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{{Short description|Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta written between 300 CE and 700 CE}}
{{use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=November 2016}}

{{Infobox play
| name = Mudrarakshasa
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| writer = [[Vishakhadatta]]
| characters = {{plainlist|

*[[Chandragupta Maurya]]
*[[Chanakya]]
*[[Rakshasa (amatya)|Rakshasa]]
*Malayketu, son of Parvataka
*Parvatak
*[[Vaidhorak]]
*[[Seleucus I Nicator]]
*[[Durdhara]]
*[[Taxiles|Ambhi Kumar]]
* Helena
*Bhadraketu
*Chandandasa
*Jeevsidhhi
}}
| mute = 
| setting = [[Pataliputra]], 3rd century BCE
| premiere =
| place =
| orig_lang = [[Sanskrit]]
| series =
| subject =
| genre = [[Indian classical drama]]
}}

The '''Mudrarakshasa''' (मुद्राराक्षस, [[IAST]]: ''Mudrārākṣasa'', {{translation|'The Signet of the Minister'}}) is a [[Sanskrit]]-language play by [[Vishakhadatta]] that narrates the ascent of the king [[Chandragupta Maurya]] ({{reign}} {{circa|324|297}} BCE) to power in [[India]]. The play is an example of [[creative writing]], but not entirely fictional.<ref>{{cite book |author=Romila Thapar |title=The Past Before Us |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ScYJAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT403 |year=2013 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-72652-9 |pages=403 }}</ref> It is dated variously from the late 4th century<ref name="Manohar2005">{{cite book | author=Manohar Laxman Varadpande | title=History Of Indian Theatre | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOZB7MbeMrAC&pg=PA223 | access-date=6 June 2012 | date=1 September 2005 | publisher=Abhinav Publications | isbn=978-81-7017-430-1 | pages=223–}}</ref> to the 8th century CE.<ref name="Upinder2008">{{cite book | author=Upinder Singh | title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H3lUIIYxWkEC&pg=PA30 | access-date=6 June 2012 | date=1 September 2008 | publisher=Pearson Education India | isbn=978-81-317-1120-0 | pages=30–}}</ref>

==Characters==
*[[Chandragupta Maurya]], one of the protagonists
*[[Chanakya]], one of the protagonists
*[[Rakshasa (amatya)|Rakshasa]], the main antagonist
*Malayketu, the son of Parvataka and one of the henchmen
*[[Porus|Parvatak]], a greedy king who firstly supported Chandragupta but later changed his preference to Dhana Nanda
*[[Vaidhorak]]
*[[Durdhara]], wife of Chandragupta Maurya
*Bhadraketu
*Chandandasa
*Jeevsidhhi

== Adaptations ==
There is a Tamil version based on the Sanskrit play<ref>{{citation|year=1885|title=Mudrarakshasam: A tale in Tamil founded on the Sanskrit drama|author1=Viśākhadatta|author2=S. M. Natesa Sastri|publisher=Madras School Book and Vernacular Literature Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oVI_AAAAIAAJ}}</ref> and [[Keshavlal Dhruv]] translated the original into [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] as ''Mel ni Mudrika'' (1889).

The later episodes of the TV series ''[[Chanakya (TV series)|Chanakya]]'' were based mostly on the ''Mudrarakshasa''.

;Feature film

A film in Sanskrit was made in 2006 by Dr Manish Mokshagundam, using the same plot as the play but in a modern setting.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE_D31OZ6m4 Film promo]</ref>

