The Recognition of Śakuntalā 4.4

4.4

duṣyantenāhitaṃ tejo dadhānāṃ bhūtaye bhuvaḥ /
avehi tanayāṃ brahmann agnigarbhāṃ śamīm iva //
ana (priyaṃvadām āśliṣya) sakhi priyaṃ me / kiṃ tv adyaiva śakuntalā nīyata ity utkaṇṭhāsādhāraṇaṃ paritoṣam anubhavāmi /
pri sakhi āvāṃ tāvad utkaṇṭhāṃ vinodayiṣyāvaḥ / sā tapasvinī nirvṛtā bhavatu /
tena hy etasmiṃś cūtaśākhāvalambite nālikerasamudgaka etan nimittam eva kālāntarakṣamā nikṣiptā mayā kesaramālikā /
tad imāṃ hastasaṃnihitāṃ kuru / yāvad aham api tasyai mṛgarocanāṃ tīrthamṛttikāṃ durvākisalayānīti maṅgalasamālambhanāni viracayāmi /

Know, Brahman, that your child,
Like the fire-pregnant tree,
Bears kingly seed that shall be born
For earth's prosperity.

Anusuya (hugging PRIYAMVADA). I am so glad, dear. But my joy is half sorrow when I think that Shakuntala is going to be taken away this very day.

Priyamvada. We must hide our sorrow as best we can. The poor girl must be made happy to-day.

Anusuya. Well, here is a cocoa-nut casket, hanging on a branch of the mango-tree. I put flower-pollen in it for this very purpose. It keeps fresh, you know. Now you wrap it in a lotus-leaf, and I will get yellow pigment and earth from a sacred spot and blades of panic grass for the happy ceremony. (PRIYAMVADA does so. Exit ANUSUYA.)