El Ramayana, Griffith tr.

'Now about the office of a Purohita (house priest). The gods do not eat the food offered by a king, who has a house-priest (Purohita). Thence the king even when (not) intending to bring a sacrifice, would appoint a Bráhman to the office of house-priest.' HA*UG'S A*dureya Bráhmanam. Vol. II. p. 523. 35

p. 538

PAGE 110.

There by the gate the Sáras screamed.

The Sáras or Indian Crane is a magnificent bird easily domesticated and speedily constituting himself the watchman of his master's house and garden. Unfortunately he soon becomes a troublesome and even dangerous dependent, attacking strangers with his long bill and powerful wings, and warring especially upon 'small infantry' with unrelenting ferocity.

PAGE 120.

My mothers or my sire the king.

All the wives of the king his father are regarded and spoken of by Ráma as his mothers.

PAGE 125.

Such blessings as the Gods o'erjoyed
Poured forth when Vritra was destroyed.

Mythology regards Vritra as a demon or Asur, the implacable enemy of Indra, but this is not the primitive idea contained in the name of Vritra. In the hymns of the Veda Vritra appears to be the thick dark cloud which Indra the God of the firmament attacks and disperses with his thunderbolt.' GORRESIO.

'In that class of Rig-veda hymns which there is reason to look upon as the oldest portion of Vedic poetry, the character of Indra is that of a mighty ruler of the firmament, and his principal feat is that of conquering the demon Vritra, a symbolical personification of the cloud which obstructs the clearness of the sky, and withholds the fructifying rain from the earth. In his battles with Vritra he is therefore described as 'opening the receptacles of the waters,' as 'cleaving the cloud' with his 'far-whirling thunderbolt,' as 'casting the waters down to earth.' and 'restoring the sun to the sky.' He is in consequence 'the upholder of heaven, earth, and firmament,' and the god 'who has engendered the sun and the dawn.' CHAMBERS'S CYCLOPÆDIA, lndra.

'Throughout these hymns two images stand out before us with overpowering distinctness. On one side is the bright god of the heaven, as beneficent as he is irresistible: on the other the demon of night and of darkness, as false and treachorous as he is malignant... The latter (as his name Vritra, from var, to veil, indicates) is pre-eminently the thief who hides away the rain-clouds... But the myth is yet in too early a state to allow of the definite designations which are brought before us in the conflicts of Zeus with Typhôn and his monstrous progeny, of Apollôn with the Pythôn, of Bellerophôn with Chimaira of Oidipous with the Sphinx, of Hercules with Cacus, of Sigurd with the dragon Fafnir; and thus not only is Vritra known by many names, but he is opposed sometimes by Indra, sometimes by Agni the fire-god, sometimes by Trita, Brihaspati, or other deities; or rather these are all names of one and the same god:
πολλών ὀνομάτων μορφὴ μία.

Cox's Mythology of the Aryan Nations. Vol. II. p. 326.

p. 539

PAGE 125.

And that prized herb whose sovereign power
Preserves from dark misfortune's hour.
'And yet more medicinal is it than that Moly,
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave;
He called it Haemony, and gave it me,
And bade me keep it as of sovereign use
'Gainst all enchantment, mildew, blast, or damp,
Or ghastly furies' apparition.' Comus.

The Moly of Homer, which Dierbach considers to have been the Mandrake, is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit Múla a root.

PAGE 136.

True is the ancient saw: the Neem
Can ne'er distil a honeyed stream.

The Neem tree, especially in the Rains, emits a strong unpleasant smell like that of onions. Its leaves however make an excellent cooling poultice, and the Extract of Neem is an admirable remedy for cutaneous disorders.

PAGE 152.

Who of Nisháda lineage came.

