Bruhma thus informed by the devas, reflecting, replied, Oh! I have devised the method for slaying this outrageous tyrant. Upon his requesting, "May I be invulnerable to the divine sages, the Gandharvas, the Yakshas, the Rakshasas
us, through contempt,
said nothing respecting man; therefore this wicked one shall be destroyed by
man. The gods, preceded by Shukra, hearing these words spoken by Bruhmá,
were filled with joy.
At this time Vishnoo the glorious, the lord of the world, arrayed in yellow,
with hand ornaments of glowing gold, riding on Vinuteya, as the sun on a cloud,
arrived with his conch, his discus, and his club in his hand. Being adored by
the excellent celestials, and welcomed by Bruhma, he drew near and stood before
him. All the gods then addressed Vishnoo, "O Mudhoo-sooduna, thou art able
to abolish the distress of the distressed. We intreat thee, be our sanctuary, 0
Uchyoota." Vishnoo replied, "Say, what shall I do?" The celestials hearing these
his words added further. "The virtuous, the encourager of excellence, eminent
for truth, the firm observer of his vows, being childless, is performing an Ushwamedha
for the purpose of obtaining offspring. For the sake of the good of the
universe, we intreat thee, O Vishnoo, to become his son. Dividing thyself into
four parts, in the wombs of his three consorts equal to Huri, Shree, and
Keertee, assume the sonship of king Dusha-rutha, the lord of Uyodhya, eminent
in the knowledge of duty, generous and illustrious, as the great sages. Thus
becoming man, O Vishnoo, conquer in battle Ravuna, the terror of the universe, who
is invulnerable to the gods. This ignorant Rakshus Ravuna, by the exertion of
his power, afflicts the gods, the Gundhurvas, the Siddhas, and the most excellent
sages; these sages, the Gundhurvas, and the Upsaras, sporting in the forest
Nunduna have been destroyed by that furious one. We, with the sages, are
come to thee seeking his destruction. The Siddhas, the Gundhurvas, and the
Yakshas betake themselves to thee, thou art our only refuge; O Deva, afflicter of
enemies, regard the world of men, and destroy the enemy of the gods."
Vishnoo, the sovereign of the gods, the chief of the celestials, adored by all
beings, being thus supplicated, replied to all the assembled gods (standing) before
Bruhma, "Abandon fear; peace be with you; for your benefit having killed
Ravuna the cruel, destructively active, the cause of fear to the divine sages,
together with all his posterity, his courtiers and counsellors, and his relations,
and friends, protecting the earth, I will remain incarnate among men for the
space of eleven thousand years."
Having given this promise to the gods, the divine Vishnoo, ardent in the
work, sought a birth-place among men. Dividing himself into four parts, he
whose eyes resemble the lotos and the pulasa, the lotos petal-eyed, chose for his
father Dusha-ratha the sovereign of men. The divine sages then with the
Gundhurvas, the Roodras, and the (different sorts of) Upsaras, in the most excellent
strains, praised the destroyer of Mudhoo, (saying) "Root up Ravuna,
of fervid energy, the devastator, the enemy of Indra swollen with pride.
Destroy him, who causes universal lamentation, the annoyer of the holy ascetics,
terrible, the terror of the devout Tupuswees. Having destroyed Ravuna, tremendously powerful, who causes universal weeping, together with his army and
friends, dismissing all sorrow, return to heaven, the place free from stain and
sin, and protected by the sovereign of the celestial powers."
Thus far the Section, containing the plan for the death of Ravuna.
CAREY AND MARSHMAN.
CAPITOLO XIV.
IL MEZZO STABILITO PER UCCIDERE RÁVANO.
Ma Riscyasringo soggiunse poscia al re: T'appresterò io un altro rito santissimo,
genitale, onde tu conseguisca la prole che tu bramí. E in quel punto
stesso il saggio figliulo di Vibhândaco, iutento alia prosperità del re, pose mano
al sacro rito per condurre ad effetto il suo desiderio. Già erano prima, per ricevere
ciascuno la sua parte, quí convenuti al gran sacrifizio del re magnanimo
l'Asvamedha, í Devi coi Gandharvi, i Siddhi e i Muni, Brahma Signor dei Sari,
Sthânu e l' Augusto Nârâyana, i quattio custudi dell' universo e le Madri degli
Iddn, i Yacsi insieme cogli Dei, e il sovrano, venerando Indra, visibile, circondato
"Oui! répondirent les Dieux au fils suppliant du rishi; tu mérites que nous
t'écoutions avec faveur, toi, brahme saint, et même, en premier lieu, ce roi.
Comme récompense de ces différents sacrifices, le monarque obtendra cet objet
le plus cher de ses désirs."
Ayant aussi parlé et vu que le grand saint avait mis fin suivant les rites à
son pieux sacrifice, les Dieux, Indra à leur tête, s'évanouissent dans le vide des
airs et se rendent vers l'architecte des mondes, le souverain des créatures, le
donateur des biens, vers Brahma enfin, auquel tous, les mains jointes, ils adressent
les paroles suivantes: "O Brahma, un rakshasa, nommé Råvana, tourne au
Ici, dans le premier tome du saint Râmâyana, Finit le quatorzième chapitre,
nommé: UN EXPÉDIENT POUR TUER RÁVANA.
HIPPOLYTE FAUCHE.
UTTARAKÁNDA.
The Rámáyan ends, epically complete, with the triumphant return of
Ráma and his rescued queen to Ayodhyá and his consecration and coronation in
the capital of his forefathers. Even if the story were not complete, the conclusion
of the last Canto of the sixth Book, evidently the work of a later hand than Válmíki's, which speaks of Ráma's glorious and happy reign and promises blessings
to those who read and hear the Rámáyan, would be sufficient to show that, when
these verses were added, the poem was considered to be finished. The Uttarakánda
or Last Book is merely an appendix or a supplement and relates only events antecedent
and subsequent to those described in the original poem. Indian scholars
however, led by reverential love of tradition, unanimously ascribe this Last Book
to Válmíki, and regard it as part of the Ráamáyan.
Signor Gorresio has published an excellent translation of the Uttarakánda,
in Italian prose, from the recension current in Bengal; 1 and Mr. Muir has epitomized
a portion of the book in the Appendix to the Fourth Part of his Sanskrit
Texts (1862). From these scholars I borrow freely in the following pages, and
give them my hearty thanks for saving me much wearisome labour.
In the following section (XVIII.) "Rávana is described as violently interrupting
a sacrifice which is being performed by king Marutta, and the assembled
Rávan then attacks Arjuna or Kárttavírya the mighty king of Máhishmati
on the banks of the Narmadá, and is defeated, captured and imprisoned by
Arjuna. At the intercession of Pulastya (Sect. XXII.) he is released from his
bonds. He then visits Kishkindhá where he enters into alliance with Báli the
King of the Vánars: "We will have all things in common," says Rávan, "dames,
sons, cities and kingdoms, food, vesture, and all delights." His next exploit is
the invasion of the kingdom of departed spirits and his terrific battle with the
sovereign Yama. The poet in his description of these regions with the detested
river with waves of blood, the dire lamentations, the cries for a drop of water,
the devouring worm, all the tortures of the guilty and the somewhat insipid pleasures
of the just, reminds one of the scenes in the under world so vividly described
by Homer, Virgil, and Dante. Yama is defeated (Sect. XXVI.) by the giant, not
so much by his superior power as because at the request of Brahmá Yama refrains
from smiting with his deadly weapon the Rákshas enemy to whom that God had
once given the promise that preserved him. In the twenty-seventh section Rávan
goes "under the earth into Pátála the treasure-house of the waters inhabited by
swarms of serpents and Daityas, and well defended by Varun." He subdues
Bhogavati the city ruled by Vásuki and reduces the Nágas or serpents to subjection.
