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

iii. 22³—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [50 selfsame dear companion of mine—Vāsantī. Here [likewise] are these [mute] witnesses to our varied and confidential intercourse—these woodland spots on [the banks of] the Godāvarī: and these [again] are the very same deer and birds and trees—all esteemed by us like our own children. To me, however, though present before my [very] eyes, they are all—such is my fate—no better than non-existing! Such then are [some of] the vicissitudes of this world of mortals! Vāsantī—Sītā, my friend! Dost thou not notice [thy] Rāma's condition ?¹ With his limbs lovely like the petals of a blue lotus, he [formerly] used to cause supreme delight to [thy] eyes; and, although thou couldst see him always and at will, he did [then] look new and ever newer to thee: But [now] here he is with his limbs all lifeless, overspread with pallor, and extremely (pari) enfeebled by grief; not without difficulty can he be recognized as the same, though he [to be sure] still continues to delight [our] sight. 23 Sītā—I see it, my friend, I do see it. Tamasā—Mayest thou, [my dear] daughter, see what is dear² to thee ! Sītā—Alas, [cruel] Fate! He without me and I without him—would any one [ever] have thought this possible? Let me therefore—just for a moment and through my tears—take a look at my noble and loving Lord, whom I, as if in a second birth,³ am able [here] to behold. Remains looking [at him]. Tamasā, embracing [Sītā], with tears of affection— Floating in an overwhelming flood of tears both of joy and of sorrow and wide open in thy eagerness [to see him], thy eyes (dṛiṣhṭi) seem as it were to bathe the Lord of thy heart in an overflow of affection—as [if by] a stream of milk, white and copious and charming. 24 Vāsantī—Let trees, with flowers and fruits that drip with their [sweetest] juices, yield an offering [unto Rāma]—surcharged with the fragrance of full-blown lotuses, let breezes blow over the dales—let the [youthful and] full-throated birds pour forth their incessant melodies—for here, once more, unto this forest, has our Lord Rāma himself returned. 25 Rāma—Come, dear Vāsantī! Won't you take a seat here? ¹ Vāsantī purposely assumes ignorance as to ³ It was in an earlier life, as it were, that Sītā's fate. I was his wife and he my Lord : so ² Either i. her husband's face or ii. a termi- changed are our present relations. nation of her sorrows.