Mattavilasa Prahasana - Synopsis

Synopsis

Mattavilasa Prahasana opens with the entering of two drunken Kapalikas, Satyasoma and his woman, Devasoma. Full of drunken antics, they stumble from tavern to tavern searching for more alcohol. The Kapalikas are told be followers of a Saivite sect whose rites included drinking, wild dancing and singing, and ritual intercourse with their partners. As Satysoma asks for more alms, he realizes that he has lost his sacred skull-bowl. Devasoma suggests that he might have left it at the tavern they previously visited. To their dismay, it was not there. Satyasoma suspects that either a dog or a Buddhist monk has taken it.

A Buddhist monk, Nagasena, enters the stage and the Kapalika suggests that he is the culprit-the one who has stolen the skull-bowl. Satyasoma criticizes the Buddhist monk by saying that he steals, lies, and desires liquor, meat and women even though his religion prohibits it. As for Buddhism itself, the kapali accuses it of stealing ideas from the Mahabharata and the Vedanta. Satyasoma argues with the monk who denies the accusations and the dispute eventually leads to a physical brawl. As the fighting escalates, another mendicant, a Pasupata acquaintance of Satyasoma's, enters and mediates the situation. The drawn-out argument continues until the Buddhist monk, in despair, gives his begging bowl to a delusional Satyasoma.

A madman enters the stage and in his hand is Satyasoma's real skull-bowl. The madman recovered the bowl from a dog and the skull-bowl is finally returned to its delighted, rightful owner. There is a happy resolution and all characters leave in an amicable fashion.