Page:The Sanskrit Drama.djvu/122

Rh madena nāri: kūladvayaṁ kṣubdhajalā nadīva. More interesting are instances of his power, which is specially manifest in the Svapnavāsavadattā and the Pratimānāṭaka, of expressing strong emotion adequately and forcibly. Thus we have the indignant upbraiding of Kaikeyī by the angry Bharata:

vayam ayaçasā cireṇāryo nṛpo gṛhamṛtyunā

pratataruditaiḥ kṛtsnāyodhyā mṛgaiḥ saha Lakṣmaṇaḥ

dayitatanayāḥ çokenāmbāḥ snuṣādhvapariçramair

dhig iti vacasā cogreṇātmā tvayā nanu yojitāḥ?

'Hast thou not brought upon me disgrace and dishonour, on my noble father death at the hands of his dearest, on all Ayodhyā ceaseless lamentation, exile on Lakṣmaṇa, sorrow on the noble ladies, who love their children, for the cruel journey imposed on thy daughter-in-law, and on thyself the hateful reproach of a shameful deed?' Equally effective is Lakṣmaṇa's protest against Rāma's acquiescence in his exclusion from the throne:

yadi na sahase rajño mohaṁ dhanuḥ spṛça mā dayā

svajananibhṛtaḥ sarvo 'py evam mṛduḥ paribhūyate

atha na rucitam muñca mām ahaṁ kṛtaniçcayo

yuvatirahitaṁ kartuṁ lokaṁ yataç chalitā vayam.

'If thou wilt not endure the king's infatuation, take thy bow, show no pity. Hidden among his own folk every weakling is thus overborne. But, if thou wilt not, leave me free at least; my mind is intent to make this world free of that youthful one, since cheated we have been.' Bharata's devotion is expressed happily enough:

tatra yasyāmi yatrāsau vartate Lakṣmaṇapriyaḥ

nāyodhyā taṁ vināyodhyā sāyodhyā yatra Rāghavaḥ.

'Thither will I go where dwelleth Lakṣmaṇa's beloved; without him Ayodhyā is not Ayodhyā; where Rāghava is, there is Ayodhyā.' A martial spirit breathes in Virāṭa's words:

tāḍitasya hi yodhasya çlāghanīyena karmaṇā

akālāntaritā pūjā nāçayaty eva vedanām.

'Instant fame destroys the pangs of the warrior stricken in performing a deed of valour.' There is manly indignation and pathos in Dhṛtarāṣṭra's mourning over Abhimanyu's death: