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

UTTARA-RĀMA-CHARITA
OR
LATER HISTORY OF RĀMA
ACT I
UNTO the Bards of yore this tribute of homage we tender, and
bow down [next] unto [the Goddess of] Speech, that portion
(kalā) immortal of the Supreme-spirit. 1
After [this] Invocation—
**Stage-manager—**Enough: Why make it too long?—To-day, indeed on this
festival (yātrā) of the Exalted Lord Kālapriya,¹ I have a request for this
distinguished assembly. Your honours will be pleased to understand that
there is a worthy scion of the Kāśyapa family, bearing the appellation of
Śrīkaṇṭha and known [also] as Bhavabhūti:
On whom, [as on God] Brahmā, the Goddess [of] Speech attends
like a submissive handmaid. The Later History of Rāma, com-
posed by him, is [here] going to be represented [by us]. 2
Here now, in deference to the matter in hand, I am transformed into an
inhabitant of Ayodhyā ² and a contemporary [of Rāma]. Looking about
him. How now, Sirs! This the period of the coronation of His Majesty
the Honoured Rāma, the fire that consumed the race of Pulastya ³—when
this [period] is, day and night, to be celebrated with incessant festive music,
wherefore then, to-day, are the bards silent in these quadrangles?
An Actor, *entering—*Sir, they have been sent away to their homes by
His Majesty—the high-souled Demons and Monkeys and [other] allies
[of Rāma] in the war at Laṅkā,⁴ as also the priestly and the royal sages—
the sanctifiers of the various quarters—that had honoured the ceremony by
their attendance, and as a mark of respect unto whom there was this
festivity this many a day. And now—
¹ Of whom there is a famous temple in Ujjain
in Central India. See on this point,
however, Introduction, § 3.
² Capital of Kosala, the kingdom of Rāma.
³ The grandfather of Rāma's enemy, the demon Rāvaṇa.
⁴ Seat of Rāvaṇa's kingdom and identified with Ceylon.

i. 3ᵃᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [16
Headed by Vasishṭha,¹ the Queen-mothers of Rāma, following the
lead of Arundhatī,² are gone to the hermitage of [their] son-in-law
for a sacrifice. 3
Stage-manager—Ah, that explains it.
Actor—Being a stranger I ask, who can [this] son-in-law be?
Stage-manager—King Daśaratha³ begot a daughter named Śāntā,
whom—as an adopted child—he made over to king Lomapāda.⁴ 4
Her, Ṛishyaśṛiṅga, the son of Vibhāṇḍaka, married. He [Ṛishyaśṛiṅga] has
now commenced a [sacrificial] session of twelve years; and, in consequence
of that, leaving behind their daughter-in-law Jānakī,⁵ far gone with child
though she is, the elders (guru)⁶ have gone thither. But what is [all] this
to us? Come, let us rather repair to the royal portal, there to discharge
the duties befitting our caste.⁷
Actor—If so, please your honour to think of some form of benediction—
absolutely flawless—wherewith to approach [the King].
Stage-manager—Mārisha,⁸
It behoves us ever to be doing [whatever lies next]; for there is
no escaping censure [any way]. As of women, so of compositions,
people are malicious as to their purity (sādhutva⁹). 5
Actor—Ultra-malicious, say rather:
For, even in the case of Queen Vaidehī,¹⁰ the people are not without
their wicked talk. Her staying in the house of the Rākshasa¹¹ is
at the bottom of it, and, as to the fire-ordeal,¹² they are not con-
vinced. 6
Stage-manager—Should this scandal now come to [the ears of] His Majesty,
it would be very unfortunate!
Actor—In every wise will the sages and the deities work out a happy issue.
Walking about. Ho, friends! Where now is His Majesty? Listening. So
say the people:
Coming hither to greet [Rāma] out of affection and having passed
these days in festivity, Janaka has to-day gone to the Videhas.

¹ The family-priest of Rāma. ⁸ The regular form by which the stage-
² Vasishṭha's wife. manager addresses an actor, who in turn
³ Father of Rāma. calls him Bhāva.
⁴ Of the kingdom of the Aṅgas. ⁹ The word means both chastity and excel-
⁵ I. e. Sītā, wife of Rāma, daughter of Janaka. lence.
⁶ A word almost impossible to render by one ¹⁰ I. e. Sītā, daughter of Janaka, king of the
English word. It is applied to any one Videhas.
to whose authority deference is due: ¹¹ I. e. the demon Rāvaṇa who had abducted
parents, elderly relatives, teachers, and her.
persons of piety and learning. ¹² Which Sītā underwent after Rāma had
⁷ The actors were supposed to be Śūdras. secured her release.

17] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 9ᵇ
To solace the Queen, disconsolate on that account, from his
judgement-seat the Lord of men [Rāma] is now entering the
residential palace. 7
They both go out.
END OF PROLOGUE.
Enters Rāma seated, and Sītā.
Rāma—Cheer up, cheer up, my Queen, Vaidehī! The elders (guru) certainly
would not have been able to leave us,
Except that the urgency of the [stated religious] observances
restricts their liberty [to stay here]; for verily the life of house-
holders who have set up their Sacred Fires is hampered with
[such] restraints. 8
Sītā—I know it, my noble Lord, I know it; and yet separations from
[dear] relatives do cause pain.
Rāma—Yes, just so. These things of the world do indeed gnaw at the very
vitals of the heart; and it is from disgust with these that men of wisdom
give up all interests and find peace in a forest.
Chamberlain, entering—Rāma dear—breaking off apprehensively—I mean,
Your Majesty!
Rāma, with a smile—Nay, Sir! In the mouth of an [old] attendant of my
father’s, ‘Rāma dear’ is just the fitting mode of address for me. Address
me then as you have been used to do.
Chamberlain—From Ṛishyaśṛiṅga’s hermitage Ashṭāvakra has arrived.
Sītā—Then, Sir, why delay?
Rāma—At once let him in.
Exit Chamberlain.
Ashṭāvakra, entering—Blessings on you both!
Rāma—Exalted Sir, my obeisance. Be seated here.
Sītā—Salutations unto you. Are all my elders (guru) and the noble Śāntā
doing well?
Rāma—In performing Soma-sacrifice I hope my brother-in-law, the exalted )
Ṛishyaśṛiṅga, is meeting with no hindrances?—And the noble Śāntā too?
Sītā—And does she [ever] think of us?
Ashṭāvakra, seating himself—Yes, certainly. Queen, the revered Vasishṭha
[your family-preceptor], sends you this word:
The All-sustaining [Earth], the exalted one, gave birth unto thee.¹
A king, the equal of [God] Prajāpati,² Janaka is thy sire.
¹ Janaka came upon Sītā while he was a holy sacrifice. Sītā means ‘furrow’.
ploughing and preparing the ground for ² I. e. Creator.
3 [H.O.S. 21]

