प्रियदर्शिका नाटिका (सम्राट हर्षवर्धन - चतुरङ्क शास्त्रीय नाटिका सान्वय सटीक)

4 Two explanations are offered. The name of the Sūtra. is not put first because nothing but auspicious words can begin a work. Cf. in this connection the Sutra of Pān. वृद्धिरादैच् which begins his अष्टाध्यायी (and not अदेङ्गुण् like अदेङ् गुण ). The other is—The Sutra or manager of the पूर्वरङ्ग recited the Nándi. And he having retired, the manager of the play (नाटकस्य सू०) entered and began the play. But as the discussion is immaterial to the ordinary reader we do not further enter into it here. सूत्रधार—The chief manager of the play, who held as it were the threads of the business of the play. He assigned to the various actors the parts they were to play, instructed them and took a leading part in the prologue. वसन्तोत्सवे—The vernal festival seems to have been one of the occasions on which plays were publicly staged. The spring festival was formerly celebrated from about the middle of the bright half of Chaitra to the full moon day to mark the return of spring, when Kāmadeva or the god of love was worshipped with great pomp. According to some, the festival began from the 5th of Māgha and lasted for about two months. It is now identified with the Holi festival in which people of all grades of society mix with one another and make merry. The Bhavish- yottara Purāna gives a full description of this, for which see Wilson's H. T. p. 264. The passage from अद्य तु to सर्वो गुणानां गणः is almost the same in all the three plays of the poet, with इन्द्रोत्सवे instead of वसन्तोत्सव (which is an optional reading there also) in the Nagananda. श्रीहर्ष—For Harsha see Introd., देवस्य-देव fr. दिव् to shine originally meant one shining or brilliant, then it came to mean 'a god' (Lat. deus), and lastly came to be added to the names of kings as a term of respect and greatness, cf. Vikramadeva, Vikramānkadeva, &c. पादपद्मो०—living or subsisting by (the support of) the lotus like-feet &c.—a respectful way of saying —the humble servants or vassals of. राजसमूहेन—This refers especially to the eighteen kings that owed allegiance to Harsha and his two allies the king of Valabhi and Bhāskaravarman, king of Prāgjyotisha (Assam). अपूर्व—goes with रचना, such as has not been shown before, novel, extraordinary. We cannot take अपूर्व as qualifying वस्तु as the theme of the play was not invented by the poet. रचना is the skilful arrangement of the various parts and incidents leading to a charming end. The poet means that he has borrowed the theme but presented it in a new