THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

274 The Harmony of VirtueCharacteristic too is his conduct when the jewel is lost. We feelcertain that Agnimitra when rushing out of his tent would havecaught up his bow and arrows and shot the thief on the spot;Pururavas occupies [himself] in pouring out splendid tropes andsimiles over the bird and the jewel and appeals helplessly to Manavakafor advice. This is characteristic of the poetic temperamentwhose mind has long trained itself to throw out its imaginationto meet every new object or situation and not its actingfaculties; except in natures of a very firm balance the habit mustlead to paralysis of the will. Such a sapping of vigour has beengoing on in Pururavas during the long years of absorption in hisromantic passion. One must hope that when he stands again inthe forefront of battle, “Heaven's great soldier” will have sufficientplasticity of character to recover in the shock of action whathe has lost in the peace of the seraglio. Then there are certainmoral insensibilities, certain feelings which seem to have beenleft out in his composition. It is part of his self-assumed role inlife to be the ideal king, the mirror of gallantry and conjugal duty,the champion of the gods and of religion. Yet it is Urvasie andnot he who remembers that his “high capital awaits him long”and who shrinks from the displeasure of the people. He exhibitsdeference and a show of love to Aushinarie because he “owes”her respect and affection, but in spite of his glowing languageand fine acting we feel that he cherishes towards her none ofthe genuine respect and affection or of the real and indulgentkindliness Agnimitra feels for Dharinie and Iravatie. In the lastAct he expresses some fear that he may lose religious calm; onefeels that religious calm in Pururavas must have been somethinglike the king's robe in Hans Anderson's story. But it was one ofthe necessary “belongings” of the great semi-divine king whichPururavas just considered his “part” in life as impassive calmand insensibility to human misfortune and grief was one of thenecessary “belongings” of the great demi-god, the human Jovewhich Napoleon thought to be his destined role. If the vast, flamingand rushing mass of genius and impetuosity which we call Napoleonwas incompatible with stoical calm and insensibility, sowas the ardent mass of sensuousness and imagination which Kalidasaportrayed in Pururavas incompatible with the high austerity