________________
xii
planatory notes. In all there are 207 Karikas. It mainly relies on the Natya Sastra of Bharata Muni but the sphere of Natyadarpana is very much limited. The Natyasastra of Bharata in its 18th chapter, describes 10 Rupakas. Before Ramachandra, Dhananjaya had written a work on the ten Rupakas. The present work of Ramachandra, a protege of the Gujarat King, wrote this work Natyadarpana in competition with the work of Dhananjaya who was a Pandit in the court of the King of Malwa. There was at that time a keen rivalry between Malwa and Gujarat. Ramachandra refers to Dhananjaya about 13 times and has criticised him about 2 times. In several other definitions also, Ramachandra differs from Dhananjaya. Ramachandra also seems to have been acquainted with the work of Sagaranandi called Nataka-Lakshana-Ratnakosa and differs from him also at several places. At one place Ramachandra differs from Mammata also. In the matter of Rasa, he mainly relies on Abhinavagupta. Ramachandra has divided Rasas into 2 parts - some like Sringara etc. are Sukhatmaka while others like Karuna etc. are Duhkhatmaka.
Dhananjaya, being a Vaishnava, describes ten varieties of Rupaka, connecting them with the ten Avataras of God Vishnu. Similarly, Ramachandra Suri, being a Jain, intends to connect the 12 varieties of Rupaka with the 12 Angas of the Sacred Jain Scriptures. The work of Ramachandra is divided into 4 parts, each one called a Viveka. In the first part, only the Nataka is discussed. In the second, the remaining eleven varieties of Rupaka are discussed. In the third Vritti, Rasa etc. are delineated and the fourth part discusses certain general topics connected with Rupakas. Ramachandra has not only discussed Nataka variety of Rupaka fully but has also given detailed discussions of other varieties. His illustrations are also numerous. He has taken them from 63 works out of which eleven dramas are written by Ramachandra himself, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Bhasa, Visakhadatta, Sriharsha and others are frequently quoted. Devichandragupta of Visakhadatta is helpful in reconstructing the history of the Guptas -- a question arises whether Chandragupta married the widow of his brother Ramagupta Bhasa's Swapna Vasavadatta and Charudatta dramas are also referred to (Charudatta is referred to as Daridracharudatta) but the verse quoted as from Swapna Vasavadatta is not found in the presently available text.
Raghuvilasa, his own drama, is described by Ramachandra as one of his four best dramas. Others of the best four are Raghavabhyudaya, Yadavabhyudaya and Nalavilasa.
Raghuvilasa is a Nataka while Kaumudi Mitrananda is a Prakarana.
Nataka is defined by Ramachandra as follows. It secures for us all the three Purusharthas viz. Dharma, Artha and Kama. In it, there are Ankas, Upaya, Dasa and Sandhi. Gods are helpful to the hero. It describes the life incidents of famous ancient kings. The hero is either Dhiroddhata or Dhirodatta, or Dhiralalita or Dhiraprasanta.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