i. 9c—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [18
A daughter-in-law art thou, O gladdening one, of those kings
of whose house the Sun¹ is the head (guru) and we are the
preceptor (guru). 9
What else then can we wish thee, save this?—Be thou the mother of
heroes!
Rāma—We are [in this mightily] favoured;
For, the speech of the worldly-wise saints follows the course of
the event (artha), whereas, of the ancient sages, it is the event
which speeds after [their] utterance. 10
Ashṭāvakra—This is what the exalted Arundhatī and the Queen-mothers
and Śāntā have told again and again: Whatever longing² Sītā may
conceive, that should without fail be forthwith gratified.
Rāma—We are doing whatever she says.
Ashṭāvakra—And her sister-in-law's husband, Ṛishyaśṛiṅga, says this unto
the Queen: Far gone with child as thou art, thou, my child, hast not been
brought here. Dear Rāma also, for thy solace, has been left behind.
So now we shall see thee, the long-lived one, with sons gracing thy lap.
Rāma, with a smile of joy and bashfulness—So be it! Has not the exalted
Vasishṭha, however, any mandate for me?
Ashṭāvakra—Listen:
This sacrifice at the son-in-law's has kept us engaged; thou art
but a boy and new to thy kingdom: In the propitiation of thy
subjects be thou [therefore] diligent. What glory comes out of
that is your supreme treasure. 11
Rāma—As [Vasishṭha] the exalted son of Mitra and Varuṇa says.
Affection and compassion and felicity—yea, even this daughter of
Janaka [Sītā]—for the propitiation of the people I can abandon
and feel no pangs. 12
Sītā—And hence it is that my noble Lord is the foremost of the [race
of] Raghus.
Rāma—Ho, some one without, let Ashṭāvakra be attended to.
Ashṭāvakra, rising [and] walking about—Lo, it is prince Lakshmaṇa coming.
Exit.
Lakshmaṇa, entering—Victory attend my noble brother! Noble Sir, that
painter has, as ordered by us, drawn, in this corridor here, [scenes from]
your career: Will the noble Lady have a look?
Rāma—Thou knowest, dear brother, [how] to divert [the mind of] the
sorrowing Queen. How far do these pictures go?
¹ Rāma belonged to the Solar race of kings. promotes perfect development of the
² Pregnant women are supposed to have unborn child.
longings, the prompt satisfaction of which

19] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 15⁶
Lakshmaṇa—As far as the fire-ordeal of the noble Lady [Sītā].
Rāma—Peace!
Pure even in her [very] birth, what need has she of other
[external] purifications? Holy Water and Fire surely do not
need to be made pure by other things. 13
O my Queen, sprung from the [very] sacrificial ground of the Gods, pardon!
Here is unto thee my life-long homage.
Hard [to please] is the people, and those whose wealth is [the
fame of] their family have to follow [the people's] humours! So,
whatever unkindly I spoke¹ unto thee was unmerited by thee.
By its very nature unto a sweet-smelling flower is ordained a
place on the head, and never tramplings under the feet. 14
Sītā—Never mind, noble my Lord, never mind. Come, let us rather, if you
please (dāva), see [those pictures of] your career.
They rise and walk about.
Lakshmaṇa—Here is the painting.
Sītā, inspecting it—Who now are these up above, standing close together
and seeming as if praising my noble Lord?
Lakshmaṇa—These are those jṛimbhaka² missiles and their spells (rahasya),
which from the exalted Kṛiśāśva were passed on to the son of Kuśika,
[I mean] to sage Viśvāmitra³—that friend (mitra) of the universe (viśva),
who in his turn, at the killing of Tāṭakā⁴, presented the same as a favour
to my noble brother.
Rāma—Salute, my Queen, these divine missiles:
Brahmā⁵ (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
Sītā—My homage unto these.
Rāma—Assuredly now these will attend upon thy offspring.
Sītā—This is a [great] favour.
Lakshmaṇa—This here is the scene at Mithilā.⁶
Sītā—Lo! Like a newly-expanding blue lotus dark and soft and tender
and fully developed in the charms of his person—[my] father gazing in
rapt amazement on his mild and lovely form—the bow of [God] Śaṅkara
¹ At the time of the fire-ordeal at Laṅkā.
² I. e. missiles producing stupor. They are conceived of in a human shape.
³ Rāma's instructor in archery and warfare.
⁴ A frightful she-demon and molester of pious sacrifices. She was killed by Rāma.
⁵ Creator of the universe.
⁶ Capital of Janaka and the place where, after successfully passing through the test of wielding the heavy bow of God Śiva (or Śaṅkara), Rāma and his brothers married Sītā and her sisters.

