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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
(VOL. VIII.
second act a pleasure-garden (lilody anam or pramadódy anam) on the Dhårêgiri, a hill near the city (11. 6, 12, 31, v. 80, U. 36 and 75).
The dramatis persons are: The stage-manager (sútradhára); the actress (nat); king Arjunavarman; the jester Vidagdha; queen Sarvakald; her maid Kanakalékhả; the royal gardener Kusumakara; his wife Vasanta!fle; and the heroine Pårijatamañjari or Vijayasri. The king and Kusumåkara speak Sanskrit, the remaining persons Pråkpit-Saurasêni in the prose passages, and Mah&r&shtri in the verses. The pretty verses of the bards, which are recited behind the stage, are also in Prakrit.
In the prologue (amukham, 1. 15) the stage-manager informs the actress that, when the army of Jayasimha took to flight and the victorious Arjunavarman was still seated on his war'. elephant, a cluster of blossoms of a celestial tree (parijáta-mafjari) fell on his breast and, on touching it, was transformed into a beautiful maiden, while a voice from heaven spoke thus :
"Enjoying this lovely, auspicious Vijayasri, thou, O lord of Dhård, shalt become equal to Bhojadeva" (v. 6).
The stage-manager further explains this miracle in a somewhat complicated verse (1), which has probably to be translated as follows:
“The Chaulukya king's daughter, (who was an incarnation of) the goddess Jayasri (i.e. the goddess of victory) herself, (and) who, having found her death in the defeat, caused to be irrigated the young forest of tamála-trees, which was the grief of (her) father, through the waves of the tears of the harem,- she (is) this cluster of blossoms of the celestial tree (svardrumamafijari), which, after being hidden in a bud, developed into a lady."
To shelter her from the public gaze, the king placed her under the care of his chamberlain Kusumákara, who was in charge of the royal gardens, and whose wife Vasantalila waited on her in an emerald pavilion on the Dharà giri hill.
The first act bears the title the spring-festival' (vasantôtsava, 1. 81). It describes the king viewing bis sporting subjects from the top of his palace in the company of the jester, the queen and her maid.
In the introductory scene (vishkambhaka, 1. 39) of the second act, Kusumákara and Vasantalila compare notes on the mutual passion of the heroine and the king.
The title of the second act is 'the reflecting ear-ring' (tada nika-darpana, 1. 82). The king, accompanied by the jester, repairs to the pleasure-garden, in order to witness a ceremony performed by the queen: the marriage of a mango-tree to a spring-creeper. Vasantalild and the heroine watch the proceedings from behind a tree. Bending aside the branches, the former reveals to the king the image of his beloved, reflected in the queen's ear-ring. The king's delight and confusion arouse the suspicions of the queen, who leaves abruptly together with her maid. The heroine and Vasantalila also withdraw. At the advice of the jester, who reminds the king of the proverb that killed and eaten comes to the same' (1. 59), both follow them to the emerald pavilion. The king's tête-à-tête is interrupted by the appearance of Kanakalêkha, who is the bearer of the ear jewel and of an ironical message from the queen. The king tries in vain to hide Parijatamañjari behind his back. At the end he leaves her in order to pacify his jealous queen. The heroine also departs, threatening to commit suicide, and Vasantallla follows her.
The foregoing summary of the two preserved acts will remind the reader of another, well-known drama--the Ratnávali. The poet Madana, no doubt, derived the plot of his work from this or similar natikas. But, as the hero of the new drama was a living and reigning king, it is unlikely that the chief persons who appear on the stage together with him were pure inventions
1 Vv. 17-19 and 28 ; but vv. 72-74 are in Sanskrit.
