[Y-Indology] date of bhaarata-naaTyazaastra?

June 18, 2001

It is commonly believed that the nATyaSAstra was

composed sometime between 500 BC and 500 AD and is

based on at least two older works.

Regards.

Marina Orelskaya

Dr Marina Orelskaya

c/o Department of Sanskrit

and Prakrit Languages

University of Pune

Ganeshkhind Road

Pune 411007

Maharashtra

India

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June 19, 2001

Many thanks to Tim Cahill, John Napier, and Lynken Ghose, who replied to me

privately, as well as to Marina Orelskaya. For those who might be interested,

these replies included the following references:

Srinivasan, Srinivas Ayya. _On the Composition of the Natyasastra. Studien

zur Indologie und Iranistik, 5-6, Monographie 1_. Reinbek: Verlag fur

Orientalistische Fachpublikationen, 1980. [srinivasan argues that the 6th

chapter of the NS and the sections on dramatic forms are heterogeneous,

without a consistent authorial design.] [Reviews: D.R. Widdess, JRAS

(1982), pp. 195f.; E. Gerow, JAOS 103.4 (1983), pp. 781-782; T.

Venkatacharya, IIJ 25 (1983), 283f.; V.M. Kulkarni, JBBRAS (NS) 55-56

(1981-84 [1986]), pp. 355-357 (a brief but detailed review); G.K. Bhat,

ABORI 63 (1982), pp. 263-264.

Holoein, Renee A. 1984. _Ancient Indian Dramatic Music and Aspects of

Melodic Theory in Bharata's NâTyazâstra_. Diss. University of Minnesota.

Ann Arbor: University Microfilms. [she argues for a completion date of

around 400 CE, based on references to it and on texts to which it refers.]

Widdess, Richard. 1995. _The Ragas of Early Indian Music: Modes, melodies

and musical notations from the Gupta period to c. 1250._ Oxford Monographs

on Music. Oxford: Clarendon.

also noted:

Manomohan Ghosh's translation (Manisha Granthalaya, Calcutta, 1967)

Bharat Gupt in a comparative work on rasa theory and catharsis.

Timothy Lubin

Assistant Professor (Religions of South Asia)

Department of Religion

23 Newcomb Hall

Washington and Lee University

Lexington, VA 24450

office: 540-463-8146; fax: 540-463-8498

lubint

http://home.wlu.edu/~lubint

June 19, 2001

Tim and Indology List:

I just wanted to give the full references, as I did not include some of them

in my private email to Tim.

As far as I can remember, each of the following works address the dating of

the Natyasastra. In talking to scholars in the field, one does seem to get

the idea that 500 BCE - 500 CE covers most estimates (as Marina Orelskaya

stated). Also, some scholars speculate that there might actually be more

than one author of the NS.

Gupt, Bharat. Dramatic Concepts: Greek and Indian. New Delhi, 1994

Manomohan Ghosh's translation of the Natyasastra. Calcutta, 1967.

Board of Scholars' translation of Natyasastra. Delhi, 1987.