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does not necessarily mean priority to Bharata, but
contemporaneity or posteriority to the period of stage
reformation in Kerala.' We have already refuted the
charge levelled against Bh膩sa's works that they are stage
adaptations or compilations. Neither K膩lid膩sa, nor any
other well-known dramatist, breaks the rules of Bharata.
The Kerala theatre shows much Bh膩sa influence, which
was due to his plays being closely studied. Actual
representation and practical experience proved these plays
wonderfully suited to the stage, and the rule as to the
prohibition of certain scenes such as battles, deaths, sleep,
etc. on the stage, seems to have been slackened on
Bh膩sa's precedent and authority, especially as there
appears to be no other sanction for the practice.
Now, scholars are not at one as to the date of
Bharata. He is placed variously from the second century
B. C. to the fourth century A. D.. It will be readily
admitted that the Natyasastra that we have at present,
has had some revisions after its first composition, and
no one assigns to it the divine origin and hoary antiquity
that it demands. That Bh膩sa knew a N膩峁瓂a艣膩stra as
distinct from a Na峁璦sutra or N盲tyasutra mentioned by
Panini follows from his reference in the Avi (p. 16
啶呧い啷嵿ぅ啶� 啶班ぞ啶�啶距�呧く啶� 啶椸�嵿ぐ啶距�� 啶膏い啷嵿ぅ啶� 啷� ) [atthi r膩m膩aya峁� gr膩ma sattha峁� | ) ] Bharata himself writes about his
predecessors in the field; and we have the testimony of
Patanjali of the second century B. C., as to the acting of
a full-fledged drama about the killing of Kamsa in his
own time. So, the principles of dramaturgy on which that
dramatic piece might have been based would naturally
point to some period anterior to the second century B. C.,
e., before the upper limit assigned for the present
Bharata Natyasastra. So Bh膩sa probably followed the
Natya艣膩stra of some predecessor of Bharata; or else, it
may be that he followed his own Natya艣膩stra which is
now lost to us; in that case, Bh膩sa must be taken to have
based his work of dramaturgy on some texts quite distinct
and different from those laid under contribution by Bharata.
It has been argued that if Bh膩sa is prior to Bharata,
2. C.,
1 Cf. Pisharoti, IHQ, 1, pp. 333-340; BSOS, 3, pp. 111-115; Raja, ZII, 2,
pp. 258-259.
2 Haraprasad Sastri-second century B. C.; Kane and Keith-
third century A. D.; Dhruva-fourth century A. D. 3 Cf. Bharatiya Natya Sastra
by G. Ketkar, p. 14; Kane, OC, VI, p. 577. Kohala, Vatsa, Sandilya, Dh奴rtila,
Sv膩ti, N膩rada, and Puskara are Bharata's fore-runners. It seems rather curious
that he does not mention the Nata Sutras referred to by P膩峁噄ni.