The following account of the origin of the Nishádas is taken from Wilson's Vishnu Purána, Book I. Chap. 15. 'Afterwards the Munis beheld a great dust arise, and they said to the people who were nigh: "What is this?" And the people answered and said: "Now that the kingdom is without a king, the dishonest men have begun to seize the property of their neighbours. The great dust that you behold, excellent Munis, is raised by troops of clustering robbers, hastening to fall upon their prey." The sages, hearing this, consulted, and together rubbed the thigh of the king (Vena), who had left no offspring, to produce a son. From the thigh, thus rubbed, came forth a being of the complexion of a charred stake, with flattened features like a negro, and of dwarfish stature. "What am I to do," cried he eagerly to the Munis. "Sit down (nishída)," said they. And thence his name was Nisháda. His descendants, the inhabitants of the Vindhyá mountain, great Muni, are still called Nishádas and are characterized by the exterior tokens of depravity.' Professor Wilson adds, in his note on the passage: 'The Matsya says that there were born outcast or barbarous races, Mlechchhas, as black as collyrium. The Bhágavata describes an individual of dwarfish stature, with short arms and legs, of a complexion as black as a crow, with projecting chin, broad flat nose, red eyes, and tawny hair, whose descendants were mountaineers and foresters. The Padma (Bhúmi Khanda) has a similar deccription; adding to the dwarfish stature and black complexion, a wide mouth, large ears, and a protuberant belly. It also particularizes his posterity as Nishádas, Kirátas, Bhillas, and other barbarians and Mlechchhas, living in woods and on mountains. These passages intend, and do not much exaggerate, the uncouth appearance of the Gonds, Koles, Bhils, and other uncivilized tribes, scattered along the forests and mountains of Central India from Behar to Khandesh, and who are, not improbably, the predecessors of the present occupants of the cultivated portions of the country. They are always very black, ill-shapen, and dwarfish, and have countenances of a very African character.'

p. 540

Manu gives a different origin of the Nishádas as the offspring of a Bráhman father and a Súdra mother. See Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. I. p. 481.

PAGE 157.

Beneath a fig-tree's mighty shade,
With countless pendent shoots displayed.
'So counselled he, and both together went
Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
The fig-tree: not that kind for fruit renowned,
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillared shade
High overarched, and echoing walks between.'
Paradise Lost, Book IX,

PAGE 161.

Now, Lakshman, as our cot is made,
Must sacrifice be duly paid.

The rites performed in India on the completion of a house are represented in modern Europe by the familiar 'house-warming.'

PAGE 169.

I longed with all my lawless will
Some elephant by night to kill.

One of the regal or military caste was forbidden to kill an elephant except in battle.

Thy hand has made no Bráhman bleed.

'The punishment which the Code of Manu awards to the slayer of a Brahman was to be branded in the forehead with the mark of a headless corpse, and entirely banished from society; this being apparently commutable for a fine. The poem is therefore in accordance with the Code regarding the peculiar guilt of killing Brahmans; but in allowing a hermit who was not a Divija (twice-born) to go to heaven, the poem is far in advance of the Code. The youth in the poem is allowed to read the Veda, and to accumulate merit by his own as well as his fathers pious acts; whereas the exclusive Code reserves all such privileges to Divijas, invested with the sacred cord.' Mrs. SPEIR'S Life in Ancient India, p. 107.

PAGE 174.

THE PRAISE OF KINGS.

'Compare this magnificent eulogium of kings and kingly government with what Samuel says of the king and his authority: And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.

And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen: and some shall run before his chariots.

p. 541

And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instrument of war, and instruments of his chariots.

And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

And he will take your fields, and your vineyards and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.

And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.      He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.      And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you. I. Samuel, VIII.

In India kingly government was ancient and consecrated by tradition: whence to change it seemed disorderly and revolutionary: in Judea theocracy was ancient and consecrated by tradition, and therefore the innovation which would substitute a king was represented as full of dangers.' GORRESIO.

S'ÁLMALÍ PAGE 1:6.

According to the Bengal recension S'álmalí appears to have been another name of the Vipás'á. S'álmalí may be an epithet signifying rich in Bombax heptaphyllon. The commentator makes another river out of the word.

BHARATH'S RETURN, PAGE 178.

