ACT I
The Deposit of the Ornaments
PROLOGUE
Benedictory verse
The snakes fold twice over and cover the knees
Of Shiva in the knot of his paryanka posture.1
With the vital forces restrained within,
The senses are closed to all phenomenal knowledge.
His All-knowing gaze is turned inward and
Rests on the Soul alone that is free from all action.
May this intense meditation of Shambhu
Devoid of all perception, effecting the fusion with Brahman
Be the sustainer of us all.
And,
May we be protected by Nilakantha’s neck
Dark as rain clouds,
Around which shine, like streaks of lightning,
The creeper-slender arms of Gauri.
SUTRADHARA: Let us be done with the tiresome preliminaries that are sure to kill the interest of the audience . . . I now bow to the learned gathering and submit that today’s programme consists of the presentation of the prakaranam2 Mrchchakatikam.
Now about the poet who wrote this work.
The gait of a noble elephant, the eyes of a chakora,3
A face lustrous as the full moon and a fine figure,
Such was our poet, Shudraka, foremost among the twice-born,4
Widely known and of unfathomable inherent power.
He mastered the Vedas—the Rig and the Sama
And Mathematics and the fine arts;
He gained the skill to train elephants.
The darkness of ignorance fell away from his sight
As would the darkness of disease from the eyes,
All by the grace of Shiva.
Ascetic and learned,
—he was indeed the very best among the Vedic scholars—
Yet eager for war and ever alert,
Is it any wonder
Shudraka, the protector of the earth, evinced a lively desire
To grapple closely with the elephants of his foes!
He performed the ashvamedha5 with great pomp and ceremony,
And in due course saw his son ascend the throne.
Having lived a hundred years and ten days
King Shudraka at last entered the fire.
Now about his work.
In the city of Avanti
Lived young Charudatta, a twice-born merchant
Alas, fallen, of late, upon evil times.
In love with him for his sterling qualities
Was the courtesan Vasantasena
As beautiful as vasanta, the spring itself.
Shudraka wrote his play
Mainly in celebration of this true love.
However, the play of the politics of the day,
The flaws in the dispensation of justice;
The nature of villainy
And the relentless march of destiny;
On all these as well Shudraka did have much to say.
(The sutradhara walks about and looks around)6
This is our music room and it is empty! Where would all our actors have gone? . . . Ah I know!
For him without a son the house is empty;
For one without good friends the emptiness stretches long.
For the fool all avenues are empty; but for the penniless,
The whole world is empty.
That is enough practice for today! I have been at it for so long that the pupils of my eyes roll up! They seem to crackle with hunger, like lotus seeds dried in the fierce heat of the summer sun. Let me call my wife and ask her if there is anything by way of breakfast to eat at home.
Here I am switching over to Prakritam, gentlemen, to suit my conversation with my wife and to fulfil the demands of the dramatic presentation.
Alas, alas oh! I have practised my music for such a very long time that my limbs are limp with hunger like wilting lotus stalks. Let me go home and find out if my wife has prepared anything for me to eat. (Moves about)
Here is my house; let me go in.
Wonder of wonders! How different everything appears in my house today! Streams of water used for washing the rice flow all over the path! The ground bears the marks of an iron skillet having been dragged over it; I do think it looks all the better for it just as a woman’s face does when decorated with lines drawn with unguents and cosmetics! Ah . . . how the pleasant aroma of food fuels the pangs of my hunger! (Somewhat incoherently)
Has a cache of ancestral wealth been discovered? Or is it just that in my starved state all the world appears to me as if made of food? I tell you, there is never any breakfast in our house! God! I am absolutely dying of hunger! But here I see that everything is changed! I see one woman pounding colours and another stringing flowers. What indeed is this all about? Why don’t I just call my wife and ask her!
Wife! Will you please come here?
(Enter the actress)
ACTRESS: Here I am, my noble sir. Command me, my lord. What should I do for you?
SUTRADHARA: My good wife, I have been practising my music for such a long time that my limbs are limp like wilting lotus stalks. Is there anything for me to eat at home?
ACTRESS: My lord, there is everything to eat at home!
SUTRADHARA: What exactly do you have?
ACTRESS: Well, let us see now. There is sweet rice with ghee, there is rice mixed with curds. There is every kind of gratifying thing fit to be eaten by the noble one! Yes! May the gods ever bless you thus!
SUTRADHARA: Do you mean to say that all these are available in our home? Or are you just mocking me?
ACTRESS: (To herself) Let me tease him a bit! (Aloud) Indeed everything is available . . . in the shops!
SUTRADHARA: (Showing anger) Wretched woman! May your hopes too be dashed like mine! May you amount to nothing for you lifted me up only to fling me down like a bunch of limp grass.
