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 f, 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM
 
 INDIAN WISDOM; 
 
 OB, 
 
 EXAMPLES OF THE RELIGIOUS, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND 
 ETHICAL DOCTEINES OF THE HINDUS. 
 
 A BEIEF HISTOKY OF THE CHIEF DEPARTMENTS 
 OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE. 
 
 AND SOME ACCOUNT OP THE 
 
 Ernst an& present Condition of Snfcia, Moral an& Intellectual. 
 
 BY 
 
 SIR MONIER MONIER- WILLIAMS, K.C.I.E. 
 
 M.A. HON. D.C.L. OXFORD; HON. LL.D. CALCUTTA; HON. PH.D. GO"TTINGEN; V.P. OF THE ROYAL 
 
 ASIATIC SOCIETY ; HON. MEMBER OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETIES OF BENGAL AND BOMBAY, 
 
 AND OF THE ORIENTAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETIES OF AMERICA ; 
 
 BODEN PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT ; HON. FELLOW OF 
 
 UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, ETC. 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, ENLARGED AND IMPROVED. 
 
 LONDON: 
 LUZAC & CO., GREAT RUSSELL STREET, 
 
 PUBLISHERS TO THE INDIA OFFICE. 
 1893.
 
 NOTE 
 
 THIS Fourth Edition of " Indian Wisdom " is issued by 
 Messrs. Luzac & Co. with the Author's permission. 
 The Author has made several additions and improve- 
 ments, but the state of his health has not permitted 
 him to revise the proof-sheets.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I. THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA ....... 1 
 
 II. THE BRAHMANAS AND UPANISHADS . ... 24 
 
 III. THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY ...... 46 
 
 IV. THE NYAYA ......... 60 
 
 V. THE SAN-KHYA . . . . . . . W . -79 
 
 VI. THE PORVA-MIMANSA AND VEDANTA ..... 98 
 
 VII. IRREGULAR SYSTEMS AND ECLECTIC SCHOOL . . . I 1 8 
 
 VIII. SMRITI THE VEDAN-GAS ... . . . . -144 
 
 IX. THE SMARTA SUTRAS OR TRADITIONAL RULES . . 1 86 
 
 X. THE DHARMA-SASTRAS OR LAW-BOOKS MANU CONTINUED . 213 
 
 XI. THE LAW-BOOKS MANU CONTINUED . . 278 
 
 Xll. THE ITIHASAS OR EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA . . . 306 
 
 XIII. THE ITIHASAS OR EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA . . 370 
 
 XIV. THE INDIAN EPICS COMPARED WITH BACH OTHER AND WITH 
 
 THE HOMERIQ POEMS . . . . . . .416 
 
 XV. THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. DRAMAS. PURANAS. TANTRAS. NITI- 
 
 SASTRAS ......... 452 
 
 INDEX 
 
 555
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 IN adopting the term ' Indian Wisdom ' as the title of 
 the present work, I wish at the outset to make it clear 
 that, although my object is to draw attention to the best 
 Indian writings, yet it by no means follows that every 
 single extract from those writings will be put forth as an 
 example of what is wise and just and true. 
 
 In point of fact, the following pages have a double 
 object. They are designed as much to give a summary of 
 the history of Sanskrit literature as to present the reader 
 with examples of certain selected portions of that literature. 
 In attempting this double task I am conscious of my in- 
 ability to do justice in a single volume to the richness of 
 the materials at my command. An adequate idea of the 
 luxuriance and varied character of Sanskrit literature 
 can with difficulty be conveyed to Occidental scholars. 
 Naturally, too, the severe European critic will be slow to 
 acquiesce in any tribute of praise bestowed on composi- 
 tions too often marked by tedious repetitions, redundant 
 epithets, and far-fetched conceits ; just as the genuine 
 Oriental, nurtured under glowing tropical skies, cannot 
 easily be brought to appreciate the coldness and severe 
 simplicity of an educated Englishman's style of writing. 
 We might almost say that with Indian authors merit is 
 apt to be measured by magnitude, quality by quantity, 
 were it not for striking thoughts and noble sentiments
 
 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 winch often reward the student who will take the trouble 
 to release them from the surplusage of matter under which 
 they lie concealed ; were it not, also, that, with all this 
 tendency to diffuseness, it is certainly a fact that nowhere 
 do we find the art of condensation so successfully culti- 
 vated, as in some departments of Sanskrit literature. 
 
 Probably the very prolixity natural to Indian writers 
 led to the opposite extreme of brevity, not merely by a 
 law of reaction, but by the necessity for providing short 
 summaries and epitomes as aids to the memory when 
 oppressed by too great a burden. 
 
 However that may be, every student of Sanskrit will 
 certainly note in its literary productions a singular in- 
 equality both as to quantity and quality ; so that in 
 studying Hindu literature continuously we are liable to 
 be called upon to pass from the most exuberant verbosity 
 to the most obscure brevity ; from sound wisdom to little 
 better than puerile unwisdom ; from subtle reasoning to 
 transparent sophistry ; from high moral precepts often 
 expressed in language worthy of Christianity itself to 
 doctrines implying a social condition scarcely compatible 
 with the lowest grades of culture and civilization. 
 
 In embarking, so to speak, on so vast an ocean of re- 
 search, it will be necessary for me to start from that 
 original source and fountain-head of all Indian religious 
 thought, philosophy, and literature the Veda. 
 
 Vedic literature, however, has been already so much 
 written about, and so clearly and ably elucidated by other 
 writers, that I shall be excused, if I pass very rapidly over 
 this part of my subject. 
 
 In the first place, I think I may assume that most 
 educated persons are aware that the Sanskrit word Veda 
 means 'knowledge.' Some, however, may possibly need 
 to be informed that the term Veda is properly only applied 
 to divine unwritten knowledge, imagined to have issued
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 3 
 
 like breath from the Self-existent (Brahman), and com- 
 municated to no single person, but to a whole class of 
 men called Rishis or inspired sages. By them the divine 
 knowledge thus apprehended was transmitted, not in 
 writing, but through the ear, by constant oral repetition 
 through a succession of teachers, who, as claiming to be 
 its rightful recipients, were called Brahmans. Manu (I. 3) 
 declares that the Veda is itself the Self-existent Brahman. 
 Sayana, on the other hand, affirms that the Veda is his 
 breath (acchvasita}. There are, however, numerous incon- 
 sistencies in the accounts' of the production of the Veda 
 which seem not to have troubled the Brahmans, or inter- 
 fered with their faith in its divine origin. With reference 
 to the statement that it issued from the Self-existent, like 
 breath, one account makes it so issue by the power of 
 A-drishta (see p. 74), without any deliberation or thought 
 on his part ; another makes the four Vedas issue from 
 Brahman, like smoke from burning fuel ; another educes 
 them from the elements ; another from the Gayatrl. A 
 hymn in the Atharva-veda (XIX. 54) educes them from 
 Kala or ' Time.' The Satapatha-brahmana asserts that 
 the Creator brooded over the three worlds, and thence 
 produced three lights, fire, the air, and the sun, from which 
 respectively were extracted the Rig, Yajur, and Sama- 
 veda. Manu (I. 23) affirms the same. In the Purusha- 
 sukta the three Vedas are derived from the mystical victim 
 Purusha. Lastly, by the Mimansakas the Veda is declared 
 to be itself an eternal sound, and to have existed absolutely 
 from all eternity, quite independently of any utterer or 
 revealer of its texts. Hence it is often called sruta, ' what 
 is heard.' In opposition to all this we have the Rishis 
 themselves frequently intimating that the Mantras were 
 composed by themselves. 
 
 Here, then, we have a theory of inspiration higher even 
 than that advanced by Muhammad and his followers, or
 
 4 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 by the most enthusiastic adherents of any other religion 
 in the world. It is very true that this inspired knowledge, 
 though its very essence was held to be mystically bound 
 up with Sabda or ' articulate sound ' (thought to be 
 eternal), was ultimately written down, but the writing 
 and reading of it were not encouraged. It was even pro- 
 hibited by the Brahmans, to whom alone all property in 
 it belonged. Moreover, when at last, by its continued 
 growth, it became too complex for mere oral transmission, 
 then this Veda resolved itself, not into one single volume, 
 like the Kuran, but into a whole series of compositions, 
 which had in reality been composed by a number of dif- 
 ferent poets and writers at different times during several 
 centuries. 
 
 There is this great difference, therefore, between the 
 Kuran and the Veda, that whereas the reading of the 
 former is regarded as a sacred duty, and constantly 
 practised by all good Muslims, the Veda, even after it had 
 been committed to writing, became absolutely a sealed 
 book to the masses of Hindus, and with the exception of 
 some of the later Vedic works, called Upanishads, is to 
 this day almost entirely unread, however much it may be 
 still repeated in religious services, and its divine authority 
 as an infallible guide nominally upheld. 1 In fact, the 
 absolute and infallible authority of the Veda is held to be 
 so manifest as to require no proof, and to be entirely 
 beyond the province of reason or argument. Manu even 
 extends this to Smriti (II. 10), where he says, 'By sruti 
 is meant the Veda, and by smriti the books of tradition ; 
 
 1 The want of accuracy in repeating the Mantras of the Big-veda is 
 illustrated by the native editions of Manu. An edition (with the com- 
 mentary of Kulluka) in my possession is a scholar-like production, but 
 almost in every place where the Mantras of the Kig-veda are alluded 
 to by Manu (as in VIII. 91, XL 250, 252, 253, 254) errors disfigure 
 the text and commentary.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 5 
 
 the contents of both these must never be questioned by 
 reason.' 
 
 Of what, then, does this Veda consist ? To conduce to 
 clearness we may regard it as separating itself into three 
 quite distinct divisions, viz. : 
 
 1. Mantra, or prayer and praise embodied in metrical 
 hymns and texts. 
 
 2. Brdlimana, or ritualistic precept and illustration 
 written in prose. 
 
 3. Upanishad, ' mystical or esoteric doctrine ' appended 
 to the aforesaid Brahmana, in prose and occasional verse. 
 
 To begin, then, with the Mantra portion. By this is 
 meant those prayers, invocations, and hymns which have 
 been collected and handed down to us from a period after 
 the Indian branch of the great Indo-European race had 
 finally settled down in Northern India, but which were 
 doubtless composed by a succession of poets at different 
 times (perhaps between 1500 and 1000 years B.C.). These 
 compositions, though very unequal in poetical merit, and 
 containing many tedious repetitions and puerilities, are 
 highly interesting and important, as embodying some of 
 the earliest religious conceptions, as well as some of the 
 earliest known forms, of the primitive language of that 
 primeval Aryan race-stock from which Greeks, Romans, 
 Kelts, Teutons, and the Slavonic races are all offshoots. 
 
 They are comprised in five principal collections of Man- 
 tras, called respectively Rik, Atharvan, Saman, Taittiriya, 
 and Vajasaneyin. Of these the Rig-veda containing one 
 thousand and seventeen hymns is the oldest and most 
 important, while the Atharva-veda is generally held to be 
 the most recent, and is perhaps the most interesting. 
 The Atharva-veda, in fact, seems in its present form to 
 have been later than Manu. At least it does not appear 
 to have been recognized as a fourth Veda in the time 
 of Manu, though he mentions the revelation made to
 
 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Atharvan and An-giras (XL 33). In book XL, verse 264, 
 he declares that the Veda is only threefold, thus : Itico 
 yajunshi cdnydni sdmdni vividhdni 6a, esha jheyas tri- 
 vrid vedo yo vedainam sa veda-vit. The Atharvans were 
 a class of priests descended from a man named Atharvan. 
 They appear to have been the first to institute the worship 
 of fire before the separation of the Indians and Iranians, 
 for there were priests called Atharvans in both India and 
 Persia. 
 
 As to the Sama-veda and the two collections of the 
 Yajur-veda (Taittiriya and Vajasaneyin, or Black and 
 White), they all three borrow largely from the Rik, and 
 are merely Brahmauical manuals, the necessity for which 
 grew out of the complicated ritual gradually elaborated 
 by the Hindu Aryans. A curious allusion to the Sama- 
 veda occurs in Manu IV. 123, &c., ' The Rig-veda has the 
 gods for its deities, the Yajur-veda has men for its objects, 
 the Sama-veda has the Pitris, therefore its sound is im- 
 pure.' Kulluka, however, in his commentary is careful to 
 state that the Sama-veda is not really impure, but only 
 apparently so. This semblance of impurity may perhaps 
 result from its association with deceased persons and its 
 repetition at a time of A-sauca. The Sama-veda is really 
 a mere reproduction of parts of the Rik, transposed and 
 scattered about piecemeal, only seventy-eight verses in 
 the whole Sama-veda being, it is said, untraceable to the 
 present recension of the Rik. The greatest number of its 
 verses are taken from the ninth Mandala of the Rik, which 
 is in praise of the Soma plant, the Sama-veda being a col- 
 lection of liturgical forms for the Soma ceremonies of the 
 Udgatri priests, as the Yajus is for the sacrifices performed 
 by the Adhvaryu priests. Hence we may affirm that the 
 only two Vedic hymn-books worthy of being called separate 
 original collections are the Rig-veda and Atharva-veda ; 
 and to these, therefore, we shall confine our examples.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 7 
 
 To what deities, it will be asked, were the prayers and 
 hymns of these collections addressed ? This is an interest- 
 ing inquiry, for these were probably the very deities wor- 
 shipped under similar names by our Aryan progenitors 
 in their primeval home somewhere on the table-land of 
 Central Asia, or elsewhere, perhaps not far from the sources 
 of the Oxus. 1 The answer is : They worshipped those 
 physical forces before which all nations, if guided solely 
 by the light of nature, have in the early period of their 
 life instinctively bowed down, and before which even the 
 more civilized and enlightened have always been compelled 
 to bend in awe and reverence, if not in adoration. 
 
 To our Aryan forefathers in their primeval home God's 
 power was exhibited in the forces of nature even more 
 evidently than to ourselves. Lands, houses, flocks, herds, 
 men, and animals were more frequently than in Western 
 climates at the mercy of winds, fire, and water, and the 
 sun's rays appeared to be endowed with a potency quite 
 beyond the experience of any European country. We 
 cannot be surprised, then, that these forces were regarded 
 by our Eastern progenitors as actual manifestations, either 
 of one deity in different moods or of separate rival deities 
 contending for supremacy. Nor is it wonderful that these 
 mighty agencies should have been at first poetically per- 
 sonified, and afterwards, when invested with forms, attri- 
 butes, and individuality, worshipped as distinct gods. It 
 was only natural, too, that a varying supremacy and vary- 
 ing honours should have been accorded to each deified 
 force to the air, the rain, the storm, the sun, or fire 
 according to the special atmospheric influences to which 
 particular localities were exposed, or according to the 
 
 1 Professor Whitney and others doubt this usual assumption. Some 
 even lean to the theory that somewhere in the North of Europe is the 
 primeval home of the Aryans.
 
 8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 seasons of the year when the dominance of each was to be 
 prayed for or deprecated. 
 
 This was the religion represented in the Vedas and 
 the primitive creed of the Indo-Aryans about twelve or 
 thirteen centuries before Christ. The first forces deified 
 seem to have been those manifested in the sky and air. 
 These were at first generalised under one rather vague 
 personification, as was natural in the earliest attempts at 
 giving shape to religious ideas. For it may be observed 
 that all religious systems, even the most polytheistic, have 
 generally grown out of some undefined original belief in 
 a divine power or powers controlling and regulating the 
 universe. And although innumerable gods and goddesses, 
 gifted with a thousand shapes, now crowd the Hindu 
 Pantheon, appealing to the instincts of the unthinking 
 millions whose capacity for religious ideas is supposed to 
 require the aid of external symbols, it is probable that 
 there existed for the first Aryan worshippers a simpler 
 theistic creed : even as the thoughtful Hindu of the pre- 
 sent day looks through the maze of his mythology to 
 the philosophical background of one eternal self-existent 
 Being, one universal Spirit, into whose unity all visible 
 symbols are gathered, and in whose essence all entities 
 are comprehended. 
 
 In the Veda this unity soon diverged into various rami- 
 fications. Only a few of the hymns appear to contain 
 the simple conception of one divine self-existent omni- 
 present Being, and even in these the idea of one God 
 present in all nature is somewhat nebulous and undefined. 
 
 It is interesting to note how this idea, vaguely stated as 
 it was in the Veda, gradually developed and became more 
 clearly defined in the time of Manu. In the last verses of 
 the twelfth book (123-125) we have the following : ' Him 
 some adore as transcendently present in fire ; others in 
 Manu, lord of creatures ; some as more distinctly present
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 9 
 
 in Indra, others in pure air, others as the most high 
 eternal Spirit. Thus the man who perceives in his own 
 soul, the supreme soul present in all creatures, acquires 
 equanimity towards them all, and shall be absorbed at 
 last in the highest essence. 
 
 In the Purusha-sukta of the Rig-veda (X. 90), which is 
 one of the later hymns, probably not much earlier than 
 the earliest Brahmana, the one Spirit is called Punish a. 
 The more common name is Atman or Paramatman, and in 
 the later system Brahman, neut. (nom. Brahma), derived 
 from root brih, ' to expand,' and denoting the universally 
 expanding essence or universally diffused substance of the 
 universe. It was thus that the later creed became not so 
 much monotheistic (by which I mean the belief in one god 
 regarded as a personal Being external to the universe, 
 though creating and governing it) as pantheistic ; Brahman 
 in the neuter being ' simple infinite being ' the only real 
 eternal essence w T hich, when it passes into universal 
 manifested existence, is called Brahma, when it manifests 
 itself on the earth, is called Vishnu, and when it again 
 dissolves itself into simple being, is called S'iva ; all the 
 other innumerable gods and demigods being also mere 
 manifestations of the neuter Brahman, who alone is eternal. 
 This, at any rate, appears to be the genuine pantheistic 
 creed of India at the present day. 
 
 To return to the Vedic hymns perhaps the most ancient 
 and beautiful Vedic deification was that of Dyaus, 1 ' the 
 sky/ as Dyaush-pitar, ' Heavenly Father ' (the Zeus or 
 Ju-piter of the Greeks and Eomans). Then, closely con- 
 nected with Dyaus, was a goddess A-diti, ' the Infinite 
 Expanse,' conceived of subsequently as the mother of all 
 
 1 From dyu or di/o, the same as the Old German Tiu or Ziu, who, 
 according to Professor Max Miiller, afterwards became a kind of Mars 
 (whence Tues-day). For Dyaush-pitar see Rig-veda VI. 51.5.
 
 10 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the gods. Next came a development of the same concep- 
 tion called Varuna, ' the Investing Sky,' said to answer to 
 Ahura Mazda, the Ormazd of the ancient Persian (Zand) 
 mythology, and to the Greek Ovpavos but a more spiritual 
 conception, leading to a worship which rose to the nature 
 of a belief in the great Ilarrjp rj/jiwv 6 ev rot? ovpavols. This 
 Varuna, again, was soon thought of in connection witli 
 another vague personification called Mitra ( = the Persian 
 Mithra), ' god of day.' After a time these impersonations 
 of the celestial sphere were felt to be too vague to suit the 
 growth of religious ideas in ordinary minds. Soon, there- 
 fore, the great investing firmament resolved itself into 
 separate cosmical entities with separate powers and attri- 
 butes. First, the watery atmosphere personified under 
 the name of Indra, ever seeking to dispense his dewy 
 treasures (indu), though ever restrained by an opposing 
 force or spirit of evil called Vritra ; and, secondly, the 
 wind thought of either as a single personality named 
 Vayu, or as a whole assemblage of moving powers coming 
 from every quarter of the compass, and impersonated as 
 Maruts or ' Storm-gods.' At the same time in this pro- 
 cess of decentralization if I may use the term the once 
 purely celestial Varuna became relegated to a position 
 among seven secondary deities of the heavenly sphere called 
 Adityas (afterwards increased to twelve, and regarded as 
 diversified forms of the sun in the several months of the 
 year), and subsequently to a dominion over the waters 
 when they had left the air and rested on the earth. 
 
 Of these separately deified physical forces by far the 
 most favourite object of adoration was the deity supposed 
 to yield the dew and rain, longed for by Eastern culti- 
 vators of the soil with even greater cravings than by 
 Northern agriculturists. Indra, therefore the Jupiter 
 Pluvius of early Indian mythology is undoubtedly the 
 principal divinity of Vedic worshippers, in so far at least
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. I I 
 
 as the greater number of their prayers and hymns are 
 addressed to him. 
 
 What, however, could rain effect without the aid of 
 heat ? A force the intensity of which must have im- 
 pressed an Indian mind with awe, and led him to invest 
 the possessor of it with divine attributes. Hence the 
 other great god of Vedic worshippers, and in some respects 
 the most important in his connection with sacrificial rites, 
 is Agni (Latin Ignis), ' the god of fire/ Even Surya, ' the 
 sun ' (Greek -^Xto?), who was probably at first adored as 
 the original source of heat, came to be regarded as only 
 another form of fire. He was merely a manifestation of 
 the same divine energy removed to the heavens, and con- 
 sequently less accessible. Another deity, Ushas, ' goddess 
 of the dawn,' the ^w? of the Greeks, was naturally con- 
 nected with the sun, and regarded as daughter of the sky. 
 Two other deities, the Asvins, were fabled as connected 
 with Ushas, as ever young and handsome, travelling in a 
 golden car and precursors of the dawn. They are some- 
 times called Dasras, as divine physicians, ' destroyers of 
 diseases ' ; sometimes Nasatyas, as ' never untrue.' They 
 appear to have been personifications of two luminous rays 
 imagined to precede the break of day. These, with Yama, 
 ' the god of departed spirits/ are the principal deities of 
 the Mantra portion of the Veda. 
 
 We find, therefore, no trace in the Mantras of the Tri- 
 murti or Triad of deities (Brahma, Vishnu, and S'iva) 
 afterwards so popular. Nor does the doctrine of trans- 
 migration, afterwards an essential element of the Hindu 
 religion, appear in the Mantra portion of the Veda ; 
 though there is a clear declaration of it in the Aranyaka 
 of the Aitareya Brahmana. Nor is caste clearly alluded 
 to, except in the later Purusha-sukta (see p. 21). 
 
 But here it may be asked, if sky, air, water, fire, and 
 the sun were thus worshipped as manifestations of the
 
 12 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 supreme universal God of the universe, was not the earth 
 also an object of adoration with the early Hindus ? And 
 unquestionably in the earlier system the earth under the 
 name of Prithivi, ' the broad one/ does receive divine 
 honours, being thought of as the mother of all beings. 
 Moreover, various deities were regarded as the progeny 
 resulting from the fancied union of earth with Dyaus, 
 ' heaven.' This imaginary marriage of heaven and earth 
 was indeed a most natural idea, and much of the later 
 mythology may be explained by it. But it is remarkable 
 that as religious worship became of a more selfish charac- 
 ter, the earth, being more evidently under man's control, 
 and not seeming to need propitiation so urgently as the 
 more uncertain air, fire, and water, lost importance among 
 the gods, and was rarely addressed in prayer or hymn. 
 
 In all probability the deified forces addressed in the 
 hymns were not represented by images or idols in the Vedic 
 period, though, doubtless, the early worshippers clothed 
 their gods with human form in their own imaginations. 1 
 
 I now begin my examples with a nearly literal transla- 
 tion of the well-known sixteenth hymn of the fourth book 
 of the Atharva-veda, in praise of Varuna or * the Investing 
 Sky': 2 - 
 
 1 See Dr Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. v. p. 453. 
 
 2 Ably translated by Dr. Muir (Sanskrit Texts, vol. v. p. 63) and by 
 Professor Max Miiller. It may be thought that in giving additional 
 translations of this and other hymns I am going over ground already 
 well trodden ; but it should be borne in mind that, as the design of the 
 work is to illustrate continuously the development of Hindu knowledge 
 and literature by a selection of good examples rendered into idiomatic 
 English, I could not, in common justice to such a subject, exclude the 
 best passages in each department of the literature merely because they 
 have been translated by others. I here, however, once for all acknow- 
 ledge with gratitude that, while making versions of my own, I have 
 derived the greatest assistance from the translations of other scholars. 
 It must be understood, too, that my examples are not put forth as
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 13 
 
 The mighty Varuiia, who rules above, looks down 
 
 Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand. 
 
 When men imagine they do ought by stealth, he knows it. 
 
 No one can stand or walk or softly glide along 
 
 Or hide in dai-k recess, or lurk in secret cell, 
 
 But Varuna detects him and his movements spies. 
 
 Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting 
 
 In private and alone ; but he, the king, is there 
 
 A third and sees it all. This boundless earth is his, 
 
 His the vast sky, whose depth no mortal e'er can fathom. 
 
 Both oceans l find a place within his body, yet 
 
 In that small pool he lies contained. Whoe'er should flee 
 
 Far, far beyond the sky, would not escape the grasp 
 
 Of Varuna, the king. His messengers descend 
 
 Countless from his abode -for ever traversing 
 
 This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. 
 
 Whate'er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, 
 
 Yea all that is beyond, king Varuna perceives. 
 
 The winkings 2 of men's eyes, are numbered all by him. 
 
 He wields the universe, as gamesters handle dice. 
 
 May thy destroying snares cast sevenfold round the wicked, 
 
 Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, king ! 3 
 
 I pass from the ancient Aryan deity Varuna to the more 
 thoroughly Indian god Itidra (see p. 10). 
 
 offering rival translations. They are generally intended to be as literal 
 as possible consistently with the observance of English idiom, and on 
 that account I have preferred blank verse ; but occasionally they are 
 paraphrases rather than translations, sentences and words being here 
 and there omitted or transposed, or fragments joined together, so as to 
 read like one continuous passage. In fact, it will be seen that my 
 main design has been to offer English versions of the text for general 
 readers, and for those students and educated men who, not being neces- 
 sarily Sanskritists, are desirous of some insight into Hindu literature. 
 
 1 That is, air and sea. 
 
 2 The winking of the eye is an especial characteristic of humanity, 
 distinguishing men from gods; cf. Nala V. 25, Magha III. 42. 
 
 3 Compare Manu VIII. 82 : ' A witness who speaks falsely is fast 
 bound by the snares of Varuna. ' These snares are explained by Kulluka 
 to be ' cords consisting of serpents ' (pd^aih sarpa-rajjubhih}.
 
 14 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The following metrical lines bring together various scat- 
 tered texts relating to this Hindu Jupiter Pluvius : l 
 
 Indra, twin brother of the god of fire, 
 
 When thou wast born, thy mother Aditi 
 
 Gave thee, her lusty child, the thrilling draught 
 
 Of mountain-growing Soma source of life 
 
 And never-dying vigour to thy frame. 
 
 Then at the Thunderer's birth, appalled with fear, 
 
 Dreading the hundred-jointed thunderbolt 
 
 Forged by the cunning Tvashtri mountains rocked, 
 
 Earth shook and heaven trembled. Thou wast born 
 
 Without a rival, king of gods and men 
 
 The eye of living and terrestrial things. 
 
 Immortal Indra, unrelenting foe 
 
 Of drought and darkness, infinitely wise, 
 
 Terrific crusher of thy enemies, 
 
 Heroic, irresistible in might, 
 
 Wall of defence to us thy worshippers, 
 
 We sing thy praises, and our ardent hymns 
 
 Embrace thee, as a loving wife her lord. 
 
 Thou art our guardian, advocate, and friend, 
 
 A brother, father, mother, all combined. 
 
 Most fatherly of fathers, we are thine 
 
 And thou art ours ; oh ! let thy pitying soul 
 
 Turn to us in compassion, when we praise thee, 
 
 And slay us not for one sin or for many. 
 
 Deliver us to-day, to-morrow, every day. 
 
 Armed for the conflict, see ! the demons come 
 
 Ahi and Vritra, and a long array 
 
 Of darksome spirits. Quick, then, quaff the draught 
 
 That stimulates thy martial energy, 
 
 And dashing onward in thy golden car, 
 
 Drawn by thy ruddy, Eibhu-fashioned 2 steeds, 
 
 Speed to the charge, escorted by the Maruts. 
 
 Vainly the demons dare thy might ; in vain 
 
 1 The texts which furnish the basis of these and the succeeding verses 
 will be found in the 5th volume of Dr. Muir's work, and there will also 
 be found a complete poetical sketch of Indra (pp. 126139). 
 
 2 The Eibhus (Greek 'Op<eic) were the celestial artists of the Veda.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 15 
 
 Strive to deprive us of thy watery treasures. 
 Earth quakes beneath the crashing of thy bolts. 
 Pierced, shattered, lies the foe his cities crushed, 
 His armies overthrown, his fortresses 
 Shivered to fragments ; then the pent-up waters, 
 Released from long imprisonment, descend 
 In torrents to the earth, and swollen rivers, 
 Foaming and rolling to their ocean home, 
 Proclaim the triumph of the Thunderer. 
 
 Let us proceed next to the all-important Vedic deity 
 Agni, ' god of fire/ especially of sacrificial fire. I propose 
 now to paraphrase a few of the texts which relate to 
 him : 
 
 Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king, 
 
 Protector, father of the sacrifice. 
 
 Commissioned by us men thou dost ascend 
 
 A messenger, conveying to the sky 
 
 Our hymns and offerings. Though thy origin 
 
 Be threefold, now from air and now from water, 
 
 Now from the mystic double Arani, 1 
 
 Thou art thyself a mighty god, a lord, 
 
 Giver of life and immortality, 
 
 One in thy essence, but to mortals three ; 
 
 Displaying thine eternal triple form, 
 
 As fire on earth, as lightning in the air, 
 
 As sun in heaven. Thou art a cherished guest 
 
 In every household father, brother, son, 
 
 Friend, benefactor, guardian, all in one. 
 
 Bright, seven-rayed god ! how manifold thy shapes , 
 
 Revealed to us thy votaries ! now we see thee, 
 
 With body all of gold, and radiant hair 
 
 Flaming from three terrific heads, and mouths 
 
 Whose burning jaws and teeth devour all things. 
 
 Now with a thousand glowing horns, and now 
 
 Flashing thy lustre from a thousand eyes, 
 
 Thou'rt borne towards us in a golden chariot, 
 
 Impelled by winds, and drawn by ruddy steeds, 
 
 1 Two pieces of the wood of the Ficus religiosa used for kindling fire.
 
 I 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Marking thy car's destructive course, with blackness. 
 Deliver, mighty lord, thy worshippers. 
 Purge us from taint of sin, and when we die, 
 Deal mercifully with us on the pyre, 
 Burning our bodies with their load of guilt, 
 But bearing our eternal part on high 
 To luminous abodes and realms of bliss, 
 For ever there to dwell with righteous men. 
 
 The next deity is Surya, ' the Sun,' l who, with reference 
 to the variety of his functions, has various names such 
 as Savitri, Aryaman, Mitra, Varuna, Pushau, sometimes 
 ranking as distinct deities of the celestial sphere. As 
 already explained, he is associated in the minds of Vedic 
 worshippers with Fire, and is frequently described as sit- 
 ting in a chariot drawn by seven ruddy horses (represent- 
 ing the seven days of the week), preceded by the Dawn. 
 Here is an example of a hymn (Rig-veda I. 50) addressed 
 to this deity, translated almost literally : 
 
 Behold the rays of Dawn, like heralds, lead on high 
 
 The Sun, that men may see the great all-knowing god. 
 
 The stars slink off like thieves, in company with Night, 
 
 Before the all-seeing eye, whose beams reveal his presence, 
 
 Gleaming like brilliant flames, to nation after nation. 
 
 With speed, beyond the ken of mortals, thou, Sun, 
 
 Dost ever travel on, conspicuous to all. 
 
 Thou dost create the light, and with it dost illume 
 
 The universe entire ; thou risest in the sight 
 
 Of all the race of men, and all the host of heaven. 
 
 Light-giving Varuna ! thy piercing glance doth scan 
 
 In quick succession all this stirring, active world, 
 
 And penetrateth too the broad ethereal space, 
 
 Measuring our days and nights and spying out all creatures. 
 
 Surya with flaming locks, clear-sighted god of day, 
 
 Thy seven ruddy mares bear on thy rushing car. 
 
 With these thy self-yoked steeds, seven daughters of thy chariot, 
 
 Yaska makes Indra, Agni, and Surya the Vedic Triad of gods.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. I/ 
 
 Onward them dost advance. To thy refulgent orb 
 Beyond this lower gloom and upward to the light 
 Would we ascend, O Sun, thou god among the gods. 
 
 As an accompaniment to this hymn may here be men- 
 tioned the celebrated Gayatri. It is a short prayer to the 
 Sun in his character of Savitri or ' the Vivifier,' and is the 
 most sacred of all Vedic texts. Though not always un- 
 derstood, it is to this very day used by every Brahman 
 throughout India in his daily devotions. It occurs in 
 Rig-veda III. 62. lo, 1 and can be literally translated as 
 follows : 
 
 Let us meditate (or, we meditate) on that excellent glory of the 
 divine Vivifier. May he enlighten (or stimulate) our understandings. 
 [Tat Savitur varenyam Wiargo devasya dhimahi, Dhiyo yo nah pra6o- 
 dayat.~\ 
 
 May we not conjecture, with Sir William Jones, that 
 the great veneration in which this text has ever been held 
 by the Hindus from time immemorial, indicates that the 
 more enlightened worshippers adored, under the type of 
 the visible sun, that divine light which alone could illu- 
 mine their intellects ? 
 
 I may here also fitly offer a short paraphrase descriptive 
 of the Vedic Ushas, the Greek 'Hco?, or ' Dawn : ' 
 
 Hail, ruddy Ushas, golden goddess, borne 
 Upon thy shining car, thou comest like 
 A lovely maiden by her mother decked, 
 Disclosing coyly all thy hidden graces 
 To our admiring eyes ; or like a wife 
 Unveiling to her lord, with conscious pride, 
 Beauties which, as he gazes lovingly, 
 Seem fresher, fairer each succeeding morn. 
 Through years on years thou hast lived on, and yet 
 Thou'rt ever young. Thou art the breath and life 
 
 1 Note that the Rishi or author was Visvamitra, a Kshatriya. 
 
 B
 
 I 8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Of all that breathes and lives, awaking day by day 
 Myriads of prostrate sleepers, as from death, 
 Causing the birds to flutter from their nests, 
 And rousing men to ply with busy feet 
 Their daily duties and appointed tasks, 
 Toiling for wealth or pleasure or renown. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of the Vedic deities I add a 
 few words about Yama, ' the god of departed spirits/ It 
 appears tolerably certain that the doctrine of metempsy- 
 chosis has no place in the Mantra portion of the Veda, 1 
 nor do the authors of the hymns evince any sympathy 
 with the desire to get rid of all action and personal exist- 
 ence, which became so remarkable a feature of the theology 
 and philosophy of the Brahmans in later times. But there 
 are many indirect references to the immortality of man's 
 spirit and a future life, and these become more marked 
 and decided towards the end of the Kig-veda. One of 
 the hymns in the last Mandala is addressed to the Pitris 
 or fathers, that is to say, the spirits of departed ancestors 
 who have attained to a state of heavenly bliss, and are 
 supposed to occupy three different stages of blessedness, 
 the highest inhabiting the upper sky, the middle the 
 intermediate air, and the lowest the regions of the at- 
 mosphere near the earth. Reverence and adoration are 
 always to be offered them, and they are presided over by 
 the god Yama, the ruler of all the spirits of the dead, 
 whether good or bad. The earlier legends represent this 
 god as a kind of first man (his twin sister being Yami), 
 and also as the first of men that died. Hence he is 
 described as guiding the spirits of other men who die to 
 the same world. In some passages, however, Death is said 
 to be his messenger, he himself dwelling in celestial light, 
 
 1 In Mandala I. 164. 32, bahu-prajdh is explained by bahu-janma- 
 bliak, ' subject to many births,' but it may mean ' having abundant 
 offspring.'
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 19 
 
 to which the departed are brought, and where they enjoy 
 his society and that of the fathers. In the Veda he has 
 nothing to do with judging or punishing the departed (as 
 in the later mythology), but he has two terrific dogs, with 
 four eyes, which guard the way to his abode. Here are a 
 few thoughts about him from various hymns in the tenth 
 Mandala of the Rig-veda : 
 
 To Yama, mighty king, be gifts and homage paid. 
 He was the first of men that died, the first to brave 
 Death's rapid rushing stream, the first to point the road 
 To heaven, and welcome others to that bright abode. 
 No power can rob us of the home thus won by thee. 
 O king, we come ; the born must die, must tread the path 
 That thou hast trod the path by which each race of men, 
 In long succession, and our fathers, too, have passed. 
 Soul of the dead ! depart ; fear not to take the road 
 The ancient road by which thy ancestors have gone ; 
 Ascend to meet the god to meet thy happy fathers, 
 Who dwell in bliss with him. Fear not to pass the guards 
 The four-eyed brindled dogs that watch for the departed. 
 Return unto thy home, O soul ! Thy sin and shame 
 Leave thou behind on earth ; assume a shining form 
 Thy ancient shape refined and from all taint set free. 
 
 Let me now endeavour, by slightly amplified transla- 
 tions, to convey some idea of two of the most remarkable 
 hymns in the Rig-veda. The first (Mandala X. 1 29), which 
 may be compared with some parts of the 38th chap, of 
 Job, attempts to describe the mystery of creation thus : 
 
 In the beginning there was neither nought nor aught, 
 
 Then there was neither sky nor atmosphere above. 
 
 What then enshrouded all this teeming Universe ? 
 
 In the receptacle of what was it contained ? 
 
 Was it enveloped in the gulf profound of water ? 
 
 Then was there neither death nor immortality, 
 
 Then was there neither day, nor night, nor light, nor darkness, 
 
 Only the Existent One breathed calmly, self-contained. 
 
 Nought else than him there was nought else above, beyond.
 
 20 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Then first came darkness hid in darkness, gloom in gloom. 
 
 Next all was water, all a chaos indiscreet, 
 
 In which the One lay void, shrouded in nothingness. 
 
 Then turning inwards he by self-developed force 
 
 Of inner fervour and intense abstraction, grew. 
 
 And now in him Desire, the primal germ of mind, 
 
 Arose, which learned men, profoundly searching, say 
 
 Is the first subtle bond, connecting Entity 
 
 With Nullity. This ray that kindled dormant life, 
 
 Where was it then ? before ? or was it found above 1 
 
 Were there parturient powers and latent qualities, 
 
 And fecund principles beneath, and active forces 
 
 That energized aloft ? Who knows ? Who can declare ? 
 
 How and from what has sprung this Universe ? the gods 
 
 Themselves are subsequent to its development. 
 
 Who, then, can penetrate the secret of its rise ? 
 
 Whether 'twas framed or not, made or not made ; he only 
 
 Who in the highest heaven sits, the omniscient lord, 
 
 Assuredly knows all, or haply knows he not. 
 
 The next example is from the first Mandala of the Kig- 
 veda (121). Like the preceding, it furnishes a good argu- 
 ment for those who maintain that the purer faith of the 
 Hindus is properly monotheistic : 
 
 What god shall we adore with sacrifice ? l 
 Him let us praise, the golden child that rose 
 In the beginning, who was born the lord 
 The one sole lord of all that is who made 
 The earth, and formed the sky, who giveth life, 
 Who giveth strength, whose bidding gods revere, 
 Whose hiding-place is immortality, 
 Whose shadow, death ; who by his might is king 
 Of all the breathing, sleeping, waking world 
 Who governs men and beasts, whose majesty 
 These snowy hills, this ocean with its rivers 
 Declare ; of whom these spreading regions form 
 The arms ; by whom the firmament is strong, 
 
 1 In the text this question is repeated at the end of every verse. A 
 literal translation will be found in Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. iv. p. 16.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 21 
 
 Earth firmly planted, and the highest heavens 
 
 Supported, and the clouds that fill the air 
 
 Distributed and measured out ; to whom 
 
 Both earth and heaven, established by his will, 
 
 Look up with trembling mind ; in whom revealed 
 
 The rising sun shines forth above the world. 
 
 Where'er let loose in space, the mighty waters 
 
 Have gone, depositing a fruitful seed 
 
 And generating fire, there he arose, 
 
 Who is the breath and life of all the gods, 
 
 Whose mighty glance looks round the vast expanse 
 
 Of watery vapour source of energy, 
 
 Cause of the sacrifice the only God 
 
 Above the gods. May he not injure us ! 
 
 He the Creator of the earth the righteous 
 
 Creator of the sky, Creator too 
 
 Of oceans bright, and far-extending waters. 
 
 Let me now give a few verses (not in regular order and 
 not quite literally translated) from the celebrated Purusha- 
 sukta, one of the most recent of the hymns of the Rig- 
 veda (M.indala X. 90). It will serve to illustrate the 
 gradual sliding of Hindu monotheism into pantheism, and 
 the first foreshadowing of the institution of caste, which 
 for so many centuries has held India in bondage : 
 
 The embodied spirit l has a thousand heads, 
 
 A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, around 
 
 On every side enveloping the earth, 
 
 Yet filling space no larger than a span. 2 
 
 He is himself this very universe, 
 
 He is whatever is, has been, and shall be. 
 
 He is the lord of immortality. 
 
 All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths 
 
 1 According to the Upanishads and the Tattva-samasa the all-per- 
 vading self -existent spirit is called Purusha, puri sayandt, from dwelling 
 in the body. 
 
 2 Dr. Muir translates (literally), ' He overpassed the earth by a 
 space of ten fingers.' The Katha Upanishad (II. 4. 12) says that 
 Purusha, 'the soul,' is of the measure of a thumb (anrgushtha-matrah).
 
 22 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Are that which is immortal in the sky. 
 
 From him, called Purusha, was born Viraj, 
 
 And from Viraj was Purusha produced l 
 
 Whom gods and holy men made their oblation. * 
 
 With Purusha as victim they performed 
 
 A sacrifice. When they divided him, 
 
 How did they cut him up 1 what was his mouth ? 
 
 What were his arms 1 and what his thighs and feet ? 
 
 The Brahman was his mouth, the kingly soldier 2 
 
 Was made his arms, the husbandman his thighs, 
 
 The servile S'udra issued from his feet. 
 
 I close my examples of the Mantras with slightly 
 amplified versions of two hymns one in praise of Time, 
 personified as the source of all things, taken from the 
 Atharva-veda ; the other addressed to Night, from the 
 Rig-veda. 3 
 
 The following is the hymn to Time (Atharva-veda 
 XIX. 53). A few verses at the end are omitted, one or 
 two lines transposed, and a few inserted from the next 
 hymn on the same subject : 
 
 Time, like a brilliant steed with seven rays, 
 
 And with a thousand eyes, imperishable, 
 
 Full of fecundity, bears all things onward. 
 
 On him ascend the learned and the wise. 
 
 Time, like a seven- wheeled, seven-naved car, moves on. 
 
 1 This is tantamount to saying that Purusha and Viraj are in sub- 
 stance the same. Viraj, as a kind of secondary creator, is sometimes 
 regarded as male, sometimes as female. Manu (I, 1 1) says that Purusha, 
 ' the first male,' was called Brahma, and was produced from the supreme 
 self-existent Spirit. In I. 32 he says that Brahma (see Kulluka's com- 
 mentary), having divided his own substance, became half male, half 
 female, and that from the female was produced Viraj, and that from 
 Viraj was born Manu the secondary progenitor and producer of all 
 beings. 
 
 2 The second caste or Kshatriya is here called Rajanya. By ' hus- 
 bandman ' in the next line is of course meant the third or Vaisya caste. 
 
 3 Both literally translated into prose by Dr. Muir, Texts, vol. v. 
 p. 408, vol. iv. p. 498.
 
 THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 23 
 
 His rolling wheels are all the worlds, his axle 
 
 Is immortality. He is the first of gods. 
 
 We see him like an overflowing jar ; 
 
 We see him multiplied in various forms. 
 
 He draws forth and encompasses the worlds ; 
 
 He is all future worlds ; he is their father ; 
 
 He is their son ; there is no power like him. 
 
 The past and future issue out of Time, 
 
 All sacred knowledge and austerity. 
 
 From Time the earth and waters were produced ; 
 
 From Time, the rising, setting, burning sun ; 
 
 From Time, the wind ; through Time the earth is vast ; 
 
 Through Time the eye perceives ; mind, breath, and name 
 
 lu him are comprehended. All rejoice 
 
 When Time arrives the monarch who has conquered 
 
 This world, the highest world, the holy worlds, 
 
 Yea, all the worlds and ever marches on. 
 
 The hymn to Night is my last example. It is taken 
 from the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda (127) : 
 
 The goddess Night arrives in all her glory, 
 Looking about her with her countless eyes. 
 She, the immortal goddess, throws her veil 
 Over low valley, rising ground, and hill, 
 But soon with bright effulgence dissipates 
 The darkness she produces ; soon advancing 
 She calls her sister Morning to return, 
 And then each darksome shadow melts away. 
 Kind goddess, be propitious to thy servants 
 Who at thy coming straightway seek repose, 
 Like birds who nightly nestle in the trees. 
 Lo ! men and cattle, flocks and winged creatures, 
 And e'en the ravenous hawks, have gone to rest. 
 Drive thou away from us, Night, the wolf ; 
 Drive thou away the thief, and bear us safely 
 Across thy borders. Then do thou, O Dawn, 
 Like one who clears away a debt, chase off 
 This black, yet palpable obscurity, 
 Which came to fold us in its close embrace. 
 Receive, O Night, dark daughter of the Day, 
 My hymn of praise, which I present to thee, 
 Like some rich offering to a conqueror.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 The Brahmanas and Upanishads. 
 
 HAVING thus endeavoured to gain an insight into portions 
 of the Vedic Mantras, turn we now to the second division 
 of the Veda, called Brahmana, or ritualistic precept and 
 illustration. This division stands to the Mantra portion 
 in a relation somewhat resembling that of the Talmud to 
 the Mosaic code, and of the Hadls or Sunna to the Kuran. 
 There is, however, a noteworthy difference ; for the Mosaic 
 code alone contains the true revelation of divine law for 
 the Jew, and the Kuran for Muslims, whereas the Brah- 
 manas are as much Veda and Sruti as much revela- 
 tion, according to the Hindu idea of revelation as the 
 Mantras. 
 
 In fact, in their relation to caste and the dominance of 
 the Brahmans, these Brahmanas are even more important 
 than the Hymns. When, however, we are asked to ex- 
 plain the contents of the Brahmanas, we find it difficult to 
 define their nature accurately. It is usual to consider 
 them as a body of ritualistic precepts distributed under 
 two heads of Vidhi and Artha-vdda, that is, rules and 
 explanatory remarks. They are really a series of rambling 
 and unsystematic prose compositions (the oldest of which 
 may have been written seven or eight centuries B.C.), 
 intended to serve as ceremonial directories for the use of 
 the priests in the exercise of their craft, prescribing rules 
 for the employment of the Mantras at sacrifices, speculat- 
 ing as to the meaning and effect of certain verses and 
 
 metres, and giving detailed explanations of the origin, 
 
 24
 
 THE BRAHMANA PORTION OF THE VEDA. 2$ 
 
 import, and conduct of the sacrifices, with the occasional 
 addition of controversial remarks (ninda) and illustrations 
 in the shape of legends and old stories. The great diffuse- 
 ness of these compositions made them practically useless 
 as directories to the ritual, until they themselves were 
 furnished with guides in the form of Sutras or aphoristic 
 rules, to be afterwards described. 
 
 Each of the collections of Mantras has its own Brah- 
 manas. Thus the Rig-veda has the Aitareya-bramana 
 (perhaps the oldest) and the Kaushltaki- (or Sau-khayana-) 
 brahmana. The two collections of the Yajur-veda have 
 the Taittiriya-brahmana and the Satapatha - brahmana, 1 
 which last, belonging to the Vajasaneyi-samhita, is per- 
 haps one of the most complete and interesting of these 
 productions. The Sama-veda has eight Brahmanas, of 
 which the best known are the Praudha (Panca-vinsa, 
 Tandya) and the Shad-vinsa. The Atharva-veda has also 
 a Brahmana, called Go-patha. 2 
 
 Though much of the matter contained in these treatises 
 is little better than silly sacerdotalism, yet they furnish 
 valuable materials to any one interested in tracing out the 
 growth of Brahmauism and many curious and interesting 
 legends. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of these legends, as intro- 
 ducing the idea of human sacrifice, is called ' the Story of 
 Sunahsepa' in the Aitareya-brahmana 3 (Haug's edition, 
 VII. 13; cf. Rig-veda, I. 24, 12, &c., V. 2. 7). It has 
 
 1 Edited, with the Vajasaneyi-samhita, by Professor A. Weber of 
 Berlin. 
 
 2 This Brahmana must be less ancient than others, as, according to 
 some, the Atharva-veda was not recognized as a part of S'ruti, ' revela- 
 tion,' at the time of the composition of the more ancient Brahmanas. 
 
 3 Professor H. H. Wilson conjectured that this Brahmana was 
 written about six centuries B.C. It is sometimes called Asvalayana- 
 brahmana.
 
 26 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 been well translated by more than one scholar. I here 
 give a metrical epitome of part of the story : 
 
 King Harisdandra had no son ; he asked 
 
 Great Narada, the sage, ' What benefit 
 
 Comes from a son ? ' then Narada replied 
 
 ' A father by his son clears off a debt, 1 
 
 In him a self is born from self. The pleasure 
 
 A father has in his own son exceeds 
 
 All other pleasures. Food is life, apparel 
 
 Is a protection, gold an ornament, 
 
 A loving wife the best of friends, a daughter 
 
 An object of compassion, 2 but a son 
 
 Is like a light sent from the highest heaven. 
 
 Go then to Varuiia, the god, and say 
 
 " Let but a son be born, O king, to me, 
 
 And I will sacrifice that son to thee." ' 
 
 This Harisc'andra did, and thereupon 
 
 A son was born to him, called Rohita. 
 
 One day the father thus addressed his son 
 
 ' I have devoted thee, my son, to him 
 
 Who granted thee to me, prepare thyself 
 
 For sacrifice to him.' The son said, 'No,' 
 
 Then took his bow and left his father's home. 
 
 The story goes on to relate that Varuna, being disap- 
 pointed of his promised victim, punished Hariscandra by 
 afflicting him with dropsy. Meanwhile 
 
 For six long years did Harisdandra's son 
 
 Roam in the forest ; there one day he met 
 
 A famished Brahman hermit, Ajigarta, 
 
 Half dead with hunger in the wilderness. 
 
 The hermit was attended by his wife 
 
 And three young sons ; then Rohita addressed him 
 
 1 A man is in debt to his forefathers till he has a son, because the 
 happiness of the dead depends on certain ceremonies (called S'raddha) 
 performed by sons. 
 
 2 Those who have lived in the East will perhaps understand why the 
 birth of a daughter is here described as a calamity.
 
 THE BRAHMAN A PORTION OF THE VEDA. 2/ 
 
 ' Brahman, I will give a hundred cows 
 
 For one of these thy sons.' The father answered 
 
 Folding his arms around his eldest boy 
 
 ' I cannot part with him.' The mother then 
 
 Clung to her youngest child and weeping said 
 
 ' I cannot part with him.' Then S'unahsepa, 
 
 Their second son, said, ' Father, I will go.' l 
 
 So be was purchased for a hundred cows 
 
 By Rohita, who forthwith left the forest, 
 
 And taking him to Harisc"andra said 
 
 ' Father, this boy shall be my substitute.' 
 
 Then Harisdandra went to Varuna 
 
 And prayed, ' Accept this ransom for my son.' 
 
 The god replied, ' Let him be sacrificed, 
 
 A Brahman is more worthy than a Kshatriya. ' 
 
 Upon that, the sacrifice with the intended victim was 
 prepared. Four great Rishis officiated as priests, but they 
 could not find any one willing to bind the boy to the 
 sacrificial post. His father Ajigarta, who had followed his 
 son to the place of sacrifice, then came forward and said 
 
 ' Give me a hundred cows and I will bind him.' 
 They gave them to him, and he bound the boy. 
 But now no person would consent to kill him. 
 Then said the father, ' Give me yet again 
 
 1 The Brahmana merely states that they agreed together upon 
 selling the middle son. This idea of the voluntary offer of himself on 
 the part 'of S'unahsepa may, however, be borrowed from the Rama- 
 yana, where the story is thus related (I. 61, 62) : 
 
 Ambarlsha, king of Ayodhya, performed a sacrifice, but the victim 
 being stolen by Indra, he is told by the priest that either the victim 
 itself must be recovered, or a human victim substituted in its place. 
 Ambarlsha wanders over the earth in search of the real victim, and 
 meets at last with a Brahman named RicTka, to whom he offers a 
 hundred thousand cattle for one of his sons. Ric"ika refuses to let his 
 eldest son go, and his wife will not part with the youngest. Upon this 
 the middle son, S'unah-sepa, volunteers to go, and is accepted. When 
 about to be offered up as a sacrifice he is saved by Visvamitra, who 
 teaches him a prayer to Agni, and two hymns to Indra and Vishnu.
 
 28 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Another hundred cows and I will slay him.' 
 
 Once more they gave a hundred, and the father 
 
 Whetted his knife to sacrifice his son. 
 
 Then said the child, ' Let me implore the gods, 
 
 Haply they will deliver me from death.' 
 
 So S'unahsepa prayed to all the gods 
 
 With verses from the Yeda, and they heard him. 
 
 Thus was the boy released from sacrifice, 
 
 And Harisc'andra was restored to health. 
 
 As a sequel to the preceding legend I extract the fol- 
 lowing curious passages from the Aitareya-brahmana, Book 
 
 II. (Haug, 1-8), not in order, and not quite literally : 
 
 
 
 The gods killed a man for their victim. But from him thus killed 
 the part which was fit for a sacrifice went out and entered a horse. 
 Thence the horse became an animal fit for being sacrificed. The gods 
 then killed the horse, but the part fit for being sacrificed went out of 
 it and entered an ox. The gods then killed the ox, but the part fit for 
 being sacrificed went out of it and entered a sheep. Thence it entered 
 a goat. The sacrificial part remained for the longest time in the goat, 
 thence it became pre-eminently fit for being sacrificed. 1 
 
 1 This is curious as indicating that human sacrifice, if it prevailed to 
 any extent, was superseded by the sacrifice of animals, here enumerated 
 in the regular order of their fitness for sacrifice according to some sup- 
 posed inherent efficacy in each class. Such sacrifices were held to be 
 propitiatory, though one object of a Hindu's oblations was to afford 
 actual nourishment to the gods, food being a supposed necessity of 
 their being. The Asva-medha, or ' horse-sacrifice,' was a very ancient 
 ceremony, hymns 162 and 163 in Mandala I. of the Eig-veda being 
 used at this rite. It was regarded as the chief of all animal sacrifices, 
 and in later times its efficacy was so exaggerated that a hundred horse- 
 sacrifices entitled the sacrificer to displace Indra from the dominion 
 of heaven. Some think that the horse was not actually immolated, 
 but merely bound to the post. Mr. Hardwick, in his valuable work, 
 ' Christ and other Masters,' gives some interesting remarks on the 
 five heads of Hindu sacrifices (vol. i. p. 324). The five heads are 
 i. Agni-hotra, burnt-offerings and libations of butter on fire every 
 morning and evening (see p. 121 ) ; 2, Darsapurnamdsa, half- monthly 
 sacrifices at new and full moon ; 3. Caturmasya, sacrifices every four
 
 THE BRAHMANA PORTION OF THE VEDA. 29 
 
 The gods went up to heaven by means of sacrifice. They were 
 afraid that men and sages, after having seen their sacrifice, might 
 inquire how they could obtain some knowledge of sacrificial rites and 
 follow them. They therefore debarred them by means of the Yupa 
 (or post to which the victim was fastened), turning its point down- 
 wards. Thereupon the men and sages dug the post out and turned 
 its point upwards. Thus they became aware of the sacrifice and 
 reached the heavenly world. 
 
 The following lines may serve to give an outline of 
 another curious legend in the Aitareya-brahmana (Haug's 
 edition, I. 23), written perhaps seven or eight centuries 
 B.C. : 
 
 The gods and demons were engaged in warfare. 
 
 The evil demons, like to mighty kings, 
 
 Made these worlds castles; then they formed the earth 
 
 Into an iron citadel, the air 
 
 Into a silver fortress, and the sky 
 
 Into a fort of gold. Whereat the gods 
 
 Said to each other, ' Frame we other worlds 
 
 In opposition to these fortresses.' 
 
 Then they constructed sacrificial places, 
 
 Where they performed a triple burnt oblation. 
 
 By the first sacrifice they drove the demons 
 
 Out of their earthly fortress, by the second 
 
 Out of the air, and by the third oblation 
 
 Out of the sky. Thus were the evil spirits 
 
 Chased by the gods in triumph from the worlds. 
 
 I next give a metrical version of part of a well-known 
 legend in the Satapatha-brahmana (Professor Weber's edi- 
 tion, I. 8. i. i), which represents the Indo-Aryan tradition 
 of the flood as it existed in India many centuries before 
 the Christian era, perhaps not much later than the time 
 of David : 
 
 months ; 4. Asva-medha and pasu-yajna, sacrifices of animals ; 5. Soma- 
 yajna, offerings and libations of the juice of the Soma or moon-plant 
 (to Indra especially). Goats are still offered to Kali, but Buddhism 
 tended to abolish animal sacrifice in India.
 
 30 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 There lived in ancient time a holy man, 
 
 Called Manu, 1 who by penances and prayers 
 
 Had won the favour of the lord of heaven. 
 
 One day they brought him water for ablution ; 
 
 Then, as he washed his hands, a little fish 
 
 Appeared and spoke in human accents thus 
 
 ' Take care of me and I will be thy saviour.' 
 
 ' From what wilt thou preserve me ? ' Manu asked. 
 
 The fish replied, ' A flood will sweep away 
 
 All creatures, I will rescue thee from that.' 
 
 ' But how shall I preserve thee 1 ' Manu said. 
 
 The fish rejoined, ' So long as we are small 
 
 We are in constant danger of destruction ; 
 
 For fish eats fish ; so keep me in a jar ; 
 
 When I outgrow the jar, then dig a trench 
 
 And place me there ; when I outgrow the trench, 
 
 Then take me to the ocean, I shall then 
 
 Be out of reach of danger.' Having thus 
 
 Instructed Manu, straightway rapidly 
 
 The fish grew larger ; then he spake again 
 
 ' In such and such a year the flood will come ; 
 
 Therefore construct a ship and pay me homage. 
 
 When the flood rises, enter thou the ship, 
 
 And I will rescue thee.' So Manu did 
 
 As he was ordered, and preserved the fish, 
 
 Then carried it in safety to the ocean ; 
 
 And in the very year the fish enjoined 
 
 He built a ship and paid the fish respect, 
 
 And there took refuge when the flood arose. 
 
 Soon near him swam the fish, and to its horn 
 
 Manu made fast the cable of his vessel. 
 
 Thus drawn along the waters Manu passed 
 
 Beyond the northern mountain. Then the fish, 
 
 Addressing Manu, said, ' I have preserved thee; 
 
 Quickly attach the ship to yonder tree. 
 
 But, lest the waters sink from under thee j 
 
 1 According to the later mythology this Manu was not the first 
 Manu, held to be the author of the well-known Code, but the seventh 
 or Manu (Vaivasvata) of the present period, regarded as a progenitor 
 of the human race, and represented as conciliating the favour of the 
 Supreme Being by his piety in an age of universal depravity.
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 31 
 
 As fast as they subside, so fast shalt them 
 
 Descend the mountain gently after them.' 
 
 Thus he descended from the northern mountain. 
 
 The flood had swept away all living creatures ; 
 
 Manu alone was left. Wishing for offspring, 
 
 He earnestly performed a sacrifice. 
 
 In a year's time a female was produced. 
 
 She came to Manu, then he said to her, 
 
 ' Who art thou ? ' She replied, ' I am thy daughter.' 
 
 He said, ' How, lovely lady, can that be 1 ' 
 
 ' I came forth,' she rejoined, ' from thine oblations 
 
 Cast on the waters ; thou wilt find in me 
 
 A blessing, use me in the sacrifice.' 
 
 With her he worshipped and with toilsome zeal 
 
 Performed religious rites, hoping for offspring. 
 
 Thus were created men, called sons of Manu. 
 
 Whatever benediction he implored 
 
 With her, was thus vouchsafed in full abundance. 
 
 We shall see hereafter that the fish which figures in this 
 story is declared, in the Mahabharata, to be an incarnation 
 of Brahma, the creator, who assumed this form to preserve 
 the pious Manu from perishing in the waters. 
 
 The Brahmanas express belief in a future life more posi- 
 tively than the Mantras. They also assert that a recom- 
 pense awaits all beings in the next world according to 
 their conduct in this. But the doctrine of transmigration, 
 which became afterwards an essential element of the Hindu 
 religion, is not developed. 1 There is a remarkable passage 
 in the Satapatha-brahmana (X. 4. 3. 9), some idea of which 
 may be gained from the following lines : 
 
 The gods lived constantly in dread of death 
 The mighty Ender so with toilsome rites 
 They worshipped and performed religious acts 
 Till they became immortal. Then the Ender 
 Said to the gods, ' As ye have made yourselves 
 
 1 See the third of Professor Weber's Indische Streifen, and compare 
 note 2, p. 56.
 
 32 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Imperishable, so will men endeavour 
 
 To free themselves from me ; what portion then 
 
 Shall I possess in man ? ' The gods replied, 
 
 ' Henceforth no being shall become immortal 
 
 In his own body ; this his mortal frame 
 
 Shalt thou still seize ; this shall remain thy own. 
 
 He who through knowledge or religious works 
 
 Henceforth attains to immortality 
 
 Shall first present his body, Death, to thee.' 
 
 I add one other passage extracted from the Aitareya- 
 brahmana (Dr.Haug's edition, III. 44) : 
 
 The sun never sets nor rises. When people think to themselves the 
 sun is setting, he only changes about (viparyasyate) after reaching the 
 end of the day, and makes night below and day to what is on the other 
 side. Then when people think he rises in the morning, he only shifts 
 himself about after reaching the end of the night, and makes day below 
 and night to what is on the other side. In fact, he never does set at 
 all. Whoever knows this, that the sun never sets, enjoys union and 
 sameness of nature with him and abides in the same sphere. \_Atha yad 
 enam prdtar udetlti manyante rdtrer eva tad antam itvd atlia dtmdnam 
 viparyasyate, ahar eva avastdt kurute rdtrlm parastat. Sa vai esha na 
 kaddcana nimrocati. Na lia vai kaddcana nimrocaty etasya ha sayvjyam 
 sarupatdm salokatdm asnute ya evam vedaJ\ 
 
 We may close the subject of the Brahmanas by paying a 
 tribute of respect to the acuteness of the Hindu mind, which 
 seems to have made some shrewd astronomical guesses 
 more than 2000 years before the birth of Copernicus. 
 
 The Upanishads. 
 
 I come now to the third division of the Veda, called 
 Upanishad, or mystical doctrine (rahasya). The title Upa- 
 nishad (derived from the root sad with the prepositions 
 upa and ni x ) may imply either something mystical that 
 
 1 According to some authorities, upa-ni-shad means ' to set ignorance 
 at rest by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit ; ' according 
 to others, it means ' to sit down at the feet of a teacher so as to learn 
 from him his most secret doctrines.'
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 33 
 
 underlies the surface, or the esoteric doctrine taught to a 
 pupil who sits near his master. Whatever may be the true 
 meaning of the word, these Upanishads do in fact lie at the 
 root of what may- be called the philosophical side of Hin- 
 duism. Not only are they as much sruti, or revelation, as 
 the Mantra and Brahmana, but they are practically the only 
 Veda of all thoughtful Hindus in the present day. 
 
 There appear, in real truth, to be two sides to almost 
 every religious system. Perhaps the one religion of the 
 world that offers the same doctrines both to the learned 
 and unlearned is Christianity. Its deeper truths may be 
 mysteries, but they are not restricted to any single class 
 of men ; they are open to the reception of all, and offered 
 equally to the apprehension of all. The case is different 
 with other religions. We know that the Greeks and 
 Romans had their so-called mysteries reserved only for the 
 initiated. We have all heard of Esoteric Buddhism, Occult- 
 ism, and Theosophy. Even the Kuran is held to possess an 
 exoteric or evident meaning called zahr, and an esoteric, 
 deeper significance called batn ; and in later times a mys- 
 tical system of pantheistic philosophy called Sufi-ism was 
 developed in Persia out of this esoteric teaching. 
 
 Very similar too is the Hindu idea of Veda or sacred 
 knowledge. It is said to possess two quite distinct 
 branches. The first is called Karma-kanda, which, embrac- 
 ing both Mantra and Brahmana, is for that vast majority 
 of persons who are unable to conceive of religion except as 
 a process of laying up merit by external rites. For these 
 the one God, although really without form, assumes various 
 forms with the sole object of lowering himself to the level 
 of human understandings. The second branch of the Veda, 
 on the other hand, is called Jnana-kanda, and is reserved 
 for that select few who are capable of the true knowledge. 1 
 
 1 The one implies action, the other cessation from all action. This 
 division of the Veda is recognised by Manu, see XII. 88.
 
 34 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 What then, it will be asked, is this true knowledge? 
 The answer is, that the creed of the man who is said to 
 possess the true Veda is singularly simple. He believes 
 in the unity of all being. In other words, that there is 
 but one real Being in the universe, which Being also con- 
 stitutes the universe. This, it will be said, is simple pan- 
 theism, but it is at least a pantheism of a very spiritual 
 kind ; for this one Being is thought of as the great universal 
 Spirit, the only really existing Soul, with which all seem- 
 ingly existing material substances are identified, and into 
 which the separate souls of men, falsely regarded as ema- 
 nations from it, must be ultimately merged. 
 
 This, then, is the pantheistic doctrine everywhere trace- 
 able in some of the more ancient Upanishads, though often 
 wrapped up in mystic language and fantastic allegory. A 
 list of about 150 of these treatises has been given, but 
 the absence of all trustworthy historical records in India 
 makes it impossible to fix the date of any of them with 
 certainty. Some of the more ancient, however, may be 
 as old as 500 years before Christ. These are appended to 
 the Aranyakas certain chapters of the Brahmanas so awe- 
 inspiring and obscure that they were required to be read 
 in the solitude of forests. Properly each Brahmana had 
 its Aranyakas, but the mystical doctrines they contained 
 were so mixed up with extraneous subjects that the chap- 
 ters called Upanishads appear to have been added with 
 the object of investigating more definitely such abstruse 
 problems as the origin of the universe, the nature of deity, 
 the nature of the soul, and the reciprocal connection of 
 spirit and matter. 
 
 It is interesting to trace the rudiments of the later 
 philosophy amid the labyrinth of mystic language, fanciful 
 etymologies, far-fetched analogies, and puerile conceits 
 which bewilder the reader of the Upanishads. Moreover, 
 it is instructive to mark the connection of these treatises
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 35 
 
 with the Brahmanas, manifested by the frequent intro- 
 duction of legendary matter and allusions to sacrificial 
 rites. The language of both, though occasionally archaic, 
 is less so than that of the Mantras, and differs little from 
 classical Sanskrit. 
 
 The following are some of the most important Upa- 
 nishads : the Aitareya Upanishad and Kaushitaki-brah- 
 mana Upanishad l of the Rig-veda ; the Taittiriya belonging 
 to the Taittiriya, or Black Yajur-veda ; the Brihad- 
 aranyaka attached to the Satapatha-brahmana of the 
 Vajasaneyin, or White Yajur-veda, and the Isa or Isavasya 
 forming an actual part (the 4oth chapter) of the Va- 
 jasaneyin (this being the only instance of an Upanishad 
 attached to the Mantra rather than to the Brahmana 
 portion of a Veda) ; the Chandogya and Kena 2 belonging 
 to the Sanaa- veda ; the Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, and 
 Katha belonging to the Atharva-veda. In some of these 
 works (written generally in prose in the form of dialogues, 
 with occasional variations in verse) striking thoughts, ori- 
 ginal ideas, and lofty sentiments may be found scattered 
 here and there, as I hope now to show. I commence my 
 examples with a nearly literal translation of about half of 
 a very short Upanishad the Isa : 3 
 
 Whate'er exists within this universe 
 
 Is all to be regarded as enveloped 
 
 By the great Lord (Isa from Is), as if wrapped in a vesture. 
 
 Renounce, man, the world, and covet not 
 
 Another's wealth, so shalt thou save thy soul. 
 
 Perform religious works, so may'st thou wish 
 
 To live a hundred years ; in this way only 
 
 1 Edited and translated for the Bibliotheca Indica by Professor 
 Cowell. 
 
 2 Also called Talava-kara, and also assigned to the Atharva-veda. 
 
 3 This has been well edited and translated into prose by Dr. Rber. 
 Sir W. Jones translated the Isa, but by no means literally.
 
 36 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 May'st thou engage in worldly acts, untainted. 
 To worlds immersed in darkness, tenanted 
 By evil spirits, shall they go at death, 
 Who in this life are killers of their souls. 
 There is one only Being who exists 
 Unmoved, yet moving swifter than the mind ; 
 Who far outstrips the senses, though as gods 
 They strive to reach him ; who himself at rest 
 Transcends the fleetest flight of other beings ; 
 Who, like the air, supports all vital action. 
 He moves, yet moves not ; he is far, yet near ; 
 He is within this universe, and yet 
 Outside this universe; whoe'er beholds 
 All living creatures as in him, and him 
 The universal Spirit as in all, 
 Henceforth regards no creature with contempt. 
 The man who understands that every creature 
 Exists in God alone, and thus perceives 
 The unity of being, has no grief 
 And no illusion. He, the all-pervading, 
 Is brilliant, without body, sinewless, 
 Invulnerable, pure, and undefiled 
 By taint of sin. He also is all-wise, 
 The Ruler of the mind, above all beings, 
 The Self-existent. He created all things 
 Just as they are from aD eternity. 
 
 Next we may pass to a few passages selected from 
 different portions of the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad a 
 long and tedious but important work : 
 
 In this universe there was not anything at first distinguishable. 
 But indeed it was enveloped by Death, and Death is Voracity that is 
 to say, the desire to devour (I. 2. i). 
 
 As the web issues from the spider, as little sparks proceed from fire, 
 so from the one Soul proceed all breathing animals, all worlds, all the 
 gods, and all beings (II. i, 20). 
 
 Being in this world we may know the Supreme Spirit ; if there be 
 ignorance of him, then complete death ensues ; those who know him 
 become immortal (IV. 4. 14).
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 37 
 
 When a person regards his own soul as truly God, as the lord of 
 what was and is to be, then he does not wish to conceal himself from 
 that Soul (IV. 4. 15). 
 
 That Soul the gods adore as the light of lights (jyotishdm jyotih), 
 and as the immortal life (IV. 4. 16). 
 
 Those who know him as the life of life, the eye of the eye, the ear of 
 the ear, and the mind of the mind, have comprehended the eternal 
 pre-existing Spirit (IV. 4. 18). 
 
 By the mind is he to be perceived, in him there is no variation. 
 Whoever sees variation in him obtains death after death (IV. 4. 19). 
 
 Infinitely full (or pervasive) is that Spirit (regarded as independent 
 of all relation) ; infinite too is this Spirit (in his relations and attri- 
 butes). From the infinite is drawn out the infinite. On taking the 
 infinite from the infinite, there remains the infinite (V. i). 
 
 'I am Brahma.' Whoever knows this, 'I am Brahma,' knows 
 all. Even the gods are unable to prevent his becoming Brahma 
 (I. 4. 10). 
 
 Man indeed is like a lofty tree, the lord of the forest. His hair is 
 like the leaves, his skin the external bark. From his skin flows blood 
 as sap from the bark ; it issues from his wounded body like sap from a 
 stricken tree. If a tree be cut down, it springs up anew from the 
 root. From what root does mortal man grow again when hewn down 
 by death ? [Of. Job xiv. 7-10.] The root is Brahma, who is know- 
 ledge and bliss (III. 9. 28). 
 
 The Ohandogya Upanishad of the Sama-veda has some 
 interesting passages. In the seventh chapter occurs a 
 dialogue between Narada and Sanat-kumara, in which the 
 latter, in explaining the nature of God, asserts that a 
 knowledge of the four Vedas, Itihasas, Puranas, and such 
 works, is useless without the knowledge of Brahma, the 
 universal Spirit (VII. i. 4): 
 
 The knowledge of these works is a mere name. Speech is greater 
 than this name, Mind than Speech, Will than Mind, Sensation (or the 
 capacity of feeling) is greater than Mind, Reflection is higher than 
 Sensation, Knowledge than Reflection, Power than Knowledge, and
 
 38 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 highest of all stands Prana or Life. As the spokes of a wheel are 
 attached to the nave, so are all things attached to Life. 1 
 
 This Life ought to be approached with faith and reverence, and 
 viewed as an Immensity which abides in its own glory. That immen- 
 sity extends from above and from below, from behind and from before, 
 from the south and from the north. It is the Soul of the universe. 
 It is God himself. The man who is conscious of this divinity incurs 
 neither disease, nor pain, nor death. 
 
 But lest the deity might from this description be con- 
 founded with space, it is afterwards stated that he is 
 inconceivably minute, dwelling in a minute chamber of 
 the heart ; and lest this should lead to the notion of his 
 being finite, he is afterwards declared to be the Envelope 
 of all creation. 
 
 In another part of the work (VI. 10) human souls are 
 compared to rivers : 
 
 These rivers proceed from the East towards the West, thence from 
 the ocean they rise in the form of vapour, and dropping again they 
 flow towards the South and merge into the ocean. 
 
 Again (VIII. 4), the supreme Soul is compared to a 
 bridge which cannot be crossed by disease, death, grief, 
 virtue, or vice : 
 
 Crossing this bridge, the blind cease to be blind, the wounded to be 
 wounded, the afflicted to be afflicted, and on crossing this bridge nights 
 become days; for ever-refulgent is the region of the universal Spirit. 
 
 Here is a portion of a passage in the Chandogya Upani- 
 shad (VI. 2) which has some celebrity as containing the 
 well-known Vedantist formula eJcam evddvitiyam : 
 
 In the beginning there was the mere state of being (TO OK) one only 
 without a second. Some, however, say that in the beginning there was 
 
 1 Cf. the hymn to Prana, Atharva-veda, XI. 4 (Muir's Texts, vol. v. 
 p. 394). It begins thus, ' Reverence to Prana, to whom this universe 
 is subject, who has become the lord of all, on whom all is supported.' 
 The text of this Veda has been edited in a masterly manner by Pro- 
 fessors W. D. Whitney and R Roth.
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 39 
 
 the state of non-being (TO ^ o'c) one only without a second. Hence out 
 of a state of non-being would proceed a state of being. But, of a truth, 
 how can this be ? How can being (TO O'K) proceed out of non-being ? In 
 the beginning, then, there was the mere state of being one only with- 
 out a second. It willed, 1 ' I shall multiply and be born.' It created 
 heat. That heat willed, ' I shall multiply and be born.' It created 
 water. The water willed, 'I shall multiply and be born.' It created 
 aliment. Therefore, wherever rain falls much aliment is produced. 
 That deity willed, ' Entering these three divinities in a living form, I 
 shall develop name and form.' 
 
 In the Mundaka Upanishad 2 there are some interesting 
 passages. The following is from the second section of the 
 second Mundaka (5) : 
 
 Know him, the Spirit, to be one alone. Give up all words contrary 
 to this. He is the bridge of immortality. 
 
 The following remarkable passage from the third Mun- 
 daka (i. 1-3) is quoted by the San-khyas in support of 
 their doctrine of a duality of principle, but is also appealed 
 to by Vedantists. It rests on a Mantra of the Big-veda 
 (I. 164. 20), explained by Say ana in a Vedantic sense : 3 - 
 
 1 I follow Dr. Roer. Subjoined are divided Sanskrit words of 
 the fragment taken from the original text : Sad eva idam agre asld; 
 eJcam eva advitiyam. Tad ha eke dhur asad eva idam agre dsid, eJcam 
 eva advitiyam, tasmdd asatah saj jdyeta. Kutas tu khdlu sydd iti, 
 katham asatah saj jdyeta iti. Sat tv eva idam agre asld ekam eva 
 advitiyam. Tad aiksliata bahu sydm prajayeya iti, tat tejo asrijata. 
 Tat teja aiJcshata bahu sydm prajayeya iti, tad apo asrijata. Td dpa 
 aikshanta bahvah sydma prajdyemahi iti td annam asrijanta. Tasmdd 
 yatra kva ca varshati tad eva bhuyishtham annam bhavati. Sd iyam 
 devatd ailcshata, aham imds tisro devatd jlvena dtmand anupravisya 
 iidma-rupe vydkaravdni iti. 
 
 2 The name Mundaka is derived from Mund, ' to shave,' because he 
 who understands the doctrine of this Upanishad is 'shorn' of all error. 
 
 3 Subjoined is the Mantra : Dvd suparnd scnjujd sakhdyd samdnam 
 rrikxham parishasvajdte, Tayor anyah pippalam svadv atty an-asnann 
 anyo abhicdkasiti, ' two birds associated together as friends inhabit the 
 same tree. The one of them tastes the sweet fig, the other looks on
 
 40 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Two birds (the Paramatman and Jlvatman or supreme and individual 
 souls) always united, of the same name, occupy the same tree (abide in 
 the same body). One of them (the Jlvatman) enjoys the sweet fruit of 
 the fig (or fruit of acts), the other looks on as a witness. Dwelling on 
 the same tree (with the supreme Soul), the deluded (individual) soul, 
 immersed (in worldly relations), is grieved by the want of power; but 
 when it perceives the Ruler, separate (from worldly relations) and his 
 glory, then its grief ceases. When the beholder sees the golden-coloured 
 maker (of the world), the lord, the soul, the source of Brahma, then 
 having become wise, shaking off virtue and vice, without taint of any 
 kind, he obtains the highest identity (Roer's edition, p. 305). 
 
 Here are two or three other examples from the same 
 Upanishad : 
 
 As the spider casts out and draws in (its web), as from a living man 
 the hairs of the head and body spring forth, so is produced the universe 
 from the indestructible Spirit (I. i. 7). 
 
 As from a blazing fire consubstantial sparks proceed in a thousand 
 ways, so from the imperishable (Spirit) various living souls are produced, 
 and they return to him too (II. i. i). 
 
 As flowing rivers are resolved into the sea, losing their names and 
 forms, so the wise, freed from name and form, pass into the divine 
 Spirit, which is greater than the great. He who knows that supreme 
 Spirit becomes spirit (III. 2. 8, 9). 
 
 One of the most ancient and important Upanishads is 
 the Katha. It enjoys considerable reputation in India, 
 and is also well known by Sanskrit students in Europe. 
 It opens with the story of Naciketas. 
 
 without enjoying.' S'an-kara, commenting on the Upanishad, explains 
 salfhdya by samana-lchyatau, ' of the same name.' He also remarks that 
 the Pippala or Asvattha, ' holy fig-tree,' having roots above and branches 
 bent downwards, is allegorical, and that each tree, springing from an 
 un perceived root, is emblematic of the body, which really springs from 
 and is one with Brahma. In the Katha VI. i and Bhagavad-gita XV. 
 13 the same tree is said to typify the universe. It is supposed to be 
 the male of the Vata or Banyan (Ficus Indica).
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 41 
 
 He was the pious son of a sage who had given all his 
 property to the priests, and who, in a fit of irritation, 
 devoted his son to Death. 
 
 Naciketas is described as going to Death's abode, and 
 there, having propitiated Yama, he is told to choose three 
 boons. The youth chose, for the first boon, that he might 
 be restored to life and see his reconciled father once more ; 
 for the second, that he might know the fire by which 
 heaven is gained. When asked to name the third boon, 
 he addresses the god of death thus, 
 
 Some say the soul exists after death, others say it does not exist. 
 I request, as my third boon, that I may be instructed by thee in the 
 true answer to this question. 
 
 Death tries to put him off, entreating him to choose any 
 other boon than this ; but the youth persisting in his 
 demand to be enlightened as to the mysteries of the next 
 world, Yama at length gives way and enlarges upon the 
 desired theme in the following manner (Valli II.) : 
 
 The good, the pleasant, these are separate ends, 
 
 The one or other all mankind pursue ; 
 
 But those who seek the good, alone are blest ; 
 
 Who choose the pleasant miss man's highest aim. 
 
 The sage the truth discerns, not so the fool. 
 
 But thou, my son, with wisdom hast abandoned 
 
 The fatal road of wealth that leads to death. 
 
 Two other roads there are all wide apart, 
 
 Ending in widely different goals the one 
 
 Called ignorance, the other knowledge this, 
 
 O Na<5iketas, thou dost well to choose. 
 
 The foolish follow ignorance, but think 
 
 They tread the road of wisdom, circling round 
 
 With erring steps, like blind men led by blind. 
 
 The careless youth, by lust of gain deceived, 
 
 Knows but one world, one life ; to him the Now 
 
 Alone exists, the Future is a dream. 
 
 The highest aim of knowledge is the soul ; 
 
 This is a miracle, beyond the ken
 
 42 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Of common mortals, thought of though it be, 
 And variously explained by skilful teachers. 
 Who gains this knowledge is a marvel too. 
 He lives above the cares the griefs and joys 
 Of time and sense seeking to penetrate 
 The fathomless unborn eternal essence. 
 The slayer thinks he slays, the slain 
 Believes himself destroyed, the thoughts of both 
 Are false, the soul survives, nor kills, nor dies ; 
 Tis subtler than the subtlest, greater than 
 The greatest, infinitely small, yet vast, 
 Asleep, yet restless, moving everywhere 
 Among the bodies ever bodiless 
 Think not to grasp it by the reasoning mind ; 
 The wicked ne'er can know it ; soul alone 
 Knows soul, to none but soul is soul revealed. 
 
 In the third Valli (3, 4, &c.) of the same Upanishad the 
 soul is compared to a rider in a chariot, the body being 
 the chariot, the intellect the charioteer, the mind the 
 reins, the passions or senses the horses, and the objects of 
 sense the roads. The unwise man neglects to apply the 
 reins ; in consequence of which the passions, like unre- 
 strained vicious horses, rush about hither and thither, 
 carrying the charioteer wherever they please. 1 
 
 In the fifth Valli (i i) the following sentiment occurs : 
 
 As the sun, the eye of the whole world, is not sullied by the defects of 
 the (human) eye or of external objects, so the inner soul of all beings is 
 not sullied by the misery of the world. 
 
 1 Compare Manu II. 88, ' In the restraint of the organs running wild 
 among objects of sense, which hurry him away hither and thither, a wise 
 man should make diligent effort, like a charioteer restraining restive 
 steeds.' So Plato in the Phaedrus (54, 74) compares the soul to a 
 charioteer (the reason) driving a pair of winged steeds, one of which (the 
 will) is obedient to the rein, and tries to control its wild and vicious yoke- 
 fellow (the appetite) : fp'X,fi d/e/AO,ajjv vJ/u^Jj* sxaffrjjn, ixiro(iiip<f>M ^i ^JG rm 
 f/'Sfy ri\iioyjx.<iv fa /<5oj rplrov, x. r. A.
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 43 
 
 I now add a few extracts from one of the most modern 
 of these treatises, called Svetasvatara, 1 which may serve 
 to show how epithets of the Supreme Being are heaped 
 together by the writers of the Upanishads without much 
 order and often with apparent contradiction : 
 
 Him may we know, the ruler of all rulers, 
 
 The god of gods, the lord of lords, the greater 
 
 Than all the greatest, the resplendent being, 
 
 The world's protector, worthy of all homage. 
 
 Of him there is not cause nor yet effect. 
 
 He is the cause, lord of the lord of causes, 
 
 None is there like him, none superior to him, 
 
 His power is absolute, yet various, 
 
 Dependent on himself, acting with knowledge, 
 
 He the one god is hidden in all beings, 
 
 Pervades their inner souls and rules their actions, 
 
 Dwelling within their hearts, a witness, thinker, 
 
 The singly perfect, without qualities. 
 
 He is the Universe's maker, he 
 
 Its knower, soul and origin of all, 
 
 Maker of time, endowed with every virtue, 
 
 Omniscient, lord of all embodied beings, 
 
 Lord of the triple qualities, the cause 
 
 Of man's existence, bondage and release, 
 
 Eternal, omnipresent, without parts, 
 
 All-knowing, tranquil, spotless, without blame, 
 
 The light, the bridge of immortality, 
 
 Subtler than what is subtlest, many-shaped, 
 
 One penetrator of the universe, 
 
 All-blest, unborn, incomprehensible, 
 
 Above, below, between, invisible 
 
 To mortal eyes, the mover of all beings, 
 
 Whose name is Glory, matchless, infinite, 
 
 The perfect spirit, with a thousand heads, 
 
 A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, the ruler 
 
 1 Of the Yajur-veda, though sometimes found (according to Cole- 
 brooke) in Atharva-veda collections. See Weber's Indische Studien, 
 I. 420-439-
 
 44 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Of all that is, that was, that is to be, 
 Diffused through endless space, yet of the measure 
 Of a man's thumb, abiding in the heart, 
 Known only by the heart, whoever knows him 
 Gains everlasting peace and deathlessness. 1 
 
 I close these extracts from the Upanishads by a metrical 
 version of part of the first chapter of a short Upanishad 
 called Maitrayani or Maitrayaniya, belonging to the Black 
 Yajur-veda : 2 
 
 In this decaying body, made of bones, 
 
 Skin, tendons, membranes, muscles, blood, saliva, 
 
 Full of putrescence and impurity, 
 
 What relish can there be for true enjoyment 1 3 
 
 In this weak body, ever liable 
 
 To wrath, ambition, avarice, illusion, 
 
 To fear, grief, envy, hatred, separation 
 
 From those we hold most dear, association 
 
 With those we hate ; continually exposed 
 
 To hunger, thirst, disease, decrepitude, 
 
 Emaciation, growth, decline, and death, 
 
 What relish can there be for true enjoyment ? 
 
 The universe is tending to decay, 
 
 Grass, trees, and animals spring up and die. 
 
 But what are they ? Earth's mighty men are gone, 
 
 Leaving their joys and glories ; they have passed 
 
 Out of this world into the realm of spirits. 
 
 But what are they ? Beings greater still than these, 
 
 Gods, demigods, and demons, all have gone. 
 
 1 Most of these epithets will be found in the following sections of the 
 SVetasvatara Upanishad VI. 7, 8, n, 17, 19, IV. 14, 17, 19, &c. Com- 
 pare the extract from the Purusha-sukta given at p. 21. 
 
 2 Also called Maitrayani, Maitrayana, Maitri, and Maitri. Under the 
 latter name it has been well edited and translated for the Bibliotheca 
 Indica by Professor E. B. Cowell. It is in seven chapters, the first of 
 which was translated into prose by Sir W. Jones, but without any name. 
 My version is partly based on his, but I have consulted Professor Cowell's 
 more accurate translation. 
 
 3 Compare Manu VI. 77.
 
 THE UPANISHADS. 45 
 
 But what are they ? for others greater still 
 Have passed away, vast oceans have been dried, 
 Mountains thrown down, the polar star displaced, 
 The cords that bind the planets rent asunder, 
 The whole earth deluged with a flood of water, 
 E'en highest angels driven from their stations. 
 In such a world what relish can there be 
 For true enjoyment ? deign to rescue us ; 
 Thou only art our refuge, holy lord. 1 
 
 1 The following sentiment occurs in the text before the concluding 
 line : Andliodapana-stlio bheka iva aliam asmin samsdre : 
 
 Living in such a world I seem to be 
 A frog abiding in a dried-up well. 
 
 Compare some of the Stoical reflections of Marcus Aurelius, given by 
 Archdeacon F. W. Farrar in his ' Seekers after God : '- 
 
 ' Oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things disgusting so is every part 
 of life.' 
 
 ' Enough of this wretched life, and murmuring, and apish trifles.' 
 
 ' All the present time is a point in eternity. All things are little, 
 changeable, perishable.'
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Systems of Philosophy. 
 
 I MUST now advert in a general way to the six systems 
 of philosophy which grew out of the Upanishads. They 
 are sometimes called the six Sastras or bodies of teach- 
 ino-, sometimes the Shad Darsanas or six Demonstrations. 
 
 O' 
 
 They are 
 
 1. The Nyaya, founded by Gotama. 
 
 2. The Vaiseshika, by Kanada. 
 
 3. The San-khya, by Kapila. 
 
 4. The Yoga, by Patanjali. 
 
 5. The Mimansa, by Jaimini. 
 
 6. The Vedanta, by Badarayana or Vyasa. 
 
 They are delivered in Sutras or aphorisms, which are 
 held to be the basis of all subsequent teaching under each 
 head. These Sutras are often so brief and obscure as to 
 be absolutely unintelligible without a commentary. They 
 are commonly called ' aphorisms, but really are mere 
 memorial suggestions of the briefest possible kind, skil- 
 fully contrived for aiding the recollection of the teachers 
 of each system. Probably the first to comment upon the 
 Sutras thus delivered was the author of them himself. 
 He was followed by a vast number of other commentators 
 in succeeding generations (generally a triple set), and by 
 writers who often embodied in treatises or compendiums 
 of their own the tenets of the particular school to which 
 they were attached. The most celebrated of all commen- 
 tators is the great San-kara Acarya, a native of Malabar, 
 
 who lived probably between 650 and 740 A.D., and wrote 
 
 46
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY. 47 
 
 almost countless works, including commentaries on the 
 Upanishads, Vedauta-sutras, and Bhagavad-gita. 
 
 It is as impossible to settle the date of any of the 
 Sutras with certainty as it is to determine the period of 
 the composition of any single work in Sanskrit literature. 
 Moreover, it is scarcely practicable to decide as to which 
 of the six systems of philosophy preceded the other in 
 point of time, though probably the San-khya was the most 
 ancient. All we can say is, that about 500 years before 
 the commencement of the Christian era a great stir seems 
 to have taken place in Indo- Aryan, as in Grecian minds, 
 and indeed in thinking minds everywhere throughout the 
 then civilized world. Thus when Buddha arose iu India, 
 Greece had her thinkers in the disciples of Pythagoras, 
 Persia in those of Zoroaster, 1 and China in those of Con- 
 fucius. Men began to ask themselves earnestly such 
 questions as What am I ? whence have I come ? whither 
 am I going ? How can I explain my consciousness of 
 personal existence ? What is the relationship between 
 my material and immaterial nature ? What is this world 
 in which I find myself? Did a wise, good, and all-powerful 
 Being create it out of nothing ? or did it evolve itself out 
 of an eternal germ ? or did it come together by the com- 
 bination of eternal atoms ? If created by a Being of 
 infinite wisdom, how can I account for the inequalities of 
 condition in it good and evil, happiness and misery? 
 Has the Creator form, or is he formless ? Has he any 
 qualities or none ? 
 
 Certainly in India no satisfactory solution of questions 
 such as these was likely to be obtained from the prayers 
 and hymns of the ancient Indo-Aryan poets, which, though 
 
 1 Zoroaster himself, however, seems to have lived many centuries 
 before. Pythagoras and Confucius were probably contemporaries of 
 Buddha.
 
 48 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 called Veda or 'knowledge' by the Brahmaus, did not 
 even profess to furnish any real knowledge on these 
 points, but merely gave expression to the first gropings 
 of the human mind, searching for truth by the uncertain 
 light of natural phenomena. 1 
 
 Nor did the ritualistic Brahmanas contribute anything 
 to the elucidation of such topics. They merely encouraged 
 the growth of a superstitious belief in the efficacy of sac- 
 rifices and fostered the increasing dependence of the mul- 
 titude on a mediatorial caste of priests, supposed to be 
 qualified to stand between them and an angry god. Still 
 these momentous questions pressed for solution, and the 
 minds of men finding no rest in mere traditional revela- 
 tion, and no satisfaction in mere external rites, turned 
 inwards, each thinker endeavouring to think out the great 
 problems of life for himself by the aid of his own reason. 
 Hence were composed those. vague mystical rationalistic 
 speculations called Upanishads, of which examples have 
 been already given. Be it remembered that these treatises 
 were not regarded as antagonistic to revelation, but rather 
 as completory of it. They were held to be an integral 
 portion of the Veda or true knowledge ; and, even more 
 they so rose in the estimation of thoughtful persons 
 that they ended by taking rank as its most important 
 portion, its grandest and noblest utterance, the apex to 
 which all previous revelation tended. Probably the 
 simple fact was, that as it was found impossible to stem 
 the progress of free inquiry, the Brahmans with true 
 wisdom determined on making rationalistic speculation 
 their own, and dignifying its first development in the 
 Upanisbads with the title of Veda. Probably, too, some 
 
 1 The second aphorism of the San-khya-karika states distinctly that 
 Anusravika, or knowledge derived from S'ruti the revelation con- 
 tained in the Veda is ineffectual to deliver from the bondage of 
 existence.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY. 49 
 
 of their number (like Javali) became themselves infected 
 with the spirit of scepticism, and were not to be re- 
 strained from prosecuting free philosophical investigations 
 for themselves. 
 
 There are not wanting, however, evident indications 
 that the Kshatriyas or second caste were the first intro- 
 ducers into India of rationalistic speculation. The great 
 Buddha was a Kshatriya, and the Ohandogya Upanishad 
 (V. 3) has a remarkable passage which, as bearing upon 
 this point, I here abridge (Roer's edition, p. 315) : 
 
 A youth called S'vetaketu (the son of a Brahman named Gautama) 
 repaired to the court of the king of Pandala, Pravahaiia, who said to him, 
 ' Boy, has thy father instructed thee ? ' ' Yes, sir,' replied he. ' Knowest 
 thou where men ascend when they quit this world ? ' ' No, sir,' replied 
 he. ' Knowest thou how they return ? ' ' No, sir,' replied he. ' Knowest 
 thou why the region to which they ascend is not filled up ? ' ' No, sir,' 
 replied he. ' Why then saidst thou that thou hadst been instructed ? ' 
 The boy returned sorrowful to his father's house and said, ' The king 
 asked me certain questions which I could not answer.' His father said, 
 ' I know not the answers.' Then he, Gautama, the father of the boy, 
 went to the king's house. When he arrived, the king received him 
 hospitably and said, ' O Gautama, choose as a boon the best of all 
 worldly possessions.' He replied, ' king, thine be all worldly posses- 
 sions ; tell me the answers to the questions you asked my son.' The 
 king became distressed in mind (knowing that a Brahman could not be 
 refused a request), and begged him to tarry for a time. Then he said, 
 ' Since you have sought this information from me, and since this 
 knowledge has never been imparted to any other Brahman before thee, 
 therefore the right of imparting it has remained with the Kshatriyas 
 among all the people of the world.' 
 
 This story certainly appears to favour the supposition 
 that men of the caste next in rank to that of Brahmans 
 were the first to venture upon free philosophical specula- 
 tion. However that may be, it was not long before 
 Brahmanism and rationalism advanced hand in hand, 
 making only one compact, that however inconsistent with 
 each other, neither should declare the other to be a false
 
 50 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 guide. A Brahman might be a rationalist, or both ration- 
 alist and Brahman might live together in harmony, pro- 
 vided both gave a nominal assent to the Veda, maintained 
 the inviolability of caste, and the ascendency and trust- 
 worthiness 'of the Brahmans, as teachers both of religion 
 and philosophy. 1 
 
 And no doubt some common philosophical creed must 
 have prevailed among such teachers long before the crys- 
 tallisation of rationalistic speculation into separate systems. 
 If not distinctly developed in the Upauishads, it is clearly 
 traceable throughout Manu ; 2 and as it is not only the faith 
 of every Indian philosopher at the present day, but also of 
 the greater number of thinking Brahmans, whether dis- 
 ciples of any particular philosophical school or not, and 
 indeed of the greater number of educated Hindus, whether 
 nominal adherents of Vishnu or Siva, or to whatever caste 
 they may belong its principal features may be advan- 
 tageously stated before pointing out the chief differences 
 between the six systems. 
 
 i. In the first place, then, rationalistic Brahmanism 
 as I propose to call this common faith holds the eternity 
 of soul, both retrospectively and prospectively. 3 It looks 
 upon soul as of two kinds : a. the supreme Spirit or 
 
 1 The summary of Buddhism given here in the previous edition of 
 ' Indian Wisdom' has been omitted, because the reader who wishes for 
 an account of Buddhism can refer to my recent volume called ' Bud- 
 dhism,' published by John Murray, of Albemarle Street, London. 
 
 2 See Manu XII. 12, 15-18. 
 
 3 Plato appears to have held the same : ~Yv%ri vata, uddvaro;, TO yap 
 anxivr)TOv df)d,*arov, Phaed. 51. And again: 'Evrtidri fa ay'svrirov ion, xai 0.810- 
 (f>Sfipciv awo avdyxq e/va/, Phaed. 52. And again : Touro ds ovr' avoXXvadai 
 wTt yiywaQa.1 dviarov. Cicero expresses it thus : Id aittem nee nascipotest 
 nee mori, Tusc. Quaest. I. 23. Plato, however, seems to have given no 
 eternity to individual souls, except as emanations from the divine ; and 
 in Timaeus 44 he distinguishes two parts of the soul, one immortal, the 
 other mortal.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY COMMON CREED. 51 
 
 Self (called variously Atman, Paramdtman, Brahman, 
 Purusha, &c.) ; b. the personal individuated spirit of living 
 beings (jivatman) ; 1 and it maintains that if any entity is 
 eternal it cannot have had a beginning, or else it must 
 have an end. Hence the personal spirit of every human 
 being, just as the supreme Spirit, has existed everlastingly 
 and will never cease to exist. 2 
 
 2. In the second p]ace, this creed asserts the eternity of 
 the visible universe, or of that substance out of which the 
 universe has been evolved ; in other words, of its substan- 
 tial or material cause. 3 But, according to one system (the 
 
 1 All the systems, as we shall see, are not equally clear about the 
 existence of a supreme Spirit. One at least practically ignores it. I 
 use the word ' spirit ' (in preference to ' soul ') as the best translation 
 of Atman, Brahman, and Purusha, because 'soul' may convey the idea 
 of thinking and feeling, whereas pure spirit, according to Hindu philo- 
 sophy, neither thinks nor feels, because that would imply the existence 
 of some object of thought and feeling. The translation 'self seems 
 scarcely more suitable than ' soul.' 
 
 2 The Muslims have two words for eternity : i. .J \\ azl, ' that eternity 
 which has no beginning ' (whence God is called Azali, ' having no begin- 
 ning '); and 2. j^\ aid, 'that eternity which has no end.' 
 
 3 The term for substantial or material cause is samavdyi-Jcarana, 
 literally, ' inseparable inherent cause ; ' in the Vedanta upaddna-kdrana 
 is used. Though the Greek philosophers are not very definite in their 
 views as to the eternity of matter or its nature, yet they seem to have 
 acquiesced generally in the independent existence of some sort of 
 primordial substance. Plato appears to have held that the elements 
 before the creation were shapeless and soulless, but were moulded and 
 arranged by the Creator (Timaeus 27) out of some invisible and form- 
 less essence (ditpemt i756g ri x.ai ap.op(f)ov, Timaeus 24). Aristotle in one 
 passage describes the views of older philosophers who held that primeval 
 substance was affected and made to undergo changes by some sort of 
 affections like the San-khya Gurtas, whence all the universe was de- 
 veloped : T?5s (M* ovaiag uro^sfoiffT); ro7g ds Kcid:<ii Atra/3aXXou'<njj, roDro 
 aroiysfTov xal ravrrjv rrj\> ap^fjv (fraaiv eJvai rout/ ovruv, Metaph. I. 3. (See 
 Wilson's San-khya-karika, p. 53.) Aristotle adds his own opinion, 'It 
 is necessary there should be a certain nature (<tff/;) either one or 
 more out of which other entities are produced.'
 
 52 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 San-khya), the external world is evolved out of an eter- 
 nally existing productive germ united to eternally existing 
 individual spirits. According to another (the Vedanta), 
 this external world is evolved out of the eternal Illusion 
 (Maya), which overspreads the one eternal Spirit and is 
 one with it, though having no real existence. In truth, a 
 Hindu philosopher's belief in the eternity of the world's 
 substance, whether that substance has a real material 
 existence or is simply illusory, arises from that fixed 
 article of his creed, ' Ex nihilo nihiljit,' ndvastuno vastu- 
 siddhih. In other words, A-satah saj jdyeta kutas, ' How 
 can an entity be produced out of a nonentity ? ' 
 
 3. In the third place, the spirit, though itself sheer 
 thought and knowledge, can only exercise thought, con- 
 
 ymrai ex roD fj,ri OITOJ, 'Nothing is produced out of nothing.' 
 All the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome seem also to have 
 agreed upon this point, as Aristotle affirms (mpl yap raurqz of^oyieafji.6vouffi 
 rj; So^Jjc a,Trai/ri$ 01 xe.pl (frvffiui). Lucretius (I. 150) starts with laying 
 down the same principle : ' Principium hinc nobis exordia sumet 
 Nullam rem e nihilo gigni divinitus unquam.' Aristotle, in the third 
 chapter of the first book of his Metaphysics, informs us that Thales 
 made the primitive substance out of which the universe originated 
 water, Anaximenes and Diogenes made it air, Heracleitus made it fire, 
 Empedocles combined earth, air, fire, and water. Anaximander, on 
 the other hand, regarded the primordial germ as an indeterminate but 
 infinite or boundless principle (rb antipov). Other philosophers affirmed 
 something similar in referring everything back to a confused chaos. 
 Parmenides made Desire his first principle, and Hesiod, quoted by 
 Aristotle, says poetically, 
 
 { First indeed of all was chaos ; then afterwards 
 Earth with her broad breast (cf. Sanskrit pntlnvi) ; 
 Then Desire (tp$), who is pre-eminent among all the Immortals.' 
 
 Lastly, the Eleatics, like the Indian Yedantists, were thoroughly pan- 
 theistic, and held that the universe was God and God the universe ; 
 in other words, that God was TO ?n, or the only one existing thing. 
 With all these accounts compare the Rig-veda hymn on the creation, 
 translated on p. 19.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY COMMON CREED. 53 
 
 sciousness, sensation, and cognition, and indeed can only 
 act and will when connected with external and objective 
 objects of sensation, 1 invested with some bodily form 2 
 and joined to mind (manas), which last (viz., mind) is an 
 internal organ of sense (anta/i-karana) 5 a sort of inlet of 
 
 1 It is difficult to find any suitable word to express what the Hindus 
 mean by material objects. There seems, in real truth, to be no proper 
 Sanskrit word equivalent to ' matter ' in its usual English sense. Vastu, 
 as applied to the ' one reality,' is the term for the Vedantist's universal 
 Spirit ; dravya stands for soul, mind, time, and space, as well as the five 
 elements ; murtti is anything which has definite limits, and therefore 
 includes mind and the four elements, but not dkdsa, ' ether ; ' pradhdna 
 is the original producer of the San-khya system ; paddrtha is used for 
 the seven categories of the Vaiseshika. What is here meant is not 
 necessarily a collection of material atoms, nor, again, that imperceptible 
 substance propounded by some as lying underneath and supporting all 
 visible phenomena (disbelieved in by Berkeley), and holding together 
 the attributes or qualities of everything, but rather what is seen, heard, 
 felt, tasted, and touched, which is perhaps best denoted by the Sanskrit 
 word vishaya, the terms samavdyi-lcdrana and updddna-lcdrana being 
 generally used for the substantial or the material cause of the universe. 
 
 2 All the systems assign to each person two bodies : a. an exterior or 
 gross body (stkula-sarira) ; b. an interior or subtle body (sukshma-sarira 
 or lin-ga-sarlra). The last is necessary as a vehicle for the spirit when 
 the gross body is dissolved, accompanying it through all its transmigra- 
 tions and sojournings in heaven or hell, and never becoming separated 
 from it till its emancipation is effected. The Vedanta affirms the 
 existence of a third body, called kdrana-sarlra or causal body, described 
 as a kind of inner rudiment or latent embryo of the body existing with 
 the spirit, and by some regarded as Ignorance united with the spirit in 
 dreamless sleep. The Platonists and other Greek and Roman philo- 
 sophers seem to have held a similar doctrine as to a subtle material 
 envelope investing the soul after death, serving as its o^jj/ia or vehicle. 
 See Plato, Timaeus 17. This is like the idea of a deceased person's 
 ghost or shade (s/ciwXox, umbra, imago, simulacrum). Of. Virgil, Aeneid, 
 VI. 390, 701. 
 
 3 Manas is often taken as the general term applicable to all the 
 mental powers, but Manas is properly a subdivision of antak-karana, 
 
 * which is divided into Buddhi, ' perception or intellection ; ' Ahankdra,
 
 54 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 thought to the spirit belonging only to the body, only 
 existing with it, aiid quite as distinct from the spirit as 
 any of the external organs of the body. 1 The supreme 
 Spirit has thus connected itself in successive ages with 
 objects and forms, becoming manifest either as Brahma 
 the creator, or in the form of other gods, as Vishnu and 
 Siva, or again in the form of men. 
 
 4. Fourthly, this union of the spirit with the body is 
 productive of bondage, and in the case of human spirits, 
 of misery, for when ouce so united the spirit begins to 
 apprehend objects through the senses, receiving therefrom 
 painful and pleasurable impressions. It also becomes con- 
 scious of personal existence and individuality ; then it 
 commences acting ; but all action, whether good or bad, 
 leads to bondage, because every act inevitably entails 
 a consequence, according to the maxim, Avasyam eva 
 bhoktavyam Jcritam karma subhasubham, ' The fruit of 
 every action good or bad must of necessity be eaten.' 
 Hence, if an act be good it must be rewarded, and if bad 
 it must be punished. 2 
 
 5. Fifthly, iu order to accomplish the entire working 
 
 ' self-consciousness ; ' and Manas, ' volition or determination ; ' to which 
 the Vedanta adds a fourth division, Citta, ' the thinking or reasoning 
 organ.' 
 
 1 This idea of the mind agrees to a great extent with the doctrine 
 of JLucretius, stated in III. 94, &c. : 
 
 ' Primum animum dico (mentem quern saepe vocamus) 
 In quo consilium vitae regimenque locatum est, 
 Esse hominis partem nihilo minus ac manus et pes 
 Atque oculi partes animantis totius extant.' 
 
 The remainder of his description of the mind is very interesting in con- 
 nection with the Hindu, theory. 
 
 2 In the PancSa-tantra (II. 135, 136) we read : 'An evil act follows 
 a man, passing through a hundred thousand transmigrations ; in like 
 manner the act of a high-minded man. As shade and sunlight are 
 ever closely joined together, so an act and the agent stick close to each 
 other.'
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY COMMON CREED. 55 
 
 out of these consequences or ' ripenings of acts,' as they 
 are called (karma-vipdkdh}, 1 it is not enough that the 
 personal spirit goes to heaven or to hell. For all the 
 systems contend that even in heaven or hell merit or 
 demerit, resulting from the inexorable retributive efficacy 
 of former acts, continues clinging to the spirit as grease 
 does to a pot after it has been emptied. The necessity 
 for removal to a place of reward or punishment is indeed 
 admitted ; 2 but this is not effectual or final. In order 
 that the consequences of acts may be entirely worked out, 
 the spirit must leave heaven or hell and return to corporeal 
 existence. Thus it has to pass through innumerable 
 bodies, migrating into higher, intermediate, or lower forms, 
 from a god 3 to a demon, man, animal, or plant, or even 
 
 1 Bad consequences are called Dur-vipdka. Some of these, in the 
 shape of diseases, &c., are detailed by Manu (XI. 48-52). Thus any 
 one who has stolen gold in a former life will suffer from whitlows on 
 his nails, a drinker of spirits will have black teeth, and the killer of a 
 Brahman, consumption. In the S'abda-kalpa-druma, under the head of 
 Karma-vipdka, will be found a long catalogue of the various diseases 
 with which men are born as the fruit of evil deeds committed in former 
 states of existence, and a declaration as to the number of births through 
 which each disease will be protracted, unless expiations (prdyascittd) be 
 performed in the present life, as described in the eleventh book of Manu. 
 
 2 The twenty-one hells (Narakas) are enumerated in Manu IV. 88-90. 
 One is a place of terrific darkness ; another a pit of red-hot charcoal ; 
 another a forest whose leaves are swords ; another is filled with fetid 
 mud ; another is paved with iron spikes. These are not to be con- 
 founded with the seven places under the earth, of which Patala is one, 
 the abode of a kind of serpent demon. The Buddhists have one hundred 
 and thirty-six hells, with regular gradations of suffering. Hindus and 
 Buddhists have also numerous heavens. The former make six regions 
 rising above earth, the seventh ; viz., bhur (earth), bhuvar, svar, mahar, 
 janar, tapah, satya. 
 
 3 The gods themselves are only finite beings. They are nothing but 
 portions of the existing system of a perishing universe. In fact, they 
 are represented as actually feeding on the oblations offered to them (see 
 
 , Bhagavad-gita III. 1 1) ; they go through penances (see Manu XI. 221); 
 they are liable to passions and affections like men and animals, and are
 
 56 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 a stone, according to its various shades of merit or 
 
 demerit. 1 
 
 6. Sixthly, this transmigration of the spirit through a 
 constant succession of bodies is to be regarded as the 
 root of all evil. 2 Moreover, by it all the misery, in- 
 subject, as regards their corporeal part, to the same law of dissolution, 
 while their souls obey the same necessity of ultimate absorption into 
 the supreme soul. The following occurs in the San-khya-karika (p. 3 of 
 Wilson) : ' Many thousands of Indras and other gods have, through 
 time, passed away in every mundane age, for time cannot be overcome.' 
 Muir's Texts, vol. v. p. 16. 
 
 1 According to Manu XII. 3, Subhasubha-phalam karma mano-vag- 
 deha-sambhavam Itarma-ja gatayo nrinam uttamadhama-madhyamcih, 
 ' An act either mental* verbal, or corporeal bears good or evil fruit ; the 
 various transmigrations of men through the highest, middle, and lowest 
 stages are produced by acts. ' This triple order of transmigration is after- 
 wards (XII. 40, &c.) explained to be the passage of the soul through 
 deities, men, and beasts and plants, according to the dominance of one 
 or other of the three Gunas, goodness, passion, or darkness. And each 
 of these three degrees of transmigration has three sub-degrees. The 
 highest of the first degree is Brahma himself, the lowest of the lowest 
 is any sthdvara or ' stationary substance,' which is explained to mean 
 either a vegetable or a mineral ; other lowest forms of the lowest degree 
 are in an upward order worms, insects, fish, reptiles, snakes, tortoises, &c. 
 Again, in VI. 61, 63, we read : Let the man who has renounced the 
 world reflect on the transmigrations of men caused by the fault of their 
 acts (karma-dosha) ; on their downfall into hell and their torments in 
 the abode of Yama; on their formation again in the womb and the 
 glidings of the soul through ten millions of other wombs. Again, in 
 XII. 54, 55, &c. : Those who have committed great crimes, having passed 
 through terrible hells for many series of years, at the end of that time 
 pass through various bodies. A Brahman-killer enters the body of a 
 dog, boar, ass, camel, bull, goat, sheep, stag, bird, &c. The violator of 
 the bed of a Guru migrates a hundred times into the forms of grasses, 
 shrubs, plants, &c. In I. 49, XL 143-146, it is clearly implied that 
 trees and vegetables of all kinds have internal consciousness (antah- 
 sanjna), and are susceptible of pleasure and pain. 
 
 2 The doctrine of metempsychosis, however, does not appear to have 
 taken hold of the Hindu mind when the Mantras were composed. There 
 seems at least to be no allusion to it in the Rig-veda (see note, p. 1 8). It
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY COMMON CREED. 57 
 
 equality of fortune, and diversity of character in the world 
 is to be explained. 1 For even great genius, aptitude for 
 special work, and innate excellence are not natural gifts, 
 
 begins to appear, though not clearly defined, in the Brahmanas, and is 
 fully developed in the Upanishads, Darsanas, and Manu. A passage in 
 the S'atapatha-brahmana (XI. 6. i. i.), quoted by Professor Weber and 
 Dr. Muir, describes animals and plants as revenging in a future state of 
 existence injuries and death inflicted on them by men in this life. 
 
 In Greece and Rome the doctrine of transmigration seems never to 
 have impressed itself deeply on the popular mind. It was confined to 
 philosophers and their disciples, and was first plainly taught by Pytha- 
 goras, who is said to have asserted that he remembered his own pre- 
 vious existences. He was followed by Plato, who is supposed by some to 
 have been indebted to Hindu writers for his views on this subject. In 
 the Timaeus (72, 73) he affirms his opinion that those who have lived 
 unrighteously and effeminately will, at their next birth, be changed to 
 women ; those who have lived innocently but frivolously will become 
 birds; those who have lived without knowledge of the truths of philosophy 
 will become beasts; and those whose lives have been marked by the ex- 
 treme of ignorance and folly will become fishes, oysters, &c. He sums 
 up thus : Kara ra\JTO. dri irdvra TOTS xa! vuv diafj,c/(3srei.i ra, Zia. /'; aXXjy.a, 
 KoD xal avolag UTtofiohii xal xTqatt iiira.fia.\\iiiLwa.. Virgil, in the sixth 
 book of the Aeneid (680-751), describes the condition of certain souls, 
 which, after going through a sort of purgatory for a thousand years in 
 the lower regions, again ascend to earth and occupy new bodies. 
 
 The Jews seem to have known something of the doctrine, if we may 
 judge by the question proposed to our Lord : ' Who did sin, this man 
 (i.e., in a former life) or his parents, that he was born blind V (John ix. 2). 
 
 1 Among Greek philosophers, Aristotle, in the eleventh book of his 
 Metaphysics (ch. 10), goes into the origin of evil, and his view may 
 therefore be compared with that of Hindu philosophers. He recognizes 
 good as a paramount principle in the world, but admits the power of 
 evil, and considers matter (uX?j) as its prime and only source, much in 
 the same way as the Gnostics and other early Christian philosophical 
 sects, who, like Indian philosophers, denied the possibility of anything 
 being produced out of nothing, and repudiated the doctrine that God 
 could in any way be connected with evil They, therefore, supposed 
 the eternal existence of a sluggish, inert substance, out of which the 
 world was formed by God, but which contained in itself the principle 
 of evil.
 
 58 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 but the result of habits formed and powers developed 
 through perhaps millions of previous existences. So, again, 
 sufferings of all kinds weaknesses, sicknesses, and moral 
 depravity are simply the consequences of acts done by 
 each spirit, of its own free will, in former bodies, which 
 acts exert upon that spirit an irresistible power called very 
 significantly Adrishta, because felt and not seen. 
 
 Thus the spirit has to bear the consequences of its own 
 acts only. It is tossed hither and thither at the mercy of 
 a force set in motion by itself alone, but which can never 
 
 be guarded against, because its operation depends on past 
 
 L j 
 actions wholly beyond control and even unremembered. 
 
 Nor does the absence of all recollections of acts done in 
 former states of existence seem to strike Hindu philo- 
 sophers as an objection to their theory of transmigration. 
 They say that we do not remember our state of infancy 
 and childhood up to the age of three or four years, and yet 
 we do not doubt that the individuality of old people is 
 different from their earliest individuality. 1 Most of the 
 
 1 The Garbha Upanishad (4) attributes the loss of memory to the 
 pain and pressure suffered by the soul in the act of leaving the womb. 
 Cases are recorded of men who were gifted with the power of recollect- 
 ing former existences. Gautama Buddha, we know, is said to have 
 possessed the power. In the Phaedo of Plato (47) Cebes is described 
 as saying to Socrates, ' According to that doctrine which you are fre- 
 quently in the habit of advancing, if it is true, that all knowledge 
 is nothing else than reminiscence (on q/j,Tv q fiddtiais ovx aXXo n Jj ana^- 
 uriaif ruy-^civii ouffa), it is surely necessary that we must at some former 
 time have learned what we now remember. But this is impossible, 
 unless our soul existed somewhere before it came into this human 
 form.' Cicero, in Tusc. Quaest. I. 24, says, speaking of the soul, 
 ' Habet primam memoriam, et earn infinitam rerum innumerabilium, 
 quam quidem Plato recordationem esse vult superioris vitae.' Cf. 
 S'akuntala, Act V. 104, 'Can it be that the dim memory of events 
 long past, or friendships formed in other states of being, flits like 
 a passing shadow o'er the spirit ? ' Virgil (Aeneid VI. 7 1 4) wisely
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY COMMON CREED. 59 
 
 systems evade the difficulty by maintaining that at each 
 death the soul is divested of mind, understanding, con- 
 sciousness, and brain-memory. 
 
 7. Seventhly and lastly, from a consideration of these 
 essential articles of Hindu Rationalism it is plain that the 
 great aim of philosophy is to teach a man to abstain from 
 every kind of action ; from liking or disliking, from loving 
 or hating, and even from being indifferent to anything. 
 
 The living personal spirit must shake off the fetters of 
 action, and getting rid of body, mind, and all sense of 
 separate personality, return to the condition of simple spirit. 
 
 This constitutes Pramd or Jnana, the true measure of 
 all existing difficulties the right apprehension of truth 
 which, if once acquired by the spirit, confers upon it final 
 emancipation, whether called Mukti, MoJcsha, Nihsreyasa, 
 Apavarga, or Nirvana. This, in short, is the summum 
 bonum of philosophical Brahmanism ; this is the only real 
 bliss, the loss of all personality and separate identity by 
 absorption into the supreme and only really existing Being 
 mere life with nothing to live for, mere joy with nothing 
 to rejoice about, and mere thought with nothing upon 
 which thought is to be exercised. 1 
 
 Having thus attempted to set forth the common tenets 
 of Indian philosophy, I must next indicate the principal 
 points in which the systems differ from each other. 
 
 makes the souls who are to occupy new bodies upon earth throng 
 the banks of Lethe that they may drink a deep draught of oblivion 
 from its waters. 
 
 1 Mr. Hard wick has well shown that the great boon conferred by 
 the Gospel, in contradistinction to these false systems, is the recogni- 
 tion of man's responsible free agency and the permanence of his 
 personality. ' Not to be ' is the melancholy result of the religion and 
 philosophy of the Hindus. See 'Christ and other Masters,' vol. i. 
 p. 355. Christianity satisfies the deepest want of man's religious life, 
 viz., to know and love God as a person. See Canon Liddon's ' Elements 
 of Religion/ p. 36.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Nyaya. 
 
 WE begin with the Nyaya of Gotama or Gautama, with 
 its important supplement, the Vaiseshika, not because 
 this is first in order of time (see p. 46), but because t is 
 generally the first studied, and much of its terminology is 
 adopted by the other systems. 1 
 
 The word Nyaya signifies ' going into a subject,' that is, 
 investigating it analytically. In this sense of ' analysis,' 
 Nyaya is exactly opposed to the word Sau-khya, ' synthesis.' 
 It is common to suppose that the Nyaya is chiefly con- 
 cerned with logic ; but this is merely one part of a single 
 topic. The fact rather is that this system was intended 
 to furnish a correct method of philosophical inquiry into 
 all the objects and subjects of human knowledge, includ- 
 ing, amongst others, the process of reasoning and laws of 
 thought. The Nyaya proper differs from its later develop- 
 ment, the Vaiseshika, by propounding sixteen topics in its 
 first Sutra. The first topic of these sixteen is Pramdna, 
 
 1 The Nyaya Sutras, consisting of five books, with the commentary, 
 were printed at Calcutta in 1828, under the title of Nyaya-sutra-vritti. 
 Four of the five books were edited and translated by the late Dr. Ballan- 
 tyne. He also published the Nyaya compendium, called Tarka-san-graha. 
 A favourite text-book of this system is the Bhasha-paridclieda, with its 
 commentary, called Siddhanta-muktavali. This has been edited and 
 translated by Dr. Roer. The Vaiseshika Sutras, consisting of ten 
 books, have been edited and translated by Mr. A. E. Gough. Professor 
 E. B. Cowell's edition of the Kusumanjali, a Nyaya treatise proving the 
 existence of a God, is a most interesting work.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY NYAYA. 6 1 
 
 that is, the means or instruments by which Pramd or the 
 right measure of any subject is to be obtained. Under 
 this head are enunciated the different processes by which 
 the mind arrives at true and accurate knowledge. 
 
 These processes are declared in the third Sutra of the 
 first book to be four, viz. : 
 
 a. Pratyakslta, 'perception by the senses.' b. Anumdna, 'inference.' 
 c. Upamdna, 'comparison' or 'analogy.' d. Sabda, 'verbal authority' 
 or ' trustworthy testimony,' including Vedic revelation. 
 
 The treatment of the second of these, viz., inference, 
 possesses more interest for Europeans, as indicating that 
 the Hindus have not, like other nations, borrowed their 
 logic and metaphysics from the Greeks. 
 
 Inference is divided in Sutra I. 32 into five Avayavas 
 or 'members.' 
 
 1 . The pratynd or proposition (stated hypothetically). 
 
 2. The hetu or reason. 
 
 3. The uddharana (sometimes called nidarsand) or example (equiva- 
 lent to the major premiss). 
 
 4. The upanaya or application of the reason (equivalent to the minor 
 premiss). 
 
 5. The nigamana or conclusion, (i.e., the pratynd or 'proposition' 
 re-stated as proved). 
 
 This method of splitting an inference or argument into 
 five divisions is familiarly illustrated by native commen- 
 tators thus : 
 
 i. The hill is fiery; 2. for it smokes; 3. whatever smokes is fiery, 
 as a kitchen-hearth (or, inversely, not as a lake, which is invariably 
 without fire); 4. this hill smokes; 5. therefore this hill is fiery. 
 
 Here we have a combination of enthymeme and syllo- 
 gism, which seems clumsy by the side of Aristotle's more 
 concise method ; the fourth and fifth members being repe- 
 titions of the second and first, which, therefore, appeal- 
 superfluous. But it possesses some advantages when
 
 62 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 regarded, not as a syllogism, but as a full and complete 
 rhetorical statement of an argument. 
 
 Perhaps the most noticeable peculiarity in the Indian 
 method, stamping it as an original and independent ana- 
 lysis of the laws of thought, is the use of the curious 
 terms, Vydpti, ' invariable pervasion' or ' concomitance ' ; 
 Vydpaka, 'pervader' or 'invariably pervading attribute' ; 
 and Vydpya, 'invariably pervaded.' These terms are em- 
 ployed in making a universal affirmation or in affirming 
 universal distribution ; as, for example, ' Wherever there 
 is smoke there is fire.' ' Wherever there is humanity there 
 is mortality.' In such cases an Indian logician always ex- 
 presses himself by saying that there is an invariably per- 
 vading concomitance of fire with smoke and of mortality 
 with humanity. 
 
 Similarly, fire and mortality are called the pervaders 
 ( VyclpaJca), smoke and humanity the pervaded ( Vydpya). 
 The first argument would therefore be thus briefly stated 
 by a Naiydyika : ' The mountain has invariably fire-per- 
 vaded smoke, therefore it has fire.' 
 
 To show the importance attached to a right under- 
 standing of this technical expression Vydpti, and to serve 
 as a specimen of a Naiyayika writer's style, I now make 
 an abridged extract from San-kara-misra's comment on the 
 fourteenth Sutra of the first daily lesson of the third book 
 of the Vaiseshika Sutras (Gough, p. 86) : 
 
 It may be asked, What is this invariable concomitance 1 (Nanu key am 
 vydptih). It is not merely a relation of co-extension. Nor is it the 
 relation of totality. For if you say that invariable concomitance is the 
 connection of the middle term with the whole of the major term (krits- 
 nasya sddhyasya sddhana-sambandhah), such connection does not exist 
 in the case of smoke, &c. [for although fire exists wherever smoke exists, 
 smoke does not always exist where fire exists, not being found in red- 
 hot iron]. Nor is it natural conjunction ; for the nature of a thing is 
 the thing's proper mode of being. Nor is it invariable co-inherence of 
 the major, which is absent only when there is absolute non-existence
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY NYAYA. 63 
 
 of that of which the middle is predicated ; for volcanic fire must always 
 be non-existent in a kitchen-hearth, though smoky. Nor is it the not 
 being a subject of incompatibility with the predicate. Nor is it the 
 possession of a form determined by the same connection as something 
 else ; as, for instance, the being fiery is not determined by connection 
 with smoke, for the being fiery is more extensive. We proceed, then, 
 to state that invariable concomitance is a connection requiring no 
 qualifying term or limitation (an-aupddhikah sambandhah). 1 It is an 
 extensiveness co-extensive with the predicate (sddliya-vydpaka-vydpakat- 
 ram). In other words, invariable concomitance is invariable co-inher- 
 ence of the predicate. 2 
 
 The second head or topic of the Nyaya is Prameya, 
 by which is meant all the objects or subjects of Prama 
 those points, in short, about which correct knowledge is to 
 be obtained. This topic includes all the most important 
 subjects investigated by Indian philosophy. The Pra- 
 meyas are twelve, as given in the ninth Sutra ; thus : 
 
 i. Soul (dtman). z. Body (sarira). 3. Senses (indriya). 4. Objects 
 of sense (artha). 5. Understanding or intellection (buddhi). 6. Mind 
 (manas). 7. Activity (pravritti). 8. Faults (doslid). 9. Transmigration 
 (preti/a-bhdvd). 10. Consequences or fruits (pliala). n. Pain (duhkha). 
 12. Emancipation (apavargd). 
 
 In his first topic Gautama provides for hearing opposing 
 disputants who desire to discuss fairly any of these Pra- 
 meyas which form his second topic. 
 
 With regard to his fourteen other topics, they seem to 
 
 1 Hence, ' the mountain is smoky because it has fire ' is not vyapti, but 
 ati-vyapti, becaxise the upddhi or qualification drdrendana-jdta, ' produced 
 by wet wood,' must be added to make the argument correct. When the 
 middle term (fire) and the major (smoke) are made co-extensive then the 
 fault of ati-vydpti is removed. 
 
 2 It would be difficult to convey to a general reader any idea of the 
 terseness with which the use of long compounds enables all this to be 
 expressed in the original Sanskrit. Of course the obscurity of the style 
 is proportionably great, and the difficulty of translation enhanced. Mr. 
 Gough, however, is not responsible for every word of the above.
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 be not so much philosophical categories as an enumeration 
 of the regular stages through which a controversy is likely 
 to pass. In India argument slides into wrangling dispu- 
 tation even more easily than in Europe, and these remain- 
 ing topics certainly illustrate very curiously the captious 
 propensities of a Hindu disputant, leading him to be quick 
 in repartee and ready with specious objections in opposi- 
 tion to the most conclusive logic. 
 
 There is, first, the state of Samsaya, or ' doubt about the 
 
 point to be discussed.' Next, there must be a Pray oj ana, 
 
 or ' motive for discussing it.' Next, a Drishtanta, or ' fami- 
 
 liar example,' must be adduced in order that a Siddhanta, 
 
 or ' established conclusion,' may be arrived at. Then comes 
 
 an objector with his Avayava, or ' argument' split up, as 
 
 we have seen, into five members. Next follows the Tarka, 
 
 or ' refutatiou (reductio ad absurdum) of his objection/ 
 
 and the Nirtmya, or ' ascertainment of the true state of the 
 
 case.' But this is not enough to satisfy a Hindu's passion 
 
 for disputation. Every side of a question must be exa- 
 
 mined every possible objection stated and so a further 
 
 Vdda, or ' controversy,' takes place, which of course leads 
 
 to Jalpa, ( mere wrangling,' followed by Vitanda, ' cavil- 
 
 ling ' ; Hetv-dbhdsa, ' fallacious reasoning ' ; * &hala, ' quib- 
 
 bling artifices' ; Jdti, ' futile replies ' ; and Nigraha-sthdna, 
 
 ' the putting an end to all discussion' by a demonstration 
 
 of the objector's incapacity for argument. 
 
 The above are Gotama's sixteen topics. After enume- 
 rating them he proceeds to state how deliverance from the 
 misery of repeated births is to be attained ; thus, 
 
 1 As an example of fallacious argument may be taken the sixteenth 
 Aphorism of the third book of the Vaiseshika Sutras, yasmdd vishdnl 
 tasmdd asvah, ' because this has horns, therefore it is a horse ; ' or the 
 next Sutra, yasmdd vishdnl tasmdd gauh, ' because it has horns, therefore 
 it is a cow,' which last is the fallacy of ' undistributed middle.'
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAISESHIKA. 65 
 
 Misery, birth, activity, fault, false notions ; on the removal of these in 
 turn (beginning with the last), there is the removal also of that which 
 precedes it ; then ensues final emancipation. 
 
 That is to say, from false notions comes the fault of 
 liking, disliking, or being indifferent to anything ; from 
 that fault proceeds activity ; from this mistaken activity 
 proceed actions involving either merit or demerit, which 
 merit or demerit forces a man nolens volens to pass 
 through repeated births for the sake of its reward or 
 punishment. From these births proceed misery, and it is 
 the aim of philosophy to correct the false notions at the 
 root of this misery. 
 
 A Naiyayika commentator, Vatsyayana, thus comments 
 on the foregoing statement (Banerjea, p. 185) : 
 
 From false notion proceed partiality and prejudice ; thence come the 
 faults of detraction, envy, delusion, intoxication, pride, avarice. Acting 
 with a body, a person commits injury, theft, and unlawful sensualities, 
 becomes false, harsh, and slanderous. This vicious activity produces 
 demerit. But to do acts of charity, benevolence, and service with the 
 body ; to be truthful, useful, agreeable in speech, or given to repetition 
 of the Veda ; to be kind, disinterested, and reverential these produce 
 merit (dharma). Hence merit and demerit are fostered by activity. 
 This activity is the cause of vile as well as honourable births. Attendant 
 on birth is pain. That comprises the feeling of distress, trouble, disease, 
 and sorrow. Emancipation is the cessation of all these. What intelli- 
 gent person will not desire emancipation from all pain ? For, it is said, 
 food mixed with honey and poison is to be rejected. Pleasure joined 
 with pain is to be avoided. 
 
 I pass at once to the most important part of the Nyaya 
 system, its supplement : 
 
 The Vaiseshika. 
 
 We now come to the Vaiseshika development of the 
 Nyaya, attributed to an author Kanada. 1 This is not 
 
 1 This was probably a mere nickname, meaning ' Feeder on Atoms/ 
 He is also called Uliika. Gautama, the author of the Nyaya proper, 
 

 
 66 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 so much a branch of this system as a supplement to it, 
 extending the Nyaya to physical inquiries, which it does 
 very imperfectly, it is true, and often with strange fancies 
 and blunders ; but, nevertheless, with occasional exactness 
 and not unfrequently with singular sagacity. It is cer- 
 tainly the most interesting of all the systems, both from 
 its more practical character and from the parallels it offers 
 to European philosophical ideas. It begins by arranging 
 its inquiries under seven Padarthas, which, as they are 
 more properly categories (i.e., an enumeration of certain 
 general properties or attributes that may be predicated or 
 affirmed of existing things 1 ), are now the generally received 
 categories of Naiydyikas. They are as follow : i . Sub- 
 stance (dravya}. 2. Quality or property (guna). 3. 
 Act or action (karman). 4. Generality or community of 
 properties (sdmdnya). 5. Particularity or individuality 
 (visesha). 6. Co-inherence or perpetual intimate relation 
 (samavdya). 7. Non-existence or negation of existence 
 (abhdva)* 
 
 had also a nickname, Aksha-pdda, 'eye footed,' having his eyes always 
 fixed in abstraction on his feet, or supernaturally gifted with eyes in his 
 feet, because too absent to see with those in his head. 
 
 1 Thus man is a substance, so also is a chair and a stone ; whiteness, 
 blackness, breadth, and length, though very different things, are yet 
 all qualities, &c. 
 
 2 It is interesting to compare the ten Aristotelian categories. They 
 are: i. Oi<r/a, 'Substance.' 2. Tloaov, 'How much?' 'Quantity.' 3. 
 now, 'Of what kind?' 'Quality.' 4. n*6t n, 'In relation to what?' 
 ' Relation.' 5. TIoit?v, ' Action.' 6. Uda^nv, ' Passiveness ' or ' Pas- 
 sivity.' 7. noD, 'Where?' 'Position in space.' 8. HOTS, 'When?' 
 ' Position in time.' 9. Ki7o8ai, Local situation.' 10. "E X sn, ' Posses- 
 sion.' Mr. J. S. Mill, in his Logic, declares that this enumeration is 
 both redundant and defective. Some objects are admitted and others 
 repeated under different heads. ' It is like,' he says, ' a division of 
 animals into men, quadrupeds, horses, asses, and ponies.' . Action, 
 passivity, and local situation ought not to be excluded from the cate- 
 gory of relation, and the distinction between position in space and
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAISESHIKA. 67 
 
 Kanada, however, the author of the Sutras, enumerated 
 only six categories. The seventh was added by later 
 writers. This is stated in the fourth Sutra of Book I. ; 
 thus (Gough's translation, p. 4): 
 
 The highest good results from knowledge of the truth which springs 
 from particular merit, and is obtained by means of the similarity and 
 dissimilarity of the categories, substance, attribute, action, generality, 
 particularity, co-inherence. 
 
 The commentator adds : 
 
 In this place there is mention of six categories, but in reality non- 
 existence is also implied by the sage as another category. 
 
 The seven categories are all subdivided. 
 
 Let us begin with the first category of Dravya or ' sub- 
 stance.' The fifth Sutra makes the following enumeration 
 of nine Dravyas : 
 
 Earth (pritliivl], water (apas), light (tejas), air (vdyu\ ether (dkdsa), 
 time (kdla), space (dis), soul (dtmari), the internal organ, mind (manas) 
 are the substances. 
 
 The commentator adds : 
 
 If it be objected, there is a tenth substance, darkness (tamas), why is 
 it not enumerated ? for it is recognised by perception, and substantially 
 belongs to it, because it is possessed of colour and action ; and because 
 devoid of odour, it is not earth ; and because it possesses dark colour, 
 
 local situation is merely verbal. His own enumeration of all existing 
 or describable things is as follows: i. 'Feelings or states of con- 
 sciousness.' Even the external world is only known as conceived by 
 the mind. 2. ' The minds ' which experience those feelings. 3. ' The 
 bodies,' supposed to excite feelings or sensations. 4. ' The successions 
 and co-existences, the likenesses and unlikenesses ' between these feel- 
 ings. Further, he shows that all possible propositions affirm or deny 
 one or other of the following properties or facts: i. Existence, the 
 most general attribute. 2. Co-existence. 3. Sequence or Succession 
 4. Causation. 5. Resemblance. See Chambers's Encyclopaedia, under 
 the article ' Categories.'
 
 68 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 it is not water, &c. : we reply that it is not so, because it is illogical to 
 imagine another substance, when it is necessarily produced by non- 
 existence of light. 
 
 It should be stated that of these substances the first 
 four (earth, water, light, and air) and the last (mind) are 
 held to be atomic, and that the first four are both eternal 
 and non-eternal non-eternal in their various compounds, 
 eternal in their ultimate atoms, to which they must be 
 traced back. 1 
 
 Next follows the second category of ' quality.' The 
 sixth Sutra enumerates seventeen qualities or properties 
 which belong to or are inherent in the nine substances : 
 
 Colour (rupa), savour (rasa), odour (gandha), tangibility (sparsa), 
 numbers (sankhyah), extensions (parimdnani), individuality (prithaldva), 
 conjunction (samyoga), disjunction (vibhdga), priority (paratva), poste- 
 riority (aparatva), intellections (buddhayak), pleasure (sukha), pain 
 (duhkha), desire (iccha), aversion (dvesha), volitions (prayatndk), are 
 (the seventeen) qualities. 
 
 / 
 
 The commentator San-kara-misra adds seven others, 
 
 1 According to the Platonic school, substances (waiai) are ranged 
 under two heads a. cojjra/' xai UKIMITOI b. a/V^ra; xai en x/ttjan : a. per- 
 ceptible by the mind and immovable ; b. perceptible by the senses and 
 in motion. Aristotle, in his Metaphysics (XL i), seems to divide sub- 
 stances into three classes a. Those that are cognizable by the mind, 
 immovable, unchangeable, and eternal ; b. Those cognizable by the 
 senses and eternal ; c. Those cognizable by the senses and subject to 
 decay, as plants and animals. O-jaiai Ss rpt7$" //,/cc jj.tv } a'lnBr^r^' rjg jj ( o.er 
 aidto;, ft 3 (frdetprfi, jf* TCCC o/ioXoyouu/v, Jov TO. <ura xa! ra w<r r, d' utdiog. 
 "AXX>j 3e ax/nroc. In another place (VII. 8) he defines substance as the 
 essence or very nature of a thing (TO n jjn /%/). Again, in illustration 
 (IV. 8), he says that whatever may be the cause of being is a substance, 
 as soul in an animal (^ -4/o^Ji rp o)w) ; and again, as many inherent 
 parts in anything as define and indicate what it is, e.g., superficies, a 
 line, number, and that essence of which the formal cause (o Xo'yo;) is 
 the definition; and, thirdly, he says that earth, fire, water, &c., and all 
 bodies and all animals consisting of these, are substances. See the Rev. 
 J. H. M'Mahon's useful translation, published by Bohn.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOSHY VAISESHIKA. 69 
 
 which, he says, are implied, though not mentioned, making 
 twenty-four in all. They are : 
 
 Gravity (gurutva), fluidity (dravatva), viscidity (sneha), self-reproduc- 
 tion (sanskdra, implying a. impetus as the cause of activity ; b. elas- 
 ticity ; c. the faculty of memory), merit, demerit, and sound. 
 
 In point of fact the Nyaya goes more philosophically 
 and more correctly than the other systems into the 
 qualities of all substances. The twenty-four which it 
 enumerates may be regarded as separating into two classes, 
 according as they are the sixteen qualities of material 
 substances or the eight properties of soul. These eight 
 are intellection, volition, desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, 
 merit, and demerit. 
 
 The third category, Karman, ' act ' or ' action,' is thus 
 divided in Sutra I. I. 7 : 
 
 Elevation (literally throwing upwards), depression (throwing down- 
 wards), contraction, dilatation, and going (or motion in general) are 
 the (five kinds of) acts. \_Utksliepanam avak-shepanam akuncanam pra- 
 sdranam gamanam iti karmani.~\ 
 
 The fourth category, Sdmdnya, ' generality,' is said to 
 be twofold, viz., higher (para) and lower (apara) ; the 
 first being 'simple existence,' applicable to genus; the 
 second being ' substantiality,' applicable to species. 
 
 The fifth category, Visesha, ' particularity,' belongs to 
 the nine eternal substances of the first category, viz., soul, 
 time, place, ether, and the five atoms of earth, water, 
 light, air, and mind, all of which have an eternal ultimate 
 difference, distinguishing each from the other. 
 
 The sixth category, Samavdya, ' co-inherence ' or ' inti- 
 mate relation,' is of only one kind. This relation appears 
 to be that which exists between a substance and its 
 qualities, between atoms and what is formed out of them, 
 or between any object and the general idea connected 
 with it, and is thought to be a real entity, very much in
 
 70 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 accordance with the Platonic realism of the Middle Ages. 
 It is the relation between a jar and the earth which com- 
 poses it, between a cloth and its threads, between the idea 
 of round and any round thing, between a whole and its 
 parts, between a genus or species and its individuals, 
 between an act and its agent, between individuality and 
 eternal substance. 
 
 In connection with this sixth category may be men- 
 tioned the Nyaya theory of causation. Sutra I. 2. i, 2 
 states : 
 
 From non-existence of cause (Mrana) is non-existence of effect (Mrya), 
 but there is not from non-existence of effect non-existence of cause. 
 
 In the Tarka-san-graha a cause is declared to be ' that 
 which invariably precedes an effect which otherwise could 
 not be/ and three kinds of causes are enumerated, viz. : 
 
 a. Co-inherence cause, or that resulting from intimate and constant 
 relation perhaps best rendered by ' substantial cause ' (samavayi- 
 kdrand), as threads are the substantial cause of cloth. This corre- 
 sponds to the material cause of Aristotle, b. Non-substantial cause 
 (a-samavayi-kdrana), as the putting together of the threads is of cloth. 
 This corresponds to the formal cause, c. Instrumental cause (nimitta- 
 kdrana), as the weaver's tools, the loom, or the skill of the weaver 
 himself, &c., are of cloth. This corresponds to the efficient cause. 1 
 
 1 Aristotle's four causes are : i. Material cause, i.e., the matter 
 (DXjj) from which anything is made, as marble of a statue, silver of a 
 goblet. 2. Formal cause, i.e., the specific form or pattern according to 
 which anything is made, as a drawing or plan is the formal cause of 
 the building of a house. 3. Efficient cause, i.e., the origin of the prin- 
 ciple of motion (odiv tj a^ri rrig juv^ffsw;), as the energy of a workman is 
 the prime mover in producing any work. 4. Final cause, i.e., the pur- 
 pose for which anything is made, the motive for its production, or the 
 end served by its existence. According to Dr. Ballantyne (Lecture on 
 the Nyaya, p. 23), Aristotle's final cause has a counterpart in the 
 Naiyayika's prayojana, i.e., motive, purpose, or use. The writer in 
 Chambers's Encyclopaedia, under the head of ' Cause,' shows that these 
 causes of Aristotle and the Nyaya should rather be called the aggre- 
 gate of conditions necessary to the production of any work of man.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAISESHIKA. 7 I 
 
 As to the seventh category of non-existence or negation, 
 four kinds are specified, viz. : 
 
 a. Antecedent (or the non-existence of anything before it began to 
 exist, as a jar not yet made), b. Cessation of existence (as of a jar when 
 it is smashed to pieces), c. Mutual non-existence (as of a jar in cloth). 
 d. Absolute non-existence (as of fire in a lake). 
 
 Without dwelling longer on the seven categories, we 
 must briefly indicate, how the views of the Nydya and 
 Vaiseshika, as to the external world and the nature of 
 soul, differ from those of the other systems. First, then, 
 as to the formation of the world. This is supposed to be 
 effected by the aggregation of Anus or 'atoms.' These 
 are innumerable and eternal, and are eternally aggregated, 
 disintegrated, and redintegrated by the power of Adrishta. 
 According to Kanada's Sutras (IV. i) an atom is 'some- 
 thing existing, having no cause, eternal ' (sad akdranavan 
 nityam}. They are, moreover, described as less than the 
 least, invisible, intangible, indivisible, imperceptible, by 
 the senses ; and what is most noteworthy in distinguish- 
 ing the Vaiseshika system from others as having each of 
 them a Visesha or eternal essence of its own. The com- 
 bination of these atoms is first into an aggregate of 
 two, called Dvy-anuka. Three of them, again, are sup- 
 posed to combine into a Trasa-renu, which, like a mote 
 in a sunbeam, has just sufficient magnitude to be per- 
 ceptible. 1 
 
 According to Colebrooke's statement of the Vaiseshika 
 theory, the following process is supposed to take place in 
 
 1 The binary compound only differs from the single atom by number, 
 and not by measure, size, or perceptibility. Both are infinitesimal, and, 
 being joined, can only produce an infinitesimal result (like multiplied 
 fractions). It is the tertiary compound which first introduces magnitude 
 and causes measure, just as a jar's measure is caused by that of its two 
 halves. See Professor CowelPs translation of the Kusumanjali, p. 66.
 
 72 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the aggregation of atoms to form earth, water, light, and 
 air : 
 
 Two earthly atoms concurring by an unseen peculiar virtue (a-drishta), 
 or by the will of God, or by time, or by other competent cause, consti- 
 tute a double atom of earth j and by concourse of three binary atoms 
 a tertiary atom is produced, and by concourse of four triple atoms a 
 quaternary atom, and so on to a gross, grosser, or grossest mass of earth ; 
 thus great earth is produced; and in like manner great water from 
 aqueous atoms, great light from luminous, and great air from aerial. 1 
 
 From the Tarka-san-graha we may continue the account 
 thus : 
 
 a. Earth possesses the property of odour, which is its distinguishing 
 quality. It is of two kinds, eternal and non-eternal eternal in the form 
 of atoms (paramdnu-rupd), non-eternal in the form of products (kdrya- 
 rupa). The non- eternal character of aggregated earth is shown by the 
 
 1 As these Lectures were delivered before classical scholars, I thought 
 it superfluous, at the time of their delivery, to indicate all the obvious 
 points of comparison between Indian and European systems. Refer- 
 ence might here, however, be made to the doctrines of Epicurus, 
 especially as expounded by Lucretius, who begins his description of the 
 coalescing of atoms or primordial seeds to form the world and various 
 material objects thus : 
 
 ' Nunc age, quo motu genitalia materialia 
 Corpora res varias gignant, genitasque resolvant 
 Et qua vi facere id cogantur, quaeve sit ollis 
 Reddita mobilitas magnum per inane meandi 
 Expediam.' (II. 61-64.) 
 
 Nearly the whole of the second book of Lucretius might be quoted. 
 It is full of interest in connection with the Vaiseshika system. Cicero's 
 criticisms on the Epicurean theory are also interesting in relation to 
 this subject. In his De Natura Deorum (II. 37) he says, 'If a con- 
 course of atoms could produce a world (quod si mundum efficere potest 
 concursus atomorum), why not also a portico, a temple, a house, a city, 
 which are much less difficult to form ? ' We might even be tempted to 
 contrast some of the discoveries of modern chemists and physicists with 
 the crude but shrewd ideas of Indian philosophers prosecuting their 
 investigations more than 2000 years ago without the aids and appli- 
 ances now at every one's command.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAISESHIKA. 73 
 
 want of permanence in a jar when crushed to powder. When aggregated 
 it is of three kinds, organized body (sarira), organ of sense (indriya), 
 and unorganic mass (vishaya). The organ connected with it is the nose 
 or sense of smell (ghrdna), which is the recipient of odour. 6. Water 
 possesses the property of being cool to the touch. It is also of two kinds, 
 eternal and non-eternal, as before. Its organ is the tongue or taste 
 (rasana), the recipient of savour, which is one of the qualities of water. 
 c. Light is distinguished by being hot to the feel. 1 It is similarly of 
 two kinds, and its organ is the eye (cakshus), the recipient of colour or 
 form, which is its principal quality, d. Air is distinguished by being 
 sensible to the touch. It is similarly of two kinds, and is colourless. 
 Its organ is the skin (tvac), the percipient of tangibility, e. Ether is 
 the substratum of the quality of sound. It is eternal, one, and all- 
 pervading. Its organ is the ear (srotra), the recipient of sound. 2 
 
 The great commentator San-karacarya (quoted by Pro- 
 fessor Banerjea, p. 62) states the process thus : 
 
 ' At the time of creation action is produced in aerial atoms, which is 
 dependent on A-drishta. That action joins its own atom with another. 
 Then from binaries, by gradual steps, is produced the air. The same is 
 the case with fire. The same with water. The same with earth. The 
 same with organized bodies. 3 Thus is the whole universe produced from 
 atoms.' 4 
 
 1 Light and heat are regarded by Naiyayikas as one and the same 
 substance. Curiously enough, gold is described as mineral (dkara-ja) 
 light. 
 
 2 Professor H. H. Wilson has observed (San-khya-karika, p. 122) that 
 something like the Hindu notion of the senses and the elements partak- 
 ing of a common nature is expressed in the dictum of Empedocles : 
 
 Tairj fj.sv ya.0 ya/av OTw-Tra/isv, vdan 5' USwj, 
 A/diet d' a'lQ'ioa. diav, urao <x\joi KVff di^Xov. 
 
 ' By the earthly element we perceive earth; by the watery, water; by the 
 aerial element, the air of heaven ; and by the element of fire, devouring 
 fire.' Plato, Repub. VI. 18, has the following: 'AXX.' j-X/os/sfffs-aron yt 
 oJfAai ruv Kt>l -rds aiadrioiis liyavuv, ( I regard it (the eye) as of all the 
 organs of sense possessing most likeness to the sun.' See Muir's Texts, 
 V. 298. 
 
 3 In Manu (I. 75-78) and the San-khya and the Vedanta the order of 
 the elements is ether, air, light or fire, water, and earth. See p. 83. 
 
 4 Compare Cicero, De Natura Deorum II. 33, 'Since there are four
 
 74 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 With regard to the question whether God or the 
 supreme Soul is to be regarded as having taken part in 
 the bringing together and arranging of these atoms, it 
 should be noted that although the name of Isvara is in- 
 troduced once into Gotama's Sutras, 1 it is not found in 
 Kanada's. 2 Probably the belief of both was that the 
 formation of the world was simply the result of Adrishta, 
 or ' the unseen force, which is derived from the works or 
 acts of a previous world/ and which becomes in Hindu 
 philosophy a kind of god, if not the only god (see p. 58). 
 Later Naiyayika writers, however, affirm the existence of a 
 supreme Soul, Paramdtman, distinct from the Jlvdtman, 
 or 'human soul;' and this supreme Soul is described as 
 eternal, immutable, omniscient, without form, all-pervad- 
 ing, all-powerful, and, moreover, as the framer of the 
 universe. 
 
 Thus the Tarka-san-graha states (Ballantyne, p. 12) : 
 
 The seat of knowledge is the soul (dtman). It is twofold, the living 
 soul (jlvdtman) and the supreme soul (paramdtman). The supreme soul 
 
 sorts of elements, the continuance of the world is caused by their re- 
 ciprocal action and changes (vicissitudine). For from the earth comes 
 water ; from water arises air ; from air, ether ; and then conversely in 
 regular order backwards, from ether, air ; from air, water ; from water, 
 earth, the lowest element. 
 
 1 The Sutra is IV. 5. 19, and is as follows. Some one suggests, ' God 
 is the (sole) cause, because we see that the acts of men are occasionally 
 unattended by their fruits' (isvarah kdranam puruslia-karmaphalya- 
 darsandt). The next Aphorism is an answer to this suggestion, and 
 seems to assert that God was not the cause of the universe ; thus, ' Not 
 so, because in the absence of men's acts the fruit is not produced.' 
 The next Aphorism runs thus : ' It (man's agency ?) is not the (sole) 
 cause, because that is caused by that.' The word ' sole,' however, is 
 introduced by the commentator, and all three Aphorisms seem de- 
 signedly obscure. 
 
 2 According to Banerjea, p. 62 ; but the commentators say it is 
 implied in the third Sutra.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAI8ESHIKA. 75 
 
 is lord, omniscient, one only, subject to neither pleasure nor pain, infinite 
 and eternal. 
 
 Indeed the Nyaya is held by some to be the stronghold 
 of Theism. 
 
 As to the living individual souls of corporeal beings, 
 the Nyaya view is that they are eternal, manifold, 1 eter- 
 nally separate from each other and distinct from the 
 body, senses, and mind, yet capable of apprehension, voli- 
 tion (or effort), desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, merit, and 
 demerit. 
 
 In the Vaiseshika Aphorisms (III. 2. 4) other charac- 
 teristic signs (lin.gdni) of the living soul are given, such 
 as the opening and shutting of the eyes, the motions of 
 the mind and especially life. 2 The commentator, in com- 
 menting upon this, describes the soul as the ' governor 
 or superintendent over the body.' Here is the passage 
 (Gough, p. no) : 
 
 Vitality is a mark of the existence of the soul ; for by the word ' life ' 
 the effects of vitality, such as growth, the healing of wounds and bruises, 
 are implied. For as the owner of a house builds up the broken edifice 
 or enlarges a building which is too small, so the ruler of the body effects 
 by food, &c., the increase and enlargement of the body, which is to him 
 in the stead of a habitation, and with medicine and the like causes what 
 is wounded to grow again and mutilated hands or feet to heal. Thus a 
 superintendent of the body (dehasya adhishthdta) is proved like a master 
 of a house. 
 
 It should be added that souls are held to be infinite, 
 ubiquitous, and diffused everywhere throughout space, so 
 
 1 According to the Vaiseshika-sutra III. 2. 20, Vyavastliato nana, 
 ( because of its circumstances (or conditions), soul is manifold.' The 
 commentator adds, ' Circumstances are the several conditions ; as, one 
 is rich, another mean ; one is happy, another unhappy ; one is of high, 
 another of low birth ; one is learned, another reads badly. These cir- 
 cumstances evince a diversity and plurality of souls.' 
 
 2 Plato (Phaedrus 52) defines soul as ro aM avrb x/voDf, quoted by 
 Cicero, Tusc. Quaest. I. 23.
 
 76 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 that a man's soul is as much in England as in Calcutta, 
 though it can only apprehend and feel and act where the 
 body happens to be. 
 
 The Nyaya idea of the mind or internal organ (Manas) 
 is that it, like the soul, is a Dravya or ' eternal substance.' 
 Instead, however, of being diffused everywhere like the 
 soul, it is atomic, like earth, water, fire, and air. Indeed, 
 if it were infinite, like the soul, it might be united with all 
 subjects at once, and all apprehensions might be contem- 
 poraneous, which is impossible. It is therefore regarded 
 as a mere atom or atomic inlet to the soul, not allowing 
 the latter to receive more than one thought or conception 
 at a time. So in Nyaya-sutra I. 3. 16, and in Vaiseshika 
 VIII. i. 22, 23, it is affirmed as follows : 
 
 ' The characteristic of the mind is that it does not give rise to more 
 than one notion simultaneously.' ' Ether, in consequence of its universal 
 pervasion, is infinitely great, and so likewise is soul. In consequence of 
 non-existence of that universal pervasion, the internal organ (mind) is 
 an atom.' 1 
 
 In regard to the authority to be accorded to the Veda, 
 the views of the Nyaya appear by no means unorthodox. 
 Gautama, in his Aphorisms (II. 58-60, 68), declares 
 plainly that the Veda is not false, that it is not charge- 
 able either with self-contradiction or tautology, and that 
 
 OJ 
 
 it is an instrument' of true knowledge. Similarly, the 
 third Aphorism of Kanada may be regarded as a kind 
 of confession of faith in the Veda, intended apparently, 
 like that of Gautama, to counteract imputations of hetero- 
 doxy. 
 
 In further proof of the Theism claimed for the Nyaya 
 
 1 The theory propounded by Lucretius was that the mind is composed 
 of exceedingly subtle atoms; he says (III. 180) of it, 'Esse aio persub- 
 tilem atque minutis Perquam corporibus factum constare.' As to ether, 
 see note 4, p. 105.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VAISESHIKA. // 
 
 I here give a short passage from the Kusumanjali, a 
 Naiyayika treatise by Udayana Acarya, which will serve 
 as a specimen of the sort of arguments employed to prove 
 the existence of a personal God (Isvara) in opposition to 
 atheistical objectors. This work has been ably edited and 
 translated by Professor E. B. Cowell. 1 The following is 
 merely the opening of the fifth chapter, with a portion of 
 Hari-dasa's comment : 
 
 An omniscient and indestructible Being is to be proved from the exist- 
 ence of effects, from the combination of atoms, from the support of the 
 earth in the sky, from traditional arts, from belief in revelation, from 
 the Veda, from its sentences, and from particular numbers. 
 
 Comment : The earth must have had a maker, because it is an effect 
 like a jar. Combination is an action, and therefore the action which 
 produced the conjunction of two atoms at the beginning of a creation 
 must have been accompanied by the volition of an intelligent being. 
 Again, the world depends upon some being who wills to hinder it from 
 falling, like a stick supported by a bird in the air. Again, the tradi- 
 tional arts (pada) now current, as that of making cloth, &c., must have 
 proceeded from an independent being. Again, the knowledge derived 
 from the Yeda is derived from a virtue residing in its cause, because it 
 is true knowledge 2 (this virtue consisting in the Veda's being uttered 
 by a fit person, and therefore necessarily implying a personal inspirer). 
 
 From this brief statement of the distinctive features of 
 the Nyaya school, it is clear that this system, at least 
 in its Vaiseshika cosmogony, is dualistic in the sense of 
 assuming the existence of gross material eternal atoms, 
 
 1 I have referred to his edition and to Dr. Muir's extracts in the 
 appendix to the third volume of his Texts. 
 
 2 Those who wish to pursue the argument should consult Professor 
 Cowell's translation. It is interesting to compare Cicero, De Natura 
 Deorum (II. 34) : ' But if all the parts of the universe are so constituted 
 that they could not be better for use or more beautiful in appearance, 
 let us consider whether they could have been put together by chance 
 or whether their condition is such that they could not even cohere unless 
 divine wisdom and providence had directed them (nisi sensu moderante 
 divinaque providentid). '
 
 78 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 side by side either with eternal souls or with the supreme 
 Soul of the universe. It sets itself against any theory 
 which would make an impure and evil world spring from 
 a pure and perfect spirit. Nor does it undertake to decide 
 positively what it cannot prove dialectically, the precise 
 relation between soul and matter.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 i 
 
 The Sdn-Miya. 
 
 THE San-khya 1 philosophy, though possibly prior in date, 
 is generally studied next to tbe Nyaya, and is more 
 peremptorily and categorically dualistic (dvaitavadin). 
 It utterly repudiates the notion that impure matter can 
 originate from pure spirit, and, of course, denies that 
 anything can be produced out of nothing. 
 
 The following are Aphorisms, I. 78, 114-117, propound- 
 ing its doctrine of evolution, which may not be altogether 
 unworthy of the attention of Darwinians : 
 
 There cannot be the production of something out of nothing (ndvas- 
 tuno vastii-siddldh) ; that which is not cannot be developed into that 
 
 1 Kapila, the reputed founder of this school (sometimes fabled as a 
 son of Brahma, sometimes as an incarnation of Vishnu and identified 
 with the sage described in the Ramayana as the destroyer of the sixty 
 thousand sons of Sagara, who in their search for their father's horse 
 disturbed his devotions), was probably a Brahman, though nothing is 
 known about him. See Maha-bharata XII. 13703. The word Kapila 
 means ' of a tawny brown colour,' and may possibly have been applied 
 as a nickname, like Aksha-pada and Kanada. He is the supposed 
 author of two works, viz., a. the original San-khya Sutras, sometimes 
 called Sdnlthya-pravacana, comprising 526 aphorisms in six books; b. a 
 short work called the Tattvasamasa or 'Compendium of Principles' 
 (translated by Dr. Ballantyne). The original Sutras are of course 
 accompanied with abundant commentaries, of which one of the best 
 known is the San-khya-pravadana-bhashya, by Vijnana-bhikshu, edited 
 with an able and interesting preface by Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall. A 
 very useful and popular compendium of the doctrines of this system, 
 called the San-khya-karika, was edited and translated by Professor 
 H. H. Wilson. 
 
 79
 
 80 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 which is. The production of what does not already exist (potentially) 
 is impossible, like a horn on a man (ndsad-utpddo nri-srin gavat) ; 
 because there must of necessity be a material out of which a product 
 is developed ; and because everything cannot occur everywhere at all 
 times (sarvatra sarvadd sarvdsambhavdt) ; and because anything possible 
 must be produced from something competent to produce it. 1 
 
 ' Thus,' remarks a commentator, ' curds come from milk, not water. 
 A potter produces a jar from clay, not from cloth. Production is only 
 manifestation of what previously existed.' Aphorism 121 adds, 'De- 
 struction is a resolution of anything into its cause.' 
 
 In the San-khya, therefore, instead of an analytical 
 inquiry into the universe as actually existing, arranged 
 under topics and categories, we have a synthetical system 
 propounded, starting from an original primordial tattva 
 or ' eternally existing essence,' 2 called Prakriti (a word 
 meaning 'that which evolves or produces everything else'). 
 
 1 See the note on the dogma Ex nihilo nihil fit, p. 52. We are also 
 here reminded of Lucretius I. 160, &c. : 
 
 Nam si de Nihilo fierent ex omnibu* rebus 
 Oinne genus nasci posset ; nil semine egeret ; 
 E mare primum hominet; e terrd posset oriri 
 Squammigerum genus et volucres ; erumpere caelo 
 Armenia, alque aliae pecudes ; genus omne ferarum 
 Incerto partu culta ac deserta teneret : 
 Nee fructus iidem arboribus constare solerent, 
 Sed mutarentur : ferre omnes omnia possent. 
 
 1 If things proceed from nothing, everything might spring from every- 
 thing, and nothing would require a seed. Men might arise first from 
 the sea, and fish and birds from the earth, and flocks and herds break 
 into being from the sky ; every kind of beast might be produced at 
 random in cultivated places or deserts. The same fruits would not 
 grow on the same trees, but would be changed. All things would be 
 able to produce all things.' 
 
 2 It is usual to translate tat-tva, ' that-ness,' by ' principle ; ' but such 
 words as 'essence,' 'entity,' and in some cases even 'substance,' seem 
 to convey a more definite idea of its meaning. It corresponds to the 
 barbarous term 'quiddity' (from quid est?), discarded by Locke and 
 modern English philosophers. Certainly 'nature' is anything but a
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SAN-KHYA. 8 I 
 
 It is described by Kapila in his sixty-seventh Aphorism 
 as ' a rootless root,' l amulam mulam, thus : 
 
 From the absence of a root in the root, the root (of all things) is 
 rootless. 
 
 Then he continues in his sixty-eighth Aphorism : 
 
 Even if there be a succession of causes (one before the other) there 
 must be a halt at some one point ; and so Prakriti is only a name for 
 the primal source (of all productions). 
 
 good equivalent for Prakriti, which denotes something very different 
 from matter or even the germ of mere material substances. It is an 
 intensely subtle original essence wholly distinct from soul, yet capable 
 of evolving out of itself consciousness and mind as well as the whole 
 visible world. Prdka-roti iti prakriti is given as its derivation in the 
 Sarva-darsana-san-graha, p. 147, where pra seems to stand for 'forth/ 
 not ' before.' The commentator on the San-khya-karika (p. 4) uses the 
 word paddrtha as applicable to all the twenty-five Tattvas. A Vedan- 
 tist would not regard tat-tva as an abstract noun from tat, ' that,' but 
 would say it meant ' truth,' and in its etymology contained the essence 
 of truth, viz., tat tvam, ' that art thou.' 
 
 1 In a passage in the Timaeus (34) Plato propounds a theory of 
 creation in allegorical and not very intelligible language, which the 
 reader can compare with the San-khyan view : 'En d' ovv vij WOLDMTI %PYI 
 TPITTO., TO (J,iv yiyvo/Aivov, TO d' iv y; yiyviTat.i TO 8' S6tv a,(f>o- 
 <j)uerai rb y/yvo'/isvov, xa'i df) xui KgoGtiKaaai ngsirii TO /MSV di%6/Atvov 
 rb d' odt taTgi, THV de fj.srafy'j TOVTUV <f>u<fiv exyoHti, dib 6?) T^V TOV 
 at ffavrus aicdtfrou ^u.jjriga xa/ itTrodo'^v p.r)Tt y5jn p,?iT aigct 
 p,?irs Tug (jj^Ti vdua \fyUfttfj {A^TS oaot. IK TOVTUV (*f,T s< uv Tavrat, yiyovtv' XX' 
 avowTbv /'3o'g TI xctl a/j,og(j>ov, rat&tyif. l For the present, therefore, we 
 ought to consider three things, that which is produced, that in which 
 it is produced, and that from which a thing is produced, having a 
 natural resemblance. And especially it is proper to compare that 
 which receives to the mother, that from which it receives to the father, 
 and the nature which is between these to the child. Then, as to this 
 mother and receptacle of things created which are visible and altogether 
 perceptible, we cannot term it either earth, air, fire, or water, nor any 
 one of their compounds, nor any of the elements from which they were 
 produced, but a certain invisible and shapeless essence, which receives 
 all things,' &c. Compare note 3, p. 51. 
 