i. 15ᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [20
broken [in twain] with a careless ease—the [waving] tufts of hair grace-
fully adorning [his face]—thus is my noble Lord painted here!
Lakshmaṇa—Look, noble Lady, look at this:
To these relatives headed by Vasishṭha here is thy father [Janaka]
offering worship—as also Śatānanda, the son of Gotama and priest
of the Janaka-family. 16
Rāma—This is a sight to see!
Of the family of Janaka with that of Raghu¹ to whom is the
union not pleasing?—wherein both the giver and the receiver is
the son-of-Kuśika [Viśvāmitra] in person. 17
Sītā—Here in sooth are all ye four brothers—your godāna² ceremony
just performed—ready (dīkshita) for the wedding. Ah! I feel as if in
that very same place, on that very same occasion I were [again] present.
Rāma—To me [also] it seems to be again that self-same hour when,
like unto a great festival incarnate, it thrilled me with joy, O fair-
faced one,—this thy hand offered [me] by the son of Gotama and
begirt with lovely [nuptial] bangles. 18
Lakshmaṇa—This [here] is my noble Lady; this again, the noble Māṇḍavī³:
This here, likewise, [our] daughter-in-law, dear (vadhū) Śrutakīrti.⁴
Sītā—And who, dear brother (vatsa), is this other one here?
Lakshmaṇa, with a bashful smile⁵, aside—I see, it is [my] Ūrmilā that the
noble Lady is asking for. Well, I'll change the subject. Aloud. Here,
my noble Lady, here is something worth seeing; for here is the exalted
son of Bhṛigu.⁶
Sītā—Oh, how I tremble!
Rāma—My homage to thee, O sage!
Lakshmaṇa—Behold, behold, noble Lady! Here is this [sage], by my noble
brother—
Rāma, impatiently interrupting him—Don't you see there is much more
to be seen: show us what follows.
Sītā, gazing [at Rāma] with affection and deep respect—How well dost
thou, my noble Lord, shine in this thy excess of modesty!
Lakshmaṇa—Here is our arrival at Ayodhyā.
Rāma, with tears—I remember, alas! I remember:

¹ A famous ancestor of Rāma.
² Literally, ‘hair-clipping’ ceremony. For
its nature see Notes.
³ Wife of Lakshmaṇa’s elder brother, Bharata.
⁴ Wife of Lakshmaṇa’s younger brother,
Śatrughna. Notice the difference in the
mode of address. Since a younger brother
is in the status of a son, his wife is the
elder brother’s daughter-in-law.
⁵ For one may not utter his wife’s name,
especially before elders.
⁶ Paraśu-Rāma or Rāma with the axe, a
Brahman warrior and sage whom Rāma,
the hero of this play, vanquished.

21] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 23ᶜ
Our most honoured sire ¹ still alive—we only just wedded to our
brides—the Queen-mothers looking to all our needs: gone indeed
are those [happy] days of ours! 19
And then too this daughter of Janaka [Sītā]—
With her fine, slender, and charming locks-of-hair glistening at
the ends [as they were wafted by the wind]; with her bud-like
teeth enhancing the beauty of her face—child as she yet was;
with her delightfully lovely—as if made out of moon-beams—and
guilelessly sportive and sweet and tender limbs: she was the joy
of our Queen-mothers! 20
Lakshmaṇa—This is Mantharā.²
Rāma, passing on silently to another place—Queen Vaidehī,
This is that iṅgudī tree in the city of Śṛṅgavera, where, formerly,³
we came in contact with that friendly king of the Nishādas
[hill-tribes]. 21
Lakshmaṇa, with a smile, aside—So, I see, my noble brother has skipped
over the story of our second (madhyama) mother!
Sītā—Ha! This is the scene at the tying⁴ of the matted-hair (jaṭā).
Lakshmaṇa—With their sovereignty transferred to their sons what
the old sires of [the race of] Ikshvāku⁵ undertook, that, in his
[very] youth, my noble brother undertook—the holy vow of an
anchorite. 22
Sītā—This is the exalted Bhāgīrathī [Ganges] with her serene and holy
waters.
Rāma—Goddess! Presiding-divinity of the race of Raghu! Salutations
unto thee.
Busily engaged in search of the [lost] horse, when—at the time
of Sagara's⁶ [horse-]sacrifice—[his sons] cleft the earth open and
were through [sage] Kapila's wrathful radiance burnt to ashes, it
was Bhagīratha, practising penances heedless of the sufferings of
his body, who was able, after a very long time, to save [those sixty
¹ His father Daśaratha.
² An old nurse and attendant of Kaikeyī, the
second wife of Daśaratha, and the moving
spirit of the intrigue which brought about
Rāma's banishment, instead of his instal-
lation as heir-apparent.
³ After crossing the Ganges on their way to
banishment.
⁴ In preparation for assuming a forester's life.
⁵ Another famous ancestor of Rāma.
⁶ King Sagara of the Solar race commenced a horse-sacrifice. But the horse was stolen
away. In search, the sixty thousand sons
of Sagara ripped the earth open. There
they came upon sage Kapila, who burnt
them to ashes for their insolence. Their
great-grandson, Bhagīratha, brought the
Ganges down from the skies; and as
the holy waters touched the ashes, the
sixty thousand sons attained heaven.
The Ganges is called Bhāgīrathī after
Bhagīratha.