ACTRESS: Please forgive me, my lord, forgive me! I was merely teasing you.
SUTRADHARA: But tell me, why does everything look different, as though a new dispensation has been put in place? Here is a woman pounding vermilion, and there another stringing flowers; and the ground here is beautifully decorated with blooms of five colours.
ACTRESS: I have undertaken to observe a rite of austerity for today.
SUTRADHARA: What is the name of this observance?
ACTRESS: It is called ‘Abhirupapati’, undertaken for being blessed with a handsome husband.
SUTRADHARA: (Mockingly) Does it concern this world or the next?
ACTRESS: It concerns itself with the other world, my lord.
SUTRADHARA: (Turning to the audience with anger) Gentlemen, gentlemen! Did you hear that? My cooked rice is being used to search for a handsome husband in the next world!
ACTRESS: My lord, please calm down, calm down! It is to ensure that I may attain you as my husband again in my next birth that I have undertaken this.
SUTRADHARA: Who advised you to observe this fast?
ACTRESS: Your good friend Jurnavriddha.
SUTRADHARA: (With anger) You son of a whore, Jurnavriddha! When will I see you cut down by our king Palaka in a moment of anger, as he is wont to do with the sweet-smelling, beautiful and abundant hair of a new bride?7
ACTRESS: Please do not get angry, my lord. I am doing this only to secure you as my husband in the next world as well. (She falls at his feet)
SUTRADHARA: Please rise, my lady. Tell me, what else has to be done with regard to the function today?
ACTRESS: A brahmana suitable to our status must be invited as our guest.
SUTRADHARA: Well, you go ahead with your duties. I shall go and look for a brahmana suitable to be our guest.
ACTRESS: As you wish, noble sir! (Exit)
SUTRADHARA: (Walks around) My God! How on earth will I find in this rich city of Ujjayini a brahmana of a status equal to ours? Ah, but here comes Maitreya, a good friend of Arya Charudatta’s. I shall ask him. My good sir Maitreya! I would like to invite you to dinner at our home as our honoured guest.
(Maitreya’s voice is heard from behind the stage)
MAITREYA: Please invite some other brahmana as your guest for I am already engaged!
SUTRADHARA: I assure you the meal will be sumptuous and you will be our only guest. And there will be a gift as well!
(Maitreya’s voice is heard from behind the stage again)
MAITREYA: Didn’t I just turn down your invitation? Why do you keep pressing me?
SUTRADHARA: Well, that is that! Let me go and look for some other brahmana. (Exit)
Scene 1
(Evening. The street outside Charudatta’s house. Maitreya enters with a shawl in his hands.)
MAITREYA: (Mutters to himself) Ask some other brahmana . . . Very soon even I, Maitreya, may have to look for such invitations to dinner from others! How Fate reduces men to insignificance! You see, when Fortune smiled on the noble Charudatta, I used to sit at the entrance to his courtyard and gorge myself on the aroma-filled modakas,8 made with such care and effort! A hundred other dishes would be placed around me and I would sit like a painter surrounded by his bowls of colours and touch the dishes disdainfully with my fingers and reject them, one by one. Then, like a ruminant bull sitting in the middle of the square, I too would sit digesting all that food! Now that the noble Charudatta has fallen on bad times, I wander from place to place, returning here just to huddle for the night like a homing pigeon . . . Ah, well, here is this jasmine-scented shawl meant for the noble Charudatta, sent by his good friend Jurnavriddha. I am supposed to hand it over to him after he finishes his evening worship . . . Ah, here he is! Having finished the evening service he now carries with him the offerings for the household deities.
(Enter Charudatta, as described, accompanied by the maid Radanika)
CHARUDATTA: (Looks up and sighs dejectedly)
Gone are the days
When the offerings placed on the thresholds
Were snatched up, ever so quickly,
By the swans and the flocks of cranes!
On the very same thresholds, now overgrown with weeds,
The handfuls of offerings do still fall
But only to be nibbled at by the worms.
(He moves around slowly and then sits)
VIDUSHAKA: (Approaches while saying to himself) Here is the noble Charudatta! Let me go close to him now. (Aloud) All the best to you, sir! May you prosper!
CHARUDATTA: Ah, my faithful friend Maitreya is here! Welcome! Welcome! Do take a seat.
VIDUSHAKA: Thank you. (Sits down) Your friend Jurnavriddha has sent this jasmine-scented shawl for you. He asked me to give it to you after your evening service ended.
(Charudatta takes the shawl and becomes pensive)
VIDUSHAKA: My friend, you look preoccupied; what is the matter?
