Vikramorvaseeyam
by Kavikula Guru
Sri Kalidasa
translated by
EDWARD BYLES COWELL,
ACT IV.
Introductory song
(AkshiptiMJ of Sahajanta and
Chitkalekha, hehind
the scenes.
Forlorn, in separation
from her best beloved,
she flutters,
bewildered, with one of her companions,
on the bosom of the
lake, with its
lotus-blossoms, opened
at the touch of the sunbeams.
Enter Sahajanta and
Chitkalekha.
chitealekha'.
\_As she enters and
looks round,
in the Dwipadikd
measure.
Consumed with sorrow
for their friend, the loving
pair of swans mourn in
the lake, with their eyes flowing
with tears.
SAHAJANTi
\_Moumfully.
Dear Chitralekh& !
the shade on thy face, dark like the
fading lotus, betrays
the sickness of thy heart ; oh, tell me
the cause of thy
sadness, that I, too, may be a like sorrower
with thee.
OB, THK HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 65
OHITEALEKHA.
[_In a sorrowful
voice.
Oh, my friend ! I have
been full of longing regrets, since
I saw the
spring-season arrive without her my loved friend,
who had been appointed
for attendance on the sun, in the
order of the service
of the nymphs.
SAHAJANYA.
I know well your
mutual fondness, but what further ?
chitealbkh£
And at this very time,
while I fixed my thoughts in
divine meditation to
see what tidings there might be, a
terrible misfortune
indeed have I found !
SAHAJANYA.
What can it be ?
OHITBALEKHA.
[^Mournfully.
Urvas'i, then, had
taken the fortunate king (who had
entrusted the burden
of his kingdom to his counsellors), and
was gone to roam with
him in the Gandha-madana forests,
in the region of the
heights of Kailasa.
SAHAJANYA.
[Applauding.
It was a pleasure
which right well suited such spots !
but what more ?
CHITEALEKHA.
There, on the banks of
the Mandakini, my loved Urvas'i
was deeply incensed,
because the king for a moment directed
his thoughts to the
daughter of a Vidyadhara, named Udakavati,
who was sporting on
the hills of sand.
66 VIKKAMORTASI;
SAHAJANTA.
She was jealous, and
her love went too far. Well,
destiny was strong
even there ; what followed ?
CHITEALEKHA.
She rejected all her
husband's conciliations, and her
heart being blinded by
the Sage's curse, she forgot the
divine decree and
hurried into the grove of Kartikeya, to be
for ever shunned by
all damsels ; and immediately on her
entrance, her form was
changed into that of a creeper growing
by the edge of the
wood.
SAHAJANTA.
[/ra great distress.
Surely there is
nothing which is inviolable to destiny,
by which even the
change of such a form can be wrought.
But what more ?
CHITEALEKHA.
The King, utterly reft
of his senses, wanders through
the forest, ever
seeking his beloved, and spends days and
nights in continual
exclamations, " Urvas'i is here !—^Urvas'i
is there !"
(Looldng at the shy.) And little cure, I conjecture,
will he find from
yonder rising of clouds, which
wakes a longing even
in the blest.*
* The "Eainy
Season" of the Hindti poet answers to our Spring,
being ss full of
tender associations.
OB, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. €7
[JAMBHALIKA SON«]
Consumed witli sorrow
for their friend, the loving
pair of swans mourn in
the lake, their hot tears
ceaselessly welling.
SAHAJANYA.
O dearest ! is there
any means of re-union ?
OHITKALEKHA.
Alas ! whence, indeed,
is there any means, except from
the jewel of union
which sprang from the glow of Durga's
feet?
SAHAJANYA.
Oh ! surely such noble
forms do not long have sorrow
as their portion ;
some means of re-union, I foretell,
will be assuredly
discovered, which shall conciliate her
favour again. (Looking
at the eastern quarter.) But come,
let us haste to our
attendance on the sun, yon glorious
monarch of the east.
[KHAItDASHASA SOMO]
Agitated with anguish
of heart, longing for the
sight of her
companion— amidst the soul-ravishing
splendours of the
full-blown lotuses, wanders
along the lake the
lonely swan.
\JExeun(.
END or THE PEAVESAKA68
VIKEAMOSVASi';
Behind the Scenes, cm
Introductory Song of Pukubavas.
The lord of elephants
enters the forest—how
visibly changed, with
the madness of separation from
his love, while his
mountain-form is adorned with
flowers and sprays,
the spoils of the trees which he
Enter the King, mad,
with his gaze fixed on the shy.
KINO.
\Angrily.
Ah, villain, demon !
stay ! stay ! whither fliest thou with
my darling? {Looking.)
What! he hath flown from the
summit of the mountain
to the sky, and now pelts me with
arrows. (Seizing a
clod of earth in his hand, and running as
if to striJce, he
breaks out immediately in the Dwipadikd*
measure, looking on
all sides.J
tjSOHS]
With a pang fixed in
his heart for the loss of his
love, and flapping his
wings, in the lake mourns the
young swan, with
tear-streams gushing from his eyes.
{Suddenly recognising
the object, in a ivailing voice). Ah no !
it is yon shower-armed
cloud, and no haughty demon of
the night ; it is
yonder bow of heaven drawn to its full,
and no bow for earthly
arrows ; it is yon keen-shafted
shower, and not a
succession of arrows ; it is the lightning
glistening like a
streak of gold on the touch-stone,f and not
* This and other
similar terms used throughout this Act refer to
musical measures ; but
their precise import is doubtful,
t Kftlidfea repeats
this simile in the Meghaduta, sloke 89.
OE, THE HBEO AND THE
NYMPH. 69
my own loved Urvas'i !
{Hefalh fainting—again he rises with
a sighr-in Dwipadikd.)
Now I know too well some demon
of darkness steals
away her of the fawn - like eye, when
yonder dark cloud
carries off the young lightning ! {Having
thought a moment—in a
mournful voice.) Where—where
then can she be gone ?
Perhaps she has hidden herself somewhere
in her displeasure, by
an effort of her heavenly power
;
yet she will not be
angry long ; perhaps she may have flown
up to Swarga ; yet
still her soul is full of tenderness
towards me !
{Angrily.) If she were now before me, not
all the enemies of the
gods could carry her away. What
means it, then, that
she is now gone so far out of my
sight ? {Looking
round, sighing and weeping^in Dwipadikd.J
Ah ! to those who have
adverse fortune, sorrow comes fast
bound to sorrow ; do
you ask me, how so ? See'—this blow
of separation from my
beloved so hard to be endured and
fallen so suddenly
upon me ; and that, too, when the days
are so delightful,
that we need no umbrella to shade us
from the heat through
the rising of the new water-laden
clouds. (Charchari
air.) Kestrain thy anger at my
command, O cloud, that
overspreadest the sky with thy
continuous showers ;
if ever in my wanderings o'er the
earth I behold my
beloved, then, oh then, whatsoever thou
shalt do I will bear
it. {After musing—in CharchariM).