He penetrates even to the imperial seat of Varun. The God himself is
absent, but his sons come forth and do battle with the invader. The giant is
victorious and departs triumphant. The twenty-eighth section gives the details
of a terrific battle between Rávan and Mándhátá King of Ayodhya, a distinguished
ancestor of Ráma. Supernatural weapons are employed on both sides and the
issue of the conflict is long doubtful. But at last Mándhátá prepares to use the
mighty weapon "acquired by severe austerities through the grace and favour of
Rudra." The giant would inevitably have been slain. But two pre-eminent
Munis Pulastya and Gálava beheld the fight through the power given by contemplation,
and with words of exhortation they parted King Mándhátá and the
sovereign of the Rákshases. Rávan at last (Sect. XXXII.) returns homeward
carrying with him in his car Pushpak the virgin daughters of kings, of Rishis,
of Daityas, and Gandharvas whom he has seized upon his way. The thirty-sixth
section describes a battle with Indra. in which the victorious Meghanáda son of
the giant, makes the King of the Gods his prisoner, binds him with his magic art,
and carries him away (Sect. XXVII.) in triumph to Lanká. Brahmá intercedes
(Sect. XXXVIII.) and Indrajit releases his prisoner *** obtaining in return the
boon that sacrifice to the Lord of Fire shall always make him invincible in the
coming battle. In sections XXXIX, XL, "we have a legend related to Ráma
by the sage Agastya to account for the stupendous strength of the monkey Hanumat,
as it had been described in the Rámáyana. Rama naturally wonders (as
1
The whole story of the marvellous Vánar is here given at length, but nothing else
of importance is added to the tale already given in the Rámáyana. The Rishis
or saints then (Sect. XL.) return to their celestial seats, and the Vánars, Rákshases
and bears also (Sect. XLIII.) take their departure. The chariot Pushpak is restored to its original owner Kuvera, as has already been related in the Rámáyan.
The story of Ráma and Sitá is then continued, and we meet with matter
of more human interest. The winter is past and the pleasant spring-time is come,
and Ráma and Sitá sit together in the shade of the As'oka trees happy as Indra
and S'achí when they drink in Paradise the nectar of the Gods. "Tell me, my
beloved," says Ráma, "for thou wilt soon be a mother, hast thou a wish in thy
heart for me to gratify?" And Sitá smiles and answers: "I long, O son of Raghu,
to visit the pure and holy hermitages on the banks of the Ganges and to venerate
the feet of the saints who there perform their rigid austerities and live on roots
and berries. This is my chief desire, to stand within the hermits' grove were it
but for a single day," And Ráma said: "Let not the thought trouble thee: thou
shalt go to the grove of the ascetics," But slanderous tongues have been busy in
Ayodhyá, and Sitá has not been spared. Ráma hears that the people are lamenting his blind folly in taking back to his bosom the wife who was so long a captive
in the palace of Rávan. Ráma well knows her spotless purity in thought, word,
and deed, and her perfect love of him; but he cannot endure the mockery and
the shame and resolves to abandon his unsuspecting wife. He orders the sad but
still obedient Lakshman to convey her to the hermitage which she wishes to visit
and to leave her there, for he will see her face again no more. They arrive at the
hermitage, and Lakshman tells her all. She falls fainting on the ground, and
when she recovers her consciousness sheds some natural tears and bewails her
cruel and undeserved lot. But she resolves to live for the sake of Ráma and her
unborn son, and she sends by Lakshman a dignified message to the husband who
has forsaken her: "I grieve not for myself," she says " because I have been
abandoned on account of what the people say, and not for any evil that I have
done, The husband is the God of the wife, the husband is her lord and guide;
and what seems good unto him she should do even at the cost of her life."
Sitá is honourably received by the saint Válmiki himself, and the holy
women of the hermitage are charged to entertain and serve her. In this calm
retreat she gives birth to two boys who receive the names of Kus'a and Lava.
They are carefully brought up and are taught by Válmiki himself to recite the
Rámáyan. The years pass by: and Ráma at length determines to celebrate the
As'vamedha or Sacrifice of the Steed. Válmiki, with his two young pupils,
attends the ceremony, and the unknown princes recite before the delighted father
the poem which recounts his deeds. Ráma inquires into their history and recognizes them as his sons. Sitá is invited to return and solemnly affirm her innocence before the great assembly.
"But Sitá's heart was too full; this second ordeal was beyond even her.
power to submit to, and the poet rose above the ordinary Hindu level of women
"Both the great Hindu epics thus end in disappointment and sorrow. In
the Mahábhárata the five victorious brothers abandon the hardly won throne to
die one by one in a forlorn pilgrimage to the Himálaya; and in the same way
Ráma only regains his wife, after all his toils, to lose her. It is the same in the
later Homeric cycle-the heroes of the Iliad perish by ill-fated deaths. And even
Ulysses, after his return to Ithaca, sets sail again to Thesprotia, and finally falls
by the hand of his own son. But in India and Greece alike this is an afterthought
of a self-conscious time, which has been subsequently added to cast a
gloom on the strong cheerfulness of the heroic age." 2
"The termination of Ráma's terrestrial career is thus told in Sections 116
ff. of the Uttarakánda. Time, in the form of an ascetic, comes to his palace gate,
and asks, as the messenger of the great rishi (Brahmá) to see Ráma. He is admitted
and received with honour, but says, when he is asked what he has to
communicate, that his message must be delivered in private, and that any one
who witnesses the interview is to lose his life. Ráma informs Laxmana of all
this, and desires him to stand outside. Time then tells Ráma that he has been
sent by Brahmá, to say that when he (Ráma, i.e. Vishnu) after destroying the
worlds was sleeping on the ocean, he had formed him (Brahmá) from the lotus
springing from his navel, and committed to him the work of creation; that he
(Brahmá) had then entreated Ráma to assume the function of Preserver, and
that the latter had in consequence become Vishnu, being born as the son of Aditi,
and had determined to deliver mankind by destroying Rávana, and to live on
earth ten thousand and ten hundred years; that period, adds Time, was now on
the eve of expiration, and Ráma could either at his pleasure prolong his stay on
earth, or ascend to heaven and rule over the gods, Ráma replies, that he had
been born for the good of the three worlds, and would now return to the place
whence he had come, as it was his function to fulfil the purposes of the gods.
While they are speaking the irritable rishi Durvásas comes, and insists on seeing
Ráma immediately, under a threat, if refused, of cursing Ráma and all his
family.
