Bhāsa

Bhāsa (born 3rd century ad, India) was the earliest known Sanskrit dramatist, many of whose complete plays have been found.

In 1912 an Indian scholar discovered and published the texts of 13 of Bhāsa’s dramas, previously known only by the allusions of ancient Sanskrit dramatists. His best work, Svapnavāsavadattā (“The Dream of Vāsavadattā”), depicts a king losing and then regaining his kingdom from a usurper. The majority of his dramas are ingenious adaptations on themes of heroism and romantic love borrowed from India’s two great epics, the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata. Bhāsa deviated from the accepted dramaturgy of the time by portraying battle scenes and killings on the stage. His influence is seen in the works of the great 5th-century dramatist Kālidāsa, who consciously imitated and improved upon some of Bhāsa’s literary motifs.