Studies in the History of Sanskrit Poetics v2.c79.4

v2.c79.4

It is proper to note in this connexion that in the *Nāṭya-śāstra*, Bharata is principally concerned with Dramaturgy and allied topics², and deals with Poetics in so far as it applies to the theme in hand. In later poetic theories, Dramaturgy is taken as a part of the discipline of Poetics, and the drama is accordingly considered as a species of the *kāvya*. But there are reasons to believe that in older times Dramaturgy and Poetics formed separate disciplines, the former being probably the earlier in point of time, as well as in substance. We have seen³ that the existence of *naṭa-sūtras*, which were presumably works in the *sūtra*-style on the histrionic art, was known even in the time of Pāṇini; but there is no reference, direct or indirect, to such *alaṃkāra-sūtras*, and indeed the term Alaṃkāra itself in the technical sense was unknown in early literature. The earliest surviving works on Poetics, on the other hand, do not include a treatment of the theme of Dramaturgy which, having been a study by itself, was possibly excluded from the sphere of Poetics proper. Both Bhāmaha and Daṇḍin, no doubt, speak of *nāṭaka* as a species of *kāvya*, but they refer to specialised treatises for its detailed treatment⁴. Vāmana, the next important writer on Poetics, shows indeed an unusual partiality towards the drama (i. 3. 30-32), but even he did not think it proper to devote any special attention to it. Among later writers, it is not until we come to the time of Hemacandra, Vidyānātha and Viśvanātha, when the science was already entering upon a period of critical elaboration and summing-up of results, that we find special chapters dealing with the topic of Dramaturgy. Of these late writers, Vidyānātha and Viśvanātha explicitly refer to and summarise the Daśarūpaka, a recognised work on the dramatic art; while the encyclopaedic Hemacandra, who professes a great admiration for Bharata and his commentator Abhinavagupta, deals with the subject rather summarily, referring the reader to the standard works of Bharata and Kohala.