{"id":66,"date":"2019-05-22T10:13:13","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T10:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp09.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=66"},"modified":"2019-05-24T05:49:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T05:49:36","slug":"sudraka-mrichhakatika","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp09\/chapter\/sudraka-mrichhakatika\/","title":{"rendered":"Sudraka: Mrichhakatika"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n
\r\n\r\nIntroduction:<\/strong>\r\n\r\n \r\n

\u2018Mrichchhakatika\u2019 or \u2018The Little Clay Cart\u2019 is an ancient Sanskrit play written by King Sh\u016bdraka (Ujjayini) in around 3rd century A.D. It is one of the oldest of all the so far known Sanskrit plays in Indian Literature. Concerning the life, the date and the very identity of the author King Sh\u016bdraka, we are curiously ignorant. No other work is ascribed to him and we have no direct information about him till date beyond the somewhat fanciful and exaggerated self praising statements in the prologue of this play. Surely there are many tales, who cluster about the name of King Sh\u016bdraka but none of them found so far represents him as an author. A few years back the age and even the authorship of this play was uncertain. After the unexpected discovery of the plays of Bhasa<\/em> provided us with new data and brought light to the drama Charudatta<\/em> whose enlarged and completed version Mrichchhakatika seems to be.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

According to its prologue, Sh\u016bdraka was a Kshatriya king of some country (not mentioned) brave and handsome in appearance knowing Rigveda, Samaveda and mathematics. He knew the art of regarding courtesans and the science of training elephants; was a devotee of Lord Siva and had performed the Asvamedha sacrifice. The great King died at the ripe age of hundred years and ten days. Due to lack of information, facts and evidences the authorship of this play is still uncertain. There are many theories prevailing about the same, but none of them could be considered reliable.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Yet our very lack of information may prove, to some extent at least, a disguised blessing. For our ignorance of external fact compels a closer study of the text, if we would find out what manner of man it was who wrote the play. And the case of King Sh\u016bdraka is by no means unique in India; in regard to every great Sanskrit writer\u2014so bare is Sanskrit literature of biography\u2014we are forced to concentrate attention on the man as he reveals himself in his works. First, however, it may be worthwhile to compare Sh\u016bdraka with two other great dramatists of India, and thus to discover, if we may, in what ways he excels them or is excelled by them.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

K\u0101lid\u0101sa, Sh\u016bdraka, Bhavabh\u016bti\u2014assuredly, these are the greatest names in the history of the Indian drama. So different are these men, and so great, that it is not possible to assert for any one of them such supremacy as Shakespeare holds in the English drama. Kalidasa \u2013 \u201cthe grace of poetry\u201d and Bhavabhuti \u2013 \u201cthe master of eloquence\u201d are far more intimately allied in spirit than is either of them with the author of Mrichchhakatika. Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti are Hindus of the Hindus; the Shakuntala and the Latter Acts of Rama could have been written nowhere save in India: but Sh\u016bdraka, alone in the long line of Indian dramatists, has a cosmopolitan character. Shakuntala is a Hindu maid, Madhava is a Hindu hero; but Sansthanaka and Maitreya and Madanika are citizens of the world. In some of the more striking characteristics of Sanskrit literature \u2013 in its fondness for system, its elaboration of style, its love of epigram \u2013 Kalidasa and Bhavabhuti are far truer to their native land than is Sh\u016bdraka. In Sh\u016bdraka we find few of those splendid phrases in which, as the Chinese say, \u201cit is only the words which stop, the sense goes on,\u201d \u2013 phrases like Kalidasa\u2019s \u201cthere are doors of the inevitable everywhere,\u201d or Bhavabhuti\u2019s \u201cfor causeless love there is no remedy.\u201d As regards the predominance of swill-moving action over the poetical expression of great truths, The Little Clay Cart stands related to the Latter Acts of Rama as Macbeth does to Hamlet. Again, Sh\u016bdraka\u2019s style is simple and direct, a rare quality in a Hindu; and although this style, in the passages of higher emotion, is of an exquisite simplicity, yet Sh\u016bdraka cannot infuse into mere language the charm which we find in Kalidasa or the majesty which we find in Bhavabhuti.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Yet Sh\u016bdraka's limitations in regard to stylistic power are not without their compensation. For love of style slowly strangled originality and enterprise in Indian poets, and ultimately proved the death of Sanskrit literature. Now just at this point, where other Hindu writers are weak, Sh\u016bdraka stands forth preeminent. Nowhere else in the hundreds of Sanskrit dramas do we find such variety, and such drawing of character, as in The Little clay Cart; and nowhere else, in the drama at least, is there such humor.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

