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INTRODUCTION
ahāta, II. 781, bhuvām gharmārambhe, II 866, laghuni tona-kutīre. I. 88, varkunthasya karanka, I 223, bauryam Satru-lcula-Isaya
(6) in the Subhāsta-hārāvali of Harı Kavi C11b, 125, nulchrlarr nirastam, 286, 64, bhajena bhavad antakam
10. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF BHAVABHŪTI'S EXTANT PLAYS
The Uttara-rāma-carita seems to have been the last play composed by Bhavabhūti this is indicated by the traditional judgement of the Pandits, who pronounce him to have 'excelled in his Uttara-rāma-carita' This view is also borne out by Utt VII 21, which states that work to be the production of the poet's mature intellect', as well as by the fact that in his Prelude to that play he devotes only one line to the description of his family, parentage, &c, which is dwelt on at great length in Mv and Māl. Evidently by the time he began Utt, his fame was firmly established as a poet 2 through his Māl, and he was therefore no longer under the necessity of expatiating on his own high descent or on the vast learning of his preceptor, or on his own acquisitions in the domain of literature 3
Again in Mv and Māl we mark his anxiety to produce diamas conforming to the demands of the public, whose goodwill he was eager to secure. Thus in Mv. I 1/4 we read ārya-misrāh samādréantı. sa sandarbho bhinetavyah, and in Māl I 5/6. tat parisadam nurdistaguna-prabandhena, &c In Utt I 1/2 his tone is changed and he considers it sufficient to say āryamuórān vejñāpayāna That Utt. is later than Mv is further self-evident from their very titles.
Let us now turn to the question as to which of his other two plays is relatively prior. I am fully convinced that the Mv. was the author's first attempt, as it lacks that power of expression and keen insight into human sentiments which characterize Māl His Mv. is uncouth and clumsy Again in My he does not allude to any of his works, whereas we find him speaking disparagingly of those who did not approve of his productions. This conduct of his is rationally explained if we grant that Mv was given to the public before Māl., and was accorded a very cold reception by contemporary critics. By this hypothesis only can we explain the still fuller account of his family and of his own literary attainments in Mal In the whole of Māl. he seems to be making a conscious effort to parade his mastery not only over Sanskrit, but also over Prakrit.
I would like to hazard the assumption that the words apūrvatvāt
1 Of uttare rama-carste bhavabhūhr vistsyate
Notwithstanding his established fame
he stall feared criticism. Vide Ut I. 5.
3 Vide Preludes to Mv and Mal
