In the Trivandrum Sanskrit Series are included thirteen dramas which the learned editor, Mahāmahōpādhyāya T. Gaṇapati Śāstri, has assigned to Bhāsa, the predecessor of Kālidāsa. The various arguments advanced by him in support of his theory may be summed up thus:—
The thirteen dramas, which we shall hereafter term the T.B. dramas, display a similarity of structure as regards the prologue and poetic merit, and have some common passages. It is, therefore, assumed that they are the works of one and the same author. Rājaśēkhara says that Bhāsa has written many dramas, one of which is Svapna-vāsavadatta; and Bāṇa says that Bhāsa's dramas open with a speech by the Sūtradhāra. Since one of the T.B. plays is named Svapna-vāsavadatta, and since they all open with a speech by the Sūtradhāra, it is inferred that Bhāsa is the author of all of them. The question whether their language is antique enough to justify their ascription to a predecessor of Kālidāsa is also discussed. The presence of archaisms, the simplicity of the Sanskrit, and the ‘freshness” of the Prakrit are urged as arguments for an answer in the affirmative. It is also claimed they have such poetic merits as to offer even Kālidāsa a model. This position is apparently substantiated by pointing out various ideas common to both these dramas and the works of Kālidāsa.