CHARUDATTA:
Pleasure after pain is splendid
Like coming upon lamplight in pitch darkness.
But for he who slips from comfort to penury,
It is living death; he merely bears the body.
VIDUSHAKA: But, my friend, of the two, death and poverty, which one would you prefer?
CHARUDATTA:
I do prefer death to penury;
Death’s pains are just momentary;
While penury’s miseries
Go on forever.
VIDUSHAKA: Friend, please do not torment yourself. You gave away all your wealth to the needy among your near and dear. Although depleted, you now shine with added charm, like the thin crescent moon after most of its lustre has been drunk away by the gods.9
CHARUDATTA: I am depressed not merely because my wealth is gone. Listen:
What distresses me is that the guests,
Knowing my house to be diminished in riches
Keep away from it, just as roving bees, the season over,
Swarm away from the dark, rut-marked, dried cheeks of the elephant.
VIDUSHAKA: My friend, these are worthless rascals, lightweights who dart from place to place to avoid getting hurt, like cowherd boys frightened of wasps. In the forest they move from one spot to another to avoid being stung.
CHARUDATTA:
I do believe it is not the loss of wealth that saddens me!
The relentless march of Fate brings in the wealth and takes it away too.
What pains more is that the bonds of friendship too slacken
For him who has lost the backing of his riches.
From penury to shame, from overpowering shame to fall from dignity
And to impotence; thence to humiliation, despondency and grief.
Overwhelmed with anguish, the intellect fails, slipping into decline;
Indeed poverty is the abode of all adversity.
VIDUSHAKA: Come now, my friend, don’t take on so about trifling wealth!
CHARUDATTA: Maitreya,
Poverty is indeed the home of all anxiety.
It is man’s greatest sorrow, his direst enemy.
It gives rise to disgust in one’s friends
And hatred among family and clan.
Insulted by the wife, he finds the forest beckons!
The fire of dejection in the heart only torments,
But never consumes.
Oh well, Maitreya, I have finished the worship of the household deities. Please go to the square and place the offerings to the divine mothers.
VIDUSHAKA: No, I shall not go.
CHARUDATTA: Why not?
VIDUSHAKA: These deities have not shown you any favour though you have honoured them so much. What is the point in worshipping the gods anyway?
CHARUDATTA: Friend, don’t say that. It is the daily duty of the householder to place offerings before the deities.
The deities are pleased with those who are calm and tranquil and
Who honour them every day
With penance, meditation, hymns and offerings;
How can there be any dispute about it?
Go now, and place the offerings before the divine mothers.
VIDUSHAKA: No, I won’t go. Send someone else. Nothing works out for me, the poor brahmana! Right becomes left and left becomes right, like the reflection in a mirror. Besides, at this evening hour the courtesans and the dandies along with their servants, and all the king’s favourites will be strutting about all over the royal highway. As sure as anything I’ll be finished off like a mouse falling on the path of a vicious snake hunting for a frog. You will be sitting here! What can you do to help me?
CHARUDATTA: All right, wait here while I finish my meditation.
Scene 2
(Dusk. A street near Charudatta’s house. From behind the stage, a voice is heard.)
VOICE: Wait, Vasantasena! Wait!
(Enter Vasantasena, followed by the Vita, Shakara and Cheta10)
VITA: Do wait, Vasantasena!
Setting aside your natural grace
You stamp along on feet skilled in rhythmic dance steps,
Your distressed eyes casting tremulous glances!
Why do you run in such fear,
Like a frightened deer chased by the hunter?
SHAKARA: Stop, Vasantasena, my girl!
O fair maiden, why do you run, flee and stumble?
Do me a favour, wait a while, you will not die!
My poor heart burns with love for you,
Like a piece of flesh fallen into a heap of smouldering coal.
CHETA: Madam, do please stop!
You run from my side in such terror,
Like a pea-hen in summer, all in full feather,
While my lord and master prances about,
Like the young one of a wild cock in the forest.
VITA: Vasantasena, wait, wait!
Why do you run shaking like a tender plantain tree
With your red silken skirts flowing in the wind?
And you scatter a mass of red lotus buds,
Like chiselled red arsenic being showered about in a cavern.
SHAKARA: Wait, wait, Vasantasena, my girl!
You stoke my passion, my desire, my lust
And at night in my bed you snatch away my sleep!
Now you flee in fear,
Tripping and stumbling.
But my girl, you are already in my hands,
Like Kunti in Ravana’s.
VITA: Vasantasena,
Why do you try to outpace my steps,
Like a female snake slithering away in fear of the eagle, the king of birds?
Were I to set off at speed could I not check the wind itself?
But, lovely limbed one, far be it from me to try to capture you!
