by Kalidasa
AGNIMITRA: Excellent. Do it! Make it happen.
JAYASENA (entering): Lord, the queen is relaxing on a bed in a breezy spot. Her feet, covered with red sandalwood paste, rest in her attendant’s hands, and she’s being entertained with stories by Sister Kaushiki.
AGNIMITRA: This is a perfect time for me to join her.
GAUTAMA: You go ahead, my lord, I can’t meet the queen empty-handed.
AGNIMITRA: Tell Jayasena about the plan and then come.
GAUTAMA: Very well. (Whispering in her ear) Lady, it’s like this . . .
Exit Gautama.
AGNIMITRA: Jayasena, show me the way to the open-air bed.
JAYASENA: This way, this way, my lord.
Enter the queen resting on a bed surrounded by her attendants and the nun.
DHARINI: Sister, the story is so very interesting. What happens next?
KAUSHIKI (looking around): I’ll tell you more later. Here comes our lord, the king.
DHARINI: Oh, my lord! (Tries to get up.)
AGNIMITRA: Relax, dear queen, there’s no need for any formality.
You mustn’t trouble your aching foot
resting on a golden footstool,
ill-parted from an anklet.
It would hurt me too,
my dear with a soft voice. //3//
DHARINI: Long live the noble king!
KAUSHIKI: May you live long, my lord!
AGNIMITRA (bowing to Kaushiki and sitting): My queen, is the pain bearable?
DHARINI: It’s better now.
Enter a flailing Gautama, his thumb tied with his sacred thread.
GAUTAMA: Help, help! I’ve been bitten by a deadly snake!
All are distressed.
AGNIMITRA: Oh no, no! Where were you walking around?
GAUTAMA: I wanted to see the queen so I went to the royal garden to pick some flowers as a gift. 75
DHARINI: Oh, what a pity. Am I the one who put the brahmin’s life in danger?
GAUTAMA: As I stretched out my hand to grab a bunch of ashoka flowers, a deadly snake came out from a hollow in the tree and bit me. Here are the fang marks . . . (Shows them.)
KAUSHIKI: In that case, they say the first thing to do is amputate the bitten area. Let this be done.
The bitten area should be amputated,
burned or bled out.
These are life-saving procedures
for those who have been bitten. //4//
AGNIMITRA: This is a job for a doctor skilled in poisons. Jayasena, go quickly and call Dhruvasiddhi.
JAYASENA: As your majesty commands. (Exits.)
GAUTAMA: Oh, death has seized me for some sin.
AGNIMITRA: Don’t be scared. It may not be poisonous.
GAUTAMA: How can I not be afraid? My arms and legs are tingling. (Gestures the effects of the poison.)
DHARINI: Oh no, the wound looks bad! Please, someone hold him.
Attendants rush to support him.
GAUTAMA (looking over at the king): Oh, I’ve been your friend since childhood. You’ll care for my ageing mother, won’t you?
AGNIMITRA: Fear not. The doctor of poisons will cure you in no time. Be strong.
JAYASENA (entering): Your majesty, Dhruvasiddhi requests that Gautama be brought to him at once.
AGNIMITRA: Then he should be carried to the doctor’s chambers by the harem eunuchs.
JAYASENA: It will be done.
GAUTAMA (turning to the queen): I may or may not live, my queen. Please forgive me for any offences that I committed while serving the king.
DHARINI: May you live long.
Gautama and Jayasena exit.
AGNIMITRA: The poor man is a coward by nature. I hope Dhruvasiddhi, a sure-cure, proves his name worthy.
JAYASENA (entering): Long live the king! Dhruvasiddhi requests that we find something bearing a serpent seal to use on the water pitcher.
DHARINI: Here is my ring with a serpent seal. It should be returned directly 76 to me later. (She offers the ring, Jayasena takes it.)
AGNIMITRA: Jayasena, inform us immediately after the deed is done.
JAYASENA: As you command, my lord. (Exits.)
KAUSHIKI: Your majesty, my heart tells me that Gautama is cured.
AGNIMITRA: May it be so.
JAYASENA (entering): My lord, the effects of the poison have worn off, and with time noble Gautama appears to be his usual self again.
DHARINI: Luckily, I’m free of any blame.
JAYASENA: And now the minister Vahataka requests to be granted an audience to discuss several matters of state that require counsel.
