Based on interpretation of a dream, Pradyota and his ministers determine that king Udayana of Vatsa is a suitable match, but is too proud to willingly accept a proposal to marry to the princess.
[1] The title of the play refers to a scene in which the heroine Vasavadatta receives a vina lesson from the hero Udayana.
[4] Act 1 King Pradyota (alias Mahasena) of Avanti is anxious to get his daughter Vasavadatta married to a suitable man.
Bharatarohaka mentions that as a boy, Udayana and his friends threw dust at a rishi (sage) while pretending to be elephants.
Pradyota's minister Shalankayana has deployed an army near the Yamuna River, accompanied by an elephant painted blue.
Intrigued, Udayana leaves behind his army to see the blue elephant, accompanied by only his personal attendants and 20 soldiers.
[6] Act 3 Udayana's minister Yaugandharayana receives a letter from the nun Sankrityayani, his secret agent in Pradyota's capital Ujjayini.
The letter warns him of the blue elephant plan to capture Udayana, but has been delayed because of the roadblocks set up by Pradyota's soldiers.
The wild elephant is brought in front of the Disha-mukhi palace, and the prime minister Bharatarohaka brings Udayana to the site.
Then, Sankrityayani pretends to be a priestess possessed by a goddess, and tells Vasavadatta that her desire for Udayana will be fulfilled.
Bharatarohaka suggests that in eyes of the public, Udayana can be allowed to enter the palace on the pretext of giving the princess music lessons.
[13] Act 7 Udayana teaches Vasavadatta music, in the presence of Sankrityayani, Kanchanamala, Vasantaka (disguised as Mattavilasa), and a chamberlain carrying the vina.
[13] Udayana plays vina and sings several songs, including a verse on the Vamana incarnation of Vishnu, and another expressing his increasing love for Vasavadatta.
[15] Udayana is still a proud man: he intends to abduct Vasavadatta, and doesn't want Pradyota to know that he is in love with the princess.
Vasavadatta is angry and disappointed, but Kanchanamala reassures her that Udayana would not love a woman like Narmada, and asks her to consult Sankrityayani.
[18] Sankrityayani also probably leaves Ujjayini with Vasavadatta: in some later works (such as Matraraja's Tapasa-Vatsaraja), she appears in subsequent adventures of Udayana.
[19] The Tamil language version of the Brihatkatha (a lost work) contains a story about Udayana, with a plot very similar to that of Vina-Vasavadatta.
While Pradyota's court is occupied with the festival, he causes confusion by starting a fire in the city, and facilitates the escape of Udayana and Vasavadatta.