not wish, Karna, I do not wish

[141]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

KARNA If so I will conquer the Earth and gift it

SHAKRA What possibly can I do with earth ?

KARNA May I then give the fruit of Agnishtoma ?18

SHAKRA What is one supposed to do with the fruit of

Agnishtoma ?

KARNA Then let me give my head

SHAKRA Heaven forbid, heaven forbid !

KARNA Do not be frightened, do not be frightened ! May the

Worthy be pleased Please listen to one more, quite different

The armour

born directly along with my limbs,

serving as a protection to my body,

impossible to be pierced by gods and demons

although helped by missiles

this, I am pleased to give to the Revered one,

along with the two ear rings,

if you approve

(21)

SHAKRA (Jubilantly) Give, give !

KARNA (To himself) This alone was his desire ! Is it Krishna's

trick, who is clever in many frauds ? May that be so ! Fie

it is improper to lament There is no doubt (Openly) Take

this, please.

SHALYA Angaraj you should not, must not gift it !

KARNA King Shalya, do not try to stop me Look here —

As time takes a turn,

the training and knowledge go to perish

Trees firmly bound down with their roots

collapse

Water too, stored in reservoirs dries up

What is offered in sacrifice,

and as a gift,

remains unharmed

So please take this.

[Rips (the armour and ear rings from his body) and

hands them over]

(22)

[142]

KARNABHARA

SHAKRA (Taking them, to himself) Oh joy! I have taken possession of them! What all the gods had already planned for the victory of Arjuna, I have accomplished that now Let me therefore mount my Airavata14 so that I can watch the duel fight between Arjuna and Karna

(Exit Shakra)

SHALYA Oh Angarap, you have been really duped!

KARNA By whom?

SHALYA By Shakra

KARNA I do not think so It's I who have really duped Shakra.

See -

He -

whom the Brahmans have tried to satisfy by countless offering in countless sacrifices,

who wears a diadem15

and pounds the demon hosts,

whose fingers are roughened by stroking the (back of the) celestial elephants,16

that Pakshasana17

has been given fullest satisfaction by me!

(23)

(Enter an Angel in the guise of a Brahmin)

ANGEL O Karna, Purandara28 is full of remorse for having taken the armour and the ear rings and has granted you a favour This is (Celestial) Power, named Vimala, which is a never failing missile please accept this for killing one person from among the Pandavas

KARNA Fie! I never accept a counter gift.

ANGEL Couldn't you take it at the words of a Brahmin?

KARNA Did you say, 'the words of a Brahmin?' I never disobeyed them before When can I have it?

ANGEL You will get it whenever you invoke it in mind

KARNA Good I am favoured. You may please go back

ANGEL Yes.

(Exit)

KARNA King Shalya, let us now mount the chariot

[143]

NOTES

SECTION I

1 Quoted from Literary Criticism Plato to Dryden by Allan H Gilbert, Wayne State University Press, Detroıt 1962, pp 203-204

2 See Raymond Williams, Modern Tragedy, pp 23 27

3 Tragedy, p 25

4 Quoted from Lucas, Tragedy, p 24

5 Francis Fergusson, Macbeth as the Imitation of Action, published in Approaches to Shakespeare, Ed Norman Rabbin, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1964, p 122

6 Ibid, p 123

7 Ibid, p 123

8 Lucas, Tragedy, p 111

9 The first is Bywater's paraphrase, the second, of Lucas

10 Bhavabhuti, in his Uttara rama-carita, act I, verse 28d

11 Lucas thinks that Aristotle's 'famous formula' probably means simply, "Serious drama is a serious representation by speech and action of some phase of human life " Lucas, Tragedy, p 33 But this paraphrase of Aristotle's definition would not be enough to cover the tragedies available to us from the ancient to the present times

12 Lucas says, 'the catharsis of such passions does not mean that the passions are purified and ennobled nice as that might be, it does not mean that men are purged of their passions, it means simply that the passions themselves are reduced to a healthy balanced proportion' Tragedy, pp 38-39

13 I A Richards, Principles of Literary Criticism, (Paperback Ed 1967), p 193

14 See, Lucas Tragedy, p 72, Footnote

15 Quoted by George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy, pp 164-65

[145]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

16 Ibid, p 190

17 In The Psychology of Tragedy Quoted by Raphael,

The Paradox of Tragedy, see p 36

18 D D Raphael, The Paradox of Tragedy, p 36

19 See, George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy, pp 346-

348

20 Raymond Williams, Modern Tragedy, pp 198-199

21 See, Nietzsche, The Birth of Tragedy

22 I A Richards, Principles of Literary Criticism, p 194

23 'Manichees, the followers of Mani, a native of

Ecbatana (Persia, A D 215-276) who taught that everything

sprang from two chief principles, light and darkness, or

good and evil', Chamber's Twentieth Century Dictionary

According to the Dictionary of Philosophy (Littlefields

Adams and Co, Ames Iowa, 1960, p 187), Mani, a Magian

upon conversion to Christianity, sought to synthesise the

latter with the dualism of Zoroastrianism Manicheism

implies the idea of Jesus who had to suffer and symbolize

salvation by death at the cross

24 See, T R Henn, The Harvest of Tragedy, Ch 21

25 For Hegel's theory, see his Philosophy of Fine Arts,

also Hegel's Theory of Tragedy, in Bradley's Oxford

Lectures on Poetry, and Raymond Williams, Modern

Tragedy

26 Hegel's Theory of Tragedy, Oxford Lectures on

Poetry, p 87

27 Birth of Tragedy, See also, Raymond Williams,

Modern Tragedy, pp 38 ff

28 Birth of Tragedy, pp 128-129

29 Ibid

30 Ibid, p 186

31 See, T R Henn, The Harvest of Tragedy, Ch 7, pp

77-79

32 King Lear, act IV, sc i, ll 37-38

33 See, Lucas, Tragedy, p 120

34 Lucas says, "It is the failure to think out situations

fundamentally, the weakness of relying on formulae how-

ever noble, that brings to the precipice Brand and Mrs

Alving, Nora and Rosmer and the Dead who awake too late"

