Natya Shastra

The Nāṭya Śāstra (Sanskrit: नाट्य शास्त्र, Nāṭyaśāstra) is a Indian treatise on the performing arts, encompassing theatre, dance and music. It was written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE in classical India and is traditionally attributed to the Sage Bharata.

The Nāṭya Śāstra is wide in its scope. While it primarily deals with stagecraft, it has come to influence music, classical Indian dance, and literature as well. It covers stage design, music, dance, makeup, and virtually every other aspect of stagecraft. It is important to the history of Indian classical music because it is the only text which gives such detail about the music and instruments of the period. Thus, an argument can be made that the Natya Shastra is the foundation of the fine arts in India. The most authoritative commentary on the Natya Shastra is Abhinavabharati by Abhinavagupta.

Date and authorship

The text, consisting of 6000 slokas, is attributed to the muni (sage) Bharata and is believed, by most scholars, to have been written during the period between 200 BCE and 200 CE. However, Bharat Gupt has shown that it was compiled in its present version as early as 5th century BC. Bharat Gupt argues that all the technical terms for music and theater used in the Ramayana of Valmiki and also in the Mahabharata are already used in the text of NS composed by Bharata Muni. The Natya Shastra is based upon the much older Gandharva Veda (appendix to Sama Veda) which contained 36000 slokas. Unfortunately there are no surviving copies of the Natya Veda. Though many scholars believe most slokas were transmitted only through the oral tradition, there are scholars who believe that it may have been written by various authors at different times.