na bhīto marāṇād asmi kevalaṁ dūṣitaṁ yaçaḥ viçuddhasya hi me mṛtyuḥ putrajanmasamo bhavet. ‘I fear not death, but my honour is sullied; were that stain removed, death would be as dear as the birth of a son.’ Admirable is his expression of belief in Vasantasenā who may be dead: prabhavati yadi dharmo dūṣitasyāpi me ’dya: prabalapuruṣavākyair bhāgyadoṣāt kathaṁcit surapatibhavanasthā yatra tatra sthitā vā: vyapanayatu kalan̄kaṁ svasvabhāvena saiva. ‘If righteousness prevails, though to-day I am undone by the slanderous words of one in power through my unhappy fate, may she, dwelling with the gods above or wherever she be, by her true nature wipe out the blot upon me.’ Sadly he apostrophizes his child deemed to be at play: hā Rohasena na hi paçyasi me vipattim: mithyaiva nandasi paravyasanena nityam. ‘Ah! Rohasena, since thou dost not know my plight, ever dost thou rejoice in thy play falsely, for sorrow is in store.’ The character of Cārudatta is effectively portrayed by the Vidūṣaka: [276] dīnānāṁ kalpavṛkṣaḥ svaguṇaphalanataḥ sajjanānāṁ kuṭumbī ādarçaḥ çikṣitānāṁ sucaritanikaṣaḥ çīlavelāsamudraḥ satkartā nāvamantā puruṣaguṇanidhir dakṣiṇodārasattvo hy ekaḥ çlāghyaḥ sa jīvaty adhikaguṇatayā cocchvasanti cānye. ‘A tree of bounty to the poor, bent down by its fruits, his virtues; a support for all good men; a mirror of the learned, a touchstone of virtue, an ocean that never violates its boundaries of virtue; righteous, free from pride, a store-house of human merit, the essence of courtesy and nobility; he gives meaning to life by the goodness which we extol; other men merely breathe.’ The evils of poverty are forcibly depicted by Cārudatta himself: [277] çūnyair gṛhaiḥ khalu samāḥ puruṣāḥ daridrāḥ kūpaiç ca toyarahitais tarubhiç ca çīrṇaiḥ yad dṛṣṭapūrvajanasaṁgamavismṛtānām evam bhavanti viphalāḥ paritoṣakālāḥ. ‘Like empty houses, in truth, are poor men, or wells without water or blasted trees; for fruitless are their hours of relaxation, since their former friends forget them.’ The same idea is again expressed by the hero: [278] satyaṁ na me vibhavanāçakṛtāsti cintā: bhāgyakrameṇa hi dhanāni bhavanti yānti etat tu māṁ dahati naṣṭadhanāçrayasya: yat sauhṛdād api janāḥ çithilībhavanti. ‘My dejection, assuredly, is not born of the mere loss of my wealth, for with the turn of fortune’s wheel riches come and go. Nay, what pains me is that men fail in friendship to him whose sometime wealth has taken flight.’ The repetition of the idea becomes, indeed, wearisome, but the ingenuity and fancy of the author are undoubted. Love is also effectively described. The Viṭa is an admirer of Vasantasenā and thus addresses the fleeting lady: [279] kiṁ tvaṁ padair mama padāni viçeṣayantī vyālīva yāsi patagendrabhayābhibhūtā? vegād aham praviçṛtaḥ pavanaṁ nirundhyām tvannigrahe tu varagātri na me prayatnaḥ.