महावीरचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - वीररस-प्रधान रामकथा नाटक सम्पूर्ण ७ अङ्क सटीक)

i. 35ᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [26 infatuation [of some sort] : for, at every touch of thine, a [certain] feeling, benumbing all my senses, [possesses me, and] now bewilders my soul (chaitanya) and now paralyses it quite! 35 Sītā, with a smile—'Tis all your unchanging affection : how else then could it be ? Rāma—Causing the drooping flower of my life to bloom—filling me with transport—ravishing all my senses—these endearing words of my lotus-eyed one : they are as ambrosia to the ear and as elixirs to the mind ! 36 Sītā—Come, thou of honeyed words! Let us rest. Looks about for something to sleep on. Rāma—And what, pray, wouldst thou look for ? Ever since the time of our wedding, at home or in the forest, in girlhood and then again in young-womanhood, what has [ever] lulled thee to sleep and what no other woman can claim—Rāma's arm, thy pillow, is here. 37 Sītā, going into sleep—It is even so, my noble Lord ! It is even so. Sleeps. Rāma—Why, with sweet words on her lips she has already fallen asleep on my bosom ! gazing, in fondness— She to the house a very Lakshmī¹—to the eyes an ambrosial pencil—this touch of hers like a thick sandal-juice to the body— this [her] arm round [my] neck, cool and tender as a pearl- necklace : what of hers is not dear, save only that unendurable separation ? 38 Pratīhārī,² entering—Has come, my liege ! Rāma—And who ? Pratīhārī—The personal attendant of Your Majesty—Durmukha.³ Rāma, to himself—Oh, Durmukha, who is on duty about the harem ? Him I had employed as a spy upon my subjects in the city and in the country. Aloud. Let him come in. Exit Pratīhārī. Durmukha, entering, to himself—Alas! how now, concerning the Queen Sītā, such an unthinkable public slander may I report unto the King ? But (adhavā) such indeed is the lot of [men like] me, ill-starred. Sītā, talking in her sleep—Alas! Gentle my Lord! Where art thou? Rāma—How now ! Of that torment-giving separation this must be the [latent] impression ⁴ (bhāvanā) which my Queen received while looking at ¹ The Goddess of wealth and plenty. ² A female warder. Her words 'has come' Rāma construes with the last word of his speech, 'separation'; hence his surprised question. 'Separation' in Sanskrit is masculine. ³ 'Foul-mouthed' or 'with face of evil omen'. ⁴ The poet is here purposely technical.