Option 1: (A), (C), (D), (B) -> Places Natyashastra earliest and Manusmriti latest, which contradicts scholarly dating.
Option 2: (B), (D), (C), (A) -> Places Manusmriti before Panini's Ashtadhyayi, which is chronologically incorrect.
Option 3: (C), (B), (D), (A) -> Correctly sequences from Panini's grammar (5th-4th century BCE), to Manusmriti (200 BCE-200 CE), to the Ayurvedic Samhitas (1st century BCE-2nd century CE), to Natyashastra (200 BCE-200 CE, likely later composition).
Option 4: (C), (A), (B), (D) -> Places Natyashastra before Manusmriti and the medical texts, which doesn't align with accepted chronology.
Hence, Option 3: (C), (B), (D), (A) -> Panini's Ashtadhyayi on Sanskrit grammar is the earliest major text (circa 5th-4th century BCE), followed by the Dharmashastra text Manusmriti, then the foundational Ayurvedic texts of Charaka and Sushruta, and finally Bharata Muni's Natyashastra on dramaturgy and performing arts as the most recent -> correct