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THE LIBRARYOFTHE UNIVERSITYOF CALIFORNIARIVERSIDE

Ex LibrisC. K. OGDEN


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Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2007 with funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation


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CHITRA


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''^* Five hundred copies ofthis edition have beenprintedfor the India Society of which two hundredandfifty copies only arefor sale.


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CHITRABYRABINDRANATH TAGORE

A PLAY IN ONE ACT

PUBLISHED BY THE INDIA SOCIETYLONDON

1913


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All rights reserved.


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TOMRS. WILLIAM VAUGHN MOODY


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PREFACE7^//IS lyrical drama ivas written about twenty-

fiveyears ago. It is basedon thefollowing storyfrom the Mahabharata.

In the course of his wanderings, in fulfilment ofa vow ofpenance, Arjuna came to Manipur. Therehe sazv Chitrmigada, the beautiful daughter ofChitravahana, the king of the country. Smittenwith her charms, he asked the king for the handof his daughter in marriage. Chitravahana askedhim who he was, and learning that he was Arjunathe Pandara, told him that Prabhanjana, one ofhis ancestors in the kingly line of Manipur, hadlong been childless. In order to obtain an heir,he performed severe penances. Pleased with theseausterities, the god Shiva gave him this boon, thathe and his successors should each have one child. Itso happened that the promised child had invariablybeen a son. He, Chitravahana, was the first to haveonly a daughter Chitrangadd to perpetuate the race.He had, therefore, always treated her as a son andhad made her his heir. Continuing, the king said:

" The one son that will be born to her must be theperpetuator ofmy race. That son will be the price

vii


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viii PREFACEthat I shall demand for this marriage. Vou cantake her, ifyou like, on this condition^Arjuna promised and took Chitrangada to wife,and lived in her father s capital for three years.

When a son was born to them, he embraced herwith affection, and taking leave of her and herfather, set out again on his travels.


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THE CHARACTERSGODS:

Madana (Eros).Vasanta (Lycoris).Mortals :

Chitra, daughter of the King of Manipur.Arjuna, a prince of the house of the Kurus. He is

of the Kshatriya or " warrior caste," and duringthe action is living as a Hermit retired in theforest.

Villagers from an outlying district of Manipur.

Note.The dramatic poem " Chitra" has been performed in Indiawithout scenerythe actors being surrounded by the audience. Pro-posals for its production here having been made to him, he wentthrough this translation and provided stage directions, but wishedthese omitted if it were printed as a book.

IX


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CHITRASCENE I

Chitra.ART thou the god with the five darts, the Lordof Love?

Mauana.I am he who was the first born in the heart of

the Creator. I bind in bonds of pain and bhss theHves of men and women

!

Chitra.I know, I know what that pain is and those

bonds.And who art thou, my lord ?Vasanta.

I am his friendVasanta the King of theSeasons. Death and decrepitude would wearthe world to the bone but that I follow them andconstantly attack them. I am Eternal Youth.Chitra.

I bow to thee. Lord Vasanta.Madana.But what stern vow is thine, fair stranger? Why


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2 CHITRAdost thou wither thy fresh youth with penanceand mortification? Such a sacrifice is not fit forthe worship of love. Who art thou and what isthy prayer?

Chitra.I am Chitra, the daughter of the kingly house

of Manipur. With god-like grace Lord Shivapromised to my royal grandsire an unbroken lineof male descent. Nevertheless, the divine wordproved powerless to change the spark of life inmy mother's wombso invincible was my nature,woman though I be.Madana.

I know, that is why thy father brings thee upas his son. He has taught thee the use of the bowand all the duties of a king.Chitra.

Yes, that is why I am dressed in man's attireand have left the seclusion of a woman's chamber.I know no feminine wiles for winning hearts. Myhands are strong to bend the bow, but I havenever learnt Cupid's archery, the play of eyes.

Madana.That requires no schooling, fair one. The eye

does its work untaught, and he knows how well,who is struck in the heart.


