Free Malavikagnimitram by Kalidasa

to the royal priest.
    MADHUKARIKA : What for?
    SARASAKA : Ever since she heard that the army general had appointed young Prince Vasumitra to guard the sacrificial horse, the queen has been making an offering of eighteen gold pieces to worthy brahmins to ensure his good health.
    MADHUKARIKA : Excellent. So where’s the queen? Is she busy?
    SARASAKA : She’s sitting in the shrine, listening to the scribes read out a letter from her brother Virasena about matters in Vidarbha.
    MADHUKARIKA : So what’s the news from the king of Vidarbha?
    SARASAKA : Supposedly the king’s forces led by Virasena crushed the lord of Vidarbha and freed Madhavasena. And then, having accepted the terms of defeat, 86 the king offered many precious jewelled chariots along with a few attendants, mostly courtesans skilled in the arts. He even sent his personal messenger to see the king in private. 87
    MADHUKARIKA : Go, attend to your duties. And I’ll find the queen.
    Both exit.
    END INTRODUCTORY SCENE
    Enter doorkeeper.
    JAYASENA : The queen is busy looking after the ashoka tree and ordered me to tell the noble king, ‘I want to see the beautiful blossoms of the ashoka tree with my husband.’ I’ll wait for the king since he’s busy making pronouncements. 88 (
Walks around
.)
    Backstage.
    BOTH BARDS : Hail the king whose army tramples enemy heads! 89
    IRST BARD : In a garden on Vidisha’s banks,
filled with the sweet song of cuckoos,
you delight in spring,
embodying Love who is without a body.
Your powers grow by granting gifts, 90
and enemies bend down
like the trees on Varada’s banks,
used as posts for ceremonial elephants! //1//
    SECOND BARD : You seized the Vidarbha king’s glory
with your battalions
like Krishna taking Rukmini
with both arms, heavy as iron bars!
For the love of heroes,
wise men composed verses about both deeds,
making the stories famous
throughout the land of Kratha-kaishika! 91 //2//
    JAYASENA : The king is coming this way, his arrival signalled by sounds of victory! I’d better step out of the way and move to the terrace gate
(
standing to one side
)
.
    Enter the king with his friend.
    AGNIMITRA : Thinking of how hard it is to join my beloved
while hearing how I humbled Vidarbha with my might,
makes my heart feel both sadness and joy,
like a lotus struck by rain and shine. //3//
    GAUTAMA : As I see it, your majesty will soon enjoy complete happiness.
    AGNIMITRA : How?
    GAUTAMA : Well, today Queen Dharini said to Sister Kaushiki, ‘Sister, if you take pride in decorating, then dress Malavika up in a Vidarbhan wedding dress.’ Then Sister Kaushiki adorned Malavika beautifully. And so the queen is satisfying your heart’s desire.
    AGNIMITRA : That’s more like it, my friend! In the past Dharini always looked after my needs without any jealousy.
    JAYASENA
(
approaching
): Victory to the king! The queen requests, ‘Help my efforts bear fruit, come and see the bright blossoms of the golden ashoka tree.’
    AGNIMITRA : Of course. Is the queen already there?
    JAYASENA : Yes. She generously honoured the ladies of the harem and dismissed them. Now she waits for the king with only her personal attendants, led by Malavika.
    AGNIMITRA
(
happily looking at Gautama
): Jayasena! Lead the way.
    JAYASENA : This way, my lord, this way.
    All walk around.
    GAUTAMA
(
looking around
): Oh friend, the youth of spring seems to have faded from this pleasure grove.
    AGNIMITRA : Before us scattered amaranth and mango trees
bursting with fruit, 92
my mind is unsettled by an inner ripening
of this season’s youth. //4//
    GAUTAMA
(
moving around
): Oh look, your majesty, the golden ashoka seems to be wearing a costume of flower clusters.
    AGNIMITRA : It’s only natural that it was late to bloom. For now it carries an uncommon 93 beauty. Look . . .
    It’s as if all the ashoka trees,
early in displaying the fertility of spring,
have gifted their flowers to this tree,
whose longing has now ended. //5//
    GAUTAMA : Calm down, for even when