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava,
This one here, the snatcher of your coins, passion’s whip,
The eater of fish, the frolicking woman, the flat-nosed one, the wanton,
The destroyer of families, the casket of love, this courtesan, harlot,
Strumpet, the abode of ornaments.
Ten epithets have I showered on her,
Yet she does not desire me!
VITA:
Why are you running away unnerved with fear,
Like cranes terrified of the roar of thunder?
The kundalas swing about
—Like the veena strings struck hard by the nails of the Vitas—
And brush against your cheeks.
SHAKARA:
As you run like Draupadi fleeing in fear of Rama,
Your ornaments jingle, all together.
Here I come to snatch you quickly,
Like Hanuman carrying away Subhadra, the sister of Vishvavasu.11
CHETA:
Please the king’s favourite
And you shall eat fish and meat.
Even the dogs do not touch carrion
Once they have tasted fish and meat.
VITA: Madam Vasantasena,
Wearing the cluster of girdle strings around your hips,
Brilliant and variegated, a veritable array of stars,
Your flushed face redder than powdered arsenic,
Why do you run so fast like the town deity
And in such distress?
SHAKARA:
We are in hot pursuit of you,
Like dogs in the forest behind the she-fox;12
But you flee quickly, hurriedly, with speed,
Carrying away with you my heart along with its stalk!
VASANTASENA: Pallavaka! Pallavaka! Parabhritika! Parabhritika!13
SHAKARA: (With fear) Bhava, Bhava, there are people here!
VITA: Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.
VASANTASENA: Madhavika! Madhavika!
VITA: (Laughs) How foolish you are! She is looking for her servants.
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, she is looking for her women.
VITA: Exactly.
SHAKARA: I can kill a hundred women at one stroke. I am a great hero!
VASANTASENA: Alas! Alas! Even the servants have vanished! I am left to my own devices to protect myself.
VITA: Look for them, look for them!
SHAKARA: Vasantasena, my girl! Cry out, cry out for Parabhritika or Pallavaka or the entire spring season!
When I am wooing you who indeed can protect you?
Not Bhimasena, the son of Jamadagni;
Nor Kunti’s son, the ten-headed one.
I shall hold you by your tresses
And do as Duhshasana did of old.14
But look! Look here!
My sword is sharp, and your head is turned to me!
I shall cut off your head, I shall kill you!
No more running away from me!
One who is on the point of death does not live.15
VASANTASENA: Sir, I am but a helpless woman!
VITA: That is why you are still alive!
SHAKARA: That is why you have not been killed!
VASANTASENA: (To herself) Strange! Even his kind words instil fear in me! Let me try this. (Aloud) Are you gentlemen interested in some of my jewellery?
VITA: Heaven forbid! My lady Vasantasena! One should not rob the garden creeper of its flowers! No more talk of ornaments.
VASANTASENA: Then what do you want from me?
SHAKARA: I am an exalted person, a man, a veritable Vasudeva,16 and ought to be loved by you.
VASANTASENA: (Indignant) Hush! Hush!17 Get away from here! You speak indecently.
SHAKARA: (Claps his hands and laughs) Bhava! Bhava! Did you hear that? Surely this courtesan girl is in love with me! That is why she says to me ‘Come, you are tired, you are fatigued.’18 I did not go gallivanting to another town or village! My lady, I swear by Bhava’s head and my own two feet—if I’ve become tired it is because I’ve been running after you, close on your heels!
VITA: (To himself) Silly fellow! She is telling him to shut up and this fool understands it as expressing concern for his fatigue! (Aloud) Vasantasena! Your words are incompatible with your way of life lived as a courtesan in the courtesans’ quarters.
Mind you, it is in the courtesan district that you live
In the company of young men as friends and patrons.
A courtesan you are; therefore consider yourself
A creeper grown on the wayside.
Your body is a commodity, to be had for a price.
So, treat them all equally, the ones you like and the ones you do not.
It is the same well in which bathe
The wise brahmana and the rude low-born.
The crow bends the same flowering creeper
That the peacock too bends;
The same boat that carries across
The brahmana, kshatriya and the vaishya
Helps others as well to cross;
You are a courtesan and so
Like the well, the creeper and the boat
Be equally good to them all.
VASANTASENA: It is one’s excellent qualities that kindle love, never the exercise of force, ever.
SHAKARA: Bhava! Bhava! This born harlot has been in love with that penniless Charudatta from the day she met him in the Kamadeva temple garden. That is why she does not fancy me! Here on the left is where he lives. See to it that she does not slip out of our hands.
