The Natyashastra, written between 2nd century BC- 2nd century AD, is probably one of the earliest and certainly one of the best Sanskrit treatises on Indian Dramaturgy. Traditionally, its authorship is ascribed to sage Bharata. But, according to Adya Rangacharya, it is believed to have been written by several scholars who wrote about the practices and conventions of dance, music and drama over a period of many years. In the course of time, these articles with the knowledge imparted through them were compiled into a book. It is believed that it took almost three quarters of a Century for the whole book to be made available. The Book contains 36 chapters consisting of about 600 poetic verses. Predominant number of its verses are in Anustubh meter (4 into 8, or exactly 32 syllables in each shloka).

The text opens with the genesis and history of drama, mentions the role of the different Hindu deities in various aspects of arts, the recommended puja of a stage. Then it describes the theory of Tandava dance of Shiva, the theory of Rasa and Bhava, expressions, gestures, acting techniques, basic steps, standing postures. Chapters 6 and 7 present the Rasa theory, while 8 to 13 are dedicated to the art of acting. Chapters 14 to 20 are dedicated to plot and structure of underlying text behind the performance art. Chapter 18 presents the art of speech and delivery. The text dedicates many chapters to women with Chapter 24 on female theatre. The training of actors is presented in Chapter 26 and 35. The theory of music, techniques for singing and musical instruments are discussed over chapters 28 to 34. The final chapters describe the various types of dramatic characters, their roles and need for teamwork, closing out the text with its comments of the importance of performance arts on culture. Its importance is not that it is the first book on the subject, but that it is the first comprehensive treatise on Dance, Drama and Music.

It was described as the Fifth Veda which was made to be accessible to all castes of society and deals with the essential elements of stagecraft described thousands of years ago.

Let us now talk in detail, conventionally, as to how the Origin of Naatya happened, as described in the Naatyasastra. The origin of Drama, also known as ‘Natyotpatti’ is described in Chapter 1 of the NatyaSastra. The entire book is in the form of a dialogue wherein Rishi Atreya goes to Bharata (an expert on Natya) and asks him the definition of Natya(dance, Drama and music). Bharata, who was sitting with his 100 sons or disciples replied that the ‘Natya Ved’ or ‘Pancham Ved’ was created by Lord Brahma who then asked Bharata to put the rules and regulations of dramaturgy into it.

The reasons for the creation of a fifth veda were as follows-

At the beginning of the ‘Treta Yug’, there was a deterioration of morale among the people; they became addicted to sensual pleasures, were under the sway of desire and greed(kaam lobha vasham gate) became affected with Jealousy and anger  and thus found their happiness mixed with sorrow( irshya kridh aadi sam moodhe) . The Gods with the great Indra as their head approached Lord Brahma and spoke to him, “We want an object of diversion, which must be both visible as well as audible. As the existing Vedas could not be listened to by those born as shudras, be pleased to create another Veda which could be open to all sections of society; caste, creed or age holding no bar. The creator-God, Brahma, accepted the request and created the NatyaSastra as the fifth Veda.

It borrowed recitation including hymns and dialogues from Rig Veda, music from Sam Veda, abhinaya(acquired direction  and shape  from ritual performances)  and histrionic element from Yajur Veda and human emotions and rasa from Atharva Veda. The Vedas and Upvedas were also connected to Natya veda. The ayurveda found place in the Natyashastra, primarily in the treatment of vyabhichaari bhava. Certain diseases and their symptoms were taken and applied as characteristic symptoms of certain mental moods. The Dhanur veda was made use of in the representation of fights. The Gaandharva veda was used in the preliminaries and in the actual performance in the form of dhruva songs and as an accompaniment to various movements. The Sthaaapatya veda was necessary for the construction of the theatres. Thus, the fifth Veda on the Natya with semi-historical tales – itihaas was created by Brahma which would be conducive to duty (dharma), wealth (arth) as well as fame, would contain good counsel and collection of traditional maxims, would give guidance to people of the future as well, in all their actions, would be enriched by the teaching of all authoritative works (sarva shaastraarth sampannam) and would give a review of all arts and crafts    ( sarva shilp pradarshakam). The NatyaSastra then was handed over to Bharat muni for its visual representation as the Gods refused to accept it- as they were neither able to receive it and to maintain it, nor were they fit to understand it and to make use of it; they were unfit to do anything with the drama. Only the sages could maintain and put it into practice as they knew the mystery of Vedas and had fulfilled their vows.

Bharata, as the NatyaSastra tells us, arranged a performance with his hundred sons, in which the three styles of dramatic action or vrittis –Bhaarti/ verbal, Sattvati/ grand, and Aarbhati/ energetic, were employed. Bramha asked him to employ Kaushiki/ graceful also, which was appropriate to the erotic sentiment Shringara rasa, which required beautiful dresses and was endowed with gentle angahara and had sentiments – rasa, states – bhava and action kriya as its soul. As this style could not be practiced properly by men except with the help of women, Brahma created from his mind nymphs or Apsaras who were skilful in embellishing the drama and gave them to Bharata for helping him in the performance.