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CHITRA 3Chitra.One day in search of game I roved alone to the

forest on the bank of the Purna river. Tying myhorse to a tree trunk I entered a dense thicket onthe track of a deer. I found a narrow sinuous pathmeandering through the dusk of the entangledboughs, the foliage vibrated with the chirping ofcrickets, when of a sudden I came upon a manlying on a bed of dried leaves, across my path. Iasked him haughtily to move aside, but he heedednot. Then with the sharp end of my bow I prickedhim in contempt. Instantly he leapt up withstraight, tall limbs, like a sudden tongue of firefrom a heap of ashes. An amused smile flickeredround the corners of his mouth, perhaps at thesight of my boyish countenance. Then for thefirst time in my life I felt myself a woman, andknew that a man was before me.Madana.At the auspicious hour I teach the man and the

woman this supreme lesson to know themselves.What happened after that .'*Chitra.With fear and wonder I asked him " Who are

you?" "I am Arjuna," he said, "of the greatKuru clan." I stood petrified like a statue, andforgot to do him obeisance. Was this indeedArjuna, the one great idol of my dreams! Yes, I


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4 CHITRAhad long ago heard how he had vowed a twelve-years' celibacy. Many a day my young ambitionhad spurred me on to break my lance with him, tochallenge him in disguise to single combat, andprove my skill in arms against him. Ah, foolishheart, whither fled thy presumption? Could I butexchange my youth with all its aspirations for theclod of earth under his feet, I should deem it amost precious grace. I know not in what whirlpoolof thought I was lost, when suddenly I saw himvanish through the trees. O foolish woman,neither didst thou greet him, nor speak a word,nor beg forgiveness, but stoodest like a barbarianboor while he contemptuously walked away! . . .Next morning I laid aside my man's clothing. Idonned bracelets, anklets, waist-chain, and a gownof purple red silk. The unaccustomed dress clungabout my shrinking shame ; but I hastened on myquest, and found Arjuna in the forest temple ofShiva.

Madana.Tell me the story to the end. I am the heart-born god, and I understand the mystery of these

impulses.

Chitra.Only vaguely can I remember what things I

said, and what answer I got. Do not ask me to


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CHITRA 5tell you all. Shame fell on me like a thunderbolt,yet could not break me to pieces, so utterly hard,so like a man am I. His last words as I walkedhome pricked my ears like red hot needles. ** Ihave taken the vow of celibacy. I am not fit tobe thy husband!" Oh, the vow of a man! Surelythou knowest, thou god of love, that unnumberedsaints and sages have surrendered the merits oftheir life-long penance at the feet of a woman. Ibroke my bow in two and burnt my arrows in thefire. I hated my strong, lithe arm, scored by draw-ing the bowstring. O Love, god Love, thou hastlaid low in the dust the vain pride of my manlikestrength; and all my man's training lies crushedunder thy feet. Now teach me thy lessons; giveme the power of the weak and the weapon of theunarmed hand.Madana.

I will be thy friend. I will bring the world-conquering Arjuna a captive before thee, to accepthis rebellion's sentence at thy hand.

Chttra.Had I but the time needed, I could win his

heart by slow degrees, and ask no help of thegods. I would stand by his side as a comrade,drive the fierce horses of his war-chariot, attendhim in the pleasures of the chase, keep guard atnight at the entrance of his tent, and help him in


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6 CHITRAall the great duties of a Kshatriya, rescuing theweak, and meting out justice where it is due.Surely at last the day would have come for him tolook at me and wonder, "What boy is this ? Hasone of my slaves in a former life followed me likemy good deeds into this ? " I am not the womanwho nourishes her despair in lonely silence, feedingit with nightly tears and covering it with the dailypatient smile, a widow from her birth. The flowerof my desire shall never drop into the dust beforeit has ripened to fruit. But it is the labour of alifetime to make one's true self known and hon-oured. Therefore I have come to thy door, thouworld-vanquishing Love, and thou, Vasan^a, youth-ful Lord of the Seasons, take from my young bodythis primal injustice, an unattractive plainness.For a single day make me superbly beautiful, evenas beautiful as was the sudden blooming of lovein my heart. Give me but one brief day of perfectbeauty, and I will answer for the days that follow.MadANA.