To gain a rough idea of Sh\u016bdraka's variety, we have only to recall the names of the acts of the play. Here The Shampooer who Gambled and The Hole in the Wall are shortly followed by The Storm; and The Swapping of the Bullock-carts is closely succeeded by The Strangling of\u00a0Vasantasen\u0101. From farce to tragedy, from satire to pathos, runs the story, with a breadth truly Shakespearian.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Here we have philosophy:<\/p>\r\n

The lack of money is the root of all evil<\/em>. (i. 14<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n \r\n

And pathos:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

My body wet by tear-drops falling, falling;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

My limbs polluted by the clinging mud;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Flowers from the graveyard torn, my wreath appalling;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

For ghastly sacrifice hoarse ravens calling,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And for the fragrant incense of my blood<\/em>. (x. 3<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n \r\n

And nature description:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

But mistress, do not scold the lightning. She is your friend<\/em>,<\/p>\r\n

This golden cord that trembles on the breast<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Of great Air\u0101vata; upon the crest<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Of rocky hills this banner all ablaze;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

This lamp in Indra's palace; but most blest<\/em><\/p>\r\n

As telling where your most belov\u00e8d stays<\/em>. (v. 33)<\/p>\r\n \r\n

And genuine bitterness:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Pride and tricks and lies and fraud<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Are in your face;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

False playground of the lustful god,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Such is your face;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The wench's stock in trade, in fine,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Epitome of joys divine,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

I mean your face<\/em><\/p>\r\n

For sale! the price is courtesy.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

I trust you'll find a man to buy<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Your face<\/em>. (v. 36<\/em>)<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

But a spirit so powerful as that of King Sh\u016bdraka could not be confined within the strait jacket of the minute, and sometimes puerile, rules of the technical works. In the very title of the drama, he has disregarded the rule that the name of a drama of invention should be formed by compounding the names of heroine and hero. Again, the books prescribe that the hero shall appear in every act; yet Ch\u0101rudatta does not appear in acts ii., iv., vi., and viii. And further, various characters, Vasantasen\u0101, Maitreya, the courtier, and others, have vastly gained because they do not conform too closely to the technical definitions.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

Sh\u016bdraka's humor is the third of his vitally distinguishing qualities. This humor has an American flavor, both in its puns and in its situations. The plays on words can seldom be adequately reproduced in translation, but the situations are independent of language.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

It remains to say a word about the construction of the play. Obviously, it is too long. More than this, the main action halts through acts ii. to v., and during these episodic acts we almost forget that the main plot concerns the love of Vasantasen\u0101 and Ch\u0101rudatta. Indeed, we have in The Little Clay Cart the material for two plays. The larger part of act i. forms with acts vi. to x. a consistent and ingenious plot; while the remainder of act i. might be combined with acts iii. to v. to make a pleasing comedy of lighter tone. The second act, clever as it is, has little real connection either with the main plot or with the story of the gems. The breadth of treatment which is observable in this play is found in many other specimens of the Sanskrit drama, which has set itself an ideal different from that of our own drama. The lack of dramatic unity and consistency is often compensated, indeed, by lyrical beauty and charms of style; but it suggests the question whether we might not more justly speak of the Sanskrit plays as dramatic poems as dramas.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

