Bharata Muni
Bharata (Devanagari: भरत) was a muni (sage) of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise Natya Shastra, which covers ancient Indian dance, poetics, dramaturgy, and music. • Illustration — An image of Bharata Muni at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi
Also recorded as Barata Muni
Bharata Muni
Nabhas Chandra · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1000
- Occupation
- writer · musicologist · musician
- Known for
- Natya Shastra
- Languages
- Sanskrit
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Bharata (Devanagari: भरत) was a muni (sage) of ancient India. He is traditionally attributed authorship of the influential performing arts treatise Natya Shastra, which covers ancient Indian dance, poetics, dramaturgy, and music. • Illustration — An image of Bharata Muni at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Delhi
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Bharata Muni. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q196831
In this article
Identity
Identity
He is thought to have lived between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE.
Nāṭya Śāstra
Nāṭya Śāstra
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. The text draws on his authority, as existing in the public imagination. The Nāṭya Śāstra is notable as an ancient encyclopedic treatise on the performing arts, which has influenced dance, music and literary traditions in India. 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.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1000
Bharata Muni born.
1000
Bharata Muni died.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Lidova, N. (2014). Natyashastra. Oxford University Press.
- 2.Mehta, T. (1995). Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass.
- 3.Dace, W. (1963). "The Concept of "Rasa" in Sanskrit Dramatic Theory". Educational Theatre Journal. 15 (3): 249.
- 4.Columbia University Press. A rasa reader: classical Indian aesthetics. 47. 2016. 978-0-231-17390-2.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 4
- Katz, Jonathan. Bharata. Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. 2001. 978-1-56159-263-0.
- Pramod, Kale. The Theatric Universe: a Study of the Natyashastra. Popular Prakashan. 8–9. 1974. 978-81-7154-118-8.
- Vatsyayan, Kapila. Bharata, the Nāṭyaśāstra. Sahitya Akademi. 2001. 978-81-260-1220-6.
- Winternitz, Maurice. History of Indian Literature. Motilal Banarsidass. 3. 9–11. 2008. 978-81-208-0056-4.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q196831: Bharata MuniWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,934 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- BGO RecordsOrganisation
- BH EntertainmentOrganisation
- Bhajan SoporiPerson
- Bhakta Raj AcharyaPerson
- Bharatchandra RayPerson
- BharathwajPerson
- Bhaskar ChandavarkarPerson
- BhavathariniPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Bharata Muni?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.