Alas ! the redoubled
sorrow of my mind is all beheld in vain.
But since the holy
sages say, that the king is the source of
seasons, shall I put
back the season of the rainy clouds ?
70 VIKRAMORVAST;
[CHABCHAal SONG]
Resonant with the
songs of the perfume-maddened
bees, and the
loudly-blown pipes of the Kokilas, with
its multitude of young
branches shaken by the wind
which sweeps through
them,—with various gestures
of joy, dances the
heavenly tree.*
{He dances to the
song.) But I will not put the season back,
after all ! since it
now pays me homage as its liege, with
all the signs of the
Rainy Season. {Smiling.') Yes—yonder
cloud is my canopy of
state, bright with streaks of lightning
for gold, and the
Nichula trees wave over me their sprays
for chowries ; my
heralds are yonder peacocks, as they raise
their shriller voices
at the cessation of the heat ; and the
mountains are my
merchants, busied in bringing me their
showers. {Again,
Charchari.) Well, but what have I to
do with the homage of
a court-train ? I will wander away
through the wood and
seek for the darling I have lost.
[BHmnAXA SONG]
[In the interval of
recitation.\
Bereft of his love,
and intensely distressed,
behold ! with worn
feet, the lord of the elephant-herd
slowly roams, followed
by the pangs of absence, in
the forests of the
hUls, blazing with blossom !
* The Kalpa in Indra's
heaven.
t The Scholiast
explains pdtha as " instrumental symphony,'' and
reads pdthasydmte. But
why may we not take it in its usual sense of
"recitation,"
applying it to the King's monologue (to which the verb
ipatha is applied, p.
45, 1. 17 ; and p. 46, 1. 18) ; aind thus supposing that
the songs were sung
behind the scenes, in the intervals of silence ?
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. VI
{Hamng walked round
and looked, joyfully, in Dwipadikd
measure). Ah ! all !
my resolve has prospered ! This young
Banana, and its
flowers, with their red edges and their moist
calyxes,* recals the
memory of her eyes, when anger suffused
them with tears. She
is gone from hence, but how shall she
be tracked .'' If she
with the fair form had touched with her
feet the cloud-watered
soil of these woods, I should see
the line of her lovely
footsteps marked with lac, with the
deeper impression of
her heels behind. {He walks round
and looks—in
Dwipadikd.) Ah ! ah ! I have found a sign
by which my angry
love's way is joyfully tracked : without
doubt, this is her
scarf, dark blue like a parrot's breast,
which she threw in
anger away, when it impeded her path,
and it yet bears the
marks of her falling tear-drops, which
have stolen the
redness of her lips. Well ! I will seize it.
[Walking rmmd, and
perceiving what it is, with tears).
What ! it is but a
grassy glade covered with Indragopas !
whence, then, in this
forest shall I find any tidings of my
love ! (Looking.)
Perched on the rocky cliff of the mountain,
with a shower hanging
over it, yon peacock sits gazing
at the clouds, with
its tail shaken by the strong east wind,
and its neck stretched
out to its full, as swelling with its
coming cry. Well, I
will ask it.
[KHAHDAKA SOPTG]
Full of sorrow,
longing for the sight of his
* Or perhaps,
"laden with moisture."
72 VIKRAMOETAs'f;
beloved, the noblest
of elephants, the repeller of
enemies, wanders hurriedly
on, bewildered in his
inmost mind.
{Charchari—in the
interval of the Khandaka.) I beseech thee,
O lord of the Peacocks
! tell me, if, as thou roamest through
the woods, thou hast
seen my own beautiful bride. O hear
me ! a face like the
moon, and a Hansa's gait ; thou wilt
know the signs of her,
for I have told them unto thee.
fHe sits down with
Charcharihd music, and folds his hands,j
O bird of the
white-angled eye, with the dark-blue throat!
hast thou seen in this
forest the desire of my heart, my
loved wife, with the
long eye,*—an object well worthy
to be seen ? {He sits
with Charcharihd music, and looks.)
Ha ! he gives me no
answer, but begins to dance. {Again
Charohari.) What can
be the reason of his delight?
Ha! I know it. Now
that my loved one is lost, his tail
beautiful like a
cloud, outspread in the gentle breeze, is
without a rival ; for
whom, indeed, would the peacock
charm, if she were
near, with the flower-encircled tresses of
her, the
lovely-haired, fallen all loose in the hour of joy ?
Well ; I will ask no
more of one who thus rejoices over
other's ills. {He
looks rownd with a Dwipadikd air.) Ah I
yonder is a female
Kokila sitting on the boughs of the
rose-apple, her
passion inflamed, now the sultry heat is
past. These are the
wisest of birds. I will ask it.
* IMerally. "With
the long corner of the eye."
OR, THE HBEO AND THE
NYMPH. 73
[KHUEAKA SONG.]
Dwelling in the grove
of the Vidyddharas, with
tears of sadness
bursting from his eyes, and with
all the joy of his
heart driven far away, the King
of Elephants wanders
on and on, with the majesty
of a cloud.*
{After the Khuraka a
Charchari.) Oh, alien-reared Kokila
with the sweet song !
tell me, O dweller in foreign nests !
has my fair beloved
been seen by thee, wandering at will
through this Nandana
grove ? {Having danced, he advances
with Balantikd, and
kneels.) Thee lovers call the messenger of
Love ; thou art his
unerring dart, skilled to humble pride,—
oh ! either bring her,
my loved one, before me, or quickly
lead me. Bird of the
sweet note ! wherever she may be.
{Having moved a little
to the left.\) What saidst thou ?
Didst thou ask why she
has forsaken one so devoted as I }
{Looking forward.')
Oh, honoured bird ! she was angry
;
but I cannot call to
mind a single act of mine, that could
cause her v^rath ; the
tyranny of women over their lovers
waits not for
intentional offences.J {He sits down in agitation,
and then kneels,
repeating, " she was angry" and looks.)
What ! she interrupts
my discourse, and only thinks of her
own concerns ; but
well runs the proverb, " Men say that
* I follow Wilson and
Lenz in translating ambara as " a cloud,"
—
it properly means
"the sky."
t A'kds'e is simply a
stage-direction, implying—said to a person
out of sight. See Wilson's Lexicon.
I The Scholiast explains
hhdva by abhiprdija.
L
74 VIKEAMOEVASf;
the greatest ill of
another's is utterly cold to themselves ;"
since yonder hird,
unheeding my love, now I am fallen into
adversity ! is
absorbed in sipping the royal rose-apple's
newly-ripened fruit,
as a woman blinded with the intoxication
of love, her lover's
lip. They are both gone—the fair
songstress as well as
my beloved ; I will not be angry
—
may she dwell in joy.