DHARINI: Dear husband, go and take care of your work.
AGNIMITRA (getting up): My queen, this place is exposed to the sun, but the best place for your recovery is somewhere cool. The bed should be moved to another spot.
DHARINI: Ladies, carry out my husband’s suggestion.
ATTENDANTS: Yes, your majesty.
Exit Dharini, Kaushiki and the attendants.
AGNIMITRA: Jayasena, take me to the royal garden through a secret path.
JAYASENA: This way, this way, my lord.
AGNIMITRA (pacing): Gautama has completed both tasks, hasn’t he?
JAYASENA: Absolutely.
AGNIMITRA: Though I know this is the perfect plan to get what I want my mind is doubtful and worried about its outcome. //5//
GAUTAMA (entering): Long live your majesty! All the auspicious rites have been completed.
AGNIMITRA: Jayasena, attend to your important duty.
JAYASENA: As you command, my lord. (Exits.)
AGNIMITRA: Friend, Madhavika is an idiot. She didn’t ask about anything, did she?
GAUTAMA: Why would she question anything after seeing the queen’s signet ring?
AGNIMITRA: I’m not talking about the ring. But she must have asked why the two prisoners were being released, or why the queen sent you out of all her attendants?
GAUTAMA: Actually she did ask, but I quickly replied with a clever remark.
AGNIMITRA: Tell me.
GAUTAMA: I said that the king was advised by his astrologers to release all the prisoners because his horoscope looked bad.
AGNIMITRA (happily): And then?
GAUTAMA: After hearing that the king wanted the prisoners released, and that the queen sent me because she didn’t want to bother Iravati, she said it was all right and obliged.
AGNIMITRA (embracing Gautama): My friend, you really love me.
A sharp intellect alone
doesn’t look after a friend’s interests,
it is affection
that truly leads to the narrow path of success. //6//
GAUTAMA: Go quickly, your majesty. I’ve come here after taking Malavika and her best friend to the lake house.
AGNIMITRA: I must pay my respects. Take the lead.
GAUTAMA: Come, your majesty. (Moving about) Here’s the summer lake house.
AGNIMITRA (nervously): My friend, here comes your friend Chandrika, Iravati’s servant, with flowers in her hand. Let’s hide behind this wall.
GAUTAMA: Ha! Thieves and lovers must avoid the moonlight! 77
Both do as planned.
AGNIMITRA: Gautama, our friend must be waiting anxiously for me. Come, let’s watch her from this window.
GAUTAMA: Yes.
They stand watching. Enter Malavika and Bakulavalika.
BAKULAVALIKA: Friend, greet the king.
AGNIMITRA: She must be showing her a picture of me.
MALAVIKA (happily): Greetings. (Looking at the door sadly) Where’s the king? You’ve tricked me, my friend.
AGNIMITRA: Friend, I’m happy that my lady feels both joy and sadness . . .
For in a single moment, her beautiful face 78 is like a lotus at both sunrise and sunset. //7//
BAKULAVALIKA: But here’s the king, in the painting.
MALAVIKA and BAKULAVALIKA: Long live the king!
MALAVIKA: But, friend, when I saw the king face-to-face, I wasn’t as attracted to him as I am n
ow, staring at his picture.
GAUTAMA: Did you hear that, my lord? She says you don’t look like your picture. You carry the pride of youth in vain, like a precious gem in a box.
AGNIMITRA: Women are naturally shy, my friend, even when they’re excited.
At first meeting,
they long to behold a person completely
yet their long eyes
never fall upon their beloved’s body. //8//
MALAVIKA: My friend, who is this lady with her face slightly turned? The king looks at her with a loving glance.
BAKULAVALIKA: That must be Iravati standing next to the king.
MALAVIKA: The king seems rather insensitive, my friend. He ignores all his queens and fixes his eyes on her face alone.
BAKULAVALIKA (to herself): Taking the painting to be the real king she’s become jealous. Let it be, I’ll tease her a bit. (Aloud) She’s the king’s favourite.
MALAVIKA: Then why am I getting so worked up? (Turns away angrily.)
AGNIMITRA: Look at your friend’s face.
Her eyebrows tense,
ruining her tilaka.
