The Sanskrit Drama in its Origin, Development, Theory & Practice c14.s2.1

c14.s2.1

Perhaps the earliest of the works is the *Mahāvīracarita*, but the evidence for this is uncertain, and there is no reason to assign it definitely to an earlier date than the *Mālatīmādhava*; both antedate, perhaps considerably, the *Uttararāmacarita*. The *Mālatīmādhava*,³ as a Prakaraṇa, should have a plot invented by the author, and this is true to the extent that the combination of elements which make up the intrigue is clearly the poet’s, though the main motif of the story and the chief episodes can all be paralleled in the Kathā literature even as we have it.