4. The sentiment (rasa) of the Vassumati Vikrama

The main sentiment of the Vassumati Vikrama is Srigara. The hero is king Vikrama and the heroine is Vasumati. Their falling in love with each other and their final union after jumping over several hurdles form the main theme of the drama. In the first act of the drama, love germinates in the hearts of the hero and the heroine. The king sees Vasumati in dream (svapnadarsanam) and enraptured by her charm falls in love with her. In his dream, the king addresses her in endearing terms. But unfortunately, these words are heard by the queen who gets indignant and immediately leaves the presence of her lord. Here we have Irshya type of manaviprayoga. The queen is angry because she finds her lord in love with another lady. Here the alambana vibhava is the queen while her angry face forms the anubhava. The uddipana vibhava is the words of the king indicating his love with Vasumati. The vyabhicharibhava is the worry and sadness caused in the mind of the king by the queen's anger. Side by side with viprayoga srngara, we have Ayoga srngara also. The king is lost in thoughts of Vasumati. Vatandhaya sees him in a pensive mood with his face looking gloomy, body appearing lean and emaciated, lips parched, hair disjuncted and eyes filled with tears. Here we find the first stage of Vipralambha Sringara namely Abhilasha. The alambana vibhava is the king while the uddipena vibhava is Vasumati. The anubhavas are the king's pensiveness, haggard look etc. as described above.

457 The king after disclosing his dream to Vatandhaya tells him that the advent of the spring season is aggravating his agony and he is being tortured by the arrows of the god of love. jrmbhanne kalakanthakanthakuhare yatpancamadambara- yattaralyakrtam divam madhukrtamullanghate jhamkriya ! ghranayusyamami disanti taravo yatsaurabhenamuna 50 puspesoh samupasthitastadadhuna kodandakolahala | Vatandhaya brings to the notice of the hero of his queen's anger and the latter immediately proceeds to the presence of the queen to pacify her. Thanks to the efforts of the maid servant, reconciliation is reached between the king and the queen. But the king's mind againplunges itself in thoughts of Vasumati. Thus the strain of Ayoga srngara is maintained. The second act sees further development of love The hero tries to veer between king Vikrama and Vasumati. his mind away from thinking of his beloved. But his efforts prove to be in vain. anudhavati bata satatam tamevu saroruheksanam cetah ! sunya punah sarira vidhina || 1.51 sancaryana evam kevala For, his mind has taken for granted the truthfullness of 50 Ibid., Act.I, V.55, p.31 51 Ibid., V.64, p.42

4555 the dream and the actual existence of the maiden he saw in 52 it. Here we find that the hero has reached the second phase namely chinta, i.e. recollection of beloved. With a view to distract his mind, Vatandhaya takes him to the garden of the minister. There in the lata mandapa, the hero sees his beloved undergoing like him pangs of love. She is lying on a bed of lotus leaves and her friends are applying on her body various cooling materials to relieve her agony. We have here again vipralambha srngara. The alambana vibhava is Vasumeti. The uddipana vibhavas are the sweet smelling flowers in the garden, the gentle breeze etc. The anubhavas are Vasumati's movement of eye lids of in sorrow and anguish as well as her feverishness. The vyabhichari bhavas are the heroine's restlessness and recollection of her lover. Soon the two lovers meet each other. They rejoice in having met each other. The king takes his seat and Vasumati offers her respect to him. Here we have Sambhoga Sringara. The alambana vibhavas are both the hero and the heroine while their looking at each other form the anubhava. The enchanting scenery which they perceive around forms the uddipana vibhavas. The joy and sorrow caused in them due respectively to their meeting each other and seeing 52 Ibid., Act. II, V.1, p.48.

456 456 each other's pangs of love form the vyabhichari bhavas. They are however not allowed to remain together for long. Bhadra Chandika summons Vasumati and the latter takes leave of the king. The hero is again afflicted by pangs of love. To alleviate his agony, he takes the various cooling materials that have once served his beloved and enjoy their refreshing touch. Taking a garland of lotus flowers, he says endearingly to it as follows: slaghyo'syaganya mahimacayamudrito'si dhanyo'si mrgyavibhavo'si mrnalahara ! yena tvaya madanasavara pandumule tujhe payodharabhare luthitam priyayah || 53 "Oh garland of lotus flowers, you are possessed of many virtues. You are indeed superior (to me). You are the darling of fortune. For, you have been able to adorn the supple breasts of my beloved which are pale white in colour due to pangs of love." In the third act, we find the hero completely lost in thoughts of Vasuma ti. The cool and sweet scented breeze blowing across the garden as well as the gentle rays of the moon increase his pangs of love thousand fold. He hears meen= while the shocking news from Vatandhaya that the latter has 58 Ibid., Act.II, V.41, p.78.

