ACT VIII

The Strangling of Vasantasena

Scene 1

(The same morning, around noon. The Pushpakarandaka Garden. Enter a Buddhist monk carrying his ragged, dripping mendicant’s garments.)

MONK: You ignorant folks, gather merit!

Control your stomach,

Let the drum of meditation

Keep you continually awake!

Your senses, the wicked thieves,

Would otherwise make away

With your long-gathered moral merit.

Further,

I see everything as merely transient

And take refuge in moral merit alone.

He who vanquishes the five men,

Destroys the woman,

And protects the community,

—And where would now be that wretched, beaten, low-caste fellow, the chandala?¹

He is certainly finished by now!—

Such a one is sure to get a place in heaven.

The head is shaven, the face is shaven.

But the mind is not shaven.

Then to what purpose the shaving?

Only for him whose mind is well shaven

Is it right to have his head be shaven too?

These monkish garments of mine have been soaked in ochre-stained water. Let me now go into this garden that belongs to the brother-in-law of the king and wash the clothes in the lotus pond there and then go away quickly. (He washes his clothes)

VOICE: (From behind the curtain) Hey, you monkish rogue! Stay still, don’t move!

MONK: (Looks in the direction of the voice and is seized with fear) Alas! The king’s brother-in-law Samsthanaka is here! Some monk sometime or the other must have done him a bad turn; that is why whenever he comes across a monk he drives him away, like cattle, boring a hole through his nose so to speak. I am helpless! Where shall I go now for refuge? . . . Where else? Lord Buddha alone will be my refuge!

(Shakara enters, carrying a sword, accompanied by Vita)

SHAKARA: Hey! Stay put, you monkish rascal, I shall crush your head like a red radish that has appeared in the midst of a drinking party. (He thrashes the monk)

VITA: (Addressing Shakara) Son of Kaneli, it is not proper ever to strike a monk! Poor man! He may have taken to saffron due to some distressing circumstance or other. Leave him alone! Instead, look at the garden that is there for you to enter and enjoy at your will . . .

This garden has trees

Doing the charming deed

Of giving joyful protection to all who need it!

In the absence of guards

This garden is like the uncontrolled hearts of the wicked,

Or perhaps like a newly won kingdom—

Not yet fully subdued,

Open to be enjoyed without restraint.²

MONK: Welcome! All the best to the upasaka,³ follower of the Buddha!

SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, listen! Listen to how he is abusing me!

VITA: What is he saying?

SHAKARA: He calls me ‘upasaka’! Am I a barber?

VITA: He is praising you as a worshipper of the Buddha.

SHAKARA: Right! Praise me, praise me, you monk!

MONK: You are dhanya, blessed, you are punya, meritorious!

SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, he is calling me dhanya and punya! Am I a Charvaka, a greedy fellow, or an earthen pot, or a potter?⁴

VITA: Son of Kaneli, he is praising you by calling you blessed and full of merit.

SHAKARA: Bhava, why has he come here?

MONK: I came here to wash these saffron garments of mine.

SHAKARA: You wicked monk! This garden, called Pushpakarandaka, given to me by my sister’s husband is really the best of gardens where now dogs and jackals come to drink water! I am a nobleman, a superior person, yet even I never take my bath here. But you want to wash your tatters that are the colour of stale kulittha⁵ broth and as evil smelling, in this lily pond here! I’ll give you one that’ll finish you!

VITA: Son of Kaneli, I do believe this monk has taken his vows only recently.

SHAKARA: How does Bhava know that?

VITA: It is really obvious.

With the hair but recently gone the forehead still looks pale as before.

These monkish clothes too, he has worn but a short while,

For there is as yet no scar left by the tattered robes seen on the shoulder;

Nor is he practised in donning his saffron garments;

The end of the garment that covers his middle hangs low and loosely;

And with constantly being pulled up, it stays not in place on the shoulder.

MONK: You are quite right, upasaka, I have just recently taken my vows.

SHAKARA: Why didn’t you become a monk as soon as you were born? (He beats the monk)

MONK: I seek refuge in the Buddha.

VITA: Why are you beating this poor fellow? Let him go! Do release him now.

SHAKARA: Hey, wait, while I hold a consultation.

VITA: With whom?

SHAKARA: With my own heart.