Tragedy, p 120

35 Edgar, in King Lear, act V, sc iii, ll 163-169 Hegel

says. "The character that is dramatic picks for himself

the fruit of his own deeds" See, Lucas Tragedy, p 115

36 D D Raphael, The Paradox of Tragedy, pp 28, 31

[146]

NOTES

SECTION II

1 See Natyasastra, Ch I

2 cf Eka eva bhaved angi Srngaro vīra eva va /

3 cf Vikramorvasaya, act iii

4 Co-author of Natyađarpana, pupil of the Jain polymath, Ācarya Hemacandra, 12th century (1143-1175 A.D)

5 12th cent A D Ksemisvara was probably a younger contemporary of Rajasekhara

6 See, Sten Konow, Das indische Drama, Berlin, 1920

7 7th cent A D The author is the King-poet, emperor Harsa of Thaneshvara

8 See S K De, A History of Sanskrit Literature, Vol I, pp 470-71

9 This is the literal meaning of the title of the play

10 See, III 17 This is the Buddhist ideal of life, which Harsa is showing through his dramatic character

11 Earliest known Sanskrit dramatist, belongs to the pre-Kalidāsa period, either one or two centuries B C or the first-second century A D

12 Pratima, it is this scene which gives the play its title

13 End of the 7th and beginning of the 8th century A D

14 The Paradox of Tragedy, p 61

15 The Frontiers of Drama, pp 17-18

16 The reference is to the two Ramāyana plays Maha viracarita and Uttara-rama-carita and to the Malati Madhava, Rama and Mādhava are monogamous heroes

17 For the first compare queen Dharini in the Mala-vikagnimitra and queen Ausinari in the Vikramorvasiya, the second refers to the construction of the Sakuntala, in which Kalidasa does not introduce Hamsapadika and Vasumati, the queens of Dusyanta on the stage

18 First century B C or 3rd century A D The inclination of the scholars is towards the latter date, which synchronizes with the Gupta period in ancient Indian History

19 This is what 'abhijnana' in the title of the play means It is the ring which Dusyanta had given to Sakuntalā Unfortunately, it fails to play its promised role

20 End of the 7th cent and the first quarter of the 8th cent A D

21 Uttara rama carta (URC), III 47

22 See, my edition of URC, (Popular Book Store, Tower Road, Surat, India) Introduction, pp 104-111

23 URC, VII 20

24 The Śudra who was practising extraordinary penance

[147]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

possible only for a high Brahmin sage, and which is supposed

to have caused the untimely death of a Brahmin's son

25 In technical language, this is not Karuna rooted in

Soka (tragic sorrow), but Vipralambha, the sorrow rooted

in love-in-separation

26 Sudraka's period is somewhere between 3rd and 8th

Cent A D Bhasa's incomplete play Cärudatta and Mrc use

identical plot I hold that Sudraka's play is an elaboration

of the Bhasa play See, my Bhasa-Studies, and Preface to

Mrcchakatika

27 See, Bhavabhūti's Prologue MM I 10

28 Mrc, I 7

29 See, the last scene of act X, and X 57

30 See, IX 60, where the author says that Fate sports

through human life like a wheel of pots mounted on a well

of water, and I 10, where the succession of misery and

happiness is compared to the appearance of light after

darkness

SECTION III

1 Technically called Viskambhaka, a linking scene,

which summarises the past incidents and suggests the com-

ing events of the main scene

2 The literary practice of the Sanskrit dramatist

generally is not to use the personal name of the King-hero

in their script but to refer to him as RAJĀ (King) It is

interesting to note that the text refers to Duryodhana first

by name, but after his parents and family members enter

on the scene, Duryodhana is termed 'Rāja' If this were not

to be dismissed as a scribe's error, the designation would be

very significant indeed, showing that the author intends the

character to be taken as the hero of the literary piece

3 This is the meaning of the title 'Pañcaratra'

4 See, III 25 The verse which Duryodhana speaks

means "Yes, I have given the Kingdom to the Pāndavas

as they had it before Even after death, all men can abide

if truth abides"

5 This one-act play is a pure invention of Bhāsa

although he uses epic characters The Mahābhārata does

not mention any embassy of Ghatotkaca after the war had

started and after Abhimanyu succumbed to a planned

Kaurava attack

[148]

6 Dūtarāya, verse 24 ab

7 Ma mā etam/Manasarırra Rajanah Mānartham eva

maya tıgraho grhıtah/

8 For example, Dr Sukhathankar who writes 'Uru-

bhanga is not a tragedy in one act but a detached inter-

mediate act of some drama' Analecta, p 183 See also Dr

Pusalker, Bhasa · A study On the other hand Meerwarth

says "Duryodhana comes nearest to the idea of a tragic

hero with which the Greek tragedy has made us familiar "

The Dramas of Bhāsa. A Literary Study, Journal of the

Asıatıc Society of Bengal Vol XIII, 1917, pp 261-280 See

also my Bhasa-Studies, No 6, pp 86-100

9 In the Pañcarātra, see, I 23

10 'Bhara' in the title of the play could mean 'burden',

'responsibility', 'march', 'raid or fight' See, my Bhasa

Studies, No 1, pp 16-17

11 The meeting with Indra is shown in Book III, Vana-

parvan, of which Kundala-harana parvan is a part (Ch 300-

310), the curse episode is narrated twice in Book VIII, called

Karṇaparvan, (by Duryodhana in Ch 34 and by Karna in

Ch 42), the end of Karna is shown towards the close of

Book VIII

12 For contrary but, I am afraid, misguided opinion see,

among others, Pusalker Bhaasa A Study, p 191

SECTION IV

1 George Steiner essays this in his book The Death of

Tragedy

2 See Steiner, The Death of Tragedy, Ch VIII, where he

points out how spread of realistic prose, music, opera etc,

took the place of tragedy in theatre (pp 284-289)

3 See, Malavikagnímıtra, act 1, 'Deva, prayoga-pra-

dhanam hi Natyasastram' and Sakuntala, act i a partosad

tudusam na sadhu manye prayoga-vıjñanam'