'Two routes from Ayodhyá to Rájagriha or Girivraja are described. That taken by the envoys appears to have been the shorter one, and we are not told why Bharath returned by a different road. The capital of the Kekeyas lay to the west of the Vipás'á. Between it and the S'atadru stretched the country of the Bahikas. Upon the remaining portion of the road the two recensions differ. According to that of Bengal there follow towards the east the river Indamatí, then the town Ajakála belonging to the Bodhi, then Bhulingá, then the river S'aradandá. According to the other instead of the first river comes the Ikshumatí...instead of the first town Abhikála, instead of the second Kulingá, then the second river. According to the direction of the route both the above-mentioned rivers must be tributaries of the S'atadrú...The road then crossed the Yamnuná (Jumna), led beyond that river through the country of the Panchálas, and reached the Ganges at Hástinapura, where the ferry was. Thence it led over the Rámagangá and its eastern tributaries, then over the Gomati, and then in a southern direction along the Málini, beyond which it reached Ayodhyá*. In Bharath's journey the following rivers are passed from west to east: Kutikeshtiká, Uttániká, Kutiká, Kapívatí, Gomatí according to Schlegel, and Hiranyairatí, Uttáriká, Kvtilá, Kapivati, Gomatí according to Gorresio. As these rivers are to be looked for on the east of the Ganges, the first must be the modern K*oh, a small affluent of the Rámagangá, over which the highway cannot have gone as it bends too far to the north. The Uttániká or Uttáriká must be the Rámagangá,the Kutiká or Kutilá its eastern tributary Kos'ilá, the Kapívatí the next tributary which on the maps has different names, Gurra or above Kailas,

p. 542

lower down Bhaigu. The Gomatí (Goomtee) retains its old name. The Máliní, mentioned only in the envoys' journey, must have been the western tributary of the Sarayú now called Chuká.' LASSEN'S Indische Alterthumskunde, Vol. II. P. 524,

PAGE 183.

What worlds await thee, Queen, for this?

'Indian belief divided the universe into several worlds (lokáh). The three principal worlds were heaven, earth, and hell. But according to another division there were seven: Bhúrloka or the earth, Bhuvarloka or the space between the earth and the sun, the seat of the Munis, Siddhas, &c., Svarloka or the heaven of Indra between the sun and the polar star, and the seventh Brahmaloka or the world of Brahma. Spirits which reached the last were exempt from being born again.' GORRESIO.

PAGE 203.

When from a million herbs a blaze
Of their own luminous glory plays.

This mention of lambent flames emitted by herbs at night may be compared with Lucan's description of a similar phenomenon in the Druidical forest near Marseilles, (Pharsalia, III. 420.).

Non ardentis fulgere incendia silvae.

Seneca, speaking of Argolis, (Thyestes, Act IV), says:--

Tota solet
Micare flamma silva, et excelsae trabes
Ardent sine igni.

Thus also the bush at Horeb (Exod. II.) flamed, but was not consumed. The Indian explanation of the phenomenon is, that the sun before he sets deposits his rays for the night with the deciduous plants. See Journal of R. As. S. Bengal, Vol. II. p. 339.

PAGE 219.

We rank the Buddhist with the thief.

Schlegel says in his Preface: 'Lubrico vestigio insistit V. Cl. *Heerenius*, prof. Gottingensis, in libro suo de commerciis veterum populorum (OPP. Vol. HIST. XII, pag. 129,) dum putat, ex mentione sectatorum Buddhae secundo libro Rameidos iniecta de tempore, quo totum carmen sit conditum, quicquam legitime concludi posse.... Sunt versus spurii, reiecti a Bengalis in sola commentatorum recensione leguntur. Buddhas quidem mille fere annis ante Christum natun visit: sed post multa demumsecula, odiointernecivo inter Brachmanos et Buddhae sectatores orto, his denique ex India pulsis, fingi potuit iniquissima criminatio, eos animi immortalitatem poenasque et praemia in vita futura negare. Praeterea metrum, quo concinnati sunt hi versus, de quo metro mox disseram, recentiorem aetatem arguit....Poenitet me nunc mei consilii, quod non statim ab initio,...eiecerim cuncta disticha diversis a sloco vulgari metris composita. Metra sunt duo: pariter ambo constant quatuor hemistichiis inter se aequalibus, alterum undenarum syllabarum, alterum duodenarum, hunc in modum:

p. 543

V -- v -- | -- v v -- | v -- V
v -- v -- | -- v v -- | v -- v V

Cuius generis versus in primo et secundo Rameidos libro nusquam nisi ad finem capitum apposita inveniuntur, et huic loco unice sunt acommodata, quasi peroratio, lyricis numeris assurgens, quo magis canorae cadant clausulae: sicut musici in concentibus extremis omnium vocum instrumentorumque ictu fortiore aures percellere amant. Igitur disticha illa non ante divisionem per capita illatam addi potuerunt: hanc autem grammaticis deberi argumento est ipse recensionum dissensus, manifesto inde ortus, quod singuli editores in ea constituenda suo quisque iudicio usi sunt; praeterquam quod non credibile est, poetam artis suae peritum narrationem continuam in membra tam minuta dissecuisse. Porro discolor est dictio: magniloquentia affectatur, sed nimis turgida illa atque effusa, nec sententiarum pondere satis suffulta. Denique nihil fere novi affertur: ampli ficantur prius dicta, rarius aliquid ex capite sequente anticipatur. Si quis appendices hosce legendo trasiliat, sentiet slocum ultimum cum primo capitis proximi apte coagmentatum, nec sine vi quadam inde avulsum. Eiusmodi versus exhibet utraque recensio, sed modo haec modo illa plures paucioresve numero, et lectio interdum magnopere variat.'

"The narrative of Ráma's exile in the jungle is one of the most obscure portions of the Rámáyana, inasmuch as it is difficult to discover any trace of the original tradition, or any illustration of actual life and manners, beyond the artificial life of self-mortification and selfdenial said to have been led by the Brahman sages of olden time. At the same time, however, the story throws some light upon the significance of the poem, and upon the character in which the Brahmanical author desired to represent Ráma; and consequently it deserves more serious consideration than the nature of the subject-matter would otherwise seem to imply.

According to the Rámáyana, the hero Ráma spent more than thirteen years of his exile in wandering amongst the different Brahmanical settlements, which appear to have been scattered over the country between the Ganges and the Godáveri; his wanderings extending from the hill of Chitra-kúta in Bundelkund, to the modern town of Nasik on the western side of India, near the source of the Godáveri river, and about seventy-five miles to the north-west of Bombay. The appearance of these Brahmanical hermitages in the country far away to the south of the Raj of Kasala, seems to call for critical inquiry. Each hermitage is said to have belonged to some particular sage, who is famous in Brahmanical tradition. But whether the sages named were really contemporaries of Ráma, or whether they could possibly have flourished at one and the same period, is open to serious question. It is of course impossible to fix with any degree of certainty the relative chronology of the several sages, who are said to have been visited by Ráma; but still it seems tolerably clear that some belonged to an age far anterior to that in which the Rámáyana was composed, and probably to an age anterior to that in which Ráma existed as a real and living personage; whilst, at least, one sage is to be found who could only have existed in the age during which the Rámáyana was produced in its present form. The main proofs of these inferences are as follows. An interval of many centuries seems to have elapsed between the composition of the Rig-Veda and that of the Rámáyana: a conclusion