I will follow her. {Having risen, he
walks round, with
Dioipadikd, and looks.) Ah ! yonder to
the right, by the edge
of the wood, I hear the sound of
anklets, that tell of
the motion of my beloved one's feet. I
will follow it.
[SOHG]
[^Six Upahhangas in
the Kakubha mode.
His face forlorn for
the absence of his beloved
his eyes troubled with
the incessant welling of tears
his feet tottering
under his insupportable anguish
his whole body
consumed by the mighty pain that
pervades him, and his
mind more and more racked
with anguish, and
greatly terrified,*—roams through
the wood, the
Elephant-King.
[He looks all
round—with Dwipadikd.
-[SONG]
Parted from his loved
mate, consumed with the
flame of intense
sorrow, and his eyes blinded with
streaming tears,
wanders bewildered, the Lord of
Elephants.f
* Bantam gata is
obscure. The Scholiast reads «r^<ft" ^?T!
t This SOUR, which
only repeats the former, is probably spurious.
OE, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 75
fMournfullyJ. Alas !
ah me ! Beholding all quarters of the
heavens dark with
clouds, and longing for the Manasa lake,
the flamingo has
uttered its cry; it was not the tinkling
of anklets. (Having
recited this, he rises.J Well ! ere
these birds, longing
for Mdnasa, rise on the wing from this
lake, I may find from
them some news of my beloved. {He
advances, with
BalantiM, and kneels.) Ho ! King of Waterfowl
! hereafter shalt thou
hie thee to the Manasa lake ;
drop thy viaticum of
lotus-fibres, to take it presently
again ; and meanwhile
uplift me from my sorrow, by tidings
of my beloved ; the
care of their friends is dearer to the
good than even what
concerns themselves. {He holts
askance.) Inasmuch as
it lifts its head and looks upward,
it tells me plainly,
" I have seen her with a longing mind !"
{He sits down, —
Charchari.) O flamingo ! why dost
thou hide it? {He
rises and dances.) If she, my beloved,
with the arched brows,
hath not passed in the path of thy
vision along the shore
of the lake, how hast thou stolen
all that gait of hers,
waving with the intoxication of love ?
I know it by thy
imitation of her walk. (He advances, with
Charcharikd, folding
his hands.J O flamingo ! give me my
fair one ; thou hast
stolen her gait ; she is recognised by
that single feature :*
thou must surrender what is thus
laid to thy charge.
{Again Charchari.) Oh ! where didst
thou learn that
sportive step of thine ? {Again Charchari.
* Such is the
Scholiast's interpretation, choritadravycmsa.
76 VIKBAMOUVASI;
He speaks in a
courteous tone ; then again, with Charcharikd,
repeats it in a tone
of upbraiding, meditating, with DwipacH/cd.)
It hath flown away in
fear, thinking "It is a King who
punishes thieves
!" I will seek another opportunity. {He
walks round, with
Dwipadikd, and looks.') Ah ! yonder
stands a ruddy goose,
with its mate. I will walk towards it.
[SONG]
{Kutilikd.) In the
wood, soul-ravishing with the
sounds of the rustlings
of the leaves,
—
{Mandaghati,)
with the young boughs
of its noble trees in full
Rover,—{Charehari,)
the royal elephant wanders,
maddened with the
absence of his mate.
( Charcharl, in the
interval of two Layas.J Tell me, O bird
of the colour of
saffron and the Gorochana dye ! hast thou
not seen a happy
damsel, sporting through these honey
days? {He approaches,
with Charcharikd, and kneels.) Oh,
bird, named Rathdnga !
a hero asks thee, deserted by his
wife with the swelling
hips, and utterly wretched, though
possessed of all the
pomp that human heart can desire.*—
" And who is he
?" it asks, I am, then, unknown to it
;
I, who have as my
progenitors the Sun and Moon, whom
two brides have chosen
of their own accord—Urvas'i and
the Empire of the
World. What ! it still sits silent. Well
!
I will reprove it. {He
kneels). Thy own example gives
* I have somewhat
expanded these lines, which in the original are
obscure as well as
very absurd. The continued play on Eath&aga
mayks a later author.
Por sronivimha compare Kitu-sak^hXsa., i. 4.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
WTMPH. 77
me a precedent. When
thy companion is only hidden from
thee by the lotus-leaf
in the lake, thou fanciest her far
away, and longingly
utterest a forlorn cry ; such, through
love of thy mate, is
thy fear of being left alone.* What,
then, means this
aspect towards me in my sorrow, refusing
all tidings to my
heart? {He sits down.) This is wholly
the effect of my
reverses of fortune. Well ! I will seek
another opportunity.
{Walks on, with Dwipadikd, and looks.)
Ah ! this lotus stops
me with its bee murmuring within,
—
like her mouth when I
bite her underlip, with a murmur
of joyous love. "
Show not hostility to the stranger ;" thus
would I conciliate the
bee in its lotus-dwelling.
[SONG]
[_A half
Dwichaturasraka.
The heat of his love
on a sudden is greatly
increased, and the
young swan sports in the lake,
entirely surrendered
to his passion.
{He sits down, with a
Chaturasraka, folding his hands.) Oh,
honey-making bee !
tell me some tidings of her with the
wine-like eye ; but I
know thou hast nowhere seen that
peerless wife of mine
; for hadst thou found on thy way
the perfume that
breathes from her lips, what love couldst
thou have for this
lotus now? {He walks on, with Dwipadikd,
and looks.) Ah ! the
King of the Elephant-herd, with his
mate, is leaning
against yon Kadamba's stem ; I will
advance towards him.
* Lenz found bhirutd
in all the MSS.
78 VIKEAMOBVASf;
CSOHG]
{Kutilikd.) The
elephant stands in the wood,
mourning for the loss
of his mate, with perfumemaddened
hees clustering round
him !
{He looks in the
interval.') But this is not the time to
approach him. Let him
meanwhile seek what his mate
offers him with the
end of her trunk,—the bough, covered
with new shoots, torn
from the Sallaki tree, and distilling
a juice perfumed like
wine. {Looking, with Sthdnaka). See
!
he hath finished his
repast. Well ! I will now draw near
and ask him.
{Charehari.) I ask thee, O Lord of
Elephants ! answer me
! thou who, with a blow in sport,
bendest the stateliest
tree ! hast thou anywhere seen my
mind - enchanting
wife, whose beauty far surpasses the
Moon ? {He advances
two steps.) Oh, thou young mate of
the elephant, mad with
love !* and thou, too, O King of the
herd ! has there
passed in the range of your view, a damsel
in unfading youth,
with a glad aspect—her face like a digit
of the Moon, and her
hair variegated as the Yuthikd's
flowers? {Joyfully
listening .) Aha! I am consoled by the
low sound he utters in
his throat, which seems to tell me
of the speedy recovery
of my beloved. Much do I love
thee for our community
of rank. Askest thou, " How ?"