Laxmana, preferring to save his kinsman, though knowing that his own
death must he the consequence of interrupting the interview of Ráma with Time,
enters the palace and reports the rishi's message to Ráma. Ráma comes out, and
History of India, Vol. II, 229.
PAGE 249.
Umá or Párvatí, was the daughter of Himálaya and Mená. She is the
heroine of Kálidása's Kumára-Sambhava, or Birth of the War-God.
PAGE 250.
"Kumbhakarna, the gigantic brother of the titanic Rávan,--named from
the size of his ears which could contain a Kumbha or large water-jar--had such an
appetite that he used to consume six months' provisions in a single day. Brahmá,
to relieve the alarm of the world, which had begun to entertain serious apprehensions
of being eaten up, decreed that the giant should sleep six months at a time
and wake for only one day during which he might consume his six months' allowance
without trespassing unduly on the reproductive capabilities of the earth."
Scenes front the Rámáyan, p. 153, 2nd Edit.
PAGE 257.
The following spirited version of this old story is from the pen of Mr. W. Waterfield:
"[This is a favorite subject of Hindú sculpture, especially on the temples
of Shiva, such as the caves of Elephanta and Ellora. It, no doubt, is an allegory
of the contest between the followers of Shiva and the worshippers of the Elements,
who observed the old ritual of the Vedas; in which the name of Shiva is
never mentioned.}
At the gates of Gangá 2
All the gods were gathered
Umá sat with Shiva
Who is this that cometh
Round his head a garland
'Tis the Muni Nárad;
"Hail to lovely Umá!
"Multiplied his merits
Worth of heart was Umá;
"Straight I speed to Daksha
Wondrous was in glory
Gods, and nymphs, find fathers,
Quickly then a quaking
"Greeting, gods and sages,
"Guest-hall never gathered
Spake the Muni Daksha,
"But thy frenzied husband
"He who walks in darkness
"Let him wander naked.--
"Art thou yet delighted
"Thou to love this monster!
"Vainly art thou vying
Words like these from Daksha
Eyes with fury flashing.
Then a trembling terror
"Let not our oblations
Bright the broken altars
Soon his anger ceases,
Indian Ballads and other Poems.
URVASÎ, PAGE 286.
"The personification of Urvasî herself is as thin as that of Eôs or Selênê.
Her name is often found in the Veda as a mere name for the morning, and in the
plural number it is used to denote the dawns which passing over men bring them
to old age and death. Urvasî is the bright flush of light overspreading the heaven
before the sun rises, and is but another form of the many mythical beings of
Greek mythology whose names take us back to the same idea or the same root.
As the dawn in the Vedic hymns is called Urûkî, the far-going (Têlephassa, Têlephos),
so is she also Uruasî, the wide-existing or wide-spreading; as are Eurôpê,
Euryanassa, Euryphassa, and many more of the sisters of Athênê and Aphroditê.
As such she is the mother of Vasishtha, the bright being, as Oidipous is the son
of Iokastê; and although Vasishtha, like Oidipous, has become a mortal bard or
sage, he is still the son of Mitra and Varuna, of night and day. Her lover Purûravas
is the counterpart of the Hellenic Polydeukês; but the continuance of her
union with him depends on the condition that she never sees him unclothed. But
the Gandharvas, impatient of her long sojourn among mortal men resolved to
bring her back to their bright home; and Purûravas is thus led unwitingly to disregard
her warning. A ewe with two lambs was tied to her couch, and the Gandharvas
stole one of them; Urvasî said, "They take away my darling, as if I lived in a
land where there is no hero and no man." They stole the second, and she upbraided
her husband again. Then Purûravas looked and said, "How can that be a land
without heroes or men where I am?" And naked he sprang up; he thought it
was too long to put on his dress. Then the Gandharvas sent a flash of lighting,
and Urvasî saw her husband naked as by daylight. Then she vanished. "I come
back," she said, and went. 'Then he bewailed his vanished love in bitter grief.'
Her promise to return was fulfilled, but for a moment only, at the Lotos-lake,
and Purûravas in vain beseeches her to tarry longer. 'What shall I do with thy
PAGE 326.
Somewhat similarly in The Squire's Tale:
'He with a manly voice said his message,
After the form used in his language,
Withouten vice of syllable or of letter.
And for his talë shouldë seem the better
Accordant to his wordës was his chere,
As teacheth art of speech them that it lere.
PAGE 329.
RÁMA'S ALLIANCE WITH SUGRÍVA.
"The literal interpretation of this portion of the Rámáyana is indeed deeply
rooted in the mind of the Hindu. He implicitly believes that Ráma is Vishnu,
who became incarnate for the purpose of destroying the demon Rávana: that he
permitted his wife to be captured by Rávana for the sake of delivering the gods
and Bráhmans from the oppressions of the Rákshasa; and that he ultimately
assembled an army of monkeys, who were the progeny of the gods, and led them
against the strong-hold of Rávana at Lanká, and delivered the world from the
tyrant Rákshasa, whilst obtaining ample revenge for his own personal wrongs.
History of India. Vol. II. pp. 316 ff.
THE FALL OF BÁLI, PAGE 342.
"As regards the narrative, it certainly seems to refer to some real event
amongst the aboriginal tribes: namely, the quarrel between an elder and younger
brother for the possession of a Ráj; and the subsequent alliance of Ráma with
the younger brother. It is somewhat remarkable that Ráma appears to have
formed an alliance with the wrong party, for the right of Báli was evidently
superior to that of Sugríva; and it is especially worthy of note that Ráma compassed
the death of Báli by an act contrary to all the laws of fair fighting. Again,
Ráma seems to have tacitly sanctioned the transfer of Tárá from Báli to Sugríva,
which was directly opposed to modern rule, although in conformity with the
rude customs of a barbarous age; and it is remarkable that to this day the
marriage of both widows and divorced women is practised by the Marawars, or
aborigines of the southern Carnatic, contrary to the deeply-rooted prejudice
which exists against such unions amongst the Hindús at large."
WHEELER'S History of India, Vol. II. 324.
All the epic monkeys of the Râmâyanam are described in the twentieth
canto of the first book by expressions which very closely resemble those applied
in the Vedic hymns to the Marutas, as swift as the tempestuous wind, changing
their shape at pleasure, making a noise like clouds, sounding like thunder,
battling, hurling mountain-peaks, shaking great uprooted trees, stirring up the
deep waters, crushing the earth with their arms, making the clouds fall. Thus
Bâlin comes out of the cavern as the sun out of the cloud....
But the legend of the monkey Hanumant presents another curious resemblance
to that of Samson. Hanumant is bound with cords by Indrajit, son of
Rávanas; he could easily free himself, but does not wish to do so. Rávanas to
put him to shame, orders his tail to be burned, because the tail is the part most
prized by monkeys....
The tail of Hanumant, which sets fire to the city of the monsters, is probably
a personification of the rays of the morning or spring sun, which sets fire to
the eastern heavens, and destroys the abode of tne nocturnal or winter monsters."
DE GUBERNATIS, Zoological Mythology, Vol. II. pp. 100 ff.