p. 544

which has long been proved by the evidence of language, and is generally accepted by Sanskrit scholars. But three of the sages, said to have been contemporary with Ráma, namely, Vis'vámitra, Atri and Agastya, are frequently mentioned in the hymns of the Rig-Veda; whilst Válmíki, the sage dwelling at Chitra-kúta, is said to have been himself the composer of the Rámáyana. Again, the sage Atri, whom Ráma visited immediately after his departure from Chitra-kúta, appears in the genealogical list preserved in the Mahá Bhárata, as the progenitor of the Moon, and consequently as the first ancestor of the Lunar race: whilst his grandson Buddha [Budha} is said to have married Ilá, the daughter of Ikhs'váku who was himself the remote ancestor of the Solar race of Ayodhyá, from whom Ráma was removed by many generations. These conclusions are not perhaps based upon absolute proof, because they are drawn from untrustworthy authorities; but still the chronological difficulties have been fully apprehended by the Pundits, and an attempt has been made to reconcile all contradictions by representing the sages to have lived thousands of years, and to have often re-appeared upon earth in different ages widely removed from each other. Modern science refuses to accept such explanations; and consequently it is impossible to escape the conclusion that if Válmíki composed the Rámáyana in the form of Sanskrit in which it has been preserved, he could not have flourished in the same age as the sages who are named in the Rig-Veda." WHEELER'S History of India, Vol. II, 229.

PAGE 249.

And King Himálaya's Child.

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.

Strong Kumbhakarna slumbering deep
In chains of never-ending sleep.

"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.

Like S'iva when his angry might
Stayed Daksha's sacrificial rite.

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.}

p. 545

Daksha for devotion
Made a mighty feast:
Milk and curds and butter,
Flesh of bird and beast,

Rice and spice and honey,
Sweetmeats ghí and gur, 1
Gifts for all the Bráhmans,
Food for all the poor.

At the gates of Gangá 2
Daksha held his feast;
Called the gods unto it,
Greatest as the least.

All the gods were gathered
Round with one accord;
All the gods but Umá,
All but Umá's lord.

Umá sat with Shiva
On Kailása hill:
Round them stood the Rudras
Watching for their will.

Who is this that cometh
Lilting to his lute?
All the birds of heaven
Heard his music, mute.

Round his head a garland
Rich of hue was wreathed:
Every sweetest odour
From its blossoms breathed.

'Tis the Muni Nárad;
'Mong the gods he fares,
Ever making mischief
By the tales he bears.

"Hail to lovely Umá!
Hail to Umá's lord!
Wherefore are they absent
For her father's board?

"Multiplied his merits
Would be truly thrice,
Could he gain your favour
For his sacrifice."

Worth of heart was Umá;
To her lord she spake:--
"Why dost thou, the mighty,
Of no rite partake?

"Straight I speed to Daksha
Such a sight to see:
If he be my father,
He must welcome thee."

Wondrous was in glory
Daksha's holy rite;
Never had creation
Viewed so brave a sight.

Gods, and nymphs, find fathers,
Sages, Bráhmans, sprites,--
Every diverge creature
Wrought that rite of rites.

Quickly then a quaking
Fell on all from far;
Umá stood among them
On her lion car.

"Greeting, gods and sages,
Greeting, father mine!
Work hath wondrous virtue,
Where such aids combine.

"Guest-hall never gathered
Goodlier company:
Seemeth all are welcome.
All the gods but me."

Spake the Muni Daksha,
Stern and cold his tone:--
"Welcome thou, too, daughter,
Since thou com'st alone.

"But thy frenzied husband
Suits another shrine;
He is no partaker
Of this feast of mine.

"He who walks in darkness
Loves no deeds of light:
He who herds with demons
Shuns each kindly sprite.

"Let him wander naked.--
Wizard weapons wield,--
Dance his frantic measure
Round the funeral field.

"Art thou yet delighted
With the reeking hide,
Body smeared with ashes.
Skulls in necklace tied?

"Thou to love this monster!
Thou to plead his part!
Know the moon and Gangá
Share that faithless heart

"Vainly art thou vying
With thy rivals' charms.
Are not coils of serpents
Softer than thine arms?"

Words like these from Daksha
Daksha's daughter heard:
Then a sudden passion
All her bosom stirred.

Eyes with fury flashing.
Speechless in her ire,
Headlong did she hurl her
'Mid the holy fire.

Then a trembling terror
Overcame each one,
And their minds were troubled
Like a darkened sun;

p. 546

And a cruel Vision,
Face of lurid flame,
Umá's Wrath incarnate,
From the altar came.

