Devi-Chandraguptam (IAST: Devīcandraguptam) or Devi-Chandragupta is an Indian Sanskrit-language political drama attributed to Vishakhadeva, who is generally identified with Vishakhadatta.
The plot also survives in form of a Persian language story, which appears to be an adaptation of the play, and is included in the 11th century text Majmal-ut-Tawarikh.
In the play, king Ramagupta decides to surrender his queen Dhruvadevi ("Devi") to a Shaka enemy when besieged.
The rest of the story is not clear from the surviving passages, but based on other historical evidence, it appears that in the last part of the play, Chandragupta dethrones Ramagupta and marries Dhruvadevi.
The enemy has offered him peace if he surrenders his queen Dhruvadevi, and Ramagupta has reluctantly agreed to these terms after pressure from his ministers.
[4] Chandragupta declares that a single lion forces many deer to run away: a hero doesn't care about being outnumbered.
[5] In Act II, Ramagupta tries to dissuade Chandragupta from going to the enemy camp, stating that he would rather lose the queen than his brother.
Perhaps, in the preceding scene (which is not part of the surviving fragments), she warns him that he is in danger of being literally bound, presumably as a result of a plot against him or on the orders of his brother Ramagupta.
The first song describes the moonrise, portraying Chandragupta as the moon ("Chandra" in Sanskrit) who has destroyed the darkness.
But modern scholars theorize that the rival is his brother Ramagupta,[9] and the person he tries to conceal his love for is Dhruva-devi.
[10] The rest of the plot may be reconstructed as follows: Ramagupta's public image suffers as a result of his decision to surrender his wife to an enemy, while Chandragupta is regarded as a hero by the subjects.
Chandragupta feigns madness to escape his brother's enmity, but ultimately kills him, becomes the new king, and marries Dhruva-devi (see Historicity below).
Rawwal fled to a strong hill fortress, accompanied by his brothers and nobles, but the enemy besieged the fort.
Rawwal's blind wazir (chief advisor) Safar advised him to surrender the women, and live to fight the enemy another day.
[17] After being informed of all the facts, Barkarmis proposed that he and sons of Rawwal's chiefs enter the enemy camp disguised as women.
On hearing these trumpets, Rawwal would attack the rival camp with his army, and exterminate the enemy forces.
[21] One hot day, Barkamaris — now disguised as a mendicant — came to the gate of Rawwal's palace, while wandering in the city.
The wazir then committed suicide, and Barkarmis expanded his power to gain control of entire India.
[10] Historian Romila Thapar theorizes that the play may have been written in the Gupta court, possibly during the reign of Chandragupta's successors.
The author's intention may have been to justify Chandragupta's unorthodox act of killing his elder brother and marrying his predecessor's wife.
[24] The play's historicity is supported by the following evidence: A few copper coins, bearing the legend "Ramaguta" (Prakrit form of "Ramagupta") have been found at Eran and Vidisha in Madhya Pradesh.