VITA: (To himself) This fool is drawing attention to the very thing that ought to be kept back! So Vasantasena is in love with Charudatta! Rightly is it said that gem unites with gem.
Let her go. Why should I bother about this fool anyway? (Aloud) Son of Kaneli!19 Is that the house of Charudatta, on the left?
SHAKARA: Yes, of course, that is the one.
VASANTASENA: (To herself) Wonder of wonders! These villains while intending harm have really done me a good turn. By revealing that my beloved lives right here they have brought us together.
Scene 3
(The road outside Charudatta’s house. It is really dark now.)
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava! That wench Vasantasena has disappeared in this pitch darkness from right under our noses, like a pebble of soot in a field of black beans!
VITA: Oh! It has become very dark indeed!
My eyesight, far-reaching in light,
Is cut short by the advancing gloom.
The eyes though fully open, feel as if shut
In this falling darkness.
Darkness smears the limbs as it were!
The sky rains collyrium as it were!
Like service rendered to the unworthy,
Fruitless becomes the sense of sight.
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, I am going to look for Vasantasena.
VITA: Do you see any signs of where she may be?
SHAKARA: What signs?
VITA: The sound of ornaments, the smell of flowers mixed with cosmetic fragrances.
SHAKARA: I do hear the smell of her garlands! But I don’t see the tinkle of her ornaments because my nose is filled with darkness.20
VITA: (Aside)
In the gloom of the evening it is true you are not seen,
Hidden, like lightning deep within the folds of the clouds;
But this fragrance that arises from your garlands will tell us where you are,
O timid one! And the jingle of your anklets will give you away too!
Did you hear me, Vasantasena?
VASANTASENA: (To herself) Yes, I heard you and I’ve understood you too. (She removes her anklets and throws away her garlands and moves about, groping with her hands) As I feel this wall with my hands I know that I’ve come to the side entrance of the house. As the two panels of the door are together I know the door is closed.
Scene 4
(The courtyard of Charudatta’s house. Enter Charudatta and Maitreya.)
CHARUDATTA: My prayers are over. Go now and place the offerings to the divine mothers.
VIDUSHAKA: Oh, I’ll not go.
CHARUDATTA: Alas! Alas!
Kinsmen ignore the words of the one in penury.
Dearly loved friends too turn away.
Misfortunes multiply, vitality declines,
The moon-like lustre of character wanes.
Even the sinful deeds done by others get foisted upon him.21
No one mixes with him and none talks to him with respect;
During festivities in the halls of the rich,
He is looked upon with contempt.
At great gatherings he lurks in the background,
Shamed by his clothes that are all too meagre.
I do declare that the state of poverty be added as the sixth
To the list of the most grievous crimes.22
I do feel sorry for you, O penury!
Having dwelt with me as a friend,
It worries me where you will go
Once I lay down my unfortunate body.
VIDUSHAKA: (With embarrassment) My friend! If I must go, let Radanika here go with me.
CHARUDATTA: All right. Radanika, follow Maitreya.
RADANIKA: As you wish, sir.
VIDUSHAKA: Madam Radanika, please hold the offering and the lamp while I open the side door. (Opens the side door)
VASANTASENA: (Standing outside) The side door has been opened as though granting me a favour! But why is there a light? (She puts the light out by waving her uttariya and enters)
CHARUDATTA: What happened, Maitreya?
VIDUSHAKA: The gust of air that rushed in when I opened the door has blown the light out. Radanika, you go out by the side door. I’ll light the lamp again in the inner quadrangle and catch up with you.
(Vidushaka and Radanika exit)
Scene 5
(Street outside the side entrance to Charudatta’s house)
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, I shall look for the wench Vasantasena.
VITA: Go on, go on, look for her!
SHAKARA: (Gropes in the darkness) Bhava! Bhava! She is caught!
VITA: You have caught me, you silly fellow!
SHAKARA: (Searches again) Just a little this way and let Bhava stand on one side. Now . . . I have caught her! I have caught her!
CHETA: Master, it is only I, Cheta!
SHAKARA: Here is Bhava, here is Cheta. Bhava, Cheta, Cheta, Bhava! Both of you stand here, to one side and out of my way. (He searches again and this time catches hold of Radanika by her hair) Bhava, Bhava, now she is caught!
The lass Vasantasena is indeed caught fleeing in the dark,
Betrayed by the fragrance of her flowers
And seized by her abundant hair,
Like Draupadi by Chanakya!23
VITA:
Here you are being pulled by your hair,
That is richly decorated with flowers and ready to be enjoyed
Even as you go after a noble-born
In the arrogance of your youth!
SHAKARA:
Here you are, lass, properly caught,
By your hair, your tresses, by what grows on your head!
