ACT VI

The Interchange of the Carriages

Scene 1

(The next morning. Charudatta’s house.)

CHETI: (To herself) How is my lady still asleep? Let me go in and wake her. (Goes round the stage, enters the bedroom and finds Vasantasena still sleeping under the blankets. Checks first if Vasantasena is really asleep.) Please get up, madam, it is morning.

VASANTASENA: (Awakes) How could it be? Has the day dawned right in the middle of the night?

CHETI: It is morning for us. But for my lady it still seems to be night!

VASANTASENA: Where then is your gambler now?

CHETI: My lady, having given some instructions to Vardhamanaka, Arya Charudatta has gone to the old garden, Pushpakarandaka.

VASANTASENA: What instructions?

CHETI: He ordered Vardhamanaka, whilst still dark,¹ to get the carriage ready for Vasantasena to go out.

VASANTASENA: Cheti, go where?

CHETI: Where Arya Charudatta is!

VASANTASENA: (Embracing the attendant) Cheti, I did not look at him properly last night. Now I can look at him directly . . . Cheti, have I really entered the inner quadrangle?

CHETI: Not merely the inner quadrangle, but everyone’s heart as well!

VASANTASENA: Are they distressed about it, the servants of Arya Charudatta?

CHETI: They will be.

VASANTASENA: When?

CHETI: If my lady leaves . . .

VASANTASENA: If that happens I’ll be the first to be distressed! . . . (Earnestly) Cheti, please take this ratnavali to my sister Aryaa Dhuta with this message from me: ‘I am now Arya Charudatta’s slave, won over by his noble qualities and thus I am yours as well. Let this necklace adorn your neck alone.’

CHETI: Arya Charudatta may get angry with my lady Dhuta.

VASANTASENA: Do as I say. I don’t think he will get angry with her.

CHETI: (Takes the necklace and goes out. She returns shortly with the necklace still in her hand.) Madam, my lady Dhuta says that this necklace has been given to you by Arya Charudatta as a mark of his favour, and therefore it is not proper on her part to take it back. She would also like you to understand that the greatest and most beautiful ornament for her is Lord Charudatta himself.²

(Enter Radanika holding a little boy by the hand)

RADANIKA: Come along, child, let us play with the cart.

CHILD: (Complainingly) I do not want this clay cart; give me that golden cart!

RADANIKA: (Sighing sadly) Dear child, where do we go for things of gold? When your father becomes rich again you will play with a gold cart. (Aside) Let me try to distract him . . . Here is Lady Vasantasena; I’ll go to her . . . (Aloud) Madam, I salute you!

VASANTASENA: Radanika, welcome! Who is this child? There are no ornaments on his body, but his face shines with the brilliance of the moon and gladdens my heart.

RADANIKA: This is Rohasena, Arya Charudatta’s young son.

VASANTASENA: (Opens her arms) Come, my child. Let me hold you. (She places him on her lap) He is the very image of his father!

RADANIKA: Not merely in appearance; he is like his father in his nature as well. Arya Charudatta enjoys being with him.

VASANTASENA: Why is he crying now?

RADANIKA: He was playing with the golden cart belonging to the neighbour’s child; then they took it away from him. As he went on asking for it I made this clay cart and gave it to him to play with. But he doesn’t want this clay cart; he is asking me for a golden one just like the other child’s.

VASANTASENA: (Her eyes fill up with tears) Alas! Even this little one is troubled by the wealth of others! O Fate! You do amuse yourself by making the fortunes of people as unstable as drops of water falling on lotus leaves . . . My child, do not cry now, you shall play with a golden cart!

CHILD: Radanika, who is this lady?

VASANTASENA: She is your father’s slave, conquered by his great virtues.

RADANIKA: Dear child, she is a mother to you.

CHILD: Radanika, you are telling me a lie! If she is my mother then why is she decked up?

VASANTASENA: What heart-rending words you do utter with such an innocent face! (Removes her ornaments and weeps) Here, I have now become your mother! Take these jewels and use them to make a golden cart for you.

CHILD: Take them away! I won’t have them! You are weeping!

