Essay name: Bhasa (critical and historical study)
Author: A. D. Pusalker
This book studies Bhasa, the author of thirteen plays ascribed found in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. These works largely adhere to the rules of traditional Indian theatrics known as Natya-Shastra.
Page 125 of: Bhasa (critical and historical study)
125 (of 564)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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105
Mr. Sankar takes BhÄsa to have been the ruling
king on account of the use of a ("may Balarama protect
thee etc."), and (āmay NÄrÄyaį¹a award thee
the entire earth") in the benedictory stanzas of the
Svapna and Avi. The benedictions, according to him,
refer to the royal author himself, otherwise "the plural
should have been used if they were meant for the
audience". It would be more reasonable, we think, to
suppose that the poet used or purposely in these two
ą¤¤ą„ą¤µą¤¾ą¤®ą„
[³Ł±¹Äå³¾
] dramas only, as he was sure of the king's presence at the
first performance of the dramas. This explains the
absence of such words from the benedictory stanzas in the
PratijƱÄ, PaƱc, Prat, as the poet was not sure whether
the king would grace the occasion by his attendance.
The prayer in the remaining benedictory stanzas is for the
protection of the audience, viz. : (" of you all"). This
fact, coupled with the epilogues of the dramas, seems to
suggest that BhÄsa was a court poet of some king, rather
than the king himself. The absence of the benedictory.
stanza and the epilogue to the Car shows that the poet
could not give final touches to the same, owing perhaps
to his death.
His ignorance of the South and mention of
countries, towns, rivers and specialities (e. g. tÄlÄ«patra in
the Car, p. 82) of the North proclaim the poet to be a
northerner; the characters of his plays are from the North
and the scenes in almost all the plays lie in Northern
India. So it seems to be a more reasonable assumption
to take the poet to be an inhabitant of the North than
to have him as a Southerner.
2 The benedictory stanzas as well as the introductory
verses and the general tone of the plays show that BhÄsa
was a Vaisnava of the Bhakti cult. He also knew the
PaƱcarÄtra system of philosophy. He was a champion of
the BrÄhmaį¹as, a staunch upholder of the caste-system and
a firm believer in the efficacy of the sacrificial oblations. He
seems to be well-versed in all the Sastras and conversant
with all the conventionalities of behaviour according to the
orthodox systems. Truth in thought, word and deed
was
his motto. He seems to have been an obedient and dutiful
1 AMV, 2, p. 61. 2 As taken by all the Anti-Bhasaites. Dr. Keith and
Weller also suggest likewise. Cf. SD, p. 105.
