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6
MIRA AND MAHAVIR
SCENE II.
(Mahavir is lying in his bed, dreaming. The forms of Krishna and Arjuna slowly take shape, and appear. Mahavir sits up, and stares. He then calls Mira. She comes and sits down on a chair, with a smilc.) ARJUNA-This is the field where ages ago thou didst teach
me the divine truth of life. How many years have rolled by! The world has changed, and men have forgotten thy word. But still its echoes linger in their hearts, and they sit up and stare when someone utters thy name with sincerity of soul. A great war is raging in the world, O Lord, and men have forgotten thee. They do not hesitate to deny thy very existence. Speak to them-let them awake and listen, and be
at peace. KRISHNA-Through unnumbered ages have you and I
been in this world, O Arjuna. I know what is past, what is present, and what is to be; but these men,
lost in the maze of their senses, know not me. ARJUNA-Awake them, O Lord, and let them see and
know. If it be thy will, the heart of Man would be at peace once more, and all this conflict cease. There was such a conflict in the ages past, and it reappears from time to time. What is the meaning of it all ? I understood once, and my doubts were dispelled. But there are many like me today. Let them too see with thy divine light the truth that