VASANTASENA: (Wipes her tears) There, my child! I shall not cry any more. (Fills the clay cart with her jewels) Now go and play and get them to make a golden cart for you.

(Radanika and the child exit)

Scene 2

(Later that morning. The street near the side entrance to Charudatta’s house. Enter Cheta Vardhamanaka driving the carriage.)³

CHETA: Radanika, Radanika, please tell my lady Vasantasena that the carriage waits for her at the side entrance, all covered and ready.

RADANIKA: Madam, Vardhamanaka is here, announcing that the carriage waits for you at the side door.

VASANTASENA: Cheti, ask him to wait a little while I freshen up.

RADANIKA: (Goes out) Vardhamanaka, wait a while; my lady is getting ready.

CHETA: Oh! Oh! I too have forgotten to bring the carriage cushions! Let me go and get them . . . But these bullocks are too excitable to be left alone; they need to be controlled by the nose-string. Well, let me take the carriage with me. (He drives out)

VASANTASENA: Cheti, will you please bring my cosmetics box, so that I can get ready.

(She starts her toilette)

Scene 3

(The same morning. The street outside Charudatta’s house. Enter Sthavaraka Cheta driving a bullock-drawn carriage.)

STHAVARAKA: (To himself) The brother-in-law of the king, Samsthanaka, gives me this order: ‘Hey, Sthavaraka, bring the carriage forthwith to the old garden Pushpakarandaka.’ So here I am on my way to the garden. Get going, you beasts, get going! . . . Oh! The path is all blocked by the villagers’ carts! What shall I do now? Hey you! Move away, move away! What? You want to know whose carriage this is? Well, this is the carriage of Samsthanaka, the king’s brother-in-law, so move away quickly! Hey, who is this fellow who looks at me, then hides himself and takes off in a different direction, like a gambler fleeing from the Sabhika? And this one here? . . . Well, never mind, it is none of my business! Let me drive on quickly. You country louts! Get off my path, get away! What? He wants me to stop a bit and turn the wheel for him. I am the servant of the king’s brother-in-law and a bigwig and this fellow wants me to turn the wheel for him!⁴ . . . But poor fellow, he is all alone! Let me park my carriage at the gate of Arya Charudatta’s grove of trees. Hey, wait! I am coming to help you! (Exit)

(Inside Charudatta’s house)

CHETI: I hear the sound of wheels; I think the carriage has arrived.

VASANTASENA: Cheti, take me to the side door; my heart is impatient to go!

CHETI: Come along, madam.

VASANTASENA: Cheti, rest awhile.

CHETI: As you wish, my lady. (Exit)

(Indicating that her right eye is throbbing as she climbs into the carriage)

VASANTASENA: Why is my right eye throbbing? Never mind, the sight of Charudatta will wipe away all evil omens.

(Enter Sthavaraka)

STHAVARAKA: I have moved all the carts out of the way. Let me go now . . . (Acts the climbing in) Why does the cart feel heavy now? Or I am exhausted from turning so many wheels; that is why the cart feels heavy now. All right, bullocks, move now, move. (Exit)

(A voice is heard from behind the stage)

VOICE: All the sentries to stay alert at their posts! The cowherd boy has broken out of prison and fled, having smashed his chains and killed the jailor! Go after him and catch him!

STHAVARAKA: There is a great commotion in the city. Let me make haste, let me make haste!

Scene 4

(Enter Aryaka, pushing aside the back curtain roughly; he is covered with a veil and one foot still drags a fetter of the chain with which he was kept bound in jail. He is in a state of agitation.)

ARYAKA:

Having escaped from the king’s prison,

A veritable ocean of danger, distress and death,

Here I wander, like an elephant fleeing from capture

Dragging still a fetter of the chain from the front of my foot.

Raja Palaka, frightened by the soothsayers’ prophecy, carried me off from my village, bound me in chains and clapped me in a high-security prison in order to put me to death. It is with the help of my dear friend Sharvilaka that I have managed to escape. (Sheds tears)

It is no fault of mine

If Fortune chooses to smile upon me;

Yet the king has had me bound like a wild elephant.