i. 23ᵈ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [22
thousand sons,] those grand-sires of his own sire, when, O exalted
one, they [their ashes] were touched by thy [holy] waters. 23
Be thou, therefore, O [divine] mother, towards [this] thy daughter-in-law,
Sītā, ever cherishing kindly thoughts—even like Arundhatī [herself]!
Lakshmaṇa—Here, on this way leading to the [mountain] Chitrakūṭa,
which was shown us by [the sage] Bharadvāja—[here] upon this bank of
the [river] Kālindī [Jumna]—is the banian-tree named Śyāma.
Sītā—Does my noble Lord remember this region here?
Rāma—How can I, darling, forget it!
For it was here that these tender-limbs of thine, lovely and
languid and drooping like a crushed lotus-stalk—exhausted with
the journey’s fatigues, [and so] close [mutual] embraces [alone]
doing the work of their shampooings—[these limbs of thine] thou
didst on my bosom repose and so sink into sleep! 24
Lakshmaṇa—Here is [the demon] Virādha obstructing [our] entrance into
the Vindhya-forest.
Sītā—Have done with this. I would rather see how—my noble Lord’s
hand holding a tāla-branch as an umbrella over me and [thus] shielding
me from the sun—how we journeyed through the Southern Forest.
Rāma—These here, along the banks of the mountain-rillets, these are
the penance-groves of the hermits who find shelter under the trees.
In these [groves], ever intent on hospitality, the peaceful dwellers,
cook their handful of wild-rice (nīvāra) and have their dwellings. 25
Lakshmaṇa—[This mountain,] with its dense clusters of trees imparting
a deep glossy blueness to the forests on its slopes, [forests] which hem in
[the current of the river] Godāvarī and [thus] cause the ravines to resound
—[this here,] with its blueness still further enhanced by the incessantly
pouring clouds [on its top]—here, situated in the heart of Janasthāna,¹ is
this mountain Prasravaṇa.²
Rāma—Dost thou, O fair-limbed one, remember, on this mountain—
while Lakshmaṇa attended upon us and chased away all our
cares—those days [that we once passed]? Dost thou likewise
remember [the river] Godāvarī with its refreshing banks? And
dost thou also remember our strolls in its neighbourhood? 26
Here likewise—
While those delicious nothings (kimapi) softly, gently—cheek
meeting cheek in [close] contact—we kept talking at random;
while a fast embrace kept of us both a hand each engaged—
¹ The habitable section of the forest of      ² Literally, ‘streaming’ or ‘full of streams’.
   Daṇḍakā.

23] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 30²
its watches speeding unnoticed [in succession]—thus did the
night come to an end! 27
Lakshmaṇa—Here is Śūrpaṇakhā ¹ in the Pañchavaṭī.²
Sītā—Alas! my noble Lord! No sight of thee hereafter!
Rāma—O thou, frightened at [the mere thought of] separation, this is
only a picture!
Sītā—Be that as it may, a wicked person is [ever] the source of
unhappiness.
Rāma ³—Why, in sooth, this Janasthāna incident does seem as if [happening
in the] present.
Lakshmaṇa—Hereafter the demons, through the trick of the disguise
[in the form] of the golden deer ⁴—the wicked ones—did in this
wise [as represented in the picture] that which [even now] smarts
us, though it has been washed off [in the enemy's blood]. In the
void of Janasthāna these doings of my noble brother, in his
piteous helplessness, they cause even the stone to weep and the
heart of adamant to burst! 28
Sītā, with tears, to herself—Alas! Thus, O thou Joy of Raghu's race,
[thus] wast thou on my account afflicted!
Lakshmaṇa, looking at Rāma, significantly—What is this now, my noble
brother?
These thy welling (ogha) tears—like some broken threads of a
pearl-necklace—trickle down and roll on the ground in streams
of shattered drops. Restrained though it is, this emotion, which
in its excess swells and fills thy heart, doth [nevertheless], through
thy quivering lips and nostrils, become inferable by others. 29
Rāma—Dear brother,
Born of that [former] separation from my beloved [that fire of
grief]—tormenting as it was—it was, in the hope of vengeance,
then endured by me. Now once again that [same] fire of grief,
as it flares out in my mind, like a [festering] wound in the vitals
of the heart doth it smart me with pain. 30
Sītā—Alas! Alas! I too, in the intensity of my anguish, feel myself as if
sundered from my noble Lord!

¹ Sister of the demon Rāvaṇa. Foiled in her
attempt to seduce Rāma and Lakshmaṇa,
and being punished by them, it was she
who incited Rāvaṇa to abduct Sītā.
² That part of Janasthāna where Rāma lived
with his wife and brother.
³ A slight interval during which they pass
in review a few more pictures (such as
Rāma's fight with the fourteen thousand,
cp. ii. 15) must here be presupposed.
This renders intelligible Rāma's change
of feeling between this speech and his
speech immediately preceding.
⁴ This was the trick used to draw Rāma
and Lakshmaṇa away from Sītā, whom
Rāvaṇa forthwith seized and carried off.

i. 30⁴—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [24
Lakshmaṇa, to himself—Well then, I will create a diversion. Looking at
the picture, aloud. Here now, aged by [the full length of] an eon,¹ is this
king of vultures, father Jaṭāyus² of honoured name, and [here] the
illustration of his valorous conduct.
Sītā—Alas, father! To its most bitter end (nir-) hast thou carried [this]
thy filial love!
Rāma—Alas, father! Thou descendant of Kaśyapa [and] monarch of the
winged tribes! Where can there be found, once again, another like thee—
a store of holiness, a saint?
Lakshmaṇa—This here, west of Janasthāna, is what they call Chitrakuñja³
—a portion of the Daṇḍakā forest inhabited [once] by the headless Danu.
This on the mountain Ṛishyamūka is the hermitage of [sage] Mataṅga,
and the grounds (padam) adjoining it. Here is the most saintly Śabara
lady, Śramaṇā by name. That again is the lily-pool called Pampā.⁴
Sītā—Here, as I learn (kila), my noble Lord—[all] his passion [for revenge]
(amarsha) and courage forsaking him—wept aloud and in the very fullness
of his heart (kaṇṭha).
Rāma—My Queen, lovely is this [lily-]pool [to me]:
[For,] in this [pool]—when in their youthful merriment the
[blue-beaked] mallikāksha birds shook with their wings the broad
and tremulous stalks of the [white] lotuses—in the intervals
between the risings and fallings of tear-drops, I perceived the
regions to be full of [blue] lotuses.⁵ 31
Lakshmaṇa—This is the noble Hanūmant (Māruti).⁶
Sītā—This is he who has conferred a mighty blessing on this [entire] living
world by uplifting it from the despair wherein it was long plunged—he of
resistless prowess, Māruti!
Rāma—Happily this is he of mighty arms—the source of Añjanā's⁷
joy—by whose valour blessed [in the attainment of their end] are
we ourselves and [all] the worlds! 32
Sītā—Dear brother, this here, with the full-plumed peacocks (barhin)
dancing upon its flowering kadamba trees, by what name is this mountain
called?—where, his majestic grace being all that is left of his pale beauty—

