Dr. De on the Nāṭyaśāstra

Summary

This substantial review article, written by M. Ramakrishna Kavi, critiques Dr. De’s study and edition of the Nāṭyaśāstra, the foundational Sanskrit treatise on dramaturgy attributed to Bharata. The reviewer begins by summarising De’s contributions: a critical introduction surveying previous scholarship, a translation of key portions of the text, and an extensive commentary. Kavi praises De for making the Nāṭyaśāstra accessible to modern readers but raises concerns about transcription errors and interpretive choices. He points out misprints and misreadings in the Calcutta Review article that summarises De’s larger work and notes that De occasionally modernises technical terms in ways that obscure original meanings. The review engages with specific passages on prosody, gesture (abhinaya) and stagecraft, offering alternative translations and citing manuscript variations. Kavi emphasises that the Nāṭyaśāstra must be studied in conjunction with later commentaries like the Abhinavabhāratī to appreciate its theoretical depth. He also critiques De’s handling of metre and his interpretation of the term ‘dhruvagīti’ (fixed song), arguing that reliance on the Bengali recension has led to conflation of readings. Despite these criticisms, the reviewer acknowledges De’s exhaustive labour in collating manuscripts and the value of his appendices on Indian dance and theatre history. In his closing remarks, Kavi calls for collaborative scholarship that combines philological precision with practical understanding of classical Indian performance traditions.