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 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 ἽΕΙ; 6/2375 
 
INDIAN WISDOM 
 
 OR 
 
 EXAMPLES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 RELIGIOUS, PHILOSOPHICAL, AND ETHICAL 
 DOCTRINES OF THE HINDUS: 
 
 WITH A BRIEF HISTORY 
 
 OF THE CHIEF DEPARTMENTS OF SANSKRIT LITERATURE, 
 
 AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 PAST AND PRESENT CONDITION OF INDIA, 
 MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL. 
 
 BY 
 
 MONIER WILLIAMS, M.A., D.C.L., 
 
 Hon, Doctor in Law of the University of Calcutta; 
 Hon, Member of the Bombay Astatic Society; 
 Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Ortental Society of Germany; 
 
 Boden Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Oxford 
 
 “a V \A 
 ) ἱ VV 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 LONDON : 
 Wu. H. ALLEN & CO., 18, WATERLOO PLACE, S.W. 
 publishers to the Andia Office. 
 
 1876. 
 
OXFORD: 
 
 BY 2, PICKARD HALL AND J. H. STACY, 
 
 _ PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 . 
 
PREFACE 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 HE increasing interest felt in India and Indian litera- 
 
 ture has led to such a demand for the present work, that 
 it was found necessary to begin printing a second edition 
 almost immediately after the issue of the first. I have, 
 therefore, been unable to avail myself of the suggestions 
 contained in the Reviews which have hitherto appeared. 
 Nevertheless, a few unimportant alterations have been 
 made in the present edition; and through the kindness 
 of Professor W. D. Whitney, who lost no time in sending 
 ‘me some valuable notes, I have been able to improve the 
 chapter on Astronomy at p. 180. 
 
 Being on the eve of quitting England for a visit to 
 the principal seats of learning in India, I have for obvious 
 reasons deferred addressing myself to the fuller treatment 
 of those portions of Sanskrit literature of which I have 
 merely given a summary in Lecture XV. 
 
 India, with all its immutability, is now making such 
 rapid strides in education, that a Professor of Sanskrit at 
 Oxford, if he is to keep himself up to the level of advanc- 
 ing knowledge and attainments, ought to communicate 
 personally with some of those remarkable native Pandits 
 whose intellects have been developed at our great Indian 
 Colleges and Universities, and who owe their eminence 
 in various branches of learning to the advantages they 
 have enjoyed under our Government. 
 
 In undertaking so long a journey my only motives 
 are a sense of what is due from me to the Boden 
 Chair, a desire to extend my sphere of work, a craving 
 
 a 2 
 
1V PREFACE. 
 
 for trustworthy information on many obscure portions 
 of Indian religious literature not yet examined by 
 Kuropean scholars, and a hope that on my return, 
 should health and strength be spared to me, I may have 
 increased my powers of usefulness within my own pro- 
 vince, and be enabled to contribute more than I have 
 yet effected towards making England and India better 
 known to each other, or at least towards making Oxford 
 an attractive centre of Indian studies, and its lecture- 
 rooms, museums, and libraries sources of accurate know- 
 ledge on Indian subjects. 
 
 Oxford, October 1875. 
 
 PREFACE 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 HE present volume! attempts to supply a want, the 
 existence of which has been impressed upon my 
 mind by an inquiry often addressed to me as Boden 
 Professor :—Is it possible to obtain from any one book 
 a good general idea of the character and contents of 
 Sanskrit literature 1 
 Its pages are also intended to subserve a further object. 
 They aim at imparting to educated Englishmen, by 
 means of translations and explanations of portions of the 
 sacred and philosophical literature of India, an insight 
 into the mind, habits of thought, and customs of the 
 Hindis, as well as a correct knowledge of a system 
 of belief and practice which has constantly prevailed 
 for at least three thousand years, and still continues 
 
 * The volume is founded on my official lectures. 
 
PREFACE, V 
 
 to exist as one of the principal religions of the Non- 
 Christian world‘. 
 
 It cannot indeed be right, nor is it even possible for 
 educated Englishmen to remain any longer ignorant of 
 the literary productions, laws, institutions, religious creed, 
 and moral precepts of their Hindi fellow-creatures and 
 fellow-subjects. The East and West are every day being 
 drawn nearer to each other, and British India, in par- 
 ticular, is now brought so close to us by steam, electricity, 
 and the Suez Canal, that the condition of the Hindt 
 community—mental, moral, and physical—forces itself 
 peremptorily on our attention. Nor is it any longer 
 justifiable to plead the difficulty of obtaining accurate 
 official information as an excuse for ignorance. Our 
 Government has for a long period addressed itself most 
 energetically to the investigation of every detail capable 
 of throwing light on the past and present history of the 
 Queen’s Indian dominions. 
 
 A Literary survey of the whole of India has been 
 recently organized for the purpose of ascertaining what 
 Sanskrit MSS., worthy of preservation, exist in public and 
 
 1 See the caution, last line of p. xxxi, and p. 2. Although European 
 nations have changed their religions during the past eighteen centuries, 
 the Hindiis have not done so, except very partially. Islam converted a 
 certain number by force of arms in the eighth and following centuries, 
 and Christian truth is at last creeping onwards and winning its way by 
 its own inherent energy in the nineteenth ; but the religious creeds, rites, 
 customs, and habits of thought of the Hindiis generally have altered little 
 since the days of Manu, five hundred years Β. 6. Of course they have 
 experienced accretions, but many of the same caste observances and rules 
 of conduct (aédra, vyavahara, see p. 217) are still in force ; some of the 
 same laws of inheritance (ἀγα, p. 270) hold good ; even a beggar will 
 sometimes ask for alms in words prescribed by the ancient lawgiver 
 (bhiksham dehi, Manu II. 49, Kullika); and to this day, if a pupil absents 
 himself from an Indian college, he sometimes excuses himself by saying 
 that he has a prayas-citta to perform (see p. 278, and Triibner’s Report 
 of Professor Stenzler’s Speech at the London Oriental Congress). 
 
vi PREFACE. 
 
 private libraries. Competent scholars have been ap- 
 pointed to the task, and the result of their labours, so 
 far as they have hitherto extended, has been published. 
 
 Simultaneously, an Archzeological survey has been ably 
 conducted under the superintendance of Major-General A. 
 Cunningham, and we have most interesting results pub- 
 lished and distributed by the Indian Governments in the 
 shape of four large volumes, filled with illustrations, the 
 last issued being the Report for the year 1871-72. 
 
 An Ethnological survey has also been set on foot in 
 Bengal, and a magnificent volume with portraits from pho- 
 tographs of numerous aboriginal tribes, called Descriptive 
 Ethnology of Bengal, by Colonel Dalton, was published at 
 Calcutta in 1872. This was preceded by a valuable guide 
 to the Ethnology of India, written by Sir George Campbell. 
 
 Even an Industrial survey has been partially carried 
 out under the able direction of Dr. Forbes Watson, who 
 proposes that a new Museum and Indian Institute shall 
 be built and attached to the India Office. 
 
 Moreover, Sir George Campbell caused to be prepared, 
 printed, and published, during his recent administration in 
 Bengal, comparative tables of specimens of all the languages 
 of India—Aryan, Dravidian, and aboriginal—the practical 
 benefit of which requires no demonstration on my part. 
 
 But there are other official publications still more ac- 
 cessible to every Englishman who will take the trouble 
 of applying to the proper authorities. 
 
 Those whose horizon of Eastern knowledge has hitherto 
 been hopelessly clouded, so as to shut out every country 
 beyond the Holy Land, have now a clear prospect opened 
 out towards India. They have only to study the Report 
 of the Moral and Material Progress and Condition of 
 India during 1872-73, published by the India Office, 
 and edited by Mr. C. R. Markham. At the risk of 
 being thought impertinent, I must crave permission to 
 
PREFACE. vil 
 
 record here an opinion that this last mentioned work 
 is worthy of a better fate than to be wrapped in a blue 
 cover, as if it were a mere official statement of dry 
 facts and statistics. Its pages are full of valuable infor- 
 mation on every subject connected with our Eastern 
 Empire—even including missionary progress—and_ the 
 carefully drawn maps with which it is illustrated are a 
 highly instructive study in themselves. The revelation 
 the Report makes of what is being done and what remains 
 to be done, may well humble as well as cheer every 
 thoughtful person. But emanating as the volume does 
 from the highest official authority, it 1s in itself an evidence 
 of great advance in our knowledge of India’s needs, and in 
 our endeavours to meet them, as well as an earnest of our 
 future efforts for the good of its inhabitants. 
 
 The same must be said of Sir George Campbell’s ex- 
 haustive Report on his own administration of Bengal 
 during 1872-73. This forms a thick 8vo volume of about 
 nine hundred pages, and affords a mine of interesting and 
 valuable information’. 
 
 Most significant, too, of an increasing interchange of 
 Oriental and Occidental ideas and knowledge is the cir- 
 cumstance that almost every number of the 7%mes news- 
 paper contains able articles and interesting communications 
 from its correspondents on Indian affairs, or records some 
 result of the intellectual stir and ferment now spreading, 
 
 1 Another very instructive publication, though of quite a different 
 stamp from the official documents mentioned above, is M. Garcin de 
 Tassy’s Annual Review (Revue Annuelle) of the literary condition of India, 
 which is every year kindly presented to me, and to many other scholars, 
 by that eminent Orientalist. It is delivered annually in the form of a 
 discourse at the opening of his Hindiistani lectures. Though it deals 
 more particularly with the development of Urdti and other linguistic 
 studies, it gives a complete and reliable account of the intellectual and 
 social movements now going on, and of the progress made in all branches 
 of education and knowledge. 
 
vill PREFACE. 
 
 as it has never done before, from Cape Comorin to the 
 Himalaya mountains. 
 
 Another noteworthy indication of growing inter-com- 
 munity of thought between the Hast and West is the 
 fact that every principal periodical of the day finds itself 
 compelled to take increasing account of the sayings and 
 doings—wise or unwise—of young Bengal, Madras, and 
 Bombay. Our attention is continually drawn by one or 
 another publication to the proceedings of native religious 
 societies—such as the Brahma-samaj, Sanitana-dharma- 
 samaj, Dharma-sabha, &c.'’—or to the transactions of 
 literary and scientific clubs and institutions; while not 
 unfrequently we are presented with extracts from ver- 
 nacular journals’, or from the speeches of high-minded 
 Hindis, who occasionally traverse India, not as Christian 
 missionaries, but seeking, in a spirit worthy of Chris- 
 tianity itself, to purify the Hindi creed and elevate the 
 tone of Indian thought and feeling. All this is a sure 
 criterion of the warm interest in Oriental matters now 
 taking possession of the public mind in Western countries. 
 
 But still more noteworthy as an evidence of increasing 
 personal intercourse between England and India is the 
 presence of Hindis and Muslims amongst us here. Many 
 of the more intelligent and enlightened natives, breaking 
 through the prejudices of caste and tradition that have 
 
 1 There appear to be two sections of the Brahma-samaj or Theistic 
 society established in India. One clings to the Veda and seeks to restore 
 Hindiism to the pure monotheism believed to underlie the Veda. These 
 theists are followers of the late Rammohun Roy. The other society 
 rejects the Veda and advocates an independent and purer theism. Its 
 present leader is Keshab Gandra Sen. 
 
 * The increase in the number of journals and newspapers in the ver- 
 nacular languages, conducted with much ability and intelligence by 
 native editors, is remarkable. An Urdii and Hindi paper called Maw- 
 gala-samacara-patra, printed and published at Besvan, by Thakur Guru 
 Prasad Sinh, is, through his kindness, regularly transmitted to me. 
 
PREFACE. ΙΧ 
 
 hitherto chained them as prisoners to their own soil, now 
 visit our shores and frequent our Universities to study 
 us, our institutions, laws, and literature. Some of them, 
 too, have already received a thorough English education 
 at Indian colleges. It is even asserted that they some- 
 times come amongst us knowing our language, our history, 
 and our standard authors better than we know them our- 
 selves. Be this as it may, thus much, at least, is clear 
 that Englishmen and Hindi are at length holding out 
 the right hand of fellowship to each other, and awaking 
 to the consciousness that the duty of studying the past 
 and present state—intellectual, moral, and physical—of 
 their respective countries can no longer be evaded by 
 educated men, whether in the East or in the West. 
 
 In truth, it cannot be too forcibly impressed upon 
 our minds that good laws may be enacted, justice ad- 
 ministered, the rights of property secured, railroads and 
 electric telegraphs laid down, the stupendous forces of 
 Nature controlled and regulated for the public good, the 
 three great scourges of war, pestilence, and famine averted 
 or mitigated-—ail this may be done—and more than this, 
 the truths of our religion may be powerfully preached, 
 translations of the Bible lavishly distributed ; but if, after 
 all, we neglect to study the mind and character of those 
 we are seeking to govern and influence for good, no 
 mutual confidence will be enjoyed, no real sympathy felt 
 or inspired. Imbued with the conciliatory spirit which such 
 a study must impart, αἰΐ Englishmen—whether resident in 
 England or India, whether clergymen or laymen—may 
 aid the cause of Christianity and good government, more 
 than by controversial discussions or cold donations of 
 guineas and rupees. Let us not forget that this great 
 Eastern empire has been entrusted to our rule, not to be 
 the Corpus vile of political and social experiments, nor 
 yet for the purpose of extending our commerce, flattering 
 
x PREFACE. 
 
 our pride, or increasing our prestige, but that a vast 
 population may be conciliated, benefited, and elevated, 
 and the regenerating influences of Christianity spread 
 through the length and breadth of the land. How, then, 
 have we executed our mission? Much is now being done ; 
 but the results effected are mainly due to the growth of 
 a more cordial feeling, and a better understanding between 
 Christians, Hindi, Buddhists, and Musalmans. And 
 these good results may be expected to increase if the 
 true character of the three principal systems of religion 
 opposed to Christianity, and now existing in India, British 
 Burmah, and Ceylon, are fairly tested by an impartial 
 examination of the written documents held sacred by 
 each; if the points of contact between Christianity, 
 Brahmanism, Buddhism, and Islim become better appre- 
 ciated, and Christians while loyally devoting themselves— 
 heart and soul, body and mind—to the extension of the one 
 true faith, are led to search more candidly for the frag- 
 ments of truth, lying buried under superstition and error. 
 Be it remembered, then, that Sanskrit literature,—bound 
 up as it has ever been with all that is sacred in the religion 
 and institutions of India,—is the source of all trustworthy 
 knowledge of the Hindi ; and to this literature English- 
 men must turn, if they wish to understand the character and 
 mind of nearly two hundred millions (or about five-sixths) 
 of India’s population (see pp. xvi-xx of Introduction). 
 Some departments of Sanskrit literature have been 
 fully described of late years by various competent and 
 trustworthy scholars. Good translations, too, of isolated 
 works, and excellent metrical versions of the more choice 
 poems have from time to time been published in Europe, 
 or are scattered about in Magazines, Reviews, and ephe- 
 meral publications. But there has never hitherto, so far 
 as I know, existed any one work of moderate dimensions 
 like the present—accessible to general readers—composed 
 
PREFACE. ΧΙ 
 
 by any one Sanskrit scholar with the direct aim of giving 
 Englishmen who are not necessarily Sanskritists, a con- 
 tinuous sketch of the chief departments of Sanskrit litera- 
 ture, Vedic and Post-vedic, with accompanying translations 
 of select passages, to serve as examples for comparison with 
 the literary productions of other countries’. 
 
 The plan pursued by me in my endeavour to execute 
 a novel and difficult task in a manner likely to be useful to 
 Oriental students, yet intelligible to general readers, and 
 especially to those men of cultured minds who, not being 
 Orientalists, are desirous of accurate information on sub- 
 jects they can no longer ignore, will be sufficiently evident 
 from a perusal of the lectures themselves, and their ap- 
 pended notes. To avoid misapprehension and exaggerated 
 ideas of my scope and aim, as well as to understand the 
 extent of my obligations to other scholars, let the reader 
 turn to pp. 1-4 with notes, p. 15, note 2. I will merely 
 add to what is there stated, that as Vedic literature has 
 been already so ably elucidated by numerous scholars in 
 Europe, and by Professor W. D. Whitney and others in 
 America, I have treated this part of the subject as 
 briefly as possible. Moreover, my survey of so vast and 
 intricate a field of inquiry as Indian philosophy, is neces- 
 sarily a mere sketch. In common with other European 
 scholars, I am greatly indebted to Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall for 
 his contributions to this and other departments of Sanskrit 
 literature, and especially for his translation of Nehemiah 
 Nilakantha’s ‘ Rational Refutation of the: Hindt Philo- 
 sophical Systems.’ 
 
 I should state that, although the present volume is 
 intended to be complete in itself, I have been compelled to 
 reserve some of the later portion of the literature for fuller 
 treatment in a subsequent series of lectures, 
 
 1 Great praise is, however, due to Mrs, Manning’s valuable compilation 
 called ‘ Ancient and Medizyal India,’ published by W. H. Allen and Co. 
 
Xu PREFACE. 
 
 It is possible that some English readers may have given 
 so little attention to Indian subjects, that further pre- 
 liminary explanations may be needed by them before 
 commencing the perusal of the following pages. For 
 their benefit I have written an Trametes which I hope 
 will clear the ground sufficiently for all. 
 
 Let me now discharge the grateful duty of tendering my 
 respectful thanks to the Governments of India for the patron- 
 age and support they have again accorded to my labours. 
 Let me also acknowledge the debt I owe to two eminent 
 Sanskritists—Dr. John Muir of Edinburgh, and Professor 
 E. B. Cowell of Cambridge—for their kindness in reading 
 the proof-sheets of the present series of lectures. These 
 scholars must not, however, be held responsible for any 
 novel theories propounded by me. In many cases I have 
 modified my statements in accordance with their sugges- 
 tions, yet in some instances, in order to preserve the 
 individuality of my own researches, I have preferred to 
 take an independent line of my own. Learned Orientalists 
 in Europe and India who are able adequately to appreciate 
 the difficulty of the task I have attempted will look on 
 my errors with a lenient eye. As I shall welcome their 
 criticisms with gratitude, so I shall also hope for their 
 encouragement ; for, often as I have advanced in my 
 investigations, and have found an apparently interminable 
 horizon opening out before me, I have felt like a foolhardy 
 man seeking to cross an impassable ocean in a fragile 
 coracle, and so have applied to myself the well-known 
 words of the great Sanskrit poet :— 
 
 fartyeet Aretgguarfer aria ἢ 
 
 Titirshur dustaram mohdd udupendsmi sdgaram. 
 
 M. W. 
 Oxford, May 1875. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 INTRODUCTION . . . Υ : ; ; XV 
 Sketch of the past and fect δὰ ἘΝ οἵ India ; . xvi 
 Religion of the Hindts . . : : : : i ΣΥΝ 
 Languages of India . ; : : : : .  - XXVii-Xxx 
 Christianity compared with Brahmanism, Buddhism, and Islam xxxv 
 Modern Religious Sects of the Hindts . : : 2 oxen 
 
 Lecture I.—The Hymns of the Veda. : : : ‘ 1 
 Hymn to Varuna, ‘the Investing Sky’ : : ‘ : 16 
 Indra, ‘god of the atmosphere’ ᾿ - : : : 17 
 Agni, ‘god of fire’ . - : : : : ; : 18 
 Sirya, ‘the Sun’, : Σ ‘ : : 2 ‘ 19 
 Ushas, ‘ Dawn’ ; : ; ; : : ; : 20 
 Yama, ‘ god of death’ : : F ; : : " 21 
 Hymn descriptive of Creation . : ; 22 
 The Purusha-stikta or hymn to the ‘ Embodied Spirit’ : 24 
 Hymn to Time : Σ : :- : : : : 25 
 Hymn to Night : : : : : 20 
 
 Lecture IJ.—The Brahmana Pian of the Veda : : : 27 
 The Upanishad Portion of the Veda . ; : : ι 35 
 
 Lecture III.—The Systems of Philosophy : : : : 48 
 Buddhism ; : Αι ; : : Σ 53 
 Common ΕΚ ΓΝ : : ; 3 : 61 
 
 Lecture [V.—The Nyaya System of Bhiloxépiiy 3 4 : 71 
 The Vaiseshika branch of it. : : : 76 
 
 Lecture V.—The Sankhya System of Philosophy : : : 89 
 The Yoga branch of it. : : ; 102 
 
 Lecture VI.—The Mimansa System of πε ἃ : - 108 
 The Vedanta System of Philosophy . : ; : : 111 
 Atma-bodha, ‘knowledge of soul’. : - : 120 
 
 Lecture VII,—Irregular Systems and Eclectic School ; P 127 
 Jainism . : : ὶ i : : : ; 4 128 
 Me Cattamame ge fe) me {ὌΠ πὸ τς a BB 
 The Bhagavad-gita, ‘song of Krishna’ ὃ. : 5 +) ap Ls 
 
 Lecture VIII.—Smriti. The Vedangas , : : : ; 155 
 Kalpa-siitra, ‘ceremonial directory’ . ; ᾿ ‘ : 157 
 Siksha, ‘ phonetic directory’. : : ‘ : : 160 
 Chandas, ‘metre’. ; ; : ε Σ : : 163 
 
 Nirukta, ‘exposition’ . : } : . 106 
 
X1V CONTENTS. 
 
 Vyakarana, ‘ grammar’ 
 Jyotisha, ‘astronomy ’ : - : 
 Lecrure [X.—Smirta-siitra. Grihya, ‘domestic rules’ 
 Aévalayana’s Grihya-siitra : ;: Σ 
 Smarta-stttra. Sadmayacarika, ‘conventional rules’ 
 The Dharma-sastras or Law-books. Manu 
 Lecture X.—The Law-books. Manu continued 
 Religious teaching of Manu 
 Philosophy of Manu 
 Aé&ra, ‘social practices’ of Mane 5 
 Vyavahara, ‘rules of government and judicature’ 
 Manu’s eighteen heads of law 
 Manu’s civillaw .. : : : ‘ 
 Manu’s criminal code : 
 Manu’s Prayas-citta, ‘rules of expiation’ 
 Manu’s Karma-phala, ‘ acts-recompenses’ 
 Lecrure XI.—Metrical Version of some of Manu’s Moral and 
 Religious Precepts 
 Code of Yajnavalkya 
 Other codes of law . : 
 The five schools of Hindi law . 
 Lecture XII.—The Epic Poems 
 Doctrine of incarnation 
 The Ramayana 
 Lecture XIII.—The Maha- bharata, 
 LecturE XIV.—The Epic Poems compared tonottige sed with 
 Homer 
 Religious and Monat πα: fori the pies 
 LrcturE X V.—The Artificial Poems 
 Extract from the Raghu-vanga . 
 Moral Sentiments from the Kiratarjuniya . 
 Moral Sentiments from Magha’s Poem 
 The Dramas 
 The Puranas 
 The Tantras 
 The Niti-sastras 
 Precepts and Sentiments froin Bharti Hise 
 Fables and Apologues. The Panéa-tantra . 
 The Hitopadega or ‘friendly advice’ 
 INDEX 2 
 The Indo-Romanic At shabet with ake ΒΕ ἢ Sanskrit Tetiors 
 and Rules for Pronunciation : 
 
 PAGE 
 17] 
 180 
 195 
 197 
 210 
 211 
 221 
 222 
 226 
 231 
 261 
 266 
 267 
 273 
 278 
 279 
 
 282 
 294 
 304 
 305 
 309 
 321 
 337 
 371 
 
 415 
 440 
 449 
 455 
 457 
 461 
 462 
 489 
 501 
 505 
 512 
 513 
 516 
 519 
 
 542 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 N this Introduction! I shall endeavour, first, to explain how 
 
 Sanskrit literature is the only key to a correct knowledge of 
 
 the opinions and practices of the Hindw people; and, secondly, to 
 
 show how our possession of India involves special responsibilities 
 
 and opportunities with reference to the study of the three great 
 
 systems of belief now confronting Christianity in the world—Brah- 
 manism, Buddhism, and Islam. 
 
 To clear the ground let me review very briefly the past and 
 present history of the great country whose teeming population 
 has been gradually, during the past two hundred and fifty years, 
 either drawn under our sway, or, almost against our will, forced 
 upon our protection. 
 
 The name India is derived from the Greek and Roman adaptation 
 of the word Hindi, which was used by the Persians for their Aryan 
 brethren, because the latter settled in the districts surrounding the 
 streams? of the Sindhu (pronounced by them Hindu and now called 
 Indus). The Greeks, who probably gained their first conceptions 
 of India from the Persians, changed the hard aspirate into a soft, 
 and named the Hindiis Ἰνδοί (Herodotus IV. 44, V. 3). After the 
 Hindi Aryans had spread themselves over the plains of the Ganges,. 
 the Persians called the whole of the region between the Panjab 
 and Benares Hindistan or ‘abode of the Hindis,’ and this name is 
 used in India at the present day, especially by the Musalman 
 population®. The classical name for India, however, as commonly 
 
 1 Some detached portions of the information contained in this Intro- 
 duction were embodied in a lecture on ‘ The Study of Sanskrit in Relation 
 to Missionary Work in India,’ delivered by me, April το, 1861, and pub- 
 lished by Messrs. Williams & Norgate. This lecture is still procurable. 
 
 2 Seven rivers (βαρέα sindhavah) are mentioned, counting the main 
 river and the five rivers of the Panjab with the Sarasvati. In old Persian 
 or Zand we have the expression Hapta Hendu. It is well known that 
 a common phonetic interchange of initial s and ἢ takes place in names 
 of the same objects, as pronounced by kindred races. 
 
 ’ The name Hindistan properly belongs to the region between the 
 Sutlej and Benares, sometimes extended to the Narbada and Maha-nadi 
 rivers, but not to Bengal or the Dekhan. 
 
Xvl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 employed in Sanskrit literature and recognized by the whole 
 Sanskritie race, more particularly in Bengal and the Dekhan, is 
 bharata or Bharata-varsha—that is to say—‘ the country of king 
 Bharata',’ who must have ruled over a large extent of territory in 
 ancient times (see pp. 371, 419 of this volume). 
 
 It will not be supposed that in our vast Eastern Empire we have 
 to deal with a single race or even with many merely ordinary races. 
 Weare not there brought in contact with savage tribes who melt away 
 before the superior force and intelligence of Europeans. Rather are 
 we placed in the midst of great and ancient peoples, who, some of 
 them tracing back their origin to the same stock as ourselves, 
 attained a high degree of civilization when our forefathers were 
 barbarians, and had a polished language, a cultivated literature, 
 and abstruse systems of philosophy, centuries before English existed 
 even in name. 
 
 The population of India, according to the census of 1872, amounts 
 to at least 240 millions”. An assemblage of beings so immense does 
 
 ? Manu’s name (II. 22) for the whole central region between the Hima- 
 laya and Vindhya mountains is Arydvarta, ‘abode of the Aryans,’ and this 
 is still a classical appellation for that part of India. Another name for 
 India, occurring in Sanskrit poetry, is Jambu-dvipa (see p. 419). This is 
 restricted to India in Buddhist writings. Strictly, however, Jambu-dvipa 
 is a poetical name for the whole earth (see p. 419), of which India was 
 thought to be the most important part. Bharata in Rig-veda I. που]. 3 
 may mean ‘a supporter,’ ‘sustainer, and Lhdrata-varsha may possibly 
 convey the idea of ‘a supporting land.’ 
 
 > Of these, about 27 millions belong to the native states. In the 
 Bengal provinces alone the number, according to the census of 1871-72, 
 amounts to 66,856,859, far in excess of any previous estimate. ‘Of these, 
 only 19,857 are Europeans, and 20,279 Eurasians. A most exhaustive 
 and interesting account of its details is given by Sir George Campbell in 
 his Bengal Administration Report. This is the first real census of the 
 country yet attempted. Sir William Jones in 1787 thought the popula- 
 tion of Bengal, Behar, Orissa (with Benares also) amounted to 24,000,000; 
 Colebrooke in 1802 computed it at 30,000,000; in 1844 it was estimated 
 at 31,000,000; and of late years it was assumed to be about 40 or 41 
 millions. Now it is found that the food-producing area of Bengal 
 numbers 650 souls to the square mile, as compared with 422 in England, 
 and 262 in the United Kingdom. The three Presidency towns number 
 644,405 inhabitants for Bombay (called by the natives MZwmbaz) ; 447,600 
 for Calcutta (Kalikata); and 397,522 for Madras (Cenna-pattanam) ; but 
 
INTRODUCTION. XVil 
 
 not, of course, form one nation. India is almost a continent lke 
 Europe. From the earliest times its richness has attracted various 
 and successive immigrants and invaders, Asiatic and European. 
 Its inhabitants differ as much as the various continental races, and 
 speak languages equally distinct. 
 
 We have first the aboriginal primitive tribes, who, migrating 
 from Central Asia and the steppes of Tartary and Tibet, entered 
 India by successive incursions!. 
 
 Then we have the great Hindi race, originally members of that 
 primeval family who called themselves Arya or noble, and spoke 
 a language the common source of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Zand, Persian, 
 and Armenian in Asia; and of the Hellenic, Italic, Keltic, Teu- 
 tonic, and Slavonic languages in Europe. Starting at a later 
 period than the primitive races, but like them from some part of 
 the table-land of Central Asia—probably the region surrounding 
 the sources of the Oxus, in the neighbourhood of Bokhara—they 
 separated into distinct nationalities, and peopled Europe, Persia, 
 and India. The Hindi Aryans, after detaching themselves from 
 the Persian branch of the family, settled in the Panjab and near 
 the sacred river Sarasvati. Thence they overran the plains of the 
 Ganges, and spread themselves over the region called Aryavarta 
 (see p. xvi, note 1), occupying the whole of Central India, coalescing 
 
 the suburbs have been calculated in the case of Bombay, making it come next 
 to London as the second city in the Empire. If this had been done in Cal- 
 cutta and Madras, the numbers for Calcutta (according to Sir ας Camp- 
 bell’s Report) would have been 892,429, placing it at the head of the three 
 cities. Almost every one in India marries as a matter of course, and indeed 
 as a religious duty (see p. 246 of this volume). No infants perish from 
 cold and exposure. As soon as a child is weaned it lives on rice, goes 
 naked for two or three years, and requires no care whatever. The con- 
 sequent growth of population will soon afford matter for serious anxiety. 
 The Hindiis are wholly averse from emigration. Formerly there were 
 three great depopulators—war, famine, and pestilence—which some regard 
 as evils providentially permitted to exist in order to maintain the balance 
 between the productive powers of the soil and the numbers it has to 
 support. Happily, our rule in India has mitigated these scourges ; but 
 where are we to look for sufficient checks to excess of population ! 
 
 1 These aboriginal tribes, according to the last census, amount to 
 14,238,198 of the whole population of India. For an account of them 
 see p. 312, note 1, and p. 236, note 2, of this volume. 
 
 b 
 δ 
 
XVill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 with and, so to speak, Aryanizing the primitive inhabitants, and 
 driving all who resisted them to the south or towards the hills. 
 But India, even after its occupation by the great Aryan race, 
 appears to have yielded itself up an easy prey to every invader. 
 Herodotus (IV. 44) affirms that it was subjugated by Darius 
 Hystaspes. This conquest, if it ever occurred, must have been 
 very partial. The expedition of Alexander the Great to the banks 
 of the Indus, about 327 B.c., is a familiar fact. To this invasion is 
 due the first authentic information obtamed by Europeans con- 
 cerning the north-westerly portion of India and the region of the 
 five rivers, down which the Grecian troops were conducted in ships 
 by Nearchus. Megasthenes, the ambassador of Seleukos Nikator, 
 during his long sojourn at Palibothra (see note, p. 231), collected 
 further information, of which Strabo (see p. 281, note), Pliny, 
 Arrian, and others availed themselves. The next immigrants who 
 appear, after a long interval, on the scene are the Parsis. This 
 small tribe of Persians (even now, according to the last census, not 
 more than seventy thousand in number) were expelled from their 
 native land by the conquering Muhammadans under the Khalif 
 Omar in the seventh century. Adhering to the ancient religion of 
 Persia—the worship, that is, of the Supreme Being under the symbol 
 of fire—and bringing with them the records of their faith, the 
 Zand-Avasta of their prophet Zoroaster (see p. 6), they settled down 
 in the neighbourhood of Surat about 1100 years ago, and became 
 great merchants and shipbuilders', For two or three centuries we 
 
 1 The Parsis appear to have settled first at Yazd in Persia, where a 
 number of them still remam. The Zand-Avasta consists of 1. the jive 
 Gathas, or songs and prayers (in metres resembling Vedic), which alone 
 are thought to be the work of Zoroaster himself, and form part of the Yazna 
 (or Yasna=yajna), written in two dialects (the older of the two called 
 by Haug the Gatha); 2. the Vendidad, a code of laws; 3. the Yashts, 
 containing hymns to the sun and other deities. There is another portion, 
 called the Visparad, also a collection of prayers. Peshotun Dustoor 
 Behramjee Sunjana, in a note to his Dinkard (an ancient Pahlavi work just 
 published at Bombay, containing a life of Zoroaster and a history of the 
 Zoroastrian religion), informs us that the Avasta has three parts: 
 1. Gatha, 2. Date, and 3. Mathre; 1. being in verse and treating of the 
 invisible world, 2. in prose and giving rules of conduct, 3. comprising 
 prayers and precepts and an account of the creation. The Hindi and 
 Zoroastrian systems were evidently derived from the same source. Fire 
 
INTRODUCTION. ΧΙΧ 
 
 know little of their history. Like the Indo-Armenians', they 
 never multiplied to any extent or coalesced with the Hindt popu- 
 lation, but they well deserve notice for their busy active habits, 
 in which they emulate Europeans. 
 
 Then came the Muhammadans (Arabs, Turks, Afghans, Moguls, 
 and Persians), who entered India at different times’. Though they 
 
 and the Sun are venerated in both; but Zoroaster (properly Zarathustra 
 Spitama) taught that the Supreme Being created two inferior beigs— 
 Ormuzd (Ahura-mazda) the good spirit, and Ariman the evil. The former 
 will destroy the latter. This dualistic principle is foreign to the Veda. 
 
 1 The Armenians of India hold a position like that of the Parsis, but 
 their numbers are less (about five thousand), and they are more scattered, 
 and keep up more communication with their native country. There are 
 often fresh arrivals; but some have been in India for centuries, and are 
 dark in complexion, They are frequently merchants and bankers, and 
 being Christian, generally adopt the European dress. They may be 
 called the Jews of the Eastern Church: for, though scattered, they hang 
 together and support each other, At Calcutta they have a large church 
 and grammar-school. Their sacred books are written in ancient Armenian. 
 Of the two modern dialects, that spoken S.E. of Ararat by the Persi- 
 Armenians prevails among the Indo-Armenians. 
 
 2 Muhammad’s successors, after occupying Damascus for about one 
 hundred years, fixed their capital at Baghdad in 750, and thence their 
 power extended into Afghanistan. The Arabs, however, never obtained 
 more than a temporary footing in India. Under the Khalif Walid I, in 
 711, Muhammad Kasim was sent at the head of an army into Sinde, but 
 the Muslims were expelled in 750; and for two centuries and a half 
 India was left unmolested by invaders from the west. About the year 
 950, when the power of the Arabs began to decline in Asia, hardy tribes 
 of Tartars, known by the name of Turks (not the Ottoman tribe which 
 afterwards gained a footing in Europe, but hordes from the Altai moun- 
 tains), were employed by the Khalifs to infuse vigour into their effeminate 
 armies. These tribes became Muhammadans, and gradually took the 
 power into their own hands. In the province of Afghanistan, Sabaktagin, 
 once a mere Turkish slave, usurped the government. His son Mahmud 
 founded an empire at Ghazni in Afghanistan, and made his first of thir- 
 teen incursions into India in the year 1000. During the thirteenth 
 century the Mongol or Mogul hordes, under the celebrated Jangiz Khan, 
 overthrew the Turkish or Tartar tribes; and in 1398 Timir, uniting 
 Tartars and Mongols into one army, made his well-known invasion of 
 India. After desolating the country he retired, but the sixth in descent 
 from him, Baber (Babar), conquered Afghanistan, and thence invading 
 
 be 
 
xx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 now form about one-sixth (or, according to the last census, about 
 forty-one millions) of the entire population, a large number of them 
 are supposed to be the descendants of Hindus converted to Islam}. 
 
 India about 1526, founded the Mogul empire, which his grandson Akbar 
 (son of Humaytn) established on a firm basis in 1556; a very remarkable 
 man, Shir Shah Sur, having previously usurped the empire of Hindistan, 
 and raised it to great prosperity. The power of the Moguls, which 
 rapidly increased under Akbar, Jahangir, and Shahjahan, until it culmi- 
 nated under Aurangzib, began to decline under Shah ’Alam (Bahadur 
 Shah), Jahandar Shah, and Farrukh-siyar; and under Muhammad Shah, 
 the fourth from Aurangzib, took place the Persian invasion of Afghanistan 
 and thence of India, undertaken by Nadir Shah (a.p. 1738) to avenge on 
 the Afghans their inroads into Persia. Hence it appears that in all cases 
 the Muhammadan invaders of India came through Afghanistan, and gene- 
 rally settled there before proceeding to conquer the Hindis. On this 
 account, and from the proximity of Afghanistan, it has followed that the 
 greater number of Muhammadan immigrants have been of Afghan blood. 
 
 1 The total number of Muhammadans in the Bengal provinces alone is 
 20,664,775—probably more than in any other country of the globe; so 
 that if England had merely these provinces, she would stand at the head 
 of all Muhammadan powers, ruling more Mussulmans than the present 
 representative of the Khalifs himself (see p. xxxy, note 1). The great 
 bulk of Indian Muhammadans are Sunnis (see p. xlii), very few Shi’as 
 being found in Bengal, or indeed in any part of India (except Oude, and 
 a few districts where there are descendants of Persian families). It is 
 noteworthy that in Behar the mass of the people is Hindi, and singularly 
 enough it is not in the great Mogul capitals of Bengal, such as Dacca, 
 Gaur, and Murshidabad, that the Muslims are most numerous, but among 
 the peasants and cultivating classes. Sir George Campbell has remarked 
 that im Bengal the Musalman invasion found Hindiiism resting on weak 
 foundations. Its hold on the affections of the people was weak. The 
 Aryan element was only able to hold its own by frequent importation of 
 fresh blood from Upper India. Hence it happened that when the Muslim 
 conquerors invaded the lower Delta with the sword and the Kuran, they 
 were not wholly unwelcome. ‘They proclaimed equality among a people 
 kept down by caste. Hence in Bengal great masses became Muham- 
 madans, being induced to embrace Islam by the social elevation it gave 
 them. In the North-west provinces and neighbourhood of the great 
 Mogul capital Delhi, where the Hindi have always been more spirited 
 and independent, there are only about four million Musalmans. In the 
 Panjab, however, there are nearly nine millions and a half. 
 
 One grand distinction between Islam and Hindiism is, that the former 
 
INTRODUCTION. ΧΧῚ 
 
 Politically they became supreme, but they were never able to supplant 
 the Hindis, as these had done their predecessors. Moreover, it was 
 the policy of the Muhammadan conquerors to bend, in many points, 
 to the prejudices of their Indian subjects. Hence the Muslims of 
 India became partially Hindiized, and in language, habits, and 
 character took from the Hindiis more than they imparted'. 
 
 Nor has the Hindi-Aryan element lost its ascendancy in India, 
 notwithstanding the accession and admixture of European ingre- 
 dients. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the Danes, the French have 
 one after the other gained a footing on its shores, and their influence 
 still lingers at isolated points®. Last of all the English have spread 
 themselves over the whole country, and at this moment our poli- 
 tical supremacy is everywhere greater than that which once 
 belonged to the Musalmans*. Yet the mass of the population is 
 
 is ever spreading and seeking converts, whereas the latter, theoretically, 
 can never do so. A Brahman is born, not made. Practically, however, any 
 number of persons may form themselves into a new caste by community 
 of occupation, and the Brahmans of the present day are ready to accept 
 them as Hindis. 
 
 ' Hence it happens that the lower orders of Indian Muhammadans 
 observe distinctions of caste almost as strictly as the Hindiis. Many of 
 them will eat and drink together, but not intermarry. 
 
 2 In later times there has been a constant immigration of Chinese into 
 India, but only of the male sex. The Portuguese still hold three places 
 in India, viz. Goa, Daman, and the island of Diu on the western coast. 
 The Dutch once held Chinsura on the right bank of the Hooghly, and 
 Negapatam on the coast of Tanjore; but about the year 1824 they made 
 both over to us, receiving in return our possessions on the coast of 
 Sumatra. Our cession of the coast of Sumatra was afterwards consi- 
 dered a blunder, to remedy which the formal transfer of Singapore to the 
 British was effected in 1824 by Sir Stamford Rafiles (a treaty being made 
 with the neighbouring Sultan) as an intermediate port for our trade with 
 China. The Danes once possessed Tranquebar and Serampore, both of 
 which were purchased from them by us in 1844. In 1846 they ceded 
 a small factory to us at Balasore, where the Portuguese also, as well as 
 the Dutch, held possessions in the early periods of European intercourse. 
 The French still retain Pondicherry and Karical on the Coromandel coast, 
 Chandernagore, on the right bank of the Hooghly, Mahé on the Malabar 
 coast, and Yanaon near the mouths of the Godavari. 
 
 § Although our annexation of province after province cannot always 
 be justified, yet it may be truly said that our dominion has been gradually 
 
XX1l INTRODUCTION. 
 
 still essentially Hindi, and the moral influence of what may be 
 ealled the Indo-Aryan race is still paramount. 
 
 forced upon us. Our first dealings with India were merely commercial. 
 The trading corporation entitled ‘Governors and Company of London 
 Merchants trading to the East Indies’ was formed in 1600. The first 
 Court of Directors was held on the 23rd September 1600, and the first 
 charter was dated by Queen Elizabeth on the 31st of December in that. 
 year. The first factory was built at Surat, near the mouth of the Tapty, 
 north of Bombay, in 1613. In 1661 the island of Bombay was ceded to 
 the British by Portugal, as the marriage portion of the Infanta Catharine, 
 on her marriage with Charles II, but its final possession was withheld for 
 four years. It was handed over by Charles to the East India Company 
 in 1669. Another factory was built on the Hooghly above Calcutta in 
 1636; Madras came into the Company’s possession in 1640, and they 
 purchased Calcutta itself in 1698. The battle of Plassy, from which dates 
 the real foundation of the British empire, was fought June 23, 1757. 
 There are still a large number of native states in India. According to 
 the India Office Report they exceed 460. Some merely acknowledge our 
 supremacy, like Nepal; but even this frontier country receives our Resi- 
 dent. Others are under a compact to govern well; others pay us tribute, 
 or provide for contingents. Some have power of life and death, and some 
 are obliged to refer capital cases to English courts of justice. Nearly all 
 are allowed to adopt successors on failure of heirs, and their continued 
 existence is thus secured. The Official Report classes them in twelve 
 groups, thus: r. The Indo-Chinese, in two subdivisions, comprising— 
 A. the settled states, Nepal (whose chief minister and virtual ruler is Sir 
 Jung Bahadur), Sikkim (whose king lives at two cities, Tumlung and 
 Chumbi, and who has lately ceded some territory to us), Bhutan (a tur- 
 bulent hill-district), and λον, Bahar; B. the hill-tribes, of Chinese 
 character and physiognomy. 2. The aboriginal Ghond and Kole tribes in 
 Chota Nagpur, Orissa, the Central Provinces, and the Jaipur (in Orissa) 
 Agency. 3. The states among the Himalayas, from the western frontier 
 of Nepal to Kaémir, ruled generally by Rajput chiefs. 4. The Afghan 
 and Belichi frontier tribes beyond the Indus. 5. The Szkh states in the 
 Sirhind plain, occupying the classic ground between the Sutlej and the 
 Jumna, and once watered by the Sarasvati. 6. Three Muhammadan 
 states, geographically apart, but having much in common, viz. Rampur 
 (a district in Rohilkhand, representing the Rohilla state of the days of 
 Warren Hastings), Bhawalpur (separated from the Panjab by the Sutlej), 
 and Khairpur (or Khyrpur) in Sind. 7. Malwa and Bundelkhand, the 
 former representing part of the Marathi power, and including the impor- 
 
INTRODUCTION. XxX 
 
 Nevertheless, however closely bound together this race may be 
 by community of origin, of religion, of customs, and of speech, and 
 however powerful the influence it may exert over the Non-Aryan 
 population, differences distinguish the people of India as great as 
 
 tant states of Central India, viz. that of Gwalior, ruled over by Maharaja 
 Sindia; the district governed by /olkar ; the state of Dhar, ruled by the 
 third Marathi family, called Puars; the Muhammadan state of Bhopal ; 
 and Bundelkhand, including the district of Rewah. 8. The ancient sove- 
 reignties of ajputdna, including fifteen Rajput states (such as Odeypur, 
 Jaipur, &e.), two Jat and one Muhammadan (Tonk). 9. The Gujarati 
 native states, north of Bombay, the principal being that of Baroda, ruled 
 over by the Guikwar or Guicowar. [Gui is for gat, ‘a cow, and kwar 
 or cowar (kuwar) is possibly a corruption of kumar=kumara, ‘a prince ;’ 
 but there is a Marathi word Gayakya, ‘a cowherd.’ He is of the herdsman 
 caste, and descended from a Marathi general.]|_ 10. The Marathi states 
 south of Bombay, representing the remains of the Marathi power founded 
 by Sivaji. Of these Satara was annexed in 1848, but Kolapur remains ; 
 nineteen others are under our management owing to the minority of the 
 chiefs. 11. The Muhammadan state of Haidarabad (or Hyderabad), in 
 the Dekhan, ruled over by the Vizam, at present a minor, the government 
 being conducted by Sir Salar Jung and Shams-ul-Umra. 12. The state 
 of Mysore, whose old Raja remembered the siege of Seringapatam. He 
 died in 1868, and was succeeded by a child for whom we are now govern- 
 ing the country. To this must be added the two neighbouring Malayalam 
 states on the Malabar coast, called Travancore and Cochin, both of which 
 are excellently governed by enlightened Rajas and good ministers. Here 
 is a Muhammadan historian’s account of the first settlement of the Eng- 
 lish in India: ‘In the year 1020 (A.p. 1611) the Emperor of Delhy, 
 Jahangir, the son of king Akbar, granted a spot to the English to build 
 a factory in the city of Surat, in the province of Guzerat, which is the 
 first settlement that people made on the shores of Hindiistan. The 
 English have a separate king, independent of the king of Portugal, to 
 whom they owe no allegiance ; but, on the contrary, these two nations 
 put each other to death wheresoever they meet. At present, in conse- 
 quence of the interference of the Emperor Jahangir, they are at peace 
 with each other, though God only knows how long they will consent to 
 have factories in the same town, and to live in terms of amity and friend- 
 ship.’ (Quoted in Sir George Campbell’s Modern India, p. 23.) An 
 excellent account of the rise of the British dominions in India is given by 
 Professor W. D. Whitney in the Second Series of his Oriental and Lin- 
 guistic Studies, procurable from Messrs. Tritbner & Co. 
 
XXIV INTRODUCTION, 
 
 or even greater than those which once divided and still distinguish 
 the whole continent of Europe. The spirited Hindistani, the 
 martial Sikh, the ambitious Marathi, the proud Rajput, the hardy 
 Gurkha’, the calculating Bengali, the busy Telugu, the active 
 Tamil, the patient Pariah differ ivfer se as much as or more than 
 the vivacious Celt, the stubborn Saxon, the energetic Norman, 
 the submissive Slave, the enterprising Englishman, and the 
 haughty Spaniard. 
 
 Many causes have combined to produce these distinctions. Dif- 
 ference of climate has had its effect in modifying character. 
 Contact with the aboriginal races and with Muhammadans and 
 Europeans has operated differently in different parts of India. 
 Even in districts where the Hindis are called by one name and 
 speak one dialect they are broken up into separate classes, divided 
 from each other by barriers of castes far more difficult to pass than 
 the social distinctions of Europe. This separation constitutes, in 
 point of fact, an essential doctrine of their religion. The growth 
 of the Indian caste-system is perhaps the most remarkable feature 
 in the history of this extraordinary people. Caste as a social insti- 
 tution, meaning thereby conventional rules which separate the 
 grades of society, exists of course in all countries. In England, 
 caste, in this sense, exerts no slight authority. But with us caste 
 is not a religious institution, On the contrary, our religion, though 
 it permits differences of rank, teaches us that such differences are 
 to be laid aside in the worship of God, and that in His sight all 
 men are equal. Very different is the caste of the Hindiis. The 
 Hinda theory, according to Manu (see p. 240), is that the Deity 
 regards men as wnequal, that he created distinct kinds of men, as 
 he created varieties of birds or beasts: that Brahmans, Kshatriyas, 
 
 ' The word Gurkha for Gorkha—a contraction of the Sanskrit Go- 
 raksha—means ‘ cow-keeper.’ The aborigines of Nepal are mostly of 
 the Bhot or Tibetan family, and are therefore Buddhists; but tribes of 
 Hinds immigrated into this mountainous region at different periods 
 within memory, and obtained the sovereignty of the country. They were 
 probably of the cowherd caste from the adjacent country of Oudh and 
 from the district below the hills, known as Gorakhpur. ‘The tutelary 
 deity of Nepal is a form of Siva, denominated Gorakhnath, whose priests 
 are Yogis, and the same sect and worship had formerly equal predomi- 
 nance at Gorakhpur,.’— Asiatic Researches, vol. xvii. p. 189. 
 
INTRODUCTION, XXV 
 
 Vaisyas, and Stdras are born and must remain (at least in each 
 separate existence) distinct from each other; and that to force any 
 Hindi to break the rules of caste is to force him to sin against 
 God, and against nature. It is true, that the endless rules of 
 caste in India principally hinge upon three points of mere social 
 economy and order: 1. food and its preparation, 2. intermarriage?, 
 and 3. professional pursuits’; but among a religious people, who 
 regard these rules as sacred ordinances of their religion, an offence 
 against any one of them becomes a great crime. It is a remarkable 
 fact, that the jails in India often contain hardened criminals, who 
 have fallen in our estimation to the lowest depths of infamy, but 
 who, priding themselves on the punctilious observance of caste, have 
 not lost one iota of their own self-respect, and would resent with 
 indignation any attempt to force them to eat food prepared by the 
 most virtuous person, if inferior to themselves in the social scale. 
 
 A full account of the origin and development of caste—of' the 
 strictness of its rules, and of the power it still exerts as a religious 
 rather than as a social institution—will be found at p. 218, p. 231, 
 &e. Moreover, for a description of the rise of Buddhism and its in- 
 fluence in the opposite direction the reader must refer to p. 53, &e. 
 
 It remains to point out that the very nature of the Hindi religious 
 
 1 The preparation of food is quite as vital a point as eating together. 
 Food prepared by a person of inferior caste causes defilement. Some 
 castes cook with their shoes on: but most Hindiis would abhor food thus 
 prepared, because leather causes defilement. Food cooked on board a 
 boat or ship is supposed to destroy caste; thus, a boat proceeding down 
 the Ganges sometimes stops to allow native passengers to cook their food 
 on shore; perhaps, because wood is regarded as a conductor of defilement. 
 It cannot, of course, be said that the rules of caste are confined to these 
 three points. A Hindt’s ideas about unclean animals are very capricious. 
 He dreads the approach of a fowl to his house or person, as a source of 
 contamination; but he does not mind ducks. Happily caste can no 
 longer hold its own against necessity and advantage—against railroads 
 and scientific inventions. (See the quotation at bottom of p. 219.) 
 
 * See the note on the mixed castes, p. 218, and p. 232 with note. 
 
 * It is the restriction of employments caused by caste which necessi- 
 tates a large establishment of servants. The man who dresses hair feels 
 himself degraded by cleaning clothes, and one who brushes a coat will on 
 no account consent to sweep a room; while another who waits at table 
 will on no consideration be induced to carry an umbrella, 
 
XXV1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ereed has been the source of great diversities among the people of 
 India. 
 
 Every religion worthy of the name may be said to develope itself 
 in three principal directions: 1. that of faith, 2. that of works and 
 ritual, 3. that of doctrine or dogmatic knowledge ; to one or other of 
 which prominence is given according to peculiarities of mental bias 
 or temperament. I have endeavoured to show at pp. 36 and 327-329 
 that the first two lines of development represent a religious exo- 
 teric or popular side, while the third exhibits its esoteric aspect, 
 and is the only exponent of its more profound meaning. 
 
 Nothing can possibly be more simple than esoteric Hindiism. 
 It is a creed which may be expressed by the two words—spiritual 
 Pantheism (see p. 36). A pantheistic creed of this kind is the 
 simplest of all beliefs, because it teaches that nothing really exists 
 but the one Universal Spirit; that the soul of each individual 
 is identical with that Spirit, and that every man’s highest aim 
 should be to get rid for ever of doing, having, and being, and 
 devote himself to profound contemplation, with a view to such 
 spiritual knowledge as shall deliver him from the mere illusion 
 of separate existence, and force upon him the conviction that he 
 is himself part of the one Being constituting the Universe. 
 
 On the other hand, nothing can be more devoid of simplicity, 
 nothing more multiform and capable of divergence into endless 
 ramifications than the exoteric and popular side of the same creed. 
 This apparent gulf between esoteric and exoteric Hindiism is 
 bridged over by the simple substitution of the word emanation 
 for identification. 
 
 Popular Hindtism supposes that God may for his own purposes 
 amuse himself by illusory appearances; in other words, that he may 
 manifest himself variously, as light does in the rainbow, and that 
 all visible and material objects, including superior gods (7a, 7svara, 
 adhisa), secondary gods (deva), demons (daitya), demi-gods, good 
 and evil spirits, human beings, and animals, are emanations from 
 him, and for a time exist separately from him, though ultimately 
 to be reabsorbed into their source. Both these aspects of Hindiism 
 are fully explained at pp. 36 and 323-336 of the following Lectures. 
 From the explanations there given, the multiform character and 
 singular expansibility of the Hindi religious creed will be under- 
 stood. 
 
 Starting from the Veda, it ends by appearing to embrace something 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXVIl 
 
 from all religions, and to present phases suited to all minds!. It 
 has its spiritual and its material aspect, its esoteric and exoteric, 
 its subjective and objective, its pure and its impure. It is at once 
 vaguely pantheistic, severely monotheistic, grossly polytheistic, and 
 coldly atheistic. It has a side for the practical, another for the 
 devotional, and another for the speculative. Those who rest in 
 ceremonial observances find it all-satisfying; those who deny the 
 efficacy of works, and make faith the one thing needful, need not 
 wander from its pale; those who delight in meditating on the nature 
 of God and man, the relation of matter to spirit, the mystery of 
 separate existence, and the origin of evil, may here indulge their 
 love of speculation. And this capacity for almost endless expansion 
 and variety causes almost endless sectarian divisions even amone 
 those who worship the same favourite deity. And these differences 
 are enhanced by the close intertwining of religion with social dis- 
 tinctions. The higher classes are supposed capable of a higher form 
 of religion than the lower, the educated than the uneducated, men 
 than women ; just as the religions of Muhammadans and Christians 
 are held (like their complexions) to be most suited to their peculiar 
 constitutions, circumstances, and nationalities. 
 
 In unison with its variable character, the religious belief of the 
 Hindis has really no single succinct designation. We sometimes 
 eall it Hindiism and sometimes Brahmanism, but these are not 
 names recognized by the natives. 
 
 If, then, such great diversities of race, spoken dialect, character, 
 social organization, and religious belief exist among a teeming 
 population, spread over an extent of territory so vast that almost 
 every variety of soil, climate, and physical feature may be found there 
 represented, the question fairly arises—How is it possible for us Eng- 
 lishmen, in the face of such differences, to gain any really satisfactory 
 knowledge of the people committed to our rule? Only one key to 
 this difficulty exists. Happily India, though it has at least twenty 
 spoken languages (p. xxix), has but one sacred and learned language 
 
 * It is on this principle, I suppose, that Sir Mungoldas Nathooboy, 
 K.8.I., of Bombay, is reported to have once argued with a zealous raw 
 missionary that Hindiis being Christians by nature needed not to be 
 converted ; adding, ‘ But I thank God that you English were converted 
 to Christianity, or you would by this time have eaten up the world to 
 the bone.’ 
 
XXVill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and one literature, accepted and revered by all adherents of Hin- 
 diism alike, however diverse in race, dialect, rank, and creed. That 
 language is Sanskrit, and that literature is Sanskrit literature—the 
 repository of Veda, or ‘knowledge’ in its widest sense; the vehicle 
 of Hinda theology, philosophy, law, and mythology ; the one guide 
 to the intricacies and contradictions of Hindtism ; the one bond of 
 sympathy, which, like an electric chain, connects Hindis of oppo- 
 site characters in every district of India. Happily, too, the most 
 important and interesting parts of that literature are now accessible 
 to all, both in the original and in good translations. 
 
 And here let me explain that the name Sanskrit as applied to 
 the ancient language of the Hindis is an artificial designation for 
 a highly elaborated form of the language originally brought by the 
 Indian branch of the great Aryan race into India. This original 
 tongue soon became modified by contact with the dialects of the 
 aboriginal races who preceded the Aryans, and in this way converted 
 into the peculiar language (J/dashd@) of the Aryan immigrants who 
 settled in the neighbourhood of the seven rivers of the Panjab 
 and its outlying districts (Sapta Sindhavas=in Zand Hapta Hendu). 
 The most suitable name for the original language thus moulded 
 into the speech of the Hindis is Hindt-i (=Sindhi-i), its principal 
 later development being called Hindi}, just as the Low German dia- 
 lect of the Saxons when modified in England was called Anglo- 
 Saxon. But very soon that happened in India which has come to 
 pass in all civilized countries. The spoken language, when once its 
 general form and character had been settled, separated into two lines, 
 the one elaborated by the learned, the other popularized and vari- 
 ously provincialized by the unlearned. In India, however, from 
 the greater exclusiveness of the educated few, the greater ignorance 
 of the masses, and the desire of a proud priesthood to keep the key 
 of knowledge in their own possession, this separation became more 
 marked, more diversified, and progressively intensified. Hence, the 
 very grammar which with other nations was regarded only as a 
 
 1 It may be thought by some that this dialect was nearly identical with 
 the language of the Vedic hymns, and the latter often gives genuine Prakrit 
 forms (as kufa for krita); but even Vedic Sanskrit presents great elabora- 
 tion scarcely compatible with the notion of its being a simple original dialect 
 (for example, in the use of complicated grammatical forms like Intensives) ; 
 and Panini, in distinguishing between the common language and the Vedic, 
 uses the term Lhasha in contradistinction to Chandas (the Veda). 
 
INTRODUCTION. ΧΧΙΧ 
 
 means to an end, came to be treated by Indian Pandits as the end 
 itself, and was subtilized into an intricate science, fenced around by 
 a bristling barrier of technicalities. The language, too, elaborated 
 pari passu with the grammar, rejected the natural name of Hindw-i, 
 or ‘the speech of the Hindis,’ and adopted an artificial designation, 
 viz. Sanskrita, ‘ the perfectly constructed speech’ (sai = ovr, con, krita 
 =factus, ‘formed’), to denote its complete severance from vulgar pur- 
 poses, and its exclusive dedication to religion and literature ; while 
 the name Prdkrita—which may mean ‘the original’ as well as ‘the 
 derived’ speech—was assigned to the common dialect. This of itself'is 
 a remarkable cireumstance ; for, although a similar kind of separation 
 has happened in Europe, yet we do not find that Latin and Greek 
 ceased to be called Latin and Greek when they became the language 
 of the learned, any more than we have at present distinct names for 
 the common dialect and literary language of modern nations. 
 
 The Sanskrit dramas afford a notable specimen of this linguistic 
 elaboration on the one side, and disintegration on the other (see 
 p. 469). The two forms of speech thus evolved may be compared 
 to two children of the same parent—the one, called Sanskrit, refined 
 by every appliance of art; the other, called Prakrit, allowed to run 
 more or less wild. 
 
 The present spoken languages of India—Bengali, Uriya or Oriy: 
 (of Odra-dega Orissa), Marathi, Gujarati, Panjabi, and Hindi‘, with 
 its modifications—represent Prakrit” in its later stages of decom- 
 
 1 By Hindi I mean the speech of the Hindiis as represented by the 
 Prem Sagar, and the Ramayana of Tulast Das. According to Dr. Fitz- 
 Edward Hall, the Prem Sagar does not furnish a model of the most 
 classical Hindi. There is certainly a modern literary Hindi which 
 borrows largely from pure Sanskrit, and another which is so mixed with 
 Arabic and Persian words as to receive another name, Hindustani (p. xxxi, 
 note). Besides Hindi and Hindistani and the languages above named, 
 there are Sindhi, Kasmiri, Nepalese, Assamese, Pushtt (of Afghanistan), 
 Sinhalese (of Ceylon), Burmese, the five Dravidian (xxx, 2), and the half 
 Dravidian Brahi-i. See Mr. Beames’ valuable Comparative Grammar. 
 
 ; * The various kinds of Prakrit introduced into the Sanskrit dramas 
 (the two principal forms of which—Maharashtri and Sauraseni—are 
 explained by Vararuéi in his grammar, the Prakrita-prakasa, edited by 
 Professor E. B. Cowell) represent the last stage of development in the direc- 
 tion of the modern vernaculars. The earlier form of the ancient spoken 
 language, called Pali or Magadhi, has a grammar and extensive litera- 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 position, and variously modified by collision with the primitive 
 dialects of different localities. 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that in taking this view of the 
 formation of Sanskrit, I mean to imply that it does not also stand in 
 a kind of parental relation to the spoken dialects. Sanskrit, when 
 too highly elaborated by the Pandits, became in one sense dead, but 
 in another sense it still breathes, and lives in the speech of the 
 people, infusing fresh life and vigour into all their dialects’. For, 
 independent of Sanskrit as the vernaculars probably were in their 
 first origin, they all now draw largely from it, for the enrichment 
 of their vocabulary ”. 
 
 ture of its own, the study of which will be greatly facilitated by the 
 Dictionary of Mr. R. C. Childers. Pali was introduced into Ceylon by 
 Buddhist missionaries from Magadha when Buddhism began to spread, 
 and is now the sacred language of Ceylon and Burmah, in which all their 
 Buddhist literature is written. Singularly enough, it found a kindred 
 dialect established in Ceylon, which had developed into the present Sinha- 
 lese. Pali is closely connected with, and was probably preceded by the 
 language of the Rock Inscriptions of the second and third centuries B.c. 
 The language of the Gathas, as found in the Lalita-vistara (see p. 55, 
 note 1) of the Northern Buddhists of Nepal, is thought by some to be a 
 still earlier form of the popular language; so that four separate stages of 
 Prakrit, using that term generally for the spoken languages of the people 
 which preceded the modern vernaculars, can be traced: τ. the Gathas ; 
 2. the Inscriptions; 3. the Pali; 4. the Prakrit of the plays. (Professor 
 E. B. Cowell’s edition of Colebrooke’s Essays, II. 21.) 
 
 * The Sanskrit colleges founded at Benares, Calcutta, and other places, 
 for the cultivation of the learned language and literature of the Hindis, 
 are doing a good work; but, after all, the bearing of Sanskrit upon the 
 vernaculars constitutes a point of primary importance. For we must not 
 forget that the general diffusion of education throughout India must be 
 chiefly effected through the medium of the vernacular dialects, and not merely 
 through English. A knowledge of this fact has led to the establishment 
 of Sir William Muir’s new college at Allahabad (the ‘Muir University 
 College’), to which numerous vernacular schools will be affiliated. With 
 reference to the study of the vernaculars and the spread of education 
 by their means, let me recommend a perusal of Sir Charles Treve- 
 lyan’s ‘Original Papers on the Application of the Roman Alphabet to 
 the Languages of India,’ edited by me in 1859 (Longmans). 
 
 * This applies even to the South-Indian languages—Tamil, Telugu, 
 Kanarese, Malayalam, and Tulu; although these are not Aryan in structure, 
 but belong rather to the Turanian or agglutinating family. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXX1 
 
 If, then, the mere language of a people—the bare etymology of 
 isolated words, and the history of the changes they have undergone 
 in form and meaning—furnishes an excellent guide to its past and 
 present condition, moral, intellectual, and physical, how much more 
 must this be true of its literature! And here again we are met by 
 the remarkable fact that India, notwithstanding all its diversities 
 of race, caste, customs, creed, and climate, has to this day but one 
 real literature, accepted by all alike—the common inheritance of all. 
 In European countries, literature changes with language. Hach 
 modern dialect has its own literature, which is the best representa- 
 tive of the actual condition of the people to whom it belongs. To 
 know the Italians, we need not study Latin, when the modern 
 literature is at our command. But the literature of the Hindi 
 vernacular dialects (except perhaps that of Tamil) is scarcely yet 
 deserving of the name. In most cases it consists of mere reproduc- 
 tions of the Sanskrit. To understand the past and present state of 
 Indian society—to unravel the complex texture of the Hindt mind ; 
 we must trust to 
 
 to explain inconsistencies otherwise inexplicable 
 Sanskrit literature alone. Sanskrit is the only language of poetry, 
 drama, law, philosophy—the only key to a vast and apparently con- 
 fused religious system, and a sure medium of approach to the hearts 
 of the Hindis, however unlearned, or however disunited. It 15, in 
 truth, even more to India than classical and patristic literature was 
 to Europe at the time of the Reformation. It gives a deeper impress 
 to the Hindi mind, so that every Hindi, however unlettered, is un- 
 consciously affected by it, and every Englishman, however strange 
 to the East, if only he be at home in Sanskrit literature, will rapidly 
 become at home in every corner of our Indian territories. 
 
 These considerations will, I trust, justify my attempt to, give 
 some idea of the history and character of India’s literature. 
 
 Let it be clearly understood, however, that the examples of Indian 
 wisdom given in this volume generally present the bright side of the 
 
 1 With regard to Hindistani (otherwise called Urdii), the proper 
 language of the North-western districts and passing current, like French 
 in Europe, over all India, it cannot be said to rank as a distinct language 
 till the time of Timir, about 4.p. 1400, when it was finally formed in his 
 Urdi or camp by blending Hindi with the Arabic and Persian of the 
 Muhammadan invaders. Its proce literature, such as it is, certainly owes 
 more to Arabic than to Sanskrit, and is quite modern. The productions 
 of its greatest poet, Sauda, are not much more than a hundred years old. 
 
XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 picture only. To make the sketch a faithful portrait of the reality, 
 many dark lines and shadows must be introduced. 
 
 My reasons for giving prominence to all that is good and true in 
 the Hindi system are stated in the note to p. 3 of Lecture I. Let 
 me now add a few remarks to what is there asserted. 
 
 It appears to me high time that all thoughtful Christians should 
 reconsider their position, and—to use the phraseology of our modern 
 readjust themselves to their altered environments. The 
 
 physicists 
 ground is now being rapidly cleared for a fair and impartial study 
 of the writings of Eastern nations. The sacred books of the three 
 ereat systems opposed to Christianity—Brahmanism, Buddhism, 
 and Islim—are now at length becoming accessible to all; and 
 Christians can no longer neglect the duty of studying their con- 
 tents!. All the inhabitants of the world are being rapidly drawn 
 
 1 With regard to the books on which the three great false religions of 
 the world rest, not only have we access to those of Brahmanism and 
 Tslam—viz. the Veda and the Kuran—both in printed editions of the 
 originals and in various translations (see pp. 6-9), but even the Buddhist 
 sacred Canon—written in the ancient language called Pali (see p. xxix, 
 note 2)—is now becoming accessible. Its name 7’ri-pitaka, ‘three baskets 
 or caskets,’ denotes its distribution under three divisions, viz. A. Sutra 
 (Pali Sutia), works containing the doctrinal and practical discourses of the 
 ereat Buddha. B. Vinaya, ecclesiastical discipline, or works prescribing 
 rules and penalties for the regulation of the lives of the monks ( Bhikshukas, 
 see p. 58). Οἱ Abhidharma (Pali Ablidhamma), metaphysics and philo- 
 sophy. These three classes of works were rehearsed at the first council 
 by the Buddha’s three pupils, Ananda, Upali, and Kasyapa respectively. 
 
 A: has five subdivisions, viz. 1. Digha-nikaya (dirgha-n’), collections 
 of long Stitras. 2. Majjhima-nikaya (madhyama-n’), collections of Su- 
 tras of a middling length. 3. Sanyutta-nikaya (samyukta-n°), groups of 
 Sitras. 4. Anguttara-nikaya, collections of other Sutras. 5. Khuddaka- 
 nikaya (kshudraka-n’), collections of short Sutras in fifteen different works, 
 viz. τ. Khuddaka-patha, lesser readings, edited and translated in the 
 ‘Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society’ by Mr. R. C. Childers ; 2. Dhamma- 
 pada, religious precepts (lit. verses or words, on Dharma); 3. Uddana, hymns 
 of praise; 4. Itivuttukam, precepts in which Itivuttam, ‘it has been so said,’ 
 occurs; 5. Sutta-nipata, occasional Sittras; 6. Vimdnavatthu, stories of 
 celestial mansions; 7. Petavatthu, stories of Pretas; 8. Thera-gatha; 
 9. Vheri-gatha, relating to elders among priests and priestesses ; 10. Jdtaka, 
 the Buddha’s previous births; 11. Mahd-niddesa, great commentary ; 12. 
 Pati-sambhida, exposition of the Patis; 13. Apadana, heroic actions ; 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXL 
 
 together by increased facilities of communication, and St. Paul’s 
 
 πὰ saying—that God has made all nations of men of one blood 
 (Acts xvii. 26)—is being brought home to us more forcibly every 
 day. Steam presses, as well as railroads and telegraphs, are doing: 
 a great work, and bringing about rapid changes. ‘They are every 
 day imposing upon us new duties and responsibilities in the opening: 
 out of hitherto unexplored regions. Surely, then, we are bound to 
 follow the example of the great Apostle of the Gentiles, who, 
 speaking to pouseene instead of denouncing them as ‘heathen 
 
 appealed to them as ‘very God-fearing’ (δεισιδαιμονεστέρου:), and 
 even quoted a passage from one of their own poets in support of ἃ a 
 
 14. Buddha-vansa, history of Buddhas ae ‘preceded Gena 15. Cnet iya- 
 pitaka, casket of rites and deeds. 
 
 B. has five subdivisions: 1. Parajika; 2. Pacttiya; 3. Cilavagya ; 
 4. Mahavagga; 5. eae 
 
 C. has seven subdivisions: 1. Dhamma-san-gani; 2. Vibhanga; 3. Ka- 
 thavatthu; 4. Puggala; 5. Dhatu; 6. Yamaka; ἢ. Phan 
 
 Of the fifteen works under the fifth subdivision or Khuddaka-nikaya of A, 
 the Dhamma-pada, Sutta-nipata, and Jataka are the most important. 
 
 The Dhamma-pada, or precepts of law—entirely in verse—has been 
 edited by Dr. Fausbill, of Copenhagen, with parts of the commentary 
 (Artha-katha or Attha-katha), and translated by Professor Weber (Indische 
 Streifen, I. 118) and by Professor Max Miiller. 
 
 The Sutta-nipata has lately been translated by Sir M. Coomara Swamy 
 (Triibner, 1874). It consists of maxims on doctrine and practice, in prose 
 and verse—sometimes in the form of dialogues—possibly as old as the third 
 Buddhist council, in Asoka’s reign, 246 8.0. (see px60). They are com- 
 pared to the discourses of Vasishtha, addressed to Rama, in the Vasishtha- 
 ramayana (see p. 370). 
 
 The tenth work of the fifteen, viz. the /dataka, has also been partially 
 edited and translated by Fausbéll (ten of the Jatakas very recently, 
 Triibner, 1872; five others in 1861). 
 
 The above long list of works under A. Β. C. constitutes the sacred Canon 
 of the Southern Buddhists of Ceylon. The Tri-pitaka of the Northern 
 Buddhists of Nepal has probably become corrupted and amplified in some 
 of its details, though the names of the works—as far as has yet been 
 ascertained—are in all likelihood the same. The Sad-dharma-pundarika 
 and the Lalita-vistara (see p. 55, note) were once thought to belong to 
 this Canon, but this is now held to be a mistake. In Burnouf’s transla- 
 tion of the former (called by him Lotus de la bonne loi), a note was 
 commenced on the difference between the Northern and Southern Tri- 
 pitakas, but left unfinished in consequence of his untimely death. 
 
 Cc 
 
XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Christian truth (Acts xvii. 28); and who, writing to Christians, 
 directed them not to shut their*eyes to anything true, honest, 
 just, pure, lovely, or of good report, wherever it might be found, 
 and exhorted them, that if there be any virtue, and if there be 
 any praise, they were to think on these things (Phil. iv. 8). 
 Surely it is time we ceased to speak and act as if truth among 
 Gentiles and truth among Christians were two wholly different 
 things. Surely we ought to acknowledge and accept with gratitude 
 whatever is true and noble in the Hindi character, or in Hindt 
 writings, while we reflect with shame on our own shortcomings 
 under far greater advantages. 
 
 Nor ought we to forget the words of St. Peter, when—looking down 
 from our undoubted pre-eminence on the adherents of false systems, 
 such as Brahmans, Buddhists, Parsis, Fetish-worshippers, and Mus- 
 lims, wholly distinet from one another and separated by vast chasms 
 though they be—we are accustomed to bracket them all together 
 as if they were equally far from the kingdom of God. To continue 
 to label them all, or even the first four, with the common label 
 Heathen", as if they were all to be placed in the same category as 
 
 1 T lately read an able article, written by a Christian and a man of 
 high culture, in which the term ‘heathen’ was applied to murderers and 
 villains—I presume from the fact that the inhabitants of heaths and out- 
 lying districts are often lawless and benighted. Another author, speaking 
 of certain ignorant vagabonds, says, ‘These heathen, &c. In point of 
 fact, I believe that this is not an unusual application of the term, and 
 such phrases as ‘heathenish conduct,’ ‘heathenish ideas,’ are commonly 
 current amongst us as opprobrious epithets. Are we, then, justified in 
 still using this single term as a common label for all unbelievers in 
 Christianity, however God-fearing and righteous (like Cornelius of old) 
 they may be. We make an exception in favour of Muhammadans, for- 
 getting that corruptio optimi pessima. True, the translators of the Bible 
 generally use ‘heathen’ as an equivalent for τὰ ἔθνη, ‘Gentile nations εἶ 
 but this rests on a false notion of some etymological affinity between the 
 two words. The Greeks and Romans who called the rest of the world 
 ‘ Barbarians,’ the Hindiis who call all other persons ‘ Mlecchas, and the 
 Muslims who call all unbelievers in Muhammad ‘Kafirs and Gabrs,’ never 
 have, so far as I know, applied these expressions to villains and criminals. 
 It becomes a question whether, if we are to follow the example of the 
 Founder of Christianity, we ought not to substitute some such term as 
 ‘Gentiles’ or ‘ Unbelievers’ or ‘Non-Christian nations’ for an epithet 
 now become somewhat too opprobrious. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXV 
 
 equally idolaters, seems, under the present altered circumstances of 
 our increasing acquaintance with these systems, a proceeding wholly 
 opposed to the spirit of that great Apostle, who, when addressing: 
 Gentiles, assured them that God had taught him not to call any 
 man common or unclean; and declared that God was no respecter 
 of persons, but that in every nation he that feared Him and worked 
 righteousness was accepted by Him (Acts x. 34, 35; see also Rom. i1. 
 TO; Li, 14, 15, i, 20). 
 
 If, then, it is becoming more and more a duty for all the nations 
 of the world to study each other; to inquire into and compare each 
 other’s systems of belief; to avoid expressions of contempt in speak- 
 _ing of the sincere and earnest adherents of any creed ; and to search 
 diligently whether the principles and doctrines which guide their 
 own faith and conduct rest on the one true foundation or not— 
 surely we Englishmen, to whose rule India has been intrusted, have 
 special opportunities and responsibilities in this respect. For in India 
 the three great systems which now confront Christianity—viz. Brah- 
 manism, Buddhism, and Islim—are all represented. Brahmanism 
 is, of course, numerically the strongest; yet Muhammadans form, 
 as we have seen (p. xx), a sixth part of its population’. As to 
 Buddhism, we have indicated (pp. 53-61) that its relationship to 
 Brahmanism was in some respects similar to that of Christianity 
 to Judaism ; and although it is true that, in contrast to Christianity, 
 
 1 It may startle some to learn from p. xx of this Intrceduction that 
 England is the greatest Muhammadan power in the world, and that our 
 Queen has probably more than double as many Muslim subjects as the 
 ruler of the Turkish Empire. Roughly estimating the present population 
 of the globe at thirteen hundred millions, the Buddhists along with the 
 Confucianists (disciples of Kiing-fa-tsze, see p. 4, note 1) and Tauists (of 
 Lau-tsze) would comprise about 490 millions ; Christians, 360 millions ; 
 Muslims or Muhammadans, roo millions ; and Brahmanical Hindiis and 
 Semi-Hindiis, 185 millions. Of other creeds, the Jews comprise about 8 or 
 9 millions; Jainas, Parsis, and Sikhs together about 3 or 4 millions. The 
 Fetish-worshippers of Africa, America, and Polynesia probably make up 
 the remaining 153 millions. The census of 1872 showed that there were 
 only 318,363 converts to Protestant Christianity in all India. The 
 religion of Christians, Buddhists, and Muslims is missionary ; that of 
 Jews, Hindiis, and Parsis, non-missionary. Without the missionary spirit 
 there can be no continued vitality and growth ; and this spirit is part of the 
 very essence of Christianity, whose first missionary was Christ Himself, 
 
 C2 
 
XXXV1 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 which, originating among Semitic Jews afterwards spread among’ 
 the Aryans of Europe, Buddhism originated with the Aryans of 
 India and afterwards spread among Turanian races (see p. 4, 
 Lecture I, and p. 5, note 1); still India was most undoubtedly the 
 original home of this most popular system—the nominal creed 
 of the majority of the human race. Moreover, it may be gathered 
 from a perusal of the dramas (such as the Malati-madhava. p. 480), 
 that Hindiism and Buddhism coexisted and were tolerant of each 
 other in India till about the end of the eighth century of our era. 
 A reference, too, to pp. 128-132 will show that the Buddhistic 
 philosophy and Buddhistie ideas have left a deep impression on 
 Hindtism, and still linger everywhere scattered throughout our 
 Eastern Empire, especially among the Jainas! (see p. 128); and 
 Buddhism is to this day, as is well known, the faith of our fellow- 
 subjects in Ceylon, Pegu, and British Burmah, being also found in 
 outlying districts of India, such as Chittagong, Darjeeling, Assam, 
 Nepal, Bhotan, and Sikkim. 
 
 It is one of the aims, then, of the following pages to indicate the 
 points of contact between Christianity and the three chief false 
 religions of the world, as they are thus represented 1 in India’. 
 
 - ΚΣ τ to the last census the ΠΕ ΤΕ of Buddhists and Jainas in 
 India amounts to nearly three millions (2,629,200). Sir George Camp- 
 bell’s Report gives 86,496 as the number of Buddhists in the Bengal 
 provinces. Although Jainism has much in common with Buddhism, it 
 is nevertheless a very different system. The Jainas always call them- 
 selves and are considered Hindus (see p. 130, note 1). According to 
 Rajendralala Mitra, the Jaina scriptures are comprised in fifty different 
 works, collectively called the Satras, and sometimes the Siddhantas, and 
 classed in two different ways: 1st, under the two heads of Kalpa-sitra 
 and Agama, five works coming under the former, and forty-five under the 
 latter head:.-2ndly, under eight different heads, viz. 1. eleven Angas; 
 2. twelve Upangas; 3. four Miula-sitra; 4. five Kalpa-sitra; 5. six 
 Cheddas; 6. ten Payannas; 7. Nandi-sitra; 8. Anuyoga-dvara-sitra. 
 Some of them have a four-fold commentary, under the names 7’7ka, Nir- 
 yukti, Curni, and Lhashya, constituting with the original the five-fold 
 (panéanga) Sitra. They are partly in Sanskrit, partly in Magadhi 
 Prakrit, and the total of the fifty works is said to amount to 600,000 
 Slokas (see Notices of Sanskrit MSS. No. VIII. p. 67). 
 
 * Of course, the religion of ancient Persia, sometimes called Zoroas- 
 trianism—a most important and interesting creed (see p. 4)—is also repre- 
 sented, but the Parsis are numerically insignificant (see note, p. xviii). 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXXVI 
 
 This common ground is to be looked for more in Brahmanism 
 than in Buddhism, and even than in Islim. In proof of which I 
 refer the reader to pp. 53-60 for a summary of Buddhism; to 
 pp- 36, 324, and to p. 12, note 1, for a summary of Hindiism both 
 popular and esoteric; to pp. 22, 228, for the Hindi account of the 
 ereation of the world!; to pp. 32, 394, for that of the deluge; to 
 pp. 5-8 for the Hindi and Mubammadan doctrine of revelation and 
 inspiration ; to p. 146, note 1, for the Hindi conception of original 
 sin; to p. 333, note 1, for the Hindi theory of the gradual deprava- 
 tion of the human race; to p. 31, note 1, and to p. 251, for that of 
 sacrifices and sacramental acts*; to pp. 247-249, 279, for that of 
 the mystical efficacy of water in cleansing from sin ὅ (compare also 
 
 1 Professor Banerjea (‘Indian Antiquary,’ Feb. 1875) thinks that the 
 Hindi account of the creation of the world preserves traces of the revelation 
 made in the Bible of the Spirit brooding on the surface of the waters; and 
 that the theory of the Nagas, who were half serpents half men, dwelling 
 in the lower regions (see p. 430), confirms the Biblical account of the 
 Serpent, which was originally perhaps a species corresponding to the 
 Naga, before the sentence was pronounced by which it became a creeping 
 reptile. Compare the story of the eldest of the five sons of Ayus (of the 
 lunar race), called Nahusha, cursed by Agastya to become a serpent, for 
 excessive pride, in having, after gaining by penance the rank of Indra, 
 compelled the Rishis to bear his litter on their backs, and then kicked 
 some of them (Manu VII. 41; Vishnu-purana, p. 413; Maha-bh. V. 343). 
 
 * The Hindis have two roots for ‘ to sacrifice,’ Aw (=an older dhu= 
 6v) and γα). The first is restricted to oblations of clarified butter in fire ; 
 the latter is applied to sacrificing, and honouring the gods with sacrifices 
 generally. A third root, sw, is used for offering libations with the juice of 
 the Soma-plant, especially to the god Indra—the oldest form of sacrifice 
 in India (note 1, p. 31). The idea of sacrifice is ingrained in the whole 
 Hindi system. It is one of the earliest that appears in their religious 
 works, and no literature—not even the Jewish—contains so many words 
 relating to sacrifice as Sanskrit. It is remarkable that the food offered 
 to the gods, when appropriated and eaten by the priests, and the rice 
 distributed by them to the people, are called prasada (1Ξεεὐχαριστία). 
 
 3. Bathing in sacred rivers—especially in the Ganges and at particular 
 Tirthas, such as Haridvar, Prayaga—purifies the soul from all sin. Hence 
 dying persons are brought to the river-side, leaves of the Tulasi plant being 
 often put in their mouths. Hence also Ganges water (as well as other 
 consecrated liquid) was used in the inauguration (abhisheka) of kings (see 
 Ῥ. 515, and ef, Ramayana II. xv. 5) and in the administration of oaths. 
 
XXXVIll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 p- 284, line g from bottom); to pp. 201, 246, for that of reg@enera- 
 tion or second birth; to pp. 278, 279, for that of atonement and 
 expiation ; to pp. 321-336 for the Hindi theory of incarnation and 
 the need of a Saviour; to p. 324 for that of the triple manifestation 
 or Hindi Triad; to pp. 104-106, 247 (with note 2), 251, for the 
 Hindi and Muhammadan teaching as to the religious duties of 
 prayer, ablutions, repetitions of sacred texts, almsgiving, penance, 
 &e.; to p. 252, note 1, for the actual practice of these duties at the 
 present day ; to pp. 104-106 for the infliction of self-mortifications, 
 fasting, &c.; and, lastly, to pp. 282-294, 440-448, 457-462, for 
 examples of moral and religious sentiments. 
 
 Lest, however, it should be inferred that, while advocating perfect 
 fairness and impartiality in comparing all four religious systems, 
 I have aimed in the present work at lowering in the slightest 
 degree the commanding position occupied by our own faith, or 
 written anything to place Christianity in an unfavourable light in 
 relation to the other systems of the world, I conclude this Intro- 
 duction by adverting to some principal points which, in my opinion, 
 constitute the distinctive features of our own religion, separating it 
 decisively from all the other creeds as the only divine scheme 
 capable of regenerating the entire human race. 
 
 It seems to me, then, that in comparing together these four 
 systems—Christianity, Islam, Brahmanism, and Buddhism—the 
 crucial test of the possession of that absolute divine truth which can 
 belong to one only of the four, and which—if supernaturally com- 
 municated by the common Father of mankind for the good of all 
 His creatures—must be intended to prevail everywhere, ought to he 
 in the answer to two questions: 1st, What is the ultimate object 
 at which each aims? 2ndly, By what means and by what agency 
 is this aim to be accomplished ? 
 
 1. Let us begin with Buddhism, because as a religious system It 
 stands lowest; not indeed deserving, or even claiming, to be called 
 a religion at all in the true sense of the word (see p. 57), though 
 it is numerically the strongest of all the four creeds. With 
 regard, then, to the first question : 
 
 The object aimed at by pure Buddhism is, as we have shown 
 at p. 57, Nirvana, the being blown out like a flame—in other 
 words—utter annihilation. It is true that the Sramanas or Bhi- 
 kshukas, ‘ascetics and religious mendicants,’ alone can be said to 
 aim directly at Nirvana (see pp. 57, 58). The Upasakas or laymen 
 
INTRODUCTION. XXX1X 
 
 think only of the effect of actions on the happiness or misery of 
 future states of being. But, if personality and the remembrance 
 of previous existences are not preserved, how can death be regarded 
 in any other light than absolute extinction ? 
 
 2. Brahmanism rises to a higher level, for here there is a theore- 
 tical craving after union with the Supreme Spirit, as the grand aim 
 and object of the system (see p. 500). This union, however, really 
 means identification with or absorption into the One only self- 
 existing Being, as the river blends with the ocean; so that 
 Brahmanism really ends in destroying man’s personality, and prac- 
 tically, if not theoretically, lands its disciples in the same absolute 
 extinction aimed at by Buddhists. In fact, the higher and more 
 esoteric the teaching of both these systems, the more evidently do 
 they exhibit themselves in their true colours as mere schemes for 
 getting rid of the evils of life, by the extinction of all activity, 
 individuality, self-consciousness, and personal existence. 
 
 3. Let us now turn to Islam. The end which Muhammad set 
 before the disciples of the Kurén was admission to a material 
 paradise (jannat'), described as consisting of shaded gardens, abound- 
 ing with delicious fruits, watered by flowing streams (av/dr), filled 
 with black-eyed Haris, and replete with exquisite corporeal enjoy- 
 ments. It is certainly true that spiritual pleasures and the favour of 
 God are also said to form part of its delights, and that the permanence 
 of man’s personality is implied. But a holy God is still immeasurably 
 removed from His creatures, and intimate union with Him, or even 
 admission to His presence, is not the central idea of beatitude. 
 
 4. In contrast to Brahmanism, Buddhism, and Islam, the one 
 object aimed at in Christianity is, emphatically, such an access to 
 and union with a holy God as shall not only secure the perma- 
 nence of man’s own individual will, energy, and personality, but 
 even intensify them. 
 
 Perhaps, however, it is in the answer to the second question that 
 the great difference between the four systems 15 most apparent. 
 
 How, and by what means is the object aimed at by each system 
 avowedly effected? In replying to this, let us reverse the order, 
 and commence with our own religion. 
 ν΄ τ΄ ΠΥ ee ὁ. τι eee 
 
 1 Muslims believe there are seven (or eight) heavens representing 
 degrees of felicity, and seven hells (jahannam), the seventh or deepest of 
 which is for hypocrites, the sixth for idolaters, the third for Christians. 
 
xl INTRODUCTION. 
 
 τ. Christianity asserts that it effects its aim through nothing short 
 of an entire change of the whole man, and a complete renovation 
 of his nature. The means by which this renovation is effected may 
 be described as a kind of sautual transfer or substitution, leading to a 
 reciprocal interchange and co-operation between God and man’s 
 nature acting upon each other. Man—the Bible affirms—was 
 created in the image of God, but his nature became corrupt through 
 a taint, derived from the fall of the first representative man and 
 parent of the human race, which taint could only be removed by a 
 vicarious death. 
 
 Hence, the second representative man—Christ—whose nature was 
 divine and taintless, voluntarily underwent a sinner’s death, that the 
 taint of the old corrupted nature transferred to him might die also. 
 But this is not all. The great central truth of our religion lies 
 not so much in the fact of Christ’s death as in the fact of His 
 continued life (Rom. viii. 34). The first fact is that He of His own 
 free will died; but the second and more important fact is that He 
 rose again and lives eternally, that He may bestow life for death 
 and a participation in His own divine nature in place of the taint 
 which He has removed. 
 
 This, then, is the reciprocal exchange which marks Christianity 
 and distinguishes it from all other religions —an exchange between 
 the personal man descended from a corrupt parent, and the personal 
 God made man and becoming our second parent. We are sepa- 
 rated from a rotten root, and are grafted into a living one. We 
 part with the corrupt will, depraved moral sense, and perverted 
 judgment inherited from the first Adam, and draw re-creative 
 foree —renovated wills, fresh springs of wisdom, righteous- 
 ness, and knowledge'—from the ever-living divine stem of the 
 
 1 It has been objected to Christianity that it discourages increase 
 of knowledge; but the only knowledge it condemns is the empty know- 
 ledge which ‘ puffeth up’ (1 Cor, vill. 1, 2). ‘God is Light’ or knowledge 
 itself. The more a Christian man becomes Godlike, the more he aims 
 at increase of light, whether in religion or science. It is said of Christ 
 that ‘in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge’ 
 (Col. ii. 3). Truth must be one, and all truth is declared to come by 
 Him, as well as grace (St. John i. 17). Other religious systems, on the 
 contrary, are interpenetrated with so much that is false in every branch of 
 knowledge, that a simple lesson in geography tends to undermine every 
 thoughtful person’s faith in such creeds. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xl 
 
 second Adam, to which, by a simple act of faith, we are united. 
 In this manner is the grand object of Christianity effected. Other 
 religions have their doctrines and precepts of morality, which, 
 if carefully detached from much that is bad and worthless, may 
 even vie with those of Christianity. But Christianity has, besides 
 all these, what other religions have not—a personal God, ever living 
 to supply the free grace or regenerating Spirit by which human 
 nature is re-created and again made Godlike, and through which 
 man, becoming once again ‘pure in heart,’ and still preserving his 
 own will, self-consciousness, and personality, is fitted to have access 
 to God the Father, and dwell in His presence for ever. 
 
 2. In Islam, on the contrary, Muhammad is regarded as the 
 prophet of God and nothing more. He claimed no combination of 
 divinity with humanity’. Even his human nature was not held 
 
 1 He did not even pretend to be the founder of a new religion, but 
 simply to have been commissioned to proclaim Islam (p. xliv) and its 
 cardinal doctrine—the unity of the Godhead—which dogma the Kuran 
 constantly affirms with great beauty of language (chap. il. 256, xxiv. 36). 
 God (Allah) in the Kuran has one hundred names, indicative of his attri- 
 butes, of which ‘the merciful,’ ‘the compassionate’ occur most frequently, 
 But God, Muhammad maintained, begetteth not, nor is begotten. In 
 chap. ii. of the Kuran, we read: ‘To God belongeth the east and the west ; 
 therefore whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray, there is the face 
 of God; for God is omnipresent and omniscient. They say, “God hath 
 begotten children.” God forbid.’ Nevertheless, Muhammad did not 
 deny that Christ was a prophet and apostle. He merely claimed to be 
 a later and greater prophet himself. The Kuran (Ixi. 6) has the fol- 
 lowing: ‘Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “Ὁ children of Israel, verily I am 
 the apostle of God, sent unto you, confirming the law which was declared 
 before me, and bringing good tidings of an apostle who shall come after 
 me, whose name shall be Ahmad” (= Muhammad, in Greek περικλύτος, the 
 Muslim doctors making out that παράκλητος ought to be so written).’ 
 But although thus arrogantly claiming to be the successor of Christ, 
 any sharing (shirk) of God’s divinity was utterly abhorrent from his 
 whole teaching. He did not even rest his own claims on miracles 
 (ayat, karamat), which he constantly excused himself from working, 
 It is said that some doubters once asked him to give them a sign by 
 turning the hill Safa into gold, but he declined to do so on the ground 
 that God had revealed to him that if after witnessing the miracle, they 
 remained incredulous, they would all be destroyed. The only sign of his 
 mission to which he pointed was the Kuran itself, declaring himself to be 
 as untaught as a child just born (wmm7y), or in other words a wholly 
 
xhi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to be immaculate, nor did he make any pretence to mediatorial or 
 vicarious functions. He died like any other man’, and he certainly 
 did not rise from the grave that his followers might find in him 
 perpetual springs of divine life and vivifying power, as branches 
 draw sap and energy from a living stem. Nor do Muslims 
 believe him to be the source of any re-creative force, capable 
 of changing their whole being. Whatever the theory as to God’s 
 mercy propounded in the Kuran, heaven is practically only acces- 
 sible to Muslims through the strict discharge of religious duties 
 
 unlettered person, to whom a composition in marvellously beautiful 
 language was revealed: It is, however, quite true that Muhammad’s 
 biographers afterwards attributed various miracles to their prophet. For 
 instance, it is handed down by tradition that taking a bar of iron he 
 struck a huge rock with such force that it fell shivered to pieces, and the 
 blow created a light which flashed from Medina to Madain in Persia. 
 On the night called latlat ul mi’raj he ascended to heaven from Jerusalem 
 on a fabulous mule named Burak. He split the moon (by a miracle 
 called shakk wl kamar). He healed the eye of a soldier, He turned a 
 stick into a sword. He put his fingers over empty vessels, and fountains 
 of water flowed into them. He fed 130 men on the liver of a sheep. 
 He fed a million people on a few loaves and a lamb, and many fragments 
 were left. He once, by prayer to God, brought back the sun in the 
 heavens when it had nearly set. On his entrance into Mecca (Makkah) 
 he was saluted by mountains and trees, which said, ‘Peace be to thee, 
 O prophet of God!’ 
 
 Here, again, in contrast to the above, it is to be noted that about ninety 
 names are applied in the Bible to Christ Himself as the God-Man, and 
 that Christians appeal to the personal Christ, as the one miracle of 
 miracles, and to His personal resurrection as the sign of signs; while 
 Christ Himself appealed to no book except the Old Testament ; nor did 
 he write any book or direct any book to be written; and attributed 
 more importance to His own personal example, words, and works (ἔργα) 
 than to the wonders He performed, rebuking a constant craving after 
 signs (σημεῖα). We may also note that the artless unaffected simplicity 
 and total absence of what may be called ad captandum glitter of style in 
 the language of the New Testament, contrast remarkably with the studied 
 magniloquence of parts of Muhammad's pretended revelation. See on the 
 subject of miracles a valuable little work by the Rev. G. Renaud, called, 
 ‘How did Christ rank the proofs of His mission ?’ (Hatchards, 1872.) 
 
 1 He is supposed, however, not to have died a natural death, but to 
 have been poisoned by a Jewess. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xl 
 
 which God as an absolute sovereign and hard task-master imposes'. 
 If these religious exercises are really more than a lifeless form, 
 
 1 Muhammad sets forth faith in Islam and in his own mission, repent- 
 ance, the performance of prayer, fasting, alms, pilgrimages, and the constant 
 repetition of certain words (especially parts of the Kuran), as infallible 
 means of obtaining paradise. In one place, suffering, perseverance, walk- 
 ing in the fear of God, and attachment to Him are insisted on, See Sale’s 
 Kuran, xxix. 1-7, iv. 21, Xvili. 31, XX. 71, 55. 94, XXll. 14, XXIll. I. 
 Yet it must be admitted that the Kuran elsewhere maintains that good 
 works have no real meritorious efficacy in procuring paradise, and that 
 the righteous obtain entrance there through God’s mercy alone. Indeed, 
 every action in Islam is done ‘in the name of God, the merciful, the 
 compassionate’ (b'ismillah ar-rahman ar-rahim). But it must be noted 
 that the Kuran is by no means systematic or consistent. It was delivered 
 in detached portions according to the exigences of the moment, and being 
 often confused and contradictory, had to be explained and developed by 
 traditional teaching. These traditions are called Sunnah, and a Sunni is 
 one who obeys the laws of Muhammad founded not only on the Kuran 
 but on the traditions as interpreted by four great doctors or leaders 
 of Islam, viz. Shafi-’i, Hanifa, Malik, and Hanbal, each of whom is the 
 leader of a sect. It should be noted that the Sh7?as—a name derived 
 from shi’at, a party of persons forming a sect—are opposed to the 
 Sunnis, like Protestants to Roman Catholics. They reject the tradi- 
 tions of the Sunnis, having separated from them about 363 years after 
 Muhammad’s Hijra (A.D. 985) under one of the ’Abbassi Khalifs (des- 
 cendants of “Abbas, Muhammad’s uncle, who ruled as Khalifs over 
 Baghdad and Persia from Α. Ὁ. 749 to 1258). They do not call them- 
 selves Shi’as, but "Adliyah, ‘the rightful society,’ and deny the Khali- 
 fate of the first three successors of Muhammad, Abibakr, Omar, 
 and Othman (the first two being Muhammad's fathers-in-law and the 
 third his son-in-law), who ruled at Medina. The Shi’as regard these 
 three as usurpers of the successorship (Khalifate), which they declare 
 belonged only to another son-in-law, the fourth Khalif, ’Ali (husband 
 of the prophet’s daughter Fatima, and father of Hasan and Husain), 
 whom they regard as the first of their true Imams, and who ruled with 
 his sons at πὰ. The Turks, Egyptians, and Indian Muhammadans are 
 mostly Sunnis, while the Persians are Shi’as. This doctrine of the Shi’as, 
 which may be called the protesting form of Islam, is no doubt more 
 spiritual than the original system of Muhammad. As it developed 
 itself in Persia, it was influenced in some measure by the ancient religion 
 of Zoroaster, which preceded it in that country. There the Shi’a tenets 
 ultimately gave birth to a kind of spiritual philosophy called Sufi-ism— 
 so similar to the Indian Vedanta (see p. 36 of this volume) that it is said 
 
xliv INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the life-giving principle which animates them is not supposed to 
 come from Muhammad. Nevertheless, candour compels us to 
 admit that in one notable point every true Muslim sets the 
 Christian a good example. The word Islam means ‘complete 
 ‘submission to the will of God, and a Muslim is one who submits 
 himself to that will without a murmur. The same candour, how- 
 ever, also suggests the inquiry whether the submission of the 
 adherent of Islam may not be that of an abject slave, dreading 
 the displeasure of a stern master, rather than of a loving child 
 depending on its Father for life and breath and all things. 
 
 3. As to Brahmanism, we must, in fairness, allow that, according 
 to its more fully developed system, the aim of union with God 
 is held to be effected by faith in an apparently personal god, 
 as well as by works and by knowledge. And here some of the 
 lines of Brahmanical thought seem to intersect those of Christianity. 
 But the apparent personality of the various Hindi gods. melts away, 
 on closer scrutiny, into a vague spiritual essence. It is true that 
 God becomes man and interposes for the good of men, causing a 
 seeming combination of the human and divine—and an apparent 
 interchange of action and even loving sympathy between the 
 Creator and His creatures. But can there be any real interaction 
 or co-operation between divine and human personalities when all 
 personal manifestations of the Supreme Being—gods as well as 
 men—ultimately merge in the Oneness of the Infinite, and nothing 
 remains permanently distinct from Him? It must be admitted 
 that most remarkable language is used of Krishna (Vishnu), a sup- 
 posed form of the Supreme, as the source of all life and energy (see 
 
 to be based upon two ideas, viz. 1. Nothing really exists but God ; 
 all besides is illusion. 2. Union with God is the highest object of human 
 effort (see p. 113 of this volume). The Shi’as keep with great solemnity 
 the anniversary of the murder of Husain, son of ’Ali, on a particular day 
 in the Muharram (or first month of their lunar year). Hasan is supposed 
 to have been poisoned by his wife, but Husain was killed at Karbala by 
 Yazid, son of the first Umayyad Khalif (commonly called Mw’aviya), who, 
 instigated by Muhammad’s favourite wife ’A-isha (daughter of Abiibakr), 
 opposed the succession of ’Ali’s descendants, assumed the government, and 
 transferred the Khalifate to Damascus. Hence the Shi’as perform pil- 
 grimages to Karbala, rather than to Mecca. The Wahabis are a recent 
 fanatical sect, founded by aman named Wahab. They may be described as 
 puritanical reformers, seeking to bring back Islam to its original purity. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlv 
 
 pp. 144-148, and see also pp. 456, 457); but if identified with the 
 One God he ean only, according to the Hindt theory, be the source 
 of life in the sense of giving out life to reabsorb it into himself. 
 If, on the other hand, he is held to be only an incarnation or 
 manifestation of the Supreme Being in human form, then by ¢ 
 cardinal dogma of Brahmanism, so far from being a channel of life, 
 his own life must be derived from a higher source into which it 
 must finally be merged, while his claim to divinity can only be due 
 to his possessing less of individuality as distinct from God than 
 inferior creatures. 
 
 4. Finally, in Buddhism—as we have shown at p. 57—the extince- 
 tion of personality and cessation of existence, which is the ultimate aim 
 of this system, is effected by suppression of the passions, self-mortifi- 
 cation, and abstinence from action. Buddha is no god, but only 
 the ideal of what every man may become. He cannot, therefore, 
 of-course, be a source of even temporary life, when he is himself 
 extinct. It is only in its high morality that Buddhism has com- 
 mon ground with Christianity. And can the only motive to the 
 exercise of morality supplied by Buddhism—viz. on the one hand, 
 the desire for non-existence ; and, on the other, the hopes and fears 
 connected with innumerable future existences—which existences 
 are unconnected by conscious identity of being—be anything better 
 than mere superstitious delusion ? 
 
 It is refreshing to turn from such unsatisfying systems, however 
 interspersed with wise and even sublime sentiments, to the living, 
 energizing Christianity of European nations, however lamentably 
 fallen from its true standard, or however disgraced by the incon- 
 sistencies and shortcomings of nominal adherents—possessors of its 
 name and form without its power. 
 
 In conclusion, let me note one other point which of itself stamps 
 our religion as the only system adapted to the requirements of the 
 whole human race—the only message of salvation intended by God 
 to be gradually pressed upon the acceptance of all His intelligent 
 creatures, whether male or female, in all four quarters of the 
 globe—I mean the position it assigns to women in relation to 
 the stronger sex. It is not too much to affirm that the evils 
 arising from the degradation of women, or at least the assumption 
 of their supposed inferiority in the great religious systems of the 
 East, constitute the principal bar to the progress and elevation 
 of Asiatic nations. I refer the reader for evidence of this, as well 
 
xlvi INTRODUCTION, 
 
 as for fuller information on similar points, to pp. 257-259, 435-440 
 of the present volume. 
 
 It is, perhaps, almost impossible, as well as unreasonable, to 
 expect the natives of India generally to look at such a question 
 from a European stand-point. Nevertheless, those enlightened 
 Hindis and philanthropic Englishwomen who are now interesting — 
 themselves in the spread of female education throughout the East, 
 may adduce good authority from India’s own sacred books for 
 striving to elevate the wives of India to a higher position than 
 that they occupy in the present day. They have only to quote 
 such passages as those referred to at p. 437, notes 1, 3, and 
 p- 438 of this volume. To these may be added the remarkable 
 definition of a wife given in Maha-bharata I. 3028 &c., of which 
 I here offer a nearly literal version : 
 
 A wife is half the man, his truest friend— 
 A loving wife is a perpetual spring 
 
 Of virtue, pleasure, wealth ; a faithful wife 
 Is his best aid in seeking heavenly bliss ; 
 A sweetly-speaking wife is a companion 
 
 In solitude ; a father in advice ; 
 
 A mother in all seasons of distress ; 
 
 A rest in passing through life’s wilderness. 
 
 No wonder if, when sentiments like these are found in the sacred 
 literature of India', a hope is dawning that inveterate prejudices 
 may eventually give way, and that both Hindus and Muslims may 
 one day be brought to confess that one of the most valuable results 
 of Christianity is the co-ordination of the sexes, and one of its most 
 precious gifts the restoration of woman to man, not only as the help 
 most meet for him—not only as his best counsellor and companion— 
 but as his partner in religious privileges, and his equal, if not his 
 superior, in religious capacities. 
 
 1 Still more ancient and weighty authorities than the Maha-bharata 
 are the Taittiriya-brahmana III. 3, 3, 1 (see p. 28 of this volume), and 
 Manu IX. 45, 130 (pp. 288, 273 of this volume), which also assert that 
 ‘a wife is half of a man’s self, that ‘a husband is one person with his 
 wife,’ and that ‘a daughter is equal to a son.’ The Ardha-nari form of 
 Siva (see p. 325, note 1) seems to point to the same truth. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xlvil 
 
 Modern Religious Sects of the Hindis. 
 
 Some account of these will be found in p. 127, note 1, and p. 327, note 2 
 of the present volume. They are fully described by Professor H. H. Wilson 
 in vol. i. of his works edited by Dr. Rost. The three great sects are, 
 A. The Vaishnavas, who worship Vishnu, as the chief god of the Tri-miurti 
 (p. 324). .8. The Saivas, who exalt Siva. C. The Saktas, adorers of 
 the female deity Devi (generally regarded as Siva’s wife). Each sect is 
 distinguished by different practices, and sectarian marks on the forehead 
 (called Tilaka). All three are subdivided into numerous sub-sects, each 
 of which again has two classes of persons under it—the clerical or monas- 
 tic, and the lay. 
 
 A. The Vaishnavas have six principal subdivisions, viz. 1. Lamaniwas 
 or Sri-sampradayins, founded by the reformer Lamaniwja, who flourished 
 in the South of India towards the latter part of the twelfth century; they 
 have two perpendicular white lines drawn from the root of the hair to 
 each eyebrow, and a connecting streak across the root of the nose. They 
 draw their doctrines from Vedanta works, the Vishnu and other Puranas, 
 and are remarkable for the scrupulous preparation and privacy of their 
 meals. A sect called Rémdavats differ little from them. 2. Ramdnandas, 
 founded by Rémananda, disciple of Ramanuja, and numerous in Gangetic 
 India; they worship Rama-¢andra and Sita. 3. Followers of Kabzr, the 
 most celebrated of the twelve disciples of Ramananda, whose life is related 
 in their favourite book the Bhakta-mala. He lived about the end of the 
 fourteenth century, and is said to have been a Muslim by birth. The Aabir- 
 pathins (or °panthis) are found in Upper and Central India; they believe 
 in one God, and do not observe all the Hindti ceremonies, yet pay respect 
 to Vishnu (Rima) as a form of the Supreme Being. 4. Vallabhaéaryas 
 or Rudra-sampradayins, founded by Vallabhaéarya, who was born in 
 1479, and had great success in controversies with the Siaivas. He left 
 behind 84 disciples. They draw their doctrines from ‘the Bhagavata- 
 purana and works of Vallabha. 5. Madhvas or Brahma-sampradayins, 
 founded by Madhvacarya (p. 127, note). They are found especially in 
 the South of India, and although Vaishnavas, exhibit a leaning towards 
 Siva. 6. Vaishnavas of Bengal, founded by Cattanya, regarded as an 
 incarnation of Krishna. They are distingnished by bhakti or devotion to 
 Krishna, whose name they constantly repeat. 
 
 B. The Saivas are generally distinguished by a horizontal Tilaka mark 
 on the forehead, and by rosaries of Rudraksha berries. The temples 
 dedicated to Siva in his symbol of the Linga (see p. 325, note 1) are 
 numerous, but the doctrines of the great Saiva teachers, such as Sankara 
 (p. 327, note 2), are too austere and philosophical for the mass of the 
 people (p.326). Earlier subdivisions of Saivas are the /audras, who 
 have the Tri-sila (p. 325, note 3) marked on their foreheads; the Ugras, 
 
xlvin INTRODUCTION. 
 
 who have the Damaru on their arms; the Bhaktas, who have the Lin-ga 
 on their foreheads; the Jamgamas, who have that symbol on their heads ; 
 and the Pasupatas (p. 127, note), who have it marked on other parts of 
 their bodies. Some more modern subdivisions are, 1. Dandins or mendi- 
 cant staff-bearers; 2. Das-na@mi-dandins, divided into ten classes, each 
 bearing a name of one of the ten pupils of the four disciples of Sankara ; 
 3. Yogins (or Jogis), who cultivate absorption into Siva by suppressions 
 of breath, fixing the eyes, and eighty-four postures (see p. 103); 4. Janga- 
 mas, called Lingavats (commonly Linga-its), as wearing the Linga on 
 their person; 5. Paramahansas, who are solely occupied with meditating 
 on Brahma; 6. Aghorins or Aghora-pathins, who propitiate Siva by terrific 
 and revolting austerities; 7. Urdhva-bahus, who extend one or both arms 
 over the head and hold them in that position for years; 8, Akasa-mukhins, 
 who keep their necks bent back looking up at the sky. The Saivas 
 sometimes carry a staff with a skull at the top, called Khaivanga. 
 
 C. The Saktas have two principal subdivisions, given pp. 502, 503. 
 They aim at acquiring mystical powers by worshipping the Sakti. 
 
 Of the other sects named in p. 327, note 2, the Ganapatyas and Sauryas 
 can scarcely now be regarded as important. The Bhagavatas are said to be 
 a division of the Vaishnavas, and advocate faith in Bhagavat or the Supreme 
 Being as the means of beatitude (according to Sandilya, p. 137, 2). They 
 are sometimes called Pajidéa-ratras, as their doctrines are taught in the 
 Narada-pancaratra. 
 
 A form of Vishnu (Krishna), called Viththal or Vithoba, is the popular 
 god at Pandharpur in Maha-rashtra, and the favourite of the celebrated 
 Marathi poet Tukarama. The followers of Dadti (Dadi-pathins), a famous 
 ascetic who lived at Jaipur about A.D. 1600, are also devoted to Vishnu. 
 
 With regard to the Sikhs (Sanskrit Sishyah), disciples of Nanak Shah, 
 born near Lahore, A. Ὁ. 1469 (p. 327, note 2), this great reformer seems 
 to have owed much to Kabir, who preceded him. Their grantha or 
 sacred books are written in old Panjabi, and employ a modification of 
 the Nagari character, called Gurumukhi. Their holy city is Umritsur. 
 
 Mendicant devotees who voluntarily undergo penances and austerities, 
 and are variously called Sannydasis (often of the Saiva sect), Vatragis (often 
 of the Vaishnava sect), Yogis (or Jogis, see p. 104), Nagas (for Nagnas, 
 naked devotees), and Fakirs (which last name ought properly to be 
 restricted to Muhammadans), form a large class in India. 
 
 There is an interesting sect of Syrian Christians in Travancore and 
 Cochin, who have a bishop under the patriarch of Antioch, and trace 
 back their foundation to St. Thomas, about A.D. 50, and to a colony which, 
 300 years afterwards, immigrated from Syria. 
 
INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 LECTURE I: 
 The Hymns of the Veda. 
 
 ee the following Lectures I propose to offer examples 
 
 of the most remarkable religious, philosophical, and 
 ethical teachings of ancient Hindi authors, arranging the 
 instances given in regular sequence according to the suc- 
 cessive epochs of Sanskrit literature. In attempting this 
 task I am conscious of my inability to do justice in a short 
 compass to the richness of the materials at my command. 
 An adequate idea of the luxuriance of Sanskrit literature 
 can with difficulty be conveyed to occidental scholars. 
 Perhaps, too, the severe European critic will be slow to 
 acquiesce in any tribute of praise bestowed on composi- 
 tions too often marked by tedious repetitions, redundant 
 epithets, and far-fetched conceits; just as the genuine Ori- 
 ental, nurtured under glowing tropical skies, cannot easily 
 be brought to appreciate the coldness and severe simplicity 
 of an educated Englishman’s style of writing. We might 
 almost say that with Hindi authors excellence is apt to 
 be measured by magnitude, quality by quantity, were it 
 not for the striking thoughts and noble sentiments which 
 often reward the student who will take the trouble to release 
 them from their surplusage of words; were it not also, 
 that with all this tendency to diffuseness, it is certainly a 
 fact that nowhere do we find the art of condensation so 
 successfully cultivated as in some departments of Sanskrit 
 literature. Probably the very prolixity natural to Indian 
 writers led to the opposite extreme of brevity, not merely 
 
 B 
 
2 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 by a law of reaction, but by the necessity for providing 
 the memory with aids and restoratives when oppressed 
 and debilitated by too great a burden. However that 
 may be, every student of Sanskrit will certainly note in 
 its literary productions a singular mequality both as to 
 quantity and quality ; so that in studying Hindi litera- 
 ture continuously we are liable to be called upon to pass 
 from the most exuberant verbosity to the most obscure 
 brevity ; from sound wisdom to little better than puerile 
 unwisdom ; from subtle reasoning to transparent sophistry ; 
 from high morality—often expressed in impressive lan- 
 guage worthy of Christianity itself—to precepts implying 
 a social condition scarcely compatible with the lowest 
 grade of culture and civilization. 
 
 Such being the case, it will be easily understood that, 
 although my intention in these Lectures is to restrict 
 myself to selections from the best writings only, it does 
 not therefore follow that every example given will be put 
 forth as a model of style or wisdom. My simple object 
 is to illustrate continuously the development of Hindi 
 thought ; and it will conduce to a better appreciation of 
 the specimens I offer if I introduce them by brief descrip- 
 tions of the portions of literature to which they belong. 
 
 To give order and continuity to the subject it will be 
 necessary to begin with that foundation of the whole 
 fabric of Hindt religion and literature—the Veda. 
 
 Happily this word ‘ Veda’ has now a familiar sound 
 among Englishmen who take an interest in the history 
 and literature of their Indian fellow-subjects, so that I 
 need say but little on a subject which is really almost 
 trite, or at least has been already elucidated by many 
 clear and able writers. Indeed, most educated persons 
 are beginning to be conscious of the duty of studying 
 fairly and without prejudice the other religions of the 
 world. For may it not be maintained that the traces of 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 3 
 
 the original truth imparted to mankind should be dil- 
 gently sought for in every religious system, however 
 corrupt, so that when any fragment of the living rock 
 is discovered’, it may (so to speak) at once be converted 
 
 1 Surely we should study to be absolutely fair in our examination of 
 other religions, and avoid all appearance of a shadow of misrepresentation 
 in our description of them, endeavouring to take a just and compre- 
 hensive view, which shall embrace the purest form of each false system, 
 and not be confined to those corruptions, incrustations, and accretions 
 which in all religions tend to obscure, and even to conceal altogether, what 
 there is of good and true in them. Missionaries would do well to read 
 ‘An Essay on Conciliation in Matters of Religion, by a Bengal Civilian,’ 
 published in Calcutta in 1849. Let them also ponder the words of Sir 
 William Jones, in his ‘ Discourse on the Philosophy of the Asiaties’ (vol. iii. 
 Ῥ. 242, &c., of his Works). This great Orientalist there maintains 
 that our divine religion, the truth of which is abundantly proved by 
 historical evidence, has no need of such aids as many think to give it 
 by asserting that wise men of the heathen world were ignorant of the two 
 Christian maxims which teach us to do to others as we would they 
 should do unto us, and to return good for evil. The first exists in the 
 sayings of Confucius, and the spirit of both may be traced in several 
 Hindi precepts. One or two examples will be found in the Hitopadesa, 
 and Sir W. Jones’ is the following: Su-jano na yati vairam para-hita-bud- 
 dhir vinasa-kale ‘pi Chede ‘pi ¢andana-taruh surabhayati mukham kutha- 
 rasya, ‘A good man who thinks only of benefiting his enemy has no 
 feelings of hostility towards him even at the moment of being destroyed 
 by him; (just as) the sandal-tree at the moment of being cut down 
 sheds perfume on the edge of the axe.’ Sir W. Jones affirms that this 
 couplet was written three centuries B.c. It is given by Boehtlingk in 
 his ‘Indische Spriiche.’ Professor Aufrecht, in his late article on the 
 Sarn-gadhara-paddhati, mentions a similar verse in that Anthology attri- 
 buted to an author Ravi-gupta. The Persian poet Sadi of Shiraz has 
 a maxim taken from the Arabs, ‘Confer benefits on him who has injured 
 thee.” Again, ‘The men of God’s true faith grieve not the hearts e’en of 
 their foes’ (chap. ii. story 4). Hafiz is also quoted by Sir W. Jones thus: 
 
 ‘Learn from yon Orient shell to love thy foe, 
 And store with pearls the hand that brings thee woe. 
 Free, like yon rock, from base vindictive pride, 
 Imblaze with gems the wrist that rends thy side. 
 B 2 
 
4 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 into a fulcrum for the upheaving of the whole mass of 
 surrounding error? At all events, it may reasonably be 
 conceded that if nothing true or sound can be shown to 
 underlie the rotten tissue of decaying religious systems, 
 the truth of Christianity may at least in this manner be 
 more clearly exhibited and its value by contrast made 
 more conspicuous. 
 
 If, then, a comparison of the chief religions’ of the world, 
 and an attempt to sweep away the incrustations which 
 everywhere obscure the points of contact between them, 
 is becoming every day more incumbent upon us, surely 
 Brahmanism, next to Judaism and Christianity, has the 
 first claim on our attention, both from its connection with 
 the religion of ancient Persia (said to have acted on 
 Judaism during the captivity), and from its close rela- 
 tionship to Buddhism, the faith of about thirty-one per 
 
 Mark where yon tree rewards the stony shower 
 With fruit nectareous or the balmy flower. 
 
 All nature calls aloud, “ Shall man do less 
 Than heal the smiter and the railer bless 1 
 
 In Sarngadhara’s Anthology a sentiment is given from the Maha- 
 bharata, which is almost identical with St. Matt. vii. 3—Ti δὲ βλέπεις τὸ 
 Kappos τὸ ἐν τῷ ὀφθαλμῷ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ σου, τὴν δὲ ἐν τῷ σῷ ὀφθαλμῷ δοκὸν 
 οὐ κατανοεῖς. 
 
 1 These are eight in number, as shown by Professor Max Miiller in his 
 ‘Science of Religion,’ viz. 1. Judaism, 2. Christianity, 3. Brahmanism, 
 4. Buddhism, 5. Zoroastrianism, 6. Islam; and the systems of the Chinese 
 philosophers, viz. 7. Confucius (a Latinized form of King-fi-tsze, ‘the 
 sage of the family of King’), 8. Lau-tsze (‘aged master or sage’); and 
 these eight rest on eight sets of books, viz. 1. the Old Testament, 2. the 
 New Testament, 3. the Veda, 4. the Tri-pitaka, 5. the Zand-Avasta, 6. the 
 Kuran, 7. the five volumes or King (viz. Yi, Shu, Shi, Li-ki, Chtin-tsiu) 
 and the four Shu or books, some of which were written by the philosopher 
 Mencius (Mang-tsze), 8. the Tau-te-King (‘book of reason and virtue’); 
 and are in seven languages, viz. 1. Hebrew, 2. Greek, 3. Sanskrit, 4. Pali, 
 5. Zand, 6. Arabic, and 7, 8. Chinese. Of these eight religions only four 
 (the second, third, fourth, and sixth) are numerically important at the 
 present day. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 5 
 
 cent of the human race'. Now it is noteworthy that the 
 idea of a direct revelation, though apparently never 
 entertained in a definite manner by the Greeks and 
 Romans’, is perfectly familiar, first, to the Hindtis; secondly, 
 to the Parsis, as representing the ancient Zoroastrian 
 Persians; thirdly, to all the numerous races who have 
 adopted the religion founded by Muhammad’, and by 
 
 1 Rather more than two-thirds of the human race are still unchristian- 
 ized (see note, p. xxxy). Christianity and Buddhism, the two most 
 prevalent religions of the world, and in their very essence the two most 
 opposed to each other, though, at the same time, the two which have 
 most common ground in their moral teaching, have both been rejected 
 by the races which gave them birth; yet both, when adopted by other 
 races, have acquired the greatest number of adherents. Christianity, 
 originating with a Semitic race, has spread among Aryans; Buddhism, 
 originating among Hindu Aryans, has spread chiefly among Turanian races. 
 Buddhism was driven out of India into Ceylon and still continues there. 
 Thence it passed into Burmah, Siam, Tibet, China, and Japan. It does 
 not seem to have become established in China till the first century of our 
 era, and did not reach Japan till much later. The form it has assumed 
 in these countries deviates widely from the system founded by the great 
 Indian Buddha, and its adoption by the masses of the people is after all 
 more nominal than real. The ancient superstitious belief in good and 
 evil spirits of all kinds (of the sun, wind, and rain ; of the earth, moun- 
 tains, rivers, trees, fields, &c., and of the dead) appears to prevail every- 
 where among the Chinese people, while the more educated are chiefly 
 adherents of the old moral and philosophical systems taught by Kiing-fu- 
 tsze (Confucius) and Lau-tsze. The latter taught belief in one universal 
 spirit called Yau, ‘ the way,’ and his disciples are therefore styled Tau-ists. 
 
 2 Numa Pompilius is, however, supposed to have derived his inspira- 
 tions from the prophetic nymph Aegeria ; as the Greek poets are imagined 
 to have owed theirs to the Muses. 
 
 83 The name of the great Arabian Pseudo-prophet popularly spelt 
 Mohammed, means ‘the highly praised’ or ‘praiseworthy.’ We very 
 naturally call the religion he founded Mohammedanism, but he laid no 
 claim to be a founder. Islam is a word denoting ‘submission to the 
 will and ordinances of God,’ whose absolute unity Mohammed claimed as 
 a prophet to have been commissioned to proclaim. 
 
6 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 him called Islam. Let us beware, however, of supposing 
 that the Veda occupies exactly the position of a Bible 
 to the Hindi, or that it is to them precisely what the 
 Avasta is to the Parsis or the Kuran to Muslims. Such 
 a notion must lead to some confusion of thought in study- 
 ing these very different religious systems. For the word 
 Avastai probably signifies ‘the settled text’ delivered by 
 Zoroaster (properly Zarathustra, and in Persian Zardusht), 
 which was written down and accompanied with its com- 
 mentary and paraphrases in Pahlavi’; as in the Hebrew 
 sacred writings, the Old Testament was furnished with its 
 accompaniments of Chaldee translations and paraphrases 
 called Targums. 
 
 Again, the word Kuran means emphatically ‘the read- 
 ing’ or ‘that which ought to be read by every one’, and 
 is applied to a single volume, manifestly the work of one 
 author, which, according to Muhammad, descended entire 
 from heaven in the night called Al Kadr*, in the month 
 called Ramazan, though alleged to have been revealed 
 to him by the angel Gabriel at different times, and chapter 
 by chapter. In fact, Muhammad affirmed that, being him- 
 self illiterate, he was specially directed and miraculously 
 empowered by God to commit the revelation to writing 
 for the spread of the true faith. (See Introd. xli—xli.) 
 
 ? Pahlavi is a later Iranian dialect which followed on Zand and the old 
 Persian of the inscriptions, and led to Parsi or Pazand and the Persian of 
 Firdausi. The word Zand at first denoted commentary, and was after- 
 wards applied to the language. 
 
 Ξ ὧν quran, ‘reading, is the verbal noun of the Arabic root garda, 
 ‘to read.’ In the g6th chapter of the Kuran the command is twice 
 repeated, ‘Read, in the name of thy Lord,’ “ Read, by thy most beneficent 
 Lord, who taught the use of the pen.’ 
 
 * That is, ‘the night of gadr or power. The 97th chapter of the 
 Kuran begins thus, ‘Verily we sent down the Kuran in the night of 
 Al Kadr.’ See Sale’s translation. 
 
 a_-_-~ - ewe eS. ee eee ee 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 7 
 
 The word Veda, on the other hand, means ‘ knowledge,’ 
 and is a term applied to divine wnwritten knowledge, 
 imagined to have issued like breath from the Self- 
 existent ', and communicated to no single person, but to 
 a whole class of men called Rishis or inspired sages. By 
 them the divine knowledge thus apprehended was trans- 
 mitted, not in writing, but through the ear, by constant oral 
 repetition through a succession of teachers, who claimed 
 as Brahmans to be its rightful recipients. Here, then, we 
 have a theory of inspiration higher even than that ad- 
 vanced by the Pseudo-prophet Muhammad and his followers, 
 or by the most enthusiastic adherents of any other religion 
 in the world. It is very true that this inspired know- 
 ledge, though its very essence was held to be mystically 
 bound up with Sabda or ‘articulate sound’ (thought to be 
 eternal), was ultimately written down, but the writing 
 and reading of it were not encouraged. It was even pro- 
 hibited by the Brahmans, to whom alone all property in 
 it belonged. Moreover, when at last, by its continued 
 
 1 In Manu I. 3 the Veda is itself called ‘self-existent.’ There are, how- 
 ever, numerous inconsistencies in the accounts of the production of the 
 Veda, which seem not to have troubled the Brahmans or interfered with 
 their faith in its divine origin. One account makes it issue from the Self- 
 existent, like breath, by the power of A-drishta, without any deliberation 
 or thought on his part; another makes the four Vedas issue from Brah- 
 man, like smoke from burning fuel; another educes them from the 
 elements; another from the Gayatri. A hymn in the Atharva-veda 
 (XIX. 54) educes them from Kala or ‘Time.’ The Satapatha-brahmana 
 asserts that the Creator brooded over the three worlds, and thence produced 
 three lights, fire, the air, and the sun, from which respectively were 
 extracted the Rig, Yajur, and Sama-veda. Manu (I. 23) affirms the same. 
 In the Purusha-sikta the three Vedas are derived from the mystical victim 
 Purusha. Lastly, by the Mimansakas the Veda is declared to be itself an 
 eternal sound, and to have existed absolutely from all eternity, quite inde- 
 pendently of any utterer or revealer of its texts. Hence it is often called 
 $ruta, ‘what is heard.’ In opposition to all this we have the Rishis them- 
 selves frequently intimating that the Mantras were composed by themselves. 
 
8 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 growth, it became too complex for mere oral transmission, 
 then this Veda resolved itself, not into one single volume, 
 like the Kuran, but into a whole series of compositions, 
 which had in reality been composed by a number of dif- 
 ferent poets and writers at different times during several 
 centuries. 
 
 There is this great difference, therefore, between the 
 Kuran and the Veda, that whereas the reading of the 
 former is regarded as a sacred duty, and constantly prac- 
 tised by all good Muslims, the Veda, even after it had 
 been committed to writing, became absolutely a sealed 
 book to the masses of Hindi, and with the exception 
 of some of the later Vedic works, called Upanishads, is to 
 this day almost entirely unread even by the learned, how- 
 ever much it may be venerated and its divine authority 
 as an infallible guide nominally upheld’. 
 
 Of what, then, does this Veda consist? To conduce to 
 clearness in arranging our examples we may regard it as 
 separating itself into three quite distinct divisions, viz. 
 
 1. Mantra or prayer and praise embodied in texts and 
 metrical hymns. 
 
 2. Bradhmana or ritualistic precept and illustration 
 written in prose. 
 
 3. Upanishad, ‘mystical or secret doctrine’ appended 
 to the aforesaid Brahmana, in prose and occasional verse. 
 
 1 The absolute and infallible authority of the Veda is held to be so 
 manifest as to require no proof, and to be entirely beyond the province of 
 reason or argument. Manu even extends this to Smriti (II. 10), where 
 he says, ‘ By sruti is meant the Veda, and by smriti the books of law ; the 
 contents of these must never be questioned by reason.’ Nevertheless, the 
 want of familiarity with the Mantras of the Rig-veda is illustrated by 
 the native editions of Manu. That published in Calcutta with the com- 
 mentary of Kulltka is a scholarlike production, but almost in every 
 place where the Mantras of the Rig-veda are alluded to by Manu (as in 
 VIII. 91, XI. 250, 252, 253, 254) errors disfigure the text and com- 
 mentary. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 9 
 
 To begin, then, with the Mantra portion. By this is 
 meant those prayers, invocations, and hymns which have 
 been collected and handed down to us from a period after 
 the Indian branch of the great Indo-European race had 
 finally settled down in Northern India, but which were 
 doubtless composed by a succession of poets at different 
 times (perhaps between 1500 and 1000 years B.c.). These 
 compositions, though very unequal in poetical merit, and 
 containing many tedious repetitions and puerilities, are 
 highly interesting and important, as embodying some of 
 the earliest religious conceptions, as well as some of the 
 earliest known forms, of the primitive language of that 
 primeval Aryan race-stock from which Greeks, Romans, 
 Kelts, Teutons, Russians, and Poles are all offshoots. 
 
 They are comprised in five principal Samhitas or col- 
 lections of Mantras, called respectively Rik, Atharvan, 
 Saman, Taittiriya, and Vajasaneyin. Of these the Rig- 
 veda-samhita — containing one thousand and seventeen 
 hymns—is the oldest and most important, while the 
 Atharva-veda-samhita is generally held to be the most 
 recent, and is perhaps the most interesting. Moreover, 
 these are the only two Vedic hymn-books worthy of 
 being called separate original collections’; and to these, 
 therefore, we shall confine our examples. 
 
 1 The Atharva-veda (admirably edited by Professors Roth and Whitney) 
 does not appear to have been recognized as a fourth Veda in the time 
 of Manu, though he mentions the revelation made to Atharvan and 
 Angiras (XI. 33). In book XI, verse 264, he says, Riéo yajinshi 
 canyant samani vividhaini éa, esha jieyas tri-vrid vedo yo vedainam sa 
 veda-vit. The Sama-veda and the two so-called Sambitas or collections 
 of the Yajur-veda (Taittiriya and Vajasaneyin or Black and White) all 
 borrow largely from the Rik, and are merely Brahmanical manuals, the 
 necessity for which grew out of the complicated ritual gradually elabo- 
 rated by the Hindi Aryans. A curious allusion to the Sama-veda 
 occurs in Manu IV. 123 &c., ‘The Rig-veda has the gods for its 
 deities, the Yajur-veda has men for its objects, the Sama-veda has 
 
10 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 To what deities, it will be asked, were the prayers and 
 hymns of these collections addressed ? This is an interest- 
 ing inquiry, for these were probably the very deities wor- 
 shipped under similar names by our Aryan progenitors in 
 their primeval home somewhere on the table-land of Cen- 
 tral Asia, perhaps in the region of Bokhara, not far from 
 the sources of the Oxus'. The answer is: They worshipped 
 those physical forces before which all nations, if guided 
 solely by the light of nature, have in the early period of 
 their life instinctively bowed down, and before which even 
 the more civilized and enlightened have always been com- 
 pelled to bend in awe and reverence, if not in adoration. 
 
 To our Aryan forefathers in their Asiatic home God’s 
 power was exhibited in the forces of nature even more 
 evidently than to ourselves. Lands, houses, flocks, 
 herds, men, and animals were more frequently than in 
 Western climates at the mercy of winds, fire, and 
 water, and the sun’s rays appeared to be endowed with 
 a potency quite beyond the experience of any European 
 country. We cannot be surprised, then, that these forces 
 were regarded by our Eastern progenitors as actual mani- 
 festations, either of one deity in different moods or of 
 separate rival deities contending for supremacy. Nor is 
 
 the Pitris, therefore its sound is impure.’ Kulltka, however, in his 
 commentary is careful to state that the Sama-veda is not really impure, 
 but only apparently so. This semblance of impurity may perhaps result 
 from its association with deceased persons and its repetition at a time 
 of A-sauéa. The Sama-veda is really a mere reproduction of parts of 
 the Rik, transposed and scattered about piece-meal, only seventy-eight 
 verses in the whole Sama-veda being, it is said, untraceable to the present 
 recension of the Rik. The greatest number of its verses are taken from 
 the ninth Mandala of the Rik, which is in praise of the Soma plant, the 
 Sama-veda being a collection of liturgical forms for the Soma ceremonies 
 of the Udgatri priests, as the Yajus is for the sacrifices performed by 
 the Adhvaryu priests. 
 * Professor Whitney doubts this usual assumption (Lectures, p. 200). 
 
 Se ee ee a 
 
 eS See ee ee ee 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 11 
 
 it wonderful that these mighty agencies should have 
 been at first poetically personified, and afterwards, when 
 invested with forms, attributes, and individuality, wor- 
 shipped as distinct gods. It was only natural, too, that 
 a varying supremacy and varying honours should have 
 been accorded to each deified foree—to the air, the rain, 
 the storm, the sun, or fire—according to the special atmo- 
 spheric influences to which particular localities were ex- 
 posed, or according to the seasons of the year when the 
 dominance of each was to be prayed for or deprecated. 
 
 This was the religion represented in the Vedas and 
 the primitive creed of the Indo-Aryans about twelve or 
 thirteen centuries before Christ. The first forces deified 
 seem to have been those manifested in the sky and air. 
 These were at first generalized under one rather vague 
 personification, as was natural in the earliest attempts 
 at giving shape to religious ideas. For it may be observed 
 that all religious systems, even the most polytheistic, have 
 generally grown out of some undefined original belief in 
 a divine power or powers controlling and regulating the 
 universe. And although innumerable gods and goddesses, 
 gifted with a thousand shapes, now crowd the Hindi Pan- 
 theon, appealing to the instincts of the unthinking millions 
 whose capacity for religious ideas is supposed to require 
 the aid of external symbols, it is probable that there 
 existed for the first Aryan worshippers a simpler theistic 
 creed: even as the thoughtful Hindi of the present day 
 looks through the maze of his mythology to the concep- 
 tion of one divine self-existing being, one all-pervading 
 spirit, into whose unity all visible symbols are gathered, 
 and in whose essence all entities are comprehended. 
 
 In the Veda this unity soon diverged into various rami- 
 fications. Only a few of the hymns appear to contain 
 the simple conception of one divine self-existent omni- 
 present Being, and even in these the idea of one God 
 
Ls INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 present in all nature is somewhat nebulous and unde- 
 fined’. Perhaps the most ancient and beautiful deification 
 was that of Dyaus’, ‘the sky,’ as Dyaush-pitar, ‘Heavenly 
 Father’ (the Zeus or Ju-piter of the Greeks and Romans). 
 Then, closely connected with Dyaus, was a goddess A-diti, 
 ‘the Infinite Expanse,’ conceived of subsequently as the 
 mother of all the gods. Next came a development of the 
 same conception called Varuna, ‘the Investing Sky,’ said 
 to answer to Ahura Mazda, the Ormazd of the ancient 
 Persian (Zand) mythology, and to the Greek Ovpavés—but 
 a more spiritual conception, leading to a worship which 
 rose to the nature of a belief in the great Πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν 
 
 1 Though vaguely stated in the Veda, it was clearly defined in the 
 time of Manu ; see the last verses of the twelfth book (123-125): ‘Him 
 some adore as transcendently present in fire; others in Manu, lord of 
 creatures ; some as more distinctly present in Indra, others in pure air, 
 others as the most high eternal Spirit. Thus the man who perceives 
 in his own soul, the supreme soul present in all creatures, acquires 
 equanimity towards them all, and shall be absorbed at last in the 
 highest essence.’ In the Purusha-sikta of the Rig-veda (X. 90), which 
 is one of the later hymns, probably not much earlier than the earliest 
 Brahmana, the one Spirit is called Purusha. The more common name in 
 the later system is Brahman, neut. (nom. Brahmd), derived from root brih, 
 ‘to expand,’ and denoting the universally expanding essence or universally 
 diffused substance of the universe. For it is evident that this later 
 creed was not so much monotheistic (by which I mean the belief in 
 one god regarded as a personal Being external to the universe, though 
 creating and governing it) as pantheistic; Brahman in the neuter being 
 ‘simple infinite being’—the only real eternal essence—which, when it 
 passes into actual manifested existence, is called Brahma, when it de- 
 velops itself in the world, is called Vishnu, and when it again dissolves 
 itself into simple being, is called Siva; all the other innumerable gods 
 and demigods being also mere manifestations of the neuter Brahman, 
 who alone is eternal. This appears to be the genuine pantheistic creed 
 of India to this very day. 
 
 * From dyuw or dyo, the same as the Old German Tiu or Ziu, who, 
 according to Professor Max Miiller, afterwards became a kind of Mars 
 (whence Tues-day). For Dyaush-pitar see Rig-veda VI. 51. 5. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 13 
 
 τοῖς οὐρανοῖς. This Varuna, again, was soon thought of in 
 connection with another vague personification called Mitra 
 (=the Persian Mithra), ‘god of day.” After a time these 
 impersonations of the celestial sphere were felt to be too 
 vague to suit the growth of religious ideas in ordinary 
 minds. Soon, therefore, the great investing firmament 
 resolved itself into separate cosmical entities with separate 
 powers and attributes. First, the watery atmosphere— 
 personified under the name of Indra, ever seeking to dis- 
 pense his dewy treasures (indu), though ever restrained 
 by an opposing force or spirit of evil called Vritra ; and, 
 secondly, the wind—thought of either as a single person- 
 ality named Vayu, or as a whole assemblage of moving 
 powers coming from every quarter of the compass, and 
 impersonated as Maruts or ‘Storm-gods.’ At the same time 
 in this process of decentralization—if I may use the term 
 —the once purely celestial Varuna became relegated to a 
 position among seven secondary deities of the heavenly 
 sphere called Adityas (afterwards increased to twelve, and 
 regarded as diversified forms of the sun in the several 
 months of the year), and subsequently to a dominion over 
 the waters when they had left the air and rested on the 
 earth. 
 
 Of these separately deified physical forces by far the 
 most favourite object of adoration was the deity supposed 
 to yield the dew and rain, longed for by Eastern cultivators 
 of the soil with even greater cravings than by Northern 
 agriculturists. Indra, therefore—the Jupiter Pluvius of 
 early Indian mythology—is undoubtedly the principal 
 divinity of Vedic worshippers, in so far at least as the 
 greater number of their prayers and hymns are addressed 
 to him. 
 
 What, however, could rain effect without the aid of 
 heat? A force the intensity of which must have impressed 
 an Indian mind with awe, and led him to invest the pos- 
 
14 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 sessor of it with divine attributes. Hence the other great 
 god of Vedic worshippers, and in some respects the most 
 important in his connection with sacrificial rites, is Agni 
 (Latin Ignzs), ‘the god of fire.’ Even Siirya, ‘the sun’ (Greek 
 ἥλιος), Who was probably at first adored as the original 
 source of heat, came to be regarded as only another form 
 of fire. He was merely a manifestation of the same divine 
 energy removed to the heavens, and consequently less acces- 
 sible. Another deity, Ushas, ‘ goddess of the dawn, —the 
 ἠώς Of the Greeks,—was naturally connected with the sun, 
 and regarded as daughter of the sky. Two other deities, 
 the Agvins, were fabled as connected with Ushas, as ever 
 young and handsome, travelling in a golden car and pre- 
 cursors of the dawn. They are sometimes called Dasras, 
 as divine physicians, ‘destroyers of diseases ;’ sometimes 
 Nasatyas, as ‘never untrue.’ They appear to have been 
 personifications of two luminous points or rays imagined 
 to precede the break of day. These, with Yama, ‘the god 
 of departed spirits,’ are the principal deities of the Mantra 
 portion of the Veda’. 
 
 But here it may be asked, if sky, air, water, fire, and 
 the sun were thus worshipped as manifestations of the 
 supreme universal God of the universe, was not the earth 
 also an object of adoration with the early Hindtis? And 
 it should be stated that in the earlier system the earth 
 under the name of Prithivi, ‘the broad one, does receive 
 divine honours, bemg thought of as the mother of all 
 beings. Moreover, various deities were regarded as the 
 progeny resulting from the fancied union of earth with 
 
 τ It should be observed that there is no trace in the Mantras of the 
 Tri-murti or Triad of deities (Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva) afterwards 
 so popular. Nor does the doctrine of transmigration, afterwards an 
 essential element of the Hindi religion, appear in the Mantra portion 
 of the Veda. Caste is only clearly alluded to in one hymn (the Purusha- 
 sukta), generally allowed to be a comparatively modern composition. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 15 
 
 Dyaus, ‘heaven.’ This imaginary marriage of heaven and 
 earth was indeed a most natural idea, and much of the 
 later mythology may be explained by it. But it is 
 remarkable that as religious worship became of a more 
 selfish character, the earth, being more evidently under 
 man’s control, and not seeming to need propitiation so 
 urgently as the more uncertain air, fire, and water, lost 
 importance among the gods, and was rarely addressed in 
 prayer or hymn. 
 
 It may conduce to a better appreciation of the succeed- 
 ing hymns if it be borne in mind that the deified forces 
 addressed in them were probably not represented by 
 images or idols in the Vedic period, though, doubtless, 
 the early worshippers clothed their gods with human 
 form in their own imaginations’. 
 
 I now commence my examples with a nearly literal 
 translation of the well-known sixteenth hymn of the 
 fourth bock of the Atharva-veda, in praise of Varuna or 
 ‘the Investing Sky*:’ 
 
 1 See Dr. Muir’s Sanskrit Texts, vol. v. p. 453. 
 
 2 Ably translated by Dr. Muir (Sanskrit Texts, vol. v. p. 63) and by 
 Professor Max Miiller. It may be thought that in giving additional trans- 
 lations of this and other hymns I am going over ground already well 
 trodden; but it should be borne in mind that as the design of these 
 Lectures is to illustrate continwously the development of Hindi: know- 
 -ledge and literature by a selection of good examples rendered into idio- 
 matic English, I could not, in common justice to such a subject, exclude 
 the best passages in each department of the literature merely because they 
 have been translated by others. I here, however, once for all acknow- 
 ledge with gratitude that, while making versions of my own, I have 
 derived the greatest assistance from Dr. Muir's scholarlike translations and 
 poetical paraphrases (given in his Texts), as well as from Professor Max 
 Miller's works and those of Professor A. Weber of Berlin. It must be 
 understood that my examples are not put forth as offering rival transla- 
 tions. They are generally intended to be as literal as possible consistently 
 with the observance of English idiom, and on that account I have pre- 
 ferred blank verse; but occasionally they are paraphrases rather than 
 
16 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The mighty Varuna, who rules above, looks down 
 
 Upon these worlds, his kingdom, as if close at hand. 
 When men imagine they do ought by stealth, he knows it. 
 No one can stand or walk or softly glide along 
 
 Or hide in dark recess, or lurk in secret cell, 
 
 But Varuna detects him and his movements spies. 
 
 Two persons may devise some plot, together sitting 
 
 In private and alone; but he, the king, is there— 
 
 A third—and sees it all. This boundless earth is his, 
 His the vast sky, whose depth no mortal e’er can fathom. 
 Both oceans' find a place within his body, yet 
 
 In that small pool he lies contained. Whoe’er should flee 
 Far, far beyond the sky, would not escape the grasp 
 
 Of Varuna, the king. His messengers descend 
 
 Countless from his abode—for ever traversing 
 
 This world and scanning with a thousand eyes its inmates. 
 Whate’er exists within this earth, and all within the sky, 
 Yea all that is beyond, king Varuna perceives. 
 
 The winkings” of men’s eyes, are numbered all by him. 
 He wields the universe, as gamesters handle dice. 
 
 May thy destroying snares cast sevenfold round the wicked, 
 Entangle liars, but the truthful spare, O king !° 
 
 I pass from the ancient Aryan deity Varuna to the 
 more thoroughly Indian god Indra (see p. 13). 
 
 The following metrical lines bring together various scat- 
 tered texts relating to this Hindi Jupiter Pluvius*: 
 
 translations, sentences and words being here and there omitted or trans- 
 posed, or fragments joined together, so as to read like one continuous 
 passage. In fact, it will be seen that my main design has been to offer 
 English versions of the text for general readers and for those students 
 and educated men who, not being necessarily Sanskritists, are desirous of 
 some insight into Hindt literature. 
 
 1 That is, air and sea. 
 
 * The winking of the eye is an especial characteristic of humanity, 
 distinguishing men from gods ; ef. Nala V. 25, Magha III. 42. 
 
 ® Compare Manu VIII. 82: ‘A witness who speaks falsely is fast 
 bound by the snares of Varuna.’ These snares are explained by Kulluka 
 to be ‘cords consisting of serpents’ ( pasaih sarpa-rajjubhih). 
 
 * The texts which furnish the basis of these and the succeeding verses 
 
 "ὦ ὧν» 
 
 ith.) + + τῶν σα ὦ oe 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 17 
 
 Indra, twin brother of the god of fire, 
 When thou wast born, thy mother Aditi 
 Gave thee, her lusty child, the thrilling draught 
 Of mountain-growing Soma—source of life 
 And never-dying vigour to thy frame. 
 Then at the Thunderer’s birth, appalled with fear, 
 Dreading the hundred-jointed thunderbolt— 
 Forged by the cunning Tvashtri—mountains rocked, 
 Earth shook and heaven trembled. Thou wast born 
 Without a rival, king of gods and men— 
 The eye of living and terrestrial things. 
 
 ‘ Immortal Indra, unrelenting foe 
 Of drought and darkness, infinitely wise, 
 Terrific crusher of thy enemies, 
 Heroic, irresistible in might, 
 Wall of defence to us thy worshippers, 
 We sing thy praises, and our ardent hymns 
 Embrace thee, as a loving wife her lord. 
 Thou art our guardian, advocate, and friend, 
 A brother, father, mother, all combined. 
 Most fatherly of fathers, we are thine 
 And thou art ours; oh! let thy pitying soul 
 Turn to us in compassion, when we praise thee, 
 And slay us not for one sin or for many. 
 Deliver us to-day, to-morrow, every day. 
 Armed for the conflict, see! the demons come— 
 Ahi and Vritra, and a long array 
 Of darksome spirits. Quick, then, quaff the draught 
 That stimulates thy martial energy, 
 And dashing onward in thy golden car, | 
 Drawn by thy ruddy, Ribhu-fashioned? steeds, 
 Speed to the charge, escorted by the Maruts. 
 Vainly the demons dare thy might ; in vain 
 Strive to deprive us of thy watery treasures. 
 Earth quakes beneath the crashing of thy bolts. 
 Pierced, shattered, lies the foe—his cities crushed, 
 His armies overthrown, his fortresses 
 Shivered to fragments ; then the pent-up waters, 
 
 will be found in the 5th volume of Dr. Muir’s work, and there will also 
 be found a complete poetical sketch of Indra (pp. 126-139). 
 1 The Ribhus (Greek Ὀρφεύς) were the celestial artists of the Veda. 
 Cc 
 
18 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Released from long imprisonment, descend 
 In torrents to the earth, and swollen rivers, 
 Foaming and rolling to their ocean home, 
 Proclaim the triumph of the Thunderer. 
 
 Let us proceed next to the all-important Vedic deity 
 Agni, ‘god of fire, especially of sacrificial fire. I propose 
 now to paraphrase a few of the texts which relate to him: 
 
 Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king, 
 Protector, father of the sacrifice. 
 
 Commissioned by us men thou dost ascend 
 
 A messenger, conveying to the sky 
 
 Our hymns and offerings. Though thy origin 
 Be threefold, now from air and now from water, 
 Now from the mystic double Arani’, 
 
 Thou art thyself a mighty god, a lord, 
 
 Giver of life and immortality, 
 
 One in thy essence, but to mortals three ; 
 Displaying thine eternal triple form, 
 
 As fire on earth, as lightning in the air, 
 
 As sun in heaven. Thou art a cherished guest 
 In every household—father, brother, son, 
 Friend, benefactor, guardian, all in one. 
 
 Bright, seven-rayed god ! how manifold thy shapes 
 Revealed to us thy votaries! now we see thee, 
 With body all of gold, and radiant hair 
 
 Flaming from three terrific heads, and mouths 
 Whose burning jaws and teeth devour all things. 
 Now with a thousand glowing horns, and now 
 Flashing thy lustre from a thousand eyes, 
 Thou’rt borne towards us in a golden chariot, 
 Impelled by winds, and drawn by ruddy steeds, 
 Marking thy car’s destructive course, with blackness. 
 Deliver, mighty lord, thy worshippers. 
 
 Purge us from taint of sin, and when we die, 
 Deal mercifully with us on the pyre. 
 Burning our bodies with their load of guilt, 
 
 But bearing our eternal part on high 
 
 To luminous abodes and realms of bliss, 
 
 For ever there to dwell with righteous men. 
 
 1 Two pieces of the wood of the Ficus religiosa used for kindling fire. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 19 
 
 The next deity is Stirya, ‘the Sun’, who, with reference 
 to the variety of his functions, has various names—such 
 as Savitri, Aryaman, Mitra, Varuna, Paishan, sometimes 
 ranking as distinct deities of the celestial sphere. As 
 already explained, he is associated in the minds of Vedic 
 worshippers with Fire, and is frequently described as sitting 
 in a chariot drawn by seven ruddy horses (representing 
 the seven days of the week), preceded by the Dawn. Here 
 is an example of a hymn (Rig-veda I. 50) addressed to this 
 deity, translated almost literally : 
 
 Behold the rays of Dawn, like heralds, lead on high 
 
 The Sun, that men may see the great all-knowing god. 
 
 The stars slink off like thieves, in company with Night, 
 Before the all-seeing eye, whose beams reveal his presence, 
 Gleaming like brilliant flames, to nation after nation. 
 
 With speed, beyond the ken of mortals, thou, O Sun, 
 
 Dost ever travel on, conspicuous to all. 
 
 Thou dost create the light, and with it dost illume 
 
 The universe entire ; thou risest in the sight 
 
 Of all the race of men, and all the host of heaven. _ 
 Light-giving Varuna! thy piercing glance dovh scan 
 
 In quick succession all this stirring, active world, 
 
 And penetrateth too the broad ethereal space, 
 
 Measuring our days and nights and spying out all creatures. 
 Sirya with flaming locks, clear-sighted god of day, 
 
 Thy seven ruddy mares bear on thy rushing car. 
 
 With these thy self-yoked steeds, seven daughters of thy chariot, 
 Onward thou dost advance. To thy refulgent orb 
 
 Beyond this lower gloom and upward to the light 
 
 Would we ascend, O Sun, thou god among the gods. 
 
 As an accompaniment to this hymn may here be men- 
 tioned the celebrated Gayatri. It is a short prayer to the 
 Sun in his character of Savitri or ‘the Vivifier,’ and is the 
 most sacred of all Vedic texts. Though not always under- 
 stood, it is to this very day used by every Brahman 
 throughout. India in his daily devotions. It occurs in 
 
 ! Yaska makes Indra, Agni, and Siirya the Vedic Triad of gods, 
 C2 
 
20 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Rig-veda III. 62. 101, and can be literally translated as 
 follows : 
 
 Let us meditate (or, we meditate) on that excellent glory of the divine 
 Vivifier. May he enlighten (or stimulate) our understandings. [ Tat 
 Savitur varenyam bhargo devasya dhimahi, Dhiyo yo nah pratodayat. | 
 
 May we not conjecture, with Sir William Jones, that 
 the great veneration in which this text has ever been held 
 by the Hindis from time immemorial, indicates that the 
 more enlightened worshippers adored, under the type of 
 the visible sun, that divine light which alone could illu- 
 mine their intellects 1 
 
 I may here also fitly offer a short paraphrase descriptive 
 of the Vedic Ushas, the Greek ’Hés, or ‘ Dawn: 
 
 Hail ruddy Ushas, golden goddess, borne 
 
 Upon thy shining car, thou comest like 
 
 A lovely maiden by her mother decked, 
 Disclosing coyly all thy hidden graces 
 
 To our admiring eyes; or like a wife 
 
 Unveiling to her lord, with conscious pride, 
 Beauties which, as he gazes lovingly, 
 
 Seem fresher, fairer each succeeding morn, 
 Through years on years thou hast lived on, and yet 
 Thou’rt ever young. Thou art the breath and life 
 Of all that breathes and lives, awaking day by day 
 Myriads of prostrate sleepers, as from death, 
 Causing the birds to flutter from their nests, 
 
 And rousing men to ply with busy feet 
 
 Their daily duties and appointed tasks, 
 
 Toiling for wealth or pleasure or renown. 
 
 Before leaving the subject of the Vedic deities I add 
 a few words about Yama, ‘the god of departed spirits.’ It 
 / appears tolerably certain that the doctrine of metempsy- 
 chosis has no place in the Mantra portion of the Veda’, 
 
 * Note that the Rishi or author was Visvamitra, a Kshatriya. 
 * In Mandala I. 164. 32, bahu-prajah is explained by bahu-janma-bhak, 
 ‘subject to many births,’ but it may mean ‘ having abundant offspring.’ 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 21 
 
 nor do the authors of the hymns evince any sympathy 
 with the desire to get rid of all action and personal exist- 
 ence, which became so remarkable a feature of the theology 
 and philosophy of the Brahmans in later times. But there 
 are many indirect references to the immortality of the soul 
 and a future life, and these become more marked and 
 decided towards the end of the Rig-veda. One of the 
 hymns in the last Mandala is addressed to the Pitris or 
 fathers, that is to say, the spirits of departed ancestors 
 who have attained to a state of heavenly bliss, and are 
 supposed to occupy three different stages of blessedness,— 
 the highest inhabiting the upper sky, the middle the 
 intermediate air, and the lowest the regions of the atmo- 
 sphere near the earth. Reverence and adoration are 
 always to be offered them, and they are presided over by 
 the god Yama, the ruler of all the spirits of the dead, 
 whether good or bad. The earlier legends represent this 
 god as a kind of first man (his twin sister being Yami) 
 and also as the first of men that died. Hence he is 
 described as guiding the spirits of other men who die to 
 the same world. In some passages, however, Death is said 
 to be his messenger, he himself dwelling in celestial light, 
 to which the departed are brought, and where they enjoy 
 his society and that of the fathers. In the Veda he has 
 nothing to do with judging or punishing the departed (as 
 in the later mythology), but he has two terrific dogs, with 
 four eyes, which guard the way to his abode. Here area 
 few thoughts about him from various hymns in the tenth 
 
 Mandala of the Rig-veda : 
 
 To Yama, mighty king, be gifts and homage paid. 
 
 He was the first of men that died, the first to brave 
 Death’s rapid rushing stream, the first to point the road 
 To heaven, and welcome others to that bright abode, 
 
 No power can rob us of the home thus won by thee. 
 
 O king, we come; the born must die, must tread the path 
 
22 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 That thou hast trod—the path by which each race of men, 
 Tn long succession, and our fathers, too, have passed. 
 
 Soul of the dead! depart ; fear not to take the road— 
 The ancient road 
 
 by which thy ancestors have gone ; 
 Ascend to meet the god—to meet thy happy fathers, 
 
 Who dwell in bliss with him. Fear not to pass the guards— 
 The four-eyed brindled dogs—that watch for the departed. 
 Return unto thy home, O soul! Thy sin and shame 
 
 Leave thou behind on earth; assume a shining form— 
 
 Thy ancient shape—refined and from all taint set free. 
 
 Let me now endeavour, by slightly amplified trans- 
 lations, to convey some idea of two of the most remarkable 
 hymns in the Rig-veda. The first (Mandala X. 129), which 
 may be compared with some parts of the 38th chap. of 
 Job, attempts to describe the mystery of creation thus : 
 
 In the beginning there was neither nought nor aught, 
 Then there was neither sky nor atmosphere above. 
 
 What then enshrouded all this teeming Universe ? 
 
 In the receptacle of what was it contained ? 
 
 Was it enveloped in the gulf profound of water ? 
 
 Then was there neither death nor immortality, 
 
 Then was there neither day, nor night, nor light, nor darkness, 
 Only the Existent One breathed calmly, self-contained. 
 Nought else than him there was—nought else above, beyond. 
 Then first came darkness hid in darkness, gloom in gloom. 
 Next all was water, all a chaos indiscreet, 
 
 In which the One lay void, shrouded in nothingness. 
 
 Then turning inwards he by self-developed force 
 
 Of inner fervour and intense abstraction, grew. 
 
 And now in him Desire, the primal germ of mind, 
 
 Arose, which learned men, profoundly searching, say 
 
 Is the first subtle bond, connecting Entity 
 
 With Nullity. This ray that kindled dormant life, 
 Where was it then? before? or was it found above ? 
 Were there parturient powers and latent qualities, 
 
 And fecund principles beneath, and active forces 
 
 That energized aloft? Who knows? Who can declare ? 
 How and from what has sprung this Universe? the gods 
 Themselves are subsequent to its development. 
 
 Who, then, can penetrate the secret of its rise ? 
 
‘THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 23 
 
 Whether ’twas framed or not, made or not made; he only 
 Who in the highest heaven sits, the omniscient lord, 
 Assuredly knows all, or haply knows he not. 
 