¹ A manvantara or eon = 306,720,000 human years.
² The vulture Jaṭāyus was a friend of Rāma's father, and met death in the attempt to prevent Sītā's abduction.
³ Lit. 'having many bowers'; the monster Danu infested it.
⁴ For all these persons and places see the Notes to the passage.
⁵ By a transference of the birds' colour to the lotuses on which they were perching.
⁶ A monkey-chieftain, ally of Rāma. He met Sītā in her captivity at Laṅkā, and carried news of her back to Rāma.
⁷ The mother of Māruti.

25] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 35ᵇ
about to swoon and supported by thy sorrowing [hands]—in the shade of
this tree, my noble Lord is depicted ?
Lakshmaṇa—This is that mountain perfumed with the [fragrant]
kakubha-[trees], Mālyavant by name, on whose peak is perching
an early rain-cloud, glossy and blue.
Rāma—Desist, my dear brother, desist from this: no farther can
I endure. Come back to me once again, meseems, is that
separation from [this] daughter of Janaka. 33
Lakshmaṇa—Hereafter [come], both of my noble brother and of the
valorous Monkeys and Demons, these countless and waxingly marvellous
deeds. Fatigued, however (cha), is my noble Lady here. Pray, therefore,
rest a while.
Sītā—Noble my Lord, the sight of these pictures has created [in me]
a longing, which prompts me to beg that—
Rāma—Why, you are free to command.
Sītā—I feel once again like amusing myself in the serene and lovely
woodlands, and having a plunge in the holy, cool, and translucent waters of
the exalted Bhāgīrathī.
Rāma—Dear Lakshmaṇa!
Lakshmaṇa—Here, at your service.
Rāma—That such longings should be forthwith gratified has even just
now been enjoined upon us by [our] elders (guru). Have ready therefore
a chariot that runs smoothly and without jolting.
Sītā—And you, my noble Lord, you are coming thither—aren't you?
Rāma—Why, you hard-hearted one! This—needs it to be said?
Sītā—Then, indeed, I am content.
Lakshmaṇa—So, as my noble brother commands. Exit.
Rāma—Dearest! Here, in this sheltered-balcony (apavartaka), let us repose
a while.
Sītā—So be it. Through fatigue I am really overpowered by sleep.
Rāma—If so, cling to me close and we will go [thither] together:
As if infusing life into me, let this thy arm—moist with drops of
perspiration due to excitement and fatigue—let it be thrown
around my neck: [thy arm] in all the loveliness of a necklace of
chandrakānta¹ beads, dripping [as when gently] kissed by the
moon-beams. 34
While helping her to do so, in joy. Dearest! What can this be?
Impossible to decide if this be joy or if this be grief, if a swoon
or a slumber; whether this be a slowly-creeping poison or an
¹ The 'moon-stone' is believed to have this property.
4 [H.O.S. 21]

i. 35ᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [26
infatuation [of some sort] : for, at every touch of thine, a [certain]
feeling, benumbing all my senses, [possesses me, and] now
bewilders my soul (chaitanya) and now paralyses it quite! 35
Sītā, with a smile—'Tis all your unchanging affection : how else then
could it be ?
Rāma—Causing the drooping flower of my life to bloom—filling me
with transport—ravishing all my senses—these endearing words
of my lotus-eyed one : they are as ambrosia to the ear and as
elixirs to the mind ! 36
Sītā—Come, thou of honeyed words! Let us rest. Looks about for
something to sleep on.
Rāma—And what, pray, wouldst thou look for ?
Ever since the time of our wedding, at home or in the forest, in
girlhood and then again in young-womanhood, what has [ever]
lulled thee to sleep and what no other woman can claim—Rāma's
arm, thy pillow, is here. 37
Sītā, going into sleep—It is even so, my noble Lord ! It is even so. Sleeps.
Rāma—Why, with sweet words on her lips she has already fallen asleep on
my bosom ! gazing, in fondness—
She to the house a very Lakshmī¹—to the eyes an ambrosial
pencil—this touch of hers like a thick sandal-juice to the body—
this [her] arm round [my] neck, cool and tender as a pearl-
necklace : what of hers is not dear, save only that unendurable
separation ? 38
Pratīhārī,² entering—Has come, my liege !
Rāma—And who ?
Pratīhārī—The personal attendant of Your Majesty—Durmukha.³
Rāma, to himself—Oh, Durmukha, who is on duty about the harem ?
Him I had employed as a spy upon my subjects in the city and in the
country. Aloud. Let him come in.
Exit Pratīhārī.
Durmukha, entering, to himself—Alas! how now, concerning the Queen
Sītā, such an unthinkable public slander may I report unto the King ?
But (adhavā) such indeed is the lot of [men like] me, ill-starred.
Sītā, talking in her sleep—Alas! Gentle my Lord! Where art thou?
Rāma—How now ! Of that torment-giving separation this must be the
[latent] impression ⁴ (bhāvanā) which my Queen received while looking at
¹ The Goddess of wealth and plenty.
² A female warder. Her words 'has come'
Rāma construes with the last word of his
speech, 'separation'; hence his surprised
question. 'Separation' in Sanskrit is
masculine.
³ 'Foul-mouthed' or 'with face of evil omen'.
⁴ The poet is here purposely technical.

27] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 42ᵈ
the pictures, and which is [now] causing her these perturbed dreams.
Affectionately stroking her.
Uniform (advaita) in happiness and in sorrow—conformable
(anuguṇa) to all the conditions [of life]—in which the heart finds
solace—the flavour of which age cannot stint—which with time,
as the veil-of-reserve (āvaraṇa) drops away, abides as a perfect
and ripened affection—that one supreme-blessing (bhadra) [only]
the fortunate among mankind, and after a sore trial (katham api),
attain. 39
Durmukha, approaching—Victory unto Your Majesty!
Rāma—Speak what you have found out.
Durmukha—They praise Your Majesty—the people both in the city and in
the country—saying, ‘King Rāma has made us forget King Daśaratha’.
Rāma—A mere compliment this: tell me of some fault or other so that
it may be set right.
Durmukha, with tears—Let the King listen [then]. In his ear [whispers]
so and so.
Rāma—Alas! How sudden in its blow is this thunderbolt of a speech!
Faints.
Durmukha—Take heart, my King!
Rāma, coming to himself—
Alas, oh alas! That scandal, due to the residence in a stranger’s
house of this daughter of the Videha-King, [that scandal] which
[formerly] through means miraculous we had put down—that,
like a mad hound’s venom, is once again, by an adverse turn of
fortune, spreading fast (pra) everywhere! 40
What then—ill-starred that I am—may I do in this case? After reflecting,
mournfully. Or, what else is there [to it]?
For good men, by some means or other, propitiation of the people
[must be] a sacred duty (vrata)—[a duty] which, moreover (hi),
my father fulfilled,¹ though [thereby] losing me and his [own]
life. 41
Just a short while ago did the exalted Vasiṣhṭa send [me] his mandate.²
Furthermore,
[That long career] which hath been made glorious by the Children
of the Sun—the rulers of the Earth, the foremost of men—if that
pure and unblemished career [of this Solar race] should, on my
account, by some foul calumny be disgraced—then, alas! fie on
me, the unblessed! 42
¹ For the palace-intrigue which caused Rāma’s death, see Introduction, § 18, E.
banishment and his father Daśaratha’s Compare stanza 11, above.

i. 42¹—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [28
Alas, my Queen, who hast uprisen from the [very] sacrificial ground of the
Gods! Who by thy birth hast graciously purified [the womb of] the Earth!
Who hast been a joy to Janaka and [the whole race of] Nimi!¹ O thou
whose character [even] Fire and Vasiṣṭha and Arundhatī have commended!
Thou to whom Rāma is life and all! Thou the dear companion of my
residence in the great wilderness [of Daṇḍakā]! Dear unto my [honoured]
father! Sweet and measured in thy words! How is it that of one like
thee such here should be the fate?—
Through thee [are] the worlds holy—unholy [are] the world’s
rumours about thee! Thou art the world’s protection—without
protector thou wilt [now] perish! 43
Go, Durmukha, say unto Lakshmaṇa: This is what thy new King, Rāma,
commands thee. In his ear [whispers] so and so.
Durmukha—And wherefore [unto the Queen] whose purity has been
attested by the fire-ordeal and who bears in her womb the [hopes of the]
continuance of this holy race of Raghu—[wherefore] unto a queen, on base
wretches’ words, has Your Majesty resolved to mete out such treatment?
Rāma—Peace! The people of my city and my country—base wretches?
Ikshvāku’s race hath [ever] been beloved of the people: and [yet
in it] hath arisen, as Fate will have it, an occasion of scandal.
And as for that miraculous event at the time when the Queen was
cleared [by the ordeal]—who will believe it, since it took place
[in Laṅkā] so far away? 44
Go therefore.
Durmukha—Alas, Queen! Exit.
Rāma—Woe and alas! Detestable in my actions—a savage—have I been!
From childhood on, with kind cares (priyaiḥ), to her wants have
I ministered—my dearest, who in her love hath naught but me on
whom to rest: her I am treacherously handing over to Death, as
does a butcher his pet house-bird! 45
Wherefore then should I—the untouchable criminal—[yet continue to]
pollute the Queen [by my touch]? Gently uplifts Sītā’s head, withdrawing
his arm.
[Me,] an outcaste whose deeds it were hard to match, let me go,
thou artlessly-innocent one! Thou hast clung, mistaking it for
a sandal-tree, to what is only a poison-tree with fruit of bane. 46
Rising. Alas! [to me] topsy-turvy now is this world of life. Ended is the
life-purpose of Rāma. A void, now, a wasted wilderness, is the universe.
Robbed-of-its-charms is my existence [hereafter]. My body a mere abode
¹ Ancestor of Sītā’s father, Janaka.

29] Act I, Picture-gallery — Translation [—i. 50⁴
of woes. No help remains to me and no choice : what can be done ?
Surely (athavā)—
It is only to make me feel [the pangs of] sorrow that into [me,]
Rāma, consciousness has been put; and my life is stubborn like
a dart of adamant: it pierces the vitals [and will not be pulled
out]! 47
O Arundhatī that hast been a mother to me; ye venerable Vasiṣṭha and
Viśvāmitra; O holy Fire and thou O all-sustaining Goddess [Earth]!—
Alas, father ! Alas, Janaka ! Alas, ye my [dear] mothers !—Thou O loving
friend, King Sugrīva ;¹ gentle Hanūmant ; Vibhīshaṇa,² ruler of Laṅkā
[and] my great benefactor; [and not the least] thou O friendly Trijaṭā ³—
ye do all stand robbed, stand insulted, by this wretch of a Rāma ! Or rather,
what right have I now to call on them ?
For, I think, that they of noble mind, when their names are taken
on the lips of me of base and ungrateful mind, [that they] perhaps
are polluted by my deed of wrong, 48
in that I—
Am casting away her who in confidence on my bosom reposing has
gone to sleep—my dearest consort, the glory of my house ;—her
whose womb is heavy with its painfully throbbing and full-grown
burden—[her] like a victim unto the Flesh-eaters ⁴ I am ruthlessly
throwing away! 49
Placing his head on Sītā’s feet. Queen, Queen ! Here now—but [alas !]
for the last time—Rāma’s head toucheth thy lotus-feet. Weeps.
[Voice,] behind the curtain—An outrage against a Brahman, an outrage !
Rāma—Find out, some one, what it is.
[Voice,] again behind the curtain—
Of sages fierce in their austerities and dwellers on the banks of
the Yamunā, a throng, harassed by [the demon] Lavaṇa, is
approaching unto thee their defender. 50
Rāma—How,—even yet are the demons harassing ? Then I must forthwith
send [my brother] Śatrughna to destroy this wicked son of Kumbhīnasī.⁵
Pacing a few steps and again coming back. Alas, my Queen, how—
situated as thou art—[how] wilt thou fare ? O holy [Earth, thou] Giver
of all blessings ! This thy virtuous daughter do thou look upon with
kindness—this daughter of Janaka :

