रत्नावली नाटिका (सम्राट हर्षवर्धन - शास्त्रीय नाटिका रत्न सम्पूर्ण ४ अङ्क सान्वय सटीक)

vi RATNAVALI
action is tacitly refered to in Sâhityadarpana as “गोपुच्छाग्रसमायं तु
बन्धनं तस्य कीर्तितम्” । “गोपुच्छायसमायमिति क्रमेणाङ्गाः सूक्ष्माः कर्तव्याः”—that is, as
the tip of the tail of a cow is gradually tapering towards the end,
so the action of the drama proceeds towards the end with all
subsidiary plots absorbed into it.
4. Dialogue.—The last but not the least is the dialogue which
is regarded as an essential adjunct to action and which is very
important by reason of its being the means to exhibiting passions,
motives, feelings with all the main constituents of characters.
When the interest of the drama is predominantly psychological,
dialogue is essentially helpful. On the whole the portrayal of
the character of a person and exhibition of his feelings and other
mental phenomena in a play mainly depend upon the successful
reference by dialogues. In a fiction or an epic by a detailed narration
the character is painted ; but as the compass of a drama is limited,
much worth is to be attained by short and intelligent dialogues
which more suggest about the character than express. In S'ákuntala
the pithy statement “सकृत्कृतप्रणयोऽयं जनः” by the king Dushyanta
throws much light upon the private character of the king, which
we cannot expect so impressively from a detailed exposition of
the situation. Thus a play to be successful should have good and
impressive dialogues.
Sanskrit Drama.—The origin of Sanskrit drama is religious. As
such it has its own distinguishing characteristics which fundamen-
tally determine its value as a type. Indebted as it is for its origin to
the surroundings and atmosphere of Vedic religion and ritualistic
practices full of Brahmanical influences at every point the
Sanskrit drama maintains its ideal character throughout being
isolated from other types of drama in the world. Sanskrit drama
regarded as the highest product of Indian poetry is essentially
aristrocratic mainly for the reason of its being an evolution of the
intellectual effort of two aristrocratic classes—the Brahmanas
and the Kshattriyas, the upholders of the supremacy of Brahmanic