VITA: Oh God! This fellow is still lingering here!

SHAKARA: My heart, my child, my lord, my son, tell me, should this monk stay or go? (To himself) He should neither stay nor go. (Aloud) I have consulted my heart and this is what it says.

VITA: What does it say?

SHAKARA: He may not stay, he may not go! He may not breathe in, he may not breathe out! Let him just fall down here and die quickly.

MONK: I bow to the Buddha, I seek refuge in Him.

VITA: Let him go!

SHAKARA: On one condition.

VITA: What condition?

SHAKARA: Let him throw mud into the water without making the water muddy. Or let him collect all the water in a heap and throw it in the mud!

VITA: Oh, the folly of it!

The earth is crushed by the weight

Of these dull-headed trees of flesh

Whose thoughts and acts are perverse,

And whose forms at times seem

To be made of slabs of stone!

(The Monk, losing patience, gesticulates curses)

SHAKARA: What does he say? What does he say?

VITA: He is praising you.

SHAKARA: Praise, praise, go on praising!

(The Monk exits muttering to himself)

Scene 2

(The Pushpakarandaka Garden where Shakara is present with Vita)

VITA: Son of Kaneli, look at the beauty of the garden!

The trees are lovely with flowers and fruits;

Creepers, mature and motionless entwine them.

Tree and creeper live in bliss,

Even like men with their wives,

Protected by the guards enforcing the law of the king.

SHAKARA: Bhava speaks well!

The ground is decorated with myriad flowers;

The trees bend with the weight of the blooms.

Hanging from the creepers at the treetops,

Are the monkeys, dangling like jackfruits!

VITA: Son of Kaneli, do sit down on this stone seat.

SHAKARA: All right. I shall sit down. (He sits down with Vita) . . . Bhava, I still think of her you know . . . I mean Vasantasena. Like the words of the malicious, she does not leave one’s heart.

VITA: (To himself) Although rejected by her he still keeps thinking of her.

The passion of the low seems only to grow

With the woman spurning their advances;

Whilst that of the virtuous surely weakens,

Or even completely dies away.

SHAKARA: I ordered Sthavaraka Cheta long ago to bring the carriage over double quick; he has still not come, and I’ve been hungry a while now. It is not possible to walk back in the midday sun.

Just look, look!

The sun is right in the middle of the sky

Bristling like an angry monkey,

And impossible to look at!

As for the earth, she too is exceedingly hot and bothered,

Like Gandhari when she lost all her hundred sons.⁶

VITA: Even so!

Herds of cows drowse in the shade of the trees

As mouthfuls of half-chewed grass dribble down.

The forest deer, parched with thirst,

Drink the uncool waters of the lake,

And men do not ply the road to the city

In fear of the terrible heat;

The carriage too, I think, has halted,

Somewhere in the shade,

Away from the heat.

SHAKARA:

The sun’s rays have hidden themselves in my hair,

Just as the birds, the feathered creatures, the sky-travellers

Are nestling among the tree branches!

Men, people, human beings take long hot breaths,

And stay home to avoid the sun’s heat.

That Cheta has still not come! I am going to sing something to divert myself. (Sings) . . . Bhava, did you hear what I sang?

VITA: What can I say? You are a regular gandharva!⁷

SHAKARA: Why couldn’t I be a gandharva?

Season cumin and bhadramusta with asafoetida;

Mix in vacha root and ginger with brown sugar.

As I take this compound full of flavour

Can I help being sweet-voiced?

Bhava, I shall sing some more . . . Bhava, Bhava, did you hear what I just sang?

VITA: What can one say? You are a veritable gandharva!

SHAKARA: Why shouldn’t I be a gandharva?

Flavoured with asafoetida,

Seasoned with pepper powder,

And fried in a mixture of ghee and oil—

I’ve eaten the flesh of koel.

Is it any wonder

My voice is so sweet?

Bhava, Bhava, Cheta is still not here!

VITA: Stop worrying! He should be here any moment now.

Scene 3

(Pushpakarandaka Garden. Enter Sthavaraka Cheta driving the carriage with Vasantasena seated inside.)

CHETA: I am in a real fright! It is already noon. I hope the king’s brother-in-law Samsthanaka won’t be too angry with me! Let me drive faster! Come on bullocks, get going, get going!

