Page:The Sanskrit Drama.djvu/353

348 a normal drama. Its subject is taken from legend, but may be developed by the poet; the first and last junctures alone are permitted. The hero should be human, of the common folk, according to the later theory. The sentiment should be the pathetic, and the style the verbal. The laments of women should accompany the description of battles and fights, but these should not take place on the stage. Viçvanātha gives the Çarmiṣṭhāyayāti as an example, but the type is not represented by any early play.

The farce, Prahasana, on the other hand, has every sign of popular origin and vogue. The subject is the poet's invention; it deals essentially with the tricks and quarrels of low characters of every kind. There is but one act, and only the first and last junctures; the comic sentiment predominates. The Daçarūpa recognizes three kinds; the pure is that in which heretics, Brahmins, men- and maid-servants and parasites are represented in appropriate costume and language; the modified represents eunuchs, chamberlains, and ascetics in the garb, and with the speech, of lovers; and the mixed is styled so because it contains the elements of the Vīthī, and is filled with rogues. Only the first and last are recognized by the Nāṭyaçāstra, the second being included in the third, while Viçvanātha recognizes the possibility of there being only one hero or several, and allows the use of two acts in such a case, as in the Laṭakamelaka. The graceful and violent manners are excluded.

The monologue, Bhāṇa, has also an obviously popular character and origin. The subject-matter is invented by the poet; a parasite sets forth his own or another's adventures, appealing to both the heroic and the erotic sentiments by descriptions of heroism and beauty in the verbal manner. There are only the first and last junctures, and but one act. The actor speaks in the air, repeating answers supposed to be received. The elements of the Lāsya are specially in place, a fact which shows that we have here a formal version of a primitive mimetic performance. Viçvanātha gives as example the Līlāmadhukara; the Çaradātilaka is one of the best known.