Ratnavali

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Ratnavali is a Sanskrit drama about a beautiful princess named Ratnavali, and a great king named Udayana. It is attributed to the Indian emperor Harsha (606 C.E. - 648 C.E.)^[1]

[edit] Plot Summary

The play is a sequel to the story of Princess Vasavdatta of Ujjaini and King Udayana of Kaushambi. Because of certain events that were happening, Vasavdatta had to fake her death. In order to keep the relation strong between Ujjaini and Kaushambi, they sent Vasavdatta's Sinhalese cousin, Ratnavali, to be married to Udayana. In the mean time, Vasavdatta's faked death was a success and she had returned, reuniting with Udayana and reclaiming her position as Queen of Kaushambi.

Ratnavali, however, was unaware of this. During her voyage her ship was wrecked and she was cast adrift until a merchant ship found her and took her to the palace, where she was disguised as a commoner by the name of Sagarika. Vasavdatta made her a Lady-in-waiting and assigned her to the care of Medhavini, the myna bird.

Fearing that Udayana would be swayed by her new attendant's beauty, Vasavdatta took steps to hide Ratnavali/Sagarika from from her husband. Soon after, the festival of [[Kamadeva}Madana]] took place at the palace. Sagarika was intended to stay home to care for her charge, but another companion of the Queen's named Susangata offered to watch Medhavini in her stead. When Sagarika reached the festival and saw Udayana, she fell in love with him, but was sent home due to Vasavdatta's jealousy. Through a series of unlikely events, Susangata and Sagarika plotted to unite the king and Sagarika. In the end, Sagarika marries Udayana as his third wife.