ly that the Hindu drama was developed in
connection with the cult of Vishnu-Krishna; and that the earliest acted
representations were, therefore, like the mysteries of the Christian
Middle Ages, a kind of religious plays, in which scenes from the legends
of the gods were enacted mainly with the aid of songs and dances
supplemented with prose dialogues improvised by the performers. These
earliest forms of Hindu dramatic literature are represented by those
hymns of the _Rig-Veda_ which contain dialogues such as those of Sarama
and the Panis, Yama and Yami, Pururava and Urvaci.

The words for actor (_nata_) and play (_nataka_) are derived from the
verb _nat_, the Prakrit or vernacular form of the Sanskrit _nrit_, "to
dance." Hence scholars are of opinion that the Sanskrit drama has
developed out of dancing. The representations of dramas of early times
were attended with dancing and gesticulation. There were rude
performances without the contrivances of stage and scenic arrangements,
dancing and music forming a considerable part. The addition of dialogue
was the last step in the development, which was thus much the same in
India and Greece. This primitive stage is represented by the Bengal
_Yaeras_ and the Gitagovinda. These form the transition to the fully
developed Sanskrit play in which lyrics and dialogue are blended.

Sakuntala belongs to the mytho-pastoral class of Sanskrit plays;
Probodhchandraudya, to the metaphysical. The Hindu theatre affords
examples of the drama of domestic, as well as of heroic life; of
original invention as well as of legendary tradition.

The Hindus did not borrow their dramatic compositions from foreigners.
The nations of Europe possessed no dramatic literature before the
fourteenth or fifteenth century, at which period the Hindu drama had
passed into its decline. Mohammedan literature has ever been a stranger
to theatrical writings, and the Mussalman conquerors of India could not
have communicated what they never possessed. There is no record that
theatrical entertainments were ever naturalised amongst the ancient
Persians, Arabs, or Egyptians. With the exception of a few features in
common with the Greek and the Chinese dramas, which could not fail to
occur independently, the Hindu dramas present characteristic features in
conduct and construction which strongly evidence both original design
and national development.

Angustus William Von Schlegel observes:--

"Among the Indians, the