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

ACT V
[Voice,] behind the curtain—Ho, ho! Soldiers! 'Tis come, 'tis come—
our succour!
For here he is in his chariot, Sumantra in haste urging forward
its fleet and galloping steeds—its flagstaff of kovidāra violently
shaken at each jolting—here is our Chandraketu coming hither
upon the news of our fighting. 1
Then enters in a chariot, with the charioteer Sumantra, Chandraketu,
bow in hand and full of wild joy and excitement.
Chandraketu—Look, worthy Sumantra, look!
His handsome face flushed with just a tinge of glowing anger—
the bow incessantly twanging at the tips—the five locks [on his
head] all floating [to the winds], there, as he takes his stand
in the van of the battle and rains a shower of arrows upon the
battalions,—he is indeed a marvel (kopi), this son of a hero! 2
How strange!
This lad from the hermitage, all alone, and scattering everywhere
upon [my] army thousands of blazing shafts, impelled with a
terrific twang and piercing the joints of the elephants' temples:
He engages my interest as though he were some new, unknown
scion of the race of Raghu. 3
Sumantra—Long-lived one,—
As I look upon this boy who in his prowess excels Gods and
Demons and who is so like [unto Rāma] in form, I am reminded
of that Joy of the Raghus [our Rāma], when, bow in hand, he
subdued the foes that disturbed the holy sacrifice of Kuśika's
son [Viśvāmitra]. 4
Chandraketu—That so many should exert themselves against him singly—
for this I feel ashamed in my heart:
On one side is this solitary stripling; and here are [on the other]
our forces clutching with their martial fingers these dense files
of weapons and brandishing them wildly in the brunt of the
battle—[some seated] in chariots ringing with the jingle of the
tinkling golden bells, and [others mounted] upon rutting tuskers,
10 [H.O.S. 21]