found: Thielemann, S. Rāsalīlā : a musical study of religious drama in Vraja, 1998:pref. (type of religious drama characteristic for and unique to the region of Vraja in northwestern Uttar Pradesh; combines poetry, music, dance and drama; language is the Vrajabhāṣā dialect of Hindi; takes episodes from the childhood life of the Hindu god Kṛṣṇa for its subject-matter; the central theme is the enactment of the rāsa, the circular dance performed by Kṛṣṇa with the cowherd women of Vraja on an autumn full-moon night; pronounced rāslīlā) introd. (Rāsalīlā, the enactment of the rāsa dance, is a form of religious drama whose theoretical foundation plays a central role in Vaiṣnava theology; the re-enactment of the rāsa dance becomes central to the religious dramas called rāsalīlānukaraṇa, "the imitation of the rāsa play". The compound is conveniently shortened and the plays are called rāsalīlā. They are structured in two parts: an initial dance (rāsa) which forms the most sacred and invariable component of the performance, followed by a one-act play (līlā) which takes an episode from Kṛṣṇa's childhood in Vraja for its theme. The entire performance is named rāsa after its prior element.)
found: An international dictionary of theatre language, 1985(raslila. A sacred musical theatre form in north India, celebrating the life of Krishna; consists of two parts, a sacramental circle dance of Krishna with his milkmaid lovers, followed by the enactment of an episode (lila) in his life story; staged in a temple courtyard and major roles are taken by boys. Sometimes more formally called raslilanukaran (imitation of raslila))
found: Mason, D.V. Theatre and religion on Krishna's stage, 2009:p. 1 (râs lila) p. 25 (there are many different forms of theatre in India that go under the name râs lila, owing to the fact that the term refers not so much to a particular style of presentation but to a particular episode in Krishna mythology in which Krishna and the gopis dance together in the forest at night) p. 26 (the râs lila dramatizes the stories of Krishna's childhood and adolescence)
found: Rani Balbir Kaur. Music in traditional Indian theatre : special reference to raas leela, 2006.
found: Ibocāobā, H. Śrīśrīgobinda rāsa līlā, 2010.
found: Varadpande, M.L. Krishna theatre in India, 1982:p. 49 (The Puranas played an important role in the evolution of Ras Leela theatre in general; the Vraja tradition of Ras Leela has borrowed many features from the descriptions in the Brahmavaivarta Purana)
