♦ The order is given behiud the Scenes in Ihe origiiia!.
( 41^ )
(Mdlait and Mddhava express their despair^
Mud. (^Etnbi acing MdlaLi — )
My dearest friend, this is indeed delightful.
One city saw our birth; our infant sports
And opening youth have ever found us friends;
And now you are my sister — and the pride.
Of our iUustrious house.
Kdm. In truth my child,
Fate is propitious when she grants'ycur brother,
A brida like this
Mad. We rather thank your prayers-
My friend Lavangika, our every wish*
Is gratified, now we obtain your princess.
T,av. It may be : we have no concern with it.
Mad. Come wench, {to Buddharakshitd) let's hasten and
get every thing
In order for the bridal.
Biidd. I attend you (They rise.)
Lav. {Apart to lunn) This interchange of looks, from
eyes that roll
liike the soft tremulous lotus, and express
The dear emotions, and tlie new delights.
That fill and agitate the heart, reveal
This couple conscious of the like desire.
{MaJcarand I and Madntjantikd)
Kam. No doubt, they taste like pleasure from the look
S> oft repeated, and the furtive glancf,
Tells a plain story; side long and slow the eye
Glides to theang'e of the dropping lids.
Half closed by passion's birth ; tlie brow is raised
In gentle curve^ and the loose veiling lashes.
C 47 )
Tremble in soft abandonment : all speaks
The inward consciousness of new delight.
Nadh, (io Build.) Sure I shall see again this graceful
youth.
The Saviour of my life.
Budd. If fate so pleases.
^Exeunt with atiendant.
Mad. (Apart) Now let the thread of hope, long idly che-
rislied.
Snap like the fibre of the lotus stem.
Come boundless anguish, but by death relieved.
And frantic grief: be destiny appeased.
And love Avork all his vengeance. Adverse fate.
Delights to aggravate my woes, and mocks me
With disappointment, after I have won.
No common prize, affection like my own.
I marked her as she heard her father's will :
Pale as the moon before the morning sun.
Her lovely countenance revealed her sorrows.
And added sharper poignancy to mine.
Kcan. (Apart) I cannot bear his grief; and hope des-«
troyed —
Life is a burthen, (alotid) Mddhava, my son.
Tell me, have you indulged the expectation ;
The minister Avould give his daughter to you.
]\Ii.>dh. (bashfully) No, never, never.
Kam. Then were you ill apprised
Of past occurrences.
Mak. What mean you dame.
That Mdlati already is betrothed.
Kam, You know what you have heard j to all 'tis known^
t 4S )
That when the Monarch for his favourite sued ;
The minister, replied — Your majesty.
Is master of your own â– .
^lal. So rumor goes.
Kdm. To-d;iy we learn the king has given MdlatL
As if she were his own; but mark me Son ;
The bond of human actions is good faith.
And promises controul the acts of men :
In speech, the seeds of good and ill reside.
And all events are upon words dependant.
Do you not see, in Bhurivasu's answer,
A covert import lies, for Miilati
Is not the daughter of the Sovereign ;
Nor law, nor social decency, acknowledges
A monarch's Avill as the authority
To regulate a daughter's bridal compact.
Fie on it — It is not to be thought of —
And more, my son — Doubt you my vigilance.
Why then alarm the tender child with fears.
Of such a fate, I would not wish your foes —
Confide in me — I will not spare my pains.
Nor lil'e, if it be needed to secure
Your union with the maiden.
Male. Well resolved.
Their union is most suitable — your heai't
Most holy dame, though from the world estranged.
Is softened still with pity and affection
Towards these thy children, and thy active love
Howe'er opposed to penance and devotion.
Shall like the will of destiny prevail.
( 40 )
Enter a Messenger.
The Queen commands you, dame, with speed conduct
The Lady Malati to the palace.
Km. Daugliter come.
Mad. and Mdl. (intC' chcttige looks and sighs )
Madh. (Ap(ir') Oivt on the world's vicissitudes.
Fa:e like a friend first shews my blooming maid
With tender passion like my own inspired ;
Then with capricious fickleness afflicts,
jMy heart with deeper anguish.
Mill. {Apart) Come what may;
This happiness is mine, I have beheld him.
