Montgomery Schuyler

“ Their richness of fancy and appreciation of nature, added to the beauty of poetic technique and choice of language, have never been equaled in India, and bear favorable comparison with the dramas of any nation.
The play of Śakuntalā has been known in Europe since its translation by Sir William Jones in 1789, by which work that great Orientalist really introduced Sanskrit poetry to the West and started the study of Hindu literature. The play is a nāṭaka, or heroic comedy, of seven acts, and its plot is drawn from the first book of the Mahābhārata. ”

“ This charming play is often called the Romeo and Juliet of India, but it has a happy ending, as all Sanskrit plays must have. The whole drama is a succession of contrasted situations, first of love and then of the weird incantations of the terrible priestess of Durgā, scenes which are used to heighten the dramatic effect as well as to contribute to the plot. In the fifth act the scene is laid in the field where the bodies of the dead are burned. The two other plays of Bhavabhūti form a history of the deeds of the hero Rama, and are based on the epic poem Rāmāyaṇa. ”

“ For the manuscripts listed in this bibliography I have relied in the main on the marvelously accurate and learned Catalogus Catalogorum of Aufrecht, although I have supplemented it by such catalogues as have appeared subsequently. For many titles of editions of plays and records of literature on the drama of India I am indebted to the bibliographies of Gildemeister and Zenker and to the Catalogue of Sanskrit books in the British Museum, although my richest source has naturally been the Orientalische Bibliographic. ”

“ In practice, of course, this is never carried out, but it must be acknowledged that the great defect of the Sanskrit drama is that in general it is too conventional, with the result that originality and life are sacrificed for a hackneyed arrangement and a stereotyped manipulation of threadbare sentiments and action.
In the invention of plots the dramatists show little fertility of imagination; on the other hand cleverness is certainly clearly Plots and Dramatis Personae. shown in the way in which the details of the plot are worked out and the development of the intrigue is presented. ”

“ As, according to the rules, death cannot be represented on the stage, it follows that one great source of inspiration for European tragedy is entirely eliminated. The usual subject for dramatic treatment is love, and according to the rank or social position of the hero and heroine the play is placed in one or another of the ten chief (rūpaka) or eighteen minor (uparūpaka) divisions of the drama recognized by the Hindu text-books. ”

“ The question of the authorship of the Mṛcchakaṭikā is also still under discussion. In the prologue the play is stated to be the production of King Śūdraka, but not all kings are authors, and it is thought that in this case, as probably in others, the real author, like a wise courtier, may have attributed his work to his royal master in order to gain favor. Many of the rulers of ancient India delighted in playing the part of patrons of art and literature ”

“ Whatever may have been its beginnings, it is certain that the drama flourished in India, and had a high development. The Character. earlier plays as we know them had considerable freedom of choice of subject and treatment and they can be described, for the most part, as melodramas or tragi-comedies. Primarily their elements are mixed: gravity and gaiety, despair and joy, terror and love—all are combined in the same play. Tragedy, in our sense of the term, there is none, for every drama must have a happy ending. ”

“ The trials and tribulations of the lovers, relieved by the rather clumsy attempts at wit of the vidūṣaka, or court jester, the plotting of the viṭa, or parasite, and the efforts of the rival wives to establish themselves in the favor of their lords and masters, with the incidents of every day life in the harem and court, constitute the plot of the play. ”

“ The Sanskrit tongue itself, as the learned or court language, is spoken by gods, Brahmans, heroes, kings, and men of good birth and position in general. Women and the lower classes of men speak various dialects of the Prākrit language, the old vernacular tongue of India. ”

“ For the technical divisions of a drama and the development of the plot there are carefully elaborated rules, but of the actual scenic arrangement of a play, the manner of producing it, and the Technical Divisions and Arrangement of a Play. assignment of the roles we know comparatively little. Plays seem to have been usually presented at the spring festival. A drama always opens with a nāndī, or benediction, usually addressed to Śiva, for the prosperity of the audience, by the sūtradhāra, or director. ”

“ The subject of the plot is the love and marriage of Carudatta, a brahman merchant reduced to poverty by his generosity, and Vasantasenā, a rich courtesan. In the third act there is a long and humorous account of a burglary in which stealing is treated as an art or science provided with rules and conventional procedure. The chief value of the Mṛcchakaṭikā, aside from its interest as a drama, lies in the graphic picture it presents of a very interesting phase of everyday life in ancient India. ”

“ Sten Konow with a translation by Professor Lanman, consists in the fact that it renders accessible the only extant example of the kind of drama called saṭṭaka. The saṭṭaka is nearly the same as the nāṭikā, or minor heroic comedy, except that it is composed entirely in Prākrit. Of the Viddhaśālabhañjikā I had hoped to publish a translation, upon which I was engaged, but the pressure of other duties has prevented me, and the work has now been done by my friend and fellow-student, Dr. Louis H. Gray. ”

