) is a dramatised

Sanskrit drama

The earliest-surviving fragments of Sanskrit drama date from the 1st century CE. The Mahābhāṣya by Patañjali contains the earliest reference to what may have been the seeds of Sanskrit drama. This treatise on grammar from 140 BCE provides a feasible date for the beginnings of theatre in India.Its...

 retelling of the Ramayana

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...

, and one of the most challenging pieces of classical Sanskrit poetry.
It is the only surviving work by , a brahmin court poet, who lived some time between the 8th and 10th century CE, perhaps in Orissa or in neighbouring South India.

Because of its elegant style, learned allusions and often striking imagery, the poem has been a great favourite among pandits , although it received little attention in the West until recently. The well-known epic story of Rama’s exploits is presented as a series of political intrigues and battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

s, and contrasted with lyrical passages of various kinds: on love

Love

Love is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels...

 and war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

, pride

Pride

Pride is an inwardly directed emotion that carries two common meanings. With a negative connotation, pride refers to an inflated sense of one's personal status or accomplishments, often used synonymously with hubris...

 and honor, gods

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

 and demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

s, rites and myths, regions and cities of ancient India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

.

The play has little action — most fights and events take place behind the scenes or between acts — focussing instead on diction and other elements of dramatic representation, reminiscent of the Keralan Kutiyattam tradition. Although Kutiyattam representations are envisaged for dramas with more action than the Anargharāghava, actual performances — which normally include only one episode of a play at one go — often resemble spectacular chanting recitations of poetry interspersed with well-choreographed movements rather than what one would normally call theatre.

Murāri's emphasis on writing a play rather than a series of beautiful stanzas is also seen in the numerous allusions to plays and theatre.
In the Prakrit-Sanskrit prelude of Act 4, entitled , Mālyavan, the great intriguer of the demons, Rāvaṇa’s minister, is angry with Vishvāmitra, who is directing a ‘bad drama’, , a play which is altogether against Mālyavan’s will. The expression is made more explicit by one of the commentators, Vishnubhatta, who gives the following paraphrase: he Vishvāmitra directs everything himself, just as a stage-manager does ().
In presenting the Rama-story as a story of intrigues, Murāri follows the tradition of Bhavabhuti

Bhavabhuti

Bhavabhuti was an 8th century scholar of India noted for his plays and poetry, written in Sanskrit. His plays are considered equivalent to the works of Kalidasa...

’s Mahāvīracarita, but renews it with his parallels from the world of stage.

Translations

• Anargharāghavam with Sanskrit commentary and Hindi translation by Rāmacandra Miśra, Varanasi: Chowkhamba Vidya Bhawan, 1960.
• Anargharāghava: Das Schauspiel vom kostbaren Raghuspross. Einführung und Übersetzung by Karin Steiner, Drama und Theater in Südasien, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 1997.
• Rama Beyond Prise by Judit Törzsök, Clay Sanskrit Library
  Clay Sanskrit Library
  The Clay Sanskrit Library is a series of books published by New York University Press and the JJC Foundation. Each work features the text in its original language on the left-hand page, with its English translation on the right...
  
  , 2006.

External links

• scans of a 1887 edition, Nirnaysagar press, Mumbai.