4 See, my Bhasa-Studies, No 9, pp 127-138

5 See the prologues of Bhavabhūti's first two plays

6 Act 1, verse 4

7 The theory of drama as formulated by Bharata and

his successors is examined further

8 For a fuller discussion, see my article Nātya and

Artya, in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay, Dr

da Cunha Memorial Volume, 39-40, 1964-65

9 It is interesting to note that Lord Siva, in his half-

[149]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

male half-female form, popularly known as Natarāja, is the

traditional deity of dramatic art

10 This is a doctrine of the Sāmkhya philosophy, which

has been accepted generally by other systems of thought

For a lucid exposition of the Triguna concept, see Bhagavad-

gītā, Ch 14

11 See, Act ii, verse 17

12 Malati-Madhava, prologue act i, verses 4 and 7

13 Mudrārākṣasa, act iii, verse 3, and act v Tat kin-

nıttam lu-kavi-krta-natakāsya ıva anyan mukhe anyan

nırvahaneJ

14 Natyasastra (NS), Gaekwad edition (GOS), Ch I,

verses 16-18

15 NS (GOS), I 8-11 Read Krdanıyakam icchamo

drsyam sravyam ca yad bhavetJ

16 For example, the fourth act of Kālidāsa's Vikramor-

vasıya where the hero wanders in search of his lost beloved

17 NS (GOS), Ch VI, Abhinava's comments on Rasa-

vıghna, pp 280-281 (2nd ed )

18 NS (GOS), Ch XXXVII, verses 58-61

19 NS (GOS), Ch I, verses 108-112, 115-120

20 Bharata forbids the showing of battle, loss of kingdom

death seige of a city, it is advised that these incidents should

be reported or narrated Simularly, the killing of an aspiring

and rising hero is not to be represented on the stage NS

(GOS), Ch XVIII, verses 14-17 The other things forbidden

for stage representation are Sleeping, kıssing, embracing

private things, amorous liberties, all these in the context of

love also, eating food, sporting in water, in other words,

any thing that is likely to be shameful and embarrasing

must not be shown on the stage The dramatic performance,

says Bharata will be seen by father and son, daughter-in-

law and mother-in-law, that is, young and old family mem-

bers together Hence, the injunctions on probibition NS

(GOS), Ch XXII, verses 294 299

Dhanañjaya mentions long journey, slaughter, battle,

revolution in kingdom or country, seige of a city, eating,

bathing, love-making anointing, changing or putting on

garments, such and other things are not to be actually shown

on the stage Dasarupa, III 34-35

Visvanātha includes all these, addıtional varıatıons are

calling up from a long distance actual marriage, curse,

answering calls of nature Sahıtyadarpana, section VI, verses

16-17

21 Dhanañjaya (10th cent A D) in his Dasarūpa, Ch I,

[150]

verses 17-24, Visvanātha (14th cent A D) in his Sahıtya-

darpana, section VI, verses 65a, 70-80 Bharata has mentioned

these in NS , XIX, vv 7-14, 21-26, 37-43, 44a

22 The statement of Visakhadatta, which was referred to

earlier, is only another version of this theory

23 Anandavardhana, Dhvanyaloka, Section III, (Chow-

khamba ed, Benaras, 1940, pp 365 66)

24 Cf 'Eko raso'ngkartavyo vīrah Srngara eva va'/Dasa-

rupa, III 33 (Haas' ed III 38), also, Eka eva bhavea angi

Srngaro Vīra eva vap/Sahıtyadarpana, VI 10a

25 Abhinavagupta's comment on Bharata's Rasa theory

Tatra sarve samı suchapradhanah, NS (GOS), Ch VI, p

282

26 NS (GOS), Ch I, verse 117 Sapta-dvīpanukaranam

naṭyam etad bhavisyatı/

27 Cf Mammata Kavyaprakasa, I 1, and similar state-

ments like 'Nırankusah kavayah',

'Apare kavya-samsare kavih ekah prajapatıḥ'/

'Yatha-asmaı rocate visvam tatha ıdam parvartate'//

Agnıpuranna, 339-10

28 This is Bhagavadgıta, IV 7-8 For the following philo-

sophical exposition, Gıta, chapters II to IV may be consulted,

also the Upanisads and the Bramasūtras with Sankara's

commentary

29 The Paradox of Tragedy, p 51

30 The Frontiers of Drama, see pp 17-18 The quotation

of Richards is from his Principles of Literary Criticism,

p 194

31 See, George Steiner, The Death of Tragedy, p 324,

D Raphael, The Paradox of Tragedy, p 51 ff

32 See, The Death of Tragedy, pp 293-294

33 The Death of Tragedy, p 292 ff

34 Consider the case of a modern Marathi drama, Punya

prabhava, of Ram Ganesh Gadkari Tragedy is averted

here, not because the character who brings tragedy is won

over by the eloquence of a woman, as some critics have said

in derision The basic issue here is that of a married

woman's honour a value which the author could not allow

to be trampled to have a formal tragedy, although in real

life it may be violated Gadkari, who has a fine tragedy to

his credit, could not show the death of this precious value

in a dramatic spectacle meant for a mass of spectators He

preferred to sacrifice realism for preserving an idealistic

[151]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

value Besides tragedy cannot be possible unless the dramatist and his audience can share a common value or belief

SECTION V-A

1 Śakuni, the maternal uncle of Duryodhana

2 Asvatthaman

3 Maternal uncle of Asvatthaman

4 Meaning, 'leadership'

5 The battlefield of Kurukṣetra, where the epic war was fought

6 As the prospective 'son in law'

7 Or 'muddy'

8 The crown-jewels shooting rays are so imagined

9 The verse intends to present an exception to the overall domination of death by describing the immortal achievements of Arjuna and suggesting that Arjuna, not Death, rules over the lives of Kṣatriyas Arjuna burnt the Khandava forest down to destroy the race of Nagas Samsaptakas are the king of Trigarta and his brothers who had vowed (Sam + sap) to kill Arjuna Nivātakavaca (lit, possessed of strong, secure armour) were the guards of Kubera's treasure-house Arjuna fought with Śiva disguised as Kirata (forester), this was a test for Arjuna and it resulted in the gift of a missile given by the pleased Lord