457 457 disclosed his love with Vasumati to his queen who became angry with him once again. The king is flabbergasted and does not know how to please his queen. Meanwhile, the hero takes his seat in the Candrima mandapa. His sufferings caused by pangs of love increase further and he complaints to Vatandhaya that all the beautiful objects he sees around him instead of improving his woeful lot worsens it many times. He says that the rays of the moon is burning him hot. He appeals to the moon as follows: ayi bhagavan ! kumudraparamabandho ! deva niharabhano kathamitra hasadamanyardrata danasaundaih ! vikirasi mayi dine ghorakakolapura kalitadasadisali patralekhairmayukhaih "Oh moon, possessor of cool, and soft rays, you are greatly attached towards the blue lotuses and you melt even moon stones. How is it that you direct rays (which appear as sandal paste applied on the ten directions) full of poison against me who is already weak." Finding that his friend is undergoing severelly 1154 || h pangs of love, Vatandhaya prepares him a bed of lotus leaves. Though the king lies down on it, his agony is in no way decreased. Vatandhaya applies on his body various cooling 54 Ibid., Act. III, V.32, p.99.

458 materials like dew water powdered musk, sandal paste and lotus leaves. But they too fail to reduce his distress. The king gives his reaction as follows: himajalaseka vibhavya, ma ma halahale nipalaya bhavenmohagamastena me ghanasarapatam vibhavya, ma ma vyakira curnitam hutavaham bhasmibhavenme tanu | nalinidala marutam vibhavya, ma ma dharmani nidhehi nikhilesvangesu ghorakrti candanacaca vibhavya, mama tapitarajatadravabharam nistandramevam ksipa 1155 He says that the drops of dew appear to him as smouldering poison which may infatuate him, the musk powder as furious fire which may devour his body, the breeze wafted by the lotus leaves as hot rays of the sun which may burn his body and the sandal paste as boiling molten silver. Unable to bear the agony, he falls into a swoon. bhramati nayanachan bahuktayom galati smrtihh sphutati hrdayam ha ho kasto dasa parivartate || 56 Here we find the hero reaching the mureca stage. Here the alambana vibhava is the king himself. The uddipana vibhava are the several beautiftil objects the hero sees around. falling into a swoon forms the anubhava. His 55 Ibid., Act.III, V.39, p.107 56 Ibid., Act.III, V.44, p.115.

459 459 Vatandhaya is confused and he takes the king to be dead. While he is bemourning over the tragic end of his friend, Vasumati who is standing nearby unawares to anybody steps in. She places her hand on the king's chest and instentaneously the king gets revived. He soon becomes normal. But further troubles wait him. The queen who is watching the entire spectacle gets furious and runs away with a view to commit suicide. In the fourth act the hero goes to pacify her. By the power of the celestial flower he is able to appease his queen. Once again in the drama, there is the Irshya type of mana viprayoga. The queen becomes penitent and seeks pardon from her lord for her harsh conduct. The king is rejoiced and he assures her that he would ever be 57 faithful toher. Here we have sambhoga srigara. In the fifth act, the king hears of the abduction of his beloved by some demon and is lost in great grief. 58 He wenders in the garden and addresses the cloud, the 59 60 elephant, the peacock etc. asto whether they have seen his beloved. Here we find the hero in the unmattata 57 ayamahamasitayataksi daso vidhrtarusa bahusastvaya nirastah ! punarapi caranambujajanmasevah kunukabharatsamupaimi hanta parsvam || Ibid., Act. IV, V.35, p.147. 58 Ibid., Act.V, V.33, p. 155. 59 Ibid., V.38, p. 154. 60 Ibid., V.42, p. 153.

460 450 (delirious) stage. But soon glad tidings come informing 1 him of the rescue of Vasumati from the clutches of the demon. The king is happy. In the sixth act, the queen and Vasumati together come to meet the king. The latter is rejoiced beyond measure by the unique spectacle he saw before hin. The queen is reconciled to her lord marrying Vasumati and the marriage takes place. From the above analysis it can be seen that the poet has developed the sentiment regularly and consistently throughout the play.