CHITRA

  GODS:
     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 during the action is living as
  a Hermit retired in the forest.

  VILLAGERS from an outlying district of Manipur.

  NOTE.—The dramatic poem "Chitra" has been performed in India
  without scenery—the actors being surrounded by the audience.
  Proposals for its production here having been made to him, he
  went through this translation and provided stage directions, but
  wished these omitted if it were printed as a book.

                               Chitra

     ART thou the god with the five darts, the Lord of Love?

                               Madana

     I am he who was the first born in the heart of the Creator.  I
     bind in bonds of pain and bliss the lives 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 friend—Vasanta—the King of the Seasons.  Death and
     decrepitude would wear the world to the bone but that I follow
     them and constantly attack them.  I am Eternal Youth.

                               Chitra

     I bow to thee, Lord Vasanta.

                               Madana

     But what stern vow is thine, fair stranger?  Why dost thou wither
     thy fresh youth with penance and mortification?  Such a sacrifice
     is not fit for the worship of love.  Who art thou and what is thy
     prayer?

                               Chitra

     I am Chitra, the daughter of the kingly house of Manipur.  With
     godlike grace Lord Shiva promised to my royal grandsire an
     unbroken line of male descent.  Nevertheless, the divine word
     proved powerless to change the spark of life in my mother's womb
     —so invincible was my nature, woman though I be.

                               Madana

     I know, that is why thy father brings thee up as his son.  He has
     taught thee the use of the bow and all the duties of a king.

                               Chitra

     Yes, that is why I am dressed in man's attire and have left