“ GENERAL WORKS ON THE SANSKRIT DRAMA
1. Hindu Works on Dramatics.
Abhinayadarpaṇa A 1. p. 24 = 4 Mss.
Bharata.
Nāṭyaśāstra. Manuscripts. A 1. p. 284 = 3 Mss.; A 2. p. 61 = 1 Ms. and 1 Com.; A 3. p. 61.
Text Editions. Nāṭyaśāstra. Edited by Śivadatta and Parab. Bombay, 1894, pp. 3 + 447. Kāvyamālā, no. 42.
Nāṭyaśāstra. Traité de Bharata sur le théâtre. Texte Sanskrit. Édition critique. Avec une introduction, les variantes tirées de quatre manuscripts, une table analytique et des notes par Joanny Grosset. ”

“ Though tried to the utmost, the Job-like patience of the righteous monarch never fails, and in the end he has his wife, his son, and his kingdom restored to him by divine intervention, so that all ends in happiness. ”

“ Editions and translations are arranged as far as possible in chronological order, critical works are classified alphabetically by authors. Volumes containing both text and translation are listed under text editions, and critical essays and notes are not separately recorded under critical works when included in editions of the text or in translations. Criticism relating entirely to a single author or play is catalogued under that author or play, but general books and papers are separately listed before the main body of the bibliography. ”

“ Such honorific designations as 'Śrī,' 'Kavi,' 'Bhaṭṭa,' 'Paṇḍita,' and 'Rāja' have usually been omitted, unless they form a part of the name as commonly known or are necessary to avoid confusion with some other playwright of the same appellative. ”

“ It has fourteen acts in one recension and ten in the other, and thus violates the rule which requires that no drama shall exceed ten acts in length. It is quite without interest to students of literature except as a curiosity. ”

“ Vāsavadattā, a Sanskrit Novel by Subandhu. Translated for the first time, with introduction, notes, and appendixes, by Louis H. Gray, Ph.D. This literary composition is one of the best examples of the artificial and ornate style in Sanskrit prose. The introduction will contain an account of the author and an elaborate discussion of the Oriental novel in general; an appendix will furnish a list of mythological, geographical, and other allusions in the text. ”

“ He is the author of three plays, Śakuntalā, Vikramorvaśī, and Mālavikāgnimitra. The first two of these compositions reach the highest level attained by the Hindu dramatists and win for their author a place among the greater poets of the world. ”

“ The story of the life and ministry of Zoroaster is told in twelve chapters, and these are followed by appendixes on explanations of Zoroaster's name, the date of the Prophet, Zoroastrian chronology, Zoroaster's native place and the scene of his ministry, and classical and other passages mentioning his name. ”

“ I. Bengali. Malavikagnimitra, translated in Bengali by S. M. Tagore. Calcutta, 1877.
J. Marat hi. Raja Agnimitra, a Marathi translation of the Malavikagnimitra by V. S. Islampurkar. Bombay, 1889, pp. 204.
Malavikagnimitra. Translated into Marathi by Rao S. N. G. Raje. Bombay, 1895, pp. 156.
Sanglta Malavikagnimitra Natak, or the drama of Malavika and Agnimitra in musical verse. Translated into Marathi by B. G. Varde. Bombay, 1895, pp. 136.
K. Hindi. Malavikagnimitra. Translated from Sanskrit into Hindi by Sita Rama. Cawnpore, 1899, pp. 70.
L. Gujarati. Malavikagnimitra. ”

“ As to the stage-setting and decoration very little is yet known. Special buildings for the presentation of plays are described in the Theatre and Scenery. Nātyaśāstra [7] but it is probable that dramas were usually given m a hall (saṃgīta-śālā 'concert-room') of the palace. Behind the stage, which occupied a quarter of the whole hall, [8] was a curtain divided in the middle, and behind that again was the greenroom (nepathya) whence the actors came on the stage. ”

“ Those dramas whose character is definitely known, however, are here grouped under their respective classes, and plays known only by name have also been included, but distinguished from those actually in existence by a prefixed asterisk (*) . ”

“ Q. Hindustani. Sakuntala translated into Hindustani from a Hindi version by Kazim *Ali Jawan. Lucknow, 1875, PP- 31.
R. Tamil. Sakuntala. Traduction de la Version tamoule [by Ramacandra or Rajanallur] par Gerard Deveze. In Revue de Linguistique, 19. (1886) , pp. 269-292, 361-380; 20 (1887) , pp. 68-78, 1 14-129, 257-272, 352-376; 21 (1888) , pp. 48-53.
S. Telugu . Sakuntala. A new version in Telugu prose and verse by D. S. Pantulu. Madras, 1898, pp. 122.
Criticism. Notes on Sakuntala. In Bengali, English, and Sanskrit. Calcutta, 1895, pp. 323. ”