Scream and wail and holler at the top of your voice
For Shambhu, Shankara, Shiva or Ishvara.24
RADANIKA: (With fear) Honourable gentlemen, what are you trying to do?
VITA: Son of Kaneli, this voice sounds different!
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, just like how a pussy cat greedy for the cream on the curds would mew differently so has this daughter of a whore too changed her voice.
VITA: (With wonder) How has she changed her voice? How very strange! . . . But then what is so strange about it?
She has been on the stage
And is well versed in the arts;
An expert in dissimulation, it is no wonder
She shows skill in the use of voice.
VIDUSHAKA: (Enters with a light) Ha! Ha! Look at the flame fluttering in the evening breeze like the heart of the goat being led to sacrificial slaughter! (Moving close to Radanika and looking at her) Oh, Radanika!
SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, there are people here!
VIDUSHAKA: Ah! This is not proper! It is not right for strangers to break into the house of the noble Charudatta simply because he has lost his wealth and is now poor!
RADANIKA: Noble sir Maitreya! Look at the way I have been humiliated!
VIDUSHAKA: Is the insult directed at you or at us?
RADANIKA: I should say at you mainly!
VIDUSHAKA: Have they laid violent hands on you?
RADANIKA: Yes! Yes!
VIDUSHAKA: Is that the truth?
RADANIKA: Yes, that is the truth!
VIDUSHAKA: (Raising his wooden staff in anger) Beat it now! In his home even a dog becomes fierce, so why not a brahmana like me! With this staff that is as bent as our own fortunes I shall pound your head like the top of a damaged, dried-up bamboo!
VITA: O venerable brahmana, forgive us! Please forgive us!
VIDUSHAKA: (Points to Vita) This one is not the culprit. (Looks at Shakara) This one here is the villain! Hey you! Brother-in-law of the king, Samsthanaka! You rogue! You rascal! This is downright improper! True, the noble Charudatta is going through bad times but do his virtues not adorn Ujjayini? How can you barge into his house and insult one of his servants?
Do not insult anyone because he has no wealth;
In the eyes of Fate no one is poor
One may be loaded with riches,
But if lacking in virtue, he would be considered poor indeed.
VITA: (Shamefaced) O revered brahmana! Please do forgive us, forgive us! We acted in this manner not out of arrogance but because we thought she was someone else.
We were in pursuit of a woman in love . . .
VIDUSHAKA: Do you mean this one? (Points at Radanika)
VITA: Good God! No!
There was here a woman whose youth was hers
Freely to bestow on anyone of her fancy.
She vanished; the confusion that this one might be she
Gave rise to this impropriety.
Please do accept my profuse apologies. (Drops his sword and joins hands in supplication and falls at Maitreya’s feet)
VIDUSHAKA: You are a good man. Please rise. I laid the blame on you without knowing the facts of the matter. Now that I do know it is my turn to apologize!
VITA: No! No! All apologies are due to you alone. But I shall rise only on one condition.
VIDUSHAKA: What is the condition?
VITA: I shall rise on the condition that you will not inform Charudatta about what happened here.
VIDUSHAKA: All right, I will not tell him about this incident.
VITA:
This kindness that you have shown, O brahmana
Is borne by me on my head.
We who carry weapons in our hands
Are vanquished by you, just armed with virtues.
SHAKARA: (With envy) Bhava! Why do you apologize so abjectly and fall at the feet of this wicked brat of a brahmana?
VITA: I am afraid!
SHAKARA: What are you afraid of?
VITA: I am afraid of this Charudatta’s virtues.
SHAKARA: What great qualities can he possess when there isn’t even enough to eat in his house?
VITA: No, no, don’t say that!
He lost his wealth by his generosity to the needy like us;
None was ever shown disrespect by him whilst still wealthy.
A brimming pond, he quenched the summer thirst of men
And alas, has now ended up going dry.
SHAKARA:
Who is this son of a congenital slave,
This hero, this valiant?
Is he Shvetaketu, the offspring of Pandu,
Or Ravana, the son of Radha, a boon from Indra?
Is he Ashvatthama, begotten by that Rama on Kunti,
Or Jatayu, the son of Dharma?25
VITA: You fool, it is Arya Charudatta I am talking about.
To the indigent he is the wish-fulfilling tree
Bent with the fruits that are his virtues,
A patriarch of the family of the virtuous,
An example to the learned, a touchstone for nobility of conduct;
He is the sea contained by the shores of propriety;
A doer of good deeds who is rude to none;
A treasure chest of manly qualities
Compassionate and generous;
He is unique, the very best of men,
Who lives and thrives by the power of his countless virtues
While most others just breathe and exist.
Let us go away from here.
