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NAGANANDA

THE JOY OF THE SNAKE-WOELD.

•a Buti^^tst Srama m f I'be ^cts.

TRANSLA TED INTO ENGLISH PKOSE, WITH EXPLANA TORY
NOTES, FROM THE SANSKRIT OF S Rf-IIARSHA-DEVA.

PALMER BOYD, B.A.

SANSKKIT SCHOLAR OF TRIKITV COLLEGE, CAilBP.lDCE.

S^litb an |ntrobutlion

PROFESSOR COWELL.

LONDON:
TRiJBNER & CO., 60 PATERNOSTER ROW.

1872.
[All riiihts reserved.]

Q G :-; A 'I

NOTiut: Ti'js patenal may be protectsd
by copyright law (TiUe 17 U.S. Code)

Messrs Trdbxer & Co. have also Published

SELECT SPECIMENS OP THE THEATEE OP
THE HINDUS.

Translated from the Original Sanskrit,

By HORACE HAYMAN WILSON, M.A., F.R.S.
Late Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford, (fee. Ac.

Third corrected Edition. In Two Volumes, Svo, pp, 392 and 420,
handaoruely bound in cloth, price 21s.

CONTENTS OP VOL. I.

Preface. — Treatise on the Dramatic System of the Hinrlus :

i; The Authorities of the Hindu i 4. Conduct of the Plot.

Dramatic System. i 6. Chaiacters of the Druma.

2. Different kinds of Dramatic Enter- j tj. Ohject.s of Dramatic Representation

tainmeuts. ! 7. Dictiim.

3, Dramatic Arrangement. I 8. Scenic Apparatus.

List of Hindu Laws.

Dram.is translated from the Original Sanskrit: The IMrichchhakatf; or, The
Toy-Cart. Vikrama and Urva.s'f ; or, Tlie Hero and the Nymph. L'ttara-Ruma-
Charitra ; or, Continuation of the U istory of Kama.

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

Dramas translated from the Original Sanskrit : Malati and Madhava ; or, The
Stolen Marriage. Mudra-P.akshasa ; or, The Signet of the Jlinist-.r. Ratuavali :
or, The Necklace.

APP-ENDIX, containing short accounts of difTcront Dramas.

1. Mah'ivi'ra-Charitra. i 11. Diita'n.'ada ; or, The .'^Ii.--ioii of

2. Vi>rif Saihh.ira. | Aiifrada.

3. JI.;i;<vik,;i'Qimit)-a; or, Agnimicra i 12. Jlrig.inkalokh.i.

and .Mdlavika. ' 13. Vldagdha-.>t,;dhava.

■1. Viddha-Salabhanjika ; or. The 14. Abli:r,;ma>Ia)ii

jtatue. I 15. .'Madliur.inivuddha.

* 0. Pracliiwifii-P'uidava. \ 10. Kaiasa-l'.adha.

»j. ilanilmau N.if.ika. I 17. Pradyuniii:'.-Vi,jaya.

7. Dharauj.ava-Vijaya. | IS. .S'ri-Dama-Cliaritra.

§ ALargha-R.ighava ; or, Murari- ; 1!^. Dluirta-Nartaka.

Naf.ika. . 20. Dhiirta-Samagama.

9. S;rad,;-Tilaka. ! 21. llasyar^Kiva.

10. Yav.ai-Charitra. ' 22. Kautuka-Sirvasiva.

•'•;

Chitra-Yajna.

'•It \ras not till Sir "William Jones publiilieil a translation into prose of
KaliiJa.-i's beautiful Sakuntala, that the WcJioi-n world were aware that the
Iliadus had a national Drama. We gave a fxll analysis of it, and many long
sp-cimens, about a dozen years a^'O. I>ut her- we have translations into verse
of seve:-al dramas ; expositions of many more : and notices of tlie wliok- Hindu
Theatr-, .The Prabodha Chandrodaya. or, lii-r of the Moon of Intellect, trans-
lated by the late Dr Taylor, of Bombay, thron? more lijrht on the metaphysics
than tl;? ;lrama of tlie Hindus ; and the acoou-,.: v'iven of the Malati M.iilliava ia
the A-ia'.ic Researclies by Mr Colebrooke, was s'lbordinate to the objei-t of hii
Essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit Prosoily. Neit:. :r of the Dramas hitherto pub-
lished can be considered to convey an accara:r notion of ttie ITindu Theatre.
The one belongs to the metaiihy.-,ical, the othrr'to the mythojcustnnd cla>s of
Sanskrit jilays ; but there is a wide ran'.'e between, and we are conducted tliroufxh
it all I'.n ler the learned guiilance of Professcr Horace Wilson. His Essay on
'Tlie Dramatic System of the Hindoo' is a rd-terpiece of philoaojiiiical criti-
cism, m;;ny of his notes are in themsehes poem? ; and his Prefaces to the Plavs
are full of the rarest and most interesting? h:-:orical erudition, often throwiiiir
great lizht on the manners and cu.-tonis of Anoieut India The whole work is
deli.srhtful from its novelty ; but its true prais-: is th.it it unfolds before us the
whole of the finest part of a national literature, ^nd thereby illustnites a hi^-'hly
interestin? national cba'acter. . That ther- i> a Hindu Drani.a. and a noble

one, was hanlly known till Professor Wilson lablished his select .ii>ecimens ;
and how few people in England even now kLow anything' more al)"Ut it than
what We showed by e.^tracts arid analv^is of tl.r beautiful Komance i>f Vikrama
and Ur-a^i, or. The Hero and the Nymph? .^lany thousands mu-t have been
surprise 1 to find so much of finest fancy ai:'. of purst feeling in a |i0"try
wh;ch tiiev had before supposed wa-^ all euiptin-s-! or iuHation, —like air-l'ulibles,
brigh: p -rhap.-. with vari-gated colours, but brtakin.s at a touch ; or like ill-
as=ovteI bunches of gaudy and daring flower-, tit only for the few hours of h
holiday-^iiow, faded and sceiitl ■^s ere nighfiil. as so many weeds. They
wonderi-d to soe how geniu->. in spite of the many (lelia.-.ing superstition.s
which tiiey thought had killed all genius, lial there the haj'py and he.aven-
taui:lita.-t to beautify nature; ami tliat the HIl i.;s have a .'^liakes)ir-.ii-r in their
Kalid.'isa — such a Shakespeare as was pl.l^.?ible t !,umanity so e.\isting, for as th-'
people are so must lie their poet, — his inspi.-.ition coming from e</niniuiiiun
between his heart and tli'-irs. and tliea.-h we t.u; it heavenly. — and thoii'.'li iu one
iv.>.~e it be ev( n so, — yet of ver.ty bom of earti. ' — CiiRisropiiKR NoiiTU. *

MAHA-VIRA-CHARITA.

THE ADVENTL'UES OF THE GREAT HERO RA:\IA.

Ay IXDIAy DRAMA IX SEVEX ACTS.

Tran.^Iatetl into Eiij,'li.-5li Prose fruin th? Sanskrit of BhavaLbuti,

By JOHN PICKFORD, M.A.

Late Scholar of Bra:-enose College, and Boden Scliolar in the University of

O.vford, Profesior of Sani-V.rit, Madras.

Crown 8vo, cloth, pp. svi. an J 172, price Ss.

V w

asNTc

<im<^

PREFACE.

\f^

^i^

»«

The NAgAnanda, the sister-play to the RatnAvali, was
edited in Calcutta in 1861, hv an old student of the
Sanskrit College, JMudhava Chandra Ghcsha. ]\IS.
copies of it are rather scarce, and Professor Wilson does
**• — - not mention it in his notices of untranslated plays at the
^ , end of the " Hindu Drama." By Dr Hall's assistance,
"-. - however,. I procured two copies from the Xorth-west, an^l
3> these, with one or two j\ISS. from Bengal, enabkd the
editor to print an accurate text. Mr Bo}-<l, a Cambridge
O pupil of mine, has now prepared an English translation ;
■^ and I have been asked, by way of preface, to give some
^ account of the date and authorship of the book.

The play is st-veral times quoted, like the Ratndvali, in
the SAhitya-darpa/Ki (pp. 89, 184, 189, and 249), and in
the Dasa-riipa (pp. G4, 65, 74, 178).* Dhananjaya, the

* I do not distinguish between the tost of the Dii';i-ru]).i and the
Commentary, as I fe'-l sure that if Dhananjaya, the son of Vish/iii,
the author of th» one, was nat the same persou as Dhauika, the sou
of yi.sh«u, the aut'ior of the other, they were at auj- rate brothers,
and so the chronological vahie of the two remaius unaltered.
There is no hint given of any difference of authurihip, and the two
works read everv.vLiere as if they were from the same pen, like the

VI PREFACE.

author of the Da^a-rupa, flourished at the court of King
Munja ; and a.s no other sovereign of that name occurs
in any known list of kings, this is no doubt the uncle
and predecessor of Bhoja of Dhara. AVe know, from a
date given in a Jaina poem (Colebrooke, Essays, 11. 53),
that Munja was reigning A.D. 993. Dhananjaya's date
is also confirmed by the fact that Hemachandra, who
lived A.D. 1174, quotes the Da^^a-nipa, in his Commen-
tary on his own Abhidluina-chintama?a, which proves
that the author was then of sufficient antiquity to be
taken as an authority in a grammarian's work. The
Ratn^vali is also quoted in the Saraswati-kanthalharana,
which is ascribed to King Bhoja, who reigned in the
beginning of the eleventh century. The Ratnavali,
therefore, and the Nagananda, and the King S'ri Harslia
Deva, who is mentioned as their author, must be placed
in an earlier period than that of Bhoja or his uncle
Munja. This at once shows that "Wilson's conjecture is
untenable, that the S'ri Ilarsha of the Eatnavali could
have been the Harsha Deva of Cashmir, who reigned
from A.D. 1113 to 1125.

Dr Hall has given some good reasons for his adjudica-
tion of the liatnAvali to the poet Ba/ta. He was for-
tunate enough to obtain three MSS. of Ba/?a's poem, the
Harsha-charitra (alluded to in the Sahitya-darpa/;a, p.
210), and in it he found the well-known verse beginning
(ho'tpa'd anyasmdd (qn, with which the first act of the
Katnavali opens. It is hardly likely tluit any one but

text aud commentary of the SiiLitya-darpa/?a. I maj', however,
add, that Dhanika is quoted by name in the Suhitya-daq.ana, jj.
118 (cf. Dasa-rupa, p. 171).

: PREFACE. VIX

'; the author himself -would have been guilty of the

i plagiarism. It is true that the author of the Kdvya-

' praka^a, in his enumeration of the advantages of poetrj-,

i after mentioning Kdlidasa as an instance of its procuring

.' fame, brings forward, as an instance of its procuring

wealth, Dhavaka in his relation Avith King S'ri Harsha ;
V, and most of his commentators add that this poet com-

■i posed the Eatnavali under that king's name. Dr Hall,

': i however, has shoAvn that one commentator reads Ba«a

I instead of Dhavaka ; and I need hardly add that these

1 oral traditions, like those current about KalidAsa,

Vararuchi. and Chaura, are of but Httle historical value.
The author of the Saliitya Sara improves upon his pre-
decessors by relating that Dhavaka was excessively
poor, in spite of the learning which he had obtained by
the virtue of a certain Mantra ; at last, however, he com-
posed the NaishndJuya, in one hundred cantos, and on
showing it to King S'rl Harsha, received a large jagir
as his reward.* But the Naishadhiya, as will be seen
in the sequel, belongs to a different S'ri Harsha. The
story no doubt has a certain foundation of truth, but its
exact details, as in all popular legends, waver and dis-
solve into mi.^t directly we touch them.

The Eatni'ivali and the NAgananda would at first
sight seem to belong to the same author; half the pro-
lojTue is the same in each, as also the stanza where the
manager says that S'ri Harsha is a clever poet, and tlu^
subject of the play attractive ; but there is little simi-
larity in the plays themselves. Of course their subjects

* The author adds as his authority — id vv'iddhair updkhjui/atc,
" thus it is related by the elders."

Vm PREFACE.

are very different, and we might expect to find even
the same author assuming different styles when treating
an heroic legend like the Nagananda, and a genteel
comedy of domestic manners like the Eatnivali. But
the difference in the religion of the two plays is a strong
argument against identity of authorship; and I can
hardly believe that the same poet could have written
the invocations to Buddha and to S'iva, though I hope
to be able to show that the same king may have put
them forth under his name. If I might be allowed to
venture a conjecture amidst such uncertainty, I should
claim (with Dr Hall) the Ratnavali for Bdwa, the well-
known author of the Kudambari ; but I should be in-
clined to attribute the Buddhist play to the DhAvaka
mentioned in the Kavya-praka^a. It is true that not a
solitary fragment of poetry is attributed to an author of
that name. " About a dozen unprinted collections, in
which some five hundred names of authors are adduced,
have been diligently explored in quest of DhAvaka, but
without success."* But Brabmanical memory might
easily drop a Buddhist poet, or retain only a confused
idea of his works. In this way the brief legend pre;
sen'ed in the KAvya-prakasa may be right as to the poe \s
name. l)ut the commentators may be wrong in their men-""
tion of the Eatnavali instead of the Xagananda.

Dr Hall has thrown considerable light on the time
when Ba?ia and the king who patronised him flourished,
by his discovery of tlic Harsha-charitra. In this poem
Tjixnci celebrates the family and reign of his patron

* Dr Hull's Preface to Tu-savadatta, p. 17. Cf. C.A.S. Jouni. l?.G2.

PREFACE. LX

Harsha or Harsha-vardliana, and the history agrees so
remarkably with that given in Hiouen Thsang of
Harsha- vardhan a, or S'iladitya,* the King of Kanouj,
in the first half of the seventh century, that we can
hardly feel any doubt as to their being the same per-
son.

Now Hiouen Th.sang's account of the court of Kanouj
may throw some light on these dramas. Whether they
were really written by the same poet or not, they pro-
fess to be the composition of the same king ; and the
similarity of much of the prologue, and the identity of
one of the verses, give an external appearance of identity
of authorship in spite of the diiference in the style; and
this may have been part of the deception practised ou
the audience. Ba«a may have afterwards inserted a
verse from the EatnAvali in his unfinished Harsha-
charitra, as a tacit assertion of his claim to the author-
ship of that work, just as Sostratus is said to have en-
graved his own name beneath the royal inscription on the
Pharos. Still the difficulty remains as to the Hindu and
Buddhist character of the plays ; and I think tiiis is
much better explained by the character of the king than
by assuming such an almost unparalleled versatility of
faith in a poet.

Hiouen Thsang is loud in his praises of Harsha-var-
dhana's devotion to Buddhism ; but surely his own
narrative is sufficient to warn us against taking these
eulogies too literally. The king may have built the
hundreds of stupas along the Ganges, he may have

• Julien's "Voyages des Ptlerins Eouddliistes;' vol. ii. 247 ff.

X PRRFACE.

erected the almshouses for the poor, and the resting-
places for pilgrims ; and there can be no doubt that he
favoured the Buddhist faith, and presided at their as-
semblies, and honoured their holy men. But in the
descriptions of the t^vo great convocations, at which
Hiouen Thsang was present, we can see that the king
was by no means the thorough Buddhist which we
might have expected. In the first, twenty tributary
princes take a part, and each brings with him the most
distinguished Buddhist and Brahman doctors in his
realm, and both parties are welcomed with the same
hospitality; and though we only read of the homage
paid to a golden statue of Buddha, we can hardly
believe that, with all these Brahman guests invited,
there Avas no other ceremony. But in the second con-
vocation, which is described in Hiouen Thsang's life by
his disciples, we have a fuller account. This was held
at PrayAga, at the confluence of the Jumna and Ganges;
eighteen kings were present, and five hundred thousand
monks and laymen. The first day they installed the
statue of Buddha, the second day the statue of the Sun,
and the third day that of Maheswara, so that the king's
official patronage was shared by the Brahmans even
more than by the Buddhists. Similarly at the distribu-
tions of alms, we read that on the fourth day the king
distributed his bounty to twenty thousand Buddhist
ascetics ; but Ave read immediately afterwards, that simi-
lar distributions were made to the Brahmans and other
heretics, and these lasted respectively tAventy and ten
days ; and last of all, the nirgranthas, or naked mendi-
cants (Avho were especially disliked by the Buddhists, cf.

PREFACE. XI

Burnouf, Infrocl, p. 312), came in for their share, for ten
days. Xow this narrative seems to reveal a state of things
which would completely account for these two plays.
Hiouen Thsang expressly says of the kingdom of Kanouj,
that half the inhabitants held " the true doctrine," and
half were attached to "error;" and no doubt a .similai*
division existed to a greater or less extent in each of
the subject kingdoms. "We have only to suppose some
such convocation at Kanouj as these which he has
described ; and what more natural than that the
tributary princes, whom the manager mentions in the
prologue, should, on the day of the Buddhist ceremonies,
witness the XAgananda, with its invocatory stanzas to
Jina, and, on the day of installing the image of ^lahes-
wara, should witness the Eatnavali, with its opening
Xandis to S'iva ] The ]\Iulati-raAdhava of Bhavabhuti
(who flourished at Kanouj about a.d. 7*20) presents the
same toleration of the two rival religions ; the play is
Hindu, and the Nandi is addressed to S'iva, but a ft-male
Buddhist ascetic, with one of her disciples, is a leading
character ; she is the nurse of the heroine, and the con-
fidante of her father the minister, in his desire to marry
his daughter to the son of an old friend, and JMadhava,
the young hero, studies logic in Buddhist schools.*

• "We know tbr.t the r.nddliists \n\[(\ great attention to the study
of logic, from the frequent references iu Hiouen Thsang to hcta-
rldijd, "the science of reasons." In a pass: ige which I haveqaoted
from the Xi/i'ii/"->drttiLvi-l<itpayi/a-tibi, in the preface to my tran.s-
lation of the Kusuniiinjali, Vachaspati-mis'ra states that tlie
Nyiiya-s'astra was originally delivered by Akshapa'da, or G.Jtama,
and completed by Pak.-:hila-.s\vaniin, and that Utidyotakara com-
piled hid Vdrttika, or " Annotations," iu order to clear away the

Xll PREFACE.