AN OUTLINE OF THE PLOT<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> I, entitled The Gems are left Behind<\/em><\/strong>. Evening of the first day.\u2014after the prologue, Ch\u0101rudatta, who is within his house, converses with his friend Maitreya, and deplores his poverty. While they are speaking, Vasantasen\u0101 appears in the street outside. She is pursued by the courtier and Sansth\u0101naka; the latter makes her degrading offers of his love, which she indignantly rejects. Ch\u0101rudatta sends Maitreya from the house to offer sacrifice and through the open door Vasantasen\u0101 slips unobserved into the house. Maitreya returns after an altercation with Sansth\u0101naka, and recognizes Vasantasen\u0101. Vasantasen\u0101 leaves a casket of gems in the house for safe keeping and returns to her home.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> II, entitled The Shampooer who Gambled<\/em>. <\/strong>Second day.\u2014The act opens in Vasantasen\u0101's house. Vasantasen\u0101 confesses to her maid Madanik\u0101 her love for Ch\u0101rudatta. Then a shampooer appears in the street, pursued by the gambling-master and a gambler, who demand of him ten gold-pieces which he has lost in the gambling-house. At this point Darduraka enters, and engages the gambling-master and the gambler in an angry discussion, during which the shampooer escapes into Vasantasen\u0101's house. When Vasantasen\u0101 learns that the shampooer had once served Ch\u0101rudatta, she pays his debt; the grateful shampooer resolves to turn monk. As he leaves the house he is attacked by a runaway elephant, and saved by Karnap\u016braka, a servant of Vasantasen\u0101.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> III, entitled The Hole in the Wall<\/em><\/strong>. The night following the second day.\u2014Ch\u0101rudatta and Maitreya return home after midnight from a concert, and go to sleep. Maitreya has in his hand the gem-casket which Vasantasen\u0101 has left behind. Sharvilaka enters. He is in love with Madanik\u0101, a maid of Vasantasen\u0101's, and is resolved to acquire by theft the means of buying her freedom. He makes a hole in the wall of the house, enters, and steals the casket of gems which Vasantasen\u0101 had left. Ch\u0101rudatta wakes to find casket and thief gone. His wife gives him her pearl necklace with which to make restitution.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> IV, entitled Madanik\u0101 and Sharvilaka<\/em><\/strong>. Third day.\u2014Sharvilaka comes to Vasantasen\u0101's house to buy Madanik\u0101's freedom. Vasantasen\u0101 overhears the facts concerning the theft of her gem-casket from Ch\u0101rudatta's house, but accepts the casket, and gives Madanik\u0101 her freedom. As Sharvilaka leaves the house, he hears that his friend Aryaka, who had been imprisoned by the king, has escaped and is being pursued. Sharvilaka departs to help him. Maitreya comes from Ch\u0101rudatta with the pearl necklace, to repay Vasantasen\u0101 for the gem-casket. She accepts the necklace also, as giving her an excuse for a visit to Ch\u0101rudatta.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> V, entitled The Storm<\/em><\/strong>. Evening of the third day.\u2014Ch\u0101rudatta appears in the garden of his house. Here he receives a servant of Vasantasen\u0101, who announces that Vasantasen\u0101 is on her way to visit him. Vasantasen\u0101 then appears in the street with the courtier; the two describe alternately the violence and beauty of the storm which has suddenly arisen. Vasantasen\u0101 dismisses the courtier, enters the garden, and explains to Ch\u0101rudatta how she has again come into possession of the gem-casket. Meanwhile, the storm has so increased in violence that she is compelled to spend the night at Ch\u0101rudatta's house.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> VI, entitled The Swapping of the Bullock-carts<\/em><\/strong>. Morning of the fourth day. Here she meets Ch\u0101rudatta's little son, Rohasena. The boy is peevish because he can now have only a little clay cart to play with, instead of finer toys. Vasantasen\u0101 gives him her gems to buy a toy cart of gold. Ch\u0101rudatta's servant drives up to take Vasantasen\u0101 in Ch\u0101rudatta's bullock-cart to the park, where she is to meet Ch\u0101rudatta; but while Vasantasen\u0101 is making ready, he drives away to get a cushion. Then Sansth\u0101naka's servant drives up with his master's cart, which Vasantasen\u0101 enters by mistake. Soon after, Ch\u0101rudatta's servant returns with his cart. Then the escaped prisoner Aryaka appears and enters Ch\u0101rudatta's cart. Two policemen come on the scene; they are searching for Aryaka. One of them looks into the cart and discovers Aryaka, but agrees to protect him. This he does by deceiving and finally maltreating his companion.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> VII, entitled Aryaka's Escape<\/em>. <\/strong>Fourth day.\u2014Ch\u0101rudatta is awaiting Vasantasen\u0101 in the park. His cart, in which Aryaka lies hidden, appears. Ch\u0101rudatta discovers the fugitive, removes his fetters, lends him the cart, and leaves the park.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> VIII, entitled The Strangling of Vasantasen\u0101<\/em>. <\/strong>Fourth day.\u2014A Buddhist monk, the shampooer of the second act, enters the park. He has difficulty in escaping from Sansth\u0101naka, who appears with the courtier. Sansth\u0101naka's servant drives in with the cart which Vasantasen\u0101 had entered by mistake. She is discovered by Sansth\u0101naka, who pursues her with insulting offers of love. When she repulses him, Sansth\u0101naka gets rid of all witnesses, strangles her, and leaves her for dead. The Buddhist monk enters again, revives Vasantasen\u0101, and conducts her to a monastery.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> IX, entitled The Trial<\/em>. <\/strong>Fifth day.\u2014Sansth\u0101naka accuses Ch\u0101rudatta of murdering Vasantasen\u0101 for her money. In the course of the trial, it appears that Vasantasen\u0101 had spent the night of the storm at Ch\u0101rudatta's house; that she had left the house the next morning to meet Ch\u0101rudatta in the park; that there had been a struggle in the park, which apparently ended in the murder of a woman. Ch\u0101rudatta's friend, Maitreya, enters with the gems which Vasantasen\u0101 had left to buy Ch\u0101rudatta's son a toy cart of gold. These gems fall to the floor during a scuffle between Maitreya and Sansth\u0101naka. In view of Ch\u0101rudatta's poverty, this seems to establish the motive for the crime, and Ch\u0101rudatta is condemned to death.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

