English
Her presence is ambrosia to my si^ht ; Her contact fragrant sandal ; her fond arms Twined round my neck are a far richer clasp Than costliest gems ; and in my house she reigns The guardian goddess of my fame and fortune. Oh ! I could never bear again to lose her. The last sentiment is artfully put in here by the poet, for Rdma is on the eve of losing Sita* again. Weak as he is loving and gentle, he hears with distress, immedi- ately after leaving Sit& in her sleep, that his subjects are ill pleased with his conduct in accepting Sit£ again after she had been carried away by R&vana. Too weak to Digitized by Googl CHAP. XL] DRAMA. 421 bear popular dissatisfaction he submits to their desires, and sends poor Sitl to exile. Twelve years have since passed and gone. The twins to whom Sitcl gave birth soon after her exile have grown to be sturdy boys, versed in arms as in learning under the tuition of V&lmiki. Sitd leads a pensive life in the forests, her face, Pale and wan and wet with tears, She moves along like Tenderness Invested with a mortal dress ; Or like embodied Grief she shines That sad o'er love in absence pines, Wilson. It is arranged that Sftd, rendered invisible by divine power, should have an interview with Rdma, and the poet must needs have the interview on the banks of the God&vari. There Rdma strays accompanied by Vdsanti a friend of Sitl, and Sit& and Tamas&, — invisible to RcUna, — also repair there. Every scene there recalls to R&ma the by-gone days when Rima and Sitk lived there to- gether and fills him with grief ; and Vdsanti does not fail, by cruel though gentle hints, to bring home to R£ma his injustice towards Sitl Bhavabhtiti is too spirited not to feel indignant at R&ma's extreme weakness in yield- ing to popular clamour, and at his unspeakable injustice in sending an innocent and helpless and loving wife to exile. And though the poet shares a Hindu's feeling of general respect for R&ma, yet the reader can perceive the poet is determined to give R&ma " a bit of his mind " for his unparalleled feebleness and crime. 422 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V V&santi takes care to remind Rama,— Here in this plantain grove Behold the marble which in happier days Supported thee and SUA, Here she sat And from her hands gave fodder to the deer, That boldly crowded round their gentle mistress. R&ma. I cannot bear to look upon it. [ Weeps. Wilson. Poor Sita, who is present, though invisible to Rama, can bear it no longer, she exclaims, V&santi, this is cruel : My lord demands respect from all, and most From those who love me, • Wilson. But Vasanti is inexorable, and goes on speaking to ■ Rama, How hadst thou the heart To drive that gentle being from thee? Once She was thy love, thy other dearer life, Light of thine eyes, and nectar of thy soul,* Wilson. In vain does Rama plead the peoples will. Vasanti goes on and makes horrible suggestions as to the fate which has probably overtaken Sita after her exile in the forest. Rama shudders and weeps aloud. Sitd can witness her lord's sufferings no longer, and exclaims to Tamasa, " alas ! he weeps aloud." But Tamasa answers, 'Tis better thus To give our sorrows way. Sufferers should speak Their griefs, the bursting heart that overflows In words obtains relief. Wilson. * No student of Sanscrit who has read these last two lines in the origi- nal has ever forgotten their matchless beauty, rythm and tenderness. Digitized by Google CHAP. XI.] DRAMA. 423 We almost think we are perusing a paraphrase of Shakespeare's matchless lines in Macbeth, Give sorrow words ; the grief that does not speak, Whispers the o'er fraught heart and makes it break. And yet the bard of Vidarbha lived eight centuries before the bard of Avon ! The cruel lesson is administered to Rama until he faints. Sitl, herself invisible, touches his forehead, and at that loving touch Rama revives, exclaiming, " Joy, joy Visanti, wilt thou share my joy?" and declares that he had felt the touch of Sita's hand— I could not be deceived, Too well I know the touch of that dear hand The marriage rite first placed in mine ; even now Cool as the snow drift to my fevered palm, And soft as jasmine buds, I grasp it. Wilson. But Sit& gets away. She and TamasS must depart, but she can scarcely tear herself away. Oh, let me look, A little moment longer, on a form I never, never, may behold again ! Wilson. And before leaving she exclaims I bow me to the feet of my dear lord, The source of every blessing, Wilson. Yes, the poor, banished, injured Sitil bows to the feet of her dear lord, — that lord who had heedlessly, feebly, cruelly sent her to the forest, — alone, helpless, on the eve of her confinement ! Female self-abnegation can Digitized by 424 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. go no further ; undying love