PAGE 372.
The names of peoples occurring in the following s'lokas are omitted in the
metrical translation:
'Go to the Brahmamálas, 1 the Videhas, 2 the Málavas, 3 the Kás'ikos'alas, 4
the Mágadnas, 5 the Pundras, 6 and the Angas, 7 and the land of the weavers of
silk, and the land of the mines of silver, and the hills that stretch into the sea,
and the towns and the hamlets that are about the top of Mandar, and the Karnaprávaranas, 8
and the Oshthakarnakas, 9 and the Ghoralobamukhas, 10 and the
PAGE 374.
'Go to the Vidarbhas 4 and the Rishtikas 5 and the Mahishikas, 6 and the
Matsyas 7 and Kalingas 8 and the Kausikas 9...and the Andhras 10 and the
Pundras 11 and the Cholas 12 and the Pandyas 13 and the Keralas. 14 'Go to the
NORTHERN KURUS, PAGE 378.
Professor Lassen remarks in the Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes,
ii. 62: "At the furthest accessible extremity of the earth appears
Harivarsha with the northern Kurus. The region of Hari or Vishnu belongs to
the system of mythical geography; but the case is different with the Uttara
Kurus. Here there is a real basis of geographical fact; of which fable has only
taken advantage, without creating it. The Uttara Kurus were formerly quite independent
of the mythical system of dvípas, though they were included in it at an
early date." Again the same writer says at p. 65: "That the conception of the
Uttara Kurus is based upon an actual country and not on mere invention, is
proved (1) by the way in which they are mentioned in the Vedas; (2) by the
PAGE 428.
Trust to these mighty Vanars.
The corresponding passage in the Bengal recension has "these silvans in
the forms of monkeys, vanaran kapirupinah." "Here it manifestly appears,"
says Gorresio, "that these hosts of combatants whom Rama led to the coitqnest
of Lanka (Ceylon) the kingdom and seat of the Hamitic race, and whom the
poem calls monkeys, were in fact as I have elsewhere observed, inhabitants of the
mountainous and southen regions of India, who were wild-looking and not altogether
unlike monkeys. They were perhaps the remote ancestors of the Malay
races."
All these exploits of Rávan are detailed in the Uttarakánda, and epitomized
in the Appendix.
PAGE 434.
The Bráhman householder ought to maintain three sacred fires, the Gárhapatya,
the Akavaniya and the Dakshina. These three fires were made use of in
many Brahmanical solemnities, for example in funeral rites when the three fires
were arranged in prescribed order.
PAGE 436.
"I have not noticed in the Uttara Kánda any story about the daughter of
Varuna, but the commentator on the text (VI 60, 11) explains the allusion to her
thus:
"The daughter of Varuna was Punjikasthalí. On her account, a curse of
Brahmá, involving the penalty of death, [was pronounced} on the rape of women."
MUIR, Sanskrit Texts, Part IV. Appendix.
PAGE 452.
"Here are indicated those admirable rites and those funeral prayers which
Professor Müller has described in his excellent work, Die Todtenbestattung bei den
Brahmanen, Sítá laments that the body of Ráma will not be honoured with
those rites and prayers, nor will the Bráhman priest while laying the ashes from
the pile in the bosom of the earth, pronounce over them those solemn and magnificent
words: 'Go unto the earth, thy mother, the ample, wide, and blessed
earth.... And do thou, O Earth, open and receive him as a friend with sweet
greeting: enfold him in thy bosom as a mother wraps her child in her robes."
GORRESIO.
PAGE 462.
We read in Josephus that Caesar was so well versed in chiromancy that when
one day a soi-disant son of Herod had audience of him, he at once detected the
impostor because his hand was destitute of all marks of royalty.
PAGE 466.
"Here the commentator explains: 'the battle resembled the dance of the
Gandharvas,' in accordance with the notion of the Gandharvas entertained in his
day. They were regarded as celestial musicians enlivening with their melodies
The Homeric expression is similar, "to dance a war-dance before Ares."
PAGE 470.
"The story of Anaranya is told in the Uttara Kanda of the Rámáyana....'
Anaranya a descendant of Ixváku and King of Ayodhyá, when called upon to
fight with Rávana or acknowledge himself conquered, prefers the former alternative;
but his army is overcome, and he himself is thrown from his chariot.
When Rávana triumphs over his prostrate foe, the latter says that he has
been vanquished not by him but by fate, and that Rávana is only the instrument
of his overthrow; and he predicts that Rávana shall one day be slain by his descendant
Ráma." Sanskrit Texts, IV., Appendix.
PAGE 497.
"With regard to the magic image of Sítá made by Indrajit, we may observe
that this thoroughly oriental idea is also found in Greece in Homer's Iliad, where
Apollo forms an image of Aeneas to save that hero beloved by the Gods: it occurs
too in the Aeneid of Virgil where Juno forms a fictitious Aeneas to save Turnus:
PAGE 489.
"Analogous to this passage of the Rámáyana, where Indra sends to Ráma
his own chariot, his own charioteer, and his own arms, is the passage in the
Aeneid where Venus descending from heaven brings celestial arms to her son
Aeneas when he is about to enter the battle:
Having found Ráma weary with fighting and buried in deep thought,
and Rávan standing before him ready to engage in battle, the holy Agastya,
who had come to see the battle, approached Ráma and spoke to him thus:
"O mighty Ráma, listen to the old mystery by which thou wilt conquer all thy
foes in the battle. Having daily repeated the Ádityahridaya (the delighter
of the mind of the Sun) the holy prayer which destroys all enemies (of him who
repeats it) gives victory, removes all sins, sorrows and distress, increases life,
and which is the blessing of all blessings, worship the rising and splendid sun
who is respected by both the Gods and demons, who gives light to all bodies and
who is the rich lord of all the worlds, (To the question why this prayer claims so
great reverence; the sage answers) Since yonder * sun is full of glory and all gods
reside in him (he being their material cause) and bestows being and the active
principle on all creatures by his rays; and since he protects all deities, demons
and men with his rays.
He is Brahmá, 1 Vishnu, 2 Siva, 3 Skanda, 4 Prajápati, 5 Mahendra, 6 Dhanada, 7
Kála, 8 Yama, 9 Soma, 10 Apàm Pati i.e. The lord of waters, Pitris, 11 Vasus, 12
I respectfully salute thee who art Jaya, 16 Jayabhadra, 17 Haryas'va, 18 O
Thou who hast a thousand rays, I repeatedly salute thee. I repeatedly and respectfully
salute thee who art A'ditya, I repeatedly salute thee who art Ugra, 19
Víra, 20 and Sáranga. 21 I salute thee who openest the lotuses (or the lotus of the
heart). I salute thee who art furious. I salute thee who art the Lord of Brahmá,
S'iva and Vishnu. I salute thee who art the sun, A'dityavarchas, 22 splendid,
Sarvabhaksha, 23 and Raudravapush. 24
I salute thee who destroyest darkness, cold and enemies: whose form is
boundless, who art the destroyer of the ungrateful; who art Deva; 25 who art
the Lord of the luminous bodies, and who appearest like the heated gold. I salute
thee who art Hari, 26 Vis'vakarman, 27 the destroyer of darkness, and who art
splendid and Lokasákshin. 28 Yonder sun destroys the whole of the material
world and also creates it. Yonder sun dries (all earthly things), destroys them and
causes rain with his rays. He wakes when our senses are asleep; and resides
within all beings. Youder sun is Agnihotra 29 and also the fruit obtained by the
Thereupon Agastya having said this went away as he came. The glorious
Ráma having heard this became free from sorrow. Rághava whose senses were
under control, being pleased, committed the hymn to memory, recited it facing
the sun, and obtained great delight. The brave Ráma having sipped water thrice
and become pure took his bow, and seeing Rávana, was delighted, and meditated
on the sun.