A<\/strong>CT<\/strong> X, entitled The End<\/em>. <\/strong>Sixth day.\u2014Two headsmen are conducting Ch\u0101rudatta to the place of execution. Ch\u0101rudatta takes his last leave of his son and his friend Maitreya. But Sansth\u0101naka's servant escapes from confinement and betrays the truth; yet he is not believed, owing to the cunning displayed by his master. The headsmen are preparing to execute Ch\u0101rudatta, when Vasantasen\u0101 herself appears upon the scene, accompanied by the Buddhist monk. Her appearance puts a summary end to the proceedings. Then news is brought that Aryaka has killed and supplanted the former king, that he wishes to reward Ch\u0101rudatta, and that he has by royal edict freed Vasantasen\u0101 from the necessity of living as a courtezan. Sansth\u0101naka is brought before Ch\u0101rudatta for sentence, but is pardoned by the man whom he had so grievously injured. The play ends with the usual Epilogue.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

THE THEME AND THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE PLAY<\/strong><\/p>\r\n \r\n

Mrichchhakatika is one of the most famous prakaranas i.e. a play whose plot is partly derived from the history and partly is a creation of the author\u2019s fancy of the ancient India that is not based on the epic material and is full of rascals. It is natural that Sh\u016bdraka should choose for the expression of matters so diverse that type of drama which gives the greatest scope to the author's creative power. This type is the so-called \u201cdrama of invention\u201d, a category curiously subordinated in India to the heroic drama, the plot of which is drawn from history or mythology. Indeed, Mrichchhakatika is the only extant drama which fulfils the spirit of the drama of invention, as defined by the Sanskrit canons of dramaturgy.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

