TALES FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS - Awaken Video
TALES FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS - Awaken Video
TALES FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS - Awaken Video
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out to pay her respects to the seniors, but her salute is announced from<br />
within. There is now more seclusion of Hindu women as the result of the<br />
influence of past Mahammedan rule. The influence of British rule is now<br />
promoting the cause of female liberty.<br />
UTTARRAMACHARITA.<br />
The mutual sorrows of Rama and Sita in their state of separation are<br />
pleasingly and tenderly expressed. The meeting of the father and his<br />
sons may be compared advantageously with similar scenes with which the<br />
fictions of Europe, both poetical and dramatic, abound. The true spirit<br />
of chivalry pervades the encounter of the two young princes with their<br />
father. Some brilliant thoughts occur, the justice and beauty of which<br />
are not surpassed in any literature. The comparison of Chandraketu to a<br />
lion's cub turning to brave the thunderbolt is one of these; and another<br />
is the illustration of the effects of education upon minds possessed or<br />
destitute of natural gifts.<br />
MALATI-MADHAVA.<br />
The marriage dress of high-born females described in the sixth act is<br />
well worthy of our observation. It consisted of a corset of white silk<br />
and a fine red upper garment, besides the usual lower dress, ornaments,<br />
and a chaplet of flowers. It has received several modifications since<br />
the days of Bhavabhuti.<br />
The sacrifice of good-looking girls, alluded to in the fifth act, was<br />
common in his time and other authors allude to it. The seventh story of<br />
Dasakumar Charita is just like it, when a prince rescues a princess from<br />
a similar Sanyasi and afterwards marries her.<br />
The story of "Malati and Madhava" is one of pure invention. The manners<br />
described are purely Hindu without any foreign admixture. The appearance<br />
of women of rank in public, and their exemption from any personal<br />
restraint in their own habitations, are very incompatible with the<br />
presence of Muhammedan rulers. The licensed existence of Buddha<br />
ascetics, their access to the great, and their employment as teachers of<br />
science, are other peculiarities characteristic of an early date; whilst<br />
the worship of Siva in his terrific forms, and the prevalance of the<br />
practices of the Yoga, are indications of a similar tendency.<br />
MUDRA RAKSHASA.<br />
It must be acknowledged, that the political code from which the<br />
stratagems of Chanakya emanate, exhibits a morality not a whit superior<br />
to that of the Italian school; but a remarkable, and in some respects a<br />
redeeming principle, is the inviolable and devoted fidelity which<br />
appears as the uniform characteristic of servants, emissaries, and<br />
friends.<br />
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