Essay name: Bhasa (critical and historical study)
Author: A. D. Pusalker
This book studies Bhasa, the author of thirteen plays ascribed found in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. These works largely adhere to the rules of traditional Indian theatrics known as Natya-Shastra.
Page 483 of: Bhasa (critical and historical study)
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463
some persons resided in the house of their wives with their
mother-in-law and father-in-law."
FORMS OF GREETING.
As has rightly been observed by the late MM. Dr. T.
Ganapati Sastri, (lit. Are you seated?) "Howdido?"
seems to be the usual form of greeting employed
in these plays. A person greeted another by words like
啶曕た啶ぞ啶膏啶膏 [办颈尘腻蝉蝉别 ] or 啶曕た啶ぞ啶膏啶い啷� ( [kim膩syate ( ] Prat. p. 16 ) or simply 啶嗋じ啷嵿く啶む ( [膩syate ( ] B膩l, p.28 ) .
The form g脿脿 (Pa帽c, p. 84) is also a variant of
f. The person greeted usually replied with the words
Pray, be seated' (Dv, p. 14; Prat, p. 17; B膩l,
p. 28). This mode of greeting seems to have generally
been employed in the case of equals or from the elder to
a younger person. Wives greeted their husbands with
the expression 啶溹啶︵ 啶呧啷嵿啶夃い啷嵿い啷� [jedu ajjautto ] or 啶溹啶︵ 啶す啶距ぐ啶距 [jedu mah膩r膩o ] " Victory to my
lord" (Svapna, pp. 88, 125; Avi, p. 3; Prat, p. 16;
Pratij帽膩, pp. 51, 55 ), to which the latter replied
with (Svapna, pp. 89, 125; Prat, pp. 16-17;
啶嗋じ啷嵿く啶むぞ啶
[腻蝉测补迟腻尘
] Pratij帽膩, pp. 51, 55; Avi, p. 3); and the final
啶溹 啶呧啷嵿啶夃い啷嵿い啷� ( [ja峁� ajjautto (] or 啶す啶距ぐ啶距) 啶嗋ぃ啶掂啶︵ [mah膩r膩o) 膩峁嘺ved墨 ] from their wives ended the
formal greetings after which the general conversation
began.
An alternative formula generally employed between
equals or from elders was couched in words like
啶呧お啶� 啶曕啶多げ啷� 啶さ啶距え啷� [api ku艣al墨 bhav膩n ] ' Are you well ?' (Abhi, p. 50; Pa帽c, p. 84;
Dv, p. 15 - 啶膏ぐ啷嵿さ啷� 啶膏き啷冟い啷嵿く啶距 啶曕啶多げ啷嬥お啶え啷嵿え啶距 啷� ) [sarve sabh峁泃y膩岣� ku艣alopapann膩岣� | ) ] and the reply to the
greeting was 啶呧う啷嵿く 啶曕啶多げ啷� 啶膏啶掂啶む啶む啶洁じ啷嵿ぎ啶� [adya ku艣al墨 sa峁僾峁泃to'smi ] 'I am well indeed today'.
The form of greeting to cowherds included inquiry about
the well-being of the cows, which preceded that for the
health of the family:
啶掂じ啷佮う啷囙さ啶� 鈥� 啶掂く啶膏啶� 啶ㄠえ啷嵿う啶椸啶� [vasudeva岣� 鈥� vayasya nandagopa ] ! 啶呧お啶� 啶啶掂い啷�啶啶 啶椸啶啶 啶曕啶多げ啶 啷�
啶ㄠえ啷嵿う啶椸啶 啶嗋ぎ 啶啷嵿啶� [api bhagavat墨bhyo gobhya岣� ku艣alam |
nandagopa岣� 膩ma bha峁弓膩 ] ! 啶曕啶粪げ啶� 啷�
啶掂じ啷佮う啷囙さ啶� - 啶呧ぅ 啶さ啶む 啶ぐ啶苦啶ㄠじ啷嵿く 啶曕啶多げ啶 啷�
啶ㄠえ啷嵿う啶椸啶 - 啶嗋ぎ 啶啷嵿啶� [ku峁la峁� |
vasudeva岣� - atha bhavata岣� parijanasya ku艣alam |
nandagopa岣� - 膩ma bha峁弓膩 ] ! 啶曕啶粪げ啶� 啷� ( [ku峁la峁� | ( ] B膩l, p. 11 )
Intimate friends or near relations on very cordial
away
terms, such as brothers or brothers-in-law, used to do
with formal greetings and embraced each other with
AYTAR
1 Cf. G膩trasevaka in Pratij帽膩, p. 57. 2 Dv, p. 14, Com.
啶︵啶多 啶ぞ啶膏え啶距啶曕啶粪啶げ啶啶い啷� 啷� [d峁浥沷 bh膩san膩峁璦ke峁Ｅ玴alabhyate | ] It may be noted that this similarity of forms also constitutes
a factor in favour of assigning common authorship to these plays. We are indebted
to the late Dr. Winternitz for suggesting this topic for inclusion in our book.
