A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion, Geography, History, and Literature c5.258

c5.258

BHAVA-BHŪTI. A celebrated dramatist, the author of three of the best extant Sanskrit dramas, the Mahā-vīra Charita, Uttara Rāma Charita, and Mālatī Mādhava. He was also known as Srī-kantha, or ‘throat of eloquence.’ He was a Brāhman, and was a native either of Beder or Berar, but Ujjayinī or its neighbourhood would seem, from his vivid descriptions of the scenery, to have been the place of his residence. The eighth century is the period at which he flourished. His three plays have been translated by Wilson in blank verse, who says of Mālatī Mādhava, “The author is fond of an unreasonable display of learning, and occasionally substitutes the phraseology of logic or metaphysics for the language of poetry and nature. At the same time the beauties predominate over the defects, and the language of the drama is in general of extraordinary beauty and power.”