PAGE 490.
I have omitted the Canto from which this line is taken because it describes
signs and portents similar to those which have occurred in preceding books. But
the weeping of the horses is new and is too Homeric to be passed by unnoticed.
I borrow the following extract from De Quincey: "The old Homeric superstition
which connects horses by the closest sympathy, and even by prescience, with their
masters--that superstition which Virgil has borrowed from Homer in his beautiful
episode of Mezentins (Rhaebe diu, res si qua diu mortalibus ulla est, Viximus)--
still lingers unbroken in Crete. Horses foresee the fates of riders who are doomed,
and express their prescience by weeping in a human fashion. The horses of
Achilles weep in "Iliad" xvii, on seeing Automedon their beloved driver prostrate
on the ground. With this view of the horse's capacity, it is singular, that
in Crete this animal by preference should be called το αλογου, the brute, or
irrational creature. But the word ἱππος has, by some accident, been lost in the
modern Greek. As an instance both of the disparaging name, and of the ennobling
superstition, take the following stanza from a Cretan ballad of 1825,
written in the modern Greek:--
"Upon which he mounted, and his horse wept; and then he saw clearly
how this should bode his death."
Under the same old Cretan faith, Homer in "Iliad" xvii. 437, says:--
"Tears, scalding tears, trickled to the ground from the eyelids of them (the
horses), fretting through grief for the loss of their charioteer."
DE QUINCEY. Homer and the Homeridae.
Mr. Muir translates the description of the funeral from the Calcutta edition,
as follows: "They formed, with Vedic rites, a funeral pile of faggots of sandal
wood, with padmaka wood, us'ira grass, and sandal, and covered with a quilt of
deer's hair. They then performed an unrivalled obsequial ceremony for the
Ráxasa prince, placing the sacrificial ground to the S.E. and the fire in the proper
situation. They cast the ladle filled with curds and ghee on the shoulder 1 of the
deceased; he (?) placed the car on the feet, and the mortar between the thighs.
Having deposited all the wooden vessels, the [upper] and lower fire-wood, and the
other pestle, in their proper places, they departed. The Ráxasas having then slain
a victim to their prince in the manner prescribed in the S'ástras, and enjoined by
great rishis, cast [into the fire] the coverlet of the king saturated with ghee. They
then, Vibhíshana included, with afflicted hearts, adorned Rávana with perfumes
and garlands, and with various vestments, and besprinkled him with fried grain.
Vibhíshana having bathed, and having, with his clothes wet, scattered in proper
form tila seeds mixed with darbha grass, and moistened with water, applied the
fire [to the pile]."
PAGE 496.
The following is a literal translation of Brahmá's address to Ráma according
to the Calcutta edition, text and commentary:
"O Ráma, how dost thou, being the creator of all the world, best of all
those who have profound knowledge of the Upanishads and all-powerful as thou
art, suffer Sitá to fall in the fire? How dost thou not know thyself as the best
of the gods? Thou art one of the primeval Vasus, 2 and also their lord and creator.
Thou art thyself the lord and first creator of the three worlds. Thou art
the eighth (that is Mahádeva) of the Rudras, 3 and also the fifth 4 of the Sádhyas. 5
(The poet describes Ráma as made of the following gods) The As'vinikumáras
(the twin divine physicians of the gods) are thy ears; the sun and the moon are thy
eyes; and thou hast been seen in the beginning and at the end of creation. How
dost thou neglect the daughter of Videha (Janaka like a man whose actions are
directed by the dictates of nature?" Thus addressed by Indra, Brahmá and
THE MEETING, PAGE 503.
The Bharat-Miláp or meeting with Bharat, is the closing scene of the
dramatic representation of Ráma's great victory and triumphant return which
takes place annually in October in many of the cities of Northern India. The
Rám-Lalá or Play of Ráma, as the great drama is called, is performed in the open
air and lasts with one day's break through fifteen successive days. At Benares
there are three nearly simultaneous performances, one provided by H. H. the
Maharajah of Benares near his palace at Ramnaggur, one by H. H. the Maharajah
of Vizianagram near the Missionary settlement at Sigra and at other places in
the city, and one by the leading gentry of the city at Chowká Ghát near the
College. The scene especially on the great day when the brothers meet is most
interesting: the procession of elephants with their gorgeous howdahs of silver and
gold and their magnificently dressed riders with priceless jewels sparkling in their
turbans, the enthusiasm of the thousands of spectators who fill the streets and
squares, the balconies and the housetops, the flowers that are rained down upon
the advancing car, the wild music, the shouting and the joy, make an impression
that is not easily forgotten.
Ráma's shoes are here regarded as the emblems of royalty or possession.
We may compare the Hebrew "Over Edom will I cast forth my shoe." A curiously
similar passage occurs in LYSCHANDER'S Chronicon Greenlandiæ Rhythmicon:
Forsan in alcun vero suo arco percuote,
as Dante says, and I fully concede the point. The interweaving of the myth with
the historical truth belongs to the essence, so to speak, of the primitive epopeia.
If Sítá is born, as the Rámáyan feigns, from the furrow which King Janak opened
when he ploughed the earth, not a whit more real is the origin of Helen and
Aeneas as related in Homer and Virgil, and if the characters in the Rámáyan
exceed human nature, and in a greater degree perhaps than is the case in analogous
epics, this springs in part from the nature of the subject and still more from
the symbol-loving genius of the orient. Still the characters of the Rámáyan,
although they exceed more or less the limits of human nature, act notwithstanding
in the course of the poem, speak, feel, rejoice and grieve according to the natural
impulse of human passions. But if by saying that the Rámáyan is an allegorical
epic, it is meant that its fundamental subject is nothing but allegory, that the war
of the Aryan Ráma against the Rákshas race is an allegory, that the conquest of
the southern region and of the island of Lanká is an allegory, I do not hesitate
to answer that such a presumption cannot be admitted and that the thing is in my
opinion impossible. Father Paolíno da S. Bartolommeo, 2 had already, together
with other strange opinions of his own on Indian matters, brought forward a
similar idea, that is to say that the exploit of Ráma which is the subject of the
Rámáyan was a symbol and represented the course of the sun: thus he imagined
that Brahmá was the earth, Vishnu the water, and that his avatárs were the
blessings brought by the fertilizing waters, etc. But such ideas, born at a time
when Indo-sanskrit antiquities were enveloped in darkness, have been dissipated
by the light of new studies. How could an epic so dear in India to the memory
of the people, so deeply rooted for many centuries in the minds of all, so propagated
and diffused through all the dialects and languages of those region,
which had become the source of many dramas which are still represented in
India, which is itself represented every year with such magnificence and to such
crowds of people in the neighbourhood of Ayodhyá, a poem welcomed at its very
birth with such favour, as the legend relates, that the recitation of it by the first
wandering Rhapsodists has consecrated and made famous all the places celebrated
I conclude then, that the fundamental theme of the Rámáyan, that is to
say the war of the Aryan Ráma against the Rákshases, an Hamitic race settled
in the south, ought to be regarded as real and historical as far as regards its substance,
although the mythic element intermingled with the true sometimes alters
its natural and genuine aspect.
