INTRODUCTION

I. The Present Work

1. General History of the Study

Since the West came to know of the Sanskrit literature through William Jones’s translation of the Śakuntalā¹, the nature and origin of the ancient Indian theatre have always interested scholars, especially the Sanskritists, all over the world. H. H. Wilson who published in 1826 the first volume of his famous work on the subject² deplored that the Nāṭyaśāstra, mentioned and quoted in several commentaries and other works, had been lost for ever³. F. Hall who published in 1865 his edition of the Daśarūpa⁴, a medieval work on the Hindu dramaturgy, did not see any Ms. of the Nāṭyaśāstra till his work had greatly advanced⁵. And for the time being he printed the relevant chapters of the Nāṭyaśāstra as an appendix to his Daśarūpa. Later on he undertook to critically edit the Ms. of the Nāṭyaśāstra he acquired; but this venture was subsequently given up, due perhaps to an insufficiency of materials which consisted of one unique Ms. full of numerous lacunae.⁶ But even if the work could not be brought out by Hall, his very important discovery soon helped others to trace similar Mss. elsewhere. And in 1874 Heymann, a German scholar, published on the basis of Mss. discovered up till that date a valuable article⁷ on the contents of the Nāṭyaśāstra. This seems to have been instrumental in attracting competent scholars to the study of this very important text. The French Sanskritist P. Regnaud published in 1880 chapter XVII⁸ and in 1884 chapter XV (in part) and the chapter XVI⁹ of the Nāṭyaśāstra. This was soon followed by his publication of chapters VI and VII in 1884.¹⁰ And J. Grosset another French scholar and a pupil of Regnaud, published later on (in 1888) chapter XXVIII¹¹ of the Nāṭyaśāstra which treated of the general theory of Hindu music.

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¹ Sacontala, or the Fatal Ring. Translated from the original Sanskrit and Pracrita, Calcutta 1789.
² H. H. Wilson, Select Specimens of the Theatre of the Hindus (3 vols), Calcutta, 1826-1827.
³ Wilson, p. 37. Grosset, Introduction, p. iij.
⁴ The Dasarupa by Dhananjaya (Bibliotheca Indica), Calcutta, 1861-1865.
⁵ Grosset, Introduction, v. iij.
⁶ See note 5 above.
⁷ Ueber Bharata's Natyasastram in Nachrichten von der Koeniglischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, Goetingen 1874, pp. 86 ff. Ref. Grosset, Introduction p x, ID. pp 2-3.
⁸ Le dix-septieme chapitre du Bharatiya-natyasastra. Annales du Musee Guimet; Tome, 1. 1880, pp. 85 ff.
⁹ La metrique de Bharata, texte Sanscrit de deux chapitres du Natyasastra public pour premier fois et suivi d'une, interpretation francaise, Annales due Musee Guimet, Tome, II, 1884, pp. 65 ff.
¹⁰ Rhetorique sanscrite, Paris, 1884.
¹¹ Contribution a l'etude de la musique hindou, Lyons, 1888.