There can be no doubt, I think, that the Iving S'rl
Harsha Deva of our two plays is a different person from
the S'rl Harsha who wrote the Naishadha and the
Kha?2(/ana-Kha?u/a-Khadya, as the latter, in the closing
verses of both works, speaks of himself as the dependant
of the king of Kanouj, and boasts of the allowance
of betel granted him at the court. His age is un-
certain. Babu Eiijendra lal Mitra (B.A.S. Journ. 1864)
has conjectured that he may have been the S'ri Harsha,
who, according to tradition, was one of the five Kanouj
Brahmans who were invited into Bengal by Adi S'ur, in
the tenth century. His chief arguments are that the
author of the Naishadha names among his works a
''description of the sea," and *• a history of the Icings
of Bengal." But I find, from a notice in the first num-
ber of the " Indian Antiquary," that Dr Biihler of Bom-
bay has recently fixed his date in the twelfth century.

The story of the Nagananda is no doubt a Buddhist
legend. It is found twice in the KathA-sarit-s:'igara, in
which are incorporated so many legends of Buddhist
origin. In chapter xxii., we have aversion which gives
the latter part of the story as it is told in the two last
acts, but the earlier acts are only alluded to ; but in
chapter xc, in the Yetdla book, we have a second
version, which follows the whole play very closely.
Thus Malayavati's singing at the temple is described
as in the first act ; the love-scenes of the second are

erroneous interpretations of Bin^/nnfja and others. Ding-naga was
a celebrated Buddhist teaclier, and his logical works are still ex-
tant, i^ee Prof. Weber's Note, Zeitschrift d. Morgenl. Gesellschaft,
sxii 727.

PREFACE. Xm

also imitated, and we have the same sentiment as in
the fourth, where Jimiitavahana wonders that the King
of Snakes, with all his thousand mouths, had not even
one wherewith to offer himself as a victim to save
his subjects. In hi. 197, we have evidently an allusion
to the name of the play, — the bones of the dead snakes
are brought to life again, and it is said,

" Te 'pi sarve samuttasthus tad-vantmT'/tajivitd^ ;
Surair Nagair muni-ganaiA sdnnndaiv militair atha
Sa loka-tritayabhikhyiim babhaia MalayachalaA."

Mr Boyd has pointed out in his notes the allusions in
the play to Buddhist doctrines. Professor Wilson re-
marks, in the Introduction to his translation of the
Mr/chchhakarika, " Many centuries have elapsed since
Hindu writers were acquainted with the Buddhists in
their genuine characters ; their tenets are preserved in
philosophical treatises with something like accuracy,
but any attempt to describe their persons and practices
invariably confounds them with the Jainas;"^and this
very confusion occurs in the Mudra-rakshasa, which he
attributes to the twelftli century. But the present
drama is correct in its allusions, M'hich may be another
argument in favour of the comparatively early date
which I have advocated.

The two last acts are in the true style of Buddhist
invention ; but I do not remember to have seen any
direct reference to Jimiitavahana in any Buddhist
legend. Burnouf mentions (Lilrod., p. 620) that,
though the goilnlia sandal is frequentlj* alluded to in
Buddhist books, he had only found one allusion to the

XIV PUEFACE.

chandana of Malaya, This occurred iu a legend of the
Suvarna-prabhAsa, whicli relates how a prince gave his
body to feed a hungry tigress. But there is a distinct
reference to some such legend as that of our drama, in
the second Xepalese Buddhist tract translated by Wilson,
in the 16th vol. of the "Asiatic Eesearches." We read
there, " May the holy Tirtha be propitious to you, where
the Xaga obtained rest from Tar.skshya (Garuf/a)." This
is explained by the Xepalese as referring to a local shrine
called Gokarwa, but it no doubt orig-inally referred to the
far more celebrated Gokar/ia of Malabar. The Nagas play
an important part in many Buddhist legends (as, for in-
stance, in that of Sangha-rakshita) ; and Mr Fergusson
has shown that they are introduced in the Bud'ihist
sculptures at Sanchi and Amaravati, and in the latter
as objects of worship. The description of the Xagas
in the fifth act, with their human forms, but scaly skins
and tliree hoods, singularly agrees with some of the
drawings in his book.

The appearance of the goddess Gauii is a curious
feature of the drama, and seems to point to that gradual
mixture of Buddhist with S'aiva notions, which we find
fully developed hit he Tantras of XepaL There female
S'aiva deities, such as Durga, jNIahakdli, itc, are continu-
ally invoked to grant protection to the Buddhist wor-
shipper. Wilson supposes that the Tantras were intro-
duced into Xepal between the seventh and twelfth
centnries, but Eurnouf has pointed out some traces of
S'aiva influence even in the "Lotus de la bonne Loi,"
and other " developed Sutras." E. B. Cowell.

" Wobhvollen und Erbarmen, oder genauer allgemeiue Wesens-
liebe ist der positive Kern der buddhistiscben Moral."

Kveiypen,

DRAMATIS PERSONiE.

MEN.

JimUavdhana, the hero, a prince of the ViJyudharas or celestial

choristers.
Jimutaketa, his father, king of the Vidyiidharas.
Vis'vdvasu, king of the Siddhas.
Mitrdvasu, his son.

Sankhachiida, a prince of the Xaga? or snake deities.
Garuda, king of the birds and mortal foe of the N;iga3.
Atreya, a Brahman, the vidiishaka or king's jester.
The Vita, or parasite.
Sananda, the doorkeeper.
The Chatuberlaiu.
A Slave.
A Nuga attendant.

WOMEN.

The Goddess Gaurl.

The Queen of the Vidy;idharas, mother of JlhvUo.idhaiin.

Malaijavat'i, daughter of Vis'viivasu. .

Chaturihi, her attendant. /

Sankhachnda's mother. \,

Several female attendants.

The scene lies pctrtli/ in the Palace nf the ,'i'iddha King, and partly on
the Moanlains of Malabar.

THE JfAGlNANDA.

IJ r a 1 s u c.
xAndi, or opening benediction.*

" Of Avhom dost thou think, putting on a pretence of
religious abstraction, yet opening for an instant thine
eyes? See ! saviour thougli thou art, thou dost not pro-
tect us, sick with the shafts of Love. Falsely art thou
compassionate. Who is more cruel than thou 1 "

I\Iay Buddha, the conqueror, who was thus jealously
addressed by the nymphs of j\L'ira,t protect you !

* Everv Sanskrit play opens with one or more Nanrli?, or bene-
dictions, in wluch the blessing of some deity is invoked upon the
audience. This is the only in.stance in Sanskrit literature where the
power thus invoked is Buddha.

•i* One of the most celebrated scenes in the mythic liistory of
Buddha is his temptation iiUtLr tlie Eodhi tree by Mara, the
Buddhist Eros, corresponding to the Hindu K;Inia. Mara at first
attempted to frighten him by legions of armed warriors ; failing in
this, he trieel to seduce him by his daughters, the Apsarasas. The
sage, however, endures both teraj'tations withuurufiled equanimity,
and eventually the tempter reiires utterly baffled. — Sec Lulit^.i-
I'iitara, ch. .Kxi.

2 THE NAGANANDA.

May the Lord of ^Munis protect you ! who, lost in
reflection, and tilled Avith transcendent knowledge, was
seen to be utterly unmoved by Indra,* whose every hair
was on end through astonishment; by the Siddhas,t
their heads bent low in obeisance; by the n^Tnphs, whose
eyes quivered, as they alternately smiled, yawned,
trembled, and frowned ; by the heroes of Mara, dancing
vnih harshly-beaten drums ; and by Mdra himself, who
had drawTi his bow to the full !

{At the conclusion of the henedktion) —

Stage JNIanager.

Enough of this prolixity. To-day, at tlie feast of
Indra, I was thus addressed by the company of kings,
AVho have arrived from various countries, dependants
on the lotus feet of the noble King S'ri-harsha-deva,
after they had summoned me respectfully, " That play
named Nugananda, connected with the sovereign of the
celestial choristers, :j: and adorned with a new arrangement
of the incidents by our Lord, S'ri-harsha-deva, has been
heard of by us through successive report, but has never
been seen by us on the stage ; therefore you should per-
form it to-day with suitable dramatic appliances, both

* In the Buddhist mythology, Indra is the king of the lotvest
he.aven but one ; JIara being located in the sixth or highest, anJ
having more or less influence over all the beings beneath him.

+ Siddha, a divine person of undefined attributes and character —
a sort of demigod or spirit, inhabiting, together with the A'idya-
dh'<.ras, Munis, fcc, the region between the earth and the sun. — St".
W"dion''i Dktionary.

^ i.e. Vidyiidharus.

THE XAG.VN'ANDA. 3

through your respect for that great king, -who rejoices
the hearts of all people, and through your mllingness to
oblige us." Therefore, after I have adjusted my attire, I
will carry out this recjuest, {JValking and looking about.)
I have no doubt that I have -won the hearts of all the
spectators, since S'rl-harsha-deva is a clever poet ; and
this assembly are good judges of merit. The history of
the king of the Siddhas is very attractive in the world,
and we ourselves are skilful actors. Each of these thinscs
by itself would be sufficient for success ; how much more
the whole assemblage of them, brouglit together by my
accumulation of good luck ! So, after I have gone to my
house and called my wife, I will commence the enter-
tainment. {JFalhinrj about, looking towards the tiring room. )
Here is my house. I will enter. {After entering.) O
lady, come here a moment !

An Actress {entering in tears).
;^^y lord, here am I, unlucky one that I am, let the
son of my lord say what is to be done.

Manager {looking at Actress).
lady, why do you thus vreep unreasonably, when
the Nagiinauda is to be performed 1

Actress.
Sir, how should I not Avct-p, since just now my father,
having disco\ered that he is old, and inHueuced by a
sudden disgust for the Avorld, saying to himself, " Art
ihm lit to support the duties of a household ? " is gone
with his wife to a sacred grove ?

4 THE NAOAN-AXDA.

Manager {in disfradion).
What ! How ! Mj two parents, leaving me, are gone
to a sacred grove 1 "What is now seemly to be done ?
{After thinkintj.) But how shall I remain at home,
giving up the pleasure of attendance on my father?
For, in order to perform the service of my father, I will
quit the possessions fallen to my lot, and go off tliis day
to the forest, as did Jimutavahnna.*

[Exeunt.

END OV Pr.OLOGUE.

ACT I.
Then enter Jimutavaiiana and the Vidushaka.

JfMlJTAVAHANA

{in a tone of apif/iij tov.-ards the world).

friend, Atreya, well do I know that youth is an
abode of passion. I am certain that it is transient.
Who in the world does not know that it is averse to
investigation of right and wrong 1 Yet, worthless as it
is, it may still be used for the attainment of the deiired
end, if it is thus spent by n:e, devotedly obeying my
parents.

Vidushaka {vlfh vcx'.tth>u).

Alas, my friend, no wonder you are despondent, en-

* The Hiuclu dramafi.^ts always endeavour to connect the
busines:^ of the prologue with that of the n;ain action. The
spectat'T thus gradually passes from the real world iu which the
actors live, to the imaginary one in which the pera^^uages of the
drama move.

THE NAGANAXDA. O

during the annoyance of linng for so long a time in the
forest, for the sake of these t-.vo, who are already half
dead. So now do me a fiivour. Having turned aside
from the strictness of your attendance on your father,
let the pleasure of sovereignty, sweet through the attain-
ment of every wish, be tasted by you.

Jiilt^TAVAHANA.

O . friend, you speak not well. For, in this world,
what is the splendour of one sitting on a throne com-
pared with that of one in attendance on his father?
"What enjoyment is there to a king such as that of one
shampooing his father's feet 1 What satisfaction in en-
joying the whole world, such as in eating a father's
leavings ] Sovereignty is in fact only a trouble to one
who has deserted his father. Is there one good thing
in it?

VlDUSHAKLV (aside).

Bother his " penchant "' for Avaiting on his father !
(After consider Inr/.) Xever mind. I will put it to him
in this way. (Aloud.) friend, I do not in truth speak
only of the enjoyment of sovereignty. There is another
thing which you should do.

JiMutaVaHAXA (siniiinr/).
friend, has not all that sliould have been done, been
done 1 See hero. My subjects are placed in the right
path; the virtuous arc happy; my relatives are placed on
an equality with myself, and a regency is made in the
kingdom ; to the poor man a tree of Paradise has been
given, whose fruit gives even more than he wislies for.

THE NAGAKAXDA.

Say, what more than this should be done] or what
remains in your mind 1

friend, your enemy, the base Matanga, is very
daring ; and, whilst he is at hand, the kingdom, though
duly governed by the prime minister, does not, in your
absence, appear very firmly settled.

Jimutavahana.
Fie ! fool, dost thou fear that Matanga will seize
the kingdom ■?

VIDUSHAKLA..

What else ?

Jimltavahaxa.

If even it were so, why should it not be ] Is not all
I possess, even to my very body, kept for the benefit
of others 1 That it is not given up to him of my oAvn
accord is through compliance with my father. AVhat,
then, is the use of this pointless consideration ? Better
that the command of my fiither be at once undertaken.
" my child JimutavAhana," he said, " by the spending
of many days here this place has its flower>, ku.^a-grass,
and fuel used up, and its rice, plants, fruits, and roots
well-nigh consumed, therefore go hence to the Malayn*
mountain, and seek there for a hermitage suited for our
occupation." Come, then, Itt us g'* to the IMalaya
mountain.

* Mulaya — the 'Wedtern Glidts — whence the ua.v^e Malabar
(ir.aliya-vPira).

THE NAGANA^-DA. I

ViDUSHAKA. \

Whatever your highness orders. Let your highness \

come.

[Both ualh about.

ViDUSHAKA {looUng in advance).
friend ! see, see ! Here in good truth comes the
wind from jMalaya, which removes the fatigue of the
journey, Hke the clasping of the neck of the long-desired
loved one on first meeting, — bearing cool showers of
drops, caught up from the cascade as it falls broken
from the crj'stal rocks, and strongly fragrant through its
contact with the mountain slopes, covered with groves of
dense and juicy sandal trees ; it thrills every limb of your

bodv.

JliluTAVAllANA (Joolclng with sui-jprise).

Ah ! we have already reached the Malaya hill.
{Looking all round.) Oh, how pleasant it is ! Inasmuch
as this Malaya hill, with its sandal exuding from the
wounds made by the mighty elephants as they rub their
cheeks in their passion against the trunks, and Avith the
fastnesses of its caves resounding when lashed by the
ocean waves, and with its rocks of pearl stained by the
foot-dye of the women of the Siddhas as they pass — the
sight of it gives to my mind some longing for the joys of
earth. Come, we will ascend and seek for some suitable
site for a hermitage.

VlDU.SHAKA.

Let us do so. {Standiii'j in advance.) Let your high-
ness come on.

\_Ti'.:U a-<Cfnd.

8 THE >-AGA-VAXDA.

Ji'muTAVaHANA {star tmrj from a throbVing of his rlfjlit Cfj).*

My right eye throbs, though I have no object of
desire. Yet the saying of the wise cannot prove f.ilse.
"What, then, can this portend ]

ViDUSHAKA.
It shows undoubtedly that some loved object is at

hand.

Ji^iutavaHANA.

' It must be as you say.

ViDUSHAKA {loohn.fj oTi all sides).

friend, look ! look ! Here in good truth is all the
appearance of an ascetic grove, resplendent with un-
usually thick and dense trees, its crowd of young
animals reclining at ease unalarmed, and its smoke
freely issuing laden with scent from the sacrificial ghee.

Jimutavahana.

You conjecture rightly. This is an ascetic grove.
The bark of the trees is stripped off for clothing, thou;4h
not in too wide strips, as if out of pity for them. The
pure water of the cascade has broken fragments of old
waterpots t just visible at the bottom ; and here and
there appear the broken girdles of munja grass :{: ca;t off

* The Hindus believe that the throbbing of the right eye or rirm
is a good omen for a man, but of the left, a bad omen. The reverse
of this hoMs in the case of a woman.

+ Compare Manu II. 6i : — " Kis girdle, his deerskin, his staff,
his sacrificial cord, and his waterpot, he must throw into the water
when they are worn out, and take otbers with sacred tests."

* Munja-gr;\i3s, the Saccharuni muinn , irom the fibres of which
the string is prepared tj form the thread worn by the EraLi-ans.
Mauu II. 43.

THE NAGANAXDA. 9

by tlie voung Brr.hmans ; whilst a verse of the Sama
Yeda is recited hy a parrot, vho has learnt it from con-
stantly hearing it. Come, then, avc uill enter and look
about us.

[They enter.

JimutavaHAXA (looUufj aloid, with astonishment).
Oh, the tranquil charms of an ascetic grove ! The
basins at the foot of the young trees are kept full b}^ the
dautrhters of the hermits. Its fuel is cut fresh and
fresh by the reciting pupils, "whilst the detail of the
doubtful passages of the Veda is constantly discussed
by the ^Munis, Avho delight in ' the task. Even these
trees, taught respect for a guest, seem to utter a sweet
welcome with the murmuring of bees, and make, so to
speak, an obeisance with their heads bowed down with
fruit ; sprinkling a rain of flowers, they present me, as it
were, a propitiatory offering. Hence this ascetic grove
is well suited for a dwelling place. I think we shall
have Deace while livimr here.

VlDL^SIIAKA.

