by Kalidasa
My body forges on, my restless mind streams back— (31)
A silken banner borne against the wind.
[Exit the KING
ACT 2
Enter the VIDŪṢAKA* (MĀDHAVYA), out of sorts.
VIDŪṢAKA [sighing]. Oh, I’ve had quite enough of this sporty king’s company. On we go through this endless forest, chasing echoes: ‘Over here—a stag!’ ‘Over there—a boar!’ ‘On your tail—a tiger!’ It’s midday, the sun’s hammering my head, the leaves have shrivelled from the heat and there’s no shade to speak of. We drink the tepid water of mountain streams, famous for its bitter aftertaste. The secret ingredient? Stale leaves. There are no proper meal times, and there’s nothing on the menu anyway, except meat, roasted on a spit, or, for a change, roast meat. I’m so racked and reassembled from riding all day, I can’t even get a decent night’s sleep. Then what happens? Before the sun’s even shown its face, I’m woken by those bastard huntsmen, roaring like barbarians as they fence off some part of the forest to dispose of its bird population … So, all in all, you would think suffering had done well enough out of me to clear off while the going’s good. But no such luck—now the ulcer’s sprouted a boil. Yesterday, we were trailing behind, and what happens? My friendly misfortune follows His Highness into an ashram [when he’s supposed to be chasing a deer] and introduces him to one Śakuntalā, an ascetic’s daughter. And since then he hasn’t given a thought to returning to the city … He was up all night meditating on her … What can I do about it? First of all, get hold of him as soon as he’s finished his morning ablutions. [Turning and looking] Ah, here comes my friend now, surrounded by his attendant girls* garlanded in wild flowers and waving their bows about. Well, I’ll just stand here, clamped to my own disabled body, so to speak. Which, if nothing else, allows me to get some rest.
[Stands supporting himself on a wooden staff
Enter the KING, surrounded by his ATTENDANTS.
KING. She’s hard to win, my love— (1)
But while I sense the same fire burns in her
I’m happy to persist,
For just a hint of mutual passion’s
Bliss,
This side of consummation.
[Smiling] So the lover’s mocked, misreading his own feelings in his darling’s heart.
When she looked lovingly (2)
at someone or something else,
When she moved with heavy hips
as though slowed down by love,
When she spoke so sharply
to the friend who tried to halt her,
I read all these as secret signs
For me alone—
Such is the power that lovers have
To make the world their own.
VIDŪṢAKA [rooted there in the same way]. Ahem! Friend! My arms and legs are cast, so I shall simply give you a vocal salutation: ‘May you always triumph, My Lord! May you always triumph!’
KING. What’s brought on this sudden disability?
VIDŪṢAKA. What! You poke me in the eye yourself, and then ask me why it’s watering?
KING. I can’t say I follow you.
VIDŪṢAKA. Ah, friend! Does the reed in the stream bend with the elegance of a hunchback* through its own weight alone, or through the force of the current?
KING. Obviously, through the force of the current.
VIDŪṢAKA. For me, you are the current.
KING. How so?
VIDŪṢAKA. Because you’re neglecting affairs of state to live the life of a woodman in a hole like this. The truth is, my joints have been shaken apart—I’ve been crippled by this endless wild-beast chase. So be nice to me, won’t you, and give it a rest—just for a day?
KING [aside]. Well, that’s a matter of opinion … But, in fact, thinking of Kaṇva’s daughter is enough to make even me sick of the chase. For:
I’ve not the heart to bend this bow and aim this shaft (3)
At those very hinds with whom my dearest lived
And somehow learned, by art or mutual graft,
That limpid gaze.
VIDŪṢAKA [watching the king’s expression]. His Majesty is clearly muttering away with something else in mind. And I was just ‘crying in the wilderness’, so to speak.
KING [smiling]. What something else? I was just standing thinking that I shouldn’t ignore a friend’s advice.
VIDŪṢAKA. May you live for ever!