 F
 
 82 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Beginning, then, with this original eternal germ or 
 element, the San-khya reckons up synthetically, whence 
 its name of ' Synthetic enumeration/ x twenty-three other 
 Tattvas or ' entities,' which are all productions of the first, 
 evolving themselves out of it as naturally and spontane- 
 ously as cream out of milk or milk out of a cow. 
 
 The twenty-fifth entity is Purusha, ' the soul/ which is 
 neither producer nor produced, but eternal, like Prakriti. 
 It is quite distinct from the producing or produced ele- 
 ments and creations of the phenomenal world, though 
 liable to be brought into connection with them. In fact, 
 the object of the San-khya system is to effect the libera- 
 tion of the soul from the fetters in which it is involved 
 by union with Prakriti. It does this by conveying the 
 Prama or ' correct knowledge ' of the twenty-four consti- 
 tuent principles of creation, and rightly discriminating the 
 soul from them ; its Pramdnas, or ' means of obtaining 
 the correct measure of existing things/ being reduced from 
 four (see p. 61) to three, viz., Drishta, Anumdna, and 
 Apta-vacana, ' perception by the senses, inference, and 
 credible assertion or trustworthy testimony.' 
 
 The third Aphorism of the San-khya-karika thus reckons 
 up the catalogue of all existing entities : 
 
 The root and substance of all things (except soul) is Prakriti. It is 
 no production. Seven things produced by it are also producers. Thence 
 come sixteen productions. Soul, the twenty-fifth essence, is neither a 
 production nor producer. 
 
 Hence it appears that from an original Prakriti (vari- 
 ously called Mula-prakriti, ' root-principle ; ' Amulam 
 mulam, ' rootless root ; ' Pradhdna, ' chief one ; ' A-vyakta, 
 
 1 Hence Sir W. Jones called the San-khya the Numeral philosophy. 
 It has been compared partly with the metaphysics of Pythagoras, 
 partly (in its Yoga) with the system of Zeno ; also with that of 
 Berkeley.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SAN-KHYA. 83 
 
 ' unevolved evolver ; ' Brahman, ' supreme ; ' Maya, 
 1 power of illusion ' *), seven other producers are evolved, 
 and as so evolved are regarded as Vikaras or ' produc- 
 tions.' The first production of the original producer is 
 Buddhi, commonly called ' intellect or intellectual percep- 
 tion' (and variously termed Mahat, from its being the 
 Great source of the two other internal faculties, Ahan-kara 
 and Mauas or ' self-consciousness and mind '). Third in 
 order comes this Ahan-Jcdra, the 'I-making' faculty, that 
 is, self-consciousness or the sense of individuality (some- 
 times conveniently termed ' Ego-ism '), which produces 
 the next five principles, called Tanmdtras or ' subtle 
 elementary particles/ out of which the grosser elements 
 (Mahd-bhuta) are evolved. 2 These eight constitute the 
 producers. 
 
 Then follow the sixteen that are productions ( Vikdra) 
 only ; and first in order, as produced by the Tanmdtras, 
 come the five grosser elements already mentioned, viz. : 
 
 a. Akdsa, 3 'ether,' with the distinguishing property of sound, or, in 
 other words, the substratum of sound (which sound is the vishaya or 
 object for a corresponding organ of sense, the ear), b. Vdyu, 'air,' 
 
 1 According to Gaudapada's commentary on San-khya-karika, 22. 
 
 2 These Tanmatras appear nearly to correspond to the vpuru oro/x^a 
 of Plato (Theaet. 139), or rather to the aroi^tta. aroi^it'uv, 'elements of 
 elements' (Theaet. 142), and to the g/w,.a7-a of Empedocles. 
 
 3 Akasa, as shown elsewhere (see p. 105, note 4), must not be exactly 
 identified with the modern ' ether,' though this word is usually taken as 
 its nearest possible equivalent. In some of its properties and functions 
 it more corresponds with the inane, ' vacant space,' of Lucretius. Qua- 
 propter locus est intactus Inane, vacansque (I. 335). At any rate, one 
 synonym of akasa is mnya. Cicero, De Nat. Deorum II. 40, seems to 
 identify ether with sky or space, which stretches to the remotest point 
 and surrounds all things. The Ramayana, II. no. 5, makes Brahma 
 spring from ether, but the Epic and Puranic accounts of akasa are very 
 inconsistent. Some say that it was created and is perishable, others 
 that it was not created and is eternal. See Muir's Texts, IV. 119, 
 Maha-bharata XII. 6132.
 
 84 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 with the property of tangibility (which is the vishaya for the skin), 
 c Tejas or jyotis, 'fire or light,' with the property of form or colour 
 (which is the vishaya for the eye), d. Apas, < water,' with the property 
 of savour or taste (which is the vishaya for the tongue), e. Pritlnvi or 
 bhumi, 'earth,' with the property of odour or smell (which is the vishaya 
 for the nose). 
 
 Each of these elements after the first has also the pro- 
 perty or properties of the preceding besides its own. 
 
 Next follow the eleven organs produced, like the Tan- 
 matras, by the third producer, Ahan-k'ara, viz., the five 
 organs of sense, the five organs of action, 1 and an eleventh 
 organ standing between these two sets, called Manas, ' the 
 mind,' which is an internal organ of perception, volition, 
 and action. 
 
 The eight producers, then, with the five grosser elements, 
 ether, air, fire, water, earth, and with the eleven organs, 
 constitute the true elements and constituent substances of 
 the phenomenal world. As, however, the most important 
 of the producers, after the mere unintelligent original 
 germ, is the third, called Ahan-kara, ' self-consciousness 
 or individuality,' it is scarcely too much to maintain that, 
 according to the San-khya view, the whole world of sense 
 is practically created by the individual Ego, 2 who is, 
 nevertheless, quite distinct from the soul, as this soul 
 is supposed to possess in itself no real consciousness of 
 separate individuality, though deluded by it. 
 
 It should also be noted that, according to the San-khya 
 theory, Prakriti, though a subtle elementary essence, is 
 
 1 The five organs of sense or perception (buddlnndriyani) are, ear, 
 skin, eye, nose, tongue ; those of action (karmendriyani) are, larynx, 
 hand, foot, and the excretory and generative organs. 
 
 ' 2 This idea of personal individual creation is what chiefly distinguishes 
 the San-khya from the pantheism of the Vedanta, which denies all real 
 personal individuality. It has also led to the Sau-khya system being 
 compared to the theory of Berkeley.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SAN-KHYA. 85 
 
 yet to be regarded as consisting of three ingredients or 
 constituent principles in equipoise, called Gunas. These 
 are Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, ' goodness or purity, passion 
 or activity, and darkness or ignorance.' 
 
 Thus Kapila (Aphorism 61) affirms as follows : 
 
 Prakrit! is the state of equipoise (Samydvastha) of goodness, passion, 
 and darkness. 
 
 Evidently, then, these three constituents of the primal 
 elementary germ are really themselves elementary sub- 
 stances, and not qualities, although they are called Gunas, 
 and although such expressions as goodness, purity, &c., 
 convey more the notion of a quality than of any actual sub- 
 stance. According to the San-khya-pravacana-bhashya, 
 
 These Gunas are not like the ' qualities ' of the Vaiseshika. They 
 are substances possessing themselves qualities or properties, such as 
 conjunction, disjunction, lightness, motion, weight, &c. The word 
 Guna, therefore, is employed because these three substances form the 
 triple cord by which the soul, like an animal (purusha-pasu), is bound. 1 
 
 It is plain, indeed, that as one meaning of the word 
 Guna is ' rope ' or ' cord,' the San-khya three Gunas may 
 be supposed to act like a triple-stranded rope, binding and 
 confining souls in different degrees. 2 In point of fact, 
 goodness, passion, and darkness are imagined to be the 
 actual substances of which Prakriti is constituted, just as 
 trees are the constituents of a forest. Moreover, as they 
 are the ingredients of Prakriti, so they make up the whole 
 
 1 Aristotle (Metaph. I. 3) describes primordial substance as under- 
 going changes through different affections, something after the manner 
 of the San-khya Gunas. See note 3, p. 51. 
 
 2 Manu states the doctrine of the three Gunas very similarly (XII. 24, 
 25, &c.) : ' One should know that the three Gunas (bonds or fetters) of 
 the soul are goodness, passion, and darkness (bound) ; by one or more of 
 these, it continues incessantly attached to forms of existence. When- 
 ever any one of the three Gunas predominates wholly in a body, it makes 
 the embodied spirit abound in that Guna.'
 
 86 'INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 world of sense evolved out of Prakriti. Except, however, 
 in the case of the original producer, they are not con- 
 joined in equal quantities. They form component parts 
 of everything evolved, but in varying proportions, one or 
 other being in excess. In other words, they affect every- 
 thing in creation unequally ; and as they affect man, make 
 him divine and noble, thoroughly human and selfish, or 
 bestial and ignorant, according to the predominance of 
 goodness, passion, or darkness respectively. The soul, on 
 the other hand, though bound by the Gunas, is itself wholly 
 and entirely free from such constituent ingredients (nir- 
 guna). It stands twenty-fifth in the catalogue of Tattvas, 
 and is to be wholly distinguished from the creations evolved 
 by the three evolvers, Prakriti, Buddhi, and Ahankdra. 
 It has, in short, nothing whatever in common with the 
 world- evolver, Prakriti, except eternal existence. 
 
 But although Prakriti is the sole originator of creation, 
 yet, according to the pure San-khya, it does not create for 
 itself, but rather for each individual soul which comes into 
 connection or juxtaposition with it, like a crystal vase 
 with a flower. Souls, indeed, exist eternally separate from 
 each other and from the world-evolver Prakriti ; and with 
 whatever form of body they may be joined, they are held 
 to be all intrinsically equal, and each retains its individu- 
 ality, remaining one and unchanged through all transmigra- 
 tions. 1 But each separate soul is a witness of the act of 
 creation without participating in the act. It is a looker- 
 
 1 This separate eternal existence of innumerable individual souls is 
 the great feature distinguishing the Nyaya and San-khya from the 
 Vedanta, which holds the oneness of all soul. And yet it would seem 
 that each soul must be regarded as universally diffused both in San-khya 
 and Nyaya (see p. 75) ; for unless the soul is all-pervading it cannot be 
 eternal. All Hindus hold that nothing can be eternal that is divisible 
 into parts ; and all things have parts except the infinite (soul) and the 
 infinitesimal (atoms).
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SAN-KHYA. 8/ 
 
 on, uniting itself with unintelligent Prakriti, as a lame 
 man mounted on a blind man's shoulders, for the sake 
 of observing and contemplating the phenomena of crea- 
 tion, which Prakriti herself is unable to observe. In the 
 San-khya-karika (19) we read : 
 
 The soul is witness, solitary, bystander, spectator, and passive. For 
 its contemplation of Prakriti the union of both takes place, as of the 
 halt and blind ; by that union a creation is formed. 
 
 It appears, too, that all Prakriti's performances are 
 solely for the benefit of soul, who receives her favours 
 ungratefully. Thus, in the San-khya-karika 59, 60, we 
 have the following : 
 
 As a female dancer, having exhibited herself to a spectator, desists 
 from the dance, so does Prakriti desist, having manifested herself to 
 soul. By various means Prakriti, endowed with qualities (gunavat}, 
 acting as a benefactress, accomplishes without profit to herself the 
 purpose of soul, who is devoid of qualities (aguna) and makes no return 
 of benefit. 
 
 In fact, Prakriti is sometimes reproached with boldness 
 in exposing herself to the gaze of soul, who takes no in- 
 terest whatever in the sight. There is something to a 
 European mind very unreal, cloudy, and unpractical in all 
 this. Certainly no one can doubt that the San-khya view 
 of the soul is inferior to that of the Nyaya, which ascribes 
 to it, when joined to mind, activity, volition, thought, and 
 feeling (see p. 76). Obviously, too, its view of all existing 
 things is even more atheistical than that of the earliest 
 Naiyayikas. For if the creation produced by the Evolver, 
 Prakriti, has an existence of its own independent of all 
 connection with the particular Purusha to which it is 
 joined, there can be no need for an intelligent Creator of 
 the world or even of any superintending power. 1 
 
 1 I presume this is the reason why in a catalogue of MSS. edited 
 by Rajendralal Mitra the San-khya is styled the Hylotheistic philo- 
 sophy.
 
 88 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Here are two or three of Kapila's Aphorisms bearing 
 upon the charge of atheism brought against him. An 
 objection is made that some of his definitions are incon- 
 sistent with the supposed existence of a supreme Lord 
 (Isvara). To this he replies in the ninety-second and 
 following Aphorisms, thus : 
 
 (They are not inconsistent) because the existence of a supreme Lord 
 is- unproved (Isvardsiddheh). Since he could not be either free (from 
 desires and anxieties) or bound by troubles of any kind, there can be 
 no proof of his existence. Either way he could not be effective of any 
 creation. (That is, if he were free from anxieties he could have no 
 wish to create ; and if he were bound by desires of any kind, he would 
 then be under bondage, and therefore deficient in power.) 
 
 The commentary of Gauda-pada on San-khya-karika 6 1 
 ought, however, to be here quoted : 
 
 The San-khya teachers say, ' How can beings composed of the three 
 Gunas proceed from Isvara (God), who is devoid of Gunas ? Or how 
 can they proceed from soul, equally devoid of qualities ? Therefore 
 they must proceed from Prakriti. Thus from white threads white cloth 
 is produced ; from black threads, black cloth ; ' and so from Prakriti, 
 composed of the three Gunas, the three worlds composed of the three 
 Gunas are produced. God (Isvara) is free from Gunas. The production 
 of the three worlds composed of the Gunas from him would be an 
 inconsistency. 
 
 Again, with reference to the soul, we- have the following 
 in Kapila's ninety-sixth Aphorism : 
 
 ' There is a ruling influence of the soul (over Prakriti) caused by 
 their proximity, just as the loadstone (draws iron to itself).' That is, 
 the proximity of soul to Prakriti impels the latter to go through the 
 steps of production. This sort of attraction between the two leads to 
 creation, but in no other sense is soul an agent or concerned in creation 
 at all. 1 
 
 1 It is stated in Kapila's fifty-eighth Aphorism, quoted by Dr. Bal- 
 lantyne, that the bondage of the soul caused by its union with Prakriti 
 is after all merely nominal, and not real, because it resides in the mind, 
 and not in the soul itself (vdnmdtram na tu tattvam citta-sthiteh). See 
 Mullens' Essay, p. 183.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SAN-KHYA. 89 
 
 Notwithstanding these atheistical tendencies, the San- 
 khya evades the charge of unorthodoxy by a confession of 
 faith in the Veda. Hence in Aphorism 98 we have : 
 
 The declaration of the meaning of the texts of the Veda is an 
 authority, since the author of them knew the established truth. 
 
 And it should be noted that some adherents of the 
 San-khya maintain the existence of a supreme Soul, 1 called 
 Hiranya-garbha, and of a general ideal phenomenal uni- 
 verse with which that supreme Soul is connected and into 
 which all the subcreations of inferior souls are by him 
 gathered. Nor can it be affirmed that the San-khya proper 
 commits itself to a positive denial of the existence of a 
 supreme Being, so much as to an ignoring of what the 
 founder of the school believed to be incapable of dialectic 
 demonstration. As, however, the original World-evolver 
 only evolves the world for the sake of the spectator, soul, 
 this is practically an admission that there can be no 
 realization of creation without the union of Prakriti with 
 Purusha, the personal soul. In all probability Kapila's 
 own idea was that every Purusha, though he did not 
 himself create, had his own creation and his own created 
 universe comprehended in his own person. 2 It may easily 
 be supposed that this union of Purusha and Prakriti 
 began soon to be compared to that of male and female ; 
 and it may be conjectured that the idea of the production 
 of the universe by the male and female principles asso- 
 ciating together, which was symbolized by the Ardha-nari 
 form of Siva, and which lies at the root of the whole later 
 
 1 Or, according to Professor E. B. Cowell, ' personified Sum of exist- 
 ence.' Elphinstone's India, p. 126, note. 
 
 2 Something after the manner of Berkeley, who held that the ' with- 
 out ' was all within, though he believed in the real existence of external 
 objects produced by other minds and wills.
 
 pO INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 mythology of India, was derived mainly from the San-khya 
 philosophy. 
 
 It was not indeed to be expected that the uneducated 
 masses could make anything of a metaphysical mysticism 
 which could not be explained to them in intelligible lan- 
 guage. How could they form any notion of a primordial 
 eternal energy evolving out of itself twenty-three other 
 elements or substances to form a visible world for the soul, 
 described as apathetic, inactive, devoid of all qualities, 
 and a mere indifferent spectator, though in close contact 
 with the individual Evolver and deluded by its self- 
 consciousness ? But they could well understand the idea 
 of a universe proceeding from Prakriti and Purusha as 
 from mother and father. Indeed the idea of a union 
 between the female principle, regarded as an energy, 
 and the male principle, is of great antiquity in Hindu 
 systems of cosmogony. In the Rig-veda and Brahmanas 
 there are various allusions, as we have already seen, to 
 a supposed union of Earth and Heaven, who together 
 produce men, gods, and all creatures. 1 
 
 Buddhism, moreover, which represented many of the 
 more popular philosophical ideas of the Hindus perhaps as 
 early as the fifth century B.C., has more in common with 
 San-khya doctrines than with any of the other systems. 
 
 Even the cosmogony of Manu, although a compound 
 of various theories, presents a process of evolution very 
 similar, as we shall see hereafter, to that of the San-khya. 
 
 Again, the antiquity and prevalence of San-khyan ideas 
 is proved by the frequent allusions to them in the great 
 Indian epic poem, called Maha-bharata ; 2 and the per- 
 
 1 See Muir's Texts, vol. v. pp. 22, 23. 
 
 2 In the Sabha-parvan (Muir, vol. iv. p. 173) Krishna is described as 
 undeveloped Prakriti, the eternal creator (esha prakritir a-vyaMd kartd 
 caiva sandtanah). On the other hand, in the Vana-parvan (1622, &c.,
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY SANKHYA. 9 I 
 
 manence of their popularity till at least the first century 
 of our era is indicated by the fact that the celebrated 
 philosophical poem called Bhagavad-gita attempts to re- 
 concile the San-khya with Vedantist views. 1 
 
 Perhaps, however, the extensive prevalence of San-khyan 
 ideas in India is best shown by the later cosmogony and 
 mythology. In those repositories of the popular Hindu 
 creed, the Puranas and Tantras, Prakriti becomes a real 
 Mother of the universe. It is true that in some of the 
 Puranas there is occasional confusion and perversion of 
 San-khyan doctrines. Thus, for example, in the Vishnu- 
 purana I. 2. 22, we have the following : 
 
 ' There was neither day nor night, neither sky nor earth ; there was 
 neither darkness nor light nor anything else. There was then the One, 
 Brahma, the Male, possessing the character of Pradhana (prddhdnika).' 2 
 And farther on : ' The principles or elements, commencing with Mahat, 
 presided over by Purusha and under the influence of Pradhana, generated 
 an egg, which became the receptacle of Vishnu in the form of Brahma.' 
 
 But generally in the later mythology, especially as 
 represented by the Tantras, the San-khya principle of 
 Prakriti takes the form of female personifications, who 
 are thought of as the wives or creative female energies 
 of the principal male deities, to whom, on the other hand, 
 the name Purusha, in the sense of the supreme Soul or the 
 supreme Male, is sometimes applied. 3 This is especially 
 the case with the Sakti or female energy of Siva, wor- 
 shipped by a vast number of persons as the true Jagad- 
 amba, or ' Mother of the universe.' 
 
 Muir, vol. iv. p. 195) the god S'iva is declared to be the cause of the 
 causes of the world (loka-kdraiia-kdranam), and therefore superior and 
 antecedent to Pradhana and Purusha. Again, in S'anti-parvan 12725, 
 12737, I 34 I > & c -> the sons of Brahma are called Prakritayah. 
 
 1 See Chapter VII. on the Eclectic School and Bhagavad-gita. 
 
 2 Compare the Rig-veda hymn, translated at p. 19 of this book. 
 
 3 Vishnu or Krishna is called Purushottama, and the name Purusha 
 is equally given to Brahma and S'iva.
 
 9 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 These proofs of the ancient popularity of the San-khya 
 and its influence on the later mythology may help us to 
 understand that, although in modern times there are com- 
 paratively few students of the San-khya amoDg the Pandits 
 of India, there is still a common saying current every- 
 where (which will be found in Maha-bharata, Santi-parvan, 
 1 1676), Nasti Sdn-khya-samamjnanam nasti Yoga-samam 
 balam, ' There is no knowledge equal to the San-khya and 
 no power equal to the Yoga.' 
 
 The Yoga. 
 
 The Yoga, 1 commonly regarded as a branch of the 
 San-khya, is scarcely worthy of the name of a system of 
 philosophy, though it has undoubted charms for the 
 naturally contemplative and ascetical Hindu, and lays 
 claim to greater orthodoxy than the San-khya proper, 
 by directly acknowledging the existence of Isvara or a 
 supreme Being. 2 In fact, the aim of the Yoga is to teach 
 the means by which the human soul may attain complete 
 union with the supreme Soul. This fusion (laya) or 
 union of individual with universal spirit may be effected 
 even in the body. According to Patanjali, the author of 
 the system, the very word Yoga is interpreted to mean 
 the act of ' fixing or concentrating the mind in abstract 
 meditation,' and this is said to be effected by preventing 
 
 1 I have given a later account of the Yoga and its connection with 
 Buddhism in my recent work on Buddhism (John Murray, Albemarle 
 Street, London), p. 223. 
 
 2 The Yoga was propounded by Pataiijali (of whom nothing is 
 known, except that he was probably not the same person as the author 
 of the Maha-bhashya) in Aphorisms called the Yoga-sutra, a work in 
 four books or chapters, two of which, with some of the commentary of 
 Bhoja-raja or Bhoja-deva, were translated by Dr. Ballantyne. Other 
 commentators were Vacaspati-misra, Vijnana-bhikshu, and Nagoji- 
 bhatta.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY YOGA. 93 
 
 the modifications of Oitta or the thinking principle [which 
 modifications arise through the three Pramanas, percep- 
 tion, inference, and verbal testimony, as well as through 
 incorrect ascertainment, fancy, sleep, and recollection], by 
 the constant habit (abhydsa) of keeping the mind in its 
 unmodified state a state clear as crystal when uncoloured 
 by contact with other substances and by the practice of 
 Vairdgya that is, complete suppression of the passions. 
 This Vairdgya is only to be obtained by Isvara-pranid- 
 lidna or the contemplation of the supreme Being, who is 
 defined to be a particular Purusha or Spirit unaffected by 
 works, afflictions, &c., and having the appellation Pranava 
 or Om. The repetition of this monosyllable is supposed 
 to be attended with marvellous results, and the muttering 
 of it with reflection on its meaning * is said to be con- 
 ducive to a knowledge of the Supreme and to a preven- 
 tion of all the obstacles to Yoga. The eight means of 
 mental concentration are i. Yama, 'forbearance,' 're- 
 straint/ 2. Niyama, ' religious observances/ 3. Asana, 
 ' postures/ 2 4. Prdnaydma, ' suppression of the breath ' 
 or ' breathing in a peculiar way/ 5. Pratydhdra, ' re- 
 straint of the senses/ 6. Dhdrdna, ' steadying of the 
 mind/ 7. Dkydna, 'contemplation/ 8. Samddhi, 'pro- 
 found meditation/ or rather a state of religious trance, 
 which, according to the Bhagavad-gita (VI. 13), is most 
 effectually attained by such practices as fixing the eyes 
 intently and incessantly on the tip of the nose, &c. 3 The 
 
 1 Om is supposed to be composed of the three letters A, U, M, which 
 form a most sacred monosyllable (eJcakshara), significant of the supreme 
 Being as developing himself in the Triad of gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 S'iva. See Bhagavad-gita VIII. 13, and especially Manu II. 83, 84. 
 
 2 One of these postures is called paryan-ka-bandhana or paryan-Jca- 
 granthi, ' bed-binding ' or ' bed-knot,' and is performed by sitting on 
 the hams with a cloth fastened round the knees and back. See line i 
 of the Mri6-chakatika. 
 
 3 See the account of the Bhagavad-gita, p. 130 of this volume.
 
 94 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 system of Yoga appears, in fact, to be a mere contrivance 
 for getting rid of all thought, or at least for concentrat- 
 ing the mind with the utmost intensity upon nothing 
 in particular. It is a strange compound of mental and 
 bodily exercises, consisting in unnatural restraint, forced 
 and painful postures, twistings and contortions of the 
 limbs, suppressions of the breath, and utter absence of 
 mind. But although the Yoga of Patanjali professes to 
 effect union with the universal Spirit by means such 
 as these, it should be observed that far more severe 
 austerities and self-imposed physical mortifications are 
 popularly connected with the Yoga system. All Hindu 
 devotees and ascetics, especially those who, as forming 
 a division of the Saiva sect, identify the terrific god Siva 
 with the supreme Being, are commonly called Yogins or 
 Yogis, and indeed properly so called, in so far as the pro- 
 fessed object of their austerities is union with the Deity. 1 
 
 The variety and intensity of the forms of austerity prac- 
 tised by such Yogis in India would appear to surpass all 
 credibility were they not sufficiently attested by trust- 
 worthy evidence. A few illustrations may not be out of 
 place here, or at least may be instructive, especially as 
 bearing upon an interesting field of inquiry, viz., first, how 
 is it that faith in a false system can operate with sufficient 
 force upon a Hindu to impel him to submit voluntarily to 
 almost incredible restraints, mortifications of the flesh, and 
 physical tortures ? and secondly, how is it that an amount 
 of physical endurance may be exhibited by an apparently 
 weakly and emaciated Asiatic, which would be impossible 
 in a European, the climate and diet in the one case tend- 
 ing to debilitate, in the other to invigorate ? 
 
 1 The name Fakir or Faqlr, sometimes given to Hindu devotees, 
 ought to be restricted to Muslims. It is an Arabic word, meaning 
 ' poor,' ' indigent.'
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY YOGA. 95 
 
 In the Sakuntala (Act VII. verse 175) there is a de- 
 scription of an ascetic engaged in Yoga, whose condition 
 of fixed trance and immovable impassiveness had lasted so 
 long that ants had thrown up a mound as high as his 
 waist without being disturbed, and birds had built their 
 nests in the long clotted tresses of his tangled hair. This 
 may be thought a mere flight of poetical fancy, but a 
 Mohammedan traveller, whose narrative is quoted by Mr. 
 Mill (British India, I. 355), once actually saw a man in 
 India standing motionless with his face turned towards 
 
 O 
 
 the sun. The same traveller, having occasion to revisit 
 the same spot sixteen years afterwards, found the very 
 same man in the very same attitude. Such men have 
 been known to fix their gaze on the sun's disk till sight 
 has been extinguished. This is paralleled by a particular 
 form of austerity described in Manu VI. 23, where men- 
 tion is made of the Panca-tapds, a Yogi who, during the 
 three hottest months (April, May, and June), sits between 
 four blazing fires placed towards the four quarters, with 
 the burning sun above his head to form a fifth. In fact, 
 a Yogi was actually seen not long ago (Mill's India, I. 
 353) seated between four such fires on a quadrangular 
 stage. He stood on one leg gazing at the sun while these 
 fires were lighted at the four corners. Then placing him- 
 self upright on his head, with his feet elevated in the 
 air, he remained for three hours in that position. He then 
 seated himself cross-legged and continued bearing the 
 raging heat of the sun above his head and the fires which 
 surrounded him till the end of the day, occasionally add- 
 ing combustibles with his own hands to increase the 
 flames. 
 
 Again, in the Asiatic Monthly Journal for March 1829, 
 an account is given of a Brahman who, with no other 
 apparatus than a low stool, a hollow bamboo, and a kind 
 of crutch, poised himself apparently in the air, about four
 
 g6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 feet from the ground, for forty minutes. This actually 
 took place before the governor of Madras. Nor does there 
 appear to be any limit to the various forms of austerity 
 practised by Hindu devotees. We read of some who 
 acquire the power of remaining under water for a space 
 of time quite incredible ; of others who bury themselves 
 up to the neck in the ground, or even below it, leaving 
 only a little hole through which to breathe ; of others 
 who keep their fists clenched for years till the nails grow 
 through the back of their hands ; of others who hold one 
 or both arms aloft till they become immovably fixed in 
 that position and withered to the bone ; of others who 
 roll their bodies for thousands of miles to some place of 
 pilgrimage; of others who sleep on beds of iron spikes. 
 One man was seen at Benares (described in the Asiatic 
 Researches, vol. v. p. 49) who was alleged to have used 
 such a bed for thirty-five years. Others have been known 
 to chain themselves for life to trees : others, again, to 
 
 * f O ' 
 
 pass their lives, heavily chained, in iron cages. Lastly, 
 the extent to which some Indian ascetics will carry fast- 
 ing far exceeds anything ever heard of in Europe, as may 
 be understood by a reference to the rules of the lunar 
 penance given by Manu (XL 20, XL 216-220). This 
 penance is a kind of fast which consists in diminishing 
 the consumption of food every day by one mouthful for 
 the waning half of the lunar month, beginning with 
 fifteen mouthfuls at the full moon until the quantity is 
 reduced to o at the new moon, and then increasing it 
 in like manner during the fortnight of the moon's increase. 
 
 Of course all these mortifications are explicable by their 
 connection with the fancied attainment of extraordinary 
 sanctity and supernatural powers. 
 
 As a conclusion to the subject of Yoga, I quote a re- 
 markable passage from Professor Banerjea (Dialogues, pp. 
 69, 70) :
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY YOGA. 97 
 
 The Yogi may not see or hear what passes around, he may be in- 
 sensible to external impressions, but he has intuition of things which 
 his neighbours cannot see or hear. He becomes so buoyant, or rather 
 so sublimated by his Yoga, that gravitation, or, as Bhaskara^arya calls 
 it, the attractive power of the earth, has no influence on him. He can 
 walk and ascend in the sky, as if he were suspended under a balloon. 
 He can by this intuitive process inform himself of the mysteries of 
 astronomy and anatomy, of all things, in fact, that may be found in any 
 of the different worlds. He may call to recollection the events of a 
 previous life. He may understand the language of the brute creation. 
 He may obtain an insight into the past and future. He may discern 
 the thoughts of others. He may himself vanish at pleasure, and, if he 
 choose to do so, enter into his neighbour's body and take possession of 
 his living skin. 
 
 By these and other doctrines of Hindu philosophy we 
 are often reminded that the human mind repeats itself 
 according to the sentiment expressed in Ecclesiastes i. 9, 
 ' The thing that hath been, it is that which, shall be ; and 
 that which is done is that which shall be done : and there 
 is no new thing under the sun.' Certainly almost all 
 extravagant ideas now current seem to have their counter- 
 part, if not their source, in the East. The practisers of 
 self-imposed superstitious restraints and mortifications, not 
 to speak of the votaries of animal magnetism, clairvoyance, 
 and so-called spiritualism, will find most of their theories 
 represented or rather far outdone by corresponding notions 
 existing in this Yoga system invented by the Hindus con- 
 siderably more than 2000 years ago, and more or less 
 earnestly believed in and sedulously practised up to the 
 present day.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Purva-mwidnsd and Veddnta. 
 
 OUR next subject is the Mimansa of Jaimini, 1 which is 
 sometimes connected with the Vedanta, this latter being 
 called the Uttara-mlmdnsd or Brahma -mimansa- as 
 founded on the Upanishads or latter part of the Vedas 
 while Jaimini's system is styled the Purva-mlmdnsd 
 or Karma-mimdnsd, as concerned with the Mantras and 
 Brahmanas only. It is more usual, however, to indicate 
 the opposition of the two systems to each other by calling 
 the one Mimansa and the other Vedanta. In fact, Jaimini's 
 system, like the Yoga, cannot suitably be called a subdivi- 
 sion of any other system, for it is in real truth not a 
 system of philosophy, but rather of ritualism. It does 
 not concern itself, like the other systems, with investiga- 
 tions into the nature of soul, mind, and matter, but with 
 a correct interpretation of the ritual of the Veda and the 
 solutions of doubts and discrepancies in regard to Vedic 
 texts caused by the discordant explanations of opposite 
 
 1 Jaimini, as usual, enunciated his doctrines in aphorisms. His work 
 called the Mimansa-sutra or Jaimini-sutra is in twelve books. It has 
 been partly edited and translated by Dr. Ballantyne. A commentary 
 on it was written by Sabara-svamin, which is being published in the 
 Bibliotheca Indica, and this again was commented on by the celebrated 
 Mimansa authority, Kumarila (also styled Kumarila-bhatta, Kumarila- 
 svamin), whose work was again followed by numerous other commen- 
 taries and treatises. A compendious explanation of the system, called 
 Jaiminlya-nyaya-mala-vistara, was written by Madhavadarya. Jaimini 
 must have been a learned Brahman, but nothing is known as to the 
 
 date of his life. 
 
 9 8
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY PURVA-MIMANSA. 99 
 
 schools. Its only claim to the title of a philosophy 
 consists in its mode of interpretation, the topics being 
 arranged according to particular categories (such as autho- 
 ritativeness, indirect precept, &c.), and treated according 
 to a kind of logical method, commencing with the pro- 
 position to be discussed, the doubt arising about it, the 
 Purva-paJcsha or prima facie and wrong view of the 
 question, the Uttara-paksha or refutation of the wrong 
 view, and the conclusion. The main design of the whole 
 system appears to be to make a god of ritualism. Hence 
 it consists chiefly of a critical commentary on the Brah- 
 mana or ritual portion of the Veda in its connection with 
 the Mantras, the interpretation given being an exposition 
 of the obvious literal sense and not of any supposed occult 
 meaning underlying the text, as in the Upanishads and 
 Vedanta. Jaimini was, in point of fact, the opponent of 
 both rationalism and theism. Not that he denied a God, 
 but the real tendency of his teaching was to allow no 
 voice or authority to either reason or God. The Veda 
 was to be everything. A supreme Being might exist, 
 but was not necessary to the system. The Veda, said 
 Jaimini, is itself authority and has no need of an Autho- 
 rizer. His first Aphorism states the whole aim and 
 object of his system, viz., a desire to know duty (dharma- 
 jijhdsd}. When amplified, it may be thus stated : 
 
 Understand, O student, that, after studying the Veda with a pre- 
 ceptor, a desire to know Dliarma or duty is to be entertained by thee. 
 
 The fifth Aphorism asserts the strange doctrine of an 
 original and perpetual connection between a word and its 
 sense. It is thus paraphrased : 
 
 The connection of a word with its sense is contemporaneous with the 
 origin of both. In consequence of this connection, the words of the 
 Veda convey unerring instruction in the knowledge of duty. 
 
 But it is to be understood that Dharma or duty con-
 
 IO Q INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 sists in the performance of the ritual acts prescribed by 
 the Veda because they are so prescribed, without reference 
 to the will or approval of any personal god, for Dharma 
 is itself the bestower of reward. Some recent Miman- 
 sakas, however, maintain that Dharma ought to be per- 
 formed as an offering to a supreme Being, and that it 
 is to be so performed as a means of emancipation. Even 
 a verse of the Bhagavad-gita is quoted in support of 
 this view. Krishna, regarded by his worshippers as a 
 manifestation of the supreme lord of the universe, says 
 to Arjuna, 
 
 Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou sacrificest, 
 whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, do that 
 as an offering to me (IX. 27). (See Lecture VII. on the Eclectic School 
 and Bhagavad-gita, p. 131 of this volume.) 
 
 Some singular speculations occur in Jaimini's system. 
 As he maintains the inherent authority of the Veda, 
 without any dependence on an eternal Authorizer or 
 Revealer, so he asserts its own absolute eternity, and 
 declares that only eternally pre-existing objects are men- 
 tioned in it. This theory is supported by affirming that 
 sound is eternal, or rather that an eternal sound underlies 
 all temporary sound. From Aphorism 18 we gather the 
 .following : 
 
 Sound must be[[eternal, because its utterance [exhibition] is intended 
 to convey a meaning to others. If it were not eternal it would not con- 
 tinue till the hearer had learned its sense, and thus he would not learn 
 the sense, because the cause had ceased to exist 
 
 If, on the other hand (says a commentator), it continues to exist for 
 any period, however short, after ceasing to be perceived, it is impossible 
 to assign any other instant at which there is any evidence of the dis- 
 continuance of its existence, whence its eternity is inferred. 1 
 
 1 See Muir's Texts, vol. iii. pp. 53, 57; Dr. Ballantyne's Mlmansa- 
 sutra, p. 23.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. IOI 
 
 This eternity of sound is further pretended to be estab- 
 lished by the . two following short passages, one from the 
 Rig-veda (VIII. 64. 6) and one from Smriti, with which 
 I close this brief notice of the Mimansa : 
 
 ' Send forth praises, O Viriipa, with an eternal voice.' 
 ' An eternal voice, without beginning or end, was uttered by the 
 self-existent.' 1 . 
 
 ' Let me conclude these remarks on the singular theory 
 of the eternity of sound by observing that the Chinese are 
 said to have a saying, ' The echoes of a word once uttered 
 vibrate in space to all eternity.' 
 
 The Veddnta. 
 
 Of orthodox systems there only remains the Vedanta of 
 Vyasa or Badarayana ; 2 but this is in some respects the 
 
 1 The whole text of the Rig-veda (VIII. 64 or 75. 6) is Tasmai nunam 
 abhidyave vdcd Viriipa nityayd, vrishne codasva sushtiitim, ' send forth 
 praises to this heaven-aspiring and prolific Agni, Virupa, with an 
 eternal voice.' Nitya, though taken by the Mimansakas in the sense of 
 1 eternal,' probably means only ' unceasing.' Dr. Muir's Texts, vol. iii. 
 p. 51. The text from Smriti has only as yet been found in Maha- 
 bharata, S'anti-parvan 8. 533, An-ddi-nidhand nityd vdg utsrishtd 
 svayam-bhuvd. 
 
 2 The reputed author of this system, Badarayana, is very loosely 
 identified with the legendary person named Vyasa, who is supposed to 
 have arranged the Vedas and written the Maha-bharata, Puranas, and 
 a particular Dharma-sastra or law-book. No doubt the name Vyasa, 
 * arranger,' was applied as a kind of title to various great writers or 
 compilers, and in this sense it seems to have been given to the founder 
 of the Vedanta system. He propounded his views, as usual, in Sutras, 
 but Badarayana's Aphorisms are generally called Brahma-sutra, or 
 sometimes S'ariraka-sutra, and the system itself is variously styled 
 Brahma-mimansa and S'ariraka-mimansa (investigation into the supreme 
 Soul or embodied Spirit). The text of the Sutras and the celebrated 
 commentary by S'art-karac"arya have been edited in the Bibliotheca
 
 I02 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 most important of all the six, both from its closer con- 
 formity to the pantheistic doctrines propounded in the 
 Upanishads, on which treatises as forming the end of the 
 Veda it professes to be founded, and from its greater adap- 
 tation to the habits of thought common among thinking 
 and educated Hindus, as much in present as in former 
 periods. The pantheism pervading the Upanishads and 
 leading directly to the Vedanta system has already been 
 illustrated by a selection of examples. 
 
 The following simple confession of a Vedantist's faith 
 can be added from the Chandogya Upanishad (III. 14) : 
 
 All this universe (ri> vav) indeed is Brahma ; from him does it pro- 
 ceed ; into him it is dissolved ; in him it breathes. 1 So let every one 
 adore him calmly. 
 
 Here, then, we have presented to us a different view of 
 the origin of the world. In the Nyaya it was supposed 
 to proceed from a concurrence of innumerable eternal 
 atoms ; in the San-khya from one original eternal element 
 called Prakriti ; both operating independently, though as- 
 sociated with eternal spirits, and, according to one view, 
 presided over by a supreme Spirit. But in the Vedanta 
 there is no real material world at all, as distinct from the 
 universal Spirit. Hence the doctrine of this school is called 
 A-dvaita, ' non-dualism.' The universe exists but merely 
 as an illusory form of the one eternal essence (TO ei/). He is 
 the all-pervading Spirit, the only really existing substance 
 
 Indica by Dr. Rber, and a portion translated by Professor Banerjea. 
 Dr. Ballantyne also edited and translated a portion of the Sutras and 
 commentary and a popular compendium called the Vedanta-sara. A 
 vast number of other commentaries and treatises on the Vedanta exist. 
 1 This is expressed in the text by one compound, taj-jaldn, interpreted 
 as equivalent to taj-ja, tal-la, tad-ana. The whole text is sarvam khalv 
 idam brahma taj-jaldn iti santa updslta. The philosophy of the Sufis, 
 alleged to be developed out of the Kuran (see p. 33), appears to be a 
 kind of pantheism very similar to that of the Vedanta.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. 1 03 
 
 (vastu). Even as early as the Rig-veda the outlines of 
 this pantheistic creed, which became more definite in the 
 Upanishads and Vedanta, may be traced. The germ of 
 the Vedanta is observable in the Purusha-sukta, as we 
 have already shown by the example given at p. 21. The 
 early Vedantic creed has the merit of being exceedingly 
 simple. It is comprised in these three words, occurring in 
 the Qhandogya Upanishad (see p. 38), Ekam evddvitlyam, 
 ' one only Essence without a second ; ' or in the following 
 line of nine short words, Brahma satyam jagan mithyd 
 jlvo brahmaiva ndparah, ' Brahma is true, the world is 
 false, the spirit is only Brahma and no other.' 
 
 As the Nyaya has much in common with the practical 
 philosophy of Aristotle, which gave to things and indi- 
 viduals, rather than to ideas, a real existence, so the 
 Vedanta offers many parallels to the idealism of Plato. 1 
 
 1 Plato does not always state his theory of ideas very intelligibly, 
 and probably modified them in his later works. He seems, however, 
 to have insisted on the doctrine that mind preceded and gave rise to 
 matter, or, in other words, that the whole material world proceeded 
 from or was actually produced by the Creator according to the idea or 
 pattern of a world existing eternally and for ever the same in his own 
 mind. In the Timaeus (10) he says: 'To discover the Maker and 
 Father of this universe (roD TravrJg) is difficult, and, when he has been 
 discovered, it is impossible to describe him to the multitude. Accord- 
 ing to which of two patterns (^jog vorsw run TrapaSe/y^ar&jv) did he 
 frame the world ? According to one subsisting for ever the same ? Or 
 according to one which was produced 1 Since, then, this universe is 
 beautiful and its Artificer good, he evidently looked in modelling it to 
 an eternal (uidicv) pattern.' Similarly, Plato seems to have held that 
 the human mind has existing within it certain abstract ideas or ideal 
 forms which precede and are visibly manifested in the actual concrete 
 forms around us. For example, the abstract ideas of goodness and 
 beauty are found pre-existing in the mind, and, as it were, give rise to 
 the various good and beautiful objects manifested before our eyes. In 
 the same manner all circular things must have been preceded by some 
 ideal circular form existing as an eternal reality. For, according to
 
 104 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Badaray ana's very first Aphorism states the object of 
 the whole system in one compound word, viz., Brahma- 
 jijhasa, ' Brahma-inquisitiveness,' i.e., the desire of know- 
 ing Brahman (neut.), or the only really existing being. 
 
 Here we may quote a portion of San-karacarya's com- 
 mentary (Roer's edition, pp. 29 and 43) : 
 
 The knower of Brahma attains the supreme good and supreme object 
 of man (param purushdrtham = ro dyadov, TO aglarov, summum bonum). 
 
 A really existing substance (vastu) cannot alternately be thus and 
 not thus, cannot (optionally) be and not be. The knowledge of a sub- 
 stance just as it is in reality (i.e., true knowledge) is not dependent 
 on a man's own personal notions (na purusha-buddhy-apeksham). 1 It 
 depends on the substance itself. To say of one and the same post that 
 it is either a post or a man or something else is not true knowledge 
 (tattva-jndnam). It is a false notion (mifhya-jnanam)? That it is a 
 post is alone the truth, because it is dependent on the substance itself 
 (vastu-tantratvdf). Thus the proving of an existing substance is depen- 
 dent on the substance itself. Thus the knowledge of Brahma is depen- 
 dent on the substance itself (not on the notion a man may form of 
 Brahma), because it relates to a really existing substance (bhuta-vastu- 
 vishayatvdt). 
 
 Plato, these abstract ideas had a real, eternal, unchanging existence of 
 their own, quite separate from and independent of the ever-varying 
 concrete objects and appearances connected with them. 
 
 1 S'an-kara appears here to argue against a doctrine like that ascribed 
 to Protagoras, irfaruv titrpv uvdeuircg, ' the individual man is the stan 
 dard of all things.' 
 
 2 One of Plato's causes of mistaken notion is that when two persons 
 or things have been seen and their forms impressed on the mind, they 
 are yet, owing to imperfect observation, mistaken the one for the 
 other : ' It remains that I may form a false notion in this case, when 
 knowing you and Theodorus and having the impression of both of you on 
 that waxen tablet of the mind (sv 1-x.ii^ r xjjg/i/^) made by a seal ring 
 as it were, seeing you both from a distance and not sufficiently distin- 
 guishing you, I fit the aspect of each to the impression of the other, 
 changing them like those that put their shoes on the wrong feet : ro'rg 
 ft wppctlvti r, mgokfra xai r& -^evBrj aogae,' Theaet. 122. Compare 
 Banerjea's translation of the Brahma-sutra, p. 2.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. 1 05 
 
 In the second Aphorism Brahma l is defined to mean 
 
 * that from which the production of this universe results.' 
 
 San-kara adds a fuller definition, thus (Eoer's edition, 
 P. 38) :- 
 
 Brahma is that all-knowing, all-powerful Cause from which arises 
 the production, continuance, and dissolution of the universe, which 
 (universe) is modified by name and form, contains many agents and 
 patients (Icartri-bhoktri-samyukta), is the repository (asrayd) of actions 
 and effects, and in the form of its arrangement cannot be conceived 
 even by the mind. 
 
 The Aphorisms which follow, as far as the 28th, proceed 
 to define and describe the character of God as. the supreme 
 Soul of the universe. I here give a summary 2 of the most 
 interesting of them, with portions of the commentary : 
 
 That the supreme Being is omniscient follows from the fact that he 
 is the source of the Veda (sastra-yonitvaf). As from that Being every 
 soul is evolved, so to that same Being does every soul return. How 
 can souls be merged into Prakriti 1 3 for then the intelligent would be 
 absorbed in the unintelligent. He, the supreme Being, consists of 
 joy. This is clear from the Veda, which describes him as the cause 
 of joy; for as those who enrich others must be themselves rich, so 
 there must be abundant joy with him who causes others to rejoice. 
 Again, he, the one God, is the light (jyotis). He is within the sun 
 and within the eye. He is the ethereal element (akdsa). 4 He is the 
 
 1 The name Brahman is, in fact, derived from the root brih or vrih, 
 'to grow and expand,' and therefore means literally the one essence 
 which grows or expands. Vriksha, ' a tree,' is from the same root. 
 
 2 See Dr. Ballantyne's translation, and that of Professor Banerjea. 
 
 3 The Prakriti or Pradhana of the San-khya system. 
 
 4 Professor Banerjea considers that the word ' ether ' is not a good 
 rendering for aMsa, which pervades everything. There is akasa in 
 our cups and within our bodies, which are surely not ethereal. One 
 of the synonyms of akasa is sunya, and this may be compared in some 
 respects to the 'inane' or space of Lucretius (I. 330) : 
 
 Nee tamen undique corpored stipata tenentur 
 Omnia naturd ; namque est in refais inane. 
 
 * And yet all things are not on all sides held and jammed together in 
 close and solid parts ; there is a space (or void) in things.'
 
 106 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 life and the breath of life (prdna). He is the life with which Indra 
 identified himself when he said to Pratardana, ' I am the life, consist- 
 ing of perfect knowledge. Worship me as the life immortal.' 1 
 
 From other portions of the Aphorisms it appears that 
 the TO ev, or one universal essence called Brahma, is to 
 the external world what yarn is to cloth, what milk to 
 curds, what earth to a jar, and gold to a bracelet. He 
 is both creator and creation, 2 actor and act. He is also 
 Existence, Knowledge, and Joy (Sa6-6id-dnanda\ but is 
 at the same time without parts, unbound by qualities 
 (nir-guna, see p. 85), without action, without emotion, 
 having no consciousness such as is denoted by ' I ' and 
 ' Thou,' 3 apprehending no person or thing, nor appre- 
 hended by any, having neither beginning nor end, im- 
 mutable, the only real entity. 
 
 This is surely almost tantamount to asserting that 
 pure Being is identical with pure Nothing, so that the 
 two extremes of Buddhistic Nihilism and Vedantic Pan- 
 theism, far as they profess to be apart, appear in the end 
 to meet. 
 
 1 This is from the Kaushitaki-brahmana Upanishad, chapter 3. See 
 Professor E. B. CowelFs translation. 
 
 2 A true Vedantic spirit is observable in the Orphic hymns when 
 they identify Zeus with the universe ; thus, ' Zeus is the ether ; Zeus 
 is the earth; Zeus is the heaven; Zeus is all things.' Orphic. Fragm. 
 rV". 363, VI. 366. Compare also Virgil, Aeneid VI. 724, &c. : 
 
 ' Principio caelum ac terras, camposque liquentes 
 Lucentemque globum Luuae, Titaniaque astra, 
 Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus 
 Mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet.' 
 
 3 As shown by Professor Banerjea, San-kara compares the second 
 person Thou with darkness, because there cannot be a real Thou. So 
 San-kara affirms that 'Thou' and 'I' are as opposed as darkness and 
 light. Plato speaks similarly of darkness and light in connection with 
 nonentity and real entity. Sophist. 254.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. 
 
 I add two or three extracts from San-karacaiya's com- 
 ment on Sutra II. i. 34 : l 
 
 It may be objected that G-od is proved not to be the cause of the 
 universe. Why ? From the visible instances of injustice (vaishamya) 
 and cruelty (nairghrinya). Some he makes very happy, as the gods, &c. ; 
 some very miserable, as the brutes, &c. ; and some in a middling condi- 
 tion, as men, &c. Being the author of such an unjust creation, he is 
 provetl to be subject to passions like other persons that is to say, to 
 partiality and prejudice and therefore his nature is found wanting in 
 spotlessness. And by dispensing pain and ruin, he is chargeable with 
 malicious cruelty, deemed culpable even among the wicked. Hence, 
 because of the instances of injustice and cruelty, God cannot be the 
 cause of the universe. To this we reply : Injustice and cruelty cannot 
 be charged upon God. Why ? Because he did not act independently 
 (sdpeksliatvdi). God being dependent (sdpekshafy) creates this world of 
 inequalities. If you ask on what he is dependent, we reply, on merit 
 and demerit (dharmddharmau). That there should be an unequal 
 creation dependent on the merit and demerit of the souls created, is no 
 fault of God. As the rain is the common cause of the production of 
 rice and wheat, but the causes of their specific distinctions as rice and 
 wheat are the varying powers of their respective seeds ; so is God the 
 common cause in the creation of gods, men, and others ; but of the dis- 
 tinctions between gods, men, and others, the causes are the varying 
 works inherent in their respective souls. 
 
 In commenting on the next Aphorism (35), he answers 
 the objection, ' How could there be previous works at the 
 original creation ? ' The objection and reply are thus 
 stated : 2 
 
 The supreme Being existed at the beginning, one without a second 
 (see p. 103). Hence, before the creation there could be no works in 
 dependence on which inequalities might be created. God may be 
 dependent on works after distinctions are made. But before the 
 
 1 Quoted by Professor Banerjea and Mr. Mullens, and translated by 
 them. Dialogues, p. 120, &c. Essay on Hindu Philosophy, p. 190. 
 The Aphorism is, Vaishamya-nairglirinye na sdpekshatvdt tatlidhi dar- 
 sayati. 
 
 The original Sutra is, Na karmdvibhdgdd iti cen ndndditvdt.
 
 108 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 creation there could be no works caused by varying instruments, and 
 therefore we ought to find a uniform creation (tulyd srishtih}. We 
 reply : This does not vitiate our doctrine, because the world is without 
 'beginning (andditvdt samsdrasya). The world being without beginning, 
 nothing can prevent works and unequal creations from continuing in 
 the states of cause and effect, like the seed and its plant (vljdnkura-vat). 
 
 Other objections to the Vedanta theory are thus treated 
 by San-kara : 
 
 How can this universe, which is manifold, void of life, impure, and 
 irrational, proceed from him who is one, living, pure, and rational ? 
 "We reply : The lifeless world can proceed from Brahma, just as lifeless 
 hair can spring from a living man. But in the universe we find him 
 who enjoys and him who is enjoyed ; how can he be both ? We reply : 
 Such are the changes of the sea. Foam, waves, billows, bubbles, are 
 not different from the sea. There is no difference between the universe 
 and Brahma. The effect is not different from its cause. He is the 
 soul ; the soul is he. The same earth produces diamonds, rock-crystal, 
 and vermilion. The same sun produces many kinds of plants. The 
 same nourishment is converted into hair, nails, &c. As milk is changed 
 into curds, and water into ice, so is Brahma variously transformed 
 without external aids. So the spider spins its web from its own sub- 
 stance. So spirits assume various shapes. 
 
 Such a creed really implies (though some Vedantists 
 deny this) that the world is all Maya, ' a mere illusion.' 
 In point of fact, a true Vedantist, though he affirms that 
 Brahma alone is real, allows a vyavaharika, ' practical 
 existence,' to souls, the world, and Isvara, as distinguished 
 from paramarthika, ' real,' and pratibhasika, ' apparent or 
 illusory existence.' How, indeed, can it be denied that 
 external things exist, when we see them before our eyes 
 and feel them at every instant ? But how, on the other 
 hand, can it be maintained that an impure world is the 
 manifestation of a pure spiritual essence ? To avoid this 
 difficulty, the supreme Spirit is represented as ignoring 
 himself by a sort of self-imposed ignorance, in order to 
 draw out from himself for his own amusement the separate
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. 'I Op 
 
 individuated spirits and various appearances, which, al- 
 though really parts of his own essence, constitute the 
 apparent phenomena of the universe. Hence the external 
 world, the living spirits of individual men, and even 
 Isvara, the personal God, are all described as created by 
 a power which the Vedantist is obliged, for want of a 
 better solution of his difficulty, to call Maya, ' Illusion/ 
 or A-vidya, 1 'Ignorance,' that is, 'False knowledge' or 
 ' False notion.' 
 
 Of this power there are two distinct forms of operation, 
 viz., i. that of envelopment (avarana), which, enveloping 
 the soul, causes it to imagine that it is liable to mundane 
 vicissitudes that it is an agent or a patient ; that it 
 rejoices or grieves, &c. as if a person under a delusion 
 were to mistake a rope for a snake : 2. that of projection 
 (vikshepa), which, affecting the soul in its state of pure 
 intelligence, raises upon it the appearance of a world, 
 producing first the five subtile elements and drawing out 
 from them seventeen subtile bodies (also called linga- 
 sarlra, comprising the five organs of sense, the five 
 organs of action, the five vital airs, with buddhi and 
 manas, and the five gross elements in the same order as 
 in the San-khya(see p. 83). Hence the soul mistakes itself 
 for a mere mortal, as it mistook the rope for a snake. 2 
 
 By reason of Maya or A-vidya, then, the Jivatman, or 
 ' personal spirit of every individual,' mistakes the world, 
 as well as its own body and mind, for realities, just as a 
 rope in a dark night might be mistaken for a snake. The 
 moment the personal soul is set free from this self-imposed 
 Delusion or Ignorance by a proper understanding of the 
 
 1 Something like the 'Ayvo/'a of Plato. See Banerjea's translation of 
 the Sutras, p. 3. 
 
 2 See Ballantyne's Lecture on the Vedanta-sara, p. 25. Reference 
 may also be made to the Vedanta-paribhasha, a text-book of the most 
 modern Vedantic school.
 
 IIO INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 truth, through the Vedanta philosophy, all the illusion 
 vanishes and the identity of the Jivatman and of the 
 whole phenomenal universe with the Paramatman, or ' one 
 only really existing spirit/ is re-established. 1 
 
 Let me here introduce a version of part of a short 
 Vedantic tract in verse, called Atma-bodha, ' knowledge 
 of soul/ attributed to the great San-karacarya. It is 
 highly esteemed as an exposition of Vedantic doctrines, 
 and has therefore been inserted by Dr. Haberlin in his 
 anthology of shorter poems. 2 The following metrical lines 
 may serve as a specimen of some of the ideas contained 
 in this well-known epitome of Hindu pantheistic philo- 
 sophy : 
 
 Knowledge alone effects emancipation. 
 
 As fire is indispensable to cooking, 
 
 So knowledge is essential to deliverance (2). 
 
 Knowledge alone disperses ignorance, 
 
 As sunlight scatters darkness not so acts ; 
 
 For ignorance originates in works (3). 
 
 The world and all the course of mundane things 
 
 Are like the vain creation of a dream, 3 
 
 In which Ambition, Hatred, Pride, and Passion 
 
 Appear like phantoms mixing in confusion. 
 
 While the dream lasts the universe seems real, 
 
 But when 'tis past the world exists no longer (6). 
 
 Like the deceptive silver of a shell, 4 
 
 So at first sight the world deludes the man 
 
 Who takes mere semblance for reality (7). 
 
 As golden bracelets are in substance one 
 
 With gold, so are all visible appearances 
 
 And each distinct existence one with Brahma (8). 
 
 1 See the passage from the Mundaka Upanishad, quoted p. 39. 
 
 2 There is also a Tamil version and commentary translated by the 
 Rev. I. F. Kearns, Madras, 1867. I have consulted the Tamil com- 
 mentary as given by Mr. Kearns. 
 
 3 Of. Shakspeare's ' We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and 
 our little life Is rounded with a sleep.' Tempest, Act iv. Scene i. 
 
 4 That is, the mother-of-pearl oyster (sukti).
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. I I I 
 
 By action of the fivefold elements l 
 
 Through acts performed in former states of being, 
 
 Are formed corporeal bodies, which become 
 
 The dwelling-place of pleasure and of pain (n). 
 
 The soul inwrapped in five investing sheaths 2 
 
 Seems formed of these, and all its purity 
 
 Darkened, like crystal laid on coloured cloth (14). 
 
 As winnowed rice is purified from husk, 
 
 So is the soul disburdened of its sheaths 
 
 By force of meditation, 3 as by threshing (15). 
 
 The soul is like a king whose ministers 
 
 Are body, senses, mind, and understanding. 4 
 
 The soul is wholly separate from these, 
 
 Yet witnesses and overlooks their actions (18). 
 
 The foolish think the Spirit acts, whereas 
 
 The senses are the actors, so the moon 
 
 Is thought to move when clouds are passing o'er it (19). 
 
 When intellect and mind are present, then 
 
 Affections, inclinations, pleasures, pains 
 
 Are active ; in profound and dreamless sleep 
 
 When intellect is non-existent, these 
 
 Exist not ; therefore they belong to mind (22). 
 
 As brightness is inherent in the sun, 
 
 Coolness in water, warmness in the fire, 
 
 E'en so existence, knowledge, perfect bliss, 5 
 
 1 This is called Pancl-Tcrita or Panci-karana, the production of the 
 body, and indeed of the whole world, by the action of the five elements 
 (see p. 83), being a dogma of the Vedanta. 
 
 2 See the remarks, p. 113. 
 
 3 Yukti seems here to be equivalent to yoga. It may also mean 
 ' argument,' ' reasoning.' 
 
 4 The soul is supposed by Vedantists to have three conditions besides 
 the conditions of pure intelligence, viz., waking, dreaming, and profound 
 or dreamless sleep (su-slmpti}. While awake, the soul, associated with 
 the body, is active and has to do with a real creation. While dreaming, 
 it has to do with an unreal or illusory world. When profoundly and 
 dreamlessly asleep, it is supposed to have retired by the channel of 
 some of the pericardial arteries into the perfect repose of union with 
 the supreme Soul. See Vedanta-sutra III. 2. i-io. 
 
 5 Hence the Vedantist's name for the one universal Spirit, Sac-cid- 
 dnanda.
 
 ! ! 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 And perfect purity inhere in soul (23). 
 
 The understanding cannot recognize 
 
 The soul, nor does the soul need other knowledge 
 
 To know itself, 1 e'en as a shining light 
 
 Requires no light to make itself perceived (27, 28). 
 
 The soul declares its own condition thus 
 
 ' I am distinct from body, I am free 
 
 From birth, old age, infirmity, and death. 
 
 I have no senses ; I have no connection 
 
 With sound or sight or objects of sensation. 
 
 I am distinct from mind, and so exempt 
 
 From passion, pride, aversion, fear, and pain. 
 
 I have no qualities, 2 I am without 
 
 Activity, and destitute of option, 3 
 
 Changeless, eternal, formless, without taint, 
 
 For ever free, for ever without stain. 
 
 I, like the boundless ether, permeate 
 
 The universe within, without, abiding 
 
 Always, for ever similar in all, 
 
 Perfect, immovable, without affection, 
 
 Existence, knowledge, undivided bliss, 
 
 Without a second, One, supreme am I ' (31-35). 
 
 The perfect consciousness that ' I am Brahma ' 
 
 Removes the false appearances projected 
 
 By Ignorance, 4 just as elixir, sickness (36). 
 
 The universal Soul knows no distinction 
 
 Of knower, knowledge, object to be known. 
 
 Rather is it enlightened through itself 
 
 And its own essence, which is simple knowledge (40). 
 
 When contemplation rubs the Aram 5 
 
 1 The celebrated Hindu maxim, Atmanam dtmand patya, ' know (see) 
 thyself by thyself,' or ' know the soul by the soul,' has, therefore, a deeper 
 philosophical meaning than the still more celebrated Greek precept yvuOi 
 eiavrov, attributed to Thales. 
 
 2 The epithet nir-yuna, 'quality-less,' so commonly applied to the 
 supreme Being in India, will be better understood by a reference to 
 p. 85. 
 
 3 Nir-vikalpa may perhaps be translated, ' destitute of all reflection,' 
 or perhaps, ' free from all will.' 
 
 4 Avidya-vikshepan, 'the projections of ignorance.' See p. 109. 
 
 5 See note, p. 15.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. I I 3 
 
 Of soul, the flame of knowledge blazing up 
 
 Quickly consumes the fuel ignorance (41). 
 
 The saint l who has attained to full perfection 
 
 Of contemplation, sees the universe 
 
 Existing in himself, and with the eye 
 
 Of knowledge sees the All as the One Soul (46). 
 
 When bodily disguises 2 are dissolved, 
 
 The perfect saint becomes completely blended 
 
 With the one Soul, as water blends with water, 
 
 As air unites with air, as fire with fire (52). 
 
 That gain than which there is no greater gain, 
 
 That joy than which there is no greater joy, 
 
 That lore than which there is no greater lore, 
 
 Is the one Brahma this is certain truth (53). 
 
 That which is through, above, below, complete, 
 
 Existence, wisdom, bliss, 3 without a second, 4 
 
 Endless, eternal, one know that as Brahma (55). 
 
 That which is neither coarse nor yet minute, 
 
 That which is neither short nor long, unborn, 
 
 Imperishable, without form, unbound 
 
 By qualities, without distinctive marks, 
 
 Without a name know that indeed as Brahma (59). 
 
 Nothing exists but Brahma, when aught else 
 
 Appears to be, 'tis, like the mirage, false 5 (62). 
 
 With regard to the five sheaths (panca-Jcosa) alluded to 
 in the fourteenth verse of the Atma-bodha, it must be noted 
 that in the Vedanta the individuated soul, when separated 
 off from the supreme Soul, is regarded as enclosed in a suc- 
 cession of cases (Jcosa) which envelop it and, as it were, fold 
 one over the other, ' like the coats of an onion.' 6 The first 
 or innermost sheath is called the Vijndna-maya-kosa or 
 ' sheath composed of mere intellection,' associated with 
 
 1 Yogin, see p. 92. 
 
 2 Upadlii, a term for the illusive disguises assumed by Brahma. 
 
 3 Sac-cid-dnandam. 4 A-dvayam. 
 
 5 Mithyd yathd maru maricikd. 
 
 6 As remarked by Dr. Ballantyne, Lecture on the Vedanta-sara, 
 p. 29. 
 
 H
 
 114 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the organs of perception. This gives the personal soul its 
 first conception of individuality. The second case is called 
 the Mano-maya or 'sheath composed of mind,' associated 
 with the organs of action. This gives the individual soul 
 
 O O 
 
 its powers of thought and judgment. The third envelope 
 is called the Prana-maya or 'breathing sheath,' i.e., the 
 sheath composed of breath and the other vital airs associated 
 with the organs of action. The fourth case is called the 
 Anna-maya or 'covering supported by food/ i.e., the cor- 
 poreal form or gross body ; the three preceding sheaths, 
 when combined together, constituting the subtile body. 
 A fifth case, called Ananda-maya or ' that composed of 
 supreme bliss,' is also named, although not admitted by all. 
 It must be regarded as the innermost of all, and ought 
 therefore, when five are enumerated, to be placed before 
 the Vijnana-maya. Moreover, a collective totality of sub- 
 tile bodies is supposed to exist, and the soul, which is 
 imagined to pass through these subtile bodies like a thread, 
 is called the Sutoratman, 'thread soul' (occasionally sty led the 
 Prdnatman), and sometimes identified with Hiranya-garbha. 
 Of course the Vedanta theory, if pushed to its ultimate 
 consequences, must lead to the neglect of all duties, reli- 
 gious and moral, of all activity, physical or intellectual, and 
 of all self-culture. If everything (TO -n-av) be God, then 
 you and he and I must be one. Why should any efforts be 
 made for the advancement of self or for the good of others ? 
 Everything we have must be common property. Accord- 
 ing to the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (IV. 5) : 
 
 Where there is anything like duality there one sees another, one 
 smells another, one tastes another, one speaks to another, one hears 
 another, one minds another, one regards another, one knows another ; 
 but where the whole of this (rb srai/) is one spirit, then whom and by 
 what can one see ? whom and by what can one smell ? whom and by 
 what can one taste ? to whom and by what can one speak ? whom and 
 by what can one hear ? whom and by what can one mind 1 whom and 
 by what can one regard ? whom and by what can one know ?
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. I I 5 
 
 This Indian pantheism is paralleled by some phases of 
 modern German thought, as described by Dean Mansel 
 in the following extract from one of his Essays lately 
 published : 
 
 With German philosophers the root of all mischief is the number 
 two Self and Not-self, Ego and Non-ego. The pantheist tells me that 
 I have not a real distinct existence and unity of my own, but that I 
 am merely a phenomenal manifestation, or an aggregate of many mani- 
 festations of the one infinite Being. If [then] we shrink from Nihilism, 
 there remains the alternative of Pantheism. The instincts of our nature 
 plead against annihilation and maintain, in spite of philosophy, that 
 there must really exist something somewhere. Granting that some- 
 thing exists, why is that something to be called Ego ? What qualities 
 can it possess which shall make it / rather than Thou, or any one 
 being rather than any other being 1 I am directly conscious of the 
 existence of a self. But this consciousness is a delusion. This self is 
 but the phenomenal shadow of a further self, of which I am not con- 
 scious. Why may not this also be a shadow of something further still ? 
 Why may there not be a yet more remote reality, which is itself 
 neither self or not-self, but the root and foundation, and at the same 
 time the indifference of both ? This ultimate existence, the one and 
 sole reality, is then set up as the deity of philosophy, and the result is 
 pure pantheism. 
 
 Perhaps it may not be out of place here to contrast 
 with Indian ideas Aristotle's grand conception of the 
 nature of God as propounded in the eleventh book of 
 his Metaphysics. 1 In chapter vii. of that book Aristotle 
 says (not, however, quite in the order here given) : 
 
 The principle of life is in God ; for energy of mind constitutes life, 
 and God is this energy. He, the first mover, imparts motion and pur- 
 sues the work of creation as something that is loved (KIVCI & ug spufj.tvo^. 
 His course of life (<5(aywy?j) must be similar to what is most excellent in 
 our own short career. But he exists for ever in this excellence, whereas 
 this is impossible for us. His pleasure consists in the exercise of his 
 essential energy, and on this account vigilance, wakefulness, and percep- 
 
 This work has been well translated by the Rev. J. H. M'Mahon.
 
 H6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 tion are most agreeable to him. Again, the more we examine God's 
 nature the more wonderful does it appear to us. He is an eternal (atoo,) 
 and most excellent (5g,wo.) Being. He is indivisible (dfcoigcrfc), devoid 
 of parts (cfcif) and having no magnitude (Aw/efcc), for God imparts 
 motion through infinite time, and nothing finite, as magnitude is, can 
 have an infinite capacity. He is a being devoid of passions and unalter- 
 able (dvadi; xai av 
 
 Before quitting the subject of the Vedanta philosophy 
 it should be stated that in many points the Vedauta 
 agrees with the San-khya. The order of creation in both 
 is nearly the same, though the 'Originant' in one case is 
 Prakriti, in the other A-vidyd, 'ignorance' (or 'false 
 knowledge '). But even here an attempt is made by some 
 to establish a community of ideas by identifying both 
 Prakriti and A-vidyd with Maya or ' illusion.' In both 
 systems the gross elements proceed from subtile principles, 
 imperceptible to sense, in the same order (see the San- 
 khyan account of the elements, p. 83). In both there is 
 a subtile as well as a gross body. 2 The nature of the 
 soul in being incapable of cognition without the help of 
 the mind or internal organ (antak-karana) is described 
 in nearly similar language by both. Again, this internal 
 
 1 Hence, according to the translator, Aristotle's idea of God is that he 
 is a Being whose essence is love, manifested in eternal energy, the final 
 cause of this energy being the happiness of his creatures, in which he 
 himself participates for ever. Aristotle, again, warns his disciples against 
 regarding God's nature through the medium of their own subjectivity, 
 There is a celebrated passage in book XI. chap, viii., in which he says 
 that traditions have been handed down representing the heavens as gods, 
 and the divine essence (TO deiov) as embracing the whole of nature ; and 
 these traditions, he affirms, are kept up to win over the multitude and 
 secure obedience to the laws and for the sake of general expediency. On 
 that account gods are described as existing in the form of man (dvdw- 
 Toe/S-T;), or even as taking the shape of animals. 
 
 2 The gross body is sometimes called the nine-gated city of Brahma 
 (Brahma-pura), from its being the abode of the soul and from its having 
 nine openings.
 
 THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY VEDANTA. I I 7 
 
 organ (anta/i-karana) is held by both to stand between 
 the organs of perception and those of action, as an eleventh 
 organ partaking of the nature of each (see p. 84). But 
 while the San-khya divides the internal organ into Buddhi, 
 ' intellectual perception,' Ahankdra, ' self -consciousness,' 
 and Manas, ' the reasoning mind,' the first being the great 
 source of the others (see p. 83), the Yedanta propounds a 
 fourth division, viz., Citta or 'the faculty of thought.' 
 On the other hand, the Vedauta adds two Pramanas or 
 'instruments of true knowledge' (An-upalabdhi, 'non- 
 perception ' or ' negative proof,' and Arthapatti, ' inference 
 from circumstances') to the four admitted by the Nyaya 
 (see p. 61), while the San-khya rejects the Nyaya Upa- 
 mdna, and retains as its only three Pramanas, Pratyahsha, 
 Anumana, and Sabda.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Irregular Systems and Eclectic School. 
 
 BEFORE passing to the Eclectic School I may mention 
 that a celebrated work by Madhava, called Sarva-darsaua- 
 san-graha, gives a concise description of various Hindu sys- 
 tems and sects, religious and philosophical, orthodox and 
 heterodox, even including the science of applying quick- 
 silver (rasesvara, regarded as a form of Siva) or its pre- 
 parations to various chemical and alchemical operations, 
 and embracing also Panini's theory of grammar. 
 
 Madhava lived in the fourteenth century. He was 
 elder brother of Sayana, and associated with him in the 
 commentary on the Rig-veda. (By Mr. Burnell, however, 
 in his preface to the Vansa-brahmana, he is identified 
 with Sayana.) He was also prime minister in the court 
 of Bukka I. at Vijaya-nagara. He wrote many works 
 (e.g., an introduction to the Mimansa philosophy, called 
 Nyaya-mala-vistara, a commentary on Parasara's law-book, 
 the Kala-nirnaya, &c.), besides the Sarva-darsana-san-graha. 
 This latter treats of fifteen systems as follow : i. Carvaka- 
 darsana ; 2. Bauddha-d ; 3. Arhata-d ; 4. Ramanuja-d ; 
 5. Purna-prajna-d ; 6. Nakulisa-pasupata-d ; 7. Saiva-d ; 
 8. Pratyabhijna-d ; 9. Eases vara-d '; 10. Aulukya-d ; 
 ii. Akshapada-d ; 12. Jaimini-d ; 13. Panini-d c ; 14. 
 San-khya-d ; 15. Patanjala-d. The Vedanta is not here 
 included. The third in the list is the system of the Jainas 
 or Jains, whom Madhava calls Arhata. 1 Ramanuja, the 
 
 1 In the previous edition of Indian Wisdom a short account was 
 here given of the Jainas. This has been superseded by my summary of
 
 IRREGULAR SYSTEMS CARVAKAS. 119 
 
 founder of the fourth, was a Vaislmava Reformer, who, 
 according to H. H. Wilson, lived about the middle of the 
 twelfth century. The fifth is the doctrine of Anarida- 
 tirtha, surnamed Madhvacarya, and also called Mudhya- 
 mandira, his epithet Parna-prajiia merely meaning ' one 
 whose knowledge is complete. The sixth is the system of 
 a branch of the Mahesvaras, as shown by Professor E. B. 
 Cowell (Colebrooke's Essays, I. pp. 431, 434). He con- 
 jectures that Siva himself, called Nakulisa, may have been 
 the supposed founder of this sect, and points out that the 
 Pasupatas are worshippers of Siva as Pasu-pati, ' master 
 of all inferior creatures ' (explained by some to mean ' lord 
 of pasu or the soul entangled in the bonds of matter '). 
 The eighth is like the sixth and that of the Mahesvaras, a 
 form of Saiva doctrine, but more pantheistic, the Saivas 
 maintaining that God is in creating, Karmadi-sdpekslia, 
 ' dependent on the acts, &c., of individual souls,' while 
 this eighth asserts that God's will is the only cause of 
 creation ; for it is said, ' He being independent (nir^apek- 
 shah] and regarding no face but his own, threw all exist- 
 ences as a reflection on the mirror of himself.' Hence 
 pratyabliijhd is defined as pratimdbhimu-khyena jndnam, 
 ' recognition as of a visible object or image.' The tenth is 
 the Vaiseshika. (See note, p. 65.) I propose here to speak 
 of the first only. 
 
 The ddrvdJcas. 
 
 Nothing is known about Carvaka, the Pyrrho and Epi- 
 curus of India and founder of the materialistic school. 
 His system is the worst form of all heresies, and therefore 
 honoured with the first place in Madhavacarya's Sarva- 
 
 the Jaina system, and of the particular points which distinguish it from 
 Buddhism, in my recent volume on Buddhism (p. 529), published by 
 Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street.
 
 120 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 darsana-san-graha. In the Santi-parvan of the Maha- 
 bharata (1410, &c.) there is a story of a Kakshasa named 
 Carvaka, who, in the disguise of a mendicant Brahman, 
 reviled Yudhishthira, during his triumphant entry into 
 Hastinapura, and uttered profane and heretical doctrines. 
 He was, however, soon detected, and the real Brahmans, 
 filled with fury, killed him on the spot. This legend may 
 possibly rest on some basis of fact. 
 
 The creed of the Carvakas, who are sometimes called 
 Lokayatas or Lokayatikas, 1 is said to have been derived 
 from the Varhaspatya Sutras (Aphorisms of Vrihaspati). 
 They reject all the Pramanas, or 'sources of true know- 
 ledge,' except Pratyaksha, 'perception by the senses' 
 (see p. 61); they admit only four Tattvas or 'eternal 
 principles, viz., earth, air, fire, and water, and from these 
 intelligence (caitanya) is alleged to be produced ; they 
 affirm that the soul is not different from the body ; and, 
 lastly, they assert that all the phenomena of the world 
 are spontaneously produced, without even the help of 
 Adrishta (see p. 58). I sum up their views with a version 
 of a passage in the Sarva-darsana-san-graha (Isvara-candra 
 Vidyasagara's edition, p. 6), setting forth the opinions of 
 the Carvaka materialists according to the supposed teaching 
 of Vrihaspati. 2 The sentiments, it will be perceived, are 
 worthy of the most sceptical, materialistic, and epicurean 
 of European writers : 
 
 1 By some this name is given to a subdivision of the Carvakas. The 
 name Carvaka is applied to any adherent of the materialistic school ; 
 see Vedanta-sara, 82-85. 
 
 2 I have consulted Professor E. B. Cowell's appendix to Colebrooke's 
 Essay, and Dr. Muir's prose translation as given by him in his article 
 on 'Indian Materialists' (Royal Asiatic Society's Journal, vol. xix., 
 art. xi.). He compares a passage in the Vishnu-purana III. 18, which 
 contains similar sentiments. Cf. also the speech of the rationalistic 
 Brahman Javali, addressed to Rama in the Ramayana.
 
 IRREGULAR SYSTEMS CARVAKAS. 121 
 
 No heaven exists, no final liberation, 
 
 No soul, no other world, no rites of caste, 
 
 No recompense for acts ; the Agnihotra, 1 
 
 The triple Veda, triple self-command, 2 
 
 And all the dust and ashes of repentance 
 
 These yield a means of livelihood for men, 
 
 Devoid of intellect and manliness. 
 
 If victims slaughtered at a sacrifice 
 
 Are raised to heavenly mansions, 3 why should not 
 
 The sacrificer immolate his father ? 
 
 If offerings of food can satisfy 4 
 
 Hungry departed spirits, why supply 
 
 The man who goes a journey with provisions ? 
 
 His friends at home can feed him with oblations. 
 
 If those abiding in celestial spheres 
 
 Are filled with food presented upon earth, 
 
 Why should not those who live in upper stories 
 
 Be nourished by a meal spread out below ? 
 
 While life endures let life be spent in ease 
 
 And merriment ; 5 let a man borrow money 
 
 From all his friends and feast on melted butter. 
 
 How can this body when reduced to dust 
 
 Revisit earth ? and if a ghost can pass 
 
 To other worlds, why does not strong affection 
 
 For those he leaves behind attract him back ? 
 
 The costly rites enjoined for those who die 
 
 1 See note, p. 28. 
 
 2 Tri-danda, ' control over thoughts, words, and actions,' denoted by 
 the three Dandas or staves carried by ascetics. See Manu XII. 10, n. 
 
 3 This, as Dr. Muir points out, refers to Manu V. 42, where it is 
 stated that animals duly sacrificed are conveyed to mansions of supreme 
 felicity. Cf. MahJ-bharata, Asvamedhika-parvan 793, &c. 
 
 4 This is a hit at the S'raddha, one of the most important of all 
 Hindu religious acts, when oblations of cakes and libations of water 
 are made to the spirits of deceased fathers, grandfathers, and progeni- 
 tors. The strict observance of these ceremonies at regular intervals 
 is at least an evidence of the strength of filial feeling among Hindus, 
 llespect for parents and their memory has all the sanction of religion, 
 and is even more insisted on as a religious duty than in Europe. 
 
 5 ' Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ' (i Cor. xv. 32). See 
 Dr. Muir's note. Compare such Horatian precepts as Epod. XIII. 3, &c.
 
 122 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Are a mere means of livelihood devised 
 
 By sacerdotal cunning nothing more. 
 
 The three composers of the triple Yeda 
 
 Were rogues, or evil spirits, or buffoons. 
 
 The recitation of mysterious words 
 
 And jabber J of the priests is simple nonsense. 
 
 Eclectic School of the Bhagavad-glta. 
 
 As a fitting conclusion to the subject of Indian philo- 
 sophy let me endeavour to give some idea of one of the 
 most interesting and popular works in the whole raoge 
 of Sanskrit literature, called Bhagavad-gita, the Song of 
 Bhavagat that is, the mystical doctrines ( Upanishadah 2 ) 
 sung by ' the adorable one ' a name applied to Krishna 
 when identified with the supreme Being. This poem, 
 abounding in sentiments borrowed from the Upanishads, 
 and commented on by the great Vedaiitic teacher San- 
 karacarya, may be taken to represent the Eclectic school 
 of Indian philosophy. As the regular systems or Darsanas 
 were more or less developments of the Upanishads, so the 
 Eclectic school is connected with those mystical treatises 
 through the Svetasvatara Upanishad 3 of the Black Yajur- 
 
 1 Two curious Vedic words, jarbharl and turphari, are given in the 
 text as specimens of what I suppose modern scoffers might call ' Vedic 
 slang.' They occur, as Dr. Muir points out, in Rig-veda X. 106. 6, and 
 Nirukta XIII. 5. For their explanation see Bohtlingk and Roth and 
 my Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 
 
 2 At the end of each chapter the name of the chapter is given in the 
 plural ; thus, Hi sri-bliagavad-gltasu upanishatsu, &c. See note 4, p. 125. 
 
 3 The name of this Upanishad is derived from a sage, S'vetasvatara, 
 who, at the end of the work (VI. 21), is said to have taught the doc- 
 trine of Brahma to the most excellent of the four orders. It has been 
 translated by Dr. Roer into English, and nearly all by Professor Weber 
 into German (Indische Studien I. 422-429). The author must have 
 been a S'aiva (not a Vaishnava, like the author of the Bhagavad-glta), 
 as he identifies Rudra with the supreme Being. According to Wilson,
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 123 
 
 veda (see p. 43). This latter is doubtless a comparatively 
 modern work, but whether composed before or after the 
 Bhagavad - gita, certain it is that the design of both 
 appears to be the same. They both aim at reconciling 
 the conflicting views of different systems, and both do 
 so by attempting to engraft the San-khya and Yoga upon 
 Vedanta doctrines. 1 Although, therefore, the order of 
 creation and much of the cosmogony and other San-khya 
 views are retained in both, the paramount sovereignty of 
 the supreme Soul of the universe (Brahma) as the source 
 and ultimate "end of all created things, and yet wholly 
 independent of all such creations, is asserted by both. 
 
 Some extracts from the Svetasvatara, describing the 
 character and attributes of this supreme Being, who is 
 everything and in everything, have already been given at 
 p. 43. The following are additional extracts from the 
 first and third chapters (Roer, pp. 50, 55, 58) : 
 
 This (absolute Brahma) should be meditated on as eternal and as 
 abiding in one's own soul ; for beside him there is nothing to be known 
 (natah param veditavyam hi kincit). As oil in seeds (tileshu), butter in 
 cream, water in a river, and fire in wood, so is that absolute Soul per- 
 ceived within himself by a person who beholds him by means of truth 
 and by austerity. 
 
 He is the eye of all, the face of all, the arm of all, the foot of all. 
 
 Thou art the black bee (nilak pcdan-gali), the green bird with red- 
 coloured eye, the cloud in whose womb sleeps the lightning, the seasons, 
 the seas. Without beginning thou pervadest all things by thy almighty 
 power ; for by thee are all the worlds created. 
 
 The following, again, is an example of a passage occur- 
 
 veta, ' white,' Svetdsva, ' white-horsed,' &veta-sikha, ' white-haired,' and 
 Sveta-lohita, 'white-blooded,' were names of four disciples of S'iva. 
 Weber suspects here a mission of Syrian Christians, and thinks that 
 both the Upanishad and the Gita, the latter especially, may have bor- 
 rowed ideas from Christianity. 
 
 1 See Dr. Roer's introduction for a full explanation of this.
 
 124 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ring in the fourth chapter (5), which is decidedly San- 
 khyan in its tone : 
 
 The one unborn (individual soul), for the sake of enjoyment, lies close 
 to the One unborn (Prakriti), which is of a white, red, and black colour 
 [answering evidently to the three San-khyan Gunas], which is of one 
 and the same form, and produces a manifold offspring. Then the other 
 unborn (or eternal soul) abandons her (Prdkriti) whose enjoyment he 
 has enjoyed. 
 
 \ 
 
 Let us now turn to the Bhagavad-gita. The real author 
 of this work is unknown. It was at an early date digni- 
 fied by a place in the Maba-bharata, in which poem it lies 
 imbedded, or rather inlaid like a pearl, 1 contributing with 
 other numerous episodes to the mosaic-like character of 
 that immense epic. The Bhagavad-gita, however, is 
 quite independent of the great epic ; and it cannot be 
 questioned that its proper place in any arrangement of 
 Sanskrit literature framed with regard to the continuous 
 development and progress of Hindu thought and know- 
 ledge should be at the close of the subject of philosophy. 
 The author was probably a Brahman and nominally a 
 Vaishnava, but really a philosopher whose mind was cast 
 in a broad and comprehensive mould. He is supposed to 
 have lived in India during the first or second centurv 
 
 1 It has been interpolated into the Bhishma-parvan of the Maha- 
 bharata, and is divided into eighteen chapters or into three sections, 
 each containing six lectures, commencing at line 830 of the twenty- 
 fifth chapter of the Parva, and ending at line 1532. Such is the esti- 
 mation in which the work is held both in Asia and Europe, that it 
 has been translated into Hindi, Telugu, Kanarese, and other Eastern 
 languages, and is also well known by European translations, of which 
 that of Sir C. Wilkins, published in London in 1785, was the first. 
 Mr. J. C. Thomson's edition and translation, published, with an elabo- 
 rate introduction, by Stephen Austin in 1855, * s > on the whole, a very 
 meritorious production, and I am glad to acknowledge my obligations 
 to it.
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAV AD-GIT A. 125 
 
 of onr era. 1 Finding no rest for his spirit in any one 
 system of philosophy, as commonly taught in his own 
 time, much less in the corrupt Brahmanism which sur- 
 rounded him, he was led to make a selection from the 
 various schools of rationalistic and dogmatic thought, so 
 as to construct a composite theory of his own. This he 
 did with great perspicuity and beauty of language, inter- 
 weaving various opinions into one system by taking, so to 
 speak, threads from the San-khya, Yoga, and Vedanta, as 
 well as from the later theory of Bhakti or ' faith in a 
 supreme Being.' 2 With these threads he weaves, as it 
 were, a woof of many-coloured hues of thought, which are 
 shot across a stiff warp of stern uncompromising panthe- 
 istic doctrines, worthy of the most decided adherent of 
 the Vedanta school. 3 Of these cross threads the most 
 conspicuous are those of the San-khya system, for which 
 the author of the Gita has an evident predilection. The 
 whole composition is skilfully thrown into the form of a 
 dramatic poem or dialogue, something after the manner 
 of the book of Job or a dialogue of Plato. 4 The speakers 
 
 1 Some consider that he lived as late as the third century, and some 
 place him even later, but with these I cannot agree. 
 
 2 The Aphorisms of S'andilya, the editing of which was commenced 
 by Dr. Ballantyne and continued by Professor Griffith, his successor at 
 Benares, deny that knowledge is the one thing needful, and insist on 
 the subjection of knowledge to the higher principle of Bliakti, ' faith in 
 God.' The first Aphorism introduces the inquiry into the nature of 
 faith, thus, Atlidto llialdi-jijnasa. Professor Weber and others think 
 that the introduction of iriarig and ayarnj into the Hindu system is due 
 to the influence of Christianity. 
 
 3 The predominance of pantheistic doctrines, notwithstanding the 
 attempt to interweave them with portions of the San-khya and Yoga 
 systems, is denoted by the fact that the Yedantists claim this poem as 
 an exponent of their own opinions. 
 
 4 It is, however, styled an Upanishad, or rather a series of Upani 
 shads, because, like the Upanishads, it reveals secret and mystical
 
 126 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 are the two most important personages in the Maha- 
 bharata, Arjuna, and Krishna. Arjuna is perhaps the 
 real hero of that epic. He is the bravest, and yet the 
 most tender-hearted of the five sons of Pandu. The god 
 Krishna, who is identified with Vishnu, 1 and in this philo- 
 sophical dialogue is held to be an incarnation of the supreme 
 Being himself, had taken human form as the son of Devaki 
 and Vasudeva, who was brother of Kunti, wife of Pandu. 
 Hence the god was cousin of the sons of Pandu, brother of 
 Dhritarashtra, the sons of these brothers being of course 
 related as cousins to each other. In the great war which 
 arose between the two families, each contending for the 
 kingdom of Hastinapura, 2 Krishna refused to take up 
 arms on either side, but consented to act as the charioteer 
 of Arjuna and to aid him with his advice. At the com- 
 mencement of the Bhagavad-gita the two contending 
 
 doctrines. For instance, at the close of the dialogue (XVIII. 63), 
 Krishna says, ' I have thus communicated to you knowledge more secret 
 than secret itself ' (iti me jndnam dkliydtatri guhydd guhyataram mayo). 
 
 1 Professor Weber (Indische Studien I. 400) thinks that Brahmans 
 may have crossed the sea to Asia Minor at the beginning of the Christian 
 era, and on their return made use of Christian narratives to fabricate 
 the story of their deified hero, Krishna, whose very name would remind 
 them of Christ. The legends of the birth of Krishna and his persecu- 
 tion by Kansa remind us, says Weber, too strikingly of the correspond- 
 ing Christian narratives to leave room for the supposition that the 
 similarity is quite accidental. According to Lassen, the passages of 
 the Mahabharata in which Krishna receives divine honours are later 
 interpolations, and the real worship of Krishna is not found before the 
 fifth or sixth century. Dr. Lorinser, as we shall presently see, thinks 
 he can trace the influence of Christianity throughout the Bhagavad- 
 glta. The legend of SVeta-dvIpa in the Maha-bharata (XII. 12703) 
 certainly favours the idea of some intercourse with Europe at an early 
 date. The legends relating to Krishna are found detailed at full in 
 the tenth book of the Bhagavata-purana and its Hindi paraphrase, the 
 Prem Sagar. 
 
 2 See the epitome of this great epic in a subsequent Chapter.
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 127 
 
 armies are supposed to be drawn up in battle array, when 
 Arjuna, struck with sudden compunction at the idea of 
 fighting his way to a kingdom through the blood of his 
 kindred, makes a sudden resolution to retire from the com- 
 bat, confiding his thoughts to Krishna thus (I. 28-33) : 
 
 Beholding these my relatives arrayed 
 
 Before my eyes in serried line of battle, 
 
 Preparing for the deadly fray, my limbs 
 
 Are all relaxed, my blood dries up, a tremor 
 
 Palsies my frame, the hairs upon my skin 
 
 Bristle with horror, all my body burns 
 
 As if with fever, and my mind whirls round, 
 
 So that I cannot stand upright, nor hold 
 
 The bow Gandlva slipping from my hand. 
 
 I cannot will not fight O mighty Krishna. 
 
 I seek not victory, I seek no kingdom. 
 
 What shall we do with regal pomp and power, 
 
 What with enjoyments or with life itself, 
 
 When we have slaughtered all our kindred here ? 
 
 Krishna's reply to this speech is made the occasion of 
 the long philosophical and theological dialogue which, in 
 fact, constitutes the Bhagavad-gita, the main design of 
 which undoubtedly is to exalt the duties of caste above 
 all other obligations, including the ties of friendship and 
 affection, but at the same time to show that the practice 
 of these duties is compatible with all the self-mortification 
 and concentration of thought enjoined by the Yoga philo- 
 sophy, as well as with the deepest devotion to the supreme 
 Being, with whom Krishna claims to be identified. 1 As 
 Arjuna belongs to the military caste, he is exhorted to 
 
 1 There is a sect among the Hindus called Ganapatyas, who identify 
 Ganapati or Ganesa with the supreme Being. Their doctrines are 
 embodied in the Ganesa-purana, but they have a poem called the 
 Ganesa-gita, which is identical in substance with the Bhagavad-gita, 
 the name of Ganesa being substituted for that of Krishna.
 
 128 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 perform his duties as a soldier. Again and again is he 
 urged to fight, without the least thought about conse- 
 quences, and without the slightest question as to the pro- 
 priety of slaughtering his relations, if only he acts in the 
 path of duty. Hence we have the following sentiments 
 repeated more than once (III. 35, XVIII. 47, 48) : 
 
 Better to do the duty of one's caste, 1 
 
 Though bad and ill-performed and fraught with evil, 
 
 Than undertake the business of another, 
 
 However good it be. For better far 
 
 Abandon life at once than not fulfil 
 
 One's own appointed work ; another's duty 
 
 Brings danger to the man who meddles with it. 
 
 Perfection is alone attained by him 
 
 Who swerves not from the business of his caste. 
 
 Kemembering the sacred character attributed to this 
 poem and the veneration in which it has always been held 
 throughout India, we may well understand that such 
 words as these must have exerted a powerful influence for 
 the last 1800 years ; tending, as they must have done, to 
 rivet the fetters of caste-institutions which, for several 
 centuries preceding the Christian era, notwithstanding 
 the efforts of the great liberator Buddha, increased year 
 by year their hold upon the various classes of Hindu 
 society, impeding mutual intercourse, preventing healthy 
 interchange of ideas, and making national union almost 
 impossible. 
 
 Before proceeding to offer further examples, we may 
 remark that as the Bhagavad-gita is divided into three 
 sections, each containing six chapters, so the philosophical 
 teaching is somewhat distinct in each section. 
 
 1 Compare S'akuntala, verse 133, 'Verily the occupation in which a 
 man is born, though it be in bad repute, must not be abandoned.' The 
 words used (saha-jam-Jcarma) are the same as those in the Bhagavad- 
 gita.
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 129 
 
 The first section dwells chiefly on the benefits of the 
 Yoga system, pointing out, however, as we have already 
 observed, that the asceticism of the Yoga ought to be 
 joined with action and the performance of regular caste 
 duties, and winding up with a declaration that the grand 
 end and aim of all asceticism is to attain that most desir- 
 able pantheistic state which enables a man to see God in 
 everything and everything in God. Arjuna is exhorted as 
 a member of the soldier-caste to dismiss all doubt about 
 the propriety of fighting and killing his relations, by an 
 argument drawn from the eternal existence of the soul, 
 which is nobly expressed thus (II. i r, &c.) : l 
 
 The wise grieve not for the departed, nor for those who yet survive. 
 Ne'er was the time when I was not, nor thou, nor yonder chiefs, and ne'er 
 Shall be the time when all of us shall be not ; as the embodied soul 
 In this corporeal frame moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth, 
 
 and age, 
 
 So will it pass through other forms hereafter be not grieved thereat. 
 The man whom pain and pleasure, heat and cold affect not, he is fit 
 For immortality ; whatever is not cannot be, whatever is 
 Can never cease to be. Know this the Being that spread this 
 
 universe 
 
 Is indestructible. Who can destroy the Indestructible 1 
 These bodies that inclose the everlasting soul, inscrutable, 
 Immortal, have an end ; but he who thinks the soul can be destroyed, 
 And he who deems it a destroyer, are alike mistaken ; it 
 Kills not, and is not killed ; it is not born, nor doth it ever die ; 
 It has no past nor future unproduced, unchanging, infinite ; he 
 Who knows it fixed, unborn, imperishable, indissoluble, 
 How can that man destroy another, or extinguish aught below ? 
 As men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on others new, 
 So casts the embodied soul its worn-out frame to enter other forms. 
 No dart can pierce it ; flame cannot consume it, water wet it not, 
 Nor scorching breezes dry it indestructible, incapable 
 
 1 I h&ve endeavoured to give a more literal version than the well- 
 known one of Dean Milman, though I have followed him in some 
 expressions. 
 
 I
 
 130 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Of heat or moisture or aridity, eternal, all-pervading, 
 Steadfast, immovable, perpetual, yet imperceptible, 
 Incomprehensible, unfading, deathless, unimaginable. 1 
 
 The duty of Yoga or ' intense concentration of the mind 
 on one subject ' (viz., the supreme Being, here identified 
 with Krishna), till at last the great end of freedom from 
 all thought, perfect calm, and absorption in the Deity are 
 obtained, is enjoined with much force of language in the 
 second and sixth books, from which I extract the following 
 examples, translated nearly literally, but not quite accord- 
 ing to the order of the text : 
 
 That holy man who stands immovable, 
 As if erect upon a pinnacle, 2 
 His appetites and organs all subdued, 
 Sated with knowledge secular and sacred, 
 To whom a lump of earth, a stone, or gold, 3 
 To whom friends, relatives, acquaintances, 
 Neutrals and enemies, the good and bad, 
 Are all alike, is called ' one yoked with God. ' 
 ' The man who aims at that supreme condition 
 Of perfect yoking 4 with the Deity 
 Must first of all be moderate in all things, 
 In food, in sleep, in vigilance, in action, 
 In exercise and recreation. Then 
 Let him, if seeking God by deep abstraction, 
 Abandon his possessions and his hopes, 
 Betake himself to some secluded spot, 5 
 And fix his heart and thoughts on God alone. 
 There let him choose a seat, not high nor low, 
 
 1 Compare the passage from the Katha Upanishad, translated, p. 4 1 . 
 
 2 Kuta-sthah (VI. 8) may mean ' standing erect like a peak.' 
 
 3 Tersely expressed in Sanskrit by sama-loshtasma-kancanah VI. 8. 
 
 4 I use these expressions as kindred words to the Sanskrit yukta and 
 yoga. ' Joined ' and ' junction ' are also cognate expressions. 
 
 5 Cf. Matt. vi. 6, ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy 
 closet, arid when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is 
 in secret.'
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. I 3 I 
 
 And with a cloth or skin to cover him, 
 And Kusa grass beneath him, let him sit 
 Firm and erect, his body, head, and neck 
 Straight and immovable, his eyes, directed 
 Towards a single point, 1 not looking round, 
 Devoid of passion, free from anxious thought, ' 
 His heart restrained, and deep in meditation. 
 E'en as a tortoise draws its head and feet 
 Within its shell, so must he keep his organs 
 Withdrawn from sensual objects. He whose senses 
 Are well controlled attains to sacred knowledge, 
 And thence obtains tranquillity of thought. 
 Without quiescence there can be no bliss. 
 E'en as a storm- tossed ship upon the waves, 
 So is the man whose heart obeys his passions, 
 Which, like the winds, will hurry him away. 
 Quiescence is the state of the Supreme. 
 He who, intent on meditation, joins 
 His soul with the Supreme, is like a flame 
 That flickers not when sheltered from the wind. 
 
 I pass now to the second division of this poem, in which 
 the pantheistic doctrines of the Vedanta are more directly 
 inculcated than in the other sections. Krishna here in the 
 plainest language claims adoration as one with the great 
 universal Spirit, pervading and constituting the universe. 
 I extract portions from different parts of this section 
 without observing the order of the text, which contains 
 much tautology, as well as repetitions of similar ideas in 
 different language : 
 
 Whate'er thou dost perform, whate'er thou eatest, 
 Whate'er thou givest to the poorj whate'er 
 Thou offerest in sacrifice, whatever 
 Thou doest as an act of holy penance, 
 Do all as if to me, O Arjuna (IX. 2j). 2 
 
 1 The text (VI. 1 3) says, ' fixing his eyes on the tip of his nose ' 
 (samprekshya-nasikagrani). See p. 93. 
 
 2 Compare i Cor. x. 31, 'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or 
 whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.' Dr. Lorinser, expand-
 
 132 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 I am the ancient sage, 1 without beginning, 
 
 I am the Ruler and the All-sustainer, 2 
 
 I am incomprehensible in form, 
 
 More subtle and minute than subtlest atoms ; 3 
 
 I am the cause of the whole universe ; 
 
 Through me it is created and dissolved ; 
 
 On me all things within it hang suspended, 
 
 ing the views of Professor Weber and others concerning the influence 
 of Christianity on the legends of Krishna, thinks that many of the 
 sentiments of the Bhagavad-glta have been directly borrowed from the 
 New Testament, copies of which, he thinks, found their way into India 
 about the third century, when he believes the poem to have been 
 written. He even adopts the theory of a parallel in the names of 
 Christ and Krishna. He seems, however, to forget that fragments of 
 truth are to be found in all religious systems, however false, and that 
 the Bible, though a true revelation, is still in regard to the human 
 mind, through which the thoughts are transfused, a thoroughly 
 Oriental book, cast in an Oriental mould, and full of Oriental ideas 
 and expressions. Some of his comparisons seem mere coincidences of 
 language, which might occur quite naturally and independently. In 
 other cases, where he draws attention to coincidences of ideas as, for 
 example, the division of the sphere of self-control into thought, word, 
 and deed in chap. XVII. 14-16, &c., and of good works into prayer, 
 fasting, and almsgiving how could these be borrowed from Chris- 
 tianity, when they are also found in Manu, which few will place later 
 than the fifth century B.C. ? Thus a Tri-dandin (Manu XII. 10) is 
 explained to mean ' a triple commander,' who commands his thoughts, 
 words, and actions (see note 2, p. 121); the same division is found in 
 Manu II. 192, 236. Professor Cowell has pointed out that it occurs 
 still earlier than Manu, in the Black Yajur-veda VI. i. 7, and its 
 Aranyaka X. i. 10, and in the Aitareya-brahmana III. 28. Plato also 
 has the same in his Protagoras (p. 348), and it is found in the Zand 
 Avasta (Gatha Ahunavaiti III. 3). Nevertheless, something may be 
 said for Dr. Lorinser's theory. His German translation (1869) is rich 
 in notes, pointing out parallels. See also the ' Indian Antiquary ' for 
 October 1873. 
 
 1 Kavih puranah VIII. 9. 'Kavi' in Vedic Sanskrit means 'wise,' 
 and is an epithet applied to most of the gods, especially to Agni. 
 The meaning ' poet ' belongs to later Sanskrit. 
 
 2 Sarvasya dhdtd VIII. 9. 
 
 3 Aiior ai}lydn VIII. 9. Compare p. 71 of this volume.
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 133 
 
 Like pearls upon a string. 1 I am the light 
 
 In sun and moon, far, far beyond the darkness ; 2 
 
 I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance 
 
 In all that's radiant, and the light of lights, 3 
 
 The sound in ether, fragrance in the earth, 
 
 The seed eternal of existing things, 4 
 
 The life in all, the father, mother, husband, 
 
 Forefather, and sustainer of the world, 
 
 Its friend and lord. I am its way 5 and refuge, 
 
 Its habitation and receptacle, 
 
 I am its witness. I am Victory 
 
 And Energy ; I watch the universe 
 
 With eyes and face in all directions turned. 6 
 
 I dwell, as Wisdom, in the heart of all. 7 
 
 I am the Goodness of the good, I am 
 
 Beginning, Middle, End, eternal Time, 
 
 The Birth, the Death of all. 8 I am the symbol A 
 
 Among the characters. I have created all 
 
 1 VII. 7. Dr. Lorinser compares Rom. xi. 36, 'Of him, and through 
 him, and unto him, are all things.' John i. 3, 'All things were made 
 by him ; and without him was not anything made that was made.' 
 
 - Prabhdsmi sasi-suryayoh VII. 8. Tamasah parastdt VIII. 9. Cf. 
 i John i. 5, ' God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.' See Rig- 
 veda I. 50. 10. 
 
 3 Jyotishd m jyotih XIII. 17. Cf. Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, quoted 
 p. 37 of this volume. 
 
 4 Sarva-Wmtdndm vljam VII. 10, X. 39. Cf. John i. 3, 'All things 
 were made by him.' 
 
 5 Gati IX. 1 8. Cf. John xiv. 6, 'I am the way.' 
 
 6 Visvato-mukha, 'facing in all directions/ IX. 15. 
 
 7 Jndnam hridi sarvo.sya nishtliitam XIII. 17. Cf. 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 
 8 Compare Rev. i. 17, 18, 'I am the first and the last ; and have the 
 keys of hell and of death.' Mr. Mullens draws attention to parallel 
 descriptions of the supreme Ruler in the Greek Orphic hymns : ' Zeus 
 was the first and Zeus the last ; Zeus is the head ; Zeus, the centre ; 
 from Zeus have all things been made ; Zeus is the breath of all things ; 
 Zeus is the sun and moon,' &c. See his Essay, p. 193, and cf. note 2, 
 p. 1 02. Cf. also an inscription said to exist in a temple of Athene, 'Eyw 
 lift! TTUV rb yiyovbi KOLI ov y.a.1 iffo/AMOv. 
 
 g Aksliardndin a-Mro 'smi X. 33. Compare Rev. i. 8, ' I am Alpha 
 and Omega.'
 
 134 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Out of one portion of myself. E'en those 
 
 Who are of low and unpretending birth, 1 
 
 May find the path to highest happiness, 
 
 If they depend on me ; how much more those 
 
 Who are by rank and penance holy Brahmans 
 
 And saintly soldier-princes like thyself. 
 
 Then be not sorrowful ; from all thy sins 
 
 I will deliver thee. 2 Think thou on me, 
 
 Have faith in me, adore and worship me, 3 
 
 And join thyself in meditation to me ; 
 
 Thus shalt thou come to me, Arjuna; 
 
 Thus shalt thou rise to my supreme abode, 
 
 Where neither sun nor moon have need to shine, 
 
 For know that all the lustre they possess is mine. 4 
 
 1 Papa-yonayah, ' base-born,' IX. 32. The text states who these are, 
 viz., Women, Vaisyas, and S'udras. This is significant in regard to 
 the Hindu estimate of the female sex. A woman's religion is thought 
 to consist in obedience first to her father and then to her husband, with 
 attention to domestic duties. See Manu II. 67. But the joining of 
 Vaisyas with S'udras is curious (cf. p. 149. 6). Brahmans, Kshatriyas, 
 andRajarshis, i.e., holy personages half princes, half saints are by birth 
 and rank fitted for religious exercises, and more likely to reach heaven. 
 
 2 Aham tvdm sarva-pdpebhyo mocayishyami ma sucah. Cf. Matt, 
 ix. 2, ' Be of good cheer ; thy sins be forgiven thee.' A sense of original 
 corruption seems to be felt by all classes of Hindus, as indicated by the 
 following prayer used after the Gayatrl by many religious persons : 
 
 Papo 'ham pdpa-karmdham pdpdtmd pdpa-sambhavah, 
 Trdhi mam, pundarikdksha sarva-pdpa-hara Hare, 
 
 ' I am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, I am conceived in sin, 
 Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Hari, the remover of sin.' 
 * The original is, Manmand bhava mad-bhakto mad-ydji mam namas- 
 kuru IX. 34. Cf. Prov. xxiii. 26, ' My son, give me thine heart.' 
 
 4 Na tad bhdsayate suryo na Sasdnkah XV. 6. Yad aditya-gatam 
 tejo yac candramasi tat tejo viddhi mdmakam XV. 12. Cf. Rev. xxi. 23, 
 ' The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for 
 the glory of God did lighten it.' Cf. also Maha-bharata III. 1745, &c., 
 Na tatra surydh somo vd dyotate na ca pdvakah, Svayaiva prabhayd 
 tatra dyotante punya-labdhaya, 'there (in Indra's heaven) the sun 
 shines not, nor the moon nor fire ; there they (righteous men) shine 
 by their own glory acquired by their own merit.'
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 135 
 
 I come now to chapter XL, called 'the Vision (or 
 Revelation) of the Universal Form' (visva-rupa-dar- 
 sanam). Arjuna, filled with awe at the discovery of the 
 true nature of Krishna, acting as his charioteer, addresses 
 him thus : 
 
 Most mighty Lord supreme, this revelation 
 Of thy mysterious essence and thy oneness 
 With the eternal Spirit, clears away 
 4 The mists of my illusions. Show me then 
 
 Thy form celestial, most divine of men, 1 
 If haply I may dare to look upon it. 
 
 To this Krishna replies : 
 
 Thou canst not bear to gaze upon my shape 
 With these thy human eyes, O son of Pandu, 
 But now I gift thee with celestial vision ; 
 Behold me in a hundred thousand forms, 
 In phases, colours, fashions infinite. 
 
 Here follows the description of Krishna's supernatural 
 transformation : 2 
 
 Thus having said, the mighty Lord of all 
 Displayed to Arjuna his form supreme, 
 Endowed with countless mouths and countless eyes, 
 With countless faces turned to every quarter, 
 With countless marvellous appearances, 
 With ornaments and wreaths and robes divine, 
 With heavenly fragrance and celestial weapons. 
 It was as if the firmament were filled, 
 All in an instant, with a thousand suns, 
 Blazing with dazzling lustre, so beheld he 
 The glories of the universe collected 
 In the one person of the God of gods. 3 
 
 1 Purushottama, ' most excellent of men,' a common name for 
 Krishna. 
 
 2 The idea of this, Dr. Lorinser considers borrowed from the Gospel 
 narrative of the transfiguration. It is certainly very instructive to con- 
 trast the simplicity of the Gospel scene : ' His face did shine as the sun, 
 and his raiment was white as the light,' Matt. xvii. 2, Mark ix. 3. 
 
 3 In the Udyoga-parva of the Maha-bharata (4419-4430) Krishna
 
 136 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Arjuna, with every hair on his body bristling with awe, 
 bows his head at this vision, and folding his hands in 
 reverence, gives utterance to a passionate outburst of 
 enthusiastic adoration, which I here abridge : 
 
 I see thee, mighty Lord of all, revealed 
 
 In forms of infinite diversity. 
 
 I see thee like a mass of purest light, 
 
 Flashing thy lustre everywhere around. 
 
 I see thee crowned with splendour like the sun, 
 
 Pervading earth and sky, immeasurable, 
 
 Boundless, without beginning, middle, end, 
 
 Preserver of imperishable law, 
 
 The everlasting Man ; l the triple world 
 
 Is awe-struck at this vision of thy form, 
 
 Stupendous, indescribable in glory. 
 
 Have mercy, God of gods ; the universe 
 
 Is fitly dazzled by thy majesty, 
 
 Fitly to thee alone devotes its homage. 
 
 At thy approach the evil demons flee, 
 
 Scattered in terror to the winds of heaven. 
 
 The multitude of holy saints 2 adore thee 
 
 Thee, first Creator, 3 lord of all the gods, 
 
 The ancient One, 4 supreme Receptacle 
 
 Of all that is and is not, knowing all, 
 
 And to be known by all. Immensely vast, 
 
 reveals his form in the same way to the assembled princes, who are 
 obliged to close their eyes at the awful sight, while the blind Dhrita- 
 rashtra is gifted with divine vision that he may behold the glorious 
 spectacle (4437). 
 
 1 Sandtanah purmhah (XI. 1 8) may be translated ' the eternal 
 Spirit.' 
 
 2 Maharshis, great saints and Siddhas, XI. 21. Cf. parts of the Te 
 Deum. The Siddhas are semi-divine beings supposed to possess great 
 purity, called Sadhyas in the earlier mythology (Manu I. 22). Siddhas 
 and Sadhyas are sometimes confused, though mentioned separately in 
 the text. 
 
 3 Cf. John viii. 58, ' Before Abraham was, I am.' 
 
 4 Purushah puranah, 'the most ancient person,' XI. 38. Cf. Daniel 
 vii. 9, ' The Ancient of days did sit. '
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 137 
 
 Thou comprehendest all, thou art the All (XI. 40). 
 To thee earth's greatest heroes must return, 
 Blending once more with thy resplendent essence, 
 Like mighty rivers rushing to the ocean (XI. 28). 
 To thee be sung a thousand hymns of praise 
 By every creature and from every quarter, 
 Before, above, behind. Hail ! Hail ! thou All ! 
 Again and yet again I worship thee. 
 Have mercy, I implore thee, and forgive, 
 That I, in ignorance of this thy glory, 
 Presumed to call thee Friend ; and pardon too 
 Whate'er I have too negligently uttered, 
 Addressing thee in too familiar tones. 
 Unrivalled God of gods, I fall before thee 
 Prostrate in adoration, thou the Father 
 Of all that lives and lives not ; have compassion, 
 Bear with me, as a father with a son, 
 Or as a lover with a cherished one. 
 Now that I see thee as thou really art, 
 I thrill with terror ! Mercy ! Lord of lords, 
 Once more display to me thy human form, 
 Thou habitation of the universe. 1 
 
 Many other remarkable passages might be adduced in 
 connection with the first two divisions of the subject- 
 matter of the Bhagavad-gita. I note the following : 
 
 He who has brought his members under subjection, but sits with 
 foolish mind thinking in his heart of sensual things, is called a hypo- 
 crite (mifhyaccira). (III. 6. Of. Matt v. 28.) 
 
 Many are my births that are past ; many are thine too, Arjuna. 
 I know them all, but thou knowest them not. (IV. 5. Cf. John 
 viii. 14.) 
 
 For the establishment of righteousness am I born from time to time. 
 (IV. 8. Cf. John xviii. 37, i John iii. 3.) 
 
 1 XI. 45, 46. Dr. Lorinser compares the awe of our Lord's disciples, 
 Matt. xvii. 6, 'They fell on their face, and were sore afraid.' Also of 
 Simon Peter, Luke v. 8, ' When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at 
 Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, Lord. '
 
 138 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 I am dearer to the wise than all possessions, and he is dear to me. 
 (VI. 17. Of. Luke xiv. 33, John xiv. 21.) 
 
 The ignorant, the unbeliever, and he of a doubting mind perish 
 utterly. (IV. 40. Of. Mark xvi. 16.) 
 
 In him are all beings, by him this universe was spread out. (VIII. 
 22. Of. Acts xvii. 28.) 
 
 Deluded men despise me when I have taken human form. (IX. 1 1. 
 Of. John i. 10.) i , 
 
 In all the Vedas I am to be known. (XV. 15. Cf. John v. 39.) 
 
 As many uses as there are in a reservoir filled with waters coming 
 from all parts (for bathing, washing, or drinking), so many does a 
 knowing Brahman find in all the Vedas. (II. 46. Mr. Thomson com- 
 pares the various uses made of texts from our own sacred Scriptures.) 
 
 The next is suggestive of the doctrine that the condi- 
 tion of the soul for a future state is determined before 
 death : 
 
 Whatever a man's state of mind be at the moment when he leaves 
 the body to that condition does he always go, being made to conform to 
 that. (VIII. 6. Cf. Eccles. xi. 3. This is the dying Sanskara which 
 delays the passage to heaven.) 
 
 A similar passage occurs in the Chandogya Upanishad : 
 
 Man is a creature of intelligence (kratu-maya) ; whatever ideas he 
 forms in this life, he becomes so when he departs to another, therefore 
 lie should reflect (on God, III. 14. i). 
 
 The next is a paraphrase of XVI. 12-16. It may be 
 compared with Luke xii. 1 7-20 : 
 
 Entangled in a hundred worldly snares, 
 Self-seeking men, by ignorance deluded, 
 Strive by unrighteous means to pile up riches. 
 Then, in their self-complacency, they say, 
 ' This acqusition I have made to-day, 
 That I will gain to-morrow ; so much 'pelf 
 Is hoarded up already, so much more 
 Remains that I have yet to treasure up. 
 This enemy I have destroyed, him also
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 139 
 
 And others in their turn I will despatch. 
 
 I am a lord ; I will enjoy myself ; 
 
 I'm wealthy, noble, strong, successful, happy ; 
 
 I'm absolutely perfect ; no one else 
 
 In all the world can be compared to me. 
 
 Now I will offer up a sacrifice, 
 
 Give gifts with lavish hand and be triumphant.' 
 
 Such men, befooled by endless, vain conceits, 
 
 Caught in the meshes of the world's illusion, 
 
 Immersed in sensuality, descend 
 
 Down to the foulest hell of unclean spirits. 
 
 I add a few lines from chapter III., in which Krishna 
 exhorts Arjuna to energetic action by an argument drawn 
 from the example set by himself in his own everlasting 
 exertions for the good of the world (cf. John v. 17). The 
 order of the text is not observed in the following version, 
 and the sentiment in lines 6, 7, is from chapter II. 47 : 
 
 Perform all necessary acts, for action 
 
 Is better than inaction, none can live 
 
 By sitting still and doing nought ; it is 
 
 By action only that a man attains 
 
 Immunity from action. Yet in working 
 
 Ne'er work for recompense ; let the act's motive 
 
 Be in the act itself. Know that work 
 
 Proceeds from the Supreme. I am the pattern 
 
 For man to follow ; know that I have done 
 
 All acts already, nought remains for me 
 
 To gain by action, yet I work for ever 
 
 Unweariedly, and this whole universe 
 
 Would perish if I did not work my work (III. 19). 
 
 The third division of the poem, comprising the six last 
 chapters, aims particularly at interweaving San-khya doc- 
 trines with the Vedanta, though this is done more or less 
 throughout the whole work. It accepts the doctrine of a 
 supreme presiding Spirit (called Param Brahma or Adhy- 
 dtmam, XIII. 12, VIII. i), as the first source of the uni- 
 verse, but asserts the eternal existence of Prakriti and
 
 140 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Purnsha that is, of an original eternal element and soul 
 both emanating from the supreme Being (then regarded 
 as Para Prakriti, ' supreme Prakriti'). It maintains the 
 individuality and personality of souls, and affirms that the 
 body (kshetra) and all the world of sense is evolved out of 
 Prakriti by the regular San-khyan process, through Buddhi, 
 Ahan-kara, the five subtile elements, the five grosser ele- 
 ments, and the eleven organs, including mind. Thus, in 
 XIII. 19 and in VII. 4-6, we read : 
 
 Learn that Prakriti and Purusha also are both of them without 
 beginning. And know that the Vikaras, or ' productions,' and the 
 Gunas (see p. 85) are sprung from Prakriti. 
 
 Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism, into these 
 eight is my Prakriti divided. This Prakriti is the inferior one, but 
 learn my superior Prakriti to be other than this. Understand that all 
 things are produced from this other Prakriti. 
 
 Again, in VII. 12-14, Krishna, speaking of the three 
 Gunas, says : 
 
 Know that all the three Gunas, whether Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas 
 (cf. p. 85), proceed only from me. I am not in them, but they in me. 
 
 All this universe, deluded by these three conditions consisting of 
 the Gunas, does not recognise me, the imperishable Being, superior 
 to them all. 
 
 For this divine illusion (Maya, i.e., 'illusory creation '), consisting of 
 the three Gunas, caused by me, is difficult to be passed over. Those 
 only are delivered from it who have recourse to me. 
 
 The eclecticism of the Bhagavad-gita will be sufficiently 
 apparent from these examples. I close my brief survey 
 of this celebrated poem by three or four passages (taken 
 from chapter III. 27, chapter XIII. 29, 31), which form 
 a fit conclusion to the subject, as they contain the gist of 
 the whole argument, viz., that it is Arjuna's duty as a 
 soldier to act like a soldier and to do the work of his 
 caste, regardless of consequences ; and that this may be
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 141 
 
 done consistently with adhesion to the Vedantic dogma of 
 the soul's real inactivity and state of passionless repose : 
 
 All actions are incessantly performed 
 
 By operation of the qualities 
 
 Of Prakriti ; deluded by the thought 
 
 Of individuality, the soul 
 
 Vainly believes itself to be the doer. 
 
 The soul existing from eternity, 
 
 Devoid of qualities, imperishable, 
 
 Abiding in the body, yet supreme, 
 
 Acts not, nor is by any act polluted. 
 
 He who perceives that actions are performed 
 
 By Prakriti alone, and that the soul 
 
 Is not an actor, sees the truth aright. 
 
 Krishna's last advice may be thus summed up : 
 
 Act then and do thine own appointed task, 
 
 In every action my assistance ask, 
 
 Do all with heart and soul absorbed in me, 
 
 So shalt thou gain thine end and be from trouble free. 
 
 Arj una's conclusion may be thus paraphrased : 
 
 Eternal One ! thy glory just beheld 
 Has all illusion from my soul dispelled ; 
 Now by thy favour is my conscience clear, 
 I will thy bidding do and fight without a fear. 
 
 To any one who has followed me in tracing the outline 
 of this remarkable philosophical dialogue, and has noted 
 the numerous parallels it offers to passages in our sacred 
 Scriptures, it may seem strange that I hesitate to concur 
 in any theory which explains these coincidences by sup- 
 posing that the author had access to the New Testament 
 or that he derived some of his ideas from the first propa- 
 gators of Christianity. Surely it will be conceded that 
 the probability of contact and interaction between Gentile 
 systems and the Christian religion in the first two cen- 
 turies of our era must have been greater in Italy than in
 
 142 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 India. Yet, if we take the writings and recorded sayings 
 of three great Roman philosophers, Seneca, Epictetus, and 
 Marcus Aurelius, we shall find them full of resemblances 
 to passages in our Scriptures, while there appears to be 
 no ground whatever for supposing that these eminent 
 Pagan writers and thinkers derived any of their ideas 
 from either Jexvish or Christian sources. In fact, the 
 Rev. F. W. Farrar, in his interesting and valuable work, 
 ' Seekers after God,' has clearly shown that ' to say that 
 Pagan morality kindled its faded taper at the Gospel light 
 whether furtively or unconsciously, that it dissembled the 
 obligation and made a boast of the splendour, as if it were 
 originally her own, is to make an assertion wholly unten- 
 able.' He points out that the attempts of the Christian 
 Fathers to make out Pythagoras a debtor to Hebraic 
 wisdom, Plato an ' Atticizing Moses, Aristotle a picker up 
 of ethics from a Jew, Seneca a correspondent of St. Paul, 
 were due 'in some cases to ignorance, and in some to a 
 want of perfect honesty in controversial dealing.' 
 
 His arguments would be even more conclusive if applied 
 to the Bhagavad-gita, the author of which was probably 
 contemporaneous with Seneca. It must, indeed, be ad- 
 mitted that the flashes of true light which emerge from the 
 
 o o 
 
 mists of pantheism in the writings of Indian philosophers, 
 must spring from the same source of light as the Gospel 
 itself; but it may reasonably be questioned whether there 
 could have been any actual contact of the Hindu systems 
 with Christianity without a more satisfactory result in the 
 modification of pantheistic and anti-Christian ideas. In 
 order that the resemblances to Scripture in the writings 
 of Roman philosophers may be compared with those just 
 noted, I subjoin a few instances from ' Seekers after God ' 
 and Dr. Ramage's ' Beautiful Thoughts : ' 
 
 i. Seneca. 'God comes to men: nay, what is nearer, comes into 
 men.' ' A sacred spirit dwells within us, the observer and guardian of
 
 ECLECTIC SCHOOL BHAGAVAD-GITA. 143 
 
 all our evil and our good.' Of. i Cor. iii. 16. 'Let him who hath con- 
 ferred a favour hold his tongue.' ' In conferring a favour nothing 
 should be more avoided than pride.' Cf. Matt. vi. 3. ' If you wish to 
 be loved, love.' ' Expect from another what you do to another.' ' We 
 are all wicked ; therefore whatever we blame in another we shall find 
 in our own bosom.' ' A good man is God's disciple and imitator and 
 His true offspring, whom that magnificent Father doth, after the 
 manner of severe parents, educate hardly.' ' God is nigh to thee, He 
 is with thee, He is in thee.' ' Temples are not to be built for God with 
 stones piled on high ; He is to be consecrated in the breast of each.' 
 1 What a foolish thing it is to promise ourselves a long life, who are 
 not masters of even to-morrow ! ' ' Live with men as if God saw you.' 
 ' Other men's sins are before our eyes ; our own behind our back.' ' The 
 greater part of mankind are angry with the sinner and not with the 
 sin.' 'The severest punishment a man can receive who has injured 
 another, is to have committed the injury.' 
 
 2. Epictetus. ' If you always remember that in all you do in soul or 
 body God stands by as a witness, in all your prayers and your actions 
 you will not err ; and you shall have God dwelling with you.' ' How 
 should a man grieve his enemy ? By preparing himself to act in the 
 noblest manner.' Cf. Horn. xii. 20. 
 
 3. Marcus Aurelius. ' The best way of avenging thyself is not to 
 become like the wrong-doer.' ' Men exist for the sake of one another. 
 Teach them or bear with them.' Cf. 2 Thess. iv. 15, Col. iii. 13. 'In 
 the morning when thou risest unwillingly let these thoughts be present, 
 " I am rising to the work of a human being. Why, then, am I dis- 
 satisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which 
 I was brought into the world ? " Dost thou exist, then, to take thy 
 pleasure, and not for action or exertion ? Dost thou not see the little 
 birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order 
 their several parts of the universe ? ' Cf. Prov. vi. 6.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Smriti The Veddngas. 
 
 HITHERTO we have been engaged in describing briefly 
 and illustrating by selected examples the three divisions 
 of the Veda, viz., Mantra, Brahmana, and Upanishad, 
 and the six Darsanas or systems of philosophy developed 
 out of the third of these divisions. All three portions 
 of the Veda come under the head of Sruti, ' audition/ 
 or Sruta, that which is directly heard or revealed the 
 eternal voice of divine knowledge heard 1 by certain holy 
 men called Rishis, and by them orally transmitted ; or 
 if committed to writing, then written down exactly as 
 heard, without any intervention of human authorship. 
 We now pass from Sruti and the six Darsanas to the 
 second great head of Sanskrit literature, called Smriti, 
 'recollection,' or that which is remembered and handed 
 down by tradition (as distinguished from ' audition '). 
 This is believed to be founded on Sruti, 'direct revela- 
 tion,' as its primary basis, and only possesses authority 
 in so far as it is in harmony with such revealed truth. 2 
 The very essence of Smriti, however, is considered to 
 be that it was delivered memoriter by human authors 
 and put into the form of human composition. In its 
 
 1 The expression generally used is that the Rishis saw the hymns, 
 rishi being fancifully connected with drisJii, as if from root dris ; but 
 the terms Snfti and Sruta, taken in connection with the theory of the 
 eternity of sound, indicate that the ear was the channel of communi- 
 cation. 
 
 2 If Veda-vdhya, it is declared to be nishpliala. Manu XII. 95.
 
 SMRITI. 145 
 
 widest acceptation, Smriti may be said to include six 
 principal subjects or departments, viz., I. six Vedangas, 
 ' limbs for supporting the Veda,' or, in other words, helps 
 to aid the student in reading, understanding and apply- 
 ing it to sacrificial rites (and hence called Pravacana, 
 Manu III. 184): they are i. Kalpa, 'ceremonial direc- 
 tory,' comprising rules relating to the Vedic ritual and 
 the whole complicated process of sacrifices, which rules 
 are called Srauta-sutra, because they are Vedic, and 
 relate directly to the application of the Mantra and Brah- 
 mana portion of Sruti, being especially guides to the 
 Biahmarias; 2. Siksha, 'the science of pronunciation;' 
 3. Chandas, 'metre;' 4. Nirukta, ' exposition of difficult 
 Vedic words ; ' 5. Vyakarana, ' grammar ; ' 6. Jyotisha, 
 ' astronomy,' including arithmetic and mathematics, espe- 
 cially in connection with astrology. Of these Vedan-gas, 
 i. and 6. are for employing the Veda at sacrifices, 2. and 3. 
 are for reading, 4. and 5. for understanding it. II. The 
 Smarta-sutra, a comprehensive term for such rules as 
 do not relate to Srauta or Vedic ceremonies, which were 
 usually on a grand scale and public in their character, but 
 rather to religious acts of a private and personal kind, 
 falling naturally under two divisions, viz., a. family or 
 domestic rites (griliya) performed at stated periods ; 6. con- 
 ventional usages and every-day practices (samaydcdra) ; 
 on which account these Smfirta Sutras must be separated 
 into two classes, a. Grihya-sutra, 6. Samayacarika-sutra. 
 
 III. The Dharma-Sdstras or ' Law-books, and especially 
 the Laivs of Manu, and other so-called inspired law- 
 givers supposed to have grown out of the Smarta Sutras. 
 
 IV. The Itihdsas or ' legendary poems,' under which head I 
 place as portions of Smriti the two great epic poems called 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata, and then, for convenience, 
 as following and depending on these, but not as properly 
 
 Smriti, the artificial poems (Kavyas) and erotic poems 
 
 K
 
 146 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 and the dramas, almost all of which in their subject- 
 matter are closely connected with the two great epics. 
 V. The eighteen Puranas or ancient legendary histories 
 and traditions, with their train of eighteen inferior Puranas 
 (Upa-purdna) and subsequent Tantras. VI. The Niti- 
 sdstras or ethical and didactic writings of all kinds, in- 
 cluding collections of fables and moral precepts. 
 
 I propose now to take these six divisions of post-Vedic 
 literature in order, beginning with I. the Vedan-gas. 
 
 I. The Veddn-gas. 
 
 They are six in number. Let us consider them (not 
 quite according to the Hindu order) in the following 
 sequence : i. Kalpa; 2. iksha; 3. Chandas ; 4. Nirukta ; 
 5. Vydkarana; 6. Jyotiska. 
 
 The Veddn-gas Kalpa, ' ceremonial directory.' 
 
 In the first place, then, as regards Kalpa; this denotes, 
 as we have seen, a kind of ceremonial directory or rubric 
 put forth in the form of short aphoristic Sutras or rules, 
 called Srauta, because serving as guides for the applica- 
 tion of the Mantra and Brahmana portion of Sruti to the 
 conduct of sacrificial rites. There are Srauta Sutras for 
 each of the five Samhitas of the Veda. Thus, for the 
 Rig-veda there are the Asvaldyana, Sdnkhdyana, and 
 Saunaka Srauta Sutras ; for the Sama-veda, the Masaka, 
 Ldtydyana, and Drdhydyana ; for the Taittiriya or Black 
 Yajur-veda, the Apastamba, JBaudhdyana, Satydshddha 
 Hiranya-kesin. Mdnava, Bhdradvdja, Vddhuna, Vai- 
 khdnasa, Laugdkshi, Maitra, Katha, and Vdrdha; for 
 the Vajasaneyi or White Yajur-veda there is only the 
 Kdtydyana ; l for the Atharva-veda only the Kausika. 
 
 1 Edited by Professor Weber to complete the series of his great edition 
 of the White Yajur-veda with its Brahmana (the S'atapatha).
 
 VEDAN-GAS KALPA-SUTRA OR CEREMONIAL RULES. 147 
 
 I should remark here that the word Sutra (derived 
 from the root Siv, ' to sew ') means properly ' string/ and 
 that this name was applied to any series l of rules or 
 aphorisms, either because they were, figuratively, struno- 
 together, or because they were written on leaves held 
 together by strings. 2 It is perhaps essential to the true 
 nature of a Brahmanical Sutra that it should be a rule 
 or dogma expressed as briefly as possible. In the gram- 
 matical Sutras not a single letter is allowed which can by 
 any contrivance be dispensed with, and moreover in these 
 Sutras letters and syllables are often used symbolically, 
 like algebraic signs, to indicate ideas which would other- 
 wise require a whole sentence or more to express them 
 at full. In the philosophical Sutras, as we have already 
 seen, great brevity and a rigid economy of words is also 
 practised, the aim being to furnish the shortest possible 
 suggestive memorial sentences as an aid to the memory of 
 both teachers and learners in an age when books were 
 scarce and paper and printing unknown (see p. 46). 
 This extreme conciseness is not always maintained, espe- 
 cially in later Sutra works, but it generally holds good 
 that the older the Sutra the greater its curtness and ellip- 
 tical obscurity, so that without a commentary or a key 
 to their interpretation these ancient aphorisms are quite 
 unintelligible. In later times, as books became more com- 
 mon, the necessity for elaborate and overstrained concise- 
 ness was gradually removed, 3 and rules and aphorisms, 
 though still strung together in Sutra style, were more 
 fully and explicitly and even sometimes metrically stated. 4 
 In fact, these later Sutra works may be regarded as simple 
 
 1 Sutra in the singular may denote a whole collection of rules. 
 
 2 This last is the theory of the late Professor Goldstucker. 
 
 3 This relaxation led at last to the very opposite extreme of prolixity, 
 as in the Buddhist Sutras. 
 
 4 In some Sutra works there is an occasional admixture of S'lokas.
 
 148 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 collections of formulated precepts or dogmas adapted to 
 serve as convenient manuals to particular systems of 
 teaching, whether in ritual, philosophy, law, or grammar. 
 If Sanskrit scholars are asked to state the age of the 
 oldest Sutra works, they are again obliged to confess their 
 inability to fix any precise date. The most ancient are 
 probably not older than the fifth or sixth century B.C., 
 and the time of the compilation of the most recent is 
 perhaps not far removed from the commencement of the 
 Christian era. I have placed the Kalpa Sutras first be- 
 cause they are probably oldest, being closely connected 
 with the Brahmana or ritual portion of Sruti, and thence 
 called Srauta. 
 
 The following translation of the first ten Sutras of 
 Katyayana's Srauta-sutra, which belong to the Satapatha- 
 brahmana and White Yajur-veda (see Weber's edition), 
 will give some idea of the nature of these rules. To 
 make each aphorism intelligible, additional matter has 
 to be introduced from the commentary of Yajnika-deva. 
 This I have done parenthetically in the examples here 
 given. I have also given the original text of the Sutras 
 in italics : 
 
 1. Now, therefore, the right (of engaging in sacrificial acts is about to 
 be laid down in the following rules). [Athdto 'dhikdrah.~\ 
 
 2. (Sacrificial) acts (like the Agni-hotra, &c.) are attended with recom- 
 pense (such as the attainment of heaven, of wealth, of a son, &c.) \Phala- 
 yuldani Jcarmdni.'] 
 
 3. (According to the primd facie view of the matter there must be a 
 right) of all (creatures, e.g. of men, even though blind, dumb, lame, or 
 deaf, of gods, of Kishis, and of animals, but not of plants, to engage in 
 sacrificial acts), without distinction (because all such creatures are capable 
 of desiring recompense). [Sarveshdm aviseslidt.~\ 
 
 4. But (according to the orthodox view, the right belongs) to human 
 beings (only), because (they only, as the Veda declares, have) the power 
 of undertaking (sacrificial acts, and not to gods, Rishis, and animals). 
 \Manushyanam vdrambha-sdm arihydt. ]
 
 VEDAN-GAS SIKSHA OR PHONETIC DIRECTORY. 149 
 
 5. Cripples, those ignorant of the Veda, eunuchs, and S'iidras (are to 
 be) excepted. [^Anga-liindsrotriya-sliandha-sadra-varjam.~\ 
 
 6. (The right belongs) to Brahrnans, Kshatriyas, 1 and Vaisyas (but 
 not to S'udras), according to the Veclic precept. [Brdhmana-rdjanya- 
 vaisydndm sruteh.~\ 
 
 7. A woman also (has the right), since there is no difference (be- 
 tween her and her husband in regard to the desire for heaven). [Strl 
 cdviseshdt.] 
 
 8. And since it is so seen (in the Veda). [Darsandc-ca.] 
 
 9. (According to one view, the right belongs) to a man of the Ratha- 
 kara 2 ('chariot-maker') caste, (so far as regards the rite) of placing the 
 sacred fire (on the sacrificial ground, on the score of this caste being 
 reckoned among the first three classes). [Rathakdrasyddhdne.] 
 
 10. (But according to the orthodox view) it is settled (that the 
 Rathakara is not to be reckoned among the first three classes). [Ni- 
 yatam caJ\ 
 
 The Veddngas Sikshd, 'phonetic directory.' 
 
 The next Vedanga in our list is Sikshd or the science 
 of proper pronunciation, especially as teaching the laws of 
 euphony peculiar to the Veda. This comprises the know- 
 ledge of letters, accents, quantity, the right use of the 
 organs of articulation, and phonetics generally. One short 
 comparatively modern treatise on phonetics, consisting in 
 one recension of thirty-five and in another of fifty-nine 
 verses (ascribed to Panini), and a chapter of the Taittiriya- 
 ranyaka are regarded as the representatives of this sub- 
 ject; but the Vedic Pratisakhyas and other works on 
 Vedic phonetics may be included under it, 3 and it will be 
 
 1 The word Rdjanya is used here and in the Purusha-sukta for 
 Kshatriya, see p. 21. 
 
 2 This mixed caste, held to be the offspring of a Mahishya by a 
 Karani, is also called Saudhanvana. It appears to have enjoyed some 
 religious privileges, perhaps because the Ribhus were Ratha-karas, see 
 note, p. 14. Cf. Rig-veda III. 60. 4. 
 
 3 A number of works bearing the name of Silcshd, and dealing with 
 phonetics and other kindred subjects, have been recently brought to 
 notice. See Haug on the Vedic Accent (Munich, 1874).
 
 150 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 convenient so to regard them. These Pratisakhyas are 
 grammatical, or rather phonetic, treatises written in the 
 Sutra style (some of them perhaps of a more recent date 
 than Panini), 1 regulating the euphonic combination of 
 letters and their peculiar pronunciation according to the 
 practice of the different Sakhas, ' branches/ of the Veda?, 
 in those traditional versions of the Vedic texts handed 
 down by different families. The Pratisakhyas do not 
 undo words in the same way as the Vyakarana, but take 
 actually formed words as they occur in the hymns, and 
 teach the phonetic changes they undergo, the mode of 
 pronouncing the accents, &c. In fact, they show how the 
 Pada text is converted by a process of euphonic combina- 
 tion into the Samhita. 
 
 Since the chief virtue of the Vedic texts was in their 
 oral repetition, and since so much importance was attached 
 to the proper pronunciation and accentuation of every 
 syllable, it may be easily supposed that these phonetic 
 manuals were of great value to persons who had to repeat 
 Mantras every day as an essential part of their religious 
 exercises. They probably served as guides and aids to the 
 memory, both for teachers in instructing their pupils and 
 for pupils in learning to recite the Veda. Four Prati- 
 sakhyas are extant, viz. : i. one to the Sakala-sakha of the 
 Kig-veda, ascribed to Saunaka; 2 2. another to a Sakha 
 of the Taittiriya or Black Yajur-veda ; 3 3. another to a 
 Sakha of the Madhyandinas, of the family of the Vaja- 
 saneyins or 'followers of the White Yajur-veda/ whence 
 
 1 The late Professor Goldstiicker, in his work on Panini, decides that 
 all the Pratisakhyas must have been posterior to Panini, but this opinion 
 is shared by few other scholars. 
 
 2 Edited and translated into French by M. Adolphe Regnier, and 
 into German by Professor Max Miiller. 
 
 3 Edited, with its commentary, and translated by Professor William 
 D. Whitney.
 
 VEDANGAS SIKSHA OR PHONETIC DIRECTORY. !$! 
 
 this is called the Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya ; * it is ascribed to 
 an author, Katyayana, probably identical with the writer 
 of the Varttikas or ' supplementary rules ' to Panini ; 4. an 
 Atharva-veda-pratisakhya, called Saunakiya Caturadhya- 
 yikil, 2 ' Saunaka's treatise in four chapters.' No Prati- 
 sakhya has yet been found to the Sama-veda. 
 
 The relative age of the Pratisakhyas in their present 
 form is an open question. That to the Rig-veda has been 
 by some confidently declared the oldest, though written in 
 Slokas with occasional admixture of other metres. 
 
 I here translate the fifth and sixth Sutras of this Prati- 
 sakhya, as they contain a statement of some of the points 
 which form the subject of the work : 
 
 Heaviness (i.e., prosodial length), lightness (i.e., prosodial shortness), 
 equality, shortness, longness, and prolation (of vowels), elision, augmen- 
 tation, and change, original form, non-change of Visarga into a sibilant, 
 regular order, the mixed tone, high tone, low tone, breath and sound, 3 
 and both (combined), all this must be accurately understood by one 
 who reads (or repeats) the words of the Veda. 
 
 [Gurutvam lagliutd sdmyam lirasva-dirgha-plutdni 6a \ 
 Lopdgama : vikdrds-6a prdkritir viJcramdh kramah \\ 
 Svaritoddtta-nicatvam &vdso nddas tathobhayam \ 
 Etat sarvam ca vijneyam chando-bhdshdm adhlyatd ||] 
 
 The first Atharva-veda-pratisakhya states the subject of 
 the treatise (Whitney, p. 9), and gives a fourfold division 
 of all the parts of speech in its first Sutra, thus : 
 
 The two qualities of the four kinds of words noun (ndma), verb 
 (dkhyata), preposition (upasarga), and particle (nipdta) as euphonically 
 joined and as separate words, are here the subject (prdtijnam). 
 
 1 Edited and translated by Professor Weber in the ' Indische 
 Studien.' 
 
 2 Also edited, with a most valuable English translation and notes, 
 by Professor William D. Whitney. 
 
 3 We learn from the Atharva-veda-pratisakhya I. 12, 13, that in the 
 surd consonants there is mere breath, and in the sonant, sound.
 
 152 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 That is to say, the design of the Pratisakhya is to form 
 a Samhita out of a Pada text. In fact, it supposes all the 
 Avords of the Veda to be separated from each other (as 
 they are in the Pada), and then teaches how they are to be 
 euphonically connected, as they must be in the Samhita. 1 
 
 The second chapter introduces a number of rules of 
 Sandhi, which will be familiar to the students of Panini's 
 Grammar. The first Sutra consists of one word, which 
 must be amplified thus (Whitney's edition, p. 72): 
 
 (The following rules are to be understood as of force when the 
 separate words of the disjointed text are put together) in the Samhita 
 [Samhitayam], 
 
 Then follow the rules, of which I subjoin three or four 
 examples (II. 10, n, 18, 19, III. 20): 
 
 Before s, n becomes n [na-kdrasya sa-kdre nakdrah], 
 Also before a sonant palatal (as before./) [ca-varglye ghoshavati]. 
 After the preposition ud, there is elision of the letter s of the roots 
 stha and stambh \lopa udah sthd-stambhoh sa-7cdrasya]. 
 There is elision of R before r \rephasya rephe]. 
 When r is elided (the preceding vowel is lengthened) \ra-lope\. 
 
 The Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya (I. 27) gives a still more 
 complete enumeration of the parts of speech, thus : 
 
 Words are made up of inflected verbal bases [i.e., bases having the 
 personal endings, technically called tin], nouns derived from verbs by 
 Krit affixes, nouns derived from nouns by Taddhita affixes and four 
 kinds of compounds (Avyayi-bhava, Tatpurusha, Dvandva, Bahu-vrlhi). 
 \Tin-krit-taddMta-catushtaya-samdsdh sabda-mayam. See Professor Max 
 Miiller's Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 164.] 
 
 1 In the Krama text the ist word is recited with the 2nd, that is 
 repeated with the third, that with the 4 th, &c. In the Jatd, the ist 
 word and 2nd, 2nd and ist, and ist and 2nd again; next the 2nd 
 and 3rd, 3rd and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd, and so on. In the Ghana, the 
 ist and 2nd, 2nd and ist, ist and 2nd again, 3 rd ; then 3rd, 2nd, ist, 
 ist, 2nd, 3rd; then the 2nd begins a new Ghana.
 
 VEDAN-GAS (^HANDAS OR METRE. I 5 3 
 
 The Veddngas Uhandas, 'metre.' 
 
 Tins Vedan-ga is imperfectly represented by the Clian- 
 dah-sdstra ascribed to Pin-gala or Pin-gala-naga, which may 
 be as old as the second century B.C., and treats of Prakrit 
 as well as Sanskrit metres, including only a few Vedic. 
 Other works on metres are the Nidana-sutra in ten Pi a- 
 
 / 
 
 pfithakas and the Sruta-bodha. In truth, prosody, like 
 every other subject in Sanskrit literature, affords field for 
 almost endless investigation. It is a complete study in 
 itself, and its importance in the estimation of the Hindus 
 is shown by the excessive cultivation and elaboration be- 
 stowed upon their whole metrical system. A knowledge 
 of the metre of each hymn of the Yeda was considered 
 essential to the right use and proper recitation of the 
 Mantras. Hence we find Sayana, in his introduction to 
 the first hymn of the Rig-veda, quoting the following 
 precept : 
 
 He who shall cause any one to repeat (adhydpayef) or shall himself 
 repeat (any hymn of the Veda) without having acquainted himself with 
 the name of the Rishi to whom it was revealed, the metre (chandas) in 
 which it was written, the deity to whom it was addressed, and its right 
 application (yoga), is the worst of sinners (papiyan). 
 
 Again, immediately afterwards, he adds : 
 
 Any one who makes use of (a hymn) without knowing the Rishi, the 
 metre, the deity, the right interpretation according to the Brahmanas 
 (brahmandrthd), and the accents is called ' a Mantra-thorn ' (mantra- 
 JcantaJca, as destroying or obstructing its efficacy). 
 
 In .the ninth verse of the Pumsha-sukta of the Rig-veda 
 (see p. 21) the metres are said to have sprung from 
 Purusha himself, thus : 
 
 From that universal sacrifice sprang the Ric and Saman verses, the 
 metres, and the Yajus (chanddnsi jajnire tasmdd yajus tasmdd ajdyata). 
 
 The Taittiriya-samhita VII. i. i. 4, &c., describes the
 
 154 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 creation of several metres by Prajapati (Muir, vol. i. 
 p. 15): 
 
 Prajapati desired 'may I be propagated.' He formed the Trivrit 
 from his mouth. After it were produced the deity Agni, the metre 
 Gayatri, &c. 
 
 In Manu IV. 99, 100, we have the following : 
 
 Let not a man repeat the Yeda without clear pronunciation (of the 
 letters, accents, &c., svara varnadi, Kulluka). Let him always be 
 careful to recite it as composed in metre (chandas-kritam). 
 
 It is remarkable that in Pamni's Grammar the usual 
 name for the Veda is Chandas (see p. 169). 
 
 From the importance thus assigned to the metrical 
 structure of the hymns we shall be prepared to find 
 frequent allusions to the subject of metres in the Brah- 
 manas. In fact, these treatises attach a kind of mystical 
 efficacy to their right use, and whole chapters of the 
 Upanishads enlarge on the same fanciful theme. The 
 Gayatri is held in especial veneration, the most sacred 
 text of the Rig-veda being in this metre. (See p. 17.) 
 
 The following passage is from the Satapatha-brahmana 
 I. 2, 5, 6, &c. (Muir's Texts, vol. iv. p. 123) : 
 
 The gods having placed Vishnu to the east surrounded him with 
 metres (chandoWiir dbhitah paryagrihnari) ; saying, ' On the south side 
 I surround thee with the Gayatri metre ; on the west I surround thee 
 with the Trishtubh metre ; on the north I surround thee with the Jagatl.' 
 Having thus surrounded him with metres, they placed Agni on the east, 
 and thus they went on worshipping and toiling. By this means they 
 acquired this whole earth (tena imam sarvdm pritliivlm samavindantd). 
 
 Again, in the fourteenth Brahmana of the Brihad- 
 aranyaka Upanishad we read (Eoer, p. 254) : 
 
 The Ricah, Yajunshi, and Samani are eight syllables (aslitdv aksha- 
 rdni) ; the second Pada (padam) of the Gayatri consists of eight syllables 
 (ashtaJfsharam). This Pada of the Gayatri represents that nature of the 
 three Vedas. Whoever knows this Pada of the Gayatri conquers all that 
 is conquerable by the knowledge of the three Vedas.
 
 VEDAN-GAS dHAKDAS OR METRE. 155 
 
 Hence we cannot be surprised that some of the most 
 sacred metres, especially the Gayatii, were in the end 
 personified and invested with divine functions. Our 
 present purpose and limits do not admit of our giving 
 schemes of even the commonest forms of Sanskrit metre, 
 whether Vedic or Post-vedic. They will be found enu- 
 merated in the third edition of my Sanskrit Grammar, 
 pp. 388-392. l Let me merely observe that great licence 
 is allowed in Vedic prosody, so that in the Gayatri, which 
 may be regarded as consisting either of three divisions 
 of eight syllables each (whence it is called tri-pada) or 
 of six feet of four syllables each, the quantity of each 
 syllable is very irregular, although the second, fourth, 
 and sixth feet generally contain two iambics. 
 
 Of Post-vedic metres we have so great a variety that 
 it becomes necessary to arrange them under classes and 
 orders, genera and species. In truth, the elaboration of 
 every kind of complicated metre is carried to an extent 
 quite beyond the ordinary practice of poetical composi- 
 tion in other languages. ' A Hindu poet/ says Dr. Yates, 
 'may proceed to any length he pleases, within the limits 
 of a thousand syllables to the half-line,' or quarter-stanza. 
 The Dandaka metre (of which a specimen occurs in the 
 drama called Malati-madhava, Act V.) 2 offers more than 
 any other an almost incredible capability of expansion. 
 It will admit, indeed, of the stanza extending 27 x 4 to 
 999 x 4 syllables. But the commonest form of metre, 
 chiefly found in epic poetry the Anushtubh or Sloka 
 is short and easy. It consists of four half-lines of 
 eight syllables each or two lines of sixteen syllables each, 
 
 1 See also Colebrooke's Essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit metres and 
 Professor Weber's articles in the ' Indische Studien. ' 
 
 2 Beginning Pracalita-kari-kriHi, &c. It has fifty-four syllables to the 
 quarter-verse. This specimen is translated in the Asiatic Researches, 
 vol. x. p. 456.
 
 156 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the last two feet of each line being iambics (see my San- 
 skrit Grammar, p. 288). The Indra-vajra (with its Upen- 
 dra-vajra variety) is also a common metre, and one of the 
 most rhythmical. It nearly corresponds to one occurring 
 in Horace's fourth Ode : 
 
 Vulcanus ardens urit officinas, 
 Trahuntque siccas machinae carmas. 
 
 But to make the Latin agree with the Sanskrit metre we 
 must suppose the first syllable of machinae and of urit 
 to be short. It might be represented in an English line 
 thus, 'Down comes the rain, and with it comes the thun- 
 der,' an emphasis being placed on the first syllable. 
 
 The Veddngas Nirukta, ' exposition.' 
 
 The object of this Vedan-ga is etymological explanation 
 or interpretation of difficult Vedic words. Doubtless, 
 numerous works devoted to this object once existed, but 
 all have perished except one, which is now the typical 
 representative of the whole class. 1 This is a compilation, 
 accompanied with an exposition, by an author named 
 Yaska, who, according to the best authorities, lived before 
 Panini, 2 probably about 400 years B.C., or about 1800 
 years before Sayana. His work consists first of three bare 
 lists or catalogues of words in five chapters : viz., a. The 
 Naighantuka in three chapters of synonyms or rather of 
 collections of words said to have the same meaning as 
 some one word of known signification given at the 
 end, one such collection being called a Nighantu. The 
 
 i 
 
 No less than seventeen Nairuktikas or ' interpreters of the Veda ' 
 are mentioned by name as having preceded Yaska. See Dr. Muir's 
 article on the interpretation of the Veda, p. 321. 
 
 2 Panini himself implies (IV. I. 112) that the name Yaska means a 
 descendant of Yaska.
 
 VEDAN-GAS NIRUKTA OR EXPOSITION. 157 
 
 synonyms in each collection vary from two (III. 22) to 
 one hundred and twenty-two (II. 14), and can scarcely 
 be called synonyms in the strict sense. For example, when 
 it is said that vartate, ' he turns ; ' lotate, ' he rolls ; ' sar- 
 pati, ' he creeps ;' sravati, ' he flows ;' sransate, ' he drops ;' 
 plavate, 'he swims;' dlyate, 'he flies;' patati, ' he falls/ 
 and 122 other words are all synonyms of gamati, 'he 
 goes/ or gati, ' going/ this must be understood very widely 
 as intending to include all forms and varieties of motion. 
 Again, in I. 12, we have a collection of 101 words, which 
 are all said to be synonyms of water (udaka), but it is 
 obvious that the only attribute most of these have in 
 common is, that they are varieties of fluids, including, 
 for example, nectar (amrita) and clarified butter (havis). 
 Seeing, therefore, that many of the words brought to- 
 gether are old Vedic words of doubtful meaning, quite 
 unknown to classical Sanskrit, and seeing that a complete 
 explanation of the gradations and modifications of sense 
 under each head of synonyms is wanting, the practical 
 utility of these lists is of course very small indeed, b. The 
 Naigama, a collection of 278 separate words (paddni) 
 occurring in the Veda (nigama), all in one chapter of 
 three sections, c. The Daivata or 1 5 1 words relating to 
 deities and religious or sacrificial acts, in one chapter of 
 six short sections. Whether these collections were drawn 
 up by Yaska himself or by some previous compiler is not 
 certain, but there is no doubt that the second and most 
 important part of the work, viz., the Nirukta or 'explana- 
 tion' of the words in these lists, is his own composition. 
 Although, therefore, the term Nirukta is sometimes ap- 
 plied to the lists of words, it more properly belongs to 
 Yaska' s explanation of them, which occupies twelve chap- 
 ters. The first of the twelve is a kind of introduction, 
 which contains some interesting discussions of philological 
 questions and a sort of summary or sketch of grammar ;
 
 158 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the following two chapters are an imperfect exposition of 
 the Naighantuka or ' lists of synonymous words/ the defi- 
 ciency of which has been to a certain extent supplied by 
 Durga, a commentator on Yaska ; the next three chapters 
 explain the Naigama or ' single Vedic words/ and the last 
 six the Daivata or ' deities addressed in the hymns.' 
 Thus the three collections with their explanations occupy 
 seventeen chapters. The value of the work 1 consists in 
 its being the oldest extant commentary on the Veda. 
 When words are explained, Vedic passages are quoted in 
 illustration, and the author often enters into curious 
 etymological investigations, which possess great interest 
 from their universally admitted antiquity, but are difficult 
 to understand from the extreme brevity and obscurity of 
 their style. 
 
 I here abridge some valuable remarks from Dr. John 
 Muir's article on the 'Interpretation of the Veda/ in 
 the Eoyal Asiatic Society's Journal (vol. ii. new series, 
 p. 320) : 
 
 The Nirukta makes frequent reference to the Brahmanas, and alludes 
 to various schools of Vedic interpretation which existed anterior to its 
 author, such as the Nairuktas or 'etymologists,' the Aitihasikas or 
 'legendary writers,' and the Yajnikas or 'ritualists.' Yaska supplies 
 specimens of the mode of explaining the hymns adopted by different 
 schools of interpreters. Thus we are told (Nirukta XI. 29, 31) that 
 the Nairuktas understood Anumati, Raka, Sinlvali, and Kuhu to be 
 goddesses, while the Yajnikas took them for the new and full moons. 
 The gods called Asvins were a great enigma. The Nirukta (XII. i) 
 gives the following answers to the question who they were : ' Heaven and 
 Earth,' say some ; ' Day and Night,' say others ; ' the Sun and Moon,' 
 say others ; ' two Kings, performers of holy acts,' say the Aitihasikas. 
 Again, Nirukta (VI. 13) tells us that Aurnabhava understood Nasatyau 
 (an epithet of the Asvins) as ' true, not false.' Agrayana took it to 
 mean ' leaders of truth ' (satyasya pranetdrau) ; while Yaska himself 
 suggests that it may mean ' nose-born ' (nasika-prdbliavau). Again, we 
 
 1 It has been ably edited by Professor Roth.
 
 VEDAN'GAS NIRUKTA OR EXPOSITION. I 59 
 
 are informed (Nirukta III. 8) that some understood the five peoples 
 (panca-janali) mentioned in Rig-veda X. 53. 4 to be the Gandharvas, 
 Pitris, gods, Asuras, and Rakshases ; whilst Aupamanyava took them 
 for the four castes and the Nishadas. So, again, Katthakya understood 
 Narasansa to designate ' sacrifice,' but S'akapuni took it for a name of 
 Agni (Nir. VIII. 4. 5). In like manner, Yaska's predecessors were not 
 agreed as to what was meant by Vishnu's three steps in Rig-veda I. 
 22. 17 ; S'akapuni maintaining that they were planted on the earth, 
 the atmosphere, and the sky respectively ; and Aurnabhava that the hill 
 over which the sun rises, the meridian, and the hill where he sets, were 
 the localities referred to. One of these predecessors (Kautsa) had the 
 audacity to assert that Vedic exposition was useless, as the hymns 
 were obscure, unmeaning, or mutually contradictory. As instances of 
 obscurity he cites the texts in which the words amyak (Rig-veda I. 
 169. 3), yddrUmin (V. 44. 8), jdraydyi (VI. 12. 4), and kdnukd (VIII. 
 66. 4) occur. In regard to this charge, Yaska replies that it is not the 
 fault of the post that the blind man does not see it. In the Nirukta- 
 parisishta the ' four defined grades or stages of speech ' referred to in 
 Rig-veda I. 164. 45, are said to be explained by the Rishis as meaning 
 the four mystic words, om, Wiuli, hhuvah, svar; by the grammarians, as 
 denoting nouns, verbs, prepositions, and particles ; by the ritualists, as 
 the hymns, liturgical precepts, Brahmanas, and ordinary language j 
 by the etymologists, as the Rig, Yajush, Saman, and the current lan- 
 guage; by others, as the speech of serpents, birds, reptiles, and the 
 vernacular ; by the spiritualists, as that of beasts, musical instruments, 
 wild animals, and soul. 
 
 It is evident from the above remarks that great differ- 
 ence of opinion existed among expositors of the Veda even 
 in Yaska's time, considerably more than 2000 years ago, 
 and that the objections of sceptics and rationalists had to 
 be met and answered by orthodox theologians like himself. 
 He commences his own exposition thus (I. i) : 
 
 The traditional collection of words has been thus traditionally repeated. 
 That must now be explained. They call this traditional collection the 
 Nighantus. \Samdmnayah samdmndtah sa vydkhydtavyas tarn imam 
 samdrnndyain nigliantava ity dcakshate.] 
 
 Perhaps as good an example of Yaska's condensed style 
 as can be offered is a passage quoted and explained by Pro-
 
 160 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 fessor Goldstiicker from Koth's edition, I. 3. It is inte- 
 resting as showing that, for the better interpretation of the 
 Veda, Yaska aimed at giving some sort of exposition of 
 grammar and grammatical science as then understood : 
 
 (The ancient grammarian) S'akatayana says that prepositions when 
 not attached (to nouns or verbs) do not express meanings ; but Gargya 
 says that they illustrate (or modify) the action which is expressed by a 
 noun or verb, and that their senses are various (even when detached). 
 Now they express that sense which inheres in them ; that is, that which 
 modifies the sense of a noun or verb. The preposition a is in the sense 
 of limit ; pra and para express the reverse of that ; ablii, direction 
 towards ; prati, the reverse of that ; ati and su, superiority; nir and dur, 
 the reverse of these two ; ni and ava, the act of taking down ; ud, the 
 reverse of these two ; sam, combining together vi and apa, the reverse 
 of that ; anu, similarity or being after ; apt, conjunction ; upa, the being 
 appended; part, being all around; adhi, being above or supremacy : thus 
 they express various meanings, and these must be taken into considera- 
 tion. \_Na nirbaddlid upasarga artlidn nir-dhur iti Qdlcatdyano, ndmd- 
 l-hydtayos tu karmopasamyoga-dyotaM bhavanty uccdvacdh paddrthd 
 lliavantlti Gdrgyas, tad ya eshu paddrtliah prdhur ime tarn ndmdkhyd- 
 tayor artlia-vikaranam ; d ity arvdg-arthe, pra parety etasya prdtilo- 
 myam ; ability dbhimukhyam, praflty etasya pratilomyam ; ati su ity 
 abhipujitdrthe, nir dur ity etayoh prdtilomyam ; ny aveti vinigrahdrthiyd, 
 ud ity etayoh prdtilomyam ; sam ity eJalhavam, vy apety etasya prdtilo- 
 myam; anv iti sddrisydparabhdvam ; apiti samsargam ; upety upaja- 
 nam ; pariti sarvato-Widvam ; adJnty uparibhdvam aisvaryam vaivam 
 uccdvacdn artlian prahus ta zipeJcshitavydh.] 
 
 There is a still more interesting passage on the subject of 
 derivation a little further on in the same chapter (I. 1 2) : 
 
 So these four kinds of words have been enumerated, nouns (ndman), 
 verbs (dkhydta), prepositions (upasarga), and particles (nipdta). S'aka- 
 tayana affirms that nouns are derived from verbs, and on this point there 
 is an agreement of the etymologists (nairuUa-samayah). But Gargya 
 and some of the grammarians say that not all (nouns are derived from 
 verbs). For if all nouns came from verbs, then whatever performs the 
 same action ought to have the same name. Thus, if asva, ' a horse,' were 
 derived from the root a^, 'to pass through,' then every one who passes 
 along a road ought to be called asva; and if trina, 'a blade of grass,' 
 were derived from the root trid, ' to pierce,' then everything that pierces
 
 VEDAN-GAS VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. l6l 
 
 ought to be called trina. Again, if all nouns were derived from verbs, 
 then everything would have as many names as there are states with 
 which it could be connected. Thus, sthund, 'a post,' might be called 
 dara-saya, 'hole-sleeper,' because resting in a hole, or san-jani, 'joiner 
 together, because things are joined by being attached to it. [Yaska 
 ends by taking the side of S'akatayana. See Professer Max Mliller's 
 Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 165.] 
 
 The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters, commonly called 
 the Nirukta-parisishta, are thought to be the work of a 
 more recent author than Yaska. There are numerous 
 classical glossaries by later lexicographers, e.g. : 
 
 The Amara-kosha (sometimes called Tri-kanda, ' having three chap- 
 ters '), by the Bauddha Amara-sinha, probably not later than A.D. 500; 
 the Abhidhana-ratna-mala, by Halayudha ; the Abhidhana-6intaniani, 
 by the Jaina Hema-c'andra ; the Visva-prakasa, by Mahesvara ; the 
 Dharani ; the Medini ; the Haravali, &c. 
 
 The Veddn-gas Vyakarana, 'grammar.' 
 
 This word Vy-d-karana means literally ' undoing/ and 
 is applied first to linguistic analysis, and then generally 
 to grammar, but especially to Panini's grammar. 1 It is 
 the opposite to Sanskarana, ' putting together/ whence 
 the formed language is called Sanskrita, ' constructed.' 
 Strictly, the great Vyakarana of Paniui can scarcely be 
 regarded as a Vedan-ga, seeing that it only treats of the 
 Vedic idiom exceptionally. The grammatical Sutras which 
 preceded his time, and which have nearly all perished, must 
 have constituted the Vyakarana division of works ancillary 
 to the study of the Veda. 2 Nevertheless, the grammar of 
 
 1 No Pandit would use Vyakarana except for Sanskrit grammar, 
 and a man's Sanskrit scholarship is often summed up by describing 
 him as knowing ' the Vytlkaran.' 
 
 2 Panini himself mentions several grammarians as having preceded 
 him, such as Apisali, Kasyapa, Gargya, Galava, Cakravarmana, Bhara- 
 dvaja, S'akatayana, S'akalya, Senaka, and Sphotayana. The Unadi-sutras 
 
 L
 
 1 62 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Paniui, which is the great standard of correct Sanskrit, is 
 usually taken to represent this Vedanga, and as it is one 
 of the most remarkable literary works that the world has 
 ever seen, and as no other country can produce any gram- 
 matical system at all comparable to it, either for originality 
 of plan or for analytical subtlety, a brief description of its 
 characteristic features may be introduced here. 
 