An exaggerated tongue-in-cheek self-praise by the author begins as:<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\r\n

Who vied with elephants in lordly grace;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Whose eyes were those of the chakora bird<\/em><\/p>\r\n

That feeds on moonbeams; glorious his face<\/em><\/p>\r\n

As the full moon; his person, all have heard,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Was altogether lovely. First in worth<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Among the twice-born was this poet, known<\/em><\/p>\r\n

As Sh\u016bdraka far over all the earth, \u2013<\/em><\/p>\r\n

His virtue's depth unfathomed and alone.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And again:<\/p>\r\n

The Samaveda, the Rigveda too,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The science mathematical, he knew;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The arts wherein fair courtesans excel,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And all the lore of elephants as well.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Through Shiva's grace, his eye was never dim;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

He saw his son a king in place of him.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The difficult horse-sacrifice he tried<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Successfully; entered the fiery tide,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

One hundred years and ten days old, and died.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And yet again:<\/p>\r\n

Eager for battle; sloth's determined foe;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Of scholars chief, who to the Veda cling;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Rich in the riches that ascetics know;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Glad, giant the foeman's elephant to show<\/em><\/p>\r\n

His valor; \u2013 such was Sh\u016bdraka, the king.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And in this work of his,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Within the town, Avanti named,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Dwells one called Charudatta, famed<\/em><\/p>\r\n

No less for youth than poverty;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

A merchant\u2019s son and Brahman, he.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

His virtues have the power to move<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Vasantasena\u2019s inmost love;<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Fair as the springtime\u2019s radiancy,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

And yet a courtesan is she.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

So here king Sh\u016bdraka the tale imparts<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Of love\u2019s pure festival in these two hearts,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Of prudent acts, a lawsuit\u2019s wrong and hate,<\/em><\/p>\r\n

A rascal\u2019s nature, and the course of fate.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Mrichchhakatika \u2013 a ten act play based on the love of Charudatta, a prominent but poor inhabitant of Ujjayini (also called Avanti) and Vasantasena, an exquisitely beautiful and pure minded courtesan of the same city. The play begins with prologue consisting of a benedictory\u00a0stanza which basically is a prayer for the people of the world. Author asks Lord Siva to protect the people from all kind of pain and prejudice, free them from all kind of bounds of mind and body. This is followed by some interesting particulars about the author told to the audience by the director of the play in a poetic sense.<\/span><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

The characters of the Mrichchhakatika are living men and women. It is quite evident from the play that Sh\u016bdraka\u2019s men are better individualized than his women. The characters include every class of individuals in the society from Brahmans to executioner to housemaids.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Two elements of the play often perplex western audiences. First, Vasantasena\u2019s profession and second, Charudatta is married.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Vasantasena\u2019s profession is not as tawdry as western audiences often suppose. She is not merely a body for sale. In the opening moments of the play, she rejects Sansthanaka\u2019s advances, though he is not only wealthy but the king\u2019s brother-in-law. Furthermore, we find her speaking Sanskrit (albeit briefly) in act four. This is not an insignificant detail. Vasantasena is educated. She circulates among the privileged of society. And she circulates in the open, among the movers and shakers of the community\u2014which is to say: among the men.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Indeed, Charudatta is married. But his wife is only identified as \u201cthe wife\u201d, hardly appears in the play, and, then, not outside the confines of her home. The courtesan has a unique status in the cultural context of this play.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The play gives not a single word to concerns over Charudatta\u2019s marriage. Like Duhshanta in Shakuntala<\/em>, Charudatta is free to pursue whatever paramours attract his attention. The world of Mrcchakatika<\/em> is a man\u2019s world. Only educated courtesans like Vasantasena have a place of their own in it.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

His greatest character is unquestionably Sansth\u0101naka, this combination of ignorant conceit, brutal lust, and cunning, this greater than Cloten, who, after strangling an innocent woman, can say:<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Oh, come! Let's go and play in the pond.<\/em><\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

