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

iii. 2⁵—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [42
her pangs, threw herself into the stream of the Ganges; and then, even
there, she was delivered of a pair of sons. She was then comforted by
[her mother] Earth and the river Jāhnavī¹ [Ganges] and by them taken
to the Nether regions. Then as the twins [grew of an age to be] weaned,
them the Goddess [of the] Ganges handed over in person to the son of
Varuṇa, to the great sage [Vālmīki].
Muralā, with amazement—
Of such [as Rāma and Sītā] even an [adverse] turn [of fate]
proves to be full of miracles, in that even persons [as exalted] as
these [the Earth and the Bhāgīrathī] serve as instruments [to
their ends]. 3
Tamasā—And now, in consequence of this affair of Śambūka, [Bhāgīrathī]
being led to anticipate, through the [river] Sarayū's² report, that Rāma
would come hither to Janasthāna, and, what the exalted Lopāmudrā out
of affection [for Rāma] apprehended, apprehensive of the same, the exalted
Bhāgīrathī, in the company of Sītā and under pretext of some household
rite or other, has come here on a visit to the Godāvarī.³
Muralā—This is a happy thought of the exalted [Bhāgīrathī]. For when
indeed [he is] stationed in his capital and engrossed in all those activities
conducive to the world's progress, it is possible to keep dear Rāma's mind
away [from his grief⁴]; whereas [now] with nothing [else] to occupy
[his thoughts] and face-to-face-with naught but his sorrow, this his
revisiting of the Pañchavaṭī [will be] an unfailing source of mischief.
But how—as-things-stand (idānīm)—is Queen Sītā going to comfort
Rāma?
Tamasā—Thus spake [unto Sītā] the exalted Goddess Bhāgīrathī: “My
child, thou that hast sprung from the [very] sacrificial ground of the
Gods, Sītā! To-day, as-you-know (khalu), it being the twelfth birthday of
the long-lived ones—of [our] Kuśa and Lava—for their ensuing prosperity
(abhivardhate) we must tie the auspicious twelfth (saṅkhyā) knot.⁵ There-
fore, unto thy ancient Father-in-law, the Progenitor of all this race of
Royal sages beginning with Manu,⁶ [I mean] unto the God Sun, the dispeller

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¹ When Bhagīratha brought down the Ganges                  ³ A physical fact, believed even now to occur
    (cp. p. 21, note 6, above), the river in its                           at stated intervals : see Notes.
    course washed the sacrificial sheds of                       ⁴ Or, it is quite possible to keep dear Rāma's
    Jahnu, who in anger drank it all up. At                        mind from running off [to the one subject
    Bhagīratha's intercession he let the river                      that harrows him].
    out again through his ears. Hence the                       ⁵ A thread tied around the wrist or the arm,
    name Jāhnavī.                                                            one knot being added each succeeding
² A tributary of the Ganges: Ayodhyā,                          birthday.
    Rāma's capital, is situated on it, and so                       ⁶ The seventh of his name, Son of the Sun,
    the river knew what happened in that                        and founder of the Solar race of kings.
    city.