WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
The Sanskrit drama cover

The Sanskrit drama

Chapter 156: N
By Arthur Berriedale Keith
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

History - OtherPlays/Films/Dramas

About This Book

A scholarly study traces the origins, development, theory, and practice of classical Indian drama written in Sanskrit and Prākrit, examining ritual and Vedic antecedents, the Nāṭyaśāstra’s account of divine origin, and debates prompted by newly discovered early fragments. It analyzes major dramatists and representative plays through the first millennium, outlines technical principles of poetics and stagecraft—such as rasa, characterization, metre, and performance conventions—and distinguishes theoretical prescriptions from later imitative works. The author confines discussion to literary-dramatic traditions, omitting vernacular theatre, and emphasizes how textual confusion in sources complicates but also illuminates understanding of classical dramatic art.

[Contents]

N

N and ṇ in the Prākrits, 86, 87, 88, 121.

Nacca, 43.

Naṭa, actor, 25, 28, 31, 36, 45, 49, 50, 52, 67.

Naṭasūtras, in Pāṇini, 31, 290.

Naṭī, actress, 51, 66, 361.

Narkuṭaka, metre, 203.

Nartaka, dances, 28, 29, 50.

Narmagarbha, development of affection, 327.

Narman, pleasantry, 326.

Narmasuhṛd, boon companion, 188, 311.

Narmasphañja, outburst of affection, 327.

Narmasphoṭa, manifestation of affection, 327.

Navagrahacarita, by Ghanaçyāma, 345, n. 2.

Navasāhasān̄kacarita, by Padmagupta, 293.

Nāgaraka, character of, 285;
speech of, 334.

Nāgānanda, by Harṣa, 62, 85, 170, 174, 175, 180, 278, 284, 286, 300, 305, 311, 326, 339, n. 1, 342, 344, n. 2, 371, n. 2.

Nāṭaka, a type of drama, 28, 29, 95, 244–56, 278, 279, 296, 297, 345, 352, 353.

Nāṭakacandrikā, by Rūpa Gosvāmin, 294.

Nāṭakālaṁkāra, dramatic ornaments, 330, 331.

Nāṭikā, type of drama, 62, 63, 71, 233, 234, 256, 257, 279, 280, 298, 305, 325, 349, 350, 353.

Nāṭī, type of drama, 349.

Nāṭya, drama, 296.

Nāṭyapradīpa, by Sundaramiçra, 294.

Nāṭyarāsaka, a ballet, 351.

Nāṭyaçāstra, 12, 36, 42, 51, 65, 69, 75, n. 1, 81, 84, 95, 110, 141, 244, 267, 289–92, 293, 294, 295, 304, 312, 315, 320, 323, 324, 326, 328, 330, 331, 334, 335, 336, 340, 341, 343, 347, 348, 349, 352, 355, 358, 362, 364, 367, 369.

Nāṭyācārya, professor, 360.

Nāṭyālaṁkāra, dramatic ornaments, 329, 330.

Nāndī, benediction at beginning of play, 85, 111, 126, 182, 204, 239, 265, 266, 267, 339, 342, 343, 369;
pronounced behind the scenes in the Bhāṇa, the Vyāyoga, 344;
the Pren̄khaṇa or Prekṣaṇa, 351.

Nāyaka, hero, 84, 85, 305–7.

Nāyikā, heroine, 308–10.

Nālikā, enigma, 329.

Nikkhanta, in Açvaghoṣa, 89.

Nidarçanā, a figure, 125.

Niyatāpti, fourth stage of development in drama, 297.

Nirussāsaṁ, in Açvaghoṣa, 88.

Nirbhayabhīma, by Rāmacandra, 266.

Nirmuṇḍa, eunuch, 313.

Nirvahaṇa, conclusion, as last juncture, 299.

Nirveda, indifference, as basis of sentiment, 324.

Nṛt, dance, origin of Naṭa, 57.

Nṛtu, dancer, 25, n. 7.

Nṛtta, dance, 25, n. 7, 296.

Nṛtya, pantomime, 275, 296.

Nepathya, as form of sentiment, 315, n. 1, 368.

Nepathyagṛha, tiring room, 54, 359, 360. [399]

Nepathyokti, a voice from behind the scene, 303.

Nevaccha (Ṇevaccha), Prākrit equivalent of Nepathya, 54.

Naipāṭhya, alleged origin of Nepathya, 54.

Naiṣadhānanda, by Kṣemīçvara, 240, 241.

Ny, altered to ññ in Açvaghoṣa’s Prākrit, to ññ or ṇṇ in Bhāsa;
to ṇṇ in Kālidāsa, 88, 121;
to ññ in the Mudrārākṣasa, 212.