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

iv. 22⁴³—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [70 sacrificial ground of the Gods. Her, nearing her travail, Lakshmaṇa abandoned all alone in the forest and returned [to Ayodhyā]. Kausalyā—Alas, my child! Thou whose face was lovable like the moon! In that forlorn plight, of what sudden and malignant sports of Fate has the flower of thy body been the victim? Janaka—Alas, my daughter! Assuredly, when that indignity fell upon thee, and the terrors of the wilderness, and the pains at the hour of childbirth; when on all sides troops of flesh-eating [Monsters] thronged about thee; then, stricken with terror, more than once must thy mind have turned to me as thy [natural] protector! 23 Lava, to Arundhatī—Pray, Madam, who are these? Arundhatī—This is Kausalyā, and this is Janaka. Lava looks at them with sorrow, respect, and curiosity. Janaka—Oh, the impudence of these citizens! Oh, the precipitancy of King Rāma's actions! When over this dreaded fall of a thunderbolt in the form of this dire calamity I sit for ever brooding, is it not time [yet, I ask,] for my wrath to kindle-and-blaze forth with arrow or with curse? 24 a, b Kausalyā, in fear—Help, exalted [Arundhatī], help: Appease this angry royal sage. Arundhatī—When high-souled persons are treated with indignity, this [viz. being victims to their wrath] is the natural expiation [of that offence]. [Janaka,] my King, Rāma is as a son to thee; and the subjects, contemptible though they be, have to be protected. 25 Janaka—Peace then! Let neither [arrow nor curse] be used upon [Rāma] that scion of Raghu; for he is the treasure of a son unto me: And as to the subjects, they are for the most part a mere assemblage of Brahmans, of infants and of dotards, of decrepits and of females! 24 c, d Enter some excited boys. Boys—Prince, O Prince! A strange species of animal—a horse, a horse— as the country-folks call it—why, we have just now seen one with our own eyes! Lava—[A horse?] A horse is mentioned in that catalogue of beasts and in the treatises on warfare. Say, what is he like? Boys—Listen: Behind he carries a flowing tail, and this he's waving all the time. He has a long neck, and hoofs he has—just four. Grass he eats,