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

99] Act VII, Reunion — Translation [—vii. 17cd by these indications, that these [two infants] [represent] our Kuśa and Lava: For they also [the real Kuśa and Lava] have the missiles manifest to them from their birth, and they have both received the sacra- ments at the hands of the saintly son of Varuṇa [Vālmīki]; they are heroes, and in age are [just] twelve years. 15 Rāma—Dear [Lakṣmaṇa], it is even for this very reason that my heart is adrift and I am lost in bewilderment. Pṛithivī—Come, daughter, sanctify [with thy presence] my abode in Rasātala.¹ Sītā—[Rather] let my mother [Earth] receive me in her bosom [for eternal rest]: I can no longer endure the vicissitudes of this world of mortals. Rāma—What will the answer be now? Pṛithivī—Child, follow my behest and look to the needs of thy sons until they are weaned. But after that—as shall seem good. Bhāgīrathī—That is right. Exeunt Ganges, Earth, and Sītā. Rāma—How? Has the daughter of the King of the Videhas really found the rest eternal? Alas, Queen! Thou dear companion of my residence in the Daṇḍakā, thou divine embodiment of Virtue! Art thou then departed for the other world? Faints. Lakṣmaṇa—Help, help, Exalted Vālmīki! Is this your Poem's end-and- aim? ² [Voice,] behind the curtain—Let the concert[-instruments] be removed. Hark ye, all living beings—ye mortals movable and immovable! Behold the holy miracle that Vālmīki permits to happen. Lakṣmaṇa, observing—As if by some churning, the waters of the Ganges are in agitation; the skies are thronged with Gods and sages: and, oh wonder!—the noble [Sītā], along with the Goddesses Pṛithivī and Bhāgīrathī, is rising from the waters. 16 [Voice,] behind the curtain—O Arundhatī, world-honoured! Deign to accept the greetings of us [two], Pṛithivī and Bhāgīrathī: into thy charge we here deliver this Sītā, her of holy life, our daughter. 17

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¹ Rasātala = Nether world. A distinction is apparently intended between 'staying with Pṛithivī in her abode' and 'being received into her bosom to rise up no more'. See Notes, however. ² Lakṣmaṇa means, 'Was this your motive, Vālmīki, in inviting us to the play, namely, just to see Rāma faint?' There is perhaps also the suggestion, on the part of Bhavabhūti, that the tragic ending of the Rāmāyaṇa, as we have it, is not fitting for such a poem, and that it should end happily, as does the present play. See also Introduction, § 21, and note. 13* [H.O.S. 21]