What is this, friend ? Tiie deer, with their necks a
little bent, the mouthfuls of darbha grass falling half-
chewed from their motionless mouths, their e} es tran-
quilly closed in complete content, seem to listen with
one ear pricked up.

JiMLTAVAiiANA {uftcT Ustcnimj).

Friend, you have seen correctly ; for these antelopes,
their bodies bent sideways, stopping the noise of chew-

10 THE KAGANAXDA.

iug the mouthfiils of darbha grass between their teeth,
listen to the distinct melodious Avords of a song, possess-
ing, through due regard to the laws of harmony, the
treble and bass tones impartially developed from their
respective organs,* mingled with the notes of the strings
of the resounding lute, as with the hum of bees.

VlDiSHAKA.

"Who, then, my fiiend, sings here in the sacred grove 1

JiMUTAVaH-\NA.

Inasmuch as these notes sound clearly, struck by the
tips of soft fingers, I conjecture that it is sung with
Kakili t for its key-note. [Puiating forwards icith his

* This passage is difficult, as it alludes to some tecliuicalitiea of
Hindu music. The Hindus place the bass (mandra), the tenor
(madhya), and the treble (tara), in the che.;t, throat, and top of
the palate respectively. Thus the Sangita-ratuakara, "iti vastu-
sthitis tavad gaue tredha bhaved asaa ; hr/di, mandro ; gale, mad-
hyo ; murdhui, tara ; iti kramat." Compare Prof. Aiurecht's
Cataloiue of Oxford MSS., 200 b 3.

t Kakili is explained as a sweet soft sound, corresponding to the
cuckoo's note. Hindu j^oots give to the kokila, or cuckoo, the fifth
note of their scale. Compare Browning : —

" Here 's the spring back, or close,
When the almond bl^siom blj-.va,

AVe shall have the word

In that minor third
There is noii? but the cuckoo knows ;

Helps of the guelder-ro^e, —
I must bear with it, I suppose."

Which is curiously paralleled by a verse o'loted iu the Silhitya
D.irjva/ua : —

" The bees may fill every quarter with the sound of their hum-

THE NAGAXAXDA. 11

finger.) In this temple some goddess plays the lute in
propitiation of a deitj'.

ViDUSHAKA.
Come, friend, let us too see the temple of the god.

JfMUTAVAHAXA.

You say well. The gods should be revered. {Going

11]) quickly, stopping.) But perhaps we are not worthy to

look. Let us then enter this tamdla shrub, and wait for

an opportunity.

\_Thcij do so.

Then enter seated on the ground,* plcnjing a lute, JNIalay-
AVATi, and a Sekvant Girl.

^Ialayavati {sings).

adored Gauri, resplendent as with white pollen from
the filaments of full-blown lotuses, may my desire be
accomplished by thy favour !

JimutavaHANA {after hearing it).

friend, a capital song ! and first-rate music ! Dis-
tinctness is attained, even though she plays with her
bare fingers ; + good time is kejjt, clearly defined in due

mings ; and the breeze, rising from the gnjves of sandalwood,
may gently ainu-uach ; the playful t mu cu'.koj.-j on t!ie niango's top
may make their uinsical fifth note; but may my vital spii-it, hard
as adamant, quickly go from me — let it be gone." Comm. on ("JIo).

* This was managed by drawing a»ide a curtain or drup-»ceue.

t Literally, "Diilinetness is attained by the organ cf touch,
though it be tenfold,"' meaning that the playing was clear, thou^'h
she played without the metal instrument which they geueraily
use.

12 THE XAGANANDA.

divisions of slow, medium, avA quick ; the three pauses
are rendered in proper order with the "gopuchchha"
first ; tlie three modes of playing are fully shown in the
slow and quick accompaniments.*

Girl (nfedionatcli/).

princess, you have been playing for a long time.
How is it that your fingers are not tired ?

Malaya VATi {rq/roachfully).

Girl, how should my fingers be weary, when playing
before the goddess ?

GlKL.

princess, in my opinion there is little use in playing
before this cruel one, who, up to this time, shows no
favour to you ; though you have been so long a time
conciliating her with due observances, which come hard
on a young i;irl.

VlDUSHAKA.

It is only a girl after all. "Why should we not look ?

JlMuTAVAnANA,

"What harm would tlare \<t in so doins;? "Women
may be looked at wiiliout -in. Yet, perhaps, if she

* Here .ignin there is d;£c'ilty frini the contiuual reference to
musical techuicalities, and the tr'i:;.~latiou is only conjectural.
The yati-trayam occurs in the M>'.:k:irK/eya Pura/!a, sxiii. 54. I
have corrected the reading ia the fo..r:h line from tittK-od'juniKjolds
to tattiC'iiif/hditurfnt'U, from Dasa-nV.: i, p. 178, where the passage ia
quoted ; tiittwa is " slow," o^'ha "t.-:ick" tiiac.

THE N^GANANDA. 13

saw US, through fear, which is easily excited in one at
her time of life, and of her character, she would not
remain long here. So we ^vilI simply look tlirough this
network of Tamala branches.

ViDUSHAKA.

"We will do so.

[Both of them peep through.

VlDuSHAlCV (after looI:inn, with astonish ment).
friend, see, see ! how wonderful ! Xot only by her
knowledcre of the lute does she cause delight, but her
beauty, corresponding to her skill, chamis the eye.
Who can she be ? Is she a goddess or a woman of
the Xagas ? A princess of the Vidvildharas, or born of
the family of Siddhas ?

JiJIuTAVaHAXA {hoUng lonrjinghf).
Friend, who it is, I know not ; but this I do know,
if she be a goddess, the thousand eyes of Hari have
all they can wish. If she be a Avoman of the Nagas,
then, whilst her face is there, the lowest hell is not
witliout its moon. If slie be of the Vidyadharas, then
our race surpasses all otliers. If slie be born of a
family of Siddhas, tlien in the three wori<]s are the
Siddhas glorious.

VIDUSIIAKA
{'ftrr lo'juui'j at tlic hero, j'llfolhj, asiJ.-j).

Good luck ! Though after a long delay, he is at last
fallen ir.to the power of love, or rather — {looh/Dn vt

14 THE NAGANANDA.

himself, and gesticulating eating) — not so; but into the
power of me single-handed, the Brahman.*

Girl {affectionately) .
O princess, do I not say. " Where is the use of play-
ing before this cruel one 1 "

\She throws down the lute.

MaLAYAVATI {rrnnrilij).

Girl ! offend not the revered Gauri. Has not a favour
been done me by her this very day ?

Girl {with joy).
O princess, Avhat can it be ?

;MALAYAVATi.
Girl, I know it well. To-day in a dream, as I was
playing this very lute, I was tlms addressed by the
revered Gauri, — " Child ^falayavati, I am well pleased
with your perfect knowledge of the lute, and with your
excessive devotion towards me, which is hard for a
young girl; therefore before long a sovereign of the
Vidyddharas shall be your husband."

Girl {with delight).
If it is so, why do you call it a dream ? Has not the
goddess given you the very desire of your heart ?

* The buffoon, who, as usual, is a Brahman, seems to anticipate
the pleasures of the coming wedding-feast. He feek that his
mivster is stepping from his sublime asccdc elevation down to his
own more mundane level.

THE XAGAXAXDA. 15

ViDuSHAKA (having heard).
Friend, surely this is a good opportunity to sliow
ourselves to the princess. Come, then, we will go up.

JiMUTAVlHAXA.
I will not yet enter.

ViDUSHAKA
(going up and forciUy dragging the hero, v:ho resisf^).
Welcome to your highness ! Chaturika speaks the
truth. Here is the husband promised by the goddess.

Malayavati

{.standing itp hashfidhj, iminting to the hero).

Girl, who is this ?

Girl (after looking at the hero, aside).

From this form of his, mIucIi surpasses all others, I
conjecture that he is the man given through the iixvour
of the goddess.

[The Iteroine looks at the hero u-islfuJhj, and ivith modesty.

Jimutavahaxa.
This form of thine, oh tremulous-eyed one, whose
full breasts are agitated by tliy breathing, is sutficiently
fatigued by deV(;tions. "Why then, oh timid one, is it
further distressed at my presence 1

jMalayavati (a-<i(k.)
Through excessive alarm I cannot stand facing him.
[Looking at the hero sidcicags, ai>d ivith a Idiuh,
she stands sonieichat turned away.

ic the nagaxanda.

Girl.
Princess, what docs all this mean 1

Malayavati.
I cannot remain in his neighbourhood, so come away.
"We will go elsewhere.

[She wishes to rise.

ViDUSHAKA.
Alas ! she is scared. Shall I keep her just for a
moment, as I do any learning that I may have read 1

Ji^iutavahaxa.
Where would be the harm of it ?

ViDIJSHAKA.

lady ! why this behaviour of yours in such a grove
as thii, that a guest just arrived is not favoured by you
\^-ith a single word ?

Girl {('ffi^r lodkhnj id /Jn' h' roinr, to herself).
Her eye seems pleased. I will speak to her. {Aloud.)
princess, the Brahman speaks fittingly. Good be-
haviour towards guests is becoming in you. Why,
then, do you stand as if distraught in your behaviour
towards so distinguished a one ; or rather, remain so if
you will, — I Avill do what is seemly. {Addresser/ the
hrro.) Welcome to your highness! by occupying this
seat, let your highness add beauty to the spot.

VlDL'SIIAKA.

Frit- nd, she says well. Let us sit down here and rest
for a m >meut.

You are ri;rht.

THE NAGANANDA. 17

JtllUTAVAHANA.

[Both sit down.

ilALAYAVATi {addressing the servant girl).

laughter-loving one, act not thus. Perhaps some
Ascetic is looking, and he will set me down as a giddy

one.

Then enters an Ascetic.

Ascetic.

I am thus bidden by Kausika, the head of the family :
" My child, Sa«(^?ilya, the young king of the Siddhas,
Mitravasu, is gone to-day, at his father's request, to seek
Prince Jimutavahana, the future monarch of the Vidyd,-
dliaras, who is somewhere here on the ^lalaya Mount, as
a husband for his sister Malayavati, and perhaps the
limit of the time for the mid-day oblation will pass by
while Malayavati awaits his return. Go, therefore, and
fetch her with you." I am going, therefore, to the
temple of Gauri in the sacred grove.

(JValkimj about, looking doicn on iJw ground, irith surirrise.)

Ah ! "Whose footsteps have we here on the dusty
ground, having the sign of the chakra manifest] {Look-
ing fonrard and seeing Jtinutavdhn.vn.) Assuredly it will
be the footstep of tliis mighty man. For there is the
turban-like mass of hair visible on the scalp ; there
shines a woolly tuft between the eyebrows ; "^^ his eyes
resemble a lotus ; his chest vies with Hari ; and since

* Compare the signs of Euddba in Lalita-Vistar.i, ch. viL

18 THE NAG-VNAXDA.

his feet are marked with the chakra, I conjecture that
he who rests here is assuredly one who has attained the
dio-nity of an emperor of the Vidyadharas. However,
away with doubt. It must surely be Jlmutavdhana him-
self, (Seeing Malayavati) Ah ! here is the princess
too. (LooJiing at them both.) Destiny would at length
be actintr in a straiditforward manner did she unite this
pair, mutually suited to one another. (Going vp and
addressing the hero.) Wek;ome to your highness !

JiMUTAVAlIAN.L

Jimiitavdhana salutes your honour.

[Irishes to rise.

Ascetic.
Do not rise ; your highness should be respected by us,
for "A guest is every one's master."* Eemain, then,
at your ease.

Malayavati.
Sir, I bow to you.

Ascetic (turning to her).
My child, mayst thou marry a suitable husband !
princess, Kausika, the head of the family, sends word
to thee, " Tlie time of the mid-day oblation passes by,
come therefore quickly."

jMalayavati.
As the "Guru"t orders. (To herself .) On the one
side the orders of the " Guru," on the other the pleasure
• Compare Hitopaddsa, i. 62. t The spiritual parent.

THE nIgaN'AXDA. 19

of the sight of the dear one. Thus my heart swings me
to and fro, perched on a see-saw of going and not going.
[Rising icith a sigh, and looking at the hero icith modesty
and affection, she goes out with the Ascetic.

JiilUTAVAlIANA
{icith a sigh, looking longingly after the heroine).

By her whose departure is slow, by reason of the
rounded beauty of her form, an impress is stamped upon,
my heart, even though she leaves me.

VlDUSHAILV.

Well, you have seen all there was to be seen!
The fire of my appetite rages, its fury doubled, so
to speak, by the heat of the rays of the mid-day sun.
Come, then, let us go forth, that I, the Brahman, having
become some one's guest, may support my life with
bulbs, roots, and fruit, obtained from the Munis.

JiMutavaHANA {looking vjucards).

The adorable thousand-rayed one has reached the
zenith ; for see, the lord of elephants with pallid cheeks,
their sandal-juice instantaneously dried off by the
excessive heat, as he fans his face with the breezes of
his broad ears, his chest all wc-t with the drops falling
from his trunk, endures a state of existence hard to be
borne even by the fainting Bignonia.

[E.reunt onuics.

END OF THK FIKbT ACT OF THE xXcaXAND.V,

20 TH£ NAGANANDA.

ACT IL

Then enters a Sekvan't Girl.
Girl.

I am bidden by tlio Piiucess ]\Ialayavati, " Mano-
liarika, my respected brother, ^Mitrdvaau, tarries long
to-day j go, then, and inquire whether he has come or
not." (She waits about.) Who can this be coming
hither in such haste. {Loohing.) Why ! it is Chaturika.

Then enters a Second Servant Girl.

First Girl {going np to her).

Holla, Chaturika ! why, avoiding me, do you go thus
hastily ?

Second Girl.

]\Ianoharilva, I am bidden l>y the Princess !Malaya-
vati, " Chaturika, my body cannot endure the fatigue
of gathering flowers. My passion exceedingly torments
me, as though produced by autumnal sunshine. Go, then,
prepare the seat of moonstone in the arbour of sandal-
creepers, shadowed with the leaves of young plantain
trees." I have done as ordert^d, and am going to inform
the princess.

First Girl.

Go, then, quickly and tell her, so tliat having gone
thither her fever mav be alleviated.

Second Girl {Injgliinihj to herself).
Her fever is not of a nature to be thus relieved. In

THE NAGANANDA. 21

my opinion, her fever will be augmented on seeing the
bower of sandal-creepers witli its various delights.
{Aloud.) Go on, then, you. I too will go and inform
the princess that the moonstone seat is prepared,

. [Exeunt.

END OF INTERLUDE.

Then enters with a lonrjhirj looTc Malaya vatI and a
Servant Girl.

Malaya VATI {with a sigh, to herself). •■
heart ! after having made my mouth dumb through
shyness towards him, thou art now gone to him of thine
own accord. Alas! for thy selfishness! {Aloud.)
Chaturika ! point out to me the temple of Gaurl.

Girl {lo herself).
Though on the way to the bower of sandal-creepers, she
says, •• To the temple of Gauri I " {Aloud.) The princess
is on the way to the bower of young sandal-trees.

Malayavati {with confusion).

It is well that you remind me. Come then, we will
go thither.

Girl.
Let the princess come.

[Malayavati (jols to a difj'trcnl part of the stuge.

Girl {looldivj had- with vneasiness, to herself).
Alas, for her absence of mind ! AYliy, she is actually
gone towards the temple of the goddess ! {Aloud.)

22 THE NAGANAXDA.

lady ! is not the sandal-creeper bower in this directiuu ?
Come this way, then. [The heroine does so icith a mean-
ingless smile Y Here we are at the sandal-creeper bower,
therefore lot your ladyship enter and sit down on the
moonstone seat to recover yourself.

[Both sit down.

IMalayavati [v:ith a sigh, to herself).

Lord of the flower-tipped arrows,t a,2:ainst that man
who surpasses you in beauty of form you do nothing at
all ; but against me, though blameless, you are not
ashamed to strilve, saying to yourself, " She is a weak
woman." (Looking at herself, and gesticvlating as one in love.
Aljud.) Girl, how is it that even this sandal-creeper
bower, from which the sun's rays are kept by the density
of the shoots, does not alleviate the pain of my fever 1

Girl.
I know the cause of this fever, but the princess is
unwilling to avow it.

Malaya VATi (to herself).
I am seen through by her. Still I will ask. (Aloud.)
Gii'l, what is that which I will not avow 1 Come, tell
me this cause of yours.

Girl.
It is the man placed in your heart.

* This is one of the syruptoms of love in a Hiutiu heroine. See
Sabity;i-Darpa;ia, sec. 15L

t kduia, the Hiuuu Ciipi.l, bears a bow with its string made of
be-.-s, aud its five airows each tipi)od with a pccidiar f!'>wor.

THE NAGAXANDA. 23

]\LiLAYAVATi (ivithjoy and agitation, after rising and
advancing two or three stej^-s).

Where — where is he ?

Girl {rising, with a smile).

lady, \yhat he ?

[Heroine silting doivn ashamed, leeps her face lent down.

Girl.

Well, I will explain. This man who is established in
your affections was promi.sed to you by the goddess in
a dream, and a moment after he was seen by you,
resembling Cupii.l without his flowery aiTOws. This
man, then, is the cause of your anguish, so that even
this bower of young sandal-trees, though cool in its very
nature, does not relieve the pain of your fever.

Mal-VYAVATi (to herself).

1 am found out by Chaturika. (Aloud.) Girl, well are
you named ChaturikA.* Why should I longer conceal
it from you? I will tell you all.

Girl.

lady ! it is as good as told already. Where is the
use of more talk? You have had enouLrh agitation.
Do not further e.\cite yourself. As sure as my name is
Chaturika, he too Avill not enjoy a moment of happiness
until he has again scon you. I have found out this too.

* Chatui;k;i. from chntitra, clever, expert.

24 THE XAGANAXDA.

Malayavati (ivilh tears).
AMience should I obtain so great bliss ?