Listen ! Me men call
the Lord of the Inhabitants of Earth
!
and thou art the Lord
of Elephants ; thy bounty flowsf in an
* Such is Lenz's and
Bopp's version of this obscure phrase.
t Alluding to the
juice that flows from the elephant's temples, and
which the bees love.
OE, THE HBllO AND THE
NYMPH. 79
uninterrupted stream,
so, too, doth mine ; of all fair women,
Urvas'i to me is
dearest, and of all the herd thy mate to
thee ; all things of
thine are like mine ; only mayst thou
never feel the anguish
of separation ! Mayst thou abide in
happiness! {He walks
round, with Dwipadikd, and looks.")
Ah ! yonder stands the
supremely pleasant mountain,
Surabhikandhara,
beloved of Nymphs,—who knows but my
love may be found in
the valleys at its foot ? ( Walks round
and looks.) What a
deep gloom is here ! However, I shall
see by the flashes of
lightning. But stay ! through the consequences
of my crime, even the
rising of the clouds is void
of lightning, because
of it. Still, I will not depart without
visiting this mound of
rocks.
[KHANDIKA SONG]
See ! cleaving the
ground with his sharp hoofs,
unwavering and
overcome with passion, the wild boar
rushes round, through
the impervious woods, intent
on the object of his
search.
mountain with the
broad slope ! hath my wife with
the slender chest and
swelling hips, happy as she whom
Ananga chose, passed,
gracefully bending her head, into
thy wood, along the
steeps of thy cliffs ? How is this ?
Even it, too, is
silent ? I fear it cannot hear me through
the distance ; well !
I will go nearer and ask it again.
[CHAECBAKI SONG]
O thou with thy
cataracts clear like the surface
80 VIKBAMOEVASIi
of crystal
rooks,—whose peaks are garlanded with
a thousand various flowers,—
thou who ravishest
the heart with the
wild songs of thy Kinnaras ! O,
Supporter of the World
! shew me my heloved.
{He approaches, with
Charcharikd, and folds his hands.') Oh,
Lord of mountains !
hast thou seen in this pleasant extremity
of the wood, the
lovely damsel peerless in every limb,
who is, alas ! parted
from me ? {He hears the echo ; having
listenedjoyfully.')
What ! it answers accordingly, " I have
seen her." Well!
I will look for her. {Having looked round—
as disappointed.) How
is this ? It was but my own echo,
rolling from the
depths of the glens. {He faints; then
having risen and
seated himself-—in a desponding voice.) Ah
me ! I am weary ; I
will enjoy awhile, on the banks of this
mountain torrent, the
cool air that blows from its waters.
{He walks round and
looks.) While I gaze on this stream,
turbid with the fresh
influx of waters, desire rises in my
heart. Whence can it
come ? Frowning with its waves as
with brows, girdled
with the line of fluttering birds, and
throwing off its foam
as a garment loosened in anger, and
hurrying in devious
ways with a repeatedly stumbling step,
surely, here is my
jealous beloved, changed into the form
of the stream ! Well !
let me conciliate her. Be appeased,
O dearest, fairest one
! as thou flowest on with thy fluttering
and mourning birds,
longing for the banks of the
Ganges, and resonant with
the murmurings of thy swarms of
bees.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 81
[OHAKCHABI SONG]
[/n the interval of a
Kutilikd.
With his arms rising
from the surge, lashed by
the East "Wind,
the Lord of Ocean wantonly dances
with his limbs of
cloud, decked with swans, ruddy
geese, and saffron -
coloured shells, and encompassed
with sea-monsters and
dark lotuses ; and his
open palm is uplifted
from the waves near the shore
;
but the season of new
clouds stops him, and draws
down the skies against
him.*
{He approaches, with
Charcharikd, and kneels.) O thou with
the dear voice ! what
minutest offence dost thou see in
me ?—me, whose every
desire is bound up in thee, and
whose inmost soul
revolts from all perjury towards my
love,—that thou
shouldst thus, in thy haughtiness, fling
thy poor servant away
? But how ? it is stUl silent. Then
is it a river indeed,
and no Urvas'i ; how else should it thus
forsake Pururavas, and
hurry onwards to its meeting with
the sea ? Happiness
will be found at last, if we yield not
to despair. I will
return, then, to that quarter where the
fair-eyed damsel
vanished from my sight. {He walks round
* These lines are the
obscurest in the play. In the third line,
two of the MSS.
collated by Lenz, read Tctmhiima before ^anTcha. For
their sense, he
compares a passage in the Nalod^ya, where the sea is
called ^f%^TT^TTTJ>
" armed with monsters (yadah,),zsvi\i)i
club and sword."
Compare the whole in Wilson's
translation, and see
his note thereon.
M
82 VIKRAMOEVAsi;
and looks.) I will ask
yon sitting antelope for tidings of
my beloved. {He
kneels).
[&ALITAKA SOHQ]
In the skirts of the
trees, garlanded with new
flowers, in the forest of Nandana, soul-ravishing with
the sounds of the
love-intoxicated Kokilas—-consumed
•with the flame of
absence from his mate, roams
AirS,vata, the Lord of
Elephants.
(He looks.) What is
this, that in the form of a black
antelope, seems like a
side-long glance, let fall by the
Beauty of the Grove,
to behold the new fruits ? His gaze
is intently fixed on
his doe, which approaches slowly,
delayed by the fawn
that is drinking her milk. {Charchar{.)
Hast thou seen a
maiden, the beauty of the Suras, fullbosomed,
in undecaying youth,
with a slender form, a
swan's gait, and a
deer's eye ; wandering through this
grove, lighted up by
the splendour of the sky ? Oh ! if
thou hast, I beseech
thee, deliver me from my sea of desolate
sorrow. {He
approaches, folding his hands.) Ho ! Lord of
Deer ! hast thou seen
my beloved in the wood ? Listen
!
I will tell thee her
signs ; large-eyed, and fair is she to
look upon, like thy
mate. {He looks.) How is this ?
He minds not my words
; his eyes are fixed on his companion.
Alas ! a reverse of
fortune meets with contempt
everywhere.* I will
pass and seek yet another opportunity.
{He walks round, and
looks.) Aha ! I see a sign of her
* Literally,
"Finds the place of scorn everywhere."
