TALES FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS - Awaken Video

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The king not wishing to see the performance alone, summons the queen who arrives soon. The king leads her to a seat, sits beside her and commands the magician to display his power. The magician waves his plumes and exhibits most wonderful scenes. _Brahma_ appears throned upon the lotus; _Sankara_ appears with the crescent moon, his glittering crest; _Hari_, the destroyer of the demon race, in whose four hands the bow, the sword, the mace and the shell are borne, is observable. _Indra_, the king of _Swarga_, is seen mounted on his stately elephant. Around them countless spirits dance merrily in mid air, sporting with the lovely nymphs of heaven, whose anklets ring responsive to the measure. The king and queen look up and rise from their seats. At this time, a female attendant appears to announce;--"So please your Majesty, the minister Yaugandharayana begs to inform you, that Vikrambahu, the king of Ceylon, has sent, along with your own messenger who returns, the councillor Vasubhuti; be pleased to receive him as the season is auspicious. The minister will also wait upon you as soon as he is at leisure." The queen observes, "Suspend this spectacle, my lord. Vasubhuti is a man of elevated rank; he is also of the family of my maternal uncle, and should not be suffered to wait; let us first see him." The king orders the suspension of the show, the magician retires promising to exhibit yet some sights. Vasubhuti, after the customary exchange of courtesies, thus relates his story:--"In consequence of the prophesy of a seer, that whoever should wed Ratnavali, my master's daughter, should become the emperor in the world, your Majesty's minister solicited her for your bride; unwilling, however, to be instrumental in the uneasiness of Vasavadatta, the king of Simhala declined compliance with his suit. My master, understanding at last that the queen was deceased, consented to give his daughter to you. We were deputed to conduct her hither, when alas, our vessel was wrecked." The envoy, overpowered by sorrows, is unable to continue the story and weeps. The queen exclaims, "Alas, unhappy that I am! Loved sister Ratnavali, where art thou? Near me and reply." The king consoles the queen thus:-- "The fate that causes, may remove our sorrows." A cry is now heard from behind that the inner apartments are on fire. The king starts up wildly and exclaims, "Vasavadatta burnt to death! my queen, my love!" The queen exclaims, "What extravagance is this--behold me at your side. But ah! help, help, my lord. I think not of myself but poor Sagarika. She is in bonds; my cruelty has kept her captive--and she will be lost without some aid--haste, haste and save her!" The king flies to her rescue, precipitates himself into the flames and takes her in his arms. He pauses--looks around--closes his eyes, and reopens them. The flames disappear. The palace stands unharmed. The king observes, "This must have been a dream, or is it magic?" Vasantaka replies, "The latter, no 68
doubt; did not that conjuring son of a slave say, he had still something for your Majesty to see?" The king says to the queen, "Here, madam, is Sagarika rescued in obedience to your commands." The queen smiling replies, "I am sensible of your obedience, my lord." She now informs all present, "Yaugandharayana presented her to me, and told me she had been rescued from the sea: it was hence we designated her Sagarika or the ocean Maid." The likeness--the necklace--the recovery of the damsel from the sea--leave no doubt in the mind of Vasubhuti that this is the daughter of the king of Simhala, Ratnavali. Vasubhuti advances to her who looks at him. They recognize each other and both faint. After some time they recover. As Ratnavali goes to embrace the queen at her invitation, she stumbles. At the request of the queen who blushes for her cruelty, the king takes the chains off Ratnavali's feet. Yaugandharayana now explains his conduct thus, "It was formerly announced to us by a holy seer, that the husband of the princess of Simhala should become the emperor of the world. We therefore earnestly applied to her father to give her hand to our sovereign; but unwilling to be cause of uneasiness to the queen, the monarch of Simhala declined compliance with our request: we therefore raised a report that Vasavadatta had perished by a fire at Lavanaka, and Babhravya was despatched with the news to the court of Simhala. Vikrambahu then consented to our proposal and sent his daughter on board a ship accompanied by Vasubhuti and Babhravya. The ship was wrecked. The princess was rescued from the sea by a merchant who brought her to me. I placed her with the queen in a very unsuitable station as I expected you would see her in the inner apartments, and take pleasure in her sight. I had some concern in the appearance of the magician who had conjured up a vision of the gods and a conflagration, as no other means remained of restoring the damsel to your presence and creating an opportunity for Vasubhuti to see and recognise the princess." The queen now puts on Ratnavali her own jewels, then takes her by the hand and presents her to the king. Ratnavali bows to the queen who embraces her. The king observes, "My cares are all rewarded. Nothing more is necessary, Vikrambahu is my kinsman, Sagarika, the essence of the world, the source of universal victory, is mine, and Vasavadatta rejoices to obtain a sister. The _Kosalas_ are subdued: what other object does the world present for which I could entertain a wish? This be alone my prayer; may Indra with seasonable showers render the earth bountiful of grain; may the presiding Brahmans secure the favour of the gods by acceptable sacrifices; may the association of the pious confer delight until the end of time, and may the appalling blasphemies of the profane be silenced for ever." APPENDIX. 69
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TALES FROM THE HINDU DRAMATISTS BY
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_1911--December._ } TALES FROM THE
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with the Kokila's melodious cry. Th
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The king is now at Prayag, the mode
Page 9 and 10:
"The rippling wave is like her frow
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the king and destroys his peace of
Page 13 and 14:
_aswamedha_, or horse-sacrifice, fo
Page 15 and 16:
The combat between the two Ramas is
Page 17 and 18: himself and his family at the feet
Page 19 and 20: He has no other resource. People mu
Page 21 and 22: At the close of the play, Rama fain
Page 23 and 24: arrived at supernatural power by re
Page 25 and 26: I cease to be myself or conscious o
Page 27 and 28: He encounters Aghorghanta and, afte
Page 29 and 30: the Monkeys, and triumphs over him.
Page 31 and 32: Ravana levels a shaft at Lakshmana,
Page 33 and 34: ace. Rama replies:--"This flag of y
Page 35 and 36: dream in which she has beheld a _Na
Page 37 and 38: Duryodhana is discovered concealed
Page 39 and 40: But the sage is obdurate. He will n
Page 41 and 42: The king then hawks himself about,
Page 43 and 44: my master." Then he approaches the
Page 45 and 46: grant his request. As he proceeds i
Page 47 and 48: Kansa, the king of Mathura, alarmed
Page 49 and 50: what our ancestors expended." Satya
Page 51 and 52: father of the damsel, to whose veng
Page 53 and 54: Siva observes, "How! would you impo
Page 55 and 56: against Chandragupta but without su
Page 57 and 58: the forest." The prince and the Vid
Page 59 and 60: already the husband of the princess
Page 61 and 62: every foe; the burden of my governm
Page 63 and 64: "why should you be ashamed? Attachm
Page 65 and 66: with his Majesty's hand." Sagarika
Page 67: and prostrate supplications had les
Page 71 and 72: supplemented with prose dialogues i
Page 73 and 74: Indeed, if a calamitous conclusion
Page 75 and 76: had no doubt suffered from the pang
Page 77 and 78: out to pay her respects to the seni
Page 79 and 80: his protege, Chandragupta firm upon
Page 81 and 82: It is stated in the prelude to be t
Page 83 and 84: simple and idiomatic. The story is
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