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CHAPTER VII
THIRTEEN BHASA PLAYS.
In this Chapter we shall mainly deal with the
Thirteen Bh膩sa plays; but it is considered advisable to
offer some preliminary remarks in brief on the origin of
the Indian Drama and the types of Sanskrit Drama before
beginning the main topic.
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ORIGIN OF INDIAN DRAMA.
Like everything Indian, the origin of Indian drama
steeped in mystery, veiled in obscurity and darkness;
and like most Indian things the origin is shown to be
religious and said to be found in the Rgveda. It was
Max M眉ller who first drew attention to the peculiar nature
of the dialogue (Samvada) hymns in the Rgveda saying
that the hymns were probably recited by different parties
representing different speakers of the hymns, after the
completion of a ritual.' But the hymns as they stand are
almost incomprehensible; so Windisch suggested, on the
analogy of old Irish songs, that these hymns were a kind
of narrative literature, in which the 峁歬s (verses) alternated
with the prose passages which were to be added according
to the exigencies of the case. The 峁歬s were considered
to be fixed. Pischel lent his support to Windisch, and
pointed out that the connecting links were supplied by a
class of rhapsodists called granthikas, who, as the
etymological meaning ("the connectors") signifies, used
1 SBE, XXXII, pp. 182-183. For this section and the next we are indebted
especially to Keith's Sanskrit Drama, Mankad's Types of Sanskrit Drama, Kulkarni's
Sanskrit Drama and Dramtists and the articles in the Modern Review by Ghosh
(December 1928, pp. 586-599) and Das Gupta (1918, pp. 249-254). 2
Verhandlungen der 33. Versammlung Deutscher Pilologen und Schulmaenner in
Gera, pp. 28 ff; Of. Winternitz, HSL, 1, p. 101 nl.