Mudrarakshasa

(“Rakshasa’s Ring”) The only surviving
Sanskrit drama written by the
playwright Vishakhadatta, who is
believed to have lived in the sixth
century. The play chronicles the rise of
Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the
Maurya dynasty, and the machinations
of his cunning brahmin minister,
Chanakya. The drama’s plot is highly
complex, as with many Sanskrit plays,
but its climax comes when the principal
characters are dramatically rescued
from execution at the last moment.
Although the play is based on actual
events, historians feel that the portrayal
of Chandragupta Maurya as a weak king
is inaccurate. The play has been translated into English by Michael Coulson
and published in an anthology titled
Three Sanskrit Plays, 1981.