नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

LXVII

that he composed an original work on the subject. It is probable that in this he occasionally explained in prose the view expressed by the author of the Nāṭyaśāstra.³⁶ Interpreting in this manner one can understand the words of Sundara-miśra, who, commenting on Bharata's definition of the Benediction (nāndī), remarks that 'in axplaining this Mātṛgupta said etc'.³⁷ About the time of Mātṛgupta, we have no sufficient evidence. All that can be said is that, Abhinava quotes from his work once³⁸ and hence he was earlier than this great well-known commentator. Besides this Sāgaranandin, who is possibly earlier than Abhinava, names Mātṛgupta along with old writers such as Aśmakuṭṭa, Nakhakuṭṭa, Garga, and Bādarāyaṇa (Bādari);³⁹ hence it appears that he was not a late writer.

From the meagre information available about him scholars have identified him with the poet of that name living during the reign of Harṣa-vikramāditya of Kashmir who seems to have been the author of a work on drama called Vārtika. This would roughly place his work at the end of the 4th century A.C. or in the beginning of the 5th.⁴⁰ From the extracts made from his works it appears that wrote on dramaturgy and music.

(g) Subandhu. Śāradātanaya refers to one Subandhu who wrote on dramaturgy.⁴¹ If it is possible to identify him with the famous author of the Vāsavadattā, then he may be placed roughly in the 5th century A.C.

(h) The compilers of the Agnipuraṇa and the Viṣṇudharmottara. The Agnipuraṇa treats of nāṭya, nṛtya, and rasa, but this treatment depends considerably on the Nāṭyaśāstra. There is literal borrowing from this work as well as paraphrases of some of its metrical passages in this Purāṇa. This portion of the Agnipuraṇa is usually placed after Daṇḍin (circa. 7th century).⁴² The Viṣṇudharmottara too treats of nṛtta, nāṭya and abhinaya, and this treatment too is dependent on the Nāṭyaśāstra and does not appear to be earlier than the 8th century.

6. Late writings on Drama

(a) Daśarūpa. The Daśarūpa (Daśarūpaka) of Dhanañjaya was composed in the last quarter of the 10th century A.C. during the reign of Muñja (Vākpatirāja, II) the king of Malawa. This work, as its name implies, treats of ghe ten principal forms of dramatic works (rūpa) which constitute the subject-matter of chapter XX of the Nāṭyaśāstra, but it

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³⁶ For example Sagara, (NL. 534ff.) discusses Matrgupta's view in his compilation which is written in verse and prose. It seems that this author was his model.
³⁷ Skt. Poetics Vol. I. pp. 102-103.
³⁸ Ag. De's Ms. p. 543. Dr. S. K. De thought that Matrgupta was unknown to Ag. (Skt. Poetics, Vol. I. p. 33).
³⁹ See note 23 above.
⁴⁰ Keith, Skt. Drama, p. 291.
⁴¹ BhP. p. 238.
⁴² Skt. Poetics, Vol. I. p. 102-103.