Drama occupies an important place in the literature of the world. It not only gives an uncommon delight to the mind like poetry but also pleases the senses by its sweet music and creation of living characters. As Bharata has put it, in the realm of poetry, drama excels all in its beauty'.' In drama again, there are certain masters whose rare power and skill is missing in others.
Bhavabhuti shines out as a glorious star in the firmament of Sanskrit literature. The only writer who may stand comparison to him is that inimitable artist Kalidasa. And some scholars have even gone to the extent of saying that Bhavabhuti has excelled his great predecessor in his Uttararamacarita. Three plays and a number of poetic works have come down to us from the pen of Kalidasa. The multitude of his works clearly puts forward the poetic talent of this great poet. It is strange that only three plays are ascribed to Bhavabhuti. As some verses have been ascribed to Bhavabhuti in various anthologies, it is very likely that he might have written some other works also. But so long as these works are not available, we have to base our study of the art, ideas and technique of Bhavabhuti on his plays. A study of the three plays is sufficient to unfold the myriad ways in which his genius manifests itself.
Every great artist apprehends reality in his own way and embodies his perception of life in a work of art. But there are some great artists who enunciate life in such an original and comprehensive manner that their work provides inspiration to a generation of creative artists. Bhavabhuti is one of such rare gifted souls. In the field of dramatic literature, Bhavabhuti occupies an unparalleled place. His plays have paved the way for the writing of many later plays, especially Rama-plays. Despite the important position that Bhavabhuti holds, much attention has not been paid to study him in all the neccessary aspects. Mostly, his plays have been underestimated and no creditable attempt has been made to mark the excellences of this great dramatist. In order to be acquainted with Bhavabhuti's genius, one has to rely mainly on the commentaries on his dramas and the works of history of Sanskrit literature. A few scholars like Todar Mall, Dr. R.G. Bhandarkar, M.R. Kale, S.K. Belvalkar, S. Ray have attempted to some extent the study of Bhavabhati but their interest has mainly centered round the problems like the date, birth-place and the identity of Bhavabhati. The work done by these scholars unfolds the comprehensive study of the plays made by them. Some of them have tried to attempt a comparative study of some of the features of the three plays. But as they were writing on one or the other play, a detailed study could not be expected of them. Besides these, a few scholars have written complete books on Bhavabhati, basing their works on the study of all his plays. But so far, no critic has tried to study the dramas of Bhavabhati in the light of the three essential constituents of a drama as laid down by the works of dramaturgy, viz., vastu, neta and rasa. In this work, the three plays have been studied from the point of view of the aforesaid three constituents and an attempt has been made to mark the growing maturity of the poet's mind, the change in his ideas and the development in his art, as noticeable in his plays.
This work comprises nine chapters. The first chapter deals with the biographical details such as life, name, birth-place, date and identity of the author and the identification of Kalapriyanatha, the place of the first enactment of his plays. The second chapter has for its subject the problems about the number of works written by Bhavabhuti, their chronological order and the text of the Mahaviracarita. The third chapter discusses the plots, sources and deviations from the original sources and the plausible reasons that might have made the dramatist to introduce those changes. The dramatic and poetical value of such changes has also been discussed. In the fourth chapter, the dramas have been studied under the dramaturgical heads such as notaka, the titles, nandi, prastavana, division of the plot and abhinayasamketas.
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