Surely what Fate brings about, man cannot avoid.

But the king is beyond one’s reach and

Who can join issue with the powerful?

Where shall I go now, unlucky as I am? (Looks around) Here is the house of some good man with the side door left open.

This house is falling apart!

The great door here has no bolt across it

And its joints are crumbling.

This poor householder has surely fallen upon evil days,

And his ill luck seems to equal mine!

I’ll go in and wait there.

VOICE: (From behind the curtain) Move on, bullocks, move on!

ARYAKA: (Listens) Ah! A carriage seems to be coming right here!

Is this public transport unoccupied as yet by the rough and the ragged?

Or is it a bridal carriage come to take the bride away?

Or a coach fit for the nobility

That is perchance bound for outside the city?

Or is it here by a sheer stroke of luck

Empty and alone, all for my sake

As though so ordained by Fate Itself!

Let me enter the house and wait there.

(Vardhamanaka arrives, driving the carriage)

VARDHAMANAKA CHETA: Ha! Ha! I have fetched the cushions. (Calls out) Radanika, please tell my lady Vasantasena that the carriage is all ready for her to ride to the old garden Pushpakarandaka.

ARYAKA: (Listening to Cheta) This carriage belongs to the courtesan and is bound for outside the city. Good! Let me climb into it. (He approaches the carriage slowly)

CHETA: I hear the sound of anklets. That means Madam Vasantasena is already here! Madam, these are bad-tempered bullocks that have to be controlled by their nose-strings. It is better if my lady gets in from the back.

(Aryaka gets in from the back)

CHETA: The sound of the anklets rising from quickly moving feet has stopped; the carriage feels heavy. I assume my lady is already seated in the carriage. Let me move now. Move on, bullocks, move on! (The carriage drives out)

Scene 5

(The same morning. Main street in the city. Enter Viraka.)

VIRAKA: Hey! Hey! Jaya, Jayamana, Chandanaka, Mangala, Pushpabhadra and others!

Do not stand around unconcerned!

That jailed cowherd boy is now on the run

Breaking at one stroke his chains and the king’s heart.

You here! Take your position at the main eastern gate; and you at the western gate, you at the southern and you at the northern. And I’ll climb up the rampart here with Chandanaka and be on the lookout from above. Come on, Chandanaka, this way.

(Enter Chandanaka in excitement)

CHANDANAKA: Hey, Viraka, Bhimangada, Dandakalaka, Dandashura and others!

Come without fear, get going quickly, be nimble,

So that our king’s power passes not into another line!

Therefore,

In the gardens, in the halls and on the roads,

In the marketplace, in the city and in the villages,

And wherever else your suspicions arise.

Look for him quickly, inspect every place.

Hey Viraka, stop signalling furiously,

Speak out, without fear!

Having broken the chains,

Who has taken the cowherd boy away?

Whose sun is in the eighth mansion,

And whose moon is now in the fourth?

Whose Venus is now in the sixth

And whose Mars, the Son of the Earth, in the fifth?

And tell me, whose Jupiter is sixth,

And likewise whose Saturn ninth

From the house of birth?⁵

When Chandanaka lives who can lead the cowherd boy away?

VIRAKA: Hey soldier Chandanaka,

The fact is that someone has quickly snatched the cowherd boy away!

I swear by your heart, Chandanaka,

When the sun had but half arisen

The cowherd boy had already broken away!

Scene 6

(Chandanaka and Viraka are standing guard on the king’s highway. Vardhamanaka Cheta comes driving Charudatta’s bullock-drawn carriage.)

CHETA: Move on, bullocks, get going!

CHANDANAKA: (Looking at the carriage) Hey, look! Look!

Someone is driving a closed carriage

Right in the middle of the royal highway!

Just go and find out whose carriage it is

And whither bound.

VIRAKA: Hey carriage driver! Drive no further! Whose car is it and who rides it now? And where is it bound?

CHETA: This is Arya Charudatta’s carriage and Vasantasena is riding in it now. I am taking her to the old Pushpakarandaka Garden to meet Charudatta who is waiting there for her.