Lav. This barbarous minister has taught my friend
To hate her being.
Mai. (Apart) Love of life has borne
Its fruits mature — my father's cruelty.
Stern as the offerer of human sacrifice.
And fate, alike relentless, have achieved
Their task. Ah me, unhappy, to what friend.
To -what kind refuge, can I now repair.
\_Exit with Kiimandaki and Lavangil-d,
Madh. 1 fear tne much, the hope the dame encouraged.
Sprang from the dread she entertained for her.
Whom she has loved from birth. IMy luckless days
"\A'^ill bear [ doubt nofruit. What's to be done (//«*n/««^.)
Appiy to horrid mysteries, what else
Remains, {to Maharanda) How nov/, my friend,
methinks you grieve
For Mudayantiku.
Male. 'Tis even so :
My mind recalls her timid Avild embrace,
G
( 50 )
"When fearful as the tender fawn, she clung.
With limbs diffusing nectar on my wounds.
Around me, heedless of her loose attii-e.
hladh. She will be yours, for Biiddh
Your friend is hers, and whom should she affect,
But you whom she embraced as her preserver ;
Snatched bv your prowess from the monster's fangs.
IS or did her looks proclaim you were a stranger.
Tlie fond regard those lotus eyes expressed.
Was clearly no new lesson.
Male. Let us hence.
Bathe where the S'lndhu and the Pura meet.
And then re seek the town.
(They rise and •proceed.)
This is the Spot.
The union of the streams, whose favoured bank.
Beholds the fairest of Ujjai/ini's* daughters.
Forego their robes, and with their tender hands
Veiling imperfectly their charms, commit
Their lovely bosoms to the friendly wave. — •
« Tl.is term fixes the sense in Paid may possibly be llie same
wJiiih radiiiilvuli is used ; tlie as the Sipra.
Sindhu is the Kali Sind. The
END OF THE rOUKTH ACT,
ACT V.
SCENE—The Fifld in which dead bodies are burned
IN THE Vicinity of a Temple.
Enter in ike air in a heavenly car and in a hideous garb.
KAPAL aKUNDALA.
Glory to SaMindih,* upon whose steps.
The mighty goddesses attend — t whom seek
Successfully alone the firm of thought.
He crowns the lofty aims of those, who know.
And hold, his form, as the pervading spirit.
That, one with their own essence, makes his seat
The heart, the lotus centre of the sphere^
Sixfold, by ten nerves circled. Such am I.
Freed from all perishable bonds I view,
The eternal soul embodied as the God,
* The Lord o^ Sakli or the as ZJ/jw/rayd, the terrific and des^
divine energy under a female tnictive deity, wlio is propitiated
personificati<)n:ii\ thissense5tf/c
is applicable to every goddess, * Tlie Nari dialer a the iiearl,
but it is more especially the name as the centre of the circle of
of Zi/)aj'aii, and her lord or hus- thediffjrent orguis and tiilmlar
baiul is Siva. ves^sels along which the vital
* Surrounded by the Saklis or air or spirit is conveved, and
by the eight goddesses so termed, this spirit l>eii;g one with Siva
or Brdhini, Muheswari, Kaumuri (Sarvam Siva Mayam) his fornj
f'aishnuvi, fVtruhi, JMdhendri or nature (Rupa) may be said
Chdtnunda,M\ilChandikdAndeoyis to be seated in the heart. The
goddesses, who atteud upou Siva six orgaus are the ear, the uavel»
( 52 )
Forced by my spells* to tread the mystic labyrinth.
And rise in splendovir throned upon my heart.
Hence through the many channelled veins I draw
*The grosser elements of this mortal body.
And soar unwearied through the air, divid'ug
'i he water-shedding clouds — Upon my flighty
Horrific honors Avaif — the hollow skul s
That low descending from my neck depend.