Lady, I grant thy prayer.Vasanta.Not for the short span of a day, but for one

whole year the charm of spring blossoms shallnestle round thy limbs.


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CHITRA

SCENE IIArjuna.

WAS I dreaming or was what I saw by thelake truly there? Sitting on the mossyturf, I mused over bygone years in the slopingshadows of the evening, when slowly there cameout from the folding darkness of foliage an appari-tion of beauty in the perfect form of a woman, andstood on a white slab of stone at the water'sbrink. It seemed that the heart of the earth mustheave in joy under her bare white feet. Methoughtthe vague veilings of her body should melt inecstasy into air as the golden mist of dawn meltsfrom off the snowy peak of the eastern hill. Shebowed herself above the shining mirror of the lakeand saw the reflection of her face. She started upin awe and stood still; then smiled, and with acareless sweep of her left arm unloosed her hairand let it trail on the earth at her feet. She baredher bosom and looked at her arms, so flawlesslymodelled, and instinct with an exquisite caress.Bending her head she saw the sweet blossomingof her youth and the tender bloom and blush ofher skin. She beamed with a glad surprise. So,if the white lotus bud on opening her eyes in the


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8 CHITRAmorning were to arch her neck and see her shadowin the water, would she wonder at herself the live-long day. But a moment after the smile passedfrom her face and a shade of sadness crept intoher eyes. She bound up her tresses, drew her veilover her arms, and sighing slowly, walked awaylike a beauteous evening fading into the night.To me the supreme fulfilment of desire seemed tohave been revealed in a flash and then to havevanished. . . . But who is it that pushes the door?

Enter Chitra, dressed as a woman.Ah! it is she. Quiet, my heart! . . . Fear menot, lady! I am a Kshatriya.Chitra.Honoured sir, you are my guest. I live in this

temple. I know not in what way I can show youhospitality.Arjuna.

Fair lady, the very sight of you is indeed thehighest hospitality. If you will not take it amissI would ask you a question.Chitra.You have permission.

Arjuna.What stern vow keeps you immured in this

solitary temple, depriving all mortals of a visionof so much loveliness?


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CHITRA 9Chitra.

I harbour a secret desire in my heart, for thefulfilment of which I offer daily prayers to lordShiva.

Arjuna.Alas, what can you desire, you who are the

desire of the whole world ! From the easternmosthill on whose summit the morning sun first printshis fiery foot to the end of the sunset land have Itravelled. I have seen whatever is most precious,beautiful and great on the earth. My knowledgeshall be yours, only say for what or for whomyou seek.

Chitra.He whom I seek is known to all.Arjuna.Indeed! Who may this favourite of the godsbe, whose fame has captured your heart ?Chitra.

Sprung from the highest of all royal houses, thegreatest of all heroes is he.t>Arjuna.

Lady, offer not such a wealth of beauty as isyours on the altar of false reputation. Spuriousfame spreads from tongue to tongue like the fogof the early dawn before the sun rises. Tell me


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lo CHITRAwho in the highest of kingly lines is the supremehero?Chitra.

Hermit, you are jealous of other men's fame.Do you not know that all over the world the royalhouse of the Kurus is the most famous ?Arjuna.The house of the Kurus!Chitra.And have you never heard of the greatest name

of that far-famed house ?Akjuna.

From your own lips let me hear it.Chitra.

Arjuna, the conqueror of the world. I haveculled from the mouths of the multitude that im-perishable name and hidden it with care in mymaiden heart. Hermit, why do you look per-turbed? Has that name only a deceitful glitter?Say so, and I will not hesitate to break this casketof my heart and throw the false gem to the dust.Arjuna.

Be his name and fame, his bravery and prowessfalse or true, for mercy's sake do not banish himfrom your heartfor he kneels at your feet evennow.


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CHITRA IIChitra.

You, Arjuna!Arjuna.

Yes, I am he, the love-hungered guest at yourdoor.