 Little or nothing is known of Panini, the author of the 
 grammar. He is described as a descendant of Paniu and 
 grandchild of an inspired legislator named Devala. His 
 mother's name was Dakshi (whence he is culled Daksheya), 
 and Salatura in the Gandhara country (Kandahar), north- 
 west of Attock on the Indus, is said to have been his 
 birth-place (whence his name Salaturiya). He belonged, 
 therefore, to the North- Western or Western school. As, 
 however, in later times he became more and more an 
 object of reverence, he was at last actually canonized by 
 his admirers, that is to say, exalted to the rank of a Rishi 
 or inspired Muni. Hence he is fabled to have seen rather 
 than composed his grammar, which was declared to have 
 been supernaturally revealed to him, the first fourteen 
 Sutras especially having^ been communicated, according to 
 the legend, by the god Sivn, It is, of course, quite impos- 
 sible to fix with certainty at what period Panini lived. 
 The late Professor Goldstlicker thought he had good 
 grounds for deciding that the great grammarian preceded 
 Buddha. This would kcejiim in the, sixth century B - c - 
 
 (commented on by Ujjvala-datta), giving the affixes, commencing with un, 
 for the formation of words whose meaning has deviated from accordance 
 with their etymology, and whose root is not always clear, are thought by 
 some to be anterior to Panini. Possibly he may have made a list of them 
 himself. At any rate, he mentions the affixes in III. 3. i, III. 4. 75. 
 S'antanava's Phit-sutras on accent are probably later than Panini. They 
 have been well edited by Professor Kielhorn. I believe Dr. Biilher has 
 found part of a work which claims to be S'akatayana's grammar.
 
 VEDAN-GAS VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 163 
 
 Other scholars, whose opinions are entitled to respect, con- 
 sider that an earlier date cannot be assigned to him than 
 the middle of the fourth century B.C. 
 
 His work perhaps the most original of all productions, 
 of the Hindu mind is sometimes called the Ashtadhya\ I, 
 sometimes Ashtaknm Panimyam, because it consists of 
 eight lectures (Adhyayas), each of which is again sub- 
 divided into four chapters (Padas). In these eight 
 Adhyayas are contained 3996 Sutras or Aphorisms. 1 The 
 iirst Aclbyaya explains the technical terms used in the 
 grammar and the rules for their interpretation and appli- 
 cation. 2 A root is called Dhatu, and a crude base Prati- 
 padika, but a root never appears without some appendage 
 (anubandlia) in the shape of indicatory syllables or letters 
 (technically called it) which do not really form part of the 
 root, but merely denote certain peculiarities in its inflec- 
 tion, conjugation, &c. Similar indicatory letters and syl- 
 lables (it) are attached either at the beginning or end of 
 all affixes, augments, &c. 3 The case affixes are called sup, 
 and the personal endings or terminations of verbs tin-. 
 
 1 Three or four of these are supposed to be later additions. In the 
 excellent edition of Professor Bohtlingk there are 3997, including the 
 fourteen S'iva Sutras. Panini is also the supposed author of the oldest 
 Dhatu-patha or dictionary of roots with their Anubandhas. 
 
 2 A rule giving the key to Panini's Sutras and their application 
 is called a Paribhusha ; one which explains the technical terms is a 
 Sanjna. 
 
 3 For example, the root nid is called nidi to show that a nasal is 
 inserted in conjugation, thus, ninddmi, nindasi, &c. The affix maya is 
 called may at to show that its feminine is mayi. Sometimes these Its or 
 Anubandhas serve to distinguish two roots or affixes, which, although 
 similar in sound, have different senses ; for example, the root da, ' to 
 give,' is called duddn, while da, 'to divide,' is called dap; the affix vat, 
 meaning ' like,' is called vati, while the affix vat, meaning ' possessed 
 of,' is called vatup. Sometimes the only use of these Anubandhas is to 
 enable Pratyfiharas to be formed ; thus the case-ending of the accusative 
 dual is called aut merely for the sake of forming the Pratyahara silt.
 
 1 64 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Between the latter and the root a conjugational syllable 
 is inserted, called vikarana. The third chapter of the 
 first Adhyaya treats of the proper use of the active voice 
 (Parasmai-pada) and middle or reflexive voice (Atmane- 
 2)ada). The second Adhyaya explains compound words. 
 The third, fourth, and fifth Adhyayas enumerate the vari- 
 ous affixes and their meanings. Those belonging to verbs 
 occupy the third Adhyaya ; those affixed to nouns, the 
 fourth and fifth. The sixth, seventh, and eighth Adhyayas 
 treat of the changes which roots and affixes undergo by 
 augments and substitutions of various kinds. For brevity 
 and economy of words nothing can be more successful than 
 the system in which all this immense and intricate subject 
 is explained. The Sutras of Panini are indeed a perfect 
 miracle of condensation, their main design apparently 
 being to aid the memory of teachers rather than learners 
 by the briefest possible suggestions. When a single letter 
 can be saved every other consideration is sacrificed to this 
 paramount object ; and to attain a greater amount of 
 abridgment than could be effected by the use of ordinary 
 words an arbitrary symbolical language is coined, the key 
 to which must be acquired before the rules themselves 
 can be rendered intelligible. 1 Perhaps the closing Sutra of 
 the whole work may be taken as the best instance of the 
 consummate brevity attained. It consists of two letters, 
 as follows : a a. This is said to mean : 
 
 Let short a be held to have its organ of utterance contracted, now 
 that we have reached the end of the work in which it was necessary to 
 regard it as otherwise. 
 
 Here is one from the sixth Adhyaya (i. 77): Iko yan 
 aci. This, of course, is not Sanskrit, but a kind of grara- 
 
 1 For example, syan stands for the characteristic of roots of the fourth 
 class, yak for the passive, nic for the causal, san for the desiderative, 
 tjan- for the intensive.
 
 VEDAN-GAS VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 165 
 
 matical algebra. Ik is a symbol standing for the four 
 vowels i, u, ri, Iri, and gifted with an imaginary genitive 
 case ikaJi (here changed to iko). Yan is a symbol for the 
 letters y, v, r, I; and ac (supposed to possess a locative 
 case aci) represents all the vowels. The ride at full is : 
 
 The letters y, v, r, I, take the place of i, u, rl, Iri, short or long, 
 respectively, when followed by any dissimilar vowel. 
 
 Moreover, an aphorism which stands at the head of a 
 series, and is hence called an Adhikdra or ' governing rule,' 
 is never repeated, but must be supplied after the whole 
 series till the influence (anuvritti) of this governing Sutra 
 is supposed to cease, such cessation being called nivritti. 
 Thus the seventy-fourth Sutra of the third chapter of 
 Adhyaya I. is nicas-ca, which must be interpreted thus : 
 
 And after a verbal base ending in the causal affix (nic) the Atmane- 
 pada must come when the result of the action returns to the agent. 
 
 Of course nearly all the matter necessary to make this 
 rule intelligible has to be supplied from other rules, and 
 especially from the Adhikara rule 12, which is separated 
 by sixty-two intervening Sutras. 
 
 In short, a careful examination of Panini's grammar 
 will dispose the student to appreciate Colebrooke's remark 
 that ' the endless pursuit of exceptions and limitations 
 so disjoins the general precepts, that the reader cannot 
 keep in view their intended connection and mutual rela- 
 tion. * He wanders in an intricate maze, and the clue of 
 the labyrinth is continually slipping from his hand.' 
 
 In point of fact, however, this grammar ought not to 
 be examined from a European point of view at all. We 
 must not forget that an Indian Pandit's ideas of grammar 
 are very different from our own. Europeans are apt to 
 look on a grammar of any kind as a necessary evil, only 
 to be tolerated because indispensable to the attainment
 
 1 66 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of a desired end beyond. With us the grammar of a 
 language is in most cases a mere passage to iH literature, 
 a dreary region to be traversed as soon as possible. A 
 Pandit, on the other hand, regards grammar as we should 
 regard the natural sciences. It is with him a something 
 to be studied and elaborated for its own sake. According 
 to the late Professor Goldstiicker, ' Panini's work is indeed 
 a kind of natural history of the Sanskrit language.' l It 
 gives an account of the linguistic facts and phenomena 
 as it finds them, tracing them out as they occur without 
 regard to any scientific or methodical arrangement of 
 materials. Thus the prolongation of vowels is dealt with 
 as a fact, and is followed out through a whole chapter in 
 order to trace all the instances in which such a lengthen- 
 ing takes place, whether in declension or conjugation or 
 the composition of words. Hence the rules of declension 
 and conjugation do not follow each other in their usual 
 order according to the European system, but are scattered 
 about in a disjointed and often very perplexing manner, 
 so that it becomes necessary to search for and put together 
 Aphorisms in widely separated parts of the work to enable 
 the statement of some grammatical law or process to be 
 completed. 
 
 Panini's grammar was criticized and its deficiencies 
 supplied by the celebrated Katyayana, who is called 
 Varttika-kara, as author of the Varttikas or ' supplemen- 
 tary rules and annotations.' He must have lived some 
 time after Panini, perhaps in the century following. 
 Some, however, believe the two grammarians to have 
 been contemporaneous. Katyayana, again, was criticized 
 by his rival Patanjali, who generally supports Panini 
 against the composer of the supplementary rules. To 
 Patanjali we owe one of the most wonderful grammatical 
 
 1 See Chambers's Encyclopaedia, article Panini.
 
 VEDAN-GAS VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 167 
 
 works that the genius of any country has ever produced, 
 viz., the Mahabhashya or 'great commentary,' 1 written 
 not so much to explain Panini as to defend such of his 
 Aphorisms as had been criticized by Katyayana. He was 
 probably not the same person as the author of the Yoga 
 philosophy. According to some, his mother's name was 
 Gonika ; he was born at Gonarda in the east of India, and 
 he lived for some time in Kashmir, where his work was well 
 known. According to Professor Goldstiicker, he wrote 
 between 140 and 120 B.C.; 2 but Professor Weber places 
 him about twenty-five years after Christ. These three 
 men, Panini, Katyayana, and Patanjali, compose the great 
 Indian triumvirate of grammarians, from whose authority 
 there is no appeal in anything which relates to Vyakarana. 
 About one hundred and fifty grammarians and commen- 
 
 1 The whole of this great work has been lately edited by two Pandits 
 at Benares. See the able article on it by Professor Weber in the last 
 volume of the ' Indische Studien.' A copy has been kindly sent to me 
 by Professor A. E. Gough. Patanjali's additions to the Varttikas are 
 called Islitis or Desiderata. He is also the author of many Karikas or 
 memorial verses on grammar. A compendium of such verses was also 
 made by Bhartri-hari. 
 
 2 See the 'Indian Antiquary' for February 1873. See also an 
 article on Patanjali in Chambers's Encyclopaedia, where it is well said 
 that Patanjali's method is analogous to that of other classical commen- 
 taries ; it establishes, usually by repetition, the correct reading of the 
 text in explaining every important or doubtful word, in showing the 
 connection of the principal parts of the sentence, and in adding such 
 observations as may be required. Frequently Patanjali attaches his 
 own critical remarks to the emendations of Katyayana, often in support 
 of the views of the latter, but not seldom, too, in order to refute his 
 criticisms and to defend Panini; while, again, at other times, he com- 
 pletes the statement of one of them by his own additional rules. 
 Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, writing in the ' Indian Antiquary ' 
 for October 1872, states his opinion that Patanjali lived when Push- 
 pamitra was reigning at Patali-putra, and ' that he probably wrote the 
 third chapter of his Bhashya between 144 B.C. and 142 B.C.' Professor 
 Weber, however, controverts this conclusion.
 
 1 68 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 tators followed in their footsteps, each criticizing or 
 commenting on his predecessors. Among these may 
 be mentioned Kaiyata or Kaiyyata, who commented on 
 Patanjali in a work called the Bhashya-pradrpa, and was 
 himself commented on by Nagoji-bhatta in the Bhashya- 
 pradipoddyota. 1 One of the best of the more modern 
 commentaries on Panini is Vamana's Kasika Vritti, so 
 called because composed at Kasi or Benares. A gram- 
 marian named Bhattoji-dlkshita attempted to arrange the 
 Aphorisms on a plan more in accordance with modern 
 ideas. His useful work is called the Siddhanta-kaumudL 2 
 A second and greater simplification of Panini is the Mad- 
 hyama-kaumudi, and a still greater is the Laghu-kaumudi 
 of Varada-raja, 3 which is in fact a kind of abridgment of 
 the Siddhanta-kaumudi, current in the north-west of India. 
 
 Vopadeva, a grammarian who is said to have flourished 
 about the latter half of the thirteenth century at the 
 court of Hemadri, king of Deva-giri (Dowlatabad), wrote 
 a grammar for beginners on a system of his own, called 
 the Mugdha-bodha, 4 which is much valued as an authority 
 in Bengal, and referred to by many native commentators, 
 such, for example, as Bharata-mallika or Bharata-sena, 
 who therefore called his commentary on the Bhatti-kavya, 
 Mugdha-bodhini. 
 
 Vopadeva's arrangement and many of his technical 
 terms and symbolical expressions (including the technical 
 forms of his affixes) differ from those of Panini, and the 
 only allusion to Vedic peculiarities is in the last Sutra of 
 the work (XXVI. 220), which is as follows : 
 
 1 This jSTagoji-bhatta was also the author of a grammatical work 
 called Paribhashendu-sekhara, lately edited at Bombay, with a trans- 
 lation, by Professor F. Kielhorn. 
 
 2 A new edition of this was published not long ago in India, 
 
 3 This was edited and translated by Dr. Ballantyne. 
 
 4 It has been edited, like Panini, by Professor Bohtlingk.
 
 VEDAN-GAS VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. I 6p 
 
 Manifold forms and irregularities are allowed in the Veda. [Balm- 
 lam brahmani, which corresponds to Panini's often-repeated bahulam 
 chandasi, II. 4. 39, II. 4. 73, &c. Cf. also Panini's vyatyayo bahulam, 
 'opposition to the usual rule is frequent in the Veda,' III. i. 85.] 
 
 In fact, Vopadeva x does not aim at the completeness of 
 Panini. He omits all notice of the accents, and his treat- 
 ment of the laws of euphonic combination is by no means 
 exhaustive. In his explanation of declension and conjuga- 
 tion he is more satisfactory, and he gives numerous useful 
 examples and paradigms, but usually contents himself 
 with general rules, and does not, like Panini, trouble 
 himself to trace out minute particulars or examine into 
 every corner of an intricate subject with a view to a care- 
 ful search for all possible exceptions. Professor Bohtlingk 
 has given an analysis of the Mugdha-bodha in the preface 
 to his excellent edition of the work. Vopadeva's first 
 chapter explains technical terms ; the second treats of 
 euphonic laws ; the third, of declension ; the fourth, of 
 the formation of feminines ; the fifth, of the use of the 
 cases ; the sixth, of compound words ; the seventh, of 
 Taddhita affixes ; the eighth, of technical terms applicable 
 
 1 It is very necessary to know the commonest of Vopadeva's technical 
 expressions, as they are not only occasionally used by some native 
 commentators, but are also employed in some instances by European 
 expounders of Sanskrit grammar. They often deviate from Panini's 
 system. For example, the memorial terminations usually given for 
 verbs are those of Vopadeva (VIII. i) ; dim stands for dhatu, ' a root ; ' 
 rri for vriddhi ; kva for the terminations of the singular ; vva for bahu- 
 vadana, those of the plural ; li for lin-ga, a nominal base ; lidhu for 
 nominal verbs ; 6up and up for the characteristic u of the eighth class 
 of roots ; turn and catum instead of Panini's tumun, for the Krit affix 
 turn forming the infinitive ; sdna (not sdnac) for the termination of the 
 present participle Atmane ; sri for the pronominals (called Sarva- 
 naman by Panini) ; samdhdra for Panini's pratyaliara (see my Sanskrit- 
 English Dictionary). Nevertheless, Vopadeva adopts a great number 
 of Panini's technical terms.
 
 I 70 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 to verbs and of roots of the first class ; the ninth and 
 tenth, of roots of the second and third classes ; the 
 eleventh to the seventeenth, of roots of the fourth to the 
 tenth classes, one chapter being devoted to each class ; 
 the eighteenth, of causal verbs ; the nineteenth, of de- 
 sideratives ; the twentieth, of intensives ; the twenty-first, 
 of nominals ; the twenty-second, of the use of the Paras- 
 mai-pada ; the twenty-third, of the use of the Atmane- 
 pada ; the twenty-fourth, of passives, impersonals, and 
 reflexive verbs ; the twenty-fifth, of the use of the tenses 
 and moods; the twenty-sixth, of Krit affixes and of 
 affixes added to roots to form participles, &c. 
 
 I conclude by observing that a popular grammar called 
 the Kdtantra (or Kalapa) is being well edited for the 
 Bibliotheca Indica by Professor J. Eggeling. 
 
 The Veddngas Jyotisha, 'astronomy.' 
 
 This Vedan-ga should rather be called ' the astronomical 
 or astrological calendar.' Strictly speaking, it is repre- 
 sented by a short tract, consisting of thirty-six verses, in 
 a comparatively modern style, to which scholars cannot 
 assign a date earlier than 300 years B.C. According to 
 the best authorities, no genuine Sutras on astronomy have 
 as yet been discovered. The object of the Jyotisha 
 Vedan-ga is to fix the most auspicious days and seasons 
 for commencing sacrifices. This treatise, brief and unsa- 
 tisfactory as it is, nevertheless deserves attention as em- 
 bodying some of the most ancient astronomical ideas, 
 among which may be mentioned the measure of a day 
 by thirty Muhurtas or hours of forty-eight minutes, the 
 division of the zodiac into twenty-seven parts or lunar 
 asterisms (the first of which is Krittika), and the tradi- 
 tional place of the solstitial points, from which the 
 attempt has been repeatedly made (by Jones, Davis,
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. I/ I 
 
 Colebrooke, Pratt, and others) to deduce a date for the 
 treatise itself, as well as for the whole Vedic literature. 
 
 The following is Colebrooke's translation of verses seven 
 and eight of the Jyotisha tract, 1 which verses have been 
 the subject of much controversy in relation to their bear- 
 ing on the determination of dates from a comparison of 
 the present position of the solstitial points : 
 
 The sun and moon turn towards the north at the beginning of S'ra- 
 vishtha ( = Dhanishtha), but the sun turns towards the south in the 
 middle of the constellation over which the serpents preside ; and this 
 (turn towards the south and towards the north) always happens in the 
 months of Magha and S'ravana. [Prapadyete Sravishthddau surya- 
 candramasdv udak, Sdrpdrdlie ddksliindrkas tu, mdglia-srdvanayoh saddJ\ 
 In the northern passage an increase of day and decrease of night take 
 place amounting to a Prastha (or thirty-two Palas) of water ; in the 
 southern, both are reversed (i.e., the days decrease and the nights 
 increase), and the difference amounts, by the journey, to six Muhurtas. 
 \Gharma-vriddhir apdm prastliah kshapd-hrdsa udag-gatau, DaJcsMne 
 tau viparyastau slian-muhurty ayanena tu.] 
 
 Whatever may be the value of these verses in an astro- 
 nomical point of view, it is clear that a superstitious 
 belief in the importance of choosing .auspicious days and 
 lucky moments for the performance of rites and cere- 
 monies, whether public or domestic, began to show itself 
 very early in India, and that it grew and strengthened 
 simultaneously with the growth of priestcraft and the 
 
 1 See Professor E. B. Cowell's new edition of Colebrooke's Essays, 
 republished by his son, Sir T. E. Colebrooke, p. 98 ; and see especially 
 Professor Whitney's valuable notes on this point (p. 126). The latter 
 shows that the date derivable from the statement made in the Jyotisha 
 has a necessary uncertainty of about four centuries (from the I4th to the 
 loth B.C.), and he claims that the actual uncertainty is still greater 
 that, in fact, the statement is worth nothing as yielding any definite 
 date at all. Weber had before pointed out that the difference of six 
 Muhurtas between the longest and shortest day or night is accurate 
 only in the extreme north-western corner of India.
 
 I 72 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 elaboration of a complex ritual. The influence of the sun 
 upon the .atmosphere and soil made itself so manifest that 
 it was only natural to infer that similar influences be- 
 longed to the moon, planets, and stars; and the per- 
 sonification and deification of all the most conspicuous 
 luminaries which resulted from the supposed power in- 
 herent in their rays, of course intensified the superstitious 
 feeling of dependence upon their favourable aspects for 
 the success, not only of religious acts, but of all the affairs 
 of life. Pernicious as such superstitious ideas were in 
 their effect on the mind and all mental progress, they were 
 nevertheless productive of good in impelling the acute 
 Hindu to study the movements of the heavenly bodies, and 
 stimulating him to undertake arithmetical and mathema- 
 tical investigations. In all probability, astronomical and 
 mathematical science had an independent origin in India. 
 It is at least certain that they were cultivated with some 
 success at a very early epoch, though of course very 
 roughly in the absence of all optical and mechanical 
 appliances. We have already given an example from the 
 Aitareya-brahmnna, which contains certain shrewd guesses 
 at scientific truth in regard to the sun (see p. 32). 
 
 In some of the earliest hymns of the Veda the Nak- 
 shatras or lunar mansions 1 are mentioned in connection 
 with the moon (see Rig-veda I. 50. 2). Moreover, some of 
 the phases of the moon, such as Anumati, 'the moon one 
 digit less than full;' Rdka, 'the full moon;' Kuhu (or 
 
 1 For the twenty-seven Vedic Nakshatras see my Sanskrit-English 
 Dictionary (also Appendix). The word Nakskatra at first meant a star 
 or asterism in general ; then it was applied to the selected series of 
 asterisms through or near which the moon passes j and finally it was 
 loosely used for the part of the moon's path, the 2 yth or 2 8th of the 
 zodiac, marked by each asterism. In the later mythology the lunar 
 mansions were fabled as the twenty-seven daughters of Daksba and 
 wives of the moon.
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 173 
 
 Vjfun.gu), ' the new moon ; ' and Sinlvdli, ' the jEirst thin 
 crescent preceding or following new moon,' are personified 
 (see Rig-veda II. 32. 8), so that we are justified in in- 
 ferring that the movements of the moon in the zodiac and 
 its use as the time-measurer and month-maker (mdsa- 
 Jcrit] J were studied and noted by the Hindus perhaps as 
 early as 1400 years B.C. The twenty-seven lunar man- 
 sions implied a lunar division of the zodiac into twenty- 
 seven equal parts of 13 20' to each part. Such a division 
 (into twenty-seven or twenty-eight parts) is shared by 
 other Asiatic peoples, as the Arabs and Chinese, and the 
 question where it originated has provoked much discus- 
 sion, without leading to any definite and certain results. - 
 The names of the Indian months have certainly been 
 taken from the asterisms in which the moon was supposed 
 to be full at different times of the year, and, what is 
 still more significant, the names of some of these lunar 
 asterisms have clearly been derived from ancient Vedic 
 deities, like the Asvins, 3 &c. In the Yajur-veda and 
 
 1 This is a Yedic name of the moon. A root ma, ' to measure,' 
 meaning also ' the measurer,' is first applied to the moon in Sanskrit, 
 and then to a lunation or period measured by one revolution of the 
 moon. Something similar has happened in the cognate Aryan languages. 
 At least we know that the words for ' month ' are generally derived 
 from the moon, our word ' month ' being nothing but inoonth. In Rig- 
 veda X. 85. 2 occurs the following : Atho nakshatrdndm eshdm upasthe 
 Soma dliitah, ' Soma is deposited in the lap of these Nakshatras.' 
 
 2 The various opinions and the arguments by which they have been 
 supported have been lately reviewed by Professor Whitney in his 
 'Oriental and Linguistic Studies,' vol. ii. pp. 341-421. He regards 
 the matter as still unsettled. The solar signs of the zodiac and much 
 of the later astronomy, with many astronomical terms (such as hora 
 = upa. kendra = x^-root ; drikdna, the third of a zodiacal sign = dexuvoc 
 liptd, the minute of a degree, = XsTrro:), were borrowed from the Greeks. 
 
 3 The names of the months are Magha (from the Nakshatra MagJid), 
 Phalguna (from Pha^inl),Caitra (from Gitra], Vaisakha (from Visdkhd), 
 Jyaishtha (from Jyeshthd), Ashadha (from AshddJtd), S'ravana (from
 
 174 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Brahmanas occur the expressions Nakshatra-darsa and 
 Ganaka, applied to observers of the heavens, either as 
 astronomers or astrologers; 1 and the adjustment of the 
 lunar to the solar year by the insertion of a thirteenth 
 or intercalary month (mala-masa, malimluca, adhimdsa, 
 sometimes called Purushottama) is probably alluded to in 
 an ancient hymn (Rig-veda I. 25. 8), and frequently in 
 more recent parts of the Veda. (Vajasaneyi-samhita 22. 
 30, Atharva-veda V. 6. 4, &c.) 
 
 Whatever conclusions we may arrive at as to the 
 original source of the first astronomical ideas current in 
 
 O 
 
 the world, it is probable that to the Hindus is due the 
 invention of algebra 2 and its application to astronomy and 
 geometry. From them also the Arabs received not only 
 their first conceptions of algebraic analysis, but also those 
 invaluable numerical symbols and decimal notation now 
 current everywhere in Europe, which have rendered untold 
 service to the progress of arithmetical science. It will not, 
 
 firavana), Bhadrapada or Bhadra (from Bhadra-pada), Asvina (from 
 Asvini), Karttika (from Krittilta), Margasirsha, commonly called Agra- 
 hayana (from Mriga-siras), Pausha (from Push yd). I have arranged 
 these names so as to correspond as nearly as possible with our months, 
 Mdgha representing January February, and the others continuing in 
 regular order ; but practically the Hindu calendar generally begins 
 with Vaisakha, this being considered the first month in the year. 
 
 1 Of course astronomy and astrology were mixed up together, and 
 the progress of the former was impeded in India by its subservience 
 to the latter. 
 
 The name Algebra (from the Arabic al jabr, ' the reduction of 
 parts to a whole or of fractions to integers ') shows that Europe received 
 algebra like the ten numerical symbols from the Hindus through the 
 Arabs. The Sanskrit word for algebra, Vlja-ganita, means ' calculation 
 of seeds,' 'calculation of original or primary elements,' i.e., analysis. 
 If the Greeks did not receive their first ideas of algebra from the 
 
 o 
 
 Hindus, it may at least be taken as proved (from all that Colebrooke 
 has so ably written on the subject) that the Hindus were certainly 
 not indebted to the Greeks, but invented their system independently.
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 1/5 
 
 therefore, be irrelevant if I introduce here a short account 
 of the chief Hindu astronomical and mathematical works, 
 with a few illustrative extracts. 
 
 By some authorities nine principal astronomical treatises, 
 called Siddhantas, are named, viz., the Brahma-siddhdnta, 
 Surya-s, Soma-s, Vrihaspati-s , Garga-s, Ndrada-s, 
 Pardsara-s, Pulastya-s, Vasishtha-s ; by others five, 
 viz., the Paulisa-s, Romaka-s, 1 Vdsishtha-s , Saura-s q , 
 and Brdhma-s or Paitdmaha-s , and these five, sometimes 
 called collectively the Panca-siddhautika, are said to be 
 the original Siddhantas. Whether the Surya-s is the 
 same as the Saura-s appears somewhat doubtful, but this 
 treatise, fabled to have been revealed by Surya ' the Sun ' 
 himself, is perhaps the best known of all Hindu astro- 
 nomical works both in India and Europe. 2 
 
 The earliest Hindu astronomer whose name has come 
 down to us is Arya-bhata, who lived, according to Cole- 
 brooke, about the fifth century of our era. Others place 
 him, or another astronomer of his name, in the third 
 century. Arya-bhata is the author of three works, the 
 Aryabhatiya, Dasa-gitika, and Aryashta-sata, and is said 
 to have asserted a diurnal revolution of the earth on 
 its axis, to have known the true theory of the causes 
 of lunar and solar eclipses, and noticed the motion of the 
 solstitial and equinoctial points. 3 Professor Kern has just 
 published an edition of the Aryabhatiya. 
 
 After Arya-bhata came the astronomer Varaha-mihira, 
 who lived about the sixth century of our era, and was 
 
 1 This title Romaka-s points to an exchange of ideas on astronomical 
 subjects between India, Greece, and Rome. 
 
 2 It has been well edited by Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall, and there are two 
 translations of it, one published in America with notes (by Professor 
 Whitney), and another by Bapudeva S'astri. 
 
 3 According to Brahma-gupta, as quoted by the writer of the article 
 Sanskrit Literature in Chambers';? Encyclopaedia, which I have consulted.
 
 176 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 bora at Ujjayini. He wrote a work on nativities called 
 Vrihaj-jataka, another well-known astrological work called 
 Brihat-samhita (recently translated by Professor Kern, 1 an 
 extract from which is given p. 179), and a summary of the 
 five original Siddhantas called Panca-siddhantika. 
 
 o 
 
 Next to Arya-bhata and Varaha-mihira lived Brahma- 
 gupta (probably towards the end of the sixth century), 
 who wrote the Brahma-siddhanta, containing the chapters 
 on arithmetic (ganita) and algebra (kuttaka 2 ) in Cole- 
 brooke's Indian Algebra. 
 
 Fourth and last of celebrated astronomers and mathe- 
 maticians came Bhaskara or Bhaskaracarya, who is sup- 
 posed to have lived in the twelfth century and composed 
 a well-known book called the Siddhauta-siromani, contain- 
 ing the treatises on algebra (Vija-ganita) and arithmetic 
 (Llldvati 3 ), translated by Colebrooke. 
 
 I proceed now to select specimens of the contents of the 
 above works. The first extract gives the Indian division 
 of time taken from the Surya-siddhanta (I. 11-13), Bhas- 
 kara's Siddhauta-siromani (I. 19, 20), and other works 
 with their commentaries (Burgess, pp. 5, 6). It illustrates 
 very curiously the natural taste of the Hindus for hyper- 
 bole, leading them to attempt almost infinite calculations 
 of inconceivable periods in the one direction, and infini- 
 tesimal subdivisions of the most minute quantities in the 
 other. Without any reliable chronology in regard to the 
 precise dates of any great events in their own history, 
 they yet delight in a kind of chronology or 'science of 
 
 1 For the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 
 
 2 Kuttaka properly means a ' pulverizer ' or multiplier.' 
 
 3 Lilcivati, 'delightful by its elegance,' is merely the name of the 
 chapter on arithmetic (pdtl-ganita, divided into vyalda-ganita, ' distinct- 
 computation,' and avyakta-g, ' indistinct.' The name is also applied 
 to a supposed 'charming woman,' to whom instruction in arithmetic 
 is given.
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 177 
 
 time,' making time past, present, and future a subject 
 of the most elaborate and minute computations. Hence 
 we find them heaping billions upon millions and trillions 
 upon billions of years, and reckoning up ages upon ages, 
 Aeons upon Aeons, with even more audacity than modern 
 geologists and astronomers. In short, an astronomical 
 Hindu ventures on arithmetical conceptions quite beyond 
 the mental dimensions of any one who feels himself incom- 
 petent to attempt the ta^k of measuring infinity. Here 
 is the time-table enumerating the subdivisions of what is 
 called real and unreal time : 
 
 ' That which begins with respirations (prdnd) is called real (murta) 
 time ; that which begins with atoms {truti) is called unreal (amurta) 
 time. Ten long syllables (givrv-aksliara) make one respiration (prdna, 
 asu) ; six respirations make one Vinadl (also called pcda or vighatika 
 of twenty-four seconds) ; sixty Vinadis = one Nadi or Nadika (also 
 called danda, ghatl, (jliatikd of twenty- four minutes); sixty Nadis = 
 one day (a sidereal day and night); thirty sidereal days = one civil 
 (sdvana) month ; a civil month consists of thirty sunrises ; a lunar 
 month of thirty lunar days (t-ifhi) ; a solar (saurd) month is determined 
 by the entrance of the sun into a sign of the zodiac.' And now with 
 regard to unreal time : ' One hundred atoms (truti) one speck (tatpara); 
 thirty specks = one twinkling '(nimesha) ; eighteen twinklings = one bit 
 (kdshthd) ; thirty bits = one minute (kola) ; thirty minutes = one half- 
 hour (gliatika) ; two half-hours = one hour (kshana) ; thirty hours = 
 one day.' This makes the atom -3^7-5^- of a second. 
 
 Considerable variations occur in Manu and the Puranas. 
 According to Manu (I. 64) thirty Kalas = one Muhurta or 
 hour of forty-eight minutes. The Vislmu-purana (Wilson, 
 p. 22) makes the atom = -^-^ of a second, and goes back 
 beyond an atom to a Paramanu or infinitesimal atom, 
 which it makes = UFOSH f a second. All, however, agree 
 in dividing the clay into thirty hours, just as the month is 
 divided into thirty Tithis or lunar days, and the year into 
 three hundred and sixty days, an intercalary month being 
 inserted once in five years, which is thought to be the 
 
 M
 
 178 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 most ancient Hindu method of computing time. 1 The 
 Surya-siddhanta then proceeds, like Maim (I. 68. 71), to 
 reckon up vast periods of time through ages 2 (yuga) and 
 great ages (mahd-yuga), till it arrives at an Aeon (kalpa), 
 the total duration of which is said to be 4,320,000,000 
 years. In verse 24 we read (Burgess, p. 12) : 
 
 One hundred times four hundred and seventy-four divine years 
 passed while the All-wise was employed in creating the animate and 
 inanimate creation, plants, stars, gods, demons, and the rest. 
 
 Further on, we have the division of a circle, which cor- 
 responds with our own : 
 
 Sixty seconds (vikala) make a minute (halo), sixty minutes make a 
 degree (bhdga), thirty degrees make a sign (rdsi), twelve signs make a 
 revolution (bhagana). 
 
 The following is the measurement of the earth : 
 
 Twice 800 yojanas are the diameter of the earth ; the square root of 
 ten times the square of that is the earth's circumference. 
 
 According to Bhaskara the earth's diameter is 1581 
 yojanas, PO that if the yojana is reckoned at about four 
 and a half English miles (which is given as one estimate 
 of its length, though its value varies), the calculation in 
 both cnses is not very far from accurate. 
 
 At the commencement of Surya-siddhanta, Chapter II., 
 we have a strange theory of planetary motion (p. 47) : 
 
 1 Almanacs and horoscopes (Ja?tma-patra) are called Paiicdn-ga, as 
 treating of five things, viz., solar days (commonly called "Varas, from 
 the days of the week, Aditya-v, Soma-v, Man-gala-v, Budha-v, 
 Guru-v, S'ukra-v, S'ani-v ), lunar days (Tithis), the twenty-seven 
 Nakshatras, the twenty-seven Yogas, the eleven Karanas. 
 
 2 There are properly four Yugas or ages in every Mahayuga, viz., 
 Krita, Tretd, Dvdpara, and Kali, named from the marks on dice, the 
 Krita being the best throw of four points, and the Kali the worst of 
 one point.
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 179 
 
 Forms of time (kdlasya murtayali) of invisible shape (adrisya-rupd/t) 
 stationed in the zodiac (bhagandsritah), called conjunction (sighrocca), 
 upper apsis (mandocca), and node (pdta), are causes of the motion of 
 the planets. The planets attached to these Beings by cords of air are 
 drawn away by them with the right and left hand, forward or back- 
 ward, according to nearness, toward their own place. A wind, more- 
 over, called Pravaha, impels them towards their own apices (ucca) ; 
 being drawn away forward and backward, they proceed by a varying 
 motion. 
 
 In the previous Chapter (29, 34) the following state- 
 ment occurs : 
 
 In an age (yuya) the revolutions of the sun, Mercury (Budlia), and 
 Venus (Salira), and of the conjunctions of Mars (Mangala, BJiauma), 
 Saturn (bani), and Jupiter ( Vrihaspati), moving eastward, are four 
 million, three hundred and twenty thousand. Of the asterisms, one 
 billion, five hundred and eighty-two million, two hundred and thirty- 
 seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty-eight. 
 
 I next give a portion of a remarkable passage from 
 Varaha-mihira's Brihat-sainhitd or ' complete system of 
 natural astrology' (see Dr. Kern's translation, p. 433, of 
 vol. iv. of the Royal Asiatic Society's Journal) : 
 
 An astrologer ought to be of good family, friendly in his appearance, 
 and fashionable in his dress ; veracious and not malignant. He, must 
 have well-proportioned, compact, and full limbs, no bodily defect, and 
 be a fine man, with nice hands, feet, nails, eyes, chin, teeth, ears, brows, 
 and head, and with a deep and clear voice; for generally one's good 
 and bad moral qualities are in unison with one's personal appearance. 
 As to mathematical astronomy, he must know the divisions of the heaven 
 and of time, in ages, year's, half-years, seasons, months, half-months, 
 days, watches, hours, half-hours, minutes, respirations, moments, sub- 
 divisions of a moment, &c., as taught in the five Siddhantas (see p. 175). 
 He must know the reason why there are four kinds of months the 
 solar (saura), natural (sdvana), stellar (nalcsliatrd), and lunar (cdndra) 
 months and how it happens that there are intercalary .months and 
 subtractive days. He must know the beginning and end of the Jovian 
 cycle of sixty years, of the lustrums, years, days, hours, and their 
 respective lords. He must foretell the moment of commencement and 
 separation, the direction, measure, duration, amount of obscuration,
 
 ISO INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 colour and place of the eclipses of sun and moon ; also the future 
 conjunctions and hostile encounters of the nine planets. 1 He must 
 be skilful in ascertaining the distance of each planet from the earth, 
 expressed in yojanas ; further, the dimensions of their orbits and the 
 distance of the places on earth, in yojanas. He ought to be clever in 
 geometrical operations and in the calculation of time. If, moreover, 
 he knows how to speak pithily, because he thoroughly understands all 
 sorts of captious questions ; if the science he expounds, by being put 
 to the test by his own exertion and unceasing study, has become more 
 refined like gold is rendered purer by being put on the touchstone, 
 by purification in fire, and by careful workmanship then he may be 
 said to be a scientific man. It has been said : ' How can one who 
 solves no difficulty, nor answers any question, nor teaches his pupils, 
 be styled a scientific man ? ' And thus it has been said by the great 
 seer Garga : ' The king who does not honour a scholar accomplished in 
 horoscopy and astronomy comes to grief.' 'As the night without a 
 light, as the sky without the sun, so is the king without an astrologer ; 
 like a blind man he erreth on the road.' ' No one who wishes for 
 well-being should live in a country where there is no astrologer.' ' No 
 one that has studied astrology can go to the infernal regions.' 'A 
 person who, without knowing the science, exercises the profession of 
 an astrologer is a wicked man and a disgrace to society. Consider him 
 to be a mere star-gazer. But such a one as properly knows horoscopy, 
 astronomy, and natural astrology, him ought the king to honour and 
 his service he ought to secure.' 
 
 With, regard to Colebrooke's translation of Bhaskara's 
 work on algebra (Vlja-ganita), the following extract is 
 taken from the translator's introduction (p. xxii.) : 
 
 The motions of the moon and sun were carefully observed by the 
 Hindus, and with such success that their determination of the moon's 
 synodical revolution is a much more correct one than the Greeks ever 
 achieved. They had a division of the ecliptic into twenty-seven and 
 twenty-eight parts, suggested evidently by the moon's period in days, 
 and seemingly their own. It was certainly borrowed by the Arabs. 2 
 
 1 The nine planets are the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, 
 Jupiter, Saturn, with Eahu and Ketu or the ascending and descending 
 
 o o 
 
 nodes. 
 
 2 The Arabs, however, appear to have adopted the division of the 
 zodiac into twenty-eight segments. Professor Whitney thinks that
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. l8l 
 
 They were particularly conversant with the most splendid of the 
 primary planets ; the period of Jupiter being introduced by them, in 
 conjunction with those of the sun and moon, into the regulation of 
 their calendar in the form of the cycle of sixty years, common to them 
 :and the Chaldeans. 
 
 We may add that from certain expressions in Bhaskara's 
 work (see p. 106 ; Banerjea's Dialogues, p. 69 x ) it is in- 
 ferred that some idea of the laws of gravitation was 
 formed by Hindu astronomers as early as the twelfth 
 century of our era. The precession of the equinoctial 
 points (vishuvat, kmnti-pata) was well known to Bhas- 
 kara, and the effect of the moon in causing tides seems to 
 have been suspected much earlier (cf. Raghu-vansa V. 61). 
 
 The points in which Hindu algebra appears particularly 
 distinguished from the Greek are (Colebrooke, p. xvi.) : 
 
 In addition to a better and more comprehensive algorithm (or nota- 
 tion) : ist. The management of equations involving more than one 
 unknown term. 2nd. The resolution of equations of a higher order, 
 in which, if they achieved little, they had at least the merit of the 
 attempt and anticipated a modern discovery in the solution of biquad- 
 ratics. 3rd. General methods for the solution of indeterminate problems 
 of first and second degrees, in which they went far, indeed, beyond 
 Diophantus, and anticipated discoveries of modern algebraists. 4th. 
 Application of algebra to astronomical investigation and geometrical 
 demonstration, in which they hit on some matters re-invented in later 
 times. One of their anticipations of modern discoveries is the demon- 
 stration of the noted proposition of Pythagoras concerning the square 
 of the base of a rectangular triangle being equal to the squares of the 
 two legs containing the right angle. 
 
 As to the notation or algorithm of algebra, Colebrooke 
 remarks (p. x.) : 
 
 The Hindu algebraists use abbreviations and initials for symbols. 
 They distinguish negative quantities by a dot, but have not any mark, 
 
 the Arabs did not borrow their lunar zodiac from the Hindus. See 
 p. 173 and the authorities there referred to. 
 
 1 See also the 'Indian Antiquary' for July 1872, p. 224.
 
 I 82 INDIAN WISDOM". 
 
 besides the absence of the negative sign, to discriminate a positive 
 quantity. No marks or symbols indicating operations of addition or 
 multiplication, &c., are employed ; nor any announcing equality or 
 relative magnitude (greater or less). 1 But a factum is denoted by the 
 initial syllable of a word of that import, subjoined to the terms which 
 compose it, between which a dot is sometimes interposed. A fraction 
 is indicated by placing the divisor under the dividend, but without a 
 , line of separation. The symbols of unknown quantity are not confined 
 to a single one, but extend to ever so great a variety of denominations, 
 and the characters used are initial syllables of the names of colours, 
 excepting the first, which is the initial of ydvat-tdvat (applied to the 
 first unknown quantity, i.e., 'so much' of the unknown as this 
 coefficient number). Colour, therefore, means unknown quantity or 
 the symbol of it. Letters are likewise employed as symbols, either 
 taken from the alphabet or else initial syllables of words signifying 
 the subjects of the problem. Initials of the terms for square and 
 solid respectively denote those powers. An initial syllable is in like 
 manner used to mark a surd root (see the next extract and succeeding 
 examples). 
 
 The following is from the Vija-ganita (Chap. VI.) : 
 
 This is analysis by equation comprising several colours. In this the 
 unknown quantities are numerous, two and three or more, for which 
 ydvat-tdvat and the several colours are to be put to represent the 
 values. They have been settled by the ancient teachers of the science, 
 viz., black (Mia), blue (nila), yellow (pita), red (lohita), green (haritaka), 
 white (foeta), variegated (citra), tawny (kapila), tan-coloured (pin-gala), 
 grey (dhumra), pink (patala), mottled (savala), blackish (sydmala), 
 another kind of black (mecaka), &c. Or letters (that is, k, &c.) are 
 to be employed as names of the unknown. [In practice the initial 
 syllables of the above words are used thus, yd, Jtd, m, pi, lo.] 
 
 I here give some of the Sanskrit equivalents for terms 
 in arithmetic and algebra : 
 
 An absolute quantity which has specific form is rupa (applied in the 
 singular to a unit, in the plural to an integer number, and often ex- 
 pressed by the first syllable ru). A surd or irrational number is 
 
 1 The sign of equality was first used by Robert Recorde (because, he 
 said, 'No two things can be more equal than a pair of parallels '), and 
 those of relative magnitude by Harriot. Colebrooke.
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 183 
 
 karanl (often denoted by the first syllable A'a). A nought or cipher 
 is sunya, ca ; a fraction which has a cipher for its denominator ca-hara ; 
 minus rina, kshaya (negative quantity) ; plus dhana, sva (positive 
 quantity). A result or product is Widvita (often expressed by the first 
 syllable bhd ; hence the product of two unknown quantities is expressed 
 by yd, led bhd, or Jed, m bhd; so also the square of the first unknown 
 quantity multiplied by the cube of the second is thus abbreviated, yd 
 va, lid glia, bhd). 
 
 It may be interesting to note the system of numeration 
 increasing in decuple proportion given in Chapter II. of 
 the Lilavati. This method, with the invention of the nine 
 numerical figures (anka] and of the nought (sunya) and of 
 the decuple value assigned to each according to its position 
 in the series, is thought to be of divine origin : 
 
 Unit (eka), ten (dasa), hundred (sata), thousand (saliasra), ten thou- 
 sand (ayutd), a hundred thousand (laksha, commonly called ' a lac '), 
 million (prayuta), ten millions (Jcoti, commonly called 'a krore'), a hun- 
 dred millions (arbuda), a thousand millions (abja orpadma), ten thousand 
 millions (kharva), a hundred thousand millions (nikharva), a billion or 
 million of millions (mahd-padma), ten billions (san-ku), a hundred billions, 
 (jaladhi or samudra}, a thousand billions (antyci), ten thousand billions 
 (madhya), a hundred thousand billions (pardrdha). 
 
 I add four specimens of problems from the Lilavati and 
 Vija-ganita (Colebrooke, pp. 24, 124, 191, 269, 272) : 
 
 1. Out of a swarm of bees, one-fifth part settled on a Kadamba 
 blossom ; one-third on a S'illndhra flower ; three times the difference 
 of those numbers flew to the bloom of a Kutaja. One bee, which 
 remained, hovered about in the air. Tell me, charming woman, the 
 number of bees. 
 
 2. How many are the variations of form of the (ten-armed) god 
 S'ambhu (S'iva) by the exchange of his ten attributes held reciprocally 
 in his several hands, viz., the rope (pdsa), the hook for guiding an 
 elephant (an-kusa), the serpent, the hour-glass-shaped drum (dama'ru)) 
 the human skull, the trident (trisula), the club shaped like the foot of 
 a bedstead (khatvdn-ga), the dagger, the arrow, the bow ? And those of 
 the (four-armed) Hari (Vishnu) by the exchange of the mace, the discus 
 (caJcra), the lotus, and the conch (sankha) ? Answer, 3,628,800 ; 24.
 
 I 84 INDIAN AVISDOM. 
 
 3. Eight rubies, ten emeralds, and a hundred pearls, which are in 
 thy ear-ring, my beloved, were purchased by me for thee at an equal 
 amount ; and the sum of the rates of the three sorts of gems was three 
 less than half a hundred : tell me the rate of each, auspicious woman. 
 
 4. What four numbers are such that the product of them all is equal 
 to twenty times their sum 1 The answer to this last is : Here let the first 
 number be yd i ; and the rest be arbitrarily put 5, 4, and 2. Their sum is 
 yd i, run, and multiplied by 20, yd 20, ru 2 20. Product of all the quan- 
 tities, yd 40. Statement for equation, ^ ^' ^ 22Q - Hence by the first 
 analysis, the value of yd is found n, and the numbers are n, 5, 4, 2. 
 
 I should mention here that attached to each Veda there 
 are certain works called Parisishta or ' Supplements ' in- 
 tended to supply directions omitted in the Srauta Sutras, &c. 
 There are also the Anulcramam or 'Indices' giving the first 
 words of every hymn, the metre, the names of the authors 
 and of the deities addressed, the number of verses, &c. 
 
 There are also Upa-vedas or ' secondary Vedas/ which, 
 however,, have really little or no connection with either 
 the Veda or Smriti, They are, i. Ayur-veda, 'the science 
 of life ' or medieine (regarded as belonging to the Atharva- 
 veda, and by some to the Rig-veda) ; 2. Gandharvu-veda, 
 1 the science of music ' (as a branch of the Sama-veda) ; 
 3. Dh&nur-veda, ' the science of archery f or military art 
 (connected with the Yajur-veda) ; Sthapatya-veda, ' the 
 science of architecture,' including the Silpa-sastra : 
 
 As to i, Two great medical writers are 6aralm and Su-sruta, whose 
 works treat of anatomy, physiology, materia medica, pharmacy, surgery 
 (safya), toxicology (visha), omens, and the evil influence of planets and 
 demons (bliuta) in causing diseases. (See Wilson's Essays, vol. i. pp. 
 269-276, 380-393.) Su-sruta's work, in six books, has been well edited 
 at Calcutta by Sri Madhusudana Gupta. As to 2, Works on music treat 
 of notes, scales, melodies, singing, musical instruments, and sometimes 
 of dancing. Six primary modes or modifications of melody, called Ragas, 
 are enumerated, which are personified, and each of them married to five 
 or sometimes six Raginis. The chief musical works are the Sangita- 
 ratncilfara, by S'carn-ga-deva ; the San-gita-darpana, by Damodara ; and
 
 VEDAN-GAS JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 185 
 
 the San-glta-ddmodara, by S'ubban-kara. As to 3, This science is by some 
 ascribed to Visvamitra, by others to Bhrigu. As to 4, Some assert that 
 there are sixty-four treatises on the sixty-four S'ilpas or 'mechanical arts,' 
 such as architecture, sculpture, carpentry, jewellery, farriery, &c. The 
 principal work on architecture is the Mdna-sdra, ' essence of measure- 
 ment,' in fifty-eight chapters, giving rules for the construction of build- 
 ings, temples, ornamental arches (tor and), &c. Other works, by celebrated 
 Sthapatis or ' architects,' describe the soil suited for building and rites 
 in honour of the Vdstu-purusha, ' spirit presiding over sites. 5
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 II. The Smarta Sutras or Traditional Rules. 
 
 IN our classification of Smriti or Post-Vedic literature, at 
 the commencement of the last chapter, we placed the 
 Smarta Sutras under the second head, and pointed out 
 that they were to a great extent the source of the sub- 
 sequent law-books which form, in our arrangement, the 
 third head of Smriti. We also observed that the term 
 Smdrta-sutra is a general expression for collections of 
 aphoristic rules which are distinguished from the Srauta- 
 sutra of the Kalpa Vedan-ga, because the} 7 do not relate 
 to Srauta or Vedic ceremonies, but rather to Grihya or 
 ' domestic rites ' and Samaydcdra or ' conventional every- 
 day practices.' Hence the Smarta Sttras are commonly 
 subdivided into, a. Grihya Sutras, and b. Sdmaydcdrika 
 Sutras. It will be desirable, therefore, before com- 
 mencing our survey of Manu's celebrated Law-book, to 
 advert briefly to these sources from which some of its 
 materials were derived, and especially to the Grihya 
 Sutras. 1 Of these there are collections of different schools 
 attached to each Veda. Thus to the Rig-veda belong 
 the Asvalayana ? and an-khdyana Grihya Sutras ; to the 
 Sama-veda those of Gobhila ; 2 to the Vajasuneyi-samhita 
 
 1 Probably, however, Manu owes more to the Samayacarika than to 
 the Grihya Siitras, although these latter are now best known to us by 
 printed editions. We find that the authors of Grihya Sutras have 
 often the same name as the authors of law-books. 
 
 2 There are also, as we have seen, Asvalayana S'rauta-sutra under 
 the head of 'Kalpa,' and probably each school had all three sets of 
 Sutras complete, though they are seldom all preserved. The Asvalayana
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. l8/ 
 
 or White Yajur-veda those of Pdraskara ; to the Taittiriya 
 or Black Yajur-veda those of Kdthaka, Baudhdyana, 
 Blidradvdja, Apastamba, 1 the Maitrdyanlya, Mdnava 
 (which last have perished, though some of their Kalpa- 
 sutras have been preserved, see p. 205), &c. 
 
 In fact, every Brahmauicul family or school (carana 2 ) 
 had probably its own traditional recension (sdkha, p. 150) 
 of the Mantra and Brahmana portion of the Vedas, as well 
 'as its own Kalpa, Grihya, and Samayacarika Sutras; and 
 even at the present day the domestic rites of particular 
 families of Brahmans are performed in accordance with the 
 Siitras of the Veda of which they happen to be adherents. 
 
 Since these Grihya and Samayacarika Sutras are older 
 than Mnnu, they are probably as old as the sixth century 
 B.C., but possibly the works we possess represent com- 
 paratively recent collections of the original texts. 
 
 It has been already pointed out that the Srauta Sutras 
 are a kind of rubric for the more public solemn sacrifices 
 (Jyotishtoma, Agnishtoma, Asva-medha, &c.) enjoined by 
 the Veda. The subject of the Grihya is rather that indi- 
 cated by Manu when he says (III. 67) : 
 
 Let the householder observe domestic rites with the sacred fire 
 kindled at his marriage (called Garliapatya) according to rule, and 
 perform the five devotional acts and the daily domestic oblations. 
 
 Grihya Sutras and part of the PSraskara have been edited and trans- 
 lated into German by Professor Stenzler (Leipzig, 1864, 1865), and 
 the former have also been edited by Pandits for the Bibliotheca Indica 
 (Calcutta, 1869). The Gobhillya Grihya Sutras are being edited for 
 the Bibliotheca Indica. 
 
 1 The Apastambas appear to have preserved all three sets of Sutras 
 complete, for there are also Apastamba S'rauta-sutra and Samayacarika- 
 sutra. According to Professor Bhandarkar there are numbers of Brah- 
 mans in the south of India who are adherents of the Black Yajur-veda, 
 and who receive dalisliina or ' fees ' from rich men for repeating it with 
 the Apastamba Sutras. 
 
 2 A work called the Carana-vyuha gives catalogues of these schools.
 
 I 88 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 \VawdhiJce 'gnau kurvlta grihyam karma yathd-vidlii Panca-yajha- 
 vidhdnam ea pdktim (=j)dlcam cdnvdhikwi grilu.'] 
 
 Indeed the word Grihya means ' household/ and these 
 Sutras do in fact give rules for the five diurnal acts of 
 domestic devotion called Maha-yajha (or Pahca-yajha, 
 four of them being also Paka-yajna, Manu II. 86), as well 
 as for the domestic ceremonies named Sanskciras, common 
 to all the three higher classes, and not restricted to Brah- 
 mans. The twelve Sanskaras are described at p. 239. 
 They are generally performed at the one domestic hearth, 
 instead of with all the three fires (called collectively Tretci}, 
 of the Vitdnas or ' hearths used at public sacrifices.' 
 
 I proceed to give a brief account of Asvalayana's Grihya 
 Sutras of the Kig-veda, making one prefatory remark that 
 the Hindu race affords perhaps the only example of a 
 nation who, although apparently quite indifferent to the 
 registering of any of the great facts of their political life, 
 or even to the recording of any of the most remarkable 
 events of their history as, for example, the invasion of 
 the Greeks under Alexander the Great nevertheless, at 
 a very early period, regulated their domestic rites and 
 customs according to definite prescribed rules, which were 
 not only written down, but preserved with religious care, 
 and are many of them still in force. Moreover, as this 
 race belongs to the same original race-stock as ourselves, 
 the antiquity of their customs must of necessity invest 
 them with great interest in our eyes. 
 
 The domestic oblations called Paka-yajna (Manu II. 86, 
 143) are distinguished from the Vaitanika l in the first 
 two Sutras, thus (Stenzler's edition, I. 1,2) : 
 
 1 Kulluka, on Manu V. 84, derives vitdna from vitan, ' to spread out,' 
 and explains Vaitanika to be those S'rauta oblations which are performed 
 when the Garhapatya fire is spread over both the AhavaniyaandDakshina 
 hearths (vaitdnam srauto homah gdrhapatya-kunda-sfydn agnm ahavani-
 
 SMARTA-SDTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. I 89 
 
 The Vaitanika oblations (performed with all the three sacred fires l ) 
 have been explained (in the S'rauta-sutra), we will now describe those 
 (performed with the) domestic (fire only). There are three kinds of 
 Paka-yajna, viz., those that are offered in fire (such as oblations of 
 butter, &c.) ; those that are presented without being offered in fire; 
 those that are offered to the supreme Being (Brahmani) in the feeding 
 of Brahmans (Brdhmana-bJwjane). 
 
 Book I. ii. enumerates the gods to whom oblations are 
 to be offered, such as Agni, Indra, Soma, Heaven and 
 Earth, Yama, Varuna, the Visve Devah (cf. Manu III. 
 90, 121), Brahman, &c. These, it will be observed, are 
 generally Vedic deities. The third prescribes the mode of 
 preparing the place where oblations are to be made. 
 
 The fourth commences with the followin Sutra : 
 
 The ceremonies of tonsure (caida = 6udd-karman), investiture with the 
 sacred cord (npanayanci), shaving the beard (go-ddna), and marriage must 
 be performed during the northern course of the sun (udag-ayane) in the 
 light half of the month (dpuryamdne paJcshe), and under an auspicious 
 constellation (kalyane-nakshatre). 
 
 These Sanskara ceremonies are then described (begin- 
 ning with marriage), and whenever Mantras or texts of the 
 
 yddi-kundeshu vitatya Tcriyate). See also Manu VI. 9. There is much 
 difference of opinion as to the exact meaning of pdka-yajna. Stenzler 
 translates it by ' Koch-opfer,' and thinks it means an oblation offered 
 on the domestic fire when the daily food is cooked. Some of the com- 
 mentators, on the other hand, interpret pdka by 'small,' 'simple,' and 
 some by 'good.' In Manu II. 86 four Paka-yajnas or 'domestic obla- 
 tions ' are mentioned (which Kulluka explains by Vaivadeva-homa, bali, 
 mtya-srdddha, and atitJii-bhojana), thus identifying them with four of 
 the Maha-yajnas, see p. 194. Seven different kinds of Paka-yajna will 
 be found enumerated in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 
 
 1 In Manu III. 100, 185, five sacred fires are mentioned, and a 
 Brahman who keeps them all burning, called a Pancdgni ( = Agnihotrin), 
 is regarded as peculiarly pious. They are, i. Dalislrina (Anvdhdrya- 
 pacana in the Brahmanas) ; 2. Garhapatya ; 3. Ahavanlya ; 4. Sabliya ; 
 5. Avasathya. The three first fires are the most important, and are 
 collectively called Tretd. Agnihotris are still met with in India.
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Veda have to be repeated during the performance of each 
 rite, the first word or words of the several texts are cited. 
 Thus before the marriage ceremony an oblation of clarified 
 butter is to be offered with repetition of the text : Tvam 
 Aryamd bhavasi yat kanindm, &c., 'Thou art Aryaman 
 in relation to maidens' (Big-veda V. 3. 2). 
 
 The fifth chapter prescribes the due selection of a wife 
 after proper inquiry as to family and condition. Sutra 3 
 says : 
 
 A man ought to marry a woman who is possessed of intelligence, 
 beauty, good character, and auspicious marks, and who is free from 
 disease. (Compare the directions Manu III. 4-10.) 
 
 The sixth chapter specifies and describes the eight 
 forms of marriage, called, Brahma, Daiva, Prdjdpatya, 
 Arsha, Gdndharva, Asura, Paisdca, and Rdkshasa. 
 They are also enumerated by Manu (III. 21), but not 
 quite in the same order, and by Yajnavalkya (I. 58, 61). 
 Manu (III. 27-34) describes them more fully than 
 Asvalayana. 
 
 Book I. vii. prescribes a common marriage ceremony : 
 
 West of the (sacred) fire a stone (for grinding corn and condiments, 
 such as is used by women in all households) is placed, and north-east 
 a water- jar. The bridegroom offers an oblation, standing, looking 
 towards the west, and taking hold of the bride's hands while she sits 
 and looks towards the east. If he wishes only for sons, he clasps her 
 thumbs and says, ' I clasp thy hands for the sake of good fortune ; ' 
 the fingers alone, if he wishes for daughters ; the hairy side of the 
 hand along with the thumbs, if he wishes for both (sons and daughters). 
 Then, whilst he leads her towards the right three times round the fire 
 and round the water- jar, he says in a low tone, ' I am he, thou art she ; 
 thou art she, I am he ; I am the heaven, thou art the earth ; I am the 
 Saman, thou art the Rid Come; let us marry, let us possess off- 
 spring; united in affection, illustrious, well disposed towards each 
 other (sumanasyamdnau), let us live for a hundred years.' Every time 
 he leads her round he makes her ascend the mill-stone, and says, 
 ' Ascend thou this stone, be thou firm as a stone ' (a4meva tvam stMrd
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 19 I 
 
 bhava). Then the bride's brother, after spreading melted butter on 
 the joined palms of her hands, scatters parched grains of rice on them 
 twice. Then, after pouring the oblation of butter on the fire, some 
 Vedic texts are recited. Then the bridegroom unlooses the two braided 
 tresses of hair, one on each side of the top of the bride's head, repeating 
 the Vedic text, ' I loose thee from the fetters of Varuna with which 
 the very auspicious Savitri has bound thee' (Rig-veda X. 85. 24 : ). 
 Then he causes her to step seven steps towards the north-east quarter, 
 saying to her, ' Take thou one step (ekapadi bhava) for the acquire- 
 ment of sap-like energy (ishe) ; take thou two steps for strength (urje 
 ilmpadl bhava) ; take thou three steps for the increase of wealth (rdyas- 
 poslidya) ; take thou four steps for well-being (mdyo-bliavyaya} ; take 
 thou five steps for offspring (prajdbhyah) ; take thou six steps for the 
 seasons (ritubliyah) ; take thou seven steps as a friend (sakha saptapadl 
 bhara 2 ) ; be faithfully devoted to me ; may we obtain many sons ! 
 may they attain to a good old age ! ' Then bringing both their heads 
 into close juxtaposition, some one sprinkles them with water from the 
 jar. He should then remain for that night in the abode of an old 
 Brahman woman whose husband and children are alive. When the 
 bride sees the polar star and Arundhati and the seven Rishis, let her 
 break silence and say, ' May my tmsband live and may I obtain children.' 
 
 In Book I. viii. 12, 13, 14, we have the following : 
 
 When he (the bridegroom) has completed the marriage ceremonial 
 he should give the bride's dress to one who knows the Surya-sukta 
 (Rig-veda X. 85), and food to the Brahmans; then he should make 
 them pronounce a blessing on him. [Carita-vratah suryd-vide vadhu- 
 vastram dadydt \ annam brdhmanebliyah \ atha svasty-ayanam vdcayitaJ] 
 
 Book I. ix. directs that after the marriage (pdni-gra- 
 hana) the first duty of the bridegroom is to attend to 
 the kindling and maintaining of the household fire. The 
 tenth chapter prescribes the performance of the rite called 
 Sthali-pdka, which appears to have been an oblation of 
 
 1 The text in the original is Pra tvd muncdmi Varunasya pdad yena 
 tvdbadhndt Savita susevah. It is from the well-known Surya-sukta 
 (X. 85), describing the marriage ceremony of Surya, the youthful 
 daughter of the Sun, united to Soma, the Moon. 
 
 2 Sakha is Vedic for Sakhi. See Scholiast on Panini IV. i. 62.
 
 IQ2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 rice, &c., cooked in a kind of caldron. The eleventh gives 
 the rules for the ritual of animal sacrifice (pasu-kalpa), 
 and the twelfth for the (Jaitya-yajha, which seems to 
 have been a ceremonial performed at monuments, accom- 
 panied with offerings, perhaps to the memory of deceased 
 persons. The thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, 
 and seventeenth chapters prescribe certain domestic cere- 
 monies connected with the birth and treatment of chil- 
 dren, which are included under the Sanskaras enjoined in 
 the second Book of Manu. They are as follows : 
 
 Garbha-lambhana, a rite performed on the first signs of conception, 
 and Punsavana, one that takes place on the first indication of the con- 
 ception of a living male.(cf. Manu II. 27,). 
 
 Simantonnayana, ' arranging the parting of the mother's hair,' 
 observed in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of pregnancy. 
 
 Hiranya-madliu-sarpisliam praganam, ' feeding an infant with honey 
 and clarified butter from a golden spoon' before cutting the navel- 
 string at birth = jata-kannan (Manu IL 29). 
 
 Anna-prd^ana, 'feeding an infant with rice' between the fifth and 
 eighth month (Manu II. 34). 
 
 Caula (--tfuda-karmari), 'tonsure' or shaving the hair except one 
 lock on the crown, performed in the third year (ef. Manu II. 35). 
 
 In Book I. xix. we Lave precise directions in regard 
 to investiture (upanayanet) with the sacred thread (yajho- 
 pavlta), a ceremony of great importance, supposed to 
 confer on the recipients (like the Christian rite of bap- 
 tism) a second spiritual birth. This is enjoined for a 
 Brahman in his eighth year, for a Kshatriya in his 
 eleventh, and for a Vaisya in his twelfth, though the 
 time may be extended in each case. These are therefore 
 the three twice-born (dvi-ja) classes. (Cf. Manu II. 36- 
 38). The twenty-second gives rules for the guidance of 
 the young Brahman as a Brahma-carin or ' student of the 
 Veda ' in the house of his preceptor after investiture by 
 him. It begins thus :
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 193 
 
 ' Thou art now a Brahma-carl, take care to wash out thy mouth daily 
 with water ( = upa-8pri4, d-cam in Manu II. 51, 53), do thy appointed 
 work (karma kuru), sleep not in the day-time (diva md svapslh, cf. 
 divd-svapna, Manu VII. 47), obey thy preceptor, study the Veda 
 ( Vedam adlilsliva) ; every morning and evening go out to beg for alms ; 
 every evening and morning collect fuel for the fire.' The period of 
 studentship is to last for twelve years or until the student has acquired 
 a knowledge of the Vedas (grahandntam ; cf. Manu III. i ; II. 53-60). 
 
 The fourth and fifth chapters of the second Book pre- 
 scribe the Ashtaka and Anvashtakya Sraddha ceremonies. 
 
 The subject of Book II. vii. viii. is Vastu-pariksha, 
 ' examination of soil and situation ' before fixing on a site, 
 or laying the foundation of a house, thus : 
 
 A piece of ground (should be chosen;) which does not contain saline 
 soil, and the title to which is not likely to involve legal disputes, and 
 which is well stocked with plants and trees, and where there is plenty 
 of Kusa grass and Virana (fragrant grass). All thorny shrubs and 
 plants with milky sap should be rooted out, A hole should be dug 
 knee-deep and filled again with the excavated eart/h. If the earth 
 when restored to the hole appears more than enough to fill it, the soil 
 is excellent; if just enough, it is fairly good; if too little, it is bad. 
 [Adhike prasastam same varttam nyune garhilam, VIII. 3.] At sunset 
 the hole should be filled with water and allowed to stand all night. 
 If in the morning it is still full of water, the soil is excellent ; if it 
 is moist, the soil is fairly good ; if dry, bad. White, sweet-tasting, 
 sandy soil is good for Brahmans, red for Kshatriyas, yellow for Vaisyas. 
 
 Book II. x. prescribes a solemn entrance into the new 
 house (griha-prapadana), after having stored it with 
 seed-grain. The owner is then to cause the adjacent land 
 belonging to him to be ploughed up and sown at the right 
 season, and, standing at a particular spot with his back to 
 the wind, he is to offer oblations, repeating a hymn of the 
 Kig-veda (IV. 57), part of which I here translate freely : 
 
 May the land's Lord be present as our friend ! 
 So shall we prosper. 1 May the god accord us 
 
 1 Lit. ' with the Lord of land as our friend,' &c. [Kshetrasya 
 patina vayam hiteneva jayamasi.~\
 
 194 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Cattle and horses, nourishment and food ! 
 
 By gifts like these he manifests his favour. 
 
 God of the land ! bestow on us sweet water. 
 
 To us may every herb be sweet as honey ! 
 
 To us may sky and atmosphere and rain 
 
 Be kind ! and may the god who owns the soil 
 
 Be gracious ! may we fearlessly approach him ! 
 
 For us may oxen plough auspiciously ! 1 
 
 May peasants labour happily ! may ploughshares 
 
 Draw every furrow smoothly ! may the ploughmen 2 
 
 Follow the oxen joyfully ! May he, 
 
 The rain-god, water happily the earth 
 
 With sweetest showers ! may the god of air 
 
 And sun 3 bestow on us prosperity ! 
 
 The first chapter of the third Book prescribes the five 
 solemn offerings or devotional acts which every twice-born 
 man is required to perform every day. These correspond 
 to the five Mahd-yajnah of Manu III. 69-71, sometimes 
 called the five Sacraments. They are acts of homage 
 directed i. to the gods ; 2. to all beings ; 3. to departed 
 ancestors ; 4. to the Rishis or authors of the Veda ; 5. to 
 men (i. deva-yajna, 2. bhiita-y , $.pitri-y, 4. brahma-y, 
 5. manushya-y }. The first is performed by an oblation 
 (homo) to the gods offered on the domestic fire ; the second 
 by an offering (bali) to animals and all creatures ; the third 
 by pouring out water to the spirits of the departed ; the 
 fourth by repetition of the Veda ; the fifth by gifts to men 
 and hospitality to guests (cf. Manu III. 81, &c., where, 
 however, they are not given in the same order). 
 
 The second and third chapters treat of the fourth diurnal 
 act of devotion (brahma-yajna), and direct the twice-born 
 man how he is to conduct his private devotions, and how 
 and what he is to repeat to himself (svddhydya-vidhi) : 
 
 1 unam = sukham. 
 
 2 Klnasah. 
 
 3 This is the native interpretation of Suna-sira. See Wilson.
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 195 
 
 He is to go in an easterly or northerly direction outside his place of 
 abode, wearing his sacrificial cord (yajnopavita) over his shoulder ; he 
 is first to bathe, and, having sipped water (acamya), to sit down on 
 Kusa grass placed so that the points are directed towards the east 
 (Manu II. 75), and to repeat the sacred syllable om, the three 
 Vyahritis (bhur, bJiuvah, svar), and the Savitrl (or Gayatri, see p. 17 ; 
 cf. Manu II. 75-77, 79). Then he is to repeat, for as long a time 
 as he may think proper, portions of some of the Rid, Yajus, Saman, 
 Atharvan-giras, Brahmanas, Kalpas, Gathas, Narasansls, Itihasas, and 
 "'Puranas 1 (see note 2, p. 245). 
 
 With regard to this subject, see p. 245 of this volume. 
 
 Book III. vii. declares that if a twice-born man, beiDg 
 in good health, allows himself to fall asleep while the sun 
 is setting, he is to pass the remainder of the night in an 
 upright position, without uttering a word, and at sunrise 
 to repeat five verses, from the fourth to the eighth inclu- 
 sive, of Kig-veda X. 37, beginning, 'With whatever light, 
 sun, tbou dispellest the darkness.' [ Yena surya jyotisha 
 bddhase tamo, &c.] Again, if the sun should rise while 
 he is asleep, he is to continue standing and silent during 
 the day, and to repeat the last four verses of the same 
 hymn (cf. Manu II. 219-222). The eighth, ninth, and 
 tenth chapters prescribe the ceremonies to be performed 
 by a twice-born man whose period of studentship with 
 his preceptor is completed, and who is about to return 
 (samdvartamdna) home, and become a householder : 
 
 He is to procure various articles for himself and his preceptor (at any 
 rate for the latter), such as a necklace, two ear-rings, a suit of clothes, 
 a parasol, a pair of shoes, a staff, a turban, perfumes, &c. (cf. Manu II. 
 245, 246). Having completed his studies and received permission from 
 his preceptor to depart, and having inquired what fee (artha) he is to 
 pay, he must perform an ablution (sndna). He is then to make certain 
 vows of purity, after which he becomes elevated to the condition of 
 
 1 The modern Brahma-yajna of pious Brahmans is based on this 
 Sutra.
 
 196 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 a Snataka (cf. Manu III. 4) or Brahman who, after purification, has 
 passed from the first stage of life that of a student to the second 
 stage or <that of a householder (f/riha-stha). 
 
 The fourth. Book is perhaps the most interesting. In 
 the first four chapters it prescribes the funeral rites to be 
 performed at the -burning of dead bodies, 1 and gives some 
 directions as to the subsequent Sraddha ceremonies : 
 
 When a man dies, a piece of ground is to be excavated in a Smaddna 
 or 'burning-ground' south-east or south-west of his abode. His rela- 
 tions are to earry the -fires and .the sacrificial implements (yajna-patrdni) 
 to the excavated place. Those of them who are most advanced in 
 years (pravayasa/t) are to walk behind in single file the men separated 
 from the women bearing the corpse, the hair and nails of which have 
 all been cut off or clipped, and leading the sacrificial animal, either a 
 cow or a black she-goat. The remaining relations and connexions are 
 to follow with their garments and sacrificial cords hanging down (adho- 
 nimtah}, and their hair dishevelled the elder in front, the younger 
 behind. When they reach the prepared ground, the performer of the 
 ceremony is -to sprinkle water on it with a branch of the S'ami tree, 
 repeating Rig-veda X. '14. (): 
 
 ' Depart (ye evil spirits), slink away from here ; the Fathers (his 
 departed ancestors) have made for him this place of rest, distinguished 
 (vyaktam) by days (ahobhir), waters (adbhir\ and bright lights (aldu- 
 bhih).'* 
 
 Then he is to deposit the fires around the margin of the excavated 
 place the Ahavaniya fire to the south-east, the Garhapatya to the 
 north-west, and the Dakshina to the south-west (see note, p. 189). 
 Then some one who understands what is required, is to collect a heap 
 of fire-wood and pile it up inside the sacrificial ground (antar-vedi). 
 Next, a layer of Kusa grass is to be spread over the heap along with 
 
 1 See the article ' Uber Todtenbestattung,' by Professor Max Muller 
 in vol. ix. of the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesell- 
 schaft, in which a portion of this division of the Asvalayana Grihya 
 Sutras is translated into German. With regard to the importance 
 of the following extracts as bearing upon SatI (Suttee), see p. 251 of 
 this volun\e. 
 
 2 The meaning of this is not very clear. I understand it as denoting 
 that the ground is open and well exposed to daylight and .well sprinkled 
 -.with water and surrounded with the fires.
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 1 97 
 
 the black skin of the goat and the clipped hair, and the dead body is 
 to be placed upon it with the feet towards the Garhapatya fire and the 
 head towards the Ahavanlya. North of the body his wife is to be 
 made to lie down (oh the funeral pile), along with the bow of the 
 dead man if he was a soldier (Kshatriya). Then either her hus band's 
 brother (devarak), who is in the place of a husband to her (patisthdni- 
 yafi), or a pupil, or an old servant causes her to rise up, repeating the 
 words of Rig-veda X. 18. 8 : 
 
 ' Rise up, O woman (udirshva nari), come back to the world of life ; 
 thou art lying by a dead man ; come back. Thou hast sufficiently 
 fulfilled the duty of a wife and mother (janitvam) to the husband who 
 wooed thee (didhishos) and took thee by the hand.' (See note 2, 
 p. 252.) 
 
 Next, the brother-in-law is to take back the bow, repeating Rig-veda 
 X. 18. 9: 
 
 ' I take the bow out of the hand of the dead man for our own 
 protection, for our glory, and for our strength ; remain thou there, 
 we will remain here as heroes, (so that) in all battles we may conquer 
 our foes.' 
 
 Then he is to place the various sacrificial implements and portions of 
 the sacrificial animal in the two hands and on different parts of the 
 body of the corpse. This being done, he is to order the three fires to 
 be kindled (agriin prajvalayatfy. If the Ahavanlya fire reaches the 
 dead man first, then his spirit is borne to heaven ; if the Garhapatya, 
 then his spirit is taken to the middle region (antariJcshcc-loka) ; if the 
 Dakshina, then it remains in the world of mortals (manushya-lolta). 
 When all three reach him together, this is the most auspicious sign of 
 all. While the body is burning, portions of hymns of the Rig-veda 
 (such as X. 14. 7, 8, 10, n; X. 16. 1-4; X. 17. 3-6; X. 18. u; 
 X. 154. 1-5) are to be repeated. 
 
 The following are examples of some of the verses : 
 
 Open thy arms, O earth, receive the dead 
 
 With gentle pressure arid with loving welcome. 
 
 Enshroud him tenderly, e'en as a mother 
 
 Folds her soft vestment round the child she loves (X. 18. 1 1). 
 
 Soul of the dead ! depart ; take thou the path 
 
 The ancient path by which our ancestors 
 
 Have gone before thee ; thou shalt look upon 
 
 The two kings, mighty Varuiia and Yama, 
 
 Delighting in oblations ; thou shalt meet
 
 198 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Fathers and receive the recompense 
 
 Of all thy stored-up offerings above. 
 
 Leave thou thy sin and imperfection here : 
 
 Return unto thy home once more ; assume 
 
 A glorious form. By an auspicious path 
 
 Hasten to pass the four-eyed brindled dogs 
 
 The two road-guarding sons of Sarama ; 
 
 Advance to meet the Fathers who, with hearts 
 
 Kindly disposed towards thee, dwell in bliss 
 
 With Yama ; and do thou, mighty god, 
 
 Intrust him to thy guards l to bring him to thee, 
 
 And grant him health and happiness eternal (X. 14. y-n). 2 
 
 When a dead body is burnt by one who knows and can repeat these 
 verses properly, then it is certain that the soul (invested with a kind of 
 subtile body 3 ) rises along with the smoke to heaven (saliaiva dlmmena 
 svargam loJcam etlti ha vijhayate). 
 
 Then the performer of the ceremony is to repeat the verse (Rig-veda 
 X. 18.3):- 
 
 We living men, survivors, now return 
 And leave the dead ; may our oblations please 
 The gods and bring us blessings ! now we go 
 To dance and jest and hope for longer life. 
 
 After this they are to move to a spot where there is a pool of still 
 water, dip themselves once, cast a handful of water into the air, pro- 
 nouncing the name of the dead man and that of his family (e.g., O 
 Devadatta Kasyapa, this water is for thee ; ) ; then coming out of the 
 water, they are to put on other clothes and to sit down till the stars 
 appear or else till the sun is quite invisible, when they are to proceed 
 homewards, the younger ones walking first, the elder behind. Before 
 
 1 These are the four-eyed watch-dogs mentioned before. 
 
 2 Part of this has been freely rendered in a version given p. 19. 
 
 3 The eighth Sutra of Chapter IV. states that a hole ought to be dug 
 north-eastward of the Ahavaniya fire and strewn with the plants Avakfi 
 and S'Ipala ; and the commentator adds that the soul of the dead man, 
 invested with its vehicular subtile body (called dtivahika and some- 
 times adhishthana and distinct from the Unga or sukshma, being 
 anguslithamatra, 'of the size of a thumb'), waits in this hole until 
 the gross body is burnt, and then emerging, is carried with the smoke 
 to heaven.
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 199 
 
 entering the house they are (for purification) to touch a stone, fire, 
 cow-dung, grains of barley, oil, and water. During one night they 
 are not to cook any food, but to eat only what is already prepared, 
 and for three nights they are not to touch anything containing salt. 
 
 Book IV. v. prescribes the gathering together the bones 
 and ashes of the deceased (sancayana, Maim V. 59) : 
 
 This is to take place after the tenth day of the dark half of the 
 inonth, on an odd day (i.e, the eleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth, &c.), and 
 under a single Nakshatra (i.e., not under one like Ashadha, which is 
 both purvd and Puttara). 
 
 The bones and ashes of a man are to be placed in an undecorated 
 funeral vase or long vessel (alakshane kumbhe), and those of a woman 
 in a female vase (of a fuller shape, supposed to resemble the female 
 figure). A hole is to be excavated and the bones thus collected in a 
 vessel are to be placed in it, while Rig-veda X. 18. 10 is repeated : 
 
 ' Go to thy mother Earth, the Widely -extended (uru-vyacasam), the 
 Broad, the Auspicious ; may she be to thee like a young maiden, soft 
 as wool (urna-mrada), to a pious person ! may she protect thee from 
 the embrace of the goddess of corruption ! ' (Nirriter upasthdt.) 
 
 Then earth is to be scattered over the excavation, and Rig-veda X. 
 1 8. n, 12 are to be repeated (see p. 197 for verse n). Lastly, a 
 cover or lid is to be placed over the vase or long vessel and the hole is 
 to be filled up with earth, so that the vessel is quite hidden from view, 
 while Rig-veda X. 18. 13 is repeated : 
 
 ' I raise up the earth around thee for a support, placing this cover 
 on thee without causing injury. May the Fathers guard this fune- 
 real monument for thee ! May Yama establish a habitation for thee 
 there ! ' 
 
 This being accomplished, the relations are to return home, without 
 looking about, and after they have performed an ablution they are to 
 offer the first S'raddha to the deceased person separately (elwddishta). 
 
 Book IV. vii. prescribes four kinds of Srdddha, i.e., 
 offerings to deceased persons and Pitris or ancestors 
 generally : i. Pdrvana, ' monthly,' to ancestors for three 
 generations on the days of conjunction or new moon (cf. 
 Manu III. 282 ; those to ancestors generally being called 
 Nitya, ' constant/ ' daily,' and others Ashtaka, as per- 
 formed on the eighth day of certain months) ; 2. Kamya,
 
 200 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 'voluntary/ performed for some object of desire (as 
 the obtaining of a son) ; 3. Abhyudayika, performed as 
 thank-offerings on occasions of family rejoicing (as at the 
 Sanskaras) or for increase of prosperity, &e. (Vriddhi- 
 purta)-, 4- Ekoddishta, 'special/ having reference to one 
 person recently deceased, and not to ancestors generally. 
 It is repeated annually on the anniversary of his death. 
 (Those which are occasional are sometimes called Naimit- 
 tika.) To these funeral ceremonies Brahmans are to be 
 invited. They are to be feasted, and gifts presented to 
 them. The guests are to be made to sit down with their 
 faces towards the North, and water is to be poured into 
 their hands with Kusa grass and Sesamum seed (tila, cf. 
 Manu III. 223.). Cakes of rice (pinda) and libations of 
 water are to be offered with the auspicious exclamation 
 Svadha. There is also another Sraddha called Daiva, in 
 honour of the Visve Devah, l deities collectively/ or of a 
 particular troop of deities, ten in number. Hence some 
 distinguish eight kinds of Sraddha (see p. 247); and the 
 Nirnaya-sindhu, twelve. 
 
 A fuller description of these solemn Sradd'has is given 
 by Manu III. 123-286, and in verse 202 the meaning of 
 the term Sraddha is explained as follows : 
 
 Mere water (vary apij offered with faith (Sraddhaya) to the Pitris 
 in silver or plated (rdjatdnvitaiK) vessels procures imperishable bliss 
 (akshayayopakalpate). 
 
 I close my account of the Asvalayana Grihya Sutras 
 by remarking that the rules relating to funeral ceremonies 
 in the fourth Book, of which an abstract has just been 
 given, possess great interest in their connexion with the 
 eighteenth hymn of the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda. 
 Although the Sutras direct that the texts of this hymn 
 are to be used, yet the rite must have undergone con- 
 siderable modifications since the period when the hymn 
 was composed.
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 2OI 
 
 It may be gathered from a study of the text of the 
 hymn, that at the early period when the Aryan race first 
 settled on the plains of Hindustan, there was not the same 
 prolonged and elaborate observance of funeral rites, which 
 in later times was converted into an excuse for the osten- 
 tatious and costly feasting of priests and guests (see p. 249). 
 But there was no less solemnity in the conduct of the cere- 
 luouial, no less exhibition of grief for the dead in the 
 tender treatment of his remains, and no less affectionate 
 respect for his memory, a feeling cherished as a religious 
 duty, more tenaciously in India than in Europe. 
 
 We notice, too, even at that early epoch an evident 
 belief in the soul's eternal existence and the permanence 
 of its personality hereafter, which notably contrasts with 
 the later ideas of transmigration, absorption into the 
 divine essence, and pantheistic identification with the 
 supreme Soul of the universe. 
 
 We learn also from this same hymn that the body in 
 ancient times was not burnt but buried ; nor can we dis- 
 cover the slightest allusion to the later practice of Sati or 
 cremation of the widow with her husband. 
 
 The corpse of the deceased person was deposited close 
 to a grave dug ready for its reception, and by its side his 
 widow, if he happened to be a married man, seated herself, 
 while his- children, relatives, and friends ranged them- 
 selves in a circle round her. The priest stood near at 
 an altar, on which the sacred fire was kindled, and having 
 invoked Death, called upon him to withdraw from the 
 path of the living, and not to molest the young and 
 healthy survivors, who were assembled to perform pious 
 rites for the dead, without giving up the expectation of 
 a long life themselves. He then placed a stone between 
 the dead body and the living relations, to mark off the 
 boundary-line of Death's domain, and offered up a prayer 
 that none of those present might be removed to another
 
 202 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 world before attaining to old age, and that none of the 
 younger might be taken before the elder. Then the 
 widow's married female friends walked up to the altar 
 and offered oblations in the fire ; after which the widow 
 herself withdrew from the inner circle assigned to the 
 dead, and joined the survivors outside the boundary-line, 
 while the officiating priest took the bow out of the hand 
 of the deceased, in order to show that the manly strength 
 which he possessed during life, did not perish with him, 
 but remained with his family. The body was then ten- 
 derly laid in the grave with repetition of the words of the 
 hymn already translated, ' Open thy arms, Earth, receive 
 the dead,' &c. (see p. 197). The ceremony was concluded 
 by the careful closing of the tomb with a stone slab. 
 Finally a mound of earth was raised to mark and conse- 
 crate the spot. 1 
 
 With regard to the Samayacarika Sutras little remains 
 to add to what has already been stated. Not many 
 collections of this third class of Sutras (as distinguished 
 from the Srauta and Grihya) have been preserved. Were 
 they better known to us, we should probably find that 
 they furnished materials for Manu's compilation, even 
 more than the Grihya Sutras appear to have done. It 
 is for this reason that, as introductory to the Dkarma- 
 sastras or Law-books, they are sometimes called Dhar- 
 masutras. Since ' conventional, every-day practices ' 
 constitute the proper subject of these Sutras, and it is 
 clear that conventional usages may often come under the 
 head of Grihya or ' domestic rites/ it may easily be under- 
 stood that the Samayacarika not unfrequeutly go over the 
 same ground as the Grihya Sutras. For instance, we find 
 them both giving rules for the Sanskaras &c. (see p. 239). 
 
 1 A fuller account of the whole rite will be found in Professor Stenz- 
 ler's ' Rede iiber die Sitte,' which I have consulted throughout.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2O3 
 
 Perhaps the best known Samayacarika Sutras are those of 
 Apastamba belonging to the Black Yajur-veda (see note i, 
 p. 187). An account of these will be found in Professor 
 Max Miiller's 'Ancient Sanskrit Literature' (p. 100, &c.), 
 and in No. 732 of Bajeudralala Mitra's MSS. They 
 commence as follows : 
 
 1. Therefore let us now explain the Samaya6arika duties. \_Atliatah 
 mmaydcdrikdn dharmdn vydlchydsyamah.] 
 
 2. These agreements which were made by men who knew the law 
 are an authority. [Dharma-jna-samayak pramdnamJ\ 
 
 3. And the Vedas (are an authority). \Veda-caJ\ 
 
 III. The Dliarma-sdstras or Laiv-books Manu. 
 
 At least forty-seven independent Law-books * are enu- 
 merated, and of these at least twenty are still extant and 
 are mentioned by Yajnavalkya (I. 3-5), as follows: 
 
 i. That of Manu. 2. Yajnavalkya (second in importance to Manu). 
 3. Atri. 4. Vishnu. 5. Harlta. 6. Usanas. 7. An-giras. 8. Yama. 
 9. Apastamba. 10. Samvarta. n. Katyayana. 12. Vrihaspati. 13. 
 Parasara. 14. Vyasa. 15. S'an-kha. 16. Likhita. 17. Daksha. 
 1 8. Gotama or Gautama. 19. S'atatapa. 20. Yasishtha. There is 
 also a Law-book, the joint production of S'an-kha and Likhita ; and 
 others ascribed to Narada, Bhrigu, &c. (see the end of Chapter X.); 
 and Kulluka, the commentator on Manu, mentions the names of Baud- 
 hayana, Medhatithi, Govinda-raja, &c. 
 
 Let us first endeavour to gain some idea of the char- 
 acter of the most celebrated and ancient of these books 
 commonly called ' the Code of Manu.' 
 
 This well-known collection of laws and precepts is 
 perhaps the oldest and most sacred Sanskrit work after 
 
 1 Professor Stenzler enumerates forty-six, Dr. Boer forty-seven. 
 The names of the authors of some of these law-books are the same as 
 those of some of the Grihya Sutras, e.g., Apastamba, Paraskara, and 
 Baudhayana. The same men may have been authors of both Sutras 
 and Dharrna-sastras.
 
 204 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the Veda and its Sutras. Although standing in a manner 
 at the head of Post-vedic literature, it is connected with 
 the Veda through these Sutras, as the philosophical Dar- 
 sanas are through the Upauishads. Even if not the oldest 
 of Post-vedic writings (see note, p. 207), it is certainly 
 the most interesting, both as presenting a picture of the 
 institutions, usages, manners, and intellectual condition of 
 an important part of the Hindu race at a remote period, 
 and as revealing the exaggerated nature of the rules by 
 which the Brahmans sought to secure their own ascen- 
 dency, and to perpetuate an organized caste-system in 
 subordination to themselves. At the same time it is in 
 other respects perhaps one of the most remarkable books 
 that the literature of the whole world can offer, and some 
 of its moral precepts are worthy of Christianity itself. 
 
 Probably the compilation we now possess is an irregular 
 compendium of rules and maxims by different authors, 
 which existed unwritten for a long period -of time, and 
 were handed down orally. An original collection is 
 alluded to by commentators under the titles Vriddha 
 and Vrihat, which is said to have contained 100,000 
 couplets, arranged under twenty-four heads in one thou- 
 sand chapters ; whereas the existing Code contains only 
 2685 verses. Possibly abbreviated versions of old collec- 
 tions were made at successive periods, and additional 
 matter inserted, the present text merely representing 
 the latest compilation. 
 
 At any rate we must guard against a supposition that 
 the expression 'Code/ often applied to this collection, 
 is intended to denote a systematic arrangement of pre- 
 cepts which existed as actual laws in force throughout one 
 country. It is probable that the whole of India was never 
 under one government. Some few powerful monarchs 
 are known to have acquired sovereignty over very exten- 
 sive territories, and were then called Cakra-vartins, but
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2O5 
 
 we must beware of imagining that Manu's Law-book 
 is a record of national ordinances and institutions pre- 
 valent over the whole of such territories. No doubt 
 ultimately it worked its way to acceptance with the 
 entire Hindu community ; and certainly in the end it not 
 only secured for itself a high place in popular estimation 
 and a degree of reverence only second to that accorded 
 to the Veda, but it became, moreover, the chief authority 
 as a basis of Hindu jurisprudence. Originally, however, 
 its position must have been different. It merely repre- 
 sented certain rules and precepts (perhaps by different 
 authors) current among a particular tribe, or rather school 
 of Brahmans called Manayas, who probably lived in the 
 North-western region between the rivers Sarasvati and 
 Drishadvati (see p. 208), not far from Delhi and the scene 
 of the great social conflict described in the Mahabharata. 1 
 This tribe seems to have belonged to the Taittirlyakas, 
 'adherents of the Black Yajur-veda;' and their Mantras, 
 Brahmana, and Srauta Sutras are still extant, 2 but their 
 Grihya and Samayacarika Sutras appear to have perished. 
 In all probability, -too, many of the rules, as \ve have them 
 presented to us, were simply theoretical, inserted to 
 complete an ideal of what ought to constitute a perfect 
 system of religious, ceremonial, moral, political,, and social 
 duties. Who the real compiler and promulgator of the 
 Institutes was, is not known. He was probably a learned 
 Brahman of the Manava school. 
 
 We must, of course, make a due allowance for the 
 
 1 The inference deducible from II. 17, 18, that the Manavas lived 
 in the region of the earliest Aryan settlements, must have weight in 
 determining -the antiquity of the Code and its value as representing 
 the ancient social life of the Hindus before their advance into the 
 Dekhan. 
 
 2 A countecpart of a MS. of a commentary on part of the Manava- 
 kalpa-sutra has been edited by the late Professor Goldstiicker.
 
 206 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 mythical element in the Code, as, for instance, when a 
 divine sage named Manu 1 (or Svayambhuva 'sprung 
 from the great self-existent Being') is made to say (I. 58- 
 60) as follows : 
 
 The god (Brahma) having framed this system of laws himself, 
 taught it fully to me in the beginning. I then taught it to Marici 
 and the nine other sages, my offspring (of whom Bhrigu is one, cf. I. 
 35). Of these (my sons) Bhrigu is deputed by me to declare the Code 
 to you (Rishis) from beginning to end, for he has learned from me to 
 recite the whole of it. Then the great sage, Bhrigu, having been thus 
 appointed by Manu to promulgate his laws, addressed all the Rishis 
 with a pleased mind, saying, ' Listen ! ' 
 
 Manu, therefore, is supposed to speak in his own person 
 as far as I. 60. After that, Bhrigu is the speaker, and 
 the closing verse of the whole Code (XII. 126) describes 
 it as Manavam Sdstram JShrigu-proJctam, ' enunciated by 
 Bhrigu ; while in XL 243 Prajapati or Brahma himself 
 
 1 This name of the supposed divine progenitor of all beings is derived 
 from the root man, which means ' to think,' or ' reason ' (and especially 
 according to the Hindu theory, ' to think upon and understand the 
 Veda,' whence the desiderative form Mimdnsd from the same root, 
 signifying ' investigation of the meaning of the Veda '). Bhrigu states 
 (L 61) that Manu sprang from Svayambhu, and that six other Manus 
 descended from him; whereas Manu himself (I. 33-36) declares that 
 he was created by Viraj, the male power produced by Brahma, and 
 that being so created he produced the ten Maharshis or Prajapatis, 
 who again produced seven Manus. The name, however, is generic. 
 In every Kalpa or interval from creation to creation there exist four- 
 teen successive Manus, whence each whole period is called a Manv- 
 antara, described as innumerable in I. 80. In the present creation 
 there have been as yet seven Manus : i. Manu Svayambhuva, the 
 supposed author of the Code, who produced the ten Prajapatis or 
 'patriarchs' for peopling the universe; 2. Svdrocisha ; 3. Auttami ; 
 4. Tamasa; 5. Raivata ; 6. (Jakshusha ; 7. Vaivasvata, son of the 
 Sun, the Manu of the present period, regarded as a kind of Indian 
 Adam or Noah (see note, p. 30). According to some, this last Manu 
 was the author of the Code, and therefore, as progenitor of the Solar 
 line of kings, a Kshatriya.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2 07 
 
 is declared to have created it by the power of austerity 
 (tapasa). 
 
 We need hardly, however, explain that these are merely 
 ideal personages, introduced dramatically like Krishna in 
 the Bhagavad-gita ; or rather perhaps are later additions, 
 designed to give an air of antiquity and divine authority 
 to the teaching of the Code. 
 
 The work in its present form can scarcely, I think, be 
 assigned to a date earlier or later than the fifth century 
 B.C. 1 Strictly speaking, or at least according to European 
 notions, it is, as I have already hinted, no orderly codifi- 
 cation of national statutes and customs, but rather an 
 unsystematic compilation from previous sources, 2 which, 
 
 1 Sir W. Jones held that Manu's book was drawn up in about the 
 year 1280 B.C. Mr. Elphinstone placed it 900 years B.C. Possibly 
 some parts of it may represent laws and precepts which were current 
 among the Manavas at the latter date, but no one would now assign so 
 early a date to the actual compilation of the Code. Nor can it, I think, 
 reasonably be placed later than the fifth century B.C. The gods men- 
 tioned are chiefly Vedic, and the fourfold caste system is that of the 
 Purusha-sftkta (see p. 21). There is no direct allusion to Buddhism, 
 though many of Manu's precepts are decidedly Buddhistic, having 
 frequent parallels in the Dhamma-pada, which indicate that Buddhistic 
 ideas were gaining ground in the locality represented by the Code. 
 Nor is there any allusion to Sat!, nor to the worship of Vishnu and 
 S'iva, which, from a statement of Megasthenes, may be inferred to have 
 prevailed in India soon after Alexander's invasion. Nor is there any 
 mention of the stories of the Mahabharata and Ramayana. At the 
 same time the former Epic often contains verses identical with those 
 of Manu. These are probably either taken from Manu or derived from 
 a common source. Possibly, however, portions of the Mahabharata 
 may be older than Manu. Certainly in III. 232 occur the words 
 Dharma-sastra, Akhyana, Itilidsa, Purdna, and Kliila, as titles of sacred 
 works, and Kulluka explains Itihdsa by Mahd-bhdrata, but these words 
 may refer to the older works, which were the sources of the present 
 compilations. 
 
 2 An evidence in favour of the supposition that more than one person 
 may have had a hand in the Code is deducible from the emphasis laid
 
 208 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 by blending civil and criminal law with religious, moral, 
 and ceremonial precepts, philosophical doctrines, and meta- 
 physical theories, confounds the ordinances of government 
 with the obligations of religion, domestic life, and private 
 morals. It is in twelve Chapters or Books. 
 
 In verse 6 of Book II. we have a statement as to the 
 'root' or basis of all law (dharma-mulam). This is 
 declared to be (i.) the whole Veda (Vedo'khilah), (2.) the 
 traditional law (Smriti), (3.) morality (Silam) of those 
 who know the Veda, and (4.) the practices and customs 
 (dcdra/i), established from time immemorial, of good men. 
 In matters indifferent a man is free to follow his own 
 inclination (atma-tushti). 
 
 Again, in verses 107, 108 of Book I. it is said : 
 
 In this >(Code) appears the whole system of law, with definitions of 
 good and bad actions, and the traditional practices (dcdra) of the four 
 classes, which usages are held to be eternal (dvatah, since they reach 
 back to a period beyond -the memory of man). Traditional practice 
 (dcdra) is ^equivalent to supreme law (paramo -dharmah), since it is so 
 pronounced by the Veda and by Smriti (Smdrta). 
 
 This Law-book, therefore, is a metrical compendium of 
 
 / _ * 
 
 rules of Smriti, Sila, and Acara, most of which had been 
 previously collected and propounded under the name of 
 Grihya and Samayacarika Sutras. At the end of Book I. 
 a summary of subjects is given, but we may more conve- 
 niently examine the contents of the twelve books under six 
 principal heads, viz., i. Veda, 'sacred knowledge' and reli- 
 gion ; 2. Vedanta or Atma-Vidya, as -terms for philosophy 
 in general ; 3. Acara; 4. Vyavahara ; 5. Prayas-citta ; 6. 
 Karma- phala. 
 
 It will be found that after eliminating the purely reli- 
 
 upon certain maxims which are especially ascribed to Manu himself, 
 such, for example, as V. 41, 131 ; VI. 54; VIII. 124, 168, 279, 339; 
 IX. 158, 182, 239; X. 63, 78, all of which introduce some phrase like 
 Manur dbravit.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 209 
 
 gious and pliilosopiiical precepts the greater number of 
 rules propounded fall under the third head of Acara, 
 'established practices/ which are described (II. 17, 18) as 
 Sad-dcdra, ' approved practices/ sanctioned by the Veda 
 and Smriti, if they are those which prevailed between the 
 two sacred rivers. Saras \ 7 ati and Drishadvati, in the region. 
 
 o 
 
 called Brahmavarta. The word Acara is, in truth, a very 
 wide term, including under it all the observances of caste, 
 regarded as constituting the highest law and highest 
 religion such observances, for instance, as the division 
 of a Brahman's life into four periods, the conduct of a 
 student in the house of his preceptor, investiture with the 
 sacred cord, the five diurnal devotional acts, the domestic 
 ceremonies of marriage, funeral rites, the various modes 
 of gaining subsistence (vpitti) t the rules of diet, the laws 
 concerning women, and, in short, all the observances of 
 private morality and social economy. 1 
 
 The fourth head, Vyavahdra, 'practices of law and kingly 
 government/ embraces the procedure of legal tribunals and 
 all the rules of judicature and civil and criminal law. 
 
 The fifth head of Prdyas-citta, ' penitential exercises/ 
 comprehends all the rules of penance and expiation. 
 
 The sixth head, Karma-pliala, ' recompenses or conse- 
 quences of acts/ is concerned not so much with rules of 
 conduct as with the doctrine of transmigration ; the un- 
 avoidable effect of acts of all kinds being to entail repeated 
 births through numberless existences until the attainment 
 of final beatitude. 
 
 All these rules apply especially to the highest class, 
 viz., Brahmans, whose ascendency in the social scale is in 
 fact the first Acara, which must be accepted as paramo 
 dliarmah, ' the highest law and highest religion.' 
 
 1 In Book V. 4 there is a curious passage which attributes Death's 
 power over Brahmans to four- causes, viz., i. omitting to repeat the 
 Veda, 2. neglect of Adara, 3. idleness, 4. sins of diet. 
 
 O
 
 2IQ INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It is only natural that, since the precepts included 
 under these six heads were framed by Brahmans, they 
 should have been framed with especial reference to the 
 life of Brahmans, the regulations for which engross six 
 Books, and are besides introduced everywhere throughout 
 the other six. But as the Brahman could not be sup- 
 ported in his priority of rank without the strong arm 
 of the Kshatriya or military class, a large portion of the 
 work is devoted to the definition of the Kshatriya's duties 
 and an exaggerated delineation of the kingly character 
 and office, while the Vaisyas and Sudras, though essential 
 to Manu's Caturvarnya or fourfold social system, 1 and the 
 mixed classes are little noticed. (See p. 226, &c.) 
 
 1 ' Caste ' is quite a modern word, and is supposed to be a corruption 
 of the Portuguese casta, ' a race.' Manu's word for the four classes is 
 varna, ( colour,' which suggests some original distinction of colour as 
 marking the dominant races. The later term for caste isjdti, 'birth,' 
 corrupted iTatojat. Of Manu's four castes the Brahmans alone remain, 
 though the Rajputs claim to be descendants of the ancient Kshatriyas. 
 The mixed castes of the present day are almost innumerable, each sepa- 
 rate trade forming a separate one. In Bengal there are the Rajaks, 
 ' washermen,' the Tantis, ' weavers,' the Kansaris, ' braziers,' the Jaliyas, 
 'fishermen,' the Suris, 'spirit sellers;' besides low and servile castes, 
 such as the Bagdis, Bediyas, Doms, Hadis. Moreover, we find castes 
 within castes, so that even the Brahmans are broken up and divided 
 into numerous races, which again are subdivided into numerous 
 tribes, families, or sub-castes. There are the Kanyakubja Brahmans, 
 the Sarasvata, the Gauda or Gaur (Gor), the Maithila, the Utkala, the 
 Dravida, the Karnata, the Maharashtra, the Gurjara, &c., all of which 
 races are subdivided into a greater or less number of tribes and families, 
 forming, as it were, sub-castes, which do not intermarry. It is said 
 that in Bengal religion was once at so low an ebb that a king, named 
 Adisura (Adl&ara), sent to the Raja of Kanyakubja or Kanouj for 
 some high-caste Brahmans to revive it. These were accordingly sent, 
 and, having settled in Bengal, became divided into one hundred and 
 fifty-six tribes, of which one hundred were called Varendra and fifty- 
 six Radha or Rarh, as belonging to the district of Radha in the West 
 of Bengal. Of the former eight, and of the latter six, are regarded
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANCJ. 2 I I 
 
 Hence, after an account of the creation of the world in 
 the first Book, the four stages of a Brahman's life are the 
 first and only subjects treated of in regular order in the 
 second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Books ; the sixth 
 being devoted to the duties of the last two stages of 
 anchorite (vana-prastha) and religious mendicant (bhikshu). 
 The fifth Book contains, moreover, rules and regulations 
 about food, the killing of animals, purification after defile- 
 ment, the duties of wives and the position of women 
 generally. The seventh and eighth Books propound the 
 rules of government and judicature, principally, of course, 
 for the guidance of the second great class or Kshatriyas, 
 from which the king was chosen. The ninth Book con- 
 tains further precepts on the subject of women, husband 
 and wife, their offspring, and the law of inheritance and 
 
 as Kulina or ' noble.' Kulluka, the commentator on Manu, was a 
 Varendra Brahman. The six Kulina Rarh tribes are called Banerjea, 
 (Bandyopadhyaya), Mukhurjea (Mukhopadhyaya), Caturjea (Cattopa- 
 dhyaya), Ganguli, Goshala, Kanjalala. The caste which in Bengal now 
 comes next in rank to the Brahman is the Vaidya or Baidya, ' medical ' 
 ( = Ambashtha, Manu X. 8) ; and the Kanouj Brahmans, when they 
 settled in Bengal, brought with them a number of Kayasthas or 
 'writers,' from whom sprang the present numerous Kayastha or 
 ' writer-caste,' subdivided into various tribes, such as Gos (Ghosha), 
 Bose (Yasu), Mitra, De, Datta, Palita, Dasa, Sena, &c. After them 
 come the Nava S'ak or 'nine divisions,' viz., Gopa, Mali Taili, Tantii, 
 Modaka, Yaraji (' betel-grower '), Kulala, Karmakara, Napita. See 
 Professor Cowell's Colebrooke's Essays, II. 169. The power of caste 
 and the effect of contact with Europeans in weakening it, are illus- 
 trated by the following extract from Dr. Hunter's valuable work on 
 Orissa : ' Elderly Uriyas have more than once deplored to me the 
 hopeless degeneracy of their grown-up sons, many of whom have 
 actually no objection to wearing English shoes. In 1870 a Uriya 
 Brahman held the post of sub-inspector of police in Purl itself, within 
 the shadow of Jagan-nath, although a leather belt formed part of his 
 uniform. Five years ago a Brahman who accidentally touched leather 
 would have had to choose between public expiation or degradation and 
 expulsion from caste.' Vol. ii. p. 147.
 
 212 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 division of property. At the end (221, &c.) there are 
 additional rules of government for kings and a few pre- 
 cepts which have direct reference to^the two remaining 
 principal castes the Vaisyas and Sudras the former 
 comprising agriculturists and merchants ; the latter, slaves 
 and servants. The tenth Book treats of the mixed classes, 
 arising out of intermarriage between the four original 
 principal castes. It also describes the employments to 
 which the several classes are restricted, and states the 
 occupations permitted to Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, 
 and Sudras in times of great exigency and distress. There 
 are some verses at the end (122-129) which are interest- 
 ing as treating directly of the duties and position of 
 Sudras. The eleventh Book gives rules for expiation and 
 penance (prdyas-cittci), both for sins committed in this 
 life especially sins against caste and for the effects of 
 offences perpetrated in previous bodies, as shown in con- 
 genital diseases, &c. (XL 48, 49). The twelfth continues 
 the subject of the recompenses or consequences of acts 
 (karma-phala), good or bad, as leading to reward in 
 heaven or punishment in various hells (XII. 75, 76), and 
 to triple degrees of transmigration (see p. 275). It closes 
 with directions as to the best means of obtaining final 
 beatitude and absorption into the universal Essence. 
 
 From this outline of the contents of the so-called Code 
 of Manu, we may perceive that the most diversified topics 
 are introduced, some of which are quite out of the pro- 
 vince of a mere code of laws or even of a collection of 
 social and moral precepts. In the next chapter I propose 
 examining the contents more in detail.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Dharma-sdstras or Laiv-books Manu continued. 
 
 THE Code of the Manavas, which we have assigned in its 
 present form to about the fifth century B.C. (see p. 207), 
 and which for convenience we may call ' Manu's Law- 
 book,' is a metrical version of the traditions (smriti) of 
 the Manavas, probably before embodied in their Grihya 
 and Samayacarika Sutras (p. 205), the metre being Anush- 
 tubh or that of the common Sloka 1 (p. 155). My aim in 
 the present chapter will be to analyze and arrange in a 
 connected manner the contents of the Code, 2 offering prose 
 translations of selected passages and pointing out in a 
 general way the characteristic features of (i) its sacred 
 knowledge and religion, (2) its philosophy, (3) its Acdra 
 or ' social rules and caste organization,' (4) its Vyavahdra 
 or ' criminal and civil laws and rules of government,' (5) 
 its system of Prdyas-citta or ' penance,' (6) its system of 
 Karma-phala or ' future recompenses of acts done in this 
 life.' In the next chapter I propose to give specimens of 
 
 1 The use of the common Epic S'loka throughout the whole work is 
 one reason for regarding it as Post-vedic, but we must not forget that 
 the Anushtubh metre is found even in the Veda (see X. 85 ; X. 90, &c.) 
 
 2 I have used the Calcutta edition, which has the excellent commen- 
 tary of Kulluka-bhatta. I have always consulted Sir W. Jones' trans- 
 lation, and I owe much to Dr. Johaentgen's tract, Uber das Gesetzbucli 
 des Manu. When Kulluka lived is not known, but he describes him- 
 self in his modest preface (written in the S'ardula-vikrldita metre) as a 
 Brahman, the son of Bhatta-divakara, of the Varendra tribe of Gauda 
 (Gaur) or Bengal, and as having fixed his abode at Benares. I did not 
 read Mr. Talboys Wheeler's analysis till my own was completed.
 
 214 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the most striking passages, under the last four heads, in 
 a metrical English version. 
 
 I. First, then, as to its religious teaching. We may 
 notice that this generally agrees with the later Vedic 
 period, especially that represented by the Purusha-sukta 
 and some of the Brahmanas. 
 
 ' Divinely revealed knowledge ' in general is called Veda 
 (IV. 125, &c.); sometimes Trayl vidyd (IV. 125); some- 
 times Brahman (nom. neut. brahma, I. 23 ; II. 81 ; VI. 
 83, in which last passage this title is also applied to the 
 Vedanta or Upanishads) ; sometimes Sruti (as distin- 
 guished from Smriti, II. 10); sometimes Chanddnsi 
 (when the metrical Mantras are especially intended, IV. 
 95-97 ; III. 188) ; onceArsha (neut., XII. 106), and even 
 Vac, ' word,' described as a Brahman's weapon (XI. 33). 
 
 The three Vedas are mentioned by name in I. 23, IV. 
 123, 124 ; XL 264, and their Samhita in XL 77, 200, 258, 
 262. In I. 23 we read that Brahma milked out the triple 
 Veda (trayam brahma), Rik, Yajus, and Saman from Fire, 
 Air, and the Sun, for the complete performance of sacri- 
 fice ; and in II. 77 he is said to have milked out the 
 sacred text called Savitri ( = Gayatil, p. 1 7) from the 
 three Vedas. 1 The Brahmana portion of the Veda does 
 not seem to be directly mentioned, except under the name 
 of Brahma, as distinguished from the Mantra portion, 
 called Ohandas (IV. 100). The eternity and infallible 
 authority of the Veda and the duty and expiatory efficacy 
 
 1 See p. 5. In XI. 265 the three Vedas are said to be included 
 in the triliteral Om. In IY. 125, Om, the Vyahritis (viz., Bhuh, 
 Bhuvah, Svar), and the Savitri text are described as extracted from 
 the three Vedas. In III. 185, a Brahman who understands the appli- 
 cation of some portion of the Yajur-veda is called Tri-waciketa, and 
 one skilled in some part of the Rig-veda a Tri-suparna, though it is 
 clear from Kulluka's remarks that the exact meaning of these words 
 
 o 
 
 was not known in his time.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2 I 5 
 
 <>f a complete knowledge of all three Vedas (XI. 262) are 
 insisted on in the strongest language. In illustration, I 
 here give a version of a passage in Book XII. 94, &c. : 
 
 The Yeda is of patriarchs and men, 
 
 And e'en of gods, a very eye eternal, 
 
 Giving unerring light ; it is beyond 
 
 All finite faculties, nor can be proved 
 
 By force of human argument this is 
 
 A positive conclusion. Codes of laws 
 
 Depending on the memory of men 
 
 Not grounded on the Veda heresies 
 
 And false opinions, all are held to be 
 
 Barren and worthless and involved in darkness. 
 
 Whatever doctrine rests not on the Veda 
 
 Must pass away as recent, false, and fruitless. 
 
 The triple world arid quadruple distinction 
 
 Of classes and of Asramas, 1 with all 
 
 That has been, is, and ever will be, all 
 
 Are through the Veda settled and established. 
 
 By this eternal Veda are sustained 
 
 All creatures ; hence we hold it as supreme 
 
 Chief instrument of happiness to man. 
 
 Command of armies, regal dignity, 
 
 Conduct of justice and the world's dominion 
 
 He merits who completely knows the Veda. 
 
 As with augmented energy the fire 
 
 Consumes e'en humid trees, so he who knows 
 
 This book divine burns out the taint of sin 
 
 Inherent in his soul through former works. 
 
 For he who apprehends the Veda's truth, 
 
 Whatever be his Order, is prepared 
 
 For blending with the great primeval Spirit, 
 
 E'en while abiding in this lower world. 
 
 The inferior relationship of the Sama-veda to the two 
 others is remarkable. The Rig-veda is said to be most 
 concerned with the gods, the Yajur-veda with the religious 
 
 1 That is, the four orders or stages of life (of student, householder, 
 anchorite, and mendicant) into which a Brahman's life is divided.
 
 2l6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 rites of men, and the Sama-veda with those of the Pitris 
 (IV. 1 24). Hence the sound of the latter is described as 
 impure (a-suci, see p. 6). 
 
 In unison with this, an order of precedence is prescribed 
 in III. 145. The preference at a Sraddba is directed to be 
 given to a priest called Bahv-rica (elsewhere Hotri), who 
 has made the Rig-veda his special study ; then to one who 
 has studied all the branches ($akhanta-ga) and especially 
 the Yajur-veda, and who is called Adhvaryu ; and lastly to 
 a Sama-veda priest, who is styled Chando-ga ( = Udgatri). 
 
 It is clear that when the Code was compiled the Atharva- 
 veda had not yet been generally accepted as a fourth Veda, 
 though it must have existed, as there is express allusion 
 (XL 33) to the revelation 1 made to Atharvan and Angiras. 
 
 I annex three other remarkable examples of the estima- 
 tion in which the Veda was held : 
 
 A Brahman by retaining the Eig-veda in his memory incurs no guilt, 
 though he should destroy the three worlds (XI. 261). 
 
 This Veda is the refuge (Parana) of those who do not understand it 
 (ajndnam) as well as those who do (vijanatam), of those who seek heaven 
 and of those who seek immortality (anantyam, VI. 84). 
 
 When there is (apparent) contradiction of two precepts in the Veda 
 (ruti-dvaidh<wi) both are declared to be law ; both have been justly pro- 
 mulgated (samyag-uktau] by ancient sages as valid law. Thus, there is 
 a Vedic precept (enjoining the sacrifice to be performed) when the sun 
 has risen, and before it has risen, and when neither sun nor stars are 
 visible (samayadliyusliite). Wherefore the oblation to fire (yajnah = agni- 
 hotra-homah) may be made at all times (II. 14, 15). 
 
 The doctrine of the Upanishads is directly mentioned in 
 VI. 29 and alluded to elsewhere, thus : 
 
 He should study the Upanishad portion of the Veda (aupanishadlh 
 drutifi) for the sake of attaining union with the universal Spirit. 
 
 Let the whole Veda be studied (or repeated) by a twice-born man 
 
 1 Described by Kulluka as consisting of charms and incantations.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2 \"J 
 
 along with the TJpanishads. [ Vedah kritsno 'ahigantavyafi sa-rahasyo 
 dvijanmand, II. 165; cf. also II. 140, XI. 262.] 
 
 He should continually repeat (japet) that part of the Yeda (bralnna) 
 which is on the subject of sacrifice (adliiyajhani), and that relating to 
 the deities (adhidaivikam), and that relating to soul (ddhydtmikam), 
 and that declared in the Upanishads ( Veddntdbliiliitam, VI. 83). 
 
 The Kalpa Sutras are probably referred to in II. 140. 
 
 A knower of Nirukta (see p. 156) is reckoned among 
 the Brahmans who compose a Parishad in XII. in, but 
 no reference is made to Yaska, nor is it likely that his 
 work then existed (see p. 156). 
 
 In I. ii. 50 the name Brahmnn is applied to the 
 supreme Being ( = Brahma, Kulluka) ; in XII. 50 the 
 Creator of the universe is called Brahma (see p. 9) ; 
 in XL 243, XII. 121, Prajapati. In I. 6 the supreme 
 Spirit is termed Svayambhu, 'the Self-existent;' in I. 10, 
 Narayana. In XII. 121 the names Vishnu and Hara 
 occur ; but generally the gods named belong more to the 
 Vedic than to the Epic and Puranic period. For instance, 
 in Book IX. 303 we have the following list of deities : 
 
 Of Indra, Surya, Vayu (or Maruta), Yama, Varuna, Candra, Agni, 
 and Prithivl, let the king emulate the power and conduct. 
 
 There is no allusion to the Post-vedic Tri-murti or 
 
 / 
 
 popular worship of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, nor to the 
 still more recent worship of the Sakti that" is to say, 
 'the energy' represented by the wives of the deities, 
 especially by Durga, wife of Siva. Nor, again, is there 
 any recognition of that principle of bhakti or 'faith' in 
 Krishna, as supreme Lord of the universe, which was 
 a subsequent development of Hindu religious thought 
 
 (P- I2 5) 
 
 The doctrine of transmigration is, however, fully stated, 
 
 and, as a consequence of this, the hells described in the 
 Code (IV. 88-90; XII. 75, 77), though places of terrible 
 torture, resolve themselves into merely temporary purga-
 
 218 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 tories, wliile the heavens (IV. 182, 260; VI. 32 ; II. 244) 
 become only steps on the road to union with Brahma. 
 
 The three worlds (trailokya, loka-traya) alluded to in 
 XI. 236, 261, are probably the heavens, atmosphere, and 
 earth. 
 
 What must strike every one as singular in regard to 
 the religion of the Code is the total absence of allusion to 
 public and congregational services or teaching in temples. 
 Public sacrifices are certainly mentioned, but the chief 
 rites of religion were evidently of a domestic kind, and 
 the priests, whatever their ancient functions may have 
 been, were at the time of the composition of the Code 
 more like domestic chaplains (see p. 230). Little, too, is 
 said about idols 1 certainly nothing to countenance the 
 adoration of them or to encourage Biahmans to under- 
 take the care of idol-temples, nor are there directions as 
 to offering rice, flowers, and perfumes at idol-shrines, 
 which oblations (naivedya) are commonly presented before 
 images in temples at the present day. 
 
 II. In the second place, as to the philosophy of 
 Manu's Law-book. It is plain, from a passage already 
 quoted, that a love for rationalistic speculations (hetu- 
 sdstra) and a spirit of free scepticism were beginning 
 to show themselves in India at the time the Code 
 
 1 It is very doubtful whether idolatry was at all commonly practised 
 .at the time of the compilation of the Code. We have already seen 
 that there is no satisfactory proof of the existence of idols in the 
 Vedic period. Seep. 1 2 of this volume. In Manu III. 152 a Deva- 
 laka, ' attendant on an idol ' ( =pratimd-paricdraka), is directed to be 
 shunned. Certainly in II. 176 the Brahman student is enjoined to 
 perform devatdbhyarSanam, 'worship of the deities,' and this is in- 
 terpreted by Kulluka to mean pratimddishu hari-harddi-deva-pujanam, 
 ' doing homage to Vishnu and S'iva before images,' &c., but whether 
 Manu really intended to denote pratimd by devoid is questionable. 
 In IX. 285, however, the accidental breaker of images (prathndndm 
 bhedakah) is directed to repair them and pay a fine.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 219 
 
 was compiled ; and it is possible that Buddha's ad- 
 herents, though not mentioned by name, were pointed 
 at with reprobation under the designation Ndstikdh, 
 ' atheists ' ( = Carvaka, Kulluka II. 1 1 ), and Pdshan- 
 dinah, 'heretics' ( = dkya-bhikshu-]cshapanafaidi, Kul- 
 luka IV. 30 ; I. 1 1 8). The Code itself may have been an 
 attempt to stem the current of opinion which was set- 
 ting in the direction of Buddhism and rationalistic Brah- 
 manism. The compiler, however, thought it necessary 
 to adopt some of the current philosophical theories, and 
 accordingly we find them interspersed throughout the 
 work, though more directly stated at the beginning and 
 end. They are of that vague and misty kind which 
 probably prevailed at the period preceding the crystal- 
 lization of the various systems into distinct schools. The 
 words San-khya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaiseshika, and Mimansa 
 do not occur as designations of philosophical systems. 
 We notice indeed a strong leaning towards the San-khyan 
 line of thought, though we find only a confused state- 
 ment of some leading ideas of that system, without any 
 mention of its twenty-five Tattvas. The growth of pan- 
 theistic ideas, as foreshadowed in the Purusha-sukta of 
 the Rig-veda (see p. 21), is also traceable. All existing 
 things are said to emanate from Brahma, the one self- 
 existent Spirit, to whom all things must also return. 
 Atma-vidya, equivalent to Brahma-vidya and to the 
 Vedanta doctrine, is directed to be studied in VII. 43, 
 and Vedantic ideas pervade the whole twelfth Book, 
 which, however, may possibly be due to later additions. 
 Still more remarkable is the attention directed to be 
 given to the study of Anvikshiki, ' logic ' (VII. 43 = tarka- 
 vidyd) ; and although the Nyaya and Mimansa had evi- 
 dently not become schools, we find from XII. 1 1 1 that a 
 Parishad or ' assembly of twelve Brahmans,' competent 
 to decide on disputed points of law, includes a Haituka
 
 220 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ( = nyaya-jna) and a Tarkin (-mlmansaka, Kulluka). 
 Moreover, in XII. 106, it is declared that be only under- 
 stands the Veda who investigates it by the rules of Tarka 
 ( = mlmdnsddi-nydya), agreeably to Vedic doctrine all of 
 which precepts are, of course, inconsistent with the repro- 
 bation of Hailukas in II. 11, IV. 30; as well as with a 
 precept in II. 10, where Sruti and Smriti are affirmed to 
 be a-mlmdnsye, ' not to be reasoned about.' 
 
 The cosmogony adopted presents us with a compound 
 of both the San-khya and Vedanta theories of creation 
 before they had diverged into distinct systems. There is, 
 however, in Book I. a synthetical scheme advanced which, 
 though a confusion of two separate statements, one made 
 by Maim himself (I. 14, &c.), the other by Bhrigu (I. 74, 
 &c.), certainly more accords with the San-khyan doctrine 
 than with any other (see p. 90). I here abridge the 
 account, commencing I. 5 : 
 
 This universe first existed only in darkness (tamo-bhutam), impercep- 
 tible, undefinable, as if immersed in sleep (prasuptam). Then the Self- 
 existent (Svayam-bhu, described by the same epithet as the San-khyan 
 PraJcriti, viz., A-vyalda, ' undiscerned ' or 'undeveloped'), having willed 
 to produce various beings from his own substance, first with a thought 
 created the waters, and placed on them a productive seed or egg 
 (wja or anda). Then he himself was born in that egg in the form of 
 Brahma. Next he caused the egg to divide itself, and out of its two 
 divisions framed the heaven above and the earth beneath. Afterwards, 
 having divided his own substance, he became half male, half female 
 (I. 32), and from that female produced Viraj (see note i, p. 22), from 
 whom was created Manu, the secondary progenitor of all beings. Then 
 he (Brahma, according to Kulluka on I. 14) from the supreme Soul 
 (Atmari) drew forth Manas ( = Mdhat or Buddhi, ' Intellect,' as ex- 
 plained by Kulluka on I. 74, 75, 1 in which passage Manas is the 
 principle of thought and stands for both Buddhi and Ahan-kara). 
 
 1 But according to I. 14 (Kulluka) Manas must be distinguished 
 from Buddhi, and regarded as a product of Ahan-kara, as in the 
 San-khya system.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 221 
 
 Next to that came Ahan-kfira, and, after that, the Tan-matras or 
 ' subtile principles of the elements.' From these seven active principles 
 (called 'the seven Purushas,' I. 19) viz., Mahat or Buddhi (called 
 Manas in I. 14, 74, 75), Ahan-kara, and the five subtile elements 
 were evolved the five gross or material elements (mahd-bhuta), the 
 organs of sense, and the whole world of sense. (Compare the 
 San-khyan doctrine at pp. 83, 84.) 
 
 It is curious to compare Strabo XV. 59 (see p. 276). 
 
 All this confusion and obscurity in the account of the 
 creation is symptomatic of diversity of authorship. Of tLe 
 two narratives, that of Bhrigu is the simplest. But both 
 (I. 14 and I. 74) make 'the principle of thought' the first 
 product that which is and is not (sad-asad-atmdkani) 
 to which belongs a real existence, and yet not eternity, 
 because it is a product (see San-khya-pravacana V. 56). 
 I now abridge what follows according to Bhrigu's state- 
 ment : 
 
 The first Manu Svayambhuva produced six other Manus, and these 
 seven Manus (see note, p. 206), each in his own period, were the creators 
 of all things (I. 61-63). 
 
 In order to show the duration of a Manv-antara or Manu- 
 period, the divisions of time from a moment to a day of 
 Brahma (12,000,000 years) are specified (I. 64-73) ' 
 
 A Manu-period consists of seventy-one times the 12,000 years, which 
 constitute an age of the gods (I. 79). Each Maha-yuga or great age of 
 the world is subdivided into four Yugas or ages, viz., i. Krita, 2. 
 Treta, 3. Dvapara, and 4. Kali, each decreasing in excellence; and the 
 life of man lasts for 400 years in the first, 300 years in the second, 200 
 years in the third, and 100 years in the present or Kali age. 1 
 
 In I. 87-101 the account of the creation is concluded 
 by a description of the origin of the four castes from the 
 mouth, arm, thigh, and foot of Brahma, and the pre- 
 eminence assigned to Brahman s (see extracts, pp. 233, 234). 
 
 1 We find it constantly implied in Hindu writings that the natural 
 term of human life in the present age is 100 years.
 
 222 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In the twelfth Book the leaning towards a San-khyan 
 line of thought is again conspicuous. In 24-38 we have 
 a description of the three Gunas of the San-khya, viz., 
 Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, all three of which are said to 
 pervade, and one or other of which predominate in every 
 mortal frame (see note 2, p. 85). In XII. 24 it is asserted 
 that these three form the constituent substances of atman 
 (self or soul), and that the first developed principle 
 Mahat or Buddhi is also pervaded by them. Again, 
 the triple degrees of transmigration, highest, -middle, and 
 lowest, through gods, men, and beasts, are supposed to 
 result from acts done under the dominance of these three 
 Gunas (see note i, p. 56). We have also the three Pra- 
 manas of the San-khya philosophy clearly laid down iti 
 XII. 105 :- 
 
 Three means of attaining true knowledge or three standards of truth, 
 viz., perception by the senses (pratyaksha), inference (amimdna), and 
 the Veda (&dbda) or various books founded on it these three must be 
 known thoroughly by one wishing for a clear idea of duty (see pp. 61, 
 82 of this volume). 
 
 Although, however, the germ of the San-khya is clearly 
 traceable, there is an evident commingling of pantheistic 
 ideas, tending towards the Vedanta, in the frequent declara- 
 tion that all existing things emanate from, and will ulti- 
 mately be absorbed into Brahma, ' the universal Spirit.' 
 The distinction between the Jivatman and Paramatman 
 (see p. 51) is recognised in VIII. 91, which verse Kulluka 
 explains by a reference to the Vedic allegory of the two 
 birds (quoted p. 40 of this volume). Nevertheless, we miss 
 in Manu what we find in the later philosophical schools, 
 a clear definition of the subtile body, as composed of the 
 subtile elements, and a plain statement of its relationship 
 to the individual soul and of its accompanying the soul 
 through all its transmigrations. The survival of this soul 
 over the dissolution of the gross body is indeed plainly
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 223 
 
 implied ; but Manu's doctrine is that if a man has been 
 wicked the soul clothed in a kind of body, composed of 
 coarse and impure elements, undergoes along with it tor- 
 ment in hell for a time (XII. 21); whereas, if a man has 
 been virtuous, the soul invested in a kind of ethereal and 
 shining body (kha-sanrin), composed of pure elemen- 
 tary particles of air, wind, and fire, enjoys bliss in heaven 
 with it for a certain period (IV. 243, III. 93, II. 82, XII. 
 20) ; after which both the wicked and the virtuous are 
 born again. 
 
 Nor do we find any precise definition of Brahman (neut.) 
 as pure absolute Spirit, the only really existing entity, 
 according to the Vedanta doctrine. Brahma seems rather 
 to be regarded as a kind of shining ethereal essence, out 
 of which the universe was evolved and into which it 
 becomes absorbed (cf. II. 28; IV. 232; VI. 79, 81, 85; 
 XII. 123-125). 
 
 III. Thirdly, as to the Acara, ' rules and precepts of 
 conduct,' and social legislation of the Mauavas. 
 
 The organization of classes in I. 87-91 is so simple 
 that this simplicity, if it be not merely theoretical, bears 
 witness to the antiquity of a considerable portion of the 
 Code. According to Book X. 3, 4, there are only four 
 pure classes (varndh, p. 210), as follows : 
 
 The Brahman (or priestly class), the Kshatriya (or military class), 
 and the Vaisya (or agricultural class) constitute the three twice-born 
 (dvi-jdti or dvi-ja) classes (as obtaining a second spiritual birth through 
 investiture with the sacred thread, see p. 239); the S'udra (or servile 
 class) is once-born (eka-jati), and constitutes the fourth class ; there is 
 no fifth class. 
 
 From priority of birth, from superiority of origin (in being sprung 
 from the mouth of the Creator), from possession of the Veda (niyam- 
 asya [ = vedasyd\ dharandt, i.e., from the right of studying, teaching, 
 and expounding it), and from a distinction in the reception of the 
 sacrificial thread (as the most important of the twelve Sanskaras or 
 'purificatory rites,' specified in II. 27, &c.), the Brahman is the lord 
 (prabliu) of all the classes (X. 3. See p. 233).
 
 224 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The only allusion in the Veda to this fourfold division 
 is in the Purusha-sukta (Kig-veda X. 90. 12), which, as 
 we have seen (p. 21), is one of its most recent hymns. 
 
 A similar division into classes or professions is found 
 to have prevailed in almost all countries. 1 
 
 In the same tenth Book of Manu, however, we have a 
 more developed social system depicted, and a number of 
 mixed castes (varna-san-karak, san-Tcara-jdtlydh, X. 12) 
 are described as resulting from the intermarriage of the 
 pure classes : z 
 
 1 Megasthenes (according to Strabo's India, 39), the Greek am- 
 bassador of Seleukos Nikator (Alexander's successor between the 
 Euphrates and Indus, B.C. 312) at the court of Sandrokottos (Candra- 
 gupta) in Pataliputra (naXiftodpa), divided the Hindu people into seven 
 classes, viz., philosophers, husbandmen, shepherds, tradesmen or arti- 
 ficers, soldiers, spies or overseers (efpopot), and councillors of state (see 
 note 2, p. 237); perhaps because Herodotus divided the inhabitants of 
 Egypt into seven, viz., priests, soldiers, cowherds, swineherds, trades- 
 men, interpreters, and pilots ; but Diodorus and Plato made only five 
 divisions, and Strabo only three. From Plato's Timaeus (6) it appears 
 that a similar division of professions existed among the Athenians. 
 
 TlpS>TOv p.fv TO T>V lepecav yevos, OTTO raiv it\\<av ^wptr d(pa>picrp.evov, p.era 8t 
 TOVTO TO TOJV brjp.iovpytov, OTI Kad' avrb fnavTov XXw 8e OVK fT7ifj.iyvvp.fvov 
 Srjiiiovpyel, Tore T>V vofiftav Kal TO T>V drjptvTaiv, Tore TU>I> yfa>pya>v KOI 17 Kal 
 TO fjidxip-ov ytvos ycrdrja-ai TTOV TrjBe OTTO iravrutv TG>V yevav Ke^picrjjLfvoVj ols 
 
 Ov8(V XXo 7T\TJV TO. TTtpl TOV TToXf/iOJ/ V7TO TOV VOfJ.OV TTpOCrfTa^Qr] fJLf\flV. Again, 
 
 from a passage in Herodotus (I. 101), it is inferred that a similar 
 distinction existed among the Medes. In Malcolm's History of Persia 
 (I. 205) the Persian monarch Jamshid is said to have divided the 
 Persians into four classes. Mr. Mill also points out an instructive 
 passage in Plato's Republic (II. n), in which, describing the simplest 
 form of a political association, he makes it to consist of four or five 
 
 classes of men : EH; 8' av fj ye dvayK.aiora.TT] iroXis fK rerrapcw tj TrevTf dvftpav. 
 
 Finally, we read in Millar's Historical View of the English Govern- 
 ment (I. u) that the Anglo-Saxons were originally divided into four 
 great classes artificers and tradesmen, husbandmen, soldiers, and 
 clergy. 
 
 2 Mr. W. F. Sinclair gives some interesting information (in the 
 February and March numbers of the ' Indian Antiquary ') in regard to
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 22$ 
 
 By unlawful intermarriage of the classes (vyabhicdrena varndndm), 
 by their marrying women who ought not to be married, and by neglect 
 of their own duties, mixed classes are produced (X. 24). 
 
 These have a great variety of names, such as Murdha- 
 vasikta, Mahishya, Karana or Kaya-stha, Ambashtha or 
 Vaidya, Ayogava, Dhigvana, Pukkasa, Candala (see p. 
 229), and are restricted to particular occupations. Still 
 
 the various subdivisions or sub-castes of Brahmans, and adds a list of 
 
 forty mixed castes, now found in the Dekhan. With regard to the 
 
 Brahmans, he places at the head the Chitpdvan (' race of the corpse ' 
 
 or ' race of the burning-ground ') or Konkanasth ( Kon-kana-stha) 
 
 Brahmans, to whom the notorious Nana Sahib of Bithur belonged. 
 
 Then come the Desastli ( = Desa-stlia] or Rigvedl Brahmans, who claim 
 
 for themselves descent from the Rishis, and therefore the highest rank ; 
 
 then the Yajur-tedi, who are chiefly engaged in trade ; and then the 
 
 Devrnlili (?), who are mostly agricultural. There are also in the 
 
 Dekhan Telangl (i.e., Telingl, from Sanskrit tri-lin-ga) Brahmans, from 
 
 the Karnatak, chiefly engaged in trade ; Kanouj Brahmans (from 
 
 Hindustan), who are often Sipahis in native regiments or employes 
 
 upon the railway, and some other tribes. With regard to the forty 
 
 mixed castes enumerated by Mr. Sinclair, I here subjoin some of them 
 
 as given by him, with a few notes of my own PraWms (Sanskrit 
 
 prabhu), who are the highest, and divided into Kdyastli and Path-are ; 
 
 Sonars ( = Suvarna-kdra) or goldsmiths, a subdivision of whom are the 
 
 Ratlia-kdra Sonars, who claim to be of Brahman race (cf. note 2, p. 
 
 149); Vdnis (Banias, Banians = Baniyas, Sanskrit banik), who are 
 
 grocers and grain-dealers, and are distinguished by great reverence for 
 
 animal life ; Bhdtiyds or cloth and cotton merchants ; Khattrls, who 
 
 claim Rajput ( = Kshatriya) descent, but are dealers in cloth, gold and 
 
 silver lace, &c. ; Vaistjas, who claim to be a remnant of the original 
 
 Vaisyas, and are traders ; Mdrvddi, merchants, from Mdrvdd or 
 
 Marwdr ; Simpls or tailors ; Satars ( = Sutra-dhdra) or carpenters ; 
 
 Sikalgars (Saiqal-gar), turners and weapon-sharpeners ; Lohdrs ( = Loha- 
 
 Jidra) or smiths ; TfiEs ( = Taill, from Tallin) or oilmen ; Koshtis and 
 
 Sails or weavers ; Kuniblidrs ( Kumbha-kdra) or potters ; Rolls, who 
 
 are Bhistls or water-bearers; Pants or washermen; Londrls ( = Lavana- 
 
 kdrin) or preparers of salt and lime and charcoal ; Rangdris ( = Ran-ga- 
 
 kdriri) or dyers; Chambhdrs (= Carm a- kdrin] or leather-cutters and 
 
 shoemakers, &c. 
 
 P
 
 226 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the superiority of the Brahmans in the Hindu lawyer's 
 scheme is the hinge on which the whole social system 
 turns. In fact, the state of society depicted is that of 
 pure and unmitigated Brahmanism, a state of things 
 which, if it really admitted of the amount of Brahmanical 
 arrogance described as existing, would more than account 
 for the Buddhist reaction. The Brahmans are made to 
 constitute the great central body around which all other 
 classes and orders of beings revolve like satellites. Not 
 only are they invested with the highest dignity and im- 
 portance, but they are bound together, and their position 
 secured by the most stringent rules ; while the other three 
 classes of soldiers, agriculturists, and servants are made 
 powerless for combined resistance by equally stringent 
 regulations, one class being separated from the other by 
 insurmountable lines of demarcation. 
 
 We must, however, guard against supposing that a 
 Brahman claimed to take the lead merely in the character 
 of a priest. To understand more clearly the nature of 
 Brahmanical ascendency we must ask ourselves the ques- 
 tion, What physical and moral forces Jed to the first 
 movements which ended in the crystallization of social 
 distinctions into the caste-system ? 
 
 It seems probable, then, that the formation of hard lines 
 of separation between the classes was more the result of 
 gradual and natural adjustment than of preconcerted plan. 
 There can be little doubt that when the Aryan Hindus 
 came into India as immigrants and conquerors, they were 
 without any systematic arrangement of classes. Their 
 first seat was in the Panjab, around the five chief affluents 
 of the Indus and in the neighbourhood of Delhi. This 
 was a productive plain watered by rivers. 1 Hence it 
 
 1 By degrees they spread themselves over the whole region called by 
 Maim (II. 21,22) Arycavarta, ' the abode of Aryas,' i.e., the great central
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 
 
 happened that, although in their primeval abode, some- 
 where in Central Asia, they were probably half nomad, 
 half agricultural, they became, when fairly settled in Hin- 
 dustan, a nation of agriculturists. 1 The soil, too, being 
 fertile, yielded more than enough to supply the necessities 
 of the cultivators. Hence the surplus produce enabled a 
 large non-agricultural population to spring up. Some of 
 these applied themselves to trade and the improvement of 
 mechanical arts ; others were enabled to devote them- 
 selves to one of three occupations : i. mental and religious 
 culture ; 2. military exercises ; 3. domestic service. 2 It 
 was, indeed, absolutely necessary that the cultivators who 
 were called Vaisyas, because they 'settled down' on the 
 soil and gradually acquired an hereditary right to its 
 occupation, 3 should have a class of military men above 
 
 plains (Madhya-desa), extending from the western to the eastern sea, and 
 bounded on the north and south by the Himalaya and Vindhya moun- 
 tains. Only in this region were the three first classes allowed to dwell, 
 but S'udras might sojourn wherever they liked. (See Manu II. 21-24.) 
 
 1 The very name Arya is, as every one now knows, connected with the 
 root 4 ri ' = ar, whence aratrum, ' a plough ' (cf. Sanskrit aritra). It is 
 curious to note how Brahmans, after their segregation as the dominant 
 class, sought to depreciate agriculture. Manu (X. 84) says, ' Some think 
 that agriculture (Jcrishi) is an excellent thing, but it is a mode of exist- 
 ence blamed by the good, because the iron-mouthed ploughshare wounds 
 the earth and the creatures living in it.' Mr. W. F. Sinclair informs 
 us in the ' Indian Antiquary,' that in the Dekhan the cultivators of the 
 soil are by the modern races of Brahmans considered pure S'udras. 
 
 2 The same happened in the fertile plains of Egypt and Mesopotamia. 
 
 3 In modern times they are called Ryots, from the Arabic iHj^ . ra"iyat, 
 1 protected people ' (root ^-j ' to pasture, guard '). The Hindu term 
 "Vaisya is more expressive of their original condition. It is derived from 
 the root vis, ( to enter into,' ' sit down on,' ' settle down on,' ' occupy ' 
 (whence vesa, ' an abode '), cognate with vicus, ' a village,' and o7xo;, ' an 
 abode,' and our affix ' wick ' at the end of names of towns, denoting 
 originally a settlement or station of cultivators. Hence the root vis, 
 when used as a substantive, means 'a man of the people.' The Vaisyas
 
 228 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 them, with leisure either to cultivate arms, and so defend 
 the land thus occupied from the attacks of other invaders, 
 or to undertake the cares of government, and so protect 
 property from the dangers incident to anarchy. These 
 ultimately received the name Kshatriya. But in the 
 earliest times, as represented by the Vedic hymns, they 
 were called Rdjanya, ' the kingly class.' (See the Purusha- 
 sukta, translated p. 21, and see p. 22, note 2.) Doubtless, 
 when this class first arose they must have constituted the 
 most powerful order of society ; and so, indeed, practi- 
 cally they must have always remained, notwithstanding 
 the intellectual superiority of the Brahmanical class. 1 
 That the close interdependence of the two higher classes 
 was recognized by the Brahmans themselves is shown by 
 the following : 
 
 were allowed to become merchants if they preferred trading to agricul- 
 ture ; but the only provision for classes of artisans and mechanics, is 
 from the mixed classes. This indicates that Manu's division belongs to 
 an early period, before the industrial and mechanical arts had acquired 
 much importance, though they must have been considerably advanced 
 even in Vedic times (as shown by Dr. Muir, Texts V. 450-472). The 
 Hindu village system of the present day seems to have been developed 
 out of that represented in Manu's Code. Almost everywhere are found 
 bodies of agriculturists who have settled on the soil from time imme- 
 morial, and formed themselves into little republics presided over by 
 a half-elective, half-hereditary headman, and a number of village offi- 
 cials (properly twelve, e.g., watchman, accountant, priest, schoolmaster, 
 doctor, barber, astrologer, &c.), the lands around the village forming a 
 sort of jurisdiction, and disputes being settled by gatherings of the vil- 
 lagers under trees, while various low-caste menials who have no interest 
 in the soil are attached to the community. 
 
 1 The name Kshatriya comes from Jcshatra, ' dominion,' which is 
 probably from root i kshi= xra.op.ai, 'to possess, rule.' It is fancifully 
 derived from kshatdt tra, 'preserving from injury,' in Raghu-vansa II. 
 53. Manu X. 119 says, 'While defending the Yaisyas by his arms 
 (sastrena vai&yan raJcahitva) he may raise from them the rightful 
 revenue (dharmyam ahdrayed balim),' which was really taken from 
 the soil in kind.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 22p 
 
 A Kshatriya cannot thrive without a Brahman, nor a Brahman with- 
 out a Kshatriya. The Brahman and the Kshatriya when associated 
 together prosper in this world and the next (IX. 322). 
 
 It was also necessary that there should be a class willing 
 to perform personal domestic service. These were called 
 Sudras ; and this class was probably made up to some 
 extent of the remnants of the Turanian tribes, who were 
 conquered by the Aryan Hindus, and who were mostly 
 driven southwards. 1 But, although servants, they were 
 neither slaves nor serfs. They merely occupied the lowest 
 step in the social organization. It is true that in theory 
 (X. 129) they were debarred from any superfluous accumu- 
 lation of wealth, yet, in point of fact, they sometimes rose 
 to affluence, and even became kings : 2 
 
 1 It may be questioned whether S'udra (though found in the Purusha- 
 sukta, Rig-veda X. 90. 12) is a genuine Sanskrit word. At least no 
 satisfactory etymology is given for it, and this favours the idea of its 
 denoting some pre- Aryan race. The fanciful derivation from $uc, ' to 
 grieve,' and dru, l to run,' is hardly worth noticing. Besides the 
 Turanian races who partially blended with the Aryans there were 
 doubtless other aboriginal tribes who occupied the hills and outlying 
 districts and who were called Mle66has, as constituting those more 
 barbarous and uncultivated communities who stood aloof and would 
 not amalgamate with the Aryans. Mleccha-deda is defined to be a 
 country where the four classes do not dwell. In Manu X. 44 a number 
 of degraded tribes are mentioned, such as Paundrakas, Odras, Dravidas, 
 Kambojas, Yavanas, S'akas, Paradas, Cinas, Kiratas, &c. As these 
 were probably powerful warlike tribes, they are declared by Manu 
 to be outcaste Kshatriyas. It is clear that the mountaineer Kiratas 
 were a martial race; nor could they have been greatly despised, for 
 Arjuna lived among them and adopted their style of life in order to 
 learn archery from S'iva, regarded as their god. See my account of 
 the Kiratarjuniya and the 'Indian Antiquary' for June, 1874, p. 178. 
 The most degraded outcastes were men called Uandalas or Candalas 
 (children of a S'udra man and a Brahman!) ; they were expelled from 
 towns, where they could not even walk except by day ; they wore only 
 dead men's clothes, rusty iron ornaments, &c. (X. 51-56). 
 
 2 Professor Cowell, in a note to Elphinstone's India, p. 18, well
 
 230 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 As a S'udra, without censuring others, performs lawful acts, so, 
 without being censured, he obtains exaltation in this world and the 
 next (X. 128). 
 
 Again, the gradual assumption of superiority over tbe 
 Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras, by a class of men who 
 called themselves Brahmans, 1 seems to have been due to 
 the operation of a law of intellectual development, such as 
 lias been common among all nations in their progress 
 towards civilization, in all periods of the world's history. 
 Those who were intellectually superior took advantage of 
 that growth of religious cravings which generally accom- 
 panies political growth, and formed themselves into a 
 fraternity of religious teachers, who afterwards became 
 priests. Religion, or a sense of dependence upon God and 
 a desire to propitiate Him, has always formed a marked 
 feature of the Hindu character. Hence in India, the 
 fraternity of priests multiplied with unusual rapidity ; so 
 that a considerable number of the sacerdotal class were 
 
 shows that the condition of a S'udra was very superior to that of the 
 helot, slave, and serf of the Greek, Roman, and feudal system. The 
 Puranas record dynasties of S'udra kings, and even Manu notices 
 these. In II. 238 it is said, 'A believer in Scripture may receive pure 
 knowledge even from a S'udra.' In modern times cultivators of the 
 soil are in some places regarded as S'udras. There are occasional 
 passages in the Mahabharata depreciating caste and even Yedic know- 
 ledge in comparison with moral character ; cf. the Raja-dharma of the 
 S'anti-parvan 2955. 
 
 1 According to some scholars the original meaning of brahman was 
 'prayer,' or rather 'devotional spirit pervading and filling the soul' 
 (root brih or vrih). Hence it came afterwards to mean Veda, ' sacred 
 knowledge,' in which sense it is often used by Manu. Similarly, 
 brahman and brdhmana meant originally ' a prayer- offerer,' and after- 
 wards 'religious teacher,' the signification 'priest' not having been 
 attached to these words till sacrificial ideas had fully developed them- 
 selves in the Hindu mind. It is a mistake to suppose that Brahmana 
 and priest are convertible terms. Brahmans are rather ' men of the 
 first class.'
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2 3 I 
 
 thrown out of employment and forced to engage in secular 
 occupations. In this manner it came to pass that although 
 all priests were properly Brahmans, all Brahmans were by 
 no means necessarily priests. Nor was it likely that with 
 the partial secularization of the Brahmans the complicated 
 Vedic ceremonial could be long maintained. Some public 
 sacrifices, such as the Agnishtoma, were still performed, 
 ,but the more intricate rites enjoined by the Brahmanas 
 and occasionally practised in ancient times, lasting for 
 long periods, and requiring for their efficacious perform- 
 ance a staff of sixteen different orders of priests, 1 fell into 
 partial if not entire desuetude. It was found, however, 
 indispensable to the retention of power over the other 
 classes that some sacerdotal offices should be maintained. 
 In proportion, indeed, to the neglect of high ceremonial 
 observances was there an increased strictness in exacting 
 a knowledge of the Veda, and the discharge of domestic 
 rites for which a priest's teaching and superintendence 
 were required. 
 
 In II. 84, 85, it is declared that all Vedic rites, oblations 
 to fire, and solemn sacrifices gradually pass away (kslia- 
 ranti), but that the act of repeating the Veda, especially 
 the repetition of the Gayatri with the four mystic syl- 
 lables, is ten times better than the appointed sacrifice 
 (see pp. 245, 246). 
 
 Manu is careful to assign distinct functions and titles 
 to the priests qualified for these duties ; thus we read : 
 
 Some Brahmans are intent on knowledge (of the supreme Spirit), 
 others are intent on acts of austerity (tapo-nislithdJi), others on acts of 
 austerity and repetition of the Veda combined, and others on sacrificial 
 rites (III. 134). 
 
 He who is selected for the office of preparing the sacred fire, for con- 
 
 1 See their names all given in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary under 
 Ilitv-ij, p. 1 8 1, col. i.
 
 232 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ducting the Paka-yajna (see note, p. 188) and performing the Agnish- 
 toma l and other sacrifices, is called the Ritv-ij of his employer (II. 143). 
 
 He who having invested his pupil with the sacred thread afterwards 
 instructs him in the whole Veda, with the rules of ceremonial (sakal- 
 pam 2 ) and the Upanishads, is called an Acdrya (II. 140). 
 
 He who, for the sake of a livelihood, gives instruction in one part 
 only of the Veda or in the Vedan-gas (such as grammar, &c.) is called 
 an Upddliydya or sub-teacher (II. 141). 
 
 The Brahman who performs the Sanskara ceremonies on conception, 
 &c., according to rule, and who feeds the child with rice (i.e., performs 
 the anna-prdsanam in the sixth month, see II. 34 and p. 192 of this 
 volume), is called a Guru 3 (II. 142). 
 
 Manu, however, found it necessary to conciliate the 
 Kshatriya class. The most exalted eulogies were lavished 
 on kings ; but Brahmans were to act as their advisers and 
 to have much of the judicial authority and interpretation 
 of the laws in their own hands, and were always theoreti- 
 cally superior in rank a circumstance which led in the 
 end to jealousies, feuds, and even internecine warfare 
 between the first two classes. Certain privileges also 
 naturally fell to the Vaisyas, and both they and the 
 Kshatriyas were equally with the Brahmans entitled to 
 the appellation Dvi-ja, ' twice-born.' Their whole status, 
 however, depended upon various domestic rites, to the 
 
 1 The Agnishtoma is a protracted sacrifice of five days' duration, per- 
 formed by one who is desirous of obtaining heaven. It is either a part or 
 a modification of the Jyotishtoma, and in ancient times required sixteen 
 priests. 
 
 2 That is, probably, ' the Kalpa Sutras.' 
 
 3 The title Guru, however, appears to have been applied in a general 
 way to all spiritual preceptors, cf. p. 238. It is sometimes used alone 
 as a distinctive epithet of Prabha-kara, a teacher of the Mimansa, often 
 named in conjunction with Kumarila, to denote whom the title Bhatta 
 is generally employed in the same way. According to Yajnavalkya I. 34, 
 a Guru is one who imparts the Veda, while an Adarya is one who invests 
 with the Yajnopavlta or ' sacred thread.' Similarly in the Paiijab the 
 teachers of the Grantha (Granthls) are called Gurus.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 233 
 
 due conduct of which the superintendence 'of Brahmans 
 was indispensable. Yet, in spite of the importance and 
 dignity thus attached to the priestly office, a Brahman, 
 according to Manu's Code, was by birth and divine right 
 not by profession or self-elevation at the head of all 
 creatures. He was born a Brahman and did not become 
 one. He not only inherited superiority as his birthright, 
 1- it was created a leader of mankind a sort of deity in 
 human shape by the fiat of the great Creator himself. 
 
 He is declared, in B'ook I. 87, to have proceeded from 
 the mouth of Brahma, as the Kshatriya did from his arm, 
 the Vaisya from his thigh, and the Sudra from his foot. 
 Manu's theory, in short, was that the distinction of caste 
 and the inherent superiority of one class over the three 
 others was as much a law of nature and a matter of divine 
 appointment, as the creation of separate classes of animals, 
 with insurmountable differences of physical constitution, 
 such as elephants, lions, horses, and dogs. 
 
 That the Brahmans assumed a pre-eminence nothing 
 short of divine, is clear from numerous passages. I select 
 the following : 
 
 Since the Brahman sprang from the most excellent part, since he has 
 the priority arising from primogeniture (jyaishtlnjat\ and since he pos- 
 sesses the Veda, he is by right the lord (prablni) of this whole creation 
 (I. 93. See also p. 223 of this volume). 
 
 A Brahman, whether learned or unlearned, is a mighty divinity 
 (daivatam mahai), just as fire is a mighty divinity, whether consecrated 
 (pramta) or unconsecrated (IX. 317). 
 
 Even when Brahmans employ themselves in all sorts of inferior occu- 
 pations (an-ishteshu), they must under all circumstances be honoured, 
 for they are to be regarded as supreme divinities (paramam daivatcmi, 
 IX. 319). 
 
 From his high birth alone (sambhavenaiva) a Brahman is regarded as 
 a divinity even by the gods (devdndm api). His teaching must be 
 accepted by the rest of the world as an infallible authority (pramdnam), 
 for the Veda (brahma) itself is the cause (of its being so accepted, 
 XL 84).
 
 234 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Consistently with the divine nature thus ascribed to 
 the Brahman, he is declared to possess powers of the most 
 tremendous and awe-inspiring character : 
 
 Let not a king, although fallen into the greatest distress (through a 
 deficiency of revenue), provoke Brahmans to anger (by taking revenue 
 from them), for they, if once enraged, could instantly (by pronouncing 
 curses and mystical texts) destroy him with all his army and retinue. 
 
 Who, without bringing destruction on himself, can provoke those 
 men, by whose imprecation (abliUapena, Kulluka) all-devouring fire was 
 created, and by whom the undrinkable ocean was swallowed, 1 and the 
 wasted moon restored to its full size 2 (cipyayitah - pa^cdt puritah, IX. 
 
 What king would gain increase of revenue by oppressing those who, 
 if angry, could create other worlds and guardians of worlds (loka-palari), 
 and could create new gods and mortals (IX. 315) ? 
 
 A Brahman well skilled in the law, need not make any representa- 
 tion to the king (if he has received an injury), for, by his own power 
 (svaviryena), he may punish (sisliyat) those who injure him. His own 
 power is stronger than the power of the king, therefore by his own 
 might may a Brahman chastise (nigriJimyat) his foes. He may, with- 
 
 "* This seems to refer to the legend of Agastya, who is said to have 
 swallowed the ocean and was afterwards raised to be regent of the star 
 Canopus. Much, however, of the detail of this legend must be later. 
 
 2 This refers to the legend of (jandra, ' the Moon,' afflicted with con- 
 sumption for fifteen days by his father-in-law. Daksha, because of his 
 (the Moon's) partiality for Robini, one of Daksha's daughters, some of 
 whom had become his wives. On the Moon's repentance, his wasted 
 
 W V* V I* 
 
 strength and size were restored. Manu IX. 129 states that Daksha gave 
 ten of his daughters to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, and twenty-seven 
 to Soma, the Moon. The legend of Daksha's daughters is found (like 
 many other of Manu's allusions) in the Taittiriya-samhita, ii. 3, 5 : 
 ' Prajapati had thirty-three daughters he gave them to king Soma ; 
 among them he only went to Rohini. The others jealous returned [to 
 their father] : he went after them, he sought them again ; but he [the 
 father] did not give them again to him. He said to him, " Take an 
 oath that you will go to them alike, then I will give them to you 
 again." He took an oath ; he gave them back to him. He only out 
 of them went to Rohini. Him, the king [Soma], consumption attacked. 
 This is the origin of the Raja-yakshma.'
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 235 
 
 out hesitation, make use of (as magical formularies) the sacred texts 
 (srutlK) revealed to Atharvan and An-giras (Atliarvdn-girasik, see 
 p. 6) ; for the uttering of texts (vdk = abhicdra-mantroccdranam) is the 
 weapon (sastram) of a Brahman ; with that he may destroy his foes 
 (XL 31-33). 
 
 The crime of striking and killing a Brahman involves, 
 of course, terrible consequences, thus : 
 
 He who merely assails a Brahman with intent to kill him will con- 
 tinue in hell (narakam) for a hundred years, and he who actually 
 strikes him, a thousand years (XI. 206. Compare also IV. 165, where 
 it is said that the hell to which he will be consigned, and where he 
 will be made to wander about incessantly, is called Tamisra., ' profound 
 darkness '). 
 
 As many particles of dust (pdnsun) as the blood of a Brahman 
 absorbs from the soil, so many thousands of years must the shedder 
 of that blood abide in hell (XI. 207). 
 
 The above may be thought an exaggeration of the 
 powers and status claimed by the highest order of Hindu 
 society, and doubtless the compiler of the Code often draws 
 an ideal picture of a condition of things which never actu- 
 ally existed, and was never likely to exist ; much in the 
 same manner as we in England maintain that our king 
 can do no wrong. Yet in the matter of the Brahman we are 
 compelled to accept the colouring as, in the main, truthful. 
 Some time ago there appeared in a leading journal a report 
 of a sermon preached by a converted Brahman, in which 
 the preacher asserted that the Brahmans of the present day 
 pretend to ' dethrone the Creator and put themselves in 
 his place. Moreover, that he himself (the preacher) had 
 claimed and received divine honours, and had seen be- 
 lievers (among his own fellow-countrymen) greedily drink 
 the water in which his feet had been washed.' * 
 
 1 The Rev. Narayan S'eshadri (a Marathl name derived from the ser- 
 pent-like folds of the serpent S'esha, Vishnu's seat), who preached on 
 Easter Sunday, April 5, 1874 (in a Presbyterian Church in Kensington
 
 236 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It may be asked how did the Brahman, laden with all 
 this weight of dignity and theoretically debarred from all 
 other occupations, except studying and teaching the Veda, 
 and performing religious rites, contrive to support him- 
 self? The answer is that he took care to provide for his 
 own material comforts l by making the efficacy of all repe- 
 titions of the Veda and all sacrificial rites depend upon tie 
 gifts (dakshindh) with which they were accompanied : 
 
 A sacrifice performed with trifling presents (alpa-dalisliinali) destroys 
 the organs of sense, fame, heaven, life, reputation, offspring, cattle ; 
 therefore let no man undertake a sacrifice who has not plenty of money 
 to make liberal gifts (XI. 40). 
 
 Park Road), a sermon, the report of which appeared in the next day's 
 Daily News. He embraced the Christian faith on September 13, 1843. 
 He had to give up father, mother, three brothers, and three sisters. 
 Such is the condition of Brahmanical society that a man must renounce 
 all former associations when converted. I subjoin a further portion of 
 the matter reported as preached. ' He had been emptied of Hindooism. 
 This creed dealt largely in the marvellous ; for instance, it is said that 
 one great saint drank up all the ocean in three sips, and was afterwards 
 seated among the constellations on account of this feat. But there was 
 a philosophic as well as a popular form of Hindooism. There were 
 atheistical and theistical forms, the latter having as many advocates 
 in India as it had in this country, in Germany, and in the United 
 States. He dwelt at length on the pantheistic notion of Brahm, 
 which ignored man's responsibility. Man's sins, in fact, became God's 
 sins ; and gradually the preacher had become convinced that this was 
 blasphemy.' 
 
 1 This appears to hold good even in the present day ; for Professor 
 Ramkrishna Bhandarkar, writing in the ' Indian Antiquary ' for May 
 1874, remarks that repetition of the Veda for daksldna still prevails in 
 Gujarat, and to a much greater extent in the Marathi country and 
 Tailangana. 'Numbers of Brahmans go about to all parts of the 
 country in search of dakshina, and all well-to-do natives patronise 
 them according to their means, by getting them to repeat portions of 
 their Veda, which is mostly the Black Yajush, with Apastamba for 
 their Sutra. Hardly a week passes here in Bombay in which no 
 Tailanga Brahman comes to ask me for da
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 237 
 
 Let a man, according to his ability, give wealth to Brahmans who 
 know the Vedas and keep apart from the world. By so doing he 
 obtains heaven when he dies (XI. 6). 
 
 A king, even though dying (from want), must not receive taxes from 
 a Brahman learned in the Yedas, nor must he allow such a Brahman 
 dwelling in his country to pine away with hunger. Of that king in 
 whose territory a Brahman learned in the Vedas wastes with hunger, 
 the whole kingdom will in a short time be wasted with famine (VII. 
 
 133, M4). 
 All that exists in this universe is the Brahmans' property (I. 100). 
 
 Moreover, when tlie increase of the Brahmanical class 
 compelled the secularization of many of its members, they 
 were allowed to engage in the occupations of the other 
 classes. This was at first only permitted under circum- 
 stances of exigency and distress. Some verses in XII. 7 1 , 
 ^- 75' 76, 80-82, lay down the law on this point: 
 
 A Brahman who swerves from his own peculiar duty is, on depart- 
 ing this life, born again as a vomit-eating demon called Ulka-mukha 
 (XII. 71). 
 
 Repetition (or study) of the Veda (adliyayanam), expounding it (or 
 literally, teaching others to repeat it, adhydpanam), sacrificing (yaja- 
 nam) and assisting others to sacrifice (yajanam), giving (ddnam) and 
 receiving gifts (pratigraliaJi) are the six legitimate acts 1 (skat-karma ni) 
 of a Brahman. Of these six acts, three are the means of his subsistence, 
 viz., assisting at sacrifices, teaching the Veda, and receiving presents from 
 a pious giver (visuddhdt). These three privileges (dharmdh) are limited 
 to Brahmans, and do not extend to Kshatriyas (X. 75-77). Hence a 
 Brahman is called Tri-karman, ' one who engages in three acts. ' 
 
 The most proper occupation for the Brahman is teaching and expound- 
 ing the Veda (veddbhydsah) ; for a Kshatriya, defending the people; for 
 a Vaisya, agriculture, keeping cattle, and trade (vdrtd-karma 2 ). Yet a 
 Brahman, unable to subsist by his proper employment, may live by the 
 duty of a soldier, for that is the next in dignity. If it be asked, how is 
 
 1 Called the 'six privileges.' A particular tribe of Konkan Brahmans 
 is said to be excluded from these privileges because its members eat fish. 
 
 2 This word vdrtd-karman, as may be gathered from Kulliika's com- 
 mentary on these three verses, includes krishi, go-raksha, and bdnijya. 
 The caste-division of Megasthenes (note i, p. 224) separates these three.
 
 238 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 he to live if unable to subsist by either of these occupations ? the answer 
 is that he may adopt the mode of life of a Vaisya (X. 80-82. See also 
 X. 101, 102. Cf. note 3, p. 227). 
 
 Here are some of the rules by which the whole exist- 
 ence of a Brahman from the cradle to the grave was 
 regulated : 
 
 Every Brahman was supposed to pass through four 
 Asramas or ' Orders/ that is to say, his life was divided 
 into four stages or periods according as he became succes- 
 sively, i. Keligious student (brahma-cdrin) ; 2. House- 
 holder (griha-stha) ; 3. Anchorite or hermit (vdnaprastha) ; 
 4. Eeligious mendicant (bhikshu or parivrajaka or san- 
 nyasin). For the regulation of his life in the first two of 
 these periods the most minute instructions are spread over 
 the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Books with much wearisome 
 detail and repetition. 1 
 
 To begin with the religious student. The young 
 Brahman is to reside with his preceptor (guru) until 
 he has gained a thorough knowledge of the three Vedas. 
 This residence may continue for thirty-six years, or for 
 half that time, or for a quarter of it, according to his 
 capacity for acquiring the requisite instruction (cf. Grihya 
 Sutras, p. 193). He may even be a student for life (naish- 
 thika, III. i, II. 243). 
 