 The next example is from the first Mandala of the Rig- 
 veda(121). Like the preceding, it furnishes a good argu- 
 ment for those who maintain that the purer faith of the 
 Hindis is properly monotheistic : 
 
 . What god shall we adore with sacrifice 1 
 
 Him let us praise, the golden child that rose 
 In the beginning, who was born the lord— 
 The one sole lord of all that is—who made 
 The earth, and formed the sky, who giveth life, 
 Who giveth strength, whose bidding gods revere, 
 Whose hiding-place is immortality, 
 Whose shadow, death ; who by his might is king 
 Of all the breathing, sleeping, waking world— 
 Who governs men and beasts, whose majesty 
 These snowy hills, this ocean with its rivers 
 Declare ; of whom these spreading regions form 
 The arms ; by whom the firmament is strong, 
 Earth firmly planted, and the highest heavens 
 Supported, and the clouds that fill the air 
 Distributed and measured out; to whom 
 Both earth and heaven, established by his will, 
 Look up with trembling mind ; in whom revealed 
 The rising sun shines forth above the world. 
 Where’er let loose in space, the mighty waters 
 Have gone, depositing a fruitful seed 
 And generating fire, there he arose, 
 Who is the breath and life of all the gods, 
 Whose mighty glance looks round the vast expanse 
 Of watery vapour—source of energy, 
 Cause of the sacrifice—the only God 
 Above the gods. May he not injure us! 
 He the Creator of the earth—the righteous 
 Creator of the sky, Creator too 
 Of oceans bright, and far-extending waters. 
 
 π΄ Ὅτ ὃ .- - 0. Ξ’ςς- Ὁ 
 
 1 In the text this question is repeated at the end of every verse. A 
 literal translation will be found in Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. iv. p. τό. 
 
24 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Let me now give a few verses (not in regular order and 
 not quite literally translated) from the celebrated Purusha- 
 sukta, one of the most recent of the hymns of the Rig- 
 veda (Mandala X. 90). It will serve to illustrate the 
 gradual sliding of Hindi monotheism into pantheism, and 
 the first foreshadowing of the institution of caste, which 
 for so many centuries has held India in bondage : 
 
 The embodied spirit 1 has a thousand heads, 
 
 A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, around 
 
 On every side enveloping the earth, 
 
 Yet filling space no larger than a span”. 
 
 He is himself this very universe, 
 
 He is whatever is, has been, and shall be. 
 
 He is the lord of immortality. 
 
 All creatures are one-fourth of him, three-fourths 
 Are that which is immortal in the sky. 
 
 From him, called Purusha, was born Viraj, 
 
 And from Viraj was Purusha produced * 
 
 Whom gods and holy men made their oblation. 
 With Purusha as victim they performed 
 
 A sacrifice. When they divided him, 
 
 How did they cut him up? what was his mouth? 
 What were his arms? and what his thighs and feet ? 
 
 * According to the Upanishads and the Tattva-samasa the all-pervading 
 self-existent spirit is called Purusha, pwrt sayandt, from dwelling in the 
 body. 
 
 2 Dr. Muir translates (literally), ‘He overpassed the earth by a space of 
 ten fingers. The Katha Upanishad (II. 4. 12) says that Purusha, ‘the 
 soul,’ is of the measure of a thumb (angushtha-matrah). 
 
 ° This is tantamount to saying that Purusha and Viraj are in sub- 
 stance the same. Viraj, as a kind of secondary creator, is sometimes 
 regarded as male, sometimes as female. Manu (I. 11) says that Purusha, 
 ‘the first male,’ was called Brahma, and was produced from the supreme 
 self-existent Spirit. In I. 32 he says that Brahma (see Kullika’s com- 
 mentary), having divided his own substance, became half male, half 
 female, and that from the female was produced Viraj, and that from 
 
 Viraj was born Manu—the secondary progenitor and producer of all 
 beings. 
 
THE HYMNS OF THE VEDA. 25 
 
 The Brahman was his mouth, the kingly soldier ἢ 
 Was made his arms, the husbandman his thighs, 
 The servile Sitidra issued from his feet. 
 
 I close my examples of the Mantras with slightly 
 amplified versions of two hymns—one in praise of Time, 
 personified as the source of all things, taken from the 
 Atharva-veda; the other addressed to Night, from the 
 Rig-veda’. 
 
 The following is the hymn to Time (Atharva-veda XIX. 
 53). A few verses at the end are omitted, one or two 
 lines transposed, and a few inserted from the next hymn 
 on the same subject : 
 
 Time, like a brilliant steed with seven rays, 
 
 And with a thousand eyes, imperishable, 
 
 Full of fecundity, bears all things onward. 
 
 On him ascend the learned and the wise. 
 
 Time, like a seven-wheeled, seven-naved car, moves on. 
 
 His rolling wheels are all the worlds, his axle 
 
 Ts immortality. He is the first of gods. 
 
 We see him like an overflowing jar ; 
 
 We see him multiplied in various forms. 
 
 He draws forth and encompasses the worlds ; 
 
 He is all future worlds; he is their father ; 
 
 He is their son ; there is no power like him. 
 
 The past and future issue out of Time, 
 
 All sacred knowledge and austerity. 
 
 From Time the earth and waters were produced ; 
 
 From Time, the rising, setting, burning sun ; 
 
 From Time, the wind; through Time the earth is vast ; 
 
 Through Time the eye perceives ; mind, breath, and name 
 
 In him are comprehended. ΑἹ] rejoice 
 
 When Time arrives—the monarch who has conquered 
 
 This world, the highest world, the holy worlds, 
 
 Yea, all the worlds—and ever marches on. 
 ΝΕ ΟΣ δ δ Ὁ Ὸ ΄ ο΄ τ τ 9. 
 
 1 The second caste or Kshatriya is here called Rajanya. By ‘ husband- 
 man’ in the next line is of course meant the third or Vaisya caste. 
 2 Both literally translated into prose by Dr. Muir, Texts, vol. v. 
 
 p. 408, vol. iv. p. 498. 
 
26 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The hymn to Night is my last example. It is taken 
 from the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda (127) : 
 
 The goddess Night arrives in all her glory, 
 Looking about her with her countless eyes. 
 She, the immortal goddess, throws her veil 
 Over low valley, rising ground, and hill, 
 
 But soon with bright effulgence dissipates 
 The darkness she produces ; soon advancing 
 She calls her sister Morning to return, 
 
 And then each darksome shadow melts away. 
 Kind goddess, be propitious to thy servants 
 Who at thy coming straightway seek repose, 
 Like birds who nightly nestle in the trees. 
 Lo! men and cattle, flocks and wingéd creatures, 
 And e’en the ravenous hawks, have gone to rest. 
 Drive thou away from us, O Night, the wolf ; 
 Drive thou away the thief, and bear us safely 
 Across thy borders. Then do thou, O Dawn, 
 Like one who clears away a debt, chase off 
 This black, yet palpable obscurity, 
 
 Which came to fold us in its close embrace. 
 Receive, O Night, dark daughter of the Day, 
 My hymn of praise, which I present to thee, 
 Like some rich offering to a conqueror. 
 
LECTURE II. 
 
 The Bréhmanas and Upanishads. 
 
 AVING thus endeavoured to gain an insight into 
 portions of the Vedic Mantras, turn we now to the 
 second division of the Veda, called Brahmana, or ritualistic 
 precept and illustration. This division stands to the 
 Mantra portion in a relation somewhat resembling that of 
 the Talmud to the Mosaic code and of the Hadis or Sunna 
 to the Kuran. There is, however, a noteworthy difference ; 
 for the Mosaic code alone contains the true revelation of 
 divine law for the Jew, and the Kuran is supposed to do 
 the same for Muslims, whereas the Brahmanas are as 
 much Veda and Sruti—as much revelation, according to 
 the Hindi idea of revelation—as the Mantras. 
 
 In fact, in their relation to caste and the dominance of 
 the Brahmans, these Brahmanas are even more important 
 than the Hymns. When, however, we are asked to ex- 
 plain the contents of the Brahmanas, we find it difficult to 
 define their nature accurately. It is usual to consider 
 them as a body of ritualistic precepts distributed under two 
 heads of Vidhi and Artha-vdda, that is, rules and explana- 
 tory remarks. They are really a series of rambling and 
 unsystematic prose compositions (the oldest of which may 
 have been written seven or eight centuries B.c.), intended 
 to serve as ceremonial directories for the use of the priests 
 in the exercise of their craft, prescribing rules for the 
 employment of the Mantras at sacrifices, speculating as to 
 the meaning and effect of certain verses and metres, and 
 giving detailed explanations of the origin, import, and 
 conduct of the sacrifices, with the occasional addition of 
 
28 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 controversial remarks (mind) and illustrations in the shape 
 of legends and old stories. The great diffuseness of these 
 compositions made them practically useless as directories 
 to the ritual, until they themselves were furnished with 
 guides in the form of Siitras or aphoristic rules, to be 
 afterwards described. 
 
 Each of the Samhitas or collections of Mantras has its 
 own Brahmanas. Thus the Rig-veda has the Aitareya- 
 brahmana and the Kemal (or Sankhayana-) brah- 
 mana. The two collections of the Yajur-veda have the 
 Taittiriya-brahmana and the Satapatha-brahmana’, which 
 last, belonging to the Vajasaneyi-samhita, is perhaps one 
 of the most complete and interesting of these productions. 
 The Sama-veda has eight Brahmanas, of which the best 
 known are the Praudha or Panéa-vinga, the Tandya, and 
 the Shad-vinsa. The Atharva-veda has also a Brahmana, 
 called Go-patha’. 
 
 Though much of the matter contained in these treatises 
 is little better than mere silly sacerdotalism, yet they 
 furnish valuable materials to any one interested in tracing 
 out the growth of Brahmanism and many curious and 
 interesting legends. 
 
 One of the most remarkable of these legends, as intro- 
 ducing the idea of human sacrifice, is called ‘the Story 
 of Sunahégepa’ in the Aitareya-briahmana*® (Haug’s edi- 
 tion, VII. 13; cf. Rig-veda I. 24. 12, &c., V. 2.7). It has 
 been well translated by more than one scholar. I here 
 give a metrical epitome of part of the story : 
 
 Edited, with the Vajasaneyi-samhita, by Professor A. Weber of Berlin. 
 
 2 This Brahmana must be less ancient than others, as, according to some, 
 the Atharva-veda was not recognized as a part of Sruti, ‘ revelation,’ at the 
 time of the composition of the more ancient Brahmanas. 
 
 * Professor H. H. Wilson conjectured that this Brahmana was written 
 about six centuries B.c. It is sometimes called Agvalayana-brahmana. " 
 
THE BRAHMANA PORTION OF THE VEDA. 29 
 
 King Harigéandra had no son; he asked 
 Great Narada, the sage, ‘ What benefit 
 Comes from a son?’ then Narada replied— 
 ‘A father by his son clears off a debt’, 
 
 In him a self is born from self. The pleasure 
 A father has in his own son exceeds 
 
 All other pleasures. Food is life, apparel 
 Is a protection, gold an ornament, 
 
 A loving wife the best of friends, a daughter 
 An object of compassion’, but a son 
 
 Is like a light sent from the highest heayen. 
 Go then to Varuna, the god, and say— 
 
 “ Let but a son be born, O king, to me, 
 And I will sacrifice that son to thee.”’ 
 
 This Haris¢andra did, and thereupon 
 
 A son was born to him, called Rohita. 
 
 One day the father thus addressed his son— 
 ‘T have devoted thee, my son, to him 
 
 Who granted thee to me, prepare thyself 
 For sacrifice to him.’ The son said, ‘ No,’ 
 Then took his bow and left his father’s home. 
 
 The story goes on to relate that Varuna, being disap- 
 pointed of his promised victim, punished Harigéandra by 
 afflicting him with dropsy. Meanwhile 
 
 For six long years did Hariscandra’s son 
 
 Roam in the forest ; there one day he met 
 
 A famished Brahman hermit, Ajigarta, 
 
 Half dead with hunger in the wilderness. 
 
 The hermit was attended by his wife 
 
 And three young sons; then Rohita addressed him— 
 “Ὁ Brahman, I will give a hundred cows 
 
 For one of these thy sons.’ The father answered— 
 Folding his arms around his eldest boy— 
 
 ‘I cannot part with him.’ The mother then 
 
 1 A man is in debt to his forefathers till he has a son, because the 
 happiness of the dead depends on certain ceremonies (called Sraddha) 
 performed by sons. 
 
 * Those who have lived in the East will perhaps understand why the 
 birth of a daughter is here described as a calamity. 
 
30 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Clung to her youngest child and weeping said— 
 ‘T cannot part with him.’ Then Sunahsepa, 
 Their second son, said, ‘ Father, I will go’? 
 
 So he was purchased for a hundred cows 
 
 By Rohita, who forthwith left the forest, 
 
 And taking him to Hariséandra said— 
 ‘Father, this boy shall be my substitute.’ 
 
 Then Hariséandra went to Varuna 
 
 And prayed, ‘ Accept this ransom for my son.’ 
 The god replied, ‘ Let him be sacrificed, 
 
 A Brahman is more worthy than a Kshatriya.’ 
 
 Upon that, the sacrifice with the intended victim was 
 prepared. Four great Rishis officiated as priests, but 
 they could not find any one willing to bind the boy to 
 the sacrificial post. His father Ajigarta, who had followed 
 his son to the place of sacrifice, then came forward and 
 
 said— 
 ‘Give me a hundred cows and I will bind him.’ 
 They gave them to him, and he bound the boy. 
 But now no person would consent to kill him. 
 Then said the father, ‘Give me yet again 
 Another hundred cows and I will slay him.’ 
 Once more they gave a hundred, and the father 
 Whetted his knife to sacrifice his son. 
 Then said the child, ‘ Let me implore the gods, 
 
 τ The Brahmana merely states that they agreed together upon selling 
 the middle son. This idea of the voluntary offer of himself on the part 
 of Sunahsepa may however be borrowed from the Ramayana, where the 
 story is thus related (I. 61, 62) : 
 
 Ambarisha, king of Ayodhya, performed a sacrifice, but the victim 
 being stolen by Indra, he is told by the priest that either the victim itself 
 must be recovered, or a human victim substituted inits place. Ambarisha 
 wanders over the earth in search of the real victim, and meets at last with 
 a Brahman named Ri¢ika, to whom he offers a hundred thousand cattle 
 for one of his sons. Ricika refuses to let his eldest son go, and his wife 
 will not part with the youngest. Upon this the middle son, Sunah- 
 Sepa, volunteers to go, and is accepted. When about to be offered up 
 as a sacrifice he is saved by Visvamitra, who teaches him a prayer to 
 Agni, and two hymns to Indra and Vishnu. 
 
THE BRAHMANA PORTION OF THE VEDA. 31 
 
 Haply they will deliver me from death.’ 
 
 So Sunahsepa prayed to all the gods 
 
 With verses from the Veda, and they heard him. 
 Thus was the boy released from sacrifice, 
 
 And Hariséandra was restored to health. 
 
 Asa sequel to the preceding legend I extract the follow- 
 ing curious passages from the Aitareya-brahmana, Book 
 II. (Haug, 1-8), not in order and not quite literally: 
 
 The gods killed a man for their victim. But from him thus killed 
 the part which was fit for a sacrifice went out and entered a horse. 
 Thence the horse became an animal fit for being sacrificed. The gods 
 then killed the horse, but the part fit for being sacrificed went out of it 
 and entered an ox. The gods then killed the ox, but the part fit for 
 being sacrificed went out of it and entered a sheep. Thence it entered a 
 goat. The sacrificial part remained for the longest time in the goat, 
 thence it became pre-eminently fit for being sacrificed’. 
 
 The gods went up to heaven by means of sacrifice. They were afraid 
 
 1 This is curious as indicating that human sacrifice, if it prevailed to 
 any extent, was superseded by the sacrifice of animals, here enumerated 
 in the regular order of their fitness for sacrifice according to some sup- 
 posed inherent efficacy in each class. Such sacrifices were held to be 
 propitiatory, though one object of a Hindii’s oblations was to afford actual 
 nourishment to the gods, food being a supposed necessity of their being. 
 The Asva-medha, or ‘horse-sacrifice, was a very ancient ceremony, hymns 
 162 and 163 in Mandala I. of the Rig-veda being used at this rite. It 
 was regarded as the chief of all animal sacrifices, and in later times its 
 efficacy was so exaggerated that a hundred horse-sacrifices entitled the 
 sacrificer to displace Indra from the dominion of heaven. Some think 
 that the horse was not actually immolated, but merely bound to the post. 
 Mr. Hardwick, in his valuable work, ‘Christ and other Masters,’ gives 
 some interesting remarks on the five heads of Hindt sacrifices (vol. 1. 
 Ῥ. 324). The five heads are—1. Agni-hotra, burnt-offerings and libations 
 of butter on fire every morning and evening (see p. 251); 2. Darsa- 
 purnamasa, half-monthly sacrifices at new and full moon ; 3. Caturmasya, 
 sacrifices every four months; 4. Asva-medha and pasu-yajia, sacrifices of 
 animals ; 5. Soma-yajna, offerings and libations of the juice of the Soma 
 or moon-plant (to Indra especially). Goats are still offered to Kali, but 
 Buddhism tended to abolish animal sacrifice in India. 
 
ΞΟ INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 that men and sages, after haying seen their sacrifice, might inquire how 
 they could obtain some knowledge of sacrificial rites and follow them. 
 They therefore debarred them by means of the Yipa (or post to which 
 the victim was fastened), turning its point downwards. Thereupon the 
 men and sages dug the post out and turned its point upwards, Thus 
 they became aware of the sacrifice and reached the heavenly world. 
 
 The following lines may serve to give an outline of 
 another curious legend in the Aitareya-brahmana (Haug’s 
 edition, I. 23), written perhaps seven or eight centuries B.C. : 
 
 The gods and demons were engaged in warfare. 
 The evil demons, like to mighty kings, 
 
 Made these worlds castles ; then they formed the earth 
 Into an iron citadel, the air 
 
 Into a silver fortress, and the sky 
 
 Into a fort of gold. Whereat the gods 
 
 Said to each other, ‘ Frame we other worlds 
 
 In opposition to these fortresses.’ 
 
 Then they constructed sacrificial places, 
 
 Where they performed a triple burnt oblation. 
 By the first sacrifice they drove the demons 
 
 Out of their earthly fortress, by the second 
 
 Out of the air, and by the third oblation 
 
 Out of the sky. Thus were the evil spirits 
 Chased by the gods in triumph from the worlds. 
 
 I next give a metrical version of part of a well-known 
 legend in the Satapatha-brahmana (Professor Weber’s edi- 
 tion, I. 8. 1. 1), which represents the Indo-Aryan tradition 
 of the flood as it existed in India many centuries before 
 the Christian era, perhaps not much later than the time 
 
 of David: 
 
 There lived in ancient time a holy man, 
 Called Manu', who by penances and prayers 
 
 1 According to the later mythology this Manu was not the first Manu, 
 held to be the author of the well-known Code, but the seventh or Manu 
 (Vaivasvata) of the present period, regarded as a progenitor of the human 
 race, and represented as conciliating the favour of the Supreme Being by 
 his piety in an age of universal depravity. 
 
THE BRAHMANA PORTION OF THE VEDA. 
 
 Had won the favour of the ford of heaven. 
 
 One day they brought him water for ablution ; 
 Then, as he washed his hands, ‘a:Jittle fish 
 Appeared and spoke in human accents thus— 
 ‘Take care of me and I will be thy saviour.’ 
 ‘From what wilt thou preserve me?’ Manu asked. 
 The fish replied, ‘A flood will sweep away 
 
 All creatures, I will rescue thee from that.’ 
 ‘But how shall I preserve thee ?’? Manu said. 
 The fish rejoined, ‘So long as we are small 
 
 We are in constant danger of destruction ; 
 
 For fish eats fish ; so keep me in a jar ; 
 
 When I outgrow the jar, then dig a trench 
 And place me there; when I outgrow the trench, 
 Then take me to the ocean, I shall then 
 
 Be out of reach of danger.” Having thus 
 Instructed Manu, straightway rapidly 
 
 The fish grew larger ; then he spake again— 
 ‘In such and such a year the flood will come ; 
 Therefore construct a ship and pay me homage. 
 When the flood rises, enter thou the ship, 
 
 And I will rescue thee. So Manu did 
 
 As he was ordered, and preserved the fish, 
 Then carried it in safety to the ocean ; 
 
 And in the very year the fish enjoined 
 
 He built a ship and paid the fish respect, 
 
 And there took refuge when the flood arose. 
 Soon near him swam the fish, and to its horn 
 Manu made fast the cable of his vessel. 
 
 Thus drawn along the waters Manu passed 
 Beyond the northern mountain. Then the fish, 
 Addressing Manu, said, ‘I have preserved thee ; 
 Quickly attach the ship to yonder tree. 
 
 But, lest the waters sink from under thee ; 
 
 As fast as they subside, so fast shalt thou 
 Descend the mountain gently after them.’ 
 
 Thus he descended from the northern mountain. 
 The flood had swept away all living creatures ; 
 
 ~ Manu alone was left. Wishing for offspring, , δ΄ 
 
 ¢ 
 He earnestly performed a sacrifice. 
 
 In a year’s time a female was produced. 
 D 
 
 iS) 
 
34 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 She came to Manu, then he said to her, 
 
 ‘Who art thou?’ She replied, ‘I am thy daughter.’ 
 He said, ‘ How, lovely lady, can that be ?” 
 
 ‘I came forth,’ she rejoined, ‘ from thine oblations 
 Cast on the waters; thou wilt find in me 
 
 A blessing, use me in the sacrifice.’ 
 
 With her he worshipped and with toilsome zeal 
 Performed religious rites, hoping for offspring. 
 Thus were created men, called sons of Manu. 
 Whatever benediction he implored 
 
 With her, was thus vouchsafed in full abundance. 
 
 We shall see hereafter that the fish which figures in this 
 story is declared, in the Mahabharata, to be an incarnation 
 of Brahma, the creator, who assumed this form to preserve 
 the pious Manu from perishing in the waters. 
 
 The Brahmanas express belief in a future life more posi- 
 tively than the Mantras. They also assert that a recom- 
 pense awaits all beings in the next world according to their 
 conduct in this. But the doctrine of transmigration, which 
 became afterwards an essential element of the Hindwt re- 
 ligion, is not developed'. There is a remarkable passage 
 in the Satapatha-brahmana (X. 4. 3. 9), some idea of which 
 may be gained from the following lines: 
 
 The gods lived constantly in dread of death— 
 The mighty Ender—so with toilsome rites 
 They worshipped and performed religious acts 
 Till they became immortal. Then the Ender 
 Said to the gods, ‘As ye have made yourselves 
 Imperishable, so will men endeavour 
 
 To free themselves from me; what portion then 
 Shall I possess in man?’ The gods replied, 
 ‘Henceforth no being shall become immortal 
 
 In his own body; this his mortal frame 
 
 Shalt thou still seize; this shall remain thy own. 
 He who through knowledge or religious works 
 Henceforth attains to immortality 
 
 Shall first present his body, Death, to thee.’ 
 
 1 See the third of Professor Weber’s Indische Streifen, and compare 
 note 1, p. 68. 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 35 
 
 I add one other passage extracted from the Aitareya- 
 brahmana (Dr. Haug’s edition, IIT. 44) : 
 
 The sun never sets nor rises. When people think to themselves the 
 sun is setting, he only changes about (viparyasyate) after reaching the end 
 of the day, and makes night below and day to what is on the other side. 
 Then when people think he rises in the morning, he only shifts himself 
 about after reaching the end of the night, and makes day below and night 
 to what is on the other side. In fact, he never does set at all. Whoever 
 knows this that the sun never sets, enjoys union and sameness of nature 
 with him and abides in the same sphere. [Atha yad enam pratar udetite 
 manyante ratrer eva tad antam itvad atha dtmanam viparyasyate, ahar 
 eva avastat kurute ratrim parastat. Sa vai esha na kadaéana nimrocati. 
 Na ha vai hadaéana nimrotaty etasya ha sayujyam saripatam salokatam 
 asnute ya evam veda.| 
 
 We may close the subject of the Brahmanas by paying a 
 tribute of respect to the acuteness of the Hinda mind, which 
 seems to have made some shrewd astronomical guesses 
 more than 2000 years before the birth of Copernicus. 
 
 The Upanishads. 
 
 I come now to the third division of the Veda, called 
 Upanishad, or mystical doctrine (rahasya). The title Upa- 
 nishad (derived from the root sad with the prepositions 
 upa and ni‘) implies something mystical that underlies 
 or is beneath the surface. And these Upanishads do in 
 fact lie at the root of what may be called the philosophical 
 side of Hindtism. Not only are they as much Sruti, or 
 revelation, as the Mantra and Brahmana, but they are 
 practically the only Veda of all thoughtful Hindts in the 
 present day. 
 
 There appear, in real truth, to be two sides to almost 
 every religious system. Perhaps the one religion of the 
 world that offers the same doctrines both to the learned 
 
 1 According to native authorities wpa-ni-shad means ‘to set ignorance 
 at rest by revealing the knowledge of the supreme spirit.’ 
 pee 
 
36 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 and unlearned is Christianity. Its deeper truths may be 
 mysteries, but they are not restricted to any single class of 
 men; they are open to the reception of all, and equally to 
 be apprehended by all. The case is different with other 
 religions. We know that the Greeks and Romans had 
 their so-called mysteries reserved only for the initiated. 
 Even the Kuran is held to possess an exoteric or evident 
 meaning called φαΐ)", and an esoteric, deeper significance 
 called bajn; and in later times a mystical system of pan- 
 theistic philosophy called Sifi-ism was developed in Persia 
 out of this esoteric teaching. 
 
 Very similar too is the Hindi idea of Veda or sacred 
 knowledge. It is said to possess two quite distinct 
 branches. The first is called Karma-kanda, which, em- 
 bracing both Mantra and Brahmana, is for that vast 
 majority of persons who are unable to conceive of religion 
 except as a process of laying up merit by external rites. 
 For these the one God, although really without form, 
 assumes various forms with the sole object of lowering 
 himself to the level of human understandings. The 
 second branch of the Veda, on the other hand, is called 
 Jnana-kinda, and is reserved for that select few who 
 are capable of the true knowledge’. 
 
 What then, it will be asked, is this true knowledge ? 
 The answer is that the creed of the man who is said to- 
 possess the true Veda is singularly simple. He believes 
 in the unity of all being. In other words, that there 
 is but one real Being in the universe, which Being also 
 constitutes the universe. This, it will be said, is simple 
 pantheism, but it is at least a pantheism of a very spiritual 
 kind ; for this one Being is thought of as the great universal 
 Spirit, the only really existing Soul, with which all seem- 
 
 * The one implies action, the other cessation from all action. This 
 division of the Veda is recognized by Manu, see XII. 88. 
 
THE UPANISHADS. ot 
 
 ingly existing material substances are identified, and into 
 which the separate souls of men, falsely regarded as ema- 
 nations from it, must be ultimately merged. 
 
 This, then, is the pantheistic doctrine everywhere trace- 
 able in some of the more ancient Upanishads, though often 
 wrapped up in mystic language and fantastic allegory. 
 A list of about 150 of these treatises has been given, 
 but the absence of all trustworthy historical records in 
 India makes it impossible to fix the date of any of them 
 with certainty. Some of the more ancient, however, may 
 be as old as 500 years before Christ. These are appended 
 to the Aranyakas—certain chapters of the Brahmanas so 
 awe-inspiring and obscure that they were required to be 
 read in the solitude of forests. Properly each Brahmana 
 had its Aranyakas, but the mystical doctrines they con- 
 tained were so mixed up with extraneous subjects that 
 the chapters called Upanishads appear to have been 
 added with the object of investigating more definitely 
 such abstruse problems as the origin of the universe, 
 the nature of deity, the nature of the soul, and the re- 
 ciprocal connection of spirit and matter. 
 
 It is interesting to trace the rudiments of the later 
 philosophy amid the labyrinth of mystic language, fanciful 
 etymologies, far-fetched analogies, and puerile conceits, 
 which bewilder the reader of the Upanishads. Moreover 
 it is instructive to mark the connection of these treatises 
 with the Brihmanas, manifested by the frequent intro- 
 duction of legendary matter and allusions to sacrificial 
 rites. The language of both, though occasionally archaic, 
 is less so than that of the Mantras, and differs little from 
 classical Sanskrit. 
 
 The following are some of the most important Upa- 
 nishads:—the Aitareya Upanishad and Kaushitaki- 
 brahmana Upanishad! of the Rig-veda; the Taittiriya 
 
 1 Edited and translated for the Bibliotheca Indica by Professor Cowell. 
 
38 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 belonging to the Taittiriya-samhitaé of the Yajur-veda; 
 the Brihad-daranyaka attached to the Satapatha-brahmana 
 of the Vajasaneyi-samhita of that Veda and the Iga or 
 Igavasya forming an actual part (the goth chapter) of 
 this latter Samhita (this bemg the only instance of an 
 Upanishad attached to a Samhita rather than a Brahmana); 
 the Chandogya and Kena! belonging to the Sama-veda; 
 the Prasna, Mundaka, Mandukya, and Katha belonging 
 to the Atharva-veda. In some of these works (written 
 generally in prose in the form of dialogues with occasional 
 variations in verse) striking thoughts, original ideas, and 
 lofty sentiments may be found scattered here and there, as 
 I hope now to show. I commence my examples with a 
 nearly literal translation of about half of a very short 
 Upanishad—the Isa’: 
 
 Whate’er exists within this universe 
 
 Is all to be regarded as enveloped 
 
 By the great Lord, as if wrapped in a vesture. 
 
 Renounce, O man, the world, and covet not 
 
 Another’s wealth, so shalt thou save thy soul. 
 
 Perform religious works, so may’st thou wish 
 
 To live a hundred years; in this way only 
 
 May’st thou engage in worldly acts, untainted. 
 
 To worlds immersed in darkness, tenanted 
 
 By evil spirits, shall they go at death, 
 
 Who in this life are killers of their souls. 
 
 There is one only Being who exists 
 
 Unmoved, yet moving swifter than the mind; 
 
 Who far outstrips the senses, though as gods 
 
 They strive to reach him; who himself at rest 
 
 Transcends the fleetest flight of other beings ; 
 
 Who, like the air, supports all vital action. 
 
 He moves, yet moves not; he is far, yet near; 
 
 He is within this universe, and yet 
 
 Outside this universe; whoe’er beholds 
 
 * Also called Talava-kara, and also assigned to the Atharva-veda. 
 2 This has been well edited and translated into prose by Dr. Réer, 
 Sir W. Jones translated the Isa, but by no means literally. 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 39 
 
 All living creatures as in him, and him— 
 The universal Spirit—as in all, 
 
 Henceforth regards no creature with contempt. 
 The man who understands that every creature 
 Exists in God alone, and thus perceives 
 
 The unity of being, has no grief 
 
 And no illusion. He, the all-pervading, 
 
 Ts brilliant, without body, sinewless, 
 Invulnerable, pure, and undefiled 
 
 By taint of sin. He also is all-wise, 
 
 The Ruler of the mind, above all beings, 
 
 The Self-existent. He created all things 
 Just as they are from all eternity. 
 
 Next we may pass to a few passages selected from 
 different portions of the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad— 
 a long and tedious but important work: 
 
 In this universe there was not anything at first distinguishable. But 
 indeed it was enveloped by Death, and Death is Voracity—that is to say— 
 the desire to devour (I. 2. 1). 
 
 As the web issues from the spider, as little sparks proceed from fire, 80 
 from the one Soul proceed all breathing animals, all worlds, all the gods, 
 and all beings (II. 1. 20). 
 
 Being in this world we may know the Supreme Spirit ; if there be 
 ignorance of him, then complete death ensues; those who know him 
 become immortal (IV. 4. 14). 
 
 When a person regards his own soul as truly God, as the lord of what 
 was and is to be, then he does not wish to conceal himself from that Soul 
 (Ἐν An EB): 
 
 That Soul the gods adore as the light of lights (jyotisham jyotih) and 
 as the immortal life (IV. 4. 16). 
 
 Those who know him as the life of life, the eye of the eye, the ear of 
 the ear, and the mind of the mind, have comprehended the eternal pre- 
 existing Spirit (IV. 4. 18). 
 
 By the mind is he to be perceived, in him there is no variation. 
 Whoever sees variation in him obtains death after death (IV. 4. 19). 
 
 Infinitely full (or pervasive) is that Spirit (regarded as independent of 
 all relation); infinite too is this Spirit (in his relations and attributes), 
 From the infinite is drawn out the infinite. On taking the infinite from 
 the infinite, there remains the infinite (V. 1). 
 
40 INDIAN WISDOM.” 
 
 ‘I am Brahma.’ Whoever knows this, “Ἐ ἄτη Brahma,’ knows all. 
 Even the gods are unable to prevent his becoming Brahma (I. 4. 10). 
 
 Man indeed is like a lofty tree, the lord of the forest. His hair is like 
 the leaves, his skin the external bark. From his skin flows blood as sap 
 from the bark ; it issues from his wounded body like sap from a stricken 
 tree. [ἃ tree be cut down, it springs up anew from the root. From what 
 root does mortal man grow again when hewn down by death? [Cf. Job 
 xiv. 7-10.] The root is Brahma, who is knowledge and bliss (III. 9. 28). 
 
 The Chandogya Upanishad of the Sama-veda has some 
 interesting passages. In the seventh chapter occurs a 
 dialogue between Narada and Sanat-kumara, in which the 
 latter, in explaining the nature of God, asserts that a 
 knowledge of the four Vedas, Itihasas, Puranais, and such 
 works, is useless without the knowledge of ESL the 
 universal Spirit (VII. τ. 4): 
 
 The knowledge of these works is amere name. Speech is greater than 
 this name, Mind than Speech, Will than Mind, Sensation (or the capacity 
 of feeling) is greater than Mind, Reflection is higher than Sensation, 
 Knowledge than Reflection, Power than Knowledge, and highest οἵ" all 
 stands Prana or Life. As the spokes of a wheel are attached to the nave, 
 so are all things attached to Life?. 
 
 This Life ought to be approached with faith and reverence, and ‘viewed 
 as an Immensity which abides in its own glory. That Immensity extends 
 from above and from below, from behind and from before, from the'south 
 and from the north. Itis the Soul of the universe. It is God himself. 
 The man who is conscious of this divinity incurs neither disease, nor ree 
 nor death. 
 
 But lest the deity might from this description be con- 
 founded with space, it is afterwards stated that he “15 
 
 inconceivably minute, dwelling in a minute chamber of 
 the heart ; and lest this should lead to the notion of his 
 
 " Cf. the hymn to Prana, Atharva-veda XI. 4° (Muir’s Texts, vol. v. 
 Ῥ. 394). It begins thus, ‘ Reverence to Prana, to whom this universe is 
 subject, who has become the lord of all, on whom all is supported.’ The 
 
 text of this Veda has been edited in a masterly manner by Professors 
 W. Ὁ. Whitney and R. Roth, 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 41 
 
 being finite, he is afterwards declared to be the Envelope 
 of all creation. 
 
 In another part of the work (VI. 10) human souls are 
 compared to rivers: 
 
 These rivers proceed from the East towards the West, thence from the 
 ocean they rise in the form of vapour, and dropping again they flow 
 towards the South and merge into the ocean. 
 
 Again (VIII. 4), the supreme Soul is compared to a 
 bridge which cannot be crossed by disease, death, grief, 
 virtue, or vice : 
 
 Crossing this bridge, the blind cease to be blind, the wounded to be 
 wounded, the afflicted to be afflicted, and on crossing this bridge nights 
 become days ; for ever refulgent is the region of the universal Spirit. 
 
 Here is a portion of a passage in the Chandogya Upani- 
 shad (VI. 2) which has some celebrity as containing the 
 well-known Vedantist formula ekam evddvitiyam : 
 
 In the beginning there was the mere state of being (τὸ év)—one only 
 without a second. Some, however, say that in the beginning there was 
 the state of non-being (rd μὴ 6v)—one only without a second. Hence out of 
 a state of non-being would proceed a state of being. But, of a truth, how 
 can this be? How can being (τὸ ὄν) proceed out of non-being? In the 
 beginning, then, there was the mere state of being—one only without 
 a second. It willed?, ‘I shall multiply and be born.’ It created heat. 
 That heat willed, ‘I shall multiply and be born.’ It created water. The 
 water willed, ‘I shall multiply and be born.’ It created aliment. There- 
 
 1 Τ follow Dr. Réer here. Subjoined are the divided Sanskrit words 
 of the fragment taken from the original text :—Sad eva idam agre asid, 
 ekam eva advitiyam. Tad ha eke ahur asad eva idam agre asid, ekam 
 eva advitiyam, tasmad asatah saj jayeta. Kutas tu khalu syad iti, 
 hatham asatah saj jayeta iti. Sat tv eva idam agre asid ekam eva 
 advitiyam. Tad aikshata bahu syam prajdyeya iti, tat tejo asryjata. 
 Tat teja aikshata bahu syam prajdyeya iti, tad apo asrijata. Ta apa 
 aikshanta bahvah syama prajayemahi iti ta annam asrijanta. Tasmad 
 yatra ἔνα éa varshati tad eva bhiyishtham annam bhavati. Sa iyam 
 devata aikshata, aham imas tisro devata jivena atmand anupravisya | 
 nama-ripe vyakaravani it. 
 
42 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 fore, wherever rain falls much aliment is produced. That deity willed, 
 ‘Entering these three divinities in a living form, I shall develop name 
 and form.’ 
 
 In the Mundaka Upanishad' there are some interesting 
 
 passages. The following is from the second section of the 
 second Mundaka (5): . 
 
 Know him, the Spirit, to be one alone. Give up all words contrary 
 to this. He is the bridge of immortality. 
 
 The following remarkable passage from the third Mun- 
 daka (1. 1-3) is quoted by the Sankhyas in support of 
 their doctrine of a duality of principle, but is also appealed 
 to by Vedantists. It rests on a Mantra of the Rig-veda 
 (I. 164. 20), explained by Sayana in a Vedantic sense’: 
 
 Two birds (the Paramatman and Jivatman or supreme and individual 
 souls) always united, of the same name, occupy the same tree (abide in 
 the same body). One of them (the Jivatman) enjoys the sweet fruit of 
 the fig (or fruit of acts), the other looks on as a witness. Dwelling on 
 the same tree (with the supreme Soul), the deluded (individual) soul, 
 immersed (in worldly relations), is grieved by the want of power; but 
 when it perceives the Ruler, separate (from worldly relations) and his 
 glory, then its grief ceases. When the beholder sees the golden-coloured 
 maker (of the world), the lord, the soul, the source of Brahma, then 
 having become wise, shaking off virtue and vice, without taint of any 
 kind, he obtains the highest identity (Réer’s edition, p. 305). 
 
 1 The name Mundaka is derived from Mund, ‘to shave,’ because he who 
 understands the doctrine of this Upanishad is ‘shorn’ of all error. 
 
 2 Subjoined is the Mantra :—Dvda suparna sayuja sakhdya& samanam 
 vriksham parishasvajate, Tayor anyah pippalam svadv atty an-asnann 
 anyo abhi¢akasit, ‘two birds associatéd together as friends inhabit the 
 same tree. The one of them tastes the sweet fig, the other looks on with- 
 out enjoying. Sankara, commenting on the Upanishad, explains sakhaya 
 by samana-khyatau, ‘of the same name.’ He also remarks that the 
 Pippala or Agvattha, ‘holy fig-tree,’ having roots above and branches bent 
 downwards, is allegorical, and that each tree, springing from an unper- 
 ceived root, is emblematic of the body, which really springs from and is 
 one with Brahma. In the Katha VI. 1 and Bhagavad-gita XV. 1-3 the 
 same tree is said to typify the universe. It is supposed to be the male of 
 the Vata or Banyan (Ficus Indica). 
 
 ie -ὧ 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 43 
 
 Here are two or three other examples from the same 
 Upanishad : 
 
 As the spider casts out and draws in (its web), as from a living man 
 the hairs of the head and body spring forth, so is produced the universe 
 from the indestructible Spirit (I. 1. 7). 
 
 As from a blazing fire consubstantial sparks proceed in a thousand 
 ways, so from the imperishable (Spirit) various living souls are produced, 
 and they return to him too (II. τ. τ). 
 
 As flowing rivers are resolved into the sea, losing their names and 
 forms, so the wise, freed from name and form, pass into the divine Spirit, 
 which is greater than the great. He who knows that supreme Spirit 
 becomes spirit (III. 2. 8, 9). 
 
 One of the most ancient and important Upanishads is 
 the Katha. It enjoys considerable reputation in India, 
 and is also well known by Sanskrit students in Europe. 
 It opens with the story of Naciketas. 
 
 He was the pious son of a sage who had given all his 
 property to the priests, and who, in a fit of irritation, 
 devoted this son to Death. 
 
 Na¢iketas is described as going to Death’s abode, and 
 there, having propitiated Yama, he is told to choose three 
 boons. The youth chose for the first boon, that he might 
 be restored to life and see his reconciled father once more ; 
 for the second, that he might know the fire by which 
 heaven is gained. When asked to name the third boon, 
 he addresses the god of death thus,— 
 
 Some say the soul exists after death, others say it does not exist. 
 Τ request, as my third boon, that I may be instructed by thee in the true 
 answer to this question. 
 
 Death tries to put him off, intreating him to choose any 
 other boon than this; but the youth persisting in his 
 demand to be enlightened as to the mysteries of the next 
 world, Yama at length gives way and enlarges upon the 
 desired theme in the following manner (Valli IT): 
 
 The good, the pleasant, these are separate ends, 
 The one or other all mankind pursue ; 
 
44 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 But those who seek the good, alone are blest ; 
 Who choose the pleasant miss man’s highest aim. 
 The sage the truth discerns, not so the fool. 
 But thou, my son, with wisdom hast abandoned 
 The fatal road of wealth that leads to death. 
 Two other roads there are all wide apart, 
 Ending in widely different goals—the one 
 Called ignorance, the other knowledge—this, 
 
 O Nadéiketas, thou dost well to choose. 
 
 The foolish follow ignorance, but think 
 
 They tread the road of wisdom, circling round 
 With erring steps, like blind men led by blind. 
 The careless youth, by lust of gain deceived, 
 Knows but one world, one life; to him the Now 
 Alone exists, the Future is a dream. 
 
 The highest aim of knowledge is the soul ; 
 
 This is a miracle, beyond the ken 
 
 Of common mortals, thought of though it be, 
 And variously explained by skilful teachers. 
 Who gaius this knowledge is a marvel too. 
 
 He lives above the cares—the griefs and joys 
 Of time and sense—seeking to penetrate 
 
 The fathomless unborn eternal essence. 
 
 The slayer thinks he slays, the slain 
 
 Believes himself destroyed, the thoughts of both 
 Are false, the soul survives, nor kills, nor dies : 
 "Tis subtler than the subtlest, greater than 
 
 The greatest, infinitely small, yet vast, 
 
 Asleep, yet restless, moving everywhere 
 Among the bodies—ever bodiless— 
 
 Think not to grasp it by the reasoning mind ; 
 The wicked ne’er can know it ; soul alone 
 Knows soul, to none but soul is soul revealed. 
 
 In the third Valli (3, 4, &c.) of the same Upanishad the 
 
 soul is compared to a rider in a chariot, the body being 
 the chariot, the intellect the charioteer, the mind the 
 reins, the passions or senses the horses, and the objects of 
 sense the roads. The unwise man neglects to apply the 
 reins ; in consequence of which the passions, like unre- 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 45 
 
 strained vicious horses, rush about hither and_ thither, 
 carrying the charioteer wherever they please’. 
 In the fifth Valli (11) the following sentiment occurs : 
 
 As the sun, the eye of the whole world, is not sullied by the defects of 
 the (human) eye or of external objects, so the inner soul of all beings is 
 not sullied by the misery of the world, 
 
 T now add a few extracts from one of the most modern of 
 these treatises, called Svetasvatara2, which may serve to 
 show how epithets of the Supreme Being are heaped 
 together by the writers of the Upanishads without much 
 order and often with apparent contradiction : 
 
 Him may we know, the ruler of all rulers, 
 
 The god of gods, the lord of lords, the greater 
 Than all the greatest, the resplendent being, 
 The world’s protector, worthy of all homage. 
 
 Of him there is not cause nor yet effect, 
 
 He is the cause, lord of the lord of causes, 
 None is there like him, none superior to him, 
 His power is absolute, yet various, 
 
 Dependent on himself, acting with knowledge, 
 He the one god is hidden in all beings, 
 Pervades their inner souls and rules their actions, 
 Dwelling within their hearts, a witness, thinker, 
 The singly perfect, without qualities. 
 
 He is the Universe’s maker, he 
 
 Its knower, soul and origin of all, 
 
 Maker of time, endowed with every virtue, 
 Omniscient, lord of all embodied beings, 
 
 1 Compare Manu II. 88, ‘In the restraint of the organs running wild 
 among objects of sense, which hurry him away hither and thither, a wise 
 man should make diligent effort, like a charioteer restraining restive 
 steeds.’ So Plato in the Phaedrus (54, 74) compares the soul to a 
 charioteer (the reason) driving a pair of winged steeds, one of which (the 
 will) is obedient to the rein, and tries to control its wild and vicious yoke- 
 fellow (the appetite): Τριχῇ διειλόμην ψυχὴν ἑκάστην, ἱππομόρφω μὲν δύο τινὲ 
 εἴδη, ἡνιοχικὸν δὲ εἶδος τρίτον, κι τ. Δ. 
 
 3 Of the Yajur-veda, though sometimes found (according to Colebrooke) 
 in Atharva-veda collections. See Weber’s Indische Studien 1. 420-439. 
 
46 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Lord of the triple qualities, the cause 
 
 Of man’s existence, bondage and release, 
 Eternal, omnipresent, without parts, 
 
 All knowing, tranquil, spotless, without blame, 
 The light, the bridge of immortality, 
 
 Subtler than what is subtlest, many-shaped, 
 One penetrator of the universe, 
 
 All-blest, unborn, incomprehensible, 
 
 Above, below, between, invisible 
 
 To mortal eyes, the mover of all beings, 
 Whose name is Glory, matchless, infinite, 
 
 The perfect spirit, with a thousand heads, 
 
 A thousand eyes, a thousand feet, the ruler 
 
 Of all that is, that was, that is to be, 
 
 Diffused through endless space, yet of the measure 
 Of a man’s thumb, abiding in the heart, 
 Known only by the heart, whoever knows him 
 Gains everlasting peace and deathlessness ?. 
 
 I close these extracts from the Upanishads by a metrical 
 version of part of the first chapter of a short Upanishad 
 called Maitrayani or Maitrayaniya, belonging to the Black 
 Yajur-veda *: 
 
 In this decaying body, made of bones, 
 
 Skin, tendons, membranes, muscles, blood, saliva, 
 Full of putrescence and impurity, 
 
 What relish can there be for true enjoyment 4° 
 In this weak body, ever liable 
 
 To wrath, ambition, avarice, illusion, 
 
 To fear, grief, envy, hatred, separation 
 
 1 Most of these epithets will be found in the following sections of the 
 Svvetasvatara Upanishad VI. 7, 8, 11, 17, 19, IV. 14, 17, το, ἄο. Com- 
 pare the extract from the Purusha-stikta given at p. 24. 
 
 2 Also called Maitrayani, Maitrayana, Maitri, and Maitri. Under the 
 latter name it has been well edited and translated for the Bibliotheca 
 Indica by Professor E. B. Cowell. It is in seven chapters, the first of 
 which was translated into prose by Sir W. Jones, but without any name. 
 My version is partly based on his, but I have consulted Professor Cowell’s 
 more accurate translation. 
 
 3 Compare Manu VI, 77. 
 
THE UPANISHADS. 47 
 
 From those we hold most dear, association 
 
 With those we hate ; continually exposed 
 
 To hunger, thirst, disease, decrepitude, 
 Emaciation, growth, decline, and death, 
 
 What relish can there be for true enjoyment ? 
 The universe is tending to decay, 
 
 Grass, trees, and animals spring up and die. 
 
 But what are they? Earth’s mighty men are gone, 
 Leaving their joys and glories; they have passed 
 Out of this world into the realm of spirits. 
 
 But what are they? Beings greater still than these, 
 Gods, demigods, and demons, all have gone. 
 
 But what are they? for others greater still 
 
 Have passed away, vast oceans have been dried, 
 Mountains thrown down, the polar star displaced, 
 The cords that bind the planets rent asunder, 
 The whole earth deluged with a flood of water, 
 E’en highest angels driven from their stations. 
 
 In such a world what relish can there be 
 
 For true enjoyment? deign to rescue us; 
 
 Thou only our art refuge, holy lord’. 
 
 1 The following sentiment occurs in the text before the concluding line : 
 Andhodapana-stho bheka wa aham asmin samsare : 
 Living in such a world I seem to be 
 A frog abiding in a dried-up well. 
 Compare some of the Stoical reflections of Marcus Aurelius, given by 
 the Rey. F. W. Farrar in his ‘Seekers after God Ὁ 
 ‘Oil, sweat, dirt, filthy water, all things disgusting—so is every part 
 of life.’ 
 ‘Enough of this wretched life, and murmuring, and apish trifles.’ 
 ‘All the present time is a point in eternity. All things are little, 
 changeable, perishable.’ 
 
LECTURE IIL. 
 The Systems of Philosophy. 
 
 MUST now advert in a general way to the six systems 
 
 of philosophy which grew out of the Upanishads. 
 
 They are sometimes called the six Sastras or bodies of 
 
 teaching, sometimes the Shad Darganas or six Demon- 
 strations. They are— 
 
 1. The Nyaya, founded by Gotama. 
 
 The Vaiseshika, by Kanada. 
 
 The Sankhya, by Kapila. 
 
 The Yoga, by Patanjali. 
 
 The Mimansa, by Jaimini. 
 
 . The Vedanta, by Badarayana or Vyasa. 
 
 They are delivered in Sttras or aphorisms, which are 
 held to be the basis of all subsequent teaching under each 
 head’. | 
 
 It is as impossible however to settle the date of any of 
 them with certainty as it is to determine the period of the 
 
 An Ep 
 
 1 These Siitras are often so brief and obscure as to be absolutely unin- 
 telligible without a commentary. They are commonly called ‘aphorisms,’ 
 but really are mere memorial suggestions of the briefest possible kind, 
 skilfully contrived for aiding the recollection of the teachers of each 
 system. Probably the first to comment upon the Sitras thus delivered 
 was the author of them himself. He was followed by a vast number of 
 other commentators in succeeding generations (generally a triple set), and 
 by writers who often embodied in treatises or compendiums of their own 
 the tenets of the particular school to which they were attached. The 
 most celebrated of all commentators is the great Sankara Adarya, a native 
 of Malabar, who lived probably between 650 and 740 A.D., and wrote 
 almost countless works, including commentaries on the Upanishads, 
 Vedanta-sttras, and Bhagavad-gita. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY. 49 
 
 composition of any single work in Sanskrit literature. 
 Moreover, it is scarcely practicable to decide as to which 
 of the six systems of philosophy preceded the other in 
 point of time. All we can say is, that about 500 years 
 before the commencement of the Christian era a great 
 stir seems to have taken place in Indo-Aryan, as in 
 Grecian minds, and indeed in thinking minds everywhere 
 throughout the then civilized world. Thus when Buddha 
 arose in India, Greece had her thinker in Pythagoras, 
 Persia in Zoroaster, and China in Confucius. Men began 
 to ask themselves earnestly such questions as—What 
 am I? whence have I come? whither am I going? How 
 can I explain my consciousness of personal existence 4 
 What is the relationship between my material and imma- 
 terial nature? What is this world in which I find myself? 
 Did a wise, good, and all-powerful Being create it out of 
 nothing ? or did it evolve itself out of an eternal germ ? 
 or did it come together by the combination of eternal 
 atoms? If created by a Being of infinite wisdom, how 
 can I account for the inequalities of condition in it—good 
 and evil, happiness and misery? Has the Creator form, 
 or is he formless? Has he any qualities or none 4 
 
 Certainly in India no satisfactory solution of questions 
 such as these was likely to be obtained from the prayers 
 and hymns of the ancient Indo-Aryan poets, which, though 
 called Veda or ‘knowledge’ by the Brahmans, did not 
 even profess to furnish any real knowledge on these 
 points, but merely gave expression to the first gropings 
 of the human mind, searching for truth by the uncertain 
 light of natural phenomena’. 
 
 Coenen eee eee en 
 
 1 The second aphorism of the Sankhya-karika states distinctly that 
 Anugravika or knowledge derived from Sruti—the revelation con- 
 tained in the Veda—is ineffectual to deliver from the bondage of 
 existence. 
 
 E 
 
50 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Nor did the ritualistic Brahmanas contribute anything 
 to the elucidation of such topics. They merely encouraged 
 the erowth of a superstitious belief in the efficacy of sacri- 
 fices and fostered the increasing dependence of the multi- 
 tude on a mediatorial caste of priests, supposed to be 
 qualified to stand between them and an angry god. Still 
 these momentous questions pressed for solution, and the 
 minds of men finding no rest in mere traditional revela- 
 tion and no satisfaction in mere external rites, turned 
 inwards, each thinker endeavouring to think out the great 
 problems of life for himself by the aid of his own reason. 
 Hence were composed those vague mystical rationalistic 
 speculations called Upanishads, of which examples have 
 been already given. Beit remembered that these treatises 
 were not regarded as antagonistic to revelation, but rather 
 as completory of it. They were held to be an integral 
 portion of the Veda or true knowledge ; and, even more 
 —they so rose in the estimation of thoughtful persons 
 that they ended by taking rank as its most important 
 portion, its grandest and noblest utterance, the apex to 
 which all previous revelation tended. Probably the 
 simple fact was, that as it was found impossible to stem 
 the progress of free inquiry, the Brahmans with true 
 wisdom determined on making rationalistic speculation 
 their own, -and dienifying its first development in the 
 Upanishads with the title of Veda. Probably, too, some 
 of their number (like Javali) became themselves infected 
 with the spirit of scepticism, and were not to be re- 
 strained from prosecuting free philosophical investigations 
 for themselves. 
 
 There are not wanting, however, evident indications 
 that the Kshatriyas or second caste were the first intro- 
 ducers into India of rationalistic speculation. We shall 
 presently point out that the great Buddha was a Ksha- 
 triya, and the Chandogya Upanishad (V. 3) has a remark- 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY. 51 
 
 able passage which, as bearing upon this point, I here 
 abridge (Roer’s edition, p. 315): 
 
 A youth called Svetaketu (the son of a Brahman named Gautama) 
 repaired to the court of the king of Panéala, Pravahana, who said to him, 
 ‘ Boy, has thy father instructed thee?’ ‘ Yes, sir,’ replied he. ‘ Knowest 
 thou where men ascend when they quit this world?’ ‘No, sir,’ replied 
 he. ‘Knowest thou how they return?’ ‘ No, sir, replied he. ‘ Knowest 
 thou why the region to which they ascend is not filled up?’ ‘No, sir,’ 
 replied he. ‘Why then saidst thou that thou hadst been instructed ? 
 The boy returned sorrowful to his father’s house and said, ‘The king 
 asked me certain questions which I could not answer.’ His father said, 
 ‘I know not the answers.’ Then he, Gautama, the father of the boy, 
 went to the king’s house. When he arrived, the king received him hos- 
 pitably and said, ‘O Gautama, choose as a boon the best of all worldly 
 possessions.’ He replied, ‘O king, thine be all worldly possessions ; tell 
 me the answers to the questions you asked my son. The king became 
 distressed in mind (knowing that a Brahman could not be refused a 
 request) and begged him to tarry fora time. Then he said, ‘Since you 
 have sought this information from me, and since this knowledge has 
 never been imparted to any other Brahman before thee, therefore the 
 right of imparting it has remained with the Kshatriyas among all the 
 people of the world.’ 
 
 This story certainly appears to favour the supposition 
 that men of the caste next in rank to that of Brahmans 
 were the first to venture upon free philosophical specu- 
 lation. However that may be, it was not long before 
 Brahmanism and rationalism advanced hand in hand, 
 making only one compact, that however inconsistent with 
 each other, neither should declare the other to be a false 
 guide. A Brahman might be a rationalist, or both ration- 
 alist and Brahman might live together in harmony, pro- 
 vided both gave a nominal assent to the Veda, maintained 
 the inviolability of caste, the ascendancy of Brahmans, 
 and their sole right to be the teachers both of religion 
 and philosophy. But if a rationalist asserted that any 
 one might be a teacher, or might gain emancipation for 
 himself irrespectively of the Veda or caste observances, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 he was at once excommunicated as a heretic and infidel. 
 It is evident that a spirit of free inquiry had begun to 
 show itself even during the Mantra period and had become 
 common enough in Manuw’s time. In the second book of 
 his Laws (verse 11) it is declared: 
 
 The Brahman who resorting to rationalistic treatises (hetu-sdstra) shall 
 contemn the two roots of all knowledge (viz. srwti and smriti), that man 
 is to be excommunicated (vahish-karyah) by the righteous as an atheist 
 (nastika) and reviler of the Vedas. 
 
 Such heretics, however, soon became numerous in India 
 by the simple law of reaction ; for it may with truth be 
 asserted that the Buddhist reformation, when it first began 
 to operate, was the result of a reaction from the tyranny 
 of Brahmanism and the inflexible rigour of caste. Like 
 the return swing of a pendulum, it was a rebound to the 
 opposite extreme—a recoil from excessive intolerance and 
 exclusiveness to the broadest tolerance and comprehen- 
 siveness. It was the name for unfettered religious thought, 
 asserting itself without fear of consequences and regard- 
 less of running counter to traditional usages, however 
 ancient and inveterate. 
 
 According to this view, the lines of free inquiry which 
 ended in the recognized schools of philosophy cannot be 
 regarded as having sprung directly out of Buddhism ; 
 nor did the latter owe its origin to them. Buddhism and 
 philosophy seem rather to have existed contemporane- 
 ously’. Buddhism was for the bold and honest free-thinker 
 who cared nothing for maintaining a reputation for ortho- 
 doxy, while the schools of philosophy were the homes 
 of those rationalists who sacrificed honesty at the shrine 
 of ecclesiastical respectability. Doubtless the orthodox 
 philosopher usually went through the form of denouncing 
 
 1 The Sankhya Stitras I. 27-47 refer to certain Buddhistic tenets, but, 
 as remarked by Dr. Muir, these may be later interpolations, and so prove 
 nothing as to the priority of Buddhism. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—BUDDHISM. 53 
 
 all Buddhist heretics ; but except in the three points of 
 a nominal assent to the Veda, adherence to caste, and a 
 different term for final emancipation, two at least of the 
 systems, viz. the Vaiseshika and Sdnvkhya, went almost 
 to the same length with Buddhism, even to the practical 
 if not ostensible ignoring of a supreme intelligent creator, 
 It is curious, too, that Gotama or Gautama, the name of 
 the supposed orthodox Brahman founder of the Nydaya, 
 was also a name of the heretical Kshatriya who founded 
 Buddhism. 
 
 In fact, not the extremest latitudinarian of the present 
 day could possibly be allowed such liberty of thought as 
 was conceded to the free-thinkers of India, provided they 
 neutralized their heterodoxy by nominally accepting the 
 Veda, or at least its Upanishad portion, and conforming to 
 Hindi Dharma—that is, to the duties of caste, involving 
 of course the recognition of Brihmanical ascendancy. 
 
 It would be difficult then, I think, to refer Hindi 
 rationalism to any one special person or school as its 
 founder. Not that Kapila, Gautama, and the great 
 Buddha of the sixth century B.c., were myths. Some men 
 of vigorous intellect and enlightened views doubtless arose 
 who gathered together and formulated the floating free 
 thought of the day; and some one of them, like the 
 Peddie, became a rallying point for the increasing anti- 
 pathy to sacerdotal domination, a kind of champion of 
 reason and liberator of mind from the tyranny of tra- 
 ditional opinions. It may without hesitation be affirmed 
 that such leaders of rationalistic inquiry once lived in India. 
 I commence, then, with a brief notice of the celebrated 
 
 Buddha. 
 Buddhism. . 
 Some particulars in the life of the great Buddha are 
 known with tolerable certainty. He is described as the 
 son of a king, Suddhodana, who reigned in Aapila- 
 
54 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 vastu, the capital of a country at the foot of the moun- 
 tains of Nepal’. He was therefore a prince of the Ksha- 
 triya or military caste, which of itself disqualified him in 
 the eyes of the Brahmans from setting up as a religious 
 teacher. His proper family or tribal name was Sakya, and 
 that of his race or clan Gautama or Gotama?; for it is 
 well known that this great reformer never raed to him- 
 self an exclusive right to the title Buddha, ‘ enlightened, 
 or claimed any divine honours or even any special rever- 
 ence. He is said to have entered on his reforming mission 
 in the district of Magadha or Behar? about the year 
 588 B.c., but he taught that other philosophers (Budhas) 
 and even numerous Buddhas—that is, perfectly enlight- 
 ened men—had existed in previous periods of the world. 
 He claimed to be nothing but an example of that perfec- 
 tion in knowledge to which any man might attain by the 
 exercise of abstract meditation, self-control, and bodily 
 mortification. Gentle, however, and unassuming as the 
 great reforming Ascetic was, he aimed at the grandest 
 
 1 His mother’s name was Maya or Maya-devi, daughter of king Su- 
 prabuddha. The Buddha had also a wife called Yasodhara and a son 
 Rahula and a cousin Ananda. 
 
 * Gautama is said to have been one of the names of the great Solar race 
 to which king Suddhodana belonged. The titles Sinha and Muni are 
 often added to Sakya, thus Sakya-sinha, ‘ the lion of the Sakyas ;’ Sakya- 
 muni, ‘the Sakya-saint.’ “His name Siddhartha, ‘one whose aims have 
 been accomplished, was either assumed, like Buddha, as an epithet in after 
 life, or, as some say, was given by his parents, ‘whose prayer had been 
 granted, something in the same manner as Deva-datta, Θεοδώρητος, Theo- 
 dore. Sramana, meaning ‘ascetic,’ is sometimes affixed to Gautama. He 
 is also styled Bhagavat, ‘the adorable,’ and Tatha-gata or Su-gata, ‘one 
 who has gone the right way.’ Every Buddhist may be a Sramana (see 
 p. 57) for the more rapid attainment of Nirvana. 
 
 * He is said to have given lectures to his disciples in a garden belong- 
 ing to a rich and liberal householder, named Sudatta or Anatha-pindada, 
 
 in the city of Sravasti, somewhere in the district now called Oude, north 
 of the Ganges. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—BUDDHISM. 59 + 
 
 practical results. He stood forth as the deliverer of a priest- 
 ridden, caste-ridden nation,—the courageous reformer and 
 innovator who dared to attempt what doubtless others 
 had long felt was necessary, namely, the breaking down 
 of an intolerable ecclesiastical monopoly by proclaiming 
 absolute free trade in religious opinions and the abolition 
 of all caste’ privileges'. It may be taken as a fixed law 
 of human nature that wherever there arise extravagant 
 claims to ecclesiastical authority on the one side, there will 
 always arise Buddhas on the other—men who, like the 
 Buddha of India, become rapidly popular by proclaiming 
 
 1 Bauddhas or Buddhists believe that after immense intervals of time 
 (Kalpas) men with perfect knowledge, entitled to be called supreme 
 Buddhas, come into the world to teach men the true way to Nirvana, 
 which gradually fades away from their minds in the lapse of ages and has 
 again to be communicated by another perfect teacher. The Buddha fore- 
 told that one of his followers was to be the next supreme Buddha. An 
 ascetic who has arrived at the stage when there is only one more birth, 
 before attaining to the rank of a Buddha, is called by Buddhists Bodhi- 
 sattva, ‘one who has the essence of perfect wisdom in him.’ Few, of 
 course, attain to be supreme Buddhas—completely enlightened teachers 
 —though all may ultimately reach Nirvana. Candidates for Nirvana 
 are called Arhats, i.e. ‘ venerables.’ 
 
 Dr. Muir, at the end of the second volume of his Texts, gives a most 
 interesting metrical translation of part of the Lalita-vistara, a legendary 
 history in prose and verse of the Buddha’s life. ‘The prose of this his- 
 tory is in Sanskrit, but the Gathas or songs interspersed with it are in a 
 kind of mixed dialect, half Sanskrit, half Prakrit. The passage translated 
 describes Buddha as a deliverer and redeemer in terms which almost 
 assimilate his character to the Christian conception of a Saviour. Pro- 
 fessor Max Miiller, in his Sanskrit Literature (p. 79), has drawn attention 
 to a passage from Kumarila Bhatt{a, according to which the following 
 words, claiming the functions of a kind of vicarious redeemer, are ascribed 
 to Buddha :—‘ Let all the evils (or sins) flowing from the corruption of 
 the fourth or degenerate age (called Λ΄ αἰ) fall upon me, but let the world 
 be redeemed.’ Bishop Claughton is reported to have said in a recent 
 lecture, that there is nothing out of Christianity equal to Buddhism in a 
 moral point of view. 
 
 ~ 
 
56 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 general religious equality, universal charity and toleration, 
 and whose followers develop their doctrines to a point 
 beyond that intended by themselves. In fact, a sort of 
 Buddhism capable of being pushed to the extremest point 
 of Nihilism is a not unlikely terminus of all lines of un- 
 controlled thought, whose starting-point is the sense of 
 freedom produced by the breaking loose of reason from the 
 unnatural restraints which sacerdotal dogmatism delights 
 to impose. It is a remarkable proof of the enchaining 
 power of caste, that notwithstanding the popularity and 
 attractive features of Buddhism, its universal toleration 
 and benevolence, its recognition of the common brother- 
 hood of mankind, its reverence for every form of organized 
 existence—so that not only every human being, but every 
 living creature however insignificant, has a right to respect 
 and tender treatment—its inculcation of the virtues of 
 self-sacrifice, purity, truthfulness, gentleness of speech, 
 humility, patience, and courage—this wonderful system 
 which originated in India and adapted itself so completely 
 in most of its doctrines to Indian tastes and habits of 
 thought, should have been in the end unsuccessful in its 
 contest with Brahmanism. 
 
 But though the religion of India at the present day 
 is certainly not Buddhism, yet it is equally certain that 
 this rejected system has left a deep impress on the Hinda 
 mind, and has much in common with Hindiism generally ; 
 while its attractiveness to the Oriental character is notably 
 evidenced, by its having during a period of about two thou- 
 sand four hundred years so commended itself to Eastern 
 nations as to number at this moment, according to recent 
 calculations, about four hundred and fifty-five millions of 
 nominal adherents. Therefore, before quitting the sub- 
 ject of the great Indian reformer, it will not be irrelevant 
 if I indicate briefly the principal points of his teaching. 
 
 Let me begin by directing attention to its most marked 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—BUDDHISM. 57 
 
 feature. The Buddha recognized no supreme deity’. The 
 only god, he affirmed, is what man himself can become. 
 In Brahmanism God becomes man; in Buddhism man 
 becomes a god. Practically, however, Buddhists are subject 
 to a formidable god in Karman, ‘act.’ But this is a god 
 to be got rid of as soon as possible, for action leads to con- 
 tinual existence, carried on through innumerable bodies 
 till acts are adequately rewarded or punished; and that all 
 existence is an evil is a fundamental dogma of Buddhism. 
 Hence the great end of the system is Nirvana, ‘the being 
 blown out’ or non-existence. From this statement it might 
 be supposed that all good actions as well as bad are to be 
 avoided. But this is not exactly the case. Certain acts, 
 involving abnegation of self and suppression of evil pas- 
 sions, are supposed very inconsistently to contribute to 
 the great end of Nirvdia or non-existence. According 
 to the best authorities’, the Buddha regarded men as 
 divided into two classes—first, those who are still attached 
 to the world and worldly life; secondly, those who by 
 self-mortification are bent on being delivered from it. 
 The first class are Upasakas or ‘laymen, the second are 
 Sramanas or ‘ascetics*” These last are rather monks or 
 friars than priests. Of priests and clergy in our sense 
 the Buddhist religion has none. In real fact Buddhism 
 ought not to be called a religion at all, for where there 
 is no god there can be no need of sacrifice or propitiation 
 
 1 With Buddhists, as indeed with Brahmans, the gods are merely 
 superior beings, subject to the same law of dissolution as the rest of the 
 universe. Certainly the Buddha himself never claimed to be worshipped 
 as a god, nor is he so worshipped, though his memory is revered and the 
 relics of him are inclosed in shrines, and eyen a kind of prayer in his 
 honour is uttered or turned round in a wheel to act as a charm. Strictly, 
 a Buddhist never prays; he merely contemplates. 
 
 3 For a full account see the article ‘ Buddha’ in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia. 
 
 * They are also called Sravakas as hearers of Buddha and Maha-sravakas 
 as great hearers. When mendicants they are Bhikshus or Bhikshukas. 
 
58 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 or even of prayer, though this last is practised as a kind 
 of charm! against diseases, worldly evils and malignant 
 demons, and as having, like other acts, a kind of mecha- 
 nical efficacy. Both classes, however, laymen and ascetics, 
 must equally practise certain virtues to avoid greater 
 misery, either in future births or in one of the 136 hells ; 
 for the passing through repeated births, even in the most 
 degraded forms of life, is not sufficient punishment for the 
 effacement of demerit without the endurance of terrific 
 torments in numerous hells”. 
 
 Ten moral prohibitions are given. Five are for all, viz. 
 Kill not. Steal not. Commit not adultery. Lie not. 
 Drink no strong drink. The other five are for the ascetics 
 who have commenced the direct pursuit of Nirvana, viz. 
 Eat no food out of season. Abstain from dances, theatres, 
 songs, and music. Use no ornaments or perfumes. Ab- 
 stain from luxurious beds. Receive no gold nor silver, 
 Again, there are still more severe precepts for those who 
 are not merely commencing a religious life, but have actu- 
 ally renounced the world. These persons are sometimes 
 called Bhikshus or Parivrajakas, ‘religious mendicants.’ 
 They must dress only in rags sewed together with their 
 own hands, and covered with a yellow cloak. They must 
 eat only one meal daily, and that before noon, and only 
 what may be collected from door to door in a wooden 
 bowl. For a part of the year they must live in the woods 
 with no other shelter than a tree, and with no furniture 
 but a carpet on which they must sit, and never lie down 
 
 1 These Buddhist prayers are called Dharanis and are used, like the 
 Brahmanical Mantras, as charms against evil of all kinds. It should be 
 noted that Buddhists believe in a kind of devil or demon of love, anger, 
 evil, and death, called Mara, who opposed Buddha and the spread of his 
 religion. He is supposed to send forth legions of evil demons like himself. 
 
 2 See note 2, p. 66. There are also numerous Buddhist heavens. One 
 of these, called Tushita, was inhabited by Sakya-muni as a Bodhi-sattva 
 before he came into the world as a Buddha. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—-BUDDHISM. 59 
 
 during sleep. Besides these prohibitions and injunctions 
 there are six transcendent perfections of conduct which 
 lead to the other shore of Nirvana (Pairam-itas, as they are 
 called), and which are incumbent on all, viz. 1. Charity 
 or benevolence (ddna). 2. Virtue or moral goodness (sia). 
 3. Patience and forbearance (kshdntz). 4. Fortitude (virya). 
 5. Meditation (dhydna). 6. Knowledge (prajid)'. Of 
 these, that which especially characterizes Buddhism is the 
 perfection of benevolence and sympathy displayed towards 
 all living beings, and carried to the extreme of avoiding 
 injury to the most minute animalculae and treating with 
 tenderness the most noxious animals. Even self-sacrifice 
 for the good of such animals and of inferior creatures of 
 all kinds is a duty. It is recorded of the Buddha himself 
 that in former existences he frequently gave himself up as 
 a substituted victim in the place of doves and other inno- 
 cent creatures to satisfy the appetites of hawks and beasts 
 of prey; and on one occasion, meeting with a famished 
 tigress unable to feed her cubs, he was so overcome with 
 compassion that he sacrificed his own body to supply the 
 starving family with food’. 
 
 These rules of conduct include many secondary pre- 
 cepts; for instance, not only is untruthfulness prohibited, 
 but all offensive and bad language ; not only is patience 
 enjoined, but the bearing of injuries, resignation under 
 misfortune, humility, repentance, and the practice of con- 
 fessing sins, which last appears to have been regarded as 
 possessing in itself some kind of expiatory efficacy”. 
 
 1 Four others are sometimes added, making—7. Updya, ‘expediency.’ 
 8. Bala, ‘power. 9. Pranidhi, ‘circumspection.’ 10. Jidna, ‘ know- 
 ledge of universal truth.” See Lalita-vistara by Rajendralal Mitra, p. 7. 
 
 2 Modern Buddhism is not so tender to animals as Jainism, and in 
 China animal food is eaten. 
 
 3 In the edicts of Piya-dasi (Sanskrit Priya-darsi), supposed to be the 
 same as A¢oka, one of the Buddhist kings of Magadha, who lived in the 
 
60 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The following is an abridged version of Buddha’s out- 
 burst of joy at having achieved, by the knowledge of 
 truth, emancipation from the troubles of life and solved 
 for himself the great problem of existence!: 
 
 See what true knowledge has effected here ! 
 
 The lust and anger which infest the world, 
 Arising from delusion, are destroyed 
 
 Like thieves condemned to perish. Ignorance 
 And worldly longings, working only evil, 
 
 By the great fire of knowledge are burnt up 
 With all their mass of tangled roots. The cords 
 And knots of lands and houses and possessions, 
 And selfishness, which talks of ‘self’ and ‘ mine,’ 
 Are severed by the weapons of my knowledge. 
 The raging stream of lust which has its source 
 In evil thoughts, fed by concupiscence, 
 
 And swollen by sight’s waters, are dried up 
 
 By the bright sun of knowledge ; and the forest 
 Of trouble, slander, envy, and delusion, 
 
 Is by the flame of discipline consumed. 
 
 Now I have gained release, and this world’s bonds 
 Are cut asunder by the knife of knowledge. 
 
 third century B.c., the people are commanded to confess their sins pub- 
 licly every five years. Four great Buddhist councils were held, viz. 1. by 
 Ajata-satru, king of Magadha after the Buddha’s death (which occurred, 
 according to the opinion of the generality of scholars, about 543 B.C.); 
 2. by Kalasoka, a century later; 3. by Asoka, 246 or 247 B.C.; 4. by 
 Kanishka, king of Kashmir, 143 8.c. At the first council all the teach- 
 ings and sayings of the Buddha, who appears never to have written any- 
 thing, were collected into three sets of books, called Tri-pitaka, ‘the three 
 baskets or collections,’ which form the Buddhist sacred scriptures. These 
 three collections are—r, the Siitra-pitaka, collected by Ananda, the 
 Buddha’s cousin, containing all the maxims and discourses of Sakya- 
 muni, and by no means brief like the Brahmanical Sutras; 2. the 
 Vinaya-pitaka, containing books on morals and discipline ; 3. the Abhi- 
 dharma-pitaka, on metaphysics and philosophy (see Introduction, xxxii. 
 note 1). Professor Kern, in his recent learned dissertation on Buddha, 
 makes the date of Buddha’s death 388 B.c. 
 ' The original text is given by Professor Banerjea, Dialogues, p. 198. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY-—COMMON CREED. 61 
 
 Thus I have crossed the ocean of the world, 
 Filled with the shark-like monsters of desire, 
 And agitated by the waves of passion— 
 
 Borne onward by the boat of stern resolve. 
 
 Now I have tasted the immortal truth— 
 
 Known also to unnumbered saints of yore— 
 That frees mankind from sorrow, pain, and death. 
 
 This imperfect sketch of Buddhism in its earliest and 
 purest phase may conduce to the better understanding of 
 the other lines of Indian rationalism, which differed from 
 it in pretending to accept the authority of the Veda. 
 
 These lines were before described as six in number, but 
 they are practically reducible to three, the Nydya, the 
 Sankhya, and the Vedanta. They all hold certain tenets 
 in common with each other and to a certain extent also 
 (especially the San-khya) with heretical Buddhism. 
 
 A common philosophical creed, as we have already 
 hinted, must have prevailed in India long before the crys- 
 tallization of rationalistic imquiry into separate systems. 
 If not distinctly developed in the Upanishads, it is clearly 
 traceable throughout Manu’; and as it is not only the faith 
 of every Indian philosopher at the present day, but also of 
 the greater number of thinking Brahmans, whether dis- 
 ciples of any particular philosophical school or not, and 
 indeed of the greater number of educated Hindts, whether 
 nominal adherents of Vishnu or Siva or to whatever caste 
 they may belong—its principal features may be advan- 
 tageously stated before pointing out the chief differences 
 between the six systems. 
 
 1. In the first place, then, rationalistic Brahmanism—as 
 I propose to call this common faith—holds the etermity of 
 soul, both retrospectively and prospectively *. It looks 
 
 1 See Manu XII. 12, 15-18. 
 2 Plato appears to have held the same: Ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀθάνατος, τὸ yap 
 ἀεικίνητον ἀθάνατον, Phaed. 51. Andagain: ᾿Επειδὴ δὲ ἀγένητόν ἐστι, καὶ ἀδιά- 
 
62 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 upon soul as of two kinds: a. the supreme Soul (called 
 variously Paramdtman, Brahman, &c.); ὃ. the personal 
 individuated soul of living beings (yzvdtman)!; and it 
 maintains that if any entity is eternal it cannot have had 
 a beginning, or else it must have an end. Hence the per- 
 sonal soul of every human being, just as the supreme Soul, 
 has existed everlastingly and will never cease to exist”. 
 
 2. In the second place this creed asserts the eternity 
 of the matter or substance constituting the visible uni- 
 verse, or of that substance out of which the universe has 
 been evolved; in other words, of its substantial or mate- 
 rial cause*. It is very true that one system (the Vedanta) 
 
 φθορον αὐτὸ ἀνάγκη εἶναι, Phaed. 52. And again: Τοῦτο δὲ οὔτ᾽ ἀπόλλυσθαι οὔτε 
 γίγνεσθαι δυνατόν. Cicero expresses it thus: Jd autem nec nasct potest nec 
 mori, Tusc. Quaest. I. 23. Plato, however, seems to have given no eternity 
 to individual souls, except as emanations from the divine ; and in Timaeus 
 44 he distinguishes two parts of the soul, one immortal, the other mortal. 
 
 1 All the systems, as we shall see, are not equally clear about the 
 existence of asupreme Soul. One at least practically ignores such a soul. 
 With regard to the Satratman, see the Lecture on the Vedanta. The 
 Buddhist also believes that all souls have existed from the beginning 
 of a cycle, but, in opposition to the Brahman, holds that their end is 
 Nirvana. 
 
 * The Muslims have two words for eternity: 1. J;l a2/, ‘that eternity 
 which has no beginning’ (whence God is called Azali, ‘having no begin- 
 ning’); and 2. so! abd, ‘that eternity which has no end.’ 
 
 8. The term for substantial or material cause is samavdyi-karana, 
 literally, ‘inseparable inherent cause ;’ inthe Vedanta wpadana-karana is 
 used. With regard to the word ‘matter, see note, p. 64. Though the 
 Greek philosophers are not very definite in their views as to the eternity 
 of matter or its nature, yet they seem to have acquiesced generally in 
 the independent existence of some sort of primordial substance. Plato 
 appears to have held that the elements before the creation were shapeless 
 and soulless, but were moulded and arranged by the Creator (‘Timaeus 
 27) out of some invisible and formless essence (dvéparov εἶδός τι καὶ 
 ἄμορφον, Timaeus 24). Aristotle in one passage describes the views of 
 older philosophers who held that primeval substance was affected and 
 made to undergo changes by some sort of affections like the Sankhya 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—COMMON CREED. 63 
 
 identifies soul with this substance by asserting that the 
 world was not made out of gross particles of matter, but 
 out of soul itself, as its illusory material cause ; but to 
 affirm that the universe (τὸ πᾶν) is a part of the one only 
 existing soul is of course equivalent to maintaining the 
 eternal existence of both. In real truth a Hindi philo- 
 sopher’s belief in the eternity of the world’s substance, 
 whether that substance has a real material existence or is 
 simply illusory, arises from that fixed article of his creed, 
 ‘Ex nihilo nihil fit, ndvastuno vastu-siddhih. Tn other 
 words, A-sutah saj jayeta kutas, ‘how can an entity be pro- 
 duced out of a nonentity 7" 
 
 Gunas, whence all the universe was developed : Τῆς μὲν οὐσίας ὑπομενούσης 
 τοῖς δὲ πάθεσι μεταβαλλούσης, τοῦτο στοιχεῖον καὶ ταύτην τὴν ἀρχήν pacw εἶναι 
 τῶν ὄντων, Metaph. I. 5. (See Wilson’s Sankhya-karika, p. 53.) Aris- 
 totle adds his own opinion, ‘ It is necessary there should be a certain nature 
 (piots)—either one or more—out of which other entities are produced.’ 
 
 1 Οὐδὲν γίνεται ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος, ‘nothing is produced out of nothing. All 
 the ancient philosophers of Greece and Rome seem also to have agreed 
 upon this point, as Aristotle affirms (περὶ yap ταύτης ὁμογνωμόνουσι τῆς δόξης 
 ἅπαντες οἱ περὶ φύσεως). Lucretius (I. 150) starts with laying down the same 
 principle :—‘ Principium hine nobis exordia sumet Nullam rem e nihilo 
 gigni divinitus unquam.’ Aristotle, in the third chapter of the first book 
 of his Metaphysics, informs us that Thales made the primitive substance 
 out of which the universe originated water, Anaximenes and Diogenes 
 made it air, Heracleitus made it fire, Empedocles combined earth, air, fire, 
 and water. Anaximander, on the other hand, regarded the primordial 
 germ as an indeterminate but infinite or boundless principle (τὸ ἄπειρον). 
 Other philosophers affirmed something similar in referring everything 
 back to a confused chaos. Parmenides made Desire his first principle, 
 and Hesiod, quoted by Aristotle, says poetically, — 
 
 ‘ First indeed of all was chaos; then afterwards 
 
 Barth with her broad breast (cf. Sanskrit prithiv?) ; 
 
 Then Desire (épos), who is pre-eminent among all the Immortals.’ 
 Lastly, the Eleatics, like the Indian Vedantists, were thoroughly panthe- 
 istic, and held that the universe was God and God the universe ; 1n other 
 words, that God was τὸ ἕν, or the only one existing thing. With all these 
 accounts compare the Rig-veda hymn on the creation, translated on p. 22. 
 
64 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 3. In the third place, the soul, though itself sheer 
 thought and knowledge, can only exercise thought, con- 
 sciousness, sensation, and cognition, and indeed can only 
 act and will when connected with external and material 
 objects of sensation’, invested with some bodily form? 
 and joined to mind (manas), which last (viz. mind) is an 
 internal organ of sense (antah-karaya)*—a sort of inlet of 
 
 1 Tt is difficult to find any suitable word to express what the Hindis 
 mean by material objects. There seems, in real truth, to be no proper 
 Sanskrit word equivalent to ‘matter’ in its usual English sense. Vastu, 
 as applied to the ‘one reality,’ is the term for the Vedantist’s universal 
 Spirit ; dravya stands for soul, mind, time, and space, as well as the five 
 elements; mdrtti is anything which has definite limits, and therefore 
 includes mind and the four elements, but not akdsa, ‘ether ;’ pradhdana is 
 the original producer of the Sankhya system ; padartha is used for the 
 seven categories of the Vaiseshika. What is here meant is not necessarily 
 a collection of material atoms, nor, again, that imperceptible substance 
 propounded by some as lying underneath and supporting all visible phe- 
 nomena (disbelieved in by Berkeley), and holding together the attributes 
 or qualities of everything, but rather what is seen, heard, felt, tasted, and 
 touched, which is perhaps best denoted by the Sanskrit word vishaya, 
 the terms samavayi-kadrana and upadana-karana being generally used 
 for the substantial or the material cause of the universe. 
 
 2 All the systems assign to each person two bodies: a. an exterior or 
 gross body (sthila-sarira) ; b. an interior or subtle body (siétkshma-sarira 
 or linga-Sarira). The last is necessary as a vehicle for the soul when the 
 gross body is dissolved, accompanying it through all its transmigrations 
 and sojournings in heaven or hell, and never becoming separated from it 
 till its emancipation is effected. The Vedanta affirms the existence of a 
 third body, called karana-Sarira or causal body, described as a kind of 
 inner rudiment or latent embryo of the body existing with the soul, and 
 by some regarded as primeval ignorance united with the soul in dreamless 
 sleep. The Platonists and other Greek and Roman philosophers seem to 
 have held a similar doctrine as to a subtle material envelope investing 
 the soul after death, serving as its ὄχημα or vehicle. See Plato, Timaeus 
 17. This is like the idea of a deceased person’s ghost or shade (είδωλον, 
 umbra, imago, simulacrum). Cf. Virgil, Aeneid, VI. 390, 701. 
 
 * Manas is often taken as the general term applicable to all the mental 
 powers, but Manas is properly a subdivision of antah-karana, which is 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—COMMON CREED. 65 
 
 thought to the soul—belonging only to the body, only 
 existing with it, and quite as distinct from the soul as any 
 of the external organs of the body’. The supreme Soul 
 (variously called Paramdtman, Brahman, neut., &c.) has 
 thus connected itself in successive ages with objects and 
 forms, becoming manifest either as ΕΠ the creator 
 or in the form ὙΠ other gods, as Vishnu and Siva (see 
 note I, p.12), or again in the form of men. 
 
 4. Fourthly, this union of the soul with the body is 
 productive of bondage, and in the case of human souls, 
 of misery, for when once so united the soul begins to 
 apprehend objects through the senses, receiving there- 
 from painful and pleasurable impressions. It also be- 
 comes conscious of personal existence and individuality ; 
 then it commences acting ; but all action, whether good or 
 bad, leads to bondage, because every act inevitably entails 
 a consequence, according to the maxim, Avasyam eva 
 bhoktavyam kritam karma subhdsubham, ‘the fruit of 
 every action good or bad must of necessity be eaten.’ 
 Hence, if an act be good it must be rewarded, and if bad 
 it must be punished *. 
 
 divided into Buddhi, ‘perception or intellection ;’ Ahankara, “ self-con- 
 sciousness ;? and Manas, ‘volition or determination ;’ to which the 
 Vedanta adds a fourth division, Citta, ‘the thinking or reasoning organ.’ 
 1 This idea of the mind agrees to a great extent with the doctrine 
 of Lucretius, stated in III. 94, &c.: 
 ‘Primum animum dico (mentem quem saepe vocamus) 
 In quo consilium vitae regimenque locatum est, 
 Esse hominis partem nihilo minus ac manus et pes 
 Atque oculi partes animantis totius extant.’ 
 The remainder of his description of the mind is very interesting in con- 
 nection with the Hindt theory. 
 3 In the Panéa-tantra (11. 135, 136) we read: ‘ An evil act follows 
 a man, passing through a hundred thousand transmigrations; in like 
 manner the act of a high-minded man. As shade and sunlight are ever 
 closely joined together, so an act and the agent stick close to each other.’ 
 Ε 
 
66 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 5. Fifthly, in order to accomplish the entire working 
 out of these consequences or ‘ripenings of acts’ as they 
 are called (karma-vipdkah*), it 18 not enough that the 
 personal soul goes to heaven or to hel]. For all the 
 systems contend that even in heaven or hell merit or 
 demerit, resulting from the inexorable retributive efficacy 
 of former acts, continues clinging to the soul as grease 
 does to a pot after it has been emptied. The necessity 
 for removal to a place of reward or punishment is indeed 
 admitted?; but this is not effectual or final. In order 
 that the consequences of acts may be entirely worked out, 
 the soul must leave heaven or hell and return to corporeal 
 existence. Thus it has to pass through innumerable 
 bodies, migrating into higher, intermediate or lower forms, 
 from a god* to a demon, man, animal, or plant, or even 
 
 1 Bad consequences are called Dur-vipdka. Some of these, in the 
 shape of diseases, &c., are detailed by Manu (XI. 48-52). Thus any one 
 who has stolen gold in a former life will suffer from whitlows on his 
 nails, a drinker of spirits will have black teeth, and the killer of a 
 Brahman, consumption. In the Sabda-kalpa-druma, under the head of 
 Karma-vipaka, will be found a long catalogue of the various diseases 
 with which men are born as the fruit of evil deeds committed in former 
 states of existence, and a declaration as to the number of births through 
 which each disease will be protracted, unless expiations (praéyaséitta) be 
 performed in the present life, as described in the eleventh book of Manu. 
 
 * The twenty-one hells (Varakas) are enumerated in Manu IY. 88-90. 
 One is a place of terrific darkness ; another a pit of red-hot charcoal ; 
 another a forest whose leaves are swords; another is filled with fetid 
 mud ; another is paved with iron spikes. These are not to be confounded 
 with the seven places under the earth, of which Patala is one, the abode 
 of a kind of serpent demon. The Buddhists have one hundred and 
 thirty-six hells in the interior of the earth, with regular gradations of 
 suffering. Hindiis and Buddhists have also numerous heavens. The 
 former make six regions rising above earth, the seventh; viz. bhur 
 (earth), bhuvar, svar, mahar, janar, tapah, satya. 
 
 * The gods themselves are only finite beings. They are nothing but 
 portions of the existing system of a perishing universe. In fact, they are 
 represented as actually feeding on the oblations offered to them (see 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—COMMON CREED. 67 
 
 a stone, according to its various shades of merit or 
 demerit ". 
 
 6. Sixthly, this transmigration of the soul through a 
 
 Bhagavad-gita III. rr); they go through penances (see Manu XI. 221) ; 
 they are liable to passions and affections like men and animals, and are 
 subject, as regards their corporeal part, to the same law of dissolution, while 
 their souls obey the same necessity of ultimate absorption into the supreme 
 soul. Thefollowing occurs inthe San-khya-karika (p. 3 of Wilson) :—‘ Many 
 thousands of Indras and other gods have, through time, passed away in every 
 mundane age, for time cannot be overcome.’ Muir’s Texts, vol. v. p. 16. 
 
 1 According to Manu XII. 3, Subhasubha-phalam karma mano-vdag- 
 deha-sambhavam karma-ja gatayo nrinam uttamadhama-madhyamah, 
 ‘an act either mental, verbal, or corporeal bears good or evil fruit; the 
 various transmigrations of men through the highest, middle, and lowest 
 stages are produced by acts. This triple order of transmigration is after- 
 wards (XII. 40, &c.) explained to be the passage of the soul through deities, 
 men, and beasts and plants, according to the dominance of one or other 
 of the three Gunas, goodness, passion, or darkness. And each of these 
 three degrees of transmigration has three sub-degrees. The highest of 
 the first degree is Brahma himself, the lowest of the lowest is any 
 sthavara or ‘stationary substance, which is explained to mean either 
 a vegetable or a mineral; other lowest forms of the lowest degree are 
 in an upward order worms, insects, fish, reptiles, snakes, tortoises, &c. 
 Again, in VI. 61, 63, we read: Let the man who has renounced the 
 world reflect on the transmigrations of men caused by the fault of their 
 acts (karma-dosha) ; on their downfall into hell and their torments in 
 the abode of Yama; on their formation again in the womb and the 
 glidings of the soul through ten millions of other wombs. Again, in 
 XII. 54,55, &c.: Those who have committed great crimes, having passed 
 through terrible hells for many series of years, at the end of that time 
 pass through various bodies. A Brahman-killer enters the body of a dog, 
 boar, ass, camel, bull, goat, sheep, stag, bird, ἅς, The violator of the bed of 
 a Guru migrates a hundred times into the forms of grasses, shrubs, plants, 
 &e. In I. 49, ΧΙ. 143-146, it is clearly implied that trees and vegetables 
 of all kinds have internal consciousness (antahsanjid), and are susceptible 
 of pleasure and pain. The Buddhists have also a triple series of transmi- 
 grations, borrowed doubtless from the Brahmans. The highest is called 
 Maha-yana, the lowest Hina-yana. Buddha is said to have pointed out 
 to his followers a broom which he affirmed had formerl} been a novice 
 who had neglected to sweep out the assembly-hall. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 constant succession of bodies, which is as much a fixed 
 and peremptory doctrine of Buddhism as of Hindiism', is 
 to be regarded as the root of all evil. Moreover, by it 
 all the misery, inequality of fortune and diversity of cha- 
 racter in the world is to be explained’. For even great 
 
 1 The doctrine of metempsychosis, however, does not appear to have 
 taken hold of the Hindi mind when the Mantras were composed. There 
 seems at least to be no allusion to it in the Rig-veda, see note, p. 20. It 
 begins to appear, though not clearly defined, in the Brahmanas, and is 
 fully developed in the Upanishads, Darsanas, and Manu. <A passage in 
 the Satapatha-brahmana (XI. 6. 1. 1), quoted by Professor Weber and 
 Dr. Muir, describes animals-and plants as revenging in a future state of 
 existence injuries and death inflicted on them by men in this life. 
 
 In Greece and Rome the doctrine of transmigration seems never to have 
 impressed itself deeply on the popular mind. It was confined to philoso- 
 phers and their disciples, and was first plainly taught by Pythagoras, who 
 is said to have asserted that he remembered his own previous existences. 
 He was followed by Plato, who is supposed by some to have been indebted 
 to Hindi writers for his views on this subject. In the Timaeus (72, 73) 
 he affirms his opinion that those who have lived unrighteously and 
 effeminately will, at their next birth, be changed to women ; those who 
 have lived innocently but frivolously will become birds ; those who have 
 lived without knowledge of the truths of philosophy will become beasts ; 
 and those whose lives have been marked by the extreme of ignorance and 
 folly will become fishes, oysters, &c. He sums up thus: Κατὰ ταῦτα δὴ 
 πάντα τότε καὶ νῦν διαμείβεται τὰ ζῶα εἰς ἄλληλα, vod καὶ ἀνοίας ἀποβολῇ καὶ 
 κτήσει μεταβαλλόμενα. Virgil, in the sixth book of the Aeneid (680-751), 
 describes the condition of certain souls, which, after going through a sort 
 of purgatory for a thousand years in the lower regions, again ascend to 
 earth and occupy new bodies. 
 
 The Jews seem to have known something of the doctrine, if we may 
 judge by the question proposed to our Lord: ‘ Who did sin, this man (i. 6. 
 in a former life) or his parents, that he was born blind?’ John ix. 2. 
 
 * Among Greek philosophers, Aristotle, in the eleventh book of his 
 Metaphysics (ch. 10), goes into the origin of evil, and his view may 
 therefore be compared with that of Hindi philosophers. He recognizes 
 good as a paramount principle in the world, but admits the power of evil, 
 and considers matter (ὕλη) as its prime and only source, much in the same 
 way as the Gnostics and other early Christian philosophical sects, who, 
 like Indian philosophers, denied the possibility of anything being pro- 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—-COMMON CREED. 69 
 
 genius, aptitude for special work, and innate excellence 
 are not natural gifts, but the result of habits formed and 
 powers developed through perhaps millions of previous 
 existences. So again, sufferings of all kinds—weaknesses, 
 sicknesses, and moral depravity 
 quences of acts done by each soul, of its own free will, 
 in former bodies, which acts exert upon that soul an irre- 
 sistible power called very significantly Adrishta, because 
 felt and not seen. - 
 
 Thus the soul has to bear the consequences of 115. own 
 acts only. It is tossed hither and thither at the mercy of 
 a force set in motion by itself alone, but which can never 
 be guarded against, because its operation depends on past 
 actions wholly beyond control and even unremembered *. 
 
 7. Seventhly and lastly, from a consideration of these 
 essential articles of Hindi Rationalism it is plain that the 
 
 are sunply the conse- 
 
 duced out of nothing, and repudiated the doctrine that God could in any 
 way be connected with evil. They, therefore, supposed the eternal exist- 
 ence of a sluggish, inert substance, out of which the world was formed by 
 God, but which contained in itself the principle of evil. 
 
 1 The absence of all recollection of acts done in former states of exist- 
 ence does not seem to strike the Hindis as an objection to their theory 
 of transmigration. Most of the systems evade the difficulty by main- 
 taining that at each death the soul is divested of mind, understanding, 
 and consciousness. See Mullens’ Essay, p. 386. The Garbha Upanishad 
 (4) attributes the loss of memory to the pain and pressure suffered by 
 the soul in the act of leaving the womb. The mythology, however, 
 records cases of men who were gifted with the power of recollecting 
 former existences. In the Phaedo of Plato (47) Cebes is described as 
 saying to Socrates, ‘According to that doctrine which you are frequently 
 in the habit of advancing, if it is true, that all knowledge is nothing else 
 than reminiscence (ὅτι ἡμῖν ἡ μάθησις οὐκ ἄλλο τι ἡ ἀνάμνησις τυγχάνει οὖσα), 
 it is surely necessary that we must at some former time have learned 
 what we now remember. But this is impossible, unless our soul existed 
 somewhere before it came into this human form.’ Cicero, in Tusc. Quaest. 
 I. 24, says, speaking of the soul, ‘ Habet primam memoriam, et eam infi- 
 nitam rerum innumerabilium, quam quidem Plato recordationem esse vult 
 superioris vitae. Cf. Sakuntala, Act V. τος ‘Can it be that the dim 
 
70 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 great aim of philosophy is to teach a man to abstain from 
 every kind of action ; from liking or disliking, from loving 
 or hating, and even from being indifferent to anything. 
 
 The living personal soul must shake off the fetters of 
 action and getting rid of body, mind, and all sense of sepa- 
 rate personality, return to the condition of simple soul. 
 
 This constitutes Pramd or Jidna, the true measure 
 of all existing difficulties—the right apprehension of truth 
 —which, if once acquired by the soul, confers upon it final 
 emancipation, whether called Mukti, Moksha, Nuhsreyasa, 
 Apavarga, or Nirvana’. This, in short, is the summum 
 bonum of philosophical Brahmanism ; this is the only real 
 bliss,—the loss of all personality and separate identity 
 by absorption into the supreme and only really existing 
 Being—mere life with nothing to live for, mere joy with 
 nothing to rejoice about, and mere thought with nothing 
 upon which thought is to be exercised *. 
 
 Having thus attempted to set forth the common tenets 
 of Indian philosophy, I must next indicate the principal 
 points in which the systems differ from each other ὅ. 
 
 memory of events long past, or friendships formed in other states of being, 
 flits like a passing shadow o’er the spirit?’ Virgil (Aeneid VI. 714) 
 wisely makes the souls who are to occupy new bodies upon earth throng 
 the banks of Lethe that they may drink a deep draught of oblivion from 
 its waters. 
 
 1 Nirvana, ‘the being blown out,’ is, as we have seen, the Buddhist 
 expression for liberation from existence. The other terms are used by 
 rationalistic Brahmanism. Two of the Darsganas, however, as we have 
 seen, practically ignore a supreme Being. 
 
 ® Mr. Hardwick has well shown that the great boon conferred by the 
 Gospel, in contradistinction to these false systems, is the recognition of 
 man’s responsible free agency and the permanence of his personality. 
 ‘Not to be’ is the melancholy result of the religion and philosophy of the 
 Hindiis. See ‘Christ and other Masters,’ vol. i. p. 355. Christianity 
 satisfies the deepest want of man’s religious life, viz. to know and love 
 God as a person. See Canon Liddon’s ‘ Elements of Religion,’ p. 36. 
 
 ὁ These were explained in lectures to my highest class only. 
 
ΤΠ Εν 
 The Nydaya. 
 
 E begin with the Nyaya of Gotama or Gautama, 
 
 with its supplement, the Vaiseshika, not because 
 
 this is first in order of time (see p. 48), but because it is 
 
 generally the first studied, and much of its terminology 
 is adopted by the other systems’. 
 
 The word Nyaya signifies ‘ going into a subject,’ that is, 
 investigating it analytically. In this sense of ‘ analysis,’ 
 Nyaya is exactly opposed to the word Sankhya, ‘ synthesis.’ 
 It is common to suppose that the Nyaya is chiefly con- 
 cerned with logic; but this is merely one part of a single 
 topic. The fact rather is that this system was intended 
 to furnish a correct method of philosophical inquiry into 
 all the objects and subjects of human knowledge, including, 
 amongst others, the process of reasoning and laws of 
 thought. The Nyaya proper differs from its later develop- 
 ment, the Vaiseshika, by propounding sixteen topics in 
 its first Sutra. The first topic of these sixteen is Pra- 
 
 1 The Nyaya Sitras, consisting of five books, with the commentary, 
 were printed at Calcutta in 1828, under the title of Nyaya-siitra-vritti. 
 Four of the five books were edited and translated by the late Dr. Ballan- 
 tyne. He also published the Nyaya compendium, called Tarka-sangraha. 
 A favourite text-book of this system is the Bhasha-pariécheda, with its 
 commentary, called Siddhanta-muktavali. This has been edited and 
 translated by Dr. Rier. The Vaiseshika Stitras, consisting of ten books, 
 have quite recently been edited and translated in a scholarlike manner by 
 Mr. A. E. Gough, one of my most distinguished Boden scholars, and now 
 Anglo-Sanskrit Professor in the Government College, Benares. Professor 
 E. B. Cowell’s edition of the Kusumanjali, a Nyaya treatise proving the 
 existence of a God, is an interesting work. 
 
72 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 mana, that is, the means or instruments by which Prama 
 or the right measure of any subject is to be obtained. 
 Under this head are enunciated the different processes 
 by which the mind arrives at true and accurate know- 
 ledge. 
 
 These processes are declared in the third Satra of 
 the first book to be four, viz. 
 
 a. Pratyaksha, ‘perception by the senses.’ b. Anumdna, ‘inference.’ 
 id . 
 c. Upamana, ‘comparison. d. Sabda, ‘verbal authority’ or ‘ trust- 
 worthy testimony, including Vedic revelation. 
 
 The treatment of the second of these, viz. inference, 
 possesses more interest for Europeans, as indicating that 
 the Hindis have not, like other nations, borrowed their 
 logic and metaphysics from the Greeks. 
 
 Inference is divided in Sttra I. 32 into five Avayavas 
 or ‘members.’ 
 
 τ. The pratijia or proposition (stated hypothetically). 
 
 2. The hetw or reason. 
 
 3. The wdaharana (sometimes called nidargana) or example (equiva- 
 lent to the major premiss). 
 
 4. The wpanaya or application of the reason (equivalent to the minor 
 premiss). 
 
 5. The nigamana or conclusion (i.e. the pratijra or ‘ proposition’ 
 re-stated as proved). 
 
 This method of splitting an inference or argument into 
 five divisions is familiarly illustrated by native commen- 
 tators thus : 
 
 x. The hill is fiery ; 2. for it smokes ; 3. whatever smokes is fiery, as a 
 
 kitchen-hearth (or, inversely, not as a lake, which is invariably without 
 fire); 4. this hill smokes ; 5. therefore this hill is fiery. 
 
 Here we have a combination of enthymeme and syllo- 
 gism, which seems clumsy by the side of Aristotle’s more 
 concise method ; the fourth and fifth members being repe- 
 titions of the second and first, which, therefore, appear 
 superfluous. But it possesses some advantages when 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—NYAYA. τὸ 
 
 regarded, not as a syllogism, but as ἃ full and complete 
 rhetorical statement of an argument. 
 
 Perhaps the most noticeable peculiarity in the Indian 
 method, stamping it as an original and independent ana- 
 lysis of the laws of thought, 15 the use of the curious 
 terms, Vydpti, ‘invariable pervasion’ or ‘ concomitance a 
 Vydpaka, ‘ pervader’ or ‘invariably pervading attribute ;’ 
 and Vydpya, ‘invariably pervaded.’ ‘These terms are em- 
 ployed in making a universal affirmation or in affirming 
 universal distribution ; as, for example, ‘ Wherever there 15 
 smoke there is fire.’ ‘Wherever there is humanity there is 
 mortality.’ In such cases an Indian logician always ex- 
 presses himself by saying that there is an invariably per- 
 vading concomitance of fire with smoke and of mortality 
 with humanity. 
 
 Similarly, fire and mortality are called the pervaders 
 (Vydpaka), smoke and humanity the pervaded (Vyapyq). 
 The first argument would therefore be thus briefly stated 
 by a Naiydyika: ‘The mountain has invariably fire-per- 
 vaded smoke, therefore it has fire.’ 
 
 To show the importance attached to a right under- 
 standing of this technical expression Vydpti, and to serve 
 as a specimen of a Naiyayika writer's style, I now make 
 an abridged extract from Sankara-migra’s comment on the 
 fourteenth Sitra of the first daily lesson of the third book 
 of the Vaisgeshika Siitras (Gough, p. 86): 
 
 It may be asked, What is this invariable concomitance? (Nanu keyam 
 vyaptih.) It is not merely a relation of co-extension. Nor is it the relation 
 of totality. For if you say that invariable concomitance is the connection 
 of the middle term with the whole of the major term (Aritsnasya sadhyasya 
 sadhana-sambandhah), such connection does not exist in the case of 
 smoke, &c. [for although fire exists wherever smoke exists, smoke does not 
 always exist where fire exists, not being found in red-hot iron}. Nor is it 
 natural conjunction ; for the nature of a thing is the thing’s proper mode 
 of being. Nor is it invariable co-inherence of the major, which is absent 
 only when there is absolute non-existence of that of which the middle is 
 
74 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 predicated ; for voleanic fire must always be non-existent in a kitchen- 
 hearth, though smoky. Nor is it the not being a subject of incompati- 
 bility with the predicate. Nor is it the possession of a form determined 
 by the same connection as something else ; as, for instance, the being fiery 
 is not determined by connection with smoke, for the being fiery is more 
 extensive. We proceed, then, to state that invariable concomitance is 
 a connection requiring no qualifying term or limitation (an-awpadhikah 
 sambandhah)'. It is an extensiveness co-extensive with the predicate 
 (sadhya-vyapaka-vydpakatvam). In other words, invariable concomitance 
 is invariable co-inherence of the predicate ὅ. 
 
 The second head or topic of the Nyaya is Prameya, 
 by which is meant all the objects or subjects of Prama— 
 those points, in short, about which correct knowledge is to 
 be obtained. This topic includes all the most important 
 subjects investigated by Indian philosophy. The Pra- 
 meyas are twelve, as given in the ninth Sutra ; thus,— 
 
 τ. Soul (@tman). 2. Body (sarira). 3. Senses (endriya). 4. Objects 
 of sense (artha). 5. Understanding or intellection (buddhi). 6. Mind 
 (manas). 7. Activity (pravritti). 8. Faults (dosha). 9. Transmigration 
 (pretya-bhava). το. Consequences or fruits (phala). τε. Pain (duhkha). 
 12. Emancipation (apavarga). 
 
 In his first topic Gautama provides for hearing opposing 
 disputants who desire to discuss fairly any of these Pra- 
 meyas which form his second topic. 
 
 With regard to his fourteen other topics, they seem to 
 be not so much philosophical categories as an enumeration 
 of the regular stages through which a controversy is likely 
 
 ' Hence, ‘the mountain is smoky because it has fire’ is not vyapte, but 
 ati-vyapti, because the upadhi or qualification ardrendana-jata, ‘ produced 
 by wet wood, must be added to make the argument correct. When the 
 middle term (fire) and the major (smoke) are made co-extensive then the 
 fault of ati-vyapte is removed. 
 
 * It would be difficult to convey to a general reader any idea of the 
 terseness with which the use of long compounds enables all this to be 
 expressed in the original Sanskrit. Of course the obscurity of the style 
 is proportionably great, and the difficulty of translation enhanced. 
 Mr. Gough, however, is not responsible for every word of the above. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—NYAYA. 75 
 
 to pass. In India argument slides into wrangling dispu- 
 tation even more easily than in Europe, and these remain- 
 ing topics certainly illustrate very curiously the captious 
 propensities of a Hindi disputant, leading him to be quick 
 in repartee and ready with specious objections in oppo- 
 sition to the most conclusive logic. 
 
 There is, first, the state of Samsaya, or ‘doubt about the 
 point to be discussed.’ Next, there must be a Prayojana, 
 or ‘motive for discussing it. Next, a Drishtdnta, or “ fami- 
 liar example, must be adduced in order that a Seddhdnta, 
 or ‘established conclusion,’ may be arrived at. Then comes 
 an objector with his Avayava, or ‘argument’ split up, as 
 we have seen, into five members. Next follows the Tarka, 
 or ‘refutation (reductio ad absurdum) of his objection,’ and 
 the Nirnaya, or ‘ascertainment of the true state of the 
 case. But this is not enough to satisfy a Hindi’s passion 
 for disputation. Every side of a question must be ex- 
 amined—every possible objection stated—and so a further 
 Vada, or ‘ controversy,’ takes place, which of course leads 
 to Jalpa, ‘mere wrangling, followed by Vitanda, ‘ cavil- 
 ling ;’ Hetv-dbhdsa, ‘fallacious reasoning" ;’ Chala, ‘ quib- 
 bling artifices σ᾿ Jdti, ‘futile replies ;’ and Nigraha-sthana, 
 ‘the putting an end to all discussion’ by a demonstration 
 of the objector’s incapacity for argument. 
 
 The above are Gotama’s sixteen topics. After enumerat- 
 ing them he proceeds to state how deliverance from the 
 misery of repeated births is to be attained ; thus,— 
 
 Misery, birth, activity, fault, false notions; on the removal of these in 
 turn (beginning with the last), there is the removal also of that which 
 precedes it ; then ensues final emancipation. 
 
 ᾿ As an example of fallacious argument may be taken the sixteenth 
 Aphorism of the third book of the Vaiseshika Sutras, yasmad vishani 
 tasmad asvah, ‘because this has horns, therefore it is a horse ;’ or the 
 next Siitra, yasmad vishdni tasmad gauh, ‘because it has horns, therefore 
 it is a cow,’ which last is the fallacy of ‘undistributed middle.’ 
 
76 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 That is to say, from false notions comes the fault of 
 liking, disliking, or being indifferent to anything; from 
 that fault proceeds activity; from this mistaken activity 
 proceed actions involving either merit or demerit, which 
 merit or demerit forces a man nolens volens to pass 
 through repeated births for the sake of its reward or 
 punishment. From these births proceed misery, and it 
 is the aim of philosophy to correct the false notions at 
 the 100t of this misery. 
 
 A Naiyayika commentator, Vatsyayana, thus comments 
 on the foregoing statement (Banerjea, p. 185): 
 
 From false notion proceed partiality and prejudice ; thence come the 
 faults of detraction, envy, delusion, intoxication, pride, avarice. Acting 
 with a body, a person commits injury, theft, and unlawful sensualities,— 
 becomes false, harsh, and slanderous. This vicious activity produces 
 demerit. But to do acts of charity, benevolence, and service with the 
 body ; to be truthful, useful, agreeable in speech, or given to repetition of 
 the Veda; to be kind, disinterested, and reverential—these produce 
 merit (dharma). Hence merit and demerit are fostered by activity. 
 This activity is the cause of vile as well as honourable births. Attendant 
 on birth is pain. That comprises the feeling of distress, trouble, disease, 
 and sorrow. Emancipation is the cessation of all these. What intelligent 
 person will not desire emancipation from all pain? For, it is said, food 
 mixed with honey and poison is to be rejected. Pleasure joined with pain 
 is to be avoided. 
 
 IT pass at once to the most important part of the Nyaya 
 system, its supplement : 
 
 The Vaiseshika. 
 
 We now come to the Vaiseshika development of the 
 Nyaya, attributed to an author Kanada‘. This is not 
 
 1 This was probably a mere nickname, meaning ‘ Feeder on Atoms.’ 
 He is also called Uliika. Gautama, the author of the Nyaya proper, 
 had also a nickname, Aksha-pdda, ‘eye-footed, having his eyes always 
 fixed in abstraction on his feet, or supernaturally gifted with eyes in his 
 feet, because too absent to see with those in his head. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPH Y— VAISESHIK A. 77 
 
 so much a branch of this system as a supplement to it, 
 extending the Nyaya to physical inquiries, which it does 
 very imperfectly, it is true, and often with strange fancies 
 and blunders; but, nevertheless, with occasional exactness 
 and not unfrequently with singular sagacity. It is cer- 
 tainly the most interesting of all the systems, both from 
 its more practical character and from the parallels it offers 
 to European philosophical ideas. It begins by arranging 
 its inquiries under seven Padadrthas, which, as they are 
 more properly categories (i. e. an enumeration of certain 
 general properties or attributes that may be predicated or 
 affirmed of existing things’), are now the generally received 
 categories of Naiydyikas. They are as follow: τ. Sub- 
 stance (dravya). 2. Quality or property (guia). 3. Act 
 or action (karman). 4. Generality or community of pro- 
 perties (s@mdnya). 5. Particularity or mdividuality (v- 
 esha). 6. Co-inherence or perpetual intimate relation 
 (samavaya). 7. Non-existence or negation of existence 
 
 (abhdva) ". 
 
 1 Thus man is a substance, so also is a chair and a stone ; whiteness, 
 blackness, breadth, and length, though very different things, are yet all 
 qualities, &c. 
 
 2 It is interesting to compare the ten Aristotelian categories. They 
 are: 1. Οὐσία, ‘Substance.’ 2. Ποσόν, ‘How much 2’ ‘Quantity.’ 3. Ποιόν, 
 ‘Of what kind ?’ ‘ Quality.’ 4. Πρός τι, ‘In relation to what?’ ‘ Relation.’ 
 5. Ποιεῖν, ‘Action.’ 6. Πάσχειν, ‘Passiveness’ or ‘Passivity.’ 7. Ποῦ, 
 ‘Where?’ ‘Position in space.’ 8. Πότε, ‘When?’ ‘ Position in time.’ 
 9. Κεῖσθαι, ‘ Local situation.’ 10. Ἔχειν, ‘Possession.’ Mr. J. 8. Mill, in 
 his Logic, declares that this enumeration is both redundant and defective. 
 Some objects are admitted and others repeated under different heads. 
 «It is like,’ be says, ‘a division of animals into men, quadrupeds, horses, 
 asses, and ponies.’ Action, passivity, and local situation ought not to be 
 excluded from the category of relation, and the distinction between position 
 in space and local situation is merely verbal. His own enumeration of all 
 existing or describable things is as follows: 1. ‘ Feelings or states of con- 
 sciousness.’ Even the external world is only known as conceived by the 
 mind. 2. ‘The minds’ which experience those feelings. 3. ‘ The bodies,’ 
 
78 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Kanada, however, the author of the Siitras, enumerated 
 only six categories. The seventh was added by later 
 writers. This is stated in the fourth Sutra of book I; thus 
 (Gough’s translation, p. 4): 
 
 The highest good results from knowledge of the truth which springs 
 from particular merit, and is obtained by means of the similarity and dis- 
 similarity of the categories, substance, attribute, action, generality, parti- 
 cularity, co-inherence. 
 
 The commentator adds : 
 
 In this place there is mention of six categories, but in reality non- 
 existence is also implied by the sage as another category. 
 
 The seven categories are all subdivided. 
 
 Let us begin with the first category of Dravya or ‘ sub- 
 stance. The fifth Stitra makes the following enumeration 
 of nine Dravyas : 
 
 Earth (prithivi), water (@pas), light (tejas), air (vayu), ether (a@kasa), 
 time (Lala), space (dis), soul (@tman), the internal organ, mind (manas) 
 are the substances. 
 
 The commentator adds : 
 
 If it be objected, there is a tenth substance, darkness (tamas), why is 
 it not enumerated ? for it is recognized by perception, and substantially 
 belongs to it, because it is possessed of colour and action ; and because 
 devoid of odour, it is not earth; and because it possesses dark colour, it is 
 not water, &c.: we reply that it is not so, because it is illogical to 
 imagine another substance, when it is necessarily produced by non-exist- 
 ence of light. 
 
 It should be stated that of these substances the first 
 four (earth, water, light, and air) and the last (mind) are 
 held to be atomic, and that the first four are both eternal 
 and non-eternal—non-eternal in their various compounds, 
 
 supposed to excite feelings or sensations. 4. ‘The successions and co-exist- 
 ences, the likenesses and unlikenesses’ between these feelings. Further, 
 he shows that all possible propositions affirm or deny one or other of the 
 following properties or facts: 1. Existence, the most general attribute. 
 2. Co-existence. 3. Sequence or Succession. 4. Causation. 5. Resem- 
 blance. See Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, under the article ‘ Categories.’ 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—YV AISESHIKA. 79 
 
 eternal in their ultimate atoms, to which they must be 
 traced back’. 
 
 Next follows the second category of ‘quality.’ The 
 sixth Stitra enumerates seventeen qualities or properties 
 which belong to or are inherent in the nine substances : 
 
 Colour (rapa), savour (rasa), odour (gandha), tangibility (sparsa), 
 numbers (sankhyah), extensions (parimanant), individuality (prithaktva), 
 conjunction (samyoga), disjunction (wibhdga), priority (paratva), posteri- 
 ority (aparatva), intellections (buddhayah), pleasure (sukha), pain (d uhkha), 
 desire (ié¢h@), aversion (dvesha), volitions (prayatnah) are (the seventeen) 
 qualities, 
 
 The commentator Sankara-migra adds seven others, 
 which, he says, are implied, though not mentioned, making 
 twenty-four in all. They are: 
 
 Gravity (gurutva), fluidity (dravatva), viscidity (sneha), self-reproduc- 
 tion (sanskdra, implying—a. impetus as the cause of activity ; ὦ. elas- 
 ticity ; ὁ. the faculty of memory), merit, demerit, and sound. 
 
 In point of fact the Nyaya goes more philosophically 
 and more correctly than the other systems into the 
 
 1 According to the Platonie school, substances (οὐσίαι) are ranged under 
 two heads—a. vonrat καὶ ἀκίνητοι ; b, αἰσθηταὶ καὶ ἐν knoe: a. perceptible 
 by the mind and immovable; b. perceptible by the senses and in motion. 
 Aristotle, in his Metaphysics (XI. 1), seems to divide substances into 
 three classes—a. those that are cognizable by the mind, immovable, 
 unchangeable, and eternal; 6. those cognizable by the senses and eternal ; 
 c. those cognizable by the senses and subject to decay, as plants and 
 animals. Οὐσίαι δὲ τρεῖς" pia μὲν, αἰσθητή" fs ἡ μὲν ἀΐδιος, ἡ δὲ φθαρτὴ, ἣν 
 πάντες ὁμολογοῦσιν, οἷον τὰ φυτὰ καὶ τὰ ζῶα" ἡ δ᾽ ἀΐδιος. ἤΛλλλη δὲ ἀκίνητος. In 
 another place (VII. 8) he defines substance as the essence or very nature 
 of a thing (τό τι ἦν εἶναι). Again, in illustration (IV. 8), he says that 
 whatever may be the cause of being is a substance, as soul in an animal 
 (ἡ ψυχὴ τῷ Cow) ; and again, as many inherent parts in anything as define 
 and indicate what it is, e.g. superficies, a line, number, and that essence 
 of which the formal cause (ὁ λόγος) is the definition; and, thirdly, he says 
 that earth, fire, water, &c., and all bodies and all animals consisting of 
 these are substances. See the Rey. J. H. M‘Mahon’s useful translation, 
 published by Bohn. 
 
80 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 qualities of all substances. The twenty-four which it 
 enumerates may be regarded as separating into two classes, 
 according as they are the sixteen qualities of material 
 substances or the eight properties of soul. These eight 
 are intellection, volition, desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, 
 merit, and demerit. 
 
 The third category, Karman, ‘act’ or ‘action,’ is thus 
 divided in Sitra I. 1. 7: 
 
 Elevation (literally throwing upwards), depression (throwing down- 
 wards), contraction, dilatation, and going (or motion in general) are the 
 (five kinds of) acts. [Utkshepanam avakshepanam dkuicanam prasa- 
 ranam gamanum we karmani. | 
 
 The fourth category, Sadmdnya, ‘generality, is said to 
 be twofold, viz. higher (para) and lower (apara); the 
 first being ‘simple existence, applicable to genus ; the 
 second being ‘substantiality, applicable to species. 
 
 The fifth category, Visesha, ‘ particularity, belongs to 
 the nine eternal substances of the first category, viz. soul, 
 time, place, ether, and the five atoms of earth, water, 
 light, air, and mind, all of which have an eternal ultimate 
 difference, distinguishing each from the other. 
 
 The sixth category, Samavaya, ‘co-inherence’ or ‘ inti- 
 mate relation, is of only one kind. his relation appears 
 to be that which exists between a substance and its 
 qualities, between atoms and what is formed out of them, 
 or between any object and the general idea connected 
 with it, and is thought to be a real entity, very much 
 in accordance with the Platonic realism of the Middle 
 Ages. It is the relation between a jar and the earth 
 which composes it, between a cloth and its threads, be- 
 tween the idea of round and any round thing, between a 
 whole and its parts, between a genus or species and its 
 individuals, between an act and its agent, between indi- 
 viduality and eternal substance. 
 
 In connection with this sixth category may be men- 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VAISESHIK A. 81 
 
 tioned the Nyaya theory of causation. Sittra I. 2. 1, 2 
 states 
 
 From non-existence of cause (kdranq) is non-existence of effect (karya), 
 but there is not from non-existence of effect non-existence of cause. 
 
 In the Tarka-sangraha a cause is declared to be ‘that 
 which invariably precedes an effect which otherwise could 
 not be,’ and three kinds of causes are enumerated, viz. 
 
 a. Co-inherence cause, or that resulting from intimate and constant 
 relation—perhaps best rendered by ‘ substantial cause’ (samavayi-harana), 
 as threads are the substantial cause of cloth. This corresponds to the 
 material cause of Aristotle. ὁ. Non-substantial cause (a-samavayi- 
 karana), as the putting together of the threads is of cloth. This corre- 
 sponds to the formal cause. ὁ. Instrumental cause (nimitta-harana), as 
 the weaver’s tools, the loom, or the skill of the weaver himself, &c. are of 
 cloth. This corresponds to the efficient cause’. 
 
 As to the seventh category of non-existence or negation, 
 four kinds are specified, viz. 
 
 a. Antecedent (or the non-existence of anything before it began to 
 exist, as a jar not yet made), ὁ. Cessation of existence (as of a jar when 
 
 it is smashed to pieces). ὁ. Mutual non-existence (as of a jar in cloth). 
 d, Absolute non-existence (as of fire in a lake). 
 
 Without dwelling longer on the seven categories we 
 
 * Aristotle's four causes are—1. Material cause, i.e. the matter (ὕλη) 
 from which anything is made, as marble of a statue, silver of a goblet. 
 2. Formal cause, i.e. the specific form or pattern according to which 
 anything is made, as a drawing or plan is the formal cause of the building 
 ofa house. 3. Efficient cause, i.e. the origin of the principle of motion 
 (ὅθεν ἡ ἀρχὴ τῆς κινήσεως), as the energy of a workman is the prime mover 
 in producing any work. 4. Final cause, i.e. the purpose for which any- 
 thing is made, the motive for its production, or the end served by its 
 existence. According to Dr. Ballantyne (Lecture on the Nyaya, p. 23), 
 Aristotle’s final cause has a counterpart in the Naiyayika’s prayojana, 
 i.e. motive, purpose, or use. The writer in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, under 
 the head of ‘Cause,’ shows that these causes of Aristotle and the Nyaya 
 should rather be called the aggregate of conditions necessary to the pro- 
 duction of any work of man. 
 
82 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 must briefly indicate how the views of the Nydya and 
 Vaigeshika, as to the external world and the nature of 
 soul, differ from those of the other systems. First, then, 
 as to the formation of the world. This is supposed to be 
 effected by the aggregation of Anus or ‘atoms.’ These 
 are innumerable and eternal, and are eternally aggregated, 
 disintegrated, and redintegrated by the power of Adrishta. 
 According to Kanada’s Sitras (IV. 1) an atom is ‘ some- 
 thing existing, having no cause, eternal’ (sad akdranavan 
 nityam). They are, moreover, described as less than the 
 least, invisible, intangible, indivisible, imperceptible by 
 the senses ; and—what is most noteworthy in distinguish- 
 ing the Vaigeshika system from others—as having each 
 of them a Visesha or eternal essence of its own. The 
 combination of these atoms is first into an aggregate 
 of two, called Dvy-anuka. Three of them, again, are 
 supposed to combine into a Trasa-renu, which, like a 
 mote in a sunbeam, has just sufficient magnitude to be 
 perceptible ". 
 
 According to Colebrooke’s statement of the Vaiseshika 
 theory the following process is supposed to take place in 
 
 the ageregation of atoms to form earth, water, light, and 
 air : 
 
 Two earthly atoms concurring by an unseen peculiar virtue (a-drishta), 
 or by the will of God, or by time, or by other competent cause, constitute 
 a double atom of earth ; and by concourse of three binary atoms a tertiary 
 atom is produced, and by concourse of four triple atoms a quaternary 
 atom, and so on to a gross, grosser, or grossest mass of earth; thus great 
 
 τ The binary compound only differs from the single atom by number, 
 and not by measure, size, or perceptibility. Both are infinitesimal, and, 
 being joined, can only produce an infinitesimal result (like multiplied 
 fractions). It is the tertiary compound which first introduces magnitude 
 and causes measure, just as a jar’s measure is caused by that of its two 
 halves. See Professor Cowell’s translation of the Kusumanjali, p. 66. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VAISESHIKA. 83 
 
 earth is produced ; and in like manner great water from aqueous atoms, 
 great light from luminous, and great air from aerial’. 
 
 From the Tarka-sangraha we may continue the account 
 thus : 
 
 a. Earth possesses the property of odour, which is its distinguishing 
 quality. It is of two kinds, eternal and non-eternal—eternal in the form 
 of atoms ( parumdnu-ripa), non-eternal in the form of products (karya- 
 vipa). The non-eternal character of aggregated earth is shown by the 
 want of permanence in a jar when crushed to powder. When aggregated 
 it is of three kinds, organized body (Sartra), organ of sense (indriya), 
 and unorganic mass (vishaya). The organ connected with it is the nose 
 or sense of smell (ghrdna), which is the recipient of odour. 6. Water 
 possesses the property of being cool to the touch. It is also of two kinds, 
 eternal and non-eternal, as before. Its organ is the tongue or taste 
 (rasana), the recipient of savour, which is one of the qualities of water. 
 
 * As these Lectures were delivered before classical scholars I thought it 
 superfluous, at the time of their delivery, to indicate all the obvious points 
 of comparison between Indian and European systems. Reference might 
 here, however, be made to the doctrines of Epicurus, especially as ex- 
 pounded by Lucretius, who begins his description of the coalescing of 
 atoms or primordial seeds to form the world and various material objects 
 thus : 
 ‘Nunc age, quo motu genitalia materiai 
 
 Corpora res varias gignant, genitasque resolvant 
 
 Et qua vi facere id cogantur, quaeve sit ollis 
 
 Reddita mobilitas magnum per inane meandi 
 
 Expediam.’ (II. 61-64.) 
 
 Nearly the whole of the second book of Lucretius might be quoted. It is 
 full of interest in connection with the Vaiseshika system. Cicero’s eriti- 
 cisms on the Epicurean theory are also interesting in relation to this 
 subject. In his De Natura Deorum (11. 37) he says, ‘If a concourse of 
 atoms could produce a world (quod si mundum efficere potest concursus 
 atomorum), why not also a portico, a temple, a house, a city, which are 
 much less difficult to form?’ We might even be tempted to contrast 
 some of the discoveries of modern chemists and physicists with the crude 
 but shrewd ideas of Indian philosophers prosecuting their investigations 
 more than 2000 years ago without the aids and appliances now at every 
 one’s command. 
 
 Ge 
 
84 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 c. Light is distinguished by being hot to the feel?. It is similarly of two 
 kinds, and its organ is the eye (éakshus), the recipient of colour or form, 
 which is its principal quality. ὦ. Air is distinguished by being sensible 
 to the touch. It is similarly of two kinds, and is colourless. Its organ 
 is the skin (¢va¢), the percipient of tangibility. ὁ. Ether is the substratum 
 of the quality of sound. It is eternal, one, and all-pervading. Its organ 
 is the ear (srotra), the recipient of sound”. 
 
 The great commentator Sankaradarya (quoted by Pro- 
 fessor Banerjea, p. 62) states the process thus: 
 
 ‘At the time of creation action is produced in aerial atoms, which 15 
 dependent on A-drishta. That action joins its own atom with another. 
 Then from binaries, by gradual steps, is produced the air. The same is 
 the case with fire. The same with water. The same with earth. The 
 same with organized bodies*, Thus is the whole universe produced from 
 atoms *,’ 
 
 With regard to the question whether God or the 
 supreme Soul is to be regarded as having taken part 
 in the bringing together and arranging of these atoms, 
 it should be noted that although the name of /évara is 
 
 1 Light and heat are regarded by Naiyayikas as one and the same sub- 
 stance. Curiously enough, gold is described as mineral (@kara-ja) light. 
 
 2 Professor H. H. Wilson has observed (Sankhya-karika, p. 122) that 
 something like the Hindi notion of the senses and the elements partaking 
 of a common nature is expressed in the dictum of Empedocles : 
 
 Tain μὲν yap γαῖαν ὀπώπαμεν, ὕδατι δ᾽ ὕδωρ, 
 
 Αἰθέρι δ᾽ αἰθέρα δῖαν, ἀτὰρ πυρὶ πῦρ ἀΐδηλον. 
 ‘By the earthy element we perceive earth ; by the watery, water ; by the 
 aerial element, the air of heaven; and by the element of fire, devouring 
 fire.” Plato, Repub. VI. 18, has the following: ᾿Αλλ’ ἡλιοειδέστατόν ye 
 οἶμαι τῶν περὶ τὰς αἰσθήσεις ὀργάνων, ‘I regard it (the eye) as of all the organs 
 of sense possessing most likeness to the sun.’ See Muir's Texts V. 298. 
 
 3 In Manu (I. 75-78) and the Sankhya and the Vedanta the order of 
 the elements is ether, air, light or fire, water, and earth. See p. 93. 
 
 * Compare Cicero, De Natura Deorum II. 33, ‘Since there are four 
 sorts of elements, the continuance of the world is caused by their reci- 
 procal action and changes (vicissitudine). For from the earth comes 
 water ; from water arises air; from air, ether; and then conversely in 
 regular order backwards, from ether, air ; from air, water; from water, 
 earth, the lowest element. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VAISESHIKA. 85 
 
 introduced once into Gotama’s διαί θ᾽, it is not found 
 in Kanada’s*. Probably the belief of both was that the 
 formation of the world was simply the result of Advishta, 
 or ‘the unseen force, which is derived from the works or 
 acts of a previous world, and which becomes in Hindi 
 philosophy a kind of god, if not the only god (see p. 69). 
 Later Naiyayika writers, however, affirm the existence of a 
 supreme Soul, Paramdtman, distinct from the Jivdtman, or 
 ‘human soul ;’ and this supreme Soul is described as eternal, 
 immutable, omniscient, without form, all-pervading, all- 
 powerful, and, moreover, as the framer of the universe. 
 Thus the Tarka-sangraha states (Ballantyne, p. 12): 
 
 The seat of knowledge is the soul (ἀέρα). It is twofold, the living 
 soul (jzvdtman) and the supreme soul (paramdtman). The supreme soul 
 is lord, omniscient, one only, subject to neither pleasure nor pain, infinite 
 and eternal. 
 
 Indeed the Nyaya is held by some to be the stronghold 
 of Theism. 
 
 As to the living individual souls of corporeal beings, 
 the Nyaya view is-that they are eternal, manifold’, 
 
 1 The Sititra is TV. 5. 19, and is as follows. Some one suggests, ‘God 
 is the (sole) cause, because we see that the acts of men are occasionally 
 unattended by their fruits’ (7svarah haranam purusha-karmaphalya- 
 darsanat). The next Aphorism is an answer to this suggestion, and seems 
 to assert that God was not the cause of the universe ; thus, ‘ Not so, 
 because in the absence of men’s acts the fruit is not produced.’ The next 
 Aphorism runs thus: ‘It (man’s agency 1) is not the (sole) cause, because 
 that is caused by that.’ The word ‘sole,’ however, is introduced by the 
 commentator, and all three Aphorisms seem designedly obscure. 
 
 ® According to Banerjea, p. 62; but the commentators say it is implied 
 in the third Siitra. ΙΝ 
 
 8. According to the Vaiseshika-siitra III. 2. 20, Vyavasthato nana, 
 ‘because of its circumstances (or conditions), soul is manifold.’ The com- 
 mentator adds, ‘ Circumstances are the several conditions; as, one is rich, 
 another mean ; one is happy, another unhappy; one is of high, another of 
 low birth; one is learned, another reads badly. These circumstances 
 evince a diversity and plurality of souls.’ 
 
86 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 eternally separate from each other and distinct from the 
 body, senses, and mind, yet capable of apprehension, voli- 
 tion (or effort), desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, merit, and 
 demerit. 
 
 In the Vaiseshika Aphorisms (III. 2. 4) other charac- 
 teristic signs (imwgdni) of the living soul are given, such 
 as the opening and shutting of the eyes, the motions of 
 the mind and especially life’. The commentator, in com- 
 menting upon this, describes the soul as the ‘ governor 
 or superintendent over the body. Here is the passage 
 (Gough, p. 110): 
 
 Vitality is a mark of the existence of the soul; for by the word ‘life’ 
 the effects of vitality, such as growth, the healing of wounds and bruises, 
 are implied. For as the owner of a house builds up the broken edifice or 
 enlarges a building which is too small, so the ruler of the body effects by 
 food, &c., the increase and enlargement of the body, which is to him in 
 the stead of a habitation, and with medicine and the like causes what is 
 wounded to grow again and mutilated hands or feet to heal. Thus a 
 superintendent of the body (dehasya adhishthata) is proved like a master 
 of a house. 
 
 It should be added that souls are held to be infinite, 
 ubiquitous, and diffused everywhere throughout space, so 
 that a man’s soul is as much in England as in Calcutta, 
 though it can only apprehend and feel and act where 
 the body happens to be. 
 
 The Nyaya idea of the mind or internal organ (Manas) 
 is that it, like the soul, is a Dravya or ‘eternal substance.’ 
 Instead, however, of being diffused everywhere like the 
 soul, it is atomic, like earth, water, fire, and air. Indeed, 
 if it were infinite, like the soul, it might be united with all 
 subjects at once, and all apprehensions might be contem- 
 poraneous, which is impossible. It ‘is therefore regarded 
 as a mere atom or atomic inlet to the soul, not allowing 
 
 1 Plato (Phaedrus 52) defines soul as τὸ αὐτὸ αὑτὸ κινοῦν, quoted by 
 Cicero, Tusc. Quaest. I. 23. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VAISESHIKA, 87 
 
 the latter to receive more than one thought or conception 
 at atime. So in Nyadya-sitra I. 3. 16, and in Vaiseshika 
 VIIL. 1. 22, 23, it is affirmed as follows : 
 
 ‘The characteristic of the mind is that it does not give rise to more 
 than one notion simultaneously.’ ‘Ether, in consequence of its universal 
 pervasion, is infinitely great, and so likewise is soul. In consequence of 
 non- pewnce of that universal pervasion, the internal organ (mind) is 
 an atom’. 
 
 In regard to the authority to be accorded to the Veda, 
 the views of the Nyaya appear by no means unorthodox. 
 Gautama, in his Aphorisms (II. 58-60, 68), declares 
 plainly that the Veda is not false, that it is not charge- 
 able either with self-contradiction or tautology, and that 
 it is an instrument of true knowledge. Similarly, the 
 third Aphorism of Kanada may be regarded as a kind 
 of confession of faith in the Veda, intended apparently, 
 like that of Gautama, to counteract imputations of hetero- 
 doxy. 
 
 In further proof of the Theism claimed for the Nyaya 
 I here give a short passage from the Kusumanjali, a 
 Naiyayika treatise by Udayana Aéarya, which will serve 
 as a specimen of the sort of arguments employed to prove 
 the existence of a personal God (Igvara) in opposition to 
 atheistical objectors. This work has been ably edited and 
 translated by Professor E. B. Cowell*. The following is 
 merely the opening of the fifth chapter, with a portion 
 of Hari-dasa’s comment : 
 
 An omniscient and indestructible Being is to be proved from the exist- 
 ence of effects, from the combination of atoms, from the support of the 
 
 1 The theory propounded by Lucretius was that the mind is composed 
 of exceedingly subtle atoms ; he says (III. 180) of it, ‘ Esse aio persub- 
 tilem atque minutis Perquam corporibus factum constare.’ As to ether, 
 see note 2, p. 93. 
 
 2 I have referred to his edition and to Dr. Muir's extracts in the 
 appendix to the third volume of his Texts. 
 
88 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 earth in the sky, from traditional arts, from belief in revelation, from the 
 Veda, from its sentences, and from particular numbers. 
 
 Comment: The earth must have had a maker, because it is an effect 
 like a jar. Combination is an action, and therefore the action which pro- 
 duced the conjunction of two atoms at the beginning of a creation must 
 have been accompanied by the volition of an intelligent being. Again, 
 the world depends upon some being who wills to hinder it from falling, 
 like a stick supported by a bird in the air. Again, the traditional arts 
 (pada) now current, as that of making cloth, &c., must have proceeded 
 from an independent being. Again, the knowledge derived from the 
 Veda is derived from a virtue residing in its cause, because it is true 
 knowledge!, (this virtue consisting in the Veda’s being uttered by a fit 
 person, and therefore necessarily implying a personal inspirer.) 
 
 From this brief statement of the distinctive features 
 of the Nyaya school it is clear that this system, at least 
 in its Vaiseshika cosmogony, is dualistic in the sense of 
 assuming the existence of gross material eternal atoms, 
 side by side either with eternal souls or with the supreme 
 Soul of the universe. It sets itself against any theory 
 which would make an impure and evil world spring from 
 a pure and perfect spirit. Nor does it undertake to decide 
 positively what it cannot prove dialectically,—the precise 
 relation between soul and matter. 
 
 * Those who wish to pursue the argument shonld consult Professor 
 Cowell’s translation. It is interesting to compare Cicero, De Natura 
 Deorum (IT. 34): ‘But if all the parts of the universe are so constituted 
 that they could not be better for use or more beautiful in appearance, 
 let us consider whether they could have been put together by chance or 
 whether their condition is such that they could not even cohere unless 
 divine wisdom and providence had directed them (nisi sensu moderante 
 
 > 
 . 
 
 divindque providentid) 
 
 i μμω. μϑνμι υϑμμι. 
 
ΠΟΥ REV. 
 
 The Sdankhya. 
 
 HE Sankhya! philosophy, though possibly prior in 
 date, is generally studied next to the Nyaya, and 
 is more peremptorily and categorically dualistic (dvaita- 
 vadin). It utterly repudiates the notion that impure 
 matter can originate from pure spirit, and, of course, 
 denies that anything can be produced out of nothing. 
 The following are Aphorisms, I. 78, 114-117, propound- 
 ing its doctrine of evolution, which may not be altogether 
 unworthy of the attention of Darwinians : 
 There cannot be the production of something out of nothing (xavas- 
 
 tuno vastu-siddhih); that which is not cannot be developed into that 
 which is. The production of what does not already exist (potentially) is 
 
 1 Kapila, the reputed founder of this school (sometimes fabled as a son 
 of Brahma, sometimes as an incarnation of Vishnu and identified with the 
 sage described in the Ramayana as the destroyer of the sixty thousand 
 sons of Sagara, who in their search for their father’s horse disturbed 
 his devotions), was probably a Brahman, though nothing is known about 
 him. See Maha-bharata XII. 13703. The word Kapila means ‘of a tawny 
 brown colour,’ and may possibly have been applied as a nickname, like 
 Aksha-pada and Kanada. He is the supposed author of two works, viz. 
 a. the original Sankhya Sttras, sometimes called Sankhya-pravasana, 
 comprising 526 aphorisms in six books; 6. a short work called the Tattva- 
 samasa or ‘Compendium of Principles’ (translated by Dr. Ballantyne). . The 
 original Siitras are of course accompanied with abundant commentaries, 
 of which one of the best known is the Sankhya-pravadana-bhashya, by 
 Vijnana-bhikshu, edited with an able and interesting preface by Dr. Fitz- 
 Edward Hall. A very useful and popular compendium of the doctrines 
 of this system, called the Samkhya-karika, was edited and translated by 
 Professor H. H. Wilson. 
 
90 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 impossible, like a horn on a man (ndsad-utpado nri-sringavat) ; because 
 there must of necessity be a material out of which a product is developed ; 
 and because everything cannot occur everywhere at all times (sarvatra 
 sarvada sarvasambhavat) ; and because anything possible must be pro- 
 duced from something competent to produce it’. 
 
 ‘Thus,’ remarks a commentator, ‘curds come from milk, not water. 
 A potter produces a jar from clay, not from cloth. Production is only 
 manifestation of what previously existed.’ Aphorism 121 adds, ‘ Destruc- 
 tion is a resolution of anything into its cause.’ 
 
 In the San-khya, therefore, instead of an analytical in- 
 quiry into the universe as actually existing, arranged 
 under topics and categories, we have a synthetical system 
 propounded, starting from an original primordial tattva or 
 ‘eternally existing essence’, called Prakriti (a word mean- 
 ing ‘ that which evolves or produces everything else’). 
 
 1 See the note on the dogma La nihilo nihil fit, p. 63. We are also 
 here reminded of Lucretius I. 160, &c. : 
 
 Nam si de Nihilo ferent ex omnibu’ rebus 
 
 Omne genus nasci posset ; nil semine egeret ; 
 
 E mare primum homines, e terré posset orire 
 Squammigerum genus et volucres ; erumpere caelo 
 Armenta, atque aliae pecudes : genus omne ferarum 
 Incerto partu culta ac deserta teneret : 
 
 Nec fructus tidem arboribus constare solerent, 
 
 Sed mutarentur : ferre omnes omnia possent. 
 
 ‘Tf things proceed from nothing, everything might spring from everything, 
 and nothing would require a seed. Men might arise first from the sea, 
 and fish and birds from the earth, and flocks and herds break into being 
 from the sky ; every kind of beast might be produced at random in culti- 
 vated places or deserts. The same fruits would not grow on the same 
 trees, but would be changed. All things would be able to produce all 
 things.’ 
 
 2 Tt is usual to translate tat-tva, ‘that-ness,’ by ‘ principle;’ but such 
 words as ‘essence,’ ‘entity, and in some cases even ‘substance,’ seem to 
 convey a more definite idea of its meaning. It corresponds to the bar- 
 barous term ‘quiddity’ (from quid est ?), discarded by Locke and modern 
 English philosophers. Certainly ‘nature’ is anything but a good equi- 
 valent for Prakriti, which denotes something very different from matter 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA. 91 
 
 Τὸ is described by Kapila in his sixty-seventh Aphorism 
 as ‘a rootless root!) amalam milam, thus: 
 
 From the absence of a root in the root, the root (of all things) is rootless. 
 
 Then he continues in his sixty-eighth Aphorism : 
 
 Even if there be a succession of causes (one before the other) there 
 must be a halt at some one point ; and so Prakriti is only a name for the 
 primal source (of all productions). 
 
 Beginning, then, with this original eternal germ or 
 element, the Sankhya reckons up synthetically, whence 
 its name of ‘Synthetic enumeration *, twenty-three other 
 
 or even the germ of mere material substances. It is an intensely subtle 
 original essence wholly distinct from soul, yet capable of evolving out of 
 itself consciousness and mind as well as the whole visible world. Praka- 
 roti itt prakriti is given as its derivation in the Sarva-darsana-sangraha, 
 Ῥ. 147, where pra seems to stand for ‘ forth,’ not ‘before.’ The commen- 
 tator on the Sankhya-karika (p. 4) uses the word paddrtha as applicable 
 to all the twenty-five Tattvas. A Vedantist would not regard tat-tva as 
 an abstract noun from éaf, ‘that,’ but would say it meant ‘truth,’ and in 
 its etymology contained the essence of truth, viz. tat tvam, ‘ that art thou.’ 
 
 * In a passage in the Timaeus (34) Plato propounds a theory of 
 creation in allegorical and not very intelligible language, which the 
 reader can compare with the Sankhyan view: Ἔν δ᾽ οὖν τῷ παρόντι χρὴ 
 γένη διανοηθῆναι τριττά, τὸ μὲν γιγνόμενον, τὸ δ᾽ ἐν ᾧ γίγνεται τὸ δ᾽ ὅθεν ἀφο- 
 μοιούμενον φύεται τὸ γιγνόμενον. καὶ δὴ καὶ προσεικάσαι πρέπει τὸ μὲν δεχόμενον 
 μητρί, τὸ δ᾽ ὅθεν πατρί, τὴν δὲ μεταξὺ τούτων φύσιν ἐκγύόνῳ. διὸ δὴ τὴν τοῦ 
 γεγονότος ὁρατοῦ καὶ πάντως αἰσθητοῦ μητέρα καὶ ὑποδοχὴν μήτε γῆν μήτε ἀέρα 
 μήτε πῦρ μήτε ὕδωρ λέγωμεν, μήτε ὅσα ἐκ τούτων μήτε ἐξ ὧν ταῦτα γέγονεν ἀλλ᾽ 
 ἀνόρατον εἶδός τι καὶ ἄμορφον, πανδεχές. ‘For the present, therefore, we 
 ought to consider three things, that which is produced, that in which it is 
 produced, and that from which a thing is produced, having a natural 
 resemblance. And especially it is proper to compare that which receives 
 to the mother, that from which it receives to the father, and the nature 
 which is between these to the child. Then, as to this mother and recep- 
 tacle of things created which are visible and altogether perceptible, we 
 cannot term it either earth, air, fire, or water, nor any one of their com- 
 pounds, nor any of the elements from which they were produced, but 
 a certain invisible and shapeless essence, which receives all things,’ &e. 
 Compare note 3, p. 62. 
 
 * Hence Sir W. Jones called the Sinkhya the Numeral philosophy. It 
 
92 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Tattvas or ‘ entities,’ which are all productions of the first, 
 evolving themselves out of it as naturally and spontane- 
 ously as cream out of milk or milk out of a cow. 
 
 The twenty-fifth entity is Purusha, ‘the soul, which is 
 neither producer nor produced, but eternal, like Prakriti. 
 It is quite distinct from the producing or produced ele- 
 ments and creations of the phenomenal world, though 
 liable to be brought into connection with them. In fact, 
 the object of the Sankhya system is to effect the hbera- 
 tion of the soul from the fetters in which it is involved 
 by union with Prakriti. It does this by conveying the 
 Prama or ‘correct knowledge’ of the twenty-four consti- 
 tuent principles of creation, and rightly discriminating 
 the soul from them ; its Pramdnas, or ‘means of obtain- 
 ing the correct measure of existing things, being reduced 
 from four (see p. 72) to three, viz. Drishta, Anumdna, and 
 Apta-vaéana, ‘perception by the senses, inference, and 
 credible assertion or trustworthy testimony.’ 
 
 The third Aphorism of the Sankhya-karika thus reckons 
 up the catalogue of all existing entities : 
 
 The root and substance of all things (except soul) is Prakriti. It is no 
 production. Seven things produced by it are also producers. Thence 
 
 come sixteen productions. Soul, the twenty-fifth essence, is neither a 
 production nor producer. 
 
 Hence it appears that from an original Prakriti (vari- 
 ously called Mila-prakyiti, ‘root-principle ;’ Amilam 
 milam, ‘ rootless root ;’ Pradhdna, ‘chief one ;’ A-vyakta, 
 ‘unevolved evolver ;’ Brahman, ‘supreme ;’ “7 γᾶ, ‘ power 
 of illusion!’), seven other producers are evolved, and as so 
 evolved are regarded as Vikiras or ‘ productions.’ The first 
 production of the original producer is Buddhi, commonly 
 
 has been compared partly with the metaphysics of Pythagoras, partly (in 
 its Yoga) with the system of Zeno ; also with that of Berkeley. 
 1 According to Gaudapada’s commentary on Sankhya-karika, 22. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA. 93 
 
 ealled ‘intellect or intellectual perception’ (and vari- 
 ously termed MMahat, from its being the Great source of 
 the two other internal faculties, Ahan-kara and Manas or 
 ‘self-consciousness and mind’). Third in order comes this 
 Ahakara, the ‘I-making’ faculty, that is, self-consciousness 
 or the sense of individuality (sometimes conveniently 
 termed ‘ Ego-ism’), which produces the next five principles, 
 called Tanmadtras or ‘subtle elementary particles,’ out of 
 which the grosser elements (Mahd-bhita) are evolved '. 
 These eight constitute the producers. 
 
 Then follow the sixteen that are productions only; and 
 first in order, as produced by the Tanmdtras, come the 
 five grosser elements already mentioned, viz. 
 
 a. Akasa*, ‘ether, with the distinguishing property of sound, or, in 
 other words, the substratum of sound (which sound is the vishaya or 
 object for a corresponding organ of sense, the ear). b. Vayu, ‘air, with 
 the property of tangibility (which is the vishaya for the skin). ο. Tejas 
 or jyotis, ‘ fire or light,’ with the property of form or colour (which is the 
 vishaya for the eye). d. Apas, ‘water, with the property of savour or 
 taste (which is the vishaya for the tongue). ὁ. Prithivi or bhimi, ‘ earth,’ 
 with the property of odour or smell (which is the vishaya for the nose). 
 
 Each of these elements after the first has also the pro- 
 perty or properties of the preceding besides its own, 
 
 1 These Tanmatras appear nearly to correspond to the πρῶτα στοιχεῖα 
 of Plato (Theaet. 139), or rather to the στοιχεῖα στοιχείων, ‘elements of 
 elements’ (Theaet. 142), and to the ῥιζώματα of Empedocles. 
 
 2 Akasa, as shown elsewhere (see p. 115, note 3), must not be exactly 
 identified with the modern ‘ether,’ though this word is usually taken 
 as its nearest possible equivalent. In some of its properties and functions 
 it more corresponds with the izane, ‘vacant space,’ of Lucretius. Qua- 
 propter locus est intactus Inane, vacansque (I. 335). At any rate, one 
 synonym of a@kdga is Stinya. Cicero, De Nat. Deorum II. 40, seems to 
 identify ether with sky or space, which stretches to the remotest point 
 and surrounds all things. The Ramayana, LI. r1o. 5, makes Brahma 
 spring from ether, but the Epic and Puranic accounts of akasa are very 
 inconsistent. Some say that it was created and is perishable, others that 
 
94 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Next follow the eleven organs produced, like the Tan- 
 matras, by the third producer, Ahankara, viz. the five 
 organs of sense, the five organs of action,, and an eleventh 
 organ standing between these two sets, called Manas, ‘the 
 mind,’ which is an internal organ of perception, volition, 
 and action. 
 
 The eight producers, then, with the five grosser elements, 
 ether, air, fire, water, earth, and with the eleven organs, 
 constitute the true elements and constituent substances of 
 the phenomenal world. As, however, the most important 
 of the producers, after the mere unintelligent original germ, 
 is the third, called Ahan-kdra, ‘ self-consciousness or Indi- 
 viduality, it is scarcely too much to maintain that, accord- 
 ing to the Sankhya view, the whole world of sense is 
 practically created by the individual Ego*, who 15, 
 nevertheless, quite distinct from the soul, as this soul is 
 supposed to possess in itself no real consciousness of sepa- 
 rate individuality, though deluded by it. 
 
 It should also be noted that, according to the Sankhya 
 theory, Prakriti, though a subtle elementary essence, is 
 yet to be regarded as consisting of three ingredients or 
 constituent principles in equipoise, called Gunas. These 
 are Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, ‘ goodness or purity, passion 
 or activity, and darkness or ignorance.’ 
 
 Thus Kapila (Aphorism 61) affirms as follows: 
 
 Prakriti is the state of equipoise (Sémydvastha) of goodness, passion, 
 and darkness. 
 
 it was not created and is eternal. See Muir’s Texts IV. 119, Maha-bha- 
 rata XII. 6132. 
 
 1 The five organs of sense or perception (buddhindriyant) are, ear, 
 skin, eye, nose, tongue; those of action (karmendriyant) are, larynx, 
 hand, foot, and the excretory and generative organs. 
 
 2 This idea of personal individual creation is what chiefly distinguishes 
 the Sankhya from the pantheism of the Vedanta, which denies all real 
 personal individuality. It has also led to the San-khya system being 
 compared to the theory of Berkeley. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA. 95 
 
 Evidently, then, these three constituents of the primal 
 elementary germ are really themselves elementary sub- 
 stances, and not qualities, although they are called Gunas 
 and although such expressions as goodness, purity, &c. 
 convey more the notion of a quality than of any actual 
 substance. According to the Sinkhya-pravadéana-bhashya: 
 
 These Gunas are not like the ‘qualities’ of the Vaiseshika. They are 
 substances possessing themselves qualities or properties, such as conjunc- 
 tion, disjunction, lightness, motion, weight, &c. The word Guna, there- 
 fore, is employed because these three substances form the triple cord by 
 which the soul, like an animal (purusha-pasu), is bound}. 
 
 It is plain, indeed, that as one meaning of the word 
 Guna is ‘rope’ or ‘cord,’ the Sankhya three Gunas may be 
 supposed to act like a triple-stranded rope, binding and 
 confining souls in different degrees*. In point of fact, 
 goodness, passion, and darkness are imagined to be the 
 actual substances of which Prakriti is constituted, just as 
 trees are the constituents of a forest. Moreover, as they 
 are the ingredients of Prakriti, so they make up the whole 
 world of sense evolved out of Prakriti. Except, however, 
 in the case of the original producer, they are not con- 
 joined in equal quantities. They form component parts of 
 everything evolved, but in varying proportions, one or other 
 being in excess. In other words, they affect everything in 
 creation unequally ; and as they affect man, make him 
 divine and noble, thoroughly human and selfish, or bestial 
 and ignorant, according to the predominance of goodness, 
 
 * Aristotle (Metaph. I. 3) describes primordial substance as undergoing 
 changes through different affections, something after the manner of the 
 Sinkhya Gunas. See note 3, p. 62. 
 
 * Manu states the doctrine of the three Gunas very similarly (XII. 24, 
 25, &c.): ‘One should know that the three Gunas (bonds or fetters) of 
 the soul are goodness, passion, and darkness ; (bound) by one or more of 
 these, it continues incessantly attached to forms of existence. Whenever 
 any one of the three Gunas predominates wholly in a body, it makes the 
 embodied spirit abound in that Guna.’ 
 
96 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 passion, or darkness respectively. The soul, on the other 
 hand, though bound by the Gunas, is itself wholly and 
 entirely free from such constituent ingredients (nir-guna). 
 It stands twenty-fifth in the catalogue of Tattwvas, and is 
 to be wholly distinguished from the creations evolved by 
 the three evolvers, Prakriti, Buddhi, and Ahawkara. It 
 has, in short, nothing whatever in common with the world- 
 evolver, Prakriti, except eternal existence. 
 
 But although Prakriti is the sole origimator of creation, 
 yet, according to the pure Sankhya, it does not create for 
 itself, but rather for each individual soul which comes into 
 connection or juxtaposition with it, like a crystal vase 
 with a flower. Souls, indeed, exist eternally separate from 
 each other and from the world-evolver Prakriti; and with 
 whatever form of body they may be joined, they are held 
 to be all intrinsically equal, and each retains its individu- 
 ality, remaining one and unchanged through all transmigra- 
 tions’. But each separate soul is a witness of the act of 
 creation without participating in the act. It is a looker 
 on, uniting itself with unintelligent Prakriti, as a lame 
 man mounted on a blind man’s shoulders, for the sake 
 of observing and contemplating the phenomena of crea- 
 tion, which Prakriti herself is unable to observe. In the 
 Sankhya-karika (19) we read : 
 
 The soul is witness, solitary, bystander, spectator, and passive. for its 
 contemplation of Prakriti the union of both takes place, as of the halt 
 and blind ; by that union a creation is formed. 
 
 It appears, too, that all Prakriti’s performances are 
 δ δ τ Θεὲ ee eee 
 
 1 This separate eternal existence of innumerable individual souls is the 
 great feature distinguishing the Nyaya and Sankhya from the Vedanta, 
 which holds the oneness of all soul, And yet it would seem that each 
 soul must be regarded as universally diffused both in San-khya and Nyaya 
 (see p. 86); for unless the soul is all-pervading it cannot be eternal. All 
 Hindis hold that nothing can be eternal that is divisible into parts ; and 
 all things have parts except the infinite (soul) and the infinitesimal (atoms). 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA. 97 
 
 solely for the benefit of soul, who receives her favours 
 ungratefully. Thus, in the Sankhya-karika 59, 60, we 
 have the following : 
 
 As a female dancer, having exhibited herself to a spectator, desists 
 from the dance, so does Prakriti desist, having manifested herself to soul. 
 By various means Prakriti, endowed with qualities (gunavat), acting as a 
 benefactress, accomplishes without profit to herself the purpose of soul, 
 who is devoid of qualities (aguza) and makes no return of benefit. 
 
 In fact, Prakriti is sometimes reproached with boldness 
 in exposing herself to the gaze of soul, who takes no interest 
 whatever in the sight. There is something to a European 
 mind very unreal, cloudy, and unpractical in all this. 
 Certainly no one can doubt that the Sankhya view of the 
 soul is inferior to that of the Nyaya, which ascribes to it, 
 when joined to mind, activity, volition, thought, and feel- 
 ing (see p. 86). Obviously, too, its view of all existing 
 things is even more atheistical than that of the earliest 
 Naiyayikas. For if the creation produced by the Evolver, 
 Prakriti, has an existence of its own independent of all 
 connection with the particular Purusha to which it is 
 joined, there can be no need for an intelligent Creator 
 of the world or even of any superintending power’. 
 
