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

(अमात्य एषा खलु सागरात् प्राप्तेति भणित्वामात्ययौगन्धरायणेन मम हस्ते निक्षिप्ता। अतएव
सागरिकेति शब्द्यते—IV), Vasubhuti recognized her (बाभ्रव्य यथा सुसदृशी वसन्तकस्य
कण्ठे रत्नामाला अस्याश्च सागरात् प्राप्तिः तथा व्यक्तं सिंहलेश्वरस्य दुहिता रत्नावलीयम्—IV).
Thus according to them the title of the play was meant to be
based on the necklace (रत्नावली)—a token, as is done in Sákuntala.
But however important within the drama the necklace may be, the
action of the drama turns round Ratnávali the princess of Ceylon.
Though under some strange circumstances her name is for some
time disguised, yet the whole plot centres round the incidents of
her life, and the mere disguise of a name is immaterial. In the
Shakesperean play ‘Julius Caesar,’ though the hero is killed almost
in the middle of the drama, yet the whole drama is called after
his name as the action of the drama turns round the spirit of Julius
Caesar whose previous activities provide the life-blood to the
main action of the plot throughout. So the personal presence on
the stage of the character appearing under the title role, is not
always necessary. Here also the main action centres round
Ratnávali the heroine and the disguise of her ,real name under
a peculiar circumstance contributes to the greatest extent towards
the development of the plot.
Source of the Play.—Scarcely the Sauskrit dramatists are
original in the invention of the plots of their dramas. They borrow
the theme of the plays from some recognized source which is al-
ready known to the public and make marked improvement upon the
original when necessary. The subject-matter of Ratnávali clings
round an incident of the life of Udayana, the king of the Vatsas.
He is the central figure in a large circle of Sanskrit stories of love
and adventure, and not only that, the story of Udayana and the
Vatsas was one of the most interesting source of diversion among
the public at that time. We find in the Meghaduta, the reference to
the same (cf : प्राप्यावन्तीनुदयनकथाकोविदग्रामवृद्धान् ; in the present drama—
cf : लोके हारि च वत्सराजचरितम् ; in the Mircchakatikam—cf. यौगन्धरायण इव
उदयनस्य राज्ञः etc.) The other literary allusions are found in the