VIRAKA: (Comes back to Chandanaka) The driver says that the carriage belongs to Arya Charudatta. Vasantasena is seated inside. She is being taken to the old garden Pushpakarandaka.

CHANDANAKA: Then let it go.

VIRAKA: Without checking inside?

CHANDANAKA: Oh yes!

VIRAKA: Who is it that you trust so unquestioningly?

CHANDANAKA: The noble Charudatta of course!

VIRAKA: Who on earth is this noble Charudatta and who is this Vasantasena that you are ready to let the carriage proceed without checking it?

CHANDANAKA: Hey! You do not know Arya Charudatta or Vasantasena! In that case you do not know the moon with its lustre in the sky!

Can there be anyone who does not know him—

A lotus for virtues, the very moon for refinement?

A refuge of the afflicted,

A gem that is the essence of the four oceans,

Arya Charudatta is a treasure chest of righteousness.

My lady Vasantasena and Arya Charudatta—

The only two worthy of respect in this city

And its finest ornaments as well.

VIRAKA: Hey Chandanaka,

I do know Charudatta and Vasantasena,

I know them well indeed!

But when executing the orders of the king

I would not know my own father.

ARYAKA: (To himself) I daresay that one of these was my enemy in the last birth and the other a friend!

Although engaged in the same business

Their inclinations seem so different,

Like the two fires that are stoked,

One at a wedding and the other at a funeral.

CHANDANAKA: Look, you are well versed in the affairs of the government; you are a commander of the forces as well and trusted by the king. Here, let me hold the bullocks while you check the carriage.

VIRAKA: Well, for that matter you are the head of the guards and as such you too are trusted by the king. So you go and check.

CHANDANAKA: If I check will it be as good as your having checked?

VIRAKA: If you check it will be as if King Palaka himself has checked.

CHANDANAKA: (To Cheta) Hey, raise the yoke!

(Cheta raises the yoke)

ARYAKA: (To himself) Will the guards recognize me? As my ill luck would have it, I am without a weapon.

Or I shall do as Bhima did!

My arms will be my weapon.

It is better to die in a fight

Than be put to death a captive

But hold on! Perhaps this is no time to act rashly.

(Chandanaka climbs into the carriage and looks in)

ARYAKA: I seek asylum!

CHANDANAKA: Asylum to he who surrenders!

ARYAKA:

The goddess of wealth leaves him;

So do friends and relations.

He becomes an object of ridicule too,

He that abandons one seeking asylum.

CHANDANAKA: (To himself) O Aryaka, poor cowherd boy! A bird fleeing the hawk falls into the hands of the fowler! After all, he has done no wrong and he has sought my protection. Besides, he is now riding in Arya Charudatta’s carriage and he is also a friend of Arya Sharvilaka to whom I owe my life. On the other hand there is my duty as the king’s officer. What is the best course to adopt now . . . Well, what will be, will be! I have already promised him protection.

If he who takes pleasure in helping others

Should meet his own destruction

While protecting someone full of fear,

Then so be it!

The world will surely see the merit of his act.

(Getting down from the carriage)

I have seen the nobleman . . . no, no, the noble lady Vasantasena. She complains that it is not right, nor is it proper, to harass her thus on the highway while she is going to a tryst with Arya Charudatta.

VIRAKA: Chandanaka, now I suspect that something is amiss.

CHANDANAKA: How do you mean, suspicious?

VIRAKA:

You become nervous and your voice turns hoarse,

‘I have seen the nobleman,’ you blurt out at first,

Then quickly change it to,

‘No, no, I’ve seen my lady Vasantasena.’

Hence my suspicion.

CHANDANAKA: What are you suspicious about anyway? You know that we from the south do not speak clearly. We are familiar with the dialects of so many barbarian tribes such as the Khasa, Katti, Kada, Kadattobila, Karnata, Karna Pravarana, Dravida, Chola, Cheena, Barbara, Khera, Khana, Mukha, Madhughata, etc. that we tend to say any old thing—aryah drshtah or aryaa drshtaa!⁶

VIRAKA: Still, I think I shall take a look inside the carriage. This is the king’s command and I am a trusted officer of the king.