 Here are two or three of Kapila’s Aphorisms bearing 
 upon the charge of atheism brought against him. An 
 objection is made that some of his definitions are incon- 
 sistent with the supposed existence of a supreme Lord 
 (Isvara). To this he replies in the ninety-second and 
 following Aphorisms, thus : 
 
 (They are not inconsistent) because the existence of a supreme Lord is 
 unproved ([évarasiddheh). Since he could not be either free (from 
 
 desires and anxieties) or bound by troubles of any kind, there can be 
 no proof of his existence. Either way he could not be effective of any 
 
 1 T presume this is the reason why in a catalogue of MSS. just edited by 
 Rajendralal Mitra the Sankhya is styled the Hylotheistic philosophy. 
 H 
 
98 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 creation. (That is, if he were free from anxieties he could have no wish 
 to create; and if he were bound by desires of any kind, he would then be 
 under bondage, and therefore deficient in power.) 
 
 The commentary of Gauda-pada on Sankhya-karika 61 
 ought, however, to be here quoted : 
 
 The Sankhya teachers say, ‘How can beings composed of the three 
 Gunas proceed from Ivara (God), who is devoid of Gunas? Or how can 
 they proceed from soul, equally devoid of qualities? Therefore they 
 must proceed from Prakriti. Thus from white threads white cloth is 
 produced; from black threads, black cloth ;’ and so from Prakriti, 
 composed of the three Gunas, the three worlds composed of the three 
 Gunas are produced. God (Ivara) is free from Gunas. The production 
 of the three worlds composed of the Gunas from him would be an incon- 
 sistency. 
 
 Again, with reference to the soul, we have the following 
 in Kapila’s ninety-sixth Aphorism : 
 
 ‘There is a ruling influence of the soul (over Prakriti) caused by their 
 proximity, just as the loadstone (draws iron to itself).’ That is, the 
 proximity of soul to Prakriti impels the latter to go through the steps of 
 production. This sort of attraction between the two leads to creation, 
 but in no other sense is soul an agent or concerned in creation at all’. 
 
 Notwithstanding these atheistical tendencies, the San-- 
 khya evades the charge of unorthodoxy by a confession of 
 faith in the Veda. Hence in Aphorism 98 we have— 
 
 The declaration of the meaning of the texts of the Veda is an autho- 
 rity, since the author of them knew the established truth. 
 
 And it should be noted that some adherents of the 
 San-khya maintain the existence of a supreme Soul’, called 
 
 It is stated in Kapila’s fifty-eighth Aphorism, quoted by Dr, Ballan- 
 tyne, that the bondage of the soul caused by its union with Prakriti is 
 after all merely nominal, and not real, because it resides in the mind, and 
 not in the soul itself (vawymatram na tu tattvam Citta-sthiteh). See 
 Mullens’ Essay, p. 183. 
 
 2. Or, according to Professor E, B. Cowell, ‘personified Sum of exist» 
 ence, Elphinstone’s India, p. 126, note. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA. 99 
 
 Hiranya-garbha, and of a general ideal phenomenal uni- 
 verse with which that supreme Soul is connected and into 
 which all the subcreations of inferior souls are by him 
 gathered. Nor can it be affirmed that the Sankhya proper 
 commits itself to a positive denial of the existence of a 
 supreme Being, so much as to an ignoring of what the 
 founder of the school believed to be incapable of dialectic 
 demonstration. As, however, the original World-evolver 
 only evolves the world for the sake of the spectator, soul, 
 this is practically an admission that there can be no 
 realization of creation without the union of Prakriti with 
 Purusha, the personal soul. In all probability Kapila’s 
 own idea was that every Purusha, though he did not him- 
 self create, had his own creation and his own created 
 universe comprehended in his own person’. It may 
 easily be supposed that this union of Purusha and Pra- 
 kriti began soon to be compared to that of male and female; 
 and it may be conjectured that the idea of the production 
 of the universe by the male and female principles associat- 
 ing together, which was symbolized by the Ardha-nari 
 form of Siva, and which lies at the root of the whole later 
 mythology of India, was derived mainly from the Sankhya 
 philosophy. 
 
 It was not indeed to be expected that the uneducated 
 masses could make anything of a metaphysical mysticism 
 which could not be explained to them in intelligible lan- 
 guage. How could they form any notion of a primordial 
 eternal energy evolving out of itself twenty-three other 
 elements or substances to form a visible world for the soul, 
 described as apathetic, active, devoid of all qualities, 
 and a mere indifferent spectator, though in close contact 
 
 1 Something after the manner of Berkeley, who held that the ‘without’ 
 was all within, though he believed in the real existence of external objects 
 produced by other minds and wills. 
 
 Νηρ. 
 
100 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 with the individual Evolver and deluded by its self 
 consciousness ? But they could well understand the idea 
 _of a universe proceeding from Prakriti and Purusha as 
 from mother and father. Indeed the idea of a union 
 between the female principle, regarded as an energy, 
 and the male principle, is of great antiquity in Hindi 
 systems of cosmogony. In the Rig-veda and Brahmanas 
 there are various allusions, as we have already seen, to 
 a supposed union of Earth and Heaven, who together 
 produce men, gods, and all creatures’. 
 
 Buddhism, moreover, which represented many of the 
 more popular philosophical ideas of the Hindis perhaps 
 as early as the sixth century B.c., has more in common 
 with the Sinkhya philosophy than with any of the other 
 systems. 
 
 Even the cosmogony of Manu, although a compound of 
 various theories, presents a process of evolution very 
 similar, as we shall see hereafter, to that of the Sankhya. 
 
 Again, the antiquity and prevalence of Sankhyan ideas 
 is proved by the frequent allusions to them in the great 
 Indian epic poem, called Maha-bharata’; and the perma- 
 nence of their popularity till at least the first century 
 of our era is indicated by the fact that the celebrated 
 philosophical poem called Bhagavad-gita attempts to re- 
 concile the Sankhya with Vedantist views ὃ, 
 
 Perhaps, however, the extensive prevalence of Sankhyan 
 
 1 See Muir’s Texts, vol. v. pp. 22, 23. 
 
 2 In the Sabha-parvan (Muir, vol. iv. p. 173) Krishna is described as 
 undeveloped Prakriti, the eternal creator (esha prakritir a-vyakta karta 
 éaiva sandtanah), On the other hand, in the Vana-parvan (1622, &c., 
 Muir, vol. iv. p. 195) the god Siva is declared to be the cause of the 
 causes of the world (loka-kdrana-karanam), and therefore superior and 
 antecedent to Pradhana and Purusha. Again, in Santi-parvan 12725, 
 12737, 13041, &c., the sons of Brahma are called Prakritayah. 
 
 % See Lecture VII on the Eclectic School and Bhagavad-gita. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—SANKHYA, 101 
 
 ideas in India is best shown by the later cosmogony and 
 mythology. In those repositories of the popular Hindi 
 creed, the Puranas and Tantras, Prakriti becomes a real 
 Mother of the universe. It is true that in some of the 
 Puranas there is occasional confusion and perversion of 
 Sankhyan doctrines. Thus, for example, in the Vishnu- 
 purana I. 2. 22, we have the following : 
 
 ‘There was neither day nor night, neither sky nor earth; there was 
 neither darkness nor light nor anything else. There was then the One, 
 Brahma, the Male, possessing the character of Pradhana (pradhanika) ". 
 And further on: ‘The principles or elements, commencing with Mahat, 
 presided over by Purusha and under the influence of Pradhina, generated 
 an egg, which became the receptacle of Vishnu in the form of Brahma,’ 
 
 But generally in the later mythology, especially as 
 represented by the Tantras, the Sankhya principle of 
 Prakriti takes the form of female personifications, who 
 are thought of as the wives or creative female energies 
 of the principal male deities, to whom, on the other hand, 
 the name Purusha, in the sense of the supreme Soul or the 
 supreme Male, is sometimes applied*. This is especially 
 the case with the Sakti or female energy of Siva, wor- 
 shipped by a vast number of persons as the true Jagad- 
 ambd, or ‘ Mother of the universe.’ 
 
 These proofs of the ancient popularity of the Sankhya 
 and its influence on the later mythology may help us to 
 understand that, although in modern times there are com- 
 paratively few students of the San-khya among the Pandits 
 of India, there is still a common saying current every- 
 where (which will be found in Maha-bharata, Santi-parvan, 
 11676), Ndsti Sadnkhya-samam jradnam ndsti Yoga-samam 
 balam, ‘there is no knowledge equal to the Sankhya and 
 no power equal to the Yoga.’ 
 
 τ Compare the Rig-veda hymn, translated at p. 22 of this book. 
 ? Vishnu or Krishna is called Purushottama, and the name Purusha is 
 equally given to Brahma and Siva. 
 
102 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Yoga. 
 
 The Yoga, commonly regarded as a branch of the 
 Sankhya, is scarcely worthy of the name of a system 
 of philosophy, though it has undoubted charms for the 
 naturally contemplative and ascetical Hindi, and lays 
 claim to greater orthodoxy than the Sankhya proper by 
 directly acknowledging the existence of Isvara or a 
 supreme Being’. In fact, the aim of the Yoga is to 
 teach the means by which the human soul may attain 
 complete union with the supreme Soul. This fusion 
 (Zaya) or union of individual with universal spirit may 
 be effected even in the body. According to Patanjali, the 
 author of the system, the very word Yoga is interpreted 
 to mean the act of ‘fixing or concentrating the mind in 
 abstract meditation,’ and this is said to be effected by pre- 
 venting the modifications of Citta or the thinking prin- 
 ciple [which modifications arise through the three Pra- 
 manas, perception, inference, and verbal testimony, as well 
 as through incorrect ascertainment, fancy, sleep, and recol- 
 lection], by the constant habit (abhydsa) of keeping the 
 mind in its unmodified state—a state clear as crystal 
 when uncoloured by contact with other substances— 
 and by the practice of Vairdgya—that is, complete sup- 
 pression of the passions. This Vairdgya is only to be 
 obtained by [évara-pranidhadna or the contemplation of 
 the supreme Being, who is defined to be a particular 
 Purusha or Spirit unaffected by works, afflictions, &c., and 
 
 1 The Yoga was propounded by Patanjali (of whom nothing is known, 
 except that he was probably not the same person as the author of the 
 Maha-bhashya) in Aphorisms called the Yoga-siitra, a work in four books 
 or chapters, two of which, with some of the commentary of Bhoja-raja or 
 Bhoja-deva, were translated by Dr. Ballantyne. Other commentators were 
 Vaéaspati-misra, Vijnana-bhikshu, and Nagoji-bhatta. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—YOGA. 103 
 
 having the appellation Pranava or Om. The repetition 
 of this monosyllable is supposed to be attended with mar- 
 vellous results, and the muttering of it with reflection on 
 its meaning! is said to be conducive to a knowledge of 
 the Supreme and to a prevention of all the obstacles to 
 Yoga. The eight means of mental concentration are— 
 1. Yama, ‘ forbearance, ‘restraint. 2. Niyama, ‘religious 
 observances.’ 3. Asana, ‘postures®.” 4. Prdndydma, ‘ sup- 
 pression of the breath’ or ‘breathing in a peculiar way.’ 
 5. Pratydhara, ‘restraint of the senses. 6. Dhdrana, 
 ‘steadying of the mind. 7. Dhydna, ‘contemplation.’ 
 8. Samddhi, ‘profound meditation,’ or rather a state of 
 religious trance, which, according to the Bhagavad-gita 
 (VI. 13), is most effectualiy attained by such practices as 
 fixing the eyes intently and incessantly on the tip of the 
 nose, &c.* The system of Yoga appears, in fact, to be 
 a mere contrivance for getting rid of all thought, or at 
 least for concentrating the mind with the utmost intensity 
 upon nothing in particular. It is a strange compound 
 of mental and bodily exercises, consisting in unnatural 
 restraint, forced and painful postures, twistings and con- 
 tortions of the limbs, suppressions of the breath, and utter 
 absence of mind. But although the Yoga of Patanjali 
 professes to effect union with the universal Spirit by means 
 such as these, it should be observed that far more severe 
 austerities and self-imposed physical mortifications are 
 
 1 Om is supposed to be composed of the three letters A, U, M, which 
 form a most sacred monosyllable (ekdkshara), significant of the supreme 
 Being as developing himself in the Triad of gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva. See Bhagavad-gita VIII. 13, and especially Manu 11. 83, 84. 
 
 * One of these postures is called paryawka-bandhana or paryanka- 
 granthi, ‘bed-binding’ or ‘ bed-knot,’ and is performed by sitting on the 
 hams with a cloth fastened round the knees and back. See line τ of the 
 Mrié-chakatika. 
 
 δ΄ See the account of the Bhagavad-gita, p. 142 of this volume. 
 
104 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 popularly connected with the Yoga system. ΑἹ] Hindt 
 devotees and ascetics, especially those who, as forming 
 a division of the Saiva sect, identify the terrific god Siva 
 with the supreme Being, are commonly called Yogins or 
 Yogis, and indeed properly so called, in so far as the pro- 
 fessed object of their austerities is union with the Deity’. 
 
 The variety and intensity of the forms of austerity prac- 
 tised by such Yogis in India would appear to surpass all 
 credibility were they not sufficiently attested by trust- 
 worthy evidence. <A few illustrations may not be out of 
 place here, or at least may be instructive, especially as 
 bearing upon an interesting field of inquiry, viz. first, how 
 is it that faith in a false system can operate with sufficient 
 force upon a Hindi to impel him to submit voluntarily to 
 almost incredible restraints, mortifications of the flesh, and 
 physical tortures ¢ and secondly, how is it that an amount 
 of physical endurance may be exhibited by an apparently 
 weakly and emaciated Asiatic, which would be impossible 
 in a European, the climate and diet in the one case tend- 
 ing to debilitate, in the other to invigorate ? 
 
 In the Sakuntala (Act VII. verse 175) there is a de- 
 scription of an ascetic engaged in Yoga, whose condition 
 of fixed trance and immovable impassiveness had lasted so 
 long that ants had thrown up a mound as high as his 
 waist without being disturbed, and birds had built their 
 nests in the long clotted tresses of his tangled hair. This 
 may be thought a mere flight of poetical fancy, but a 
 Mohammedan traveller, whose narrative is quoted by 
 Mr. Mill (British India, I. 355), once actually saw a man 
 in India standing motionless with his face turned towards 
 the sun. The same traveller, having occasion to revisit 
 
 ' The name Fakir or Faqir, sometimes given to Hindi devotees, ought 
 to be restricted to Muslims. It is an Arabic word, meaning ‘poor,’ 
 ‘ indigent.’ 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—YOGA. 105 
 
 the same spot sixteen years afterwards, found the very 
 same man in the very same attitude. Such men have 
 been known to fix their gaze on the sun’s disk till -sight 
 has been extinguished. This is paralleled by a particular 
 form of austerity described in Manu VI. 23, where men- 
 tion is made of the Pandéa-tapds, a Yogi who, during the 
 three hottest months (April, May, and June), sits between 
 four blazing fires placed towards the four quarters, with 
 the burning sun above his head to form a fifth. In fact, 
 a Yooi was actually seen not long ago (Mill's India, I. 353) 
 seated between four such fires on a quadrangular stage. 
 He stood on one leg gazing at the sun while these fires 
 were lighted at the four corners. Then placing himself 
 upright on his head, with his feet elevated in the air, he 
 remained for three hours in that position. He then seated 
 himself cross-lerged and continued bearing the raging 
 heat of the sun above his head and the fires which sur- 
 rounded him till the end of the day, occasionally adding 
 combustibles with his own hands to increase the flames. 
 Again, in the Asiatic Monthly Journal for March, 1829, 
 an account is given of a Brahman who, with no other 
 apparatus than a low stool, a hollow bamboo, and a kind 
 of crutch, poised himself apparently in the air, about four 
 feet from the ground, for forty minutes. This actually 
 took place before the governor of Madras. Nor does there 
 appear to be any limit to the various forms of austerity 
 practised by Hindti devotees. We read of some who 
 acquire the power of remaining under water for a space of 
 time quite incredible ; of others who bury themselves up 
 to the neck in the ground, or even below it, leaving only 
 a little hole through which to breathe ; of others who keep 
 their fists clenched for years till the nails grow through 
 the back of their hands; of others who hold one or both 
 arms aloft till they become immovably fixed in that posi- 
 tion and withered to the bone ; of others who roll their 
 
106 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 bodies for thousands of miles to some place of pilgrimage ; 
 of others who sleep on beds of iron spikes. One man was 
 seen at Benares (described in the Asiatic Researches, vol. v. 
 p- 49) who was alleged to have used such a bed for thirty- 
 five years. Others have been known to chain themselves 
 for life to trees; others, again, to pass their lives, heavily 
 chained, in iron cages. Lastly, the extent to which 
 some Indian ascetics will carry fasting far exceeds any- 
 thing ever heard of in Europe, as may be understood 
 by a reference to the rules of the lunar penance given by 
 Manu (VI. 20, XI. 216-220). This penance is a kind of 
 fast which consists in diminishing the consumption of food 
 every day by one mouthful for the waning half of the lunar 
 month, beginning with fifteen mouthfuls at the full moon 
 until the quantity is reduced to o at the new moon, and 
 then increasing it in like manner during the fortnight of 
 the moon’s increase. 
 
 Of course all these mortifications are explicable by their 
 connection with the fancied attainment of extraordinary 
 sanctity and supernatural powers. 
 
 As a conclusion to the subject of Yoga, I quote a 
 remarkable passage from Professor Banerjea (Dialogues, 
 
 pp. 69, 70): 
 
 The Yogi may not see or hear what passes around,—he may be insen- 
 sible to external impressions, but he has intuition of things which his 
 neighbours cannot see or hear. He becomes so buoyant, or rather so 
 sublimated by his Yoga, that gravitation, or, as Bhaskara¢arya calls it, 
 the attractive power of the earth, has no influence on him. He can walk 
 and ascend in the sky, as if he were suspended under a balloon. He can 
 by this intuitive process inform himself of the mysteries of astronomy and 
 anatomy, of all things in fact that may be found in any of the different 
 worlds. He may call to recollection the events of a previous life. He 
 may understand the language of the brute creation. He may obtain an 
 insight into the past and future. He may discern the thoughts of others. 
 He may himself vanish at pleasure, and, if he choose to do so, enter into 
 his neighbour’s body and take possession of his living skin. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—YOGA. 107 
 
 By these and other doctrines of Hindi philosophy we 
 are often reminded that the human mind repeats itself 
 according to the sentiment expressed in Ecclesiastes i. 9, 
 ‘The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and 
 that which is done is that which shall be done: and there 
 is no new thing under the sun. Certainly almost all 
 extravagant ideas now current seem to have their counter- 
 part, if not their source, in the East. The practisers of 
 self-imposed superstitious restraints and mortifications, not 
 to speak of the votaries of animal magnetism, clairvoyance, 
 and so-called spiritualism, will find most of their theories 
 represented or rather far outdone by corresponding notions 
 existing in this Yoga system invented by the Hindi con- 
 siderably more than 2000 years ago, and more or less 
 earnestly believed in and sedulously practised up to the 
 present day. 
 
LECTURE VI. 
 
 The Pirva-mimdnsa and Vedanta. 
 
 Ole next subject is the Mimansa of Jaimini’, which is 
 sometimes connected with the Vedanta, this latter 
 being called the Uttara-mimdnsa or Brahma-mimansa— 
 as founded on the Upanishads or latter part of the Vedas 
 —while Jaimini’s system is styled the Pérva-mimdisa 
 or Karma-mimdnsd, as concerned with the Mantras and 
 Brahmanas only. It is more usual, however, to indicate 
 the opposition of the two systems to each other by calling 
 the one Mimansa and the other Vedanta. In fact, Jaimini’s 
 system, like the Yoga, cannot suitably. be called a subdivi- 
 sion of any other system, for it is in real truth not a 
 system of philosophy, but rather of vztualism. It does 
 not concern itself, like the other systems, with investiga- 
 tions into the nature of soul, mind, and matter, but with 
 a correct interpretation of the ritual of the Veda and the 
 solutions of doubts and discrepancies in regard to Vedic 
 texts caused by the discordant explanations of opposite 
 schools. Its only claim to the title of a philosophy 
 consists in its mode of interpretation, the topics being 
 
 + 
 
 1 Jaimini, as usual, enunciated his doctrines in aphorisms. His work 
 called the Mimansa-siitra or Jaimini-sitra is in twelve books. It has 
 been partly edited and translated by Dr. Ballantyne. A commentary on 
 it was written by S'abara-svamin, which is being published in the Biblio- 
 theca Indica, and this again was commented on by the celebrated Mimansa 
 authority, Kumarila (also styled Kumarila-bhatta, Kuméarila-svamin), 
 whose work was again followed by numerous other commentaries and 
 treatises. A compendious explanation of the system, called Jaiminiya- 
 nyaya-mala-vistara, was written by Madhavaéarya. Jaimini must have 
 been a learned Brahman, but nothing is known as to the date of his life. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—PURVA-MIMANSA. 109 
 
 arranged according to particular categories (such as autho- 
 ritativeness, indirect precept, &c.), and treated according 
 to a kind of logical method, commencing with the propo- 
 sition to be discussed, the doubt arising about it, the 
 Pirva-paksha or prima facie and wrong view of the ques- 
 tion, the Uttara-paksha or refutation of the wrong view, 
 and the conclusion. The main design of the whole system 
 appears to be to make a god of ritualism. Hence it con- 
 sists chiefly of a critical commentary on the Brahmana or 
 ritual portion of the Veda in its connection with the 
 Mantras, the interpretation given being an exposition of 
 the obvious literal sense and not of any supposed occult 
 meaning underlying the text, as in the Upanishads and 
 Vedanta. Jaimini was, in point of fact, the opponent of 
 both rationalism and theism. Not that he denied a God, 
 but the real tendency of his teaching was to allow no 
 voice or authority to either reason or God. The Veda was 
 to be everything. A supreme Being might exist, but was 
 not necessary to the system. The Veda, said Jaimini, 15 
 itself authority and has no need of an Authorizer. His 
 first Aphorism states the whole aim and object of his 
 system, viz. a desire to know duty (dhrama-yyndsd). 
 When amplified, it may be thus stated : 
 
 Understand, O student, that, after studying the Veda with a preceptor, 
 a desire to know Dharma or duty is to be entertained by thee. 
 
 The fifth Aphorism asserts the strange doctrine of an 
 original and perpetual connection between a word and its 
 sense. It is thus paraphrased : 
 
 The connection of a word with its sense is contemporaneous with the 
 
 origin of both. In consequence of this connection, the words of the Veda 
 convey unerring instruction in the knowledge of duty. 
 
 But it is to be understood that Dharma or duty consists 
 in the performance of the ritual acts prescribed by the 
 Veda because they are so prescribed, without reference to 
 
110 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the will or approval of any personal god, for Dharma is 
 itself the bestower of reward. Some recent Mimansakas, 
 however, maintain that Dharma ought to be performed as 
 an offering to a supreme Being, and that it is to be so 
 performed as a means of emancipation. Hven a verse of 
 the Bhagavad-gita is quoted in support of this view. 
 Krishna, regarded by his worshippers as a manifestation 
 of the supreme lord of the universe, says to Arjuna, 
 
 Whatever thou doest, whatever thou eatest, whatever thou sacrificest, 
 whatever thou givest away, whatever austerity thou practisest, do that as 
 an offering to me (IX. 27). (See Lecture VII on the Eclectic School and 
 Bhagavad-gita, p. 143 of this volume.) 
 
 Some singular speculations occur in Jaimini’s system. 
 As he maintains the inherent authority of the Veda, with- 
 out any dependence on an eternal Authorizer or Revealer, 
 so he asserts its own absolute eternity, and declares that 
 only eternally pre-existing objects are mentioned in it. 
 This theory is supported by affirming that sound is eternal, 
 or rather that an eternal sound underlies all temporary 
 sound. From Aphorism 18 we gather the following: 
 
 Sound must be eternal, because its utterance [exhibition] is intended to 
 convey a meaning to others. If it were not eternal it would not continue 
 till the hearer had learned its sense, and thus he would not learn the 
 sense, because the cause had ceased to exist. 
 
 If, on the other hand (says a commentator), it continues to exist for 
 any period, however short, after ceasing to be perceived, it is impossible 
 to assign any other instant at which there is any evidence of the discon-~ 
 tinuance of its existence, whence its eternity is inferred’. 
 
 This eternity of sound is further pretended to be estab- 
 lished by the two following short passages, one from the 
 Rig-veda (VIII. 64. 6) and one from Smriti, with which 
 I close this brief notice of the Mimansa : 
 
 1 See Muir’s Texts, vol. iii. pp. 53, 57; Dr. Ballantyne’s Mimansa- 
 sutra, p. 23. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 111 
 
 ‘Send forth praises, O Viriipa, with an eternal voice.’ 
 
 ‘An eternal voice, without beginning or end, was uttered by the self- 
 existent 1.’ 
 
 Let me conclude these remarks on the singular theory 
 of the eternity of sound by observing that the Chinese are 
 said to have a saying, ‘The echoes of a word once uttered 
 yibrate in space to all eternity.’ 
 
 The Vedanta. 
 
 Of orthodox systems there only remains the Vedanta of 
 Vyasa or Badaraiyana’*; but this is in some respects the 
 most important of all the six, both from its closer con- 
 
 1 The whole text of the Rig-veda (VIII. 64. or 75. 6) is, Zasmai niinam 
 abhidyave vaca Viriipa nityayd, vrishne éodasva sushtutim, ‘send forth 
 praises to this heaven-aspiring and prolific Agni, Ὁ Virtpa, with an 
 eternal voice. Nitya, though taken by the Mimansakas in the sense of 
 ‘eternal,’ probably means only ‘unceasing.’ Dr. Muir’s Texts, vol. iii. 
 Ρ. 51. The text from Smriti has only as yet beensfound in Maha- 
 bharata, Santi-parvan 8. 533, An-adi-nidhana nitya vag utsrish{a 
 svayam-bhuvd. 
 
 5 The reputed author of this system, Badarayana, is very loosely iden- 
 tified with the legendary person named Vyasa, who is supposed to have 
 arranged the Vedas and written the Maha-bharata, Puranas, and a parti- 
 cular Dharma-sastra or law-book. No doubt the name Vyasa, ‘arranger,’ 
 was applied as a kind of title to various great writers or compilers, and 
 in this sense it seems to have been given to the founder of the Vedanta 
 system. He propounded his views, as usual, in Sttras, but Badarayana’s 
 Aphorisms are generally called Brahma-sitra, or sometimes Sariraka- 
 stra, and the system itself is variously styled Brahma-mimansa and 
 Sariraka-mimansa (investigation into the supreme Soul or embodied 
 Spirit). The text of the Sitras and the celebrated commentary by San:- 
 karadarya have been edited in the Bibliotheca Indica by Dr. Réer, and a 
 portion translated by Professor Banerjea. Dr. Ballantyne also edited and 
 translated a portion of the Sitras and commentary and a popular com- 
 pendium called the Vedanta-sara. A vast number of other commentaries 
 and treatises on the Vedanta exist. 
 
112 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 formity to the pantheistic doctrines propounded in the 
 Upanishads, on which treatises as forming the end of the 
 Veda it professes to be founded, and from its greater adap- 
 tation to the habits of thought common among thinking 
 and educated Hindi, as much in present as in former 
 periods. The pantheism pervading the Upanishads and 
 leading directly to the Vedanta system has already been 
 illustrated by a selection of examples. 
 
 The following simple confession of a Vedantist’s faith | 
 
 can be added from the Chandogya Upanishad (III. 14): 
 
 All this universe (τὸ πᾶν) indeed is Brahma; from him does it pro- 
 ceed; into him it is dissolved; in him it breathes!. So let every one 
 adore him calmly. 
 
 Here, then, we have presented to us a different view of 
 the origin of the world. In the Nyaya it was supposed 
 to proceed from a concurrence of innumerable eternal 
 atoms ; in the San-‘khya from one original eternal element 
 called Prakriti; both operating independently, though 
 associated with eternal souls and, according to one view, 
 presided over by a supreme Soul. But in the Vedanta 
 there is really no material world at all, as distinct from 
 the universal Soul. Hence the doctrine of this school is 
 called A-dvaita, ‘non-dualism. The universe exists but 
 merely as a form of the one eternal essence (ro ἕν). He is 
 the all-pervading Spirit, the only really existing substance 
 (vastu). Even as early as the Rig-veda the outlines of 
 this pantheistic creed, which became more definite in the 
 Upanishads and Vedanta, may be traced. The germ of 
 the Vedanta is observable in the Purusha-siikta, as we 
 
 1 This is expressed in the text by one compound, taj-jalan, interpreted 
 as equivalent to taj-ja, tal-la, tad-ana. 'The whole text is sarvam khalv 
 idam brahma taj-jalan iti Santa upasita. The philosophy of the Sufis, 
 alleged to be developed out of the Kuran (see p. 36), appears to be a 
 kind of pantheism very similar to that of the Vedanta. 
 
tHE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA, 113 
 
 have already shown by the example given at p. 24. The 
 early Vedantic creed has the merit of being exceedingly 
 simple. It is comprised in these three words, occurring in 
 the Chandogya Upanishad (see p. 41), Eham evadvitiyam, 
 ‘one only Essence without a second ; or in the following 
 line of nine short words, Brahma satyam jagan mithya 
 jivo brahmaiva ndparch, ‘Brahma is true, the world is 
 false, the soul is only Brahma and no other’ 
 
 As the Nyaya has much in common with the practical 
 philosophy of Aristotle, which gave to things and indi- 
 viduals, rather than to ideas, a real existence, so the 
 Vedanta offers many parallels to the idealism of Plato}. 
 Badarayana’s very first Aphorism states the object of the 
 
 whole system in one compound word, viz. Brahma-jijndasd, 
 
 * Plato does not always state his theory of ideas very intelligibly, and 
 probably modified them in his later works. He seems, however, to have 
 insisted on the doctrine that mind preceded and gave rise to matter, or, 
 in other words, that the whole material world proceeded from or was 
 actually produced by the Creator according to the idea or pattern of 
 a world existing eternally and for ever the same in his own mind. In 
 the 'Timaeus (10) he says: ‘To discover the Maker and Father of this 
 universe (τοῦ παντός) is difficult, and, when he has been discovered, it is 
 impossible to describe him to the multitude. According to which of two 
 patterns (πρὸς πότερον τῶν παραδειγμάτων) did he frame the world? Accord- 
 ing to one subsisting for ever the same? Or according to one which was 
 produced? Since, then, this universe is beautiful and its Artificer good, 
 he evidently looked in modelling it to an eternal (ἀΐδιον) pattern.’ Simi- 
 larly, Plato seems to have held that the human mind has existing within 
 it certain abstract ideas or ideal forms which precede and are visibly 
 manifested in the actual concrete forms around us. For example, the 
 abstract ideas of goodness and beauty are found pre-existing in the mind, 
 and, as it were, give rise to the various good and beautiful objects mani- 
 fested before our eyes. In the same manner all circular things must 
 have been preceded by some ideal circular form existing as an eternal 
 reality. For, according to Plato, these abstract ideas had a real, eternal, 
 unchanging existence of their own, quite separate from and independent of 
 the ever-varying concrete objects and appearances connected with them. 
 
 I 
 
114 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ‘Brahma-inquisitiveness, i.e. the desire of knowing 
 Brahman (neut.), or the only really existing being. 
 
 Here we may quote a portion of Sankara¢carya’s com- 
 mentary (Roer’s edition, pp. 29 and 43): 
 
 The knower of Brahma attains the supreme good and supreme object 
 of man (param purushartham=76 ἀγαθόν, τὸ ἀρίστον, summum bonum). 
 
 A really existing substance (vastw) cannot alternately be thus and not 
 thus, cannot (optionally) be and not be. The knowledge of a substance 
 just as it is in reality (i.e. true knowledge) is not dependent on a man’s 
 own personal notions (xa purusha-buddhy-apeksham)'. It depends on the 
 substance itself. To say of one and the same post that it is either a post 
 or a man or something else is not true knowledge (tattva-jranam). It is 
 a false notion (mithya-jidnam)?. That it is a post is alone the truth, 
 because it is dependent on the substance itself (vastu-tantratvat). Thus 
 the proving of an existing substance is dependent on the substance itself. 
 Thus the knowledge of Brahma is dependent on the substance itself (not 
 on the notion a man may form of Brahma), because it relates to a really 
 existing substance (bhita-vastu-vishayatvat). 
 
 In the second Aphorism Brahma®* is defined to mean 
 ‘that from which the production of this universe results.’ 
 Sankara adds a fuller definition, thus (Réer’s edition, 
 
 Ῥ 36)s 
 
 1 Sankara appears here to argue against a doctrine like that ascribed 
 to Protagoras, πάντων μέτρον ἄνθρωπος, ‘the individual man is the standard 
 of all things,’ 
 
 ? One of Plato’s causes of mistaken notion is that when two persons or 
 things have been seen and their forms impressed on the mind, they are 
 yet, owing to imperfect observation, mistaken the one for the other: ‘It 
 remains that I may form a false notion in this case, when knowing you 
 aud Theodorus and having the impression of both of you on that waxen 
 tablet of the mind (ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ κηρίνῳ) made by a seal ring as it were, 
 seeing you both from a distance and not sufficiently distinguishing you, 
 I fit the aspect of each to the impression of the other, changing them like 
 those that put their shoes on the wrong feet: τότε δὴ συμβαίνει ἡ ἑτεροδοξία 
 καὶ τὸ ψευδῆ δοξάζειν, Theaet. 122. Compare Banerjea’s translation of the 
 Brahma-sitra, p. 2. 
 
 * The name Brahman is in fact derived from the root brih or vrth, ‘to 
 grow and expand,’ and therefore means literally the one essence which 
 grows or expands. Vriksha, ‘a tree,’ is from the same root. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. pha 
 
 Brahma is that all-knowing, all-powerful Cause from which arises the 
 production, continuance, and dissolution of the universe, which (universe) 
 is modified by name and form, contains many agents and patients (hartri- 
 bhoktri-samyukta), is the repository (@sraya) of actions and effects, and 
 in the form of its arrangement cannot be conceived even by the mind. 
 
 The Aphorisms which follow, as far as the 28th, proceed 
 to define and describe the character of God as the supreme 
 Soul of the universe. I here give a summary! of the most 
 interesting of them, with portions of the commentary : 
 
 That the supreme Being is omniscient follows from the fact that he is 
 the source of the Veda (sdstra-yonitvat). As from that Being every soul 
 is evolved, so to that same Being does every soul return. How can souls 
 be merged into Prakriti?? for then the intelligent would be absorbed in 
 the unintelligent. He, the supreme Being, consists of joy. This is clear 
 from the Veda, which describes him as the cause of joy; for as those who 
 enrich otlers must be themselves rich, so there must be abundant joy 
 with him who causes others to rejoice. Again, he, the one God, is the 
 light (jyotés). He is within the sun and within the eye. He is the 
 ethereal element (@kasa)*. He is the life and the breath of life (prdna). 
 He is the life with which Indra identified himself when he said to Pra- 
 tardana, ‘I am the life, consisting of perfect knowledge. Worship me as 
 
 the life immortal 4’ 
 
 From other portions of the Aphorisms it appears that 
 the τὸ ἕν, or one universal essence called Brahma, is to the 
 external world what yarn is to cloth, what milk to curds, 
 
 ? See Dr. Ballantyne’s translation, and that of Professor Banerjea. 
 * The Prakriti or Pradhana of the Sankhya system. 
 ® Professor Banerjea considers that the word ‘ether’ is not a good ren- 
 dering for akasa, which pervades everything. There is akAsa in our cups 
 and within our bodies, which are surely not ethereal. One of the 
 synonyms of Akasa is siya, and this may be compared in some respects 
 to the ‘inane’ or space of Lucretius (I. 330): 
 Nec tamen undique corpored stipata tenentur 
 Omnia natura ; namque est in rebus inane. 
 ‘And yet all things are not on all sides held and jammed together in close 
 and solid parts; there is a space (or void) in things.’ 
 * This is from the Kaushitaki-brihmana Upanishad, chapter 3. See 
 Professor E. B, Cowell's translation, 
 2 
 
116 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 what earth to a jar, and gold to a bracelet. He is both 
 creator and creation}, actor and act. He is also Existence, 
 Knowledge, and Joy (Saé-did-dnanda), but is at the same 
 time without parts, unbound by qualities (ni-guna, see 
 p-95), without action, without emotion, having no conscious- 
 ness such as is denoted by “Τ᾽ and ‘ Thou’, apprehending 
 no person or thing, nor apprehended by any, having neither 
 beginning nor end, immutable, the only real entity. 
 
 This is surely almost tantamount to asserting that pure 
 Being is identical with pure Nothing, so that the two 
 extremes of Buddhistic Nihilism and Vedantic Pantheism, 
 far as they profess to be apart, appear in the end to meet. 
 
 I add two or three extracts from Sankaradirya’s com- 
 ment on Sutra IT. 1. 34?: 
 
 It may be objected that God is proved not to be the cause of the 
 universe. Why? From the visible instances of injustice (vaishamya) 
 and cruelty (nairghrinya). Some he makes very happy, as the gods, &e. ; 
 some very miserable, as the brutes, &c.; and some in a middling condi- 
 tion, as men, &c. Being the author of such an unjust creation, he is 
 proved to be subject to passions like other persons—that is to say, to 
 
 partiality and prejudice—and therefore his nature is found wanting in 
 
 oe ee 
 
 1 A true Vedantic spirit is observable in the Orphic hymns when they 
 identify Zeus with the universe; thus, ‘Zeus is the ether ; Zeus is the 
 earth; Zeus is the heaven; Zeus is all things.’ Orphic. Fragm. LV. 363, 
 VI. 366. Compare also Virgil, Aeneid VI. 724, &c.: 
 
 ‘Principio caelum ac terras, camposque liquentes 
 Lucentemque globum Lunae, Titaniaque astra, 
 Spiritus intus alit, totamque infusa per artus 
 Mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet.’ 
 
 2 Ag shown by Professor Banerjea, Sankara compares the second per- 
 son Zhow with darkness, because there cannot be a real Thou. So San-- 
 kara affirms that ‘Thou’ and ‘1’ are as opposed as darkness and light. 
 Plato speaks similarly of darkness and light in connection with nonentity 
 and real entity. Sophist. 254. 
 
 8. Quoted by Professor Banerjea and Mr. Mullens, and translated by 
 them. Dialogues, p.120,&c. Essay on Hindi Philosophy, p. 190. The 
 Aphorism is, Vaishamya-nairghrinye na sapekshatvat tathaht darsayati. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 17 
 
 spotlessness. And by dispensing pain and ruin, he is chargeable with 
 malicious cruelty, deemed culpable even among the wicked. Hence, 
 because of the instances of injustice and cruelty, God cannot be the cause 
 of the universe. To this we reply: Injustice and cruelty cannot be 
 charged upon God. Why? Because he did not act independently 
 (sdpekshatvat). God being dependent (sa@pekshah) creates this world of 
 inequalities. If you ask on what he is dependent, we reply, on merit and 
 demerit (dharmadharmau). That there should be an unequal creation, 
 dependent on the merit and demerit of the souls created, is no fault of 
 God. As the rain is the common cause of the production of rice and 
 wheat, but the causes of their specific distinctions as rice and wheat are 
 the varying powers of their respective seeds; so is God the common cause 
 in the creation of gods, men, and others ; but of the distinctions between 
 gods, men, and others, the causes are the varying works inherent in their 
 respective souls, 
 
 In commenting on the next Aphorism (35), he answers 
 the objection, ‘ How could there be previous works at the 
 original creation?’ The objection and reply are thus 
 stated 1: 
 
 The supreme Being existed at the beginning, one without a second 
 (see p. 113). Hence, before the creation there could be no works in 
 dependence on which inequalities might be created. God may be depen- 
 dent on works after distinctions are made. But before the creation there 
 could be no works caused by varying instruments, and therefore we ought 
 to find a uniform creation (ἐπ γα, srish!ih). We reply: This does not 
 vitiate our doctrine, because the world is without beginning (andditvat 
 samsarasya). The world being without beginning, nothing can prevent 
 works and unequal creations from continuing in the states of cause and 
 effect, like the seed and its plant (vijavkura-vat). 
 
 Other objections to the Vedanta theory are thus treated 
 by Sankara : 
 
 How can this universe, which is manifold, void of life, impure, and 
 irrational, proceed from him who is one, living, pure, and rational? We 
 reply: The lifeless world can proceed from Brahma, just as lifeless hair 
 can spring from a living man. But in the universe we find him who 
 enjoys and him who is enjoyed; how can he be both? We reply: Such 
 are the changes of the sea. Foam, waves, billows, bubbles are not 
 different from the sea. There is no difference between the universe and 
 
 1 The original Siitra is, Na harmavibhagad iti éen nanaditvat. 
 
118 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Brahma. The effect is not different from its cause. He is the soul; the 
 soul is he. The same earth produces diamonds, rock-erystal, and vermi- 
 lion. The same sun produces many kinds of plants. The same nourish- 
 ment is converted into hair, nails, &e. As milk is changed into curds, and 
 water into ice, so is Brahma variously transformed without external aids. 
 So the spider spins its web from its own substance. So spirits assume 
 various shapes. 
 
 Such a creed as this does not necessarily imply what 
 the later Vedantists teach—that the world is all Maya, 
 ‘a mere illusion.’ This illusion theory, now so popular 
 among Indian philosophers, receives little countenance in 
 the Upanishads, being rather imported from Buddhism. 
 A true Vedantist, though he affirms that Brahma alone 15 
 real, allows a vydvahdrika, ‘ practical existence’ to souls, 
 the world, and Ivara, as distinguished from padramadrthika, 
 ‘real,’ and pratibhdsika, ‘apparent or illusory existence.’ 
 How, indeed, can it be denied that external things exist, 
 when we see them before our eyes and feel them at 
 every instant? But how, on the other hand, can it be 
 maintained that an impure world is the manifestation 
 of a pure spiritual essence ἢ To avoid this difficulty, the 
 supreme Spirit is represented as ignoring himself by a 
 sort of self-imposed ignorance, in order to draw out from 
 himself for his own amusement the separate individuated 
 souls and various appearances, which, although really 
 parts of his own essence, constitute the apparent phe- 
 nomena of the universe. Hence the external world, the 
 living souls of mdividual men, and even Igvara, the per- 
 sonal God, are all described as created by a power which 
 the Vedantist is obliged, for want of a better solution 
 of his difficulty, to call A-vidya', generally translated 
 ‘Ignorance, but perhaps better rendered by ‘ False know- 
 ledge’ or ‘ False notion.’ 
 
 Of this power there are two distinct forms of operation, 
 
 1 Something like the ᾿Αγνοία of Plato, See Banerjea’s translation of 
 the Sutras, p. 3. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 119 
 
 viz. I. that of envelopment (@varana), which, enveloping 
 the soul, causes it to imagine that it is liable to mundane 
 vicissitudes—that it is an agent or a patient; that it 
 rejoices or grieves, &c.—as if a person under a delusion 
 were to mistake a rope for a snake: 2. that of pro- 
 jection (vikshepa), which, affecting the soul in its state 
 of pure intelligence, raises upon it the appearance of a 
 world, producing first the five subtile elements and draw- 
 ing out from them seventeen subtile bodies (also called 
 linga-sarira, comprising the five organs of sense, the five 
 organs of action, the five vital airs, with buddhi and 
 manas), and the five gross elements in the same order as 
 in the Sankhya (see p. 93). Hence the soul mistakes itself 
 for a mere mortal, as it mistook the rope for a snake '. 
 
 By reason of A-vidya, then, the Jivatman, or ‘ personal 
 soul of every individual, mistakes the world, as well as its 
 own body and mind, for realities, just as a rope in a dark 
 night might be mistaken for a snake. The moment the 
 personal soul is set free from this self-imposed Ignorance 
 by a proper understanding of the truth, through the 
 Vedanta philosophy, all the illusion vanishes and the 
 identity of the Jivatman and of the whole phenomenal 
 universe with the Paramatman, or ‘ one only really existing 
 spirit,’ is re-established °. 
 
 Let me here introduce a version of part of a short 
 Vedantie tract in verse, called Atma-bodha, ‘knowledge 
 of soul, attributed to the great Sankaraéarya. It is 
 highly esteemed as an exposition of Vedantic doctrines, 
 and has therefore been inserted by Dr. Hiiberlin in his 
 anthology of shorter poems*. The following metrical lines 
 
 ' See Ballantyne’s Lecture on the Vedanta-sira, p.25. Reference may 
 also be made to the Vedanta-paribhasha, a text book of the most modern 
 Vedantic school. 
 
 ? See the passage from the Mundaka Upanishad, quoted p. 42. 
 
 * There is also a Tamil version and commentary translated by the 
 
120 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 may serve as a specimen of some of the ideas contained in 
 this well-known epitome of Hindi pantheistic philosophy : 
 
 Knowledge alone effects emancipation. 
 
 As fire is indispensable to cooking, 
 
 So knowledge is essential to deliverance (2). 
 Knowledge alone disperses ignorance, 
 
 As sunlight scatters darkness—not so acts ; 
 
 For ignorance originates in works (3). 
 
 The world and all the course of mundane things 
 Are like the vain creation of a dream}, 
 
 In which Ambition, Hatred, Pride, and Passion 
 Appear like phantoms mixing in confusion. 
 While the dream lasts the universe seems real, 
 But when ’tis past the world exists no longer (6). 
 Like the deceptive silver of a shell ?, 
 
 So at first sight the world deludes the man 
 
 Who takes mere semblance for reality (7). 
 
 As golden bracelets are in substance one 
 
 With gold, so are all visible appearances 
 
 And each distinct existence one with Brahma (8). 
 By action of the fivefold elements * 
 
 Through acts performed in former states of being, 
 Are formed corporeal bodies, which become 
 
 The dwelling-place of pleasure and of pain (11). 
 The soul inwrapped in five investing sheaths 4 
 Seems formed of these, and all its purity 
 Darkened, like crystal laid on coloured cloth (14). 
 As winnowed rice is purified from husk, 
 
 So is the soul disburdened of its sheaths 
 
 By force of meditation ®, as by threshing (15). 
 
 Rey. I. F. Kearns, Madras, 1867. I have consulted the Tamil commen- 
 tary as given by Mr. Kearns. 
 
 1 Cf. Shakspeare’s ‘We are such stuff As dreams are made on, and 
 our little life Is rounded with a sleep.’ Tempest, Act iv. Scene 1. 
 
 2 That is, the mother-of-pearl oyster (sukti). 
 
 % This is called Paict-krita or Panéi-harana, the production of the 
 body, and indeed of the whole world, by the action of the five elements 
 (see p. 93), being a dogma of the Vedanta. 
 
 * See the remarks, p. 123. 
 
 ἢ Yukti seems here to be equivalent to yoga. It may also mean ‘argu- 
 ment,’ ‘reasoning,’ 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 1.1 
 
 The soul is like a king whose ministers 
 Are body, senses, mind, and understanding". 
 The soul is wholly separate from these, 
 Yet witnesses and overlooks their actions (18). 
 The foolish think the Spirit acts, whereas 
 The senses are the actors, so the moon 
 15 thought to move when clouds are passing o'er it (19). 
 When intellect and mind are present, then 
 Affections, inclinations, pleasures, pains 
 Are active ; in profound and dreamless sleep 
 When intellect is non-existent, these 
 Exist not; therefore they belong to mind (22). 
 As brightness is inherent in the sun, 
 Coolness in water, warmness in the fire, 
 Fen so existence, knowledge, perfect bliss’, 
 And perfect purity inhere in soul (23). 
 The understanding cannot recognize 
 The soul, nor does the soul need other knowledge 
 To know itself, e’en as a shining light 
 Xequires no light to make itself perceived (27, 28). 
 The soul declares its own condition thus— 
 ‘I am distinct from body, I am free 
 From birth, old age, infirmity, and death. 
 I have no senses ; I have no connection 
 With sound or sight or objects of sensation. 
 Τ am distinct from mind, and so exempt 
 
 1 The soul is supposed by Vedantists to have three conditions besides 
 the conditions of pure intelligence, viz. waking, dreaming, and profound 
 or dreamless sleep (su-shupti). While awake, the soul, associated with 
 the body, is active and has to do with a real creation. While dreaming, 
 it has to do with an unreal or illusory world. When profoundly and 
 dreamlessly asleep, it is supposed to have retired by the channel of some 
 of the pericardial arteries into the perfect repose. of union with the 
 supreme Soul. See Vedanta-siitra III. 2. 1-10. 
 
 * Hence the Vedantist’s name for the one universal Spirit, Sac-éid- 
 ananda. 
 
 ® The celebrated Hindi maxim Atmanam aGtmanad pasya, ‘know (see) 
 thyself by thyself, or ‘know the soul by the soul,’ has, therefore, a deeper 
 philosophical meaning than the still more celebrated Greek precept γνῶθι 
 σεαυτόν, attributed to Thales. 
 
122 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 From passion, pride, aversion, fear, and pain. 
 
 Τ have no qualities’, I am without 
 
 Activity, and destitute of option’, 
 
 Changeless, eternal, formless, without taint, 
 For ever free, for ever without stain. 
 
 I, like the boundless ether, permeate 
 
 The universe within, without, abiding 
 
 Always, for ever similar in all, 
 
 Perfect, immovable, without affection, 
 Existence, knowledge, undivided bliss, 
 Without a second, Oue, supreme am I’ (31-35). 
 The perfect consciousness that ‘I am Brahma’ 
 Removes the false appearances projected 
 
 By Ignorance’®, just as elixir, sickness (36). 
 The universal Soul knows no distinction 
 
 Of knower, knowledge, object to be known. 
 Rather is it enlightened through itself 
 
 And its own essence, which is simple knowledge (40). 
 When contemplation rubs the Arani* 
 
 Of soul, the flame of knowledge blazing up 
 Quickly consumes the fuel ignorance (41). 
 
 The saint® who has attained to full perfection 
 Of contemplation, sees the universe 
 
 Existing in himself, and with the eye 
 
 Of knowledge sees the All as the One Soul (46). 
 When bodily disguises® are dissolved, 
 
 The perfect saint becomes completely blended 
 With the one Soul, as water blends with water, 
 As air unites with air, as fire with fire (52). 
 That gain than which there is no greater gain, 
 That joy than which there is no greater joy, 
 That lore than which there is no greater lore, 
 Is the one Brahma—this is certain truth (53). 
 
 * The epithet nir-guna, ‘quality-less,’ so commonly applied to the 
 supreme Being in India, will be better understood by a reference to p. 95. 
 
 * Nir-vikalpa may perhaps be translated, ‘destitute of all reflection,’ 
 or perhaps, ‘free from all will.’ 
 
 ° Avidya-vikshepan, ‘the projections of ignorance.’ See p. 119. 
 
 * See note, p. 18. ° Yogin, see p. 102. 
 
 ° Upadhi, a term for the illusive disguises assumed by Brahma. 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 123 
 
 That which is through, above, below, complete, 
 Existence, wisdom, bliss', without a second’, 
 Endless, eternal, one—know that as Brahma (55). 
 That which is neither coarse nor yet minute, 
 
 That which is neither short nor long, unborn, 
 Imperishable, without form, unbound 
 
 By qualities, without distinctive marks, 
 
 Without a name—know that indeed as Brahma (59). 
 Nothing exists but Brahma, when aught else 
 Appears to be, ‘tis, like the mirage, false? (62). 
 
 With regard to the five sheaths (paiéa-kosa) alluded to 
 in the fourteenth verse of the Atma-bodha, it must be noted 
 that in the Vedanta the individuated soul, when separated 
 off from the supreme Soul, is regarded as enclosed in a suc- 
 cession of cases (Kosa) which envelope it and, as it were, fold 
 one over the other, ‘like the coats of an onion*’ The first 
 or innermost sheath is called the Vijidina-maya-kosa or 
 ‘sheath composed of mere intellection, associated with 
 the organs of perception. This gives the personal soul its 
 first conception of individuality. The second case is called 
 the Mano-maya or ‘sheath composed of mind,’ associated 
 with the organs of action. This gives the individual soul 
 its powers of thought and judgment. The third envelope 
 is called the Prdna-maya or ‘breathing sheath,’ i. e. the 
 sheath composed of breath and the other vital airs associated 
 with the organs of action. The fourth case is called the 
 Anna-maya or ‘covering supported by food, i.e. the cor- 
 poreal form or gross body ; the three preceding sheaths, 
 when combined together, constituting the subtile body. 
 A fifth case, called Ananda-maya or ‘that composed of 
 supreme bliss,’ is also named, although not admitted by all. 
 It must be regarded as the innermost of all, and ought 
 therefore, when five are enumerated, to be placed before 
 
 τ Saé-cid-anandam. 2 A-dvayam. 
 5 Mithya yatha maru-maridika., 
 * As remarked by Dr. Ballantyne, Lecture on the Vedanta-sira, p. 29. 
 
124 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the Vijhana-maya. Moreover, a collective totality of sub- 
 tile bodies is supposed to exist, and the soul, which is 
 imagined to pass through these subtile bodies like a thread, 
 is called the Siatrdtman, ‘thread-soul’ (occasionally styled 
 the Prdndtman), and sometimes identified with Hiranya- 
 garbha. 
 
 Of course the Vedanta theory, if pushed to its ultimate 
 consequences, must lead to the neglect of all duties, reli- 
 gious and moral, of all activity, physical or intellectual, and 
 of all self-culture. If everything (τὸ πᾶν) be God, then 
 you and he and I must be one. Why should any efforts be 
 made for the advancement of self or for the good of others ? 
 Everything we have must be common property. Accord- 
 ing to the Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad (IV. 5): 
 
 Where there is anything like duality there one sees another, one smells 
 another, one tastes another, one speaks to another, one hears another, 
 one minds another, one regards another, one knows another ; but where 
 the whole of this (τὸ πᾶν) is one spirit, then whom and by what can one 
 see? whom and by what can one smell? whom and by what can one taste? 
 to whom and by what can one speak? whom and by what can one 
 
 hear? whom and by what can one mind? whom and by what can one 
 regard 1. whom and by what can one know ? 
 
 This Indian pantheism is paralleled by some phases of 
 modern German thought, as described by Dean Mansel 
 in the following extract from one of his Essays lately 
 published : 
 
 With German philosophers the root of all mischief is the number two 
 —Self and Not-self, Ego and Non-ego. The pantheist tells me that I have 
 not a real distinct existence and unity of my own, but that 1 am merely 
 a phenomenal manifestation, or au aggregate of many manifestations of 
 the one infinite Being. If[then] we shrink from Nihilism, there remains 
 the alternative of Pantheism. The instincts of our nature plead against 
 annihilation and maintain, in spite of philosophy, that there must really 
 exist something somewhere. Granting that something exists, why is that 
 something to be called Ego? What qualities can it possess which shall 
 make it J rather than Zhou, or any one being rather than any other being? 
 I am directly conscious of the existence of a self. But this consciousness 
 
THE SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY—VEDANTA. 125 
 
 isa delusion. This self is but the phenomenal shadow of a further self, 
 of which I am not conscious. Why may not this also be a shadow of 
 something further still? Why may there not be a yet more remote 
 reality, which is itself neither self nor not-self, but the root and founda- 
 tion, and at the same time the indifference of both? This ultimate exist- 
 ence, the one and sole reality, is then set up as the deity of philosophy, 
 and the result is pure pantheism, 
 
 Perhaps it may not be out of place here to contrast 
 with Indian ideas Aristotle’s grand conception of the 
 nature of God as propounded in the eleventh book of 
 his Metaphysics’. In chapter vii of that book Aristotle 
 says (not, however, quite in the order here given) : 
 
 The principle of life is in God; for energy of mind constitutes life, 
 and God is this energy. He, the first mover, imparts motion and pursues 
 the work of creation as something that is loved (κινεῖ dé ὡς ἐρώμενον). His 
 course of life (διαγωγή) must be similar to what is most excellent in our 
 own short career. But he exists for ever in this excellence, whereas this 
 is impossible for us. His pleasure consists in the exercise of his essential 
 energy, and on this account vigilance, wakefulness, and perception are 
 most agreeable to him. Again, the more we examine God’s nature the 
 more wonderful does it appear to us. He is an eternal (ἀΐδιον) and most 
 excellent (ἄριστον) Being. He is indivisible (ἀδιαιρετός), devoid of parts 
 (ἀμερής), and having no magnitude (μέγεθος), for God imparts motion 
 through infinite time, and nothing finite, as magnitude is, can have an 
 infinite capacity. He is a being devoid of passions and unalterable 
 
 (ἀπαθὲς καὶ ἀναλλοίωτον) ὅ. 
 
 1 This work has been well translated by the Rev. J. H. M‘Mahon. 
 
 * Hence, according to the translator, Aristotle’s idea of God is that he 
 is a Being whose essence is love, manifested in eternal energy, the final 
 cause of this energy being the happiness of his creatures, in which he 
 himself participates for ever. Aristotle, again, warns his disciples against 
 regarding God’s nature through the medium of their own subjectivity. 
 There is a celebrated passage in book XI, chap. viii, in which he says 
 that traditions have been handed down representing the heavens as gods, 
 and the divine essence (τὸ θεῖον) as embracing the whole of nature ; and 
 these traditions, he affirms, are kept up to win over the multitude and 
 secure obedience to the laws and for the sake of general expediency. On 
 that account gods are described as existing in the form of man (ἀνθρω- 
 ποειδεῖς), or even as taking the shape of animals. 
 
126 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Before quitting the subject of the Vedanta philosophy 
 it should be stated that in many points the Vedanta 
 agrees with the Sankhya. The order of creation in both 
 is nearly the same, though the ‘ Originant’ in one case is 
 Prakriti, τὰ the other A-vidyd, ‘ignorance’ (or ‘false 
 knowledge’). But even here an attempt is made by some 
 to establish a community of ideas by identifying both 
 Prakriti and A-vidyaé with Mayda or ‘illusion. In both 
 systems the gross elements proceed from subtile principles, 
 imperceptible to sense, in the same order (see the San- 
 khyan account of the elements, p. 93). In both there is 
 a subtile as well as a gross body’. The nature of the 
 soul in being incapable of cognition without the help of 
 the mind or internal organ (antah-karana) is described in 
 nearly similar language by both. Again, this internal 
 organ (antah-karana) is held by both to stand between 
 the organs of perception and those of action, as an eleventh 
 organ partaking of the nature of each (see p. 94). But 
 while the Sankhya divides the internal organ into Buddhi, 
 ‘intellectual perception, Ahankdra, ‘self-consciousness, 
 and Manas, ‘the reasoning mind,’ the first being the great 
 source of the others (see p. 93), the Vedanta propounds a 
 fourth division, viz. Citta or ‘the faculty of thought’ On 
 the other hand, the Vedanta adds two Pramanas or ‘ instru- 
 ments of true knowledge’ (An-uwpalabdhi, ‘ non-perception ἡ 
 or ‘negative proof, and Arthdpatti, ‘inference from cir- 
 cumstances’) to the four admitted by the Nyaya (see p. 72), 
 while the Sankhya rejects the Nyaya Upamdna, and re- 
 tains as its only three Pramanas, Pratyaksha, Anumdna, 
 and Sabda. 
 
 1 The gross body is sometimes called the nine-gated city of Brahma 
 (Brahma-pura), from its being the abode of the soul and from its having 
 nine openings. 
 
LECTURE: VIL. 
 Trreqular Systems and Eclectic School. 
 ee passing to the Eclectic School I must notice 
 
 briefly two heretical and irregular systems of philo- 
 sophy, which probably grew out of Buddhism, or at least 
 have much in common with it as well as with the six 
 orthodox systems just described. 
 
 These two systems are, 1. that of the Jainas or Jains, 
 2. that of the Carvakas or Materialists. They are described 
 in the celebrated Madhavaéarya’s work, called Sarva-dar- 
 gana-sangraha, which is a concise description of various 
 Hindi systems and sects, religious and philosophical, ortho- 
 dox and heterodox, even including the science of apply- 
 ing quicksilver (rasesvara, regarded as a form of Siva) or 
 its preparations to various chemical and alchemical opera- 
 tions, and embracing also Panini’s theory of grammar’, 
 
 1 Madhava lived in the fourteenth century. He was elder brother of 
 Sayana, and associated with him in the commentary on the Rig-veda. (By 
 Mr. Burnell, however, in his preface to the Vansa-brahmana, he is identified 
 with Sfiyana.) He was also prime minister in the court of Bukka I at 
 Vijaya-nagara. He wrote many works (e.g. an introduction to the Mimansa 
 philosophy, called Nyaya-mala-vistara, a commentary on Parasara’s law- 
 book, the Kala-nirnaya, &c.) besides the Sarva-darsana-sangraha, which 
 treats of fifteen systems as follow: 1. Carvaka-darsana ; 2. Bauddha-d°; 
 3. Arhata-d°; 4. Ramanuja-d°,; 5. Pirna-prajia-d°; 6. Nakulisa-pasu- 
 pata-d°; 7. Saiva-d°; 8. Pratyabhijia-d°; 9. Rasesvara-d°; το. Aulitkya- 
 d°; 11. Akshapada-d°; 12. Jaimini-d°; 13. Panini-d°; 14. Sankhya-@; 
 15. Pataijala-d°. The Vedanta is not included in the list. Ramanuja, 
 the founder of the fourth, was a Vaishnava Reformer, who, according to 
 H. H. Wilson, lived about the middle of the twelfth century. The fifth 
 is the doctrine of Ananda-tirtha, surnamed Madhvadirya, and also called 
 Madhya-mandira, his epithet Parna-prajia merely meaning ‘ one whose 
 knowledge is complete.’ The sixth is the system of a branch of the Mahe- 
 
128 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Jainism. 
 
 Madhava’s account of the Jainas or Jains, whom he calls 
 Arhatas (from arhat, ‘ venerable,’ applied to a Jina or chief 
 saint), comes third in his list of sects, and naturally follows 
 his exposition of the Bauddha doctrines. Jainism is, in 
 fact, the only representative of Buddhistic ideas now left in 
 India, and has so much in common with them that, having 
 already gained some insight into Buddhism, we need only 
 notice a few of the distinctive features of a system which 
 is certainly its near relation, if not its actual descendant’. 
 
 The Jamas, who are still found in great numbers in 
 various parts of India’, are divided into two principal 
 sects or parties,—1. the Svetambaras, ‘clothed in white 
 garments ; 2. the Dig-ambaras, ‘sky-clad’ or ‘naked *;’ 
 
 Svaras, as shown by Professor E. B. Cowell (Colebrooke’s Essays, I. pp. 431, 
 434). He conjectures that Siva himself, called Nakulisa, may have been 
 the supposed founder of this sect, and points out that the Pasupatas are 
 worshippers of Siva as Pasu-pat?, ‘master of all inferior creatures’ 
 (explained by some to mean ‘lord of pasu or the soul entangled in the 
 bonds of matter’). The eighth is like the sixth and that of the Mahe- 
 évaras, a form of Saiva doctrine, but more pantheistic, the Saivas main- 
 taining that God is, in creating, Karmadi-sdpeksha, ‘dependent on the acts 
 &c. of individual souls, while this eighth asserts that God’s will is the 
 only cause of creation ; for it is said, ‘ He being independent (nir-apekshah) 
 and regarding no face but his own, threw all existences as a reflection on 
 the mirror of himself.” Hence pratyabhijié is defined as pratimabhimu- 
 khyena jidnam, ‘recognition as of a visible object or image. The tenth 
 is the Vaiseshika. See note, p. 76. 
 
 ! T have consulted Professor E. B. Cowell’s appendix to Colebrooke on 
 the Jainas, H. H. Wilson’s essay, an article in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia and 
 in the ‘ Indian Antiquary’ for September 1873, and a dissertation on the 
 Jainas in Tamil by a learned J ain, named Sastram Aiyar, in the Rev. H. 
 Bower’s introduction to the Cintamani, Madras, 1868. Professor Kern 
 regards the Jains as having originally formed one sect with the Buddhists. 
 
 3. They are most numerous in Gujerat and the west coast, but are found 
 everywhere, especially in South Behar (Magadha), where they originated. 
 
 ® Also called Muktambaras, Vi-vasanas. A nickname for an ascetic of 
 both sects is Lun¢ita-kega, ‘one who tears out his hair.’ 
 
IRREGULAR SYSTEMS—JAINISM. 129 
 
 the latter, however, wear coloured garments, except while 
 eating, and are required to carry peacocks’ tails in their 
 hands. These sects, though their doctrines rest on the 
 same sacred books, called collectively Sttras', differ in 
 some unimportant matters, such as the clothing or non- 
 clothing of their images, the number of their heavens, &e. 
 They both agree with the Buddhists in rejecting the Veda 
 of the Brahmans. The principal point in the Jaina creed 
 is the reverence paid to holy men, who, by long discipline, 
 have raised themselves to divine perfection. The Jina 
 or ‘conquering saint,’ who, having conquered all worldly 
 desires, declares the true knowledge of the Tattvas, 15 with 
 Jainas what the Buddha or ‘ perfectly enlightened saint’ 
 is with Buddhists. He is also called Jinesvara, ‘ chief of 
 Jinas ;’ Arhat, ‘the venerable ;) Tirtha-kara or Tirthan- 
 kara, ‘the saint who has made the passage of the world ;’ 
 Sarva-jia, ‘omniscient ;’ Bhagavat, ‘holy one.” Time with 
 Jainas proceeds in two eternally recurring cycles or periods 
 of immense duration, defying all human calculation: 1. the 
 Utsarpini or ‘ascending cycle ;’ 2. the Avasarpini or 
 ‘descending cycle’ Each of these has six stages. Those 
 of the Utsarpini period are bad-bad, bad, bad-good, good- 
 bad, good, good-good time. In the Avasarpini period the 
 series begins with good-good and goes regularly back- 
 wards. In the first cycle the age and stature of men 
 increases; in the other, decreases. We are now in the 
 fifth stage of the Avasarpini, i.e. in ‘bad’ time. When 
 the two cycles have run out, a Yuga or ‘age’ 1s accom- 
 plished. Twenty-four Jinas or ‘ perfect saints’ raised to 
 the rank of gods have appeared in the present Avasarpini 
 cycle, twenty-four in the past Utsarpini, and twenty-four 
 will appear in the future*. The idols representing them 
 
 1 See Introduction, p. xxxvi, note 1. They have also Puranas. 
 2 The names are all given in the Abhidhana-¢intamani, a well-known 
 vocabulary of synonyms, by a learned Jain, named Hemaéandra, who is 
 
 K 
 
130 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 are always, like that of the Buddha, in a contemplative 
 posture, nut have different animals, plants, and symbols 
 accompanying them (such as a bull, elephant, horse, ape, 
 a lotus, the moon), to serve as distinguishing character- 
 istics. The first Jina of the present cycle lived 8,400,000 
 years, and attained a stature equal to the length of 500 
 bows (dhanus). The age and stature of the second was 
 somewhat less, and so in a descending scale. The last 
 two Jinas, Pargva-natha and Maha-vira, were probably 
 real persons and are those principally revered by the 
 Jainas of the present day ', the first founder of the sect 
 having been Parsva- nee ἘΝῚ its first active propagator, 
 Maha-vira. In the same cycle there have lived twelve 
 Cakra-vartins, ‘ universal emperors, nine divine personages 
 called Bala-devas, nine called Vasudevas, and nine others 
 called Prativasudevas, making a list of sixty-three divine 
 persons in all , 
 
 With regard to the world, the Jainas affirm that, beg 
 formed of eternal atoms, it has existed and will exist 
 
 said to have lived in the twelfth century of our era, Those of the present 
 cycle are, 1. Rishabha or Vrishabha; 2. Ajita; 3. Sambhava; 4. Abhi- 
 nandana; 5. Sumati; 6. Padmaprabha; 7. Su- ae 8. Gandra-prabha ; 
 
 9. Pushpa-danta; το. Sitala; τι. Sreyas or Sreyansa; 12. Vasupijya ; 
 
 13. Vimala; 14. Ananta; 15. Dharma; τύ, Santi; 17. Kunthu; 18. Ara; 
 19. Malli; 20. Muni-suvrata or Su-vrata; 21. Nimi; 22. Nemi; 23. Parsva- 
 nitha or Pargva; 24. Vardhamina or Maha-vira or Vira. The last of 
 these dwindled to the size of an ordinary man, and only lived forty, 
 while the twenty-third lived a hundred years. 
 
 1 Dr. Muir has kindly allowed me to read his abstract of Professor 
 H. Kern’s learned dissertation on the date of Buddha’s death and the 
 Asoka inscriptions, written for a forthcoming number of the ‘Indian 
 Antiquary,’ whence I gather that, notwithstanding the notable difference 
 between the legends of Sakya-muni ond Jina Mahéa-vira, there are also 
 striking points of resemblance, Maha-vira is said to have been the son 
 of Siddhartha, of the solar race, and to have died in 388 8.6.) which is 
 ajso Dr. Kern’s date for the death of the Buddha Sakya-muni. 
 
 2 See their names in Hemaéandra’s third chapter. 
 
IRREGULAR SYSTEMS—JAINISM. 131 
 
 eternally. They believe that it has three divisions, viz. 
 lower, middle, and upper, and that there are 1umerous 
 hells and heavens. ΑἹ] existing things are arranged under 
 the two great Tattvas of Jiva, ‘living soul,’ and A-jiva, 
 ‘inanimate objects. Of living souls there are three kinds: 
 a. Nitya-siddha, ‘ever perfect, as the Jina ; b. Muktdtman, 
 ‘liberated soul;’? ce. Baddhdtman, ‘bound soul, or one 
 bound by works and worldly associations. Material objects 
 are sometimes classed under a Tattva called Pudgala, and 
 some make seven, others nine Tattvas. 
 
 There are three ‘ gems’ which together effect the soul’s 
 Moksha, ‘liberation, viz. a. right intuition (samyag-dar- 
 Sana); ὃ. right knowledge (samyag-jidna) ; ὁ. right con- 
 duct (samyak-caritra). This last consists in observing 
 five duties or vows of self-restraint (Vratas), thus: 1. Do 
 not kill or injure ; which Jainas carry to so preposterous an 
 extreme that they strain water before drinking it, sweep 
 the ground with a brush before treading on it, never eat 
 or drink in the dark, and sometimes wear muslin before 
 their mouths to prevent the risk of swallowing minute 
 insects. Moreover, they never eat figs or any fruit con- 
 taining seed, nor will they even touch flesh-meat with 
 their hands. 2. Do not tell lies. 3. Steal not. 4. Be 
 chaste and temperate in thought, word, and deed, 5. Desire 
 nothing immoderately. 
 
 There are two classes of Jainas, as of Buddhists (see p. 57), 
 viz. Srdavakas, those who engage in lay or secular occupa- 
 tions, and Yatis, monks or ascetics, who are required to 
 pluck out their hair or wear it cropped short. The latter 
 are often collected in Mathas or ‘monasteries, being called 
 Sddhu when not monastic. Jainas are sometimes called 
 Syad-vadins, from their method of propounding seven 
 modes of reconciling opposite views as to the possibility 
 of anything existing or not existing (sapta-bhanga-naya, 
 sydd-vada). It should be noted that they accord a sort 
 
 K 2 
 
132 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of modified worship to the Hindi gods (especially Brahma, 
 Vishnu, Siva, and GaneSa, as subordinate to the Jinas) ; 
 and are even observers of caste, and claim to be regarded 
 as Hindis, though rejecting the Hindt Veda. In Western 
 India the priests of Jaina temples are Brahmans. 
 
 The Carvakas. 
 
 ‘Nothing is known about Carvaka, the Pyrrho and Epi- 
 curus of India and founder of the materialistic school. 
 His system is the worst form of all heresies, and therefore 
 honoured with the first place in Madhavadarya’s Sarva-dar- 
 Sana-sangraha. In the Santi-parvan of the Maha-bharata 
 (1410, &c.) there is a story of a Rakshasa named Carvaka, 
 who, in the disguise of a mendicant Brahman, reviled 
 Yudhishthira during his triumphant entry into Hastina- 
 pura, and uttered profane and heretical doctrines. He 
 was, however, soon detected, and the real Brahmans, filled 
 with fury, killed him on the spot. This legend may pos- 
 sibly rest on some basis of fact. 
 
 The creed of the Carvakas, who are sometimes called 
 Lokayatas or Lokayatikas', is said to have been derived 
 from the Varhaspatya Satras (Aphorisms of Vrihaspati). 
 They reject all the Pramanas, or ‘sources of true knowledge,’ 
 except Pratyaksha, ‘ perception by the senses’ (see p. 72) ; 
 they admit only four Tattvas or ‘eternal principles,’ viz. 
 earth, air, fire, and water, and from these intelligence 
 (caitanya) is alleged to be produced ; they affirm that the 
 soul is not different from the body; and, lastly, they assert 
 that all the phenomena of the world are spontaneously pro- 
 duced, without even the help of Adrishta (see p. 69). Isum 
 up their views with a version of a passage in the Sarva- 
 dargana-san-graha (Isvara-Gandra Vidyasagara’s edition, 
 
 . . . . . . 4 8 - 
 * By some this name is given to a subdivision of the Carvikas. The 
 
 name Carvaka is applied to any adherent of the materialistic school; see 
 Vedanta-sara, 82-85. 
 
IRREGULAR SYSTEMS—CARVAKAS. 133 
 
 p. 6), setting forth the opinions of the Carvaka materialists 
 according to the supposed teaching of Vrihaspati'. The 
 sentiments, it will be perceived, are worthy of the most 
 sceptical, materialistic, and epicurean of European writers : 
 
 No heaven exists, no final liberation, 
 
 No soul, no other world, no rites of caste, 
 
 No recompense for acts; the Agnihotra’, 
 
 The triple Veda, triple self-command *, 
 
 And all the dust and ashes of repentance 
 These yield a means of livelihood for men, 
 
 Devoid of intellect and manliness. 
 
 If victims slaughtered at a sacrifice 
 
 Are raised to heavenly mansions *, why should not 
 The sacrificer immolate his father ἢ 
 
 If offerings of food can satisfy ° 
 
 Hungry departed spirits, why supply 
 
 The man who goes a journey with provisions ἢ 
 His friends at home can feed him with oblations. 
 If those abiding in celestial spheres 
 
 Are filled with food presented upon earth, 
 
 Why should not those who live in upper stories 
 Be nourished by a meal spread out below ? 
 
 ‘ T have consulted Professor Εἰ, B. Cowell’s appendix to Colebrooke’s 
 Essay, and Dr. Muir’s prose translation as given by him in his article on 
 ‘Indian Materialists’ (Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal, vol. xix, art. xi). 
 He compares a passage in the Vishnu-purana ITI. 18, which contains 
 similar sentiments. Cf. also the speech of the rationalistic Brahman Javall, 
 addressed to Rama in the Ramayana. 2 See note, p. 32. 
 
 3 Tri-danda, ‘control over thoughts, words, and actions, denoted by 
 the three Dandas or staves carried by ascetics. See Manu XII. το, τι. 
 
 * This, as Dr. Muir points out, refers to Manu V. 42, where it is stated 
 that animals duly sacrificed are conveyed to mansions of supreme felicity. 
 Cf. Maha-bharata, Asvamedhika-parvan 793 &e. 
 
 5 This is a hit at the Sraddha, one of the most important of all Hindu 
 religious acts, when oblations of cakes and libations of water are made to 
 the spirits of deceased fathers, grandfathers, and progenitors. The strict 
 observance of these ceremonies at regular intervals is at least an evidence 
 of the strength of filial feeling among Hindiis. Respect for parents and 
 their memory has all the sanction of religion, and is even more insisted 
 on as a religious duty than in Europe. 
 
134 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 While life endures let life be spent in ease 
 And merriment’; let a man borrow money 
 From all his friends and feast on melted butter. 
 How can this body when reduced to dust 
 Revisit earth ? and if a ghost can pass 
 
 To other worlds, why does not strong affection 
 For those he leaves behind attract him back ? 
 The costly rites enjoined for those who die 
 Are a mere means of livelihood devised 
 
 By sacerdotal cunning—nothing more. 
 
 The three composers of the triple Veda 
 
 Were rogues, or evil spirits, or buffoons. 
 
 The recitation of mysterious words 
 
 And jabber? of the priests is simple nonsense. 
 
 The Eclectic School represented by the Bhagavad-gita. 
 
 As a fitting conclusion to the subject of Indian philo- 
 sophy let me endeavour to give some idea of one of the 
 most interesting and popular works in the whole range 
 of Sanskrit literature, called Bhagavad-gita, the Song of 
 Bhagavat—that is, the mystical doctrines (Upanishadah*) 
 sung by ‘the adorable one ’—a name applied to Krishna 
 when identified with the supreme Being. This poem, 
 abounding in sentiments borrowed from the Upanishads, 
 and commented on by the great Vedantic teacher San- 
 karad¢arya, may be taken to represent the Eclectic school 
 of Indian philosophy. As the regular systems or Darganas 
 were more or less developments of the Upanishads, so the 
 Eclectic school is connected with those mystical treatises 
 
 * ‘Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die,’ 1 Cor. xv. 32. See 
 Dr. Muir’s note. Compare such Horatian precepts as Epod. XIII. 3, &e. 
 
 * Two curious Vedic words, jarbhart and turphari, are given in the 
 text as specimens of what I suppose modern scoffers might call ‘ Vedic 
 slang.” They occur, as Dr. Muir points out, in Rig-veda X. 106. 6, and 
 Nirukta XIII. 5. For their explanation see Bohtlingk and Roth and my 
 Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 
 
 * At the end of each chapter the name of the chapter is given in the 
 plural; thus, /¢ 8rt-bhagavad-gitasu upanishatsu, &c. See note 1, p. 138. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 135 
 
 through the Svetasvatara Upanishad! of the Black Yajur- 
 veda (see p. 45). This latter is doubtless a comparatively 
 modern work, but whether composed before or after the 
 Bhagavad-gita, certain it is that the design of both 
 appears to be the same. They both aim at reconciling 
 the conflicting views of different systems, and both do 
 so by attempting to engraft the Sankhya and Yoga upon 
 Vedanta doctrines*. Although, therefore, the order of 
 creation and much of the cosmogony and other San-khya 
 views are retained in both, the paramount sovereignty of 
 the supreme Soul of the universe (Brahma) as the source 
 and ultimate end of all created things, and yet wholly 
 independent of all such creations, is asserted by both. 
 
 Some extracts from the Svetagvatara, describing the 
 character and attributes of this supreme Being, who is 
 everything and in everything, have already been given at 
 p- 45. The following are additional extracts from the 
 first and third chapters (Réer, pp. 50, 55, 58): 
 
 This (absolute Brahma) should be meditated on as eternal and as 
 abiding in one’s own soul; for beside him there is nothing to be known 
 (ndtah param veditavyam hi kinéit). As oil in seeds (t/eshw), butter in 
 cream, water in a river, and fire in wood, so is that absolute Soul per- 
 
 ceived within himself by a person who beholds him by means of truth 
 and by austerity. 
 
 1 The name of this Upanishad is derived from a sage, Svetisvatara, 
 who, at the end of the work (VI. 21), is said to have taught the doc- 
 trine of Brahma to the most excellent of the four orders. It has been 
 translated by Dr. Réer into English, and nearly all by Professor Weber 
 into German (Indische Studien I. 422-429). The author must have been 
 a Saiva (not a Vaishnava, like the author of the Bhagayad-gita), as he 
 identifies Rudra with the supreme Being. According to Wilson, Sveta, 
 ‘ white, Svetasva, ‘ white-horsed,’ Sveta-sikha, ‘ white-haired, and Sveta- 
 lohita, ‘ white-blooded, were names of four disciples of Siva. Weber 
 suspects here a mission of Syrian Christians, and thinks that both the 
 Upanishad and the Gita, the latter especially, may have borrowed ideas 
 from Christianity. 
 
 2 See Dr. Réer’s introduction for a full explanation of this. 
 
136 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 He is the eye of all, the face of all, the arm of all, the foot of all. 
 
 Thou art the black bee (nilah patangah), the green bird with red- 
 coloured eye, the cloud in whose womb sleeps the lightning, the seasons, 
 the seas. Without beginning thou pervadest all things by thy almighty 
 power ; for by thee are all the worlds created. 
 
 The following, again, is an example of a passage occur- 
 ring in the fourth chapter (5), which is decidedly San- 
 khyan in its tone: 
 
 The one unborn (individual soul), for the sake of enjoyment, lies close 
 to the One unborn (Prakriti), which is of a white, red, and black colour 
 [answering evidently to the three San-khyan Gunas], which is of one and 
 the same form, and produces a manifold offspring. Then the other 
 unborn (or eternal soul) abandons her (Prakritt) whose enjoyment he has 
 enjoyed. 
 
 Let us now turn to the Bhagavad-gitaé. The real author 
 of this work is unknown. It was at an early date digni- 
 fied by a place in the Maha-bharata, in which poem it lies 
 imbedded, or rather inlaid like a pearl’, contributing with 
 other numerous episodes to the mosaic-like character of 
 that immense epic. The Bhagavad-gita, however, is 
 quite independent of the great epic; and it cannot be 
 questioned that its proper place in any arrangement of 
 Sanskrit literature framed with regard to the continuous 
 development and progress of Hinda thought and know- 
 ledge should be at the close of the subject of philosophy. 
 The author was probably a Brahman and nominally a 
 
 ' It has been interpolated into the Bhishma-parvan of the Maha-bharata 
 and is divided into eighteen chapters or into three sections, each contain- 
 ing six lectures, commencing at line 830 of the twenty-fifth chapter of 
 the Parva, and ending at line 1532. Such is the estimation in which 
 the work is held both in Asia and Europe, that it has been translated 
 into Hindi, Telugu, Kanarese, and other Eastern languages, and is also 
 well known by European translations, of which that of Sir C. Wilkins, 
 published in London in 1785, was the first. Mr. J. (Οὐ, Thomson’s edition 
 and translation, published, with an elaborate introduction, by Stephen 
 Austin in 1855, is, on the whole, a very meritorious production, and 
 Τ am glad to acknowledge my obligations to it. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 137 
 
 Vaishnava, but really a philosopher whose mind was cast 
 in a broad and comprehensive mould. He is supposed to 
 have lived in India during the first or second century 
 of our era’. Finding no rest for his spirit in any one 
 system of philosophy, as commonly taught in his own time, 
 much less in the corrupt Brahmanism which surrounded 
 him, he was led to make a selection from the various 
 schools of rationalistic and dogmatic thought, so as to 
 construct a composite theory of his own. This he did 
 with great perspicuity and beauty of language, inter- 
 weaving various opinions into one system by taking, so to 
 speak, threads from the Sankhya, Yoga, and Vedanta, as 
 well as from the later theory of Bhakti or ‘faith in a 
 supreme Being’. With these threads he weaves, as it 
 were, a woof of many-coloured hues of thought, which are 
 shot across a stiff warp of stern uncompromising panthe- 
 istic doctrines, worthy of the most decided adherent of 
 the Vedanta school*. Of these cross threads the most 
 conspicuous are those of the Sankhya system, for which 
 the author of the Gita has an evident predilection. The 
 whole composition is skilfully thrown into the form of a 
 dramatic poem or dialogue, something after the manner 
 
 ' Some consider that he lived as late as the third century, and some 
 place him even later, but with these I cannot agree. 
 
 * The Aphorisms of Sandilya, the editing of which was commenced by 
 Dr. Ballantyne and continued by Professor Griffith, his successor at 
 Benares, deny that knowledge is the one thing needful, and insist on the 
 subjection of knowledge to the higher principle of Bhakti, ‘faith in God,’ 
 The first Aphorism introduces the inquiry into the nature of faith, thus, 
 Athato bhakti-jijnasa. Professor Weber and others think that the intro- 
 duction of πίστις and ἀγάπη into the Hindi system is due to the influence 
 of Christianity. 
 
 * The predominance of pantheistic doctrines, notwithstanding the 
 attempt to interweave them with portions of the Samkhya and Yoga 
 systems, is denoted by the fact that the Vedantists claim this poem as an 
 exponent of their own opinions, 
 
138 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of the book of Job or a dialogue of Plato's The speakers 
 are the two most important personages in the Maha- 
 bharata, Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna is perhaps the 
 real hero of that epic. He is the bravest, and yet the 
 most tender-hearted of the five sons of Pandu. The god 
 Krishna, who is identified with Vishnu ’, and in this philo- 
 sophical dialogue is held to be an incarnation of the supreme 
 Being himself, had taken human form as the son of Devaki 
 and Vasudeva, who was brother of Kunti, wife of Pandu. 
 Hence the god was cousin of the sons of Pandu, brother of 
 Dhritarashtra, the sons of these brothers being of course 
 related as cousins to each other. In the great war which 
 arose between the two families, each contending for the 
 kingdom of Hastinapura*, Krishna refused to take up 
 arms on either side, but consented to act as the charioteer 
 
 1 Tt is, however, styled an Upanishad, or rather a series of Upanishads, 
 because, like the Upanishads, it reveals secret and mystical doctrines. 
 For instance, at the close of the dialogue (XVIII. 63), Krishna says, ‘I have 
 thus communicated to you knowledge more secret than secret itself’ (it 
 . me jnanam akhyatam guhyad guhyataram maya). 
 
 2 Professor Weber (Indische Studien I. 400) thinks that Brahmans 
 may have crossed the sea to Asia Minor at the beginning of the Christian 
 era, and on their return made use of Christian narratives to fabricate the 
 story of their deified hero, Krishna, whose very name would remind them 
 of Christ. The legends of the birth of Krishna and his persecution by 
 Kansa, remind us, says Weber, too strikingly of the corresponding 
 Christian narratives to leave room for the supposition that the similarity 
 is quite accidental. According to Lassen, the passages of the Maha- 
 bharata in which Krishna receives divine honours are later interpola- 
 tions, and the real worship of Krishna is not found before the fifth or 
 sixth century. Dr. Lorinser, as we shall presently see, thinks he can 
 trace the influence of Christianity throughout the Bhagavad-gita. The 
 legend of Sveta-dvipa in the Maha-bharata (XII. 12703) certainly favours 
 the idea of some intercourse with Europe at an early date. The legends 
 relating to Krishna are found detailed at full in the tenth book of the 
 Bhagavata-purana and its Hindi paraphrase, the Prem Sagar. 
 
 ° See the epitome of this great epic in a subsequent Lecture. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 139 
 
 of Arjuna and to aid him with his advice. At the com- 
 mencement of the Bhagavad-gita the two contending 
 armies are supposed to be drawn up in battle array, when 
 Arjuna, struck with sudden compunction at the idea of 
 fighting his way to a kingdom through the blood of his 
 kindred, makes a sudden resolution to retire from the 
 combat, confiding his thoughts to Krishna thus (1. 28-33) : 
 
 Beholding these my relatives arrayed 
 
 Before my eyes in serried line of battle, 
 
 Preparing for the deadly fray, my limbs 
 
 Are all relaxed, my blood dries up, a tremor 
 
 Palsies my frame, the hairs upon my skin 
 
 Bristle with horror, all my body burns 
 
 As if with fever, and my mind whirls round, 
 
 So that I cannot stand upright, nor hold 
 
 The bow Gandiva slipping from my hand. 
 
 I cannot—wil! not fight—O mighty Krishna, 
 
 I seek not victory, I seek no kingdom. 
 
 What shall we do with regal ponyp and power, 
 
 What with enjoyments or with life itself, 
 
 When we have slaughtered all our kindred here ? 
 
 Krishna's reply to this speech is made the occasion of 
 the long philosophical and theological dialogue which, in 
 fact, constitutes the Bhagavad-gita, the main design of 
 which undoubtedly is to exalt the duties of caste above 
 all other obligations, including the ties of friendship and 
 affection, but at the same time to show that the practice 
 of these duties is compatible with all the self-mortitfication 
 and concentration of thought enjoined by the Yoga philo- 
 sophy, as well as with the deepest devotion to the supreme 
 Being, with whom Krishna claims to be identified’. As 
 
 ‘ There is a sect among the Hindiis called Ganapatyas, who identify 
 Ganapati or Ganesa with the supreme Being. Their doctrines are embodied 
 in the Ganesa-purina, but they have a poem called the Ganega-gita, which 
 is identical in substance with the Bhagavad-gité, the name of Ganega 
 being substituted for that of Krishna. 
 
140 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Arjuna belongs to the military caste, he is exhorted to 
 perform his duties as a soldier. Again and again is he 
 urged to fight, without the least thought about conse- 
 quences, and without the slightest question as to the pro- 
 priety of slaughtering his relations, if only he acts in the 
 path of duty. Hence we have the following sentiments 
 repeated more than once (IIT. 35, XVIII. 47, 48): 
 
 Better to do the duty of one’s caste ', 
 
 Though bad and ill-performed and fraught with evil, 
 
 Than undertake the business of another, 
 
 However good it be. For better far 
 
 Abandon life at once than not fulfil 
 
 One’s own appointed work ; another’s duty 
 
 Brings danger to the man who meddles with it. 
 
 Perfection is alone attained by him 
 
 Who swerves not from the business of his easte. 
 
 Remembering the sacred character attributed to this 
 poem and the veneration in which it has always been held 
 throughout India, we may well understand that such 
 words as these must have exerted a powerful influence for 
 the last 1800 years ; tending, as they must have done, to 
 rivet the fetters of caste-institutions which, for several 
 centuries preceding the Christian era, notwithstanding 
 the efforts of the great liberator Buddha, increased year 
 by year their hold upon the various classes of Hindt 
 society, impeding mutual intercourse, preventing healthy 
 interchange of ideas, and making national union almost 
 impossible. 
 
 Before proceeding to offer further examples, we may 
 remark that as the Bhagavad-gita is divided into three 
 sections, each containing six chapters, so the philosophical 
 teaching is somewhat distinct in each section. 
 
 1 Compare Sakuntala, verse 133, ‘ Verily the occupation in which a 
 man is born, though it be in bad repute, must not be abandoned.’ The 
 words used (saha-jam karma) are the same as those in the Bhagavad-gita. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 141 
 
 The first section dwells chiefly on the benefits of the 
 Yoga system, pointing out, however, as we have already 
 observed, that the asceticism of the Yoga ought to be 
 joined with action and the performance of regular caste 
 duties, and winding up with a declaration that the grand 
 end and aim of all asceticism is to attain that most desirable 
 pantheistic state which enables a man to see God in every- 
 thing and everything in God. Arjuna is exhorted as : 
 member of the soldier-caste to dismiss all doubt about the 
 propriety of fighting and killing his relations, by an argu- 
 ment drawn from the eternal existence of the soul, which 
 is nobly expressed thus (IT. 11, &c.)!: 
 
 The wise grieve not for the departed, nor for those who yet survive. 
 Ne’er was the time when I was not, nor thou, nor yonder chiefs, and ne’er 
 Shall be the time when all of us shall be not; as the embodied soul 
 
 In this corporeal frame moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth, and age, 
 So will it pass through other forms hereafter—be not grieved thereat. 
 The man whom pain and pleasure, heat and cold affect not, he is fit 
 
 For immortality ; whatever is not cannot be, whatever is 
 
 Can never cease to be. Know this—the Being that spread this universe 
 Is indestructible. Who can destroy the Indestructible ? 
 
 These bodies that inclose the everlasting soul, inscrutable, 
 
 Immortal, have an end; but he who thinks the soul can be destroyed, 
 And he who deems it a destroyer, are alike mistaken ; it 
 
 Kills net, and is not killed; it is not born, nor doth it ever die ; 
 
 It has no past nor future—unproduced, unchanging, infinite ; he 
 
 Who knows it fixed, unborn, imperishable, indissoluble, 
 
 How can that man destroy another, or extinguish aught below ? 
 
 As men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on others new, 
 
 So casts the embodied soul its worn-out frame to enter other forms. 
 
 No dart can pierce it; flame cannot consume it, water wet it not, 
 
 Nor scorching breezes dry it—indestructible, incapable 
 
 Of heat or moisture or aridity, eternal, all-pervading, 
 
 Steadfast, immovable, perpetual, yet imperceptible, 
 
 Incomprehensible, unfading, deathless, unimaginable ὅς 
 
 Ὁ T have endeavoured to give a more literal version than the well-known 
 one of Dean Milman, though I have followed him in some expressions. 
 * Compare the passage from the Katha Upanishad, translated p. 44. 
 
142 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The duty of Yoga or ‘intense concentration of the mind 
 on one subject’ (viz. the supreme Being, here identified 
 with Krishna), till at last the great end of freedom from 
 all thought, perfect calm, and absorption in the Deity are 
 obtained, is enjoined with much force of language in the 
 second and sixth books, from which I extract the following 
 examples, translated nearly literally, but not quite accord- 
 ing to the order of the text : 
 
 That holy man who stands immovable, 
 
 As if erect upon a pinnacle’, 
 
 His appetites and organs all subdued, 
 
 Sated with knowledge secular and sacred, 
 
 To whom a lump of earth, a stone, or gold’, 
 To whom friends, relatives, acquaintances, 
 Neutrals and enemies, the good and bad, 
 Are all alike, is called ‘one yoked with God.’ 
 The man who aims at that supreme condition 
 Of perfect yoking * with the Deity 
 
 Must first of all be moderate in all things, 
 
 In food, in sleep, in vigilance, in action, 
 
 In exercise and recreation. Then 
 
 Let him, if seeking God by deep abstraction, 
 Abandon his possessions and his hopes, 
 Betake himself to some secluded spot *, 
 
 And fix his heart and thoughts on God alone. 
 There let him choose a seat, not high nor low, 
 And with a cloth or skin to cover him, 
 
 And KuéSa grass beneath him, let him sit 
 Firm and erect, his body, head, and neck 
 Straight and immovable, his eyes directed 
 Towards a single point®, not looking round, 
 
 * Kita-sthah (V1. 8) may mean ‘ standing erect like a peak.’ 
 
 * Tersely expressed in Sanskrit by sama-loshtasma-hancanah V1. 8. 
 
 5.1 use these expressions as kindred words to the Sanskrit yukta and 
 yoga. ‘Joined’ and ‘junction’ are also cognate expressions. 
 
 * Cf. Matt. vi. 6, ‘But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, 
 and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.’ 
 
 ° The text (VI. 13) says, ‘ fixing his eyes on the tip of his nose’ (sam- 
 prekshya nasikagram). See p. 103. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 143 
 
 Devoid of passion, free from anxious thought, 
 His heart restrained, and deep in meditation. 
 E’en as a tortoise draws its head and feet 
 Within its shell, so must he keep his organs 
 Withdrawn from sensual objects. He whose senses 
 Are well controlled attains to sacred knowledge, 
 And thence obtains tranquillity of thought. 
 Without quiescence there can be no bliss. 
 
 E’en as ἃ storm-tossed ship upon the waves, 
 
 So is the man whose heart obeys his passions, 
 Which, like the winds, will hurry him away. 
 Quiescence is the state of the Supreme. 
 
 He who, intent on meditation, joins 
 
 His soul with the Supreme, is like a flame 
 
 That flickers not when sheltered from the wind. 
 
 I pass now to the second division of this poem, in which 
 the pantheistic doctrines of the Vedanta are more directly 
 inculcated than in the other sections. Krishna here in the 
 plainest language claims adoration as one with the great 
 universal Spirit, pervading and constituting the universe. 
 I extract portions from different parts of this section with- 
 out observing the order of the text, which contains much 
 tautology, as well as repetitions of similar ideas in dif- 
 ferent language : 
 
 Whate’er thou dost perform, whate’er thou eatest, 
 Whate’er thou givest to the poor, whate’er 
 Thou offerest in sacrifice, whatever 
 
 Thou doest as an act of holy penance, 
 Do all as if to me, O Arjuna (IX. 27)'. 
 
 * Compare 1 Cor, x. 31, ‘ Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or what- 
 soever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Dr. Lorinser, expanding the 
 views of Professor Weber and others concerning the influence of Christi- 
 anity on the legends of Krishna, thinks that many of the sentiments of 
 the Bhagavad-gitaé have been directly borrowed from the New Testament, 
 copies of which, he thinks, found their way into India about the third 
 century, when he believes the poem to have been written. He even 
 adopts the theory of a parallel in the names of Christ and Krishna. He 
 seems, however, to forget that fragments of truth are to be found in all 
 religious systems, however false, and that the Bible, though a true revela- 
 
144 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ‘, without beginning, 
 
 I am the ancient sage 
 lam the Ruler and the All-sustainer?, 
 
 I am incomprehensible in form, 
 
 More subtle and minute than subtlest atoms‘; 
 
 T am the cause of the whole universe ; 
 
 Through me it is created and dissolved ; 
 
 On me all things within it hang suspended, 
 Like pearls upon a string’. I am the light 
 
 In sun and moon, far, far beyond the darkness °; 
 I am the brilliancy in flame, the radiance 
 
 In all that’s radiant, and the light of lights®, 
 
 tion, is still in regard 40 the human mind, through ΕΠ the thoughts 
 are transfused, a thoroughly Oriental book, cast in an Oriental mould, 
 and full of Oriental ideas and expressions. Some of his comparisons 
 seem mere coincidences of language, which might occur quite naturally 
 and independently. In other cases, where he draws attention to coinci- 
 dences of ideas—as, for example, the division of the sphere of self-control 
 into thought, word, and deed in chap. XVII. 14-16, &c., and of good works 
 into prayer, fasting, and alms-giving—how could these be borrowed from 
 Christianity, when they are also found in Manu, which few will place 
 later than the fifth century B.c.? Thus a Z'ri-dandin (Manu XII. 10) is 
 explained to mean ‘a triple commander, who commands his thoughts, 
 words, and actions (see note 3, p. 133); the same division is found in 
 Manu II. 192, 236. Professor Cowell has pointed out that it occurs still 
 earlier than Manu, in the Black Yajur-veda VI. 1. 7, and its Aranyaka 
 X. 1. το, and in the Aitareya-brahmana III. 28. Plato also has the same 
 in his Protagoras (p. 348), and it is found in the Zand Avasta (Gatha 
 Ahunavaiti III. 3). Nevertheless, something may be said for Dr. Lorinser’s 
 theory. His German translation (1869) is rich in notes, pointing out 
 parallels. See also the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for October 1873. 
 
 Kavih puranah VIII. 9. ‘ Kavi’ in Vedic Sanskrit means ‘ wise,’ and 
 is an epithet applied to most of the gods, especially to Agni. The mean- 
 ing ‘poet’ belongs to later Sanskrit. > Sarvasya dhata VIII. 9. 
 
 * Anor aniyan VIII. 9. Compare p. 82 of this volume. 
 
 * VII. 7. Dr. Lorinser compares Rom. xi. 36, ‘ Of him, and through 
 him, and unto him, are all things.’ John 1. 3, ‘ All things were made by 
 him; and without him was not anything made that was made.’ 
 
 ° Prabhasmi sasi-siiryayoh VIL. 8. Tamasah parastat VIII. 9. Cf. 
 1 John i. 5, ‘God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.’ See Rig- 
 veda I. 50. 10. 
 
 ° Jyotisham jyotih XII. 17. Cf. Brihad-aranyaka Upanishad, quoted 
 p- 39 of this volume. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—-BHAGAVAD-GITA. 145 
 
 The sound in ether, fragrance in the earth, 
 The seed eternal of existing things’, 
 
 The life in all, the father, mother, husband, 
 Forefather, and sustainer of the world, 
 
 Its friend and lord. I am its way? and refuge, 
 Its habitation and receptacle, 
 
 I am its witness. I am Victory 
 
 And Energy; I watch the universe 
 
 With eyes and face in all directions turned’. 
 Τ dwell, as Wisdom, in the heart of all*. 
 
 T am the Goodness of the good, I am 
 Beginning, Middle, End, eternal Time, 
 
 The Birth, the Death of all®. Iam the symbol A 
 Among the characters®. I have created all 
 Out of one portion of myself. E’en those 
 Who are of low and unpretending birth ἢ, 
 May find the path to highest happiness, 
 
 If they depend on me; how much more those 
 Who are by rank and penance holy Brahmans 
 And saintly soldier-princes like thyself. 
 
 Then be not sorrowful; from all thy sins 
 
 ΝΕ eS eee eee ee ees 
 
 1 Sarva-bhitandm vijam VII. το, X. 39. Cf. John i. 3, ‘All things 
 were made by him.’ 
 
 2 Gati IX. 18. Cf. John xiv. 6, ‘I am the way.’ 
 
 8. Visvato-mukha, ‘facing in all directions,’ IX. 15. 
 Jianam hyidi sarvasya nishthitam XII. 17. Cf. 2 Cor. iv. 6. 
 Compare Rev. i. 17, 18, ‘I am the first and the last; and have the 
 keys of hell and of death.’ Mr. Mullens draws attention to parallel descrip- 
 tions of the supreme Ruler in the Greek Orphic hymns : ‘Zeus was the 
 first and Zeus the last; Zeus is the head; Zeus, the centre; from Zeus 
 have all things been made; Zeus is the breath of all things; Zeus is the 
 sun and moon,’ &c. See his Essay, p. 193, and cf. note 1, p. 116. Be 
 also an inscription said to exist in a temple of Athene, Ἐγὼ εἰμὶ πᾶν τὸ 
 
 4 
 
 5 
 
 γεγονὸς καὶ ὃν καὶ ἐσόμενον. 
 
 5. Aksharanam a-karo ’smi X. 33. Compare Rev. i. 8, ‘I am Alpha 
 and Omega.’ 
 
 7 Papa-yonayah, ‘base-born, IX. 32. The text states who these are, 
 viz. Women, Vaisyas, and Siidras. This is significant in regard to the 
 Hindi estimate of the female sex. A woman’s religion is thought to 
 consist in obedience first to her father and then to her husband, with 
 attention to domestic duties. See Manu 11. 67. But the joining of 
 
 L 
 
146 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 I will deliver thee’. Think thou on me, 
 
 Have faith in me, adore and worship me’, 
 
 And join thyself in meditation to me ; 
 
 Thus shalt thou come to me, O Arjuna ; 
 
 Thus shalt thou rise to my supreme abode, 
 
 Where neither sun nor moon have need to shine, 
 For know that all the lustre they possess is mine’. 
 
 I come now to chapter ΧΙ, called ‘the Vision (or Reve- 
 lation) of the Universal Form’ (visva-rijpa-darsanam). 
 Arjuna filled with awe at the discovery of the true nature 
 of Krishna, acting as his charioteer, addresses him thus : 
 
 Most mighty Lord supreme, this revelation 
 Of thy mysterious essence and thy oneness 
 With the eternal Spirit, clears away 
 
 The mists of my illusions. Show me then 
 Thy form celestial, most divine of men‘, 
 If haply I may dare to look upon it. 
 
 Vaityas with Stidras is curious (cf. p.159. 6). Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and 
 Rajarshis, i.e. holy personages—half princes, half saints—are by birth and 
 rank fitted for religious exercises, and more likely to reach heaven. 
 
 1 Aham tvam sarva-papebhyo moéayishyami ma suéah. Cf. Matt. ix. 2, 
 ‘Be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.’ A sense of original cor- 
 ruption seems to be felt by all classes of Hindis, as indicated by the 
 following prayer used after the Gayatri by many religious persons : 
 
 Papo ’ham papa-karmaham papatma papa-sambhavah, ~ 
 Trahi mam, pundarikaksha sarva-papa-hara Hare, 
 ‘T am sinful, I commit sin, my nature is sinful, 1 am conceived in sin, 
 Save me, O thou lotus-eyed Hari, the remover of sin.’ 
 
 2 
 
 The original is, Manwmana bhava mad-bhakto mad-yaji mam namas- 
 kuru IX. 34. Cf. Prov. xxiii. 26, ‘My son, give me thine heart.’ 
 
 δ Na tad bhasayate stiryo na Sasankah XV.6. Yad aditya-gatam tejo 
 yaé candramasi tat tejo viddhi mamakam XV. 12. Cf. Rey. xxi. 23, 
 ‘The city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for 
 the glory of God did lighten it.’ Cf. also Maha-bharata III. 1745, &., 
 Na tatra stiryah somo va dyotate na ¢a pavakah, Svayaiva prabhaya tatra 
 dyotante punya-labdhayd, ‘there (in Indra’s heaven) the sun shines not, 
 nor the moon nor fire; there they (righteous men) shine by their own 
 glory acquired by their own merit.’ 
 
 * Purushottama, ‘most excellent of men,’ a common name for Krishna. 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 147 
 
 To this Krishna replies : 
 Thou canst not bear to gaze upon my shape 
 With these thy human eyes, O son of Pandu, 
 3ut now 1 gift thee with celestial vision ; 
 Behold me in a hundred thousand forms, 
 In phases, colours, fashions infinite. 
 
 Here follows the description of Krishna’s supernatural 
 transformation! : 
 
 Thus having said, the mighty Lord of all 
 Displayed to Arjuna his form supreme, 
 Endowed with countless mouths and countless eyes, 
 With countless faces turned to every quarter, 
 With countless marvellous appearances, 
 
 With ornaments and wreaths and robes divine, 
 With heavenly fragrance and celestial weapons. 
 It was as if the firmament were filled, 
 
 All in an instant, with a thousand suns, 
 Blazing with dazzling lustre, so beheld he 
 The glories of the universe collected 
 
 In the one person of the God of gods”. 
 
 Arjuna, with every hair on his body bristling with awe, 
 bows his head at this vision, and folding his hands in 
 reverence, gives utterance to a passionate outburst of 
 enthusiastic adoration, which I here abridge: 
 
 I see thee, mighty Lord of all, revealed 
 In forms of infinite diversity. 
 
 I see thee like a mass of purest light, 
 Flashing thy lustre everywhere around. 
 
 1 The idea of this, Dr. Lorinser considers borrowed from the Gospel 
 narrative of the transfiguration. It is certainly very instructive to con- 
 trast the simplicity of the Gospel scene : ‘His face did shine as the sun, 
 and his raiment was white as the light,’ Matt. xvii. 2, Mark ix. 3. 
 
 2 In the Udyoga-parva of the Maha-bharata (4419-4430) Krishna 
 reveals his form in the same way to the assembled princes, who are 
 obliged to close their eyes at the awful sight, while the blind Dhrita- 
 rashtra is gifted with divine vision that he may behold the glorious 
 
 spectacle (4437). 
 L 2 
 
148 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 I see thee crowned with splendour like the sun, 
 Pervading earth and sky, immeasurable, 
 Boundless, without beginning, middle, end, 
 Preserver of imperishable law, 
 
 The everlasting Man’; the triple world 
 
 Ts awe-struck at this vision of thy form, 
 Stupendous, indescribable in glory. 
 
 Haye mercy, God of gods ; the universe 
 
 Is fitly dazzled by thy majesty, 
 
 Fitly to thee alone devotes its homage. 
 
 At thy approach the evil demons flee, 
 
 Scattered in terror to the winds of heaven. 
 
 The multitude of holy saints? adore thee— 
 Thee, first Creator *, lord of all the gods, 
 
 The ancient One*, supreme Receptacle 
 
 Of all that is and is not, knowing all, 
 
 And to be known by all. Immensely vast, 
 Thou comprehendest all, thou art the All (XI. 40). 
 To thee earth’s greatest heroes must return, 
 Blending once more with thy resplendent essence, 
 Like mighty rivers rushing to the ocean (XI. 28). 
 To thee be sung a thousand hymns of praise 
 
 By every creature and from every quarter, 
 Before, above, behind. Hail! Hail! thou All! 
 Again and yet again I worship thee. 
 
 Have mercy, I implore thee, and forgive, 
 
 That I, in ignorance of this thy glory, 
 Presumed to call thee Friend; and pardon too 
 Whate’er I have too negligently uttered, 
 Addressing thee in too familiar tones. 
 Unrivalled God of gods, I fall before thee 
 Prostrate in adoration, thou the Father 
 
 1 Sandtanah purushah (XI. 18) may be translated ‘the eternal Spirit.’ 
 
 2 Maharshis, great saints and Siddhas, XI. 21. Cf. parts of the Te 
 Deum. The Siddhas are semi-divine beings supposed to possess great 
 purity, called Sadhyas in the earlier mythology (Manu I. 22). Siddhas and 
 Sadhyas are sometimes confused, though mentioned separately in the text. 
 
 3 Cf. John viii. 58, ‘ Before Abraham was, I am.’ 
 
 * Purushah purdnah, ‘the most ancient person,’ XI. 38. Cf. Daniel 
 vu. 9, ‘The Ancient of days did sit.’ 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 149 
 
 Of all that lives and lives not ; have compassion, 
 Bear with me, as a father with a son, 
 
 Or as a lover with a cherished one. 
 
 Now that I see thee as thou really art, 
 
 J thrill with terror! Mercy! Lord of lords, 
 Once more display to me thy human form, 
 
 Thou habitation of the universe '. 
 
 Many other remarkable passages might be adduced in 
 connection with the first two divisions of the subject- 
 matter of the Bhagavad-gita. I note the following : 
 
 He who has brought his members under subjection, but sits with foolish 
 mind thinking in his heart of sensual things, is called a hypocrite (mithya- 
 cara). (III. 6. Of. Matt. v. 28.) 
 
 Many are my births that are past ; many are thine too, Ὁ Arjuna. I know 
 them all, but thou knowest them not. (IV. 5. Cf. John viii. 14.) 
 
 For the establishment of righteousness am I born from time to time. 
 (IV. 8. Cf. John xvii. 37, 1 John iii. 3.) 
 
 I am dearer to the wise than all possessions, and he is dear to me, 
 (VI. 17. Cf. Luke xiv. 33, John xiv. 21.) 
 
 The ignorant, the unbeliever, and he of a doubting mind perish 
 utterly. (IV. 40. Cf. Mark xvi. 16.) 
 
 In him are all beings, by him this universe was spread out. (VIII. 22. 
 Cf. Acts xvii. 28.) 
 
 Deluded men despise me when I have taken human form. (IX. 11. Cf. 
 John i. 10.) 
 
 In all the Vedas I am to be known. (XV. 15. Cf. John v. 39.) 
 
 As many uses as there are in a reservoir filled with waters coming 
 from all parts (for bathing, washing, or drinking), so many does a know- 
 ing Brahman find in all the Vedas. (II. 46. Mr. Thomson compares the 
 various uses made of texts from our own sacred Scriptures. ) 
 
 The next is suggestive of the doctrine that the condition 
 of the soul for a future state is determined before death : 
 
 Whatever a man’s state of mind be at the moment when he leaves the 
 
 1 XI. 45, 46. Dr. Lorinser compares the awe of our Lord’s disciples, 
 Matt. xvii. 6, ‘They fell on their face, and were sore afraid.’ Also of 
 Simon Peter, Luke v. 8, ‘When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ 
 knees, saying, Depart from me ; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.’ 
 
150 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 body to that condition does he always go, being made to conform to that. 
 (VIII. 6. Of. Eccles. xi. 3. This is the dying Sanskara which delays 
 the passage to heaven.) 
 
 A similar passage occurs in the Chandogya Upanishad : 
 
 Man is a creature of intelligence (kratu-maya), whatever ideas he 
 forms in this life, he becomes so when he departs to another, therefore 
 he should reflect (on God, IIT. 14. 1). 
 
 The next is a paraphrase of XVI. 12-16. It may be 
 π᾿ with Luke xu. 17-20: 
 
 Entangled in a hundred worldly snares, 
 Self-seeking men, by ignorance deluded, 
 Strive by unrighteous means to pile up riches. 
 Then, in their self-complacency, they say, 
 ‘This acquisition I have made to-day, 
 
 That I will gain to-morrow ; so much pelf 
 
 Is hoarded up already, so much more 
 Remains that I have yet to treasure up. 
 
 This enemy I have destroyed, him also 
 
 And others in their turn I will dispatch. 
 Iam a lord; I will enjoy myself ; 
 
 I’m wealthy, noble, strong, successful, happy ; 
 I’m absolutely perfect ; no one else 
 
 In all the world can be compared to me. 
 
 Now I will offer up a sacrifice, 
 
 Give gifts with lavish hand and be triumphant.’ 
 Such men, befooled by endless, vain conceits, 
 Caught in the meshes of the world’s illusion, 
 Immersed in sensuality, descend 
 
 Down to the foulest hell of unclean spirits. 
 
 I add a few lines from chapter III, in which Krishna 
 exhorts Arjuna to energetic action by an argument drawn 
 from the example set by himself in his own everlasting 
 exertions for the good of the world (cf. John v.17). The 
 order of the text is not observed in the following version, 
 and the sentiment in lines 6, 7, is from chapter IT. 47: 
 
 Perform all necessary acts, for action 
 Is better than inaction, none can live 
 By sitting still and doing nought ; it is 
 By action only that a man attains 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 151 
 
 Immunity from action. Yet in working 
 
 Ne’er work for recompense; let the act’s motive 
 Be in the act itself. Know that work 
 
 Proceeds from the Supreme. I am the pattern 
 For man to follow; know that I have done 
 
 All acts already, nought remains for me 
 
 To gain by action, yet I work for ever 
 Unweariedly, and this whole universe 
 
 Would perish if I did not work my work (III. 19). 
 
 The third division of the poem, comprising the six last 
 chapters, aims particularly at interweaving Sankhya doc- 
 trines with the Vedanta, though this is done more or less 
 throughout the whole work. - It accepts the doctrine of a 
 supreme presiding Spirit (called Param Brahma or Adhy- 
 dtmam, XIII. 12, VIII.1), as the first source of the universe, 
 but asserts the eternal existence of Prakriti and Purusha 
 —that is, of an original eternal element and soul—both 
 emanating from the supreme Being (then regarded as Pard 
 Prakriti, ‘supreme Prakriti’). It maintains the individu- 
 ality and personality of souls, and affirms that the body 
 (kshetra) and all the world of sense is evolved out of 
 Prakriti by the regular San-khyan process, through Buddhi, 
 Ahankara, the five subtile elements, the five grosser ele- 
 ments, and the eleven organs, including mind. Thus, in 
 XIII. το and in VII. 4-6, we read: 
 
 Learn that Prakriti and Purusha also are both of them without begin- 
 ning. And know that the Vikiras, or ‘ productions,’ and the Gunas (see 
 Pp: 95) are sprung from Prakriti. 
 
 Earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, and egoism, into these 
 eight is my Prakriti divided. This Prakriti is the inferior one, but learn 
 my superior Prakriti to be other than this. Understand that all things 
 are produced from this other Prakriti. 
 
 Again, in VII. 12-14, Krishna, speaking of the three 
 Gunas, says: 
 
 Know that all the three Gunas, whether Sattva, Rajas, or Tamas (ef. 
 p- 94), proceed only from me. I am not in them, but they in me. 
 
 All this universe, deluded by these three conditions consisting of the 
 
152 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Gunas, does not recognize me, the imperishable Being, superior to 
 them all. 
 
 For this divine illusion (J/ayd, i.e. ‘illusory creation’), consisting of 
 the three Gunas, caused by me, is difficult to be passed over. Those only 
 are delivered from it who have recourse to me. 
 
 The eclecticism of the Bhagavad-gita will be sufficiently 
 apparent from these examples. I close my brief survey 
 of this celebrated poem by three or four passages (taken 
 from chapter III. 27, chapter XIII. 29, 31), which form 
 a fit conclusion to the subject, as they contain the gist of 
 the whole argument, viz. that it is Arjuna’s duty as a 
 soldier to act like a soldier and to do the work of his 
 caste, regardless of consequences; and that this may be 
 done consistently with adhesion to the Vedantic dogma of 
 the soul’s real inactivity and state of passionless repose : 
 
 All actions are incessantly performed 
 By operation of the qualities 
 
 Of Prakriti ; deluded by the thought 
 Of individuality, the soul 
 
 Vainly believes itself to be the doer. 
 The soul existing from eternity, 
 Devoid of qualities, imperishable, 
 Abiding in the body, yet supreme, 
 Acts not, nor is by any act polluted. 
 He who perceives that actions are performed 
 By Prakriti alone, and that the soul 
 Is not an actor, sees the truth aright. 
 
 Krishna’s last advice may be thus summed up: 
 Act then and do thine own appointed task, 
 In every action my assistance ask, 
 Do all with heart and soul absorbed in me, 
 So shalt thou gain thine end and be from trouble free. 
 Ayjuna’s conclusion may be thus paraphrased : 
 Eternal One! thy glory just beheld 
 Has all illusion from my soul dispelled ; 
 Now by thy favour is my conscience clear, 
 I will thy bidding do and fight without a fear. 
 
 ΤῸ any one who has followed me in tracing the outline 
 
ECLECTIC SCHOOL—BHAGAVAD-GITA. 153 
 
 of this remarkable philosophical dialogue, and has noted 
 the numerous parallels it offers to passages in our sacred 
 Scriptures, it may seem strange that I hesitate to concur 
 in any theory which explains these coincidences by sup- 
 posing that the author had access to the New Testament 
 or that he derived some of his ideas from the first propa- 
 gators of Christianity. Surely it will be conceded that 
 the probability of contact and interaction between Gentile 
 systems and the Christian religion in the first two cen- 
 turies of our era must have been greater in Italy than in 
 India. Yet, if we take the writings and recorded sayings 
 of three great Roman philosophers, Seneca, Epictetus, and 
 Marcus Aurelius, we shall find them full of resemblances 
 to passages in our Scriptures, while there appears to be 
 no ground whatever for supposing that these eminent 
 Pagan writers and thinkers derived any of their ideas 
 from either Jewish or Christian sources. In fact, the 
 Rev. F. W. Farrar, in his interesting and valuable work, 
 ‘Seekers after God,’ has clearly shown that ‘to say that 
 Pagan morality kindled its faded taper at the Gospel light 
 whether furtively or unconsciously, that it dissembled the 
 obligation and made a boast of the splendour, as if 1t were 
 originally her own, is to make an assertion wholly un- 
 tenable.’ He points out that the attempts of the Christian 
 Fathers to make out Pythagoras a debtor to Hebraic wis- 
 dom, Plato an ‘ Atticizing Moses,’ Aristotle a picker up of 
 ethics from a Jew, Seneca a correspondent of St. Paul, 
 were due ‘in some cases to ignorance, and in some to a 
 want of perfect honesty in controversial dealing.’ 
 
 His arguments would be even more conclusive if applied 
 to the Bhagavad-gita, the author of which was probably 
 contemporaneous with Seneca. It must, indeed, be ad- 
 mitted that the flashes of true light which emerge from the 
 mists of pantheism in the writings of Indian philosophers, 
 must spring from the same source of light as the Gospel 
 
154 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 itself; but it may reasonably be questioned whether there 
 could have been any actual contact of the Hindt systems 
 with Christianity without a more satisfactory result in 
 the modification of pantheistic and anti-Christian ideas. 
 In order that the resemblances to Scripture in the writings 
 of Roman philosophers may be compared with those just 
 noted, I subjoin a few instances from ‘ Seekers after God, 
 and Dr. Ramage’s ‘ Beautiful Thoughts :’ 
 
 τ. Seneca. ‘God comes to men: nay, what is nearer, comes into men.’ 
 «A sacred spirit dwells within us, the observer and guardian of all our evil 
 and our good.’ Cf. 1 Cor. iii. 16. ‘Let him who hath conferred a favour 
 hold his tongue.’ ‘In conferring a favour nothing should be more avoided 
 than pride.’ Cf. Matt. vi. 3. ‘If you wish to be loved, love.’ ‘ Expect from 
 another what you do to another.’ ‘We are all wicked; therefore what- 
 ever we blame in another we shall find in our own bosom.’ ‘A good man 
 is God’s disciple and imitator and His true offspring, whom that magnifi- 
 cent Father doth, after the manner of severe parents, educate hardly.’ 
 ‘God is nigh to thee, He is with thee, He is in thee.’ ‘Temples are not 
 to be built for God with stones piled on high; He is to be consecrated in 
 the breast of each.’ ‘What a foolish thing it is to promise ourselves a 
 long life, who are not masters of even to-morrow !’ ‘Live with men as if 
 God saw you.’ ‘Other men’s sins are before our eyes; our own behind 
 our back.’ ‘The greater part of mankind are angry with the sinner and 
 not with the sin.’ ‘The severest punishment a man can receive who has 
 injured another, is to have committed the injury.’ 
 
 2. Epictetus. ‘If you always remember that in all you do in soul or 
 body God stands by as a witness, in all your prayers and your actions 
 you will not err; and you shall have God dwelling with you. ‘How 
 should a man grieve his enemy? By preparing himself to act in the 
 noblest manner. Cf. Rom. xii. 20. 
 
 3. Marcus Aurelius. ‘The best way of avenging thyself is not to 
 become like the wrong-doer. ‘Men exist for the sake of one another. 
 Teach them or bear with them.’ Cf. 2 Thess. iv. 15, Col. iii. 13. ‘In 
 the morning when thou risest unwillingly let these thoughts be present, 
 “T am rising to the work of a human being. Why, then, am I dissatis- 
 fied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was 
 brought into the world?” Dost thou exist, then, to take thy pleasure, 
 and not for action or exertion? Dost thou not see the little birds, the 
 ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their several 
 parts of the universe?’ Cf. Prov. vi. 6. 
 
DE Oe Be Vil: 
 Smriti— The Vedangas. 
 ITHERTO we have been engaged in describing 
 
 briefly and illustrating by selected examples the 
 three divisions of the Veda, viz. Mantra, Brahmana, and 
 Upanishad, and the six Darganas or systems of philo- 
 sophy developed out of the third of these divisions. All 
 three portions of the Veda come under the head of Sruti, 
 ‘audition, or Sr ‘uta,—that which is directly heard or 
 revealed—the eternal voice of divine knowledge heard 
 by certain holy men called Rishis, and by them orally 
 transmitted ; or if committed to writing, then written 
 down exactly as heard, without any intervention of 
 human authorship. We now pass from Sruti and the 
 six Darsanas to the second great head of Sanskrit litera- 
 ture, called Smriti, ‘ recollection’ or that which is remem- 
 bered and handed down by tradition (as distinguished 
 from ‘audition’). This is believed to be founded on 
 Sruti, ‘direct revelation,’ as its primary basis, and only 
 possesses authority in so far as it is in harmony with 
 such revealed truth®. The very essence of Smriti, how- 
 ever, is considered to be that it was delivered memoriter' 
 by human authors and put into the form of human com- 
 position. In its widest acceptation, Smriti may be said to 
 include six principal subjects or departments, viz. I. six 
 Vedangas, ‘limbs for supporting the Veda, or, in other 
 
 ‘ The expression generally ised is that the Rishis saw the hymns, rishi 
 being fancifully connected with drishi, as if from root drig; but the terms 
 Sruti and Sruta, taken in connection with the theory of the eternity of 
 sound, indicate that the ear was the channel of communication. 
 
 * If Veda-vahya, it is declared to be nishphala. Manu XII. 95. 
 
156 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 words, helps to aid the student in reading, understanding 
 and applying it to sacrificial rites (and hence called Pra- 
 vacana, Manu III. 184): they are—1. Kalpa, ‘ ceremonial 
 directory, comprising rules relating to the Vedic ritual 
 and the whole complicated process of sacrifices, which 
 rules are called Srauta-stitra, because they are Vedic, and 
 relate directly to the application of the Mantra and Brah- 
 mana ae of Sruti, being especially guides to the 
 Brahmanas ; . Siksha, ‘the science of pronunciation ;’ 
 
 Ze Chataas: ἘΠ 4. Nirukta, ‘exposition of difficult 
 Vedic words;’ 5. Nakane ‘orammar ; 6. Jyotisha, 
 ‘astronomy, including arithmetic and mathematics, espe- 
 cially in connection with astrology. Of these Vedangas, 
 1. and 6. are for employing the Veda at sacrifices, 2. and 
 3. are for reading, 4. and 5. for understanding it. II. 
 The Smdarta- -siitr'a, a com prehensive term for such rules as 
 do not relate to Srauta or Vedic ceremonies, which were 
 usually on a grand scale and public in their character, but 
 rather to religious acts of a private and personal kind, fall- 
 ing naturally under two divisions, viz. a. family or domestic 
 rites (grihya) performed at stated periods; ὦ. conventional 
 usages and every-day practices (samayd¢édra); on which 
 account these Smarta Sitras must be separated into two 
 classes, a. Grihya-siitra, b. Samayacarika-sttra. III. The 
 Dharma-sdstras or ‘ Law-books, and especially the Laws 
 of Manu, and other so-called inspired law-givers—sup- 
 posed to have grown out of the Smarta Sttras. IV. The 
 Itihdsas or ‘legendary poems, under which head I place 
 as portions of Smriti the two great epic poems called 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata, and then, for convenience, 
 as following and depending on these, but not as properly 
 Smriti, the artificial poems (Kavyas) and erotic poems 
 and the dramas, almost all of which in their subject- 
 matter are closely connected with the two great epics. 
 V. The eighteen Purdnas or ancient legendary histories 
 
VEDAN-GAS—KALPA-SUTRA OR CEREMONIAL RULES. 157 
 and traditions, with their train of eighteen inferior Puranas 
 (Upa-purdna) and subsequent Tantras. VI. The Niti- 
 §dstras or ethical and didactic writings of all kinds, includ- 
 ing collections of fables and moral precepts. 
 
 I propose now to take these six divisions of post-Vedic 
 literature in order, beginning with I. the Vedangas. 
 
 I. The Veddngas. 
 
 They are six in number. Let us consider them (not 
 quite according to the Hindi order) in the following 
 sequence : Dae 5. Siksha; 3. Chandas; 4. Nir ithe 
 5. Vydkarana; 6. Syotisha. 
 
 The Vedan-gas—Kalpa, ‘ceremonial directory.’ 
 
 In the first place, then, as regards Kalpa ; this denotes, 
 as we have seen, a kind of ceremonial directory or rubric 
 put forth in the form of short aphoristic Satras or rules, 
 called Srauta, because serving as guides for the applica- 
 tion of the Mantra and Peibacne portion of Sruti to the 
 conduct of sacrificial rites. There are Srauta Siitras for 
 each of the five Samhitas of the Veda, Thus, for the 
 Rig-veda there are the Asvalayana, Sankhayana, and 
 Saunaka Srauta Sitras ; for the Sama-veda, the Masaka, 
 Latydyana, and Drahya ar for the Taittiriya or Black 
 Yajur-veda, the Apastamba, Baudhayana, Satyashadha 
 Hiranya-kesin, Mdnava, Bharadvaja, Vadhina, Vai- 
 khdanasa, Laugdakshi, Maitra, Katha, and Vardha,; for 
 the Vajasaneyi or White Yajur-veda there is only the 
 Katydyana' ; for the Atharva-veda only the Kausika. 
 
 I should remark here that the word Sdtra (derived 
 from the root Siv, ‘to sew’) means properly ‘string,’ and 
 that this name was applied to any series’ of rules or 
 
 1 Edited by Professor Weber to complete the series of his great edition 
 of the White Yajur-veda with its Brahmana (the Satapatha). 
 5. Sdtra in the singular may denote a whole collection of rules. 
 
158 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 aphorisms, either because they were, figuratively, strung 
 together, or because they were written on leaves held 
 together by strings’. It is perhaps essential to the true 
 nature of a Brahmanical Sitra that it should be a rule or 
 dogma expressed as briefly as possible. In the gram- 
 matical Siitras not a single letter is allowed which can by 
 any contrivance be dispensed with, and moreover in these 
 Sitras letters and syllables are often used symbolically, 
 like algebraic signs, to indicate ideas which would other- 
 wise require a whole sentence or more to express them at 
 full. In the philosophical Sitras, as we have already 
 seen, great brevity and a rigid economy of words is also 
 practised, the aim being to furnish the shortest possible 
 suggestive memorial sentences as an aid to the memory of 
 both teachers and learners in an age when books were 
 scarce and paper and printing unknown (see note, p. 48). 
 This extreme conciseness is not always maintained, espe- 
 cially in later Sitra works, but it generally holds good 
 that the older the Sitra the greater its curtness and ellip- 
 tical obscurity, so that without a commentary or a key to 
 their interpretation these ancient aphorisms are quite 
 unintelligible. In later times, as books became more com- 
 mon, the necessity for elaborate and overstrained concise- 
 ness was gradually removed’, and rules and aphorisms, 
 though still strung together in Sitra style, were more 
 fully and explicitly and even sometimes metrically stated ὃ. 
 In fact, these later Stitra works may be regarded as simple 
 collections of formulated precepts or dogmas adapted to 
 serve as convenient manuals to particular systems of 
 teaching, whether in ritual, philosophy, law, or grammar. 
 If Sanskrit scholars are asked to state the age of the 
 
 1 This last is the theory of the late Professor Goldstiicker. 
 
 2 This relaxation led at last to the very opposite extreme of prolixity, 
 as in the Buddhist Siitras. 
 
 3 Τῇ some Sutra works there is an occasional admixture of Slokas. 
 
VEDANGAS—KALPA-SUTRA OR CEREMONIAL RULES. 159 
 
 oldest Sitra works, they are again obliged to confess their 
 inability to fix any precise date. The most ancient are 
 probably not older than the fifth or sixth century B.c., and 
 the time of the compilation of the most recent is perhaps 
 not far removed from the commencement of the Christian 
 era. I have placed the Kalpa Sutras first because they are 
 probably oldest, being closely connected with the Brahmana 
 or ritual portion of Sruti, and thence called Srauta. 
 
 The following translation of the first ten Siitras of 
 Katyayana’s Srauta-siitra, which belong to the Satapatha- 
 brahmana and White Yajur-veda (see Weber's edition), will 
 give some idea of the nature of these rules. To make 
 each aphorism intelligible, additional matter has to be 
 introduced from the commentary of Yajnika-deva. This 
 I have done parenthetically in the examples here given. 
 T have also given the original text of the Satras in italics: 
 
 1. Now, therefore, the right (of engaging in sacrificial acts is about to 
 be laid down in the following rules). [Athato ’dhikarah. | 
 
 2. (Sacrificial) acts (like the Agni-hotra, &c.) are attended with recom- 
 pense (such as the attainment of heaven, of wealth, of a son, &c.) [ Phala- 
 yuktani karmani.] 
 
 3. (According to the prima facie view of the matter there must be a 
 right) of all (creatures, e.g. of men, even though blind, dumb, lame, or 
 deaf, of gods, of Rishis, and of animals, but not of plants, to engage in 
 sacrificial acts), without distinction, (because all such creatures are capable 
 of desiring recompense.) [Sarvesham aviseshat.] 
 
 4. But (according to the orthodox view, the right belongs) to human 
 beings (only), because (they only, as the Veda declares, have) the power 
 of undertaking (sacrificial acts, and not to gods, Rishis, and animals). 
 | Manushyandm varambha-samarthyat. | 
 
 5. Cripples, those ignorant of the Veda, eunuchs, and Sidras (are to 
 be) excepted. [Anga-hinasrotriya-shandha-sidra-varjam. | 
 
 6. (The right belongs) to Brahmans, Kshatriyas?, and Vaisyas (but 
 not to Stidras), according to the Vedic precept. [ Brahmana-rajanya- 
 vaisyanam sruteh. | 
 
 1 The word Lajanya is used here and in the Purusha-sikta for Ksha- 
 triya, see p. 24. 
 
160 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 7. A woman also (has the right), since there is no difference (between her 
 and her husband in regard to the desire for heaven). [Str? é@viseshat. | 
 
 8. And since it is so seen (in the Veda). [Darsandé-da.| 
 
 g. (According to one view, the right belongs) to a man of the Ratha- 
 kara? (‘chariot-maker ’) caste, (so far as regards the rite) of placing the 
 sacred fire (on the sacrificial ground, on the score of this caste being 
 reckoned among the first three classes). [ Rathakarasyadhane. | 
 
 το. (But according to the orthodox view) it is settled (that the Ratha- 
 kara is not to be reckoned among the first three classes). [ Viyatam éa.| 
 
 The Vedan-gas—Sikshd, " phonetic directory.’ 
 
 The next Vedanga in our list is Siksha or the science of 
 proper pronunciation, especially as teaching the laws of 
 euphony peculiar to the Veda. This comprises the know- 
 ledge of letters, accents, quantity, the right use of the 
 organs of articulation, and phonetics generally. One short 
 comparatively modern treatise on phonetics, consisting in 
 one recension of thirty-five and in another of fifty-nine 
 verses (ascribed to Panini), and a chapter of the Taittiriya- 
 ranyaka are regarded as the representatives of this sub- 
 ject; but the Vedic Pratisakhyas and other works on 
 Vedic phonetics may be included under it’, and it will be 
 convenient so to regard them. These Pratisakhyas are 
 grammatical, or rather phonetic, treatises written in the 
 Sttra style (some of them perhaps of a more recent date 
 than Panini*), regulating the euphonic combination of 
 letters and their peculiar pronunciation according to the 
 
 ‘ This mixed caste, held to be the offspring of a Mahishya by a 
 Karani, is also called Saudhanyana. It appears to have enjoyed some 
 religious privileges, perhaps because the Ribhus were Ratha-karas, see 
 note, p. 17. Cf. Rig-veda IIT. 60. 4. 
 
 * A number of works bearing the name of Siksha, and dealing with 
 phonetics and other kindred subjects, have been recently brought to 
 notice. See Haug on the Vedic Accent (Munich, 1874.) 
 
 * The late Professor Goldstiicker, in his work on Panini, decides that 
 all the Pratisakhyas must have been posterior to Panini; but this opinion 
 is shared by few other scholars. 
 
VEDANGAS—SIKSHA OR PHONETIC DIRECTORY. 161 
 
 practice of the different Sakhas, ‘ branches,’ of the Vedas, 
 in those traditional versions of the Vedic texts handed 
 down by different families. The Pratisakhyas do not 
 undo words in the same way as the Vyakarana, but take 
 actually formed words as they occur in the hymns, and 
 teach the phonetic changes they undergo, the mode of 
 pronouncing the accents, ὅθ. In fact they show how the 
 Pada text is converted by a process of euphonic combina- 
 tion into the Samhita. 
 
 Since the chief virtue of the Vedic texts was in their 
 oral repetition, and since so much importance was attached 
 to the proper pronunciation and accentuation of every 
 syllable, it may be easily supposed that these phonetic 
 manuals were of great value to persons who had to repeat 
 Mantras every day as an essential part of their religious 
 exercises. They probably served as guides and aids to the 
 memory, both for teachers in instructing their pupils and 
 for pupils in eee to recite the Veda. Four Prati- 
 sakhyas are extant, viz.: 1. one to the Sakala-sakha of the 
 Rig-veda, ascribed to Sine 2. another to a Sakha 
 of the Taittiriya or Black Tine vad" ; 3. another to a 
 Sakha of the Madhyandinas, of the family of the Vaja- 
 saneyins or ‘followers of the White Yajur-veda,’ whence 
 this is called the Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya*; it is ascribed to 
 an author, Katyayana, probably identical with the writer 
 of the Varttikas or ‘supplementary rules’ to Panini ; 4. aD 
 Atharva- veda-pratisakhya, called Saunakiya Caturadhya ἃ- 
 yika *, ‘Saunaka’s treatise in four chapters.’ No Prati- 
 sakhya has yet been found to the Sama-veda. 
 
 1 Edited and translated into French by M. Adolphe Regnier, and into 
 German by Professor Max Miiller. 
 
 2 Edited, with its commentary, and translated by Professor William 
 D. Whitney. 
 
 3 Edited and translated by Professor Weber in the ‘ Indische Studien.’ 
 
 * Also edited, with a most valuable English translation and notes, by 
 Professor William 1). Whitney. 
 
 M 
 
162 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The relative age of the Pratisakhyas in their present 
 form is an open question. That to the Rig-veda has been 
 by some confidently declared the oldest, douen written in 
 Slokas with occasional admixture of other metres. 
 
 I here translate the fifth and sixth Sitras of this Prati- 
 gakhya, as they contain a statement of some of the points 
 which form the subject of the work : 
 
 Heaviness (i.e. prosodial length), lightness (i.e. prosodial shortness), 
 equality, shortness, longness, and pr olation (of vowels), elision, augmen- 
 tation, and change, original form, non-change of Visarga into a sibilant, 
 regular order, the mixed tone, high tone, low tone, breath and sound ἡ, 
 and both (combined),—all this must be accurately under: stood by one who 
 reads (or repeats) the words of the Veda. 
 
 [Gurutoam laghuta samyam hrasva-dirgha-plutant ¢a\ 
 Lopigama-vikaras-<a prakritir vikramah kramah \ 
 Svaritodatia-nicatuam svaso nadas tathobhayam \ 
 
 Etat sarvam éa vijheyam ¢hando-bhasham adhiyata w\ 
 
 The first Atharva-veda-pratisakhya states the subject of 
 the treatise (Whitney, p. 9), and gives a fourfold division 
 of all the parts of speech in its first Stitra, thus: 
 
 The two qualities of the four kinds of words—noun (nama), verb 
 (akhyata), preposition (upasarga), and particle (nipaia)—as euphonically 
 joined and as separate words, are here the subject ( pratijiamy). 
 
 That is to say, the design of the Pratisikhya is to form 
 a Samhita out of a Pada text. In fact, it supposes all 
 the words of the Veda to be separated from each other (as 
 they are in the Pada), and then teaches how they are to be 
 euphonically connected, as they must be in the Samhita * 
 
 The second chapter introduces a number of rules of 
 
 1 We learn from the Atharva-veda-pratisikhya I. 12, 13, that in the 
 surd consonants there is mere breath, and in the sonant, sound. 
 
 2 In the Kvama text the 1st word is recited with the 2nd, that is 
 repeated with the 3rd, that with the 4th, &c. In the Jafa, the 1st word 
 and 2nd, 2nd and ist, and 1st and 2nd again; next the 2nd and 3rd, 
 3rd and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd, and so on. In the Ghana, the 1st and 
 2nd, 2nd and 1st, rst and 2nd again, 3rd; then 3rd, 2nd, rst, rst, 2nd, 
 3rd; then the 2nd begins a new Ghana. 
 
- 
 
 VEDANGAS—CHANDAS OR METRE. 1638 
 
 Sandhi, which will be familiar to the students of Panini’s 
 Grammar. The first Sitra consists of one word, which 
 must be amplified thus (Whitney’s edition, p. 72): 
 
 (The following rules are to be understood as of force when the separate 
 words of the disjointed text are put together) in the Samhita [Sambhita- 
 yam |. 
 
 Then follow the rules, of which I subjoin three or four 
 examples (II. 10, 11, 18, 19, III. 20): 
 
 Before §, x becomes % [na-harasya sa-kare nakarah|. 
 
 Also before a sonant palatal (as before j) [¢a-vargiye ghoshavati|. 
 
 After the preposition wd, there is elision of the letter s of the roots stha 
 and stambh [lopa udah stha-stambhoh sa-karasya}. 
 
 There is elision of & before r [rephasya rephe]. 
 
 When + is elided (the preceding vowel is lengthened) [7a-/ope]. 
 
 The Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya (I. 27) gives a still more 
 complete enumeration of the parts of speech, thus: 
 
 Words are made up. of inflected verbal bases [1. 6. bases having the per- 
 sonal endings, technically called tiv], nouns derived from verbs by Krit 
 affixes, nouns derived from nouns by Taddhita affixes and four kinds of 
 compounds (Avyayi-bhava, Tatpurusha, Dvandva, Bahu-vrihi). | Tin-krit- 
 taddhita-catushtaga-samasah sabda-mayam. See Professor Max Miller’s 
 Ancient Sanskrit Literature, p. 164. 
 
 The Veddngas—Chandas, ‘ metre.’ 
 
 This Vedan-ga is imperfectly represented by the Chan- 
 dah-sdstra ascribed to Pingala or Pin-gala-naga, which may 
 be as old as the second century B.c., and treats of Prakrit 
 as well as Sanskrit metres, including only a few Vedic. 
 Other works on metres are the Nidana-siitra in ten Pra- 
 pathakas and the Sruta-bodha. In truth, prosody, like every 
 other subject in Sanskrit literature, affords field for almost 
 endless investigation. It is a complete study in itself, and 
 its importance in the estimation of the Hindus is shown by 
 the excessive cultivation and elaboration bestowed upon 
 their whole metrical system. A knowledge of the metre 
 of each hymn of the Veda was considered essential to the 
 
 M 2 
 
164 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 right use and proper recitation of the Mantras. Hence 
 we find Siyana, in his introduction to the first hymn of 
 the Rig-veda, quoting the following precept : 
 
 He who shall cause any one to repeat (adhydpayet) or shall himself 
 repeat (any hymn of the Veda) without having acquainted himself with 
 the name of the Rishi to whom it was revealed, the metre (¢handas) in 
 which it was written, the deity to whom it was addressed, and its right 
 application (yoga), is the worst of sinners (pa@piyan). 
 
 Again, immediately afterwards, he adds : 
 
 Any one who makes use of (a hymn) without knowing the Rishi, the 
 metre, the deity, the right interpretation according to the Brahmanas 
 (brahmanartha), and the accents is called ‘a Mantra-thorn’ (mantra- 
 kantaka, as destroying or obstructing its efficacy). 
 
 In the ninth verse of the Purusha-stkta of the Rig-veda 
 (see p. 24) the metres are said to have sprung from 
 Purusha himself, thus: 
 
 From that universal sacrifice sprang the Rié and Saman verses, the 
 metres, and the Yajus (¢handaasi jajiiire tasmad yajus tasmad ajayata). 
 
 The Taittiriya-samhita VII. 1. 1. 4 &c. describes the crea- 
 tion of several metres by Prajapati (Muir, vol.i. p. 15): 
 
 Prajapati desired ‘may I be propagated.’ He formetl the Trivrit from 
 his mouth. After it were produced the deity Agni, the metre Gayatri, &c. 
 
 In Manu IV. 99, 100, we have the following : 
 
 Let not a man repeat the Veda without clear pronunciation (of the 
 letters, accents, &c., svara-varnddi, Kullika). Let him always be careful 
 to recite it as composed in metre (¢handas-kritam). 
 
 It is remarkable that in Panini’s Grammar the usual 
 name for the Veda is Chandas (see p. 179). 
 
 From the importance thus assigned to the metrical 
 structure of the hymns we shall be prepared to find 
 frequent allusions to the subject of metres in the Brah- 
 manas. In fact, these treatises attach a kind of mystical 
 efficacy to their right use, and whole chapters of the 
 Upanishads enlarge on the same fanciful theme. The 
 Gayatri is held in especial veneration, the most sacred 
 text of the Rig-veda being in this metre. (See p. 20.) 
 
VEDANGAS—CHANDAS OR METRE. 165 
 
 The following passage is from the Satapatha-brahmana 
 I. 2, 5, 6, ὅδ. (Muir’s Texts, vol. iv. p. 123): 
 
 The gods having placed Vishnu to the east surrounded him with metres 
 (chandobhir abhitah paryagrihnan); saying, ‘On the south side, I sur- 
 round thee with the Gayatri metre; on the west I surround thee with the 
 
 Trishtubh metre; on the north I surround thee with the Jagati’ Having 
 thus surrounded him with metres, they placed Agni on the east, and thus 
 they went on worshipping and toiling. By this means they acquired this 
 whole earth (tena imam sarvam prithivim samavindanta). 
 
 Again, in the fourteenth Brahmana of the Brihad- 
 dranyaka Upanishad we read (Roer, p. 254): 
 
 The Riéah, Yajinshi, and Samani are eight syllables (ash{av aksha- 
 rani); the second Pada (padam) of the Gayatri consists of eight syllables 
 (ashtaksharam). This Pada of the Gayatri represents that nature of the 
 three Vedas. Whoever knows this Pada of the Gayatri conquers all that 
 is conquerable by the knowledge of the three Vedas. 
 
 Hence we cannot be surprised that some of the most 
 sacred metres, especially the Gayatri, were in the end 
 personified and invested with divine functions. Our 
 present purpose and limits do not admit of our giving 
 schemes of even the commonest forms of Sanskrit metre, 
 whether Vedie or Post-vedic. They will be found enu- 
 merated in the third edition of my Sanskrit Grammar, 
 pp. 388-3921. Let me merely observe that great licence 
 is allowed in Vedic prosody, so that in the Gayatr', which 
 may be regarded as consisting either of three divisions of 
 eight syllables each (whence it is called tri-padda) or of 
 six feet of four syllables each, the quantity of each 
 syllable is very irregular, although the second, fourth, and 
 sixth feet generally contain two iambics. 
 
 Of Post-vedic metres we have so great a variety that 
 it becomes necessary to arrange them under classes and 
 orders, genera and species. In truth, the elaboration of 
 
 1 See also Colebrooke’s Essay on Sanskrit and Prakrit metres and 
 Professor Weber's articles in the ‘Indische Studien.’ 
 
166 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 every kind of complicated metre is carried to an extent 
 quite beyond the ordinary practice of poetical composi- 
 tion in other languages. ‘A Hindi poet,’ says Dr. Yates, 
 ‘may proceed to any length he pleases, within the limits 
 of a thousand syllables to the half-line, or quarter-stanza. 
 The Dandaka metre (of which a specimen occurs in the 
 drama called Malati-madhava, Act V') offers more than 
 any other an almost incredible capability of expansion. 
 It will admit, indeed, of the stanza extending 27 x 4 to 
 999 x4 syllables. But the commonest form of metre, 
 chietly found in epic poetry—the Anushtubh or Sloka 
 —is short and easy. It consists of four half-lnes of 
 eight syllables each or two lines of sixteen syllables each, 
 the last two feet of each line being iambics (see my San- 
 skrit Grammar, p. 288). The Indra-vajra (with its Upen- 
 dra-vajra variety) is also a common metre, and one of the 
 most rhythmical. It nearly corresponds to one occurring 
 in Horace’s fourth Ode : 
 Valeantis ardéns irit officinas, 
 Trihintqué siccis machinaé carinas. 
 
 But to make the Latin agree with the Sanskrit metre we 
 must suppose the first syllable of machinae and of writ 
 to be short. It might be represented in an English line 
 thus, ‘Down comes thé rain and with it comes thé thtn- 
 dér, an emphasis being placed on the first syllable. 
 
 The Vedangas—Nirukta, ‘ exposition.’ 
 
 The object of this Vedanga is etymological explanation 
 or interpretation of difficult Vedic words. Doubtless, 
 numerous works devoted to this object once existed, but 
 all have Ese ee eee one, which is now the es 
 
 1 Beginning Praéalita-hari-kritti, &c. It has fifty-f -four eerie to the 
 quarter-verse. This specimen is translated in the Asiatic Researches, 
 vol. x. p. 456. 
 
VEDANGAS—NIRUKTA OR EXPOSITION. 167 
 
 representative of the whole class’. This is a compilation, 
 accompanied with an exposition, by an author named 
 Yaska, who, according to the best authorities, lived before 
 Panini’, probably about 400 years B.C., or about 1800 
 years before Saéyana. His work consists first of three bare 
 lists or catalogues of words in five chapters: viz. a. The 
 Naighantuka in three chapters of synonyms or rather of 
 collections of words said to have the same meaning as 
 some one word of known signification given at the end, 
 one such collection being called a Nighantu. The syno- 
 nyms in each collection vary from two (III. 22) to one 
 hundred and twenty-two (II. 14), and can scarcely be 
 called synonyms in the strict sense. For example, when 
 it is said that vartate, ‘he turns ;’ lotate, ‘he rolls ;’ sar- 
 pati, ‘he creeps ;’ sravati, ‘he flows ;’ sransate, ‘he drops ᾿ 
 plavate, ‘he swims ;’ diyate, ‘he flies;’ patati, ‘he falls,’ and 
 122 other words are all synonyms of gamati, ‘he goes, or 
 gati, ‘going, this must be understood very widely as 
 intending to include all forms and varieties of motion. 
 Again, in I. 12, we have a collection of 101 words, which 
 are all said to be synonyms of water (vdaka), but it is 
 obvious that the only attribute most of these have im com- 
 mon is, that they are varieties of fluids, including, for 
 example, nectar (amrita) and clarified butter (avis). 
 Seeing, therefore, that many of the words brought toge- 
 ther are old Vedic words of doubtful meaning, quite 
 unknown to classical Sanskrit, and seeing that a complete 
 explanation of the gradations and modifications of sense 
 under each head of synonyms is wanting, the practical 
 utility of these lists is of course very small indeed. b. The 
 
 1 No less than seventeen Nairuktikas or ‘interpreters of the Veda’ are 
 mentioned by name as having preceded Yaska. See Dr. Muir’s article on 
 the interpretation of the Veda, p. 321. 
 
 2 Panini himself implies (IV. I. 112) that the name Yaska means a 
 descendant of Yaska. 
 
168 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Naigama, a collection of 278 separate words (paddni) 
 occurring in the Veda (nigama), all in one chapter of three 
 sections. ὁ. The Datvata or 151 words relating to deities 
 and religious or sacrificial acts, in one chapter of six short 
 sections. Whether these collections were drawn up by 
 Yaska himself or by some previous compiler is not certain, 
 but there is no doubt that the second and most important 
 part of the work, viz. the Nirukta or ‘explanation’ of the 
 words in these lists, 15. his own composition. Although, 
 therefore, the term Nirukta is sometimes applied to the 
 lists of words, it more properly belongs to Yaska’s expla- 
 nation of them, which occupies twelve chapters. The first 
 of the twelve is a kind of introduction, which contains 
 some interesting discussions of philological questions and a 
 sort of summary or sketch of grammar ; the following two 
 chapters are an imperfect exposition of the Naighantuka 
 or ‘lists of synonymous words,’ the deficiency of which has 
 been to a certain extent supphed by Durga, a commen- 
 tator on Yaska; the next three chapters explain the 
 Naigama or ‘single Vedic words, and the last six the 
 Daivata or ‘deities addressed in the hymns.’ Thus the 
 three collections with their explanations occupy seventeen 
 chapters. The value of the work! consists in its being the 
 oldest extant commentary on the Veda. When words are 
 explained, Vedic passages are quoted in illustration, and 
 the author often enters into curious etymological investi- 
 gations, which possess great interest from their universally 
 admitted antiquity, but are difficult to understand from 
 the extreme brevity and obscurity of their style. 
 
 I here abridge some valuable remarks from Dr. John 
 Muir’s article on the ‘Interpretation of the Veda,’ in the 
 Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal (vol. 11. new series, p. 320) : 
 
 The Nirukta makes frequent reference to the Brahmanas, and alludes 
 
 * It has been ably edited by Professor Roth. 
 
VEDANGAS—NIRUKTA OR EXPOSITION. 169 
 
 to various schools of Vedic interpretation which existed anterior to its 
 author, such as the Nairuktas or ‘etymologists,’ the Aitihdsikas or 
 ‘legendary writers,’ and the Yajnikas or ‘ ritualists.’ Yaska supplies speci- 
 mens of the mode of explaining the hymns adopted by different schools of 
 interpreters. Thus we are told (Nirukta XI. 29, 31) that the Nairuktas 
 understood Anumati, Raka, Sinivali, and Kuhii to be goddesses, while 
 the Yajnikas took them for the new and full moons. The gods called 
 Asvins were a great enigma. ‘The Nirukta (XII. τ) gives the following 
 answers to the question who they were: ‘Heaven and Earth, say some; 
 ‘Day and Night,’ say others; ‘the Sun and Moon,’ say others; ‘two 
 Kings, performers of holy acts, say the Aitihasikas. Again, Nirukta 
 (VI. 13) tells us that Aurnabhava understood Nasatyau (an epithet of the 
 Asvins) as ‘true, not false.’ Agrayana took it to mean ‘leaders of truth’ 
 (satyasya pranetarau); while Yaiska himself suggests that it may mean 
 ‘nose-born’ (nésikd-prabhavau). Again, we are informed (Nirukta ITI. 8) 
 that some understood the five peoples (paida-janah) mentioned in Rig- 
 veda X. 53. 4 to be the Gandharvas, Pitris, gods, Asuras, and Rakshases ; 
 whilst Aupamanyava took them for the four castes and the Nishidas. So, 
 again, Katthakya understood Narasansa to designate ‘sacrifice,’ but 
 Sakapiini took it for a name of Agni (Nir. VIII. 4. 5). In like manner, 
 Yiiska’s predecessors were not agreed as to what was meant by Vishnu’s 
 three steps in Rig-veda I. 22. 17; Sakapiini maintaining that they were 
 planted on the earth, the atmosphere, and the sky respectively ; and 
 Aurnabhava that the hill over which the sun rises, the meridian, and the 
 hill where he sets, were the localities referred to. One of these prede- 
 eessors (Kautsa) had the audacity to assert that Vedic exposition was 
 useless, as the hymns were obscure, unmeaning, or mutually contradictory. 
 As instances of obscurity he cites the texts in which the words amyak 
 (Rig-veda I. 169. 3), yadrismin (V. 44. 8), jarayayi (VI. 12. 4), and 
 kanuka (VIII. 66.4) occur. In regard to this charge, Yaska replies that 
 it is not the fault of the post that the blind man does not see it. In the 
 Nirukta-parisishta the ‘four defined grades or stages of speech’ referred 
 to in Rig-veda I. 164. 45, are said to be explained by the Rishis as mean- 
 ing the four mystic words, om, bhith, bhuvah, svar; by the grammarians, 
 as denoting nouns, verbs, prepositions, and particles; by the ritualists, as 
 the hymns, liturgical precepts, Brahmanas, and ordinary language; by 
 the etymologists, as the Rig, Yajush, Siman, and the current language; by 
 others, as the speech of serpents, birds, reptiles, and the vernacular; by the 
 spiritualists, as that of beasts, musical instruments, wild animals, and soul. 
 
 It is evident from the above remarks that great dif- 
 ference of opinion existed among expositors of the Veda 
 
170 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 even in Yaska’s time, considerably more than 2000 years 
 ago, and that the objections of sceptics and rationalists 
 had to be met and answered by orthodox theologians like 
 himself. He commences his own exposition thus (I. 1) : 
 
 The traditional collection of words has been thus traditionally repeated. 
 That must now be explained. They call this traditional collection the 
 Nighantus. [Samamndyah samamnatah sa vyakhydtavyas tam imam 
 samamnaiyam nighantava ity acakshate. | 
 
 Perhaps as good an example of Yaska’s condensed style 
 as can be offered is a passage quoted and explained by Pro- 
 fessor Goldstiicker from Roth’s edition, I. 2. It is inter- 
 esting as showing that, for the better interpretation of the 
 Veda, Yaska aimed at giving some sort of exposition of 
 orammar and grammatical science as then understood : 
 
 (The ancient erammarian) Sakatayana says that prepositions when not 
 attached (to nouns or verbs) do not express meanings; but Gargya says 
 that they illustrate (or modify) the action which is expressed by a noun 
 or verb, and that their senses are various (even when detached). Now 
 they express that sense which inheres in them; that is, that which 
 modifies the sense of a noun or verb. The preposition @ is in the sense 
 of limit; pra and para express the reverse of that; abhi, direction 
 towards; prati, the reverse of that; αὐὲ and sw, superiority; ni and dur, 
 the reverse of these two; nz and ava, the act of taking down; wd, the 
 reverse of these two; sam, combining together ; vi and apa, the reverse 
 of that; anw, similarity or being after; ap, conjunction ; wpa, the being 
 appended ; pari, being all around ; adhi, being above or supremacy: thus 
 they express various meanings, and these must be taken into considera- 
 tion. [Na nirbaddha upasarga arthan nir-ahur itr Sakatayano, nama- 
 khyatayos tu karmopasamyoga-dyotaka bhavanty ucéavaéah padartha 
 bhavantiti Gargyas, tad ya eshu padarthah prahur ime tam namakhya- 
 tayor artha-vikaranam; & ity arvag-arthe, pra parety etasya pratilo- 
 myam ; abhity abhimukhyam, pratity etasya pratilomyam ; ati su ity 
 abhipijitarthe, nir dur ity etayoh pratilomyam ; ny aveti vinigraharthiya, 
 ud ity etayoh pratilomyam; sam ity ekibhavam, vy apety etasya prati- 
 lomyam; anv iti sadrisyaparabhavam,; apiti samsargam; upety wpaja- 
 nam; pariti sarvato-bhavam, adhity uparibhavam aisvaryam vaivam 
 uécavacan arthain prahus ta upekshitavyah.| 
 
 There is a still more interesting passage on the subject of 
 derivation a little further on in the same chapter (I. 12) : 
 
VEDANGAS—VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 171 
 
 So these four kinds of words have been enumerated, nouns (n@man), 
 verbs (akhydta), prepositions (wpasarga), and particles (nipata). Saka- 
 téyana affirms that nouns are derived from verbs, and on this point there 
 is an agreement of the etymologists (nairukta-samayah). But Gargya 
 and some of the grammarians say that not all (nouns are derived from 
 verbs). For if all nouns came from verbs, then whatever performs the 
 same action ought to have the same name. Thus, if asva, ‘a horse,’ were 
 derived from the root as, ‘to pass through,’ then every one who passes 
 along a road ought to be called asva ; and if trina, ‘a blade of grass,’ were 
 derived from the root trid, ‘to pierce,’ then everything that pierces ought 
 to be called ¢rina. Again, if all nouns were derived from verbs, then 
 everything would have as many names as there are states with which it 
 could be connected. Thus, sthind, ‘a post,’ might be called dara-sayd, 
 ‘hole-sleeper, because resting in a hole, or sai-jani, ‘joiner together,’ 
 because things are joined by being attached to it. [Yaska ends by taking 
 the side of Sakatayana. See Professor Max Miiller’s Ancient Sanskrit 
 Literature, p. 165.| 
 
 The thirteenth and fourteenth chapters, commonly called 
 the Nirukta-parisishta, are thought to be the work of a 
 more recent author than Yaska. There are numerous 
 classical glossaries by later lexicographers, e.g. : 
 
 The Amara-kosha (sometimes called Tri-kanda, ‘ having three chapters’), 
 by the Bauddha Amara-sinha, probably not later than A.D. 500; the 
 Abhidhana-ratna-mala, by Haliyudha; the Abhidhana-¢intamani, by the 
 Jaina Hema-¢andra; the Visva-prakasa, by Mahesvara; the Dharani; 
 the Medini; the Hariivali, &c. 
 