How then did the Indo-Sanskrit epopeia form and complete itself? What
elements did it interweave in its progress? How did it embody, how did it clothe
the naked and simple primitive datum? We must first of all remember that the
Indo-European races possessed the epic genius in the highest degree, and that
they alone in the different regions they occupied produced epic poetry...But other
causes and particular influences combined to nourish and develop the epic germ
of the Sanskrit-Indians. Already in the Rig-veda are found hymns in which the
Aryan genius preluded, so to speak, to the future epopeia, in songs that celebrated
the heroic deeds of Indra, the combats and the victories of the tutelary Gods
of the Aryan races over enemies secret or open, human or superhuman, the exploits
and the memories of ancient heroes. More recently, at certain solemn
occasions, as the very learned A. Weber remarks, at the solemnity, for example
of the As'vamedha of sacrifice of the horse, the praises of the king who ordained
the great rite were sung by bards and ministrels in songs composed for the purpose,
the memories of past times were recalled and honourable mention was made
of the just and pious kings of old. In the Bráhmanas, a sort of prose commentaries
annexed to the Vedas, are found recorded stories and legends which allude
to historical events of the past ages, to ancient memories, and to mythical events.
Such popular legends which the Bráhmanas undoubtedly gathered from tradition
admirably suited the epic tissue with which they were interwoven by successive
hands......Many and various mythico-historical traditions suitable for epic development,
were diffused among the Aryan races, those for example which are related
516:1 The Academy, Vol. III., No 43, contains an able and interesting notice of
this work from the pen of the Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Cambridge:
'The Uttarakánda.' Mr. Cowell remarks, 'bears the same relation to the
Rámáyana, as the Cyclic poems to the Iliad. Just as the Cypria of Stasinus, the
Aethiopis of Arctinus, and the little Iliad of Lesches completed the story of the 519:1 MUIR, Sanskrit Texts, Part IV, 391, 392. 520:1 See Academy, III., 43. 521:1 Academy, Vol. III., No. 43. 522:1 E. B. Cowell. Academy, No. 48.
The story of Sítá's banishment will be found roughly translated from the
Raghurans'a, in the Additional Notes. 522:2 E. B. Cowell. Academy, Vol, III, No. 48. 523:1 Muir, Sanskrit Texts, Part IV., Appendix. 545:1 Ghí: clarified butter. Gur: molasses. 545:2 Haridwar (Anglicè Hurdwar) where the Ganges enters the plain country. 550:* Campbell in 'Journ. As. Soc. Bengal,' 1866, Part ii, p. 182; Latham, 'Descr. Eth.' Vol. ii. p. 456; Tod,'Annals of Rajasthan,' Vol. i. p. 114. 550:1 Said by the commentator to be an eastern people between the Himálayan
and Vindhyan chains. 550:2 Videha was a district in the province of Behar, the ancient Mithilá or the
modern Tirhoot. 550:3 The people of Malwa. 550:4 "The Kás'ikos'alas are a central nation in the Váyu Purána. The Rámáyana
places them in the east. The combination indicates the country between Benares
and Oude.... Kos'ala is a name variously applied. Its earliest and most
celebrated application is to the country on the banks of the Sarayú, the kingdom
of Ráma, of which Ayodhyá was the capital.... In the Mahábhárata we have
one Kos'ala in the east and another in the south, besides the Prák-Kos'alas and
Uttara Kos'alas in the east and north. The Puránas place the Kos'alas amongst
the people on the back of Vindhya; and it would appear from the Váyu that
Kus'a the son of Ráma transferred his kingdom to a more central position; he
ruled over Kos'ala at his capital of Kús'asthali of Kus'avatí, built upon the Vindhyan
precipices." WILSON'S Vishnu Púrana, Vol. II. pp. 157, 172. 550:5 The people of south Behar. 550:6 The Pundras are said to be the inhabitants of the western provinces of Bengal.
"In the Aitareyabráhmana, VII. 18, it is said that the elder sons of Vis'vamitra
were cursed to become progenitors of most abject races, such as Andhras, Pundras,
S'abaras, Pulindas, and Mútibas." WILSON'S Vishnu Purána Vol. II. 170. 550:7 Anga is the country about Bhagulpore, of which Champá was the capital. 550:8 A fabulous people, 'men who use their ears as a covering.' So Sir John Maundevile
says: "And in another Yle ben folk that han gret Eres and long, that
hangen down to here knees,' and Pliny, lib, iv. c. 13: "In quibus nuda alioquin
corpora praegrandes ipsorum aures tota contegunt." Strabo calls them
ἐνωτόκοιτοι'.
Isidore calls them Panotii. 550:9 'Those whose ears hang down to their lips.' 550:10 'The Iron-faces.' 551:1 'The One-footed.'
"In that Contree," says Sir Jhon Maundevile, "ben folk, that han but o foot
and thei gon so fast that it is marvaylle: and the foot is so large that it schadeweth
alle the Body azen the Sonne, when thei wole lye and rest hem." So Pliny,
Natural History, lib. vii. c. 2: speaks of Hominumn gens...singulis cruribus,
mirae pernicitatis ad saltum; eosdemque Sciopodas vocari, quod in majori aestu,
humi jacentes resupini, umbrâ se pedum protegant."
These epithets are, as Professor Wilson remarks, "exaggerations of national
ugliness, or allusions to peculiar customs, which were not literally intended, although
they may have furnished the Mandevilles of ancient and modern times."
Vishnu Purána, Vol. II. p. 162. 551:2 The Kirrhadae of Arrian: a general name for savage tribes living in woods
and mountains 551:3 Said by the commentator to be half tigers half men. 551:4 The kingdom seems to have corresponded with the greater part of Berar and
Khandesh. 551:5 The Bengal recension has Kishikas, and places them both in the south and
the north. 551:6 The people of Mysore. 551:7 "There are two Matsyas, one of which, according to the Yantra Samráj, is
identifiable with Jeypoor. In the Digvijaya of Nakula he subdues the Matsyas
further to the west, or Gujerat." WILSON'S Vishnu Purána, Vol. II. 158. Dr.
Hall observes: "In the Mahábhárata Sabhá-parwan, 1105 and 1108, notice is
taken of the king of Matsya and of the Aparamatsyas; and, at 1082, the Matsyas
figure as an eastern people. They are placed among the nations of the south
in the Rámáyana Kishkindhá-kánda, XLI., II, while the Bengal recension, Kishkindhá-kánda,
XLlV., 12, locates them in the north." 551:8 The Kalingas were the people of the upper part of the Coromandel Coast, well
known, in the traditions of the Eastern Archipelago, as Kling. Ptolemy has a city
in that part, called Caliga; and Pliny Calingae proximi mari."
