Prakarana
Prakarana drama is one of the ten dramatic genres of classical Indian theater; indeed, it was one of the two main types, the other being nataka drama. Nataka dramas took their plots from the great epics (the Ramayana and the Mahabharata); their principle characters were gods or kings. Prakarana drama, on the other hand, has been called social drama; its plots came from tales, and its protagonists were not royalty, but—though this was not explicitly said— members of the sophisticated urban elite: merchants and learned brahmans.
Differences Between Nataka and Prakarana Drama
Unlike nataka drama, prakarana drama had a large number of characters. In addition to the protagonist, minor characters such as servants, pimps, small traders, courtesans, and servant women were given important roles. The episodes of the play centered on a household and the city; unlike in nataka drama, there was no travel to heaven or the underworld, or even to other regions of India.
Modesty and restraint were uncompromisingly demanded from the performers by ancient law-makers. The prakarana was supposed to be the ideal family show, revealing life in all its aspects, but viewed decorously.
As with the nataka, this dramatic form took love stories for its plots, but unlike the nataka, prakarana often had a courtesan as the heroine. It must be remembered that in ancient India prostitution was not only a legitimate part of the social order, the fulfillment of sexual desire outside the marital bond with women of pleasure was coveted for personal wellbeing and prized as a mark of social status. It could be justly considered as a part of one of the four aims (purusharthas) of life, namely, the fulfillment of desires (kama). Ideally, to elevate it from the purely physical level, sexuality was to be embellished with fine arts like dancing, music, poetry and painting in which all the courtesans of the higher ranks were adept. As a social norm, it was obligatory for the courtesans and their visitors to patronize and support the arts. Given those facts, wherever there was genuine affection between the customer and the courtesan (which was not uncommon), the result was a near tragic situation, as it was neither easy nor practical to convert the bond into a respectable marriage. Given this historical background, the prakarana should be seen as a natural representation of mainstream ancient urban life rather than as a fanciful dramatic set-up.
The Little Clay Cart
Mrichchakatika (The Little Clay Cart), attributed to Shudraka, a king who lived sometime between the third and tenth centuries, is the most famous prakarana drama. It demonstrates the conventions of the form.
Vasantasena, the richest courtensan of the city Ujjaiyani, is fascinated by the personal accomplishments and the great magnanimity of Charudatta, a famous merchant whose charity has reduced him to bankcruptcy. As the play opens, she is seen running in the dark night to escape the clutches of Sansthanaka, the cruel brother-in-law of the king. She accidentally enters the house of Charudatta, in whose custody she leaves her jewelry before being escorted home. The jewels are stolen at night by Sharvilaka, who needs money to free his beloved Madanika, a slave of Vasantasena. While receiving the jewels as slave price, Vasantasena recognizes them as her own and realizes that Charudatta has been robbed. She frees Madanika and marries her to Sharvilaka but the couple are separated immediately as Sharvilaka is callled upon to free his friend Aryaka from the prison of the unjust king.
On learning of the theft, to save her husband's honor, Charudatta's wife Dhuta sends Vasantasena her own necklace to replace what has been stolen. Charudatta sends along a letter in which he claims that he had lost Vasantasena's jewelry in a gambling bout and as compensation is sending this necklace. An overwhelmed Vasantasena visits Charudatta at home and tells him about the theft. The lovers enjoy the cooling summer rain and Vasantasena, accepted by the whole household, spends the night there. In the morning she sends back the necklace of Dhuta, but Dhuta does not accept it, saying that her husband is her best jewel. In the meantime, Vasantasena sees Dhuta's little son crying because he must play with a clay cart while the neighbor child plays with a golden cart. Moved by Charudatta's fall in the fortunes, Vasantasena gives the child the necklace so that he can get a golden cart.
The lovers plan to spend a day together, but by a mistake Vasantasena boards the wrong carriage and is accosted by Sansthanaka. When Vasantasena rebuffs him, Sansthanaka becomes enraged and strangles her. He then accuses Charudatta of murdering Vasantasena for jewelry. Charudatta is tried, and as jewels are found on his friend, he is condemned to death. A shattered Dhuta decides to immolate herself. Meanwhile Vasantasena is revived by a Buddhist monk and taken to the magistrates. Charudatta is saved at the last moment and united with both Dhuta and Vasantasena. Sansthanaka is caught but saved from execution by a forgiving Charudatta. A new ruler, who has just deposed the old king, confers the status of a lawful wife on Vasantasena and the play ends with a benediction.
This prakarana emphasizes that good action and purity of heart can reverse all ill fortune. Vasantasena is the opposite of the average courtesans, who love for money, and Charudatta is the opposite of the common merchants, who hide wealth. They both bring about a change of heart in many who come in contact with them, and the power of their selflessness even brings about a change in government.
Prakarana Drama in Context
The prakarana, like nataka, was done with plenty of dance, music, and elaborate gestures reflecting a full range of subtle emotions with postures, movements, and facial expressions. It was meant to be a fine combination of speech, gesture, dance, music, stage conventions, and symbols used in a highly embellished manner. Prakarana drama had five to ten acts, and used many different languages. Ancient Indian drama, so often wrongly called Sanskrit drama, was actually a multilingual theater; Sanskrit was spoken only by educated and rich male characters and did not account for more than 30 percent of its total speech text. Most of the songs, not written by the dramatist but added by the producer, were in vernacular tongues. The prakarana specialized even more than the nataka in multilingual expression as it had a larger caste. It was the best mirror of ancient society.
By the end of the eleventh century, when ancient theater disintegrated, prakarana had become extinct, as the ancient life and ideals it portrayed was either disrupted or transformed. The advent of Islamic rule meant the end of prostitution as a social institution managed by the state, and the patronage of painting, dance, and music as combined with public sexuality was unthinkable. The new theater, which centered around religious devotion, was too otherworldly an environment for prakarana.
Further Reading
Byrski, Christopher. (1974) Concept of Ancient Indian Theatre. Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.
Gupt, Bharat. (1994) Dramatic Concepts: Greek and Indian. A Study of Poetics and the Natyasastra. Delhi: D. K. Print-world.
Marasinghe, E. W. (1989) The Sanskrit Theatre and Stagecraft. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
Raghavan, V. (1952) The Social Play in Sanskrit. Bangalore, India: IIC.
Shekhar, Indu. (1960) Sanskrit Drama, Its Origin and Decline. Lieden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
Ryder, Arthur William, trans. (1905) The Little Clay Cart (Mrchchakatika): A Hindu Drama Attributed to King Shudraka. Harvard Oriental Series, no. 9. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
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