\r\n

Most attractive characters are the five conspirators, men whose home is \"east of Suez and the ten commandments.\" They live from hand to mouth, ready at any moment to steal a gem-casket or to take part in a revolution, and preserving through it all their character as gentlemen and their irresistible conceit. And side by side with them moves the hero Ch\u0101rudatta, the Buddhist beau-ideal of manhood,<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\nA tree of life to them whose sorrows grow,<\/em>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBeneath its fruit of virtue bending low<\/em>. (i. 48<\/em>)\r\n\r\n \r\n

To him, life itself is not dear, but only honor. He values wealth only as it supplies him with the means of serving others. Vasantasen\u0101 is a character with neither the girlish charm of Shakuntal\u0101 nor the mature womanly dignity of S\u012bt\u0101. She is more admirable than lovable. Witty and wise she is, and in her love as true as steel; this too, in a social position which makes such constancy difficult.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

In Maitreya, the Vid\u016bshaka, we find an instance of our author's masterly skill in giving life to the dry bones of a rhetorical definition. The Vid\u016bshaka is a stock character who has something in common with a jester; and in Maitreya the essential traits of the character\u2014 eagerness for good food and other creature comforts, and blundering devotion to his friend\u2014 are retained, to be sure, but clarified and elevated by his quaint humor and his readiness to follow Ch\u0101rudatta even in death. The grosser traits of the typical Vid\u016bshaka are lacking. Maitreya is neither a glutton nor a fool, but a simple-minded, whole-hearted friend.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The courtier is another character suggested by the technical works, and transformed by the genius of Sh\u016bdraka. He is a man not only of education and social refinement, but also of real nobility of nature. But he is in a false position from the first, this true gentleman at the wretched court of King P\u0101laka; at last he finds the courage to break away, and risks life, and all that makes life attractive, by backing Aryaka. Of all the conspirators, it is he who runs the greatest risk. To his protection of Vasantasen\u0101 is added a touch of infinite pathos when we remember that he was himself in love with her. Only when Vasantasen\u0101 leaves him without a thought, to enter Ch\u0101rudatta's house, does he realize how much he loves her; then, indeed, he breaks forth in words of the most passionate jealousy.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

ADAPTATIONS AND MEDIA<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n

Of all the Sanskrit dramas, M\u1e5bcchaka\u1e6dika remains one of the most widely celebrated and oft-performed in the West. The work played a significant role in generating interest in Indian theatre among European audiences following several successful nineteenth century translations and stage productions, most notably G\u00e9rard de Nerval and Joseph M\u00e9ry's highly romanticized French adaptation titled Le Chariot d'enfant that premiered in Paris in 1850, as well as a critically acclaimed \"anarchist\" interpretation by Victor Barrucand called Le Chariot de terre cuite that was produced by the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre de l'\u0152uvre in 1895.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

Play adaptations: The play was translated into English, notably by Arthur W. Ryder in 1905 as The Little Clay Cart. (It had previously been translated as The Toy Cart by Horace Hayman Wilson in 1826.) Ryder's version was enacted at the Hearst Greek Theatre in Berkeley in 1907, and in New York City in 1924 at the Neighbourhood Playhouse, which was then an off-Broadway theatre, at the Theater de Lys in 1953, and at the Potboiler Art Theater in Los Angeles in 1926, when it featured actors such as James A. Marcus, Symona Boniface and Gale Gordon. The play has been adapted in several Indian languages and performed by various theatre groups and directors, like Habib Tanvir.<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

Film adaptations: The first silent film of Kannada film industry, Mricchakatika (Vasantsena) (1931), starring Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Vasantasena, a 1941 Indian Kannada film directed by Ramayyar Shirur, and Utsav, a 1984 Hindi Bollywood film by Girish Karnad was based on an adaptation of this play.<\/p>\r\n \r\n

The Indian play depicted in the 2001 film Moulin Rouge!, \"Spectacular Spectacular\", may have been based on The Little Clay Cart.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
you can view video on Sudraka: Mrichhakatika<\/strong><\/td>\r\n\"\"<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

Reference<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n