WILSON'S Vishnu Purána, Vol. II. l56, Note. 551:9 The Kaus'ikas do not appear to be identifiable. 551:10 The Andhras probably occupied the modem Telingana. 551:11 The Pundras have already been mentioned in Canto XL. 551:12 The inhabitants of the lower part of the Coromandel Coast; so called, after
them, Cholamandala. 551:13 A people in the Deccan. 551:14 The Keralas were the people of Malabar proper. 552:1 A generic term for persons speaking any language but Sanskrit and not conforming
to the usual Hindu institutions. 552:2 "Pulinda is applied to any wild or barbarous tribe. Those here named are
some of the people of the deserts along the Indus; but Pulindas are met with in
many other positions, especially in the mountains and forests across Central
India, the haunts of the Bheels and Gonds. So Ptolemy places the Pulindas along
the banks of the Narmadá, to the frontiers of Larice, the Látá or Lár of the
Hindus,--Khandesh and part of Gujerat." WILSON'S Vishnu Purána, Vol. II.
159, Note.
Dr. Hall observes that "in the Bengal recension of the Rámáyana the Pulindas
appear both in the south and in the north. The real Rámáyana K.-k., XLIII.,
speaks of the northern Pulindas." 552:3 The S'úrasenas were the inhabitants of Mathurá, the Suraseni of Arrian. 552:4 These the Mardi of the Greeks and the two preceding tribes appear to have
dwelt in the north-west of Hindustan. 552:5 The Kámbojas are said to be the people of Arachosia. They are always
mentioned with the north-western tribes. 552:6 "The term Yavanas, although, in later times, applied to the Mohammedans,
designated formerly the Greeks.... The Greeks were known throughout Western
Asia by the term Yavan, or Ion, Ιάονες ; the पवन of the Hindus....
That the Macedonian or Bactrian Greeks were most usually intended is not only
probable from their position and relations with India, but from their being
usually named in concurrence with the north-western tribes, Kámbojas, Daradas,
Páradas, Báhlíkas, S'akas &c., in the Rámáyana. Mahábhárata, Puránas, Manu,
and in various poems and plays." WILSON'S Vishnu Purána Vol. II. p. 181,
Note. 552:7 These people, the Sakai and Sacae of classical writers, the Indo-Scythians
of Ptolemy, extended, about the commencement of our era, along the west of
India, from the Hindu Kosh to the mouths of the Indus. 552:8 The corresponding passage in the Bengal recension has instead of Varadas
Daradas the Dards or inhabitants of the modern Dardistan along the course
of the Indus, above the Himálayas, just before it descends to India. 556:* From the word yonder it would appear that the prayer is to be repeated at the
rising of the Sun. 556:1 The creator of the world and the first of the Hindu triad. 556:2 He who pervades all beings; or the second of the Hindu triad who preserves
the world. 556:3 The bestower of blessings; the third of the Hindu triad and the destroyer of
the world 556:4 A name of the War-God; also one who urges the senses to action. 556:5 The lord of creatures; or the God of sacrifices. 556:6 A name of the King of Gods; also all-powerful. 556:7 The giver of wealth. A name of the God of riches. 556:8 One who directly urges the mental faculties to action. 556:9 One who moderates the senses, also the God of the regions of the dead. 556:10 One who produces nectar (amrita) or one who is always possessed of light;
or one together with Umá (Ardhanárís'vara). 556:11 The names or spirits of departed ancestors. 556:12 Name of a class of eight Gods, also wealthy. 557:1 They who are to be served by Yogís; or a class of Gods named Sádhyas. 557:2 The two physicians of the Gods: or they who pervade all beings. 557:3 They who are immortal; or a class of Gods forty-nine in number. 557:4 Omniscient; or the first king of the world. 557:5 He that moves; life; or the God of wind. 557:6 The God of fire. 557:7 Lord of creatures. 557:8 One who prolongs our lives. 557:9 The material cause of knowledge and of the seasons. 557:10 One who shines. The giver of light. 557:11 The hymn entitled the Ádityahridaya begins from this verse and the words,
thou art, are understood in the beginning of this verse. 557:12 One who enjoys all (pleasurable) objects; The son of Aditi, the lord of the
solar disk. 557:13 One who creates the world i.e. endows beings with life or soul, and by his
rays causes rain and thereby produces corn. 557:14 One who urges the world to action or puts the world in motion, who is
omnipresent. 557:15 One who walks through the sky; or pervades the soul. 557:16 One who nourishes the world i. e. is the supporter. 557:17 One having rays (Gabhasti) or he who is possessed of the all-pervading
goddess Lakshmí. 557:18 One resembling gold. 557:19 One who is resplendent or who gives light to other objects. 557:20 One whose seed (Retas) is gold; or quicksilver, the material cause of gold. 557:21 One who is the cause of day. 557:22 One whose horses are of tawny colour; or one who pervades the whole space
or quarters. 557:23 One whose knowledge is boundless or who has a thousand rays. 557:24 One who urges the seven (Pránas) that is the two eyes, the two ears, the nostrils
and the organ of speech, or whose chariot, is drawn by seven horses. 557:25 Vide Gabhastimán. 557:26 One who destroys darkness, or ignorance. 557:27 One from whom our blessings or the enjoyments of Paradise come. 557:28 The architect of the gods; or one who lessens the miseries of our birth and
death. 557:29 One who gives life to the lifeless world. 557:30 One who pervades the internal and external worlds; or one who is resplendent. 557:31 He who is identified with the Hindu triad, i.e. the creator (Brahmá) the
supporter (Vishnu) and the destroyer (S'iva) 557:32 Cold or good natured. He is so called because he allays the three sorts of pain. 557:33 One who is the lord of all. 557:34 Vide Divákara. 557:35 One who teaches Brahmá and others the Vedas. 557:36 One from whom Rudra the destroyer or the third of the Hindu triad springs. 557:37 One who is knowable through Aditi i.e. the eternal Brahmavidyá. 557:38 Great happiness or the sky 557:39 The destroyer of cold or stupidity. 557:40 The Lord of the sky. 557:41 Vide Timironmathana. 557:42 One who is known through the Upanishads. 558:1 He who is the cause of heavy rain. 558:2 He who is a friend to the good, or who is the cause of water. 558:3 One who moves in the solar orbit. 558:4 One who determines the creation of the world; or who is possessed of heat. 558:5 One who has a mass of rays; or who has Kaustubha and other precious stones
as his ornaments. 558:6 He who urges all to action; or who is yellow in colour. 558:7 One who is the destroyer of all. 558:8 One who is omniscient; or a poet. 558:9 One who is identified with the whole world. 558:10 One who is of huge form. 558:11 One who pleases all by giving nourishment; or who is red in colour. 558:12 One who is the cause of the whole world. 558:13 One who protects the whole world. 558:14 The most glorious of all that are glorious. 558:15 One who is identical with the twelve months. 558:16 One who gives victory over all the worlds to those who are faithfully devoted
to him; or the porter of Brahmá, named Jaya. 558:17 One who is identical with the blessing which can be obtained by conquering
all the worlds; or with the porter of Brahmá named Jayabhadra. 558:18 One who has Hanúmán as his conveyance. 558:19 One who controls the senses; or is furious with those who are not his devotees. 558:20 He who is free in moving the senses; or urges all beings to action. 558:21 He who can be known through the Pranava (the mystical Om-kára.)
