Bharata (sage)
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Bharata (Devanagari: भरत) was a muni (sage) of ancient India.Template:Sfn He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise Natya Shastra, which covers ancient Indian dance, poetics, dramaturgy, and music.Template:Sfn
IdentityEdit
He is thought to have lived between 200 BCE and 200 CE,<ref> Lidova, N. (2014). Natyashastra. Oxford University Press.</ref><ref> Mehta, T. (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass.</ref> but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.<ref>Dace, W. (1963). "The Concept of "Rasa" in Sanskrit Dramatic Theory". Educational Theatre Journal. 15 (3): 249.</ref>
Nāṭya ŚāstraEdit
Bharata is known only as being traditionally attributed authorship of the treatise Natya Shastra. All other early Sanskrit treatises were similarly attributed to mythical sages.Template:Sfn The text draws on his authority, as existing in the public imagination.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Nāṭya Śāstra is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the performing arts, which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India.Template:Sfn It is also notable for its aesthetic "Rasa" theory, which asserts that entertainment is the desired effect of performance arts but not the primary goal and that the primary goal is to transport the individual in the audience into another parallel reality, full of wonder, where he experiences the essence of his own consciousness and reflects on spiritual and moral questions.Template:Citation needed