O^, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 83
path. Here is a red
Kadamba tree, one of whose flowers,
uneven with its
filaments not yet all expanded* (the herald
of the close of the
sultry season), has been plucked to adorn
my loved one's
tresses. {He walks on, and looks.) But
what is this exceeding
glow which I see shining from a
fissure in the rock ?f
Is it not some bright remnant of flesh,
from an elephant which
some lion hath destroyed ? it may
be a spark of fire ;
but could its blaze have endured the
rain ? Aha ! it is a
jewel, bright in hue like the blossoms
of the red As'oka, and
the sun seems resolved to carry it
off, with his rays
resting on it as hands. J Well ! I will take
it myself.
CSONG]
Withheld from
attaining his beloved, his eyes
filled with tears, the
Lord of Elephants wanders
forlorn in the wood,
with a countenance wearied with
sorrow.
{He approaches, with
Dwipadikd, and seizes it ; then says to
himself.)
She, on whose tresses,
perfumed with the fiowers
of the coral tree,
this jewel would have been fitly set,
—she, my loved one, is
now far out of my reach. I
will not soil it by my
tears.
\_He flings it away.
* "The Kadamba
flower, when full-blown, is invested with proeoting
antherse, like the
erect bristles of a hedge-hog."—WiLSOlir.
t The King here sees
the flash of the distant jewel.
J Kara means both
" a ray," and "a hand."
84 VIKBAMOEVASI;
A VOICE BEHIND THE
SCENES.
Seize it, my son—seize
it, my son! this is the
Jewel of Union, which sprang from the glow of the
feet of the daughter
of the Mountain ;* it bringeth,
if it be held fast,
speedy union with the beloved.
KING.
[Looking up.
Who bids me this ?
What ! it is some holy sage in
the form of a deer. O
holy sage ! I am, indeed, thankful
for the counsel. {He
seizes the jewel.) Welcome, Jewel
of Union
! if thou provest the true Jewel of Union to
me, forsaken as I am
by her of the slender waist,f
I will make thee the
jewel of my crest, as Is'wara
wears the young Moon.
{He walks round and looks.) But
why does this strange
feeling of desire come over me; as
I gaze on this
creeper, bereft of its flowers ? yet not without
reason is my spirit
soothed. This slender plant, with its
branches wet with
rain, as one whose lips are washed with
tears ; forlorn of all
its adornings, and putting forth no
flowers, in the
absence of its native season ; left alone as in
the silence of
thought, with no hum of murmuring bees, it
stands like my
offended love, when she had repelled me in
her anger, though
fallen suppliant at her feet. I long to
embrace the creeper
which can give me such an image of
her, {CharehaH.) Look
on me, O creeper ! I am agitated
* Burga, or Vma, the
daughter of the HimMaya, and wife of Siva,
or Is'wara.
t For the exact
meaning of the epithet, see Lenz, note ex.
OE, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 85
of heart ;* if ever,
by destiny, I may find her again, I will
never roam in this
forest more ; and my wanderings, when
this is over, shall
never tend hither.
IHe approaches, with
Charcharikd, and embraces
the creeper; Ukvasi
appears in its place.
KING.
\_Having closed his
eyes, and gesticulating as
though touched.
Aha ! my heart seems
suddenly at rest, as though Urvas'i
herself were touched.
I may not believe it ; how can it be ?
Whatever have been my
first thoughts about Urvas'i, in a
moment more they have
always proved utterly different. I
shall soon open my
eyes only to discover that my beloved
has not been found to
my touch. (He opens his eyes slowly.
J
What ? it is Urvas'i
herself! \_He faints and falls.
UEVASIT
Oh, revive ! revive !
great King !
KING.
[ Coming to himself.
O dearest! now,
indeed, have I lifej when thou wast
displeased, I was sunk
in the gloom of separation from thee :
but joy! joy! thou art
recovered by me as consciousness by
the dead !
* VrniM-Tividwya is a
doubtful word. I have hesitatingly translated
it, as the Frdcrit for
mgna-hridaya. The Scholiast explains it ima
hridwyena. Vimia-hridmja
would mean, "I have found my heart,"
which gives little or
no sense in this place. Lenz calls the whole distich,
" absiirdwn nisi
corruptum."
86 YIKKAMOBVASf;
UBVASir
Let the great King
forgive the reverse which my
heedless passion
brought upon him.
KING.
Thou hast no need to
sue my forgiveness ; the sight of
thee, of itself, hath
won it from my inmost soul. Oh, tell me
how thou couldst
forsake me through such a long weary
time. Peacock, Kokila,
swan, ruddy goose, bee, elephant,
mountain, river, and
antelope,—as I roamed in search for
thee through the
forest, of whom have I not sought tidings
with tears ?
TiEVAsir
To my inner sense,
indeed, were revealed tidings of the
King.
KING.
Dearest ! I know not
what this " inner sense'' of thine
means.
UEVA^L
Let the King hear :—in
olden time Kartikeya, having
taken a vow of eternal
celibacy, dwelt in the grove Sakalakalusha,
the border of the
Gandha-m&dana forest, and fixed
this decree
KING.
What?
ttevas'l
" Whosoever of
women shall enter this spot, she shall be
changed into the form
of a creeper, and she shall not be
released from that
form, save by the jewel that sprang from
the glow of DurgA's
feet." I, then—for my heart was blinded
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 87
by the sage's
curse—forgetful of the god's decree, entered
the grove of Kumdra,
to be shunned by all of woman's race,
and on the moment of
passing within, my form was changed
into a creeper,
growing by the end of the wood.
KING.
Now, dearest! it is
all explained. Thou, who wouldst
oft think me banished
far away, if thou didst but lose me
for a while in
sleep,—oh ! how couldst thou endure such
a long separation as
this ? See, this, as thou saidst, is the
cause of our union—the
restorer of the lost.
[//e shews her
thejewel.
TJKVASI.
What ! strange ! it is
the Jewel of Union ! It is from
this that I have
regained myself, being once more clasped
in the embraces of my
King.
KING.
[Placing the jewel on
her forehead.
Thy face, suffused
with the trembling colours of the
jewel, which I hold on
thy forehead, wears the glow of the
lotus, red with the
morning sunbeam
!
UEVASI.
O speaker of fond
words ! remember how long we have
been abssnt from
Pratishthdna ; your subjects will begin to
blame your tarrying so
long ; come ! let us be going.
KING.
Even so, as you say.
[They rise to depart.
UEVASL
How would the King
wish to return 3
88 VIKRAMORVA^fs
KING.
Waft me home on the
new cloud, converted into a
chariot for our happy
journey ; decorated with the manycoloured
how of Indra, and
waving the swift-gleaming
lightning for its
hanner !*
SONG.
Its long-sought
companion at last is found ; and,
every feather erect
with joy, the young swan flies
on its way,—borne on
the air-car of its own wild
will.
[^Exeunt.