Chitra.Then it is not true that Arjuna has taken a vow

of chastity for twelve long years ?Arjuna.

But you have dissolved my vow even as themoon dissolves the night's vow of obscurity.Chitra.

Oh, shame upon you ! What have you seen inme that makes you false to yourself? Whom doyou seek in these dark eyes, in these milk-whitearms, if you are ready to pay for her the price ofyour probity ? Not my true self, I know. Surelythis cannot be love, this is not man's highesthomage to woman ! Alas, that this frail disguise,the body, should make one blind to the light ofthe deathless spirit! Yes, now indeed, I know,Arjuna, the fame of your heroic manhood is false.Arjuna.

Ah, I feel how vain is fame, the pride of prowess!Everything seems to me a dream. You alone areperfect; you are the wealth of the world, the endof all poverty, the goal of all efforts, the one


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12 CHITRAwoman ! Others there are who can be but slowlyknown. While to see you for a moment is to seeperfect completeness once and for ever.Chitra.

Alas, it is not I, not I, Arjuna! It is the deceitof a god. Go, go, my hero, go. Woo not false-hood, offer not your great heart to an illusion! Go.


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CHITRA 13

SCENE IIIChitra.

NO, impossible. To face that fervent gazethat almost grasps you like clutching handsof the hungry spirit within; to feel his heart strug-gling t6 break its bounds urging its passionate crythrough the entire bodyand then to send himaway like a beggarno, impossible.

Enter Madana and Vasanta.Ah, god of love, what fearful flame is this withwhich thou hast enveloped me! I burn, and I burnwhatever I touch.Madana.

I desire to know what happened last night.Chitra.At evening I lay down on a grassy bed strewn

with the petals of spring flowers, and recollectedthe wonderful praise of my beauty I had heardfrom Arjuna;drinking drop by drop the honeythat I had stored during the long day. The historyof my past life like that of my former existenceswas forgotten. I felt like a flower, which has buta few fleeting hours to listen to all the humming


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14 CHITRAflatteries and whispered murmurs of the woodlandsand then must lower its eyes from the sky, bendits head and at a breath give itself up to the dustwithout a cry, thus ending the short story of aperfect moment that has neither past nor future.Vasanta.A limitless life of glory can bloom and spenditself in a morning.

Madana.Like an endless meaning in the narrow span of

a song.

Chitra.The southern breeze caressed me to sleep. From

the flowering Malati bower overhead silent kissesdropped over my body. On my hair, my breast,my feet, each flower chose a bed to die on. I slept.And, suddenly in the depth of my sleep, I felt as ifsome intense eager look, like tapering fingers offlame, touched my slumbering body. I started upand saw the Hermit standing before me. Themoon had moved to the west, peering through theleaves to espy this wonder of divine art wroughtin a fragile human frame. The air was heavy withperfume; the silence of the night was vocal withthe chirping of crickets ; the reflections of the treeshung motionless in the lake; and with his staff inhis hand he stood, tall and straight and still, like


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CHITRA 15a forest tree. It seemed to me that I had, on open-ing my eyes, died to all realities of life and under-gone a dream birth into a shadow land. Shameslipped to my feet like loosened clothes. I heardhis call"Beloved, my most beloved!" And allmy forgotten lives united as one and respondedto it. I said, "Take me, take all I am!" And Istretched out my arms to him. The moon set be-hind the trees. One curtain ofdarkness covered all.Heaven and earth, time and space, pleasure andpain, death and life merged together in an unbear-able ecstasy. . . . With the first gleam of light, thefirst twitter of birds, I rose up and sat leaning onmy left arm. He lay asleep with a vague smileabout his lips like the crescent moon in the morn-ing. The rosy red glow of the dawn fell upon hisnoble forehead. I sighed and stood up. I drewtogether the leafy lianas to screen the streamingsun from his face. I looked about me and saw thesame old earth. I remembered what I used to be,and ran and ran like a deer afraid of her ownshadow, through the forest path strewn withshephali flowers. I found a lonely nook, and sittingdown covered my face with both hands, and triedto weep and cry. But no tears came to my eyes.MadANA.

