| Sumario: | Jagatprakasha Malla, King of Bhaktapur city (r. 1643--1672) was the first author to compose dramas in his mother tongue, Newari (a Tibeto-Burman language), besides Maithili (an Indo-Aryan language), which had been the official court language. His impulse of literary creation in his mother tongue seems to be rooted in his personal emotion, namely, his affection and grief over his deceased bosom friend Candrashekhara who served his court. In his songs, Jagatprakasha lays bare his strong feelings for the deceased. He often adopts unique formulations such as he and his friend being inseparable like the androgynous form of Shiva (ardhanārīśvara). Indeed, his deep sorrow for his deceased friend is the basso continuo (drone) permanently sounding in the background of the dramatic works of his later years. Thus, this article will deliberate upon this singular phenomenon in the history of literature in the region where the two linguistic areas of New Indo-Aryan and Tibeto-Burmese overlap.
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