¹ An ally of Rāma.      ⁴ Demons or beasts of prey.
² Brother of Rāvaṇa ; he assisted Rāma in his      ⁵ Mother of the demon Lavaṇa. He infested
     fight with Rāvaṇa, and was by Rāma      the region around Mathurā (modern
     installed king of Laṅkā.      Muttra in the N.W. Provinces).
³ She solaced Sītā in her captivity.

i. 51ᵃᵇ—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [30
Of Janaka's and of Raghu's families the all-in-all of auspiciousness,
and to whom—of holy character—in the holy sacrificial ground of
the Gods thou didst give birth. 51
Exit.
Sītā, talks in sleep—Alas, gentle my Lord! Rising abruptly. Why now,
what a fool I am! Deceived by the malignant dream, I am crying after my
noble Lord! Looking [around]. How now! Could it be that leaving me
here alone and sleeping, my dear Lord has verily gone away? What can
this mean? Well, well! I must be angry with him—provided [of course]
that when I look upon his face I am master of my [actions]! Who is in
attendance here?
Durmukha, entering—Queen! Prince Lakshmaṇa requests: The car is
ready; will the Queen [be pleased to] get in?
Sītā—Here I am, ready. Rising. I feel something like a throbbing in my
womb: let us go slowly.
Durmukha—This way, this way, Queen!
Sītā—My salutations¹ unto the Presiding-deities of the race of Raghu!
Both go out.

¹ It is usual, when leaving the house, to make this homage.

END OF ACT I
CALLED
PICTURE-GALLERY.

ACT II
[Voice,] behind the curtain—Welcome unto [you] the store of holiness!
Enters a female ascetic in a traveller's habit.
Female Ascetic—O, I see: This is a sylvan deity approaching me respect-
fully with an offering¹ of leaves and fruits and flowers.
Sylvan Deity, entering, and making the offering—
Open unto your unhindered enjoyment is this forest here; this is
for me a day of bliss. For, the meeting of the good with the good
happens but rarely [and then, only] by [reason of some special]
merit. Sheltering arbours, water, and whatsoever of food for
[your] penance be suited—fruit or root—all alike is entirely at
your command here. 1
Female Ascetic—Needs this to be said?
A habitual complaisance of manners; a temperance in speech
agreeable by its modesty; a disposition naturally benevolent:
a friendship [absolutely] irreproachable—thus first and last [and
ever] invariable in its sweetness, may this secret of a sage's [life]
—free from stains and hindrances—[may it ever] prosper! 2
Both sit down.
Sylvan Deity—By what name, now, may I know your ladyship?
Female Ascetic—I am Ātreyī.
Sylvan Deity—Honoured Ātreyī, and from where is it that you have come,
and what may be your purpose in coming to this Daṇḍakā forest?
Ātreyī—Here in this region are dwelling—with Agastya² at their
head—many [scholars] learned in the Sāma-Veda. To acquire
from them the Upanishad (nigamānta) lore, hither have I come
journeying from Vālmīki's place. 3
Sylvan Deity—If now even other [distant] students (muni), to realize
Brahma, sit at the feet of that same venerable discourser of Brahma [Vālmīki],
that son of [God] Varuṇa, what means then this your ladyship's journey?
¹ It is usual to honour a guest with such an    Southern India. His hermitage was in
  offering.                  Pañchavaṭī, near Rāma's own.
² Believed to be the earliest explorer of

ii. 3³—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [32
Ātreyī—There [occurred] a great hindrance to the course-of-studies
(adhyayana); and so was this long journey undertaken.
Sylvan Deity—Of what sort [may this hindrance be]?
Ātreyī—To him, the exalted one [Vālmīki], some unknown (viśesha)
divinity has made over two boys in every respect marvellous and being
of an age when they were just weaned. These boys have indeed captivated
the inmost hearts not only of [Vālmīki] himself but also of all movable
and immovable beings¹ whatsoever.
Sylvan Deity—And are their names known?
Ātreyī—That same divinity, 'tis said, announced Kuśa and Lava as their
names, and [declared also] their prowess.
Sylvan Deity—Prowess, of what nature?
Ātreyī—They have—so runs the report (kila)—a mastery from their very
birth over the jṛimbhaka missiles with their secret spells.
Sylvan Deity—This, to be sure, is passing strange!
Ātreyī—Now these [boys] the exalted Vālmīki, having taken upon
himself the duties of a nurse, has brought up under his care. As soon as
they had gone through the chaula²-ceremony he [Vālmīki] assiduously
grounded them—with the exception of the three Vedas—in the three³
other branches of knowledge. And then when the [boys] had reached the
eleventh year from their conception, they were, according to the rites
proper to a Kshatriya, invested with the Sacred Thread and instructed in
the knowledge of the Three [Vedas] also.⁴ Now with these two [boys],
possessed of exceedingly brilliant power of comprehension and retentiveness
as they are, [students] like us cannot keep pace in the studies. For,
The preceptor imparts unto the clever, instructions just the same
as unto the dull, and in no wise doth he their power of compre-
hension either make or thwart; and yet there does result a vast
difference as to the outcome: for we know (tad-yathā) that [only]
a pure crystal is able to take in images, and not a [mere] lump of
clay. 4
Sylvan Deity—And this then is the hindrance to your course-of-studies?
Ātreyī—[There is] yet another.
Sylvan Deity—And what can this other be?
Ātreyī—Then, once upon a time, this Brahman-sage [Vālmīki], for his

¹ Not only animals and plants, but even
mountains and rivers and the whole
mineral kingdom, in fact, possess souls.
² Lit. 'forelock'-ceremony: clipping a boy's
hair with the exception of five little tufts
or locks. At the time of marriage these
'forelocks' give place to a single central
tuft or śikhā.
³ Logic, Economics, Politics: the Vedas form
the fourth branch. See Kauṭilīya, p. 6.
⁴ The Vedas may not be taught before the
Sacred-thread ceremony.