 He is of course to go through all the twelve Sanskaras 
 or 'purificatory rites' (II. 27, &c.). They are supposed to 
 purify a man from the taint of sin derived from his parents 
 (gdrbhikam enas), and are enjoined, with certain variations, 
 on all the three first classes alike ; some being performed 
 
 1 It is interesting to find that Megasthenes (Strabo XV. i, 59), 
 three centuries B.C., had noted that Brahmans, even from the time of 
 conception (%fy 6' eudls xa} xwpsvov;), were under the care of learned 
 men, and lived for thirty-seven years as philosophers before becoming 
 householders.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 239 
 
 before the birth of a male child, and some during the first 
 year after birth. I here enumerate them : 
 
 i. Garbhadhdna or Garbha-lambhana, 'the ceremony on conception' 
 (p. 192); 2. Punsavana (p. 192); 3. Simantonnayana (p. 192); 4. Jdta- 
 karman (p. 192) ; 5. Ndma-karman or Nama-karana, ' the ceremony of 
 giving a name ' on the tenth or twelfth day after birth (Manu II. 30) ; 
 6. Nish-kramana, f taking out the child ' in the fourth month to see 
 the sun (II. 34) ; 7. Anna-prdsana (p. 192); 8. tfudd-kcmnan or 6aula 
 (p. 192); 9. Upanayana (p. 192); 10. KeSdnta, ' cutting off the hair,' 
 performed on a Brahman in his sixteenth year, on a Kshatriya in his 
 twenty-second, on a Vaisya in his twenty-fourth (Manu II. 65); n. 
 Samdvartana, performed on the student's return home after completing 
 his studies with his preceptor (pp. 195, 242); 12. Vivdha, 'marriage.' 
 This last is the principal purificatory rite for women ; but they are 
 allowed some of the others, provided there is an omission of the 
 Mantras or Vedic texts, with which all the Sanskaras were accompanied 
 (II. 66, 67). 
 
 It is noteworthy that marriage is the twelfth Sanskara, 
 and hence a religious duty incumbent upon all, completing 
 the purification and regeneration of the twice-born : 
 
 Of the above twelve rites, i, 2, 3, and 10 are little observed. The 
 other eight are more worthy of attention ; 8 and 9 are of considerable 
 legal importance even in the present day, and 7 is still practised. 7 
 and 12 are said to be the only rites allowed to S'udras. Other 
 Sanskaras, practised in some parts of India, are mentioned, such as 
 Karna-vedha, ' boring the ears ; ' and occasionally the imparting of the 
 Savitrl or 'sacred Vedic text' ( = GayatrI, p. 17), which ought to be 
 performed at Upanayana, is reserved for a separate ceremony four days 
 later. 
 
 But the most important of the above Sanskaras is 
 Upanayana, 'investiture with the sacred cord,' already 
 described in the-Grihya Sutras (p. 192). This cord, 
 which is a thin coil of three threads, commonly called 
 the Yajiiopavlta or ' sacrificial thread/ is worn over the 
 left shoulder and allowed to hang down diagonally across 
 the body to the right hip, and the wearing of it by the three
 
 240 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 twice-born classes was the mark of their second birth. 1 A 
 third birth is mentioned for Brahmans (II. 169) : 
 
 The first birth is from the natural mother; the second from the binding 
 on of the girdle (maunji-bandhane) ; the third is at initiation into sacriti- 
 cial rites (as thejyotishtoma, &c.), according to a precept of the Veda, 
 
 There was some difference in the kind of thread worn, 
 according to the class of the wearer. In II. 44 we read : 
 
 The sacred cord of a Brahman must be of cotton (kdrpdsd) so as to be 
 put on over his head in a coil of three threads (tri-vrit) ; that of a 
 Kshatriya of flax or hemp (sana) ; that of a Vaisya of wool (avika). 
 
 [In the previous two verses Manu intimates that a Brahman must also 
 have a girdle (mekhala) either of Munja grass or of Kusa grass. From 
 II. 169, 170, it might be inferred that the girdle and sacrificial thread 
 are equivalent, but II. 174 clearly distinguishes them. The leather 
 mantle, thread, girdle, staff, and underclothing are, all five, prescribed 
 at the time of Upanayana, and the binding on of the girdle seems to 
 complete the rite.] 
 
 The ceremony of investiture begins by the youth's 
 standing opposite the sun and walking thrice round the 
 fire. Then girt with the thread, he asks alms from the 
 assembled company. This begging for alms still consti- 
 tutes part of the rite, and indicates that the youth under- 
 takes to provide himself and his preceptor (guru, dSarya), 
 with food (p. 193). The Guru then initiates him into the 
 daily use of the Savitii or holy prayer in the three mea- 
 sured Gayatri (pp. 17, 154), preceded by three suppressions 
 of breath (tribhih prdndydmai/i), the triliteral syllable 
 Om, and three Vyahritis or mystical words, Bhur Bhuvah 
 Svar* and admits him to the privilege of repeating the 
 
 1 It is still worn, but the word Yajhopavlta for ' the sacred thread ' 
 has been corrupted into Jane-o. In Bengali it is called Poita for 
 Pavitra. 
 
 2 The utterance of these three mystical words, meaning ' earth, the 
 middle region, and heaven' (note 2, p. 55), together with the awful
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 241 
 
 three Vedas, and of performing other religious rites, none 
 of which are allowed before investiture (II. 171, 173). The 
 Guru or Aciirya is thus his spiritual father. 
 
 Purifications, ablutions, and libations (called Savanas) 
 are enjoined on Vanaprasthas or 'hermits' (p. 254) at all 
 the three Sandhyas, 1 that is, at the three divisions of the 
 day sunrise, noon, and sunset but on Brahma-carins 
 and Griha-sthas at the two Sandhyas of sunrise and 
 sunset only, when the Gayatri (p. 1 7) is by all means to 
 be repeated. Thus in II. 222, we have : 
 
 Let him constantly observe the two Sandhyas according to rule, 
 sipping water, with all his organs controlled and with fixed attention, 
 repeating the Gayatri prayer (japyam, which ought to be repeated). 
 
 The young Brahman is also every day to bathe ; to 
 offer oblations of water (tarpana) to the. gods, holy sages 
 (JRishis) generally, and departed ancestors (Pitris) ; to 
 reverence the deities [according to Kulluka, Devata =pra- 
 timd, the images of the deities] ; and to offer an oblation 
 of fuel to the sacred fire (II. 176). But in V. 88 he is 
 forbidden to perform the regular offerings of water to 
 deceased persons, till his studentship is completed. He 
 is to abstain from meat, perfumes, unguents, sensuality, 
 wrath, covetousness, dancing, music, gambling, detraction 
 
 syllable Om (pp. 93, 214), is supposed to be attended with marvellous 
 and mysterious effects (see II. 76, 79, 83, 84). Note the sacredness 
 attached to the number three. 
 
 1 See Book VI. 22, 24, and compare Kulluka, savaneshu snayat, 
 prdtar - madhyandina - say am savaneshu trisliu devarshi -pitri - tarpanam 
 kurvan. Sandhya often means 'twilight,' but is applied to morning 
 and evening twilight and to the change from midday to afternoon. 
 With reference to the Hindu and Mohammedan custom of performing 
 religious rites three times a day, we may compare a passage in Daniel, 
 who ' kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave 
 thanks before his God,' Dan. vi. 10. And David says, 'Evening, and 
 morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud,' Ps. Iv. 17.
 
 242 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of others, falsehood, impurity of all kinds, and is never to 
 injure any being (II. 177-179)- 
 
 Every day, too, both morning and evening, he is to 
 go round the neighbouring villages begging for food for 
 himself and his preceptor, and collecting fuel for the main- 
 tenance of the sacred fire (II. 187). 
 
 He is always to pay the most profound respect to his 
 religious teacher (guru), as well as to his parents and to 
 all persons older than himself : 
 
 By reverencing his mother he gains this terrestrial world ; by rever- 
 encing his father, the middle world; by constant attention to his spiritual 
 master (guru}, the celestial world of Brahma (II. 233). 
 
 A youth who habitually salutes and constantly reveres the aged, 
 prospers in four things, life, knowledge, fame, and strength (II. 121). 
 
 In short, even Christians may learn from Hindus, as 
 indeed from Oriental nations generally, 1 ' to love, honour, 
 and succour their father and mother, to submit them- 
 selves to all their governors, teachers, spiritual pastors 
 and masters, and to order themselves lowly and reverently 
 to all their betters ; ' and, moreover, to extend the duty of 
 1 hurting nobody by word or deed ' to animals and the 
 whole inferior creation. 2 
 
 On completing his studies the young Brahman is to give 
 some valuable present to his preceptor. He is then to 
 perform the proper Sanskara ceremony of ablution (sndna) 
 on the occasion of his solemn return to his own home 
 (samdvartana), ns already described (see pp. 195, 239) : 
 
 Let not a student who knows his duty make a present to his spiritual 
 master before the ceremony on his return ; but when, being permitted 
 by his preceptor, he is about to perform the requisite ablution (sndsyan), 
 
 1 Notably from the Chinese as well as from the Hindus. 
 
 2 I am told, however, that, notwithstanding the strict rules of a-hinsa, 
 the ' Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ' might find work to 
 do in Some parts of India.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 243 
 
 let him offer him some valuable article (gurv-artham, such as a field, 
 gold, a jewel, cow, horse, &c.) as a gift to the best of his ability (II. 
 245, 246). 
 
 The young Brahman's return to his own house is made 
 an occasion of festivity ; he is decked with flowers and 
 receives a present of a cow (III. 3). He is then to select 
 a wife of the same class with himself, endowed with 
 auspicious marks (lakshana), and thereupon he enters the 
 second Asrama, and becomes a householder (griha-stha) . 
 Some curious directions for his guidance in choosing a 
 wife are given (III. 8-10) : 
 
 Let him not marry a girl with reddish hair, nor one with a superfluity 
 of limbs (as, for instance, one with six fingers), nor one who is sickly, 
 nor one with either too little or too much hair, nor one who talks too 
 much, nor one who is red-eyed, nor one named after a constellation, 
 a tree, or a river, nor one with a barbarous name (antya = mleccha), 
 or the name of a mountain, a bird, a snake, a slave, or any frightful 
 object. But let him marry a woman without defective or deformed 
 limbs, having an agreeable name, whose gait is like that of a flamingo 
 (hansa) or elephant, 1 whose hair and teeth are moderate in quantity, 
 and whose whole body is soft. 
 
 We have seen that marriage is a Sanskara. Hence it 
 is a religious duty and a purificatory rite (p. 239). 
 
 It is clear from III. 12-15, IX. 45, 101, that, as a 
 general rule, a twice-born man is expected to have one 
 wife only ; but polygamy is not illegal, and he might take 
 other wives of classes different from his own, being careful 
 to settle their precedence according to the order of these 
 classes (IX. 85). A Brahman might thus have four wives, 
 one from his own class and one from each of the three 
 classes below him ; a Kshatriya three ; and a Vaisya two. 
 But the sons of inferior wives are degraded and called 
 
 1 That is, having a kind of rolling gait, corresponding to Homer's
 
 244 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Apasadah (X. 10). Nevertheless, if there be four wives of 
 a Brahman in the order of the classes, and sons are born 
 to all four wives, there is a rule for dividing the inherit- 
 ance between them (IX. 149). 
 
 Manu's eight forms of marriage are specified in the 
 Grihya Sutras (see p. 190). Of these the first four, viz., 
 that of Brahma (which is described as 'the gift of a 
 daughter to a man learned in the Veda'), the Devas 
 (daiva), Rishis (arsha), and Prajapatis (prajapatya), are 
 the most approved for a Brahman. The Gandharva 
 marriage (' from affection without any nuptial rite ') and 
 Kakshasa ('marrying a girl carried off as a prize in war') 
 were allowable for Kshatriyas ; the Asura and Paisaca 
 were prohibited. 
 
 A description has been given of one of the oldest mar- 
 riage rites (p. 190), as well as of the ceremony on com- 
 mencing residence in a new house (p. 193). The house- 
 holder is to fulfil every day all his domestic religious duties 
 (grihyam karma), some of which, such as the morning 
 and evening oblation (agnihotra, sdyam-prdtar-homa), are 
 to be performed with the fire of the nuptial ceremony 
 maintained ever afterwards (vaivdhike ' gnau, III. 67, 
 see p. 28). 
 
 He is especially to perform the five Mahd-yajhdh, great 
 devotional acts 1 (III. 70, &c.) : viz., i. towards the divine 
 
 1 The Musalmans have also five principal devotional acts, but these 
 are not all diurnal. They are i. Prayer (namaz) five times a day, 
 practically reduced to three times, morning, midday, and evening. 2. 
 Alms-giving (zalidf). 3. Fasting (roza), especially keeping the great- 
 fast during the ninth month, Kamazan (^^LcJ), once a year. 4. Pil- 
 grimage to Mecca (haj) once in a lifetime. 5. Confession of faith 
 (shahddat), i.e., repeating the tawhid or 'declaration of faith in the 
 unity of God : ' ' there is no god but God, and Muhammad is the 
 apostle of God.' A Hajji is a pilgrim who has performed the Haj. 
 There is no duty of pilgrimage among the five necessary devotional 
 acts prescribed by Manu, but the Hindu system has, nevertheless, it
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 245 
 
 Kishis, by repetition and teaching of the Veda (Brahma- 
 yajha] ; 2. towards departed fathers (Pitri-y), by the 
 Sraddha ceremonies ; 3. towards the gods (Deva-y), by 
 oblations (Jioma 1 ) to Fire, Prajapati, Heaven and Earth, 
 Indra, Soma, &c. (85-89) ; 4. towards all creatures (Bhuta- 
 y), including good and evil spirits supposed to people the 
 air, by the bali or offering of rice-grains, &c., generally 
 scattered on the house-top or outside the door for animals 
 to devour (91); 5. towards men, by hospitality (Manushya- 
 y). A description of all five has already been given (p. 1 94). 
 The last four are sometimes called Paka-yajnas (II. 86). 
 Of these five, the first, viz., repetition of the Veda (Brahma- 
 yajna, japa-y svddhydya? III. 81, II. 85, 86), and espe- 
 
 Haj. Purl, in Orissa (the abode of Jagan-nath), is described by Mr. 
 Hunter as the Jerusalem of India. It is really only one of the Indian 
 Meccas. Other great places of pilgrimage (Tirthas) are Haridvar, in the 
 Himalaya (one of the most celebrated), where the Ganges is supposed 
 to have descended from the head of S'iva on to the earth ; Citrakut, in 
 Bundelkhand, Kama's first abode after his banishment; Jvala-mukhl, 
 in the Panjab, where SatI, wife of S'iva, burned herself, and her presence 
 is thought to be denoted by gas flaming from the ground. 
 
 1 The homa or ' oblation of butter ' was the peculiar offering to the god 
 of fire, as the Soma juice was to Indra, the rain-god. See note, p. 28. 
 
 2 It seems to me that Sir W. Jones' usual translation of this and 
 similar words by ' reading and studying the Veda,' conveys a somewhat 
 wrong idea. The words generally used to denote the performance of 
 the Brahma-yajiia rather imply 'going over inaudibly to one's self/ 
 ' repeating or muttering texts in a low tone of voice.' It is doubtful 
 whether the Veda was ever read or studied as we should read a book 
 in the present day. Neither the word Veda nor any of the words 
 connected with it imply truth written down like our word ' Scripture ; ' 
 and for a long period the writing of it was discouraged, if not prohibited. 
 The very object of the long residence with a Guru (see p. 238) was to 
 learn to repeat the sacred texts by heart, not to study them. Indeed, 
 very little mention of writing is made in Manu. Even written evidence 
 is not alluded to as it is in Yajnavalkya. In connection with the repe- 
 tition of the Veda at the present day I here give the substance of an 
 interesting article by Professor Bhandarkar in the ' Indian Antiquary '^
 
 246 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 cially of the Gayatri text, is regarded as the most effica- 
 cious; and a peculiar virtue is attributed to its being 
 repeated in a low tone or even mentally : 
 
 The Japa-yajna or 'repetition of the Veda' is declared to be ten 
 times superior to the Vidhi-yajna (or appointed oblations at the changes 
 of the moon, called Darsa and Paurnamdsa, see note, p. 28) ; a hundred 
 times superior, if it is muttered in a low voice (upansu) ; and a thousand 
 times superior, if it is only mentally repeated (mdnasah, II. 85). 
 
 The four Paka-yajnas, even when accompanied with the Vidhi-yajna, 
 are not together worth a sixteenth part of the Japa-yajna (II. 86). 
 
 A Brahman becomes fit for beatitude by simple repetition of the 
 Veda, whether he perform other rites or not ; of this there is no doubt 
 (II. 87). 
 
 Let him habitually repeat (abliyaset =japet) the Veda at the right 
 season without weariness, for that is called his highest duty (paro 
 dharmah} ; every other duty is called subordinate (upa - dharmah, 
 IV. 147). 
 
 The filial piety of the Hindus is notably manifested 
 
 for May 1874. Every Brahmanic family is devoted to the study of a 
 particular Veda or S'akha of a Veda, and its family domestic rites are 
 performed in accordance with the Sutra of that Veda. In Northern 
 India the favourite Veda is the White Yajur-veda in its Madhyandina 
 S'akha, but the study has almost died out except at Benares. (According 
 to Mr. Burnell the Black Yajur-veda is the favourite in the Telugu 
 country.) Brahmans of each Veda are divided into two classes 
 Grihasthas, who are devoted to worldly avocations, and Bhikshukas, 
 who study the sacred texts and perform religious rites. Both classes 
 have to repeat the Sandhya-vandana or ' morning and evening prayers ' 
 (see p. 241), which principally consist of the Gayatri (see p. 17), re- 
 cited five, ten, twenty-eight, or a hundred and eight times. Besides 
 these prayers, many perform daily the Brahma-yajna, incumbent on all 
 alike on certain occasions. This for Eig-vedi Brahmans consists of 
 i. Part of Rig-veda I. i. 2. Aitareya-brahmana I. i. 3. Portions of 
 the Aitareya-aranyaka (1-5). 4. The opening text or a portion of the 
 White Yajur-veda. 5. Of the Sama-veda, 6. Of the Atharva-veda. 
 7. Of the Asvalayana Kalpa-sutra. 8. Of the Nighantu. 9. Of the 
 Nirukta. 10. Of the dhandas. u. Of the Jyotisha. 12. Of the 
 S'iksha. 13. Of Panini. 14. Of Yajiiavalkya's Smriti. 15, Of the
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 247 
 
 in the importance attached to the Sraddkas, sometimes 
 reckoned as twelve in number (the three principal being 
 Nitya, 'daily;' Parvana, 'monthly;' Ekoddislita, 'special,' 
 p. 199), consisting of an offering of water (udaka-ddna, 
 tarpana) and cakes of rice-meal, &c. (pinda) to a deceased 
 father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and to fore- 
 fathers and progenitors (Pitris) collectively, on which 
 offerings they are supposed really to feed (III. 237). 
 The custom was probably very ancient, as the Pitris are 
 addressed with the utmost reverence in the Rig-veda 
 (VI. 52. 4, VII. 35. 12, X. 14. 7, 8, &c. See p. 18 of 
 this volume). 
 
 The actual funeral, when the bodies of all deceased per- 
 sons (except those of infants up to two years old, cf. p. 299) 
 are burnt, is described at p. 196. The offering to deceased 
 fathers at the Sraddha is the key to the Hindu law of 
 inheritance. It furnishes the principal evidence of kin- 
 
 Mahabharata. 16. Of Kanada's Sutra. 17. Of Jaimini's Mimansa. 
 1 8. Of Badarayana's Vedanta-sutra. This course of Svadhyaya is based 
 on Asvalayana's Sutra III. 23 (given at p. 195 of this volume). No. i 
 corresponds to his Rid ; 4, 5, 6 to his Yajur, Saman, and Atharvan-- 
 giras ; 2, 3 to his Brahmanas, &c. Those Bhikshukas who have studied 
 the whole Veda follow Asvalayana's precept ydvan manyeta tdvad 
 adhitya. Some of them are also Yajnikas, skilled in the performance 
 of sacred rites, and some are Yaidikas, whose sole occupation in life is 
 to learn the Vedas by heart in the Samhita, Pada, Krama, Jata, and 
 Ghana arrangement of the texts (see p. 152) without making a single 
 mistake in the Sandhi changes or even in the accents. The Rig-vedis 
 pronounce the accents differently from the Taittiriyas, while the 
 Madhyandinas indicate the accents by movements of the right hand. 
 In addition to the Mantra portion of the Veda, the Rig-vedis learn to 
 recite the Brahmana portion and the Vedan-gas, including the Kalpa 
 and Grihya Sutras. At a public recitation the first place is given to 
 Rig-vedis, the second to Yajur-vedis, and the third to Sama-vedis (cf. 
 p. 215). As the Black and White Yajur- vedis are liable to quarrel 
 about precedence, they are not generally invited to recital-meetings 
 (Mantra jdrgaras) together.
 
 248 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ship, on which the title to participate in the patrimony 
 is founded, no power of making wills being recognized 
 in Mann or any other authoritative code of Hindu juris- 
 prudence (see p. 265). The Gotra or family is in fact a 
 corporate body bound together by what may be called 
 Sapinda&hip (Sapindatd) and SamdnodaJcasliip (Samdno- 
 daka-bhdva, Manu V. 60). All who offer the funeral cake 
 (pinda) and water (udaka) together are Sapindas and 
 Samanodakas to each other, and a kind of intercommunion 
 and interdependence is thus continually maintained between 
 the dead and living members of a family between past, 
 present, and future generations. Practically, however, the 
 closeness of the interconnection extends only to three 
 generations on each side, so that if we imagine a clasp 
 connecting two short chains of three links each, this will 
 represent the householder uniting father, grandfather, and 
 great-grandfather, on the one side, with son, grandson, 
 and great-grandson on the other in all seven persons 
 connected by the Pinda (Manu V. 60). The first three are 
 supposed to be dependent on the living paterfamilias for 
 their happiness, and even for their support, through the 
 constant offering of the sacred cakes and water; and he 
 himself, the moment he dies, becomes similarly dependent 
 on the three succeeding generations. 
 
 The connection of Samdnodakashiip lasts longer, and 
 ends only when the family names are no longer known 
 (V. 60). 
 
 The object of such Sraddhas is twofold, viz., first, the 
 re-embodying of the soul of the deceased in some kind 
 of form after cremation of the corpse, or simply the 
 release of the subtile body which is to convey the soul 
 away (see p. 197). Secondly, the raising him from the 
 regions of the atmosphere, where he would have other- 
 wise to roam for an indefinite period among demons and 
 evil spirits to a particular heaven or region of bliss.:
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 249 
 
 There he is eventually half deified among the shades of 
 departed kinsmen. Manu, however, is not clear as to the 
 precise effect of the Sraddha. He merely states that its 
 performance by a son or the nearest male kinsman is neces- 
 sary to deliver a father from a kind of hell called Put, 1 
 and that the spirits of the departed (Pitris) feed on the 
 offered food (III. 237). 
 
 Special Sraddhas such as these (p. 199), which form to 
 this very day the most important religious rite among the 
 Hindus, are accompanied with much feasting and costly 
 gifts to the Brahmans invited to assist at their celebra- 
 tion 2 (III. 145). The performance of the first Sraddha is 
 more particularly marked by largesses of all kinds, and 
 sometimes, it is said, costs a rich mau a sum equivalent to 
 several thousand pounds. 3 It should take place the day 
 after mourning expires, and then at intervals during 
 twelve successive mouths, this monthly ceremony being 
 called by Manu Anvdhdrya (III. 123). Afterwards it 
 should be performed on all anniversaries of a father's 
 death. Other Sraddhas are described at p. 199. 
 
 It is curious to learn from III. 150-168 Manu's idea of 
 the persons to be excluded from these ceremonies (viz., 
 thieves, spirit-drinkers, atheists, men with diseased nails 
 or teeth, dancers, physicians, &c., see note, p. 270). 
 
 At some Sraddhas the old Dharma-sastras Akhyanas, 
 Itihasas, and Puranas were recited (III. 232, note, p. 206). 
 
 1 See Manu IX. 1 38. Whence a son who performs the rite is called 
 Put-tra, ' the rescuer from Put.' This explains the desire of every 
 Hindu for the birth of a son rather than a daughter ; but it seems 
 inconsistent that the S'raddha should have -an effect irrespective 
 of deeds done during life. 
 
 2 In Book III. 145 we have yatnena Wwjayec chrdddhe bahv-ricam 
 veda-paragam, see p. 201. Manu, however, discouraged too much 
 feasting (vistara), and limited the number of guests, see III. 125, 126. 
 
 3 That of the Bengali millionaire, Ramdoolal Dey, cost ^50,000, 
 according to Mr. Wheeler.
 
 250 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 With reference to the subject of diet, it is clear from 
 V. 15. 5, &c., that as a general rule the eating of flesh 
 (mama) and of fish (matsya) by twice-born men was 
 prohibited ; that the drinking of spirituous liquor was 
 included among the five great sins (see p. 270) ; and that 
 many other kinds of food, such as garlic, onions, leeks 
 (lasuna, grihjana, palandu), mushrooms (kavaka, cha- 
 traka), and carnivorous birds (kravyadah paksJiinah, 
 V. n), were forbidden. But it is an argument for the 
 antiquity of Manu's Law-book that it directs flesh-meat 
 (dmisha) to be eaten at some of these Sraddhas (III. 
 123, IV. 131). I annex a few interesting passages which 
 bear upon the killing of animals for sacrifice and the 
 eating of flesh-meat under certain circumstances : 
 
 Never let a Brahman eat the flesh of cattle unconsecrated with 
 Mantras, but let him eat it only when hallowed with texts of the Yeda 
 (IV. 36). 
 
 On a solemn offering to a guest (madlm-parlcci) at a sacrifice, and in 
 holy rites to departed ancestors or to the gods on these occasions and 
 no other may cattle be slain (V. 41). 
 
 As many hairs as grow on any animal, so many similar deaths shall 
 one who slays it unnecessarily (vritha) endure hereafter from birth to 
 birth. By the Self-existent himself were animals created for sacrifice, 
 which was ordained for the welfare (bliutyai) of all this universe ; there- 
 fore slaughter of animals for sacrifice is no slaughter (Y. 38, 39). 1 
 
 In eating meat (mcmsa-bhakshane) and in drinking wine (madye) 
 there is no crime (provided it be on a lawful occasion, Y. 56). 
 
 Hospitality is enjoined on the householder, in the strongest 
 language, as a religious duty (see also p. 282) : 
 
 No guest (atitlii) who arrives in the evening, brought by the setting 
 sun (suryodhaJi), must be dismissed. Whether he arrives in season or 
 out of season, let him be allowed to sojourn in the house and be well 
 entertained. 
 
 1 This is another indication of the priority of at least part of Manu's 
 Code to the general spread of Buddhism, which reformation led to the 
 almost total abolition of animal sacrifice in India.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 25 I 
 
 A Brahman sojourning in a house and not honoured takes to himself 
 all the merit of the householder's good deeds (III. IOQ). 
 
 Let the householder not eat anything himself till he has made his 
 guest eat. The honouring of a guest confers wealth, reputation, life, 
 and heaven (III. 105, 106. Compare also IV. 29). 
 
 An oblation (of food) in the fire of a Brahman's mouth delivers (the 
 offerer) from great guilt (III. 98). 
 
 With regard to the householder's wife and the condition 
 of women as depicted by Manu, we may observe that their 
 position is one of entire subordination, amounting, in 
 theory, to a complete abnegation of what in these days 
 would be called ' women's rights.' But although it is 
 certain that the inferiority of women is affixed Oriental 
 dogma which no contact with Europeans is likely entirely 
 to eradicate, yet it must be borne in mind that the prac- 
 tice does not always conform to the theory. The influence 
 of Hindu mothers in their own families, and the respect 
 paid to them by their children, have always been great ; 
 and it is one indication of the antiquity of Maim's Code 
 that, although some of its precepts pronounce women 
 unfit for independence, and debarred from the study of the 
 Veda, others concede to them an amount of freedom to 
 which they became strangers in times subsequent to the 
 influx of Mohammedan customs. 1 In some cases a girl, if 
 unmarried for three years, is even allowed to choose her 
 own husband, 2 when she is called Svayam-vara (IX. 90, 
 92). It is very true that Manu distinctly directs (V. 162, 
 IX. 47, 65) that no second husband is to be allowed to 
 widows, but he nowhere alludes to that exaggerated 
 devotion which induced the Sati or ' devoted wife ' to burn 
 herself with her husband's body a custom which from 
 
 1 The seclusion of Hindu women is chiefly due to the introduction of 
 Muslim customs when the Mohammedans invaded India. 
 
 2 Girls of the Kshatriya class sometimes chose their own husbands, as 
 we know from the story of Nala and other episodes of the Mahabharata,
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 about the time of Alexander's invasion, 1 more than 300 
 years B.C., till the year 1829, has led to the sacrifice of 
 innumerable lives, and has left a blot on the anuals of our 
 own administration. 2 
 
 1 It is clear from Strabo XY. 30 and 62 that Sati prevailed in India 
 about the time of Alexander. Strabo says that the Kathaei ( = Kanya- 
 kubja or perhaps Kshatriya), a tribe in the Paiijab, in order to prevent 
 wives poisoning their husbands, made a law that they should be burnt 
 with them when they died (awyxa,raxu,/ea9<zi nSnuai 7015 avdpdai TO.C, ywauKa,^, 
 and that some wives burnt themselves voluntarily (a.a/^sva:'). Compare 
 also Diodorus Siculus (XIX. 33), who describes how, after the battle 
 between Antiochus and Eumenes, one of the wives of the Indian general 
 KriTiii; ( = Ketu or Khatri ? ) burnt herself, after contending with the 
 other for the honour. But Arrian makes no mention of any Sati. He 
 only describes (VII. 2, 3) how KdXouof (perhaps = Sanskrit Kalyana), 
 one of a sect of Indian wise men who went naked, burnt himself upon 
 a pile. The description is like that of the self-cremation of the ascetic 
 S'arabhan-ga in Ramayana III. 9. Cf. Cicero Tusc. Disp. II. 22 and de 
 Divin. I. 23. The following is a portion of the latter passage : ' Est 
 profecto quiddam etiam in barbaris gentibus praesentiens, atque divi- 
 nans : siquidem ad mortem proficiscens Calanus Indus, cum adscenderet 
 in rogum ardentem, praeclarum discessum, inquiet, e vita ! ' The 
 idea of Sati seems to have been borrowed by the Hindus from the 
 Scythians (Herod. IV. 71). A similar custom prevailed among the 
 Thracians (Herod. V. 5). Cf. also Propertius III. 13, ' Ardent victrices, 
 et flammae pectora praebent, Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris.' 
 Madri, wife of Pandu, became a Sati (Maha-bharata, Adi-parva 4896). 
 Compare Dr. Host's edition of Wilson's Works, vol. ii. pp. 270-309). 
 
 2 The practice of Sati was for a long time thought to be so intimately 
 connected with the religious belief of the Hindus, that our Government 
 did not venture to put a stop to it. It was known to be enjoined in the 
 Brahma-purana and Codes of Vyasa, An-giras, &c. ; and such authorities 
 as Colebrooke (see hie life by his son, p. 287) and H. H. Wilson (in 
 1828) gave their opinion against interference, although it was ascer- 
 tained that neither the Veda nor Manu directed or even hinted at 
 concremation of the living wife with the dead husband. To Raghu- 
 nandana (according to Dr. F. Hall) is due the alteration of the last word 
 of a Eig-veda text (X. 18, 7, see p. 201) on which the authority for Sati 
 was made to rest : Anafravo 'namwdh su-ratna a rohantu janayo yonim 
 agre, ' without tears, without sorrow, bedecked with jewels, let the wives
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 253 
 
 Indeed, the marriage of widows is even spoken of as 
 practised, though reprehended (IX. 66-68) ; and a damsel 
 given away in marriage may be re-betrothed, if her hus- 
 band die before she is actually married (69). 
 
 The following passages will be sufficient to fill up the 
 picture of Hindu domestic life (see also p. 284) : 
 
 Day and night must women be made to feel their dependence on their 
 husbands. But if they are fond of worldly amusements (visliayesliu 
 sajjantyak), let them be allowed to follow their own inclinations (IX. 2). 
 
 Even if confined at home by faithful guardians they are not (really) 
 guarded ; but those women who guard themselves by their own will 
 (dtmdnam dtmand yds tu ral\slieyuli) are well guarded (IX. 12). 
 
 Let not (a husband) eat with his wife, nor look at her eating (IV. 43). 
 
 Women have no business to repeat texts of the Veda (ndsti stnndm 
 kriya mantrair), thus is the law established (IX. 18). 
 
 Domestic rites are to be performed in common with a wife (sddhdrano 
 dharmah patnyd saha), so it is ordained in the Veda (IX. 96). 
 
 No sacrifice is permitted to women separately (from their husbands), 
 no religious observance (vratatii), no fasting (wposhitam). As far as a 
 wife obeys her husband so far is she exalted in heaven (V. 155). 
 
 A husband must continually be revered (upacaryah) as a god (deva- 
 vat) by a virtuous wife (V. 154). 
 
 A virtuous wife who remains unmarried after the death of her husband 
 goes to heaven, even though she have no son (V. 160). 
 
 We have already indicated that in the third and fourth 
 periods of his life a Brahman, according to Manu, is to 
 
 go up to the altar first,' where agneh, ' of fire,' was substituted for agre, 
 'first.' (Compare pp. 197, 201, 202). It is true that our Government 
 adopted a middle course, and prohibited the burning of the widow, 
 except under strict regulations, and except with her own full consent, 
 and officials were to be present to see the rules enforced ; but I have 
 been informed by a distinguished friend (Mr. Seton-Karr) who held 
 high offices in India, that, in consequence of our half-sanction, the 
 number of widows actually returned as burnt, rose in one year to 800, 
 while in other years (between 1815 and 1828) it varied from 300 to 
 600. Lord William Bentinck passed a law in 1829 (Reg. xvii.) which 
 suppressed the practice with entire success and without difficulty.
 
 254 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 become first an anchorite (vdnaprastha) and then a reli- 
 gious mendicant (bhikshu or parivrdjaka). It is indeed 
 wholly improbable that all Brahmans conformed to this 
 rule, but the second verse of the sixth Book prescribes 
 that when the father of a family perceives his hair to be 
 turning grey, or as soon as his first grandchild is born, 
 and after he has paid his three debts, 1 he is to retire to a 
 forest and there as a hermit to practise austerities : 
 
 Having taken up his sacred fire (agni-hotram) and all the domestic 
 utensils for making oblations to it, and having gone forth from the 
 town to the forest, let him dwell there with all his organs of sense well 
 restrained (VI. 4). 
 
 With many kinds of pure food let him perform the five Maha-yajnas 
 or 'devotional rites' (VI. 5). 
 
 Let him also offer the Vaitarrika oblations with the (three sacred) fires 
 according to rule (see p. 188, note i, p. 189). 
 
 Let him roll backwards and forwards on the ground, or stand all day 
 on tiptoe (prapadaih), let him move about by alternately standing up 
 and sitting down, going to the waters to bathe at the three Savanas 
 (sunrise, sunset, and midday, VI. 22. See p. 241). 
 
 Let him practise the rules of the lunar penance (VI. 20. See p. 96). 
 
 In the hot weather let him be a Panda-tapas (VI. 23. See p. 95). 
 
 Let him offer libations (tarpayet) to the gods and Pitris, performing 
 ablutions at the three Savanas (VI. 24). 
 
 Having consigned the three sacred fires (vaitanari) to his own person 
 (by swallowing the ashes) according to prescribed rules, let him remain 
 without fire, without habitation, feeding on roots and fruits, practising 
 the vow of a Muni (i.e., the Mauna-vrata of perpetual silence, VI. 25). 
 
 Book VI. 33 directs him for the fourth period of his 
 life to wander about as a Bhikshu or Parivrajaka, 'reli- 
 gious mendicant' (caturtham dyusho bhdgam parivrajei). 
 Here are a few rules for the regulation of this final stage 
 of his existence, when he is sometimes called a Sannydsin, 
 
 1 These three debts (trim rindni) are, i. to the gods, 2. to the Pitris, 
 3. to the Rishis. The ist is liquidated by sacrifices, the 2nd by 
 begetting a son for performance of the S'raddha, the 3rd by repetition 
 of the Veda.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANTJ. 255 
 
 ' one who has given up the world ; ' sometimes a Yati, 
 ' one who has suppressed his passions : l ' 
 
 Let him remain without fire, without habitation (a-niketdh) ; let 
 him resort once a day to the town for food, regardless of hardships, 
 resolute, keeping a vow of silence (muni}, fixing his mind in meditation 
 
 (VI. 43). 
 
 With hair, nails, and beard well clipped, carrying a bowl (patri), 
 a staff (dandl), and a pitcher (kusumbhavaii), let him wander about 
 continually, intent on meditation and avoiding injury to any being 
 (VI. 52). 
 
 In this manner, having little by little (sanaih sanaih} abandoned all 
 worldly attachments (san-gari), and freed himself from all concern about 
 pairs of opposites 2 (dvandva), he obtains absorption into the universal 
 Spirit (brahmany avatishthate, VI. 81). 
 
 IV. Let us now note, in the fourth place, the chief 
 characteristics of Manu's ordinances of government and 
 judicature (vyavahara), and a few of the most remarkable 
 
 1 I find that some of M. Earth's remarks in the ' Revue Critique ' 
 for June 13, 1874, bear on what I have stated with regard to Manu's 
 ordinances in the preceding pages : ' Si nous remontons plus haut, aux 
 livres ve'diques, aux plus anciens comme aux plus modernes, nous 
 trouvons la nation Indienne divise"e en un grand nombre de petites 
 principauteX ou domine le principe ethnique de la peuplade et du clan. 
 Cette organisation qui n'avait certainement pas beaucoup change^ a 
 F^poque du Buddha, s'accorde encore moins avec le systeme de Manu, 
 qui suppose une certaine uniformity et 1'existence de grands e"tats. La 
 plupart de ces peuplades avaient sans doute un etat social analogue : de 
 temps immemorial elles e"taient divise"es en 4 classes. . . . Mais il est 
 difficile de pre'ciser le degr de rigueur de cette division. Encore k une 
 epoque relativement r^cente (Chandog. Up. iv. 4. 2) la plus jalouse, et 
 la plus ferm^e de ces classes, celle des Brahmanes, ne parait pas tres 
 scrupuleuse quant k la purete" du sang. Je ne puis done voir autre 
 chose dans la th^orie omcielle de la caste qu'une sorte de theme convenu 
 dont il faut faire usage avec la plus grande prudence, theme dont la 
 donne"e fondamentale a du, parce qu'elle e"tait consacre"e par une tradi- 
 tion sainte, se preter successivement, et d'une facon plus ou moins 
 artificielle a 1'explication d'e"tats de socie'te' bien diffe" rents.' 
 
 2 Such as honour and dishonour (manapamana), joy and sorrow, &c.
 
 256 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 civil and penal laws and rules of evidence. 1 The treat- 
 ment of these subjects, which ought to constitute the most 
 important department of a code of laws, is only commenced 
 by Manu in the second half of his work, and is chiefly com- 
 prised in one quarter of it, viz., the seventh, eighth, and 
 ninth Books. As the state of society depicted in the first 
 six Books is of a simple and primitive character, recogniz- 
 ing only four principal divisions of the people, so the only 
 form of government prescribed in the seventh Book is of 
 a paternal and patriarchal description. The king is to rule 
 by divine right, and, though a despot, to act like a father 2 
 towards his subjects (varteta pitri-van nrishu, VII. 80). 
 That he was treated as a kind of divinity is evident : 
 
 The Creator created a king for the protection of the whole world by 
 drawing forth eternal particles (mdtrdk sdsvatih] from the essence of 
 Indra, Anila (Wind), Yama (god of justice), Surya (Sun), Agni (Fire), 
 Varuna, Candra (Moon), and Kuvera (god of wealth, VII. 3, 4). 
 
 A king, even though a child, must not be treated with contempt, as 
 if he were a mortal ; he is a great divinity in human shape (VII. 8). 
 
 He is directed to appoint seven or eight ministers 
 (VII. 54) and to consult them first apart, and then collec- 
 tively, as a kind of council. His prime minister (VII. 58) 
 is to be a Brahman, 3 and in him he is to place implicit 
 confidence (59). He is to have a standing army (VII. 
 1 02, 103), commander-in-chief (VII. 65), and an ambas- 
 sador (dutah) of great knowledge and abilities (VII. 63). 
 The following is very significant : 
 
 1 I have here consulted Elphinstone's and Mill's India. 
 
 2 Compare S'akuntala, Act V. : Tvayi parisamdptam bandhu-lirityam 
 prajdndm, 'in thee (the king) is comprehended the whole duty of a 
 kinsman towards thy subjects.' Asff-orjjs is said to be = Sanskrit ddsa- 
 pati, 'lord of conquered races.' 
 
 3 This rule was followed by S'ivaji in the constitution of the Marathi 
 empire, and the Peshwa or chief of the eight Pradhanas, ' principal 
 ministers,' ultimately superseded S'ivaji's weak successors and usurped 
 the supremacy.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 257 
 
 Determination not to retreat in battle (san-grdmeshu anivartitvarn), 
 protection of the people, and obedience (susrusha) to Brahmans is the 
 highest duty of kings, and secures their felicity in heaven (VII. 88). 
 
 The king's mode of life and the distribution of his time 
 are carefully regulated (VII. 145, &c.) He is to rise in the 
 last watch of the night, then to hold a court, then to 
 assemble his council and deliberate on the affairs of his 
 kingdom and all the eightfold business of kings (VII. 1 54) ; 
 after that, to engage in manly exercises, then to dine, 
 taking care that his food is not poisoned (VII. 2 1 8), and 
 then to regulate his family ; after that, he is allowed some 
 relaxation ; then he is to review his troops ; then to 
 perform religious exercises ; and lastly, being himself well 
 armed, to receive the report of his spies (cara), informers 
 and secret emissaries (pranidhi), who are regarded as of 
 great importance. 1 He is to conclude the day by a frugal 
 meal and musical recreations, and to go to bed early (VII. 
 225). 2 The rules for diplomacy and war show that India 
 
 1 In IX. 256 a king is called cdra-cakshuh, 'spy-eyed..' 
 
 2 The royal office was no sinecure. This is evident from the Maha- 
 bharata and Dasa-kumara-c'arita as well as from Manu. It appears 
 that the day and night were each divided into eight portions of one 
 hour and a half each, reckoned from sunrise, and thus distributed. 
 Day i. the king being dressed is to audit accounts; 2. he is to pro- 
 nounce judgments in appeals ; 3. he is to breakfast ; 4. he is to receive 
 and make presents; 5. he is to discuss political questions with his 
 ministers; 6. he is to amuse himself ; 7. he is to review his troops ; 8. 
 he is to hold a military council. Night i. he is to receive the reports 
 of his spies and envoys ; 2. he is to dine ; 3. he is to retire to rest 
 after the perusal of some sacred work ; 4. and 5. he is to sleep ; 6. he 
 is to rise and purify himself ; 7. he is to hold a private consultation 
 with his ministers and instruct his officers ; 8. he is to attend upon the 
 Purohita or ' family priest ' for the performance of religious ceremonies 
 (Wilson's Hindu Theatre, i. 209). Megasthenes (Strabo XY. i, 55) 
 says that the Indian king may not sleep in the daytime, but continues 
 the whole day judging causes. Compare Macaulay's account of the 
 daily life of Frederic the Great (Essays, p. 805). 
 
 R
 
 258 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 was divided into a number of unequal states. Intrigues 
 are to be carried on with the leaders of the enemy, and 
 negotiation is declared to be better than force (VII. 197, 
 198). In battle the king is to set an example of personal 
 bravery (VII. 87). The chief weapon is the bow (VIT. 
 74). Elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry form the 
 Gatur-an-ga or 'fourfold army,' 1 and minute directions are 
 given for its marching (VII. 187, &c.). 
 
 With regard to internal administration, it is clear from 
 the Code that the country was partitioned into divisions 
 governed by vicegerents, to whom the king delegated his 
 own despotic powers, and whose authority was again dele- 
 gated to other subordinate governors, who again divided 
 their power by committing it to other rulers of townships 
 in a regular chain, the highest governor ruling over a 
 thousand towns, the next over a hundred, the next over 
 twenty, the next over ten (cf. Luke xix. 17), and the 
 lowest ruling over one town : 
 
 Let the lord of one town (gramikah) notify of his own accord, and 
 in due order, to the lord of ten towns (grama-dasesaya) any crimes 
 which have taken place in his own district, and the lord of ten to the 
 lord of twenty ; let the lord of twenty notify everything to the lord 
 of a hundred, and the lord of a hundred to the lord of a thousand 
 (VII. 1 1 6, 117). 
 
 Another important subject is revenue, which the monarch 
 is to obtain from the following sources : i. Taxes on 
 the produce of land, which was probably held in common 
 by village communities, though occasional grants may 
 have been made to individuals, the king being theoreti- 
 cally the only absolute proprietor of the soil (bhumer adhi- 
 patih), VIII. 39). 2 2. Taxes on the produce of labour. 
 
 1 In VII. 185 a sixfold (shad-vidha) army is spoken of, the two other 
 component parts being officers and attendants. 
 
 2 In later times a sort of middle-man, to whom the name Zamlnddr
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2 59 
 
 3. Taxes on certain metals and commodities added to 
 capital stock. 4. Taxes on purchases and sales. 5. A 
 kind of poll-tax. 6. Another kind paid in labour. 
 
 With regard to i, the usual proportion of produce taken 
 by the king was a sixth part, but in times of necessity 
 (as of war or invasion), he might even take a fourth of 
 the crops. But, even though dying for want of money, he 
 i& never to receive a tax from a Brahman conversant with 
 the Veda (VII. I33). 1 The following passages illustrate 
 the above six heads of taxation : 
 
 1. A sixth, an eighth, or a twelfth part of grain may be taken by the 
 king (according to the goodness or badness of the soil, VII. 130). 
 
 The king who, without giving protection, takes a sixth part of the 
 grain as tax (bali) is declared to draw upon himself all the sins of all 
 his subjects (VIIL 308). 
 
 A military king (lisliatriyaJi) who takes even a fourth part in a time 
 of necessity (dpadf) while protecting his subjects to the utmost of his 
 ability is freed from all culpability (X. 118). 
 
 2. Moreover, he may take a sixth part of the annual increase of trees 
 (dru), meat, honey, clarified butter, perfumes, medicinal herbs, liquids, 
 flowers, roots, and fruits, of leaves (patra), pot-herbs (6aka\ grass, 
 wicker-work (vaidala), hides, earthenware vessels, and all articles made 
 of stone (VII. 131, 132). 
 
 3. Of cattle and gold and silver (MranyayoJi) added to the capital 
 stock (mulad adhikayoh), a fiftieth part may be taken by the king 
 (VII. 130). 
 
 Of old treasures and precious metals in the earth the king may take 
 
 (introduced by the Muhammadans) is applied, acquired an ownership 
 nearly absolute in the soil; or, at any rate, intervened between the 
 Ryot or ' cultivator ' and the king, receiving a share of the produce 
 from the former and paying a stipulated proportion to the sovereign. 
 
 1 In S'akuntala, Act II., Mathavya says to the king, ' Say you have 
 come for the sixth part of their grain which they owe you for tribute.' 
 The Maha-bharata allows secularized Brahmans to be taxed. Strabo 
 (XV. i, 40) says, ' The whole land belongs to the king, but the Indians 
 work it on condition of receiving the fourth part of the crops (Iw/
 
 260 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 one half, because he protects his subjects and is the paramount lord of 
 the soil (VIII. 39). 
 
 4. Having well considered the rates of purchase and sale, the length of 
 transit (adhvdnam), with cost of food, &c., on the journey (saparivya- 
 yam), the profit gained, and expense of insurance (yoga-kshemam), let 
 him make merchants pay taxes on their commodities (VII. 127). 
 
 5. The king should cause the lower classes (prithag-janam = nikrislita- 
 janam, Kulluka) in his kingdom, who live by petty trading, to pay some 
 small sum (per head) in the name of the annual tax (VII. 137). 
 
 6. The king should cause inferior artisans and artificers (such as 
 blacksmiths, &c.) and men of the servile class ($udrari), who support 
 themselves by their own labour, to work for one day in every month 
 (VII. 138). ' 
 
 As regards the administration of justice, this is also 
 to be performed by the king in person, aided by Brahmans 
 or else by a Brahman acting as his deputy, assisted by 
 three others (VIII. 9, 10). In Book VII. 14 we read : 
 
 For the use of the king the great Creator (Isvarah] created in the 
 beginning his own son Justice, composed of particles of his own divine 
 essence, to act as the protector of all creatures (by wielding) the rod of 
 punishment. 
 
 The terrible consequences of neglecting to wield this 
 rod are described in VII. 20, &c. (see p. 285). The king 
 is not to encourage litigation (notpddayet karyam, VIII. 
 43). Nevertheless, he is to be ready every day to decide 
 causes in the court (sabJid] when brought before him. 
 The mode of conducting a trial is simple and patriarchal. 
 In VIII. 23 we read: 
 
 Let the king, having seated himself on the judgment-seat, with his 
 body suitably attired and his mind collected (samdhttah), and having 
 offered homage (pranamya) to the gods who are guardians of the world, 
 commence the trial of causes (kdrya-darsana). (Of. Strabo XV. i, 55.) 
 
 The litigant parties are to be heard in person, and the 
 plaintiff's accusation is to be made vivd voce. The wit- 
 nesses are to be examined by the judge, who is to observe
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 26 1 
 
 their countenances carefully (VIII. 25, 26). In his deci- 
 sion the judge is to attend to local usage, established 
 practice (dcard), the decisions of former j udges (VIII. 45, 
 46), and written codes of law (sdstra, VIII. 3). 
 
 Let me pass on to notice the broad features of the civil 
 and criminal code. It is, of course, very desirable that 
 the distinction between civil and criminal laws should be 
 clearly marked out. They are, however, mixed together 
 very confusedly in the eighteen heads or divisions of la\v 
 given by Manu (Book VII. 4-7) as follows : 
 
 The eighteen titles or branches of law are : i. recovery of debts (rind- 
 ddnam) ; 2. deposits (niksliepah] 3. sale of property by one who is not 
 the rightful owner (asvdmi-vikrayah] ; 4. engaging in business after 
 joining partnership, association in trade (sambhuya samutthdnam) ; 
 5. non-delivery of what has been given (dattasydnapakarma) ; 6. non- 
 payment of wages (vetanasya addnam) ; 7. breach of contract (samvido 
 vyatikramali) ; 8. annulling of purchase or sale (kraya-vikraydnu$ayah} ; 
 9. disputes between the owner and tender of cattle or between master 
 and servant (vivddah svamipdlayoh) ; 10. the law respecting disputes 
 about boundaries (simd-vivdda-dharmali) ; u, 12. the two kinds of 
 assault, viz., blows and abuse, or assault with blows and assault with 
 slander (pdrusliye-danda-vdcike) ; 13. theft and larceny (steyain) ; 14. 
 robbery with violence (sdhasam) ; 15. adultery (stri-san-grahanam) ; 
 1 6. the law regulating (the duties of) husband and wife (stri-pun- 
 dharmali) ; 17. partition of patrimony or inheritance (vibhdgah) ; 18. 
 gambling with dice and betting on animals, such as fighting-cocks 
 (dyutam dhvayas ca). 
 
 The first nine of the above titles and the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth belong to civil law ; those from the eleventh 
 to the fifteenth, and the eighteenth relate to criminal 
 law ; the tenth belongs partly to civil, partly to criminal. 
 With reference to the whole arrangement of the subject, 
 Mr. James Mill's History of India (vol. i. p. 195, &c.) has 
 some valuable remarks, the substance of which I here 
 give : 
 
 Though no arrangement would appear more natural than the division 
 of laws into civil and penal, we find them here mixed together. Another
 
 262 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 obvious ground of division the distinction between the laws about 
 persons and the laws about things which prevailed in Roman law and 
 was transferred, rude as it was, to English, seems never to have occurred 
 to Hindu lawyers in the time of Manu. The first nine of the heads in 
 Manu's arrangement relate to contracts, but the division is rude and 
 imperfect. It begins with ' Loans/ one of the most refined of contracts. 
 The subject of ' purchase and sale ' is divided into two parts, but one 
 occupies the third place in the list, the other the eighth, and a number 
 of heterogeneous subjects intervene. ' Partnership ' occupies a middle 
 place between two subjects, to neither of which it has any relation. 
 ' Non-payment of wages ' stands immediately before c Breach of con- 
 tract,' as a separate title, though it ought to be included under that 
 head. In fact, this seventh head is so general that it comprehends the 
 whole subject of contracts. When the subject of contracts is ended, 
 the principal branches of criminal law are introduced. After these and 
 some other topics follows the great subject of inheritance. 1 
 
 Under the head of Civil Laiv the most interesting of 
 Manu's ordinances are on the important subject of pro- 
 perty, whether acquired by possession or occupancy (labha, 
 bhukti, bhoga), by purchase (kraya), by contract (samvid, 
 vyavahdra), by labour (karma-yoga), by donation (prati- 
 graha), by inheritance (ddya). I note the following : 
 
 He who has acquired any property through the sale of it (vikraydt) 
 in the presence of a number (of buyers and sellers) justly obtains the 
 right to that property by reason of having paid the purchase money 
 (VIII. 201). 
 
 The property of infants who are heirs let the king hold in trust until 
 the owner has completed his term of studentship or till he is of age 
 (at sixteen, VIII. 27). 
 
 Let the king fix the rate of sale and purchase of all marketable com- 
 modities (sarva-panydnam), after having considered the distance (from 
 which they have been imported), the remoteness of the place to which 
 they are sent, the time they are kept, and the gain or loss upon them. 
 Once in every five nights or once a fortnight he should fix the proper 
 rate in the presence of those (who understand it, VIII. 401, 402). 
 
 1 In consulting Mr. James Mill I have found that some of his state- 
 ments must be taken with considerable qualification, prejudiced as he 
 appears to have been against everything Hindu.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 263 
 
 A lost article, when found, should be guarded by trusty men. Any 
 thieves convicted of stealing it should be condemned to be trampled to 
 death by the royal elephant (VIII. 34). 
 
 It is evidence of a somewhat rude state of society 
 that in certain cases a man is allowed to repent of a 
 bargain and to have a contract annulled, thus : 
 
 When a man has bought or sold anything (not perishable, such as 
 land or copper), and may afterwards repent, he may restore it or take 
 it back within ten days (antar-dasdhdt, VIII. 222). 
 
 Marriage is regarded as a contract, but the same liberty 
 of annulling is in this case not allowed : 
 
 If a man shall give away in marriage a girl who has any defects 
 (dosliavatwri) without notifying these defects, the king must fine him 
 ninety-six Panas (Imrydd dandam sliannavatim pancin, VIII. 224). 
 
 The repetition of the nuptial texts (panigralianikd mantrali) are the 
 settled mark (niyatam lakslianam) of a marriage contract. Of those 
 texts (the one) repeated on (making) the seventh step (viz., saklid sapta- 
 padi lhava, see p. 191) is decided by the wise to be (the sign of) 
 the completion (iiislitha) of the contract (VIII. 227). 
 
 Throughout Eastern countries, especially in ancient times, 
 the insecurity of property has led to two practices little 
 resorted to by the peoples of modern Europe, viz., conceal- 
 ment of valuable articles and the habit of entrusting them 
 for safety to the keeping of others. We can understand, 
 therefore, the importance assigned in Manu's Law-book 
 (Book VIII. 179, &c.) to the subject of 'deposits' or, 
 according to legal phraseology, ' bailments.' This branch 
 of law opens thus : 
 
 A wise man should make a deposit (nilisliepam niksliipet} with a person 
 of good family, of good conduct, acquainted with law, a speaker of truth, 
 possessing numerous relations, wealthy and honourable (VIII. 179)- 
 
 If a bailee (nyasa-dliariri) fail to restore a deposit, and there are no 
 witnesses, the judge is to cause secret agents (pranidlii) to deposit gold 
 with him, and should he fail to redeliver it, he is to be made to pay 
 (dapyah] the equivalent of both deposits (VIII. 181-184).
 
 264 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Another proof of a primitive state of society may be 
 found in the rules respecting interest and the premium 
 paid for the use of borrowed property. This is sometimes 
 allowed to be paid in kind ; l as, for instance, when grain, 
 fruit, wool, animals, &c., have been borrowed, showing 
 that coined money was still uncommon as a general circu- 
 lating medium. (Compare the mention of ndnaka, ' coin,' 
 in the later Code of Yajnavalkya II. 241.) 
 
 Interest on money (kuslda-vriddliili) received all at once (and not by 
 the month, &c.) must not exceed the double (of the sum lent) ; 2 on grain 
 (dhanye), fruit (sade), wool (lave), and beasts of burden (vdhye) it must 
 not exceed five times the value (pancatd, VIII. 151). 
 
 The rate of interest (vriddhi) is not only high, but 
 varies according to the class of the man to whom any- 
 thing is lent; but compound interest (cakra-vriddhi} is 
 not approved (VIII. 153) : 
 
 A money-lender (vardliushikah) may take two per cent, (dvikam fatam) 
 as interest per month from a Brahman, three (triham) from a Ksha- 
 triya, four (catushkam) from a Vaisya, and five (pahcaJcarn) from a 
 Sudra, in the order of the classes (VIII. 142). 
 
 In VIII. 156, 157, there is a law bottomry, which is 
 interesting as showing that sea-voyages were undertaken 
 in Manu's time. 
 
 The recovery of debts is enforced by stringent laws, and 
 the debtor is not only made to pay what he owes, but an 
 additional fine to the kino-, thus : 3 
 
 C5' 
 
 1 Compare Deut. xxiii. 19, 20, 'Thou shalt not lend upon usury to 
 thy brother ; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that 
 is lent upon usury : unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury,' &c. 
 
 2 Principal doubled by accumulated interest is called in Marathi 
 Damdupat. Even now a village Mahajan will take from 50 to 75 per 
 cent. 
 
 3 No sanction, however, is given by Manu to the later practice of 
 Dliarna or ' sitting at the door of a house to compel payment of a debt.'
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 265 
 
 When a debt has to be paid (rine deye) which is admitted to be just, 
 the debtor owes a fine of five per cent, (paiicakam satam) in addition, 
 and ten per cent, if it be repudiated (though it be just, VIII. 139). 
 
 The laws respecting herdsmen (pasu-pala) and their 
 employers (svdmin) are carefully laid down (VIII. 229, 
 &c.). I note one instance (VIII. 232) : 
 
 The herdsman himself must restore an animal that has been lost 
 (nashta), or destroyed by vermin (krimibhih), or killed by dogs, or has 
 perished by falling into a hole (vishame) through want of his having 
 exerted himself to save it (hlnam purusha-lmrena). 
 
 We may also observe that the hire of some kinds of 
 agricultural labourers is directed to be paid in kind : l 
 
 That hired herdsman whose hire is paid with milk must be allowed 
 by the owner of the cattle to milk the best cow out of ten (dasato- 
 vardm), unless he be paid with some other kind of food (VIII. 231). 
 
 The most important subject connected with property is 
 the law of inheritance (daya) treated of in the ninth Book 
 of Manu's Code. And here we cannot fail to be struck 
 with the remarkable circumstance that Hindu law does 
 not allow the owner of property any testamentary power. 2 
 Indeed, a proper word for ' will ' or ' testament ' does not 
 exist in the Sanskrit language. It must be borne in mind 
 that in a patriarchal state of society all family property 
 
 The person so sitting refuses to eat, and as long as he does so the debtor 
 must abstain from food too, and if the suitor perishes the crime of his 
 death falls on the debtor. Originally the person sitting in Dharna, 
 either on his own behalf or that of another, was a Brahman. See H. H. 
 Wilson's Glossary of Indian Terms. 
 
 1 Payments in kind in aid of money wages are not unusual even in 
 the present day. Even quite recently in British territory the land-tax 
 was sometimes paid in kind, and is still so paid in some native states. 
 
 2 Our Government made this legal by the Hindu Wills Act (xxi. of 
 1870). Certain peculiar documents, however, resembling wills, but 
 bearing other titles, were previously recognized by our courts.
 
 266 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 was supposed to be held in common by a sort of joint 
 ownership, the father or principal person in a household 
 being regarded as a head partner. 
 
 In India, where customs become stereotyped for cen- 
 turies, this primitive idea of a common title to the family 
 property has continued to prevail up to recent times. The 
 family is, as we have seen, a corporate society, whose bond 
 of union is the sacred oblation offered in common by its 
 living to its deceased members. On the death of a father 
 
 o 
 
 the sons or nearest relatives succeed to the inheritance 
 by simple right of Sa-pindaship, that is, by a right ob- 
 tained through the common offering of rice-cakes (pinda) 
 and of water, &c., to a deceased father, grandfather, and 
 great-grandfather at the Sraddha ceremonies (see p. 248). 
 It must be noted, however, that although the whole family 
 has a joint-interest in the property, the estate cannot 
 be divided during the lifetime of the parents, and even at 
 their death the eldest son is allowed to take the father's 
 place as chief manager of the family partnership, thus : 
 
 The eldest brother may take the paternal property (pitryam dhanam) 
 entirely (into his own hands). The rest of the family (sesliah) may 
 live under him (tarn upajweyuJi) exactly as they lived under the father 
 (IX. 105). 
 
 An eldest brother conducting himself as he ought (towards his 
 younger brothers) is to be regarded by them as a mother and father 
 (IX. no). 
 
 Nevertheless, the brothers are allowed, if they like, to 
 separate, and full directions are given in Book IX. 112, 
 &c., for the partition of the family estate ; a distinction 
 being made according to merit as well as age, and some 
 being, very unjustly according to our ideas, disqualified : 
 
 After the death of the father and mother, the brothers having 
 assembled together may make a partition of the paternal property, 
 but they have no power to do so during the lifetime of their parents 
 (IX. 104).
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 267 
 
 Either let them live together (sahavaseyuk) or separately, from reli- 
 gious motives ; since the number of religious rites (such as the five 
 Malid-yajiiah, see p. 244) are increased by separation of households, 
 therefore separation is legal (IX. in). 
 
 The portion taken out (of the estate) by the eldest son is a twentieth, 
 along with the best of all the chattels ; by the middle son, a fortieth ; 
 and by the youngest, an eightieth (IX. 112). 
 
 A deduction (uddlidra) being thus made, the remainder should be 
 allotted among the brothers in equal shares ; if no deduction is made 
 they should share in the following manner : Let the eldest take a 
 double share and the next born a share and a half (if they excel in 
 learning and merit), and let the younger sons have a share each 
 (IX. 1 1 6, 117). 
 
 Those brothers who are addicted to vicious habits (such as gambling, 
 licentiousness, &c.) forfeit a right (ndrlianti) to any share in the in- 
 heritance (IX. 214). 
 
 Impotent persons (Jdiva), those who have lost caste (patita), those 
 who are blind, deaf, insane, paralyzed (jada\ dumb, defective in limb 
 or sense, are also debarred from sharing (IX 201). 
 
 But a wise heir will in common justice supply all such persons with 
 food and raiment (grasacchadanam) to the best of his ability. Other- 
 wise he is guilty of a great crime (IX. 202). 
 
 It must be observed that women are generally excluded 
 from a direct title to share in the division of property : 
 
 Three persons are declared to have no property of their own 
 (a-dhanah), a wife, a son, and a slave. Whatever money they earn 
 is his to whom they belong (VIII. 416). 
 
 Nevertheless, some marriage portions (sulka) or gifts 
 received by a married woman at and after the nuptial 
 ceremony, are regarded as her own peculiar property. 
 These constitute what is still called Strl-dhana, 1 'a 
 
 1 Commonly written Stridhun. Mr. Herbert Cowell, in his Tagore 
 Law Lectures for 1871 (p. 28), says, that although this property is sup- 
 posed to belong exclusively to a wife, the husband has a concurrent 
 power over it, so that he may use it in any exigency, without being 
 held accountable for it. Stri-dhana is now, however, acquired ' by gift, 
 by earnings, and by inheritance,' and the Dayabhaga lays down that
 
 268 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 woman's (separate) wealth or dower,' which, according to 
 Maun, is sixfold : 
 
 Whatever was given over the nuptial fire (adhy-agni), whatever she 
 receives while being led in procession from her father's to her hus- 
 band's house (adhydvdhanikam), a gift (from her husband) in token of 
 affection (prtti), and a similar gift received from her brother, from her 
 mother, from her father, all these are declared to be a woman's own 
 property (IX. 194). 
 
 Those young girls, too, who are unmarried (kanydJi) at 
 a father's death are directed (IX. 118) to receive an allot- 
 ment out of the shares accruing to their brothers. The 
 following also (IX. 130) is noteworthy : 
 
 A man's own son is even as himself, and a daughter is like a son. 
 How, then (if he have no son), ought any one else than a daughter, 
 who is part of his own person (atmani tishthanti), to inherit his own 
 property ? 
 
 I pass on to a brief notice of Manu's Criminal Code. 
 The three most conspicuous features of his penal laws are 
 exactly those which mark the earliest forms of criminal 
 legislation, viz., severity, inconsistency, and a belief in the 
 supposed justice of the lex talionis, the latter leading to 
 punishments which in later times would be considered 
 unjustifiably disproportionate to the offences committed, 
 and sometimes barbarously cruel. 1 Thus : 
 
 the husband has power over the wife's earnings and ' any presents she 
 may receive from any other but kindred.' 
 
 1 Mr. Mill on this point quotes Sir W. Jones, who is not, like him- 
 self, disposed to view everything Hindu in an unfavourable light. 
 ' The cruel mutilations practised by the native powers are shocking to 
 humanity.' We know what was said by our Lord about ' an eye for 
 an eye and a tooth for a tooth,' Matt. v. 38. See Lev. xxiv. 20; 
 Deut. xix. 21. Compare the laws of Draco and of the ancient 
 Egyptians. Strabo (XY. i. 54) says of the Hindus, 'He who has 
 given false testimony suffers mutilation of the extremities 
 fyrai), and he who maims a limb is condemned to suffer maiming.'
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 269 
 
 With whatever member of the body a low-born man may injure a 
 superior, that very member of his must be mutilated (VIII. 279). 
 
 A once-born man insulting (kshipan) twice-born men with abusive 
 language (vd6d ddrunaya) must have his tongue cut (VIII. 270). 
 
 Should he mention their name and caste with insulting expressions 
 (as, ' Hallo ! there, Yajnadatta, vilest of Brahmans '), a red-hot iron 
 spike ten fingers long is to be thrust into his mouth (VIII. 271). 
 
 Should he, through arrogance, attempt to instruct a Brahman in his 
 duty (saying, ' You ought to do so and so '), the king is to have boiling 
 oil poured into his mouth and ears (VIII. 272). 
 
 Thieves are to have their hands cut off, and then to be impaled on a 
 sharp stake (IX. 276). 
 
 A goldsmith detected in committing frauds is to have his body cut 
 to pieces with razors (IX. 292). 
 
 Perhaps the most objectionable feature in the penal 
 code is not the cruel retaliation, which was probably 
 more a matter of theory than actual practice, but the 
 leniency with which Brahmans are directed to be treated. 
 It will be observed that a graduated scale is prescribed 
 according to the rank of the offender and the class to 
 which he belongs, thus : 
 
 A king must never kill a Brahman, though he may be found guilty 
 of all possible crimes (sarva-papesliv api stliitam) ; let him expel him 
 from the kingdom unharmed in body and intact in all his property. 
 There is no greater injustice on earth than the killing of a Brahman. 
 The king, therefore, must not harbour a thought about putting him to 
 death (VIII. 380, 381). 
 
 A Kshatriya insulting a Brahman must be fined a hundred Panas 
 (satam dandam arhati) ; a Vaisya doing the same must pay one hundred 
 and fifty or two hundred Panas ; a S'udra doing the same must receive 
 corporal punishment l (badham arhati, VIII. 267). 
 
 Five great crimes (mahd-pdtakdni) are enumerated in 
 Book XL 54, which are described as entailing the highest 
 degree of guilt, though certainly from a European point 
 of view they cannot all be regarded as equally heinous : 
 
 1 Badha might be rendered ' capital punishment,' but Kulluka 
 explains it by ' the lash.'
 
 2/0 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 i. Killing a Brahman (brahma-hatya) ; 2. drinking intoxicating 
 liquor (surd-pdna) ; 3. stealing gold from a Brahman (steya) ; 4. adul- 
 tery with the wife of a Guru or spiritual teacher (gurv-angandgamah] ; 
 and 5. associating with any one guilty of such sins. 
 
 Severe penances voluntarily performed, rather than 
 legal penalties judicially inflicted, are enjoined for some 
 of these crimes (see p. 274); and they are declared in 
 XI. 49 to involve rather singular consequences (phala) in 
 future states of existence. Thus for i. a man will suffer 
 from consumption (kshaya-rogitvam) in a future life (see 
 also XI. 73) ; for 2. he will have discoloured teeth ; for 3. 
 diseased nails (kaunakhyam). 1 
 
 Moreover, in XII. 54-57, much, more awful results are 
 alleged to follow hereafter ; inasmuch as those who are 
 guilty of these great crimes are condemned to dwell for a 
 vast number of years in terrible hells (ghordn narakdn) 
 before entering on new states of being. After protracted 
 torture in one or other of these hells (see p. 217) a Brah- 
 man-slayer (brahma-hd) must enter the body of a dog, 
 boar, ass, camel, bull, goat, sheep, stag, bird, or outcaste 
 Candala, according to the degree of his guilt ; a spirit- 
 drinker will become a worm, insect, moth, &c. ; a gokl- 
 stealer will pass a thousand times into the bodies of 
 spiders, snakes, noxious demons, &c. (Compare p. 276.) 
 
 Some crimes in the second degree are the following : 
 
 Falsely asserting oneself to be of too high a caste, falsely accusing 
 a Guru, forgetting texts of the Veda through neglect of repeating 
 them (brahmojjJiatd), giving false testimony (kauta-sdkshyam), eating 
 impure food, stealing deposits, incest, intercourse with women of the 
 lowest class. 
 
 A long list of crimes in the third degree (upapdtaka) is 
 given in XL 59-66. Some of them are : 
 
 1 For this reason it is directed in Book IIL 153, 154, that consump- 
 tive persons and persons with diseased nails (ku-nakhiri) and discoloured 
 teeth (sydva-dantaka) ought to be excluded from S'raddhas.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2/1 
 
 Killing a cow (go-ladhah} ; neglect of repetition of the Veda (i.e., of 
 the daily Brahma-yajiia) ; neglect of the sacred fire ; usury (vdrdhu- 
 sliyam) ; selling a tank or garden or wife or child ; neglecting investiture 
 (vrdtyata) ; superintendence over mines of any kind (sarvdJcareshv adhi- 
 kdrafi) ; cutting down green trees for fuel ; performing religious rites 
 for selfish motives (dtmdrtliam) ; reading infidel books (asac-chdstrddhi- 
 gamanairi) ; addiction to music and dancing (kausilavyasya Jcriya) ; 
 atheism (nastikyam). 
 
 For many of these crimes also voluntary penances con- 
 stitute the only punishment. Thus the killer of a cow 
 must undergo great hardships and make atonement by 
 attending upon a herd, guarding them from injury, 
 following them day and night in all weathers for three 
 months, swallowing the dust raised by their hoofs, &c. 
 (XI. 108-115). 
 
 Trial by ordeal (divya) is recognized by Manu, though 
 the ten different forms of it are not all specified as in later 
 works : * 
 
 Let him cause a man (whose veracity is doubted) to take hold of fire 
 or dive under water (apsu nimqjjayef), or touch the heads of his wife 
 and sons one by one. The man whom flaming fire burns not and water 
 forces not up (dpo nonmajjayanti], and who suffers no harm, must be 
 instantly held innocent of perjury (VIII. 114, 115). 
 
 It remains to notice a few of the laws of evidence. 
 Fearful denunciations are pronounced against those who 
 deliver false testimony in a court of justice (VIII. 82). 
 The strictest rules are also to be observed in selecting 
 witnesses competent to give trustworthy evidence (see 
 
 1 These ten forms (some of which are given by Yajnavalkya, see p. 
 297) are i. Tula, 'the balance;' 2. Agni, 'fire;' 3. Jala, 'water;' 
 4. Vislia, ' poison ; ' 5. Kosa, ' drinking water in which an idol has been 
 washed ; ' 6. Tandula, ' ejecting chewed rice- grains ; ' 7. Tapta-mdslia, 
 ' taking a Masha weight of gold out of heated oil ; ' 8. Phdta, ' holding 
 a hot ploughshare ; ' 9. Dharmadharma, ' drawing concealed images of 
 virtue and vice out of a vessel filled with earth;' 10. Tulasl, 'holding 
 the leaves of holy basil.' This holy basil is said to be sacred to Vishnu.
 
 2/2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 p. 287). At least three witnesses are required to establish 
 a fact in dispute : 
 
 If a man is summoned (kritdvastliaJi) by a creditor for a debt and 
 denies it when questioned, he is to be proved guilty by three witnesses 
 at least (try-avaraih saksliibliih] in the presence of a Brahman appointed 
 by the king * (VIII. 60). 
 
 Witnesses are to deliver their testimony vivd voce, 
 and no directions are given about written documents, 
 which makes it probable that this kind of evidence, 
 though fully recognized by Yajnavalkya (see p. 297), was 
 not received, or at least not usual, at the early epoch when 
 Manu's Law-book was composed. If the testimony is 
 contradictory, the judge is to decide by the majority of 
 credible witnesses. If the number of witnesses is equal, 
 he is to be guided by the testimony of those who are most 
 distinguished for virtuous qualities (VIII. 73). A similar 
 rule is propounded by Yajnavalkya (see p. 298). It is a 
 noteworthy point that women are, as a rule, debarred from 
 giving evidence, except for women (VIII. 68). Moreover, 
 the distinctions between the credibility of witnesses must 
 strike a European mind as somewhat extraordinary and 
 whimsical. A man who has male offspring is thought more 
 worthy of credence than a man who has female (VIII. 62), 
 perhaps because he is supposed to have a greater stake 
 in the common weal. A hungry or thirsty and tired per- 
 son is excluded from all right of bearing testimony (VIII. 
 67). The reason for the following is not very clear : 
 
 In cases of robbery with violence (sahaseshu), theft, and adultery 
 (steya-san-grahaneshu), calumny and assault (vdg-dandayoh parusliye), a 
 judge must not examine (the competence of) witnesses too strictly (na 
 parikslieta saksliinah, VIII. 72). 
 
 1 Compare Yajnavalkya's rules about witnesses, which are a develop- 
 ment of those of Manu. See p. 298.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 273 
 
 The following precept is calculated, I fear, to diminish 
 the favourable impression which the laws of the Manavas, 
 taken together and regarded relatively to circumstances, 
 must produce on a candid mind : 
 
 In certain cases a man stating a fact falsely from a pious motive 
 (dharmatah}, even though he knows the truth, is not excluded from 
 heaven ; such a statement they call divine speech. 
 
 Whenever the death of a Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, or S'udra may 
 result from speaking the truth, then an untruth may be told, for false- 
 hood is in this case preferable to truth (VIII. 103, 104). 
 
 A similar precept occurs in Yajnavalkya's Code, but an 
 expiation is there prescribed. (See the examples, p. 298.) 
 
 V. I now turn to some of the Prayas-citta or 'penances' 
 enjoined in the eleventh Book of Manu : 
 
 A twice-born man performing the Prajapatya penance (i.e., that called 
 after Prajapati) must for three days eat only once in the morning, for 
 three days only once in the evening, for three days food unsolicited (but 
 given as alms), and for three days more nothing at all (XI. 211). 
 
 A twice-born man performing the penance called Ati-liricchra (' very 
 severe') must eat, as before (i.e., as described in the last), a single 
 mouthful (grdsam) for three times three days, and for the last three 
 days must fast entirely (XI. 2 1 3). 
 
 A Brahman performing the penance called Tapta-kricckra (' hot and 
 severe ') must swallow hot water, hot milk, hot clarified butter, and hot 
 air, each of them for three days successively, after bathing and keeping 
 his organs of sense all restrained (XL 214). 
 
 The act of fasting for twelve days, performed by one whose heart is 
 restrained, and whose mind is attentive, is called the Par oka penance, 
 which removes all guilt (XI. 215). 
 
 Eating for one day the excrement and urine of a cow mixed with milk, 
 curds, clarified butter and water boiled with Kusa grass, and fasting 
 entirely for a day and night is the penance called Sdntapana (XI. 2 1 2). 
 
 This last penance is to be performed by any one who 
 does any voluntary act causing loss of caste (jdti-bhransa- 
 Jcaram Jcarma) ; if the act be involuntary, the Prajapatya 
 is to be performed. (See XI. 124.) 
 
 The Pahcagavya penance consists in swallowing the 
 
 s
 
 274 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 five products of a cow mentioned above under the Santa- 
 pana penance. This is declared to be a sufficient atone- 
 ment for having stolen food, a carriage, bed, chair, roots, 
 flowers, or fruit (XL 165). A variety of other curious 
 penances and expiations are enumerated : 
 
 A twice-born man having, through infatuation, drunk intoxicating 
 liquor, may (as an expiation) drink the same liquor when boiling hot 
 (agni-varndm). If his body is completely scalded by this process he is 
 absolved from guilt (XI. 90). 
 
 When the divine knowledge (Irdhmd) which is in his body (Jcdya- 
 gatam) is once immersed in spirituous liquor, his Brahmanical rank 
 departs and he descends to the condition of a S'udra (XI. 97). 
 
 He who says ' hush ' (hum) to a Brahman, or ' thou ' to one who is 
 his superior (in knowledge) must perform an ablution, eat nothing for 
 the rest of the day, and appease the Brahman's anger by prostrating 
 himself at his feet (XI. 204). 
 
 If a Brahman who has drunk the Soma-juice (at a Soma-sacrifice, see 
 p. 6) smells the breath of a man who has been drinking spirituous liquor, 
 he is absolved from the taint by thrice suppressing his breath under 
 water and swallowing clarified butter (XI. 149). 
 
 One of the most severe penances is called Cdndrdyana 
 or 'the lunar penance,' described in VI. 20, XL 216-221. 
 We have already given a short account of this (see p. 96), 
 and have only here to note, as peculiar, some of the offences 
 for which it is required to be performed : 
 
 The Candrayana is declared to be an expiation for carrying off a man 
 or woman, for seizing a field or house, and for taking without per- 
 mission the water of a well or reservoir (XI. 163). It is also to be 
 performed for acts which cause mixture of caste and exclusion from 
 society (XL 125). 
 
 The following will show that the greatest atoning 
 efficacy is attached to a repetition of the Veda : 
 
 Having repeated (japitva) the Savitrl (or Gayatri, see p. 17) three 
 thousand times with a collected mind, and having drunk milk for one 
 month in a cow-house, a Brahman is delivered from the guilt of receiving 
 gifts from wicked persons (asat-pratigrahdt, XI. 194).
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 2/5 
 
 Desiring to obtain absolution (cilclrshan apanodanam) for all his sins 
 great and small, he should repeat once a day for a year the text beginning 
 Ava and that beginning Ycdkim cedam (Eig-veda VII. 89. 5). 
 
 Having accepted a prohibited gift or eaten improper food, he is 
 absolved by repeating for three days the texts (Eig-veda IX. 58) 
 beginning Tarat sa mandl dhavati (XL 252, 253). 
 
 Although he be guilty of many crimes (bahv-endk) he is absolved 
 (sudhyate) by repeating (abhyasya) for a month the text beginning 
 Somdrudrd (Eig-veda VI. 74. i, Atharva-veda VII. 42. i, and the three 
 texts beginning Aryamanam varunam mitram, &c. (Eig-veda IV. 2. 4), 
 while performing ablution in a running stream (XI. 254). 
 
 By intently (samdhitah) repeating three times the whole Samhita 
 (and Brahmana Kidluka] of the Big, Yajur, and Sama-veda with their 
 Upanishads (sa-raliasya), he is absolved from all his sins (XL 262). 
 
 VI. The sixth and last head is that of karma-phala, 
 ' acts-recompenses.' I select a few passages illustrative of 
 the most characteristic of all Hindu doctrines that of the 
 soul's transmigration through three stages of being, until 
 a complete recompense of its acts is effected. 
 
 Book XII. 3, 9, n, 39, 40, declares that the triple 
 order of transmigration through the highest, middle, and 
 lowest stages, results from good or bad acts, words, and 
 thoughts produced by the influence of the three Gunas, 
 Sattva, Kajas, and Tamas (see note i, p. 56) ; and that 
 for sins of act, a man takes a vegetable or mineral form 
 (sthdvaratam) ; for sins of word, the form of a bird or 
 beast ; for sins of thought, that of a man of the lowest caste ; 
 but that a triple self-command (p. 132, note i, p. 288) leads 
 to emancipation from all births and final beatitude : 
 
 Those who are endowed with the Sattva Guna (' purity ') take the 
 form of gods (devatvani), those who are filled with Rajas (' passion ') 
 become men, and those who are overwhelmed with Tamas (' darkness 
 and ignorance ') become beasts (XII. 40). 
 
 But in XII. 41, 50 each of the three orders of transmi- 
 gration is described as divided into a threefold scale of 
 being, the gradations and subdivisions of which proceed on 
 principles which are not very consistent or intelligible :
 
 2; 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 1. a. Highest highest Brahma, the creator, Maric"i, &c. b. Highest 
 middle Sacrificers (yajvdnah), Rishis, incarnate deities (devdh = devatah 
 vigrdhavatyaJi), regents of the stars, Pitris, Sadhyas, &c. c. Highest 
 lowest Ascetics, religious mendicants, Brahmans, demigods borne in 
 heavenly cars (vaimdnikdh), those that preside over the lunar mansions, 
 Daityas, &c. (XII. 48-50). 
 
 2. a. Middle highest Gandharvas, Guhyakas, Yakshas, Apsarases, 
 &c. b. Middle middle Kings, Kshatriyas, the chaplains of kings 
 (purohitah), &c. c. Middle lowest Club-fighters (jhalldh), prize- 
 fighters (malldh), actors, those who live by the use of weapons, 
 gamblers, and drinkers (XII. 45-47). 
 
 3. a. Lowest highest Dancers, birds (suparnah = pdksliindfi), deceitful 
 men, Rakshasas, Pisadas, &c. b. Lowest middle Elephants, horses, 
 S'udras, despicable Mledchas, lions, tigers, boars, c. Lowest lowest 
 Vegetables and minerals (sthdvardh vrikshddayafi), worms, insects, 
 fish, reptiles, tortoises, cattle, animals of various kinds (XII. 42-44). 
 
 It is curious to note the effect of apparently slight sins 
 of commission and omission in degrading a man to lower 
 conditions of being, or in exposing him to diseases : 
 
 Through speaking ill (parwdddt) of his preceptor, a man will be born 
 an ass ; if he reviles him, a dog ; if he uses his property without leave, 
 a worm; if he envies him, an insect (II. 201). 
 
 If a man steal grain he shall be born a mouse; if brass, a gander; if 
 water, a water-duck ; if honey, a gad-fly ; if milk, a crow ; if syrup, a 
 dog; if ghee, a weasel (XII. 62). 
 
 A Brahman neglecting his own appointed caste duty (dharmdt 
 svdkdf) will be born as a vomit-eating demon ; a Kshatriya, as a demon 
 feeding on excrement and dead bodies ; a Vaisya, as a demon feeding 
 on putrid carrion (Ulkd-mukha, Kata-putana, and Maitrdksha-jyotika, 
 XII. 71, 72). 
 
 A stealer of grain will be afflicted with dyspepsia (in a future exist- 
 ence) ; a stealer of the words (of the Veda, by repeating it without 
 authority), with dumbness ; a stealer of cloth, with leprosy ; a horse- 
 stealer with lameness (XI. 51). Compare p. 27O. 1 
 
 1 It may be interesting to annex to this Chapter a few of the statements 
 of Megasthenes (300 years B.C.) about the Brahmans (Strabo XV. i, 59) : 
 'They practise the greatest austerities to prepare for death (aaxJGsi 
 rXfferp \pr t a6ai <xpl$ rb kroifj.o&a.varov), which they hold to be birth to a real 
 and happy life (yiviciv si; roi/ ovru; ftinv *</; rov ii>8a/'ij,ota) they maintain
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 277 
 
 that nothing of what happens to men is good or bad ; that the world 
 was created and is perishable ; that it is spheroidal ; that the God who 
 made and rules it pervades every part of it ; that water was the first 
 element created ; that besides the four elements there is a fifth (vpls 
 ro?$ -riri-apai GToiyjiioiz vi/mrri rig Isrt (fruffi:) and that the earth is in the 
 centre of the universe. Besides, like Plato, they weave many fables 
 (iLuSoug) about the immortality of the soul and punishments in hell. 
 As to the Hindus generally they are ignorant of writing, have no 
 written laws, and arrange everything from memory (XV. 53, 66). 
 They do not employ slaves (54). They worship Jupiter Pluvius (rbv 
 oufiiov A/a), the river Ganges, and the gods of the country ; those who 
 live in the mountains worship Dionysos ( = S'iva) j those in the plains, 
 Herakles ( = Vishnu, XV. 58, 69) ; they never drink wine except at sacri- 
 fices (53). It is not permitted to any one to marry a person of another 
 caste, nor to change from one business or trade to another, nor to engage 
 in many pursuits, unless he belong to the caste of philosophers (XV. 49). 
 These philosophers are of two kinds, Brachmanes and Garmanes (B/aa^- 
 pavts, r/tyiaz/ = Brahmans and S'ramanas or Buddhist ascetics, 59), 
 Both practise endurance (xa/arep/av), and will remain a whole day in 
 one posture without moving (60. Cf. also XV. 61, 63).'
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 The Law-books Manu continued. 
 
 I NOW endeavour to give, as literally as possible, a 
 metrical version of some of Mann's most noteworthy 
 precepts, selected from different parts of the Code, under 
 the four heads of A cam, ' rules of conduct ; ' Vyavahdra, 
 ' rules of government and judicature ; ' Prdyas-citta, ' pen- 
 ance ; ' Karma-phala, ' rewards and punishments of acts.' 
 
 Acara, ' rules of conduct.' 
 
 A Brahman from exalted birth is called 
 A god among the gods, and is a measure 
 Of truth for all the world, so says the Yeda (XI. 84). 
 
 Knowledge, 1 descending from her home divine, 
 
 Said to a holy Brahman, I am come 
 
 To be thy cherished treasure, trust me not 
 
 To scorners, but to careful guardians, 
 
 Pure, self-restrained, and pious ; so in them 
 
 I shall be gifted with resistless power (II. 114, 115). 
 
 The man with hoary head is not revered 
 
 As aged by the gods, but only he 
 
 Who has true knowledge; 2 he, though young, is old (II. 156). 
 
 A wooden elephant, an antelope 
 
 Of leather, and a Brahman without knowledge 
 
 These are three things that only bear a name (II. 157). 
 
 1 In II. 117 knowledge is divided into three parts i. Laukika, 
 'secular;' 2. Vaidika, 'Vedic;' 3. Adhyatmika, 'spiritual' or that 
 which relates to soul. 
 
 2 Strabo XV. I, 54, says of the Hindus, Ovds rfj fiXixlq ruv yiwvruv 
 
 S,v ^ xa! rui <f)oviw 
 278
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 279 
 
 As with laborious toil the husbandman, 
 
 Digging with spade beneath the ground, arrives 
 
 At springs of living water, so the man 
 
 Who searches eagerly for truth will find 
 
 The knowledge hidden in his teacher's mind (II. 118). 
 
 With pain the mother to her child gives birth, 
 
 With pain the father rears him ; as he grows 
 
 He heaps up cares and troubles for them both ; 
 
 Incurring thus a debt he ne'er can pay, 
 
 Though he should strive through centuries of time (II. 227). 
 
 Think constantly, O son, how thou mayest please 
 
 Thy father, mother, teacher these obey. 
 
 By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay. 
 
 This is thy highest duty and religion (II. 228). 
 
 Who finds around him only wicked sons, 
 
 When called by fate to pass the gloom of death, 
 
 Is like a man who seeks to cross a flood 
 
 Borne on a raft composed of rotten wood (IX. 161). 
 
 Even though wronged, treat not with disrespect 
 Thy father, mother, teacher, elder brother (II. 226). 
 
 From poison thou mayest take the food of life, 
 The purest gold from lumps of impure earth, 
 Examples of good conduct from a foe, 
 Sweet speech and gentleness from e'en a child, 
 Something from all ; from men of low degree 
 Lessons of wisdom, if thou humble be (II. 238, 239). 
 
 Wound not another, though by him provoked, 
 
 Do no one injury by thought or deed, 
 
 Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures (II. 161). 
 
 Say what is true, speak not agreeable falsehood (IV. 138). 
 
 Treat no one with disdain, 1 with patience bear 
 
 Reviling language ; with an angry man 
 
 Be never angry ; blessings give for curses (VI. 47, 48). 
 
 1 In IV. 135 the householder is especially warned against treating 
 with contempt a Brahman well versed in the Veda, a Kshatriya, and a 
 serpent, because (says Kulluka) the first has the power of destroying
 
 280 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 E'en as a driver checks his restive steeds, 
 
 Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions, 
 
 Which, running wild, will hurry thee away (II. 88). 
 
 When asked, give something, though a very trifle, 
 
 Ungrudgingly and with a cheerful heart, 
 
 According to thy substance ; only see 
 
 That he to whom thou givest worthy be (IV. 227, 228). 
 
 Pride not thyself on thy religious works, 
 
 Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts. 
 
 By pride religious merit melts away, 
 
 The merit of thy alms by ostentation (IY. 236, 237). 
 
 None sees us, say the sinful in their hearts ; 
 
 Yes, the gods see them, and the omniscient Spirit 
 
 Within their breasts. Thou thinkest, O good friend, 
 
 ' I am alone,' but there resides within thee 
 
 A Being who inspects thy every act, 
 
 Knows all thy goodness and thy wickedness (VIII. 85, 91). 
 
 The soul is its own witness ; yea, the soul 
 
 Itself is its own refuge ; grieve thou not, 
 
 O man, thy soul, the great internal Witness (VIII. 84). 
 
 The Firmament, the Earth, the Sea, the Moon, 
 The Sun, the Fire, the Wind, the Night, and both 
 The sacred Twilights, 1 and the Judge of souls, 2 
 The god of Justice, and the Heart itself 
 All constantly survey the acts of men (VIII. 86). 
 
 When thou hast sinned, think not to hide thy guilt 
 Under a cloak of penance and austerity (IV. 198). 
 
 No study of the Veda nor oblation, 
 
 No gift of alms, nor round of strict observance 
 
 Can lead the inwardly depraved to heaven (II. 97). 
 
 him by his unseen power of magical texts and spells, the other two by 
 their seen power (drislita-saktya). Cf. the passages relative to the 
 power of the Brahmans, translated p. 234. 
 
 1 See the account of the Sandhyas, p. 241. 
 
 2 Yama, see p. 19.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 28 I 
 
 If with the great Divinity who dwells 
 
 Within thy breast thou hast no controversy, 
 
 Go not to Ganges' water to be cleansed, 
 
 Nor make a pilgrimage to Kuru's fields (VIII. 92). 1 
 
 Iniquity once practised, like a seed, 
 
 Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it, 
 
 If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons (IV. 173). 
 
 Contentment is the root of happiness, 
 
 And discontent the root of misery. 
 
 "VVouldst thou be happy, be thou moderate (IV. 12). 
 
 Honour thy food, receive it thankfully, 
 Eat it contentedly and joyfully, 
 Ne'er hold it in contempt ; avoid excess, 
 For gluttony is hateful, injures health, 
 May lead to death, and surely bars the road, 
 To holy merit and celestial bliss (II. 54, 57). 
 
 Desire is not extinguished by enjoyment, 
 Fire is not quenched by offerings of oil, 
 But blazes with increased intensity (II. 94). 
 
 Shrink thou from worldly honour as from poison, 
 Seek rather scorn ; the scorn 'd may sleep in peace, 
 In peace awake; the scorner perishes (II. 162, 163). 
 
 Daily perform thy own appointed work 
 
 Unweariedly ; and to obtain a friend 
 
 A sure companion to the future world 
 
 Collect a store of virtue like the ants 
 
 Who garner up their treasures into heaps ; 
 
 For neither father, mother, wife, nor son, 
 
 Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then, 
 
 When thou art passing to that other home 
 
 Thy virtue will thy only comrade be (IV. 238, 239). 
 
 Single is every living creature born, 
 Single he passes to another world, 
 Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds, 
 Single, the fruit of good ; and when he leaves 
 
 1 See note, p. 244.
 
 282 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 His body like a log or heap of clay 
 
 Upon the ground, his kinsmen walk away ; 
 
 Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb 
 
 And bears him through the dreary trackless gloom (IV. 240-242}.* 
 
 Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow ; 
 
 As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow (IX. 40). 
 
 Depend not on another, rather lean 
 
 Upon thyself ; trust to thine own exertions. 
 
 Subjection to another's will gives pain ; 
 
 True happiness consists in self-reliance (IV. 160). 
 
 Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced ; 
 
 Wearied, renew thy efforts once again ; 
 
 Again fatigued, once more the work begin, 
 
 So shalt thou earn success and fortune win (IX. 300). 
 
 Never despise thyself, nor yet contemn 
 
 Thy own first efforts, though they end in failure ; 
 
 Seek Fortune with persistency till death, 
 
 Nor ever deem her hard to be obtained (IV. 137). 
 
 Success in every enterprise depends 
 
 On Destiny 2 and man combined, the acts 
 
 Of Destiny are out of man's control ; 
 
 Think not on Destiny, but act thyself (VII. 205). 
 
 Be courteous to thy guest who Visits thee ; 
 
 Offer a seat, bed, water, food enough, 
 
 According to thy substance, hospitably ; 
 
 Naught taking for thyself till he be served ; 
 
 Homage to guests brings wealth, fame, life, and heaven (III. 106, IV. 29). 
 
 He who possessed of ample means bestows 
 His gifts on strangers while his kindred starve, 
 Thinks to enjoy the honey of applause, 
 But only eating poison dies despised 
 Such charity is cruelty disguised (XL 9). 
 
 1 Dr. Muir has pointed out that the expression tamas tarati dustaram, 
 ' he crosses the gloom difficult to be passed,' may be taken from Atharva- 
 veda IX. 5. i, tirtva tamansi bahudha mahdnti. 
 
 2 Daiva is here the Adrishta described p. 58.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 283 
 
 He who pretends to be what he is not, 
 
 Acting a part, commits the worst of crimes, 
 
 For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man's heart (IV. 255). 
 
 Though thou mayest suffer for thy righteous acts, 
 Ne'er give thy mind to aught but honest gain (IV. 171). 
 
 So act in thy brief passage through this world 
 That thy apparel, speech, and inner store 
 Of knowledge be adapted to thy age, 
 Thy occupation, means, and parentage (IV. 18). 
 
 The man who keeps his senses in control, 
 
 His speech, heart, actions pure and ever guarded, 1 
 
 Gains all the fruit of holy study ; he 
 
 Needs neither penance nor austerity (II. 160). 
 
 But if a single organ fail, by that defect 
 
 His knowledge of the truth flows all away 
 
 Like water leaking from a leathern vessel (II. 99). 
 
 Contentment, patience under injury, 
 
 Self -subjugation, honesty, restraint 
 
 Of all the sensual organs, purity, 
 
 Devotion, 2 knowledge of the Deity, 3 
 
 Veracity, and abstinence from anger, 
 
 These form the tenfold summary of duty (VI. 92). 
 
 Long not for death, nor hanker after life ; 
 
 Calmly expect thy own appointed time, 
 
 E'en as a servant reckons on his hire (IV. 45). 
 
 This mansion of the soul, composed of earth, 
 
 Subject to sorrow and decrepitude, 
 
 Inhabited by sicknesses and pains, 
 
 Bound by the bonds of ignorance and darkness, 
 
 Let a wise man with cheerfulness abandon (VI. 77). 
 
 Quitting this body, he resembles merely 
 A bird that leaves a tree. Thus is he freed 
 From the fell monster of an evil world 4 (VI. 78). 
 
 1 See note i, p. 288. 
 
 2 Kulluka interprets dhl by 'knowledge of the sacred truth contained 
 in the S'astras.' 
 
 3 Vidyd, ' knowledge of the supreme Spirit.' Kulluka. 
 
 4 Kricchrdd grdhdt = samsdra-kashtdd yrdhdd iva.
 
 284 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Duties of Women and Wives. 
 
 In childhood must a father guard his daughter ; 
 
 In youth the husband shields his wife ; in age 
 
 A mother is protected by her sons 
 
 Ne'er should a woman lean upon herself (V. 148, IX. 3). 
 
 A faithful wife who wishes to attain 
 
 The heaven of her lord, must serve him here 
 
 As if he were a god, and ne'er do aught 
 
 To pain him, whatsoever be his state, 
 
 And even though devoid of every virtue (Y. 154, 156). 
 
 She who in mind, speech, body, honours him, 
 Alive or dead, is called a virtuous wife (V. 165). 
 
 Be it her duty to preserve with care 
 
 Her husband's substance ; let her too be trusted 
 
 With its expenditure, with management 
 
 Of household property and furniture, 
 
 Of cooking and purveying daily food. 
 
 Let her be ever cheerful, skilled in all 
 
 Domestic work, and not too free in spending (V. 150). 
 
 Drink, bad companions, absence from her lord, 
 
 Rambling about, unseasonable sleep, 
 
 Dwelling in others' houses, let her shun 
 
 These are six things which tarnish woman's fame (IX. 13). 
 
 Whatever be the character and mind 
 Of him to whom a woman weds herself, 
 Such qualities her nature must imbibe, 
 E'en as a river blending with the sea (IX 22). 
 
 Women, united by the marriage tie 
 
 To men they love, in hope of virtuous offspring, ' 
 
 Worthy of honour, eminently blessed, 
 
 Irradiate the houses of their lords, 
 
 Like shining lights or goddesses of fortune (IX. 26). 
 
 Then only is a man a perfect man 
 
 When he is three himself, his wife, his son 
 
 For thus have learned men the law declared, 
 
 'A husband is one person with his wife' (IX. 45).
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 285 
 
 Fidelity till death, this is the sum 
 
 Of mutual duties for a married pair (IX. 101). 
 
 And if the wife survives, let her remain 
 
 Constant and true, nor sully her fair fame, 
 
 E'en by the utterance of another's name (Y. 157). 
 
 Vyavalidra, ' rules of government and judicature.' 
 
 The Lord of all in pity to our needs 
 
 Created kings, to rule and guard us here ; 
 
 Without a king this world would rock with fear (VII. 3). 
 
 A king, e'en though a child, must not be treated 
 
 As if he were a mortal; rather he 
 
 Is a divinity in human shape (VII. 8). 
 
 The king, his council, and the royal city, 
 
 The country, 1 treasure, army, and ally, 
 
 These are the seven members of a realm (IX. 294). 
 
 Dread of the rod alone restrains the bad, 
 
 Controls the good, and makes a nation happy (VII. 15). 
 
 The king must therefore punish fearlessly ; 
 
 Else would the strong oppress the weak, the bad 
 
 Would wrong the good, and pierce them as with iron ; 2 
 
 The crow would eat the consecrated rice, 
 
 The dog the burnt oblation ; ownership 
 
 And rights of property would be subverted ; 
 
 All ranks and classes would become confused, 
 
 All barriers and bridges broken down, 
 
 And all the world turned wrong side uppermost (VII. 20, 21, 24). 
 
 But let the monarch, ere he wield his rod, 
 
 Consider place and time, the written law 
 
 Of justice, and the measure of his strength (VII. 16). 
 
 1 For rashtra ( = desa) Yajnavalkya (I. 352) substitutes jana, 'the 
 people.' 
 
 2 The literal translation of the text here is ' the stronger would roast 
 the weaker like fish on a spit' (sule matsyan ivapalishyan durbalan 
 lalavattardK).
 
 286 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Gamesters and public dancers, heretics, 
 
 Revilers of the Yeda, infidels, 
 
 Sellers of liquor, men who interfere 
 
 In others' duties and neglect their own, 
 
 All such he should expel from his domain (IX. 225). 
 
 To women, children, crazy men, and fools, 
 
 The old, the poor, the sickly, and infirm 
 
 Let him be never harsh ; if they do wrong 
 
 Let them be bound or punished tenderly 1 (IX. 230). 
 
 That king is equally unjust who frees 
 
 The guilty or condemns the innocent. 
 
 The wicked he must treat like thorny weeds, 
 
 They must be rooted out with active arm ; 
 
 The good and virtuous let him shield from harm (IX. 252, 253). 
 
 Let not a king or judge promote disputes, 
 But if a suit be tried, let him with fairness 
 Adjudicate between the disputants (VIII. 43). 
 
 When Goodness, wounded by Iniquity, 
 
 Comes to a court of justice, and the judge 
 
 Extracts not tenderly the pointed dart, 
 
 That very shaft shall pierce him to the heart (VIII. 12). 
 
 Justice destroyed will ruin the destroyer ; 
 
 Preserved, it will preserve. Beware, judge, 
 
 Lest outraged justice overthrow the world (VIII. 15). 
 
 E'en as a hunter tracks the lurking-place 
 
 Of some poor wounded deer by drops of blood, 
 
 So must a king by strict investigation 
 
 Trace out the source of violated justice (VIII. 44). 
 
 Let him with full deliberation weigh 
 The evidence, the place, the mode, the time, 
 The facts, the truth, and his own frame of mind, 
 Firmly adhering to the rules of law (VIII. 45). 
 
 1 The text says ' with a whip, twig, or rope.' It must be presumed 
 that the whip and twig are intended to be used in the case of children 
 only.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 287 
 
 Just men and men of sense, whate'er their caste, 
 And those who know their duty and are free 
 From love of gain, may tender evidence ; 
 The opposite must not be witnesses (VIII. 63). 
 
 Kings, priests, religious students, anchorites, 
 
 All interested men, friends, boon companions, 
 
 Foes, criminals, diseased and perjured men, 
 
 Low artisans and dancers, lunatics, 
 
 Old men, and children, drunkards, vagabonds, 
 
 Thieves, starving wretches, irritated persons, 
 
 A single witness these are all excluded (VIII. 64-67). 
 
 Let women act as witnesses for women ; 
 
 The twice-born classes for the twice-born ; slaves 
 
 For slaves, and only lowest men for outcastes (VIII. 68). 
 
 The court must not be entered by a witness, 
 
 Unless he speak the truth without reserve ; 
 
 For equally does he commit a crime, 
 
 Who tells not all the facts, or tells them falsely (VIII. 13). 
 
 A witness who gives evidence with truth 
 
 Shall be absolved from every sin, and gain 
 
 Exalted glory here and highest bliss above (VIII. 81, 83). 
 
 Headlong in utter darkness shall the wretch 
 
 Fall into hell, who in a court of justice 
 
 Answers a single question falsely ; he 
 
 Shall be tormented through a hundred births (VIII. 82, 94). 
 
 And all the merit of his virtuous acts 
 
 Shall be transferred to dogs. Therefore be true, 
 
 Speak the whole truth without equivocation (VIII. 90, 101). 
 
 Let no considerate witness take an oath 
 
 Lightly, or in a trifling matter ; he 
 
 Who does so shall incur eternal ruin (VIII. 1 1 1 ). 
 
 Prdyas-citta, ' penance and expiation.' 
 
 According to a man's sincerity 
 
 In penitent confession of his crime, 
 
 And detestation of the evil deed, 
 
 Shall he be pardoned and his soul released 
 
 From taint of guilt, like serpent from its skin (XI. 227, 228).
 
 288 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 If he do wrong, 'tis not enough to say 
 I will not sin again ; release from guilt 
 Depends on true contrition, which consists 
 In actual abstinence from sinful deeds (XI. 230). 
 
 Therefore, whatever fault a man commits, 
 Whether from ignorance or knowingly, 
 Let him, desiring quittance from his crime, 
 Beware how he offend a second time (XI. 232). 
 
 Revolving in his mind the certainty 
 
 Of retribution in a future state, 
 
 Let him be pure in thought, in word, in deed 1 (XL 231). 
 
 By free confession, penitence, and penance, 
 
 By daily repetition of the Veda, 2 
 
 By the five holy acts, 3 by giving alms, 
 
 By patience, and by bearing injuries, 
 
 The greatest sinner may obtain release (XL 227, 245). 
 
 Whate'er is hard to cross, whate'er is hard 
 
 To have or do or be, may be attained 
 
 By penance sins of heart and speech and act 
 
 May be burnt out; therefore be rich in penance (XL 238, 241). 
 
 E'en as a clod of earth melts all away 
 
 Cast in a mighty lake, so every sin 
 
 Becomes effaced, merged in the triple Veda (XL 263). 
 
 In penance all the bliss of gods and men 
 
 Is said to have its root, continuance, end 4 (XL 234). 
 
 Karma-phala, ' recompenses of acts.' 
 
 Innumerable souls, endued with form, 
 Issue like scintillations 5 from the substance 
 
 1 Here and in another example below further instances occur of 
 Manu's triple division of ' thought, word, and deed ' (see note 2, p. 131). 
 The same triple division is frequent in Buddhistic writings. 
 
 2 Khycipanena, anutapena, tapasd, adhyayena ca. 
 
 3 That is, the five Maha-yajiias ; see p. 244. 
 
 4 A variety of penances will be found detailed at p. 273. 
 
 5 Compare the extracts from the Upanishads, pp. 36, 40.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS MANU. 289 
 
 Of the great Self-existent, constantly 
 Impelling beings multiform to action (XII. 15). 
 
 Whate'er the act a man commits, whate'er 
 
 His state of mind, of that the recompense 
 
 Must he receive in corresponding body (XII. 8 1 ). 
 
 Action of every kind, whether of mind 
 
 Or speech or body, must bear fruit, entailing 
 
 Fresh births through multifarious conditions, 
 
 In highest, mean, and lowest transmigrations (XII. 3). 
 
 Souls gifted with the quality of goodness 
 Attain the state of gods ; those filled with passion, 
 The state of men ; and those immersed in darkness, 
 The state of beasts this is the triple course (XII. 40)- 
 
 Let all men ponder with attentive mind 
 
 The passage of the soul through diverse forms, 
 
 Of Brahma, gods and men, beasts, plants, and stones, 
 
 According to their good or evil acts, 
 
 And so apply their minds to virtue only (XII. 22-, 42, 50). 
 
 Just in proportion as a vital soul 
 
 Addicts itself to sensuality, 
 
 In that degree its senses shall become 
 
 Intensely keen in future transmigrations (XII. 7-3), 
 
 Reflect thou on man's manifold transitions 
 
 And passages through forms of being, caused 
 
 By faults of action, 1 and his headlong fall 
 
 Down to the lower regions ; then the torments 
 
 Reserved for him by Yama ; then in life 
 
 His partings from his loved ones and his meetings 
 
 With those he loves not ; then the victory 
 
 Of sickness and decrepitude and death ; 
 
 Then the soul's painful egress from the body, 
 
 And lastly its return to other forms, 
 
 Passing from womb to womb to undergo 
 
 Ten thousand millions of existences 2 (VI. 61-63). 
 
 1 Aveksheta gatir nrinam karma-dosha-samudbhavdh. 
 
 2 Yoni-koti-sahasreshii sritl-ca antar-atmanah. 
 
 T
 
 290 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Then do thou contemplate with fixed attention 
 The subtile essence of the Soul supreme, 
 Existing in the highest and the lowest 
 Pervading every creature equally (VI. 65). 
 
 He who perceives the omnipresent God 
 
 Is nevermore enslaved by acts, but he 
 
 Who sees him not, can never be released (VI. 74). 
 
 Those who repeat their vicious acts are doomed 
 
 To misery, increasing more and more, 
 
 In forms becoming more and more debased (XII. 74). 
 
 They shall be born as despicable beasts, 
 
 Suffer the worst extremes of cold and heat, 
 
 Painful diseases, various kinds of terror (XII. 77, 80). 
 
 He who by firmness gains the mastery 
 
 Over his words, his mind, and his whole body, 
 
 Is justly called a triple-governor 1 (XII. 10). 
 
 Exerting thus a threefold self-command 
 Towards himself and every living creature, 
 Subduing lust and wrath, he may aspire 
 To that perfection which the good desire (XII. n). 
 
 Every created being which exists 
 
 And yet is not eternal, 2 is in SouL 
 
 He who with fixed abstraction sees himself 
 
 And all things in the universal Self 3 
 
 Cannot apply his soul to wickedness (XII. 118). 
 
 1 This is the Tri-dandin (see note, p. 132). It is noticeable that the 
 Indian ascetic, who is described by Arrian (VII. 2) as exciting the wonder 
 of Alexander the Great by his xacrigia, is named Aa3a,,/;, probably from 
 the same root as danda (dam, ' to subdue,' in Intens.). By others he is 
 called Mandanis (root mand ?). 
 
 2 This seems to mean, as explained by Dr. Johaentgen, that to which 
 belongs a real existence and yet not eternity, because it is a product. 
 Cf. San-khya-prava6ana V. 56. 
 
 3 Dr. Johaentgen thinks that Atman in these passages is wrongly 
 translated ' the supreme Soul.' He believes that it denotes ' the whole 
 self or soul ' of man, regarded as an epitome of the universe, and he 
 refers in confirmation of his view to Tattva-samasa 56. See also Manu 
 VIII. 84, translated p. 280.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 291 
 
 This universal Soul is all the gods, 
 
 Is all the worlds, and is the only source 
 
 Of all the actions of embodied spirits (XII. 119). 
 
 He is their ruler, brighter than pure gold, 
 
 Subtler than atoms, imperceptible, 
 
 Except by minds abstracted, all-pervading, 
 
 Investing all with rudiments of matter, 
 
 Causing all beings to revolve like wheels 
 
 In regular and constant revolution 
 
 Through birth and growth, decay and dissolution (XII. 122, 124). 
 
 The man who sees by means of his own soul 
 
 The universal Spirit present there, 
 
 Present in every creature everywhere, 
 
 With perfect equanimity may wait 
 
 Till he has reached the state of bliss supreme 
 
 Complete absorption in the eternal essence (XII. 125). 
 
 TJie Code of Yajnavalkya. 
 
 The most important Law-book next to Manu is the 
 Dharma-sastra of Yajnavalkya, which, with its most 
 celebrated commentary, the Mitakshara by Vijnanesvara, 
 is at present the principal authority of the school of 
 Benares and Middle India. It seems originally to have 
 emanated from a school of the White Yajur-veda in 
 Mithila * or North Behar, just as we have seen (p. 205) that 
 the Code of the Manavas did from a school of the Black 
 Yajur-veda in the neighbourhood of Delhi. Book I. 2 
 makes the author say : 
 
 The chief of devout sages (Yajnavalkya), dwelling in Mithila, having 
 reflected for a moment, said to the Munis, ' Listen to the laws which 
 prevail in the country where the black antelope is found ' (cf. Manu 
 II. 23). 
 
 1 According to Dr. Koer, it is still the leading authority of the 
 Mithila school, but Colebrooke names other works as constituting the; 
 chief texts of this school.
 
 292 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Yajnavalkya's work 1 is much more concise than that 
 of Manu, being all comprised in three books instead of 
 twelve, which circumstance leads to the inference that 
 it has suffered even more curtailment at the hands of 
 successive revisers of the original text than the Code of 
 the Manavas. Like that Code, it seems to have been 
 preceded by a Vriddha and a Vrihad Yajnavalkya. The 
 whole work, as we now possess it, is written in the ordi- 
 nary Sloka metre. The first Book, consisting of 376 
 couplets, is chiefly on social and caste deities (acdra) ; 
 the second, consisting of 307 verses (which have been 
 transferred almost word for word to the Agni Purana), 
 is mainly on administrative judicature and civil and 
 criminal law (vyavahdra) ; the third, consisting of 335 
 verses, is principally on devotion, purification, expiation, 
 penance (prdyas-citta), &c. The Mitakshara commentary 
 follows the same arrangement, and is divided also into 
 three parts. 
 
 As to the date of Yajnavalkya's Law-book, it has been 
 conjecturally placed in the middle of the first century of 
 our era. The period of its first compilation cannot, of 
 course, be fixed with certainty, but internal evidence 
 clearly indicates that the present redaction is much more 
 recent than that of Manu's Law-book. 
 
 The following points have been noted by me : 
 
 i. Although Yajnavalkya's Code must have represented the customs 
 and practices prevalent in a district (Mithila) situated in a different and 
 more easterly part of India, yet nearly every precept in the first book, 
 and a great many in the second and third, have their parallels in similar 
 precepts occurring throughout the Code of the Manavas. 
 
 1 The edition I have used is the excellent one of Stenzler. I have 
 consulted his preface and translation, and the translation of part of the 
 Code made by Dr. Hoer and W. A. Montr iou, to which there is an 
 instructive introduction.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 293 
 
 2. Although generally founded on Manu, it represents a later stage 
 of Hindu development. Its arrangement is much more systematic. It 
 presents fewer repetitions and inconsistencies, and less confusion of 
 religion, morality, and philosophy, with civil and criminal law. 
 
 3. In Book I. 3 the sources of law are expanded beyond those stated 
 by Manu ; although afterwards in I. 7 Manu's fourfold Dharma-mulam 
 (see p. 208) is adopted, thus : 
 
 ' The Yedas, with the Puranas, the Nyaya, the Mimansa, the codes of 
 law (dliarma-sdstrd), and the (six) Vedan-gas are the fourteen repositories 
 (i&thdndm) of the sciences (vidydndrn) and of law (dharmasya, I. 3). 
 
 'The Yeda (sruti), traditional law (smritf), the practices of good 
 men (sad-dcdra), and one's own inclination, are called the root of 
 law ' (I. 7). 
 
 4. Those of its precepts which introduce new matter evince a more 
 advanced Brahmanism and a stricter caste-organization ; thus, for 
 example, it is directed in I. 57 that a Brahman must not have a S'udra 
 as a fourth wife, but only wives of the three higher classes, whereas in 
 Manu (see p. 243) such a wife is permitted. 1 
 
 5. In I. 271, 272, there is an allusion to the shaven heads (munda) 
 and yellow garments (kashaya-vdsas) of the Buddhists, which marks a 
 period subsequent to the establishment and previous to the expulsion 
 of Buddhism. It must be admitted, however, that there is no mention 
 of the Buddhists by name. 
 
 6. In II. 185 the king is recommended to found and endow monas- 
 teries and to place in them Brahmans learned in the Vedas. 
 
 7. In II. 241 mention is made of Ndnaka, 'coined money,' both true 
 and counterfeit (alcuta and leutaka), whereas, although Manu speaks of 
 weights of gold and silver, such as S'uvarnas, Palas, Nishkas, Dharanas, 
 and Puranas (VIII. 135-137), it is very doubtf ul whether any stamped 
 coin was current in his day. 
 
 8. Written accusations and defences (lekliyd) are required to be made 
 (II. 6, 7), and written documents (likhitam) are allowed as evidence 
 (II. 22) ; and in I. 318 grants of land and copper- plates, properly sealed, 
 are mentioned. 
 
 9. The worship of Ganesa, as the remover of obstacles, is expressly 
 alluded to in I. 270, and Gralia-yajna or '^offerings to the planets' are 
 directed to be made in I. 294. 
 
 10. In III. no the author of the Code (Yajnavalkya) speaks of an 
 Aranyaga or Upanishad (of the White Yajur-veda), which he had 
 
 Later Codes limit Brahmans to wives of their own classes only.
 
 294 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 himself received from the Sun, and of a Yoga-sastra, ' Yoga system of 
 philosophy,' which he had himself delivered (to Patanjali). 1 
 
 Some of these points seem decisive as to the lapse of 
 a considerable period between Manu and Yajnavalkya, 
 and lead us to agree with those who hesitate to refer 
 the latter Code, in its present form, to an earlier epoch 
 than the first century of our era. 2 On the other hand, 
 some of the facts stated incline us to attribute a greater 
 antiquity to portions of the work than that usually as- 
 signed to it. 
 
 I proceed to give specimens of the three divisions of 
 Yajnavalkya's Code. 
 
 I. The following are from the first Book on Acdra 
 or ' social customs and immemorial practices.' Attention 
 should be directed to the parallels in Manu at the end 
 of several of the translated passages. The mention of 
 four Vedas and the efficacy attributed to their repetition 
 is noticeable : 
 
 Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas are called twice-born (dci-jdh], 
 since they are born once from their mothers and a second time through 
 the binding on of the girdle (Maunji-bandhanat, I. 39. Cf. Manu 
 II. 169, and see p. 240). 
 
 The Veda is more efficacious in effecting the final salvation of the 
 twice-born (dvijdtmdm nihsreyasa-karah parah) than sacrifices, than 
 penances, and even than good works (I. 40. Cf. Manu II. 166). 
 
 A twice-born man 3 who every day repeats the texts of the Rig-veda 
 
 1 See p. 92 of this volume. Patanjali, who flourished, according to 
 Lassen, about 200 B.C., is not, however, mentioned in the text. 
 
 2 Some of Yajnavalkya's verses are found in the Panda-tantra, the 
 date of the oldest portions of which is usually referred to the fifth century 
 of our era. In almost all Sanskrit works the introduction of apposite 
 verses from older sources, for the illustration of the original text, is 
 common. 
 
 3 These following five verses are more explicit than Manu in describ- 
 ing the efficacy of the Brahma-yajiia or Japa-yajna (see p. 245). They
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 295 
 
 (ricali) satiates the gods with honey and milk, and the fathers (Pitrln) 
 with honey and butter (I. 41. Of. Manu II. 107). 
 
 He who every day to the best of his ability repeats the texts of the 
 Yajur-veda* (yajunslii) refreshes the gods with butter and nectar and 
 the fathers with honey and butter (I. 42). 
 
 He who every day repeats the texts of the Sama-veda (samdni) 
 satiates the gods with Soma-juice and butter and the fathers as before 
 
 (I- 43). 
 
 Twice-born men who every day to the best of their power repeat the 
 texts of the Atharva-veda (Atharvan-girasah, see p. 216) satiate the 
 gods with marrow (medasa) and the fathers as before (I. 44). 
 
 He who every day to the best of his power repeats the sacred discus- 
 sions (vdJcovakyam), 1 the Puranas, the Narasansis, 2 the sacred songs 
 (gatliilidh], the Itihasas, and the sciences (vidyah), satiates the inhabi- 
 tants of the skies (divaukasali) with flesh, milk, rice, and honey, and 
 the fathers as before (I. 45, 46). 
 
 The precept that the twice-born can take a S'udra as a wife (cf. 
 Manu III. 13, IX. 149) is not approved by me, since in that wife 
 (tatra) he is himself born again (whence she is called jdyd, according 
 to Manu IX. 8). 
 
 Three wives in the regular order (of the first three classes) may 
 belong to a Brahman, two to a Kshatriya, and one to a Vaisya. A 
 S'udra must only have one of his own class (I. 56, 57). 
 
 Once every year (the following persons) are to be honoured with a 
 respectful offering (argha) : a Snataka (see p. 196), an Adarya (see 
 p. 232), a king, a friend, and a son-in-law, but a sacrificing priest at 
 every sacrifice 3 (I. no. Cf. Manu III. 119). 
 
 A traveller is to be treated as a guest, and also a Brahman who 
 knows the entire Veda. These two a householder, who wishes to 
 obtain the world of Brahman, must especially honour (I. in. Cf. 
 Manu I. 1 20, 130). 
 
 are based on S'atapatha-brahmana XI. 5, 6, 4-8, and on Asvalayana 
 Grihya-sutra III. 3. 2, &c. 
 
 1 This might be translated ' dialogue.' It appears from S'atapatha- 
 brahmana IY. 6, 9, 20, that some portions of Vedic tradition were 
 called vakovdkyam or Iralimodyam. 
 
 2 See this word in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Compare the 
 directions as to the brahma-yajna in the Asvalayana Grihya-sutra, 
 translated p. 194 of this volume. 
 
 3 These six are also named in Paraskara's Grihya-sutra I. i (Stenzler) 
 as worthy of the Argha.
 
 296 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The success of every action depends on destiny and on a man's own 
 effort ; but destiny is evidently nothing but (the result) of a man's act 
 in a former state of existence (I. 348. Cf. Manu VII. 205 and p. 282 
 of this volume). 
 
 Some expect the whole result from destiny or from the inherent 
 nature (or force of a thing) ; some expect it from the lapse of time ; 
 and some, from a man's own effort : other persons of wiser judgment 
 expect it from a combination of all these (I. 349). 
 
 II. The following are from the second section of Yajna- 
 valkya's Code on Vyavahdra or ' the administration of 
 justice : ' 
 
 Every day should a king, reflecting on his reward equal to that of 
 sacrifices, personally investigate lawsuits in regular order surrounded 
 by assessors 1 (I. 359. Cf. Manu VIII. i). 
 
 1 Colebrooke, in one of his Essays (Professor E. B. Cowell's edition, 
 vol. ii. p. 490), gives an interesting account of the composition of an 
 Indian court of justice, according to the rules of Hindu Law-books. 
 The administration of justice, civil and criminal, is one of the chief 
 duties of the Raja or sovereign. Hence the king's court takes prece- 
 dence of all. He is assisted by learned Brahmans as assessors, one of 
 whom acts as chief judge in his absence. It is not stationary, but 
 follows him about. The second court, which is stationary, is that of 
 the chief judge (Prcidvivdlia), appointed by the king, and assisted by 
 three or more Brahman assessors, not exceeding seven. The third court 
 is that of the inferior judges for local trials. Besides these, there are 
 country courts or assemblies of townsmen (Puga), of traders, artisans, 
 &c. (Sreni), and of kinsmen (Kula) for arbitration in small matters. 
 The sovereign or supreme court (to which there is an appeal from all 
 the others) is compared to a body consisting of various members, viz., 
 i. the king, 2. the chief judge, 3. the assessors, 4. the ministers of 
 state, 5. the king's domestic priest, 6. the written law, 7. gold, fire 
 and water (used for oaths and ordeals), 8. the accountant, 9. the scribe 
 (Kdyastlia), 10. the keeper of things in dispute and the enforcer of 
 judgments, n. the messenger, 12. the moderator of the court. The 
 audience or bystanders are also regarded as a component part of the 
 court, any one duly qualified to interpose with a suggestion or advice 
 being at liberty to do so. All this is illustrated in a most interesting 
 manner by the ninth act of the drama called Mric'chakatika, to which
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 297 
 
 A king, having duly corrected the castes, families, companies of 
 artisans (srenl), schools, and communities of people that have swerved 
 from the duty of their caste (sva-dkarmdt, cf. p. 128), should place them 
 in the right path (I. 360. Cf. Manu VIII. 41). 
 
 Let the king, keeping himself free from anger and covetousness, try 
 lawsuits along with learned Brahmans in accordance with the rules of 
 written law (dharma-sdstrdnusdrena, II. i. Cf. Manu VIII. i). 
 
 He should appoint as judges men well versed in the study of the 
 Veda, conversant with the laws, speakers of truth, impartial to friend 
 and foe (II. 2). 
 
 When any one, injured by others in any way contrary to law or 
 usage, makes a representation to the king, this is a proper subject for 
 a lawsuit (vyavahara-padam, II. 5). 
 
 The charge, as made by the plaintiff, is to be put down in writing 
 in presence of the defendant, marked with the year, month, half-month, 
 day, names, caste, &c. (II. 6). 
 
 The answer to the charge is to be then written down in presence of 
 the person who made the first representation ; after which the plaintiff 
 shall immediately cause to be committed to writing the proofs by which 
 his accusation is supported (II. 6, 7). 
 
 Legal proof (pramdnani) is of three kinds, viz., written documents 
 (l&chitam), actual possession (bhuMih), and witnesses (sdlcshinaK). In 
 the absence of any one of these, some one of the ordeals (divydnya- 
 tamam) is enjoined (II. 22. Cf. Manu VIII. 114). 
 
 The scales (tula), fire, water, poison, drinking the water in which 
 idols have been washed (Iwsa), these are the ordeals for the testing of 
 innocence (II. 95. See note, p. 271). 
 
 There should be at least three witnesses, persons who act in accord- 
 ance with the precepts of the Veda or traditional law and are of suitable 
 caste (II. 69. Cf. Manu VIII. 60, and see p. 272 of this volume). 
 
 The judge should thus address the witnesses standing near the 
 plaintiff (vddiri) and defendant (prativddin), ' Whatever worlds are 
 appointed for the worst criminals, for incendiaries, for murderers of 
 women and children, these shall be the abode of him who gives false 
 evidence' (sdksliyam anritam, II. 73, 74. Cf. Manu VIII. 89). 
 
 Know that whatever merit has been acquired by thee through good 
 
 reference will be made in a subsequent chapter. In the description of 
 a court of justice there given, as Professor Cowell has remarked, the 
 S'reshthin or ' chief of the merchants ' and the Kayastha or 'scribe' 
 seem to sit as assessors with the judge.
 
 298 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 actions in hundreds of former births shall become the property of him 
 whom thou defeatest by false evidence 1 (II. 75. Of. Manu VIII. 90). 
 
 In conflicting evidence (dvaidhe), that of the majority (bahunam) 
 must be taken ; in the case of an equality of testimony, that of the 
 virtuous persons ; when these disagree, then the statements of the most 
 virtuous must be taken (II. 78. Of. Manu VIII. 73). 
 
 Whenever the evidence of a witness might occasion the death of 
 a person of whatever class, the witness may tell an untruth. To obtain 
 expiation (pavanaya) after such false evidence twice-born men must offer 
 an oblation (cam) to Sarasvati (II. 83. Of. Manu VIII. 104, 105). 
 
 When a murder or robbery has occurred (ghdtite 'pahrite) and no 
 traces of it are found beyond the village, the blame must rest on the 
 governor of the village (grdma-bhartuh) and the village must pay (II. 
 271, 272). 
 
 When a Brahman is a thief, he must be marked with a hot iron and 
 banished from the country (II. 270). 
 
 Housebreakers, stealers of horses and elephants, and those who 
 commit murder with violence should be impaled (II. 273. Of. Manu 
 IX. 276, 280). 
 
 A stealer of clothes should have his hand cut off ; cut-purses should 
 have the thumb and forefinger amputated (II. 274. Cf. Manu IX. 277). 
 
 The highest fine should be imposed on any one who knowingly gives 
 a thief or murderer food, shelter, fire, water, advice, implements, or 
 money (II. 276. Cf. Manu IX. 278). 
 
 Whoever falsifies scales, an edict, measures or coins, or does business 
 with them so falsified, should be made to pay the highest fine (II. 240. 
 Cf. Manu IX. 232). 
 
 One who falsely practises as a physician must pay the first fine, if 
 his deception be practised towards animals ; the middle fine, if towards 
 men; the highest fine, if towards any of the king's officers (II. 242. 
 Cf. Manu IX. 284). 
 
 Any one who adulterates medicine, or oil, or salt, or perfumes, or 
 corn, or sugar, or other commodities, should be made to pay sixteen 
 Panas (II. 245. Cf. Manu VIII. 203, IX. 286, 291). 
 
 The highest fine should be imposed on those who, knowing the rise or 
 fall in prices, combine to make a price of their own to the detriment of 
 workmen and artisans (II. 249). 
 
 If a king has imposed any fine unjustly, he must give thirty times 
 the amount to Brahmans after having made an offering to Varuna 
 (II. 307. Cf. Manu IX. 244). 
 
 1 In Manu the merit is said to be transferred to dogs, see p. 287.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 299 
 
 III. The third Book gives various rules for Prdyas- 
 citta, ' penance, expiation, and purification.' Many of the 
 laws are like those of Manu. It will suffice to note a few 
 examples which have reference to funeral ceremonies : 
 
 A child under two years old must be buried, and no offering of water 
 should be made to him. (The corpse of) any other deceased person 
 should be accompanied by (a procession of) relations to the burning- 
 place (d-smasandt, III. i. See p. 196. Of. Manu Y. 68, 69, 103). 
 
 It is then to be burnt with common fire (lauldkagnina) while they 
 repeat the hymn to Yama (yama-sulctam] and the sacred chant (gatham, 
 III. 2). 
 
 It is usual (for the relatives) to pour out a libation of water once (to 
 the deceased), uttering his name and family, (and then) remaining 
 silent (see p. 198). 
 
 But religious students and outcastes are not allowed to offer the 
 oblations of water (III. 5. Of. Manu Y. 88). 
 
 The funeral oblation is not allowed for heretics (pdshandin), persons 
 without any fixed station (an-dsritdJi), thieves, women who have killed 
 their husbands, or who have lived an independent life (Mma-gdh), or 
 "have been drunkards, or have committed suicide (atma-tydginyah, 
 III. 6. Cf. Manu V. 89, 90). 
 
 When the relatives have poured out water, have completed their 
 ablutions, and have seated themselves on a spot covered with soft 
 grass, (the elder ones) may repeat to the others some verses from the 
 ancient Itihasas, such as the following (III. 7) : 
 
 Does it not argue folly to expect 
 
 Stability in man, who is as transient 
 
 As a mere bubble and fragile as a stalk ? 
 
 Why should we utter wailings if a frame, 
 
 Composed of five material elements, 
 
 Is decomposed by force of its own acts, 
 
 And once again resolved into its parts ? 
 
 The earth, the ocean, and the gods themselves 
 
 Must perish, how should not the world 
 
 Of mortals, light as froth, obey the law 
 
 Of universal death and perish too (III. 8-u)? 
 
 After hearing verses of this kind they should return home, the 
 younger ones leading the way, stopping solemnly outside the door of 
 the house to chew leaves of the Nimb tree (Nimba-patrani, III. 12).
 
 300 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 After they have rinsed out their mouths and touched fire, water, cow- 
 dung, white mustard-seed, and placed their feet on a stone, they should 
 enter the house slowly (III. 13. Cf. the account of the funeral proces- 
 sion in the Grihya-sutras, pp. 196-199). 
 
 Impurity caused by the ceremonies connected with touching a corpse 
 (wam dsaucatn) lasts for either three nights or ten nights (III. 18. 
 Cf. Manu V. 59, 64). 
 
 Those who preserve this Law-book diligently in their memories shall 
 obtain reputation in this world and shall go to heaven (III. 330). 
 
 He who repeats only three verses out of this Law-book at a S'raddha 
 causes perpetual satisfaction to his departed ancestors ; of this there is 
 no doubt. A Brahman may obtain merit, a Kshatriya may become vic- 
 torious, and a Vaisya may become rich in corn and money by preserving 
 this book in his memory (III. 332, 333). 
 
 The eighteen principal Codes posterior to Manu and 
 Yajnavalkya. 
 
 A list of eighteen of the most important of these has 
 been given at p. 203. They are all extant in some form 
 or other, as described by Colebrooke. 1 Little or nothing 
 is known about the authorship of any one of them. They 
 have arisen from the necessity of framing new laws or 
 modifying old ones to suit particular localities arid parti- 
 cular periods. In order to invest them with antiquity 
 and authority, they are all eighteen ascribed, like the 
 Codes of Manu and Yajnavalkya, to various mythical 
 inspired sages. The fact is, that although Manu and 
 Yajnavalkya still form the basis of Hindu jurisprudence, 
 many of their laws are regarded by more recent Hindu 
 legislators as only intended for the first three ages of the 
 world, and therefore as having no force, or superseded by 
 others, in the present fourth and more degenerate Kali- 
 
 1 See Professor E. B. Cowell's edition of his Essays, vol. i. pp. 468- 
 470. The works or their abridgments, ascribed to these eighteen 
 inspired law-givers, have been all printed at Calcutta.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS YAJNAVALKYA. 30 1 
 
 yuga (see note 2, p. 178). Thus the author of the work 
 ascribed to Narada l says : 
 
 Marriage with the widow of a deceased brother, the slaughter of 
 cattle in entertaining guests, flesh-meat at funeral obsequies, and the 
 entrance into the third order (or that of a Vanaprastha, ' hermit ') are 
 forbidden in the fourth age. 
 
 The following acts, allowed under certain circumstances 
 by ancient law, are also forbidden in the fourth age : 
 
 Drinking any spirituous liquor, even at a religious ceremony ; 2 the 
 gift of a young married woman to another bridegroom if her husband 
 should die while she is still a virgin ; the marriage of twice-born men 
 with women not of the same class ; any intercourse with a twice-born 
 man who has passed the sea in a ship ; the slaughter of a bull at a 
 sacrifice, &c. 
 
 And the author of Parasara's Code 3 affirms : 
 
 The laws of various ages are different. Manu's Law-book belongs to 
 the Krita age, Gautama's to the Treta, that of S'an-kha and Likhita to 
 the Dvapara, and Parasara's Code to the Kali age. 
 
 Many modern lawyers, however, regard the whole of 
 Smriti, beginniflg with Manu, as one, and assert that the 
 inconsistencies and contradictions it contains are all capable 
 of explanation. 
 
 I here annex a few particulars relative to the eighteen 
 principal Codes posterior to Manu and Yajnavalkya : 
 
 i. That attributed to Atri, one of Manu's ten Prajapatis (I. 35), is 
 in verse, and written in a perspicuous style. 2. That of Vishnu is also 
 in verse, and is regarded as an excellent treatise, an abridgment of which 
 is also extant. 3. That of Hdrita, on the contrary, is in prose, but has 
 been abridged in a metrical form. 4. That of Usanas or S'ukra is in 
 verse, and an abridgment is extant. 5. A short treatise of about seventy 
 verses is ascribed to An-gims, one of Manu's Prajapatis and Maharshis 
 (I. 35). 6. A tract consisting of one hundred verses, commented on by 
 Kulluka-bhatta, is mythically attributed to Tama (brother of Manu 
 
 1 Quoted by Sir W. Jones, vol. viii. p. 153. 
 
 2 As, for example, the SautramanL 
 
 3 Quoted by Professor Stenzler in his preface to Yajnavalkya.
 
 302 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Vaivasvata), ruler of the world of spirits. 7. That of Apastamla is in 
 prose, but an abridgment in verse also exists. 8. Samvarta's Code has 
 also a metrical abridgment. 9. Kdtydy 'ana's law- treatise is full and 
 perspicuous. 10. Vriliaspati's has been abridged, and it is doubtful 
 whether we possess the abridgment or the Code itself, n. Para&ara's 
 treatise is regarded by some as the highest authority for the Kali or 
 fourth age of the world. It has been commented on by Madhavadarya. 
 
 12. A law-treatise is ascribed to the celebrated Vydsa, son of Parasara. 
 
 13, 14. Two separate tracts in verse by San-Telia and Lilihita exist, but 
 their joint treatise in prose is the one usually cited by Kulluka and 
 others. It is supposed to be adapted to the Dvapara age. 15. A Code 
 in verse of no special interest is attributed to Ddksha, one of Manu's 
 ten Prajapatis (I. 35). 16. A prose treatise written, in a clear style 
 bears the name of Gautama. It is held to have been written for the 
 Treta age. 17. S'atatapa's Code is chiefly on penance and expiation. 
 There is an abridgment of it in verse. 18. The treatise attributed to 
 Vasishtha, another of Manu's Prajapatis (I. 35), is a mixture of prose 
 and verse. 
 
 Of other codes ascribed to various mythical lawgivers 
 in the Padma-purana, &c., it will be sufficient to mention 
 those of Marici, Pulastya, Bhrigu, Narada (Manu I. 35), 
 Kasyapa, Visvamitra, Gargya, Baudhayana, Paithiuasi, 
 Sumantu, Lokakshi, Kuthumi or Kuthumi, and Dhaumya. 
 
 Besides, there are a vast number of legal treatises and 
 commentaries based on ancient codes by modern lawyers, 
 whose works are current and more or less esteemed as 
 authorities in different parts of India. They form five 
 schools, of which I here give a brief account. 
 
 TJie Five Schools of Hindu Law. 
 
 These are the schools of i. Bengal, 2. Benares, 3. 
 Mithila (North Behar and Tirhut), 4. Madras (Dravida), 
 and 5. Bombay (Mahd-rashtra). 1 There are certain 
 
 1 I have here consulted Mr. Herbert Cowell's Tagore Law Lectures, 
 copies of which have always been kindly given to me by the Senate of 
 the Calcutta University.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS OTHER CODES AND SCHOOLS. 303 
 
 books regarded as special authorities in each of these 
 principal schools. 
 
 i. In Bengal both Manu and Yajnavalkya are of course 
 held in great reverence as original sources of law. We 
 have already noted that the best commentary on Manu is 
 one called Manv-artha-muktavali, by Kulluka-bhatta (see 
 note 2, p. 213). There is also a commentary by Medhatithi 
 (partially lost, and completed by another author) ; another 
 by Govinda-raja ; another by Dharam-dhara, Bhaguri, 
 and others. To Yajnavalkya belong at least four other 
 commentaries besides the Mitakshara, viz., that of Apa- 
 rarka (which is the oldest of all) ; of Sula-pani (called 
 the Dipa-kalika) ; of Deva-bodha, and of Visva-rupa. 
 Sula-pani is also the author of a work on penance and 
 expiation. The Mitakshara of Vijnanesvara 1 is, however, 
 the principal commentary on Yajnavalkya (as before 
 noticed). It is much studied in Bengal, but the chief 
 authority in the Bengal school is a well-known work, 
 somewhat different in character and principles, called 
 the Daya-bhaga or ' treatise on inheritance,' ascribed to 
 Jimuta-vahana, 2 by some thought to have been a prince 
 of the house of Silara, who either composed this work 
 himself or caused it to be compiled rather earlier than the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century. It should be stated 
 that both the Mitakshara and Daya-bhaga are develop- 
 ments of, rather than commentaries on, Manu and Yajna- 
 valkya. Although they profess to be based on these 
 ancient books, they sometimes modify the laws there pro- 
 pounded to suit a more advanced social system. In other 
 
 1 Vijnanesvara belonged to a sect of Sannyasins founded by S'an-kara- 
 6arya, and his commentary may have been written as early as the ninth 
 century of our era. 
 
 2 Translated by Colebrooke. Jimuta-vahana's work seems to have 
 been called Dharma-ratna, and only the chapter on inheritance is 
 preserved.
 
 304 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 cases they discuss doubtful points and supply omissions ; 
 while they, in their turn, have been commented on by 
 succeeding lawyers, whose works introduce still further 
 modifications on various important points, 1 thus : 
 
 Three principal commentaries on the Mitakshara are named, viz., 
 the Subodhini of Visvesvara-bhatta (thought by Colebrooke to be as 
 old as the fourteenth century) ; a later work by Balam-bhatta ; and a 
 third (called the Pratltakshara) by Nanda-pandita, who was also the 
 author of the work on adoption called Dattaka-mlmansa and of the 
 Vaijayanti (see next page). The commentaries on the Daya-bhaga are 
 numerous. Some of these (published under the patronage of Prasanna 
 Kumar Thakur) are, that of S'rikrishna-tarkalan-kara, which, with a 
 treatise by the same author called Daya-krama-san-graha, is highly 
 esteemed in Bengal ; that of S'rl-nathadarya-6udamani ; that of Ac"yuta- 
 dakravartin ; and that of Mahesvara. Before any of these ought to 
 be placed the works of a celebrated Brahman (who lived at the beginning 
 of the sixteenth century), named Raghu-nandana, in about twenty- 
 seven books, on rites and customs and the times of their observance. 
 His treatises, intended to comment on and support Jimuta-vahana, are 
 called Smriti-tattva, Tithi-tattva, &c., the former including the Vyava- 
 hara-tattva and Daya-tattva. 2 
 
 2. As regards the school of Benares and Middle India it 
 should be noted that the Mitakshara of Vijnanesvara is 
 acknowledged as an authority, and studied by the ad- 
 herents of this school, as it is to a certain extent by all 
 five schools. But in the Benares school certain popular 
 commentaries on the Mitakshara, such as the Vira-mitro- 
 daya of Mitra-misra and the Vivada-tandava of Kamala- 
 kara, have great weight. 
 
 3. In the Maithila school or that of Mithila (North Behar 
 
 1 The certainty we feel as to the accuracy of the texts of all im- 
 portant Sanskrit works is due to the practice of writing commentaries, 
 which always quote the words of the original, and so prevent changes. 
 Again, the accuracy and genuineness of the best commentaries are 
 secured by other commentaries on them. 
 
 2 Printed at Calcutta in 1828. Raghu-nandana is often called Smarta- 
 bhattadarya.
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS OTHER CODES AND SCHOOLS. 305 
 
 and Tirhut), besides the Code of Yajnavalkya with the 
 Mitakshara, the Vivada-cintamani and Vyavahara-cintil- 
 mani of Vacaspati Misra l are much studied ; also the 
 Vivada-ratnakara of Candesvara (who lived about 1314) 
 and the 'Vivada-candra, composed by a learned female 
 named Lakhima-devi, who is said to have set the name of 
 her kinsman, Misaru-misra, to her own works. 
 
 4. In the Dravidian or South-Indian school, besides the 
 Mitakshara, as before, there is the Smriti-candrika and 
 Dattaka-candrika of Devana-bhatta ; Madhavacarya's com- 
 mentary on Parasara's Code (called Parasara-smriti-vya- 
 khya) ; and Nanda-pandita's commentary on Vishnu's Code 
 (called Vaijayanti), and on Parasara's Code, and his treatise 
 on the law of adoption called Dattaka-candrika. 
 
 5. In the Western school (of Bombay and Maha-ra^htra), 
 besides the Mitakshara, certain treatises by Nilakantha- 
 bhatta, particularly one called Vyavabara-mayukha, 2 have 
 the most weight. 
 
 1 Often called Misra. His work has been translated by Prasanna 
 Kumar Thakur, and printed at Calcutta in 1863. A copy was kindly 
 sent to me by the translator. 
 
 2 A translation of this by Mr. H. Borrodaile of the Bombay Civil 
 Service was published at Surat at the Mission Press in 1827. 
 
 U
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IV. The Itihdsas or Epic Poems The Rdmdyana. 1 
 
 IN India, literature, like the whole face of nature, is 
 on a gigantic scale. Poetry, born amid the majestic 
 scenery of the Himalayas, and fostered in a climate which 
 inflamed the imaginative powers, developed itself with 
 Oriental luxuriance, if not always with true sublimity. 
 Although the Hindus, like the Greeks, have only two 
 great epic poems 2 the Ramayana and Maha-bharata 
 yet to compare these vast compositions with the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey, is to compare the Indus and the Ganges, 
 rising in the snows of the world's most colossal ranges. 
 
 O O 7 
 
 swollen by numerous tributaries, spreading into vast 
 shallows or branching into deep divergent channels, with 
 the streams of Attica or the mountain-torrents of Thessaly. 
 There is, in fact, an immensity of bulk about this, as 
 about every other department of Sanskrit literature, which 
 to a European mind, accustomed to a more limited horizon, 
 is absolutely bewildering. 
 
 1 A portion of the matter of this chapter and of that on the Maha- 
 bharata was delivered by me as a public Lecture before the University 
 of Oxford, on the gth of May 1862, and was afterwards published in a 
 little work called ' Indian Epic Poetry,' which is now out of print. 
 
 2 I am here speaking of that form of epic poetry which may be called 
 natural and spontaneous as distinguished from artificial. Whether the 
 Indian Epics (Itihasas) or even the Iliad can be strictly said to answer 
 Aristotle's definition of Epos, is another question. Artificial epic 
 poems (Kavyas) are not wanting in later Sanskrit, and specimens will 
 
 be given in a subsequent chapter. 
 
 306
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 307 
 
 Nevertheless, a sketch, however imperfect, of the two 
 Indian Epics can scarcely fail to interest Occidental 
 scholars ; for all true poetry, whether European or Asiatic, 
 must have features of resemblance ; and no poems could 
 have achieved celebrity in the East as these have done, 
 had they not addressed themselves to feelings and affec- 
 tions common to human nature, and belonoinsf alike to 
 
 7 O O 
 
 Englishmen and Hindus. 
 
 I propose, therefore, in the next three chapters, to give 
 a brief general idea of the character and contents of the 
 Kamayana and Maha-bharata, 1 comparing them in some 
 important particulars with each other, and pointing out 
 the most obvious features of similarity or difference, 
 which must strike every classical scholar who contrasts 
 them with the Iliad and the Odyssey. 
 
 It is, of course, a principal characteristic of epic poetry, 
 as distinguished from lyrical, that it should concern itself 
 more with external action than internal feelings. It is 
 this which makes Epos the natural expression of early 
 national life. When centuries of trial have turned the 
 mind of nations inwards, and men begin to speculate, to 
 reason, to elaborate language and cultivate science, there 
 may be no lack of refined poetry, but the spontaneous 
 production of epic song is, at that stage of national exist- 
 ence, as impossible as for an octogenarian to delight in the 
 giants and giant-killers of his childhood. The Kamayana 
 and Maha-bharata then, as reflecting the Hindu character 
 in ancient times, may be expected to abound in stirring 
 incidents of exaggerated heroic action. 
 
 Songs in celebration of great heroes were probably 
 current in India quite as early as the Homeric poems in 
 
 1 A more complete analysis of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata was 
 given by me at the end of the little work called ' Indian Epic Poetry,' 
 and will probably be reprinted with additions hereafter.
 
 308 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Greece. No mention, indeed, is made of Kama, Arjuna, 
 and Yudhi-shthira in the hymns of the Rig-veda, but the 
 deeds of Indra and other gods and heroes, who were sup- 
 posed to protect the more civilized Aryas from the bar- 
 barous An-aryas, are there narrated and lauded, and it 
 is in the songs composed in their praise that we may 
 trace the foreshadowings of Indian epic poetry. Again, 
 we know that Itihasas, or legendary narratives, were 
 recited orally at the period when the Grihya Sutras 
 and Manu were composed (see p. 195 ; note i, p. 207 ; 
 and p. 249). Such narratives doubtless recounted the 
 adventures of the popular heroes of the period, with 
 all the warmth of colouring natural to writers whose 
 imaginations were stimulated by an Eastern climate and 
 environments ; but it is scarcely credible that they could 
 have achieved much popularity had they not rested on a 
 basis of historical truth. 
 
 It is certainly likely that at some early date, not long 
 after the first settlement of the Aryan races in the country 
 of the five rivers, rival tribes of immigrants, called Kurus, 
 advancing from that region towards the plains of Hindu- 
 stan, contended for supremacy. It is, moreover, probable 
 that soon after their final occupation of the Gangetic 
 districts, a body of invaders headed by a bold leader, and 
 aided by the warlike but uncivilized hill-tribes, forced 
 their way southwards into the peninsula of India as far 
 as Ceylon. The heroic exploits of the chieftains in both 
 cases would naturally become the theme of epic poetry, 
 and the wild Aborigines of the Vindhya and neighbouring 
 hills would be poetically converted into monkeys, 1 while 
 
 1 Strabo (XV. 29) relates that on a particular occasion a large number 
 of monkeys came out of a wood and stood opposite the Macedonian 
 troops, who seeing them apparently stationed in military array, mistook 
 them for a real army and prepared to attack them as enemies.
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 309 
 
 the powerful pre-Aryan races of the south would be repre- 
 sented as many-headed ogres and bloodthirsty demons. 1 
 
 1 We must be careful not to confound the great Dravidian races 
 occupying the Madras Presidency and speaking Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, 
 and Malayalam, with the uncivilized aboriginal tribes found on the hills 
 and in the jungles of India. The Dravidian races (probably symbolized 
 by the Riivanas and Vibhishanas of epic poetry) were the precursors of 
 the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans, and possibly had their origin in the same 
 districts of Central Asia, whence they immigrated by the same mountain- 
 passes into the Panjab and Northern India. Theyjmay have partially 
 amalgamated with the advancing Aryans, but were mostly driven south- 
 wards. There they attained a considerable independent civilization. 
 Their languages, although eventually more or less intermingled with 
 Sanskrit words, are agglutinating (commonly called Turanian) in struc- 
 ture, and possess an extensive and important literature of their own. 
 On the other hand, the hill-tribes and others (such as were symbolized 
 by the monkey-armies of Hanumat) the Gonds of Central India, the 
 Bhils of the hills to the west of the Gonds, the Khonds or Kus of the 
 eastern districts of Gondvana and the ranges south of Orissa, the 
 Santhals and Kols of the hills to the west of Bengal, the Khasias and 
 Garos of the eastern border are the present representatives of numerous 
 wild Tartar tribes who swarmed into India at various epochs, some of 
 them probably coming from Chinese Tartary and Tibet, and taking 
 the course of the Brahma-putra into Bengal. These speak an infinite 
 number of different dialects and are almost all mutually unintelligible. 
 If the term Turanian is to embrace races so widely separated by language 
 and customs as the Dravidians and various hill-tribes of India, the 
 sooner it is expelled from the vocabulary of philologists and ethnologists 
 the better. At any rate, there must be two great classes of Turanian 
 languages, the North and the South ; the former comprising the three 
 sisters Tungusic (or Mantchu), Mongol, and Turkish, besides Samoyedic 
 and Finnish, while the latter takes in Tibetan, Siamese, Burmese, and 
 the Dravidian languages ; the monosyllabic Chinese standing, as it were, 
 between the two. Perhaps the dialects of the Himalayan tribes have, 
 of all hill- dialects, the best title to be ranked among the South Turanian 
 class. Dr. Caldwell, in his valuable Comparative Grammar of the South- 
 Indian Languages, has discussed the affiliation of the Dravidian family 
 with great ability. He considers that the Dravidians were the first 
 inhabitants of India, and that they were driven southwards by other 
 invaders, who were afterwards subdued by the Aryans. The rude dialects
 
 310 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 These races, who are called An-arya, ' ignoble,' in opposi- 
 tion to Arya, 'noble/ had been gradually driven south- 
 wards or towards the hills by the Aryan settlers. They 
 probably made great resistance in the North at the time 
 the Rig-veda was composed. They are there called 
 Dasyus, Yatudhanas, &c., and described as monstrous in 
 form, godless, inhuman, haters of Brahmans, disturbers of 
 sacred rites, eaters of human and horse flesh (Rig-veda 
 X. 87, 1 6 ; Muir's Texts II. 435). In the epic poems they 
 are generally called Kakshasas or evil demons, the relent- 
 less enemies of gods and good men and of all sacred rites. 1 
 
 of the more southern hill-tribes are partially connected with the Dra- 
 vidian, especially the Tuda, Kota (two dialects of the Nil-giri hills), 
 Gond, and Khond (Ku). The Ramusies and most of the Korawars 
 speak a patois of Telugu. The Male-arasars ('hill-kings') of the 
 Southern Ghats speak partly corrupt Malayalam and corrupt Tamil. 
 The Lambadies, or gipsies, speak a dialect of Hindustani. Among the 
 barbarous tribes of the South are included the Vedars of the forests of 
 Ceylon. 
 
 1 In one place (Ramayana III. i. 15) they are described as black, 
 with woolly hair and thick lips. The following is from III. i. 22, &c. : 
 ' Men-devouring Rakshasas of various shapes and wild beasts dwell in 
 this vast forest. They harass the devotees in the settlements. These 
 shapeless and ill-looking monsters testify their abominable character 
 by various cruel and terrific displays of it. These base-born wretches 
 (an-dryd) perpetrate the greatest outrages. Changing their shapes 
 and hiding in the thickets they delight in terrifying devotees. They 
 cast away the sacrificial ladles and vessels (srug-bhandarn), pollute the 
 cooked oblations, and defile the offerings with blood. They utter 
 frightful sounds in the ears of the faithful.' Viradha, a Rakshasa, is 
 said (Ramayana III. vii 5; Muir II. 427) to be 'like a mountain- 
 peak, with long legs, a huge body, a crooked nose, hideous eyes, a long 
 face, pendent belly, &c., like Death with an open mouth. ' The Nishadas 
 of the Puranas, though described as dwarfish, have similar features, and 
 are no doubt intended for the same race. In the same way, in describ- 
 ing races unknown to the Greeks, such as the Cyclopes, Laestrygones, 
 Centauri, &c., Homer and other Grecian writers are given to exaggera- 
 tion, and relate the most absurd fables.
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 3 I I 
 
 It is to the subjugation of these non-Aryan races by heroic 
 Aryan leaders who were Kshatriyas, as well as to the rivalry 
 between different tribes of the settlers themselves, that we 
 owe the circumstances out of which the two great Epics 
 arose. Whether the celebrated Aryan warriors of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata were identical with those 
 of the Itihasas of which mention is made in the Grihya 
 Sutras and in Manu (III. 232) cannot be proved ; but this 
 much is clear, that the exploits of the three Ramas, 
 Arjuna, &c., became, soon after Manu's time, the theme 
 of song, and that these heroes were in the first instance 
 represented as merely men of great strength and prowess, 
 whose powers, however extraordinary, were not more than 
 human. The oral descriptions of their deeds and adven- 
 tures by public reciters formed the original basis of the 
 two great Epics, and were naturally the peculiar property 
 of the Kshatriya and conquering class. Probably these 
 narratives were in the first instance delivered in prose, 
 which became gradually interspersed with the simplest 
 forms of metre, such as that called Anushtubh or Sloka. 1 
 
 It is easy indeed for the most cursory reader of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata to trace a substratum or 
 basis (mula) of simple heroic narration underlying the 
 mass of more recent accretions. But to what date is 
 this first framework of the poems to be referred ? And 
 again When occurred that first process of brahmauizing 
 which obscured and transformed its original character? 
 And lastly When was the structure completed and the 
 
 1 The oldest part of the Maha-bharata has a section entirely in 
 prose (see note i, p. 371). The invention of the Sloka is attributed 
 to Valmiki, the reputed author of the Ramayana, with the object 
 doubtless of establishing his claims to be regarded as one of the 
 earliest and most ancient of Indian poets. This metre is found in 
 the Veda.
 
 312 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 whole work moulded into a form similar to that we now 
 possess ? 
 
 With regard to the first of these questions, I have 
 now to submit five reasons in support of the view that 
 the earliest or pre-brahmanical composition of both Epics 
 took place at a period not later than the fifth century 
 B.C., as follows : 
 
 1. The Ramayana records no case of Sati. In the Maha-bharata, 
 Madrl, wife of Pandu, is made to immolate herself with her husband, 1 
 and the four wives of Vasu-deva and some of Krishna's wives do the 
 same ; 2 but it is remarkable that none of the numerous widows of the- 
 slain heroes are represented as burning themselves in the same manner. 
 This shows that the practice of Sati was beginning to be introduced in the 
 North-west of India near the Panjab (where we know it prevailed about 
 300 years B.C.), but that it had not at the time of the earliest composi- 
 tion of the Ramayana reached the more eastern districts. But if one 
 Epic records no Sati, and the other only rare cases notwithstanding 
 the numerous opportunities for referring to the practice afforded by 
 the circumstances of the plot it follows that we ought to place the 
 laying down of the first lines of both compositions before the third 
 century B.C., when we know from Megasthenes that it prevailed 
 generally even as far east as Magadha. 
 
 2. The first construction, or, so to speak, ' first casting ' of the stories 
 of Rama and of the Pandavas as poems with definite plots, seems to 
 have been pre-buddhistic quite as clearly as it was pre-brahmanical by 
 which I mean, that it took place anterior to the actual establishment 
 of Buddhism as a rival system. Only one direct mention of Buddha 
 and Buddhism occurs in the Ramayana, and the verses in which it 
 occurs (II. cviiL 30-38), and in which Buddha is compared to a thief, 
 are admitted to be an interpolation and not part of the original poem. 
 Nor can it be proved that any such direct reference occurs in the original 
 Maha-bharata. Nevertheless, there are numerous allusions (not bearing 
 the stamp of later additions) in both Epics, especially the latter, to that 
 development of rationalistic inquiry and Buddhistic scepticism, which 
 we know commenced about 500 years B.c. 3 
 
 1 Adi-parvan 4896. See also 3030. 
 
 2 Mausala-parvan 194, 249. 
 
 3 Note particularly the infidel doctrines expressed by the Brahman 
 Javali (see p. 351), and Book I. 12. of the Bengali recension of the
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 313 
 
 3. It is evident from the Asoka inscriptions that the language of the 
 mass of the people in Hindustan in the third century B.C. was not pure 
 Sanskrit. It consisted rather of a variety of provincial Sanskritic 
 dialects, to which the general name of Prakrit is applied. If, then, the 
 first redaction of these popular poems had taken place as late as the 
 third century, is it likely that some forms of Prakrit would not have 
 been introduced into the dialogues and allowed to remain there, as we 
 find has been done in the dramas, the oldest of which the Mric"6ha- 
 katika can scarcely be much later than the second century B.C. 1 It 
 is true that the language of the original story of both Epics, as trace- 
 able in the present texts, is generally simple Sanskrit, and by no means 
 elaborate or artificial; but this is just what might have been under- 
 stood by the majority of the people about five centuries B.C., before the 
 language of the people had become generally prakriticized. 
 
 4. When the story of the poems was first put together in a continuous 
 form, it is clear that the Dekhan and more westerly and southerly 
 regions of India had not been occupied by the Aryans. But we know 
 from the Asoka inscriptions that the empire of the kings of Magadha 
 and Palibothra in the third century radiated in all directions, as 
 inscriptions are found in the Panjab, at Delhi, in Kuttack, and as far 
 west as Gujarat. 
 
 5. The Greek writer, Dion Chrysostomos, who was born about the 
 middle of the first century, and was especially honoured by the emperor 
 Trajan, mentions (Or. LIII. 555) that records existed in his time of epic 
 poems, recited by the Hindus, which had been copied or translated from 
 Homer. These statements, as Professor Lassen has shown (Ind. Alt. 
 III. 346), must have been taken from the accounts of Megasthenes, 
 who lived at the court of Candra-gupta (see note i, p. 224). They indi- 
 cate that poems resembling the Iliad were current in India at least as 
 early as the third or fourth century B.C., though it by no means follows 
 that the Hindu poets borrowed a single idea from Homer. 1 
 
 Ramayana, where S'ramanas, or Buddhist mendicants, are mentioned 
 (see also p. 121). 
 
 1 The passage in Dion Chrysostomos is as follows : 'OTO'TI xai ira. 
 'Ivdo~$ qifitadai <f>a.ai rr\v ' O,a^f ou iroiqaiv, f^sraftaXovruv O.VTW ' ri\v fffarsguv 
 didXtxrov rs xai (f)Uv^v (Reiske's Edit., p. 253). There seems too great a 
 disposition among European scholars to regard the Hindus as destitute of 
 all originality. I cannot but agree with Professor Lassen that Megas- 
 thenes was mistaken, though obviously the story of the great war between 
 the rival tribes, and that of the carrying off of Sita by a South-Indian 
 chief, have, of course, points of resemblance to the Iliad, which may have
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 These points seem to merit consideration in fixing 
 500 B.c. as an approximate date for the first or pre- 
 brahmanical and pre-buddhistic versions of the two poems. 
 The names of the authors of these original versions appear 
 to have perished, unless it be held (which seems highly 
 improbable) that the story of Kama must be assigned to 
 Valmiki from its very first existence as a Kavya. 
 
 We come next to the second stage of their construction. 
 We have suggested the fifth century B.C. as the probable 
 date of the rise of Brahmanism, as depicted in Manu 
 (see p. 207), and with it of Buddhistic scepticism. The 
 ambitious Brahmans, who aimed at religious and intel- 
 lectual supremacy, gradually saw the policy of converting 
 the great national Epics, which they could not suppress, 
 into instruments for moulding the popular mind in accord- 
 ance with their own pattern. Possibly, too, they may have 
 hoped to turn them into important engines for arresting 
 the progress of Buddhistic rationalism. Accordingly, I 
 conjecture that in the fourth century B.C. they commenced 
 reconstructing and remodelling the two great Epics. 
 They proceeded, in short, to brahmanize what was before 
 the property of the Kshatriya or warrior caste. This 
 process was of course committed to poets who were 
 Brahmans, and was not completed all at once. Those 
 songs which described too plainly the independence of 
 the military caste, were modified, obscured by allegory, 
 and rendered improbable by monstrous fable and mytho- 
 
 suggested the idea of plagiarism. The sufferings of king Dhrita-rashtra 
 are like those of Priam, and the lamentations of the wives of the slain 
 heroes after the battles between the Pandavas and Kauravas are like 
 those of Hecuba and Andromache, while the martial deeds of Arjuna 
 and Duryodhana resemble those of Achilles and Hector. According to 
 Professor Weber the passage in Dion contains the earliest notice by 
 other writers of the Indian epic poems. He is, moreover, of opinion 
 that the Indian poets really took ideas from Homer.
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 315 
 
 logical embellishments. Any circumstance which appeared 
 opposed to the Brahmanical system, was speciously ex- 
 plained away, glossed over, or mystified. 1 If unbelievers, 
 like Javali, were brought on the scene, it was only that 
 their arguments might be refuted, and their characters 
 reprobated (see p. 351). The great Kshatriya dynasties 
 were made to trace back their origin to Brahmanical sages 
 
 o o 
 
 (see p. 344). Kings were allowed to undertake nothing 
 except under the direction of Brahman ministers ; 2 while 
 the great heroes themselves were not really Kshatriyas, 
 or even human beings, but emanations of the Deity. 
 
 In the case of the Ramayana, the unity of the story 
 was never broken by calling in the aid of more than 
 one author, whose name was Valmiki, and who must 
 have completed the task single-handed. Hence it never 
 lost its character of a Kavya, or poem, with a clear 
 and coherent plot. On the other hand, the brahmanizing 
 of the story of the great war between the Pandavas and 
 Kauravas seems to have attracted a succession of poets, 
 who interwove their own compositions into the original 
 
 1 Thus when Dasaratha kills a boy while hunting (see p. 349), the 
 dying youth is made to explain that, although a hermit's son, he is no 
 Brahman, thereby relieving the king from the guilt of Brahmanicide, 
 which, according to Manu, was unpardonable either in this world or 
 the next (Manu VIII. 381, XII. 55). Again, the account of the victory 
 of the Kshatriya Rama-dandra over the Brahman Parasu-rama the 
 mythical champion of the sacerdotal caste is surrounded with a haze 
 of mysticism (see p. 329, note 2 ; p. 347) ; while the episode which 
 relates at full Visvamitra's quarrel with the great saint Vasishtha, 
 and the success of the former, though a Kshatriya, in elevating him- 
 self to a Brahman's rank, introduces the wildest hyperbole, with the 
 manifest object of investing the position of a Brahman with unap- 
 proachable grandeur, and deterring others from attempts in the same 
 direction (see p. 361). 
 
 2 King Dasaratha in the Ramayana is described as surrounded by 
 Brahman ministers (see p. 340).
 
 316 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 texture of the work, so that its individuality, and even the 
 name of its first author, disappeared under the constant 
 accession of new matter. Hence we must suppose, in the 
 case of the Maha-bharata, more than one Brahmanical 
 redaction and amplification, which need not be assumed 
 for the completion of the Ramayana. Moreover, the 
 great mass of ever-increasing materials under which the 
 original story of the Pandavas became almost lost to view, 
 and under which the title to the name Kavya merged 
 in that of a rambling Itihasa, had to be adjusted and 
 arranged by an imaginary compiler, called Vyasa. 
 
