The plot of the drama is drawn from the romantic narratives about the kaushambi king Udayana and Vasavadatta, the daughter of Pradyota, the ruler of Avanti, which were current in the poet's time and which seem to have captivated popular imagination.
The complete text of the Svapnavasavadattam was long lost until it was discovered by Indian scholar T. Ganapati Sastri in Kerala in 1912.
After the marriage, the Udayana leads a carefree life spending time in hunting, lovemaking, and enjoyment of pleasures while a wicked usurper king Aruni took over most of his territory including the capital Kausambi forcing the king to move to a camp in the border village of Lavanaka.
To regain the kingdom, Yaugandharayana hatches a plot to get Udayana married to Padmavati, the sister of the powerful Magadha ruler Darsaka.
Yaugandharayana disguised as a brahmin mendicant and Vasavadatta as his sister arrive there and feel offended when the servants push them away.
Padmavati meets the queen mother who asks her about the proposal of Udayana for her hand which gladdens Yaugandharayana and Vasavadatta.
A brahmacharin (celibate) arrives to narrate the fire accident at Lavanaka in which, both the minister Yaugandharayana and the queen Vasavadatta have perished.
The king feels that her touch horripilates him and narrates to his friend Vasantaka who arrives there, his experience of the dream in which he felt that Vasavadatta is really alive.
The nurse also recognises Avantika and the whole plot is gradually revealed by the minister who begs pardon of his king for his acts of omission and commission.
[4] The play has been adapted to film in Indian cinema as Vasavadatta in 1928 by Nagendra Majumdar, in 1934 by Parshwanath Yeshwant Altekar and as Udayanan Vasavadattha in 1946 by T. R.