558:22 One who is the knowledge of Brahmá. 558:23 One who devours all things. 558:24 He who is the destroyer of all pains; and of love, and hate, the causes of pain;
and ignorance which is the cause of love and hate. 558:25 One who is bliss; or the mover. 558:26 One who destroys ignorance and its effects. 558:27 The doer of all actions. 558:28 One who beholds the universe; who is a witness of good and bad actions. 558:29 Sacrifice of the five sensual fires. 560:1 According to Ápastamba (says the commentator) it should have been placed
on the nose: this must therefore have been done in conformity with some other
Sútras." 560:2 A class of eight gods. 560:3 A class of eleven gods called Rudras. 560:4 Named Viryaván. 560:5 A class of divine devotees named Sádhyas. 561:1 One who resides in the water. 561:2 The third incarnation of Vishnu, that bore the earth on his tusk. 561:3 One whose armies are everywhere. 561:4 One who controls the senses. 561:5 He who resides in the heart, or who is full, or all-pervading. 561:6 Vámana, or the Dwarf incarnation of Vishnu. 561:7 The killer of Madhu, a demon. 561:8 He from whose navel, the lotus, from which Brahmá was born, springs. 561:9 He who has a thousand horns. The horns are here the Sákhás of the Sáma-veda. 561:10 One who has a hundred heads. The heads are here meant to devote a hundred commandments of the Vedas. 561:11 Siddhas are those who have already gained the summit of their desires. 561:12 Sádhyas are those that are still trying to gain the summit. 561:13 A mystic syllable uttered in Mantras. 561:14 A mystic syllable made of the letters अ उ म which respectively denote Brahmá, Vishnu, and S'iva. 561:15 A class of divine gods. 561:16 Sanskáras are those sacred writings through which the divine commands and
prohibitions are known. 562:1 Bali. a demon whom Vámana confined in Pátála. 562:2 Vishnu, the second of the Hindu triad. 562:3 Krishna, (black coloured) one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu. 564:1 A. Weber, Akademische Vorlesungen, p. 181. 564:2 Systema brahmanicum, liturgicum, mythologicum, civile, exmonumentis
Indicis, etc. 565:1 Not only have the races of India translated or epitomized it, but foreign nations have appropriated it wholly or in part, Persia, Java, and Japan itself. 566:1 In the third century B. C.
And King Himálaya's Child.
Strong Kumbhakarna slumbering deep
In chains of never-ending sleep.
Like S'iva when his angry might
Stayed Daksha's sacrificial rite.
Gifts for all the Bráhmans,
Food for all the poor.
Daksha held his feast;
Called the gods unto it,
Greatest as the least.
Round with one accord;
All the gods but Umá,
All but Umá's lord.
On Kailása hill:
Round them stood the Rudras
Watching for their will.
Lilting to his lute?
All the birds of heaven
Heard his music, mute.
Rich of hue was wreathed:
Every sweetest odour
From its blossoms breathed.
'Mong the gods he fares,
Ever making mischief
By the tales he bears.
Hail to Umá's lord!
Wherefore are they absent
For her father's board?
Would be truly thrice,
Could he gain your favour
For his sacrifice."
To her lord she spake:--
"Why dost thou, the mighty,
Of no rite partake?
Such a sight to see:
If he be my father,
He must welcome thee."
Daksha's holy rite;
Never had creation
Viewed so brave a sight.
Sages, Bráhmans, sprites,--
Every diverge creature
Wrought that rite of rites.
Fell on all from far;
Umá stood among them
On her lion car.
Greeting, father mine!
Work hath wondrous virtue,
Where such aids combine.
Goodlier company:
Seemeth all are welcome.
All the gods but me."
Stern and cold his tone:--
"Welcome thou, too, daughter,
Since thou com'st alone.
Suits another shrine;
He is no partaker
Of this feast of mine.
Loves no deeds of light:
He who herds with demons
Shuns each kindly sprite.
Wizard weapons wield,--
Dance his frantic measure
Round the funeral field.
With the reeking hide,
Body smeared with ashes.
Skulls in necklace tied?
Thou to plead his part!
Know the moon and Gangá
Share that faithless heart
With thy rivals' charms.
Are not coils of serpents
Softer than thine arms?"
Daksha's daughter heard:
Then a sudden passion
All her bosom stirred.
Speechless in her ire,
Headlong did she hurl her
'Mid the holy fire.
Overcame each one,
And their minds were troubled
Like a darkened sun;
All be rendered vain;
Let our toilsome labour
Full fruition gain."
Shone with Shiva's form;
"Be it so!" His blessing
Soothed that frantic storm.
Though it soon arise;--
But the Deer's Head ever
Blazes in the skies."
No change of hue, no pose of limb
Gave sign that aught was false in him.
Concise, unfaltering, sweet and clear,
Without a word to pain the ear,
From chest to throat, nor high nor low,
His accents came in measured flow.
Within the consecrated hall.
Fair Punjikasthalá I met.
"Shall no funereal honours grace
The parted lord of Raghu's race?"
Each glorious sign
That stamps the future queen is mine.
In battle's wild Gandharva dance.
By Anaranya'a lips of old.
Tum dea nube cava tenuem sine viribus umbram
In faciem Aeneae (visu mirabile monstrum)
Dardaniis ornat telis; clipeumque jubasque
Divini assimulat capitis; dat inania verba;
Dat sine mente sonum, gressusque effingit euntis.
"To Raghu's son my chariot lend."
At Venus aethereos inter dea candida nimbos
Dona fereus aderat;...
...
Arma sub adversa posuit radiantia quercu.
Ille, deae donis et tanto laetus honore,
Expleri nequit, atque oculos per singula volvit,
Miraturque, interque manus et brachia versat
Terribilem cristis galeam flammasque vomentem,
Fatiferumque ensem, loriam ex aere rigentcm.
His horses poured their burning tears.
"Ωντεν εκαβαλλικευε,
Εκλαιε τ᾽ αλογο του.
Και τοτεσα το εγνωρισε
Πωσ ειναι ὁ θανατος του"
"Δάκρυα δέ σφι
Θερμὰ κατὰ βλεφάρων χαμάδις ῥέε μυρομένοιῖν
Ἡνιόχοιο ποθῃ".
Still on his head, well trained in lore
Of duty, Ráma's shoes he bore.
"Han sendte til Irland sin skiden skoe,
Og böd den Konge. Som der monne boe,
Han skulde dem hæderlig bære
Pan Juuledag i sin kongelig Pragt,
Og kjende han havde sit Rige og Magt
Af Norges og Quernes Herre."
Footnotes