Which one of the following is a work attributed to playwright Bhasa?

The correct option is Madhyama-vyayoga.

Here is a step-by-step educational explanation of why this answer is correct:

1. Understanding Bhasa: Bhasa was one of the earliest and most celebrated Sanskrit playwrights in ancient India. His plays were lost for centuries until they were rediscovered in the early 20th century (1912) by the scholar T. Ganapati Sastri in Kerala. A collection of 13 plays, known as the Plays of Bhasa (or Bhasa-nataka-chakram), was attributed to him.

2. Analyzing the Play "Madhyama-vyayoga": Among the plays attributed to Bhasa, Madhyama-vyayoga (The Middle One) is a famous one-act play. It is based on a minor episode from the Hindu epic Mahabharata, centering around the Pandava prince Bhima and his son Ghatotkacha. The title refers to the "middle" brother (Bhima is the middle Pandava, and the story also involves the middle son of a Brahmin family). Therefore, this work is directly attributed to Bhasa.

3. Evaluating the Other Options:
- Kavyalankara: This is a seminal work on Sanskrit poetics/rhetoric written by Acharya Bhamaha, not Bhasa.
- Natyashastra: This is the ancient Indian treatise on the performing arts, theatre, dance, and music, traditionally attributed to the sage Bharata Muni.
- Mahabhashya: This is a famous commentary on Panini's Sanskrit grammar rules (Ashtadhyayi), written by the grammarian Patanjali.