The Sadharanikaran Model of Communication (SMC), constructed and developed by Dr. Nirmala Mani Adhikary, is based on the insights from two classical Sanskrit texts – Natyashastra of Bharata Muni and Vakyapadiya of Bhartrihari. Of them, SMC largely owes to Natyashastra.

(1) Bharata Muni authored Natyashasra. Rasa Sutra in Natyashastra is the basic concept on which theory of Sadharanikaran was developed.

(2) Bhattanayaka developed the theory of Sadharanikaran. He did so while explaining the Rasa Sutra of Bharata’s Natyashastra. Many other scholars in Sanskrit contributed in the discourse of Sadharanikaran.

(3) J.S. Yadava and I.P. Tewari should be given credit for drawing attention of communication scholars that there was a theory named Sadharanikaran, which was a theory of communication. Note here that Yadava and Tewari are not the original theorists, they just drew attention to what was already there. It was Bhattanayaka, who developed the theory of Sadharanikaran. Bhattanayaka did so while explaining the Rasa Sutra of Bharata’s Natyashastra.

(4) The Sadharanikaran Model of Communication (SMC) was first constructed in 2003 by Nirmala Mani Adhikary through the Dissertation for Master of Arts in Mass Communication and Journalism (MAMCJ). Insights from Bharata’s Natyashastra as well as Bhartrihari’s Vakyapadiya have been incorporated in the SMC. The model was revised in 2010. It has been published from various countries and in various languages.

Hence, please note:

Theory of Sadharanikaran (by Bhattanayaka) and The Sadharanikaran Model of Communication (by Dr. Nirmala Mani Adhikary) are not to be taken as the same. Certainly, the SMC is based on Bhattanayaka’s theory of Sadharanikaran, but it is a construction (in theoretical context) for theorizing communication process. In this course, the Sadharanikaran Model of Communication (SMC) incorporates insights from both Bharata’s Natyashastra as well as Bhartrihari’s Vakyapadiya.