rÄya kahe, — "kon Ämukhe pÄtra-sannidhÄna?"
rÅ«pa kahe, — "kÄla-sÄmye 'pravartaka' nÄma"
rÄya kahe - RÄmÄnanda RÄya says; kon - what; Ämukhe - by introduction; pÄtra-sannidhÄna - presence of the players; rÅ«pa kahe - ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replies; kÄla-sÄmye - in agreement of time; pravartaka nÄma - the introduction called pravartaka.
RÄmÄnanda RÄya inquired, “How have you introduced the assembly of the players?â€
RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replied, “The players assemble at a suitable time under the heading of pravartaka.
In a drama all the actors are called pÄtra, or players. This is stated by ViÅ›vanÄtha KavirÄja in the SÄhitya-darpaṇa (6.283):
divya-martye sa tad-rūpo miśram anyataras tayoḥ
sÅ«cayed vastu-bÄ«jaá¹ vÄ- mukhaá¹ pÄtram athÄpi vÄ
The meaning of Ämukha is stated by ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« in the NÄá¹aka-candrikÄ:
sÅ«tra-dhÄro naá¹Ä« brÅ«te sva-kÄryaá¹ pratiyuktitaḥ
prastutÄká¹£epi-citroktyÄ yat tad Ämukham Ä«ritam
When ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya inquired about the arrangement for introducing the assembly of players in the drama, RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replied that when the players first enter the stage in response to the time, the introduction is technically called pravartaka. For an example, see verse 136 below. ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura says that the introduction, which is technically called Ämukha, may be of five different kinds, according to the SÄhitya-darpaṇa (6.288):
udghÄtyakaḥ kathodghÄtaḥ prayogÄtiÅ›ayas tathÄ
pravartakÄvalagite pañca prastÄvanÄ-bhidÄḥ
“Introductions may be classified as follows: (1) udghÄtyaka, (2) kathodghÄta, (3) prayogÄtiÅ›aya, (4) pravartaka and (5) avalagita.†These five kinds of introduction are called Ämukha. Thus ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya asked which of the five introductions had been employed, and ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replied that he had used the introduction called the pravartaka.
