Bhasa is one of the most celebrated Indian playwrights writing in Sanskrit, an ancient language used for the majority of early Hindu and Buddhist spiritual and philosophical texts. Although the precise dates of his life and work are not known, what is known is that he predates Kalidasa, who is widely considered to be the greatest Sanskrit poet ever, but who drew quite often from Bhasa's work. Whilst Kalidasa's work centered around the ancient tale The Ramayana, Bhasa wrote mainly about the Indian princes and princesses who came before Rama and Sita, the romantic protagonists used as the basis for Kalidasa's work.
Svapnavasavadattam is a play written in six acts. It is based on the romantic narrative that tells the tale of Vatsa King Udayana, one of the greatest revered rulers of India's many kingdoms, and Vasavadatta, who was the daughter of the ruler of Avanti. Both of these rulers were contemporaneous to the author, which helps scholars to have some idea of a timespan and a date for the work. The romantic tales were very popular in Bhasa's day. The play centers around the sadness of Udayana, who believes that Vasavadatta, his eternal love, has died in a terrible fire. This is actually a rumor spread by Yaugandharayana, who was one of Udayana's ministers, to try to force a marriage between the king to marry Padmavati, who was the daughter of the king of Magadha.
The play was largely performed by word of mouth for centuries, until a text was discovered in the southern Indian city of Kerala in 1912. It is considered Bhasa's greatest work, and centers around his best-loved characters. After this text was discovered, several more were also found, leading to somewhat of a Bhasa resurgence; however, the play was not actually produced and performed on stage until 1966, when it was directed at India's National School of Drama by respected director Shanta Gandhi.
