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 56 of: Bhasa (critical and historical study)
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36
as a 'forgery', "of doubtful authority", and "proving
nothing" its authenticity has been proved by the
independent evidence of the Süktimuktavali of Jalhana
( 12th Century A.D.), where it is definitely ascribed to
Rajasekhara.
तु
[tu
] Assuming that the whole context, alleged to be from
the Kavivimarsa vis. etc., is a genuine one,
we shall see whether any meaning can be extracted from
it. Dr. Sarup tries to bridge over the absurdity by noting
the tradition that makes Dhavaka a contemporary of Sri
Harsa and the real author of the works that pass off as Śrī
Harsa's. Dr. Sarup takes 'Bhāsa' in the verses preceding
भासनाटकचक्रेऽप� [ṭa첹'辱] e etc. to mean 'illustrious', and translates:
"Neither wealth nor noble descent can account for poetic
power, for the illustrious (Bhasa) Dhavaka became the
foremost of poets. By the illustrious (poet) (Bhasena)
was composed in the beginning a play called Priyadarsika
'Thus interpreted,' says Dr. Sarup, 'the passage
neither clouds the reliability of Rajasekhara's statement
nor gives any indication of the existence of two Bhāsas'."
The interpretation, however, appears to be unsatisfactory
and far from convincing.
We think that the extract compares Dhāvaka with
Bhāsa. In the two genuine Rajasekhara stanzas, viz.
सरस्वतीपवित्राणां [ī貹ٰṇāṃ ] etc. and अह� प्रभाव� वाग्देव्या� [aho prabhāvo vāgdevyā� ] etc., the poet has
compared a potter ( kulüla) Drona to Vyasa, a mātanga
( untouchable) Divākara to Bāṇa and Mayūra, and
similarly a washerman Dhāvaka to Bhāsa. Now the
tradition ascribing the authorship of the Priyadarśikā,
Nāgānanda etc. has been shown to be genuine and a
long-standing one. The comparison of Dhāvaka with
Bhasa seems to have been instituted on account of the
modelling of the Priyadarsika and Ratnavali on the Svapna
1 K. Rama Pisharoti, IHQ, 5, pp. 553-554. 2 Vision, Intr., pp.21-25.
सरस्वतीपवित्राणां जातिस्तत्र � देहिनाम् �
व्यासस्पर्धी कुलालोऽभूद्यद् द्रोणो भारत� कविः �
अह� प्रभाव� वाग्देव्या यन्मातङ्गदिवाकरः �
श्रीहर्षस्याभवत्सभ्य� सम� बाणमयूरयोः �
[ī貹ٰṇāṃ jātistatra na dehinām |
vyāsaspardhī kulālo'bhūdyad droṇo bhārate kavi� ||
aho prabhāvo vāgdevyā yanmātaṅgadivākara� |
śrīharṣasyābhavatsabhya� samo bāṇamayūrayo� ||
] 4 IHQ, 1, p. 373; Sarup, Vision, Intr., pp. 22-23; Paranjape, Sahityasamgraha, 1,
pp. 141-186. Prof. Paranjape worked out the parallelisms and analogies between the
Priyadarsika, Ratnavali and Nagananda on the one hand and the Trivandrum Bhäsa
plays on the other, to prove Bhasa's authorship of all these works. The whole attempt,
however, is already discredited as subversive of the accepted chronology of Indian
writers.