SHAKARA: What? Without getting Vasantasena?
VITA: Vasantasena is lost to you.
SHAKARA: How could that happen?
VITA:
Like sight in the blind
And well-being in the diseased,
Like intellect in a fool
And achievement in the slothful,
Like the highest knowledge in one vicious and of weak memory,
Like love in one’s enemy,
She too disappeared
After running into you!
SHAKARA: I will not leave without taking Vasantasena with me!
VITA: Don’t you understand anything at all?
One holds the elephant by the chain,
And the horse by the reins.
But a woman is held by the heart;
Since you do not have one in you,
Please get going!
SHAKARA: If you want, you go. I am not leaving just yet.
VITA: All right, I am going. (Exit)
Scene 6
(The street outside the side entrance to Charudatta’s house)
SHAKARA: Gone! Bhava26 has indeed become non-existent! Hey, you wicked brat, with the deformed head, and pate! Sit down, sit down!
VIDUSHAKA: We have already been sat upon!
SHAKARA: By whom?
VIDUSHAKA: By Fate!
SHAKARA: Get up, get up now.
VIDUSHAKA: We will get up.
SHAKARA: When?
VIDUSHAKA: When Fate becomes kind to us again.
SHAKARA: Cry, cry now.
VIDUSHAKA: We have already been made to weep.
SHAKARA: By whom?
VIDUSHAKA: By bad times.
SHAKARA: Hey, laugh, laugh!
VIDUSHAKA: We shall laugh.
SHAKARA: When?
VIDUSHAKA: When the noble Charudatta becomes prosperous again.
SHAKARA: Hey, you little rascal! You had better convey these words of mine to that penniless Charudatta chap. ‘This woman all decked in gold, covered all over with ornaments, got-up like the actress-wife of the sutradhara about to stage a brand new play, this courtesan lass Vasantasena who has taken a fancy to you ever since she saw you at the Kamadeva temple has now run into your house while I was right behind her, pressing my suit upon her to win her over with force. If you restore her to me without the matter going to court I will remain bound to you by ties of affection. If you fail to restore her to me I shall be your enemy till death.
And note further.
The pumpkin with its stalk smeared in cow dung;
Dried vegetables, meat that is fried to be sure;
And rice that is boiled during winter nights;
These things surely do not go bad while time itself may dissolve and disappear.
So, go now and talk to him nicely, talk to him cunningly. Talk to him in such a way that I, sitting in the small dove-cot in front of my palace, shall hear it. If you say anything different I shall crunch your head like a round kapitha fruit caught between the panels of a door.
VIDUSHAKA: I shall convey the message.
SHAKARA: (Aside to Cheta) Cheta, has Bhava really gone?
CHETA: Yes, he has gone.
SHAKARA: Then let us get out of here fast!
CHETA: Then let my master take hold of his sword.
SHAKARA: Let it remain in your hands.
CHETA: Here it is, master. Let my master take hold of his sword.
SHAKARA: (Holds the sword the wrong way)
This sword, the colour of the skin of radish,
Not covered in bark cloth,
But sleeping in its own sheath,
I carry on my shoulders
And slink away to my home,
Like a jackal, barked at by dogs and bitches. (Exit)
VIDUSHAKA: Radanika, dear lady, Arya Charudatta should never come to know of this insult to you. He is already distressed with his poverty; he would be doubly pained if he learned of this incident.
RADANIKA: Arya Maitreya, remember I am Radanika! My lips are sealed!27
VIDUSHAKA: Good. (Exit)
Scene 7
(The outer courtyard of Charudatta’s house)
CHARUDATTA: (In the darkness of the courtyard addresses Vasantasena thinking it is Radanika) Radanika, Rohasena loves the breeze, but he must be feeling the evening chill. Cover him with this shawl and do take him inside. (He hands over the shawl to Vasantasena)
VASANTASENA: (To herself) He thinks I am his attendant! . . . This shawl has the fragrance of jasmine! It shows that he is far from indifferent to youthful pleasures. (Covers herself with it unobserved by the others)
CHARUDATTA: I told you, Radanika, to take Rohasena inside!
VASANTASENA: (To herself) I am not that fortunate as to be able to enter your house or your heart.28
CHARUDATTA: Radanika, you are not even answering me! Alas!
When a man slips into decline,
By the workings of Fate,
Friends turn unfriendly;
And even those long devoted to him turn cool.
VIDUSHAKA: (Enters says) Here is that Radanika!
CHARUDATTA: If this is Radanika then who is the other one? She has been polluted by contact with my garment, albeit unknowingly.
VASANTASENA: (To herself) Not polluted! She is adorned!