 The Vedan-gas—Vydkarana, ‘ grammar.’ 
 
 This word Vy-d-karana means literally ‘undoing,’ and 
 is applied first to linguistic analysis and then generally to 
 grammar, but especially to Paninis grammar’. It is 
 the opposite to Sanskarana, ‘putting together, whence 
 the formed language is called Sanskrita, ‘ constructed.’ 
 Strictly, the great Vyakarana of Panini can scarcely be 
 regarded as a Vedan-ga, seeing that it only treats of the 
 
 1 No Pandit would use Vyakarana except for Sanskrit grammar, and a 
 man’s Sanskrit scholarship is often summed up by describing him as know- 
 ing ‘the Vyakaran.’ 
 
172 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Vedic idiom exceptionally. The grammatical Stitras which 
 preceded his time and which have nearly all perished must 
 have constituted the Vyakarana division of works ancillary 
 to the study of the Veda'. Nevertheless, the grammar of 
 Panini, which is the great standard of correct Sanskrit, is 
 usually taken to represent this Vedan-ga, and as it 1s one 
 of the most remarkable literary works that the world has 
 ever seen, and as no other country can produce any gram- 
 matical system at all comparable to it, either for originality 
 of plan or for analytical subtlety, a brief description of its 
 characteristic features may be introduced here. 
 
 Little or nothing is known of Panini, the author of the 
 erammar. He is described as a descendant of Panin and 
 grandchild of an inspired legislator named Devala. His 
 mother’s name was Dakshi (whence he is called Daksheya), 
 and Salatura in the Gandhara country (Kandahar), north- 
 west of Attock on the Indus, is said to have been his 
 birth-place (whence his name Salaturiya). He belonged, 
 therefore, to the North-western or Western school. As, 
 however, in later times he became more and more an 
 object of reverence, he was at last actually canonized by 
 his admirers, that is to say, exalted to the rank of a Rishi 
 or inspired Muni. Hence he is fabled to have seen rather 
 than composed his grammar, which was declared to have 
 been supernaturally revealed to him, the first fourteen 
 
 1 Panini himself mentions several grammarians as. having preceded 
 him, such as Apisali, Kasyapa, Gargya, Galava, Gakravarmana, Bhara- 
 dvaja, Sakatayana, Sakalya, Senaka, and Sphotayana. The Unadi-stitras 
 (commented on by Ujjvala-datta), giving the affixes, commencing with wn, 
 for the formation of words whose meaning has deviated from accordance 
 with their etymology, and whose root is not always clear, are thought by 
 some to be anterior to Panini. Possibly he may have made a list of them 
 himself. At any rate, he mentions the afiwes in III. 3. 1, 111. 4. 75. 
 Sintanava’s Phit-siitras on accent are probably later than Panini. They 
 have been well edited by Professor Kielhorn. I believe Dr. Bihler has 
 found part of a work which claims to be Sakatayana’s grammar. 
 
VEDANGAS—VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 1735 
 
 Sutras especially having been communicated, according to 
 the legend, by the god Siva. It is of course quite impos- 
 sible to fix with certainty at what period Panini lived. 
 The late Professor Goldstiicker thought he had good 
 grounds for deciding that the great grammarian preceded 
 Buddha. This would place him in the sixth century B. ¢. 
 Other scholars, whose opinions are entitled to respect, 
 consider that an earlier date cannot be assigned to him 
 than the middle of the fourth century B.c. 
 
 His work—perhaps the most original of all productions 
 of the Hinda mind—is sometimes called the Ashtadhyayi, 
 sometimes Ashtakam Paniniyam, because it consists of 
 eight lectures (Adhyayas), each of which is again sub- 
 divided into four chapters (Pidas). In these eight 
 Adhyayas are contained 3996 Siitras or Aphorisms’. The 
 first Adhyaya explains the technical terms used in the 
 grammar and the rules for their interpretation and appli- 
 cation’. <A root is called Dhatu, and a crude base Prati- 
 padika, but a root never appears without some appendage 
 (anubandha) in the shape of indicatory syllables or letters 
 (technically called zt) which do not really form part of the 
 root, but merely denote certain peculiarities in its inflec- 
 tion, conjugation, &c. Similar indicatory letters and syl- 
 lables (ct) are attached either at the beginning or end of all 
 affixes, augments, &c.* The case affixes are called sup, 
 
 * Three or four of these are supposed to be later additions. In the 
 excellent odition of Professor Boéhtlingk there are 3997, including the 
 fourteen Siva Sitras. Panini is also the supposed author of the oldest 
 Dhatu-patha or dictionary of roots with their Anubandhas. 
 
 * A rule giving the key to Panini’s Siitras and their application is called 
 a Paribhasha; one which explains the technical terms is a Sanjna. 
 
 * For example, the root nid is called nidi to show that a nasal is 
 inserted in conjugation, thus, nindami, nindasi, &e. The aflix maya is 
 called mayat to show that its feminine is mayz. Sometimes these 7ὲ5 or 
 Anubandhas serve to distinguish two roots or affixes, which, although 
 similar in sound, haye different senses; for example, the root da, ‘ to 
 
174 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 and the personal endings or terminations of verbs tii. 
 Between the latter and the root a conjugational syllable 
 is inserted, called vikarana. The third chapter of the first 
 Adhyaya treats of the proper use of the active voice 
 (Parasmai-pada) and middle or reflexive voice (Atmane- 
 pada). The second Adhyaya explains compound words. 
 The third, fourth, and fifth Adhyayas enumerate the various 
 affixes and their meanings. Those belonging to verbs 
 occupy the third Adhyaya; those affixed to nouns, the 
 fourth and fifth. The sixth, seventh, and eighth Adhyayas 
 treat of the changes which roots and affixes undergo by 
 augments and substitutions of various kinds. For brevity 
 and economy of words nothing can be more successful than 
 the system in which all this immense and intricate subject 
 is explained. The Sttras of Panini are indeed a perfect 
 miracle of condensation, their main design apparently 
 being to aid the memory of teachers rather than learners 
 by the briefest possible suggestions. When a single letter 
 can be saved every other consideration is sacrificed to this 
 paramount object; and to attain a greater amount of 
 abridgment than could be effected by the use of ordinary 
 words an arbitrary symbolical language is coined, the 
 key to which must be acquired before the rules them- 
 selves can be rendered intelligible’. Perhaps the clos- 
 ing Sutra of the whole work may be taken as the best 
 instance of the consummate brevity attained. It consists 
 of two letters, as follows: aa. This is said to mean: 
 
 give,’ is called dudai, while da, ‘to divide,’ is called dap ; the affix vat, 
 meaning ‘like,’ is called vati, while the affix vat, meaning ‘possessed of,’ 
 is called vatup. Sometimes the only use of these Anubandhas is to 
 enable Pratyaharas to be formed ; thus the case-ending of the accusative 
 dual is called aut merely for the sake of forming the Pratyahara swf. 
 
 1 For example, gyan stands for the characteristic of roots of the fourth 
 class, yak for the passive, nié for the causal, san for the desiderative, yaw 
 for the intensive. 
 
VEDAN-GAS—VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 175 
 
 Let short α be held to have its organ of utterance contracted, now that 
 we have reached the end of the work in which it was necessary to regard 
 it as otherwise. 
 
 Here is one from the sixth Adhyaya (1.77): Lho yan adi. 
 This, of course, is not Sanskrit, but a kind of grammatical 
 algebra. Jk is a symbol standing for the four vowels 
 a, u, rt, dri, and gifted with an imaginary genitive case 
 tkah (here changed to ko). Yan isa symbol for the letters 
 y, v, 7, l; and αὖ (supposed to possess a locative case αι) 
 represents all the vowels. The rule at full is: 
 
 The letters y, v, r, / take the place of 7, τι, rz, Iri, short or long, respec- 
 tively, when followed by any dissimilar vowel. 
 
 Moreover, an aphorism which stands at the head of a 
 series and is hence called an Adhikdra or ‘ governing rule’ 
 is never repeated, but must be supplied after the whole 
 series till the influence (anuvritt:) of this governing Siitra 
 is supposed to cease, such cessation being called nivritti. 
 Thus the seventy-fourth Sttra of the third chapter of 
 Adhyaya I is niéas-éa, which must be interpreted thus: 
 
 And after a verbal base ending in the causal affix (ni¢é) the Atmane- 
 pada must come when the result of the action returns to the agent. 
 
 Of course nearly all the matter necessary to make this 
 rule intelligible has to be supplied from other rules, and 
 especially from the Adhikara rule 12, which is separated 
 by sixty-two intervening Sitras. 
 
 In short, a careful examination of Panini’s grammar 
 will dispose the student to appreciate Colebrooke’s remark 
 that ‘the endless pursuit of exceptions and limitations 
 so disjoins the general precepts, that the reader cannot 
 keep in view their intended connection and mutual rela- 
 tion. He wanders in an intricate maze, and the clue of 
 the labyrinth is continually slipping from his hand. 
 
 In point of fact, however, this grammar ought not to 
 be examined from a European point of view at all. 
 
176 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 We must not forget that an Indian Pandit’s ideas of 
 grammar are very different from our own. Europeans 
 are apt to look on a grammar of any kind as a necessary 
 evil, only to be tolerated because indispensable to the 
 attainment of a desired end beyond. With us the gram- 
 mar of a language is in most cases a mere passage to its 
 literature, a dreary region to be traversed as soon as pos- 
 sible. A Pandit, on the other hand, regards grammar as 
 we should regard the natural sciences. It is with hima 
 something to be studied and elaborated for its own sake. 
 According to the late Professor Goldstiicker, ‘ Panini’s 
 work is indeed a kind of natural history of the Sanskrit 
 language’ It gives an account of the linguistic facts and 
 phenomena as it finds them, tracing them out as they 
 occur without regard to any scientific or methodical 
 arrangement of materials. Thus the prolongation of 
 vowels is dealt with as a fact, and is followed out through 
 a whole chapter in order to trace all the instances in 
 which such a lengthening takes place, whether in declen- 
 sion or conjugation or the composition of words. Hence 
 the rules of declension and conjugation do not follow each 
 other in their usual order according to the European 
 system, but are scattered about in a disjointed and often 
 very perplexing manner, so that it becomes necessary to 
 search for and put together Aphorisms in widely separated 
 parts of the work to enable the statement of some gram- 
 matical law or process to be completed. 
 
 Paninis grammar was criticized and its deficiencies 
 supplied by the celebrated Katyaiyana, who is called 
 Varttika-kara, as author of the Varttikas or ‘supplementary 
 rules and annotations. He must have lived some time 
 after Panini, perhaps in the century following. Some, 
 however, believe the two grammarians to have been con- 
 
 * See Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, article Panini. 
 
VEDANGAS—VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 177 
 
 temporaneous. Kiatyayana again was criticized by his 
 rival Patanjali, who generally supports Panini against the 
 composer of the supplementary rules. To Patanjali we 
 owe one of the most wonderful grammatical works that 
 the genius of any country has ever produced, viz. the Maha- 
 bhashya or ‘great commentary’, written not so much to 
 explain Panini as to defend such of his Aphorisms as had 
 been criticized by Katyayana. He was probably not the 
 same person as the author of the Yoga philosophy. Accord- 
 ing to some, his mother’s name was Gonika ; he was born 
 at Gonarda in the east of India, and he lived for some 
 time in Kashmir, where his work was well known. 
 According to Professor Goldstiicker, he wrote between 
 140 and 120 B.c.*; but Professor Weber places him about 
 25 years after Christ. These three men, Panini, Katya- 
 
 * The whole of this great work has been lately edited by two Pandits 
 at Benares. See the able article on it by Professor Weber in the last 
 volume of the ‘Indische Studien.’ A copy has been kindly sent to me by 
 Professor A. E. Gough. Patanjali’s additions to the Varttikas are called 
 Ishtis or Desiderata. He is also the author of many Karikas or memorial 
 verses on grammar. A compendium of such verses was also made by 
 Bhartri-hari. 
 
 2 See the ‘ Indian Antiquary’ for February 1873. See also an article 
 on Patanjali in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, where it is well said that ‘ Patan- 
 jali’s method is analogous to that of other classical commentaries; it 
 establishes, usually by repetition, the correct reading of the text in 
 explaining every important or doubtful word, in showing the connection 
 of the principal parts of the sentence, and in adding such observations as 
 may be required. Frequently Patanjali attaches his own critical remarks 
 to the emendations of Katyayana, often in support of the views of the 
 latter, but not seldom, too, in order to refute his criticisms and to defend 
 Panini; while, again, at’ other times, he completes the statement of one of 
 them by his own additional rules.’ Ramkrishna Gopal Bhandarkar, 
 writing in the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for October 1872, states his opinion 
 that Patanjali lived when Pushpamitra was reigning at Patali-putra, and 
 “that he probably wrote the third chapter of his Bhashya between 144 B.C. 
 and 142 5.0. Professor Weber, however, controverts this conclusion, 
 
 N 
 
178 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 yana, and Patanjali, compose the great Indian triumvirate 
 of grammarians, from whose authority there is no appeal 
 in anything which relates to Vyakarana. About one 
 hundred and fifty grammarians and commentators followed 
 in their footsteps, each criticizing or commenting on his 
 predecessors. Among these may be mentioned Kaiyata 
 or Kaiyyata, who commented on Patanjali in a work 
 called the Bhashya-pradipa, and was himself commented 
 on by Nagoji-bhatta in the Bhashya-pradipoddyota'. One 
 of the best of the more modern commentaries on Panini is 
 Vamana’s Kagika Vritti, so called because composed at 
 Kasi or Benares. A grammarian named Bhattoji-dikshita 
 attempted to arrange the Aphorisms on a plan more in 
 accordance with modern ideas. His useful work is called 
 the Siddhanta-kaumudi?, A second and greater simpli- 
 fication of Panini is the Madhyama-kaumudi, and a still 
 greater is the Laghu-kaumudi of Varada-raja*, which is 
 in fact a kind of abridgment of the Siddhanta-kaumudi, 
 current in the north-west of India. 
 
 Vopadeva, a grammarian who is said to have flourished 
 about the latter half of the thirteenth century at the 
 court of Hemadri, king of Deva-giri (Dowlatabad), wrote 
 a grammar for beginners on a system of his own, called 
 the Mugdha-bodha *, which is much valued as an authority 
 in Bengal, and referred to by many native commentators, 
 such, for example, as Bharata-mallika or Bharata-sena, 
 who therefore called his commentary on the Bhatti-kavya, 
 Mugdha-bodhini. 
 
 Vopadeva’s arrangement and many of his technical 
 
 * This Nagoji-bhatta was also the author of a grammatical work called 
 Paribhashendu-sekhara, lately edited at Bombay, with a translation, by 
 Professor F. Kielhorn. 
 
 * A new edition of this was published not long ago in India. 
 
 * This was edited and translated by Dr. Ballantyne. 
 
 * It has been edited like Panini by Professor Bohtling'. 
 
VEDAN'GAS—VYAKARANA OR GRAMMAR. 179 
 
 terms and symbolical expressions (including the technical 
 forms of his affixes) differ from those of Panini, and the 
 only allusion to Vedie peculiarities is in the last Sttra of 
 
 the work (XX VI. 220), which is as follows : 
 
 Manifold forms and irregularities are allowed in the Veda. [Bahulam 
 brahmani, which corresponds to Panini’s often repeated bahulam ¢han- 
 dasi, II. 4. 39, LU. 4. 73, ἄς. Cf also Panini’s vyatyayo bahulam, ‘ oppo- 
 sition to the usual rule is frequent in the Veda, III. 1. 85.| 
 
 In fact, Vopadeva? does not aim at the completeness of 
 Panini. He omits all notice of the accents, and his treat- 
 ment of the laws of euphonic combination is by no means 
 exhaustive. In his explanation of declension and conjuga- 
 tion he is more satisfactory, and he gives numerous useful 
 examples and paradigms, but usually contents himself 
 with general rules, and does not, like Panini, trouble 
 himself to trace out minute particulars or examine into 
 every corner of an intricate subject with a view to 
 a careful search for all possible exceptions. Professor 
 Bohtlingk has given an analysis of the Mugdha-bodha in 
 the preface to his excellent edition of the work. Vopa- 
 deva’s first chapter explains technical terms; the second 
 treats of euphonic laws; the third, of declension ; the fourth, 
 
 1 It is very necessary to know the commonest of Vopadeva’s technical 
 expressions, as they are not only occasionally used by some native com- 
 mentators, but are also employed in some instances by European 
 expounders of Sanskrit grammar. They often deviate from Panini’s 
 system. For example, the memorial terminations usually given for verbs 
 are those of Vopadeva (VIII. 1); dw stands for dhatu, ‘a root;’ vri for 
 vriddhi; Ava for the terminations of the singular ; vva for bahu-vaéana, 
 those of the plural ; /i for linga, a nominal base ; /idhw for nominal verbs ; 
 Sup and up for the characteristic ~ of the eighth class of roots ; twm and 
 éatum instead of Panini’s tamun, for the Krit affix twm forming the infini- 
 tive ; Sana (not sanaé) for the termination of the present participle Atmane ; 
 ri for the pronominals (called Sarva-naman by Panini) ; samahara for 
 Panini’s pratyahara (see my Sanskrit-English Dictionary). Nevertheless, 
 Vopadeyva adopts a great number of Panini’s technical terms. 
 
 N 2 
 
180 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of the formation of feminines; the fifth, of the use of the 
 cases; the sixth, of compound words; the seventh, of Tad- 
 dhita affixes; the eighth, of technical terms applicable to 
 verbs and of roots of the first class ; the ninth and tenth, of 
 roots of the second and third classes; the eleventh to the 
 seventeenth, of roots of the fourth to the tenth classes, one 
 chapter being devoted to each class; the eighteenth, of 
 causal verbs; the nineteenth, of desideratives ; the twen- 
 tieth, of intensives ; the twenty-first, of nominals ; the 
 twenty-second, of the use of the Parasmai-pada; the 
 twenty-third, of the use of the Atmane-pada ; the twenty- 
 fourth, of passives, impersonals, and reflexive verbs ; the 
 twenty-fifth, of the use of the tenses and moods; the 
 twenty-sixth, of Krit affixes and of affixes added to roots 
 to form participles, &e. 
 
 I conclude by observing that a popular grammar called 
 the Katantra (or Kalapa) is being well edited for the 
 
 Bibliotheca Indica by Professor J. Eggeling. 
 
 The Vedan.gas—Jyotisha, ‘astronomy.’ 
 
 This Vedinga should rather be called ‘ the astronomical 
 or astrological calendar.’ Strictly speaking, it 1s repre- 
 sented by a short tract, consisting of thirty-six verses, in 
 a comparatively modern style, to which scholars cannot 
 assign a date earlier than 300 years B.c. According to 
 the best authorities, no genuine Sutras on astronomy have 
 as yet been discovered. The object of the Jyotisha 
 Vedainga is to fix the most auspicious days and seasons for 
 commencing sacrifices. This treatise, brief and unsatis- 
 factory as it is, nevertheless deserves attention as em- 
 bodying some of the most ancient astronomical ideas, 
 among which may be mentioned the measure of a day 
 by thirty Muhirtas or hours of forty-eight minutes, the 
 division of the zodiac into twenty-seven parts or lunar 
 
VEDANGAS-——JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 181 
 
 asterisms (the first of which is Krittika), and the tradi- 
 tional place of the solstitial points, from which the 
 attempt has been repeatedly made (by Jones, Davis, 
 Colebrooke, Pratt, and others) to deduce a date for the 
 treatise itself, as well as for the whole Vedic literature. 
 
 The following is Colebrooke’s translation of verses seven 
 and eight of the Jyotisha tract’, which verses have been 
 the subject of much controversy in relation to their bear- 
 ing on the determination of dates from a comparison of 
 the present position of the solstitial points : 
 
 The sun and moon turn towards the north at the beginning of Sra- 
 vishtha (=Dhanishtha), but the sun turns towards the south in the 
 middle of the constellation over which the serpents preside; and this 
 (turn towards the south and towards the north) always happens in the 
 months of Magha and Sravana. [Prapadyete Sravishthadaw surya- 
 éandramasav udak, Sarpardhe dakshinarkas tu, magha-sravanayoh sada. | 
 In the northern passage an increase of day and decrease of night take 
 place amounting to a Prastha (or thirty-two Palas) of water; in the 
 southern, both are reversed (i.e. the days decrease and the nights 
 increase), and the difference amounts, by the journey, to six Muhiurtas. 
 [Gharma-vriddhir apim prasthah kshapa-hrasa udag-gatau, Dakshine 
 tau viparyastau shan-muhirty ayanena tu. | 
 
 Whatever may be the value of these verses in an astro- 
 nomical point of view, it is clear that a superstitious 
 belief in the importance of choosing auspicious days and 
 lucky moments for the performance of rites and cere- 
 monies, whether public or domestic, began to show itself 
 
 1 See Professor E. B. Cowell's new edition of Colebrooke’s Essays, 
 republished by his son, Sir T. E. Colebrooke, p. 98; and see especially 
 Professor Whitney’s valuable notes on this point (p. 126). The latter 
 shows that the date derivable from the statement made in the Jyotisha 
 has a necessary uncertainty of about four centuries (from the 14th to the 
 roth z.c.), and he claims that the actual uncertainty is still greater— 
 that, in fact, the statement is worth nothing as yielding any definite 
 date at all. Weber had before pointed out that the difference of six 
 Muhirtas between the longest and shortest day or night is accurate only 
 in the extreme north-western corner of India. 
 
182 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 very early in India, and that it grew and strengthened 
 simultaneously with the growth of priesteraft and the 
 elaboration of a complex ritual. The influence of the sun 
 upon the atmosphere and soil made itself so manifest that 
 it was only natural to infer that similar influences be- 
 longed to the moon, planets, and stars; and the per- 
 sonification and deification of all the most conspicuous 
 luminaries which resulted from the supposed power in- 
 herent in their rays, of course intensified the superstitious 
 feeling of dependence upon their favourable aspects for 
 the success, not only of religious acts, but of all the affairs 
 of life. Pernicious as such superstitious ideas were in 
 their effect on the mind and all mental progress, they were 
 nevertheless productive of good in impelling the acute 
 Hindi to study the movements of the heavenly bodies, and 
 stimulating him to undertake arithmetical and mathema- 
 tical investigations. In all probability, astronomical and 
 mathematical science had an independent origin in India. 
 It is at least certain that they were cultivated with some 
 success at a very early epoch, though of course very 
 roughly in the absence of all optical and mechanical 
 appliances. We have already given an example from the 
 Aitareya-brahmana, which contains certain shrewd guesses 
 at scientific truth in regard to the sun (see p. 35). 
 
 In some of the earliest hymns of the Veda the Nak- 
 shatras or lunar mansions! are mentioned in connection 
 with the moon (see Rig-veda I. 50. 2). Moreover, 
 
 " For the twenty-seven Vedic Nakshatras see my Sanskrit-English 
 Dictionary (also Appendix). The word Nakshatra at first meant a star 
 or asterism in general; then it was applied to the selected series of 
 asterisms through or near which the moon passes; and finally it was 
 loosely used for the part of the moon’s path, the 27th or 28th of the 
 zodiac, marked by each asterism. In the later mythology the lunar 
 mansions were fabled as the twenty-seven daughters of Daksha and wives 
 of the moon, 
 
VEDANGAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 1838 
 
 some of the phases of the moon, such as Anwmati, 
 ‘the moon one digit less than full, Rdakd, ‘the full 
 moon, Auhi (or Gungu), ‘the new moon, and Sinivdili, 
 ‘the first thin crescent preceding or following new moon,’ 
 are personified (see Rig-veda II. 32. 8), so that we are 
 justified in inferring that the movements of the moon in 
 the zodiac and its use as the time-measurer and month- 
 maker (mdsa-kyit)' were studied and noted by the Hindis 
 perhaps as early as 1400 years B.c. The twenty-seven 
 lunar mansions implied a lunar division of the zodiac into 
 twenty-seven equal parts of 13°20 to each part. Such 
 a division (into twenty-seven or twenty-eight parts) is 
 shared by other Asiatic peoples, as the Arabs and Chinese, 
 and the question where it originated has provoked much 
 discussion, without leading to any definite and certain 
 results’. The names of the Indian months have certainly 
 been taken from the asterisms in which the moon was 
 supposed to be full at different times of the year, and, 
 what is still more significant, the names of some of these 
 lunar asterisms have clearly been derived from ancient 
 
 1 This is a Vedic name of the moon. <A root md, ‘to measure,’ mean- 
 ing also ‘the measurer,’ is first applied to the moon in Sanskrit and then 
 to a lunation or period measured by one revolution of the moon. Some- 
 thing similar has happened in the cognate Aryan languages. At least we 
 know that the words for ‘month’ are generally derived from the moon, our 
 word ‘month’ being nothing but moonth. In Rig-veda X. 85. 2 occurs 
 the following: Atho nakshatranam esham upasthe Soma ahitah, ‘Soma is 
 deposited in the lap of these Nakshatras.’ 
 
 * The various opinions and the arguments by which they have been 
 supported have been lately reviewed by Professor Whitney in his ‘ Oriental 
 and Linguistic Studies,’ vol. ii. pp. 341-421. He regards the matter as 
 still unsettled. The solar signs of the zodiac and much of the later 
 astronomy, with many astronomical terms (such as hord=pa; kendra= 
 κέντρον ; drikdna, the third of a zodiacal sign=8éexavos; liptd, the minute 
 of a degree=Xenrés), were borrowed from the Greeks. 
 
184 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Vedic deities, like the Aévins', &c. In the Yajur-veda 
 and Brahmanas occur the expressions Nakshatra-darsa and 
 Ganaka, applied to observers of the heavens, either as 
 astronomers or astrologers?; and the adjustment of the 
 lunar to the solar year by the insertion of a thirteenth or 
 intercalary month (mala-mdsa, malimluéa, adhimdsa, some- 
 times called Purushottama) is probably alluded to in an 
 ancient hymn (Rig-veda I. 25. 8), and frequently in more 
 recent parts of the Veda. (Vajasaneyi-samhita 22. 30, 
 Atharva-veda V. 6. 4, &c.) 
 
 Whatever conclusions we may arrive at as to the 
 original source of the first astronomical ideas current in 
 the world, it is probable that to the Hindis is due the 
 invention of algebra* and its application to astronomy and 
 geometry. From them also the Arabs received not only 
 
 1 The names of the months are Magha (from the Nakshatra MJagha), 
 Phalguna (from Phalguni), Caitra (from Citra), Vaisakha (from Visakha), 
 Jyaishtha (from Jyeshthd), Ashadha (from Ashadhd), Sravana (from 
 Sravana), Bhadrapada or Bhadra (from Lhadra-pada), Agvina (from 
 Asvini), Karttika (from Krittika), Margasirsha, commonly called Agra- 
 hayana (from Mriga-giras), Pausha (from Pushya). I have arranged these 
 names so as to correspond as nearly as possible with our months, Magha 
 representing January—February, and the others continuing in regular 
 order ; but practically the Hindi calendar generally begins with Vaisakha, 
 this being considered the first month in the year. 
 
 2 Of course astronomy and astrology were mixed up together, and 
 the progress of the former was impeded in India by its subservience 
 to the latter. 
 
 * The name Algebra (from the Arabic al jabr, ‘the reduction of parts 
 to a whole or of fractions to integers’) shows that Europe received algebra 
 like the ten numerical symbols from the Hindi through the Arabs. The 
 Sanskrit word for algebra, Vija-ganita, means ‘calculation of seeds,’ 
 ‘calculation of original or primary elements, i.e. analysis. If the Greeks 
 did not receive their first ideas of algebra from the Hindis, it may at 
 least be taken as proved (from all that Colebrooke has so ably written on 
 the subject), that the Hindiis were certainly not indebted to the Greeks, 
 but invented their system independently. 
 
VEDANGAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 185 
 
 their first conceptions of algebraic analysis, but also those 
 invaluable numerical symbols and decimal notation now 
 current everywhere in Europe, which have rendered untold 
 service to the progress of arithmetical science. It will not, 
 therefore, be irrelevant if I introduce here a short account 
 of the chief Hindi astronomical and mathematical works 
 with a few illustrative extracts. 
 
 By some authorities nine principal astronomical treatises, 
 called Siddhantas, are named, viz. the Brahma-siddhdnta, 
 Sirya-s, Soma-s’, Vrihaspati-s°, Garga-s’, Ndrada-s’, 
 Pardsara-s°’, Pulastya-s’, Vasishtha-s°; by others five, 
 viz. the Pauliga-s°, Romaka-s°'!, Vdsishtha-s°, Saura-s’, 
 and Brahma-s’ or Paitémaha-s’, and these five, sometimes 
 called collectively the Panéa-siddhantika, are said to be 
 the original Siddhantas. Whether the Strya-s° is the 
 same as the Saura-s° appears somewhat doubtful, but this 
 treatise, fabled to have been revealed by Siarya ‘the Sun’ 
 himself, is perhaps the best known of all Hindt astro- 
 nomical works both in India and Europe’. 
 
 The earliest Hindi astronomer whose name has come 
 down to us is Arya-bhata, who lived, according to Cole- 
 brooke, about the fifth century of our era. Others place 
 him, or another astronomer of his name, in the third 
 century. Arya-bhata is the author of three works, the 
 Aryabhatiya, Dasa-gitika, and Aryashta-Sata, and is said 
 to have asserted a diurnal revolution of the earth on 
 its axis, to have knowrf the true theory of the causes 
 of lunar and solar eclipses, and noticed the motion of the 
 
 1 This title Romaka-s° points to an exchange of ideas on astronomical 
 subjects between India, Greece, and Rome. 
 
 2 It has been well edited by Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall, and there are two 
 translations of it, one published in America with notes (by Professor 
 
 Whitney), and another by Bapudeva Sastri. 
 
186 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 solstitial and equinoctial points’. Professor Kern has just 
 published an edition of the Aryabhatiya. 
 
 After Arya-bhata came the astronomer Varaha-mihira, 
 who lived about the sixth century of our era, and was 
 born at Ujjayini. He wrote a work on nativities called 
 Vrihaj-jataka, another well-known astrological work called 
 Brihat-samhita (recently translated by Professor Kern?, an 
 extract from which is given p. 189), and a summary of the 
 five original Siddhantas called Panéa-siddhantika. 
 
 Next to Arya-bhata and Varaha-mihira lived Brahma- 
 gupta (probably towards the end of the sixth century), 
 who wrote the Brahma-siddhanta, containing the chapters 
 on arithmetic (ganita) and algebra (kuttaka*) in Cole- 
 brooke’s Indian Algebra. 
 
 Fourth and last of celebrated astronomers and mathe- 
 maticians came Bhaskara or Bhaskara¢arya, who is sup- 
 posed to have lived in the twelfth century and composed 
 a well-known book called the Siddhanta-Siromani, con- 
 taining the treatises on algebra (Vija-ganita) and arith- 
 metic (Lildvati*), translated by Colebrooke. 
 
 I proceed now to select specimens of the contents of the 
 above works. ‘The first extract gives the Indian division 
 of time taken from the Strya-siddhanta (I. 11-13), Bhas- 
 kara’s Siddhanta-Siromani (I. 19, 20), and other works 
 with their commentaries (Burgess, pp. 5, 6). It illustrates 
 very curiously the natural taste of the Hindis for hyper- 
 bole, leading them to attempt almost infinite calculations 
 
 ' According to Brahma-gupta, as quoted by the writer of the article 
 Sanskrit Literature in Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, which I have consulted. 
 
 2 For the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 
 
 ° Kuttaka properly means a ‘ pulverizer’ or ‘ multiplier.’ 
 
 * Tilavati, ‘delightful by its elegance, is merely the name of the 
 chapter on arithmetic (pdti-gayita, divided into vyakta-ganita, ‘ distinct 
 computation, and avyakta-g°, ‘indistinct’). The name is also applied to a 
 supposed ‘charming woman,’ to whom instruction in arithmetic is given. 
 
VEDAN'GAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 187 
 
 of inconceivable periods in the one direction, and infini- 
 tesimal subdivisions of the most minute quantities in the 
 other. Without any reliable chronology in regard to the 
 precise dates of any great events in their own history, 
 they yet delight in a kind of chronology or ‘science of 
 time, making time past, present, and future a subject 
 of the most elaborate and minute computations. Hence 
 we find them heaping billions upon millions and trillions 
 upon billions of years, and reckoning up ages upon ages, 
 Aeons upon Aeons, with even more audacity than modern 
 geologists and astronomers. In short, an astronomical 
 Hindi ventures on arithmetical conceptions quite beyond 
 the mental dimensions of any one who feels himself incom- 
 petent to attempt the task of measuring infinity. Here 
 is the time-table enumerating the subdivisions of what is 
 called real and unreal time : 
 
 ‘That which begins with respirations (prada) is called real (marta) time ; 
 that which begins with atoms (trvfz) is called unreal (amarta) time. Ten 
 long syllables (gurv-akshara) make one respiration (prana, asw) ; six 
 respirations make one Vinadi (also called pala or vighafika of twenty- 
 four seconds) ; sixty Vinadis=one Nadi or Nadika (also called danda, 
 ghati, ghatika of twenty-four minutes) ; sixty Nadis=one day (a sidereal 
 day and night) ; thirty sidereal days=one civil (s@vana) month ; a civil 
 month consists of thirty sunrises; a lunar month of thirty lunar days 
 (titht) ; a solar (sawra) month is determined by the entrance of the sun 
 into a sign of the zodiac.’ And now with regard to unreal time: ‘One 
 hundred atoms (truti)=one speck (tatpara); thirty specks=one twink- 
 ling (nimesha); eighteen twinklings=one bit (Adshtha) ; thirty bits= 
 one minute (kala) ; thirty minutes=one half-hour (ghafika) ; two half- 
 hours=one hour (kshana); thirty hours=one day.’ This makes the 
 atom το τυ of a second, 
 
 Considerable variations occur in Manu and the Puranas. 
 According to Manu (I. 64) thirty Kalas=one Muhitrta or 
 hour of forty-eight minutes. The Vishnu-purana (Wilson, 
 Ῥ. 22) makes the atom=-+1,, of a second, and goes back 
 beyond an atom to a Paramanu or infinitesimal atom, 
 
188 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 which it makes=-<1., of a second. All, however, agree 
 in dividing the day into thirty hours, just as the month is 
 divided into thirty Tithis or lunar days, and the year into 
 three*hundred and sixty days, an intercalary month being 
 inserted once in five years, which is thought to be the 
 most ancient Hindi method of computing time’. The 
 Siirya-siddhanta then proceeds, like Manu (1. 68. 7s ἴα 
 reckon up vast periods of time through ages* (για) and 
 great ages (mahd-yuga), till it arrives at an Aeon (kalpa), 
 the total duration of which is said to be 4,320,000,000 
 years. In verse 24 we read (Burgess, p..12): 
 
 One hundred times four hundred and seventy-four divine years passed 
 while the All-wise was employed in creating the animate and inanimate 
 creation, plants, stars, gods, demons, and the rest. 
 
 Further on we have the division of a circle, which cor- 
 responds with our own: 
 
 Sixty seconds (vikal@) make a minute (kala), sixty minutes make a 
 degree (bhaga), thirty degrees make a sign (rast), twelve signs make a 
 revolution (bhagana). 
 
 The following is the measurement of the earth : 
 
 Twice 800 yojanas are the diameter of the earth; the square root of 
 ten times the square of that is the earth’s circumference. 
 
 According to Bhaskara the earth’s diameter is 1581 
 yojanas, so that if the yojana is reckoned at about four 
 and a half English miles (which is given as one estimate 
 of its length, though its value varies), the calculation in 
 both cases is not very far from accurate. 
 
 1 Almanacs and horoscopes (Janma-patra) are called Paiédiga, as 
 treating of five things, viz. solar days (commonly called Varas, from the 
 days of the week, Aditya-v°, Soma-v’, Mangala-v°, Budha-v°, Guru-v°, 
 Sukra-v°, Sani-v°), lunar days (Tithis), the twenty-seven Nakshatras, the 
 twenty-seven Yogas, the eleven Karanas. 
 
 2 There are properly four Yugas or ages in every Mahayuga, viz. Arita, 
 Treta, Dvapara,and Kali, named from the marks on dice, the Krita being 
 the best throw of four points, and the Kali the worst of one point. 
 
VEDANGAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 189 
 
 At the commencement of Sirya-siddhinta, Chapter IT, 
 we have a strange theory of planetary motion (p. 47): 
 
 Forms of time (ké@lasya martayah) of invisible shape (adyisya-rapah) 
 stationed in the zodiac (bhayandsritah), called conjunction (s7ghroééa), upper 
 apsis (mando¢éa), and node (pata), are causes of the motion of the planets. 
 The planets attached to these Beings by cords of air are drawn away by 
 them with the right and left hand, forward or backward, according to 
 nearness, toward their own place. A wind, moreover, called Pravaha, 
 impels them towards their own apices (πόζα) ; being drawn away forward 
 and backward, they proceed by a varying motion. 
 
 In the previous Chapter (29, 34) the following statement 
 occurs : 
 
 In an age (yuga) the revolutions of the sun, Mercury (Budha), and 
 Venus (Sukra), and of the conjunctions of Mars (Mangala, Bhauna) 
 Saturn (Sani), and Jupiter (Vrihaspati), moving eastward, are four 
 million, three hundred and twenty thousand. Of the asterisms, one 
 billion, five hundred and eighty-two million, two hundred and thirty- 
 seven thousand, eight hundred and twenty-eight. 
 
 I next give a portion of a remarkable passage from 
 Variha-mihira’s Brihat-samhita or ‘complete system of 
 natural astrology’ (see Dr. Kern’s translation, p. 433, of 
 vol. iv. of the Royal Asiatic Society’s Journal) : 
 
 An astrologer ought to be of good family, friendly in his appearance, 
 and fashionable in his dress; veracious and not malignant. He must 
 have well-proportioned, compact, and full limbs, no bodily defect, and be 
 a fine man, with nice hands, feet, nails, eyes, chin, teeth, ears, brows, and 
 head, and with a deep and clear voice ; for generally one’s good and bad 
 moral qualities are in unison with one’s personal appearance. As to 
 mathematical astronomy, he must know the divisions of the heaven and 
 of time, in ages, years, half-years, seasons, months, half-months, days, 
 watches, hours, half-hours, minutes, respirations, moments, subdivisions 
 of a moment, &c., as taught in the five Siddhantas (see p. 185). He 
 must know the reason why there are four kinds of months—the solar 
 (saura), natural (sévana), stellar (nakshatra), and lunar (¢@ndra) months— 
 and how it happens that there are intercalary months and subtractive days. 
 He must know the beginning and end of the Jovian cycle of sixty years, 
 of the lustrums, years, days, hours, and their respective lords. He must 
 foretell the moment of commencement and separation, the direction, 
 
190 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 measure, duration, amount of obscuration, colour and place of the eclipses 
 of sun and moon; also the future conjunctions and hostile encounters of 
 the nine planets'. He must be skilful in ascertaining the distance of 
 each planet from the earth, expressed in yojanas ; further, the dimen- 
 sions of their orbits and the distance of the places on earth, in yojanas. 
 He ought to be clever in geometrical operations and in the calculation of 
 time. If, moreover, he knows how to speak pithily, because he thoroughly 
 understands all sorts of captious questions ; if the science he expounds, 
 by being put to the test by his own exertion and unceasing study, has 
 become more refined—like gold is rendered purer by being put on the 
 touchstone, by purification in fire, and by careful workmanship—then he 
 may be said to be a scientific man. It has been said: ‘ How can one 
 who solves no difficulty, nor answers any question, nor teaches his pupils, 
 be styled a scientific man?’ And thus it has been said by the great seer 
 Garga: ‘The king who does not honour a scholar accomplished in horo- 
 scopy and astronomy comes to grief.’ ‘As the night without a light, as 
 the sky without the sun, so is a king without an astrologer ; like a blind 
 man he erreth on the road.’ ‘No one who wishes for well-being should 
 live in a country where there is no astrologer. ‘No one that has studied 
 astrology can go to the infernal regions.’ ‘A person who, without know- 
 ing the science, exercises the profession of an astrologer is a wicked man 
 and a disgrace to society. Consider him to be a mere star-gazer. But 
 such a one as properly knows horoscopy, astronomy, and natural astro- 
 logy, him ought the king to honour and his service he ought to secure.’ 
 
 With regard to Colebrooke’s translation of Bhaskara’s 
 work on algebra (Vija-gaita), the following extract is 
 taken from the translator’s introduction (p. xxii): 
 
 The motions of the moon and sun were carefully observed by the 
 Hindi, and with such success that their determination of the moon’s 
 synodical revolution is a much more correct one than the Greeks ever 
 achieved. They had a division of the ecliptic into twenty-seven and 
 twenty-eight parts, suggested evidently by the moon’s period in days, and 
 seemingly their own. It was certainly borrowed by the Arabs”. They 
 
 ee '’ΠΞπ -ο  τὸτ --------ς-ςς-ςςς---ς-ςςςςς-ςς-ςς-ςς-ο, Οςσσσς 
 
 1 The nine planets are the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, 
 Saturn, with Rahu and Ketu or the ascending and descending nodes. 
 
 2 The Arabs, however, appear to have adopted the division of the 
 zodiac into twenty-eight segments. Professor Whitney thinks that the 
 Arabs did not borrow their lunar zodiac from the Hindts. See p. 183 
 and the authorities there referred to. 
 
VEDAN-GAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 191 
 
 were particularly conversant with the most splendid of the primary 
 planets ; the period of Jupiter being introduced by them, in conjunction 
 with those of the sun and moon, into the regulation of their calendar in 
 the form of the cycle of sixty years, common to them and the Chaldeans. 
 
 We may add that from certain expressions in Bhaskara’s 
 work (see p. 106, Banerjea’s Dialogues, p. 69), it is in- 
 ferred that some idea of the laws of gravitation was formed 
 by Hindi astronomers as early as the twelfth century of 
 our era. The precession of the equinoctial points (vishuvat, 
 krdnti-pdta) was well known to Bhaskara, and the effect 
 of the moon in causing tides seems to have been suspected 
 much earlier (cf: Raghu-vansa V. 61). 
 
 The points in which Hind algebra appears particularly 
 distinguished from the Greek are (Colebrooke, p. xvi): 
 
 In addition to a better and more comprehensive algorithm (or nota- 
 tion): 1st. The management of equations involving more that one 
 unknown term. 2nd. The resolution of equations of a higher order, 
 in which, if they achieved little, they had at least the merit of the 
 attempt and anticipated a modern discovery in the solution of biquad- 
 ratics. 3rd. General methods for the solution of indeterminate problems 
 of first and second degrees, in which they went far, indeed, beyond 
 Diophantus, and anticipated discoveries of modern algebraists. 4th. 
 Application of algebra to astronomical investigation and geometrical 
 demonstration, in which they hit on some matters re-invented in later 
 times. One of their anticipations of modern discoveries is the demon- 
 stration of the noted proposition of Pythagoras concerning the square of 
 the base of a rectangular triangle being equal to the squares of the two 
 legs containing the right angle. 
 
 As to the notation or algorithm of algebra, Colebrooke 
 remarks (p. x): 
 
 The Hindi algebraists use abbreviations and initials for symbols. They 
 distinguish negative quantities by a dot, but have not any mark, besides 
 the absence of the negative sign, to discriminate a positive quantity. No 
 marks or symbols indicating operations of addition or multiplication &e. 
 are employed; nor any announcing equality or relative magnitude 
 
 See also the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for July 1872, p. 224. 
 
192 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 (greater or less)’. But a factum is denoted by the initial syllable of 
 a word of that import, subjomed to the terms which compose it, between 
 which a dot is sometimes interposed. A fraction is indicated by placing 
 the divisor under the dividend, but without a line of separation. The 
 symbols of unknown quantity are not confined to a single one, but extend 
 to ever so great a variety of denominations, and the characters used are 
 initial syllables of the names of colours, excepting the first, which is the 
 initial of ydvat-tdvat (applied to the jirst unknown quantity, i.e. ‘so 
 much’ of the unknown as this coefficient number). Colour, therefore, 
 means unknown quantity or the symbol of it. Letters are likewise 
 employed as symbols, either taken from the alphabet or else initial 
 syllables of words signifying the subjects of the problem. Initials of the 
 terms for square and solid respectively denote those powers. An initial 
 syllable is in like manner used to mark a surd root (see the next extract 
 and succeeding examples). 
 
 The following is from the Vija-ganita (chap. vi): 
 
 This is analysis by equation comprising several colours. In this the 
 unknown quantities are numerous, two and three or more, for which 
 yavat-tavat and the several colours are to be put to represent the values. 
 They have been settled by the ancient teachers of the science, viz. black 
 (kala), blue (nila), yellow (pita), red (lohita), green (haritaka), white 
 (sveta), variegated (citra), tawny (kapila), tan-coloured ( pimgala), grey 
 (dhimra), pink (patala), mottled (savala), blackish (syama/a), another 
 kind of black (medaka), &c. Or letters (that is, / &c.) are to be employed 
 as names of the unknown. [In practice the initial syllables of the above 
 words are used thus, ya, ka, ni, pi, lo.] 
 
 I here give some of the Sanskrit equivalents for terms 
 in arithmetic and algebra : 
 
 An absolute quantity which has specific form is rapa (applied in the 
 singular to a unit, in the plural to an integer number, and often expressed 
 by the first syllable vz). A surd or irrational number is harani (often 
 denoted by the first syllable ka). A nought or cipher is ὅζημα, da; a 
 fraction which has a cipher for its denominator ¢éa-hara; minus rina, 
 kshaya (negative quantity); plus dhana, sva (positive quantity). A 
 result or product is bhavita (often expressed by the first syllable bha ; 
 
 * The sign of equality was first used by Robert Recorde (because, he 
 said, ‘No two things can be more equal than a pair of parallels’), and 
 those of relative magnitude by Harriot.—Colebrooke. 
 
VEDANGAS—JYOTISHA OR ASTRONOMY. 1938 
 
 hence the product of two unknown quantities is expressed by ya. ka bha, 
 or ka. ni bhai ; so also the square of the first unknown quantity multi- 
 plied by the cube of the second is thus abbreviated,"y& va. ha gha, bha). 
 
 It may be interesting to note the system of numeration 
 increasing in decuple proportion given in chapter II of 
 the Lilavati. This method, with the invention of the nine 
 numerical figures (avka) and of the nought (S#nya) and of 
 the decuple value assigned to each according to its posi- 
 tion in the series, is thought to be of divine origin : 
 
 Unit (eka), ten (dasa), hundred (sata), thousand (sahasra), ten thou- 
 sand (ayuta), a hundred thousand (/aksha, commonly called ‘a lac’), 
 million (prayuta), ten millions (oti, commonly called ‘a krore’), a hun- 
 dred millions (arbuda), a thousand millions (abja or padma), ten thousand 
 millions (kharva), a hundred thousand millions (nikharva), a billion or 
 million of millions (mahd-padma), ten billions (savkw), a hundred billions 
 (jaladhi or samudra), a thousand billions (antya), ten thousand billions 
 (madhya), a hundred thousand billions (pardrdha). 
 
 I add four specimens of problems from the Lilavati and 
 Vija-ganita (Colebrooke, pp. 24, 124, 191, 269, 272): 
 
 1. Out of a swarm of bees, one-fifth part settled on a Kadamba blossom ; 
 one-third on a Silindhra flower; three times the difference of those num- 
 bers flew to the bloom of a Kutaja, One bee, which remained, hovered 
 about in the air. Tell me, charming woman, the number of bees, 
 
 2. How many are the variations of form of the (ten-armed) god 
 Sambhu (Siva) by the exchange of his ten attributes held reciprocally in 
 his several hands, viz. the rope (pasa), the hook for guiding an elephant 
 (awkusa), the serpent, the hour-glass-shaped drum (damarz), the human 
 skull, the trident (¢risala), the club shaped like the foot of a bedstead 
 (chatvanga), the dagger, the arrow, the bow? And those of (the four- 
 armed) Hari (Vishnu) by the exchange of the mace, the discus (éakra), 
 the lotus, and the conch (sankha)? Answer 3,628,800; 24. 
 
 3. Eight rubies, ten emeralds, and a hundred pearls, which are in thy 
 ear-ring, my beloved, were purchased by me for thee at an equal amount ; 
 and the sum of the rates of the three sorts of gems was three less than 
 half a hundred : tell me the rate of each, auspicious woman, 
 
 4. What four numbers are such that the product of them all is equal 
 to twenty times theirsum? The answer to this last is: Here let the first 
 number be ψᾶ 1 ; and the rest be arbitrarily put 5, 4,and 2. Their sum is 
 y@ τ, γ 11, and multiplied by 20, ψᾶ 20, γἢ 220. Product of all the quan- 
 
 O 
 
194 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ψᾶ 40,7u OO. 
 
 tities, yi 40. Statement for equation, ° a 
 yd 20, ri 220 
 
 Hence by the first 
 analysis, the value of y@ is found 11, and the numbers are 11, 5, 4, 2. 
 
 I should mention here that attached to each Veda there 
 are certain works called Parisishta or ‘Supplements,’ in- 
 tended to supply directions omitted in the Srauta Sutras, &e. 
 There are also the Anukramani or ‘ Indices,’ giving the first 
 words of every hymn, the metre, the names of the authors 
 and of the deities addressed, the number of verses, &c. 
 
 There are also Upa-vedas or ‘secondary Vedas, which, 
 however, have really little or no connection with either 
 the Veda or Smriti. . They are, τ. Aywr-veda, ‘ the science 
 of life’ or medicine (regarded as belonging to the Atharva- 
 veda, and by some to the Rig-veda) ; 2. Gandharva-veda, 
 ‘the science of music’ (as a branch of the Sama-veda) ; 
 3. Dhanur-veda, ‘the science of archery’ or military art 
 (connected with the Yajur-veda) ; 4. Sthaépatya-veda, ‘the 
 science of architecture,’ including the Silpa-sastra 
 
 As to 1, Two great medical writers are Caraka and Su-sruta, whose 
 works treat of anatomy, physiology, materia medica, pharmacy, surgery 
 (Salya), toxicology (visha), omens, and the evil influence of planets and 
 demons (b/ita) in causing diseases. (See Wilson’s Essays, vol. i. pp. 
 269-276, 380-393.) Su-sruta’s work, in six books, has been well edited 
 at Calcutta by Sri Madhusiidana Gupta. As to 2, Works on music treat 
 of notes, scales, melodies, singing, musical instruments, and sometimes of 
 dancing. Six primary modes or modifications of melody, called Ragas, 
 are enumerated, which are personified, and each of them married to five 
 or sometimes six Raginis. The chief musical works are the San-gita- 
 ratnakara, by Sarnga-deva; the Samgita-darpana, by Damodara; and 
 the Sangita-damodara, by Subhan-kara. As to 3, This science is by some 
 ascribed to Visvamitra, by others to Bhrigu. As to 4, Some assert that 
 there are sixty-four treatises on the sixty-four Silpas or ‘ mechanical arts,’ 
 such as architecture, sculpture, carpentry, jewellery, farriery, &c. The 
 principal work on architecture is the Mdana-sdra, ‘essence of measure- 
 ment, in fifty-eight chapters, giving rules for the construction of build- 
 ings, temples, ornamental arches (torana), &e. Other works, by celebrated 
 Sthapatis or ‘architects,’ describe the soil suited for building and rites 
 in honour of the Vastu-purusha, ‘ spirit presiding over sites.’ 
 
ΤΟ Eke 
 Il. The Smdrta Satras or Traditional Rules. 
 
 N our classification of Smriti or Post-vedic literature, 
 at the commencement of the last Lecture, we placed 
 the Smarta Siitras under the second head, and pointed out 
 that they were to a great extent the source of the subse- 
 quent law-books which form, in our arrangement, the 
 third head of Smriti. We also observed that the term 
 Smdrta-siitra is a general expression for collections of 
 aphoristic rules which are distinguished from the Srauta- 
 sttra of the Kalpa Vedanga, because they do not relate 
 to Srauta or Vedic ceremonies, but rather to Grihya or 
 ‘domestic rites’ and Samaydédra or ‘conventional every- 
 day practices. Hence the Smarta Sitras are commonly 
 subdivided into, a. Grihya Sitras, and Ὁ. Sdmaydéarika 
 Sitras. It will be desirable, therefore, before commenc- 
 ing our survey of Manu’s celebrated Law-book, to advert 
 briefly to these sources from which some of its materials 
 were derived, and especially to the Grihya Stitras’. Of 
 these there are collections of different schools attached to 
 each Veda. Thus to the Rig-veda belong the ASvaldyana? 
 and Sankhayana Grihya Sitras; to the Sima-veda those 
 of Gobhila®; to the Vajasaneyi-samhita or White Yajur- 
 veda those of Pdraskara; to the Taittiriya or Black Yajur- 
 
 1 Probably, however, Manu owes more to the Samayadirika than to 
 the Grihya Sitras, although these latter are now best known to us by 
 printed editions. We find that the authors of Grihya Sitras have often 
 the same name as the authors of law-books. 
 
 2 There are also, as we have seen, Agvaliyana Srauta-stitra under the 
 head of ‘Kalpa,’ and probably each school had all three sets of Sutras 
 complete, though they are seldom all preserved. The A¢valiyana Grihya 
 
 bh 
 
196 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 veda those of Kdathaka, Baudhdyana, Bharadvaja, Apa- 
 stamba', the Maitrdyaniya, Mdanava (which last have 
 perished, though some of their Kalpa-stttras have been 
 preserved, see p. 213), ὅσο. 
 
 In fact, every Brahmanical family or school (éarana”) 
 had probably its own traditional recension (s@khd, p. 161) 
 of the Mantra and Brahmana portion of the Vedas as well 
 as its own Kalpa, Grihya, and Samayadarika Sitras; and 
 even at the present day the domestic rites of particular 
 families of Brahmans are performed in accordance with the 
 Sutras of the Veda of which they happen to be adherents. 
 
 Since these Grihya and Samayadarika Siitras are older 
 than Manu, they are probably as old as the sixth century 
 B.C., but possibly the works we possess represent com- 
 paratively recent collections of the original texts. 
 
 It has been already pointed out that the Srauta Siitras 
 are a kind of rubric for the more public solemn sacrifices 
 (Jyotishtoma, Agnishtoma, Asva-medha, &c.) enjoined by 
 the Veda. The subject of the Grihya is rather that indi- 
 cated by Manu when he says (III. 67) : 
 
 Let the householder observe domestic rites with the sacred fire kindled 
 at his marriage (called Gdrhapatya) according to rule, and perform the 
 five devotional acts and the daily domestic oblations. [| Vaivahike ’gnau 
 kurvita grihyam karma yathd-vidhi Panéa-yajna-vidhanam éa paktim 
 (=pakam) éadnvahikim grihi. | 
 
 Sutras and part of the Paraskara have been edited and translated into 
 German by Professor Stenzler (Leipzig, 1864, 1865), and the former have 
 also been edited by Pandits for the Bibliotheca Indica (Calcutta, 1869). 
 The Gobhiliya Grihya Sutras are being edited for the Bibliotheca Indica. 
 
 1 The Apastambas appear to have preserved all three sets of Sttras 
 complete, for there are also Apastamba Srauta-stitra and Samayadéarika- 
 sutra. According to Professor Bhandarkar there are numbers of Brah- 
 mans in the south of India who are adherents of the Black Yajur-veda 
 and who receive dakshind or ‘ fees’ from rich men for repeating it with 
 the Apastamba Sitras. 
 
 * A work called the Carana-vyitha gives catalogues of these schools. 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 197 
 
 Indeed the word Grihya means ‘ household, and these 
 Siitras do in fact give rules for the five diurnal acts of 
 domestic devotion called Mahd-yajia (or Panéa-yajia, 
 four of them being also Paka-yajia, Manu 11. 86), as well 
 as for the domestic ceremonies named Sanskdras, common 
 to all the three higher classes, and not restricted to 
 Brahmans. The twelve Sanskaras are described at p. 2406. 
 They are generally performed at the one domestic hearth, 
 instead of with all the three fires (called collectively 7'retd) 
 of the Vitdnas ov ‘hearths used at public sacrifices.’ 
 
 I proceed to give a brief account of Asvalayana’s Grihya 
 Stitras of the Rig-veda, making one prefatory remark 
 that the Hindi race affords perhaps the only example 
 of a nation who, although apparently quite indifferent 
 to the registering of any of the great facts of their poli- 
 tical life, or even to the recording of any of the most 
 remarkable events of their history—as, for example, the 
 invasion of the Greeks under Alexander the Great—never- 
 theless, at a very early period, regulated their domestic 
 rites and customs according to definite prescribed rules, 
 which were not only written down, but preserved with 
 religious care, and are many of them still in force. More- 
 over, as this race belongs to the same original race-stock 
 as ourselves, the antiquity of their customs must of neces- 
 sity invest them with great interest in our eyes. 
 
 The domestic oblations called Paka-yajna (Manu IT. 86, 
 143) are distinguished from the Vaitanika' in the first 
 two Sitras, thus (Stenzler’s edition, 1. 1. 2): 
 
 1 Kulltika, on Manu V. 84, derives vitana from vitan, ‘to spread out,’ 
 and explains Vaitdnika to be those Srauta oblations which are performed 
 when the Garhapatya fire is:spread over both the Ahavaniya and Dakshina 
 hearths (vaitanam srauto homah garhapatya-kunda-sthan agnin ahavani- 
 yadi-kundeshu vitatya kriyate). See also Manu VI. 9. There is much 
 difference of opinion as to the exact meaning of paka-yajia. Stenzler 
 translates it by ‘ Koch-opfer,’ and thinks it means an oblation offered 
 
198 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Vaitainika oblations (performed with all the three sacred fires’) have 
 been explained (in the Srauta-siitra), we will now describe those (per- 
 formed with the) domestic (fire only). There are three kinds of Paka- 
 yajna, viz. those that are offered in fire (such as oblations of butter, &c.) ; 
 those that are presented without being offered in fire; those that are 
 offered to the supreme Being (Brahman?) in the feeding of Brahmans 
 (Brahmana-bhojane). 
 
 Book 1. ii. enumerates the gods to whom oblations are 
 to be offered, such as Agni, Indra, Soma, Heaven and 
 Earth, Yama, Varuna, the Visve Devah (cf. Manu IIT. 
 90, 121), Brahman, &c. These, it will be observed, are 
 generally Vedic deities. The third prescribes the mode of 
 preparing the place where oblations are to be made. 
 
 The fourth commences with the following Sutra : 
 
 The ceremonies of tonsure (¢awla=¢éida-karman), investiture with the 
 sacred cord (wpanayana), shaving the beard (go-dana) and marriage must 
 be performed during the northern course of the sun (wdag-ayane), in the 
 light half of the month (apiryamdne pakshe), and under an auspicious 
 constellation (kalydne nakshatre). 
 
 These Sanskara ceremonies are then described (begin- 
 ning with marriage), and whenever Mantras or texts of the 
 Veda have to be repeated during the performance of each 
 rite, the first word or words of the several texts are cited. 
 Thus before the marriage ceremony an oblation of clarified 
 butter is to be offered with repetition of the text: Zvam 
 
 on the domestic fire when the daily food is cooked. Some of the commen- 
 
 tators, on the other hand, interpret paka by ‘small, ‘simple,’ and some 
 by ‘good.’ In Manu 11. 86 four Paka-yajnas or ‘domestic oblations’ are 
 mentioned (which Kullika explains by Vaisvadeva-homa, bali, nitya- 
 Sraddha, and atithi-bhojana), thus identifying them with four of the 
 Maha-yajiias, see p. 203. Seven different kinds of Paka-yajna will be 
 found enumerated in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary. 
 
 1 In Manu III. 100, 185, five sacred fires are mentioned, and a Brahman 
 who keeps them all burning, called a Paiéagni (= Agnihotrin), is regarded 
 as peculiarly pious. They are, τ. Dakshina (Anvaharya-paéana in the 
 Brahmanas) ; 2. Gdrhapatya ; 3. Ahavaniya ; 4. Sabhya ; 5. Avasathya. 
 The three first fires are the most important and are collectively called 
 Treta. Agnihotris are still met with in India. 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES, 199 
 
 Aryama bhavasi yat kanindm, &e., ‘thou art Aryaman in 
 relation to maidens’ (Rig-veda V. 3. 2). 
 
 The fifth Chapter prescribes the due selection of a wife 
 after proper inquiry as to familyand condition. Stitra 3 says: 
 
 A man ought to marry a woman who is possessed of intelligence, 
 beauty, good character, and auspicious marks, and who is free from 
 disease. (Compare the directions Manu III. 4-10.) 
 
 The sixth Chapter specifies and describes the eight forms 
 of marriage, called Brahma, Daiva, Prajdpatya, Arsha, 
 Gandharva, Asura, Paigdéa, and Rakshasa. They are also 
 enumerated by Manu (III. 21), but not quite in the same 
 order, and by Yajiavalkya (I. 58, 61). Manu (IIT. 27-34) 
 describes them more fully than Afvalayana. 
 
 Book I. vii. prescribes a common marriage ceremony : 
 
 West of the (sacred) fire a stone (for grinding corn and condiments, 
 such as is used by women in all households) is placed, and north-east a 
 water-jar. The bridegroom offers an oblation, standing, looking towards 
 the west, and taking hold of the bride’s hands while she sits and looks 
 towards the east. If he wishes only for sons, he clasps her thumbs and 
 says, ‘I clasp thy hands for the sake of good fortune ;’ the fingers alone, 
 if he wishes for daughters; the hairy side of the hand along with the 
 thumbs, if he wishes for both (sons and daughters). Then, whilst he 
 leads her towards the right three times round the fire and round the 
 water-jar, he says in a low tone, ‘I am he, thou art she ; thou art she, 
 I am he; I am the heaven, thou art the earth; I am the Saman, thou 
 art the Ri¢. Come; let us marry, let us possess offspring ; united in 
 affection, illustrious, well disposed towards each other (swmanasyamanau), 
 let us live for a hundred years.’ Every time he leads her round he makes 
 her ascend the mill-stone, and says, ‘Ascend thou this stone, be thou 
 firm as a stone’ (asmeva tvam sthird bhava). Then the bride’s brother, 
 after spreading melted butter on the joined palms of her hands, scatters 
 parched grains of rice on them twice. Then, after pouring the oblation 
 of butter on the fire, some Vedic texts are recited. Then the bridegroom 
 unlooses the two braided tresses of hair, one on each side of the top of 
 the bride’s head, repeating the Vedic text, ‘I loose thee from the fetters 
 of Varuna with which the very auspicious Savitri has bound thee’ (Rig- 
 veda X. 85. 241). Then he causes her to step seven steps towards the 
 
 ' The text in the original is Pra tua muidami Varunasya pasad yena 
 
200 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 north-east quarter, saying to her, ‘Take thou one step (ekapad? bhava) for 
 the acquirement of sap-like energy (ishe); take thou two steps for 
 strength (7776 dvipadi bhava); take thou three steps for the increase of 
 wealth (rdyas-poshdya); take thou four steps for well-being (mayo- 
 bhavydya) ; take thou five steps for offspring (prajabhyah) ; take thou 
 six steps for the seasons (ritubhyah) ; take thou seven steps as a friend 
 (sakha saptapadi bhava’); be faithfully devoted to me; may we obtain 
 many sons! may they attain to a good old age!’ Then bringing both 
 their heads into close juxtaposition, some one sprinkles them with water 
 from the jar. He should then remain for that night in the abode of an 
 old Brahman woman whose husband and children are alive. When the 
 bride sees the polar star and Arundhati and the seven Rishis, let her break 
 silence and say, ‘ May my husband live and may I obtain children,’ 
 
 In Book I. viii. 12, 13, 14, we have the following: 
 
 When he (the bridegroom) has completed the marriage ceremonial he 
 should give the bride’s dress to one who knows the Surya-sukta (Rig- 
 veda X. 85), and food to the Brahmans; then he should make them pro- 
 nounce a blessing on him. [Carita-vratah stiryd-vide vadhi-vastram 
 dadyat | annam brahmanebhyah | atha svasty-ayanam vaéayita.] 
 
 Book I. ix. directs that after the marriage (pdni-grahana) 
 the first duty of the bridegroom is to attend to the kin- 
 dling and maintaining of the household fire. The tenth 
 Chapter prescribes the performance of the rite called Sthdli- 
 paka, which appears to have been an oblation of rice, &c., 
 cooked in a kind of caldron. The eleventh gives the 
 rules for the ritual of animal sacrifice (pasu-kalpa), and 
 the twelfth for the Caitya-yajiia, which seems to have 
 been a ceremonial performed at monuments, accompanied 
 with offerings, perhaps to the memory of deceased persons. 
 The thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, sixteenth, and seven- 
 teenth Chapters prescribe certain domestic ceremonies con- 
 nected with the birth and treatment of children, which 
 
 tvdbadhnat Savita susevah. It is from the well-known Sirya-stkta 
 (X. 85), describing the marriage ceremony of Sirya, the youthful 
 daughter of the Sun, united to Soma, the Moon. 
 
 * Sakha is Vedic for Sakhi. See Scholiast on Panini IV. 1, 62. 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 201 
 are included under the Sauskaras enjoined in the second 
 Book of Manu. They are as follow: 
 
 Garbha-lambhana, a rite performed on the first signs of conception, and 
 Punsavana, one that takes place on the first indication of the conception 
 of a living male (cf. Manu IT. 27). 
 
 Simantonnayana, ‘arranging the parting of the mother’s hair,’ observed 
 in the fourth, sixth, or eighth month of pregnancy. 
 
 Hiranya-madhu-sarpisham prasanam, ‘ feeding an infant with honey 
 and clarified butter from a golden spoon’ before cutting the navel-string 
 at birth=jata-karman (Manu II. 29). 
 
 Anna-prasana, ‘feeding an infant with rice’ between the fifth and 
 eighth month (Manu 11. 34). 
 
 Caula (=¢ida-karman), ‘ tonsure’ or shaving the hair except one lock 
 on the crown, performed in the third year (cf. Manu II. 35). 
 
 In Book I. xix. we have precise directions in regard 
 to investiture (wpanayana) with the sacred thread (yajno- 
 pavita),—a ceremony of great importance, supposed to 
 confer on the recipients (like the Christian rite of bap- 
 tism) a second spiritual birth. This is enjoined for a 
 Brahman in his eighth year, for a Kshatriya in his 
 eleventh, and for a Vaisya in his twelfth, though the time 
 may be extended in each case. These are therefore the 
 three twice-born (dvi-ja) classes. (Cf. Manu II. 36-38.) 
 The twenty-second gives rules for the guidance of the 
 young Brabman as a Brahma-carin or ‘student of the 
 Veda’ in the house of his preceptor after investiture by 
 him. It begins thus: 
 
 ‘Thou art now a Brahma-éari, take care to wash out thy mouth daily 
 with water (=wupa-spris, a@-éam in Manu II. 51, 53), do thy appointed 
 work (karma kurw), sleep not in the day-time (diva ma svapsth, cf. divd- 
 svapna, Manu VII. 47), obey thy preceptor, study the Veda (Vedam 
 adhishva); every morning and evening go out to beg for alms; every 
 evening and morning collect fuel for the fire. The period of studentship 
 is to last for twelve years or until the student has acquired a knowledge of 
 the Vedas (grahandntam ; ef. Manu ILI. 1, 11. 53-60). 
 
 The fourth and fifth Chapters of the second Book pre- 
 seribe the Ashtaka and Anvashtakya Sraddha ceremonies. 
 
202 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The subject of Book 11. vii. vii. is Vastu-pariksha, 
 ‘examination of soil and situation’ before fixing on a 
 site, or laying the foundation of a house, thus: 
 
 A piece of ground (should be chosen) which does not contain saline 
 soil, and the title to which is not likely to involve legal disputes, and 
 which is well stocked with plants and trees, and where there is plenty of 
 Kuga grass and Virana (fragrant grass). All thorny shrubs and plants 
 with milky sap should be rooted out. A hole should be dug knee-deep 
 and filled again with the excavated earth. If the earth when restored to . 
 the hole appears more than enough to fill it, the soil is excellent ; if just 
 enough, it is fairly good ; if too little, it is bad. [Adhike prasastam same 
 varttam nytine garhitam, VIII. 3.7 At sunset the hole should be filled 
 with water and allowed to stand all night. If in the morning it is still 
 full of water, the soil is excellent ; if it is moist, the soil is fairly good ; 
 if dry, bad. White, sweet-tasting, sandy soil is good for Brahmans, red 
 for Kshatriyas, yellow for Vaisyas. 
 
 Book II. x. prescribes a solemn entrance into the new 
 house (griha-prapadana), after having stored it with 
 seed-grain. The owner is then to cause the adjacent 
 land belonging to him to be ploughed up and sown at 
 the right season, and, standing at a particular spot with 
 his back to the wind, he is to offer oblations, repeating 
 a hymn of the Rig-veda (IV. 57), part of which I here 
 translate freely : | 
 
 May the land’s Lord be present as our friend ! 
 So shall we prosper’. May the god accord us 
 Cattle and horses, nourishment and food ! 
 By gifts like these he manifests his favour. 
 God of the land! bestow on us sweet water. 
 To us may every herb be sweet as honey ! 
 To us may sky and atmosphere and rain 
 Be kind! and may the god who owns the soil 
 Be gracious ! may we fearlessly approach him ! 
 For us may oxen plough auspiciously * ! 
 ie Se eg a ee ee 
 ! Lit. ‘with the Lord of land as our friend,’ &c. [A shetrasya patina 
 vayam hateneva jayamasi. | 
 2 Sunam=sukham. 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 203 
 
 May peasants labour happily ! may ploughshares 
 Draw every furrow smoothly ! may the ploughmen ! 
 Follow the oxen joyfully! May he, 
 
 The rain-god, water happily the earth 
 
 With sweetest showers ! may the god of air 
 
 And sun® bestow on us prosperity ! 
 
 The first Chapter of the third Book prescribes the five 
 solemn offerings or devotional acts which every twice- 
 born man_is required to perform every day. These cor- 
 respond to the five Mahd-yajnah of Manu 111]. 69-71, 
 sometimes called the five Sacraments. They are acts of 
 homage directed—tr. to the gods; 2. to all beings; 3. to 
 departed ancestors; 4. to the Rishis or authors of the 
 Veda; 5. to men (1. deva-yajia, 2. bhiita-y’, 3. pitri-y’, 
 4. brahma-y’, 5. manushya-y’). The first is performed by 
 an oblation (Loma) to the gods offered on the domestic fire ; 
 the second by an offering (ῥα) to animals and all creatures ; 
 the third by pouring out water to the spirits of the de- 
 parted ; the fourth by repetition of the Veda ; the fifth by 
 oifts to men and hospitality to guests (cf. Manu ITT. 81, &e., 
 where, however, they are not given in the same order). 
 
 The second and third Chapters treat of the fourth diur- 
 nal act of devotion (brahma-yajia), and direct the twice- 
 born man how he is to conduct his private devotions, and 
 how and what he is to repeat to himself (suddhydya-vidhi) : 
 
 He is to go in an easterly or northerly direction outside his place of 
 abode, wearing his sacrificial cord (yajiopavita) over his shoulder; he is 
 first to bathe, and, haying rinsed out his mouth (@éamya), to sit down 
 on Kusa grass placed so that the points are directed towards the east 
 (Manu 11. 75), and to repeat the sacred syllable om, the three Vyahritis 
 (bhir, bhuvah, svar), and the Savitri (or Gdyatr7, see p. 20; οἵ, Manu IT. 
 75-77, 79). Then he is to repeat, for as long a time as he may think 
 proper, portions of some of the Rié, Yajus, Siman, Atharvingiras, Brah- 
 manas, Kalpas, Gathas, Narasansis, Itihasas, and Puranas ’® (see note, p. 252.) 
 
 1 Kinadsah. * This is the native interpretation of Suna-sira. See Wilson. 
 * The modern Brahma-yajia of pious Brahmans is based on this Sutra. 
 
204 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 With regard to this subject, see p. 252 of this volume. 
 
 Book III. vii. declares that if a twice-born man, being 
 in good health, allows himself to fall asleep while the 
 sun is setting, he is to pass the remainder of the night 
 in an upright position, without uttering a word, and at 
 sun-rise to repeat five verses, from the fourth to the eighth 
 inclusive, of Rig-veda X. 37, beginning, ‘ With whatever 
 light, O sun, thou dispellest the darkness’ [Yena surya 
 jyotisha badhase tamo, &e.] Again, if the sun should rise 
 while he is asleep, he is to continue standing and silent 
 during the day, and to repeat the last four verses of the 
 same hymn (cf. Manu 11. 219-222). The eighth, ninth, and 
 tenth Chapters prescribe the ceremonies to be performed 
 by a twice-born man whose period of studentship with 
 his preceptor is completed, and who is about to return 
 (samdvartamdna) home, and become a householder : 
 
 He is to procure various articles for himself and his preceptor (at any 
 rate for the latter), such as a necklace, two ear-rings, a suit of clothes, 
 a parasol, a pair of shoes, a staff, a turban, perfumes, &c. (cf. Manu IT. 
 245, 246). Having completed his studies and received permission from 
 his preceptor to depart, and having inquired what fee (artha) he is to 
 pay, he must perform an ablution (srdna). He is then to make certain 
 vows of purity, after which he becomes elevated to the condition of a 
 Snataka (cf. Manu III. 4) or Brahman who, after purification, has passed 
 from the first stage of life—that of a student—to the second stage or that 
 of a householder (griha-stha). 
 
 The fourth Book is perhaps the most interesting. In the 
 first four Chapters it prescribes the funeral rites to be per- 
 formed at the burning of dead bodies’, and gives some 
 directions as to the subsequent Sriddha ceremonies : 
 
 When a man dies, a piece of ground is to be excavated in a Smasana 
 
 1 See the article ‘Uber Todtenbestattung,’ by Professor Max Miiller 
 in vol. ix of the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesell- 
 schaft, in which a portion of this division of the Aégvalayana Gribya 
 Siitras is translated into German. With regard to the importance of the 
 following extracts as bearing upon Sati (Sutéee), see p. 258 of this volume. 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 205 
 
 or ‘ burning-ground’ south-east or south-west of his abode. His relations 
 are to carry the fires and the sacrificial implements (yajia-patrant) to the 
 excavated place. Those of them who are most advanced in years (pra- 
 vayasah) are to walk behind in single file—the men separated from the 
 
 women—bearing the corpse, the hair and nails of which have all been cut 
 
 off or clipped, and leading the sacrificial animal, either a cow or a black 
 she-goat. The remaining relations and connexions are to follow with 
 their garments and sacrificial cords hanging down (adho-nivitah), and their 
 hair dishevelled—the elder in front, the younger behind. When they 
 reach the prepared ground, the performer of the ceremony is to sprinkle 
 water on it with a branch of the Sami tree, repeating Rig-veda X. 14. 9: 
 
 ‘Depart (ye evil spirits), slink away from here; the Fathers (his 
 departed ancestors) have made for him this place of rest, distinguished 
 (vyaktam) by days (ahobhir), waters (adbhir), and bright lights (aktu- 
 bhih)*. 
 
 Then he is to deposit the fires around the margin of the excavated 
 place—the Ahavaniya fire to the south-east, the Garhapatya to the north- 
 west, and the Dakshina to the south-west (see note, p.198). Then some 
 one who understands what is required, is to collect a heap of fire-wood 
 and pile it up inside the sacrificial ground (antar-vedi). Next, a layer of 
 Kuka grass is to be spread over the heap along with the black skin of the 
 goat and the clipped hair, and the dead body is to be placed upon it with 
 the feet towards the Garhapatya fire and the head towards the Ahavaniya. 
 North of the body his wife is to be made to lie down (on the funeral pile), 
 along with the bow of the dead man if he was a soldier (Ashatriya). 
 Then either her husband’s brother (devarah), who is in the place of a 
 husband to her (patisthaniyah), or a pupil, or an old servant causes her 
 to rise up, repeating the words of Rig-veda X. 18. 8 : 
 
 ‘Rise up, O woman (udirshva nari), come back to the world of life ; 
 thou art lying bya dead man; come back. Thou hast sufficiently fulfilled 
 the duty of a wife and mother (janitvam) to the husband who wooed 
 
 ‘thee (didhishos) and took thee by the hand.’ (See note 2, p. 258.) 
 
 Next, the brother-in-law is to take back the bow, repeating Rig-veda 
 X. 18.9: 
 
 ‘I take the bow out of the hand of the dead man for our own protection, 
 for our glory, and for our strength; remain thou there, we will remain 
 here as heroes, (so that) in all battles we may conquer our foes.’ 
 
 1 The meaning of this is not very clear. I understand it as denoting 
 that the ground is open and well exposed to daylight and weil sprinkled 
 with water and surrounded with the fires. 
 
206 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Then he is to place the various sacrificial implements and portions of 
 the sacrificial animal in the two hands and on different parts of the body 
 of the corpse. This being done, he is to order the three fires to be kindled 
 (agnin prajvalayat:). If the Ahavyaniya fire reaches the dead man first, 
 then his spirit is borne to heaven ; if the Garhapatya, then his spirit 
 is taken to the middle region (antariksha-loka) ; if the Dakshina, then it 
 remains in the world of mortals (manushya-loka). When all three reach 
 him together, this is the most auspicious sign of all. While the body is 
 burning, portions of hymns of the Rig-veda (such as X. 14. 7, 8, 10, 11, 
 X. 16. 1-4, X. 17. 3-6, X. 18. 11, X. 154. 1-5) are to be repeated. 
 
 The following are examples of some of the verses: 
 
 Open thy arms, O earth, receive the dead 
 
 With gentle pressure and with loving welcome. 
 Enshroud him tenderly, e’en as a mother 
 
 Folds her soft vestment round the child she loves (X. 18. 11). 
 Soul of the dead! depart; take thou the path— 
 The ancient path—by which our ancestors 
 
 Have gene before thee ; thou shalt look upon 
 The two kings, mighty Varuna and Yama, 
 Delighting in oblations; thou shalt meet 
 
 The Fathers and receive the recompense 
 
 Of all thy stored-up offerings above. 
 
 Leave thou thy sin and imperfection here ; 
 Return unto thy home once more ; assume 
 
 A glorious form. By an auspicious path 
 Hasten to pass the four-eyed brindled dogs— 
 The two road-guarding sons of Sarama ; 
 Advance to meet the Fathers who, with hearts 
 Kindly disposed towards thee, dwell in bliss 
 With Yama; and do thou, O mighty god, 
 Intrust him to thy guards! to bring him to thee, 
 And grant him health and happiness eternal (X. 14. 7-11)”. 
 
 When a dead body is burnt by one who knows and can repeat these 
 verses properly, then it is certain that the soul (invested with a kind of 
 subtile body*) rises along with the smoke to heaven (sahaiva dhimena 
 svargam lokam etiti ha vijidyate). 
 
 1 These are the four-eyed watch-dogs mentioned before. 
 ® Part of this has been freely rendered in a version given p. 22. 
 ® The eighth Sutra of Chapter IV states that a hole ought to be dug 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 207 
 
 Then the performer of the ceremony is to repeat the verse (Rig-veda 
 
 X. 18. 3) 
 We living men, survivors, now return 
 And leave the dead ; may our oblations please 
 The gods and bring us blessings! now we go 
 To dance and jest and hope for longer life. 
 
 After this they are to move to a spot where there is a pool of still 
 water, dip themselves once, cast a handful of water into the air, pro- 
 nouncing the name of the dead man and that of his family (e. g. ‘O Deva- 
 datta Kasyapa, this water is for thee’); then coming out of the water, 
 they are to put on other clothes and to sit down till the stars appear or else 
 till the sun is quite invisible, when they are to proceed homewards, the 
 younger ones walking first, the elder behind. Before entering the house 
 they are (for purification) to touch a stone, fire, cow-dung, grains of 
 barley, oil, and water. During one night they are not to cook any food, 
 but to eat only what is already prepared, and for three nights they are 
 not to touch anything containing salt. 
 
 Book IV. v. prescribes the gathering together the bones 
 and ashes of the deceased (saiéayana, Manu Y. 59) : 
 
 This is to take place after the tenth day of the dark half of the month, 
 on an odd day (i.e. the eleventh, thirteenth, fifteenth, &c.), and under 
 a single Nakshatra (i.e. not under one like Ashadha, which is both parva 
 and uttard). 
 
 The bones and ashes of a man are to be placed in an undecorated 
 funeral vase or long vessel (alakshane kumbhe), and those of a woman in 
 a female vase (of a fuller shape, supposed to resemble the female figure). 
 A hole is to be excavated and the bones thus collected in a vessel are to 
 be placed in it, while Rig-veda X. 18. τὸ is repeated : 
 
 ‘Go to thy mother Earth, the Widely-extended (wru-vyaéasam), the 
 Broad, the Auspicious; may she be to thee like a young maiden, soft as 
 wool (arna-mrada), to a pious person! may she protect thee from the 
 embrace of the goddess of corruption!’ (Nirriter upasthat.) 
 
 Then earth is to be scattered over the excavation, and Rig-yeda X. 18. 
 II, 12 are to be repeated (see p. 206 for verse 11). Lastly, a cover or 
 
 north-eastward of the Ahavaniya fire and strewn with the plants Avaka 
 and Sipala ; and the commentator adds that the soul of the dead man, 
 invested with its vehicular subtile body (called Gevahika and sometimes 
 adhishthana and distinct from the linga or stikshma, being angushtha- 
 
 matra, ‘of the size of a thumb’), waits in this hole until the gross body is 
 burnt, and then emerging, is carried with the smoke to heaven. 
 
208 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 lid is to be placed over the vase or long vessel and the hole is to be filled 
 
 up with earth, so that the vessel is quite hidden from view, while Rig- 
 
 veda X. 18. 13 is repeated : 
 
 ‘T raise up the earth around thee for a support, placing this cover on 
 thee without causing injury. May the Fathers guard this funereal monu- 
 ment for thee! May Yama establish a habitation for thee there !’ 
 
 This being accomplished, the relations are to return home, without 
 looking about, and after they have performed an ablution they are to 
 offer the first Sraddha to the deceased person separately (ekoddishta). 
 
 Book IV. vii. prescribes four kinds of Srdddha, ie. 
 offerings to deceased persons and Pitris or ancestors 
 generally: τ. Pdrvana, ‘monthly, to ancestors for three 
 generations on the days of conjunction or new moon (cf. 
 Manu III. 282; those to ancestors generally being called 
 Nitya, ‘constant, ‘daily,’ and others Ashtakd, as performed 
 on the eighth day of certain months) ; 2. Ka@mya, ‘ volun- 
 tary,’ performed for some object of desire (as the obtain- 
 ing of a son); 3. Abhyudayika, performed as thank-offer- 
 ings on occasions of family rejoicing (as at the Sanskéras) 
 or for increase of prosperity, ζο. (Vriddhi-pirta) ; 4. 
 Lkoddishta, ‘special, having reference to one person 
 recently deceased, and not to ancestors generally. It is 
 repeated annually on the anniversary of his death. (Those 
 which are occasional are sometimes called Naimittika.) To 
 these funeral ceremonies Brahmans are to be invited. 
 They are to be feasted, and gifts presented to them. The 
 guests are to be made to sit down with their faces towards 
 the North, and water is to be poured into their hands with 
 Kuga grass and Sesamum seed (t/a, cf. Manu III. 223). 
 Cakes of rice (pinda) and libations of water are to be 
 offered with the auspicious exclamation Svadha. There is 
 also another Sraddha called Dazva, in honour of the Visve 
 Devah, ‘deities collectively, or of a particular troop of 
 deities, ten in number. Hence some distinguish eight kinds 
 of Sraddha (see p. 253) ; and the Nirnaya-sindhu, twelve. 
 
 A fuller description of these solemn Sraddhas is given 
 
SMARTA-SUTRA—GRIHYA OR DOMESTIC RULES. 209 
 
 by Manu ITI. 123-286, and in verse 202 the meaning of 
 the term Sraddha is explained as follows : 
 
 Mere water (vary api) offered with faith (sraddhayd@) to the Pitris in 
 silver or plated (rajatdnvitaih) vessels procures imperishable bliss 
 (akshaydadyopakalpate). 
 
 I close my account of the ASvalayana Grihya Sutras by 
 remarking that the rules relating to funeral ceremonies in 
 the fourth Book, of which an abstract has just been given, 
 possess great interest in their connexion with the eighteenth 
 hymn of the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda. Although 
 the Stitras direct that the texts of this hymn are to be 
 used, yet the rite must have undergone considerable modi- 
 fications since the period when the hymn was composed. 
 
 It may be gathered from a study of the text of the 
 hymn, that at the early period when the Aryan race first 
 settled on the plains of Hindistan, there was not the same 
 prolonged and elaborate observance of funeral rites, which 
 in later times was converted into an excuse for the osten- 
 tatious and costly feasting of priests and guests (see p. 255). 
 But there was no less solemnity in the conduct of the cere- 
 monial, no less exhibition of grief for the dead in the 
 tender treatment of his remains, and no less affectionate 
 respect for his memory,—a feeling cherished as a religious 
 duty, more tenaciously in India than in Europe. 
 
 We notice, too, even at that early epoch an evident 
 belief in the soul’s eternal existence and the permanence 
 of its personality hereafter, which notably contrasts with 
 the later ideas of transmigration, absorption into the 
 divine essence, and pantheistic identification with the 
 supreme Soul of the universe. 
 
 We learn also from this same hymn that the body in 
 ancient times was not burnt but buried; nor can we dis- 
 cover the slightest allusion to the later practice of Sati 
 or cremation of the widow with her husband. 
 
 The corpse of the deceased person was deposited close to 
 
 Ῥ 
 
210 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 a erave dug ready for its reception, and by its side his 
 widow, if he happened to be a married man, seated herself, 
 while his children, relatives, and friends ranged them- 
 selves in a circle round her. The priest stood near at 
 an altar, on which the sacred fire was kindled, and having 
 invoked Death, called upon him to withdraw from the 
 path of the living, and not to molest the young and 
 healthy survivors, who were assembled to perform pious 
 rites for the dead, without giving up the expectation of 
 along life themselves. He then placed a stone between 
 the dead body and the living relations, to mark off the 
 boundary line of Death’s domain, and offered up a prayer 
 that none of those present might be removed to another 
 world before attaining to old age, and that none of the 
 younger might be taken before the elder. Then the 
 widow's married female friends walked up to the altar 
 and offered oblations in the fire; after which the widow 
 herself withdrew from the inner circle assigned to the 
 dead, and joined the survivors outside the boundary-line, 
 while the officiating priest took the bow out of the hand 
 of the deceased, in order to show that the manly strength 
 which he possessed during life, did not perish with him, 
 but remained with his family. The body was then ten- 
 derly laid in the grave with repetition of the words of the 
 hymn already translated, ‘Open thy arms, O Earth, receive 
 the dead, &c. (see p. 206). The ceremony was concluded 
 by the careful closing of the tomb with a stone slab. 
 Finally a mound of earth was raised to mark and conse- 
 crate the spot’. 
 
 With regard to the Simayadarika Stitras little remains 
 to add to what has already been stated. Not many 
 collections of this third class of Siitras (as distinguished 
 
 1 A fuller account of the whole rite will be found in Professor Stenzler’s 
 * Rede iiber die Sitte,’ which I haye consulted throughout. 
 
κε : -ὸ 
 
 SMARTA-SUTRA—SAMAYACARIKA. 911 
 
 from the Srauta and Grihya) have been preserved. Were 
 they better known to us, we should probably find that 
 they furnished materials for Manu’s compilation, even 
 more than the Grihya Sttras appear to have done. It 
 is for this reason that, as introductory to the Dharma- 
 Sastras or Law-books, they are sometimes called Dharma- 
 sutras. Since ‘conventional, every-day practices’ constitute 
 the proper subject of these Sitras, and it is clear that 
 conventional usages may often come under the head of 
 Grihya or ‘domestic rites, it may easily be understood 
 that the Samayadéarika not unfrequently go over the same 
 ground as the Grihya Siitras. For instance, we find them 
 both giving rules for the Sanskaras &c. (see p. 246). 
 Perhaps the best known Samayaéarika Stitras are those of 
 Apastamba belonging to the Black Yajur-veda. (see note 1, 
 p- 196). An account of these will be found in Professor 
 Max Miller's ‘ Ancient Sanskrit Literature’ (p. 100, &c.), 
 and in No. 732 of Rajendralila Mitra’s MSS. They 
 commence as follows: 
 
 τ. Therefore let us now explain the Samaya¢arika duties. [A thatah 
 samayacarikan dharman vyakhyasyamah. | 
 
 2. These agreements which were made by men who knew the law are 
 anauthority. [Dharma-jia-samayah pramanam. | 
 
 3. And the Vedas (are an authority). [Vedas-éa.]. 
 
 Ill. The Dharma-sdstras or Law-books—Manu. 
 
 At least forty-seven independent Law-books' are enu- 
 merated, and of these at least twenty are still extant and 
 are mentioned by Yajnavalkya (I. 3-5), as follow: 
 
 1. That of Manu. 2. Yajnavalkya (second in importance to Manu). 
 3. Atri. 4. Vishnu. 5. Harita. 6. Usanas. 7. Angiras. 8. Yama. 
 9. Apastamba. 10. Samvarta. 11. Katyayana. 12. Vrihaspati. 13. Para- 
 
 * Professor Stenzler enumerates forty-six, Dr. Réer forty-seven. The 
 names of the authors of some of these law-books are the same as those of 
 some of the Grihya Sitras, e.g. Apastamba, Paraskara, and Baudhayana, 
 The same men may have been authors of both Sitras and Dharma-distras. 
 
 P2 
 
212 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 fara. 14. Vyasa. 15. Sankha. 16. Likhita. 17. Daksha. 18. Gotama 
 or Gautama. το. Satatapa. 20. Vasishtha. There is also a Law-book, 
 the joint production of Sankha and Likhita; and others ascribed to 
 Narada, Bhrigu, &c. (see the end of Lecture X); and Kullika, the com- 
 mentator on Manu, mentions the names of Baudhayana, Medhatithi, 
 Govinda-raja, &c. 
 
 Let us first endeavour to gain some idea of the cha- 
 racter of the most celebrated and ancient of these books 
 commonly called ‘ the Code of Manu,’ 
 
 This well-known collection of laws and precepts is per- 
 haps the oldest and most sacred Sanskrit work after the 
 Veda and its Sitras. Although standing in a manner at 
 the head of Post-vedic literature, it is connected with the 
 Veda through these Sitras, as the philosophical Darganas 
 are through the Upanishads. Even if not the oldest 
 of Post-vedic writings (see note, p. 215), it is certainly 
 the most interesting, both as presenting a picture of the 
 institutions, usages, manners, and intellectual condition 
 of animportant part of the Hindi race at a remote period, 
 and as revealing the exaggerated nature of the rules by 
 which the Brahmans sought to secure their own ascend- 
 ancy, and to perpetuate an organized caste-system in 
 subordination to themselves. At the same time it is in 
 other respects perhaps one of the most remarkable books 
 that the literature of the whole world can offer, and some 
 of its moral precepts are worthy of Christianity itself. 
 
 Probably the compilation we now possess is an irregular 
 compendium of rules and maxims by different authors, 
 which existed unwritten for a long period of time, and 
 were handed down orally. An original collection 15 
 alluded. to by commentators under the titles Vriddha 
 and Vrihat, which is said to have contained 100,000 
 couplets, arranged under twenty-four heads in one thou- 
 sand chapters; whereas the existing Code contains only 
 2685 verses. Possibly abbreviated versions of old collec- 
 tions were made at successive periods, and additional 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 213 
 
 matter inserted, the present text merely representing the 
 latest compilation. 
 
 At any rate we must guard against a supposition that 
 the expression ‘Code, often applied to this collection, 
 is intended to denote a systematic arrangement of pre- 
 cepts which existed as actual laws in force throughout one 
 country. It is probable that the whole of India was never 
 under one government. Some few powerful monarchs 
 are known to have acquired sovereignty over very exten- 
 sive territories, and were then called Cakra-vartins, but 
 we must beware of imagining that Manu’s Law-book 
 is a record of national ordinances and institutions pre- 
 valent over the whole of such territories. No doubt 
 ultimately it worked its way to acceptance with the 
 entire Hindi community; and certainly in the end it not 
 only secured for itself a high place in popular estimation 
 and a degree of reverence only second to that accorded 
 to the Veda, but it became, moreover, the chief authority 
 as a basis of Hindi jurisprudence. Originally, however, 
 its position must have been different. It merely repre- 
 sented certain rules and precepts (perhaps by different 
 authors) current among a particular tribe, or rather school 
 of Brahmans called Manavas, who probably lived in the 
 North-western region between the rivers Sarasvati and 
 Drishadvati (see p. 216), not far from Delhi and the scene 
 of the great social conflict described in the Mahabharata’. 
 This tribe seems to have belonged to the Taittiriyakas, 
 ‘adherents of the Black Yajur-veda ;’ and their Mantras, 
 Brahmana, and Srauta Siitras are still extant®, but their 
 
 1 The inference deducible from II. 17, 18, that the Manavas lived in 
 the region of the earliest Aryan settlements, must have weight in deter- 
 mining the antiquity of the Code and its value as representing the 
 ancient social life of the Hindiis before their advance into the Dekhan. 
 
 2 A counterpart of a MS. ofa commentary on part of the Manaya-kalpa- 
 stitra has been edited by the late Professor Goldstiicker. 
 
214 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Grihya and Simayadarika Sitras appear to have perished. 
 In all probability, too, many of the rules, as we have them 
 presented to us, were simply theoretical,—inserted to com- 
 plete an ideal of what ought to constitute a perfect system 
 of religious, ceremonial, moral, political, and social duties. 
 Who the real compiler and promulgator of the Institutes 
 was, is not known. He was probably a learned Brahman 
 of the Manava school. 
 
 We must, of course, make a due allowance for the mythi- 
 cal element in the Code, as, for instance, when a divine sage 
 named Manu! (or Svayambhuva—‘ sprung from the great 
 self-existent Beg’) is made to say (1. 58-60) as follows : 
 
 The god (Brahma) having framed this system of laws himself, taught 
 it fully to me in the beginning. I then taught it to Mari¢i and the nine 
 other sages, my offspring (of whom Bhrigu is one, ef. I. 35). Of these 
 (my sons) Bhrigu is deputed by me to declare the Code to you (Rishis) 
 from beginning to end, for he has learned from me to recite the whole of 
 it. Then the great sage, Bhrigu, having been thus appointed by Manu 
 
 1 This name of the supposed divine progenitor of all beings is derived 
 from the root man, which means ‘to think’ or ‘reason’ (and especially 
 according to the Hindii theory, ‘ to think upon and understand the Veda,’ 
 whence the desiderative form Mimdansa@ from the same root,- signifying 
 ‘investigation of the meaning of the Veda’). Bhrigu states (I. 61) that 
 Manu sprang from Svayambhu, and that six other Manus descended from 
 him ; whereas Manu himself (I. 33-36) declares that he was created by 
 Viraj, the male power produced by Brahma, and that being so created he 
 produced the ten Maharshis or Prajapatis, who again produced seven 
 Manus. The name, however, is generic. In every Kalpa or interval from 
 creation to creation there exist fourteen successive Manus, whence each 
 whole period is called a Manv-antara, described as innumerable in I. 80. 
 In the present creation there have been as yet seven Manus: 1. Manu 
 Svayambhuva, the supposed author of the Code, who produced the ten 
 Prajipatis or ‘patriarchs’ for peopling the universe ; 2. Svdrodisha ; 
 3. Auttami; 4. Tamasa; 5. Rawata; 6. Cakshusha; 7. Vaivasvata, 
 son of the Sun, the Manu of the present period, regarded as a kind of 
 Indian Adam or Noah (see note, p. 32). According to some, this last 
 Manu was the author of the Code, and therefore, as progenitor of the 
 Solar line of kings, a Kshatriya. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 215 
 
 to promulgate his laws, addressed all the Rishis with a pleased mind, 
 saying, ‘ Listen !’ 
 
 Manu, therefore, is supposed to speak in his own person as 
 far asI.60. Afterthat, Bhrigu isthe speaker, andthe closing 
 verse of the whole Code (XII. 126) describes it as Mdna- 
 vam Sdstram Bhrigu-proktam, ‘enunciated by Bhrigu ;’ 
 while in XI. 243 Prajapati or Brahma himself is declared 
 to have created it by the power of austerity (tapasd). 
 
 We need hardly, however, explain that these are merely 
 ideal personages, introduced dramatically ike Krishna in 
 the Bhagavad-gita ; or rather perhaps are later additions, 
 designed to give an air of antiquity and divine authority 
 to the teaching of the Code. 
 
 The work in its present form can scarcely, I think, be 
 assigned to a date earlier or later than the fifth century 
 B.c.! Strictly speaking, or at least according to European 
 
 τ Sir W. Jones held that Manu’s book was drawn up in about the year 
 1280 B.c. Mr. Elphinstone placed it 900 years B.c. Possibly some 
 parts of it may represent laws and precepts which were current among 
 the Manavas at the latter date, but no one would now assign so early a date 
 to the actual compilation of the Code. Nor can it, I think, reasonably 
 be placed later than the fifth century B.c. The gods mentioned are chiefly 
 Vedic, and the fourfold caste system is that of the Purusha-stkta (see p. 24). 
 There is no direct allusion to Buddhism, though many of Manu’s precepts 
 are decidedly Buddhistic, having frequent parallels in the Dhamma-pada, 
 which indicate that Buddhistic ideas were gaining ground in the locality 
 represented by the Code. Nor is there any allusion to Sati, nor to the 
 worship of Vishnu and Siva, which, from a statement of Megasthenes, 
 may be inferred to have prevailed in India soon after Alexander’s inva- 
 sion. Nor is there any mention of the stories of the Mahabharata and 
 Ramayana. At the same time the former Epic often contains verses iden- 
 tical with those of Manu, These are probably either taken from Manu or 
 derived from a common source. Possibly, however, portions of the Maha- 
 bharata may be older than Manu. Certainly in III. 232 occur the words 
 Dharma-sastra, Akhyana, Itihasa, Purana, and Kila, as titles of sacred 
 works, and Kullika explains /ézhasa by Maha-bharata, but these words 
 may refer to the older works, which were the sources of the present 
 compilations. 
 
216 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 notions, it is, as I have already hinted, no orderly codifi- 
 cation of national statutes and customs, but rather an 
 unsystematic compilation from previous sources ', which, 
 by blending civil and criminal law with religious, moral, 
 and ceremonial precepts, philosophical doctrines, and meta- 
 physical theories, confounds the ordinances of government 
 with the obligations of religion, domestic life, and private 
 morals. It is in twelve Chapters or Books. 
 
 In verse 6 of Book II we have a statement as to the 
 ‘root’ or basis of all law (dharma-milam). This is 
 declared to be (1) the whole Veda (Vedo ’khilah), (2) the 
 traditional law (Smvritz), (3) morality (Silam) of those who 
 know the Veda, and (4) the practices and customs (d@édarah), 
 established from time immemorial, of good men. In matters 
 indifferent a man is free to follow his own inclination 
 (dtma-tushtv). 
 
 Again, in verses 107, 108 of Book 1 it is said : 
 
 In this (Code) appears the whole system of law, with definitions of good 
 and bad actions, and the traditional practices (aéara) of the four classes, 
 which usages are held to be eternal (saSvatah, since they reach back to a 
 period beyond the memory of man). Traditional practice (Gara) 15 
 equivalent to supreme law (paramo dharmah), since it is so pronounced 
 by the Veda and by Smriti (Smarta). 
 
 This Law-book, therefore, is a metrical compendium of 
 rules of Smriti, Sila, and Adara, most of which had been 
 previously collected and propounded under the name of 
 Grihya and Samaya¢arika Sitras. At the end of Book I 
 a summary of subjects is given, but we may more conve- 
 niently examine the contents of the twelve books under six 
 principal heads, viz. 1. Veda, ‘sacred knowledge’ and reli- 
 gion; 2. Vedanta or Atma-vidya, as terms for philosophy 
 
 1 An evidence in favour of the supposition that more than one person 
 may have had a hand in the Code is deducible from the emphasis laid upon 
 certain maxims which are especially ascribed to Manu himself, such, for 
 example, as V. 41,131; VI.54; VIII. 124, 168, 279, 339; IX. 158, 182, 
 239; X. 63,78, all of which introduce some phrase like Manur abravit. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. Pa by § 
 
 in general; 3. Adara; 4. Vyavahara ; 5. Prayas-citta; 6. 
 Karma-phala. 
 
 It will be found that after eliminating the purely reli- 
 gious and philosophical precepts the greater number of 
 rules propounded fall under the third head of Addra, 
 ‘established practices,’ which are described (II. 17, 18) as 
 Sad-dédra, ‘approved practices,’ sanctioned by the Veda 
 and Smriti, if they are those which prevailed between the 
 two sacred rivers, Sarasvati and Drishadvati, in the region 
 called Brahmavarta. The word Aéara is, in truth, a very 
 wide term, including under it all the observances of caste, 
 regarded as constituting the highest Jaw and_ highest 
 religion—such observances, for instance, as the division 
 of a Brahman’s life into four periods, the conduct of a 
 student in the house of his preceptor, investiture with the 
 sacred cord, the five diurnal devotional acts, the domestic 
 ceremonies of marriage, funeral rites, the various modes of 
 gaining subsistence (υγ 1), the rules of diet, the laws con- 
 cerning women, and, in short, all the observances of pri- 
 vate morality and social economy !. 
 
 The fourth head, Vyavahdra, ‘ practices of law and kingly 
 government, embraces the procedure of legal tribunals and 
 all the rules of judicature and civil and criminal law. 
 
 The fifth head of Prdyas-citta, ‘penitential exercises, 
 comprehends all the rules of penance and expiation. 
 
 The sixth head, Karma-phala, ‘recompenses or conse- 
 quences of acts,’ is concerned not so much with rules of 
 conduct as with the doctrine of transmigration ; the un- 
 avoidable effect of acts of all kinds being to entail repeated 
 births through numberless existences until the attainment 
 of final beatitude. 
 
 All these rules apply especially to the highest class, 
 
 * In Book V. 4 there is a curious passage which attributes Death’s 
 power over Brahmans to four causes, viz. 1. omitting to repeat the Veda, 
 2. neglect of A¢ara, 3. idleness, 4. sins of diet. 
 
218 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 viz. Brahmans, whose ascendancy in the social scale is in 
 fact the first Acara, which must be accepted as paramo 
 dharmah, ‘the highest Jaw and highest religion.’ 
 
 It is only natural that, since the precepts included 
 under these six heads were framed by Brahmans, they 
 should have been framed with especial reference to the 
 life of Brahmans, the regulations for which engross six 
 Books, and are besides introduced everywhere throughout 
 the other six. But as the Brahman could not be sup- 
 ported in his priority of rank without the strong arm 
 of the Kshatriya or military class, a large portion of the 
 work is devoted to the definition of the Kshatriya’s duties 
 and an exaggerated delineation of the kingly character 
 and office, while the Vaisyas and Siidras, though essential 
 to Manu’s Caturvarnya or fourfold social system’, and the 
 mixed classes are little noticed. (See p. 234, &c.) 
 
 1 <Caste’ is quite a modern word, and is supposed to be a corruption 
 of the Portuguese casta, ‘a race. Manu’s word for the four classes is 
 varna, ‘colour, which suggests some original distinction of colour as 
 marking the dominant races. The later term for caste is jdtz, ‘ birth,’ 
 corrupted into 24. Of Manu’s four castes the Brahmans alone remain, 
 though the Rajputs claim to be descendants of the ancient Kshatriyas. 
 The mixed castes of the present day are almost innumerable, each separate 
 trade forming a separate one. In Bengal there are the Rajaks, ‘ washer- 
 men, the Tantis, ‘weavers, the Kansiaris, ‘braziers,’ the Jaliyas, ‘ fisher- 
 men, the Suris, ‘spirit sellers ;’ besides low and servile castes, such as 
 the Bagdis, Bediyas, Doms, Hadis. Moreover, we find castes within castes, 
 so that even the Brahmans are broken up and divided into numerous 
 races, Which again are subdivided into numerous tribes, families, or sub- 
 castes. There are the Kanyakubja Brahmans, the Sarasvata, the Gauda 
 or Gaur (Gor), the Maithila, the Utkala, the Dravida, the Karnata, the 
 Maharashtra, the Gurjara, &c., all of which races are subdivided into a 
 greater or less number of tribes and families, forming, as it were, sub- 
 castes, which do not intermarry. It is said that in Bengal religion was 
 once at so low an ebb that a king, named Adistra (Adisvara), sent to the 
 Raja of Kanyakubja or Kanouj for some high-caste Brahmans to revive 
 it. These were accordingly sent, and, having settled in Bengal, became 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 219 
 
 Hence, after an account of the creation of the world in 
 the first Book, the four stages of a Braihman’s life are the 
 first and only subjects treated of in regular order in the 
 second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Books; the sixth 
 being devoted to the duties of the last two stages of 
 anchorite (vdna-prastha) and religious mendicant (bhikshu). 
 The fifth Book contains, moreover, rules and regulations 
 about food, the killing of animals, purification after defile- 
 ment, the duties of wives and the position of women 
 generally. The seventh and eighth Books propound the 
 rules of government and judicature, principally, of course, 
 for the guidance of the second great class or Kshatriyas, 
 from which the king was chosen, The ninth Book con- 
 
 divided into one hundred and fifty-six tribes, of which one hundred were 
 called Varendra and fifty-six Radha or Rarh, as belonging to the district 
 of Radha in the West of Bengal. Of the former eight, and of the latter 
 six, are regarded as Kulina or ‘noble.’ Kullika, the commentator on 
 Manu, was a Varendra Brahman. The six Kulina Rarh tribes are called 
 Banerjea (Bandyopadhyaya), Mukhurjea (Mukhopadhyaya), Caturjea 
 (Cattopadhyaya), Ganguli, Goshala, Kanjalala. The caste which in Bengal 
 now comes next in rank to the Brahman is the Vaidya or Baidya, ‘medical’ 
 (=Ambashtha, Manu X. 8) ; and the Kanouj Brahmans, when they settled 
 in Bengal, brought with them a number of Kayasthas or ‘writers,’ from 
 whom sprang the present numerous Kayastha or ‘ writer-caste,’ subdivided 
 into various tribes, such as Gos (Ghosha), Bose (Vasu), Mitra, De, Datta, 
 Palita, Dasa, Sena, &e. After them come the Nava Sak or ‘nine divi- 
 sions,’ viz. Gopa, Mali, Taili, Tantri, Modaka, Varaji (‘ betel-grower’), 
 Kulala, Karmakara, Napita. See Professor Cowell’s Colebrooke’s Essays 
 II. 169. The power of caste and the effect of contact with Europeans in 
 weakening it, are illustrated by the following extract from Dr. Hunter’s 
 valuable work on Orissa : ‘ Elderly Uriyas have more than once deplored 
 to me the hopeless degeneracy of their grown-up sons, many of whom 
 have actually no objection to wearing English shoes. In 1870 a Uriya 
 Brahman held the post of sub-inspector of police in Puri itself, within 
 the shadow of Jagan-nath, although a leather belt formed part of his 
 uniform. Five years ago a Brahman who accidentally touched leather 
 would have had to choose between public expiation or degradation and 
 expulsion from caste. Vol. il. p. 147. 
 
220 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 tains further precepts on the subject of women, husband 
 and wife, their offspring, and the law of inheritance and 
 division of property. At the end (221, &c.) there are addi- 
 tional rules of government for kings and a few precepts 
 which have direct reference to the two remaining prin- 
 cipal castes—the Vaisyas and Sidras—the former com- 
 prising agriculturists and merchants; the latter, slaves and 
 servants. The tenth Book treats of the mixed classes, 
 arising out of intermarriage between the four original 
 principal castes. It also describes the employments to 
 which the several classes are restricted, and states the 
 occupations permitted to Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, 
 and Sidras in times of great exigency and distress, There 
 are some verses at the end (122-129) which are interest- 
 ing as treating directly of the duties and position of 
 Sidras. The eleventh Book gives rules for expiation and 
 penance (prdyas-éitta), both for sins committed in this 
 life—especially sins against caste—and for the effects of 
 offences perpetrated in previous bodies, as shown in con- 
 genital diseases, &c. (XI. 48, 49). The twelfth continues 
 the subject of the recompenses or consequences of acts 
 (karma-phala), good or bad, as leading to reward in 
 heaven or punishment in various hells (XII. 75, 76), and 
 to triple degrees of transmigration (see p. 280). It closes 
 with directions as to the best means of obtaining final 
 beatitude and absorption into the universal Essence. 
 
 From this outline of the contents of the so-called 
 Code of Manu we may perceive that the most diversified 
 topics are introduced, some of which are quite out of the 
 province of a mere code of laws or even of a collection of 
 social and moral precepts. In the next Lecture I propose 
 examining the contents more in detail. 
 
BECPU BE: Xx: 
 
 The Dharma-sastras or Law-books—Manu continued. 
 
 NHE Code of the Manavas, which we have assigned in 
 its present form to about the fifth century B.C. (see 
 
 Ρ. 215), and which for convenience we may call ‘ Manu’s 
 Law-book, is a metrical version of the traditions (smzvtz) 
 of the Manavas, probably before embodied in their Grihya 
 and Simayadarika Sttras (p. 214), the metre being Anush- 
 tubh or that of the common Sloka? (p. 166). My aim in 
 the present Lecture will be to analyze and arrange in a 
 connected manner the contents of the Code’, offering prose 
 translations of selected passages and pointing out in a 
 general way the characteristic features of (1) its sacred 
 knowledge and religion, (2) its philosophy, (3) its Acara 
 or ‘social rules and caste organization, (4) its Vyavahdara 
 or ‘criminal and civil laws and rules of government, (5) its 
 system of Prdyas-citta or ‘penance, (6) its system of 
 Karma-phala or ‘future recompenses of acts done in this 
 life’ In the next Lecture I propose to give specimens of 
 
 1 The use of the common Epic Sloka throughout the whole work is 
 one reason for regarding it as Post-vedic, but we must not forget that the 
 Anushtubh metre is found even in the Veda (see X. 85, X. 90, &c.) 
 
 2 [T have used the Calcutta edition, which has the excellent commen- 
 tary of Kullika-bhatta. I have always consulted Sir W. Jones’ transla- 
 tion, and I owe much to Dr. Johaentgen’s tract Uber das Gesetzbuch des 
 Manu. When Kullika lived is not known, but he describes himself in 
 his modest preface (written in the Sardila-vikridita metre) as a Brah- 
 man, the son of Bhatta-divakara, of the Varendra tribe of Gauda (Gaur) 
 or Bengal, and as having fixed his abode at Benares. I did not read 
 Mr. Talboys Wheeler’s analysis till my own was completed. 
 
222 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the most striking passages, under the last four heads, in 
 a metrical English version. 
 
 I. First, then, as to its religious teaching. We may 
 notice that this generally agrees with the later Vedic 
 period, especially that represented by the Purusha-stkta 
 and some of the Brahmanas. 
 
 ‘Divinely revealed knowledge’ in general is called Veda 
 (IV. 125, ὅσο.) ; sometimes Tray? vidya (1V. 125); some- 
 times Brahman (nom. neut. brahma, I. 23, 11. 81, VI. 83, 
 in which last passage this title is also applied to the 
 Vedanta or Upanishads); sometimes Sruti (as distin- 
 ~ guished from Smriti, I]. 10); sometimes Chanddnsi (when 
 the metrical Mantras are especially intended, IV. 95-97, 
 III. 188); once Arsha (neut., XII. 106), and even Vad, 
 ‘word, described as a Brahman’s weapon (ΧΙ. 33). 
 
 The three Vedas are mentioned by name in I. 23, IV. 
 123, 124, ΧΙ. 264, and their Samhita in XI. 77, 200, 258, 
 262. In I. 23 we read that Brahma milked out the triple 
 Veda (trayam brahma), Rik, Yajus, and Saman from Fire, 
 Air, and the Sun, for the complete performance of sacri- 
 fice; and in II. 77 he is said to have milked out the 
 sacred text called Savitri (= Gayatri, p. 20) from the three 
 Vedas!. The Brahmana portion of the Veda does not 
 seem to be directly mentioned, except under the name of 
 Brahma, as distinguished from the Mantra portion, called 
 Chandas (IV. 100). The eternity and infallible authority 
 of the Veda and the duty and expiatory efficacy of a com- 
 plete knowledge of all three Vedas (XI. 262) are insisted 
 
 1 See note, p. 9. In XI. 265 the three Vedas are said to be included 
 in the triliteral Om. In IV. 125, Om, the Vyahritis (viz. Bhih, Bhuvah, 
 Svar), and the Savitri text are described as extracted from the three Vedas. 
 In IIT. 185,a Brahman who understands the application of some portion 
 of the Yajur-veda is called Zri-nadiketa, and one skilled in some part of 
 the Rig-veda a Tvi-suparna, though it is clear from Kulltka’s remarks 
 that the exact meaning of these words was not known in his time. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 223 
 
 on in the strongest language. In illustration, I here give 
 a version of a passage in Book XII. 94, &e.: 
 
 The Veda is of patriarchs and men, 
 
 And e’en of gods, a very eye eternal, 
 
 Giving unerring light ; it is beyond 
 
 All finite faculties, nor can be proved 
 
 By force of human argument—this is 
 
 A positive conclusion. Codes of laws 
 Depending on the memory of men— 
 
 Not grounded on the Veda—heresies 
 
 And false opinions, all are held to be 
 
 Barren and worthless and involved in darkness. 
 Whatever doctrine rests not on the Veda 
 Must pass away as recent, false, and fruitless. 
 The triple world and quadruple distinction 
 Of classes and of Asramas?, with all 
 
 That has been, is, and ever will be, all 
 
 Are through the Veda settled and established. 
 By this eternal Veda are sustained 
 
 All creatures ; hence we hold it as supreme— 
 Chief instrument of happiness to man. 
 Command of armies, regal dignity, 
 
 Conduct of justice and the world’s dominion 
 He merits who completely knows the Veda. 
 As with augmented energy the fire 
 
 Consumes e’en humid trees, so he who knows 
 This book divine burns out the taint of sin 
 Inherent in his soul through former works. 
 For he who apprehends the Veda’s truth, 
 Whatever be his Order, is prepared 
 
 For blending with the great primeval Spirit, 
 E’en while abiding in this lower world. 
 
 The inferior relationship of the Sama-veda to the two 
 others is remarkable. The Rig-veda is said to be most 
 
 concerned with the gods, the Yajur-veda with the religious 
 rites of men, and the Sama-veda with those of the Pitris 
 
 1 That is, the four orders or stages of life (of student, householder, 
 anchorite, and mendicant) into which a Brahman’s life is divided. 
 
224 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 (IV. 124). Hence the sound of the latter is described as 
 impure (a-Suci, see note, p. 9). 
 
 In unison with this, an order of precedence 1 is prescribed 
 in III. 145. The preference at a Sraddha is directed to be 
 given to a priest called Bahvy-riéa (elsewhere Hotri), who 
 has made the Rig-veda his special study; then to one who 
 has studied all the branches (Sakhdnta-ga) and especially 
 the Yajur-veda, and who is called Adhvaryu ; and lastly to 
 a Sama-veda priest, who is styled Chando-ga (= Udgatri). 
 
 It is clear that when the Code was ied the Atharva- 
 veda had not yet been generally accepted as a fourth Veda, 
 though it must have existed, as there is express allusion 
 (XI. 33) to the revelation! made to Atharvan and Ar-giras. 
 
 I annex three other remarkable examples of the estima- 
 tion in which the Veda was held: 
 
 A Brahman by retaining the Rig-veda in his memory incurs no guilt, 
 though he should destroy the three worlds (XI. 26r). 
 
 This Veda is the refuge (sarana) of those who do not understand it 
 (ajianam) as well as those who do (vijanatdm), of those who seek heaven 
 and of those who seek immortality (@nantyam, VI. 84). 
 
 When there is (apparent) contradiction of two precepts in the Veda 
 (sruti-dvaidham) both are declared to be law ; both have been justly pro- 
 mulgated (samyag-uktaw) by ancient sages as valid law. Thus, there is 
 a Vedie precept, (enjoining the sacrifice to be performed) when the sun 
 has risen, and before it has risen, and when neither sun nor stars are 
 visible (samayadhyushite). Wherefore the oblation to fire (yajrah=agni- 
 hotra-homah) may be made at all times (II. 14, 15). 
 
 The doctrine of the Upanishads is directly mentioned 
 in VI. 29 and alluded to elsewhere, thus : 
 
 He should study the Upanishad portion of the Veda (aupanishadih 
 Srutth) for the sake of attaining union with the universal Spirit. 
 
 Let the whole Veda be studied (or repeated) by a twice-born man along 
 with the Upanishads. [Vedah kritsno ’ahigantavyah sa-rahasyo dvi- 
 janmanda, II. 165 ; cf. also II. 140, XI. 262.] 
 
 He should continually repeat (japet) that part of the Veda (brahma) 
 
 1 Described by Kullika as consisting of charms and incantations. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 225 
 
 which is on the subject of sacrifice (adhiyajiam), and that relating to the 
 deities (adhidaivikam), and that relating to soul (@dhydtmikam), and that 
 declared in the Upanishads ( Vedantabhihitam, VI. 83). 
 
 The Kalpa Sutras are probably referred to in IT. 140. 
 A knower of Nirukta (see p. 166) is reckoned among 
 the Brahmans who compose a Parishad in XII. 111, but 
 no reference is made to Yaska, nor is it likely that his 
 work then existed (see p. 167). 
 
 In I. 11. 50 the name Brahman is applied to the 
 supreme Being (= Brahmd, Kullika); in XII. 50 the 
 Creator of the universe is called Brahma (see note 1, p.12); 10 
 XI. 243, XII. 121, Prajapati. In I. 6 the supreme Spirit is 
 termed Svayambhi, ‘ the Self-existent ; ’ in I. το, Narayana. 
 In XII. 121 the names Vishnu and Hara occur; but 
 generally the gods named belong more to the Vedic than 
 to the Epic and Puranic period. For instance, in Book 
 1X. 303 we have the following list of deities : 
 
 Of Indra, Sirya, Vayu (or Maruta), Yama, Varuna, Gandra, Agni, and 
 Prithivi, let the king emulate the power and conduct. 
 
 There is no allusion to the Post-vedic Tri-mtrti or 
 popular worship of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, nor to the 
 still more recent worship of the Sakti—that is to say, ‘the 
 energy’ represented by the wives of the deities, especially 
 by Durga, wife of Siva. Nor, again, is there any recog- 
 nition of that principle of bhakti or ‘ faith’ in Krishna, as 
 supreme Lord of the universe, which was a subsequent 
 development of Hindt religious thought (p. 137). 
 
 The doctrine of transmigration is, however, fully stated, 
 and, as a consequence of this, the hells described in the 
 Code (IV. 88-90, XII. 75, 77), though places of terrible 
 torture, resolve themselves into merely temporary purga- 
 tories, while the heavens (IV. 182, 260, VI. 32, 11. 244) 
 become only steps on the road to union with Brahma. 
 
 The three worlds (trailokya, loka-traya) alluded to in XI. 
 236, 261, are probably the heavens, atmosphere, and earth. 
 
 Q 
 
226 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 What must strike every one as singular in regard to the 
 religion of the Code is the total absence of allusion to 
 public and congregational services or teaching in temples. 
 Public sacrifices are certainly mentioned, but the chief 
 rites of religion were evidently of a domestic kind, and 
 the priests, whatever their ancient functions may have 
 been, were at the time of the composition of the Code 
 more like domestic chaplains (see p. 238). Little, too, is 
 said about idols'—certainly nothing to countenance the 
 adoration of them or to encourage Brahmans to under- 
 take the care of idol-temples, nor are there directions as to 
 offering rice, flowers, and perfumes at idol-shrines, which 
 oblations (naivedya) are commonly presented before 
 images in temples at the present day. 
 
 II. In the second place, as to the philosophy of Manu’s 
 Law-book. It is plain from a passage already quoted 
 (p- 52 of this volume), that a love for rationalistic specu- 
 lations (hetu-sdstra) and a spirit of free scepticism were 
 beginning to show themselves in India at the time the 
 Code was compiled ; and it is possible that Buddha’s ad- 
 herents, though not mentioned by name, were pointed at 
 with reprobation under the designation Ndstikah, ‘ atheists’ 
 (= Carvaka, Kullika 11. 11), and Pashandinah, ‘heretics’ 
 (= Sakya-bhikshu-kshapanakadi, Kullika TV. 30, 1. 118). 
 
 1 It is very doubtful whether idolatry was at all commonly practised 
 at the time of the compilation of the Code. We have already seen that 
 there is no satisfactory proof of the existence of idols in the Vedic period. 
 See p. 15 of this volume. In Manu III. 152 a Devalaka, ‘attendant on 
 an idol’ (=pratima-pariéaraka), is directed to be shunned. Certainly in 
 Il. 176, the Brahman student is enjoined to perform devatabhyaréanam, 
 ‘worship of the deities,’ and this is interpreted by Kullika to mean 
 pratimadishu hari-haradi-deva-pijanam, ‘doing homage to Vishnu and 
 Siva before images,’ &c., but whether Manu really intended to denote 
 pratima by devata is questionable. In IX. 285, however, the accidental 
 breaker of images (pratimanam bhedakah) is directed to repair them 
 and pay a fine. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. OT 
 
 The Code itself may have been an attempt to stem the 
 current of opinion which was setting in the direction of 
 Buddhism and rationalistic Brahmanism. The compiler, 
 however, thought it necessary to adopt some of the cur- 
 rent philosophical theories, and accordingly we find them 
 interspersed throughout the work, though more directly 
 stated at the beginning and end. They are of that vague 
 and misty kind which probably prevailed at the period 
 preceding the crystallization of the various systems into 
 distinct schools. The words Sankhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vai- 
 Seshika, and Mimansa do not occur as designations of 
 philosophical systems. We notice indeed a strong leaning 
 towards the Sankhyan line of thought, though we find 
 only a confused statement of some leading ideas of that 
 system, without any mention of its twenty-five Tattvas. 
 The growth of pantheistic ideas, as foreshadowed in the 
 Purusha-stkta of the Rig-veda (see p. 24), is also trace- 
 able. All existing things are said to emanate from Brahma, 
 the one self-existent Spirit, to whom all things must also 
 return. Atma-vidya, equivalent to Brahma-vidya and to 
 the Vedanta doctrine, is directed to be studied in VII. 43, 
 and Vedantic ideas pervade the whole twelfth Book, 
 which, however, may possibly be due to later additions. 
 Still more remarkable is the attention directed to be given 
 to the study of Anvikshiki, ‘logic’ (VII. 43=tarka- 
 vidya) ; and although the Nyaya and Mimansa had evi- 
 dently not become schools, we find from XII. ται that a 
 Parishad or ‘assembly of twelve Brahmans,’ competent to 
 decide on disputed points of law, includes a Haituka 
 (=nydyajia) and a Tarkin (=mimdnsaka, Kullika). 
 Moreover, in XII. 106, it is declared that he only under- 
 stands the Veda who investigates it by the rules of Tarka 
 (= mimdusadi-nydya), agreeably to Vedic doctrine—all of 
 which precepts are, of course, inconsistent with the repro- 
 bation of Haitukas in II. 11, IV. 30; as well as with a 
 Q2 
 
228 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 precept in IT. το, where Sruti and Smriti are affirmed to 
 be a-mimdnsye, ‘not to be reasoned about.’ 
 
 The cosmogony adopted presents us with a compound 
 of both the Sankhya and Vedanta theories of creation 
 before they had diverged into distinct systems. There is, 
 however, in Book I a synthetical scheme advanced which, 
 though a confusion of two separate statements, one made 
 by Manu himself (I. 14, &c.), the other by Bhrigu (Lis 
 &ec.), certainly more accords with the Sankhyan doctrine 
 than with any other (see p. 100). I here abridge the 
 account, commencing I. 5: 
 
 This universe first existed only in darkness (tamo-bhitam), impercep- 
 tible, undefinable, as if immersed in sleep (praswptam). Then the Self- 
 existent (Svayam-bhi, described by the same epithet as the Sankhyan 
 Prakriti, viz. A-vyakta, ‘undiscerned’ or ‘ undeveloped’), having willed 
 to produce various beings from his own substance, first with a thought 
 created the waters, and placed on them a productive seed or egg (via or 
 anda). Then he himself was born in that egg in the form of Brahma. 
 Next he caused the egg to divide itself, and out of its two divisions 
 framed the heaven above and the earth beneath. Afterwards, having 
 divided his own substance, he became half male, half female (I. 32), and 
 from that female produced Viraj (see note 3, p. 24), from whom was 
 created Manu, the secondary progenitor of all beings. Then he (Brahma, 
 according to Kullika on I. 14) from the supreme Soul (Atman) drew 
 forth Manas (= Mahat or Buddhi, “ Intellect,’ as explained by Kulluka on 
 I. 74, 753, in which passage Manas is the principle of thought and stands 
 for both Buddhi and Ahankadra). Next to that came Ahankara, and, 
 after that, the Tan-matras or ‘ subtile principles of the elements.’ From 
 these seven active principles (called ‘the seven Purushas,’ I. 19)—viz. 
 Mahat or Buddhi (called Manas in I. 14, 74, 75), Ahankara, and the 
 five subtile elements—were evolved the five gross or material elements 
 (maha-bhita), the organs of sense, and the whole world of sense. (Com- 
 pare the San-khyan doctrine at pp. 93, 94.) 
 
 It is curious to compare Strabo XV. 59 (see p. 281). 
 All this confusion and obscurity in the account of the 
 
 1 But according to I. 14 (Kullika) Manas must be distinguished from 
 
 Buddli, and regarded as a product of Ahankara, as in the Sankhya 
 system. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 229 
 
 creation is symptomatic of diversity of authorship. Of the 
 two narratives, that of Bhrigu is the simplest. But both 
 (I. 14 and 1. 74) make ‘the principle of thought’ the first 
 product—that which is and is not (sad-asad-dtmakam)— 
 to which belongs a real existence, and yet not eternity, 
 because it is a product ; (see Sankhya-pravadéana V. 56.) I 
 now abridge what follows according to Bhrigu’s statement : 
 
 The first Manu Svayambhuva produced six other Manus, and these 
 seven Manus (see note, p. 214), each in his own period, were the creators 
 of all things (I. 61-63). 
 
 In order to show the duration of a Many-antara or 
 Manu-period, the divisions of time from a moment to a 
 day of Brahma (12,000,000 years) are specified (I. 64-73) : 
 
 A Manu-period consists of seventy-one times the 12,000 years, which 
 constitute an age of the gods (I. 79). Each Maha-yuga or great age of 
 the world is subdivided into four Yugas or ages, viz. 1. Krita, 2. Treta, 
 3. Dvapara, and 4. Kali, each decreasing in excellence ; and the life of man 
 lasts for 400 years in the first, 300 years in the second, 200 years in the 
 third, and roo years in the present or Kali age’. 
 
 In I. 87-101 the account of the creation is concluded 
 by a description of the origin of the four castes from the 
 mouth, arm, thigh, and foot of Brahma, and the pre- 
 eminence assigned to Brahmans (see extracts, pp. 240, 241). 
 
 In the twelfth Book the leaning towards a San-khyan 
 line of thought is again conspicuous. In 24~—38 we have 
 a description of the three Gunas of the Sankhya, viz. 
 Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas, all three of which are said to 
 pervade, and one or other of which predominate in every 
 mortal frame (see note 2, p.95). In XII. 24 it is asserted 
 that these three form the constituent substances of dtman 
 (self or soul), and that the first developed principle— 
 Mahat or Buddhi—is also pervaded by them. Again, 
 the triple degrees of transmigration, highest, middle, and 
 
 1 We find it constantly implied in Hindi writings that the natural 
 term of human life in the present age is 100 years. 
 
230 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 lowest, through gods, men, and beasts, are supposed to 
 result from acts done under the dominance of these three 
 Gunas (see note 1, p. 67). We have also the three Pra- 
 manas of the San-khya philosophy clearly laid down in 
 XIE 265 : 
 
 Three means of attaining true knowledge or three standards of truth, 
 viz. perception by the senses (pratyaksha), inference (anwmdana), and 
 the Veda (Sabda) or various books founded on it—these three must be 
 known thoroughly by one wishing for a clear idea of duty (see pp. 72, 92 
 of this volume). 
 
 Although, however, the germ of the Sinkhya is clearly 
 traceable, there is an evident commingling of pantheistic 
 ideas, tending towards the Vedanta, in the frequent declara- 
 tion that all existing things emanate from, and will ulti- 
 mately be absorbed into Brahma, ‘the universal Spirit.’ 
 The distinction between the Jivatman and Paramatman 
 (see p. 62) is recognized in VIII. 91, which verse Kulltka 
 explains by a reference to the Vedic allegory of the two 
 birds (quoted p. 42 of this volume). Nevertheless, we miss 
 in Manu what we find in the later philosophical schools, 
 a clear definition of the subtile body, as composed of the 
 subtile elements, and a plain statement of its relationship 
 to the individual soul and of its accompanying the soul 
 through all its transmigrations. The survival of this soul 
 over the dissolution of the gross body is indeed plainly 
 implied ; but Manu’s doctrine is that if a man has been 
 wicked the soul clothed in a kind of body, composed of 
 coarse and impure elements, undergoes along with it tor- 
 ment in hell for a time (XII. 21) ; whereas, if a man has 
 been virtuous, the soul invested in a kind of ethereal and 
 shining body (kha-saririn), composed of pure elemen- 
 tary particles of air, wind, and fire, enjoys bliss in heaven 
 with it for a certain period (IV. 243, III. 93, I. 82, XII. 
 20); after which both the wicked and the virtuous are 
 born again. 
 
 Nor do we find any precise definition of Brahman (neut.) 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 231 
 
 as pure absolute Spirit,—the only really existing entity,— 
 according to the Vedanta doctrine. Brahma seems rather 
 to be regarded as a kind of shining ethereal essence, out of 
 which the universe was evolved and into which it becomes 
 absorbed (cf. IT. 28, IV. 232, VI. 79, 81, 85, XII. 123-125). 
 
 III. Thirdly, as to the Aéara, ‘rules and precepts of 
 conduct,’ and social legislation of the Manavas. 
 
 The organization of classes in I. 87-91 is so simple 
 that this simplicity, if it be not merely theoretical, 
 bears witness to the antiquity of a considerable portion 
 of the Code. According to Book X. 3, 4, there are only 
 four pure classes (varndh, p. 218), as follows: 
 
 The Brahman (or priestly class), the Kshatriya (or military class), and 
 the Vaisya (or agricultural class) constitute the three twice-born (dvi-jati 
 or dvi-ja) classes (as obtaining a second spiritual birth through investiture 
 with the sacred thread, see p. 246); the Sitidra (or servile class) is once- 
 born (eka-jatz), and constitutes the fourth class ; there is no fifth class. 
 
 From priority of birth, from superiority of origin (in being sprung 
 from the mouth of the Creator), from possession of the Veda (niyam- 
 asya {=vedasya| dharandt, i.e. from the right of studying, teaching, 
 and expounding it), and from a distinction in the reception of the sacri- 
 ficial thread (as the most important of the twelve Sanskaras or ‘ purifi- 
 catory rites,’ specified in II. 27, &c.), the Brahman is the lord (prabhu) 
 of all the classes (X. 3. See p. 240). 
 
 The only allusion in the Veda to this fourfold division 
 is in the Purusha-stkta (Rig-veda X. 90. 12), which, as 
 we have seen (p. 24), is one of its most recent hymns. 
 
 A similar division into classes or professions is found 
 to have prevailed in almost all countries |. 
 
 ' Megasthenes (according to Strabo’s India, 39), the Greek ambassador 
 of Seleukos Nikator (Alexander’s successor between the Euphrates and 
 Indus, B.C. 312) at the court of Sandrokottos (Candra-gupta) in Patali- 
 putra (Παλίβοθρα), divided the Hindi people into seven classes, viz. philo- 
 sophers, husbandmen, shepherds, tradesmen or artificers, soldiers, spies or 
 overseers (ἔφοροι), and councillors of state (see note 2, p. 244); perhaps 
 because Herodotus divided the inhabitants of Egypt into seven, viz. 
 priests, soldiers, cowherds, swineherds, tradesmen, interpreters, and pilots ; 
 
232 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In the same tenth Book of Manu, however, we have a 
 more developed social system depicted, and a number of 
 mixed castes (varna-sankarah, sankarayjdtiyah, X. 12) 
 are described as resulting from the intermarriage of the 
 pure classes: 
 
 but Diodorus and Plato made only five divisions, and Strabo only three. 
 From Plato’s Timaeus (6) it appears that a similar division of professions 
 existed among the Athenians. Πρῶτον μὲν τὸ τῶν ἱερέων γένος, ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων 
 χωρὶς ἀφωρισμένον, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτο τὸ τῶν δημιουργῶν, ὅτι καθ᾽ αὑτὸ ἕκαστον ἄλλῳ 
 δὲ οὐκ ἐπιμιγνύμενον δημιουργεῖ, τότε τῶν νομέων καὶ τὸ τῶν θηρευτῶν, τότε τῶν 
 γεωργῶν" καὶ δὴ καὶ τὸ μάχιμον γένος ἤσθησαί που τῇδε ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν γενῶν 
 κεχωρισμένον, οἷς οὐδὲν ἄλλο πλὴν τὰ περὶ τὸν πόλεμον ὑπὸ τοῦ νόμου προσετάχθη 
 μέλειν. Again, from a passage in Herodotus (I. το τ), it is inferred that 
 a similar distinction existed among the Medes. In Malcolm’s History of 
 Persia (I. 205) the Persian monarch Jamshid is said to have divided the 
 Persians into four classes. Mr. Mill also points out an instructive passage 
 in Plato’s Republic (II. 11), in which, describing the simplest form of a 
 political association, he makes it to consist of four or five classes of men : 
 Εἴη δ᾽ ἂν ἣἥ ye ἀναγκαιοτάτη πόλις ἐκ τεττάρων ἢ πέντε ἀνδρῶν. Finally, we read 
 in Millar’s Historical View of the English Government (I. 11) that the 
 Anglo-Saxons were originally divided into four great classes—artificers 
 and tradesmen, husbandmen, soldiers, and clergy. 
 
 1 Mr. W. F. Sinclair gives some interesting information (in the 
 February and March numbers of the ‘Indian Antiquary’) in regard to 
 the various subdivisions or sub-castes of Brahmans, and adds a list of 
 forty mixed castes, now found in the Dekhan. With regard to the 
 Brahmans, he places at the head the Chitpdvan (i.e. I presume, Crtta- 
 pavana, ‘heart-purifiers’) or Konkanasth (= Konkana-stha) Brahmans, 
 to whom the notorious Nana Sahib of Bithir belonged. Then come the 
 Desasth (= DeSa-stha) or Rigvedi Brahmans, who claim for themselves 
 descent from the Rishis, and therefore the highest rank; then the Yajwr- 
 vedi, who are chiefly engaged in trade ; and then the Devrukh (1), who are 
 mostly agricultural. There are also in the Dekhan Telangi (1. 6. Teling?, 
 from Sanskrit ¢ri-linga) Brahmans, from the Karnatak, chiefly engaged 
 in trade ; Kanouj Brahmans (from Hindistan), who are often Sipahis in 
 native regiments or employées upon the railway, and some other tribes. 
 With regard to the forty mixed castes enumerated by Mr. Sinclair, I here 
 subjoin some of them as given by him, with a few notes of my own— 
 Prablais (Sanskrit prabhu), who are the highest, and divided into 
 Kayasth and Patane (1); Sondrs (=Suvarna-kara) or goldsmiths, a 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 233 
 
 By unlawful intermarriage of the classes (vyabhi¢drena varnanam), 
 by their marrying women who ought not to be married, and by neglect 
 of their own duties, mixed classes are produced (X. 24). 
 
 These have a great variety of names, such as Murdha- 
 vasikta, Mahishya, Karana or Kaya-stha, Ambashtha or 
 Vaidya, Ayogava, Dhigvana, Pukkasa, Candala (see p. 
 237), and are restricted to particular occupations. Still 
 the superiority of the Brahmans in the Hindt lawyer's 
 scheme is the hinge on which the whole social system 
 turns. In fact, the state of society depicted is that of 
 pure and unmitigated Brahmanism,—a state of things 
 which, if it really admitted of the amount of Brahmanical 
 arrogance described as existing, would more than account 
 for the Buddhist reaction. The Brahmans are made 
 to constitute the great central body around which all 
 other classes and orders of beings revolve like satellites. 
 Not only are they invested with the highest dignity and 
 importance, but they are bound together, and their posi- 
 tion secured by the most stringent rules; while the other 
 three classes of soldiers, agriculturists, and servants are 
 made powerless for combined resistance by equally strin- 
 gent regulations, one class being separated from the other 
 by insurmountable lines of demarcation. 
 
 subdivision of whom are the Ratha-kara Sonirs, who claim to be of 
 Brahman race (cf. note 1, p. 160); Vanis (Banias, Banians= Baniyas, 
 Sanskrit bani), who are grocers and grain-dealers, and are distinguished 
 by great reverence for animal life ; Bhd{iyds or cloth and cotton merchants ; 
 Khattris, who claim Rajput (=Xshatriya) descent, but are dealers in 
 cloth, gold and silver lace, &c.; Vazsyas, who claim to be a remnant of 
 the original Vaisyas, and are traders; M/arvddi, merchants; Simpis or 
 tailors; Siitars (=Siutra-dhara) or carpenters; Stkalgars (Saiqal-gar), 
 turners and weapon-sharpeners ; Lohars (=Loha-kara) or smiths; Telis 
 (=Taili, from Tatlin) or oilmen ; Kosh{is and Salis or weavers; Aum- 
 bhars (=Kumbha-kara) or potters; Aolis, who are Bhistis or water- 
 bearers; Parits or washermen ; Londris (=Lavana-karin) or preparers 
 of salt and lime and charcoal; Rangdaris (=Ranga-karin) or dyers ; 
 Chambhars (=Carma-kari n) or leather-cutters and shoe-makers, &e. 
 
234 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 We must, however, guard against supposing that a 
 Brahman claimed to take the lead merely in the character 
 of a priest. To understand more clearly the nature of 
 Brahmanical ascendancy we must ask ourselves the ques- 
 tion, What physical and moral forces led to the first 
 movements which ended in the crystallization of social 
 distinctions into the caste-system ζ | 
 
 It seems probable, then, that the formation of hard lines 
 of separation between the classes was more the result of 
 gradual and natural adjustment than of preconcerted plan. 
 There can be little doubt that when the Aryan Hindi 
 came into India as immigrants and conquerors, they 
 were without any systematic arrangement of classes. 
 Their first seat was in the Panjab, around the five chief 
 affluents of the Indus and in the neighbourhood of Delhi. 
 This was a productive plain watered by rivers’. Hence 
 it happened that, although in their primeval abode, some- 
 where in Central Asia, they were probably half nomad, 
 half agricultural, they became, when fairly settled in Hin- 
 distin, a nation of agriculturists*. The soil, too, being 
 fertile, yielded more than enough to supply the necessities 
 
 1 By degrees they spread themselves over the whole region called by 
 Manu (II. 21, 22) Aryavarta, ‘the abode of Aryas,’ i.e. the great central 
 plains (Madhya-desa), extending from the western to the eastern sea, and 
 bounded on the north and south by the Himalaya and Vindhya moun- 
 tains. Only in this region were the three first classes allowed to dwell, 
 but Sidras might sojourn wherever they liked. (See Manu II. 21-24.) 
 
 * The very name Arya is, as every one now knows, connected with the 
 root 4 ri=ar, whence aratrum, ‘a plough’ (ef. Sanskrit aritra). It is 
 curious to note how Brahmans, after their segregation as the dominant 
 class, sought to depreciate agriculture. Manu (X. 84) says, ‘Some think 
 that agriculture (krishz) is an excellent thing, but it is a mode of exist- 
 ence blamed by the good, because the iron-mouthed ploughshare wounds 
 the earth and the creatures living in it. Mr. W. F. Sinclair informs us 
 in the ‘Indian Antiquary,’ that in the Dekhan the cultivators of the soil 
 are by the modern races of Brahmans considered pure Stidras. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. Za0 
 
 of the cultivators. Hence the surplus produce enabled a 
 large non-agricultural population to spring up. Some of 
 these applied themselves to trade and the improvement of 
 mechanical arts; others were enabled to devote them- 
 selves to one of three occupations: 1. mental and reli- 
 gious culture; 2. military exercises ; 3. domestic service’. 
 It was, indeed, absolutely necessary that the cultivators 
 who were called Vaisyas, because they ‘settled down’ on 
 the soil and gradually acquired an hereditary right to its 
 occupation’, should have a class of military men above 
 them, with leisure either to cultivate arms, and so defend 
 the land thus occupied from the attacks of other invaders, 
 or to undertake the cares of government, and so protect 
 
 1 The same happened in the fertile plains of Egypt and Mesopotamia. 
 
 2 In modern times they are called Ryots, from the Arabic ins) ra Ἰγαΐ, 
 ‘protected people’ (root _.¢, ‘to pasture, guard’). The Hindu term 
 Vaisya is more expressive of their original condition. It is derived from 
 the root vis, ‘to enter into,’ ‘sit down on, ‘settle down on,’ ‘ occupy’ 
 (whence vesa, ‘an abode’), cognate with vicus, ‘a village,’ and οἶκος, ‘an 
 abode,’ and our affix ‘wick’ at the end of names of towns, denoting 
 originally a settlement or station of cultivators. Hence the root vis, 
 when used as a substantive, means ‘a man of the people.’ The Vaisyas 
 were allowed to become merchants if they preferred trading to agricul- 
 ture; but the only provision for classes of artisans and mechanics, is 
 from the mixed classes. This indicates that Manu’s division belongs to 
 an early period, before the industrial and mechanical arts had acquired 
 much importance, though they must have been considerably advanced 
 even in Vedic times (as shown by Dr. Muir, Texts V. 450-472). The 
 Hindi village system of the present day seems to have been developed 
 out of that represented in Manu’s Code. Almost everywhere are found 
 bodies of agriculturists who have settled on the soil from time immemo- 
 rial, and formed themselves into little republics presided over by a half- 
 elective, half-hereditary headman, and a number of village officials (pro- 
 perly twelve, e.g. watchman, accountant, priest, schoolmaster, doctor, 
 barber, astrologer, &c.), the lands around the village forming a sort of 
 jurisdiction, and disputes being settled by gatherings of the villagers 
 under trees, while various low-caste menials who have no interest in the 
 soil are attached to the community. 
 
236 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 property from the dangers incident to anarchy. These ulti- 
 mately received the name Ashatriya. But in the earliest 
 times, as represented by the Vedic hymns, they were called 
 Rajanya, ‘the kingly class. (See the Purusha-sikta, 
 translated p. 24, and see p.25, note 1.) Doubtless, when 
 this class first arose they must have constituted the most 
 powerful order of society ; and so, indeed, practically they 
 must have always remained, notwithstanding the intellec- 
 tual superiority of the Brahmanical class’. That the close 
 interdependence of the two higher classes was recognized 
 by the Brahmans themselves is shown by the following : 
 
 A Kshatriya cannot thrive without a Brahman, nor a Brahman without 
 a Kshatriya. The Brahman and the Kshatriya when assoaiated together 
 prosper in this world and the next (IX. 322). 
 
 It was also necessary that there should be a class 
 willing to perform personal domestic service. These 
 were allied Stidras; and this class was probably made 
 up to some extent of the remnants of the Turanian tribes, 
 who were conquered by the Aryan Hindiis, and who were 
 mostly driven southwards’. But, although servants, they 
 
 1 The name Kshatriya comes from kshatra, ‘dominion, which is pro- 
 bably from root 1 kshi=«rdoya, ‘to possess, rule.’ It is fancifully 
 derived from kshatat tra, ‘ preserving from injury,’ in Raghu-vansa II. 
 53. Manu X. rrg says, ‘ While defending the Vaisyas by his arms (sas- 
 trena vaisyan rakshitva) he may raise from them the rightful revenue 
 (dharmyam aharayed balim), which was really taken from the soil in kind. 
 
 2 It may be questioned whether Sitidra (though found in the Purusha- 
 sukta, Rig-veda X. 90. 12) is a genuine Sanskrit word. At least no satis- 
 factory etymology is given for it, and this favours the idea of its denoting 
 some pre-Aryan race. The fanciful derivation from Sud, * to erieve, and 
 dru, ‘to run, is hardly worth noticing. Besides the Turanian races who 
 partially blended with the Aryans there were doubtless other aboriginal 
 tribes who occupied the hills and outlying districts and who were called 
 Mleé¢éhas, as constituting those more barbarous and uncultivated com- 
 munities who stood aloof and would not amalgamate with the Aryans. 
 Mleééha-dega is defined to be a country where the four classes do not 
 dwell. In Manu X. 44 a number of degraded tribes are mentioned, such as 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. oot 
 
 were neither slaves nor serfs. They merely occupied the 
 lowest step in the social organization. It is true that in 
 theory (X. 129) they were debarred from any superfluous 
 accumulation of wealth, yet, in point of fact, they some- 
 times rose to affluence, and even became kings! 
 
 As a Sidra, without censuring others, performs lawful acts, so, without 
 being censured, he obtains exaltation in this world and the next (X. 128). 
 
 Again, the gradual assumption of superiority over 
 the React as, Vaisyas, and Sadras, by a class of men 
 who called themselves Brahmans’, seems to have been 
 
 ΚΟ Ἰοῦς Odras, Dravidas, Kambojas, Yavanas, Sakas, Paradas, Cinas, 
 Kiratas, &e. As these were probably powerful warlike tribes, they are 
 declared by Manu to be outcaste Kshatriyas. It is clear that the moun- 
 taineer Kiraitas were a martial race; nor could they have been greatly 
 despised, for Arjuna lived among them and adopted their style of life in 
 order to learn archery from Siva, regarded as their god. See my account 
 of the Kiratarjuniya and the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for June, 1874, p. 178. 
 The most degraded outcastes were men called Gandalas or Candalas 
 (children of a Stidra man and a Brahmani); they were expelled from 
 towns, where they could not even walk except by day ; they wore only 
 dead men’s clothes, rusty iron ornaments, &c. (X. 51-56). 
 
 1 Professor Cowell, in a note to Elphinstone’s India, Ὁ. 18, well shows 
 that the condition of a Sidra was very superior to that of the helot, 
 slave, and serf of the Greek, Roman, and feudal system. The Puranas 
 record dynasties of Sidra kings, and even Manu notices these. In 
 TI. 238 it is said, ‘A believer in Scripture may receive pure knowledge 
 even from a Sidra.’ In modern times cultivators of the soil are in some 
 places regarded as Siidras. There are occasional passages in the Maha- 
 bharata depreciating caste and even Vedic knowledge in comparison with 
 moral character ; cf. the Raja-dharma of the Santi-parvan 2955. 
 
 * According to some scholars the original meaning of brahman was 
 ‘prayer,’ or rather ‘ devotional spirit pervading and filling the soul’ (root 
 brih or vrih). Hence it came afterwards to mean Veda, ‘sacred know- 
 ledge,’ in which sense it is often used by Manu. Similarly, brahman 
 and braéaimana meant originally ‘a prayer-offerer, and afterwards ‘ reli- 
 gious teacher,’ the signification ‘ priest’ not having been attached to these 
 words till sacrificial ideas had fully developed themselves in the Hindu 
 mind. It is a mistake to suppose that Brahmana and priest are con- 
 vertible terms. Brahmans are rather ‘ men of the first class.’ 
 
238 . INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 due to the operation of a law of intellectual development, 
 such as has been common among all nations in their pro- 
 eress towards civilization, in all periods of the world’s 
 history. Those who were intellectually superior took 
 advantage of that growth of religious cravings which 
 generally accompanies political growth, and formed them- 
 selves into a fraternity of religious teachers, who after- 
 wards became priests. Religion, or a sense of dependence 
 upon God and a desire to propitiate Him, has always 
 formed a marked feature of the Hindi character. Hence 
 in India, the fraternity of priests multiphed with unusual 
 rapidity ; so that a considerable number of the sacerdotal 
 class were thrown out of employment and forced to engage 
 in secular occupations. In this manner it came to pass 
 that although all priests were properly Brahmans, all 
 Brahmans were by no means necessarily priests. Nor was 
 it likely that with the partial secularization of the Brah- 
 mans the complicated Vedic ceremonial could be long 
 maintained. Some public sacrifices, such as the Agnishtoma, 
 were still performed, but the more intricate rites enjoined 
 by the Brahmanas and occasionally practised in ancient 
 times, lasting for long periods, and requiring for their 
 efficacious performance a staff of sixteen different orders 
 of priests’, fell into partial if not entire desuetude. It was 
 found, however, indispensable to the retention of power 
 over the other classes that some sacerdotal offices should 
 be maintained. In proportion, indeed, to the neglect of 
 high ceremonial observances was there an increased strict- 
 ness in exacting a knowledge of the Veda, and the dis- 
 charge of domestic rites for which a priest's teaching and 
 superintendence were required. 
 
 In II. 84, 85, it is declared that all Vedic rites, oblations 
 
 ‘ See their names all given in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary under 
 Litv-ij, p. 181, col. 1. 
 
“ἂν ee αν 
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 239 
 
 to fire, and solemn sacrifices gradually pass away (ksha- 
 ranti), but that the act of repeating the Veda, especially 
 the repetition of the Gayatri with the four mystic syl- 
 lables, is ten times better than the appointed sacrifice 
 (see pp. 252, 253). 
 
 Manu is careful to assign distinct functions and titles 
 to the priests qualified for these duties ; thus we read : 
 
 Some Brahmans are intent on knowledge (of the supreme Spirit), 
 others are intent on acts of austerity (tapo-nishthah), others on acts of 
 austerity and repetition of the Veda combined, and others on sacrificial 
 rites (III. 134). 
 
 He who is selected for the office of preparing the sacred fire, for con- 
 ducting the Paka-yajha (see note, p. 197) and performing the Agnish- 
 toma! and other sacrifices, is called the Ritv-ij of his employer (II. 143). 
 
 He who having invested his pupil with the sacred thread afterwards 
 instructs him in the whole Veda, with the rules of ceremonial (sa- 
 kalpam*) and the Upanishads, is called an Aéarya (II. 140). 
 
 He who, for the sake of a livelihood, gives instruction in one part 
 only of the Veda or in the Vedangas (such as grammar, &c.) is called 
 an Upadhyaya or sub-teacher (11. 141). 
 
 The Brahman who performs the Sanskara ceremonies on conception 
 &c. according to rule, and who feeds the child with rice (i.e. performs 
 the anna-praganam in the sixth month, see II. 34 and p. 201 of this 
 volume), is called a Gurw® (II. 142). 
 
 Manu, however, found it necessary to conciliate the 
 Kshatriya class. The most exalted eulogies were lavished 
 
 1 The Agnishtoma is a protracted sacrifice of five days’ duration, per- 
 formed by one who is desirous of obtaining heaven. It is either a part or 
 a modification of the Jyotishtoma, and in ancient times required sixteen 
 priests. 
 
 2 That is, probably, ‘the Kalpa Sitras.’ 
 
 ’ The title Guru, however, appears to have been applied in a general 
 way to all spiritual preceptors, cf. p. 245. It is sometimes used alone 
 as a distinctive epithet of Prabha-kara, a teacher of the Mimansa, often 
 named in conjunction with Kumiarila, to denote whom the title Bhatta is 
 generally employed in the same way. According to Yajnavalkya Dad, 
 a Guru is one who imparts the Veda, while an Adirya is one who invests 
 with the Yajnopavita or ‘sacred thread.’ Similarly in the Panjab the 
 teachers of the Grantha (Granthis) are called Gurus. 
 
240 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 on kings; but Brahmans were to act as their advisers and 
 to have much of the judicial authority and interpretation 
 of the laws in their own hands, and were always theoreti- 
 cally superior in rank—a circumstance which led m the end 
 to jealousies, feuds, and even internecine warfare between 
 the first two classes. Certain privileges also naturally 
 fell to the Vaisyas, and both they and the Kshatriyas 
 were equally with the Brahmans entitled to the appel- 
 lation Dvi-ja, ‘twice-born. Their whole status, however, 
 depended upon various domestic rites, to the due conduct 
 of which the superintendence of Brahmans was indispen- 
 sable. Yet, in spite of the importance and dignity thus 
 attached to the priestly office, a Brahman, according to 
 Manu’s Code, was by birth and divine right—not by pro- 
 fession or self-elevation—at the head of all creatures. He 
 was born a Brahman and did not become one. He not 
 only inherited superiority as his birthright, but was 
 created a leader of mankind—a sort of deity in human 
 shape—by the fiat of the great Creator himself. 
 
 He is declared, in Book I. 87, to have proceeded from 
 the mouth of Brahma, as the Kshatriya did from his arm, 
 the Vaisya from his thigh, and the Sidra from his foot. 
 Manw’s theory, in short, was that the distinction of caste 
 and the inherent superiority of one class over the three 
 others was as much a law of nature and a matter of divine 
 appointment, as the creation of separate classes of animals, 
 with insurmountable differences of physical constitution, 
 such as elephants, lions, horses, and dogs. 
 
 That the Brahmans assumed a pre-eminence nothing 
 short of divine, is clear from numerous passages. I select 
 the following: 
 
 Since the Brahman sprang from the most excellent part, since he has 
 the priority arising from primogeniture (jyaishthyat), and since he pos- 
 sesses the Veda, he is by right the lord (prabhu) of this whole creation 
 (I. 93. See also p. 231 of this volume). 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 241 
 
 A Brahman, whether learned or unlearned, is a mighty divinity 
 (daivatam mahat), just as fire is a mighty divinity, whether consecrated 
 (pranita) or unconsecrated (IX. 317). 
 
 Even when Brahmans employ themselves in all sorts of inferior occu- 
 pations (an-ishteshu), they must under all circumstances be honoured, for 
 they are to be regarded as supreme divinities (paramam daivatam, 
 IX. 319). 
 
 From his high birth alone (sambhavenaiva) a Brahman is regarded as 
 a divinity even by the gods (devandm api). His teaching must be 
 accepted by the rest of the world as an infallible authority (pramdnam), 
 for the Veda (brahma) itself is the cause (of its being so accepted, XI. 84). 
 
 Consistently with the divine nature thus ascribed to 
 the Brahman, he is declared to possess powers of the most 
 tremendous and awe-inspiring character : 
 
 Let not a king, although fallen into the greatest distress (through a 
 deficiency of revenue), provoke Brahmans to anger (by taking revenue 
 from them), for they, if once enraged, could instantly (by pronouncing 
 curses and mystical texts) destroy him with all his army and retinue. 
 
 Who, without bringing destruction on himself, can provoke those men, 
 by whose imprecation (abhisapena, Kullika) all-devouring fire was 
 created, and by whom the undrinkable ocean was swallowed ', and the 
 wasted moon restored to its full size? (dpyayitah=pascat piritah, 1X. 
 313, 314)? 
 
 * This seems to refer to the legend of Agastya, who is said to have 
 swallowed the ocean and was afterwards raised to be regent of the star 
 Canopus. Much, however, of the detail of this legend must be later. 
 
 * This refers to the legend of Candra, ‘the Moon,’ afflicted with con- 
 sumption for fifteen days by his father-in-law, Daksha, because of his 
 (the Moon’s) partiality for Rohini, one of Daksha’s daughters, some of 
 whom had become his wives. On the Moon’s repentance, his wasted 
 strength and size were restored. Manu IX. 129 states that Daksha gave 
 ten of his daughters to Dharma, thirteen to Kasyapa, and twenty-seven 
 to Soma, the Moon. The legend of Daksha’s daughters is found (like 
 many other of Manu’s allusions) in the Taittiriya-samhita, ii. 3, 5: 
 ‘Prajapati had thirty-three daughters—he gave them to king Soma ; 
 among them he only went to Rohini. The others jealous returned [to 
 their father]: he went after them, he sought them again; but he [the 
 father] did not give them again to him. He said to him, “ Take an oath 
 that you will go to them alike, then I will give them to you again.” He 
 
 R 
 
242 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 What king would gain increase of revenue by oppressing those who, if 
 angry, could create other worlds and guardians of worlds (/oka-palan), 
 and could create new gods and mortals (IX. 315)? 
 
 A Brahman, well skilled in the law, need not make any representation 
 to the king (if he has received an injury), for, by his own power (sva- 
 viryena), he may punish (stshyat) those who injure him. His own power 
 is stronger than the power of the king, therefore by his own might may 
 a Brahman chastise (nigriiniyat) his foes. He may, without hesitation, 
 make use of (as magical formularies) the sacred texts (srutih) revealed to 
 Atharvan and Amgiras (A tharvangirasth, see note, p. 9); for the utter- 
 ing of texts (vakh=abhitara-mantroécaranam) is the weapon (gastram) of 
 a Brahman ; with that he may destroy his foes (XI. 31-33). 
 
 The crime of striking and killing a Brahman involves, 
 of course, terrible consequences, thus : 
 
 He who merely assails a Brahman with intent to kill him will continue 
 in hell (narakam) for a hundred years, and he who actually strikes him, 
 a thousand years (XI. 206. Compare also IV. 165, where it is said that 
 the hell to which he will be consigned, and where he will be made to 
 wander about incessantly, is called Z’amsra, ‘profound darkness’). 
 