Alas, thou daughter of mortals! I stole from thedivine storehouse the fragrant wine of heaven, filledwith it one earthly night to the brim, and placed it


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i6 CHITRAin thy hand to drinkyet still I hear this cry ofanguish!

Chitra [bitterly].Who drank it? The rarest completion of life'sdesire, the first union of love was proffered to me,but was wrested from my grasp ? This borrowedbeauty, this falsehood that enwraps me, will slipfrom me taking with it the only monument of thatsweet union, as the petals fall from an overblownflower; and the woman ashamed of her nakedpoverty will sit weeping day and night. LordLove, this cursed appearance companions me likea demon robbing me of all the prizes of loveallthe kisses for which my heart is athirst.Madana.

Alas, how vain thy single night had been! Thebarque of joy came in sight, but the waves wouldnot let it touch the shore.

Chitra.Heaven came so close to my hand that I forgot

for a moment that it had not reached me. Butwhen I woke in the morning from my dream Ifound that my body had become my own rival. Itis my hateful task to deck her every day, to sendher to my beloved and see her caressed by him.O god, take back thy boon!


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CHITRA 17MadANA.But if I take it from you how can you stand

before your lover? To snatch away the cup fromhis Hps when he has scarcely drained his firstdraught of pleasure, would not that be cruel ? Withwhat resentful anger he must regard thee then ?Chitra.That would be better far than this. I will reveal

my true self to him, a nobler thing than this dis-guise. If he rejects it, if he spurns me and breaksmy heart, I will bear even that in silence.Vasanta.

Listen to my advice. When with the advent ofautumn the flowering season is over then comes thetriumph of fruitage. A time will come of itselfwhenthe heat-cloyed bloom of the body will droop andArjuna will gladly accept the abiding fruitful truthin thee. O child, go back to thy mad festival.


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i8 CHITRA

SCENE IVChitra."^ 7[ THY do you watch me like that, my warrior?Arjuna.

I watch how you weave that garland. Skill andgrace, the twin brother and sister, are dancingplayfully on your finger tips. I am watching andthinking.

Chitra.What are you thinking, sir ?

Arjuna.I am thinking that you, with this same lightness

of touch and sweetness, are weaving my days ofexile into an immortal wreath, to crown me whenI return home.Chitra.Home! But this love is not for a home!

Arjuna.Not for a home .'*


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CHITRA 19ClIlTRA.

No. Never talk of that. Take to your homewhat is abiding and strong. Leave the Httle wildflower where it was born; leave it beautifully todie at the day's end among all fading blossomsand decaying leaves. Do not take it to your palacehall to fling it on the stony floor which knows nopity for things that fade and are forgotten.Arjuna.

Is ours that kind of love ?

Chitra.Yes, no other! Why regret it ? That which

was meant for idle days should never outlivethem. Joy turns into pain when the door bywhich it should depart is shut against it. Take itand keep it as long as it lasts. Let not the satietyof your evening claim more than the desire ofyour morning could earn. . . . The day is done.Put this garland on. I am tired. Take me in yourarms, my love. Let all vain bickerings of dis-content die away at the sweet meeting of our lips.Arjuna.

Hush! Listen, my beloved, the sound of prayerbells from the distant village temple steals uponthe evening air across the silent trees!


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20 CHITRA

SCENE VVasanta.

I CANNOT keep pace with thee, my friend!I am tired. It is a hard task to keep ahvethe fire thou hast kindled. Sleep overtakes me,the fan drops from my hand, and cold ashes coverthe glow of the fire. I start up again from myslumber and with all my might rescue the wearyflame. But this can go on no longer.MadANA.

I know, thou art as fickle as a child. Ever rest-less is thy play in heaven and on earth. Thingsthat thou for days buildest up with endless detailthou dost shatter in a moment without regret.But this work of ours is nearly finished. Pleasure-winged days fly fast, and the year, almost at itsend, swoons in rapturous bliss.