[He makes to leave
KING. Just wait a moment, my friend. I haven’t finished what I was saying yet.
VIDŪṢAKA. Command me, sir!
KING. Once you’re rested, I’d appreciate your help in a little untaxing business.
VIDŪṢAKA. To eat some sweeties? O, then I accept with relish.*
KING. I’ll tell you later. Hello! Who’s there?
Enter the DOORKEEPER.
DOORKEEPER [bowing]. Your Lordship’s servant.
KING. Raivataka, just ask the General to step in, will you.
DOORKEEPER. I shall, sir.
[Exiting and returning immediately with the GENERAL
There’s the master, looking this way, just dying to give his orders. You should approach him, Your Honour.
GENERAL [looking towards the KING]. Well, it may be considered a vice,* but for the commander-in-chief the hunt has produced nothing but good. For the king’s
Body is latent power, (4)
Leathery from the bow-string’s friction,
Sun-resistant, sweat-free, thin but muscular—
His Majesty has the torso of a wild mountain tusker!
[Approaching] Victory! Victory to Your Majesty! We have surrounded the forest beasts, and now we await your orders.
KING. Mādhavya’s sermon against hunting has dampened my enthusiasm for the chase.
GENERAL [aside to VIDŪṢAKA]. You keep up the opposition, friend, while I humour His Majesty. [Aloud] Let this fool chunter on. But surely His Majesty himself provides the best evidence:
Your waist wasted from fat to muscle, (5)
Your body freed to swerve and tumble,
You peer into the angry, fearful minds
Of creatures in extremis,
Honing your archer’s skill
On fast and fleeting targets.
Is this a vice?
Don’t believe it!
Nothing beats it!
VIDŪṢAKA. Bah! Enough of this you motivator! His Majesty has come to himself. But since you like it so much, you go roaming from forest to forest and, with luck, you’ll fall into the mouth of some ancient and patient bear, who’s been waiting fifty years for just such a delicacy as a man’s nose.
KING. My dear General, I can hardly approve of your sentiments when we’re camped so close to a hermitage. So for the present:
Let buffalo cloud the pool with their restless horns, (6)
Let deer chew the cud in crowded shadows,
Let the boar root up in peace the weed-clogged ponds,
And let this, my unstrung bow, rest until tomorrow.
GENERAL. As your lordship pleases.
KING. So, fetch back those beaters who’ve gone ahead, and make sure there’s no chance my soldiers will disturb the penance grove. For understand
That those peaceful ascetics are sunstones*—cool enough (7)
Until their inner fire, ignited by some fire in you,
Catches, and consumes you, through and through.
GENERAL. As my lord commands.
VIDŪṢAKA. So much for your talk of action!
[Exit GENERAL
KING [looking at his ATTENDANTS]. Take off your hunting gear. And you, Raivataka, make use of yourself.
ATTENDANTS. As Your Majesty commands.
[Exit ATTENDANTS
VIDŪṢAKA. Now you’ve got rid of the flies, my lord, rest yourself on that rock beneath the tree. We could all do with some shade.
KING. Lead the way.
VIDŪṢAKA. Come, my lord.
[They walk around and sit down
&n
bsp; KING. Mādhavya, you’ll never know why you were given eyes until you’ve seen the one thing really worth seeing.
VIDŪṢAKA. Is that so? I thought you were standing right in front of me.
KING. Everyone considers himself attractive. But I’m referring to that jewel of the ashram, Śakuntalā.
VIDŪṢAKA [to himself]. Right! I’ll take the wind out of his sails. [Aloud] Oh I see, my friend—you’ve set your heart on a celibate hermit girl?
KING. Ignoramus!
Why do men turn and gaze (7a)
When the crescent moon
Cuts the evening haze?
Anyway, friend, a Paurava never hankers after forbidden fruit.
One parent was a nymph and one a kingly sage, (8)
But like a jasmine torn from its native stem
To land in safety on an arka’s pliant leaf,*
She was abandoned—only to find home again
In a forest, with a priestly sage.
