BHAVABHUTI

(early eighth century C.E.)

   Sanskrit playwright One of the greatest authors in Indian literature, Bhavabhuti is most famous for his three surviving Sanskrit dramas: Mahaviracharita (Adventures of that great hero Rama), Uttararamacharita (The later adventures of Rama), and Malatimadhava (The story of Malati and Madhava). Mahavira-charita tells with considerable originality the full story of RAMA from his birth to the defeat of his enemy RAVANA. The Uttararamacharita is a story of the children of Lord Rama as they grew up in the forest, a story not told in the original RAMAYANAS. Malatimadhava is basically a romance.

   Further reading: Jan Gonda, ed., A History of Indian Lit-erature. Vol. 1 (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1976); Chittenjoor Kunhan Raja, Survey of Sanskrit Literature (Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1962).