परीक्षिन्नाटकचक्रम्- सविंशति-नाटकानि: Pariksha Nataka Chakram- Twenty-Seven Plays (An Old and Rare Book) Only 1 Quantity Available

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Pariksit-Nataka - Cakram (परीक्षित्-नाटक-चक्रम्) is an impressive collection of Sanskrit dramas, In these days when the study of Sanskrit is fast declining and when most of the writers with a flair for writing are turning to provincial their mother-tongues to compose their literary language of India for languages or works, using the ancient sacred determined poetic and dramatic effort certainly bespeaks devotion and earnestness and calls for admiration.

Pandit Parikshit Sharma is an expert in his native language, Telugu, and an acknowledged Pandit of Sanskrit, trained both in the time-honoured Sanskrit tradition and the modern University education, having M. A. to his credit. The plays presented here come on the background of his poetic accomplishment. He is the author of Lalita-Gita-Lahari, (ललित-गीत-लद्दरी), a collection of lyrical songs, Yasodharā (यशोधरा), an epic in 20 cantos, which won him the prestigious Kālidāsa award, Akşaya-Gita-Ramayana (अक्षय-गीत-रामायण), which sings the glory of Rama. He has written another epic, Pratapa Ranayana (प्रताप-शणायन), a prose work Te hi no divasā galah (ते हि नो दिवसा गताः) and a work on Saundarya-mimamsa (सौन्दर्यमीमांसा), theoretical all of which are ready for press and will be duly published.

Of the 27 plays in this collection 14 are based on Puranic themes, the subjects taken from the Mahabharata, Ramayana and stories contained in these national epics. The themes are presented in the classical pattern of a nandi (नान्दी) and a prastāvanā (प्रस्तावना) introducing the play and its author and suggesting the opening scene. But the play is developed not through a single or several acts', but through a number of scenes'. Similarly though the author follows the traditional style of composing the dialogue in a mixture of prose and verse, there are songs in many plays which can be set to Indian classical music and rendered in scientific ragas and tala measures.

on both being presented Kaca-Devayaniyam (कचदेवयानीयम्) is the well known episodic story. The emphasis is not on Kaca's acquisition of Sanjivani-vidya (संजीवनी विद्या) but on the mutual love of Kaca and Devayani, and accomplished in dance and music, the fine arts, which draw them together, apart from the attraction of youth and handsome personalities.

sravanam (श्रावणम्) dramatizes the familiar episode in Dasaratha's life from the Ramayana which Kalida-a has also used in the Raghuvamsa. The fateful error by which Daśaratha kills Śrāvala mistaking the sound of dipping a pot in a river for that of drinking water by a wild elephant, and the subsequent grief of sravaṇa's old and blind parents which results in their deaths, are sufficiently tragic. The author uses these colours, no doubt. But he stresses more the charm of wild nature which strikes both Dasaratha in his hunt and the boy Śravana who moves out in search of drinking water for his thirsty parents, Further, the author rings an unexpected cheerful note in this tragedy by showing Dasaratha taking the curse as a promise that he will be blessed with a son. Sometimes calamities spell happiness, though rarely!

Pariksitam (पारीक्षितम्) has an innovative angle. The death of Parikşita is known from the Mahabharata. But the motive that led to his death and the manner of its fulfilment are presented in imaginative scenes.

Nartanaśālā (नर्तनशाला ) is a story of Kicaka-vadha. But the emphasis is on King Virāta's harem, Kicaka's passion for Sairandhri and her confrontation with him. The death of Kicaka is suggested only through a stage-direction at the end, Valvala (Bhima) coming to the tryst disguised as Sairandhri.