 As many particles of dust (pasa) as the blood of a Brahman absorbs 
 from the soil, so many thousands of years must the shedder of that blood 
 abide in hell (XI. 207). 
 
 The above may be thought an exaggeration of the 
 powers and status claimed by the highest order of Hindi 
 society, and doubtless the compiler of the Code often draws 
 an. ideal picture of a condition of things which never actu- 
 ally existed, and was never likely to exist ; much in the 
 same manner as we in England maintain that our king 
 can dono wrong. Yet in the matter of the Brahman we are 
 compelled to accept the colouring as, in the main, truthful. 
 Only recently there appeared in a leading journal a report 
 of a sermon preached by a converted Brahman, in which 
 the preacher asserted that the Brahmans of the present day 
 pretend to ‘dethrone the Creator and put themselves in 
 
 took an oath ; he gave them back to him. He only out of them went to 
 Rohini. Him, the king [Soma], consumption attacked. This is the 
 origin of the Raja-yakshma.’ 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 243 
 
 his place. Moreover, that he himself (the preacher) had 
 claimed and received divine honours and had seen be- 
 lievers (among his own fellow-countrymen) greedily drink 
 the water in which his feet had been washed’ 
 
 It may be asked how did the Brahman, laden with all 
 this weight of dignity and theoretically debarred from all 
 other occupations, except studying and teaching the Veda, 
 and performing religious rites, contrive to support him- 
 self? The answer is that he took care to provide for his 
 own material comforts? by making the efficacy of all repe- 
 
 1 The Rev. Narayan Seshadri (a Marathi name derived from the ser- 
 pent-like folds of the serpent Sesha, Vishnu’s seat), who preached on 
 Easter Sunday, April 5, 1874 (in a Presbyterian Church in Kensington 
 Park Road), a sermon, the report of which appeared in the next day’s ‘Daily 
 News.’ He embraced the Christian faith on September 13, 1843. He 
 had to give up father, mother, three brothers, and three sisters. Such is 
 the condition of Brahmanical society that a man must renounce all former 
 associations when converted. I subjoin a further portion of the matter 
 reported as preached. ‘He had been emptied of Hindooism. This 
 creed dealt largely in the marvellous ; for instance, it is said that one 
 great saint drank up all the ocean in three sips, and was afterwards 
 seated among the constellations on account of this feat. But there was a 
 philosophic as well as a popular form of Hindooism. There were athe- 
 istical and theistical forms, the latter having as many advocates in India 
 as it had in this country, in Germany, and in the United States. He 
 dwelt at length on the pantheistic notion of Brahm, which ignored man’s 
 responsibility. Man’s sins, in fact, became God’s sins ; and gradually the 
 preacher had become convinced that this was blasphemy.’ 
 
 * This appears to hold good even in the present day; for Professor 
 Ramkrishna Bhandarkar, writing in the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for May, 
 1874, remarks that repetition of the Veda for dakshina still prevails in 
 Gujarat and toa much greater extent in the Marathi country and Tailan- 
 gana. ‘Numbers of Brahmans go about to all parts of the country in 
 search of dakshina, and all well-to-do natives patronize them according 
 to their means, by getting them to repeat portions of their Veda, which 
 is mostly the Black Yajush, with Apastamba for their Siitra. Hardly a 
 week passes here in Bombay in which no Tailanga Brahman comes to ask 
 me for dakshinda.’ 
 
 R 2 
 
244 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 titions of the Veda and all sacrificial rites depend upon the 
 gifts (dakshindh) with which they were accompanied : 
 
 A sacrifice performed with trifling presents (alpa-dakshinah) destroys 
 the organs of sense, fame, heaven, life, reputation, offspring, cattle ; there- 
 fore let no man undertake a sacrifice who has not plenty of money to 
 make liberal gifts (XI. 40). 
 
 Let a man, according to his ability, give wealth to Brahmans who 
 know the Vedas and keep apart from the world. By so doing he obtains 
 heaven when he dies (ΧΙ. 6). 
 
 A king, even though dying (from want), must not receive taxes from a 
 Brahman learned in the Vedas, nor must he allow such a Brahman dwel- 
 ling in his country to pine away with hunger. Of that king in whose 
 territory a Brahman learned in the Vedas wastes with hunger, the whole 
 kingdom will in a short time be wasted with famine (VII. 133, 144). 
 
 All that exists in this universe is the Brahmans’ property (I. 100). 
 
 Moreover, when the increase of the Brahmanical class 
 compelled the secularization of many of its members, they 
 were allowed to engage in the occupations of the other 
 classes. This was at first only permitted under circum- 
 stances of exigency and distress. Some verses in XII. 71, 
 X. 75, 76, 80-82, lay down the law on this point: 
 
 A Brahman who swerves from his own peculiar duty is, on departing 
 this life, born again as ἃ vomit-eating demon called Ulka-mukha (XII. 71). 
 
 Repetition (or study) of the Veda (adhyayanam), expounding it (or 
 literally, teaching others to repeat it, adhydpanam), sacrificing (yaja- 
 nam) and assisting others to sacrifice (yajanam), giving (danam) and 
 receiving gifts (pratigrahah) are the six legitimate acts‘ (shat-harmani) 
 of a Brahman. Of these six acts, three are the means of his subsistence, 
 viz. assisting at sacrifices, teaching the Veda, and receiving presents from 
 a plous giver (visuddhat). These three privileges (dharmah) are limited 
 to Brahmans, and do not extend to Kshatriyas (X. 75-77). Hence a 
 Brahman is called 7'ri-karman, ‘ one who engages in three acts.’ 
 
 The most proper occupation for the Brahman is teaching and expound- 
 ing the Veda (vedabhydsah) ; for a Kshatriya, defending the people ; for 
 a Vaisya, agriculture, keeping cattle, and trade (varta-karma’), Yet a 
 
 * Called the ‘six privileges. A particular tribe of Konkan Brahmans 
 is said to be excluded from these privileges because its members eat fish. 
 
 * This word varta-karman, as may be gathered from Kulltka’s com- 
 mentary on these three verses, includes rishi, go-raksha, and banijya. 
 The caste-division of Megasthenes (note 1, p. 231) separates these three. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 245 
 
 Brahman, unable to subsist by his proper employment, may live by the 
 duty of a soldier, for that is the next in dignity. If it be asked, how is 
 he to live if unable to subsist by either of these occupations ? the answer 
 is that he may adopt the mode of life of a Vaisya (X. 80-82. See also 
 X. τοῦ, 102. Cf. note 2, p. 235). 
 
 Here are some of the rules by which the whole existence 
 of a Brahman from the cradle to the grave was regulated : 
 
 Every Brahman was supposed to pass through four 
 ASgramas or ‘ Orders, —that is to say, his life was divided 
 into four stages or periods according as he became succes- 
 sively, τ. Religious student (brahma-cdrin); 2. House- 
 holder (griha-stha) ; 3. Anchorite or hermit (vdnaprastha) ; 
 4. Religious mendicant (bhikshu or parivrdjaka or san- 
 nydsin). For the regulation of his life in the first two of 
 these periods the most minute instructions are spread over 
 the end, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Books with much wearisome 
 detail and repetition *, . 
 
 To begin with the religious student. The young 
 Brahman is to reside with his preceptor (guru) until 
 he has gained a thorough knowledge of the three Vedas. 
 This residence may continue for thirty-six years, or for 
 half that time, or for a quarter of it, according to his 
 capacity for acquiring the requisite instruction (ct. Grihya 
 Siitras, p. 201). He may even be a student for life (naish- 
 thika, III. τ, IT. 243). 
 
 He is of course to go through all the twelve Sanskaras 
 or ‘ purificatory rites’ (II. 27, &c.). They are supposed to 
 purify a man from the taint of sin derived from his parents 
 (garbhikam enas), and are enjoined, with certain variations, 
 on all the three first classes alike ; some being performed 
 before the birth of a male child, and some during the first 
 year after birth. I here enumerate them : 
 
 1 Tt is interesting to find that Megasthenes (Strabo XV. 1, 59), three 
 centuries B.c., had noted that Brahmans, even from the time of con- 
 ception (ἤδη δ᾽ εὐθὺς καὶ κυομένους), were under the care of learned men, and 
 lived for thirty-seven years as philosophers before becoming householders. 
 
246 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 1. Garbhadhana or Garbha-lambhana, ‘the ceremony on conception’ 
 (p. 201); 2. Punsavana (p. 201); 3. Stmantonnayana (p.201); 4. Jata- 
 karman (p. 201); 5. Nama-karman or Nama-karana, ‘the ceremony of 
 giving a name’ on the tenth or twelfth day after birth (Manu II. 30); 
 6. Nish-kramana, ‘taking out the child’ in the fourth month to see the sun 
 (II. 34); 7. Anna-prasana (p. 201); 8. Cuda-karman or Caula (p. 201); 
 9. Upanayana (p. 201) ; το. Kesanta, ‘ cutting off the hair,’ performed on 
 a Brahman in his sixteenth year, on a Kshatriya in his twenty-second, 
 on a Vaisya in his twenty-fourth (Manu II. 65); 11. Samdvartana, per- 
 formed on the student’s return home after completing his studies with his 
 preceptor (pp. 204,249); 12. Vivaha, ‘marriage.’ This last is the principal 
 purificatory rite for women ; but they are allowed some of the others, 
 provided there is an omission of the Mantras or Vedic texts, with which 
 all the Sanskaras were accompanied (II. 66, 67). 
 
 It is noteworthy that marriage is the twelfth Sanskara, 
 and hence a religious duty incumbent upon all, completing 
 the purification and regeneration of the twice-born : 
 
 Of the above twelve rites, 1, 2, 3, and τὸ are little observed. The 
 other eight are more worthy of attention; 8 and 9 are of considerable 
 legal importance even in the present day, and 7 is still practised. 7 and 
 12 are said to be the only rites allowed to Stdras. Other Sanskaras, 
 practised in some parts of India, are mentioned, such as Karna-vedha, 
 ‘boring the ears ;’ and occasionally the imparting of the Savitri or 
 ‘sacred Vedic text’ (=Gayatri, p. 20), which ought to be performed at 
 Upanayana, is reserved for a separate ceremony four days later. 
 
 But the most important of the above Sanskaras is 
 Upanayana, ‘investiture with the sacred cord, already 
 described in the Grihya Sitras (p. 201). This cord, 
 which is a thin coil of three threads, commonly called 
 the Yajnopavita or ‘sacrificial thread, is worn over the 
 left shoulder and allowed to hang down diagonally across 
 the body to the right hip, and the wearing of it by the 
 three twice-born classes was the mark of their second birth 1. 
 A third birth is mentioned for Brahmans (II. 169) : 
 
 The first birth is from the natural mother ; the second from the binding 
 
 * It is still worn, but the word Yajiopwita for ‘the sacred thread’ has 
 been corrupted into Jane-o, In Bengali it is called Powta for Pavitra. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 247 
 
 on of the girdle (mawiiji-bandhane) ; the third is at initiation into sacrifi- 
 cial rites (as the jyotishtoma, &c.), according to a precept of the Veda. 
 
 There was some difference in the kind of thread worn, 
 according to the class of the wearer. In II. 44 we read : 
 
 The sacred cord of a Brahman must be of cotton (karpasa), so as to be 
 put on over his head in a coil of three threads (tri-vrit) ; that of a 
 Kshatriya of flax or hemp (Sana) ; that of a Vaisya of wool (avika). 
 
 [In the previous two verses Manu intimates that a Brahman must also 
 have a girdle (mekhala) either of Munja grass or of Kusa grass. From 
 II. 169, 170, it might be inferred that the girdle and sacrificial thread 
 are equivalent, but II. 174 clearly distinguishes them. The leather mantle, 
 thread, girdle, staff, and under clothing are, all five, prescribed at the time 
 of Upanayana, and the binding on of the girdle seems to complete the rite. | 
 
 The ceremony of investiture begins by the youth's 
 standing opposite the sun and walking thrice round the 
 fire. Then girt with the thread, he asks alms from the 
 assembled company. This begging for alms still consti- 
 tutes part of the rite, and indicates that the youth under- 
 takes to provide himself and his preceptor (guru, aédaryq) 
 with food (p. 201). The Guru then initiates him into the 
 daily use of the Savitri or holy prayer in the three-mea- 
 sured Gayatri (pp. 20, 165), preceded by three suppressions 
 of breath (tribhih prandyamath), the triliteral syllable 
 Om, and three Vyahritis or mystical words, Bhitr Bhuvah 
 Svar}, and admits him to the privilege of repeating the 
 three Vedas, and of performing other religious rites, none 
 of which are allowed before investiture (II. 171,173). The 
 Guru or Aéarya is thus his spiritual father. 
 
 Purifications, ablutions, and libations (called Savanas) 
 are enjoined on Vanaprasthas or ‘hermits’ (p. 260) at all 
 the three Sandhyas’, that is, at the three divisions of the 
 
 1 The utterance of these three mystical words, meaning ‘earth, the 
 middle region, and heaven’ (note 2, p. 66), together with the awful 
 syllable Om (pp. 103, 222), is supposed to be attended with marvellous 
 and mysterious effects (see IT. 76, 79, 83, 84). Note the sacredness attached 
 to the number three. 
 
 2 See Book VI. 22, 24, and compare Kulliika, savaneshu snayat, pratar- 
 
248 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 day—sunrise, noon, and sunset—but on Brahma-¢arins 
 and Griha-sthas at the two Sandhyas of sunrise and sun- 
 set only, when the Gayatri (p. 20) is by all means to be 
 repeated. Thus, in II. 222, we have: 
 
 Let him constantly observe the two Sandhyas according to rule, sipping 
 water, with all his organs controlled and with fixed attention, repeating 
 the Gayatri prayer (japyam, which ought to be repeated). 
 
 The young Brahman is also every day to bathe; to 
 ofter oblations of water (tarpana) to the gods, holy sages 
 (Rishis) generally, and departed ancestors (Pitris) ; to 
 reverence the deities [according to Kulltika, Devatd = pra- 
 timd, the images of the deities]; and to offer an oblation 
 of fuel to the sacred fire (II. 176). But in V. 88 he 15 
 forbidden to perform the regular offerings of water to 
 deceased persons, till his studentship is completed. He 
 is to abstain from meat, perfumes, unguents, sensuality, 
 wrath, covetousness, dancing, music, gambling, detraction 
 of others, falsehood, impurity of all kinds, and is never to 
 injure any being (II. 177-179). 
 
 Every day, too, both morning and evening, he is to 
 go round the neighbouring villages begging for food for 
 himself and his preceptor and collecting fuel for the main- 
 tenance of the sacred fire (II. 187). 
 
 He is always to pay the most profound respect to his 
 religious teacher (gu), as well as to his parents and to 
 all persons older than himself: 
 
 By reverencing his mother he gains this terrestrial world ; by rever- 
 ΘΠ ΎΜΗΝ Be kL 5 ᾿ς ᾿. 
 madhyandina-sayam savaneshu trishu devarshi-pitri-tarpanam kurvan. 
 Sandhya often means ‘ twilight, but is applied to morning and evening 
 twilight and to the change from midday to afternoon. With reference 
 to the Hindi and Mohammedan custom of performing religious rites 
 three times a day, we may compare a passage in Daniel, who ‘kneeled 
 upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his 
 
 God, Dan. vi.10. And David says, ‘Evening, and morning, and at noon, 
 will I pray, and ery aloud,’ Ps. lv. 17. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. “291 
 
 encing his father, the middle world ; by constant attention to his spirituasg 
 master (guru), the celestial world of Brahma (IT. 233). 
 
 A youth who habitually salutes and constantly reveres the aged, pros- 
 pers in four things, life, knowledge, fame, and strength (IT. 121). 
 
 In short, even Christians may learn from Hindiis, as 
 indeed from Oriental nations generally ', ‘ to love, honour, 
 and succour their father and mother, to submit themselves 
 to all their governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and 
 masters, and to order themselves lowly and reverently to 
 all their betters ;’ and, moreover, to extend the duty of 
 ‘hurting nobody by word or deed’ to animals and the 
 whole inferior creation’. 
 
 On completing his studies the young Brahman is to give 
 some valuable present to his preceptor. He is then to 
 perform the proper Sanskara ceremony of ablution (sndnq) 
 on the occasion of his solemn return to his own home 
 (samdvartana), as already described (see pp. 204, 246): 
 
 Let not a student who knows his duty make a present to his spiritual 
 master before the ceremony on his return ; but when, being permitted by 
 his preceptor, he is about to perform the requisite ablution (snasyan), 
 let him offer him some valuable article (gurv-artham, such as a field, gold, 
 a jewel, cow, horse, &c.) as a gift to the best of his ability (IL 245, 240). 
 
 The young Brahman’s return to his own house is made 
 an occasion of festivity; he is decked with flowers and 
 receives a present of a cow (III. 3). He is then to select 
 a wife of the same class with himself, endowed with 
 auspicious marks (Jakshana), and thereupon he enters the 
 second Agrama, and becomes a householder (griha-stha). 
 Some curious directions for his guidance in choosing a 
 wife are given (III. 8-10): 
 
 Let him not marry a girl with reddish hair, nor one with a superfluity 
 of limbs (as, for instance, one with six fingers), nor one who is sickly, nor 
 
 1 Notably from the Chinese as well as from the Hindas. 
 
 2 Tam told, however, that, notwithstanding the strict rules of a-hinsa, 
 the ‘Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ might find work to do 
 in some parts of India. 
 
248 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 dine with either too little or too much hair, nor one who talks too much, 
 
 ‘nor one who is red-eyed, nor one named after a constellation, a tree, or a 
 river, nor one with a barbarous name (antya=mledccha), or the name of a 
 mountain, a bird, a snake, a slave, or any frightful object. But let him 
 marry a woman without defective or deformed limbs, having an agreeable 
 name, whose gait is like that of a flamingo (hansa) or elephant 1, whose 
 hair and teeth are moderate in quantity, and whose whole body is soft. 
 
 We have seen that marriage is a Sanskara. Hence it 
 is a religious duty and a purificatory rite (p. 246). 
 
 It is clear from III. 12-15, IX. 45, 101, that, as a 
 general rule, a twice-born man is expected to have one 
 wife only; but polygamy is not illegal, and he might take 
 other wives of classes different from his own, being careful 
 to settle their precedence according to the order of these 
 classes (IX. 85). A Brahman might thus have four wives, 
 one from his own class and one from each of the three 
 classes below him ; a Kshatriya three ; and a Vaisya two. 
 But the sons of inferior wives are degraded and called 
 Apasadah (X. 10). Nevertheless, if there be four wives of 
 a Brahman in the order of the classes, and sons are born 
 to all four wives, there is a rule for dividing the inherit- 
 ance between them (IX. 149). 
 
 Manu’s eight forms of marriage are specified in the 
 Grihya Sitras (see p.199). Of these the first four, viz. 
 that of Brahma (which is described as ‘the gift of a 
 daughter to a man learned in the Veda’), the Devas (dazva), 
 Rishis (drsha), and Prajapatis (prdjdpatya), are the most 
 approved for a Brahman. The Gandharva marriage (‘from 
 affection without any nuptial rite’) and Rakshasa (‘ marry- 
 ing a girl carried off as a prize in war’) were allowable for 
 Kshatriyas ; the Asura and Paisaéa were prohibited. 
 
 A description has been given of one of the oldest mar- 
 riage rites (p. 199), as well as of the ceremony on com- 
 mencing residence in a new house (p. 202). The house- 
 
 ’ That is, having a kind of rolling gait, corresponding to Homer’s eiAdrous. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 251 
 
 holder is to fulfil every day all his domestic religious duties 
 (grihyam karma), some of which, such as the morning and 
 evening oblation (agnihotra, sdyam-pratar-homa), are to 
 be performed with the fire of the nuptial ceremony maitt- 
 tained ever afterwards (vaivdhike ’gnau, III. 67, see p. 31). 
 He is especially to perform the five Mahd-yajnah, great 
 devotional acts! (III. 70, &c.): viz. 1. towards the divine 
 Rishis, by repetition and teaching of the Veda (Brahma- 
 yajna); 2. towards departed fathers (Pitri-y"), by the 
 Sriddha ceremonies; 3. towards the gods (Deva-y’), by 
 oblations (homa*) to Fire, Prajapati, Heaven and Earth, 
 Indra, Soma, &c. (85-89) ; 4. towards all creatures (Bhita- 
 y), including good and evil spirits supposed to people the 
 air, by the bali or offering of rice-grains &c. generally 
 scattered on the house-top or outside the door for animals 
 to devour (91); 5. towards men, by hospitality (Manushya- 
 y’). A description of all five has already been given (p.203). 
 
 1 The Musalmans have also five principal devotional acts, but these are 
 not all diurnal. They are—r1. Prayer (naméaz) five times a day, practi- 
 cally reduced to three times, morning, midday, and evening. 2. Alms- 
 giving (zakat). 3. Fasting (roza), especially keeping the great fast during 
 the ninth month, Ramazan (.,Lée,), once a year, 4. Pilgrimage to Mecca 
 (haj) once in a lifetime. 5. Confession of faith (shahadat), i.e. repeating 
 the tawhid or ‘declaration of faith in the unity of God:’ ‘there is no god 
 but God, and Muhammad is the apostle of God’ A Hajji is a pilgrim 
 who has performed the Haj. There is no duty of pilgrimage among the 
 five necessary devotional acts prescribed by Manu, but the Hindi system 
 has, nevertheless, its Haj. Puri, in Orissa (the abode of Jagan-nath), is 
 described by Mr. Hunter as the Jerusalem of India. It is really only one 
 of the Indian Meceas. Other great places of pilgrimage (77rthas) are Hari- 
 dvar, in the Himalaya (one of the most celebrated), where the Ganges 
 is supposed to have descended from the head of Siva on to the earth ; 
 Citrakiit, in Bundelkhand, Rama’s first abode after his banishment ; 
 Jvala-mukhi, in the Panjab, where Sati, wife of Siva, burned herself, and 
 her presence is thought to be denoted by gas flaming from the ground. 
 
 2 The homa or ‘oblation of butter’ was the peculiar offering to the god 
 of fire, as the Soma juice was to Indra, the rain-god. See note, p. 31. 
 
252 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The last four are sometimes called Paka-yajnas (II. 86). 
 Of these five, the first, viz. repetition of the Veda (Brahma- 
 yajna, japa-y’, svddhydya', 111. 81, 11. 85,86), and espe- 
 
 1 Tt seems to me that Sir W. Jones’ usual translation of this and 
 similar words by ‘reading and studying the Veda, conveys a somewhat 
 wrong idea. The words generally used to denote the performance of the 
 Brahma-yajia rather imply ‘going over inaudibly to one’s self,’ ‘ repeat- 
 ing or muttering texts in a low tone of voice.’ It is doubtful whether 
 the Veda was ever read or studied as we should read a book in the pre- 
 sent day. Neither the word Veda nor any of the words connected with 
 it imply truth written down like our word ‘Scripture ;’ and for a long 
 period the writing of it was discouraged, if not prohibited. The very 
 object of the long residence with a Guru (see p. 245) was to learn to 
 repeat the sacred texts by heart, not to study them. Indeed, very little 
 mention of writing is made in Manu. Even written evidence is not 
 alluded to as it is in Yajnavalkya. In connection with the repetition of 
 the Veda at the present day I here give the substance of an interesting 
 article by Professor Bhandarkar in the ‘Indian Antiquary’ for May, 1874. 
 Every Brahmanic family is devoted to the study of a particular Veda or 
 Sakha of a Veda, and its family domestic rites are performed in accord- 
 ance with the Sitra of that Veda. In Northern India the favourite 
 Veda is the White Yajur-veda in its Madhyandina Sakha, but the study 
 has almost died out except at Benares. (According te Mr. Burnell the 
 Black Yajur-veda is the favourite in the Telugu country.) Brahmans of 
 each Veda are divided into two classes—Grihasthas, who are devoted to 
 worldly avocations, and Bhikshukas, who study the sacred texts and per- 
 form religious rites. Both classes have to repeat the Sandhya-vandana or 
 ‘morning and evening prayers’ (see p. 248), which principally consist of 
 the Gayatri (see p. 20), recited five, ten, twenty-eight, or a hundred and 
 eight times. Besides these prayers, many perform daily the Brahma- 
 yajiia, incumbent on all alike on certain occasions. This for Rig-vedi 
 Brahmans consists of—r. Part of Rig-vedaI.1. 2. Aitareya-brahmana I. 1. 
 3. Portions of the Aitareya-aranyaka (1-5). 4. The opening text or a por- 
 tion of the White Yajur-veda. 5. Of the Sama-veda. 6. Of the Atharva- 
 veda. 7. Of the Agvaliyana Kalpa-siitra. 8. Ofthe Nighantu. 9. Of the 
 Nirukta. το. Of the Chandas. 11. Of the Jyotisha, 12. Of the Siksha. 
 13. Of Panini. 14. Of Yajnavalkya’s Smriti. 15. Of the Mahabharata. 
 16. Of Kanada’s Stitra. 17. Of Jaimini’s Mimansa. 18, Of Badarayana’s 
 Vedanta-sitra. This course of Svadhyaya is based on Asvalayana’s Sttra 
 ILI. 23 (given at p. 203 of this volume). No. 1 corresponds to his Rié¢ ; 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 253 
 
 cially of the Gayatri text, is regarded as the most effica- 
 cious ; and a peculiar virtue is attributed to its being 
 repeated in a low tone or even mentally : 
 
 The Japa-yajna or ‘repetition of the Veda’ is declared to be ten times 
 superior to the Vidhi-yajna (or appointed oblations at the changes of the 
 moon, called Darga and Paurnamasa, see note, p. 31); a hundred times 
 superior, if it is muttered in a low voice (wpansu); and a thousand times 
 superior, if it is only mentally repeated (mdnasah, II. 85). 
 
 The four Pika-yajnas, even wheu accompanied with the Vidhi-yajna, are 
 not together worth a sixteenth part of the Japa-yajia (II. 86). 
 
 A Brahman becomes fit for beatitude by simple repetition of the Veda, 
 whether he perform other rites or not; of this there is no doubt (11. 87). 
 
 Let him habitually repeat (abhyaset=japet) the Veda at the right season 
 without weariness, for that is called his highest duty (pavo dharmah) ; every 
 other duty is called subordinate (upa-dharmah, IV. 147). 
 
 The filial piety of the Hindiis is notably manifested 
 in the importance attached to the Srdddhas, sometimes 
 reckoned as twelve in number (the three principal being 
 Nitya, ‘daily ;’ Parvana, ‘monthly ;’ Hkoddishta, ‘special, 
 p- 208), consisting of an offering of water (udaka-ddna, 
 tarpana) and cakes of rice-meal, &c. (pinda) to a deceased 
 father, grandfather, and great grandfather, and to fore- 
 
 4, 5» 6 to his Yajur, Siman, and Atharvin-giras ; 2, 3 to his Brahmanas &ce, 
 Those Bhikshukas who have studied the whole Veda follow Asvalayana’s 
 precept yavan manyeta tavad adhitya. Some of them are also Yajnikas, 
 skilled in the performance of sacred rites, and some are Vaidikas, whose 
 sole occupation in life is to learn the Vedas by heart in the Samhita, 
 Pada, Krama, Jata, and Ghana arrangement of the texts (see p. 162) 
 without making a single mistake in the Sandhi changes or even in the 
 accents. The Rig-vedis pronounce the accents differently from the Tait- 
 tiriyas, while the Madhyandinas indicate the accents by movements of the 
 right hand. In addition to the Mantra portion of the Veda, the Rig- 
 vedis learn to recite the Brahmana portion and the Vedingas, including 
 the Kalpa and Grihya Sttras. At a publie recitation the first place is 
 given to Rig-vedis, the second to Yajur-vedis, and the third to Sama- 
 vedis (cf. p. 223). As the Black and White Yajur-vedis are liable to 
 quarrel about precedence, they are not generally invited to recital-meet- 
 ings (Mantra-jargaras) together. 
 
254 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 fathers and progenitors (Pitris) collectively, on which 
 offerings they are supposed really to feed (III. 237). The 
 custom was probably very ancient, as the Pitris are ad- 
 dressed with the utmost reverence in the Rig-veda(VI. 52.4, 
 VII. 35.12, X. 14.7, 8, &c. See p. 21 of this volume). 
 
 The actual funeral, when the bodies of all deceased per- 
 sons (except those of infants up to two years old, ef. p. 302) 
 are burnt, is described at p. 205. The offering to deceased 
 fathers at the Sraddha is the key to the Hindi law of 
 inheritance. It furnishes the principal evidence of kin- 
 ship, on which the title to participate in the patrimony 
 is founded, no power of making wills being recognized 
 in Manu or any other authoritative code of Hindi juris- 
 prudence (see p. 270). The Gotra or family is in fact a 
 corporate body bound together by what may be called 
 Sapindaship (Sapindata) and Samdnodakaship (Samdno- 
 daka-bhava, Manu V. 60). All who offer the funeral cake 
 (pinda) and water (wdaka) together are Sapindas and 
 Samanodakas to each other, and a kind of intercommunion 
 and interdependence is thus continually maintained between 
 the dead and living members of a family—between past, 
 present, and future generations. Practically, however, the 
 closeness of the interconnexion extends only to three 
 generations on each side, so that if we imagine a clasp 
 connecting two short chains of three links each, this will 
 represent the householder uniting father, grandfather, and 
 great grandfather, on the one side, with son, grandson, 
 and great grandson on the other—in all seven persons 
 connected by the Pinda (Manu V. 60). The first three are 
 supposed to be dependent on the living paterfamilias for 
 their happiness, and even for their support, through the 
 constant offering of the sacred cakes and water ; and he 
 himself, the moment he dies, becomes similarly dependent 
 on the three succeeding generations. 
 
 The connexion of Samdnodakaship lasts longer, and 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 255 
 
 ends only when the family names are no longer known 
 (V. 60). 
 
 The object of such Sraddhas is twofold, viz. first, the 
 re-embodying of the soul of the deceased in some kind 
 of form after cremation of the corpse, or simply the 
 release of the subtile body which is to convey the soul 
 away (see p. 206). Secondly, the raising him from the 
 regions of the atmosphere, where he would have other- 
 wise to roam for an indefinite period among demons and 
 evil spirits to a particular heaven or region of bliss. 
 There he is eventually half deified among the shades of 
 departed kinsmen. Manu, however, is not clear as to the 
 precise effect of the Sraddha. He merely states that its 
 performance by a son or the nearest male kinsman is neces- 
 sary to deliver a father from a kind of hell called Put’, 
 and that the spirits of the departed (Pitris) feed on the 
 offered food (IIT. 237). 
 
 Special Sraddhas such as these (p. 208), which form to 
 this very day the most important religious rite among the 
 Hindis, are accompanied with much feasting and costly 
 gifts to the Brahmans invited to assist at their celebra- 
 tion? (III. 145). The performance of the first Sriddha is 
 more particularly marked by largesses of all kinds, and 
 sometimes, it is said, costs a rich man a sum equivalent to 
 several thousand pounds*. It should take place the day 
 after mourning expires, and then at intervals during 
 twelve successive months, this monthly ceremony being 
 called by Manu Anvahdrya (111. 123). Afterwards it 
 
 1 See Manu IX. 138. Whence a son who performs the rite is called 
 Put-tra, ‘the rescuer from Put.’ This explains the desire of every Hindu 
 for the birth of a son rather than a daughter ; but it seems inconsistent that 
 the Sraiddha should have an effect irrespective of deeds done during life. 
 
 2 In Book IIT. 145 we have yatnena bhojayeé chraddhe bahv-ricam 
 veda-paragam, see p. 209. Manu, however, discouraged too much feast- 
 ing (vistara), and limited the number of guests, see III. 125, 126. 
 
 3 That of the Bengali millionaire, Ramdoolal Dey, cost £50,000, 
 according to Mr. Wheeler. 
 
256 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 should be performed on all anniversaries of a father's 
 death. Other Sraddhas are described at p. 208. 
 
 It is curious to learn from IIT. 150-168 Manw’s idea of 
 the persons to be excluded from these ceremonies (viz. 
 thieves, spirit-drinkers, atheists, men with diseased nails 
 or teeth, dancers, physicians, &c., see note, p. 275). 
 
 At some Sraddhas the old Dharma-éastras, Akhyanas, 
 Itihasas, and Puranas were recited (III. 232, note, p. 215). 
 
 With reference to the subject of diet, it is clear from 
 V. 15. 5, &c., that as a general rule the eating of flesh 
 (mdnsa) and of fish (matsya) by twice-born men was 
 prohibited ; that the drinking of spirituous liquor was 
 included among the five great sins (see p. 274); and that 
 many other kinds of food, such as garlic, onions, leeks 
 (laguna, grinjana, paldndu), mushrooms (kavaka, ¢ha- 
 traka), and carnivorous birds (kravyddah pakshinah, 
 V. 11), were forbidden. But it is an argument for the 
 antiquity of Manu’s Law-book that it ee flesh-meat 
 (dmisha) to be eaten at some of these Sraddhas (ITT. 
 123, IV. 131). I annex a few interesting passages which 
 bear upon the killing of animals for sacrifice and the 
 eating of flesh-meat under certain circumstances : 
 
 Never let a Brahman eat the flesh of cattle unconsecrated with Mantras, 
 but let him eat it only when hallowed with texts of the Veda (IV. 36). 
 
 On a solemn offering to a guest (madhu-parka) at a sacrifice, and in 
 holy rites to departed ancestors or to the gods—on these occasions and no 
 other may cattle be slain (V. 41). 
 
 As many hairs as grow on any animal, so many similar deaths shall one 
 who slays it unnecessarily (vrith@) endure hereafter from birth to birth. 
 By the Self-existent himself were animals created for sacrifice, which 
 was ordained for the welfare (bidtyaz) of all this universe; therefore 
 slaughter of animals for sacrifice is no slaughter (V. 38, a0): 
 
 In eating meat (mansa-bhakshane) and in drinking wine (madye) there 
 is no crime (provided it be on a lawful occasion, V. 56). 
 
 1 This is another indication of the priority of at least part of Manu’s 
 Code to the general spread of Buddhism, which reformation led to the 
 almost total abolition of animal sacrifice in India. 
 
συ συν ee δ» “Ὁ 
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 257 
 
 Hospitality is enjoined on the householder, in the stron g- 
 est language, as a religious duty (see also p. 287): 
 
 No guest (atithi) who arrives in the evening, brought by the setting 
 sun (sa%ryodhah), must be dismissed. Whether he arrives in season or out of 
 season, let him be allowed to sojourn in the house and be well entertained. 
 
 A Brahman sojourning in a house and not honoured takes to himeelf 
 all the merit of the householder’s good deeds (III. roo), 
 
 Let the householder not eat anything himself till he has made his guest 
 eat. The honouring of a guest confers wealth, reputation, life, and heaven 
 (III. 105, 106. Compare also IV. 29). 
 
 An oblation (of food) in the fire of a Brihman’s mouth delivers (the 
 offerer) from great guilt (III. 98). 
 
 With regard to the householder’s wife and the condition 
 of women as depicted by Manu, we may observe that their 
 position is one of entire subordination, amounting, in 
 theory, to a complete abnegation of what in these days 
 would be called ‘women’s rights.’ But although it is 
 certain that the inferiority of woman is a fixed Oriental 
 dogma which no contact with Europeans is likely entirely 
 to eradicate, yet it must be borne in mind that the prac- 
 tice does riot always conform to the theory. The influence 
 of Hindi mothers in their own families, and the respect 
 paid to them by their children, have always been great ; 
 and it is one indication of the antiquity of Manu’s Code 
 that, although some of its precepts pronounce women un- 
 fit for independence, and debarred from the study of the 
 Veda, others concede to them an amount of freedom to 
 which they became strangers in times subsequent to the 
 influx of Mohammedan customs!. In some cases a girl, if 
 unmarried for three years, is even allowed to choose her 
 own husband2, when she is called Svayam-vara (LX. 90, 
 92). It is very true that Manu distinctly directs (V. 162, 
 
 1 The seclusion of Hindi women is chiefly due to the introduction of 
 Muslim customs when the Mohammedans invaded India. 
 
 ? Girls of the Kshatriya class sometimes chose their own husbands, as 
 we know from the story of Nala and other episodes of the Mahabharata. 
 
 8 
 
258 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 IX. 47, 65) that no second husband is to be allowed to 
 widows, but he nowhere alludes to that exaggerated 
 devotion which induced the Sati or ‘devoted wife’ to burn 
 her from 
 about the time of Alexander’s invasion', more than 300 
 years B.C., till the year 1829, has led to the sacrifice of 
 innumerable lives, and has left a blot on the annals of our 
 own administration ”. 
 
 1 It is clear from Strabo XV. 30 and 62 that Sati prevailed in India 
 about the time of Alexander. Strabo says that the Kathaei (=Kanya- 
 kubja or perhaps Kshatriya), a tribe in the Panjab, in order to prevent 
 wives poisoning their husbands, made a law that they should be burnt 
 with them when they died (συγκατακαίεσθαι τεθνεῶσι τοῖς ἀνδράσι τὰς γυναῖκας), 
 and that some wives burnt themselves voluntarily (ἀσμένας). Compare 
 also Diodorus Siculus (XIX. 33), who describes how, after the battle 
 between Antiochus and Eumenes, one of the wives of the Indian general 
 Κητεὺς (=Ketu or Khatri?) burnt herself, after contending with the other 
 for the honour. But Arrian makes no mention of any Sati. He only 
 describes (VII. 2, 3) how Κάλανος (perhaps=Sanskrit Kalyana), one of a 
 sect of Indian wise men who went naked, burnt himself upon a pile. 
 The description is like that of the self-cremation of the ascetic Sara- 
 bhanga in Ramayana III. 9. Cf. Cicero, Tusc. Disp. 11. 22 and de 
 Divin. I. 23. The following is a portion of the latter passage: ‘ Est 
 profecto quiddam etiam in barbaris gentibus praesentiens, atque divinans: 
 siquidem ad mortem proficiscens Calanus Indus, cum adscenderet in rogum 
 ardentem, O pracclarum discessum, inquiet, e vita!’ The idea of Sati 
 seems to have been borrowed by the Hindis from the Scythians (Herod. 
 IV. 71). A similar custom prevailed among the Thracians (Herod. V. 5). 
 Cf. also Propertius III. 13, ‘ Ardent victrices, et flammae pectora prae- 
 bent, Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris. Madri, wife of Pindu, became 
 a Sati (Maha-bharata, Adi-parva 4896). Compare Dr. Rost’s edition of 
 Wilson’s Works, vol. 11. pp. 270-309. 
 
 2 The practice of Sati was for a long time thought to be so intimately 
 connected with the religious belief of the Hindi, that our Government 
 did not venture to put a stop to it. It was known to be enjoined in the 
 Brahma-purana and Codes of Vyasa, Angiras, &c.; and such authorities 
 as Colebrooke (see his life by his son, p. 287) and H. H. Wilson (in 1828) 
 gave their opinion against interference, although it was ascertained that 
 neither the Veda nor Manu directed or even hinted at concremation of the 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 259 
 
 Indeed, the marriage of widows is even spoken of as 
 practised, though reprehended (IX. 66-68) ; and a damsel 
 given away in marriage may be re-betrothed, if her hus- 
 band die before she is actually married (69). 
 
 The following passages will be sufficient to fill up the 
 picture of Hindi domestic life (see also p. 288) : 
 
 Day and night must women be made to feel their dependence on their 
 husbands. But if they are fond of worldly amusements (uishayeshu 
 sajjantyah), let them be allowed to follow their own inclinations (IX. 2). 
 
 Even if confined at home by faithful guardians they are not (really) 
 guarded ; but those women who guard themselves by their own will 
 (dtmanam atmand yds tu raksheyuh) are well guarded (IX. 12). 
 
 Let not (a husband) eat with his wife, nor look at her eating (IV. 43). 
 
 Women have no business to repeat texts of the Veda (ndsti strindm 
 kriyad mantrair), thus is the law established (IX. 18). 
 
 Domestic rites are to be performed in common with a wife (sa@dharano 
 dharmah patnya saha), so it is ordained in the Veda (IX. 96). 
 
 No sacrifice is permitted to women separately (from their husbands), 
 no religious observance (vratam), no fasting (wposhitam). As far as a 
 wife obeys her husband so far is she exalted in heaven (V. 155). 
 
 A husband must continually be revered (wpadaryah) as a god (deva-vat) 
 by a virtuous wife (Ὁ 154). 
 
 A virtuous wife who remains unmarried after the death of her husband 
 goes to heaven, even though she have no son (V. 160). 
 
 living wife with the dead husband. To Raghu-nandana (according to 
 Dr. F. Hall) is due the alteration of the last word of a Rig-veda text 
 (X. 18. 7, see p. 209) on which the authority for Sati was made to rest : 
 Anasravo “namivah su-ratnad ἃ rohantu janayo yonim agre, ‘without 
 tears, without sorrow, bedecked with jewels, let the wives go up to the 
 altar first,’ where agneh, ‘of fire,’ was substituted for agre, ‘first.’ (Com- 
 pare pp. 205, 209, 210.) It is true that our Government adopted a 
 middle course, and prohibited the burning of the widow, except under 
 strict regulations, and except with her own full consent; and officials 
 were to be present to see the rules enforced ; but I have been informed 
 by a distinguished friend (Mr. Seton-Karr) who held high offices in India, 
 that, in consequence of our half-sanction, the number of widows actually 
 returned as burnt, rose in one year to 800, while in other years (between 
 1815 and 1828) it varied from 300 to 600. Lord William Bentinck 
 passed a law in 1829 (Reg. xvii) which suppressed the practice with 
 entire success and without difficulty. 
 
 $2 
 
260 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 We have already indicated that in the third and fourth 
 periods of his life a Brahman, according to Manu, is to 
 become first an anchorite (vdénaprastha) and then a reli- 
 gious mendicant (bhikshu or parivrdjaka). It is indeed 
 wholly improbable that all Brahmans conformed to this 
 rule, but the second verse of the sixth Book prescribes 
 that when the father of a family perceives his hair to 
 - be turning grey, or as soon as his first grandchild is 
 born, and after he has paid his three debts’, he is to retire 
 to a forest and there as a hermit to practise austerities : 
 
 Having taken up his sacred fire (agni-hotram) and all the domestic 
 utensils for making oblations to it, and having gone forth from the town 
 to the forest, let him dwell there with all his organs of sense well 
 restrained (VI. 4). 
 
 With many kinds of pure food let him perform the five Maha-yajnas or 
 ‘devotional rites’ (VI. 5). 
 
 Let him also offer the Vaitanika oblations with the (three sacred) fires 
 according to rule (see p. 197, note 1, p. 198). 
 
 Let him roll backwards and forwards on the ground, or stand all day 
 on tiptoe (prapadath), let him move about by alternately standing up 
 and sitting down, going to the waters to bathe at the three Savanas 
 (sunrise, sunset, and midday, VI. 22. See last line of p. 247). 
 
 Let him practise the rules of the lunar penance (VI. 20. See p. 106). 
 
 In the hot weather let him be a Panéa-tapas (VI. 23. See p. 105). 
 
 Let him offer libations (tarpayet) to the gods and Pitris, performing 
 ablutions at the three Savanas (VI. 24). 
 
 Having consigned the three sacred fires (vaitandn) to his own person 
 (by swallowing the ashes) according to prescribed rules, let him remain 
 without fire, without habitation, feeding on roots and fruits, practising 
 the vow of a Muni (i. 6. the Mawna-vrata of perpetual silence, VI. 25). 
 
 Book VI. 33 directs him for the fourth period of his 
 life to wander about as a Bhikshu or Parivrajaka, ‘reli- 
 gious mendicant’ (éaturtham dyusho bhagam parwrajet). 
 Here are a few rules for the regulation of this final stage 
 of his existence, when he is sometimes called a Sannydsin, 
 
 * These three debts (tr7ni rindni) are, 1. to the gods, 2. to the Pitris, 
 3. to the Rishis. The rst is liquidated by sacrifices, the 2nd by begetting a 
 son for performance of the Sraddha, the 3rd by repetition of the Veda. 
 
i eee 
 
 THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 261 
 
 ‘one who has given up the world;’ sometimes a Yate, 
 ‘one who has suppressed his passions ?:’ 
 
 Let him remain without fire, without habitation (a-niketah) ; let him 
 resort once a day to the town for food, regardless of hardships, resolute, 
 keeping a vow of silence (mun), fixing his mind in meditation (VI. 43). 
 
 With hair, nails, and beard well clipped, carrying a bowl (péfr7), 
 a staff (dand7), and a pitcher (Auswmbhavan), let him wander about conti- 
 nually, intent on meditation and avoiding injury to any being (VI. 52). 
 
 In this manner, having little by little (Sanath Sanath) abandoned all 
 worldly attachments (sang@n), and freed himself from all concern about 
 pairs of opposites? (dvandva), he obtains absorption into the universal 
 Spirit (brahmany avatishihate, VI. 81). 
 
 IV. Let us now note, in the fourth place, the chief 
 characteristics of Manu’s ordinances of government and 
 judicature (vyavahdra), and a few of the most remarkable 
 civil and penal laws and rules of evidence *. The treat- 
 ment of these subjects, which ought to constitute the most 
 
 1 Τ find that some of M. Barth’s remarks in the ‘ Revue Critique’ for 
 June 13, 1874, bear on what I have stated with regard to Manu’s ordi- 
 nances in the preceding pages: ‘Si nous remontons plus haut, aux livres 
 védiques, aux plus anciens comme aux plus modernes, nous trouvons la 
 nation Indienne divisée en un grand nombre de petites principautés, ob 
 domine le principe ethnique de la peuplade et du clan. Cette organisation 
 qui n’avait certainement pas beaucoup changé a ’époque du Buddha, 
 saccorde encore moins avec le syst¢me de Manu, qui suppose une certaine 
 uniformité et l’existence de grands états. La plupart de ces peuplades 
 avaient sans doute un état social analogue : de temps immémorial elles 
 étaient divisées en 4 classes... . Mais il est difficile de préciser le degré 
 de rigueur de cette division. Encore ἃ une époque relativement récente 
 (Chandog. Up. iv. 4. 2) la plus jalouse, et la plus fermée de ces classes, 
 celle des Prahmanes, ne parait pas trés scrupuleuse quant a la pureté du 
 sang. Je ne puis donc voir autre chose dans la théorie officielle de la 
 caste qu'une sorte de thtme convenu dont il faut faire usage avec la plus 
 grande prudence, thtme dont la donnée fondamentale a dfi, parce qu'elle 
 était consacrée par une tradition sainte, se préter successivement, et 
 d'une facon plus ou moins artificielle a Yexplication d’états de société bien 
 différents.’ 
 
 2 Such as honour and dishonour (mandpamdana), joy and sorrow, &c, 
 
 3 Τ have here consulted Elphinstone’s and Mill’s India. 
 
262 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 important department of a code of laws, is only commenced 
 by Manu in the second half of his work, and 15 chiefly com- 
 prised in one quarter of it, viz. the seventh, eighth, and 
 ninth Books. As the state of society depicted in the first 
 six Books is of a simple and primitive character, recogniz- 
 ing only four principal divisions of the people, so the only 
 form of government prescribed in the seventh Book is of 
 a paternal and patriarchal description. The king is to rule 
 by divine right, and, though a despot, to act like a father’ 
 towards his subjects (varteta pitrivan nrishu, VII. 80). 
 That he was treated as a kind of divinity is evident: 
 
 The Creator created a king for the protection of the whole world by 
 drawing forth eternal particles (matrah sdasvatih) from the essence of 
 Indra, Anila (Wind), Yama (god of justice), Sirya (Sun), Agni (Fire), 
 Varuna, Candra (Moon), and Kuvera (god of wealth, VII. 3, 4). 
 
 A king, even though a child, must not be treated with contempt, as if 
 he were a mortal ; he is a great divinity in human shape (VII. 8). 
 
 He is directed to appoint seven or eight ministers 
 (VIT. 54) and to consult them first apart, and then collec- 
 tively, as a kind of council. His prime minister (VII. 58) 
 is to be a Brahman’, and in him he is to place implicit 
 confidence (59). He is to have a standing army (VII. 
 102, 103), commander-in-chief (VIT. 65), and an ambas- 
 sador (datah) of great knowledge and abilities (VII. 63). 
 The following is very significant : 
 
 Determination not to retreat in battle (sawgradmeshu anivartitvam), 
 
 protection of the people, and obedience (Susrasha) to Brahmans is the 
 highest duty of kings, and secures their felicity in heaven (VII. 88). 
 
 The king’s mode of life and the distribution of his time 
 
 1 Compare Sakuntala, Act V: Zvayi parisamaptam bandhu-krityam 
 prajanam, ‘in thee (the king) is comprehended the whole duty of a 
 kinsman towards thy subjects.’ Δεσπότης is said to be=Sanskr dasa- 
 pati, ‘lord of conquered races.’ 
 
 2 This rule was followed by Sivaji in the constitution of the Marathi 
 empire,and the Peshwa or chief of the eight Pradhinas, ‘principal ministers,’ 
 ultimately superseded Sivaji’s weak successors and usurped the supremacy. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 263 
 
 are carefully regulated (VII. 145, &c.) He is to rise in the 
 last watch of the night, then to hold a court, then to 
 assemble his council and deliberate on the affairs of his 
 kingdom and all the eightfold business of kings (VIT. 154); 
 after that, to engage in manly exercises, then to dine, 
 taking care that his food is not poisoned (VII. 218), and 
 then to regulate his family; after that, he is allowed some 
 relaxation; then he is to review his troops; then to 
 perform religious exercises ; and lastly, being himself well 
 armed, to receive the report of his spies (¢dra), informers 
 and secret emissaries (pranidhi), who are regarded as of 
 ‘great importance'. He is to conclude the day by a frugal 
 meal and musical recreations, and to go to bed early (VII. 
 225)". The rules for diplomacy and war show that India 
 was divided into a number of unequal states. Intrigues 
 are to be carried on with the leaders of the enemy, and 
 negotiation is declared to be better than force (VII. 197, 
 198). In battle the king is to set an example of personal 
 bravery (VII. 87). The chief weapon is the bow (VII. 
 
 1 In IX. 256 a king is called é@ra-éakshuh, ‘spy-eyed.’ 
 
 * The royal office was no sinecure. This is evident from the Maha- 
 bharata and Dasa-kumara-¢arita as well as from Manu. It appears that 
 the day and night were each divided into eight portions of one hour and 
 a half each, reckoned from sunrise, and thus distributed. Day—tr. the 
 king being dressed is to audit accounts ; 2. he is to pronounce judgments 
 in appeals; 3. he is to breakfast ; 4. he is to receive and make presents ; 
 5. he is to discuss political questions with his ministers; 6. he is to 
 amuse himself; 7. he is to review his troops; 8. he is to hold a military 
 council. Night—1r. he is to receive the reports of his spies and envoys ; 
 2. he is to dine; 3. he is to retire to rest after the perusal of some sacred 
 work ; 4 and 5. he is to sleep; 6. he is to rise and purify himself; 7. he 
 is to hold a private consultation with his ministers and instruct his 
 officers; 8. he is to attend upon the Purohita or ‘family priest’ for the 
 performance of religious ceremonies (Wilson’s Hindi Theatre, i. 209). 
 Megasthenes (Strabo XV. 1, 55) says that the Indian king may not sleep 
 in the day-time, but continues the whole day judging causes. Compare 
 Macaulay’s account of the daily life of Frederic the Great (Essays, p. 805). 
 
264 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 74). Elephants, chariots, cavalry, and infantry form the 
 Catur-an-ga or ‘fourfold army ', and minute directions are 
 given for its marching (VII. 187, &c.) 
 
 With regard to internal administration, it is clear from 
 the Code that the country was partitioned into divisions 
 governed by vicegerents, to whom the king delegated his 
 own despotic powers, and whose authority was again dele- 
 gated to other subordinate governors, who again divided 
 their power by committing it to other rulers of townships 
 in a regular chain, the highest governor ruling over a 
 thousand towns, the next over a hundred, the next over 
 twenty, the next over ten (cf. St. Luke xix. 17), and the 
 lowest ruling over one town: 
 
 Let the lord of one town (gramikah) notify of his own accord, and in 
 due order, to the lord of ten towns (gr@ma-dasesaya) any crimes which 
 have taken place in his own district, and the lord of ten to the lord of 
 twenty ; let the lord of twenty notify everything to the lord of a hundred, 
 and the lord of a hundred to the lord of a thousand (VII. 116, 117). 
 
 Another important subject is revenue, which the monarch 
 is to obtain from the following sources: 1. Taxes on 
 the produce of land, which was probably held in common 
 by village communities, though occasional grants may 
 have been made to individuals, the king being theoreti- 
 cally the only absolute proprietor of the soil (bhimer adhi- 
 patih, VIII. 39)”. 2. Taxes on the produce of labour. 
 3. Taxes on certain metals and commodities added to 
 capital stock. 4, Taxes on purchases and sales. 5. A 
 kind of poll-tax. 6. Another kind paid in labour, 
 
 With regard to 1, the usual proportion of produce taken 
 by the king was a sixth part, but in times of necessity 
 
 * In VIT. 185 a sixfold (shad-vidha) army is spoken of, the two other 
 component parts being officers and attendants. 
 
 2 Tn later times a sort of middle-man, to whom the name Zamindar 
 (introduced by the Mohammedans) is applied, acquired an ownership 
 nearly absolute in the soil ; or, at any rate, intervened between the Ryot 
 or ‘cultivator’ and the king, receiving a share of the produce from the 
 former and paying a stipulated proportion to the sovereign. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 265 
 
 (as of war or invasion), he might even take a fourth of 
 the crops. But, even though dying for want of money, he 
 is never to receive a tax from a Brahman conversant with 
 the Veda (VII. 133) The following passages illustrate 
 the above six heads of taxation : 
 
 r. A sixth, an eighth, or a twelfth part of grain may be taken by the 
 king (according to the goodness or badness of the soil, VIL. 130). 
 
 The king who, without giving protection, takes a sixth part of the 
 grain as tax (bali) is declared to draw upon himself all the sins of all his 
 subjects (VIII. 308). 
 
 A military king (Ashatriyah) who takes even a fourth part in a time 
 of necessity (ἄραι) while protecting his subjects to the utmost of his 
 ability is freed from all culpability (X. 118). 
 
 2. Moreover, he may take a sixth part of the annual increase of trees 
 (ἅν), meat, honey, clarified butter, perfumes, medicinal herbs, liquids, 
 flowers, roots, and fruits, of leaves (patra), pot-herbs (sdha), grass, 
 wicker-work (vaidala), hides, earthenware vessels, and all articles made 
 of stone (VII. 131, 132). 
 
 3. OF cattle and gold and silver (hiranyayoh) added to the eapital stock 
 (malad adhikayoh), a fiftieth part may be taken by the king (VII. 130). 
 
 Of old treasures and precious metals in the earth the king may take 
 one half, because he protects his subjects and is the paramount lord of 
 the soil (VIII. 39). 
 
 4. Having well considered the rates of purchase and sale, the length of 
 transit (adhvadnam), with cost of food &c. on the journey (saparivyayam), 
 the profit gained, and expense of insurance (yoya-kshemam), let him make 
 merchants pay taxes on their commodities (VII. 127). 
 
 5. The king should cause the lower classes (prithagjanam=nikrish{a- 
 janam, Kullika) in his kingdom, who live by petty trading, to pay some 
 small sum (per head) in the name of the annual tax (VII. 137). 
 
 6. The king should cause inferior artisans and artificers (such as black- 
 smiths, &c.) and men of the servile class (s#drdn), who support themselves 
 by their own labour, to work for one day in every month (VII. 138). 
 
 As regards the administration of justice, this is also 
 to be performed by the king in person, aided by Brahmans 
 
 1 Tn Sakuntala, Act Il, Mathavya says to the king, ‘Say you have come 
 for the sixth part of their grain which they owe you for tribute.’ The 
 Maha-bharata allows secularized Brahmans to be taxed. Strabo (XY. 
 1, 40) says, ‘the whole land belongs to the king, but the Indians work it 
 on condition of receiving the fourth part of the crops (ἐπὶ rerapras).’ 
 
266 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 or else by a Brahman acting as his deputy, assisted by 
 three others (VIII. 9, 10). In Book VII. 14 we read : 
 
 For the use of the king the great Creator (/svarah) created in the begin- 
 ning his own son Justice, composed of particles of his own divine essence, to 
 act as the protector of all creatures (by wielding) the rod of punishment. 
 
 The terrible consequences of neglecting to wield this 
 rod are described in VII. 20, &c. (see p. 289). The king 
 is not to encourage litigation (notpddayet karyam, VIII. 
 43). Nevertheless, he is to be ready every day to decide 
 causes in the court (sabhad) when brought before him. 
 The mode of conducting a trial is simple and patriarchal. 
 In VIII. 23 we read: 
 
 Let the king, having seated himself on the judgment-seat, with his 
 body suitably attired and his mind collected (sama@hitah), and having 
 offered homage (pranamya) to the gods who are guardians of the world, 
 commence the trial of causes (kdrya-darsana). (Cf. Strabo XV. τ, 55.) 
 
 The litigant parties are to be heard in person, and the 
 plaintiffs accusation is to be made wivd voce. The wit- 
 nesses are to be examined by the judge, who is to observe 
 their countenances carefully (VIII. 25, 26). In his deci- 
 sion the judge is to attend to local usage, established 
 practice (aédara), the decisions of former judges (VIII. 45, 
 46), and written codes of law (Sdstra, VIII. 3). 
 
 Let me pass on to notice the broad features of the civil 
 and criminal code. It is, of course, very desirable that 
 the distinction between civil and criminal laws should be 
 clearly marked out. They are, however, mixed together 
 very confusedly in the eighteen heads or divisions of law 
 given by Manu (Book VII . 4-7) as follows: 
 
 The eighteen titles or branches of law are: 1. recovery of debts (rind- 
 danam); 2. deposits (nikshepah); 3. sale of property by one who is not 
 the rightful owner (asvami-vikrayah); 4. engaging in business after 
 joining partnership, association in trade (sambhiya samutthanam) ; 
 5. non-delivery of what has been given (dattasy@napakarma) ; 6. non- 
 payment of wages (vefanasya adadnam) ; 7. breach of contract (samvido 
 vyatikramah); 8. annulling of purchase or sale (kraya-vikrayanusayah) ; 
 g. disputes between the owner and tender of cattle or between master 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 267 
 
 and servant (vivddah svdmipdlayoh) ; 10. the law respecting disputes 
 about boundaries (stmd-vivada-dharmah); 11, 12. the two kinds of 
 assault, viz. blows and abuse, or assault with blows and assault with 
 slander (parushye-danda-vacike) ; 13. theft and larceny (steyam); 14. 
 robbery with violence (s@hasam); 15. adultery (str7-sangrahanam) ; 
 16. the law regulating (the duties of) husband and wife (str?-pun-dharmah) ; 
 17. partition of patrimony or inheritance (wilhdgah); 18. gambling with 
 dice and betting on animals, such as fighting-cocks (dywtam ahvayas éa). 
 
 The first nine of the above titles and the sixteenth and 
 seventeenth belong to civil law; those from the eleventh 
 to the fifteenth, and the eighteenth relate to criminal 
 law ; the tenth belongs partly to civil, partly to criminal. 
 With reference to the whole arrangement of the subject, 
 Mr. James Mill’s History of India (vol.1. p. 195, &c.) has 
 some valuable remarks, the substance of which I here give: 
 
 Though no arrangement would appear more natural than the division 
 of laws into civil and penal, we find them here mixed together. Another 
 obvious ground of division—the distinction between the laws about 
 persons and the laws about things—which prevailed in Roman law and 
 was transferred, rude as it was, to English, seems never to have occurred 
 to Hindi lawyers in the time of Manu. The first nine of the heads in 
 Manuw’s arrangement relate to contracts, but the division is rude and 
 imperfect. It begins with ‘Loans,’ one of the most refined of contracts. 
 The subject of ‘purchase and sale’ is divided into two parts, but one 
 occupies the third place in the list, the other the eighth, and a number 
 of heterogeneous subjects intervene. ‘Partnership’ occupies a middle 
 place between two subjects, to neither of which it has any relation. 
 ‘Non-payment of wages’ stands immediately before ‘ Breach of contract,’ 
 as a separate title, though it ought to be included under that head. In 
 fact, this seventh head is so general that it comprehends the whole subject 
 of contracts. When the subject of contracts is ended, the principal 
 branches of criminal law are introduced. After these and some other 
 topics follows the great subject of inheritance '. 
 
 Under the head of Civil Law the most interesting of 
 Manu’s ordinances are on the important subject of pro- 
 perty, whether acquired by possession or occupancy (/abha, 
 
 1 In consulting Mr. James Mill I have found that some of his state- 
 ments must be taken with considerable qualification, prejudiced as he 
 appears to have been against everything Hindi. 
 
268 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 bhukti, bhoga), by purchase (kraya), by contract (samvid, 
 vyavahdra), by labour (karma-yoga), by donation (prati- 
 graha), by inheritance (ddya). I note the following: 
 
 He who has acquired any property through the sale of it (wikraydt) in 
 the presence of a number (of buyers and sellers) justly obtains the right to 
 that property by reason of having paid the purchase money (VIIT. 201). 
 
 The property of infants who are heirs let the king hold in trust until 
 the owner has completed his term of studentship or till he is of age (at 
 sixteen, VIII. 27). 
 
 Let the king fix the rate of sale and purchase of all marketable com- 
 modities (sarva-panyanam), after having considered the distance (from 
 which they have been imported), the remoteness of the place to which 
 they are sent, the time they are kept, and the gain or loss upon them, 
 Once in every five nights or once a fortnight he should fix the proper 
 rate in the presence of those (who understand it, VIII. 401, 402). 
 
 A lost article, when found, should be guarded by trusty men. Any 
 thieves convicted of stealing it should be condemned to be trampled to 
 death by the royal elephant (VIII. 34). 
 
 It is evidence of a somewhat rude state of society 
 that in certain cases a man is allowed to repent of a 
 bargain and to have a contract annulled, thus : 
 
 When a man has bought or sold anything (uot perishable, such as land 
 or copper), and may afterwards repent, he may restore it or take it back 
 within ten days ‘antar-dasahat, VIII. 222). 
 
 Marriage is regarded as a contract, but the same liberty 
 of annulling is in this case not allowed: 
 
 If a man shall give away in marriage a girl who has any defects 
 (doshavatim) without notifying these defects, the king must fine him 
 ninety-six Panas (kurydd dandam shannavatim pandn, VILI 22): 
 
 The repetition of the nuptial texts (panigrahanika mantrah) are the 
 settled mark (niyatam lakshanam) of a marriage contract. Of those 
 texts (the one) repeated on (making) the seventh step (viz. sakha sapta- 
 padi bhava, see p. 200, 1. 7) is decided by the wise to be (the sign of) 
 the completion (nishtha) of the contract (VIII. 227). 
 
 Throughout Eastern countries, especially im ancient times, 
 the insecurity of property has led to two practices little 
 resorted to by the peoples of modern Europe, viz. conceal- 
 ment of valuable articles and the habit of entrusting them 
 for safety to the keeping of others. We can understand, 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 269 
 
 therefore, the importance assigned in Manu’s Law-book 
 (Book VIIT. 179, &.) to the subject of ‘deposits’ or, ac- 
 cording to legal phraseology, ‘ bailments.’ This branch of 
 law opens thus: 
 
 A wise man should make a deposit (nikshepam nikshipet) with a person 
 of good family, of good conduct, acquainted with law, a speaker of truth, 
 possessing numerous relations, wealthy and honourable (VIII. 179). 
 
 If a bailee (nydsa-dharin) fail to restore a deposit, and there are no 
 witnesses, the judge is to cause secret agents (pranidhi) to deposit gold 
 with him, and should he fail to redeliver it, he is to be made to pay 
 (dapych) the equivalent of both deposits (VIII. 181-184). 
 
 Another proof of a primitive state of society may be 
 found in the rules respecting interest and the premium 
 paid for the use of borrowed property. This is sometimes 
 allowed to be paid in kind'; as, for instance, when grain, 
 fruit, wool, animals, &c., have been borrowed, showing 
 that comed money was still uncommon as a general circu- 
 lating medium. (Compare the mention of ndénaka, ‘ coin, 
 in the later Code of Yajnavalkya IT. 241.) 
 
 Interest on money (Austda-vriddhih) received all at once (and not by 
 the month, &c.) must not exceed the double (of the sum lent)” ; on grain 
 (dhanye), fruit (sade), wool (Jave), and beasts of burden (vahye) it must 
 not exceed five times the value (pandatd, VIII. 151). 
 
 The rate of interest (vriddhi) is not only high, but 
 varies according to the class of the man to whom any- 
 thing is lent ; but compound interest (dakra-vriddhi) is 
 not approved (VIII. 153) : 
 
 A money-lender (vdrdhushikah) may take two per cent (dvikam Satam) 
 as interest per month from a Brahman, three (trikam) from a Ksha- 
 triya, four (¢atushkam) from a Vaisya, and five (paiéakam) from a Sidra, 
 in the order of the classes (VIII. 142). 
 
 In VIII. 156, 157, there is a law bottomry, which is 
 
 * Compare Deut. xxiii. 19, 20, ‘Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy 
 brother; usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of anything that is lent 
 upon usury : unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon usury,’ &c. 
 
 2 Principal doubled by accumulated interest is called in Marathi Dam- 
 dupat. Even now a village Mahajan will take from 50 to 75 per cent. 
 
270 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 interesting as showing that sea-voyages were undertaken 
 in Manu’s time. 
 
 The recovery of debts is enforced by stringent laws, and 
 the debtor is not only made to pay what he owes, but an 
 
 additional fine to the king, thus’: 
 
 When a debt has to be paid (rine deye) which is admitted to be just, 
 the debtor owes a fine of five per cent (panéakam satam) in additicn, 
 and ten per cent if it be repudiated (though it be just, VIII. 139). 
 
 The laws respecting herdsmen (pasu-pdla) and their 
 employers (svémin) are carefully laid down (VIII. 220, 
 &c.) I note one instance (VIII. 232): 
 
 The herdsman himself must restore an animal that has been lost 
 (nashta), or destroyed by vermin (krimibhih), or killed by dogs, or has 
 perished by falling into a hole (vishame) through want of his having 
 exerted himself to save it (hinam purusha-karena). 
 
 We may also observe that the hire of some kinds of 
 
 agricultural labourers is directed to be paid in kind’: 
 
 That hired herdsman whose hire is paid with milk must be allowed by 
 the owner of the cattle to milk the best cow out of ten (dasato-varam), 
 unless he be paid with some other kind of food (VIII. 231). 
 
 The most important subject connected with property is 
 the law of inheritance (ἀγα) treated of in the ninth Book 
 of Manu’s Code. And here we cannot fail to be struck 
 with the remarkable circumstance that Hindi law does 
 not allow the owner of property any testamentary power’. 
 
 1 No sanction, however, is given by Manu to the later practice of 
 Dharna or ‘sitting at the door of a house to compel payment of a debt.’ 
 The person so sitting refuses to eat, and as long as he does so the debtor 
 must abstain from food too, and if the suitor perishes the crime of his 
 death falls on the debtor. Originally the person sitting in Dharna, either 
 on his own behalf or that of another, wasa Brahman. See H. H. Wilson’s 
 Glossary of Indian Terms. 
 
 5 Paymetns in kind in aid of money wages are not unusual even in 
 the present day. Even quite recently in British territory the land-tax 
 was sometimes paid in kind, and is still so paid in some native states. 
 
 3. Our Government made this legal by the Hindi Wills Act (xxi. of 
 1870). Certain peculiar documents, however, resembling wills, but bear- 
 ing other titles, were previously recognized by our courts. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. OTT 
 
 Indeed, a proper word for ‘will’ or ‘testament’ does not 
 exist in the Sanskrit language. It must be borne in mind 
 that in a patriarchal state of society all family property 
 was supposed to be held in common by a sort of joint 
 ownership, the father or principal person in a household 
 being regarded as a head partner. 
 
 In India, where customs become stereotyped for cen- 
 turies, this primitive idea of a common title to the family 
 property has continued to prevail up to recent times. The 
 family is, as we have seen, a corporate society, whose bond 
 of union is the sacred oblation offered in common by its 
 living to its deceased members. On the death of a father 
 the sons or nearest relatives succeed to the inheritance 
 by simple right of Sa-pindaship, that is, by a right ob- 
 tained through the common offering of rice-cakes (pinda) 
 and of water &c. to a deceased father, grandfather, and 
 great grandfather at the Sraddha ceremonies (see p- 254). 
 It must be noted, however, that although the whole family 
 has a joint-interest in the property, the estate cannot 
 be divided during the lifetime of the parents, and even at 
 their death the eldest son is allowed to take the father’s 
 place as chief manager of the family partnership, thus : 
 
 The eldest brother may take the paternal property (pitryam dhanam) 
 entirely (into his own hands). The rest of the family (sesh@h) may live under 
 him (tam upajiveyuh) exactly as they lived under the father (IX. 105). 
 
 An eldest brother conducting himself as he ought (towards his younger 
 brothers) is to be regarded by them as ἃ mother and father (IX. rro). 
 
 Nevertheless, the brothers are allowed, if they like, to 
 separate, and full directions are given in Book IX. 112 
 &e. for the partition of the family estate ; a distinction 
 being made according to merit as well as age, and some 
 being, very unjustly according to our ideas, disqualified : 
 
 After the death of the father and mother, the brothers having assembled 
 together may make a partition of the paternal property, but they have no 
 
 power to do so during the lifetime of their parents (IX. 104). 
 Either let them live together (sahavaseyuh) or separately, from religious 
 
yay INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 motives; since the number of religious rites (such as the five M/ahd- 
 yajiah, see p. 251) are increased by separation of households, therefore 
 separation is legal (IX. 111). 
 
 The portion taken out (of the estate) by the eldest son is a twentieth, 
 along with the best of all the chattels ; by the middle son, a fortieth ; and 
 by the youngest, an eightieth (IX. 112). 
 
 A deduction (wddhara) being thus made, the remainder should be 
 allotted among the brothers in equal shares; if no deduction is made 
 they should share in the following manner: Let the eldest take a double 
 share and the next born a share and a half (if they excel in learning and 
 merit), and let the younger sons have a share each (IX. 116, 117). 
 
 Those brothers who are addicted to vicious habits (such as gambling, 
 licentiousness, &c.) forfeit a right (ndrhanti) to any share in the inherit- 
 ance (IX. 214). 
 
 Impotent persons (A/iva), those who have lost caste (patita), those who 
 are blind, deaf, insane, paralyzed (jada), dumb, defective in limb or 
 sense, are also debarred from sharing (IX. 201). 
 
 But a wise heir will in common justice supply all such persons with 
 food and raiment (grasa/‘chadanam) to the best of his ability. Otherwise 
 he is guilty of a great crime (IX. 202). 
 
 It must be observed that women are generally excluded 
 from a direct title to share in the division of property : 
 
 Three persons are declared to have no property of their own (a-dhanah), 
 a wife, a son, and a slave. Whatever money they earn is his to whom 
 they belong (VIII. 416). 
 
 Nevertheless, some marriage portions (sulka) or gifts 
 received by a married woman at and after the nuptial 
 ceremony, are regarded as her own peculiar property. 
 These constitute what is still called Str7-dhana', ‘a 
 woman's (separate) wealth or dower, which, according 
 to Manu, is sixfold: 
 
 * Commonly written Stridhun. Mr. Herbert Cowell, in his Tagore 
 Law Lectures for 1871 (p. 28), says, that although this property is sup- 
 posed to belong exclusively to a wife, the husband has a concurrent power 
 over it, so that he may use it in any exigency, without being held account- 
 able for it. Stri-dhana is now, however, acquired ‘by gift, by earnings, 
 and by inheritance,’ and the Dayabhaga lays down that the husband has 
 power over the wife’s earnings and ‘any presents she may receive from 
 any other but kindred.’ 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 273 
 
 Whatever was given over the nuptial fire (adhy-agni), whatever she 
 receives while being led in procession from her father’s to her hus- 
 band’s house (adhyavahanikam), a gift (from her husband) in token of 
 affection (riz), and a similar gift received from her brother, from her 
 mother, from her father, all these are declared to be a woman’s own pro- 
 perty (IX. 194). 
 
 Those young girls, too, who are unmarried (kanydh) at 
 a father’s death are directed (IX. 118) to receive an allot- 
 ment out of the shares accruing to their brothers. The 
 following also (IX. 130) is noteworthy : 
 
 A man’s own son is even as himself, and a daughter is like a son. 
 
 How, then (if he have no son), ought any one else than a daughter, 
 who is part of his own person (a@tmani tishthanti), to inherit his own 
 
 property ? 
 
 I pass on to a brief notice of Manu’s Criminal Code. 
 The three most conspicuous features of his penal laws are 
 exactly those which mark the earliest forms of criminal 
 legislation, viz. severity, inconsistency, and a belief in the 
 supposed justice of the lew talionis, the latter leading to 
 punishments which in later times would be considered 
 unjustifiably disproportionate to the offences committed, 
 and sometimes barbarously cruel’. Thus : 
 
 With whatever member of the body a low-born man may injure a 
 superior, that very member of his must be mutilated (VIII. 279). 
 
 A once-born man insulting (shipan) twice-born men with abusive lan- 
 guage (vaéad darunaya) must have his tongue cut (VIII. 270). 
 
 Should he mention their name and caste with insulting expressions (as, 
 
 1 Mr. Mill on this point quotes Sir W. Jones, who is not, like himself, 
 disposed to view everything Hindi in an unfavourable light. ‘The cruel 
 mutilations practised by the native powers are shocking to humanity.’ 
 We know what was said by our Lord about ‘an eye for an eye and a 
 tooth for a tooth, Matt. v. 38. See Lev. xxiv. 20, Deut. xix. 21. 
 Compare the laws of Draco and of the ancient Egyptians. Strabo (XV. 
 1. 54) says of the Hindiis, ‘He who has given false testimony suffers 
 mutilation of the extremities (ἀκρωτηριάζεται), and he who maims a limb 
 is condemned to suffer maiming.’ 
 
274 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 ‘Hallo! there, Yajiadatta, vilest of Brahmans’), a red-hot iron spike 
 ten fingers long is to be thrust into his mouth (VII. 271). 
 
 Should he, through arrogance, attempt to instruct a Brahman in his 
 duty (saying, ‘you ought to do so and so’), the king is to have boiling oil 
 poured into his mouth and ears (VIII. 272). 
 
 Thieves are to have their hands cut off, and then to be impaled on a 
 sharp stake (IX. 276). 
 
 A goldsmith detected in committing frauds is to have his body cut to 
 pieces with razors (IX. 292). 
 
 Perhaps the most objectionable feature in the penal 
 code is not the cruel retaliation, which was probably 
 more a matter of theory than actual practice, but the 
 leniency with which Brahmans are directed to be treated. 
 It will be observed that a graduated scale is prescribed 
 according to the rank of the offender and the class to 
 which he belongs, thus : 
 
 A king must never kill a Brahman, though he may be found guilty of 
 all possible crimes (sarva-papeshv api sthitam) ; let him expel him from 
 the kingdom unharmed in body and intact in all his property. There is 
 no greater injustice on earth than the killing of a Brahman. The king, 
 therefore, must not harbour a thought about putting him to death (VIII. 
 380, 381). 
 
 A Kshatriya insulting a Brahman must be fined a hundred Panas 
 (satam dandam arhati); a Vaisya doing the same must pay one hundred 
 and fifty or two hundred Panas; a Stidra doing the same must receive 
 corporal punishment? (badham arhati, VIII. 267). 
 
 Five great crimes (mahd-pdtakdni) are enumerated in 
 Book XI. 54, which are described as entailing the highest 
 degree of guilt, though certainly from a European point 
 of view they cannot all be regarded as equally heinous : 
 
 1. Killing a Brahman (brahma-hatya) ; 2. drinking intoxicating liquor 
 
 (sura-pana) ; 3. stealing gold from a Brahman (steya) ; 4. adultery with 
 
 the wife of a Guru or spiritual teacher (gurv-angandgamah); and 5. 
 associating with any one guilty of such sins. 
 
 Severe penances voluntarily performed, rather than 
 
 1 Badha might be rendered ‘capital punishment,’ but Kulluka explains 
 it by ‘the lash.’ 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 275 
 
 legal penalties judicially inflicted, are enjoined for some 
 of these crimes (see p. 279); and they are declared in 
 ΧΙ. 49 to involve rather singular consequences (phala) in 
 future states of existence. Thus for 1. a man will suffer 
 from consumption (kshaya-rogitvam) in a future life (see 
 also XI. 73); for 2. he will have discoloured teeth ; for 3. 
 diseased nails (kaunakhyamy) *. 
 
 Moreover, in XII. 54-57, much more awful results are 
 alleged to follow hereafter ; inasmuch as those who are 
 cuilty of these great crimes are condemned to dwell for a 
 vast number of years in terrible hells (ghordn narakdn) 
 before entering on new states of being. After protracted 
 torture in one or other of these hells (see p. 225) a Brah- 
 man-slayer (brahma-hd) must enter the body of a dog, 
 boar, ass, camel, bull, goat, sheep, stag, bird, or outcaste 
 Candala, according to the degree of his guilt; a spirit- 
 drinker will become a worm, insect, moth, &c.; a gold- 
 stealer will pass a thousand times into the bodies of 
 spiders, snakes, noxious demons, ὅθ. (Compare p. 281.) 
 
 Some crimes in the second degree are the following : 
 
 Falsely asserting oneself to be of too high a caste, falsely accusing 
 a Guru, forgetting texts of the Veda through neglect of repeating them 
 (brahmojjhata), giving false testimony (kauta-sakshyam), eating impure 
 food, stealing deposits, incest, intercourse with women of the lowest class. 
 
 A long list of crimes in the third degree (upapdtaka) is 
 given in XI. 59-66. Some of them are: 
 
 Killing a cow (go-badhah) ; neglect of repetition of the Veda (i.e. of 
 the daily Brahma-yajna); neglect of the sacred fire; usury (vardhu- 
 shyam) ; selling a tank or garden or wife or child ; neglecting investiture 
 (wratyata) ; superintendence over mines of any kind (sarvakareshv adhi- 
 karah) ; cutting down green trees for fuel; performing religious rites 
 for selfish motives (@tmartham) ; reading infidel books (asaé-chastradhi- 
 EE aaa Sac St silo ae Bo a Κα 
 
 1 For this reason it is directed in Book III. 153, 154, that consumptive 
 persons and persons with diseased nails (ku-nakhin) and discoloured teeth 
 (Syava-dantaka) ought to be excluded from Sraddhas. 
 
 ἜΣ 
 
276 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 gamanam) ; addiction to music and dancing (haustlavyasya kriya) ; 
 atheism (ndstikyam). 
 
 For many of these crimes also voluntary penances consti- 
 tute the only punishment. Thus the killer of a cow must 
 undergo great hardships and make atonement by attending 
 upon a herd, guarding them from injury, following them 
 day and night in all weathers for three months, swallow- 
 ing the dust raised by their hoofs, &. (XI. 108-115). 
 
 Trial by ordeal (divya) is recognized by Manu, though 
 the ten different forms of it are not all specified as in later 
 works’: 
 
 Let him cause a man (whose veracity is doubted) to take hold of fire 
 or dive under water (apsu nimajjayet), or touch the heads of his wife and 
 sons one by one. The man whom flaming fire burns not and water forces 
 not up (apo nonmajjayanti), and who suffers no harm, must be instantly 
 held innocent of perjury (VIII. 114, 115). 
 
 It remains to notice a few of the laws of evidence. 
 Fearful denunciations are pronounced against those who 
 deliver false testimony in a court of justice (VIII. 82). 
 The strictest rules are also to be observed in selecting 
 witnesses competent to give trustworthy evidence (see 
 p- 290). At least three witnesses are required to establish 
 a fact in dispute : 
 
 If a man is summoned (kritavasthah) by a ereditor for a debt and 
 denies it when questioned, he is to be proved guilty by three witnesses at 
 least (try-avarath sakshibhih) in the presence of a Brihman appointed by 
 the king? (VIII. 60). 
 
 1 These ten forms (some of which are given by Yajnavalkya, see p. 300) 
 are—1. Zuld, ‘the balance; 2. Agni, ‘fire ;’ 3. Jala, ‘ water ; 4. Visha, 
 ‘poison ; 5. Kosa, ‘drinking water in which an idol has been washed ;’ 
 6. Tandula, ‘ejecting chewed rice-grains ;’ 7. T’apta-mdsha, ‘taking a 
 Masha weight of gold out of heated oil; 8. Phala, ‘holding a hot 
 ploughshare ;’ 9. Dharmadharma, ‘ drawing concealed images of virtue 
 and vice out of a vessel filled with earth; 10. Z’ulasi, ‘holding the 
 leaves of holy basil.’ This holy basil is said to be sacred to Vishnu. 
 
 ® Compare Yajnavalkya’s rules about witnesses, which are a develop- 
 ment of those of Manu. See p. 301. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. PAY ig 
 
 Witnesses are to deliver their testimony vivd voce, 
 and no directions are given about written documents, 
 which makes it probable that this, kind of evidence, 
 though fully recognized by Yajnavalkya (see p. 300), was 
 not received, or at least not usual, at the early epoch when 
 Manu’s Law-book was composed. If the testimony is 
 contradictory, the judge is to decide by the majority of 
 credible witnesses. If the number of witnesses is equal, 
 he is to be guided by the testimony of those who are most 
 distinguished for virtuous qualities (VIII.73). A similar 
 rule is propounded by Yajnavalkya (see p. 301). It isa 
 noteworthy point that women are, as a rule, debarred from 
 giving evidence, except for women (VIII. 68). Moreover, 
 the distinctions between the credibility of witnesses must 
 strike a European mind as somewhat extraordinary and 
 whimsical. A man who has male offspring is thought more 
 worthy of credence than a man who has female (VIII. 62), 
 perhaps because he is supposed to have a greater stake 
 in the common weal. A hungry or thirsty and tired per- 
 son is excluded from all right of bearing testimony (VIII. 
 67). The reason for the following is not very clear: 
 
 In eases of robbery with violence (sa@haseshu), theft, and adultery 
 (steya-sargrahaneshu), calumny and assault (vag-dandayoh parushye), a 
 
 judge must not examine (the competence of) witnesses too strictly (na 
 pariksheta sakshinah, VIII. 72). 
 
 The following precept is calculated, I fear, to diminish 
 the favourable impression which the laws of the Manavas, 
 taken together and regarded relatively to circumstances, 
 must produce on a candid mind: 
 
 In certain cases a man stating a fact falsely from a pious motive 
 (dharmatah), even though he knows the truth, is not excluded from 
 heaven ; such a statement they call divine speech. 
 
 Whenever the death of a Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya, or Sidra may 
 result from speaking the truth, then an untruth may be told, for falsehood 
 is in this case preferable to truth (VIII. 103, 104). 
 
278 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A similar precept occurs in Yajnavalkya’s Code, but an 
 expiation is there prescribed. (See the examples, p. 301.) 
 
 V. I now turn to,some of the Prayas-citta or ‘ penancés ’ 
 enjoined in the eleventh Book of Manu : 
 
 A twice-born man performing the Prajapatya penance (1. 6. that called 
 after Prajapati) must for three days eat only once in the morning, for 
 three days only once in the evening, for three days food unsolicited (but 
 given as alms), and for three days more nothing at all (XI. 211). 
 
 A twice-born man performing the penance called Ate-hriéchra (‘very 
 severe’) must eat, as before (i.e. as described in the last), a single 
 mouthful (gr@sam) for three times three days, and for the last three days 
 must fast entirely (XI. 213). 
 
 A Brahman performing the penance called Tapta-hriééhra (‘hot and 
 severe’) must swallow hot water, hot milk, hot clarified butter, and hot 
 
 air, each of them for three days successively, after bathing and keeping 
 
 his organs of sense all restrained (XI. 214). 
 
 The act of fasting for twelve days, performed by one whose heart 1s 
 restrained, and whose mind is attentive, is called the Pardka penance, 
 which removes all guilt (ΧΙ. 215). 
 
 Eating for one day the excrement and urine of a cow mixed with milk, 
 curds, clarified butter and water boiled with Kusa grass, and fasting 
 entirely for a day and night is the penance called Sdéntapana (XI. 212). 
 
 This last penance is to be performed by any one who 
 does any voluntary act causing loss of caste (jdti-bhransa- 
 karam karma) ; if the act be involuntary, the Prajapatya. 
 is to be performed. (See XI. 124.) 
 
 The Panéagavya penance consists in swallowing the 
 five products of a cow mentioned above under the Santa- 
 pana penance. This is declared to be a sufficient atone- 
 ment for having stolen food, a carriage, bed, chair, roots, 
 flowers, or fruit (XI. 165). A variety of other curious 
 penances and expiations are enumerated : 
 
 A twice-born man having, through infatuation, drunk intoxicating 
 liquor, may (as an expiation) drink the same liquor when boiling hot 
 (agni-varnam). If his body is completely scalded by this process he is 
 absolved from guilt (XI. go). 
 
 When the divine knowledge (brahma) which is in his body (haya- 
 
 gatam) is once immersed in spirituous liquor, his Brahmanical rank 
 departs and he descends to the condition of a Stidra (XI. 97). 
 
 a 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 279 
 
 He who says ‘hush’ (Ain) to a Brahman, or ‘thou’ to one who is his 
 superior (in knowledge), must perform an ablution, eat nothing for the 
 rest of the day, and appease the Brihman’s anger by prostrating himself 
 at his feet (XI. 204), 
 
 Tf a Brahman who bas drunk the Soma-juice (at a Soma-sacrifice, see 
 end of note 1, p. 9) smells the breath of a man who has been drinking 
 spirituous liquor, he is absolved from the taint by thrice suppressing his 
 breath under water and swallowing clarified butter (XI. 149). 
 
 One of the most severe penances is called Candrayana 
 or ‘the lunar penance,’ described in VI. 20, XI. 216-221. 
 We have already given a short account of this (see p. 106), 
 and have only here to note, as peculiar, some of the offences 
 for which it is required to be performed : 
 
 The Candrfyana is declared to be an expiation for carrying off a man 
 or woman, for seizing a field or house, and for taking without permission 
 
 the water of a well or reservoir (XI. 163). Itis also to be performed for 
 acts which cause mixture of caste and exclusion from society (XI. 125). 
 
 The following will show that the greatest atoning 
 efficacy is attached to a repetition of the Veda: 
 
 Having repeated (japitvad) the Savitri (or Gayatri, see p. 20) three 
 thousand times with a collected mind, and having drunk milk for one 
 month in a cow-house, a Brahman is delivered from the guilt of receiving 
 gifts from wicked persons (asat-pratigrahat, XI. 194). 
 
 Desiring to obtain absolution (éik?rshan apanodanam) for all his sins 
 great and small, he should repeat once a day for a year the text beginning 
 Ava and that beginning Yatkim déedam (Rig-veda VII. 89. 5). 
 
 Having accepted a prohibited gift or eaten improper food, he is absolved 
 by repeating for three days the texts (Rig-veda IX. 58) beginning 7 ἀγα! 
 sa mandi dhavati (XI. 252, 253). 
 
 Although he be guilty of many crimes (bahv-endh) he is absolved 
 (Sudhyate) by repeating (abhyasya) for a month the text beginning Soma- 
 rudra (Rig-veda VI. 74. 1, Atharva-veda VII. 42. 1) and the three texts 
 beginning Aryamanam varunam mitram, ἄς. (Rig-veda IV. 2. 4), while 
 performing ablution in a running stream (XI. 254). 
 
 By intently (samahitah) repeating three times the whole Samhita 
 (and Brahmana Αι λα) of the Rig, Yajur, and Sama-veda with their 
 Upanishads (sa-rahasya), he is absolved from all his sins (XI. 262). 
 
 VI. The sixth and last head is that of karma-phala, 
 ‘acts-recompenses.’ I select a few passages illustrative of 
 the most characteristic of all Hindi doctrines—that of the 
 
280 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 soul’s transmigration through three stages of being, until 
 a complete recompense of its acts is effected. 
 
 Book XII. 3, 9, 11, 39, 40, declares that the triple 
 order of transmigration through the highest, middle, and 
 lowest stages, results from good or bad acts, words, and 
 thoughts produced by the influence of the three Gunas, 
 Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas (see note 1, p. 67); and that 
 for sins of act, a man takes a vegetable or mineral form 
 (sthavaratdm) ; for sins of word, the form of a bird or 
 beast ; for sinsof thought, that of a man of the lowest caste ; 
 but that a triple self-command (p. 144, note 1, p. 291) leads 
 to emancipation from all births and final beatitude : 
 
 Those who are endowed with the Sattva Guna (‘purity’) take the 
 form of gods (devatvam), those who are filled with Rajas (‘passion’) 
 become men, and those who are overwhelmed with Tamas (‘darkness and 
 ignorance’) become beasts (XII. 40). 
 
 But in XII. 41, 50 each of the three orders of transmi- 
 gration is described as divided into a threefold scale of 
 being, the gradations and subdivisions of which proceed on. 
 principles which are not very consistent or intelligible : 
 
 1. a. Highest highest—Brahma, the creator, Maridi, &c. ὁ. Highest 
 middle—Sacrificers (yajvdnah), Rishis, incarnate deities (devah=devatah 
 vigrahavatyah), regents of the stars, Pitris, Sadhyas, &e. ὁ. Highest 
 lowest—Aseetics, religious mendicants, Brahmans, demigods borne in 
 heavenly cars (vaimanikah), those that preside over the lunar mansions, 
 Daityas, &c. (XII. 48-50). 
 
 2. a. Middle highest—Gandharvas, Guhyakas, Yakshas, Apsarases, &c. 
 b. Middle middle—Kings, Kshatriyas, the chaplains of kings (purohitah), &e. 
 c. Middle lowest—Club-fighters (jhallah), prize-fighters (mal/ah), actors, 
 those who live by the use of weapons, gamblers, and drinkers (XII. 45-47). 
 
 3. a. Lowest highest—Daneers, birds (swparnah= pakshinah), deceitful 
 men, Rakshasas, Pisa¢as, &c. ὃ. Lowest middle—Elephants, horses, 
 Siidras, despicable Mleéchas, lions, tigers, boars. ὁ. Lowest lowest— 
 Vegetables and minerals (sthavarah=vrikshadayah), worms, insects, fish, 
 reptiles, tortoises, cattle, animals of various kinds (XII. 42-44). 
 
 It is curious to note the effect of apparently slight sins 
 of commission and omission in degrading a man to lower 
 conditions of being, or in exposing him to diseases : 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 281 
 
 Through speaking ill (partvadat) of his preceptor, a man will be born 
 an ass ; if he reviles him, a dog ; if he uses his property without leave, a 
 worm ; if he envies him, an insect (II. 201). 
 
 If a man steal grain he shall be born a mouse ; if brass, a gander ; if 
 water, a water-duck ; if honey, a gad-fly ; if milk, a crow; if syrup, a 
 dog ; if ghee, a weasel (XII. 62). 
 
 A Brahman neglecting his own appointed caste duty (dharmdt svakdt) 
 will be born as a vomit-eating demon ; a Kshatriya, as a demon feeding on 
 excrement and dead bodies ; a Vaisya, as a demon feeding on putrid carrion 
 (Ulka-mukha, Kata-pittana, and Maitraksha-jyotika, X11. 71, 72). 
 
 A stealer of grain will be afflicted with dyspepsia (in a future exist- 
 ence) ; a stealer of the words (of the Veda, by repeating it without autho- 
 rity), with dumbness ; a stealer of cloth, with leprosy ; a horse-stealer, 
 with lameness (XI. 51). Compare p. 275). 
 
 1 Tt may be interesting to annex to this Lecture a few of the state- 
 ments of Megasthenes (300 years B.C.) about the Brahmans (Strabo XV. 
 1, 59): ‘They practise the greatest austerities to prepare for death 
 (ἀσκήσει πλείστῃ χρῆσθαι πρὸς τὸ éroipobavarov), Which they hold to be birth 
 to a real and happy life (γένεσιν εἰς τὸν ὄντως βίον καὶ τὸν εὐδαίμονα) ; they 
 maintain that nothing of what happens to men is good or bad; that the 
 world was created and is perishable ; that it is spheroidal ; that the God 
 who made and rules it pervades every part of it; that water was the 
 first element created ; that besides the four elements there is a fifth (πρὸς 
 τοῖς τέτταρσι στοιχείοις πέμπτη Tis ἐστι φύσις) ; and that the earth is in the 
 centre of the universe. Besides, like Plato, they weave many fables 
 (μύθους) about the immortality of the soul and punishments in hell. As 
 to the Hindiis generally—they are ignorant of writing, have no written 
 laws, and arrange everything from memory (XV. 53, 66). They do not 
 employ slaves (54). They worship Jupiter Pluvius (τὸν ὄμβιον Δία), the 
 river Ganges, and the gods of the country; those who live in the moun- 
 tains worship Dionysos (=Siva); those in the plains, Herakles (= Vishnu, 
 XV. 58, 69); they never drink wine except at sacrifices (53). It is not per- 
 mitted to any one to marry a person of another caste, nor to change from 
 one business or trade to another, nor to engage in many pursuits, unless 
 he belong to the caste of philosophers (XV. 49). These philosophers are 
 of two kinds, Brachmanes and Garmanes (Bpaypaves, Pappaves= Brahmans 
 and Sramanas or Buddhist ascetics, 59). Both practise endurance 
 (καρτερίαν), and will remain a whole day in one posture without moving 
 (60. Cf. also XV. 61, 63).’ 
 
ΠΗ ΧΕ 
 
 The Law-books—Manu continued. 
 
 NOW endeavour to give, as literally as possible, a 
 metrical version of some of Manu’s most noteworthy 
 precepts, selected from different parts of the Code, under 
 the four heads of Addra, ‘rules of conduct ;’ Vyavahdara, 
 ‘rules of government and judicature ; Prdyas-catta, ‘ pen- 
 ance ;’ Karma-phala, ‘rewards and punishments of acts.’ 
 
 Adara, ‘rules of conduct.’ 
 
 A Brahman from exalted birth is called 
 A god among the gods, and is a measure 
 Of truth for all the world, so says the Veda (XI. 84). 
 
 Knowledge !, descending from her home divine, 
 
 Said to a holy Brahman, I am come 
 
 To be thy cherished treasure, trust me not 
 
 To scorners, but to careful guardians, 
 
 Pure, self-restrained, and pious ; so in them 
 
 I shall be gifted with resistless power (IL. 114, 115). 
 
 The man with hoary head is not revered 
 As aged by the gods, but only he 
 Who has true knowledge?; he, though young, is old (II. 156). 
 
 A wooden elephant, an antelope 
 Of leather, and a Brahman without knowledge— 
 These are three things that only bear a name (II. 157). 
 
 As with laborious toil the husbandman, 
 
 Digging with spade beneath the ground, arrives 
 
 At springs of living water, so the man 
 
 Who searches eagerly for truth will find 
 
 The knowledge hidden in his teacher’s mind (Π1:118];; 
 
 1 In II. 117 knowledge is divided into three parts—t. Laukika, 
 ‘secular ;’ 2. Vaidika, ‘Vedic;’ 3. Adhyatmika, ‘spiritual’ or that 
 which relates to soul. 
 
 2 Strabo XV. 1,54, says of the Hindiis, Οὐδὲ τῇ ἡλικίᾳ τῶν γερόντων 
 
 προνομίαν διδόασιν ἂν μὴ καὶ τῷ φρονεῖν πλεονεκτῶσι 
 ρονομ μὴ καὶ τῷ pp : 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 283 
 With pain the mother to her child gives birth, 
 
 With pain the father rears him ; as he grows 
 
 He heaps up cares and troubles for them both ; 
 
 Incurring thus a debt he ne’er can pay, 
 
 Though he should strive through centuries of time (IT. 227). 
 Think constantly, O son, how thou mayest please 
 
 Thy father, mother, teacher—these obey. 
 
 By deep devotion seek thy debt to pay. 
 
 This is thy highest duty and religion (II. 228). 
 
 Who finds around him only wicked sons, 
 
 When called by fate to pass the gloom of death, 
 
 Is like a man who seeks to cross a flood 
 
 Borne on a raft composed of rotten wood (IX. 161). 
 
 Even though wronged, treat not with disrespect 
 
 Thy father, mother, teacher, elder brother (II. 226). 
 
 From poison thou mayest take the food of life, 
 
 The purest gold from lumps of impure earth, 
 
 Examples of good conduct from a foe, 
 
 Sweet speech and gentleness from e’en a child, 
 
 Something from all ; from men of low degree 
 
 Lessons of wisdom, if thou humble be (11. 238, 239). 
 Wound not another, though by him provoked, 
 
 Do no one injury by thought or deed, 
 
 Utter no word to pain thy fellow-creatures (II. 161). 
 
 Say what is true, speak not agreeable falsehood (IV. 138). 
 
 Treat no one with disdain ', with patience bear 
 Reviling language ; with an angry man 
 
 Be never angry ; blessings give for curses (VI. 47, 48). 
 Fen as a driver checks his restive steeds, 
 
 Do thou, if thou art wise, restrain thy passions, 
 Which, running wild, will hurry thee away (II. 88). 
 
 When asked, give something, though a very trifle, 
 
 Ungrudgingly and with a cheerful heart, 
 ene SS ee 
 
 1 In IV. 135 the householder is especially warned against treating 
 
 with contempt a Brahman well versed in the Veda, a Kshatriya, and a 
 serpent, because (says Kulliika) the first has the power of destroying 
 him by his unseen power of magical texts and spells, the other two by 
 their seen power (drishta-saktya). Cf. the passages relative to the power 
 of the Brahmans, translated p. 241. 
 
284 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 According to thy substance ; only see 
 That he to whom thou givest worthy be (IV. 227, 228). 
 
 Pride not thyself on thy religious works, 
 
 Give to the poor, but talk not of thy gifts. 
 
 By pride religious merit melts away, 
 
 The merit of thy alms by ostentation (IV. 236, 237). 
 
 None sees us, say the sinful in their hearts ; 
 
 Yes, the gods see them, and the omniscient Spirit 
 
 Within their breasts. Thou thinkest, O good friend, 
 
 ‘T am alone,’ but there resides within thee 
 
 A Being who inspects thy every act, 
 
 Knows all thy goodness and thy wickedness (VIII. 85, 91). 
 
 The soul is its own witness; yea, the soul 
 Itself is its own refuge; grieve thou not, 
 O man, thy soul, the great internal Witness (VIII. 84). 
 
 The Firmament, the Earth, the Sea, the Moon, 
 The Sun, the Fire, the Wind, the Night, and both 
 The sacred Twilights', and the Judge of souls’, 
 The god of Justice, and the Heart itself— 
 
 All constantly survey the acts of men (VIII. 86). 
 
 When thou hast sinned, think not to hide thy guilt 
 Under a cloak of penance and austerity (IV. 198). 
 
 No study of the Veda nor oblation, 
 No gift of alms, nor round of strict observance 
 Can lead the inwardly depraved to heaven (II. 97). 
 
 Tf with the great Divinity who dwells 
 
 Within thy breast thou hast no controversy, 
 
 Go not to Ganges’ water to be cleansed, 
 
 Nor make a pilgrimage to Kuru’s fields (VIII. 92)’. 
 Iniquity once practised, like a seed, 
 
 Fails not to yield its fruit to him who wrought it, 
 
 If not to him, yet to his sons and grandsons (IV. 173). 
 
 Contentment is the root of happiness, 
 And discontent the root of misery. 
 Wouldst thou be happy, be thou moderate (IV. 12). 
 
 Honour thy food, receive it thankfully, 
 
 1 See the account of the Sandhyas, p. 248. 2 Yama, see p. 21. 
 δ᾽ See note I, p. 251. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 285 
 
 Eat it contentedly and joyfully, 
 
 Neer hold it in contempt ; avoid excess, 
 
 For gluttony is hateful, injures health, 
 
 May lead to death, and surely bars the road 
 To holy merit and celestial bliss (II. 54, 57). 
 
 Desire is not extinguished by enjoyment, 
 Fire is not quenched by offerings of oil, 
 But blazes with increased intensity (II. 94). 
 
 Shrink thou from worldly honour as from poison, 
 Seek rather scorn ; the scorn’d may sleep in peace, 
 In peace awake ; the scorner perishes (II. 162, 163). 
 
 Daily perform thy own appointed work 
 Unweariedly ; and to obtain a friend— 
 
 A sure companion to the future world— 
 
 Collect a store of virtue like the ants 
 
 Who garner up their treasures into heaps ; 
 
 For neither father, mother, wife, nor son, 
 
 Nor kinsman, will remain beside thee then, 
 
 When thou art passing to that other home— 
 
 Thy virtue will thy only comrade be (LV. 238, 239). 
 Single is every living creature born, 
 
 Single he passes to another world, 
 
 Single he eats the fruit of evil deeds, 
 
 Single, the fruit of good ; and when he leaves 
 
 His body like a log or heap of clay 
 
 Upon the ground, bis kinsmen walk away ; 
 
 Virtue alone stays by him at the tomb 
 
 And bears him through the dreary trackless gloom (IV. 240-242)". 
 
 Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow ; 
 As thou dost plant the tree so will it grow (IX. 40). 
 
 Depend not on another, rather lean 
 
 Upon thyself ; trust to thine own exertions. 
 Subjection to another’s will gives pain ; 
 
 True happiness consists in self-reliance (IV. 160). 
 
 Strive to complete the task thou hast commenced ; 
 Wearied, renew thy efforts once again ; 
 
 1 Dr. Muir has pointed out that the expression amas tarati dustaram, 
 ‘he crosses the gloom difficult to be passed,’ may be taken from Atharva- 
 veda IX. 5. 1, tirtva tamansi bahudha mahanti. 
 
286 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Again fatigued, once more the work begin, 
 
 So shalt thou earn success and fortune win (IX. 300). 
 Never despise thyself, nor yet contemn 
 
 Thy own first efforts, though they end in failure ; 
 Seek Fortune with persistency till death, 
 
 Nor ever deem her hard to be obtained (IV. 137). 
 Success in every enterprise depends 
 
 On Destiny ' and man combined, the acts 
 
 Of Destiny are out of man’s control ; 
 
 Think not on Destiny, but act thyself (VII. 205). 
 
 Be courteous to thy guest who visits thee ; 
 
 Offer a seat, bed, water, food enough, 
 
 According to thy substance, hospitably ; 
 
 Naught taking for thyself till he be served ; 
 
 Homage to guests brings wealth, fame, life, and heaven (IIT.106,IV. 29). 
 He who possessed of ample means bestows 
 
 His gifts on strangers while his kindred starve, 
 Thinks to enjoy the honey of applause, 
 
 But only eating poison dies despised— 
 
 Such charity is cruelty disguised (XI. 9). 
 
 He who pretends to be what he is not, 
 
 Acting a part, commits the worst of crimes, 
 
 For, thief-like, he abstracts a good man’s heart (IV. 255). 
 
 Though thou mayest suffer for thy righteous acts, 
 Ne’er give thy mind to aught but honest gain (IV. 171). 
 
 So act in thy brief passage through this world 
 That thy apparel, speech, and inner store 
 
 Of knowledge be adapted to thy age, 
 
 Thy occupation, means, and parentage (LV. 18). 
 
 The man who keeps his senses in control, 
 
 His speech, heart, actions pure and ever guarded’, 
 Gains all the fruit of holy study ; he 
 
 Needs neither penance nor austerity (II. 160). 
 But if a single organ fail, by that defect 
 
 His knowledge of the truth flows all away 
 
 Like water leaking from a leathern vessel (II. 99). 
 
 Contentment, patience under injury, 
 
 1 Daiva is here the Adrishta described p. 69. * See note 1, p. 291. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 287 
 Self-subjugation, honesty, restraint 
 
 Of all the sensual organs, purity, 
 
 Devotion’, knowledge of the Deity’, 
 
 Veracity, and abstinence from anger, 
 
 These form the tenfold summary of duty (VI. 92). 
 
 Long not for death, nor hanker after life ; 
 
 Calmly expect thy own appointed time, 
 
 E’en as a servant reckons on his hire (LV. 45). 
 
 This mansion of the soul, composed of earth, 
 Subject to sorrow and decrepitude, 
 
 Inhabited by sicknesses and pains, 
 
 Bound by the bonds of ignorance and darkness, 
 
 Let a wise man with cheerfulness abandon (VI. 77). 
 
 Quitting this body, he resembles merely 
 A bird that leaves a tree. Thus is he freed 
 From the fell monster of an evil world® (VI. 78). 
 
 Duties of Women and Wives. 
 
 In childhood must a father guard his daughter ; 
 
 In youth the husband shields his wife; in age 
 
 A mother is protected by her sons— 
 
 Ne’er should a woman lean upon herself (V. 148, IX. 3). 
 
 A faithful wife who wishes to attain 
 
 The heaven of her lord, must serve him here 
 
 As if he were a god, and ne’er do aught 
 
 To pain him, whatsoever be his state, 
 
 And even though devoid of every virtue (V. 154, 156). 
 
 She who in mind, speech, body, honours him, 
 Alive or dead, is called a virtuous wife (V. 165). 
 
 Be it her duty to preserve with care 
 
 Her husband’s substance ; let her too be trusted 
 With its expenditure, with management 
 
 Of household property and furniture, 
 
 Of cooking and purveying daily food. 
 
 1 Kullika interprets diz by ‘knowledge of the sacred truth contained 
 in the Sastras.’ 
 
 5 Vidya, ‘knowledge of the supreme Spirit.—Kaullika. 
 
 8. Kriéthrad grahat=samsdra-kashtad grahad iva. 
 
288 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Let her be ever cheerful, skilled in all 
 Domestic work, and not too free in spending (V. 150). 
 
 Drink, bad companions, absence from her lord, 
 
 Rambling about, unseasonable sleep, . 
 Dwelling in others’ houses, let her shun— 
 
 These are six things which tarnish woman’s fame (IX. 13). 
 
 Whatever be the character and mind 
 
 Of him to whom a woman weds herself, 
 
 Such qualities her nature must imbibe, 
 
 E’en as a river blending with the sea (IX. 22). 
 
 Women, united by the marriage tie 
 
 To men they love, in hope of virtuous offspring, 
 Worthy of honour, eminently blessed, 
 
 Irradiate the houses of their lords, 
 
 Like shining lights or goddesses of fortune (IX. 26). 
 
 Then only is a man a perfect man 
 
 When he is three—himself, his wife, his son— 
 For thus have learned men the law declared, 
 
 ‘A husband is one person with his wife’ (IX. 45). 
 
 Fidelity till death, this is the sum 
 Of mutual duties for a married pair (IX. ror). 
 
 And if the wife survives, let her remain 
 Constant and true, nor sully her fair fame, 
 E’en by the utterance of another’s name (V. 157). 
 
 Vyavahara, ‘rules of government and judicature.’ 
 
 The Lord of all in pity to our needs 
 
 Created kings, to rule and guard us here ; 
 
 Without a king this world would rock with fear (VII. 3). 
 A king, e’en though a child, must not be treated 
 
 As if he were a mortal; rather he 
 
 Is a divinity in human shape (VII. 8). 
 
 The king, his council, and the royal city, 
 
 The country’, treasure, army, and ally, 
 
 These are the seven members of a realm (IX. 294). 
 
 1 For rdshtra (=desa) Yajnayalkya (I. 352) substitutes jana, ‘the 
 people.’ 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 289 
 
 Dread of the rod alone restrains the bad, 
 
 Controls the good, and makes a nation happy (VII. 15). 
 The king must therefore punish fearlessly ; 
 
 Else would the strong oppress the weak, the bad 
 
 Would wrong the good, and pierce them as with iron'; 
 The crow would eat the consecrated rice, 
 
 The dog the burnt oblation ; ownership 
 
 And rights of property would be subverted ; 
 
 All ranks and classes would become confused, 
 
 All barriers and bridges broken down, 
 
 And all the world turned wrong side uppermost (VII. 20, 21, 24). 
 But let the monarch, ere he wield his rod, 
 
 Consider place and time, the written law 
 Of justice, and the measure of his strength (VII. 16). 
 
 Gamesters and public dancers, heretics, 
 
 Revilers of the Veda, infidels, 
 
 Sellers of liquor, men who interfere 
 
 In others’ duties and neglect their own, 
 
 All such he should expel from his domain (IX. 225). 
 To women, children, crazy men, and fools, 
 
 The old, the poor, the sickly, and infirm 
 
 Let him be never harsh ; if they do wrong 
 
 Let them be bound or punished tenderly ? (IX. 230). 
 That king is equally unjust who frees 
 
 The guilty or condemns the innocent. 
 
 The wicked he must treat like thorny weeds, 
 
 They must be rooted out with active arm ; 
 
 The good and virtuous let him shield from harm (IX. 252, 253). 
 Let not a king or judge promote disputes, 
 
 But if a suit be tried, let him with fairness 
 Adjudicate between the disputants (VIII. 43). 
 When Goodness, wounded by Iniquity, 
 
 Comes to a court of justice, and the judge 
 
 1 The literal translation of the text here is ‘the stronger would roast 
 the weaker like fish on a spit’ (Sue matsydn ivapakshyan durbalan 
 balavattarah). 
 
 ® The text says ‘with a whip, twig, or rope.’ It must be presumed 
 that the whip and twig are intended to be used in the case of children 
 only. 
 
 U 
 
290 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Extracts not tenderly the pointed dart, 
 
 That very shaft shall pierce him to the heart (VIII. 12). 
 Justice destroyed will ruin the destroyer ; 
 
 Preserved, it will preserve. Beware, O judge, 
 
 Lest outraged justice overthrow the world (VIII. 15). 
 
 E’en as a hunter tracks the lurking-place 
 
 Of some poor wounded deer by drops of blood, 
 
 So must a king by strict investigation 
 
 Trace out the source of violated justice (VIII. 44). 
 Let him with full deliberation weigh 
 
 The evidence, the place, the mode, the time, 
 
 The facts, the truth, and his own frame of mind, 
 Firmly adhering to the rules of law (VIII. 45). 
 
 Just men and men of sense, whate’er their caste, 
 And those who know their duty and are free 
 From love of gain, may tender evidence ; 
 
 The opposite must not be witnesses (VIIT. 63). 
 
 Kings, priests, religious students, anchorites, 
 
 All interested men, friends, boon companions, 
 
 Foes, criminals, diseased and perjured men, 
 
 Low artisans and dancers, lunatics, 
 
 Old men, and children, drunkards, vagabonds, 
 
 Thieves, starving wretches, irritated persons, 
 
 A single witness—these are all excluded (VIII. 64-67). 
 
 Let women act as witnesses for women ; 
 The twice-born classes for the twice-born ; slaves 
 For slaves, and only lowest men for outcastes (VIII. 68). 
 
 The court must not be entered by a witness, 
 
 Unless he speak the truth without reserve ; 
 
 For equally does he commit a crime, 
 
 Who tells not all the facts, or tells them falsely (VIII. 13). 
 A witness who gives evidence with truth 
 
 Shall be absolved from every sin, and gain 
 
 Exalted glory here and highest bliss above (VIII. 81, 83). 
 Headlong in utter darkness shall the wretch 
 
 Fall into hell, who in a court of justice 
 
 Answers a single question falsely ; he 
 
 Shall be tormented through a hundred births (VIII. 82, 94). 
 
 And all the merit of his virtuous acts 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 291 
 
 Shall be transferred to dogs. Therefore be true, 
 Speak the whole truth without equivocation (VIII. 90, 101). 
 
 Let no considerate witness take an oath 
 Lightly, or in a trifling matter; he 
 Who does so shall incur eternal ruin (VIII. rrr). 
 
 Prdyas-citta, ‘penance and expiation.’ 
 I 
 
 According to a man’s sincerity 
 
 In penitent confession of his crime, 
 
 And detestation of the evil deed, 
 
 Shall he be pardoned and his soul released 
 
 From taint of guilt, like serpent from its skin (XI. 227, 228). 
 
 If he do wrong, tis not enough to say 
 
 I will not sin again; release from guilt 
 Depends on true contrition, which consists 
 
 In actual abstinence from sinful deeds (XI. 230). 
 
 Therefore, whatever fault a man commits, 
 Whether from ignorance or knowingly, 
 
 Let him, desiring quittance from his crime, 
 Beware how he offend a second time (XI. 232). 
 
 Revolving in his mind the certainty 
 Of retribution in a future state, 
 Let him be pure in. thought, in word, in deed* (XI. 231). 
 
 By free confession, penitence, and penance, 
 
 By daily repetition of the Veda’, 
 
 By the five holy acts *, by giving alms, 
 
 By patience, and by bearing injuries, 
 
 The greatest sinner may obtain release (XI. 227, 245): 
 Whate’er is hard to cross, whate’er is hard 
 
 To have or do or be, may be attained 
 
 By penance—sins of heart and speech and act 
 
 May be burnt out ; therefore be rich in penance (XI. 238, 241). 
 
 ee a eee 
 
 1 Here and in another example below further instances occur of Manu’s 
 triple division of ‘thought, word, and deed’ (see note, p. 143). The 
 same triple division is frequent in Buddhistic writings. 
 
 * Khydpanena, anutapena, tapasd, adhyayena ξα. 
 
 8 That is, the five Maha-yajnas; see p. 251. 
 
 U2 
 
292 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 E’en as a clod of earth melts all away 
 
 Cast in a mighty lake, so every sin 
 
 Becomes effaced, merged in the triple Veda (XI. 263). 
 In penance all the bliss of gods and men 
 
 Is said to have its root, continuance, end! (XI. 234). 
 
 Karma-phala, ‘ recompenses of acts.’ 
 
 Innumerable souls, endued with form, 
 
 Tssue like scintillations” from the substance 
 
 Of the great Self-existent, constantly 
 
 Impelling beings multiform to action (XII. 15). 
 
 Whate’er the act a man commits, whate’er 
 His state of mind, of that the recompense 
 Must he receive in corresponding body (XII. 81). 
 
 Action of every kind, whether of mind 
 
 Or speech or body, must bear fruit, entailing 
 
 Fresh births through multifarious conditions, 
 
 In highest, mean, and lowest transmigrations (XII. 3). 
 
 Souls gifted with the quality of goodness 
 
 Attain the state of gods ; those filled with passion, 
 The state of men; and those immersed in darkness, 
 The state of beasts—this is the triple course (XII. 40). 
 Let all men ponder with attentive mind 
 
 The passage of the soul through diverse forms, 
 
 Of Brahma, gods and men, beasts, plants, and stones, 
 According to their good or evil acts, 
 
 And so apply their minds to virtue only (XII. 22, 42, 50). 
 Just in proportion as a vital soul 
 
 Addicts itself to sensuality, 
 
 In that degree its senses shall become 
 
 Intensely keen in future transmigrations (XII. 73). 
 Reflect thou on man’s manifold transitions 
 
 And passages through forms of being, caused 
 
 By faults of action ὅ, and his headlong fall 
 
 Down to the lower regions ; then the torments 
 
 1 A variety of penances will be found detailed at p. 278. 
 * Compare the extracts from the Upanishads, pp. 39, 43. 
 8. Aveksheta gatir nrinam karma-dosha-samudbhavah. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—MANU. 293 
 
 Reserved for him by Yama; then in life 
 
 His partings from his loved ones and his meetings 
 With those he loves not ; then the victory 
 
 Of sickness and decrepitude and death ; 
 
 Then the soul’s painful egress from the body, 
 And lastly its return to other forms, 
 
 Passing from womb to womb to undergo 
 
 Ten thousand millions of existences ' (VI. 61-63). 
 
 Then do thou contemplate with fixed attention 
 The subtile essence of the Soul supreme, 
 Existing in the highest and the lowest— 
 Pervading every creature equally (VI. 65). 
 
 He who perceives the omnipresent God 
 Is nevermore enslaved by acts, but he 
 Who sees him not, can never be released (VI. 74). 
 
 Those who repeat their vicious acts are doomed 
 To misery, increasing more and more, 
 Τὴ forms becoming more and more debased (XII. 74). 
 
 They shall be born as despicable beasts, 
 Suffer the worst extremes of cold and heat, 
 Painful diseases, various kinds of terror (XII. 77, 80). 
 
 He who by firmness gains the mastery 
 Over his words, his mind, and his whole body, 
 Is justly called a triple-governor? (XII. 10). 
 
 Exerting thus a threefold self-command 
 
 Towards himself and every living creature, 
 Subduing lust and wrath, he may aspire 
 
 To that perfection which the good desire (XII. rr). 
 
 Every created being which exists 
 And yet is not eternal *, is in Soul. 
 
 -2 7s 
 
 1 Yoni-koti-sahasreshu sritis-6a antar-dtmanah. 
 
 * This is the Tri-dandin (see note, p. 144). It is noticeable that the 
 Indian ascetic, who is described by Arrian (VII. 2) as exciting the wonder 
 of Alexander the Great by his καρτερία, is named Δάνδαμις, probably from 
 the same root as danda (dam, ‘to subdue,’ in Intens.). By others he is 
 called Mandanis (root mand 7). 
 
 3 This seems to mean, as explained by Dr. Johaentgen, that to which 
 belongs a real existence and yet not eternity, because it is a product. 
 Cf. Sankhya-pravacana V. 56, 
 
294 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 He who with fixed abstraction sees himself 
 
 And all things in the universal Self? 
 
 Cannot apply his soul to wickedness (XII. 118). 
 
 This universal Soul is all the gods, 
 
 Is all the worlds, and is the only source 
 
 Of all the actions of embodied spirits (XII. 119). 
 
 He is their ruler, brighter than pure gold, 
 
 Subtler than atoms, imperceptible, 
 
 Except by minds abstracted, all-pervading, 
 
 Investing all with rudiments of matter, 
 
 Causing all beings to revolve like wheels 
 
 In regular and constant revolution 
 
 Through birth and growth, decay and dissolution (XII. 122, 124). 
 The man who sees by means of his own soul 
 
 The universal Spirit present there, 
 
 Present in every creature everywhere, 
 
 With perfect equanimity may wait 
 
 Till he has reached the state of bliss supreme— 
 Complete absorption in the eternal essence (XII. 125). 
 
 The Code of Ydjnavalkya. 
 
 The most important Law-book next to Manu is the 
 Dharma-sastra of Yajnavalkya, which, with its most 
 celebrated commentary, the Mitakshara by VijnaneSvara, 
 is at present the principal authority of the school of 
 Benares and Middle India. It seems originally to have 
 emanated from a school of the White Yajur-veda in 
 Mithila” or North Behar, just as we have seen (p. 213) that 
 the Code of the Manavas did from a school of the Black 
 
 1 Dr. Johaentgen thinks that Atman in these passages is wrongly 
 translated ‘the supreme Soul.’ He believes that it denotes ‘the whole 
 self or soul’ of man, regarded as an epitome of the universe, and he refers 
 in confirmation of his view to Tattva-samasa 56. See also Manu VIII. 
 84, translated p. 284. 
 
 * According to Dr. Roer, it is still the leading authority of the Mithila 
 school, but Colebrooke names other works as constituting the chief texts 
 of this school. 
 
 a 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—YAJNAVALKYA. 295 
 
 Yajur-veda in the neighbourhood of Delhi. Book I. 2 
 makes the author say : 
 
 The chief of devout sages (Yajhavalkya), dwelling in Mithila, having 
 reflected for a moment, said to the Munis, ‘ Listen to the laws which 
 prevail in the country where the black antelope is found’ (cf. Manu 
 
 ΠῚ 5): 
 
 Yajnavalkya’s work’ is much more concise than that 
 of Manu, being all comprised in three books instead of 
 twelve, which circumstance leads to the inference that 
 it has suffered even more curtailment at the hands of 
 successive revisers of the original text than the Code 
 of the Manavas. Like that Code, it seems to have been 
 preceded by a Vriddha and a Vrihad Yajnavalkya. The 
 whole work, as we now possess it, is written in the 
 ordinary Sloka metre. The first Book, consisting of 376 
 couplets, is chiefly on social and caste deities (dédra) ; 
 the second, consisting of 307 verses (which have been 
 transferred almost word for word to the Agni Purana), 
 is mainly on administrative judicature and civil and cri- 
 minal law (vyavahdra); the third, consisting of 335 
 verses, is principally on devotion, purification, expiation, 
 penance (prdyas-citta), &e. The Mitakshara commentary 
 follows the same arrangement, and is divided also into 
 three parts. 
 
 As to the date of Yajnavalkya’s Law-book, it has been 
 conjecturally placed in the middle of the first century 
 of our era. The period of its first compilation cannot, 
 of course, be fixed with certainty, but internal evidence 
 clearly indicates that the present redaction is much more 
 recent than that of Manu’s Law-book. 
 
 The following points have been noted by me: 
 
 1 The edition I have used is the excellent one of Stenzler. I have 
 consulted his preface and translation, and the translation of part of the 
 Code made by Dr. Réer and W. A. Montriou, to which there is an instruc- 
 tive introduction. 
 
296 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 1. Although Yajnavalkya’s Code must have represented the customs 
 and practices prevalent in a district (Mithila) situated in a different and 
 more easterly part of India, yet nearly every precept in the first book, 
 and a great many in the second and third, have their parallels in similar 
 precepts occurring throughout the Code of the Manavas. 
 
 2. Although generally founded on Manu, it represents a later stage of 
 Hindi development. Its arrangement is much more systematic. It pre- 
 sents fewer repetitions and inconsistencies, and less confusion of religion, 
 morality, and philosophy, with civil and criminal law. 
 
 3. In Book I. 3 the sources of law are expanded beyond those stated 
 by Manu; although afterwards in I. 7 Manu’s fourfold Dharma-milam 
 (see p. 216) is adopted, thus: 
 
 ‘The Vedas, with the Puranas, the Nyaya, the Mimansa, the codes of 
 law (dharma-sastra), and the (six) Vedimgas are the fourteen repositories 
 (sthdndni) of the sciences (vidyanam) and of law (dharmasya, I. 3). 
 
 ‘The Veda (sriuti), traditional law (smriti), the practices of good men 
 (sad-acara), and one’s own inclination, are called the root of law’ (1. 7). 
 
 4. Those of its precepts which introduce new matter evince a more 
 advanced Brahmanism and a stricter caste-organization; thus, for 
 example, it is directed in I. 57 that a Brahman must not have a Studra 
 as a fourth wife, but only wives of the three higher classes, whereas in 
 Manu (see p. 250) such a wife is permitted 1. 
 
 5. In I. 271, 272, there is an allusion to the shaven heads (munda) 
 and yellow garments (kashaya-vasas) of the Buddhists, which marks a 
 period subsequent to the establishment and previous to the expulsion of 
 Buddhism. It must be admitted, however, that there is no mention of 
 the Buddhists by name. 
 
 6. In IL. 185 the king is recommended to found and endow monas- 
 teries and to place in them Brahmans learned in the Vedas. 
 
 7. In II. 241 mention is made of Vanaka, ‘ coined money,’ both true 
 and counterfeit (aki!a and hitaka), whereas, although Manu speaks of 
 weights of gold and silver, such as Suvarnas, Palas, Nishkas, Dharanas, 
 and Puranas (VIII. 135-137), it is very doubtful whether any stamped 
 coin was current in his day. 
 
 8. Written accusations and defences (/ekhya) are required to be made 
 (II. 6, 7), and written documents (likhitam) are allowed as evidence 
 (II. 22); and in I. 318 grants of land and copper-plates, properly sealed, 
 are mentioned. 
 
 g. The worship of Ganega, as the remover of obstacles, is expressly 
 
 ' Later Codes limit Brahmans to wives of their own classes only. 
 
 4 
 4 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—YAJNAVALKYA. 297 
 
 alluded to in I. 270, and Graha-yajia or ‘offerings to the planets’ are 
 directed to be made in I. 294. 
 
 ro. In III. 11o the author of the Code (Yajhavalkya) speaks of an 
 Aranyaka or Upanishad (of the White Yajur-veda), which he had himself 
 received from the Sun, and of a Yoga-Sastra, ‘Yoga system of philo- 
 sophy,’ which he had himself delivered (to Patanjali?). 
 
 Some of these points seem decisive as to the lapse of 
 a considerable period between Manu and Yajnavalkya, 
 and lead us to agree with those who hesitate to refer 
 the latter Code, in its present form, to an earlier epoch 
 than the first century of our era, On the other hand, 
 some of the facts stated incline us to attribute a greater 
 antiquity to portions of the work than that usually as- 
 signed to it. 
 
 I proceed to give specimens of the three divisions of 
 Yajnavalkya’s Code. 
 
 I. The following are from the first Book on Addra 
 or ‘social customs and immemorial practices.’ Attention 
 should be directed to the parallels in Manu at the end 
 of several of the translated passages. The mention of 
 four Vedas and the efficacy attributed to their repetition 
 is noticeable : 
 
 Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaisyas are called twice-born (dwi-jah), 
 since they are born once from their mothers and a second time through 
 the binding on of the girdle (Mawiji-bandhandt, I. 39. Cf. Manu IT. 169, 
 and see p. 247). 
 
 The Veda is more efficacious in effecting the final salvation of the 
 twice-born (dvyatindm nihsreyasa-karah parah) than sacrifices, than 
 penances, and even than good works (I. 40. Cf. Manu IT. 166). 
 
 ' See p. 102 of this volume. Patanjali, who flourished, according to 
 Lassen, about 200 B.c., is not, however, mentioned in the text. 
 
 2 Some of Yajnavalkya’s verses are found in the Panéa-tantra, the date 
 of the oldest portions of which is usually referred to the fifth century 
 of our era. In almost all Sanskrit works the introduction of apposite 
 verses from older sources, for the illustration of the original text, is 
 common. 
 
298 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A twice-born man! who every day repeats the texts of the Rig-veda 
 (riéah) satiates the gods with honey and milk, and the fathers (Pitrin) 
 with honey and butter (I. 41. Cf. Manu 11. 107). 
 
 He who every day to the best of his ability repeats the texts of the 
 Yajur-veda (yajdnshi) refreshes the gods with butter and nectar and the 
 fathers with honey and butter (I. 42). 
 
 He who every day repeats the texts of the Sama-veda (sdémdnz) satiates 
 the gods with Soma-juice and butter and the fathers as before (I. 43). 
 
 Twice-born men who every day to the best of their power repeat the 
 texts of the Atharva-veda (Atharvangirasah, see p. 224) satiate the gods 
 with marrow (medas@) and the fathers as before (I. 44). 
 
 He who every day to the best of his power repeats the sacred discus- 
 sions (vadkovakyam”), the Puranas, the Narasansis*, the sacred songs 
 (gathikah), the Itihasas, and the sciences (widyah), satiates the inhabitants 
 of the skies (divauwkasah) with flesh, milk, rice, and honey, and the fathers 
 as before (I. 45, 46). 
 
 The precept that the twice-born can take a Sidra as a wife (cf. Manu 
 III. 13, IX. 149) is not approved by me, since in that wife (tara) he is 
 himself born again (whence she is called jaya, according to Manu IX. 8). 
 
 Three wives in the regular order (of the first three classes) may belong 
 to a Brahman, two to a Kshatriya, and one to a Vaisya. A Stidra must 
 only have one of his own class (I. 56, 57). 
 
 Once every year (the following persons) are to be honoured with a 
 respectful offering (argha): a Snataka (see p. 204), an Aéarya (see p. 239), 
 a king, a friend, and a son-in-law, but a sacrificing priest at every sacri- 
 fice* (I. 110. Cf. Manu ITT. 1109). 
 
 A traveller is to be treated as a guest, and also a Brahman who 
 knows the entire Veda. These two a householder, who wishes to obtain 
 
 1 These following five verses are more explicit than Manu in describing 
 the efficacy of the Brahma-yajna or Japa-yajna (see p. 252). They are 
 based on Satapatha-brahmana XI. 5, 6, 4-8, and on Asvalayana Grihya- 
 sutra 111. 3. 2, &e. 
 
 2 This might be translated ‘dialogue.’ It appears from Satapatha- 
 brahmana IV. 6, 9, 20, that some portions of Vedic tradition were called 
 vakovakyam or brahmodyam. 
 
 % See this word in my Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Compare the 
 directions as to the brahma-yajia in the Asvalayana Grihya-stitra, trans- 
 lated p. 203 of this volume. 
 
 4 These six are also named in Paraskara’s Grihya-sitra I. 1 (Stenzler) 
 as worthy of the Argha. 
 
 = 
 
 a ον 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—YAJNAVALKYA. 299 
 
 the world of Brahman, must especially honour (I. ται. Cf. Manu I. 
 120, 130). 
 
 The success of every action depends on destiny and on a man’s own 
 effort ; but destiny is evidently nothing but (the result) of a man’s act in 
 a former state of existence (I. 348. Cf. Manu VIL. 205 and p. 286 of this 
 volume). 
 
 Some expect the whole result from destiny or from the inherent nature 
 (or force of a thing) ; some expect it from the lapse of time; and some, 
 from a man’s own effort : other persons of wiser judgment expect it from 
 a combination of all these (I. 349). 
 
 IJ. The following are from the second section of Yajna- 
 valkya’s Code on Vyavahdra or ‘the administration of 
 justice τ 
 
 Every day should a king, reflecting on his reward equal to that of 
 sacrifices, personally investigate lawsuits in regular order surrounded by 
 
 assessors’ (I. 359. Cf. Manu VIIL 1). 
 
 * Colebrooke, in one of his Essays (Professor E. Β. Cowell’s edition, 
 vol. 11. p. 490), gives an interesting account of the composition of an 
 Indian court of justice, according to the rules of Hindi Law-books. The 
 administration of justice, civil and criminal, is one of the chief duties of 
 the Raji or sovereign. Hence the king’s court takes precedence of all. 
 He is assisted by learned Brahmans as assessors, one of whom acts as 
 chief judge in his absence. It is not stationary, but follows him about. 
 The second court, which is stationary, is that of the chief judge (Prad- 
 vwaka), appointed by the king, and assisted by three or more Brahman 
 assessors, not exceeding seven. The third court is that of the inferior 
 judges for local trials. Besides these, there are country courts or assem- 
 blies of townsmen (Piga), of traders, artisans, &e. (Sreni), and of kins- 
 men (A w/a) for arbitration in small matters. The sovereign or supreme 
 court (to which there is an appeal from all the others) is compared to a 
 body consisting of various members, viz. 1. the king, 2. the chief judge, 
 3. the assessors, 4. the ministers of state, 5. the king’s domestic priest, 6. 
 the written law, 7. gold, fire and water (used for oaths and ordeals), 8. the 
 accountant, 9. the scribe (A@yastha), το. the keeper of things in dispute 
 and the enforcer of judgments, 11. the messenger, 12. the moderator of 
 the court. The audience or bystanders are also regarded as a component 
 part of the court, any one duly qualified to interpose with a suggestion or 
 advice being at liberty to do so. ΑἹ] this is illustrated in a most interesting 
 
300 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A king, having duly corrected the castes, families, companies of artisans 
 (srenz), schools, and communities of people that have swerved from the 
 duty of their caste (sva-dharmat, cf. p. 140), should place them in the 
 right path (I. 360. Cf. Manu VIII. 41). 
 
 Let the king, keeping himself free from anger and covetousness, try 
 lawsuits along with learned Brahmans in accordance with the rules of 
 written law (dharma-sdstranusarena, II. τ. Cf. Manu VIII. 1). 
 
 He should appoint as judges men well versed in the study of the Veda, 
 conversant with the laws, speakers of truth, impartial to friend and foe 
 {Π| 2} 
 
 When any one, injured by others in any way contrary to law or usage, 
 makes a representation to the king, this is a proper subject for a lawsuit 
 (vyavahara-padam, 11. 5). 
 
 The charge, as made by the plaintiff, is to be put down in writing in 
 presence of the defendant, marked with the year, month, half-month, day, 
 names, caste, &c. (II. 6). 
 
 The answer to the charge is to be then written down in presence of the 
 person who made the first representation ; after which the plaintiff shall 
 immediately cause to be committed to writing the proofs by which his 
 accusation is supported (II. 6, 7). 
 
 Legal proof (pramanam) is of three kinds, viz. written documents 
 (likhitam), actual possession (bhuktih), and witnesses (sakshinah). In the 
 absence of any one of these, some one of the ordeals (divyanyatamam) is 
 enjoined (II, 22. Cf. Manu VIII. rrq). 
 
 The scales (tua), fire, water, poison, drinking the water in which idols 
 have been washed (Kosa), these are the ordeals for the testing of inno- 
 cence (II. 95. See note 1, p. 276). 
 
 There should be at least three witnesses, persons who act in accordance 
 with the precepts of the Veda or traditional law and are of suitable 
 caste (II. 69. Cf. Manu VIII. 60, and see p. 276 of this volume). 
 
 The judge should thus address the witnesses standing near the plaintiff 
 (vadin) and defendant (prativadin), ‘ Whatever worlds are appointed for 
 the worst criminals, for incendiaries, for murderers of women and chil- 
 dren, these shall be the abode of him who gives false evidence’ (sakshyam 
 anritam, II. 73, 74. Cf. Manu VIII. 89). 
 
 manner by the ninth act of the drama called Mricchakatika, to which 
 reference will be made in a subsequent Lecture. In the description of a 
 court of justice there given, as Professor Cowell has remarked, the 
 Sreshthin or ‘chief of the merchants’ and the Kayastha or ‘scribe’ seem 
 to sit as assessors with the judge. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—YAJNAVALKYA. 901 
 
 Know that whatever merit has been acquired by thee through good 
 actions in hundreds of former births shall become the property of him 
 whom thou defeatest by false evidence? (II. 75. Cf. Manu VIIT. go). 
 
 In conflicting evidence (dvaidhe), that of the majority (bahindm) 
 must be taken; in the case of an equality of testimony, that of the 
 virtuous persons; when these disagree, then the statements of the most 
 virtuous must be taken (II. 78. Cf. Manu VIII. 73). 
 
 Whenever the evidence of a witness might occasion the death of a 
 person of whatever class, the witness may tell an untruth. To obtain 
 expiation (padvandya) after such false evidence twice-born men must offer 
 an oblation (aru) to Sarasvati (II. 83. Cf. Manu VIIT. τος, 105). 
 
 When a murder or robbery has occurred (ghdtite *pahrite) and no 
 traces of it are found beyond the village, the blame must rest on the 
 governor of the village (grama-bhartuh), and the village must pay (II. 
 S75, 272). 
 
 When a Brahman is a thief, he must be marked with a hot iron and 
 banished from the country (II. 270). 
 
 Housebreakers, stealers of horses and elephants, and those who commit 
 murder with violence should be impaled (II. 273. Cf. Manu IX. 276, 
 280). 
 
 A: stealer of clothes should have his hand cut off; cut-purses should 
 have the thumb and fore-finger amputated (II. 274. Cf. Manu IX. 277). 
 
 The highest fine should be imposed on any one who knowingly gives 
 a thief or murderer food, shelter, fire, water, advice, implements, or 
 money (II. 276. Cf. Manu IX. 278). 
 
 Whoever falsifies scales, an edict, measures or coins, or does business 
 with them so falsified should be made to pay the highest fine (II. 240. 
 Cf. Manu IX. 232). 
 
 One who falsely practises as a physician must pay the first fine, if his 
 deception be practised towards animals ; the middle fine, if towards men ; 
 the highest fine, if towards any of the king’s officers (II. 242. Cf. Manu 
 IX. 284). 
 
 Any one who adulterates medicine, or oil, or salt, or perfumes, or corn, 
 or sugar, or other commodities, should be made to pay sixteen Panas (II. 
 245. Cf. Manu VIII. 203, IX. 286, 291). 
 
 The highest fine should be imposed on those who, knowing the rise or 
 fall in prices, combine to make a price of their own to the detriment of 
 workmen and artisans (II. 249). 
 
 Ifa king has imposed any fine unjustly, he must give thirty times the 
 
 * In Manu the merit is said to be transferred to dogs, see p. 291. 
 
302 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 amount to Brahmans after having made an offering to Varuna (II. 307. 
 Cf. Manu IX. 244). 
 
 ΠΙ|. The third Book gives various rules for Prdyas- 
 Citta, ‘penance, expiation, and purification. Many of the 
 laws are like those of Manu. It will suffice to note a few 
 examples which have reference to funeral ceremonies : 
 
 A child under two years old must be buried, and no offering of water 
 should be made to him. (The corpse of) any other deceased person 
 should be accompanied by (a procession of) relations to the burning- 
 place (@-Smasanat, III. 1. See p. 204. Cf. Manu V. 68, 69, 103). 
 
 It is then to be burnt with common fire (/aukikagnina) while they 
 repeat the hymn to Yama (yama-siktam) and the sacred chant (gatham, 
 Nile 2): 
 
 It is usual (for the relatives) to pour out a libation of water once (to 
 the deceased), uttering his name and family, (and then) remaining silent 
 (see p. 207). 
 
 But religious students and outcastes are not allowed to offer the obla- 
 tions of water (III. 5. Cf. Manu V. 88). 
 
 The funeral oblation is not allowed for heretics (pashandin), persons 
 without any fixed station (an-asritah), thieves, women who have killed 
 their husbands, or who have lived an independent life (kama-gdah), or 
 have been drunkards, or have committed suicide (Gtma-tyaginyah, II. 6. 
 Cf. Manu V. 89, 90). 
 
 When the relatives have poured out water, have completed their ablu- 
 tions, and have seated themselves on a spot covered with soft grass, (the 
 elder ones) may repeat to the others some verses from the ancient 
 Itihasas, such as the following (III. 7): 
 
 Does it not argue folly to expect 
 
 Stability in man, who is as transient 
 
 As a mere bubble and fragile as a stalk 4 
 Why should we utter wailings if a frame, 
 Composed of five material elements, 
 
 [5 decomposed by force of its own acts, 
 
 And once again resolved into its parts ? 
 
 The earth, the ocean, and the gods themselves 
 Must perish, how should not the world 
 
 Of mortals, light as froth, obey the law 
 
 Of universal death and perish too (III. 8-11) ? 
 
 After hearing verses of this kind they should return home, the younger 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—YAJNAVALKYA. 303 
 
 ones leading the way, stopping solemnly outside the door of the house to 
 chew leaves of the Nimb tree (Wimba-patrant, IIT. 12). 
 
 After they have rinsed out their mouths and touched fire, water, cow- 
 dung, white mustard-seed, and placed their feet on a stone, they should 
 enter the house slowly (III. 13. Cf. the account of the funeral proces- 
 sion in the Grihya-siitras, pp. 205-207). 
 
 Impurity caused by the ceremonies connected with touching a corpse 
 (Ssavam asauéam) lasts for either three nights or ten nights (III. 18. Cf. 
 Manu V. 59, 64). 
 
 Those who preserve this Law-book diligently in their memories shall 
 obtain reputation in this world and shall go to heaven (III. 330). 
 
 He who repeats only three verses out of this Law-book at a Sraddha 
 causes perpetual satisfaction to his departed ancestors; of this there is 
 no doubt. A Brahman may obtain merit, a Kshatriya may become vic- 
 torious, and a Vaisya may become rich in corn aud money by preserving 
 this book in his memory (III. 332, 333). 
 
 The eighteen principal Codes posterior to Manu and 
 Yajnavalkya. 
 
 A list of eighteen of the most important of these has 
 been given at p.211. They are all extant in some form 
 or other, as described by Colebrooke’. Little or nothing 
 is known about the authorship of any one of them. They 
 have arisen from the necessity of framing new laws or 
 modifying old ones to suit particular localities and parti- 
 cular periods. In order to invest them with antiquity 
 and authority, they are all eighteen ascribed, like the 
 Codes of Manu and Yajnavalkya, to various mythical 
 inspired sages. The fact is, that although Manu and 
 Yajnavalkya still form the basis of Hindi jurisprudence, 
 many of their laws are regarded by more recent Hindi 
 legislators as only intended for the first three ages of the 
 world, and therefore as having no force, or superseded by 
 
 τ See Professor Εἰ. B, Cowell’s edition of his Essays, vol. i. pp. 468-470. 
 The works or their abridgments, ascribed to these eighteen inspired law- 
 givers, have been all printed at Calcutta. 
 
304 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 others, in the present fourth and more degenerate Kali- 
 yuga (see note 2, p.187). Thus the author of the work 
 ascribed to Narada’ says: 
 
 Marriage with the widow of a deceased brother, the slaughter of cattle 
 in entertaining guests, flesh-meat at funeral obsequies, and the entrance 
 into the third order (or that of a Vanaprastha, ‘ hermit’) are forbidden in 
 the fourth age. 
 
 The following acts, allowed under certain circumstances 
 by ancient law, are also forbidden in the fourth age : 
 
 Drinking any spirituous liquor, even at a religious ceremony”; the 
 5 y 1 ? fo) Nf ) 
 gift of a young married woman to another bridegroom if her husband 
 should die while she is still a virgin; the marriage of twice-born men 
 with women not of the same class; any intercourse with a twice-born 
 man who has passed the sea in a ship; the slaughter of a bull at a sacri- 
 fice, &c. 
 - ἢ ᾽ 
 And the author of Parasara’s Code? affirms: 
 The laws of various ages are different. Manu’s Law-book belongs to 
 
 the Krita age, Gautama’s to the Treta, that of San kha and Likhita to the 
 Dyapara, and Paragara’s Code to the Kali age. 
 
 Many modern lawyers, however, regard the whole of 
 Smriti, beginning with Manu, as one, and assert that the 
 inconsistencies and contradictions it contains are all capable 
 of explanation. 
 
 I here annex a few particulars relative to the eighteen 
 principal Codes posterior to Manu and Yajnavalkya : 
 
 1. That attributed to Aérz, one of Manu’s ten Prajipatis (I. 35), is in 
 verse, and written in a perspicuous style. 2. That of Vishnw is also in 
 verse, and is regarded as an excellent treatise, an abridgment of which is 
 also extant. 3. That of Hdarita, on the contrary, is in prose, but has 
 been abridged in a metrical form. 4. That of Usanas or Sukra is in 
 verse, and an abridgment is extant. 5. A short treatise of about seventy 
 verses is ascribed to Awgiras, one of Manu’s Prajapatis and Maharshis 
 (I. 35). 6. A tract consisting of one hundred verses, commented on by 
 
 1 Quoted by Sir W. Jones, vol. vill, Ὁ. 153. 
 2 As, for example, the Sautramani. 
 ® Quoted by Professor Stenzler in his preface to Yajnavalkya. 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—OTHER CODES AND SCHOOLS. 305 
 
 Kullika-bhatta, is mythically attributed to Yama (brother of Manu 
 Vaivasvata), ruler of the world of spirits. 7. That of Apastamba is in 
 prose, but an abridgment in verse also exists. 8. Samvarta’s Code has 
 aso a metrical abridgment. 9. Adtydyana’s law-treatise is full and per- 
 spicuous. 10. Vrihaspati’s has been abridged, and it is doubtful whether 
 we possess the abridgment or the Code itself. 11. Pardagara’s treatise is 
 regarded by some as the highest authority for the Kali or fourth age of 
 the world. It has been commented on by MadhavaCarya. 12. A law- 
 treatise is ascribed to the celebrated Vyasa, son of Paragara. 13, 14. Two 
 separate tracts in verse by Sankha and Likhita exist, but their joint 
 treatise in prose is the one usually cited by Kullika and others. It is 
 supposed to be adapted to the Dvyapara age. 15. A Code in verse of no 
 special interest is attributed to Daksha, one of Manu’s ten Prajapatis 
 (I. 35). 416. A prose treatise written in a clear style bears the name of 
 Gautama. It is held to have been written for the Treta age. 17. Sata- 
 tapa’s Code is chiefly on penance and expiation. There is an abridgment 
 of it in verse. 18. The treatise attributed to Vasishtha, another of Manu’s 
 Prajapatis (I. 35), is a mixture of prose and verse. 
 
 Of other codes ascribed to various mythical lawgivers 
 in the Padma-puraina &c. it will be sufficient to mention 
 those of Mariéi, Pulastya, Bhrigu, Narada (Manu I. 35), 
 Kasyapa, Visvamitra, Gargya, Baudhayana, Paithinasi, 
 Sumantu, Lokakshi, Kuthumi or Kuthumi, and Dhaumya. 
 
 Besides, there are a vast number of legal treatises and 
 commentaries based on ancient codes by modern lawyers, 
 whose works are current and more or less esteemed as 
 authorities in different parts of India. They form five 
 schools, of which I here give a brief account. 
 
 The Five Schools of Hindi Law. 
 
 These are the schools of—r1. Bengal, 2. Benares, 3. Mi- 
 thila (North Behar and Tirhut), 4. Madras (Drdvida), and 
 5. Bombay (Mahd-rdshtra)'. There are certain books 
 
 * I have here consulted Mr. Herbert Cowell’s Tagore Law Lectures, 
 copies of which have always been kindly given to me by the Senate 
 of the Calcutta University. 
 
 x 
 
306 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 regarded as special authorities in each of these principal 
 schools. 
 
 1. In Bengal both Manu and Yajnavalkya are of 
 course held in great reverence as original sources of 
 law. We have already noted that the best commentary 
 on Manu is one called Manv-artha-muktavali, by Kullika- 
 bhatta (see p. 221). There is also a commentary by 
 Medhatithi (partially lost, and completed by another 
 author) ; another by Govinda-raja; another by Dharani- 
 dhara, Bhaiguri, and others. To Yajnavalkya belong at 
 least four other commentaries besides the Mitakshara, viz. 
 that of Apararka (which is the oldest of all) ; of Sila-pani 
 (called the Dipa-kalika) ; of Deva-bodha, and of Visva-rtipa. 
 Siila-pani is also the author of a work on penance and 
 expiation. The Mitakshara of Vijnanesvara’ is, however, 
 the principal commentary on Yajnavalkya (as before 
 noticed). It is much studied in Bengal, but the chief 
 authority in the Bengal school is a well-known work, 
 somewhat different in character and principles, called the 
 Daya-bhaga or ‘treatise on inheritance, ascribed to 
 Jimita-vahana’, by some thought to have been a prince 
 of the house of Silara, who either composed this work 
 himself or caused it to be compiled rather earlier than the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century. It should be stated 
 that both the Mitakshara and Daya-bhiga are develop- 
 ments of, rather than commentaries on, Manu and Yajna- 
 valkya. Although they profess to be based on these 
 ancient books, they sometimes modify the laws there pro- 
 pounded to suit a more advanced social system. In other 
 
 1 Vijnanesvara belonged to a sect of Sannyasins founded by Sankara- 
 éarya, and his commentary may have been written as early as the ninth 
 century of our era. 
 
 2 Translated by Colebrooke. Jimitta-vahana’s work seems to have been 
 called Dharma-ratna, and only the chapter on inheritance is preserved. 
 
 ον αν eee 
 
THE LAW-BOOKS—OTHER CODES AND SCHOOLS. 307 
 
 cases they discuss doubtful points and supply omissions; 
 while they, in their turn, have been commented on by 
 succeeding lawyers, whose works introduce still further 
 modifications on various important points’, thus : 
 
 Three principal commentaries on the Mitaksharai are named, viz. the 
 Subodhini of Visvesvara-bhatta (thought by Colebrooke to be as old as 
 the fourteenth century); a later work by Balam-bhatta; and a third 
 (called the Pratitakshara) by Nanda-pandita (who was also the author of 
 the work on adoption called Dattaka-mimansa and of the Vaijayanti (see 
 next page). The commentaries on the Daya-bhaga are numerous. Some 
 of these (published under the patronage of Prasanna Kumar Thakur) are, 
 that of Srikrishna-tarkalan-kira, which, with a treatise by the same author 
 called Daya-krama-sangraha, is highly esteemed in Bengal; that of 
 Sri-nathaéarya-cidamani; that of Aéyuta-éakravartin; and that of Mahe- 
 Svara. Before any of these ought to be placed the works of a celebrated 
 Brahman (who lived at the beginning of the sixteenth century), named 
 Raghu-nandana, in about twenty-seven books, on rites and customs and 
 the times of their observance. His treatises, intended to comment on and 
 support Jimiita-vahana, are called Smriti-tattva, Tithi-tattva, &c., the 
 former including the Vyavahara-tattva and Daya-tattva?. 
 
 2. As regards the school of Benares and Middle India it 
 should be noted that the Mitakshara of Vijnanesvara is 
 acknowledged as an authority, and studied by the ad- 
 herents of this school, as it is to a certain extent by all 
 five schools. But in the Benares school certain popular 
 commentaries on the Mitakshara, such as the Vira-mitro- 
 daya of Mitra-misra and the Vivada-tandava of Kamala- 
 kara, have great weight. 
 
 3. Inthe Maithila school or that of Mithila (North Behar 
 and Tirhut), besides the Code of Yajnavalkya with the 
 
 1 The certainty we feel as to the accuracy of the texts of all important 
 Sanskrit works is due to the practice of writing commentaries, which 
 always quote the words of the original, and so prevent changes. Again, 
 the accuracy and genuineness of the best commentaries is secured by 
 other commentaries on them. 
 
 * Printed at Calcutta in 1828, Raghu-nandana is often called Smarta- 
 bhattacarya. 
 
 xX 2 
 
308 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Mitakshara, the Vivada-cintamani and Vyavahara-cinta- 
 mani of Vaéaspati Misra’ are much studied; also the 
 Vivada-ratnakara of Candegvara (who lived about 1314) 
 and the Vivada-candra, composed by a learned female 
 named Lakhima-devi, who is said to have set the name of 
 her kinsman, Misari-misra, to her own works. 
 
 4. In the Dravidian or South-Indian school, besides the 
 Mitakshara, as before, there is the Smriti-Candrika and 
 Dattaka-Gandrika of Devana-bhatta; Madhavacarya’s com- 
 mentary on ParaSara’s Code (called ParaSara-smriti-vya- 
 khya); and Nanda-pandita’s commentary on Vishnu’s Code 
 (called Vaijayanti), and on Paragara’s Code, and his treatise 
 on the law of adoption called Dattaka-éandrika. 
 
 5. In the Western school (of Bombay and Maha-rashtra), 
 besides the Mitakshara, certain treatises by Nilakantha- 
 bhatta, particularly one called Vyavahara-mayikha’, have 
 the most weight. 
 
 1 Often called Misra. His work has been translated by Prasanna 
 Kumar Thakur, and printed at Calcutta in 1863. A copy was kindly 
 sent to me by the translator. 
 
 2 A translation of this by Mr. H. Borrodaile of the Bombay Civil 
 Service was published at Surat at the Mission Press in 1827. 
 
LECTURE XII. 
 
 IV. The Itihdsas or Epie Poems—The Ramayana’. 
 
 N India, literature, like the whole face of nature, is 
 on a gigantic scale. Poetry, born amid the majestic 
 scenery of the Himalayas, and fostered in a climate which 
 inflamed the imaginative powers, developed itself with 
 Oriental luxuriance, if not always with true sublimity. 
 Although the Hindis, like the Greeks, have only two 
 great epic poems’—the Ramayana and Maha-bharata— 
 yet to compare these vast compositions with the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey, is to compare the Indus and the Ganges, 
 rising in the snows of the world’s most colossal ranges, 
 swollen by numerous tributaries, spreading into vast 
 shallows or branching into deep divergent channels, with 
 the streams of Attica or the mountain-torrents of Thessaly. 
 There is, in fact, an immensity of bulk about this, as 
 about every other department of Sanskrit literature, which 
 to a European mind, accustomed to a more limited horizon, 
 is absolutely bewildering. 
 
 1 A portion of the matter of this Lecture and of that on the Maha- 
 bharata was delivered by me as a public Lecture before the University of 
 Oxford, on the 9th of May, 1862, and was afterwards published in a little 
 work called ‘Indian Epie Poetry,’ which is now out of print. 
 
 * I am here speaking of that form of epic poetry which may be called 
 natural and spontaneous as distinguished from artificial. Whether the 
 Indian Epies (Itihasas) or even the Iliad can be strictly said to answer 
 Aristotle’s definition of Epos, is another question. Artificial epic poems 
 (Kavyas) are not wanting in later Sanskrit, and specimens will be given 
 in a subsequent Lecture. 
 
310 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Nevertheless, a sketch, however imperfect, of the two 
 Indian Epics can scarcely fail to interest Occidental 
 scholars; for all true poetry, whether European or Asiatic, 
 must have features of resemblance ; and no poems could 
 have achieved celebrity in the East as these have done, 
 had they not addressed themselves to feelings and affec- 
 tions common to human nature, and belonging alike to 
 Englishmen and Hindis. 
 
 I propose, therefore, in the next three Lectures, to give 
 a brief general idea of the character and contents of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bhiarata', comparing them im some 
 important particulars with each other, and pointing out 
 the most obvious features of similarity or difference, 
 which must strike every classical scholar who contrasts 
 them with the Iliad and the Odyssey. 
 
 It is, of course, a principal characteristic of epic poetry, 
 as distinguished from lyrical, that it should concern itself 
 more with external action than internal feelings. It is 
 this which makes Epos the natural expression of early 
 national life. When centuries of trial have turned the 
 mind of nations inwards, and men begin to speculate, to 
 reason, to elaborate language and cultivate science, there 
 may be no lack of refined poetry, but the spontaneous 
 production of epic song is, at that stage of national exist- 
 ence, as impossible as for an octogenarian to delight in the 
 giants and giant-killers of his childhood. The Ramayana 
 and Maha-bhirata then, as reflecting the Hindi character 
 in ancient times, may be expected to abound in stirring 
 incidents of exaggerated heroic action. 
 
 Songs in celebration of great heroes were probably 
 current in India quite as early as the Homeric poems in 
 
 1 A more complete analysis of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata was 
 given by me at the end of the little work called ‘Indian Epic Poetry,’ 
 and will probably be reprinted with additions hereafter, 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 311 
 
 Greece. No mention, indeed, is made of Rama, Arjuna, 
 and Yudhi-shthira in the hymns of the Rig-veda, but the 
 deeds of Indra and other gods and heroes, who were sup- 
 posed to protect the more civilized Aryas from the bar- 
 barous An-aryas, are there narrated and lauded, and it 
 is in the songs composed in their praise that we may 
 trace the foreshadowings of Indian epic poetry. Again, 
 we know that Itihdsas, or legendary narratives, were 
 recited orally at the period when the Grihya Sitras and 
 Manu were composed (see last line of p. 203; note, p.215; 
 and p. 256). Such narratives doubtless recounted the 
 adventures of the popular heroes of the period, with 
 all the warmth of colouring natural to writers whose 
 imaginations were stimulated by an Eastern climate and 
 environments ; but it is scarcely credible that they could 
 have achieved much popularity had they not rested on a 
 basis of historical truth. 
 
 It is certainly likely that at some early date, not long 
 after the first settlement of the Aryan races in the country 
 of the five rivers, rival tribes of immigrants, called Kurus, 
 advancing from that region towards the plains of Hindi- 
 stan, contended for supremacy. It is, moreover, probable 
 that soon after their final occupation of the Gangetic 
 districts, a body of invaders headed by a bold leader, and 
 aided by the warlike but uncivilized hill-tribes, forced 
 their way southwards into the peninsula of India as far 
 as Ceylon. The heroic exploits of the chieftains in both 
 cases would naturally become the theme of epic poetry, 
 and the wild Aborigines of the Vindhya and neighbouring 
 hills would be poetically converted into monkeys’, while 
 
 1 Strabo (XV. 29) relates that on a particular occasion a large number 
 of monkeys came out of a wood and stood opposite the Macedonian 
 troops, who seeing them apparently stationed in military array, mistook 
 them for a real army and prepared to attack them as enemies. 
 
312 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the powerful pre-Aryan races of the south would be repre- 
 sented as many-headed ogres and blood-thirsty demons". 
 
