Ḍima
The Nāṭyaśāstra mentions the play Tripura-dāha as an example for the genre called ḍima. However, the play seems to have been lost over time; we do not have access to any other ancient ḍima, either. A playwright named Vatsarāja, who lived in about 1150 CE has penned a ḍima named Tripuradāha. It is likely that the ḍima mentioned by Bharata in his Nāṭyaśāstra was no longer available during Vatsarāja’s times, and hence, the playwright has penned a play bearing the same name. This Tripuradāha is the oldest among the ḍimas available to us. Barring this, we know of about three or four ḍimas only. They are – Kṛṣṇa-vijaya, Manmathonmathana, and Vīrabhadra-vijṛṃbhaṇa.
Vyāyoga
The Madhyama-vyāyoga of Bhāsa is the oldest vyāyoga available to us today; the next oldest one that we have laid our hands on is Vatsarāja’s Kirātārjunīya (around 1150 CE). The other vyāyogas that we hear of today are – Dhanañjaya-vijaya-vyāyoga, Narakāsura-vijaya-vyāyoga, Nirbhaya-bhīma-vyāyoga, Pracaṇḍa-garuḍa, Pracaṇḍa-bhairava, Pārtha-parākrama, Bhīma-vikrama-vyāyoga, Rāma-vijaya, Vinatānanda, and Saugandhikā-haraṇa
Samavakāra
Vatsarāja’s Samudra-mathana is the only samavakāra available to us today; Bharata has mentioned a samavakāra bearing the same name. The play Bharata mentions was likely unavailable during Vatsarāja’s time, and there was no other example for the genre; thus, the latter must have authored a play bearing the same name. Some scholars are of the opinion that Bhāsa’s Pañcrātra is a samavakāra as well.
Vīthī
We have not found any rūpaka that belongs to the genre vīthī. Viśvanātha, in his Sāhitya-darpaṇa, mentions ‘Mālavikā’ as an example for vīthī. This is not the same as Mālavikāgnimitram of Kālidāsa; the famous play by the renowned poet does not display any characteristics of a vīthī.
Aṅka
An act within a play is referred to as aṅka; also, a play with a play, i.e., a garbhāṅka-nāṭaka is also referred to as aṅka. The genre called aṅka appears to have been referred to as prekṣaṇika as well. Unmatta-rāghava, Kamalākaruṇā-vilāsa (Kṛṣṇābhyudaya), Gairvāṇī-vijaya, Śarmiṣṭhā-yayāti, Svarṇa-muktā-vivāda, and Snuṣā-vijaya are examples of aṅka available to us today.
Unmatta-rāghava is the imitation of the fourth act of Vikramorvaṣīyam; when Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are away hunting for the golden deer, Sītā turns into a deer, cursed by Durvāsa. Rāma returns only to find Sītā missing; he is torn apart due to sorrow and finally finds his beloved due to the blessings of Sage Agastya.
Īhāmṛga
Vastarāja’s Rukmiṇī-haraṇa is the oldest īhāmṛga available to us today. Vīra-vijaya and Sarva-vindoa-nāṭaka are īhāmṛgas of the recent centuries; barring these, there are hardly any works of this genre.
To be continued ...
The current series of articles is an enlarged adaptation of Prof. A. R. Krishnasastri's Kannada treatise Saṃskṛta-nāṭaka. They are presented along with additional information and footnotes by Arjun Bharadwaj.