== Editions ==
* {{citation | year=1871 | title = Teatro scelto indiano tr. dal sanscrito (Italian translation) | author=Antonio Marazzi | publisher=D. Salvi e c. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0LVAAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PR4}}
* {{citation | year=1884 | title = Mudrarakshasa With the Commentary of Dhundiraja (written in 1713 CE) edited with Sanskrit text, critical and explanatory notes, introduction and various readings | author1=Kashinath Trimbak Telang | publisher=Tukârâm Javajī | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VL0IAAAAQAAJ}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=abpDAAAAYAAJ Second edition 1893], [https://archive.org/details/mudrarakshasawit00visauoft Fifth edition 1915]. Sixth edition 1918, reprinted 1976 and by Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
* {{citation | year=1886 | title = Mudrarakschasa: oder, Des kanzlers siegelring (German translation) | author=Ludwig Fritze | publisher=P. Reclam jun. | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddkMkL8EjnUC}}
* {{citation | year=1888 | title = Le sceau de Râkchasa: (Moudrârâkchasa) drame sanscrit en sept actes et un prologue (French translation) | author=Victor Henry | publisher=Maisonneuve & C. Leclerc | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gnZIAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{citation | year=1900 | title = The Mudrárákshasa: with the commentary of Dhundirája, son of Lakshmana (and a complete English translation) | author=Moreshvar Ramchandra Kāle | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mNMoAAAAYAAJ}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hillebrandt |first1=Alfred |title=Mudrarakshasa Part-i |date=1912 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.312963}} {{free access}}
* {{citation | year=1923 | title=Mudrārākshasa or the signet ring: a Sanskrit drama in seven acts by Viśākhadatta (with complete English translation) | publisher=Poona Oriental Series (Volume 25) | author=K. H. Dhruva | edition=2 | url=http://sanskritebooks.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/mudrarakshasa-of-visakhadatta-sanskrit-drama-with-english-translation/ | access-date=21 May 2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623143923/http://sanskritebooks.wordpress.com/2009/06/30/mudrarakshasa-of-visakhadatta-sanskrit-drama-with-english-translation/ | archive-date=23 June 2010 | url-status=dead }}. Reprint 2004, {{ISBN|81-8220-009-1}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=XssoAAAAYAAJ First edition 1900]
* {{citation | year=1916 | title = Mudraraksasam: a complete text; with exhaustive, critical grammatical and explanatory notes, complete translation, and introduction | author1=Vasudeva Abhyankar Shastri | author2=Kashinath Vasudeva Abhyanker | place=Ahmedabad | url=https://archive.org/details/mudraraksasamcom00visauoft}}
* {{citation | year=1945 | title = Mudrarakshasapurvasamkathanaka of Anantasarman (with an anonymous prose narrative) | author1=Ananta Paṇḍita | editor=[[Dasharatha Sharma]] (critical introduction) | publisher=Anup Sanskrit Library | place=Bikaner}}
* {{citation | year=1964 | author=[[P. Lal]] | title=Great Sanskrit Plays, in Modern Translation | publisher=New Directions Publishing | isbn=978-0-8112-0079-0 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RfgbmJ_iLw4C}}
* {{citation | year=1968 | title = Two plays of ancient India: The little clay cart, The minister's seal | author1=J. A. B. van Buitenen | publisher=Columbia University Press | author-link1=J. A. B. van Buitenen}} [https://www.jstor.org/stable/25203253 Review]
* {{citation | year=1972 | title = Mudra Rakshasam | author = Sri Nelaturi Ramadasayyangaar | publisher = Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy | url=https://archive.org/details/mudrarakshasam021535mbp}} (In [[Telugu script]], with Telugu introduction and commentary) [https://archive.org/details/MudraRakshasam Another version]
* {{citation | year=2005 | title = Rākṣasa's ring (translation) | author=Michael Coulson | publisher=NYU Press | isbn=978-0-8147-1661-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=omUKpSG41DEC}}. Originally published as part of ''Three Sanskrit plays'' (1981, Penguin Classics).

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist}}

===Sources===
* {{citation |last=Mookerji |first=Radha Kumud |author-link=Radha Kumud Mukherjee |title=Chandragupta Maurya and his times |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i-y6ZUheQH8C |edition=4th |year=1988 |orig-year=first published in 1966 |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |isbn=81-208-0433-3 }}

{{Commons category|Mudrarakshasa}}

[[Category:Sanskrit plays]]
[[Category:Ancient Indian culture]]
[[Category:Works about the Maurya Empire]]
[[Category:Plays set in the 4th century BC]]
[[Category:Plays set in India]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of kings]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Indian men]]
[[Category:Indian plays adapted into films]]
[[Category:Buddhist plays]]
[[Category:Ancient indian Dramas]]

Mudrarakshasa - Revision history

ImportMaster at 13:59, 19 February 2022