 1 We must be careful not to confound the great Dravidian races 
 occupying the Madras Presidency and speaking Tamil, Telugu, Kanarese, 
 and Malayalam, with the uneivilized aboriginal tribes found on the hills 
 and in the jungles of India. The Dravidian races (probably symbolized 
 by the Ravanas and Vibhishanas of epic poetry) were the precursors of 
 the Sanskrit-speaking Aryans, and possibly had their origin in the same 
 districts of Central Asia, whence they immigrated by the same mountain- 
 passes into the Panjab and Northern India. They may have partially 
 amalgamated with the advancing Aryans, but were mostly driven south- 
 wards. There they attained a considerable independent civilization. Their 
 languages, although eventually more or Jess intermingled with Sanskrit 
 words, are agglutinating (commonly called Turanian) in structure, and 
 possess an extensive and important hterature of their own. On the 
 other hand, the hill-tribes and others (such as were symbolized by 
 the monkey-armies of Hanumat)—the Gonds of Central India, the 
 Bhils of the hills to the west of the Gonds, the Khonds or Kus of the 
 eastern districts of Gondvana and the ranges south of Orissa, the 
 Santhals and Kols of the hills to the west of Bengal, the Khasias and 
 Garos of the eastern border—are the present representatives of numerous 
 
 wild Tartar tribes who swarmed into India at various epochs, some of 
 them probably coming from Chinese Tartary and Tibet, and taking the 
 course of the Brahma-putra into Bengal. These speak an infinite 
 number of different dialects and are almost all mutually unintelligible. 
 If the term Turanian is to embrace races so widely separated by language 
 and customs as the Dravidians and various hill-tribes of India, the sooner 
 it is expelled from the vocabulary of philologists and ethnologists the 
 better. At any rate, there must be two great classes of Turanian 
 languages, the North and the South; the former comprising the three 
 sisters Tungusic (or Mantchu), Mongol, and Turkish, besides Samoyedic 
 and Finnish, while the latter takes in Tibetan, Siamese, Burmese, and 
 the Dravidian languages; the monosyllabic Chinese standing, as it were, 
 between the two. Perhaps the dialects of the Himalayan tribes have, 
 of all hill-dialects, the best title to be ranked among the South Turanian 
 class. Dr. Caldwell, in his valuable Comparative Grammar of the South- 
 Indian Languages, has discussed the afliliation of the Dravidian family 
 with great ability. He considers that the Dravidians were the first 
 inhabitants of India, and that they were driven southwards by other 
 invaders, who were afterwards subdued by the Aryans. The rude dialects 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 313 
 
 These races, who are called An-drya, ‘ignoble,’ in opposi- 
 tion to Arya, ‘noble, had been gradually driven south- 
 wards or towards the hills by the Aryan settlers. They 
 probably made great resistance in the North at the time 
 the Rig-veda was composed. They are there called 
 Dasyus, Yatudhanas, &c., and described as monstrous in 
 form, godless, inhuman, haters of Brahmans, disturbers of 
 sacred rites, eaters of human and horse flesh (Rig-veda 
 X. 87, 16; Muir’s Texts II. 435). In the epic poems they 
 are generally called Rakshasas or evil demons, the relent- 
 less enemies of gods and good men and of all sacred rites’. 
 
 of the more southern hill-tribes are partially connected with the Dra- 
 vidian, especially the Tuda, Kota (two dialects of the Nil-giri hills), 
 Gond, and Khond (Ku). The Ramisies and most of the Korawars speak 
 a patois of Telugu. The Male-arasars (‘hill-kings’) of the Southern 
 Ghats speak partly corrupt Malayalam and corrupt Tamil. The Lamba- 
 dies, or gipsies, speak a dialect of Hindistani. Among the barbarous 
 tribes of the South are included the Vedars of the forests of Ceylon. 
 
 1 Tn one place (Ramayana III. i. 15) they are described as black, with 
 woolly hair and thick lips. The following is from ITI. i. 22, &c.: ‘Men- 
 devouring Rakshasas of various shapes and wild-beasts dwell in this vast 
 forest. They harass the devotees in the settlements. These shapeless 
 and ill-looking monsters testify their abominable character by various cruel 
 and terrific displays of it. These base-born wretches (an-Grya) perpetrate 
 the greatest outrages. Changing their shapes and hiding in the thickets 
 they delight in terrifying devotees. They cast away the sacrificial 
 ladles and vessels (¢rug-bhandam), pollute the cooked oblations, and 
 defile the offerings with blood. They utter frightful sounds in the ears 
 of the faithful.’ Viradha, a Rakshasa, is said (Ramayana IIT. vii. 5 ; 
 Muir II. 427) to be ‘like a mountain-peak, with long legs, a huge body, 
 a crooked nose, hideous eyes, a long face, pendent belly, &e., like Death 
 with an open mouth.’ The Nishadas of the Puranas, though described 
 as dwarfish, have similar features, and are no doubt intended for the 
 same race. In the same way, in describing races unknown to the 
 Greeks, such as the Cyclopes, Laestrygones, Centauri, &c., Homer and 
 other Grecian writers are given to exaggeration, and relate the most 
 absurd fables, 
 
314 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It is to the subjugation of these non-Aryan races by heroic 
 Aryan leaders who were Kshatriyas, as well as to the rivalry 
 between different tribes of the settlers themselves, that we 
 owe the circumstances out of which the two great Epics 
 arose. Whether the celebrated Aryan warriors of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata were identical with those 
 of the Itibasas of which mention is made in the Grihya 
 Siitras and in Manu (III. 232) cannot be proved; but this 
 much is clear, that the exploits of the three Ramas, 
 Arjuna, &c., became, soon after Manu’s time, the theme 
 of song, and that these heroes were in the first instance 
 represented as merely men of great strength and prowess, 
 whose powers, however extraordinary, were not more than 
 human. The oral descriptions of their deeds and adven- 
 tures by public reciters formed the original basis of the 
 two great Epics, and were naturally the peculiar property 
 of the Kshatriya and conquering class. Probably these 
 narratives were in the first instance delivered in prose, 
 which became gradually interspersed with the simplest 
 forms of metre, such as that called Anushtubh or Sloka?. 
 
 It is easy indeed for the most cursory reader of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata to trace a substratum or 
 basis (mila) of simple heroic narration underlying the 
 mass of more recent accretions. But to what date is 
 this first frame-work of the poems to be referred? And 
 again—When occurred that first process of brahmanizing 
 which obscured and transformed its original character 4 
 And lastly —When was the structure completed and the 
 
 1 The oldest part of the Maha-bhirata has a section entirely in 
 prose (see note 1, p. 372). The invention of the Sloka is attributed 
 to Valmiki, the reputed author of the Ramayana, with the object 
 doubtless of establishing his claims to be regarded as one of the 
 earliest and most ancient of Indian poets. This metre is found in 
 the Veda. 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 315 
 
 whole work moulded into a form similar to that we now 
 possess 4 
 
 With regard to the first of these questions, I have 
 now to submit five reasons in support of the view 
 that the earliest or pre-brahmanical composition of both 
 Epies took place at a period not later than the fifth 
 century Β. Ο., as follow: 
 
 1. The Ramayana records no case of Sati. In the Maha-bhirata, 
 Madri, wife of Pindu, is made to immolate herself with her husband}, 
 and the four wives of Vasu-deva and some of Krishna’s wives do the 
 same”; but it is remarkable that none of the numerous widows of the 
 slain heroes are represented as burning themselves in the same manner. 
 This shows that the practice of Sati was beginning to be introduced in the 
 North-west of India near the Panjab (where we know it prevailed about 300 
 years B.C.), but that it had not at the time of the earliest composition of 
 the Ramayana reached the more eastern districts. But if one Epic re- 
 cords no Sati, and the other only rare cases—notwithstanding the numerous 
 opportunities for referring to the practice afforded by the circumstances of 
 the plot—it follows that we ought to place the laying down of the first 
 lines of both compositions before the third century B. c., when we know 
 from Megasthenes that it prevailed generally even as far east as Magadha. 
 
 2. The first construction, or, so to speak, ‘first casting’ of the stories 
 of Rama and of the Pandavas as poems with definite plots, seems to 
 have been pre-buddhistic quite as clearly as it was pre-brahmanical—by 
 which I mean, that it took place anterior to the actual establishment of 
 Buddhism as a rival system. Only one direct mention of Buddha and 
 Buddhism occurs in the Ramayana, and the verses in which it occurs 
 (II. eviii. 30-38), and in which Buddha is compared to a thief, are admitted 
 to be an interpolation and not part of the original poem. Nor ean it 
 be proved that any such direct reference occurs in the original Maha- 
 bharata. Nevertheless, there are numerous allusions (not bearing the 
 stamp of later additions) in both Epics, especially the latter, to that 
 development of rationalistic inquiry and Buddhistic scepticism, which 
 we know commenced about 500 years B. c.° 
 
 1 Adi-parvan 4896. See also 3030. ? Mausala-parvan 194, 240. 
 
 * Note particularly the infidel doctrines expressed by the Brahman 
 Javali (see p. 353), and Book I. 12. of the Bengali recension of the 
 Ramayana, where Sramanas, or Buddhist mendicants, are mentioned 
 (see also p. 133). 
 
316 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 3. It is evident from the Asoka inscriptions that the language of the 
 mass of the people in Hindistan in the third century B.c. was not pure 
 Sanskrit. It consisted rather of a variety of provincial Sanskritie dialects, 
 to which the general name of Prakrit is applied. If, then, the first 
 redaction of these popular poems had taken place as late as the third 
 century, is it likely that some forms of Prakrit would not have been 
 introduced into the dialogues and allowed to remain there, as we find 
 has been done in the dramas, the oldest of which—the Mriééhakatika— 
 can scarcely be much later than the second century B.c.? It is true 
 that the language of the original story of both Epics, as traceable 
 in the present texts, is generally simple Sanskrit, and by no means 
 elaborate or artificial ; but this is just what might have been understood 
 by the majority of the people about five centuries B.c., before the 
 language of the people had become generally prakriticized. 
 
 4. When the story of the poems was first put together in a continuous 
 form, it is clear that the Dekhan and more westerly and southerly regions 
 of India had not been occupied by the Aryans. But we know from the 
 Asoka inscriptions that the empire of the kings of Magadha and Palibothra 
 in the third century radiated in all directions, as inscriptions are found 
 in the Panjab, at Delhi, in Kuttack, and as far west as Gujarat. 
 
 5. The Greek writer, Dion Chrysostomos, who was born about the 
 middle of the first century, and was especially honoured by the emperor 
 Trajan, mentions (Or. LIIT. 555) that records existed in his time of epic 
 poems, recited by the Hindiis, which had been copied or translated from 
 Homer. These statements, as Professor Lassen has shown (Ind. Alt. III. 
 346), must have been taken from the accounts of Megasthenes, who lived 
 at the court of Candra-gupta (see note p. 231). They indicate that poems 
 resembling the Iliad were current in India at least as early as the third 
 or fourth century B.c., though it by no means follows that the Hindi 
 poets borrowed a single idea from Homer’. 
 
 1 The passage in Dion Chrysostomos is as follows: ‘Omére καὶ παρ᾽ ᾿Ινδοῖς 
 ἄδεσθαι φασὶ τὴν “Ομήρου ποίησιν, μεταβαλόντων αὐτὴν eis τὴν σφετέραν διάλεκτόν 
 τε καὶ φωνήν (Reiske’s Edit. p. 253). There seems too great a disposition 
 among European scholars toregard the Hindis as destitute of all originality. 
 I cannot but agree with Professor Lassen that Megasthenes was mistaken, 
 though obviously the story of the great war between the rival tribes, 
 and that of the carrying off of Sita by a South-Indian chief, have, 
 of course, points of resemblance to the Iliad, which may have suggested 
 the idea of plagiarism. The sufferings of king Dhrita-rashtra are like those 
 of Priam, and the lamentations of the wives of the slain heroes after the 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 317 
 
 These points seem to merit consideration in fixing 
 500 B.C. as an approximate date for the first or pre- 
 brahmanical and pre-buddhistic versions of the two poems. 
 The names of the authors of these original versions appear 
 to have perished, unless it be held (which seems highly 
 improbable) that the story of Rama must be assigned to 
 Valmiki from its very first existence as a Kavya. 
 
 We come next to the second stage of their construction. 
 We have suggested the fifth century B.c. as the probable 
 date of the rise of Brahmanism, as depicted in Manu 
 (see p. 215), and with it of Buddhistic scepticism. The 
 ambitious Brahmans who aimed at religious and intel- 
 lectual supremacy, gradually saw the policy of converting 
 the great national Epics, which they could not suppress, 
 into instruments for moulding the popular mind in accord- 
 ance with their own pattern. Possibly, too, they may have 
 hoped to turn them into important engines for arresting 
 the progress of Buddhistic rationalism. Accordingly, I 
 conjecture that in the fourth century B.c. they commenced 
 re-constructing and remodelling the two great Epics. 
 They proceeded, in short, to brahmanize what was before 
 the property of the Kshatriya or warrior caste. This 
 process was of course committed to poets who were 
 Brahmans, and was not completed all at once. Those 
 songs which described too plainly the independence of 
 the military caste, were modified, obscured by allegory, 
 and rendered improbable by monstrous fable and mytho- 
 logical embellishments. Any circumstance which appeared 
 opposed to the Brahmanical system, was speciously ex- 
 
 battles between the Pandavas and Kauravas are like those of Hecuba and 
 Andromache, while the martial deeds of Arjuna and Duryodhana resemble 
 those of Achilles and Hector. According to Professor Weber the passage 
 in Dion contains the earliest notice by other writers of the Indian epic 
 poems. He is, moreover, of opinion that the Indian poets really took 
 ideas from Homer. 
 
318 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 plained away, glossed over, or mystified’. If unbelievers, 
 like Javali, were brought on the scene, it was only that 
 their arguments might be refuted, and their characters 
 reprobated (see p. 354). The great Kshatriya dynasties 
 were made to trace back their origin to Brahmanical sages 
 (see p. 346). Kings were allowed to undertake nothing 
 except under the direction of Brahman ministers*; while 
 the great heroes themselves were not really Kshatriyas, 
 or even human beings, but emanations of the Deity. 
 
 In the case of the Ramayana, the unity of the story 
 was never broken by calling in the aid of more than 
 one author, whose name was Valmiki, and who must 
 have completed the task single-handed. Hence it never 
 lost its character of a Kavya, or poem, with a clear 
 and coherent plot. On the other hand, the brahmanizing 
 of the story of the great war between the Pandavas and 
 Kauravas seems to have attracted a succession of poets, 
 who interwove their own compositions into the original 
 texture of the work, so that its individuality, and even the 
 name of its first author, disappeared under the constant 
 accession of new matter. Hence we must suppose, in the 
 
 1 Thus when Dagaratha kills a boy while hunting (see p. 250), the 
 dying youth is made to explain that, although a hermit’s son, he is no 
 Brahman, thereby relieving the king from the guilt of Brahmanicide, 
 which, according to Manu, was unpardonable either in this world or the 
 next (Manu VIII. 381, XII. 55). Again, the account of the victory of 
 the Kshatriya Rama-éandra over the Brahman Parasu-rama—the mythical 
 champion of the sacerdotal caste—is surrounded with a haze of mysticism 
 (see p. 331, note 2; p. 349); while the episode which relates at full Visva- 
 mitra’s quarrel with the great saint Vasishtha, and the success of the 
 former, though a Kshatriya, in elevating himself to a Brahman’s rank, 
 introduces the wildest hyperbole, with the manifest object of investing 
 the position of a Brahman with unapproachable grandeur, and deterring 
 others from attempts in the same direction (see p. 363). 
 
 2 King Dagaratha in the Ramayana is described as surrounded by 
 Brahman ministers (see p. 342). 
 
ORIGIN OF THE EPIC POEMS. 319 
 
 case of the Maha-bharata, more than one Brahmanical 
 redaction and amplification, which need not be assumed 
 for the completion of the Ramayana. Moreover, the 
 great mass of ever-increasing materials under which the 
 original story of the Pandavas became almost lost to view, 
 and under which the title to the name Kavya merged 
 in that of a rambling Itihasa, had to be adjusted and 
 arranged by an imaginary compiler, called Vyasa. 
 
 The first orderly completion, then, of the two poems in 
 their brahmanized form, may have taken place, I think, 
 in the case of the Ramayana about the beginning of the 
 third century B.c., and in the case of the Maha-bharata 
 (the original story of which is possibly more ancient than 
 that of the Ramayana) still later.—perhaps as late as the 
 second century B.c. The posteriority of the brahmanized 
 Maha-bharata may be supported by the more frequent 
 allusions it contains to the progress of Buddhistic opinions, 
 and to intercourse with the Yavanas or Greeks, who had 
 no considerable dealings with the Hindis till two or 
 three centuries after Alexander’s invasion’. 
 
 1 A candid study of Professor Weber’s writings, and especially of the 
 reproduction of his views lately put forth in the ‘Indian Antiquary,’ has 
 led me to modify to a certain extent the statements in my Lecture on 
 ‘Indian Epic Poetry,’ delivered May 9, 1862; but I cannot agree in 
 thinking that the work of Valmiki is to be referred to as late a date 
 as the beginning of the Christian era. Nor can I concur in the opinion 
 that the Ramayana is later than, and to a certain extent a copy of the 
 Buddhist story of Raima, called Dagaratha-jataka, in which Rama is 
 represented as the brother of Sita, and in which there are certain verses 
 almost identical with verses in the present text of the Ramayana. Nor 
 do I think that the great Indian Epic has been developed out of germs 
 furnished by this or any other Buddhistic legends. Still less can I give 
 in my adhesion to the theory that the Hindi Epics took ideas from the 
 Homeric poems; or to the suggestion of Mr. Talboys Wheeler, that the 
 story of the Ramayana was invented to give expression to the hostile 
 feeling and contention between the Brahmans and Buddhists of Ceylon, 
 alleged to be represented by the Rakshasas. 
 
320 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It is, however, necessary to refer the final construction 
 of both poems in their present form to a third and still 
 later epoch, and even to assign portions of them to the 
 early centuries of our own era, if we are to accept as 
 integral parts of the two Epics such a supplement to the 
 Ramayana as the Uttara-kinda, and such additions to the 
 Maha-bharata as the Bhagavad-gita and Hari-vanga, as well 
 as those later episodes which identify Rama and Krishna 
 with the Supreme Being. And here again in this final con- 
 struction of both poems, we must bear in mind, that the 
 deification of Raima represents an earlier stage of Vishnu- 
 worship than that of Krishna; and that the Ramayana, 
 as now presented to us, contains far fewer recent additions 
 than the Maha-bharata. 
 
 My reasons, therefore, for placing the first Brahmanical 
 construction of the two Indian Epics in the third and 
 second century B.C. respectively, and for commencing an 
 account of epic poetry with the story of Rama, rather than 
 with that of Pandavas, will be clear. It must be remem- 
 bered, however, that the priority of one poem over the 
 other cannot be made to rest on any certain chronological 
 basis. Indeed, the Maha-bharata describes a conflict be- 
 tween rude colonists in a district nearer to the earliest 
 settlements of the Aryans, while the Ramayana is con- 
 cerned with a more established kingdom (KoéSala), and a 
 more civilized and luxurious capital city (Ayodhya). 
 
 Before commencing our summary of either story it will 
 be desirable to note more particularly when and how the 
 doctrine of divine incarnation was imported into both 
 poems, imparting to them that religious and sacred cha- 
 racter which they have ever since retained, and which is 
 a distinguishing feature in comparing them with the epic 
 poetry of other nations. We know from the statements 
 of Megasthenes, preserved in Strabo and Diodorus, that 
 the worship of Vishnu in his heroic incarnations prevailed 
 
 6 ml on 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THEORY OF INCARNATION. 321 
 
 in Hindistain about 300 years before Christ (see note, 
 p- 281). The deification of great men probably began 
 with the desire of the Brahmans to incorporate the most 
 eminent Kshatriya heroes into their system. It pro- 
 ceeded, however, from necessity rather than from any 
 wish to do honour to the warrior caste. The Buddhistic 
 movement in India had broken down the Brahmanical 
 monopoly and introduced a rival principle. Some counter- 
 acting and equally popular expansion of religious creed 
 seemed essential to the very existence of Brahmanism, 
 and it became absolutely necessary to present the people 
 with deities of their own as a counter-attraction to 
 Buddhism. Hence the previously human heroes Rama 
 and Krishna were exalted by the Brahmans to divine 
 rank, and even Buddha himself was, in the end, adopted 
 into their system and represented as one of the ten in- 
 carnations of the god Vishnu’. 
 
 But the idea of divine incarnation had taken possession 
 of the Hindai mind still earlier. It is probable that in 
 that primeval country, where the ancestors of Greeks and 
 Hindis had their common home, men satisfied their first 
 religious instincts by idealizing and worshipping, under no 
 defined form and without precise ritual, the principal forces 
 and energies of nature—the air, the rain, the wind, the 
 storm, the fire, the sun—the elements on which, as an 
 agricultural and pastoral race, their welfare depended. 
 This was the earliest religion of nature which the Aryan 
 family carried with them when they first left their home, 
 and which they cherished in their wanderings; and in 
 this we may trace the germ of their subsequent religious 
 
 1 Heroism, undaunted bravery, and personal strength will always find 
 worshippers in India. It is recorded that a number of Panjabi Hindiis com- 
 menced worshipping the late John Nicholson, one of the bravest and noblest 
 of men, under the name Nikkil Seyn. He endeavoured to put a stop to 
 the absurdity, but they persisted in their worship notwithstanding, 
 
 4 
 
322 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 systems. When they had settled down in new resting- 
 places, their religious cravings naturally found utter- 
 ance in prayers, hymns, and a simple form of ritual. 
 Religion, or a sense of dependence on a higher Power, 
 and a desire to realize his presence, grew with their 
 growth and strengthened with their strength. But in all 
 ages and countries the religion of the mass of mankind 
 rapidly assumes an anthropomorphic character. A richly 
 peopled mythology arose in India and Greece as naturally 
 as poetry itself. The one was the offspring of the other, 
 and was in fact the poetical expression of those high 
 aspirations which marked the Aryan character. Soon the 
 Hindi, like the Greek, unguided by direct revelation, 
 personified and deified not only the powers of external 
 nature, but all the internal feelings, passions, moral and 
 intellectual qualities and faculties of the mind. Soon he 
 began to regard every grand and useful object as a visible 
 manifestation of the supreme Intelligence presiding over 
 the universe, and every departed hero or benefactor as 
 a mere reflection of the same all-wise and omnipresent 
 Ruler. Hence, to give expression to the varied attributes 
 and functions of this great Being, thus visibly manifested 
 to the world, both Hindi and Greek peopled their pan- 
 theons with numerous divine and semi-divine creations, 
 clothing them with male and female forms, and inventing 
 in connexion with them various fanciful and often mon- 
 strous myths, fables, and allegories, which the undis- 
 criminating multitude accepted as realities, without at all 
 understanding the ideas they symbolized. In India 
 we are able to trace back the development of these an- 
 thropomorphic ideas to their source in the Rig-veda, 
 and thence follow them step by step through Manu, the 
 epic poems, and Puranas. In the Rig-veda a god Vishnu 
 is often named as a manifestation of the Solar energy, or 
 rather as a form of the Sun; and the point which dis- 
 
eo 
 
 THE EPIC POEMS—THEORY OF INCARNATION. 323 
 
 tinguishes him from the others is his striding over the 
 heavens in three paces, supposed to symbolize the three 
 stages of the Sun’s daily course in his rising, culminating, 
 and setting (see note, p. 331). Subsequently he takes a 
 foremost place among the twelve Adityas, or twelve dis- 
 tinct forms of the Sun in the twelve months of the year. 
 In the Brahmanas he is identified with sacrifice (Yana), 
 and once described as a dwarf (Vdmana ; Satapatha- 
 brahmana XIV. 1, 1, 6, I. 2, 5, 5). In Manu, Brahman, 
 the universal Soul, is represented as evolving his essence 
 in the form of Brahma, the Creator of all things, and various 
 other visible manifestations of the Deity are recognized, 
 as in the Veda. In Book XII. 121, Vishnu and Hara 
 (=Siva) are mentioned as present in the human body, 
 the former imparting movement to its muscles, the latter 
 bestowing strength. 
 
 In all this, however, there was not enough to satisfy 
 the cravings of the human heart for a religion of faith 
 in a personal god—a god sympathizing with humanity, 
 and even with the lower forms of animal life, loving all 
 his creatures, interested in their affairs, and ever at hand 
 to assist them in their difficulties. Nor, on the other 
 hand, was there sufficient to meet the demands of other 
 constituent parts of man’s complex nature for a religion 
 of activity and good works; of austerity and subjugation 
 of the passions ; of contemplation and higher spiritual 
 knowledge. Soon, therefore, the great Spirit of the uni- 
 verse began to be viewed still more anthropomorphically, 
 through the medium of man’s increasing subjectivity, as a 
 Being who not only created man but condescended to human 
 sympathies, and placed himself in the closest connexion 
 with all his creatures, whether gods, men, or animals. 
 
 But first arose the inquiry why and how this great 
 Being willed to create at all? To account for this it was 
 conceived that when the universal and infinite Being 
 
 ¥2 
 
324 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Brahma (nom. case of the neut. Brahman)—the only really 
 existing entity, wholly without form and unbound and 
 unaffected by the three Gunas or by qualities of any kind 
 (pp. 95, 116)—wished to create for his own entertainment 
 the phenomena of the universe, he assumed the quality of 
 activity (rajas) and became a male person as Brahma (nom. 
 case masc.) the Creator. Next, in the progress of still 
 further self-evolution, he willed to invest himself with the 
 second quality of goodness (sattva) as Vishnu the Preserver, 
 and with the third quality of darkness (tamas') as Siva 
 the Destroyer. This development of the doctrine of triple 
 manifestation (¢ri-mirti), which appears first in the brah- 
 manized version of the Indian Epics, had already been 
 adumbrated in the Veda in the triple form of fire (see 
 Ρ. 18), and in the triad of gods, Agni, Siirya, and Indra 
 (see note, p. 19); and in other ways’. 
 
 Tn fact the Veda, rather than Manu, was the source of 
 the later incarnations (see notes, pp.329-331). It was the 
 Vedic Vishnu (connected with Sirya, ‘the Sun’) who be- 
 came Vishnu the world-preserver, while Rudra (connected 
 with Indra and the Maruts), the god of tempests, became 
 the world-dissolver Siva. Under the latter form, the 
 Supreme Being is supposed to pass from the operation 
 of creation and preservation to that of destruction, these 
 three separate acts being assigned to separate deities who 
 are themselves finite, and obey the universal law of dis- 
 solution at the end of a Kalpa (see note, p. 333), when they 
 again become merged in simple Soul (kevaldtman). But as 
 
 1 Tn the Kumira-Sambhava IT. 4, we have the following: Mamas 
 trimirtaye tubhyam prak-srishteh kevalatmane Guna-traya-vibhagaya 
 pastad bhedam upeyushe, ‘Hail to thee of triple form, who before 
 creation wast simple Soul, and afterwards underwent partition for the 
 distribution of the three Gunas.’ 
 
 * The thirty-three gods (3 multiplied by 11) of the Rig-veda (triblir 
 chadasair devebhir yatam, Τ. 34, 11,1. 45, 2) point to the same idea of 
 triple manifestation, 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THEORY OF INCARNATION. 325 
 
 it was essential that even the god of dissolution should con- 
 nect himself with humanity, and as, according to a funda- 
 mental dogma of Hindiism, all death leads to new life, 
 all destruction to reproduction, it was natural that the 
 latter operation should be chosen as the link of connexion, 
 rather than the former. His function of destroyer is, 
 therefore, interchanged with that of creator (note 2, 
 p. 326); he himself is called Siva, ‘the Auspicious,’ and 
 his character is oftener typified by the reproductive Lin-ga 
 (without necessary implication of sensual ideas) than by 
 any symbol of destruction. Under this image, in fact, he is 
 generally worshipped in India’. Nevertheless, he is also 
 represented in human form, living in the Himalaya moun- 
 tains along with his wife Parvati’, sometimes in the act 
 of trampling on and destroying demons, wearing round 
 his black neck (nila-kantha) a serpent and a necklace of 
 skulls, and furnished with a whole apparatus of external 
 emblems (such as a white bull on which he rides, a 
 crescent, a trident’, tiger’s skin, elephant’s skin, rattle, 
 
 1 Twelve celebrated Lin.gas were set up, about the tenth century, in 
 twelve great shrines, in twelve chief cities of India, of which Somnath 
 was one. The representation of the generative organ is not offensive to 
 delicacy even when surrounded by the Yoni, or female symbol. Quite 
 enough, however, is implied to account for the degeneration of Siva- 
 worship in modern times, as expressed in the works called Tantras and 
 in the practices of the Saktas. The representation of Siva as Ardha- 
 nari, half male, half female, symbolizes the unity of the generative prin- 
 ciple. Some think the god Siva with the Linga (Phallus) was adopted 
 by the Aryans from the aborigines. The word Siva means ‘auspicious,’ 
 and being first applied euphemistically to the god of tempests (Rudra) 
 afterwards passed into the name of the god of destruction. 
 
 2 The gakti or active energy of a deity is personified as his wife, and 
 those who worship the female principle are called Saktas. Parvati, 
 daughter of the mountain, and worshipped under the name Durga in 
 Bengal, is the chief object of the adoration of Saktas and Tantrikas. 
 
 8. This three-pronged symbol may denote creation, destruction, and 
 regeneration. He has also three eyes (one of which is in his forehead), 
 
326 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 noose, &c.), the exaggeration of which imparts a childish 
 and grotesque character to Hindi symbolism when re- 
 garded from a European point of view. Again, Maha- 
 deva, or the great deity Siva, is sometimes connected with 
 humanity in one other personification very different from 
 that just noted, viz. that of an austere naked ascetic, with 
 matted hair! (Dig-ambara, Dhirjati), living in a forest 
 apart from his consort, abiding in one spot fixed and 
 immovable (Sthanu)—teaching men by his own example, 
 first, the power to be acquired by penance (tapas), morti- 
 fication of the body®, and suppression of the passions ; 
 and, secondly, the great virtue of abstract meditation 
 (samadhi), as leading to the loftiest spiritual knowledge 
 (jidna) and ultimately to union (yoga) or actual identifica- 
 tion with the great Spirit of the universe (Paramdtman)’. 
 
 in allusion to either the three Vedas or time past, present, and future 
 (whence he is called Try-ambaka), and five faces (whence his name 
 Paiédinana); the crescent moon also symbolizing his power over the 
 measurement of time. He is sometimes said to manifest himself under 
 eight forms—ether, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon, the sacrificing priest 
 (whence his name Ashta-mirti). His black throat was caused by the 
 deadly poison churned out of the ocean, which would have destroyed the 
 universe had he not swallowed it. 
 
 1 The hair is so worn by Siva-worshipping Yogis (see p. 104). 
 
 2 In Maha-bharata, Sauptika-parvan 769, Brahma, the Creator, is repre- 
 sented as calling on Siva to create living creatures ; and the latter, to 
 qualify himself for the task, undergoes a severe penance under water. 
 
 8. In the character of ‘lord of abstract meditation, Siva is called 
 Yogesa, Yogin. Indeed, in some of the Puranas the origin of the Yoga 
 (see p. 104) is ascribed to Siva. In Book I. 55 and III. 45-50 of the 
 Kumira-sambhava, and in the opening invocation or Nandi of the 
 Mriéchakatika, there is a description of Siva’s posture and whole appear- 
 ance while engaged in profound meditation. He is seated on his hams 
 in the posture called paryanka-bandha (p. 103, note 2), with his breath 
 suppressed and his vision fixed on his nose. While in this situation the 
 god of love attempted to inspire him with affection for Parvati, daughter 
 of Himalaya, in order that a son might be born to Siva for the destruc- 
 tion of the Daitya Taraka, who had extorted, by his penances, so many 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE TRIAD. 327 
 
 These three manifestations of Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva, whose functions are sometimes interchanged!, exhibit 
 the three sides of Hindiism as developed in the epic 
 poems, and still more unfolded in the subsequent Puranas. 
 The first is the religion of activity and works, the second 
 that of faith and love, the third that of austerity, con- 
 templation, and spiritual knowledge. This last is regarded 
 as the highest, because it aims at entire cessation of action 
 and total effacement of all personal entity and identity 
 by absorption into simple Soul. 
 
 In medieval times bitter rivalries and disputes sprung 
 up between the upholders of these three doctrines ex- 
 pressed by the worship of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva? 
 
 boons from Brahma, that the whole universe had become subject to him. 
 Siva, indignant at the interruption of his austerities, reduced Kama 
 (Love) to ashes by a flash from his eye. Parvati then herself followed 
 Sjiiva’s example, and commenced a course of penance, whereby she con- 
 ciliated Siva and became his wife. A son, Karttikeya, ‘god of war,’ 
 was then born, who killed Taraka. This is the subject of the Kumira- 
 sambhava. The use of ashes rubbed upon the body and of Rudraksha 
 berries, to form rosaries, is of great importance in Siva-worship. 
 
 1 Thus, Vishnu-worship (like Siva-worship) is connected with the 
 highest spiritual knowledge in the Bhagavad-gitaé. See also note 2, p. 326. 
 In some parts of India a saint Dattdtreya is revered as combining the 
 Hindi Triad in himself. 
 
 2 Brahma, ‘the Creator,’ however, is supposed to have done his work. 
 Hence the worship of this manifestation fell into desuetude, and only 
 in one place do traces of it continue, viz. Pushkara in Ajmir (Rajputana). 
 Even the worship of the other two manifestations began in time to 
 languish, until that of Β να was revived by the great teacher and reformer 
 Sankaracarya (sometimes described as an incarnation of Siva) in the 
 eighth century; and that of Vishnu or Krishna by Ramanuja in the 
 twelfth, and by Vallabhadirya at the end of the fifteenth. Siva is now 
 the favourite manifestation with Brahmans and the better classes, as 
 Krishna is with the others. Benares is a stronghold of Siva-worship 
 (whence his name Kasi-natha), but even there Krishna is the popular 
 god of the lower orders. The chiefs of many monasteries in the south 
 of India are to this day called San-karadairyas. A popular festival, or 
 rather fast (wpavasa, vrata), called Siva-ratri, in honour of the god Siva 
 (under the form of the Linga), is kept for a whole day and night, on 
 
328 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 respectively. Each sect was jealous of the superiority of 
 his own system, and particular Puranas were devoted to 
 the exaltation of the one god or the other. But in the 
 present day the strife of sects has generally given way 
 to universal toleration, and a liberal school of theology 
 has arisen in India. Most thinking men among the 
 educated classes, whatever may be the form of religion to 
 which they nominally incline, regard the names Brahma, 
 Rama, Krishna, and Siva as mere convenient symbols 
 for different manifestations of the one Supreme Being, 
 who may be worshipped under different external forms 
 and by separate methods, according to the disposition, 
 
 the 14th of the dark half of the month Magha (January—February). 
 The spring festival (wtsava), commonly called ΗΠ or Holi, celebrated 
 a few days before the full moon of Phalguna (February—March), and 
 still more popular than the last, is said to be in honour of Krishna 
 and the Gopis dancing round fires. Their frolics are commemorated in 
 a variety of sports and jokes. In some parts of India the Holi cor- 
 responds to the Dola-yatra or ‘swinging festival,’ when figures of Krishna 
 and his favourite wife Radha are swung in an ornamented swing. The 
 Divali (dipalz) ov ‘festival of lights, at the end of Asvin and beginning 
 of Kartik (September—October), is in honour of Vishnu’s wife Lakshmi. 
 Those who worship Durga or Parvati, wife of Siva, are called Saktas (see 
 note 2, p. 325). Besides the three principal sects of Saivas, Vaishnavas, 
 and Saktas, three other inferior ones are often named, viz. the Ga@napatyas 
 or worshippers of Gana-pati or Ganesa, the Sawryas or Sawras, worshippers 
 of Stirya, ‘the sun,’ and the Bhagavatas, who are supposed to worship 
 Bhagavat, ‘the Supreme Being.’ There are also the Sikhs of the 
 Panjab, disciples of Guru Nanak Shah—born near Lahore—who in the 
 reign of Baber, at the end of the fifteenth century, attempted to combine 
 Hindiism with Islam, and promulgated about the time of our Reformation 
 a book called the Adi Grantha, ‘first Book’ (prohibiting idol-worship and 
 teaching the unity of the Godhead pantheistically), as a kind of new Veda. 
 He was succeeded by nine other Gurus, each of whom was in some way 
 remarkable. The tenth, Govind, added another ‘ Book’ to the first, and, 
 meeting with persecution under Aurangzib, converted the Sikhs from 
 peaceable disciples of a peculiar teacher into a military nation and enemies 
 of the Mogul empire. The Sikh chiefs formed themselves into confederacies 
 called Misals, over whom Runjit Sinh eventually became supreme. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 329 
 
 circumstances, and preference (/shti) of his worshippers. 
 They hold, in short, that there are three ways or means of 
 salvation, 1. the way of works (karman), 2. that of faith 
 (bhakti), 3. that of spiritual knowledge (jidna); and 
 heaven, they assert, may be reached by any one of these 
 three roads or by a combination of all. The second, 
 however, represents the popular side of the Indian creed, 
 as of all religions, false or true. 
 
 It is as Vishnu, then, that the Supreme Being, accord- 
 ing to the Hindis, exhibited his sympathy with human 
 trials, his love for the human race, his respect for all 
 forms of life, and his condescension towards even the 
 inferior animals as integral parts of his creation. Por- 
 tions of his essence, they assert, became incarnate in the 
 lower animals, as well as in men, to rescue the world 
 in great emergencies. Nine principal occasions have 
 already occurred in which the god has thus interposed 
 for the salvation of his creatures. A tenth has still to 
 take place. These incarnations are briefly as follow’: 
 
 1. Matsya, the fish. In this Vishnu became a fish to 
 save the seventh Manu, the progenitor of the human race, 
 from the universal deluge*. (See the story told p. 394.) 
 
 2. Kirma*, the tortoise. In this he descended to aid 
 in recovering certain valuable articles lost in the deluge, 
 
 * It should be mentioned that the Bhagavata-purana gives twenty-two 
 incarnations of Vishnu. Muir’s Texts IV. 156. 
 
 * The oldest version of this legend, which furnished the germ of the 
 subsequent incarnation, is found in the Satapatha-brihmana, as given 
 pp. 32-34 of this volume. The legend is also told in Maha-bharata 
 Vana-parvan 12747 &c., where the fish is represented as an incarnation 
 of Brahma; and in the Bhagavata-purina VIII. 24, 7, where it is 
 identified with Vishnu. Muir’s Texts I. 208 &e. 
 
 8. In Satapatha-briahmana VII. 4, 3, 5, Prajapati (or Brahma) is said 
 to have assumed the form of the tortoise: ‘ Having assumed the form 
 of a tortoise, Prajipati created offspring. That which he created he 
 made (akarot) ; hence the word kirma.’ Muir's Texts IV. 27. 
 
330 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 For this purpose he stationed himself as a tortoise at 
 the bottom of the ocean, that his back might serve as 
 a pivot for the mountain Mandara, around which the 
 gods and demons twisted the great serpent Vasuki. They 
 then stood opposite to each other, and using the snake 
 as a rope and the mountain as a churning-stick, churned 
 the ocean’ for the recovery of the Amrita or ‘ nectar, the 
 goddess Lakshmi’, and twelve other sacred things which 
 had been lost in the depths. 
 
 3. Vardha, the boar. In this he descended to deliver 
 the world from the power of a demon called Hiranyaksha, 
 who had seized the earth and carried it down into the 
 lowest depths of the sea. Vishnu, as a boar, dived into 
 the abyss, and after a contest of a thousand years, slew 
 the monster and raised the earth*®. In the earlier legends 
 the universe is represented as a mass of water, and the 
 earth being submerged, was upheaved by the tusks of 
 the divine boar. According to some, the object of this 
 incarnation was to recover the lost Vedas. It is notice- 
 able that the first three incarnations are all connected 
 with the tradition of a universal deluge. 
 
 1 In this there appears to be an allegory, and the lesson that may be 
 supposed to be taught is, that nothing valuable can be produced or 
 recovered by man without great labour—without, as it were, stirring 
 the lowest depths of his whole nature. 
 
 2 Goddess of beauty, and wife of Vishnu, a kind of Hindi Venus, 
 Aphrodite (ἀφροδίτη, ‘ foam-born’). 
 
 ὁ The germs of the fable in the earlier literature are very simple. In 
 Taittirlya-brahmana I. 1, 3, 5, we read: ‘This universe was formerly 
 water. Prajapati, as a boar, plunged beneath. He found the earth below. 
 Breaking off a portion of her he rose to the surface.” In Satapatha- 
 brahmana XIV. 1, 2, 11, occurs the following: ‘The earth was formerly 
 so large—Himasha, a boar, raised her up’ (Muir’s Texts IV. 27). In the 
 Ramayana II. 110, Brahma, not Vishnu, is represented as taking the 
 form of the boar: ‘ All was water only in which the earth was formed. 
 Thence arose Brahma. He, becoming a boar, raised up the earth,’ &e. 
 See Muir's Texts 1. 53, IV. 36, &c. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 331 
 
 4. Nara-sinha, the man-lion. In this he assumed the 
 shape of a creature, half man, half lion, to deliver the 
 world from the tyranny of a demon called Hiranya-kasipu, 
 who had obtained a boon from Brahma that he should 
 not be slain by either god or man or animal. Hence he 
 became so powerful that he usurped the dominion of the 
 three worlds, and appropriated the sacrifices made to 
 the gods. When his pious son Prahlada praised Vishnu, 
 the demon tried to destroy the boy, but Vishnu appeared 
 out of a pillar in the form Nara-sinha and tore Hiranya- 
 kagipu to pieces. 
 
 These first four incarnations are said to have taken 
 place in the Satya or first age of the world. 
 
 5. Vamana, the dwarf. In the second or Treta age 
 Vishnu descended as a dwarf, to deprive the demon 
 Bali (who resembles Ravana and Kansa in the stories of 
 Rama and Krishna) of the dominion of the three worlds. 
 Vishnu presented himself before him as a diminutive man, 
 and solicited as much land as he could step in three paces. 
 When his request was granted he strided in two steps 
 over heaven and earth, but out of compassion left the 
 lower world or Patala in the demon’s possession}. 
 
 6. Parasu-rdma, Rama with the axe. In this Vishnu 
 was born as the son of the Brahman Jamad-agni and 
 descendant of Bhrigu, in the second age, to restrain the 
 Kshatriyas from arrogating dominion over the Brahmani- 
 cal caste. Paragu-rama is said to have cleared the earth 
 twenty-one times of the Kshatriya class* (see p. 349). 
 
 ‘The germ of this incarnation in the Rig-veda. I quote one pas- 
 sage: ‘Vishnu strode over this (universe); in three places he planted 
 his step’ (I. 22, 17). Hence Vishnu is called Z'ri-vikrama. See also 
 p- 323 of this volume and Muir's Texts, vol. iv. p. 63. An account of the 
 Dwarf incarnation is given in Ramiyana (Schlegel) I. 31, 2, and (Bom- 
 bay ed.) I. 29, 2, &e. (Gorresio I. 32, 2). It is noticed in the Maha- 
 bharata, Santi-parvan 12943 &c., Vana-parvan 484 &c. 
 
 * Though now regarded as the mythical type of Brahmanism, arrayed 
 
302 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 7. Rama (commonly called Rama-éandra'’, ‘the mild 
 or moon-like Raima’), the hero of the Ramayana, son of 
 king Dasaratha of the Solar race, and therefore a Ksha- 
 triya. Vishnu took this form at the close of the second 
 or Treta age, to destroy the demon Ravana (see p. 345). 
 
 8. Krishna, ‘the dark god’—the most popular of all 
 the later deities of India® This incarnation of Vishnu, 
 at the end of the Dvapara or third age of the 
 
 in opposition to the military caste, he was probably, in the first instance, 
 the hero of a quarrel caused by a Kshatriya’s stealing a cow from a 
 Brahman named Jamad-agni. In revenge, his son Parasu-rama slew 
 the Kshatriya, upon which the other Kshatriyas murdered’ Jamad-agni, 
 and a fierce contest ensued between his son and the murderers. All this 
 points to the historical fact of constant struggles between the two leading 
 classes, and it may be inferred from the circumstance that Parasu-rama 
 is described as fighting with (and conquered by) Rama-éandra, as well as 
 with Bhishma in the Maha-bharata, that the Kshatriyas held their own 
 if they did not gain the. upper hand. The story of Parasu-rama is told 
 in the Vana-parvan 11071 &c., and in the Santi-parvan 1707 &c.; 
 also in the ninth book of the Bhaigavata and in the Padma and Agni 
 Puranas. In the Vana-parvan 8679, Parasu-rama is described as struck 
 senseless by Rama-éandra. The Udyoga-parvan 7142 &c. relates the 
 long single combat between Parasu-rama and Bhishma. They both 
 repeatedly strike each other senseless. Ultimately they are persuaded 
 by some Munis to leave off fighting. In Adi-parvan 272-280, the 
 destruction of the Kshatriyas by Parasu-rama is said to have taken place 
 between the Tretaé and Dvapara ages. Muw’s Texts I. 447. ‘Tradition 
 ascribes the formation of the Malabar coast to Parasu-rama, who is said 
 to have compelled the ocean to retire and to have caused fissures in the 
 western Ghats by blows of his axe. 
 
 1 The addition of Candra, to distinguish this Rama from the other two, 
 is only found in the later literature (see note 1, p. 362). 
 
 * Especially in Bengal. In the upper provinces (except at Mathura 
 or Muttra, Krishna’s own city), Oude, Behar, and the greater part of 
 Hindustan Proper, the seventh incarnation, Rama-¢andra, is principally 
 worshipped. That Krishna-worship is comparatively modern is shown 
 by the fact that in the old Buddhist Stitras the gods reverenced at the 
 time Buddhism arose are named, viz. Brahma, Narayana, Siva, Indra, &c., 
 but not Krishna. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 333 
 world’, as the eighth son of Vasu-deva and Devaki of the 
 Lunar race, was for the destruction of the tyrant Kansa, 
 the representative of the principle of evil, corresponding 
 to Ravana in the previous incarnation. 
 
 ? The Kali-yuga or fourth age of the world was supposed to com- 
 mence at the death of Krishna. Hence the events of the Mahi-bharata 
 must have taken place during the third or Dvyaipara age, and those 
 of the Ramfyana at the end of the second or Treté age. From the 
 gambling scene in the Second Act of the Mrié¢hakatika, it is probable 
 that the names of the four ages are connected with throws of dice; Krita 
 being the best throw ; Treta, the throw of three or the second best throw; 
 and Dvyapara, the throw of two or a worse throw; the worst of all being 
 Kali. The Hindi notion appears to have been that gambling prevailed 
 especially in the Dvapara and Kali Yugas. In the episode of Nala, the 
 personified Dyaipara enters into the dice, and the personified Kali into 
 Nala himself, who is then seized with the fatal passion for play. The 
 Hindi idea of a succession of four Yugas or ages, in which a gradual 
 deterioration of the human race takes place, has its counterpart among 
 the Romans in the Golden, Silver, Brazen, and Iron ages, as described in 
 Ovid’s Metamorphoses (I. 89 &c.). But the Hindi system of mundane 
 periods is more elaborately extended, and perhaps agrees better with 
 modern scientific theories (see p. 187, note 2). A Mahd-yuga or period of 
 four des comprises 12,000 years of the gods, which (according to the 
 Vishnu-purana) are equal to 12,000 x 360 (the assumed number of days 
 in an ordinary year), and therefore to 4,320,000 years of mortals, when 
 another cycle of four ages is commenced. One thousand of these periods 
 of four ages constitute a Kalpa or day of Brahma= 4,320,000,000 human 
 years (comprising under it fourteen Many-antaras or periods presided over 
 by fourteen successive Manus), after which there is a universal collapse 
 (pratisanéara, mahd-pralaya) of all creation— including Brahma, Vishnu, 
 Siva, gods, demons, men, animals—into Brahman or simple being. In 
 the present Kalpa or Aeon, six Manus have passed away, of whom the 
 first was Sviyambhuva, the present or seventh being Vaivasvata. Manu’s 
 account is confused, and some think the periods of his four Yugas are no 
 more than 4800, 3600, 2400, and 1200 ordinary years respectively (Manu 
 I. 69-71). There is no allusion to mundane periods in the Rig-veda, but 
 there is in the Aitareya-brihmana (VII. 15). The present Kali-yuga is 
 reckoned to have begun February 18th, 3102 B.c. at midnight, on the 
 meridian of Ujjayini. Whitney’s 2nd Series of Oriental Studies, p. 366 ; 
 Muir’s Texts I. 43; Weber's Indische Studien I. 286, 460. 
 
334 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The details of the later life of Krishna have been inter- 
 woven with the later portions of the Maha-bharata, but 
 they do not belong to the plot, and they might be omitted 
 without impairing its unity. He is certainly not the hero 
 of the great Epic. He appears as a great chief who takes 
 the part of the real heroes—the Pandavas'—and_ his 
 claims to deification are often disputed. His earlier days 
 and juvenile feats, though not found in the oldest parts 
 of the Maha-bharata, may be gathered from the Hari-vanga 
 and Puranas, especially the tenth book of the Bhagavata- 
 purana, from which we learn as follows : 
 
 Vasu-deva (a descendant of the Yadu who with Puru, as sons of Yayati, 
 formed the two branches of the lunar dynasty) had two wives, Rohini 
 and Devaki. The latter had eight sons, of whom the eighth was Krishna. 
 It was predicted that one of these would kill Kansa, king of Mathura 
 and cousin of Devaki. He therefore imprisoned Vasu-deva and his wife, 
 and slew their first six children. The seventh, Bala-rama, was abstracted 
 from Devaki’s womb, transferred to that of Rohini, and thus saved. The 
 eighth was Krishna, born with black skin and the mark called Sri-vatsa 
 on his breast”. His father, Vasu-deva, escaped from Mathura with the 
 child, and, favoured by the gods, found a herdsman named Nanda—of 
 the race of the Yidavas—whose wife, Yasoda, had just had a son, whom 
 Vasu-deva conveyed to Devaki, after substituting his own son in its place. 
 Nanda took the infant Krishna and settled first in Gokula or Vraja, and 
 afterwards in Vrindavana, where Krishna and Bala-rama grew up together, 
 roaming in the woods, and joining in the sports of the herdsmen’s sons. 
 While still a boy, Krishna destroyed the serpent Kaliya, and lifted up the 
 mountain Govardhana on his finger to shelter the Gopis from the wrath 
 of Indra, who, enraged by their love for Krishna, tried to destroy them 
 by a deluge. He is described as sporting constantly with these Gopis or 
 shepherdesses, of whom a thousand became his wives, though only eight are 
 
 1 Later additions to the Maha-bharata make the Pandavas also incar- 
 nations of certain deities. 
 
 2 The anniversary of the birth-day of Krishna, called Janmashtami, 
 because his birth is said to have occurred on the eighth day of the month 
 Bhadra (August—September), is celebrated as a great festival. Professor 
 Weber has lately published some valuable information on this subject. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—INCARNATIONS OF VISHNU. 335 
 
 specified, Radha being the favourite. Krishna built Dvyaraka in Gujarat, 
 and thither transported the inhabitants of Mathura after killing Kansa. 
 
 According to some, Krishna is not an incarnation of 
 Vishnu, but Vishnu himself; in which case, Pala-rdma, 
 ‘the strong Rama’, born at the end of the Dvapara or 
 third age of the world, as son of Vasu-deva and Devaki, 
 and elder brother of Krishna, is sometimes substituted for 
 Krishna as the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. 
 
 9. Buddha. According to the Brahmans, Vishnu as- 
 sumed the form of the great sceptical philosopher, in 
 the fourth age of the world, to delude the Daityas or 
 demons into neglecting the worship of the gods, and 
 thus exposing them to destruction. 
 
 10. Kalki or Kalkin, who is yet to appear at the close 
 of the fourth or Kali age, when the world has become 
 wholly depraved, for the final destruction of the wicked, 
 for the re-establishment of righteousness upon the earth, 
 
 ' This third Rama, usually held to be the seventh son of Vasu-deva, 
 and sometimes called Halayudha, ‘armed with a plough-shaped weapon,’ 
 sometimes JMJusalin, ‘club-armed,’ is the Hindi Hereules. In Maha- 
 bharata I. 7308 (as well as in the Vishnu-purana), he is said to have 
 been produced from a white hair of Vishnu, as Krishna was from a black. 
 Elsewhere he is said to be an incarnation of the great serpent Sesha, 
 and in Anusasana-parvan 6163 he is regarded as a Naga, or semi-diyine 
 being, half man, half serpent ; and at his death (recorded in Mausala- 
 parvan 117), a large Naga is described as coming out of his mouth and 
 entering the ocean. Diodorus Siculus, in his account of the Indians 
 (II. 39), has the following: ‘It is said that Hercules also (as well as 
 Διονύσος, worshipped by the inhabitants of the mountains) lived amongst 
 them ; and, like the Greeks, they represent him with a club and lion’s skin; 
 and that in strength of body and bravery, he excelled all mortals, and 
 purged the earth and sea from monsters (θηρίων). “And that since he had 
 numerous sons from his many wives, but only one daughter, when they 
 were grown up, he divided the whole of India into equal parts, so that 
 each of his sons should have a kingdom of his own, and his one daughter 
 he made queen. And that he founded many cities, and among them the 
 largest and most celebrated was Palibothra (Παλίβοθρα) ; and that after 
 his death, he obtained divine honours.’ 
 
336 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 and the renovation of all creation with a return to a new 
 age of purity (satya-yuga). According to some, he will be 
 revealed in the sky, seated on a white horse, with a drawn 
 sword in his hand, blazing like a comet’. 
 
 Looking more closely at these ten incarnations, we may 
 observe that in the first three Vishnu is supposed to be 
 present in the body of animals, and in the fourth to take 
 the form of a being half animal, half human. This last 
 may be regarded as a kind of intermediate link, the object 
 of which is to prevent too great abruptness in connecting 
 the Deity with the higher forms of worldly existence. 
 From the mixed manifestation of half a lion, half a man, 
 the transition is natural to that of a complete man. The 
 divine essence passing into human forms commences with 
 the smallest type of humanity, represented by a dwarf. 
 Thence it rises to mighty heroes, who deliver the world from 
 the oppression of evil demons and tyrants whose power 
 increases with the deterioration of mankind during the 
 four ages. In the tenth and final manifestation, which 
 remains to be revealed, evil and wickedness are to be 
 entirely rooted out. We see in all this the working of 
 the Hindi idea of transmigration. Even in Manu’s time 
 it was an accepted dogma that the souls of men, popularly 
 regarded as emanations from the Deity, might descend 
 into the bodies of animals, or rise to those of higher 
 beings. It was therefore an easy expansion of such a 
 doctrine to imagine the divine Soul itself as passing 
 through various stages of incarnation for the delivery of 
 the world from the effects of evil and sin, and for the 
 maintenance of order in the whole cycle of creation. 
 
 Let me introduce here a curious legend from the Bha- 
 gavata-purana X, Ixxxix, which is also told at the end of 
 
 the Prem Sagar. I translate it (with a little amplifica- 
 a ae νιν, DOM RA FESS SUE SC 
 
 1 According to Vishnu-purana IV. 24, he is to be born as Kalki in 
 the family of Vishnu-yagas, an ancient Brahman of Sambhala. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 307 
 
 tion) as well illustrating the character of the three gods, 
 Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, in their relationship to men : 
 
 The great sage Bhrigu, one of the ten Maharshis or primeval patriarchs 
 created by the first Manu (I. 35), was asked which god was the greatest. 
 He said he would endeavour to ascertain, and first went to Brahma; on 
 approaching whom, he purposely omitted an obeisance. Upon this, the 
 god reprehended him very severely, but was pacified by seasonable 
 apologies. Next he entered the abode of Siva, in Kailisa, and omitted 
 to return the god’s salutation. The vindictive deity was enraged, and 
 would have destroyed the sage, but was conciliated by his wife Parvati. 
 Lastly, he repaired to Vaikuntha, the heaven of Vishnu, whom he found 
 asleep with his head on Lakshmi’s lap. To make a trial of his for- 
 bearance, he boldly gave the god a kick on his breast, which awoke him. 
 Instead of showing anger, however, the god arose, and on seeing Bhrigu, 
 inquired tenderly whether his foot was hurt, and then proceeded to 
 rub it gently. ‘This,’ said Bhrigu, ‘is the mightiest god ; he overpowers 
 by the most potent of all weapons—sympathy and generosity,’ 
 
 The Ramayana. 
 
 I proceed now to give a brief account of Valmiki’s' 
 poem, the Ramayana (Rdma-ayana, ‘the goings or doings 
 
 * Valmiki is thought to have been born in that part of India which 
 corresponds to Kosala, the chief town of which was Ayodhya (reigned 
 over by Dasaratha, Rama’s father), and which was close to the region 
 of Videha, whose king, Janaka, was the father of Sité, and whose con- 
 nexion with Yajnavalkya is described in the Brahmana of the White 
 Yajur-veda, and in some of the Maha-bharata legends. Valmiki himself 
 is believed to have been an adherent of the Black Yajur-veda, and it is 
 certain that the story of Rama was carefully preserved among the Tait- 
 tiriyakas, and that Valmiki interweaves their legends into his narrative. 
 According to Mr. Cust (Calcutta Review XLV), Valmiki resided on the 
 banks of the Jumna, near its confluence with the Ganges at Allahabad ; 
 and tradition has marked a hill in the district of Banda, in Bundelkund, 
 as his abode. Some actually assert that he began life as a highway 
 robber, but repenting of his misdeeds, betook himself to a hermitage, 
 on this hill, where he eventually received Sita, the wife of Rama, when 
 banished by her over-sensitive husband. There were born her two sons, 
 Kuga and Lava (sometimes combined into one compound, thus—A‘ws?- 
 
 Z 
 
338 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of Rama’), which in its present form consists of about 24,000 
 stanzas, mostly in the common heroic Anushtubh metre’. 
 It should be noted in the first place that the purity of 
 its text has been exposed to risks, which the longer Epic 
 has escaped. Its story was more popular and attractive. 
 It was shorter, and far less burdened with digressions ; 
 it had more unity of plot; its language was simpler and 
 presented fewer difficulties. As a result of these circum- 
 stances it was more easily committed to memory. Hence 
 it happened that, even after the final settlement of its 
 text, it became orally current over a great part of India. 
 We know from the fourth chapter of the first book that 
 it had its minstrels and reciters like the Greek ῥαψῳδοί, 
 and variations in the wording of the narratives became 
 almost unavoidable. In process of time, as written copies 
 of the poem multiplied, the unfettered flow of the common 
 heroic metre facilitated slight alterations and interpola- 
 tions by transcribers who sometimes aimed at being poets 
 themselves. Hence we have at least three versions 
 of the text of the poem: one belonging to Benares and 
 the North-west; another, which is generally, though not 
 always, more diffuse and open to suspicion of interpola- 
 tions, peculiar to Calcutta and Bengal Proper; and a third, 
 
 lavaw), who were taught to sing the poem descriptive of their unknown 
 father’s actions, and from whom are traced the proudest Rajput castes. 
 The reviewer thinks it not unlikely that Valmiki may have been con- 
 temporaneous with the heroes whom he describes. 
 
 1 The metre in which the greater part of the Ramayana and Mahi- 
 bharata is written is the common Sloka (see my Sanskrit Grammar, 935), 
 in which only five syllables out of sixteen in each line are really fixed. 
 The others may be either long or short. The Indra-vajra variety of 
 Trishtubh is however frequently used in the Maha-bharata; and in the 
 Ramayana, at the end of the chapters, we have often the Jagati (Gram. 
 937, 941). The former of these has eleven syllables to the half-line, the 
 latter twelve; and the quantity of every syllable being fixed, there 
 is less simplicity and freedom of style. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 339 
 
 to Western India (Bombay). These principal recensions, 
 as well as all the known MSS., whatever may be their 
 occasional variations', divide the poem into seven books, 
 as follow: 
 
 1. Bala-kanda, the section relating to the boyhood of Rama. 2. Ayo- 
 dhya-k°, descriptive of the transactions in Ayodhyi and the banish- 
 ment of Rama by his father, king Dasgaratha. 3. Aranya-k°, nar- 
 rating events in the forest-abode of Rama after his banishment, 
 including the carrying off of Sita by Ravana. 4. Kishkindhyd-k°, 
 detailing the occurrences at Kishkindhya, the capital city of Rama’s ally 
 Sugriva. 5. Sundara-k’, ‘the beautiful section,’ giving an account of the 
 miracles by which the passage of the straits and the arrival of the 
 invading armies in Lank& (Ceylon) were effected. 6. Yuddha-k°, de- 
 scribing the actual war with Ravana in Lanka, the victory over his armies 
 and his destruction by Rama, the recovery of Sita, the return to Ayodhya, 
 the reunion of the four brothers, and final coronation of Rama. 7. Utta- 
 va-k°, narrating the concluding events of the history of Rama after his 
 coronation on returning to Ayodhyi—his sensitiveness to the gossip and 
 
 1 Professor Weber shows that the variations now discovered in MSS. 
 of the Ramayana in different parts of India are so great, that if is no 
 longer possible to talk of three recensions only. With regard to the Bengal 
 (Gauda) recension, it may be observed that in that part of India, where 
 there is less demand for MSS., learned men have been their own scribes, 
 and have always tampered more freely with original texts than the un- 
 learned copyists of the North. In 1806 and 181o Carey and Marshman 
 published the text and translation of two books out of the seven which 
 complete this recension; but here and there they have followed the 
 northern. Twenty years afterwards Augustus William Schlegel published 
 the text of two books of the northern version, with a Latin translation 
 of the first; and after another interval of twenty years Signor Gorresio, 
 a learned Italian scholar, published, at the expense of king Charles Albert, 
 a very beautiful and accurate edition of the Bengal recension, with an 
 Italian translation, which I have generally followed in my summary of 
 the narrative. The remainder of that particular recension, the editing 
 of which was commenced by Schlegel, was left unprinted. More than 
 ten years have elapsed since editions of the more reliable recension, 
 with commentary, were put forth at Calcutta and Bombay. That of 
 Calcutta is dated Samvat, τοι). Mr. R. Griffith’s poetical translation 
 of the Ramayana, which has appeared since, deserves, and has received, 
 the greatest commendation. 
 
 VAY: 
 
340 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 scandal of the citizens, his consequent banishment of Sita to the hermit- 
 age of Valmiki, notwithstanding the absolute certainty of her blameless 
 conduct during her captivity in Ravana’s palace, the birth of his twin 
 sons, Kuga and Lava, in the hermitage, his final reunion with her, and 
 translation to heaven. All this supplement to the story has been drama- 
 tized by Bhava-bhiti in his Uttara-rama-¢aritra, and the whole previous 
 history in his Maha-vira-éaritra. 
 
 We have already noted that the seventh Book, as well 
 as the introductory chapters of the first, giving a summary 
 of the plot, and the passages identifying Rama with 
 Vishnu or the Supreme Being (such as VI. cil. 12, Gorresio), 
 are in all probability comparatively modern appendages. 
 
 No suspicion, however, of interpolations and variations 
 avails to impair the sacred character of the poem in the 
 eyes of the natives’. Some idea of the veneration in 
 which it is held may be formed from the verses at the 
 end of the introductory chapter, which declare— 
 
 He who reads and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana is liberated 
 from all his sins and exalted with all his posterity to the highest 
 heaven. 
 
 Brahma also, in I. 2, 40, is made to utter the followmg 
 prophecy in the presence of the poet Valmiki: 
 
 As long as the mountains and rivers shall continue on the surface of 
 the earth, so long shall the story of the Ramayana be current in the 
 world. [Yavat sthasyanti girayah suritas-Ca mahitale Tavad Ramayana- 
 katha lokeshu praéarishyatt. | 
 
 The main story of the poem’, although often inter- 
 rupted by long episodes which have little bearing on the 
 
 1 Weber has noted that in the Sarva-dargana-san.graha (p. 72, 1. 15) a 
 passage is quoted from the Skanda-puraina which places the Mala- 
 ramayana, ‘original Ramayana,’ as a Sastra after the four Vedas, the 
 Bharata, and the Panéa-ratraka. Some of the Sargas in the Uttara- 
 kanda have no comment as being prakshipta. 
 
 * While writing my account of the Ramayana, I have consulted an able 
 article on this poem in the Calcutta Review (XLV), to which I am under 
 great obligations. The author of the article is my friend Mr. R. N. Cust, 
 a late distinguished member of the Bengal Civil Service. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 341 
 
 plot, flows in a far more continuous and traceable course 
 than that of the Maha-bharata. It may be divided into 
 four principal parts or periods, corresponding to the chief 
 epochs in the life of Rama. 1. The account of his youth- 
 ful days; his education and residence at the court of his 
 father DaSaratha, king of Ayodhya; his happy marriage 
 to Sita; and his inauguration as heir-apparent or crown- 
 prince. 11. The circumstances that led to his banish- 
 ment; the description of his exile and residence in the 
 forests of Central India. III. His war with the giants 
 or demons of the South for the recovery of his wife Sita, 
 carried off by their chief Ravana; his conquest and 
 destruction of Ravana, and reunion with Sita. IV. His 
 return with Sita to Ayodhya; his restoration to the 
 throne of his father; and his subsequent banishment of 
 Sita’. 
 
 The poem opens with a description of Ayodhya’, and 
 
 " According to Professor Lassen the development of the story of Rama 
 may be divided into four stages. The first construction of the poem 
 did not carry the narrative beyond the banishment of Rama to the 
 Himalaya and the circumstances which caused his wife Sita and his 
 brother Lakshmana to follow him into exile. The second changed the 
 place of banishment to the Godavari, and described the protection 
 afforded to the hermits against the attacks of the aborigines. The 
 third embraced the account of the first attempts to subdue the inhabit- 
 ants of the Dekhan. The fourth amplification, which resulted from the 
 knowledge gained by the Hindis of the island of Ceylon, included the 
 description of Rima’s expedition against Lanka. See Ind. Alt. II. p. 505. 
 
 2 Although Ayodhya is the base of operations in the Ramayana, yet 
 the poet carries us through a vast extent of country, conducting us 
 now beyond the Sutlej into the Panjab, now across the Vindhya moun- 
 tains into the Dekhan, and now across the Narmad& and Godavari to 
 the most southern parts of India, even to the island of Ceylon. The 
 geography of the poem, however, though far more interesting, and ex- 
 tending to wider points in every direction, than that of the Maha- 
 bharata, is not always to be trusted. The river Sarayii is now called 
 the Gogra. 
 
342 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 an eulogium on Dagaratha and his ministers, of whom 
 the most eminent were the two prime ministers Vasishtha 
 and Vamadeva. Besides these, there were eight other 
 counsellors (amdtyah), agreeably to the precept laid down 
 by Manu (see p. 262 with note 2). These are of course 
 all Brahmans, and direct the affairs of the government. 
 King Dagaratha has no son (VIII. 1)—a serious calamity 
 in India, where a son is needed for the due performance 
 of the Sraddha (see p. 255 with note 1), The usual 
 remedy for this misfortune was a great sacrifice, pur- 
 posely cumbered with a most tedious and intricate cere- 
 monial, not to be performed except by Brahmans, who 
 received in return enormous gifts. The Rakshasas were, 
 of course, eagerly on the watch for any flaw, defect, or 
 mistake. If any occurred, the whole ceremony was seri- 
 ously obstructed, and its efficacy destroyed. 
 
 Rishyasringa, therefore, a celebrated sage, is married 
 to Dasaratha’s daughter Santa, and induced to assist 
 at the celebration of a great Asva-medha οὐ horse- 
 sacrifice. 
 
 The episode in which the story of this sage is told is 
 very curious : 
 
 It so happened, that in the neighbouring kingdom of Anga, now 
 known as Bhagulpore, in Bengal, there had been a great dearth, and 
 the king, Lomapada, had been assured that the only chance of obtaining 
 rain was to entice the ascetic Rishyasringa from his retirement, and 
 induce him to marry the king’s daughter, or rather the adopted child 
 of Lomapada, and real daughter of Dasaratha. This ascetic was the 
 son of Vibhaindaka, a sainted mortal of frightful power, who had pro- 
 duced him apparently without a mother, and had brought him up alone 
 in the wilderness, where he had never seen nor even heard of the fascina- 
 tions of women. The plan was to send a party of young females, dis- 
 guised as ascetics, and inveigle the great saint from his retreat. The 
 description of the surprise and unsettlement of mind, the interruption 
 of devotion, and heart’s unrest, that befell the unhappy saint when he 
 received his strange guests, is very smgular. In the end, the ascetic is 
 seduced from his hermitage, put on board a vessel on the Ganges, 
 
 - 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 343 
 
 married to the king’s daughter, and brought to Ayodhya, to conduct 
 the sacrifice '. 
 
 The horse-sacrifice®, therefore, was successfully per- 
 formed. We are told that no oblation was neglected, 
 nor any mistake committed ; all was in exact conformity 
 to the Veda (I. xiii. 10). The queen Kauéalya, mother 
 
 1 T have consulted here Mr. Cust’s article in the Calcutta Review (XLV). 
 He there remarks that ‘we might laugh at the conceit of such a case 
 being possible had not a modern traveller in the Levant, Mr. Curzon, 
 assured us of the existence of a similar case in one of the convents of 
 Mount Athos in the nineteenth century. He there found a monk in 
 middle life who had never set eyes on women, nor had any notion of 
 them beyond what could be formed from a black and hideous altar- 
 picture of the Virgin Mary. The cruel traveller, by an accurate descrip- 
 tion of the many charms of the fair sisterhood, entirely destroyed the 
 poor monk’s peace of mind for the future.’ 
 
 3 The horse chosen for this purpose was let loose and allowed to roam 
 about for a year. If no one was able to seize it during this period, it 
 was deemed fit for sacrifice ; but the seizure was sometimes effected by 
 the god Indra, whose tenure of heaven was imperilled by the great power 
 acquired by those who completed many Asva-medhas. Another year was 
 consumed in preparations for the sacrifice. The description of the cere- 
 mony, in I. xiii, is curious. Twenty-one Yupas or sacrificial posts were 
 erected, to which were tied various animals, and the horse. Near the 
 latter the queens of Dasaratha watched for a whole night. The marrow 
 (vapa) of the horse [patatrin=horse ; according to the commentator, 
 pura asvanim pakshah santiti] was then taken out and dressed, and 
 the horse itself cut up and offered in the fire, and the king, smelling 
 the smoke of the burning flesh, became absolved from his sins. Various 
 other sacrifices seem to have accompanied the Asva-medha, such as the 
 Gatushtoma, Jyotishtoma, Atiratra, Abhijit, &c. The Pravargya and 
 Upasad are described in Aitareya-brihmana 1. 18, 1, 23-25. Compare 
 the Asva-medha hymns of the Rig-veda (I. 162, 163) and the rules for 
 this sacrifice given in Satapatha-brahmana XIIL and Katyayana’s Sutras 
 XX. 6, 78. An important part of the proceedings was the feasting and 
 the largesses. King Dasaratha is described as giving to the priests a 
 million cows, a hundred million pieces of gold, and four times as many 
 pieces of silver. 
 
344 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of Rama, and the other two queens, Sumitra and Kai- 
 keyi', remain with the slaughtered horse for one whole 
 night (I. xii. 36, 37). The gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and 
 Siva, along with Indra and his troop of Maruts, assemble 
 to receive their shares of the sacrificial oblations, and 
 being satisfied, promise four sons to Dagaratha (I. xiv. 9). 
 The scene then changes to the abode of the gods, where 
 a deputation of the deities waits on Brahma, and repre- 
 sents to him that the universe is in danger of being 
 destroyed by the chief of the Rakshasas or evil demons, 
 called Ravana, who from his island-throne in Ceylon 
 menaces earth and heaven with destruction. His power 
 is described as so great that— 
 
 Where he is, there the sun does not give out its heat; the winds 
 through fear of him do not blow; the fire ceases to burn; and the ocean, 
 crowned with rolling billows, becomes motionless (I. xiv. 17). 
 
 The secret of this power lay in a long course of auste- 
 rity”, which, according to the Hindi doctrine, gained for 
 
 τ Of Dasaratha’s three wives, the chief, Kausalya, is said to have been 
 of his own race and country (probably so called from Kosala, the country 
 of Dasaratha) ; the second, Kaikeyi, was the daughter of Asva-pati, king 
 of Kekaya, supposed to be in the Panjab (whence the king himself is 
 sometimes called Kekaya); and the third, Sumitra, was probably from 
 Magadha or Behar. The father of the last is said to have been ἃ Vaisya. 
 It is noticeable that Asva-pati, king of Kekaya, is mentioned in the 
 Brahmana of the White Yajur-veda as nearly contemporary with Janaka, 
 father of Sita. 
 
 2 According to the Hindi theory (cf. p. 106), the performance of tapas 
 or austerities of various kinds was like making deposits in the bank of 
 heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was accumulated, which enabled 
 the depositor to draw to the amount of his savings, without fear of his 
 drafts being refused payment. The merit and power thus gained by weak 
 mortals was so enormous, that gods as well as men were equally at the 
 mercy of these all but omnipotent ascetics. Hence both Rishis and Rak- 
 shasas and even gods, especially Siva (p. 326), are described as engaging 
 in self-inflicted austerities, in order to set mere human beings an example, 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 345 
 
 him who persevered sufficiently, however evil his designs, 
 superiority to the gods themselves, and enabled Ravana 
 to extort from the god Brahma this remarkable boon— 
 that neither gods, genii, demons, nor giants should be 
 able to vanquish him. As, however, in his pride, he 
 scorned to ask security from man also, he remained vul- 
 nerable from this one quarter, if any mortal could be 
 found capable of coping with him. While the discussion 
 of the matter is carried on in heaven, Vishnu joins the 
 conclave, and at the request of the other gods, promises 
 to take the form of man that he may kill Ravana, and 
 consents to become incarnate for this purpose, in the 
 family of DaSsaratha, king of Ayodhya (Oude), of the 
 Solar dynasty. 
 
 Tt should be stated here that, according to the legendary 
 history of India, two lines of rulers were originally domi- 
 nant in the north of India, called Solar and Lunar, under 
 whom numerous petty princes held authority and to 
 whom they acknowledged fealty. Under the Solar 
 dynasty the Brahmanical system gained ascendancy more 
 rapidly and completely than under the Lunar kings in 
 the more northern districts, where fresh arrivals of martial 
 tribes preserved an independent spirit among the popula- 
 tion already settled in that district. 
 
 This Solar line, though practically commencing with 
 
 or perhaps not to be supplanted by them, or else not to be outdone in 
 aiming at re-absorption into Brahma. In these cases it is incorrect (as 
 remarked by Professor Banerjea) to translate tapas by ‘penance,’ if 
 expiation for sin is thereby implied. It is simply self-inflicted pain and 
 suffering, with a view to the acquisition of superhuman powers, or of 
 final emancipation. The root tap signifies first ‘to burn’ and then ‘to 
 torment.’ It is connected with Lat. tepeo. Also with Greek τέφρα, root 
 tap, Garrow, which last originally signified ‘to burn,’ not ‘to bury,’ dead 
 bodies. As, however, ‘penance’ is derived from poena, ‘pain,’ it is 
 perhaps a suitable equivalent for the Sanskrit fapas. 
 
346 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Ikshvaku, is fabled to have derived its origin from the 
 Sun, and even from an earlier source—the god Brahma 
 himself. Perhaps the object of the Brahman poet or 
 later constructor of the poem might have been to connect 
 Rama in his then acknowledged character of an incar- 
 nation of Vishnu, with the solar Vishnu of the Veda (see 
 p- 323). However this may have been, nothing shows 
 more ciearly than the legendary pedigree of Rama how 
 the whole poem was subjected to a brahmanizing process. 
 We see from it that the most powerful line of Kshatriya 
 kings is thus made to owe its origin to Brahmanical 
 sages of the greatest sanctity. I here abridge the 
 genealogy : 
 
 Ikshvaku was the son of Manu Vaivasvata (i.e. the seventh Manu, or 
 Manu of the present period). The latter was a son of Vivasvat or the 
 Sun (commonly called Sirya). The Sun again was a son of the Muni 
 Kasyapa, who was the son of the Rishi Mari¢i, who was the son of 
 Brahma. From [kshvaku sprang the two branches of the Solar dynasty, 
 viz. that of Ayodhya or Oude, which may be said to have commenced in 
 Kakutstha, the grandson of Ikshvaku (as the latter’s son Vikukshi, father 
 of Kakutstha, did not reign), and that of Mithila, or Videha (North Behar 
 and Tirhut), which commenced in another of Ikshvaku’s sons, Nimi. 
 Thirty-fifth in descent from Kakutstha came Sagara; fourth from him 
 Bhagiratha ; third from him Ambarisha; and fifteenth from him Raghu, 
 who was father of Aja, who was father of Dasaratha. Hence we have 
 the following order of names: Brahma, Mari¢i, KaSyapa, Vivasvat or 
 
 Stirya, Vaivasvata, Ikshvaku [Vikukshi], Kakutstha [.............. 
 etal nea eae ], Sagara [. .], Dilipa, Bhagiratha [. .], Amba- 
 TIGA! [ΝΒ ΙΒ ότι: 1, Raghu, Aja, Dagaratha, Rama. 
 
 This explains why Rama is variously called Kakutstha, Righava, Dasa- 
 ratha, Dasgarathi, &c.* 
 
 1 This list agrees with the usual one as exhibited in Prinsep’s table; 
 but there is considerable variation in the genealogy, as given in Rama- 
 yana IT. cx. and in the Raghu-vansa. For instance, the son of Ikshvaku 
 is said to be Kukshi, and his son Vikukshi; the son of Dilipa is Bhagi- 
 ratha, and his son is Kakutstha, and his son is Raghu. In the Raghu- 
 vanga, Raghu, father of Aja (V. 36), is said to be the son of Dilipa 
 (irs): 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 347 
 
 We are thus brought to the real commencement of the 
 story—the birth of Rama’. Four sons are born from 
 the three wives of DaSaratha ; the eldest, Rama, possess- 
 ing half the nature of Vishnu, from Kausalya ; the second, 
 Bharata, possessing a fourth part, from Kaikeyi; and the 
 other two, Lakshmana and Satru-ghna, sharing the re- 
 maining quarter between them, from Sumitra. The 
 brothers are all deeply attached to each other; but 
 Lakshmana (often called Saumitri) is especially the com- 
 panion of Rama, and Satru-ghna of Bharata’. 
 
 While yet striplings, Rama and his brothers are taken 
 by Visvamitra (see p. 363) to the court of Janaka, king 
 of Mithila or Videha*. He had a wonderful bow, once the 
 
 * In Schlegel’s and the Bombay Ramayana, the horoscope of Rama's 
 birth is given. His birthday is called R&ma-navami (see p. 367, note 1), 
 because he is said (I. xix. 1, 2, II. xv. 3) to have been born on the gth 
 Tithi of Caitra, about the vernal equinox, Jupiter being in Cancer 
 (Karkata). Weber thinks that the mention of the Zodiacal sign and 
 the planet Jupiter is a proof of the late date to be assigned to the 
 composition of the Ramayana, or at least of this passage, seeing that 
 the Hindi obtained their knowledge of the signs and planets from 
 the Greeks, and these latter only completed their Zodiac in the first 
 century B.c. Weber, however, remarks that in the Ramayana Ceylon 
 is never called Tamraparni or Sinhala (by which name alone it was 
 known to the Greeks), but always Zawka. 
 
 ® Although in xix. the birth of Bharata is narrated after that of Rama, 
 he is supposed to have been born after the twins ; and we read in I. xv. 
 that the divine nectar containing the essence of the god Vishnu was 
 drunk by Sumitra next to Kaugalya. According to Schlegel, Bharata 
 was eleven months junior to Rama, and the twins only three months. 
 Probably the mother of Bharata was higher in rank than Sumitra, which 
 would give him the precedence. Lakshmana was to Rama like another 
 self (Ramasya Lakshmano vahihprana ivaparah, na ¢a tena vind nidram 
 labhate, na tam vind mishtam annam updanitam asnati, I, xix. 20-22). 
 
 * It is evident that Mithila (North Behar and Tirhut), situated quite 
 towards the east, was an Aryan country at this time, for Janaka is 
 described (Rim. I. 12) as conversant with all the Sastras and Vedas, 
 He is a frequent interlocutor in the Brihad-aranyaka. 
 
348 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 property of Siva, and had given out, that the man who 
 could bend it should win his beautiful daughter Sita’. 
 On the arrival of Rama and his brothers the bow is brought 
 on an eight-wheeled platform, drawn by no less than 5000 
 men. Rama not only bends the bow, but snaps it asunder 
 with a concussion so terrible that the whole assembly is 
 thrown to the ground, and the earth quivers as if a 
 mountain were rent in twain. 
 
 Sita thus becomes the wife of Rama, and she remained 
 his one wife—the type of wife-like devotion. Rama also 
 remained her faithful lord—the type of all that a husband 
 ought to be in loving tenderness and fidelity ὅ. 
 
 On their way back to Ayodhya, Dasaratha and his sons 
 are met by Paragu-rama, and here we have introduced 
 the curious episode of the conflict between the second 
 Rama and the previous incarnation of Vishnu—who sud- 
 denly appears on the scene (though not till various 
 strange omens and awful portents had given notice of his 
 approach) to challenge the young son of Dasaratha. The 
 object of this digression, which is clearly not part of the 
 original story, seems to be, that the ex-incarnation of 
 Vishnu, as a Brahman, may, by acknowledging himself 
 justly superseded by the Kshatriya incarnation, give a 
 
 1 Called Sit& because not born from a woman, but from a furrow (506) 
 while Janaka was ploughing (I. Ixvi. 14). This has given rise to a 
 theory that the story of Rama allegorizes the introduction of agriculture 
 into the south of India. The name Sita occurs in Taittiriya-brahmana 
 II. 3, 10, 1-3, as applied to the daughter of Savitri, or Prajapati, and as 
 in love with the Moon, who on his part loves another daughter, Sraddha, 
 but in the end is brought to love Sit& (See also Rig-veda IV. 57, 6, 7; 
 Atharyva-veda XI. 3, 12.) This is a variation of the older legend which 
 represents Savitri as giving his daughter Sirya in marriage to the Moon. 
 This may account for the name Rama-candra, ‘moon-like Rama,’ which 
 was ultimately given to the hero of the Ramayana. 
 
 * Τὴ this respect he contrasts very remarkably with the five Pandavas 
 
 —the heroes of the Maha-bharata—who had one wife between them as 
 common property, besides others on their own private account. 
 
 = 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 940 
 
 Brahmanical sanction to the deification of the second 
 Rama; but much mythological mysticism is mixed up 
 with the narrative, with the apparent design of obscuring 
 the actual facts of the Kshatriya hero’s victory, which 
 could not, if stated in plain language, be otherwise 
 than mortifying to Brahmanical pride. I here abridge 
 the story as told in Ramayana I. lxxiy. &e. (Schlegel ; 
 Muir’s Texts, vol. iv. pp. 176, 177): 
 
 When the king and his son Rama were returning home after the 
 marriage of the latter to Sita, he was alarmed by the ill-omened sounds 
 uttered by certain birds, which, however, were counteracted, as the sage 
 Vasishtha assured the king, by the auspicious sign of his being perambu- 
 lated by the wild animals of the forest.. Then a hurricane shook the 
 earth, uprooting the trees, and thick darkness veiled the sun. Finally, 
 Parasu-rama appeared, fearful to behold, brilliant as fire, with his axe 
 in his hand, and a bow on his shoulder. He was angry at the breaking 
 of the bow of Siva, of whom he was a disciple. Being reverently received, 
 he proceeded to tell Rama, Dasaratha’s son, that he had heard of his 
 success in breaking Siva’s bow, and had brought another bow, once the 
 property of Vishnu (I. Ixxv. 13), which he asked Rama to bend, and 
 fit an arrow on the string, adding, that if he succeeded in bending it, he 
 (Parasu-rama) would challenge him to single combat. Rama replies that 
 though his powers were slighted by his rival, he would give him a proof 
 of his strength. Whereupon, he angrily snatches the bow from Paragu- 
 rama, bends it, fits an arrow on the string, and tells his challenger that 
 he will spare his life because he is a Brahman, but will either destroy his 
 supernatural power of movement, or deprive him of the abode in bliss he 
 had acquired by his austerities. The gods now arrive to be witnesses of 
 the scene. Parasu-rama becomes disheartened, loses his strength, and 
 entreats not to be deprived of his faculty of moving in the air (lest he 
 should be unable to fulfil his promise, made to Kasyapa, to leave the 
 earth every night). He then continues to say that by the bending of 
 the bow he recognizes Rama’s divinity, and that he regards defeat by 
 the lord of the three worlds as no disgrace. The second Rama then 
 shoots the arrow, and thereby in some mysterious manner destroys 
 Parasu-rama’s abode in the celestial world. 
 
 Dagaratha and his party now return to the capital, and 
 preparations are made for the inauguration of Rama as suc- 
 cessor to the throne, when Kaikeyi, mother of his brother 
 
350 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Bharata, jealous of the preference shown to the son of 
 Kausalya, demands of the king the fulfilment of a promise, 
 made to her in former years, that he would grant her any 
 two boons she asked. A promise of this kind in Eastern 
 countries is quite inviolable ; and the king being required 
 to banish his favourite son Raima for fourteen years to 
 the forest of Dandaka, and to instal Bharata, is forced to 
 comply. 
 
 Rama, therefore, with his wife Sita and his brother 
 Lakshmana, is banished. They establish themselves in the 
 forest near the river Godavari’. Meanwhile the heart- 
 broken king pines away in inconsolable anguish. Here 
 occurs a touching episode (II. lxiii). The king, in the 
 midst of his despondency, confesses that his present be- 
 reavement is a punishment for a deed of blood committed 
 by himself accidentally in his youthful days. Thus it 
 happened: (I translate as nearly as I can word for word, 
 in a metre resembling the sixteen-syllable heroic verse of 
 the original, omitting portions here and there) : 
 
 One day when rains refreshed the earth, and caused my heart to swell with joy, 
 When, after scorching with his rays the parchéd ground, the summer sun 
 
 Had passed towards the south ; when cooling breezes chased away the heat, 
 And grateful clouds arose ; when frogs and pea-fowl sported, and the deer 
 Seemed drunk with glee, and all the winged creation, dripping as if drowned, 
 Plumed their dank feathers on the tops of wind-rocked trees, and falling showers 
 Covered the mountains till they looked like watery heaps, and torrents poured 
 Down from their sides, filled with loose stones and red as dawn with mineral earth, 
 Winding like serpents in their course ; then at that charming season I, 
 Longing to breathe the air, went forth, with bow and arrow in my hand, 
 
 To seek for game, if haply by the river-side a buffalo 
 
 Or elephant or other animal might cross, at eve, my path, 
 
 Coming to drink. Then in the dusk I heard the sound of gurgling water: 
 Quickly I took my bow, and aiming toward the sound, shot off the dart. 
 
 1 The Dandaka forest is described as beginning south of the Jumna, and 
 extending to the Godavari. The whole of that country was a wilderness, 
 inhabited by savage tribes (Rakshasas), and infested by wild beasts. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 351 
 
 A ΟὟ of mortal agony came from the spot,—a human voice 
 
 Was heard, and a poor hermit’s son fell pierced and bleeding in the stream. 
 ‘Ab! wherefore then,’ he cried, ‘am I a harmless hermit’s son struck down ἢ 
 Hither to this lone brook I came at eve to fill my water-jar. 
 
 By whom have I been smitten? whom have I offended? Oh! I grieve 
 Not for myself or my own fate, but for my parents, old and blind, 
 
 Who perish in my death. Ah! what will be the end of that loved pair, 
 Long guided and supported by my hand? this barbéd dart has pierced 
 Both me and them.’ Hearing that piteous voice, I Dasaratha, 
 
 Who meant no harm to any human creature, young or old, became 
 Palsied with fear ; my bow and arrows dropped from my senseless hands ; 
 And I approached the place in horror ; there with dismay I saw, 
 Stretched onthe bank, an innocent hermit-boy, writhing in pain and smeared 
 With dust and blood, his knotted hair dishevelled, and a broken jar 
 Lying beside him. I stood petrified and speechless. He on me 
 
 Fixed full his eyes, and then, as if to burn my inmost soul, he said, 
 ‘How have I wronged thee, monarch? that thy cruel hand has smitten me— 
 Me, a poor hermit’s son, born in the forest : father, mother, child 
 
 Hast thou transfixed with this one arrow: they, my parents, sit at home 
 Expecting my return, and long will cherish hope—a prey to thirst 
 
 And agonizing fears. Go to my father—tell him of my fate, 
 
 Lest his dread curse consume thee, as the flame devours the withered wood. 
 But first in pity draw thou forth the shaft that pierces to my heart, 
 
 And checksthe gushing life-blood, asthe bank obstructs the bounding stream ‘’ 
 He ceased, and as he rolled his eyes in agony, and quivering writhed 
 Upon the ground, I slowly drew the arrow from the poor boy’s side. 
 Then with a piteous look, his features set in terror, he expired. 
 Distracted at the grievous crime, wrought by my hand unwittingly ; 
 Sadly I thought within myself, how best I might repair the wrong. 
 
 Then took the way he had directed me towards the hermitage. 
 
 There I beheld his parents, old and blind ; like two clipped wingless birds 
 Sitting forlorn, without their guide, awaiting his arrival anxiously, 
 
 And, to beguile their weariness, conversing of him tenderly, 
 
 Quickly they caught the sound of footsteps, and I heard the old man say, 
 With chiding voice, ‘Why hast thoulingered, child? Quick giveus both to drink 
 A little water. Long forgetful of us, in the cooling stream 
 
 Hast thou disported; come in—for thy mother yearneth for her son, 
 
 If she or I in ought have caused thee pain, or spoken hasty words, 
 
 1 T have omitted the youth’s statement that he is not a Brahman, but 
 begotten by a Vaisya on a Stidr& woman (II. Ixiii. 48, &e.). 
 
902 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Think on thy hermit’s duty of forgiveness ; bear them not in mind. 
 
 Thou art the refuge of us refugeless—the eyes of thy blind sire. 
 
 Why art thou silent ? Speak! Bound up in thee are both thy parents’ lives.’ 
 He ceased, and I stood paralysed—till by an effort resolutely 
 
 Collecting all my powers of utterance, with faltering voice I said, 
 
 ‘Pious and noble hermit ; I am not thy son; I am the king : 
 Wandering with bow and arrow by a stream, seeking for game, I pierced 
 Unknowingly thy child. The rest I need not tell. Be gracious to me.’ 
 Hearing my pitiless words, announcing his bereavement, he remained 
 Senseless awhile; then drawing a deep sigh, his face all bathed in tears, 
 He spake to me as I approached him suppliantly, and slowly said, 
 ‘Hadst thou not come thyself, to tell the awful tale, its load of guilt 
 
 Had crushed thy head into ten thousand fragments. This ill-fated deed 
 Was wrought by thee unwittingly, O king, else hadst thou not been spared, 
 And all the race of Raghavas had perished. Lead us to the place: 
 
 All bloody though he be, and lifeless, we must look upon? our son 
 
 For the last time, and clasp him in our arms,’ Then weeping bitterly 
 The pair, led by my hand, came to the spot and fell upon their son. 
 Thrilled by thetouch, the father cried, ‘My child, hast thou no greeting for us? 
 No word of recognition : wherefore liest thou here upon the ground ? 
 Art thou offended? or am I no longer loved by thee, my son ? 
 
 See here thy mother. Thou wert ever dutiful towards us both. 
 
 Why wilt thou not embrace me? speak one tender word. Whom shall I hear 
 Reading again the sacred Sastra in the early morning hours ? 
 
 Who now will bring me roots and fruits to feed me like a cherished guest ? 
 How, weak and blind, can I support thy aged mother, pining for her son ? 
 Stay ! Go not yet to Death’s abode—stay with thy parents yet one day, 
 To-morrow we will both go with thee on the dreary way. Forlorn 
 
 And sad, deserted by our child, without protector in the wood, 
 
 Soon shall we both depart toward the mansions of the King of death.’ 
 Thus bitterly lamenting, he performed the funeral rites; then turning 
 Towards me thus addressed me, standing reverently near— I had 
 
 But this one child, aud thou hast made me childless. Now strike down 
 The father: I shall feel no pain in death. But thy requital be 
 
 That sorrow for a child shall one day bring thee also to the grave.’ 
 
 After narrating this affecting incident of his early life, 
 king Dasgaratha, struck with remorse, sickens and dies’. 
 
 1 This is literally translated. It is well known that blind people com- 
 monly talk of themselves as if able to see. 
 2 His body is burnt with much pomp. We have already noted, as a 
 
 ——— a 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 353 
 
 Soon afterwards the ministers assemble, and decide 
 that Bharata shall assume the government (II. Ixxix), 
 but he declines to deprive his elder brother Rama of his 
 rightful inheritance, and declares his intention of setting 
 out for the forest with a complete army (¢atur-anga) to 
 bring Rama back, and his determination to undergo in 
 his place the appointed term of fourteen years’ exile in 
 the forest (II. Ixxix. 8, 9). 
 
 After some trouble he discovers Rama’s retreat at Citra- 
 kita’, There and then he breaks the sad news of his 
 father’s death, and entreats him to return to Ayodhya and 
 assume the sovereignty (cil). 
 
 Next ensues a generous contest between the brothers ; 
 Bharata imploring Rama to accept the throne, and Rama 
 insisting on the duty of fulfilling his father’s vow (evi, 
 evli). 
 
 Here occurs the episode in which the Brahman Javal, 
 who is a sort of impersonation of scepticism, tries in a 
 brief address (II. eviii) to instil atheistic and irreligious 
 sentiments into Rama, hoping to shake his resolution and 
 induce him to accept the kingdom. His speech, which is 
 full of interest as indicating the prevalence of infidel and 
 materialistic doctrines at the time when the brahmanized 
 version of the Ramayana was completed, may be thus 
 
 abridged : 
 
 proof of the antiquity of the poem, that his widows are not burnt with 
 him (see p. 315). 
 
 1 The isolated hill Citra-kiita is the holiest spot of the worshippers of 
 Rama, and is crowded with temples and shrines of Rama and Lakshmana. 
 Every cavern is connected with their names; the heights swarm with 
 monkeys, and some of the wild-fruits are still called Sita-phal. It is 
 situated on a river called the Pisuni, described as the Mandakini (II. xev), 
 fifty miles south-east of the town of Bandah in Bundelkund, lat. 25. 12, 
 long. 80. 47. The river is lined with ghats and flights of stairs suitable 
 for religious ablutions. It is worthy of note that at some holy places all 
 distinctions of caste are laid aside by the Hindi, 
 
 Aa 
 
354 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 You ought not by abandoning your paternal kingdom to enter upon 
 a wrong road, beset with difficulties and troubles. Permit yourself to be 
 enthroned in Ayodhya. Dasaratha (your father) is dead and is now 
 nothing to you, nor you to him. Any one who feels attachment for any 
 other person is insane, since no one is anything to any other. I grieve 
 for those who swerve not from virtue and justice; such persons suffer 
 affliction here, and when they die incur annihilation. Men are careful 
 to offer oblations to their progenitors, but what can a dead man eat? If 
 an oblation eaten here by one person, passes into the body of another, 
 then let a Sraddha be offered to a man who is travelling abroad; he need 
 not eat upon his journey (ef. the doctrine of the Carvakas, p. 132). The 
 books composed by theologians (in which men are enjoined to) worship, 
 give gifts, offer sacrifice, practise austerities, abandon the world, are mere 
 artifices to draw forth gifts (déna-samvananda). Make up your mind 
 (kuru buddhim) that no one exists hereafter. Have regard only to what 
 is visible and perceptible by the senses (pratyaksham). Cast everything 
 beyond this behind your back (prishthatah kuru). (See Dr. Muir’s 
 article on Indian Materialists, Journal of the Asiatic Society, vol. xix. 
 P. 303.) 
 
 Rama’s reply, in which he indignantly rebukes Javah, 
 is a noble vindication of religion and faith, but his refer- 
 ence to Buddhism and his designation of Buddha himself 
 as a Cora or thief (IT. evil. 33) must be regarded as inter- 
 polations '. 
 
 In the end Bharata desists from pressing his brother to 
 accept the throne, but only consents to take charge of the 
 kingdom as a deposit. He bears away Rama’s shoes on 
 his head in token of this (exiil. 1), and takes up his abode 
 outside Ayodhya, at Nandi-graima, until the return of the 
 rightful king, never transacting any business without first 
 laying it before the shoes (cxv). Before dismissing him, 
 the forgiving Rama entreats him not to indulge angry 
 feelings towards his mother for having caused the family 
 calamities, in these words : 
 
 Cherish thy mother Kaikeyi, show no resentment towards her (II. 
 Cxil: 27): 
 
 1 Other allusions to rationalistic doctrines will be found scattered 
 throughout the Ramayana. 
 
THE EPIC PORMS—THE RAMAYANA. 355 
 
 ’ After Bharata’s departure ten years of Rama’s banish- 
 ment pass in moving from one hermitage to another. In 
 the description of the quiet life of the exiles we find that 
 their morning and evening devotions are never omitted, 
 and that Sita dutifully waits on her husband and brother- 
 in-law, never eating till they have finished’. When 
 they travel, Rama walks first, Sita in the middle, and 
 Lakshmana behind (III. xv. 1). At length they move 
 westward to visit the hermitage of the sage Agastya, near 
 the Vindhya mountains. He advises Rama to live for 
 the remainder of his exile in the neighbourhood of Jana- 
 sthina at Pandéavati on the Godavari? (xix). This district 
 is infested by Rakshasas, and, amongst others, by Ravana’s 
 sister, Sarpa-nakha, who becomes smitten with love for 
 Rama. He of course repels her, telling her that he is 
 already married (xxiv.1); but this only rouses the 
 jealousy of Sirpa-nakha, who makes an attack on Sita, 
 and so infuriates the fiery Lakshmana that he thought- 
 lessly cuts off her ears and nose® (xxiv. 22). Surpa- 
 nakha, smarting with pain and bent on revenge, repairs 
 to her brother Ravana, the demon-monarch of Ceylon. 
 
 The description of Ravana (III. xxxvi; Bombay ed. 
 XXX) 1s as follows : 
 
 This mighty demon had ten faces, twenty arms, copper-coloured eyes, 
 a huge chest, and bright teeth like the young moon. His form was as a 
 thick cloud, or a mountain, or the god of death with open mouth. He 
 had all the marks of royalty ; but his body bore the impress of wounds 
 inflicted by all the divine arms in his warfare with the gods. It was scarred 
 
 by the thunderbolt of Indra, by the tusks of (Indra’s) elephant Airavata, and 
 by the discus of Vishnu. His strength was so great that he could agitate 
 
 1 This custom remains unaltered to the present day. Compare Manu 
 IV. 43: ‘ Let him not eat with his wife, nor look at her eating.’ 
 2 A spot now known as Nasik, in the Bombay presidency. 
 5. It was from this circumstance that Panéavati is now called Nasik 
 (nastka, ‘the nose’). 
 Aa 
 
 to 
 
356 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the seas and split the tops of mountains. He was a breaker of all laws, 
 and a ravisher of other men’s wives. He once penetrated into Bhogavati 
 (the serpent-capital of Patiala), conquered the great serpent Vasuki, and 
 carried off the beloved wife of Takshaka. He defeated Vaisravana (i. e. 
 his own brother Kuvera, the god of wealth), and carried off his self- 
 moving chariot called Pushpaka. He devastated the divine groves of 
 Gitra-ratha, and the gardens of the gods. Tall as a mountain-peak he 
 stopped with his arms the sun and moon in their course, and prevented 
 their rising. The sun, when it passed over his residence, drew in its 
 beams in terror. He underwent severe austerities in the forest of 
 Gokarna for ten thousand years, standing in the midst of five fires (see 
 p- 105) with his feet in the air; whence he was released by Brahma, and 
 obtained from him (among other boons, see p. 345) the power of taking 
 what shape he pleased’. 
 
 The better to secure the mighty Ravana’s co-operation, 
 Sirpa-nakha succeeds in inspiring him with a passion for 
 sita (111. xxxvii. 17), whom he determines to carry off. 
 Having with difficulty secured the aid of another demon, 
 Mari¢éa,— who was the son of the Tadaka (I. xxvii. 8) 
 formerly killed by Rama,—Ravana transports himself and 
 his accomplice in the aérial car Pushpaka to the forest 
 near Rama’s dwelling. Mariéa then assumes the form of 
 a beautiful golden deer, which so captivates Sita (IIL. 
 
 * One cannot help comparing part of this description with Milton’s 
 portrait of Satan. The majestic imagery of the English poet stands out 
 in striking contrast to the wild hyperbole of Valmiki. It appears from 
 III. 1Π| (Gorresio) that Ravana was the son of Visravas, who was the son 
 of the sage Pulastya, who was the son of Brahma. Hence Ravana was 
 the brother of the god Kuvera (though by a different mother), and in 
 verse 30 he calls himself his brother and enemy. Both he and Kuvera 
 are sometimes called Paulastya. Vibhishana and Kumbha-karna were 
 also brothers of Ravana, and, like him, propitiated Brahma by their 
 penances, and, like him, obtained boons, but the boon chosen by Vibhi- 
 shana was that he should never swerve from virtue, and by Kumbha- 
 karna (whose size was gigantic and appetite voracious) that he should 
 enjoy deep sleep for long periods of time. (See Maha-bharata ITI. 
 15916.) 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 807 
 
 xlviii. 11) that Rama is induced to leave her with Laksh- 
 mana, that he may catch the deer for her, or kill it. 
 Mortally wounded by his arrow, the deer utters cries for 
 help, feigning Rama’s voice, which so alarms Sita that 
 she persuades Lakshmana against his will to leave her 
 alone and go to the assistance of his brother. Meanwhile 
 Ravana approaches in the guise of a religious mendicant. 
 All nature seems petrified with terror as he advances (III. 
 lii. 10, 11) ; and when Sita’s eyes fall on the stranger, 
 she starts, but is lulled to confidence by his mendi- 
 cant’s dress, and offers him food and water. Sud- 
 denly Ravana declares himself. Then throwing off his 
 disguise he avows his intention to make her his queen. 
 Sita’s indignation bursts forth, but her wrath is powerless 
 against the fierce Ravana, who takes her up in his arms, 
 places her in his self-moving car, and bears her through 
 the sky to his capital. As Sita is carried along, she in- 
 vokes heaven and earth, mountains and streams (lv. 43). 
 The gods and saints come to look on, and are struck with 
 horror, but they stand in awe of the ravisher, and know 
 that this is part of the plan for his destruction. ΑἹ] 
 nature shudders, the sun’s disk pales, darkness over- 
 spreads the heavens (Iviii. 16-43). It is the short-lived 
 triumph of evil over good. Even the great Creator 
 Brahma rouses himself, and exclaims, ‘Sin is consum- 
 mated’ (III. lviii. 17). 
 
 Arrived in the demon-city, Ravana forces Sita to inspect 
 all the wonders and beauties of his capital (III. lxi), and 
 then promises to make them hers, if she will consent to 
 become his queen. Indignantly rejected, he is enraged, 
 and delivers her over to the guardianship of a troop of 
 Rakshasis or female furies, who are described as horrible 
 in appearance, and cannibal in their propensities (LIT. bx. 
 29-38). Tormented by them, she seems likely to die of 
 despair, but Brahma in compassion sends Indra to her 
 
358 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 with the god of sleep’, and a vessel containing celestial 
 food (xii. 7, 8) to support her strength. 
 
 Terrible is the wrath of the usually gentle Rama when 
 on his return he finds that Sita is carried off by Ravana 
 (xix). He and Lakshmana at once set off on a long 
 search, determined to effect her rescue. After many ad- 
 ventures, in the course of which they have a battle with 
 a headless fiend called Kabandha, who opposes their pro- 
 gress, but is killed, and then restored to life by them (III. 
 Ixxiv), they make an alliance with Sugriva, king of the 
 monkeys (foresters), and assisted by Hanumat, one of the 
 monkey-generals, and by Ravana’s brother Vibhishana, in- 
 vade Lanka, the capital of Ravana, in Ceylon (IV. lxiii). 
 
 To transport the army across the channel, a bridge is 
 constructed under the direction of the monkey-general 
 Nala, son of VisSva-karman : 
 
 Thousands of monkey bridge-builders, flying through the sky in every 
 direction, tear up rocks and trees, and throw them into the water. In 
 bringing huge crags from the Himalayas, some are accidentally dropped, 
 and remain to this day monuments of the exploit. At length a pier” 
 is formed twenty Yojanas long and ten wide (V. xev. 11-15), by which 
 the whole army crosses, Vibhishana taking the lead. The gods, Rishis, 
 Pitris, &c., look on, and utter the celebrated prophecy— 
 
 ‘As long as the sea shall remain, so long shall this pier (setu) endure, 
 and the fame of Rama be proclaimed ®.’ 
 
 1 Similarly in the Odyssey (IV. 795) Minerva sends ἃ dream to console 
 and animate Penelope. 
 
 * The god of the ocean at first objected to a regular embankment (V. 
 xciv. 8), though a pier (described as ἃ 8661) was afterwards constructed : 
 the line of rocks in the channel is certainly known in India as Rama-setu. 
 In maps it is called ‘ Adam’s bridge.’ Everywhere in India are scattered 
 isolated blocks, attributed by the natives to Rama’s bridge-builders. More 
 than this, the hill Govardhana, near Muttra, and the whole Kymar range 
 in Central India are firmly believed to have arisen from the same cause. 
 
 3. «Tn the midst of the arm of the sea is the island Ramesurum (Rame- 
 évara), or the pillar of Rama, of as great repute and renown as the pillars _ 
 of the western Hercules. There to this day stands a temple of massive 
 Cyclopean workmanship, said to have been built by the hero, the idol of 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 359 
 
 After various engagements, described with much weari- 
 some exaggeration, the great battle between Rama and 
 Ravana takes place: 
 
 The gods assemble to take the side of the former, and all the demons 
 and evil spirits back their own champion (VI. Ixxxvii. 8). Ravana is 
 mounted on a magic car, drawn by horses having human faces (manwshya- 
 vadanair hayath); and, in order that the two champions may fight on 
 an equality, Indra sends his own car, driven by his charioteer Matali, for 
 the use of Rama. Both armies cease fighting, that they may look on 
 (xci. 2); but the gods and demons in the sky, taking the part of either 
 warrior, renew their ancient strife’. The heroes now overwhelm each 
 other with arrows. Rama cuts off a hundred heads from Ravana suc- 
 cessively; but no sooner is one cut off than another appears in its place ? 
 (xcii. 24), and the battle, which has already lasted seven days and seven 
 nights without interruption, seems likely to be endlessly protracted, until 
 Matali informs Rama that Ravana is not vulnerable in the head. There- 
 upon Rama shoots off the terrible arrow of Brahma‘, given to him by 
 the sage Agastya, and the demon-king falls dead (xcii. 58). 
 
 which is washed daily with water from the Ganges. From the highest 
 point is a commanding view of the ocean, and the interminable black line 
 of rocks stretching across the gulf of Manaar. Thither, from all parts of 
 India, wander the pilgrims, who are smitten with the wondrous love of 
 travel to sacred shrines. From Chuteerkote (Citra-kita), near the 
 Jumna, it is roughly calculated to be one hundred stages. We have con- 
 versed with some who have accomplished the great feat: but many never 
 return; they either die by the way, or their courage and strength 
 evaporate in some roadside hermitage. Whatever may be its origin, 
 there is the reefy barrier, compelling every vessel from or to the mouths 
 of the Ganges, to circumnavigate the island of Ceylon.’ Calcutta Review, 
 XLV. 
 
 ’ This is just what takes place in the Iliad before the great battle 
 between Achilles and Hector, the gods taking their respective places on 
 either side (Il. XX). It is interesting to compare the simple Homeric 
 narrative with the wild improbabilities of the Indian poem. 
 
 * This reminds one of Hercules and the Hydra. 
 
 3 Here called paitémaham astram, and described as having the wind 
 for its feathers, the fire and the sun for its point, the air for its body, and 
 the mountains Meru and Mandara for its weight (VI. xcii. 45). It had the 
 very convenient property of returning to its owner's quiver after doing its 
 work. There appear to have been various forms of this unerring weapon. 
 
360 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Great portents and prodigies precede the fall of Ravana, 
 and when the victory is consummated a perfect deluge of 
 flowers covers the conqueror. The generous Rama causes 
 magnificent obsequies to be performed over the body of 
 his enemy, which is duly consumed by fire’, and then 
 places Vibhishana on the throne of Lan-ka (VI. xevii. 15). 
 Rama then sends Hanumat with a message to Sita, and 
 Vibhishana brings her into his presence in a litter (s¢vzkd) ; 
 but Rama allows her to come before him on foot, that 
 she may be seen by all the army. 
 
 The monkeys crowd round her, admiring her incomparable beauty, the 
 cause of so much toil, danger, and suffering to themselves”. On seeing 
 her, Rama is deeply moved. Three feelings distract him—joy, grief, and 
 anger (xcix. 19)—and he does not address his wife. Sita, conscious of 
 her purity, is hurt by his ccld reception of her, and bursts into tears, 
 uttering only the words, hé@ a@ryaputra, ‘alas! my husband!’ Rama then 
 haughtily informs her, that having satisfied his honour by the destruction 
 of the demon who had wronged his wife, he can do no more. He cannot 
 take her back, contaminated as she must certainly be (VI. ὁ). Sita asserts 
 her innocence in the most dignified and touching language, and directs 
 Lakshmana to prepare a pyre, that she may prove her purity. She enters 
 the flames, invoking Agni (ci); upon which all the gods with the old 
 king Dasaratha appear, and reveal to Rama his divine nature ὅ, telling 
 him that he is Narayana, and that Sita is Lakshmi (cii). Agni, the god 
 of fire, then presents himself, holding Sita, whom he places in Rama’s 
 arms unhurt *. Thereupon Rama is overjoyed, and declares that he only 
 consented to the ordeal that he might establish his wife’s innocence in 
 the eyes of the world (ciii). Dagaratha then blesses his son, gives him 
 
 1 Contrast this with Achilles’ treatment of the fallen Hector. 
 
 2. The whole scene is very similar to that in Iliad III. 121, &c., where 
 Helen shows herself on the rampart, and calls forth much the same kind 
 of admiration. 
 
 * He never appears to be conscious of it, until the gods enlighten him. 
 (See VI. cil. το, exix.) This is not the case with Krishna in the Maha- 
 bharata. It is probable, as we have seen, that all these passages are Jater 
 additions. 
 
 * The whole description of Sita’s repudiation by Rama is certainly one 
 of the finest scenes in the Ramayana. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 901 
 
 good advice, and returns to heaven (civ); while Indra, at the request of 
 Rama, restores to life all the monkeys killed during the war (ον). 
 
 Rama and Lakshmana, along with Vibhishana, Sugriva, 
 and the allies, now mount the self-moving car Pushpaka, 
 which is described as containing a whole palace within 
 itself, and set out on their return to Ayodhya; Rama, to 
 beguile the way as they travel through the sky, re- 
 counting to Sita all the scenes of their late adventures 
 lying beneath their feet’ (evili). On their reaching the 
 hermitage of Bharadvaja at Prayaga, the car is stopped ; 
 and the fourteen years of banishment having now expired 
 (cix), Hanumat is sent forward to announce their return 
 to Bharata. Rama and the three brothers are now once 
 more reunited, and, accompanied by them and by Sita 
 and the monkeys, who assume human forms (exii. 28), he 
 makes a magnificent entry into Ayodhya. He is then 
 solemnly crowned, associates Lakshmana in the empire, 
 and, before dismissing his allies, bestows on them splendid 
 presents (cxii). Hanumat, at his own request, receives as 
 a reward the gift of perpetual life and youth (exii. 101). 
 Every one returns happy and loaded with gifts to his 
 own home, and Rama commences a glorious reign at 
 Ayodhya (cxiii). 
 
 Such is a brief sketch of the Ramayana, omitting the 
 Uttara-kanda or supplementary chapters, which contain 
 the concluding events in the life of Rama (see p. 3309). 
 Much of the story, exaggerated as its later details are, 
 probably rests, as we have already pointed out, on a 
 foundation of historical truth. 
 
 * Kalidasa devotes nearly the whole of the thirteenth chapter of his 
 Raghu-vanga to this subject, which he makes a convenient pretext for 
 displaying his geographical and topographical knowledge, as in the 
 Megha-dita. Bhava-bhiti does the same in the seventh act of his 
 drama, Maha-vira-¢aritra; and Murari, the same in his play on the 
 same subject. 
 
362 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It is clear, too, that a moral lesson is intended to be 
 conveyed by the whole narrative. Under the story of the 
 conflict between the armies of the noble Rama and the 
 barbarous races of the South, figured by the Rakshasas, 
 there appears to lie a typical representation of the great 
 mystery of the struggle ever going on between the powers 
 of good and evil. With regard, however, to any other 
 allegorical and figurative ideas involved, as, for example, 
 that Rama is a mere impersonation of the Solar energy! ; 
 Sita, of agriculture or of civilization introduced into the 
 South of India by immigrants from the North ; the Rak- 
 shasas, of night, darkness or winter—whatever ingenuity 
 there may be in any or all of these theories, it seems 
 very questionable whether any such conceptions ever 
 entered into the mind of the author or authors of any 
 part of the poem. 
 
 Time would fail, if we were to attempt even the briefest 
 epitome of all the episodes in the Ramayana. I note two 
 others in addition to those already given. That of Visva- 
 
 1 Certainly Rama belongs to the Solar race of kings, but this points 
 to the connection of the Epic Vishnu (of whom Rama came to be regarded 
 as an incarnation) with the Solar Vishnu of the Veda. Professor Weber 
 remarks that as Rama is at a later period called Rama-éandra, and is 
 even in one place called Candra alone, the mildness so conspicuous in his 
 character might be explained by supposing that he was originally a kind 
 of moon-genius, and that the legend in the Taittiriya-brahmana (see 
 note 1, p. 348) representing the love of Sita (the field-furrow) for the Moon 
 might be regarded by some zealous mythologists as the first germ of the 
 story of the Ramayana; the beautifying ointment (anvga-rdga) which 
 Anasiya, wife of Atri, poured over the limbs of Sita (IIT. 2), represent- 
 ing the dew spread over the furrow in which the moonlight is reflected. 
 Weber, however, thinks that as the name Rama-déandra was not given 
 to the second Rama till a late date (the first application of it occurring 
 in Bhava-bhiti’s Maha-vira-éaritra IIT. 18), the converse is rather true, 
 viz. that a poetical spirit among the Brahmans connected Rama with the 
 Moon merely on account of the mildness of his character. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 363 
 
 mitra (I. 51-65), which is one of the most interesting, may 
 be thus abridged ': 
 
 Visvamitra, son of Gadhi, was a prince of the Lunar race, sovereign of 
 Kanoj, and the district of Magadha. He had a tremendous conflict with 
 the Brahman Vasishtha for the possession of the cow of plenty (Kama- 
 dhenu, also called Savala), which no doubt typified the earth (go) or 
 India. At the command of Vasishtha, the cow created hordes of bar- 
 barians, such as Pahlavas (Persians), Sakas (Scythians), Yavanas (Greeks), 
 Kambojas, &c., by whose aid Vasishtha conquered Visvamitra. Hence 
 the latter, convinced of the superior power inherent in Brahmanism, 
 determined to raise himself to that dignity, and in order to effect this 
 object, increased the rigour of his austerities for thousands of years. The 
 gods, who always had a hard struggle to hold their own against resolute 
 ascetics, did what they could to interrupt him, and partially succeeded. 
 Visvamitra yielded for a time to the seductions of the nymph Menaka, 
 sent by them to entice his thoughts towards sensual objects. A daughter 
 (Sakuntala) was the result of this temporary backsliding. However, in 
 the end, the obstinate ascetic was too much for the whole troop of deities. 
 He obtained complete power over his passions, and when the gods still 
 refused to brahmanize him, he began creating new heavens and new gods, 
 and had already manufactured a few stars, when the celestial host thought 
 it prudent to concede the point, and make him a veritable Brahman. 
 
 Another curious episode is the story of the Ganges 
 (I. 36-44) *: 
 
 Ganga, the personified Ganges, was the eldest daughter of Himavat, 
 lord of mountains, her younger sister being Uma. Sagara, a king of 
 Ayodhya, of the Solar race, had 60,000 sons, who were directed by their 
 father to look for a horse which had been stolen by a Rakshasa at an 
 Asva-medha or horse-sacrifice. Having first searched the earth unsuc- 
 cessfully, they proceeded to dig up the ground towards the lower regions. 
 Meeting with the sage Kapila, they accused him of the theft, which enraged 
 him to such a degree, that without more ado he reduced them all to ashes. 
 Sagara’s grandson some time afterwards found their remains, and com- 
 menced performing the funeral obsequies of his relatives, but was told 
 that it was necessary for Ganga to water the ashes with her sacred stream. 
 Neither Sagara, however, nor his grandson could devise any means for 
 
 1 The episode of Visvamitra includes under it the story of Ambarisha 
 given at p. 30 of this volume. 
 2 The story is also told in the Maha-bhirata, Vana-parvan 9920, «ec. 
 
364 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 effecting the descent of the heavenly river. It was reserved for his 
 
 great-grandson, Bhagiratha, by his austerities to bring down the sacred 
 
 stream from heaven. In her descent she fell first with great fury on the 
 head of Siva, who undertook to break her fall. 
 
 Mr. Ralph Griffith has translated the description of this descent with 
 great skill and taste. I subjoin a portion of his version (vol. i. p. 194) : 
 
 On Siva’s head descending first 
 A rest the torrents found, 
 
 Then down in all their might they burst ΔΝ 
 And roared along the ground. ἈΝ 
 On countless glittering scales the beam % 
 
 Of rosy morning flashed, 
 
 Where fish and dolphins through the stream 
 Fallen and falling dashed. 
 
 Then bards who chant celestial lays, 
 And nymphs of heavenly birth, 
 
 Flocked round upon that flood to gaze 
 That streamed from sky to earth. 
 
 The gods themselves from every sphere, 
 Incomparably bright, 
 
 Borne in their golden cars drew near 
 To see the wondrous sight. 
 
 The cloudless sky was all aflame 
 With the light of a hundred suns, 
 
 Where’er the shining chariots came 
 That bore those holy ones. 
 
 So flashed the air with crested snakes 
 And fish of every hue, 
 
 As when the lightning’s glory breaks 
 Through fields of summer blue. 
 
 And white foam-clouds and silver spray 
 Were wildly tossed on high, 
 
 Like swans that urge their homeward way 
 Across the autumn sky. 
 
 Then, by further austerities, Bhagiratha forced the sacred river to 
 flow over the earth, and to follow him thence to the ocean (therefore 
 called Sagara), and thence to the lower regions (Patala), where she 
 watered the ashes of Sagara’s sons, and became the means of con- 
 veying their souls to heaven. Hence a common name for the Ganges 
 is Bhagirathi. 
 
 —_— 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 365 
 
 Another name for the river Ganges is Jalhinavi, because 
 in its course it inundated the sacrificial ground of the 
 sage Jahnu, who thereupon without any ceremony drank 
 up its waters, but consented to discharge them again 
 from his ears. 
 
 Notwithstanding the wilderness of exaggeration and 
 hyperbole through which the reader of the Indian Epics 
 has occasionally to wander, there are in the whole range 
 of the world’s literature few more charming poems than 
 the Ramayana. The classical purity, clearness, and sim- 
 plicity of its style, the exquisite touches of true poetic 
 feeling with which it abounds, its graphic descriptions of 
 heroic incidents and nature’s grandest scenes, the deep 
 acquaintance it displays with the conflicting workings 
 and most refined emotions of the human heart, all entitle 
 it to rank among the most beautiful compositions that 
 have appeared at any period or in any country. It is like 
 a spacious and delightful garden; here and there allowed 
 to run wild, but teeming with fruits and flowers, watered 
 by perennial streams, and even its most tangled thickets 
 intersected with delightful pathways. The character of 
 Rama is nobly pourtrayed. It is only too consistently 
 unselfish to be human. We must, in fact, bear in mind 
 that the poet is bent on raising his hero to the rank of a 
 god. Yet though occasionally dazzled by flashes from 
 his superhuman nature, we are not often blinded or 
 bewildered by it. At least in the earlier portion of the 
 poem he is not generally represented as more than a 
 heroic, nobleminded, pious, and virtuous man,—a model 
 son, husband, brother,—whose bravery, unselfish gener- 
 osity, filial obedience, tender attachment to his wife, 
 fraternal affection, and freedom from all resentful feelings, 
 we cannot help admiring. When he falls a victim to the 
 spite of his father’s second wife, he cherishes no sense of 
 wrong. When the sentence of banishment is pronounced, 
 
366 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 not a murmur escapes his lips. In noble language he 
 expresses his resolution to sacrifice himself rather than 
 allow his parent to break his pledged word; and he per- 
 sists in this determination, notwithstanding the entreaties 
 of his mother Kaugalya, the taunting remarks of his fiery 
 brother Lakshmana, and his own anxious fear for the 
 safety of his wife Sita, who resolves to accompany him. 
 Again, after the death of his father, when Bharata urges 
 Rama to accept the government, and when all the citizens 
 add their entreaties, and the atheistical Javali his sophis- 
 tical arguments (see p. 354), Rama replies: 
 
 There is nothing greater than truth; and truth should be esteemed 
 the most sacred of all things. The Vedas have their sole foundation in 
 truth. Having promised obedience to my father’s commands, I will 
 neither, through covetousness nor forgetfulness nor blind ignorance, break 
 down the barrier of truth (II. cix. 17). 
 
 As to Sita, she is a paragon of wife-like virtues. Her 
 pleadings for permission to accompany her husband into 
 banishment breathe such noble devotion to her lord and 
 master, that I close my examples with a few extracts?: 
 
 A wife must share her husband’s fate. My duty is to follow thee 
 Where’er thou goest. Apart from thee, I would not dwell in heaven itself. 
 Deserted by her lord, a wife is like a miserable corpse. 
 
 Close as thy shadow would I cleave to thee in this life and hereafter. 
 -Thou art my king, my guide, my only refuge, my divinity. 
 
 It is my fixed resolve to follow thee. If thou must wander forth 
 Through thorny trackless forests, I will go before thee, treading down 
 The prickly brambles to make smooth thy path. Walking before thee, I 
 Shall feel no weariness: the forest-thorns will seem like silken robes; 
 The bed of leaves, a couch of down. ΤῸ me the shelter of thy presence 
 Is better far than stately palaces, and paradise itself. 
 
 Protected by thy arm, gods, demons, men shall have no power to harm me. 
 With thee I’ll live contentedly on roots and fruits. Sweet or not sweet, 
 
 " T have translated these nearly literally, but not consecutively, in the 
 sixteen-syllable metre of the original. The substance of them will be 
 found in the text of Gorresio’s Ramayana, vol. ii. p. 74, &e. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 367 
 
 If given by thy hand, they will to me be like the food of life. 
 Roaming with thee in desert wastes, a thousand years will be a day ; 
 Dwelling with thee, e’en hell itself would be to me a heaven of bliss. 
 
 As if in support of the prophecy recorded in the begin- 
 ning of the work (see p. 340) the story of Rama down 
 to the death of Ravana and recovery of Sita, is still 
 regularly recited every year throughout a great part of 
 India, at an annual festival in the beginning of October, 
 called Rama-lili’. Moreover, Hindi writers never seem 
 tired of working up the oft-repeated tale into various 
 forms. Hence the history of the adventures of Rama, 
 or at least some reference to them, is found in almost 
 every work of the subsequent literature. I conclude 
 this Lecture with instances : 
 
 In the Maha-bharata (Vana-parvan 15872-16601) the Ramopakhyina 
 is told very nearly as in the Ramayana, but there is no mention of 
 Valmiki as its author, and no allusion to the existence of the great sister 
 Epic. Markandeya is made to recount the narrative to Yudhi-shthira, 
 after the recovery of Draupadi (who had been carried off by Jayad-ratha, 
 as Sit& was by Ravana), in order to show that there were other examples 
 in ancient times of virtuous people suffering violence at the hands of 
 wicked men. It is probable (and even Professor Weber admits it to be 
 
 * On the day in the month Agvin or beginning of October, when the 
 Bengalis consign their images of Durga to the waters (i. e. at the Durga- 
 puja, of which the 4th day is called Dasahara, and during which for a 
 whole fortnight all business is suspended, and even thieves and rogues 
 allow themselves a vacation), Hindiis of other provinces perform the 
 Rama-lila, a dramatic representation of the carrying off of Sita, con- 
 cluding with the death of Ravana, of which that day is the anniversary. 
 Rama’s birth is celebrated on the gth of the month Caitra (April), called 
 Rama-navami. The sequel of the story of Rama, as contained in the 
 Uttara-kinda and Uttara-rima-éarita, is not so popularly known. See 
 an article in the ‘ Indian Antiquary’ for May 1872, by the Rev. K. M. 
 Banerjea. It is noteworthy that the Raima legends have always retained 
 their purity, and, unlike those of Brahma, Krishna, Siva, and Durga, 
 have never been mixed up with indecencies and licentiousness. In fact, 
 the worship of Rama has never degenerated to the same extent as that of 
 some of these other deities. 
 
368 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 possible) that the Maha-bharata episode was epitomized from the Rama- 
 yana, and altered here and there to give it an appearance of originality. 
 There are, however, remarkable differences. The story in the Maha-bha- 
 rata, although generally treating Rama as a great human hero only, 
 begins with the circumstances which led to the incarnation of Vishnu, 
 and gives a detailed account of what is first mentioned in the Uttara- 
 kanda of the Ramayana—the early history of Ravana and his brother. 
 The birth of Rima, his youth, and his father’s wish to inaugurate him as 
 heir-apparent are then briefly recounted. Dasaratha’s sacrifice, Rama’s 
 education, his winning of Sita, and other contents of the Bala-kanda are 
 omitted. The events of the Ayodhya-kanda and much of the Aranya- 
 kanda are narrated in about forty verses. A more detailed narrative 
 begins with the appearance before Ravana of the mutilated Surpa-nakha 
 (see p. 355), but many variations occur; for instance, Kabandha is 
 killed, but not restored to life (see p. 358) ; the story of Savari is omitted, 
 and there is no mention of the dream sent by Brahma to comfort Sita 
 (see p. 358)’. 
 
 There are other references to, and brief epitomes of parts of the story 
 of the Ramayana in the Maha-bharata, 6. g. in Vana-parvan 11177-11219 ; 
 in Drona-parvan 2224-2246; in Santi-parvan 944-955; in Hari-vansa 
 2324-2359, 8672-8674, 16232. 
 
 The story of Rama is also (as Professor Weber observes) referred to in 
 the Mriééhakatika (Act 1); and although not mentioned in Kalidasa’s 
 dramas, it is alluded to in his Megha-diita (verses 1, 99); and in his 
 Raghu-vangsa—which is a kind of abridged Ramayana—the poet Valmiki 
 is named (XV. 63, 64). Moreover, the Ramayana forms the basis of a 
 Prakrit work called the Setu-bandha (ascribed to one Kalidasa, and 
 mentioned in Dandin’s Kavyddarsa I. 34), as well as of the Bhatti-kavya, 
 or grammatical poem of Bhatti (written, according to Lassen, Ind. Alt. 
 IIL. g12, in Valabhi-pura under king’ Sridhara-sena, between 530 and 
 545 of the Christian era), and of the two celebrated dramas of Bhava- 
 bhiti, called Maha-vira-caritra and Uttara-rama-éaritra (whose date is 
 
 1 These and other differences have led Professor Weber to suggest the 
 inquiry whether the Maha-bharata version may not be more primitive 
 than that of the Ramayana, and possibly even the original version, out of 
 which the other was developed. ‘Or ought we,’ he asks, ‘to assume only 
 that the Maha-bharata contains the epitome of an earlier recension of our 
 text of the Ramayana ; or should both texts, the Ramopakhyana and the 
 Ramayana, be regarded as resting alike upon a common ground-work, but 
 each occupying an independent stand-point ?’ 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE RAMAYANA. 369 
 
 fixed by Lassen between 695 and 733). The last of these dramas quotes 
 verses from the Ramayana in three places, one in the second and two in 
 the sixth Act. Indeed, the dramatic literature which makes use of the 
 adventures of Rama for the subject-matter of the plots of its plays is 
 extensive. Besides the two dramas of Bhava-bhiti, there is the Hanu- 
 man-nataka or Maha-nataka, ‘great drama,’ in fourteen acts, fabled to 
 have been composed by the monkey-chief Hanumat himself, who first 
 wrote it on the rocks, and then to please Valmiki (lest it should throw 
 his Ramayana into the shade), cast it into the sea, whence some portions 
 were recovered in Bhoja’s time and arranged by Misra-damodara (pro- 
 bably about the tenth century). There is also the Anargha-raghava or 
 Anarghya-raghava in seven acts by Murari; the Prasanna-raghava by 
 Jaya-deva (probably not the author of the Gita-govinda); the Abjirama- 
 mani in seven acts by Sundara-misra ; the Campi-ramayana by Vidarbha- 
 raja (or Bhoja) in five acts; the Raghavabhyudaya; the Bala-ramayana 
 by Raja-Sekhara; the Udatta-raghava,; the Chalita-rama ; (the last three 
 quoted by the well known work on the Ars poetica called Sahitya-dar- 
 pana); the Ditangada, a short piece by Su-bhata, and others. 
 
 Other works mentioned by Weber as noticing the Ramayana are that 
 of Varaha-mihira—written between 505 and 587 of our era—which takes 
 for granted that Rama was honoured as a demigod about that time; the 
 Satrwijaya-mahatmya written in Valabhi under king Siladitya about 
 A.D. 598; the Vasava-datta of Subandhu (about the beginning of the 
 seventh century, Weber's Indische Streifen I. 373, 380), in which mention 
 is made of the Sundara-kinda as a section of the Ramayana; the 
 Kadambari of Bana (written a little later, Indische Streifen I. 354), in 
 which repeated reference is made to the great Epic (I. 36, 45, 81); the 
 Sapta-Sataka of Hala (35, 316), on which Weber has written a treatise ; 
 the Praéanda-pandava of Raja-sekhara (about the end of the tenth cen- 
 tury); the Dasa-ripa of Dhanatjaya (I. 61, about the same date); the 
 Sapta-sati of Govardhana (32, about the tenth century or later); the 
 Damayanti-katha of Trivikrama-bhatta (11); the Raja-tarangini (I. 
 166); the Sarn-gadhara-paddhati (Bohtlingk, Ind. Spr. 1586), &c. 
 
 The eighteen Puranas (which are to a great extent drawn from the two 
 great Epics) contain, of course, numerous allusions to the Ramayana, and 
 sometimes relate the whole story. The Agni-purana has an epitome of 
 the seven Books in seven chapters. The Padma and Skanda also devote 
 several chapters to the same subject. The Véshyu-purana has also a 
 section (IV. 4) about Rama, and in III. 3 describes Valmiki as the Vyasa 
 of the 24th Dvapara. The Brahmanda-puréna—a confused medley of 
 various subjects—has a Ramayana-mahatmya, and in this Purana is also 
 contained the well known Adhyatma-ramayana, ‘Spiritual Ramayana,’ 
 
 Bb 
 
370 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 divided into seven Books, bearing the same titles as those of Valmiki’s 
 Ramayana. Its object is to show that Rama was a manifestation of the 
 Supreme Spirit, and Sita (identified with Lakshmi), a type of Nature. 
 
 This Adhyatma-ramayana contains two chapters, held to be especially 
 sacred: 1. The Rama-hridaya or first chapter, in which the inner or 
 hidden nature of Rama is explained and his identification with Vishnu, 
 as the Supreme Spirit, is asserted; 2. the Rama-gita or fifth chapter of 
 the seventh Book, in which the author, who is evidently a Vedantist, sets 
 forth the advantage of giving up all works in order to meditate upon 
 and become united with the Supreme Spirit. 
 
 There is also a remarkable work called Vasishtha-ramayana (or Yoga- 
 vasishtha or Vasishtham Maha-radmdayanam) in the form of an exhortation 
 with illustrative narratives addressed by Vasishtha to his pupil, the 
 youthful Rama, on the best means of attaining true happiness, and con- 
 sidered to have been composed as an appendage to the Ramayana by 
 Valmiki himself. 
 
 We ought also here to mention the celebrated Hindi Ramayana by 
 the poet Tulasi-dasa (Tulsi-das). This poem is so well known and so 
 greatly esteemed in some parts of India, that it is sometimes affirmed 
 that there are three epic poems called Ramayana: 1. that of Valmiki, 
 2. that attributed to Vyasa called Adhyatma-ramayana, 3. the Hindi 
 Epic by Tulasi-dasa. 
 
 I conclude the list by noting the following comparatively modern 
 artificial poems on the same subject: 1. the Raghavapdndaviya by Kavi- 
 raja, a very singular production, much admired and imitated by later 
 Indian writers, being nothing less than a poem worded with such 
 dexterous ‘ double-entendre,’ that it may serve as an epitome of either the 
 Ramayana or Maha-bharata; 2. the Raghava-vildsa by Visva-natha 
 (author of the Sahitya-darpana); 3. the Rama-vilasa by Rama-¢arana ; 
 4. another Rama-vilasa by Hari-natha (in imitation of the Gita-govinda); 
 5. the Ramacandra-caritra-sara by Agni-yesa; 6. the Raghu-nathabhyu- 
 daya mentioned by Professor Weber’. 
 
 With regard to the composition called Campi, this is a kind of highly 
 artificial style in alternations of prose and verse (gadya and padya), 
 
 1 The story of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata, as given in full by 
 Mr. Talboys Wheeler in his History of India, is most interesting and 
 instructive, although it does not profess to be an analysis made by him- 
 self from the original Sanskrit, 
 
LECTURE XIII. 
 
 The Itihasas or Epic Poems—The Mahd-bharata. 
 PASS on now to the Maha-bharata—probably by far 
 
 the longest epic poem that the world has ever pro- 
 duced. Its main design is to describe the great contest 
 between the descendants of king Bharata’. He was the 
 most renowned monarch of the Lunar dynasty, and is 
 alleged to have reigned in the neighbourhood of Hastina- 
 pur or ancient Delhi, and to have extended his authority 
 over a great part of India, so that India to this day is 
 called by the natives Bharata-varsha. The great Epic, 
 however, is not so much a poem with a single subject as 
 a vast cyclopsedia or thesaurus of Hindi mythology, 
 legendary history, ethics, and philosophy. The work, as 
 we now possess it, cannot possibly be regarded as repre- 
 senting the original form of the poem. Its compilation 
 appears to have proceeded gradually for centuries. At 
 any rate, as we have already indicated (pp. 319, 320), it 
 
 1 The title of the poem is Maha-bharatam, a compound word in the 
 neuter gender, the first member of which, maha (for mahat), means ‘ great,’ 
 and the second, bhdrata, ‘relating to Bharata.’ The title of a book 
 is often in the neuter gender, some word like kaévyam, ‘a poem,’ being 
 understood. Here the word with which Maha-bharatam agrees may be 
 either akhyanam, ‘a historical poem,’ or yuddham, ‘war. It is curious 
 that in the San-graha-parva, or introductory summary (1. 264), the word 
 Mahia-bhirata is said to be derived from its large size and great weight, 
 because the poem is described as outweighing all the four Vedas and 
 mystical writings together. Here is the passage :—Lkatas éatwro Vedan 
 Bharatam ¢aitad ekatah Pura kila surath sarvaih sametya tulaya dhritam, 
 Caturbhyah sarahasyebhyo Vedebhyo hy adhikam yada, Tada prabhrite 
 loke ’smin [mahattvad bharavattvaé-da| Maha-bharatam uéyate. 
 
 Bb2 
 
372 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 seems to have passed through several stages of construc- 
 tion and reconstruction, until finally arranged and reduced 
 to orderly written shape by a Brahman or Brahmans, whose 
 names have not been preserved!. The relationship which 
 the original Brahman compiler bore to the scattered legends 
 and lays of India, many of them orally transmitted until 
 transferred to the Maha-bharata, was similar to that borne 
 by Pisistratus to the Homeric poems. But the Hindus 
 invest this personage, whoever he was, with a nimbus of 
 mystical sanctity, and assert that he was also the arranger 
 of various other celebrated religious works, such as the 
 Vedas and Puranas. He is called Vyasa, but this is, of 
 course, a mere epithet derived from the Sanskrit verb 
 vy-as, Meaning ‘to dispose in regular sequence,’ and 
 therefore would be equally applicable to any compiler’. 
 
 1 Professor Lassen, in his ‘Indische Alterthumskunde’ (11. 499, new 
 edition), considers that it may be proved from an examination of the 
 Introduction to the Maha-bharata that there were three consecutive 
 workings-up (bearbeitung) of that poem by different authors. The first 
 or oldest version, called simply Bharata, which contained only 24,000 
 verses, began with the history of Manu, the progenitor of the Kshatriya 
 or military class (Adi-parvan 3126), and a short section—describing the 
 pedigree of Vyasa, and how he appeared at the Snake-sacrifice, and how, 
 at the request of Janamejaya, he commissioned Vaisampayana to relate 
 the story of the strife between the Pandavas and Kauravas (I. 2208, &c.) 
 —might have formed the introduction (einleitwng) to this oldest Bharata. 
 The second reconstruction or recasting of the poem—thought by Professor 
 Lassen to be identical with the Itihasa mentioned in Agvaliyana’s Grihya- 
 sutras, and recited at Saunaka’s Horse-sacrifice—took place about 400 B. Cc. 
 It began with the history of king Vasu, whose daughter Satyavati was 
 mother of Vyasa; and the section called Paushya (1. 661), the antiquity 
 of which is indicated by its being almost entirely in prose, might have 
 served as its introduction. The section called Pauloma (I. 851) probably 
 formed the commencement of the third reconstruction of the great Epic, 
 which he considers must have preceded the era of Asoka. 
 
 2 Viuyasa Vedan yasmat sa tasmad Vyasa iti smritah (1.2417). Similarly 
 the name Homerus (Ὅμηρος) is thought by some to come from ὁμοῦ and 
 tipo. ΤῈ may seem strange that the compilation of wholly different works 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 373 
 
 Many of the legends are Vedic, and of great antiquity ; 
 while others, as we have already pointed out, are com- 
 paratively modern—probably interpolated during the first 
 centuries of the Christian era. In fact, the entire work, 
 which consists of about 220,000 lines in eighteen Parvans 
 or sections, nearly every one of which would form a large 
 volume, may be compared to a confused congeries of 
 geological strata. The principal story, which occupies 
 little more than a fifth of the whole, forms the lowest 
 layer; but this has been so completely overlaid by suc- 
 cessive incrustations, and the mass so compacted together, 
 that the original substratum is not always clearly trace- 
 able. If the successive layers can ever be critically 
 analysed and separated, the more ancient from the later 
 
 composed at very different epochs, such as the Vedas, Maha-bharata, and 
 Puranas undoubtedly were, should be attributed to the same person ; 
 but the close relationship supposed by learned natives to subsist between 
 these productions, will account for a desire to call in the aid of the 
 same great sage in their construction. The following passage from the 
 Vedirtha-prakaga of Madhava Aéarya (who lived in the fourteenth cen- 
 tury) commenting on the Taittiriya Yajur-veda (p. 1), translated by Dr. 
 Muir in his Sanskrit Texts, vol. iii. p. 47, attributes the actual composition 
 of the Maha-bharata to the sage Vyasa, and gives a remarkable reason for 
 his having written it :—‘It may be said that all persons whatever, includ- 
 ing women and Siidras, must be competent students of the Veda, since 
 the aspiration after good (ishtam me sydd iti) and the deprecation of evil 
 are common to all mankind. But it is not so. For though the expedient 
 exists, and women and Siidras are desirous to know it, they are debarred 
 by another cause from being competent students of the Veda. The 
 scripture (sastra) which declares that those persons only who have been 
 invested with the sacrificial cord are competent to read the Veda, 
 intimates thereby that the same study would be a cause of unhappiness 
 to women and Siidras (who are not so invested). How then are these 
 two classes of persons to discover the means of future happiness? We 
 answer, from the Puranas and other such works. Hence it has been 
 said: Since the triple Veda may not be heard by women, Stdras, and 
 degraded twice-born men, the Maha-bharata (Bharatam akhyanam) was, 
 in his benevolence, composed (Aritam) by the Muni.’ 
 
374 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 additions, and the historical element from the purely 
 fabulous, it may be expected that light will be thrown 
 on the early history of India, religious, social, and political 
 —a subject still veiled in much obscurity, notwithstanding 
 the valuable researches of Professor Lassen and others. 
 
 I now give the names of the eighteen sections or Books 
 which constitute the poem, with a brief statement of 
 their contents: 
 
 1. Adi-parvan, ‘introductory Book,’ describes how the two brothers, 
 Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, are brought up by their uncle Bhishma ; and 
 how Dhrita-rashtra, who is blind, has one hundred sons—commonly 
 called the Kuru princes—by his wife Gandhari; and how the two wives 
 of Pandu—Pritha (Kunti) and Madri—have five sons, called the Pandavas 
 or Pandu princes. 
 
 2. Sabha-parvan describes the great Sabha or ‘assembly of princes’ at 
 Hastina-pura, when Yudhi-shthira, the eldest of the five Pandavas, is 
 persuaded to play at dice with Sakuni and loses his kingdom. <The five 
 Pandavas and Draupadi, their wife, are required to live for twelve years 
 in the woods. 
 
 3. Vana-parvan narrates the life of the Pandavas in the Kamyaka 
 forest. This is one of the longest books, and full of episodes such as the 
 story of Nala and that of the Kiratarjuniya. 
 
 4. Virata-parvan describes the thirteenth year of exile and the adven- 
 tures of the Pandavas while living disguised in the service of king 
 Virata. 
 
 5. Udyoga-parvan. In this the preparations for war on the side of 
 both Pandavas and Kauravas are described. 
 
 6. Bhishma-parvan. In this both armies join battle on Kuru-kshetra, 
 a plain north-west of Delhi. The Kauravas are commanded by Bhishma, 
 who falls transfixed with arrows by Arjuna. 
 
 7. Drona-parvan. In this the Kuru forces are commanded by Drona, 
 
 and numerous battles take place. Drona falls in a fight with Dhrishta- 
 
 dyumna (son of Drupada). 
 
 8. Karna-parvan. In this the Kurus are led by Karna. Other 
 battles are described. Arjuna kills Karna. 
 
 9. Salya-parvan. In this Salya is made general of the Kuru army. 
 The concluding battles take place, and only three of the Kuru warriors, 
 with Duryodhana, are left alive. Bhima and Duryodhana then fight with 
 clubs. Duryodhana, chief and eldest of the Kurus, is struck down. 
 
 Ee σοι 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 375 
 
 10. Sauptika-parvan. In this the three surviving Kurus make a 
 night attack on the camp of the Pandavas and kill all their army, but 
 not the five Pandavas. 
 
 11. Strt-parvan describes the lamentations of queen Gandhari and 
 the other wives and women over the bodies of the slain heroes. 
 
 12. Santi-parvan. In this Yudhi-shthira is crowned in Hastina-pura. 
 To calm his spirit, troubled with the slaughter of his kindred, Bhishma, 
 still alive, instructs him at great length in the duties of kings (raja- 
 dharma 1995-4778), rules for adversity (adpad-dharma 4779-6455) 
 rules for attaining final emancipation (moksha-dharma 6456 to end). 
 
 13. Anusasana-parvan. In this the instruction 15 continued by 
 Bhishma, who gives precepts and wise axioms on all subjects, such as 
 the duties of kings, liberality, fasting, eating, &c., mixed up with tales, 
 moral and religious discourses, and metaphysical disquisitions. At the 
 conclusion of his long sermon Bhishma dies. 
 
 14. Asvamedhika-parvan. In this Yudhi-shthira, having assumed the 
 government, performs an Asva-medha or ‘horse-sacrifice’ in token of his 
 supremacy. 
 
 15. Asramavasika-parvan narrates how the old blind king Dhrita- 
 rashtra, with his queen Gandhari and with Kunti, mother of the Pandavas, 
 retires to a hermitage in the woods. After two years a forest confla- 
 gration takes place, and they immolate themselves in the fire to secure 
 heaven and felicity. 
 
 16. Mausala-parvan narrates the death of Krishna and Bala-rama, 
 their return to heaven, the submergence of Krishna’s city Dvaraka by 
 the sea, and the self-slaughter in a fight with clubs (musala) of Krishna’s 
 
 family—the Yadavas—through the curse of some Brahmans. 
 
 17. Mahaprasthanika-parvan describes the renunciation of their 
 kingdom by Yudhi-shthira and his four brothers, and their departure 
 towards Indra’s heaven in Mount Meru. 
 
 18. Svargarohanika-parvan narrates the ascent and admission to 
 heaven of the five Pandavas, their wife Draupadi, and kindred. 
 
 Supplement or Hari-vansa-parvan, a later addition, recounting the 
 
 genealogy and birth of Krishna and the details of his early life. 
 
 The following is a more complete and continuous 
 account of the story of the poem, which is supposed to 
 be recited by Vaigampayana, the pupil of Vyasa, to Jana- 
 mejaya, great-grandson of Arjuna. 
 
 We have seen that the Ramayana commences by recount- 
 ing the genealogy of the Solar line of kings, of whom Rama 
 
376 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 was one. The heroes of the Maha-bharata are of the 
 other great race, called Lunar. Here, however, as in the 
 Solar race, the Brahman compiler was careful to assign 
 the origin of the second great dynasty of kings to a 
 noted sage and Brihman. I epitomize the genealogy as 
 essential to the comprehension of the story : 
 
 Soma, the Moon, the progenitor of the Lunar race, who reigned at 
 Hastina-pur, was the child of the Rishi dé, and had a son named 
 Budha, who married [la or Ida, daughter of the Solar prince Ikshvaku, 
 and had by her a son, Aila or Purtravas. The latter had a son by 
 Urvasi, named Ayus, from whom came Nahusha, the father of Yaydaiz. 
 The latter had two sons, Pwru' and Yadu, from whom proceeded the 
 two branches of the Lunar line. Im the line of Yadu we need only 
 mention the last three princes, Sara, Vasu-deva®, and K rishna with his 
 brother Bala-rama. Fifteenth in the other lne—that of Pwru—came 
 Dushyanta, father of the great Bharata, from whom India is called 
 Bharata-varsha. Ninth from Bharata came Awru, and fourteenth from 
 him Santanu. This Santanu had by his wife Satyavati, a son named 
 Viditra-virya. Bhishma (also called Santanava, Deva-vrata, &c.), who 
 renounced the right of succession and took the vow of a Brahmaéari¥, 
 was the son of Santanu by a former wife, the goddess Ganga, whence one 
 of his names is Gangeya. Satyavatt also had, before her marriage with 
 Santanu, borne Vydsa to the sage Parasara; so that Vicitra-virya, 
 Bhishma, and Vyasa were half-brothers*; and Vyasa, although he 
 retired into the wilderness, to live a life of contemplation, promised 
 his mother that he would place himself at her disposal whenever she 
 
 1 This name Purw (nom. case Purus) is probably the original of 
 Porus, whose country in the Panjab, between the Hydaspes and Acesines, 
 was conquered by Alexander the Great. 
 
 2 Pritha or Kunti, wife of Pandu, and mother of three of the Pandu 
 princes, was a sister of Vasu-deva, and therefore aunt of Krishna. 
 
 5. T.e. perpetual celibacy. <Adya-prabhriti me brahmaéaryam bha- 
 vishyati ; Aputrasyapi me loka bhavishyanty akshaya divi (1. 4060). 
 
 * Parasara met with Satyavati when quite a girl, as he was crossing 
 the river Yamuna (Jumna) in a boat. The result of their intercourse 
 was a child, Vyasa, who was called Krishna, from his swarthy complexion, 
 and Dyaipayana, because he was brought forth by Satyavati on an island 
 (dvipa) in the Jumna. (See Maha-bharata I. 2416, 2417, and 4235.) 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 377 
 
 required his services. Satyavati had recourse to him when her son 
 Viéitra-virya died childless, and requested him to pay his addresses to 
 Viditra-virya’s two widows, named Ambika and Ambaliké. He con- 
 sented, and had by them respectively two children, Dhrita-rashtra, who 
 was born blind, and Pandu, who was born with a pale complexion '. 
 When Satyavati begged Vyasa to become the father of a third son (who 
 should be without any defect), the elder. wife, terrified by Vyasa’s austere 
 appearance, sent him one of her slave-girls, dressed in her own clothes ; 
 and this girl became the mother of Vidura (whence he is sometimes 
 called Kshattri’*). 
 
 Dhrita-rashtra, Pandu, and Vidura were thus brothers, sons of Vyasa, 
 the supposed author or compiler of the Maha-bhirata. Vyasa after this 
 retired again to the woods ; but, gifted with divine prescience, appeared 
 both to his sons and grandsons whenever they were in difficulties, and 
 needed his advice and assistance. 
 
 The two brothers, Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, were 
 
 1 The mother of Paindu was also called Kausalya; and this name 
 (which was that of the mother of Rama-¢andra) seems also to be applied 
 to the mother of Dhrita-rashtra. Paleness of complexion, in the eyes 
 of a Hindi, would be regarded as a kind of leprosy, and was therefore 
 almost as great a defect as blindness. The reason given for these defects 
 is very curious. Ambika was so terrified by the swarthy complexion 
 and shaggy aspect of the sage Vyasa (not to speak of the gandha emitted 
 by his body), that when he visited her she closed her eyes, and did not 
 venture to open them while he was with her. In consequence of this 
 assumed blindness her child was born blind. Ambalika, on the other 
 hand, though she kept her eyes open, became so colourless with fright, 
 that her son was born with a pale complexion (I. 4275-4290). Pandu 
 seems to have been in other respects good-looking—Sa@ devi kumaram 
 ajijanat pandu-lakshana-sampannam dipyamanam vara-sriyd. 
 
 2 Vyiisa was so much pleased with this slave-girl that he pronounced her 
 free, and declared that her child, Vidura, should be sarva-buddhimatam 
 varah, ‘the most excellent of all wise men.’ Kshattri, although described 
 in Manu as the child of a Sidra father and Brahman mother, signifies here 
 the child of a Brahman father and Stidra mother. Vidura is one of the 
 best characters in the Mahi-bharata, always ready with useful advice (Azto- 
 padega) both for the Pandavas and for his brother Dhrita-rishtra. His 
 disposition leads him to side with the Pandu princes and warn them 
 of the evil designs of their cousins. 
 
378 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 brought up by their uncle Bhishma'!, who, until they 
 were of age, conducted the government of Hastina-pur’. 
 Dhrita-rashtra was the first-born, but renounced the 
 throne, in consequence of his blindness. The other 
 brother, Vidura, being the son of a Sadra woman, could 
 not succeed, and Pandu therefore, when of age, became 
 king (I. 4361). Meanwhile Dhrita-rashtra married Gan- 
 dhari, also called Saubaleyi or Saubali, daughter of 
 Subala, king of Gandhara. When she first heard that 
 her future husband was blind, she from that moment 
 showed her respect for him, by binding her own eyes with 
 a handkerchief, and always remaining blindfolded in his 
 presence*, Soon afterwards a Svayamvara was held by 
 king Kuntibhoja, and his adopted daughter, Pritha or 
 Kunti, then chose Pandu for her husband. She was 
 really the child of a Yadava prince, Siira, who gave her 
 to his childless cousin Kuntibhoja; under whose care she 
 was brought up : 
 
 One day, before her marriage, she paid such respect and attention to 
 a powerful sage named Durvasas, a guest in her father’s house, that he 
 gave her a charm and taught her an incantation, by virtue of which she 
 might have a child by any god she liked to call into her presence. Out 
 of curiosity, she invoked the Sun, by whom she had a child, who was 
 born clothed in armour*. But Pritha (Kunti), fearing the censure of 
 her relatives, deserted her offspring, after exposing it in the river. It 
 
 was found by Adhiratha, a charioteer (βία), and nurtured by his wife 
 Radha; whence the child was afterwards called Radheya, though named 
 
 1 They were all three thoroughly educated by Bhishma. Dhrita- 
 rashtra is described as excelling all others in strength (I. 4356), Pandu 
 as excelling in the use of the bow, and Vidura as pre-eminent for virtue 
 and wisdom (4358). 
 
 * Hastina-pur is also called Gajasahvaya and Nagasihvaya. 
 
 3 Sa patam adaya kritwa bahu-gunam tada Babandha netre sve rdjan 
 pativrata-pardyana (1. 4376). She is described as so devoted to her 
 husband that Vada’pi purushain anyan suvrata nanvakirtayat. 
 
 * The Sun afterwards restored her kanydtva (1. 4400). 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 379 
 
 by his foster-parents Vasu-shena. When he was grown up, the god 
 Indra conferred upon him enormous strength, and changed his name 
 to Karnat. 
 
 After Pindu’s marriage to Pritha, his uncle Bhishma 
 wishing him to take a second wife, made an expedition to 
 visit Salya, king of Madra, and prevailed upon him to 
 bestow his sister Madri upon Pandu, in exchange for vast 
 sums of money and jewels. Soon after this second mar- 
 riage Paindu undertook a great campaign, in which he 
 subjugated so many countries, that the kingdom of Has- 
 tind-pur became under him as glorious and extensive as 
 formerly under his ancestor Bharata (I. 4461). Having 
 acquired enormous wealth, he distributed it to Bhishma, 
 Dhrita-rashtra, and Vidura, and then retired to the woods 
 to indulge his passion for hunting, living with his two 
 wives as a forester on the southern slope of the Hima- 
 layas. The blind Dhrita-rashtra, who had a very useful 
 charioteer named Sanjaya, was then obliged, with the 
 assistance of Bhishma as his regent, to assume the reins 
 of government. 
 
 We have next an account of the supernatural birth of 
 Dhrita-rashtra’s sons : 
 
 One day the sage Vyasa was hospitably entertained by queen Gan- 
 dhari, and in return granted her a boon. She chose to be the mother of 
 a hundred sons. After two years she produced a mass of flesh, which 
 was divided by Vyasa into a hundred and one pieces, as big as the joint 
 of athumb. From these in due time the eldest, Dur-yodhana, ‘difficult 
 to be subdued’ (sometimes called Su-yodhana, see p. 383, note 2), was born. 
 At his birth, however, various evil omens took place; jackals yelled, asses 
 brayed, whirlwinds blew, and the sky seemed on fire. Dhrita-rashtra, 
 
 alarmed, called his ministers together, who recommended him to abandon 
 the child, but could not persuade him to take their advice. The miracu- 
 
 1 He is also called Vaikartana, as son of Vikartana or the Sun, and 
 sometimes Vrisha. Karna is described (4405) as worshipping the Sun 
 till his back became warm (@-prish{ha-tapat, i.e. ‘till after midday,’ when 
 the sun began to shine behind him). Compare Hitop. book II. v. 32. 
 
380 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 lous birth of the remaining ninety-nine sons then occurred in due 
 course’. There was also one daughter, called Duhgala (afterwards 
 married to Jayad-ratha). 
 
 Next follows the description of the supernatural birth 
 of the five reputed sons of Pandu: 
 
 One day, on a hunting expedition, Paindu transfixed with five arrows 
 a male and female deer. These turned out to be a certain sage and his 
 wife, who had assumed the form of these animals. The sage cursed 
 Pandu, and predicted that he would die in the embraces of one of his 
 wives. In consequence of this curse, Pandu took the vow of a Brah- 
 macari*, gave all his property to the Brahmans, and became a hermit. 
 
 Thereupon his wife Pritha (also called Kunti), with his 
 approval, made use of the charm and incantation formerly 
 given to her by Durvisas, and had three sons, Yudhi- 
 shthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, by the three deities, Dharma, 
 Vayu, and Indra respectively : 
 
 Yudhi-shthira was born first, and at the moment of his birth a heavenly 
 voice was heard to utter these words, ‘This is the most virtuous of men.’ 
 Bhima, the son of Pritha and Vayu, was born on the same day as Duryo- 
 dhana. Soon after his birth, his mother accidentally let him fall, when a 
 great prodigy—indicative of the vast strength which was to distinguish 
 him—occurred ; for the body of the child falling on a rock shivered it to 
 atoms. On the birth of Arjuna auspicious omens were manifested ; 
 showers of flowers fell*, celestial minstrels filled the air with harmony, 
 and a heavenly voice sounded his praises and future glory. 
 
 Madri, the other wife of Pandu, was now anxious to 
 have children, and was told by Pritha (Kunti) to think 
 on any god she pleased. She chose the two Agvins (see 
 p- 14), who appeared to her, and were the fathers of her 
 twin sons Nakula and Sahadeva. While the five princes 
 were still children, Pandu, forgetting the curse of the sage 
 whom he had killed in the form of a deer, ventured one 
 
 1 Their names are all detailed at I. 4540. 
 
 2 The brahmacarya-vrata, or vow of continence. 
 
 3 Showers of flowers are as common in Indian poetry as showers of 
 blood; the one indicating good, the other portending evil. 
 
 - 
 
 Ἔν ee Vee ole OS Ls tos: 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 381 
 
 day to embrace his wife Madri, and died in her arms. 
 She and Pritha (Kunti) then had a dispute for the honour 
 of becoming a Sati (see p. 315), which ended in Madri 
 burning herself with her husband’s corpse (I. 4896). 
 Pritha and the five Pandu princes were then taken by 
 certain Rishis, or holy men—companions of Pandu—to 
 Hastina-pur, where they were presented to Dhrita-rashtra, 
 and all the circumstances of their birth and of the death 
 of Pindu narrated. The news of the death of his brother 
 was received by Dhrita-rashtra with much apparent sor- 
 row; he gave orders for the due performance of the 
 funeral rites, and allowed the five young princes and their 
 mother to live with his own family. The cousins were in 
 the habit of playing together : 
 
 In their boyish sports the Pandu princes excelled the sons of Dhrita- 
 rashtra, which excited much ill feeling; and Duryodhana, spiteful even 
 when a boy, tried to destroy Bhima by mixing poison in his food, and 
 then throwing him into the water when stupified by its effects (I. 5008). 
 Bhima, however, was not drowned, but descended to the abode of the 
 Nagas (or serpent-demons), who freed him from the poison (5052), and 
 gave him a liquid to drink which endued him with the strength of ten 
 thousand Nagas. From that moment he became a kind of Hercules. 
 
 Then Duryodhana, Karna, and Sakuni! devised schemes 
 for destroying the Paindu princes, but without success. 
 
 The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with 
 much artistic delicacy of touch, and maintained with 
 general consistency throughout the poem’. The eldest, 
 Yudhi-shthira, is the Hindi ideal of excellence—a pattern 
 of of justice, integnity, calm passionless composure, ehivalr ous 
 
 - Sakon was the brother of Gandhari, and qieeters maternal “7 
 (matula) of the Kauraya princes. He was the counsellor of Duryodhana. 
 He is often called Saubala, as Gandhari is called Saubali. 
 
