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

69] Act IV, Kausalyā and Janaka — Translation [—iv. 22⁴³ Janaka—Of that Lakshmaṇa this Chandraketu is the son. Lava—He is then the son of Ūrmilā, and a daughter’s-son of the royal sage Janaka ? Arundhatī, smiling—Thou hast indeed evidenced thy thorough acquaintance with the story ! Janaka—If then thou dost claim to be so conversant with the story, let us put thee some questions : Tell us, first, how many children do the sons of Daśaratha have, how are they named, and of what [mothers] are they born ? Lava—This portion of the story, to this day, has never been heard either by us or by any one else. Janaka—Is it that it has not been composed by the poet ? Lava—Has been composed, but not published. And a certain section from the same has been turned into a distinct type of work, full of sentiment, and adapted to dramatic representation. And that, written in his own hand, the exalted sage [Vālmīki] has sent over to sage Bharata, the author of the Aphorisms of Dramaturgy.¹ Janaka—To what end ? Lava—That holy sage [Bharata], they say, is going to have it enacted by the heavenly nymphs. Janaka—All this is, to us, extremely tantalizing ! Lava—Great, however, has been the care that the exalted Vālmīki bestowed upon it. For, to prevent [possible] mishap, he has sent our brother, bow in hand, as an escort of those of his pupils by whose hands he sent [the work] to the hermitage of Bharata. Kausalyā—So, thou hast also a brother ? Lava—Yes : the noble Kuśa. Kausalyā—Implying [by thy manner of mention] an elder brother ? Lava—Even so : the order of birth has—as is right (kila)—given him the seniority. Janaka—You—my long-lived ones—are you then twins ? Lava—Exactly. Janaka—Tell me, how does the [published] part of the story end ? Lava—Harassed by false rumours current among his subjects, the King [Rāma] banished Queen Sītā, born [though she was] from the [very] ¹ Literally, Author of the science of dancing and vocal and instrumental music—all the three being the elements of a drama. The original Aphorisms have not sur- vived. The extant ‘Nāṭya-śāstra’ is probably a later digest, bearing to the original Aphorisms the same relation that the ‘Kāmandakīya Nīti-śāstra’ has to the newly discovered ‘Kauṭilīya Artha-śāstra’.