उत्तररामचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - संस्कृत मूल एवं हिन्दी व्याख्या)

232 TRANSLATION OF [ IV. 11—
to me in the relation of pupil, let that be as it is, in any
case the excellence of thy purity strengthens my adoration
for you, whether childhood or womanhood be thine, surely
thou art to be worshipped by the worlds, in virtuous beings
virtues are the object of reverence, not sex nor age
Kausalya—Alas! my woes burst forth (faints)
Janaka—Alas! what is this?
Arundhati—Royal sage, what else could it be? (Verse
12) That king, that happiness, those children, and those
days,—all this was recalled to her mind on beholding thee,
her friend and then in the hour of that terrible reverse of
condition thy friend lost her senses, for the minds of matrons
are soft as a flower.
Janaka—Alas! alas! truly I have become cruel in
every way, since I do not receive affectionately the beloved
wife of my dear friend, seen after a long time. (Verse 13)
He was a worthy relation, he was a dear friend, he was my
own heart, and he was to me incarnate joy, and the whole
object of my life, body and life and whatever is dearer than
these—what was not the beloved and august king Dasaratha
to me? Alas! this is that very Kausalya, (Verse 14)
Whatever great offence she or her lord had committed in
private I became separately the person to be blamed by
husband and wife; afterwards it depended upon me whether
they should be reconciled or continue to be angry, but
enough, why should I call to mind what overcomes and
consumes my heart?
Arundhati—Alas! Her heart has become motionless on
account of her breath being long suspended.
Janaka—Oh dear friend! (besprinkles her with the water
in his gourd)
Kanchuki—(Verse 15) Wonderful! Fortune, having
first shown like an agreeable friend an unmixed favourable-
ness, afterwards becoming terrible in her unexpected reverse,
increases exceedingly the anguish of the mind.
Kausalya—(recovering) O child Janaki, where art
thou? I remember the lotus of thy beautiful face on which
a pure smile used to play, the chief ornament of which
was the glory due to the recent celebration of marriage.
Brighten my lap once more, dear child with your limbs lovely
like glittering moonlight. The great king would always