10 A dramatic movement, suggesting change of scene The report of the mace-fight begins now

11 Duryodhana

12 Bhīma, so called because he ate like a wolf

13 Bhīma

14 Vyāsa

15 Balarama, called Halin, Halādhara, Halāyudha, because he wields a plough as a weapon, he is supposed to be very fond of flowers

16 The verse describes Balarāma's exploits In the fight between Śalvas and Vṛṣṇis, Balarāma killed the Śālva king and smashed his capital, Saubha, with his plough Balarāma changed the course of the river Yamunā, dragging the waters with his plough

17 Allusion to the myth of Amṛtamaṁthana Gods and demons churned the ocean of milk (Kṣirasamudra) to obtain amṛta, nectar, the drink of immortality The Mandara

{152}

mountain was used as the churning rod, the serpent Vasuki

as the rope

18 Libations of water are poured ritually for the dead

The Pandavas are called the 'clouds', giving ritual water

They must live to do the obsequies, being, in fact, the only

survivors of this epic war

19 The verse incidentally alludes to the prowess of

Bhima Duryodhana tried to kill the young Pandavas by

putting them in a lac house and setting it on fire Bhima

managed to save his mother and brothers Bhima fought

with Kubera's guards, he killed Hidimba Later, he married

the demon's sister, Hidimba, their son was Ghatotkaca

20 Krsna vanquished Indra to bring down the celestial

Parijata for his beloved wife, Rukmini Krsna-Visnu is

described here as the Lord of Universe, who sleeps in the

Milky Ocean during the period of World-dissolution and

awakes to create the world anew

21 The text refers to Duryodhana henceforward as

'King' which is the literary practice in mentioning the hero

22 Lit. 'The ladies of the harem'

23 Married women and respectable ladies covered their

head and face with a thin veil reaching up to their shoulders

whenever they made public appearance To go bare-headed

in public was considered unbecoming The practice persists

even now and respected ladies of old reputed families cover

their head with the skirt of their sarees

24 Malavi and Pauravi are the names of Duryodhana's

Queens Malavi appears to be the senior queen as she is

called 'Devi' by the author

25 The old custom of Sati, women immolated themselves

in cremation fire with their dead husbands Pandu's younger

queen Madri, did the Sati act, Duryodhana's younger queen

seems to follow the example

26 The sacrifice of war etc v 55

27 In the text these are long compound expressions used

as vocatives

28 The references are to Duryodhana and Karna respec-

tively

29 In a ceremonial coronation, Brahmin priests would

chant the mantras, Asvathaman, the son of the Preceptor

Drona is a Brahmin, his proclamation should have the

weight and validity of a priest's utterance

30 This is Duryodhana's dream vision on the eve of his

death

[153]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Section V-B

1 Hiranyakasipu who was killed by Viṣṇu (referred here as Śridhara, the consort or Lakṣmī in his Man-Lion incarnation

2 Lit, 'the roar of a lion'

3 Name of Arjuna

4 Parasurāma scion of Bhṛgu family, who killed Kārtavīrya in revenge and destroyed the Kṣatriya race twenty-one times, according to the epic and puranic story

5 Lit 'having the fangs of adamant'

6 A tree whose leaves grow in a cluster of seven and has an over-powering odour

7 An echo of the words in the Gītā II 37

8 The Sanskrit word aśa has two meanings quarters, hope

9 The eldest of the Pāndavas, Yudhiṣṭhīra

10 The expression in the text is compounded, it could alternatively be translated as 'turned stiff and bent down the corners of their mouths resting on their necks circled by strings of white beads'

11 All the open speeches of Indra are in Prakrit, only his private utterances are in Sanskrit

12 Lit, 'lotus-like'

13 A Vedic sacrifice, bringing Heaven and such other rewards

14 Indra's own elephant

15 Or 'who stands by the side of Arjuna'

16 Either the elephants in gods' armies or his own Airavata

17 Name of Indra

18 Indra

19 Arjuna

[154]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

(A) Works on Tragedy and Dramatic Criticism (English)

Anderson, Maxwell, The Essence of Tragedy, Anderson House, Washington D C, 1939

Baker, George Pierce, Dramatic Technique, Houghton Mifflin Co, Boston, 1919

Barish, Jonas A, The Spanish Tragedy (in Elizabethan Theatre, pp 59-66, Stratford-upon-Avon Studies, No 9, ed, J R Brown and Harris Barnard), Edward Arnold Publishers, London, 1966

Battenhouse, Roy W, Shakespearean Tragedy (in Approaches to Shakespeare ed Rabkin Norman), McGraw Hill, New York, 1964

Bentley, Eric, What is Theatre, Dennis Dobson, London, 1957 (Original ed published in America, 1956)

Brace Harcourt Bodkin, Maud, Archtypal Patterns in Poetry (Section I, Archtypal Patterns in Tragic poetry), Oxford University Press, London, 1934, Paperback, 1933, 65

Bradbrook, M C, Themes and Conventions of Elizabethan Tragedy, Cambridge University Press, London, 1966 (First ed 1935)

Bradley A C, Shakespearean Tragedy, Macmillan, London, 1957 (First Ed 1904), also Meridian Paperback, New York, 1957

, Oxford Lectures on Poetry, Macmillan & Co Ltd, London, (First ed 1909), St Martin, New York, ed 1965

Brooks, Kenneth & Heilman, Robert B, Understanding Drama (Part IV Special Studies in Tragic Mode), Rinehart and Winston, U S A, 1948

Cambell, Lilly B, Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes, Univ Press, Cambridge, 1930; also University Paperback, Methuen, London, 1930

Charlton, H B, Shakespearean Tragedy, Univ. Press, Cambridge, 1949

[155]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Chekhov, Anton, Letters (on the Short Story, The Drama and other Literary Topics ; ed by Luis S Friedland), Dover Publications, Inc New York, 1966 (Original ed Geoffrey Bles and Minton, Balch & Co 1924)

