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

v. 31ᶜ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [80 (sūnṛita) is, say the wise, the parent of all blessings—a [veritable] cow!¹ 31 Sumantra—This youth, this pupil of the son of Varuṇa [Vālmīki], is indeed a pure soul: a glow of sacred learning suffuses all his utterances. Lava—And then further, Chandraketu, you ask me, if the eminence of even father [Rāma's] prowess is something I cannot put up with: I ask, Are the qualities of a Kshatriya absolutely restricted in the matter of possessors?² Sumantra—Thou certainly dost not know the Royal descendant of Ikshvāku [Rāma]. Desist now, desist and do not transgress the bounds: Thou hast to be sure wrought havoc amongst the soldiery and proved thy prowess; but thou must not speak so lightly of [Rāma,] the vanquisher of the son of Jamadagni.³ 32 Lava, with a laugh—Worthy Sir, why all this tall talk about the King [simply] because he vanquished the son of Jamadagni? For, it needs no proving that it is the valiance in words that belongs to the Brahmans; but as to the valiance in arm, that belongs to the Kshatriyas. The son of Jamadagni was a Brahman who [happened to] wield a weapon: for his having vanquished him what praise can the King [Rāma] claim? 33 Chandraketu, slightly provoked—Have done, my worthy [Sumantra], no more bandying of words!— This fellow apparently is some extraordinary avatāra of manliness, because not even [Paraśurāma,] the exalted descendant of Bhṛigu, is a hero to him! And he seems not to know even the holy exploits of father [Rāma]—exploits that have conferred upon the seven worlds [the gift of] eternal immunity from danger! 34 Lava—Who indeed does not know the exploits—the greatness—of the Lord of the Raghus? If indeed one were only to have his say—but never mind! They are old folks; their career must not be scrutinized; let them be: why discuss them? For, they are the world's great men, and their glory abates not even if they kill a woman—the wife of Sunda!⁴ And those three steps—I do not say in retreat!⁵—which were taken [by Rāma] in that mêlée with [the ¹ And the praise could go no higher. ² That is, may not others, besides Rāma, possess the Kshatriya qualities? ³ For Paraśurāma, the son of Jamadagni, see p. 20, note 6. ⁴ Tāṭakā, see note 4 on page 19 above. ⁵ Literally, 'with his face turned in a particular direction', which I need not specify. As Khara came rushing upon Rāma, the latter took a few steps backwards in order the more freely to use his bow.

81] Act V, Princes in Combat — Translation [—v. 36² demon] Khara, or that skill¹ exhibited in the murder of [Vālin] the son of Indra—the people are all conversant with that! 35 Chandraketu—Fellow! In traducing father [Rāma] thou art going beyond all bounds: Wilt thou then be so defiant? Lava—Aha! He is frowning upon me, is he? Sumantra—All ablaze now is their wrath! For,— The tremor produced by excitement has unloosened the knots of hair tied upon their forehead; their eyes, partaking slightly of the nature of a red lotus, redden spontaneously: and, by the sudden movements of the knitted eyebrows, their faces wear the beauty of the moon in which the spot is prominent, or of a lotus with the bees hovering around it. 36 The two Princes—Let us then hence repair to a place suitable for combat.² All go out. END OF ACT V CALLED PRINCES IN COMBAT. ¹ Rāma struck Vālin, the King of the Monkeys, while the latter was engaged in fight with Sugrīva. ² The place, however, was already suitable for combat in that it is on this very place that Lava routed the soldiers a while ago. See, however, note 2 on page 11 above. 11 [H.O.S. 21]

ACT VI Then enter in an aerial car a pair of air-sprites gaudily attired. Male Sprite—Oh, how marvellous really are the valorous deeds of these two scions of the Solar race [Lava and Chandraketu] fiercely engaged in a sudden combat—deeds that inflame [all the more] their [blazing] Kshatriya lustre, so that even Gods and Demons seem to be quite lost in amazement! For, look, look here, my love!— As they bend their bow, the tiny bells [upon it] tinkle like jingling bracelets, and it produces by its [vibrating] ends and by the twang of its tough string a terrific clamour; and as they discharge [a shower of] arrows, the crests on their head throb ceaselessly: it is a combat waxingly wondrous and striking the whole world down with terror! 1 And as a portent of victory for both of them, here goes the deep boom of the celestial war-drum, rumbling like a roaring rain- cloud. 2 Let us then start continually pouring upon these two heroes a thick coursing shower of flowers, mingled with a charming succession of the full-blown golden lotuses—[a shower] surcharged with comely dew-drops [glistening] upon the bunches of fresh and rubied buds [culled] from the garden of the Gods. Female Sprite—Why then, all at once, does the sky appear yellow, as if with the flashing streaks of some sudden and mightily throbbing lightning? Male Sprite—Can it then be that even to-day— The Blue-red [God Śiva] is going to open the lid of the [third] eye in his forehead, [that eye] which dazzles like the flaring orb of the Sun when whirled¹ on Tvashṭṛi's whirling lathe? 3 Reflecting. Ah, I see. It is Prince Chandraketu who has employed this Fiery missile, from which are shooting these streaks of fire. For, now— ¹ As happened when Tvashṭṛi, the divine too strong for Sañjnā, Tvashṭṛi's daughter, architect, wanted to trim off a portion wedded to the Sun. For another ex- of the Sun's brilliancy, which proved planation see Notes.

83] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 5¹¹ These countless aerial cars are flying [in all directions], their flags and chowries all singed and besmirched; while, upon the fringes of their [silken] pennons, these flames are producing, for a moment, the appearance of a tint of saffron! 4 Wonderful! It is already gaining ground everywhere—this puissant (bhagavān) fire from which are issuing sparks that fly crackling with the noise of the splinters of some wrathful thunderbolt—[fire] which is terrific in the [seething] mass of its tall and towering flames coursing rapidly! And fierce is its heat on every side. I shall, therefore, screen my dear [wife] with my body and withdraw to a [safe] distance. Does so. Female Sprite—Oh, joy that this touch of my dear Lord's body, cool like some stainless pearl, and smooth and soft and tender,—as I in ecstasy had gently closed my rolling eyes—[this touch] has quite banished all my anguish! Male Sprite—Why, what have I done here? Or rather— Though doing nothing, by the very joy [of being together] we chase away all sorrow: Indeed it is a treasure indescribable when some one has some one to love.¹ 5 Female Sprite—How now? Why is the expanse of the sky being strewn over ² with these clouds, decked with the fitful and incessant flashings of the sportive streaks of lightning, and sable like the throat of a youthful peacock? Male Sprite—Why, this must certainly be the prowess of the Vāruṇa- missiles employed by Prince Lava. Lo! The showers of water descending one after another in thousands of streams have quite quenched the Fiery missile! Female Sprite—I am glad, I am glad. Male Sprite—But lo! Everything in excess is a fault; for now are all beings whatsoever thrown into [a fit of] trembling, quite overwhelmed by this impenetrable darkness which is rendered intense by the deep rumbling clouds as they are tossed up by the series of winds ³ that portend Dissolution—[beings] who seem as if weltering in the caverned jaws (kaṇṭha) of the dreaded [God of] Death, [jaws] wide gaping to swallow the universe in one morsel—or [they seem] as if lost in the belly of the Cosmic Spirit (Nārāyaṇa) when, at the end of the Yugas, all gates of egress being closed, He falls into His yogic sleep! Bravo, Prince Chandraketu, bravo! Most appositely hast thou sent forth the Wind-missile. For now— ¹ This verse = ii. 19, where it is spoken by were above the clouds. Rāma. In the mouth of an inferior ³ There are forty-nine of these winds that character it loses its dignity. come into activity at a Dissolution of the ² 'Strewn over' and not 'overcast', for they universe.

vi. 6ᵃᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [84 This wind has dissolved all clouds, numerous though they were, into we-know-not-what (kvāpi), thus resembling the [highest] knowledge which dissolves [all] illusory-forms (vivarta) into the [fathomless] Brahma. 6 Female Sprite—But, my dear, who now is this [person], the fringe of whose upper garment is floating [to the winds] as he, in flurry, tosses up his hands, [this one here] who, even from afar, has by his sweet words forbidden the continuance of the combat and who is bringing [this] his excellent aerial car to the ground right between the two Princes? Male Sprite, observing—This is the Lord of the Raghus [Rāma], returning from [his mission of] killing Śambūka: Upon hearing the words uttered by this great personage [Rāma], Lava, out of deference to him, has withheld the discharge [of further missiles] and is appeased; Chandraketu is already paying his homage: may happiness attend the King [Rāma] by his being united with his [own] sons! 7 Come, let us hence. Both go out. END OF INTERLUDE. Then enter Rāma, and Lava, and Chandraketu [in the act of] making obeisance [to Rāma]. Rāma, alighting from the Pushpaka— Moon (chandra) of the Solar race, my Chandraketu, come, quick, let me hold thee fast to my bosom! With thy body, cool like a lump of snow, let all the burnings of my heart be allayed! 8 Raising him up and embracing him with tears of affection. Has it all been prosperous with thee and the celestial weapons into which thou hast been initiated? Chandraketu—All prosperous, [especially] by the happy acquisition of this sweet-looking and wonderfully valiant Lava. Let me request my honoured sire, therefore, to regard with the same affection with which you are wont to regard me, or even with more, this most eminent hero. Rāma, observing Lava—Happily this my son's [Chandraketu's] friend has a form that is at once quite serene and charming: He seems to be the very Science of Arms assuming a bodily form to protect the people; or is he the Code of Chivalry (kshātra- dharma) itself encased in a [human] body to safeguard the treasure of the Sacred Word? He is as if the aggregation of

85] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 12ᵈ all powers, the sum total of all [good] qualities, or the accumulated store of all the holy products of the world—standing out in a visible form. 9 Lava, to himself—This great personage, how serene is the sight of him and his prowess! He is the one great source of confidence and friendship and devotion all at the same time: of some pre-eminent merit [of mine] he seems to be the [very] fruition, moving in a bodily form. 10 Wonderful! All enmity is at an end; a feeling of intense joy creeps over [my soul]; that [former] impudence has departed, I know not where: it is modesty that now sways me. Wherefore is it then that, at the sight of him, I have so suddenly lost control over myself? Or rather [it must be that] great men, like holy places, have some priceless and inexplicable efficacy. 11 Rāma—Why then is it that this [boy], all of a sudden, alleviates my sorrows and, through some cause unknown, fills my inmost soul with affection? Or rather, that affection should at all be dependent upon any [assignable] cause is contrary [to all experience]. What binds things together is some inward mysterious tie: it is certainly not upon outward circumstances that affection rests. For, at the rise of the sun, the lotus [of itself] blooms, and so, when the moon rises, does the moon-gem (chandrakānta) ooze. 12 Lava—Chandraketu, who is this great personage? Chandraketu—My dear friend, it is the venerable father. Lava—So likewise then must he be to me, strictly-speaking (dharmataḥ), since thou callest me thy dear friend. But there are, as I have learnt, four persons, the worthy heroes of the Rāmāyaṇa story, who claim from you this mode of appellation. So tell me [more] definitely. Chandraketu—Understand then that he is my eldest sire. Lava, transported with joy—What! The Lord of the Raghus [Rāma] in person! Blessings on the dawn of a day that has brought me the sight of this [divine] King! After looking [at him] with eager curiosity and reverence. Sire, this is Lava, the pupil of the son of Varuṇa [Vālmīki], saluting you. Rāma—Come, long-lived one, come. Embracing him affectionately. Enough, my dear boy, enough of this excess of modesty. Let me fold thee again and again in a close embrace.

vi. 13ᵃᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [86 Soft and smooth and tender like the mellowed (pariṇata) interior of a full-blown lotus, and cool like the moon or like the juice of sandal—thy touch fills me with joy. 13 Lava, to himself—Such is the causeless affection of this [great personage] towards me! And I, in my stupidity, conceived hostility even towards him, and carried my perverseness to the point of taking up arms against him! Aloud. Will the venerable father now pardon this Lava his childish folly? Rāma—What is the fault that the dear one has committed ? Chandraketu—Hearing from the escorts of the horse the proclamation of Your Honour's valour, he has displayed his heroism. Rāma—Why, this is just what adorns a Kshatriya. For, a valorous man does not tolerate the encroaching valour of others: such is his proper nature inherent in his constitution and therefore not artificial; [and this explains] why it is that when the divine Sun shines incessantly with his rays, the fire-stone, as if in wounded pride, vomits flames. 14 Chandraketu—Even an intolerance [of this sort] becomes graceful only in a [great] hero like him. For, let my revered father but see how the jṛimbhaka missile discharged by my dear friend has thrown all these forces into a dead stupor! Rāma, observing—Dear Lava, withdraw the missile; and do thou also, Chandraketu, console thy forces that are stock-still in paralysing stupor. Lava falls into a meditation. Chandraketu—So as you command. Exit. Lava—The missile is at rest. Rāma—Dear [Lava], these [jṛimbhaka] missiles and the secret spells for employing and withdrawing them have a tradition of their own [without which they cannot be imparted]: Brahmā (Brahmán) and others, in the interest of the Sacred Truth (bráhman), practised penances for over a thousand autumns. And then those Sires (guru) of old obtained a vision of these [missiles] as if these were the very fires of their own penances. 15 Then the occult formulae relating to the study of these holy [missiles] the exalted Kṛiśāśva imparted to the son of Kuśika, [Viśvāmitra,] who had been his pupil for over a thousand years; and that exalted one [Viśvāmitra] [imparted them] to me. This then has been the previous succession [of teachers]. I would know therefore whence hast thou, noble youth, received the tradition?

87] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 19ᵇ Lava—The missiles revealed themselves spontaneously to both of us. Rāma, reflecting—Nothing is impossible. It may be some peculiar greatness following as the result of the ripening of some pre-eminent merit. But, how ‘both of us’? Lava—We are two brothers—twins. Rāma—Where then is the other? [Voice,] behind the curtain—Bhāṇḍāyana, Bhāṇḍāyana! “That the long-lived Lava has had an affray with the army of the King”—is there any truth in this report? “Even so, dear friend,” didst thou say? To-day then, in all the worlds, let the title ‘supreme king’ come to an end, and let the fires of the Kshatriya weapons be all quenched this day! 16 Rāma—Who now may this be—he, of a complexion dark-blue like a sapphire, who even by the sound [of his voice] gives me a thrill of horripilation and makes me seem like a kadamba [tree] that, at the deep roar of an early and sable rain-cloud, instantly bursts forth into buds? 17 Lava—This is he, my elder [brother], the noble Kuśa by name, [just] returned from Bharata’s hermitage.¹ Rāma, in eagerness—Hither, my dear boy, hither call him, the long-lived one. Lava—Very well. Walks about. Then enters Kuśa. Kuśa, twanging his bow in joyful assurance and pride— If it is with the scions of the Solar race, with those kings who have given their tribute of protection even unto [God] Indra, and who ever since the times of Manu—that exalted Son of the Sun-god—have ever, for consuming the high and the mighty, set ablaze their fires of Kshatriya valour—if it is with these that to-day I am to have a fight, then blessed is this my bow, the string of which is radiant with the fierce-shooting flames that flash from the fiery arms. 18 Moves about in hauteur. Rāma—A rare abundance of manliness has this lovable (-ka) young Kshatriya! His eye, for even the mightiest of the mighty of the three worlds, shows a disdain as if for mere chaff; his stride, at once firm and proud, seems as though bending the earth low [in submission]; ¹ See iv. 22³³ ᶠᶠ· above, p. 69.

vi. 19ᶜ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [88 even in his tender-youth he carries the hauteur of a mountain— Is it the Sentiment of Heroism or of Pride that, [incarnate in him,] is approaching me? 19 Lava, approaching [Kuśa]—Victory unto the noble one! Kuśa—Well, long-lived [Lava], what is all this talk about the fight? Lava—Ah, a mere trifle. Towards this one, let my noble brother, laying aside his haughty bearing, behave with respect. Kuśa—And why? Lava—Because it is the King, the Lord of the Raghus, that is standing there. He is affectionate towards us and is eager to meet you. Kuśa, reflecting—Dost thou mean the hero of the Rāmāyaṇa story, the guardian of the treasures of the Sacred Word? Lava—The same. Kuśa—He certainly is a great man, and to see him is sanctifying and a thing to wish for! But how are we going to accost him, that is what I do not see. Lava—In the mode prescribed for a guru: with reverence. Kuśa—But how in the world can that be? Lava—Here is Chandraketu, son of Ūrmilā, a youth exceedingly noble, who calls me his dear friend and offers me his friendship; so by virtue of that relation this Royal sage becomes, strictly speaking, our father.¹ Kuśa—In that case, albeit a Kshatriya, we may show him deference without incurring any reproach [for lack of self-respect]. Both walk about. Lava—Let my noble brother look upon this great personality: [Are not] his mien, his majesty, his serene-dignity sure indications of those countless and extraordinarily noble achievements? Kuśa, gazing attentively— How graceful is his form—how hallowing his majestic presence! Rightly indeed has the poet of the Rāmāyaṇa [Vālmīki] trans- formed² the Goddess of Speech [into that poem]. 20 Approaching. Father, this is Kuśa, the pupil of the son of Varuṇa [Vālmīki], making his salutation. Rāma—Come, thou long-lived one, come: Here am I eager, in my affection, to embrace thee whose form- and-stature is lovely like a cloud filled with nectar. 21 Embraces him. To himself. Whose child then may this youth be? [He seems to be—] ¹ The irony of the dramatic situation is obvious. ² Compare ii. 5ᵃᶠᶠ. above.

89] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 27¹ Like the innermost essence of affection exuded from every particle of my body—as if the very substance of my soul, issuing from here and standing there visibly before me—besprinkled, as it were, with the very meltings of my heart when stirred up with an intense emotion of joy: him as I embrace, he seems to be, as it were, pouring a stream of ambrosial juice [upon me]. 22 Lava—Father, upon our brows the hot-rayed [sun] is burning. Will you therefore deign to take a seat a while in the dense shade of this Sāla tree? Rāma—Yes, if it is agreeable to my son. *They move about and sit down in the proper manner.*¹ Rāma, to himself— Ha! Although they are deferential in their conduct, these postures in walking and standing and sitting, both of Kuśa and of Lava, they are things that bespeak their [future] sovereignty. 23 These stately graces that seem inherently to belong to it: they set off a body that is handsome and waxes lovelier at every phase;—as do the pleasing rays the spotless jewel, or the drops of honey the full-blown lotus. 24 I note further that they both possess in large measure the traits common to the princes of the [royal] race of Raghu: A form dark-blue like the throat of some lusty pigeon, the shoulders broad like those of a young bull, the pose (āśaya) [very] elegant; a look dauntless like that of a reposing lion, and a voice deep-and-full like a festive drum! 25 Observing [more] closely. Ah! It is not merely with mine that their form bears resemblance, but— There are also those traits proper to the daughter of Janaka [Sītā]—all to be clearly made out here in these two boys: It is as if once again has come within the range of my sight that face of my beloved wife in all the glory of a fresh and full-blown lotus! 26 Lovely with the lustre of teeth clear as pearls, here are their lips of the very same stamp, and also the same curve of the ear. The eyes, to be sure, are not blue;² but they have the same note of comeliness. 27 Thoughtfully. And this is that same forest, inhabited by the son of Varuṇa [Vālmīki], where, I was told, the Queen was abandoned. And ¹ So as to reveal to Rāma their princely ² 'Not blue', but red, as a man's eyes should breeding. be, according to Sāmudrika-śāstra. 12 [H.O.S. 21]