has never been more'for- cibly represented ; human imagination has never pic- tured a nobler, purer, saintlier character than that of the gentle, ever-loving, all-forgiving Sita. Once again, in another place the poet gives vent to his indignation at Rama's feeble conduct. The ancient king Janaka, revered as much for his prowess as for his holy life, his pious sacrifices and his vedic lore, grows indignant when he remembers his daughter's sufferings. The warm blood tingles in his old veins when he ponders on Rama's conduct, and he bursts out in rage- Shame on the thankless race that wronged thy fame, And Rama's haste to listen to their calumnies, The cruel blow that has overwhelmed my child Arouses all my soul, and tempts my wrath To deal with arms, or direr imprecations, Destruction on my Sita's persecutors. Wilson. The story of Rama's Asvamedha sacrifice is well known. The horse is let loose, and Rama's son dares ! to detain it, and thus unwillingly provokes hostilities with Rama's forces. The meeting of Lava and Chandraketu is well described. Both are young heroes, full of ardour for battle, but displaying chivalrous courtesy and respect towards each other. Chandraketu descends from his car,— why ? i To pay my homage to this valiant youth, And do a soldier's duty. To assail At such advantage one who fights on foot The god of arms forbids. Wilson, Digitized by Google CHAP. XI.] DRAMA. A 2 ^ And this was written before chivalry was developed in Europe. The sage V&lmiki arranges a happy reconciliation with which the play is to conclude ; but the poet must have another hit at R&ma before he lays down his pen. A theatrical performance is to take place before Rama, and the subject is R&ma's desertion of his wife ! Sit£ on the stage calls for help when deserted, and in her distress and agony throws herself in the Ganges. Rama can bear it no longer and starts up exclaiming, Dear love, forbear ! I fly to thy assistance. Wilton. His brother Lakshmana reminds him : Does my lord remember, what he views is but a fiction ? RAma. Alas ! that such a portion should have been the gift of Rama to his tender bride, the dear companion of his forest dwelling. Wilson. The reader is herein reminded of the stage in Hamlet, which was contrived to convict Hamlet's uncle of his guilt. The play ends happily, R&ma re- ceives back Sitd and his boys Lava and Kusa, and the people of Ayodhya are penitent, and bend " in prostrate homage to the Queen." When we have spoken of Kdlidasa and of Bhava- bhuti, we have spoken of all that is best in the Sanscrit dramatic literature. Several hundreds of plays must have been composed and enacted in what we have called the Augustan Era of Sanscrit literature, but the works of genius only survive, polished imitation Digitized by Google 426 PAURANIK PERIOD. [BOOK V. and lifeless pieces do not stand the test of time. Some of the master pieces of Shakespeare will be read even after Shakespeare's language becomes a dead language, but Marlowe or even Ben Jonson will scarcely be re- membered twelve centuries after the date of Elizabeth. The total number of Hindu plays which exist, or which are alluded to by writers on the Drama, is estimated by H. H. Wilson to be not much more than sixty. Most of these, however, are of a comparatively recent date, and very few are of any merit, or are generally known or read. The only pieces (besides those spoken of above) which are generally known and read at the present day are the MrichcMtakati, the Mudrd Rdkshasa and the Vent Sanhdra. A word or two about them will suffice. The Mrichchhakati is ascribed to a king Sudraka, and the time of its composition is unknown. Internal evidence leads us, however, to think that it must be referred to the brilliant literary period which com- menced with the sixth century A. D. Its style is not widely different from the style of composition of the other plays of this period, and like many of them it has its scene at Ujjayini. The Pauranik trinity— Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva — is recognized ( Act VI ), Buddhists have already become objects of aversion though persecution has not yet commenced (Act VII ), and the Code of Manu is the recognized law for the adminis- tration of justice, (Act IX). For the rest the Digitized by Google CHAP. XL] DRAMA. 427 Mrichchhakati deals not with princes and princesses, but with men and women in the ordinary walks of life ; it gives us an insight into the town life of the olden days with its system of justice and police, its gambling and other vices ; and it is a fairly correct picture of the people and their manners. We shall have to allude to the play frequently when we come to the subject of the manners and civilization of this T"J * 1 I CI] V_/vi ■ The Mudr& Rlkshasa is a more recent play, and the author is Visdkha Datta.