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

35] Act II, Daṇḍakā Revisited — Translation [—ii. 9² these is commissioned the son of Lakshmaṇa, Chandraketu by name, who has been initiated into the [traditional] knowledge of celestial missiles and who is leading an army [fully] equipped in all its four divisions (aṅga).¹ Vāsantī, in curiosity and with tears of affection—Even Prince Lakshmaṇa has a son, and I, O mother, am [still] living [to see it]! Ātreyī—Meantime a Brahman lays down his dead son at the royal gate and beating his breast proclaims that an outrage has been committed against a Brahman. Then, since in the absence of some failing of the king himself no untimely death can overtake any one of his people, our dear Rāma mournfully began to examine [his past conduct to diseover] some fault of his own: when all of a sudden an incorporeal voice broke forth— 'Tis Śambūka by name—a Śūdra—who on [this] earth is practising penance. His head it behoves thee, O Rāma, to cut off: by killing him bring thou the Brahman [boy] to life. 8 Hearing this, sword in hand and mounting his aerial car, Pushpaka,² the Lord of the World [Rāma] has [now], in search of that Śūdra aseetic, begun to traverse all the cardinal and intermediate points. Vāsantī—A Śūdra, Śambūka by name, who inhales the smoke,³—in this very Janasthāna does he practise penance. Can it then be that Rāma dear⁴ will once again grace this forest [by his presence]? Ātreyī—Kind lady, let me go now. Vāsantī—So be it, honoured Ātreyī; for, the day has grown oppressive— As the itching elephants⁵ rub their rounded temples against them, [the trees] shaken violently shower down their flowers, [already] through heat loosened from the stalks, and [with this shower] pay [their midday] offering [as it were] to the [river] Godāvarī. In their shade [are] these birds that, as they scrape [for food], peck with their beak and drag forth insects [hidden] under the bark; [perched] on their [tops are] these troops of fine pigeons and [wild] fowl cooing [in languor]: such [now], along this bank, are [all] these nesting-trees. 9 They move about and exeunt [severally]. END OF INTERLUDE. ¹ Elephants, horses, chariots, and foot-soldiers. ² Lit. '[light as] a flower'. It came into Rāma's possession after the victory of Laṅkā. The car was as swift as the mind, and obeyed automatically all the wishes of the rider. ³ By hanging from a tree head downwards. ⁴ He has become 'Rāma dear' again! ⁵ Their temples itch when they are in rut.