Page:The Sanskrit Drama.djvu/205

200 and which to him was the parting in the past when Rāvaṇa stole his bride.

The spontaneous regard which springs up for each other in the hearts of the two princes Lava and Candraketu when they meet is admirably depicted:

yadṛcchāsampātaḥ kim u guṇagaṇānām atiçayaḥ

purāṇo vā janmāntaranibiḍabandhaḥ paricayaḥ

nijo vā sambandhaḥ kim u vidhivaçāt ko 'py avidito

mamaitasmin dṛṣṭe hṛdayam avadhānaṁ racayati?

'Is it this chance encounter, or his wealth of splendid qualities, or an ancient love, firm bound in a former birth, or a common tie of blood unknown through the might of fate, which draws close my heart to him even at first sight?'

The rebuke which Vāsantī addresses to Rāma for his treatment of Sītā, despite the loyalty of the queen, is effectively broken off by a faint:

tvaṁ jīvitaṁ tvam asi me hydayaṁ dvitīyam

tvaṁ kaumudī nayanayor amṛtaṁ tvam an̄ge

ity ādibhiḥ priyaçatair anurudhya mugdhām

tām eva çāntam athavā kim ataḥ pareṇa.

'"Thou art my life, my second heart, thou the moonlight of my eyes, the ambrosia for my body thou": with these and a hundred other endearments didst thou win her simple soul, and now alas – but what need to say more?'

Elsewhere we have less simplicity, but in these cases we must distinguish carefully between those instances in which the difficulty and complexity of expression serve to illustrate the thought, and those in which the words are made to stand in lieu of ideas. In many cases Bhavabhūti may justly claim to have achieved substantial success, even when he is not precisely simple. The effect of love on Mādhava is effectively expressed:

paricchedātītaḥ sakalavacanānām aviṣayaḥ

punarjanmany asminn anubhavapathaṁ yo na gatavān

vivekapradhvaṅsad upacitamahāmohagahano

vikāraḥ ko 'py antar jaḍayati ca tāpaṁ ca kurute.

'An emotion, evading determination, inexpressible by words, never before experienced in this birth of mine, wholly confusing