उत्तररामचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी व्याख्या)

206 TRANSLATION OF [ II. 6—
Vasanti —And how is the king engaged at present?
Atreyi —That king has commenced a horse sacrifice.
Vasanti —Oh, fie! He has married too!
Atreyi —Heaven forbid, no, no.
Vasanti —Who then is his consort in the sacrifice?
Atreyi —A golden image of Sita.
Vasanti —Ha!—Oh! (Verse 7) who can fathom the
minds of extraordinary persons, which, though harder than
adamant, are yet softer than a flower?
Atreyi —The sacrificial horse consecrated by Vamadeva
has been let loose, and guards have been appointed for it
according to sacred rules, and Chandraketu, the son of
Lakshmana, who has learnt the traditional knowledge of the
heavenly missiles has been sent as their commander, followed
by a force consisting of the four divisions.
Vasanti—(with tears of affection and wonder) The son
too of Prince Lakshmana! Now, mother, there is life in me.
Atreyi —About this time a Brahmana threw the body of
his dead son before the gate of the king's palace and beating
his breast cried out "An outrage upon the Brahmanas." Then
while the compassionate Rama was considering that he was in
fault as untimely death could not come upon the subjects with-
out the fault of the king, suddenly an aerial voice was heard—
(Verse 8) "A man of the Sudra class, Sambuka by name,
has been performing a penance on the earth, his head must be
cut off by thee, O Rāma: by slaying him restore the Brāhmana
to life." As soon as he heard this, the lord of the earth, with
a drawn sword in hand, ascended the aerial car Pushpaka and
began to move in all quarters and by-quarters in search of
the Sudra ascetic.
Vasanti—A smoke inhaling ascetic, Sambuka by name, is
performing penance in this very Janasthana. Therefore I hope
noble Rama may again adorn this forest!
Atreyi—Friend, I go now.
Vasanti—Revered Atreyi, be it so, but the day has far
vhanced. (Verse 9) The trees on the banks having nests
(of birds) on them are honouring the Godavari with their
flowers having their stems loosened by the heat and falling
down on account of the shaking caused by the itching elephants
rubbing their round temples against them (the trees), the
barks of which have the insects drawn out by the beaks of