VASANTASENA: Alas! Alas! This is not the voice of Vardhamanaka! What could be the matter? Has Arya Charudatta arranged for a different carriage and driver in order to give his own driver and animals a rest? My right eye throbs! I feel lost! It is all so confusing!

SHAKARA: (Hearing the wheels) Bhava, Bhava, the carriage has arrived.

VITA: How do you know?

SHAKARA: Can’t you guess from the noise, like the snorting of an old pig?

VITA: (Sees the carriage) Well guessed! It has come.

SHAKARA: Son, Sthavaraka, Cheta, have you come at last?

CHETA: Yes, master.

SHAKARA: Has the carriage come too?

CHETA: Yes, master.

SHAKARA: And the bullocks too?

CHETA: Yes, they have too.

SHAKARA: You have arrived as well?

CHETA: (Laughing) Yes, master, I have arrived as well.

SHAKARA: Then bring the carriage in.

CHETA: Which way should I take the carriage in?

SHAKARA: Through this broken part of the wall.

CHETA: Master, if I do that the bullocks will die, the carriage will be broken and I, Cheta, will die as well.

SHAKARA: Hey! I am the brother-in-law of the king. If the bullocks die, I shall buy a new pair. If the carriage breaks, I’ll have another one made. And if you die, there will be another driver!

CHETA: Everything would be fine except I’ll not be around!

SHAKARA: Hey, let everything perish! Bring the carriage through the broken wall.

CHETA: (Mutters) Come on now, break, along with the master! Let there be another carriage! (Having entered) What! Not broken! Master, here is the car.

SHAKARA: The bullocks not broken? The reins not dead?⁸ And you too still alive?

CHETA: That is right!

SHAKARA: Bhava, come. Here is the carriage. Bhava, you are my preceptor, my supreme preceptor! I look upon you with great respect. You are a close and trusted friend, someone to be honoured. Therefore, please enter the carriage first.

VITA: All right, so be it! (Tries to get in)

SHAKARA: But . . . wait! Is this your father’s carriage that you get in first? I am the owner of this carriage and I will get in first.

VITA: But you told me to go in first!

SHAKARA: I may say anything, but it is courtesy on your part to demur and say, ‘Master, you get in first.’

VITA: Do please get in!

SHAKARA: Now I shall climb in. My son, Sthavaraka, Cheta, turn the carriage around.

CHETA: (Turns the carriage around) Please get in, master.

SHAKARA: (Climbs into the carriage, looks in, acts confused, gets down in a hurry and clasps Vita around the neck) Bhava, Bhava, you are dead! You are dead!⁹ It is either a female demon in possession of the carriage or it is a thief. If it is a female demon it will loot us, if a thief it will gobble us!¹⁰

VITA: Do not be alarmed. How could a female demon go about in a carriage drawn by bullocks? Your eyes have no doubt been blinded by the noon sun and, seeing the shadow of Sthavaraka with his kanchuki,¹¹ you have become terribly confused.

SHAKARA: My son, Sthavaraka, Cheta, are you alive?

CHETA: Of course I am, master.

SHAKARA: Bhava, there is a woman sitting in the carriage, you see for yourself.

VITA: A woman? In the carriage?

Let us quickly pass on with our heads bent,

As do bullocks, when showers of rain hit their eyes;

I do so prize my honour in the assembly of men that my eyes

Fight shy of looking at noble-born women in public.

VASANTASENA: (Amazed, to herself) How is it that the king’s brother-in-law, the bane of my eyes, is here? I do sense danger. It is surely my ill luck that my coming here has now become totally futile like seeds falling on salty land. What on earth shall I do now?

SHAKARA: This old Cheta of ours is too timid to look inside the carriage. Bhava, you take a look.

VITA: All right, no harm in doing it! I shall take a look.

SHAKARA: How come the jackals are flying up and the crows are walking about! As Bhava gets eaten up by the eyes and gazed at by the teeth,¹² I shall run away!

VITA: (Looks at Vasantasena and gets distressed, to himself) Alas! Is the doe stalking the tiger?

The male swan rests on the sandy shore,

Splendid like the autumnal moon;

The female spurns him

And chases after a crow!

Vasantasena, this is not right, this doesn’t become you!

First you spurn him in your arrogance,

And now you are after him for the money,

No doubt at your mother’s instance!