VIDŪṢAKA [grinning]. For a man who’s overdosed on dates, the sourness of the tamarind has its attractions—and you, having gorged yourself on beautiful women, want this girl.
KING. You can only talk like that because you haven’t seen her.
VIDŪṢAKA. Well, she must be very special indeed to get you so excited.
KING. Friend, I can only ask this:
Did the great Creator first draw her in a masterpiece, (9)
And then touch life into his art?
Or did he make her in his mind alone,
Drawing on beauty’s every part?
No—considering her singular perfection
And her maker’s true omnipotence,
I suppose her some quite unique creation
In femininity’s treasure house.
VIDŪṢAKA. That sounds like bad news for beautiful women in general.
KING. It seems to me she is
A blossom yet unsmelt, (10)
A tender shoot unpinched,
A gem uncut,
Untasted, fresh-fermented honey-wine,
The fruit of proper actions
Still intact—
A beauty without fault or flaw.
But who among us here
Is destined to enjoy her,
Is still unclear.
VIDŪṢAKA. In that case, my lord, you must rescue her quickly, before she falls into the hands of some smooth ascetic, his head plastered with iṅgudi oil.
KING. The lady is a minor, and her guardian is currently away from home.
VIDŪṢAKA. Can you tell anything from the way she looks at you?
KING. Hermit girls are by nature very modest. Still:
As I tried to catch her eye, she dropped her gaze, (11)
And smiled,
As though at something else.
So love’s impulse, modestly restrained,
Turned below the surface,
Part silhouette, part flame
VIDŪṢAKA. Perhaps you expected her to jump into your lap the moment she clapped eyes on you?
KING. No, but as she was setting off with her friends, she very nearly— with all due modesty—revealed the strength of her feelings. In
Going just a pace or two she lagged (12)
Behind—that delicate girl—for no clear reason,
Claiming she’d cut her foot on a spike of darbha.
Then, ‘freeing’ her tunic—though hardly snagged—
From tangled branches, she turned in my direction
And gazed with what seemed like ardour.
VIDŪṢAKA. Then send out for a hamper! I can see that you’ve turned the penance-grove into a pleasure-garden!
KING. Friend, some of the ascetics have recognized me; so if I’m to visit the ashram again I need a new excuse. Any ideas?
VIDŪṢAKA. What special excuse do you kings need? Just walk in and order them to give up a sixth of their wild rice in tax.
KING. Fool! The tax these ascetics pay is of quite another kind, and much more valuable than mountains of pearls. Don’t you see?
What kings raise from society (13)
Falls away,
But what these forest-dwellers make through penance
Can never decay.
VOICES OFF-STAGE. This is the place we’re looking for!
KING [listening]. Such deep, calm voices! They can only belong to ascetics.
DOORKEEPER [entering]. Victory, victory to my lord! There are two young seers waiting at the entrance.
KING. Then show them in at once.
DOORKEEPER. I’ll bring them now.
[He exits and returns with the two young SEERS
This way, please, sirs.
[They both stare at the KING
FIRST SEER. Ah, doesn’t he look brilliant, and at the same time he inspires such confidence! But you’d expect that in a king who’s virtually a seer himself. For:
Like an ascetic, he has chosen a special way of living (14)
For the good of all;
Protecting his subjects, he earns continuous merit
Through self-control;
Bards in harmony praise him to heaven
With the holy titles ‘sage’ and ‘king’.
SECOND SEER. Gautama, is this that same Duṣyanta who is the companion of Indra?
FIRST SEER. The very same.
SECOND SEER. Then:
Little wonder he alone rules the entire world (15)
To the margins of the storm-dark sea,
His arms as broad and strong as the beam
That bars a city gate.
Aided by his tensile bow and Indra’s bolt,
The gods anticipate
Nothing less than victory
In their assault
On the demon host.
