Vol. V, No. 9.] The Origin of Indian Drama, 353 
[NV .S.] 
is, that the principal interlocutor is the principal actor through- 
out this book, that is, he speaks of his own acts. 
The work says, in the second age of the Vaivasvata Manu 
rustic habits prevailed and men _ be- 
-o St sae cab ibe came cieenenion so Indra and other gods 
prayed to Brahma for some sporting thing which may benefit 
the Siidias as well. Brahma immediately summoned the four 
Vedas and acquainted them with the petition of the gods and 
invoked their assistance in bringing a fifth Veda into existence. 
Rgveda gave him dialogue, Simaveda gave him songs, Yajur- 
veda gave him acting, and Atharvaveda gave him rasa,or esthetic 
pleasure. The new Veda was complete, and Bharata presented 
himself to Brahma and asked to be the first professor of the 
new Veda. 
Brahma said: ‘‘The ceremony of raising the flag-staff of 
C 26d with Tad ndra is near at hand; show your skill 
eg nected with incra- inthe ceremony.’’ Bharata settled the 
i preliminary prayers, and so on, and 
enacted a drama in which the gods defeated the Asuras. 
The performance pleased all the gods, and each of them presented 
something useful to the stage. But the Asuras got annoyed. 
They thought that this was another invention of the gods to 
humiliate, to ridicule and to torment them, and so they began 
to throw obstacles in the way of the performance. 
This angered Indra very much. He rooted out the flag- 
staff with which he belaboured the Asuras. From the act of 
belabouring, the staff was called | wex) Jarjara [1.39]. 
who, with all his sons, prayed Brahma for the protection of 
plays. Brahma ordered Visakarma to erect a building an 
ing. 
the object of the new invention. It is neither for the gods nor 
- the Asuras. It is for the instruction and amusement of 
all. 
Professor Macdonell, in his history of Sanskrit literature, 
Diff that the Hindus had no public 
flivetee tn alas theatres and the dramas used to be 
enacted in the dancing-halls of princes. 
But the existence of such a word as Preksigrha or Pekkha- 
gharaa stands against his theory. In the second chapter of the 