(Vasantasena shakes her head to indicate that is not true)

VITA: . . . And due to a lack of self-respect, the harlot’s nature!

I told you even then, ‘Madam, look upon the desirable and the undesirable with equal favour as befits your profession.’

VASANTASENA: I am here in this predicament because I got into the wrong carriage. I seek your protection.

VITA: Do not fear, do not fear! I shall try to trick him. (Goes to Shakara) Son of Kaneli, it is true! There is a female demon sitting inside.

SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, if there is a female demon sitting inside, why hasn’t she carried you away? If it is a thief inside why hasn’t he eaten you up?¹³

VITA: Why do you want to look into that now? If we simply walk back to Ujjayini through the series of gardens, what harm can there be?

SHAKARA: What would happen if we did that?

VITA: It would be physical exercise for us and it would spare the strain for the bullocks.

SHAKARA: All right, Sthavaraka, Cheta, take the carriage back . . . Or, wait, wait! I walk in the presence of deities and brahmanas! Never! Never! I shall ride in the carriage so that people seeing me from afar may tell each other: ‘There goes my lord, the brother-in-law of the king!’

VITA: (To himself) It is difficult to convert poison into medicine. So much for my effort. (Aloud) Son of Kaneli, it is Vasantasena who has come here to woo you of her own accord.

VASANTASENA: God forbid! God forbid!

SHAKARA: (With joy) To woo me who am a superior individual, a Vasudeva¹⁴ indeed!

VITA: That is right!

SHAKARA: Unprecedented fortune has favoured me now! That day I was angry with her, but now I shall fall at her feet and make her happy!

VITA: Well spoken indeed!

SHAKARA: Here I am, falling at your feet! (Approaches Vasantasena)

Oh mother, dear lady, hark to my prayer!

You with the shining teeth! I fall at your feet, long-eyed one,

And place my supplicant hands on your ten toenails!

Whatever wrongs I did to you in my passion,

Do forgive me for them, lovely-limbed one!

I am indeed your slave.

VASANTASENA: (In anger) Go away! You are insulting me! (Kicks him)

SHAKARA: (In anger)

This head of mine, kissed fondly by mothers and mammas,

This head that has never bowed even in worship of the gods

Has now been struck by your feet, like the shaven head

Of a dead body being kicked about by forest jackals.

Hey Sthavaraka Cheta, wherever did you pick this one up?

CHETA: My master, the royal highway was blocked by the village carts. I parked the carriage in Charudatta’s grove and got down to help the drivers turn the wheel around. I think she must have got in thinking it was Charudatta’s carriage.

SHAKARA: What? So she has come here because she got into the wrong carriage by mistake, and not for wooing me! Get down, get down right now from my carriage! How dare you chase after that penniless merchant brat by making my bullocks carry you around! Get down, get down right now, you whore, you born-whore!

VASANTASENA: I do feel honoured when I hear people say that I am courting Arya Charudatta! Now, let anything happen!

SHAKARA:

With these hands of mine, whose nails imitate a wreath of lilies,

Hands that were eager to caress your limbs with a hundred strokes,

I shall now get your lovely body down from my carriage,

Pulling you by your hair as Jatayu did to the beloved of Vali.¹⁵

VITA:

Women of quality ought never to be pulled by their hair,

Just as the tender shoots of garden creepers ought never to be cut down!

So you stand up now. I shall help her get down. Vasantasena, please come.

(Vasantasena gets down and stands on one side)

SHAKARA: (To himself) My smouldering anger at her insulting disregard shown to my words the other day has now been kindled into a blaze by her kicking me. I shall now kill her! Yes, that is what I shall do! (Aloud) Bhava, Bhava,

Do you wish to have a shawl

With long fringes

Woven with a hundred strings?

Do you wish to have

Good meat to eat,

That in your pleasure

You make sounds like

Chuhu, chuhu, chukku, chuhu, chuhu?

VITA: Suppose I say ‘yes’, what then?

SHAKARA: Do what pleases me.

VITA: I shall do anything except a sinful deed.

SHAKARA: Bhava, there isn’t even a whiff of sin about it! There is no she-demon¹⁶ involved!

VITA: Then tell me what you want me to do.

SHAKARA: Kill Vasantasena!

