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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE¹ A. MAIN CHARACTERS. Rāma, King of Kosala (capital Ayodhyā), son of Daśaratha and Kausalyā. Ashṭāvakra, a Brahman messenger. Durmukha,† a state spy. An aged chamberlain (kañchukin). A female warder† (pratīhārī). Śambūka, a Śūdra ascetic killed by Rāma.² Kausalyā,† Rāma’s mother, widow of King Daśaratha.³ Grishṭi, a chamberlain in attendance upon her. Sītā,† Rāma’s wife, daughter of King Janaka and Earth-goddess. Janaka, Sītā’s father, King of Videha (capital Mithilā). Arundhatī, wife of sage Vasishṭha, Rāma’s family-preceptor. Kuśa and Lava, twin sons of Rāma and Sītā. Vālmīki, foster-father and teacher of the twins, author of the Rāmāyaṇa. Lakshmaṇa, Rāma’s half-brother, son of Daśaratha and Sumitrā. Chandraketu, son of Lakshmaṇa and Ūrmilā. Sumantra, Chandraketu’s charioteer. A man (purusha) from Chandraketu’s army. ¹ Speakers behind the curtain and persons addressed ākāśe are not separately men- tioned here. ² He is immediately reborn as a celestial being. ³ Often spoken of in the plural : Daśarathasya dārāḥ or mahishyaḥ, Rāmasya mātaraḥ, ambāḥ, &c. This may be a plural of respect, although there is also the impli- cation of the mere presence of the step- mothers of Rāma. † These four characters speak Prākrit; the rest, Sanskrit.