 The first orderly completion, then, of the two poems in 
 their brahmanized form, may have taken place, I think, 
 in the case of the Ramayana about the beginning of the 
 third century B.C., and in the case of the Maha-bharata 
 (the original story of which is possibly more ancient than 
 that of the Ramayana) still later, perhaps as late as the 
 second century B.C. The posteriority of the brahmanized 
 Maha-bharata may be supported by the more frequent 
 allusions it contains to the progress of Buddhistic opinions, 
 and to intercourse with the Yavanas or Greeks, who had 
 no considerable dealings with the Hindus till two or three 
 centuries after Alexander's invasion. 1 
 
 1 A candid study of Professor Weber's writings, and especially of 
 the reproduction of his views lately put forth in the ' Indian Anti- 
 quary,' has led me to modify to a certain extent the statements in my 
 Lecture on 'Indian Epic Poetry,' delivered May 9, 1862 ; but I cannot 
 agree in thinking that the work of Valmlki is to be referred to as late 
 a date as the beginning of the Christian era. Nor can I concur in 
 the opinion that the Ramayana is later than, and to a certain extent 
 a copy of the Buddhist story of Rama, called Dasaratha-jataka, in 
 which Rama is represented as the brother of Slta, and in which there 
 are certain verses almost identical with verses in the present text of 
 the Ramayana. Nor do I think that the great Indian Epic has been 
 developed out of germs furnished by this or any other Buddhistic 
 legends. Still less can I give in my adhesion to the theory that the
 
 ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 317 
 
 It is, however, necessary to refer the final construction 
 of both poems in their present form to a third and still 
 later epoch, and even to assign portions of them to the 
 early centuries of our own era, if we are to accept as 
 integral parts of the two Epics such a supplement to the 
 Ramayana as the Uttara-kanda, and such additions to the 
 Maha-bharata as the Bhagavad-gita and Hari-vansa, as well 
 as those later episodes which identify Rama and Krishna 
 with the Supreme Being. And here again in this final con- 
 struction of both poems, we must bear in mind, that the 
 deification of Rama represents an earlier stage of Vishnu- 
 worship than that of Krishna ; and that the Ramayana, as 
 now presented to us, contains far fewer recent additions 
 than the Maha-bharata. 
 
 My reasons, therefore, for placing the first Brahmanical 
 construction of the two Indian Epics in the third and 
 second century B.C. respectively, and for commencing an 
 account of epic poetry with the story of Rama, rather than 
 with that of Pandavas, will be clear. It must be remem- 
 bered, however, that the priority of one poem over the 
 other cannot be made to rest on any certain chronological 
 basis. Indeed, the Maha-bharata describes a conflict be- 
 tween rude colonists in a district nearer to the earliest 
 settlements of the Aryans, while the Ramayana is con- 
 cerned with a more established kingdom (Kosala), and a 
 more civilized and luxurious capital city (Ayodhya). 
 
 Before commencing our summary of either story it will 
 be desirable to note more particularly when and how the 
 doctrine of divine incarnation was imported into both 
 poems, imparting to them that religious and sacred 
 
 Hindu Epics took ideas from the Homeric poems ; or to the suggestion 
 of Mr. Talboys Wheeler, that the story of the Kamilyana was invented 
 to give expression to the hostile feeling and contention between the 
 Brahmans and Buddhists of Ceylon, alleged to be represented by the 
 Rakshasas.
 
 3l8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 character which they have ever since retained, and which is 
 a distinguishing feature in comparing them with the epic 
 poetry of other nations. We know from the statements 
 of Megasthenes, preserved in Strabo and Diodorus, that 
 the worship of Vishnu in his heroic incarnations prevailed 
 in Hindustan about 300 years before Christ (see note, 
 p. 276). The deification of great men probably began 
 with the desire of the Brahmans to incorporate the most 
 eminent Kshatriya heroes into their system. It pro- 
 ceeded, however, from necessity rather than from any 
 wish to do honour to the warrior caste. The Buddhistic 
 movement in India had broken down the Brahmanical 
 monopoly and introduced a rival principle. Some counter- 
 acting and equally popular expansion of religious creed 
 seemed essential to the very existence of Brahmanism, 
 and it became absolutely necessary to present the people 
 with deities of their own as a counter-attraction to Bud- 
 dhism. Hence the previously human heroes Rama and 
 Krishna were exalted by the Brahmans to divine rank, 
 and even Buddha himself was, in the end, adopted into 
 their system and represented as one of the ten incarna- 
 tions of the god Vishnu. 1 
 
 But the idea of divine incarnation had taken possession 
 of the Hindu mind still earlier. It is probable that in 
 that primeval country, where the ancestors of Greeks and 
 Hindus had their common home, men satisfied their first 
 religious instincts by idealizing and worshipping, under 
 no defined form and without precise ritual, the principal 
 forces and energies of nature the air, the rain, the wind, 
 
 1 Heroism, undaunted bravery, and personal strength will always 
 find worshippers in India. It is recorded that a number of Panjabi 
 Hindus commenced worshipping the late John Nicholson, one of the 
 bravest and noblest of men, under the name Nikkil Seyn. He endea- 
 voured to put a stop to the absurdity, but they persisted in their 
 worship notwithstanding.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THEORY OF INCARNATION. 319 
 
 the storm, the fire, the sun the elements on which, as 
 an agricultural and pastoral race, their welfare depended. 
 This was the earliest religion of nature which the Aryan 
 family carried with them when they first left their home, 
 and which they cherished in their wanderings ; and in 
 this we may trace the germ of their subsequent religious 
 systems. When they had settled down in new resting- 
 places, their religious cravings naturally found utterance 
 in prayers, hymns, and a simple form of ritual. Religion, 
 or a sense of dependence on a higher Power, and a desire 
 to realize his presence, grew with their growth and 
 strengthened with their strength. But in all ages and / 
 countries the religion of the mass of mankind rapidly ' 
 assumes an anthropomorphic character. A richly peopled 
 mythology arose in India and Greece as naturally as 
 poetry itself. The one was the offspring of the other, 
 and was in fact the poetical expression of those high 
 aspirations which marked the Aryan character. Soon the 
 Hindu, like the Greek, unguided by direct revelation, 
 personified and deified not only the powers of external 
 nature, but all the internal feelings, passions, moral and 
 intellectual qualities and faculties of the mind. Soon he 
 began to regard every grand and useful object as a visible 
 manifestation of the supreme Intelligence presiding over 
 the universe, and every departed hero or benefactor as 
 a mere reflection of the same all-wise and omnipresent 
 Ruler. Hence, to give expression to the varied attributes 
 and functions of this great Being, thus visibly manifested 
 to the world, both Hindu and Greek peopled their pan- 
 theons with numerous divine and semi-divine creations, 
 clothing them with male and female forms, and inventing 
 in connection with them various fanciful and often mon- 
 strous myths, fables, and allegories, which the undis- 
 criminating multitude accepted as realities, without at all 
 understanding the ideas they symbolized. In India we
 
 320 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 are able to trace back the development of these anthropo- 
 morphic ideas to their source in the Rig-veda, and thence 
 follow them step by step through Manu, the epic poems, 
 and Puranas. In the Rig-veda a god Vishnu is often 
 named as a manifestation of the Solar energy, or rather 
 as a form of the Sun ; and the point which distinguishes 
 him from the others is his striding over the heavens in 
 three paces, supposed to symbolize the three stages of 
 the Sun's daily course in his rising, culminating, and 
 setting (see note i, p. 329). Subsequently he takes a fore- 
 most place among the twelve Adityas, or twelve distinct 
 forms of the Sun in the twelve months of the year. In 
 the Brahmanas he is identified with sacrifice (Yajna), 
 and once described as a dwarf (Vdmana; Satapatha- 
 brahmana XIV. I, i, 6, I. 2, 5, 5). In Manu, Brahman, 
 the universal Soul, is represented as evolving his essence 
 in the form of Brahma, the Creator of all things, and 
 various other visible manifestations of the Deity are re- 
 cognized, as in the Veda. In Book XII. 121, Vishnu and 
 Hara ( = Siva) are mentioned as present in the human 
 body, the former imparting movement to its muscles, the 
 latter bestowing strength. 
 
 In all this, however, there was not enough to satisfy 
 the cravings of the human heart for a religion of faith 
 in a personal god a god sympathizing with humanity, 
 and even with the lower forms of animal life, loving all 
 his creatures, interested in their affairs, and ever at hand 
 to assist them in their difficulties. Nor, on the other 
 hand, was there sufficient to meet the demands of other 
 constituent parts of man's complex nature for a religion 
 of activity and good works ; of austerity and subjugation 
 of the passions ; of contemplation and higher spiritual 
 knowledge. Soon, therefore, the great Spirit of the 
 universe began to be viewed still more anthropomor- 
 phically, through the medium of man's increasing sub-
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THEORY OF INCARNATION. 321 
 
 jectivity, as a Being who not only created man but 
 condescended to human sympathies, and placed himself 
 in the closest connection with all his creatures, whether 
 gods, men, or animals. 
 
 But first arose the inquiry why and how this great 
 Being willed to create at all ? To account for this it was 
 conceived that when the universal and infinite Being 
 Brahma (nom. case of the neut. Brahman) the only 
 really existing entity, wholly without form and unbound 
 and unaffected by the three Gunas or by qualities of any 
 kind (pp. 85, 107) wished to create for his own enter- 
 tainment the phenomena of the universe, he assumed 
 the quality of activity (rajas) and became a male person 
 as Brahma (nom. case masc.) the Creator. Next, in the 
 progress of still further self-evolution, he willed to invest 
 himself with the second quality of goodness (sattva) as 
 Vishnu the Preserver, and with the third quality of dark- 
 ness (tamas) 1 as Siva the Destroyer. This development 
 of the doctrine of triple manifestation (tri-murti), which 
 appears first in the brahmanized version of the Indian 
 Epics, had already been adumbrated in the Veda in the 
 triple form of fire (see p. 15), and in the triad of gods, 
 Agni, Surya, and Indra (see note, p. 16) ; and in other 
 
 ways. 2 
 
 In fact the Veda, rather than Manu, was the source of 
 the later incarnations (see notes, pp. 326-329). It was the 
 Vedic Vishnu (connected with Surya, ' the Sun') who 
 
 1 In the Kumara-sambhava II. 4, we have the following : Namas 
 trimurtaye tubhyam prak-srishteh kevaldtmane Guna-traya-vibhagaya 
 pascdd bhedam upeyushe, 'Hail to thee of triple form, who before 
 creation wast simple Soul, and afterwards underwent partition for the 
 distribution of the three Gunas.' 
 
 2 The thirty-three gods (3 multiplied by n) of the Rig-veda (tribhir 
 eltddasair devebliir yatam, I. 34, n, I. 45, 2) point to the same idea of 
 
 triple manifestation. 
 
 X
 
 322 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 became Vishnu the world-preserver, while Rudra (connected 
 with Indra and the Maruts), the god of tempests, became 
 the world-dissolver Siva. Under the latter form, the 
 Supreme Being is supposed to pass from the operation 
 of creation and preservation to that of destruction, these 
 three separate acts being assigned to separate deities who 
 are themselves finite, and obey the universal law of dis- 
 solution at the end of a Kalpa (see note 3, p. 330), when they 
 again become merged in simple Soul (kevaldtman). But as 
 it was essential that even the god of dissolution should con- 
 nect himself with humanity, and as, according to a funda- 
 mental dogma of Hinduism, all death leads to new life, 
 all destruction to reproduction, it was natural that the 
 latter operation should be chosen as the link of connection, 
 rather than the former. His function of destroyer is, 
 therefore, interchanged with that of creator (note 3, 
 p. 323) ; he himself is called Siva, 'the Auspicious/ and 
 his character is oftener typified by the reproductive Lin-ga 
 (without necessary implication of sensual ideas) than by 
 any symbol of destruction. Under this image, in fact, he 
 is generally worshipped in India. 1 Nevertheless, he is also 
 represented in human form, living in the Himalaya moun- 
 tains along with his wife Parvati, 2 sometimes in the act 
 
 1 Twelve celebrated Lin-gas were set up, about the tenth century, in 
 twelve great shrines, in twelve chief cities of India, of which Somnath 
 was one. The representation of the generative organ is not offensive 
 to delicacy even when surrounded by the Yoni, or female symbol. 
 Quite enough, however, is implied to account for the degeneration of 
 S'iva-worship in modern times, as expressed in the works called Tantras 
 and in the practices of the S'aktas. The representation of S'iva as 
 Ardhanari, half male, half female, symbolizes the unity of the gene- 
 rative principle. Some think the god S'iva with the Lin-ga (Phallus) 
 was adopted by the Aryans from the aborigines. The word S'iva means 
 ' auspicious,' and being first applied euphemistically to the god of tem- 
 pests (Rudra) afterwards passed into the name of the god of destruction. 
 
 2 The sakti or active energy of a deity is personified as his wife, and
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THEORY OF INCARNATION. 323 
 
 of trampling on and destroying demons, wearing round 
 his black neck (nila-kantha) a serpent and a necklace of 
 skulls, and furnished with a whole apparatus of external 
 emblems (such as a white bull on which he rides, a 
 crescent, a trident, 1 tiger's skin, elephant's skin, rattle, 
 noose, &c.), the exaggeration of which imparts a childish 
 and grotesque character to Hindu symbolism when re- 
 garded from a European point of view. Again, Maha- 
 derva, or the great deity Siva, is sometimes connected with 
 humanity in one other personification very different from 
 that just noted, viz., that of an austere naked ascetic, with 
 matted hair 2 (Dig-ambara, Dhurjati), living in a forest 
 apart from his consort, abiding in one spot fixed and 
 immovable (Sthdnu) teaching men by his own example, 
 first, the power to be acquired by penance (tapas), morti- 
 fication of the body, 3 and suppression of the passions ; 
 and, secondly, the great virtue of abstract meditation 
 (samadhi), as leading to the loftiest spiritual know- 
 ledge (jndna) and ultimately to union (yoga) or actual 
 
 those who worship the female principle are called S'aktas. Parvati, 
 daughter of the mountain, and worshipped under the name Durga in 
 Bengal, is the chief object of the adoration of S'aktas and Tantrikas. 
 
 1 This three-pronged symbol may denote creation, destruction, and 
 regeneration. He has also three eyes (one of which is in his forehead), 
 in allusion to either the three Yedas or time past, present, and future 
 (whence he is called Try-ambaka), and five faces (whence his name 
 Pancdnana) ; the crescent moon also symbolizing his power over the 
 measurement of time. He is sometimes said to manifest himself under 
 eight forms ether, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon, the sacrificing 
 priest (whence his name Ashta-murti}. His black throat was caused 
 by the deadly poison churned out of the ocean, which would have 
 destroyed the universe had he not swallowed it. 
 
 2 The hair is so worn by S'iva- worshipping Yogis (see p. 95). 
 
 3 In Maha-bharata, Sauptika-parvau 769, Brahma, the Creator, is 
 represented as calling on S'iva to create living creatures; and the 
 latter, to qualify himself for the task, undergoes a severe penance 
 under water.
 
 324 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 identification with the great Spirit of the universe 
 (Paramdtman). 1 
 
 These three manifestations of Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva, whose functions are sometimes interchanged, 2 exhibit 
 the three sides of Hinduism as developed in the epic 
 poems, and still more unfolded in the subsequent Puranas. 
 The first is the religion of activity and works, the second 
 that of faith and love, the third that of austerity, con- 
 templation, and spiritual knowledge. This last is regarded 
 as the highest, because it aims at entire cessation of action 
 and total effacement of all personal entity and identity 
 by absorption into simple SouL 
 
 In medieval times bitter rivalries and disputes sprung 
 up between the upholders of these three doctrines ex- 
 
 1 In the character of 'lord of abstract meditation,' S'iva is called 
 Yogesa, Yogin. Indeed, in some of the Puranas the origin of the Yoga 
 (see p. 94) is ascribed to S'iva. In Book I. 55 and III. 45-50 of the 
 Kumara-sambhava, and in the opening invocation or Nandl of the 
 Mridchakatika, there is a description of S'iva's posture and whole ap- 
 pearance while engaged in profound meditation. He is seated on his 
 hams in the posture called paryan-lcu-landha (p. 93, note 2), with his 
 breath suppressed and his vision fixed on his nose. While in this 
 situation the god of love attempted to inspire him with affection for 
 Parvati, daughter of Himalaya, in order that a son might be born to 
 S'iva for the destruction of the Daitya Taraka, who had extorted, by 
 his penances, so many boons from Brahma, that the whole universe 
 had become subject to him. S'iva, indignant at the interruption of his 
 austeritiesj reduced Kama (Love) to ashes by a flash from his eye. 
 Parvati then herself followed S'iva's example, and commenced a course 
 of penance whereby she conciliated S'iva and became his wife. A son, 
 Karttikeya, ' god of war/ was then born, who killed Taraka. This is 
 the subject of the Kumara-sambhava. The use of ashes rubbed upon 
 the body and of Rudraksha berries, to form rosaries, is of great im- 
 portance in S'iva-worshipi 
 
 2 Thus, Vishnu-worship (like Siva-worship) is connected with the 
 highest spiritual knowledge in the Bhagavad-gita. See also note 3, 
 p. 323. In some parts of India a saint Dattdtreya is revered as 
 combining the Hindu Triad in himself.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE TRIAD. 325 
 
 pressed by the worship of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva 1 
 respectively. Each sect was jealous of the superiority of 
 his own system, and particular Puranas were devoted to 
 
 1 Brahma, ' the Creator,' however, is supposed to have done his 
 work. Hence the worship of this manifestation fell into desuetude, 
 and only in one place do traces of it continue, viz., Pushkara in Ajmlr 
 (Rajputana). Even the worship of the other two manifestations began 
 in time to languish, until that of S'iva was revived by the great teacher 
 and reformer S'an-karadarya (sometimes described as an incarnation of 
 S'iva) in the eighth century ; and that of Vishnu or Krishna by Rama- 
 nuja in the twelfth, and by Vallabhadarya at the end of the fifteenth. 
 S'iva is now the favourite manifestation with Brahmans and the better 
 classes, as Krishna is with the others. Benares is a stronghold of 
 S'iva-worship (whence his name Kasl-natha), but even there Krishna is 
 the popular god of the lower orders. The chiefs of many monasteries 
 in the south of India are to this day called S'an-karac'aryas. A popular 
 festival, or rather fast (upavdsa, vrata), called S'iva-riitri, in honour of 
 the god S'iva (under the form of the Linrga), is kept for a whole day 
 and night, on the i4th of the dark half of the month Magha (January 
 February). The spring festival (utsava), commonly called Hull or 
 HolT, celebrated a few days before the full moon of Phalguna (February 
 March), and still more popular than the last, is said to be in honour 
 of Krishna and the Gopis dancing round fires. Their frolics are com- 
 memorated in a variety of sports and jokes. In some parts of India 
 the Holl corresponds to the Dola-yatra or ' swinging festival,' when 
 figures of Krishna and his favourite wife Radha are swung in an orna- 
 mented swing. The Dlvali (dlpdU) or ' festival of lights,' 'at the end of 
 Asvin and beginning of Kartik (October November), is in honour of 
 Vishnu's wife Lakshmi. Those who worship Durga or Parvati, wife of 
 S'iva, are called Saktas (see note 2, p. 322). Besides the three prin- 
 cipal sects of $aivas, Vaishnavas, and Saktas, three other inferior ones 
 are often named, viz., the Ganapatyas or worshippers of Gana-pati or 
 Ganesa, the Sauryas or Sauras, worshippers of Surya, ' the sun,' and 
 the Blidgavatas, who are supposed to worship Bhagavat, ' the Supreme 
 Being.' There are also the Sikhs of the Paiijab, disciples of Guru 
 Nanak Shah born near Lahore who in the reign of Baber, at the 
 end of the fifteenth century, attempted to combine Hinduism with 
 Islam, and promulgated about the time of our Reformation a book 
 called the Adi Grantha, 'first Book' (prohibiting idol-worship and 
 teaching the unity of the Godhead pantheistically), as a kind of new
 
 326 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the exaltation of the one god or the other. But in the 
 present day the strife of sects has generally given way 
 to universal toleration, and a liberal school of theology 
 has arisen in India. Most thinking men among the 
 educated classes, whatever may be the form of religion to 
 which they nominally incline, regard the names Brahma, 
 Rama, Krishna, and Siva as mere convenient symbols 
 for different manifestations of the one Supreme Being, 
 who may be worshipped under different external forms 
 and by separate methods, according to the disposition, 
 circumstances, and preference (ishti) of his worshippers. 
 They hold, in short, that there are three ways or means of 
 salvation, i. the way of works (/carman), 2. that of faith 
 (bhakti), 3. that of spiritual knowledge (jndna) ; and 
 heaven, they assert, may be reached by any one of these 
 three roads or by a combination of all. The second, 
 however, represents the popular side of the Indian creed, 
 as of all religions, false or true. 
 
 It is as Vishnu, then, that the Supreme Being, accord- 
 ing to the Hindus, exhibited his sympathy with human 
 trials, his love for the human race, his respect for all 
 forms of life, and his condescension towards even the 
 inferior animals as integral parts of his creation. Por- 
 tions of his essence, they assert, became incarnate in 
 the lower animals, as well as in men, to rescue the 
 world in great emergencies. Nine principal occasions 
 have already occurred in which the god has thus 
 interposed for the salvation of his creatures. A tenth 
 
 Veda. He was succeeded by nine other Gurus, each of whom was in 
 some way remarkable. The tenth, Govind, added another ' Book ' to 
 the first, and, meeting with persecution under Aurangzib, converted 
 the Sikhs from peaceable disciples of a peculiar teacher into a military 
 nation and enemies of the Mogul empire. The Sikh chiefs formed 
 themselves into confederacies called Misals, over whom Runjit Sinh 
 eventually became supreme.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 327 
 
 has still to take place. These incarnations are briefly as 
 follows : l 
 
 1. Matsya, the fish. In this Vishnu became a fish to 
 save the seventh Manu, the progenitor of the human race, 
 from the universal deluge. 2 (See the story told p. 393.) 
 
 2. Krirma* the tortoise. In this he descended to aid 
 in recovering certain valuable articles lost in the deluge. 
 Fofc this purpose he stationed himself as a tortoise at 
 the bottom of the ocean, that his back might serve as 
 a pivot for the mountain Mandara, around which the 
 gods and demons twisted the great serpent Vasuki. They 
 then stood opposite to each other, and using the snake 
 as a rope and the mountain as a churning-stick, churned 
 the ocean 4 for the recovery of the Amrita or ' nectar/ the 
 goddess Lakshmi, 5 and twelve other sacred things which 
 had been lost in the depths. 
 
 3. Varaha, the boar. In this he descended to deliver 
 the world from the power of a demon called Hiranyaksha, 
 who had seized the earth and carried it down into the 
 
 1 It should be mentioned that the Bhagavata-purana gives twenty-two 
 incarnations of Vishnu. Muir's Texts IV. 156. 
 
 2 The oldest version of this legend, which furnished the germ of the 
 subsequent incarnation, is found in the S'atapatha-brahmana, as given 
 pp. 30-31 of this volume. The legend is also told in Maha-bharata 
 Vana-parvan 12747, &c., where the fish is represented as an incarnation 
 of Brahma; and in the Bhagavata-purana VIII. 24, 7, where it is 
 identified with Vishnu. Muir's Texts I. 208, &c. 
 
 3 In S'atapatha-brahmana VII. 4, 3, 5, Prajapati (or Brahma) is said 
 to have assumed the form of the tortoise : ' Having assumed the form 
 of a tortoise, Prajapati created offspring. That which he created he 
 made (alcarot] ; hence the word kurma.' Muir's Texts IV. 27. 
 
 4 In this there appears to be an allegory, and the lesson that may be 
 supposed to be taught is, that nothing valuable can be produced or 
 recovered by man without great labour without, as it were, stirring 
 the lowest depths of his whole nature. 
 
 5 Goddess of beauty, and wife of Vishnu, a kind of Hindu Venus, 
 Aphrodite ((/> oS/rjj, ' foam-born ').
 
 328 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 lowest depths of the sea. Vishnu, as a boar, dived into 
 the abyss, and after a contest of a thousand years, slew 
 the monster and raised the earth. 1 In the earlier legends 
 
 O 
 
 the universe is represented as a mass of water, and the 
 earth being submerged, was upheaved by the tusks of 
 the divine boar. According to some, the object of this 
 incarnation was to recover the lost Vedas. It is notice- 
 able that the first three incarnations are all connected 
 with the tradition of a universal deluge. 
 
 4. Nara-sinha, the man-lion. In this he assumed the 
 shape of a creature, half man, half lion, to deliver the 
 world from the tyranny of a demon called Hiranya-kasipu, 
 who had obtained a boon from Brahma that he should 
 not be slain by either god or man or animal. Hence he 
 became so powerful that he usurped the dominion of the 
 three worlds, and appropriated the sacrifices made to 
 the gods. When his pious son Prahlada praised Vishnu, 
 the demon tried to destroy the boy, but Vishnu appeared 
 out of a pillar in the form Nara-sinha and tore Hiranya- 
 kasipu to pieces. 
 
 These first four incarnations are said to have taken 
 place in the Satya or first age of the world. 
 
 5. Vamana, the dwarf. In the second or Treta age 
 Vishnu descended as a dwarf, to deprive the demon 
 Bali (who resembles Havana and Kansa in the stories of 
 
 1 The germs of the fable in the earlier literature are very simple. In 
 Taittiriya-brahmana I. i, 3, 5, we read : 'This universe was formerly 
 water. Prajapati, as a boar, plunged beneath. He found the earth 
 below. Breaking off a portion of her he rose to the surface.' In 
 S'atapatha-brahmana XIV. i, 2, u, occurs the following: 'The earth 
 was formerly so large Emusha, a boar, raised her up ' (Muir's Texts 
 IV. 27). In the Ramayana II. no, Brahma, not Vishnu, is repre- 
 sented as taking the form of the boar : ' All was water only in which 
 the earth was formed. Thence arose Brahma. He, becoming a boar, 
 raised up the earth,' &c. See Muir's Texts I. 53, IV. 36, &c.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 329 
 
 Rama and Krishna) of the dominion of the three worlds. 
 Vishnu presented himself before him as a diminutive man, 
 and solicited as much land as he could step in three paces. 
 When his request was granted he strided in two steps 
 over heaven and earth, but out of compassion left the 
 lower world or Patala in the demon's possession. 1 
 
 6. Parasu-rama, Rama with the axe. In this Vishnu 
 was born as the son of the Brahman Jamad-asmi and 
 
 o 
 
 descendant of Bhrigu, in the second age, to restrain the 
 Kshatriyas from arrogating dominion over the Brahmani- 
 cal caste. Parasu-rarna is said to have cleared the earth 
 twenty-one times of the Kshatriya class 2 (see p. 347). 
 
 1 The germ of this incarnation in the Rig-veda. I quote one pas- 
 sage : ' Vishnu strode over this (universe) ; in three places he planted 
 his step' (I. 22, 17). Hence Vishnu is called Tri-vikratna. See also 
 p. 320 of this volume and Muir's Texts, vol. iv. p. 63. An account of 
 the Dwarf incarnation is given in Ramayana (Schlegel) I. 31, 2, and 
 (Bombay ed.) I. 29, 2, &c. (Gorresio I. 32, 2). It is noticed in the 
 Maha-bharata, S'anti-parvan 12943, &c., Vana-parvan 484, &c. 
 
 2 Though now regarded as the mythical type of Brahmanism, arrayed 
 in opposition to the military caste, he was probably, in the first instance, 
 the hero of a quarrel caused by a Kshatriya stealing a cow from a 
 Brahman named Jamad-agni. In revenge, his son Parasu-rama slew 
 the Kshatriya, upon which the other Kshatriyas murdered Jamad-agni, 
 and a fierce contest ensued between his son and the murderers. All 
 this points to the historical fact of constant struggles between the two 
 leading classes, and it may be inferred from the circumstance that 
 Parasu-rama is described as fighting with (and conquered by) Rama- 
 dandra, as well as with Bhishma in the Maha-bharata, that the 
 Kshatriyas held their own if they did not gain the upper hand. The 
 story of Parasu-rama is told in the Vana-parvan 11071, &c., and in 
 the S'anti-parvan 1707, &c. ; also in the ninth book of the Bhagavata 
 and in the Padma and Agni Puranas. In the Vana-parvan 8679, 
 Parasu-rama is described as struck senseless by Rama-c'andra. The 
 Udyoga-parvan 7142, &c., relates the long single combat between 
 Parasu-rama and Bhishma. They both repeatedly strike each other 
 senseless. Ultimately they are persuaded by some Munis to leave off 
 fighting. In Adi-parvan 272-280, the destruction of the Kshatriyas
 
 330 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 7. Rama (commonly called Rama-candra, 1 ' the mild 
 or moon-like Kama'), the hero of the Ramayana, son of 
 king Dasaratha of the Solar race, and therefore a Ksha- 
 triya. Vishnu took this form at the close of the second 
 or Treta age, to destroy the demon Ravana (see p. 343). 
 
 8. Krishna, ' the dark god ' the most popular of all 
 the later deities of India. 2 This incarnation of Vishnu, 
 at the end of the Dvapara or third age of the world, 3 
 
 by Parasu-rama is said to have taken place between the Treta and 
 Dvapara ages. Muir's Texts I. 447. Tradition ascribes the formation 
 of the Malabar coast to Parasu-rama, who is said to have compelled 
 the ocean to retire and to have caused fissures in the western Ghats by 
 blows of his axe. 
 
 1 The addition of Candra, to distinguish this Rama from the other 
 two, is only found in the later literature (see note, p. 360). 
 
 2 Especially in Bengal. In the upper provinces (except at Mathura 
 or Muttra, Krishna's own city), Oude, Behar, and the greater part of 
 Hindustan Proper, the seventh incarnation, Rama-dandra, is principally 
 worshipped. That Krishna-worship is comparatively modern is shown 
 by the fact that in the old Buddhist Sutras the gods reverenced at the 
 time Buddhism arose are named, viz., Brahma, Narayaiia, S'iva, Indra, 
 &c., but not Krishna. 
 
 3 The Kali-yuga or fourth age of the world was supposed to com- 
 mence at the death of Krishna. Hence the events of the Maha-bharata 
 must have taken place during the third or Dvapara age, and those 
 of the Ramayana at the end of the second or Treta age. From the 
 gambling scene in the Second Act of the Mric'c'hakatika, it is probable 
 that the names of the four ages are connected with throws of dice ; 
 Krita being the best throw ; Treta, the throw of three or the second 
 best throw ; and Dvapara, the throw of two or a worse throw ; the 
 worst of all being Kali. The Hindu notion appears to have been that 
 gambling prevailed especially in the Dvapara and Kali Yugas. In 
 the episode of Nala, the personified Dvapara enters into the dice, and 
 the personified Kali into Nali himself, who is then seized with the 
 fatal passion for play. The Hindu idea of a succession of four Yugas 
 or ages, in which a gradual deterioration of the human race takes 
 place, has its counterpart among the Romans in the Golden, Silver, 
 Brazen, and Iron ages, as described in Ovid's Metamorphoses (I. 89, 
 &c.). But the Hindu system of mundane periods is more elaborately
 
 THE EPIC POEMS INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 331 
 
 as the eighth son of Vasu-deva and Devald of the Lunar 
 race, was for the destruction of the tyrant Kansa, the 
 representative of the principle of evil, corresponding to 
 Havana in the previous in carnation. 
 
 The details of the later life of Krishna have been inter- 
 woven with the later portions of the Maha-bharata, but 
 they do not belong to the plot, and they might be omitted 
 without imparing its unity. He is certainly not the hero 
 of the great Epic. He appears as a great chief who takes 
 the part of the real heroes the Panda vas 1 and his 
 claims to deification are often disputed. His earlier days 
 and juvenile feats, though not found in the oldest parts 
 of the Maha-bharata, may be gathered from the Hari-vansa 
 and Puranas, especially the tenth book of the Bhagavata- 
 purana, from which we learn as follows : 
 
 extended, and perhaps agrees better with modern scientific theories 
 (see p. 178, note 2). A Maha-yuga or period of four ages comprises 
 12,000 years of the gods, which (according to the Vishnu- purana) are 
 equal to 12.000x360 (the assumed number of days in an ordinary 
 year), and therefore to 4,320,000 years of mortals, when another cycle 
 of four ages is commenced. One thousand of these periods of four ages 
 constitute a Kalpa or day of Brahma = 4,320,000,000 human years 
 (comprising under it fourteen Manv-antaras or periods presided over 
 by fourteen successive Mantis), after which there is a universal collapse 
 (pratisancara, mahd-pralaya) of all creation including Brahma, Vishnu, 
 S'iva, gods, demons, men, animals into Brahman or simple being. In 
 the present Kalpa or Aeon, six Manus have passed away, of whom 
 the first was Svayambhuva, the present or seventh being Vaivasvata. 
 Manu's account is confused, and some think the periods of his four 
 Yugas are no more than 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 ordinary years 
 respectively (Manu I. 69-71). There is no allusion to mundane periods 
 in the Rig-veda, but there is in the Aitareya-brahmana (VII. 15). The 
 present Kali-yuga is reckoned to have begun February i8th, 3102 
 B.C. at midnight, on the meridian of Ujjayini. Whitney's 2nd Series 
 of Oriental Studies, p. 366 ; Muir's Texts I. 43 ; Weber's Indische 
 Studien I. 286, 460. 
 
 1 Later additions to the Maha-bharata make the Pandavas also incar- 
 nations of certain deities.
 
 332 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Vasu-deva (a descendant of the Yadu who with Puru, as sons of 
 Yayati, formed the two branches of the lunar dynasty) had two wives, 
 Rohim and Devakl. The latter had eight sons, of whom the eighth 
 was Krishna. It was predicted that one of these would kill Kansa, 
 king of Mathura and cousin of Devakl. He therefore imprisoned 
 Vasu-deva and his wife, and slew their first six children. The seventh, 
 Bala-rama, was abstracted from Devaki's womb, transferred to that of 
 Rohini, and thus saved. The eighth was Krishna, born with black 
 skin and the mark called Qrl-vatsa on his breast. 1 His father, Vasu- 
 deva, escaped from Mathura with the child, and, favoured by the gods, 
 found a herdsman named Nanda of the race of the Yadavas whose 
 wife, Yasoda, had just had a son, whom Vasu-deva conveyed to Devakl, 
 after substituting his own son in its place. Nanda took the infant 
 Krishna and settled first in Gokula or Vraja, and afterwards in 
 Vrindavana, where Krishna and Bala-rama grew up together, roaming 
 in the woods, and joining in the sports of the herdsmen's sons. While 
 still a boy, Krishna destroyed the serpent Kaliya, and lifted up the 
 mountain Govardhana on his finger to shelter the GopTs from the 
 wrath of Indra, who, enraged by their love for Krishna, tried to destroy 
 them by a deluge. He is described as sporting constantly with these 
 Gopis or shepherdesses, of whom a thousand became his wives, though 
 only eight are specified, Radha being the favourite. Krishna built 
 Dvaraka in Gujarat, and thither transported the inhabitants of Mathura 
 after killing Kansa. 
 
 According to some, Krishna is not an incarnation of 
 
 o ' 
 
 Vishnu, but Vishnu himself; in which case, Bala-rama, 
 'the strong Kama,' 2 born at the end of the Dvapara or 
 third age of the world, as son of Vasu-deva and Devakl, and 
 
 1 The anniversary of the birthday of Krishna, called Janmashtami, 
 because his birth is said to have occurred on the eighth day of the 
 month Bhadra (August September), is celebrated as a great festival. 
 Professor Weber has lately published some valuable information on 
 this subject. 
 
 2 This third Rama, usually held to be the seventh son of Vasu- 
 deva, and sometimes called Halayudha, ' armed with a plough-shaped 
 weapon,' sometimes Musalin, ' club-armed,' is the Hindu Hercules. 
 In Maha-bharata I. 7308 (as well as in the Vishnu-purana), he is said 
 to have been produced from a white hair of Vishnu, as Krishna was 
 from a black. Elsewhere he is said to be an incarnation of the great 
 serpent S'esha, and in Anusasana-parvan 6163 he is regarded as a
 
 THE EPIC POEMS INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 333 
 
 elder brother of Krishna, is sometimes substituted for 
 Krishna as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. 
 
 9. Buddha. According to the Brahmans, Vishnu as- 
 sumed the form of the great sceptical philosopher, in 
 the fourth age of the world, to delude the Daityas or 
 demons into neglecting the worship of the gods, and 
 thus exposing them to destruction. 
 
 10. Kalld or Kalkin, who is yet to appear at the close 
 of the fourth or Kali age, when the world has become 
 wholly depraved, for the final destruction of the wicked, 
 for the re-establishment of righteousness upon the earth, 
 and the renovation of all creation with a return to a new 
 age of purity (satya-yuga). According to some, he will 
 be revealed in the sky, seated on a white horse, with a 
 drawn sword in his hand, blazing like a comet. 1 
 
 Looking more closely at these ten incarnations, we may 
 observe that in the first three Vishnu is supposed to be 
 present in the body of animals, and in the fourth to take 
 the form of a being half animal, half human. This last 
 may be regarded as a kind of intermediate link, the object 
 
 Naga, or semi-divine being, half man, half serpent ; and at his death 
 (recorded in Mausala-parvan 117), a large Naga is described as coming 
 out of his mouth and entering the ocean. Diodorus Siculus, in his 
 account of the Indians (II. 39), has the following : ' It is said that 
 Hercules also (as well as Aiovvao*, worshipped by the inhabitants of the 
 mountains) lived amongst them j and, like the Greeks, they represent 
 him with a club and lion's skin; and that in strength of body and 
 bravery, he excelled all mortals, and purged the earth and sea from 
 monsters (#?j?/w). And that since he had numerous sons from his 
 many wives, but only one daughter, when they were grown up, he 
 divided the whole of India into equal parts, so that each of his sons 
 should have a kingdom of his own, and his one daughter he made 
 queen. And that he founded many cities, and among them the largest 
 and most celebrated was Palibothra (TlaXi^oBpa) ; and that after his 
 death, he obtained divine honours.' 
 
 1 According to Vishnu-purana IV. 24, he is to be born as Kalki in 
 the family of Vishnu-yasas, an ancient Brahman of S'ambhala.
 
 334 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of which is to prevent too great abruptness in connecting 
 the Deity with the higher forms of worldly existence. 
 From the mixed manifestation of half a lion, half a man, 
 the transition is natural to that of a complete man. The 
 divine essence passing into human forms commences with 
 the smallest type of humanity, represented by a dwarf. 
 Thence it rises to mighty heroes, who deliver the world 
 from the oppression of evil demons and tyrants whose 
 power increases with the deterioration of mankind during 
 the four ages. In the tenth and final manifestation, which 
 remains to be revealed, evil and wickedness are to be 
 entirely rooted out. We see in all this the working of 
 the Hindu idea of transmigration. Even in Manu's time 
 it was an accepted dogma that the souls of men, popularly 
 regarded as emanations from the Deity, might descend 
 into the bodies of animals, or rise to those of higher 
 beings. It was therefore an easy expansion of such a 
 doctrine to imagine the divine Soul itself as passing 
 through various stages of incarnation for the delivery of 
 the world from the effects of evil and sin, and for the 
 maintenance of order in the whole cycle of creation. 
 
 Let me introduce here a curious legend from the Bha- 
 gavata-purana X. Ixxxix. also told in the Prem Sagar. 
 I translate it (with a little amplification) as well illus- 
 trating the distinctive characters of the three gods, 
 Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. (The Sanskrit text is given 
 at p. 516.) 
 
 The great sage Bhrigu, one of the ten Maharshis or primeval patriarchs 
 created by the first Manu (I. 35), was asked which god was the greatest. 
 He said he would endeavour to ascertain, and first went to Brahma ; 
 on approaching whom, he purposely omitted an obeisance. Upon this, 
 the god reprehended him very severely, but was pacified by seasonable 
 apologies. Next he entered the abode of Siva, in Kailasa, and omitted 
 to return the god's salutation. The vindictive deity was enraged, and 
 would have destroyed the sage, but was conciliated by his wife Parvati. 
 Lastly, he repaired to Vaikuntha, the heaven of Vishnu, whom he found
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 335 
 
 asleep with his head on Lakshml's lap. To make a trial of his for- 
 bearance, he boldly gave the god a kick on his breast, which awoke 
 him. Instead of showing anger, however, the god arose, and on seeing 
 Bhrigu, inquired tenderly whether his foot was hurt, and then pro- 
 ceeded to rub it gently. < This,' said Bhrigu, < is the mightiest god ; 
 he overpowers by the most potent of all weapons sympathy and 
 generosity. ' 
 
 The RdmdycMia. 
 
 I proceed now to give a brief account of ValmlkiV 
 poem, the Ramayana (Rdma-ayana, ' the goings or doings 
 of Kama'), which in its present form consists of about 
 24,000 stanzas, mostly in the common heroic Anushtubh 
 metre. 2 
 
 It should be noted in the first place that the purity of 
 
 1 Valmlki is thought to have been born in that part of India which 
 corresponds to Kosala, the chief town of which was Ayodhya (reigned 
 over by Dasaratha, Rama's father), and which was close to the region 
 of Videha, whose king, Janaka, was the father of Sita, and whose con- 
 nection with Yajiiavalkya is described in the Brahmana of the White 
 Yajur-veda, and in some of the Maha-bharata legends. Valmlki himself 
 is believed to have been an adherent of the Black Yajur-veda, and it is 
 certain that the story of Rama was carefully preserved among the Tait- 
 tirlyakas, and that Valmlki interweaves their legends into his narrative. 
 According to Mr. Gust (Calcutta Review XLV.) Valmlki resided on the 
 banks of the Jumna, near its confluence with the Ganges at Allahabad ; 
 and tradition has marked a hill in the district of Banda, in Bundelkund, 
 as his abode. Some actually assert that he began life as a highway 
 robber, but repenting of his misdeeds, betook himself to a hermitage 
 on this hill, where he eventually received Sita, the wife of Rama, when 
 banished by her over-sensitive husband. There were born her two 
 sons, Kusa and Lava (sometimes combined into one compound, thus 
 Kusl-lavau), who were taught to sing the poe.m descriptive of their 
 unknown father's actions, and from whom are traced the proudest 
 Rajput castes. The reviewer thinks it not unlikely that Valmlki may 
 have been contemporaneous with the heroes whom he describes. 
 
 2 The metre in which the greater part of the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata is written is the common S'loka (see my Sanskrit Grammar,
 
 336 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 its text lias been exposed to risks, which the longer Epic 
 has escaped. Its story was more popular and attractive. 
 It was shorter, and far less burdened with digressions ; 
 it had more unity of plot ; its language was simpler and 
 presented fewer difficulties. As a result of these circum- 
 stances it was more easily committed to memory. Hence 
 it happened that, even after the final settlement of its 
 text, it became orally current over a great part of India. 
 We know from the fourth chapter of the first book that 
 it had its minstrels and reciters like the Greek pa^wSoi, 
 and variations in the wording of the narratives became 
 almost unavoidable. In process of time, as written copies 
 of the poem multiplied, the unfettered flow of the common 
 heroic metre facilitated slight alterations and interpola- 
 tions by transcribers who sometimes aimed at being poets 
 themselves. Hence we have at least three versions of 
 the text of the poem : one belonging to Benares and the 
 North-west ; another, which is generally, though not 
 always, more diffuse and open to suspicion of interpola- 
 tions, peculiar to Calcutta and Bengal Proper; and a 
 third, to Western India (Bombay). These principal recen- 
 sions, as well as all the known MSS., whatever may be 
 their occasional variations, 1 divide the poem into seven 
 books, as follows : 
 
 935), in which only five syllables out of sixteen in each line are really 
 fixed. The others may be either long or short. The Indra-vajra variety 
 of Trishtubh is, however, frequently used in the Maha-bharata ; and in 
 the Ramayana, at the end of the chapters, we have often the Jagati 
 (Gram. 937, 941). The former of these has eleven syllables to the 
 half-line, the latter twelve J and the quantity of every syllable being 
 fixed, there is less simplicity and freedom of style. 
 
 1 Professor Weber shows that the variations now discovered in MSS. 
 of the Ramayana in different parts of India are so great, that it is no 
 longer possible to talk of three recensions only. With regard to the 
 Bengal (Gauda) recension, it may be observed that in that part of 
 India, where there is less demand for MSS., learned men have been
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 337 
 
 i. Bala-kanda, the section relating to the boyhood of Rama. 2. Ayo- 
 dhyd-k, descriptive of the transactions in Ayodhya and the banish- 
 ment of Rama by his father, king Dasaratha. 3. Aranya-k, narrating 
 events in the forest-abode of Rama after his banishment, including 
 the carrying off of Slta by Ravana. 4. Kishkindhya-k" ', detailing the 
 occurrences at Kishkindhya, the capital city of Rama's ally Sugrlva. 
 5. Sundara-fi", 'the beautiful section,' giving an account of the miracles 
 by which the passage of the straits and the arrival of the invading 
 armies in Lan-ka (Ceylon) were effected. 6. Yuddha-k , describing 
 the actual war with Ravana in Lan-ka, the victory over his armies and 
 his destruction by Rama, the recovery of Slta, the return to Ayodhya, 
 the reunion of the four brothers, and final coronation of Rama. 7. Utta- 
 ra-k, narrating the concluding events of the history of Rama after his 
 coronation on returning to Ayodhya, his sensitiveness to the gossip 
 and scandal of the citizens, his consequent banishment of Slta to the 
 hermitage of Valmiki, notwithstanding the absolute certainty of her 
 blameless conduct during her captivity in Ravana's palace, the birth of 
 his twin sons, Kusa and Lava, in the hermitage, his final reunion with 
 her, and translation to heaven. All this supplement to the story has 
 been dramatized by Bhava-bhuti in his Uttara-rama-c'aritra, and the 
 whole previous history in his Maha-vira-c'aritra. 
 
 We have already noted that the seventh Book, as well 
 
 their own scribes, and have always tampered more freely with original 
 texts than the unlearned copyists of the North. In 1806 and 1810 
 Carey and Marshman published the text and translation of two books 
 out of the seven which complete this recension ; but here and there 
 they have followed the northern. Twenty years afterwards Augustus 
 William Schlegel published the text of two books of the northern 
 version, with a Latin translation of the first; and after another in- 
 terval of twenty years Signer Gorresio, a learned Italian scholar, 
 published, at the expense of king Charles Albert, a very beautiful and 
 accurate edition of the Bengal recension, with an Italian translation, 
 which I have generally followed in my summary of the narrative. The 
 remainder of that particular recension, the editing of which was com- 
 menced by Schlegel, was left unprinted. More than ten years have 
 elapsed since editions of the more reliable recension, with commentary, 
 were put forth at Calcutta and Bombay. That of Calcutta is dated 
 Samvat, 1917. Mr. R. Griffith's poetical translation of the Ramayana, 
 which has appeared since, deserves, and has received, the greatest 
 
 commendation. 
 
 Y
 
 338 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 as the introductory chapters of the first, giving a sum- 
 mary of the plot, and the passages identifying Kama 
 with Vishnu or the Supreme Being (such as VI. cii. 12, 
 Gorresio), are in all probability comparatively modern 
 appendages. - 
 
 No suspicion, however, of interpolations and variations 
 avails to impair the sacred character of the poem in the 
 eyes of the natives. 1 Some idea of the veneration in 
 which it is held may be formed from the verses at the 
 end of the introductory chapter, which declare 
 
 He who reads and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana is liberated 
 from all his sins and exalted with all his posterity to the highest 
 heaven. 
 
 Brahma also, in I. 2, 40, is made to utter the following 
 prophecy in the presence of the poet Valmiki : 
 
 As long as the mountains and rivers shall continue on the surface of 
 the earth, so long shall the story of the Ramayana be current in the 
 world. \Tdvat sthdsyanti girayah saritad-ca mahitale Tdvad Rdmdyana- 
 kathd lokesliu pracarishyatiJ\ 
 
 The main story of the poem, 2 although often inter- 
 rupted by long episodes which have little bearing on the 
 plot, flows in a far more continuous and traceable course 
 than that of the Maha-bharata. It may be divided into 
 four principal parts or periods, corresponding to the chief 
 epochs in the life of Kama. I. The account of his youth- 
 
 1 Weber has noted that in the Sarva-darsana-san-graha (p. 72, 1. 15) 
 a passage is quoted from the Skanda-purana which places the Mula- 
 ramayana, ' original Ramayana,' as a S'astra after the four Yedas, the 
 Bharata, and the Panca-ratraka. Some of the Sargas in the Uttara- 
 kanda have no comment as being prdkshipta. 
 
 2 While writing my account of the Ramayana, I have consulted an 
 able article on this poem in the Calcutta Review (XLV.), to which I 
 am under great obligations. The author of the article is my friend 
 Mr. R. N. Gust, a late distinguished member of the Bengal Civil 
 Service.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 339 
 
 ful days ; his education and residence at the court of his 
 father Dasaratha, king of Ayodhya ; his happy marriage 
 to Slta ; and his inauguration as heir-apparent or crown- 
 prince. II. The circumstances that led to his banish- 
 ment ; the description of his exile and residence in the 
 forests of Central India. III. His war with the giants 
 or demons of the South for the recovery of his wife Slta, 
 carried off by their chief Eavana ; his conquest and 
 destruction of Eavana, and reunion with Slta. IV. His 
 return with Slta to Ayodhya ; his restoration to the 
 throne of his father; and his subsequent banishment of 
 Slta. 1 
 
 The poem opens with a description of Ayodhya, 2 and 
 an eulogium on Dasaratha and his ministers, of whom 
 the most eminent were the two prime ministers Vasishtha 
 and Vamadeva. Besides these, there were eight other 
 
 1 According to Professor Lassen the development of the story of 
 Rama may be divided into four stages. The first construction of the 
 poem did not carry the narrative beyond the banishment of Rama to 
 the Himalaya and the circumstances which caused his wife Slta and 
 his brother Lakshmana to follow him into exile. The second changed 
 the place of banishment to the Godavari, and described the protection 
 afforded to the hermits against the attacks of the aborigines. The 
 third embraced the account of the first attempts to subdue the inhabi- 
 tants of the Dekhan. The fourth amplification, which resulted from 
 the knowledge gained by the Hindus of the island of Ceylon, included 
 the description of Rama's expedition against Lan-ka. See Ind. Alt. II. 
 
 P- 5C5- 
 
 2 Although Ayodhya is the base of operations in the Ramayana, yet 
 the poet carries us through a vast extent of country, conducting us 
 now beyond the Sutlej into the Panjab, now across the Vindhya moun- 
 tains into the Dekhan, and now across the Narmada and Godavari to 
 the most southern parts of India, even to the island of Ceylon. The 
 geography of the poem, however, though far more interesting, and 
 extending to wider points in every direction, than that of the Maha- 
 bharata, is not always to be trusted. The river Sarayu is now called 
 the Gogra.
 
 340 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 councillors (amdtyak), agreeably to the precept laid down 
 by Manu (see p. 256, with note 2). These are of course 
 all Brahmans, and direct the affairs of the government. 
 King Dasaratha has no son (VIII. i) a serious calamity 
 in India, where a son is needed for the due performance 
 of the Sraddha (see p. 249, with note i). The usual 
 remedy for this misfortune was a great sacrifice, pur- 
 posely cumbered with a most tedious and intricate cere- 
 monial, not to be performed except by Brahmans, who 
 received in return enormous gifts. The Eakshasas were, 
 of course, eagerly on the watch for any flaw, defect, or mis- 
 take. If any occurred, the whole ceremony was seriously 
 obstructed, and its efficacy destroyed. 
 
 Rishyasrin-ga, therefore, a celebrated sage, is married 
 to Dasaratha's daughter Santa, and induced to assist at 
 the celebration of a great Asva-medha or horse-sacrifice. 
 
 The episode in which the story of this sage is told is 
 very curious : 
 
 It so happened, that in the neighbouring kingdom of An-ga, now 
 known as Bhagulpore, in Bengal, there had been a great dearth, and 
 the king, Lomapada, had been assured that the only chance of obtaining 
 rain was to entice the ascetic Rishyasrin-ga from his retirement, and 
 induce him to marry the king's daughter, or rather the adopted child 
 of Lomapada, and real daughter of Dasaratha. This ascetic was the 
 son of Vibhandaka, a sainted mortal of frightful power, who had pro- 
 duced him apparently without a mother, and had brought him up alone 
 in the wilderness, where he had never seen or even heard of the fascina- 
 tions of women. The plan was to send a party of young females, dis- 
 guised as ascetics, and inveigle the great saint from his retreat. The 
 description of the surprise and unsettlement of mind, the interruption 
 of devotion, and heart's unrest, that befell the unhappy saint when he 
 received his strange guests, is very singular. In the end, the ascetic 
 is seduced from his hermitage, put on board a vessel on the Ganges, 
 married to the king's daughter, and brought to Ayodhya, to conduct 
 the sacrifice. 1 
 
 1 I have consulted here Mr. Gust's article in the Calcutta Review 
 (XLV.). He there remarks that 'we might laugh at the conceit of
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMA Y ANA. 341 
 
 The horse-sacrifice, 1 therefore, was successfully per- 
 formed. We are told that no oblation was neglected, 
 nor any mistake committed ; all was in exact conformity 
 to the Veda (I. xiii. 10). The queen Kausalya, mother 
 of Kama, and the other two queens, Sumitra and Kai- 
 keyi, 2 remain with the slaughtered horse for one whole 
 
 such a case being possible had not a modern traveller in the Levant, 
 Mr. Curzon, assured us of the existence of a similar case in one of the 
 convents of Mount Athos in the nineteenth century. He there found 
 a monk in middle life who had never set eyes on women, nor had any 
 notion of them beyond what could be formed from a black and hideous 
 altar-picture of the Virgin Mary. The cruel traveller, by an accurate 
 description of the many charms of the fair sisterhood, entirely destroyed 
 the poor monk's peace of mind for the future.' 
 
 1 The horse chosen for this purpose was let loose and allowed to roam 
 about for a year. If no one was able to seize it during this period, it 
 was deemed fit for sacrifice ; but the seizure was sometimes effected by 
 the god Indra, whose tenure of heaven was imperilled by the great power 
 acquired by those who completed many Asva-medhas. Another year 
 was consumed in preparations for the sacrifice. The description of the 
 ceremony, in I. xiii., is curious. Twenty-one Yupas or sacrificial posts 
 were erected, to which were tied various animals, and the horse. Near 
 the latter the queens of Dasaratha watched for a whole night. The 
 marrow (vapa) of the horse [patatrin = horse ; according to the com- 
 mentator, pura asvdndm paltshdh sanfitt] was then taken out and 
 dressed, and the horse itself cut up and offered in the fire, and the king, 
 smelling the smoke of the burning flesh, became absolved from his sins. 
 Various other sacrifices seem to have accompanied the Asva-medha, 
 such as the Catushtoma, Jyotishtoma, Atiratra, Abhijit, &c. The 
 Pravargya and Upasad are described in Aitareya-brahmana I. 18, i, 
 23-25. Compare the Asva-medha hymns of the Rig-veda (I. 162, 163) 
 and the rules for this sacrifice given in S'atapatha-brahmana XIII. and 
 Katyayana's Sutras XX. 6, 78. An important part of the proceedings 
 was the feasting and the largesses. King Dasaratha is described as 
 giving to the priests a million cows, a hundred million pieces of gold, 
 and four times as many pieces of silver. 
 
 2 Of Dasaratha's three wives, the chief, Kausalya, is said to have 
 been of his own race and country (probably so called from Kosala, the 
 country of Dasaratha) ; the second, Kaikeyi, was the daughter of Asva-
 
 342 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 night (I. xiii. 36, 37). The gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva, along with Indra and his troop of Maruts, assemble 
 to receive their shares of the sacrificial oblations, and 
 being satisfied, promise four sons to Dasaratha (I. xiv. 9). 
 The scene then changes to the abode of the gods, where 
 a deputation of the deities waits on Brahma, and repre- 
 sents to him that the universe is in danger of being 
 destroyed by the chief of the Kakshasas or evil demons, 
 called Eavana, who from his island- throne in Ceylon 
 menaces earth and heaven with destruction. His power 
 is described as so great that 
 
 Where he is, there the sun does not give out its heat ; the winds 
 through fear of him do not blow ; the fire ceases to burn ; and the 
 ocean, crowned with rolling billows, becomes motionless (I. xiv. 17). 
 
 The secret of this power lay in a long course of aus- 
 terity, 1 which, according to the Hindu doctrine, gained for 
 
 pati, king of Kekaya, supposed to be in the Panjab (whence the king 
 himself is sometimes called Kekaya) ; and the third, Sumitra, was 
 probably from Magadha or Behar. The father of the last is said to 
 have been a Vaisya. It is noticeable that Asva-pati, king of Kekaya, 
 is mentioned in the Brahmana of the White Yajur-veda as nearly 
 contemporary with Janaka, father of Sita. 
 
 1 According to the Hindu theory, the performance of tapas or 
 austerities of various kinds was like making deposits in the bank of 
 heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was accumulated, which enabled 
 the depositor to draw to the amount of his savings, without fear of his 
 drafts being refused payment. The merit and power thus gained by 
 weak mortals was so enormous, that gods as well as men were equally 
 at the mercy of these all but omnipotent ascetics. Hence both Eishis 
 and Rakshasas and even gods, especially S'iva (p. 323), are described 
 as engaging in self-inflicted austerities, in order to set mere human 
 beings an example, or perhaps not to be supplanted by them, or 
 else not to be outdone in aiming at re-absorption into Brahma. In 
 these cases it is incorrect (as remarked by Professor Banerjea) to 
 translate tapas by ' penance,' if expiation for sin is thereby implied. 
 It is simply self-inflicted pain and suffering, with a view to the 
 acquisition of superhuman powers, or of final emancipation. The
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 343 
 
 him who persevered sufficiently, however evil his designs, 
 superiority to the gods themselves, and enabled Havana 
 
 to extort from the god Brahma this remarkable boon 
 
 that neither gods, genii, demons, nor giants should be 
 able to vanquish him. As, however, in his pride, he 
 scorned to ask security from man also, he remained vul- 
 nerable from this one quarter, if any mortal could be 
 found capable of coping with him. While the discussion 
 of the matter is carried on in heaven, Vishnu joins the 
 conclave, and at the request of the other gods, promises 
 to take the form of man that he may kill Eavana, and 
 consents to become incarnate for this purpose, in the 
 family of Dasaratha, king of Ayodhya (Oude), of the 
 Solar dynasty. 
 
 It should be stated here that, according to the legendary 
 history of India, two lines of rulers were originally domi- 
 nant in the north of India, called Solar and Lunar, under 
 whom numerous petty princes held authority and to 
 whom they acknowledged fealty. Under the Solar 
 dynasty the Brahmanical system gained ascendency more 
 rapidly and completely than under the Lunar kings in 
 the more northern districts, where fresh arrivals of martial 
 tribes preserved an independent spirit among the popula- 
 tion already settled in that district. 
 
 This Solar line, though practically commencing with 
 Ikshvaku, is fabled to have derived its origin from the 
 Sun, and even from an earlier source the god Brahma 
 himself. Perhaps the object of the Brahman poet or 
 later constructor of the poem might have been to connect 
 Kama in his then acknowledged character of an incar- 
 
 root tap signifies first 'to burn' and then 'to torment.' It is con- 
 nected with Lat. tepeo. Also with Greek r'eppa, root rap, Qawru, 
 which last originally signified 'to burn,' not 'to bury,' dead bodies. 
 As, however, ' penance ' is derived from poena, ' pain,' it is perhaps a 
 suitable equivalent for the Sanskrit tapas.
 
 344 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 nation of Vishnu, with the solar Vishnu of the Veda (see 
 p. 320). However this may have been, nothing shows 
 more clearly than the legendary pedigree of Eama how 
 the whole poem was subjected to a brahmanizing process. 
 We see from it that the most powerful line of Kshatriya 
 kings is thus made to owe its origin to Brahmanical 
 sages of the greatest sanctity. I here abridge the 
 genealogy : 
 
 Ikshvaku was the son of Manu Vaivasvata (i.e., the seventh Manu, 
 or Manu of the present period). The latter was a son of Vivasvat or 
 the Sun (commonly called Surya). The Sun again was a son of the 
 Muni Kasyapa, who was the son of the Rishi Marie"!, who was the son 
 of Brahma. From Ikshvaku sprang the two branches of the Solar 
 dynasty, viz., that of Ayodhya or Oude, which may be said to have 
 commenced in Kakutstha, the grandson of Ikshvaku (as the latter's 
 son Vikukshi, father of Kakutstha, did not reign), and that of Mithila, 
 or Videha (North Behar and Tirhut), which commenced in another of 
 Ikshvaku's sons, Nimi. Thirty-fifth in descent from Kakutstha came 
 Sagara ; fourth from him Bhagiratha ; third from him Ambarisha ; 
 and fifteenth from him Raghu, who was father of Aja, who was father 
 of Dasaratha. Hence we have the following order of names : Brahma, 
 Maridi, Kasyapa, Vivasvat or Surya, Yaivasvata, Ikshvaku [Vikuk- 
 shi], Kakutstha [ ], 
 
 Sagara [. .], Dilipa, Bhagiratha [. .], Ambarisha [. . .], Nala [ ], 
 
 Raghu, Aja, Dasaratha, Rama. 
 
 This explains why Rama is variously called Kakutstha, Raghava, 
 Dasaratha, Dasarathi, &C. 1 
 
 We are thus brought to the real commencement of the 
 story the birth of Eama. 2 Four sons are born from the 
 
 1 This list agrees with the usual one as exhibited in Prinsep's table ; 
 but there is considerable variation in the genealogy, as given in Rama- 
 yana II. ex. and in the Raghu-vansa. For instance, the son of Iksh- 
 vaku is said to be Kukshi, and his son Vikukshi ; the son of Dilipa is 
 Bhagiratha, and his son is Kakutstha, and his son is Raghu. In the 
 Raghu-vansa, Raghu, father of Aja (V. 36), is said to be the son of 
 Dilipa (III. 13). 
 
 2 In Schlegel's and the Bombay Ramayana, the horoscope of Rama's
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMA Y ANA. 345 
 
 three wives of Dasaratha ; the eldest, Rama, possessing 
 half the nature of Vishnu, from Kausalya ; the second, 
 Bharata, possessing a fourth part, from Kaikeyi ; and the 
 other two, Lakshmana and Satru-ghna, sharing the re- 
 maining quarter between them, from Sumitra. The 
 brothers are all deeply attached to each other ; but 
 Lakshmana (often called Saumitri) is especially the com- 
 panion of Rama, and Satru-ghna of Bharata. 1 
 
 While yet striplings, Rama and his brothers are taken 
 by Visvamitra (see p. 361) to the court of Janaka, king 
 of Mithila or Videha. 2 He had a wonderful bow, once the 
 property of Siva, and had given out, that the man who 
 
 birth is given. His birthday is called Rama-navarm (see p. 365, 
 note i), because he is said (I. xix. i, 2, II. xv. 3) to have been born 
 on the Qth Tithi of Caitra, about the vernal equinox, Jupiter being in 
 Cancer (Karlcata). Weber thinks that the mention of the Zodiacal 
 sign and the planet Jupiter is a proof of the late date to be assigned 
 to the composition of the Ramayana, or at least of this passage, seeing 
 that the Hindus obtained their knowledge of the signs and planets 
 from the Greeks, and these latter only completed their Zodiac in the 
 first century B.C. Weber, however, remarks that in the Ramayana 
 Ceylon is never called Tamraparni or Sinhala (by which name alone it 
 was known to the Greeks), but always Lan-kd, 
 
 1 Although in xix. the birth of Bharata is narrated after that of Rama, 
 he is supposed to have been born after the twins ; and we read in 
 I. xv. that the divine nectar containing the essence of the god Vishnu 
 was drunk by Sumitra next to Kausalya. According to Schlegel, 
 Bharata was eleven months junior to Rama, and the twins only three 
 months. Probably the mother of Bharata was higher in rank than 
 Sumitra, which would give him the precedence. Lakshmana was to 
 Rama like another self (Rdmasya Lakslimano vdhihprdna ivdparah, na 
 ca tena vind nidrdm labhate, na tarn vind mishtam annam updnltam 
 afadti, I. xix. 20-22). 
 
 2 It is evident that Mithila (North Behar and Tirhut), situated quite 
 towards the east, was an Aryan country at this time, for Janaka is 
 described (Ram. I. 12) as conversant with all the S'astras and Vedas. 
 He is a frequent interlocutor in the Brihad-aranyaka.
 
 34^ INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 could bend it should win his beautiful daughter Sita. 1 
 On the arrival of Kama and his brothers the bow is brought 
 on an eight-wheeled platform, drawn by no less than 5000 
 men. Kama not only bends the bow, but snaps it asunder 
 with a concussion so terrible that the whole assembly is 
 thrown to the ground, and the earth quivers as if a 
 mountain were rent in twain. 
 
 Sita thus becomes the wife of Kama, and she remained 
 his one wife the type of wife-like Devotion. Kama also 
 remained her faithful lord the type of all that a husband 
 ought to be in loving tenderness and fidelity. 2 
 
 On their way back to Ayodhya, Dasaratha and his sons 
 are met by Parasu-rama, and here we have introduced 
 the curious episode of the conflict between the second 
 Kama and the previous incarnation of Vishnu who 
 suddenly appears on the scene (though not till various 
 strange omens and awful portents had given notice of his 
 approach) to challenge the young son of Dasaratha. The 
 object of this digression, which is clearly not part of the 
 original story, seems to be, that the ex-incarnation of 
 
 1 Called Sita because not born from a woman, but from a furrow 
 (sita) while Janaka was ploughing (I. Ixvi. 14). This has given rise 
 to a theory that the story of Rama allegorizes the introduction of 
 agriculture into the south of India. The name Sita occurs in 
 Taittiriya-brahmana II. 3, 10, 1-3, as applied to the daughter of 
 Savitri, or Prajapati, and as in love with the Moon, who on his part 
 loves another daughter, S'raddha, but in the end is brought to love 
 Sita. (See also Rig-veda IV. 57, 6, 7; Atharva-veda XL 3, 12.) 
 This is a variation of the older legend which represents Savitri as 
 giving his daughter Surya in marriage to the Moon. This may account 
 for the name Rama-candra, 'moon-like Rama,' which was ultimately 
 given to the hero of the Ramayana. 
 
 2 In this respect he contrasts very remarkably with the five 
 Pandavas the heroes of the Maha-bharata who had one wife be- 
 tween them as common property, besides others on their own private 
 account.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 347 
 
 Vishnu, as a Brahman, may, by acknowledging himself 
 justly superseded by the Kshatriya incarnation, give a 
 Brahmanical sanction to the deification of the second 
 Kama ; but much mythological mysticism is mixed up 
 with the narrative, with the apparent design of obscuring 
 the actual facts of the Kshatriya hero's victory, which 
 could not, if stated in plain language, be otherwise than 
 mortifying to Brahmanical pride. I here abridge the story 
 as told in Ramayana I. Ixxiv., &c. (Schlegel ; Muir's Texts, 
 vol. iv. pp. 176, 177): * 
 
 When the king and his son Rama were returning home after the 
 marriage of the latter to Sita, he was alarmed by the ill-omened sounds 
 uttered by certain birds, which, however, were counteracted, as the sage 
 Vasishtha assured the king, by the auspicious sign of his being perambu- 
 lated by the wild animals of the forest. Then a hurricane shook the 
 earth, uprooting the trees, and thick darkness veiled the sun. Finally, 
 Parasu-rama appeared, fearful to behold, brilliant as fire, with his axe 
 in his hand, and a bow on his shoulder. He was angry at the breaking 
 of the bow of S'iva, of whom he was a disciple. Being reverently received, 
 he proceeded to tell Rama, Dasaratha's son, that he had heard of his 
 success in breaking S'iva's bow, and had brought another bow, once the 
 property of Vishnu (I. Ixxv. 13), which he asked Rama to bend, and 
 fit an arrow on the string, adding, that if he succeeded in bending it, he 
 (Parasu-rama) would challenge him to single combat. Rama replies that 
 though his powers were slighted by his rival, he would give him a proof 
 of his strength. Whereupon, he angrily snatches the bow from Parasu- 
 rama, bends it, fits an arrow on the string, and tells his challenger that 
 he will spare his life because he is a Brahman, but will either destroy his 
 supernatural power of movement, or deprive him of the abode in bliss he 
 had acquired by his austerities. The gods now arrive to be witnesses of 
 the scene. Parasu-rama becomes disheartened, loses his strength, and 
 entreats not to be deprived of his faculty of moving in the air (lest he 
 should be unable to fulfil his promise, made to Kasyapa, to leave the 
 earth every night). He then continues to say that by the bending of 
 the bow he recognizes Rama's divinity, and that he regards defeat by 
 the lord of the three worlds as no disgrace. The second Rama then 
 shoots the arrow, and thereby in some mysterious manner destroys 
 Parasu-rama's abode in the celestial world. 
 
 Dasaratha and his party now return to the capital, and
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 preparations are made for the inauguration of Rama as 
 successor to the throne, when Kaikeyi, mother of his 
 brother Bharata, jealous of the preference shown to the 
 son of Kausalya, demands of the king the fulfilment of a 
 promise, made to her in former years, that he would grant 
 her any two boons she asked. A promise of this kind in 
 Eastern countries is quite inviolable ; and the king being 
 required to banish his favourite son Rama for fourteen 
 years to the forest of Dandaka, and to instal Bharata, is 
 forced to comply. 
 
 Rama, therefore, with his wife Sita and his brother 
 Lakshmana, is banished. They establish themselves in the 
 forest near the river Godavari. 1 Meanwhile the heart- 
 broken king pines away in inconsolable anguish. Here 
 occurs a touching episode (II. Ixiii.). The king, in the 
 midst of his despondency, confesses that his present be- 
 reavement is a punishment for a deed of blood committed 
 by himself accidentally in his youthful days. Thus it 
 happened : (I translate as nearly as I can word for word, 
 in a metre resembling the sixteen-syllable heroic verse of 
 the original, omitting portions here and there) : 
 
 One day when rains refreshed the earth, and caused my heart to swell with joy, 
 When, after scorching with his rays the parched ground, the summer sun 
 Had passed towards the south ; when cooling breezes chased away the heat, 
 And grateful clouds arose ; when frogs and pea-fowl sported, and the deer 
 Seemed drunk with glee, and all the winged creation, dripping as if drowned, 
 Plumed their dank feathers on the tops of wind-rocked trees, and falling showers 
 Covered the mountains till they looked like watery heaps, and torrents poured 
 Down from their sides, filled with loose stones and red as dawn with mineral earth, 
 Winding like serpents in their course ; then at that charming season I, 
 Longing to breathe the air, went forth, with bow and arrow in my hand, 
 To seek for game, if haply by the river-side a buffalo, 
 Or elephant or other animal might cross, at eve, my path, 
 Coming to drink. Then in the dusk I heard the sound of gurgling water : 
 
 1 The Dandaka forest is described as beginning south of the Jumna, and 
 extending to the Godavari. The whole of that country was a wilderness, 
 inhabited by savage tribes (Rakshasas), and infested by wild beasts.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMA Y ANA. 349 
 
 Quickly I took my bow, and aiming toward the sound, shot off the dart. 
 
 A cry of mortal agony came from the spot, a human voice 
 
 Was heard, and a poor hermit's son fell pierced and bleeding in the stream. 
 
 ' Ah ! wherefore then,' he cried, ' am I a harmless hermit's son struck down ? 
 
 Hither to this lone brook I came at eve to fill my water-jar. 
 
 By whom have I been smitten ? whom have I offended ? Oh ! I grieve 
 
 Not for myself or my own fate, but for my parents, old and blind, 
 
 Who perish in my death ! Ah ! what will be the end of that loved pair, 
 
 Long guided and supported by my hand ? this barbed dart has pierced 
 
 Both me and them.' Hearing that piteous voice, I DaSaratha, 
 
 Who meant no harm to any human creature, young or old, became 
 
 Palsied with fear ; my bow and arrows dropped from my senseless hands ; 
 
 And I approached the place in horror ; there with dismay I saw, 
 
 Stretched on the bank, an innocent hermit-boy, writhing in pain and smeared 
 
 With dust and blood, his knotted hair dishevelled, and a broken jar 
 
 Lying beside him. I stood petrified and speechless. He on me 
 
 Fixed full his eyes, and then, as if to burn my inmost soul, he said, 
 
 ' How have I wronged thee, monarch ? that thy cruel hand has smitten me 
 
 Me, a poor hermit's son, born in the forest : father, mother, child 
 
 Hast thou transfixed with this one arrow : they, my parents, sit at home 
 
 Expecting my return, and long will cherish hope a prey to thirst 
 
 And agonizing fears. Go to my father tell him of my fate, 
 
 Lest his dread curse consume thee, as the flame devours the withered wood. 
 
 But first in pity draw thou forth the shaft that pierces to my heart, 
 
 And checks the gushing life-blood, as the bank obstructs the bounding stream.' 1 
 
 He ceased, and as he rolled his eyes in agony, and quivering writhed 
 
 Upon the ground, I slowly drew the arrow from the poor boy's side. 
 
 Then with a piteous look, his features set in terror, he expired. 
 
 Distracted at the grievous crime, wrought by my hand unwittingly ; 
 
 Sadly I thought within myself, how best I might repair the wrong, 
 
 Then took the way he had directed me towards the hermitage. 
 
 There I beheld his parents, old and blind ; like two clipped wingless birds 
 
 Sitting forlorn, without their guide, awaiting his arrival anxiously, 
 
 And, to beguile their weariness, conversing of him tenderly. 
 
 Quickly they caught the sound of footsteps, and I heard the old man say, 
 
 With chiding voice, 'Why hast thou lingered, child ? Quick give us both to drink 
 
 A little water. Long forgetful of us, in the cooling stream 
 
 Hast thou disported ; come in for thy mother yearneth for her son. 
 
 If she or I in ought have caused thee pain, or spoken hasty words, 
 
 Think on thy hermit's duty of forgiveness ; bear them not in mind. 
 
 Thou art the refuge of us refugeless the eyes of thy blind sire. 
 
 Why art thou silent ? Speak ! Bound up in thee are both thy parents' lives.' 
 
 He ceased, and I stood paralyzed till by an effort resolutely 
 
 1 I have omitted the youth's statement that he is not a Brahman, but 
 begotten by a Vai6ya on a Sudra woman (II. Ixiii. 48, &c.).
 
 35 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Collecting all my powers of utterance, with faltering voice I said, 
 
 ' Pious and noble hermit ; I am not thy son ; I am the king : 
 
 Wandering with bow and arrow by a stream, seeking for game, I pierced 
 
 Unknowingly thy child. The rest I need not tell. Be gracious to me.' 
 
 Hearing my pitiless words, announcing his bereavement, he remained 
 
 Senseless awhile ; then drawing a deep sigh, his face all bathed in tears, 
 
 He spake to me as I approached him suppliantly, and slowly said, 
 
 ' Hadst thou not come thyself, to tell the awful tale, its load of guilt 
 
 Had crushed thy head into ten thousand fragments. This ill-fated deed 
 
 Was wrought by thee unwittingly, O king, else hadst thou not been spared, 
 
 And all the race of Raghavas had perished. Lead us to the place : 
 
 All bloody though he be, and lifeless, we must look upon 1 our son 
 
 For the last time, and clasp him in our arms.' Then weeping bitterly 
 
 The pair, led by my hand, came to the spot and fell upon their son. 
 
 Thrilled by the touch, the father cried, 'My child, hast thou no greeting for us? 
 
 No word of recognition : wherefore liest thou here upon the ground ? 
 
 Art thou offended ? or am I no longer loved by thee, my son ? 
 
 See here thy mother. Thou wert ever dutiful towards us both. 
 
 Why wilt thou not embrace me ? speak one tender word. Whom shall I hear 
 
 Beading again the sacred S'astra in the early morning hours ? 
 
 Who now will bring me roots and fruits to feed me like a cherished guest ? 
 
 How, weak and blind, can I support thy aged mother, pining for her son ? 
 
 Stay ! Go not yet to Death's abode stay with thy parents yet one day, 
 
 To-morrow we will both go with thee on the dreary way. Forlorn 
 
 And sad, deserted by our child, without protector in the wood, 
 
 Soon shall we both depart toward the mansions of the King of death.' 
 
 Thus bitterly lamenting, he performed the funeral rites ; then turning 
 
 Towards me thus addressed me, standing reverently near ' I had 
 
 But this one child, and thou hast made me childless. Now strike down 
 
 The father : I shall feel no pain in death. But thy requital be 
 
 That sorrow for a child shall one day bring thee also to the grave.' 
 
 After narrating this affecting incident of his early life, 
 king Dasaratha, struck with remorse, sickens and dies. 2 
 
 O ' 
 
 Soon afterwards the ministers assemble, and decide that 
 Bharata shall assume the government (II. Ixxix.), but he 
 declines to deprive his elder brother Kama of his rightful 
 inheritance, and declares his intention of setting out for 
 
 1 This is literally translated. It is well known that blind people 
 commonly talk of themselves as if able to see. 
 
 2 His body is burnt with much pomp. We have already noted, as a 
 proof of the antiquity of the poem, that his widows are not burnt with 
 him (see p. 312).
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 3 5 I 
 
 the forest with a complete army (catur-an-ga] to bring 
 Kama back, and his determination to undergo in his place 
 the appointed term of fourteen years' exile in the forest 
 (II. Ixxix. 8, 9). 
 
 After some trouble he discovers Kama's retreat at Citra- 
 kuta. 1 There and then he breaks the sad news of his 
 father's death, and entreats him to return to Ayodhya 
 and assume the sovereignty (cii.). 
 
 Next ensues a generous contest between the brothers ; 
 Bharata imploring Rama to accept the throne, and Kama 
 insisting on the duty of fulfilling his father's vow (cvi., 
 cvii.). 
 
 Here occurs the episode in which the Brahman Javali, 
 who is a sort of impersonation of scepticism, tries in a 
 brief address (II. cviii.) to instil atheistic and irreligious 
 sentiments into Kama, hoping to shake his resolution and 
 induce him to accept the kingdom. His speech, which is 
 full of interest as indicating the prevalence of infidel and 
 materialistic doctrines at the time when the brahmanized 
 version of the Kamayana was completed, may be thus 
 abridged : 
 
 You ought not by abandoning your paternal kingdom to enter upon 
 a wrong road, beset with difficulties and troubles. Permit yourself to 
 be enthroned in Ayodhya. Dasaratha (your father) is dead and is now 
 nothing to you, nor you to him. Any one who feels attachment for 
 any other person is insane, since no one is anything to any other. I 
 
 1 The isolated hill Citra-kuta is the holiest spot of the worshippers 
 of Rama, and is crowded with temples and shrines of Rama and 
 Lakshmana. Every cavern is connected with their names; the heights 
 swarm with monkeys, and some of the wild-fruits are still called Slta- 
 phal. It is situated on a river called the Pisuni, described as the 
 Mandakini (II. xcv.), fifty miles south-east of the town of Bandah in 
 Bundelkund, lat. 25. 12, long. 80. 47. The river is lined with ghats 
 and nights of stairs suitable for religious ablutions. It is worthy of 
 note that at some holy places all distinctions of caste are laid aside by 
 the Hindus.
 
 35 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 grieve for those who swerve not from virtue and justice ; such persons 
 suffer affliction here, and when they die incur annihilation. Men are 
 careful to offer oblations to their progenitors, but what can a dead man 
 eat ? If an oblation eaten here by one person, passes into the body of 
 another, then let a S'raddha be offered to a man who is travelling 
 abroad ; he need not eat upon his journey (cf . the doctrine of the Car- 
 vakas, p. 120). The books composed by theologians (in which men 
 are enjoined to) worship, give gifts, offer sacrifice, practise austerities, 
 abandon the world, are mere artifices to draw forth gifts (ddna-sam- 
 vanana). Make up your mind (kuru buddhim) that no one exists here- 
 after. Have regard only to what is visible and perceptible by the 
 senses (pratyaksham). Cast everything beyond this behind your back 
 (prishthatah Icuru). (See Dr. Muir's article on Indian Materialists, 
 Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. xix. p. 303. ) 
 
 Rama's reply, in which he indignantly rebukes Javali, 
 is a noble vindication of religion and faith, but his refer- 
 ence to Buddhism and his designation of Buddha himself 
 as a (Jora or thief (II. cviii. 33) must be regarded as 
 interpolations. 1 
 
 In the end Bharata desists from pressing his brother to 
 accept the throne, but only consents to take charge of the 
 kingdom as a deposit. He bears away Kama's shoes on 
 his head in token of this (cxiii. i), and takes up his abode 
 outside Ayodhya, at Nandi-grama, until the return of the 
 rightful king, never transacting any business without first 
 laying it before the shoes (cxv.). Before dismissing him, 
 the forgiving Rama entreats him not to indulge angry 
 feelings towards his mother for having caused the family 
 calamities, in these words : 
 
 Cherish thy mother Kaikeyi, show no resentment towards her (II. 
 cxii. 27). 
 
 After Bharata's departure ten years of Rama's banish- 
 ment pass in moving from one hermitage to another. In 
 
 1 Other allusions to rationalistic doctrines will be found scattered 
 throughout the Ramayana.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 353 
 
 the description of the quiet life of the exiles we find that 
 their morning and evening devotions are never omitted, 
 and that Sita dutifully waits on her husband and brother- 
 in-law, never eating till they have finished. 1 When they 
 travel, Kama walks first, Sita in the middle, and Laksh- 
 mana behind (III. xv. i ). At length they move westward 
 to visit the hermitage of the sage Agastya, near the 
 Vindhya mountains. He advises Kama to live for the 
 remainder of his exile in the neighbourhood of Janastnana 
 at Pancavati on the Grodavari 2 (xix.). This district is 
 infested by Hakshasas, and, amongst others, by Havana's 
 sister, Surpa-nakha, who becomes smitten with love for 
 Rama. He of course repels her, telling her that he is 
 already married (xxiv. i ) ; but this only rouses the 
 jealousy of Surpa-nakha, who makes an attack on Sita, 
 and so infuriates the fiery Lakshmana that he thought- 
 lessly cuts off her ears and nose 3 (xxiv. 22). Surpa- 
 nakha, smarting with pain and bent on revenge, repairs 
 to her brother Havana, the demon-monarch of Ceylon. 
 
 The description of Havana (III. xxxvi. ; Bombay ed. 
 xxxii.) is as follows: 
 
 This mighty demon had ten faces, twenty arms, copper- coloured eyes, 
 a huge chest, and bright teeth like the young moon. His form was as 
 a thick cloud, or a mountain, or the god of death with open mouth. 
 He had all the marks of royalty ; but his body bore the impress of 
 wounds inflicted by all the divine arms in his warfare with the gods. 
 It was scarred by the thunderbolt of Indra, by the tusks of (Indra's) 
 elephant Airavata, and by the discus of Vishnu. His strength was so 
 great that he could agitate the seas and split the tops of mountains. 
 He was a breaker of all laws, and a ravisher of other men's wives. 
 He once penetrated into Bhogavatl (the serpent -capital of Patala), 
 
 1 This custom remains unaltered to the present day. Compare Manu 
 IV. 43 : ' Let him not eat with his wife, nor look at her eating.' 
 
 2 A spot now known as Nasik, in the Bombay Presidency. 
 
 3 It was from this circumstance that Pandavatl is now called Nasik 
 
 (ndsika, ' the nose '). 
 
 Z
 
 354 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 conquered the great serpent Yasuki, and carried off the beloved wife of 
 Takshaka. He defeated Yaisravana (i.e., his own brother Kuvera, the 
 god of wealth), and carried off his self-moving chariot called Pushpaka. 
 He devastated the divine groves of Citra-ratha, and the gardens of the 
 gods. Tall as a mountain peak, he stopped with his arms the sun and 
 moon in their course, and prevented their rising. The sun, when it 
 passed over his residence, drew in its beams in terror. He underwent 
 severe austerities in the forest of Gokarna for ten thousand years, 
 standing in the midst of five fires (see p. 95) with his feet in the air; 
 whence he was released by Brahma, and obtained from him (among 
 other boons, see p. 343) the power of taking what shape he pleased. 1 
 
 The better to secure the mighty Havana's co-operation, 
 Surpa-nakha succeeds in inspiring him with a passion for 
 Sita (III. xxxviii. 17), whom he determines to carry off. 
 Having with difficulty secured the aid of another demon, 
 Marica who was the son of the Tadaka (I. xxvii. 8) 
 formerly killed by Rama Ravana transports himself and 
 his accomplice in the aerial car Pushpaka to the forest 
 near Rama's dwelling. Marica then assumes the form of 
 a beautiful golden deer, which so captivates Sita (III. 
 xlviii. 1 1) that Rama is induced to leave her with Laksh- 
 mana, that he may catch the deer for her, or kill it. 
 Mortally wounded by his arrow, the deer utters cries for 
 help, feigning Rama's voice, which so alarms Sita that 
 
 1 One cannot help comparing part of this description with Milton's 
 portrait of Satan. The majestic imagery of the English poet stands 
 out in striking contrast to the wild hyperbole of Yalmiki. It appears 
 from III. liii. (Gorresio) that Ravana was the son of Yisravas, who was 
 the son of the sage Pulastya, who was the son of Brahma. Hence 
 Ravana was the brother of the god Kuvera (though by a different 
 mother), and in verse 30 he calls himself his brother and enemy. Both 
 he and Kuvera are sometimes called Paulastya. Yibhishana and 
 Kumbha-karna were also brothers of Havana, and, like him, propitiated 
 Brahma by their penances, and, like him, obtained boons, but the boon 
 chosen by Yibhishana was that he should never swerve from virtue, 
 and by Kumbha-karna (whose size was gigantic and appetite voracious) 
 that he should enjoy deep sleep for long periods of time. (See Maha- 
 bharata III. 15916.)
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 355 
 
 she persuades Lakshmana against his will to leave her 
 alone and go to the assistance of his brother. Meanwhile 
 Bavaria approaches in the guise of a religious mendicant. 
 All nature seems petrified with terror as he advances (III. 
 lii. 10, n); and when Sita's eyes fall on the stranger, 
 she starts, but is lulled to confidence by his mendi- 
 cant's dress, and offers him food and water. Sud- 
 denly Ravana declares himself. Then throwing off his 
 disguise he avows his intention to make her his queen. 
 Sita's indignation bursts forth, but her wrath is powerless 
 against the fierce Ravana, who takes her up in his arms, 
 places her in his self-moving car, and bears her through 
 the sky to his capital. As Sita is carried along, she in- 
 vokes heaven and earth, mountains and streams (Iv. 43). 
 The gods and saints come to look on, and are struck with 
 horror, but they stand in awe of the ravisher, and know 
 that this is part of the plan for his destruction. All 
 nature shudders, the sun's disc pales, darkness over- 
 spreads the heavens (Iviii. 16-43). ^ * s the short-lived 
 triumph of evil over good. Even the great Creator 
 Brahma rouses himself, and exclaims, ' Sin is consum- 
 mated ' (III. Iviii. 17). 
 
 Arrived in the demon-city, Ravana forces Sita to inspect 
 all the wonders and beauties of his capital (III. Ixi.), and 
 then promises to make them hers, if she will consent to 
 become his queen. Indignantly rejected, he is enraged, 
 and delivers her over to the guardianship of a troop of 
 Rakshasis or female furies, who are described as horrible 
 in appearance, and cannibal in their propensities (III. Ixii. 
 29-38). Tormented by them, she seems likely to die of 
 despair, but Brahma in compassion sends Indra to her 
 with the god of sleep, 1 and a vessel containing celestial 
 food (Ixiii. 7, 8) to support her strength. 
 
 1 Similarly in the Odyssey (IV. 795) Minerva sends a dream to 
 console and animate Penelope.
 
 35 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Terrible is the wrath of the usually gentle Rama when 
 on his return he finds that Sita is carried off by Havana 
 (Ixix.). He and Lakshmana at once set off on a long 
 search, determined to effect her rescue. After many ad- 
 ventures, in the course of which they have a battle with 
 a headless fiend called Kabandha, who opposes their pro- 
 gress, but is killed, and then restored to life by them (III. 
 Ixxiv.), they make an alliance with Sugriva, king of the 
 monkeys (foresters), and assisted by Hanumat, one of the 
 monkey-generals, and by Havana's brother Vibhishana, in- 
 vade Lan-ka, the capital of Havana, in Ceylon (IV. Ixiii.). 
 
 To transport the army across the channel, a bridge is 
 constructed under the direction of the monkey-general 
 Nala, son of Visva-karman : 
 
 Thousands of monkey bridge- builders, flying through the sky in 
 every direction, tear up rocks and trees, and throw them into the 
 water. In bringing huge crags from the Himalayas, some are acci- 
 dentally dropped, and remain to this day monuments of the exploit. 
 At length a pier l is formed twenty Yojanas long and ten wide (V. 
 xcv. 11-15), by which the whole army crosses, Vibhishana taking the 
 lead. The gods, Rishis, Pitris, &c., look on, and utter the celebrated 
 prophecy 
 
 ' As Jong as the sea shall remain, so long shall this pier (setu) endure, 
 and the fame of Rama be proclaimed.' 2 
 
 1 The god of the ocean at first objected to a regular embankment 
 (V; xciVi 8), though a pier (described as a setu) was afterwards con- 
 structed : the line of rocks in the channel is certainly known in India 
 as Rama-setu. In maps it is called 'Adam's bridge.' Everywhere in 
 India are scattered isolated blocks, attributed by the natives to Rama's 
 bridge-builders. More than this, the hill Govardhana, near Muttra, 
 and the whole Kymar range in Central India are firmly believed to 
 have arisen from the same cause. 
 
 2 ' In the midst of the arm of the sea is the island Ramesurum 
 (Ramesvara), or the pillar of Rama, of as great repute and renown as 
 the pillars of the western Hercules. There to this day stands a temple 
 of massive Cyclopean workmanship, said to have been built by the 
 hero, the idol of which is washed daily with water from the Ganges.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 357 
 
 After various engagements, described with much weari- 
 some exaggeration, the great battle between Eama and 
 Havana takes place : 
 
 The gods assemble to take the side of the former, and all the demons 
 and evil spirits back their own champion (VI. Ixxxvii. 8). Havana is 
 mounted on a magic car, drawn by horses having human faces (manu- 
 shyavadanair hayaih] ; and, in order that the two champions may fight 
 on an equality, Indra sends his own car, driven by his charioteer 
 Matali, for the use of Rama. Both armies cease fighting, that they 
 may look on (xci. 2) ; but the gods and demons in the sky, taking the 
 part of either warrior, renew their ancient strife. 1 The heroes now 
 overwhelm each other with arrows. Rama cuts off a hundred heads 
 from Ravana successively ; but no sooner is one cut off than another 
 appears in its place 2 (xcii. 24), and the battle, which has already lasted 
 seven days and seven nights without interruption, seems likely to be 
 endlessly protracted, until Matali informs Rama that Ravana is not 
 vulnerable in the head. Thereupon Rama shoots off the terrible arrow 
 of Brahma, 3 given to him by the sage Agastya, and the demon-king 
 falls dead (xcii. 58). 
 
 From the highest point is a commanding view of the ocean, and the 
 interminable black line of rocks stretching across the gulf of Manaar. 
 Thither, from all parts of India, wander the pilgrims, who are smitten 
 with the wondrous love of travel to sacred shrines. From Chuteer- 
 kote (Citra-kuta), near the Jumna, it is roughly calculated to be one 
 hundred stages. We have conversed with some who have accomplished 
 the great feat : but many never return ; they either die by the way, 
 or their courage and strength evaporate in some roadside hermitage. 
 Whatever may be its origin, there is the reefy barrier, compelling every 
 vessel from or to the mouths of the Ganges, to circumnavigate the 
 island of Ceylon.' Calcutta Review, XLV. 
 
 1 This is just what takes place in the Iliad before the great battle 
 between Achilles and Hector, the gods taking their respective places 
 on either side (II. XX.). It is interesting to compare the simple 
 Homeric narrative with the wild improbabilities of the Indian poem. 
 
 2 This reminds one of Hercules and the Hydra. 
 
 3 Here called paitamaham astram, and described as having the wind 
 for its feathers, the fire and the sun for its point, the air for its body, 
 and the mountains Meru and Mandara for its weight (VL xcii. 45). 
 It had the very convenient property of returning to its owner's quiver
 
 358 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Great portents and prodigies precede the fall of Havana, 
 and when the victory is consummated a perfect deluge of 
 flowers covers the conqueror. The generous Kama causes 
 magnificent obsequies to be performed over the body of 
 his enemy, which is duly consumed by fire, 1 and then 
 places Vibhishana on the throne of Lan-ka (VI. xcvii. 15). 
 Kama then sends Hanumat with a message to Sita, and 
 Vibhishana brings her into his presence in a litter (sivika); 
 but Kama allows her to come before him on foot, that 
 she may be seen by all the army. 
 
 The monkeys crowd round her, admiring her incomparable beauty, 
 the cause of so much toil, danger, and suffering to themselves. 2 On 
 seeing her, Rama is deeply moved. Three feelings distract him joy, 
 grief, and anger (xcix. 19) and he does not address his wife. Sita, 
 conscious of her purity, is hurt by his cold reception of her, and bursts 
 into tears, uttering only the words, ha aryaputra, ' alas ! my husband ! ' 
 Rama then haughtily informs her, that having satisfied his honour by 
 the destruction of the demon who had wronged his wife, he can do no 
 more. He cannot take her back, contaminated as she must certainly 
 be (VI. c.). Sita asserts her innocence in the most dignified and touch- 
 ing language, and directs Lakshmana to prepare a pyre, that she may 
 prove her purity. She enters the flames, invoking Agni (ci.) ; upon 
 which all the gods with the old king Dasaratha appear, and reveal to 
 Rama his divine nature, 3 telling him that he is Narayana, and that 
 Sita is Lakshml (cii.). Agni, the god of fire, then presents himself, 
 holding Sita, whom he places in Rama's arms unhurt. 4 Thereupon 
 
 after doing its work. There appear to have been various forms of this 
 unerring weapon. 
 
 1 Contrast this with Achilles' treatment of the fallen Hector. 
 
 2 The whole scene is very similar to that in Iliad III. 121, &c., 
 where Helen shows herself on the rampart, and calls forth much the 
 same kind of admiration. 
 
 3 He never appears to be conscious of it, until the gods enlighten 
 him. (See VI. cii. 10, cxix.) This is not the case with Krishna in 
 the Maha-bharata. It is probable, as we have seen, that all these 
 passages are later additions. 
 
 4 The whole description of Sita's repudiation by Rama is certainly 
 one of the finest scenes in the Ramayana.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 359 
 
 Rama is overjoyed, and declares that he only consented to the ordeal 
 that he might establish his wife's innocence in the eyes of the world 
 (ciii.). Dasaratha then blesses his son, gives him good advice, and 
 returns to heaven (civ.) ; while Indra, at the request of Rama, restores 
 to life all the monkeys killed during the war (cv.). 
 
 Kama and Lakshmana, along with Vibhishana, Sugriva, 
 and the allies, now mount the self-moving car Pushpaka, 
 which is described as containing a whole palace within 
 itself, and set out on their return to Ayodhya ; Kama, to 
 beguile the way as they travel through the sky, recount- 
 ing to Sita all the scenes of their late adventures lying 
 beneath their feet 1 (cviii.). On their reaching the hermi- 
 tage of Bharadvaja at Prayaga, the car is stopped ; and 
 the fourteen years of banishment having now expired (cix.), 
 Hanumat is sent forward to announce their return to 
 Bharata. Kama and the three brothers are now once 
 more reunited, and, accompanied by them and by Sita 
 and the monkeys, who assume human forms (cxii. 28), he 
 makes a magnificent entry into Ayodhya. He is then 
 solemnly crowned, associates Lakshmana in the empire, 
 and, before dismissing his allies, bestows on them splendid 
 presents (cxii.). Hanumat, at his own request, receives as 
 a reward the gift of perpetual life and youth (cxii. 101). 
 Every one returns happy and loaded with gifts to his 
 own home, and Kama commences a glorious reign at 
 Ayodhya (cxiii.). 
 
 Such is a brief sketch of the Kamayana, omitting the 
 Uttara-kanda or supplementary chapters, which contain 
 the concluding events in the life of Kama (see p. 337). 
 
 1 Kalidasa devotes nearly the whole of the thirteenth chapter of his 
 Raghu-vansa to this subject, which he makes a convenient pretext for 
 displaying his geographical and topographical knowledge, as in the 
 Megha-duta. Bhava-bhiiti does the same in the seventh act of his 
 drama, Maha-vira-daritra ; and Murari, the same in his play on the 
 same subject.
 
 360 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Much of the story, exaggerated as its later details are, 
 probably rests, as we have already pointed out, on a 
 foundation of historical truth. 
 
 It is clear, too, that a moral lesson is intended to be 
 conveyed by the whole narrative. Under the story of the 
 conflict between the armies of the noble Kama and the 
 barbarous races of the South, figured by the Eakshasas, 
 there appears to lie a typical representation of the great 
 mystery of the struggle ever going on between the powers 
 of good and evil. With regard, however, to any other 
 allegorical and figurative ideas involved, as, for example, 
 that Kama is a mere impersonation of the Solar energy ; l 
 Sita, of agriculture or of civilization introduced into the 
 South of India by immigrants from the North ; the Eak- 
 shasas, of night, darkness or winter whatever ingenuity 
 there may be in any or all of these theories, it seems 
 very questionable whether any such conceptioDS ever 
 entered into the mind of the author or authors of any 
 part of the poem. 
 
 1 Certainly Rama belongs to the Solar race of kings, but this points 
 to the connection of the Epic Vishnu (of whom Rama came to be 
 regarded as an incarnation) with the Solar Vishnu of the Veda. Pro- 
 fessor Weber remarks that as Rama is at a later period called Rama- 
 candra, and is even in one place called Candra alone, the mildness so 
 conspicuous in his character might be explained by supposing that he 
 was originally a kind of moon-genius, and that the legend in the Tait- 
 tirlya-brahmana (see note i, p. 346) representing the love of Slta (the 
 field-furrow) for the Moon might be regarded by some zealous mytho- 
 logists as the first germ of the story of the Ramayana ; the beautifying 
 ointment (an-ga-raga) which Anasuya, wife of Atri, poured over the 
 limbs of Slta (III. 2), representing the dew spread over the furrow in 
 which the moonlight is reflected. Weber, however, thinks that as the 
 name Rama-<5andra was not given to the second Rama till a late date 
 (the first application of it occurring in Bhava-bhiiti's Maha-vlra-caritra 
 III. 1 8), the converse is rather true, viz., that a poetical spirit among 
 the Brahmans connected Rama with the Moon merely on account of the 
 mildness of his character.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 361 
 
 Time would fail, if we were to attempt even the briefest 
 epitome of all the episodes in the Kamayana. I note two 
 others in addition to those already given. That of Visva- 
 mitra (I. 51-65), which is one of the most interesting, may 
 be thus abridged : l 
 
 Visvamitra, son of Gadhi, was a prince of the Lunar race, sovereign 
 of 3anoj, and the district of Magadha, He had a tremendous conflict 
 with the Brahman Vasishtha for the possession of the cow of plenty 
 (Kamadhenu, also called S'avala), which no doubt typified the earth (go) 
 or India. At the command of Vasishtha, the cow created hordes of 
 barbarians, such as Pahlavas (Persians), S'akas (Scythians), Yavanas 
 (Greeks), Kambojas, &c., by whose aid Vasishtha conquered Visvamitra. 
 Hence the latter, convinced of the superior power inherent in Brah- 
 manism, determined to raise himself to that dignity, and in order to 
 effect this object, increased the rigour of his austerities for thousands 
 of years. The gods, who always had a hard struggle to hold their own 
 against resolute ascetics, did what they could to interrupt him, and 
 partially succeeded. Visvamitra yielded for a time to the seductions of 
 the nymph Menaka, sent by them to entice his thoughts towards sensual 
 objects. A daughter (S'akuntala) was the result of this temporary back- 
 sliding. However, in the end, the obstinate ascetic was too much for the 
 whole troop of deities. He obtained complete power over his passions, 
 and when the gods still refused to brahmanize him, he began creating 
 new heavens and new gods, and had already manufactured a few stars, 
 when the celestial host thought it prudent to concede the point, and 
 make him a veritable Brahman. 
 
 Another curious episode is the story of the Ganges 
 (I. 36-44) : 2 ~ 
 
 Gan-ga, the personified Ganges, was the eldest daughter of Himavat, 
 lord of mountains, her younger sister being lima. Sagara, a king of 
 Ayodhya, of the Solar race, had 60,000 sons, who were directed by their 
 father to look for a horse which had been stolen by Kakshasa at an 
 Asva-medha or horse-sacrifice. Having first searched the earth unsuc- 
 cessfully, they proceeded to dig up the ground towards the lower regions. 
 
 1 The episode of Visvamitra includes under it the story of Ambarlsha 
 given at p. 27 of this volume. 
 
 2 The story is also told in the Maha-bharata, Vana-parvan 9920, &c.
 
 362 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Meeting with the sage Kapila, they accused him of the theft, which 
 enraged him to such a degree, that without more ado he reduced them 
 all to ashes. Sagara's grandson some time afterwards found their 
 remains, and commenced performing the funeral obsequies of his rela- 
 tives, but was told that it was necessary for Gan-ga to water the ashes 
 with her sacred stream. Neither Sagara, however, nor his grandson 
 could devise any means for effecting the descent of the heavenly river 
 It was reserved for his great-grandson, Bhagiratha, by his austerities 
 to bring down the sacred stream from heaven. In her descent she 
 fell first with great fury on the head of S'iva, who undertook to break 
 her fall. 
 
 Mr. Ralph Griffith has translated the description of this descent 
 with great skill and taste. I subjoin a portion of his version (vol. i. 
 p. 194) : 
 
 On S'iva's head descending first 
 
 A rest the torrents found, 
 Then down in all their might they burst 
 
 And roared along the ground. 
 On countless glittering scales the beam 
 
 Of rosy morning flashed, 
 Where fish and dolphins through the stream 
 
 Fallen and falling dashed. 
 Then bards who chant celestial lays, 
 
 And nymphs of heavenly birth, 
 Flocked round upon that flood to gaze 
 
 That streamed from sky to earth. 
 The gods themselves from every sphere, 
 
 Incomparably bright, 
 Borne in their golden cars drew near 
 
 To see the wondrous sight. 
 The cloudless sky was all aflame 
 
 "With the light of a hundred suns, 
 Where'er the shining chariots came 
 
 That bore those holy ones. 
 So flashed the air with crested snakes 
 
 And fish of every hue, 
 As when the lightning's glory breaks 
 
 Through fields of summer blue. 
 And white foam-clouds and silver spray 
 
 Were wildly tossed on high, 
 Like swans that urge their homeward way 
 
 Across the autumn sky.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 363 
 
 Then, by further austerities, Bhagiratha forced the sacred river to 
 flow over the earth, and to follow him thence to the ocean (therefore 
 called Sagara), and thence to the lower regions (Patala), where she 
 watered the ashes of Sagara's sons, and became the means of con- 
 veying their souls to heaven. Hence a common name for the Ganges 
 is Bhagirathl. 
 
 Another name for the river Ganges is Jahnavi, because 
 in its course it inundated the sacrificial ground of the 
 sage Jahnu, who thereupon without any ceremony drank 
 up its waters, but consented to discharge them again 
 from his ears. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wilderness of exaggeration and 
 hyperbole through which the reader of the Indian Epics 
 has occasionally to wander, there are in the whole range 
 of the world's literature few more charming poems than 
 the Ramayana. The classical purity, clearness, and sim- 
 plicity of its style, the exquisite touches of true poetic 
 feeling with which it abounds, its graphic descriptions of 
 heroic incidents and nature's grandest scenes, the deep 
 acquaintance it displays with the conflicting workings 
 and most refined emotions of the human heart, all entitle 
 it to rank among the most beautiful compositions that 
 have appeared at any period or in any country. It is like 
 a spacious and delightful garden ; here and there allowed 
 to run wild, but teeming with fruits and flowers, watered 
 by perennial streams, and even its most tangled thickets 
 intersected with delightful pathways. The character of 
 Kama is nobly pourtrayed. It is only too consistently 
 unselfish to be human. We must, in fact, bear in mind 
 that the poet is bent on raising his hero to the rank of a 
 god. Yet though occasionally dazzled by flashes from 
 his superhuman nature, we are not often blinded or 
 bewildered by it. At least in the earlier portion of the 
 poem he is not generally represented as more than a 
 heroic, noble-minded, pious, and virtuous man a model
 
 364 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 son, husband, brother whose bravery, unselfish gene- 
 rosity, filial obedience, tender attachment to his wife, 
 fraternal affection, and freedom from all resentful feelings, 
 we cannot help admiring. When he falls a victim to the 
 spite of his father's second wife, he cherishes no sense of 
 wrong. When the sentence of banishment is pronounced, 
 not a murmur escapes his lips. In noble language he 
 expresses his resolution to sacrifice himself rather than 
 allow his parent to break his pledged word ; and he per- 
 sists in this determination, notwithstanding the entreaties 
 of his mother Kausalya, the taunting remarks of his fiery 
 brother Lakshmana, and his own anxious fear for the 
 safety of his wife Sita, who resolves to accompany him. 
 Again, after the death of his father, when Bharata urges 
 Kama to accept the government, and when all the citizens 
 add their entreaties, and the atheistical Javali his sophis- 
 tical arguments (see p. 351), Kama replies : 
 
 There is nothing greater than truth ; and truth should be esteemed 
 the most sacred of all things. The Yedas have their sole foundation 
 in truth. Having promised obedience to my father's commands, I will 
 neither, through covetousness nor forgetfulness nor blind ignorance, 
 break down the barrier of truth (II. cix. 17). 
 
 As to Sita, she is a paragon of wife-like virtues. Her 
 pleadings for permission to accompany her husband into 
 banishment breathe such noble devotion to her lord and 
 master, that I close my examples with a few extracts : J - 
 
 A wife must share her husband's fate. My duty is to follow thee 
 Where'er thou goest. Apart from thee, I would not dwell in heaven itself. 
 Deserted by her lord, a wife is like a miserable corpse. 
 Close as thy shadow would I cleave to thee in this life and hereafter. 
 Thou art my king, my guide, my only refuge, my divinity. 
 
 1 I have translated these nearly literally, but not consecutively, in 
 the sixteen-syllable metre of the original. The substance of them will 
 be found in the text of Gorresio's Ramayana, vol. ii. p. 74, &c.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 365 
 
 It is my fixed resolve to follow thee. If thou must wander forth 
 Through thorny trackless forests, I will go before thee, treading down 
 The prickly brambles to make smooth thy path. Walking before thee, I 
 Shall feel no weariness : the forest-thorns will seem like silken robes ; 
 The bed of leaves, a couch of down. To me the shelter of thy presence 
 Is better far than stately palaces, and paradise itself. 
 Protected by thy arm, gods, demons, men shall have no power to harm me. 
 With thee I'll live contentedly on roots and fruits. Sweet or not sweet, 
 If given by thy hand, they will to me be like the food of life. 
 Roaming with thee in desert wastes, a thousand years will be a day ; 
 Dwelling with thee, e'en hell itself would be to me a heaven of bliss. 
 
 As if in support of the prophecy recorded in the begin- 
 ning of the work (see p. 338) the story of Kama down 
 to the death of Ravana and recovery of Sita, is still 
 regularly recited every year throughout a great part of 
 India, at an annual festival in the beginning of October, 
 called Rama-lila. 1 Moreover, Hindu writers never seem 
 tired of working up the oft-repeated tale into various 
 forms. Hence the history of the adventures of Rama, 
 or at least some reference to them, is found in almost 
 every work of the subsequent literature. I conclude 
 this chapter with instances : 
 
 1 On the day in the month Asvln or beginning of October, when 
 the Bengalis consign their images of Durga to the waters (i.e., at the 
 Durgapuja, of which the fourth day is called Dasahara, and during 
 which for a whole fortnight all business is suspended, and even thieves 
 and rogues allow themselves a vacation), Hindus of other provinces 
 perform the Kama4ila, a dramatic representation of the carrying off 
 of Sita, concluding with the death of Ravana, of which that day is 
 the anniversary. Rama's birth is celebrated on the gth of the month 
 Oaitra (April), called Rama-navami, The sequel of the story of Rama, 
 as contained in the Uttara-kanda and Uttara-rama-6arita, is not so 
 popularly known. See an article in the ' Indian Antiquary ' for May 
 1872, by the Rev. K. M. Banerjea. It is noteworthy that the Rama 
 legends have always retained their purity, and, unlike those of Brahma, 
 Krishna, S'iva, and Durga, have never been mixed up with indecencies 
 and licentiousness. In fact, the worship of Rama has never degene- 
 rated to the same extent as that of some of these other deities.
 
 366 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In the Maha-bharata (Vana-parvan 1587216601) the Ramopakhyana 
 is told very nearly as in the Ramayana, but there is no mention of 
 Valmiki as its author, and no allusion to the existence of the great 
 sister Epic. Markandeya is made to recount the narrative to Yudhi- 
 shthira, after the recovery of Draupadi (who had been carried off by 
 Jayad-ratha, as Sita was by Havana), in order to show that there were 
 other examples in ancient times of virtuous people suffering violence 
 at the hands of wicked men. It is probable (and even Professor 
 Weber admits it to be possible) that the Maha-bharata episode was 
 epitomized from the Ramayana, and altered here and there to give it 
 an appearance of originality. There are, however, remarkable differ- 
 ences. The story in the Maha-bharata, although generally treating 
 Rama as a great human hero only, begins with the circumstances 
 which led to the incarnation of Vishnu, and gives a detailed account 
 of what is first mentioned in the Uttara-kanda of the Ramayana 
 the early history of Ravana and his brother. The birth of Rama, his 
 youth, and his father's wish to inaugurate him as heir-apparent are 
 then briefly recounted. Dasaratha's sacrifice, Rama's education, his 
 winning of Sita, and other contents of the Bala-kanda are omitted. 
 The events of the Ayodhya-kanda and much of the Araiiya-kanda are 
 narrated in about forty verses. A more detailed narrative begins 
 with the appearance before Ravana of the mutilated S'urpa-nakha (see 
 p. 353), but many variations occur; for instance, Kabandha is killed, 
 but not restored to life (see p. 356) ; the story of S'avari is omitted, 
 and there is no mention of the dream sent by Brahma to comfort Sita 
 (see p. 35 s). 1 
 
 There are other references to, and brief epitomes of parts of the 
 story of the Ramayana in the Maha-bharata, e.g., in Vana-parvan 
 11177-11219; in Drona-parvan 2224-2246; in S'anti-parvan 944-955 ; 
 in Hari-vansa 2324-2359, 8672-8674, 16232. 
 
 The story of Rama is also (as Professor Weber observes) referred to 
 in the Mricclidkatika (Act I.); and although not mentioned in Kalidasa's 
 
 1 These and other differences have led Professor Weber to suggest 
 the inquiry whether the Maha-bharata version may not be more 
 primitive than that of the Ramayana, and possibly even the original 
 version, out of which the other was developed. ' Or ought we,' he 
 asks, ' to assume only that the Maha-bharata contains the epitome of 
 an earlier recension of our text of the Ramayana; or should both 
 texts, the Ramopakhyana and the Ramayana, be regarded as resting 
 alike upon a common groundwork, but each occupying an independent 
 standpoint ? '
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 367 
 
 dramas, it is alluded to in his Megha-duta (verses i, 99); and in his 
 Raglm-vansa which is a kind of abridged Ramayana the poet Valmiki 
 is named (XV. 63, 64). ^loreover, the Ramayana forms the basis of 
 a Prakrit work called the Setu-landha (ascribed to one Kalidasa, and 
 mentioned in Dandin's Kdvyddarsa I. 34), as well as of the Bhatti- 
 Mvya, or grammatical poem of Bhatti (written, according to Lassen, 
 Ind. Alt. III. 512, in Valabhi-pura under king S'rldhara-sena, between 
 530 and 545 of the Christian era), and of the two celebrated dramas of 
 Bhava-bhuti, called Malid-mra-caritra and Uttara-rdma-caritra (whose 
 date is fixed by Lassen between 695 and 733). The last of these 
 dramas quotes verses from the Ramayana in three places, one in the 
 second and two in the sixth Act. Indeed, the dramatic literature which 
 makes use of the adventures of Rama for the subject-matter of the plots 
 of its plays is extensive. Besides the two dramas of Bhava-bhuti, there 
 is the Hanuman-ndtalta or Malid-ndtalta, 'great drama,' in fourteen 
 acts, fabled to have been composed by the monkey-chief Hanumat him- 
 self, who first wrote it on the rocks, and then to please Valmiki (lest 
 it should throw his Ramayana into the shade), cast it into the sea, 
 whence some portions were recovered in Bhoja's time and arranged by 
 Misra-damodara (probably about the tenth century). There is also the 
 Anargha-rdghava or Anarghya-rdghava in seven acts by Murari; the 
 Prasanna-rdghava by Jaya-deva (probably not the author of the Gita- 
 govinda) ; the Abhirdma-mani in seven acts by Sundara-misra ; the 
 (jampu rdmdyana by Vidarbha-raja (or Bhoja) in five acts ; the Rag- 
 Tiavabliyudaya ; the Bdla-rdmdyana by Raja-sekhara ; the Uddtta- 
 rdghava ; the 6halita-rdma ; (the last three quoted by the well-known 
 work on the Ars poetica called Sdhitya-darpana) ; the Dutdn-gada, a 
 short piece by Su-bhata, and others. 
 
 Other works mentioned by Weber as noticing the Ramayana are 
 that of Vardha-mihira written between 505 and 587 of our era which 
 takes for granted that Rama was honoured as a demigod about that 
 time ; the &atrunjay& mdhdtmya written in Valabhi under king S'lla- 
 ditya about A.D. 598 ; the Vdsava-datta of Subandhu (about the begin- 
 ning of the seventh century, Weber's Indische Streifen I. 373, 380), 
 in which mention is made of the Sundara-karida as a section of the 
 Ramayana; the Kddambari of Bana (written a little later, Indische 
 Streifen I. 354), in which repeated reference is made to the great Epic 
 (I. 36, 45, 81); the Sapta-atalca of Hala (35, 316), on which Weber 
 has written a treatise ; the Pracanda-pdndava of Raja-sekhara (about 
 the end of the tenth century); the Dasa-mpa of Dhananjaya (I. 61, 
 about the same date); the Sapta-satl of Govardhana (32, about the 
 tenth century or later); the Damayantl-lcatha of Trivikrama-bhatta (i i) ;
 
 368 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the Rdja-taran-ginl (I. 166); the Sdrn-gadhara-paddhati (Bohtlingk, 
 Ind. Spr. 1586), &c. 
 
 The eighteen Puranas (which are to a great extent drawn from the 
 two great Epics) contain, of course, numerous allusions to the Rama- 
 yana, and sometimes relate the whole story. The Agni-purdna has an 
 epitome of the seven Books in seven chapters. The Padma and Skanda 
 also devote several chapters to the same subject The Vishnu-purcina 
 has also a section (IV. 4) about Rama, and in III. 3 describes Valmiki 
 as the Vyasa of the 24th Dvapara. The Brahmdnda-purdna a con- 
 fused medley of various subjects has a Rdmdyana-mdhdtmya, and in 
 this Purana is also contained the well-known Adhyatma-ramayana, 
 ' Spiritual Ramayana,' divided into seven Books, bearing the same 
 titles as those of Valmiki's Ramayana. Its object is to show that 
 Rama was a manifestation of the Supreme Spirit, and Slta (identified 
 with Lakshmi), a type of Nature. 
 
 This Adhyatma-ramayana contains two chapters, held to be especially 
 sacred : i. The Rdma-hridaya or first chapter, in which the inner or 
 hidden nature of Rama is explained and his identification with Vishnu, 
 as the Supreme Spirit, is asserted ; 2. the Rdma-gitd or fifth chapter 
 of the seventh Book, in which the author, who is evidently a Vedantist, 
 sets forth the advantage of giving up all works in order to meditate 
 upon and become united with the Supreme Spirit. 
 
 There is also a remarkable work called Vdsishtha-rdmdyana (or Yoga- 
 vasishtha or Vdsishtliam Malid-rdmdyanam) in the form of an exhorta- 
 tion with illustrative narratives addressed by Vasishtha to his pupil, 
 the youthful Rama, on the best means of attaining true happiness, and 
 considered to have been composed as an appendage to the Ramayana 
 by Valmiki himself. 
 
 We ought also here to mention the celebrated Hindi Ramayana by 
 the poet Tulasi-dasa (Tulsi-das). This poem is so well known and so 
 greatly esteemed in some parts of India, that it is sometimes affirmed 
 that there are three epic poems called Ramayana : i. that of Valmiki, 
 2. that attributed to Vyasa called Adhyatma-ramayana, 3. the Hindi 
 Epic by Tulasi-dasa. 
 
 I conclude the list by noting the following comparatively modern 
 artificial poems on the same subject: i. the Rdghavapdndavlya by 
 Kavi-raja, a very singular production, much admired and imitated 
 by later Indian writers, being nothing less than a poem worded with 
 such dexterous ' double-entendre,' that it may serve as an epitome 
 of either the Ramayana or Maha-bharata ; 2. the Rdghava-vildsa by 
 Visva-natha (author of the Sahitya-darpana) ; 3. the Rdma-vildsa by 
 Rama- Parana ; 4. another Rdma-vildsa by Hari-natha (in imitation of
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE RAMAYANA. 369 
 
 the Glta-govinda) ; 5. the Rdmacandra-caritra-sdra by Agni-vesa; 
 6. the Ragliu-ndthdbhyu-daya mentioned by Professor Weber. 1 
 
 With regard to the composition called Campu, this is a kind of 
 highly artificial style in alternations of prose and verse (cjadya and 
 padya). 
 
 1 The story of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata, as given in full by 
 Mr. Talboys Wheeler in his History of India, is most interesting and 
 instructive, although it does not profess to be an analysis made by 
 himself from the original Sanskrit. 
 
 2 A
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 The Itihdsas or Epic Poems TJie Maha-bharata. 
 
 I PASS on now to the Maha-bharata probably by far 
 the longest epic poem that the world has ever produced. 
 Its main design is to describe the great contest between 
 the descendants of king Bharata. 1 He was the most 
 renowned monarch of the Lunar dynasty, and is alleged 
 to have reigned in the neighbourhood of Hastina-pur or 
 ancient Delhi, and to have extended his authority over a 
 great part of India, so that India to this day is called by 
 the natives Bharata- varsha. The great Epic, however, 
 is not so much a poem with a single subject as a vast 
 cyclopaedia or thesaurus of Hindu mythology, legendary 
 history, ethics, and philosophy. The work, as we now 
 possess it, cannot possibly be regarded as representing 
 the original form of the poem. Its compilation appears to 
 have proceeded gradually for centuries. At any rate, as 
 
 1 The title of the poem is Mahd-bhdratam, a compound word in the 
 neuter gender, the first member of which, mahd (for mahat), means 
 ' great,' and the second, bhdrata, ' relating to Bharata.' The title of a 
 book is often in the neuter gender, some word like kdvyam, l a poem,' 
 being understood. Here the word with which Maha-bharatam agrees 
 may be either dkhydnam, 'a historical poem,' or yuddham, 'war.' It 
 is curious that in the San-graha-parva, or introductory summary 
 (1. 264), the word Maha-bharata is said to be derived from its large 
 size and great weight, because the poem is described as outweighing all 
 the four Vedas and mystical writings together. Here is the passage : 
 Ekadas caturo Veddn Bhdratam caitad ekatah Purd Itila suraih sarvaih 
 sametya tulayd dhritam, 6aturbhyah saraliasyebhyo Vedebhyo hy adhikam 
 yadd, Tadd prabliriti loke 'smin \mdhattvdd bliaravattvdc-6d\ Malid- 
 bhdratam itcyate. 
 
 37
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 371 
 
 we have already indicated (pp. 316, 317), it seems to 
 have passed through several stages of construction and 
 reconstruction, until finally arranged and reduced to 
 orderly written shape by a Brahman or Brahmans, whose 
 names have not been preserved. 1 The relationship which 
 the original Brahman compiler bore to the scattered 
 legends and lays of India, many of them orally trans- 
 mitted until transferred to the Maha-bharata, was similar 
 to that borne by Pisistratus to the Homeric poems. But 
 the Hindus invest this personage, whoever he was, with 
 a nimbus of mystical sanctity, and assert that he was also 
 the arranger of various other celebrated religious works, 
 such as the Vedas and Puranas. He is called Vyasa, but 
 this is, of course, a mere epithet derived from the Sanskrit 
 verb vy-as, meaning ' to dispose in regular sequence/ and 
 therefore would be equally applicable to any compiler. 2 
 
 1 Professor Lassen, in his ' Indische Alterthumskunde ' (II. 499, 
 new edition), considers that it may be proved from an examination of 
 the Introduction to the Maha-bharata that there were three consecutive 
 workings-up (bearbeitung) of that poem by different authors. The 
 first or oldest version, called simply JShdrata, which contained only 
 24,000 verses, began with the history of Manu, the progenitor of the 
 Kshatriya or military class (Adi-parvan 3126), 'and a short section 
 describing the pedigree of Vyasa, and how he appeared at the Snake- 
 sacrifice, and how, at the request of Janamejaya, he commissioned Vai- 
 sampayana to relate the story of the strife between the Pandavas 
 and Kauravas (I. 2208, &c.) might have formed the introduction 
 (einleitung) to this oldest Bharata. The second reconstruction or re- 
 casting of the poem thought by Professor Lassen to be identical with 
 the Itihasa mentioned in Asvalayana's Grihya-sutras, and recited at 
 S'aunaka's Horse-sacrificetook place about 400 B.C. It began with 
 the history of king Vasu, whose daughter Satyavati was mother of 
 Vyasa; and the section called Pausliya (I. 661), the antiquity of which 
 is indicated by its being almost entirely in prose, might have served 
 as its introduction. The section called Pauloma (I. 851) probably 
 formed the commencement of the third reconstruction of the great 
 Epic, which he considers must have preceded the era of Asoka. 
 
 2 Vivydsa Veddn yasmdt sa tasmdd Vyasa Hi sinritah (I. 2417).
 
 37-2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Many of the legends are Vedic, and of great antiquity ; 
 while others, as we have already pointed out, are com- 
 paratively modern probably interpolated during the first 
 centuries of the Christian era. In fact, the entire work, 
 which consists of about 220,000 lines in eighteen Parvaus 
 or sections, nearly every one of which would form a large 
 volume, may be compared to a confused congeries of 
 geological strata. The principal story, which occupies 
 little more than a fifth of the whole, forms the lowest 
 layer ; but this has been so completely overlaid by suc- 
 cessive incrustations, and the mass so compacted together, 
 
 Similarly the name Homerus ("OaTjcoj) is thought by some to come from 
 6/ioD and ciu. It may seem strange that the compilation of wholly 
 different works composed at very different epochs, such as the Vedas, 
 Maha-bharata, and Puranas undoubtedly were, should be attributed to 
 the same person ; but the close relationship supposed by learned natives 
 to subsist between these productions, will account for a desire to call in 
 the aid of the same great sage in their construction. The following 
 passage from the Vedartha-prakasa of Madhava A6arya (who lived in 
 the fourteenth century) commenting on the Taittiriya Yajur-veda (p. i), 
 translated by Dr. Muir in his Sanskrit Texts, vol. iii. p. 47, attributes 
 the actual composition of the Maha-bharata to the sage Yyasa, and gives 
 a remarkable reason for his having written it : ' It may be said that 
 all persons whatever, including women and S'udras, must be competent 
 students of the Yeda, since the aspiration after good (ishtam me sydd 
 iti) and the deprecation of evil are common to all mankind. But it 
 is not so. For though the expedient exists, and women and S'udras are 
 desirous to know it, they are debarred by another cause from being 
 competent students of the Veda. The scripture (sdstrd) which declares 
 that those persons only who have been invested with the sacrificial cord 
 are competent to read the Yeda, intimates thereby that the same study 
 would be a cause of unhappiness to women and S'udras (who are not so 
 invested). How then are those two classes of persons to discover the 
 means of future happiness 1 We answer, from the Puranas and other 
 such works. Hence it has been said : Since the triple Yeda may not 
 be heard by women, S'udras, and degraded twice-born men, the Maha- 
 bharata (Bharatam dkhyanavi) was, in his benevolence, composed (kritam) 
 by the Muni.'
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 373 
 
 that the original substratum is not always clearly trace- 
 able. If the successive layers can ever be critically 
 analysed and separated, the more ancient from the later 
 additions, and the historical element from the purely 
 fabulous, it may be expected that light will be thrown 
 on the early history of India, religious, social, and political 
 a subject still veiled in much obscurity, notwithstanding 
 the valuable researches of Professor Lassen and others. 
 
 I now give the names of the eighteen sections or Books 
 which constitute the poem, with a brief statement of their 
 contents : 
 
 1. Adi-parvan, ' introductory Book,' describes how the two brothers, 
 Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, are brought up by their uncle Bhishma ; and 
 how Dhrita-rashtra, who is blind, has one hundred sons commonly 
 called the Kuru princes by his wife Gandhari ; and how the two wives 
 of Pandu Pritha (Kuntl) and Madri have five sons, called the Pan- 
 davas or Pandu princes. 
 
 2. SaWid-parvan describes the great Sabha or ' assembly of princes ' 
 at Hastina-pura, when Yudhi-shthira, the eldest of the five Pandavas, 
 is persuaded to play at dice with S'akuni and loses his kingdom. The 
 five Pandavas and Draupadi, their wife, are required to live for twelve 
 years in the woods. 
 
 3. Vana-parvan narrates the life of the Pandavas in the Kamyaka 
 forest. This is one of the longest books, and full of episodes such as the 
 story of Nala and that of the Kiratarjumya. 
 
 4. Vimta-parvan describes the thirteenth year of exile and the adven- 
 tures of the Pandavas while living disguised in the service of king 
 Virata. 
 
 5. Udyoga-parvan. In this the preparations for war on the side of 
 both Pandavas and Kauravas are described. 
 
 6. BUlshma-parvan. In this both armies join battle on Kuru-kshetra, 
 a plain north-west of Delhi. The Kauravas are commanded by Bhishma, 
 who falls transfixed with arrows by Arjuna. 
 
 7. Drona-parvan. In this the Kuru forces are commanded by Drona, 
 and numerous battles take place. Drona falls in a fight with Dhrishta- 
 dyumna (son of Drupada). 
 
 8. Karna-parvan. In this the Kurus are led by Kama. 
 battles are described. Arjuna kills Karna. 
 
 9. Salya-parvan. In this S'alya is made general of the Kuru army.
 
 374 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The concluding battles take place, and only three of the Kuru warriors, 
 with Duryodhana, are left alive. Bhima and Duryodhana then fight with 
 clubs. Duryodhana, chief and eldest of the Kurus, is struck down. 
 
 10. Sauptika-parvan. In this the three surviving Kurus make a 
 night attack on the camp of the Pandavas and kill all their army, but 
 not the five Pandavas. 
 
 i r. Stri-parvan describes the lamentations of queen Gandharl and 
 the other wives and women over the bodies of the slain heroes. 
 
 1 2. Sdnti-parvan. In this Yudhi-shthira is crowned in Hastina-pura. 
 To calm his spirit, troubled with the slaughter of his kindred, Bhishma, 
 still alive, instructs him at great length in the duties of kings (raja- 
 dharma 1995-4778), rules for adversity (dpad-dharma 4779-6455), 
 rules for attaining final emancipation (moJcsha-dharma 6456 to end). 
 
 13. Anusdsana-parvan. In this the instruction is continued by 
 Bhishma, who gives precepts and wise axioms on all subjects, such as 
 the duties of kings, liberality, fasting, eating, &c., mixed up with tales, 
 moral and religious discourses, and metaphysical disquisitions. At the 
 conclusion of his long sermon Bhishma dies. 
 
 14. Asvamedhika-parvan. In this Yudhi-shthira, having assumed the 
 government, performs an Asva-medha or ' horse-sacrifice ' in token of his 
 supremacy. 
 
 15. Asrdmavdsika-parvan narrates how the old blind king Dhrita- 
 rashtra, with his queen Gandharl and with Kunti, mother of the Pan- 
 davas, retires to a hermitage in the woods. After two years a forest 
 conflagration takes place, and they immolate themselves in the fire to 
 secure heaven and felicity. 
 
 1 6. Mausala-parvan narrates the death of Krishna and Bala-rama, 
 their return to heaven, the submergence of Krishna's city Dvaraka by 
 the sea, and the self-slaughter in a fight with clubs (musala) of Krishna's 
 family the Yadavas through the curse of some Brahmans. 
 
 17. Mahaprasthdnika-parvan describes the renunciation of their 
 kingdom by Yudhi-shthira and his four brothers, and their departure 
 towards Indra's heaven in Mount Meru. 
 
 1 8. Smryarohanika-parvan narrates the ascent and admission to 
 heaven of the five Pandavas, their wife Draupadi, and kindred. 
 
 Supplement or Hari-vansa-parvan, a later addition, recounting the 
 genealogy and birth of Krishna and the details of his early life. 
 
 The following is a more complete and continuous 
 account of the story of the poem, which is supposed to 
 be recited by Vaisampayana, the pupil of Vyasa, to Jana- 
 mejaya, great-grandson of Arjuna.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 375 
 
 We have seen that the Ramayana commences by recount- 
 ing the genealogy of the Solar line of kings, of whom Rama 
 was one. The heroes of the Maha-bharata are of the 
 other great race, called Lunar. Here, however, as in the 
 Solar race, the Brahman compiler was careful to assign 
 the origin ' of the second great dynasty of kings to a 
 noted sage and Brahman. I epitomize the genealogy as 
 essential to the comprehension of the story : 
 
 Soma, the Moon, the progenitor of the Lunar race, who reigned at 
 Hastina-pur, was the child of the Blshi Atri, and had a son named 
 Budha, who married Ila or Ida, daughter of the Solar prince Ikshvaku, 
 and had by her a son, Aila or Pururavas. The latter had a son by 
 Urvasi, named Ayus, from whom came Nahusha, the father of Yaydti. 
 The latter had two sons, Puru x and Yadu, from whom proceeded the 
 two branches of the Lunar line. In the line of Yadu we need only 
 mention the last three princes, Sura, Vasu-deva? and Krishna with his 
 brother Bala-rdma. Fifteenth in the. other line that of Puru came 
 Dusliyanta, father of the great Bharata, from whom India is called 
 Bhiirata-varsha. Ninth from Bharata came Kuru, and fourteenth from 
 him Sdntanu. This S'antanu had by his wife Satyavati, a son named 
 Vicitra-wrya. Bhlshma (also called S'antanava, Deva-vrata, &c.), who 
 renounced the right of succession and took the vow of a Brahmac'arl, 3 
 was the son of S'antanu by a former wife, the goddess Gan-ga, whence one 
 of his names is Gan-geya. Satyavati also had, before her marriage with 
 S'antanu, borne Vyasa, to the sage Parasara ; so that Vicitra-vlrya, 
 Bhlshma, and Vyasa were half-brothers; 4 and Vyasa, although he 
 
 1 This name Puru (nom. case Purus) is probably the original of 
 Porus, whose country in the Panjab, between the Hydaspes and Acesines, 
 was conquered by Alexander the Great. 
 
 2 Frith a or KuntI, wife of Pandu, and mother of three of the Pandu 
 princes, was a sister of Vasu-deva, and therefore aunt of Krishna. 
 
 3 I.e., perpetual celibacy. Adya-prabhriti me Irahmacaryam bha- 
 vishyati ; Aputrasydpi me loM bhavishyanty dkshaya dim (I. 4060). 
 
 4 Parasara met with Satyavati when quite a girl, as he was crossing 
 the river Yamuna (Jumna) in a boat. The result of their intercourse 
 was a child, Vyasa, who was called Krishna, from his swarthy com- 
 plexion, and Dvaipayana, because he was brought forth by Satyavati on 
 an island (dmpa) in the Jumna. (See Maha-bharata I. 2416, 2417, and 
 4235-)
 
 376 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 retired into the wilderness, to live a life of contemplation, promised 
 his mother that he would place himself at her disposal whenever she 
 required his services. Satyavatl had recourse to him when her son 
 Viditra-virya died childless, and requested him to pay his addresses to 
 Viditra-virya's two widows, named Ambika and Ambalika. He con- 
 sented, and had by them respectively two children, Dhrita-rashtra, who 
 was born blind, and Pandu, who was born with a pale complexion. 1 
 When Satyavatl begged Vyasa to become the father of a third son 
 (who should be without any defect), the elder wife, terrified by Vyasa's 
 austere appearance, sent him one of her slave-girls, dressed in her own 
 clothes ; and this girl became the mother of Vidura (whence he is 
 sometimes called Kshattri). 2 
 
 Dhrita-rashtra, Pdndu, and Vidura were thus brothers, sons of 
 Vyasa, the supposed author or compiler of the Maha-bharata. Vyasa 
 after this retired again to the woods ; but, gifted with divine presci- 
 ence, appeared both to his sons and grandsons whenever they were 
 in difficulties, and needed his advice and assistance. 
 
 1 The mother of Pandu was also called Kausalya ; and this name 
 (which was that of the mother of Rama-dandra) seems also to be 
 applied to the mother of Dhrita-rashtra. Paleness of complexion, in 
 the eyes of a Hindu, would be regarded as a kind of leprosy, and was 
 therefore almost as great a defect as blindness. The reason given for 
 these defects is very curious. Ambika was so terrified by the swarthy 
 complexion and shaggy aspect of the sage Vyasa (not to speak of the 
 (jandha emitted by his body), that when he visited her she closed her 
 eyes, and did not venture to open them while he was with her. In 
 consequence of this assumed blindness her child was born blind. 
 Ambalika, on the other hand, though she kept her eyes open, became 
 so colourless with fright, that her son was born with a pale complexion 
 (I. 4275-4290). Pandu seems to have been in other respects good- 
 looking Sa devl kumdram ajljanat pdndu-lalishana-sampannam dlpya- 
 mdnam vara-iriyd. 
 
 2 Vyasa was so much pleased with this slave-girl that he pronounced 
 her free, and declared that her child, Vidura, should be sarva-buddhi- 
 matdm varah, ' the most excellent of all wise men.' Kshattri, although 
 described in Manu as the child of a S'udra father and Brahman 
 mother, signifies here the child of a Brahman father and S'udra 
 mother. Vidura is one of the best characters in the Maha-bharata, 
 always ready with useful advice (hitopadesa) both for the Panda vas and 
 for his brother Dhrita-rashtra. His disposition leads him to side with 
 the Pandu princes and warn them of the evil designs of their cousins.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 377 
 
 The two brothers, Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, were 
 brought up by their uncle Bhishma, 1 who, until they 
 were of age, conducted the government of Hastina-pur. 2 
 Dhrita-rashtra was the first-born, but renounced the 
 throne, in consequence of his blindness. The other, 
 brother, Vidura, being the son of a Sudra woman, could 
 not succeed, and Pandu therefore, when of age, became 
 king (I. 4361). Meanwhile Dhrita-rashtra married Gan- 
 dhari, also called Saubaleyi or Saubali, daughter of 
 Subala, king of Gandhara. When she first heard that 
 her future husband was blind, she from that moment 
 showed her respect for him, by binding her own eyes with 
 a handkerchief, and always remaining blindfolded in his 
 presence. 3 Soon afterwards a Svayamvara was held by 
 king Kuntibhoja, and his adopted daughter, Pritha or 
 KuntI, then chose Pandu for her husband. She was 
 really the child of a Yadava prince, Sura, who gave her 
 to his childless cousin Kuntibhoja ; under whose care she 
 was brought up : 
 
 One day, before her marriage, she paid such respect and attention to 
 a powerful sage named Durvasas, a guest in her father's house, that he 
 gave her a charm and taught her an incantation, by virtue of which 
 she might have a child by any god she liked to call into her presence. 
 Out of curiosity, she invoked the Sun, by whom she had a child, who 
 was born clothed in armour. 4 But Pritha (KuntI), fearing the censure 
 of her relatives, deserted her offspring, after exposing it in the river. 
 It was found by Adhiratha, a charioteer (suta), and nurtured by his 
 wife Radha ; whence the child was afterwards called Radheya, though 
 
 1 They were all three thoroughly educated by Bhishma. Dhrita- 
 rashtra is described as excelling all others in strength (I. 43S 6 )> Pandu 
 as excelling in the use of the bow, and Vidura as pre-eminent for virtue 
 and wisdom (4358). 
 
 2 Hastina-pur is also called Gajasahvaya and Nagasahvaya. 
 
 3 Sd patam dddya kritvd bahu-gunam tadd Babandha netre sve rdjan 
 pativrata-pardyand (I. 4376). She is described as so devoted to her 
 husband that Vdca 'pi purushdn anydn suvrata ndnvakirtayat. 
 
 4 The Sun afterwards restored her kanydtva (I. 4400).
 
 3/8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 named by his foster-parents Vasu-shena. When he was grown up, the 
 god Indra conferred upon him enormous strength, and changed his 
 name to Karna. 1 
 
 After Pandu's marriage to Pritha, his uncle Bhishma 
 wishing him to take a second wife, made an expedition to 
 visit Salya, king of Madra, and prevailed upon him to 
 bestow his sister Madri upon Pandu, in exchange for vast 
 sums of money and jewels. Soon after this second mar- 
 riage Pandu undertook a great campaign, in which he 
 subjugated so many countries, that the kingdom of Has- 
 tina-pur became under him as glorious and extensive as 
 formerly under his ancestor Bharata (I. 4461). Having 
 acquired enormous wealth, he distributed it to Bhishma, 
 Dhrita-rashtra, and Vidura, and then retired to the woods 
 to indulge his passion for hunting, living with' his two 
 wives as a forester on the southern slope of the Hima- 
 layas. The blind Dhrita-rashtra, who had a very useful 
 charioteer named Sanjaya, was then obliged, with the 
 assistance of Bhishma as his regent, to assume the reins 
 of government. 
 
 We have next an account of the supernatural birth of 
 Dhrita-rashtra's sons : 
 
 One day the sage Vyasa was hospitably entertained by queen Gan- 
 dharl, and in return granted her a boon. She chose to be the mother 
 of a hundred sons. After two years she produced a mass of flesh, 
 which was divided by Vyasa into a hundred and one pieces, as big as 
 the joint of a thumb. From these in due time the eldest, Duryodhana, 
 ' difficult to be subdued ' (sometimes called Su-yodhana, see p. 382, 
 note 2), was born. At his birth, however, various evil omens took 
 place ; jackals yelled, asses brayed, whirlwinds blew, and the sky 
 seemed on fire. Dhrita-rashtra, alarmed, called his ministers together, 
 
 
 1 He is also called Yaikartana, as son of Vikartana or the Sun, and 
 
 sometimes Vrisha. Karna is described (4405) as worshipping the Sun 
 till his back became warm (d-prishtha-tdpdt, i.e., 'till after midday,' 
 when the sun began to shine behind him). Compare Hitop., Book 
 II. v. 32.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 379 
 
 who recommended him to abandon the child, but could not persuade 
 him to take their advice. The miraculous birth of the remaining 
 ninety-nine sons then occurred in due course. 1 There was also one 
 daughter, called Duhsala (afterwards married to Jayad-ratha). 
 
 Next follows the description of the supernatural birth 
 of the five reputed sons of Pandu : 
 
 One day, on a hunting expedition, Pandu transfixed with five 
 arrows a male and female deer. These turned out to be a certain 
 sage and his wife, who had assumed the form of these animals. The 
 sage cursed Pandu, and predicted that he would die in the embraces 
 of one of his wives. In consequence of this curse, Pandu took the 
 vow of a Brahmadari, 2 gave all his property to the Brahmans, and 
 became a hermit. 
 
 Thereupon his wife Pritha (also called Kuntl), with his 
 approval, made use of the charm and incantation formerly 
 given to her by Durvasas, and had three sons, Yudhi- 
 shthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, by the three deities, Dharma, 
 Vayu, and Indra respectively : 
 
 Yudhi-shthira was bora first, and at the moment of his birth a 
 heavenly voice was heard to utter these words, 'This is the most 
 virtuous of men.' Bhima, the son of Pritha and Vayu, was born on 
 the same day as Duryodhana. Soon after his birth, his mother acci- 
 dentally let him fall, when a great prodigy indicative of the vast 
 strength which was to distinguish him occurred ; for the body of the 
 child falling on a rock shivered it to atoms. On the birth of Arjuna 
 auspicious omens were manifested; showers of flowers fell, 3 celestial 
 minstrels filled the air with harmony, and a heavenly voice sounded 
 his praises and future glory. 
 
 Madri, the other wife of Pandu, was now anxious to 
 have children, and was told by Pritha (Kuntl) to think 
 on any god she pleased. She chose the two Asvins (see 
 p. n), who appeared to her, and were the fathers of her 
 
 1 Their names are all detailed at I. 454- 
 
 2 The brahmaearya-vrata, or vow of continence. 
 
 3 Showers of flowers are as common in Indian poetry as showers of 
 blood ; the one indicating good, the other portending evil
 
 380 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 twin sons Nakula and Sahadeva. While the five princes 
 were still children, Pandu, forgetting the curse of the sage 
 whom he had killed in the form of a deer, ventured one 
 day to embrace his wife Madri, and died in her arms. 
 She and Pritha (Kunti) then had a dispute for the honour 
 of becoming a Sati (see p. 312), which ended in Maclri 
 burning herself with her husband's corpse (I. 4896). 
 Pritha and the five Pandu princes were then taken by 
 certain Rishis, or holy men companions of Pandu to 
 Hastioa-pur, where they were presented to Dhrita-rashtra, 
 and all the circumstances of their birth and of the death 
 of Pandu narrated. The news of the death of his brother 
 was received by Dhrita-rashtra with much apparent sorrow; 
 he gave orders for the due performance of the funeral 
 rites, and allowed the five young princes and their mother 
 to live with his own family. The cousins were in the 
 habit of playing together : 
 
 In their boyish sports the Pandu princes excelled the sons of Dhrita- 
 rashtra, which excited much ill-feeling ; and Duryodhana, spiteful 
 even when a boy, tried to destroy Bhlma by mixing poison in his food, 
 and then throwing him into the water when stupefied by its effects 
 (I. 5008). Bhima, however, was not drowned, but descended to the 
 abode of the Nagas (or serpent-demons), who freed him from the poison 
 (5052), and gave him a liquid to drink which endued him with the 
 strength of ten thousand Nagas. From that moment he became a kind 
 of Hercules. 
 
 Then Duryodhana, Karna, and Sakuni l devised schemes 
 for destroying the Pandu princes, but without success. 
 
 The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with 
 much artistic delicacy of touch, and maintained with 
 general consistency throughout the poem. 2 The eldest, 
 
 1 S'akuni was the brother of Gandhari, and therefore maternal 
 uncle (mdtuld) of the Kaurava princes. He was the counsellor of 
 Duryodhana, He is often called Saubala, as Gandhari is called 
 Saubali. 
 
 2 Complete consistency must not be expected in such a poem as
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 381 
 
 Yudhi-shthira, is the Hindu ideal of excellence a pattern 
 of justice, integrity, calm passionless composure, chivalrous 
 honour, and cold heroism. 1 Bhima is a type of brute 
 courage and strength : he is of gigantic stature, impe- 
 tuous, irascible, somewhat vindictive, and cruel even to 
 the verge of ferocity, making him, as his name implies, 
 ' terrible.' It would appear that his great strength had 
 to be maintained by plentiful supplies of food ; as his 
 name Vrikodara, ' wolf-stomached,' indicated a voracious 
 appetite ; and we are told that at the daily meals of the 
 five brothers, half of the whole dish had to be given to 
 Bhima (I. 7161). But he has the capacity for warm 
 unselfish love, and is ardent in his affection for his 
 mother and brothers. Arjuna rises more to the European 
 standard of perfection. He may be regarded as the real 
 hero of the Maha-bharata, 2 of undaunted bravery, gene- 
 rous, 3 with refined and delicate sensibilities, tender-hearted, 
 forgiving, and affectionate as a woman, yet of superhuman 
 strength, and matchless in arms and athletic exercises. 
 Nakula and Sahadeva are both amiable, noble-minded, 
 and spirited. 4 All five are as unlike as possible to the 
 
 the Maha-bharata, which was the growth of several centuries. The 
 act of the five Pandavas, described p. 385, cannot be reconciled with 
 their usual probity and generosity, though committed under great 
 provocation. Bhima appears to have been most in fault, which is so 
 far consistent. 
 
 1 Yudhi - shthira, ' firm in battle,' was probably of commanding 
 stature and imposing presence. He is described as Mahd-sinha-gati, 
 'having a majestic lion-like gait,' with a Wellington - like profile 
 (Pralam'bojjvala-cdru-gliona} and long lotus-eyes (kamalayataksha). 
 
 2 Strictly, as in the Iliad, there is no real hero kept always in view. 
 
 3 Perhaps it may be objected that some of Arjuna's acts were in- 
 consistent with this character. Thus he carried off Subhadra, the 
 sister of Krishna, by force. It must be borne in mind, however, 
 that Krishna himself encourages him to this act, and says, Prasaliya, 
 haranam Kshatri-yanam prasasyate (I. 7927). Compare p. 391. 
 
 4 The five Pandu princes are known by various other names in the
 
 382 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 hundred sons of Dhrita-rashtra, commonly called the 
 Kuru princes, or Kauravas, 1 who are represented as 
 mean, spiteful, dishonourable, and vicious. 
 
 So bad indeed are these hundred brothers, and so 
 uniformly without redeeming points, that their characters 
 present few distinctive features. The most conspicuous 
 is the eldest, Duryodhana, 2 who, as the representative of 
 the others, is painted in the darkest colours, and embodies 
 all their bad qualities. When the Maha-bharata (like the 
 Ramayana) is regarded as an allegory, then Duryodhana 
 (like Ravana) is a visible type of the evil principle in 
 human nature 3 for ever doing battle with the good and 
 divine principle, symbolized by the five sons of Pandu. 
 
 The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, were 
 educated together at Hastina-pur, the city of Dhrita- 
 
 Maha-bharata, some of which it may be useful here to note. Yudhi- 
 shthira is also called Dharma-raja, Dharma-putra, and sometimes 
 simply Raj an. His charioteer was called Indrasena. Bhima's other 
 names are Bhimasena, Vrikodara, Bahusalin. Arjuna is also called 
 Kiritin, Phalguna, Jishnu, Dhananjaya, Bibhatsu, Savyasac"in, Paka- 
 sasani, Guda-kesa, SVeta-vahana, Nara, Vijaya, Krishna, and some- 
 times par excellence Partha, though Bhlma and Yudhi - shthira, as 
 sons of Pritha, had also this title. Nakula and Sahadeva are called 
 Madreyau (as sons of Madri), and sometimes Yamau (the twins). 
 
 1 This name, however, is occasionally applied to the Pandavas, 
 as they and the sons of Dhrita-rashtra were equally descendants of 
 Kuru. 
 
 2 ' Difficult to conquer,' cf. p. 408. The names of all are given in 
 Adi-Parvan 4541. Duhsasana is one of the most conspicuous. 
 
 3 There are certainly many points in his character, as well as in 
 that of Ravana, which may be compared to Milton's conception of 
 Satan. Perhaps his intimacy with the Asura (jarvaka may be in- 
 tended to mark him out as a type of heresy and infidelity, as well as 
 of every other bad quality. In the case of Ravana it is remarkable 
 that he gained his power by penance, and that he is described as 
 well read in the Veda (Ram. VI. xciii. 58). Some Rakshasas, such 
 as Vibhishana, Atikaya, are described as religious (Ram. VI. Ixsi. 31). 
 Cf. Manu VII. 38.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 383 
 
 rashtra, by a Brahman named Drona, 1 who found in the 
 Pandu princes apt pupils. From him the five sons of 
 Pandu acquired 'intelligence and learning, lofty aims, 
 religious earnestness, and love of truth.' All the cousins 
 were equal] y instructed in war and arms ; but Arjuna, by 
 the help of Drona, who gave him magical weapons, ex- 
 celled all, distinguishing himself in every exercise, ' sub- 
 missive ever to his teacher's will, contented, modest, 
 affable, and mild/ and both Bhima and Duryodhana 
 learnt the use of the club from their cousin Bala-rama 
 (I- 5520). 
 
 Their education finished, a tournament was held, at which 
 all the youthful cousins displayed their skill in archery, 
 in the management of chariots (ratlia-caryd], horses, and 
 elephants, in sword, spear, and club exercises, and wrest- 
 ling. The scene is graphically described (I. 5324) : 
 
 An immense concourse of spectators cheered the combatants. The 
 agitation of the crowd was like the roar of a mighty ocean. Arjuna, 
 after exhibiting prodigies of strength, shot five separate arrows simul- 
 taneously into the jaws of a revolving iron boar, and twenty-one 
 arrows into the hollow of a cow's horn suspended by a string. Sud- 
 denly there was a pause. The crowd turned as one man towards a 
 point in the arena, where the sound of a warrior striking his arms in 
 defiance 2 rent the sky like a thunder-clap, and announced the entrance 
 of another combatant. This proved to be a warrior named Karna, 
 who entered the lists in full armour, and after accomplishing the same 
 feats in archery, challenged Arjuna to single combat. But each 
 champion was required to tell his name and pedigree; and Karna's 
 parentage being doubtful (see p. 377), he was obliged to retire, ' hang- 
 ing his head with shame like a drooping lily.' 
 
 1 Drona appears to have kept a kind of school, to which all the 
 young princes of the neighbouring countries resorted (I. 5220). He 
 married Kripi, sister of Kripa, and had by her a son, Asvatthaman. 
 
 2 So in Vishnu-purana, p. 513 : 'Krishna having dived into the pool 
 struck his arms in defiance, and the snake-king, hearing the sound, 
 came quickly forth.'
 
 384 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Kama, thus publicly humiliated, became afterwards a 
 conspicuous and valuable ally of the Kurus against his 
 own half-brothers. His character is well imagined. Feel- 
 ing keenly the stain on his birth, his nature was chastened 
 by the trial. He exhibited in a high degree fortitude, 
 chivalrous honour, self-sacrifice, and devotion. Especially 
 remarkable for a liberal and generous disposition, 1 he 
 never stooped to ignoble practices like his friends the 
 Kurus, who were intrinsically bad men. 
 
 The tutor's fee (Gurv-arthra, see pp. 195, 242, Manu 
 II. 245, Raghu-vansa V. 17) which Drona required of his 
 pupils for their instruction was, that they should capture 
 Drupada, king of Pancala, who was his old schoolfellow, 
 but had insulted him by repudiating his friendship (I. 
 5446) :- 
 
 They therefore invaded Drupada's territory and took him prisoner; 
 but Drona generously spared his life, and gave him back half his king- 
 dom. Drupada, however, burning with resentment, endeavoured to 
 procure the birth of a son, to avenge his defeat, and bring about the 
 destruction of Drona. Two Brahmans undertook a sacrifice for him, 
 and two children were born from the midst of the altar, out of the 
 sacrificial fire, a son, Dhrishta-dyumna, and a daughter, Krishna or 
 Draupadi, afterwards the wife of the Pandavas (see p. 387). 
 
 After this, Yudhi-shthira was installed by Dhrita-rashtra 
 as Yuva-raja or heir-apparent, and by his exploits soon 
 eclipsed the glory of his father Pandu's reign. 
 
 The great renown gained by the Pandu princes excited 
 the jealousy and ill-will of Dhrita-rashtra, but won the 
 affections of the citizens. The latter met together, and 
 after consultation declared that, as Dhrita-rashtra was 
 blind, he ought not to conduct the government, and that 
 as Bhishma had formerly declined the throne, he ought 
 not to be allowed to act as regent. They therefore pro- 
 
 1 He is often to this day cited as a model of liberality. Hence his 
 name, Vasu-shena.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 385 
 
 posed to crown Yudhi-shthira at once. When Duryo- 
 dhana heard of this, he consulted with Kama, Sakuni, 
 and Duhsasana, how he might remove Yudhi-shthira out 
 of the way, and secure the throne for himself : 
 
 Urged by Duryodhana, Dhrita-rashtra was induced to send the Pan- 
 dava princes on an excursion to the city of Yaranavata, pretending that 
 he wished them to see the beauties of that town, and to be present at 
 a festival there. Meanwhile Duryodhana instigated his friend Puro- 
 cana to precede them, and to prepare a house for their reception, which 
 he was to fill secretly with hemp, resin, and other combustible sub- 
 stances, plastering the walls with mortar composed of oil, fat, and lac 
 (IdksJid, jatu). When the princes were asleep in this house, and un- 
 suspicious of danger, he was to set it on fire. The five Pandavas and 
 their mother left Hastina-pur amid the tears and regrets of the citizens, 
 and in eight days arrived at Yaranavata, where, after great demonstra- 
 tions of respect from the inhabitants, they were conducted by Purodana 
 to the house of lac. Having been warned by Vidura, they soon dis- 
 covered the dangerous character of the structure, and with the assistance 
 of a miner (Iclianaka) sent by Yidura, dug an underground passage, by 
 which to escape from the interior (I. 5813). Then they devised a 
 counterplot, and agreed together that a degraded outcaste woman 
 (nisliacK) with her five sons should be invited to a feast, and stupefied 
 with wine. Bhlma was then to set fire to the lac- house in which they 
 were all assembled (see note 2, p. 380). This was done. Purodana was 
 burnt, as well as the woman with her five sons, but they themselves 
 escaped by the secret passage (surun-ga). The charred bodies of the 
 woman and her sons being afterwards found, it was supposed that the 
 Pandava princes had perished in the conflagration, and their funeral 
 ceremonies were actually performed by Dhrita-rashtra. Meanwhile 
 they hurried off to the woods; Bhima, the strong one, carrying his 
 mother and the twins, and leading his other brothers by the hands 
 when through fatigue they could not move on. Whilst his mother and 
 brothers were asleep under a fig-tree, Bhima had an encounter with a 
 hideous giant named Hidimba, whom he slew. 1 Afterwards he married 
 Hiclimba, the sister of this monster, and had a son by her named 
 Ghatotkada. 
 
 By the advice of their grandfather Vyasa, the Pandava 
 princes next took up their abode in the house of a 
 
 1 This forms the subject of a celebrated episode, edited by Bopp. 
 
 2 B
 
 386 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Brahman at a city called Ekacakra. There they lived 
 for a long time in the guise of mendicant Brahmans, safe 
 from the persecution of Duryodhana. Every day they 
 went out to beg for food as alms (bhiksha, bhaiksha), 
 which their mother Kunti divided at night, giving half 
 of the whole to Bhima as his share (cf. p. 381). While 
 resident in the house of the Brahman, Bhima delivered 
 his family and the city of Ekacakra from a fierce giant 
 (or Kakshasa) named Baka (or Vaka), who forced the 
 citizens to send him every day a dish of food by a man, 
 whom he always devoured as his daintiest morsel at the 
 end of the repast. 1 
 
 The turn had come to a poor Brahman to provide the Eakshasa with 
 his meal. He determined to go himself, but lamented bitterly the hard- 
 ness of his fate. Upon this, his wife and daughter addressed him in 
 language full of the deepest pathos, each in turn insisting on sacrificing 
 herself for the good of the family. Lastly, the little son, too young to 
 speak distinctly, ran with beaming eyes and smiling face to his parents, 
 and in prattling accents said, ' Weep not, father ; sigh not, mother.' 
 Then breaking off and brandishing a pointed spike of grass, he ex- 
 claimed, 'With this spike will I kill the fierce man-eating giant.' His 
 parents, hearing this innocent prattle of their child, in the midst of 
 their heartrending anguish felt a thrill of exquisite delight. In the 
 end Bhima, who overheard the whole conversation, undertook to 
 convey the meal to the monster, and, of course, speedily despatched 
 him (I. 6202). 
 
 After this Vyasa appeared to his grandsons, and informed 
 them that Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada, king of 
 Pancala, was destined to be their common wife :~ 
 
 1 This story forms a touching episode, which has been printed by 
 Bopp, and translated by Milman. 
 
 2 Polyandry is still practised among some hill-tribes in the Himalaya 
 range near Simla, and in other barren mountainous regions, such as 
 Bhotan, where a large population could not be supported. It prevails 
 also among the Nair (Nayar) tribe in Malabar. Our forefathers, or at 
 least the ancient Britons, according to Csesar, were given to the same
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 387 
 
 In real fact she had been in a former life the daughter of a sage, 
 and had performed a most severe penance, in order that a husband 
 might fall to her lot. S'iva, pleased with her penance, had appeared 
 to her, and had promised her, instead of one, five husbands. When 
 the maiden replied that she wanted only one husband, the god answered, 
 ' Five times you said to me, Grant me a husband ; therefore in another 
 body you will obtain five husbands' (I. 6433, 7322). This Rishi's 
 daughter was thereupon born in the family of Drupada as a maiden of 
 the most distinguished beauty, and was destined to be the wife of the 
 Panda vas. 1 
 
 practice : ' Uxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes,' &c. 
 De Bello Gallico, Y. 14. 
 
 1 Yyasa, who is the type and representative of strict Brahmanism, is 
 made to explain at length the necessity for the marriage of Draupadi 
 to five husbands (which is called a sukshma-dharma, I. 7246). He also 
 gifted Drupada with divine intuition (cakshur divyani) to perceive the 
 divinity of the Panda vas and penetrate the mystic meaning of what 
 otherwise would have been a serious violation of the laws and institu- 
 tions of the Brahmans (7313). Hence Drupada became aware of his 
 daughter's former birth, and that Arjuna was really a portion of the 
 essence of Indra (SaJerasydnsa), and all his brothers portions of the same 
 god. Draupadi herself, although nominally the daughter of Drupada, 
 was really born, like her brother Dhrishta-dyumna, out of the midst of 
 the sacrificial fire (vedi-madliyat, I. 6931 ; see p. 384), and was a form 
 of Lakshml. In no other way could her supernatural birth, and the 
 divine perfume which exhaled from her person, and was perceived a 
 league off (Itrosa-nidtrdt pravdti), be accounted for. Yyasa at the same 
 time explained the mysterious birth of Krishna and Baladeva; how 
 the god Yishnu pulled out two of his own hairs, one white and the other 
 black, which entered into two women of the family of the Yadavas 
 (Devaki and KohinI), and became, the white one Baladeva, the black 
 one Krishna (I. 7307 ; Yishnu-purana V. i). The Markancleya-purana 
 (ch. 5) shows how the five Pandavas could be all portions of Indra, and 
 yet four of them sons of other gods. When Indra killed the son of 
 Tvashtri (or Yisvakarman as Prajapati, the Creator), his punishment 
 for this brahma-hatyd was that all his tejas, ' manly vigour,' deserted 
 him, and entered Dharma, the god of justice. The son of Tvashtri was 
 reproduced as the demon Yritra, and again slain by Indra ; as a punish- 
 ment for which his bala, 'strength,' left him, and entered Mdmta, ' the 
 Wind.' Lastly, when Indra violated Ahalya, the wife of the sage 
 Gautama, his riipa, ' beauty,' abandoned him, and entered the Nasatyau
 
 388 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In obedience to the directions of their grandfather, the 
 five Pandavas quitted Ekacakra, and betook themselves 
 to the court of king Drupada, where Draupadi was about 
 to hold her Svayamvara : 
 
 An immense concourse of princely suitors, with their retainers, came 
 to the ceremony ; and king Drupada eagerly looked for Arjuna among 
 them, that, strengthened by that hero's alliance, he might defy Drona's 
 anger. He therefore prepared an enormous bow, which he was per- 
 suaded none but Arjuna could bend, and proposed a trial of strength, 
 promising to give his daughter to any one who could by means of the 
 bow shoot five arrows simultaneously through a revolving ring into a 
 target beyond. An amphitheatre was erected outside the town, sur- 
 rounded by tiers of lofty seats and raised platforms, with variegated 
 awnings. Magnificent palaces, crowded with eager spectators, over- 
 looked the scene. Actors, conjurors, athletes, and dancers exhibited 
 their skill before the multitude. Strains of exquisite music floated in 
 the air. Drums and trumpets sounded. When expectation was at its 
 height, Draupadi in gorgeous apparel entered the arena, and the bow 
 was brought. The hundred sons of Dhrita-rashtra strained every 
 nerve to bend the ponderous weapon, but without effect. Its recoil 
 dashed them breathless to the ground, and made them the laughing- 
 stock of the crowd. 
 
 Arjuna now advanced, disguised as a Brahman. I here 
 translate a portion metrically (I. 7049, &c.) : 
 
 A moment motionless he stood and scanned 
 
 The bow, collecting all his energy. 
 
 Next walking round in homage, breathed a prayer 
 
 To the Supreme Bestower of good gifts ; 
 
 Then fixing all his mind on Draupadi 
 
 He grasped the ponderous weapon in his hand, 
 
 And with one vigorous effort braced the string. 
 
 or Asvins. When Dharma gave back the tejas of Indra, Yudhi-shthira 
 was born ; when the Wind gave up Indra's bala, Bhlma was born ; and 
 when the Asvins restored the rupa of Indra, Nakula and Sahadeva were 
 born. Arjuna was born as half the essence of Indra. Hence, as they 
 were all portions of one deity, there could be no harm in Draupadi 
 becoming the wife of all five.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 389 
 
 Quickly the shafts were aimed ; they flew ; 
 The mark fell pierced ; a shout of victory 
 Rang through the vast arena ; from the sky 
 Garlands of flowers crowned the hero's head, 
 Ten thousand fluttering scarfs waved in the air, 
 And drum and trumpet sounded forth his triumph. 
 
 I need not suggest the parallel which will at once be 
 drawn by the classical scholar between this trial of archery 
 and a similar scene in the Odyssey. 
 
 When the suitors found themselves outdone by a mere 
 stripling in the coarse dress of a mendicant Brahman, 
 their rage knew no bounds. A real battle ensued : 
 
 The Pandu princes protected Drupada, and enacted prodigies. 
 Bblma tore up a tree, and used it as a club. Karna at last met 
 Arjuna in single combat, rushing on him like a young elephant. 
 They overwhelmed each other with showers of arrows, which darkened 
 the air. But not even Karna could withstand the irresistible onset of 
 the godlike Arjuna, and he and the other suitors retired vanquished 
 from the field, leaving Draupadi as the bride of Arjuna. 
 
