Synopsis –

The roots of Indian theatre go back to Natyasastra(2.c BCE).Bharata compiled this encyclopedic manual to instruct the actors and playwrights. He considered Rasa to be the essence of Performance and focused on the production of the play.

Poetics followed a different stream. It could not assimilate the concept of rasa in its scheme as there was no medium like the abhinaya in poetry to communicate the rasa.At last Anandavardhana (9.c CE) found out dhvani as the soul of poetry. This linked rasa to poetry.