VITA: (Closes his ears)

A young woman, a mere girl, an ornament to the city as well!

Courtesan, yes,

But one with such uncharacteristic courtesy and warmth

For one residing in the courtesan district!

If I were to kill her, innocent as she is,

By what craft shall I cross the river to the hereafter?¹⁷

SHAKARA: I shall give you the boat you need! Besides, this is such a lonely garden; who is there to see you kill her?

VITA:

The ten directions, and the forest sprites,

The moon and this brilliant-rayed sun,

The god of justice and the god of wind,

The sky and one’s innermost soul;

And the earth as well

That bears witness to acts good and evil—

All these will watch my deed!

SHAKARA: Then cover her with the end of your garment and kill her.

VITA: Damn you, you stupid fool!

SHAKARA: (To himself) This old boar is afraid of sin. I shall try to coax Sthavaraka into doing the deed for me. (Aloud) Sthavaraka, Cheta, my son, I am going to give you gold bracelets.

CHETA: And I shall wear them.

SHAKARA: I shall have a golden seat made for you.

CHETA: And I shall sit on it.

SHAKARA: I shall give you all the leftover food.

CHETA: And I shall eat it too.

SHAKARA: I shall make you the head of all the chetas.

CHETA: Gladly will I become one!

SHAKARA: Honour my words then.

CHETA: I shall do everything you command me to do except that which is sinful.

SHAKARA: There isn’t even an odour of sin about it!

CHETA: Master, then tell me.

SHAKARA: Put this Vasantasena to death.

CHETA: Please forgive me, master, I am the wretch responsible for making this lady get into the wrong cart and land up here.

SHAKARA: Hey Cheta, have I no power even over you?

CHETA: Master, you do have power over my body but not over my character. Please forgive me, I am really very frightened!

SHAKARA: You are my servant! So whom are you afraid of?

CHETA: Master, I am afraid of the other world.

SHAKARA: What is this other world?

CHETA: It is where the results of one’s good and bad deeds are experienced.

SHAKARA: What would be the outcome of good deeds?

CHETA: One would be decorated with gold ornaments as my master here.

SHAKARA: Of bad deeds?

CHETA: Like my lot, eating the food of others. I shall never again do a bad deed.

SHAKARA: So you refuse to kill her? (He beats Cheta soundly)

CHETA: Let my master beat me; let my master kill me. I shall never do a bad deed.

I am now a slave from birth

Thanks to a blemished destiny.

More evil I will not buy;

I will avoid all sinful deeds.

VASANTASENA: Bhava, Bhava, I seek your protection!

VITA: Son of Kaneli, forgive her, forgive her! Sthavaraka, well done, well done!

Here is this indigent fellow, crushed by fate;

He wishes for better fortune in the future world,

But not his master!

How can such people avoid ruin,

Abandoning what is of worth

And piling up deeds of villainy.

Unfair fate strikes at vulnerability,

Hence his servitude and your overlordship;

He does not enjoy the wealth that is yours,

And you are not at his beck and call.

SHAKARA: (To himself) This old fox is afraid of spiritual demerit, and that congenital slave of the hereafter! But I am the brother-in-law of the king, a nobleman, a superior being! Whom should I fear? (Aloud) Hey, you born-slave, Cheta, go, go. Go where no one can see you and stay there all by yourself, taking rest.

CHETA: Yes, my master. (To Vasantasena) Madam, I have done all that was in my power to do. (Exit)

SHAKARA: (Girding his loins) Just you wait, Vasantasena, I am going to kill you!

VITA: Dare you kill her in my presence! (Catches Shakara by his throat)

SHAKARA: (Falls down) Bhava is killing his master! (He pretends to faint but quickly gets up)

Getting fat all the time on my meat and ghee;

Now that there is work at hand, he turns my enemy!

(Aside) Well, I have a plan. The old fox has given her a sign by the shake of his head. I shall first send him away and then kill her. (Aloud) Bhava, what I said to her—Look, I am descended from such big lineages, the size of Mallakas¹⁸ . . . How can I do a base deed?—What I said to her was just to make her accept my proposal.

VITA:

Why talk of the family? It is one’s own

Character that is at work here.

Do not trees full of thorns

Flourish abundantly in good land?