G II 111.

Say not so. How can he be happy when even VLsh/zu
has no happiness without Lakslinn on his bosom.

]\LVLAYAVATf.

Can a friend say anything but what is kind? But it
makes my passion distress me more, when I think how
I did not honour the noble hero with a single word, so
that he will say to himself, " That awkward girl is
wanting in respectful behaviour." {She icee^s.)

Girl.

lady, do not give way ! (To herself.) Yet how
should she not weep, since the great passion of her heai-t
distresses her more and more 1 What then shall I now
do? I will place on her breast the juice of a sandal-
creeper spray. (Iliibuj and plncUiKj a t^ftrig of sandal, and
sgiieezinn out the juice, she places it on her breast. Aloud.)
O lady, do I not say, " Weep not ? " Even this sandal-
juice, notA^ithstanding its nature, does not relieve thy
breast, since it is rendered warm by these tear-drops
falling unchecked,

[TaJ:cs a plantain leaf and fans her.

^Malayavati (chcds h r with a hnuT).

Do not fixn me. Even the wind of the plantain Itaf
is warm.

the nagananda. 25

Girl.

Do not impute the fault to it. It is you who make
warm this wind of the plantain leaf, which is cool
through its contact with the gathered sandal shoots,
changing its nature with your sighs.

Malay AVATi {ivith tears).
Is there any means of checking this fever ?

Girl.
There is indeed. If he would but now come.

Then enters the hero ivifh the YiDtSBAKA.

JlMUTAVAlLlNA.

O Cupid, why are these purposeless arrows flung
against me, already so deeply wounded 1 Since I was
looked on by her, regardless of the Muni's presence,
when, as she turned, though but for a moment, she caused,
by the glance of her bright black eye, the trees of the
hermitage to appear flecked,* as though they had masses
of the skins of the dappled antelope gleaming suspended
from their bou<?hs.

'o'

VlDUSHAKA.
friend, Avhere now is all thy firmness gone 1

Ji.mltavahan.v,
Am I not firm beyond measure ? What ! have I not
passed through the nights, though radiant with the moon ?

* The Hindus imagined that light came from the eye, aud lighted
up any object gazed upon.

26 THE NAGANANDA.

Do I not drink in the scent of the blue lotus ? and endure
the jasmine-scented evening Aviuds 1 Hear I not the
humming of the bees upon the lotus pond 1 That you
should tluis openly taunt me, saying, " He is wanting in
firmness in difficulties." {After considering.) Or rather,
it was not so wrongly said, my friend Atreya, for am I
not really wanting in firmness, since I cannot bear even
flowery arrows, shot by a bodiless archer, woman-hearted
that I am ! How then can I say to you, " I am firm 1 "

ViDuSHAKA {to him.<elf).
Since he confesses his want of firmness, he reveals how
excessively troubled his heart must be. How shall I
divert iti {Aloud.) friend, how is it that, neglecting
your parents, you have again come hither already ?

JbruTAVAHANA.

It is a suitable question. To whom should I tell it,
if not to you ? This very day I had a dream. I saw
you loved one — {pointing icith a finger) — seated on u
moonstone seat in this sandal-creeper bower, in tears, as
if reproaching me in some love quarrel. I wish, there-
fore, to spend the remainder of the day in this sandal-
creeper bower, made pleasant by the late presence of the
loved one, as seen in my dream. Come, then, we will

go-

[They iraU: ahout.

Girl {(ifter listening in tre})idalion).
O lady, there is a noise like footsteps.

THE KAGAN'AND.'L 27

Malayavati (lonUng at herself, with agitation).
Do not let any one, by seeing the state that I am in,
suspect the secret of my heart. Rise then. We will
conceal ourselves in this red asoka tree, and just see who

it is.

{They do so.

ViDUSHAlLV.
Here is the sandal- creeper bower. So come along.
We will enter.

[Theij enter.

JiMCTAVaHANA.

Even this sandal-creeper l>ower with its moonstone
seat delights me not, abandoned as it is by the moon-
faced one, Hke the face of night without its moonlight.

Girl (having peeped).
Lady, I give you joy. Is not this the very person
on whom your heart is set ?

Malayavati {viihjoij and agitation, after looking).
girl, now that I have seen him, through my extreme
agitation I cannot remain here so near him. Suppose
he should see us ! Come, we will go elsewhere. (After
going one sltp, hnginghi.) How my feet tremble !

Girl (n-ili'- a ^milr).
timid one! who can see you tx-i you stand here?
Do you forget the red asoka tree \ Let us then sit down,

and remain here.

[They do so.

28 THE NAGAXANDA.

YlDusHAKA {lookinrj about).
Here, my friend, is that very moonstone seat.

[Rero sighs icith tears.
Girl.

la<ly, I think their talk is about a dream. Let us
listen then attentivel}'.

\_Tlie]j both listen.

ViDL'SHAKA {touching him with his hand).

My friend, do I not say, " Here is that moonstone
seat 1 "

JiMutavaHAXA {sighing, with a tear).
It is well guessed. {Pointing to it v:ith his hand.)
This is that very moonstone seat on which I saw the
loved one ; her pale face reclined upon her left shoot-
like hand, and her breast heaving with deep sobs. "When
I delayed to soothe her, her fit of anger passed away ;
and her sliglitly-quivering lip and burst of tears betrayed
the real state of her feelings. We will sit therefore on
this moonstone seat.

[Theg both sit doicn.

]Malayavati {('ftcr considering).
Who now can she be whom he thus talks about ?

Girl.

Just as we unobserved are looking at him, so I hope
you too have not been seen by him.

Malayavati,
It is possible. But then again, he is talking fondly
about some one with whom he had a love quarrel.

the nagan'axda. 29

Girl,

Lady, do not have such a suspicion, but let us listen
further.-

ViDuSHAKA {to himself).
This sort of talk pleases hira, so I "w-ill continue it,
(Aloud.) Friend, how then -vvas this weeping one ad-
dressed by you ? ~

Jljiutavahana.

She was thus addressed : " This moonstone seat, mois-
tened with the water of tears, seems us if oozing with
dew from the rising of thy moonface,"

Malayavati [angrilij).

Chaturikd ! wliat more than this need we hear ?
Come, then, we will go.

Girl (taUnrj her hy ih.e hand).
Lady, say not so. It is you alone Avhom he saw in his
dream. His glance, resting on another, would find no
pleasure.

Malayavati.
My heart is not com-inccd. So we will just wait until
the end of this conversation.

Ji^IUTAVAlIAXA.

1 know Avhat I will do. I will -iraw lier on this stone
seat, and amuse myself b}" looking on her picture. Go,
then, and fetch me souie pieces uf red arsenic irom tlic
muiUiLain side.

30 THE NAGAXANDA.

ViDUSILAJvA.

Whatever your highness orders. {Walhnrj about, he
picks vp something, and returns to him.) You asked for
one colour ; but I have brought you some pieces from
which you may easily get the five colours.* Let your
hishness draw.

[Gives him something.

'o'

JlMLTAVillAXA.
Well done, my friend. (He takes it and droics upon the
stone, v:ith rapture.) See, my friend, even the sight of
this first outline of the beloved face gladdens me, as a
digit of the new moon, — that face which is a very feast
to the eyes, beautiful as its full unimpaired disc.

\He continues draicing.

ViDuSH-AJvA (looking on ivith curiosifij).

Though she is not in sight, her very form is depicted.
Well, it is marvellous.

JimutavaHANA (ivith a smile).
O friend ! the beloved is in my presence, brought be-
fore me by my wishes. If, as I continually see her, I
draw her, where is the marvel 1

]\LA.LAYAVATi (u'ith tears).

Chaturikd ! I knoAv well the end of this discourse.
Come, then, we will go and look for Mitravasu.

• The Jive colours. — The St Petersburg Dictionaiy, under "vania/'
gives a reference for these five colours to KKty;lvana's S'rauta-sut^^
xxii. 9, 13, where they are described as — blue, yellow, red, brown,
aud variegated (?).

THE NAGANANDA, 31

Girl {ivith despair, to herself).

Her impatience is regardless even of her very life.
{Aloud.) lady ! has not Manoliarika gone to him?
Perhaps, then, your brother MitrAvasu is on his way
here.

Then enters Mitravasu.

Mitravasu.

I am thus bidden by my father, " My child ]\Iitr^-
vasu, this Jlmutavi'diana, by living so near us, has been
well observed ; therefore he is a suitable son-in-law.
Let, then, our child Alalayavati be given to him." As
for myself, through my dependence on her affection, I
suffer a variable state of feeling ; fur, on the one hand,
this young man is the ornament of the race of Vidya-
dhara kings, is clever, approved by the good, unrivalled
in beauty, endowed with valour, is wise and modest ;
but, on the other hand, he would readily give up his
life, through pity, on behalf of any li\-ing creature.
Thus, when yielding up my peerless sister to such an one,
I feel both satisfaction and sorrow. I have heard that
Jimutavahana is in the sandal-creeper bower, adjoining
the grove of Gauri. This is that bower, so I will enter.
— ' [Erders.

VlDuSIlAKA [seeing him, ivith excitement).

friend ! cover over with this plantain leaf, that girl
you have just drawn in the picture. Here, surely, is
Mitrdvasu, the young prince of the Siddhas, just arrived.
Perhaps he will see it.

\The hero covers it with the plantain haf.

32 THE NAQANANDA.

Mitravasu {entering).
Prince, Mitrdvasu bows to you.

JljujtavaHANA {looking at Jiim).
. Welcome to Mitravasu. Take a seat here.

Girl.

lady ! your brother, Mitrdvasu, has arrived.

Malayavati.

1 am well pleased to hear it.

JblUTAVAHANA.

Mitravasu ! is Visvavasu, the king of the Siddhas,
well?

jNIitravasu.

He is well. By the command of my father I am come
into your presence.

Ji.MUTAVAlLVNA.

What says his Highness 1

MALxVYAVATI,

1 will just hear what salutation has been sent by my
fiither.

^Mitravasu {idth tears).

My father says, " I have a daughter, by name^Malaya-
vati, who is, so to speak, the very life of all this race of
Siddlia-nijas. She is presented by me to thee. Let her
be accepted."

THE XAGANANDA. 33

Girl (smiling).
lady ! why are you not angry now ?

MaL-VYAVATi (ii-ith a hlush and smilinfj, standinj vsith
face lent down).

Do not laugh, girl. Have you forgotten that his
heart is set on another ?

JlMuTAVAHANA (aside).
My friend, we are fallen into a difficulty.

ViDUSHAKA (aside). ,

Ah ! I perceive. With the exception of ha; your
mind is not satisfied with any other. Let him, then, be
dismissed with some civil speech or other.

jMai^VYAVATi (anrjrihj, to herself).
Cruel one, who does not know what this means ]

Ji.AruTAVAlIANA.

Who in the world would not desire so honourable an
alliance as that with your Highness ? But a mind set
in one direction cannot be readily turned in another.
So that I cannot accept her.

[Heroine faints.
GlEL.
Revive, my lady.

ViDu.snAK.i (to Mitrdvam).

Since he is altogether dependent on others, what is
the use of questioning him? Go, then, to his parents
and ask them.

34 THE NAGAXAXDA.

MitraVASU {to himself).
It is well said. He will not disobey his parents.
His father dwells here in the precinct of Gauri. So I
will go there, and cause IMalayavati to be accepted for
him by his father.

\The heroine comes to herself.

j\IitraVASU.

Assuredly the prince knows best, who has refused us
after we have opened our hearts.

.Malaya VATi [lav/jhing angrily).

How ! Mitravasu still talks with him, thoucrh
humbled by rejection !

{Exit Mitravasu.

Malayavati {to herself, looUmj at herself iciih fears).
What is the use of still supporting this body of mine,
defiled by ill-fortune, filled Avith excessive woe ! I will
hang myself to yonder Asoka tree with this Atimukta
creeper, and so put an end to my life. So it shall be.
{Aland, ivilh a meaningless smile.) Girl, just see whether
Mitravasu has gone or not, so that I, too, may depart.

Girl

{having gone a fcv slej''-^, and looling lad': to herself).

I see that she has some intention different to her
words ; so I will not go, but, concealed here, will see
what she intends to do.

]\lALAYAVATi

{looking all round, and taling the noose, with tears).
revered Gauri ! since your promise has not been

THE NAGANANDA. 35

fulfilled in this world, you -vvill contrive that I be not
equally full of sorrow in another state of existence.

[So speaking, she ])laces the noose on her neck.

Girl (running up with agitation).

Help, your highness, help ! Here is the princess
trying to destroy herself by hanging.

JiJ\iuTAVAiiA:s'A {I'ushing up with excitement).
Where 1 AMiere is she 1

Girl.
Here, in this Asoka tree.

JLaiutavailvn.a [loohing joyfuUij).

This is the very object of my passion.

[He talcs the heroine hj the hand, and casts aside
the noose.

Jimutavahana.

Assuredly no such attempt should be made. O lovely
one ! remove from the creeper this hand, wliich vies with
it in beauty. H<nv could that hand, which I do not
consider strong enough even to gather tiowers, grasp a
noose to hang yourself with ?

Mal-VYAVati {icitli arjitation).

Girl, who is this ? (Looking at him angriJij, she wislies

to cast off hi:! hand.) Loose me, let go my hand. "Who

are you to stop me ? What ! must you be sued even in
death ?

36 TUE nagananda.

JtllUTAVAlIANA.

How should I release your guilty hand, which was
caught in the very act of placing a noose on a neck fit
only for strings of pearls ?

VmusHAKA.

What could have been the cause of this determination
of hers to die 1

Girl.
Was it not this friend of yours 1

JiMUTAViHANA.

How ! / the cause of her death ? I do not under-
stand.

VIDUSHAKA.
lady ! how do you mean ]

Girl {mranhvjhj).

It was that loved one, whoever she is, that was painted
by your friend on the stone. My mistress took this
determination in a fit of despair, sajing to herself,
" Through his devotion to that woman, I am not ac-
cepted, even when offered to him by Mitravasu."

Jimutavahana {joijfulhj, to himself).
How, then ! This is that ^Malayavati, daughter of
Yisvavasu ! Yet, except from the ocean, how could
there be the birth of a digit of the moon ? * Ah ! How
I have been taken in by her !

* The moon is fabled to have been produced from the ocean
when it was churned by th'; gods for ambrosia.

THE NAGANANDA. 37

YiDUSHAKA.

lady ! if this be so, my friend here is blameless. If
you do not believe me, however, go yourself and look
on the surface of the stone.

[The heroine, icilh joy and modesty, looUng at the
hero, draxos away her hand.

Jimutavahana {with a smile).

1 will not release it, until you have seen the object of
my passion, drawn on the stone.

[All icalk about.

YiDUSHAKA {having taken off the plant ain leaf).

lady ! look. Behold the individual his heart is
set on.

JNIalayayati {having loohed at it^ aside, srailing).

Chaturika! it is as if my very self were drawn
there.

Girl {looUng at tlie incture and at the heroine).

lady ! wliy do you siiy, " It is as if myself were •
drawn there"? So exact is the likeness, that I do not
know whetlier it is a roflectiou of you cast on the stone,
or a drawintr.

j\lAL.VY.A.VATi {with a smile).

Girl, I am put to shame by liim, sho\nng me drawn
in a picture.

38 THE NAG An AND A.

ViDUSKAKA.

Your Gdndharva marriage* is now complete, so you
may release her hand. Here comes some one in great
haste.

[The hero releases her.

{Then enters a Servant Girl.)
Servant Girl {jo'fulhj).

lady ! good luck to you. You are accepted by the
parents of Jimutavcihana.

ViDiJsHAKA {dancing about).

He ! he ! The desires of my friend are fulfilled, or
rather, I should say, of her highness ]\Ialayavati ; or
still better, not so much of either of these, as Ojesticulat-
ing eating) of me, the Brahman.

Servant Girl {addressing M.vlayavati).

1 am bidden by the young king Mitravasu, " This is
the marriage day of jNIalayavati ; go therefore quickly,
and fetch her." Come, then, let us go.

VlDUSHAILV.

daughter of a slave, hovr can my friend remain here,
when you have taken her away 1

* A gandharva marriage is one of tL^e eight forms of marriage
mentioned by Manu, Book III. It is farmed by the parties them-
selves through mutual affection, witujut any previous family

arrangement.

THE NAGANAVDA. 39

Servant Girl.

Desist, base one. Hasten, hasten. It is full time for
your bath.

[The heroine, looking affeci'wnafehj and icith modesfij
at the hero, goes out vjiili her attendants.

Herald {reciting hehind the scenes).

Lending to Mount Malaya a splendour like that of
Meru, by reason of the showers of scented powder, — and
all at once having the beauty of the mild sunshine of
early dawn, through the red-lead dust, — the Siddha-world
announces, by the songs of nymphs, rendered delightful
by the sounding of their jingling anklets of red gems,
that tbe time for your marriage bathing has arrived,
which brings completion of your wishes.

ViDuSHAKA {after hearing this).
friend ! the time for bathing has come opportunely,

Jimijtavahaxa {joufidhj).

If so, why do we stop here ? Come on. We will
salute my father, and go to the bath.

[Exeunt uranes.

END OF SKCOXD ACT OK THE XACANANDA.

40 THE XaGaKAXDA-

ACT III.

Then enters intoxkafed, his garments tumbled and stained,
tcith a cup in his hand, a Parasite, and a Sl^v\'E,
carryinrj a vessel of v:ine on his shrnild^r.

Parasite.
These are the only two gods for me — the one who is
always drinking, and the one who brings lovers together
— Baladeva* and Kama- deva. {Reels about.) Assuredly
the life of me, S'ekharaka, is very prosperous, since in
my bosom is a loved lady, in my mouth lotus-scented
wine, and on my head a garland, like a perpetual
minister to my wants. (Stumbles.) Halloa ! "VMio is
pushing against me now? (/7'7//i jot/.)' Assuredly
^v^avamalika makes game of me.