 Arjuna having been chosen by Draupadi, the five 
 brothers returned with her to their mother, who being 
 inside the house, and fancying that they had brought 
 alms, called out to them, 'Share it between you' (blmn-kteti 
 sametya sarve, I. 7132). The words of a parent, thus 
 spoken, could not be set aside without evil consequences ; 
 and Drupada, at the persuasion of Vyasa, who acquainted 
 him with the divinely ordained destination of his daughter, 1 
 consented to her becoming the common wife of the five 
 brothers. She was first married by the family -priest 
 Dhaumya to Yudhi-shthira (I. 7340), and then, according 
 to priority of birth, to the other four. 2 
 
 1 See note i, p. 387. Drupada at first objected. Yudhi-shthira's 
 excuse for himself and his brothers is remarkable ; Purveshdm anupur- 
 vyena yatam vartmdnuydmahe (I. 7246). 
 
 2 She had a son by each of the five brothers Prativindhya by
 
 390 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Pandavas, being now strengthened by their alliance 
 with the powerful king of Pancala, threw off their dis- 
 guises; and king Dhrita-rashtra thought it more politic 
 to settle all differences by dividing his kingdom between 
 them and his own sons. He gave up Hastina-pur to the 
 latter, presided over by Duryodhana, and permitted the 
 five Pandavas to occupy a district near the Yamuna 
 (Jumna), called Khandava-prastha, where they built Indra- 
 prastha (the modern Delhi), and, under Yudhi-shthira as 
 their leader, subjugated much of the adjacent territory by 
 predatory incursions (1. 6573). 
 
 One day, when Arjuna was bathing in the Ganges, he was carried 
 off by the serpent-nymph Ulupi, daughter of the king of the Kagas, 
 whom he married (I. 7809). Afterwards he married Citran-gada, 
 daughter of the king of Manipura, and had a child by her named 
 Babhru-vahana (I. 7883). 
 
 Wandering for twelve years in the forests, to fulfil a 
 vow, Arjuna came to Prabhasa, a place of pilgrimage in 
 the west of India, where he met Krishna, 1 the details of 
 
 Yudhi-shthira; Sutasoma by Bhima ; S'rutakarman by Arjuna; S'ata- 
 nika by Nakula ; S'rutasena by Sahadeva (I. 8039). Arjuna had also 
 another wife, Subhadra, the sister of Krishna, with whom he eloped 
 when on a visit to Krishna at Dvaraka. By her he had a son, 
 Abhimanyu. He had also a son named Iravat by the serpent-nymph 
 Ulupi. Bhima had also a son, Ghatotka6a, by the Rakshasi Hidimba 
 (see p. 385) ; and the others had children by different wives (Vishnu- 
 purana, p. 459). Arjuna's son Abhimanyu had a son Parikshit, who 
 was father of Janamejaya. Parikshit died of the bite of a snake ; and 
 the Bhagavata-purana was narrated to him between the bite and his 
 death. 
 
 1 See note i, p. 387. I enumerate some of the other names by 
 which Krishna is known in the Maha-bharata, as follows: "Vasti- 
 deva, Kesava, Govinda, Janardana, Damodara, Dasarha, Narayana, 
 Hrishlkesa, Purushottama, Madhava, Madhu-sudana, Ac"yuta. (See 
 Y. 2560). In the Draupadi-harana (75) Krishna and Arjuna are 
 called Krishnau,
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 391 
 
 whose early life have already been given (p. 332), and 
 who here first formed a friendship with Arjuna, and took 
 him to his city Dvaraka, where he received him as a 
 visitor into his own house (I. 7905). Soon afterwards, 
 some of the relatives of Krishna celebrated a festival 
 in the mountain Raivataka, to which both Arjuna and 
 Krishna went. There they saw Bala-rama, elder brother 
 of Krishna (p. 332), in a state of intoxication (kshwa) 1 
 with his wife Revati ; and there they saw Subhadra, 
 Krishna's sister. Her beauty excited the love of Arjuna, 
 who, after obtaining Krishna's leave, carried her off (see 
 note 2, p. 389) and married her (I. 7937). In the 
 twelfth year of his absence he returned with her to 
 Indra-prastha. 
 
 The Panclavas and all the people of Indra-prastha then 
 lived happily for some time under the rule of Yudhi- 
 shthira, who, elated with his conquests, undertook, assisted 
 by Krishna, to celebrate the Rajasuya, a great sacrifice, 
 at which his own inauguration as paramount sovereign 
 was to be performed. 
 
 A great assembly (sabha) was accordingly held : 
 
 Various princes attended, and brought either rich presents or 
 tribute (II. 1264). Among those who came were Bhishma, Dhrita- 
 riishtra and his hundred sons, Subala (king of Gandhara), Sakuni, 
 Drupada, S'alya, Drona, Kripa, Jayad-ratha, Kuntibhoja, S'isu-pala, 
 and others from the extreme south and north (Dravida, Ceylon, and 
 Kasmir, II. i27i). 2 On the day of the inauguration (abhisheka) 
 Bhishma, at the suggestion of the sage Narada, proposed that a re- 
 spectful oblation (argha) should be prepared and offered in token of 
 worship to the best and strongest person present, whom he declared to 
 
 1 Compare Megha-duta, verse 51, where Bala-rama's fondness for 
 wine is alluded to. See also Vishnu- purana V. 25. 
 
 2 The details in this part of the poem are interesting and curious. 
 As shown by Professor H. H. Wilson, they throw light on the 
 geographical divisions and political condition of India at an early 
 epoch.
 
 39 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 be Krishna. To this the Pandavas readily agreed ; and Sahadeva was 
 commissioned to present the offering. S'isu-pala (also called Sumtha), 
 however, opposed the worship of Krishna ; and, after denouncing him 
 as a contemptible and ill-instructed person (II. 1340), challenged him 
 to fight ; l but Krishna instantly struck off his head with his discus 
 called Su-darsana. 2 
 
 After this, Dhrita-rashtra was persuaded to hold another 
 assembly (sabhd) at Hastina-pur ; and Vidura was sent to 
 the Pandavas, to invite them to be present (II. 1993). 
 They consented to attend ; and Yudhi-shthira was easily 
 prevailed on by Duryodhana to play with Sakuni. By 
 degrees Yudhi-shthira staked everything his territory, 
 his possessions, and last of all Draupadi. All were suc- 
 cessively lost ; and Draupadi, then regarded as a slave, 
 was treated with great indignity by Duhsasana. He 
 dragged her by the hair of the head into the assembly ; 
 upon which Bhima, who witnessed this insult, swore that 
 he would one day dash Duhsasana to pieces and drink his 
 blood 3 (II. 2302). In the end a compromise was agreed 
 upon. The kingdom was 'given up to Duryodhana for 
 twelve years ; and the five Pandavas, with Draupadi, 
 were required to live for that period in the woods, and 
 
 1 Duryodhana also, in a subsequent part of the Maha-bharata, evinces 
 scepticism in regard to the divine nature of Krishna (V. 4368). 
 
 2 The story of S'isu-pala and his destruction by Krishna form the 
 subject of the celebrated poem of Magha. The particulars of the 
 narrative as told in this book of the Maha-bharata are given by Dr. 
 Muir in his Sanskrit Texts, vol. iv. The Vishnu-purana identifies 
 S'isu - pala with the demons Hiranya - kasipu and Havana (Wilson, 
 
 P- 437)- 
 
 3 This threat he fulfilled. The incident is noticeable as it is the 
 subject of the well-known drama by Bhatta-narayana called Venl- 
 sambhara, ' braid-binding,' which describes how the braided hair torn by 
 Duhsasana was again bound together by Bhima, who is made to say 
 Svayam akam samharami, ' I myself will again bind the braid together.' 
 See Sahitya-darpana, p. 169.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 393 
 
 to pass the thirteenth concealed under assumed names in 
 various disguises. 
 
 They accordingly retired to the Kamyaka forest, and 
 took up their abode on the banks of the Sarasvati. 
 
 While they were resident in the forest, various episodes 
 occurred, thus : 
 
 Arjuna went to the Himalaya mountains to perform severe penance, 
 and thereby obtain celestial arms. After some time S'iva, to reward 
 him and prove his bravery, approached him as a Kirata or wild 
 mountaineer living by the chase, at the moment that a demon named 
 Muka, in the form of a boar, was making an attack upon him. S'iva 
 and Arjuna both shot together at the boar, which fell dead, and both 
 claimed to have hit him first. This served as a pretext for S'iva, 
 as the Kirata, to quarrel with Arjuna, and have a battle with him. 
 Arjuna fought long with the Kirata, 1 but could not conquer him. 
 At last he recognized the god, and threw himself at his feet. S'iva, 
 pleased with his bravery, gave him the celebrated weapon Pasupata, 
 to enable him to conquer Kariia and the Kuru princes in war (III. 
 1650, 1664). 
 
 Many legends were also repeated to console and amuse 
 the Pandu princes in their time of exile. For instance, 
 we have here introduced (III. 12746-12804) the epic 
 version of the tradition of the Deluge (the earliest account 
 of which occurs in the Satapatha-brahmana, see p. 29 of 
 this volume), as follows : 
 
 Manu, the Hindii Noah (not the grandson of Brahma, and reputed 
 author of the Code, but the seventh Manu, or Manu of the present 
 period, called Vaivasvata, and regarded as one of the progenitors of 
 the human race, Manu I. 61, 62), is represented as conciliating the 
 favour of the Supreme Being by his austerities in an age of universal 
 depravity. A fish, which was an incarnation of Brahma (cf. p. 327), 
 appeared to him whilst engaged in penance on the margin of a river, and 
 accosting him, craved protection from the larger fish. Manu complied, 
 
 1 This forms the subject of a celebrated poem by Bharavi called the 
 Kiratarjumya. S'iva was regarded as the god of the Kiratas, who were 
 evidently a race of aborigines much respected by the Hindus for their 
 bravery and skill in archery.
 
 394 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 and placed him in a glass vessel. Having outgrown this, he requested 
 to be taken to a more roomy receptacle. Manu then placed him in a 
 lake. Still the fish grew, till the lake, though three leagues long, 
 could not contain him. He next asked to be taken to the Ganges ; 
 but even the Ganges was soon too small, and the fish was finally 
 transferred to the ocean. There he continued to expand, till at last, 
 addressing Manu, he warned him of the coming Deluge. 
 
 Manu, however, was to be preserved by the help of the fish, who 
 commanded him to build a ship and go on board, not with his own 
 wife and children, but with the seven Rishis or patriarchs ; and not 
 with pairs of animals, but with the seeds of all existing things. The 
 flood came ; Manu went on board, and fastened the ship, as directed, 
 to a horn in the fish's head. He was then drawn along l (I translate 
 nearly literally) : 
 
 Along the ocean in that stately ship was borne the lord of men, and through 
 Its dancing, tumbling billows, and its roaring waters ; and the bark, 
 Tossed to and fro by violent winds, reeled on the surface of the deep, 
 Staggering and trembling like a drunken woman. Land was seen no more, 
 Nor far horizon, nor the space between ; for everywhere around 
 Spread the wild waste of waters, reeking atmosphere, and boundless sky. 
 And now when all the world was deluged, nought appeared above the waves 
 But Manu and the seven sages, and the fish that drew the bark. 
 Unwearied thus for years on years the fish propelled the ship across 
 The heaped-up waters, till at length it bore the vessel to the peak 
 Of Himavan ; then, softly smiling, thus the fish addressed the sage : 
 Haste now to bind thy ship to this high crag. Know me the lord of all, 
 The great creator Brahma, mightier than all might omnipotent. 
 By me in fish-like shape hast thou been saved in dire emergency. 
 From Manu all creation, gods, Asuras, men, must be produced ; 
 By him the world must be created that which moves and moveth not. 
 
 Another tale told in this section of the poem (III. 
 16619, &c.) may be cited for its true poetic feeling and 
 pathos qualities in which it is scarcely excelled by the 
 
 1 There is still a later account of the Deluge in the Bhagavata- 
 purana, where the fish is represented as an incarnation of Vishnu. 
 The god's object in descending as a fish seems to have been to steer 
 the ship. In the Assyrian account (as interpreted by Mr. G. Smith) 
 sailors and a helmsman are taken on board.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 395 
 
 story of Admetus and Alcestis. I subjoin the briefest 
 epitome : 
 
 Savitri, the beautiful daughter of a king Asvapati, loved Satyavan, 
 the son of an old hermit, but was warned by a seer to overcome her 
 attachment, as Satyavan was a doomed man, having only one year to 
 live. But Savitri replies : l 
 
 Whether his years be few or many, be he gifted with all grace 
 Or graceless, him my heart hath chosen, and it chooseth not again. 
 
 The king's daughter and the hermit's son were therefore married, 
 and the bride strove to forget the ominous prophecy ; but as the last 
 day of the year approached, her anxiety became irrepressible. She 
 exhausted herself in prayers and penances, hoping to stay the hand of 
 the destroyer ; yet all the while dared not reveal the fatal secret to her 
 husband. At last the dreaded day arrived, and Satyavan set out to cut 
 wood in the forest. His wife asked leave to accompany him, and walked 
 behind her husband, smiling, but with a heavy heart. Satyavan soon 
 made the wood resound with his hatchet, when suddenly a thrill of 
 agony shot through his temples, and feeling himself falling, he called 
 out to his wife to support him. 
 
 Then she received her fainting husband in her arms, and sat herself 
 On the cold ground, and gently laid his drooping head upon her lap ; 
 Sorrowing, she call'd to mind the sage's prophecy, and reckoned up 
 The days and hours. All in an instant she beheld an awful shape 
 Stand ing before her, dressed in blood-red garments, with a glitteringcrown 
 Upon his head : his form, though glowing like the sun, was yet obscure, 
 And eyes he had like flames, a noose depended from his hand ; and he 
 Was terrible to look upon, as by her husband's side he stood 
 And gazed upon him with a fiery glance. Shuddering she started up 
 And laid her dying Satyavan upon the ground, and with her hands 
 Joined reverently, she thus with beating heart addressed the Shape : 
 Surely thou art a god, such form as thine must more than mortal be ! 
 Tell me, thou godlike being, who thou art, and wherefore art thou here? 
 
 The figure replied that he was Yama, king of the dead ; that her 
 husband's time was come, and that he must bind and take his 
 spirit : 
 
 1 I translate as closely as I can to the original. This and other 
 select specimens of Indian poetry have been more freely and poetically 
 translated by Mr. R. Griffiths.
 
 396 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Then from her husband's body forced he out and firmly with his cord 
 Bound and detained the spirit, clothed in form no larger than a thumb. l 
 Forthwith the body, reft of vital being and deprived of breath, 
 Lost all its grace and beauty, and became ghastly and motionless. 
 
 After binding the spirit, Yama proceeds with it towards the quarter 
 of which he is guardian the south. The faithful wife follows him 
 closely. Yama bids her go home and prepare her husband's funeral 
 rites ; but she persists in following, till Yama, pleased with her devo- 
 tion, grants her any boon she pleases, except the life of her husband. 
 She chooses that her husband's father, who is blind, may recover his 
 sight. Yama consents, and bids her now return home. Still she 
 persists in following. Two other boons are granted in the same way, 
 and still Savitrl follows closely on the heels of the king of death. At 
 last, overcome by her constancy, Yama grants a boon without exception. 
 The delighted Savitrl exclaims 
 
 Nought, mighty king, this time hast thou excepted : let my husband live; 
 Without him I desire not happiness, nor even heaven itself ; 
 Without him I must die. 'So be it! faithful wife,' replied the kingof death; 
 'Thus I release him;' and with that he loosed the cord that bound his soul. 
 
 During the residence of the five brothers in the forest, 
 Jayad-ratha attempted to carry off Draupadi, while they 
 were absent on a shooting excursion. This resembles in 
 some respects the story of Sita's forcible abduction by 
 Eavana in the Bamayana (III. 15572), which story, 
 therefore, is here told (15945. See p. 366 of this 
 volume). 
 
 In the thirteenth year of exile, the Pandavas journeyed 
 to the court of king Virata, and entered his service in 
 different disguises : 
 
 Yudhi-shthira called himself a Brahman and took the name of Kan-ka 
 (23) ; Arjuna named himself Vrihan-nala, and pretending to be a eunuch 
 (trifiyam prakritim gataJi), adopted a sort of woman's dress, putting 
 bracelets on his arms and ear-rings in his ears, in order, as he said, to 
 hide the scars caused by his bow-string. He undertook in this capacity 
 to teach dancing, music, and singing to the daughter of Virata and 
 
 1 Compare note 3, p. 198 of this volume.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 397 
 
 the other women of the palace, and soon gained their good graces 
 (IV. 310). 
 
 One day when Virata and four of the Pandavas were absent, Duryo- 
 dhana and his brothers made an expedition against Virata's capital, 
 Matsya, and carried off some cattle. Uttara the son of Virata (in the 
 absence of his father) determined to follow and attack the Kuru army, 
 if any one could be found to act as his charioteer. Vrihan-nala (Arjuna) 
 undertook this office, and promised to bring back fine clothes and orna- 
 ments for Uttara and the other women of the palace (IV. 1226). When 
 they arrived in sight of the Kuru army, the courage of Uttara, who was 
 a mere youth, failed him. Vrihan-nala then made him act as charioteer, 
 while he himself (Arjuna) undertook to fight the Kauravas. Upon that 
 great prodigies occurred. Terror seized Bhishma, Duryodhana, and 
 their followers, who suspected that Vrihan-nala was Arjuna in disguise, 
 and even the horses shed tears 1 (IV. 1290). Duryodhana, however, 
 declared that if he turned out to be Arjuna, he would have to wander in 
 exile for a second period of twelve years. Meanwhile Arjuna revealed 
 himself to Uttara, and explained also the disguises of his brothers and 
 Draupadi. Uttara, to test his veracity, inquired whether he could 
 repeat Arjuna's ten names, and what each meant. Arjuna enumerated 
 them (Arjuna, Phalguna, Jishnu, Kirltin, S'vetavahana, Bibhatsu, 
 Vijaya, Krishna, Savyasacin, Dhananjaya), and explained their deriva- 
 tion 2 (IV. 1380). Uttara then declared that he was satisfied, and no 
 longer afraid of the Kuru army (IV. 1393). 
 
 Arjuna next put off his bracelets and woman's attire, strung his bow 
 Gand'va, and assumed all his other weapons, which had been concealed 
 in a S'ami tree. They are described as addressing him suppliantly, and 
 saying, 'We are your servants, ready to carry out your commands' 3 
 (IV. 1421). He also removed Uttara's standard and placed his own 
 ape-emblazoned banner in front of the chariot. Then was fought a 
 great battle between Arjuna and the Kauravas. In the end the whole 
 Kuru army fled before him, and all the property and cattle of Virata 
 was recovered. Arjuna told Uttara to conceal the real circumstances 
 of the battle, but to send messengers to his father's capital announcing 
 his victory, which so delighted Virata that he ordered the whole city to 
 be decorated. 
 
 Not long afterwards Virata held a great assembly, at 
 
 1 Compare Homer, Iliad XVII. 426. 
 
 2 See Arjuna's other names in note 4, p. 381. 
 
 3 Compare note, p. 402.
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 which the five Pandavas attended, and took their seats 
 with the other princes. Virata, who did not yet know 
 their real rank, was at first angry at this presumption 
 (IV. 2266). Arjuna then revealed who they were. Virata 
 was delighted, embraced the Pandavas, offered them all 
 his possessions, and to Arjuna his daughter Uttara in 
 marriage. Arjuna declined, but accepted her for his son 
 Abhimanyu (IV. 2356). 
 
 A council of princes was then called by Virata, at which 
 the Pandavas, Krishna, and Bala-rama were present, and 
 a consultation was held as to what course the Pandavas 
 were to take : 
 
 Krishna, in a speech, advised that they should not go to war with 
 their kinsmen until they had sent an ambassador to Duryodhana, sum- 
 moning him to restore half the kingdom. Bala-rama supported Krishna's 
 opinion, and recommended conciliation (sdman), but Satyaki, in an angry 
 tone, counselled war (V. 40). Drupada supported him, and recom- 
 mended that they should send messengers to all their allies, and collect 
 forces from all parts. The upshot was that the family-priest of Drupada 
 was despatched by the Pandavas as an ambassador to king Dhrita-rashtra 
 at Hastina-pur, to try the effect of negotiation. 
 
 Meanwhile Krishna and Bala-rama returned to Dva- 
 raka. Soon afterwards Duryodhana visited Krishna there, 
 hoping to prevail on him to fight on the side of the Kuru 
 army. 
 
 On the same day Arjuna arrived there also, and it happened that they 
 both reached the door of Krishna's apartment, where he was asleep, at 
 the same moment. Duryodhana succeeded in entering first, and took 
 up his station at Krishna's head. Arjuna followed behind, and stood 
 reverently at Krishna's feet. On awaking, Krishna's eyes first fell on 
 Arjuna. He then asked them both the object of their visit. Duryo- 
 dhana thereupon requested his aid in battle, declaring that although 
 Krishna was equally related to Arjuna, yet that, as he (Duryodhana) 
 had entered the room first, he was entitled to the priority. Krishna 
 answered that, as he had seen Arjuna first, he should give Arjuna the 
 first choice of two things. On the one side, he placed himself, stipu- 
 lating that he was to lay down his weapons and abstain from fighting. 

 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 399 
 
 On the other, he placed his army of a hundred million (arbuda) warriors, 
 named Narayanas. Arjuna, without hesitation, chose Krishna; and 
 Duryodhana, with glee, accepted the army, thinking that as Krishna 
 was pledged not to fight, he would be unable to help the Pandavas in 
 battle (V. 154). 
 
 Duryodhana next went to Bala-rama and asked his aid ; 
 but Bala-rama declared that both he and Krishna had 
 determined to take no part in the strife. 1 Krishna, how- 
 ever, consented to act as Arjuna's charioteer, and soon 
 afterwards joined Yudhi-shthira, who with his brothers was 
 still living in the country of Virata. Various attempts 
 at negotiation followed, and before any actual declaration 
 of war the Pandavas held a final consultation, at which 
 Arjuua begged Krishna to undertake the office of a 
 mediator. Krishna consented and departed for Hastina- 
 pura : 
 
 Midway he was met by Parasu-rama and various Rishis, who informed 
 him of their resolution to be present at the coming congress of Kuru 
 princes. On reaching Hastina-pura, Krishna retired to rest in the house 
 of Vidura. In the morning he performed all the appointed religious 
 ceremonies, dressed himself, put on the jewel Kaustubha (V. 3343), 
 and set out for the assembly. Then followed the great congress. The 
 Rishis, headed by Narad a, appeared in the sky, and were accommodated 
 with seats. Krishna opened the proceedings by a speech, which com- 
 menced thus : ' Let there be peace (Jama) between the Kurus and Pan- 
 davas.' Then, looking towards Dhrita-rashtra, he said, ' It rests with 
 you and me to effect a reconciliation.' When he had concluded a long 
 harangue, all remained riveted and thrilled by his eloquence (V. 3448). 
 None ventured for some time to reply, except Parasu-rama, the sage 
 Kanva, and Narada, who all advocated harmony and peace between the 
 rival cousins. At length Duryodhana spoke, and flatly refused to give 
 up any territory : ' It was not our fault,' he said, ' if the Pandavas were 
 conquered at dice.' "Upon that Krishna's wrath rose, and addressing 
 Duryodhana, he said, ' You think that I am alone, but know that the 
 Pandavas, Andhakas, Vrishnis, Adityas, Rudras, Yasus, and Rishis are 
 
 1 Compare Megha-duta, verse 51, where Bala-rama is described as 
 
 Bandhu-prltyd samara-vimukh ah.
 
 40O INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 all present here in me.' Thereupon flames of fire, of the size of a thumb, 
 settled on him. Brahma appeared on his forehead, Rudra on his breast, 
 the guardians of the world issued from his arms, Agni from his mouth. 
 The Adityas, Sadhyas, Yasus, Asvins, Maruts with Indra, Yisvadevas, 
 Yakshas, Gandharvas, and Rakshasas were also manifested out of his 
 body ; Arjuna was produced from his right arm ; Bala-rama from his 
 left arm ; Bhima, Yudhi-shthira, and the sons of Madrl from his back ; 
 flames of fire darted from his eyes, nose, and ears ; and the sun's rays 
 from the pores of his skin 1 (Y. 4419-4430). At this awful sight, the 
 assembled princes were compelled to close their eyes; but Drona, 
 Bhishma, Yidura, Sanjaya, the Rishis, and the blind Dhrita-rashtra 
 were gifted by Krishna with divine vision that they might behold the 
 glorious spectacle of his identification with every form (cf. p. 135 of 
 this volume). Then a great earthquake and other portents occurred, 
 and the congress broke up. Krishna, having suppressed his divinity, 
 reassumed his human form and set out on his return. He took Karna 
 with him for some distance in his chariot, hoping to persuade him to 
 take part with the Pandavas as a sixth brother. But, notwithstanding 
 all Krishna's arguments, Karna would not be persuaded ; and, leaving 
 the chariot, returned to the sons of Dhrita-rashtra (Y. 4883). 
 
 Meanwhile Bhishma consented to accept the general- 
 ship of the Kuru army (V. 5719). Though averse from 
 fighting against his kinsmen, he could not as a Kshatriya 
 abstain from joining in the war, when once commenced. 2 
 
 Before the armies joined battle, Yyasa appeared to his son Dhrita- 
 rashtra, who was greatly dejected at the prospect of the war, consoled 
 him, and offered to confer sight upon him, that he might view the 
 combat. Dhrita-rashtra declined witnessing the slaughter of his kin- 
 dred, and Yyasa then said that he would endow Sanjaya (Dhrita- 
 rashtra's charioteer) with the faculty of knowing everything that took 
 place, make him invulnerable, and enable him to transport himself by 
 a thought at any time to any part of the field of battle (YI. 43-47). 
 
 1 This remarkable passage, identifying Yishnu with everything in the 
 universe, is probably a later interpolation. 
 
 2 Bhishma, though really the grand-uncle of the Kuru and Pandu 
 princes, is often styled their grandfather (pitdmalia) ; and though really 
 the uncle of Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, is sometimes styled their father. 
 He is a kind of Priam in caution and sagacity, but like a hardy old 
 veteran, never consents to leave the fighting to others.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 401 
 
 The armies DOW met on Kuru-kshetra, a vast plain 
 north-west of the modern Delhi ; the Kuru forces beino- 
 
 5 
 
 commanded by Bhishma, and the Pandavas by Dhrishta- 
 dyumna, son of Drupada (VI. 832). While the hosts 
 stood drawn up in battle array, Krishna, acting as Arjuna's 
 charioteer, addressed him in a long philosophical discourse, 
 which forms the celebrated episode called Bhagavad-gita 
 (\[. 830-1532), an epitome of which is given at pp. 124- 
 140 of this volume. 
 
 And now as the armies advanced a tumult filled the 
 sky ; the earth shook ; ' Chafed by wild winds, the sands 
 upcuiied to heaven, and spread a veil before the sun.' 
 Awful portents occurred'; showers of blood fell ; l asses 
 were born from cows, calves from mares, jackals from dogs. 
 Shrill kites, vultures, and howling jackals hung about 
 the rear of the marching armies. Thunder roared in 
 the cloudless sky. Then darkness supervened, lightnings 
 flashed, and blazing meteors shot across the darkened 
 firmament ; yet, 
 
 The mighty chiefs, with martial ardour fired, 
 Scorning Heaven's portents, eager for the fray, 
 Pressed on to mutual slaughter, and the peal 
 Of shouting hosts commingling, shook the world. 
 
 There is to a European a ponderous and unwieldy 
 character about Oriental warfare, which he finds it diffi- 
 cult to realize ; yet the battle-scenes, though exaggerated, 
 are vividly described, and carry the imagination into the 
 midst of the conflict. Monstrous elephants career over 
 the field, trampling on men and horses, and dealing 
 destruction with their huge tusks; enormous clubs and 
 iron maces clash together with the noise of thunder ; 
 
 1 So Jupiter rains blood twice in the Iliad, XI. 53 and XVI. 459. 
 We have also the following in Hesiod, Scut. Here. 384 : KS 5' *' *' 
 
 a/',aarosff<Jaj. 
 
 2 C
 
 402 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 rattling chariots dash against each other ; thousands of 
 arrows hurtle in the air, darkening the sky ; trumpets, 
 kettle-drums, and horns add to the uproar ; confusion, 
 carnage, and death are everywhere. 
 
 In all this, however, there is nothing absolutely ex- 
 travagant ; but when Arjuna is described as killing five 
 hundred warriors simultaneously, or as covering the whole 
 plain with dead and filling rivers with blood ; Yudhi- 
 shthira, as slaughtering a hundred men ' in a mere 
 twinkle ' (nimesha-matrena) ; Bhima, as annihilating a 
 monstrous elephant, including, all mounted upon it, and 
 fourteen foot-soldiers besides, with one blow of his club ; 
 Nakula and Sahadeva, fighting from their chariots, as 
 cutting off heads by the thousand, and sowing them 
 like seed upon the ground ; when, moreover, the principal 
 heroes make use of mystical god-given weapons, possessed 
 of supernatural powers, and supposed to be themselves 
 celestial beings ; * we at once perceive that the utter 
 unreality of such scenes mars the beauty of the descrip- 
 tion. Still it must be borne in mind that the poets 
 
 1 About a hundred of these weapons are enumerated in the Rama- 
 yana (I. xxix.), and constant allusion is made to them in battle-scenes, 
 both in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata. Arjuna underwent a long 
 course of austerities to obtain celestial weapons from Siva (see p. 393). 
 It was by the terrific brahmastra that Vasishtha conquered Yisvamitra, 
 and Rama killed Ravana. Sometimes they appear to be mystical 
 powers exercised by meditation, rather than weapons, and are supposed 
 to assume animate forms, and possess names and faculties like the 
 genii in the Arabian Nights, and to address their owners (see p. 397). 
 Certain distinct spells, charms, or prayers had to be learnt for their 
 due use (prayoga) and restraint (samhara). See Ram. I. xxix., xxx., 
 where they are personified ; also Raghu-vansa V. 57 (Sammohanam 
 nama astram adfiatsva prayoga- samhara- vibhaMa-mantram). When 
 once let loose, he only who knew the secret spell for recalling them, 
 could bring them back ; but the brahmastra returned to its possessor's 
 quiver of its own accord.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 403 
 
 who brahmabized the Indian Epics gifted the heroes 
 with semi-divine natures, and that what would be in- 
 credible in a mere mortal is not only possible but appro- 
 priate when enacted by a demigod. 1 The individual 
 deeds of prowess and single combats between the heroes 
 are sometimes graphically narrated. Each chief has a 
 conch-shell (san-Jcha) for a trumpet, which, as well as 
 his principal weapon, has a name, as if personified. 2 
 Thus we read : 
 
 Arjuna blew his shell called Deva-datta, ' god-given,' and carried a 
 bow named Gandiva. Krishna sounded a shell made of the bones of 
 the demon Pandajana and hence called Panc"ajanya, Bhima blew a 
 great trumpet named Paundra, and Yudhi-shthira sounded his, called 
 Ananta-vijaya, 'eternal victory.' 
 
 The first great single combat was between Bhishma 
 and Arjuna. It ended in Arjuna transfixing Bhishma 
 with innumerable arrows, so that there was not a space 
 of two fingers' breadth on his whole body unpierced. 
 
 Then Bhishma fell from his chariot ; but his body could not touch 
 the ground, surrounded as it was by countless arrows (VL 5658). 
 There it remained, reclining as it were on an arrowy couch (3ara-talpe 
 saydna). In that state consciousness returned, and the old warrior 
 became divinely supported. He had received from his father the 
 power of fixing the time of his own death, 3 and now declared that he 
 intended retaining life till the sun entered the summer solstice (uttard- 
 
 1 Aristotle says that the epic poet should prefer impossibilities 
 which appear probable to such things as, though possible, appear im- 
 probable (Poetics III. 6). But previously, in comparing epic poetry 
 with tragedy, he observes, 'the surprising is necessary in tragedy, 
 but the epic poem goes further, and admits even the improbable and 
 incredible, from which the highest degree of the surprising results' 
 (III. 4). 
 
 2 Trumpets do not appear to have been used by Homer's heroes. 
 Whence the value of a Stentorian voice. But there is express allusion 
 in II. XVIII. 219 to the use of trumpets at sieges. 
 
 3 Compare Kiratarjuniya III. 19.
 
 404 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 yana). All the warriors on both sides ceased fighting that they 
 might view this wonderful sight, and do homage to their dying rela- 
 tive (VI. 5716). As he lay on his arrowy bed, his head hanging 
 down, he begged for a pillow ; whereupon the chiefs brought soft 
 supports, which the hardy old soldier sternly rejected. Arjuna then 
 made a rest for his head with three arrows, which Bhishma quite 
 approved, and soon afterwards asked Arjuna to bring him water. 
 Whereupon Arjuna struck the ground with an arrow, and forthwith 
 a pure spring burst forth, which so refreshed Bhishma that he called 
 for Duryodhana, and in a long speech begged him, before it was too 
 late, to restore half the kingdom to the Panda vas (VI. 5813). 
 
 After the fall of Bhishma, Kama advised Duryodhana 
 to appoint his old tutor Drona who was chiefly for- 
 midable from his stock of fiery arrows and magical 
 weapons 1 to the command of the army (VII. 150). 
 Several single combats and general engagements (saiikula- 
 yuddham, tumula-yuddham), in which sometimes one 
 party, sometimes the other had the advantage, took place. 
 Here is an account of a single combat (VII. 544) : 
 
 High on a stately car 
 
 Swift borne by generous coursers to the fight, 
 The vaunting son of Puru proudly drove, 
 Secure of conquest o'er Subhadra's son. 
 The youthful champion shrank not from the conflict. 
 Fierce on the boastful chief he sprang, as bounds 
 The lion's cub upon the ox ; and now 
 The Puru chief had perished, but his dart 
 Shivered with timely aim the upraised bow 
 Of Abhimanyu. 2 From his tingling hand 
 The youthful warrior cast the fragments off, 
 And drew his sword, and grasped his iron-bound shield ; 
 Upon the car of Paurava he leapt 
 And seized the chief his charioteer he slew, 
 And dragged the monarch senseless o'er the plain. 3 
 
 1 These agneydstra were received by Drona from the son of Agni, 
 who obtained them from Drona's father, Bharadvaja. 
 
 2 The name of Arjuna's son by Subhadra. 
 
 3 The translation of this and the short passage at p. 401 is a
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 405 
 
 Amongst other battles a oreat fight was fought between 
 
 o o o O 
 
 Ghatotkaca and Kama, in which the former as a Rakshasa 
 (son of the Rakshasi Hidimba and Bhima) assumed various 
 forms, but was eventually slain (VII. 8104). This disaster 
 filled the Pandavas with grief, but the fortunes of the 
 day were retrieved by Dhrishta-dyumna (son of Drupada), 
 who fought with Drona, and succeeded in decapitating 
 his lifeless body, not, however, till Drona had laid down 
 his arms and saved Dhrishta-dyumna from the enormous 
 crime of killing a Brahman and an Acarya, by transport- 
 ing himself to heaven in a glittering shape like the sun. 
 His translation to Brahma-loka was only witnessed by 
 five persons, and before leaving the earth he made over 
 his divine weapons to his son Asvatthaman. The loss of 
 their general Drona caused the flight of the whole Kuril 
 army (VII. 8879), but they appointed Kama general, in 
 his place, and renewed the combat : 
 
 In this engagement so terrible was the slaughter that- the rivers 
 flowed with blood, and the field became covered with mutilated corpses 
 (VIII. 2550, 3899). Numbers of warriors bound themselves by oath 
 (sam4ap-taka) to slay Arjuna, but were all destroyed, and an army 
 of Mle<tfhas or barbarians with thirteen hundred elephants, sent by 
 Duryodhana against Arjuna, were all routed by him (4133)- 
 
 Then Bhima and Duhsasana joined in deadly conflict. The latter 
 was slain, and Bhima, remembering the insult to DraupadI, and the 
 vow he made in consequence (see p. 392), cut off his head, and drank 
 his blood on the field of battle (4235). 
 
 Then occurred the battle between Kama and Arjuna : 
 
 Arjuna was wounded and stunned by an arrow shot off by Kama, 
 and seemed likely to be defeated had not the wheel of Kama's chariot 
 come off. This obliged Karna to leap down, and his head was then 
 shot off by one of Arjuna's arrows 1 (VIII. 4798)- His death struck 
 
 slightly altered version of some spirited lines by Professor H. H. 
 Wilson, given in vol. iii. of his collected works edited by Dr. E 
 1 This arrow is called in the text Anjalika (VIII. 4788).
 
 406 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 terror into the Kuru army, which fled in dismay, while Bhlma and 
 the Pandu party raised a shout of triumph that shook heaven and 
 earth. 
 
 On the death of Karna, Salya, king of Madra, was 
 appointed to the command of the Kuru army, then much 
 reduced in numbers (IX. 327). Another general engage- 
 ment followed, and a single combat between Salya and 
 Bhima with clubs or maces, in which both were equally 
 matched (IX. 594). Here is a version of the encounter : 
 
 Soon as he saw his charioteer struck down, 
 
 Straightway the Madra monarch grasped his mace, 
 
 And like a mountain firm and motionless 
 
 Awaited the attack. The warrior's form 
 
 Was awful as the world-consuming fire, 
 
 Or as the noose-armed god of death, or as 
 
 The peaked Kailasa, or the Thunderer 
 
 Himself, or as the trident-bearing god, 
 
 Or as a maddened forest elephant. 
 
 Him to defy did Bhima hastily 
 
 Advance, wielding aloft his massive club. 
 
 A thousand conchs and trumpets and a shout, 
 
 Firing each champion's ardour, rent the air. 
 
 From either host, spectators of the fight, 
 
 Burst forth applauding cheers : ' The Madra king 
 
 Alone,' they cried, ' can bear the rush of Bhima ; 
 
 None but heroic Bhima can sustain 
 
 The force of S'alya. ' Now like two fierce bulls 
 
 Sprang they towards each other, mace in hand. 
 
 And first as cautiously they circled round, 
 
 Whirling their weapons as in sport, the pair 
 
 Seemed matched in equal combat. S'alya's club, 
 
 Set with red fillets, glittered as with flame, 
 
 arrows used in the Maha-bharata are of various kinds, some having 
 crescent-shaped heads. It may be useful to subjoin a list of words 
 for arrow, which occur constantly in the description of battles : 
 sara, vana, ishu, sdydka, patrin, kdnda, vUiklia, ndrdca, vipdtha, 
 prishatka, bhalla, tomara (a kind of lance), salya (a dart), isliika, 
 sillmuJcJia.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 407 
 
 While that of Bhlma gleamed like flashing lightning. 
 
 Anon the clashing iron met, and scattered round 
 
 A fiery shower ; then fierce as elephants 
 
 Or butting bulls they battered each the other. 
 
 Thick fell the blows, and soon each stalwart frame, 
 
 Spattered with gore, glowed like the Kinsuka, 
 
 Bedecked with scarlet blossoms ; yet beneath 
 
 The rain of strokes, unshaken as a rock 
 
 Bhlma sustained the mace of S'alya, he 
 
 With equal firmness bore the other's blows. 
 
 Now like the roar of crashing thunder-clouds 
 
 Sounded the clashing iron ; then, their clubs 
 
 Brandished aloft, eight paces they retired, 
 
 And swift again advancing to the fight, 
 
 Met in the midst like two huge mountain-crags 
 
 Hurled into contact. Nor could either bear 
 
 The other's shock ; together down they rolled, 
 
 Mangled and crushed, like two tall standards fallen. 
 
 After this f a great battle was fought between Yudhi- 
 shthira and Salya, who was at first aided and rescued by 
 Asvatthaman, but was eventually killed (IX. 919). 
 
 The Kauravas, after suffering continual reverses, rallied 
 their scattered forces for a final charge, which led to a 
 complete rout and general slaughter, Duryodhana, Asvat- 
 thaman (son of Drona), Krita-varman (also called Bhoja), 
 and Kripa (see note i, p. 383) being the only chiefs of the 
 Kuru army left alive. 1 Nothing remained of eleven whole 
 armies (IX. 1581). Duryodhana, wounded, disheartened, 
 and alarmed for his own safety, resolved on flight : 
 
 On foot, with nothing but his mace, he took refuge in a lake, hiding 
 himself under the water, and then, by his magical power, supporting 
 it so as to form a chamber around his body. 2 The Panda vas, informed 
 
 1 Sanjaya was taken by Dhrishta-dyumna, and would have been 
 killed had not Yyasa suddenly appeared and demanded that he should 
 be dismissed unharmed (compare p. 376). 
 
 2 So I interpret astamlhayat toyam mayaya (IX. 1621) and vish- 
 falliya apah sva-mayaya (1680, 1739). Duryodhana is described as 
 lying down and sleeping at the bottom of the lake (1705).
 
 40 8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of his hiding-place, came to the lake, and Yudhi-shthira commenced 
 taunting Duryodhana, ' Where is your manliness ? where is your 
 pride ? where your valour 1 where your skill in arms, that you hide 
 yourself at the bottom of a lake ? Rise up and fight ; perform your 
 duty as a Kshatriya' (IX. 1774). Duryodhana answered, that it was 
 not from fear, but fatigue, that he was lying under the water, and that 
 he was ready to fight them all. He entreated them, however, to go 
 and take the kingdom, as he had no longer any pleasure in life, his 
 brothers being killed. Yudhi-shthira then continued his sarcasm^, 
 till at last, thoroughly roused by his goading words (vdk-pratoda), 
 Duryodhana rose up out of the lake, his body streaming with blood 
 and water (IX. 1865). 
 
 It was settled that a single combat with clubs should 
 take place between Duryodhana and Bhima ; and when 
 Bala-rama heard that his two pupils (see p. 383) were 
 about to engage in conflict, he determined to be present, 
 that he might ensure fair play. 1 
 
 Then followed the great club-fight (gadd-yuddha) : 
 
 The two combatants entered the lists and challenged each other, 
 while Krishna, Bala-rama, and all the other Pandavas sat round as 
 spectators. The fight was tedious, the combatants being equally 
 matched. At last Bhima struck Duryodhana a blow on his thighs, 
 broke them, and felled him to the ground. Then reminding him of 
 the insult received by Draupadi, he kicked him on the head with his 
 left foot (IX. 3313). Upon this Bala-rama started up in anger, 
 declaring that Bhima had fought unfairly (it being a rule in club- 
 fights that no blow should be given below the middle of the body), 
 and that he should ever after be called Jihma-yodhin (unfair-fighter), 
 while Duryodhana should always be celebrated as Riju-yodhin (fair- 
 fighter). 
 
 Bala-rama thereupon returned to Dvaraka, and the five 
 Pandavas with Krishna entered the camp of Duryodhana, 
 
 . l An interesting episode about the mahdtmya of Tirthas, and 
 especially of those on the sacred Sarasvati (IX. 2006), is inserted in 
 this part of the poem. The story of the Moon, who was afflicted with 
 consumption, on account of the curse of Daksha, is also told (2030), 
 as well as the celebrated legend of Vasishtha and Visvamitra (2296, 
 see p. 361).
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 409 
 
 and took possession of it and its treasures as victors 
 (IX. 3492). 
 
 ^The three surviving Kuru warriors (Asvatthaman, 
 Kripa, and Krita-varman), hearing of the fall of Duryo- 
 dhana, hastened to the place where he was lying. There 
 they found him weltering in his blood (IX. 3629)*, but still 
 alive. He spoke to them, told them not to grieve for 
 him, and assured them that he should die happy in 
 having done his duty as a Kshatriya. Then leaving 
 Duryodhana still lingering alive with broken thighs on 
 the battle-field, they took refuge in a forest. 
 
 There, at night, they rested near a Nyagrodha-tree, where thousands 
 of crows were roosting. Asvatthaman, who could not sleep, saw an 
 owl approach stealthily and destroy numbers of the sleeping crows 
 (X. 41). This suggested the idea of entering the camp of the Pandavas 
 by night and slaughtering them while asleep (suptd). 1 Accordingly 
 he set out for the Pandu camp, followed by Kripa and Krita-varman. 
 At the gate of the camp his progress was arrested by an awful figure, 
 described as gigantic, glowing like the sun, dressed in a tiger's skin, 
 with long arms, and bracelets formed of serpents. This was the deity 
 S'iva; 2 and after a tremendous conflict with him, Asvatthaman recog- 
 nized the god, worshipped and propitiated him (X. 251). 
 
 Asvatthaman then directed Kripa and Krita-varman to stand at the 
 camp-gate and kill any of the Pandu army that attempted to escape 
 (X. 327). He himself made his way alone and stealthily to the tent 
 of Dhrishta-dyumna, who was lying there fast asleep. Him he killed 
 by stamping on him, declaring that one who had murdered his father 
 (Drona, see p. 405) a Brahman and an Adarya was not worthy to 
 
 1 Hence the name sauptika applied to this section of the poem. 
 Compare Homer's narrative of the night adventures of Diomed and 
 Ulysses in the camp of the Trojans (Iliad X.). 
 
 2 The description of S'iva in this passage is remarkable. Hundreds 
 and thousands of Krishnas are said to be manifested from the light 
 issuing from his person. Many of S'iva's names also are enume- 
 rated as follows : Ugra, Sthanu, S'iva, Rudra, S'arva, Isana, Isvara, 
 Girisa, Yarada, Deva, Bhava, Bhavana, S'itikantha, Aja, Sukra, 
 Daksha-kratu-hara, Hara, Visvarupa, Virupiiksha, Bahurupa, Umapati 
 (X. 252).
 
 410 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 die in any other way (X. 342). After killing every one in the camp 
 and destroying the whole Pandu army (except the five Pandavas 
 themselves with Satyaki and Krishna, who happened to be stationed 
 outside the camp), Asvatthaman joined his comrades, and they all 
 three proceeded to the spot where Duryodhana was lying. They found 
 him just breathing (kihcit-prana), but weltering in his blood and sur- 
 rounded by beasts of prey. Asvatthaman then announced that he was 
 avenged, as only seven of the Pandu army were now left ; all the rest 
 were slaughtered like cattle (X. 531). Duryodhana hearing this, 
 revived a little, and gathering strength to thank them and say fare- 
 well, expired ; his spirit rising to heaven and his body entering the 
 ground (X. 536). 
 
 Thus perished both armies of Kurus and Pandavas. 
 
 Dhrita-rashtra was so overwhelmed with grief for the 
 death of his sons, that his father Vyasa appeared to him 
 and consoled him by pointing out that their fate was 
 predestined, and that they could not escape death. He 
 also declared that the Pandavas were not to blame ; that 
 Duryodhana, though born from Gandhari, was really a 
 partial incarnation of Kali l (Kaler ansa), and Sakuni of 
 Dvapara (see p. 330, note). 
 
 Vidura also comforted the king with his usual sensible 
 advice, and recommended that the funeral ceremonies 
 (preta - kdrydni) should be performed. Dhrita-rashtra 
 then ordered carriages to be prepared, and with the 
 women proceeded to the field of battle (XL 269). 
 
 There he met and became reconciled to the five Pan- 
 davas, but his wife Gandhari would have cursed them had 
 not Vyasa interfered. The five brothers next embraced 
 and comforted their mother Pritha, who with the queen 
 Gandhari, and the other wives and women, uttered lamen- 
 tations over the bodies of the slain heroes, as one by 
 one they came in sight on the field of battle (XL 427- 
 
 755)- 
 
 1 So also S'akuni is said to be an incarnation of Dvapara (XVIII. 
 1 66).
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 411 
 
 Finally, the funeral obsequies (sraddha) were per- 
 formed at the command of Yudhi-shthira (XL 779), 
 after which he, with his brothers, entered Hastina-pura 
 in triumph. 
 
 All the streets were decorated ; and Brahmans offered him con- 
 gratulations, which he acknowledged by distributing largesses among 
 them (XII. 1410). Only one person stood aloof. This turned out 
 to be an impostor, a friend of Duryodhana a Rakshasa named 
 Carvaka who in the disguise of a mendicant reviled him and the 
 Brahmans. He was, however, soon detected ; and the real Brahmans, 
 filled with fury and uttering imprecations, killed him on the spot (see 
 p. 119). 
 
 After this incident, Yudhi-shthira, seated on a golden 
 throne, was solemnly crowned (XII. 1443). 
 
 Nevertheless, restless and uneasy, and his mind filled with anguish 
 at the slaughter of his kindred, he longed for consolation (sdnti), and 
 Krishna recommended him to apply to Bhlshma, who still remained 
 alive on the field of battle, reclining on his soldier's bed (vlra-sayand), 
 surrounded by Yyasa, Narada, and other holy sages. Accordingly, 
 Yudhi-shthira and his brothers, accompaned by Krishna, set out for 
 Kuru-kshetra, passing mutilated corpses, skulls, broken armour, and 
 other evidences of the fearful nature of the war. This reminded 
 Krishna of the slaughter caused by Parasu-rama, who cleared the earth 
 thrice seven times of the Kshatriya caste (see p. 329). His story was 
 accordingly narrated to Yudhi-shthira (XII. 1707-1805). They then 
 approached Bhishma lying on his couch of arrows (sara-samstara- 
 sdyinam], and Krishna entreated him to instruct Yudhi-shthira, and 
 calm his spirit. 
 
 Upon that Bhlshma, who had been lying for fifty-eight nights on 
 his spiky bed (XIII. 7732), assisted by Krishna, Narada, Vyasa, and 
 other Rishis, commenced a series of long and tedious didactic discourses 
 (contained in the S'anti-parvan and Anusasana-parvan). 1 
 
 1 In XII. 1241 we have some curious rules for expiation (prayat- 
 citta), and at 1393 rules for what to eat and what to avoid (Wiakshyd- 
 bhakshya). Some of the precepts are either taken from or founded on 
 Manu. For instance, compare 6071 with Manu II. 238. Many of the 
 moral verses in the Hitopadesa will be found in the S'anti-parvan ; and
 
 412 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Then having finished instructing his relatives, he bade them fare- 
 well, and asked Krishna's leave to depart. Suddenly the arrows left 
 his body, his skull divided, and his spirit, bright as a meteor, ascended 
 through the top of his head to the skies (XIII. 7765). They covered 
 him with garlands and perfumes, carried him to the Ganges, and per- 
 formed his last obsequies. 
 
 And here a European poet would have brought the 
 story to an end. The Sanskrit poet has a deeper know- 
 ledge of human nature, or at least of Hindu nature. 
 
 In the most popular of Indian dramas (the Sakuntala) 
 there occurs this sentiment : l 
 
 'Tis a vain thought that to attain the end 
 And object of ambition is to rest. 
 Success doth only mitigate the fever 
 Of anxious expectation : soon the fear 
 Of losing what we have, the constant care 
 Of guarding it doth weary. 
 
 If then the great national Epic was to respond truly 
 to the deeper emotions of the Hindu mind, it could not 
 leave the Panda vas in the contented enjoyment of their 
 kingdom. It had to instil a more sublime moral a 
 lesson which even the disciples of a diviue philosophy 
 are slow to learn that all who desire rest must aim 
 at union with the Infinite. Hence we are brought in the 
 concluding chapters to a sublime description of the renun- 
 ciation of their kingdom by the five brothers, and their 
 journey towards Indra's heaven in the mountain Meru. 
 Part of this (XVII. 24, &c.) I now translate : 
 
 When the four brothers knew the high resolve of king Yudhi-shthira, 
 Forthwith with Draupadi they issued forth, and after them a dog 
 Followed : the king himself went out the seventh from the royal city, 
 
 the fable of the three fishes is founded on the story at 4889. For the 
 contents of the Asvamedhika, Asramavasika, and Mausala Parvans, see 
 
 P- 374- 
 
 1 See my translation of this play, 4th edition, p. 124 (recently pub- 
 lished by W. H." Allen & Co., 13 Waterloo Place).
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 413 
 
 And all the citizens and women of the palace walked behind ; 
 But none could find it in their heart to say unto the king, ' Return. ' 
 And so at length the train of citizens went back, bidding adieu. 
 Then the high-minded sons of Pandu and the noble DraupadI 
 Eoamed onwards, fasting, with their faces towards the east; their hearts 
 Yearning for union with the Infinite ; bent on abandonment 
 Of worldly things. They wandered on to many countries, many a sea 
 And river. Yudhi-shthira walked in front, and next to him came Bhima, 
 And Arjuna came after him, and then, in order, the twin brothers. 
 And last of all came DraupadI, with her dark skin and lotus- eyes 
 The faithful DraupadI, loveliest of women, best of noble wives 
 Behind them walked the only living thing that shared their pilgrimage 
 The dog and by degrees they reached the briny sea. There Arjuna 
 Cast in the waves his bow and quivers. 1 Then with souls well-disciplined 
 They reached the northern region, and beheld with heaven-aspiring hearts 
 The mighty mountain Himavat. Beyond its lofty peak they passed 
 Towards a sea of sand, and saw at last the rocky Meru, king 
 Of mountains. As with eager steps they hastened on, their souls intent 
 On union with the Eternal, DraupadI lost hold of her high hope, 
 And faltering fell upon the earth. 
 
 One by one the others also drop, till only Bhima, 
 Yudhi-shthira, and the dog are left. Still Yudhi-shthira 
 walks steadily in front, calm and unmoved, looking neither 
 to the right hand nor to the left, and gathering up his 
 soul in inflexible resolution. Bhima, shocked at the fall 
 of his companions, and unable to understand how beings 
 so apparently guileless should be struck down by fate, 
 appeals to his brother, who, without looking back, explains 
 that death is the consequence of sinful thoughts and too 
 great attachment to worldly objects ; and that Draupadl's 
 fall was owing to her excessive affection for Arjuna; 
 Sahadeva's (who is supposed to be the most humble- 
 minded of the five brothers) to his pride in his own know- 
 ledge ; Nakula's (who is very handsome) to feelings of 
 
 1 Arjuna had two celebrated quivers, besides the bow named 
 Gaiidlva, given to him by the god AgnL See Kiratarjunlya 
 XI. 1 6.
 
 414 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 personal vanity; and Arjuna's to a boastful confidence in 
 his power to destroy his foes. Bhima then feels himself 
 falling, and is told that he suffers death for his selfishness, 
 pride, and too great love of enjoyment. The sole survivor 
 is now Yudhi-shthira, who still walks steadily forward, 
 followed only by the dog : 
 
 When with a sudden sound that rang through earth and heaven the mighty god 
 Came towards him in a chariot, and he cried, ' Ascend, resolute prince.' 
 Then did the king look back upon his fallen brothers, and address'd 
 These words unto the Thousand-eyed in anguish ' Let my brothers here 
 Come with me. Without them, god of gods, I would not wish to enter 
 E'en heaven ; and yonder tender princess DraupadI, the faithful wife, 
 Worthy of endless bliss, let her too come. In mercy hear my prayer.' 
 
 Upon this, Indra informs him that the spirits of Drau- 
 padI and his brothers are already in heaven, and that he 
 alone is permitted to ascend there in bodily form. Yudhi- 
 shthira now stipulates that his dog shall be admitted with 
 him. Indra says sternly, ' Heaven has no place for men 
 accompanied by dogs ' (svavatam) ; but Yudhi-shthira is 
 unshaken in his resolution, and declines abandoning the 
 faithful animal. Indra remonstrates * You have aban- 
 doned your brothers and DraupadI ; why not forsake the 
 dog ? ' To this Yudhi-shthira haughtily replies, ' I had 
 no power to bring them back to life : how can there be 
 abandonment of those who no longer live ? ' 
 
 The dog, it appears, is his own father Dharma in dis- 
 guise (XVII. 88). 1 Eeassuming now his proper form, 
 he praises Yudhi-shthira for his constancy, and they enter 
 heaven together. There, to his surprise, he finds Duryo- 
 dhana and his cousins, but not his brothers or DraupadI. 
 Hereupon he declines remaining in heaven without them. 
 
 1 So I infer from the original, which, however, is somewhat obscure. 
 The expression is dharma-svarupl bhagavan. At any rate, the dog was 
 a mere phantom created to try Yudhi-shthira, as it is evident that a 
 real doer is not admitted with Yudhi-shthira to heaven.
 
 THE EPIC POEMS THE MAHA-BHARATA. 415 
 
 An angel is then sent to conduct him to the lower regions 
 and across the Indian Styx ( Vaitaranl) to the hell where 
 they are supposed to be. The scene which now follows 
 may be compared to the Nekyomanteia in the eleventh 
 book of the Odyssey, or to parts of Dante. 
 
 The particular hell to which Yudhi-shthira is taken is 
 a dense wood, whose leaves are sharp swords, and its 
 ground paved with razors (asi-patra-vana, see p. 55, 
 note 2). The way to it is strewed with foul and muti- 
 lated corpses. Hideous shapes flit across the air and 
 hover over him. Here there is an awful sensation of 
 palpable darkness. There the wicked are burning in 
 flames of blazing fire. Suddenly he hears the voices of 
 his brothers and companions imploring him to assuage 
 their torments, and not desert them. His resolution is 
 taken. Deeply affected, he bids the angel leave him to 
 share their miseries. This is his last trial. The whole 
 scene now vanishes. It was a mere illusion, to test his 
 constancy to the utmost. He is now directed to bathe in 
 the heavenly Ganges ; and having plunged into the sacred 
 stream, he enters the real heaven, where at length, in 
 company with Draupadi and his brothers, he finds that 
 rest and happiness which were unattainable on earth.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Indian Epics compared with each other and with 
 the Homeric Poems. 
 
 I PROCEED to note a few obvious points that force them- 
 selves on the attention in comparing the two great Indian 
 Epics with each other, and with the Homeric poems. I 
 have already stated that the episodes of the Maha-bharata 
 occupy more than three-fourths of the whole poem. 1 It 
 is, in fact, not one poem, but a combination of many 
 poems ; not a Kdvya, like the poem of Valmiki, by one 
 author, but an Itihasa by many authors. This is one 
 great distinctive feature in comparing it with the Rama- 
 yana. In both Epics there is a leading story, about which 
 are collected a multitude of other stories ; but in the 
 Maha-bharata the main narrative only acts as a slender 
 thread to connect together a vast mass of independent 
 legends, and religious, moral, and political precepts ; while 
 in the Ramayana the episodes, though numerous, never 
 break the solid chain of one principal and paramount 
 subject, which is ever kept in view. Moreover, in the 
 Ramayana there are few didactic discourses and a remark- 
 able paucity of sententious maxims. 
 
 It should be remembered that the two Epics belong 
 to different periods and different localities. Not only was 
 
 1 Although the Maha-bharata is so much longer than the Ramayana 
 as to preclude the idea of its being, like that poem, the work of one or 
 even a few authors, yet it is the number of the episodes which, after all, 
 causes the disparity. Separated from these, the main story of the Maha- 
 bharata is not longer than the other Epic.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 4 1 7 
 
 a large part of the Maha-bharata composed later than the 
 Ramayana, parts of it being comparatively modern, but 
 the places which gave birth to the two poems are distinct 
 (see p. 317). Moreover, in the Ramayana the circle of 
 territory represented as occupied by the Aryans is more 
 restricted than that in the Maha-bharata. It reaches to 
 Videha or Mithila and An-ga in the East, to Su-rashtra in 
 the South-west, to the Yamuna and great Dandaka forest 
 in the South. Whereas in the Maha-bharata (as pointed 
 out by Professor Lassen) the Aryan settlers are described 
 as having extended themselves to the mouths of the 
 Ganges in the East, to the mouth of the Godavari on 
 the Koromandel coast, and to the Malabar coast in the 
 West ; and even the inhabitants of Ceylon (Sinhala) bring 
 tribute to the Northern kings. It is well known that in 
 India different customs and opinions frequently prevail in 
 districts almost adjacent ; and it is certain that Brah- 
 mauism never gained the ascendency in the more martial 
 north which it acquired in the neighbourhood of Oude, 1 
 so that in the Maha-bharata we have far more allusions to 
 Buddhistic scepticism than we have in the sister Epic. 
 In fact, each poem, though often running parallel to 
 the other, has yet a distinct point of departure ; and the 
 Maha-bharata, as it became current in various localities, 
 diverged more into by-paths and cross-roads than its sister. 
 Hence the Ramayana is in some respects a more finished 
 composition than the Maha-bharata, and depicts a more 
 polished state of society, and a more advanced civilization. 
 
 1 Professor Weber (Ind. Stud. I. 220) remarks that the north-western 
 tribes retained their ancient customs, which those who migrated to the 
 east had at one time shared. The former (as represented in the Maha- 
 bharata) kept themselves free from those influences of hierarchy and 
 caste, which arose among the inhabitants of Ayodhya (in the Ramayana) 
 as a consequence of their intermingling and coming more in contact 
 
 with the aborigines. 
 
 2 D
 
 41 8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In fact, the Maha-bharata presents a complete circle of 
 post-Vedic mythology, including many myths which have 
 their germ in the Veda, and continually enlarging its cir- 
 cumference to embrace the later phases of Hinduism, with 
 its whole train of confused and conflicting legends. 1 From 
 this storehouse are drawn much of the Puranas, and many 
 of the more recent heroic poems and dramas. Here we 
 have repeated many of the legends of the Ramayana, and 
 even the history of Rama himself (see p. 366). Here also 
 we have long discourses on religion, politics, morality, and 
 philosophy, introduced without any particular connection 
 with the plot. Here again are most of the narratives 
 of the incarnation of Vishnu, numberless stories connected 
 with the worship of Siva, and various details of the life 
 of Krishna. Those which especially bear on the modern 
 worship of Krishna are contained in the supplement called 
 Hari-vansa, which is itself a long poem consisting of 
 16,374 stanzas 2 longer than the Iliad and Odyssey com- 
 bined. 3 Hence the religious system of the Maha-bharata 
 is far more popular, liberal, and comprehensive than that 
 of the Ramayana. It is true that the god Vishnu is con- 
 nected with Krishna in the Maha-bharata, as he is with 
 Rama in the Ramayana, but in the latter Rama is every- 
 
 1 It should be noted, that the germs of many of the legends of 
 Hindu epic poetry are found in the Rig-veda. Also that the same 
 legend is sometimes repeated in different parts of the Maha-bharata, 
 with considerable variations ; as, for example, the story of the combat 
 of Indra god of air and thunder with the demon Vritra, who re- 
 presents enveloping clouds and vapour. See Vana-parvan 8690, <kc. ; 
 and compare with S'anti-parvan 10124, &c. Compare also the story 
 of the 'Hawk and Pigeon,' Vana-parvan 10558, with Anusasana-parvan 
 2046. 
 
 2 The Hari-vansa bears to the Maha-bharata a relation very similar 
 to that which the TJttara-kanda, or last Book of the Ramayana, bears 
 to the preceding Books of that poem. 
 
 3 The Iliad and Odyssey together contain about 30,000 lines.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 4 1 9 
 
 thing ; whereas in the Maha-bharata, Krishna is by no 
 means the centre of the system. His divinity is even 
 occasionally disputed. 1 The five Pandavas have also 
 partially divine natures, and by turns become prominent. 
 Sometimes Arjuna, sometimes Yudhi-shthira, at others 
 Bhima, appears to be the principal orb round which the 
 plot moves. 2 Moreover, in various passages Siva is 
 described as supreme, and receives worship from Krishna. 
 In others, Krishna is exalted above all, and receives 
 honour from Siva. 3 In fact, while the Eamayana gene- 
 rally represents one-sided and exclusive Brahmanism, 4 the 
 Maha-bharata reflects the multilateral character of Hin- 
 duism ; its monotheism and polytheism, its spirituality and 
 materialism, its strictness and laxity, its priestcraft and 
 anti-priestcraft, its hierarchical intolerance and rational- 
 istic philosophy, combined. Not that there was any 
 intentional variety in the original design of the work, 
 but that almost every shade of opinion found expression 
 in a compilation formed by gradual accretion through a 
 long period. 
 
 In unison with its more secular, popular, and human 
 
 1 As by S'isu-pala and others. See p. 392, with notes. 
 
 2 In this respect the Maha-bharata resembles the Iliad. Achilles 
 is scarcely its hero. Other warriors too much divide the interest 
 with him. 
 
 3 In the Bhagavad-glta Krishna is not merely an incarnation of 
 Vishnu ; he is identified with Brahma, the Supreme Spirit, and is so 
 in numerous other places. It is well known that in Homer the 
 supremacy of one god (Jove), and due subordination of the other 
 deities, is maintained. 
 
 4 Some free thought, however, has found its way into the Rama- 
 yana; see II. cviii. (Schl.) ; YI. Ixii. 15 (Gorr., Bomb. Ixxxiii. 14).; 
 VI. Ixxxiii. 14 (Calc.). It is remarkable that in the Ramayana the 
 same gods are appealed to by Rama and Ravana, just as by Greeks 
 and Trojans in the Iliad ; and Hanumat, when in Lan-ka, heard the 
 Brahma-ghosha in the morning. Ramay. V. xvi. 41. This has been 
 noticed by Weber.
 
 420 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 character, the Maba-bharata has, as a rule, less of mere 
 mythical allegory, and more of historical probability in. 
 its narratives than the Ramayana. The reverse, however, 
 sometimes holds good. For example, in Ramayana IV. xl. 
 we have a simple division of the world into four quarters 
 or regions, whereas in Maha-bharata VI. 236, &c., we have 
 the fanciful division (afterwards adopted by the Puranas) 
 into seven circular Dvipas or continents, viz., i. Jambu- 
 dvipa or the Earth, 2. Plaksha-dvipa, 3. Salmali-dvipa, 
 4. Kusa-dvipa, 5. Kraunca-dvipa, 6. Saka-dvipa, 7. Push- 
 kara-dvipa ; surrounded respectively by seven oceans in 
 concentric belts, viz., i. the sea of salt-water (lavana), 
 2. of sugar-cane juice (ikshu), 3. of wine (sura), 4. of 
 clarified butter (sarpis), 5. of curdled milk (dadhi), 6. of 
 milk (dugdha), 7. of fresh water (Jala) ; the mountain 
 Meru, or abode of the gods, being in the centre of 
 Jambu-dvlpa, which again is divided into nine Varshas 
 or countries separated by eight ranges of mountains, the 
 Varsha called Bhdrata (India) lying south of the Himavat 
 range. 1 
 
 Notwithstanding these wild ideas and absurd figments, 
 the Maha-bharata contains many more illustrations of real 
 life and of domestic and social habits and manners than 
 the sister Epic. Its diction, again, is more varied than 
 that of the Eamayana. The bulk of the latter poem 
 (notwithstanding interpolations and additions) being by 
 
 1 The eight ranges are Nishadha, Hema-kuta, Nishadha on the 
 south of Meru ; Nila, SVeta, Srin-gin on the north ; and Malyavat 
 and Gandha-madana on the west and east. Beyond the sea of fresh 
 water is a circle called ' the land of gold,' and beyond this the circle 
 of the Lokaloka mountains, which form the limit of the sun's light, 
 all the region on one side being illuminated, and all on the other side 
 of them being in utter darkness. See Raghu-vansa I. 68. Below the 
 seven Dvipas are the seven Patalas, and below these are the twenty-one 
 Hells (note 2, p. 55).
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 421 
 
 one author, is written with uniform simplicity of style 
 and metre (see p. 335, note 2) ; and the antiquity of the 
 greater part is proved by the absence of any studied 
 elaboration of diction. The Maha-bharata, on the other 
 hand, though generally simple and natural in its language, 
 and free from the conceits and artificial constructions 
 of later writers, comprehends a greater diversity of com- 
 position, rising sometimes (especially when the Indra- 
 vajra metre is employed) to the higher style, and using 
 not only loose and irregular, but also studiously complex 
 grammatical forms, 1 and from the mixture of ancient 
 legends, occasional archaisms and Vedic formations. 
 
 In contrasting the two Indian poems with the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey, we may observe many points of simi- 
 larity. * Some parallel passages have been already pointed 
 out. "We must expect to find the distinctive genius of 
 two different people (though both of the Aryan race) in 
 widely distant localities, colouring their epic poetry very 
 differently, notwithstanding general features of resem- 
 blance. The Eamayana and Maha-bharata are no less 
 wonderful than the Homeric poems as monuments of 
 the human mind, and no less interesting as pictures of 
 human life and manners in ancient times, yet they bear 
 in a remarkable degree the peculiar impress ever stamped 
 on the productions of Asiatic nations, and separating 
 them from European. On the side of art and harmony 
 of proportion, they can no more compete with the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey than the unnatural outline of the ten- 
 headed and twenty-armed Havana can bear comparison 
 
 i Thus, jlvaee (I. 732), kurmi (III. 10943* and Ramay. II. xii. 33), 
 dhita forMa(Hari-vansa ^ 99 ),parinaydmdsafoT parinayaydmasa, ma 
 bhaih for ma bhaishlh, vyavasishytimi for vyavasasyami. 
 irregular grammatical forms is sometimes due to the exigency o 
 metre.
 
 422 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 with the symmetry of a Grecian statue. While the 
 simplicity of the one commends itself to the most 
 refined classical taste, the exaggerations of the other 
 only excite the wonder of Asiatic minds, or if attractive 
 to European, can only please imaginations nursed in an 
 Oriental school. 
 
 Thus, in the Iliad, time, space, and action are all 
 restricted within the narrowest limits. In the Odyssey 
 they are allowed a wider, though not too wide, a cycle ; 
 but in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata their range is 
 almost unbounded. The Ramayana, as it traces the life 
 of a single individual with tolerable continuity, is in this 
 respect more like the Odyssey than the Iliad. In other 
 points, especially in its plot, the greater simplicity of its 
 style, and its comparative freedom from irrelevant episodes, 
 it more resembles the Iliad. There are many graphic 
 passages in both the Ramayana and Maha-bharata which, 
 for beauty of description, cannot be surpassed by any- 
 thing in Homer. It should be observed, moreover, that 
 the diction of the Indian Epics is more polished, regular, 
 and cultivated, and the language altogether in a more 
 advanced stage of development than that of Homer. 
 This, of course, tells to the disadvantage of the style on 
 the side of nervous force and vigour; and it must be 
 admitted that in the Sanskrit poems there is a great 
 redundance of epithets, too liberal a use of metaphor, 
 simile, and hyperbole, and far too much repetition, ampli- 
 fication, and prolixity. 
 
 In fact, the European who wishes to estimate rightly 
 the Indian Epics, must be prepared not to judge them 
 exclusively from his own point of view. He should beat- 
 in mind that to satisfy the ordinary Oriental taste, poetry 
 requires to be seasoned with exaggeration. 
 
 Again, an Occidental student's appreciation of many 
 passages will depend upon his familiarity with Indian
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 423 
 
 mythology, as well as with Oriental customs, scenery, 
 and even the characteristic idiosyncrasies of the animal 
 creation in the East. Most of the similes in Hindu epic 
 poetry are taken from the habits and motions of Asiatic 
 animals, such as elephants and tigers, 1 or from peculiarities 
 in the aspect of Indian plants and natural objects. Then, 
 as to the description of scenery, in which Hindu poets are 
 certainly more graphic and picturesque than either Greek 
 or Latin, 2 the whole appearance of external nature in the 
 East, the exuberance of vegetation, the profusion of trees 
 and fruits and flowers, 3 the glare of burning skies, the 
 freshness of the rainy season, the fury of storms, the 
 serenity of Indian moonlight, 4 and the gigantic mould in 
 
 1 Thus any eminent or courageous person would be spoken of as ' a 
 tiger of a man.' Other favourite animals in similes are the lion (sinha), 
 the ruddy goose (cakravdka or rathdn-ga), the buffalo (mahisha), the 
 boar (vardha), the ko'il or Indian cuckoo (kokila), the heron (kraunca), 
 the ox (gavaya, i.e., bos gavaeus), &c. &c. A woman is sometimes said 
 to have a rolling gait like that of an elephant. It should be noted, 
 however, that similes in the Indian Epics, though far too frequent, are 
 generally confined to a few words, and not, as in Homer, drawn out for 
 three or four lines. 
 
 2 The descriptions of scenery and natural objects in Homer are too 
 short and general to be really picturesque. They want more colour- 
 ing and minuteness of detail. Some account for this by supposing 
 that a Greek poet was not accustomed to look upon nature with a 
 painter's eye. 
 
 3 The immense profusion of flowers of all kinds is indicated by the 
 number of botanical terms in a Sanskrit dictionary. Some of the most 
 common flowers and trees alluded to in epic poetry are, the cuta or 
 mango ; the cutoka (described by Sir William Jones) ; the Uniuka (butea 
 frondosa, with beautiful red blossoms) ; the tamarind (amliM) ; the jas- 
 mine (of which there are many varieties, such as mdlatl, jdfi, yutliil;, 
 &c.) ; the kuruvaka (amaranth) ; the sandal (tandana) ; the jujube (kar- 
 kandhu) ; the pomegranate (dddima) ; the kadamba (ntpa) j the tamarisk 
 (picula) ; the vakula, Jtarnikdra, 6ringdta, &c. 
 
 4 See the beautiful description of night in Ramayana (Gorr.) I. 
 xxx vi. 15.
 
 424 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 which natural objects are generally cast these and many 
 other features are difficult to be realized by a European. 
 We must also make allowance for the difference in Eastern 
 manners ; though, after conceding a wide margin in this 
 direction, it must be confessed that the disregard of all 
 delicacy in laying bare the most revolting particulars of 
 certain ancient legends which we now and then encounter 
 in the Indian Epics (especially in the Maha-bharata) is 
 a serious blot, and one which never disfigures the pages 
 of Homer, notwithstanding his occasional freedom of ex- 
 pression. Yet there are not wanting indications in the 
 Indian Epics of a higher degree of civilization than that 
 represented in the Homeric poems. The battle-fields of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata, though spoiled by childish 
 exaggerations and the use of supernatural weapons, are 
 not made barbarous by wanton cruelties ; l and the de- 
 scriptions of Ayodhya and Lan-ka imply far greater luxury 
 and refinement than those of Sparta and Troy. 
 
 The constant interruption of the principal story (as 
 before described) by tedious episodes, in both Ramayana 
 and Maha-bharata, added to the rambling prolixity of the 
 story itself, will always be regarded as the chief drawback 
 in Hindu epic poetry, and constitutes one of its most 
 marked features of distinction. Even in this respect, 
 however, the Iliad has not escaped the censure of critics. 
 Many believe that this poem is the result of the fusion 
 of different songs on one subject, long current in various 
 localities, intermixed with later interpolations, something 
 after the manner of the Maha-bharata. But the artistic 
 instincts of the Greeks required that all the parts and 
 
 1 There is something savage in Achilles' treatment of Hector ; and 
 the cruelties permitted by Ulysses, in the 22nd Book of the Odyssey, 
 are almost revolting. Compare with these Rama's treatment of his 
 fallen foe Ravana, in the Yuddha-kanda.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 425 
 
 appendages and more recent additions should be blended 
 into one compact, homogeneous, and symmetrical whole. 
 Although we have certainly in Homer occasional digres- 
 sions or parentheses, such as the description of the ' shield 
 of Achilles,' the ' story of Venus and Mars,' these are not 
 like the Indian episodes. If not absolutely essential to 
 the completeness of the epic conception, they appear to 
 arise naturally out of the business of the plot, and cause 
 no violent disruption of its unity. On the contrary, with 
 Eastern writers and narrators of stories, continuity is often 
 designedly interrupted. They delight in stringing together 
 a number of distinct stories detached from each other, 
 yet connected like the figures on a frieze. They even 
 purposely break the sequence of each ; so that before one 
 is ended another is commenced, and ere this is completed, 
 others are interwoven ; the result being a curious inter- 
 twinino- of stories within stories, the slender thread of an 
 
 o * 
 
 original narrative running through them all. A familiar 
 instance of this is afforded by the well-known collection of 
 tales called ' Hitopadesa,' and by the 'Arabian Nights.' 
 The same tendency is observable in the composition of 
 the epic poems far more, however, in the Maha-bharata 
 than in the Ramayana. 
 
 Passing on to a comparison of the plot and the per- 
 sonages of the Ramayana with those of the Iliad, without 
 supposing, as some have done, that either poem has been 
 imitated from the other, it is certainly true, and so far 
 remarkable, that the subject of both is a war undertaken 
 to recover the wife of one of the warriors, carried off by 
 a hero on the other side ; and that Rama, in this respect, 
 corresponds to Menelaus, while in others he may be com- 
 pared to Achilles, Sita answering to Helen, Sparta to 
 Ayodhya, Lan-ka to Troy. It may even be true that 
 some sort of analogy may be traced between the parts 
 played by Agamemnon and Sugriva, Patroclus and Lak-
 
 426 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 shmana, Nestor and Jambavat. 1 Again, Ulysses, 2 in one 
 respect, may be compared to Hanumat ; and Hector, as 
 the bravest warrior on the Trojan side, may in some points 
 be likened to Indrajit, in others to the indignant Vibhi- 
 shana, 3 or again in the Maha-bharata to Duryodhana, 
 while Achilles has qualities in common with Arjuna. 
 Other resemblances might be indicated ; but these com- 
 parisons cannot be carried out to any extent without 
 encountering difficulties at every step, so that any theory 
 of an interchange of ideas between Hindu and Greek epic 
 poets becomes untenable. Rama's character has really 
 nothing in common with that of Menelaus, and very little 
 with that of Achilles ; although, as the bravest and most 
 powerful of the warriors, he is rather to be compared with 
 the latter than the former hero. If in his anger he is 
 occasionally Achillean, his whole nature is cast in a less 
 human mould than that of the Grecian hero. He is the 
 type of a perfect husband, son, and brother. Sita also 
 rises in character far above Helen, and even above 
 Penelope, 4 both in her sublime devotion and loyalty to 
 her husband, and her indomitable patience and endurance 
 under suffering and temptation. As for Bharata and 
 Lakshmana, they are models of fraternal duty ; Kausalya 
 of maternal tenderness ; Dasaratha of paternal love : and 
 it may be affirmed generally that the whole moral tone of 
 the Ramayana is certainly above that of the Iliad. Again, 
 
 1 Jambavat was the chief of the bears, who was always giving sage 
 advice. 
 
 2 When any work had to be done which required peculiar skill or 
 stratagem, it was entrusted to iroX-j^ns 'Odvosfvg. 
 
 3 Hector, like Vibhishana, was indignant with the ravisher, but he 
 does not refuse to fight on his brother's side. 
 
 4 One cannot help suspecting Penelope of giving way to a little 
 womanly vanity in allowing herself to be surrounded by so many 
 suitors, though she repudiated their advances.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 427 
 
 iu the Iliad the subject is really the anger of Achilles ; 
 and when that is satisfied the drama closes. The fall of 
 Troy is not considered necessary to the completion of the 
 plot. Whereas in the Kamayana the whole action points 
 to the capture of Lan-ka and destruction of the ravisher. 
 No one too can read either the Eamayana or Maha-bharata 
 without feeling that they rise above the Homeric poems 
 in this that a deep religious meaning appears to underlie 
 all the narrative, and that the wildest allegory may be 
 intended to conceal a sublime moral, symbolizing the 
 conflict between good and evil, and teaching the hopeless- 
 ness of victory in so terrible a contest without purity of 
 soul, self-abnegation, and subjugation of the passions. 
 
 In reality it is the religious element of the Indian 
 Epics that constitutes one of the principal features of con- 
 trast in comparing them with the Homeric. We cannot of 
 course do more than indicate here the bare outlines of so 
 interesting a subject as a comparison between the gods of 
 India, Rome, and Greece. Thus : 
 
 Indra 1 and S'iva certainly offer points of analogy to Jupiter and 
 Zeus ; Durga or Parvati to Juno ; Krishna to Apollo ; S'rl to Ceres ; 
 Prithivl to Cybele ; Varuna to Neptune, and, in his earlier character, 
 to Uranus ; Sarasvati, goddess of speech and the arts, to Minerva ; 
 Karttikeya or Skanda, god of war, to Mars; 2 Yama to Pluto or 
 Minos ; Kuvera to Plutus ; Visvakarman to Vulcan ; Kama, god of 
 
 1 Indra is, as we have already seen (p. 10), the Jupiter Pluvius who 
 sends rain and wields the thunderbolt, and in the earlier mythology is 
 the chief of the gods, like Zeus. Subsequently his worship was super- 
 seded by that of Krishna and S'iva. 
 
 2 It is curious that Karttikeya, the war-god, is represented in Hindu 
 mythology as the god of thieves I suppose from their habit of sapping 
 and mining under houses. (See Mric-chakatika, Act III.) Indian 
 thieves, however, display such skill and ingenuity, that a god like 
 Mercury would appear to be a more appropriate patron. Karttikeya 
 was the son of S'iva, just as Mars was the offspring of Jupiter.
 
 428 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 love, to Cupid ; Rati, his wife, to Venus ; l Narada to Mercury ; 2 
 Hanumat to Pan ; Ushas, and in the later mythology Aruna, to Eos 
 ('Hw:;) and Aurora; Vayu to Aeolus; Ganesa, as presiding over the 
 opening and beginning of all undertakings, to Janus ; the Asvinl- 
 kumaras 3 to the Dioscuri (A/o'ff/couso/), Castor and Pollux. 
 
 But in Greece, mythology, which was in many respects 
 fully systematized when the Homeric poems were com- 
 posed, 4 never passed certain limits, or outgrew a certain 
 symmetry of outline. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, a 
 god is little more than idealized humanity. His form and 
 his actions are seldom out of keeping with this character. 
 Hindu mythology, on the other hand, springing from the 
 same source as that of Europe, but spreading and rami- 
 fying with the rank luxuriance of an Indian forest, speedily 
 outgrew all harmony of proportions, and surrounded itself 
 with an intricate undergrowth of monstrous and confused 
 allegory. Doubtless the gods of the Indian and Grecian 
 Epics preserve some traces of their common origin, resem- 
 bling each other in various ways ; interfering in human 
 concerns, exhibiting human infirmities, taking part in the 
 battles of their favourite heroes, furnishing them with 
 celestial arms, or interposing directly to protect them. 
 
 But in the Kamayana and Maha-bharata, and in the 
 Puranas to which they led, the shape and operations of 
 
 1 In one or two points Lakshml may be compared to Venus. 
 
 2 As Mercury was the. inventor of the lyre, so Narada was the 
 inventor of the Vina or lute. 
 
 3 These ever-youthful twin sons of the Sun, by his wife Sanjna, 
 transformed into a mare (asvinl), resemble the classical Dioscuri, 
 both by their exploits and the aid they render to their worshippers 
 (see p. n). 
 
 4 Herodotus says (Euterpe, 53) that ' Homer and Hesiod framed 
 the Greek Theogony, gave distinctive names to the gods, distributed 
 honours and functions to them, and described their forms.' I con- 
 clude that by the verb TTOICIV, Herodotus did not mean to imply that 
 Homer invented the myths, but that he gave system to a mythology 
 already current; see, however, Grote's History of Greece, I. 482, &c.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 429 
 
 divine and semi-divine beings are generally suggestive of 
 the monstrous, the frightful, and the incredible. The 
 human form, however idealized, is seldom thought adequate 
 to the expression of divine attributes. Brahma is "four- 
 faced ; Siva, three-eyed and sometimes five-headed ; Indra 
 has a thousand eyes ; Karttikeya, six faces ; Havana, ten 
 heads ; Ganesa has the head of an elephant. Nearly every 
 god and goddess has at least four arms, with symbols of 
 obscure import exhibited in every hand. 1 The deeds of 
 heroes, who are themselves half gods, transport the imagi- 
 nation into the region of the wildest chimera ; and a whole 
 pantheon presents itself, teeming with grotesque fancies, 
 with horrible creations, half animals, half gods, with man- 
 eating ogres, many-headed giants and disgusting demons, 
 to an extent which the refined and delicate sensibilities 
 of the Greeks and Eomans could not have tolerated. 2 
 
 Moreover, in the Indian Epics, the boundaries between 
 the natural and supernatural, between earth and heaven, 
 between the divine, human, and even animal creations, 
 are singularly vague and undefined ; troops of deities 
 and semi-divine personages appear on the stage on every 
 occasion. Gods, men, and animals are ever changing 
 places. A constant communication is kept up between 
 the two worlds, and such is their mutual interdependence 
 that each seems to need the other's help. If distressed 
 mortals are assisted out of their difficulties by divine 
 interposition, the tables are often turned, and perturbed 
 gods, themselves reduced to pitiful straits, are forced to 
 implore the aid of mortal warriors in their conflicts with 
 
 1 The Roman god Janus (supposed to be for Dianus and connected 
 with dies) was represented by two and sometimes four heads. 
 
 2 It is true that Homer now and then indulges in monstrous crea- 
 tions ; but even the description of Polyphemus does not outrage all 
 probability, like the exaggerated horrors of the demon Kabandha, in 
 the 3rd Book of the Ramayana (see p. 356).
 
 430 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the demons. 1 They even look to mortals for their daily 
 sustenance, and are represented as actually living on the 
 sacrifices offered to them by human beings, and at every 
 sacrificial ceremony assemble in troops, eager to feed upon 
 their shares. In fact, sacrifice with the Hindus is not 
 merely expiatory or placatory ; it is necessary for the food 
 and support of the gods. If there were no sacrifices the 
 gods would starve to death. This alone will account for 
 the interest they take in the destruction of demons, whose 
 great aim was to obstruct these sources of their suste- 
 nance. Much in the same way the spirits of dead men are 
 supposed to depend for existence and happiness on the 
 living, and to be fed with cakes of rice and libations of 
 water at the Sraddba ceremonies. 
 
 Again, not only are men aided by animals which usurp 
 human functions, but the gods also are dependent on and 
 associated with birds and beasts of all kinds, and even with 
 plants. Most of the principal deities are described as using 
 animals for their Vahanas or vehicles. Brahma is carried 
 on a swan, and sometimes seated on a lotus ; Vishnu is 
 borne on or attended by a being, half eagle, half man 
 (called Garuda) ; Lakshmi is seated on a lotus or carries 
 one in her hand ; Siva has a bull for his vehicle or com- 
 panion ; Karttikeya, god of war, has a peacock ; 2 Indra has 
 an elephant ; Yama, god of death, has a buffalo (mahisha); 3 
 Kama-deva, a parrot and fish ; 4 Ganesa, a rat ; 5 Agni, a 
 ram ; Varuna, a fish ; Durga, a tiger. The latter is some- 
 
 1 Indra does so in the S'akuntala and Vikramorvasl. 
 
 2 Karttikeya is represented as a handsome young man (though with 
 six faces). This may account for his being associated with a peacock. 
 
 3 Perhaps from its great power. 
 
 4 A parrot often figures in Indian love stories. He is also associated 
 with a kind of crocodile as his symbol (whence his name Makara-dhvaja). 
 Such an animal is kept in tanks near his temples. 
 
 5 Supposed to possess great sagacity.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 431 
 
 times represented with her husband on a bull, Siva him- 
 self being also associated with a tiger and antelope as 
 well as with countless serpents. Vishnu (Hari, Narayana) 
 is also represented as the Supreme Being sleeping on a 
 thousand-headed serpent called Sesha (or Ananta, c the 
 Infinite '). 
 
 This Sesha is, moreover, held to be the chief of a race of 
 Nagas or semi-divine beings, sometimes stated to be one 
 thousand in number, half serpents, half men, their heads 
 being human and their bodies snake-like. They inhabit 
 the seven Patalas l or regions under the earth, which, with 
 the seven superincumbent worlds, are supposed to rest on 
 
 1 Patala, though often used as a general term for all the seven regions 
 under the earth, is properly only one of the seven, called in order, Atala, 
 Vitala, Sutala, Rasdtala, Taldtala, Mahatala, and Patala ; above which 
 are the seven worlds (Lokas), called Bhu (the earth), Bhuvar, Svar, 
 Maliar, Janar, Tapah, and Brahma or Satya (see note 2, p. 55) ; all 
 fourteen resting on the heads of the great serpent. The serpent-race 
 who inhabit these lower regions (which are not to be confounded with 
 the Narakas or hells, note 2, p. 55) are sometimes regarded as belong- 
 ing to only one of the seven, viz., Patala, or to a portion of it called 
 Naga-loka, of which the capital is Bhogavatl. They are fabled to have 
 sprung from Kadru, wife of Kasyapa, and some of the females among 
 them (Naga-kanyas) are said to have married human heroes. In this 
 way Ulupi became the wife of Arjuna (p. 389, note 2), and, curiously 
 enough, a tribe of the Rajputs claims descent from the Nagas even in 
 the present day. A particular day is held sacred to the Nagas, and a 
 festival called Naga-paiic"ami is kept in their honour about the end of 
 July (S'ravana). Vasuki and Takshaka are other leading Nagas, to 
 whom a separate dominion over part of the serpent-race in different 
 parts of the lower regions is sometimes assigned. All the Nagas are 
 described as having jewels in their heads. Their chiefs, S'esha, Vasuki, 
 and Takshaka, are said to rule over snakes generally, while Garuda is 
 called the enemy of Nagas (Ndgari) ', so that the term Naga sometimes 
 stands for an ordinary serpent. The habit which snakes have of 
 hiding in holes may have given rise to the notion of peopling the lower 
 regions with Nagas. The Rev. K. M. Banerjea has a curious theory 
 
 O O 
 
 about them.
 
 43 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the thousand heads of the serpent Sesha, who typifies 
 infinity inasmuch as, according to a common myth, he 
 supports the Supreme Being between the intervals of 
 creation, as well as the worlds created at the commence- 
 ment of each Kalpa (note 3, p. 330). Again, the earth is 
 sometimes fabled to be supported by the vnst heads and 
 backs of eight male and eight female mythical elephants, 
 who all have names, 1 and are the elephants of the eight 
 quarters. When any one of these shakes his body the 
 whole earth quakes (see Ramayana I. xli.). 
 
 In fact, it is not merely in a confused, exaggerated, 
 and overgrown mythology that the difference between the 
 Indian and Grecian Epics lies. It is in the injudicious 
 and excessive use of it. In the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata, the spiritual and the supernatural are every- 
 where so dominant and overpowering, that anything 
 merely human seems altogether out of place. 
 
 In the Iliad and Odyssey, the religious and super- 
 natural are perhaps scarcely less prevalent. The gods 
 are continually interposing and superintending ; but they 
 do so as if they were themselves little removed from men, 
 or at least without destroying the dramatic probability of 
 the poem, or neutralizing its general air of plain matter- 
 of-fact humanity. Again, granted that in Homer there is 
 frequent mention of the future existence of the soul, and 
 its condition of happiness or misery hereafter, and that 
 the Homeric descriptions of disembodied spirits correspond 
 in many points with the Hindu notions on the same 
 
 1 The eight names of the male elephants are given in the Amara- 
 kosha, thus : Airavata, Pundarlka, Vamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpa- 
 danta, Sarva-bhauma, Supratika, Four are named in Ramayana (I. xli.), 
 Viru-paksha, Maha-padma, Saumanas, and Bhadra. Sometimes these 
 elephants appear to have locomotive habits, and roam about the sky in 
 the neighbourhood of their respective quarters (see Megha-duta 14).
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 433 
 
 subject 1 yet even these doctrines do not stand out with 
 such exaggerated reality in Homer as to make human 
 concerns appear unreal. Nor is there in his poems the 
 slightest allusion to the soul's pre-existence in a former 
 body, and its liability to pass into other bodies hereafter _ 
 a theory which in Hindu poetry invests present actions 
 with a mysterious meaning, and gives a deep distinctive 
 colouring to Indian theology. 
 
 Above all, although priests are occasionally mentioned 
 m the Iliad and the Odyssey, there is wholly wanting in 
 the Homeric poems any recognition of a regular hierarchy, 
 or the necessity for a mediatorial caste of sacrificers. 2 
 This, which may be called the sacerdotal element of the 
 Indian Epics, is more or less woven into their very tissue. 
 Brahmanism has been at work in these productions almost 
 as much as the imagination of the poet ; and boldly 
 claiming a monopoly of all knowledge, human and divine, 
 has appropriated this, as it has every other department 
 of literature, and warped it to its own purposes. Its 
 policy having been to check the development of intellect, 
 and keep the inferior castes in perpetual childhood, it 
 encouraged an appetite for exaggeration more insatiable 
 than would be tolerated in the most extravagant European 
 
 1 See the following passages, which bear on the existence of 
 
 after death as an s'tduXov in Hades : II. XXIII. 72, 104 : Od. XL 213, 
 476; XX. 355; XXIV. 14. It is curious that the Hindu notion of the 
 restless state of the soul until the S'raddha is performed (see p. 247) 
 agrees with the ancient classical superstition that the ghosts of the dead 
 wandered about as long as their bodies remained unburied, and were 
 not suffered to mingle with those of the other dead. See Odyss. XI. 
 54 j II. XXIII. 72 ; and cf. Aen. VI. 325 : Lucan I. II. : Eur. Hec. 30. 
 
 2 A king, or any other individual, is allowed in Homer to perform 
 a sacrifice without the help of priests. See II. II. 411; III. 392. 
 Nevertheless we read occasionally of a Ouoaxoo;, or 'sacrifice-viewer,' 
 who prophesied from the appearance of the flame and the smoke at the 
 sacrifice. See II. XXIV. 221 : Odyss. XXI. 144; XXII. 319. 
 
 2 E
 
 434 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 fairy-tale. This has been done more in the Ram ay ana than 
 in the Maha-bharata ; but even in the later Epic, full as it 
 is of geographical, chronological, and historical details, few 
 assertions can be trusted. Time is measured by millions 
 of years, space by millions of miles ; and if a battle has 
 to be described, nothing is thought of it unless millions 
 of soldiers, elephants, and horses are brought into the 
 field. 1 
 
 This difference in the religious systems of Europe and 
 India becomes still more noteworthy, when it is borne in 
 mind that the wildest fictions of the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata are to this very day intimately bound up with 
 the religious creed of the Hindus. It is certain that the 
 more intelligent among them, like the more educated 
 Greeks and Romans, regarded and still regard the fictions 
 of mythology as allegorical. But both in Europe and Asia 
 the mass of the people, not troubling themselves about 
 the mystical significance of symbols, took emblem and 
 allegory for reality. And this, doubtless, they are apt to 
 do still, as much in the West as in the East. Among 
 European nations, however, even the ductile faith of the 
 masses is sufficiently controlled by common sense to pre- 
 vent the fervour of religious men from imposing any great 
 extravagance on their credulity ; and much as the Homeric 
 poems are still admired, no one in any part of the world 
 now dreams of placing the slightest faith in their legends, 
 so as to connect them with religious opinions and practices. 
 In India a complete contrast in this respect may be ob- 
 served. The myths of the Indian Epics are still closely 
 interwoven with present faith. In fact, the capacity of 
 an uneducated Hindu for accepting and admiring the most 
 monstrous fictions is apparently unlimited. Hence the 
 absence of all history in the literature of India. A plain 
 
 1 Cf. extract from Aristotle's Poetics, p. 435, note i, of this volume.
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 435 
 
 relation of facts has little charm for the ordinary Hindu 
 mind. 
 
 Even in the delineation of heroic character, where Indian 
 poets exhibit much skill, they cannot avoid ministering 
 to the craving for the marvellous which appears to be 
 almost inseparable from the mental constitution of Eastern 
 peoples. 
 
 Homers characters are like Shakespeare's. They are 
 true heroes, if you will, but they are always men; never 
 perfect, never free from human weaknesses, inconsistencies, 
 and caprices of temper. If their deeds are sometimes 
 praeterhuman, they do not commit improbabilities which 
 are absolutely absurd. Moreover, he does not seem to 
 delineate his characters ; he allows them to delineate 
 themselves. They stand out like photographs, iu all the 
 reality of nature. We are not so much told what they 
 do or say. 1 They appear rather to speak and act for 
 themselves. In the Hindu Epics the poet gives us too 
 long and too tedious descriptions in his own person ; and, 
 as a rule, his characters are either too good or too bad. 
 How far more natural is Achilles, with all his faults, than 
 Kama, with his almost painful correctness of conduct ! 
 Even the cruel vengeance that Achilles perpetrates on 
 the dead Hector strikes us as more likely to be true than 
 Kama's magnanimous treatment of the fallen Kavana. 
 True, even the heroes sometimes commit what a European 
 would call crimes ; and the Pandavas were certainly guilty 
 of one inhuman act of treachery. In their anxiety to 
 provide for their own escape from a horrible death, they 
 
 1 Aristotle says that ' among the many just claims of Homer to our 
 praise, this is one that he is the only poet who seems to have under- 
 stood what part in his poem it was proper for him to take himself. The 
 poet, in his own person, should speak as little as possible. . . . Homer, 
 after a few preparatory lines, immediately introduces a man, a woman, 
 or some other character; for all have their character.' (Poetics III. 3.)
 
 436 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 enticed an outcaste woman and her five sons into their 
 inflammable lac-house, and then burnt her alive (see p. 
 385). But the guilt of this transaction is neutralized 
 to a Hindu by the woman being an outcaste ; and besides, 
 it is the savage Bhiina who sets fire to the house. Rama 
 and Lakshmana again were betrayed into a deed of cruelty 
 in mutilating Surpa-nakha. For this, however, the fiery 
 Lakshmana was responsible. If the better heroes sin, 
 they d|> not sin like men. We see in them no portraits 
 of ourselves. The pictures are too much one colour. 
 There are few gradations of light and shadow, and little 
 artistic blending of opposite hues. On the one side we 
 have all gods or demigods ; on the other, all demons or 
 fiends. We miss real human beings with mixed charac- 
 ters. There is no mirror held up to inconsistent humanity. 
 Duryodhana and his ninety-nine brothers are too uniformly 
 vicious to be types of real men. Lakshmana has perhaps 
 the most natural character among the heroes of the Rama- 
 yana, and Bhima among those of the Maha-bharata. In 
 many respects the character of the latter is not unlike 
 that of Achilles ; but in drawing his most human heroes 
 the Indian poet still displays a perpetual tendency to run 
 into extravagance. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that in exhibiting pictures 
 of domestic life and manners the Sanskrit Epics are even 
 more true and real than the Greek and Roman. In 
 the delineation of women the Hindu poet throws aside 
 all exaggerated colouring, and draws from nature. Kai- 
 keyi, Kausalya, Mandodari (the favourite wife of Ravana), 1 
 and even the hump-backed Manthara (Rarnayana II. 
 viii.), are all drawn to the very life. Sita, Draupadi, and 
 
 1 What can be more natural than Mandodari's lamentations over the 
 dead body of Ravana, and her allusions to his fatal passion for Sita in 
 Ramayana VI. 95 (Gorresio's ed.)?
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 437 
 
 Damayanti engage our affections and our interest far more 
 than Helen, or even than Penelope. Indeed, Hindu wives 
 are generally perfect patterns of conjugal fidelity; nor 
 can it be doubted that in these delightful portraits of the 
 Pativrata or 'devoted wife' we have true representations 
 of the purity and simplicity of Hindu domestic manners 
 in early times. 1 We may also gather from the epic poems 
 many interesting hints as to the social position occupied 
 by Hindu women before the Muhammadan conquest. No 
 one can read the Ramayana and Maha-bharata without 
 coming to the conclusion that the habit of secluding 
 
 o O 
 
 women, and of treating them as inferiors, is, to a certain 
 extent, natural to all Eastern nations, and prevailed in the 
 earliest times. 2 Yet various passages in both Epics clearly 
 establish the fact, that women in India were subjected to 
 
 1 No doubt the devotion of a Hindu wife implied greater inferiority 
 than is compatible with modern European ideas of independence. The 
 extent to which this devotion was carried, even in little matters, is 
 curiously exemplified by the story of Gandharl, who out of sympathy 
 for her blind husband never appeared in public without a veil .over her 
 face (see p. 377). Hence, during the grand sham-fight between the 
 Kuru and Pandu princes, Yidura stood by Dhrita-rashtra, and KuntI 
 by Gandhari, to describe the scene to them (see p. 3'83). 
 
 2 It was equally natural to the Greeks and Romans. Chivalry and 
 reverence for the fair sex belonged only to European nations of northern 
 origin, who were the first to hold ' inesse foeminis sanctum aliquid ' 
 (Tac. Germ. 8). That Hindu women in ancient times secluded them- 
 selves, except on certain occasions, may be inferred from the word 
 asuryam-pasya, given by Panini as an epithet of a king's wife (' one who 
 never sees the sun ') a very strong expression, stronger even than the 
 parda-nisliin of the Muhammadans. It is to be observed also that in 
 the Ramayana (VI. xcix. 33) there is clear allusion to some sort of 
 seclusion being practised ; and the term avarodha, ' fenced or guarded 
 place,' is used long before the time of the Muhammadans for the women's 
 apartments. In the Ratnavall, however, the minister of king Vatsa, 
 and his chamberlain and the envoy from Ceylon, are admitted to an 
 audience in the presence of the queen and her damsels ; and although 
 Rama in Ramayana VI. 99 thinks it necessary to excuse himself for
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 less social restraint in former days than they are at present, 
 and even enjoyed considerable liberty. 1 True, the ancient 
 lawgiver, Manu, speaks of women as having no will of their 
 own, and unfit for independence (see p. 253 of this volume); 
 but he probably described a state of society which it 
 was the aim of the priesthood to establish, rather than 
 that which really existed in his own time. At a later 
 period the pride of Brahmanism, and still more recently 
 the influence of Muhammadanism, deprived women of 
 even such freedom as they once enjoyed ; so that at the 
 present day no Hindu woman has, in theory, any inde- 
 pendence. It is not merely that she is not her own 
 mistress : she is not her own property, and never, under 
 any circumstances, can be. She belongs to her father 
 first, who gives her away to her husband, to whom she 
 belongs for ever. z She is not considered capable of so 
 
 permitting his wife to expose herself to the gaze of the crowd, yet he 
 expressly (99, 34) enumerates various occasions on which it was allow- 
 able for a woman to show herself unveiled. I here translate the passage, 
 as it bears very remarkably on this interesting subject. Rama says to 
 Vibhishana 
 
 ' Neither houses nor vestments, nor enclosing walls, nor ceremony, 
 nor regal insignia (rdja-satkdra), are the screen (dvarana) of a woman. 
 Her own virtue alone (protects her). In great calamities (vyasaneshu), 
 at marriages, at the public choice of a husband by maidens (of the 
 Kshatriya caste), at a sacrifice, at assemblies (samsatsu), it is allowable 
 for all the world to look upon women (strlnam darganam sdrvalaultikani).' 
 
 Hence S'akuntala appears in the public court of king Dushyanta ; 
 Damayanti travels about by herself; and in the Uttara-rama-darita, the 
 mother of Rama goes to the hermitage of Valmiki. Again, women were 
 present at dramatic representations, visited the temples of the gods, 
 and performed their ablutions with little privacy; which last custom 
 they still practise, though Muhammadan women do not. 
 
 1 In Maha-bh. I. 4719 we read: An-avritah kila purd striya dsan 
 kdma-cara-vihdrinyah svatantrdh, &c. 
 
 2 Hence when her husband dies she cannot be remarried, as there 
 is no one to give her away. In fact, the remarriage of Hindu widows, 
 which is now permitted by law, is utterly opposed to all modern Hindu
 
 THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 439 
 
 high a form of religiou as man, 1 and she docs not mix 
 freely in society. But in ancient times, when the epic 
 songs were current in India, women were not confined 
 to intercourse with their own families ; they did very 
 much as they pleased, travelled about, and showed them- 
 selves unreservedly in public, 2 and, if of the Kshatriya 
 caste, were occasionally allowed to choose their own hus- 
 bands from a number of assembled suitors. 3 It is clear, 
 moreover, that, in many instances, there was considerable 
 dignity and elevation about the female character, and that 
 much mutual affection prevailed in families. Nothing can 
 
 ideas about women ; and many persons think that the passing of this 
 law was one cause of the mutiny of 1857. It is clear from the story 
 of Damayanti, who appoints a second Svayamvara, that in early times 
 remarriage was not necessarily improper; though, from her wonder 
 that the- new suitor should have failed to see through her artifice, and 
 from her vexation at being supposed capable of a second marriage, it 
 may be inferred that such a marriage was even then not reputable. 
 
 1 See, however, the stories of Gargi and Maitreyl (Brihad-aranyaka 
 Upanishad, Roer's transl. pp. 198, 203, 242). No doubt the inferior 
 capacity of a woman as regards religion was implied in the epic poems, 
 as well as in later works. A husband was the wife's divinity, as 
 well as her lord, and her best religion was to please him. See Sita's 
 speech, p. 364 of this volume ; and the quotation from Madhava Adarya 
 (who nourished in the fourteenth century), p. 372, note. Such verses 
 as the following are common in Hindu literature : Bhartd hi paramam 
 ndrya bhushanam bhushanair vind, ' a husband is a wife's chief orna- 
 ment even without (other) ornaments.' Manu says (V. 151), Yasmai 
 dadydt pita tv endm bhrdtd vdnumate pituh, Tarn u&riLslieta jlvantam 
 samsthitam ca na lan-gliayet See p. 284 of this volume. In IV. 198, 
 Manu classes women with S'udras. 
 
 2 Especially married women. A wife was required to obey her 
 husband implicitly, but in other respects she was to be independent 
 (svdtantryam arhati, Malm-bhar. I. 4741). 
 
 3 The Svayamvara, however, appears to have been something ex- 
 ceptional, and only to have been allowed in the case of the daughters 
 of kings or Kshatriyas. See Draupadl-svayamvara 127; Maha-bhar. 
 I. 7926.
 
 440 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 be more beautiful and touching than the pictures of 
 domestic and social happiness in the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata. Children are dutiful to their parents 1 and sub- 
 missive to their superiors ; younger brothers are respectful 
 to elder brothers ; parents are fondly attached, to their 
 children, watchful over their interests and ready to sacri- 
 fice themselves for their welfare ; wives are loyal, devoted, 
 and obedient to their husbands, yet show much indepen- 
 dence of character, and do not hesitate to express their 
 own opinions ; husbands are tenderly affectionate towards 
 their wives, and treat them with' respect and courtesy ; 
 daughters and women generally are virtuous and modest, 
 yet spirited, and, when occasion requires, firm and coura- 
 geous ; love and harmony reign throughout the family 
 circle. Indeed, in depicting scenes of domestic affection, 
 and expressing those universal feelings and emotions which 
 belong to human nature in all time and in all places, San- 
 skrit epic poetry is unrivalled even by Greek Epos. It is 
 not often that Homer takes us out of the battle-field ; and 
 if we except the lamentations over the bodies of Patroclus 
 and Hector, the visit of Priam to the tent of Achilles, and 
 the parting of Hector and Andromache, there are no such 
 pathetic passages in the Iliad as the death of the hermit 
 boy (p. 349), the pleadings of Sita for permission to accom- 
 pany her husband into exile (p. 364), and the whole ordeal 
 
 1 Contrast with the respectful tone of Hindu children towards their 
 parents, the harsh manner in which Telemachus generally speaks to 
 his mother. Filial respect and affection is quite as noteworthy a 
 feature in the Hindu character now as in ancient times. It is 
 common for unmarried soldiers to stint themselves almost to' starva- 
 tion point, that they may send home money to their aged parents. 
 In fact, in proportion to the weakness or rather total absence of the 
 national is the strength of the family bond. In England and America, 
 where national life is strongest, children are less respectful to their 
 parents.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 441 
 
 scene at the end of the Ramayana. In the Indian Epics 
 such passages abound, and, besides giving a very high 
 idea of the purity and happiness of domestic life in 
 ancient India, indicate a capacity in Hindu women for 
 the discharge of the most sacred and important social 
 duties. 
 
 We must guard against the supposition that the women 
 of India at the present day have altogether fallen from 
 their ancient character. Notwithstanding the corrupting 
 example of Islamism, and the degrading tendency of 
 modern Hinduism, some remarkable instances may still 
 be found of moral and even intellectual excellence. 1 
 These, however, are exceptions, and we may rest assured, 
 that until Asiatic women, whether Hindu or Muslim, are 
 elevated and educated, our efforts to raise Asiatic nations 
 to the level of European will be fruitless. 2 Let us hope 
 that when the Ramayana and Maha-bharata shall no longer 
 be held sacred as repositories of faith and storehouses of 
 trustworthy tradition, the enlightened Hindu may still 
 learn from these poems to honour the weaker sex ; and that 
 Indian women, restored to their ancient liberty and raised 
 to a still higher position by becoming partakers of the 
 ' fulness of the blessing ' of Christianity, may do for our 
 Eastern empire what they have done for Europe soften, 
 invigorate, and dignify the character of its people. 
 
 I close my present subject with examples of the re- 
 ligious and moral teaching of the two Indian Epics. A 
 few sentiments and maxims, extracted from both poems, 
 here follow : 
 
 1 In some parts of India, especially in the MarathI districts, there 
 is still considerable freedom of thought and action allowed to women. 
 
 2 Manu gives expression to a great truth when he says (III. i45) 
 Sahasram tu pitfin mata gauravenatiricyate, ' a mother exceeds in value 
 a thousand fathers.'
 
 442 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A heavy blow, inflicted by a foe, 1 
 Is often easier to bear, than griefs, 
 However slight, that happen casually. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) II. Ixii. 16. 
 
 To carry out an enterprise in words 
 Is easy, to accomplish it by acts 
 Is the sole test of man's capacity. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Gorresio) VI. Ixvii. 10. 
 
 Truth, justice, and nobility of rank 
 
 Are centred in the King ; he is a mother, 
 
 Father, and benefactor of his subjects. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) II. Ixvii. 35. 
 
 In countries without monarchs, none can call 
 His property or family his own ; 
 No one is master even of himself. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Gorresio) II. Ixix. u. 
 
 Where'er we walk, Death marches at our side ; 
 Where'er we sit, Death seats himself beside us ; 
 However far we journey, Death continues 
 Our fellow-traveller and goes with us home. 
 Men take delight in each returning dawn, 
 And with admiring gaze, behold the glow 
 Of sunset. Every season, as it comes, 
 Fills them with gladness, yet they never reck 
 That each recurring season, every day 
 Fragment by fragment bears their life away. 
 As drifting logs of wood may haply meet 
 On Ocean's waters, surging to and fro, 
 And having met, drift once again apart j 
 So fleeting is a man's association 
 
 1 Though some of these translations were made years ago from 
 Bbhtlingk's admirable collection of Indische Spriiche, I have since 
 been assisted in my renderings of many examples by Dr. Muir's 
 ' Religious and Moral Sentiments freely translated from Indian 
 writers,' lately printed at Edinburgh, with an appendix and notes. I 
 may not have succeeded so well as Dr. Muir, but rhymeless metre may 
 have enabled me to keep somewhat closer to the original.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 443 
 
 With wife and children, relatives and wealth, 
 So surely must a time of parting come. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) II. cv. 24-27. 
 
 Whate'er the work a man performs, 
 The most effective aid to its completion 
 The most prolific source of true success 
 Is energy without despondency. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay), V. xii. n. 
 
 Fate binds a man with adamantine cords, 
 And drags him upwards to the highest rank 
 Or downward to the depths of misery. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) V. xxxvii. 3. 
 
 He who has wealth has strength of intellect ; 
 He who has wealth has depth of erudition ; 
 He who has wealth has nobleness of birth ; 
 He who has wealth has relatives and friends ; 
 He who has wealth is thought a very hero ; 
 He who has wealth is rich in every virtue. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) YI. Ixxxiii. 35, 36. 
 
 Time is awake while mortals are asleep, 
 None can elude his grasp or curb his course, 
 He passes unrestrained o'er all alike. 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 243. 
 
 Thou thinkest : I am single and alone 
 Perceiving not the great eternal Sage 
 Who dwells within thy breast. Whatever wrong 
 Is done by thee, he sees and notes it all. 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 3015. 
 
 Heaven, Earth, and Sea, Sun, Moon, and Wind, and Fire, 
 Day, Night, the Twilights, and the Judge of souls, 
 The god of justice and the Heart itself, 
 All see and note the conduct of a man. 1 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 30 1 7. 
 
 A wife is half the man, his truest friend, 
 Source of his virtue, pleasure, wealth the root 
 Whence springs the line of his posterity. 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 3028. 
 
 Compare Manu VIII. 86, p. 280 of this volume.
 
 444 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 An evil-minded man is quick to see 
 His neighbour's faults, though small as mustard-seed ; 
 But when he turns his eyes towards his own, 
 Though large as Bilva l fruit, he none descries. 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 3069. 
 
 If Truth and thousands of Horse-sacrifices 
 Were weighed together, Truth would weigh the most. 2 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 3095. 
 
 Death follows life by an unerring law ; 
 Why grieve for that which is inevitable ? 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 6144. 
 
 Conquer a man who never gives by gifts ; 
 Subdue untruthful men by truthfulness ; 
 Vanquish an angry man by gentleness ; 
 And overcome the evil man by goodness. 3 
 
 Maha-bh. III. 13253. 
 
 Triple restraint of thought and word and deed, 
 Strict vow of silence, coil of matted hair, 
 Close shaven head, garments of skin or bark, 
 Keeping of fasts, ablutions, maintenance 
 Of sacrificial fires, a hermit's life, 
 Emaciation these are all in vain, 
 Unless the inward soul be free from stain. 
 
 Maha-bh. III. 13445. 
 
 To injure none by thought or word or deed, 
 To give to others, and be kind to all 
 This is the constant duty of the good. 
 High-minded men delight in doing good, 
 Without a thought of their own interest ; 
 When they confer a benefit on others, 
 They reckon not on favours in return. 4 
 
 Maha-bh. III. 16782, 16796. 
 
 1 This is the Aegle Marmelos (BeT) or Bengal Quince, bearing a large 
 fruit. It is esteemed sacred to Maha-deva. Compare St. Matthew 
 vii. 3, 4. 2 Hitopadesa IV. 135. 
 
 3 See Rom. xii. 21. Compare the Pali Rajovada Jataka (Fausboll's 
 Ten Jatakas, p. 5), AMcodhena jine Jcodham, Asddlmm sddhund jine, 
 Jine Tcadariyam ddnena, Saccena alika-vddinam. See also ^Dhamma- 
 pada 223. 4 Compare St. Luke vi. 35.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 445 
 
 An archer shoots an arrow which may kill 
 One man, or none ; but clever men discharge 
 The shaft of intellect, whose stroke has power 
 To overwhelm a king and all his kingdom. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1013. 
 
 Two persons will hereafter be exalted 
 
 Above the heavens the man with boundless power 
 
 Who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, 
 
 And he who is not rich and yet can give. 1 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1028. 
 
 Sufficient wealth, unbroken health, a friend, 
 A wife of gentle speech, a docile son, 
 And learning that subserves some useful end 
 Theses-are a living man's six greatest blessings. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1057. 
 
 Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions 
 A wise man ever culls from every quarter, 
 E'en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1126. 
 
 The gods defend not with a club or shield 
 The man they wish to favour but endow him 
 With wisdom ; and the man whom they intend 
 To ruin, they deprive of understanding ; 2 
 So that to him all things appear distorted. 
 Then, when his mind is dulled and he is ripe 
 To meet his doom, evil appears to him 
 Like good, and even fortunate events 
 Turn to his harm and tend to his destruction. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1122, 2679. 
 
 To curb the tongue and moderate the speech, 
 Is held to be the hardest of all tasks. 3 
 The words of him who talks too volubly 
 Have neither substance nor variety. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1170. 
 
 1 Compare St. Mark xii. 41-44- 
 
 2 Quos Deus vult perdere prim dementat. 
 s St. James iii. 8.
 
 446 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Darts, barbed arrows, iron-headed spears, 
 However deep they penetrate the flesh, 
 May be extracted ; but a cutting speech, 
 That pierces, like a javelin, to the heart, 
 None can remove ; it lies and rankles there. 
 
 Maha-bh. Y. 1173. 
 
 Repeated sin destroys the understanding, 
 And he whose reason is impaired, repeats 
 His sins. The constant practising of virtue 
 Strengthens the mental faculties, and he 
 Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always right. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1242. 
 
 Bear railing words with patience, never meet 
 An angry man with anger, nor return 
 Reviling for reviling, smite not him 
 Who smites thee ; let thy speech and acts be gentle. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1270, 9972. 
 
 If thou art wise, seek ease and happiness 
 
 In deeds of virtue and of usefulness ; 
 
 And ever act in such a way by day 
 
 That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be ; 
 
 And so comport thyself when thou art young, 
 
 That when thou art grown old, thine age may pass 
 
 In calm serenity. So ply thy task 
 
 Throughout thy life, that when thy days are ended, 
 
 Thou may'st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1248. 
 
 Esteem that gain a loss which ends in harm ; 
 Account that loss a gain which brings advantage. 
 
 Maha-bh. Y. 1451. 
 
 Reflect that health is transient, death impends, 
 Ne'er in thy day of youthful strength do aught 
 To grieve thy conscience, lest when weakness comes, 
 And thou art on a bed of sickness laid, 
 Fear and remorse augment thy sufferings. 
 
 Maha-bh. Y. 1474. 
 
 Do naught to others which if done to thee 
 Would cause thee pain ; this is the sum of duty. 
 
 Maha-bh. Y. 1517.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 447 
 
 How can a man love knowledge yet repose 1 
 Would'st thou be learned, then abandon ease. 
 Either give up thy knowledge or thy rest. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1537. 
 
 No sacred lore can save the hypocrite, 
 Though he employ it craftily, from hell ; 
 When his end comes, his pious texts take wing, 
 Like fledglings eager to forsake their nest. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1623. 
 
 When men are ripe for ruin, e'en a straw 
 Has power to crush them, like a thunderbolt. 
 
 Maha-bh. VII. 429. 
 
 By anger, fear, and avarice deluded, 
 
 Men do not strive to understand themselves, 
 
 Nor ever gain self-knowledge. One is proud 
 
 Of rank, and plumes himself upon his birth, 
 
 Contemning those of low degree ; another 
 
 Boasts of his riches, and disdains the poor ; 
 
 Another vaunts his learning, and despising 
 
 Men of less wisdom, calls them fools ; a fourth 
 
 Piquing himself upon his rectitude, 
 
 Is quick to censure other people's faults. 
 
 But when the high and low, the rich and poor, 
 
 The wise and foolish, worthy and unworthy, 
 
 Are borne to their last resting-place the grave 
 
 When all their troubles end in that last sleep, 
 
 And of their earthly bodies naught remains 
 
 But fleshless skeletons can living men 
 
 Mark differences between them, or perceive 
 
 Distinctions in the dust of birth or form ? 
 
 Since all are, therefore, levelled by the grave, 
 
 And all must sleep together in the earth 
 
 Why, foolish mortals, do ye wrong each other ? 
 
 Maha-bh. XI. 116. 
 
 Some who are wealthy perish in their youth, 
 While others who are fortuneless and needy, 
 Attain a hundred years ; the prosperous man 
 Who lives, oft lacks the power to enjoy his wealth. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 859
 
 448 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A king must first subdue himself, and then 
 Vanquish his enemies. How can a prince 
 Who cannot rule himself, enthral his foes ? 
 To curb the senses, is to conquer self. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 2599. 
 
 Who in this world is able to distinguish 
 The virtuous from the wicked ? both alike 
 The fruitful earth supports, on both alike 
 The sun pours down his beams, on both alike 
 Refreshing breezes blow, and both alike 
 The waters purify. Not so hereafter 
 Then shall the good be severed from the bad ; 
 Then in a region bright with golden lustre 
 Centre of light and immortality 
 The righteous after death shall dwell in bliss. 1 
 Then a terrific hell awaits the wicked 
 Profound abyss of utter misery 
 Into the depths of which bad men shall fall 
 Headlong, and mourn their doom for countless years. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 2798. 
 
 He who lets slip his opportunity, 
 And turns not the occasion to account, 
 Though he may strive to execute his work, 
 Finds not again the fitting time for action. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 3814. 
 
 Enjoy thou the prosperity of others, 
 Although thyself unprosperous ; noble men 
 Take pleasure in their neighbour's happiness. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 3880. 
 
 Even to foes who visit us as guests 
 Due hospitality should be displayed ; 
 The tree screens with its leaves, the man who fells it. 2 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 5528. 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew xiii. 43, xxv. 46. 
 
 2 This verse occurs in Hitopadesa I. 60. Cf. Rom. xii. 20. Pro- 
 fessor H. H. Wilson was induced to commence the study of Sanskrit 
 by reading somewhere that this sentiment was to be met with in 
 Sanskrit literature.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 449 
 
 What need has he who subjugates himself 
 To live secluded in a hermit's cell ? 
 Where'er resides the self-subduing sage, 
 That place to him is like a hermitage. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 5961. 
 
 Do good to-day, time passes, Death is near. 
 Death falls upon a man all unawares, 
 Like a ferocious wolf upon a sheep. 
 Death comes when his approach is least expected. 
 Death sometimes seizes ere the work of life 
 Is finished, or its purposes accomplished. 
 Death carries off the weak and strong alike, 
 The brave and timorous, the wise and foolish, 
 And those whose objects are not yet achieved. 
 Therefore delay not ; Death may come to-day. 
 Death will not wait to know if thou art ready, 
 Or if thy work be done. Be active now, 
 While thou art young, and time is still thy own. 
 This very day perform to-morrow's work, 
 This very morning do thy evening's task. 
 When duty is discharged, then if thou live, 
 Honour and happiness will be thy lot, 
 And if thou die, supreme beatitude. 1 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 6534. 
 
 The building of a house is fraught with troubles, 
 And ne'er brings comfort ; therefore, cunning serpents 
 Seek for a habitation made by others, 
 And creeping in, abide there at their ease. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 6619. 
 
 Just as the track of birds that cleave the air 
 Is not discerned, nor yet the path of fish 
 That skim the water, so the course of those 
 Who do good actions, is not always seen. 
 
 Maha-bh. XII. 6763, 12156. 
 
 Let none reject the meanest suppliant 
 Or send him empty-handed from his door. 
 
 1 The order of the text has been slightly changed in this translation, 
 and a few liberties taken in the wording of it. 
 
 2 F
 
 450 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A gift bestowed on outcasts or on dogs 
 Is never thrown away or unrequited. 
 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 3212. 
 
 Time passes, and the man who older grows 
 Finds hair and teeth and eyes grow ever older. 
 i One thing alone within him ne'er grows old 
 The thirst for riches and the love of gold. 
 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 3676, 368". 
 
 This is the sum of all true righteousness 
 Treat others, as thou would'st thyself be treated. 
 Do nothing to thy neighbour, which hereafter 
 Thou would'st not have thy neighbour do to thee. 
 In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, 
 In doing good, or injury to others, 
 In granting, or refusing a request, 
 A man obtains a proper rule of action 
 By looking on his neighbour as himself. 1 
 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 5571. 
 
 No being perishes before his time, 
 Though by a hundred arrows pierced ; but when 
 His destined moment comes, though barely pricked 
 By a sharp point of grass, he surely dies. 2 
 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 7607. 
 
 Before infirmities creep o'er thy flesh ; 
 Before decay impairs thy strength and mars 
 The beauty of thy limbs ; before the Ender, 
 Whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, 
 Breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life, 3 
 Lay up the only treasure : do good deeds ; 
 Practise sobriety and self-control ; 
 Amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract, 
 Nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, 
 Which never wastes away, nor is corrupted. 4 
 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 12084. 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew xxii. 39; St. Luke vi. 31. 
 
 2 This occurs also in Hitopadesa II. 15. 
 
 3 Compare Eccles. xii. i. 
 
 4 Compare St. Matthew vi. 19; Job xxi. 23.
 
 RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 4 5 I 
 
 Heaven's gate is very narrow and minute, 1 
 It cannot be perceived by foolish men, 
 Blinded by vain illusions of the world. 
 E'en the clear-sighted who discern the way, 
 And seek to enter, find the portal barred 
 And hard to be unlocked. Its massive bolts 
 Are pride and passion, avarice and lust. 
 
 Maha-bh. XIV. 2784. 
 
 Just heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts, 
 
 Offered in hope of future recompense, 
 
 As with the merest trifle set apart 
 
 From honest gains, and sanctified by faith. 2 
 
 Maharbh. XIV. 2788. 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew vii. 14. 
 
 2 Compare St. Matthew vi. 1-4 ; St. Mark xii. 43, 44.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Artificial Poems. Dramas. Pur anas. Tantras 
 Nlti-sdstras. 
 
 I CAN only notice very briefly the remaining classes of 
 Indian writings which follow on the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata. In their religious bearing, as constituting part 
 of Smriti, and as chiefly drawn from the two great Epics, 
 the eighteen Puranas possess the next claim on our atten- 
 tion. It will be convenient, however, to introduce here 
 an enumeration of some of the more celebrated artificial 
 poems and dramas, which are connected with the Epics, 
 adding a few explanations and examples, but reserving 
 the fuller consideration of these and other departments of 
 Sanskrit literature to a future opportunity. 
 
 The Artificial Poems. 
 Some of the best known of the artificial poems are : 
 
 i. The Raghu-vana or 'history of Raghu's race,' in nineteen chapters, 
 by Kalidasa, on the same subject as the Ramayana, viz., the history of 
 Rama-c'andra, but beginning with a longer account of his ancestors ; 
 2. the Kumdra-sambhava, by Kalidasa, on the 'birth of Kumara' or 
 Karttikeya, god of war, son of S'iva and Parvati originally in sixteen 
 cantos, of which only seven are usually edited, though nine more have 
 been printed in the Pandit at Benares ; 3. the Megha-duta, ' cloud- 
 messenger,' also by Kalidasa a poem of 116 verses, in the Manda- 
 kranta metre (well edited by Professor Johnson), describing a message 
 sent by a banished Yaksha to his wife in the Himalayas ; a cloud being 
 personified and converted into the messenger ; 4. the Kirdtdrjunlya, 
 ' battle of the Kirata and Arjuna,' by Bharavi, in eighteen cantos, on a 
 subject taken from the fourth chapter of Maha-bharata TIL, viz., the 
 penance performed by Arjuna, one of the Panda va princes, and his
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 453 
 
 combat with S'iva disguised as a Kirata or wild mountaineer (see p. 
 393) ; 5- tne Sisupala-badha or ' destruction of S'isu-pala,' a poem in 
 twenty cantos, by Magha, on a subject taken from the seventh chapter 
 of the Sabha-parvan of the Maha-bharata, viz., the slaying of the impious 
 S'isu-pala by Krishna at a Bajasuya sacrifice performed by Yudhi-shthira 
 (see p. 392) ; 6. the Naishadha or Naishadhiya, by S'rI-harsha, 1 on a sub- 
 ject drawn from an episode in the sixth chapter of the Vana-parvan 
 of the Maha-bharata, viz., the history and adventures of Nala, king of 
 N'shadha. 
 
 The above six are sometimes called Maha-kavyas, ' great 
 poems/ not with reference to their length (for they are 
 generally short), but with reference to the subjects of 
 which they treat. To these may be added : 
 
 7. The Ititu-samhdra or 'collection of the seasons,' a short but cele- 
 brated poem by Kalidasa, on the six seasons of the year (viz., Gmshma, 
 the hot season ; Varshd, the rains ; Sarad, autumn ; Hemanta, the cold 
 season; Sisira, the dewy season; Vasanta, the spring); 8. the Nalodaya 
 or 'rise of Nala,' an artificial poem, also ascribed to one Kalidasa, but 
 probably not the composition of the celebrated poet of that name, on 
 much the same subject as the Naishadha, and describing especially the 
 restoration of the fallen Nala to prosperity and power ; 9. the Bhatti- 
 kdvya, ' poem of Bhatti,' according to some the work of Bhartri-hari or 
 his son, on the same subject as the Ramayana, written at Valabhl 
 (Ballabhi) in the reign of S'ridhara-sena (probably the king who reigned 
 in Gujarat from about A.D. 530-544) ; its aim being to illustrate the 
 rules of Sanskrit grammar, as well as the figures of poetry and rhetoric, 
 by introducing examples of all possible forms and constructions, as well 
 as of the Alan-karas (see p. 457) ; it is divided into two great divisions, 
 viz., &abda-lakshana, ' illustration of grammar,' and Kavya-lakshana, 
 1 illustration of poetry,' together comprising twenty-two chapters ; 
 10. the Raghava-pandavlya, an artificial poem by Kavi-raja, giving a 
 narrative of the acts of both the descendants of Raghu and Pandu, in 
 
 1 He is supposed to have lived about the year 1000 (cf. note, p. 55)- 
 This S'rI-harsha was the greatest of all sceptical philosophers, and wrote 
 a book called Khandana-lthanda-khadya for the refutation of all other 
 systems. It is alluded to in Naishadha VI. 113 (Premadandra's com- 
 mentary). The commentator Narayana does not seem to have under- 
 stood this. There are some philosophical chapters in the Naishadha.
 
 454 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 such language that it may be interpreted as a history of either one or the 
 other family ; n. the Amaru-sataka or Amari^sataka, ' hundred verses 
 of Amaru,' on erotic subjects, to which a mystical interpretation is 
 given, especially as they are supposed to have been composed by the great 
 philosopher S'an-kara-darya, when, according to a popular legend, he 
 animated the dead body of king Amaru, his object being to become the 
 husband of his widow, that he might argue on amatory subjects with 
 the wife of a Brahman, named Mandana ; 12. the Glta-govinda or 
 ' Krishna in his character of Govinda (the Cow-finder or Herdsman) 
 celebrated in song,' by Jaya-deva, a lyrical or erotic poem, thought to 
 have been composed about the twelfth or thirteenth century of our era ; 
 it was written nominally to celebrate the loves of Krishna and the 
 Gopis, especially of Krishna and Radha ; but as the latter is supposed to 
 typify the human soul, the whole poem is regarded as susceptible of a 
 mystical interpretation. 
 
 Some of these poems, especially the Raghu-vansa, Ku- 
 mara-sambhava, Megha-duta, and Ritu-samhara of Kali- 
 dasa (who, according to native authorities, lived a little 
 before the commencement of the Christian era, but is now 
 placed in the third century), 1 abound in truly poetical ideas, 
 and display great fertility of imagination and power of 
 description ; but it cannot be denied that even in these 
 works of the greatest of Indian poets there are occasional 
 fanciful conceits, combined with a too studied and artificial 
 elaboration of diction, and a constant tendency to what 
 a European would consider an almost puerile love for 
 alliteration and playing upon words (wort-spiel). Some 
 of the other poems, such as the Kiratarjuniya, Sisupala- 
 badha, Nalodaya, Naishadha, and Bhatti-kavya, are not 
 wanting in occasional passages containing poetical feeling, 
 striking imagery, and noble sentiment ; but they are arti- 
 ficial to a degree quite opposed to European canons of 
 taste ; the chief aim of the composers being to exhibit their 
 artistic skill in bringing out the capabilities of the Sanskrit 
 language, its ductility, its adaptation to every kind of style 
 
 1 Professor Weber places him either in the third or sixth century.
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 455 
 
 from the most diffuse to the most concise, its power of 
 compounding words, its intricate grammatical structure, its 
 complex system of metres, and the fertility of its resources 
 in the employment of rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration. 
 In fact, there is nothing in the whole range of Greek or 
 Latin or any other literature that can be compared witli 
 these poems. Nearly every verse in them presents a 
 separate puzzle so that when one riddle is solved, little 
 is gained towards the solution of the next or exhibits 
 rare words, unusual grammatical forms, and intricate com- 
 pounds, as it were twisted together into complicated verbal 
 knots, the unravelment of which can only be effected by 
 the aid of a native commentary. 
 
 Of course, in such cases the sense, and even the strict 
 grammatical construction, are sometimes sacrificed to the 
 display of ingenuity in the bending and straining of words 
 to suit a difficult metre or rhyme ; and this art is studied 
 as an end in itself, the ideas to be conveyed by the lan- 
 guage employed being quite a secondary matter. To such 
 an extreme is this carried, that whole verses are sometimes 
 composed with the repetition of a single consonant, 1 while 
 in other cases a string of epithets is employed, each of 
 which will apply to two quite distinct words in a sentence, 
 and thus be capable of yielding different senses, suited to 
 
 1 English, I fear, would be quite unequal to such a task as the pro- 
 duction of a verse like the following from the Kiratarjumya (XV. 14) 
 Na nonanunno nunnono ndnd ndndnand nanu \ 
 Nunno nunnonanunneno ndnena nunnanunnanut \\ 
 
 Or the following from Magha (XIX. 1 14) 
 
 Dddadoduddaduddddi dddddodudadldadoh \ 
 Duddddam dadade dudde dadddadadadodadah \\ 
 
 Though in Latin we have something similar in Ennius, Tite tute Tati 
 tiU tanta tyranne tulisti. It must be admitted, however, that the cele- 
 brated nursery stanza beginning Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper is 
 an effort in the same direction.
 
 45 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 either word, according to the will of the solver of the 
 verbal puzzle. 
 
 Again, stanzas are sometimes composed so as to form 
 fanciful shapes or figures, such as that of a lotus (padma- 
 bandha) ; or so that the lines or' parts of the lines com- 
 posing the verses, whether read horizontally, diagonally, 
 or perpendicularly, or in opposite directions, will yield 
 significant and grammatical sentences of some kind, the 
 sense being a matter of subordinate consideration. This 
 is called the Fanciful-shape (citra) ornament. 
 
 The formation of the octopetalous Lotus-stanza is described in Sahitya- 
 darpana X. p. 268. One of the commonest of these artificial stanzas, 
 called Sarvato-bhadra, is a verse so contrived that the same syllables 
 occur in each Pada of the verse, whether read backwards or forwards, 
 or from the centre to each extremity, while all the Padas together read 
 the same either downwards or upwards, whether the reader commence 
 at the centre or each extremity. An example of this verse occurs in 
 Kiratarjuniya XV. 25. 
 
 Still more complicated forms are occasionally found, as 
 described by Dr. Yates in his edition of the Nalodaya. 
 
 Thus we have the muraja-bandha, a stanza shaped like a drum ; the 
 khadga-bandha, like a sword ; the dhanu-bandha, like a bow ; the srag- 
 bandha, like a garland/ the vriksha-bandha, like a tree; and the go- 
 mutrika, like a stream of cow's urine, in uneven or undulating lines. 
 
 The art, too, of inventing and employing an almost 
 endless variety of rhetorical figures called Alan-karas, 
 ' ornaments of speech,' for the sake of illustrating the 
 various sentiments, feelings, and emotions depicted in 
 dramatic and erotic poetry, is studied to a degree quite 
 unknown in other languages, the most refined subtlety 
 being shown in marking off minute gradations of simile, 
 comparison, metaphor, &c. There are numerous works on 
 this subject which may be called a kind of Ars poetica 
 or rhetorica some of the best known of which are :
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 457 
 
 i. The Sdhitya-darpana, ' mirror of composition,' by Visvanatha-kavi- 
 raja (said to have lived in Dacca about the fifteenth century), giving 
 rules and canons for literary composition from simple sentences to epic 
 poems and dramas, illustrated by examples from standard authors, 
 especially dramatic (see p. 470, note i). 2. The Kdvyddarifa, 'mirror of 
 poetry,' by Dandin. 3. The Kdvya-prakdsa, 'illumination of poetry,' 
 by Mammata (the commentary to which, by Govinda, is called Kavya- 
 pradipa). 4. The Dasa-rupaka, 'description of the ten kinds of dramatic 
 coi iposition called Rupakas,' by Dhananjaya (p. 469, note 2). 5. The 
 K -1 vydlan-kdra-vritti, ' explanation of the ornaments of poetry,' by 
 Vamana. 6. The Sarasvatl-kanthdbharana, ' necklace of the goddess of 
 speech,' by Bhoja-deva. 7. The Sringdra-tilaka, ' mark of love,' a work 
 by Rudra-bhatta, describing and illustrating by examples the various 
 emotions, feelings, and affections of lovers, male and female (ndyaka 
 and ndyika), as exhibited in dramas, &c. 8. The Rasa-manjari, ' cluster 
 of affections,' a work on the Rasas, 1 by Bhanu-datta, of much the same 
 character as the last. 
 
 I add here a brief description of some of the commonest 
 Alan-karas. They are divided into two classes : A. Sabdd- 
 lan.hara, those produced by the mere sound of words ; 
 B. Arthdlan-Jcara, those arising from the meaning. The 
 tenth Books of the Sahitya-darpana and Bhatti-kavya are 
 devoted to the illustration of this subject. 
 
 Examples of A. are, i. Anuprdsa, a kind of alliteration or repetition 
 of the same consonants, although the vowels may be dissimilar, e.g., 
 Samd-lin-gan an-gan. 2. Yamaha, more perfect alliteration or repeti- 
 tion of vowels and consonants, e.g., Sakalaih sakalaih. Various kinds 
 of Yamaka will be found in Bhatti-kavya X. 2-2 1 ; and in Kiratarjumya 
 XV. 52 there is a Mahd-yamaka. 
 
 Examples of B. are, i. Upamd, comparison or simile (the subject of 
 comparison is called upameyam, sometimes prastuta, prakrita, prakrdnta, 
 vastu, vishaya ; while the object to which it is compared is called upama- 
 nam, sometimes a-prastuta, a-prakrita, &c.). It is essential to an Upamd 
 that the upameya, the upamdna, and common attribute (sdmdnya-dharmd) 
 
 1 There are* ten Rasas or 'feelings,' enumerated as exemplified in 
 dramatic composition, i. rin-gdra, love; 2. Vira, heroism ; 3. Blb- 
 hatsa, disgust; 4. Raudra, anger; 5. Easy a, mirth; 6. Bhaydnaka, 
 terror; 7. Karuna, pity; 8. Adbhuta, wonder; 9. $dnta, calmness; 
 10. Vatsalya, parental fondness. Some authors only allow 1-8.
 
 458 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 should be all expressed, and the complete subordination of the upamdna 
 to the upameya preserved ; thus ' her face is like the moon in charming- 
 ness,' where ' her face ' is the upameya ; ' moon,' the upamdna ; and 
 ' charmingness,' the common quality. If the latter is omitted it is a 
 luptopamd (see Bhatti-kavya X. 30-35). 2. Utprekshd, a comparison 
 in which the upamdna is beginning to encroach on the upameya and to 
 assume equal prominence. It is thirty-two-fold, under two classes, one 
 called vdeya when a word like iva is expressed, as ' her face shines as 
 if it were a moon ; ' the other pratlyamdna when iva is understood (cf. 
 Bhatti-k. X. 44). 3. Rupaka, 'super-imposition,' consisting in the super- 
 imposition (dropd) of a fancied form over the original subject, the upa- 
 meya and upamdna being connected as if possessing equal prominence, 
 and their resemblance implied rather than expressed ; thus ' moon-face,' 
 ' her face is the moon ' (Bhatti-k. X. 28). 4. Atisayokti, hyperbole, 
 exaggeration, pleonasm (Bhatti-k. X. 42), in which the upameya is 
 swallowed up in the upamdna, as when ' her moon ' is used for ' her 
 face,' or 'her slender stem' for 'her figure.' 5. Tulya-yogitd, in which 
 the upamdna or upameya is connected with the common quality, as ' a 
 snow-white flower' (Bhatti-k. X. 61 ; Kumara-s. I. 2). 6. Drishtdnta, 
 exemplification by comparing or contrasting similar attributes (Magha 
 II. 23). 7. Dlpaka, 'illuminator,' i.e., using an illustrative expression, 
 placed either in the beginning (ddi), middle (madhyd), or end (anta) of 
 a verse to throw light on a description (Bhatti-k. X 22-24; Kumara-s. 
 
 11. 60). 8. Vydja-stuti, artful or indirect eulogy in which praise is 
 rather implied than directly expressed (Bhatti-k. X. 59). 9. Sleslia (lit. 
 coalescence), paronomasia, using distinct words which have identity of 
 sound, the meaning being different ; thus vidhau may mean ' in fate ' if 
 it comes from vidhi, or 'in the moon' if from vidhu. 10. Vibhavana, 
 description of an effect produced without a cause (Kumara-sambhava 
 I. 10). ii. Vi&shokti, description of a cause without its natural effect. 
 
 12. Arthdntara-nydsa, transition to another matter, i.e., the turning 
 aside to state a general truth as an illustration of a particular case 
 (Bhatti-k. X. 36; Kiratarjuniya VII. 15). 13. ArtJidpatti, inference 
 of one fact from another. 14. Sara, climax. 15. Karana-mdld, series 
 of causes. 16. VyatireJca, contrast or dissimilitude. 17. Akshepa, hint. 
 1 8. Sahokti, a hyperbolical description of simultaneous action connected 
 by the word saha. 19. PariJcara, employment of a number of signifi- 
 cant epithets. 20. Samsrishti, conjunction, i.e., the employment of 
 more than one figure in the same verse independently of each other 
 (Bhatti-k. X. 70). When there is a commixture or combination of more 
 than one figure, it is called San-Jcara ; especially when they are combined 
 as principal and subordinates (an-gdn-gi-bhdva).
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 459 
 
 To give examples from all the artificial poems enume- 
 rated (pp. 452, 453) would be wearisome. It will be suffi- 
 cient to select a passage from Kalidasa's Raghu-vansa, 
 and a few of the moral sentiments scattered through the 
 Kiratarjuniya and the Sisupala-badha. I first translate 
 Raghu-vansa X. 16-33. The inferior gods are supposed 
 to be addressing Vishnu as the Supreme Being (cf. a 
 similar address in Kumara-sambhava II.) : 
 
 Hail to thee, mighty lord, the world's creator, 
 
 Supporter and destroyer, three in one 
 
 One in thy essence, tripartite in action ! l 
 
 E'en as heaven's water one in savour gains 
 
 From different receptacles on earth 
 
 Diversity of flavours, so dost thou, 
 
 Unchangeable in essence, manifest 
 
 Changes of state in diverse qualities. 2 
 
 Unmeasured and immeasurable, yet 
 
 Thou measurest the world ; desireless, yet 
 
 Fulfilling all desire ; unconquered and 
 
 A conqueror ; unmanifested, yet 
 
 A manif ester; uniformly one, 
 
 Yet ever multiform from various motives. 
 
 Thy manifold conditions are compared 
 
 To those of clearest crystal, which reflects 
 
 Varieties of hue from diverse objects. 
 
 Though ever present in the heart, thou art 
 
 Held to be infinitely distant; free 
 
 From passion, yet austere in self-restraint ; 
 
 Full of all pity, yet thyself untouched 
 
 By misery ; the ever ancient one, 
 
 Yet never growing ancient ; knowing all, 
 
 Yet never known ; unborn, yet giving birth 
 
 To all ; all-ruling, yet thyself unruled ; 
 
 One in thyself, yet many in thy aspects. 
 
 Men hymn thy praises in seven songs ; and say 
 
 Thou liest sleeping on the earth's seven seas ; 3 
 
 Thy face is seven-flamed fire, and thou thyself 
 
 1 See p. 321. 2 See p. 321, note 2. 3 See p. 420.
 
 460 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The sole asylum of the world's seven spheres. 1 
 
 From the four mouths of thee, pourtrayed as four-faced, 
 
 Proceeds the knowledge of life's fourfold objects, 
 
 Time's quadruple divisions through four ages, 2 
 
 Man's fourfold distribution into castes. 
 
 On thee abiding in man's heart, the source 
 
 Of light, with minds and senses all subdued, 
 
 The pious meditate in hope of bliss. 
 
 Of thee the mystic nature who can fathom ? 
 
 Unborn, yet taking birth ; from action free, 
 
 Yet active to destroy thy demon- foes ; 
 
 Seeming asleep, yet ever vigilant ; 
 
 Possessing senses fitted for enjoyment, 
 
 Yet in all points restrained ; protecting all 
 
 Thy creatures, yet apparently indifferent. 
 
 The ways which lead to everlasting bliss, 
 
 Though variously distinguished in the Veda, 
 
 Converge to thee alone ; e'en as the streams 
 
 Of Gan-ga's waters to their ocean home. 
 
 Thou art the only way, the only refuge 
 
 Of all whose hearts are fixed on thee, whose acts 
 
 Are centred in thee, and whose worldly longings, 
 
 Checked and suppressed, have passed away for ever. 
 
 Thy greatness is displayed before our eyes 
 
 In this thy world and these thy mighty works ; 
 
 Yet through the Veda and by inference 
 
 Alone can thy existence be established. 3 
 
 How then can we, the finite, tell thy essence ? 
 
 Since merely by the thought of thee thy creatures 
 
 Are purified, much more have other acts 
 
 Which have thee for their object, full reward. 
 
 As jewels lying deep in ocean's bed, 
 
 And fires deep hidden in the solar orb 
 
 Are far beyond the reach of mortals, so thy deeds 
 
 Exceed our praises. Naught is unattained 
 
 By thee, and naught is unattainable ; 
 
 Yet love, and love alone, for these thy worlds 
 
 1 See p. 431. 2 See p. 330, note 3. 
 
 ?l This is an allusion to the three Pramanas of the Saii-khya, viz., 
 Pratyaksha, Anumana, and Apta-vadana or S'abda ; see p. 82.
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS MORAL SENTIMENTS. 461 
 
 Moves thee to act, leads to thy incarnations. 1 
 That in the celebration of thy praises 
 Our voices are restrained, deign to ascribe 
 This to our limited capacities, 
 Not to the limitation of thy glory. 
 
 I next translate some moral sentiments and wise sayings 
 from the Kiratarjumya of Bharavi : 
 
 Those who wish well towards their friends disdain 
 To please them by fair words which are not true (I. 2). 
 
 Better to have a great man for one's foe 
 Than court association with the low (I. 8). 
 
 As drops of bitter medicine, though minute, 
 May have a salutary force, so words 
 Though few and painful, uttered seasonably, 
 May rouse the prostrate energies of those 
 Who meet misfortune with despondency (II. 4). 
 
 Do nothing rashly, want of circumspection 
 
 Is the chief cause of failure and disaster. 
 
 Fortune, wise lover of the wise, selects 
 
 Him for her lord who ere he acts, reflects (II. 30). 
 
 He who with patience and deliberation 
 Prepares the ground whence issue all his actions, 
 Obtains, like those who water seeds and roots, 
 An ample harvest of autumnal fruits (II. 31). 
 
 The body's truest ornament consists 
 
 In knowledge of the truth ; of sacred knowledge 
 
 The best embellishment is self-control ; 
 
 Of self-control the garniture is courage, 
 
 Courage is best embellished by success (II. 32). 
 
 In matters difficult and dark, concealed 
 
 By doubt and disagreement of opinion, 
 
 The Yeda, handed down by holy men, 
 
 Explained with clearness, and well put in practice, 
 
 Like a bright lamp throws light upon the way, 
 
 Guiding the prudent lest they go astray (II. 33). 
 
 1 See p. 320.
 
 462 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 To those who travel on the rugged road 
 
 Trodden by virtuous and high-minded men, 
 
 A fall, if pre-ordained by destiny, 
 
 Becomes equivalent to exaltation ; 
 
 Such falls cause neither evil nor distress, 
 
 The wise make failures equal to success (IL 34). 
 
 Would'st thou be eminent, all passion shun, 
 Drive wrath away by wisdom ; e'en the sun 
 Ascends not to display his fullest light 
 Till he has chased away the mists of night (II. 36). 
 
 That lord of earth who, equable in mind, 
 
 Is on occasion lenient and kind, 
 
 Then acts in season with severity, 
 
 Rules like the sun by his own majesty (II. 38). 
 
 The man who every sacred science knows, 
 Yet has not strength to keep in check the foes 
 That rise within him, mars his Fortune's fame 
 And brings her by his feebleness to shame (II. 41). 
 
 Be patient if thou would'st thy ends accomplish, 
 For like to patience is there no appliance 
 Effective of success, producing surely 
 Abundant fruit of actions, never damped 
 By failure, conquering impediments (II. 43). 
 
 If the constituent members of a state 
 
 Be in disorder, then a trifling war 
 
 May cause a ruler's ruin, just as fire 
 
 Caused by the friction of the dried-up branches 
 
 Of one small tree, may devastate a mountain (II. 51). 
 
 Success is like a lovely woman, wooed 
 By many men, but folded in the arms 
 Of him alone who free from over-zeal 
 Firmly persists and calmly perseveres (III. 40). 
 
 The drops upon a lovely woman's face 
 Appear like pearls ; no marks avail to mar, 
 But rather to her beauty add a grace (VII. 5). 
 
 The noble-minded dedicate themselves 
 
 To the promotion of the happiness 
 
 Of others e'en of those who injure them. 
 
 True happiness consists in making happy (VII. 13, 28).
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS MORAL SENTIMENTS. 463 
 
 Let not a little fault in him who does 
 
 An act of kindness, minish aught its value (VII. 15). 
 
 If intercourse with noble-minded men, 
 
 Though short and accidental, leads to profit, 
 
 How great the benefit of constant friendship ! (VII. 27). 
 
 As persons though fatigued forbear to seek 
 
 The shelter of the fragrant sandal-trees, 
 
 If deadly serpents lurk beneath their roots, 
 
 So must the intercourse of e'en the virtuous, 
 
 If vicious men surround them, be avoided (VII. 29). 
 
 A woman will not throw away a garland, 
 
 Though soiled and dirty, which her lover gave ; 
 
 Not in the object lies a present's worth, 
 
 But in the love which it was meant to mark (VIII. 37). 
 
 To one who pines in solitude apart 
 
 From those he loves, even the moon's cool rays 
 
 Appear unbearable ; for in affliction 
 
 Even a pleasant object heightens grief (IX. 30). 
 
 Wine is averse from secrecy ; it has 
 
 A power to bring to light what is concealed 
 
 The hidden qualities both good and bad (IX. 68). 
 
 True love is ever on the watch, and sees 
 
 Risks even in its loved one's happiness (IX. 70). 
 
 Youth's glories are as transient as the shadow 
 
 Of an autumnal cloud ; and sensual joys, 
 
 Though pleasant at the moment, end in pain (XI. 12). 
 
 Soon as a man is born, an adversary 
 
 Confronts him, Death the Ender ; ceaseless troubles 
 
 Begin ; his place of birth the world 
 
 Must one day be abandoned ; hence the wise 
 
 Seek the full bliss of freedom from existence (XI. 13). 
 
 Riches and pleasure are the root of evil ; 
 Hold them not dear, encourage not their growth ; 
 They are aggressors hard to be subdued, 
 Destroyers of all knowledge and of truth (XI. 20).
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 To one united with a much-loved object 
 
 The empty turns to fulness ; evil fortune 
 
 Brings festive joys ; and disappointment, gain ; 
 
 But not to him who lives in separation 
 
 He in the midst of friends feels solitary ; 
 
 The pleasant causes grief ; and life itself, 
 
 Before so dear, pains lite a piercing shaft (XL 27, 28). 
 
 The enemies which rise within the body, 
 Hard to be overcome thy evil passions 
 Should manfully be fought; who conquers these 
 Is equal to the conqueror of worlds (XL 32). 
 
 Why give thyself to pleasure ? this day's joys 
 Are thought upon to-morrow, then like dreams 
 They pass away and are for ever lost (XI. 34). 
 
 Who trusts the passions finds them base deceivers : 
 Acting like friends, they are his bitterest foes ; 
 Causing delight, they do him great unkindness ; 
 Hard to be shaken off, they yet desert him (XL 35). 
 
 The clear and quiet minds of prudent men, 
 Though ruffled on the surface and disturbed 
 Like the deep waters of the ocean, fear 
 To pass the limits of self-mastery (XL 54). 
 
 The friendship of the bad is like the shade 
 
 Of some precipitous bank with crumbling sides, 
 
 Which falling buries him who sits beneath (XL 55). 
 
 The natural hostility of beasts 
 
 Is laid aside when flying from pursuers ; 
 
 So also when calamities impend 
 
 The enmity of rivals has an end (XIL 46). 
 
 The following are from Book II. of the Sisupala-badha 
 of Magha (I translate nearly literally) : 
 
 Alliance should be formed with friendly foes, 
 Not with unfriendly friends ; of friend and foe 
 The test is benefit and injury (37). 1 
 
 1 This verse occurs also in Hitopadesa IV. 16.
 
 THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS MORAL SENTIMENTS. 465 
 
 He who excites the wrath of foes and then 
 Sits down inactively, is like a man 
 Who kindles withered grass and then lies near 
 While a strong wind is blowing from beyond (42). 
 
 He who by virtue of his rank, his actions, 
 And qualities, effects no useful purpose, 
 Is like a chance-invented word ; his birth 
 Is useless, for he merely bears a name (47). 
 
 A man of feeble character resembles 
 
 A reed that bends with every gust of wind (50). 
 
 Soft words, intended to alleviate, 
 
 Often foment the wrath of one enraged, 
 
 Like drops of water poured on burning butter (55). 
 
 A rambling speech whose meaning is confused, 
 Though long, is spoken easily ; not so 
 A clear, connected, logical discourse (73). 
 
 Two only sources of success are known 
 Wisdom and effort ; make them both thine own 
 If thou would'st rise and haply gain a throne (76). 
 
 Science is like a couch to sapient men ; 
 Reclining there, they never feel fatigue (77). 
 
 A subtle- witted man is like an arrow, 
 Which rending little surface, enters deeply ; 
 But they whose minds are dull, resemble stones, 
 Dashing with clumsy force, but never piercing (78). 
 
 The foolish undertake a trifling act 
 And soon desist, discouraged ; wiser men 
 Engage in mighty works and persevere (79). 
 
 The undertaking of a careless man 
 Succeeds not, though he use the right expedients ; 
 A clever hunter, though well placed in ambush, 
 Kills not his quarry if he fall asleep (80). 
 
 A monarch's weapon is his intellect ; 
 
 His minister and servants are his limbs ; 
 
 Close secrecy of counsel is his armour ; 
 
 Spies are his eyes; ambassadors, his mouth (82). 
 
 2 G
 
 \ 
 
 466 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 That energy which veils itself in mildness 
 
 Is most effective of its object ; so 
 
 The lamp that burns most brightly owes its force 
 
 To oil drawn upwards by a hidden wick (85). 
 
 Wise men rest not on destiny alone, 
 Nor yet on manly effort, but on both (86). 
 
 Weak persons gain their object when allied 
 With strong associates ; the rivulet 
 Reaches the ocean by the river's aid (100). 
 
 A good man's intellect is piercing, yet 
 Inflicts no wound ; his actions are deliberate, 
 Yet bold ; his heart is warm, but never burns ; 
 His speech is eloquent, yet ever true (109). 
 
 The Dramas. 
 
 If we bear in mind that the nations of modern Europe 
 can scarcely be said to have possessed a dramatic litera- 
 ture before the fifteenth century of the present era, the 
 antiquity of the extant Hindu plays, some of which may 
 be traced back to about the first or second century of our 
 era, will of itself appear a remarkable circumstance. But 
 to the age of these dramas must be added their undoubted 
 literary value as repositories of much true poetry, though 
 of an Oriental type. They are also valuable as repre- 
 senting the early condition of Hindu society, and as 
 serving to illustrate some of its present peculiarities ; for 
 notwithstanding the increasing intercourse with Europe, 
 India, like other Eastern countries, is slow in delivering 
 itself from subjection to the stereotyped laws of tradition 
 which appear to be stamped on its manners and social 
 practices. 
 
 In all likelihood the germ of the dramatic representa- 
 tions of the Hindus, as of the Greeks, is to be sought for
 
 THE DRAMAS. 467 
 
 in public exhibitions of dancing, which consisted at first 
 of simple movements of the body, executed in harmony 
 with singing and music. Indeed, the root not and the 
 nouns natya and natalca, which are now applied to dramatic 
 acting, are probably mere corruptions of nrit, ' to dance,' 
 nritya, ' dancing/ and nartaka, ' a dancer.' Of this dancing 
 various styles were gradually invented, such as the Ldsya 
 aud Tdndava, 1 to express different actions or various 
 sentiments and emotions. 
 
 Very soon dancing was extended to include pantomimic 
 gesticulations accompanied with more elaborate musical 
 performances, and these gesticulations were aided by 
 occasional exclamations between the intervals of singing. 
 Finally, natural language took the place of music and 
 singing, while gesticulation became merely subservient to 
 emphasis in dramatic dialogue. 
 
 When we come to actual dramatic writing we are 
 obliged to confess that its origin, like that of epic poetry, 
 and of nearly every department of Sanskrit composition, 
 is lost in remote antiquity. There is evidence that plays 
 were acted in India as early as the reign of Asoka, in the 
 third century B.C. At that period intercourse between 
 India and Greece had certainly commenced, but it does not 
 appear that the Hindus borrowed either the matter or 
 form of any of their dramas from the Greeks. (See 
 Lassen's Ind. Alt. II. 507.) 
 
 Semitic nations have never inclined towards theatrical 
 representations. The Book of Job is a kind of dramatic 
 dialogue. The same may be said of parts of the Song of 
 Solomon, and there is occasional dialogue in the Makamat 
 of al Hariri and Thousand and One Nights ; but neither 
 
 1 The Tdndava is a boisterous dance regarded as the peculiar inven- 
 tion of S'iva ; the Ldsya is said to have been invented by Parvati ; the 
 Rasamandala is the circular dance of Krishna.
 
 468 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the Hebrews nor Arabs seem to have carried dramatic ideas 
 beyond this point. Among the Aryans, on the other band, 
 as well as among the Chinese, the drama appears to have 
 arisen naturally. At least, its independent origin in 
 Greece and India both which countries also gave birth 
 independently to epic poetry, grammar, philosophy, and 
 logic can scarcely be called in question, however probable 
 it may be that an interchange of ideas took place in later 
 times. In fact, the Hindu drama, while it has certainly 
 much in common with the representations of other 
 nations, has quite a distinctive character of its own 
 which invests it with great interest. 
 
 At the same time the English reader, when told that 
 the author of the earliest Hindu drama which has come 
 down to us the Mric-chakatika or ' Clay-cart ' probably 
 lived in the first or second century of the Christian era, 
 will be inclined to wonder at the analogies it offers to 
 our own dramatic compositions of about fifteen centuries 
 later. The dexterity with which the plot is arranged, 
 the ingenuity with which the incidents are connected, 
 the skill with which the characters are delineated and 
 contrasted, the boldness and felicity of the diction are 
 scarcely unworthy of our own great dramatists. Nor 
 does the parallel fail in the management of the stage- 
 business, in minute directions to the actors and various 
 scenic artifices. The asides and aparts, the exits and the 
 entrances, the manner, attitude, and gait of the speakers, 
 their tones of voice, tears, smiles, and laughter are as 
 regularly indicated as in a modern drama. 
 
 A great number of other ancient plays besides 'the 
 Clay-cart' are extant, and many of the most celebrated 
 have been printed. To classify these Hindu dramas ac- 
 cording to European ideas, or even to arrange them under 
 the general heads of tragedy and comedy, is impossible. 
 Indeed, if a calamitous conclusion be necessary to consti-
 
 THE DRAMAS. 469 
 
 tute a tragedy, Hindu plays are never tragedies. 1 They 
 are rather mixed representations, in which happiness and 
 misery, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and in- 
 justice are allowed to blend in confusion until the end 
 of the drama. In the last act harmony is restored, tran- 
 quillity succeeds to agitation, and the minds of the spec- 
 tators, no longer perplexed by the ascendency of evil, are 
 soothed and purified by the moral lesson deducible from 
 the plot, or led to acquiesce in the inevitable results of 
 Adrishta (see p. 58). Such dramatic conceptions are, in 
 truth, exactly what might be expected to prevail among 
 a people who look upon no occurrence in human life as 
 really tragic, but regard evil and suffering of all kinds 
 as simply the unavoidable consequences of acts done by 
 each soul, of its own free will, in former bodies. 
 
 Nevertheless, to invest the subject of dramatic compo- 
 sition with dignity, a great sage is, as usual (compare 
 p. 371), supposed to be its inventor. He is called Bharata, 
 and is regarded as the author of a system of music, as 
 well as of an Alan-kara-sastra containing Sutras or rules. 
 His work is constantly quoted as the original authority 
 for dramatic composition. 2 On Bharata's Sutras followed 
 various treatises which laid down minute precepts and 
 regulations for the construction and conduct of plays, and 
 subjected dramatic writing to the most refined and artificial 
 rules of poetical and rhetorical style. 
 
 Besides the Dasa-rupaka, Kdvya-prakdda, Kdvyddarsa, and Sdhitya- 
 darpana, &c., mentioned at p. 457, others are named which treat of 
 dramatic composition as well as of ornaments (dlan-kdra) and figures 
 of rhetoric. For example : the Kdvydlan-ltdra-vritti, by Vamana ; the 
 
 1 A rule states that the killing of a hero is not to be hinted at. This 
 does not always hold good. No one, however, is killed on the stage. 
 
 2 Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has a MS. of the work in 36 Books, of which 
 1 8, 19, 20, and 34 were printed at the end of his Dasa-riipa. Dr. 
 Heymann is now editing the whole work.
 
 470 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Alankdra-sarvasva, by Bhama ; the Alan-kara-kaustubha, by Kavi Karna- 
 piiraka; the Kuvalaydnanda, by Apyaya [or Apya]-dikshita ; the tfandra- 
 loTca, by Jaya-deva ; and a work on music, singing, and dancing, called 
 the San-gita-ratndkara, by Sarn-gadeva, thought by Wilson to have been 
 written between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
 
 These treatises classify Sanskrit plays very elaborately 
 under various subdivisions ; and the Sahitya-darpana 
 a favourite authority 1 divides them into two great 
 classes, viz., i. RilpaJca, 'principal dramas,' of which there 
 are ten species ; 2. Upa-riipaka, 'minor or inferior dramas,' 
 of which eighteen are enumerated. The trouble taken to 
 invent titles for every variety of Hindu play, according 
 to far more subtle shades of distinction than those denoted 
 by our drama, melodrama, comedy, farce, and ballet, proves 
 that dramatic composition has been more elaborately cul- 
 tivated in India than in European countries. The ten 
 species of Rupaka, are as follow : 
 
 i. The Ndtaka, or 'principal play,' should consist of from five to ten 
 acts (an-Jca), and should have a celebrated story (such as the history 
 of Rama) for its plot (yastu). It should represent heroic or godlike 
 characters, and good deeds ; should be written in an elaborate style, and 
 be full of noble sentiments. Moreover, it should contain all the five 
 ' joints ' or ' junctures ' (sandhi) 2 of the plot ; the four kinds of action 
 (vrittt) ; the sixty-four members (an-ga) or peculiar properties ; and the 
 thirty-six distinctive marks (lakshana). The hero or leading character 
 (ndyaka) should be of the kind described as high-spirited but firm, 3 
 
 1 The Sahitya-darpana is in ten sections, treating of the nature and 
 divisions of poetry, the various powers of a word, varieties of style, 
 ornaments of style and blemishes (dosha). I have here consulted the 
 late Dr. Ballantyne's translation of part of it, published at Benares. 
 
 2 These five junctures are, i. the muJcha or 'opening' ; 2. the prati- 
 mukha or ' first development of the germ (vlj'a) of the plot ' ; 3. the 
 garbha or 'actual development and growth of the germ'; 4. the vimarslia 
 or 'some hindrance to its progress'; 5. the nirvahana or upa-samhriti, 
 ' conclusion.' 
 
 8 There are four kinds of heroes : i. high-spirited but firm (dhlro- 
 ddtta) ; 2. firm and haughty (dlilroddhata) ; 3. gay and firm (dhira- 
 lalita) j 4. firm and mild (dhlra-prasdnta).
 
 THE DRAMAS. 
 
