The present study deals with the problem of authorship, which I have tried to solve by means of three independent statistical tests. These tests enable me to determine certain peculiarities of style and also to establish the chronological settings. Only one of the tests can be applied to both prose and poetry, whereas the other two are exclusively intended to analyse poetry.
The authorship problem taken up in this study concerns a group of thirteen anonymous Sanskrit dramas found in 1909 in South India by Ganapati Shâstri. Because the plays share many similarities, and the title of one of the plays is Svapnavâsavadatta, a title which is associated with Bhâsa by the Indian tradition, Shâstri ascribed all thirteen works to one single author, more precisely, to the playwright Bhâsa. This implied that the dramas were pre-Kâlidâsan. In his opinion this was confirmed by the archaic features of the Prâkrit as employed in the dramas, and by some genuine Nâtyashâstra characteristics. If pre-Kâlidâsan, then they would be the oldest Hindu dramas ever found, as the oldest Indian dramas till then were the Buddhist Ashvaghosha plays.
However, soon after the spectacular discovery, the controversies started, mainly on two points. Firstly, on the date and provenance: old Bhâsa plays from the North against later South Indian works originating from one or several milieus or schools. Secondly, on the genuineness: original plays with or without later interpolations against adaptations made for the Kûtiyâttam theatre. These issues appeared important in the discussion on a related problem, namely the relation between the Cârudatta and the Mrcchakatika.
As far as I can see, an important question still has not been definitely established. That is, whether we are dealing with one single author or with several authors. Although there are many similarities between the thirteen plays, there are many differences as well. In the present study I apply three tests (see below) to the individual plays in order to analyse them in a more detailed way; not play for play, but verse for verse and even word for word. In this way I hope to contribute to the question of whether we deal with one or several authors. With the help of reference texts it might be possible to establish the internal and external chronological settings as well.