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

33] Act II, Daṇḍakā Revisited — Translation [—ii. 6ᵈ [customary] midday oblations, went unto the river Tamasā; and there, of a pair of curlews sporting together (chārin), he sighted one as it was being pierced by a fowler. Then did [the sage] burst forth in words divine, spontaneous-and-intuitive, blameless [in their form] and adapted to the metre of an anushṭubh stanza: ‘Never, O Nishāda,¹ through all the years eternal, [never] shalt thou attain stability, because thou hast killed one of these two curlews maddened with love [for its mate].’ 5 Sylvan Deity—Wonderful is this introduction of new metres outside the Vedas!² Ātreyī—And then, about the same time, unto that exalted one—unto the sage [Vālmīki] in whom shone forth the light of Brahma in the form of the Word—approached the exalted Author of all beings, the Lotus-born [Brahmadeva], and spake,—Sage! Awakened art thou to that Brahma whose essence is Word: Speak out, therefore, the History of Rāma. Unimpeded in its illumination [be] thy inspired and prophetic vision! Thou art the first of poets. So saying He [forthwith] became invisible. Then [Vālmīki,] that exalted son of Varuṇa, composed what is the first [of its kind] among mortals: that transformation (vivarta) of Brahma-in- the-form-of-Word—the History called Rāmāyaṇa. Sylvan Deity—This, to be sure (hanta), is an adornment to the world. Ātreyī—And hence, as I said, there occurred a great hindrance to our course of studies. Sylvan Deity—I see now (yujyate). Ātreyī—I have had my rest, kind lady! Now unto [sage] Agastya’s hermitage point me the way. Sylvan Deity—Enter Pañchavaṭī on this side here, and then proceed onwards along this bank of the Godāvarī. Ātreyī, with tears—Can it then be that this penance-grove is Pañchavaṭī— that this river is Godāvarī—that this mountain is Prasravaṇa—and [finally] that you are the Deity of the Janasthāna, Vāsantī? Vāsantī—Even so: all [as you say]. Ātreyī—[Alas] Jānakī, my child!³ Here are those loving companions of thine, on [all] occasions the theme of thy conversation, who, as I see them [here] now, bring thee visibly before our eyes, though [alas!] only the name of thee now remains behind! 6 ¹ Forester. Before this the Vedas were the only ² Vālmīki is regarded as the father of poetry metrical works. and the Rāmāyaṇa as the first poem. ³ Ātreyī apparently is an elderly lady. 5 [H.O.S. 21]