CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.

THE HINDÚ DRAMA.

THE theatre of the Hindús opens up a new inter of the Hindu sight into the civilization of ancient India. It forms

Secular charac

Theatre.

a valuable supplement to the information furnished by Greek writers and Chinese pilgrims. Moreover the dramas are more reliable than the sacred books of either Buddhists or Bráhmans. They do not appear to have been compiled by pious sages, or to have been interpolated and garbled to any appreciable extent by an interested priesthood. Indeed they were composed for the amusement of the Kshatriyas; and consequently although they originated in a Brahmanical age, they are generally free from the Brahmanical exaggerations which mar the Mahá Bhárata and Rámáyana. The most valuable of them all in a historical point of view, is said to have been written by a Raja; and although the authorship may be doubted, yet there can be no question as to the secular character of the play.' But whether the dramatists were Bráhmans or Kshatriyas, they appear to have generally enjoyed the patronage of powerful Rajas of the dominant race; and their productions are thus generally devoid of

1 The drama is known as the "Toy-cart," and is said to have been composed by Raja Súdraka. It will be brought fully under review hereafter. Another secular play, known as the "Necklace," is ascribed to a Raja of Cashmere.

Occasionally CHAPTER VI.

religious or political significance.
personages and plots are taken from Hindú mytho-
logy and legend; but there is an absence of all in-
tention to enforce any particular belief, worship, or
religious rule; or to promulgate any political views
beyond the ordinary maxims of Asiatic despotism.
The dramatists were tolerably familiar with city
life, but restrained in their representations of court
scenes and characters. The sovereign is the centre
of authority, and is hedged around with that respect
and deference which is in accordance with Asiatic
ideas of the divine right of kings. The Raja has
generally two or more queens who are supposed to
be strictly submissive to his will; and he is aided in
the general administration by active and zealous
ministers, whose so-called statesmanship appears to
consist in artifice and intrigue. Strangely enough,
the only representations of successful rebellion which
are brought upon the stage in the dramas known
to European readers, seem to refer more or less
directly to that revolution, already noticed by
Greek and Hindú writers, which placed Sandrokot-
tos or Chandragupta on the throne. Religious
teaching, as far as asceticism or monasticism are
concerned, is recognized, but otherwise ignored.
Bráhman priests and Buddhist mendicants appear as
ordinary mortals; excepting that Brahmans are
invested with certain hereditary claims to respect,
whilst the Buddhist mendicant is simply regarded
as a religious beggar.

Hindús revealed

The Hindú dramas, however, present something Social life of the more than mere pictures of the external world. in the dramas. They open up a little of the inner life of ancient times. The Greeks only gazed upon the surface ;

CHAPTER VI. the streets, the bazaars, the processions, the Bráhmans and Srámans, and the administration of the city and camp. The inner life of the people was a dim unknown, even to the ambassador at the court of Sandrokottos. The masses moved to and fro before the curious foreigner like the waves of a sea, whose depths he could not explore, and whose storms and calms were alike a mystery. Again, the domestic life of the Hindús, and indeed of the world at large, was a sealed book to the Chinese Srámans, who were sworn to celibacy, and sought only to abstract themselves from all humanity. But there is at least one Hindú drama which discloses the interior of the dwelling-house and family, and brings forward individual men and women as types of different grades of society and phases of character. This drama is known as the "Toy-cart." It reveals much of the social life of the middle and higher classes, whilst it expresses the conventional ideas of right and wrong, of virtue and vice. It also furnishes occasional glimpses of that domestic life which Asiatics in general are so unwilling to unveil, and which the Greeks had been accustomed to respect as the inner sanctuary which no stranger should seek to enter.

World of the
Hindú drama.

The curtain of the Hindú drama thus rises upon a world which is unfamiliar to the European. The scenes are oriental, but they are neither Jewish nor Arab; they are emphatically and essentially Hindú. There is nothing of the freedom of inter. course which exists in Europe. There are occasional glimpses of polygamous institutions which are foreign to European tastes; but scenes of impropriety or violence are never brought upon the

stage; and consequently, whilst the auditor is free CHAPTER VI. to draw his own inference, there is nothing to be

seen that could offend modesty, or excite undue horror or alarm.

The most important of all the dramas, which The "Toy-cart." have hitherto been rendered available to European readers, is the "Toy-cart," already mentioned." This interesting play exhibits the greatest variety of scenes and characters, and moreover illustrates points of considerable historical interest. It contains the political element already alluded to in the shape of a successful rebellion. A Raja who does not appear upon the stage, but who is apparently obnoxious to the Bráhmans, is subverted by a cowherd, who obtains the throne by a popular revolution, which seems to be the work of a single day.3 This incident is also valuable as a correct representation of the national character. To this day the political energy of the Hindús is occasionally expended in the passing passion of an hour, and then subsides into a cold contentment which may last for generations. The "Toy-cart" also contains a strange social element. The chief courtesan of the city falls in love with a virtuous Bráhman, named Chárudatta, who is already married to a virtuous wife, by whom he is the father of a beloved son. The wife observes this attachment

The principal Sanskrit dramas have been translated by the late Professor W. H. Wilson in his "Theatre of the Hindús," 2 vols., 8vo, London, 1835. The celebrated drama of Sakúntalá has been translated by Sir William Jones and Professor Monier Williams.

The scene is laid in the city of Ujain in Malwa, and not in Patali-putra, which was the capital of Sandrokottos or Chandra-gupta. The point, however, is of small importance, excepting that it seems to associate the rebellion with Asoka, who, according to Buddhist tradition, was appointed governor of Ujain. See ante, page 231.

CHAPTER VI. between her husband and the courtesan without murmur or remonstrance, and, according to the drama, is ultimately reconciled to their union. This incident furnishes a curious illustration of that Hindú system of domestic repression, which causes much secret pain in many families. Caste rules have long since prevented the possibility of such a marriage between a Bráhman and a Sudrá, but otherwise the repression remains much the same. Sons bow to the will of fathers, and wives bow to the will of husbands, but they are like helpless worshippers, who carry resignation on their lips whilst a deep resentment is burning within.

Chárudatta the
Brahman.

Chárudatta the Bráhman may be accepted as a type of a large class of Hindús. He was born to great wealth and respectability in the city of Ujain, and was happily married to a loving wife; but he reduced himself to poverty by a reckless prodigality. He was not a dissipated spendthrift, after the European fashion. He was not a gambler, a wine-bibber, or a libertine. On the contrary, he was virtuous and noble. He had squandered his riches with a profuse liberality, but he had spent the money more for the good of others than for his own benefit. He had given grand entertainments to friends, acquaintances, and dependents. He had beautified the city of Ujain with gardens, gates, viháras, temples, wells, and fountains. In a word, he had carried the virtue of benevolence, the religion of Dharma, to a vicious excess, and thus expended the whole of his hereditary riches. Henceforth he could only subsist on his wife's jewels, and on such alms and gifts as the people are accustomed to present to Bráhmans on particular occasions as an acknowledgment