Mudrarakshasa Explained

Mudrārākṣasa
Characters:	Chandragupta Maurya Chanakya Rakshasa Malayketu, son of Parvataka Parvata
Setting:	Pataliputra, 3rd century BCE
Orig Lang:	Sanskrit
Genre:	Indian classical drama

The Mudrārākshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: Mudrārākṣasa,) is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the king Chandragupta Maurya (BCE) to power in India. The play is an example of creative writing, but not entirely fictional.^[1] It is dated variously from the late 4th century^[2] to the 8th century CE.^[3]

Characters

• Chandragupta Maurya, one of the protagonists
• Chanakya, one of the protagonists
• Rakshasa, the main antagonist
• Malayketu, the son of Parvataka and one of the henchmen
• Parvataka, a greedy king who firstly supported Chandragupta but later changed his preference to Dhana Nanda
• Vairodhak
• Durdhara, wife of Chandragupta Maurya
• Bhadraketu
• Chandandasa
• Jeevsidhhi

Adaptations

There is a Tamil version based on the Sanskrit play and Keshavlal Dhruv translated the original into Gujarati as Mel ni Mudrika (1889). There is a Kannada version of the play Mudramanjusha written by Kempunarayana.

The later episodes of the TV series Chanakya were based mostly on the Mudrarakshasa.

Feature film

A film in Sanskrit was made in 2006 by Dr Manish Mokshagundam, using the same plot as the play but in a modern setting.^[4]

Editions

• • . Second edition 1893, Fifth edition 1915. Sixth edition 1918, reprinted 1976 and by Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
    • • Book: Hillebrandt . Alfred . Mudrarakshasa Part-i . 1912 .
• . Reprint 2004, First edition 1900
  • • • Review
• (In Telugu script, with Telugu introduction and commentary) Another version
• . Originally published as part of Three Sanskrit plays (1981, Penguin Classics).

References

Sources

Notes and References

1. Book: Romila Thapar . The Past Before Us . 2013 . Harvard University Press . 978-0-674-72652-9 . 403 .
2. Book: Manohar Laxman Varadpande . History Of Indian Theatre . 6 June 2012 . 1 September 2005 . Abhinav Publications . 978-81-7017-430-1 . 223–.
3. Book: Upinder Singh . A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century . 6 June 2012 . 1 September 2008 . Pearson Education India . 978-81-317-1120-0 . 30–.
4. Web site: mudrarakshasa promo - sanskrit film. 24 April 2009. YouTube. 30 November 2016. 13 April 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160413110438/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE_D31OZ6m4. live.