Mṛcchakaṭika (The Little Clay Cart) (Sanskrit: मृच्छकटिका; also spelled Mrchchhakatika, Mricchakatika, or Mrichchhakatika), is a ten-act Sanskrit drama attributed to Śūdraka (Sanskrit: शूद्रक), an ancient playwright generally thought to have lived sometime between the third century BC and the fifth century AD whom the prologue identifies as a Kshatriya king and a devotee of Siva who lived for 100 years. The play is set in the ancient city of Ujjayini during the reign of the King Pālaka, near the end of the Pradyota dynasty that made up the first quarter of the fifth century BC. The central story is that of noble but impoverished young Brahmin, Chārudatta (Sanskrit: चारुदत्त), who falls in love with a wealthy courtesan or nagarvadhu, Vasantasenā (Sanskrit: वसन्तसेना). Despite their mutual a