________________
120
Appointment with Kalidasa
ssion to the deep pathos in the life of his heroes who were not yet blessed with a child. Dilipa and Sudakşiņā bear an intense agony in their hearts; and with the birth of Raghu their happiness knows no bounds. The child Raghu repeating the words of the nurse with muted and indistinct sounds, holding her finger and rambling through the palace apartments, bending his head before the elders in salutation as taught, becomes the treasure of joy to Dilipa; and, what wonder, if taking the child on his lap Dilipa feels that his entire body is bathed in ambrosial waters !56 Duşyanta, deprived of a son so far, goes through a similar experience when he meets Sarvadamana in the hermitage of Mārica. Laughing for no reason and showing in the process his tiny sparkling teeth resembling Kunda buds, continuously pra. ttling nonsense in indistinct words whose sweetness is beyond measure, trying to jump into the lap of the parent unaware of his dust-soiled limbs : this is the picture that Dusyanta's imagination builds; and he feels that blessed are the parents who have children to give them such incomparable joy !57 Like Duşyanta who was lost in watching the childlike and childish pranks of Sarvadamana, Purūravas too must have been moved watching the Vidyadhara girl absorbed in her childlike play on the river beach. The measure of a father's love for his son is found in Kalidasa's pictures of Aja who postpones suicide only to let his son grow up and of Daśaratha who dies by the shock of separation from his beloved Rāma. The love for the child softens a confirmed ascetic like Kaņva so that he speaks and acts, not like a controlled sage but, like a loving father. And Kanva admits the enormity of tender feelings the householders must have for their children born of their flesh and blood.58 A mother's joy about her child is beyond description; looking after the interest and happiness of her daughter is a never-ending commitment of a mother's life; and a son's achievement is her personal pride. So, we find Dhāriņi rejoicing at the victory of her son in the battle and distributing presents with both hands; Umā's austere penance touches her mother with serious concern; and Menakā who had to abandon her child rushes from heaven to the earth when she finds her in a terrible plight after being rejected by her husband Duşyanta. Love for the offspring must be in the blood of a woman. Urvasi is a celestial nymph and beyond the pale of mortal week. ness; but the sight of Ayus overwhelms her and her breasts become wet with oozing milk 59 Śakuntalā is a true daughter of nature. Nature teaches one to love every thing. Sakuntalā nourishes the Vanajyotsnä creeper as her own daughter and gets her married to Sahakāra tree at the proper time. Watching this couple of the tree and the creeper with the eyes of a mother Sikuntalā gets herself lost. When the moment of her departure to her husband's house comes, Sakuntalā asks her companions to take care of her Vanajyotsnā. The young one of a deer ate darbha blades mistaking them to be common grass; the little deer's mouth was all bruised and bleeding; Śakuntalā took him in her lap and applied the oil of ingudi to the inside of his mouth to heel the wounds. This young one of the deer returns the love of Sakuntalā in equal measure. He holds the skirt-end of her garment in his mouth and tries to pull her back when she is leaving the hermitage for good,50 This love between Saku.
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
