Bharata
- Jonathan Katz
Extract
A sage (muni) in ancient Indian legend. The Nāṯyaśāstra, a Sanskrit text on drama and its ingredient arts composed or compiled from earlier source probably in the early centuries ce, is ascribed to him. The work was the first comprehensive treatise on the ancient Indian drama, and as music and dance were an important element in the production of such works it contains detailed chapters on the theory and practice of these arts. Like all early Sanskrit technical treatises it was traditionally ascribed to a mythical or legendary sage. There is internal evidence to show that many other treatises had been composed previously and were used for this compilation. It is thus a composite work, but in the material it describes and in its method there is also some appearance of unity and consistency; some scholars have argued that there was a strong unitary guiding authorial or editorial hand behind its composition. The ...