Emit fierce music as they clash together,
the heart, the throat, the ])uliile t Fixed l)y ihe Ni/dsa ; wliirh
and the eye. brow. Tlie Naris or is a form of geslicuhilion made
tnl)es :>re, 101 iu luiinber hut with a short and n)y.s!ic prayer to
ten are pri!\(i|>a], //«, Vhi^ald the heart, the head, Ihe crown of
Sushunihd,Gantlhari, Haslijilnvd the head ai\d the eye, as Grn
Pushu, Aruna, Alambushd, Guild, Sirase Namah. Om ; silutation to
Sankhini — These all unite in the head— witli the nddition of
the heart. These notions l)elong ihe Kavadia the armour or s\ 1-
to tlie Yof^a. According to other lahle Phat, and the Jslra the
doctrines, and the more obvious weapon or sylhihle Hum. The
meaning of the original text, entire Mantra, the prayer or iii-
there are sixteen principal i\'«ris. cautation, is then, Om Sirase
To those who have thus disco- Namah, Hum, Phut.
\ered tlie actual presence of + Agreeably to the text ^i//y-
divine spirit in themselves the dsdl Pasyate Suryam Paramdt-
deity Szua gives theeight 5irf/f/MS. mdnam Atmdnam. By practice
J^/fl/i//7;a the faculty of enlarging ( of the }'oga)he (the adept)
the bulk; Laghimd that of niak- beholds his own soul, the Supreme
iiig it light; Animd that of mak- soul, as the sun.
ingitsmall or atomic; PraZca/H^rt, * According to some the five
the power of gratifying passion ; senses, or siglit, smell, hearing,
jTflsi/a— that of subjecting all; taste and touch, or the five Ele-
Jsitd supreme sway; Prd;}ti—\.\\e meats. Earth, air, water, fire, and
faculty of reaching or grasping ^/ca* or ether,
objects however remote, and
Kumuvasdyilwam the destructi-
on of naluial desire.
( 53 )
Or strike the tremWing plates that gird my loins.
Loose stream on every side my woven locks
In lengthening braids — Upon my poTiderous staff.
The string of bells light -waving to and fro,
Jan_g-les incessantly — my Banner floats
Up borne upon the wailing breeze, whose tone •
Is deepened by the echoes it awakes.
Amidst the caverns of each fleshless skull.
That hangs in dread array around my person.
(^alights and looks about )
I scent the temple of Ktirdld — near
The cemetery, and perfumed of old
I5y fragrant odours from the tuneral pile —
It is my present object — for to day,
My wise preceptor, great Jghoraghanta,
Calls me to aid him in the powerful rite
That terminates his toils — to-day he offers
The promised gift — the gem of woman kind,
A victim to the Goddess. In this city,
The damsel dwells — and I must make her mine.
Looking out.
But who comes hitherward — of jleasing form.
With braided hair and in one hand a swovd;
The other — ha — it braves the world's restraint?.
And soiled with blood determinately grasps
A lump of human flesh — and now I look,
I know the youth— 'tis Mddhava the son
Of the old dame Kamandaki's dear friend.
What makes him vender of the flesh of man— .
It matters not ; Now to ray work; foi* see
The hour of twilight hovers o'er the west.
Along the skirts of the horizon steal
( 54 )
The winding glooms like dark Tamdhi blossom?.
And earth's far bounds are lost as if immersed
In nascent waters— to the woods young night
Her own yet gentle shade im[)arts, as if
A wreath of smoke were wafted through the air.
And spread abroad in mist before the breeze.
Enter Mddhava.
May those endearments yet be mine, that spring
From young affection and the dawn of passion.
Now first awakened in ray Maluii ;
"Which for an instant only to imagine.
Inspires my heart with extacy unsullied.
By all impure admixture — 'twere enough.
To be enfolded in her arm?, to lean
My face upon her cheek, or to be prest
Against her firm and palpitating bosom,
Fragrant with perfume, and with pearls adorned.
Yet this is too remote : I will but ask
To see her face, the shrine of love, once more.
Once more — Ah no ; for ever in my view.
She lives — assiduous memory constant turns
To cherished hopes, and fed by hourly thoughts.
One sole idea, engrosses every sense.
Till all my inmost soul is Malati*
* The (ibvious purport of Ihis agreeably to the Fdvlchya pliilo*
Terse is clear enoiigii, but rt'fer- sophy, and without having cor-
ence is iiileiulcil by the original resjtonding terms to thosu em-
to the practice of ideiilifyiiig ployed, a close and iiiteliigii)Ie
the individaal spirit with the translalion is impracticable. Part
Supreme Spirit by the iiiteii- of the preceding, and a subse-
litj of abstract luedilaliou, queut vcisc have been oniitted>
( 55 )
("A Noise Behind.)
