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

ACT IV Then enter two ascetic [boys]. First [boy]—Saudhātaki, just look at the beauty of this hermitage of the exalted Vālmīki, wherein to-day, by reason of the arrival of a great crowd of guests, some elaborate preparations are on foot. For— The scum of boiled rice (nīvāra) that was left over after his mate, [the doe]—that has just brought forth young—had partaken of it, [that scum,] warm and savoury, this deer from [our] penance- grove is [now] sipping to his heart’s content. Slightly blended with the diffusing odour of boiled rice mixed with ghee, the fragrance of vegetables cooking, as well as of karkandhū fruit, is spreading everywhere. 1 Saudhātaki—Welcome, special welcome unto these harbingers of holiday— unto these [reverend] grey-beards! First [boy], with a laugh—Extraordinary indeed, O Saudhātaki, is the motive that inspires this your reverence for the gurus! Saudhātaki—I say, Bhāṇḍāyana, what now is the name of the chief leader of this huge train of females—of this guest that has come? Bhāṇḍāyana—Fie! No joking here! For, don’t you see it is the exalted Vasishṭha come from Ṛishyaśṛiṅga’s hermitage, escorting the [late] King Daśaratha’s wives who have come hither following the lead of Arundhatī? Why do you then talk this foolish way? Saudhātaki—Indeed! Vasishṭha? Bhāṇḍāyana—Why, yes. Saudhātaki—I for my part thought that he was a tiger, maybe a wolf! Bhāṇḍāyana—What! what is it that you say? Saudhātaki—Why, hardly had he come when that poor dear heifer of ours he gobbled up with a swoop! Bhāṇḍāyana—Out of deference to the Scriptures that prescribe meat as a part of the welcome-offering (madhuparka), upon the arrival of a learned Brahman [pious] householders offer him either a heifer or a bull or a goat. And this same practice the authors of the Dharma-sūtras also enjoin. Saudhātaki—There now, I have caught you! Bhāṇḍāyana—How, pray?