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

iii. 16ᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [48 that decked thy ears¹—this [is he] that [foster-]son of thine, [now] a vanquisher of sturdy and rutting elephants, by whom, what in growing youth is a bliss, that ² has already been achieved. 16 Sītā—Only, unseparated from this his gentle-looking mate ³ may he for ever live! Rāma—Look, friend Vāsantī, look! The youngster has even learnt—though only by half—the art of courting his mate's favour!— When the bunches of lotus stalks, in frolic uprooted, had been [by her] bitten off, he transferred [unto his mate] trunkfuls of water perfumed with the blooming lotuses; then indeed a bath from the sprays of his trunk he gave her, but, when through with that, he has not, in his affection, [pulled out] a straight stalk of lotus, [leaf and all, and] held [it] as a sunshade over her. 17 Sītā—Honoured Tamasā, thus now has this one grown up: but the other two—through all this [long] time—my Kuśa and Lava, I know not how [big] they have grown. Tamasā—As this one here, so likewise those two [sons]. Sītā—Thus ill-starred am I that [I am condemned] not merely [to] an eternal separation from my noble Lord but even [to] a separation from my sons! Tamasā—Thus Fate hath decreed. Sītā—And why have I given birth unto sons [at all], if, of both of them, so [lovable] as they are, those unspotted lotus-like faces—with cheeks bloom- ing by reason of their teeth, tender, white, and rather sparse—rippling with a laugh charming and musical—and [decked] with little locks plaited over their ears and forehead—if [their faces] my noble Lord has not kissed? Tamasā—May it so happen by the favour of the Gods! Sītā—Honoured Tamasā! Now, as I am fondly (saṁ) thinking of my sons, my bosom heaves and longs to suckle them; and, with their father ⁴ here by me, I feel as if—just for a moment—I were restored to my domestic felicity! Tamasā—Needs this to be said? A child is the utmost perfection of the love [between man and wife]. It is the closest link that can hold them together: As being the meeting-ground (saṁśraya) for the mother's and

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¹ The young elephant was then only of a man's height. ² I. e. love and triumphant valour. ³ A characteristic benediction! ⁴ This mode of referring to the husband, says one of the commentators, indicates that the author was a Dravidian. The inference does not, however, hold.