Now â– \vake the terrors of the place,* beset
With crowding rind malignant fiends ; the flames
From funeral pyres scarce lend their sullen light.
Clogged with their fleshly prey, to dissipate
The fearful gloom that hems them round. Pale ghosts
-Sj.ort with foul goblins, and their dissonant mirth
In shrill respondent shrieks is echoed round.
Well, be it so. I seek, and must address them.
Demons of ill, and disembodied spirits,
Who haunt this spot ; I bring you flesh for sale.
The flesh of man+ untouched by trenchant steel,:!:
as wenkening ihe general efi'ect mode in which the niiiid that
of the passage. The first de- perceives, and the ohject oi" ))er-
icr'iUes 31 dlat't''s f;ice in Ihe cus- ciplion, are comhinedso as to
tuniary strain, and in the hitler produce consciousness.
31 ddhai'ii ohserws tliat MuUiti * The S/nasa;/, the place where
is as firmly united with his heart bodies are l)urnt ; temples of
as if sewed to it, witli the Durgd in some of her terrifick
strong threads of recolleetion, forms were usually erected in or
] inned to it, with the shafts of near it, and monuments of stone
Kama, melted in it, reflected by or brick were not unfrequenlly
it, inscribed or engraven on it, set reared were the pile had stood,
or planted in it, or fixed to it by t This was a necessary condi'
diamond glue {l''ajra lepa) — the tion : for the goblins, to the great
\erse is curious as illustrative discredit of their taste we must
of the progress of the arts. The presume, would not condescend
last is said to be a union of all to eat female flesh,
valuable articles externally, as % Flesh cut off with a wea-
diamonds, &r. so that they can- pon, was in disrepute on account
not be detached, but how this is of its being too common, in con-
eflected is not explained. Each sequence of the number of men
4)f these terms, is said by Jag id- killed in battle; it does not ap-
tlhara to bear also a nictuphjsi- pear how our hero comes by his
cal sense, and to refer to the dif- nierchaudise.
fereut scholastic uolious of the
. ^ ( 56 )
And -worthy your acceptance. (A great noise.)
How, the noise
Hi,£^h, shrill, and inch'stinct, of chattering sprites
Coinrnunicative fills the chai'nel ground.
Strange forms like foxes flit a'ong the sky ;
From the red hair of their lank bodies, darts
The meteor blaze ; or from their mouths that stretch
From ear to ear thick set with numerous fangs.
Or eyes or beards or broAvs, the radiance streams.
And now I see the goblin host : each stalks.
On legs like palm trees, a gaunt skelefo:i,
^Vhose flesliless bones are bound by starting sinews,
i\ml scai-.tly cased in black and shrivelled skin :
Like tall and withered trees by lightning scathed
'I'Jiey move, and as amidst their sapless trunks.
The mighty sei'pent curls — so in each mouth
Wide yawning rolls, the vast blood di'ippmg tongue*
They mark my coming, and the half chewed morsel
Falls to the howling wolf — and now they fly.
(Pauses and looking round.)
r»ace — dastardly as hideous — All is plunged
In utter gloom, (considering J The River flows before rae,
TJie boundary of the funeral ground, that winds
Through mouldering bones its interrupted way.
'Wild raves the torrent as it rushes past.
And rends its crumbling banks j the wailing Owl
Hoots through its skirting groves, and to the sounds,
The loud long moaning Jackall yells I'eply.
Behind Ah cruel father, she you meant an offering
* The author iiuUiIgcs here in European taste to be faithfully
n strain of powerful l)ut (iissjnst- followed.
iiig descriptiou, loo revolting to
C 57 )
To the kingr's favor, now deserted dies.
^Jadh. (Alarmed) What voice Avas that : so m usical and
wild.
That sounds like the affrij^hted osprey's cry.
It bursts not unfarniliar to mine ear ;
And penetrates my soul : my throbbing heart
Faint dies within me, and a lifeless chill
Steals along evei'y limb ; my tottering steps.
Can scarce sustain their load : what should this be— «
The dreadful sound came from Ktn-ahTs fane.
