Be it heroes, idealists or kings, one
question which has tormented since ages has been the question of
balancing the conflicting claims of personal life with the larger interests of the
nation/society. In this attempt to strike a balance, the victim in most cases is
the suffering individual, unwillingly submitting to the exigencies of his
exalted position. Be it Valmiki's Rama or Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the
dilemma that confronts the hero is essentially one of choice—between the
personal and the public. Resolution in Western drama is usually tragic and
often comes in the form of death, whereas in Sanskrit drama, we have a
happy resolution. Because the aim of Sanskrit drama was the establishment of
the spectator's harmony with the universe; the theater was meant to be "a hall
of healing and joy."
Bhasa, perhaps the greatest Indian dramatist who lived sometime
before Kalidasa, is presumably the author of 13 short works. Svapnavasavadatta (The Vision of
Vasavadatta)—Bhasa's masterpiece—is a play based on
the legend of King Udayana and Vasavadatta. The main theme of
this highly celebrated play is the sorrow of Udayana for his wife Vasavadatta,
believed by him to have perished in a fire. Udayana passes through a
prolonged period of sorrow and suffering, because of his deep and sincere love for
his queen. In keeping with the metaphysical nature of Sanskrit drama, here
too we are confronted by notions of time, memory, reality, and illusion.
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