 471 
 
 being either a royal sage of high family (as Dushyanta in the S'akun- 
 tala), or a god (as Krishna), or a demigod (divyddivya), who, though a 
 god (like Rama-candra) thinks himself a man (nardbhimdril, see note t, 
 p. 358). The principal sentiment or flavour (rasa, see p. 457, note) 
 should be either the erotic (srin-gdra] or heroic (mra), and in the con- 
 clusion (nirvahana) the marvellous (adbJiuta). It should be composed 
 like the end of a cow's tail (go-pncchdgra], i.e., so that each of the acts 
 is gradually made shorter. If it also contain the four Patdkd-sthanaka 
 or ' striking points,' and the number of its acts (an-Jca) be ten, it is 
 entitled to be called a Mahd-ndtaka. An example of the Ndtaka-is the 
 S'akuntala, and of the Mahd-ndtaka is the Bala-ramayana (see p. 508). 
 2. The Prakarana should resemble the Nataka in the number of its acts 
 as well as in other respects ; but the plot must be founded on some 
 mundane or human story, invented by the poet, and have love for its 
 principal sentiment, the hero or leading character being either a 
 Brahman (as in the Mric'-c'hakatika), or a minister (as in the Malatl- 
 madhava), or a merchant (as in the Pushpa-bhushita), of the description 
 called firm and mild (dhlra-prasdnta), while the heroine (ndyika) is some- 
 times a woman of good family, sometimes a courtesan, or both. 3. The 
 Bhdna, in one act, should consist of a variety of incidents, not progres- 
 sively developed, the plot being invented by the poet. It should only 
 have the opening and concluding juncture (see note 2, p. 470). An 
 example is the Llld-madhu-kara. 4. The Vydyoga, in one act, should 
 have a well-known story for its plot, and few females in its dramatis 
 personae. Its hero should be some celebrated personage of the class 
 called firm and haughty (virod-dhata). Its principal sentiments or 
 flavours (rasa, see p. 457, note) should be the comic (hdsya), the erotic 
 (srin-gdrd), and the unimpassioned (sdntd). 5. The Samavakdra, in 
 four acts, in which a great variety of subjects are mixed together 
 (samavaklryante) ; it dramatizes a well-known story, relating to gods 
 and demons. An example is the Samudra-matliana, ' churning of the 
 ocean ' (described in Bharata's S'astra IV.). 6. The Dima, in four acts, 
 founded on some celebrated story; its principal sentiment should be 
 the terrible (raudra} ; it should have sixteen heroes (a god, a Yaksha, 
 a Rakshasa, a serpent, goblin, &c.). An example is the Tripura-ddha, 
 1 conflagration of Tripura' (described in Bharata's S'astra IV.). 7. The 
 Ihd-mriga, in four acts, founded on a mixed story (mifra-vritta), partly 
 popular, and partly invented ; the hero and rival hero (prati-ndyaJca) 
 should be either a mortal or a god. According to some it should have 
 six heroes. It derives its name from this, that the hero seeks (ihate) 
 a divine female, who is as unattainable as a deer (mriga). 8. The 
 An-ka or Utsrishtikdn-ka, in one act, should have ordinary men (prdk-
 
 47 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 rita-nardh) for its heroes ; its principal sentiment should be the pathetic 
 (karuna), and its form (srisliti) should transgress (utkrdnta) the usual 
 rules. An example is the &armislithd-yaydti. 9. The Vlthl, in one 
 act, is so called because it forms a kind of garland (vitlii) of various 
 sentiments, and is supposed to contain thirteen members (an-ga) or 
 peculiar properties. An example is the Mdlawka. 10. The Prahasana, 
 properly in one act, is a sort of farce representing reprobate characters 
 (nindya), and the story is invented by the poet, the principal sentiment 
 being the comic (hdsyci) ; it may be either pure (suddha), of which the 
 Kandarpa-keli, 'love-sports,' is an example; or mixed (san-kirna), like 
 the Dhurta-darita, ' adventures of a rogue ; ' or it may represent 
 characters transformed (vilcrita) by various disguises. 
 
 The eighteen Upa-rupakas need not be so fully described. 
 Their names are as follow : 
 
 i. The Ndtika, which is of two kinds Ndtikd pure, and Prakaranikd 
 differing little from the Nataka and Prakarana. The Ratnavali is an 
 example of the Natika. 2. The Trotaka, in five, seven, eight, or nine acts; 
 the plot should be founded on the story of a demigod, and the Vidushaka 
 or ' jesting Brahman ' should be introduced into every act. An example 
 is the Vikramorvasl. 3. The Goshthl. 4. The Sattaka. 5. The Ndtya- 
 rdsaka. 6. The PrastJidna. 7. The Ulldpya. 8. The Kdvya. 9. The 
 PrenJfhana. 10. TheRdsaka. n. Tine Samldpaka. 12. The Srl-gadita, 
 in one act, dedicated chiefly to the goddess S'ri. 13. The Silpaka. 
 14. The Vildsikd. 15. The DurmalUkd. 16. The Prakaranl. 17. The 
 Halllsa, chiefly consisting in music and singing. 18. The Blidnikd. 
 
 As I have elsewhere stated (see Introduction to trans- 
 lation of the Sakuntala), it is probable that in India, as 
 in Greece, scenic entertainments took place at religious 
 festivals, and especially at the Spring festival ( Vasanto- 
 tsava, corresponding to the present Holi) in the month 
 Phalguna. Kalidasa's Sakuntala seems to have been 
 acted at the commencement of the summer season 
 a period sacred to Kama-deva, the Indian god of love. 
 We are told that it was enacted before an audience ' con- 
 sisting chiefly of men of education and discernment.' 
 As the greater part of every play was written in Sanskrit, 
 which was certainly not the vernacular of the country
 
 THE DRAMAS. 473 
 
 at the t5me when the dramas were performed, few spec- 
 tators could have been present who were not of the 
 learned classes. This circumstance is in accordance with 
 the constitution of Hindu society, whereby the produc- 
 tions of literature, as well as the offices of state, were 
 reserved for the privileged castes. The following is a 
 brief account of the construction of an ordinary Hindu 
 Nataka : 
 
 Every play opens with a prologue (prastdvana), or, to speak more 
 correctly, an introduction, designed to prepare the way for the en- 
 trance of the dramatis personae. The prologue commences with a 
 benediction (ndndi) or prayer a (pronounced by a Brahman, or if the 
 stage-manager happens to be a Brahman, by the manager himself), in 
 which the poet invokes the favour of his favourite deity in behalf of 
 the audience. The blessing is generally followed by a dialogue between 
 the manager and one or two of the actors, in which an account is 
 given of the author of the drama, a complimentary tribute is paid to 
 the critical acumen of the spectators, and such a reference is made to 
 past occurrences or present circumstances as may be necessary for 
 the elucidation of the plot. At the conclusion of the prologue, the 
 manager, by some abrupt exclamation, adroitly introduces one of the 
 dramatic personages, and the real performance commences. The play 
 being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes and acts ; each scene 
 being marked by the entrance of one character and the exit of another. 
 The dramatis personae are divided into three classes the inferior 
 characters (riica), who are said to speak Prakrit in a monotonous 
 unaccented tone (anudattoktya) ; the middling (madliyama} ; and the 
 superior (pradhdna). These latter are to speak Sanskrit with accent 
 and expression (udattoktya). The commencement of a new act, like 
 that of the whole piece, is often marked by an introductory monologue 
 or dialogue spoken by one or more of the dramatis personae, and called 
 Vishkambha or Praveiaka. In this scene allusion is made to events 
 supposed to have occurred in the interval of the acts, and the audience 
 is prepared to take up the thread of the story, which is then skilfully 
 
 i 
 
 The fact that scarcely a single work in Sanskrit literature is com- 
 menced without a prayer to some god, is, as Professor Banerjea has 
 remarked, a testimony to the universal sentiment of piety animating 
 the Hindu race.
 
 474 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 carried on to the concluding scene. The piece closes, as it began, with 
 a prayer for national prosperity, addressed to the favourite deity, and 
 spoken by one of the principal personages of the drama. 
 
 Although in the conduct of the plot, and the delinea- 
 tion of character, Hindu dramatists show considerable 
 skill, yet in the plot itself, or in the story on which it 
 is founded, they rarely evince much fertility of invention. 
 The narrative of Kama's adventures and other well-known 
 fictions of Hindu mythology are constantly repeated. 
 Love, too, according to Hindu notions, is the subject of 
 most of their dramas. The hero and heroine are generally 
 smitten with attachment for each other at first sight, 
 and that, too, in no very interesting manner. By way 
 of relief, however, an element of life is introduced in 
 the character of the Vidushaka or 'jester,' who is the 
 constant companion of the hero ; and in the young 
 maidens, who are the confidential friends of the heroine, 
 and soon become possessed of her secret. By a curious 
 regulation, the jester is always a Brahman ; yet his 
 business is to excite mirth by being ridiculous in person, 
 age, and attire. Strictly he should be represented as 
 grey-haired, humpbacked, lame, and ugly. He is a species 
 of buffoon, who is allowed full liberty of speech, being 
 himself a universal butt. His attempts at wit, which are 
 rarely very successful, and his allusions to- the pleasures 
 of the table, of which he is a confessed votary, are absurdly 
 contrasted with the sententious solemnity of the despairing 
 hero, crossed in the prosecution of his love-suit. On the 
 other hand, the shrewdness of the heroine's confidantes 
 never seem to fail them under the most trying circum- 
 stances ; while their sly jokes and innuendoes, their love 
 of fun, their girlish sympathy with the progress of the 
 love-affair, their warm affection for their friend, heighten 
 the interest of the plot, and contribute to vary its 
 monotony.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 475 
 
 Let me now introduce a few remarks on certain well- 
 known plays, some of which have been already mentioned. 
 And first with regard to the earliest extant Sanskrit 
 drama the Mric-chakatikd or ' Clay-cart.' 
 
 This was attributed (probably out of mere flattery) to a royal author, 
 king S'udraka, who is said to have reigned in the first or second century 
 B.C. Its real author is unknown, and its exact date is, of course, un- 
 certain. According to Professor Weber, so much at least may be 
 affirmed, ' that it was composed at a time in which Buddhism was 
 nourishing in full vigour.' Some, indeed, may be inclined to infer from 
 the fact of its describing a Sramana or Buddhist ascetic as appointed 
 to the head of the Viharas or monasteries, that one hundred years after 
 Christ is too early an epoch to allow for the possibility of representing 
 Buddhism as occupying such a position in India. At any rate, the date 
 of this drama ought not to be placed before the first century of our 
 era. 1 The play is in ten acts, and though too long and tedious to suit 
 European theatrical ideas, has nevertheless considerable dramatic merit, 
 the plot being ingeniously developed, and the interest well sustained 
 by a rapid succession of stirring incidents and picturesquely diversified 
 scenes of every-day life. In fact, its pictures of domestic manners and 
 descriptions of the natural intercourse of ordinary men and women, 
 followed by the usual train of social evils, make it more interesting 
 than other Sanskrit dramas, which, as a rule, introduce too much of 
 the supernatural, and abound in overwrought poetical fancies unsuited 
 to occidental minds. 
 
 I now give an epitome of this interesting drama, omitting 
 the underplot ; which is not essential to the unity of the 
 play, though ingeniously interwoven with it. 2 
 
 1 Professor Lassen assigns it to about 150 after Christ. 
 
 2 In composing this epitome from Professor Stenzler's edition of the 
 text, I am bound to state that I have made free use of Professor H. H. 
 Wilson's translation of the Mric-clialcatika, to which, as well as to 
 Professor Stenzler's edition, I am under the greatest obligations, 
 fessor Wilson's translation is executed with a spirit and power which 
 could only be displayed by a writer himself gifted with poetical and 
 dramatic genius. Nevertheless, although I have made use of many of 
 his expressions, I have not always ventured to depart so widely as he 
 has done from the original text in giving my own translation.
 
 476 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The first scene represents a court in front of Caru-datta's house. 
 His friend Maitreya, who, although a Brahman, acts the part of 
 a sort of jovial companion, and displays a disposition of mixed 
 shrewdness and simplicity, laments Caru-datta's fallen fortunes, 
 caused by his too great liberality. Caru-datta replies thus : 
 
 Cam. Think not, my friend, I mourn departed wealth ; 
 
 One thing alone torments me, that my guests 
 
 Desert my beggared house, like bees 
 
 That swarm around the elephant, when dews 
 
 Exhale from his broad front ; but quickly leave 
 
 His dried-up temples when they yield no sweets. 
 Maitreya. The sons of slaves ! These guests you speak of are always 
 ready to make a morning meal off a man's property. 
 Cam. It is most true, but I bestow no thought 
 
 On my lost property ; as fate decrees 
 
 Wealth comes and goes, but this is torture to me 
 
 That friendships I thought firm hang all relaxed 
 
 And loose, when poverty sticks closest to me. 
 
 From poverty, 'tis but a step to shame 
 
 From shame, to loss of manly self-respect ; 
 
 Then comes disdainful scorn, then dark despair 
 
 O'erwhelms the mind with melancholy thoughts, 
 
 Then reason goes, and last of all comes ruin. 
 
 Oh ! poverty is source of every ill. 
 
 Mail. Ah well, cheer up ! Let's have no more of these woebegone 
 memories. What's lost can't be recovered. 
 
 Odru. Good ! I will grieve no more. Go you, my friend, 
 
 And offer this oblation, just prepared, 
 
 Unto the gods, and mothers of us all. 
 
 Mail. Not I. 
 Cam. And why not, pray ? 
 
 Mail. Why, what's the use, when the gods you have worshipped 
 have done nothing for you ? 
 
 Cam. Friend, speak not thus, for worship is the duty 
 
 Of every family ; the gods are honoured 
 
 By offerings, and gratified by acts 
 
 Of penance and restraint in thought and word. 
 
 Therefore delay not to present the oblation. 
 Matt. I don't intend to go ; send some one else. 
 Caru. Stay quiet then for a little, till I have finished 
 
 My religious meditation and prayer.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 477 
 
 They are supposed here to retire, and a voice is heard behind 
 the scenes 
 
 Stop ! Vasanta-sena, stop ! 
 
 The heroine of the play now appears in front of daru-datta's 
 house pursued by the king's worthless but wealthy brother-in-law, 
 called Samsthanaka, 1 who is an embodiment of everything vicious 
 and mean, in exact contrast to Caru-datta. 
 
 Samsth. Stop ! Vasanta-sena, stop ! Why do you run away ? Don't 
 be alarmed ! I am not going to kill you. My poor heart is on fire 
 with love, like a piece of meat placed ou a heap of burning coals. 
 
 Fas. Noble sir, I am only a weak woman. 
 
 Samsth. That is just why I don't intend murdering you. 
 
 Fas. Why, then, do you pursue me ? Do you seek my jewels ? 
 
 Samsth. No, T only seek to gain your affections. 
 
 At this point the frightened Vasanta-sena discovers that she is 
 close to Caru-datta's house. He is not only loved by her, but 
 greatly respected as a man of honour, and under cover of the 
 evening darkness, now supposed to have supervened, she slips 
 into the courtyard of his house by a side-door, and hides herself. 
 A companion who is with the king's brother now counsels him to 
 desist from following her by remarking 
 
 An elephant is bound by a chain, 
 A horse is curbed by a bridle and rein ; 
 But a woman is only held by her heart 
 If you can't hold that, you had better depart. 
 
 Samsthanaka, however, forces his way into daru-datta's house, 
 and there finding Caru-datta's friend and companion, Maitreya, 
 thus addresses him : 
 
 Take this message to daru. Vasanta-sena loves you, and has 
 taken refuge in your house. If you will deliver her up, you shall be 
 rewarded by my everlasting friendship ; if not, I shall remain your 
 enemy till death. Give this message, so that I may hear you from 
 the neighbouring terrace ; refuse to say exactly what I have told you 
 and I will crush your head as I would a wood-apple beneath a door. 
 
 He then leaves the stage. 
 
 Maitreya accordingly delivers the message. Soon afterwards 
 
 We shall sometimes speak of him as the king's brother.
 
 47 8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the heroine Vasanta-sena ventures into the presence of Caru- 
 datta, asks pardon for intruding into his house, requests him to 
 take charge of a golden casket containing her ornaments as a 
 deposit left in trust, and solicits his friend's escort back to her 
 own house. 
 
 Maitreya is too much alarmed to accompany her, so Caru-datta 
 himself escorts Vasanta-sena home. 
 
 So far is an epitome of the first act. 
 
 At the commencement of the second act a gambler is introduced 
 running away from the keeper of a gaming-house named Mathura, 
 and another gambler, to whom the first gambler has lost money, 
 who are both pursuing him. 
 
 ist Gambler. The master of the tables and the gamester are at my 
 heels ; how can I escape them ? Here is an empty temple ; I will enter 
 it walking backwards, and pretend to be its idol. 
 
 Mathura. Ho ! there ! stop thief ! A gambler has lost ten Suvarnas, 
 and is running off without paying. Stop him, stop him ! 
 
 2nd Gambler. He has run as far as this point ; but here the track 
 is lost. 
 
 Math. Ah ! I see, the footsteps are reversed ; the rogue has walked 
 backwards into this temple which has no image in it. 
 
 They enter and make signs to each other on discovering the 
 object of their search, who pretends to be an idol fixed on a 
 
 pedestal. 
 
 2nd Gambler. Is this a wooden image, I wonder ? 
 
 Math. No, no, it must be made of stone, I think. (So saying, they 
 shake and pinch him.) Never mind, sit we down here and play out 
 our game. (They commence playing.) 
 
 ist Gambler. (Still acting the image, but looking on and witli difficulty 
 restraining his wish to join in the game Aside.) The rattling of dice is 
 as tantalizing to a penniless man as the sound of drums to a dethroned 
 monarch ; verily, it is sweet as the note of a nightingale. 
 
 2nd Gambler. The throw is mine, the throw is mine ! 
 
 Math. No, no, it is mine, I say. 
 
 ist Gambler. (Forgetting himself and jumping off his pedestal.) No, 
 I tell you it is mine. 
 
 2nd Gambler. We've caught him ! 
 
 Math. Yes, rascal, you're caught at last; hand over the Suvarnas. 
 
 ist Gambler. Worthy sir, I'll pay them in good time.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 479 
 
 Math. Hand them over this very minute, I say. (They beat him.) 
 
 ist Gambler. (Aside to 2nd Gambler.) I'll pay you half if you will 
 forgive me the rest. 
 
 2nd Gambler. Agreed. 
 
 ist Gambler. (Aside to Math.) I'll give you security for half if 
 you will let me off the other half. 
 
 Math. Agreed. 
 
 ist Gambler. Then good morning to you, sirs, I'm off. 
 
 Math. Hullo ! stop there, where are you going so fast ; hand over 
 the money. 
 
 ist Gambler. See here, my good sirs, one has taken security for 
 half, and the other has let me off another half. Isn't it clear I have 
 nothing to pay. 
 
 Math. No, no, my fine fellow ; my name is Mathura, and I'm not 
 such a fool as you take me for. Don't suppose I'm going to be cheated 
 out of my ten Suvarnas in this way. Hand them over, you scoundrel. 
 
 Upon that they set to work beating the unfortunate gambler, 
 whose cries for help bring another gamester who happens to be 
 passing to his rescue. A general scuffle now takes place, and in 
 the midst of the confusion the first gambler escapes. In his flight 
 he comes to the house of Vasanta-sena, and finding the door open, 
 rushes in. Vasanta-sena inquires who he is and what he wants. 
 He then recites his story, and makes known to her that having 
 been once in the service of Oaru-datta, and having been discharged 
 by him on account of his reduced circumstances, he has been 
 driven to seek a livelihood by gambling. The mention of Caru- 
 datta at once secures Vasanta-sena's aid, and the pursuers having 
 now tracked their fugitive to the door of her house, she sends 
 them out a jewelled bracelet which satisfies their demands, and 
 they retire. The gambler expresses the deepest gratitude, hopes 
 in return to be of use to Vasanta-sena at some future time, and 
 announces his intention of abandoning his disreputable mode of 
 life and becoming a Buddhist mendicant. 
 
 The third act opens with a scene inside Caru-datta's house. The 
 time is supposed to be night. Caru-datta and Maitreya are absent 
 at a concert. A servant is preparing their sleeping-couches, and 
 commences talking to himself thus: 
 
 A good master who is kind to his servants, even though he be poor, 
 is their delight ; while a harsh fellow who is always finding fault and 
 has nothing but his money to be proud of, is a perpetual torment from
 
 480 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 morning to night. Well, well ! one can't alter nature ; an ox can't be 
 kept out of a field of corn, and a man once addicted to gambling 
 can't be induced to leave off. My good master has gone to a concert. 
 I must await his return ; so I may as well take a nap in the hall. 
 
 Meanwhile Caru-datta and Maitreya come back, and the servant 
 delivers Vasanta-sena's golden casket, saying that it is his turn to 
 take charge of it by night. They now lie down. 
 
 Mait. Are you sleepy ? 
 
 &aru. Yes ; 
 
 I feel inconstant sleep, with shadowy form 
 "Viewless and wayward, creep across my brow 
 And weigh my eyelids down ; her soft approach 
 Is like Decay's advance, which stronger grows, 
 Till it has mastered all our faculties, 
 And life is lost in blank unconsciousness. 
 
 The whole household is soon buried in slumber, when a thief 
 named Sarvilaka is seen to approach. 
 
 His soliloquy, while he proceeds to accomplish his design of 
 breaking into the house, is curious, as showing that an Indian 
 burglar's mode of operation in ancient times differed very little 
 from that now in fashion. Moreover, it appears that the whole 
 practice of housebreaking was carried on by professional artists 
 according to certain fixed rules and principles, which a master of 
 the science, named Yoga6arya, had embodied in a kind of ' Thieves' 
 Manual ' for the better training of his disciples. It is evident, 
 too, that the fraternity of thieves, burglars, and rogues had a 
 special presiding Deity and Patron in India, much in the same 
 way as in ancient Greece and Rome. 
 
 It may be noted also, as still more curious, that the particular 
 burglar here introduced is represented as a Brahman, that he is 
 made to speak the learned language, Sanskrit, and to display 
 acquaintance with Sanskrit literature, while all the subordinate 
 characters in Indian dramas, including women of rank, are repre- 
 sented as speaking one or other of the provincial dialects called 
 Prakrit. Here is part of the burglar's soliloquy : 
 
 I advance creeping stealthily along the ground, like a snake wriggling 
 out of its worn-out skin, making a path for my operations by the sheer 
 force of my scientific craft, and artfully constructing an opening just 
 big enough to admit my body with ease.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 481 
 
 This friendly night which covers all the stars 
 With a thick coat of darkness, acts the part 
 Of a kind mother, shrouding me, her son, 
 Whose valour is displayed in night assaults 
 Upon my neighbours, and whose only dread 
 Is to be pounced upon by royal watchmen. 
 
 ^ ! I have made a hole in the garden-wall, and am now in the 
 midst of the premises. Now for an attack on the four walls of the 
 house itself. 
 
 Men call this occupation mean, which thrives 
 
 By triumphing o'er sleeping enemies. 
 
 This, say they, is not chivalry but burglary ; 
 
 But better far reproach with independence, 
 
 Than cringing service without liberty : 
 
 And did not Aswatthaman long ago 
 
 O'erpower in night-attack his slumbering foe 1 l 
 
 Then follows a little of the burglar's plain prose : 
 
 Where shall I make my breach ? Ah ! here's a rat-hole this is the 
 very thing we disciples of the god Skanda hail as the best guide to 
 our operations, and the best omen of success. Here, then, I must 
 begin my excavation, that's clear; but how shall I proceed? The 
 golden - speared god has taught four methods of making a breach, 
 namely, pulling out baked bricks, cutting through unbaked ones ; 
 soaking a mud wall with water, and boring through one made of wood. 
 This wall is evidently of baked bricks, so they must be pulled out. 
 Now for the shape of the hole. It must be carved according to some 
 orthodox pattern Shall it be like a lotus-blossom, the sun, a crescent, 
 a lake, a triangle, or a jar ? I must do it cleverly, so that to-morrow 
 morning people may look at my handiwork with wonder, and say to 
 each other, ' None but a skilled artist could have done this ! ' The jar- 
 shape looks best in a wall of baked bricks. Be it so ; now, then, to 
 work ! Reverence to the golden-speared god, Karttikeya, the giver of 
 all boons ! Reverence to Yogadarya, whose chief disciple I am, and 
 
 1 This is an allusion to Karttikeya or Skanda. The God of War 
 was the patron of burglars, probably from the fact that excavations, 
 mining operations, and the making of breaches in walls are often 
 resorted to in Eastern warfare as in the present day. Professor H. 
 H. Wilson states that modern thieves worship some of the forms of 
 Durga. 
 
 2 H
 
 482 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 who was so pleased with his pupil that he gave me a magical pigment, 
 which, when spread over my body, prevents any police-officer from 
 catching sight of me and any weapons from harming my limbs. Ah ! 
 what a pity ! I have forgotten my measuring-line. Never mind, I 
 can use my Brahmanical cord a most serviceable implement to all 
 Brahmans, especially to men of my profession. It serves to measure 
 a wall, or to throw round ornaments which have to be drawn from their 
 places, or to lift the latch of a door, or to bind up one's finger when 
 bitten by insects or snakes. And now to commence measuring. 
 Good ! the hole is exactly the right size ; only one brick remains ! Ah ! 
 botheration ! I am bitten by a snake ; I must bind up my finger and 
 apply the antidote ; that's the only cure. Now I am all right again. 
 Let me first peep in. What ! a light gleams somewhere ! Never mind ! 
 the breach being perfect, I must creep in. Reverence to Karttikeya ! 
 How now ! two men asleep ! Are they really asleep, or only shamming? 
 If they are shamming, they won't bear the glimmer of this lamp when 
 passed over their faces ; they are fast asleep, I believe ; their breathing 
 is regular ; their eyes are firmly closed, their joints are all relaxed, 
 and their limbs protrude beyond the bed. What have we here 1 Here 
 are tabours, a lute, flutes, and books ; why, I must have broken into 
 the house of a dancing-master ; I took it for the mansion of a man of 
 rank. I had better be off. 
 
 Maitreya here calls out in his sleep 
 
 Master, I am afraid some thief is breaking into the house ; take you 
 charge of the golden casket. 
 
 Sarvtt. What ! does he see me ? Shall I have to kill him 1 No, no, 
 it's all right ; he's only dreaming and talking in his sleep. But sure 
 enough, he has hold of a casket of jewels wrapped up in an old bathing- 
 dress. Very good ! I will relieve him of his burden ; but no, it's a 
 shame to take the only thing the poor creature seems to possess ; so 
 I'll be off without more ado. 
 
 Mait. My good friend, if you won't take the casket, may you incur 
 the curse of disappointing the wishes of a cow and of a Brahman. 
 
 &arvil. The wishes of a cow and a Brahman ! These are much too 
 sacred to be opposed ; so take the casket I must. 
 
 Accordingly he helps himself to the casket, and proceeds to 
 make good his escape. 
 
 The noise he makes in going out rouses its inmates, and they 
 discover that the house has been robbed. Caru-datta is greatly 
 shocked at the loss of Vasanta-sena's casket, which had been 
 deposited with him in trust. He has only one valuable thing left
 
 THE DRAMAS. 483 
 
 a necklace or string of jewels forming part of the private pro- 
 perty of his wife. This he sends by Maitreya to Vasanta-sena as 
 a substitute for the casket. 
 
 The fourth act commences with a scene in Vasanta-sena's house. 
 The burglar 3arvilaka is seen to approach, but this time with no 
 burglarious designs. It appears that he is in love with Vasanta- 
 sena's slave-girl, and hopes to purchase her freedom by offering 
 as a ransom the stolen casket of jewels, being of course ignorant 
 that he is offering it to its owner. 
 
 As he advances towards the house, he thus soliloquizes : 
 
 I have brought blame and censure on the night, 
 
 I've triumphed over slumber, and defied 
 
 The vigilance of royal watchmen, now 
 
 I imitate the moon, who when the night 
 
 Is closing, quickly pales beneath the rays 
 
 Of the ascending sun, and hides himself. 
 
 I tremble, or I run, or stand aside, 
 
 Or seek deliverance by a hundred shifts, 
 
 If haply from behind some hurried step 
 
 Appears to track me, or a passer-by 
 
 Casts but a glance upon me ; every one 
 
 Is viewed by me suspiciously, for thus 
 
 A guilty conscience makes a man a coward, 
 
 Affrightening him with his unrighteous deeds. 
 
 On reaching the house, he sees the object of his affections the 
 female-slave of Vasanta-sena. He presents her with the casket, 
 and begs her to take it to her mistress, and request in return 
 freedom from further service. The servant-girl, on seeing the 
 casket, recognizes the ornaments as belonging to her mistress. 
 She then reproaches her lover, who is forced to confess how they 
 came into his possession, and to explain that they were stolen 
 entirely out of iove for her. The altercation which ensues leads 
 him to make some very disparaging remarks on the female sex 
 generally. Here is a specimen of his asperities, which are some- 
 what softened down in the translation : 
 
 A woman will for money smile or weep 
 
 According to your will ; she makes a man 
 
 Put trust in her, but trusts him not herself. 
 
 Women are as inconstant as the waves 
 
 Of ocean, their affection is as fugitive
 
 4 8 4 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 As streak of sunset glow upon a cloud. 
 
 They cling with eager fondness to the man 
 
 Who yields them wealth, which they squeeze out like sap 
 
 Out of a juicy plant, and then they leave him. 
 
 Therefore are men thought foolish who confide 
 
 In women and in fortune, for their windings 
 
 Are like the coils of serpent nymphs, insidious. 
 
 Well is it said, you cannot alter nature ; 
 
 The lotus grows not on the mountain-top, 
 
 Asses refuse to bear a horse's burden, 
 
 He who sows barley reaps not fields of rice ; 
 
 Do what you will, a woman will be woman. 
 
 After other still more caustic aspersions, the thief Sarvilaka 
 and his lover make up their differences, and it is agreed between 
 them that the only way out of the difficulty is for him to take the 
 casket to Vasanta-sena, as if he were a messenger from Caru-datta, 
 sent to restore her property. This he does ; and Vasanta-sena, 
 who, unknown to the lovers, has overheard their conversation, 
 astonishes Sarvilaka by setting her slave- girl free, and permitting 
 her to become his wife ; thus affording a practical refutation of 
 his charge against women of selfishness and want of generosity. 
 
 Soon after the departure of the lovers an attendant announces 
 the arrival of a Brahman from Caru-datta. This turns out to be 
 Maitreya, who is honoured by an introduction into the private 
 garden attached to the inner apartments of Vasanta-sena's house. 
 His passage through the courts of the mansion, no less than seven 
 in number, is made an occasion for describing the interior of the 
 splendid residence which a Hindu lady of wealth and fashion might 
 be supposed, allowing for a little play of the imagination, to 
 occupy. 
 
 The description affords a striking picture of Indian life and 
 manners, which to this day are not greatly changed. The account 
 of the courtyards will remind those who have seen Pompeii of 
 some of the houses there, and will illustrate the now universally 
 received opinion of the common origin of Hindus, Greeks, and 
 Eomans. Of course the object of Maitreya's visit to Vasanta-sena 
 is to confess the loss of the casket, and to request her acceptance 
 of the string of jewels from Caru-datta as a compensation. The 
 good man in his simplicity expects that she will politely decline 
 the costly present tendered by daru-datta as a substitute for her
 
 THE DRAMAS. 485 
 
 far less valuable casket of ornaments ; but, to his surprise and 
 disgust, she eagerly accepts the proffered compensation, and dis- 
 misses him with a few complimentary words, intending, however, 
 as it afterwards appears, to make the acceptance of Caru-datta's 
 compensation an excuse for going in person to his house, that she 
 may see him once again and restore to him with her own hand 
 both the necklace and casket. 
 
 The fifth act opens with a scene in Caru-datta's garden. A 
 heavy thunderstorm is supposed to be gathering, when Maitreya 
 enters, salutes Caru-datta, and informs him of the particulars of 
 his interview with Vasanta-sena. The rain now begins to descend 
 in torrents, when a servant arrives to announce that Vasanta-sena 
 is waiting outside. On hearing this, Maitreya says : 
 
 What can she have come for ? Oh ! I know what she wants. She 
 considers the casket worth more than the necklace of jewels, and so she 
 wants to get the balance out of you. 
 
 Caru-datta. Then she shall go away satisfied. 
 
 Meanwhile some delay occurs in admitting Vasanta-sena, which 
 is made an occasion for introducing a dialogue between her and 
 her attendant, in the course of which they are made to describe 
 very poetically the grandeur of the approaching storm, the sudden 
 accumulation of dense masses of threatening clouds, the increasing 
 gloom followed by portentous darkness, the terrific rolling of 
 thunder, the blaze of blinding lightning, the sudden outburst of 
 rain, as if the very clouds themselves were falling, and the effect 
 of all this upon the animals, some of which, such as the peacocks 
 and storks, welcome the strife of elements with their shrillest cries. 
 In her descriptions of the scene, Vasanta-sena speaks Sanskrit, 
 which is quite an unusual circumstance, and an evidence of her 
 superior education (no good sign, however, according to Eastern 
 ideas) the female characters in Indian dramas being supposed 
 to be incapable of speaking anything but the ordinary provincial 
 Prakrit. 1 Vasanta-sena is ultimately admitted to the presence of 
 
 1 There is a suitableness in this, however, when it is remembered that 
 Prakrit words are to Sanskrit what Italian is to Latin. Harsh con- 
 sonants are often softened off and compound ones are simplified. 
 Piombo certainly comes more suitably from female lips than plumbum, 
 and Sa-undala than S'akuntala.
 
 486 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Caru-datta, and before returning the necklace practises a little 
 playful deception upon him as a set-off against that tried upon 
 herself. She pretends that the string of pearls sent to her by 
 Carn-datta has been accidentally lost by her; she therefore pro- 
 duces a casket which she begs him to accept in its place. This, 
 of course, turns out to be the identical casket which the thief had 
 carried off from Caru-datta's house. In the end, the whole matter 
 is explained, and both casket and necklace are given over to Caru- 
 datta, and the storm having now increased in violence, Vasanta- 
 sena, to her great delight, is obliged to accept the shelter of his 
 roof and is conducted to his private apartments. This brings five 
 acts of the drama to a close. 
 
 At the commencement of the sixth act Vasanta-sena is supposed 
 to be at Caru-datta's house waiting for a covered carriage which is 
 to convey her away. While the vehicle is preparing, Caru-datta's 
 child, a little boy, comes into the room with a toy-cart made of 
 clay. He appears to be crying, and an attendant explains that 
 his tears are caused by certain childish troubles connected with 
 his clay-cart, which has ceased to please him since his happening 
 to see one made of gold belonging to a neighbour's child. Upon 
 this, Vasanta-sena takes off her jewelled ornaments, places them 
 in the clay-cart, and tells the child to purchase a golden cart with 
 the value of the jewels as a present from herself. While this is 
 going on, the carriage which is to convey her away is brought up 
 to the door, but is driven off again to fetch some cushions acci- 
 dentally forgotten by the driver. Meanwhile an empty carriage 
 belonging to Samsthanaka the worthless brother-in-law of the 
 king which is on its way to meet him at an appointed place in 
 a certain garden called Pushpa-karandaka, happens to stop for a 
 moment, impeded by some obstruction in the road close to the door 
 of daru-datta's house. Vasanta-sena having been told that Caru- 
 datta's carriage is ready and waiting for her, goes suddenly out 
 and jumps by mistake into the carriage of the man who is most 
 hateful to her, and the very man who is represented as persecuting 
 her by his attentions in the first act. The driver of the empty 
 vehicle, quite unaware of the passenger he has suddenly received, 
 and finding the road now clear before him, drives on to meet his 
 master. Soon afterwards the empty carriage of daru-datta is 
 brought to the door, and in connection with this incident an im- 
 portant part of the underplot of the drama is then introduced.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 487 
 
 The seventh act continues this underplot, which, although in- 
 geniously interwoven with the main action of the drama, is not 
 sufficiently interesting to be worth following out in this epitome. 
 
 The eighth act commences with, a scene in the Pushpa-karandaka 
 garden. Our old friend the gambler of the second act, who has 
 abjured his evil ways and is now converted into a Sramana or 
 Buddhist mendicant, appears with a wet garment in his hand. 
 He begins his soliloquy with some verses, of which the following 
 is a slightly amplified translation : 
 
 Hear me, ye foolish, I implore 
 Make sanctity your only store ; 
 Be satisfied with meagre fare ; 
 Of greed and gluttony beware ; 
 Shun slumber, practise lucubration, 
 Sound the deep gong of meditation. 
 Restrain your appetites with zeal, 
 Let not these thieves your merit steal ; 
 Be ever storing it anew, 
 And keep eternity in view. 
 Live ever thus, like me, austerely, 
 And be the home of Virtue merely. 
 Kill your five senses, murder then 
 Women and all immoral men. 
 Whoever has slain these evils seven 
 Has saved himself, and goes to heaven ; 
 Nor think by shaven face and head 
 To prove your appetites are dead ; 
 Who shears his head and not his heart 
 Is an ascetic, but in part ; 
 But he whose heart is closely lopped 
 Has also head and visage cropped. 
 
 He then proceeds with his soliloquy thus : 
 
 My tattered garment is now properly dyed of a reddish-yellow colour. 
 I will just slip into this garden belonging to the king's brother-in-law, 
 wash my clothes in the lake, and then make off as fast as I can. 
 
 (4 voice behind.) Hollo ! there ! you wretch of a mendicant, stop, stop. 
 
 Mendicant. Woe's me ! here is the king's brother himself coming. 
 A poor mendicant once offended him, so now whenever he sees another 
 like me, he slits his nose and drags him away like an ox. Where shall 
 I take refuge ? None but the venerated Buddha can be my protector.
 
 488 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Samsthanaka, the king's brother-in-law, now enters the garden, 
 and laying hold of the luckless mendicant, commences beating him. 
 A companion of Samsthanaka, however, here interposes, and begs 
 that the mendicant may be released. 
 
 Samsthanaka then says : 
 
 I will let him go on one condition, viz., that he removes all the mud 
 from this pool without disturbing the water, or else collects all the clear 
 water in a heap and then throws the mud away. 
 
 After some wrangling, and a good deal of nonsense of this sort, 
 spoken by the king's brother, the mendicant is allowed to make off. 
 Nevertheless, he still hangs about the precincts of the garden. In 
 the meantime the carriage containing Vasanta-sena approaches. 
 
 Samsth. (to his companion). What o'clock is it ? That driver of 
 mine, Sthavaraka, was ordered to be here sharp with the carriage, and 
 has not yet arrived. I am dying with hunger ; it is mid -day, and one 
 cannot stir a step on foot ; the sun is in mid-sky, and can no more be 
 looked at than an angry ape ; the ground is as parched as the face of 
 Gandharl when her hundred sons were slain ; the birds seek shelter 
 among the branches ; men panting with heat hide themselves from the 
 sun's rays as well as they can in the recesses of their houses. Shall I 
 give you a song to while away the time? My voice is in first-rate con- 
 dition, for I keep it so with asafoetida, cumin-seed, cyperus, orris-root, 
 treacle and ginger. (Sings.) 
 
 The driver Sthavaraka now enters with the carriage containing 
 Vasanta-sena. 
 
 Samsth. (continues.) Oh ! here is the carriage at last. 
 
 On seeing it he is about to jump into the vehicle, but starts 
 back in alarm, declaring that either a thief or a witch is inside. 
 In the end he recognizes Vasanta-sena, and in his delight at having 
 secured the object of his affection, kneels at her feet, in the attitude 
 of a lover. She is at first terrified at the mistake she has made, 
 then in her anger and scorn spurns him with her foot. This dis- 
 dainful treatment so enrages the king's brother-in-law that he 
 resolves to kill her on the spot. He tries first to induce his com- 
 panion to put her to death, but he will not listen to so scandalous 
 a proposal. Stopping his ears, he says : 
 
 What ! kill a woman, innocent and young, 
 Our city's ornament ! were I to perpetrate
 
 THE DRAMAS. 489 
 
 A deed so foul, who could transport my soul 
 Across the stream that bounds the other world ? 
 Samsth. Never fear. I'll make you a raft to carry you across. 
 
 To this his companion replies, quoting with a little alteration 
 from Manu : 1 
 
 The heaven and all ten quarters of the sky, 
 The moon, the light -creating sun, the winds, 
 This earth, the spirits of the dead, the god 
 Of Justice, and the inner soul itself, 
 Witness man's actions, be they good or bad. 
 
 Samsth. Conceal her under a cloth, then, and kill her under a cover. 
 
 His associate remaining firm in his indignant refusal to have 
 any hand in the crime, Samsthanaka next tries first by bribes and 
 then by threats to force the driver Sthavaraka to do the deed 
 for him. 
 
 Samsth. Sthavaraka, my good fellow, I will give you golden bracelets ; 
 I will place you on a golden seat ; you shall eat all the dainties from 
 my table ; you shall be chief of all my servants, only do as I bid you. 
 
 Sthdv. What are your commands ? 
 
 Samsth. Kill Vasanta-sena. 
 
 Sthdv. Nay, sir ; forgive her, sir ; her coming hither was my fault ; 
 I brought her here in the carriage by mistake. 
 
 Samsth. Do as I command you. Am I not your master ? 
 
 Sthdv. You are master of my body, but not of my morality. Pardon 
 me, sir, I dare not commit such a crime. 
 
 Samsth. Why ? What are you afraid of ? 
 
 Sthdv. Of futurity. 
 
 Samsth. Futurity ? Who is he 1 
 
 Sthdv. The certain issue of our good and evil deeds. 
 
 Samsth. Then you won't murder her ? (Begins beating him.) 
 
 Sthdv. Beat me or kill me, I will not commit such a crime. 
 
 Samsthanaka's companion now interferes and says : 
 
 Sthavaraka says well, he now a slave 
 Is poor and lowly in condition, but 
 Hopes for reward hereafter, not so those 
 
 1 See page 280.
 
 490 ' INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Who prosper in their wicked actions here, 
 Destruction waits them in another sphere. 
 Unequal fortune makes you here the lord, 
 And him the slave, but there 't may be inverted, 
 He to a lord and you to slave converted. 
 
 Samsth. What a pair of cowards ! One of them is afraid of Injustice, 
 and the other of Futurity. Well, I'm a king's brother-in-law, and fear 
 no one. Be off out of my way, you son of a slave. 
 
 The slave Sthavaraka then retreats. The king's brother, by 
 pretending that the proposal to kill Vasanta-sena was only a joke, 
 and by putting on a show of great affection for her, rids himself 
 next of his companion, who would otherwise have defended her. 
 He then strangles Vasanta-sena. Soon afterwards his companion 
 and the driver of the carriage, unable to repress their fears for her 
 safety, return and find her apparently dead. The king's brother- 
 in-law horrifies them by confessing that he has murdered her. 
 After much angry altercation they leave him. He then covers up 
 the body with some leaves, and resolves to go before a judge 
 and accuse Caru-datta of having murdered Vasanta-sena for the 
 sake of her costly ornaments. Meanwhile the Buddhist mendi- 
 cant, having washed his garments, returns into the garden and 
 finds the body under a heap of leaves. He sprinkles water on the 
 face, and Vasanta-sena revives. He is delighted to have the power 
 of making some return to his benefactress, who formerly delivered 
 him from the rapacity of the gaming-house keeper. He therefore 
 does all he can to restore animation, and having at last succeeded, 
 places her in a neighbouring convent to recover. 
 
 The ninth act opens with a scene in a court of justice. The 
 judge before taking his seat soliloquizes thus : 
 
 How difficult our task ! to search the heart, 
 
 To sift false charges, and elicit truth ! 
 
 A judge must be well read in books of law, 
 
 Well skilled in tracking crime, able to speak 
 
 With eloquence, not easily made angry, 
 
 Holding the scales impartially between 
 
 Friends, kindred and opponents ; a protector 
 
 Of weak and feeble men, a punisher 
 
 Of knaves ; not covetous, having a heart 
 
 Intent on truth and justice ; not pronouncing
 
 THE DRAMAS. 
 
 491 
 
 Judgment in any case until the.facts 
 
 Are duly weighed, then shielding the condemned 
 
 From the king's wrath, and loving clemency. 
 
 Samsthanaka, the king's brother, now enters in a sumptuous 
 dress and makes his accusation against Caru-datta of having 
 murdered Vasanta-sena. It is proved that Vasanta-sena was last 
 seen at Caru-datta's house. It is also discovered that some portions 
 of her hair and the marks of her feet remain in the Pushpa-karan- 
 daka garden, which leads to the conclusion that her body may have 
 been carried off by beasts of prey. (Jaru-datta is therefore sum- 
 moned, and as he enters the court says to himself: 
 
 The court-house looks imposing ; it is like 
 
 A sea whose waters are the advocates 
 
 Deep in sagacious thought, whose waves are messengers, 
 
 In constant movement hurrying to and fro, 
 
 Whose fish and screaming birds are vile informers, 
 
 Whose serpents are attornies'-clerks, whose banks 
 
 Are worn by constant course of legal action. 
 
 The king's brother now repeats his accusation, but the judge 
 is,not inclined to believe in the guilt of daru-datta, who indeed 
 makes his innocence clear to the whole court. Unhappily, how- 
 ever, just at this moment his friend Maitreya, who, by Caru-datta's 
 request, is seeking for Vasanta-sena, that he may restore to her the 
 jewels she had placed in his little son's clay-cart, hears on his road 
 of the accusation brought against his friend, hurries into the court 
 of justice, and is so enraged with the king's brother for accusing 
 his friend that he strikes him, and in the struggle which ensues lets 
 fall Vasanta-sena's jewela It is admitted that these ornaments are 
 being brought from Oaru-datta's house, and this is thought to be 
 conclusive evidence of his guilt. As a Brahman he cannot legally 
 be put to death ; l but the king is a tyrant, and although the judge 
 recommends banishment as the proper punishment under the cir- 
 cumstances, the king pronounces his sentence thus : 
 
 Let Vasanta-sena's ornaments be hung round Caru-datta's neck ; let 
 him be led by the beat of drums to the southern cemetery, bearing his 
 own stake, and there let him be put to death. 
 
 i 
 
 Manu is very precise about this ; but here is a proof that the laws 
 of Manu were rather theoretical than ever strictly followed.
 
 49 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The tenth act introduces the road leading to the place of execu- 
 tion, daru-datta enters bearing the stake, 1 and attended by two 
 Candalas or low outcastes, who are sent to act as executioners. 
 
 One of the executioners calls out : 
 
 Out of the way ! out of the way ! Make room for Caru-datta. 
 Crowned with a garland of oleander flowers, and attended by execu- 
 tioners, he approaches his end like a lamp which has little oil left. 
 Now then, halt ! beat the drum ! Hark ye, good people all ! stop and 
 listen to the proclamation of the sentence. ' This is Caru-datta, son 
 of Sagara-datta, who strangled Vasanta-sena in the Pushpa-karandaka 
 garden for the sake of her ornaments, and was caught with the stolen 
 property in his possession we have orders to put him to death, that 
 others may be deterred from committing a crime which both worlds 
 forbid to be perpetrated.' 
 Cdru. Alas ! alas ! 
 
 Even my friends and intimate compeers 
 
 Pass coldly by, their faces turned aside 
 
 Or hidden in their vestments ; thus it is 
 
 That in prosperity, our enemies 
 
 Appear like friends, but in adversity 
 
 Those we thought friends behave like very foes. 
 
 The proclamation is repeated at intervals on the road to the 
 place of execution, and some delay is thus occasioned. Meanwhile 
 an affecting scene takes place, daru-datta's little son is brought 
 by Maitreya to bid his father farewell, and the executioner 
 permits him to approach. The boy can only say, ( Father ! 
 Father ! ' 
 
 daru-datta embraces him and says : 
 
 What shall I give my son as a memento 1 
 This sacred cord is all I can bestow ; 
 It is an ornament of Brahmans, better 
 Than pearls or gold the instrument by which 
 Worship is paid to gods and ancestors. 
 This take, my son, and wear it for my sake. 
 
 The child then addressing the executioner says : 
 Vile outcaste, where are you leading my father ? 
 
 
 
 1 The whole scene is very curious, and suggestive of a comparison 
 with the Roman method of execution.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 493 
 
 Crowned with a garland, bearing on my shoulder 
 The fatal stake, and deep within my heart, 
 Hiding my grief, I hasten to my grave 
 Like victim to the place of sacrifice. 
 
 Execu. Call us not outcastes. All wicked men, and all who harm 
 the good, are the only outcastes. 
 
 Boy. If you are not outcastes, then why do you kill my father ? 
 
 Execu. 'Tis the king's order ; we are not to blame. 
 V Boy. Kill me instead, and let my father go. 
 
 Execu. Rather for such a speech live long, my boy. 
 
 Cam. (bursting into tears and embracing his child). 
 
 This is true wealth a child's devoted love 
 A wealth which rich and poor enjoy alike 
 A balm to soothe an agitated heart, 
 Better than cooling sandal or Uslra. 
 
 The child is of course removed, but another delay is caused by 
 Sthavaraka, who drove Vasanta-sena to the garden, and who, as 
 cognizant of the real facts, had been shut up by his guilty master, 
 the king's brother-in-law. Sthavaraka, on hearing the noise of the 
 procession on its way to the place of execution, contrives to escape 
 from his prison, and rushing towards the executioners, proclaims 
 daru-datta's innocence, and his master's guilt. Unhappily, how- 
 ever, just at this juncture his master appears on the scene, and 
 declares that his servant Sthavaraka, having been imprisoned for 
 thieving, is unworthy of credit, and has made up this accusation 
 out of spite and desire for revenge. Notwithstanding, therefore, 
 the servant's repeated asseverations, his statements are disbelieved, 
 and his efforts to save Oaru-datta prove ineffectual. The proces- 
 sion and crowd now move on to the cemetery, and Caru-datta's 
 condition seems altogether hopeless, when just as he is led to the 
 stake, and the executioners are about to perform their office, the 
 Buddhist mendicant is seen forcing his way through the crowd, 
 leading a woman, who cries out, ' Hold ! hold ! I am the miserable 
 creature for whose sake you are putting him to death.' This, to 
 the astonishment of every one, proves to be Vasanta-sena herself, 
 resuscitated and restored to health, through the instrumentality 
 of the mendicant. The executioners immediately release Caru- 
 datta, and as the king's brother-in-law in utter confusion and 
 terror is observed to be making off, they attempt to seize him.
 
 494 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 He appears likely to be torn to pieces by the infuriated crowd ; 
 but here daru-datta gives a crowning evidence of the generosity 
 of his character by protecting the villain who had come to feast 
 his eyes on the dying agonies of his victim. He is actually, at 
 Caru-datta's intercession, permitted to make his escape. The 
 play ends in the elevation of Caru-datta to rank and honour, in 
 the happiness of both hero and heroine, and in the promotion 
 of the mendicant to the headship of all the Viharas or Buddhist 
 monasteries. 
 
 I pass on to the greatest of all Indian dramatists, 
 Kdliddsa. He is represented by some native authorities 
 (though on insufficient grounds) to have lived in the time 
 of a celebrated king, Vikramaditya, whose reign forms the 
 starting-point of the Hindu era called Samvat, beginning 
 fifty-seven years B.C. This king had his capital in Ujja- 
 yini (Oujein) ; he was a great patron of literature, and 
 Kalidasa is described as one of the nine illustrious men 
 called the nine jewels of his court. It is, however, more 
 probable that Kalidasa lived and composed his works 
 about the commencement of the third century. 1 His well- 
 known poems have already been noticed at pp. 45 2-454. 2 
 He only wrote three plays the Sakuntala, the Vik- 
 ramorvasl, and the Mdlavikdgnimitra. Of these, the 
 Sakuntala, in seven acts, is by far the most celebrated 
 
 1 Professor Lassen places Kalidasa about the year 250 after Christ. 
 Dr. Bb.au Daji assigns him to the reign of a Vikramaditya in the 
 sixth century. Kalidasa probably lived at UjjayinI, as he describes 
 it with much feeling in the Megha-diita, and to this circumstance 
 may probably be traced his supposed connection with the great Vikra- 
 maditya. 
 
 2 Besides these, he is said to have written a poem called the Setu- 
 kdvya or Setu-bandha, describing the building of Rama's bridge, and 
 written for Pravara-sena, king of Kas"mir. A work on metres, called 
 the S'ruta-bodha, is also attributed to him. This last may be by 
 another Kalidasa. No doubt many works were ascribed to the greatest 
 Indian poet, as to the greatest Indian philosopher, S'an-karadarya, 
 which they neither of them wrote.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 495 
 
 and popular. I have endeavoured in my translation 
 of this beautiful drama (sixth edition, published by 
 W. H. Alien & Co.) l to give some idea of the merits of a 
 work which drew unqualified praise from such a poet as 
 Goethe in the following words (Mr. E. B. Eastwick's 
 translation) : 
 
 Wouldst them the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline, 
 And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed ? 
 
 Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine ? 
 I name thee, S'akoontala ! and all at once is said. 
 
 I merely extract from my own translation of the 
 Sakuntala two passages. The following is the hero 
 Dushyanta's description of a peculiar sensation to which 
 he confesses himself subject, and to which perhaps the 
 minds of sensitive persons, even in Western countries, are 
 not altogether strangers (Act V., Translation, p. 121) : 
 
 Not seldom in our happy hours of ease, 
 
 When thought is still, the sight of some fair form, 
 
 Or mournful fall of music breathing low, 
 
 1 As every Orientalist knows, Sir W. Jones was the first to trans- 
 late the S'akuntala, but he had only access to the Bengal (Bengali) 
 recension. Two other recensions exist, one in the north-west (com- 
 monly called the Devanagarl) and one in the South of India. The last 
 is the shortest, and the Bengal version is the longest. The Devana- 
 garl recension, translated by me into English, is generally considered 
 the purest. Nevertheless Dr. R. Pischel in a learned dissertation 
 maintains that the palm belongs to the Bengali, and it must be 
 admitted that in some cases the Bengal version contains readings 
 which appear more likely to represent the original. Professor Boht- 
 lingk's edition of the Devanagarl recension is well known. My 
 edition of the same recension, with literal translations of the difficult 
 passages and critical notes (published by Stephen Austin of Hertford), 
 is now out of print. Dr. C. Burkhard has published a new edition 
 of this recension with a useful vocabulary. A good edition of the 
 Bengal recension was prepared in Calcutta by Pandit Prem Chunder 
 Tarkabagish, and brought out in 1860 under the superintendence of 
 Professor E. B. Cowell.
 
 496 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Will stir strange fancies, thrilling all the soul 
 With a mysterious sadness, and a sense 
 Of vague yet earnest longing. Can it be 
 That the dim memory of events long past, 
 Or friendships formed in other states of being, 
 Flits like a passing shadow o'er the spirit ? 
 
 Here is a specimen of the poetical similes which occur 
 constantly throughout the drama (Act V., Translation, 
 p. I29): 1 - 
 
 The loftiest trees bend humbly to the ground 
 Beneath the teeming burden of their fruit ; 
 High in the vernal sky the pregnant clouds 
 Suspend their stately course, and, hanging low, 
 Scatter their sparkling treasures o'er the earth : 
 And such is true benevolence ; the good 
 Are never rendered arrogant by riches. 
 
 The two other dramas composed by Kalidasa are the 
 Vikramorvasl, ' Urvasi won by valour/ and the Mdla- 
 vikagnimitra, l story of Malavika and Agnimitra,' the first 
 of which is unequalled in poetical beauty by any other 
 Indian drama except the Sakuntala. The Vikramorvasi 
 is in only five acts, and its subject is easily told : ~- 
 
 TJrvasi, a nymph of heaven the heroine of the piece is carried 
 off by a demon, and is rescued by the hero, king Pururavas, who, 
 of course, falls in love with her. The usual impediments arise, caused 
 by the inconvenient fact that the king has a wife already ; but in the 
 end the nymph is permitted by the god Indra to marry the mortal 
 hero. Subsequently, in consequence of a curse, Urvasi becomes meta- 
 
 1 This verse occurs also in Bhartri-hari II. 62. He was the author 
 of 300 moral, political, and erotic verses called $rin-gdra-sataka, Niti-, 
 and VairagyOri . 
 
 2 Various editions of this play have been published ; one by Lenz, 
 another by myself. By far the best edition is by Dr. Bollensen. 
 Professor H. H. Wilson's spirited verse translation is well known. 
 A prose translation was made by Professor E. B. Cowell and published 
 in 1851.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 
 
 497 
 
 morphosed into a plant, and Pururavas goes mad. She is afterwards 
 restored to her proper form through the efficacy of a magical gem, 
 and her husband recovers his reason. They are happily reunited, 
 but it is decreed that when TJrvasTs son is seen by his father Pururavas 
 she is to be recalled to heaven. This induces her to conceal the birth 
 of her son Ayus, and to intrust him for some years to the care of a 
 female ascetic. Accidentally father and son meet, and TlrvasI pre- 
 pares to leave her husband; but Indra compassionately revokes the 
 decree, and the nymph is permitted to remain on earth as the hero's 
 second wife. 
 
 As to the Malavikagnimitra, which is also rather a 
 short play in five acts, the excellent German translation 
 of it by Professor Weber of Berlin, published in 1856, 
 and the scholarlike edition published in 1 869 by Shankar 
 P. Pandit of the Dekhan College, 1 have set at rest the 
 vexed question of its authenticity, by enabling the student 
 to compare it with Kalidasa's acknowledged writings. 
 So many analogies of thought, style, and diction in the 
 Malavikagnimitra have been thus brought to light, that 
 few can now have any doubt about the authorship of the 
 extant drama. According to the statement in its own 
 prologue, it is evidently the veritable production of the 
 author of the Sakuutala and Vikramorvasi. Nevertheless, 
 its inferiority to the two masterpieces of Kalidasa not- 
 withstanding considerable poetical and dramatic merit, 
 and great beauty and simplicity of style must be ad- 
 mitted on all hands. Perhaps this may be accounted for 
 by supposing the Malavikagnimitra to have been Kali- 
 dasa's first theatrical composition. Or possibly the scenes 
 in which the dramatic action is laid, afforded the poet 
 no opportunity (as in the other two plays) of displaying 
 his marvellous powers of describing the beauties of nature 
 and the habits of animals in rural and sylvan retreats. 
 
 1 A previous edition was published at Bonn in 1840 by Dr. 
 
 Tullberg. 
 
 2 I
 
 498 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Its hero, king Agnimitra, is certainly a more ordinary 
 and strictly human character than the semi-mythical 
 Dushyanta and Pururavas, and the same may be said 
 of its heroine Malavika, as compared with Sakuntala and 
 Urvasi ; but the plots of the three plays resemble each 
 other in depending for their interest on the successful 
 prosecution of love-intrigues under very similar difficulties 
 and impediments. 
 
 In the Malavikagnimitra, 1 king Agnimitra (son of Pushpamitra, 
 founder of the S'un-ga dynasty of Magadha kings) falls in love with a 
 girl named Malavika belonging to the train of his queen Dharim's 
 attendants from accidentally seeing her portrait. As usual, the Vidu- 
 shaka is employed as a go-between, and undertakes to procure the king 
 a sight of the original. It happens that the principal queen, Dharinl, 
 has caused Malavika to be instructed in music, singing, and dancing. 
 Hence in the second act a sort of concert (San-gita), or trial of skill, is 
 arranged, at which Malavika executes a very difficult part in a particular 
 musical time called theMadhya-laya with wonderful brilliancy. This, 
 of course, captivates the king, and destroys his peace of mind. In spite 
 of the opposition of his two queens, Dharinl and Iravati, and notwith- 
 standing other hindrances, he contrives to carry on an intrigue with 
 Malavika. Not that he attempts to marry her by unlawful means, nor 
 even against the wishes of his other wives. Polygamy is, of course, 
 held to be legitimate in the household of Oriental Rajas. The difficulty 
 consists in conciliating his two queens. This, however, he contrives in 
 the end to accomplish, and their assent to his union with Malavika is 
 at last obtained. In the course of the plot a Parivrdjilcd or Buddhist 
 female mendicant is introduced, which is regarded by Professor Weber 
 as an argument for the antiquity of the drama. In the prologue Bhasa 
 and Saumilla are mentioned as two poets, predecessors of Kalidasa. 
 
 I here give an example of a wise sentiment from the 
 prelude. The stage-manager, addressing the audience, 
 says : 
 
 All that is old is not on that account 
 
 Worthy of praise, nor is a novelty 
 
 By reason of its newness to be censured. 
 
 1 I have consulted Professor H. H. Wilson's epitome of the play in 
 the appendix to his Hindu Theatre.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 499 
 
 The wise decide not what is good or bad, 
 Till they have tested merit for themselves. 
 A foolish man trusts to another's judgment. 
 
 I come now to a more modern Indian dramatist named 
 Bhavabhuti and surnamed Srl-kantha, ' whose voice is 
 eloquence.' His reputation is only second to that of 
 Kalidasa. In the prelude to two of his plays he is de- 
 scribed as the son of a Brahman named Nilakaiitha (his 
 mother being Jatukarm), who was one of the descendants 
 of Kasyapa, living in a city called Padma-pura, and a 
 follower of the Black Yajur-veda. He is said to have 
 been born somewhere in the district Berar, and to have 
 flourished at the court of Yasovarman, who reigned at 
 Kanouj (Kanya-kubja) about A.D. 72O. 1 Like Kalidasa, 
 he only wrote three plays. These are called the Mdlatl- 
 mddhava, Mahd-vira-carita, and Uttara-rdma-carita.' 2 
 Of these three the Malati-madhava, in ten acts, is per- 
 haps the best known to English Sanskrit scholars. The 
 style is more laboured and artificial than that of Kalidasa's 
 plays, and some of the metres adopted in the versification 
 are of that complex kind which later Hindu poets delight 
 to employ for the exhibition of their skill. 3 In the pre- 
 lude the poet is guilty of the bad taste of praising his 
 own composition. Its plot, however, is more interesting 
 than that of Kalidasa's plays ; its action is dramatic, and 
 its pictures of domestic life and manners are most valuable, 
 notwithstanding too free an introduction of the preter- 
 natural element, from which, as we have seen, the Mric- 
 
 1 According to Professor Lassen he lived about the year 710. Kanouj, 
 now in ruins, ranks in antiquity next to Ayodhya. It is situated in 
 the North-west, on the KalmadI, a branch of the Ganges, in the district 
 of Furruckabad. 
 
 2 6arita is sometimes written caritra. 
 
 3 Colebrooke especially mentions the Dandaka metre, for an account 
 of which see page 155 of this volume.
 
 500 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 chakatika is exceptionally free. The story of the Malati- 
 Mddhava has been well epitomized by Colebrooke. 1 I 
 give here but a bare outline : 
 
 Two ministers of two neighbouring kings have agreed together 
 privately that their children, Madhava and Malati, shall in due time 
 marry each other. Unhappily for the accomplishment of their project, 
 one of the kings requires the father of Malati to make a match between 
 his daughter and an ugly old court-favourite named Nandana. The 
 minister, fearing to offend the monarch, consents to sacrifice his daughter. 
 Meanwhile Madhava is sent to finish his studies under an old Buddhist 
 priestess named Kamandakl, who had been Malati's nurse, and who 
 contrives that she and Madhava shall meet and fall in love, though 
 they do not at that time make known their mutual attachment. Soon 
 afterwards the king prepares to enforce the marriage of Malati with his 
 favourite Nandana. The news, when brought to Malati, makes her 
 desperate. Another meeting takes place in Kamandakl's garden be- 
 tween her and her lover Madhava, who is followed to the garden by a 
 friend, Makaranda. During their interview a great tumult and terrific 
 screams are heard. A tiger has escaped from an iron cage and spreads 
 destruction everywhere. Madayantika, sister of Nandana, happens to 
 be passing and is attacked by the tiger. Madhava and Makaranda both 
 rush to the rescue. The latter kills the animal and thus saves Mada- 
 yantika, who is then brought in a half-fainting state into the garden. 
 On recovering she naturally falls in love with her preserver Makaranda. 
 The two couples are thus brought together, and Malati affiances herself 
 there and then to Madhava. At this very moment a messenger arrives 
 to summon Madayantika, Nandana's sister, to be present at Nandana's 
 marriage with Malati, and another messenger summons Malati herself 
 to the king's palace. Madhava is mad with grief, and in despair makes 
 the extraordinary resolution of purchasing the aid of evil demons by 
 going to the cemetery and offering them living flesh, cut off from his 
 own body, as food. The cemetery happens to be near the temple of the 
 awful goddess Camunda (a form of Durga), presided over by a sorceress 
 named Kapala-kundala and her preceptor, a terrible necromancer, 
 Aghora-gb.an.ta. They have determined on offering some beautiful 
 maiden as a human victim to the goddess. With this object they carry 
 off Malati, before her departure, while asleep on a terrace, and bringing 
 her to the temple are about to kill her at Camunda's shrine, when her 
 cries attract the attention of Madhava, who is at that moment in the 
 
 1 See Professor E. B. Cowell's edition of his Essays, vol. ii p. 123.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 5OI 
 
 cemetery, offering his flesh to the demons. He rushes forward, en- 
 counters the sorcerer Aghora-ghauta, and after a terrific hand-to-hand 
 fight kills him and rescues Malati, who is thus restored to her family. 
 The remainder of the story, occupying the five concluding acts, is tediously 
 protracted and scarcely worth following out. The preparations for 
 Malatfs marriage to Nandana go on, and the old priestess Kamandaki, 
 who favours the union of Malati with her lover Madhava, contrives 
 that, by the king's order, the bridal dress shall be put on at the very 
 temple where her own ministrations are conducted. There she persuades 
 Makaranda to substitute himself for the bride. He puts on the bridal 
 dress, is taken in procession to the house of Nandana, and goes through 
 the form of being married to him. Nandana, disgusted with the 
 masculine appearance of his supposed bride, leaves Makaranda in the 
 inner apartments, thus enabling him to effect an interview with ban- 
 dana's sister Madayantika the object of his own affections. Makaranda 
 then makes himself known, and persuades her to run away with him to 
 the place where Malati and Madhava have concealed themselves. Their 
 flight is discovered ; the king's guards are sent in pursuit, a great fight 
 follows, but Makaranda assisted by Madhava defeats his opponents. 
 The bravery and handsome appearance of the two youths avert the king's 
 anger, and they are allowed to join their friends unpunished. In the 
 midst of the confusion, however, Malati has been carried off by the 
 sorceress Kapala-kundala in revenge for the death of her preceptor 
 Aghora-ghanta. Madhava is again in despair at this second obstacle 
 to his union, but an old pupil of the priestess Kamandaki, named 
 Saudamini, who has acquired extraordinary magical powers by her 
 penances, opportunely appears on the scene, delivers Malati from the 
 sorceress, and brings about the happy marriage of Malati with Madhava 
 and of Madayantika with Makaranda. 
 
 The following description of Madhava's first interview 
 with Malati is from the first act i 1 - 
 
 One day by curiosity impelled 
 I sought the temple of the god of love. 
 There I roved to and fro, glancing around, 
 Till weary with my wandering I stood 
 Close to a pool that laved a Vakul tree 
 
 i Some expressions in my version have been suggested by Professor 
 H. H. Wilson's, but I have endeavoured to make my own closer to the 
 original.
 
 502 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In the court-yard and precincts of the temple. 
 The tree's sweet blossoms wooed a swarm of bees 
 To cull their nectar ; and in idleness, 
 To while away the time, I laid me down 
 And gathered round me all the fallen flowers 
 To weave a garland, when there issued forth 
 From the interior fane a lovely maid. 
 Stately her gait, yet graceful as the banner 
 Waved by victorious Love o'er prostrate men ; 
 Her garb with fitting ornaments embellished 
 Bespoke a youthful princess, her attendants 
 Moved proudly as became their noble rank ; 
 She seemed a treasury of all the graces, 
 Or Beauty's store-house, where collected shone 
 A bright assemblage of all fairest things 
 To frame a perfect form ; or rather was she 
 The very guardian goddess of love's shrine ; 
 Or did the great Creator mould her charms 
 From some of Nature's loveliest materials 
 The moon, the lotus-stalk, and sweetest nectar ? 
 I looked and in an instant both my eyes 
 Seemed bathed with rapture and my inmost soul 
 Was drawn towards her unresistingly, 
 Like iron by the iron-loving magnet. 
 
 The other two plays of Bhava-bhuti, called Mahd-vlra- 
 carita and Uttara-rama-carita, form together a dramatic 
 version of the story of the second Rama or Rama-candra, 
 as narrated in Valmiki's Ramayana and Kalidasa's Raghu- 
 vansa. 
 
 The Mahd-vlra-carita, 1 in seven acts (often quoted in 
 the Sahitya-darpana under the title Vlra-carita), drama- 
 tizes the history of Rama, the great hero (mahd-vlra), 
 as told in the first six Books of the Ramayana, but with 
 some variations. 
 
 1 Mr. John Pickford, one of my former Boden Scholars, some time 
 Professor at Madras, has made a translation of this play from the 
 Calcutta edition of 1857, and Professor H. H. Wilson has given an 
 epitome of it in the appendix to his Hindu Theatre.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 503 
 
 The author informs us in the prologue that his object in composing 
 the play was ' to delineate the sentiment (rasa) of heroism (mra, see note, 
 p. 457) as exhibited in noble characters.' The marvellous (adblmta) 
 sentiment is also said to be depicted, and the style of the action is called 
 Bhdratl. 1 The first five acts carry the story to the commencement of 
 the conflict between Rama and Havana and between his army and the 
 Rakshasas ; but no fighting is allowed to take place on the stage, and no 
 one is killed before the spectators. Indra and his attendant spirits are 
 supposed to view the scene from the air, and they describe its progress 
 to the audience ; as, for example, the cutting off of Havana's heads, the 
 slaughter of the demons, the victory of Rama and recovery of Slta. 
 The seventh and last act represents the aerial voyage of Rama, 
 Lakshmana, Sita, Vibhlshana, and their companions in the celestial car 
 Pushpaka (once the property of Ravana) from Lan-ka back to Ayodhya. 
 As they move through the air, they descry some of the scenes of their 
 previous adventures, and many poetical descriptions are here introduced. 
 The car at one time passes over the Dandaka forest, and even approaches 
 the sun. At length it descends at Ayodhya. Rama and Lakshmana 
 are re-united to Bharata and S'atrughna, and the four brothers once 
 more embrace each other. Rama is then consecrated king by Vasishtha 
 and Visvamitra. 
 
 The Uttara-rama-carita* in seven acts, continues the 
 narrative aud dramatizes the events described in the 
 seventh Book or Uttara-kanda of the Ramayana (see 
 PP- 337~339)- I S lve a brief epitome : 3 
 
 Rama, when duly crowned at Ayodhya, seemed likely to enter upon 
 a life of quiet enjoyment with his wife. But this would not have 
 satisfied the Hindu conception of the impossibility of finding rest in 
 this world (compare p. 412), nor harmonized with the idea of the 
 
 , 
 
 1 The word Bharati may perhaps mean simply 'language.' But we 
 may note here that the Sahitya-darpana enumerates four kinds of style 
 of dramatic action (vritti), viz., i. the Kaisikl, vivacious and graceful; 
 2. the Satvatl or Sdttvatl, abounding in descriptions of brave deeds and 
 characterized by the marvellous ; 3. the Arabhatl, supernatural and ter- 
 rible ; 4. the Bharati, in which the vocal action is mostly in Sanskrit. 
 
 2 The whole of this play is translated in Professor H. H. Wilson's 
 Hindu Theatre. 
 
 a I have consulted the Rev. K. M. Banerjea's article in the ' Indian 
 Antiquary' for May 1872.
 
 504 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 pattern man Rama, born to suffering and self-denial. We are first 
 informed that the family-priest Vasishtha, having to leave the capital 
 for a time to assist at a sacrifice, utters a few words of parting advice 
 to Rama, thus : ' Remember that a king's real glory consists in his 
 people's welfare.' Rama replies : ' I am ready to give up everything, 
 happiness, love, pity even Sita herself if needful for my subjects' 
 good.' In accordance with this promise he employs an emissary (named 
 Durmukha) to ascertain the popular opinion as to his own treatment 
 of his subjects, and is astonished to hear from Durmukha that they 
 approve all his conduct but one thing. They find fault with him for 
 having taken back his wife after her long residence in a stranger's 
 house (para-griha-vdsa). In short, he is told that they still gossip and 
 talk scandal about her and Ravana. The scrupulously correct and over- 
 sensitive Rama, though convinced of his wife's fidelity after her sub- 
 mission to the fiery ordeal (p. 358), and though she is now likely to 
 become a mother, feels himself quite unable to allow the slightest cause 
 of offence to continue among the citizens. Torn by contending feelings, 
 he steals away from his wife, while asleep, and directs Lakshmana to 
 seclude her somewhere in the woods. This is the first act. An interval 
 of twelve years elapses before the second act, during which time Sita 
 is protected by divine agencies. In this -interval, too, her twin sons, 
 Kusa and Lava, are born and entrusted to the care of Valmiki, the 
 author of the Ramayana, who educates them in his hermitage. This 
 leads to the introduction at the beginning of the second act of Valmiki's 
 stanza (drawn from him by his soka or sorrow on beholding a bird, one 
 of a pair, killed by a hunter), quoted from the Ramayana (I. ii. 18), 
 where it is said to be the first S'loka ever invented. An incident now 
 occurs which leads Rama to revisit the Dandaka forest, the scene of his 
 former exile. The child of a Brahman dies suddenly and unaccount- 
 ably. His body is laid at Rama's door. Evidently some national sin is 
 the cause of such a calamity, and an aerial voice informs him that an 
 awful crime is being perpetrated ; for a S'udra, named S'ambuka, is 
 practising religious austerities instead of confining himself to his proper 
 province of waiting on the twice-born (Manu I. 91). Rama instantly 
 starts for the forest, discovers S'ambuka in the sacrilegious act, and 
 strikes off his head. But death by Rama's hand confers immortality 
 on the S'udra, who appears as a celestial spirit, and thanks Rama for 
 the glory and felicity thus obtained. Before returning to Ayodhya, 
 Rama is induced to visit the hermitage of Agastya in the woods. Sita 
 now reappears on the scene. She is herself invisible to Rama, but 
 able to thrill him with emotions by her touch. Rama's distraction 
 is described with great feeling. ' What does this mean 1 ' he says
 
 THE DRAMAS. 505 
 
 1 heavenly balm seems poured into my heart ; a well-known touch 
 changes my insensibility to life. Is it Sita, or am I dreaming ? ' This 
 leads on to the last act of the drama. In the end, husband and wife 
 are re-united, but not without supernatural agencies being again em- 
 ployed, and not until Prithivl, the Earth, who, it appears, had taken 
 charge of Sita, restores her to the world. Viilmiki then introduces 
 Kusa and Lava to Rama, who recognizes in them his two sons. Happi- 
 ness is once more restored to the whole family, and the play closes. 
 
 We may note as remarkable that at the beginning of the fourth act 
 ;i Dialogue takes place between two young pupils of Valmiki, who are 
 delighted because some guests, having visited the hermitage, afford 
 hopes of a feast at which flesh meat is to constitute one of the dishes. 
 Manu's rule (V. 41 ; see p. 250 of this volume) is cited, whereby a 
 Madhu-parka or offering of honey to a guest is directed to be accom- 
 panied with a dish of beef or veal ; for on these occasions householders 
 may kill calves, bulls, and goats (vatsatarlm malwTcsliam va mahajam va 
 nirvapanti yrilia-medhinaJi). 
 
 As a specimen of the poetry of the play, I here give 
 Kama's description of his love for his wife (translated by 
 Professor H. H. Wilson) : 
 
 Her presence is ambrosia to my sight ; 
 Her contact fragrant sandal; her fond arms, 
 Twined round my neck, are a far richer clasp 
 Than costliest gems, and in my house she reigns 
 The guardian goddess of my fame and fortune. 
 Oh ! I could never bear again to lose her. 
 
 Two other well-known plays, the Ratndvall and the 
 Mudrd - rdkshasa (both translated by Professor H. H. 
 Wilson), ought to be mentioned. 
 
 The Ratndvali, or 'jewel-necklace,' is a short play in 
 four acts, attributed (like the Mric-chakatika, see p. 475) 
 to a royal author, king $rt Harsha-deva. 1 
 
 1 This is probably a different Sri Harsha from the author of the 
 Naishadha or Naishadlilya (at p. 453). The Nagdnanda (see p. 508), 
 a Hindu-Buddhist drama, is attributed to the same author. Hindu 
 poets appear to have been in the habit of nattering kings and great 
 men in this way. Professor E. B. Cowell is inclined to assign the
 
 506 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 There is nothing of the supernatural about this drama. It may be 
 called a comedy in which the characters are all mortal men and women, 
 and the incidents quite domestic. The play is connected with what 
 appears to have been a familiar story, viz., the loves and intrigues of a 
 certain king Udayana, and Vasava-datta, a princess of Ujjayini. This 
 tale is told in the Katha-sarit-sagara. The king is there called Udayana 
 (see the account in Wilson's Essays, Dr. Host's edition, I. 191), and is 
 said to have carried off Vasava-datta, who is there the daughter of Canda- 
 mahasena, while in the Ratnavall she is daughter of Pradyota, and is not 
 said to be a princess of Ujjayini. The same story (along with the stories 
 of S'akuntala and Urvasi) is alluded to towards the end of the second act 
 of the Malati-madhava, and according to Professor Wilson is referred 
 to by Kalidasa in the Megha-duta when he speaks of the Udaijana-kafha 
 as frequently recited in Ujjayini (verse 32). Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has 
 shown in his Preface to Subandhu's Vasava-datta that this romance has 
 scarcely any feature in common with the Ratnavall story except the 
 name of its heroine. The plot of the Ratnavall resembles in its love- 
 intrigues that of the Vikramorvasi, Malavikagnimitra, &c., and in like 
 manner presents us with a valuable picture of Hindu manners in 
 medieval times. The poet seems to have had no scruple in borrowing 
 ideas and expressions from Kalidasa. The hero of the piece is generally 
 spoken of as ' the King,' or else as Vatsa-rdjah, king of Vatsa a country 
 or people whose capital was KausdmUhi. He is, however, called 
 Udayana at the end of the first act, and before the play commences 
 he is supposed to be already married to Vasava-datta. His minister's 
 name is Yaugandhardyana or Yogandhardyana, his Yidushaka or jovial 
 companion is called Vasantaka, and his general Rumanvat. 
 
 The first scene introduces a curious description of the sports and 
 practical jokes practised at the Spring festival (now called Holl), 
 when plays were generally acted, and still continue to be performed 
 in some parts of India. Sdgarikd (otherwise called Ratndvali, from 
 her jewel -necklace), a princess of Lan-ka (Ceylon), is accidentally 
 brought to the king's court, falls in love with him, and paints his 
 picture. The king is, of course, equally struck with her. His queen's 
 jealousy is excited by the discovery of the picture. She even succeeds 
 
 Nagananda to a poet named Dhavalca, mentioned in the Kavya-prakasa, 
 while he conjectures that Bdna, the author of the Kadambari, may 
 have written the Ratndvali, which would place the date of this play (as 
 shown by Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall) in the seventh century of our era. 
 One native commentator on the Kavya-prakasa asserts that Dhdvaka 
 wrote the Ratndvali.
 
 THE DRAMAS. 507 
 
 in imprisoning Sdgarikd and putting fetters on her feet, and more 
 than the ordinary impediments threaten to stop the progress of the 
 love-affair. All difficulties, however, are eventually removed, and the 
 play ends, as usual, by the king's conciliating his first wife and gaining 
 a second. 
 
 I give one specimen of a sentiment uttered by the hero on hearing 
 of the death of a brave enemy. He says : Mrityur apt tasya sldghyo 
 yasya ripavah purusha-kdram varnayanti ; that is, 
 
 How glorious is the death of that brave man 
 Whose very enemies applaud his prowess ! 
 
 The Mudra-rakshasa, or ' signet-ring Kakshasa,' * is by 
 Visakha-datta, and is a political drama in seven acts, 
 attributed to the twelfth century. 
 
 This play is noteworthy as introducing the well-known Candra-gupta, 
 king of Pataliputra, who was happily conjectured by Sir W. Jones to 
 be identical with the Sandrakottus described by Megasthenes in Strabo 
 as the most powerful Raja immediately succeeding Alexander's death, 
 and whose date (about 315 B.C.) serves as the only definite starting- 
 point in Hindu chronology. Another celebrated character is his 
 crafty minister Caiiakya, the Indian Macchiavelli, and writer on Nlti 
 or ' rules of government and polity,' and the reputed author of nume- 
 rous moral and political precepts commonly current in India. He is 
 represented as having slain king Nanda and assisted (5andra-gupta 
 to the throne. The principal design of the play is to describe how 
 this wily Brahman Canakya (also called Vishnu-gupta) effects a re- 
 conciliation between a person named Rakshasa, the minister of the 
 murdered Nanda, and the persons on whose behalf he was killed. 
 At the beginning of Act VII. there is a curious scene in which a 
 Candala or executioner leads a criminal to the place of execution 
 (badhya-stliana). The latter bears a stake (6ula) on his shoulder, 
 and is followed by his wife and child. The executioner calls out 
 
 1 If this title Mudrd-rdksliasa is a compound similar to Vilcramor- 
 vasi and Abhijndna-sakuntalam, where there is madhyama-pada-lopa, 
 it might be translated, ' Rakshasa known by the signet-ring ; ' but it 
 may possibly be one in which the terms are inverted. Some translate 
 it as a Dvandva, 'Rakshasa and the signet-ring.' In the fifth act, 
 Canakya's emissary Siddhartha enters, bearing a letter marked with 
 the signet-ring of the minister Rakshasa (amdtyardksliasasya mudrd- 
 Idnchito lekhaJt).
 
 508 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ' Make way, make way, good people ! let every one who wishes to 
 preserve his life, his property, or his family, avoid transgressing 
 against the king as he would poison.' (Of. Mri6-c"hakatika. Act X.) 
 
 With regard to the interesting Hindu-Buddhist drama 
 called Ndyananda or 'joy of the snake -world/ I must 
 refer those who wish for an account of its contents to 
 Professor Cowell's Preface prefixed to Mr. Boyd's recent 
 translation (see note, p. 505). 
 
 Some other well - known plays have been before 
 noticed : 
 
 Thus, for example, the student will find mentioned at p. 367 the 
 Hanuman-ndtdka, a Malia-nataJca in fourteen acts ; l the Bala-ramd- 
 yana, a Mdlid-ndtaka in ten acts, by Raja-sekhara (edited by Pandit 
 Govinda Deva S'astri of Benares in 1869); the Prasanna-rdghava in 
 seven acts (edited by the same in 1868); the Anarglia-rdghava ; and 
 the Veni-samhara at p. 392, note 3. The Hdsydrnava, a comic and 
 satirical piece in two acts, is described in the appendix to Professor 
 Wilson's Hindu Theatre. 
 
 Before, however, taking leave of the Hindu Theatre 
 I ought to note a curious allegorical and philosophical 
 play by Krishna-misra, who is supposed to have lived in 
 the twelfth century of our era. The play is called Pra- 
 bod/ia candrodaya, i.e., 'rise of the moon of (true) in- 
 telligence or knowledge,' and its dramatis personae 
 remind one of some of our old Moralities acted in 
 England about the time of Henry VIII. in which the 
 Virtues and Vices were introduced as persons for the 
 purpose of inculcating moral and religious truth. 
 
 Thus in an old English Morality called JEvery-man some of the per- 
 sonifications are God, Death, Every - man, Fellowship, Kindred, 
 Good-deeds, Knowledge, Confession, Beauty, Strength, Discretion. In 
 
 1 I possess an old and valuable MS. of this play, which I hope 
 may one day be used in editing it. The edition published in Calcutta 
 by Maharaja Kali-krishna Bahadur, in 1840, was not from the purest 
 recension. It was lithographed at Bombay about ten years ago.
 
 THE PURANAS. 509 
 
 Hycke-scorner Contemplation, Pity, Imagination, Free-will. In Lusty 
 Juventus Good Counsel, Knowledge, Satan, Hypocrisy, Fellowship, 
 Abominable Living, God's Merciful Promises. Similarly in the Hindi! 
 Morality Prabodha - candrodaya we have Faith, Yolition, Opinion, 
 Imagination, Contemplation, Devotion, Quietude, Friendship, &c. &c., 
 on one side ; Error, Self-conceit, Hypocrisy, Love, Passion, Anger, 
 Avarice, on the other. The two sets of characters are, of course, 
 opposed to each other, the object of the play being to show how the 
 former become victorious over the latter, the Buddhists and other 
 heretical sects being represented as adherents of the losing side. 
 
 V. The Puranas. 
 
 I must now advert briefly to the eighteen Puranas. 
 They constitute an important department of Sanskrit 
 literature in their connection with the later phases of 
 Brahmanism, as exhibited in the doctrines of emana- 
 tion, incarnation, and triple manifestation (tri-murti, see 
 pp. 321-324), and are, in real fact, the proper Veda of 
 popular Hinduism, having been designed to convey the 
 exoteric doctrines of the Veda to the lower castes and 
 to women. On this account, indeed, they are sometimes 
 called a fifth Veda (see note 2, p. 371). Their Dame 
 Purdna signifies ' old traditional story,' and the eighteen 
 ancient narratives to which this name is applied are 
 said to have been compiled by the ancient sage Vydsa 
 (also called Krishna- dvaipayana and Badarayana), the 
 arranger of the Vedas and Maha-bharata (p. 371, with 
 note 2), and the supposed founder of the Vedaiita philo- 
 sophy (p. 10 1, note 2). They are composed chiefly in the 
 simple Sloka metre (with occasional passages in prose), 
 and are, like the Maha-bharata, very encyclopedical in 
 their range of subjects. They must not, however, be 
 confounded with the Itihasaa, which are properly the 
 histories of heroic men, not gods, though these men were 
 afterwards deified. The Puranas are properly the history 
 of the o-ods themselves, interwoven with every variety of
 
 5 I O INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 legendary tradition on other subjects. Viewing them as 
 a whole, the theology they teach is anything but simple, 
 consistent, or uniform. While nominally tritheistic to suit 
 the three developments of Hinduism explained at p. 324 
 the religion of the Puranas is practically polytheistic 
 and yet essentially pantheistic. Underlying their whole 
 teaching may be discerned the one grand doctrine which 
 is generally found at the root of Hindu theology, whether 
 Vedic or Puranic pure uncompromising pantheism. But 
 interwoven with the radically pantheistic and Vedantic 
 texture of these compositions, tinged as it is with other 
 philosophical ideas (especially the San-khyan doctrine of 
 Prakriti), and diversified as it is with endless fanciful 
 mythologies, theogonies, cosmogonies, and mythical genea- 
 logies, we have a whole body of teaching on nearly every 
 subject of knowledge. The Puranas pretend to give the 
 history of the whole universe from the most remote ages, 
 and claim to be the inspired revealers of scientific as well 
 as theological truth. They dogmatize on physical science, 
 geography, the form of the earth (see p. 420), astronomy, 
 chronology ; and even in the case of one or two Puranas, 
 anatomy, medicine, grammar, and the use of military 
 weapons. All this cycle of very questionable omniscience 
 is conveyed in the form of leading dialogues (connecting 
 numerous subordinate dialogues), in some of which a well- 
 known and supposed divinely inspired sage, like Parasara, 
 is the principal speaker, and answers the inquiries put to 
 him by his disciples ; while in others, Loma-harshana (or 
 Roma-harsh ana), the pupil of Vyasa, is the narrator, being 
 called Suta, that is, 'Bard' or 'Encomiast,' as one of an 
 order of men to whom the reciting of the Itihasas and 
 Puranas was especially intrusted. 1 
 
 1 A Suta was properly the charioteer of a king, and was the son of 
 a Kshatriya by a Brahmam. His business was to proclaim the heroic
 
 THE PURANAS. 
 
 Strictly, however, every Pnrana is supposed to treat of 
 only five topics : i. The creation of the universe (sarga) ; 
 2. Its destruction and re-creation (prati-sarga) ; 3. The 
 genealogy of gods and patriarchs (vansa) ; 4. The reigns 
 and periods of the Manus (manv-antara) ; 5. The history 
 of the solar and lunar races of kings (vansdnucarita). 1 
 
 actions of the king and his ancestors, as he drove his chariot to battle, 
 or on state occasions. He had therefore to know by heart the epic 
 poems and ancient ballads, in which the deeds of heroes were celebrated, 
 and he had more to do with reciting portions of the Maha-bharata and 
 Itihiisas than with the Puranas. In Maha-bh. I. 1026 it is said that 
 Sauti or Ugra-sravas (son of the Suta Loma-harshana) had learnt to 
 recite a portion of the Maha-bharata from his father. Generally it is 
 declared that Loma-harshana learnt to recite it from Vaisampayana, a 
 pupil of Vyasa. 
 
 1 Certainly the recounting of royal genealogies is an important part 
 of the Puranas. It consists, however, of a dry chronicle of names. 
 Similar chronicles were probably written by the early Greek historians, 
 called \oyoy pa</>o/ (Thuc. I. 21); but these developed into real histories, 
 which the Indian never did. It was the duty of bards to commit their 
 masters' genealogies to memory, and recite them at weddings or great 
 festivals, and this is done by Bhats in India to this day. In Ramayana 
 I. Ixx. 19, however, it is the family-priest Vasishtha who, before the 
 marriage of the sons of Dasaratha with the daughters of Janaka, recites 
 the genealogy of the solar line of kings reigning at Ayodhya. This 
 dry genealogy of a race of kings is sometimes called Anuvan$a. Several 
 similar catalogues of the lunar race (Soma-vansa or Aila-vansa), who 
 first reigned at Pratishthana, and afterwards at HastinJi-pura, are found 
 in the Maha-bharata (see especially one in prose, with occasional Slokas 
 called Anuvanda-Sloka interspersed, Maha-bh. I. 3759, &c.). Professor 
 Lassen gives valuable lists at the end of vol. i. of his Ind. Alt. It must 
 be noted that both the solar and lunar races have collateral lines or 
 branches. A principal branch of the solar consisted of the kings of 
 Miihila or Videha, commencing with the bad king Nimi, who perished 
 for his wickedness (Manu VII. 41). His son was Mithi (who gave his 
 name to the city), and his son was Janaka (so called as the real ' father 
 of the race') ; the great and good Janaka, learned in Brahmanical lore, 
 being, it appears, a descendant of this first Janaka. The lunar race, 
 to which the Pandavas belonged, had two principal branches, that of
 
 5 I 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 On this account the oldest native lexicographer Amara- 
 sinha (see p. 161), whose date was placed by Professor 
 H. H. Wilson at the end of the first century B.C., gives 
 the word Panca-lakshana , ' characterized by five subjects,' 
 as a synonym of Purana. No doubt some kind of Puranas 
 must have existed before his time, as we find the word 
 mentioned in the Grihya-sutras of Asvalayana (see p. 195 
 of this volume), and in Manu (see p. 207, note i, and 
 p. 249 of this volume). The fact that very few of the 
 Puranas now extant, answer to the title Panca-lakshana, 
 and that the abstract given in the Matsya-purana of the 
 contents of all the others, does not always agree with the 
 extant works, either in the subjects described, or number 
 of verses enumerated, 1 proves that, like the Eamayana 
 and Maha-bharata, they were preceded by more ancient 
 works. In all probability there were Mida or original 
 Puranas, as there once existed also a Mula Eamayana and 
 Miila Maha-bharata. Indeed, in the Bhagavata-purana 
 XII. vii. 7, six Mula-samhitdh or original collections are 
 specially declared to have been taught by Vyasa to six 
 sages, his pupils ; and these six collections may have 
 formed the bases of the present works, which, as we shall 
 presently see, are arranged in three groups of six. At 
 any rate, it appears certain that the Puranas had an an- 
 cient groundwork, which may have been in some cases 
 
 the Yadavas (commencing with Yadu, and comprising under it Arjuna 
 Kdrtavlrya and Krishna), an( i that of the kings of Magadha. The 
 Yadavas had also a collateral line of kings of Kdsl or Vardnasl*. For 
 the solar and lunar genealogies see pp. 344 and 375 of this volume. 
 
 1 Thus the Bhavisliya-purana ought to consist of a revelation of future 
 events by Brahma, but contains scarcely any prophecies. This work 
 is rather a manual of religious observances; and the commencement, 
 which treats of creation, is little else than a transcript of Manu. We 
 may note, however, that San-kara A6arya often quotes the extant 
 Vishnu-purana.
 
 THE PURANAS. 5 I 3 
 
 - 
 
 reduced by omissions or curtailments, before serving as 
 a basis for the later superstructures. This groundwork 
 became more or less overlaid from time to time by accre- 
 tions and incrustations ; the epic poems, and especially the 
 Maha-bharata, constituting the principal sources drawn 
 upon for each successive augmentation of the original 
 work. Nevertheless, it must always be borne in mind 
 that the mythology of the Puranas is more developed than 
 that of the Maha-bharata, in which (as properly an Itihasa, 
 and therefore only concerned with kings and heroic men) 
 Vishnu and Siva are often little more than great heroes, 
 and are not yet regarded as rival gods. In medieval 
 times, when the present Puranas were compiled, the rivalry 
 between the worshippers of Vishnu and Siva was in full 
 force the fervour of their worship having been stimu- 
 lated by the Brahmans as an aid to the expulsion of 
 Buddhism and the Puranas themselves were the expres- 
 sion and exponent of this phase of Hinduism. Hence 
 the great antiquity ascribed to the present works by the 
 Hindus, although it may have had the effect of investing 
 them with a more sacred character than they could other- 
 wise have acquired, is not supported by either internal or 
 external evidence. The oldest we possess can scarcely 
 date from a period more remote than the sixth or seventh 
 century of our era. 
 
 Of course the main object of most of the Puranas is, as 
 I have already hinted, a sectarian one. They aim at exalt- 
 ing one of the three members of the Tri-murti, Brahma, 
 Vishnu, or Siva; those which relate to Brahma being 
 sometimes called Rdjasa Puranas (from his own peculiar 
 Guna rajas) ; those which exalt Vishnu being designated 
 $attvika (from his Guna sattva) ; and those which prefer 
 Siva being styled Tamasa (from his Guna tamos). The 
 reason for connecting them with the three Gurias will be 
 
 understood by referring to p. 321. 
 
 2 K
 
 5 1 4 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 I now give the names of the eighteen Puranas according 
 to the above three divisions : 
 
 A. The Rajasa Puranas, or those which relate to Brahma, are, 
 
 1. Brahma, 2. Brahmdnda, 3. Brahma-vaivarta, 4. Markandeya, 5. Blia- 
 vishya, 6. Vamana. 
 
 B. The S'attvika Puranas, or those which exalt Vishnu, are, i. Vishnu, 
 
 2. Bhdgavata, 3. NdracKya, 4. Garuda, 5. Padma, 6. Vardha. These 
 six are usually called Vaishnava Puranas. 
 
 C. The Tamasa, or those which glorify S'iva, are, i. Siva, 2. Lin-ga, 
 
 3. Skanda, 4. Agni, 5. Matsya, 6. Kurma. These six are usually styled 
 S'aiva Puranas. For the ' Agni,' an ancient Purana called ' Vdyu,' 
 which is probably one of the oldest of the eighteen, is often substituted. 
 
 Although it is certainly convenient to group the eighteen 
 Puranas in these three divisions in accordance with the 
 theory of the Tri-mtirti or triple manifestation, it must 
 not be supposed that the six Purarias in the first, or Rajasa 
 group, are devoted to the exclusive exaltation of Brahma, 
 whose worship has never been either general or popular 
 (see note i, p. 325). 
 
 Though these six Puranas abound in legends connected with the first 
 member of the Triad, they resemble the other two groups in encouraging 
 the worship of either Vishnu or S'iva, and especially of Vishnu as the 
 lover Krishna. According to Professor H. H. Wilson some of them 
 are even favourites with the S'aktas (see p. 522 of this volume), as 
 promoting the adoration of the goddess Durga or Kali, the personified 
 energy of S'iva. 
 
 One of their number, the Markandeya, is (as Professor 
 Banerjea has shown in the Preface to his excellent edition 
 of this work) quite unsectarian in character. 
 
 This Mdrkandeya-purdna is, therefore, probably one of the oldest 
 perhaps as old as the eighth century of our era. Part of it seems to be 
 devoted to Brahma, part to Vishnu, and part consists of a Devi-mdhatmya 
 or exaltation of the female goddess. At the commencement Jaimini, 
 the pupil of Vyasa, addresses himself to certain sapient birds (who had 
 been Brahmans in a previous birth) and requests the solution of four 
 theological and moral difficulties, viz., i. Why did Vishnu, himself 
 being nirguna (see p. 86), take human form ? 2. How could Draupadi
 
 THE PURANAS. 515 
 
 become the common wife of the five Pandavas (see p. 386, with notes) ? 
 3. Why had Bala-rama to expiate the crime of Brahmanicide committed 
 by him while intoxicated (see p. 391)? 4. Why did the five sons of 
 Draupadi meet with untimely deaths, when Krishna and Arjuna were 
 their protectors (see p. 389, note 2, and p. 410) ? 
 
 Another of this group of Puranas, the Brahma-vai- 
 varta, inculcates the worship of the young Krishna (Bdla- 
 krishna) and his favourite Radha, now so popular in 
 India ; from which circumstance this work is justly 
 regarded as the most modern of all the Puranas. 
 
 Of course it will be inferred from the statement at 
 p. 326 that the second group of Puranas the Sattvika 
 or Vaishnava is the most popular. Of these the 
 Bhdgavata and Vishnu, which are sometimes called 
 Maha- pur anas, 'great Puranas/ are by far the best 
 known and most generally esteemed. 
 
 The JBhdgavata-purdna, 1 in twelve Books, is perhaps 
 the most popular of all the eighteen Puranas, since it 
 is devoted to the exaltation of the favourite god Vishnu 
 or Krishna, one of whose names is Bhagavat. 
 
 It is related to the Rishis at Nairnisharanya by the Suta (see p. 510), 
 but he only recites what was really narrated by the sage S'uka, son of 
 Vyasa, to Paiikshit, king of Hastinii-pura, and grandson of Arjuna, 
 who in consequence of a curse was condemned to die by the bite of a 
 snake in seven days, and who therefore goes to the banks of the 
 Ganges to prepare for death. There he is visited by certain sages, 
 among whom is S'uka, who answers his inquiry (how can a man best 
 prepare to die ?) by relating the Bhagavata-purana as he received it 
 from Vyasa. 
 
 Colebrooke believed it to be the work of the grammarian Vopadeva 
 (p. 1 68 of this volume). 
 
 This Purana has been well edited at Bombay with the 
 
 / 9 
 
 commentary of Sridhara-svamm. 
 
 1 A magnificent edition was commenced by Eugene Burnouf at Paris 
 in the ' Collection Orientale,' but its completion was prevented by that 
 great scholar's death.
 
 5l6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Its most important Book is the tenth, which gives the early life of 
 Krishna. This Book has its Hindi counterpart in the Prem Sagar, 
 and has been translated into nearly all the languages of India. 
 
 An epitome of this part of the work has already been 
 given at p. 332. As an example of the style of the 
 Puranas I here give the text of the story related at 
 p. 334 of this volume. It is condensed in Bhdgavata- 
 purdna X. Ixxxix. i, thus : 
 
 Sri-&uka uvdca \ Sarasvatyds tate rdjann Rishayah satram dsata \ 
 Vitarkah samabhut teshdm trishv adhideshu Jco mahdn \\ Tasya jijndsayd 
 te vai Bhrigum Brahma-sutam nripa \ Taj jnaptyai preshaydtn-dsuh 
 so 'bhyagdd Brahmanah sabhdm || Na tasmai prahvanam stotram cakre 
 sattva-parikshayd \ Tasmai cukrodha Bliagavdn prajvalan svena tejasd \\ 
 Sa dtmany utthitam manyum dtma - jdydtmand prdbhuh \ Asisamad 
 yathd vahnim sva - yonyd vdrindtmanah \\ Tatah Kaildsam agamat sa 
 tarn devo mahesvarah \ Parirabdhum samdrebha utthdya bh?-dtaram 
 mudd || Naicchat tvam asy utpathaga iti devaJ cukopa ha \ Sulcm 
 udyamya tarn hantum drebhe tigma-locanah \\ Patitvd pddayor Devi 
 sdntvaydmdsa tarn gird \ Atho jagdma Vaikuntham yatra devo Jandrda- 
 nah || Qaydnam Kriya utsan-ge padd vaksJiasy atddayat \ Tata utthdya 
 Bhagavdn saha Lakshmyd satdm gatih \\ Sva-talpad avaruhydtha nandma 
 sirasd munim \ Aliate svdgatam Brahman nishiddtrdsane kshanam \ Ajd- 
 natdni dgatdn vah kshantum arhatha nah prabho \\ Atlva komalau tdta 
 caranau te tnahd-mune \ Ity uktvd vipra-caranau mardayan svena pd- 
 nind \\ Punihi sahalokam mdm loka-pdldns-ca mad-gat an \ Pddodakena 
 bhavatas tlrthdndm tirtha-kdrma \\ Adydham Bhagaval lakshmyd dsam 
 ekdnta-bhdjanam \ Vatsyaty urasi me bhutir Wiavat-pdda-hatdnhasah \\ 
 
 The above story affords a good example of the view 
 taken by the Bhagavata of the comparative excellence 
 of the three members of the Tri-murti. 
 
 In VIII. vii. 44, the following sentiment occurs : 
 
 When other men are pained the good man grieves 
 Such care for others is the highest worship 
 Of the Supreme Creator of mankind. 
 
 Perhaps the Vishnu-purdna as conforming most nearly 
 to the epithet Panca-lakshana (see p. 512), will give the 
 best idea of this department of Sanskrit literature.
 
 THE PURANAS. 5 I 7 
 
 It is in six Books, and is, of course, dedicated to the exaltation of 
 Vishnu, whom it identifies with the Supreme Being. Book I. treats 
 of the creation of the universe ; the peopling of the world and the 
 descent of mankind from seven or nine patriarchs, 1 sons of Brahma ; 
 the destruction of the universe at the end of a Kalpa (see p. 330, note) 
 and its re-creation (prati-sarga) ; and the reigns of kings during the 
 first Manvantara. Book II. describes the various worlds, heavens, 
 hells, and planetary spheres ; and gives the formation of the seven 
 circular continents and concentric oceans as described at p. 420 of 
 this volume. Book III. describes the arrangement of the Vedas, 
 Itihasas, and Puranas by Vyasa, and the institution and rules of 
 caste, in which it follows and resembles Manu. Book IV. gives lists of 
 kings and dynasties. Book V. corresponds to Book X. of the Bhaga- 
 vata-purana and is devoted to the life of Krishna. Book VI. describes 
 the deterioration of mankind during the four ages, the destruction 
 of the world by fire and water, and its dissolution at the end of a 
 Kalpa. 
 
 The above is a bare outline of the contents of this 
 Purana. It is encyclopedical, like the others, and is rich 
 in philosophical speculations and curious legends. A pas- 
 sage illustrating the San-khyan tone of its philosophy will 
 be found quoted at p. 91 of this volume. The great sage 
 Parasara, father of Vyasa (p. 375, note 4), is supposed to 
 relate the whole Purana to his disciple Maitreya. The 
 narrative begins thus : 2 
 
 Having adored Vishnu, the lord of all, and revered Brahma and 
 the rest, and done homage to the Guru, I will relate a Purana, equal 
 to the Vedas [Pranamya Vishnum visvefam Brahmadln pranipatya ca \ 
 Gurum pranamya vakshyami Purdnam Veda-sammitam, I. 3]. 
 
 1 The seven patriarchs or sages (saptarshayah, sometimes identified 
 with the seven stars of the Great Bear) were created by Brahma as 
 progenitors of the human race, and are called his mind-born sons ; they 
 are, Marlci, Alri, An-giras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha. 
 To these two others are added in Vishnu-purana I. vii., viz., Daksha and 
 Bhrigu. In Manu I. 35, Ndrada is also added, making ten. 
 
 2 In my translations I have consulted Professor H. H. Wilson's 
 great work, but I have had the text of the Bodleian MS. before me. 
 
 o '
 
 Sl8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The metre is generally the simple Sloka, with occasional 
 stanzas in the Indra-vajra, Vansa-sthavila, &c. 
 
 The following is a metrical version of the prayer of 
 Parasara, addressed to Vishnu, at the beginning of Book 
 I. 2, (with which compare similar descriptions of the 
 Supreme Being in the Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita, 
 pp. 43, 131-135 of this volume) : 
 
 Hail to thee, mighty Lord, all-potent Vishnu ! 
 
 Soul of the Universe, unchangeable, 
 
 Holy, eternal, always one in nature, 
 
 Whether revealed as Brahma, Hari, S'iva 
 
 Creator or Preserver or Destroyer 
 
 Thou art the cause of final liberation ; 
 
 Whose form is one, yet manifold ; whose essence 
 
 Is one, yet diverse ; tenuous, yet vast ; 
 
 Discernible, yet undiscernible; 
 
 Root of the world, yet of the world composed ; 
 
 Prop of the universe, 1 yet more minute 
 
 Than earth's minutest particles ; abiding 
 
 In every creature, yet without defilement ; 
 
 Imperishable, one with perfect wisdom. 
 
 There is a curious story of the churning of the ocean for 
 the production of the Amrita, ' ambrosial food of immor- 
 tality,' in Book I. 9, (compare p. 327 of this volume). 
 It is noteworthy as differing considerably from that in 
 Bamayana I. xlv. The passage represents Indra and 
 the gods as having lost all their strength in consequence 
 of a curse pronounced on them by the choleric sage 
 Durvasas and so becoming subject to the demons. The 
 gods apply to Vishnu in their distress, and even Brahma 
 adores him in a long hymn. I give a portion of the 
 story metrically, changing the order of the text in one 
 or two places : 
 
 1 In the original these three attributes are, Mula-bhuto jagatah, 
 jaganmayah, and adhara-bhuto visvasya.
 
 THE PURANAS. 5 1 9 
 
 The gods addressed the mighty Vishnu thus 
 
 ' Conquered in battle by the evil demons 
 
 We fly to thee for succour, Soul of all, 
 
 Pity and by thy might deliver us.' 
 
 Hari the lord, creator of the world, 
 
 Thus by the gods implored, all graciously 
 
 Replied ' Your strength shall be restored, ye gods ; 
 
 Only accomplish what I now command ; 
 
 Unite yourselves in peaceful combination 
 
 With these your foes ; collect all plants and herbs 
 
 Of diverse kinds from every quarter ; cast them 
 
 Into the sea of milk ; take Mandara, 
 
 The mountain, for a churning-stick, and Vasuki, 
 
 The serpent, for a rope ; together churn 
 
 The ocean to produce the beverage 
 
 Source of all strength and immortality 
 
 Then reckon on my aid, I will take care 
 
 Your foes shall share your toil, but not partake 
 
 In its reward or drink th' immortal draught.' 
 
 Thus by the god of gods advised, the host 
 
 United in alliance with the demons. 
 
 Straightway they gathered various herbs and cast them 
 
 Into the waters, then they took the mountain 
 
 To serve as churning- staff, and next the snake 
 
 To serve as cord, and in the ocean's midst 
 
 Hari himself, present in tortoise-form, 
 
 Became a pivot for the churning-staff. 
 
 Then did they churn the sea of milk ; and first 
 
 Out of the waters rose the sacred Cow, 
 
 God- worshipped Surabhi eternal fountain 
 
 Of milk and offerings of butter ; next, 
 
 While holy Siddhas wondered at the sight, 
 
 With eyes all rolling, Varuni uprose 
 
 Goddess of wine. Then from the whirlpool sprang 
 
 Fair Parijata, tree of Paradise, delight 
 
 Of heavenly maidens, with its fragrant blossoms 
 
 Perfuming the whole world. Th' Apsarasas 
 
 Troop of celestial nymphs, matchless in grace, 
 
 Perfect in loveliness, were next produced. 
 
 Then from the sea uprose the cool-rayed moon, 
 
 Which Maha-deva seized ; terrific poison 
 
 Next issued from the waters ; this the snake- gods
 
 520' INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Claimed as their own. Then seated on a lotus, 
 
 Beauty's bright goddess, peerless S'ri, arose 
 
 Out of the waves ; and, with her, robed in white, 
 
 Came forth Dhanvantari, the gods' physician. 
 
 High in his hand he bore the cup of nectar 
 
 Life-giving draught longed for by gods and demons. 
 
 Then had the demons forcibly borne off 
 
 The cup, and drained the precious beverage, 
 
 Had not the mighty Vishnu interposed. 
 
 Bewildering them, he gave it to the gods ; 
 
 Whereat incensed the demon troops assailed 
 
 The host of heaven, but they with strength renewed 
 
 Quaffing the draught, struck down their foes, who fell 
 
 Headlong through space to lowest depths of hell. 
 
 The following is part of the prayer of Mucukunda, 
 Book V. 23 : 
 
 Lord of the Universe, the only refuge 
 Of living beings, the alleviator 
 Of pain, the benefactor of mankind, 
 Show me thy favour and deliver me 
 From evil ; O creator of the world, 
 Maker of all that has been and will be, 
 Of all that moves and is immovable, 
 Thyself composed of what possesses form, 
 And what is formless ; limitless in bulk, 
 Yet infinitely subtle ; lord of all, 
 Worthy of praise, I come to thee my refuge, 
 Renouncing all attachment to the world, 
 Longing for fulness of felicity 
 Extinction of myself, absorption into thee. 
 
 The following account of the Kali or fourth age of 
 the world the age of universal degeneracy is from 
 Book VI. i (compare p. 330, note 3, of this volume) : 
 
 Hear what will happen in the Kali age. 
 The usages and institutes of caste, 
 Of order and of rank, will not prevail, 
 Nor yet the precepts of the triple Veda. 
 Religion will consist in wasting wealth, 
 In fasting and performing penances
 
 THE PURANAS. 521 
 
 At will ; the man who owns most property 
 
 And lavishly distributes it, will gain 
 
 Dominion over others ; noble rank 
 
 Will give no claim to lordship ; self-willed women 
 
 Will seek their pleasure, and ambitious men 
 
 Fix all their hopes on riches gained by fraud. 
 
 Then women will be fickle and desert 
 
 Their beggared husbands, loving them alone 
 
 Who give them money. Kings instead of guarding 
 
 Will rob their subjects, and abstract the wealth 
 
 Of merchants, under plea of raising taxes. 
 
 Then in the world's last age the rights of men 
 
 Will be confused, no property be safe, 
 
 No joy and no prosperity be lasting. 
 
 There are eighteen Upa-puranas or 'secondary Puranas,' 
 subordinate to the eighteen Maha or principal Puranas, 
 but as they are of less importance I shall do little more 
 than simply give their names as follow : 
 
 i. Sanatkumdra ; 2. Nara-sinha or Nri-sinha ; 3. Ndradiya or 
 Vrihan-naradiya ; ! 4. iva ; 5. Durvdsasa ; 6. Kdpila ; 7. Mdnava ; 
 8. Ausanasa ; 9. Vdruna; 10. Kdlikd ; n. Samba; 12. Nandi ; 
 13. Saura; 14. Pdrdsara ; 15. Aditya ; 16. Mdhesvara ; 17. Bhaga- 
 vata (thought to be a misreading for Bhargava) ; 18. Vasishtha. 
 Another list given by Professor H. H. Wilson varies a little, thus : 
 i. Sanatkumdra; 2. Nara-sinha; 3. Nandd; 4. &iva-dharma ; 5. Dur- 
 vdsasa ; 6. Bhavishya ; 7. Kdpila; 8. Mdnava ; 9. Ausanasa ; 10. Brali- 
 mdnda; n. Vdruna; 12. Kdlikd ; 13. Mdhesvara; 14. dmba ; 
 15. Saura; 16. Pdrdsara; 17. Bhdgavata ; 18. Kaurma. 
 
 With regard to the second or Nara-sinha Upa-purdna we have an 
 abstract of its contents by Rajendraliila Mitra in his Notices of MSS. 
 (No. 1020), whence it appears that the general character of these works 
 is very similar to that of the principal Puranas. For example, Chapters 
 1-5 give the origin of creation; 6. the story of Vasishtha; 18. the 
 praises of Vishnu; 22. the solar race; 23. the lunar race; 30. the 
 terrestrial sphere. That this work was well known at least five hundred 
 years ago is proved by the fact that Madhavac'arya quotes from it. 
 
 1 According to Eajendralala Mitra this is called Vrihat to distinguish 
 it from the Naradlya, one of the Maha-puranas. He gives an abstract 
 of it in No. 1021 of his valuable Notices of MSS.
 
 522 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Tantras. 
 
 I have already alluded to the Tantras, which represent 
 a phase of Hinduism generally later than that of the 
 Puranas, although some of the Puranas and Upa-puranas, 
 such as the Skanda, Brahma- vaivarta, and Kalika, are said 
 to teach Tantrika doctrines, by promoting the worship of 
 Prakrit! and Durga. 
 
 The Tantras are very numerous, but none have as yet 
 been printed or translated in Europe. Practically they 
 'constitute a fifth Veda (in place of the Puranas) for the 
 Saktas or worshippers of the active energizing will (sakti) 
 of a god personified as his wife, or sometimes as the 
 female half of his essence. 1 
 
 It must here be remarked that the principal Hindu 
 deities are sometimes supposed to possess a double nature, 
 or, in other words, two characters, one quiescent, the other 
 active. The active is called his Sakti. 
 
 Sometimes only eight S'aktis are enumerated and sometimes nine, viz., 
 Vaishnavl, Brahmdnl, Raudrl, Mdhesvarl, Ndrasinhl, Vdrdhl, Indrdnl, 
 Kdrttiki, and Pradhdna. Others reckon fifty forms of the S'akti of 
 Vishnu, besides Lakshml ; and fifty of S'iva or Rudra, besides Durga or 
 Gaurl. Sarasvatl is named as a S'akti of Vishnu and Rudra, as well as 
 of Brahma. According to the Vayu-purana, the female nature of Rudra 
 (S'iva) became two-fold, one half Asita or white, and the other half Sita 
 or black, each of these again becoming manifold. The white or mild 
 nature includes the S'aktis Umd, Gaum, Lakshml, Sarasvatl, &c. ; the 
 black or fierce nature includes Durgd, Kdll, Candl, Cdmundd, &c. 
 
 This idea of personifying the will of a deity may have 
 been originally suggested by the celebrated hymn (129) in 
 
 1 It is remarkable, as noticed by Professor H. H. Wilson, that 
 Kulluka-bhatta, in commenting on Manu II. i, says, &rutis-ca 
 dvi-vidhd vaidiki tdntrikl ca, 'revelation is two-fold, Vedic and 
 Tantric.'
 
 THE TANTRAS. 523 
 
 the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda, which, describing the 
 creation, says that Will or Desire (Kama), the first germ 
 (prathamam retas) of Mind, brought the universe into 
 existence (see p. 20 of this volume). 
 
 But, in all probability, the Tantrika doctrine owes its 
 development to the popularizing of the San-khya theory 
 of Purusha and Prakriti (as described at p. 86 and p. 91 
 of this volume). The active producing principle, whether 
 displayed in creation, maintenance, or destruction each 
 of which necessarily implies the other became in the 
 later stages of Hinduism a living visible personification. 
 Moreover, as destruction was more dreaded than creation 
 or preservation, so the 'wife of the god Siva, presiding 
 over dissolution, and called Kali, Durgd, Parvatl, Umd, 
 Devi, Bhairavl, &c., became the most important per- 
 sonage in the whole Pantheon to that great majority of 
 worshippers whose religion was actuated by superstitious 
 fears. Sometimes the god himself was regarded as con- 
 sisting of two halves, representing the male principle on 
 his right side, and the female on his left x both inti- 
 mately united, and both necessary to re-creation as fol- 
 lowing on dissolution. It may be easily imagined that a 
 creed like this, which regarded the blending of the male 
 and female principles, not only as the necessary cause 
 
 1 This is the Ardha-mdrl or half male half female form of S'iva. 
 There are two divisions of the S'aktas : i. the Dalcsliiiidcarins, 'right- 
 doers,' ' right-hand worshippers,' or BhaMas, ' devoted ones,' who wor- 
 ship the goddess Parvatl or Durga openly, and without impure 
 practices ; 2. the Vamacarins, ' left-doers,' ' left-hand worshippers,' or 
 Kaulas, 'ancestral ones,' who are said to perform all their rites in 
 secret, a naked woman representing the goddess. The sacred books 
 appealed to by i. are called the Nigamas ; by 2. the Agamas. The 
 forms of worship are said to require the use of some one of the five 
 Ma-karas, 'words beginning with the letter m,' viz., i. madya, wine; 
 2. mdnsa, flesh; 3. matsya, fish; 4. mudrd, mystical gestures; 5. 
 maithuna, intercourse of sexes.
 
 524 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of production and reproduction, but also as the source 
 of strength, vigour, and successful enterprise, soon de- 
 generated into corrupt and superstitious practices. And, 
 as a matter of fact, the Tantrika doctrines have in some 
 cases lapsed into a degrading system of impurity and 
 licentiousness. 
 
 Nevertheless the original Tantra books, which simply 
 inculcate the worship of the active energizing principle of 
 the deity full as they are of doubtful symbolism, strange 
 mysticism, and even directions for witchcraft and every 
 kind of superstitious rite are not necessarily in themselves 
 impure. On the contrary, the best of them are believed 
 to be free from gross allusions, however questionable may 
 be the tendency of their teaching. The truth, I believe, 
 is that they have never yet been thoroughly investigated 
 by European scholars. When they become more so, their 
 connection with a popular and distorted view of the 
 Sankhyan theory of creation, and perhaps with some 
 corrupt forms of Buddhism, will probably be made clear. 
 It is certain that among the Northern Buddhists, especi- 
 ally in Nepal, a kind of worship of the terrific forms 
 of Siva and Durga appears to have become interwoven 
 with the Buddhistic system. 
 
 In all probability, too, the mystical texts (Mantras) 
 and magical formularies contained in the Tantras will 
 be found to bring them into a closer relationship with 
 the Atharva-veda than has been hitherto suspected. 
 
 As so little is known of these mystical writings, it is 
 not possible to decide at present as to which are the most 
 ancient, and still less as to the date to be assigned to any 
 of them. It may, however, be taken for granted that the 
 extant treatises are, like the extant Puranas, founded on 
 older works ; and if the oldest known Purana is not older 
 than the sixth or seventh century (see p. 513), an earlier 
 date can scarcely be attributed to the oldest known
 
 THE TANTRAS. 525 
 
 Tautra. 1 Perhaps the Rudra-ydmala is one of the most 
 esteemed. ^ Others are the Kdlikd, Mahd-nirvdna (attri- 
 buted to Siva), Kularnava (or text-book of the Kaulas, 
 see note, p. 523), &ydmd-rahasya, Saradd-tilaka, Mantra- 
 mahodadhi, Uddlsa, Kdmada, Kdmdkhyd. 
 
 I now note some of the subjects of which they treat, 
 merely premising that the Tantras are generally in the 
 form of a dialogue between Siva and his wife Durga or 
 Pfirvati, the latter inquiring as to the correct mode of 
 performing certain secret ceremonies, or as to the mystical 
 efficacy of various Mantras used as spells, charms, and 
 magical formularies ; and the former instructing her. 
 
 Properly a Tantra, like a Purana, ought to treat of five subjects, 
 viz., i. the creation ; 2. the destruction of the world ; 3. the wor- 
 ship of the gods ; 4. the attainment of all objects, especially of six 
 superhuman faculties ; 5. the four modes of union with the Supreme 
 Spirit. A great variety of other subjects, however, are intro- 
 duced, and practically a great number of Tantras are merely 
 handbooks or manuals of magic and witchcraft, and collections of 
 Mantras for producing and averting evils. Such, at least, must be 
 the conclusion arrived at, if we are to judge of them by the bare 
 statement of their contents in the Catalogues published by Rajen- 
 dralala Mitra and others. I select the following as specimens of 
 what they contain : - 
 
 Praise of the female energy ; spells for bringing people into sub- 
 jection ; for making them enamoured ; for unsettling their minds ; 
 for fattening ; for destroying sight ; for producing dumbness, deaf- 
 ness, fevers, &c. ; for bringing on miscarriage ; for destroying crops ; 
 for preventing various kinds of evil ; modes of worshipping Kali ; 
 methods of breathing in certain rites ; language of birds, beasts, &c. ; 
 worship of the female emblem, with the adjuncts of wine, flesh-meat, 
 women, &c. 
 
 This last is said to be the subject of the Kamakhya-tantra. 
 
 1 It has been noted that the oldest native lexicographer, Arnara 
 Siuha, does not give the meaning ' sacred treatise ' to the word tantra, 
 as later writers do.
 
 526 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 VI. The Niti-sastras. 
 
 This department of Sanskrit literature may be regarded 
 as including, in the first place, Niti-sastras proper, or 
 works whose direct object is moral teaching ; and, in the 
 second, all the didactic portion of the epic poems and 
 other works. 
 
 The aim of the Nlti - sdstras proper is to serve as 
 guides to correct conduct (mti) in all the relations of 
 domestic, social, and political life. They are either, 
 
 A. collections of choice maxims, striking thoughts, and 
 wise sentiments, in the form of metrical stanzas ; or, 
 
 B. books of fables in prose, which string together stories 
 about animals and amusing apologues for the sake of the 
 moral they contain, or to serve as frameworks for the 
 introduction of metrical precepts. These latter often 
 represent wise sayings orally current, or are cited from 
 the regular collections and from other sources. 
 
 But besides the Niti-sastras proper, almost every de- 
 partment of Sanskrit literature contributes its share to 
 moral teaching. 
 
 Any one who studies the best Hindu writings cannot 
 but be struck by the moral tone which everywhere 
 pervades them. Indian writers, although they do not 
 trouble themselves much about the history of past gene- 
 rations, constantly represent the present condition of 
 human life as the result of actions in previous exist- 
 ences. Hence a right course of present conduct becomes 
 an all-important consideration as bearing on future hap- 
 piness ; and we need not be surprised if, to satisfy a 
 constant longing for Nlti or guidance and instruction in 
 practical wisdom, nearly all departments of Sanskrit 
 literature Brahmanas, Upanishads, Law-books, Epic 
 poems, and Puranas are more or less didactic, nearly 
 all delight in moralizing and philosophizing, nearly all
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 527 
 
 abound in wise sayings and prudential rules. Scarcely 
 a book or writing of any kind begins without an invo- 
 cation to the Supreme Being or to some god supposed 
 to represent his overruling functions, and as each work 
 proceeds the writers constantly suspend the main topic, 
 or turn aside from their regular subject for the purpose 
 of interposing moral and religious reflections, and even 
 long discourses, on the duties of life. This is especially 
 the case in the Maha-bharata. 
 
 Examples of the religious precepts, sentiments, and 
 apophthegms, scattered everywhere throughout Sanskrit 
 literature, have already been given in this volume (see, 
 for instance, pp. 278-291, 442-46 1). 1 
 
 We now therefore turn, in conclusion, to the two divi- 
 sions of Nlti-sdstras proper. 
 
 A. With regard to the regular collections of moral 
 maxims, sentiments, &c., these are generally in metrical 
 stanzas, and sometimes contain charming allusions to 
 natural objects and domestic life, with occasional striking 
 thoughts on the nature of God and the immortality of 
 the soul, as well as sound ethical teaching in regard to 
 the various relations and conditions of society. They are 
 really mines of practical good sense. The knowledge of 
 human nature displayed by the authors, the shrewd advice 
 they give, and the censure they pass on human frailties 
 often in pointed, vigorous, and epigrammatic language 
 attest an amount of wisdom which, if it had been exhibited 
 in practice, must have raised the Hindus to a high position 
 among the nations of the earth. Whether, however, any 
 entire collection of such stanzas can be attributed to any 
 
 1 I need scarcely mention here so well-known and valuable a work as 
 Dr. Bohtlingk's Indische Spriiche, which contains a complete collection 
 of maxims, &c., in three volumes, and gives the text of each apophthegm 
 critically, with a German translation.
 
 528 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 one particular author is doubtful. The Hindus, for the 
 reasons we have already stated, have always delighted in 
 apophthegms. Numbers of wise sayings have, from time 
 immemorial, been constantly quoted in conversation. 
 Many thus orally current were of such antiquity that to 
 settle their authorship was impossible. But occasional 
 attempts were made to give permanence to the floating 
 wisdom of the day, by stringing together in stanzas the 
 most celebrated maxims and sayings like beads on a 
 necklace ; each necklace representing a separate topic, 
 and the authorship of a whole series being naturally 
 ascribed to men of known wisdom, like Bhartri-hari and 
 Canaka (see p. 507), much in the same way as the author- 
 ship of the Puranas and Maha-bharata was referred to the 
 sage Vyasa (see p. 371). Among these collections it will 
 be sufficient to note : 
 
 i. The three hundred apophthegms, ascribed to Bhartri-hari 1 (see p. 
 533)5 f which the ist S'ataka, or collection of a hundred verses, is on 
 love (srin-gara), and therefore more lyrical than didactic, the 2nd is on 
 good conduct (niti), and the 3rd on the renunciation of worldly desires 
 (vairdgya). 2. The Vriddha-cdnakya or Rajaniti-sdstra. 3. The 
 Cdnakya-sataka or hundred verses (109 in one collection translated by 
 Weber) of Cdnakya, minister of Candra-gupta (see under Mudra-rakshasa, 
 p. 507). 4. The Amaru-sataka or one hundred erotic stanzas of Amaru 
 (already described at p. 454). 5. The Sdrn-gadhara-paddhati, ' S'arn-ga- 
 dhara's collection,' an anthology professing to collect sententious verses 
 from various sources and to give the names of most of the authors, to 
 the number of about 247.2 Some verses, however, are anonymous. 
 
 There are numerous other collections of didactic and erotic stanzas, 
 some of which are quite modern, e.g., the Subhdshitdrnava, Sdnti-dataka, 
 Nlti - san-kalana, Kavitdmrita-liupa, Kavitdrnava, Jndna-sudhdkara, 
 loka-mald, the Bhdmim-vildsa by Jagan-natha, the Gaura-pahcdsika 
 by Vihlana (edited with Bhartri-hari by Von Bohlen). 
 
 1 Edited by Yon Bohlen, with a Latin translation, in 1833. 
 
 2 See Professor Aufrecht's article on this anthology in vol. xxvii. of 
 the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 529 
 
 B. As to the collections of fables aiid apologues, these 
 form a class of composition in which the natives of India 
 are wholly unsurpassed. 
 
 Sir W. Jones affirmed that the Hindus claimed for 
 themselves three inventions : i. the game of chess (catur- 
 an-ga, see p. 258 of this volume) ; 2. the decimal figures 
 (see p. 183); 3. the method of teaching by fables. To 
 these might be added: 4. grammar (p. 163); 5. logic 
 (p. 62). 
 
 It is thought that both the Greek fabulist Aesop and 
 the Arabian Lokman 1 (LuJcmdn) owed much to the Hindus. 
 Indeed, in all likelihood, some ancient book of Sanskrit 
 apologues, of which the present representative is the 
 Panca-tantra, and which has been translated or para- 
 phrased into most of the dialects of India, as well as 
 into Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Pahlavl, Persian, Turkish, 
 Italian, French, German, English, and almost every known 
 language of the literary world, is the original source of all 
 the well-known fables current in Europe and Asia for 
 more than two thousand years since the days of Herodotus 
 
 (ii. i 34 ). 2 
 
 1 According to Herodotus and Plutarch, Aesop lived in the latter 
 part of the sixth century B.C., and was once a slave at Samos. On being 
 freed, he travelled about and visited Croesus, &c. As to Lokman, 
 probably such a person once lived, though thought by some to be an 
 imaginary character. He is certainly more likely to have borrowed 
 ideas from Indian fabulists than from Job, or Abraham, whose nephew 
 he is said by some Arabic writers to have been. The 3ist chap, of the 
 Kuran is called after him, God being made to say, ' We have given him 
 wisdom.' 
 
 2 A Pahlavi version of the Pan6a-tantra was the first real translation. 
 It was made in the time of Nushirvan, about A.D. 570, and perished 
 with much of the Pahlavl literature when the Arabs invaded Persia. 
 Before its destruction it had been translated into Arabic, about A.D. 760, 
 and was called Kdlla iva Damna ( Sanskrit Karatalta and Damanaka, 
 the names of two jackals) or fables of the Brahman Bldpai. The well- 
 
 2 L
 
 530 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 This Panca-tantra 1 which is itself the original source 
 of a still later work, the well-known class-book Hito- 
 padesa, 'friendly instruction' derives its name from 
 being divided into five chapters (Tantras) ; but it is also 
 commonly called the Pancopakhydna, ' five collections of 
 stories.' The date of the extant Panca-tantra is usually 
 placed about the end of the fifth century. But the fables 
 of which it consists are many of them referable to a period 
 long preceding the Christian era. 
 
 It has even been conjectured that the notion of in- 
 structing in domestic, social, and political duties by means 
 of stories in which animals figure as the speakers, first 
 suggested itself to Hindu moralists when the doctrine 
 of metempsychosis had taken root in India. We have 
 seen that a most elaborate theory of transmigration of 
 souls through plants, animals, men, and gods was pro- 
 pounded by Manu at least 500 years B.C., to which date 
 we have conjecturally assigned the existing Code of the 
 Manavas (see p. 56, note i, and p. 275). Accordingly 
 there is evidence that contemporaneously with the rise of 
 
 known Persian Anvar-i-Suhaili, ' lights of Canopus,' of Husain Va'iz, 
 written about the beginning of the fifteenth century, was also an amplifi- 
 cation of the Panda-tantra. Abii-1 Fazl, Akbar's celebrated minister, 
 also translated it into simpler Persian and called it 'Iydr-i- Danish, 
 ' criterion of knowledge.' An Urdu version, called Khirad Afroz, ' illu- 
 minator of the understanding,' was made in 1803 by Hafizu'd dm Ahmad. 
 The Hebrew version is attributed to one Rabbi Joel. This was trans- 
 lated into Latin by John of Capua at the end of the fifteenth century ; 
 and from this various Italian, Spanish, and German translations were 
 made. The English Pilpay's fables is said to have been taken from a 
 French translation. The best of the Turkish versions, called Humayun 
 Namah, was made, according to Mr. E. B. Eastwick, in the reign of the 
 Emperor Sulaiman I., by 'All Chalabi bin Salih. 
 
 1 Edited by Kosegarten in 1848, and lately in India by Professors 
 Biihler and Kielhorn. Translated into German, with an elaborate 
 Introduction, by Professor Benfey in 1859.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 531 
 
 I 
 
 Brahmanism in Manu's time, and the consequent growth 
 of antagonistic systems like Buddhism and the San-khya 
 philosophy, fables were commonly used to illustrate the 
 teaching of these systems. Thus : 
 
 In the whole fourth Book of the Sdn-Jchya-pravaeana (see p. 79, 
 note i) there are constant exemplifications of philosophical truth by 
 allusions to the habits of animals, as recorded in popular stories and 
 proverbs. (For example, sarpa-vat, 'like the serpent,' IV. 12; bhekl- 
 vat, 'like the female frog,' IV. 16; sulca-vat, 'like the parrot,' IV. 
 25, &c.) Again, one of Katyayana's Varttikas or supplements to a rule 
 of the grammarian Pariini (IV. 2, 104; cf. IV. 3, 125) gives a name for 
 the popular fable of the crows and owls (Kdkolukika), the actual title 
 of the fourth Tantra of the Pan6a-tantra, Kdkoluldya, being formed 
 according to another rule of Panini (IV. 3, 88). This fable is also 
 alluded to in the Sauptika-parvan of the Maha-bharata (see p. 409 of 
 this volume). In that Epic, too, other well-known fables are related. 
 For example, the story of the three fishes occurring in Hitopadesa, 
 Book IV., is found in S'anti-parvan 4889, &c., and that of Sunda and 
 Upasunda in Adi-parvan 7619. 
 
 The fables of the Panca-tantra and Hitopadesa are 
 supposed to be narrated by a learned Brahman named 
 Vishnu - sar man for the improvement of some young 
 princes, whose royal father had expressed himself 
 grieved by their idle, dissolute habits. Of course, 
 the fables are merely a vehicle for the instruction con- 
 veyed. They are strung together one within another, 
 so that before one is finished another is commenced, and 
 moral verses from all sources are interwoven with the 
 narratives. 
 
 A still larger collection of tales exists in Sanskrit 
 literature. It is called the Kathd-sarit-sdgara, 'ocean 
 of rivers of stories,' and was compiled by Soma-deva 
 Bhatta of Kasmir, towards the end of the eleventh or 
 beginning of the twelfth century, from a still larger work 
 named Vrihat-katha (ascribed to Gunadhya) :
 
 53 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 
 
 The Kathd-sarit-sdgara l consists of eighteen Books (Lambakas), 
 containing in all 124 chapters (Taran-gas). The second and third 
 Books contain the celebrated story of Udayana (see p. 506). A con- 
 temporary of Soma-deva was Kalhana, who is said to have written 
 the Rdjataran-giiu, 'stream of kings' a chronicle of the kings of 
 Kasmir about A.D. 1148. This is almost the only work in the whole 
 range of Sanskrit literature which has any historical value. It is 
 mostly composed in the common S'loka metre, and consists of eight 
 chapters (Taran-gas)? 
 
 Other collections of tales and works of fiction 
 which are not, however, properly Niti-sastras are the 
 following : 
 
 i. The Dasa-kumararcarita, 'adventures of ten princes,' a series of 
 tales in prose (but called by native authorities a Kdvya or poem) by 
 Dandin, who lived in the eleventh century. The style is studiously 
 difficult, long compounds and rare grammatical forms being used. It 
 was edited, with a long Introduction, by Professor H. H. Wilson in 
 1846. 2. The Vetdla-panca-vin^ati, 'twenty-five tales of a demon,' 
 ascribed to an author named Jambhala-datta. It is the original of the 
 well-known Hindi collection of stories called Baitdl-pacisl. The stories 
 are told by a Vetala, or spirit, to king Vikramaditya, who tries to 
 carry off a dead body occupied by the Vetala. 3. The Sinhdsana- 
 dvdtrindat (sometimes called Vikrama-carita or ' adventures of Vikra- 
 maditya '), stories related by the thirty-two images on king Vikrama- 
 ditya's throne which was dug up near Dhara, the capital of king 
 Bhoja, to whom the tales are told, and who is supposed to have 
 flourished in the tenth or eleventh century. It is the original of the 
 Bengali Batris Sinhdsan. 4. The Suka-saptati or ' seventy tales of a 
 parrot,' translated into many modern dialects of India (e.g., into 
 Hindustani under the title Totd-kahdrii; several Persian versions 
 called Tuti-ndma being also extant). 5. The Katlidrnava, ' ocean of 
 stories,' a collection of about thirty-five comparatively modern stories, 
 attributed to S'iva-dasa. 6. The Bhoja-prabandha, a work by Balldla, 
 
 1 The whole work has been excellently edited by Dr. Hermann 
 Brockhaus, all but the first five Lambakas being in the Roman 
 character. 
 
 2 The first six Books were edited and the whole work translated 
 into French by M. Troyer in 1840, and analysed by Professor H. H. 
 Wilson. See Dr. Boost's edition of his works.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 533 
 
 celebrating the deeds of king Bhoja. 7. The Kadambari, a kind of 
 novel by Vdna or Sana, who flourished in the seventh century at the 
 court of Harsha-vardhana or S'lladitya, king of Kanauj. An analysis 
 of this work is given by Professor Weber (vol. i. p. 352 of his Indische 
 Streifen). Good editions have been printed at Calcutta. 8. The 
 Vdsava-datta, a romance by Subandhu, written, according to Dr. Fitz- 
 Edward Hall, not later than the early part of the seventh century (see 
 the elaborate Preface to his excellent edition of the work in 1859). 
 This and the previous story, although written in prose, are regarded 
 (like i) as Kavyas or poems, and are supposed, like the Raghava- 
 pandavlya (p. 453), to contain numerous words and phrases which 
 convey a double sense. 
 
 I conclude with examples from Bhartri-hari's apoph- 
 thegms, from the Panca-tantra, and from the Hitopadesa. 
 The following are specimens from JBhartri-hari : 
 
 Here in this world love's only fruit is won, 
 When two true hearts are blended into one ; 
 But when by disagreement love is blighted, 
 'Twere better that two corpses were united (I. 29). 
 
 Blinded by self-conceit and knowing nothing, 
 
 Like elephant infatuate with passion, 
 
 I thought within myself, I all things knew ; 
 
 But when by slow degrees I somewhat learnt, 
 
 By aid of wise preceptors, my conceit, 
 
 Like some disease, passed off ; and now I live 
 
 In the plain sense of what a fool I am (II. 8). 
 
 The attribute most noble of the hand 
 Is readiness in giving ; of the head, 
 Bending before a teacher ; of the mouth, 
 Veracious speaking ; of a victor's arms, 
 Undaunted valour ; of the inner heart, 
 Pureness the most unsullied ; of the ears, 
 Delight in hearing and receiving truth 
 These are adornments of high-minded men 
 Better than all the majesty of Empire (II. 55). 
 
 Better be thrown from some high peak, 
 Or dashed to pieces, falling upon rocks ; 
 Better insert the hand between the fangs
 
 534 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Of an envenomed serpent ; better fall 
 
 Into a fiery furnace, than destroy 
 
 The character by stains of infamy (II. 77). 
 
 Now for a little while a child, and now 
 
 An amorous youth ; then for a season turned 
 
 Into the wealthy householder ; then stripped 
 
 Of all his riches, with decrepit limbs 
 
 And wrinkled frame, man creeps towards the end 
 
 Of life's erratic course ; and, like an actor, 
 
 Passes behind Death's curtain out of view l (III. 51). 
 
 I now give, as an example of an Indian apologue, a 
 nearly literal translation of a fable iii the Panca-tantra 
 (Book V. 8th story) : 
 
 The Two-headed Weaver. 2 
 
 Once upon a time there lived in a certain place a weaver (kaulika) 
 named Manthara, all the wood-work of whose loom one day fell to 
 pieces while he was weaving. Taking his axe (kutlidra), he set off to 
 cut fresh timber to make a new loom, and finding a large Sinsapa tree 
 by the sea-side, and thinking to himself, ' This will furnish plenty of 
 wood for my purpose,' began to fell it. In the tree resided a spirit 
 (vyantara), who exclaimed on the first stroke of the axe, ' Hallo, there! 
 what are you about 1 this tree is my dwelling, and I can't allow you 
 to destroy it ; for here I live very happily, inhaling the fresh breezes 
 cooled by the ocean's spray.' The weaver replied, 'What am I to do? 
 unless I get wood, my family must starve. Be quick, then, and look 
 out for another house ; for cut your present one down I must, and 
 that too instantly.' The spirit replied, ' I am really quite pleased with 
 your candour, and you shall have any boon you like to ask for ; but 
 you shall not injure this tree.' The weaver said he would go home and 
 consult a friend and his wife ; and would then come back and let the 
 spirit know what gift he would be willing to take in compensation for 
 the loss of the tree. To this the spirit assented. When the weaver 
 returned home, he found there a particular friend of his the village 
 
 1 The parallel in Shakespeare need scarcely be suggested. 
 
 2 I have omitted some verses in this story, and taken a few liberties. 
 In my translations I have consulted Professor H. H. Wilson, and 
 Professor Benfey's German translation.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 535 
 
 barber (ndpitd). To him he confided all that had occurred, telling him 
 that he had forced the spirit to grant him a boon, and consulting his 
 friend as to what he should demand. The barber said, 'My good 
 fellow, ask to be made a king ; then I'll be your prime minister, and 
 we'll enjoy ourselves gloriously in this world and gain felicity in the 
 next. Don't you know the saying ? 
 
 A king by gifts on earth achieves renown, 
 And, when he dies, in heaven obtains a crown.' 
 
 The weaver approved his friend's suggestion, but said he must first 
 consult his wife. To this the barber strenuously objected, and 
 reminded him of the proverb : 
 
 ' Give women food, dress, gems, and all that's nice, 
 But tell them not your plans, if you are wise. 
 
 Besides, the sagacious son of Bhrigu has said as follows : 
 
 If you have ought to do and want to do it, 
 Don't ask a woman's counsel, or you'll rue it' 
 
 The weaver admitted the justice of his friend the barber's observa- 
 tions, but insisted that his wife was quite a model woman and wholly 
 devoted to her husband's welfare, and that he felt compelled to ask 
 her opinion. Accordingly lie went to her, and told her of the pro- 
 mise he had extorted from the spirit of the tree, and how the barber 
 had recommended his asking to be made a king. He then requested 
 her advice as to what boon he should solicit. She replied, 'You 
 should never listen, husband, to barbers. What can they possibly 
 know about anything 1 Surely you have heard the saying : 
 
 No man of sense should take as his adviser 
 A barber, dancer, mendicant, or miser. 
 
 Besides, all the world knows that royalty leads to a perpetual round 
 of troubles. The cares of peace and war, marching and encamping, 
 making allies and quarrelling with them afterwards, never allow a 
 monarch a moment's enjoyment. Let me tell you then : 
 
 If you are longing to be made a king, 
 You've set your heart upon a foolish thing ; 
 The vase of unction at your coronation 
 Will sprinkle you with water and vexation. ' 
 
 The weaver replied, ' What you say, wife, is very just, but pray tell 
 me what I am to ask for.' His wife rejoined, 'I recommend you to
 
 S3 6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 seek the means of doing more work. Formed as you now are, you can 
 never weave more than one piece of cloth at a time. Ask for an 
 additional pair of hands and another head, with which you may keep 
 a loom going both before and behind you. The profits of the first 
 loom will be enough for all household expenses, and with the proceeds 
 of the second you'll be able to gain consequence and credit with your 
 tribe, and a respectable position in this world and the next.' 
 
 ' Capital ! capital ! ' exclaimed the husband, mightily pleased with his 
 excellent wife's advice. Forthwith he repaired to the tree, and address- 
 ing the spirit, said, ' As you have promised to grant me anything I ask 
 for, give me another pair of arms, and an additional head.' No sooner 
 said than done. In an instant he became equipped with a couple of 
 heads and four arms, and returned home, highly delighted with his 
 new acquisitions. No sooner, however, did the villagers see him, than, 
 greatly alarmed, they exclaimed, ' A goblin ! a goblin ! ' and between 
 striking him with sticks and pelting him with stones, speedily put an 
 end to his existence. 
 
 The following sentiments are also from the Panca- 
 tantra : 
 
 Praise not the goodness of the grateful man 
 Who acts with kindness to his benefactors. 
 He who does good to those who do him wrong 
 Alone deserves the epithet of good (I. 277). 
 
 The misery a foolish man endures 
 
 In seeking riches, is a hundred-fold 
 
 More grievous than the sufferings of him 
 
 Who strives to gain eternal blessedness (IL 127). 
 
 Hear thou a summary of righteousness, 
 And ponder well the maxim : Never do 
 To other persons what would pain thyself (III. 104). 
 
 The little-minded ask : Belongs this man 
 To our own family ? The noble-hearted 
 Regard the human race as all akin (V. 38). 
 
 As a conclusion, I subjoin some sentiments from the 
 Hitopadesa or book of ' friendly advice.' My translations 
 are from the late Professor Johnson's excellent edition :
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 537 
 
 HITOPADES'A INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A sapient man should think of storing up 
 Knowledge and wealth, as if old age and death 
 Could ne'er assail him, but should practise virtue 
 As if already in the grasp of death (3). 
 
 Of all possessions knowledge is the best, 
 For none can steal it, none can estimate 
 Its value, nor can any one destroy it (4). 
 
 Learning, the solver of perplexing doubts, 
 A sure revealer of the truths that lie 
 Beyond the sight is like another eye 
 For all mankind who has it not, is blind (10). 
 
 Fortune attends the lion-hearted man 
 Who acts with energy; weak-minded persons 
 Sit idly waiting for some gift of fate. 
 Banish all thought of destiny and act 
 With manly vigour, straining all thy nerve. 
 When thou hast put forth all thy energy 
 The blame of failure will not rest on thee (31). 
 
 The thought that destiny is ever working 
 Should not induce abandonment of effort ; 
 Without exertion oil cannot be had 
 E'en from the seeds of unctuous Sesamum (30). 
 
 A chariot moves not with a single wheel, 
 
 So fortune acts not without human effort (32). 
 
 The fixed result of all one's acts committed 
 In former births, is called one's destiny ; 
 Therefore let every man apply himself 
 Unweariedly to doing noble actions (33). 
 
 As from a lump of clay the potter moulds 
 
 Whate'er he pleases, so a man obtains 
 
 The destiny worked out by his own deeds (34). 
 
 Objects are best accomplished by exertion, 
 Not by mere wishes ; not by any law 
 Enters the deer a sleeping lion's maw (36).
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Even a blockhead may respect inspire 
 
 So long as he is dressed in gay attire ; 
 
 A fool may cut a dash the wise among, 
 
 So long as he has sense to hold his tongue (40). 
 
 A piece of glass may like a jewel glow, 
 If but a lump of gold be placed below ; 
 So even fools to eminence may rise 
 By close association with the wise (41). 
 
 By intercourse with men of lower grade 
 The mind is lowered ; by companionship 
 With equals it preserves equality ; 
 With higher men it reaches eminence (42). 
 
 HITOPADESfA BOOK I. 
 
 Each morning, when thou risest, thus reflect : 
 
 ' Some great calamity to-day may happen, 
 
 Of sickness, sorrow, death, which will befall ? ' (3). 
 
 Never expect a prosperous result 
 In seeking profit from an evil quarter ; 
 When there is taint of poison in the cup, 
 E'en the ambrosial draught which to the gods 
 Is source of life immortal, tends to death (5). 
 
 Subjection to the senses has been called 
 The road to ruin, and their subjugation 
 The path to fortune; go by which you please (29). 
 
 A combination of e'en feeble things 
 Is often potent to effect a purpose. 
 Even fragile straws when twisted into ropes 
 May serve to bind a furious elephant (35). 
 
 A man of truest wisdom will resign 
 
 His wealth and even life for good of others ; l 
 
 Better abandon life in a good cause 
 
 When death in any case is sure to happen (45). 
 
 1 i St. John iii. 16.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 539 
 
 Even to foes who visit us as guests 
 
 Due hospitality should be displayed ; 
 
 The tree screens with its shade the man who fells it l (60). 
 
 The good show pity even to the worthless, 
 The moon irradiates the meanest hovel (63). 
 
 Those who abstain from injury to all, 
 
 Who bear with all, and offer an asylum 
 
 To all mankind, are journeying to heaven (66). 
 
 The only friend that follows us at death 
 
 Is virtue ; all besides dies with the body 2 (67). 
 
 Form neither friendship nor a slight acquaintance 
 With evil persons ; does not charcoal burn 
 The hand, if hot, and blacken it, if cold ? (82). 
 
 A good man's mind, even when moved to anger, 
 Suffers no lasting change ; a torch of straw 
 Avails not to make ocean's waters hot (88). 
 
 A wicked man is like an earthen jar, 
 
 Broken with ease, repaired with difficulty ; 
 
 A virtuous man is like a golden vessel, 
 
 Hard to be broken, quickly joined together (94). 
 
 One thing is in a bad man's heart, another 
 
 Is in his words, another in his deeds. 
 
 But oneness marks a man of noble mind 
 
 In heart, speech, conduct, all the three combined (103). 
 
 Wisdom is easy when displayed in giving 
 Advice to others, but one's self to follow 
 Good counsel, marks a man of high degree, 
 Such noble-minded men are rare to see (108), 
 
 1 Compare Rom. xii. 20: 'If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he 
 thirst, give him drink.' I have been informed on good authority 
 that Professor H. H. Wilson was first induced to commence the 
 study of Sanskrit by reading casually in some book or newspaper 
 that this sentiment was to be met with somewhere in Sanskrit 
 literature. 
 
 2 Compare Manu IV. 240, 242.
 
 540 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 He has all wealth who has a mind contented. 
 
 To one whose foot is covered with a shoe 
 
 The earth appears all carpeted with leather (152). 
 
 'Tis right to sacrifice an individual 
 
 For a whole household, and a family 
 
 For a whole village, and a village even 
 
 For a whole country's good, but for one's self 
 
 And one's own soul, one should give up the world (159). 
 
 Accumulated wealth is best preserved 
 By liberal gifts ; e'en as collected waters 
 Are best secured within a hollow tank, 
 When by an outlet they refresh the fields (165). 
 
 If men are rich with money they possess, 
 But give not nor enjoy, then are they rich 
 With money buried in the mines of earth (168). 
 
 What boots it to have wealth which is not given, 
 
 Nor yet enjoyed 1 What profits strength to one 
 
 Who ne'er assails his foes 1 Where is the use 
 
 Of sacred knowledge if it does not lead 
 
 To practice of religion ? What avails 
 
 A soul to him whose senses are not conquered 1 (170). 
 
 Wealth joined with giving, liberality 
 
 Joined with kind words, knowledge without conceit, 
 
 Yalour with mercy, these are four rare virtues (174). 
 
 The wise long not for the impossible, 
 
 And grieve not for the irretrievable, 
 
 Nor are they in calamity bewildered (181). 
 
 Some men, well-read in books, are blockheads still, 
 But he who puts in practice what he knows 
 Is truly wise ; a medicine, though effective, 
 Effects no cure by knowledge of its name (182). 
 
 Make the best use of thy prosperity, 
 And then of thy reverses when they happen. 
 For good and evil fortune come and go 
 Revolving like a wheel in sure rotation (184).
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 
 
 541 
 
 Strive not too anxiously for a subsistence, 
 
 Thy Maker will provide thee sustenance ; 
 
 No sooner is a human being born 
 
 Than milk for his support streams from the breast (190). 
 
 He by whose hand the swans were painted white, 
 And parrots green, and peacocks many-hued, 
 Will make provision for thy maintenance 1 (191). 
 
 How can true happiness proceed from wealth, 
 
 Which in its acquisition causes pain ; 
 
 In loss, affliction; in abundance, folly (192). 
 
 A koil's 2 only beauty is its note, 
 
 A woman's is devotion to her husband ; 
 
 The beauty of the badly-formed is knowledge, 
 
 The beauty of ascetics is endurance (212). 
 
 Men place not such reliance in a mother, 
 Nor in a wife, nor in a son, nor brother, 
 As in a friend affectionate by nature (222). 
 
 Man's frame has ever death at hand, successes 
 
 Are followed by reverses, friendly meetings 
 
 Must end in partings, nothing here is lasting (224). 
 
 A friend the sight of whom is to the eyes 
 A balm, who is the heart's delight who shares 
 Our joys and sorrows is a treasure rare. 
 But other friendly persons who are ready 
 To share in our prosperity, abound 
 Friendship's true touchstone is adversity (226). 
 
 Whoever, quitting certainties, pursues 
 Uncertain things, may lose his certainties. 
 What is uncertain is as good as lost (227). 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew vi. 
 
 2 The kokila or ko'il is the nightingale of India.
 
 54 2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 HITOPADES'A BOOK II. 
 
 The man who is accustomed to regard 
 
 With constant looks of sympathy the poor 
 
 Beneath him in position feels exalted ; 
 
 But he who with habitual envy views 
 
 Those higher than himself feels always poor 1 (2). 
 
 Let a man strive with earnestness to gain 
 
 Possessions unacquired ; when acquired 
 
 Let him with care preserve them ; when preserved 
 
 Let him increase them ; lawfully increased 
 
 Let them be used for acts of pious service (8). 
 
 By drops of water, falling one by one, 
 
 Little by little, may a jar be filled ; 
 
 Such is the law of all accumulations 
 
 Of money, knowledge, and religious merit (10). 
 
 What burden is too great for able men ? 
 What is too distant for the energetic ? 
 What is a foreign country to the wise 1 
 Who is a stranger to the kindly speaking ? (i i). 
 
 Let prudent men engage in undertakings 
 
 Of diverse kinds, according to their will ; 
 
 Yet after all, the issue will be that 
 
 Which the Supreme Disposer shall determine (12). 
 
 No being perishes before his time, 
 Though by a hundred arrows pierced, but when 
 His destined hour comes, though barely pricked 
 By a sharp point of grass, he surely dies (15). 
 
 So long alone does every man fulfil 
 The true design of life, as long as he 
 Preserves his independence ; he is dead 
 Who lives in base subjection to another (20). 
 
 1 This verse is amplified, but the sense of the original is, I think, 
 fairly expressed.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 543 
 
 How difficult the duty of a courtier ! 
 
 If silent, he is thought a fool ; if clever 
 
 In conversation, he is called a chatterer, 
 
 Or perhaps a magpie ; if submissive, timid ; 
 
 If now and then impatient under slights, 
 
 Then he is called ill-bred ; if he should sit 
 
 Too close, he is decidedly intrusive ; 
 
 If too far off, then diffident and sheepish ; 
 
 The law of service is indeed abstruse, 
 
 E'en devotees would find it hard to master (25). 
 
 He lives to some good purpose in the world 
 Who lives for Brahmans, relatives and friends. 
 Where is the man who lives not for himself ? (34). 
 
 As by a toilsome effort some huge rock 
 Is forced uphill, but in an instant rolled 
 Down to the valley, so the soul of man 
 Is only by hard labour made upright, 
 But easily descends to depths of vice (44). 
 
 As one man digs a well, another builds 
 
 A lofty wall, so every human being 
 
 Sinks down or rises by his own exertions (45). 
 
 That man is sapient, who knows how to suit 
 
 His words to each occasion, his kind acts 
 
 To each man's worth, his anger to his power (48). 
 
 Is anything by nature beautiful, 
 
 Or the reverse ? Whatever pleases each, 
 
 That only is by each thought beautiful (50). 
 
 Disinclination to begin a work 
 
 Through fear of failure, is a mark of weakness ; 
 
 Is food renounced through fear of indigestion? (54). 
 
 That faculty which qualifies a man 
 
 To earn subsistence, and which wise men praise, 
 
 Should be preserved and carefully improved (63). 
 
 A jewel may be placed upon the foot, 
 And glass be raised to decorate the head, 
 But at the time of purchasing or selling, 
 Glass will be reckoned glass; a gem, a gem (66).
 
 544 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 If glass be used to decorate a crown 
 
 While gems are taken to bedeck a foot, 
 
 'Tis not that any fault lies in the gems, 1 
 
 But in the want of knowledge of the setter (72). 
 
 The wise have said that profitable lessons 
 May oftentimes be learnt e'en from a child ; 
 When the sun sets a taper may give light (78). 
 
 A man may on affliction's touchstone learn 
 
 The worth of his own kindred, wife, dependants ; 
 
 Also of his own mind and character. 
 
 * Reason indeed is stronger than brute force,' 
 Such is the truth the sounding drum proclaims, 
 Beaten by him who drives the elephant (85). 
 
 Krishna replied not to his cursing foe, 
 The lion answers not the jackal's yell, 
 But roars responsive to the thunder-cloud (86). 
 
 The hurricane uproots the lofty trees, 
 
 But injures not the grass that prostrate lies ; 
 
 The mighty only fight against the mighty (87). 
 
 A minister is like a small-necked jar 
 
 Of wide capacity, but yielding little. 
 
 He who says ' What's a moment ? ' is a fool. 
 
 He who says ' What's a farthing ? ' will be poor (91). 
 
 An old domestic long employed in service 
 Is fearless though in fault ; at other times 
 Acting unchecked he disregards his master (98). 
 
 He who is made the intimate associate 
 Of a king's sports, regards himself as king ; 
 Contempt is sure to be displayed by one 
 Admitted to too close familiarity (100). 
 
 Ingenious men can make e'en falsehoods seem 
 Like truths, as skilful painters represent 
 Mountains and valleys on a level surface (112). 
 
 1 Compare one of the meditations of Marcus Aurelius : ' Is such a 
 thing as an emerald made worse than it was, if it is not praised ? ' 
 Rev. F. W. Farrar's ' Seekers after God,' p. 306.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 545 
 
 In case of some calamity impending, 
 In going a wrong road, or when a time 
 For action presses, brooking no delay, 
 Then only may a friend advise unasked (123). 
 
 He who is truly loved is still beloved, 
 
 Even when doing irritating acts ; 
 
 Who does not feel the same respect for fire 
 
 Though it consume the treasures in his house? (132). 
 
 A man innately bad, though vigorous efforts 
 
 Be constantly applied for his improvement, 
 
 Will in the end revert to his old nature ; 
 
 E'en as the curly tail of some young cur, 
 
 Though pressed and swathed with bandages for years, 
 
 Resumes its twist, when once again set free (136, 137). 
 
 Whate'er thou hast to take, that take thou quickly ; 
 Give quickly what thou hast to give ; do quickly 
 The work thou hast to do j if thou delay, 
 Time will drink up the spirit of thy act (145). 
 
 Bad men derive some beauty from the lustre 
 Of their connections, like the sooty powder 
 Laid on the eyelash of a lovely woman (157). 
 
 Just anger may be certainly appeased 
 By the removal of its cause, but how 
 Can any one allay the spite of him 
 Who cherishes unreasonable rancour? (159)- 
 
 A hundred kindly acts are thrown away 
 
 Upon the bad ; a hundred clever speeches 
 
 Are lost on him who cannot understand ; 
 
 A hundred admonitions, on the man 
 
 Who will not put in practice what is said ; 
 
 A hundred sapient precepts, on the senseless ( 1 6 1 ). 
 
 In sandal-trees are serpents, in the waters 
 Of pleasant pools are lovely lotus-flowers, 
 But also alligators ; in enjoyments 
 Evils are present to destroy their zest ; 
 No earthly pleasures are without alloy (162). 
 
 2 M
 
 546 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A bark displays its uses in the crossing 
 Of pathless waters ; at th' approach of night 
 A lantern is of service ; in a calm 
 A fan ; and for an elephant's restraint 
 A hook ; thus is there nothing upon earth 
 For which a remedy has not been planned 
 By the all-wise Creator, but, I think, 
 That Providence himself has failed to find 
 A fitting check to curb a wicked man (165). 
 
 A man, however strong, if destitute 
 
 Of zeal and fervour, is by all held cheap. 
 
 Who fears to trample upon burnt-out ashes ? (173). 
 
 HITOPADES'A BOOK III. 
 
 Advice tends only to exasperate, 
 
 Not to allay the anger of a fool ; 
 
 Just as the drinking of nutritious milk 
 
 Only augments the venom of a serpent (4). 
 
 He who comparing well the strength and weakness 
 
 Of others, by himself, discovers not 
 
 The difference, is vanquished by his foes (8). 
 
 Seek not companionship with evil men, 
 
 But court association with the great ; 
 
 The purest water in the hand of her 
 
 Who lives by selling drams, is called a dram (u). 
 
 Even kind words accompanied with smiles, 
 
 If spoken by bad men, excite suspicion, 
 
 Like scent of fragrant flowers out of season (25). 
 
 A husband is a wife's chief ornament ; 
 
 She needs no other ornament but him ; 
 
 Deprived of him, she shines not, though adorned (29). 
 
 A rock is not so easily upheaved 
 
 By a strong hand l as by a wooden lever ; 
 
 This is the great advantage of good counsel, 
 
 That by an insignificant appliance 
 
 A great success may often be effected (45). 
 
 1 I follow B. 's reading here.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 547 
 
 When danger is far off, then cautiousness 
 
 But when at hand, heroic fortitude 
 
 Is the distinctive merit of a man 
 
 Of noble spirit ; everywhere the great 
 
 Exhibit courage in adversity (47). 
 
 A feverish display of over-zeal 
 
 At the first outset, is an obstacle 
 
 To all success ; water, however cold, 
 
 Will penetrate the ground by slow degrees (48). 
 
 A store of grain is of all stores the best ; 
 A jewel in the mouth supports not life (58). 
 
 Whate'er the natural propensity 
 
 Of any one may be, that is most hard 
 
 To be subdued ; thus, if a dog were raised 
 
 To a king's rank, would he not gnaw his shoe 1 ? (61). 
 
 That is no counsel where no elders are, 
 Those are no elders who declare no law, 
 That is not law which is not marked by truth, 
 That is not truth which is by fear affected (64). 
 
 Those who, neglecting accurate inquiries 
 
 Into the measure of a foe's resources, 
 
 Commence a fight, receive a cold embrace 
 
 By the sword's edge, and must be reckoned fools (70). 
 
 Advice, though good, and strictly in accordance 
 With books, is useless if it be not followed ; 
 Mere knowledge of a medicine does not cure (71). 
 
 Man is a slave of money, not of man ; 
 According to his wealth, his fellow-men 
 Hold him in honour or in disesteem (81). 
 
 The honours that a king confers, do more 
 To stimulate the courage of his subjects, 
 Than any hope of money recompense (91). 
 
 Even a foe, if he perform a kindness, 
 
 Should be esteemed a kinsman ; e'en a kinsman, 
 
 If he do harm, should be esteemed a foe.
 
 548 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A malady, though bred within the body, 
 
 Does mischief ; while a foreign drug that comes 
 
 From some far forest does a friendly work (101). 
 
 Speak kindly, without cringing ; be heroic, 
 But not a boaster ; be a generous giver, 
 But give your bounty to deserving persons ; 
 Be ever bold, but always without harshness (106). 
 
 "The king whose doctor, minister, and priest 
 Are flatterers, is speedily bereft 
 Of health, of treasure, and of piety. 
 
 The skilful man attains to wealth, the eater 
 Of wholesome food, to health the healthy man 
 To ease ; the diligent to utmost range 
 Of knowledge ; the disciplined in heart 
 To true religion, riches, and renown (117). 
 
 A lofty station cannot be obtained 
 
 By one who acts with rashness, yielding solely 
 
 To impulse, nor by one whose energies 
 
 Of mind are paralysed by pondering 
 
 On ways and means of acting ; great successes 
 
 Depend on hardihood combined with prudence (120). 
 
 What will books do for one who has no sense ? 
 How can a mirror benefit the blind ? (123). 
 
 The wisdom of a counsellor is shown 
 
 In healing breaches ; of a wise physician 
 
 In complicated cases of disorder. 
 
 'Tis easy to be wise, when all is well (125). 
 
 Weak-minded men are easily bewildered 
 Even in trifling enterprises, those 
 Whose intellects are well-matured engage 
 In mighty undertakings and stand fast (126). 
 
 The goddess of good fortune ne'er deserts 
 
 That noble-minded monarch who withholds 
 
 The smallest piece of money, equally 
 
 With thousands, if it seem in danger 
 
 Of application to improper uses ; 
 
 But readily bestows with open hand 
 
 E'en tens of millions on a fit occasion (127).
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 549 
 
 He is a fool who loses a possession 
 
 Through fear of some slight outlay ; who would forfeit 
 
 A bale of goods rather than pay a toll (129). 
 
 A crocodile, however fierce, is powerless 
 
 Soon as he quits the water ; even lions 
 
 Out of a forest might as well be jackals (139). 
 
 In this uncertain world, unstable as 
 
 The ocean stirred by winds, the sacrifice 
 
 Of one's own life to save the life of others 
 
 Is an exalted action, which results 
 
 From merit earned in former states of being (146). 
 
 HITOPADES'A BOOK IV. 
 