 2 Complete consistency must not be expected in such a poem as the 
 Maha-bharata, which was the growth of several centuries. The act of 
 the five Pandavas, described p. 386, cannot be reconciled with their usual 
 probity and generosity, though committed under great provocation, 
 Bhima appears to have been most in fault, which is so far consistent. 
 
382 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 honour, and cold heroism’. Bhima is a type of brute 
 courage and strength: he is of gigantic stature, impe- 
 tuous, irascible, somewhat vindictive, and cruel even to 
 the verge of ferocity, making him, as his name implies, 
 ‘terrible. It would appear that his great strength had 
 to be maintained by plentiful supplies of food; as his 
 name Vrikodara, ‘ wolf-stomached, indicated a voracious 
 appetite; and we are told that at the daily meals of the 
 five brothers, half of the whole dish had to be given to 
 Bhima (I. 7161). But he has the capacity for warm 
 unselfish love, and is ardent in his affection for his 
 mother and brothers. Arjuna rises more to the European 
 standard of perfection. He may be regarded as the real 
 hero of the Maha-bharata*, of undaunted bravery, gene- 
 rous’, with refined and delicate sensibilities, tender-hearted, 
 forgiving, and affectionate as a woman, yet of superhuman 
 strenoth, and matchless in arms and athletic exercises. 
 Nakula and Sahadeva are both amiable, noble-minded, 
 and spirited*, All five are as unlike as possible to the 
 
 1 Yudhi-shthira, ‘firm in battle,’ was probably of commanding stature 
 and imposing presence. He is described as Mahd-sinha-gati, ‘having a 
 majestic lion-like gait,’ with a Wellington-like profile (Pralambojjvala- 
 éaru-ghona) and long lotus-eyes (kamalayataksha). 
 
 * Strictly, as in the Iliad, there is no real hero kept always in view. 
 
 ° Perhaps it may be objected that some of Arjuna’s acts were incon- 
 sistent with this character. Thus he carried off Subhadra, the sister of 
 Krishna, by force. It must be borne in mind, however, that Krishna 
 himself encourages him to this act, and says, Prasahya haranam K shatri- 
 yanam prasasyate (1. 7927). Compare p. 391. 
 
 * The five Pandu princes are known by various other names in the 
 Maha-bharata, some of which it may be useful here to note. Yudhi- 
 shthira is also called Dharma-raja, Dharma-putra, and sometimes simply 
 Rajan. His charioteer was called Indrasena. Bhima’s other names are 
 Bhimasena, Vrikodara, Bahusalin. Arjuna is also called Kiritin, Phal- 
 guna, Jishnu, Dhananjaya, Bibhatsu, Savyasa¢in, Pakasasani, Guda-kesa, 
 Sveta-vahana, Nara, Vijaya, Krishna, and sometimes par excellence 
 Partha, though Bhima and Yudhi-shthira, as sons of Pritha, had also this 
 
 ἘΝ 
 
 | 
 | 
 
 ee) . 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 383 
 
 hundred sons of Dhrita-rashtra, commonly called the Aur 
 princes, or Aauravas’, who are represented as mean, 
 spiteful, dishonourable, and vicious. 
 
 So bad indeed are these hundred brothers, and so 
 uniformly without redeeming points, that their characters 
 present few distinctive features. The most conspicuous 
 is the eldest, Duryodhana’, who, as the representative of 
 the others, is painted in the darkest colours, and embodies 
 all their bad qualities. When the Maha-bharata (like the 
 Ramayana) is regarded as an allegory, then Duryodhana 
 (like Ravana) is a visible type of the evil principle in 
 human nature® for ever doing battle with the good and 
 divine principle, symbolized by the five sons of Pandu. 
 
 The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, were 
 educated together at Hastina-pur, the city of Dhrita- 
 rashtra, by a Brahman named Drona‘, who found in the 
 Pandu princes apt pupils. From him the five sons of 
 Pandu acquired ‘intelligence and learning, lofty aims, 
 religious earnestness, and love of truth. All the cousins 
 were equally instructed in war and arms; but Arjuna, by 
 
 title. Nakula and Sahadeva are called Madreyau (as sons of Madri), and 
 sometimes Yamau (the twins). 
 
 1 This name, however, is occasionally applied to the Pandavas, as they 
 and the sons of Dhrita-rashtra were equally descendants of Kuru. 
 
 2 < Difficult to conquer,’ cf. p. 408. The names of all are given in Adi- 
 parvan 4541. Duhsasana is one of the most conspicuous. 
 
 3 There are certainly many points in his character, as well as in that 
 of Ravana, which may be compared to Milton’s conception of Satan. 
 Perhaps his intimacy with the Asura Carvaka may be intended to mark 
 him out as a type of heresy and infidelity, as well as of every other bad 
 quality. In the case of Ravana it is remarkable that he gained his power 
 by penance, and that he is described as well-read in the Veda (Ram. VI. 
 xciii. 58). Some Rakshasas, such as Vibhishana, Atikaya, are deseribed 
 as religious (Ram. VI. Ixxi. 31). Cf. Manu VII. 38. 
 
 * Drona appears to have kept a kind of school, to which all the young 
 princes of the neighbouring countries resorted (I. 5220). He married 
 Kripi, sister of Kripa, and had by her a son, Asvatthaman. 
 
 > 
 
384 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the help of Drona, who gave him magical weapons, ex- 
 celled all, distinguishing himself in every exercise, ‘sub- 
 missive ever to his teacher’s will, contented, modest, affable, 
 and mild,’ and both Bhima and Duryodhana learnt the use 
 of the club from their cousin Bala-rama (I. 5520). 
 
 Their education finished, a tournament was held, at which 
 all the youthful cousins displayed their skill in archery, 
 in the management of chariots (ratha-éaryd), horses, and 
 elephants, in sword, spear, and club exercises, and wrest- 
 ling. The scene is graphically described (I. 5324): 
 
 An immense concourse of spectators cheered the combatants. The 
 agitation of the crowd was like the roar of a mighty ocean. Arjuna, 
 after exhibiting prodigies of strength, shot five separate arrows simul- 
 taneously into the jaws of a revolving iron boar, and twenty-one arrows 
 into the hollow of a cow’s horn suspended by a string. Suddenly there 
 was a pause. The crowd turned as one man towards a point in the arena, 
 where the sound of a warrior striking his arms in defiance’ rent the sky 
 like a thunder-clap, and announced the entrance of another combatant. 
 This proved to be a warrior named Karna, who entered the lists in full 
 armour, and after accomplishing the same feats in archery, challenged 
 Arjuna to single combat. But each champion was required to tell his 
 name and pedigree; and Karna’s parentage being doubtful (see p. 378), he 
 was obliged to retire, ‘ hanging his head with shame like a drooping lily.’ 
 
 Karna, thus publicly humiliated, became afterwards a 
 conspicuous and valuable ally of the Kurus against his 
 own half-brothers. His character is well imagined. Feel- 
 ing keenly the stain on his birth, his nature was chastened 
 by the trial. He exhibited in a high degree fortitude, 
 chivalrous honour, self-sacrifice, and devotion. Especially 
 remarkable for a liberal and generous disposition’, he 
 never stooped to ignoble practices like his friends the 
 Kurus, who were intrinsically bad men. 
 
 1 So in Vishnu-purana, p. 513: ‘ Krishna having dived into the pool 
 struck his arms in defiance, and the snake-king, hearing the sound, came 
 quickly forth.’ 
 
 2. He is often to this day cited as a model of liberality. Hence his 
 name, Vasu-shena. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 385 
 
 The tutor’s fee (Gurv-artha, see pp. 204, 249, Manu IT. 
 245, Raghu-vanga V.17) which Drona required of his pupils 
 for their instruction was, that they should capture Drupada, 
 king of Panéala, who was his old schoolfellow, but had 
 insulted him by repudiating his friendship (1. 5446) : 
 
 They therefore invaded Drupada’s territory and took him prisoner ; but 
 Drona generously spared his life, and gave him back half his kingdom. 
 Drupada, however, burning with resentment, endeavoured to procure the 
 birth of a son, to avenge his defeat and bring about the destruction of 
 Drona. Two Brahmans undertook a sacrifice for him, and two children 
 were born from the midst of the altar, out of the sacrificial fire, a son, 
 Dhrishta-dyumna, and a daughter, Krishna or Draupadi, afterwards the 
 wife of the Pandavas (see p. 388). 
 
 After this, Yudhi-shthira was installed by Dhrita-rashtra 
 as Yuva-raja or heir-apparent, and by his exploits soon 
 eclipsed the glory of his father Pandu’s reign. 
 
 The great renown gained by the Pandu princes excited 
 the jealousy and ill-will of Dhrita-rashtra, but won the 
 affections of the citizens. The latter met together, and 
 after consultation declared that, as Dhrita-rashtra was 
 blind, he ought not to conduct the government, and that 
 as Bhishma had formerly declined the throne, he ought 
 not to be allowed to act as regent. They therefore pro- 
 posed to crown Yudhi-shthira at once. When Duryo- 
 dhana heard of this, he consulted with Karna, Sakuni, 
 and Duhégasana, how he might remove Yudhi-shthira out 
 of the way, and secure the throne for himself: 
 
 Urged by Duryodhana, Dhrita-rashtra was induced to send the 
 
 ‘andava princes on an excursion to the city of Varanivata, pretending 
 that he wished them to see the beauties of that town, and to be present 
 at a festival there. Meanwhile Duryodhana instigated his friend Puro- 
 éana to precede them, and to prepare a house for their reception, which 
 he was to fill secretly with hemp, resin, and other combustible substances, 
 plastering the walls with mortar composed of oil, fat, and lac (/aksha, 
 jatu). When the princes were asleep in this house, and unsuspicious of 
 danger, he was to set it on fire. The five Pandavas and their mother 
 left Hastind-pur amid the tears and regrets of the citizens, and in eight 
 
 CC 
 
386 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 days arrived at Varanivata, where, after great demonstrations of respect 
 from the inhabitants, they were conducted by Puroéana to the house 
 of lac. Having been warned by Vidura, they soon discovered the dan- 
 gerous character of the structure, and with the assistance of a miner 
 (khanaka) sent by Vidura, dug an underground passage, by which to 
 escape from the interior (1. 5813). Then they devised a counterplot, and 
 agreed together that a degraded outcaste woman (nishad?) with her five sons 
 should be invited to a feast, and stupefied with wine. Bhima was then to 
 set fire to the lac-house in which they were all assembled (see note, p. 381). 
 This was done. Puroéana was burnt, as well as the woman with her five 
 sons, but they themselves escaped by the secret passage (swrunga). The 
 charred bodies of the woman and her sons being afterwards found, it 
 was supposed that the Pandava princes had perished in the conflagration, 
 and their funeral ceremonies were actually performed by Dhrita-rashtra. 
 Meanwhile they hurried off to the woods; Bhima, the strong one, 
 carrying his mother and the twins, and leading his other brothers by 
 the hands when through fatigue they could not move on. Whilst his 
 mother and brothers were asleep under a fig-tree, Bhima had an 
 encounter with a hideous giant named Hidimba, whom he slew’. After- 
 wards he married Hidimba, the sister of this monster, and had a son by 
 her named Ghatotkaéca. 
 
 By the advice of their grandfather Vyasa, the Pandava 
 princes next took up their abode in the house of a 
 Brahman at a city called Ekad¢akra. There they lived 
 for a long time in the guise of mendicant Brahmans, safe 
 from the persecution of Duryodhana. Every day they went 
 out to beg for food as alms (bhikshd, bhaiksha), which their 
 mother Kunti divided at night, giving half of the whole 
 to Bhima as his share (cf. p. 382). While resident in the 
 house of the Brahman, Bhima delivered his family and 
 the city of Ekaéakra from a fierce giant (or Rakshasa) 
 named Baka (or Vaka), who forced the citizens to send 
 him every day a dish of food by a man, whom he always 
 devoured as his daintiest morsel at the end of the 
 repast *, 
 
 CoP i eh iy ee el πραθθδε ες ὦ -. 
 
 1 This forms the subject of a celebrated episode, edited by Bopp. 
 
 2 This story forms a touching episode, which has been printed by Bopp, 
 and translated by Milman. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 387 
 
 The turn had come to a poor Brahman to provide the Rakshasa with 
 his meal. He determined to go himself, but lamented bitterly the bard- 
 ness of his fate. Upon this, his wife and daughter addressed him in 
 language full of the deepest pathos, each in turn insisting on sacrificing 
 herself for the good of the family. Lastly, the little son, too young 
 to speak distinctly, ran with beaming eyes and smiling face to his 
 parents, and in prattling accents said, ‘Weep not, father ; sigh not, 
 mother. Then breaking off and brandishing a pointed spike of grass, 
 he exclaimed, ‘With this spike will I kill the fierce man-eating giant.’ 
 His parents, hearing this innocent prattle of their child, in the midst 
 of their heart-rending anguish felt a thrill of exquisite delight. In 
 the end Bhima, who overheard the whole conversation, undertook to 
 convey the meal to the monster, and, of course, speedily despatched 
 him (I. 6202). 
 
 After this Vyasa appeared to his grandsons, and in- 
 formed them that Draupadi, the daughter of Drupada, 
 king of Panéala, was destined to be their common wife’: 
 
 In real fact she had been in a former life the daughter of a sage, 
 and had performed a most severe penance, in order that a husband might 
 fall to her lot. Siva, pleased with her penance, had appeared to her, and 
 had promised her, instead of one, five husbands. When the maiden 
 replied that she wanted only one husband, the god answered, ‘ Five times 
 you said to me, Grant me a husband; therefore in another body you will 
 obtain five husbands’ (I. 6433, 7322). ‘This Rishi’s daughter was there- 
 upon born in the family of Drupada as a maiden of the most distinguished 
 beauty, and was destined to be the wife of the Pandavas’. 
 
 1 Polyandry is still practised among some hill-tribes in the Himalaya 
 range néar Simla, and in other barren mountainous regions, such as 
 Bhotan, where a large population could not be supported. It prevails 
 also among the Nair (Nayar) tribe in Malabar. Our forefathers, or at 
 least the ancient Britons, according to Caesar, were given to the same 
 practice: ‘Uxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes,’ ὅτ, 
 De Bello Gallico, V. 14. 
 
 ® Vyasa, who is the type and representative of strict Brihmanism, is 
 made to explain at length the necessity for the marriage of Draupadi 
 to five husbands (which is called a siishma-dharma, I. 7246). He also 
 gifted Drupada with divine intuition (¢akshur divyam) to perceive the 
 divinity of the Pandavas and penetrate the mystic meaning of what 
 otherwise would have been a serious violation of the laws and institutions 
 
 ΟΖ 
 
388 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In obedience to the directions of their grandfather, the 
 five Pandavas quitted Eka¢akra, and betook themselves 
 to the court of king Drupada, where Draupadi was about 
 to hold her Svayamvara : 
 
 An immense concourse of princely suitors, with their retainers, came 
 to the ceremony; and king Drupada eagerly looked for Arjuna among 
 them, that, strengthened by that hero’s alliance, he might defy Drona’s 
 anger. He therefore prepared an enormous bow, which he was per- 
 suaded none but Arjuna could bend, and proposed a trial of strength, 
 promising to give his daughter to any one who could by means of the 
 
 of the Brahmans (7313). Hence Drupada became aware of his daughter’s 
 former birth, and that Arjuna was really a portion of the essence of Indra 
 (Sakrasyansa), and all his brothers portions of the same god. Draupadi 
 herself, although nominally the daughter of Drupada, was really born, 
 like her brother Dhrishta-dyumna, out of the midst of the sacrificial 
 fire (vedi-madhyat, I. 6931; see p. 385), and was a form of Lakshmi. 
 In no other way could her supernatural birth, and the divine perfume 
 which exhaled from her person, and was perceived a league off (Arosa- 
 matrat pravati), be accounted for, Vyasa at the same time explained 
 the mysterious birth of Krishna and Baladeva ;—how the god Vishnu 
 pulled out two of his own hairs, one white and the other black, which 
 entered into two women of the family of the Yadavas (Devaki and 
 Rohini), and became, the white one Baladeva, the black one Krishna 
 (I. 7307; Vishnu-purana V.1). The Markandeya-purana (ch. 5) shows 
 how the five Pandavas could be all portions of Indra, and yet four of 
 them sons of other gods. When Indra killed the son of Tvashtri (or 
 Visvakarman as Prajapati, the Creator), his punishment for this brahma- 
 hatya was that all his tejas, ‘manly vigour, deserted him, and entered 
 Dharma, the god of justice. The son of Tvashtri was reproduced as the 
 demon Vritra, and again slain by Indra; as a punishment for which his 
 bala, ‘strength, left him, and entered Maruta, ‘the Wind.’ Lastly, when 
 Indra violated Ahaly&, the wife of the sage Gautama, his ripa, ‘ beauty,’ 
 abandoned him, and entered the Nasatyau or Asvins. When Dharma 
 gave back the tejas of Indra, Yudhi-shthira was born; when the Wind 
 gave up Indra’s bala, Bhima was born; and when the Asvins restored 
 the rapa of Indra, Nakula and Sahadeva were born. Arjuna was born 
 as half the essence of Indra. Hence, as they were all portions of one 
 
 deity, there could be no harm in Draupadi becoming the wife of all 
 five. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 389 
 
 bow shoot five arrows simultaneously through a revolving ring into a 
 target beyond. An amphitheatre was erected outside the town, sur- 
 rounded by tiers of lofty seats and raised platforms, with variegated 
 awnings. Magnificent palaces, crowded with eager spectators, overlooked 
 the scene. Actors, conjurors, athletes, and dancers exhibited their skill 
 before the multitude. Strains of exquisite music floated in the air. 
 Drums and trumpets sounded. When expectation was at its height, 
 Draupadi in gorgeous apparel entered the arena, and the bow was 
 brought. The hundred sons of Dhrita-rishtra strained every nerve to 
 bend the ponderous weapon, but without effect. Its recoil dashed them 
 breathless to the ground, and made them the laughing-stock of the 
 crowd. 
 
 Arjuna now advanced, disguised as a Brahman. I here 
 translate a portion metrically (I. 7049, &c.) : 
 
 A moment motionless he stood and scanned 
 
 The bow, collecting all his energy. 
 
 Next walking round in homage, breathed a prayer 
 To the Supreme Bestower of good gifts ; 
 
 Then fixing all his mind on Draupadi 
 
 He grasped the ponderous weapon in his hand, 
 And with one vigorous effort braced the string. 
 Quickly the shafts were aimed; they flew; 
 
 The mark fell pierced; a shout of victory 
 
 Rang through the vast arena; from the sky 
 Garlands of flowers crowned the hero’s head, 
 
 Ten thousand fluttering scarfs waved in the air, 
 And drum and trumpet sounded forth his triumph. 
 
 I need not suggest the parallel which will at once be 
 drawn by the classical scholar between this trial of archery 
 and a similar scene in the Odyssey. 
 
 When the suitors found themselves outdone by a mere 
 stripling in the coarse dress of a mendicant Brahman, 
 their rage knew no bounds. A real battle ensued : 
 
 The Pandu princes protected Drupada, and enacted prodigies. Bhima 
 tore up a tree, and used it as a club. Karna at last met Arjuna in single 
 combat, rushing on him like a young elephant. They overwhelmed each 
 other with showers of arrows, which darkened the air. But not even 
 Karna could withstand the irresistible onset of the godlike Arjuna, and 
 
390 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 he and the other suitors retired vanquished from the field, leaving 
 Draupadi as the bride of Arjuna. 
 
 Arjuna having been chosen by Draupadi, the five 
 brothers returned with her to their mother, who being 
 inside the house, and fancying that they had brought 
 alms, called out to them, ‘Share it between you’ (Dhuiwktete 
 sametya sarve, I. 7132). The words of a parent, thus 
 spoken, could not be set aside without evil consequences ; 
 and Drupada, at the persuasion of Vyasa, who acquainted 
 him with the divinely ordained destination of his daughter’, 
 consented to her becoming the common wife of the five 
 brothers. She was first married by the family-priest 
 Dhaumya to Yudhi-shthira (I. 7340), and then, according 
 to priority of birth, to the other four?. 
 
 The Pandavas, being now strengthened by their alli- 
 ance with the powerful king of Pandala, threw off their 
 disguises; and king Dhrita-rashtra thought it more 
 politic to settle all differences by dividing his kingdom 
 between them and his own sons. He gave up Hastina- 
 pur to the latter, presided over by Duryodhana, and 
 permitted the five Pandavas to occupy a district near 
 the Yamuna (Jumna), called Khandava-prastha, where 
 
 1 See note 2, p. 387. Drupada at first objected. Yudhi-shthira’s 
 excuse for himself and his brothers is remarkable ; Piéirvesham a@nupitr- 
 vyena yatam vartmanuyamahe (1. 7246). 
 
 2 She had a son by each of the five brothers—Prativindhya by Yudhi- 
 shthira; Sutasoma by Bhima; Srutakarman by Arjuna; Satanika by 
 Nakula; Srutasena by Sahadeva (I. 8039). Arjuna had also another 
 wife, Subhadra, the sister of Krishna, with whom he eloped when on a 
 visit to Krishna at Dvaraka. By her he had a son, Abhimanyu. He 
 had also a son named Iravat by the serpent-nymph Ultpi. Bhima had 
 also a son, Ghatotkaéa, by the Rakshast Hidimba (see p. 386); and the 
 others had children by different wives (Vishnu-purana, p. 459). Arjuna’s 
 son Abhimanyu had a son Parikshit, who was father of Janamejaya, 
 Parikshit died of the bite of a snake; and the Bhagavata-purina was 
 narrated to him between the bite and his death. 
 
 OO EE EE a re 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 391 
 
 they built Indra-prastha (the modern Delhi), and, under 
 Yudhi-shthira as their leader, subjugated much of the 
 adjacent territory by predatory incursions (I. 6573). 
 
 One day, when Arjuna was bathing in the Ganges, he was carried 
 off by the serpent-nymph Ulipi, daughter of the king of the Nigas, 
 whom he married (I. 7809). Afterwards he married Citrimgada, 
 daughter of the king of Manipura, and had a child by her named 
 Babhru-vahana (I. 7883). 
 
 Wandering for twelve years in the forests, to fulfil a 
 vow, Arjuna came to Prabhasa, a place of pilgrimage 
 in the west of India, where he met Krishna’, the details 
 of whose early life have already been given (p. 334), and 
 who here first formed a friendship with Arjuna, and took 
 him to his city Dvaraka, where he received him as a 
 visitor into his own house (I. 7905). Soon afterwards, 
 some of the relatives of Krishna celebrated a festival in 
 the mountain Raivataka, to which both Arjuna and 
 Krishna went. There they saw Bala-rama, elder brother 
 of Krishna (p. 335), in a state of intoxication (kshiva)? 
 with his wife Revati; and there they saw Subhadza, 
 Krishna’s sister. Her beauty excited the love of Arjuna, 
 who, after obtaining Krishna’s leave, carried her off (see 
 note 2, p. 390) and married her (I. 7937). In the twelfth 
 year of his absence he returned with her to Indra-prastha. 
 
 The Pandavas and all the people of Indra-prastha then 
 lived happily for some time under the rule of Yudhi- 
 shthira, who, elated with his conquests, undertook, assisted 
 by Krishna, to celebrate the Rajasiiya, a great sacrifice, 
 
 1 See note 2, p. 387. I enumerate some of the other names by which 
 Krishna is known in the Maha-bharata, as follows: Vasudeva, Kesava, 
 Govinda, Janirdana, Damodara, Das‘arha, Narayana, Hrishikesa, Puru- 
 shottama, Madhava, Madhu-stidana, A¢yuta. (See V. 2560). In the 
 Draupadi-harana (75) Krishna and Arjuna are called Ayishnau. 
 
 3. Compare Megha-diita, verse 51, where Bula-rama’s fondness for wine 
 is alluded to. See also Vishnu-purana V. 25. 
 
392 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 at which his own inauguration as paramount sovereign 
 was to be performed. 
 
 A great assembly (sabhd) was accordingly held: 
 
 Various princes attended, and brought either rich presents or tribute 
 (If. 1264). Among those who came were Bhishma, Dhrita-rashtra and 
 his hundred sons, Subala (king of Gandhara), Sakuni, Drupada, Salya, 
 Drona, Kripa, Jayad-ratha, Kuntibhoja, Sisu-pala, and others from the 
 extreme south and north (Dravida, Ceylon, and Kasmir, 11. 1271). On 
 the day of the inauguration (abhisheka) Bhishma, at the suggestion of the 
 sage Narada, proposed that a respectful oblation (argha) should be pre- 
 pared and offered in token of worship to the best and strongest person 
 present, whom he declared to be Krishna. To this the Pandavas readily 
 agreed ; and Sahadeva was commissioned to present the offering. Sisu- 
 pala (also called Sunitha), however, opposed the worship of Krishna ; 
 and, after denouncing him as a contemptible and ill-instructed person 
 (II. 1340), challenged him to fight?; but Krishna instantly struck off his 
 head with his discus called Su-darsana*. 
 
 After this, Dhrita-rashtra was persuaded to hold another 
 assembly (sabha) at Hastina-pur; and Vidura was sent to 
 the Pandavas, to invite them to be present (II. 1993). 
 They consented to attend; and Yudhi-shthira was easily 
 prevailed on by Duryodhana to play with Sakuni. By 
 degrees Yudhi-shthira staked everything—his territory, 
 his possessions, and last of all Draupadi. All were suc- 
 cessively lost ; and Draupadi, then regarded as a slave, 
 was treated with great indignity by DuhSasana. He 
 dragged her by the hair of the head into the assembly ; 
 upon which Bhima, who witnessed this insult, swore that 
 
 * The details in this part of the poem are interesting and curious. As 
 shown by Professor H. H. Wilson, they throw light on the geographical 
 divisions and political condition of India at an early epoch. 
 
 * Duryodhana also, in a subsequent part of the Maha-bharata, evinces 
 scepticism in regard to the divine nature of Krishna (V. 4368). 
 
 * The story of Sisu-pala and his destruction by Krishna form the 
 subject of the celebrated poem of Magha. The particulars of the nar- 
 rative as told in this book of the Maha-bharata are given by Dr. Muir 
 in his Sanskrit Texts, vol. iv. The Vishnu-purana identifies Sisu-paila 
 with the demons Hiranya-kasipu and Ravana (Wilson, p. 437). 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 393 
 
 he would one day dash DuhSasana to pieces and drink his 
 blood? (II. 2302). In the end a compromise was agreed 
 upon. The kingdom was given up to Duryodhana for 
 twelve years; and the five Pandavas, with Draupadi 
 were required to live for that period in the woods, and 
 to pass the thirteenth concealed under assumed names in 
 various disguises. 
 
 They accordingly retired to the Kamyaka forest, and 
 took up their abode on the banks of the Sarasvati. 
 
 While they were resident in the forest, various episodes 
 occurred, thus: 
 
 Arjuna went to the Himalaya mountains to perform severe penance, 
 and thereby obtain celestial arms. After some time Siva, to reward him 
 and prove his bravery, approached him as a Kirata or wild mountaineer 
 living by the chase, at the moment that a demon named Mika, in the 
 form of a boar, was making an attack upon him, Siva and Arjuna both 
 shot together at the boar, which fell dead, and both claimed to have hit 
 him first. This served as a pretext for Siva, as the Kirata, to quarrel 
 with Arjuna, and have a battle with him. Arjuna fought long with the 
 Kirata®, but could not conquer him. At last he recognized the god, and 
 threw himself at his feet. Siva, pleased with his bravery, gave him the 
 celebrated weapon Pasupata, to enable him to conquer Karna and the 
 Kuru princes in war (III. 1650, 1664). 
 
 Many legends were also repeated to console and amuse 
 the Pandu princes in their time of exile. For instance, 
 we have here introduced (III. 12746-12804) the epic 
 version of the tradition of the Deluge (the earliest account 
 
 1 This threat he fulfilled. The incident is noticeable as it is the subject 
 of the well-known drama by Bhatta-narayana called Veni-samhara, ‘ braid- 
 binding, which describes how the braided hair torn by Duhsasana was 
 again bound together by Bhima, who is made to say Svayam ahain sam- 
 harami, ‘I myself will again bind the braid together.” See Sahitya- 
 darpana, p. 169. 
 
 2 This forms the subject of a celebrated poem by Bhairavi called the 
 Kiratarjuniya. Siva was regarded as the god of the Kiratas, who were 
 evidently a race of aborigines much respected by the Hindiis for their 
 bravery and skill in archery. 
 
394 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of which occurs in the Satapatha-brahmana, see p. 32 08 
 this volume), as follows: 
 
 Manu, the Hindi Noah (not the grandson of Brahma, and reputed 
 author of the Code, but the seventh Manu, or Manu of the present period, 
 called Vaivasvata, and regarded as one of the progenitors of the human 
 race, Manu I. 61, 62), is represented as conciliating the favour of the 
 Supreme Being by his austerities in an age of universal depravity. 
 A fish, which was an incarnation of Brahma (cf. p. 329), appeared to 
 him whilst engaged in penance on the margin of a river, and accosting 
 him, craved protection from the larger fish, Manu complied, and placed 
 him in a glass vessel. Having outgrown this, he requested to be taken 
 to a more roomy receptacle. Manu then placed him in a lake. Still the 
 fish grew, till the lake, though three leagues long, could not contain him. 
 He next asked to be taken to the Ganges; but even the Ganges was soon 
 too small, and the fish was finally transferred to the ocean. There he 
 continued to expand, till at last, addressing Manu, he warned him of the 
 coming Deluge. 
 
 Manu, however, was to be preserved by the help of the fish, who com- 
 manded him to build a ship and go on board, not with his own wife and 
 children, but with the seven Rishis or patriarchs ; and not with pairs of 
 animals, but with the seeds of all existing things. The flood came; Manu 
 went on board, and fastened the ship, as directed, to a horn in the fish’s 
 head. He was then drawn along '—(I translate nearly literally) : 
 
 Along the ocean in that stately ship was borne the lord of men, and through 
 Its dancing, tumbling billows, and its roaring waters ; and the bark, 
 Tossed to and fro by violent winds, reeled on the surface of the deep, 
 Staggering and trembling like a drunken woman. Land was seen no more, 
 Nor far horizon, nor the space between ; for everywhere around 
 
 Spread the wild waste of waters, reeking atmosphere, and boundless sky. 
 And now when all the world was deluged, nought appeared above the waves 
 But Manu and the seven sages, and the fish that drew the bark. 
 Unwearied thus for years on years the fish propelled the ship across 
 
 The heaped-up waters, till at length it bore the vessel to the peak 
 
 Of Himavan ; then, softly smiling, thus the fish addressed the sage: 
 Haste now to bind thy ship to this high crag. Know me the lord of all, 
 
 1 There is still a later account of the Deluge in the Bhagavata-purana, 
 where the fish is represented as an incarnation of Vishnu. The god’s 
 object in descending as a fish seems to have been to steer the ship. In 
 the Assyrian account (as interpreted by Mr. G. Smith) sailors and a 
 helmsman are taken on board. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 395 
 
 The great creator Brahma, mightier than all might—omnipotent. 
 
 By me in fish-like shape hast thou been saved in dire emergency. 
 From Manu all creation, gods, Asuras, men, must be produced ; 
 
 By him the world must be created—that which moves and moveth not. 
 
 Another tale told in this section of the poem (III. 16619, 
 &e.) may be cited for its true poetic feeling and pathos— 
 qualities in which it is scarcely excelled by the story of 
 Admetus and Alcestis. I subjoin the briefest epitome : 
 
 Savitri, the beautiful daughter of a king Asvapati, loved Satyavan, the 
 son of an old hermit, but was warned by a seer to overcome her attach- 
 ment, as Satyavan was a doomed man, having only one year to live. 
 But Savitri replies’: 
 
 Whether his years be few or many, be he gifted with all grace 
 Or graceless, him my heart hath chosen, and it chooseth not again, 
 
 The king’s daughter and the hermit’s son were therefore married, and 
 the bride strove to forget the ominous prophecy ; but as the last day 
 of the year approached, her anxiety became irrepressible. She exhausted 
 herself in prayers and penances, hoping to stay the hand of the destroyer ; 
 yet all the while dared not reveal the fatal secret to her husband. At 
 last the dreaded day arrived, and Satyavan set out to eut wood in the 
 forest. His wife asked leave to accompany him, and walked behind 
 her husband, smiling, but with a heavy heart. Satyavan soon made the 
 wood resound with his hatchet, when suddenly a thrill of agony shot 
 through his temples, and feeling himself falling, he called out to his wife 
 to support him. 
 
 Then she received her fainting husband in her arms, and sat herself 
 
 On the cold ground, and gently laid his drooping head upon her lap ; 
 Sorrowing, she call’d to mind the sage’s prophecy, and reckoned up 
 
 The days and hours. All in an instant she beheld an awful shape 
 Standing before her, dressed in blood-red garments, with a glittering crown 
 Upon his head: his form, though glowing like the sun, was yet obscure, 
 And eyes he had like flames, a noose depended from his hand; and he 
 Was terrible to look upon, as by her husband’s side he stood 
 
 And gazed upon him with a fiery glance. Shuddering she started up 
 And laid her dying Satyavan upon the ground, and with her hands 
 Joined reverently, she thus with beating heart addressed the Shape : 
 
 1 T translate as closely as I can to the original. This and other select 
 specimens of Indian poetry have been more freely and poetically translated 
 by Mr. R. Griffiths. 
 
 ν᾽ 
 
396 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Surely thou art a god, such form as thine must more than mortal be! 
 Tell me, thou godlike being, who thou art, and wherefore art thou here ἢ 
 
 The figure replied that he was Yama, king of the dead; that her 
 husband’s time was come, and that he must bind and take his spirit : 
 
 Then from her husband’s body forced be out and firmly with his cord 
 Bound and detained the spirit, clothed in form no larger than a thumb’. 
 Forthwith the body, reft of vital being and deprived of breath, 
 
 Lost all its grace and beauty, and became ghastly and motionless. 
 
 After binding the spirit, Yama proceeds with it towards the quarter of 
 which he is guardian—the south. The faithful wife follows him closely. 
 Yama bids her go home and prepare her husband’s funeral rites ; but she 
 persists in following, till Yama, pleased with her devotion, grants her any 
 boon she pleases, ewcept the life of her husband. She chooses that her 
 husband’s father, who is blind, may recover his sight. Yama consents, 
 and bids her now return home. Still she persists in following. Two 
 other boons are granted in the same way, and still Savitri follows 
 closely on the heels of the king of death. At last, overcome by her 
 constancy, Yama grants a boon without exception. The delighted 
 Savitri exclaims— 
 
 Nought, mighty king, this time hast thou excepted : let my husband live ; 
 Without him I desire not happiness, nor even heaven itself ; 
 Without him I must die. ‘So be it! faithful wife,’ replied the king of death ; 
 
 ‘ Thus I release him ;’ and with that he loosed the cord that bound his soul. 
 
 During the residence of the five brothers in the forest, 
 Jayad-ratha attempted to carry off Draupadi, while they 
 were absent on a shooting excursion. This resembles in 
 some respects the story of Sita’s forcible abduction by 
 Ravana in the Ramayana (III. 15572), which story, there- 
 fore, is here told (15945. See p. 368 of this volume). 
 
 In the thirteenth year of exile, the Pandavas journeyed 
 to the court of king Virata, and entered his service in 
 different disguises : 
 
 Yudhi-shthira called himself a Brahman and took the name of Kanka 
 (23); Arjuna named himself Vrihan-nala, and pretending to be a eunuch 
 (tritiyam prakritim gatah), adopted a sort of woman’s dress, putting 
 bracelets on his arms and ear-rings in his ears, in order, as he said, to 
 
 * Compare note 3, p. 206 of this volume. 
 
 Lie) ee Ape 
 
 KS iS ee ee ee Δ... ere 
 
 ee a ee 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 397 
 
 hide the scars caused by his bow-string. He undertook in this capacity 
 to teach dancing, music, and singing to the daughter of Virdta and the 
 other women of the palace, and soon gained their good graces (IV. 310). 
 
 One day when Virata and four of the Pandavas were absent, Duryo- 
 dhana and his brothers made an expedition against Virata’s capital, 
 Matsya, and carried off some cattle. Uttara the son of Virata (in the 
 absence of his father) determined to follow and attack the Kuru army, 
 if any one could be found to act as his charioteer. Vrihan-nala (Arjuna) 
 undertook this office, and promised to bring back fine clothes and orna- 
 ments for Uttara and the other women of the palace (IV. 1226). When 
 they arrived in sight of the Kuru army, the courage of Uttara, who was 
 a mere youth, failed him. Vrihan-nala then made him act as charioteer, 
 while he himself (Arjuna) undertook to fight the Kauravas. Upon that 
 great prodigies occurred. Terror seized Bhishma, Duryodliana, and their 
 followers, who suspected that Vrihan-nala was Arjuna in disguise, and 
 even the horses shed tears’ (IV. 1290). Duryodhana, however, declared 
 that if he turned out to be Arjuna, he would have to wander in exile for 
 a second period of twelve years. Meanwhile Arjuna revealed himself to 
 Uttara, and explained also the disguises of his brothers and Draupadi. 
 Uttara, to test his veracity, inquired whether he could repeat Arjuna’s 
 ten names, and what each meant. Arjuna enumerated them (Arjuna, 
 Phalguna, Jishnu, Kiritin, Svetavahana, Bibhatsu, Vijaya, Krishna, Savya- 
 sacin, Dhananjaya), and explained their derivation? (IV. 1380). Uttara 
 then declared that he was satisfied, and no longer afraid of the Kuru 
 army (IV. 1393). 
 
 Arjuna next put off his bracelets and woman’s attire, strung his bow 
 Gandiva, and assumed all his other weapons, which had been concealed 
 ina Sami tree. They are described as addressing him suppliantly, and 
 saying, ‘We are your servants, ready to carry out your commands ®’ 
 (IV. 1421). He also removed Uttara’s standard and placed his own 
 ape-emblazoned banner in front of the chariot. Then was fought a great 
 battle between Arjuna and the Kauravas. In the end the whole Kuru 
 army fled before him, and all the property and cattle of Viradta was 
 recovered. Arjuna told Uttara to conceal the real circumstances of the 
 battle, but to send messengers to his father’s capital announcing his 
 victory, which so delighted Virata that he ordered the whole city to 
 be decorated. 
 
 * Compare Homer, Iliad XVII. 426. 
 * See Arjuna’s other names in note 4, p. 382. 
 * Compare note 1, p. 402. 
 
398 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Not long afterwards Virata held a great assembly, at 
 which the five Pandavas attended, and took their seats 
 with the other princes. Virata, who did not yet know 
 their real rank, was at first angry at this presumption 
 (IV. 2266). Arjuna then revealed who they were. Virata 
 was delighted, embraced the Pandavas, offered them all 
 his possessions, and to Arjuna his daughter Uttara in 
 marriage. Arjuna declined, but accepted her for his son 
 Abhimanyu (IV. 2356). 
 
 A council of princes was then called by Virata, at which 
 the Pandavas, Krishna, and Bala-rama were present, and 
 a consultation was held as to what course the Pandavas 
 were to take: 
 
 Krishna, in a speech, advised that they should not go to war with 
 their kinsmen until they had sent an ambassador to Duryodhana, sum- 
 moning him to restore half the kingdom. Bala-rama supported Krishna’s 
 opinion, and recommended conciliation (s@man), but Satyaki, in an angry 
 tone, counselled war (V. 40). Drupada supported him, and recommended 
 that they should send messengers to all their allies, and collect forces 
 from all parts. The upshot was that the family-priest of Drupada was 
 despatched by the Pandavas as an ambassador to king Dhrita-rashtra at 
 Hastina-pur, to try the effect of negotiation. 
 
 Meanwhile Krishna and Bala-rama returned to Dva- 
 raka. Soon afterwards Duryodhana visited Krishna there, 
 hoping to prevail on him to fight on the side of the 
 Kuru army. 
 
 On the same day Arjuna arrived there also, and it happened that they 
 both reached the door of Krishna's apartment, where he was asleep, at 
 the same moment. Duryodhana succeeded in entering first, and took up 
 his station at Krishna’s head. Arjuna followed behind, and stood rever- 
 ently at Krishna’s feet. On awaking, Krishna’s eyes first fell on Arjuna. 
 He then asked them both the object of their visit. Duryodhana there- 
 upon requested his aid in battle, declaring that although Krishna was 
 equally related to Arjuna, yet that, as he (Duryodhana) had entered the 
 room first, he was entitled to the priority. Krishna answered that, as 
 he had seen Arjuna first, he should give Arjuna the first choice of two 
 things. On the one side, he placed himself, stipulating that he was to 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA, 399 
 
 lay down his weapons and abstain from fighting. On the other, he placed 
 his army of a hundred million (aruda) warriors, named Narayanas. 
 Arjuna, without hesitation, chose Krishna; and Duryodhana, with glee, 
 accepted the army, thinking that as Krishna was pledged not to fight, he 
 would be unable to help the Pandavas in battle (V. 154). 
 
 Duryodhana next went to Bala-rama and asked his aid ; 
 but Bala-rama declared that both he and Krishna had 
 determined to take no part in the strife’. Krishna, how- 
 ever, consented to act as Arjuna’s charioteer, and soon 
 afterwards jomed Yudhi-shthira, who with his brothers was 
 still living in the country of Virata. Various attempts 
 at negotiation followed, and before any actual declaration 
 of war the Pandavas held a final consultation, at which 
 Arjuna begged Krishna to undertake the office of a 
 mediator. Krishna consented and departed for Hastina- 
 pura: 
 
 Midway he was met by Parasu-rama and various Rishis, who informed 
 him of their resolution to be present at the coming congress of Kuru 
 princes. On reaching Hastina-pura, Krishna retired to rest in the house 
 of Vidura. In the morning he performed all the appointed religious 
 ceremonies, dressed himself, put on the jewel Kaustubha (V. 3343), and 
 set out for the assembly. Then followed the great congress. The Rishis, 
 headed by Narada, appeared in the sky, and were accommodated with 
 seats. Krishna opened the proceedings by a speech, which commenced 
 thus: ‘Let there be peace (Sama) between the Kurus and Pandavas.’ 
 Then, looking towards Dhrita-rashtra, he said, ‘It rests with you and 
 me to effect a reconciliation. When he had concluded a long harangue, 
 all remained riveted and thrilled by his eloquence (V. 3448). None 
 ventured for some time to reply, except Parasu-rama, the sage Kanva, 
 and Narada, who all advocated harmony and peace between the rival 
 cousins. At length Duryodhana spoke, and flatly refused to give up any 
 territory: ‘It was not our fault,’ he said, ‘if the Pandavas were con- 
 quered at dice.’ Upon that Krishna’s wrath rose, and addressing Duryo- 
 dhana, he said, ‘ You think that I am alone, but know that the Pandavas, 
 Andhakas, Vrishnis, Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, and Rishis are all present 
 
 1 Compare Megha-dita, verse 51, where Bala-rama is described as Bandhu- 
 pritya samara-vimukhah. 
 
400 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 here in me. Thereupon flames of fire, of the size of a thumb, settled 
 on him. Brahma appeared on his forehead, Rudra on his breast, the 
 guardians of the world issued from his arms, Agni from his mouth. 
 The Adityas, Sadhyas, Vasus, Asvins, Maruts with Indra, Visvadevas, 
 Yakshas, Gandharvas, and Rakshasas were also manifested out of his 
 body ; Arjuna was produced from his right arm; Bala-rama from his left 
 arm; Bhima, Yudhi-shthira, and the sons of Madri from his back ; 
 flames of fire darted from his eyes, nose, and ears; and the sun’s rays 
 from the pores of his skin’ (V. 4419-4430). At this awful sight, the 
 assembled princes were compelled to close their eyes ; but Drona, Bhishma, 
 Vidura, Saijaya, the Rishis, and the blind Dhrita-rashtra were gifted by 
 Krishna with divine vision that they might behold the glorious spectacle 
 of his identification with every form (cf. p. 147 of this volume). Then 
 a great earthquake and other portents occurred, and the congress broke 
 up. Krishna, having suppressed his divinity, re-assumed his human 
 form and set out on his return. He took Karna with him for some 
 distance in his chariot, hoping to persuade him to take part with the 
 Pandavas as a sixth brother. But, notwithstanding all Krishna's argu- 
 ments, Karna would not be persuaded ; and, leaving the chariot, returned 
 to the sons of Dhrita-rashtra (V. 4883). 
 
 Meanwhile Bhishma consented to accept the general- 
 ship of the Kuru army (V. 5719). Though averse from 
 fighting against his kinsmen, he could not as a Kshatriya 
 abstain from joining in the war, when once commenced’. 
 
 3efore the armies joined battle, Vyasa appeared to his son Dhrita- 
 rashtra, who was greatly dejected at the prospect of the war, consoled 
 him, and offered to confer sight upon him, that he might view the 
 combat. Dhrita-rashtra declined witnessing the slaughter of his kindred, 
 and Vyasa then said that he would endow Sanjaya (Dhrita-rashtra’s 
 charioteer) with the faculty of knowing everything that took place, make 
 him invulnerable, and enable him to transport himself by a thought at 
 any time to any part of the field of battle (VI. 43-47). 
 
 1 This remarkable passage, identifying Vishnu with everything in the 
 universe, is probably a later interpolation. 
 
 ® Bhishma, though really the grand-uncle of the Kuru and Pandu 
 princes, is often styled their grandfather (pitamaha) ; and though really 
 the uncle of Dhrita-rashtra and Pandu, is sometimes styled their father. 
 He is a kind of Priam in caution and sagacity, but like a hardy old 
 veteran, never consents to leave the fighting to others. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 401 
 
 The armies now met on Kuru-kshetra, a vast plain 
 north-west of the modern Delhi; the Kuru forces being 
 commanded by Bhishma, and the Pandavas by Dhrishta- 
 dyumna, son of Drupada (VI. 832). While the hosts 
 ‘stood drawn up in battle-array, Krishna, acting as Arjuna’s 
 charioteer, addressed him in a long philosophical discourse, 
 which forms the celebrated episode called Bhagavad-gita 
 (VI. 830-1532), an epitome of which is given at pp. 136- 
 152 of this volume. 
 
 And now as the armies advanced a tumult filled the 
 sky; the earth shook ; ‘Chafed by wild winds, the sands 
 upcurled to heaven, and spread a veil before the sun.’ 
 Awful portents occurred; showers of blood fell’; asses 
 were born from cows, calves from mares, jackals from dogs. 
 Shrill kites, vultures, and howling jackals hung about 
 the rear of the marching armies. Thunder roared in 
 the cloudless sky. Then darkness supervened, lightnings 
 flashed, and blazing meteors shot across the darkened 
 firmament ; yet, 
 
 The mighty chiefs, with martial ardour fired, 
 Scorning Heaven’s portents, eager for the fray, 
 Pressed on to mutual slaughter, and the peal 
 
 Of shouting hosts commingling, shook the world. 
 
 There is to a European a ponderous and unwieldy 
 character about Oriental warfare, which he finds it diffi- 
 cult to realize ; yet the battle-scenes, though exaggerated, 
 are vividly described, and carry the imagination into the 
 midst of the conflict. Monstrous elephants career over 
 the field, trampling on men and horses, and dealing 
 destruction with their huge tusks; enormous clubs and 
 iron maces clash together with the noise of thunder ; 
 
 1 So Jupiter rains blood twice in the Iliad, XI. 53 and XVI. 459. 
 We have also the following in Hesiod, Scut. Here. 384: Kad δ᾽ ap’ ἀπ᾽ 
 
 οὐρανόθεν ψιάδας βάλεν αἱματοέσσας. 
 
 pd 
 
402 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 rattling chariots dash against each other; thousands of 
 arrows hurtle in the air, darkening the sky; trumpets, 
 kettle-drums, and horns add to the uproar; confusion, 
 carnage, and death are everywhere. 
 
 In all this, however, there is nothing absolutely ex- 
 travagant ; but when Arjuna is described as killing five 
 hundred warriors simultaneously, or as covering the whole 
 plain with dead and filling rivers with blood; Yudhi- 
 shthira, as slaughtering a hundred men ‘in a mere 
 twinkle’ (nimesha-mdtrena) ; Bhima, as annihilating a 
 monstrous elephant, including all mounted upon it, and 
 fourteen foot-soldiers besides, with one blow of his club ; 
 Nakula and Sahadeva, fighting from their chariots, as 
 cutting off heads by the thousand, and sowing them 
 like seed upon the ground; when, moreover, the principal 
 heroes make use of mystical god-given weapons, possessed 
 of supernatural powers, and supposed to be themselves 
 celestial beings!;—we at once perceive that the utter 
 unreality of such scenes mars the beauty of the descrip- 
 tion. Still it must be borne in mind that the poets 
 who brahmanized the Indian Epics gifted the heroes 
 
 1 About a hundred of these weapons are enumerated in the Ramayana 
 (I. xxix), and constant allusion is made to them in battle-scenes, both in 
 the Ramayana and Maha-bharata. Arjuna underwent a long course of 
 austerities to obtain celestial weapons from Siva (see p. 393). It was by 
 the terrific brahmdastra that Vasishtha conquered Visvamitra, and Rama 
 killed Ravana. Sometimes they appear to be mystical powers exercised 
 by meditation, rather than weapons, and are supposed to assume animate 
 forms, and possess names and faculties like the genii in the Arabian 
 Nights, and to address their owners (see p. 397). Certain distinct spells, 
 charms, or prayers had to be learnt for their due use (prayoga) and 
 restraint (samhdra). See Rim. I. xxix, xxx, where they are personified ; 
 also Raghu-vanéa V. 57 (Sammohanam nama astram adhatsva prayoga- 
 samhara-vibhakta-mantram). When once let loose, he only who knew 
 the secret spell for recalling them, could bring them back; but the 
 brahmastra returned to its possessor’s quiver of its own accord. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA, 403 
 
 with semi-divine natures, and that what would be in- 
 credible in a mere mortal is not only possible but appro- 
 priate when enacted by a demigod’. The individual 
 deeds of prowess and single combats between the heroes 
 are sometimes graphically narrated. Each chief has a 
 conch-shell (Sankha) for a trumpet, which, as well as 
 his principal weapon, has a name, as if personified ἢ, 
 Thus we read : 
 
 Arjuna blew his shell called Deva-datta, ‘god-given, and carried a 
 bow named Gandiva. Krishna sounded a shell made of the bones of the 
 demon Panéajana and hence called Panéajanya, Bhima blew a great 
 trumpet named Paundra, and Yudhi-shthira sounded his, called Ananta- 
 vijaya, ‘eternal victory.’ 
 
 The first great single-combat was between Bhishma 
 and Arjuna. It ended in Arjuna transfixing Bhishma 
 with innumerable arrows, so that there was not a space 
 of two fingers’ breadth on his whole body unpierced. 
 
 Then Bhishma fell from his chariot; but his body could not touch the 
 ground, surrounded as it was by countless arrows (VI. 5658). There it 
 remained, reclining as it were on an arrowy couch (sara-talpe Sayana). 
 In that state consciousness returned, and the old warrior became divinely 
 supported. He had received from his father the power of fixing the time 
 of his own death*, and now declared that he intended retaining life till 
 the sun entered the summer solstice (wttardyana). All the warriors on 
 both sides ceased fighting that they might view this wonderful sight, 
 and do homage to their dying relative (VI. 5716). As he lay on his 
 arrowy bed, his head hanging down, he begged for a pillow; whereupon 
 
 1 Aristotle says that the epic poet should prefer impossibilities which 
 appear probable to such things as though possible appear improbable 
 (Poetics III. 6). But previously, in comparing epic poetry with tragedy, 
 he observes, ‘the surprising is necessary in tragedy, but the epic poem 
 goes further, and admits even the improbable and incredible, from which 
 the highest degree of the surprising results’ (III. 4). 
 
 2 Trumpets do not appear to have been used by Homer’s heroes. 
 Whence the value of a Stentorian voice. But there is express allusion 
 in I]. XVIII. 219 to the use of trumpets at sieges. 
 
 ὃ Compare Kiratarjuniya IIT. το. 
 
 Dd2 
 
404 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the chiefs brought soft supports, which the hardy old soldier sternly 
 rejected. Arjuna then made a rest for his head with three arrows, which 
 Bhishma quite approved, and soon afterwards asked Arjuna to bring him 
 water. Whereupon Arjuna struck the ground with an arrow, and forth- 
 with a pure spring burst forth, which so refreshed Bhishma that he 
 called for Duryodhana, and in a long speech begged him, before it was 
 too late, to restore half the kingdom to the Pandavas (VI. 5813). 
 
 After the fall of Bhishma, Karna advised Duryodhana 
 to appoint his old tutor Drona—who was chiefly for- 
 midable from his stock of fiery arrows and magical 
 weapons'—to the command of the army (VII. 150). 
 Several single combats and general engagements (sankula- 
 yuddham, tumula-yuddham), 11 which sometimes one 
 party, sometimes the other had the advantage, took place. 
 Here is an account of a single combat (VII. 544): 
 
 High on a stately car 
 Swift borne by generous coursers to the fight, 
 The vaunting son of Puru proudly drove, 
 Secure of conquest o’er Subhadra’s son. 
 The youthful champion shrank not from the conflict. 
 Fierce on the boastful chief he sprang, as bounds 
 The lion’s cub upon the ox ; and now 
 The Puru chief had perished, but his dart 
 Shivered with timely aim the upraised bow 
 Of Abhimanyu”. From his tingling hand 
 The youthful warrior cast the fragments off, 
 And drew his sword, and grasped his iron-bound shield ; 
 Upon the car of Paurava he lept 
 And seized the chief—his charioteer he slew, 
 And dragged the monarch senseless o’er the plain®. 
 
 Amongst other battles a great fight was fought between 
 Ghatotkaéa and Karna, in which the former as a Rakshasa 
 
 1 These dgneyastra were received by Drona from the son of Agni, who 
 obtained them from Drona’s father, Bharadyaja. 
 
 * The name of Arjuna’s son by Subhadra. 
 
 * The translation of this and the short passage at p. 401 is a slightly 
 altered version of some spirited lines by Professor H. H, Wilson, given in 
 vol, ili. of his collected works edited by Dr. R. Rost. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 405 
 
 (son of the Rakshasi Hidimba and Bhima) assumed various 
 forms, but was eventually slain (VIT. 8104). This disaster 
 filled the Pandavas with grief, but the fortunes of the 
 day were retrieved by Dhrishta-dyumna (son of Drupada), 
 who fought with Drona, and succeeded in decapitating 
 his lifeless body,—not, however, till Drona had laid down 
 his arms and saved Dhrishta-dyumna from the enormous 
 crime of killing a Brahman and an Adarya, by transport- 
 ing himself to heaven in a glittering shape like the sun. 
 His translation to Brahma-loka was only witnessed by 
 five persons, and before leaving the earth he made over 
 his divine weapons to his son Agvatthaman. The loss of 
 their general Drona caused the flight of the whole Kuru 
 army (VII. 8879), but they appointed Karna general, in 
 his place, and renewed the combat : 
 
 In this engagement so terrible was the slaughter that the rivers flowed 
 with blood, and the field became covered with mutilated corpses (VIII. 
 2550, 3899). Numbers of warriors bound themselves by oath (samsap- 
 taka) to slay Arjuna, but were all destroyed, and an army of Mleé¢has or 
 barbarians with thirteen hundred elephants, sent by Duryodhana against 
 Arjuna, were all routed by him (4133). 
 
 Then Bhima and Duhgasana joined in deadly conflict. The latter was 
 slain, and Bhima, remembering the insult to Draupadi, and the vow he 
 made in consequence (see p. 393), cut off his head, and drank his blood, 
 on the field of battle (4235). 
 
 Then occurred the battle between Karna and Arjuna : 
 
 Arjuna was wounded and stunned by an arrow shot off by Karna, and 
 seemed likely to be defeated had not the wheel of Karna’s chariot come 
 off. This obliged Karna to leap down, and his head was then shot off by 
 one of Arjuna’s arrows! (VILL. 4798). His death struck terror into the 
 Kuru army, which fled in dismay, while Bhima and the Pandu party 
 raised a shout of triumph that shook heaven and earth. 
 
 “bea Wi Se gk i a  πυεν στιν τις. τς τος 
 
 1 This arrow is called in the text A7yjalika (VIII. 4788). The arrows 
 used in the Maha-bhirata are of various kinds, some having crescent- 
 shaped heads. It may be useful to subjoin a list of words for arrow, 
 which occur constantly in the description of battles: sara, vana, ishu, 
 Sayaka, patrin, kanda, visikha, naraéa, vipatha, prishatka, bhalla, tomara 
 (a kind of lance), salya (a dart), ishika, silimukha. 
 
406 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 On the death of Karna, Salya, king of Madra, was 
 appointed to the command of the Kuru army, then much 
 reduced in numbers (IX. 327). Another general engage- 
 ment followed, and a single combat between Salya and 
 Bhima with clubs or maces, in which both were equally 
 matched (IX. 594). Here is a version of the encounter : 
 
 Soon as he saw his charioteer struck down, 
 Straightway the Madra monarch grasped his mace, 
 And like a mountain firm and motionless 
 Awaited the attack. The warrior’s form 
 
 Was awful as the world-consuming fire, 
 
 Or as the noose-armed god of death, or as 
 
 The peaked Kailasa, or the Thunderer 
 
 Himself, or as the trident-bearing god, 
 
 Or as a maddened forest elephant. 
 
 Him to defy did Bhima hastily 
 
 Advance, wielding aloft his massive club. 
 
 A thousand conchs and trumpets and a shout, 
 Firing each champion’s ardour, rent the air. 
 From either host, spectators of the fight, 
 
 Burst forth applauding cheers: ‘The Madra king 
 Alone,’ they cried, ‘can bear the rush of Bhima ; 
 None but heroic Bhima can sustain 
 
 The force of Salya.’ Now like two fierce bulls 
 Sprang they towards each other, mace in hand. 
 And first as cautiously they circled round, 
 Whirling their weapons as in sport, the pair 
 Seemed matched in equal combat. Salya’s club, 
 Set with red fillets, glittered as with flame, 
 While that of Bhima gleamed hike flashing lightning, 
 Anon the clashing iron met, and scattered round 
 A fiery shower ; then fierce as elephants 
 
 Or butting bulls they battered each the other. 
 Thick fell the blows, and soon each stalwart frame, 
 Spattered with gore, glowed like the Kinsuka, 
 Bedecked with scarlet blossoms; yet beneath 
 The rain of strokes, unshaken as a rock 
 
 Bhima sustained the mace of Salya, he 
 
 With equal firmness bore the other’s blows. 
 
 Now like the roar of crashing thunder-clouds 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 407 
 
 Sounded the clashing iron; then, their clubs 
 Brandished aloft, eight paces they retired, 
 
 And swift again advancing to the fight, 
 
 Met in the midst like two huge mountain-crags 
 Hurled into contact. Nor could either bear 
 
 The other’s shock ; together down they rolled, 
 Mangled and crushed, like two tall standards fallen. 
 
 After this a great battle was fought between Yudhi- 
 shthira and Salya, who was at first aided and rescued by 
 Asvatthaman, but was eventually killed (IX. 919). 
 
 The Kauravas after suffering continual reverses, rallied 
 their scattered forces for a final charge, which led to a 
 complete rout and general slaughter, Duryodhana, ASvat- 
 thaman (son of Drona), Krita-varman (also called Bhoja), 
 and Kripa (see note 4, p. 383) being the only chiefs of the 
 Kuru army left alive’. Nothing remained of eleven whole 
 armies (IX. 1581). Duryodhana, wounded, disheartened, 
 and alarmed for his own safety, resolved on flight : 
 
 On foot, with nothing but his mace, he took refuge in a lake, hiding 
 himself under the water, and then, by his magical power, supporting it so 
 as to form a chamber around his body*. The Pandavas informed of his 
 hiding-place, came to the lake, and Yudhi-shthira commenced taunting 
 Duryodhana, ‘Where is your manliness ? where is your pride ? where your 
 valour? where your skill in arms, that you hide yourself at the bottom of 
 a lake? Rise up and fight ; perform your duty as a Kshatriya’ (IX. 
 1774). Duryodhana answered, that it was not from fear, but fatigue, 
 that he was lying under the water, and that he was ready to fight them 
 all. He entreated them, however, to go and take the kingdom, as he had 
 no longer any pleasure in life, his brothers being killed. Yudhi-shthira 
 then continued his sarcasms, till at last, thoroughly roused by his goad- 
 ing words (vak-pratoda), Duryodhana rose up out of the lake, his body 
 streaming with blood and water (IX. 1865). 
 
 1 Sanjaya was taken by Dhrishta-dyumna, and would have been killed 
 had not Vyasa suddenly appeared and demanded that he should be 
 dismissed unharmed (compare p. 377). 
 
 2 So I interpret astambhayat toyam mayaya (IX. 1621) and vishtabhya 
 apah sva-mayaya (1680, 1739). Duryodhana is described as lying down 
 and sleeping at the bottom of the lake (1705). 
 
408 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Tt was settled that a single combat with clubs should 
 take place between Duryodhana and Bhima; and when 
 Bala-rama heard that his two pupils (see p. 384) were 
 about to engage in conflict, he determined to be present, 
 that he might ensure fair play +. 
 
 Then followed the great club-fight (gadd-yuddha) : 
 
 The two combatants entered the lists and challenged each other, while 
 Krishna, Bala-rama, and all the other Pandavas sat round as spectators. 
 The fight was tedious, the combatants being equally matched. At last 
 Bhima struck Duryodhana a blow on his thighs, broke them, and felled 
 him to the ground. Then reminding him of the insult received by 
 Draupadi, he kicked him on the head with his left foot (IX. 3313). 
 Upon this Bala-rama started up in anger, declaring that Bhima had 
 fought unfairly (it being a rule in club-fights that no blow should be 
 given below the middle of the body), and that he should ever after be 
 called Jihma-yodhin (unfair-fighter), while Duryodhana should always be 
 celebrated as tju-yodhin (fair-fighter). 
 
 Bala-rama thereupon returned to Dvaraka, and the five 
 Pandavas with Krishna entered the camp of Duryodhana, 
 and took possession of it and its treasures as victors 
 (IX. 3492). 
 
 The three surviving Kuru warriors (Asvatthaman, 
 Kripa, and Krita-varman), hearing of the fall of Duryo- 
 dhana, hastened to the place where he was lymg. There 
 they found him weltering in his blood (IX. 3629), but still 
 alive. He spoke to them, told them not to grieve for 
 him, and assured them that he ‘should die happy in 
 having done his duty as a Kshatriya. Then leaving 
 Duryodhana still lingering alive with broken thighs on 
 the battle-fieid, they took refuge in a forest. 
 
 There, at night, they rested near a Nyagrodha-tree, where thousands 
 
 * An interesting episode about the mahatmya of Tirthas, and especially. 
 of those on the sacred Sarasvati (IX. 2006), is inserted in this part of the 
 poem. The story of the Moon, who was afflicted with consumption, on 
 account of the curse of Daksha, is also told (2030), as well as the cele- 
 brated legend of Vaishtha and Visvamitra (2296, see p. 363). 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 409 
 
 of crows were roosting. Asvatthaman, who could not sleep, saw an owl 
 approach stealthily and destroy numbers of the sleeping crows (X. 41). 
 This suggested the idea of entering the camp of the Pandavas by night 
 and slaughtering them while asleep (supta'). Accordingly he set out 
 for the Pandu camp, followed by Kripa and Krita-varman. At the gate 
 of the camp his progress was arrested by an awful figure, described as 
 gigantic, glowing like the sun, dressed in a tiger’s skin, with long arms, 
 and bracelets formed of serpents. This was the deity Siva?; and after 
 a tremendous conflict with him, Asvatthaman recognized the god, wor- 
 shipped and propitiated him (X. 251). 
 
 ASvatthaman then directed Kripa and Krita-varman to stand at the 
 camp-gate and kill any of the Pandu army that attempted to escape 
 (X. 327). He himself made his way alone and stealthily to the tent of 
 Dhrishta-dyumna, who was lying there fast asleep. Him he killed by 
 stamping on him, declaring that one who had murdered his father (Drona, 
 see p. 405)—a Brahman and an Adirya—was not worthy to die in any 
 other way (X. 342). After killing every one in the camp and destroying 
 the whole Pandu army (except the five Pandavas themselves with Satyaki 
 and Krishna who happened to be stationed outside the camp), ASvatthaman 
 joined his comrades, and they all three proceeded to the spot where Duryo- 
 dhana was lying. They found him just breathing (Avjiéit-prana), but 
 weltering in his blood and surrounded by beasts of prey. Asvatthaman 
 then announced that he was avenged, as only seven of the Pandu army 
 were now left; all the rest were slaughtered like cattle (X. 531). Duryo- 
 dhana hearing this, revived a little, and gathering strength to thank 
 them and say farewell, expired; his spirit rising to heaven and his body 
 entering the ground (X. 536). 
 
 Thus perished both armies of Kurus and Pandavas. 
 
 Dhrita-rashtra was so overwhelmed with grief for the 
 death of his sons, that his father Vyasa appeared to him 
 and consoled him by pointing out that their fate was 
 
 1 Hence the name sauptika applied to this section of the poem. Com- 
 pare Homer’s narrative of the night adventures of Diomed and Ulysses 
 in the camp of the Trojans (Iliad X). 
 
 2 The description of Siva in this passage is remarkable. Hundreds 
 and thousands of Krishnas are said to be manifested from the light 
 issuing from his person. Many of Siva’s names also are enumerated as 
 follow: Ugra, Sthanu, Siva, Rudra, Sarva, Isana, Isvara, Girisa, Varada, 
 Deva, Bhava, Bhavana, Sitikantha, Aja, Sukra, Daksha-kratu-hara, Hara, 
 Visvariipa, Virtpaksha, Balhurtipa, Umapati (X. 252). 
 
410 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 pre-destined, and that they could not escape death. He 
 also declared that the Pandavas were not to blame; that 
 Duryodhana, though born from Gandhari, was really a 
 partial incarnation of Kalit (Kaler anga), and Sakuni of 
 Dvapara (see p. 333, note). 
 
 Vidura also comforted the king with his usual sensible 
 advice, and recommended that the funeral ceremonies 
 (preta-karydni) should be performed. Dhrita-rashtra 
 then ordered carriages to be prepared, and with the 
 women proceeded to the field of battle (XI. 269). 
 
 There he met and became reconciled to the five Panda- 
 vas, but his wife Gandhari would have cursed them had 
 not Vyasa interfered. The five brothers next embraced 
 and comforted their mother Pritha, who with the queen 
 Gandhari, and the other wives and women, uttered lamen- 
 tations over the bodies of the slain heroes, as one by one 
 they came in sight on the field of battle (XI. 427-755). 
 
 Finally, the funeral obsequies ($d@ddha) were performed 
 at the command of Yudhi-shthira (XI. 779), after which 
 he, with his brothers, entered Hastina-pura in triumph. 
 
 All the streets were decorated; and Brahmans offered him congratu- 
 lations, which he acknowledged by distributing largesses among them 
 (XII. 1410). Only one person stood aloof. This turned out to be 
 
 an impostor, a friend of Duryodhana—a Rakshasa named Carvaka— 
 
 who in the disguise of a mendicant reviled him and the Brahmans. He 
 was, however, soon detected ; and the real Brahmans, filled with fury and 
 uttering imprecations, killed him on the spot (see p. 132). 
 
 After this incident, Yudhi-shthira, seated on a golden 
 throne, was solemnly crowned (XII. 1443). 
 
 Nevertheless, restless and uneasy, and his mind filled with anguish 
 at the slaughter of his kindred, he longed for consolation (θη), and 
 Krishna recommended him to apply to Bhishma, who still remained alive 
 on the field of battle, reclining on his soldier’s bed (vzra-sayana), surrounded 
 by Vyasa, Narada, and other holy sages. Accordingly, Yudhi-shthira 
 and his brothers, accompanied by Krishna, set out for Kuru-kshetra, 
 
 1 So also Sakuni is said to be an incarnation of Dvapara (XVIII. 166). 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 411 
 
 passing mutilated corpses, skulls, broken armour, and other evidences 
 of the fearful nature of the war. This reminded Krishna of the slaughter 
 caused by Parasu-rama, who cleared the earth thrice seven times of the 
 Kshatriya caste (see p. 331). His story was accordingly narrated to 
 Yudhi-shthira (XII. 1707-1805). They then approached Bhishma lying 
 on his couch of arrows (sara-samstara-sayinam), and Krishna entreated 
 him to instruct Yudhi-shthira, and calm his spirit. 
 
 Upon that Bhishma, who had been lying for fifty-eight nights on his 
 spiky bed (XIII. 7732), assisted by Krishna, Narada, Vyasa, and other 
 Rishis, commenced a series of long and tedious didactic discourses (con- 
 tained in the Santi-parvan and Anusadsana-parvan’). 
 
 Then having finished instructing his relatives, he bade them farewell, and 
 asked Krishna’s leave to depart. Suddenly the arrows left his body, his 
 skull divided, and his spirit, bright as a meteor, ascended through the top of 
 his head to the skies (XIII. 7765). They covered him with garlands and 
 perfumes, carried him to the Ganges, and performed his last obsequies. 
 
 And here a European poet would have brought the 
 story to an end. The Sanskrit poet has a deeper know- 
 ledge of human nature, or at least of Hindu nature. 
 
 In the most popular of Indian dramas (the Sakuntala) 
 there occurs this sentiment’: 
 
 ’Tis a vain thought that to attain the end 
 And object of ambition is to rest. 
 
 Success doth only mitigate the fever 
 
 Of anxious expectation: soon the fear 
 
 Of losing what we have, the constant care 
 Of guarding it doth weary. 
 
 If then the great national Epic was to respond truly 
 to the deeper emotions of the Hind&i mind, it could not 
 
 1 In XII. 1241 we have some curious rules for expiation (prayas- 
 éitta), and at 1393 rules for what to eat and what to avoid (bhakshyd- 
 bhakshya). Some of the precepts are either taken from or founded on 
 Manu. For instance, compare 6071 with Manu II. 238. Many of the 
 moral verses in the Hitopadesa will be found in the Santi-parvan ; and 
 the fable of the three fishes is founded on the story at 4889. For the 
 contents of the Asvamedhika, Asramavasika, and Mausala Parvans, see 
 Ρ. 375: 
 
 2 See my translation of this play, 4th edition, p. 124 (recently pub- 
 lished by W. H. Allen ἃ Co., 13, Waterloo Place). 
 
412 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 leave the Pandavas in the contented enjoyment of their 
 kingdom. It had to instil a more sublime moral—a 
 lesson which even the disciples of a divine philosophy 
 are slow to learn—that all who desire rest must aim 
 at union with the Infinite. Hence we are brought in the 
 concluding chapters to a sublime description of the renun- 
 ciation of their kingdom by the five brothers, and their 
 journey towards Indra’s heaven in the mountain Meru. 
 Part of this (XVII. 24, &c.) I now translate : 
 
 When the four brothers knew the high resolve of king Yudhi-shthira, 
 Forthwith with Draupadi they issued forth, and after them a dog 
 Followed: the king himself went out the seventh from the royal city, 
 And all the citizens and women of the palace walked behind ; 
 
 But none could find it in their heart to say unto the king, ‘ Return.’ 
 
 And so at length the train of citizens went back, bidding adieu. 
 
 Then the high-minded sons of Pandu and the noble Draupadi 
 
 Roamed onwards, fasting, with their faces towards the east ; their hearts 
 Yearning for union with the Infinite; bent on abandonment 
 
 Of worldly things. They wandered on to many countries, many a sea 
 And river. Yudhi-shthira walked in front, and next to him came Bhima, 
 And Arjuna came after him, and then, in order, the twin brothers. 
 
 And last of all came Draupadi, with her dark skin and lotus-eyes— 
 
 The faithful Draupadi, loveliest of women, best of noble wives— 
 
 Behind them walked the only living thing that shared their pilgrimage— 
 The dog—and by degrees they reached the briny sea. There Arjuna 
 Cast in the waves his bow and quivers’. Then with souls well-disciplined 
 They reached the northern region, and beheld with heaven-aspiring hearts 
 The mighty mountain Himavat. Beyond its lofty peak they passed 
 Towards a sea of sand, and saw at last the rocky Meru, king 
 
 Of mountains. As with eager steps they hastened on, their souls intent 
 On union with the Eternal, Draupadi lost hold of her high hope, 
 
 And faltering fell upon the earth. 
 
 One by one the others also drop, till only Bhima, 
 Yudhi-shthira, and the dog are left. Still Yudhi-shthira 
 walks steadily in front, calm and unmoved, looking neither 
 to the right hand nor to the left, and gathering up his 
 
 1 Arjuna had two celebrated quivers, besides the bow named Gandiva, 
 given to him by the god Agni. See Kiratarjuniya XI. 16. 
 
THE EPIC POEMS—THE MAHA-BHARATA. 413 
 
 soul in inflexible resolution. Bhima, shocked at the fall 
 of his companions, and unable to understand how beings 
 so apparently guileless should be struck down by fate, 
 appeals to his brother, who, without looking back, explains 
 that death is the consequence of sinful thoughts and too 
 great attachment to worldly objects ; and that Draupadi’s 
 fall was owing to her excessive affection for Arjuna ; 
 Sahadeva’s (who is supposed to be the most humble- 
 minded of the five brothers) to his pride in his own 
 knowledge; Nakula’s (who is very handsome) to feelings 
 of personal vanity; and Arjuna’s to a boastful confidence 
 in his power to destroy his foes. Bhima then feels 
 himself falling, and is told that he suffers death for his 
 selfishness, pride, and too great love of enjoyment. The 
 sole survivor is now Yudhi-shthira, who still walks 
 
 steadily forward, followed only by the dog: 
 
 Whenwithasuddensound that rang through earthand heaven themighty god 
 Came towards him in a chariot, and he cried, ‘Ascend, O resolute prince.’ 
 Then did the king look back upon his fallen brothers, and address’d 
 These words unto the Thousand-eyed in anguish—‘ Let my brothers here 
 Come with me. Without them, O god of gods, I would not wish to enter 
 F’en heaven ; and yonder tender princess Draupadi, the faithful wife, 
 Worthy of endless bliss, let her too come. In mercy hear my prayer.’ 
 
 Upon this, Indra informs him that the spirits of Drau- 
 padi and his brothers are already in heaven, and that he 
 alone is permitted to ascend there in bodily form. Yudhi- 
 shthira now stipulates that his dog shall be admitted 
 with him. Indra says sternly, ‘Heaven has no place for 
 men accompanied by dogs (svavatdm) ; but Yudhi-shthira 
 is unshaken in his resolution, and declines abandoning 
 the faithful animal. Indra remonstrates—‘ You have 
 abandoned your brothers and Draupadi; why not forsake 
 the dog?’ To this Yudhi-shthira haughtily replies, ‘I had 
 no power to bring them back to life: how can there be 
 abandonment of those who no longer live Τ᾽ 
 
414 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The dog, it appears, is his own father Dharma in 
 disguise (XVII. 881). Reassuming now his proper form, 
 he praises Yudhi-shthira for his constancy, and they enter 
 heaven together. There, to his surprise, he finds Duryo- 
 dhana and his cousins, but not his brothers or Draupadi. 
 Hereupon he declines remaining in heaven without them. 
 An angel is then sent to conduct him to the lower regions 
 and across the Indian Styx (Vaitarani) to the hell where 
 they are supposed to be. The scene which now follows 
 may be compared to the Nekyomanteia in the eleventh 
 book of the Odyssey, or to parts of Dante. 
 
 The particular hell to which Yudhi-shthira is taken 15 
 a dense wood, whose leaves are sharp swords, and its 
 eround paved with razors (asi-patra-vana, see p.66, note 2). 
 The way to it is strewed with foul and mutilated corpses. 
 Hideous shapes flit across the air and hover over him. 
 Here there is an awful sensation of palpable darkness. 
 There the wicked are burning in flames of blazing fire. 
 Suddenly he hears the voices of his brothers and com- 
 panions imploring him to assuage their torments, and not 
 desert them. His resolution is taken. Deeply affected, 
 he bids the angel leave him to share their miseries. This 
 is his last trial. The whole scene now vanishes. It was 
 a mere illusion, to test his constancy to the utmost. He 
 is now directed to bathe in the heavenly Ganges; and 
 having plunged into the sacred stream, he enters the 
 real heaven, where at length, in company with Draupadi 
 and his brothers, he finds that rest and happiness which 
 were unattainable on earth. 
 
 1 So T infer from the original, which, however, is somewhat obscure. 
 The expression is dharma-svartipt bhagavan. At any rate, the dog 
 was a mere phantom created to try Yudhi-shthira, as it is evident that 
 a real dog is not admitted with Yudhi-shthira to heaven. 
 
Ὁ Ra = ey 
 
 The Indian Epics compared with each other 
 and with the Homeric Poems. 
 
 | PROCEED to note a few obvious points that force 
 
 themselves on the attention in comparing the two 
 ereat Indian Epics with each other, and with the Homeric 
 poems. I have already stated that the episodes of the 
 Maha-bharata occupy more than three-fourths of the whole 
 poem', It is, in fact, not one poem, but a combination 
 of many poems: not a Advya, like the poem of Valmiki, 
 by one author, but an Jtihdsa by many authors. ‘This 
 is one great distinctive feature in comparing it with the 
 Ramayana. In both Epics there is a leading story, about 
 which are collected a multitude of other stories; but in 
 the Maha-bharata the main narrative only acts as a slender 
 thread to connect together a vast mass of independent 
 legends, and religious, moral, and political precepts ; 
 while in the Ramayana the episodes, though numerous, 
 never break the solid chain of one principal and para- 
 mount subject, which is ever kept in view. Moreover, 
 in the Ramayana there are few didactic discourses and 
 a remarkable paucity of sententious maxims. 
 
 1 Although the Maha-bharata is so much longer than the Ramayana as 
 to preclude the idea of its being, like that poem, the work of one or even 
 a few authors, yet it is the number of the episodes which, after all, causes 
 the disparity. Separated from these, the main story of the Maha-bharata 
 is not longer than the other Epic. 
 
416 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 It ‘should be remembered that the two Epics belong 
 to different periods and different localities. Not only 
 was a large part of the Maha-bharata composed later than 
 the Ramayana, parts of it being comparatively modern, but 
 the places which gave birth to the two poems are distinct 
 (see p. 320). Moreover, in the Ramayana the circle of 
 territory represented as occupied by the Aryans is more 
 restricted than that in the Maha-bharata. It reaches to 
 Videha or Mithila and Anga in the East, to Su-rashtra in 
 the South-west, to the Yamuna and great Dandaka forest 
 in the South. Whereas in the Maha-bharata (as pointed 
 out by Professor Lassen) the Aryan settlers are described 
 as having extended themselves to the mouths of the 
 Ganges in the East, to the mouth of the Godavari on 
 the Koromandel coast, and to the Malabar coast in the 
 West; and even the inhabitants of Ceylon (Sinhala) bring 
 tribute to the Northern kings. It is well known that in 
 India different customs and opinions frequently prevail in 
 districts almost adjacent; and it is certain that Brah- 
 manism never gained the ascendancy in the more martial 
 north which it acquired in the neighbourhood of Oude’, 
 so that in the Maha-bharata we have far more allusions to 
 Buddhistie scepticism than we have in the sister Hpic. 
 In fact, each poem, though often running parallel to 
 the other, has yet a distinct point of departure ; and the 
 Maha-bharata, as it became current in various localities, 
 diverged more into by-paths and cross-roads than its sister. 
 Hence the Ramayana is in some respects a more finished 
 
 1 Professor Weber (Ind. Stud. I. 220) remarks that the north-western 
 tribes retained their ancient customs, which those who migrated to the 
 east had at one time shared. The former (as represented in the Maha- 
 bharata) kept themselves free from those influences of hierarchy and caste, 
 which arose among the inhabitants of Ayodhya (in the Ramayana) as a 
 consequence of their intermingling and coming more in contact with the 
 aborigines. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 417 
 
 composition than the Maha-bharata, and depicts a more 
 polished state of society, and a more advanced civilization. 
 In fact, the Maha-bharata presents a complete circle of 
 post-Vedie mythology, including many myths which have 
 their germ in the Veda, and continually enlarging its cir- 
 cumference to embrace the later phases of Hindiiism, with 
 its whole train of confused and conflicting legends’. From 
 this storehouse are drawn much of the Puranas, and many 
 of the more recent heroic poems and dramas. Here we 
 have repeated many of the legends of the Ramayana, and 
 even the history of Rama himself (see p. 368). Here also 
 we have long discourses on religion, politics, morality, and 
 philosophy, introduced without any particular connexion 
 with the plot. Here again are most of the narratives 
 of the incarnation of Vishnu, numberless stories connected 
 with the worship of Siva, and various details of the life 
 of Krishna. Those which especially bear on the modern 
 worship of Krishna are contained in the supplement called 
 Hari-vanga,which is itself a long poem—consisting of 16,374 
 stanzas*—longer than the Iliad and Odyssey combined *. 
 Hence the religious system of the Maha-bharata is far 
 more popular, liberal, and comprehensive than that of the 
 Ramayana. It is true that the god Vishnu is connected 
 with Krishna in the Maha-bharata, as he is with Rama 
 
 1 Tt should be noted, that the germs of many of the legends of Hindu 
 epic poetry are found in the Rig-veda. Also that the same legend is 
 sometimes repeated in different parts of the Maha-bharata, with con- 
 siderable variations ; as, for example, the story of the combat of Indra— 
 god of air and thunder—with the demon Vritra, who represents en- 
 veloping clouds and vapour. See Vana-parvan 8690 &c.; and compare 
 with Santi-parvan ro124 &e. Compare also the story of the ‘Hawk and 
 Pigeon,’ Vana-parvan 10558, with Anusasana-parvan 2046. 
 
 2 The Hari-vangéa bears to the Maha-bhirata a relation very similar to 
 that which the Uttara-kanda, or last Book of the Ramayana, bears to the 
 preceding Books of that poem. 
 
 8. The Iliad and Odyssey together contain about 30,000 lines, 
 
 Ee 
 
418 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 in the Ramayana, but in the latter Raima is everything ; 
 whereas in the Maha-bharata, Krishna is by no means the 
 centre of the system. His divinity is even occasionally 
 disputed’, The five Pandavas have also partially divine 
 natures, and by turns become prominent. Sometimes 
 Arjuna, sometimes Yudhi-shthira, at others Bhima, appears 
 to be the principal orb round which the plot moves’. 
 Moreover, in various passages Siva is described as supreme, 
 and receives worship from Krishna. In others, Krishna 
 is exalted above all, and receives honour from Siva’. In 
 fact, while the Ramayana generally represents one-sided 
 and exclusive Brahmanism ‘, the Maha-bharata reflects the 
 multilateral character of Hindiism ; its monotheism and 
 polytheism, its spirituality and materialism, its strictness 
 and laxity, its priestcraft and anti-priestcraft, its hierar- 
 chical intolerance and rationalistic philosophy, combined. 
 Not that there was any intentional variety in the original 
 design of the work, but that almost every shade of opinion 
 found expression in a compilation formed by gradual 
 accretion through a long period. 
 
 In unison with its more secular, popular, and human 
 character, the Maha-bharata has, as a rule, less of mere 
 mythical allegory, and more of historical probability in its 
 
 ΤΠ As by Sisu-pala and others. See p. 392, with notes. 
 
 * In this respect the Maha-bhirata resembles the Iliad. Achilles is 
 searcely its hero. Other warriors too much divide the interest with him. 
 
 ὅ In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna is not merely an incarnation of Vishnu ; 
 he is identified with Brahma, the Supreme Spirit, and is so in numerous 
 other places. It is well known that in Homer the supremacy of one god 
 (Jove), and due subordination of the other deities, is maintained. 
 
 * Some free thought, however, has found its way into the Ramayana ; 
 see IT. eviii (Schl.); VI. Ixii. 15 (Gorr., Bomb. Ixxxiii. 14); VI. Ixxxiii. 
 14 (Cale.). It is remarkable that in the Ramayana the same gods are 
 appealed to by Rama and Ravana, just as by Greeks and Trojans in the 
 liad ; and Hanumat, when in Lanka, heard the Brahma-ghosha in the 
 morning. Ramfay. V.xvi. 41. This has been noticed by Weber. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 419 
 
 narratives than the Ramayana. The reverse, however, 
 sometimes holds good. For example, in Ramayana IV. xl. 
 we have a simple division of the world into four quarters 
 or regions, whereas in Maha-bharata VI. 236 &c. we have 
 the fanciful division (afterwards adopted by the Puranas) 
 into seven circular Dvipas or continents, viz. 1. Jambu- 
 dvipa or the Earth, 2. Plaksha-dvipa, 3. Salmali-dvipa, 
 4. Kuga-dvipa, 5. Kraunéa-dvipa, 6. Saka-dvipa, 7. Push- 
 kara-dvipa ; surrounded respectively by seven oceans in 
 concentric belts, viz. 1. the sea of salt-water (lavana), 
 2. of sugar-cane juice (tkshu), 3. of wine (surd), 4. of 
 clarified butter (sarpis), 5. of curdled milk (dadhi), 6. of 
 milk (dugdha), 7. of fresh water (jala); the mountain 
 Meru, or abode of the gods, being in the centre of Jambu- 
 dvipa, which again is divided into nine Varshas or coun- 
 tries separated by eight ranges of mountains, the Varsha 
 called Bharata (India) lying south of the Himavat range". 
 
 Notwithstanding these wild ideas and absurd figments, 
 the Maha-bharata contains many more illustrations of 
 real life and of domestic and social habits and manners 
 than the sister Epic. Its diction again is more varied 
 than that of the Ramayana. The bulk of the latter 
 poem (notwithstanding interpolations and additions) being 
 by one author, is written with uniform simplicity of style 
 and metre (see p. 338, note); and the antiquity of the 
 greater part is proved by the absence of any studied 
 
 1 The eight ranges are Nishadha, Hema-kiita, Nishadha on the south 
 of Meru; Nila, Sveta, Sringin on the north; and Malyavat and Gandha- 
 madana on the west and east. Beyond the sea of fresh water is a circle 
 called ‘the land of gold, and beyond this the circle of the Lokaloka 
 mountains, which form the limit of the sun’s light, all the region on 
 one side being illuminated, and all on the other side of them being in 
 utter darkness. See Raghu-van‘a I. 68. Below the seven Dvipas are 
 the seven Patalas (see p. 431), and below these are the twenty-one Hells 
 (note 2, p. 66). 
 
 Ee 2 
 
420 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 elaboration of diction. The Maha-bharata, on the other 
 hand, though generally simple and natural in its language, 
 and free from the conceits and artificial constructions of 
 later writers, comprehends a greater diversity of compo- 
 sition, rising sometimes (especially when the Indra-vajra 
 metre is employed) to the higher style, and using not 
 only loose and irregular, but also studiously complex 
 grammatical forms', and from the mixture of ancient 
 legends, occasional archaisms and Vedic formations. 
 
 In contrasting the two Indian poems with the Iliad 
 and the Odyssey, we may observe many points of simi- 
 larity. Some parallel passages have been already pointed 
 out. We must expect to find the distinctive genius of 
 two different people (though both of the Aryan race) in 
 widely distant localities, colouring their epic poetry very 
 differently, notwithstanding general features of resem- 
 blance. The Ramayana and Maha-bharata are no less 
 wonderful than the Homeric poems as monuments of 
 the human mind, and no less interesting as pictures of 
 human life and manners in ancient times, yet they bear 
 in a remarkable degree the peculiar impress ever stamped 
 on the productions of Asiatic nations, and separating them 
 from European. On the side of art and harmony of pro- 
 portion, they can no more compete with the Iliad and the 
 Odyssey than the unnatural outline of the ten-headed 
 and twenty-armed Ravana can bear comparison with the 
 symmetry of a Grecian statue. While the simplicity of the 
 one commends itself to the most refined classical taste, the 
 exaggerations of the other only excite the wonder of Asiatic 
 minds, or if attractive to European, can only please imagi- 
 nations nursed in an Oriental school. 
 
 * Thus, jivase (I. 732), kurmi (111. 10943, and Ramay. II. xii. 33), dhita 
 for hita (Hari-vansa 7799), parinaydmasa for parindyayamasa, ma bhaih 
 for ma bhaishih, vyavasishyami for vyavasasyami. The use of irregular 
 grammatical forms is sometimes due to the exigency of the metre. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 421 
 
 Thus, in the Iliad, time, space, and action are all 
 restricted within the narrowest limits. In the Odyssey 
 they are allowed a wider, though not too wide, a cycle ; 
 but in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata their range is 
 almost unbounded. The Ramayana, as it traces the life 
 of a single individual with tolerable continuity, is in this 
 respect more like the Odyssey than the Hiad. In other 
 points, especially in its plot, the greater simplicity of its 
 style, and its comparative freedom from irrelevant episodes, 
 it more resembles the Iliad. There are many graphic 
 passages in both the Ramayana and Maha-bharata which, 
 for beauty of description, cannot be surpassed by anything 
 in Homer. It should be observed, moreover, that the 
 diction of the Indian Epics is more polished, regular, and 
 cultivated, and the language altogether in a more advanced 
 stage of development than that of Homer. This, of course, 
 tells to the disadvantage of the style on the side of nervous 
 force and vigour; and it must be admitted that in the 
 Sanskrit poems there is a great redundance of epithets, 
 too liberal a use of metaphor, simile, and hyperbole, and 
 far too much repetition, amplification, and prolixity. 
 
 In fact, the European who wishes to estimate rightly the 
 Indian Epics must be prepared not to judge them exclu- 
 sively from his own point of view. He should bear in 
 mind that to satisfy the ordinary Oriental taste, poetry 
 requires to be seasoned with exaggeration. 
 
 Again, an Occidental student’s appreciation of many 
 passages will depend upon his familiarity with Indian 
 mythology, as well as with Oriental customs, scenery, 
 and even the characteristic idiosyncrasies of the animal 
 creation in the East. Most of the similes in Hindi epic 
 poetry are taken from the habits and motions of Asiatic 
 animals, such as elephants and tigers’, or from peculiarities 
 
 1 Thus any eminent or courageous person “would be spoken of as 
 ‘a tiger of a man,’ Other favourite animals in similes are the lion 
 
422 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 in the aspect of Indian plants and natural objects. Then, 
 as to the description of scenery, in which Hindi poets are 
 certainly more graphic and picturesque than either Greek 
 r Latin", the whole appearance of external nature in the 
 Kast, the exuberance of vegetation, the profusion of trees 
 and fruits and flowers’, the glare of burning skies, the 
 freshness of the rainy season, the fury of storms, the 
 serenity of Indian moonlight ἢ, and the gigantic mould in 
 which natural objects are generally cast—these and many 
 other features are difficult to be realized by a European. 
 We must also make allowance for the difference in Eastern 
 manners ; though, after conceding a wide margin in this 
 ΕΣ it must be confessed that the disregard of all 
 delicacy in laying bare the most revolting particulars of 
 certain ancient legends which we now and then encounter 
 in the Indian Epics (especially in the Maha-bharata) is 
 
 (sinha), the ruddy goose (éakravaka or rathanga), the buffalo (mahisha), 
 the boar (varaha), the koil or Indian cuckoo (kokila), the heron (krauiéa), 
 the ox (gavaya, i.e. bos gavaeus), &c. &e. A woman is sometimes said 
 to have a rolling gait like that of an elephant. It should be noted, 
 however, that similes in the Indian Epics, though far too frequent, are 
 generally confined to a few words, and not, as in Homer, drawn out for 
 three or four lines, 
 
 * The descriptions of scenery and natural objects in Homer are too 
 short and general to be really picturesque. They want more colouring 
 and minuteness of detail. Some account for this by supposing that a 
 Greek poet was not accustomed to look upon nature with a painter’s eye. 
 
 * The immense profusion of flowers of all kinds is indicated by the 
 number of botanical terms in a Sanskrit dictionary. Some of the most 
 common flowers and trees alluded to in epic poetry are, the ééta or 
 mango ; the asoka (described by Sir William Jones) ; the hinguka (butea 
 frondosa, with beautiful red blossoms); the tamarind (amlika) ; the 
 Jasmine (of which there are many varieties, such as φαίη, jati, yuthika, 
 &c.); the kuruvaka (amaranth) ; the saudal (¢axndana) ; the jujube (kar- 
 kandhu) ; the pomegranate (dadima) ; the kadamba (nipa) ; the tamarisk 
 (piéula) ; the vakula, karnikara, sringaia, &e. 
 
 * See the beautiful description of night in Ramayana (Gorr.) I. xxxvi. 15. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER, 423 
 
 a serious blot, and one which never disfigures the pages 
 of Homer, notwithstanding his occasional freedom of ex- 
 pression. Yet there are not wanting indications in the 
 Indian Epics of a higher degree of civilization than that 
 represented in the Homeric poems. The battle-fields of the 
 Ramayana and Maha-bharata, though spoiled by childish 
 exaggerations and the use of supernatural weapons, are 
 not made barbarous by wanton cruelties'; and the des- 
 criptions of Ayodhya and Lanka imply far greater luxury 
 and refinement than those of Sparta and Troy. 
 
 The constant interruption of the principal story (as 
 before described) by tedious episodes, in both Ramayana 
 and Maha-bharata, added to the rambling prolixity of the 
 story itself, will always be regarded as the chief drawback 
 in Hindt epic poetry, and constitutes one of its most 
 marked features of distinction. Even in this respect, 
 however, the Iliad has not escaped the censure of critics. 
 Many believe that this poem is the result of the fusion 
 of different songs on one subject, long current in various 
 localities, intermixed with later interpolations, something 
 after the manner of the Maha-bharata. But the artistic 
 instincts of the Greeks required that all the parts and 
 appendages and more recent additions should be blended 
 into one compact, homogeneous, and symmetrical whole. 
 Although we have certainly in Homer occasional digres- 
 sions or parentheses, such as the description of the ‘shield 
 of Achilles,’ the ‘story of Venus and Mars, these are not 
 like the Indian episodes. If not absolutely essential to 
 the completeness of the epic conception, they appear to 
 arise naturally out of the business of the plot, and cause 
 
 1 There is something savage in Achilles’ treatment of Hector ; and the 
 cruelties permitted by Ulysses, in the 22nd Book of the Odyssey, are 
 almost revolting. Compare with these Rama’s treatment of his fallen 
 foe Ravana, in the Yuddha-kanda. 
 
424 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 no violent disruption of its unity. On the contrary, with 
 Eastern writers and narrators of stories, continuity is often 
 designedly interrupted. They delight in stringing together | 
 a number of distinct stories,—detached from each other, 
 yet connected like the figures on a frieze. They even 
 purposely break the sequence of each; so that before 
 one is ended another is commenced, and ere this is com- 
 pleted, others are interwoven; the result being a curious 
 intertwining of stories within stories, the slender thread of 
 an original narrative running through them all. A familiar 
 instance of this is afforded by the well-known collection of 
 tales called ‘ Hitopadega, and by the ‘Arabian Nights.’ 
 The same tendency is observable in the composition of 
 the epic poems—far more, however, in the Maha-bharata 
 than in the Ramayana. 
 
 Passing on to a comparison of the plot and the person- 
 ages of the Ramayana with those of the Iliad, without 
 supposing, as some have done, that either poem has been 
 imitated from the other, it is certainly true, and so far 
 remarkable, that the subject of both is a war undertaken 
 to recover the wife of one of the warriors, carried off by 
 a hero on the other side ; and that Rama, in this respect, 
 corresponds to Menelaus, while in others he may be com- 
 pared to Achilles, Sita answering to Helen, Sparta to 
 Ayodhya, Lanka to Troy. It may even be true that 
 some sort of analogy may be traced between the parts 
 played by Agamemnon and Sugriva, Patroclus and Lak- 
 shmana, Nestor and Jambavat'. Again, Ulysses’, in one 
 respect, may be compared to Hanumat; and Hector, as 
 the bravest warrior on the Trojan side, may in some points 
 be likened to Indrajit, in others to the indignant Vibhi- 
 
 τ Jambavat was the chief of the bears, who was always giving sage 
 advice. 
 
 ® When any work had to be done which required peculiar skill or 
 stratagem, it was entrusted £@ πολύμητις ᾿Οδυσσεύς. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER, 425 
 
 shana’, or again in the Maha-bharata to Duryodhana, 
 while Achilles has qualities in common with Arjuna. 
 Other resemblances might be indicated; but these com- 
 parisons cannot be carried out to any extent without 
 encountering difficulties at every step, so that any theory 
 of an interchange of ideas between Hindt and Greek epic 
 poets becomes untenable. Rama’s character has really 
 nothing in common with that of Menelaus, and very little 
 with that of Achilles; although, as the bravest and most 
 powerful of the warriors, he is rather to be compared with 
 the latter than the former hero. If in his anger he is 
 occasionally Achillean, his whole nature is cast in a less 
 human mould than that of the Grecian hero. He is the 
 type of a perfect husband, son, and brother. Sita also 
 rises In character far above Helen, and even above 
 Penelope*, both in her sublime devotion and loyalty to 
 her husband, and her indomitable patience and endurance 
 under suffermg and temptation. As for Bharata and 
 Lakshmana, they are models of fraternal duty ; Kausalya 
 of maternal tenderness ; Dasgaratha of paternal love: and 
 it may be affirmed generally that the whole moral tone of 
 the Ramayana is certainly above that of the Iliad. Again, 
 in the Iliad the subject is really the anger of Achilles ; 
 and when that is satisfied the drama closes. The fall of 
 Troy is not considered necessary to the completion of the 
 plot. Whereas in the Ramayana the whole action points 
 to the capture of Lanka and destruction of the ravisher. 
 No one too can read either the Ramayana or Maha-bharata 
 without feeling that they rise above the Homeric poems 
 in this—that a deep religious meaning appears to underlie 
 
 ' Hector, like Vibhishana, was indignant with the ravisher, but he 
 does not refuse to fight on his brother's side. 
 
 ? One cannot help suspecting Penelope of giving way to a little 
 womanly vanity in allowing herself to be surrounded by so many suitors, 
 though she repudiated their advances. 
 
426 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 all the narrative, and that the wildest allegory may be 
 intended to conceal a sublime moral, symbolizing the 
 conflict between good and evil, and teaching the hopeless- 
 ness of victory in so terrible a contest without purity of 
 soul, self-abnegation, and subjugation of the passions. 
 
 In reality it is the religious element of the Indian 
 Epics that constitutes one of the principal features of con- 
 trast in comparing them with the Homeric. We cannot of 
 course do more than indicate here the bare outlines of so 
 interesting a subject as a comparison between the gods of 
 India, Rome, and Greece. Thus: 
 
 Indra‘ and Siva certainly offer points of analogy to Jupiter and Zeus ; 
 Durga or Parvati to Juno; Krishna to Apollo; Sri to Ceres; Prithivi 
 to Cybele; Varuna to Neptuue, and, in his earlier character, to Uranus ; 
 Sarasvati, goddess of speech and the arts, to Minerva; Karttikeya or 
 Skanda, god of war, to Mars?; Yama to Pluto or Minos; Kuvera to 
 Plutus; Visvakarman to Vulcan; Kama, god of love, to Cupid; Rati, 
 his wife, to Venus*; Narada to Mercury’; Hanumat to Pan; Ushas, 
 and in the later mythology Aruna, to Eos (Hos) and Aurora; Vayu to 
 Aeolus; Ganega, as presiding over the opening and beginning of all 
 undertakings, to Janus ; the Asvini-kumaras® to the Dioscuri (Διόσκουροι), 
 Castor and Pollux. 
 
 1 Tndra is, as we have already seen (p. 13), the Jupiter Pluvius who 
 sends rain and wields the thunderbolt, and in the earlier mythology is 
 the chief of the gods, like Zeus. Subsequently his worship was super- 
 seded by that of Krishna aud Siva. 
 
 2 It is curious that Karttikeya, the war-god, is represented in Hindi 
 mythology as the god of thieves—I suppose from their habit of sapping 
 and mining under houses. (See Mrié-chakatika, Act III.) Indian thieves, 
 however, display such skill and ingenuity, that a god like Mercury would 
 appear to be a more appropriate patron. Karttikeya was the son of Siva, 
 just as Mars was the offspring of Jupiter. 
 
 ® Tn one or two points Lakshmi may be compared to Venus. 
 
 * As Mercury was the inventor of the lyre, so Narada was the inventor 
 of the Vina or lute. 
 
 > These ever-youthful twin sons of the Sun, by his wife Sanjna, trans- 
 formed into a mare (asvinz), resemble the classical Dioscuri, both by their 
 exploits and the aid they render to their worshippers (see p. 14). 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 427 
 
 But in Greece, mythology, which was in many respects 
 fully systematized when the Homeric poems were com- 
 posed', never passed certain limits, or outgrew a certain 
 symmetry of outline. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, a 
 god is little more than idealized humanity. His form and 
 his actions are seldom out of keeping with this character. 
 Hindi mythology, on the other hand, springing from the 
 same source as that of Europe, but, spreading and rami- 
 fying with the rank luxuriance of an Indian forest, speedily 
 outgrew all harmony of proportions, and surrounded itself 
 with an intricate undergrowth of monstrous and confused 
 allegory. Doubtless the gods of the Indian and Grecian 
 Epics preserve some traces of their common origin, resem- 
 bling each other in various ways; interfering in human 
 concerns, exhibiting human infirmities, taking part in the 
 battles of their favourite heroes, furnishing them with 
 celestial arms, or interposing directly to protect them. 
 
 But in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata, and in the 
 Puranas to which they led, the shape and operations of 
 divine and semi-divine beings are generally suggestive of 
 the monstrous, the frightful, and the incredible. The 
 human form, however idealized, is seldom thought adequate 
 to the expression of divine attributes. Brahma is four- 
 faced; Siva, three-eyed and sometimes five-headed ; Indra 
 has a thousand eyes; Karttikeya, six faces; Ravana, ten 
 heads ; Ganega has the head of an elephant. Nearly every 
 god and goddess has at least four arms, with symbols of 
 obscure import exhibited in every hand’. The deeds of 
 
 1 Herodotus says (Euterpe, 53) that ‘Homer and Hesiod framed the 
 Greek Theogony, gave distinctive names to the gods, distributed honours 
 and functions to them, and described their forms.’ I conclude that by 
 the verb ποιεῖν, Herodotus did not mean to imply that Homer znvented 
 the myths, but that he gave system to a mythology already current; see, 
 however, Grote’s History of Greece, I. 482 &e. 
 
 9 
 
 The Roman god Janus (supposed to be for Dianus and connected 
 with dies) was represented by two and sometimes four heads. 
 
428 .- INDIAN WISDOM. 
 4. 
 
 heroes, who are themselves half gods, transport the ima- 
 gination into the region of the wildest chimera; and a 
 ΩΝ pantheon presents itself, teeming with arora 
 fancies, with horrible creations, half animals half gods, 
 with man-eating ogres, many-headed giants and disgust- 
 ing demons, to an extent which the refined and delicate 
 sensibilities of the Greeks and Romans could not have 
 tolerated}. 
 
 Moreover, in the Indian Epics the boundaries between 
 the natural and supernatural, between earth and heaven, 
 between the divine, human, and even animal creations, 
 are singularly vague and undefined; troops of deities 
 and semi-divine personages appear on the stage on every 
 occasion. Gods, men, and animals are ever changing 
 places. A constant communication is kept up between 
 the two worlds, and such is their mutual interdependence 
 that each seems to need the other's help. If distressed 
 mortals are assisted out of their difficulties by divine 
 interposition, the tables are often turned, and perturbed 
 gods, themselves reduced to pitiful straits, are forced to 
 implore the aid of mortal warriors in their conflicts with 
 the demons*. They even look to mortals for their daily 
 sustenance, and are represented as actually living on the 
 sacrifices offered to them by human beings, and at every 
 sacrificial ceremony assemble in troops, eager to feed upon 
 their shares. In fact, sacrifice with the Hindi is not 
 merely expiatory or placatory ; it is necessary for the food 
 and support of the gods. If there were no sacrifices the 
 gods would starve to death (see Introduction, p. xxxvii, 
 note 1). This alone will account for the interest they take 
 
 Tt is true that Homer now and then indulges in monstrous creations ; 
 but even the description of Polyphemus does not outrage all probability, 
 like the exaggerated horrors of the demon Kabandha, in the 3rd Book 
 of the Ramayana (see p. 358). 
 
 * Indra does so in the Sakuntala and Vikramorvasi, 
 
THE ELICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 429 
 
 in the destruction of demons, whose great aim was to 
 obstruct these sources of their sustenance. Much in the 
 same way the spirits of dead men are supposed to depend 
 for existence and happiness on the living, and to be fed 
 with cakes of rice and libations of water at the Sraddha 
 ceremonies. 
 
 Again, not only are men aided by animals which usurp 
 ane functions, but the gods also are dependent on and 
 associated with birds and bone of all kinds, and even with 
 plants. Most of the principal deities are descr ibed as using 
 animals for their Vahanas or vehicles. Brahma is aad 
 on a swan, and sometimes seated on a lotus; Vishnu is 
 borne on or attended by a being, half eagle, half man 
 (called Garuda) ; Lakshmi is seated on a lotus or carries 
 one in her hand; Siva has a bull for his vehicle or com- 
 panion; Karttikeya, god of war, has a peacock’; Indra has 
 an elephant ; ὅπ god of death, has a buffalo (mahisha*) ; 
 Kama-deva, a parrot and fish*; Ganega, a rat*; Agni, a 
 ram; Varuna, a fish; Durga, a fon The latter is some- 
 times represented witli her weeiaed on a bull, Siva himself 
 being also associated with a tiger and antelope as well as 
 ith: countless serpents. Vashon (Hari, Narayana) is also 
 represented as the Supreme Being sleeping on a thousand- 
 headed ser pent called Sesha (or eae ‘the Infinite’). 
 
 This Sesha is moreover held to be the chief of a race of 
 Nagas or semi-divine beings, sometimes stated to be one 
 thousand in number, half serpents half men, their heads 
 being human and their bodies snake-like. They inhabit 
 
 1 Karttikeya is represented as a handsome young man (though with six 
 faces). This may account for his being associated with a peacock, 
 
 2 Perhaps from its great power. 
 
 8 A parrot often figures in Indian love-stories. He is also associated 
 with a kind of crocodile as his symbol (whence his name Makara-dhvaja). 
 Such an animal is kept in tanks near his temples. 
 
 * Supposed to possess great sagacity. 
 
430 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the seven Patalas' or regions under the earth, which, with 
 the seven super ΤΠ worlds, are supposed to rest on 
 the thousand heads of the serpent Sesha, who typifies 
 infinity—inasmuch as, according to a common myth, he 
 supports the Supreme Being between the intervals of 
 creation, as well as the worlds created at the commence- 
 ment of each Kalpa (note, p. 333). Again, the earth is 
 sometimes fabled to be supported by the vast heads and 
 backs of eight male and eight female mythical elephants, 
 who all have names’, and are the elephants of the eight 
 
 1 Patala, though often used as a general term for all the seven regions 
 under the earth, is properly only one of the seven, called in order, Atala, 
 Vitala, Sutala, Rasatala, Talatala, Mahdtala, and Patala; above which 
 are the seven worlds (Lokas), called δά (the earth), Bhuvar, Svar, 
 Mahar, Janar, Tapah, and Brahma or Satya (see note 2, p. 66); all 
 fourteen resting on the heads of the great serpent. The serpent-race 
 who inhabit these lower regions (which are not to be confounded with 
 the Narakas or hells, note 2, p. 26) are sometimes regarded as belong- 
 ing to only one of the seven, viz. Patala, or to a portion of it called 
 Niga-loka, of which the capital is Bhogavati. They are fabled to have 
 sprung from Kadri, wife of Kasgyapa, and some of the females among 
 them (Naga-kanyas) are said to have married human heroes. In this way 
 Ulipi became the wife of Arjuna (p. 390, note 2), and, curiously enough, 
 a tribe of the Rajputs claims descent from the Nagas even in the present 
 day. A particular day is held sacred to the Nagas, and a festival called 
 Naga-paidami is kept in their honour about the end of July (Sravana). 
 Vasuki and Takshaka are other leading Nagas, to whom a separate 
 dominion over part of the serpent-race in different parts of the lower 
 regions is sometimes assigned. All the Nagas are described as having 
 jewels in their heads. Their chiefs, Sesha, Vasuki, and Takshaka, are said 
 to rule over snakes generally, while Garuda is called the enemy of Nagas 
 (Nagari); so that the term Naga sometimes stands for an ordinary ser- 
 pent. The habit which snakes have of hiding in holes may have given rise . 
 to the notion of peopling the lower regions with Nagas. The Rey. K. M. 
 Banerjea has a curious theory about them (see p. xxxvi. of this volume). 
 
 2 The eight names of the male elephants are given in the Amara-kosha, 
 thus: Airavata, Pundarika, Vamana, Kumuda, Anjana, Pushpa-danta, 
 Sarva-bhauma, Supratika. Four are named in Ramayana (I. xli), Virt- 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 451 
 
 quarters. When any one of these shakes his body the 
 whole earth quakes (see Ramayana 1. xl), 
 
 In fact, it is not merely in a confused, exaggerated, 
 and overgrown mythology that the difference between the 
 Indian and Grecian Epics lies. It is in the injudicious 
 and excessive use of it. In the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata, the spiritual and the supernatural are every- 
 where so dominant and overpowering, that anything 
 merely human seems altogether out of place. 
 
 In the Iliad and Odyssey, the religious and super- 
 natural are perhaps scarcely less prevalent. The gods 
 are continually interposing and supermtending ; but they 
 do so as if they were themselves little removed from men, 
 or at least without destroying the dramatic probability of 
 the poem, or neutralizing its general air of plain matter- 
 of-fact humanity. Again, granted that in Homer there is 
 frequent mention of the future existence of the soul, and 
 its condition of happiness or misery hereafter, and that 
 the Homeric descriptions of disembodied spirits correspond 
 in many points with the Hinda notions on the same 
 subject '—yet even these doctrines do not stand out with 
 such exaggerated reality in Homer as to make human 
 concerns appear unreal. Nor is there in his poems the 
 slightest allusion to the soul’s pre-existence in a former 
 
 paksha, Maha-padma, Saumanas, and Bhadra, Sometimes these elephants 
 appear to have locomotive habits, and roam about the sky in the neigh- 
 bourhood of their respective quarters (see Megha-dita 14). 
 
 1 See the following passages, which bear on the existence of the ψυχή 
 after death as an εἴδωλον in Hades: 1]. XXIII. 72, 104: Od. XI. 213, 
 476; XX. 355; XXIV. 14. It is curious that the Hindi notion of the 
 restless state of the soul until the Sraddha is performed (see p. 255) 
 agrees with the ancient classical superstition that the ghosts of the dead 
 wandered about as long as their bodies remained unburied, and were 
 not suffered to mingle with those of the other dead. See Odyss. XT. 54: 
 Il. XXIII. 72; and cf. Aen. VI. 325: Lucan I. Il: Eur. Hee. 30. 
 
432 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 body, and its liability to pass into other bodies hereafter— 
 a theory which in Hindi poetry invests present actions 
 with a mysterious meaning, and gives a deep distinctive 
 colouring to Indian theology. 
 
 Above all, although priests are occasionally mentioned 
 in the Iliad and the Odyssey, there is wholly wanting in 
 the Homeric poems any recognition of a regular hierar- 
 chy, or the necessity for a mediatorial caste of sacrificers’. 
 This, which may be called the sacerdotal element of the 
 Indian Epics, is more or less woven into their very tissue. 
 Brahmanism has been at work in these productions almost 
 as much as the imagination of the poet; and_ boldly 
 claiming a monopoly of all knowledge, human and divine, 
 has appropriated this, as it has every other department 
 of literature, and warped it to its own purposes. Its 
 policy having been to check the development of intellect, 
 and keep the inferior castes in perpetual childhood, it 
 encouraged an appetite for exaggeration more insatiable 
 than would be tolerated in the most extravagant European 
 fairy-tale. This has been done more in the Ramayana than 
 in the Maha-bharata ; but even in the later Epic, full as it 
 15 of geographical, chronological, and historical details, few 
 assertions can be trusted. Time is measured by millions 
 of years, space by millions of miles; and if a battle has 
 to be described, nothing is thought of it unless millions of 
 soldiers, elephants, and horses are brought into the field’. 
 
 This difference in the religious systems of Europe and 
 India becomes still more noteworthy, when it is borne in 
 mind that the wildest fictions of the Ramayana and Maha- 
 
 1 A king, or any other individual, is allowed in Homer to perform 
 a sacrifice without the help of priests. See Il. II. 411; ILI. 392. 
 Nevertheless we read occasionally of a θυοσκόος, or ‘sacrifice-viewer,’ 
 who prophesied from the appearance of the flame and the smoke at 
 the sacrifice. See Il. XXIV. 221: Odyss. XXI. 144; XXII. 319. 
 
 2 Cf. extract from Aristotle’s Poetics, p. 434, note 1, of this volume. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 433 
 
 bharata are to this very day intimately bound up with 
 the religious creed of the Hindis. It is certain that 
 the more intelligent among them, like the more educated 
 Greeks and Romans, regarded and still regard the fictions 
 of mythology as allegorical. But both in Europe and Asia 
 the mass of the people, not troubling themselves about 
 the mystical significance of symbols, took emblem and 
 allegory for reality. And this, doubtless, they are apt to 
 do still, as much in the West as in the East. Among 
 European nations, however, even the ductile faith of the 
 masses is sufficiently controlled by common sense to prevent 
 the fervour of religious men from imposing any great 
 extravagance on their credulity; and much as the Homeric 
 poems are still admired, no one in any part of the world 
 now dreams of placing the slightest faith in their legends, 
 so as to connect them with religious opinions and practices. 
 Tn India a complete contrast in this respect may be observed. 
 The myths of the Indian Epics are still closely interwoven 
 with present faith. In fact, the capacity of an uneducated 
 Hindi for accepting and admiring the most monstrous 
 fictions is apparently unlimited. Hence the absence of all 
 history in the literature of India. A plain relation of facts 
 has little charm for the ordinary Hindi mind. 
 
 Even in the delineation of heroic character, where 
 Indian poets exhibit much skill, they cannot avoid minis- 
 tering to the craving for the marvellous which appears 
 to be almost inseparable from the mental constitution of 
 Eastern peoples. 
 
 Homer’s characters are like Shakespeare’s. They are 
 true heroes, if you will, but they are always men; never 
 perfect, never free from human weaknesses, inconsistencies, 
 and caprices of temper. If their deeds are sometimes 
 praeterhuman, they do not commit improbabilities which 
 are absolutely absurd. Moreover, he does not seem to 
 delineate his characters; he allows them to delineate 
 
 Ff 
 
434 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 themselves. They stand out like photographs, in all 
 the reality of nature. We are not so much told what 
 they do or say!. They appear rather to speak and act 
 for themselves. In the Hindi Epics the poet gives us 
 too long and too tedious descriptions in his own person ; 
 and, as a rule, his characters are either too good or too 
 bad. How far more natural is Achilles, with all his 
 faults, than Rama, with his almost painful correctness 
 of conduct! Even the cruel vengeance that Achilles 
 perpetrates on the dead Hector strikes us as more likely 
 to be true than Rama’s magnanimous treatment of the 
 fallen Ravana. True, even the heroes sometimes commit 
 what a European would call crimes; and the Pandavas 
 were certainly guilty of one inhuman act of treachery. 
 In their anxiety to provide for their own escape from 
 a horrible death, they enticed an outcaste woman and 
 her five sons into their inflammable lac-house, and then 
 burnt her alive (see p. 386). But the guilt of this trans- 
 action is neutralized to a Hindi by the woman being an 
 outcaste; and besides, it is the savage Bhima who sets 
 fire to the house. Rama and Lakshmana again were be- 
 trayed into a deed of cruelty in mutilating Sarpa-nakha. 
 For this, however, the fiery Lakshmana was responsible. 
 If the better heroes sin, they do not sin like men. We 
 see in them no portraits of ourselves. The pictures 
 are too much one colour. There are few gradations of 
 light and shadow, and: little artistic blending of opposite 
 hues. On the one side we have all gods or demigods ; 
 on the other, all demons or fiends. We miss real human 
 
 1 Aristotle says that ‘among the many just claims of Homer to our 
 praise, this is one—that he is the only poet who seems to have understood 
 what part in his poem it was proper for him to take himself. The poet, 
 in his own person, should speak as little as possible. ... . Homer, after 
 a few preparatory lines, immediately introduces a man, a woman, or some 
 other character ; for all have their character.’ (Poetics IIT. 3.) 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 435 
 
 beings with mixed characters. There is no mirror held 
 up to inconsistent humanity. Duryodhana and his 
 ninety-nine brothers are too uniformly vicious to be 
 types of real men. Lakshmana has perhaps the most 
 natural character among the heroes of the Ramayana, 
 and Bhima among those of the Mahi-bharata. In many 
 respects the character of the latter is not unlike that of 
 Achilles; but in drawing his most human heroes the 
 Indian poet still displays a perpetual tendency to run 
 into extravagance. 
 
 It must be admitted, however, that in exhibiting pictures 
 of domestic life and manners the Sanskrit Epics are even 
 more true and real than the Greek and Roman. In 
 the delineation of women the Hindi poet throws aside 
 all exaggerated colouring, and draws from nature. Kai- 
 keyi, Kaugalya, Mandodari (the favourite wife of Ravana’), 
 and even the hump-backed Manthara (Ramayana II. 
 viii), are all drawn to the very life. Sita, Draupadi, and 
 Damayanti engage our affections and our interest far more 
 than Helen, or even than Penelope. Indeed, Hindi wives 
 are generally perfect patterns of conjugal fidelity ; nor 
 can it be doubted that in these delightful portraits of the 
 Pativrata or ‘devoted wife’ we have true representations of 
 the purity and simplicity of Hindi domestic manners in 
 early times®. We may also gather from the epic poems 
 
 1 What can be more natural than Mandodari’s lamentations over the 
 dead body of Ravana, and her allusions to his fatal passion for Sita 
 in Ramayana VI. 95 (Gorresio’s ed.) ? 
 
 2 No doubt the devotion of a Hindi wife implied greater inferiority 
 than is compatible with modern European ideas of independence. The 
 extent to which this devotion was carried, even in little matters, is 
 curiously exemplified by the story of Gandhari, who out of sympathy 
 for her blind husband never appeared in public without a veil over her 
 face (see p. 378). Hence, during the grand sham-fight between the Kuru 
 and Pandu princes, Vidura stood by Dhrita-rashtra, and Kunti by Gandhart, 
 to describe the scene to them (see p. 384). 
 
 Ff2 
 
436 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 many interesting hints as to the social position occupied 
 by Hindi women before the Muhammadan conquest. No 
 one can read the Ramayana and Maha-bharata without 
 coming to the conclusion that the habit of secluding 
 women, and of treating them as inferiors, is, to a certain 
 extent, natural to all Eastern nations, and prevailed in the 
 earliest times’, Yet various passages in both Epics clearly 
 establish the fact, that women in India were subjected to 
 
 * It was equally natural to the Greeks and Romans. Chivalry and 
 reverence for the fair sex belonged only to European nations of northern 
 origin, who were the first to hold ‘inesse foeminis sanctum aliquid’ 
 (Tac. Germ. 8). That Hindi women in ancient times secluded them- 
 selves, except on certain occasions, may be inferred from the word 
 astiryam-pasya, given by Panini as an epithet of a king’s wife (‘one who 
 never sees the sun’)—a very strong expression, stronger even than the 
 parda-nishin of the Muhammadans. It is to be observed also that in the 
 Ramayana (VI. xcix. 33) there is clear allusion to some sort of seclusion 
 being practised; and the term avarodha, ‘fenced or guarded place,’ is 
 used long before the time of the Muhammadans for the women’s apart- 
 ments. In the Ratnavali, however, the minister of king Vatsa, and his 
 chamberlain and the envoy from Ceylon, are admitted to an audience 
 in the presence of the queen and her damsels; and although Rama 
 in Ramayana VI. 99 thinks it necessary to excuse himself for permit- 
 ting his wife to expose herself to the gaze of the crowd, yet he expressly 
 (99, 34) enumerates various occasions on which it was allowable for a 
 woman to show herself unveiled. I here translate the passage, as it bears 
 very remarkably on this interesting subject. Rama says to Vibhishana— 
 
 ‘Neither houses, nor vestments, nor enclosing walls, nor ceremony, nor 
 regal insignia (rdja-sathara), are the screen (G@varana) of a woman. Her 
 own virtue alone (protects her). In great calamities (vyasaneshw), at 
 marriages, at the public choice of a husband by maidens (of the Kshatriya 
 caste), at a sacrifice, at assemblies (samsatsw), it is allowable for all the 
 world to look upon women (strindm darsanam sarvalaukikam),’ 
 
 Hence Sakuntala appears in the public court of king Dushyanta ; 
 Damayanti travels about by herself; and in the Uttara-rama-éarita, the 
 mother of Rama goes to the hermitage of Valmiki. Again, women were 
 present at dramatic representations, visited the temples of the gods, and 
 performed their ablutions with little privacy; which last custom they 
 still practise, though Muhammadan women do not. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 437 
 
 less social restraint in former days than they are at present, 
 and even enjoyed considerable liberty. True, the ancient 
 lawgiver, Manu, speaks of women as having no will of their 
 own, and unfit for independence (see p. 259 of this volume) ; 
 but he probably described a state of society which it 
 was the aim of the priesthood to establish, rather than 
 that which really existed in his own time. At a later 
 period the pride of Brahmanism, and still more recently 
 the influence of Muhammadanism, deprived women of 
 even such freedom as they once enjoyed; so that at the 
 present day no Hindi woman has, in theory, any inde- 
 pendence. It is not merely that she is not her own 
 mistress: she is not her own property, and never, under 
 any circumstances, can be. She belongs to her father 
 first, who gives her away to her husband, to whom she 
 belongs for ever®. She is not considered capable of so 
 high a form of religion as man®, and she does not mix 
 
 1 In Maha-bh. I. 4719 we read: An-dvritah kila pura striya dsan 
 kama-¢ara-viharinyah svatantrah, &e. 
 
 2 Hence when her husband dies she cannot be remarried, as there is 
 no one to give her away. In fact, the remarriage of Hindu widows, 
 which is now permitted by law, is utterly opposed to all modern Hindu 
 ideas about women; and many persons think that the passing of this 
 law was one cause of the mutiny of 1857. It is clear from the story of 
 Damayanti, who appoints a second Svayamvara, that in early times re- 
 marriage was not necessarily improper ; though, from her wonder that 
 the new suitor should have failed to see through her artifice, and from 
 her vexation at being supposed capable of a second marriage, it may be 
 inferred that such a marriage was even then not reputable. 
 
 3 See, however, the stories of Gargi and Maitreyi (Brihad-dranyaka 
 Upanishad, Réer’s transl. pp. 198, 203, 242). No doubt the inferior 
 capacity of a woman as regards religion was implied in the epic poems, 
 as well as in later works. A husband was the wife’s divinity, as well 
 as her lord, and her best religion was to please him. See Sita’s speech, 
 p. 366 of this volume; and the quotation from Madhava Aéarya (who 
 flourished in the fourteenth century), p. 373, note. Such verses as the 
 following are common in Hindi literature: Bharta hi paramam narya 
 
438 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 freely in society. But in ancient times, when the epic 
 songs were current in India, women were not confined 
 to intercourse with their own families; they did very 
 much as they pleased, travelled about, and showed them- 
 selves unreservedly in public!, and, if of the Kshatriya 
 caste, were occasionally allowed to choose their own hus- 
 bands from a number of assembled suitors”. It is clear, 
 moreover, that, in many instances, there was considerable 
 dignity and elevation about the female character, and that 
 much mutual affection prevailed in families. Nothing can 
 be more beautiful and touching than the pictures of do- 
 mestic and social happiness in the Ramayana and Maha- 
 bharata. Children are dutiful to their parents* and sub- 
 missive to their superiors ; younger brothers are respectful 
 to elder brothers; parents are fondly attached to their 
 children, watchful over their interests and ready to sacri- 
 fice themselves for their welfare ; wives are loyal, devoted, 
 
 bhishanam bhishanair vind, ‘a husband is a wife’s chief ornament 
 even without (other) ornaments.’ Manu says (V. 151), Yasmai dadyat 
 pua tv enam bhrata vanumate pituh, Tam susrisheta jivantam samsthi- 
 tam éa na lawghayet. See p. 287 of this volume. In IV. 198, Manu 
 classes women with Sidras. 
 
 ' Especially married women. A wife was required to obey her husband 
 implicitly, but in other respects she was to be independent (svdtantryam 
 arhati, Maha-bhar. I. 4741). 
 
 2 The Svayamvara, however, appears to have been something excep- 
 tional, and only to have been allowed in the case of the daughters of kings 
 or Kshatriyas. See Draupadi-svayamvara 127; Maha-bhar. I. 7926. 
 
 * Contrast with the respectful tone of Hindi children towards their 
 parents, the harsh manner in which Telemachus generally speaks to his 
 mother. Filial respect and affection is quite as noteworthy a feature in 
 the Hindi character now as in ancient times. It is common for un- 
 married soldiers to stint themselves almost to starvation-point, that they 
 may send home money to their aged parents. In fact, in proportion to 
 the weakness or rather total absence of the national is the strength of 
 the family bond. In England and America, where national life is 
 strongest, children are less respectful to their parents. 
 
THE EPICS COMPARED TOGETHER AND WITH HOMER. 439 
 
 and obedient to their husbands, yet show much indepen- 
 dence of character, and do not hesitate to express their 
 own opinions ; husbands are tenderly affectionate towards 
 their wives, and treat them with respect and courtesy ; 
 daughters and women generally are virtuous and modest, 
 yet spirited and, when occasion requires, firm and cou- 
 rageous ; love and harmony reign throughout the family 
 circle. Indeed, in depicting scenes of domestic affection, 
 and expressing those universal feelings and emotions which 
 belong to human nature in all time and in all places, San- 
 skrit epic poetry is unrivalled even by Greek Epos. It is 
 not often that Homer takes us out of the battle-field ; and 
 if we except the lamentations over the bodies of Patroclus 
 and Hector, the visit of Priam to the tent of Achilles, and 
 the parting of Hector and Andromache, there are no such 
 pathetic passages in the Iliad as the death of the hermit- 
 boy (p. 350), the pleadings of Sita for permission to accom- 
 pany her husband into exile (p. 366), and the whole ordeal- 
 scene at the end of the Ramayana. In the Indian Epics 
 such passages abound, and, besides giving a very high idea 
 of the purity and happiness of domestic life in ancient 
 India, indicate a capacity in Hindi women for the dis- 
 charge of the most sacred and important social duties. 
 
 We must guard against the supposition that the women 
 of India at the present day have altogether fallen from 
 their ancient character. Notwithstanding the corrupting 
 example of Islamism, and the degrading tendency of 
 modern Hindiiism, some remarkable instances may still 
 be found of moral and even intellectual excellence '. 
 These, however, are exceptions, and we may rest assured, 
 that until Asiatic women, whether Hindi or Muslim, are 
 elevated and educated, our efforts to raise Asiatic nations 
 
 ‘In some parts of India, especially in the Marathi districts, there is 
 still considerable freedom of thought and action allowed to women. 
 
440 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 to the level of European will be fruitless!. Let us hope 
 that when the Ramayana and Maha-bharata shall no longer 
 be held sacred as repositories of faith and storehouses of 
 trustworthy tradition, the enlightened Hindi may still 
 learn from these poems to honour the weaker sex; and that 
 Indian women, restored to their ancient liberty and raised 
 to a still higher position by becoming partakers of the 
 ‘fulness of the blessing’ of Christianity, may do for our 
 Eastern empire what they have done for Hurope—soften, 
 invigorate, and dignify the character of its people. 
 
 I close my present subject with examples of the re- 
 ligious and moral teaching of the two Indian Epics. 
 A few sentiments and maxims, extracted from both 
 
 poems, here follow: 
 A heavy blow, inflicted by a foe ", 
 Is often easier to bear, than griefs, 
 However slight, that happen casually. 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) II. ]xii. τό. 
 To carry out an enterprise in words 
 Is easy, to accomplish it by acts 
 Is the sole test of man’s capacity. 
 Ramayana (ed. Gorresio) VI. Ixvii. ro. 
 Truth, justice, and nobility of rank 
 Are centred in the King; he is a mother, 
 Father, and benefactor of his subjects. 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) IT. Ixvii. 35. 
 In countries without monarchs, none can call 
 His property or family his own ; 
 No one is master even of himself. 
 Ramayana (ed. Gorresio) IT. lxix. 11. 
 
 * Manu gives expression to a great truth when he says (III. 145), 
 Sahasram tu pitrin mata gauravenatiricyate, ‘a mother exceeds in value 
 a thousand fathers.’ 
 
 * Though some of these translations were made years ago from Béht- 
 lingk’s admirable collection of Indische Spriiche, I have since been assisted 
 in my renderings of many examples by Dr. Muir's ‘ Religious and Moral 
 Sentiments freely translated from Indian writers,’ lately printed at Edin- 
 burgh, with an appendix and notes. I may not have succeeded so well as 
 Dr. Muir, but rhymeless metre may have enabled me to keep somewhat 
 closer to the original. 
 
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 441 
 
 Where’er we walk, Death marches at our side ; 
 Where’er we sit, Death seats himself beside us ; 
 However far we journey, Death continues 
 Our fellow-traveller and goes with us home. 
 Men take delight in each returning dawn, 
 And with admiring gaze, behold the glow 
 Of sunset. Every season, as it comes, 
 Fills them with gladness, yet they never reck 
 That each recurring season, every day 
 Fragment by fragment bears their life away. 
 As drifting logs of wood may haply meet 
 On Ocean’s waters, surging to and fro, 
 And haying met, drift once again apart ; 
 So fleeting is a man’s association 
 With wife and children, relatives and wealth, 
 So surely must a time of parting come. 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) II. ev. 24-27. 
 Whate’er the work a man performs, 
 The most effective aid to its completion— 
 The most prolific source of true success— 
 Is energy without despondency. 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) V. xii. rx. 
 
 Fate binds a man with adamantine cords, 
 And drags him upwards to the highest rank 
 Or downward to the depths of misery. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) V. xxxvil. 3. 
 He who has wealth has strength of intellect ; 
 He who has wealth has depth of erudition ; 
 He who has wealth has nobleness of birth ; 
 He who has wealth has relatives and friends ; 
 He who has wealth is thought a very hero ; 
 He who has wealth is rich in every virtue. 
 
 Ramayana (ed. Bombay) VI. Ixxxiii. 35, 36. 
 Time is awake while mortals are asleep, 
 None can elude his grasp or curb his course, 
 He passes unrestrained o’er all alike. 
 
 Maha-bh. I. 243. 
 Thou thinkest: I am single and alone— 
 Perceiving not the great eternal Sage 
 Who dwells within thy breast. Whatever wrong 
 Is done by thee, he sees and notes it all. 
 Maha-bh. I. 3015. 
 
442 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Heaven, Earth, and Sea, Sun, Moon, and Wind, and Fire, 
 Day, Night, the Twilights, and the Judge of souls, 
 The god of justice and the Heart itself, 
 All see and note the conduct of a man}. 
 Maha-bh. I. 3017. 
 A wife is half the man, his truest friend, 
 Source of his virtue, pleasure, wealth—the root 
 Whence springs the line of his posterity. 
 Maha-bh. I. 3028. 
 An evil-minded man is quick to see 
 His neighbour's faults, though small as mustard-seed ; 
 But when he turns his eyes towards his own, 
 Though large as Bilva? fruit, he none descries. 
 Maha-bh. I. 3069. 
 If Truth and thousands of Horse-sacrifices 
 Were weighed together, Truth would weigh the most*. 
 Maha-bh. I. 3095. 
 Death follows life by an unerring law ; 
 Why grieve for that which is inevitable ? 
 Maha-bh. I. 6144. 
 Conquer a man who never gives by gifts ; 
 Subdue untruthful men by truthfulness ; 
 Vanquish an angry man by gentleness ; 
 And overcome the evil man by goodness *. 
 Maha-bh. III. 13253. 
 Triple restraint of thought and word and deed, 
 Strict vow of silence, coil of matted hair, 
 Close shaven head, garments of skin or bark, 
 Keeping of fasts, ablutions, maintenance 
 Of sacrificial fires, a hermit’s life, 
 Emaciation—these are all in vain, 
 Unless the inward soul be free from stain. 
 Maha-bh. IIT. 13445. 
 To injure none by thought or word or deed, 
 To give to others, and be kind to all— 
 
 1 Compare Manu VIII. 86, p. 284 of this volume. 
 
 * This is the Aegle Marmelos (Ze?) or Bengal Quince, bearing a large 
 fruit. It is esteemed sacred to Maha-deva. Compare St. Matthew 
 ΜΠ 9. 1. 3. Hitopadega IV. 135. 
 
 * See Rom. xii. 21. Compare the Pali Rajovada Jataka (Fausboll’s 
 Ten Jatakas, p. 5), Akkodhena jine kodham, Asadhum sadhuna jine, Jine 
 kadariyam dénena, Satéena alika-vadinam. See also Dhamma-pada 223. 
 
 i a EE EE ee 
 
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 443 
 
 This is the constant duty of the good. 
 High-minded men delight in doing good, 
 Without a thought of their own interest ; 
 When they confer a benefit on others, 
 They reckon not on favours in return}, 
 Maha-bh. III. 16782, 16796. 
 An archer shoots an arrow which may kill 
 One man, or none; but clever men discharge 
 The shaft of intellect, whose stroke has power 
 To overwhelm a king and all his kingdom. 
 Maha-bh. V. ror3. 
 Two persons will hereafter be exalted 
 Above the heavens—the man with boundless power 
 Who yet forbears to use it indiscreetly, 
 And he who is not rich and yet can give *. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1028. 
 Sufficient wealth, unbroken health, a friend, 
 A wife of gentle speech, a docile son, 
 And learning that subserves some useful end— 
 These are a living man’s six greatest blessings. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1057. 
 Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions 
 A wise man ever culls from every quarter, 
 E’en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1126. 
 The gods defend not with a club or shield 
 The man they wish to favour—but endow him 
 With wisdom ; and the man whom they intend 
 To ruin, they deprive of understanding ὅ; 
 So that to him all things appear distorted. 
 Then, when his mind is dulled and he is ripe 
 To meet his doom, evil appears to him 
 Like good, and even fortunate events 
 Turn to his harm and tend to his destruction. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1122, 2679. 
 To curb the tongue and moderate the speech, 
 Is held to be the hardest of all tasks *. 
 The words of him who talks too volubly 
 Have neither substance nor variety. 
 
 Maha-bh. V. 1170. 
 
 1 Compare St. Luke vi. 35. * Compare St. Mark xii. 41-44. 
 5. Quos Deus vult perdere prius dementat. * St. James iii. 8. 
 
444 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Darts, barbéd arrows, iron-headed spears, 
 
 However deep they penetrate the flesh, 
 
 May be extracted ; but a cutting speech, 
 
 That pierces, like a javelin, to the heart, 
 
 None can remove ; it lies and rankles there. 
 Maha-bh, V. 1173. 
 
 Repeated sin destroys the understanding, 
 
 And he whose reason is impaired, repeats 
 
 His sins. The constant practising of virtue 
 
 Strengthens the mental faculties, and he 
 
 Whose judgment stronger grows, acts always right. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1242. 
 
 Bear railing words with patience, never meet 
 
 An angry man with anger, nor return 
 
 Reviling for reviling, smite not him 
 
 Who smites thee ; let thy speech and acts be gentle. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1270, 9972. 
 
 If thou art wise, seek ease and happiness 
 
 In deeds of virtue and of usefulness ; 
 
 And ever act in such a way by day 
 
 That in the night thy sleep may tranquil be ; 
 
 And so comport thyself when thou art young, 
 
 That when thou art grown old, thine age may pass 
 
 In calm serenity. So ply thy task 
 
 Throughout thy life, that when thy days are ended, 
 
 Thou may’st enjoy eternal bliss hereafter. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1248. 
 
 Esteem that gain a loss which ends in harm; 
 
 Account that loss a gain which brings advantage. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1451. 
 
 Reflect that health is transient, death impends, 
 
 Ne’er in thy day of youthful strength do aught 
 
 To grieve thy conscience, lest when weakness comes, 
 
 And thou art on a bed of sickness laid, 
 
 Fear and remorse augment thy sufferings. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1474. 
 
 Do naught to others which if done to thee 
 
 Would cause thee pain; this is the sum of duty. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1517. 
 
 How can a man love knowledge yet repose ? 
 
 Would’st thou be learned, then abandon ease. 
 
 Hither give up thy knowledge or thy rest. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1537. 
 
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 445 
 
 No sacred lore can save the hypocrite, 
 Though he employ it eraftily, from hell ; 
 When his end comes, his pious texts take wing, 
 Like fledglings eager to forsake their nest. 
 Maha-bh. V. 1623. 
 When men are ripe for ruin, e’en a straw 
 Has power to crush them, like a thunderbolt. 
 Maha-bh. VII. 4209. 
 By anger, fear, and avarice deluded, 
 Men do not strive to understand themselves, 
 Nor ever gain self-knowledge. One is proud 
 Of rank, and plumes himself upon his birth, 
 Contemning those of low degree ; another 
 Boasts of his riches, and disdains the poor ; 
 Another yvaunts his learning, and despising 
 Men of less wisdom, calls them fools ; a fourth 
 Piquing himself upon his rectitude, 
 Is quick to censure other peoples’ faults. 
 But when the high and low, the rich and poor, 
 The wise and foolish, worthy and unworthy, 
 Are borne to their last resting-place—the grave— 
 When all their troubles end in that last sleep, 
 And of their earthly bodies naught remains 
 But fleshless skeletons—can living men 
 Mark differences between them, or perceive 
 Distinctions in the dust of birth or form ? 
 Since all are, therefore, levelled by the grave, 
 And all must sleep together in the earth— 
 Why, foolish mortals, do ye wrong each other ? 
 Maha-bh. XI. 116. 
 Some who are wealthy perish in their youth, 
 While others who are fortuneless and needy, 
 Attain a hundred years; the prosperous man 
 Who lives, oft lacks the power to enjoy his wealth. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 859. 
 A king must first subdue himself, and then 
 Vanquish his enemies. How can a prince 
 Who cannot rule himself, enthral his foes ἵ 
 To curb the senses, is to conquer self. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 2599. 
 Who in this world is able to distinguish 
 The virtuous from the wicked, both alike 
 
446 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The fruitful earth supports, on both alike 
 The sun pours down his beams, on both alike 
 Refreshing breezes blow, and both alike 
 The waters purify? Not so hereafter— 
 Then shall the good be severed from the bad ; 
 Then in a region bright with golden lustre— 
 Centre of light and immortality— 
 The righteous after death shall dwell in bliss?. 
 Then a terrific hell awaits the wicked— 
 Profound abyss of utter misery— 
 Into the depths of which bad men shall fall 
 Headlong, and mourn their doom for countless years. 
 Maha-bh, XII. 2798. 
 He who lets slip his opportunity, 
 And turns not the occasion to account, 
 Though he may strive to execute his work, 
 Finds not again the fitting time for action. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 3814. 
 Enjoy thou the prosperity of others, 
 Although thyself unprosperous ; noble men 
 Take pleasure in their neighbour’s happiness. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 3880. 
 Even to foes who visit us as guests 
 Due hospitality should be displayed ; 
 The tree screens with its leaves, the man who fells it”. 
 Maha-bh. XIT. 5528. 
 What need has he who subjugates himself 
 To live secluded in a hermit’s cell ? 
 Where’er resides the self-subduing sage, 
 That place to him is like a hermitage. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 5961. 
 Do good to-day, time passes, Death is near. 
 Death falls upon a man all unawares, 
 Like a ferocious wolf upon a sheep. 
 Death comes when his approach is least expected. 
 Death sometimes seizes ere the work of life 
 Is finished, or its purposes accomplished. 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew xiii. 43, xxv. 46. 
 
 2 This verse occurs in Hitopadega I. 60. Cf. Rom. xii. 20, Professor 
 H. H. Wilson was induced to commence the study of Sanskrit by reading 
 somewhere that this sentiment was to be met with in Sanskrit literature. 
 
RELIGIOUS AND MORAL SENTIMENTS. 447 
 
 Death carries off the weak and strong alike, 
 The brave and timorous, the wise and foolish, 
 And those whose objects are not yet achieved. 
 Therefore delay not ; Death may come to-day. 
 Death will not wait to know if thou art ready, 
 Or if thy work be done. Be active now, 
 While thou art young, and time is still thy own. 
 This very day perform to-morrow’s work, 
 This very morning do thy eyening’s task. 
 When duty is discharged, then if thou live, 
 Honour and happiness will be thy lot, 
 And if thou die, supreme beatitude ’. 
 Maha-bh. XIT. 6534. 
 The building of a house is fraught with troubles, 
 And ne’er brings comfort; therefore, cunning serpents 
 Seek for a habitation made by others, 
 And creeping in, abide there at their ease. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 6619. 
 Just as the track of birds that cleave the air 
 Is not discerned, nor yet the path of fish 
 That skim the water, so the course of those 
 Who do good actions, is not always seen. 
 Maha-bh. XII. 6763, 12156. 
 Let none reject the meanest suppliant 
 Or send him empty-handed from his door. 
 A gift bestowed on outcasts or on dogs 
 Is never thrown away or unrequited. 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 3212. 
 Time passes, and the man who older grows 
 Finds hair and teeth and eyes grow ever older. 
 One thing alone within him ne’er grows old— 
 The thirst for riches and the love of gold. 
 Maha-bh. XIII, 3676, 3688. 
 This is the sum of all true righteousness— 
 Treat others, as thou would’st thyself be treated. 
 Do nothing to thy neighbour, which hereafter 
 Thou would’st not have thy neighbour do to thee. 
 In causing pleasure, or in giving pain, 
 In doing good, or injury to others, 
 
 1 The order of the text has been slightly changed in this translation, 
 and a few liberties taken in the wording of it. 
 
448 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In granting, or refusing a request, 
 A man obtains a proper rule of action 
 By looking on his neighbour as himself}. 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 5571. 
 No being perishes before his time, 
 Though by a hundred arrows pierced ; but when 
 His destined moment comes, though barely pricked 
 By a sharp point of grass, he surely dies”. 
 Maha-bh. XITI. 7607. 
 Before infirmities creep o’er thy flesh ; 
 Before decay impairs thy strength and mars 
 The beauty of thy limbs; before the Ender, 
 Whose charioteer is sickness, hastes towards thee, 
 Breaks up thy fragile frame and ends thy life ὃ, 
 Lay up the only treasure: do good deeds ; 
 Practise sobriety and self-control ; 
 Amass that wealth which thieves cannot abstract, 
 Nor tyrants seize, which follows thee at death, 
 Which never wastes away, nor is corrupted *, 
 Maha-bh. XIII. 12084. 
 Heaven's gate is very narrow and minute ®, 
 It cannot be perceived by foolish men, 
 Blinded by vain illusions of the world. 
 E’en the clear-sighted who discern the way, 
 And seek to enter, find the portal barred 
 And hard to be unlocked. Its massive bolts 
 Are pride and passion, avarice and lust. 
 Maha-bh. XIV. 2784. 
 Just heaven is not so pleased with costly gifts, 
 Offered in hope of future recompense, 
 As with the merest trifle set apart 
 From honest gains, and sanctified by faith °. 
 Maha-bh. XIV. 2788. 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew xxii. 39, St. Luke vi. 31. 
 
 * This occurs also in Hitopadesga IT. 15. 
 
 * Compare Eccles. xii.r. “4 Compare St. Matthew vi. 19, Job xxi. 23. 
 ° Compare St. Matthew vii. 14. 
 
 5 Compare St. Matthew vi. 1-4, St. Mark xii. 43, 44. 
 
| ye Cd Ge Wisk She a Ve 
 
 The Artificial Poems. Dramas. Purdnas. Tantras. 
 Niti-sastras. 
 
 CAN only notice very briefly the remaining classes 
 
 of Indian writings which follow on the Ramayana and 
 Maha-bharata. In their religious bearing, as constituting 
 part of Smriti, and as chiefly drawn from the two great 
 Epics, the eighteen Puranas possess the next claim on our 
 attention. It will be convenient, however, to introduce | 
 here an enumeration of some of the more celebrated 
 artificial poems and dramas, which are connected with 
 the Epics, adding a few explanations and examples, but 
 reserving the fuller consideration of these and other de- 
 partments of Sanskrit literature to a future opportunity. 
 
 The Artificial Poems. 
 
 Some of the best known of the artificial poems are: 
 
 1. The Raghu-vansa or ‘history of Raghu’s race,’ in nineteen chapters, 
 by Kalidasa, on the same subject as the Ramayana, viz. the history of 
 Rama-éandra, but beginning with a longer account of his ancestors; 2. the 
 Kumara-sambhava, by Kalidasa, on the ‘ birth of Kumara’ or Karttikeya, 
 god of war, son of Siva and Parvati,—originally in sixteen cantos, of which 
 only seven are usually edited, though nine more have been printed in the 
 Pandit at Benares; 3. the MJegha-dita, ‘cloud-messenger,’ also by Kali- 
 dasa—a poem of 116 verses, in the Mandakranta metre (well edited by 
 Professor Johnson), describing a message sent by a banished Yaksha to his 
 wife in the Himalayas; a cloud being personified and converted into the 
 messenger; 4. the Kiratarjuniya, ‘battle of the Kirata and Arjuna,’ by 
 Bhiaravi, in eighteen cantos, on a subject taken from the fourth chapter of 
 Maha-bharata III, viz. the penance performed by Arjuna, one of the Pandava 
 ~ princes, and his combat with Siva disguised as a Kirata or wild moun- 
 taineer (see p. 393); 5. the Sisupala-badha or ‘destruction of Sisu-pala,’ 
 
 Gg 
 
450 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 a poem in twenty cantos, by Magha, on a subject taken from the seventh 
 chapter of the Sabha-parvan of the Maha-bharata, viz. the slaying of the 
 impious Sisu-pala by Krishna at a Rajasiiya sacrifice performed by Yudhi- 
 shthira (see p. 392); 6. the Naishadha or Naishadhiya, by Sri-harsha }, 
 on a subject drawn from an episode in the sixth chapter of the Vana- 
 parvan of the Maha-bharata, viz. the history and adventures of Nala, 
 king of Nishadha. 
 
 The above six are sometimes called Maha-kavyas, ‘great 
 poems, not with reference to their length (for they are 
 
 generally short), but with reference to the subjects of 
 which they treat. To these may be added: 
 
 7. The Ritu-samhara or ‘collection of the seasons,’ a short but cele- 
 brated poem by K&alidasa, on the six seasons of the year (viz. Grishma, 
 the hot season ; Varsha, the rains; Sarad, autumn ; Hemanta, the cold 
 season ; Sisira, the dewy season ; Vasanta, the spring); 8. the Nalodaya 
 or ‘rise of Nala,’ an artificial poem, also ascribed to one Kalidasa, but 
 probably not the composition of the celebrated poet of that name, on 
 much the same subject as the Naishadha, and describing especially the 
 restoration of the fallen Nala to prosperity and power; g. the Bhatti- 
 kavya, ‘poem of Bhatti, according to some the work of Bhartri-hari or 
 his son, on the same subject as the Ramayana, written at Valabhi (Ballabhi) 
 in the reign of Sridhara-sena (probably the king who reigned in Gujarat 
 from about A.D. 530-544); its aim being to illustrate the rules of Sanskrit 
 grammar, as well as the figures of poetry and rhetoric, by intro- 
 ducing examples of all possible forms and constructions, as well as of 
 the Alankaras (see p. 454); it is divided into two great divisions, viz. 
 Sabda-lakshana, ‘illustration of grammar,’ and Kavya-lakshana, ‘ illustra- 
 tion of poetry,’ together comprising twenty-two chapters ; το. the Raghava- 
 pandaviya, an artificial poem by Kavi-raja, giving a narrative of the acts 
 of both the descendants of Raghu and Pandu, in such language that it 
 may be interpreted as a history of either one or the other family ; 
 11. the Amaru-sataka or Amari-sataka, ‘hundred verses of Amaru,’ on 
 erotic subjects, to which a mystical interpretation is given, especially as they 
 
 * He is supposed to have lived about the year 1000 (ef. note, p. 486). 
 This Sri-harsha was the greatest of all sceptical philosophers, and wrote 
 a book called Khandana-khanda-khadya for the refutation of all other 
 systems. It is alluded to in Naishadha VI. 113 (Premaéandra’s com- 
 mentary). ‘The commentator Narayana does not seem to have understood 
 this. There are some philosophical chapters in the Naishadha. 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 451 
 
 are supposed to have been composed by the great philosopher Sankara- 
 arya, when, according to a popular legend, he animated the dead body 
 of king Amaru, his object being to become the husband of his widow, 
 that he might argue on amatory subjects with the wife of a Brahman, 
 named Mandana; 12. the Gita-govinda or ‘Krishna in his character of 
 Govinda (the Cow-finder or Herdsman) celebrated in song,’ by Jaya-deva, 
 a lyrical or erotic poem, thought to have been composed about the twelfth 
 or thirteenth century of our era; it was written nominally to celebrate 
 the loves of Krishna and the Gopis, especially of Krishna and Radha ; 
 but as the latter is supposed to typify the human soul, the whole poem 
 is regarded as susceptible of a mystical interpretation. 
 
 Some of these poems, especially the Raghu-vansa, Ku- 
 mira-sambhava, Megha-diita, and Ritu-samhara of Kali- 
 dasa (who, according to native authorities, lived a little 
 before the commencement of the Christian era, but is now 
 placed in the third century’), abound in truly poetical ideas, 
 and display great fertility of imagination and power of 
 description ; but it cannot be denied that even in these 
 works of the greatest of Indian poets there are occasional 
 fanciful conceits, combined with a too studied and artificial 
 elaboration of diction, and a constant tendency to what 
 a European would consider an almost puerile love for 
 alliteration and playing upon words (wort-spiel). Some 
 of the other poems, such as the Kiratarjuniya, Sigupala- 
 badha, Nalodaya, Naishadha, and Bhatti-kavya, are not 
 wanting in occasional passages containing poetical feeling, 
 striking imagery, and noble sentiment ; but they are arti- 
 ficial to a degree quite opposed to European canons of 
 taste; the chief aim of the composers being to exhibit their 
 artistic skill in bringing out the capabilities of the Sanskrit 
 language, its ductility, its adaptation to every kind of style 
 from the most diffuse to the most concise, its power of 
 compounding words, its intricate grammatical structure, its 
 complex system of metres, and the fertility of its resources 
 in the employment of rhyme, rhythm, and alliteration. 
 
 1 Professor Weber places him either in the third or sixth century. 
 
 Gg 2 
 
452 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 In fact, there is nothing in the whole range of Greek or 
 Latin or any other literature that can be compared with 
 these poems. Nearly every verse in them presents a 
 separate puzzle—so that when one riddle is solved, little 
 is gained towards the solution of the next—or exhibits 
 rare words, unusual grammatical forms, and intricate com- 
 pounds, as it were twisted together into complicated verbal 
 knots, the unravelment of which can only be effected by 
 the aid of a native commentary. 
 
 Of course, in such cases the sense, and even the strict 
 grammatical construction are sometimes sacrificed to the 
 display of ingenuity in the bending and straining of words 
 to suit a difficult metre or rhyme; and this art is studied 
 as an end in itself, the ideas to be conveyed by the lan- 
 guage employed being quite a secondary matter. To such 
 an extreme is this carried, that whole verses are sometimes 
 composed with the repetition of a single consonant 1, while 
 in other cases a string of epithets 1s employed, each of 
 which will apply to two quite distinct words in a sentence, 
 and thus be capable of yielding different senses, suited to 
 either word, according to the will of the solver of the 
 verbal puzzle. 
 
 Again, stanzas are sometimes composed so as to form 
 fanciful shapes or figures, such as that of a lotus (padma- 
 
 * English, I fear, would be quite unequal to such a task as the pro- 
 duction of a verse like the following from the Kiratarjuniya (XV. 14)— 
 Na nonanunno numnono nana nanananad nanw | 
 Nunno nunnonanunneno nainena nunnanunnanut || 
 Or the following from Magha (XIX. 114)— 
 Dédadoduddaduddadi dadadodiidadidadoh | 
 Duddadam dadade dudde dadadadadadodadah || 
 Though in Latin we have something similar in Ennius, O Vite tute Taté 
 tibi tanta tyranne tulisti. It must be admitted, however, that the cele- 
 brated nursery stanza beginning Peter Piper picked a peck of pepper is 
 an effort in the same direction. 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 453 
 
 bandha); or so that the lines or parts of the lines com- 
 posing the verses, whether read horizontally, diagonally, 
 or perpendicularly, or in opposite directions, will yield 
 significant and grammatical sentences of some kind, the 
 sense being a matter of subordinate consideration. This 
 is called the Fanciful-shape (γα) ornament. 
 
 The formation of the octopetalous Lotus-stanza is described in Sahitya- 
 darpana X. p. 268. One of the commonest of these artificial stanzas, called 
 Sarvato-bhadra, is a verse so contrived that the same syllables occur in 
 each Pada of the verse, whether read backwards or forwards, or from the 
 centre to each extremity, while all the Padas together read the same either 
 downwards or upwards, whether the reader commence at the centre or each 
 extremity. An example of this verse occurs in Kiratarjuniya XY. 25. 
 
 Still more complicated forms are occasionally found, as 
 described by Dr. Yates in his edition of the Nalodaya. 
 
 Thus we have the mwraja-bandha, a stanza shaped like a drum; the 
 khadga-bandha, like a sword; the dhanu-bandha, like a bow; the srag- 
 bandha, like a garland; the vriksha-bandha, like a tree; and the go- 
 mitrikd, like a stream of cow’s wrine, in uneven or undulating lines. 
 
 The art, too, of inventing and employing an almost 
 endless variety of rhetorical figures called Alankaras, 
 ‘ornaments of speech, for the sake of illustrating the 
 various sentiments, feelings, and emotions depicted in dra- 
 matic and erotic poetry, is studied to a degree quite 
 unknown in other languages, the most refined subtlety 
 being shown in marking off minute gradations of simile, 
 comparison, metaphor, &c. There are numerous works on 
 this subject—which may be called a kind of Ars poetica 
 or rhetorica—some of the best known of which are: 
 
 1. The Sahitya-darpana, ‘mirror of composition,’ by Visvanatha-kavi- 
 raja (said to have lived in Dacca about the fifteenth century), giving rules 
 and canons for literary composition from simple sentences to epic poems 
 and dramas, illustrated by examples from standard authors, especially 
 dramatic (see p. 466, note). 2. The Kavyddarsa, ‘mirror of poetry,’ by 
 Dandin. 3. The Aavya-prakasa, ‘illumination of poetry, by Mammata 
 (the commentary to which, by Govinda, is called Kavya-pradipa). 4. The 
 Dasa-ripaka, ‘description of the ten kinds of dramatic composition called 
 
454 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Riipakas,’ by Dhanaijaya (p. 465, note). 5. The Kavydlankara-vritti, 
 ‘explanation of the ornaments of poetry,’ by Vamana. 6. The Sarasvatt- 
 kanthabharana, ‘necklace of the goddess of speech,’ by Bhoja-deva. 7. The 
 Sringara-tilaka, ‘mark of love,’ a work by Rudra-bhatta, describing and 
 illustrating by examples the various emotions, feelings, and affections 
 of lovers, male and female (ndyaka and na&yika), as exhibited in dramas, 
 ἄς. 8. The Rasa-manju7, ‘ cluster of affections,’ a work on the Rasas}, 
 by Bhanu-datta, of much the same character as the last. 
 
 I add here a brief description of some of the commonest 
 Alankaras. They are divided into two classes: A. Sabda- 
 lankara, those produced by the mere sound of words; 
 B. Arthdlankdra, those arising from the meaning. The 
 tenth Books of the Sahitya-darpana and Bhatti-kavya are 
 devoted to the illustration of this subject. 
 
 Examples of A. are, 1. Anuprésa, a kind of alliteration or repetition 
 of the same consonants, although the vowels may be dissimilar, e. g. Samd- 
 lingan angan. 2. Yamaka, more perfect alliteration or repetition of 
 vowels and consonants, e.g. Sakalath sakalaih. Various kinds of Yamaka 
 will be found in Bhatti-kavya X. 2-21; and in Kiratarjuniya XV. 52 
 there is a Mahd-yamaka. 
 
 Examples of B. are, 1. Upama, comparison or simile (the subject of 
 comparison is called wpameyam, sometimes prastuta, prakrita, prakranta, 
 vastu, vishaya; while the object to which it is compared is called upama- 
 nam, sometimes a-prastuta, a-prakrita, &e.). It is essential to an Upama 
 that the wpameya, the wpamana, and common attribute (samdnya-dharma) 
 should be all expressed, and the complete subordination of the wpamane 
 to the upameya preserved ; thus ‘her face is like the moon in charming- 
 ness, where ‘her face’ is the wpameya; ‘moon,’ the upamana; and 
 ‘charmingness, the common quality. If the latter is omitted it is a 
 luptopama (see Bhatti-kavya X. 30-35). 2. Utpreksha@, a comparison in 
 which the wpamdana is beginning to encroach on the wpameya and to 
 assume equal prominence. It is thirty-two-fold, under two classes, one 
 called vacya when a word like iva is expressed, as ‘her face shines as 
 if it were a moon;’ the other pratiyamana when iva is understood (ef. 
 
