नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

LXIII

simultaneously presented.³ The rule relating to this was as follows : According to the Zonal division, those who entered the stage earlier should be taken as being inside [a house] while those entering it later are known to be as remaining outside it. He who enters the stage with the intention of seeing them (i.e. those entering earlier) should report himself after turning to the right. To indicate going to a distant locality one is to walk a good few steps over the stage and to indicate going to a place near by, a short walk only is needed, while a walk of medium duration will indicate going to a place of medium distance, But in case a person leaves one country and goes to a distant land, this is to be indicated by closing the Act in which such an event occurs, and mentioning again the same fact in an Explanatory Scene at the beginning of the next Act.

An example of some of these conventional rules occurs in the ninth Act of the Mṛcchakaṭika where Śodhanaka appears first as being at the gate of the court of justice and enters it by making a pantomimic movement; then again he goes out to receive the judge and re-enters, the courtroom after him by simply walking over the same stage. And when the judge has started work, Śodhanaka again goes out to call for the complainants. This going out also consists of actually walking a few steps over the stage.

Though painted scenery was not in use in the Hindu theatre objects like hills, carriages, aerial cars, elephants etc, were represented on the stage by suggestive models (pusta) of these. According to the Nāṭyaśāstra the model works were of three kinds, viz. sandhima which was made up of mat, cloths or skins, wrapping cloth, or other materials wrapped round something, and vyājima which was a mechanical contrivance of some kind From Dhanika, the commentator of the Daśarūpa (II. 67-58), we learn about a model-work of an elephant for the production of the Udayanacarita, and the Mṛcchakaṭika owes its name to the toy cart which plays an indispensable role in the story.

(d) The Temperament

The fourth or the most important means of representation is the Temperament (sattva) or the entire psychological resources of a man (XXIV), The actor or the actress must for the time being feel the States that he or she is to represent, and only then will the Sentiments related to them follow. This kind of representation was indispensable for giving expression to various delicate aspects of men’s and women’s emotional nature.

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So far as is known, Hindu dramas have always been parted into acts; but never have they had scenes. It is somewhat to be wondered at, that the Hindus, with their inordinate love for subdivision, should have left those uninvented. (Introduction to Dasarūpa, pp. 28-29.
³ See note 2 above.