Dramaturgy in the Mahapurana of Puspadanta
By Kalipada Mitra
Summary
Focusing on Puspadanta’s Mahapurana (composed AD 959–969) and its commentary, this article discusses the text’s embedded terminology of dance and theatre. Puspadanta briefly mentions poses (cāri), gestures and other dramaturgical concepts; these were later explained in a tippana (commentary) by Prabhacandra around AD 1023. By comparing the Mahapurana’s technical lists with Bharata’s classical treatise Natyasastra, the author shows that the Jain poet adopted the established repertoire: thirty‑two varieties of cāri (leg movements), thirty‑two angahāras (body movements) and numerous eye, neck and head movements correspond closely to Natyasastra descriptions, albeit with variant readings. An appendix reproduces passages illustrating how Puspadanta enumerated these items, and the article notes that Jain scholars such as Sagarasena preserved and transmitted this knowledge. The study emphasises that while the Mahapurana is primarily a religious epic, its adherence to theatrical conventions reflects familiarity with the science of dramaturgy and demonstrates the transmission of performative knowledge into Apabhramsa literature.
Conclusion
The article concludes that Puspadanta’s Mahapurana faithfully reflects classical Indian dramaturgy. The alignment between the Mahapurana’s terminology and Bharata’s Natyasastra demonstrates continuity of theatrical traditions and highlights the role of Jain writers and commentators in preserving performance theory. Such literary evidence broadens our knowledge of the history of Indian dance and theatre.