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

51] Act III, The Shadow — Translation [—iii. 28¹
Vāsantī, seating herself, with tears—My liege Lord! Is dear Lakshmaṇa
doing well ?
Rāma, pretending not to hear—
With water and wild-rice and grass—offered with her own lotus-
like hands—these trees and birds and deer¹ that the daughter
of the King of Mithilā² [once] used to feed: as I sight them
[now] an indescribable emotion wells up within me; [an emotion]
that, like an oozing [in some rock], must end (yogya) by breaking
my heart [in twain]. 26
Vāsantī—I was asking, My liege Lord, Is it all well with dear Lakshmaṇa ?
Rāma, to himself—Ah! ‘My liege Lord’ [is] a mode of address devoid
of cordiality and her inquiry referred to the son of Sumitrā [Lakshmaṇa]
only; her voice [too was choked] with tears [and] faltered: so I fear she
already knows the news about Sītā. Aloud. Ah, yes: Prince Lakshmaṇa
is doing well. Sobs.
Vāsantī—Why, O King, why art thou [so, so] cruel ?
Sītā—And what art thou, dear Vāsantī, when thou couldst reproach [him]
thus ? My noble Lord certainly deserves kind consideration from all—and
particularly from my dear friend.
Vāsantī—“Thou [art] my life; thou art my second heart; thou the
moon-light of my eyes: thou the [immortal] ambrosia to my
body”—with these and hundreds of other endearments her simple-
and-loving (mugdhā) soul thou didst beguile; and her now—alas!
why utter the rest? 27 Faints.
Tamasā—Quite natural indeed that [thus] she should break off in her
speech and faint away.
Rāma—Compose thyself, friend, compose thyself.
Vāsantī, recovering—Wherefore, then, has Your Majesty done this un-
worthy deed ?
Sītā—Desist, dear Vāsantī, desist.
Rāma—Because the people would not put up with it.
Vāsantī—And why ?
Rāma—They themselves know—I-know-not-what (kimapi).
Vāsantī—O thou hard-hearted one! Is it honour that you profess
(kila) to hold dear? What dishonour I ask (nanu) is more
dreadful than this? And what, in that forest, may have been
the fate of that fawn-eyed one [your wife]? Alas! Tell me,
My Lord, what do you think about it? 28
Tamasā—After a [very] long time [indeed comes] this reproof!
¹ Respectively. ² Mithilā was the capital of King Janaka.