CHARUDATTA:
She is like a sliver of moon
Veiled by the clouds of autumn.29
But it is not proper to gaze at another man’s wife.
VIDUSHAKA: There is no need to worry about the lady being someone’s wife. She is Vasantasena who has been in love with you ever since she saw you at the Kamadeva temple garden.
CHARUDATTA: This is Vasantasena!
(To himself) With me in such reduced circumstances
The passion she has kindled in me
Has but to languish forever within my limbs,
Like anger in a spiritless coward.
VIDUSHAKA: My friend, here is what the king’s brother-in-law wants to say to you.
CHARUDATTA: What?
VIDUSHAKA: ‘This woman decked in gold, covered all over with ornaments, got-up like the actress-wife of the sutradhara about to stage a brand new play, this courtesan lass Vasantasena who has taken a fancy to you since she saw you at the Kamadeva temple has now run into your house while I was after her, pressing my suit upon her to win her over with force. If you restore her to me without the matter going to court I will remain bound to you by ties of affection. If you fail to restore her to me I shall be your enemy till death.’
VASANTASENA: (To herself) ‘Pressing my suit upon her to win her over by force’—these words are indeed flattering!
CHARUDATTA: (Contemptuously) He is a stupid man! (To himself) This young woman deserves to be served like a goddess! In that desperate hour,
When urged upon by me to enter the house,
She did not stir, seeing perhaps the embarrassing state
Of the house brought on by Fate.
Although capable of a lot of easy talk,
Used as she is to the company of men,
She is quiet, and speaks not boldly.
(To Vasantasena) My lady Vasantasena, as I did not recognize you, I have offended you by addressing you as though you were my attendant. I beg you most humbly to forgive me.
VASANTASENA: I salute you most humbly and beg your forgiveness for entering this place without seeking permission.
VIDUSHAKA: Now that you two have met and comfortably bowed to each other like two adjoining fields of swaying paddy, let me too court your favour by bowing my head that looks like the knee of a camel! (He gets up)
CHARUDATTA: All right, no more formalities.
VASANTASENA: (To herself) This has turned out to be an agreeable and charming introduction to each other. But having come into the house in this manner it is not proper for me to stay over. Well . . . (Aloud) Noble sir, if you would permit me I would like to leave these ornaments of mine here in your house. It is for these trinkets that the wicked men harass me.
CHARUDATTA: This house is unfit for accepting custody of any valuables.
VASANTASENA: That is not true, noble sir, for deposits are left with men, not with houses.
CHARUDATTA: Maitreya, accept the ornaments.
VASANTASENA: I thank you for the favour.
VIDUSHAKA: (Accepts the ornaments) All the best to you!
CHARUDATTA: Tut, tut, you fool! This is only a deposit for safety!
VIDUSHAKA: (Aside) Then let the thieves take them!
CHARUDATTA: In a short while . . .
VIDUSHAKA: These are now in our care!
CHARUDATTA: . . . they shall be returned.
VASANTASENA: I would now like to go home escorted by this gentleman here.
CHARUDATTA: Maitreya, take the lady home.
VIDUSHAKA: Friend, you are the one who would shine like a flamingo accompanying his lady stepping gracefully like a swan! I am but a poor brahmana who would come to no good I bet, as people would make mincemeat of me the way street dogs maul the offering placed in the public square.
CHARUDATTA: All right, I shall escort the lady myself. Let the torches be lit bright so that we feel safe on the king’s highway.
VIDUSHAKA: Vardhamanaka, light the torches!
VARDHAMANAKA: (Aside) Are the torches to be lit without any oil?
VIDUSHAKA: (Aside) Amazing! These torches of ours have become dry just like the courtesans’ affection for the penniless and therefore spurned lovers!
CHARUDATTA: Maitreya, that would do. We don’t really need any torches. Look!
Shashanka, the one branded with the image of the deer, is rising,
Looking pale, like the cheeks of an aroused damsel, and
Surrounded by a multitude of planets;30
He is the great lamp lighting up the royal highway.
His white rays fall in the piles of darkness,
Like streams of milk on mud that is wet but from which
The water has already drained out.
(Maitreya goes with them anyway. They arrive at Vasantasena’s house.)
CHARUDATTA: (With love) My dear lady, here is your house, please go in.
(Vasantasena exits looking at Charudatta with eyes full of love)
CHARUDATTA: Friend, Vasantasena has gone in. Come, let us now go home.
The royal highway is deserted,
Except for the guards who patrol it.
Pray, steer clear of deceitful rogues!
The night is full of pitfalls.
(Walking on) Maitreya, you have to take care of this pouch of ornaments at night; Vardhamanaka will do duty by day.