The Little Clay Cart

The Little Clay Cart
An oleographic print depicting the female protagonist Vasantasenā, a rich courtesan.
Written by	Śūdraka
Characters	Chārudatta Vasantasenā Maitreya Samsthānaka Āryaka Sarvilaka Madanikā
Original language	Sanskrit
Genre	Sanskrit drama
Setting	Ancient city of Ujjayini Fifth century BC

Mṛcchakaṭika (The Little Clay Cart) (Sanskrit: मृच्छकटिका; also spelled Mrchchhakatika, Mricchakatika, or Mrichchhakatika), is a ten-act Sanskrit drama attributed to Śūdraka (Sanskrit: शूद्रक), an ancient playwright generally thought to have lived sometime between the third century BC and the fifth century AD whom the prologue identifies as a Kshatriya king and a devotee of Siva who lived for 100 years. The play is set in the ancient city of Ujjayini during the reign of the King Pālaka, near the end of the Pradyota dynasty that made up the first quarter of the fifth century BC. The central story is that of noble but impoverished young Brahmin, Chārudatta (Sanskrit: चारुदत्त), who falls in love with a wealthy courtesan or nagarvadhu, Vasantasenā (Sanskrit: वसन्तसेना). Despite their mutual affection, however, the couple's lives and love are threatened when a vulgar courtier, Samsthānaka, also known as Shakara, begins to aggressively pursue Vasantasenā.

Rife with romance, comedy, intrigue and a political subplot detailing the overthrow of the city's despotic ruler by a shepherd, the play is notable among extant Sanskrit drama for its focus on a fictional scenario rather than on a classical tale or legend. Mṛcchakaṭika also departs from traditions enumerated in the Natya Shastra that specify that dramas should focus on the lives of the nobility and instead incorporates a large number of peasant characters who speak a wide range of Prakrit dialects. The story is thought to be derived from an earlier work called Chārudatta in Poverty by the playwright Bhāsa, though that work survives only in fragments.