vi. 27²—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [90 such here are the looks and the age and the prowess of these two [boys]. Now as to the missiles being self-revealed to them, let me see: Can it really be that the permission which, in the course of our viewing those pictures, I gave unto the missiles has had its effect? For, even in the case of the ancients, we never have heard of any missiles obtained without a [formal] handing over. There is also this my heart’s extreme joy-and-sorrow that affords to my wavering mind [further] assurance. Often had I perceived that it was twins that the Queen would bring forth. With tears: In those days gone by, when our love, once formed, had grown with the growth of familiarity, I was the first, with the practised feel of my hand, to discover, in the confidence of privacy—her eyes lowered nevertheless in her inborn bashfulness—that it was twins that were in store for her. It was some days later that she discovered it. 28 Weeps. Shall I then, in some way or other, ask them [directly]? Lava—What can this mean, Father? Unto this face that is as a blessing to the world, with this shower of tears, you are lending the beauty of a white lotus glistening [lit. besprinkled] with dew-drops. 29 Kuśa—But don’t you see, my dear boy?— Without his Queen, Sītā, to the Lord of the Raghus what thing is there that may not be painful? For, with the loss of one’s beloved, the whole world, it is said, becomes a wilderness! On the one hand, that [extreme] degree of love, and here, on the other, is this separation that is endless! Why askest thou thus then, as if thou hadst never studied the Rāmāyaṇa? 30 Rāma, to himself—Oh, they talk as if the matter did not concern them: no need therefore of asking any [direct] question. Thou wretched heart! What means this thy sudden transport of emotion? Not being able to contain within me the anguish of my heart, I am commiserated even by these boys! Well, I will change the topic. Aloud. There is current, my dear boys, a report about what they call ‘Rāmāyaṇa’, a panegyric of the Solar race, the outpouring of the exalted Vālmīki’s learning-and- eloquence (Sarasvatī). I wish, therefore, out of curiosity, to hear some part of it. Kuśa—That entire story is [quite] familiar to us. Here, to begin with (tāvat), are these two stanzas,¹ coming in a chapter at the end of the ‘Bālacharita’, that rise into my memory. ¹ The Calcutta recension of the Rāmāyaṇa the other recensions the readings differ. gives these very stanzas near the end of See Notes. the Bāla-kāṇḍa (Gorresio, i. 78¹³–¹⁵); in

91] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 36³ Rāma—Repeat [them], my dear boy. Kuśa—“It was her nature that made Sītā dear unto Rāma’s mighty heart; but she endeared herself all the more unto him by reason of her [good] qualities. 31 So also was Rāma unto Sītā dearer than her very life: only their heart knows the extent of each other’s affection.” 32 Rāma—Alas! Exceedingly cruel is this blow upon the very vitals of my heart! Ha, Queen! So indeed it then was! Oh, how tormenting are these affairs of the world—fraught¹ with capricious reverses [of fortune], extremely painful, and all terminating in void phantoms! Where now is that joy which, springing from an absolute [mutual] confidence, knew no bounds? Where that mutual assiduousness [for each other’s comfort], and where those fathomless charms of novelty? In pleasure or in pain where indeed [can I now find] that unison of hearts?—and yet this my cursed heart (prāṇa) does continue to beat and will not cease! 33 Woe and alas!— That period wherein were revealed to me, as in one flash, those [hundreds and] thousands of my dear [Sītā’s] charms—of that period beset with painful memories, the memory recurs to me now. 34 For then, little by little, each succeeding day leaving its mark upon them, the breasts of my fawn-eyed [Sītā] kept expanding slowly like a bud; and then also it was that, strengthened by the concord of our age and our love and our longings, the God of Love had his opportunity (sphurati) to rage freely in our hearts, but demurely in the outward-expression (vapushi). 35 Lava—Here is another stanza² addressed by the Lord of the Raghus unto the Queen Sītā in the course of their pleasure-trip in the outskirts [vana] of the Chitrakūṭa [mountain] close by the [river] Mandākinī.— “As if set purposely for thee, here in front is this slab of stone; all around it this kesara tree has rained as it were a rain of flowers!” 36 Rāma, with a bashful smile and a mixture of love and pathos—Children are indeed artlessly-simple, especially if they be forest-bred. Alas, Queen! Dost thou remember what transports of unreserved endearments we did then have? Alas, alas! ¹ Or, devoid of all real relations, positive or ² See Rāmāyaṇa, Bombay recension, the extra negative. canto after ii. 95, stanzas 5–6.

