SAKOONTALA [reverently].—­My father, I salute you.

KANWA.—­My daughter,
    May’st thou be highly honored by thy lord,
    E’en as Yayati Sarmishtha adored! 
    And, as she bore him Puru; so may’st thou
    Bring forth a son to whom the world shall bow!

GAUTAMI.—­Most venerable father, she accepts your benediction as if she already possessed the boon it confers.

KANWA.—­Now come this way, my child, and walk reverently round these sacrificial fires. [They all walk round.

KANWA [repeats a prayer in the metre of the Rig-veda].—­
    Holy flames, that gleam around
    Every altar’s hallowed ground;
    Holy flames, whose frequent food
    Is the consecrated wood,
    And for whose encircling bed,
    Sacred Kusa-grass is spread;
    Holy flames, that waft to heaven
    Sweet oblations daily given,
    Mortal guilt to purge away;—­
    Hear, oh hear me, when I pray—­
    Purify my child this day! 
Now then, my daughter, set out on thy journey. [Looking on one side.]
Where are thy attendants, Sarngarava and the others?

YOUNG HERMIT [entering].—­Here we are, most venerable father.

KANWA.—­Lead the way for thy sister.

SARNGARAVA.—­Come, Sakoontala, let us proceed.
          [All move away.

KANWA.—­Hear me, ye trees that surround our hermitage! 
    Sakoontala ne’er moistened in the stream
    Her own parched lips, till she had fondly poured
    Its purest water on your thirsty roots;
    And oft, when she would fain have decked her hair
    With your thick-clustering blossoms, in her love
    She robbed you not e’en of a single flower. 
    Her highest joy was ever to behold
    The early glory of your opening buds: 
    Oh, then, dismiss her with a kind farewell! 
    This very day she quits her father’s home,
    To seek the palace of her wedded lord.
          [The note of a Koeil is heard. 
    Hark! heard’st thou not the answer of the trees,
    Our sylvan sisters, warbled in the note
    Of the melodious Koeil? they dismiss
    Their dear Sakoontala with loving wishes.

VOICES [in the air].—­
    Fare thee well, journey pleasantly on amid streams
    Where the lotuses bloom, and the sun’s glowing beams
    Never pierce the deep shade of the wide-spreading trees,
    While gently around thee shall sport the cool breeze;
    Then light be thy footsteps and easy thy tread,
    Beneath thee shall carpets of lilies be spread. 
    Journey on to thy lord, let thy spirit be gay,
    For the smiles of all Nature shall gladden thy way.
          [All listen with astonishment.

GAUTAMI.—­Daughter! the nymphs of the wood, who love thee with the affection of a sister, dismiss thee with kind wishes for thy happiness.  Take thou leave of them reverentially.