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CHITRA 21

SCENE VIArjuna.1WOKE in the morning and found that my

dreams had distilled a gem. I have no casketto inclose it, no king's crown whereon to fix it,no chain from which to hang it, and yet have notthe heart to throw it away. My Kshatriya's rightarm, idly occupied in holding it, forgets its duties.

Enter Chitra,Chitra.

Tell me your thoughts, sir!Arjuna.My mind is busy with thoughts of hunting

to-day. See, how the rain pours in torrents andfiercely beats upon the hillside. The dark shadowof the clouds hangs heavily over the forest, andthe swollen stream, like reckless youth, overleapsall barriers with mocking laughter. On such rainydays we five brothers would go to the Chitrakaforest to chase wild beasts. Those were glad times.Our hearts danced to the drumbeat of rumblingclouds. The woods resounded with the screams


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22 CHITRAof peacocks. Timid deer could not hear ourapproaching steps for the patter of rain and thenoise of waterfalls; the leopards would leave theirtracks on the wet earth, betraying their lairs. Oursport over, we dared each other to swim acrossturbulent streams on our way back home. Therestless spirit is on me. I long to go hunting.ClIITRA.

First run down the quarry you are now following.Are you quite certain that the enchanted deer youpursue must needs be caught ? No, not yet. Likea dream the wild creature eludes you when it seemsmost nearly yours. Look how the wind is chasedby the mad rain that discharges a thousand arrowsafter it, Yet it goes free and unconquered. Oursport is like that, my love ! You give chase to thefleet-footed spirit of beauty, aiming at her everydart you have in your hands. Yet this magic deerruns ever free and untouched.Arjuna.My love, have you no home where kind hearts

are waiting for your return? A home which youonce made sweet with your gentle service andwhose light went out when you left it for thiswilderness?Chitra.Why these questions? Are the hours of un-

thinking pleasure over? Do you not know that I


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CHITRA 23am no more than what you see before you? Forme there is no vista beyond. The dew that hangson the tip of a Kinsuka petal has neither name nordestination. It offers no answer to any question.She whom you love is like that perfect bead ofdew.Arjuna.Has she no tie with the world? Can she be

merely like a fragment of heaven dropped on theearth through the carelessness of a wanton god ?Chitka.Yes.

Arjuna.Ah, that is why I always seem about to lose

you. My heart is unsatisfied, my mind knows nopeace. Come closer to me, unattainable one! Sur-render yourself to the bonds of name and homeand parentage. Let my heart feel you on all sidesand live with you in the peaceful security of love.Chitra.Why this vain effort to catch and keep the tints

of the clouds, the dance of the waves, the smell ofthe flowers ?AkjUNA.

Mistress mine, do not hope to pacify love withairy nothings. Give me something to clasp, some-


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24 CHITRAthing that can last longer than pleasure, that canendure even through suffering.

Chitra.Hero mine, the year is not yet full, and you are

tired already! Now I know that it is Heaven'sblessing that has made the flower's term of lifeshort. Could this body of mine have drooped anddied with the flowers of last spring it surely wouldhave died with honour. Yet, its days are num-bered, my love. Spare it not, press it dry of honey,for fear your beggar's heart come back to it againand again with unsated desire, like a thirsty beewhen summer blossoms lie dead in the dust.


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CHITRA

SCENE VIIMadana.'T^O-NIGHT is thy last night.

Vasanta,The loveliness of your body will return to-

morrow to the inexhaustible stores of the spring.The ruddy tint of thy lips freed from the memoryof Arjuna's kisses, will bud anew as a pair of freshasoka leaves, and the soft, white glow of thy skinwill be born again in a hundred fragrant jasmineflowers.

Chitra.O gods, grant me this my prayer! To-night, inits last hour let my beauty flash its brightest, likethe final flicker of a dying flame.Madana.

Thou shalt have thy wish.


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26 CHITRA

SCENE VIIIVillagers."\ ^ ^HO will protect us now?Arjuna.Why, by what danger are you threatened?