Her lower lip trembles
as she turns away, dejected with jealousy,
as if these were the exact expressions
taught by her master
for displaying anger at a lover’s mistake. //9//
GAUTAMA: Get ready to soothe her.
MALAVIKA: Even the noble Gautama serves her there. (She tries to face another direction.)
BAKULAVALIKA (blocking Malavika): But you’re not angry now, are you?
MALAVIKA: If you think I’m still angry, I’ll show you real anger.
AGNIMITRA (moving forward): Oh lotus-eyes,
why be so upset about things painted in a picture?
Am I not before your own eyes,
a slave to no other? //10//
MALAVIKA (to herself): Why did the painting of the king make me so angry? (She brings her hands together with an embarrassed look on her face.)
The king feigns a timid heart.
GAUTAMA: Why so indifferent, my lord?
AGNIMITRA: Because your friend is unfaithful.
GAUTAMA: Not at all! Do you really find her fickle? 79
AGNIMITRA: Listen.
Appearing before my eyes in a dream,
she disappears in a blink
and though frail,
she suddenly slips from my arms.
Afflicted by the sickness of passion
and the illusion of union,
how, friend, can my heart keep faith in her? //11//
BAKULAVALIKA: You’ve refused the king many times before, my friend, now prove yourself loyal.
MALAVIKA: But I’m so unlucky, my friend, the king’s hard to meet, even in a dream.
BAKULAVALIKA: My lord, please reply.
AGNIMITRA: What’s the point in responding?
The fire of five arrows 80 is our witness.
I’ve offered myself to your friend—
not to be served, but to serve, in secret. //12//
BAKULAVALIKA: I’m so grateful. 81
GAUTAMA (walking around with excitement): Bakulavalika, there’s a deer coming to eat the shoots of the sapling ashoka tree. Come, let’s shoo her away.
BAKULAVALIKA: All right. (Sets off.)
AGNIMITRA: But a good friend must look out for me.
GAUTAMA: You don’t need to tell Gautama!
BAKULAVALIKA: Noble Gautama, I’ll stand out of sight, and you can guard the door.
GAUTAMA: Perfect!
Exit Bakulavalika.
GAUTAMA (walking and keeping a lookout): In the meantime, I can sit on this quartz slab. Oh, how pleasant the feel of this special stone. (Falls asleep.)
Malavika is seized with fear.
AGNIMITRA: My beauty, let go your fear of union,
for I have waited long for your love.
I’m like a mango tree, and you—
the atimukta vine wrapped around me. //13//
MALAVIKA: My heart wants to, but I’m unable to act out of fear of the queen.
AGNIMITRA: Oh, but there’s nothing to fear, nothing at all.
MALAVIKA: You say you’re not afraid, but I’ve seen the king’s behaviour before the queen.
AGNIMITRA: Your lips are like bimba fruit,
but civility is a Bimbaka 82 family tradition,
and whatever life I have,
it is bound to the hopes of your long eyes. //14//
Accept this man who’s loved you for so long. (He comes close to embrace her, Malavika avoids him with a gesture.)
AGNIMITRA (to himself): It’s so endearing, an innocent girl crossing into the affairs of love.
She trembles at my touch,
resisting my anxious fingers at her belt,
her hands move to cover her breasts,
as I embrace her by force,
and she turns away, as I raise her face,
to drink her long lashes.
She denies me so artfully, and yet,
all my desires are satisfied. //15//
Iravati and Nipunika enter.
IRAVATI: Nipunika, did Chandrika really tell you she saw Gautama alone on the summer house terrace?
NIPUNIKA: Why would I tell my lady anything else?
IRAVATI: In that case, let’s go check on the king’s friend, dispel any doubts, and . . .
NIPUNIKA: Does my lady have something more to say?
IRAVATI: Oh yes—and ask forgiveness from the king in the painting.
NIPUNIKA: But why not go directly to the king?
IRAVATI: Silly girl, the king is no longer as he was in the painting. He’s consigned his heart to another. This gesture is simply for me to atone for overstepping the bounds.
NIPUNIKA: This way, this way, my lady. (Both walk about.)
NAGARIKA (entering): Greetings, my lady! The queen says: ‘I’m no longer jealous. I only had Malavika and her friend chained to affirm your high position. If you like, I can speak to my husband on your behalf. Tell me what you want.’
