The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practiceKeith, Arthur Berriedale
History
The Sanskrit drama : $b in its origin, development, theory and practice
Keith, Arthur Berriedale
Sanskrit drama -- History and criticism
The ubiquitous Yaugandharāyaṇa, insatiable in seeking his master’s
welfare, has planned marriage for him with the daughter of the king of
Ceylon, but to attain this end has been difficult; to avoid vexing the
queen Vāsavadattā, he has kept her in the dark, and has spread a rumour
which he has had conveyed by Bābhravya, the king’s chamberlain, of the
death of Vāsavadattā in a fire at Lāvāṇaka. The king of Ceylon then
yields the hand of his daughter, and dispatches her in the care of the
chamberlain and his minister Vasubhūti to Vatsa, but, wrecked at sea,
she is rescued by a merchant of Kauçāmbī, taken there, and handed over
to Vāsavadattā who, seeing her beauty, decides to keep her from contact
with her inconstant spouse. But fate is adverse; at the spring festival
which she celebrates with Vatsa, Sāgarikā, as the princess is called
from her rescue from the sea, appears in the queen’s train; hastily
sent away, she lingers concealed, watches the ceremony of the worship
of the god Kāma, thinking Vatsa is the god in bodily presence, but is
undeceived by the eulogy of the herald announcing the advent of
evening. In Act II Sāgarikā is presented with her friend Susaṁgatā; she
has depicted the prince on a canvas, and Susaṁgatā in raillery adds her
beside him; she admits her love, but the confidence is broken by the
alarm created by the escape of a monkey from the stables. In its mad
rush it breaks the cage in Sāgarikā’s keeping, and the parrot escapes.
The king and the Vidūṣaka enter the grove where the bird is, hear it
repeat the maidens’ talk, and find the picture. The maidens returning
for the picture overhear the confidences of the king and the Vidūṣaka,
until Susaṁgatā sallies out and brings the lovers face to face. Their
meeting is cut short by the advent of the queen, who sees the picture,
realizes the position, and departs without manifesting the deep anger
which she feels and which the king vainly seeks to assuage. In Act III
the Vidūṣaka proves to have devised a scheme to secure a meeting of the
lovers; Sāgarikā dressed as the queen and Susaṁgatā as her attendant
are to meet Vatsa, but the plot is overheard, and it is Vāsavadattā
herself who keeps the rendezvous; she listens to Vatsa’s declarations
of love, and then bitterly reproaches him, rejecting his attempts to
excuse himself. Sāgarikā, who had come on the scene too late, hears the
king’s plight; weary, she ties a noose to her neck, when she is saved
by the advent of the Vidūṣaka and the king, who naturally mistakes her
for Vāsavadattā whom he fears his cruelty has driven to suicide. He
joyously recognizes his error, but the queen, who, ashamed of her
anger, has returned to make friends with her husband, finds the lovers
united, and in violent anger carries off the maiden and the Vidūṣaka
captive. But in Act IV we find the Vidūṣaka released and forgiven, but
Sāgarikā in some prison, the king helpless to aid her. Good news,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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