* 1 have borrowed Wilson's translation of
this verse, in the Prosody
of his Grammar, where
I first saw it, several years since. Bopp and
Lenz render
Mela-gamcme, " in its wavy motion."
END or THE rOURTH ACT.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 89
ACT V.
Enter the Gkacioso,
joyfully.
GHAOIOSO.
Aha ! aha ! heaven be
praised ! after a long wandering
with Urvas'i, in the
regions beautiful with the Nandana
groves, my Lord the
King has at length returned to the
city, and now once
more exercises his sway, fulfilling the
duties of his station,
and winning all his subjects' hearts.
"VVell, except
the lack of children, I am sure he has not a
single subject for
sadness. This being a great lunar day, he
has been bathing with
the Queen, in the meeting waters of
the Gangd and Yamunk,,
and has just returned to the
palace; I am here just
at the right moment, when he is
busy adorning his
person with unguents.*
BEHIND THE SCENES.
Hola ! hola ! a hawk
has thrown down the red
fan that covered the
bright jewel which the King,
while parted from the
Nymph, had destined for
the gem of his diadem,
and mistaking the jewel
for flesh, has
swallowed it and flown off.
GEACIOSO.
\Listenmg.
A most sad mischance !
That crest-jewel of re-union I
* The word iiaUabd is
not in the Lexicon, fjenz conjectures that
it may be connected
with ixthlika, " saffron."
N
90 VIKEAMORVAsYj
know was exceedingly
prized by my Mend. This is why he
has risen so hurriedly
from his seat, and comes hither with
his toilet unfinished.
I will attend at his side.
END OP THE PKATESAKA.
Enter the King,
Gbacioso, Chambeei,ain, Mottntaineer,
and Attendants.
KING.
mountaineer !
mountaineer ! where is this bird-thief,
that has seized its
own destruction, and ventures its first
theft in the very
house of the watchman ?
mountaineek.
Yonder I see it flying
about, almost colouring the
sky with the jewel,
the string of which hangs at the end
of its beak.
king.
1 see it now. Bearing
the jewel's golden chain suspended
from its beak, with
its swift flight thus ornamented, the
bird makes a ring of
its flashing hues, like the circle of a
whirling firebrand. But
tell me what is to be done.
GEAOIOSO.
Away with all feelings
of mercy ; the ofiiender must be
punished.
KING.
You speak well ;—a bow
! a bow !
ATTENDANTS.
As our Lord commands !
[I!xeunt.
KINO.
The vile bird is no
longer visible.
OE» THE HEKO AND THE NYMPH.
91
GRACIOSO.
There he goes—the
wretch has fled away to the south.
KING.
\_Seeing it.
See now ! the bird,
with the jewel, that almost buds
with splendour, as
with a cluster of As'oka blossoms, seems
to hang an ear-ring on
that quarter of the sky.*
TAVANI SERVANT.
[Entering with a how
in her hand.
My Lord ! here is the
bow with an arrow !
KING.
But what can be done
with the bow now ? The flesheating
wretch is flown out of
reach of the arrow ; yonder
gleams the noblest of
gems, borne away in the far distance
by the bird, as shines
the planet Mars by night, half lost in
the thick clouds,
which he pierces through. Noble TClavya
!
CHAMBEELAIN.
As your Highness
commands.
KING.
Command the citizens,
by my order ; let search be made
for the wretched bird
in the tree where he roosts at evening.
CHAMBEELAIN.
As the King orders.
\_Exit.
* "Her beauty
hangs upon the cheek of night,
Like a rich jewel in
an Ethiop's ear."
Momeo and Juliet,
92 VIKBAMOEVA^j
GBAOIOSO.
Well ! let your
Highness rest now ; wherever it may
be gone, the gem-thief
will not escape from the range of
your commands. \_They
sit down.
KING.
O my friend ! my
intense efforts are not for the mere
recovery of the gem
that the bird has carried off ; it is by
that jewel of
re-union, that I am re-united with my beloved.
OEAMB££LAIN.
[Entering.
The King is ever
victorious ! Transfixed by that wrath
of thine which pursued
it, the guilty bird, condemned
to death, has speedily
fallen from the sky with the jewel
of the diadem.
[All express
astonishment.
CHAMBERLAIN.
The jewel has been
washed,—to whom should it be
given ?
KING.
Go, put it in the
casket.
MOUNTAINEER
As the King orders.
[Bxit with the Jewel.
KING,
[To Taiavta.
Dost thou know whose
arrow this is ?
CHAMBERLAIN.
It is marked with a
name, but my eyes are not equal to
the deciphering the
colours.
KING.
Hold the arrow up,
while I examine it.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 93
GEACIOSO.
What does your
Highness study so ?
KING.
Hear the letters of
the striker's name.
cmAcioso.
I am all attention.
KING.
[^Reads.
" This is the
arrow of the Prince, the Archer, Ayus, the
son of Urvas'i and
Pururavas,* the smiter of the lives of his
enemies."
GEACIOSO.
Joy ! Joy ! your
Highness is blessed with a son !
KING.
How is this, my friend
? Except during the Naimesha
sacrifice,! I have
been always with Urvas'i ; and never have
I once seen her giving
signs of pregnancy ; how then can
she have been a mother
? Yet I remember, for some days
the shade of her face
was pale as the Lavali's fruit; and
she seemed to wax
thin, so that the bracelets round her
arms hung loose.t
GEACIOSO.
Let not your Highness
attribute human nature to Urvas'i
—the actions of the
heavenly beings are veiled by their
power.
KING,
Let it be as you say ;
but what could be the cause of her
concealing it ?
* Uterally, " The
son of Ila."
t This lasted twelve
years.
t Compare Maghmans'a,
iii. 2, and Stenzler's note.
94 VIKRAMOEVASI j
GEAOIOSO.
Lest you should desert
her, as growing old.
KING.
Have done with jesting
; think seriously.
GBACIOSO.
Who shall think of the
secrets of the gods ?
CHAMBEELAIN.
[Entering.
May the King be ever
victorious ! A female ascetic
of the race of Bhrigu,
has come from the hermitage of
Chyavana, bringing a
lad with her, and desires to see your
Highness.
KING.
Introduce them both
without delay.
The Chamberlain
retires, and re-enters, bringing the
Ascetic with the Lad.
GEAOIOSO.
Surely, this is the
Kshatriya youth, to whom belonged
the arrow inscribed
with a name, which pierced the bird as
its mark ;—in so many
ways he takes after your Highness.
king.
It must be so ! My
eyes, as they fall on him, are filled
with tears ; my heart
proclaims a father's fondness ; and
my mind feels a happy
calm. How I long to throw off all my
gravity of rank and
clasp him with a long passionate embrace
in my trembling arms !
{Advancing). Holy woman ! I
salute thee.
OE, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 95
ASCETIC.