CHANDANAKA: Oh! Have I now become untrustworthy?

VIRAKA: It is the king’s command.

CHANDANAKA: (Thinks) If it becomes known that Arya Gopaladaraka was caught fleeing in the carriage of Arya Charudatta then the king’s wrath will fall upon Arya Charudatta. So what should I do . . . Well, I shall stage a quarrel in the Karnata fashion! (Aloud) Hey Viraka! I, Chandanaka, have already inspected the carriage! Who are you to want to do it again?

VIRAKA: Who do you think you are?

CHANDANAKA: With all due respect and reverence I ask you to remember your caste.

VIRAKA: (In anger) Hey, what is my caste? You tell me!

CHANDANAKA: Who could say it!

VIRAKA: Come on out with it!

CHANDANAKA: Perhaps I won’t say it!

I do know your caste, yet I shall not say it,

For I am a gentleman!

Let the knowledge lie buried in my mind alone;

Of what use would it be, to break the kapitha⁷ fruit?

VIRAKA: Come on, say it out, say it out!

(Chandanaka makes signs with his hands)

VIRAKA: Hey, what is the meaning of this?

CHANDANAKA:

Holding a broken piece of stone slab in one hand

You groom men’s beards.

Wielding a pair of scissors

Now you too have become a commander of the forces!

VIRAKA: Hey, you too, Chandanaka! With all due respect, you do not seem to remember your heredity!

CHANDANAKA: What about my caste? I am as pure as the moon!

VIRAKA: Ha! Who can say it?

CHANDANAKA: Come on, speak out, speak out!

(Viraka mimes his response)

CHANDANAKA: What could be the meaning of this?

VIRAKA: Hey, you listen, listen carefully!

Your lineage is pure to be sure!

Your mother is a kettledrum and your father a tabor;⁸

And you, ill-favoured one,

With a karata⁹ for a brother,

You too have now become a commander!

CHANDANAKA: (With anger) Well, I am Chandanaka, a shoe-maker! Go and inspect the carriage.

VIRAKA: Hey you, carriage driver, turn the carriage around, I am going to inspect it.

(Cheta turns the carriage around. Viraka tries to climb into it but Chandanaka catches hold of him by his hair, pushes him down and kicks him with his feet.)

VIRAKA: (Gets up in anger) I, a trusted officer of the king, while engaged in carrying out the king’s orders, have been pulled by the hair, pushed down and stamped upon by you! If I don’t break you into four pieces in the court, I am not Viraka!

CHANDANAKA: Go, go to the king’s palace, or to the court of law! Why should I bother with a son of a bitch like you!

VIRAKA: (In fury) All right! (Exit)

CHANDANAKA: (Looks around) Hey you! Driver! Go now, go, go! If anyone questions you just say that the carriage has been checked by both Chandanaka and Viraka. And Lady Vasantasena, I wish to give you a small memento. (Chandanaka gives his sword to Aryaka)

ARYAKA: (Pleased, he takes the sword and says to himself)

I now have a weapon!

And my right shoulder throbs, indeed a good omen!

All is well now, O joy!

I have indeed been saved.

CHANDANAKA: Madam, here is a request:

Having found me trustworthy, do please remember me, Chandanaka.

I say this not out of a desire for reward,

But in the true sentiment of friendship.

ARYAKA:

Chandana, full of moon-like compassion!

Fortunate indeed for me that he is now my friend.

I shall remember Chandana, to be sure,

Should the soothsayer’s prophecy come true.

CHANDANAKA:

Let the gods free you from fear,

Hara, Vishnu, Brahma, Ravi and Chandra;

Let them destroy your enemies

Like how Devi destroyed Shumbha and Nishumbha.¹⁰

(Cheta drives the carriage away)

CHANDANAKA: (Looking at the back curtain) My friend Sharvilaka too has gone, following the fleeing Aryaka. As for me, I have already antagonized the chief of police who enjoys the confidence of the king. Therefore I too shall collect my sons and brothers and join hands with Sharvilaka.¹¹