“ Dhruva, H. H. The Rise of the Drama in Modern India. With an Appendix. In Transactions of the 9. Intern. Congr. of Orientalists, London, 1893, vol. 1, pp. 297–314.
Estrey, Count Meyners de. L'Art dramatique dans l'Inde. In Annales de l'extrême Orient, 8 (1885–1886) , pp. 289–293.
Haberlandt, M. Das moderne indische Drama. In Öm, 18, pp. 118–121.
Minayev, I. Narodnyya dramatičeskiya predstavleniya v prazdnik Kholi v Almorě. In Zapiski Vostočnago Otděleniya Imp. Russkago Arkheologičeskago Obščestva, 5 (1891) , pp. 290–291. ”

“ Nagananda, with a Marathi translation. Edited with a preface in Marathi by K. S. Chipalunakar. Bombay, 1865, pp. 2 4- 206.
Nagananda. Edited by J. Vidyasagara. 1° ed., Calcutta, 1873 ; 2° ed., 1886, pp. 138.
Nagananda. Edited with a commentary by N. C. Kaviratna and N. C. Siromani. Calcutta, 1886.
Nagananda. Text with notes by Pandit N. C. Vidyaratna and with translations into English and Bengali by a Professor of the Presidency College. Calcutta, 1887, pp. 324.
Nagananda, a Sanskrit Drama by King Sri-Harsha. Edited with copious Sanskrit and English notes by S. G. Bhanap. ”

“ E. Italian. Vikramorvasi, dramma tradotto di Francesco Cimmino. Turin, 1890, pp. 79.
F. Spanish. Vikramorvasi, drama del poeta indio Kalidasa. Version directa del Sanskrit por F. Garcia Ayuso. Madrid, 1874, pp. 136. In Biblioteca Sanskrita.
G. Bohemian. Urvasi. Drama v peti jednanich od Kalidasy. Emanuel Fait. Prague, 1890, pp. 10. [Program of the Czech Realgymnasium.]
H. Bengali. Vikramorvasi, translated into Bengali by K. Singh. Calcutta, 1857.
I. Gujarati. Vikramorvasi. Translated into Gujarati by R. Udayarama. ”

“ Pārvatīpariṇaya Caitanyacandrodaya Prasannarāghava Caṇḍakauśika Rāmābhyudaya (?) Jñānasūryodaya (?) Rāmacandranāṭaka (?) Lalitavigraharājanāṭaka (?) Rāmanāṭaka (?) Mahānāṭaka (mahānāṭaka) Rāmāyaṇanāṭaka (?) Mahāvīracarita Rukmiṇīnāṭaka (?) Maṅgala Satyahariścandra Mañjulanaiṣadha (?) ”

“ Abhijfianasakuntala. Acts 1-5. Text, commentary, introduc- tion, notes, and translation by T. E. Srinivasacariar and B. S. K. Aiyar. Kumbhakonam, 1901, pp. 178 -f 135.
Sakuntala, or the Fatal Ring ; a drama by Kalidasa, to which is added Meghaduta, and Bhagavadgita. Edited with an in- troduction by T. Holme. London, 1902, pp. 240.
Translations. A. English. Śacountalā, or the Fatal Ring, translated from the original Sanskrit and Prakrit [by Sir William Jones] . 1° ed., Calcutta, 1789, pp. 184 ”

“ Madhava et Malati. Drame traduit du Sanscrit et du pracrit par G. Strehly, precede d'une preface par A. Ber- gaigne. Paris, 1885, pp. 12 -j- 274. Bibl. Orient. Elzevir., no. 42.
C. German. Malatimadhava, ein indisches drama von Bha- vabhuti. Zum ersten Male aus dem Original ins Deutsche iibersetzt von Ludwig Fritze. Leipzig, 1883, pp. 125.
D. Dutch. Malati en Madhava. Een indisch drama vertaald en verkort door P. A. S. van Limburg Brouwer. In Tijdspiegel, 1871, i, 418.
E. Bengali. Malatee Mudhaba, a comedy of Bhubabhootee. Translated into Bengalee from the original Sanskrit, by K. P. Sing. ”

“ Milan, 1871-74, 2 vols. (vol. i, Teatro di Calidasa; vol. 2, Mudraraxasa e Dhurtasamagama) .
Wilson, Horace Hayman. Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus, translated from the original Sanskrit. Appendix con- taining short accounts of different dramas, i ° ed., Calcutta, 1826-27, 3 vols.; 2° ed., London, 1835, 2 vols.; 3° ed., London, 1871, 2 vols, (in Works of H. H. Wilson, vols. II, 12) ; reprinted, Calcutta, 1902, 2 vols.
Langlois, A. Chefs-d'oeuvres du theatre indien, traduits de I'original Sanscrit en anglais, par H. H. Wilson, et de I'anglais en frangais ”