Fiendlike forms by thousands
Started from his side,
'Gainst the sacrificers
All their might they plied:

Till the saints availed not
Strength like theirs to stay,
And the gods distracted
Turned and fled away.

Hushed were hymns and chanting,
Priests were mocked and spurned;
Food defiled and scattered;
Altars overturned.--

Then, to save the object
Sought at such a price,
Like a deer in semblance
Sped the sacrifice.

Soaring toward the heavens,
Through the sky it fled?
But the Rudras chasing
Smote away its head.

Prostrate on the pavement
Daksha fell dismayed:--
"Mightiest, thou hast conquered
Thee we ask for aid.

"Let not our oblations
All be rendered vain;
Let our toilsome labour
Full fruition gain."

Bright the broken altars
Shone with Shiva's form;
"Be it so!" His blessing
Soothed that frantic storm.

Soon his anger ceases,
Though it soon arise;--
But the Deer's Head ever
Blazes in the skies."

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

p. 547

speech?' is the answer of Urvasî. 'I am gone like the first of the dawns. Purûravas, go home again. I am hard to be caught like the winds.' Her lover is in utter despair; but when he lies down to die, the heart of Urvasî was melted, and she bids him come to her on the last night of the year. On that night only he might be with her; but a son should be born to him. On that day he went up to the golden seats, and there Urvasî told him that the Gandharvas would grant him one wish, and that he must make his choice. 'Choose thou for me,' he said: and she answered, 'Say to them, Let me be one of you.'

Cox's Mythology of the Aryan Nations. Vol. I. p. 397

PAGE 324.

The sovereign of the Vánar race.

"Vánar is one of the most frequently occurring names by which the poem calls the monkeys of Ráma's army. Among the two or three derivations of which the word Vánar is susceptible, one is that which deduces it from [Sanskrit: **} which signifies a wood, and thus Vánar would mean a forester, an inhabitant of the wood. I have said elsewhere that the monkeys, the Vánars, whom Ráma led to the conquest of Ceylon were fierce woodland tribes who occupied the mountainous regions of the south of India, where their descendants may still be seen. I shall hence forth promiscuously employ the word Vánar to denote those monkeys, those fierce combatants of Ráma's army." GORRESIO.

PAGE 326.

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.

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.

p. 548

One other point seems to demand consideration, namely, the possibility of such an alliance as that which Ráma is said to have concluded with the monkeys. This possibility will of course be denied by modern critics, but still it is interesting to trace out the circumstances which seem to have led to the acceptance, of such a wild belief by the dreamy and marvel loving Hindi. The south of India swarms with monkeys of curious intelligence and rare physical powers. Their wonderful instinct for organization, their attachment to particular localities, their occasional journeys in large numbers over mountains and across rivers, their obstinate assertion of supposed rights, and the ridiculous caricature which they exhibit of all that is animal and emotional in man, would naturally create a deep impression.... Indeed the habits of monkeys well deserve to be patiently studied; not as they appear in confinement, when much that is revolting in their nature is developed, but as they appear living in freedom amongst the trees of the forest, or in the streets of crowded cities, or precincts of temples. Such a study would not fail to awaken strange ideas; and although the European would not be prepared to regard monkeys as sacred animals he might be led to speculate as to their origin by the light of data, which are at present unknown to the naturalist whose observations have been derived from the menagerie alone.

Whatever, however, may have been the train of ideas which led the Hindú to regard the monkey as a being half human and half divine, there can be little doubt that in the Rámáyana the monkeys of southern India have been confounded with what may be called the aboriginal people of the country. The origin of this confusion may be easily conjectured. Perchance the aborigines of the country may have been regarded as a superior kind of monkeys; and to this day the features of the Marawars, who are supposed to be the aborigines of the southern part of the Carnatic, are not only different from those of their neighbours, but are of a character calculated to confirm the conjecture. Again, it is probable that the army of aborigines may have been accompanied by outlying bands of monkeys impelled by that magpie-like curiosity and love of plunder which are the peculiar characteristics of the monkey race; and this incident may have given rise to the story that the army was composed of Monkeys." WHEELER'S 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.

p. 549

THE VÁNAR HOST, PAGE 370.