vi. 37ᵃ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [92 [Thy face] bedewed with the cooling drops of sweat and radiant with thy moonlike forehead upon which thronged thy tresses as they blew to the breezes wafted gently from over the Mandākinī [river]—with thy cheeks glistening and [thy forehead] no longer marked with the [wonted] kuṅkuma-spot¹—thy face gentle with the mild curve of thy unadorned ears: it is as if I were seeing it now vividly (utprekshyate) before me! 37 Remains stock-still [in meditation], with pathos. Alas, alas indeed! After a long, long meditation, when one creates [in fancy] and puts before him the image of his love, it is by no means the case that such [an image], although [the actual object be] far off, does not fill one with reassurance; but with the dissolution of that [product of] imagination, the whole world becomes [once more] a void wilderness, and thereafter, as if upon a heap of blazing husks, the heart seems to be broiling! 38 [Voice,] behind the curtain— Alarmed at the report of the boys' affray, Vasiṣṭha and Vālmīki and the [widowed] Queens of Daśaratha, Janaka along with Arundhatī: from the far distant hermitage they are in sooth all coming hither, very slowly—their frames tottering with age, and themselves slow with fatigue, but hurrying with their mind. 39 Rāma—How, the exalted Arundhatī and Vasiṣṭha and the Queen-mothers and Janaka—are they all even here? Alas! How indeed can I meet them [now]? Observing, and with pathos. Ha! That father[-in-law] Janaka also should have come right hither—this is like the blow of a thunderbolt to me, ill-starred that I am! After having seen that union of father [Daśaratha] with [my] father[-in-law Janaka] on that festive occasion of the marriage of their children—[a marriage] approved by Vasiṣṭha and others, all overjoyed at the desirableness of the connexion—after that, why am I not torn to a thousand shreds as I, following upon such a terrible disaster [to my wife], behold, in this his present plight, Janaka, this friend of my father? 40 [Voice,] behind the curtain—Woe and alas!— Upon seeing suddenly, in his present plight, the Lord of the Raghus [Rāma], shorn of all his glory save his innate-majesty, these sorrow-stricken Queen-mothers—after reviving Janaka who ¹ Saffron (kuṅkuma) forms the indispensable Respecting the incident as given in the adornment of every married woman. In Rāmāyaṇa, see the Notes. this case it was temporarily rubbed off.

93] Act VI, Princes Recognized — Translation [—vi. 42³ was the first to fall into a swoon—are themselves going into a swoon! 41 Rāma—Alas, father! Alas, mothers! Seeing that for her who was, of Janaka's and of Raghu's family, the all-in-all of auspiciousness, I showed no compassion,—vain is your [present] compassion for me! 42 I will go forthwith to attend upon them. Rises. Kuśa and Lava—This way, this way, father! All move about in pathetic flurry and exeunt. END OF ACT VI CALLED PRINCES RECOGNIZED.

ACT VII Then enters Lakshmaṇa. Lakshmaṇa—Ho, my worthy Sirs! To-day the exalted Vālmīki, as ye know (khalu), has summoned, along with ourselves, [our] subjects from towns and districts, with all Brahmans and Kshatriyas; and he has also, by his own [spiritual] power, secured the presence of hosts of Gods and Demons, [Apes and other] animals, the Serpent-lords with their retinue: in fact, the whole assemblage of Beings movable and immovable. And I am directed by the noble [King, Rāma] as follows—"Dear Lakshmaṇa, the exalted Vālmīki has invited us to witness his own play that is to be enacted by heavenly nymphs. Go, therefore, to the banks of the Ganges, which is to be the place for the concert, and seat the audience properly."— I have accordingly assigned proper seats to all the assemblage of Beings mortal and immortal. And here, now,— Is the noble [King, Rāma] who, even while carrying on the life- and-functions (āśrama) of royalty, has to follow the rigorous course of a hermit’s life: he is coming hither out of deference to [sage] Vālmīki. 1 Then enters Rāma. Rāma—Dear Lakshmaṇa, have the distinguished spectators (prāśnika) taken their seats? Lakshmaṇa—They have. Rāma—And those two boys—Kuśa and Lava—let them have accorded to them a position similar to [that of] Prince Chandraketu. Lakshmaṇa—Considering Your Lordship’s affection for them, that is just what I have done. Here is spread out the Royal seat. Both sit down. Rāma—Sirs, let the play begin. Stage-manager, entering—The exalted son of Varuṇa, [Vālmīki,] truthful in his utterances, thus commands the world movable and immovable— “Here is what dawned upon us in our spiritual insight—a certain composi- tion of ours pure-and-edifying and full of the Pathetic and the Marvellous sentiments. Do you, therefore, because of the importance of the issue [connected with it,] pay attention to the same.”