Slave.
She is not yet come, sir.

Parasete {angrily).

The marriage of iMalayavati took place in the first
watch ; how, then, is she not come yet, though it is
morning ] {Thinking for a time, with ji'y.) I suppose
that at the marriage feast all the Siddha and Vidyadhara
people, with their friends and acquaintances, are enjoy-
mz the delidit of drinking in the tiower-crarden ; so
tliat there Navamiiliku will be looking out f.-r me. So

* Balaileva, the eMer brother of Knshna, celebrated ioT his
drinking exploits ; a sort of Bacchus.

THE XAGANANDA. 41

I will now go there. AYbat is S'ekharaka without
NavamdlikA ? *

[Re lejlns to go out, stajgering.

Slave, "

Come along, sir. Here is the flower-gai-den. Be
pleased to enter.

Then enters the Yidusil\ka, kWi a pair of garments
on his shoulder.

ViDUSHAKA.

The desires of my dear friend are fulfilled. I am told
that he is on his way to the fluwer-garden. So I will
now go there. (JFalk'tng oiul looUng about.) Here is the
flower-garden. I will enter. {After entering, gesticulat-
ing as if annoyed by bees.) Halloa ! AVhy now do these
odious bees attack me '? (Smelling himself.) Ah! I see
how it is. I have been respectfully decked with per-
fumes by the relations of Malayavati, as the bride-
groom's friend, and a garland of Santana flowers has
been placed upon my head, and now that very respect
has become a cause of annoyance. What shall I do 1
Having dressed myself as a woman with these pieces of
red cloth, which I have brought from jMalayavati, I will
go on, using the upper garment as a veil. We Avill seii
what these villauous bcc- will then do.

[He does so.

Parasite {i>U':rring him, joyfully).

Halloa ! slave. {Poiaiii^g laughingly icith hi.i fngcr.)

* Both these names are signiiicant. Sukharaka properly means
a garland, and NavauiiUika iLe uouble-ja.^mine.

42 THE NAGAXANDA.

Here is surely NavamdlikA. She has seen me, and, in
a rage at my long delay, puts on her veil and turns
away. So I will appease her with caresses.

[Going up, with a lavgh, and embracing the YiDusiLVKA,
he tries to put some heftl nut in his mouth.

ViDuSHAKA {perceiving the smtU of v:ine, holds his nose,
and turns awa>j las face).

How now 1 Having but just escaped the attack of
bees of one sort, I am assailed by an odious bee of a
different nature.*

Parasite.
"WTiy do you turn away your face in anger ? {Prostrat-
ing himself, and plnch>g the Vidushaka'S foot on his head.)
Be appeased, Navamalikd !

Then enters a Servant Girl.

Girl.
I am bidden by the queen — " NavamAlika, go to the
flower-garden, and say to the keeper, Pallavika, ' To-day,
prepare the tamdla-bower Avith especial care, for the
bridegroom and INIalayavati are going thither.' " I have
given the message to Pallavika ; and I will now seek my
dear friend, S'ekharaka, whose passion will be increased
by my night's absence. {S>cing him.) Here he is.
{Angrily.) How now ! He is courting some other
woman ! I will just stop, and find out who she is.

* A pun on the word " madhukara," whicli means both a " bee"
and a "lover."'

THE NAGANANTJA. 43

Parasite {joyfully).
He who, through excessive pride, bows not to S'iva,
Vishwu, or Brahma, that same S'ekharaka falls at thy
feet, NavamAUkd.

Vidl'shaka.
Oh drunken wretch, there is no Navamdlikd here.

Girl {looking, iclth a smile).
S'ekharaka, overcome with wine, is soothing his
reverence Xtreya in mistake for me. I will put on a
pretence of anger, and have a game with them.

Slave {having seen the Servant Girl, shaking S'ek-
haraka r.ilh his hand).
Sir, let her go. It is not NavamAlika. Here is
NavamaUkd, just come, and looking on, with eyes lit up
with anger.

Girl {going itj)).
Well, S'ekharaka, whom are you courting here ?

VlDi^SiiAKA {J 'f ting the veil drop).
O lady, it is only I, an ill-fated Brahman.

Parasite {recngni.iing the YiDuSlIAKA).
Halloa ! You tawny monkey, would you too deceive
S'ekharaka ? Come, slave, take hold of him, whilst I
soothe Navamdlika.

Slave.
"Whatever my master orders.

44 THE NaGAXAXDA.

Parasite {letting go the Vidushaka, and falling at the
fed of the Servant Girl).
Be be appeased, appeased, Xavamdlikd !

ViDusHAiL.! {tn himself).
This seems a good opportunity to make off.

[^Tries to get aicay.

Sl.A-VE {gras])tng the VlDuSHAKA hj his Brahmanical cord,
which is broken in the struggle).

Where are you off to, you tawny monkey ?

[Binding him round the neck hg the upper
garment, he drags him along.

Vidushaka.
lady, Xavamalika, be appeased. jMake him release
me.

Girl.

If you fall at my feet, with your head on the ground.

[She laughs.

ViDuSHLVKA {mlh anger, and trembling).
Alas ! How can T, who am a Brahman, and friend of
the kin£c of the Gandharvas, fall at the feet of the
dauGfhter of a slave ?

-•o

GiRL {shaldng her f.nger at him, and smiling).
I will compel you to bow piesently. — Get up, S'ek-
haraka, get up. I am satisfied. (She emlraces him.)
But here the dear friend of the bridegroom has been

THE NAGAS'AKDA. 45

insulted by you, and I daresay your master, ^Mitravasu,
will be angry on hearing of it. So you had better pay
respect to him.

Parasite.

Whatsoever XavamAlika orders. {After emhracing the
ViDuSHAKA.) sir, you were joked with by me, think-
ing you were one of my relations. [Redinrj about.) Am
I really S'ekharaka ? Has any joke really been made ?
{Making his npi)er garment into a hiindle, he. offers it as a
seat.) Let my relation take a seat here,

ViDuSHAKA {to himself).

Thank goodness ! he has passed the violent stage of
his drunkenness.

[He sits down.

Parasite.
Navamalikd, do you take a seat at his side, so that
1 may pay my respects to you both at once.

[Servant Girl, with a laugh, sits down.

Parasite {taling vj} the drinking-ciq').

Slave, fill this to the brim with wine.

[Slave gesticuhdes the filling of the cup.

Parasite {tal-ing some fmvcrs from the garland on his head,
puts them info the cup, and tntcling on hoik knees, pre-
sents it to Navamalika).

NavaraAlika, taste it. aiul pass it to him.

46 THE nAgananda.

Girl {wilh a smile).

Whatever you "vnsh.

[Tastes, and gives it hack.

Parasite
{presenting the cnj) to the Yidcshaka).

This cup, with its contents specially flavoured by con-
tact with the lips of NavamdlikA, has never before been
tasted, except by S'elcharaka. Drink, therefore. What
greater honour could I show you 1

ViduSHAKa (tvith a very forced smile).
O S'ekharaka, I am a Brahman.

Parasite.
If so, where is your ninefold thread ? * "

ViDUSHAIwY.

It was dragged and broken by that slave.

Girl {Janghinghi).
Recite to us, then, some verses of the Vedas.

VlDUSHAK^V.

O lady, what have the smell of ^nne and verses of the
Yedas in common 1 1 However, I have no wish to argue
with you. The Brahman falls at your feet.

[Qlftrs to fall at her feel.

* See Mann II. 44, Comm.

t In Maim IV. 3, a priest is forbidden to pronounce texts of the
Veda, " a.^ long as the scent and iiuctuusiiy of perfumes remain on
hid body" after an eutertaiument.

THE NAGANANDA. 47

Girl (checking him icith loth hands).
Your reverence must not do so. O S'ekharaka, get
away, get away ; he is really a Brahman,* {She falls at
the feet of the Vidushaka.) sir, do not nurse your
wrath. This was only a piece of friendly joking.

Parasite {to himself).
I too had better appease him. {Falling at his feet,
aloud.) Let your reverence forgive me for having
offended under the influence of wine. I will now go
with Navamalikd to the drinkinfr-booth.

Vidushaka.
I forgive you. Be off, both of you. I too will go
and see my dear patron.

[Exeunt Parasite, u-ilh Slave, and
Serva_nt Girl.

Vidushaka.
The untimely death of a Brahman has been averted.
But since I am defiled by contact with this drunken
youth, I will just bathe in this tank. {He does so.
Looking ioioards the tiring-room.) Here comes my dear
friend, supporting Malayavati, like Krishna supporting
Rukmini.f I will go and attend upon them.

Then enters the hero, dressed in marriage garments, uifh
Malayavati, and a suitahlc retinae.

JiMUTAVAlLVXA

{looking, v:Hh ruiAare, at ^Ialayavati).

When looked upon, she casts down her eyej when

• See Manu XL 206.

t Riikmini wai the chief wife of Krishna. See Prem Sagar,
ch. Ixiiiii.

48 THE NAGA.VANDA.

addressed, she makes no reply ; on the couch, she remains
turned away ; ■when excessively embraced, she trembles ;
when her friends leave the room, she too wishes to go
out : through the very perversity of her behaviour my
newly-married love is still more to my liking. {Looldng
at jMalayavati.) beloved Malay avati, a vow of
silence was kept by me, though accustomed to answer
in haughty tones ; this body of mine was bathed in the
rays of the sun and moon, and in the flames of forest
fires ; and I was rapt in total abstraction of mind for
many days and nights. Surely the fruit of all that
penance is, that I now behold this face of thine.

Malaya VATf (aside).

O Chaturikd, he is not only pleasant to the eye, but
he knows also how to speak in a flattering manner.

Girl {smUing).

You might say so, if he wa$ flattering. But where is
the flattery in this ?

JlilUTAVAHANA.
ChaturikA, point out the path to the flower-garden.

Girl.
This way, my lord.

Jimutavahana
{ivalh'mg about, addressing the heroine).
Let your ladyship come just as you are. The weight
of your breasts themselves tends to weary you ; "svhy,

THE NAGANANDA. 49

then place a pearl ornament on your waist 1 The
weight of your hips is wearisome, — much more this
girdle ! There is hardly suflScient power in your feet to
carry your limbs, far less your anklets ! Your limbs
being so lovely, why should you wear ornaments that
only tend to weary you ?

Girl.
Here is the flower-garden. Be pleased to enter.

[All enter.

Jimutavahana {loohlng round).

Well, truly the beauty of the flower-garden is great !
Here the droppings from the sandal-trees cool the
creeper-bower with its tesselated pavement. The pea-
cock dances yet more wildly to the shrill sound of the
shower-baths. The cascade, brown with the pollen of
flowers, shaken from the trees by the impetuous foam,
falls with a rush from the machine, and fills the basins
at the foot of the trees. Again, these bees, making the
creeper-bower resound with their attempts at song,
as they drink in abundant honey, in company with
their wives, covered with a perfumed dust by the
pollen of flowers, seem to enjoy on every side a drinking
festival.

[ViDi;siiAK.\ comes v^).

ViDUSIIAI'LV.

Victory to your highness ! "Welcome to your ladyship !
Ji.MUTAVAHANA.

friend ! you have been very long in coming.

50 THE NAGANANDA.

VlDljSnAKA.

I am come as soon as I could. But I delayed so long
■walking about, tlirough curiosity to see the drinking of
the Vidyddharas and Siddhas, intermingled at the mar-
riage feast. Do you, too, just take a look at them.

Jil^IUTAA'.vHANA.
"We will do as you say. {Looking on all sides.) Friend,
see, see ! Their limbs anointed with yellow sandal, and
wearing wreaths of Santdna flowers, with their bright
garments variegated by the mixture of rays from their
jewelled ornaments, these Vidyddharas and Siddhas, in-
termingled beneath the shade of the sandal-trees, drink
the nectar, just tasted and left by their loved ones.
Come, we will go to the tamdla avenue.

[TFallcs about.

VIDUSHAKA.

- Here is the tamdla avenue. Her ladyship appears
fatigued with walking to it. Let us therefore sit down
on this crystal seat, and rest.

JiilUTAVAHANA.

Friend, it is well suggested. The face of my dear one,
after having worsted the moon by the pale beauty of its
cheeks, now surely wishes to surpass the lotus when
reddened by the sun's rays. [Taldivj the heroine hy the
hand.) Dear one, let us sit down.

Mai^vyavati,
"Whatever my husband bids me.

\_All sit down.

THE NAGANANDA. 51

JblUTAVAHANA.
(raising the heroines face, and looking at it).

Dear one, to no purpose hast thou been wearied by
us, through our anxiety to see the flower garden, since
this face of tliine, resplendent with its creepers of eye-
brows and shoot-like pink lips, is a very garden of para-
dise. Compared with this, every garden is but a jungle.

Girl (addressing the Yidushaka, with a smile).

You have heard how he describes the princess. I will
now paint you.

Yidushaka (gladly).

O lady! I am alive again now. Pray, then, do me
the favour in your best style, that yon fello\7 may never
again call me a tawny monkey.

Girl.

Sir, you seemed lovely to me at the marriage Avatcli,
with your eyes shut through drowsiness. Therefore
stand like that for me to paint you.

[Vii>u.siiAKLV docs i>0.

Girl (to herself ).

Whilst he stands with his eyes shut, I vrill blacken his
face with the juice of a tamula shoot, which will do as
well as indigo.

[Ilising and sr^ucezing a tamdla shoot,
she llackcns his face.

52 THE NAGAN-^^DA.

{The hero and heroine look at the Yidl^shaka.)

JiML^TAVAZLiNA.

Friend, you are in luck, being painted, with us for
spectators.

{Heroine laughs on seeing ViDiJsHAKA's face.

Jf mutavaHANA {loohiag in her face).

lovely-eyed one ! the springing of the blossom of a
smile is seen on your shoot-like lower lip, but the fruit
is seen elsewhere, namely, in the eyes of me as I gaze.

Vmi'SH.VKA.

Madam, what have you done ? *

Girl. ,

"Why, are you not painted ?

VrOL^SHAKLA. (after rubbing his hand over his face and
looking at it, raising his staff).

O daughter of a slave ! the royal family are present.
"What shall I do to you 1 — Alas ! notwithstanding your
royal presence, I am blackened by this daughter of a
slave. How can I remain here ? I will be off.

[Exit.

Girl.

His reverence Atreya is vexed with me. I will go
and conciliate him.

M.\LAYAVATI.

ChaturikA ! whither do vou cro, lca\-incr me all alone ?

THE nagananda. 53

Girl (pointing to the hero, and siniling).
May you be long in such solitude !

[Exit

JisiutavaHANA (looking -in the face of heroine).

lovely one ! if this face of thine, with its pink flush
as it is lighted up by the sun's rays, and with its soft down
revealed by the spreading gleam of its teeth, is really a
lotus, why is not a bee seen drinking the honey from it?*

(Heroine, laughing, turns her face another icay.)

(Hero repeats the same sentence.)

Girl
(entering icith a h.irried toss of the curtain, and coming vj)).
Here is the noble ]\Iitrdvasu, desirous to see the prince
on some business.

Ji'mutayahana.

Dear one, do you go to the house. I too will soon
come, after I have seen ]\IitrAvasu.

[Exit heroine with servant girl.

Then enters ]\Iitravasi7.

jNIitravasu.

"Whilst that enemy is still unslain, ho^v can I without
a sense of sliaine say to Jiniutavdliana, "Your kingdom
is seized by an enemy?" Still, it is not right to go
without informing him. So I avUI tell him and then go.
prince ! ]Mitravasu salutes you.

* A polite way of askins for a kiss. See note on p. 42.

54 THE NAGANA>T)A.

JiML^TAvilLVNA {on seeing MiTRiVASU).

Pray, be seated.
[MiTKAVASU takes a seat, keeping his eyes fixed on him.

Jimutavahana {looking stmdily at him).
Mitrdvasu ! you seem vexed.

MiTRAVASU.

AVlio would be put out by one so despicable as
Matanga 1

JfMUTAV.vHAXiV.

What has Matanga been doing ?

MiTRAVASU.

Assuredly to his ovnx destruction, he has attacked
your kingdom.

Jiml^tavahana {uith joy, to himself).
Oh ! would that it were true !

MiTRAVASr.

Therefore let the prince deign to give orders for his
destruction. WTiat need of talking long about it ? As
soon as, at thy command, the Siddhas are gone hence to
battle, making the day dark by clouding the sun, as if it
were the rainy season, with their heaven-traversing chariots
crowding on every side, — your monarchy, whose zemin-
dars are temporarily bowing through fear of this haughty
enemy, will at once be regained. What need though of
great nmltitudesl By me, single-handed, shining with
an aureole of rays from the quickly-drawn sword, behold

THE NAGANA.NDA. 55

the coward Matanga already slain on the battle-field,
like a mighty elephant by a lion which has sprung on
him from afar.

Jimutavahana {to himself, covering his ears).

Ah ! how cruelly he speaks ! However, let it pass.
(Aloud.) MitrAvasu ! what is all this 1 Even some-
thing more than this might be possible for you, with
such strong arms. But how should I, a man who through
pity, though unasked, would give up his own body for
the sake of anotlier, permit the cruelty of destroying life
for the sake of a kingdom 1 For my part, I can conceive
no enemy except the Klesas.* If, then, you would
please me, pity that poor wretch, who, for the sake of
kingly power, has become a slave to the Klesas.

Miteavasu {Uttedy).
One, forsooth, who has done so much good to us, and
is in such misfortune, is well worthy of pity !

JiiVruTAVAiiAXA {to himself).