Chu Kwan Tsien, The Psychology of Tragedy, Librairie Universitaire l'Alsac, Strasbourg, 1933 , (Quoted by Raphael in The Paradox of Tragedy)

Chumiffe, Marcus, Literature of the United States, Penguin Books, Baltimore, Maryland, U S A, F P 1954, rev ed 1961

Clark, Barret H , A Study of the Modern Drama, Appleton Century Co, New York, London, 1948

Dean, Leonard F , Shakespeare . Modern Essays in Criticism, Oxford University Press, First published, 1957, revised ed New York, 1967

Esslin, Martin, The Theatre of the Absurd, Eyre & Spottiswoode, London, 1966

Evans, B Ifor, A Short History of English Drama, MacGibbon & Kee, London, 2nd ed rev 1965 F P by Penguin Books, 1948, revised Lib ed, 1950 , 2nd revised ed 1965

Ferguson, Francis, Macbeth as the Imitation of Action (in Approaches to Shakespeare), pp 121-130, ed Rabkin Norman, McGraw Hill, New York, 1964

Gascoigne, Bamber, Twentieth Century Drama, Hutchinson, London, 1962

Gassner, John, Masters of the Drama, Dover Publications, New York , First publication, Random House, 1940

Gupta, R C , The Problem Play, Shivalal Agrawala & Co, Agra, 1961

Guha, P K , Tragic Relief, Oxford University Press, London, 1932

Hamilton, Clayton, Studies in Stage-craft, The Theory of the Theatre, Henry Holt & Co, New York, 1939

Henn, T R , The Harvest of Tragedy, Methuen, London, 1956

Hosley, Richard, (ed ) Essays on Shakespeare and Elizabethan Drama, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1963

Jaspers, Karl, Tragedy is not Enough, Trans by Haralt A T Reiche, Harry T Moore and Karl W Deutsch, Victor Gollancz, London, 1953

Kitto, H D F , Form and Meaning in Drama, (University Paperbacks), Methuen, London, 1956

[156]

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Lawlor, John, The Tragic Sense in Shakespeare, Chatto and Windus, London, 1966

Lawson, John Howard, Theory and Technique of Play-writing, G P Putnam's Sons, New York, 1937

Lucas, F L, Tragedy, Hogarth Press, London, 1927, (revised enlarged ed 1957)

Lumley, Frederick, Trends in 20th Century Drama, Barrie and Rockliff, London, 1956, (revised ed 1960)

Mack, Mayard, The Jacobean Shakespeare Some Observations on the Construction of Tragedies, pp 11-42 (in Jacobean Theatre, ed Brown and Harris, Stratford-upon-Avon Studies, I, Edward Arnold Ltd, London, 1960

Mandel, Oscar, A Definition of Tragedy, New York University Press, New York, 1961

Marriot, J W, Modern Drama, Thoman Nelson & Sons, Ltd, London, (Year not given)

McCollom, W G, Tragedy, Macmillan Co, New York, 1957

Miller, Arthur, Collected Plays, (Introduction Essay on Tragedy), Cresset Press, London, 1958

Miller, Jordon Y (Ed), American Dramatic Literature (Anthology), (Introduction Section on Tragedy), Mc-Graw-Hill, 1961

Nicoll, Allardyce, The Theory of Drama, Harrap & Co, London, (new and rev ed), 1931

The Theatre and Dramatic Theory, Harrap, London, 1962

Nietzsche, Friedrich, The Birth of Tragedy, The complete works of F Nietzsche, ed by Dr Oscar Levy, Vol I, (Tr by Wm A Haussmann, Ph.D), T N Foulis, Edinburgh and London, 1910

Palmer, D J, Elizabethan Tragic Heroes (in Elizabethan Theatre, pp 11-36, Stratford-upon-Avon Studies, 9, ed J R Brown and Harris Barnard), Edward Arnold Publishers, London, 1966

Peacock, Ronald, The Art of Drama, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1957

Prior, Moody E., The Language of Tragedy, Columbia University Press, New York, 1947

Raphael, D D, The Paradox of Tragedy, Allen and Unwin, London, 1960

Ribney, Irving, Patterns in Shakespearean Tragedy, Methuen & Co, London, 1960, reprint 1969

[157]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Richards, I A , Practical Criticism; (A Study of Literary Judgment), Kegan Paul, London, 1935 (First ed 1929).

Principles of Literary Criticism, Kegan Paul, London, 1924, 25, Routledge Paperback, 1960, reset, 1967

Ridgeway, William, The Origin of Tragedy, (Greek Tragedians), Cambridge University, 1910

Shipley, J T (Ed), Dictionary of World Literature; (Tragedy), Philosophical Library, Inc, New York, 1943

Speaight, Robert, Nature in Shakespearean Tragedy, Hollis & Carter, London, 1955

Steiner, George, The Death of Tragedy, Faber and Faber, London, 1961

Stuart, Donald Clive, The Development of Dramatic Art, Dover ed, Dover Publications, New York, 1960

Stylan, J L, The Dark Comedy (The Development of Modern Comic Tragedy), Univ Press, Cambridge, 1962

Thompson, A R, The Anatomy of Drama, University of California Press, California, 1946

Tomlinson, T B, A Study of Elizabethan and Jacobean Tragedy, Univ Press, Cambridge, 1964

Williams, Raymond, Modern Tragedy, Chatto & Windus, London, 1966 Paperback 1966

, Drama from Ibsen to Eliot, Chatto & Windus, London, 1952

(B) Works on Dramatic Theory (Sanskrit)

Dasarupa, Dhananjaya, Chowkhamba Vidya Bhavan, Benaras, 1955, (Text and English tr by George C O Haas (First ed 1912), Reprint, Motilal Banarasidas, Delhi, 1962)

Dhvanyāloka, Ānandavardhana, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, J H Gupta, Benaras, 1940

