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"Daśa-rupaka-Vicāra"
1835 (111) The entire character of Bhāņa has been explained by me as it has come down by tradition (āgama).
Now, O Brahmins !, I will state in due order the whole character of vīthī. (Prof. D. R. Mankad feels that 'Bhāna' was the first type to evolve. Dr. Bhat earlier argued for Samavakāra, on the strength of Bharata's mentioning. But Bharata has also mentioned a dima. Actually a play is supposed to entertain both "devas” and 'asuras” alike, i.e.of people of various tastes at a time. In this context Bharata has cited the illustration of 'Samudra-mathana'. We feel that we should not rush to conclusions as is done either by Prof. Mankad or Prof. Bhat. Actually, as suggested by us elsewhere, acting and narration are two sides of a coin and evolve naturally. We can not say whether the minor popular art-forms were predecessors to classical major or not, and we are grateful to tradition (= āgama, as Bharata uses the world) for that. It is no use rushing to conclusions.]
DR. has Bhāņa discussed (pp. 158; III. 49-51) as follows : bhāņas tu dhūrtacaritam svā’nubhūtam pareņa vā yatropavarņayaed eko nipunaḥ pandito vitaḥ- (49) sambodhanokti-pratyuktī kuryād ākāśa-bhāṣitaiḥ sūcayed vīra-śțngārau śaurya-saubhāgya-samstavaiḥ. (50) bhūyasă bhāratī vịttir ekánkam vastu-kalpitam, mukha-nirvahane sā’nge lāsyāngāni daśā’pi ca. (51)
It may be noted that the DR. also takes note of the rasas, bhārati-vrtti, and also "lāsyāngāní”. This suggests that a lot of music and dance must have been associated with this form. Thus 'bhāna' could be viewed as a minor-art-form also. The lāsyāngāni are enumerated in the DR. II. 52-53, as follows.
geyapadam sthita-pāthyam āsīnam puspa-gandikā, pracchedakas trigūdham ca saindhavākyam dvigūdhakam (52) uttamottamakam caiva ukta-pratyuktam eva ca, lāsye daśa-vidham hyetad anga-nirdeśa-kalpanam. (53) ND. (p. 229, II. 16, 17) reads as - bhāṇaḥ pradhāna-śộngāra-vīro mukha-nirvāhavān, ekā’nko daśa-lāsyāngaḥ, prāyo lokā’nurañjakaḥ. (16) eko vito vā dhūrto vā veśyādeḥ svasya vā sthitim, vyomoktyā varņayed atra vṛttir mukhyā ca bhāratī. (17)
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