33] Act II, Daṇḍakā Revisited — Translation [—ii. 6ᵈ
[customary] midday oblations, went unto the river Tamasā; and there,
of a pair of curlews sporting together (chārin), he sighted one as it was
being pierced by a fowler. Then did [the sage] burst forth in words
divine, spontaneous-and-intuitive, blameless [in their form] and adapted to
the metre of an anushṭubh stanza:
‘Never, O Nishāda,¹ through all the years eternal, [never] shalt
thou attain stability, because thou hast killed one of these two
curlews maddened with love [for its mate].’ 5
Sylvan Deity—Wonderful is this introduction of new metres outside the
Vedas!²
Ātreyī—And then, about the same time, unto that exalted one—unto the
sage [Vālmīki] in whom shone forth the light of Brahma in the form of
the Word—approached the exalted Author of all beings, the Lotus-born
[Brahmadeva], and spake,—Sage! Awakened art thou to that Brahma
whose essence is Word: Speak out, therefore, the History of Rāma.
Unimpeded in its illumination [be] thy inspired and prophetic vision!
Thou art the first of poets. So saying He [forthwith] became invisible.
Then [Vālmīki,] that exalted son of Varuṇa, composed what is the first
[of its kind] among mortals: that transformation (vivarta) of Brahma-in-
the-form-of-Word—the History called Rāmāyaṇa.
Sylvan Deity—This, to be sure (hanta), is an adornment to the world.
Ātreyī—And hence, as I said, there occurred a great hindrance to our
course of studies.
Sylvan Deity—I see now (yujyate).
Ātreyī—I have had my rest, kind lady! Now unto [sage] Agastya’s
hermitage point me the way.
Sylvan Deity—Enter Pañchavaṭī on this side here, and then proceed
onwards along this bank of the Godāvarī.
Ātreyī, with tears—Can it then be that this penance-grove is Pañchavaṭī—
that this river is Godāvarī—that this mountain is Prasravaṇa—and [finally]
that you are the Deity of the Janasthāna, Vāsantī?
Vāsantī—Even so: all [as you say].
Ātreyī—[Alas] Jānakī, my child!³
Here are those loving companions of thine, on [all] occasions the
theme of thy conversation, who, as I see them [here] now, bring
thee visibly before our eyes, though [alas!] only the name of thee
now remains behind! 6
¹ Forester. Before this the Vedas were the only
² Vālmīki is regarded as the father of poetry metrical works.
and the Rāmāyaṇa as the first poem. ³ Ātreyī apparently is an elderly lady.
5 [H.O.S. 21]

ii. 6¹—] Bhavabhūti — Uttara-Rāma-Charita [34
Vāsantī, with apprehension, to herself—How! 'only the name of thee now
remains behind,' she says! Aloud. What calamity then, noble lady, has
befallen the Queen Sītā?
Ātreyī—Not a mere calamity but a calumny to boot! In her ear [whispers]
so and so.
Vāsantī—Alas! A cruel stroke of destiny! Faints.
Ātreyī—Compose yourself, gentle lady, compose yourself.
Vāsantī—Alas, my loving friend [Sītā]! Thou Fortune's favourite! That
such should be the lot of thy life!! Rāma, dear! Dear Rāma!—Or rather
I have had quite too much of thee. But, I say, honoured Ātreyī, after
Lakshmaṇa's departure from that forest where he had left her, what
became of Queen Sītā? Is there any tidings as to that?
Ātreyī—No, not the least.
Vāsantī—Woe and alas! And when Arundhatī and Vasishṭha were guardians
to the scions of the Raghu-race—[even] in the [very] life-time of the aged
Queen-mothers—how was this suffered to happen?
Ātreyī—In Ṛishyaśṛiṅga's hermitage the elders were then living. Now
[however] that twelve-year [long] session [of the sacrifice] has come to an
end; and Ṛishyaśṛiṅga, after paying them the [customary] honours, has
bidden the elders (guru) farewell. Then spake the exalted Arundhatī,—
'I will not return to Ayodhyā if our daughter-in-law [Sītā] is not there';
to this too Rāma's Queen-mothers assented; and in compliance with that
the exalted Vasishṭha uttered his holy word to the effect that they should
[all] repair unto Vālmīki's penance-grove and there abide.
Vāsantī—And the King¹—what is he doing now?
Ātreyī—The King has now undertaken a horse-sacrifice.
Vāsantī—Oh, fie! Has he even married [again]?
Ātreyī—No, Heaven forfend, no!
Vāsantī—Who then is there to participate in the religious offices² connected
with the sacrifice?
Ātreyī—A golden image of Sītā.
Vāsantī—Ha!—Really?
Than even an adamant, harder; softer than even a flower: the
minds of those that tower above the common sort—who is there
that can [ever] fathom [them]? 7
Ātreyī—And the sacrificial horse has been let loose consecrated by [sage]
Vāmadeva;³ and for [the horse] have been assigned, agreeably to the
Shastras (Scriptures) the [proper number of] guards, and at the head of
¹ She would not call him 'Rāma dear' now. monies.
² The wife took part in all religious cere- ³ Who officiated in the absence of Vasishṭha.