नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

LXXVIII

be profited by their perusal. But it must be said of Abhinava's commentary that it gives considerable help in understanding some difficult passages of the very old obsolete text of the Nāṭyaśāstra, and for this we should be genuinely greatful to him.

VII. Data of India's Cultural History in the Natyasastra

Besides giving all sorts of information relating to the dramaturgy and histrionics as well as the allied arts of dance and music, the Nāṭyaśāstra includes considerable other materials for the cultural history of India. The most important among these will be discussed below under their several heads.

1. Language

The Nāṭyaśāstra gives some description of Pkt. (XVIII. 1-25) and examples of Dhruvā songs in Pkt. (XXXII). From these materials it seems that the Pkt. of the Nāṭyaśāstra lie mid-way between the Pkt. of the classical dramas and that of Aśvaghoṣa's plays. Besides this there occur in this work (XVIII. 44, 48) some references about the nature of languages used by the ancient tribes like the Barbaras, Kirātas, Āndhras, Dramiḍas, Śabaras and Caṇḍālas. There are besides other interesting matters relating to the language used by men of different professions and status in life.

2. Literature

In addition to Prakrit verses given as examples of Dhruvās, the Nāṭyaśāstra cites numerous poetical stanzas in Skt. as examples of the Benediction and of the different metres (V. 108-112, 130-131 : XVI). These are very early specimens of the ancient Indian literature. It is on the testimony of these which are free from the artificiality of the later classical poetry, that P. Regnaud placed the Nāṭyaśāstra about the beginning of the Christian era (Introduction to Grosset's ed. of the NŚ. p. VII-VIII). The Nāṭyaśāastra contains also the earliest available discussion on figures of speech (alaṃkāra), and the method of criticism based on the theory of Sentiments (rasa) which became very popular amongst Indian scholars during the medieval times.

3. Art

In the Viṣṇudharmottara (II. 2. 4) it has been said that the canons of painting are difficult to understand without an acquaintance with the canons of dancing. Now the Hindu drama as we have seen before depends a great deal on dance which is in fact its mainstay. The same work similarly connects the canons of painting with the canons of image-making. Thus the three arts being connected with one another, the Nāṭyaśāstra receives an aditional importance. This view is justified by the fact that the Nāṭyaśāstra describes various male postures (sthāna) such as Vaiṣṇava,