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Two plays of Ramacandra : An aesthetic study
Luckily, Ramacandra writes with a sense of drama, His prose dialogue has a natural flow; it is not riddled with heavy compounds or encumbered with poctic conceits. His verses also are generally simple, except when they are used for descriptions or for suggesting the heroic sentinient,1,
Incidentally the play conforms to formal requirements. A Vyāyoga, according to definition.19 is a one-act built round a famous hero, with fewer women and more male characters. The incident is a conflict occasioned by some kind of rivalry and involves actual fighting and wrestling This makes the play a heroic one; other sentiments come into it only as a support. The developinent of the dramatic action is compact and does not exceed the duration of a day,
Bhima who dominates the play qualifies as a prakhyata nāyaka without being either a divinity or a royal sage. Draupadi and the victim's wife and mother are the only female characters. The Pandavas, Baka and his demon attendants, the temple priest and the victim inake up the larger number of male characters. There is of course a conflict in the paly due to confrontation with Baka and the rivalry is engendered by Bhima's interference on behalf of the intended victim. There is some rough handling of characters, especially of Bhima, although the main fight takes place off-stage The emotions of pathos, fear, disgust and laughter are incidental to the heroic. The play begins presumably in the morning; the stroll and the presence of the temple attendant indicate this, the action is over by meal time. The duration of the play does not exceed therefore a few hours.
II
Nalavilāsa-nataka
The Nalavilasa-Nafaka** is a dramatic rendering in seven acts of the NalaDamayanti-katha. The legend of Nala is wellknowa aod familiar to all Indian readers. It is needless to compare the dramatic version of Ramacandra with the prototype as recorded and preserved in the Mahabarata.20 Besides, one of the editors, Pandit Lalchand B. Gandhi, has noticed the principal differences in the Nalakatha as presented in the different versions. 91
The Jain version of the story differs from the Mahabharata mainely in four respects (1) It omits the presence of four gods who attended the suayamvara, assuming the ideatity of Nala, so that Damayanti was confronted with five persons who looked exactly like Nala. (1) The temptation to indulge in the game of dice and the subsequent misery of Nala, which are attributed to the malice of Kali in the epic version, are changed in the Jaina version. (111) The transformation of Nala which completely disguises bis real identity is, in the epic story, due to Karkotaka Nāga who bites Nala. The Jain version substitutes Nala's own father, now a divine being, who helps