SHAKARA: Bhava, this one is shy in your presence; that is why she is not accepting me. You go away from here. I thrashed Sthavaraka Cheta and he is gone from here. Look, he is almost running away. Why don’t you go and get him back?

VITA: (To himself)

It is possible that the proud Vasantasena demurs,

To accept this fool in my presence.

I shall therefore leave her alone with him,

Love is best enjoyed in privacy and trust.

(Aloud) All right, I shall go now.

VASANTASENA: (Holds him by the end of his uttariya) I seek your protection!

VITA: Vasantasena, do not fear, do not fear. Son of Kaneli, Vasantasena has been entrusted to your care.

SHAKARA: That is right. Let Vasantasena remain in my hands as a safe deposit.

VITA: Truly?

SHAKARA: Truly.

VITA: (Goes some distance and then thinks) But if I go away the villain may really kill her. Let me stand here hidden and see what he wants to do.

SHAKARA: (To himself) Now I can kill her. Or—that tricky old jackal of a brahmana may have hidden here somewhere to see what I am doing. Let me deceive him first. (He collects flowers and adorns himself) Lassie, lassie, Vasantasena, come here.

VITA: Oh! He is full of passion now. I am relieved. Let me go now. (Exit)

Scene 4

(Pushpakarandaka Garden where Vasantasena is alone with Shakara)

SHAKARA:

I give you gold; I speak to you with love;

I place my head with the turban around it at your feet;

Yet you desire me not, your servant, you of brilliant teeth!

Are we men then made of wood?

VASANTASENA: Is there any doubt about it? (Recites with her head bent)

You, perpetrator of wicked deeds, base one, agent of corruption,

Why do you try to seduce me here with your wealth?

Would the bees ever abandon the lotus

Of unblemished form and faultless blooming?

A man of virtue and fine lineage, though poor

Ought to be served with diligence;

Passion for men of a noble nature adds indeed

To the grace of the courtesan!

Having enjoyed the mango tree, I shall never accept the palasha!¹⁹

SHAKARA: You daughter of a whore! You have made that penniless Charudatta a mango tree, and me a palasha, not even a kimshuka!²⁰ You heap abuse on me thus, and dream of that Charudatta fellow!

VASANTASENA: He is enshrined in my heart; how can I not think of him?

SHAKARA: Right now I shall crush you and the fellow sitting in your heart, together! Just wait, lover of that down-and-out merchant!

VASANTASENA: Go on, say the words again! I do find them delightful!

SHAKARA: Let that beggar Charudatta come to your rescue now!

VASANTASENA: If he sees me he will save me.

SHAKARA:

Who is he? Shakra, or Mahendra, the son of Vali?

Or Kalanemi, the son of Rambha? Or Subandhu?

Is he Rudra, the king, or Jatayu, the son of Drona?

Chanakya, Dundhumara or even Trishanku?

Even all of these will not be able to save you now!

As Sita was killed by Chanakya,

In the age of Bharata

So shall I crush you,

As Draupadi was by Jatayu!²¹

(Gets ready to strike her)

VASANTASENA: O my mother! Where are you? Arya Charudatta, I am being put to death without having fulfilled my heart’s desire! Let me cry out louder still . . . No! For Vasantasena to lament so loudly would be a matter of shame! . . . I salute you, Arya Charudatta.

SHAKARA: Even now this born-whore calls out only to that wretched fellow! Think of him, you whore, think of him! (Crushes her throat with his hands)

VASANTASENA: I bow to Arya Charudatta!

SHAKARA: Die now born-whore, die! (Strangles Vasantasena who falls down unconscious)

SHAKARA: (Joyfully)

A basket full of sin, an abode of pride, a wicked woman!

Bewitched by that shiftless wretch, she came here to sport with him,

But was overtaken by Fate!

Why should I go on about the valour of my own arms? . . .

The poor woman is quite dead, with no breath,

Like Sita in the epic of Bharata.

I killed her in anger as she spurned me who desired her!

In this lonely Pushpakarandaka

My arms quickly became her noose.

What a pity, my brother, my father and mother have all been cheated,

—Even like Draupadi—

Of the pleasure of seeing such a show of valour on the part of their son!

That is that! That old jackal will be back any time now. I shall move away from here and wait. (Moves away)

Scene 5

(Pushpakarandaka Garden. Enter Vita and Sthavaraka Cheta. Shakara stands on the side.)