Fit scene for deeds of horror — be it so —
I must be sati;3£ed—
[^Rushes oJjT
SCENE.
JNSIDE OF THE TEMPLE OF Chdmundd.*
Aghoraghanta , Kapdlakiindald.
Mulali DRESSED AS A VICTIJI.
Mai. Unpitying sire — thy hapless daughter dies.
Mother beloved ; remorseless fate consigns
Thy gentle heart to agony. Revered
• Chdmundd was an emanation most respects with the allusions
of the goddess ZJMrg-«, springing in the text "From the fore-
from her forehead to encounter head of .^/ni/Aa contracted -with
ilie Demons C/i««
detached to seize the latter by forth a goddess black and of for-
the soverei;:;n of the Daitt/ns, midable aspect, armed with a
•Sunibha, as related in the Burga scymitar and noose, bearing a
JV/«7i''(<»j^«, andher appearance, ponderous mace, and decorated
which is thus described in the with a garland of dead corses,
Marhandeya Purana, accords in — robed iu the hide of an cle-
9
( 58 )
And holy dame who lived but for thy Mulalt,
Whose every thought was for her hap])iness.
Thy love will teach thee long and bitter anguibh.
Ah, my dear friend, Lavangikdy to thee,
I>ut ill thy dream-; I heuccfoi'th shail appear —
Madh. {Enters Behind) 2\ly fears Avere true— 'tis she-*
but still she lives.
Aghora {Running round quickly as in *nwfiiiip)
Hail — Hail — Chdniinuld, mighty Goddess hail !
I glorify thy sport, when in the dance,*
'Ihat fills the court of Siva with delight.
Thy foot descending spurns the eart hly Globe.
Beneath the weight the broad backed tortoise reels j1"
The t-ei^g o? Brahma trembles at the sho.k;
And in a yawning chasm, that gapes like hell,
phant, dry and withered and worship or respect is an essential
hideous with jawiiinf; mouth and part of the homage to l)e offered,
lolling tongue and l)U)od shot * This dance is Ihe counter-
eves, and filling the regions with p:irt of that which Siva himself
her shouts." Having slain the is supposed to perform, and of
demons site hore their heads lo which notice was taken at the
her parent goddess, who told her opening of llie play. In this rite
that having slain Chiinda and the Uride of Sivti is descrihed
Minidu she should thence forth only in her terrific form as
he known on eartli as Cl.amunda. Chamunrld, in which she is inves-
Shc is also termed Kali from her ted with a garl» ornaments and
Hack colour, and KariUa or Ka- attributes, similar to those of
ri'tldbadana from her hideous Siva himself, or with those of
countenance. Kali-
* The slai2;e direction is Twa- + The Earth is in some legends
/am paj'/A:;fl/Hfl/< which may also supposed to rest 'jpon the back
mean only proceeding quickly, of a tortoise,
hut the limits of the stage must :}: The E»g of Brahma. \» the
restrict this motion, and theactof world, the Orphic or mundane
cu'cuinambululiiig aa object of Eg;; which floated amidst tb«i
( 59 )
The sevenfold main* tumultuou.-^ly rushes.
Tlie elephant hide that robes thee, to thy steps
Swings to and fro — the whirling talons rend
The crescent on thy brow — from the torn orb
The trickling nectar fills, and every skull
That gems tliy necklace laughs with horrid afet —
Attendant spirits tremble and a})j)laud.
The mountain falls before thy ])owerfiil arms.
Around whose length the sable serpents twine
Their swelling forms, and knit terrific bands.
Whilst from the hood expanded, frequent flash
Invenomed flames —
As rolls thy awful head.
The lowering eye that glows amidst thy brow,:,';
A fiery circle designates, that wraps
The spheres within its terrible circumference :
Whilst by the banner on thy dreadful staff".
High waved, the stars are scattered from their orbits.
