Page:The Sanskrit Drama.djvu/142

Rh hā Rohasena na hi paçyasi me vipattim: mithyaiva nandasi paravyasanena nityam.

Ah! Rohasena, since thou dost not know my plight, ever dost thou rejoice in thy play falsely, for sorrow is in store.'

The character of Cārudatta is effectively portrayed by the Vidūṣaka:

dīnānāṁ kalpavṛkṣaḥ svaguṇaphalanataḥ sajjanānāṁ kuṭumbī

ādarçaḥ çikṣitānāṁ sucaritanikaṣaḥ çīlavelāsamudraḥ

satkartā nāvamantā puruṣaguṇanidhir dakṣiṇodārasattvo hy

ekaḥ çlāghyaḥ sa jīvaty adhikaguṇatayā cocchvasanti cānye.

'A tree of bounty to the poor, bent down by its fruits, his virtues; a support for all good men; a mirror of the learned, a touchstone of virtue, an ocean that never violates its boundaries of virtue; righteous, free from pride, a store-house of human merit, the essence of courtesy and nobility; he gives meaning to life by the goodness which we extol; other men merely breathe.'

The evils of poverty are forcibly depicted by Cārudatta himself:

çūnyair gṛhaiḥ khalu samāḥ puruṣāḥ daridrāḥ

kūpaiç ca toyarahitais tarubhiç ca çīrnaiḥ

yad dṛṣṭapūrvajanasaṁngamaviṣmṛtānām

evam bhavanti viphalāḥ paritoṣakālāḥ.

'Like empty houses, in truth, are poor men, or wells without water or blasted trees; for fruitless are their hours of relaxation, since their former friends forget them.' The same idea is again expressed by the hero:

satyaṁ na me vibhavanāçakṛtāsti cintā: bhāgyakrameṇa hi dhanāni bhavanti yānti

etat tu māṁ dahati naṣṭadhanāçrayasya: yat sauhṛdād api janāḥ çithilībhavanti.

'My dejection, assuredly, is not born of the mere loss of my wealth, for with the turn of fortune's wheel riches come and go. Nay, what pains me is that men fail in friendship to him whose sometime wealth has taken flight.' The repetition of the idea becomes, indeed, wearisome, but the ingenuity and fancy of the author are undoubted.