Natyasastra, Bharat muni, ed Ramakrishna Kavi, Gaekwad's Oriental Series, Oriental Institute, Baroda, Vols I to IV, (English Tr by Dr Manamohan Ghosh, Bibliotheca Indica, No 272, Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Calcutta, 1950)

Sahityadarpana, Viśvanātha, 6th Ed Nirnayasagar, Bombay, 1936

[158]

INDEX

(a) Concepts

Abhijñāna 147

Alexandrine (verse) 4

Amnesia 53

Amṛtamathana 152

Anagnorisis 9, 10, 30-32, 44, 78

Antagonist 2, 37, 46

Antigone (myth of) 106

Apollonian 25, 28, 29

Art 1, 2, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 20,

22, 24, 26, 28, 29, 33, 47, 51, 53,

58, 94, 95-98, 100-102

Bhāṇa 87

Catharsis 18, 19, 21, 22, 145

Chorus 4, 12, 15, 21

Comedy 38, 45, 47, 49, 51, 52, 55,

60, (tragi-comedy) 67, 88, 90,

91

Curse 3, 5, 25, 39, 53-55, 69, 83,

89

Dhruvā (songs) 96

Dionia 9

Dionysian 25, 26, 28, 29

Dithyramb (leaping dance) 3

Divine (eternal) justice 6, 20, 22,

25, 29, 40, 43, 44, 46, 70, 71, 79,

103, 104

Dramaturgy 70

Drśya kāvya 17

Ethos 9, 12

Fear 18-25, 27-29, 42, 46

Festival

(atmosphere of) 90;

(Cupid's, Spring) 89;

(of Kālapriyānātha) 90;

(ritual) 25

'Fifth Veda' 95, 96

Gāndharve (marriage) 52

God of Death 82, 136, 152

grandeur d'âme 34

Greek (drama) 7; (view of life) 18

Guru 74, 75

Gurudakṣiṇā 75

Hamartia 3, 4, 10, 30-32, 44, 78,

81, 85

Hero 1-6, 9, 13, 16, 17, 19, 24, 26,

27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 40-42,

46-49, 60, 61, 63, 79-83, 85, 99,

100, 105, 106, 148, 153

Hubris 3-5, 10, 25, 79

Jester 41, 63-65, 85

Kamsa legend 69

Karma(n) 103, 104

Karunā 42

Kavaca-kuṇḍala(s) 81

Kṛṣṇa legend 69

Lasya 92

Literary drama 87

Manichean 26, 106

Man-lion (incarnation) 134, 153

Marxist concept 6

Melodrama 6, 21

Mimesis 8

Mokṣa 104

Mythos 8, 9

Nāṭya 92, 96

Nemesis (destiny, fate) 4, 5, 20,

23, 25, 29, 32, 34, 63, 64, 103,

148

Pathos 20-22, 33, 39, 42, 44-46,

58, 61, 91, 93, 100, 101

Peripeteia 9, 10, 30 32, 44, 78

[159]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Pity 18 25, 27-29, 42, 44, 46, 50

Play(-theatre )goer 17, 20, 88

Plaything 96 98

Poetic symbols 17

Prakarana 61

Prakrti 102

Praxis 8

Preceptor 18 128, 131, 137, 153

Primitive ritual 2

Rajas 93

Rājasūya (sacrifice) 75

Rama legend 69, 99

Response 72, 74 90

Rhetorical Sentiments (Rasa) 46,

58, 93,

aṣṭarasaśraya 93,

bhayānaka 101,

dayavīra 43,

karuna 40, 43 94, 100, 101,

rasavighna 150,

śānta(rasa) 43,

śṛṅgara 147,

upralambha 148,

vīra 101, 147

Romanticism 5, 6

Sacrifice of war 128

Sati 65, 153

Sattva 93

Śudra 147

Svayamvara 80

Tamas 93

Tandava 92

Totemic 2, 3

Tragic

action 26, 27, 32,

character 35,

circumstances 62,

colours 44,

compassion (pity, sym- pathy) 23, 27,

concept 22, 29, 31, 33,

consciousness 25 :

delincation 43.

denouement 65, 68.

depiction 29, 35, 38, 70, 83,

design 25, 32, 35, 38, 70, 83,

94, 97,

disaster 66,

drama (play) 22 25, 58,

emotion (feeling) 7, 9, 23,

24, 27, 33, 38, 40, 42, 46,

50, 79,

error (flaw) 3, 32, 58, 60,

fact 28,

fear 23,

grandeur 74, 83, 106,

intent 42, intention 58,

irony 56,

loss 49,

love 62,

mood 47,

motive 69,

plot 32,

possibility 61,

potentiality 45,

presentation 43, 46 61,

significance 26,

sense 102,

sorrow 50,

spectacle 19,

story 33, 43, 45,

structure 68,

struggle 33,

theme 32.

treatment 70

Trag oidia 2

Tri guṇa 149

Trimūrti 105

Trilogy 4, 5

Une Tranche de Vie 11

Urubhaṅga 70, 71

Vacika abhinaya 97

Valucadha 43

Value(s) 10, 11, 26, 35, 37, 40, 43,

47, 61, 66-69, 90, 102, 105-107

Vedanta 104 105

Vikrama 50

Viṣkambhaka 148

[160]

INDEX

(b) Authors

Abhinavagupta 43, 97, 100, 101, 150, 151

Aeschylus 4, 16

Anouilha, Jean 21, 22, 106

Ānandavardhana 100, 107, 150

Aristophanes 8

Aristotle 3, 6-23, 30, 31, 33, 40, 79, 145

Bālacandra 39, 41

Bāna(bhaṭṭa) 38, 83, 90

Bharati (muni) 12, 17, 36, 38, 66 92, 93, 95-101, 149-151

Bhāsa 12, 31, 43, 44, 48, 49, 68- 86, 90, 97, 107, 108, 133, 148

Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa 45, 80

Bhavabhūti 47, 48, 55-59, 61, 88, 94, 95, 99, 100, 145, 148, 149

Bradley 21, 146

Brecht 22, 24, 31

Bywater 145

Chaucer 4

Chekhov 6, 16, 17, 24, 31

Chu Kwang-Tsien 23

Coleridge 8

Corneille 6, 12

Dante 2

De, S K. 147

De Quincey 9

Dhanañjaya 98, 150

Eliot 15, 16

Ellis-Fermor, Una 46, 105

Euripides 3, 4, 8, 14, 16, 20, 23

Fergusson, Francis 145

Gadkari, Ram Ganesh 151

Galsworthy 32

Gilbert 145

Harṣa 41, 88, 90, 147

Hegel 21, 27-29, 146

Hemacandra 147

Henn, T. R 146

Ibsen 6, 10, 14-17, 22, 106

Joyce 23

Kālidāsa 38, 48, 50-55, 83, 89, 91- 95, 97, 99, 101, 147, 150

Konow, Sten 147

Kṣemiśvara 39, 147

Lucas 7-9, 13, 31, 145, 146

Mammaṭa 151

Meerwarth 149

Miller, Arthur 107

Nietzsche 21, 27-29, 146

O'Neill 6

Patañjali 36

Plato 7, 18

Pusalker 149

Racine 6 8, 15

Rājaśekhara 88, 147

Rāmacandra 39

Raphael 23, 34, 46, 105, 146, 151

Richards 9, 21, 22, 26, 105, 106, 145, 146, 151

Schopenhauer 21

Seneca 3

Shakespeare 5, 8, 14-16, 20, 22, 56

Sophocles 4, 20

Steiner, George 23, 25, 106, 145, 146, 149, 151

Sūdraka 61, 63, 65,-67, 88, 97, 148

Sukthankar 149

Synge 16

Tagore, Rabindranath 80

Vālmīki 33, 58, 59, 99

Viśākhadatta 83, 94, 150

Viśvanātha 98, 150

Williams, Raymond 25, 145, 146

Zola 6

Zweig, Stephen 19

161

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

(c) Works (literary, dramatic)

Abhijnanasakuntala (Śakuntala) 52 89 147 149

Abhiṣeka 43

Analecta 149

Antigone 21

Approaches to Shakespeare 145

Athenian tragedy 6

Bacchae 3

Balacanta 69 71

Bhagavadgita (Gita) 149 151

Bhasa A Study 149

Bhasa plays 69 87 107 148

Bhasa Studies 148 149

Bible 105

Birth of Tragedy (The) 146

Brahman(a)s 50

Brahma sutras 151

Candakausika 39

Carudatta 148

Chember's Twentieth Century Dictionary 146

Crucible (The) 107

Dasarupa 150 151

Das indische Drama 147

Days Without End 6

Death of Tragedy (The) 145 146 149 151

Dhanyaloka 150

Dictionary of Philosophy 146

Divine Comedy 60

Doll's House (A) 6 10 31

Dramas of Bhasa A Literary Study 149

Dramas of Ibsen 106

Duta Ghajotkaca 75 76

Dutarakhya 75 76 148

Enemy of the People (An) 6 32

Frontiers of Drama (The) 147 151

Ghosts 6

Great God Brown (The) 6

Greek Tragedies (Tragic plays) 3 5 9 15 20

Hamlet (The) 19

Harivamsa 38

History of Sanskrit Literature (A) 147

Kamsavadha 36

Karnabhara 81 82 86 133 144

Karuna vajrayudha 39 41

Kavyaprakasa 151

King Lear (The) 23 30 31 146

Lakṣmiśvayamvara 38 93

Literary Criticism Plato to Dryden 145

Macbeth (The) 8 32

Madhyama-vyayoga 71

Mahabharata 38 45 70 72 75 78 79 82 99 148

Mahaviracarita 147

Malatimadhava 61 147 150

Malavikagnimitra 89 91 147

Medea 23

Modern Tragedy 145 146

Monk's Tale (A) 5

Mrcchakatika 61 63 67 148

Mudrarakṣasa 150

Mutter Courage 22 24 31

Nagananda 41 42

Naiṣadhananda 39

Natyadarpana 147

Natyasastra 12 17 92 95 97 147 150

Noh plays (of Japan) 2

Oxford Lectures on Poetry 146

Parcatra 75 148 149

Paradox of Tragedy (The) 145 146 147 151

Parcatiparinaya 33

Passion plays 2

Philosophy of Fine Arts 146

Poetics 13 22

Pratimā 44

[162]

INDEX

Preface to Mṛcchakaṭikā 148

Principles of Literary Criticism 145, 146, 151

Priyadarśikā 90

Psychology of Tragedy (The) 145

Punyaprabhāva 38

Purāṇa(s) 38

Raghuvamśa 101

Rāmāyaṇa 33, 38, 43, 45, 55, 58, 99, 100

Religious plays (of Egypt and Sera) 2

Rgveda 50

Richard III 23

Sāhityadarpana 150

Satya-Hariścandra 39

Satyr plays 3

Seven Against Thebes 23

Silver Box 32

Svapnavāsavadatta 48, 49

Therese Raquin 6

Tragedy 145

Tripuradāha 36

Upaniṣads 151

Ūrubhaṅga 70-72, 74-76, 78, 79, 81, 85, 108, 132, 149

Uttara-rāma-carita 56, 58, 60, 94, 100, 145, 147

Veniśamhāra 45, 46

Vikramorvaśīya 50, 52, 89, 93, 147, 150

(d) Names (Persons, Places, Things)