95] Act VII, Reunion — Translation [—vii. 3⁶ Rāma—The meaning is, that sages possess a direct intuition of what is right (dharma). The knowledge of [such] exalted personages is uncoloured by passions, is a Repository of Truth,¹ is never known to fail. It must therefore be beyond [every possibility of] doubt. [Voice,] behind the curtain—Alas, my noble Lord! Alas, dear Lakshmaṇa! Alone and undefended as I am, and with these pangs of childbirth upon me, in this [dreary] forest, the beasts of prey, desperate [with hunger], are longing to devour me! Therefore now, ill-starred that I am, I will throw myself into the Mandākinī [Ganges]. Lakshmaṇa, to himself—Woe and alas! This is something quite un- expected! Stage-manager—The daughter of the All-sustaining [Earth], Queen Sītā, being abandoned by the King in the great forest: she, with travail coming upon her, is throwing herself into the divine Ganges. 2 Exit. Rāma, excitedly—Queen, my Queen! Just tarry [but] one instant! Lakshmaṇa—My noble brother, this is a play! Rāma—Alas, Queen! Thou dear companion in the wilderness of Daṇḍakā! This then has been the evil ripening of thy fate—and through Rāma! Lakshmaṇa—Noble brother, let us, if you please, see how the play turns out. Rāma—Here am I, ready and with a heart of adamant! Then enters Sītā swooning and supported by Pṛithivī [the Earth] and Jāhnavī [the Ganges], who have each an infant in their lap. Rāma—Brother, lend me thy support: I seem to be plunging into some unknown and untrodden [abyss of] gloom! The two Goddesses [Pṛithivī and Bhāgīrathī]— Take heart, [Sītā,] thou blessed daughter of [Janaka,] King of the Videhas: Fortune is smiling upon thee. While in the waters thou hast given birth to two sons that shall be the upholders of Raghu's line. 3 Sītā, recovering—Oh, joy! I have given birth to [two] sons!—Ha, my noble Lord! Swoons [again]. Lakshmaṇa, falling [at Rāma's feet]—I say, my noble brother, Fortune is smiling upon us! The stock of Raghu has put forth glorious offshoots. Observing. Oh, how now? Overwhelmed by the flood of stirring tears, my noble brother has swooned quite away! Fans [him]. The two Goddesses—Cheer up, dear daughter, cheer up! Sītā, recovering—Who may your Ladyship be—and you? ¹ A technical term of Yoga, for which see Notes.

vii. 3⁷—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [96 Pṛithivī—This is the Guardian-divinity of your father-in-law's house— [the river] Bhāgīrathī. Sītā—My homage unto thee, Exalted one! Bhāgīrathī—Mayest thou attain all those blessings that thy [noble] character [richly] merits! Lakshmaṇa—We are [by this expression of goodwill mightily] favoured. Bhāgīrathī—This is the Exalted [Goddess], the All-sustaining [Earth]: thy mother. Sītā—Alas, mother! That thou shouldst see me—and in such a plight! Pṛithivī—Come, darling—Come [unto me], my daughter! Embraces [Sītā] and faints. Lakshmaṇa, in joy—So [happily] the noble Queen has been by Pṛithivī and Bhāgīrathī taken under their protection. Rāma, observing—It is indeed good—but it harrows me so! Bhāgīrathī—Is even the all-sustaining Goddess [Earth] thus affected? Then all-triumphant indeed is a mother's affection! Or rather [why do I say so?]—Nobody that has any feelings at all can escape this [affection, this] unending thread of the world-and-its-concerns (saṁsāra), this mysterious knot of infatuation. My child, thou daughter of the King of the Videhas! And thou Goddess [Earth] that art [thyself] the stay unto all creatures! Take heart [both of you]; be comforted. Pṛithivī, recovering—Goddess [Bhāgīrathī]! Being mother to Sītā, how can I take heart? First there was her long abode among the Rākshasas [with Rāvaṇa], and, as a second [calamity], this her abandonment, most dreadful [even] to hear: Bhāgīrathī—But what being indeed is there—when Fate is intent upon evolving its fruit—that can close the gates against it [Fate]? 4 Pṛithivī—Bhāgīrathī, is this becoming—is this at all like dear Rāma? No regard whatever has he shown to this [my Sītā's] hand, clasped in her tender years by him in tender years—nor any [regard] for me, nor for Janaka, nor for the Fire[-ordeal], nor for [Sītā's] companionship [in the Daṇḍakā-forest], nor [finally] for the continuance of [his own race]! 5 Sītā—Alas, my noble Lord! Of thee I am put in mind— Pṛithivī—Forsooth! who now is thy noble Lord? Sītā, abashed, with tears—So [be it then] as my mother says. Rāma—Mother Pṛithivī, here am I, such [I confess, as thou sayest].

