Natya Shastra

The Nāṭya Shāstra is a Sanskrit treatise on the <a href="/facts/Performing_arts/997Eb6IL">performing arts</a>. The text is attributed to sage <a href="/facts/Bharata_(sage)/8kR3r5n9">Bharata</a>, and its first complete compilation is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
The text consists of 36 chapters with a cumulative total of 6,000 poetic verses describing performance arts. The subjects covered by the treatise include dramatic composition, structure of a play and the construction of a stage to host it, genres of acting, body movements, make up and costumes, role and goals of an art director, the musical scales, musical instruments and the integration of music with art performance.

The Nāṭya Śāstra is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the arts, one which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India. It is also notable for its aesthetic <a href="/facts/Rasa_(aesthetics)/26LCkc6H">"Rasa"</a> theory, which asserts that entertainment is a desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal, and that the primary goal is to transport the individual in the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder, where they experience the essence of their own consciousness, and reflect on spiritual and moral questions. The text further inspired secondary literature such as the 10th century commentary <a href="/facts/Abhinavabharati/X75mf3fq">Abhinavabharati</a> – an example of a classic Sanskrit <a href="/facts/Bhasya/q2QVl8g1">bhasya</a> ("reviews and commentaries") – written by <a href="/facts/Abhinavagupta/Tc68SI7v">Abhinavagupta</a>. In April 2025, the Nāṭya Shāstra manuscript was added to <a href="/facts/UNESCO/QSbkRv3o">UNESCO</a>’s <a href="/facts/Memory_of_the_World_Register_%25E2%2580%2593_Asia_and_the_Pacific/gGyoGWpf">Memory of the World Register</a>.

Natya Shastra open-in-new

Natya Shastra