VITA: I have pacified Sthavaraka Cheta. Let me now look for the son of Kaneli. (He walks around) Alas! There is a tree fallen on the path, and a woman killed by it! Oh wretched tree, what a terrible thing you have done! We are more distressed by the murder of the woman than by your fall, villain! This is a bad omen. My mind is uneasy about Vasantasena. I hope the deities have taken care of everything. (Finds Shakara) Son of Kaneli, I have pacified Sthavaraka Cheta here.

SHAKARA: Welcome, Bhava! My son, Sthavaraka, Cheta, welcome to you too!

CHETA: All right.

VITA: Return my deposit to me.

SHAKARA: What deposit?

VITA: Vasantasena.

SHAKARA: She is gone.

VITA: Where?

SHAKARA: She went right after you.

VITA: (Thinks it over) She did not go in that direction.

SHAKARA: In which direction did you go?

VITA: I went in the eastern direction.

SHAKARA: She then went in the southern direction.

VITA: I went south too.

SHAKARA: In that case she went north.

VITA: You are incoherent and contradictory. My mind is not cleared of anxiety. Now tell me the truth.

SHAKARA: I swear by Bhava’s head and by my own two feet! Steady your heart now! I have killed her.

VITA: (Distressed) Have you really killed her?

SHAKARA: If you do not believe my words you had better go and see with your own eyes the great act of valour of the king’s brother-in-law, Samsthanaka. (Shows the fallen Vasantasena)

VITA: I am done for! Unfortunate as I am. (Faints)

SHAKARA: Hee, hee, Bhava is dead!

STHAVARAKA: Collect yourself, Bhava. Get a grip on yourself. I had already sealed her fate when I brought the carriage along without checking.

VITA: (Recovers and says piteously)

The flowing waters of courtesy have trickled away.

Rati too has gone back, to her own land. Alas! Alas!

Ornament of ornaments,

Of lovely mien and shining playful allure,

You were a river of gentility, your brilliant laughter its white sandy shore.

You were the patron of people like me,

That storehouse of charm and grace,

Manmatha’s very own trading place

Is now gone, destroyed.

(With tears) Oh misery, misery indeed!

Whatever is the purpose of this act of yours?

The innocent girl, an ornament of the city,

Has been felled by one,

Who is just sin incarnate!

(Aside) Suppose this sinful wretch foists the crime on me? I must leave. (Moves away)

(Shakara goes after Vita and catches hold of him)

VITA: Don’t you touch me now! I have had enough of you. I am going now.

SHAKARA: Hey, where are you running away after killing Vasantasena and shifting the crime on me? I am now being abandoned.

VITA: Damn you!

SHAKARA:

I shall give you wealth, a hundred gold coins,

Karshapanam and vodikas as well.

Let my valour and this scene of the crime

Remain common to all.²²

VITA: Curse upon you! Let it all be on your head alone!

CHETA: God forbid!

VITA:

Let there be no pleasure, let us abandon all laughter.

To hell with your friendship, the cause of all sorrow and disgrace;

Let there be no more truck between you and me.

I leave you, a man without any guna, virtue,

Like one discards a bow whose guna, string, is broken.²³

SHAKARA: Bhava, Bhava, please, please come back. Let us go and sport in the lotus pond.

VITA:

I am virtuous, yet while I serve you

People look askance at me, as though I am already fallen.

How can I follow you now? You have killed a woman!

The women of the city will now regard you

With their eyes half-closed in fear.

(With compassion) Vasantasena,

Beautiful one, may you never again be born among the courtesans!

May you be born in a family that is pure, noble and virtuous.

SHAKARA: Hey you! Where are you running away after killing Vasantasena in my old Pushpakarandaka Garden? Come with me! I am going to file a complaint in the court of my brother-in-law against you. (Catches hold of Vita)

VITA: Lay off, you rogue! (Draws his sword)

SHAKARA: (Moves away in fear) Hey, are you afraid of me? Then go.

VITA: (Aside) It is unwise to tarry any longer. I shall go and join Arya Sharvilaka, Arya Chandanaka and the others. (Exit)

SHAKARA: Be dead and gone! Sthavaraka, Cheta, my son, what do you think of what I have done?

CHETA: My master, you have committed a grave sin.

SHAKARA: Cheta, why do you say I have committed a grave sin? (Removes various ornaments from his body) Here, take these jewels. I have just given them to you. When I wear them they are mine, the rest of the time they are yours, all right?

CHETA: Only my master looks nice wearing these, what will I do with them?

SHAKARA: Then you go leading these two bullocks back to my mansion and wait for me in the small room on the terrace. I shall join you there presently.

CHETA: As you wish, master. (Exit)

Scene 6

(Pushpakarandaka Garden. Shakara is alone.)

SHAKARA: Bhava has disappeared to save his skin. I shall put Cheta in chains and lock him in the attic at the front of my palace. The secret will thus be well guarded. I shall go now . . . Or perhaps I should take another look at this one here: Is she really dead or should I strike her again? (Looks at her) She is well and truly dead. Let me cover her with this cloak. No, no, it has my name on it and some nobleman may recognize it as mine. Let me cover the body with these dry leaves swept over by the wind. There, that is now done. Now I shall go to the court and file a case against the merchant fellow Charudatta saying that he enticed Vasantasena into the old Pushpakarandaka Garden that belongs to me and killed her for the sake of wealth.

I shall perpetrate a new fraud on Charudatta,

One as terrible as killing a cow in a sacred city.

Now let me get out of here. Oh no! Whichever way I turn there is that wicked Buddhist monk²⁴ coming, clutching his saffron rags! I have made an enemy of him by shaming him and driving him away. If he sees me here he will surely go and reveal this truth to everybody that I killed Vasantasena. How shall I get out of here? Right! I shall jump over this half-broken bit of wall here.

Here I am hurrying on, hurrying on,

Like Mahendra flying through the skies into Lanka,

Over the earth and the under regions,

And over the peak of Hanumat as well. (Exit)

(Enter the Monk Samvahaka, tossing aside the back curtain)

MONK SAMVAHAKA: I have washed these garments. Shall I hang these on the tree branch here for drying? No, not here, the monkeys may carry them off. Perhaps on the ground? But it is so dusty on the ground that the garments will get dirty. So where shall I spread them for drying? . . . Here on this pile of dry leaves swept together by the wind. Glory to the Buddha! (He sits down) I shall now recite the holy words. (He recites) No, what is the use of heaven as long as I have not paid back my debt to Buddha-worshipper Vasantasena who redeemed me from the clutches of the pair of Dyutakaras for the ten gold coins that I owed? Until I repay her in some way or other, I shall consider myself as being bought over by her . . . Hey, something is rustling inside the pile of leaves! Ah well,

These leaves parched by wind and sun,

Seem to throb,

Like birds’ wings all spread out,

With the water dripping from my garments.

(Vasantasena regains consciousness and stretches out her hand)

Ha! Ha! A woman’s hand adorned with fine jewellery is emerging through the pile of leaves! What, a second hand as well! (Examines it in various ways) I seem to recognize the hand . . . No doubt at all! This is the same hand that helped me out! Let me see! (Removes the leaves and looks at Vasantasena and recognizes her) It is indeed the same lady, Buddha-worshipper Vasantasena!

(Vasantasena indicates she wants water)

MONK: She is asking for water. The well is far away! What shall I do now? . . . I shall squeeze the water from these wet garments over her.

(Vasantasena regains consciousness fully and sits up. The Monk fans her with the end of his upper cloth.)

VASANTASENA: Good sir, who may you be?

MONK: Don’t you recognize the one you redeemed with ten gold coins, my good lady?

VASANTASENA: Yes, I do remember, but not as my good sir describes it! . . . It would have been better had I died.

MONK: Why do you say that, my good lady?

VASANTASENA: (Despondently) What happened is only in keeping with the life of a courtesan.

MONK: Please do try to rise, madam, by holding on to this creeper growing around the neem tree.²⁵ (The Monk bends the creeper down. Vasantasena stands up by holding on to it.)

MONK: In a convent close by lives my sister-in-faith where upasika can compose herself and then go home. Slowly, madam, slowly . . . My good sirs, please give way. This is a young woman and I am a monk. Yet this is my pure religious duty.

He indeed is a true man

Who controls his hands, his mouth and his senses.

What can the court do to him

That holds the hereafter secure in his hands?