नाट्यशास्त्रम् (प्रथम भाग - अभिनवभारती एवं हिन्दी टीका सहित)

LXXXI

The description of the king, the senāpati, the amātya and the prāḍvivāka as given in the Nāṭyaśāstra (XXXIV. 78-87) might well have been taken from the now lost work of Bṛhaspati recognised by Kauṭilya as one of his sources. The Nāṭyaśāstra gives besides one interesting information that the inmates of a royal palace included a snātaka (XXXIV. 64-69) and that there was besides a functionary named kumārādhikṛta (XXXIV. 76-77). As the definition has been lost, it is not possible to know what his duty was. Can he be identified with the kumārāmātya mentioned in Samudragupta's inscription ?

12. Psychology.

The Nāṭyaśāstra seems to be the first in recognizing the twofold importance of psychology in connexion with the production of a play. Its classification of Heroes and Heroines according to their typical mental and emotional states (XXIV. 210ff., XXXIV. 15ff). proves its admission of the importance of psychology on the creative side of the dramatic art ; for with the complete knowledge of all possible reactions of different objects and incidents upon such Heroes and Heroines, the playwright as well as actors and actresses could attain the greatest possible success in characterisation. On the critical side also the importance of psychology was discovered by the Hindu theorists almost simultaneously. It was realised early that no strictly objective standard of beauty ever existed, and the enjoyment of a theatrical production consisted of peculiar reactions which the art of the playwright as well as that of the actors could successfully evoke in spectators of different types. It is on this assumption that the theory of Sentiments and States (VI-VII) important alike for the criticism of the theatre and the belles lettres has been elaborated by the author of the Nāṭyaśāstra. Such a view does not allow any kind of dogmatism in the criticism of art and literature, and will make due allowance for the views of people who may widely differ in their tastes because of their varying cultural equipment.

VIII. The Date of the Natyasastra

More than sixteen years ago, a careful investigation of the linguistic, metrical, geographical and ethnographic data, of the evidence to be drawn from the history of poetics and music, of the Kāmaśāstra and the Arthaśāstra, and from inscriptions the present writer came to the conclusion that the available text of the Nāṭyaśāstra existed in the second century after Christ, while the tradition which it recorded may go back to a period as early as 100 B.C. (The Date of Bharata-Nāṭyaśāstra", in the JDL. Vol. XXV. 1934).¹ Since this conclusion was made, a more intensive

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¹ For a bibliography on the Date of the NS. see this paper p. 1,

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