O mighty King ! long
mayst thou be the upholder of
the Lunar Race. {To
herself.) The holy King recognises
the ties of blood,
even untold. {Aloud.) My child ! bow
to thy father.
[The Youth, with his
eyes filled with tears,* folds
his hands, and bows to
the King.
KING.
Long mayst thou live,
O child !
youth.
\_Starting at being
touched,—aside.
If this be love, which
I feel when I hear that this is
my father, and I his child
; what must, indeed, be their
affection for their
parents, who have grown up in their
bosoms ?
KING.
O holy woman ! what is
the cause of thy coming ?
ASCETIC.
Let the great King
hear : This child (long may he live)
was given into my
hands immediately after his birth, for
some reason or other,
by Urvas'i ; all that pertains to the
natal rites and
education of a well-born Kshatriya was
fulfilled towards him
by the illustrious Chyavana ; and
having learned all
other knowledge, he hath been lately
instructed in archery.
* Or it maybe,
"The youth bows to the King, whose eyes are
filled with
tears." This is Lena's interpretation.
96 VIKBAMOEVASiT
KING.
He has, indeed, become
a proficient.
ASCETIC.
This day he went out
with some sons of the sages, to
collect flowers,
fruits, wood, and Kusa grass ; and on his
way he violated the
prohibitions of the Hermitage.
GBAOIOSO.
How so ?*
ASCETIC.
A hawk that had
carried off some flesh, and was sitting
on the summit of one
of the trees in the hermitage, became
a mark for his arrow.
KING.
And what followed ?
ASCETIC.
When the holy man
heard the story, he bade me restore
my charge into
Urvas'i's hands. I desire, therefore, to see
Urvas'i.
KING.
Be seated, I pray you.
{They sit down on seats brought
hy an attendant.) Oh,
honoured Talavya ! inform Urvas'i
of this.
{Exit Chamberlain.
KING.
Come hither, come
hither, my child ; the touch of my
son thrills through
every limb. Oh ! gladden my heart
by him brought near
me, as the moonbeam gladdens the
moon-gem
!
* TVe see KAliddsa's light
touch in thus making the Graoioso break
in upon the
conversation by this question of eager curiosity.
OB, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 97
ASOETIO.
My child, go and
gladden thy father.
[The youth approaches
the King.
KING.
CAfter enibracing
him.)
My child, salute my
good friend, the Brdhman
!
GBACIOSO.
Why should the child
be afraid of me ? Surely he must
often have seen apes
about the hermitage.
^ ,
^°^™-
(SmUmg.)
I salute thee, sir.
GBACIOSO.
May your highness have
health and prosper.
\Enter Uetasi and the
Chambeklain.
CHAMBERLAIN.
This way, your
highness,—this way.
TTEVASl.
{Coming forward, aad
looking.)
Who is this sitting on
the golden footstool, while the
King himself binds up
his locks? {Seeing the Ascetic.)
Wonderful ! it is my
boy Ayus, accompanied by SatyavatI
;
he is grown a tall
youth indeed !
KING.
(LooMng.)
My child, here is thy
mother come, intently gazing upon
thee,—upheaving the
scarf of her bosom, which bursts
open with the gush of
her love.*
* Compare Tennyson's—
" and half
The sacred mother's
bosom, panting, burst
The laces towards her
babe."
o
98 VIKBAMORVA^";
ASCETIC.
Come, my son, go up to
thy mother. (She goes towards
Urvasi with the youth.
J
TJEVASI.
I salute thy feet, O
reverend woman
!
ASCETIC.
My child, mayst thou
ever be honoured of thy husband
!
YOUTH.
O honoured one !* I
salute thee.
UEVASL
Win thy father's
favour, my child. {To the King.) May
the King be ever
victorious.
KING.
Hail to the mother !
Be seated here.
TFEVAS'L
Ye honored ones ! be
seated. ( They all in compliance
sit down.)
ASCETIC.
My child, in the
presence of your husband, I now
(restore into your
hands my charge, skilled in knowledge,
and exercised in the
use of arms and armour. I now wish
to depart; I am
transgressing the laws of my hermitagelife
by a longer stay.
UEVASl.'
As you will,—^yet
seeing you after such an interval,
I regret to lose you
so soon ; but not to violate your laws,
perhaps you had better
depart ;—I trust we shall see each
other again.
* Homer's iroTi/io.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 99
KING.
Reverend woman ! give
my salutation to the illustrious
Chyavana.
ASCETIC.
Even so.
TorrTH.
Reverend lady ! art
thou really returning ? Wilt thou
lead me away too ?
KING.
Thou hast performed
the duties of thy first order
;
it is time for thee
now to enter the second.
ASCETIC.
My child, follow thy
father's words.
TOITTH.
Well, then, send me
the dark-necked peacock, whose tail
hath lately grown,
which used to sleep in my bosom, and
loved to feel me
stroke its tail.
ASCETIC.
I will do so.
UEVAsi.
Holy woman ! I salute
thy feet.
KING.
I bow to thee, revered
one
!
ASCETIC.
Happiness unto you
all.
KING.
Fairest one ! this day
I am the most fortunate of fathers,
with this fair child
of thine,—like Indra, the city-destroyer,
with Jayanta, the
child of his Paulomi.
lExit.
100 VIKBAMOEVASI;
GB.ACIOSO.
"Well ; but why
is her highness's face suddenly suffused
with tears ?
KING.
Why, loveliest one !
weepest thou, when joy quivers in
my heart at this
sudden attainment of continuance to my
race, and renderest
superfluous the adornings of strings of
pearls by the tears
that fall fast on thy full bosom ?*
TJEVASI.
Listen, O King ! I was
first filled with joy at beholdmg
my child before me ;
but the mention of Indra's name has
recalled to my heart's
memory his decree.
KING.
Let it be told.
tjevas'l
Hear, O king !—^in the
bygone time, when my heart was
first made thy
prisoner, I was standing one day bewildered
with my preceptor's curse,
when Indra dismissed me, having
fixed a decree.
KING.
What was it? Tell me.
UEVAsIf^
"When he, my
loved friend, the holy King, shall behold
the face of a child
born from thee, then must thou return unto
my presence."
Through fear, then, lest I should be parted
from thee, to lengthen
the time of our union, I entrusted
the child into the
hands of the honoured Satyavati, in the
* Lenz found in the
MSS. a better reading
—
virackanam.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 101
hermitage of the holy
Chyavana ; but now that Ayus* has
proved himself so
worthy to win his father's heart, and has
been given unto us
again, how can I abide longer with the
King? IThe Kmo faints.
ALL.
Oh ! revive, revive, O
King !
OHAMBBBLAIN.
Revive, O King
!
GBAOI080.
Heaven avert it !
Heaven avert it !f
KING.
(Coming to himself.)