His wrath is not to be averted. His mind, swayed
by passion, cannot be turned aside. "Well, let it be.
{Aloud.) Itise, we will go in- doors. There I will advise
you. The day is now ended, — for yonder sun, the sole
object \v'ortliy of adulation, whose favour is solely for

* Klesas. — The klcgis are well known in BiuUlbist theology.
See Biirnouf, " Lotus de la bonne loi,*' App. II. Tliey are the tea
vices, thus divided: — Three of the body, murder, theft, adultery;
four of speech, lying, slander, abuse, unprofitable couver.satiun ;
three of the mind, covetousness, malice, scepticism. In the Yoga
philosophy there are five : ignorance, egotism, desire, hatred, tena-
city of exbteuce.

56 THE NaGAN'ANDA.

the good of others, is loolced on by the Siddhas, TA-ith
their voices loud in continual praise, as he goes to rest,
having vivified the universe with his rays, whose sole
business is to fill the eight quarters with light, and to
keep off from the lotus buds the binding seal of sleep.

[Exeunt omnes.

BSD OF THE THIRD ACT.

ACT IV.

Then enter a Ch.v^iberlain carnjing tico red gai-ments,
' and a Doorkeeper.

CH-\3rBERLAIN.
I, who issue commands for the seraglio, who watch
for trippings at every step, now, weak through old age,
make my resemblance to a king perfect by handhng a
»da72f/a."*

Doorkeeper.

reverend Vasubhadra ! whither are you going 1

Cha^ieerlaix.

1 am bidden by the queen, the mother of Mitrdvasu : "0
chamberlain ! for ten days you should take red garments
to jMalayavati and my son-in-law." Now the daughter
is remainin? in her father-in-law's household, and Jimu-
tavahana is gone to-day with the young king to see the

* We have here a pun, as the word daH'?a-niti means both "pun-
ishment and policy " and "the handling of a staff."

THE ^'AGANA^'DA. 57

sea-shore, as I have heard. Whether, then, shall I go
to the king's daughter or to the son-in-law 1

Doorkeeper.
Sir, you had better go to the princess, for perhaps by
this time the son-in-law will have come there of liis own
accord.

Chamcerl.\in.
You advise well. But whither are you yourself now-
going?

Doorkeeper.
I am commissioned by King Vi:^v<ivasu to go and tell
Mitrdvasu, "Since in this festival of 'Dipa-pratipad'*
some present should be given to Malay avati and the
bridegroom, therefore come and think of something
suitable to the occasion."

[Exeunt both.

Then enter JiMuTAVAHAXA and Mitravasu.

JlMUTAVinANA.

A green glade for a couch, a white stone for a seat, a
dwelling beneath the trees, the cool water of a cascade
for drink, roots for fooil, the deer for companions, — in
the forest which thus abounds in all that one could wish,
unsought, there is tliis one fault, that, through the ab-
sence of suppliants, we live there to no purpose, ha\'iiig
no oi^portunity of assisting others.

* " Dlpa-pratipad '" in^iy me.in the first day of the brigbt fortnig!;t,
or perhaps a festival correspoii'litig to the Feast of Lauterns.

58 THE NAGANANDA.

MitraVASU (looking upicards).
Prince, hasten, hasten ! It is time for the flow of the
tide.

Jiml^tavaHANA {listening).

You are right. An ear-deafening noise arises, made'
by the repeated flappings of the ears of the sea-monsters
as they emerge, and causing the interiors of all the
mountain caves to re-echo. Here comes the tide, white
with the innumerable shells which it tosses on its waves.

MitraVASU.

It is indeed come. See ! this ocean tide is brilliant
with its many-coloured gems, and has its waters scented
by the eructations of the sea-monsters, who have fed on
the young shoots of the clove-trees.*

Jimutavahana.

Mitrdvasu ! see again. These slopes of Malaya have
all the splendour of the peaks of the snow mountains,
by reason of the veils of white autumnal clouds.

MitraVASU. , ,

These are not the slopes of Malaya. These are heaps
of the bones of Ndgas.

JimctavaHANA {sorrowfully) .

Alas ! wherefore were they thus slain by wholesale 1

* Compare the passage in Indumiiti's Swayainvcara, Raghuvansa,
vi. 57, where Sunanda recommends the princess to choose the King
of Kalinga or Coromandel : " "Wander -with him on the banks of the
ocean, resonant with the murmurs of the palm groves, while the
summer heat is cooled by the breezes which bear the flowers of the
clove-tree, wafted from other lands."

the nagana^^)a. 59

]\Iitravasu.
They were not slain by wholesale. Just listen to this :
At this place Garu(?a* was in the habit of devouring
one snake daily, catching it up from hell, whilst the
whole contents of the ocean were cleft asunder from top
to bottom by the wind of his wings.

JiMuTAVAHANA (in a mournful tone).
Alas ! his deed was most cruel. And then 1

Mitravasu.
Then GarufZa was addressed by Vdsulci,t who feared
annihilation of the whole serpent race

JfiiL^TAVAHANA {with respcd).
Did he say, " Eat me first " ? .

No, no.

What then ?

Mitravasu.

JiMUTAVAHANA.

]\Iitravastj.
This is what he said : " Through fear of your furious
descent, the embryos of the snakes are prematurt-ly born
by thousands, and the young ones perish; so that our
continuous line of descent is cut otT, and your own in-
terests are destroyed. Therefore tb.at snake, for the

* Garuf/a, son of Vinat;i and Kasyapa, is the king of birds, like
the fabled roc, and the ruthless enemy of the snakes or ^Ylgas.
t Vasuki is king of the Ndgas, and resides in the infernal re gions.

60 THE NAGANAXDA.

sake of which you make your descent into hell, I "will
send to you daily to this place."

Ji3lUTAVAHANA.

How -well were the snakes defended by their king !
Amidst his thousand double tongues was there not one
with which he could say, " Myself is given by me this
day to save the life of a snake."

Mitravasu.
This, then, was agreed to by the king of birds. So,
these conditions being thus settled by the king of the
NAgas, these are the heaps, white as the snow peaks,
from the bones of the snakes, which the king of birds
devours, and which have been increasing, do increase,
and will increase as days go by,

Jl':MuTAVAnANA.

"Wonderful ! Fools commit sin even for the sake of
a worthless body, which soon perishes, is ungrateful,
and is a store-house of all uncleanness. Well, this
destruction of the Ndgas will assuredly bring some
judgment. {To himself.) Would that, by giving up my
own body, I might save the life of a single Naga !

TJien enters the Doorkeeper,

Doorkeeper.
I have ascended the mountain peak and will now seek
Mitravasu. {IFulIdng uhoiiL) Here stands Mitrdv;isu
with the bridegroom, (Goinr/ iij).) ^lay the princes be
victorious !

the nagananda. 61

:Mitravasu,

Sunanda, why are you come 1 ' (DoorJceeper whispers
in his ear.) prince, my father has sent for me.

JiMUTAVAHANA.

Go, then.

Mitravasu.

The prince should not stay too long in this ill-omened

region.

[Exit.

JtSIlJ-TAVAHANA.

1 will descend from this mountain peak and look at
the sea-shore. {JFulks about.)

Behind the scenes.
Alas ! my darling son, S'aukhachutZa, how can I
endure to see thee slain to-day ?

JiMutavaHANA {after hearing this).

Ha ! a cry of distress as if from a woman ! "Who can
it be 1 of what is she afraid 1 I will try to know.

[fValJcs about.

Then enters S'ankiiachuzia, fuUou-cd by an Old "Wc^lvn,

crying, and a Serva>;t icitli, a pair of garments fur
one cample tchj rciled.

Old Wo.ALix (u-ith tears).
Alas ! my son, S'ankhachi'u/a, how can I endure to see
you slain this day? [Taking hold of his chin."'') Deprived
of this moonface. Hades will become midnight.

* The Nagas are generally represeuted in old sculptures as bear-
ing the human form, but with a snake attached to their backs and
the hooded head rinsing behiud their necks.

62 THE NAGANANDA.

S'ANKHACHtfZJA.

mother, why do you harass me yet more by
weeping?

Old Wo^IAN {loolinj at him and stroking his limbs).

Alas ! my son ! how will pitiless Garu^a devour thy
beauteous body, that has never felt the sun's rays 1

[Embracing him, she wee^s.

S'ANKHACHU2?A.
Enough of lamentation. See here — since mortality
as the nurse first clasps the new-born child to its bosom,
and the mother comes onl}^ second — what room is there
for sorrow 1

[JFishes to depart.

Old "Woman.

son, stay for a moment whilst I look on your face.

Servant.

Come, Prince SankhachiWa, never mind her words.
Infatuated by affection for her son, she forgets the duty
to our kins.

S'.\NKHACnL^Z?A.

1 am coming.

Servant {to himself, looking in advance).

I have brought him to the rock of execution ; so I
will now give him the distinguishing badge of one con-
demned to death.

THE NAGANAM)-L 63

JiMUTAVlHANA.
This must be the woman that I heard — {looking at
^ankhachuda)—Cinil this must be her son. Why, then,
does she weep 1 (Looks on all sides.) I do not perceive
the very least cause for her fear. I will go near and
see whence her fear is. Their conversation relates
to it, perhaps from it I may get some explanation. I
will get inside a bush and listen.

Servant {rcilh tears, putlinj his hands torjdhcr).

Prince S'ankhachi'u/a, since it is the command of
my lord, this so cruel message must be delivered.

S'ANKHACIIUZ)A.

Say on.

Servant.
The king of the Ndgas orders

S'ANKHACnuZ)A.
{puttinrj his hands together to his head, resi^cdfdhj).
What does our lord order 1

Servant.
"Having put on this jtalr of red garments, mount
upon the rock of execution, that Gamt/a, on seeing the
red garments, may eat you."

Ji'mCtavaHANA {having overheard).
How ! Is he, then, abandoned by Vdsuki ]

64 the nagaxanda.

Servant.
prince, take then this pair of garments.

[Presents them.

S'ankhachu/^a (respecffulhj).

Give them to me. (Takes them.) The mandate of our
lord is on my head.

Old "WOiLiN (liavhiQ seen the clothes in the hand of her son,
striking/ her breast).

Alas ! my child, this seems like a flash of lightning.

[Faints.

Serv.vxt.

The time for Guruc^a's approach is close at hand. I
■will be off.

[Exit.

S'ANKnACHUZ)A.
mother, recover thyself.

Old WolUN (coining to herself, tearfnlhj).

Alas ! my son, alas ! thou obtained by a hundred
vows ! Where shall I again behold tliee 1

[She clas])s him round the neck

Jimutavahana.
Alas ! the pitilessness of Garuf/a. I should think
that the heart of the lord of birds must be made of very
adamant, if, casting away all pity, he can eat this child
in his mothers lap, while she, distracted, utters vain
complaints, \vith tears streaming from her eyes, and,

THE NAGAN'ANDA. 65

glancing in all directions, pitifully repeats — " My cliild,
■vvho will deliver thee ? "

S'ankiiaciiuz'A {chcclinrj his own fears).
mother, where is the use of excessive grief? Do I
not keep saying, " Cheer up," " Cheer up?"

Old "\Vo3IAN (with tears).
How can I cheer up, seeing that thou, my son, my
only son, art banished l)y the compassionate king of the
Nagas ! Alas ? why in the universal world was mi/ son
thought of? I am utterly unfortunate.

[She faints.
Jim utavaitaxa {dole/ all ij).
If I do not protect this wTetched one, who is at the
very point of death, abandoned by his relations, then
what good is there in my body ? So I will go up to
them. s

S'axkhachu/pa.

mother, be comforted.

Old ■vyo:\LA.N.
Alas ! my son, when you are given up b}- Vdsuki, the
protector of the Niiga-world, who else wiU be your i)ro-
tector ?

JiMi;TA\'AirAXA {rj'nnrj vj)).
Shall not I?

Old Wojlvx (mi secini] him, having hid lier son icith her
vjjptr fjanncnt, gin.< vp t^j him and falls upon her knees).
O son of Vinata, destroy me. I am prepared for thy

food by the Naga king.

QS THE NAGANAXDA.

JilluTAVAliANA (uith tears).

Alas ! the love of offspring ! I should think that after
seeing this sorrow of hers, arising from affection for her
son, even the enemy of the Nagas, whose heart is piti-
less, will feel pity.

S'.VXKHACHU27A.

O mother, away with your fear, this is not the enemy
of the Nagas. See the difference between this holy one,
whose appearance indicates a beauteous nature, and
Garuffa, with his fierce beak smeared with clots of blood,
which have dropped whilst he was piercing the brains of
the mighty Ndgas.

Old Wom-a>,'.

In truth, through fear of thy death, I regard this
whole world as Garurfa.

Ji.MUTAVAlIAXA.

mother, what need of saying it again and again 1
Will not I accomplish his deliverance ?

Old "VVo^ian (daspinff her hands on her heafi).
My son, live long !

JimiJtavahaxa.

Mother, give me this distinguishing badge of a con-
demned one. I will put it on and offer to the son of
Vinatd, my own body as food, to save the life of thy son.

Old "Woman {stopping her ears).
God forbid ! Thou also art a son equally with Sank-

THE nagAnanda. 67

hachut?a, or even more so than he, since thou -tvishest
to preserve my son by giving up thy own body, even
though he is deiierted by his own kinsfolk.

S'ANKHACHUZ)A.
How different from the world in general is the mind
of this magnanimous one ! For this good man, moved
by pity, gives up for the sake of another as though it
were but a straw, that life, for the sake of which, in
olden times, VisvAmitra* ate dog's flesh, like a dog-
cooker ; and Na'iija/?gha t was slain by Gautama, even
though he had done a kindness to him ; and this Garuf?a,
son of Kasyapa, daily eats Nagas. {Addressing the hero.)
magnanimous one, unfeigned compassion for me has
been fully shown by thee in the determination to give
up thyself ; but do not obstinately insist on it. Low-
born people like me are born and die ; but whence are
those produced like thee, who gird up their loins for the
sake of others'? What, then, is the use of this fixed
determination 1 Let this resolution be abandoned.

JLmutavahana.
S'ankhachuf/a, do not put any obstacle in the way
of this desire of mine of giving myself up for the sake
of another, which only now has got an opportunity of
accomplishment, after so long a time. Do not, then,
hesitate, but give me the distinctive badge of those
appointed to be slain.

* Compare Mann x. lOS, "And Visvdrnitra, who knew right
and wrong, resulved to eat a do-^'s thigh, takiug it from the hauJ
of a cha/irfala."

t For the story of XicHja/igha, see Mahab. xii. ?§ 170-172.

68 THE XAGAXAN'DA.

S'AXKILVCIIUiOA.

magnanimous one, -^vlieru is the use of this fruitless
perseverance ? Xever will S'ankhachuJa sully the family
honour of S'ankhapala, which is white as a shell. If we
are indeed objects worthy of thy pity, then let some
expedient be devii-ed, so that this woman may not quit
life, overcome by my calamity.

Jimutayahan.l
What can possibly be devised '? She who dies in your
death and lives only in your life, — if you wish her to
live, save yourself by my life. This is the only remedy,
so give me quickly the badge of death, that, having
disguised myself in it, I may mount the execution rock.
And do you, thinking of your mother before all, retire
from your post. Probably your mother, if .she stood in
view of the place of execution, would abandon life.
Do you not see the great cemetery, filled with many
skeletons of the ill-fated Xagas 1 See here, rows upon
rows of the crests of the .slain Xagas, coated thick witli
oozing brains, splash as they fall from the jaws of the
jackalls into the stream of carrion-smelling gore, while
the scene is shrouded in awful darkness by the flapping
wings of the vultures, their greed increased by the
gobbets of raw flesh which fall mangled from their
chatterincr beaks !

•"o

S'AXKHACni:z>A.
How should I not see '? This cemetery, which afTords
delight to Garu(/a, v.ith a snake for his daily food, is

THE nagLvaxd.^ 69

like the body of S'iva, with its skulls and bones white
as the moon.*

JiMUTAVAlIAN.V.

S'ankhachurZa, go then. What is the use of these
well-meant ohjections ?

S'axkhachupa.
The time for the approach of Garu(?a is close at hand.
{Goes on his knees before Jus muther.) mother, do you
now go away. In Avhatever state we may be born again,
mavst tliou alone be mv mother, dotini? one !

[Falls at her feet.

Old Woman (with tears.)

How ! Is this the very last speech 1 son, my feet

assuredly will not bear me from thee, therefore I will

stay here.

S'ankhachuz)A (rising).

After I have quickly walked round the southern

Gokar?(a,t which is close at hand, I will carry out the

command of mj. lord.

[Exeunt loth.

JniUT.VVAHANA.

(havinrj seen so?ne one coining, jiinf'iU)/, to hirnsi'If).
Good luck ! I have got what I wanted, through the
unexpected acquisition of this pair of red garments.

* Siva is often rcj resented as wearing an ckpbani'o skin and a
necklace of t^kulls.

f Cokar/M — there are two c^lclirated ]ili ces of pilgriniage called
Gi>kar«a, — tin; noriliei!! one in Nci>a!. tl'.e .southern nu the Malabar
coast. See Wi!ov,'ii'o *' E.ssavd on the luiigiou of the Ilindu.-i," ii.
16, 19. The manner >d " walkiri: rouiur' was, to ke..-p the right
shoulder always townnls the sacred iilaco.

70 THE XAGANANDA.

Chamelrlain [enlcring).

This pair of garments is sent hy the Queen, the
mother of Mitravasu, to the prince. Let, then, the
prince put them on.

Jimutavahana {with respect).

Give them to me. {Clmmherlain gives them, — to himself).
My marriage with Mahiyavati has borne good fruit.
(Alond.) You may depart. Let the Queen be saluted
from me.

Chamberlain.

Whatever your highness orders.

[Exit.

