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

63] Act IV, Kausalyā and Janaka — Translation [—iv. 10ᶜ Here is another unhappy reversal of circumstances : That very same person [Kausalyā] that, formerly, was unto me like an embodiment of festal joy, the sight of her has now become unendurable, like brine upon an [open] wound! 7 Then enter Arundhatī and Kausalyā and a chamberlain [Gṛishṭi]. Arundhatī—Why, I say, aren’t you directed by your family preceptor [Vasishṭha] to go in person and see the King of Videha? It was for this too that I am sent. What means then, at each step, this your extreme lack of determination? \ Chamberlain—Queen, compose yourself, I beg you, and follow the direction of the exalted Vasishṭha. Kausalyā—That in times like these I should have to see the Lord of Mithilā [Janaka]—this makes my griefs well up all at once within me: I am powerless to hold together my heart the roots of which are as if loosening from their bonds. Arundhatī—This, no doubt, is quite natural : Although never [quite] ceasing to flow entirely, the sorrows of men, caused by separations from dearest relatives, become, at the sight of some very dear friend, altogether unendurable and as if in thousands of floods they seem to gush forth. 8 Kausalyā—And how may we—when my dear daughter-in-law [Sītā] has fared thus—[how may we] look upon the face of her father, the royal sage? Arundhatī—And here he is, your noble connexion and the sustainer of the family of the Janakas—he whom sage Yājñavalkya has initiated into¹ the knowledge of Brahma. 9 Kausalyā—And this is he who was a delight to the heart of my great King [Daśaratha]—the father of my dear daughter-in-law [Sītā]—the royal sage. Ha! I am put in mind of those times when every day brought forth many an unbidden festivity. Alas, O Fate, that it should be no more! Janaka, approaching—Exalted Arundhatī! This is Vaideha, the Sīra- dhvaja,² making homage unto you. In your company [your husband] regards himself as [more] holy, although he is himself the store of holy light—your husband who, of all the gurus of yore, is indeed the supreme guru; with my head bowing low down to the earth I salute you, the exalted one, who for the universe (trilokī) are the [very] fountain of its bliss ¹ Literally, to whom he has taught or solemnly ² Literally, one whose banner has the plough set forth (jagau) the knowledge, as in the as an emblem. Bṛihadāraṇyaka Upanishad.