नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

XLIII

preferable and shows a superior poet, For the fable should be so construc-
ed that without the assistance of the sight its incidents may excite horror
and commisseration in those who hear them only; * * * *
But to produce this effect by means of the decoration discovers want of
art in the poet; who must also be supplied with an expensive apparatus"
(II. XIII).³

But in case of the Hindu dramas the decoration (i. e. the costumes
and make-up) mostly plays an important part. Equally with five other
elements such as gestures and postures (āṅgika), words (vācika), the
representation of the Temperament (sattva), it gives the Nāṭya its charac-
teristic form. But in the theatre of the Greeks, it was not the case. In the
performance of the tragedies, for example, they did not care much for the
spectcale, if the declamation was properly made. For Aristotle himself says
that, "the power of tragedy is felt without representation and actors"
(II. III).⁴

Another peculiarity of the Hindu dramas was their general dependence
on dance (nṛtya), song (gīta), and instrumental music (vādya). Though
the chorus of the Greek tragedy introduced in it some sort of dance and
songs, the function of these clements seem to have been considerably differ-
ent in the Hindu drama. The ancient Indian play was produced through
words, gestures, postures, costumes, make-up, songs and dances of actors,
and the instrumental music was played during the performance whenever
necessary. But these different elements did not play an equal part in all the
plays or different types of play. According as the emphasis was to be put
on words, music, or dance, a play or its individual part partook of the
nature of what the moderns would call 'drama', 'opera', 'ballet' or 'dramatic
spectacle'⁵. Due to this nature the Hindu dramas which connected them-
selves in many ways with song, dance and instrumental music, had a literary
form which was to some extent different from that of the ancient Greeks.
But it was not so much due to this literary form as to the technique of
their production on the stage that the Hindu dramas received their special
character.

After forming a general idea of this Nāṭya, from the various terms
used to denote it, one should enquire what the ancient Indian theorists
exactly meant by the term (Nāṭya) or what they regarded as being the
essence of the dramatic art as opposed to the arts of poetry, fiction or pain-
ting. To satisfy, our curiosity on this point the Nāṭyaśāstra gives us the
following passage which may pass for a definition of the Nāṭya.

"A mimicry of the exploits of gods, the Asuras, kings as well as of
householders in this world, is called drama" (I. 120).

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³ Poetics (Everymans Library), p. 27.
⁴ Ibid. p. 17.
⁵ H.H. Wilson, On the Dramatic System of the Hindus, Calcutta, 1827, pp. 16,20.