"The splendid Marutas form the army of Indras, the red-haired monkeys and bears that of Râmas; and the mythical and solar nature of the monkeys and bears of the Râmâyanam manifests itself several times. The king of the monkeys is a sun-god. Thc ancient king was named Bâlin, and was the son of Indras. His younger brother Sugrívas, he who changes his shape at pleasure (Kâmarúpas), who, helped by Râmas, usurped his throne, is said to be own child of the sun. Here it is evident that the Vedic antagonism between Indras and Vishnus is reproduced in a zoological and entirely apish form. The old Zeus must give way to the new, the moon to the sun, the evening to the morning sun, the sun of winter to that of spring; the young son betrays and overthrows the old one.... Râmas, who treacherously kills the old king of the monkeys, Bâlin, is the equivalent of Vishnus, who hurls his predecessor Indras from his throne; and Sugrívas, the new king of the monkeys resembles Indras when he promises to find the ravished Sítá, in the same way as Vishnus in one of his incarnations finds again the lost vedás. And there are other indications in the Râmâyanam of opposition between Indras and the monkeys who assist Râmas. The great monkey Hanumant, of the reddish colour of gold, has his jaw broken, Indras having struck him with his thunderbolt and caused him to fall upon a mountain, because, while yet a child, he threw himself off a mountain into the air in order to arrest the course of the sun, whose rays had no effect upon him. (The cloud rises from the mountain and hides the sun, which is unable of itself to disperse it; the tempest comes, and brings flashes of lightning and thunder-bolts, which tear the cloud in pieces.)

The whole legend of the monkey Hanumant represents the sun entering into the cloud or darkness, and coming out of it. His father is said to be now the wind, now the elephant of the monkeys (Kapikunjaras), now Kes'arin, the long-haired sun, the sun with a mane, the lion sun (whence his name of Kes'arinak putrah). From this point of view, Hanumant would seem to be the brother of Sugrívas, who is also the offspring of the sun....

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.

p. 550

"The Jaitwas of Rajputana, a tribe politically reckoned as Rajputs, nevertheless trace their descent from the monkey-god Hanuman, and confirm it by alleging that their princes still bear its evidence in a tail-like prolongation of the spine; a tradition which has probably a real ethnological meaning, pointing out the Jaitwas as of non-Aryan race."  * TYLOR'S Primitive Culture, Vol. I. p. 341.

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

p. 551

swift Ekapádakas 1 and the strong imperishable Eaters of Men, and the Kirátas 2 with stiff hair-tufts, men like gold and fair to look upon: And the Eaters of Raw Fish, and the Kirátas who dwell in islands, and the fierce Tiger-men 3 who live amid the waters.'

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

p. 552

Mlechchhas 1 and the Pulindas 2 and the S'úrasenas, 3 and the Prasthalas and the Bharatas and Madrakas 4 and the Kámbojas 5 and the Yavanas 6 and the towns of the S'akas 7 and the Varadas. 8

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

p. 553

existence of Uttara Kuru in historical times as a real country; and (3) by the way in which the legend makes mention of that region as the home of primitive customs. To begin with the last point the Mahabharata speaks as follows of the freer mode of life which women led in the early world, Book I. verses 4719-22: 'Women were formerly unconfined and roved about at their pleasure, independent. Though in their youthful innocence they abandoned their husbands, they were guilty of no offence; for such was the rule in early times. This ancient custom is even now the law for creatures born as brutes, which are free from lust and anger. This custom is supported by authority and is observed by great rishia, and it is still practiced among the northern Kurus.'

"The idea which is here conveyed is that of the continuance in one part of the world of that original blessedness which prevailed in the golden age. To afford a conception of the happy condition of the southern Kurus it is said in another place M.-Bh, i. 4346. "The southern Kurus vied in happiness with the northern Kurus and with the divine rishis and bards."