BOTH SEERS [approaching]. Be victorious, indeed, my king!
KING [rising from his seat]. I salute you both.
BOTH SEERS. And our best wishes to you! [They offer him fruit
KING [accepting it with a bow]. What can I do for you?
BOTH SEERS. The inhabitants of the ashram have learnt that Your Honour is here, and they have a request to make of you.
KING. Their wish is my command.
BOTH SEERS. They say that, owing to the absence of the great and revered sage Kaṇva, evil spirits are disrupting their rituals, and so they ask that you should come with your driver and protect the ashram for the next few nights.
KING. It’s an honour to be asked.
VIDŪṢAKA [aside]. This couldn’t be better if you’d planned it yourself.
KING [smiling]. Raivataka, tell my driver I want him to bring the chariot here, along with my bow.
DOORKEEPER. Whatever you command. [He withdraws
BOTH SEERS [with delight].
And so you are at one with your ancestors: (16)
For all the descendants of Puru are initiates
In that great sacrifice which protects
The afflicted and alleviates
Their pain.
KING [bowing]. Please go ahead. I’ll be close behind you.
BOTH SEERS. Be victorious, lord! [They withdraw
KING. Mādhavya, are you still curious to see Śakuntalā?
VIDŪṢAKA. At first I was overflowing, but this talk of spirits has helped to mop me up.
KING. Don’t be afraid—I shall be right next to you the entire time.
VIDŪṢAKA. So you’ll spirit the spirits away from me?
DOORKEEPER [entering]. The chariot is yoked and awaits your departure to victory, my lord. But Karabhaka has just arrived from the city with a message from the Queen Mother.
KING [respectfully]. What, sent by our mother herself?
DOORKEEPER. Just so.
KING. Then show him in.
DOORKEEPER. As you command.
[Exits and returns with KARABHAKA
Here is His Majesty. You may approach him.
KARABHAKA. Victory to my lord, victory! This is the request of Her Majesty: four days from now the ritual fast
to safeguard the son’s succession begins. Her Majesty considers it essential that you, sire, should be present on that occasion.
KING. I have to weigh my duty to the ascetics against the request of a revered parent—and neither can be ignored. So what’s to be done?
VIDŪṢAKA. Hover in the middle, like Triśaṅku.*
KING. Seriously, I’m in a dilemma:
Because they’re in quite different places, (17)
My mind divides between these two,
Like a river when a rock displaces
Its seamless flow.
[Pondering] Mother certainly thinks of you as another son, my friend. So … go to her—explain how I’m preoccupied with my duty to help the ascetics—and then play the son’s part in the ritual for Her Majesty yourself.
VIDŪṢAKA. But you don’t really think I’m scared of spirits, do you?
KING [smiling]. That’s impossible, isn’t it? You’re a brahmin.
VIDŪṢAKA. Just for now, I should like to travel as though I were really the king’s younger brother.
KING. Actually, I will send my retinue back with you. It won’t do to disrupt the hermitage again.
VIDŪṢAKA [proudly]. Then make way for the heir-apparent!
KING [to himself]. To describe this chattering brahmin as indiscreet is to drown in understatement. Once he’s back among the women in the palace, there’ll be nothing to stop him gossiping about my affair. Let’s see … I’ll tell him this. [Taking the Vidūṣaka by the hand, he speaks aloud] Friend, you must understand that I am only going to the ashram out of respect for the seers. I don’t really feel anything for the hermit girl. After all:
Think of the gulf that divides a king like me (18)
From a girl raised with fawns,
Innocent in the ways of passion.
Remember too, my friend, what’s said in jest
Shouldn’t be taken in some other fashion.
VIDŪṢAKA. I understand.
[They all leave
ACT 3
Enter an ASSISTANT of the sacrificer (KAṆVA), carrying kusha grass for the sacrifice.
ASSISTANT. Ah, how powerful King Duṣyanta is! He had only to enter the ashram for everything that obstructed our rituals to fall away.