97] Act VII, Reunion — Translation [—vii. 8cd] Bhāgīrathī—Exalted [Earth], thou Giver of all blessings! Thou art of this living world its very body [and soul]. Wherefore then, as if not cognizant [of facts], art thou wroth at [Rāma,] thy son-in-law? A dread infamy was gaining ground among the people; and as to that clearing [of Sītā] by the [ordeal of] fire, it took place in the [distant] Island of Laṅkā [Ceylon]: how possibly could the people of this place give credence to it? And it has always been the precious heritage (dhana) of Ikshvāku's race to keep the entire people content. In this trying extremity, therefore, what [else] could my dear [Rāma] have done? 6 Lakshmaṇa—Divinities indeed possess an unerring intuitive vision in regard to [the thoughts and motives of] all beings. Bhāgīrathī—Nevertheless, here am I folding my hands in supplication [and craving thy grace and pardon for Rāma]. Rāma—Holy mother [Bhāgīrathī], continual has been thy favour towards [us] the descendants of Bhagīratha. Pṛithivī—I am always favourably disposed towards you; but it was the vehemence of my affection, [terrific] sudden and hard to withstand, [that prompted those words of mine]. I am indeed not unaware of dear Rāma's love to Sītā: Constrained through Fate to abandon dear [Sītā], he [Rāma], with that [keen torment] consuming his mind, has been kept alive only by his own supernatural firmness (sattva), and by the [pre-eminent] merits of his subjects. 7 Rāma—Indeed they have been full of tenderness for [me] their child— these my gurus [Pṛithivī and Bhāgīrathī]. Sītā, weeping, with folded hands—Let my mother [Earth] receive me in her bosom for eternal rest. Rāma—What else could she ask? Bhāgīrathī—God forbid! Mayest thou for thousands of years continue in [the bloom of] thy life! Pṛithivī—Child, these thy dear sons need to be looked after. Sītā—What have I to do with these, now that I am without my Lord? Rāma—Thou art of adamant, my heart! Bhāgīrathī—How—thy Lord¹ still alive—canst thou be without a Lord? Sītā—Luckless as I am, what does my Lord's being alive signify for me? The two Goddesses—Being, as thou art, the source of all blessings to the world, wherefore dost thou thus misprize thyself? Even we ourselves, in thy company, feel an augmentation of our purity. 8 ¹ The word for 'lord' or husband means also protector. 13 [H.O.S. 21]

vii. 8¹—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [98 Lakshmaṇa—Did you hear that, my noble brother? Rāma—The people—let them hear. A tumult behind the curtain. Rāma—Something yet more marvellous [is coming]! Sītā—Why is it that the whole firmament seems ablaze? The two Goddesses—We know: Those very missiles of which Kṛiśāśva, [Viśvāmitra] the son of Kuśika, and Rāma were in turn the masters,—those missiles that produce stupor—are appearing! 9 [Voice,] behind the curtain—All hail, Queen Sītā! It is before thy sons that we have to present ourselves; as was said—in the course of seeing those pictures—by the noble descendant of Raghu [Rāma]. 10 Sītā—So, happily, these are the Deities of the missiles: Ha, my noble Lord, thy favours continue unabated even now! Lakshmaṇa—My noble brother had then said [unto Sītā], 'Assuredly now these will attend upon thy offspring.'¹ The two Goddesses—Our homage unto you, ye mighty missiles! Blessed are we in this your favour: Be pleased to reveal yourselves whenever they [the boys] shall meditate upon you; and may these our dear sons prosper under your favour! 11 Rāma—These surging billows of grief—broken by the mingling [floods] of joy and wonder—they have really thrown me now into an inexplicable state of mind! 12 The two Goddesses—Rejoice, child! For now have thy sons become the equals of our dear Rāma. Sītā—But who, exalted [Goddess], will now do for them the rites befitting a Kshatriya? Rāma—This one now, the maintainer of that line of the Raghus which claims to be under Vasishṭha's protection; alas, even she—Sītā— is at a loss to find some one who shall give unto her sons the sacraments and befitting education! 13 Bhāgīrathī—My child, why this anxiety? For, as soon as they are weaned, I shall deliver them into the exalted Vālmīki's hands. He will do all that needs to be done for them as Kshatriyas: As are the sages Vasishṭha and Āṅgirasa, even so is the [saintly] son of Varuṇa, [Vālmīki,] the guru of both the families, that of Janaka and that of Raghu. 14 Rāma—A happy thought this of the exalted [Bhāgīrathī]. Lakshmaṇa—Noble brother, to tell the truth, I am really led to surmise, ¹ See p. 19, above.

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

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]