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Of around 155 extant Sanskrit plays,[a] at least 46 distinct plays by at least 24 authors have been translated into English. William Jones published the first English translation of any Sanskrit play (Shakuntala) in 1789. About 3 decades later, Horace Hayman Wilson published the first major English survey of Sanskrit drama, including 6 full translations (Mṛcchakatika, Vikramōrvaśīyam, Uttararamacarita, Malatimadhava, Mudrarakshasa, and Ratnavali). These 7 plays — plus Nagananda, Mālavikāgnimitram, and Svapnavasavadattam (the text of which was not discovered until almost a century after Wilson's volumes) — remain the most-translated plays.
The period of Sanskrit dramas in India begins roughly with the composition of the Natya Shastra (c. 200 BCE – 200 CE) — though this treatise evidences a mature theatrical practice already in existence. Literarily, the period dwindles around the composition of the Natya Shatra's influential abridgment: Dasharupakam (late 10th century CE) — though derivative works continued to be written. "Sanskrit drama" typically contains a mix of Sanskrit and Prakrit though, for example, Bhāsa's Dūtavākya contains no Prakrit,[2] and Rajashekhara's Karpuramanjari is written entirely in Prakrit.[3]
List of translations
Key
- Published as — The titles of the English translations, with links to their full bibliographic entries.
- Year — The year of the translation's first publication. However, revised editions are frequently cited in the bibliography.
Fragmentary passages are not considered here, nor are modern dramas written in Sanskrit.