रत्नावली नाटिका (सम्राट हर्षवर्धन - शास्त्रीय नाटिका रत्न सम्पूर्ण ४ अङ्क सान्वय सटीक)

INTRODUCTION v not at all observed in Sanskrit plays by reason of the absence of scenery. For the plays were often performed in the open courts of the palaces, perhaps at times in large halls set apart for public entertainments or in the open air. Unity of action—Unity of action, which is the most important element for a drama to be successsful, does not mean one and only one action complete in itself undiversified by subordinate incidents and uncomplicated by accompanying episodes as the most rigorous Neoclassicists observed. Unity here is not incompatible with complexity; it means merely organic connexion and co-herence. Minor actions and subplots and episodes inseperably linked with the main action are to be con- nected in such a way that the seperation of any one of them from the body of the play would mean nothing but the destruction of the whole plot. That is, the organic—not mechanical—connexion of the subplots with the main one is the unity or singleness of action. The episodes or minor incidents which we come across in S'ákuntala are each essentially meant for revealing the different aspects of the character of the hero and the heroine. As for example, the Dhanamitra episode in the 6th act makes us know the feelings of Dushyanta as a sonless king and that knowing on one part helps us to know how it was the high time for the king to be introduced to his son in the 7th act. In the Sanskrit Drama- turgy, the subject-matter has been classified into two heads—(1) चाधिकारिक (the main plot) and (2) प्रासङ्गिक (subsidiary plots or episodes) Cf :— “इदं पुनर्वस्तु बुधैर्द्विविधं परिकल्पितम् । चाधिकारिकमेकं स्यात् प्रासङ्गिकमथापरम् ॥ अधिकारः फले स्वाम्यमधिकारी च तत्प्रभुः । तन्निर्वृत्तं कविभिराधिकारिकमुच्यते ॥” साः दः ( ६ परि ) The subsidiary plots contribute to the development of the main one—cf. “अस्योपकरणार्थं तु प्रासङ्गिकमितीर्य्यते”—सा दः। The unity of