पृष्ठम्:मालविकाग्निमित्रम्.djvu/२५

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MALAVIKAGNIMITRA.

makes love to Śakuntalâ ; Purûravas likewise has more wives than one, and he does not hesitate to marry Urvaśî, a heavenly nymph that, it may be observed, in earthly language would be designated by a name by no means enviable to a woman of good character. The Mâlavikâgnimitra is no more a domestic intrigue, as it has usually been assumed, than the Vikramorvaśî. King Agnimitra's passion for Mâlavikâ is as pure, or, perhaps, more so than that of King Purûravas for Urvasi'. Agnimitra nowhere shows that he desires an unlawful gratification of his passion. We must not be misguided by the fact that Mâlavikâ was in the train of attendants of Dhâarinî. We are nowhere told that the heroine actually served as an attendant of Dhâriņî . Even if this had been the case, there would have been nothing of the nature of an intrigue, properly so called, in the king's love affairs with Mâlavikâ, as long as he wished to add his mistress formally to his harem by elevating her to the position of a queen. Indian kings were neither in ancient times nor are they in modern times, very fastidious as to the family of every member of their harems, provided the objects of their passion are possessed of personal beauty and mental accomplishments. We need not go far in search of an illustration. The marriage of Śakuntalâ with Dushyanta, of a girl of illegitimate birth with a king of one of the most renowned dynasties of ancient India, ought to satisfy us. Nor can the play of Mâlavikâgnimitra be pronounced an household intrigue, simply because the court of the king is the scene where the events take place. The amours of,