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.
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111
Library, Madras, says the same with reference to that
Library.
6. ANTHOLOGY VERSES AND VERSES
QUOTED BY RHETORICIANS.
Great capital is made of the non-occurrence of a
single stanza out of those ascribed to Bh膩sa in the
published Trivandrum texts. It is argued that as none is
found in these plays they are not genuine Bh膩sa plays.
Dr. Winternitz describes this circumstance as 'fatal'."
Mr. R. Raddi further says that these verses are quite different
in structure from those that we have in the Trivandrum
plays. But the argument is not so sound as it at first
sight appears. The absence can be satisfactorily explained.
2 3
i. It is not yet proved that Bh膩sa wrote only the
works that are now available to us. Besides twenty-three
or thirty plays, he is said to have composed a poem and
also a work on dramaturgy. So, the anthology verses may
have been excerpted from such works now lost to us, or
the verses may be sphu峁璦 slokas by Bh膩sa,-general verses
of a miscellaneous character, without forming part of any
particular work.
ii. It may further be urged with some plausibility
that these, or at least some of these verses, may have
been taken out from some lost recensions of these dramas.*
Some MSS of the Abh are found to contain three stanzas
less than the others coming from the same region." The
Svapna may have contained
etc., and
6 c; and the B膩l and the Abh the verses
啶夃い啷嵿じ啶距す啶距い啶苦ざ啶 啶掂い啷嵿じ [uts膩h膩ti艣aya峁� vatsa ] etc., and 啶む啶班啶むぞ啶啶椸 [迟谤别迟腻测耻驳补峁� ] etc. respectively. We have
attempted to show later on in this chapter that some of the
anthology verses may have formed part of some of the
Trivandrum plays.
as 1 222
Again, these anthologists are not trustworthy
are found to be wrong in various ways and
particulars.
1. They are sometimes found to misquote the
1 CR, Dec. 1924, p. 346 ; (cf. Hirananda Sastri, MASI, 28, p. 27. 2 VJV,
47, p. 230. 3 Cf. last section. 4 Cf. Sukthankar, JBRAS, 1925, p. 129. Similar
hypothesis as to the verses being from the undiscovered works of Bh膩sa has been
put forth by Sarup, Vision, Intr., p. 37; Ghataka, JDL, 12, pp. 8-10; Khuperkar,
Lokasiksana 5, pp. 324-325, etc. 5 Cf. Abhiseka, Lahore edition, pp. 23 n4; 38
n4; 75 n3. 6 As shown by us in earlier sections.
