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

ACT V [Voice,] behind the curtain—Ho, ho! Soldiers! 'Tis come, 'tis come— our succour! For here he is in his chariot, Sumantra in haste urging forward its fleet and galloping steeds—its flagstaff of kovidāra violently shaken at each jolting—here is our Chandraketu coming hither upon the news of our fighting. 1 Then enters in a chariot, with the charioteer Sumantra, Chandraketu, bow in hand and full of wild joy and excitement. Chandraketu—Look, worthy Sumantra, look! His handsome face flushed with just a tinge of glowing anger— the bow incessantly twanging at the tips—the five locks [on his head] all floating [to the winds], there, as he takes his stand in the van of the battle and rains a shower of arrows upon the battalions,—he is indeed a marvel (kopi), this son of a hero! 2 How strange! This lad from the hermitage, all alone, and scattering everywhere upon [my] army thousands of blazing shafts, impelled with a terrific twang and piercing the joints of the elephants' temples: He engages my interest as though he were some new, unknown scion of the race of Raghu. 3 Sumantra—Long-lived one,— As I look upon this boy who in his prowess excels Gods and Demons and who is so like [unto Rāma] in form, I am reminded of that Joy of the Raghus [our Rāma], when, bow in hand, he subdued the foes that disturbed the holy sacrifice of Kuśika's son [Viśvāmitra]. 4 Chandraketu—That so many should exert themselves against him singly— for this I feel ashamed in my heart: On one side is this solitary stripling; and here are [on the other] our forces clutching with their martial fingers these dense files of weapons and brandishing them wildly in the brunt of the battle—[some seated] in chariots ringing with the jingle of the tinkling golden bells, and [others mounted] upon rutting tuskers, 10 [H.O.S. 21]