Jl]MUTAV.\mVNA.
The seasonable arrival of this pair of red garments
gives me tiie greatest pleasure, inasmuch as I desire
to give myself up for another. {Loolcing in all directions.)
From the violence of this wind, which shakes the mighty
rocks of the ^Lalayan peaks. I suspect that the king of
birds is noAv close at hand. See, the expanse of his
wings obscures the sky, like the clouds at doomsday ;
the wind caused by his rush casts the Avaters of ocean
on the shore, as if for another deluge ; and, — raising an
apprehension of the sudden ending of the world, and
watched with terror by the elephants that support the
earth, — Avith the refulgence of his body, which shines like
the twelve suns/' he spreads a lurid red gleam over the ten

* Twelve suns or Xdltyas. These twelve Adityas are forms of
the sun, who, according to the later mythology of the Hindus, had
a different form for each month.

THE \AGANA^'DA. 71

quarters of the sky. Therefore now, while S'ankhachuia
is away, I will quickly mount the execution rock.
{Doe?' so and sits down, starting as if enraptured.) Oh,
the rapture of its touch ! Not so much does Malaya-
vatl delight me, moist Avith sandal-juice of Malaya, as
this rock of execution, which I embrace to the further-
ance of my desired object. Or rather — what need of
mentioning Malay avati 1 Not such joy is attained by
one in childhood, lying peacefully in his mother's lap,
as by me on the slope of this rock of execution. Here
comes Garuc^a. I must veil myself.

\_Does so.

Then enters Garuzja.

Garvda.

Here I am, in a moment arrived on the shore side
of the Malayan Mount, greedy to devour the Naga.
When I saw the moon's disk, I was reminded of the
form of S'esha * coiled up in a circle through fear. My
elder brother + joyfully recognised me, when the sun
was shaken by the sudden start of his chariot steeds as
I passed. My long wings, as I fly, strutch out still
longer by reason of the clouds, that hang from tlieui in
festoons.

Jl.:iUTA\AIIA\A (nilh ]■>'/).

Through the niurit that I gain to-day, by prote:ting
a Ndga at tlie sacrifice of mys'-'li', may I still obtain,

* Seaha is tbo tbuu.--;iin.1-hcadei.l cn.iLe which serves VisLiin as
bis couch n.n<\ canojpy.

t Aiu/ia, \vL',' ia tho j>ersoiiiri'.<l d.iwn, -.uA tL-irlotwr ui iLc »uu.

72 THE NAGANAXDA.

in succeeding existences, a body to be sacrificed for
others !*

Gaeuz»A {loohing at the hero).
Speedily will I catch up and eat this Xaga, dressed
in red garments, who looks as if besmeared with
blood, which gushes from his heart that has burst
through fear of me. I will first split open vith my
beak, which is fiercer than the fierceness of a thunder-
bolt, the breast of this one, Avho has fallen on the surface
of the execution rock, to save the rest of Nagas.

\_MuJdng a descent, he seizes the hero.

Bthind the scenes flowers shoiccr down, and drums sound.'

Gaujida (astonished).
Why now does this shower of flowers fall, rejoicing
the bees with their fragrance ? Or why does this noise
of drums cause to re-echo the quarters of the sky?
(Smiling.) Ah ! I know what it is. I conjecture that
even the tree of Paradise itself is shaken by the wind of
my speed ; and that the clouds of doomsday give forth
their growl, anticipating the world's immediate anni-
hilation.

Ji.MlJ'TAVAHANA (to himself).
Good luck ! I have attained my desire.

Garu/?a (seizing the hero).
Although this protector of the Snakes seems to me

* This wish, to a Buddhist, would seem the ne pins ultra of self-
sacrifice, since to escape from the necessity of future birth, and to
obtain nirvdna, is the supreme end of their system.

THE NAOAXANDA. 73

more like a human being, still verily he shall satiate
to-day my hunger for snake-flesh. So 1 will take him
and ascend the Malayan mountain, there to eat him at
my pleasure.

[Exeunt omnes.

END OF FOURTH ACT OF THE KAGaNANDA.

ACT V.

Then enters a DoonKEEPER.

DoOnKEEPEU.

Through affection, one fears danger to a beloved ob-
ject, even if he be only gone into the garden of his own
house ; how much more, when placed in the midst of an
awful forest, whose mighty dangers are well known.
The mighty king Vitivdvasu sits in sorrow, saying to
himself, " Jimutavdhana, Avho is gone to see the ocean's
shore, stops a long time ; " and he has given me these
orders — " Since, Sunanda I I have heard that my son-
in-law, Jimutavilhana, has gon*,- to the diitiict rendered
terrible by the proximity of C!:uu'/'a, I am fearful for
him. Go, then, and ascertain (piickly whether lu' has
returned to his <jwn house or not." So I am now g"ing
thither. {^Jl'idhhij aljDijt, and biu]:'iivi (nfmr him.) Here
is the royal sage, Jimutaketu. Jiiuutav.-lhana's father,
standing in the conipuund of his hut, rt-sjiectfully at-
tended by his wife and the king's daughter. Sue !

74 THE NAGANAXBA.

Jlmutaketu has a splendour like the ocean, wearing as
he does two linen garments, with ripples tremulous as
waves and white as the ocean's foam, and adorned by
his queen, as the ocean is by the Ganges, each alike
possessed of great holiness, and abundant in maternal
streams ; and at their side shines Malayavatl, like the
ocean's shore. I will go up to them.

Then enters King JisruTAKEXU, with his wife and
daughter-in-law.

King.

I have enjoyed all the pleasures of youth, and held
sway in a kingdom full of glory ; I have steadily exer-
cised devotion ; my son is of great renown, and my
daughter-in-law here is of fitting parentage; now that
all my desires are fulfilled, should I not contemplate
death ?

Doorkeeper (corning vp mddenlij).
— Of Jimutaviihana —

King [stopping his ears).
Cease ! An ill-omen ! *

Queen.
May this ill-omen be averted !

Malayavati.
This bad omen causes my heart to palpitate.

* The utterance hy the doorkeeper of the genitive case of Jimu-
tavahann, immediately succeeding, as it does, the word " death,"
uttered by the king, forms an inauspicious omen.

THE NAGANAKDA. 75

King

{starting as though he felt a throlhing of the left eye).

Good sir, what of Jircutavdhana 1

DOORKEEPEK.

I am sent to you by king Yi-svavasu to learn tidings
of Jimutavahana.

King.
Is not my child there with him ?

Queen {sorrov fully).

king ! if ho is not there, where can my boy l)e
gone ?

King.
Assuredly he will be gone somevrhere for our benefit.

Malay AV ATI {ivlth grief, to herself).

1 dread something very different, from the non-appear-
ance of my husband.

Doorkeeper.
Give your orders. What message am I to take my
lord?

King

(stiirfi)irf as though he felt a throhliiKj of the left eye).

I am perfectly bewildered in my mind with the
thought that Jimutavahana delays so long. Why do
you keep tiirobbing, left eye. again and again, indicat-
ing some evil as about to happen ] Base that you arc,
yonder sun shall stop your ihrobbiugs. {Looking xq>.)

76 THE nIgananda.

Yonder bright thousand-rayed one, sole eye of the tliree
worlds, shall soon bring to light the happiness of Jimu-
tavahana. {Looking astonhhcd.) "What is this that has'
suddenly fallen in front of me from the sky ? as it were
a star, loosened by a portentous wind, shooting forth
red streaks, bright as rays, and giving excessive pain to
the eye of the beholder. How is this ? It has fallen at
my very feet. {All look at it.) Alas ! it is a crest-jewel,
with moist flesh adhering to it ! Whose can it be !

QuEEX {in a tone of distress).
king ! it is the crest-jewel of my poor boy.

MALAYAVATi.
mother ! say not so.

Doorkeeper.
king ! do not distress yourself through ignorance
of facts. In this place many crest-jewels of the chiefs
of the Nagas, who are devoured by Garuf/a, fall torn off
by his beak and claws.

King.
queen ! there is some reason in what he says. I
hope that it may prove so !

Queen.
O Sunanda ! assuredly by this time my son will have
arrived at his father-in-law's liouse from that shore.
Go, then, and ascertain for us quickly.

Doorkeeper.
As the queen orders.

[Exit.

THE NAGAXANDA, 77

King.

O queen ! would tliat it might prove to be the crest
of a Ndga.

Then enters S'ankhachu^a, clad in red garments.

S'ANKllACHL-i9A {shedding tears).

After hastily paying my rp.-pects at the shrine of
Gokarna, on tlie ocean's shore, I am again come ta this
slauditer-house of the Xat^as. But Garu^Za has taken
that Vidyadhara, after tearing open his breast with his
beak and claws, and is flown up towards heaven.
(Sobbing.) Alas ! Thou excessively magnanimous and
affectionate one ! Alas ! My only true friend, though
indeed thou hadst no cause to be so ! Alas ! Thou that
sufferest for another's sake, whither art thou gone 1
Give me an answer. Alas ! Base S'ankhachiu^a, thou
art utterly undone, since thou hast not obtained the merit
of saving the Nagas, even for one day, nor even the
praisewortliincss arising from obedience to thy lord's
commands. Thou art to be pitied, since thou hast been
saved at the expense of another, wlio gave up his life
for thine. Woe ! Woe ! How thou hast been de-
ceived ! How thou hast been deceived ! This being the
state of things, I will not live to be made a laughing-
stock, but will at once endeavour to follow him. {Walk-
ing ahoiif, and looLinj infently on fhc nround.) I proceed,
full of desire to see Garut/a, tracking carefully this line
of blood, which, through its purple hue, is hard to be
traced on this rock, which is variegated with minerals,
and rendered obscure by the thick trees. At first the

78 THE nagAnanda.

track is broad, as if from the sudden giish, and then the
drops become clotted, and at wider intei-vals ; next, a
few drops are seen, scattered among the stones in a
broken line, and then they are full of insects on the
level ground.

Queen (imIiA alarm).

king ! this man, coming hither hastily, with his
face fiuslied, appears troubled, and fills my heart with
alarm. Let us ascertain who he is.

King.

As the queen says. [Listening; with joy, and smiling.)
queen ! cease from sorrow. Assuredly this crest-
jewel must be his, let fall on this spot by some bird,
who snatched it from his head, thinking from its colour
that it was a piece of flesH.

Queen {joyfulhj, embracing AlALAYAVATf).
thou saved from widowhood, be calm. Such a form
as this was not made to suffer the pains of widowhood.

Mala YAV ATI {with joy).
mother ! it must be then through the efficacy of thy
blessing.

[Falls at her fat.

King ( to S'axkil\.chuz?a).
My child, what is the matter ?

S'ANKHACIIL^27A.
My throat being obstructed "with tears through the
excess of my grief, I am totally unable to tell you.

THE NAGANAXDA. 79

King.

My son, tell me thy sorrow, that it may become more
endurable from participation. At present it is intoler-
able, while shut up in thine own heart.

S'ANKHACUUiyA.
Hear it, then. I am a Ndga, S'ankhachuf^a by name.
I was sent by Vilsuki, as a meal for Garu(/a. But why
waste time in words 1 Even as we talk, perhaps these
tracks of drops of blood mingled with dust are disap-
pearing. I will therefore tell it in a breath. By a
certain VidyAdhara, whose mind was full of compassion,
my life has been preserved. He has given himself up
to Garu(/a.

King,
Who else would thus undergo calamity for another 1
My child, you might as well have said at once, '• By
Jimutavahana ! " Alas ! I am undone, ill-fated man that
I am.

Queen.
Alas ! my child, how could you do this 1

Malayavati.

How true has my foreboding proved !

[They all fain [.

S^ANKllACliUi9A (iritli tears).
Surely these must be the parents of that magnanimous
one, otherwise they would not be brought into this con-
dition by my evil tidings. But what else should issue
from the mouth of a venomous seii)ent, except poison?

80 THE NAGANANDA.

Assuredly, S'ankhachufZa lias worthily repaid his bene-
factor ! In what way, now, shall I put an end to myself?
But I must first revive these two. Re\'ive, my father !
Cheer up, mother !

\Thc\j both revive.

Queen.
Stand up, my child. Do not weep. Shall we live
without Jimiitavahana ? Clieer up, then.

Malay Av ATI {recovering).
husband ! where shall I see you again?

King.
Alas ! my child, who knew so well how to perform
the duty of honouring thy father's feet, even in another
world the practice of good behaviour is not forgotten by
thee, since thou hast dropped thy crest-jewel at my feet.
{Takes up the crest-jeiccl.) Alas! my child, is it only in
this way that I can now behold thee? {Puts it to his
hreast.) Alas ! Alas ! tliou, whose head was con-
tinually bowed at my feet in constant devotion, thy
crest-jewel, polished by their contact as by a touchstone,
was never guilty of injuring any one ; why, then, does it
now rudely pierce my breast ?

QUEEX.
Alas ! my son Jimutavahana, whose only pleasure
was in obedience to thy father, how could'st thou leave
him, and go to enjoy the delights of heaven ?

King {with tears).
O queen ! can we live without Jimutavahana, that
you talk thus ?

THE NagAjTANDA. 81

IMalayavati
(Jailing at his feet, and ch:is;ping her hand.?).
Give me the crest-jewel, as a memorial of my husband,
that, wearing it in my bosom, I may mount the funeral
pile, and quench my burning sorrows in the fire.

King.

O devoted one ! why do you thus trouble me ? Is
not this the fixe'd deteimination of us all 1

Queen.
King, why do we then delay ]

King.

There is no reason. But one, who has always main-
tained a sacred lire, obtains purification from no other.
Therefore, we will fetch fire from the sacred fire-cell, and
bum ourselves.*

S'ankhachujDA {to himself).
Alas! for the sake of me, a single indi^^dual, this
whole family of VidyAdharas is utterly destroyed. I
will see Avhat can be done. [Aloud.) father, not
without due deliberation should such a rash purpose be
carried out. The sportings of destiny demand thought.
Perhaps, when he finds that he is not a Ndga, the enemy
of the Ndgas will lot him go again. Let us then follow
Garut/a in this direction.

* Compare Colebrooke'.s E.ssays, I., paje 157. At the obsequies
of a priest, v:\io maintained a consecrated fire, his funeral pile must
be lighted from that fire.

82 THE nagIxanda.

Queen.
It will assuredly be by tlie special favour of the gods
if "we look on tbe face of our son, yet living.

MalaYAVATi {io herself).

Most assuredly I, ill-fated that I am, can hardly look
for such a blessing.

King.

child, may this speech * of thine prove true ! Still
it is fitting that we should take the fires with us, as we
follow. Do you, then, follow the track ; and we will come
as soon as we have brought the fire from the fire-cell.

[Exit, vnth ivife and daughter-in-law..

S'ANKHACHtJz?A.

1 will now follow Garuc/a. {Looking in front.) Yonder,
afar off, I see the enemy of the Xdgas, on a pinnacle of
Malaya, making new galleys in the mountain-side, as he
rubs his gory beak. The woods around are all uprooted
and burnt by the streaks of flaming fire from his eyes,
and the ground is hollowed round him by his dreadful
adamantine claws.

Then enters Garuz)A, seated on a rod, ivith the hero
lyinrj in front of hivi.

Never since my birth has so wonderful a thing been
seen by me in my feasts on the lords of the Ndgas ! Not

• Thb of course is said in ans— er to S'ankhachiic^a's sug^sstion
above.

THE NAGANANDA, 83

only is tliis hero unterrified, but he even appears almost
delighted. There is no lassitude seen in him, though
most of his blood is drunk up. His face, through its
heroic endurance, even when he is suffering the pangs
from the tearing of his flesh, seems serene as in ecstacv.
Every limb, which is not actually destroyed, bristles with,
rapture. His glance falls on me, whilst doing him an
injury, as though I were doing him a fiivour. Hence, by
his heroism, my curiosity is excited. I will not eat him.
I will ask who he is.

JiMUTAV.vHANA.
There is yet flesh in my body, whose blood pours forth
from every vein ; and you, magnanimous one, do not
seem satiated. Why, then, Garut/a, do you stop
eating 1

GaPvUzjA (to hwiself).

Wonder of wonders ! How! Even in this state does
he still speak thus stoutly ! {Aloud.) This heroism of
tliine seems to call back the heart's blood that has been
poured out by my beak. I wish, then, to hear who thou
art.

Jf^n-TAVAHANA.

It is not fit that you should hear, while tormented
by hunger. Satiate yourself, then, with my flesh and
blood.

S'ANKHACnui7A {corainrj vp in haste).
Garuf?a, not indeed, not hideed should this cruelty
be done. This is no Na^a. Let him go. Eat me. I
am sent by Yasuki for thy food.

[Presents his breast.

84 THE NAGAXANDA.

JiMuTAYaHANA {on seeing S'ankhachuz)A).

Alas ! my desire lias become fruitless tlirougli the
arrival of S'ankbacliucZa.

GaeUz^A {lool"ing at them both).

Both of you Tvear the distinctive badge of victims.
"Wliich is really the Kdga I know not.

S'ankh.\chuz?A.

The error is a likely one, forsooth. Not to mention
the mark of the Swastika * on the breast, are there not
the scales on my body 1 Do you not count my two
tongues as I speak 1 Nor see these three hoods of mine,
the compressed wind hissing through them in my insup-
portable anguish ? While the brightness of my gems is
distorted by the thick smoke from the fire of my direful
poison.

Garu/?A {holing at hoth, and noticing the hood
of S'AXKHACHUZJA).

"Who, then, is this that I have destroyed ?

S'ANKHACHUiDA.

It is Jimutavahana, the ornament of the race of
Vidyddharas. How was this done by thee, merciless
one ?

GARUi?A {to hlmsdf).

All ! How, indeed, -was it done ? This, then, is that

"Swastika" is a mystical figure in the form ot a cross. This
passage might serve as a "locus classkm" for the Hindu concep-
tion ot a Xiiga. Mr Fergus-jon give? pictures, taken from sculptures,
of Isugai with three, five, or sevi-u hoods.

