नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

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sion. Such a representation would negative the subject of the play which is the triumph or the prosperity of the Hero. But all these except his (the Hero's) death, could be reported in an Introductory Scene which may come before an Act. The presentation of the Hero's death was for obvious reasons impossible in a comedy.

The first thing that attracts the attention of reader on opening a Nāṭaka, is its Prologue (sthāpanā or prastavanā). But according to the Nāṭyaśāstra this was a part of the Preliminaries (pūrvaraṅga) and was outside the scope of the play proper (V. 171). That famous playwrights like Bhāsa, Kālidāsa and others wrote it themselves and made it the formal beginning of their dramas, seems to show that they made in this matter an innovation which as great creative geniuses they were fully entitled to.

But unlike the Greek plays the Hindu Nāṭakas are divided into Acts the number of which must not be less than five or more than ten (XX. 57). These Acts, however, are not a set of clearly divided scenes as they usually are in modern western compositions of this category. An Act of the Hindu drama consists of a series of more or less loosely connected scenes² which due to its peculiar technique could not be separated from one another. It has three important characteristics.

(i) Only the royal Hero, his queen, minister, and similar other important personages are to be made prominent in it and not any minor character (XX. 18). This rule seems to be meant for securing the unity of impression which has been referred to before.

(ii) It is to include only those incidents which could take place in course of a single day (XX. 23). If it so happens that all the incidents occurring within a single day cannot be accommodated in an Act these surplus events are to be reported in a clearly separated part of it, called the Introductory Scene (praveśaka) where minor characters only can take part (XX. 27, 30). The same should be the method of reporting events that are to be shown as having occurred in the interval between two Acts (XX. 31). Evidently these latter should be of secondary importance for the action of play. But according to the Nāṭyaśāstra these should not cover more than a year (XX. 28). This allowance of a rather long period of time for less important events occurring between two Acts of a Nāṭaka was the means by which the Hindu playwrights imparted speed to the action of the play and compressed the entire plot distributed through many events over days, months and years within its narrow frame-work suitable for representation within a few hours.

(iii) An Act should not include the representation of events relating to feats of excessive anger, favour and gift, pronouncing a course, running

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¹ See note 2 in IV. below.