The three e^^ed God exults in the embrace,
vater before creation, niul from of Siva and Durgd a necklace
which Brahma the first horn of skulls forms an invariaUje de-
emerged according; to some le- coration as docs the crescent or
,o-ends, i)ut which according to hajf moon on the forehead, and
oHiers merely resolved itself into as we have before had occasion
tiie upper and lower spheres. to observe the moon is consider-
* According to the Geogra- cd to be the peculiar reservoir
phy of the Pur anas the Earth of Amrita or the beverage of
consists of a series, of a central immortality,
circle and six other amnilar con- ^ The eye in the forehead
tiiieiils, separated from each is one pecui'ar characteristic of
otiier i)y as many oceans of dif- Siva and of his consort wheu
ferent fluid substances. armed with his terrors.
i lu Ihedittcreul terrific forms
( CO )
Of his fair Spouse, as Gauri sinks appal led,
By the distracting cries of countless fiends.
Who shout thy praise — Oh may such dance afford,
Whate'er we need — what e'er may yield us happiness.*
Mahd. (Behind) What luckless chance is this, that such a
maid.
With crimson garb and garland like a victim,+
Adorned for sacrifice; sliould be the captive
Of impious wretcheSjJ like a timid fawn
Begirt by ravenous wolves: tliat she, the child
Of the ail powerful minister, should lie
Thus in the jaAVs of death — Ah, cruel destiny— <
How ruthless are thy purposes —
* Jagaddhara is rather shocked Sfrep. Whv this chaplet?
to think tiiat these pr;iises of Wouldst make of nie another
Cliamnnda shuu\d fail of produc- Athanias.
iig their due effect but consoles And sacrifice me to a cloud,
himself by the reflexion that tlie So niso in the IleracUdte,
worshippers were (lisappoinled of Macarin when offering herself
their object either on account of as a victim to secure thetriumph
their wickedness, or their inaccii- of the Atiienians, exclaims,
rate pronunciation of some part "To the scene of death,
of the ritual. Conduct, with p;arlands crown me.""
* We had occasion to notice The Translator of Euripides
these parnphernalia more parti- also observes, that human sacri-
cnlarly in the Mrichchalcati : in fices at their first origin appear
like manner the ordinary vie- to have consisted of virgins or
tinisof the Greeks were adorned young men in the state of celi-
with crowns and g arlands— as b;icy, and in this respect the
were hum in victims: as thus selection o( Mdliti offers auo-
jn the Clouds, in the scene iher analogy,
between Socrates and Slrep- * Pashimdn and Chandala
siade'i ; heretics and outcasts — theseepi"
Socr- Now take this chnplct thcls indicate little respect for
•—wear it. the worshippers of Durgd and
( CI )
Kap. Fair maid.
Think upon him whom Uiou in life hast loved.
For pitiless deatli is near thee —
Jl'/«/. Ah Mddhdva,
Lord of my heart. Oh may I after death.
Live in thy memory — They do not die.
Whom love embalms in long and fond remembrance".
Kap. Poor child — her heart is Madhavas — no matter —
Come what come may — we must delay no longer.
Aglior. (^Raising his sroord) This offering vowed to thee,
divine C/i/nnniidd,
Deign to accept —
Mudh . (Rushes fonvardand snatches Matati tijp In his arms)
Vile wretch, forbeai*.
Kap. The term
Profane, is thine.
Ma/. Oh save me, save me (embracing MddhavaJ
JSladh, Princess do not fear.
A faithful friend, who in the hour of death.
Finds courage to declare his love, is near thee —
Be of good courage — on this impious wretch.
The retribution of his crimes descends.
Agho. What sinful youth is this that interrupts
Our solemn rite.
Kap. The lover of the IMaidcn,
The pupil of Kthnanddki, wno treads,
their applicalion so puhlickly wliich he gives the fexfs; Jhpy are
declared, would lead us to infer ''Lit him not eat from tlie leaf
that the author's sentiments were of the asdepiasnor sj.iy a female
those of his age—Jagaddhara nor child" and "Females of
states that iu the rite two legal every description of beiii^, it is
prohibitions are violated of well Lnown, are not to be slain."
( 02 )
Tlic?e precincts ft)!* unholy purpoaes.
And vends the flesli of man.
Mad//. Inform me Princess,
How has tliis chanced.
1,1 ai. I kiiow not I reposed.
At cvc v-i^oi'. the terrace : \vhen I wolve,
I found myself a prisoner — But what led
Your steps to this retreat.
J\la:lh. ( A.'iiuiincd) By pi'.ssion m-ged.
Incited by the hope my life miglit be.
Yet blest by this fair hand, I hither came,