Using the above, a drama presentation was created. Bharata performed ‘purvaaranga’ and naandi    (invocatory verse) first and then presented the dramatic spectacle as ‘anukriti’, that is, by mimetic acting, representing an altercation and tumult and mutual cutting off and piercing of limbs or bodies. Lord Brahma and other Gods were pleased with the performance and gave the performers all sorts of gifts as a token of joy that filled their mind. The ‘Dhvaj Stambham’ or flagpost called ‘Jarjaraa’ was given by lord Indra, Siddhi by Shiva, Chhatra by lord Surya, Fan by lord Vayu, a throne by Vishnu, Mukut by Kuber, a gourd by Varun (for aarti), and acoustics( clarity of sound ) by Saraswati.

The demons disliked the performance as it presented the story of the defeat of demons by the Gods, and they created trouble. They froze all the characters onstage.  These troublemakers were beaten to death by Indra with his Jarjara. He also placed the Jarjaraa on the stage. Still the remaining evil spirits began to create terror in the hearts of the performers. Hence, the open-air performance was shifted to a closed theatre. The devtas went to the celestial architect, Vishwakarma, who then created a hall for the performance.  ‘Vaastupurush’ created by Brahma was becoming increasingly powerful. So, Brahma tied him up and put 8 Gods in all 8 directions in order to protect each of the 8 directions. Thus, the Lokpals and Ashtadikpalas were created. Kuber in North, Ishan/ Shiv in Northeast, Indra in East, Agni in Southeast, Yama in South (that is why mandirs are never facing South), Nirutti in South West, Varun in West and Vayu in North West.

Saraswati protected the heroine. Brahma sat in the centre. The Jarjaraa was placed onstage. Thereafter, the drama was successfully presented while the Gods destroyed all vighnas or hurdles during the performance.

The nature of Naatyaveda was then explained by Brahma to pacify the demons, which in a way gives an idea about Bharata’s concept of Drama. Brahma says that the Natyaveda treats both the good and the evil, showing that the good is rewarded and the evil punished. It considers acts and ideas of the demons as well as of the gods, as there is no exclusive representation in it, of either of them. The Natya represents the lives of Gods, demons, kings, householders and the great sages alike. We can summarize Bharata’s idea of Drama as follows based on the above Mythical origin of Drama.

Bharata’s Concept of natya:

• It is an Audio-visual mode of entertainment.
• Its basic elements are (a) paathya–dialogue (b) abhinaya – four kinds of angika, vachika, sattvika and ahaarya i.e. Physical, Verbal, Emotional actions and Decor. (c)gaan – Songs and (d) Rasa.
• It is the fifth veda which is saarva vanike.
• It is conducive to duty /dharm, wealth /arth, as well as fame/yash. It contains good counsel/ sopadesham or sa updesham and collection of traditional maxims sasangraham.
• It is lokasya sarva karam anudarshakam i.e. enriched by the teaching of all authoritative works and it is a review of all arts and crafts.
• It can be practiced by only those who are (a) skilful (b) learned (c) , bold in speech, and (d) inured to hard work, who are able to receive, maintain and are fit to understand  and are able to make use of it .
• It determines the good luck or ill luck of both Gods and demons and considers acts and ideas of demons as well as Gods.
• In it, there is no exclusive representation of demons or of Gods for drama is an emotional representation of the three worlds.
• In it, sometimes there is reference to duty, sometimes to games, sometimes to money, sometimes to peace and sometimes laughter is found in it, sometimes love-making and sometimes killing of many people.
• It teaches duty to those who go against duty, love to those who are eager for its fulfillment and it chastises those who are ill bred or unruly, promotes self-restraint in those who are indiscipline, gives courage to cowards, energy to heroic persons, enlightens men of poor intellect, and gives wisdom to learned. All these lay stress on the educative aspect of dramatic performances.
• It gives diversion to kings and firmness of mind to persons afflicted with sorrow and hints of acquiring money to those who are earning it, and it brings composure to persons agitated in mind.
• It is rich in various emotions and depicts different situations. It is an imitation of actions and conduct of people.
• It relates to actions of men -good, bad and indifferent – and gives courage, amusement and happiness as well as counsel to them all. It is instructive to all, through actions and emotions depicted in it and through sentiments arising out of it.
• It also gives relief to unlucky persons who are afflicted with sorrow and grief or overwork. It is conducive to the observance of duty as well as to fame, long life, intellect and general good. It educates people.
• There is no wise maxim, no learning, no art or craft, no device, no action that is not found in drama.
• It meets all the departments of knowledge, different arts and various actions.
• An imitation of the world with its seven Divisions has been made a rule of, in the drama.
• Stories taken out of Vedic lore as well as semi-historical tales so embellished that they can give pleasure in the world is called drama.
• An Imitation of the exploits of Gods, Asuras, Kings as well as Householders in this world is called drama.
• When human nature with its joys and sorrows is depicted by means of Representation through various abhinaya-like gestures, it is called drama.

Hence, we see that Natyotpatti was also a lecture on moral values meant for all sects of Society encompassing all situations, moods, characters, entities for the sake of better world order and to keep people away from negative actions and emotions.

In conclusion, while Natya sastra emphasizes the educative and moral aspects of performance arts, aiming to instil duty, courage, and wisdom alongside entertaining audiences, Natyotpatti, the origin of drama, highlights drama’s role in reflecting and shaping human emotions, actions, and societal values.