Ashta-nayika - 4, Vipralabdha, Hurt by her beau

___________ The dejected heroine stands up to her beloved’s deceit, suffers a slew of mental states: despair, deliberation, weakness, weariness, and indignation. ______________ Despair writ large in her red eyes, And deliberation otherwise, Weak and weary on waiting, Flames of fire from eyes flaring, Indignant, lapses she in past at last, Now and then oh what a contrast! Then, I longed for a few free days from him, Yet, it never came true-- eluding dream-- Hope, that ghee-less would go his lamp, Yet, never got folded his camp, Is it that I no longer attract Him? O come let me know the fact. _______________________ Natya Shastra | 04.02.2025 | Free verse, emotions, despair, heartbroken Note: This is fourth of Ashta-Nayikas, eight heroine types, as classified in a Sanskrit treatise on performing arts in Bharata’s Natya-Shastra. The state (avastha) of the eight romantic heroines widely themed in Indian paintings, literature, sculpture, classical dance forms and music. Vipralabdha is the fourth of the eight such heroines depicted here in poetic form.