IRAVATI: Nagarika, tell the queen: ‘Who am I to command the queen? She’s shown her affection for me by punishing her servants. Who else offers me such kindness?’
NAGARIKA: Very well. (Exits.)
NIPUNIKA (walking around and looking out): My lady, there is noble Gautama, sitting near the door of the lake house, asleep, like a bull in the market. 83
IRAVATI: How sad! I hope it’s not the lingering effects of that poison.
NIPUNIKA: His face looks calm, and he was treated by Dhruvasiddhi, there’s no need to worry.
GAUTAMA (talking in his sleep): Oh lady Malavika . . .
NIPUNIKA: Did you hear that, my lady? Who gave birth to this useless idiot? He’s always filling his tummy with cheap sweets, and now he’s dreaming of Malavika!
GAUTAMA: I hope you replace Iravati.
NIPUNIKA: Did you hear that filth? I’ll hide behind this pillar, and with this wooden stick shaped like a snake, I’ll scare that wretched brahmin! 84
IRAVATI: This idiot deserves a snakebite!
Nipunika flings the wooden stick towards Gautama.
GAUTAMA (suddenly waking up): Oh, oh! Ah, a snake has fallen on me!
AGNIMITRA (rushing out): Fear not, my friend, fear not!
MALAVIKA (following): Don’t rush out so quickly, my lord. He said there’s a snake.
IRAVATI: Oh no, no! The king is running this way.
GAUTAMA (laughing out loud): But this is a wooden stick! This is what I get in return for making snake-fang marks with ketaki thorns!
Bakulavalika enters throwing open the curtain.
BAKULAVALIKA: Please don’t come any further, your majesty. Something out there is slithering like a snake.
IRAVATI: Bakulavalika, congratulations on fulfilling your promise to play messenger.
BAKULAVALIKA: Be kind, my lady. Does the god of rain forget the earth when frogs croak? 85 You may ask his majesty what I have done.
&nbs
p; GAUTAMA: Enough. Just by seeing you, my lady, his majesty has forgotten about the time you rejected him. Won’t you be kind, my lady?
IRAVATI: What can I do? I’m still angry.
AGNIMITRA: It’s not proper for you to be angry. It’s unfounded.
My beauty, has your face
ever become really angry, without cause,
even for a second?
How can the night eclipse a round moon
on a day when the moon isn’t full? //16//
IRAVATI: You’re right to say ‘not proper’! Now that my share of happiness has passed on to another, it’s foolish of me to keep getting angry.
AGNIMITRA: You’re making it out to be something else, I honestly don’t see a reason for anger.
Even if they’ve committed a crime,
servants aren’t punished on holidays.
So I’ve set them free,
and now they approach to pay their respects. //17//
IRAVATI: Nipunika, go and tell the queen that I’ve seen her favouritism today.
NIPUNIKA: Very well. (Exits.)
GAUTAMA (to himself): What an unfortunate turn of events! The pet pigeon escapes her cage only to fall into the view of the cat!
NIPUNIKA (entering): My lady, on my way I saw Madhavika and she told me how it happened . . . (Whispers in Iravati’s ear.)
IRAVATI (to herself): It all makes sense, it’s an evil plot hatched by that vile brahmin! (Aloud, looking at Gautama) This is the plan of an adviser versed in love manuals!
GAUTAMA: My lady, if I’ve read even a single syllable in those manuals, let me forget the sacred Gayatri mantra.
AGNIMITRA (to himself): Oh, how will I get myself out of this mess!
JAYASENA (rushing in): My lord, Princess Vasulakshmi was running after her ball when she was terribly frightened by a brown monkey. Now she’s resting in the queen’s lap, trembling like a leaf in the breeze. She’s still not back to normal.
AGNIMITRA: Oh dear, children are so timid.
IRAVATI (anxiously): Quickly, noble king, quickly go and console her. Don’t let her fear get aggravated.
AGNIMITRA: I’ll bring her back to her senses. (Moves around quickly.)
GAUTAMA (to himself): Well done, brown monkey, well done! You’ve got our friend out of this mess just in time.
Exit Agnimitra along with Gautama, Iravati, Nipunika and Jayasena.
(Backstage) Wonderful, wonderful! Even before the fifth night of the dohada ritual, the golden ashoka is filled with blossoms. I’ll tell the queen.