Villagers.The robbers are pouring from the northern hills

like a mountain flood to devastate our villagre.?3

Arjuna.Have you in this kingdom no warden?Villagers.

Princess Chitra was the terror of all evil doers.While she was in this happy land we feared naturaldeaths, but had no other fears. Now she has goneon a pilgrimage, and none knows where to findher.

Arjuna.Is the warden of this country a woman?


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CHITRA 27Villagers.

Yes, she is our father and mother in one.[Exeunt.

Enter Chitra.Chitra.Why are you sitting all alone ?

Arjuna.I am trying to imagine what kind of woman

Princess Chitra may be. I hear so many storiesof her from all sorts of men.

Chitra.Ah, but she is not beautiful. She has no such

lovely eyes as mine, dark as death. She can pierceany target she will, but not our hero's heart.

Arjuna.They say that in valour she is a man, and a

woman in tenderness.

Chitra.That, indeed, is her greatest misfortune. When

a woman is merely a woman; when she windsherself round and round men's hearts with hersmiles and sobs and services and caressing endear-ments; then she is happy. Of what use to her are


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28 CHITRAlearning and great achievements? Could you haveseen her only yesterday in the court of the LordShiva's temple by the forest path, you would havepassed by without deigning to look at her. Buthave you grown so weary of woman's beauty thatyou seek in her for a man's strength?With green leaves wet from the spray of the

foaming waterfall, I have made our noonday bedin a cavern dark as night. There the cool of thesoft green mosses thick on the black and drippingstone, kisses your eyes to sleep. Let me guide youthither.

Arjuna.Not to-day, beloved.

Chitra.Why not to-day?

Arjuna.I have heard that a horde of robbers has neared

the plains. Needs must I go and prepare myweapons to protect the frightened villagers.Chitra.You need have no fear for them. Before she

started on her pilgrimage, Princess Chitra had setstrong guards at all the frontier passes.


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CHITRA 29Arjuna.Yet permit me for a short while to set about a

Kshatriya's work. With new glory will I ennoblethis idle arm, and make of it a pillow more worthyof your head.

Chitra.What if I refuse to let you go, if I keep youentwined in my arms ? Would you rudely snatch

yourself free and leave me? Go then! But youmust know that the liana, once broken in two,never joins again. Go, if your thirst is quenched.But, if not, then remember that the goddess ofpleasure is fickle, and waits for no man. Sit for awhile, my lord! Tell me what uneasy thoughtstease you. Who occupied your mind to-day? Isit Chitra?

Arjuna.Yes, it is Chitra. I wonder in fulfilment of what

vow she has gone on her pilgrimage. Of whatcould she stand in need ?Chitra.Her needs? Why, what has she ever had, the

unfortunate creature? Her very qualities are asprison walls, shutting her woman's heart in a barecell. She is obscured, she is unfulfilled. Herwomanly love must content itself dressed in rags;beauty is denied her. She is like the spirit of a


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30 CHITRAcheerless morning, sitting upon the stony mountainpeak, all her light blotted out by dark clouds. Donot ask me of her life. It will never sound sweetto man's ear.

Arjuna.I am eager to learn all about her. I am like a

traveller come to a strange city at midnight.Domes and towers and garden-trees look vagueand shadowy, and the dull moan of the sea comesfitfully through the silence of sleep. Wistfully hewaits for the morning to reveal to him all thestrange wonders. Oh, tell me her story.Chitra.What more is there to tell ?

Arjuna.I seem to see her, in my mind's eye, riding on

a white horse, proudly holding the reins in her lefthand, and in her right a bow, and like the Goddessof Victory dispensing glad hope all round her.Like a watchful lioness she protects the litter ather dugs with a fierce love. Woman's arms, thoughadorned with naught but unfettered strength, arebeautiful! My heart is restless, fair one, like aserpent reviving from his long winter's sleep.Come, let us both race on swift horses side byside, like twin orbs of light sweeping through space.Out from this slumbrous prison of green gloom,


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CHITRA 31this dank, dense cover of perfumed intoxication,choking breath.Chitra.

