Bhāsa facts for kids

Bhāsa was a very old and famous Indian writer of plays. He wrote in Sanskrit, an ancient language. He lived even before another famous writer named Kalidasa. For hundreds of years, people thought his plays were lost forever. But then, in the early 1900s, his old writings were found again! Before this, people only knew about Bhāsa because other writers mentioned him. For example, a writer named Rajashekhara said that Bhāsa wrote a play called Swapnavasavadattam.

Even Kālidāsa, a very respected poet, mentioned Bhāsa. Kālidāsa wrote that people should not forget writers like Bhāsa. He wondered if anyone would respect a new poet like himself when such great writers had come before.

When Did Bhāsa Live?

We don't know exactly when Bhāsa was born. Most experts think he lived a very long time ago. This was probably around 300 or 400 years before Jesus Christ was born.

His style of writing is similar to Kālidāsa, who lived around 100 BCE. Bhāsa's plays do not follow all the strict rules of an ancient Indian guide for plays called the Natya Shastra. This might mean his plays are older than the time when these rules became very important. For example, some of Bhāsa's plays show fighting on stage. The Natya Shastra said this was not allowed.

How Were His Plays Found?

For a long time, Bhāsa's plays were lost. Then, in 1909, a play called Swapnavasavadatta was found. Two years later, in 1911, a scholar named T. Ganapati Sastri found 13 more Sanskrit plays. These plays were being used in a traditional Indian theater style called Koodiyattam.

At first, he found ten complete plays and parts of another. Later, he found two more complete plays. Finally, he found one more, bringing the total to thirteen plays. None of these plays mentioned who wrote them. However, one of them was Swapnavāsavadatta, which people already knew was Bhāsa's work.

Because the writing style was similar in all 13 plays, experts believed Bhāsa wrote them all. While some scholars still debate this, most now agree that these plays are indeed by Bhāsa.

Bhāsa's Famous Plays

Bhāsa wrote many plays, and some of them are quite unique. Two of his plays, Uru-Bhanga and Karna-bhara, are the only known sad plays from ancient India written in Sanskrit. Usually, old Indian plays had happy endings.

In Uru-Bhanga, the character Duryodhana is shown feeling sorry for his past actions. This is different from the original story in the Mahabharata epic. In Karna-bhara, the play ends with hints of the sad future for another hero, Karna.

Most of Bhāsa's plays are shorter than those by later writers. Many of his stories come from the famous Indian epics, the Mahabharata and Ramayana. Even though he usually sided with the heroes, Bhāsa showed great understanding for the other characters. He sometimes changed the epic stories to make his characters more interesting. For example, in Pratima-nataka, Kaikeyi, who caused sad events in the Ramayana, is shown as someone who bravely faced criticism for a good reason.

Plays Based on Ramayana

• Pratima-nataka: The Statues
• Yagna-Phalam
• Abhisheka-natka: The Coronation

Plays Based on Mahabharata

• Panch-ratra: The Five Nights
• Madhyama-vyayoga: The Middle One
• Duta-Ghattotkacha: Ghattotkacha as Envoy
• Duta-Vakya: The Envoy's Message
• Urubhanga: The Broken Thigh
• Karnabharam: Karna's Burden
• Harivamsa or Bala-charita: Hari's Dynasty or The Tale of Childhood

Duta-Vakya and Bala-charita are special because they feature Krishna as the main character. This is rare for famous Sanskrit plays.

Bhāsa also wrote plays not based on epics. Avimaraka is a fairy tale. Another play, Daridra-Charudatta (Charudatta in Poverty), tells the story of a courtesan named Vasantasena. This story was later made into a more famous play called Mrichakatika.

His most famous plays are Pratigya Yaugandharayanam and Swapnavāsavadattam. These plays are about the legendary King Udayana, who might have lived around the same time as Buddha. The first play tells how King Udayana married Princess Vasavadatta. The second play tells how he later married Princess Padmavati to make her father, the King of Magadha, an ally.

Even though his plays were found only in the 20th century, Uru-Bhanga and Karna-bhara have become very popular. They are performed today in both their original Sanskrit and in other languages. Many of Bhāsa's plays are still performed in Koodiyattam theater, like parts of Pratijna-Yaugandharayana.

Bhāsa's Plays Today

People in modern Indian theatre have worked to bring Bhāsa's plays back to life. A professor named Shanta Gandhi was one of the first. In 1966, she directed Madhyamavyayoga and Urubhanga in Hindi.

Later, in the 1970s, the playwright Kavalam Narayan Panikkar and director Ratan Thiyam used traditional Manipuri dance and martial arts to perform Bhāsa's plays. They performed Karna-bhara in 1976 and later Urubhanga.

Another director, Waman Kendre, adapted Madhyama Vyāyoga into three different languages. The famous Koodiyattam master Guru Mani Madhava Chakyar also choreographed and performed Swapnavāsadatta and Pancharātra for the first time in Koodiyattam history.