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TEXT AND TITLE The ''Natya Shastra'' was written by the sage Bharata Muni who, it is claimed, was directly inspired by the god Brahma . It is believed to have been written during the period between 400 BC and 200 AD . Some scholars believe it was written by various authors at different times. The text is written in the Sanskrit Language , and consists of 6,000 ''sutras'', or verse stanzas, incorporated in 36 chapters. There are some passages that are composed in a prose form. The name can be loosely translated as ''The Textbook on Drama''. ''Natya'', or ''nataka'' means drama, and in contemporary usage does not include dance. However, ''nataka'' originally derives from the word meaning "dance" (root: ''nat''). This suggests that in traditional Sanskrit drama, music and dancing, as well as acting, were important. THEORY The ''Natya Shastra'' is incredibly wide in its scope. It consists of minutely detailed precepts for both playwrights and actors. Bharata describes ten types of drama ranging from one to ten acts. In addition, he lays down principles for stage design, Makeup , Costume , Dance (various movements and gestures), a theory of aesthetics (''rasas'' and ''bhavas''), Acting , Directing and Music , each in individual chapters. Bharata sets out a detailed theory of drama comparable to the '' Poetics '' of Aristotle . He refers to ''bhavas'', the imitations of emotions that the actors perform, and the ''rasas'' (emotional responses) that they inspire in the audience. He argues that there are eight principal ''rasas'': love, pity, anger, disgust, heroism, awe, terror and comedy, and that plays should mix different ''rasas'' but be dominated by one. EXTERNAL LINKS |