- Also called:
- Shreekantha Neelakantha or Umbeka
- Flourished:
- 7th–8th century ce
- Flourished:
- 700 -
Bhavabhuti
Who was Bhavabhuti?
What plays did Bhavabhuti write?
How did Bhavabhuti’s approach to language in his plays differ from his predecessors?
What is the theme of Uttararamacharita?
Bhavabhuti (flourished 7th–8th century ce) was an Indian dramatist and poet, whose dramas, written in Sanskrit and noted for their suspense and vivid characterization, are among the most significant works of classical Sanskrit theater next to those of the playwright Kalidasa.
Life and historical sources
Bhavabhuti was born into a Brahmin family in Padmapura, a town in Vidarbha (eastern region of what is now Maharashtra state). His parents’ names were Neelakantha and Jatukarni. Bhavabhuti was a title or pen name the playwright was known by, and his real name is uncertain, though Shreekantha Neelakantha and Umveka have been suggested as possibilities. Bhavabhuti left Vidarbha to look for gainful patronage, since the town had no patrons of note after the decline of the Vakataka dynasty.
Historical and literary references to the dramatist place him about the 7th to 8th century ce and suggest his period of literary activity likely occurred between 700 and 730. Historian and poet Kalhana’s Rajatarangini, a 12th-century chronicle of part of the Indian subcontinent, mentions Bhavabhuti as a poet in the court of King Yashovarman of Kanyakubja (now Kannauj). This claim is reinforced by Vakpatiraja, a Prakrit poet in Yashovarman’s court, who cites Bhavabhuti’s influence on his style, and also by several quotations from his works found in other literary sources.
With no imperial family ruling Vidarbha during Bhavabhuti’s time, poets had to travel elsewhere to look for patrons. For a time Bhavabhuti found favor in Padmavati (now Pawaya village in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh), the capital of the Naga dynasty. There his plays were staged at the fairs of Kalapriyanatha (the sun god at Kalpi). He later settled at Kanyakubja, presumably as part of Yashovarman’s court.
Literary career
Indian dramatic theory, shaped by the Natyashastra, emphasized the evocation of rasa—a complex term meaning “flavor” or “essence,” used to describe the sentiment conveyed by a performance. Bhavabhuti described his Malatimadhava as “a profound plot rich with all kinds of rasa, pleasing characters that embody friendship, subtleties of Kamasutra, riveting stories and ornate expression.” Despite this celebration of a diverse mix of rasas, Bhavabhuti is primarily associated with the karuna rasa—pathos or compassion. In Uttararamacharita he asserts, “There is only a single rasa—karuna, pathos—but it takes different forms because it changes with circumstances. Water assumes the forms of whirlpool, bubble and wave, but in the end all of it is just water.”
Bhavabhuti is best known as the author of three plays: Mahaviracharita (“Exploits of the Great Hero”), Malatimadhava (“Malati and Madhava”), and Uttararamacharita (“The Later Deeds of Rama”).
Later authors such as the 8th-century theorist Vamana and the 11th-century scholar Kshemendra quote verses not found in these works, suggesting that Bhavabhuti had a broader literary output, but these extant plays alone form the basis of modern studies of the playwright’s literary influence.
Bhavabhuti tended to avoid humor in his plays and so omitted the role of the vidushaka (jester) in them, a decision that lent his plays a tone of gravity. He often drew on supernatural, macabre, and romantic themes, blending fury, horror, heroism, and deep emotional suffering into a distinctive dramatic texture.
The trusted destination for professionals, college students, and lifelong learners.
SUBSCRIBE
Bhavabhuti’s mix of intellectual treatment and ornate diction was a departure from the use of simple spoken Sanskrit established in plays by writers such as Bhasa and Kalidasa. His use of elaborate language was likely influenced by works of contemporary Sanskrit prose writers, such as Banabhatta’s poetically rich Harshacharita and Subandhu’s highly stylized Vasavadatta. He was a master of the kavya form, a literary style dominated by elaborate figures of speech, particularly metaphors and similes.
Mahaviracharita
Mahaviracharita dramatizes the early life of Rama, the hero of the Sanskrit epic poem Ramayana and, according to Hindu belief, an incarnation of the god Vishnu. The play uses the plot of the original epic, tracing Rama’s journey from his youth and martial training under Vishvamitra (a sage who guides and mentors him) through his climactic battle with Ravana, the 10-headed demon king of Lanka, and culminating in his coronation as king of Ayodhya. Though the surviving play has seven acts, only the first five are generally accepted as Bhavabhuti’s work, the later acts having been added by other writers in various versions of the play.
Bhavabhuti’s play adapts these elements from Valmiki’s Ramayana into a dramatic format with careful restructuring. He achieves unity of place and action by relocating disparate events to single settings and tightening causal links. For example, in Bhavabhuti’s version, Rama does not journey through the forest with Vishvamitra to defend the sages against demons; instead, he remains at the sage’s hermitage, where the battles occur. Likewise, Bhavabhuti’s play relocates Rama and Sita’s wedding to Vishvamitra’s hermitage (in Valmiki’s Ramayana the wedding is held at the court of her father, King Janaka, in Mithila).
Malatimadhava
An original 10-act romance set in the city of Padmavati, Malatimadhava describes the doomed romance of Malati and Madhava, children of ministers to the kings of Padmavati and Vidarbha. Though their fathers promised to have their children marry, Malati and Madhava’s union is threatened by political pressures. The protagonists are tragically separated by a series of challenges before they are ultimately reunited and married.
Marked by complex plotting, sudden reversals, and supernatural overtones, Malatimadhava blends pathos, emotional nuance, and theatrical tension with its use of dramatic twists in a richly poetic mode.
Uttararamacharita
The seven-act Uttararamacharita follows Rama’s life after coronation, focusing on his decision to banish his wife, Sita, the revelation of his twin sons, Lava and Kusha, and—in a departure from the traditional Ramayana story, in which Sita disappears into the earth once she reunites with Rama—his eventual reunion with Sita and her return to Ayodhya. The narrative adapts the later sections of the Ramayana, transforming it into a psychological and moral drama while condemning the treatment of Sita’s exile in the original epic.
Uttararamacharita is considered Bhavabhuti’s most mature work. It foregrounds character development through internal conflict and emotional climax. Rama is portrayed not as an idealized hero but as a conflicted character torn between personal grief and public duty. The play’s theme of loss and reconciliation has invited studies comparing it to William Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale.
Legacy
Stagings of Bhavabhuti’s plays are undertaken by classical theater practitioners and institutions, such as India’s National School of Drama, with notable adaptations including Indian playwright Habib Tanvir’s Uttar Ram Charit (1977). A balletic adaptation of Malatimadhava using the traditional Indian dance style kathak and choreographed by the notable dancer and choreographer Lachhu Maharaj was hosted by the Shriram Bharatiya Kala Kendra (an Indian cultural center in Delhi) in 1959. Bhavabhuti’s distinctive style continues to sustain scholarly interest in contemporary academic circles.