Arjuna, tell me true, if, now at once, by somemagic I could shake myself free from this volup-tuous softness, this timid bloom ofbeauty shrinkingfrom the rude and healthy touch of the world, andfling it from my body like borrowed clothes, wouldyou be able to bear it? If I stand up straight andstrong with the strength of a daring heart spurningthe wiles and arts of twining weakness, if I holdmy head high like a tall young mountain fir, nolonger trailing in the dust like a liana, shall I thenappeal to man's eye? No, no, you could not endureit. It is better that I should keep spread aboutme all the dainty playthings of fugitive youth, andwait for you in patience. When it pleases you toreturn, I will smilingly pour out for you the wineof pleasure in the cup of this beauteous body.When you are tired and satiated with this wine,you can go to work or play ; and when I grow oldI will accept humbly and gratefully whatevercorner is left for me. Would it please your heroicsoul if the playmate of the night aspired to be thehelpmeet of the day, if the left arm learnt to sharethe burden of the proud right arm.Arjuna.

I never seem to know you aright. You seem tome like a goddess hidden within a golden image.


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32 CHITRAI cannot touch you, I cannot pay you my dues inreturn for your priceless gifts. Thus my love isincomplete. Sometimes in the enigmatic depth ofyour sad look, in your playful words mocking attheir own meaning, I gain glimpses of a beingtrying to rend asunder the languorous grace ofher body, to emerge in a chaste fire of pain througha vaporous veil of smiles. Illusion is the firstappearance of Truth. She advances towards herlover in disguise. But a time comes when shethrows off her ornaments and veils and standsclothed in naked dignity. I grope for that ultimateyou, that bare simplicity of truth.Why these tears, my love? Why cover yourface with your hands? Have I pained you, mydarling? Forget what I said. I will be contentwith the present. Let each separate moment ofbeauty come to me like a bird of mystery from itsunseen nest in the dark bearing a message ofmusic. Let me for ever sit with my hope on thebrink of its realization, and thus end my days.


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CHITRA 33

SCENE IXChitra and Arjuna

Chitra {floakedl.MY lord, has the cup been drained to the lastdrop? Is this, indeed, the end? No, whenall is done something still remains, and that is mylast sacrifice at your feet.

I brought from the garden of heaven flowers ofincomparable beauty with which to worship you,god of my heart. If the rites are over, if the flowershave faded, let me throw them out of the temple[unveiling in her original 7nale attire\ Now, lookat your worshipper with gracious eyes.

I am not beautifully perfect as the flowers withwhich I worshipped. I have many flaws andblemishes. I am a traveller in the great world-path,my garments are dirty, and my feet are bleedingwith thorns. Where should I achieve flower-beauty, the unsullied loveliness of a moment's life?The gift that I proudly bring you is the heart of awoman. Here have all pains and joys gathered,the hopes and fears and shames of a daughter ofthe dust; here love springs up struggling towardimmortal life. Herein lies an imperfection whichyet is noble and grand. If the flower-service is


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34 CHITRAfinished, my master, accept this as your servantfor the days to come

I am Chitra, the king's daughter. Perhaps youwill remember the day when a woman came to youin the temple of Shiva, her body loaded withornaments and finery. That shameless womancame to court you as though she were a man. Yourejected her; you did well. My lord, I am thatwoman. She was my disguise. Then by the boonof gods I obtained for a year the most radiant formthat a mortal ever wore, and wearied my hero'sheart with the burden of that deceit. Most surelyI am not that woman.

I am Chitra. No goddess to be worshipped,nor yet the object of common pity to be brushedaside like a moth with indifference. If you deignto keep me by your side in the path of danger anddaring, if you allow me to share the great dutiesof your life, then you will know my true self. Ifyour babe, whom I am nourishing in my womb beborn a son, I shall myself teach him to be a secondArjuna, and send him to you when the time comes,and then at last you will truly know me. To-dayI can only offer you Chitra, the daughter of aking.

Arjuna.Beloved, my life is full.


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CHISWICK PRESS : CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.T00K3 COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON,


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