Alas, that destiny
should delight to check human joy !
On me, while I
rejoiced in the attainment of my son, hath
fallen, O graceful one
! this blow of separation from thee,
as- the lightning
falls on the tree, when its languor from
the heat is refreshed
by the first shower.
GBAOIOSO.
This event, I
conjecture, will have some foolish accompanimentsj
; but King Indra must
be conciliated.
TTBVASL
Ah, wretched me ! I am
undone ! The King, I fear, will
think that at this moment
of my recovery of my son, now
* Dirgh^yus is only an
auspicious play on Ayus.
t The Scholiast
explains abrdhmaw^am by abcidhyoMdviti. Lenz
(Appm'atus Crit., p.
31), and Kuckert, consider it " exolamatio hominis
perturbati, ut fferw.
'Mord!'" Wilson (Lexicon) says," sacred, not
to be killed (in
theatrical language). E. a "not" and hrdhmcmya
"proper for a
brahmin," i.e. death." If so, it may correspond with
the French sacre.
Hofer translates it " O des Ungluoks !"
t The Graoioso begins
to suspect the King's purpose.
102 VIKEAMOEVASI;
that his education is
over, I return of my own choice to
Swarga, as having
accomplished my purpose.
KIN».
O loveliest one !
speak not thus. The separation is not
easy; hut our state of
dependence on another over-rules
our own desires ; go,
obey thou the commands of thy lord,
and I this day
devolving my kingdom upon thy son, henceforth
will fly for refuge to
the woods, where roam the
herds of deer.
YOUTH.
Oh, father ! put not
another under the yoke which the
great bull so long hath
borne.
KING.
O dear child ! say not
so ; the Gandha elephant, though
he he young, subdues
his fellows ; deadly* is the fierce
poison of the scarce
hatched snake ; and the king, though
a child, can guard the
earth ; for the power, that rises
equal to every duty,
is innate in the blood, not the years.
O honoured Talavya!
CHAMBERLAIN.
Let the King command
me.
KING.
Carry my orders to the
Minister Parvata ;—^let the
ceremony for anointing
King -^yusf be prepared.
[Exit CHAMBEELAiiir
—
sorrowful.
All gesticulate as
da%zled.'\
* Frahhavaiitardm is
an intensitive form. See Wllkim' Chram., p. 539.
t A'yushmat is another
ausjiicious play on A'yus.
OR, THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 103
KING.
(Looking up at the
sky.)
Ah I whence is this
lightning flash? {Recognising it.)
Ah ! it is the holy
Ndrada ! I see him yonder with his
matted locks, tawny
like the streak on the touch-stone, and
his Brdhmanical thread
spotless as a digit of the moon,—
a
moving Kalpa tree,
like a hranch of gold, in all the heauty
of youth, laden with abundance
of pearls. Hasten with
the oblation to honour
him
!
TfBVASf.
Behold the oblation
for the holy sage.
NAEADA.
{Entering.')
Victory to the
Guardian of the Middle World.
KING,
holy sage ! I salute
thee.
UETASI.
1 bow before thee !
nATeaba.
May husband and wife
be never parted !
KING. ^^
{Aside to Uktasi.)
Would that it might be
so. {Aloud.) My child, born
of Urvas'i, bows to
thee.
NAEADA.
Long live the youth.
KING.
Be seated on this
seat. \_They all sit down.
KING.
{Respectfully.)
What may be the cause
of thy coming ?
nXbada.
King ! hear the
commands of Indra.
104 VIKRAMOBVASf;
KING.
I attend.
NAEADA.
Indra, who beholds all
things by his divine power commands
thee, who art
purposing to depart into the wood
KING.
What commands he ?
NABADA.
It hath been foretold
by those who behold the three
worlds, that ere long
there will be war between the Suras
and Asuras, and thou
must be our ally in the fight ; lay not,
therefore, thy weapons
aside, and Urvas'i shall be thy
rightful wife while
life shall last.
tTETAsK
O wonderful ! an arrow
seems plucked from my heart
!
KING.
Immeasurable are my
obligations to the supreme King.
nIbada.
It is well ! let him
fulfil his duties towards thee, and do
thou fulfil thine
towards him ; with their several splendours
the sun augmenteth
fire, and fire the sun. {Looldng up to
the shy.) OKambhd! let
the consecrated water be brought
for the youth's
coronation.
BAMBHA.
[Entering.
AU the preparations
are ready.
n/eada.
Let the youth be
seated on the royal seat,*
* lAterally, "
Seat of prosperity."
OEi THE HERO AND THE
NYMPH. 105
Rambha places him on
the royal seat.
NAEADA.
Hail! hail!
KING.
Mayst thou be the
exalter of thy race !
UBVASl'
May thy father's words
come true !
\^A pair of Bards
behind the Scene'].
FIBST BABB.
As Atri, the sage of
the Immortals, to Brdhma, the
creator ; as the Moon
to Atri ; as Budha to the Moon ; as
our King to Budha ;—so
thou, O Prince ! art like to thy
father, in all
world-loved qualities ; and all blessings are
fulfilled in thy
preeminent race.
SECOND BAED.
Erst firmly fixed in
thy father, and now entrusted to thee
in thy turn, whose
stable might knoweth no sickness to
impair it,—the Royal
Prosperity shineth yet brighter than
ever ; like GangS, who
rolleth her waters at once in the
Him&laya and the
ocean.
BAMBHA.
Joy I joy ! my loved
friend beholds her son's coronation,
and yet needs not to
be parted from her husband.
UBVA^L
Our happiness, Kambhd,
is common to us both. {Taking
the Youth by the
hand.) My child ! salute thy elder
mother.
106 VIKItAMOaVAKl
;
KING.
Stay ! let us all
approach her together.
NAEADA.
The glory of thy son
Ayus' coronation recals to my
mind the day when
Indra appointed Mahisena to the command
of his hosts.
KING.
Greatly, indeed, am I
favoured by Indra.
NAEADA.
Say, King ! what
further boon wouldst thou have the
Lord of fulness bestow
on thee ?
KING.
If there be any
further boon that is dear to me, then let
Indra grant, that,
through thee, for the common welfare of the
good,* the mutual
rivals Fortune and Eloquence may at last
be wedded in that
union which now seems so hard to be
attained. And yet
another still : May every one pass safely
through his straits !
may every one behold good fortune
!
may every one attain
his desires ! and every one be
everywhere happy
!
* All the MSS.
collated by Lenz read, udbJmtaye.
THE END.
Vikramorvaseeyam
by
Kavikula Guru
Sri
Kalidasa
translated
by
EDWARD BYLES COWELL,
Om Tat Sat
(My
humble salutations to Kavikula Guruh Kalidasa and greatfulness to Sreeman C H Tawney
for the collection)
