Sri Caitanya Caritamrita. Antya-lila

Chapter 1: Srila Rupa Gosvami's Second Meeting With the Lord. Text 185

'udghÄtyaka' nÄma ei 'Ämukha' — 'vÄ«thÄ«' aá¹…ga
tomÄra Äge kahi — ihÄ dhÄrṣṭyera taraá¹…ga

 'udghÄtyaka' nÄma - a dancing appearance of the player, technically known as udghÄtyaka; ei Ämukha - this is the introduction; vÄ«thÄ« aá¹…ga - the part is called vÄ«thÄ«; tomÄra Äge - before you; kahi - I say; ihÄ - this; dhÄrṣṭyera taraá¹…ga - a wave of impudence.


Text

“This introduction is technically called udghÄtyaka, and the whole scene is called vÄ«thÄ«. You are so expert in dramatic expression that each of my statements before you is like a wave from an ocean of impudence.

Purport
In this connection ÅšrÄ«la BhaktisiddhÄnta SarasvatÄ« ṬhÄkura again quotes the following verse from the SÄhitya-darpaṇa (6.288):
udghÄtyakaḥ kathodghÄtaḥ prayogÄtiÅ›ayas tathÄ
pravartakÄvalagite pañca prastÄvanÄ-bhidÄḥ
Thus the technical names for the five kinds of introductory scenes of the drama are listed as udghÄtyaka, kathodghÄta, prayogÄtiÅ›aya, pravartaka and avalagita. When ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya inquired which of these five ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« had used to accomplish the technical introduction to his drama Lalita-mÄdhava, RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« replied that he had used the introduction technically called udghÄtyaka. According to the BhÄratÄ«-vá¹›tti, three technical terms used are prarocanÄ, vÄ«thÄ« and prahasanÄ. Thus RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« also mentioned vÄ«thÄ«, which is a technical term for a certain type of expression. According to the SÄhitya-darpaṇa (6.520):
vÄ«thyÄm eko bhaved aá¹…kaḥ kaÅ›cid eko ’tra kalpyate
ÄkÄÅ›a-bhÄá¹£itair uktaiÅ› citrÄá¹ pratyuktim ÄÅ›ritaḥ
The vÄ«thÄ« beginning of a drama consists of only one scene. In that scene, one of the heroes enters the stage, and by means of opposing statements uttered by a voice from the sky (offstage), he introduces the abundant conjugal mellow and other mellows to some degree. In the course of the introduction, all the seeds of the play are planted. This introduction is called udghÄtyaka because the player dances on the stage. This term also indicates that the full moon enters the stage. In this case, when the word naá¹­atÄ (“dancing on the stageâ€) is linked with the moon, its meaning is obscure, but because the meaning becomes very clear when the word naá¹­atÄ is linked with Kṛṣṇa, this type of introduction is called udghÄtyaka.ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya used highly technical terms when he discussed this subject with ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ«. RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« stated that ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya was a greatly learned scholar of bona fide dramatic composition. Thus although ÅšrÄ«la RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« was quite fit to answer ÅšrÄ«la RÄmÄnanda RÄya’s questions, due to his Vaiṣṇava humility he said that his words were impudent. Actually both RÅ«pa GosvÄmÄ« and RÄmÄnanda RÄya were scholarly experts in composing poetry and presenting it strictly according to the SÄhitya-darpaṇa and other Vedic literatures.