 An unwise man, when meeting with disaster, 
 Blames Destiny, and sees not that the fault 
 Lies in himself and in his own misdoings (3). 
 
 That man has wisdom who is wise enough 
 To remedy disaster when it happens (6). 
 
 Whatever fate decrees is not to be, 
 
 That will not happen ; if it is to be, 
 
 'Tis sure to come to pass. Why drink not off 
 
 This anodyne the antidote of care ? (9). 
 
 Let not the labour of an honest servant, 
 
 Who strives to do his duty, seem in vain ; 
 
 But cheer him with rewards, with heart, voice, look (12). 
 
 A low-born person should not be exalted 
 
 To any high position ; once in office 
 
 He cannot easily be set aside. 
 
 Honour conferred upon a base-born man 
 
 Resembles an impression stamped on sand (13). 
 
 So long alone ought danger to be feared 
 As long as it is distant ; when we see 
 The cause of apprehension close at hand, 
 We ought to fight against it fearlessly (17).
 
 5 SO INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A monarch has a real ally in him 
 Who, faithful to his duty, disregarding 
 His royal master's likings and dislikings, 
 Tells him unwelcome salutary truths (21). 
 
 A man should ever strive to be at peace 
 Even with those who equal him in strength; 
 The victory in war is always doubtful. 
 Who but a silly person would commit 
 His friends, his army, realm, renown, and self 
 To the uncertain balance of a battle ? (22, 23). 
 
 The monarch who distributes equitably 
 His riches, who conceals his spies from view, 
 Who keeps his counsel secret, and who says 
 No unkind words to those around him, he 
 May spread his kingdom even to the sea (54). 
 
 Whatever be the recompense obtained 
 By a Horse-sacrifice, accomplishing 
 All wishes ; that will he achieve in full 
 Who gives protection to a fugitive (62). 
 
 External deference may be consistent 
 
 With malice in the heart, 1 for do not people 
 
 Bear wood upon their heads that they may burn it ? 
 
 A running river may refresh a tree 
 
 While undermining by its stream the roots (64). 
 
 What cause have we to grieve for those who die ? 
 
 Since when a child is born Mortality 
 
 Is the first loving nurse to fondle it 
 
 In close embrace, and not till thus caressed 
 
 May its own mother fold it to her breast (67). 
 
 Whither have gone the rulers of the earth 
 With all their armies, all their regal pomp, 
 And all their stately equipages 1 Earth, 
 That witnessed their departure, still abides (68), 
 
 1 This amplification seems necessary to the sense.
 
 r _ 
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 551 
 
 All unobserved the body wastes away, 
 Moment by moment, like a crumbling jar 
 Of unbaked clay in water ; when dissolved, 
 Then its decaying nature is perceived (69). 
 
 Nearer and ever nearer, day by day, 
 
 Doth death advance towards each living being, 
 
 E'en as an awful executioner 
 
 Draws nearer to a criminal condemned, 
 
 And drags him by slow degrees towards his doom (70). 
 
 Youth, beauty, life, a store of worldly goods, 
 
 Exalted rank, society of friends, 
 
 Are all unstable, let no man of sense 
 
 Be duped by trusting to their permanence (71). 
 
 As drifting logs of wood may haply meet 
 On ocean's waters surging to and fro, 
 And having met, drift once again apart, 
 So fleeting is the intercourse of men (72). 
 
 E'en as a traveller meeting with the shade 
 
 Of some o'erhanging tree, awhile reposes, 
 
 Then leaves its shelter to pursue his way, 
 
 So men meet friends, then part with them for ever (73). 
 
 This is no permanent companionship 
 Gained by residing with one's own frail body, 
 Much less by intercourse with other persons (76). 
 
 For union points to coming separation, 
 As birth to death's infallible approach (77). 
 
 As streams of rivers ever onward flow, 
 Never returning, so do day and night 
 Go on for ever, bearing off man's life (79). 
 
 As oft as men of thoughtful minds, reflect 
 
 On death's inexorable rod, impending 
 
 O'er their doomed heads, their energies relax 
 
 Like thongs of leather soaked by dropping rain (83). 
 
 'Tis ignorance that is the cause of sorrow 
 For those who die ; if separation cause it, 
 Then with the lapse of time grief should increase ; 
 As days pass on why does it rather cease ? (85).
 
 552 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A panacea for the cure of blows 
 Dealt suddenly by unexpected strokes * 
 Of deep affliction, rending all the soul 
 Is to control the will and stifle thought (86). 
 
 E'en in a forest vices may be practised 
 By those who foster there their evil passions : 
 While in a house, subjection of the senses 
 Is a true penance, and the home of one 
 Who, holding all his passions in restraint, 
 Engages in good actions, is a convent (87). 
 
 Cease not, whatever be thy mode of life, 
 Although distressed, to walk in righteous paths, 
 And act with justice towards every creature. 
 No outward badge is proof of piety (88). 
 
 Thou art thyself a stream whose sacred ford 
 Is self-restraint, whose water is veracity, 
 Whose bank is virtue, and whose waves are love ; 
 Here practise thy ablutions, by mere water 
 The inner man can ne'er be purified (90). 
 
 That man attains to happiness who quits 
 This unsubstantial world a world beset 
 With pains of birth and death, old age and sickness (91). 
 
 Pain and not pleasure has a real existence 
 
 'Tis hence, the name of pleasure is applied 
 
 To that which gives relief from present pain (92). 
 
 A roaring noise, like that of autumn-cloud, 
 Should not be made in vain, one really great 
 Proclaims not his successes or reverses (95). 
 
 War not with many foes ; by swarming insects 
 Even a mighty serpent is destroyed (96). 
 
 Lust, anger, love of money, overjoy, 
 
 Pride and conceit, this six-fold class of faults 
 
 Should be forsaken; then one may be happy (99). 
 
 1 B.'s reading.
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 553 
 
 Good memory, activity in business, 
 
 Thoughtful deliberation, accuracy 
 
 Of information, firmness and concealment 
 
 Of counsel, are a minister's prime virtues (100). 
 
 Do nothing rashly, want of due reflection 
 Is the chief source of failure ; Fortune, eager 
 To favour merit, of her own accord, 
 Chooses the man who acts deliberately (zor). 
 
 The qualities and course of life of those l 
 Who live in distant places, out of sight, 
 Can only from their actions be inferred, 
 And actions must be judged of by results (105). 
 
 i 
 
 A swan that could not clearly see by night, 1 
 Searching for food upon a lotus-pool, 
 Mistook the mirrored image of the stars 
 For tender shoots of lilies, then by day 
 The silly bird refused to peck the buds, 
 Thinking them stars ; thus persons once deceived 
 Suspect deception even in the truth (106). 
 
 A mind which has been poisoned by the wicked 
 Confides not even in the good, a child 
 Once scalded by hot porridge will not drink 
 Even cold milk till he has blown upon it (107). 
 
 By gifts of money one may win a miser; 
 By gestures of respect, a stubborn man ; 
 A simpleton by humouring his will ; 
 A wise man, only by veracity (108). 
 
 Who would be guilty of unrighteous acts 
 
 For or against a body doomed to die 
 
 To-day or perhaps to-morrow by the pains 
 
 Of some disease, or some heartrending grief? (132). 
 
 Do rightly, knowing that thy life resembles 
 
 The moon's reflection on the quivering wave (133). 
 
 1 B.'s reading.
 
 554 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In order to the increase of thy virtue 
 And of thy happiness, consort thou only 
 With righteous men, remembering that thy life 
 Is transient as the mirage of the desert (134). 
 
 If Truth and thousands of Horse-sacrifices 
 
 Were weighed together, Truth would be more weighty (135).
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Observe In the following Index the numbers indicate the pages. When more than one 
 page is given, the numbers are separated by semicolons. A unit separated from a 
 preceding number by a comma, indicates the number of a footnote. 
 
 Abhava, 66. 
 
 Abhidhana-dintamani, 161. 
 Abhidhana-ratnamala, 161. 
 Abhijit, 341, i. 
 Abhijnana-s'akuntala, 507, 1. 
 Abhimanyu, 389, 2 ; 398 ; 
 
 404._ 
 
 Abhirama-mani, 367. 
 Abhisheka, 391. 
 Abhyasa, 93. 
 
 Abhyudayika Sraddha, 2OO. 
 Abu-1 Fazl, 529, 2. 
 Adara, 208 ; 213; 261 ; 278 ; 
 
 292 ; 294. 
 
 Adarya, 232 ; 240 ; 295 ; 409. 
 Accent, 153 ; 245, 2. 
 Acesines, river, 375, I. 
 Achilles, 313, i ; 357, I. 
 Action, 470. 
 Adyuta, 390, I. 
 Adyuta-dakravartin, 304. 
 Adbhuta, 457, i. 
 Adhidaivikam, 217. 
 Adhikara, 165. 
 Adhimasa, 174. 
 Adhiratha, 377. 
 Adhishthana, 198, 3. 
 Adhiyajnam, 217. 
 Adho-nivitah, 196. 
 Adhvaryu (priests), 6; 2 1 6. 
 Adhyapanam, 237. 
 Adhy-atmam, 139. 
 Adhyatma-ramayana, 368. 
 Adhyatmika, 217 ; 278, I. 
 Adhyavahanikam, 268. 
 Adhyayanam, 237. 
 Adi Grantha, of Sikhs, 325, 1. 
 Adi-parvan, 371, I ; 373. 
 Adisura, 210, I. 
 AdisVara, 210, I. 
 A-diti, 9 ; 14. 
 Aditya, 521. 
 Adityas, twelve, IO ; 320 ; 
 
 . 399- 
 
 Aditya- vara, 178, I. 
 
 Admetus and Alcestis, 395. 
 
 Adrishta, 3 ; 58 ; 71 ; 73 ; 
 
 74 ; 1 20 ; 282, 2 ; 469. 
 A-dvaita, 'non-dualism,' 1 02. 
 A-dvayam, 113, 4. 
 Aegle Marmelos, 444. 
 Aeneid, 58, I. 
 Aesop, 529. 
 Agama, 523, I. 
 Agamemnon, 425. 
 Agastya, 234, I ; 353 ; 504. 
 Ages, four, 178, 2 ; 221. 
 Aghora-ghanta, 500 ; 501. 
 Agneyastra, 404, I. 
 Agni, ii ; 15 ; 16, i ; 189 ; 
 
 256; 321 ; 430; 514. 
 Agni, a prayer to, 27, I. 
 Agni-hotra, 28, I ; 121 ; 
 
 148 ; 244 ; 254. 
 Agnihotra-homah, 216. 
 Agnihotrin, 189, I. 
 Agnimitra, 498. 
 Agni-pur5na, 292 ; 368. 
 Agnishtoma, 187 ; 231 ; 
 
 232, I. 
 
 Agni-vesa, 369. 
 Agrahayana, 173, 3. 
 Agrayana, 158. 
 Ahalya, wife of Gautama, 
 
 387, i. 
 Ahan-kara, 53, 3 ; 83 ; 84 ; 
 
 86 ; 117 ; 140 ; 221. 
 Ahavanlya fire, 188, I ; 189, 
 
 i ; 196 ; 197. 
 Ahi, 14. 
 A-hinsa, 242, 2. 
 Ahura Mazda, IO. 
 Ahvaya, 261. 
 Aila, 375. 
 Aila-vansa, 511, I. 
 Airavata, Indra's elephant, 
 
 353 ; 43.2, I- 
 
 Aitareya Aranyaka, 245, 2. 
 Aitareya Upanishad, 35. 
 Aitareya-brahmana, 25 ; 28 ; 
 
 29; 32; 172'; 245, 2; 
 
 33, 3- 
 
 555 
 
 Aitihasikas, 158. 
 Aja, 344; 409, 2. 
 Ajigarta, 26 ; 27. 
 Ajmlr, 325, i. 
 
 AkasX 53, i ; 67 ; 83 ; 83, 3. 
 Akbar, Emperor, 529, 2. 
 Akhyana, 207, i ; 249 ; 
 . 370, i. 
 
 Akhyata, 151 ; 160. 
 Aksha-pada, 65, I ; 79, I, 
 Akshapada-darsana, 118. 
 Akshepa, 458. 
 Alan-kara-kaustubha, 470. 
 Alan-karas, 456 ; 457. 
 Alan-kara-sarvasva, 470. 
 Alan-kara-sastra, 469. 
 Albert, King Charles, 336, I. 
 Alexander's death, 507. 
 Alexander's invasion, 252 ; 
 
 316. 
 
 Algebra, invention of, 174. 
 Algebra, Hindu, 180; 181. 
 Algebraists, Hindu, 181. 
 Allegory of two birds, 40 ; 
 
 222. 
 
 Allen, W. H. & Co., 495. 
 Alliteration, employment of, 
 
 455- 
 
 Almanacs, 178, I. 
 Amara-kosha, 161 ; 432, I. 
 Amara-sinha, 512 ; 525, I. 
 Amaru, 454. 
 
 Amaru-sataka, 454 ; 528. 
 Ambalika, 376. 
 Ambarisha, 27, I ; 344 ; 
 
 361, I. 
 
 Ambashtha, 210, I ; 225. 
 Ambika, 376. 
 Amlika, 423, 3. 
 Amrita, 327 ; 518. 
 Amulam mulam, 8l ; 82. 
 Amurta, 177. 
 Amyak, 159. 
 Analysis, 60; 161. 
 Ananda-maya, 1 14. 
 Ananda-tirtha, 119
 
 556 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Ananta, 431. 
 Ananta-vijaya, 403. 
 Anargha-raghava, 367; 508. 
 An-arya, 310. 
 An-aryas, 308. 
 An-asrita, 299. 
 Anasuya, wife of Atri, 360, i. 
 Anatomy, 184. 
 An-aupadhikah samband- 
 
 hah, 63. 
 
 Anaximander, 52, i. 
 Anaximenes, 52, i. 
 Anda, 220. 
 Andhakas, 399. 
 Andromache, 313, i; 440. 
 An-ga, kingdom of, 340; 
 
 417; 47o; 472. 
 An-ga-raga, 360, i. 
 An-giras, 6; 203; 216; 235; 
 
 252, 2 ; 301 j 517, i. 
 An-gushtha-matra, 198, 3. 
 Anila (Wind), 256. 
 Animals, 55, 3 ; 276. 
 Anjalika, 405, I. 
 Anjana, 432, i. 
 An-ka, 183 ; 470; 471. 
 An-kussa, 183. 
 Anna-maya, 114. 
 Anna-prasana, 192 ; 232 ; 
 
 239- 
 Antah-karana, 53; 53, 3; 
 
 116. 
 
 Antahsanjna, 56, I. 
 Antariksha, 197. 
 Antar-vedi, 196. 
 Anthropomorphism, 319. 
 Antiochus and Eumenes, 
 
 252, i. 
 Antya, 243. 
 
 Anubandha, 163; 163, 3. 
 Anudattoktya, 473. 
 Anukramam or ' Indices, ' 
 
 184. 
 
 Anumana, 61 ; 82 ; 117; 222. 
 Anumati, 158 ; 172. 
 An-upalabdhi, 117. 
 Anuprasa, 457. 
 Anus or 'atoms,' 71. 
 Anusasana-parvan,374; 411. 
 Anushtubh metres, 155 : 213, 
 
 . i; 3"; 335- 
 
 Anusravika, 48, I. 
 Anuvans"a-s"loka, 511,1. 
 Anuvritti, 165. 
 Anvaharya, 249. 
 Anvaharya-padana fire, 189, 
 
 I. 
 
 Anvar-i-Suhaili, 529, 2. 
 Anvashtakya Sraddha, 193. 
 Anvikshiki, 'logic,' 219. 
 Apad-dharma, 374. 
 Apara, 69. 
 Apararka, 303. 
 
 Aparatva, 68. 
 Apas, ' water,' 67 ; 84. 
 Apasadah, 244. 
 Apastamba, 203 ; 203, I ; 
 _ 236, I ; 302. 
 Apastamba Grihya - sutra, 
 . I8 7 . 
 Apastamba Srauta - sutra, 
 
 146 ; 187, i. 
 Apastambas, 187, I. 
 Apavarga, 59 ; 63. 
 Aphorisms, 46. 
 Aphrodite, 327, 5. 
 Apisali, 161, 2. 
 Apologue, Indian, 534- 
 A-prakrita, 457. 
 A-prastuta, 457. 
 Apsaras, 276 ; 519. 
 Apta-va<5ana, 82. 
 Apya-dikshita, 470. 
 
 Apyaya. 47- 
 
 Arabhatl, 503, I. 
 Arabs, 180, 2. 
 Arani, 15. 
 
 Aranya-kanda, 337 ; 366. 
 Aranyakas, 34. 
 Arbuda, 399. 
 Archery, 184. 
 Architecture, 184. 
 Ardha-narl (Siva), 89 ; 322, 
 
 i ; 523, i. 
 
 Argha, 295 ; 295, 3 ; 391. 
 Arhata-darsana, 118. 
 Aristotle, 51, 3 ; 57, I ; 6l ; 
 
 68, i ; 70 ; 85, I ; 103 ; 
 
 115; Il6, i; 403, I. 
 Aritra, 227, I. 
 Arjuna, 100 ; 126; 229, i; 
 
 379 ; 3 8 7> i ; 43 ; 413 ; 
 
 _ 419; 431, i; 511, i. 
 
 Aropa, 458. 
 
 Arrian, 252, I. 
 
 Arsha (revealed knowledge), 
 
 _ 2I 4- 
 
 Arsha form of marriage, 190; 
 
 244. 
 
 Ars poetica, 456. 
 Artha, 63 ; 195. 
 Arthalan-kara, 457. 
 Arthantara-nyasa, 458. 
 Arthapatti, 117; 458. 
 Artha- vada, 24. 
 Aruna, 428. 
 ArundhatI, 191. 
 Arya, 'noble,' 310. 
 Arya-bhatta, 175. 
 Aryaman, 1 6 ; 190. 
 Aryans, 6 ; 311. 
 Aryashta-sata, 175. 
 Aryavarta, 226, I. 
 A-saniavayi-karana, 70. 
 Asana, ' postures,' 93. 
 A-sau6a, 6. 
 
 As"au6am, 300. 
 Asceticism, 93 ; 94 ; 129. 
 Ashadha, 173, 3. 
 Ashadha, 173, 3 ; 199. 
 Ashtadhyayi, 163. 
 Ashfaka Sraddha, 193 ; 199. 
 Ashtakam Paninlyam, 163. 
 Ashtakshara, 154. 
 Ashta-murti, 323, I. 
 Asiatic Researches, 96 ; 155, 
 
 2. 
 
 Asi-patra-vana, 415. 
 Asita, 520. 
 
 Assoka, 371, i ; 423, 3 ; 467. 
 Asoka inscriptions, 313. 
 Asramas or 'Orders,' 215; 
 _ 238. 
 
 Asramavasika, 411, I. 
 Asramavasika-parvan, 374. 
 Assessors, 296. 
 Astrologer, 179. 
 Astrology, 174 ; 179. 
 Astronomy, 170; 172; 174. 
 A-su6i, 216. 
 Asura, 244. 
 
 Asura form of marriage, 190. 
 Asura C'arvaka, 382, 3. 
 Asuras, 1 59 ; 394. 
 Asuryam-pasya, 437, I. 
 Asvalayana Grihya - sutra, 
 
 186; 186,2;' 188; 245, 
 
 2; 294, 3; 295, 2; 371, 
 
 I ; 512. 
 As valay ana Srauta - sutra, 
 
 146 ; 186, 2 ; 245, 2. 
 Asvalayana-brahmana, 25, 3- 
 Asva-medha, 28, I; 187; 
 
 340; 374- 
 
 Asvamedhika-parvan, 374. 
 Asvami-vikraya, 261. 
 As"va-pati, king of Kekaya, 
 
 34L 2. 
 Asvattha, ' holy fig-tree,' 39, 
 
 3- 
 
 Asvatthaman, 383, I ; 405 ; 
 
 407; 409; 481. 
 Asvin, 365, I. 
 Asvina, 173, 3. 
 Asvini, I73 L 3 ; 428, 3. 
 Asvinl-kumaras, 428. 
 A^vins, II ; 158; 379; 387, 
 
 i ; 400. 
 Atala, 431, i. 
 Atharvan, 216 ; 235. 
 Atharvan-giras, 195 ; 245, 
 
 2 ; 295. 
 Atharva - veda, 3 ; 5 > I2 > 
 
 22 ; 245, 2 ; 275. 
 Atharva- veda - pratisakhya, 
 
 Atheists, 249. 
 
 Athene, temple of, 133, 8. 
 
 Athenians, 224, I.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 557 
 
 Atikaya, 382, 3. 
 
 Baladeva, 387, I. 
 
 Ati-kric"e"hra penance, 273. 
 
 Bala-kanda, 337 ; 366. 
 
 Atiratra, 341, I. 
 
 Bala-krishna, 515. 
 
 Atisayokti, 458. 
 
 Balam-bhatta, 304. 
 
 Atithi, 250. 
 
 Bala-rama, 332 ; 374 ; 375 ; 
 
 Atithi-bhojana, 188, I. 
 
 383 ; 391 ; 398 ; 408 ; 
 
 Ativahika, 198, 3. 
 
 
 Ati-vyapti, 63, I. 
 
 Bala-ramayana, 367 ; 508. 
 
 Atma-bodha, no; 113. 
 
 Bali, 1 88, i ; 194 ; 245 ; 
 
 Atman, 63 ; 67 ; 74 ; 22O ; 
 
 259 ; 328. 
 
 _ 222 ; 290, 3. 
 
 Baliala, 532. 
 
 Atmane-pada, 164 ; 165. 
 
 Ballantyne, Dr., 60, I ; 70, 
 
 Atma-tushti, 208. 
 
 i ; 74 ; 79, i ; 88, i ; 470, 
 
 Atn. i-tyaginyah, 299. 
 
 i. 
 
 Atma-vidya, 219. 
 
 Bana, 367 ; 533. 
 
 Atoms, 71. 
 
 Bandyopadhyaya, 210, I. 
 
 Atri, 203; 301 ; 375; 517, I. 
 
 Banerjea, Professor K. M., 
 
 Aufrecht, Professor, 1528, 2. 
 
 65 ; 73 5 74, 2 ; 96 ; 210, 
 
 Aulukya-darsana, 118. 
 
 i ; 365, i- 
 
 Aupamanyava, 159. 
 
 Banerjea's Dialogues, 181. 
 
 Aurangzib, 325, I. 
 
 Banians, 224, 2. 
 
 Aurelius, Marcus, 45, I ; 
 
 Banias, 224, 2. 
 
 142 ; 143 ; 544, I. 
 
 Banijya, 237, 2. 
 
 Aurnabhava, 158. 
 
 Banik, 224, 2. 
 
 Ausanasa, 521. 
 
 Baniyas, 224, 2. 
 
 Austin, Stephen, 495, I. 
 
 Bapudeva Sastrl, 175, 2. 
 
 Authority of Veda, 215. 
 
 Bard, 510. 
 
 Auttami, Manu, 206, I. 
 
 Earth, M., Revue Critique, 
 
 Avaka, 198, 3. 
 
 255, I- 
 
 Avarana, 109. 
 
 Batn, 33. 
 
 Avarodha, 437, 2. 
 
 Batris Sinhasan, 532. 
 
 Avasathya fire, 189, I. 
 
 Bauddha-darsana, 118. 
 
 Avayava, ' member of an 
 
 Baudhayana, 203 ; 203, I ; 
 
 argument,' 6l ; 64. 
 
 302. 
 
 A-vidya, 109. 
 
 Baudhayana Grihya Sutras, 
 
 A-vyakta, 82 ; 22O. 
 
 187. 
 
 Avyakta-ganita, 176, 3. 
 
 Baudhayana Srauta Sutras, 
 
 Avyayi-bhava, 152. 
 
 146. 
 
 Ayodhya, 27, I ; 317 ; 335, 
 
 Bear, Great, 517, I. 
 
 i ; 35 1 ; 359; 499, i- 
 
 Bediyas, 210, I. 
 
 Ayodhya-kanda, 337 ; 366. 
 
 Behar, 302. 
 
 Ayogava, 225. 
 
 Benares, school of, 302 ; 304. 
 
 Ayur-veda, 184. 
 
 Benfey, Professor, 530, I ; 
 
 Ayus, 375. 
 
 534, 2. 
 
 Azall, 'without beginning, 
 
 Bengal, 303. 
 
 51, 2. 
 
 Bengal, school of law, 302. 
 
 
 Bentinck, Lord William, 252, 
 
 Babhrn-vahana, 390. 
 
 2. 
 
 Badarayana, IOI ; 245, 2 ; 
 
 Berkeley, 53, I ; 82, I ; 84, 
 
 59- 
 
 2 ; 89, 2. 
 
 Bagdis, 210, I. 
 
 Bha (in algebra), 183. 
 
 Bahu-janma-bhak, 18, I. 
 
 Bhadra, 432, I. 
 
 Bahu-prajah, 18, I. 
 
 Bhadra, 173, 3. 
 
 Bahurupa, 409, 2. 
 
 Bhadrapada, 173, 3. 
 
 Bahusalin, 381, 4. 
 
 Bhadra-pada, 173, 3. 
 
 Bahu-vrihi, 152. 
 
 Bhaga, 178. 
 
 Bahv-ri<5a, 216. 
 
 Bhagana, 178. 
 
 Baidya, 210, I. 
 
 Bhagavad-gita, 39, 3 ; 47 ; 
 
 Bailee, 263. 
 
 55, 3 ; 91 ; 91, i ; 93 ; 
 
 Bailments, 263. 
 
 100 ; 122 ; 317 ; 324, 2 ; 
 
 Baital-padlsl, 532. 
 
 401 5 518. 
 
 Baka, 386. 
 
 Bhagavat, 515. 
 
 Bala, 'strength,' 387, I. 
 
 Bhagavata-purana, 126, I ; 
 
 327,25331; 389,25515; 
 
 5i6. 
 Bhagavatas, 325, I ; 514 ; 
 
 521. 
 
 Bhaglratha, 344 ; 362 ; 363. 
 Bhaglrathi, 363. 
 Bhftguri, 303. 
 Bhaiksha, 386. 
 Bhakshyabhakshya, 41 r, i. 
 Bhaktas, 523, i. 
 Bhakti (faith), 217 ; 326. 
 Bhakti, later theory of, 125. 
 Bhalla, 405, i. 
 Bhama, 470. 
 Bhana, 471. 
 Bhandarkar, Professor, 167, 
 
 25 187, I ; 236, i; 245, 2. 
 Bhanika, 472. 
 Bhanu-datta, 457. 
 Bharadvaja, 359 ; 404, I. 
 Bharadvaja (grammarian), 
 
 161, 2. 
 Bharadvaja Grihya Sutras, 
 
 187. 
 Bharadvaja Srauta Sutras, 
 
 146. 
 Bharata, 345; 351 ; 359; 
 
 364 ; 420 ; 469. 
 Bharata (Sutras), 469. 
 Bharata, 338, I ; 371, I. 
 Bharatam akhyanam, 371, 2. 
 Bharata-mallika, 168. 
 Bharata-sena, 168. 
 Bharata-varsha, 370 ; 375- 
 BharatI, 503, I. 
 Bharavi, 393, I ; 452. 
 Bhartri-hari, 167, I ; 453 ; 
 
 528'; 533- 
 Bhasa, 498. 
 
 Bhasha-paric^heda, 60, I. 
 Bhashya-pradlpa, 168. 
 Bhashya-pradlpoddyota,l68. 
 Bhaskara, 1765 178; 1 80 ; 
 
 181. 
 
 Bhfiskaradarya, 97 ; 176. 
 Bhatiyas, 224, 2. 
 Bhatta, 232, 3. 
 Bhatta-divakara, 213, 2. 
 Bhatta-narayana, 392, 3. 
 Bhatti-kavya, 1 68 5 367 ; 
 
 453 5 454 ; 457- 
 Bhattoji-dikshita, 168. 
 Bhau Daji, Dr., 494, I. 
 Bhauma, 179. 
 Bhava, 409, 2. 
 Bhava-bhuti, 337 ; 359, I ; 
 
 3 6 7 ; 499- 
 Bhavana, 409, 2. 
 Bhavishya, 5145 521. 
 Bhavishya-purfma, 512, I. 
 Bhavita, 183. 
 Bhayanaka, 457, I. 
 Bhikshu, 211 ; 238; 254.
 
 558 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Bhikshuka, 245, 2. 
 
 Bhlls, 309, i. 
 
 Bhlma, 379 ; 405 ; 414 ; 
 
 419. 
 
 Bhlmasena, 381, 4. 
 Bhishma, 329, 2 ; 373; 375; 
 
 384 ; 391 ; 397 ; 401 ; 
 
 403; 411. 
 
 Bhishma-parvan, 373. 
 Bhistis (water-bearers), 224, 
 
 2. 
 
 Bhogavati, 431, I. 
 Bhoja, 367 ; 407 ; 532 ; 533. 
 Bhoja-deva, commentary of, 
 
 92, 2. 
 
 Bhoja-prabandha, 532. 
 Bhoja-raja, commentary of, 
 
 92, 2. 
 Bhrigu, 185 ; 203 ; 206 ; 221 ; 
 
 302; 335; 517, I. 
 Bhu, 431, I. 
 Bhuh, 159. 
 Bhukti, 297. 
 Bhumi, ' earth,' 84. 
 Bhur, 55, 2 ; 195. 
 Bhuta, 184, 
 
 Bhuta-yajna, 194 ; 245. 
 Bhuvah or Bhuvar, 55, 2 ; 
 
 159; 195; 431. I- 
 Blbhatsa, 457, I. 
 Blbhatsu, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Bible, 131, 2. 
 Bibliotheca Indica, 35, I ; 
 
 44. 2 ; 98, i. 
 Binary compound, Ji. 
 Bohlen, Von, 528, I. 
 Bohn, 68, i. 
 Bb'htlingk, Professor, 168, 4 ; 
 
 169 ; 527, I. 
 
 Bombay, school of law, 302. 
 Bopp, 385 ; 386. 
 Borrodaile, Mr. H., 305, 2. 
 Bose, 210, i. 
 Bottomry, 264. 
 Brachmanes, 276, I. 
 Brahma, 37 ; see Brahman. 
 Brahma (world), 431, I. 
 Brahma, 22, I ; 3 1 ; 40 ; 54 ; 
 
 83, 3 ; 91 ; 324 ; 325. i ; 
 343; 429; 514; 518. 
 
 Brahma (son of), 79) ! 
 Brahma (form of marriage), 
 
 190. 
 
 Brahmadarl, 375. 
 Brahma -darin, 192; 238; 
 
 241. 
 
 Brahma6arya-vrata, 379, 2. 
 Brahma-ghosha, 419, 4, 
 Brahma-gupta, 175, 3; 176. 
 Brahma-ha, 270. 
 Brahmahatya, 270 ; 387, I. 
 Brahma-jijnasa, 104. 
 Brahma-loka, 405. 
 
 Brahma-mlmansa, 88. 
 Brahman (Supreme Spirit), 
 
 9583; 104; 105, 3; 189; 
 
 217. 
 Brahman (prayer, Veda), 
 
 214; 230, i; 273. 
 Brahmana (portion of Veda), 
 
 5_ ; 24'; 25 ; 48 ; 56, 2. 
 Brahmana (prayer-offerer), 
 
 230, I.' 
 Brahmanas (of each Veda), 
 
 25 ; 195- 
 
 Brahmanda, 514 ; 521. 
 Brahmanda-purana, 368. 
 BrahmanI, 522. 
 Brahmanicide, 315, I. 
 Brahmanism, 232 ; 233 ; 
 
 238. 
 
 Brahmans, 223 ; 232, &c. 
 Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and 
 
 Vaisyas, 232. 
 Brahmans (of Konkan), 
 
 237, i. 
 
 Brahma-pura, 116, 2. 
 Brahma-purana, 252, 2 ; 
 
 514. 
 Brahma-siddhanta or Brah- 
 
 rna-s, 175 ; 176. 
 Brahmastra, 402, I. 
 Brahmavarta, 209. 
 Brahma-vaivarta, 514; 515 ; 
 
 522. 
 
 Brahma- vidya, 219. 
 Brahma-yajna, 194 ; 245 ; 
 
 245, 2; 271 ; 294, 3; 
 
 295, 2. 
 
 Brahmodyan, 295, I. 
 Brahmojjhata, 270. 
 Brihad - aranyaka Upani- 
 
 shad, 35; '36; 114; 133, 
 
 3 5 345- 2. 
 
 Brihat-samhita, 176; 179. 
 Brockhaus, Dr. Hermann, 
 
 532, I. 
 
 Buddha, 47 ; 333. 
 Buddhi, 53, 3 ; 63 ; 83 ; 86 ; 
 
 109 ; 117 ; 140 ; 222. 
 Buddhmdriyani, 84, I. 
 Buddhism, 28, I ; 207, I ; 
 
 475; 513; 5 2 4. 
 
 Buddhist ascetics, 276, I ; 
 
 475- 
 
 Buddhistic scepticism, 314. 
 Budha, 179 ; 375. 
 Budha-vara, 178, I. 
 Biihler, Dr., 161, 2 ; 530, 
 
 I. 
 
 Bukka, court of King, 118. 
 Burgess, E., 176. 
 Burial in the ground, 299. 
 Burkhard, Dr. C., 495, I. 
 Burmese language, 309, I. 
 Burnell, Dr., 118 ; 245, 2. 
 
 C'a-hara, 183. 
 
 C'aitanya (intelligence), 120. 
 C'aitra, 173, 3 ; 365, I. 
 C'aitya-yajna, 192. 
 C'akra, 183. 
 C'akra vaka, 423, I. 
 C'akravarmana, 161, 2. 
 C'akra-vartins, 204. 
 C'akra- vriddhi, 264. 
 C'akshur-divyam, 387, I. 
 C'akshusha, Manu, 206, I. 
 Calcutta Review, 335, I ; 
 
 338, 2 ; 340, i ; 356, 2. 
 Calcutta University, 302, I. 
 Caldwell, Dr., 309, I. 
 C'ampu, 369. 
 C'ampu-ramayana, 367. 
 C'amunda, 500 ; 522. 
 C'anakya, 507 ; 528. 
 C'andala or C'andala, 225 ; 
 
 229, I ; 270. 
 C'andana, 423, 3. 
 C'andatas, 492. 
 C'andl, 522. 
 C'andra, 234, 2 ; 256 ; 330, 
 
 j ; 360, i. 
 
 C'andra, 179. 
 C'andra-gupta, 224, I ; 313; 
 
 507. 
 
 C'andraloka, 470. 
 C'andrayana penance, 274. 
 C'ara, 257. 
 C'araka, 184. 
 C'arana or school, 187. 
 C'arana-vyuha, 187, 2. 
 Carey, 336, I. 
 C'aru, 298. 
 C'aru-datta, 476. 
 C'arvaka, 119; I2O ; 219; 
 
 411. 
 
 C'arvaka-darsana, 1 1 8. 
 C'arvakas, 119; I2O. 
 C'arvakas, doctrine of the, 
 
 352- 
 
 Caste, 210 ; 223. 
 Caste, loss of, 273. 
 Categories, Aristotelian, 66, 
 
 2. 
 
 Categories of Vaiseshika, 66. 
 C'attopadhyaya, 218, I. 
 C'atur-an-ga, 258; 351. 
 C'aturjea, 210, I. 
 C'aturmasya, 28, I. 
 C'atushtoma, 341, I. 
 C'aula, 189 ; 192 ; 239. 
 Causation, theory of, 70. 
 Cebes, 58, I. 
 Centauri, 310, I. 
 Ceremonies, S'raddha, 196 ; 
 
 266 ; 430. 
 Ceylon, 308. 
 C'hala, 64. 
 C'halita-rama, 367.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 559 
 
 Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 
 
 70, I ; 166, I. 
 Chambhars, leather-cutters, 
 
 224, 2. 
 
 C'handah-sastra, 153. 
 C'handas, 145; 153; 154; 
 
 214. 
 
 C'hando-ga, 216. 
 C'handogya Upanishad, 35 ; 
 
 37 ; 38 ; 49 ; 102. 
 
 Chess, 529. 
 
 China, 173, 2. 
 
 Chinese drama, 468. 
 
 Chinese language, 309, i. 
 
 Chitpiivan, 224, I. 
 
 Christ, 131, 2. 
 
 Christ and other Masters, 
 
 28, i ; 59, i. 
 Christianity, 2 ; 131, 2. 
 Christians, Syrian, 122, 3. 
 Chronicle, 511, i. 
 Chuteerkote, 356, 2. 
 Cicero, 72, I ; 73, 4 ; 77, 2 ; 
 
 83,3. 
 Cicero, Tusc. Disp., 58, i ; 
 
 75, 2 ; 252, I. 
 C'mas, 229, i. 
 C'itra, 173, 3 ; 456. 
 C'itrakut, C'itra-kuta, 244, 
 
 i;_356, 2. 
 
 C'itran-gada, 390. 
 
 C'itra-ratha, 354. 
 
 C'itta, 53, 3; 93; 117. 
 
 Civil code, 261. 
 
 Clay-cart, 475. 
 
 Codes, eighteen, after Yaj- 
 
 navalkya, 300. 
 Colebrooke, 43, I ; 171, i ; 
 
 291, I ; 296, I ; 300; 500. 
 Colebrooke's Indian Algebra, 
 
 I 7 6. 
 
 Colebrooke's Bhaskara, 1 80. 
 Comedy, 468. 
 Compound interest, 264. 
 Confidantes, heroine's, 474. 
 Confucius. 47. 
 
 Consumptive persons, 270, I. 
 Contract, 262 ; 263. 
 Copernicus, 32. 
 Cosmogony (Vai^eshika), 77. 
 Cow (sacred), 519- 
 Cowell, Professor E. B., 35 
 
 i ; 44, 2 ; 60, r; 71, i ; 77; 
 
 296, i ; 300, i ; 495, i. 
 Cowell, Mr. Herbert, 267, I. 
 Cowell's Tagore Law Lec- 
 tures, 302, i. 
 Creator, 518. 
 Crimes (great), 269. 
 Crimes (secondary), 270. 
 Criminal code, Mann's, 268. 
 C'uda-karman, 189; 192; 
 
 239- 
 
 Curzon, Mr., 340, i. 
 Cust, Mr. R. N., 335, i 
 
 338, 2 ; 340, I. 
 C'uta, 423, 3. 
 Cyclopes, 310, I. 
 
 Dadhi, 420. 
 
 Dadima, 423, 3. 
 
 Daiva, 244 ; 282, 2. 
 
 Daiva form of marriage, 190. 
 
 Daiva, S'raddha, 200. 
 
 Daivata, 157 ; 158. 
 
 Daksha, 172, I ; 203 ; 234, 
 
 2; 302; 517, i. 
 
 Daksha-kratu-hara, 409, 2. 
 Daksheya, 162. 
 Dakshi, 162. 
 Dakshina,, 197 ; 236, I. 
 Dakshina (fee), 187, I ; 236. 
 Dakshina (fire), 189, I. 
 Dakshina (hearth), 188, I. 
 Dakshinadarins, 523, I. 
 Damanaka, 529, 2. 
 Damaru, 183. 
 Damayanti-katha, 367. 
 Dam-dupat, 264, 2. 
 Damodara, 184 ; 390, I. 
 Danam, 237. 
 Dana-samvanana, 352. 
 Dancing, 184; 467. 
 Danda, 177 ; 290, I. 
 Dandaka forest, 348, 1 ; 417 ; 
 
 503- 
 
 Dandaka metre, 155. 
 Dandi, 255. 
 Dandin, 367 ; 532. 
 Daniel, 136, 4. 
 Dante, 415. 
 Darsa, 246. 
 Darsanas, 46 ; 56, 2. 
 Darsa-purnamasa, 28, I. 
 Darwinians, 79. 
 Dasa, 210, I. 
 Dasa-gitika, 175. 
 Dasa-hara, 365, I. 
 Dasa-kumara-carita, 257, 2; 
 
 S3 2 - 
 Dasama-grantha (Sikh), 325, 
 
 i. 
 
 Dasa-pati, 256, I. 
 Dasaratha, 330 ; 335, I ; 
 
 337 5 344 ; 347 ; 426. 
 Dasaratha-jataka, 316, I. 
 Da^aratha's ministers, 339. 
 Dasarha, 390, I. 
 Dasa - rupa, Dasa - rupaka, 
 
 367 ; 457- 
 
 Dasras, II. 
 Dasyus, 310. 
 Datta, 210, I, 
 Dattaka-candrika, 305. 
 Dattaka-mlmansa, 304. 
 Dattasyanapakarma, 261. 
 
 Dattatreya, 324, 2. 
 Dawn, 16 ; 17. 
 Daya, 262 ; 265. 
 Daya-bhaga, 267. i ; 303. 
 Daya-krama-san-graha, 304. 
 Daya-tattva, 304. 
 De, 210, i. 
 Death, 18 ; 31 ; 32 ; 36 ; 
 
 37; 41; 209. i. 
 Debt, 261. 
 Debts, three, 254, i. 
 Decimal figures, 529. 
 Defendant, 297. 
 Degeneracy, 520. 
 Delhi, 205 ; 370 ; 390. 
 Deluge, tradition of the, 
 
 393-. 
 
 Deposits, law of, 263. 
 Desasth, 224, 2. 
 Desire, 20; 52, I. 
 Destroyer, 518. 
 Deva, 409, 2. 
 Deva-bodha, 303. 
 Deva-datta, 403. 
 Devah, 276. 
 DevakI, 126; 331; 332; 
 
 387, I- 
 Devala, 162. 
 Devalaka, 218, I. 
 Devarah 197. 
 Devas, 244. 
 
 Devata, Devatah, 241 ; 276. 
 Deva-vrata, 375. 
 Deva-yajna, 194; 245. 
 Devi, 523. 
 
 Devi-mahatmya, 514. 
 Devrukh, 224, 2. 
 Dhamma-pada, 207, I. 
 Dhana, 183. 
 Dhananjaya, 367 ; 381, 4 ; 
 
 397 5 457- 
 Dhanishtha, 171. 
 Dhanu-bandha, 456. 
 Dhanur-veda, 184. 
 Dhanvantari, 520. 
 Dhara, 532. 
 Dharana, 93. 
 Dharana, 293. 
 Dharani (glossary), 161. 
 Dharanl-dhara, 303. 
 Dharma, 65 ; 234, 2 ; 387, 
 
 I. 
 
 Dharmadharma, 271, I. 
 Dharma-jijnasa, 99. 
 Dharma-mulam, root of law, 
 
 293- 
 
 Dharma-putra, 381, 4. 
 Dharma-raja, 381, 4. 
 Dharma-ratna, 303, 2. 
 Dharma-sastra, 202 ; 203 ; 
 
 207, I ; 213. 
 Dharma-sutras, 202. 
 3harna, 264, 3.
 
 560 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Dhatu, 163. 
 Dhatu-patha, 163, I. 
 Dhaumyaj 302 ; 389. 
 Dhl, 283, 2. 
 Dhigvana, 225. 
 Dhiralalita, 470, 3. 
 Dhira-pras'anta, 470, 3. 
 Dhlrodatta, 470, 3. 
 Dhrishta - dyumna, 373 ; 
 
 384 ;' 387, I ; 401 ; 405 ; 
 
 407, I ; 409. 
 Dhrita-rashtra, 373 ; 374 ; 
 
 376; 377- 
 Dhurjati, 323. 
 Dhurta-c'arita, 472. 
 Dhyana, 93. 
 
 Dialogue, dramatic, 467. 
 Dianus, 429, I. 
 Didhishu, 197. 
 Diet, rules of, 250. 
 Dig-ambara, 323. 
 Dilipa, 344. 
 Dima, 471. 
 
 Diodorus, 224, I ; 318. 
 Diodorus Siculus, 252, I ; 
 
 332, 2. 
 
 Diogenes, 52, I. 
 Dion Chrisostomos, 313 ; 
 
 313. I- 
 
 Dionysos, 276, I. 
 Diophantus, 181. 
 Dlpaka, 458. 
 Dipakalika, 303. 
 Dipall, 325, I. 
 Di6, 67. 
 Dlvali, 325, I. 
 Diva-svapna, 193. 
 Divya, ordeal, 271. 
 Divyadivya, 471. 
 Dola-yatra, 325, I. 
 Domestic manners (Hindu), 
 
 436. 
 
 Doms, 210, I. 
 
 Dosha, 63 ; 470, I. 
 
 Dower, 268. 
 
 Draco, laws of, 268, I. 
 
 Drahyayana S'rauta Sutras, 
 146. 
 
 Dramas, 466 ; 470. 
 
 Dramas of Greeks. 467. 
 
 Draupadi, 366 ; 373 ; 384 ; 
 405 ; 408 ; 514. 
 
 Dravatva, 69. 
 
 Dravida, 210, I ; 229, I ; 
 302. 
 
 Dravidian races and lan- 
 guages, 309, I. 
 
 Dravidian school of law, 
 
 SOS-' 
 
 Dravya, 53, i ; 66 ; 76. 
 Drikana, 173, 2. 
 DrishadvatI, 205 ; 209. 
 Drishi, 144, I. 
 
 Drishta, 82. 
 Drishtanta, 64 ; 458. 
 Drona, 373 ; 383 ; 388 ; 
 
 391 ; 404. 
 
 Drona-parvan, 366 ; 373. 
 Drupada, 384 ; 391 ; 398. 
 Dugdha, 420. 
 Duhkha, 63 ; 68. 
 Duhsala, 379. 
 
 Duhasana, 385 ; 392 ; 405. 
 Durga, 158; 217; 322, 2; 
 
 325, I ; 427; 431; 514; 
 
 522J 523- 
 
 Durga, images of, 365, I. v 
 Durga-puja, 365, I. 
 Durmallika, 472. 
 Durvasas, 377 ; 518. 
 Durvasasa Upa-purana, 521. 
 Dur-vipaka, 55, i. 
 Duryodhana, 374; 378; 380; 
 
 385 ; 397 ; 404- 
 
 Dushyanta, 375 ; 495. 
 Dutan-gada, 367. 
 Dvaidha, 298. 
 Dvaipayana, 375, 4. 
 Dvaita-vadin, 79. 
 Dvandva, 152, 255. 
 Dvapara, 178, 2 ; 221 ; 301 ; 
 
 302 ; 329, 2 ; 410, i. 
 Dvaraka, 332 ; 408. 
 Dvesha, 68. 
 Dvi-ja, 'twice-born,' 192; 
 
 223 ; 232 ; 294. 
 Dvi-jati, 223. 
 Dvikam satam, 264. 
 Dvlpa, 375, 4 ; 420. 
 Dvy-anuka, 71. 
 Dyaus, 9 ; 12. 
 Dyaush-pitar, 9 ; 9, i. 
 
 Earth, 189. 
 
 Earth and Heaven (union 
 
 of), 90. 
 Eastwick, Mr. E. B., 495 ; 
 
 529, 2. 
 Eclectic School, 91, I ; 118; 
 
 122. 
 
 Eggeling, Professor J., 170. 
 Ego,_84. 
 Ego-ism, 83. 
 
 Egyptians, ancient, 268, I. 
 Ekadakra, city of, 386. 
 Eka-jati, 223. 
 Ekakshara. 93, I. 
 Ekam evadvitiyam, 38. 
 EkapadI, 191. 
 Ekoddishta S'raddha, 200 ; 
 
 247. 
 
 Eleatics, 52, I. 
 Elphinstone, Mr., 207, I. 
 Elphinstone's India, 89, I ; 
 
 229, 2 ; 256, I. 
 Emusha, 328, I. 
 
 Empedocles, 52, i ; 73, 2. 
 
 Encomiast, 510. 
 
 Entity, 20. 
 
 Epic poetry, 306. 
 
 Epic poetry, principal char- 
 acteristics of, 307. 
 
 Epics, Indian, compared to- 
 gether and with Homer, 
 416. 
 
 Epictetus, 142 ; 143. 
 
 Epicurus, doctrines of, 72, I. 
 
 Epos, 307. 
 
 Ether, 53, i ; 67 ; 83 ; 83, 3. 
 
 Ethnology of India, 309, I. 
 
 Etymologist, 160. 
 
 Etymology, 156. 
 
 Every-man (morality), 508. 
 
 Evidence, law of, 271. 
 
 Expiation, 273 ; 274 ; 287. 
 
 Fables, 526 ; 529. 
 Fakir or Faqlr, 94, i. 
 False evidence, 270. 
 Farrar, Dr., 45, i ; 142 ; 
 
 544, I- 
 Female mendicant,Buddhist, 
 
 498. 
 
 Ficus religiosa, 15, I. 
 Finnish language, 309, I. 
 Fish, eating of, 250. 
 Five per cent., 265. 
 Flesh, eating of, 250 ; 505. 
 Flood, tradition of, 29. 
 Frederic the Great, 257, 2. 
 Funeral ceremonies, 196 ; 
 
 247; 299. 
 
 Furruckabad, 499, I. 
 Future life, belief in a, 31. 
 
 Gada-yuddha, 408. 
 Gadya (prose), 369. 
 Gajasahvaya, 377, 2. 
 Galava, 161, 2. 
 Gambler, 478. 
 Ganaka, 174. 
 Ganapati, 127, I. 
 Ganapatyas,. 127, I ; 325, I. 
 Gandha, 68 ; 376, I. 
 Gandhamadana, 420, I. 
 Gandhara country, 162. 
 Gandhari, 377 ; 378. 
 Gandharva, 276. 
 Ganclharva (marriage), 190. 
 Gandharvas, 1 59 ; 400. 
 Gandharva-veda, 184. 
 Gandlva, 127 ; 397 ; 403 ; 
 
 413, I- 
 Ganesa, 127, I ; 293 ; 325, 
 
 i'; 4 2 95_430. 
 Ganesa-gita, 127, I. 
 Gane^a-purana, 127, I. 
 Gan-ga, 361 ; 362; 375. 
 Ganges, 276, i ; 412.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 5 6l 
 
 Ganges, story of, 361. 
 
 Gangeya, 375. 
 
 Ganguli, 210, I. 
 
 Ganita, 176. 
 
 Garbha, 470, 2. 
 
 Garbha Upanishad, 58, I. 
 
 Garbhadhana, 239. 
 
 Garbha-larnbhana, 192 ; 239. 
 
 Gftrbhikam enas, 238. 
 
 Garga, 1 80. 
 
 Garga-siddhanta, 175. 
 
 GargI, 439, i. 
 
 Gurgya, 160 ; 161, 2 ; 302. 
 
 (iaraapatya fire, 187; 188, 
 
 I : 189, i; 196; 197. 
 Garinanes, 276, I. 
 Garos or Garrows, 309, I. 
 Garuda, 430; 431, I ; 514. 
 Gatha, 195 ; 299. 
 Gatha, Ahunavaiti, 131, 2. 
 Gathikah, 295. 
 Gauda, 210, I ; 336, I. 
 Gauda-pada, 83, I ; 88. 
 Gaur, 210, i. 
 Gaun, 522. 
 Gautama, 49 ; 65, I ; 76 ; 
 
 301 ; 302. 
 Gavaya, 423, I. 
 Gayatri text, 3 ; 17; 134,2; 
 
 154; 195; 214; 2315274. 
 Gayatrl metre, 155. 
 Genealogies, 511, I. 
 Gesticulations, pantomimic, 
 
 467. 
 Ghana arrangement of text, 
 
 152, I ; 245, 2. 
 Ghati, 177. 
 Ghatika, 177. 
 Ghatotkaca, 385 ; 389, 2 ; 
 
 405- 
 
 Ghosha, 210, I. 
 Ghrana, 73. 
 Girisa, 409, 2. 
 
 Gita-govinda, 367; 369; 454. 
 Glossaries, 161. 
 Gnostics, 57, I. 
 Go-badhah, 271. 
 Gobhila's Grihya Sutras, 
 
 186; 186, 2. 
 Go-dana, 189. 
 
 Godavari, river, 339, i; 417. 
 Goethe, 495. 
 Gogra, river, 339, 2. 
 Gokarna, 354. 
 Gokula, 332. 
 Goldstiicker, Professor, 147, 
 
 2 ; 150, i. 
 Gomutrika, 456. 
 Gonarda, 167. 
 Gond, 309, I. 
 Gonikii, 167. 
 Gopa, 210, I. 
 Go-patha Brahniana, 25. 
 
 Gopls, 325, i ; 332 ; 454. 
 Go-pudchagra, 471. 
 Goraksha, 237, 2. 
 Gorresio, 336, I ; 338 ; 354, 
 
 i ; 364, i ; 442. 
 Gos, 210, i. 
 Goshala, 210, i. 
 Goshthi, 472. 
 
 Gotama (of Nyaya), 60, 74. 
 Gotama (law-book), 203. 
 Gotra or family, 248. 
 Gough, Professor A. E., 60, 
 
 1 ; 62 ; 63, 2 ; 67 ; 167, I. 
 Govardhana, 356, I ; 367. 
 Govind, 325, I. 
 
 Govinda, 390, 1,^454, 457. 
 Govinda l)eva Sastri, t>o8. 
 Govinda-raja, 203 ; 303. 
 Graha-rajna, 293. 
 Grama, village, 258. 
 Grammar, 161 ; 529. 
 Grantha, 232, 3. 
 Granthis, 232, 3. 
 Grasaddhadana, 267. 
 Gravitation, 181. 
 Greeks, 173, 2; 361 ; 467. 
 Greeks and Romans, 33. 
 Griffith, Professor R., 125, 
 
 2 ; 336, i ; 362 ; 395, i- 
 Griha-prapadana, 193. 
 Griha-stha, 196 ; 238 ; 241 ; 
 
 '243 ; 245, 2. 
 
 Grihya (domestic rites), 1 86. 
 Grihya Sutras, 145 ; 186 ; 
 
 '300; 308. 
 Grlshma, 453. 
 Gudakes"a, 381, 4. 
 Guhyaka, 276. 
 Gujarat, 236, I ; 332. 
 Guna (of the Vaiseshika), 
 
 66 ; 68. 
 Guna (three), 56, I ; 85 ; 
 
 275 ; SIS- 
 Gunadhya, 532. 
 Gun-gu, 173. 
 Gurjara, 210, I. 
 Guru, 56, i ; 232 ; 232, 3 ; 
 
 238 ; 240 ; 241 ; 242. 
 Guru Nanak, 325, I. 
 Gurutva, 69. 
 Guru-vara, 178, I. 
 Gurv-artha, 384. 
 
 Haberlin, Iio. 
 Hadis, 24. 
 Hadis, 210, I. 
 Haituka, 219. 
 Haj, 244, I. 
 Hfijjl, 244, i. 
 Hala, 367. 
 
 Halayudha, 161 ; 332, 2. 
 Hall, Dr. F., 79, I ; 175, 2 ; 
 252, 2 ; 533. 
 
 Halllsa, 472. 
 Hansa, 243. 
 
 Hanuman-nataka, 367; 508. 
 Hanumat, 356; 359; 367; 
 
 419, 4 ; 426; 428. 
 Hara, 217; 320 ; 409, 2. 
 Haravall, 161. 
 Hard wick, Mr., 28, I ; 59, I. 
 Hari, 134, 2; 518. 
 Hari-dasa's comment, 77. 
 Haridvilr, 244, I. 
 Hari Narayana, 431. 
 Hari-natha, 368. 
 Hariscandra, 26. 
 Harita, 203 ; 301. 
 Hari-vansa, 317; 331 ; 366; 
 
 374; 418; 418, 2. 
 Harriot, 182, I. 
 Harsha-vardhana, 533. 
 Hastinapur, 370 ; 390. 
 Hastina-pura, 126 ; 373 ; 
 
 374; 411 ; 511, I. 
 Hasya, 457, i. 
 Hasyarnava, 508. 
 Haug, Professor, 25. 
 Heads of law (eighteen), 261. 
 Heaven, 189. 
 Heavens (seven), 218; 431, 
 
 I. 
 
 Hector, 313, I ; 426. 
 Hecuba, 313, I. 
 Hells, 217 ; 420, I. 
 Hema-<5andra, 161. 
 Hemadri, 168. 
 Hema-kuta, 420, I. 
 Hemanta, 453. 
 Heracleitus, 52, I. 
 Herakles, 276, I. 
 Hercules, 332, 2 ; 357, 2. 
 Hero, 474. 
 Herodotus, 224, I. 
 Heroes (four kinds), 470, 3. 
 Heroine, 474. 
 Hesiod, 52, I ; 428, 4. 
 Hetu (reason), 6l. 
 Hetu-sastra, 2 1 8. 
 Hetv-abhasa (fallacy), 64. 
 Hidimba, 385 ; 389, 2 ; 405. 
 Hill-tribes, 309, I. 
 Himavat, 361 ; 394; 413. 
 Hiranya garbha, 89 ; 114. 
 Hiranya-kasipu, 328 ; 392, 2. 
 Hiranyaksha, demon. 327. 
 History of kings of Kasmir, 
 
 532. 
 Hitopadesa, 376, 2 ; 411, I ; 
 
 425; 530; 531 ; 533; 537- 
 
 Holl, 472 ; 506. 
 
 Homa (oblation), 194 ; 245; 
 
 245, i. 
 
 Homer, 310, i ; 313; 4 28 4- 
 Hora, 173. 2. 
 Horace, 156. 
 
 2 X
 
 562 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Horoscope, 178, i ; (of Ra- 
 ma's birth), 344, 2. 
 
 Hospitality, 250. 
 
 Hotri, 216. 
 
 Hrishikesa, 390, I. 
 
 Hull or Holi, 325, I. 
 
 Hum, 274. 
 
 Humayun Namah, 529, 2. 
 
 Hunter, Dr. (Orissa), 210, I; 
 244, I. 
 
 Hycke-scorner, 509. 
 
 Hydaspes, river, 375, I. 
 
 Hydra, 357, 2. 
 
 Ic"cha, 68. 
 Ida, 375. 
 Idolatry, 218. I. 
 Idols, 12 ; 218. 
 Iha-mriga, 471. 
 Ikshu, 420. 
 Ikshvaku, 344 ; 375. 
 
 Ila, 375- 
 
 Iliads, 306: 313; 357, I ; 
 
 401, I ; 421. 
 Incarnation, doctrine of, 317; 
 
 318. 
 
 Incarnations of Vishnu, 327. 
 Indian Antiquary, 224, 2 ; 
 
 236, I : 503, 3. 
 Indian Vedantists, 52, I. 
 Indices to Veda, 184. 
 Indische Alterthumskunde, 
 
 371, I- 
 Indische Spriiche, Boht- 
 
 lingk's, 527, I. 
 Indische Streifen (Weber), 
 
 367j 533- 
 Indo-Aryans, 47, 
 Indra, 10 ; 13 ; 14 ; 16, I ; 
 
 189; 256; 308; 3215429; 
 
 430. 
 Indra and Vishnu, hymns to, 
 
 27, I. 
 Indra, poetical sketch of, 13; 
 
 14. 
 
 Indrajit, 426. 
 IndranI, 522. 
 Indra-prastha, 390; 391. 
 Indrasena, 381, 4. 
 Indra-vajra, 156 ; 335, 2. 
 Indriya, 63 ; 73. 
 Indu, 10. 
 Inference, 6l. 
 Inheritance, law of, 265. 
 Intercalary month, 174. 
 Interest on money, 264. 
 Iravat, 389, 2. 
 Iravati, 498. 
 Isa Upanishad, 35. 
 Isana, 409, 2. 
 Isavasya Upanishad, 35. 
 Ishlka, 405, I. 
 Ishti (preference), 326. 
 
 Ishtis (desiderata), 167, I. 
 Ishu, 405, I. 
 
 Isvara, 74 ; 77 ; 88 ; 409, 2, 
 Isvara-candra Vidyasagara. 
 
 1 20. 
 
 Isvara-pranidhana, 93. 
 Itihasa, 37 ; 195 ; 207, I ; 
 
 249 ; 295 ; 299 ; 306 ; 
 
 371, I ; 416; 509; 513. 
 
 Jagad-amba, 91. 
 Jagan-nath, 210, I ; 244, I. 
 Jagati, 154; 335, 2. 
 Jalmavi, 363. 
 Jahnu, 363. 
 Jaimimi, 98 ; 98, I. 
 Jaimini (Mimansa), 98 ; 
 
 118 ; 245, 2. 
 Jaiminlya - nyaya-mala- vis- 
 
 tara, 98, I. 
 Jainas or Jains, 1 1 8. 
 Jala, 420. 
 
 Jaliyas, 'fishermen,' 210, I. 
 Jalpa, ' mere wrangling,' 64. 
 Jamad-agni, 329, 2. 
 Jamba vat, 426. 
 Jambhala-datta, 532. 
 Jambu-dvipa, 420. 
 Jamshid, 224, I. 
 Jana (people), 285, I. 
 Janaka, 335, I ; 34!, 2 ; 
 
 345; 5". i- 
 Jaiiamejaya, 371, i ; 374 ; 
 
 389, 2. 
 
 Janar, 55, 2 ; 431, I. 
 Janardana, 390, I. 
 Jane-o, 240, I. 
 Janitva, 197. 
 Janma-patra, 178, I. 
 Janmashtami, 332, I. 
 Janus, 429, I. 
 Japa - yajna, 245 ; 246 : 
 
 294, 3- 
 
 Japyam, 241. 
 Jarbhari, 122, I. 
 Jat, 210, I. 
 Jata, arrangement of text, 
 
 _i5 2 > * 5 245, 2. 
 Jata-karman, 192 ; 239. 
 Jati (birth), 210, I. 
 Jati (futile replies), 64. 
 Jati (flower), 423, 3. 
 Jatu. 385. 
 Jatukarni, 499. 
 Javali, 49 ; I2O, 2 ; 312, 3 ; 
 
 315 ; 351 ; 364- 
 
 Jaya-deva, 367 ; 454; 470. 
 Jayad-ratha, 366; 379; 391; 
 
 396. 
 
 Jester, 474. 
 Jews, 56, 2. 
 
 Jhalla (club-fighter), 276. 
 Jihma-yodhin, 408. 
 
 Jimuta-vahana, 303 ; 304. 
 Jishnu, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Jlvatman, 40 ; 51 ; 74 ; 109 ; 
 
 1 10 ; 222. 
 
 Jnana, 59 ; 323 ; 326. 
 Jnana-kanda, 33. 
 Job, 19 ; 467. 
 Johaentgen, Dr., 213, 2 ; 
 
 290, 2 ; 290. 3. 
 John of Capua, 529, 2. 
 Johnson, Professor F., 452 ; 
 
 536. 
 Jones, Sir W., 35, 3 ; 44, 2 ; 
 
 82, I ; 245, 2 ; 507. 
 Jovian cycle of sixty years, 
 
 179. 
 
 Junctures (Sandhi), 470. 
 Jupiter (planet), 179. 
 Jupiter Pluvius, 10 ; 276, I. 
 Justice, administration of, 
 
 260. 
 
 Jvala-rnukhi, 244, I, 
 Jyaishtha, 173, 3. 
 Jyeshtha, 173, 3. 
 Jyotis (fire, light), 84. 
 Jyotisha (astronomy) 145 ; 
 
 170. 
 Jyotishtoma, 187 ; 232, I ; 
 
 240 ;'34i, i. 
 
 Kabandha, 356 ; 366 ; 429, 2. 
 Kadambarl, 367 ; 533. 
 Kadrii, 431, I. 
 Kaikeyl, 341 ; 348 ; 352. 
 Kailasa, 406. 
 KaisikI (style), 503, I. 
 Kaiyata or Kaiyyata, 1 68. 
 Kakolukika, 531. 
 Kakoluklya, 531- 
 Kakutstha, 344. 
 Kala, 3 ; 67. 
 Kala, 177 ; 178. 
 Kala-nirnaya, 118. 
 Kalapa (grammar), 170. 
 Kaler ansa, 410. 
 Kalhana, 532. 
 Kali, 28, i ; 178, 2 ; 221 ; 
 
 3 01 ; 33. 3 ; 4io ; 520. 
 Kali, 514 ; 522 ; 523. 
 Kalidasa, 359, I ; 366 ; 452 ; 
 
 454_; 494. 
 
 Kalidasa's dramas, 366. 
 Kalika, 521 ; 522 ; 525. 
 Kalilah Damuah, 529, 2. 
 Kalinadi, 499, I. 
 Kaliya (serpent), 332. 
 Kali-yuga, 300 ; 330, 3. 
 Kalki, 333 ; 333, i. 
 Kalpa (period of time), 178 ; 
 
 206, i ; 322 ; 330, 3 ; 
 
 432; 5I7- 
 
 Kalpa (ceremonial), 145 ; 
 146 ; 195 ; 232.
 
 Kalpa-sutra, 146. 
 
 Kalyana, 252, I. 
 
 Kama, 324, i. 
 
 Kamada, 525. 
 
 Kumadeva, 430. 
 
 Kama-dhenu, 361. 
 
 Kfuna-ga, 299. 
 
 Kfuuakhya, 525. 
 
 Kamalayataksha, 381, I. 
 
 Kamandaka, 500. 
 
 Kambojas, 229, i ; 361. 
 
 Kamya Sraddha, 199. 
 
 Kiimyaka forest, 373 ; 393. 
 
 Kanada, 65 ; 79, i. 
 
 Kanada's Sutra, 71 ; 74 
 245, 2. 
 
 Kanarese, 309, I. 
 
 Kanauj, 499 ; 499, i ; 533. 
 
 Kanda (arrow), 405, I. 
 
 Kandahar, 162. 
 
 Kandarpa-keli, 472. 
 
 Kanjalala, 210, I. 
 
 Kan-ka, 396. 
 
 Kanoj, 361. 
 
 Kanouj Brahmans, 210, i ; 
 
 224, 2. 
 Kansa, 126, I ; 328; 331 ; 
 
 332. 
 
 Kansaris (braziers), 210, I. 
 Kanyakubja, 210, I ; 499. 
 Kanyatva, 377, 4. 
 Kapala-kundala, 500 ; 501. 
 Kapila, 79,' i ; 8 1 ; 85 ; 362. 
 Kapila, 521. 
 Kapila's Aphorisms, 88. 
 Karana, 70 ; 225. 
 Karana-mala, 458. 
 Karana-sarira, 53, 2. 
 Karanas, eleven, 178, I. 
 Karanl, 149, 2. 
 Karataka, 529, 2. 
 Karika (verses), 167, I. 
 Karkandhu, 423, 3. 
 Karkata, 344, 2. 
 Karma-dosha, 56, I. 
 Kanna-kanda, 33. 
 Karmakara, 210, I. 
 Karma-mimansa, 98. 
 Karman, 66 ; 69 ; 326. 
 Karma - phala, 208 ; 209 ; 
 212 ; 213 ; 275 ; 278 ; 288. 
 Karma- vipaka, 5; ; 55, I. 
 Karmendriyani, 84, I. 
 Karna, 373 ; 383 ; 384 ; 385. 
 Karna-parvan, ^73. 
 Karnata, 210, I ; 224, 2. 
 Karna-vedha, 239. 
 Karnikara, 423, 3. 
 Kartavirya, 511, I. 
 Karttika, 173, 3. 
 Karttikeya, 324, I ; 427, 2 ; 
 
 430, 2 ; 452 ; 481. 
 Karttiki, 522.. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Karuna, 457, r. 
 Karya, 70. 
 Karya-darsana, 260. 
 Kashaya-vasas, 293. 
 Kashtha. 177. 
 
 Kas'I-natha, 325, i. 
 Kasyapa, 161, 2 ; 234, 2 
 302; 344; 347; 431, i. 
 Katantra (grammar), 170. 
 Kata-putana, 276. 
 Katha, 39, 3 ; 40. 
 Katha Srauta Sutras, 146. 
 Katha Upanishad, 21, 2 
 
 Kathaei, 252, I. 
 
 Kathaka Grihya Sutras, 187 
 
 Katharnava, 532. 
 
 Katha-sarit-sagara, 532. 
 
 Katthakya, 159. 
 
 Katyayana, 151; 166 ; 531 
 
 Katyayana's law - treatise 
 203; 302. t 
 
 Katyayana's Srauta Sutra 
 146; 148 ; 341, r. 
 
 Kaulas, 523, i. 
 
 Kaulika (weaver), 534. 
 
 Kaunakhya, 270. 
 
 Kauravas, 373 ; 382 ; 397 ; 
 407. 
 
 Caurma, 521. 
 
 Kansalya, 341 ; 348 ; ^64 ; 
 376, I. 
 
 Causambhi, 506. 
 
 Caushltaki-brahmana, 25. 
 
 Caushltaki-brahmana Upa- 
 nishad, 35 ; 106, i. 
 
 Caustubha, 399. 
 
 Cautsa, 159. 
 
 Cavi Karna-puraka, 470. 
 
 Caviraja, 368. 
 
 iavya, 306, 2; 315; 316; 
 _370, I; 416; 472. 
 
 Cavyadar,4a, 367 ; 457. 
 "avya-lakshana, 453. 
 
 ^avyalan-kara-vritti, 457 ; 
 469. 
 
 <avya-pradlpa, 457. 
 
 ~avya-praka.sa, 457. 
 
 Cayastha, 210, I ; 224, 2 ; 
 
 225 ; 296, I. 
 
 Kearns, Rev. I. F., no, 2. 
 Kena Upanishad, 35. 
 Kendra, 173, 2. 
 Kern, Professor, 175. 
 Kesanta, 239. 
 Kes"ava, 390, I. 
 Ketu, 1 80, I ; 252, I. 
 Kevalatman, 322. 
 Khadga-bandha, 456. 
 Khanaka, 385. 
 Khandana- khanda - khadya, 
 
 563 
 
 Khandava-prastha, 390. 
 Khasias, 309, i. 
 Khatrl, 224, 2 ; 252, i. 
 Khila, 207, i. 
 Khlrad Afroz, 529, 2. 
 Khonds or Kus, 309, i. 
 Kielhorn, Professor, F. 161 
 
 2 ; 168, i ; 530, i. 
 Kmcit-prana, 410. 
 Kinsuka, 407 ; 423, 3. 
 Kirata, 393 ; 452 ; 453. 
 Kirata (mountaineer), 229, 
 
 i 5 393. i. 
 Kiratarjunlya, 229, I ; 373 ; 
 
 393. i; 403, 35 452; 
 461. 
 
 Kiritin, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Kishkindhya-kanda, 337. 
 Kokila, 423, i ; 541, 2. 
 Kolis, 224, 2. 
 Kola, 309, I. 
 Konkanasth, 224, 2. 
 Korawars, 309, i. 
 Kos"a, 113; 271, i ; 297. 
 Kos"ala, 317 ; 335, i. 
 Kosegarten, 530, I. 
 ioshtis, 224, 2. 
 iota, 309, i. 
 irama, arrangement of 
 
 text, 245, 2. 
 rama text, 152, I. 
 Cranti pata, 181. 
 <;ratu, 517, i. 
 Craun6a, 423, i. 
 Craunda-dvlpa, 420. 
 raya-vikrayanus"aya, 261. 
 Cripa, 383, I. 
 
 ripi, 383. i ; 391 ; 4C7 ; 
 409. 
 
 .rishi, 227, I ; 237, 2. 
 Crishna, 90, 2 ; 122 ; 126 ; 
 
 217; 33; 358, 3; 381, 
 
 45 397; St i; SIS- 
 Krishna (life of), 331 ; 517. 
 Crishjia (names of), 390, I. 
 [rishna (wives of\ 312. 
 Krishna ^Draupadl), 384. 
 [rishna-dvaipayana, 509. 
 '.rishna-mi^ra, 508. 
 Ti'shna-tarkalan-kara, 304. 
 Tishnau, 390, I. 
 Crit affixes, 152 ; 170. 
 vrita age, 178, 2 ; 221 ; 
 
 3l : 330. 3- 
 
 .ritavarman, 407 ; 409. 
 trittika, 170; 173, 3. 
 [shana, 177. 
 
 [shatra, 228, I. 
 Cshatriya, 17, I ; 22, 2 ; 
 
 49; 212 ; 223; 224, 2. 
 
 shattri, 376. 
 
 shetra, 140. 
 
 shiva, 391.
 
 564 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Kuhu (new moon), 158 ; 172. 1 
 
 Kula, 296, I. 
 
 Kulala, 210, I. 
 
 Kularnava, 525. 
 
 Kulina, 'noble,' 2IO, I. 
 
 Kulluka, 4, I ; 6 ; 13, 3; 
 22, I ; 1 88, I ; 203 ; 207, 
 i ; 210, I ; 213, 2 ; 301 ; 
 
 3 2 ; 33 ; 5 22 . I- 
 Kumara, 452. 
 Kumara-sambhava, 321, I ; 
 
 324, I ; 452. 
 Kumarila, 98, I ; 232, 3. 
 Kumbba-kara or potters, 
 
 224, 2. 
 
 Kumbha-karna, 354, i. 
 Kumbhars or potters, 224, 
 
 2. 
 
 Kumuda, 432, I. 
 Ku-nakhin, 270, I. 
 Kunti, 373; 374; 375, 2; 
 
 377! 386; 437, i. 
 Kuntibhoja, 377 ; 391. 
 Kuran, 4 ; 24 ; 33 ; 102, I. 
 Kurma, 327 ; 327, 3 ; 514. 
 Kuru-kshetra, 373 ; 401. 
 Kurus, 308 ; 384. 
 Kuruvaka, 423, 3. 
 Kus or Khonds, 309, I. 
 Kusa, 335, i; 504. 
 Kusa-dvlpa, 420. 
 Kusa grass, 195 ; 196 ; 273. 
 Kusida-yriddhi, 264. 
 Kusika Srauta Sutras, 146. 
 Kusl-lavau, 335, I. 
 Kusuinanjali, 60, I ; 71, I ; 
 
 77- 
 
 Kuta-sthah, 130, 2. 
 Kuthumi or Kuthumi, 302. 
 Kuttaka, 176; 176, 2. 
 Kuvalayananda, 470. 
 Kuvera, god of wealth, 256 ; 
 
 354 5 427- 
 Kymar range of mountains, 
 
 356, I- 
 
 Laestrygones, 310, I. 
 Laghu-kaumudi, 168. 
 Lakhiina-devI, 305. 
 Laksha, 183. 
 Laksha, 385. 
 Lakshana, 243 ; 470. 
 Lakshmana, 345 ; 348 ; 356 ; 
 
 364 ; 425 ; 426 ; 503. 
 Lakshml, 325, I ; 327; 358; 
 
 368_; 387, i ; 430 ; 522. 
 Lambadies, 309, I. 
 Lambaka, 532. 
 Lan-ka, 337 ; 339, I ; 344, 
 
 i ; 356 ; 419, 4 ; 503. 
 Lassen, Professor, 126, I ; 
 
 294, i ; 313; 339, i ; 
 37i, i ; 499, i; 5", i- 
 
 Lasya, / 
 
 Latyayana Srauta Sutras, 
 
 146. 
 Laugakshi Srauta Sutras, 
 
 146. 
 
 Laukika (secular), 278, I. 
 Laukikagni, 299. 
 Lava, 335, I ; 504. 
 Lavana, 420. 
 Law, schools of, 302. 
 Laya, 92. 
 Left-hand worshippers, 523, 
 
 I. 
 
 Lekhya, 293. 
 Lethe, 58, I. 
 Lexicographers, 161. 
 Lex talionis, 268. 
 Liddon, Canon, 59, I. 
 Lidhu, 169, i, 
 Likhita (lawyer), 203 ; 301 ; 
 
 302. 
 Likhita (written document), 
 
 297. 
 
 Llla-madhukara, 471. 
 LllavatI, 176 ; 176, 3 ; 183. 
 Lin-ga, 169, I ; 198, 3 ; 322 ; 
 
 514. 
 
 Lin-ga- sarira, 53, 2; 109. 
 Lipta, 173, 2. 
 Loans, law of, 262. 
 Locke, 80, 2. 
 Logic, Hindu, 6 1 ; 529. 
 Logician, Hindu, 62. 
 Loha-kara (smiths), 224, 2. 
 Lohars (smiths), 224, 2. 
 Lokakshi, 302. 
 Lokaloka, 420, i. 
 Lokas, 431, I. 
 Lokayatas, 1 20. 
 Lokayatikas, 120. 
 Lokunan, 529. 
 Loma-harshana, 510. 
 Lomapada, 340. 
 Lonaris, 224, 2. 
 Lorinser, Dr., 126, i; 131 
 
 2; 135,2; 137, i. 
 
 Lotus-stanza, 456. 
 Lucretius, 52, I ; 54, I ; 72, 
 
 i ; 76, i ; 80, i ; 83, 3 ; 
 
 105, 4. 
 Lunar line of kings, 375 ; 
 
 5". ! 
 
 Luptopama, 458. 
 Lusty Juventus, 509. 
 
 Macchiavelli, 507. 
 Madayantika, 500. 
 Madhava, 118; 390, I; 500. 
 Madhavadarya, 98, I ; 119; 
 32; 305; 37i, 2; 439, 
 
 i ; 521. 
 
 Madhu-parka, 250 ; 505. 
 Madhusudana, 390, i. 
 
 Madhusudana Gupta, 184. 
 Madhya-desa, 226, I. 
 Madhya-laya, 498. 
 Madhyama, 473. 
 Madhya-mandira, 119. 
 Madhyandina S'akha, 150 ; 
 
 245, 2. 
 
 Madhyandinas, 245, 2. 
 Madras, 302. 
 Madreyau, 381, 4. 
 Madrl, 252, I; 312; 373. 
 Madya, 250. 
 Magadha, 361. 
 Magadha, kings of, 313. 
 Magha, 173, 3. 
 Magha, 13, 2 ; 173, 3 ; 453. 
 Magha, month of, 171. 
 Magha, poem of, 392, 2. 
 Maha-bharata, 31 ; 205 ; 
 
 245, 2 ; 306 ; 361, 2 ; 366 ; 
 
 370; 405, I. 
 
 Maha-bhashya, 92, 2 ; 167. 
 Maha-bhuta, 83; 221. 
 Maha-deva, 323 ; 519. 
 Mahajan, 264, 2. 
 Maha-kavyas, 453. 
 Maha-nataka, 367 ; 471. 
 Maha-nirvaiia, 525. 
 Maha-padma, 432, I. 
 Maha-patakas, 269. 
 Maha - prasthanika - parvan, 
 
 374- 
 
 Maha-puranas, 515. 
 Mahar, 55, 2 ; 431, I. 
 Maha-rashtra, 210, I ; 302. 
 Maharshis, 136, 2; 206, I ; 
 
 301. 
 
 Mahasinha-gati, 381, I. 
 Mahat, 83 ; 91 ; 22O ; 221 ; 
 
 222. 
 
 Mahatala, 431, I. 
 
 Mahatmya, 408, I. 
 
 Maha vlra- <5ari ta or "caritra, 
 
 337 ; 359- i ; 3 6 , l ', 3 6 7 5 
 
 499; 502. 
 Maha-yajna, 1 88 ; 1 88, I ; 
 
 194 ; 244 ; 267 ; 288, 3. 
 Maha-yamaka, 457- 
 Maha-yuga, 178; 221 ; 330, 
 
 Mahesvara, 119 ; 161 ; 304 ; 
 
 521. 
 
 Maheisvarl, 522. 
 Mahisha, 423, I ; 430. 
 Mahishya, 149, 2 ; 225. 
 Maithila, 210, I. 
 Maithila school, 304. 
 Maitra S'rauta Sutras, 146. 
 Maitraksha-jyotika, 276. 
 Maitrayana, 44, 2. 
 MaitrayanI Upanishad, 44 ; 
 
 44, 2. 
 Mai trayaniya Upanishad, 44.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 565 
 
 Maitrayanlya Grihya Sutras, 
 
 187. 
 
 Maitreyi, 439, i. 
 Maitrl Upanishad, 44, 2. 
 Makam&t of Hariri, 467. 
 Makaranda, 500. 
 Ma-karas, 523, I. 
 Malabar coayt, 329, 2. 
 Mala-masa, 174. 
 MalatI, 423, 3 ; 500. 
 Malati-madhava, 155, 499. 
 Malavika, 472 ; 498. 
 M;7lavikagnimitra, 494 ; 497. 
 M. layiilam, 309, I. 
 .V. Icolm's Persia, 224, I. 
 Male-arasars, 'hill-kings,' 
 
 309, i. 
 Mall, 210, i. 
 Malimluca, 174. 
 Mallfih (prize-fighters), 276. 
 Malyavat, 420, I. 
 Mammata, 457. 
 Maniipamana, 255, 2. 
 Manas, 53 ; 53, 3 ; 63 ; 67 ; 
 
 76; 83; 109; 117; 220; 
 
 221. 
 
 Mana-sara, 185. 
 Manava Grihya Sutras, 187. 
 Manava S'rauta Sutras, 146. 
 Manava-kalpa-sutra, 187 ; 
 
 205, 2. 
 
 Manavas, 205 ; 207, I. 
 Manavas, Code of, 213 ; 291. 
 MandakinI, 351, I. 
 Mandakranta, 452. 
 Mandala, 18 ; 18, I. 
 Mandala of the Rik, ninth, 6. 
 Mandanis, 290, I. 
 Mandara, 357, 3 ; 519. 
 Mandodca, 179. 
 Mandodari, 436. 
 Mfinilukl-siksha, 149, 3. 
 Mandukya Upanishad, 35. 
 Man-gala, 179. 
 Man -gala- vara, 178, I. 
 Mankind, deterioration of, 
 
 Si?- 
 
 Mano-maya, 114. 
 Mansa-bhakshana, 250. 
 Mansel, Dean, 115. 
 Manthara, 534. 
 Mantra-mahodadhi, 525. 
 Mantra portion of the Veda, 
 
 5; II ; 245, 2. 
 Mantra-jargaras, 245, 2. 
 Mantras (texts), 3 ; 4, I ; 
 
 22; 524; 525. 
 Manu, 4 ; 4, i ; 5 ; 6 ; 30 ; 
 
 56, 2 ; 202 ; 203 ; 220 ; 
 
 303; 491, i; 5 I2 ! 
 Mann's Code. 203. 
 Manushya-loka, 197. 
 Manushya-yajiia, 194 ; 246. 
 
 Manv-antara, 206, I ; 221 ; 
 
 330,3; 5i i- 
 
 Manv-artha-muktavall, 303. 
 Marathi country, 236, I. 
 Marathi empire, 256, 3. 
 Margasirsha, 173, 3. 
 Marlca, 354; 517, i. 
 Maridi, 206 ; 276 ; 302 ; 344. 
 Markande3*a, 366. 
 Markandeya-purana, 387, I ; 
 
 514." 
 
 Marriage, forms of, 244. 
 Marriage portion, 267. 
 Marriage rite, 190; 244. 
 Mars, 179. 
 Marshman, 3^6, I. 
 Maruta (the Wind), 387, I. 
 Maruts, 10 ; 14 ; 400. 
 Marvadi (merchants), 224, 2. 
 Masaka S'rauta Sutras, 146. 
 Matali, 357. 
 
 Materialists, 120, 2 ; 352. 
 Mathavya, 259, I. 
 Mathematical science, 172. 
 Mathura, 330, 2 ; 332. 
 Matsya. 327; 397; 514. 
 Matsya purana, 512. 
 Matula, 380, I. 
 Mauna-vrata, 254. 
 Maunji-bandhana, 240 ; 294. 
 Mausala-parvan, 374; 41 1, I. 
 Maya, 83 ; 108 ; 140. 
 Mechanical arts, 185. 
 Medhatithi (lawyer), 203; 
 
 303- 
 
 Medicine, 184. 
 MedinI, 161. 
 Megasthenes, 207, I : 224, 
 
 I ; 238, I ; 257, 2 ; 276, 
 
 I ; 312; 318; 507. _ 
 Megasthenes, caste-divisions 
 
 of, 224, i ; 237, 2. 
 Megha-duta, 359, I ; 367 ; 
 
 390, i ; 452 ; 494, I. 
 Mekhalil, 240. 
 Menaka, 361. 
 Mercury, 179. 
 Meru (mount), 357, 3 ; 412 ; 
 
 413 ; 420. 
 Metaphor, 456. 
 Metaphysics, Hindu, 6l, 
 Metempsychosis, II; 18 ; 
 
 56, i ; 56, 2 ; 530. 
 Metre, 153; 155, I. 
 Mill, J. S., 66, 2. 
 Mill's India, 95 ; 224, I ; 
 
 256, i. 
 
 Millar, 224, I. 
 Milman, Dean, 129, I ; 386, 
 
 I. 
 
 Milton's Satan, 354, I. 
 Mimansa, 46 ; 98 ; 206, I ; 
 
 219; 232, 3. 
 
 Mimiinsnka, 3 ; 100 ; 22O. 
 Mimansa-sutra, 98, i ; 100, 
 
 I. 
 
 Mind-born sons, 517, i. 
 Minerva, 355, i. 
 Misals of Sikhs, 325, I. 
 Misaru-misra, 305. 
 Misra, 305, i. 
 Misra-damodara, 367. 
 Misra-vritta, 471. 
 Mitakshara, 291 ; 303 ; 304. 
 Mithi, 511, I. 
 
 Mithila, 345; 345,2; 511,1. 
 Mithila (school of law), 291 ; 
 
 302; 304. 
 Mithya-jnana, 104. 
 Mitra, 10 ; 16 ; 210, I. 
 Mledcha, 229, i ; 243 ; 276 ; 
 
 405. 
 
 Mleccha-desa, 229, I. 
 Mleddhas, 405. 
 M'Mahon, Rev. J. H., 68, i ; 
 
 "5, I- 
 
 Modaka, 210, I. 
 Mohammed, see Muhammad. 
 Moksha, 59. 
 Moksha-dharma, 374. 
 Monasteries, 475- 
 Money-lender, 264. 
 Mongol language, 309, I. 
 Months, names of, 173, 3. 
 Montriou, W. A., 292, I. 
 Morality, 508. 
 Mrccihakatika, 93, 2 ; 296, 1 ; 
 
 313; 324,1; 330,35 366; 
 
 468 ; 475. 
 Mriga-siras, 173, 3. 
 Mudukunda, 520. 
 Mudra-rakshasa, 505 ; 507. 
 Mugdha-bodha, 168. 
 Mugdha-bodhini, 168. 
 Muhammad, 3 ; 244, I. 
 Muhiirta, 177. 
 Muhurtas, 170. 
 Muir, Dr. John, 12, l, 2; 
 
 and passim. 
 Miika, 393. 
 
 Mukha, opening, 470, 2. 
 Mukhopiidhyfiya, 210, I. 
 Mukhurjea, 2IO, I. 
 Mukti, 59. 
 
 Mula Maha-bharata, 512. 
 Mula-prakriti, 82. 
 Mula-ramayana, 311; 338, 
 
 I ; 5 12 - 
 
 Mula-.sarphitah, 512. 
 Mullen's Essay, 88, I. 
 Miiller, Professor Max, 9, I ; 
 
 12, 2; and passim. 
 Munda, 293. 
 Mumiaka Upanishad, 35 ; 
 
 39? 39, 2; no, i. 
 Muni, 254; 255.
 
 566 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Muraja-bandha, 456. 
 
 Murari, 359, I ; 367. 
 
 Murdhavasikta, 225. 
 
 Murta, 177. 
 
 Murtti, 53, I. 
 
 Musala, 374. 
 
 Musalin (club-armed), 332, 
 
 2. 
 
 Musalmans, 244, I. 
 Mushrooms, eating of, 250. 
 Music, 184. 
 Muslims, 4 ; 251, I. 
 Muttra, 356, I. 
 Mythology, Grecian, 319 ; 
 
 427 ; 428. 
 
 Mythology, Post- vedic, 321 ; 
 418 ; 428-434. 
 
 Naciketas, 40 ; 41. 
 
 Nadi, 177. 
 
 Nadika, 177. 
 
 Naga (serpent-demons), 332, 
 
 _2; 38o;_43l ; 431, I. 
 Naga-kanyas, 431, i. 
 Naga-loka, 431, I. 
 Nagananda, 505, I ; 508. 
 Naga-pandami, 431, I. 
 Nagasahvaya, 377, 2. 
 Nagoji-bhatta, 92, 2 ; 168. 
 Nahusha, 375. 
 Naigama, 157 ; 158. 
 Naighantuka, 156 ; 158. 
 Naimittika Sraddha, 200. 
 Nair tribe, 386, 2. 
 Nairuktas (etymologists), 
 
 158- 
 
 Nairuktikas, 156, i. 
 Naishadha, 453, i ; 454. 
 Naishthika, 238. 
 Naivedya, 218. 
 Naiyayikas, 62 ; 65 ; 66 ; 
 
 73, i ; 87. 
 
 Nakshatra, 172 ; 172, I ; 
 
 178, i ; 179; 199. 
 Nakshatra-darsa, 174. 
 Nakula, 380 ; 387, I ; 402 ; 
 
 4I3- 
 
 Nakullsa, 118. 
 Nala (story of), 13, 2; 251, 
 
 2 ; 330, 3- 
 Nala (king), 344. 
 Nala (monkey-general), 356. 
 Nalodaya, 453 ; 454. 
 Nama-kaiana, 239. 
 Nama-karman, 239. 
 Namaz, 244, i. 
 Nanaka (coin), 264 ; 293. 
 Nanak Shah, 325, I. 
 Nana Sahib, 224, 2. 
 Nanda, 332. 
 Nan da, 521. 
 Nandana, 500. 
 Nanda-pandita, 304 ; 305. 
 
 Nandl, 324, i ; 473 ; 501. 
 Nandi-grama, 352. 
 Napita, 210, I ; 535. 
 Nara, 381, 4. 
 Narabhimani, 471. 
 Nara6a, 405, i. 
 Narada, 26 ; 37 ; 203 ; 301 ; 
 
 302; 411 ; 428; 517, I. 
 Narada-j-iddhanta, 175. 
 Naradiya, 514 ; 521. 
 Narakas, 55, 2 ; 431, I. 
 Narasansa, 159. 
 NarasansI, 195 ; 295. 
 Nara-sinha, 328 ; 521 ; 522. 
 Nara - sinha Upa - purana, 
 
 521. 
 Narayana, 217; 358; 390, 
 
 i ; 399- 
 
 Narmada, 339, 2. 
 Nartaka, 467 ; 470. 
 Nasatyau, n; 158; 387, I. 
 Nasik (from ndsikd), 353, 3. 
 Nastika, 219. 
 Nastikyam, 271. 
 Nathacarya-6udamani, 304. 
 Natika, 472. 
 Natya, 467. 
 Natyarasaka, 472. 
 Nava S'ak (nine divisions), 
 
 210, I. 
 
 Nayaka, 470. 
 Nayar, 386, 2. 
 Nayika, 471. 
 Nectar, 520. 
 Nekyomanteia, 415. 
 Nepal, 524. 
 Nestor, 426. 
 New Testament, 131, 2. 
 Ni6, 164, i. 
 Nica, 473. 
 
 Nicholson, John, 318, I. 
 Nidana-sutra, 153. 
 Nidarsana (example), 6l. 
 Nigama, 157 ; 523, I. 
 Nigamana (conclusion), 6 1. 
 Nighantu, 156; 159; 245, 
 
 2. 
 
 Night, 16 ; 22 ; 423, 4. 
 Nigraha-sthana, 64. 
 Nihilism, 115. 
 Nihsreyasa, 59. 
 Nikshepa, 261. 
 Nlla, 420, I. 
 
 Nlla-kantha (S'iva), 323. 
 Nilakantha-bhatta, 305. 
 Nil-giri hills, 309, I. 
 Nimb tree, leaves of, 299. 
 Nimesha, 177 ; 402. 
 Nimi, 344 ; 511, i. 
 Nimitta-karana, 70. 
 Ninda, 25. 
 Nlpa, 423, 3. 
 Nipata, 151 ; 160. 
 
 Nir-guna, 86 ; 106 ; 112, 2 ; 
 
 514.' 
 
 Nirnaya, 64. 
 Nirnaya-sihdhu, 200. 
 Nirukta, 122, I ; 145 ; 156 ; 
 
 157; 158; 217. 
 Nirukta - parisishta, 159 ; 
 
 161. 
 
 Nirvahana, 470, 2; 471. 
 Nirvana, 59. 
 Nir-vikalpa, 112, 3. 
 Nishadas, 159 ; 310, I. 
 Nishadha, 420, I. 
 Nishadf, 385. 
 Nishka, 293. 
 Nish-kramana, 239. 
 Nishphala, 144, 2. 
 Nlti, 507 ; 526. 
 Niti-sastras, 146 ; 526. 
 Niti-^astras proper, 526. 
 Nitya (S'raddha), 188, I ; 
 
 199; 247. 
 Nivritti, 165. 
 Niyama, 93. 
 Non- Aryan races, 311. 
 Northern Buddhists, 524. 
 Notation (in algebra), 181. 
 Nri-sinha Upa-purana, 521. 
 Nritya, 467. 
 Nullity, 20. 
 
 Numeration, system of, 183. 
 Nushlrvan, 529, 2. 
 Nyagrodha tree, 409. 
 Nyasa-dharin, 263. 
 Nyaya, 46 ; 60 ; 65 ; 86, I ; 
 
 219. 
 
 Nyaya (Sutras), 60, I. 
 Nyaya-mala-vistara, 118. 
 Nyaya-sutra-vritti, 60, I. 
 
 Odras, 229, i. 
 
 Odyssey, 306 ; 355, I ; 389 ; 
 
 415; 421 ; 422. 
 Om, 93; 159; 195; 214, I. 
 Omens, 184. 
 
 Ordeal, ten forms of, 271, I. 
 Ordeal, trial by, 271 ; 297. 
 Orissa, 2IO, I ; 244, I. 
 Ormazd, IO. 
 Orphic hymns, 106, 2. 
 Ovid's Metamorphoses, 330, 
 
 3- 
 Oxus, 7. 
 
 Pada (traditional art), 77. 
 Pada text, 150; 152; 245, 
 
 2. 
 
 Padartha, 53, I ; 66 ; 80, 2. 
 Padma, 368; 514. 
 Padma-bandha, 456. 
 Padma-pura, 499. 
 Padma-purana, 302. 
 Padya (verse), 369.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 567 
 
 Pahlavas, 361. 
 
 Pahlavi, 529, 2. 
 
 Paisaca (marriage), 190 ; 
 
 244. 
 Paitamaham astram, 357 ; 
 
 3- 
 
 Paitamaha siddhatita, 175. 
 Paithlnasi, 302. 
 Pakasasani, 381, 4. 
 Paka-yajna, 188 ; 188, I ; 
 
 232 ; 245 ; 246. 
 Pala, 177 ; 293. 
 Palibothra, 313 ; 332, 2. 
 Pa'ita, 210, I. 
 Paacagavya penance, 273. 
 IViciigni, 189, I. 
 Panca- janah, 1 59 ; 403. 
 Pancajanya, 403. 
 Panca-kosa, 113. 
 Paiicala, 49 ; 390. 
 Panca-lakshana, 512; 516. 
 Pancanana, 323, I. 
 Panwin-ga, 178, I. 
 Paiica-ratraka, 338, I. 
 Panca-siddhiintika, 1 75. 
 Paiiea-tantra, 54> 2 > 2 94' 
 
 2 ; 529, 2 ; 530 ; 531 ; 
 
 533 5 536. 
 
 Panca-tapas, 95 ; 254. 
 Pancavati,^ 353,^3. 
 Paiica-vinsa Brahmana, 25. 
 PaiitSa-yajna, 188. 
 Pancl-karana, in, I. 
 Pancl-krita, III, I. 
 Pancopakhyana, 530. 
 Pandavas, 346, 2 ; 373 ; 401 ; 
 
 408; 515. 
 
 Paiidu, 373 ; 376 ; 377. 
 Pani-grahana, 191. 
 Panigrahanika mantriih, 
 
 263. 
 
 Panin, 162. 
 Panini, 118 ; 149 ; 150 ; 
 
 156, 2; 162; 531. 
 Panmi-darsana, 1 18. 
 Panini's grammar, 152 ; 
 
 161. 
 
 Panjab, 232, 3 ; 252, I. 
 Pantheism, 34; 102; no; 
 
 115; 510. 
 Para, 69. 
 Paradas, 229, I. 
 Paraka (penance), 273. 
 Paramanu, 177. 
 Paramarthika (existence), 
 
 1 08. 
 Paramatman, 40; 51; 74; 
 
 222; 324. 
 Parasara, 203 ; 302 ; 375 ; 
 
 510; 518; 521. 
 Parasara's Code, 118; 301 ; 
 
 32; 35- 
 Parasara-siddhanta, 175. 
 
 Parasara - smriti - vyakhya, 
 
 35- 
 Paraskara's Grihya - sutra, 
 
 187 ; 203, I ;' 295, 3. 
 Parasmai-pada, 164. 
 Parasu-rama, 329 ; 329, 2 ; 
 
 346; 347; 399; 411- 
 
 Paratva, 68. 
 Parda-nishin, 437, 2. 
 Paribhasha, 163, 2. 
 Paribhasheiidu-sekhara, 168, 
 
 I. 
 
 Parijata, 519. 
 Parikara, 458. 
 Parlkshit, 389, 2; 515. 
 Parimanani, 68. 
 Parishad, 217 ; 219. 
 Parisishta (supplements), 
 
 184. 
 
 Parits (washermen), 224, 2. 
 Parivrajaka, 238; 254; 498. 
 Parmenides, 52, I. 
 Partha, 381, 4. 
 Partnership, 262. 
 Parushye, 261. 
 Parvana Sraddha, 199; 247. 
 Parvati, 322 ; 322, 2 ; 324, 
 
 I ; 325, I ; 427 ; 523, I. 
 Paryan-ka-bandha, 93, 2 ; 
 
 324, I. 
 Pasa, 183. 
 Pashandin (heretic), 219 ; 
 
 299.' ' 
 
 Pasu-kalpa, 192. 
 Pasupata (weapon), 393. 
 Pasupatas, 119 
 Pasu-pati, 119. 
 Pasu-yajna, 28, I. 
 Pata, 179. 
 
 PatakS-sthanaka, 471. 
 Patala, 55, 2 ; 363 ; 420, I ; 
 
 43'. I- 
 Pataliputra, 167, 2 ; 224, I ; 
 
 57- 
 
 Patanjala-darsana, I is. 
 Patanjali, 92 ; 166 ; 294, I. 
 Pati-ganita, 176, 3. 
 Pativrata, 437. 
 Patriarchs, 517. 
 Patrin, 405, I. 
 Patroclus, 425. 
 Paulastya, 354, I. 
 Paulisa-siddhanta, 175- 
 Pauloma, 371, I. 
 Paundra (trumpet), 403. 
 Paundrakas, 229, I. 
 Paurava, 404. 
 Piiurnaniasa, 246. 
 Pausha, 173, 3. 
 Paushya, 371, I. 
 Pavitra, 240, I. 
 Penance, 273 ; 274 ; 287. 
 Penelope, 355, I. 
 
 Persians, 361. 
 
 Pervasion in logic, 62. 
 
 Peshwa, 256, 3. 
 
 Phaedo of Plato, 58, I. 
 
 Phaedrus, 42, I, 
 
 Phala, 63. 
 
 Phalguna, 173, 3; 325, I ; 
 
 381, 4 ; 397 ; 472. 
 
 PhalgunI, 173, 3. 
 Phallus, 322, I. 
 Philosophy, common creed, 
 
 50. 
 Philosophy, six systems of, 
 
 46. 
 
 Pickford, Mr. John, 502, I. 
 Picula, 423, 3. 
 Pilpay's fables, 529, 2. 
 Pinda, 200 ; 247 ; 248 ; 266. 
 Pin -gala, 153. 
 Pin-gala-naga, 153. 
 Pippala, 39, 3. 
 Piwica, 276. 
 Pischel, Dr. R., 495, I. 
 Pisistratus, 371. 
 Pisuni, 351, I. 
 Pitamaha, 400, 2. 
 Pitris, 6; 18 ; 159 ; 241 ; 
 
 247 ; 276. 
 
 Pitri-yajna, 194 ; 245. 
 Plaintiff, 297. 
 Plaksha-dvlpa, 420. 
 Planets, nine, 180. 
 Plato, 42, i ; 50, 3 ; 53, 2 ; 
 
 56, 2; 7$ 2; 75, 2; 81, 
 
 I ; 83, 2 ; 104, 2 ; 106, 3 ; 
 
 109, I ; 131, 2 ; 224, i. 
 Plato (Republic), 224, I. 
 Plato (Timaeus), 224, i. 
 Platonic idealism, 103. 
 Platonic realism, 70. 
 Platonists, 53, 2. 
 Plays, Hindu, 466. 
 Poems, artificial, 452 ; 454. 
 Poems, Homeric, 416. 
 Poison, 519. 
 Poitii, 240, I. 
 Polyandry, 386, 2. 
 Polygamy, 243. 
 Polyphemus, 429, 2. 
 Porus, 375, I. 
 Post-vedic literature, 204. 
 Prabha-kara, 232, 3. 
 Prabhasa, 390. 
 Prabhus, 224, 2. 
 Prabodha-tfandrodaya, 508 ; 
 
 509. 
 
 Pra<5anda-pandava, 367. 
 Pradhaiia, 53, 1 ; 82 ; 90, 2 ; 
 
 91 ; 105, 3 ; 473- 
 Pradhana, 522. 
 Prad-vivaka, 296, I. 
 Prahasaua, 472. 
 Prahlada, 3^8.
 
 568 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Prajapati, 154; 206; 217; 
 
 234, 2 ; 273 ; 327, 3. 
 Prajapatis, 206, 1 ; 244 ; 301. 
 Prajapatya (marriage), 190 ; 
 
 244. 
 
 Prajapatya penance, 273. 
 Prakarana, 471. 
 Prakaranl, 472. 
 Prakaranika, 472. 
 Prakriinta, 457. 
 Prakrit, 313; 473; 480; 
 
 485, I- 
 
 Prakrita, 457. 
 Prakriti, 80 ; 84 ; 86 ; 139 ; 
 
 140; 522; 523. 
 Prama, 59 ; 6 1 ; 63 ; 82. 
 Pramana (philosophical), 60 ; 
 
 82;_93; 117; 222. 
 Pramanam, 233 ; 297. 
 Prameya, 63. 
 Prana, 38 ; 177. 
 Prana-maya, 114. 
 Pranatman, 114. 
 Pranava, 93. 
 Pranayaiiia, 93. 
 Pranidhi, 257 ; 263. 
 Prasanna Kumar Thakur, 
 
 304 ; 305, I. 
 
 Prasanna-raghava, 367 ; 508. 
 Prasna Upanishad, 35. 
 Prastavana (prologue), 473. 
 Prasthana, 472. 
 Prastuta, 457. 
 Prathamam retas, 523. 
 Pratibhasika (existence), 108. 
 Pratigraha, 237 ; 262. 
 Pratijfia (proposition), 61. 
 Pratima, 218, I ; 241. 
 Pratima-paricaraka, 218, I. 
 Pratimukha, 470, 2. 
 Prati-nayaka, 471. 
 f Pratipadika, 163. 
 
 Pratisakhyas, Vedic, 149 ; 
 
 150. 
 Prati - sarga ( re - creation), 
 
 5" ; 517. 
 
 Pratishthana, 511, i. 
 Pratitakshara, 304. 
 Prativadin (defendant), 297. 
 Prativindhya, 389, 2. 
 Pratiyamana, 458. 
 Pratyabhijria, 119. 
 Pratyabhijna-darsana, 118. 
 Pratyahara (grammatical), 
 
 l63 L 3 ; 169, I. 
 Pratyahara (restraint), 93. 
 Pratyaksha, 61 ; 117 ; 222 ; 
 
 35 ! - 
 
 Praudha Brahmana, 25. 
 Prava<5ana, 145. 
 Pravaha, 179. 
 Pravahatia, 49. 
 Pravara-sena, 494, 2. 
 
 Pravargya, 341, I. 
 Pravesaka, 473. 
 Pravritti, 63. 
 Prayaga, 359. 
 Prayas-6itta, 55, I ; 208 ; 
 
 209 ; 212 ; 213 ; 273 ; 
 
 278 ; 287 ; 292 ; 299 ; 
 
 411, I. 
 
 Prayntna, 68. 
 Prayer, 473. 
 Prayoga, 402, I. 
 Prayojana (motive), 64. 
 Precepts (moral), 278 ; 441 ; 
 
 442 ; 461 ; 533 ; 536. 
 Prem Chunder Tarkabagish, 
 
 495. I-. 
 
 Premiss in logic, 6l. 
 Prem Sagar, 126, I ; 516. 
 Pren-khana, 472. 
 Preserver, 518. 
 Preta-karyani (funeral rites), 
 
 410. 
 
 Pretya-bhava, 63. 
 Priam, 313, I ; 400, 2. 
 Prinsep's tables, 344, I. 
 Prishatka, 405, I. 
 Pritha, 373 ; 375, 2 ; 377 ; 
 
 410. 
 
 Prithaktva, 68. 
 Prithivl, 12 ; 67 ; 84 ; 427 ; 
 
 '505- 
 Privileges, six (of Brah- 
 
 mans), 237, I. 
 Problems (from Lilavati), 
 
 183- . * 
 Pronunciation, 149. 
 Properties (an-ga), 470. 
 Propertius, 252, I. 
 Property, law of, 262. 
 Proposition in logic, 6l. 
 Protagoras, 104, I ; 131, 2. 
 Puga, 296, I. 
 Pukkasa, 225. 
 Pulaha, 517, I. 
 Pulastya, sage, 302 ; 354, I ; 
 
 517, I- 
 
 Pulastya-siddhanta, 175. 
 Pundarika, 432, I. 
 Punsavana, 192 ; 239. 
 Purana, 37 ; 91 ; 195 ; 207, 
 
 I ; - 249; 295; 368; 509; 
 
 510; 514; 521. 
 Purl, 210, i ; 244, I. 
 Purna-prajna, 118 ; 119. 
 Purodana, 385. 
 Purohita, 257, 2 ; 276. 
 Puru, 332 ; 375. 
 Purusha, 21, I ; 21, 2 ; 22 ; 
 
 82 ; 87 ; 90, 2 ; 140 ; 523. 
 Purusha-pasu, 85. 
 Purusha- sukta, 3 ; 9 ; 1 1 ; 
 
 21 ; 44, I ; 207, i; 214; 
 
 219. 
 
 Purushottama, 91, 3 ; 135, 
 
 i ; 390, i. 
 
 Purva, 199. 
 Purva-mimansa, 98. 
 Purva-paksha, 99. 
 Pfishan, 16. 
 
 Pushkara, 325, I ; 420. 
 Pushpa-danta, 432, I. 
 Pushpaka, 354 ; 359 ; 503. 
 Pushpamitra, 167, 2. 
 Pushya, 173, 3. 
 Put, 249. 
 Put-tra, 249, I. 
 Pythagoras, 47 ; 56, 2 ; 82. 
 I ; 142 ; 181. 
 
 Qualities, three, 56, I ; 85 ; 
 
 275 5 5'3- 
 Qualities of the Vaiseshika, 
 
 68. 
 Quality, 66. 
 
 Races (solar and lunar), 
 
 5", I- 
 
 Radha, 325, I ^ 332 ; 377. 
 Radha or Rarh, 210, I ; 
 
 454; 5 r 5- 
 
 Radheya, 377. 
 Raga (musical), 184. 
 Raghava, 344. 
 Raghavabhyudaya, 367. 
 Raghavapandaviya, 368 ; 
 
 _453 : 533-' 
 Raghava-vilasa, 368. 
 Raghu, 344. 
 
 Raghu-nandana, 252, 2 ; 304. 
 Raghu-nathabhyudaya, 369. 
 Raghu-vansa, 181 ; 228, i ; 
 
 344, i ; 359, i ; 367 ; 45 2 ; 
 
 459- 
 
 Ragini (musical), 184. 
 Rahasya, 32 ; 275. 
 Rahu, I So, I. 
 Raivata, Manu, 206, I 
 Raivataka (mountain), 391. 
 Rajadharma, 374. 
 Rajaks (washermen), 210, I. 
 Rajanya, 22, 2 ; 149, i; 228. 
 Rajarshis, 134, I. 
 llajas (guna), 85 ; 140 ; 222 ; 
 
 275; 3 2 - 
 
 Rajasa Puranas, 513; 514. 
 Raja-sekhara, 367 ; 508. 
 Rajasuya, 391 ; 453. 
 Raja-taran-gini, 368 ; 532. 
 Raja-yakshma, 234, 2. 
 Rajendralala, Mitra, 87, I ; 
 
 5 2 5- 
 
 Rajput, 2 10,1 ; 224, 2; 335,1. 
 Rajputana, 325, I. 
 Raka, 158 ; 172. 
 Rakshasa (demon), 276 ; 
 
 310; 348, i; 400.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 569 
 
 Rakshasa (marriage), 190. 
 
 Rakshasi, 355. 
 
 Rama, 244, I ; 343 ; 344 ; 
 
 502 ; 503 ; 504. 
 Rama's banishment, 348. 
 Rama's birth, 344. 
 Rama (second), 330. 
 Rama and Lakshmana, 345 ; 
 
 351. I- 
 
 Rama and Ravana, 357. 
 Rama-dandra, 315, i ; 329, 
 
 2 ; 33 ; 346, i ; 360, i. 
 
 Rilmacandra - daritra - sara, 
 
 3 J 9- , 
 
 Rama-carana, 368. 
 Ramage's 'Beautiful 
 
 Thoughts,' 142. 
 Rama-gita, 368. 
 Rama-hridaya, 368. 
 Rama-llla, 365. 
 Rama-navamI, 365, I. 
 Ramanuja, 118; 325, I. 
 Rama-setu, 356, I. 
 Rama-vilasa, 368. 
 Ramayana, 306 ; 315 ; 335 ; 
 
 366; 367; 368. 
 Ramayana (epitome of), 335. 
 Ramayana (recension of), 
 
 336. 
 
 Ramayana-mahatmya, 368. 
 Ramdoolal Dey, 249, 3. 
 Ramesurum, 356, 2. 
 Ramopakhyana, 366 ; 366, I. 
 Ramusies, 309, I. 
 Rangarls (dyers), 224, 2. 
 Rasa, 68 ; 457; 471. 
 Rasaka, 472. 
 Rasa-manjarl, 457. 
 Rasana, 73- 
 Rasatala, 431, I. 
 Rase.svara, 118. 
 Rasi, 178; 182. 
 Ratha-carya, 383. 
 Ratha-kara, 149 ; 149, 2 ; 
 
 224, 2. 
 
 Rathan-ga, 423, I. 
 Rationalism, 218. 
 Rationalistic Brahmanism, 
 
 5- 
 
 Ratnavali, 437, 2 ; 505 ; 506. 
 Raudra, 457, I ; 471. 
 Raudrl, 522. 
 Ravana, 309, I ; 328 ; 330 ; 
 
 3375 339; 353i 392, 2; 
 
 53- 
 Ravana, description of, 342 ; 
 
 421 ; 429. 
 Realism, 70. 
 Reasoning, 6 1. 
 Reciters of the Ramayana, 
 
 Recorde, Robert, 182, I. 
 Regions, seven, 431, I. 
 
 Regnier, M. Adolphe, 150, 2. 
 
 Retaliation, 269. 
 
 Revati, 391. 
 
 Revenue, 258. 
 
 Rhetoric (figures of), 469. 
 
 Rhyme (employment of), 
 
 455- 
 
 Ribhus, 14 ; 14, 2 ; 149, 2. 
 Ricika, 27, i. 
 Right - hand worshippers, 
 
 523, I- 
 Rig-veda, 5 ; 19 ; 21 ; 23 ; 
 
 101 ; 245. 2. 
 Rig-veda-pratisiikhya, 149 ; 
 
 '150; i5i : 
 Rigvedi Brahmans, 224, 2 ; 
 
 ' .245, 2. 
 
 Riju-yodhin, 408. 
 Rik, 5 ; 6. 
 Rina, 183. 
 Rinadana, 261. 
 Rishi, 3 ; 29 ; 191 ; 241 ; 
 
 244^375; 399- 
 Rishyasrin-ga, 340. 
 Ritu-samhara, 453. 
 Ritv-ij, 231, I ; 232. 
 Rivalry between sects, 513. 
 Roer, Dr., 35, 3 ; 39, I ; 60, 
 
 I ; 203, I ; 291, 2; 292, I. 
 Rohini, 234, 2 ; 332 ; 387, 1. 
 Rohita, 26. 
 Roma-harshana, 510. 
 Romaka-siddhanta, 175- 
 Rost,Dr.,252, i; 506; 532,2. 
 Roth, Professor, 38, I; 158, 1. 
 Royal Asiatic Society, 158 ; 
 
 179. 
 
 Ru (in algebra), 182. 
 Rudra, 322 ; 322, I ; 399 ; 
 
 409, 2. 
 
 Rudra-bhatta, 457. 
 Rudraksha berries, 324, I. 
 Rudra-yamala Tantra, 525. 
 Runjit Sinh, 325, I. 
 Rupa, 68 ; 182 ; 387, I. 
 Rupaka, 458. 
 Ryot (cultivator), 227, 3 5 
 
 258, 2. 
 
 Sabara-svilmin, 98, I. 
 
 Sabda (sound), 4. 
 
 Sabda (verbal authority), 6l ; 
 
 117 ; 222. 
 
 Sabda-kalpadruma, 55, i. 
 f-iabda-lakshana, 453. 
 Sabdalan-kara, 457. 
 Sabha, 260 ; 391 ; 392. 
 Sabha-parvan, 373. 
 Sabhya (fire), 189, I. 
 Sad-did-ananda, 106 ; 1 1 1, 5 ; 
 
 "3,3- 
 
 Sacrifice, 28, I ; 430. 
 Sad-adara, 209; 293. 
 
 Sadhyas, 136, 2; 276; 400. 
 Sagara, 79, i ; 344; 361 ; 
 
 362. 
 
 Sagara, 363. 
 Sagarika, 506. 
 
 Sahadeva, 380; 387, I; 402. 
 Sahasa, 261. 
 Sahitya-darpana, 367 ; 456 ; 
 
 457- 
 
 Sahokti, 458. 
 Saiqal-gar, 224, 2. 
 Saiva-darsana, 118. 
 Saiva Puranas, 514. 
 Saiva sect, 94 ; 325, I. 
 Saka-dvlpa, 420. 
 Sakala-sakha, 150. 
 Sakalya, 161, 2. 
 Sakapuni, 159. 
 Sakas, 229, I ; 361. 
 Sakatayana, 160; 161; 161, 
 
 2. 
 
 Sakha, 150 ; 187. 
 Sakhanta-ga, 216. 
 Sakrasyansa, 387, I. 
 Sakshinah (witnesses), 297. 
 Saktas, 322, I ; 322, 2 ; 325, 
 
 , i ; SH; 522. 
 
 Sakti, 91; 217; 322,25522. 
 Sakuni, 373 ; 380; 385; 391; 
 , 392; 410, I. 
 Sakuntala, 58, I; 95; 128, I; 
 
 256, 2; 259, i; 361 ; 437, 
 , 2 ; 494. , 
 
 Salatura, Salaturiya, 162. 
 Sails (weavers), 224, 2. 
 Sfdmali-dvlpa, 420. 
 Salya (king), 184; 3785391; 
 
 405, I ; 406. 
 Salya-parvan, 373. 
 Sama, 399. 
 Samadhi, 93 ; 323. 
 Samahara, 169, I. 
 Saman, 5 ; 398. 
 Samanodaka-bhava, 248. 
 Samanya, 66 ; 69. 
 Samanya-dharma, 457. 
 Samavakiira, 471. 
 Samavartana, 195; 239; 242. 
 Samaviiya, 66 ; 69. 
 Samavayi-karana, 51, 3; 53> 
 
 i; 70. 
 
 Sama-veda, 3 ; 6 ; 25 ; 245,2. 
 Sama- veda priest, 216. 
 Sama-veda Fpamshads, 35. 
 Samayadara, 145; 1 86. ' 
 Samayadarika SQtras. 145 ; 
 
 186 ; 202; 203 ; 208; 213. 
 Samba, 521. 
 Sambhu, 183. 
 
 Sambhuya samutthana, 261. 
 Sambuka, 504. 
 Samhara (restraint), 402, i. 
 Samhita text, 152.
 
 570 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Samhitas of the Veda, 245, 
 , 2; 275. 
 SarnI tree, 196. 
 Samlapaka, 472. 
 Samoyedic language, 309, I. 
 Sam^aptaka, 405. 
 Samsaya, 64. 
 Samsrishti, 458. 
 Samudra-mathana, 471. 
 Samvarta's Code, 203 ; 302. 
 Sam vat, 494. 
 
 Samvido vyatikrama, 261. 
 Samyavastha, 85. 
 Samyoga, 68. 
 San (in grammar), 164, I. 
 Sanat-kumara, 37 ; 521. 
 Saiicayana (of ashes), 199. 
 Sandhi (juncture in drama), 
 
 470 ; 470, 2. 
 
 Sandhi (rules of), 152 ; 245, 2. 
 Sandhyas, 241 ; 280, I. 
 Sandhya-vandana, 245, 2. 
 Sandilya, Aphorisms of, 125. 
 
 2. 
 Sandrokottos or Sandrakot- 
 
 tus, 224, I ; 507. 
 San-gita, 498. 
 San-gita-damodara, 185. 
 San-glta-darpana, 184. 
 San-gita- ratnakara, 184; 
 
 470. 
 
 San-graha-parvan, 370, I. 
 Sani (Saturn), 179. 
 Sani-vara, 178, I. 
 Sanjaya, 378; 400; 407, I. 
 Sanjna, 163, 2; 428,^3. 
 San-kara Acarya or San-ka- 
 
 racarya, 39, 3; 46; 73; 
 
 101, 2 ; 104 ; 107 ; no; 
 
 1225303, i 5325, i; 454; 
 
 494, 2. 
 
 San-kara (of figures), 458. 
 San-kara-jatlyah, 224. 
 San-kara-misia, 62 ; 68. 
 San-kha, 183; 203; 301; 
 , 302;_403. 
 San-khayana, 146. 
 San-khayana-brahmaria, 25. 
 San-khayana Grihya Sutras, 
 
 _i86. 
 San-khya philosophy, 39; 
 
 46; 73; 795 86,1 ; 118; 
 
 219; 531. 
 San-khya Gunas, 51, 3; 85, 
 
 I. 
 
 San-khya Sutras, 79, I. 
 San-khya (synthesis), 60. 
 San-khyah (numbers), 68. 
 San-khya-karika, 48, I ; 51, 
 
 i 5 S5> 3 5 73, 2 ; 79, i ; 
 
 _8o, 2 ; 83, i. 
 
 San-khya-pravacana, 79, I ; 
 
 221 ; 290, 2 ; 531. 
 
 San-khya - prava6ana - bha- 
 
 shya, 79, I ; 85. 
 San-klrna, 472. 
 Sannyasin, 238 ; 254 ; 303, 
 
 I. 
 Sanskara (ceremonies), 188; 
 
 192 ; 232; 2385239; 243. 
 Sanskara (quality), 69 ; 138. 
 Sanskarana, 161. 
 Sanskrit, 485. 
 Sanskrita, 161. 
 Santa (rasa), 457, I. 
 Santa, Dasaratha's daughter, 
 
 _34. 
 
 Santanava, 375- 
 Santanava's Phit-sutras,l6l, 
 
 2. 
 
 Santanu, 375. 
 Santapana (penance), 273. 
 Santhals. 309, I. 
 Santi, 411. 
 Santi - parvan, 366 ; 374 ; 
 
 411. 
 Sapirtdata (sapindaship), 
 
 248'; 266. 
 
 Saptapadibhava, 191. 
 Saptarshayah (seven patri- 
 archs), 517, i. 
 Sapta-sataka, 367. 
 Sapta-sati, 367. 
 Sara, 405, I ; 458. 
 Sarabhan-ga (an ascetic), 
 
 2 52, I- 
 
 Sarad, 453. 
 Sarada-tilaka, 525. 
 Sarama, sons of, 198. 
 Saras vata, 210, I. 
 Sarasvati, 205 ; 209 ; 298 ; 
 
 393 ; 408, I ; 427 ; 522. 
 Sarasvati - kanthabharana, 
 
 457- 
 
 Sarayu, river, 339, 2. 
 Sardula - vikridita, metre, 
 
 213, 2. 
 
 Sarga (creation), 511. 
 Sarira, 63 ; 73. 
 Sarmishtha-yayati, 472. 
 Sarn-ga-deva, 184 ; 470. 
 Sarn-gadhara-paddhati, 368. 
 Sarpari, 431, i. 
 Sarpis, 420. 
 Sarva, 409, 2. 
 Sarva-darsana-san-graha,8o, 
 
 2 ; 118 ; 119 ; 120 ; 338, 
 
 i. 
 
 Sarva-naman, 169, I. 
 Sarvato-bhadra, 456. 
 Sarva-bhauma, 431, 2. 
 Sastra, 46; 261 ; 283, 2 ; 371, 
 
 2. 
 
 Satamka, 389, 2. 
 Satapatha-brahmana, 3 ; 25 ; 
 
 29; 31 ; 355 56,2; 148; 
 
 294, 3 ; 320 ; 327, 2 ; 328, 
 
 ._ij 341, i. 
 
 Satatapa's Code, 203 ; 302. 
 Sati, 196, I ; 201 ; 207, i ; 
 244, i; 251 ; 252, 2 ; 312. 
 Satru-ghna, 345j 503. 
 Satrunjaya-mahatmya, 367. 
 Sattaka, 472. 
 Sattva, 85; 140; 2225275; 
 
 _32I. 
 
 SattvatI or Satvati (style), 
 
 _S03, i. 
 
 Sattvika Puranas, 5 13-5 1 5- 
 Saturn, 179. 
 Satya(age),55,2; 328; 333 ; 
 
 43 1 - i- 
 
 Satyaki, 398 ;, 410. 
 Satyashadha Srauta Sutras, 
 
 146. 
 
 Satyavan, 395. 
 SatyavatI, 371, I ; 375. 
 Saubala, 380, I. 
 Saubaleyl, 377. 
 Sauball, 377 ; 380, I. 
 Saudhan \-ann, 149, 2. 
 Saumanas, 432, i. 
 Saumitri, 345. 
 Saumilla, 498. 
 Saunaka, ,150. 
 
 Saunaka Srauta Sutras, 146. 
 Saunakiya C'aturadhyayika, 
 
 I5I- 
 Sauptika-parvan, 374 ; 409, 
 
 I. 
 
 Saura, 177 ; 179 ; 521. 
 Saura-siddhanta, 175. 
 Sauryas or Sauras, 325, I. 
 Sauti, 510, I. 
 SautramanI, 301, 2. 
 Savala, 361. 
 
 Savana (month), 177; 179. 
 Savanas (three), 241 ; 254. 
 Savitri, 16 ; 17 ; 191 ; 346, I. 
 Savitrl (Gayatri), 17 ; 195 ; 
 
 214 ; 214, I ; 274. 
 Savya-sacin, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Sayaka (arrow), 405, I. 
 Say ana, 39 ; 118 ; 153; 156. 
 Scepticism, 49; 120; 351; 
 
 417. 
 Schlegel, Augustus William, 
 
 336, I- 
 
 Schools of Hindu law, 302. 
 Scythians, 361. 
 Seclusion of Hindu women, 
 
 437, 2. 
 Sects, Hindu, 325 ; 325, I ; 
 
 326. 
 Seekers after God (Farrar's), 
 
 142. 
 
 Sena (tribe), 210, I. 
 Senaka (grammarian), 161,2. 
 Seneca, 142.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 571 
 
 Sentiments, moral, 278; 441; 
 
 461 ; 533- 
 
 Sesamum seed, 200. 
 Sesha, serpent, 235, I ; 332, 
 
 , 2; 431 ; 431, i- 
 
 Seshadri, Rev. Nariiyan, 
 
 235, I- 
 
 Seton-Karr, Mr., 252, 2. 
 Setu, 356, I. 
 
 Setu-bandha, 367 ; 494, 2. 
 Setu-kavya, 494, 2. 
 Shad-vinsa Brahmana, 25. 
 Shahadat, 244, i. 
 Shi', kespeare, no, 3; 435. 
 Shrnkar P. Pandit, 497. 
 Shat-karmani, 237. 
 Siamese language, 309, I. 
 Siddha (divine being), 136, 
 
 2 ; 519. 
 Siddhanta (astronomical), 
 
 175- 
 
 Siddhanta (in logic), 64. 
 Siddhanta-kaumudl, 168. 
 Siddhanta-muktavali, 60, I. 
 Siddhanta-siromani, 176. 
 Siddhartha, 507, I. 
 Sighrocca, 179. 
 Sikalgars, 224, 2. 
 Sikh chief, 325, I. 
 Sikhs of the Panjab, 325, 
 
 I. 
 
 Siksha, 145 ; 149. 
 Slla (morality), 208. 
 Slladitya, 367 ; 533. 
 Silara (king), 303. 
 Sillmukha, 405, I. 
 Silpa (mechanical arts), 185. 
 Silpaka, 472. 
 Silpa -sastra, 184. 
 Slmantonnayana, 192 ; 239. 
 Slma-vivada-dharma, 261. 
 Simla, 386, 2. 
 Simpis (tailors), 224, 2. 
 Sinclair, Mr. W. F., 224, 2 ; 
 
 227, I. 
 
 Singing, 184; 467. 
 Sinha, 423, I. 
 Sinhala, 344, 2. 
 Sinhasana-dvatrinsat, 532. 
 Simvall, 158; 173. 
 Sinsapa, 534. 
 Sipahls, 224, 2. 
 Sipala, 198, 3. 
 Sisira, 453. 
 
 Sisu-pala, 391 ; 419, I. 
 Sisupala-badha, 453 ; 464. 
 Sita (black), 522. 
 Sits, 335, i ; 353 ? 426 ; 
 
 503; 504- 
 Sita, rape of, 337. 
 Sita-phal, 351, I. 
 Sitikantha, 409, 2. 
 Siva, 9'; 50; 276, i ; 321 ; 
 
 322; 409, 2; 429, 430; 
 ,513; 514; 5i8; 521. 
 Siva-dharma, 521. 
 Siva-ratri, 325, I. 
 Siva Sutras, 163, I. 
 Sivaji, 256, 3. 
 Sivika, 358. 
 Six privileges of Brahmans, 
 
 237- 
 Skanda, 368 ; 427 ; 481 ; 
 
 , 481, i; 5'4; 522. 
 
 Slesha, 458. 
 
 Sloka, 155 ; 213. 
 
 Sloka (invention of), 311, i ; 
 54- 
 
 Smarta-bhattacarya, 304, 2. 
 
 Smiirta Sutras, 145 ; 186. 
 
 Sma.sana (burning-ground), 
 196 ; 299. 
 
 Smith, Mr. G., 394, i. 
 
 Smriti. 4; 101 ; 144; 145; 
 208 ; 213 ; 220 ; 293 ; 
 301 ; 452. 
 
 Smriti-candrika, 305. 
 
 Smriti-tattva, 304. 
 
 Snana, 195 ; 242. 
 
 Snataka, 196 ; 295. 
 
 Sneha, 69. 
 
 Socrates, 58, I. 
 
 Soka, 504. 
 
 Solar line of kings, 343; 344. 
 
 Solomon, Song of, 467. 
 
 Soma (ceremonies and sacri- 
 fice), 6 ; 28, I ; 274. 
 
 Soma (juice), 274. 
 
 Soma (god), 189. 
 
 Soma (moon), 234, 2 ; 375. 
 
 Soma (plant), 6 ; 14. 
 
 Soma-deva, 531 ; 532. 
 
 Soma-deva, Bhatta, 531. 
 
 Soma-rudra, 275. 
 
 Soma-siddhanta, 175. 
 
 Soma-vans'a, 375; 511, I. 
 
 Soma-vara, 178, I. 
 
 Somnath, 322, I. 
 
 Sonars, 224, 2. 
 
 Soul (universal), 9 ; 21 ; 22 ; 
 
 34- 
 
 South Indian school, 305. 
 Sparsa, 68. 
 Sphotayana, 161, 2. 
 Spirit (universal), 8 ; 9 ; 21 ; 
 
 22; 34; 103. 
 Spirituous liquor (drinking), 
 
 250. 
 Sraddha, 26, I ; 121, 4 ; 
 
 196; 199 ; 200 ; 247 ; 
 
 266 ; 270, i ; 300 ; 411 ; 
 
 , 43 ; 433, I- 
 Sraddha, 346, I. 
 Srag-bandha, 456. 
 Sramana, 276, i; 312, 3; 
 
 475 ; 487- 
 
 Srauta-stitra, 145 ; 146; 184; 
 
 1 86. 
 
 Sravana (nakshatra), 173, 3. 
 Sravana (month), 171 ; 173, 
 
 , 3; 431, I- 
 Sravishtha, 171. 
 SrenI, 296, i ; 297. 
 Sreshthin, 296, i. 
 Sri, 427 ; 520. 
 Sridhara-sena, 367. 
 Srldhara-svamin, 515. 
 SrI-gadita, 472. 
 Sri-harsha, 453 ; 453, i ; 
 
 , 505- 
 
 Sri-kantha, 499. 
 Srin-gara, 457, i; 471 ; 528. 
 Srin-gara-tilaka, 457. 
 Sringata, 423, 3. 
 Srin-gin, 420, I. 
 Sri-vatsa, 332. 
 Sruta, 3 ; 144. 
 Sruta-bodha, 153 ; 494, 2. 
 Srutakarman, 389, 2. 
 Srutasena, 389, 2. 
 Sruti, 24; 25, 2; 33; 48, 
 
 , i; 144; 214; 220; 293. 
 Sruti-dvaidham, 216. 
 Stage-manager, 473. 
 Stanzas, fanciful shapes of, 
 
 456. 
 
 Stenzler, Prof., 186, 2 ; 1 88 ; 
 2OI, I ; 203, i ; 292, I ; 
 
 295. 3 ; 301. 3 ; 475. 2. 
 
 Steya, 261 ; 270. 
 
 Sthallpaka, 191. 
 
 Sthanu, 323 ; 409, 2. 
 
 Sthapati (architect), 185. 
 
 Sthapatya-veda, 184. 
 
 Sthavara, 56, i. 
 
 Sthula-sarira, 53, 2. 
 
 Strabo, 221 ; 224, I ; 252, 
 I ; 257, 2 ; 259, I ; 268, 
 I ; 276, I ; 278, 2 ; 308,, 
 I 5 318; 507. 
 
 Strl-dhana, 267 ; 267, I. 
 
 Stri-parvan, 374. 
 
 Strl-pun-dliarma, 261. 
 
 Strl-san-grahana, 261. 
 
 Subala (king), 377 ; 391. 
 
 Subandhu, 367 ; 533. 
 
 Subhadra, 381, 3; 389, 2; 
 
 , 391- 
 
 Subhan-kara, 185. 
 Su-bhata, 367. 
 Subodhinl, 304. 
 Siulra, 212; 223; 439, I. 
 Sudraka, 475. 
 Sufi-ism, 33 ; 102, i. 
 Sugrlva, 337; 356; 359; 
 
 425- 
 
 Suicide, 299. 
 Suka, 515. 
 Suka-saptati, 532.
 
 572 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sukha, 68. 
 
 Sukra, 179; 301 ; 409, 2. 
 Sukra-vara, 178, I. 
 Sukshma-dharma, 387, I. 
 Sukshma-sarlra, 53, 2 ; 198, 
 
 , 3- 
 
 Sukti, i io, 4. 
 Sulaiman I., 529, 2. 
 Sula-pani, 303. 
 Sulka, 267. 
 Sumantu, 302. 
 Sumitra, 341. 
 Sun, 16 ; 17. 
 Sunah4epha, 25 ; 27. 
 Sundara-kanda, 337 ; 367. 
 Sundara-misra, 367. 
 Sun-ga dynasty, 498. 
 Sunitha, 392. 
 Sunnah or Sunna, 24. 
 Sunya, 83,3 ; 105, 4 ; 183. 
 Suparna, 276. 
 Supplements to Veda, 184. 
 Suppressions of breath, three, 
 
 240. 
 
 Supra tika, 432, I. 
 Supreme Being, epithets of, 
 
 , 43- 
 
 Sura (Yadava king), 377. 
 Surabhi, 519. 
 Sura-pana, 270 ; 420. 
 Surashtra, 417. 
 Surgery^ 1 84. 
 
 Suris (spirit sellers), 2IO, I. 
 Surpa-nakha, 353 ; 366. 
 Surun-ga, 385. 
 Surya, u ; 16 ; 256 ; 321 ; 
 
 344- 
 Surya-siddhanta, 175; 176; 
 
 178. 
 
 Surya, 346, I. 
 Surya-sukta, 191, I. 
 Su-shupti, ill, 4. 
 Su-sruta, 184. 
 Suta (charioteer, bard), 377 ; 
 
 Sio; 5I5- 
 Sutala, 431, I. 
 Sutars (carpenters), 224, 2. 
 Sutasoma, 389, 2. 
 Sutra, 60. 
 Sutra-dhara or carpenter, 
 
 224, 2. 
 Sutras of Panini, 162 ; 163 ; 
 
 164. 
 
 Sutras (aphorisms), 25 ; 46. 
 Sutras (Buddhist), 147, 3. 
 Sutratman, 114. 
 Suttee (Sati), 196, i. 
 Suvarra, 293. 
 Su-yodhana, 378. 
 Sva (in algebra), 183. 
 Sva-dharma, 297. 
 Svadhyaya, 194 ; 245 ; 245, 
 
 2. 
 
 Svar, 55, 2; 159; 1955431, 
 
 I. 
 
 Svargarohanika-parvan, 374. 
 Svaro6isha (Manu), 206, I. 
 Svayam-bhu, 206, i; 217; 
 
 220. 
 
 Svayambhuva (Manu), 206 ; 
 
 221 ; 330, 3. 
 Svayamvara, 251 ; 377 ; 388 ; 
 
 , 43 8 . 2 5 439, 3- 
 Sveta, 122, 3. 
 Sveta (mountains), 420, I. 
 Sveta-dvipa, 126, I. 
 Svetaketu, 49. 
 Sveta-lohita, 122, 3. 
 Sveta-sikha, 122, 3. 
 Svetasva, 122, 3. 
 Svetasvatara Upanishad, 
 
 , 43 ; 44, I ; 122. 
 Sveta-vahana, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Swinging festival, 325, I. 
 Syama-rahasya, 525. 
 Syan (in grammar), 164, I. 
 Syllogism, 62. 
 Synthesis, 60 ; 82. 
 
 Tadaka, 354. 
 
 Taddhita affixes, 152, 169. 
 
 Tagore Law Lectures, 267, 
 
 I. 
 Tail! (oilman), 210, I ; 224, 
 
 2. 
 Taittiriya (Yajur-veda), 5 ; 
 
 6 ; 35 ; 234, 2. 
 Taittiriyas or Taittiriyakas, 
 
 205 ; 245, 2_; 335, i. 
 Taittiriya - brahmana, 25 ; 
 
 328, I. 
 
 Taittiriyaranyaka, 149. 
 Taittiriya Upanishad, 35. 
 Taj-jalan, 102, I. 
 Takshaka, 354; 431, I. 
 Talatala, 431, I. 
 Talava-kara Upanishad, 35, 
 
 2. 
 
 Talmud, 24. 
 Tamas, 67 ; 85 ; 140 ; 222 ; 
 
 275; 321- 
 Tamasa (Manu), 206, I ; 
 
 513; 514. 
 Tamil, 309, I. 
 Tamisra (hell), 335. 
 Tamraparni, 344, 2. 
 Tandava, 467. 
 Tandula, 271, I. 
 Tandya Brahmana, 25. 
 Tan-matras, 83 ; 221. 
 Tantls (weavers), 210, I. 
 Tantra, 91 ; 322, I ; 522- 
 
 525 ; 530. 
 
 Tantrl, 210, I. 
 
 Tantrika doctrines, 322, 2 ; 
 
 Tapah or tapar (heavenly 
 
 sphere), 55, 2 ; 431, I. 
 Tapas (austerity), 323. 
 Tapas (theory of), 342, I. 
 Tapta - kri66hra (penance), 
 
 273- 
 
 Tapta-masha, 271, I. 
 Taraka (a Daitya), 324, I. 
 Taran-ga, 532. 
 Tarka, 64 ; 220. 
 Tarka-san-graha, 60, I ; 70 ; 
 
 72; 74- 
 
 Tarka-vidya, 219. 
 Tarkin, 220. 
 Tarpana, 241. 
 Tartar tribes, 309, I. 
 Tatpara (measure of time), 
 
 177. 
 
 Tatpurusha, 152. 
 Tattva, 80 ; 80, 2. 
 Tattva-jnanam, 104. 
 Tattva-samasa, 21, I ; 79, 
 
 1 ; 290, 3. 
 
 Tattvas, twenty-five, 80, 2 ; 
 82 ; 219. 
 
 Tawhid, 244, I. 
 
 Taxation, six heads of, 259. 
 
 Taxes, 258 ; 259. 
 
 Te Deum, 136, 2. 
 
 Tejas, 67 ; 84 ; 387, I. 
 
 Telemachus, 440, I. 
 
 Telingi, 224, 2. 
 
 Tells or oilmen, 224, 2. 
 
 Telugu, 309, I. 
 
 Telugu country, 245, 2. 
 
 Terms in arithmetic and al- 
 gebra, 182. 
 
 Tertiary compound, 71. 
 
 Testamentary power, 265. 
 
 Thales, 52, I ; 112, I. 
 
 Thirty-three gods, 321, 2. 
 
 Thomson, Mr., 124, I ; 138. 
 
 Thracians, 252, I. 
 
 Thunderer, 14. 
 
 Tibetan language, 309, I. 
 
 Tila, 200. 
 
 Timaeus, 50, 3; 51, 3 ; 53, 
 
 2 ; 56, 2 ; 81, I ; 103, I. 
 Time, hymn in praise of, 
 
 22. 
 
 Tirhut, 302. 
 Tirtha, 244, I ; 408, I. 
 Tithi, 177. 
 Tithi-tattva, 304. 
 Tomara, 405, I. 
 Topics of the Nyaya, 60; 
 
 64. 
 
 Torana, 185. 
 Tota kahani, 532. 
 Townships, 258. 
 Toxicology, 184. 
 Tradition (smriti), 144. 
 Tragedy, 468 ; 469.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 573 
 
 Trailokya, 218. 
 Trajan, Emperor, 313. 
 Transfiguration, 135, 2. 
 Transmigration, n ; 31; 56; 
 
 56, 2; 217; 222; 334; 
 
 530. 
 
 Trasa-renu, 71. 
 Trayam brahma, 214. 
 Tray I vidya, 214. 
 Treasure-trove, 259. 
 Treta (age), 178, 2; 221; 
 
 301 ; 302 ; 328 ; 330, 3. 
 Treta (three fires), 1 88; 189,1. 
 Tii 1, ii ; 217 ; 321. 
 Tri-danda, 121, 2. 
 Tri-dandin, 131, 2. 
 Tri-kanda, 161. 
 Tri-lin-ga, 224, 2. 
 Triinurti, II ; 217; 321; 
 
 59_; 514; 5 16 - 
 
 Tri-na6iketa, 214, I. 
 
 Tri-pada, 155. 
 
 Tripura-daha, 471. 
 
 Trishtubh metre, 154; 335, 2. 
 
 Trisula, 183. 
 
 Tri-suparna, 214, I. 
 
 Tri-vikrama, 329, I ; 367. 
 
 Tri-vrit, 154 ; 240. 
 
 Trotaka, 472. 
 
 Troyer, M., 532, 2. 
 
 Truti, 177. 
 
 Tiy-ambaka, 323, I. 
 
 Tnda, 309, I. 
 
 Tula, 271, I ; 297. 
 
 Tulasi, 271, I. 
 
 Tnlasi-dasa or Tulsi-das, 
 368. 
 
 Tullberg, Dr., 497, I. 
 
 Tulya-yogita, 458. 
 
 Tungusic (Mantchu) lan- 
 guage, 309, I. 
 
 Turanian languages, 309, I. 
 
 Turanian races, 229. 
 
 Turkish language, 309, I. 
 
 Turphari, 122, I. 
 
 Tutl-nama, 532. 
 
 Tvashtri, 14 ; 387, I. 
 
 U6ca, 179. 
 Udaharaiia, 6l. 
 Udaka-dana, 247 ; 248. 
 Udatta-raghava, 367. 
 Udattokti, 473. 
 Udayana (king), 506. 
 Udayana Acarya, 77- 
 Uddhara, 267. 
 Uddlsa, 525. 
 Udgatri, 6 ; 216. 
 Udyoga-parvan, 373- 
 Ugra, 409, 2. 
 Ugra-sravas, 510, I. 
 Ujjayini (Oujein), 176; 330, 
 35 4945 494. I- 
 
 Ujjvala-datta, 161, 2. 
 
 Ulka-mukha, 237 ; 276. 
 
 Ullapya, 472. 
 
 Uliika, 65, I. 
 
 Ulupl, 389, 2 ; 431, I. 
 
 Ulysses, 426. 
 
 Uma, 361 ; 522 ; 523. 
 
 Umapati, 409, 2. 
 
 Unadi-sutras, 161, 2. 
 
 Unmarried girls, 268. 
 
 Upadana-karana, 53, I. 
 
 Upa-dharma, 246. 
 
 Upadhi, 63, I ; 113, 2. 
 
 Upadhyaya, 232. 
 
 Upama, 457. 
 
 Upamana, 6l ; 117; 457; 
 
 458. 
 
 Upameya, 457 ; 458. 
 Upanaya, 6l. 
 
 Upanayana, 189 ; 192 ; 239. 
 Upanishads, 4; 21, 2; 32; 
 
 32, i ; 34 ; 35 ; 56, ' 2 ; 
 
 122 ; 216. 
 Upansu, 246. 
 Upapataka, 270. 
 Upa-purana, 146 ; 521. 
 Upa-rupaka, 470 ; 472. 
 Upasad, 341, I. 
 Upa-samhriti, 470, 2. 
 Upasarga, 151, 160. 
 Upavasa (fast), 325, I. 
 Upa-veda, 184. 
 Upendra-vajra, 156. 
 Uposhita (fasting), 253. 
 UrvasT, 375. 
 Usanas, 203 ; 301. 
 Ushas, II ; 17 ; 428. 
 Usury, 263 ; 264. 
 Utkala, 210, I. 
 Utpreksha, 458. 
 Utsava, 325, I. 
 Utsri.shtikan-ka, 471. 
 Uttara, 199. 
 Uttara - kanda, 337 ; 359 ; 
 
 365 I- 
 
 Uttara-mlmansa, 98. 
 Uttara-paksha, 99. 
 Uttara - rama - darita, 337 ; 
 
 365. i ; 367 ; 499 ; 502 ; 
 503- 
 
 Uttarayana, 403. 
 
 Va6 (word), 214. 
 Va(5aspati Misra, 92, 2 ; 305. 
 Va<5ya, 458. 
 
 Vada (controversy), 64. 
 Vadhuna Srauta Sutras, 146. 
 Vadin (plaintiff), 297. 
 Vag-dandayoh parushye,272. 
 Vahana, 430. 
 Vaiclika, 278, I. 
 Vaidika (repeaters of Veda), 
 245, 2. 
 
 Vaidya, 210, I ; 225. 
 Vaijayanti, 304 ; 305. 
 Vaikartana, 378, I. 
 Vaikhanasa Srauta Sutras, 
 
 146. 
 
 Vaikuntha, 334. 
 Vaimanika, 276. 
 Vairagya, 93 ; 528. 
 Vaisakha, 173, 3. 
 Vaisampayana, 371, i; 374; 
 
 510, I. 
 Vaiseshika philosophy, 46 ; 
 
 53, i ; 60; 65; 71 ; 77; 
 
 85 ; 219. 
 Vaiseshika Sutras, 60, I ; 
 
 62 ; 64, I. 
 
 Vaishnavas, 325, i ; 515. 
 Vaishnavi, 522. 
 Vaisravana, 354. 
 Vaisvadeva-homa, 188, i. 
 Vaisya, 22, 2 ; 212 ; 223 ; 
 
 224, 2 ; 349, i. 
 Vaitanika oblations, 188 ; 
 
 254. 
 
 VaitaranI, 415. 
 Vaivasvata (seventh Manu), 
 
 30, I ; 206, I ; 330, 3 ; 
 
 344- 
 
 Vajasaneyins, 5 ; 150. 
 Vajasaney i-pratisakhya, 151; 
 
 152. 
 
 Vajasaneyi-sanihita, 25. 
 Vaka, 386. 
 
 Vakovakyam, 295 ; 295, I. 
 Vakula, 423, 3. 
 Valabhi, 367. 
 Valabhl, 453. 
 Valabhi-pura, 367. 
 Vallabhadiirya, 325, I. 
 Valli (Katha Upanishad), 42. 
 Valmlki, 311, I ; 314; 315; 
 
 366 ; 367 ; 368 ; 416 ; 
 
 504- 
 
 Vama<5arins, 523, I. 
 Vamadeva, 339. 
 Vamana (dwarf), 320 ; 328 ; 
 
 432, i ; 469; 514. 
 Vamana's Kasika Vritti, 168. 
 Vfina, 405 ; 533. 
 Vana-parvan, 361, 2; 366; 
 
 373- 
 Vanaprastha, 2 1 1 ; 238 ; 
 
 241 ; 254 5 3i- 
 Vanls, 224, 2. 
 Vansa (genealogy), 511. 
 Vansa brahmana, 118. 
 Vansanucarita, 511. 
 Van.sa-sthavila, 518. 
 Vara, 178, I. 
 Varada, 409, 2. 
 Varaha (boar), 327 ; 423, I. 
 Varaha-nuhira, 1/5 ; 176 ; 
 
 179; 367.
 
 574 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Varaha Srauta Sutras, 146. 
 Varahi, 522. 
 
 Varajl (betel-grower), 210, I. 
 Varanasi, 511, I. 
 Varanavata (city), 385. 
 Vardhushika, 264. 
 Vardhushya, 271. 
 Varendra, 210, i. 
 Varhaspatya Sutras, 1 20. 
 Varna (caste), 210, I ; 223. 
 Varna-san-karah, 224. 
 Varsha, 420 ; 453. 
 Varta-karma, 237. 
 Varttika-kara, 166. 
 Varttikas, 151 ; 166 ; 167, 
 
 I 5 531- 
 
 Varuna, 10 ; 12 ; 13 ; 16 ; 
 26; 189 ; 191; 197; 256; 
 
 431 ; 521. 
 
 Varuni, 519. 
 Vasanta (spring), 453. 
 Vasantaka, 506. 
 Vasanta-sena, 477 ; 479. 
 Vasantotsava, 472. 
 Vasava - datta, 367 ; 506 ; 
 
 533- 
 Vasishtha, 203 ; 302 ; 315, 
 
 i ; 339 ; 347 ; 3 61 ; 402, 
 
 i ; 408, I ; 504 ; 511, I ; 
 
 517, i ; 521- 
 
 Vasishtha, 368. 
 Vasishtha-ramayana, 368. 
 Vasishtha-siddhanta, 175. 
 Vastu, 53, i ; 103 ; 104 ; 
 
 457 5 47o. 
 
 Vastu-pariksha, 193. 
 Vastu-purusha, 185. 
 Vasu (king), 210, I ; 371, I. 
 Vasu-deva, 312 ; 331. 
 Vasudeva, 331 ; 332 ; 375 ; 
 
 390, I- 
 Vasuki (serpent), 327 ; 354 ; 
 
 43i> i 5 5I9- 
 Vasus, 399 ; 400. 
 Vasu-shena, 378 ; 384, I. 
 Vata or Banyan (Ficus In- 
 
 dica), 39, 3- 
 Vatsa, 437, 2. 
 Vatsalya, 457, I. 
 Vatsa-raja, 506. 
 Vatsyayana, 65. 
 Vatup (in grammar), 163, 3. 
 Vayu, to ; 67 ; 83 ; 428. 
 Vayu-purana, 514. 
 Veda, 2 ; 208 ; 509 ; 522. 
 Veda (repetition of), 194 : 
 
 195 ; 236 ; 245 ; 245, 2 ; 
 
 274. 
 
 Vedabhyasa, 237. 
 Vedan-gas (six), 145 ; 146 ; 
 
 161. 
 Vedanta, 46; 73, 3; 98; 
 
 101 ; 208. 
 
 Vedanta-paribhasha, 109, 2. 
 
 Vedanta-sara, 101, 2 ; 113, 
 6._ 
 
 Vedanta-sutra, 47 ; 245, 2. 
 
 Vedantist formula, 38. 
 
 Vedantists, 39. 
 
 Vedars, 309, I. 
 
 Vedartha-prakasa, 371, 2. 
 
 Veda-vahya, 144, 2. 
 
 Vedic Nakshatras (twenty- 
 seven), 172, i. 
 
 Vedic prosody, 155. 
 
 Veni-samhara, 392, I ; 58- 
 
 Venus (planet), 179. 
 
 Vetala, 532. 
 
 Vetala-panca-vinsati r 532. 
 
 Vibhaga, 68 ; 261. 
 
 Vibhardaka, 340. 
 
 Vibhishana, 309, I ; 354, I ; 
 
 356 ; 359 ; 382, 3 ; 53- 
 
 Vicltra-vlrya, 375 ; 376. 
 Vidarbha-raja, 367. 
 Videha, 335, i ; 417; 511,1. 
 Vidhi, 24. 
 Vidhi-yajna, 246. 
 Vidura, 376 ; 385 ; 392 ; 
 
 399 ; 410 ; 437, i- 
 Vidushaka or jester, 474 ; 
 
 498. 
 
 Vidya, 283, 3 ; 295. 
 Vighatika, 177. 
 Viharas, 475 ; 494. 
 Vija, 220 ; 470, 2. 
 Vija-ganita, 174, 2 ; 176 ; 
 
 182. 
 
 Vijaya, 381, 4 ; 397. 
 Vijaya-nagara, 118. 
 Vijnana-bhikshu, 79, I ; 
 
 92, 2. 
 
 Vijnana-maya-kosa, 113. 
 Vijnanesvara, 291. 
 Vikala, 178. 
 
 Vikara (production),83 ; 140. 
 Vikarana, 164. 
 Vikartana, 378, I. 
 Vikramaditya, 494 ; 494, 1 ; 
 
 532. 
 
 VikramorvasI, 494 ; 496. 
 Vikrita, 472. 
 Vikshepa, 109; 112,4. 
 Vikukshi, 344. 
 Vilasika, 472. 
 Village government, 258. 
 Vimarsha or hindrance, 
 
 470, 2. 
 Vinadi, 177- 
 Vindhya, 308. 
 Vipatha, 405, I. 
 Vira,' 457, i ; 471. 
 Vira-6arita, 502. 
 Viradha, 310, I. 
 Viraj, 22; 22, I ; 206, I ; 220. 
 Vlra-mitrodaya, 304. 
 
 Virana, 193. 
 Vira-sayana. 411. 
 Virata (king), 373. 
 Virata-parvan, 373. 
 Virgi 1 . 53> 2 5 56, 2 ; 58, i ; 
 
 1 06, 2. 
 Virupa, IOI. 
 
 Virupaksha, 409, 2 ; 432, I. 
 Visakha, 173, 3. 
 Visesha, 66 ; 69 ; 71. 
 Viseshokti, 458. 
 Visha (poison), 184 ; 271, i. 
 Vishaya, 53, I ; 73 ; 84 ; 457, 
 Vishkambha, 473. 
 Vishnu, 9 ; 50 ; 79, i ; 203 ; 
 
 217 ; 276, i ; 301 ; 320 ; 
 
 430; 43 1 ; 5 f 3; 520- 
 
 Vishnu (of the Rig-veda), 
 
 320; 321. 
 Vishnu-gupta, 507. 
 Vishnu-purana, 91 ; 368 ; 
 
 387, i; 389, 25514; 516. 
 Vishnu-.sarman, 531. 
 Vishnu-yasas, 336, I. 
 Vishuvat, 181. 
 Visikha, 405, I. 
 Vision of the Universal 
 
 Form, 135 ; 400. 
 Visravas, 354, i. 
 Visvadevas, 400. 
 Visvakarman, 387, I. 
 Visvamitra, 17, I ; 27, I ; 
 
 185 ; 302 ; 315, i ; 345 ; 
 
 361 ; 402, I ; 408, I. 
 Visva-natha Kaviraja, 368 ; 
 
 457- 
 
 Visva-prakasX 161. 
 Visva-rupa, 303 ; 409, 2. 
 Visve Devah, 189 ; 200. 
 Vitala, 431, i. 
 Vitana (hearths), 188; 188, I. 
 Vitanda (cavilling), 64. 
 Vithi, 472. 
 Vivada-candra, 305. 
 Vivada dintamani, 305. 
 Vivadah svamipalayoh, 261. 
 Vivada-ratnakara, 305. 
 Vivada-tandava, 304. 
 Vivaha (marriage), 190 ; 
 
 239; 243; 244. 
 Vivasat, 344. 
 Vopadeva, 168 ; 515. 
 Vow of continence, 379, 2. 
 Vraja, 332. 
 Vrata, 253 ; 325, I. 
 Vratyata, 271. 
 Vriddha Yajiiavalkya, 204 ; 
 
 292. 
 
 Vriddhi, 264. 
 Vriddhi-purta, 200. 
 Vrihaj-jataka, 176. 
 Vrihan-nala, 396 ; 397. 
 Vrihannaradiya, 521.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 575 
 
 Vrihaspati, 179; 203; 302. 
 Vrihaspati (aphorisms of), 
 
 120 ; 121. 
 
 Vrihaspati-siddhanta, 175. 
 Vrihat, 204. 
 Vrihat-katha, 531. 
 Vrikodara, 381. 
 Vriksha-bandha, 456. 
 Vrindavana, 332. 
 Vrisha, 378, i. 
 Vrishnis, 399. 
 Vritra, 10 ; 14 ; 387, I ; 
 
 418, I. 
 
 Vr'cti, 209 ; 470. 
 Vyahritis (three), 195; 214, 1. 
 Vyaja-stuti, 458. 
 Vyakarana (grammar), 145 ; 
 
 150; 161. 
 
 Vyakta-ganita, 176, 3. 
 Vyapaka, ' pervader,' 62. 
 Vyapti, 62; 63, I. 
 Vyapya, 62. 
 Vyasa, 46 ; 101 ; 203 ; 252, 
 
 2; 302; 316; 368; 371, 
 
 2; 375 ;378; 3855407,1; 
 
 410 ; 411 ; 509 ; 510, I ; 
 
 5I5- 
 
 Vyatireka, 458. 
 Vyavahara, 209 ; 255 '> 278 ; 
 
 285 ; 292 ; 296. 
 Vyavahai-a-6intamani, 305. 
 Vyavahara-mayukha, 305. 
 Vyavahara-padam, 297. 
 Vyavahara-tattva, 304. 
 Vya vaharika (existence), 108. 
 Vyayoga, 471. 
 
 Weaver, two-headed, 534- 
 Weber, 25, I ; 29 ; 56, 2 ; 
 171, i; 313, I ; 332, I ; 
 
 367 ; 497 ; 533- 
 
 Weber's Indische Streifen, 
 
 3' I- 
 
 Weber's Indische Studien, 
 
 43, 5 330, 3- 
 Western school, 305. 
 Wheeler, Mr. Talboys, 213, 
 
 2; 249, 3 ; 316, i ; 369, i. 
 Whitney, Prof. W. D., 7, I ; 
 
 38, i ; 151; I5i> 2 ; I7i 
 
 i ; 173. 2; 1 7S> 2 - 
 
 Whitney's Oriental Studies, 
 
 33, 3- 
 Widows, marriage of, 253 ; 
 
 43 8, 2. 
 
 Wife (directions for choos- 
 ing), 243. 
 
 Wilkins, Sir C., 124, I. 
 
 Wills Act (Hindu), 265, 2. 
 
 Wilson, Professor H. H., 
 2 5> 3 > 73- 2 ; and passim. 
 
 Wilson's Glossary, 264, 3. 
 
 Wilson's Hindu Theatre, 25 7, 
 2. 
 
 Winking of eyes, 13, 2. 
 
 Witnesses, 13, 3 ; 272 ; 297. 
 
 Wives (four or three), 243 ; 
 
 293- 
 Wives, character of, 436 ; 
 
 437- 
 Women and wives, duties of, 
 
 284. 
 Women, position of, 134, I ; 
 
 441. 
 
 World, destruction of, 517. 
 Wort-spiel, 454. 
 Written evidence, 245, 2 ; 
 
 293; 297. 
 
 Ya (in algebra), 183. 
 Yadavas, 332; 374; 511, I. 
 Yadu, 332 ; 375. 
 Yajanam, 237. 
 Yajanam, 237. 
 Yajna, 320. 
 Yajiia-patra, 196. 
 Yajnavalkya, 190; 203 ; 232, 
 
 3; 245, 2; 285, I ; 303. 
 Yajnavalkya, Code of, 391. 
 Yajnavalkya, commentary 
 
 on, 303. 
 
 Yajnavalkya Vrihad, 292. 
 Yajnika-deva, 148. 
 Yajnika (ritualist), 158 ; 245 
 
 2. 
 Yajnopavlta, 192 ; 195 ; 232, 
 
 3 5 239- 
 
 Yajur-veda, 6 ; 25 ; 43. I. 
 Yajur-veda, Black, 6 ; 44 ; 
 
 245. 2. 
 Yajm-veda, White, 6; 245, 
 
 2. 
 
 Yajurvedl, 224, 2. 
 Yajus, 6. 
 
 Yajvan (sacrificer), 276. 
 Yak (in grammar), 164, I. 
 Yaksha, 276 ; 400. 
 Yama, ii ; 18; 41 ; 189; 
 
 197 ; 198 ; 203 ; 256 ; 
 
 2ik>, 2 ; 301 ; 427 ; 430. 
 
 Yama (abode of), 56, I. 
 
 Yama (forbearance), 93. 
 
 Yama (hymn to), 19 ; 299. 
 
 Yamaka, 457. 
 
 Yamau (twins), 381, 4. 
 
 YamI, 1 8. 
 
 Yamuna (river), 375, 4 ; 
 
 417. 
 
 Yan- (in grammar), 164, I. 
 Yaska, 16, I ; 156 ; 156, I ; 
 
 156, 2. 
 
 Yasoda, 332. 
 Yasovarman, 499. 
 Yates, Dr., 155; 456. 
 Yati, 255. 
 Yatudhanas, 310. 
 Yaugandharayana, 506. 
 Yavanas, 229, I ; 316; 361. 
 Yavat-tavat, 182. 
 Yayati, 331 ; 375. 
 Yellow garments, 293. 
 Yoga, 46; 82, I ; 92; 130, 
 
 4; 153; 219; 294; 323. 
 Yoga (Sutras of), 92, 2. 
 
 .Irya, 480. 
 Yoga-kshema, 260. 
 Yogas (twenty-seven),i7S, I. 
 Yoga-vasishtha, 368. 
 Yogesa, 324, I. 
 Yogin, 94; 113, i ; 324, i. 
 Yojana (measure), 178, 1 80. 
 Yoni (female symbol), 322, 
 
 I. 
 
 Yuddha-kanda, 337. 
 Yudhi-shthira, 366 ; 373 ; 
 
 374; 379; 3^4; 385; 
 
 387, i ; 389, i ; 396 ; 399, 
 402 ; 403 ; 407 ; 408 ; 
 411; 419. 
 Yugas (four), 178; 178, 2; 
 
 179; 221. 
 
 Yukti, in, 3. 
 Yupa. 29 ; 341, I. 
 Yuthika, 423. 3. 
 Yuva-raja (heir-apparent), 
 
 384. 
 
 Zahr, 33. 
 Zakat, 244, I. 
 Zamlndar, 258, 2. 
 Zand-Avasta, 131, 2. 
 Zeno, 82, i. 
 
 Zeus, 9; 106, 2 ; 133, 8. 
 Zodiac (divisions of), 170. 
 Zoroaster, 47. 
 
 PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON ANIJ CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON.
 
 THE INDO-ROMANIC ALPHABET 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 EQUIVALENT SANSKRIT LETTERS AND RULES FOR 
 PRONUNCIATION. 
 
 VOWELS. 
 
 A, a, for "^ , pronounced as in rural ; A, a, for ^T, T, as in tar, father ; 
 I, i, for T , f , as in fill ; I, *, for T ,% as in police ; U, u, for ^ , ^ , 
 as in fwll ; U, u, for ^ , , as in rwde; Ei, ri, for ^ , ^ , as in merrily ; 
 El, ri, f or W , , as in marine ; E, e, f or TJ: , ~\ as in prey ; Ai, ai, 
 for TC , "" , as in aisle ; 0, o, for ^ft,*t, as in go ; Au, au, for ^ft , *T , 
 as in Haws (German) ; n or m, for ' , i.e. the Anusvara, sounded 
 like n in French mow, or like any nasal ; h, for : , i.e. the Visarga or 
 a distinctly audible aspirate. 
 
 CONSONANTS. 
 
 K, Tc, for 3? , pronounced as in Mil, seefc ; Kh, Jch, for t , as in 
 inMorn ; G, g, for 31 , as in gun, dog ; Gh, gh^ for ^ as in logout ;N-.n-, 
 for ^ , as in sing (sin.). 
 
 G', c for ^, as in dolce (in music), = English ch in church, lurch 
 (lure') ; G'h, ch, for w , as in churcMill (c urc Tall) ; J, j, for *r , as in 
 jet ; Jh, jh, for "^ , as in hedge-hog (hejhog) ; N, n, for T, as in 
 smge (si?ij). 
 
 T, t, for ^r, as in rue (?ru) , Th, th, for sr, as in an/7iill (an?7all) ; 
 D, d, for ^ , as in drum (rfrum) ; Dh, dh, for "sr , as in repaired 
 (repaired) ; N, n, for w, as in none (nun). 
 
 T, t, for -ff , as in wafer (as pronounced in Ireland) ; Th, th, for ? t 
 as in nuf-^ook (but more dental) ; D, d, for^, as in dice (more like th 
 in this) ; Dh, dh, for tj, as in adhere (more dental); N, n. for r, as 
 in not, in. 
 
 P, p, for T^, as in put, sip ; Ph, ph, for ^r , as in uphill : 5, 6, for ^ 
 as in &ear, ru& ; Bh, bh, for W, as in abhor ; M, m, for W , as in map, jam. 
 
 T, y, for ^, as in yet ; B, r, for T, as in red, year ; L, I, for ^r , as 
 in Zie ; V, v, for "^ , as in vie (but like w after consonants, as in twice). 
 
 S", s y for T , as in sure, session ; Sh, sh, for V , as in s&un, hush ; 
 S, 8, for ^ , as in sir, hiss ; H, h, for ^ , as in Mt. 
 
 Fuller directions for pronunciation will be found in a ' Practical 
 Grammar of the Sanskrit Language,' by Monier Williams, third 
 edition, published by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, 
 and sold by Macmillan and Co., and by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, 
 Waterloo Place. Also in a Sanskrit-English Dictionary, published 
 by the sau:e.
 
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