Abhimanyu 76, 78, 127, 131, 132, 148

Adonis 2

Agamenon 3, 4, 30

Agastya 59

Agnimitra 89

Agniṣṭoma (sacrifice) 142

Aurāvata 132, 143, 154

Aja 101

Anga (country) 133; (Lord) 135

Angarāja 142

Antigone 4, 15, 30

Apollo 28

Arjuna 73, 80, 84-86, 109, 113, 116, 134, 135, 139, 143, 144, 152, 153, 154

Arundhatī 60

Āryaka 65

Aśvatthāman 46, 71, 77, 78, 103, 128, 130-132, 151, 152, 153

Atreus (family) 3

Attis 2

Auśinarī 147

Ayodhyā 59

Baladeva (Balarāma) 73, 74, 77, 108, 114, 116-122, 126-128, 131, 132, 152

Bali 36

Bharata 45

Bhīma (Bhīmasena) 45, 46, 70, 72-74, 77-79, 110, 114-121, 123, 124, 152

Bhiṣma 109, 129, 130

Bhrgu (family) 136, 153

Brahmā 95, 96, Brahmadeva 36

Caṇḍāla 39, 40

Candanaka 66

Cāruḍatta 61-67

Cassandra 4, 15

Ceta 65

Citrāṅgada 116

Cleopatra 12

Clytemnestra 15

Creon (King) 4

Daśaratha 43-45

Desdemona 23

Devadūta (Angel) 85, 133, 143

[163]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Devakī 69

Dhananjaya 135

Dharinī 89 147

Dharmarāja 139

Dhṛtarāṣṭra 80 108 121 128

Dhutā 65 66

Dionysus 3 8 26

Draupadī 45 46 76 80 124

127 131

Drona 75 109 129 153

Duhsasana 46 46

Durjaya 76 77 108 121 123 125

27 131

Durvasa 52 53 89

Duryodhana 45 46 70 79 81 85

108 110 114 117 120 122 130

148 149 151 153

Duśyanta 52 55 89 103 147

Dvaipāyana 117

Ganadāsa 89 91 92

Gandhamādana (forest) 51

Gandhāra (King) 109

Gandharī 117 121 123 125 127

129

Gandīva (bow) 116

Ganges 132

Garuda (Eagle) 41 42 130 138

Gaurī 41 51

Ghaṭotkaca 70 148 153

Gloucester 30

Godāvarī 56

Halāyudha 118 119

Hamlet 20 30 32 34

Hamisapadikā 48 89 147

Hariścandra 39 40

Hastināpura 73

Hedda Gabler 15

Hidimbā 120 153

Hilda Wangel 15

Indra 50 52 55 80 82 84 86 115

121 132 133 149 154

Indumati 101

Iphigenia 30

Jamadagni 138 137

Jañska 57 58

Jason 3

Jayadratha 109

Jīmūtavāhana 41 43

Kailāsa 36 115

Kaikeyī 44 45 69 81

Kalapriyānātha 90

Kamboja (pedigree horses fa

mily of horses) 83 128, 141

Kamsa 36 69 71 81

Kaṇva 52 54

Karṇa 31 46 70 79 86 109 130

132 144 149 153

Karnapuraka 62

Kartavīrya 153

Kartikeya 51

Kauravas 45 46 70 72 80 86

133 135

Khaṇḍava 113

Kṛpa 109

Kṛṣṇa 38 46 70 72 74 76 80

109 114 116 117 121 144 153

Kṣatra (Clan) 136

Kṣatriyas 113 126 136 137 152

Kubera 120 152 153

Kuntī 80 136

Kuru 114 117 119 123 130

Lady Macbeth 15

Lakṣmaṇa 59

Lakṣmī 38 153

Laṅkā 56

Lear (King) 30 34 82

Macbeth 30 34 82

Mādhavā 147

Madhuka 69 112

Madri 153

Malavī 109 128 127 153

Malavikā 89

Malayavallī 41

Mandara 114 152

Manī 146

Manichees 146

Marīca 52 55

Medea 3 12 14 15

Menakā 52 55

Meru 115 128

[164]

INDEX

Mother Courage 24 25 34

Yaga (can) 41 42

Tala 39

Yafaraja 149

Yati 89

Yivatkaracas 113 152

Yra 10 15 31 34

Oedipus 3 9 30

Ophclia 32

Orestes 3

Osiris 2

Othello 30

Padmawatf 40 50

Pakadisina 143

Palaka 65

Pakavati 59 59 60

Pandara (Middle) 114

Pandavas 45 47 70-78 78 80 82 84 115 117 121 131 139 143 143 152 154

Pandita Yautiki 83

Pand3 17 121 130 153

Para Yurma 82 83 86 129 153

Parijata (tree) 120 153

Partha 141

Pärvati 33

Pauravi 107 127 153

Phrdra 15

Prometheus 3

Purandara 143

Püruyavas 30-32 80

Pädha 136

Rama 14 33 43-45 55 60 90 103 147

Pa aga 14 33 55

Thidika 39

Pimero 30 31

Pudra 90 91 93

Sakära 62 65

Sakra 133 139 143

Sakuni 75

Sakuntala 32 55 90 103 147

Salya 83 90 133 133 139 142- 141

Samantapafcaka 103 100 112

Sambuka 59

Samsaptakas 113 152

Samvahaka 65

Sinkhacuda 41 42

Santanu 132

Sanumati 55

Siptacchada (tree) 133

Sarasvati 93

Sarvilaka 65

Saubha 118 153

Sibi 39 40

Sita 14 55 60 90 103

Sin a 35 33 51 92 113, 149 152

Sridhara 131

Stockmann (Dr) 14 32

Sugriva 43

Sun (god) 81 84

Sundariki 46

Suyodhana (name of Duryo dhana) 122

Tamasä (River) 59

Tarimati 39

Trojans 4

Udyana 40 50

Ujjayini 62 65

Umi 91 93

UrvaSi 33 50 52 89 132

Vajrabähu (Curse) 69

Vajramukha (Insect) 137

Välin 43 44 69

Välmiki (in URC) 60

Vanka 24 31 34

Vasantacena 62 67

Vasantl 57 58

Väinadattä 48 50

Varistha 60

Väsuki 110 152

Vasumati 147

Vidura 73 114 116

ViduSakn 54 65

Vidyädhara (girl) 31

Vimäla (Celestial power) 143

ViSnu 39 ViSnu (Näräyana) 38 60 153

VitvämItra (Kautilka) 30 40 82

[165]

TRAGEDY AND SANSKRIT DRAMA

Viṭa 63

Vṛkodara 115

Vyāsa 73, 99, 114, 116, 152

Yadu 114

Yamunā 152

Yugandharyayana 49, 50

Yudhiṣṭhira 46, 86, 109, 116, 127,

136, 144, 154

[166]