Note 120 — III DRAMATIC THEORY XIII THE THEORY OF THE DRAMATIC ART

On the subject of the use of stanzas, as opposed to prose, the text-books are curiously and unexpectedly silent.120 This indicates how entirely empirical they are in these matters. The use of Prākrits in the dramas obviously varied, and something had to be said regarding this point, but the alternation of prose and verse is accepted as something established, on which comment is unnecessary. The fact is recognized, but its implications and purpose remain unexplored. In the stanzas themselves, it is clear, we must distinguish between those which were sung and those which were simply recited; recitation must clearly have been the normal form of use, and as sung we have normally at any rate only some of the stanzas in Māhārāṣṭrī which are placed in the mouths of women. Çaurasenī stanzas, on the other hand, we may assume to have been recited, but the distinction has practically vanished from the texts preserved.