THE XAGAXANDA. 85

JimutavAhana, prince of the Yidyddharas, whose fame I
have repeatedly heard sung by the hosts of bards who
traverse Lokdloka,* sung on the slopes of Meru, in the
caves of Mandara, on the table-land of Himavat, on
mount !Mahendra, on the peaks of Kailasa, even on
these heights of Malaya, and in the various caverns of
the mountains that bound the world. Of a truth, I am
plunged in a vast quagmire of iniquity !

JiMutavahana.
lord of snakes, why art thou thus troubled ?

S'ANKHACnuiJA.

Is it not a time for excessive trouble ? If my body
were preserved from Gaioir^a by the sacrifice of thine,
verily it were right that thou shouldst hurl me to a
depth lower than the deepest hell.

GARUZ)A.

Alas ! alas ! His own body has been of his own
accord presented for my food by this noble-minded one,
through pity, to save the life of a NAga, who had fallen
within the reach of my voracity. "What, a terrible sin
then have I committed ! In a wt)rd, this is a " Bodhi-
sattwa," t whom I have slain. I see no way of expiating
my sin, except by entering the fire. "Where then shall

* " Lokdloka," a mountainous chain surrounding the outermost
of the seven seas, and which bounds the world, with the Hindus.

+ " Bodhi-sattwa " is a technical term in BmUlUist theology,
denoting a potential Buddha, or one who has only one mure birth
remaining before he becomes a j^erfect BuJJha, and meanwhile
waits in heaven until Lis period comes round.

86 THE n1gana>t)a.

I find fire? [Looking round.) Ah! Here come some
■with fire. I will wait till they arrive.

S'ankhachuz»a.
O prince, your parents are come.

JiJIUTAVaHANA {ivitli agitation).

Sankhachuf/a, do you sit down, and conceal my

"body with my upper garment. Otherwise, perhaps,

my mother might die, if she suddenly saw me in this

state.

[S'ANKHilCHtJzJA tales up the garment f alien

at his side, and does so.

Then enters KiNG Ji:3li;TAKETU, with his wife and
daughter-in-laio.

King [sorroivfulhj).
Alas ! son Jirautavdhana, whence came this exalted
degree of compassion — " Another is as one's-self ? " How
was it that the thought did not occur to you — " Are
many to be saved, or one ? " For, by giving up your
life to save a Ndga from Garut/a, yourself, your parents,
your wife, yea the whole family is destroyed.

Queen (addressing ]MALAYAVATi).
O daughter, desist. You will extinguish the fire
with your incessant tears.

[All ualk round.

King.

Alas ! my son Jirautavuhaua !

THE NAG AN AND A. 8T

GakuzjA (on hearing this).
He says — " Alas ! my son JimutavAhana ! " TMs
then is doubtless his father. How can I bum myself in
tliis fire ] I am ashamed to appear before them after
slaying their son. Yet why should I be troubled about
a fire 1 Am not I on the ocean's brink ] I will cast
myself into the- submarine fire,* terrible as the destined
consumer of the world at the end of a " kalpa," having
kindled it by the wind of my own wings, fiercer than
any supernatural blast, which will make the flames
flicker liivc the tips of the tongue of Death, when enjoy-
ing the relish of licking up the three worlds, and which
span the sea, and reach even to threaten the sun's

domain.

[^He wishes to rise.

Jimutavahaxa.

king of birds, away with this resolve ! This would
be no expiation for your sin.

Gael'X'A {falling on his knees, and putting his
hands together).

magnanimous one, tell me then what e"!cpiation is
there ?

* " VdJava," or subuiariue fire. " lu Hindu mythology this
is represented as a being ct'osisting of flauie, but with the head of
a mare, who sprang from the thigh of Urva, and was received by
the ocean." — ]Vilso)i''is Dictionary. He ia also called Aurva
Bhargava, .He will destroy the world at the end of the " kalpa "
or aeon. The Brahmanical " kalpa " consists of four thousand, three
hundred, aud twenty millions ox solar years.

88 the nagananda.

Jimutavahana.

Wait a moment. My parents are come. I "vnll first
pay my respects to them.

Garuzja.
Do so.

King {idth jotj, having seen him).

O queen, fortune favours you ! Here is our son
Jimutavdhana, not only alive, but respectfully waited
on by Garuc/a, ■with his hands folded like a disciple.

Queen.
O mighty king, my desires are all accomplished. I
shall see his face, and surely his body must be un-
injured. ' .

Malaya vATi.

Even though I see my husband, I cannot beUeve it.
It is too dear to be true !

King {golnr/ np).

Come, my child, embrace me.

[JimuTAVaHANA u'ishing to rise, the garment
falls off, and he faints.

S'ankhachuzja. ' .
prince, revive, revive !

King.
Alas ! my child, haWng seen me, are you gone with-
out an embrace ?

the nagaxanda. 89

Queen.

Alas ! my child, do you not greet me vrith a single

word 1

Malayavati.

Alas ! my husband, are not even your parents worthy
of a glance ?

[They all faint.

S'ANKHACHUZ'A {to Jdmself). . .

villain S'ankliachilf/a, why did you not perish,
whilst yet unborn? Seeing that moment by moment
you endure pangs worse than death itself?

Gabjjda.
All this is caused by my inconsiderate action. Base
wretch that I am ! But I will do what I can. {Fanning
with his wings.) noble one, revive, revive !

JImuTAVaHANA {recovering).
S'ankhachuf?a, revive my parents.

S'ANKHACHTjZJA.
O father, recover ! mother, revive !

[Both come to their senses.

Queen.
son, does that villain Death carry you oif in our
very sight ?

King.
queen, speak not so inausplciously. The long-lived
one * yet breathes. See to his wife,

• jCyusliman, long-lived one, is here used as an address of good
omen, and implies aa understood prajer. It ia a favourite
Buddkist espresaiun.

90 THE NiGAJ^A^•DA.

Queen
{weeping, having covered her face tvilh her dress).
The omen be averted ! I will not "weep. Malay-
avati, revive. Kise, my child, rise. At this time, if
ever, look on the face of thy husband.

Malaya VATi {coming to herself).
Alas ! my husband !

Queen {stopping the mouth of ^Malayavati).
child, act not thus. Mav this omen be averted.

King {to himself, with tears).
"Why do I not burst into a hundred pieces through
sorrow, as I behold my son giving up his life, ^yhich,
the rest of his body being destroyed, has retreated to
his throat as to its last remaining stronghold ?

Malayavati.

Alas ! my husband ! I must indeed be very ■wicked,
since, even when I see my husband in such a state, I
yet live on !

Queen {stvoking the limhs of the hero, and
addressing GarUzjA).

thou who fearest naught, how could this body of
my son, in the fresh bloom of youth, be brought by thee
to such a state as this]

JiMUTAVlE.^'A-
mother, not so indeed. What harm has been done
by him 1 Was it not in reality just the same before ?

THE NAGAXANDA. 91

See. "What beauty can there be in a body, loathsome
to the sight, and consisting of blood, marrow, flesh,
bones, and fat, covered in by skin ]

Gaeuz?a.
noble-minded one, I stand in pain, regarding my-
self as already consumed by the fiery flames of hell.
Point out, then, I pray, how I can be cleansed from my
guilt.

JLmutavahana.
If my father gives me leave, I will point out the
expiation for this fault.

King.
Do so, my child.

JblUTAVAHANA-
Listen then, Garuf?a.

Garuz>A [ijuttinf] his hands together).
Give your instructions.

JLmutavahana.
Cease for ever from destroying life ; repent of thy
former deeds ; labour to gather together an unbroken
chain of good actions, by inspiring confidence in all livhig
beings ; so that this sin, which has its origin in the
destruction of living beings, rnay not ripen to bear fruit,
but may be all absorbed in thy merits, as a morsel of
salt thrown into the depths of yonder ocean.

GARUZ)A.

"Whatever you order. I, who was lying in a sleep of

92 THE NAGAXANDA.

ignorance, now, awakened by you, have from this day
ceased from destroying living beings. Now let the race
of Ndgas wander happily in the mighty ocean — at times
stretching from shore to shore like bridges — at times
taken for wliirlpools, through the coiling of their
bodies — and at times resembling continents, from the
multitude of their hoods, large as alluvial islands.
Again, let the damsels of the Ndgas in yon grove of
sandal trees celebrate joyfully this glory of thine, think-
ing lightly of the fatigue, though their bodies faint with
the exertion, and though their cheeks, browned by the
touch of the rays of the early sun, seem as if bedaubed
with red lead, while their hair let fall to their feet
resembles the darkness of clouds.

Jimutavahana.
Well said, magnanimous one ! "We are delighted.
By all means keep firm to your purpose. {Addressing
S'axkhachuzja.) S'aulvliachucZa, do you now go
home.

[S'ANKHACnuz)A, sighing, stands with downcast looJcs.

Jimutavahana {sighing as he looJcs at his mother).
For assuredly thy mother will be sitting full of grief
for thy pain, as she looks up, expecting to see thee drop,
mangled by GarutZa's beak.

Queen {ivith tears).
Blessed indeed is that mother, who will behold the
face of her son, with his body uninjured, though he was
actually in the very jaws of GarutZa.

THE NAGA2fA2IDA. 93

S'ANKHi\CHUZ>A.

O mother, it is indeed as you say. Would that the
Prince might he saved !

JiiluTAVlHANA {s2)eaJdn(j as though in agony).

Ah ! oh ! These joint-racking pangs •were not felt by
me before, through the excess of pleasure, which I felt
in doing good to another, but now they begin to hem
me round.

\H.e mils in a dying state.

King (tuith agitation).
Alas ! my son, why this posture ?

Queen.

Alas ! alas ! "Why does he talk thus ? {Seating her
breast.) Help ! help ! My child is dying !

Malayavati.
Ah I my husband, you appear in a hurry to leave us.

JiMutAVaHANA {trying to place his hands together).
S'ankhachu(7a ! place my hands together.

S'ANKHACIIUiPA {doing so).
Alas 1 the world is robbed of its master.

JiMUTAVAlI.^JN'A {Judf oiKuing his eyis, and loohing
at his father).

father, mother ! This is my last salutation.
These limbs retain no consciousness — my ear hears no
sound, however distinct the articulation — alas ! my eye

94 THE NAGANAXDA.

is fast closing — my father, these vital airs are quicldy-
leaving me in my powerlessness — but, " Through the
merit that I gain to-Jay by protecting a Naga at the
sacrifice of myself, may 1 still obtain in succeeding exist-
ences a body to be sacrificed for others."*

[Ee falls.
Queen.

Alas, my son ! Alas, my child ! Alas, darling of
thy parents ! Where art thou 1 Tell me !

King.

Alas, child Jimutavdhana ! Alas, the darling of thy
companions ! Alas, thou possessed of all virtues, where
art thou 1 Tell me ! {Throwing zip his hands.) Alas !
alas ! woe ! Firmness has now no home. To whom can
modesty go for protection 1 Who in the whole world
now possesses patience 1 Liberality has ceased, and
truth has verily perished ! Whither now can pity go,
itself worthy of pity ? The whole world has become
void by tliy departure to anotlior, my sou !

]\lALAYAVATi.

Alas, my husband ! How could you leave me and
depart 1 jMalayavati, how cruel you are ! What do
you not deserve for hving so long after your husband 1

S'axkhachuzja.
O Prince, where art thou gone, forsaking these people,
dearer to thee than life itself J Assuredly now S'anka-
chutZa will follow thee.

• He repeats this sentence from the end of the fourth act, where
Garuda first seizes him.

the ^^agana^'da. 95

Garuzia.

Alas ! This noble-minded one is dead. What shall I
now do 1

Queen {looHng up toith tears).

Oh revered guardians of the -world, bring my son to
life by sprinkling him in some way with ambrosia.

GarUZ»A {joyfully to himself).

Ah ! The mention of ambrosia reminds me oppor-
tunely. I think I may yet wipe out my disgrace. I
will pray to Indra, and persuade him by a shower of
ambrosia to restore to life not only Jimutavahana, but
all those lords of Nagas that have heretofore been eaten
by me, and who are now merely skeletons. If he will
not grant it, then, — having drunk up the ocean with my
wings, and borne along by mighty winds of ever-
increasing violence, while the twelve suns fall fainting,
bewildered by the flaming fierceness of my eyes. — I will
break to pieces with my beak the thunderbolt of Indra,
the club of Kuvera, and the staff of Yama, the lord of
the dead, and, having conquered the Gods in battle, will
at once by my own might let fall an ambrosial shower.
Here, then, I go.

[^Exity after v:alhing round havfjJdili/.

King.

child, S'ankhachu'ia, why do you still delay 1 Col-
lect wood, and build a funeral pile for my son, that we
too may go with him.

96 THE nagananda.

Queen.

son, Sankhachuf/a, quickly get it ready. Thy
brother remains in pain, T\-ithout our company.

S'AXKnACHuz>A [tearfully).

"Whatever my parents order. Am not I -willing to
lead the wayl {Rises and builds a funeral pile.) O
father, mother, here is the funeral pile prepared.

King.
Queen, why do you still weep? Else, we will
mount the pile.

[All stand vp.

i jVLuAYAVATf {looTcing up ivith her hands together).

revered Gauri, it was promised by thee — '" An
emperor of the Vidyadharas shall be thy husband."
How, then, in my case, ^Tetched one that I am, have
thy words proved untrue ?

{Then enters Gauki, as in haste.) ^

Gauri.
mighty King Jimutaketu, assuredly this rash act
must not be done.

King.
Oh ! How can the sight of Gauri be in vain 1

Gauri {addressing ^lAL^VYAVATi).
Child, how could I prove untrue ? {Going up to the
hero, and sprinlcUng him with water from a xcater-pot.)
I am well pleased ^nth thee, who even at the cost of thy

THE NAGAXA>'DA. 9"

own life "vvouKr-sfc benefit the world. Live, Jimutavd-
hana !

[The hero stands vp.

King {joyfuU^j).

Queen ! joy ! joy ! Our son is restored to life I

QUEEX.

Bv the hiessinc? of Gnuri.

JlMUTAVAHAXA
{having seen Gmjki, putting his luiivJs together).
Ah ! how should the sight of Gauri be in vain ?
thou who grantest all desires, and removest all pain from
thy prostrate worshippers, protectress, I bow at thy
feet, — Gauri, ever celebrated in song by the Vidyd-
dharas !

[He /(.ills at thejiet of GaURi.

All look tipwards.

King.
Ah ! what means this shower, when no clouds are
seen 1 revered one, what is this ?

Gauui.

King Jimutaketu, this shower of ambrosia is caused
to fall by the repentant lord of birds, to restore to life
Jimutavahana, and these lords of the Xdgas, now only
skeletons. [Fointing vnth a finger.) Do you not see
these lords of Kdgas ? Xow they reach S'ankhachu'7a,
their heads bright with the rays of their unveiled crest-
jewels — now they lick up the ver^- ground in their haste

98 THE NAGAXANT)A.

to devour the ambrosia -with their two-forked toncraes —

and now, hurrj-ing along, they plunge into the ocean by
tortuous paths, like the v/aters of the rivers of the Malaya
hills. (Addressing the hero.) child Jimutavahana,
thou art worthy of something more than the mere gift
of life, therefore this is my further blessing to thee — I
on this very spot will make thee in a moment an uni-
versal emperor of the Vidyiidharas, having sprinkled
thee with purifying waters produced ready at hand from
my Manasa lake, oidy sullied by the dust of the golden
lotuses, shaken by the pinions of the wild geese, — and
placed in jewelled jars created by my will. Let the
jewel of the golden wheel come first, then the elephant
with the four white tusks, and the dark coloured horse, '
and next Malay avatl.'"' emperor, behold these are the
the jewels which I give thee. Yet further, — bchoM
these nobles of the Vidyiidharas, bearing in their hands
chowries of the yak's tail, white as the juituinnal m<>'>n,
making, as they walk, and bow, and bfn<l their b-. idles
low in devotion, very rainbows with the rays of th"ir
sems, — and among them the villain ^latanira and hi.s
fellows. Tell me, now, what yet further boon I can
grant thee ]

JlMuTAYAirAXA.

What boon can there be beyond this ? S'ankhacli 'i'?a

is delivered from him who was the dread of all the

shakes ; Garuf/a has been brought to a better mind ;

all the lords of the Nagas, whom he had ever eaten,

* The wheel, the elephant, the horse, and the queen, are fuiir ..f
the seven jewels (ratnuui) which distiugiiish the universal crnf.ercr
(CLakravartiu) among the Buddhists. See Lalita-Viitara, III.

ADDITIOI(AL NOTES.

-C"-

Page 1 , line 9.

The words which I render " Buddha, the conqueror," are Bmidho
iinah.

" Le nom de Djina est un des synonymes de celui de Baddha, ou
plutot c'est un des nombreuses dpithetes que Ton donue Ji un
Buddha. II signi^e vainqueur dans un sens moral et religieux. Ou
sait qu'il est commun aux Buddhi3te3 et aux Djainas." — Bur.vouf

Page 20, line 18.

I have translated chandana-latd as "sandal-creeper," as the
St Peteraburg Dictionary only explains lata by " Sehlinggewachs,"
" Ranke ; " but the sandal-tree is not properly a creeper. Santalum
album is described by Roxburgh as having a stem only a few feet
high ; it then divides into numerous branches, which spread and
rise in every direction, forming nearly a spherical head. Lata,
therefore, seems to be used here to express the spreading branches
of any tree which can be formed into a bower.

The Santa'' um album is found in the mountainous parts of
Malabar. Dr Buchanan {Journey II. 53G) says that it does not
grow on the coast, but is found on the eastern side of the western
Ghats. The Santalum (or sirium) w.yrtifoUum appears to be a
difiFerent tree. Roxburgh describes it as a " native of the Circar
mountains, where it is but of a small size, and the wood of little
or no value."

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