or the king or a Brahmin; then comes the Ran̄gadvāra, which is said to mark the beginning of the dramatic action (abhinaya), the Sūtradhāra reciting another verse, and bowing before the banner of Indra. There follow steps and movements of erotic character (cārī) in honour of Umā, and more violent movements of the same kind in honour of the Bhūtas. A discussion (trigata) between the Sūtradhāra, the Vidūṣaka, who talks nonsense, and an attendant follows. Finally the Prarocanā announces the content of the drama, and the Sūtradhāra and his two attendants leave the stage, and the preliminaries are ended.
Immediately after, according to the Nāṭyaçāstra, another person, similar in appearance and qualities to the Sūtradhära, is to enter and introduce the play, a function which gives him the style of introducer, Sthāpaka.[1] His costume should indicate the nature of the drama, as dealing with divine or human affairs. An appropriate song greets his entrance, he dances a Cārī, praises the gods and Brahmins, propitiates the audience by verses alluding to the subject of the play, mentions the name of the author and the play, and describes some season in the verbal manner, thereby opening the prologue (prastāvanā, āmukha, sthāpanā)[2] of the play. The essential feature of the prologue is an address by the director with an attendant (pāripārçvika) or an actress or the Vidūṣaka on some personal business which indirectly hints at the drama. The mode of connexion is given by Dhanaṁjaya as threefold, as in the Nāṭyaçāstra; the words of the director may be caught up (kathodghāta) by a character in the drama, entering from behind the curtain, as in the Ratnāvalī Yaugandharāyaṇa catches up the consolation offered to the actress which is applicable to his own scheme, and in the Veṇīsaṁhāra Bhīma brusquely denounces the benediction of his adversaries. Or a person may enter (pravṛttaka), who has just been mentioned by the director in a comparison with the season of the year, as in the Priyadarçikā. Excess of representation (prayogātiçaya) is taken in the Daçarūpa as applying to a case where the director actually mentions the entry of a character of the drama, as at the beginning of the Çakuntalā, where he assures the actress that her song has enchanted him, as the
