Mudrarakshasa

Mudrārākṣasa
Written by	Vishakhadatta
Characters	Chandragupta Maurya Chanakya Rakshasa Malayketu, son of Parvataka Parvata
Original language	Sanskrit
Genre	Indian classical drama
Setting	Pataliputra, 3rd century BCE

The Mudrārākshasa (मुद्राराक्षस, IAST: Mudrārākṣasa, transl. 'The Signet of the Minister') is a Sanskrit-language play by Vishakhadatta that narrates the ascent of the Emperor Chandragupta Maurya (r.  c. 324 – c. 297 BCE) to power in India. The play is an example of creative writing, but not entirely fictional. It is dated variously from the late 4th century to the 8th century CE.

Characters

• Chandragupta Maurya, one of the protagonists
• Chanakya, one of the protagonists
• Rakshasa, the main antagonist
• Malayketu, the son of Parvataka and one of the henchmen
• Parvataka, a greedy king who firstly supported Chandragupta but later changed his preference to Dhana Nanda
• Vairodhak
• Durdhara, wife of Chandragupta Maurya
• Bhadraketu
• Chandandasa
• Jeevsidhhi

Adaptations

There is a Tamil version based on the Sanskrit play and Keshavlal Dhruv translated the original into Gujarati as Mel ni Mudrika (1889). There is a Kannada version of the play Mudramanjusha written by Kempunarayana.

The later episodes of the 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.

Editions

Further information: List of Sanskrit plays in English translation

• . Second edition 1893, Fifth edition 1915. Sixth edition 1918, reprinted 1976 and by Motilal Banarsidass, 2000.
• Free access icon
• . Reprint 2004, First edition 1900
• Review
• (In Telugu script, with Telugu introduction and commentary) Another version
• . Originally published as part of Three Sanskrit plays (1981, Penguin Classics).