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sole object of my affections. //14//
    All exit.
    END ACT II

Act III
    Enter Kaushiki’s attendant.
    PARABHRITIKA : Sister Kaushiki ordered me, ‘Go and fetch some sweet limes 46 so I can present them to the queen.’ I’ll find Madhukarika, keeper of the royal garden.
(
Moving around and looking.
) There she is, staring at a golden ashoka tree. I’ll go to her . . .
    Enter Madhukarika.
    PARABHRITIKA : Madhukarika, are you happy tending the garden?
    MADHUKARIKA : Oh, Parabhritika, welcome, my friend!
    PARABHRITIKA : Friend, the Sister said, ‘People like me shouldn’t greet the noble queen with empty hands. I should bring her some sweet limes.’
    MADHUKARIKA : Of course, the sweet limes are right here. Tell me, after seeing the performance of the competing dance masters, which one did Sister Kaushiki like?
    PARABHRITIKA : Both were scholarly and skilled in performance, but Ganadasa was judged better. It was his student’s special talents.
    MADHUKARIKA : So what’s this gossip I hear about Malavika?
    PARABHRITIKA : Well, the king is totally in love with her, but to spare the queen’s feelings he doesn’t come out with it. And now poor Malavika looks like a garland of withering jasmine, put on and rejected. That’s all I know. I should go.
    MADHUKARIKA : Take this ripe sweet lime hanging from the branch.
    PARABHRITIKA
(
gesturing to take it
): Ah, I hope you get a nicer fruit than this for helping a nun.
(
Starts to go.
)
    MADHUKARIKA : We’ll go together, friend. I have to ask the queen about the needs 47 of this golden ashoka tree which is late to bloom.
    PARABHRITIKA : Right, that’s your duty.
    Exit.
    END INTRODUCTORY SCENE
    Enter the love-struck king, and his counsellor.
    AGNIMITRA
(
looking at himself
): The body may thin
without the pleasure of a beloved’s embrace,
eyes may fill with tears
when they fail to see her for a moment
but my dear heart, you’re never separated
from her deer-like eyes.
Why do you suffer
when you have this ultimate happiness? 48 //1//
    GAUTAMA : Don’t lose strength and whine, your majesty. I saw Malavika’s favourite maid Bakulavalika and gave her your message.
    AGNIMITRA : And what did she say?
    GAUTAMA : She said, ‘Tell the king I’m honoured, but the queen watches over the poor girl like a snake protecting its treasure. It won’t be easy, but I’ll try my best.’
    AGNIMITRA : Oh, great God of Love, you’ve bound me to an unattainable object! You cause me such pain, I cannot bear this longing.
(
Astonished
)
    O Manmatha, what a difference there is
between the tortures of my heart
and your sure-fire 49 bow.
I see in you what is both gentle and cruel. //2//
    GAUTAMA : But I’ve laid out a plan, my lord, so rest easy.
    AGNIMITRA : But how do I pass the rest of the day when my mind ignores official duty?
    GAUTAMA : My lord, earlier today Iravati offered you a gift of red ashoka blossoms as a token of spring’s arrival, and sent a message through Nipunika about her wishes for the new spring: ‘I want to enjoy relaxing on a swing with my lord.’ You promised her the same, so let’s go to the pleasure garden.
    AGNIMITRA : This isn’t right.
    GAUTAMA : But why?
    AGNIMITRA : Women are naturally intuitive, my friend. Even with all my caressing, how will she not see that my heart is given to another?
    Though it’s a genuine request,
it’s best to refuse her.
Rather than pretending to be polite,
I can find many reasons
to reject such vain women,
for whom I have even less affection than before! //3//
    GAUTAMA : My lord, you shouldn’t dispense with all the women of the harem in one go.
    AGNIMITRA
(
thinking
): Then lead the way to the pleasure garden.
    GAUTAMA : This way, this way, my lord.
Both move around.
    GAUTAMA : Here is the pleasure garden, my lord. Blossom-tips swaying in the breeze invite you in. Do enter, my lord.
    AGNIMITRA
(
gesturing the pleasure of touch
): He’s so sympathetic. Look, my friend . . .
    With the sweet call of cuckoos in love
Spring tenderly