Bhasa the worthy predecessor of Kalidasa was to us a mere name until in the year 1912 the late Mahamahopadhyaya Ganapati Sastri claimed to have discovered thirteen plays written by Bhasa.It was in the nature of things that in the first sensation of this discovery so fraught with the most wide-reaching results for the history of sanskrit drama it should have been hailed by a chorus of applause to which both East and West joined their voices. If however there was an unreasoned and uncritical haste in propounding and supporting the theory there was also not lacking the nerve and the animus of a hot controversy in the arguments urged against the theory by those who declared these dramas to be the work of the later playwrights of Kerala.

Thye Mudrarakshasa, unlike the majority of sanskrit plays, is purely a political drama. It has for its theme, besides elevation of Chandragupta to the throne of Magadha, wining over of Rakashsa, the hostile minister of the Nanda dynasty to the side of Chandragupta and adoption of measures to strenghen the rule by Chankaya, the renowned politician of his times. In the words of H.H.Wilson; It is a historical or political drama, and represents a curious staste of public morals, in wich fraud and assassination are the simple means by which inconvenient obligations are open enemies removed. It is not howere , that such acts are not held in themselves as crimies, orthat their perpetrators, if instigated by vugar vice or ferocity, are not condemned as culprits; it is only when the commission of the crime proposes a poliotical end that it is represented as venial, and is compatible with an amiable. it includes the commentary of Dhundiaja, English translation, critical and explanatory notes, Introduction and verious readings .

This translation is of thirteen Sanskrit plays discovered in South India by the late Pandit Ganapati Sastri and edited by him in the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series. It comprises the following titles: 1. Pratijnayaugandharayana, 2. Svapnavasavadatta, 3. Carudatta, 4. Pancaratra, 5. Madhyamavyayoga, 6.Pratima-nataka, 7.Dutavakya, 8.Dutaghatotkaca, 9.Karnabhara, 10.Urubhanga, 11.Avimaraka, 12.Balacarita, and 13.Abhiseka. Sastri attributed all the thirteen plays to Bhasa and the prevailing opinion of the scholars is in agreement with him, though the available evidence is not conclusive and so the question still remains open. The translation was done by two eminent Sanskrit scholars. It was published s early as 1930 and a reprint is now issued in view of a persistent demand of scholars. Pandit Ganapati Sastri attributed all thirteen plays to Bhasa, a famous dramatist earlier than Kalidasa. Some verses are ascribed to Bhasa by medieval anthologies, but only ten with unanimity. We are told that he composed a Svapnavasavadattam (his best play) and that in another play the device of the wooden elephant was used. Characteristic features of his work are described by Bana, and other poets evidently held him in high estimation. One or two verses from his plays are quoted by writers on poetics. Otherwise, the text of BhasaÍs numerous plays had completely disappeared. The learned editor of the Trivandrum plays found that they contained a Svapnavasavadattam (the best play in the collection), and, in the Pratijna-Yaugandharayanam, a scene dealing with the wooden elephant. He noticed also certain peculiarities in the technique of the plays which he regarded as signs of antiquity. All these points confirmed the opinion that Bhasa was the author.

This volume comprises three famous plays of Kalidasa: Abhijnanasakuntalam Malavikagnimitram and Vikramorvasiyam. They represent the skill and artistry commanded by the immortal figure of Indian dramatic literature.Each of the plays opens with an Introduction. This is followed by the text in original. Then the translation of the text appears. elaborate critical explanatory notes form the last section of each play.

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The present edition of the Dattilam contains the text with variant readings, and English translation facing the original and a commentary on the text to facilitate its comprehension.

The Abhijnanasakuntalam is an unparalleled work of the great poet and playwright Kalidasa, the brightest star in the firmament of Indian poetry. No other component of this poet displays more the richness of poetical genius, the warmth and play of fancy, the profound knowledge of the human heart that this masterly production. The present edition is unique in several essentials. The editor has adopted the most popular and appropriate version of the text. He has put the variants in the footnotes. He has added a short Sanskrit commentary, copious notes, an exhaustive introduction and several useful appendices. The English translation of the text is literal as well as idiomatic. It is hoped that this edition will meet the long-felt requirement of university students and the general reader alike.

The language whose phonology is described in this work is standard Hindi, i.e., the Hindi used in everyday casual speech by educated native speakers in cities such as Varanasi, Lucknow, Delhi etc., which is different from highly Sanskritized Hindi called literary style Hindi and highly Preso-Arabicized Urdu, a native speaker being one who has learnt the language as his first language. The author`s interest lies in accounting for the Hindi speakers` competence i.e., providing evidence for the psychological reality of certain sound patterns of Hindi. This study is a mixture of two types of evidence. Some evidence is provided from experimental data and other is from hypercorrection, from children`s mistakes, from native speakers` reactions to certain forms. the model used is that of generative phonology with modifications suggested throughout.