 1 There are ten Rasas or ‘feelings,’ enumerated as exemplified in dra- 
 matic composition: 1. Srivgara, love; 2. Vira, heroism; 3. Bibhatsa, 
 disgust; 4. Raudra, anger; 5. Hasya, mirth; 6. Bhayanaka, terror ; 
 7- Karuna, pity; 8. Adbhuta, wonder; 9. Santa, calmness; το. Va- 
 siya, parental fondness. Some authors only allow 1-8. 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS. 455 
 
 Bhatti-k. X. 44). 4. Ripaka, ‘superimposition, consisting in the super- 
 imposition (@ropa) of a fancied form over the original subject, the wpa- 
 meya and upamana being connected as if possessing equal prominence, and 
 their resemblance implied rather than expressed ; thus ‘ moon-face,’ ‘ her 
 face is the moon’ (Bhatti-k. X. 28). 4. Atisayokti, hyperbole, exaggeration, 
 pleonasm (Bhatti-k. X. 42), in which the upameya is swallowed up in the 
 upamdana, as when ‘her moon’ is used for ‘her face,’ or ‘her slender stem’ 
 for ‘her figure. 5. Z'ulya-yogitd, in which the upamana or wpameya is 
 connected with the common quality, as ‘a snow-white flower’ (Bhatti-k. 
 X.61; Kumira-s. I. 2). 6. Drishtanta, exemplification by comparing or 
 contrasting similar attributes (Magha 11. 23). 7. Dipaka, ‘illuminator,’ 
 i.e. using an illustrative expression, placed either in the beginning (dadz), 
 middle (madhya), or end (anta) of a verse to throw light on a descrip- 
 tion (Bhatti-k. X. 22-24; Kumiara-s. Il. 60). 8. Vyaja-stuti, artful or 
 indirect eulogy in which praise is rather implied than directly expressed 
 (Bhatti-k. X. 59). 9. Slesha (lit. coalescence), paronomasia, using distinct 
 words which have identity of sound, the meaning being different; thus 
 vidhau may mean ‘in fate’ if it comes from vidhi, or ‘in the moon’ if 
 from vidhu. 10. Vibhavand, description of an effect produced without a 
 cause (Kumiara-sambhava I. 10). τι. Veseshokti, description of a cause 
 without its natural effect. 12. Arthantara-nydsa, transition to another 
 matter, i.e. the turning aside to state a general truth as an illustration of a 
 particular case (Bhatti-k. X. 36; Kiratarjuniya VII. 15). 13. Arthapatic, 
 inference of one fact from another. 14. Sdra, climax. 15. Kadrana-mala, 
 series of causes. 16. Vyatireka, contrast or dissimilitude. 17. Akshepa, 
 hint. 18. Sahokti, a hyperbolical description of simultaneous action 
 connected by the word saha. 19. Parikara, employment of a number of 
 significant epithets. 20. Samsrishti, conjunction, i.e. the employment 
 of more than one figure in the same verse independently of each other 
 (Bhatti-k. X. 70). When there is a commixture or combination of more 
 than one figure, it is called Sankara; especially when they are combined 
 as principal and subordinates (awgdngi-bhava). 
 
 To give examples from all the artificial poems enume- 
 rated (pp. 449, 450) would be wearisome. It will be suf- 
 ficient to select a passage from Kalidasa’s Raghu-vansa, 
 and a few of the moral sentiments scattered through the 
 Kiratarjuniya and the Sigupala-badha. I first translate 
 Raghu-vanga X. 16-33. The inferior gods are supposed 
 to be addressing Vishnu as the Supreme Being (cf. a 
 similar address in Kumiara-sambhava IT): 
 
456 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Hail to thee, mighty lord, the world’s creator, 
 Supporter and destroyer, three in one— 
 
 One in thy essence, tripartite in action!! 
 
 Hen as heaven’s water—one in savour—gains 
 From different receptacles on earth 
 
 Diversity of flavours, so dost thou, 
 Unchangeable in essence, manifest 
 
 Changes of state in diverse qualities”. 
 Unmeasured and immeasurable, yet 
 
 Thou measurest the world; desireless, yet 
 Fulfilling all desire; unconquered and 
 
 A conqueror ; unmanifested, yet 
 
 A manifester; uniformly one, 
 
 Yet ever multiform from various motives. 
 
 Thy manifold conditions are compared 
 
 To those of clearest crystal, which reflects 
 Varieties of hue from diverse objects. 
 
 Though ever present in the heart, thou art 
 Held to be infinitely distant; free 
 
 From passion, yet austere in self-restraint ; 
 Full of all pity, yet thyself untouched 
 
 By misery ; the ever ancient one, 
 
 Yet never growing ancient; knowing all, 
 
 Yet neyer known; unborn, yet giving birth 
 To all; all-ruling, yet thyself unruled ; 
 
 One in thyself, yet many in thy aspects. 
 
 Men hymn thy praises in seven songs; and say 
 Thou liest sleeping on the earth’s seven seas*; 
 Thy face is seven-flamed fire, and thou thyself 
 ‘Fhe sole asylum of the world’s seven spheres ἡ, 
 From the four mouths of thee, pourtrayed as four-faced, 
 Proceeds the knowledge of life’s fourfold objects, 
 Time’s quadruple divisions through four ages °, 
 Man’s fourfold distribution into castes. 
 
 On thee abiding in man’s heart, the source 
 
 Of light, with minds and senses all subdued, 
 The pious meditate in hope of bliss. 
 
 Of thee the mystic nature who can fathom 2 
 Unborn, yet taking birth; from action free, 
 
 1 See p. 324. 4 See p. 324, note 1. ° See p. 419. 
 * See p. 430. δ᾽ See p. 333, note 1. 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS—MORAL SENTIMENTS, 457 
 
 Yet active to destroy thy demon-foes ; 
 
 Seeming asleep, yet ever vigilant; 
 
 Possessing senses fitted for enjoyment, 
 
 Yet in all points restrained ; protecting all 
 
 Thy creatures, yet apparently indifferent. 
 
 The ways which lead to everlasting bliss, 
 Though variously distinguished in the Veda, 
 Converge to thee alone; e’en as the streams 
 
 Of Ganga’s waters to their ocean home. 
 
 Thou art the only way, the only refuge 
 
 Of all whose hearts are fixed on thee, whose acts 
 Are centred in thee, and whose worldly longings, 
 Checked and suppressed, have passed away for ever. 
 Thy greatness is displayed before our eyes 
 
 In this thy world and these thy mighty works ; 
 Yet through the Veda and by inference 
 
 Alone can thy existence be established’. 
 
 How then ean we, the finite, tell thy essence ¢ 
 Since merely by the thought of thee thy creatures 
 Are purified, much more have other acts 
 
 Which have thee for their object, full reward. 
 As jewels lying deep in ocean’s bed, 
 
 And fires deep hidden in the solar orb 
 
 Are far beyond the reach of mortals, so thy deeds 
 Exceed our praises. Naught is unattained 
 
 By thee, and naught is unattainable ; 
 
 Yet love, and love alone, for these thy worlds 
 Moves thee to act, leads to thy incarnations’. 
 That in the celebration of thy praises 
 
 Our voices are restrained, deign to ascribe 
 
 This to our limited capacities, 
 
 Not to the limitation of thy glory. 
 
 Τ next translate some moral sentiments and wise sayings 
 from the Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi: 
 Those who wish well towards their friends disdain 
 To please them by fair words which are not true (I. 2). 
 
 Neen eee ee ae aE unaT nnn SSESEEEESERINND 
 
 1 This is an allusion to the three Pramanas of the Sankhya, viz. 
 Pratyaksha, Anumana, and Apta-va¢ana or Sabda; see p. 92. 
 2 See ἢ. 323. 
 
458 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Better to have a great man for one’s foe 
 Than court association with the low (I. 8). 
 
 As drops of bitter medicine, though minute, 
 
 May have a salutary force, so words 
 
 Though few and painful, uttered seasonably, 
 
 May rouse the prostrate energies of those 
 
 Who meet misfortune with despondency (II. 4). 
 Do nothing rashly, want of cireumspection 
 
 Is the chief cause of failure and disaster. 
 
 Fortune, wise lover of the wise, selects 
 
 Him for her lord who ere he acts, reflects (II. 30). 
 
 He who with patience and deliberation 
 
 Prepares the ground whence issue all his actions, 
 Obtains, like those who water seeds and roots, 
 An ample harvest of autumnal fruits (II. 31). 
 
 The body’s truest ornament consists 
 
 In knowledge of the truth; of sacred knowledge 
 The best embellishment is self-control ; 
 
 Of self-control the garniture is courage, 
 
 Courage is best embellished by success (II. 32). 
 In matters difficult and dark, concealed 
 
 By doubt and disagreement of opinion, 
 
 The Veda, handed down by holy men, 
 
 Explained with clearness, and well put in practice 
 Like a bright lamp throws light upon the way, 
 Guiding the prudent lest they go astray (II. 33). 
 
 ? 
 
 To those who travel on the rugged road 
 Trodden by virtuous and high-minded men, 
 
 A fall, if pre-ordained by destiny, 
 
 Becomes equivalent to exaltation ; 
 
 Such falls cause neither evil nor distress, 
 
 The wise make failures equal to success (II. 34). 
 
 Would’st thou be eminent, all passion shun, 
 
 Drive wrath away by wisdom; e’en the sun 
 Ascends not to display his fullest light 
 
 Till he has chased away the mists of night (LI. 36). 
 
 That lord of earth, who equable in mind, 
 
 Is on occasion lenient and kind, 
 
 Then acts in season with severity, 
 
 Rules like the sun by his own majesty (II. 38). 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS—MORAL SENTIMENTS. 459 
 
 The man who every sacred science knows, 
 
 Yet has not strength to keep in check the foes 
 That rise within him, mars his Fortune’s fame 
 And brings her by his feebleness to shame (TE ax). 
 
 Be patient if thou would’st thy ends accomplish, 
 For like to patience is there no appliance 
 Effective of success, producing surely 
 
 Abundant fruit of actions, never damped 
 
 By failure, conquering impediments (i. 43). 
 
 If the constituent members of a state 
 
 Be in disorder, then a trifling war 
 
 May cause a ruler’s ruin, just as fire 
 
 Caused by the friction of the dried-up branches 
 
 Of one small tree, may devastate a mountain (LI. 51). 
 
 Success is like a lovely woman, wooed 
 By many men, but folded in the arms 
 Of him alone who free from over-zeal 
 Firmly persists and calmly perseveres (III. 40). 
 
 The drops upon a lovely woman’s face 
 Appear like pearls; no marks avail to mar, 
 But rather to her beauty add a grace (VII. 5). 
 
 The noble-minded dedicate themselves 
 
 ΤῸ the promotion of the happiness 
 
 Of others—e’en of those who injure them. 
 
 True happiness consists in making happy ΕΙΣ 3728): 
 Let not ἃ little fault in him who does 
 
 An act of kindness, minish aught its value (VII. 15). 
 
 If intercourse with noble-minded men, 
 Though short and accidental, leads to profit, 
 How great the benefit of constant friendship ! (VII. 27.) 
 
 As persons though fatigued forbear to seek 
 
 The shelter of the fragrant sandal-trees, 
 
 If deadly serpents lurk beneath their roots, 
 
 So must the intercourse of e’en the virtuous, 
 
 If vicious men surround them, be avoided (VII. 29). 
 
 A woman will not throw away a garland, 
 
 Though soiled and dirty, which her lover gave ; 
 
 Not in the object lies a present’s worth, 
 
 But in the love which it was meant to mark (VIII. 37). 
 
460 
 
 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 To one who pines in solitude apart 
 
 From those he loves, even the moon’s cool rays 
 Appear unbearable; for in affliction 
 
 Eyen a pleasant object heightens grief (IX. 30). 
 
 Wine is averse from secresy; it has 
 A power to bring to light what is concealed— 
 The hidden qualities both good and bad (IX. 68). 
 
 True love is ever on the watch, and sees 
 Risks even in its loved one’s happiness (IX. 70). 
 
 Youth’s glories are as transient as the shadow 
 Of an autumnal cloud ; and sensual joys, 
 Though pleasant at the moment, end in pain (XI. 12). 
 
 Soon as a man is born, an adversary 
 
 Confronts him, Death the Ender; ceaseless troubles 
 Begin; his place of birth—the world— 
 
 Must one day be abandoned; hence the wise 
 
 Seek the full bliss of freedom from existence (XI. 13). 
 
 Riches and pleasure are the root of evil; 
 Hold them not dear, encourage not their growth; 
 They are aggressors hard to be subdued, 
 Destroyers of all knowledge and of truth (XI. 20). 
 
 To one united with a much-loved object 
 
 The empty turns to fulness; evil fortune 
 
 Brings festive joys; and disappointment, gain ; 
 
 But not to him who lives in separation— 
 
 He in the midst of friends feels solitary ; 
 
 The pleasant causes grief; and life itself, 
 
 Before so dear, pains like a piercing shaft (XI. 27, 28). 
 
 The enemies which rise within the body, 
 
 Hard to be overcome—thy evil passions— 
 Should manfully be fought; who conquers these 
 Is equal to the conqueror of worlds (XI. 32). 
 
 Why give thyself to pleasure? this day’s joys 
 Are thought upon to-morrow, then like dreams 
 They pass away and are for ever lost (XI. 34). 
 
 Who trusts the passions finds them base deceivers: 
 Acting like friends, they are his bitterest foes; 
 Causing delight, they do him great unkindness ; 
 Hard to be shaken off, they yet desert him (ΧΙ. 35). 
 
THE ARTIFICIAL POEMS—MORAL SENTIMENTS, 461 
 
 The clear and quiet minds of prudent men, 
 Though ruffled on the surface and disturbed 
 Like the deep waters of the ocean, fear 
 
 To pass the limits of self-mastery (XI. 54). 
 
 The friendship of the bad is like the shade 
 
 Of some precipitous bank with crumbling sides, 
 Which falling buries him who sits beneath (XT. 55). 
 The natural hostility of beasts 
 
 Is laid aside when flying from pursuers ; 
 
 So also when calamities impend 
 
 The enmity of rivals has an end (XII. 46). 
 
 The following are from Book IT. of the Sisupala-badha 
 of Magha (I translate nearly literally) : 
 
 Alliance should be formed with friendly foes, 
 Not with unfriendly friends; of friend and foe 
 The test is benefit and injury (37)!. 
 
 He who excites the wrath of foes and then 
 Sits down inactively, is like a man 
 
 Who kindles withered grass and then lies near 
 While a strong wind is blowing from beyond (42). 
 He who by virtue of his rank, his actions, 
 And qualities, effects no useful purpose, 
 
 Is like a chance-invented word; his birth 
 
 Is useless, for he merely bears a name (47). 
 
 A man of feeble character resembles 
 A reed that bends with every gust of wind (50). 
 
 Soft words, intended to alleviate, 
 Often foment the wrath of one enraged, 
 Like drops of water poured on burning butter (55). 
 
 A rambling speech whose meaning is confused, 
 Though long, is spoken easily ; not so 
 A clear, connected, logical discourse (73). 
 
 Two only sources of success are known— 
 Wisdow and effort; make them both thine own 
 If thou would’st rise and haply gain a throne (76). 
 
 Science is like a couch to sapient men; 
 Reclining there, they never feel fatigue (77). 
 
 eee sh er eee 
 1 This verse oceurs also in Hitopadega LV. 16. 
 
462 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 A subtle-witted man is like an arrow, 
 
 Which rending little surface, enters deeply ; 
 
 But they whose minds are dull, resemble stones, 
 Dashing with clumsy force, but never piercing (78). 
 The foolish undertake a trifling act 
 
 And soon desist, discouraged ; wiser men 
 Engage in mighty works and persevere (79). 
 The undertaking of a careless man 
 
 Succeeds not, though he use the right expedients ; 
 A clever hunter, though well placed in ambush, 
 Kills not his quarry if he fall asleep (80). 
 
 A monarch’s weapon is his intellect ; 
 
 His minister and servants are his limbs; 
 
 Close secresy of counsel is his armour; 
 
 Spies are his eyes; ambassadors, his mouth (82). 
 That energy which veils itself in mildness 
 
 Is most effective of its object; so 
 
 The lamp that burns most brightly owes its force 
 To oil drawn upwards by a hidden wick (85). 
 Wise men rest not on destiny alone, 
 
 Nor yet on manly effort, but on both (86). 
 
 Weak persons gain their object when allied 
 With strong associates; the rivulet 
 
 Reaches the ocean by the river’s aid (100). 
 
 A good man’s intellect is piercing, yet 
 
 Inflicts no wound; his actions are deliberate, 
 Yet bold; his heart is warm, but never burns ; 
 His speech is eloquent, yet ever true (109). 
 
 The Dramas. 
 
 If we bear in mind that the nations of modern Europe 
 can scarcely be said to have possessed a dramatic litera- 
 ture before the fifteenth century of the present era, the 
 antiquity of the extant Hindi plays, some of which may 
 be traced back to about the first or second century of our 
 era, will of itself appear a remarkable circumstance. But 
 to the age of these dramas must be added their undoubted 
 literary value as repositories of much true poetry, though 
 
THE DRAMAS. 463 
 
 of an Oriental type. They are also valuable as representing 
 the early condition of Hindi society, and as serving to 
 illustrate some of its present peculiarities ; for notwith- 
 standing the increasing intercourse with Europe, India, 
 like other Eastern countries, is slow in delivering itself 
 from subjection to the stereotyped laws of tradition which 
 appear to be stamped on its manners and social practices. 
 
 In all likelihood the germ of the dramatic representa- 
 tions of the Hindits, as of the Greeks, is to be sought for 
 in public exhibitions of dancing, which consisted at first 
 of simple movements of the body, executed in harmony 
 with singing and music. Indeed, the root nat and the 
 nouns wdtya and ndtaka, which are now applied to dramatic 
 acting, are probably mere corruptions of n77t, ‘to dance, 
 nritya, ‘dancing,’ and nartaka, ‘a dancer. Of this dancing 
 various styles were gradually invented, such as the Ldsya 
 and Tdndava', to express different actions or various 
 sentiments and emotions. 
 
 Very soon dancing was extended to include pantomimic 
 gesticulations accompanied with more elaborate musical 
 performances, and these gesticulations were aided by occa- 
 sional exclamations between the intervals of singing. 
 Finally, natural language took the place of music and 
 singing, while gesticulation became merely subservient to 
 emphasis in dramatic dialogue. 
 
 When we come to actual dramatic writing we are 
 obliged to confess that its origin, like that of epic poetry, 
 and of nearly every department of Sanskrit composition, 
 is lost in remote antiquity. There is evidence that plays 
 were acted in India as early as the reign of ASoka, in the 
 third century B.c. At that period intercourse between 
 
 ‘ The Zandava is a boisterous dance regarded as the peculiar invention 
 of Siva; the Lasya is said to have been invented by Parvati; the Rasa- 
 mandala is the circular dance of Krishna. 
 
464 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 India and Greece had certainly commenced, but it does not 
 appear that the Hindis borrowed either the matter or 
 form of any of their dramas from the Greeks. (See 
 Lassen’s Ind. Alt. 11. 507.) 
 
 Semitic nations have never inclined towards theatrical 
 representations. The book of Job is a kind of dramatic 
 dialogue. The same may be said of parts of the Song of 
 Solomon, and there is occasional dialogue in the Makamat 
 of al Harivt and Thousand and One Nights; but neither 
 the Hebrews nor Arabs seem to have carried dramatic ideas 
 beyond this point. Among the Aryans, on the other hand, 
 as well as among the Chinese, the drama appears to have 
 arisen naturally. At least, its independent origin in 
 Greece and India—both which countries also gave birth 
 independently to epic poetry, grammar, philosophy, and 
 logic—can scarcely be called in question, however probable 
 it may be that an interchange of ideas took place in later 
 times. In fact, the Hind&i drama, while it has certainly 
 much in common with the representations of other 
 nations, has quite a distinctive character of its own 
 which invests it with great interest. 
 
 At the same time the English reader, when told that 
 the author of the earliest Hindi drama which has come 
 down to us—the Mrié-chakatika or ‘Clay-cart’—probably 
 lived in the first or second century of the Christian era, 
 will be inclined to wonder at the analogies it offers to 
 our own dramatic compositions of about fifteen centuries 
 later. The dexterity with which the plot is arranged, 
 the ingenuity with which the incidents are connected, 
 the skill with which the characters are delineated and 
 contrasted, the boldness and felicity of the diction are 
 scarcely unworthy of our own great dramatists. Nor 
 does the parallel fail in the management of the stage- 
 business, in minute directions to the actors and various 
 scenic artifices. The asides and aparts, the exits and the 
 
THE DRAMAS. 465 
 
 entrances, the manner, attitude, and gait of the speakers, 
 their tones of voice, tears, smiles, and laughter are as 
 regularly indicated as in a modern drama. 
 
 A great number of other ancient plays besides ‘the 
 Clay-cart’ are extant, and many of the most celebrated 
 have been printed. To classify these Hindi dramas ac- 
 cording to European ideas, or even to arrange them under 
 the general heads of tragedy and comedy, is impossible. 
 Indeed, if a calamitous conclusion be necessary to consti- 
 tute a tragedy, Hindi plays are never tragedies’. They 
 are rather mixed representations, in which happiness and 
 misery, good and evil, right and wrong, justice and in- 
 justice are allowed to blend in confusion until the end 
 of the drama. In the last act harmony is restored, tran- 
 quillity succeeds to agitation, and the minds of the spec- 
 tators, no longer perplexed by the ascendency of evil, are 
 soothed and purified by the moral lesson deducible from 
 the plot, or led to acquiesce in the inevitable results of 
 Adrishta (see p. 69). Such dramatic conceptions are, in 
 truth, exactly what might be expected to prevail among 
 a people who look upon no occurrence in human life as 
 really tragic, but regard evil and suffering of all kinds 
 as simply the unavoidable consequences of acts done by 
 each soul, of its own free will, in former bodies. 
 
 Nevertheless, to invest the subject of dramatic compo- 
 sition with dignity, a great sage is, as usual (compare 
 Ρ. 372), supposed to be its inventor. He is called Bharata, 
 and is regarded as the author of a system of music, as 
 well as of an Alankara-Sastra containing Sutras or rules. 
 His work is constantly quoted as the original authority 
 for dramatic composition*. On Bharata’s Sutras followed 
 
 1 A rule states that the killing of a hero is not to be hinted at. This 
 does not always hold good. No one, however, is killed on the stage. 
 
 2 Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has a MS. of the work in 36 Books, of which 
 18, 19, 20, and 34 were printed at the end of his Da‘a-rapa. Dr. Hey- 
 mann is now editing the whole work. 
 
 Η ἢ 
 
466 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 various treatises which laid down minute precepts and 
 regulations for the construction and conduct of plays, and 
 subjected dramatic writing to the most refined and artificial 
 rules of poetical and rhetorical style. 
 
 Besides the Dasa-ripaka, Kavya-prakasa, Kavyddarsa, and Sahitya- 
 darpana, &c., mentioned at pp. 453, 454, others are named which treat of 
 dramatic composition as well as of ornaments (alawkaru) and figures of 
 rhetoric. For example: the Kavyalankara-vritti, by Vamana; the 
 Alankara-sarvasva, by Bhima; the Alankara-kaustubha, by Kavi Karna- 
 puraka; the Auvalayananda, by Apyaya [or Apya]-dikshita ; the Candra- 
 loka, by Jaya-deva; and a work on music, singing, and dancing, called 
 the Sangita-ratnakara, by Sarn-gadeva, thought by Wilson to have been 
 written between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 
 
 These treatises classify Sanskrit plays very elaborately 
 under various subdivisions; and the Sahitya-darpana— 
 a favourite authority’— divides them into two great 
 classes, viz. 1. Riapaka, ‘principal dramas,’ of which there 
 are ten species; 2. Upa-ripaka, ‘minor or inferior dramas,’ 
 of which eighteen are enumerated. The trouble taken to 
 invent titles for every variety of Hindi play, according 
 to far more subtle shades of distinction than those denoted 
 by our drama, melodrama, comedy, farce, and ballet, proves 
 that dramatic composition has been more elaborately culti- 
 vated in India than in European countries. The ten 
 species of Riaipaka are as follow: 
 
 1. The Vafaka, or ‘principal play,’ should consist of from five to ten 
 acts (awka), and should have a celebrated story (such as the history 
 of Rama) for its plot (vastw). It should represent heroic or godlike 
 characters, and good deeds; should be written in an elaborate style, and 
 be full of noble sentiments. Moreover, it should contain all the five 
 ‘joints’ or ‘junctures’ (sandhi)* of the plot; the four kinds of action 
 
 1 The Sahitya-darpana is in ten sections, treating of the nature and 
 divisions of poetry, the various powers of a word, varieties of style, 
 ornaments of style and blemishes (dosha). I have here consulted the 
 late Dr. Ballantyne’s translation of part of it, published at Benares. 
 
 2 These five junctures are, 1. the mukha or ‘opening ;’ 2. the prati- 
 mukha or ‘first development of the germ (vija) of the plot ;’ 3. the 
 
THE DRAMAS. 467 
 
 (vriti2) ; the sixty-four members (aga) or peculiar properties ; and the 
 thirty-six distinctive marks (/akshana). The hero or leading character 
 (ndyaka) should be of the kind deseribed as high-spirited but firm’, 
 being either a royal sage of high family (as Dushyanta in the Sakuntala), 
 or a god (as Krishna), or a demigod (divyddivya), who, though a god 
 (like Rama-éandra), thinks himself a man (narabhimani, see note 3, p. 360). - 
 The principal sentiment or flavour (rasa, see p. 454, note) should be 
 either the erotic (sringara) or heroie (vira), and in the conclusion 
 (nirvahana) the marvellous (adbhuta). It should be composed like the 
 end of a cow’s tail (go-pué hagra), i.e. so that each of the acts is gradually 
 made shorter. If it also contain the four Patakd-sthanaka or ‘striking 
 points,’ and the number of its acts (aka) be ten, it is entitled to be 
 called a Maha-ndjaka, An example of the Nataka is the Sakuntala, 
 and of the Mahd-nataka is the Bala-ramayana (see p. 488). 2. The 
 Prakarana should resemble the Nataka in the number of its acts as well 
 ‘as in other respects; but the plot must be founded on some mundane or 
 human story, invented by the poet, and have love for its principal 
 sentiment, the hero or leading character being either a Brahman (as in 
 the Mrié-chakatika), or a minister (as in the Malati-madhava), or a 
 merchant (as in the Pushpa-bhishita), of the description called firm and 
 mild (dhira-prasanta), while the heroine (na@yika@) is sometimes a woman 
 of good family, sometimes a courtesan, or both. 3. The Bhana, in one 
 act, should consist of a variety of incidents, not progressively developed, 
 the plot being invented by the poet. It should only have the opening and 
 concluding juncture (see note, p. 466). An example is the L7/a-madhu- 
 kara. 4. The Vydyoga, in one act, should have a well-known story for 
 its plot, and few females in its dramatis personae. Its hero should be 
 some celebrated personage of the class called firm and haughty (virod- 
 dhata). Its principal sentiments or flavours (rasa, see p. 454, note) should 
 be the comic (hasya), the erotic (sringara), and the unimpassioned (santa). 
 5. The Samavakara, in four acts, in which a great variety of subjects are 
 mixed together (sumavakiryante); it dramatizes a well-known story, 
 relating to gods and demons. An example is the Samudra-mathana, 
 ‘churning of the ocean’ (described in Bharata’s Sastra IV). 6. The 
 
 garbha or ‘actual development and growth of the germ;’ 4. the wimarsha 
 or ‘some hindrance to its progress ;’ 5. the nirvahana or upa-samhriti, 
 ‘conclusion.’ 
 
 1 There are four kinds of heroes: 1. high-spirited but firm (dhiro- 
 datta); 2. firm and haughty (dhiroddhata) ; 3. gay and firm (dhira- 
 lalita) ; 4. firm and mild (dhira-prasanta). 
 
 Hh 2 
 
468 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Dima, in four acts, founded on some celebrated story; its principal 
 sentiment should be the terrible (raudra); it should have sixteen heroes 
 (a god, a Yaksha, a Rakshasa, a serpent, goblin, &c.). An example is 
 the Tripwra-daha, ‘conflagration of Tripura’ (described in Bharata’s 
 Sastra IV). 7. The Zha-mriga, in four acts, founded on a mixed story 
 (migra-vritta), partly popular, and partly invented ; the hero and rival 
 hero (prati-ndyaka) should be either a mortal or a god. According to 
 some it should have six heroes. It derives its name from this, that the 
 hero seeks (#haie) a divine’female, who is as unattainable as a deer (myiga). 
 8. The Anka or Utsrishtikawka, in one act, should have ordinary men 
 (prakrita-narah) for its heroes; its principal sentiment should be the 
 pathetic (karuna), and its form (srishti) should transgress (wtkranta) the 
 usual rules. An example is the Sarmishtha-yayati. 9. The Vithi, in 
 one act, is so called because it forms a kind of garland (v7thz) of various 
 sentiments, and is supposed to contain thirteen members (aga) or 
 peculiar properties. An example is the Walavikd. το. The Prahasana,’ 
 properly in one act, is a sort of farce representing reprobate characters 
 (nindya), and the story is invented by the poet, the principal sentiment 
 being the comic (hasya); it may be either pure (suddha), of which the 
 Kandarpa-keli, ‘love-sports, is an example; or mixed (sawkirna), like 
 the Dhirta-carita, ‘adventures of a rogue ;’ or it may represent characters 
 transformed (vikrita) by various disguises. 
 
 The eighteen Upa-ripakas need not be so fully des- 
 eribed. Their names are as follow: 
 
 1. The Nasfika, which is of two kinds—Na/ika pure, and Prakaranika 
 differing little from the Nataka and Prakarana. The Ratnavali is an 
 example of the Natika. 2. The 7’rotaka, in five, seven, eight, or nine acts; 
 the plot should be founded on the story of a demigod, and the Vidtishaka 
 or ‘jesting Brahman’ should be introduced into every act. An example 
 is the Vikramorvasi. 3. The Goshtht. 4. The Sattaka. 5. The Nasya- 
 vasaka. 6. The Prasthana. 7. The Ullapya. 8. The Kavya. 9. The 
 Prenkhana. το. The Rasaka. 11. The Samldpaka. 12. The Sri-gadita, 
 in one act, dedicated chiefly to the goddess S1i. 13. The Silpaka. 14. The 
 Vilasika. 15. The Durmallika. 16. The Prakarani. 17. The Halliga, 
 chiefly consisting in music and singing, 18. The Bhaniha. 
 
 As I have elsewhere stated (see Introduction to trans- 
 lation of the Sakuntala), it is probable that in India, as 
 
 in Greece, scenic entertainments took place at religious 
 festivals, and especially at the Spring festival ( Vasantotsava, 
 
THE DRAMAS. 469 
 
 corresponding to the present Holi) in the month Phaleuna. 
 Kalidasa’s Sakuntala seems to have been acted at the 
 commencement of the summer season—a period sacred to 
 Kama-deva, the Indian god of love. We are told that it was 
 enacted before an audience ‘consisting chiefly of men of 
 education and discernment.’ As the greater part of every 
 play was written in Sanskrit, which was certainly not the 
 vernacular of the country at the time when the dramas were 
 performed, few spectators could have been present who 
 were not of the learned classes (see Introduction to this 
 volume, p. xxix). This circumstance is in accordance with 
 the constitution of Hindi society, whereby the productions 
 of literature, as well as the offices of state, were reserved 
 for the privileged castes. The following is a brief account 
 of the construction of an ordinary Hindt Nataka : 
 
 Every play opens with a prologue (prastavand), or, to speak more 
 correctly, an introduction, designed to prepare the way for the entrance 
 of the dramatis personae. The prologue commences with a benediction 
 (nandz) or prayer’ (pronounced by a Brahman, or if the stage-manager 
 happens to be a Brahman, by the manager himself), in which the poet 
 invokes the favour of his favourite deity in behalf of the audience. The 
 blessing is generally followed by a dialogue between the manager and one or 
 two of the actors, in which an account is given of the author of the drama, 
 a complimentary tribute is paid to the critical acumen of the spectators, 
 and such a reference is made to past occurrences or present circumstances 
 as may be necessary for the elucidation of the plot. At the conclusion 
 of the prologue, the manager, by some abrupt exclamation, adroitly 
 introduces one of the dramatic personages, and the real performance 
 commences. The play being thus opened, is carried forward in scenes 
 and acts; each scene being marked by the entrance of one character 
 and the exit of another. The dramatis personae are divided into three 
 classes—the inferior characters (n?éa), who are said to speak Prakrit in 
 a monotonous unaccented tone (anudattoktya) ; the middling (madhyama) ; 
 and the superior (prad/iana). These latter are to speak Sanskrit with 
 
 1 The fact that scarcely a single work in Sanskrit literature is com- 
 menced without a prayer to some god, is, as Professor Banerjea has 
 remarked, a testimony to the universal sentiment of piety animating the 
 Hindi race. 
 
470 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 accent and expression (wdattoktya). The commencement of a new act, 
 like that of the whole piece, is often marked by an introductory monologue 
 or dialogue spoken by one or more of the dramatis personae, and called 
 Vishkambha or Pravegaka. In this scene allusion is made to events 
 supposed to have occurred in the interval of the acts, and the audience 
 is prepared to take up the thread of the story, which is then skilfully 
 carried on to the concluding scene. The piece closes, as it began, with 
 a prayer for national prosperity, addressed to the favourite deity, and 
 spoken by one of the principal personages of the drama. 
 
 Although, in the conduct of the plot, and the delinea- 
 tion of character, Hindta dramatists show considerable 
 skill, yet in the plot itself, or, in the story on which it 
 is founded, they rarely evince much fertility of invention. 
 The narrative of Rama’s adventures and other well-known 
 fictions of Hindai mythology are constantly repeated. 
 Love, too, according to Hindi notions, is the subject of 
 most of their dramas. The hero and heroine are generally 
 smitten with attachment for each other at first sight, 
 and that, too, in no very interesting manner. By 
 way of relief, however, an element of life is introduced 
 in the character of the Vidishaka or ‘jester, who is the 
 constant companion of the hero; and in the young 
 maidens, who are the confidential friends of the heroine, 
 and soon become possessed of her secret. By a curious 
 regulation, the jester is always a Brahman; yet his 
 business is to excite mirth by being ridiculous in person, 
 age, and attire. Strictly he should be represented as 
 grey-haired, hump-backed, lame, and ugly. He is a species 
 of buffoon, who is allowed full liberty of speech, being 
 himself a universal butt. His attempts at wit, which are 
 rarely very successful, and his allusions to the pleasures 
 of the table, of which he is a confessed votary, are absurdly 
 contrasted with the sententious solemnity of the despairing 
 hero, crossed in the prosecution of his love-suit. On the 
 other hand, the shrewdness of the heroine’s confidantes 
 never seem to fail them under the most trying eircum- 
 
THE DRAMAS. 471 
 
 stances ; while their sly jokes and innuendos, their love 
 of fun, their girlish sympathy with the progress of the 
 love-affair, their warm affection for their friend, heighten 
 the interest of the plot, and contribute to vary its 
 monotony. 
 
 Let me now introduce a few remarks on certain well- 
 known plays, some of which have been already mentioned. 
 And first with regard to the earliest extant Sanskrit 
 drama—the Mrié-¢hakatika or ‘ Clay-cart.’ 
 
 This was attributed (probably out of mere flattery) to a royal author, 
 king Stidraka, who is said to have reigned in the first or second century 
 B.c. Its real author is unknown, and its exact date is, of course, un- 
 certain. According to Professor Weber, so much at least may be affirmed, 
 ‘that it was composed at a time in which Buddhism was flourishing in 
 full vigour.’ Some, indeed, may be inclined to infer from the fact of its 
 describing a Sramana or Buddhist ascetic as appointed to the head of 
 the Viharas or monasteries, that one hundred years after Christ is too 
 early an epoch to allow for the possibility of representing Buddhism as 
 occupying such a position in India. At any rate, the date of this drama 
 ought not to be placed before the first century of our era’. The play is 
 in ten acts, and though too long and tedious to suit European theatrical 
 ideas, has nevertheless considerable dramatic merit, the plot being inge- 
 niously developed, and the interest well sustained by a rapid succession 
 of stirring incidents and picturesquely diversified scenes of every-day life. 
 In fact, its pictures of domestic manners, and descriptions of the natural 
 intercourse of ordinary men and women, followed by the usual train of 
 social evils, make it more interesting than other Sanskrit dramas, which, 
 as a rule, introduce too much of the supernatural, and abound in over- 
 wrought poetical fancies unsuited to occidental minds, 
 
 The hero or leading character (ndyaka) of the ‘Clay-cart’ is Caru-datta, 
 a virtuous Brahman, who by his extreme generosity has reduced himself 
 to poverty. The heroine (nayika@) is Vasanta-send, a beautiful and 
 wealthy lady, who although, according to the strictest standard of 
 morality, not irreproachable in character, might still be described as 
 conforming to the Hindi conception of a high-minded liberal woman. 
 Moreover, her naturally virtuous disposition becomes strictly so from 
 the moment of her first acquaintance with Garu-datta. Her affections are 
 
 oe —— —————————————————————SSSSSSSSSSESeeSGSSFSSSSsSSsFsFeFeFesse 
 
 * Professor Lassen assigns it to about 150 after Christ. 
 
472 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 then concentrated upon him, and she spurns the king’s brother-in-law, 
 named Samsthanaka, a vicious, dissipated man, whose character is well 
 depicted in striking contrast to that of Caru-datta. As the one is a 
 pattern of generosity, so the other stands out in bold relief as a typical 
 embodiment of the lowest forms of depravity. They are both probably 
 drawn to the life, but the latter delineation is the most remarkable as 
 an evidence of the corruption of Oriental courts in ancient times, when 
 it was often possible for a man, more degraded than a brute, to prosecute 
 with impunity the selfish gratification of the worst passions under the 
 shelter of high rank}. 
 
 At the commencement of: the second act, a gambler is 
 introduced running away from the keeper of a gaming- 
 house, named Mathura, and from another gambler. I here 
 translate the scene?: 
 
 1st Gambler. The master of the tables and the gamester are at my 
 heels, how can I escape them? Here is an empty temple, I will enter it 
 walking backwards, and pretend to be its idol. 
 
 Mathura. Ho! there! stop thief! a gambler has lost ten Suvarnas, 
 and is running off without paying—Stop him! stop him! 
 
 2nd Gambler. He has run as far as this point; but here the track 
 is lost. 
 
 Math. Ah! I see, the footsteps are reversed; the rogue has walked 
 backwards into this temple which has no image in it. 
 
 (They enter, and make signs to each other on discovering the object 
 of their search, standing motionless on a pedestal.) 
 
 2nd Gambler, Is this a wooden image, I wonder ? 
 
 Math. No, no, it must be made of stone, I think. (So saying, they 
 shake and pinch him.) Never mind, sit we down here and play out our 
 game. (They commence playing.) 
 
 ist Gambler. (Still acting the image, but looking on, and with diffi- 
 culty restraining his wish to join in the game—Aside.) The rattling of 
 
 * That this sort of personage was commonly found at the courts of 
 Eastern kings is evident from the fact of his forming, under the name 
 of the ‘Sakara,’ one of the stock characters in the dramatis personae of 
 Indian plays. He is a king’s brother-in-law through one of his inferior 
 wives, and is required by theatrical rules to be represented as foolish, 
 frivolous, vicious, selfish, proud, and cruel. 
 
 * Ihave made use of Stenzler’s excellent edition, and also consulted 
 Professor H. H. Wilson’s free translation. I hope to give an epitome 
 of the whole play in a Second Series of Lectures. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 473 
 
 dice is as tantalizing to a penniless man as the sound of drums to a 
 dethroned monarch ; verily it is sweet as the note of a nightingale. 
 
 2nd Gambler. The throw is mine! the throw is mine ! 
 
 Math. No, no, it is mine, I say. 
 
 1st Gambler. (Forgetting himself and jumping off the pedestal.) No, 
 I tell you, it is mine. 
 
 2nd Gambler. We've caught him. 
 
 Math. Yes, rascal! you're caught at last. Hand over the Suvarnas. 
 
 tst Gambler. Worthy sir, I'll pay them in good time. 
 
 Math. Wand them over this very minute, I say. (They beat him.) 
 
 tst Gambler. (Aside to 2nd Gambler.) I'll pay you half, if you will 
 forgive me the rest. 
 
 2nd Gambler. Agreed. 
 
 1st Gambler. (Aside to Mathura.) I'll give you security for half if 
 you will let me off the other half. 
 
 Math. Agreed. 
 
 1st Gambler, Then, good morning to you, sirs, I’m off. 
 
 Math. Hallo! stop there, where are you going so fast? Hand over 
 the money. 
 
 1st Gambler. See here, my good sirs; one has taken security for half, 
 and the other has let me off the other half. Isn’t it clear I have nothing 
 to pay? 
 
 Math. No, no, my fine fellow; my name is Mathura, and I’m not 
 such a fool as you take me for. Don’t suppose I’m going to be cheated 
 out of my ten Suvarnas in this way; hand them over, you scoundrel. 
 
 Upon that they set to work beating the unfortunate gambler, whose 
 eries for help bring another gamester, who happens to be passing, to 
 his rescue. A general scuffle now takes place, and in the midst of the 
 confusion the first gambler escapes. In his flight he comes to the house 
 of Vasanta-sena, and, finding the door open, rushes in. Vasanta-sena 
 inquires who he is, and what he wants. He then recites his story, and 
 makes known to her that he was once in the service of Caru-datta, who 
 discharged him on account of reduced circumstances. Hence he had 
 been driven to seek a livelihood by gambling. The mention of Caru- 
 datta at once secures Vasanta-sena’s aid, and the pursuers having now 
 tracked. their fugitive to the door of her house, she sends them out a 
 jewelled bracelet, which satisfies their demands, and they retire. The 
 gambler expresses the deepest gratitude, hopes in return to be of use 
 to Vasanta-sena, and announces his intention of abandoning his dis- 
 reputable habits, and becoming a Buddhist mendicant. 
 
 The following is a soliloquy of which he delivers himself 
 
474 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 after he has settled down into an ascetical life (Act VIII). 
 I translate somewhat freely: 
 
 Hear me, ye foolish, I implore. 
 
 Make sanctity your only store ; 
 
 Be satisfied with meagre fare ; 
 
 Of greed and gluttony beware ; 
 
 Shun slumber, practise lucubration, 
 Sound the deep gong of meditation. 
 Restrain your appetites with zeal, 
 
 Let not these thieves your merit steal ; 
 Be ever storing it anew, 
 
 And keep eternity in view. 
 
 Live ever thus like me austerely, 
 
 And be the home of Virtue merely. 
 Kill your five senses, murder then 
 Women and all immoral men. 
 Whoe’er has slain these evils seven 
 Has saved himself, and goes to heaven. 
 Nor think by shaven face and head 
 
 To prove your appetites are dead; 
 Who shears his head and not his heart 
 Is an ascetic but in part ; 
 
 But he whose heart is closely lopped, 
 Has also head and visage cropped. 
 
 In the end, Caru-datta and Vasanta-sena are happily 
 married, but not till the Buddhist mendicant has saved 
 the life of both. 
 
 I pass on to the greatest of all Indian dramatists, 
 Kalidasa. He is represented by some native authorities 
 (though on insufficient grounds) to have lived in the time 
 of a celebrated king, Vikramaditya, whose reign forms the 
 starting-point of the Hindi era called Samvat, beginning 
 fifty-seven years B.c. This king had his capital in Ujja- 
 yini (Oujein); he was a great patron of literature, and 
 Kalidasa is described as one of the nine illustrious men 
 called the nine jewels of his court. It is, however, more 
 probable that Kalidaisa lived and composed his works 
 
͵ THE DRAMAS. 475 
 
 about the commencement of the third century’. His well- 
 known poems have already been noticed at pp. 449-451. 
 He only wrote three plays—the Sakuntala, the Vikra- 
 morvast, and the Mdlavikdgnimitra. Of these, the 
 Sakuntala, in seven acts, is by far the most celebrated 
 and popular. JI have endeavoured in my translation 
 of this beautiful drama (fourth edition, published by 
 W. H. Allen ἃ Co.)* to give some idea of the merits of a 
 work which drew unqualified praise from such a poet as 
 
 ' Professor Lassen places Kalidasa about the year 250 after Christ. 
 Dr. Bhau Daji assigns him to the reign of a Vikramaditya in the sixth 
 century. Kalidasa probably lived at Ujjayini, as he describes it with 
 much feeling in the Megha-dita, and to this circumstance may probably 
 be traced his supposed connection with the great Vikramaditya. 
 
 * Besides these, he is said to have written a poem called the Sefz- 
 kavya or Setu-bandha, describing the building of Rama’s bridge, and 
 written for Pravara-sena, king of Kasmir. A work on metres, called the 
 Sruta-bodha, is also attributed to him. This last may be by another 
 Kalidasa. No doubt many works were ascribed to the greatest Indian 
 poet, as to the greatest Indian philosopher, Sankaracarya, which they 
 neither of them wrote. 
 
 ’ As every Orientalist knows, Sir W. Jones was the first to translate 
 the Sakuntala, but he had only access to the Bengal (Bengali) recension. 
 Two other recensions exist, one in the North-west (commonly called the 
 Devanagari) and one in the South of India. The last is the shortest, and 
 the Bengal version is the longest. The Devanagari recension, translated 
 by me into English, is generally considered the purest. Nevertheless 
 Dr. R. Pischel in a learned dissertation maintains that the palm belongs 
 to the Bengali, and it must be admitted that in some cases the Bengal 
 version contains readings which appear more likely to represent the 
 original. Professor Bohtlingk’s edition of the Devanagari recension is 
 well known. My edition of the same recension, with literal translations 
 of the difficult passages and critical notes (published by Stephen Austin 
 of Hertford), is now out of print. Dr. C. Burkhard has lately published 
 a new edition of this recension with a useful vocabulary. A good edition 
 of the Bengal recension was prepared in Calcutta by Pandit Prem 
 Chunder Tarkabagish, and brought out in 1860 under the superintendence 
 of Professor E. B. Cowell. 
 
476 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Goethe in the following words (Mr. E. B. Eastwick’s 
 translation) : 
 
 Wouldst thou the young year’s blossoms and the fruits of its decline, 
 And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed 1 
 Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine ἢ 
 
 I name thee, Ὁ Sakoontala ! and all at once is said. 
 
 I merely extract from my own translation of the 
 Sakuntalaé two passages. The following is the hero 
 Dushyanta’s description of a peculiar sensation to which 
 he confesses himself subject, and to which perhaps the 
 minds of sensitive persons, even in Western countries, are 
 not altogether strangers (Act V. Translation, p. 121): 
 
 Not seldom in our happy hours of ease, 
 
 When thought is still, the sight of some fair form, 
 Or mournful fall of music breathing low, 
 
 Will stir strange fancies, thrilling all the soul 
 With a mysterious sadness, and a sense 
 
 Of vague, yet earnest longing. Can it be 
 
 That the dim memory of events long past, 
 
 Or friendships formed in other states of being, 
 Flits like a passing shadow o’er the spirit ? 
 
 Here is a specimen of the poetical similes which occur 
 constantly throughout the drama (Act V. Translation, 
 
 Paeo)): 
 The loftiest trees bend humbly to the ground 
 Beneath the teeming burden of their fruit ; 
 High in the vernal sky the pregnant clouds 
 Suspend their stately course, and, hanging low, 
 Scatter their sparkling treasures o’er the earth: 
 And such is true benevolence ; the good 
 Are never rendered arrogant by riches. 
 
 The two other dramas composed by Kalidasa are the 
 Vikramorvasi, ‘Urvasi won by valour, and the Mdla- 
 
 1 This verse occurs also in Bhartri-hari II. 62. He was the author of 
 , 
 300 moral, political, and erotic verses called Sringara-sataka, Niti-s°, 
 and Vairdgya-s°. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 477 
 
 vikdgnimitra, ‘story of Malavik&é and Agnimitra,’ the first 
 of which is unequalled in poetical beauty by any other 
 
 Indian drama except the Sakuntala. The Vikramorvasi 
 is in only five acts, and its subject is easily told’: 
 
 Urvasi, a nymph of heaven—the heroine of the piece—is carried off by 
 a demon, and is rescued by the hero, king Purtiravas, who, of course, falls 
 in love with her. The usual impediments arise, caused by the incon- 
 venient fact that the king has a wife already; but in the end the nymph 
 is permitted by the god Indra to marry the mortal hero. Subsequently, 
 in consequence of a curse, Urvasi becomes metamorphosed into a plant, 
 and Purtiravas goes mad. She is afterwards restored to her proper form 
 through the efficacy of a magical gem, and her husband recovers his 
 reason. They are happily reunited, but it is decreed that when Urvasi’s 
 son is seen by his father Purtravas she is to be recalled to heaven. This 
 induces her to conceal the birth of her son Ayus, and to intrust him for 
 some years to the care of a female ascetic. Accidentally father and son 
 meet, and Urvasi prepares to leave her husband; but Indra compassion- 
 ately revokes the decree, and the nymph is permitted to remain on earth 
 as the hero’s second wife. 
 
 As to the Mdlavikdgnimitra, which is also rather a 
 short play in five acts, the excellent German translation 
 of it by Professor Weber of Berlin, published in 1856, 
 and the scholarlike edition published in 1869 by Shankar 
 P. Pandit of the Dekhan College’, have set at rest the 
 vexed question of its authenticity, by enabling the student 
 to compare it with Kalidasa’s acknowledged writings. 
 So many analogies of thought, style, and ane in the 
 Malavikagnimitra have ee thus brought to light, that 
 few can now have any doubt about the authorship of the 
 extant drama. According to the statement in its own 
 
 ’ Various editions of this play have been published; one by Lenz, 
 another by myself. By far the best edition is by Dr. Bollensen. 
 Professor H. H. Wilson’s spirited verse translation is well known. 
 A prose translation was made by Professor E. B. Cowell and published 
 in 1851. 
 
 ? A previous edition was published at Bonn in 1840 by Dr. Tullberg. 
 
478 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 prologue, it is evidently the veritable production of the 
 author of the Sakuntala and Vikramorvasi. N evertheless, 
 its inferiority to the two masterpieces of Kalidasa—not- 
 withstanding considerable poetical and dramatic merit, 
 and great beauty and simplicity of style—must be ad- 
 mitted on all hands. Perhaps this may be accounted for 
 by supposing the Malavikagnimitra to have been Kali- 
 dasa’s first theatrical composition. Or possibly the scenes 
 in which the dramatic action is laid, afforded the poet 
 no opportunity (as in the other two plays) of displaying 
 his marvellous powers of describing the beauties of nature 
 and the habits of animals in rural and sylvan retreats. 
 Its hero, king Agnimitra, is certainly a more ordinary 
 and strictly human character than the semi-mythical 
 Dushyanta and Puriravas, and the same may be said 
 of its heroine Malavika, as compared with Sakuntala and 
 Urvasi; but the plots of the three plays resemble each 
 other in depending for their interest on the successful 
 prosecution of love-intrigues under very similar difficulties 
 and impediments. 
 
 In the Malavikagnimitra’, king Agnimitra (son of Pushpamitra, 
 founder of the Sunga dynasty of Magadha kings) falls in love with a 
 girl named Malavika—belonging to the train of his queen Dharini’s 
 attendants—from accidentally seeing her portrait. As usual, the Vidi- 
 shaka is employed as a go-between, and undertakes to procure the king 
 a sight of the original. It happens that the principal queen, Dharini, 
 has caused Malavika to be instructed in music, singing, and dancing. 
 Hence in the second act a sort of concert (Sangita), or trial of skill, is 
 arranged, at which Malavika executes a very difficult part in a particular 
 musical time—called the Madhya-laya— with wonderful brilliancy. This, 
 of course, captivates the king, and destroys his peace of mind. In spite 
 of the opposition of his two queens, Dharini and Ivravati, and notwith- 
 standing other hindrances, he contrives to carry on an intrigue with 
 Malavika. Not that he attempts to marry her by unlawful means, nor 
 
 * I have consulted Professor H. H. Wilson’s epitome of the play in the 
 appendix to his Hindi Theatre. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 479 
 
 even against the wishes of his other wives. Polygamy is, of course, held 
 to be legitimate in the household of Oriental Rajas. The difficulty 
 consists in conciliating his two queens. This, however, he contrives 
 in the end to accomplish, and their assent to his union with Malavika is 
 at last obtained. In the course of the plot a Parivrajika or Buddhist 
 female mendicant is introduced, which is regarded by Professor Weber as 
 an argument for the antiquity of the drama. In the prologue Bhasa and 
 Saumilla are mentioned as two poets, predecessors of Kalidasa. 
 
 I here give an example of a wise sentiment from the 
 prelude. The stage-manager, addressing the audience, 
 Says: 
 
 All that is old is not on that account 
 Worthy of praise, nor is a novelty 
 
 By reason of its newness to be censured. 
 The wise decide not what is good or bad, 
 Till they have tested merit for themselves. 
 A foolish man trusts to another’s judgment. 
 
 I come now to a more modern Indian dramatist named 
 Bhavabhiti and surnamed Sri-kantha, ‘whose voice is 
 eloquence. His reputation is only second to that of 
 Kalidasa. In the prelude to two of his plays he is 
 described as the son of a Brahman named Nilakantha 
 (his mother being Jatikarni), who was one of the des- 
 cendants of Kagyapa, living in a city called Padma-pura, 
 and a follower of the Black Yajur-veda. He is said to 
 have been born somewhere in the district Berar, and to 
 have flourished at the court of YaSovarman, who reigned 
 at Kanouj (Kanya-kubja) about A.D. 720'. Like Kalidasa, 
 he only wrote three plays. These are called the Mdlati- 
 mddhava, Mahdé-vira-éarita, and Uttara-rdma-éarita?, Of 
 these three the Malati-madhava, in ten acts, is perhaps 
 the best known to English Sanskrit scholars. The style 
 
 1 According to Professor Lassen he lived about the year 710. Kanouj, 
 now in ruins, ranks in antiquity next to Ayodhya. It is situated in the 
 North-west, on the Kalinadi, a branch of the Ganges, in the district of 
 Furruckabad. 
 
 2 Carita is sometimes written éaritra. 
 
480 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 is more laboured and artificial than that of Kalidasa’s 
 plays, and some of the metres adopted in the versification 
 are of that complex kind which later Hindi poets delight 
 to employ for the exhibition of their skill’. In the 
 prelude the poet is guilty of the bad taste of praising 
 his own composition. Its plot, however, is more inter- 
 esting than that of Kalidasa’s plays; its action is dramatic, 
 and its pictures of domestic life and manners are most 
 valuable, notwithstanding too free an introduction of the 
 preternatural element, from which, as we have seen, the 
 Mrié-chakatika is exceptionally free. The story of the 
 Madlati-Mddhava has been well epitomized by Colebrooke *. 
 I give here but a bare outline: 
 
 Two ministers of two neighbouring kings have agreed together 
 privately that their children, Madhava and Malati, shall in due time 
 marry each other. Unhappily for the accomplishment of their project, 
 one of the kings requires the father of Malati to make a match between 
 his daughter and an ugly old court-favourite named Nandana. ‘The 
 minister, fearing to offend the monarch, consents to sacrifice his daughter. 
 Meanwhile Madhava is sent to finish his studies under an old Buddhist 
 priestess named Kamandaki, who had been Malati’s nurse, and who 
 contrives that she and Madhava shall meet and fall in love, though 
 they do not at that time make known their mutual attachment. Soon 
 afterwards the king prepares to enforce the marriage of Malati with his 
 favourite Nandana. The news, when brought to Malati, makes her 
 desperate. Another meeting takes place in Kamandaki’s garden be- 
 tween her and her lover Madhava, who is followed to the garden by ἃ 
 friend, Makaranda. During their interview a great tumult and terrific 
 screams are heard. A tiger has escaped from an iron cage and spreads 
 destruction everywhere. Madayantika, sister of Nandana, happens to 
 be passing and is attacked by the tiger. Madhava and Makaranda both 
 rush to the rescue. The latter kills the animal and thus saves Mada- 
 yantika, who is then brought in a half-fainting state into the garden. 
 On recovering she naturally falls in love with her preserver Makaranda. 
 
 1 Colebrooke especially mentions the Dandaka metre, for an account of 
 which see page 166 of this volume. 
 2 See Professor E. B. Cowell’s edition of his Essays, vol. 11. p. 123. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 481 
 
 The two couples are thus brought together, and Malati affiances herself 
 there and then to Madhava. At this véry moment a messenger arrives 
 to summon Madayantika, Nandana’s sister, to be present at Nandana’s 
 marriage with Malati, and another messenger summons Malati herself to 
 the king’s palace. Madhava is mad with grief, and in despair makes the 
 extraordinary resolution of purchasing the aid of evil demons by going 
 to the cemetery and offering them living flesh, cut off from his own 
 body, as food. The cemetery happens to be near the temple of the awful 
 goddess Camunda (a form of Durga), presided over by a sorceress named 
 Kapala-kundala and her preceptor, a terrible necromancer, Aghora- 
 ghanta. They have determined on offering some beautiful maiden 
 as a human victim to the goddess. With this object they carry off 
 Malati, before her departure, while asleep on a terrace, and bringing 
 her to the temple are about to kill her at Camunda’s shrine, when her 
 cries attract the attention of Madhava, who is at that moment in the 
 cemetery, offering his flesh to the demons. He rushes forward, en- 
 counters the sorcerer Aghora-ghanta, and after a terrific hand-to-hand 
 fight kills him and rescues Malati, who is thus restored to her family. 
 The remainder of the story, occupying the five concluding acts, is tediously 
 protracted and scarcely worth following out. The preparations for 
 Malati’s marriage to Nandana go on, and the old priestess Kamandaki, 
 who favours the union of Malati with her lover Madhava, contrives 
 that, by the king’s order, the bridal dress shall be put on at the very 
 temple where her own ministrations are conducted. There she persuades 
 Makaranda to substitute himself for the bride. He puts on the bridal 
 dress, is taken in procession to the house of Nandana, and goes through 
 the form of being married to him. Nandana, disgusted with the 
 masculine appearance of his supposed bride, leaves Makaranda in the 
 inner apartments, thus enabling him to effect an interview with Nandana’s 
 sister Madayantika—the object of his own affections. Makaranda then 
 makes himself known, and persuades her to run away with him to the 
 place where Malati and Madhava have concealed themselves. Their 
 flight is discovered; the king’s guards are sent in pursuit, a great 
 fight follows, but Makaranda assisted by Madhava defeats his opponents. 
 The bravery and handsome appearance of the two youths avert the king’s 
 anger, and they are allowed to join their friends unpunished. In the 
 midst of the confusion, however, Malati has been carried off by the 
 sorceress Kapala-kundala in revenge for the death of her preceptor 
 Aghora-ghanta. Madhava is again in despair at this second obstacle 
 to his union, but an old pupil of the priestess Kamandaki, named 
 Saudamini, who has acquired extraordinary magical powers by her 
 
 Ili 
 
482 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 penances, opportunely appears on the scene, delivers Malati from the 
 sorceress, and brings about the happy marriage of Malati with Madhava 
 and of Madayantika with Makaranda. 
 
 The following description of Madhava’s first interview 
 
 with Malati is from the first act’: 
 One day by curiosity impelled 
 I sought the temple of the god of love. 
 There I roved to and fro, glancing around, 
 Till weary with my wandering I stood 
 Close to a pool that laved a Vakul tree 
 In the court-yard and precints of the temple. 
 The tree’s sweet blossoms wooed a swarm of bees 
 To cull their nectar; and in idleness, 
 To while away the time, I laid me down 
 And gathered round me all the fallen flowers 
 To weave a garland, when there issued forth 
 From the interior fane a lovely maid. 
 Stately her gait, yet graceful as the banner 
 Waved by victorious Love o’er prostrate men ; 
 Her garb with fitting ornaments embellished 
 Bespoke a youthful princess, her attendants 
 Moved proudly as became their noble rank ; 
 She seemed a treasury of all the graces, 
 Or Beauty’s store-house, where collected shone 
 A bright assemblage of all fairest things 
 To frame a perfect form ; or rather was she 
 The very guardian goddess of love’s shrine ; 
 Or did the great Creator mould her charms 
 From some of Nature’s loveliest materials— 
 The moon, the lotus-stalk, and sweetest nectar ¢ 
 I looked and in an instant both my eyes 
 Seemed bathed with rapture and my inmost soul 
 Was drawn towards her unresistingly, 
 Like iron by the iron-loving magnet. 
 
 The other two plays of Bhava-bhiti, called Mahd-vira- 
 éarita and Uttara-rdma-éarita, form together a dramatic 
 
 1 Some expressions in my version have been suggested by Professor 
 H. H. Wilson’s, but I haye endeavoured to make my own closer to the 
 original, 
 
THE DRAMAS. 483 
 
 version of the story of the second Rama or Rama-Candra, 
 as narrated in Valmiki’s Ramayana and Kalidasa’s Raghu- 
 vansa. 
 
 The Mahd-vira-carita', in seven acts (often quoted in 
 the Sahitya-darpana under the title Vira-darita), drama- 
 tizes the history of Rama, the great hero (mahd-vira), 
 as told in the first six Books of the Ramayana, but with 
 some variations. 
 
 The author informs us in the prologue that his object in composing 
 the play was ‘to delineate the sentiment (rasa) of heroism (vira, see note, 
 Ρ. 454) as exhibited in noble characters.’ The marvellous (adbhuta) 
 sentiment is also said to be depicted, and the style of the action is called 
 Bharati*. The first five acts carry the story to the commencement of 
 the conflict between Rama and Ravana and between his army and the 
 Rakshasas ; but no fighting is allowed to take place on the stage, and no 
 one is killed before the spectators. Indra and his attendant spirits are 
 supposed to view the scene from the air, and they describe its progress 
 to the audience; as, for example, the cutting off of Ravana’s heads, the 
 slaughter of the demons, the victory of Rama and recovery of Sita. 
 The sevcnth and last act represents the aérial voyage of Rama, 
 Lakshmana, Sita, Vibhishana, and their companions in the celestial car 
 Pushpaka (once the property of Ravana) from Lanka back to Ayodhya. 
 As they move through the air, they descry some of the scenes of their 
 previous adventures, and many poetical descriptions are here introduced. 
 The car at one time passes over the Dandaka forest, and even approaches 
 the sun. At length it descends at Ayodhya. Rama and Lakshmana are 
 re-united to Bharata and Satrughna, and the four brothers once more 
 embrace each other. Rama is then consecrated king by Vasishtha and 
 Visvamitra. 
 
 ’ Mr. John Pickford, one of my former Boden Scholars, some time 
 Professor at Madras, has made a translation of this play from the 
 Calcutta edition of 1857, and Professor H. H. Wilson has given an 
 epitome of it in the appendix to his Hindi Theatre. 
 
 * The word Bharati may perhaps mean simply ‘language.’ But we 
 may note here that the Sahitya-darpana enumerates four kinds of style 
 or dramatic action (vrittd), viz. 1. the Kaistkz, vivacious and graceful ; 
 2. the Satvat? or Sattvat?, abounding in descriptions of brave deeds and 
 characterized by the marvellous; 3. the Arabhafi, supernatural and ter- 
 rible; 4. the Bharati, in which the vocal action is mostly in Sanskrit. 
 
 112 
 
484 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The Uttara-rdma-carita', in seven acts, continues the ~ 
 narrative and dramatizes the events described in the 
 seventh Book or Uttara-kanda of the Ramayana (see 
 pp. 339-341). I give a brief epitome’: 
 
 Rama, when duly crowned at Ayodhya, seemed likely to enter upon 
 a life of quiet enjoyment with his wife. But this would not have 
 satisfied the Hindi conception of the impossibility of finding rest in 
 this world (compare p. 411), nor harmonized with the idea of the 
 pattern man Rama, born to suffering and self-denial. We are first 
 informed that the family-priest Vasishtha, having to leave the capital 
 for a time to assist at a sacrifice, utters a few words of parting advice 
 to Rama, thus: ‘Remember that a king’s real glory consists in his 
 people’s welfare’ Rama replies: ‘I am ready to give up everything, 
 happiness, love, pity—even Sita herself—if needful for my subjects’ 
 good.’ In accordance with this promise he employs an emissary (named 
 Durmukha) to ascertain the popular opinion as to his own treatment 
 of his subjects, and is astonished to hear from Durmukha that they 
 approve all his conduct but one thing. They find fault with him for 
 having taken back his wife after her long residence in a stranger's 
 house (para-griha-vasa). In short, he is told that they still gossip and 
 talk scandal about her and Ravana. The scrupulously correct and over- 
 sensitive Rama, though convinced of his wife’s fidelity after her sub- 
 mission to the fiery ordeal (p. 360), and though she is now likely to 
 become a mother, feels himself quite unable to allow the slightest cause 
 of offence to continue among the citizens. Torn by contending feelings, 
 he steals away from his wife, while asleep, and directs Lakshmana to 
 seclude her somewhere in the woods. This is the first act. An inter- 
 val of twelve years elapses before the second act, during which time 
 Sita is protected by divine agencies. In this interval, too, her twin sons, 
 Kuga and Lava, are born and entrusted to the care of Valmiki, the 
 author of the Ramayana, who educates them in his hermitage. This leads 
 to the introduction at the beginning of the second act of Valmiki’s stanza 
 (drawn from him by his soka or sorrow on beholding a bird, one of a pair, 
 killed by a hunter), quoted from the Ramayana (I. ii. 18), where it is said 
 to be the first Sloka ever invented. An incident now occurs which leads 
 
 1 The whole of this play is translated in Professor H. H. Wilson's 
 Hindt Theatre. 
 
 * IT have consulted the Rey. K. M. Banerjea’s article in the ‘ Indian 
 Antiquary’ for May 1872. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 485 
 
 Rama to revisit the Dandaka forest, the scene of his former exile. -The 
 child of a Brahman dies suddenly and unaccountably. His body is laid 
 at Rama’s door. Evidently some national sin is the cause of such a 
 calamity, and an aérial voice informs him that an awful crime is being 
 perpetrated ; for a Sidra, named Sambika, is practising religious austeri- 
 ties instead of confining himself to his proper province of waiting on the 
 twice-born (Manu I. 91). Rama instantly starts for the forest, discovers 
 Sambika in the sacrilegious act, and strikes off his head. ' But death by 
 Rama’s hand confers immortality on the Stidra, who appears as a celestial 
 spirit, and thanks Rama for the glory and felicity thus obtained. Before 
 returning to Ayodhya, Rama is induced to visit the hermitage of Agastya 
 in the woods. Sita now reappears on the scene. She is herself invisible 
 to Rama, but able to thrill him with emotions by her touch. Rama's 
 distraction is described with great feeling. ‘What does this mean ?’ 
 he says, ‘heavenly balm seems poured into my heart ; a well-known 
 touch changes my insensibility to life. Is it Sita, or am I dreaming?’ 
 This leads on to the last act of the drama. In the end, husband and 
 wife are re-united, but not without supernatural agencies being again 
 employed, and not until Prithivi, the Earth, who, it appears, had taken 
 charge of Sita, restores her to the world. Valmiki then introduces Kusa 
 and Lava to Rama, who recognizes in them his two sons. Happiness 
 is once more restored to the whole family, and the play closes. 
 
 We may note as remarkable that at the beginning of the fourth act a 
 dialogue takes place between two young pupils of Valmiki, who are 
 delighted because some guests, having visited the hermitage, afford 
 hopes of a feast at which flesh meat is to constitute one of the dishes. 
 Manu’s rule (V. 41; see p. 256 of this volume) is cited, whereby a 
 Madhu-parka or offering of honey to a guest is directed to be accom- 
 panied with a dish of beef or veal; for on these occasions householders 
 may kill calves, bulls, and goats (vatsatartm mahoksham va mahajam va 
 nirvapantt griha-medhinah). 
 
 As a specimen of the poetry of the play, I here give 
 Rama’s description of his love for his wife (translated by 
 
 Professor H. H. Wilson): 
 
 Her presence is ambrosia to my sight ; 
 
 Her contact fragrant sandal; her fond arms, 
 Twined round my neck, are a far richer clasp 
 Than costliest gems, and in my house she reigns 
 The guardian goddess of my fame and fortune. 
 Oh! I could never bear again to lose her. 
 
486 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Two other well-known plays, the Ratndvali and the 
 Mudrda-rakshasa (both translated by Professor H. H. Wil- 
 son), ought to be mentioned. 
 
 The Ratndvali, or ‘jewel-necklace, is a short play in 
 four acts, attributed (like the Mrié-chakatika, see p. 471) 
 to a royal author, king Sri Harsha-deva '. 
 
 There is nothing of the supernatural about this drama. It may be 
 called a comedy in which the characters are all mortal men and women, 
 and the incidents quite domestic. The play is connected with what 
 appears to have been a familiar story, viz. the loves and intrigues of a 
 certain king Udayana, and Vasava-dattaé, a princess of Ujjayini. This 
 tale is told in the Katha-sarit-sagara. The king is there called Udayana 
 (see the account in Wilson’s Essays, Dr. Rost’s edition, 1. 191), and is 
 said to have carried off Vasava-datta, who is there the daughter of Canda- 
 mahasena, while in the Ratnavali she is daughter of Pradyota, and is not 
 said to be a princess of Ujjayini. The same story (along with the stories 
 of Sakuntala and Urvasi) is alluded to towards the end of the second act 
 of the Malati-madhava, and according to Professor Wilson is referred 
 to by Kalidasa in the Megha-ditita when he speaks of the Udayana-katha 
 as frequently recited in Ujjayini (verse 32). Dr. Fitz-Edward Hall has 
 shown in his Preface to Subandhu’s Vdasava-datta that this romance 
 has scarcely any feature in common with the Ratnavali story except the 
 name of its heroine. The plot of the Ratnavali resembles in its love- 
 intrigues that of the Vikramorva‘i, Malavikagnimitra, &c., and in like 
 manner presents us with a valuable picture of Hinda manners in 
 medieval times. The poet seems to have had no scruple in borrowing 
 ideas and expressions from Kalidasa. The hero of the piece is generally 
 spoken of as ‘the King,’ or else as Vatsa-rajah, king of Vatsa 
 
 a country 
 
 1 This is probably a different Sri Harsha from the author of the 
 Naishatha or Naishadhiya (at p. 450). The Nagananda (see p. 488), 
 a Hindu-Buddhist drama, is attributed to the same author. Hindi poets 
 appear to have been in the habit of flattering kings and great men in this 
 way. Professor E. B. Cowell is inclined to assign the Nagananda to a 
 poet named Dhdvaka, mentioned in the Kavya-prakasa, while he con- 
 jectures that Bana, the author of the Kadambari, may have written the 
 Ratnavali, which would place the date of this play (as shown by Dr. Fitz- 
 Edward Hall) in the seventh century of our era. Oue native commen- 
 tator on the Kavya-prakasa asserts that Dhavaka wrote the Ratnavali. 
 
THE DRAMAS. 487 
 
 or people whose capital was Aausambhi. He is, however, called 
 Udayana at the end of the first act, and before the play commences 
 he is supposed to be already married to Vasava-datia. His minister's 
 name is Yaugandharayana or Yogandhardyana, his Vidishaka or jovial 
 companion is called Vasantaka, and bis general Rumanvat. 
 
 The first scene introduces a curious description of the sports and 
 practical jokes practised at the Spring festival (now called Holi), when 
 plays were generally acted, and still continue to be performed in some 
 parts of India. Sdgarika@ (otherwise called Ratnavali, from her jewel- 
 necklace), a princess of Lanka (Ceylon), is accidentally brought to the 
 king’s court, falls in love with him, and paints his picture. The king is, 
 of course, equally struck with her. His queen’s jealousy is excited by 
 the discovery of the picture. She even succeeds in imprisoning Sagarika 
 and putting fetters on her feet, and more than the ordinary impediments 
 threaten to stop the progress of the love-affair. All difficulties, however, 
 are eventually removed, and the play ends, as usual, by the king’s con- 
 ciliating his first wife and gaining a second. 
 
 I give one specimen of a sentiment uttered by the hero on hearing 
 of the death of a brave enemy. He says: Mrityur api tasya slaghyo 
 yasya ripavah purusha-karam varnayanti; that is, 
 
 How glorious is the death of that brave man 
 Whose very enemies applaud his prowess ! 
 
 The Mudrd-rakshasa, or ‘signet-ring Rakshasa') is by 
 Visakha-datta, and is a political drama in seven acts, 
 attributed to the twelfth century. 
 
 This play is noteworthy as introducing the well-known Candra-gupta, 
 king of Pataliputra, who was happily conjectured by Sir W. Jones to be 
 identical with the Sandrakottus described by Megasthenes in Strabo as 
 the most powerful Raja immediately succeeding Alexander’s death, and 
 whose date (about 315 B.C.) serves as the only definite starting-point in 
 Hindi chronology. Another celebrated character is his crafty minister 
 
 7 
 
 Canakya, the Indian Macchiavelli, and writer on Niti or ‘rules of 
 
 1 Tf this title Mudra-rakshasa is a compound similar to Vikramorvasi 
 and Abhijidna-sakuntalam, where there is madhyama-pada-lopa, it might 
 be translated, ‘Rakshasa known by the signet-ring ;’ but it may possibly 
 be one in which the terms are inverted. Some translate it as a Dvandva, 
 ‘Rakshasa and the signet-ring.’ In the fifth act, Canakya’s emissary 
 Siddhartha enters, bearing a letter marked with the signet-ring of the 
 minister Rakshasa (amatya-rakshasasya mudra-lanchito lekhah). 
 
‘488 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 government and polity, and the reputed author of numerous moral and 
 political precepts commonly current in India. He is represented as 
 having slain king Nanda and assisted Candra- -gupta to the throne. The 
 principal design of the play is to describe how this wily Brahman 
 Canakya (also called Vishnu-gupta) effects a reconciliation between a 
 person named Rakshasa, the minister of the murdered Nanda, and the 
 persons on whose behalf he was killed. At the beginning of act VII. 
 there is a curious scene in which a Candala or executioner leads a criminal 
 to the place of execution (badhya-sthana). The latter bears a stake 
 (su/a) on his shoulder, and is followed by his wife and child. The 
 executioner calls out, 
 
 ‘Make way, make way, good people! let every one who wishes to 
 preserve his life, his property, or his family, avoid transgressing against 
 the king as he would poison.’ (Cf. Mrié-chakatika, act X.) 
 
 With regard to the interesting Hindi-Buddhist drama 
 called Ndgdnanda or ‘joy of the snake-world, I must 
 refer those who wish for an account of its contents to 
 Professor Cowell’s Preface prefixed to Mr. Boyd’s recent 
 translation (see note, p. 486). 
 
 Some other well-known plays have been before noticed: 
 
 Thus, for example, the student will find mentioned at p. 369 the 
 Hanuman-nittaka, a Maha-nataka in fourteen acts!; the Bala-rama- 
 youd, ἃ Maha-nataka in ten acts, by Raja-sekhara (edited by Pandit 
 Govinda Deva Sastri of Benares in 1869); the Prasanna-raghava in 
 seven acts (edited by the same in 1868); the Anargha-raghava; and 
 the Veni-samhara at p. 393, note τ. The Hasyarnava, a comic and 
 satirical piece in two acts, is described in the appendix to Professor 
 Wilson’s Hindi Theatre. 
 
 Before, however, taking leave of the Hindi Theatre 
 T ought to note a curious allegorical and philosophical 
 play by Krishna-misra, who is supposed to have lived in 
 the twelfth century of our era. The play is called Pra- 
 bodha-candrodaya, i.e. ‘rise of the moon of (true) in- 
 telligence or knowledge, and its dramatis personae 
 
 * I possess an old and valuable MS. of this play, which I hope may 
 one day be used in editing it. The edition published in Calcutta by 
 Maharaja Kali-krishna Bahadur, in 1840, was not from the purest recen- 
 sion. It was lithographed at Bombay about ten years ago. 
 
THE PURANAS. 489 
 
 “remind one of some of our old Moralities—acted in 
 England about the time of Henry VIJI—in which the 
 Virtues and Vices were introduced as persons for the 
 purpose of inculeating moral and religious truth. 
 
 Thus in an old English Morality called Lvery-man some of the 
 personifications are—God, Death, Every-man, Fellowship, Kindred, 
 Good-deeds, Knowledge, Confession, Beauty, Strength, Discretion. In 
 Hycke-scorner—Contemplation, Pity, Imagination, Free-will. In Lusty 
 Juventus—Good Counsel, Knowledge, Satan, Hypocrisy, Fellowship, 
 Abominable Living, God’s Merciful Promises. Similarly in the Hindi 
 Morality Prabodha-éandrodaya we have Faith, Volition, Opinion, Imagi- 
 nation, Contemplation, Devotion, Quietude, Friendship, &c. &c., on one 
 side; Error, Self-conceit, Hypocrisy, Love, Passion, Anger, Avarice, on the 
 other. The two sets of characters are, of course, opposed to each other, the 
 object of the play being to show how the former become victorious over 
 the latter, the Buddhists and other heretical sects being represented as 
 adherents of the losing side. 
 
 V. The Purdnas. 
 
 I must now advert briefly to the eighteen Puranas. 
 They constitute an important department of Sanskrit 
 literature in their connection with the later phases of 
 Brahmanism, as exhibited in the doctrines of emana- 
 tion, incarnation, and triple manifestation (tr7-miirti, see 
 pp. 324-327), and are, in real fact, the proper Veda of 
 popular Hindiiism, having been designed to convey the 
 exoteric doctrines of the Veda to the lower castes and 
 to women. On this account, indeed, they are sometimes 
 called a fifth Veda (see note 2, p. 372). Their name 
 Purdna signifies ‘old traditional story, and the eigh- 
 teen ancient narratives to which this name is applied are 
 said to have been compiled by the ancient sage Vydsa 
 (also called Krishna-dvaipaiyana and Badarayana), the 
 arranger of the Vedas and Maha-bharata (p. 372, with 
 note 2), and the supposed founder of the Vedanta philo- 
 sophy (p. 111, note 2). They are composed chiefly in the 
 
490 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 simple Sloka metre (with occasional passages in prose), 
 and are, like the Maha-bharata, very encyclopedical in 
 their range of subjects. They must not, however, be 
 confounded with the Itihasas, which are properly the 
 histories of heroic men, not gods, though these men were 
 afterwards deified. The Puranas are properly the history 
 of the gods themselves, interwoven with every variety of 
 legendary tradition on other subjects. Viewing them as 
 a whole, the theology they teach is anything but simple, 
 consistent, or uniform. While nominally tritheistic—to suit 
 the three developments of Hindiism explained at p. 327— 
 the religion of the Puranas is practically polytheistic 
 and yet essentially pantheistic. Underlying their whole 
 teaching may be discerned the one grand doctrine which 
 is generally found at the root of Hindt theology, whether 
 Vedic or Puranic—pure uncompromising pantheism. But 
 interwoven with the radically pantheistic and Vedantic 
 texture-of these compositions, tinged as it. is with other 
 philosophical ideas (especially the Sankhyan doctrine of 
 Prakriti), and diversified as it is with endless fanciful 
 mythologies, theogonies, cosmogonies, and mythical genea- 
 logies, we have a whole body of teaching on nearly every 
 subject of knowledge. The Puranas pretend to give the 
 history of the whole universe from the most remote ages, 
 and claim to be the inspired revealers of scientific as well 
 as theological truth. They dogmatize on physical science, 
 geography, the form of the earth (see p. 419), astronomy, 
 chronology ; and even in the case of one or two Puranas, 
 anatomy, medicine, grammar, and the use of military 
 weapons. All this cycle of very questionable omniscience 
 is conveyed in the form of leading dialogues (connecting 
 numerous subordinate dialogues), in some of which a well- 
 known and supposed divinely inspired sage, like Parasara, 
 is the principal speaker, and answers the enquiries put to 
 him by his disciples; while in others, Loma-harshana (or 
 
THE PURANAS. 491 
 
 Roma-harshana), the pupil of Vyasa, is the narrator, being 
 called Siita, that is, ‘Bard’ or ‘ Encomiast,’ as one of an 
 order of men to whom the reciting of the Itihasas and 
 Puranas was especially intrusted \. 
 
 Strictly, however, every Purana is supposed to treat of 
 only five topics: 1. The creation of the universe (sargq) ; 
 2. Its destruction and re-creation (prati-sarga); 3. The 
 genealogy of gods and patriarchs (vanga); 4. The reigns 
 and periods of the Manus (manv-antara) ; 5. The history 
 of the solar and lunar races of kings (vansdnudarita’). 
 
 ' A Stita was properly the charioteer of a king, and was the son of 
 a Kshatriya by a Brahmani. His business was to proclaim the heroic 
 actions of the king and his ancestors, as he drove his chariot to battle, 
 or on state occasions. He had therefore to know by heart the epic poems 
 and ancient ballads, in which the deeds of heroes were celebrated, and he 
 had more to do with reciting portions of the Maha-bharata and Itihasas 
 than with the Puranas. In Maha-bh. I. 1026 it is said that Sauti or 
 Ugra-sravas (son of the Sita Loma-harshana) had learnt to recite a 
 portion of the Maha-bharata from his father. Generally it is declared that 
 Loma-harshana learnt to recite it from Vai‘ampayana, a pupil of Vyasa. 
 
 * Certainly the recounting of royal genealogies is an important part of 
 the Puranas. It consists, however, of a dry chronicle of names. Similar 
 chronicles were probably written by the early Greek historians, called 
 λογογράφοι (Thue. I. 21); but these developed into real histories, which 
 the Indian never did. It was the duty of bards to commit their masters’ 
 genealogies to memory, and recite them at weddings or great festivals, and 
 this is done by Bhats in India to this day. In Ramayana I. Ixx. 10, 
 however, it is the family-priest Vasishtha who, before the marriage of 
 the sons of Dasaratha with the daughters of Janaka, recites the genealogy 
 of the solar line of kings reigning at Ayodhya. This dry genealogy 
 of a race of kings is sometimes called Anuvansa. Several similar 
 catalogues of the lunar race (Soma-van‘a or Aila-vansa), who first reigned 
 at Pratishthana, and afterwards at Hastina-pura, are found in the Maha- 
 bharata (see especially one in prose, with occasional Slokas called Anzw- 
 vansa-sloka interspersed, Maha-bh. I. 3759 &c.). Professor Lassen gives 
 valuable lists at the end of vol. i. of his Ind. Alt. It must be noted that 
 both the solar and /wnar races have collateral lines or branches. A prin- 
 cipal branch of the so/ar consisted of the kings of Mithila or Videha, 
 
492 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 On this account the oldest native lexicographer Amara- 
 sinha (see p. 171), whose date was placed by Professor 
 H. H. Wilson at the end of the first century B.c., gives 
 the word Panéa-lakshana, ‘ characterized by five subjects,’ 
 as a synonym of Purina. No doubt some kind of Puranas 
 must have existed before his time, as we find the word 
 mentioned in the Grihya-siitras of ASvalayana (see p. 203 
 of this volume), and in Manu (see p. 215, note 1, and 
 p- 256 of this volume). The fact that very few of the 
 Puranas now extant, answer to the title Pandéa-lakshana, 
 and that the abstract given in the Matsya-purana of the 
 contents of all the others, does not always agree with the 
 extant works, either in the subjects described, or number . 
 of verses enumerated’, proves that, like the Ramayana 
 and Maha-bharata, they were preceded by more ancient 
 works. In all probability there were Mala or original 
 Puranas, as there once existed also a Mila Ramayana and 
 Mila Maha-bharata. Indeed, in the Bhagavata-purana 
 
 XII. vii. 7, six Mila-samhitah or original collections are— 
 specially declared to have been taught by Vyasa to six sages, 
 his pupils; and these six collections may have formed the 
 
 commencing with the bad king Wimi, who perished for his wickedness 
 (Manu VII. 41), His son was Mitht (who gave his name to the city), 
 and his son was Janaka (so called as the real ‘father of the race’); the 
 great and good Janaka, learned in Brahmanical lore, being, it appears, 
 a descendant of this first Janaka. The lwnar race, to which the Pandavas 
 belonged, had two principal branches, that of the Yadavas (commencing 
 with Yadu, and comprising under it Arjuna Kartavirya and Krishna), 
 and that of the kings of Magadha. The Yadavas had also a collateral 
 line of kings of Aa@sz or Varanasi. For the solar and lunar genealogies 
 see pp. 346 and 376 of this volume. 
 
 * Thus the Bhavishya-purana ought to consist of a revelation of future 
 events by Brahma, but contains scarcely any prophecies. This work 15 
 rather a manual of religious observances; and the commencement, which 
 treats of creation, is little else than a transcript of Manu. We may note, 
 however, that Sankara Addrya often quotes the extant Vishnu-purana. 
 
THE PURANAS. 493 
 
 bases of the present works, which, as we shall presently 
 see, are arranged in three groups of six. At any rate, 
 it appears certain that the Puranas had an ancient 
 eroundwork, which may have been in some cases reduced 
 by omissions or curtailments, before serving as a basis for 
 the later superstructures. This groundwork became more 
 or less overlaid from time to time by accretions and in- 
 crustations ; the epic poems, and especially the Maha-bha- 
 rata, constituting the principal sources drawn upon for 
 each successive augmentation of the original work. Never- 
 theless, it must always be borne in mind that the mytho- 
 logy of the Puranas is more developed than that of the 
 Maha-bharata, in which (as properly an Itihasa, and there- 
 fore only concerned with kings and heroic men) Vishnu 
 and Siva are often little more tes ereat heroes, and are 
 not yet regarded as rival gods. In madioonl times, when 
 the present Puranas were compiled, the rivalry between 
 the worshippers of Vishnu and Siva was in full force— 
 the fervour of their worship having been stimulated by the 
 Brahmans as an aid to the expulsion of Buddhism—and 
 the Puranas themselves were the expression and exponent 
 of this phase of Hindiism. Hence the great antiquity 
 ascribed to the present works by the Hindis, although 
 it may have had the effect of investing them with a more 
 sacred character than they could otherwise have acquired, 
 is not supported by either internal or external evidence. 
 The oldest we possess can scarcely date from a period more 
 remote than the sixth or seventh century of our era. 
 
 Of course the main object of most of the Puranas is, 
 as I have already hinted, a sectarian one. They aim at 
 
 exalting one of the three members of the Tri- miurti, Brahma, 
 Vishnu or Siva ; those which relate to Brahmd being 
 sometimes called Rdjasa Puranas (from his own peculiar 
 Guna rajas) ; those which exalt Vishnu being designated 
 Sattvika (from his Guna sattva); and those which “prefer 
 
494 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Siva being styled Tamasa (from his Guna tamas). The 
 reason for connecting them with the three Gunas will be 
 understood by referring to p. 324. 
 
 I now give the names of the eighteen Puranas accord- 
 ing to the above three divisions : 
 
 A, The Rajasa Puranas, or those which relate to Brahma, are, 
 1. Brahma, 2. Brahmanda, 3. Brahma-vaivarta, 4. Markandeya, 5. Bha- 
 vishya, 6. Vamana. 
 
 ZB. The Sattvika Puranas, or those which exalt Vishnu, are, 1. Veshnu, 
 2. Bhagavata, 3. Naradiya, 4. Garuda, 5. Padma, 6. Varaha. These 
 six are usually called Vaishnava Puranas. 
 
 C. The Tamasa, or those which glorify Siva, are, 1. Siva, 2. Linga, 
 3. Skanda, 4. Agni, 5. Matsya, 6. Kiirma. These six are usually styled 
 Saiva Puranas. For the ‘Agni,’ an ancient Purana called ‘Vayu,’ which 
 is probably one of the oldest of the eighteen, is often substituted. 
 
 Although it is certainly convenient to group the 
 eighteen Puranas in these three divisions in accordance 
 with the theory of the Tri-mirti or triple manifestation, 
 it must not be supposed that the six Puranas in the 
 first, or Rdjasa group, are devoted to the exclusive 
 exaltation of Brahmd, whose worship has never been 
 either general or popular (see note 2, p. 327). 
 
 Though these six Puranas abound in legends connected with the first 
 member of the Triad, they resemble the other two groups in encouraging 
 the worship of either Vishnu or Siva, and especially of Vishnu as the lover 
 Krishna. According to Professor H. H. Wilson some of them are even 
 favourites with the Saktas (see p. 502 of this volume), as promoting the 
 adoration of the goddess Durga or Kali, the personified energy of Siva. 
 
 One of their number, the Markandeya, is (as Professor 
 Banerjea has shown in the Preface to his excellent edition 
 of this work) quite unsectarian in character. 
 
 This Markandeya-purana is, therefore, probably one of the oldest— 
 perhaps as old as the eighth century of our era. Part of it seems to be 
 deyoted to Brahma, part to Vishnu, and part consists of a Devi-mahatmya 
 or exaltation of the female goddess. At the commencement Jaimint, 
 the pupil of Vyasa, addresses himself to certain sapient birds (who had 
 been Brahmans in a previous birth) and requests the solution of four 
 
~ 
 
 THE PURANAS. 495 
 
 theological and moral difficulties, viz. 1. Why did Vishnu, himsclf being 
 nirguna (see p. 95), take human form? 2. How could Draupadi become 
 the common wife of the five Pandavas (see p. 387, with notes)? 3. Why 
 had Bala-rama to expiate the crime of Brahmanicide committed by him 
 while intoxicated (see p. 391)? 4. Why did the five sons of Draupadi 
 meet with untimely deaths, when Krishna and Arjuna were their pro- 
 tectors (see p. 390, note 2, and p. 409)? 
 
 Another of this group of Puranas, the Brahma-vai- 
 varta, iculeates the worship of the young Krishna (Bdla- 
 krishna) and his favourite Radha, now so popular in 
 India; from which circumstance this work is justly 
 regarded as the most modern of all the Puranas. 
 
 Of course it will be inferred from the statement at 
 Ρ. 329 that the second group of Puranas—the Sdttvika 
 or Vaishnava—is the most popular. Of these the 
 Bhdagavata and Vishnu, which are sometimes called 
 Mahd-purdnas, ‘great Puranas,’ are by far the best 
 known and most generally esteemed. 
 
 The Bhdguvata-purdna', in twelve Books, is perhaps 
 the most popular of all the eighteen Puranas, since. it 
 is devoted to the exaltation of the favourite god Vishuu 
 or Krishna, one of whose names is Bhagavat. 
 
 It is related to the Rishis at Naimisharanya by the Sita (sce p. 491), 
 but he only recites what was really narrated by the sage Suka, son of 
 Vyasa, to Parikshit, king of Hastina-pura, and grandson of Arjuna, who 
 in consequence of a curse was condemned to die by the bite of a snake in 
 seven days, and who therefore goes to the banks of the Ganges to prepare 
 for death. There he is visited by certain sages, among whom is Suka, 
 who answers his inquiry (how can a man best prepare to die?) by 
 relating the Bhagavata-purana as he received it from Vyasa. 
 
 Colebrooke believed it to be the work of the grammarian Vopadeva 
 (p. 178 of this volume), 
 
 This Purina has been well edited at Bombay with the 
 commentary of Sridhara-svamin. 
 
 ’ A magnificent edition was commenced by Eugtne Burnouf at Paris 
 in the ‘Collection Orientale, but its completion was prevented by that 
 great scholar’s death. 
 
496 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Its most important Book is the tenth, which gives the early life of 
 Krishna. This Book has its Hindi counterpart in the Prem Sagar, and 
 has been translated into nearly all the languages of India. 
 
 An epitome of this part of the work has already been 
 given at p. 334. As an example of the style of the 
 Puranas I here give the text of the story related 
 Ῥ. 337 of this volume. It is condensed in Bhaégavata- 
 purdna X. |xxxix. 1, thus: 
 
 Sri-Suka uvata | Sarasvatyds tate rdjann Rishayah satram Gsata | 
 Vitarkah samabhit tesham trishv adhiseshu ko mahan || Tasya jijitsaya 
 te vai Bhrigum Brahma-sutam nripa | Taj jiaptyai preshayam-asuh 
 so'bhyagad Brahmanah sabham || Na tasmai prahvanam stotram éakre 
 sattva-partkshaya | Tasmai éukrodha Bhagavan prajvalan svena tejasa || 
 Sa dtmany utthitam manyum atma-jayatmana prabhuh | Asiéamad 
 yatha vahnim sva-yonya varindtmanah || Tatah Kailasam agamat sa 
 tam devo mahesvarah | Parirabdhum samarebha utthaya bhrataram 
 muda || Naiéchat tvam asy utpathaga iti devas éukopa ha | Silam 
 udyamya tam hantum arebhe tigma-lodanah || Patitva padayor Devi 
 santvayamasa tan gira | Atho jagama Vaikuntham yatra devo Janarda- 
 nah || Sar yanam Siig ya utsange pada vakshasy atadayat | Tata utthaya 
 Bhagavan saha Lakshmya satém gatih || Sva-talpad avaruhyatha nanama 
 Strasa munim | Ahate svagatam Brahman nishidatrasane kshanam | Aja- 
 natam agatan vah kshantum arhatha nah prabho || Ativa komalaw tata 
 caranau te maha-mune | Ity uktva vipra-caranau mardayan svena pa- 
 nind || Punthi sahalokam mam loka-palans-¢a mad-gatan | Padodakena 
 bhavatas tirthanam tirtha-karind || Adyaham Bhagaval lakshmya& asam 
 ehdnta-bhajanam | Vatsyaty wrast me bhitir bhavat-pada-hatanhasah || 
 
 The above story affords a good example of the view 
 taken by the Bhagavata of the comparative excellence 
 of the three members of the Tri-miarti. 
 
 In VIII. vii. 44, the following sentiment occurs : 
 
 When other men are pained the good man grieves— 
 
 Such care for others is the highest worship 
 Of the Supreme Creator of mankind. 
 
 Perhaps the Vishnu-purdna as conforming most nearly 
 to the epithet Panéa-lakshana (see p. 492), will give the 
 best idea of this department of Sanskrit literature. 
 
THE PURANAS. 497 
 
 It is in six Books, and is, of course, dedicated to the exaltation of 
 Vishnu, whom it identifies with the Supreme Being. Book I. treats 
 of the creation of the universe; the peopling of the world and the descent 
 of mankind from seven or nine patriarchs', sons of Brahma; the destruc- 
 tion of the universe at the end of a Kalpa (see p. 333, note) and its 
 re-creation (prati-sarga); and the reigns of kings during the first Many- 
 antara. Book 11. describes the various worlds, heavens, hells, and 
 planetary spheres; and gives the formation of the seven circular con- 
 tinents and concentric oceans as described at p. 419 of this volume. 
 Book III. describes the arrangement of the Vedas, Itihasas, and Puranas 
 by Vyasa, and the institution and rules of caste, in which it follows and 
 resembles Manu. Book IV. gives lists of kings and dynasties. Book V. 
 corresponds to Book X. of the Bhagavata-purana and is devoted to the 
 life of Krishna. Book VI. describes the deterioration of mankind during 
 the four ages, the destruction of the world by fire and water, and its 
 dissolution at the end of a Kalpa. 
 
 The above is a bare outline of the contents of this 
 Purana. It is encyclopedical, like the others, and is rich 
 in philosophical speculations and curious legends, <A pas- 
 sage illustrating the Sankhyan tone of its philosophy will 
 be found quoted at p. ror of this volume. The great sage 
 Parasara, father of Vyasa (p. 376, note 4), is supposed to 
 relate the whole Purana to his disciple Maitreya, The 
 narrative begins thus’: 
 
 Having adored Vishnu, the lord of all, and revered Brahma and the 
 rest, and done homage to the Guru, I will relate a Purana, equal to 
 the Vedas [Pranamya Vishnum visvesam Brahmadin pranipatya éa | 
 Gurum pranamya vakshyami Puranam Veda-sammitam, I. 3}. 
 
 The metre is generally the simple Sloka, with occasional 
 stanzas in the Indra-vajra, VanSa-sthavila, &c. 
 
 1 The seven patriarchs or sages (saptarshayah, sometimes identified 
 with the seven stars of the Great Bear) were created by Brahma as 
 progenitors of the human race, and are called his mind-born sons; they 
 are, Marifi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Vasishtha. 
 To these two others are added in Vishnu-purana I. vii, viz. Daksha and 
 Bhrigu. In Manu I. 35, Narada is also added, making ten. 
 
 5 In my translations I have consulted Professor H. H. Wilson’s great 
 work, but I have had the text of the Bodleian MS. before me. 
 
 Kk 
 
498 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The following is a metrical version of the prayer of 
 Parasara, addressed to Vishnu, at the beginning of Book 
 I. 2, (with which compare similar descriptions of the 
 Supreme Being in the Upanishads and Bhagavad-gita, 
 pp. 45, 143-146 of this volume): 
 
 Hail to thee, mighty Lord, all-potent Vishnu ! 
 Soul of the Universe, unchangeable, 
 
 Holy, eternal, always one in nature, 
 
 Whether revealed as Brahma, Hari, Siva— 
 Creator or Preserver or Destroyer— 
 
 Thou art the cause of final liberation ; 
 
 Whose form is one, yet manifold ; whose essence 
 Is one, yet diverse ; tenuous, yet vast ; 
 Discernible, yet undiscernible ; 
 
 Root of the world, yet of the world composed ; 
 Prop of the universe’, yet more minute 
 
 Than earth’s minutest particles ; abiding 
 
 In every creature, yet without defilement ; 
 Imperishable, one with perfect wisdom. 
 
 There is a curious story of the churning of the ocean for 
 the production of the Amrita, ‘ambrosial food of immor- 
 tality, in Book I. 9, (compare p. 330 of this volume.) It 
 is noteworthy as differing considerably from that in 
 Ramayana I. xlv. The passage represents Indra and 
 the gods as having lost all their strength—in consequence 
 of a curse pronounced on them by the choleric sage 
 Durvasas—and so becoming subject to the demons. The 
 gods apply to Vishnu in their distress, and even Brahma 
 adores him in a long hymn. I give a portion of the 
 story metrically, changing the order of the text in one 
 or two places: 
 
 The gods addressed the mighty Vishnu thus— 
 ‘Conquered in battle by the evil demons 
 
 We fly to thee for succour, Soul of all, 
 Pity and by thy might deliver us.’ 
 
 * In the original these three attributes are, Wala-bhiito jagatah, jagan- 
 mayah, and addhara-bhito visvasya. 
 
THE PURANAS. 
 
 Hari the lord, creator of the world, 
 
 Thus by the gods implored, all graciously 
 Replied—‘ Your strength shall be restored, ye gods ; 
 Only accomplish what I now command ; 
 
 Unite yourselves in peaceful combination 
 
 With these your foes ; collect all plants and herbs 
 Of diverse kinds from every quarter ; cast them 
 Into the sea of milk; take Mandara, 
 
 The mountain, for a churning-stick, and Vasuki, 
 The serpent, for a rope; together churn 
 
 The ocean to produce the beverage— 
 
 Source of all strength and immortality — 
 
 Then reckon on my aid, I will take care 
 
 Your foes shall share your toil, but not partake 
 Tn its reward or drink th’ immortal draught.’ 
 Thus by the god of gods advised, the host 
 
 United in alliance with the demons. 
 
 Straightway they gathered various herbs and cast them 
 Into the waters, then they took the mountain 
 
 To serve as churning-staff, and next the snake 
 
 To serve as cord, and in the ocean’s midst 
 
 Hari himself, present in tortoise-form, 
 
 Became a pivot for the churning-staff. 
 
 Then did they churn the sea of milk ; and first 
 Out of the waters rose the sacred Cow, 
 God-worshipped Surabhi—eternal fountain 
 
 Of milk and offerings of butter ; next, 
 
 While holy Siddhas wondered at the sight, 
 
 With eyes all rolling, Varuni uprose— 
 
 Goddess of wine. Then from the whirlpool sprang 
 Fair Parijata, tree of Paradise, delight 
 
 Of heavenly maidens, with its fragrant blossoms 
 Perfuming the whole world. Th’ Apsarasas 
 Troop of celestial nymphs, matchless in grace, 
 Perfect in loveliness, were next produced. 
 
 Then from the sea uprose the cool-rayed moon, 
 Which Maha-deva seized ; terrific poison 
 
 Next issued from the waters; this the snake-gods 
 Claimed as their own. Then seated on a lotus 
 Beauty’s bright goddess, peerless Sri, arose 
 
 Out of the waves; and, with her, robed in white 
 Came forth Dhanvantari, the gods’ physician. 
 
 Kk 2 
 
 499 
 
INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 High in his hand he bore the cup of nectar— 
 Life-giving draught—longed for by gods and demons. 
 Then had the demons forcibly borne off 
 
 The cup, and drained the precious beverage, 
 
 Had not the mighty Vishnu interposed. 
 
 Bewildering them, he gave it to the gods ; 
 
 Whereat incensed the demon troops assailed 
 
 The host of heaven, but they with strength renewed 
 Quaffing the draught, struck down their foes, who fell 
 Headlong through space to lowest depths of hell. 
 
 The following is part of the prayer of Muéukunda, 
 Book V. 23: 
 
 Lord of the Universe, the only refuge 
 
 Of living beings, the alleviator 
 
 Of pain, the benefactor of mankind, 
 
 Show me thy favour and deliver me 
 From evil; O creator of the world, 
 Maker of all that has been and will be, 
 Of all that moves and is immoveable, 
 Thyself composed of what possesses form, 
 And what is formless; limitless in bulk, 
 Yet infinitely subtle ; lord of all, 
 
 Worthy of praise, I come to thee my refuge, 
 Renouncing all attachment to the world, 
 Longing for fulness of felicity— 
 Extinction of myself, absorption into thee. 
 
 The following account of the Kali or fourth age of 
 the world—the age of universal degeneracy—is from 
 Book VI. 1, (compare p. 333, note 1, of this volume): 
 
 Hear what will happen in the Kali age. 
 
 The usages and institutes of caste, 
 
 Of order and of rank, will not prevail, 
 
 Nor yet the precepts of the triple Veda. 
 Religion will consist in wasting wealth, 
 
 In fasting and performing penances 
 
 At will; the man who owns most property 
 And lavishly distributes it, will gain 
 Dominion over others; noble rank 
 
 Will give no claim to lordship; self-willed women 
 Will seek their pleasure, and ambitious men 
 
THE TANTRAS. 501 
 
 Fix all their hopes on riches gained by fraud. 
 
 Then women will be fickle and desert 
 
 Their beggared husbands, loving them alone 
 
 Who give them money. Kings instead of guarding 
 Will rob their subjects, and abstract the wealth 
 
 Of merchants, under plea of raising taxes. 
 
 Then in the world’s last age the rights of men 
 
 Will be confused, no property be safe, 
 
 No joy and no prosperity be lasting. 
 
 There are eighteen Upa-purdnas or ‘secondary Puranas,’ 
 subordinate to the eighteen 77] αὐ or principal Puranas, 
 but as they are of less importance I shall do little more 
 than simply give their names as follow: 
 
 1. Sanatkumara,; 2. Nara-sinha or Nri-sinha; 3. Na@radiya or Vrihan- 
 naradiya’; 4. Siva ; 5. Durvasasa ; 6. Kapila; 7. Manava; 8. Ausa- 
 nasa; 9. Varuna; το. Kalika; τι. Samba ; 12. Nandi; 13. Saura; 
 14. Paragara; 15. Aditya; τό. Mahesvara; τῇ. Bhagavata (thought 
 to be a misreading for Bhargava); 18. Vasishtha. Another list given 
 by Professor H. H. Wilson varies a little, thus: 1. Sanatkumara ; 
 2. Nara-sinha ; 3. Nanda; 4. Siva-dharma; 5. Durvasasa; 6. Bha- 
 vishya; ἡ. Kapila; 8. Manava; 9. Ausanasa; το. Brahmanda ; 
 11. Varuna; 12. Kalika; 13. Mahesvara; 14. Samba; 1 5. Saura > 
 16. Paradsara; 17. Bhagavata; 18. Kaurma. 
 
 With regard to the second or Nara-sinha Upa-purana we have an 
 abstract of its contents by Rajendralala Mitra in his Notices of MSS. 
 (No. 1020), whence it appears that the general character of these works 
 is very similar to that of the principal Puranas. For example, Chapters 1-5 
 give the origin of creation; 6. the story of Vasishtha; 18. the praises of 
 Vishnu ; 22. the solar race; 23. the lunar race; 30. the terrestial sphere, 
 That this work was well known at least five hundred years ago is proved 
 by the fact that Madhavacarya quotes from it. 
 
 The Tantras. 
 
 I have already alluded to the Tantras, which represent 
 a phase of Hindiism generally later than that of the 
 
 ' According to Rajendralala Mitra this is called Vrihat to distinguish 
 it from the Naradiya, one of the Maha-puranas. He gives an abstract 
 of it in No. 1021 of his valuable Notices of MSS. 
 
502 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Puranas, although some of the Puranas and Upa-puranas, 
 such as the Skanda, Brahma-vaivarta, and Kalika, are said 
 to teach Tantrika doctrines, by promoting the worship of 
 Prakriti and Durga. 
 
 The Tantras are very numerous, but none have as yet 
 been printed or translated in Europe. Practically they 
 constitute a fifth Veda (in place of the Puranas) for the 
 Saktas or worshippers of the active energizing will (σα ει) 
 of a god—personified as his wife, or sometimes as the 
 female half of his essence !. 
 
 It must here be remarked that the principal Hindi 
 deities are sometimes supposed to possess a double nature, 
 or, in other words, two characters, one quiescent, the other 
 active. The active is called his Sakt?. 
 
 Sometimes only eight Saktis are enumerated and sometimes nine, viz. 
 Vaishnavi, Brahmani, Raudri, Mahesvart, Narasinhi, Varahi, Indrani, 
 Karttiki, and Pradhana. Others reckon fifty forms of the Sakti of 
 Vishnu, besides Lakshmi; and fifty of Siva or Rudra, besides Durga or 
 Gauri. Sarasvati is named as a Sakti of Vishnu and Rudra, as well as 
 of Brahma. According to the Vayu-purana, the female nature of Rudra 
 (Siva) became two-fold, one half Asita or white, and the other half Stéa or 
 black, each of these again becoming manifold. The white or mild nature 
 includes the Saktis Umd, Gauri, Lakshmi, Sarasvati, &c.; the black or 
 fierce nature includes Durga, Kali, Candi, Camunda, &e. 
 
 This idea of personifying the will of a deity may have 
 been originally suggested by the celebrated hymn (129) in 
 the tenth Mandala of the Rig-veda, which, describing the 
 creation, says that Will or Desire (dma), the first germ 
 (prathamam retas) of Mind, brought the universe into 
 existence (see p. 22 of this volume). 
 
 But in all probability, the Tantrika doctrine owes its 
 development to the popularizing of the Sankhya theory 
 
 ΤΟ Tt is remarkable, as noticed by Professor H. H. Wilson, that Kullika- 
 bhatta, in commenting on Manu II. 1, says, Srutis-ca dvi-vidha vaidiki 
 tantrikt ἔα, ‘revelation is two-fold, Vedic and Tantric,’ 
 
 a 
 
THE TANTRAS. 503 
 
 of Purusha and Prakriti (as described at p. 96 and p. 101 
 of this volume). The active producing principle, whether 
 displayed in creation, maintenance, or destruction—each 
 of which necessarily implies the other—became in the 
 later stages of Hindiiism a living visible personification. 
 Moreover, as destruction was more dreaded than creation 
 or preservation, so the wife of the god Siva, presiding 
 over dissolution, and called Adli, Durgd, Parvati, Ud, 
 Devi, Bhairavi, &e., became the most important per- 
 sonage in the whole Pantheon to that great majority of 
 worshippers whose religion was actuated by superstitious 
 fears. ‘Sometimes the god himself was regarded as con- 
 sisting of two halves, representing the male principle on 
 his right side, and the female on his left!—both intimately 
 united, and both necessary to re-creation as following on 
 dissolution. It may be easily imagined that a creed like 
 this, which regarded the blending of the male and female 
 principles, not only as the necessary cause of production 
 and reproduction, but also as the source of strength, 
 vigour, and successful enterprise, soon degenerated into 
 corrupt and superstitious practices. And, as a matter 
 of fact, the Tantrika doctrines have in some cases lapsed 
 into a degrading system of impurity and licentiousness. 
 Nevertheless the original Tantra books, which simply 
 inculcate the worship of the active energizing principle of 
 
 1 This is the Ardha-nart or half male half female form of Siva. 
 There are two divisions of the Saktas: 1. the Dakshinaécarins, ‘right- 
 doers,’ ‘right-hand worshippers, or Bhaktas, ‘devoted ones,’ who worship 
 the goddess Parvati or Durga openly, and without impure practices ; 
 2. the Vaméaéarins, ‘left-doers, ‘left-hand worshippers,’ or Λαμίᾳ, 
 ancestral ones,’ who are said to perform all their rites in secret, a naked 
 woman representing the goddess. The sacred books appealed to by 1. are 
 called the Vigamas; by 2. the Agamas. The forms of worship are said to 
 require the use of some one of the five M/a-karas, ‘words beginning with 
 the letter m,’ viz. 1. madya, wine; 2. mansa, flesh; 3. matsya, fish; 4. 
 mudrd, mystical gestures ; 5. maithuna, intercourse of sexes. 
 
504 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 the deity—full as they are of doubtful symbolism, strange 
 mysticism, and even directions for witchcraft and every 
 kind of superstitious rite—are not necessarily in themselves 
 impure. On the contrary, the best of them are believed 
 to be free from gross allusions, however questionable may 
 be the tendency of their teaching. The truth, I believe, 
 is that they have never yet been thoroughly investigated 
 by European scholars. When they become more so, their 
 connection with a popular and distorted view of the 
 Sankhyan theory of creation, and perhaps with some 
 corrupt forms of Buddhism, will probably be made clear. 
 It is certain that among the Northern Buddhists, especi- 
 ally | in Nepal, a kind oF worship of the terrific forms 
 of Siva and Durga appears to have become interwoven 
 with the Buddhistic system. 
 
 In all probability, too, the mystical texts (Mantras) 
 and magical formularies contained in the Tantras will 
 be found to bring them into a closer relationship with 
 the Atharva-veda than has been hitherto suspected. 
 
 As so little is known of these mystical writings, it is 
 not possible to decide at present as to which are the most 
 ancient, and still less as to the date to be assigned to any 
 of them. It may, however, be taken for antes that the 
 extant treatises are, like the extant Puranas, founded on 
 older works; and if the oldest known Purana is not older 
 than the sixth or seventh century (see p. 493), an earlier 
 date can scarcely be attributed to the oldest known 
 Tantra’. Perhaps the Rudra-ydmala is one of the most 
 esteemed. Others are the Adalikd, Mahd-nirvana (attri- 
 buted to Siva), Kularnava (or text-book of the Kaulas, 
 see note, p. 503), Si yamd-rahasya, Saradd-tilaka, Mantra- 
 mahodadli, Uddisa, Kamada, Kadmakhya. 
 
 * It has been noted that the oldest native lexicographer, Amara Sinha, 
 does not give the meaning ‘sacred treatise’ to the word tantra, as later 
 writers do. 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. 505 
 
 I now note some of the subjects of which they treat, 
 merely premising that the Tantras are generally in the 
 form of a dialogue between Siva and his wife Durga or 
 Parvati, the latter inquiring as to the correct mode of per- 
 forming certain secret ceremonies, or as to the mystical 
 efficacy of various Mantras used as spells, charms, and 
 magical formularies ; and the former instructing her. 
 
 Properly a Tantra, like a Purana, ought to treat of five subjects, viz. 
 1. the creation; 2. the destruction of the world; 3. the worship of the 
 gods; 4. the attainment of all objects, especially of six superhuman 
 faculties; 5. the four modes of union with the Supreme Spirit. A great 
 variety of other subjects, however, are introduced, and practically a 
 great number of Tantras are merely handbooks or manuals of magic 
 and witchcraft, and collections of Mantras for producing and averting 
 evils. Such, at least, must be the conclusion arrived at, if we are to 
 judge of them by the bare statement of their contents in the Catalogues 
 published by Rajendralala Mitra and others. I select the following as 
 specimens of what they contain: 
 
 Praise of the female energy; spells for bringing people into subjection ; 
 for making them enamoured; for unsettling their minds; for fattening ; 
 for destroying sight ; for producing dumbness, deafness, fevers, &c.; for 
 bringing on miscarriage; for destroying crops; for preventing various 
 kinds of evil; modes of worshipping Kali; methods of breathing in cer- 
 tain rites; language of birds, beasts, &e.; worship of the female emblem, 
 with the adjuncts of wine, flesh-meat, women, «&e. 
 
 This last is said to be the subject of the Kamakhya-tantra. 
 
 VI. The Niti-sdstras. 
 
 This department of Sanskrit literature may be regarded 
 as including, in the first place, Niti-sistras proper, or 
 works whose direct object is moral teaching; and, in the 
 second, all the didactie portion of the epic poems and 
 other works. 
 
 The aim of the Néti-sdstras proper is to serve as 
 guides to correct conduct (itz) in all the relations of 
 domestic, social, and political life. They are either, 
 A. collections of choice maxims, striking thoughts, and 
 
506 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 wise sentiments, in the form of metrical stanzas; or, 
 B. books of fables in prose, which string together stories 
 about animals and amusing apologues for the sake of the 
 moral they contain, or to serve as frameworks for the 
 introduction of metrical precepts. These latter often 
 represent wise sayings orally current, or are cited from 
 the regular collections and from other sources. 
 
 But besides the Niti-Sastras proper, almost every de- 
 partment of Sanskrit literature contributes its share to 
 moral teaching. 
 
 Any one who studies the best Hindi writings cannot 
 but be struck by the moral tone which everywhere 
 pervades them. Indian writers, although they do not 
 trouble themselves much about the history of past gene- 
 rations, constantly represent the present condition of 
 human life as the result of actions in previous exist- 
 ences. Hence a right course of present conduct becomes 
 an all-important consideration as bearing on future happi- 
 ness; and we need not be surprised if, to satisfy a 
 constant longing for Nitz or guidance and instruction in 
 practical wisdom, nearly all departments of Sanskrit - 
 literature—Brahmanas, Upanishads, Law-books, Epic 
 poems, and Puranas—are more or less didactic, nearly 
 all delight in moralizing and philosophizing, nearly all 
 abound in wise sayings and prudential rules. Scarcely 
 a book or writing of any kind begins without an invoca- 
 tion to the Supreme Being or to some god supposed to 
 represent his overruling functions, and as each work 
 proceeds the writers constantly suspend the main topic, 
 or turn aside from their regular subject for the purpose 
 of interposing moral and religious reflections, and even 
 long discourses, on the duties of life. This is especially 
 the case in the Maha-bharata. 
 
 Examples of the religious precepts, sentiments, and 
 aphothegms, scattered everywhere throughout Sanskrit 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. ἡ 507 
 
 literature, have already been given in this volume (see, 
 for instance, pp. 282-294, 440, 457)}. 
 
 We now, therefore, turn, in conclusion, to the tivo divi- 
 sions of Niti-sdstras proper. 
 
 A. With regard to the regular collections of moral 
 maxims, sentiments, &e., these are generally in metrical 
 stanzas, and sometimes contain charming allusions to 
 natural objects and domestic life, with occasional striking 
 thoughts on the nature of God and the immortality of 
 the soul, as well as sound ethical teaching in regard to 
 the various relations and conditions of society. They 
 are really mines of practical good sense. The knowledge 
 of human nature displayed by the authors, the shrewd 
 advice they give, and the censure they pass on human 
 frailties—often in pointed, vigorous, and epigrammatic 
 language—attest an amount of wisdom which, if it had 
 been exhibited in practice, must have raised the Hindis 
 to a high position among the nations of the earth. 
 Whether, however, any entire collection of such stanzas 
 can be attributed to any one particular author is doubt- 
 ful. The Hindts, for the reasons we have already stated, 
 have always delighted in aphothegms. Numbers of wise 
 sayings have, from time immemorial, been constantly 
 quoted in conversation. Many thus orally current were 
 of such antiquity that to settle their authorship was 
 impossible. But occasional attempts were made to give 
 permanence to the floating wisdom of the day, by 
 stringing together in stanzas the most celebrated maxims 
 and sayings like beads on a necklace; each necklace 
 representing a separate topic, and the authorship of a 
 
 ‘ I need scarcely mention here so well-known and valuable a work as 
 Dr. Bohtlingk’s Indische Spriiche, which contains a complete collection of 
 maxims, &c., in three volumes, and gives the text of each aphothegm 
 critically, with a German translation, 
 
508 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 whole series being naturally ascribed to men of known 
 wisdom, like ewes hari and Canakya (see p. 487), much 
 in the same way as the authorship of the Puranas and 
 Maha-bharata was referred to the sage Vyasa (see p. 372). 
 Among these collections it will be sufficient to note: 
 
 1. The three hundred aphothegms, ascribed to Bhartri-hari' (see p.512), 
 of which the 1st Sataka, or collection of a hundred verses, is on love 
 (sringara), and therefore more lyrical than didactic, the 2nd is on good 
 conduct (nztz), and the 3rd on the renunciation of worldly desires 
 (varragya). 2. The Vriddha-éanakya or Rajaniti-sastra. 4. The 
 6 anakya- -Sataka or hundred verses (10g in one collection translated by 
 Weber) of Canaky ya, minister of Candra- -gupta (see under Mudra-rakshasa, 
 p- 487). 4. The Amaru-sataka or one hundred erotic stanzas of Amaru 
 (already described at p. 450). 5. The Sarn gadhara-paddhati, ‘Sarn-ga- 
 dhara’s collection,’ an anthology professing to collect sententious verses 
 from various sources and to give the names of most of the authors, to the 
 number of about 247”. Some verses, however, are anonymous. 
 
 There are numerous other collections of didactic and erotic stanzas, 
 some of which are quite modern, e.g. the Subhashitarnava, Santi-sataka, 
 Niti - sankalana, Kavitimrita-kiipa, Kavitirnava, “ηάπα- sudhakara, 
 Sloka-mala, the Bhamini-vilasa by Jagan-natha, the Caura-pantasila 
 by Viblana (edited with Bhartri-hari by Von Bohlen). 
 
 B. As to the collections of fables and apologues, these 
 form a class of composition in which the natives of India 
 are wholly unsurpassed. 
 
 Sir W. Jones affirmed that the Hindis claimed for 
 themselves three inventions: 1. the game of chess (éatur- 
 airga, see p. 264 of this volume); 2. the decimal figures 
 (see p. 193); 3. the method of teaching by fables. To these 
 might be added: 4. grammar (p. 173); 5. logic (p. 73). 
 
 It is thought that both the Greek fabulist Aesop and 
 the Arabian τ εν (Lukmdn) owed much to the Hindis. 
 
 * Edited by Von Bohlen, with a Latin translation, in 1833. 
 
 * See Professor Aufrecht’s article on this anthology in vol. xxvii of 
 the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlindischen Gesellschaft. 
 
 Ὁ According to Herodotus and Plutarch, Aesop lived in the latter part 
 of the sixth century B.c., and was once a slave at Samos. On being 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. 509 
 
 Indeed, in all likelihood, some ancient book of Sanskrit 
 apologues, of which the present representative is the 
 Panéa-tantra, and which has been translated or para- 
 phrased into most of the dialects of India, as well as 
 into Hebrew, Arabic, Syriac, Pahlavi, Persian, Turkish, 
 Italian, French, German, English, and almost every known 
 language of the literary world, is the original source of all 
 the well-known fables current in Europe and Asia for 
 
 more than two thousand years since the days of Hero- 
 dotus (11. 134)". 
 
 This Paiéa-tantra?—which is itself the original source 
 
 freed, he travelled about and visited Croesus, ἕο. As to Lokman, probably 
 such a person once lived, though thought by some to be an imaginary cha- 
 racter. He is certainly more likely to have borrowed ideas from Indian 
 fabulists than from Job, or Abraham, whose nephew he is said by some 
 Arabic writers to have been. The 31st chap. of the Kuran is called after 
 him, God being made to say, ‘ We have given him wisdom.’ 
 
 ? A Pahlavi version of the Panéa-tantra was the first real translation. 
 It was made in the time of Nishirvan, about a. p. 570, and perished 
 with much of the Pahlavi literature when the Arabs invaded Persia. 
 Before its destruction it had been translated into Arabic, about A. Ὁ. 760, 
 and was called Aalila wa Damna (=Sanskrit Karataka and Damanaka, 
 the names of two jackals) or fables of the Brahman Bidpai. The well- 
 known Persian Anvar-i-Suhaili, ‘lights of Canopus,’ of Husain Va’iz, 
 written about the beginning of the fifteenth century, was also an amplifi- 
 cation of the Panéa-tantra. Abi-l Fazl, Akbar’s celebrated minister, 
 also translated it into simpler Persian and called it ‘Jydr-i-Ddanish, 
 ‘criterion of knowledge.’ An Urdii version, called Ahirad A/roz, ‘illu- 
 minator of the understanding,’ was made in 1803 by Hafizu’d din Ahmad. 
 The Hebrew version is attributed to one Rabbi Joél. This was trans- 
 lated into Latin by John of Capua at the end of the fifteenth century; 
 and from this various Italian, Spanish, and German translations were 
 made. The English Pilpay’s fables is said to have been taken from a 
 French translation. The best of the Turkish versions, called Wumayin 
 Namah, was made, according to Mr. E. B. Eastwick, in the reign of the 
 Emperor Sulaiman I, by ‘Ali Chalabi bin Salih. 
 
 2 Edited by Kosegarten in 1848, and lately in India by Professors 
 Biihler and Kielhorn. Translated into German, with an elaborate Intro- 
 duction, by Professor Benfey in 1859. 
 
510 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 of a still later work, the well-known class-book Ηὶ . 
 padesa, ‘friendly instruction’—derives its name from : 
 being divided into five chapters (Tantras); but it is also_ 
 commonly called the Pandéopakhydna, ‘five collections of : 
 stories. The date of the extant Panda-tantra is usually é 
 placed about the end of the fifth century. But the fables — 
 of which it consists are many of them referable to a period 4 
 long preceding the Christian era. 4 
 
 it has even been conjectured that the notion of in- — 
 structing in domestic, social, and political duties by means — 
 of stories in which animals figure as the speakers, first — 
 suggested itself to Hindi moralists when the doctrine — 
 of “isamuran ete had taken root in India. We have — 
 seen that a most elaborate theory of transmigration of — 
 souls through plants, animals, men, and gods was pro- 
 pounded by Manu at least 500 years B.c., to which date 
 we have conjecturally assigned the existing Code of the 
 Manavas (see p. 67, note 1, and p. 280). Accordingly 
 there is evidence that contemporaneously with the rise of 
 Brahmanism in Manv’s time, and the consequent growth 
 of antagonistic systems like Buddhism and the Sankhya 
 philosophy, fables were commonly used to illustrate the 
 teaching of these systems. Thus: 
 
 In the whole fourth Book of the Savkhya-pravaéana (see p. 80, 
 note 1) there are constant exemplifications of philosophical truth by 
 allusions to the habits of animals, as recorded in popular stories and 
 proverbs. (For example, sarpa-vat, ‘like the serpent, IV. 12; bheki-vat, 
 ‘like the female frog, IV. 16; suka-vat, ‘like the parrot,’ IV. 25, &c.) 
 Again, one of Katyayana’s Varttikas or supplements to a rule of the 
 grammarian Panini (IV. 2, 104; cf. IV. 3, 125) gives a name for the | 
 popular fable of the crows and owls (akolakika), the actual title of the 
 fourth Tantra of the Panéa-tantra, A ahkolikiya, being formed according 
 to another rule of Panini (IV. 3, 88). This fable is also alluded to in the 
 Sauptika-parvan of the Maha-bhirata (see p. 409 of this volume). In that 
 Epic, too, other well-known fables are related. For example, the story 
 of the three fishes occurring in Hitopade‘a, Book IV, is found in Santi- 
 parvan 4889 &c., and that of Sunda and Upasunda in Adi-parvan 7619. 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. 511 
 
 . whose oy father had ee are himself 
 if grieved by their idle, dissolute habits. Of course, 
 the fables are merely a vehicle for the instruction con- 
 veyed. They are strung together one within another, 
 
 x still larger collection of tales exists in Sanskrit 
 a ες It is called the Kathd-sarit-sdgara, ‘ocean 
 of rivers of stories,’ and was compiled by Soma-deva 
 Bhatta of Kasmir, towards the end of the eleventh or 
 beginning of the twelfth century, from a still larger work 
 named Vrihat-katha (ascribed to Gunddhya): 
 
 The Kathd-sarit-sdgara* consists of eighteen Books (Lambakas), con- 
 taining in all 124 chapters (Zarangas). The secoud and third Books 
 contain the celebrated story of Udayana (see p. 487). A contemporary 
 of Soma-deva was Kalhana, who is said to have written the Raja- 
 tarangini, ‘stream of kings’—a chronicle of the kings of Kasmir—about 
 A.D. 1148. This is almost the only work in the whole range of Sanskrit 
 literature which has any historical value. It is mostly composed in the 
 common Sloka metre, and consists of eight chapters (Z’arangas)*. 
 
 Other collections of tales and works of fiction— 
 which are not, however, properly Niti-sastras—are the 
 following : 
 
 1. The Daga-kuméara-éarita, ‘adventures of ten princes,’ a series of 
 
 tales in prose (but called by native authorities a A@uvya or poem) by 
 Dandin, who lived in the eleventh century. The style is studiously 
 
 1 The whole work has been excellently edited by Dr. Hermann 
 Brockhaus, all but the first five Lambakas being in the Roman 
 character. 
 
 * The first six Books were edited and the whole work translated 
 into French by M. Troyer in 1840, and analysed by Professor H. H. 
 Wilson. See Dr. Rost’s edition of his works. 
 
5 By INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 difficult, long compounds and rare grammatical forms being used. It 
 was edited, with a long Introduction, by Professor H. H. Wilson in 1846. 
 2. The Vetdla-panéa-vinsati, ‘twenty-five tales of a demon,’ ascribed to 
 an author named Jambhala-datta, It is the original of the well-known 
 Hindi collection of stories called Baztal-pacist. The stories are told by 
 a Vetala, or spirit, to king Vikramaditya, who tries to carry off a dead 
 body occupied by the Vetala. 3. The Stnhasana-dvatrinsat (sometimes 
 called Vikrama-carita or ‘adventures of Vikramaditya’), stories related by 
 the thirty-two images on king Vikramaditya’s throne which was dug up 
 near Dhara, the capital of king Bhoja, to whom the tales are told, and who 
 is supposed to have flourished in the tenth or eleventh century. It is the 
 original of the Bengali Batris Sinhasan. 4. The Suka-saptati or ‘seventy 
 tales of a parrot,’ translated into many modern dialects of India (e. ¢. 
 into Hindustani under the title Votd-kahdni; several Persian versions 
 called Titi-nama being also extant). 5. The Aathadrnava, ‘ocean of 
 stories, a collection of about thirty-five comparatively modern stories, 
 attributed to Siva-dasa. 6. The Bhoja-prabandha, a work by Ballala, 
 celebrating the deeds of king Bhoja. 7. The Kddambari, a kind of 
 novel by Vana or Bana, who flourished in the seventh century at the 
 court of Harsha-vardhana or Siladitya, king of Kanauj. An analysis 
 of this work is given by Professor Weber (vol. i. p. 352 of his Indische 
 Streifen). Good editions have been printed at Calcutta. 8. The Vasava- 
 dattaé, a romance by Subandhu, written, according to Dr. Fitz-Edward 
 Hall, not later than the early part of the seventh century (see the 
 elaborate Preface to his excellent edition of the work in 1859). This 
 and the previous story, although written in prose, are regarded (like 1) 
 as Kavyas or poems, and are supposed, like the Raghava-pandaviya 
 (p. 450), to contain numerous words and phrases which convey a double 
 sense. 
 
 I conclude with examples from Bhartri-hari’s aphothegms, 
 from the Panéa-tantra, and from the Hitopadesa. 
 The following are specimens from Bhartri-harv: 
 
 Here in this world love’s only fruit is won, 
 
 When two true hearts are blended into one ; 
 
 But when by disagreement love is blighted, 
 ’"Twere better that two corpses were united (I. 29). 
 
 Blinded by self-conceit and knowing nothing, 
 Like elephant infatuate with passion, 
 
 I thought within myself, I all things knew ; 
 3ut when by slow degrees I somewhat learnt, 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. 518 
 
 By aid of wise preceptors, my conceit, 
 Like some disease, passed off; and now I live 
 In the plain sense of what a fool I am (II. 8). 
 
 The attribute most noble of the hand 
 
 Is readiness in giving; of the head, 
 
 Bending before a teacher; of the mouth, 
 Veracious speaking ; of a victor’s arms, 
 Undaunted valour; of the inner heart, 
 Pureness the most unsullied ; of the ears, 
 Delight in hearing and receiving truth— 
 These are adornments of high-minded men 
 Better than all the majesty of Empire (II. 55). 
 
 Better be thrown from some high peak, 
 Or dashed to pieces, falling upon rocks ; 
 Better insert the hand between the fangs 
 Of an envenomed serpent ; better fall 
 Into a fiery furnace, than destroy 
 
 The character by stains of infamy (II. 77). 
 
 Now for a little while a child, and now 
 
 An amorous youth ; then for a season turned 
 
 Into the wealthy householder; then stripped 
 
 Of all his riches, with decrepit limbs 
 
 And wrinkled frame, man creeps towards the end 
 Of life’s erratic course; and, like an actor, 
 
 Passes behind Death’s curtain out of view * (III. 51). 
 
 Τ now give, as an example of an Indian apologue, a 
 nearly literal translation of a fable in the Pancéa-tantra 
 
 (Book V. 8th story): 
 
 The Two-headed Weaver’. 
 
 Once upon a time there lived in a certain place a weaver (kaulika) 
 named Manthara, all the wood-work of whose loom one day fell to pieces 
 while he was weaving. Taking his axe (kufhdra), he set off to cut fresh 
 timber to make a new loom, and finding a large Sinsapa tree by the 
 sea-side, and thinking to himself, ‘This will furnish plenty of wood for 
 ELE TRESS SE hat RS SR ae ὁ τ᾿ 5... ΘϑὄΥΣ 
 
 1 The parallel in Shakespeare need scarcely be suggested. 
 
 2 I have omitted some verses in this story, and taken a few liberties. 
 In my translations I have consulted Professor H. Η. Wilson, and Pro- 
 fessor Benfey’s German translation. 
 
 L | 
 
514 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 my purpose,’ began to fell it. In the tree resided a spirit (vyantara), 
 who exclaimed on the first stroke of the axe, ‘ Hallo, there! what are you 
 about? this tree is my dwelling, and I can’t allow you to destroy it; 
 for here I live very happily, inhaling the fresh breezes cooled by the 
 ocean’s spray. The weaver replied, ‘What am I to do? unless I get 
 wood, my family must starve. Be quick, then, and look out for another 
 house; for cut your present one down I must, and that too instantly.’ 
 The spirit replied, ‘I am really quite pleased with your candour, and you 
 shall have any boon you like to ask for; but you shall not injure this 
 tree.’ The weaver said he would go home and consult a friend and his 
 wife; and would then come back and let the spirit know what gift he 
 would be willing to take in compensation for the loss of the tree. To this 
 the spirit assented. When the weaver returned home, he found there a 
 particular friend of his—the village barber (n@pita). To him he confided 
 all that had occurred, telling him that he had forced the spirit to grant 
 him a boon, and consulting his friend as to what he should demand. 
 The barber said, ‘My good fellow, ask to be made a king; then I'll be 
 your prime minister, and we'll enjoy ourselves gloriously in this world 
 and gain felicity in the next. Don’t you know the saying !— 
 
 A king by gifts on earth achieves renown 
 And, when he dies, in heaven obtains a crown.’ 
 
 The weaver approved his friend’s suggestion, but said he must first 
 consult his wife. To this the barber strenuously objected, and reminded 
 him of the proverb, 
 ‘Give women food, dress, gems, and all that’s nice, 
 But tell them not your plans, if you are wise. 
 
 Besides, the sagacious son of Bhrigu has said as follows: 
 
 If you have ought to do and want to do it, 
 Don’t ask a woman’s counsel, or you'll rue it.’ 
 
 The weaver admitted the justice of his friend the barber’s observations, 
 but insisted that Ais wife was quite a model woman and wholly devoted 
 to her husband’s welfare, and that he felt compelled to ask her opinion. 
 Accordingly he went to her, and told her of the promise he had extorted 
 from the spirit of the tree, and how the barber had recommended his 
 asking to be made a king. He then requested her advice as to what 
 boon he should solicit. She replied, ‘You should never listen, husband, 
 to barbers. What can they possibly know about anything? Surely you 
 have heard the saying, 
 
 No man of sense should take as his adviser 
 
 A barber, dancer, mendicant, or miser. 
 
THE NITI-SASTRAS. 515 
 
 Besides, all the world knows that royalty leads to a perpetual round 
 of troubles. The cares of peace and war, marching and encamping, 
 making allies and quarrelling with them afterwards, never allow a 
 monarch a moment’s enjoyment. Let me tell you then, 
 
 If you are longing to be made a king, 
 
 You've set your heart upon a foolish thing ; 
 
 The vase of unction at your coronation 
 
 Will sprinkle you with water and vexation.’ (Cf. p. xxxvii, 3.) 
 
 The weaver replied, ‘What you say, wife, is very just, but pray tell 
 me what I am to ask for’ His wife rejoined, ‘I recommend you to 
 seek the means of doing more work. Formed as you now are, you can 
 never weave more than one piece of cloth at a time. Ask for an 
 additional pair of hands and another head, with which you may keep 
 a loom going both before and behind you. The profits of the first 
 loom will be enough for all household expenses, and with the proceeds 
 of the second you'll be able to gain consequence and credit with your 
 tribe, and a respectable position in this world and the next,’ 
 
 ‘Capital! capital!’ exclaimed the husband, mightily pleased with his 
 excellent wife’s advice. Forthwith he repaired to the tree, and addressing 
 the spirit, said, ‘As you have promised to grant me anything I ask 
 for, give me another pair of arms, and an additional head.’ No sooner 
 said than done. In an instant he became equipped with a couple of 
 heads and four arms, and returned home, highly delighted with his 
 new acquisitions. No sooner, however, did the villagers see him, than, 
 greatly alarmed, they exclaimed, ‘A goblin! a goblin!’ and between 
 striking him with sticks and pelting him with stones, speedily put 
 an end to his existence. 
 
 The following sentiments are also from the Panéa- 
 
 tantra : 
 Praise not the goodness of the grateful man 
 Who acts with kindness to his benefactors. 
 He who does good to those who do him wrong 
 Alone deserves the epithet of good (I. 277). 
 The misery a foolish man endures 
 In seeking riches, is a hundred-fold 
 More grievous than the sufferings of him 
 Who strives to gain eternal blessedness (II. 127). 
 Hear thou a summary of righteousness, 
 And ponder well the maxim: Never do 
 To other persons what would pain thyself (III. 104). 
 L1 2 
 
516 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 The little minded ask: Belongs this man 
 To our own family? The noble-hearted 
 Regard the human race as all akin (V. 38). 
 
 As a conclusion, I subjoin some sentiments from the 
 Hitopadega or book of ‘friendly advice.’ My translations 
 are from Professor Johnson’s excellent edition: 
 
 Fortune attends the lion-hearted man 
 
 Who acts with energy; weak-minded persons 
 
 Sit idly waiting for some gift of fate. 
 
 Banish all thought of destiny, and act 
 
 With manly vigour, straining all thy nerve ; 
 
 When thou has put forth all thy energy 
 
 The blame of failure will not rest with thee (Introd. 3r). 
 Even a blockhead may respect inspire, 
 
 So long as he is suitably attired ; 
 
 A fool may gain esteem among the wise, 
 
 So long as he has sense to hold his tongue (Introd. 40). 
 A piece of glass may like a jewel glow, 
 
 If but a lump of gold be placed below ; 
 
 So even fools to eminence may rise 
 
 By close association with the wise (Introd. 41). 
 Never expect a prosperous result 
 
 In seeking profit from an evil quarter— 
 
 When there is taint of poison in the cup, 
 
 E’en th’ ambrosial draught, which to the gods 
 
 Is source of life immortal, tends to death (I. 5). 
 Subjection to the senses has been called 
 
 The road to ruin, and their subjugation 
 The path to fortune; go by which you please (I. 29). 
 A combination of e’en feeble things 
 
 Is often potent to effect a purpose ; 
 
 E’en fragile straws, when twisted into ropes, 
 
 May serve to bind a furious elephant (I. 35). 
 
 A man of truest wisdom will resign 
 
 His wealth, and e’en his life, for good of others ; 
 Better abandon life in a good cause, 
 
 When death in any case is sure to happen (I. 45). 
 He has ail wealth who has a mind contented. 
 
 To one whose foot is covered with a shoe 
 
 The earth appears all carpeted with leather (I. 152). 
 
σι 
 —_ 
 “1 
 
 THE NITI-SASTRAS. 
 
 Tis right to sacrifice an individual 
 
 For a whole household, and a family 
 
 For a whole village, and a village even 
 
 For a whole country’s good; but for one’s self 
 
 And one’s own soul, one should give up the world (1, 159). 
 
 Make the best use of thy prosperity, 
 
 And then of thy reverses when they happen. 
 For good and evil fortune come and go, 
 Revolving like a wheel in sure rotation (I. 184). 
 
 Strive not too anxiously for a subsistence, 
 
 Thy Maker will provide thee sustenance ; 
 
 No sooner is a human being born 
 
 Than milk for his support streams from the breast (1. 190). 
 
 He by whose hand the swans were painted white, 
 And parrots green, and peacocks many-hued, 
 Will make provision for thy maintenance! (I. 191). 
 
 How can true happiness proceed from wealth, 
 Which in its acquisition causes pain ; 
 In loss, affliction ; in abundance, folly (1. 192)? 
 
 A friend, the sight of whom is to the eyes 
 
 A balm—who is the heart’s delight—who shares 
 Our joys and sorrows—is a treasure rare. 
 
 But other friendly persons who are ready 
 
 To share in our prosperity, abound. 
 
 Friendship’s true touchstone is adversity (I. 226). 
 
 Whoever, quitting certainties, pursues 
 Uncertain things, may lose his certainties (I. 227). 
 
 By drops of water falling one by one, 
 
 Little by little, may a jar be filled ; 
 
 Such is the law of all accumulations 
 
 Of money, knowledge, and religious merit (IT. 10). 
 
 That man is sapient who knows how to suit 
 
 His words to each occasion, his kind acts 
 
 To each man’s worth, his anger to his power (II. 48). 
 Is anything by nature beautiful 
 
 Or the reverse? Whatever pleases each, 
 
 That only is by each thought beautiful (II. 50). 
 
 1 Compare St. Matthew vi. 26. 
 
518 INDIAN WISDOM. 
 
 Disinclination to begin a work 
 
 Through fear of failure, is a mark of weakness ; 
 
 Is food renounced through fear of indigestion (II. 54)? 
 If glass be used to decorate a crown, 
 
 While gems are taken to bedeck a foot, 
 
 Tis not that any fault lies in the gem, 
 
 But in the want of knowledge of the setter’ (II. 72). 
 
 A man may on affliction’s touchstone learn 
 The worth of his own kindred, wife, and servants ; 
 Also of his own mind and character (II. 79). 
 
 A feverish display of over-zeal 
 
 At the first outset, is an obstacle 
 
 To all success; water, however cold, 
 
 Will penetrate the ground by slow degrees (III. 48). 
 Even a foe, if he perform a kindness, 
 
 Should be esteemed a kinsman; e’en a kinsman, 
 
 If he do harm, should be esteemed a foe. 
 
 A malady, though bred within the body 
 
 Does mischief, while a foreign drug that comes 
 
 From some far forest does a friendly work (III. 101). 
 
 Whither have gone the rulers of the earth, 
 
 With all their armies, all their regal pomp, 
 
 And all their stately equipages? arth, 
 
 That witnessed their departure, still abides (IV. 68). 
 
 E’en as a traveller, meeting with the shade 
 
 Of some o’erhanging tree, awhile reposes, 
 
 Then leaves its shelter to pursue his way, 
 So men meet friends, then part with them for ever? (IV. 73). 
 
 Thou art thyself a stream whose sacred ford 
 
 Is self-restraint, whose water is veracity, 
 
 Whose bank is virtue, and whose waves are love; 
 Here practise thy ablutions; by mere water 
 
 The inner man can ne’er be purified (IV. go). 
 
 * “Ts such a thing as an emerald made worse than it was, if it is not 
 praised ?’ Marcus Aurelius. Farrar’s ‘Seekers after God,’ p. 306. 
 
 * Compare p. 441, 1. 11, of this volume. 
 
 Many parallels in European writers will naturally suggest themselves 
 to the educated reader while perusing the foregoing pages. I haye pur- 
 posely avoided cumbering my notes with obvious comparisons. 
 
Observe —In the following Index the numbers indicate the pages. 
 is given the numbers are separated by semicolons. 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 number by a comma indicates the number of a foot-note. 
 the pages of the Introduction. 
 
 *Abbas, xliii, 1. 
 
 >Abbassi Khalifs, xliii, 1. 
 
 Abhava, 77. 
 
 Abhidhina-cintamani, 129, 2; 
 2 ike 
 
 Abhidhina-ratnamiala, 171. 
 
 Abhidharma-pitaka, xxxii, 2; 
 59: 3- 
 
 Abhijit, 343, 2. 
 
 Abhijnana-Sakuntala, 487, 1. 
 
 Abhimanyu, 399, 2; 398; 404. 
 
 Abhirama-mani, 369. 
 
 Abhisheka, 392; xxxvii, 3. 
 
 Abhyasa, 102. 
 
 Abhyudayika Sraddha, 208. 
 
 Abibakr, xliii, 1. 
 
 Abi-l Fazl, 509, 1. 
 
 Aira, 216; 221; 266; 282; 
 295; 207. 
 
 Ἀέᾶτγα, 239; 247; 298; 409. 
 
 Accent, 164; 252, 1. 
 
 Acesines, river, 376, I. 
 
 Achilles, 316, 1; 359, I. 
 
 Action, 57; 466. 
 
 Aéyuta, 301,1. 
 
 Aéyuta-¢akravartin, 307. 
 
 Adbhuta, 454, I. 
 
 Adhidaivikam, 225. 
 
 Adhikara, 175. 
 
 Adhimisa, 184. 
 
 Adhiratha, 378. 
 
 Adhishthina, 206, 3. 
 
 Adhiyajiam, 225. 
 
 Adho-nivitah, 205. 
 
 Adhvaryu (priests), 9,1; 224. 
 
 Adhyadpanam, 244. 
 
 Adhy-atmam, 151. 
 
 Adhyatma-ramayana,369; 370. 
 
 Adhyatmika, 225; 282, 1. 
 
 Adhyavahanikam, 273. 
 
 Adhyayanam, 244. 
 
 Adi Grantha, of Sikhs, 327, 2. 
 
 Adi-parvan, 372, 1; 374. 
 
 Adigira, 218, 1. 
 
 Adisvara, 218, 1. 
 
 A-diti, 12; 17. 
 
 Aditya, 501. 
 
 Adityas, twelve, 13; 323; 300. 
 
 Aditya-vara, 188, 1. 
 
 Admetus and Alcestis, 395. 
 
 Adrishta, 7, 1; 69; 82; 84; 
 85; 132; 286,13; 465. 
 
 A-dvaita, ‘non-dualism,’ 112. 
 
 A-dvayam, 123, 2. 
 
 Aegeria, 5, 2. 
 
 Aegle Marmelos, 442. 
 
 Aeneid, 69, I. 
 
 Aesop, 508. 
 
 Afghanistan, xix, I. 
 
 Afghans, xix; xxi, 3. 
 
 Africa, xxxviili, I. 
 
 Agama, Xxxvi,I; 5; 129; 503,1. 
 
 Agamemnon, 424. 
 
 Agastya, Xxxvil, I; 241,1; 355; 
 485. 
 
 Ages, four, 187, 2; 229. 
 
 Aghora-ghauta, 481. 
 
 Aghorins, xlviii. 
 
 Agneyistra, 404, 1. 
 
 Agni, 14; 18; 19,1; 198; 262; 
 3243 4209; 494. 
 
 Agni, a prayer to, 30, I. * 
 
 Agni-hotra, 31, 1; 133; 159; 
 251; 260, 
 
 Agnihotra-homah, 224. 
 
 Agnihotrin, 198, 1. 
 
 Agnimitra, 478. 
 
 Agni-purana, 295; 369. 
 
 Agnishtoma, 196; 238; 230,1. 
 
 Agni-veSa, 370. 
 
 Agrahayana, 183, 3. 
 
 | Agrayana, 169, 
 
 When more than one page 
 
 A unit separated from a preceding 
 
 The Roman numerals denote 
 
 Ahalya, 
 387, 2. 
 Ahankara, 64, 3: 93; 94; 96 
 126; 151; 228. 
 Ahavaniya fire, 197, 1; 198, 1; 
 205; 206. 
 Ahi, 17. 
 | A-hinsd, 249, 2. 
 | Ahura Mazda, 12. 
 | Ahvaya, 267. 
 | Aila, 376. 
 | Aila-vansa, 401, 2. 
 Airavata, Indra’s elephant, 355; 
 
 wife of Gautama, 
 
 430, 2. 
 *A-isha, wife of Muhammad, 
 xliii, 1. 
 Aitareya Aranyaka, 252, 1. 
 Aitareya Upanishad, 37. 
 Aitareya-brahmana, 28; 31; 32; 
 35; 182; 252,1; 333, 1. 
 Aitihasikas, 169. 
 Aja, 346; 409, 2. 
 Ajita-Satru, 59, 3. 
 Ajigarta, 29, 30. 
 Ajita, 129, 2. 
 Ajmir, 327, 2. 
 Akasa, 64,1; 78; 93; 93, 2. 
 Akifa-mukhins, xviii. 
 Akbar, Emperor, xix, 1; xxi, 3; 
 500,1. 
 ΑΚΉγᾶπα, 215,1; 256; 371,1. 
 Akhyiata, 162; 171. 
 Aksha-pida, 76,1; 89, 1. 
 Akshapida-darsana, 127, 1. 
 Akshepa, 455. 
 Alarkira-kaustubha, 466. 
 Alamkiras, 453; 454. 
 Alamk4ra-sarvasva, 466. 
 
 | Alamkara-Sastra, 465. 
 | Albert, king Charles, 339, 1. 
 
 Alexander’s death, 487. 
 
520 
 
 Alexander’s invasion, 258; 319. 
 
 Alexander the Great, xviii. 
 
 Algebra, invention of, 184. 
 
 Algebra, Hindi, 190; ΤΟΙ. 
 
 Algebraists, Hindi, 191. 
 
 "All, xliii, 1. 
 
 ’Ali’s descendants, xliii, 1. 
 
 Al Kadr, night called, 6. 
 
 Allah, xli, 1. 
 
 Allahabad, xxx, 1. 
 
 Allegory of two birds, 42; 
 230. 
 
 Allen, W. H. & Co., 475. 
 
 Alliteration, employment of, 
 452. 
 
 Almanacs, 188, I. 
 
 Altai mountains, xix, 1. 
 
 Amara-kosha, 171; 430, 2. 
 
 Amara-sinha, 492; 504, I. 
 
 Amaru, 451. 
 
 Amari-sataka, 450, 508. 
 
 Ambalika, 377. 
 
 Ambarisha, 30,1; 246; 363,1. 
 
 Ambashtha, 218, 1; 233. 
 
 Ambika, 377. 
 
 America, xxxviii, I. 
 
 Amlika, 422, 2. 
 
 Amrita, ‘nectar,’ 330; 408. 
 
 Amilam milam, 91; 92. 
 
 Amirta, 187. 
 
 Amyak, 169. 
 
 Analysis, 71; 171. 
 
 Ananda, MEK 2; 57. 1; 50,5: 
 
 Ananda-maya, 123. 
 
 Ananda-tirtha, 127, 1. 
 
 Ananta, 129, 2; 429. 
 
 Ananta-vijaya, 403. 
 
 Anargha-raghava, 369; 488. 
 
 An-arya, 313. 
 
 An-aryas, 311. 
 
 An-asrita, 302. 
 
 Anasiya, wife of Atri, 362, I. 
 
 Anatha-pindada, 54, 3. 
 
 Anatomy, 194. 
 
 An-aupadhikah 
 74- 
 
 Anaximander, 63, I. 
 
 Anaximenes, 63, I. 
 
 Anda, 228. 
 
 Andhakas, 399. 
 
 Andromache, 316, 1: 439. 
 
 Amga, kingdom of, 342; 416; 
 467; 408. 
 
 An-ga-raga, 362, I. 
 
 Amgas, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Amgiras, 9,1; 211; 224; 242; 
 258, 2; 304; 497, I. 
 
 Anglo-Saxon, xxviii. 
 
 Angushtha-matra, 206, 3. 
 
 Anguttara-nikaya, xxxii, I. 
 
 Anila (Wind), 262. 
 
 Animals, xxv, 1; 67, 1; 280; 
 281. 
 
 sambandhah, 
 
 IN DE X. 
 
 Anjalika, 405, I. 
 Anjana, 430, 2. 
 
 | Ararat, xix, I. 
 
 Arbuda, 399. 
 
 Anka, 193; 466; 467; 468. | Archery, 194. 
 
 AnkuSa, 193. 
 Anna-maya, 123. 
 
 ΡῈ | 
 Anna-prasana, 201; 239; 246. | 
 
 | Architecture, 194. 
 Ardha-nari (Siva), 99; 325, 1; 
 503, I. 
 
 Antah-karana, 64; 64, 3; 126. Argha, 298; 298, 4; 392. 
 
 Antahsanjna, 67, 1. 
 Antariksha, 206. 
 
 Antar-vedi, 205. 
 Anthropomorphism, 322. 
 Antiochus and Eumenes, 258, 1. 
 Antya, 250. 
 
 Anubandha, 173; 173, 3. 
 Anudattoktya, 469. 
 Anukramani or ‘ Indices,’ 194. 
 Anumana, 72; 92; 126; 230. 
 Anumati, 169; 182. 
 An-upalabdhi, 126. 
 
 Anuprasa, 454. 
 
 Anus or ‘atoms,’ 82. 
 AnuSasana-parvan, 375; 411. 
 Anushtubh metre, 166; 221,1; 
 _ 314; 338. 
 
 Anusravika, 49, I. 
 Anuvansa-sloka, 401, 2. 
 Anuvritti, 175. 
 Anuyoga-dvara-siitra, xxxvi, I. 
 Anvaharya, 255. 
 Anvaharya-pacana fire, 198, I. 
 Anyar-i-Suhaili, 509, 1. 
 Anvashtakya Sraddha, 201. 
 Anvikshikt, ‘logic, 227. 
 Apadana, xxxii, I. 
 Apad-dharma, 375. 
 
 Apara, 80. 
 
 Apararka, 36. 
 
 Aparatva, 79. 
 
 Apas, ‘ water,’ 78; 93. 
 Apasadah, 250. 
 
 Apastamba, 211; 211, 1; 243, 2; | 
 
 305. 
 
 Apastamba Grihya-siitra, 196. 
 
 Apastamba Srauta-sitra, 157; 
 196, I. 
 
 Apastambas, the, 196, 1. 
 
 Apavarga, 70, 74. 
 
 Aphorisms, 48, I. 
 
 Aphrodite, 330, 2. 
 
 Apisali, 172, 1. 
 
 Apologue, Indian, 513. 
 
 A-prakrita, 454. 
 
 A-prastuta, 454. 
 
 Apsaras, 280, 499. 
 
 Apta-vaéana, 92. 
 
 Apya-dikshita, 466. 
 
 Apyaya, 466. 
 
 Ara, 129 2. 
 
 Arabhati, 483, 2. 
 
 Arabs, xix, 1; 190, I. 
 
 Arani, 18. 
 
 Aranya-kanda, 339; 368. 
 
 Aravyakas, 37. 
 
 | Arhat, 55, 1; 129. 
 Arhata-darsana, 127, I. 
 Athatas, 128. 
 
 Ariman, xviii, I. 
 
 | Aristotle, 62, 3; 68, 2; vam 
 
 79, 1; 81; 95,1; 113; 
 125; 403, I. 
 
 Aritra, 234, 2. 
 
 Arjuna, 110: 155: 236;2n 
 
 380; 387, 2; 403; 413; 
 418; 430, 1; 401, 2. 
 Armenian language, xvii; xix,1. 
 Armenians of India, xix, 1, 
 Aropa, 455. 
 Arrian, xviii; 258, I. 
 Arsha (revealed knowledge’, 
 222. 
 Arsha form of marriage, 199; 
 250. 
 Ars poetica, 453. 
 Artha, 74, 1; 204. 
 Artha-katha, xxxii, I. 
 Arthalankara, 454. 
 Arthantara-nyasa, 455. 
 Arthapatti, 126; 455. 
 Artha-vada, 27. 
 Aruna, 426. 
 Arundhati, 200. 
 Arya, ‘noble,’ xvii, 313. 
 Arya-bhatta, 185. 
 Aryaman, 19; 199. 
 Aryans, 5.1; 9; 314. 
 Aryashta-Sata, 185. 
 Aryavarta, xvi, 1; 234, I. 
 | A-samavayi-karana, 81. 
 | Asana, ‘ postures,’ 103. 
 A-Sauéa, 9, I. 
 
 | Asauéam, 303. 
 | Ascetic, Buddhist and Jaina, 
 
 573 131. 
 Asceticism, 103; 141. 
 Ashadha, 184, 1. 
 Ashadha, 184, 1; 207. 
 Ashtadhyayi, 173. 
 Ashtaka Sraddha, 201; 208. 
 Ashtakam Paniniyam, 173. 
 Ashtikshara, 165. 
 Ashta-mirti, 325, 3. 
 | Asiatic Researches, 
 166, 1. 
 Asi-patra-vana, 414. 
 
 τοῦ, 1 
 
 | Asita, 502. 
 
 ASoka, xxxii, 1; 59, 3; 372+ 
 1; 422, 2; 463: 
 
 ' Asoka inscriptions, 130,1; 316. 
 
 ASramas or ‘ Orders,’ 223; 245. 
 
Aéramavisika, 411, I. 
 
 ASramavasika-parvan, 375. 
 
 Assam, Xxxvi. 
 
 Assamese language, xxix. 
 
 Assessors, 300. 
 
 Astrologer, 189. 
 
 Astrology, 184; 180. 
 
 Astronomy, 180; 182; 184. 
 
 A-Su¢i, 224. 
 
 Asura, 250, 
 
 Asura form of marriage, 199. 
 
 Asura Carvaka, 383, 3. 
 
 Asuras, 169; 395. 
 
 Asiiryam-pasya, 436, I. 
 
 ASvalayana Grihya-sitra, 195 ; 
 195, 2; 197; 252, 1; 208, 
 I; 298, 3; 372, 1; 492. 
 
 ASvaliyana Srauta-siitra, 159; 
 15,2); 252; 1. 
 
 ASvalayana-brahmana, 28, 3. 
 
 ASva-medha, 31,1; 196; 342; 
 
 375: 
 ASvamedhika-parvan, 375. 
 Asvami-vikraya, 266. 
 Asva-pati, king of Kekaya, | 
 
 344, I. 
 
 Asvattha, ‘holy fig-tree,’ 42, 2. 
 
 Asvatthaman, 383, 4; 405; 
 407; 408. 
 
 Asvin, 367, 1. 
 
 ASvina, 184, 1. 
 
 Asvini, 184, 1; 426, 5. 
 
 Asvini-kumaras, 426. 
 
 Asvins, 14; 169; 380; 387, 2; 
 
 400. 
 
 Atala, 430, I. 
 Atharvan, 224; 242. 
 Atharvamgiras, 203; 252, 1; 
 
 208. 
 
 Atharva-veda, 7,1; 9; 15; 25; 
 
 252,1; 279. 
 Atharva-veda-pratisakhya, 161; | 
 
 162. 
 Atheists, 52; 256. 
 Athene, temple of, 145, 5. 
 Athenians, 231, 1. 
 Atikaya, 383, 3. 
 Ati-kriéchra penance, 278. 
 Atiratra, 343, 2. 
 Atisayokti, 455. 
 Atithi, 257. 
 Atithi-bhojana, 197, I. 
 Ativahika, 206, 3. 
 Ati-vyapti, 74, I. 
 Atma-bodha, 119; 123. 
 Atman, 74; 78; 85; 228; 
 
 229; 294, I. 
 Atmane-pada, 174; 175. 
 Atma-tushti, 216. 
 Atma-tyiginyah, 302. 
 Atma-vidya, 227. 
 Atoms, 82. 
 Atri, 211; 304; 376; 497, I. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Aufrecht, Professor, 3, 1; 504, 
 2; 508, 2. 
 
 Aulikya-darsana, 127, 1. 
 
 Aupamanyava, 169. 
 
 Aurangzib, xix, 1; 327, 2. 
 
 Aurelius, Marcus, 47, 1; 153; 
 154; 518. 
 
 Aurnabhiya, 169. 
 
 AuSanasa, 501. 
 
 Austin, Stephen, 475, 3. 
 
 Authority of Veda, 223. 
 
 Auttami, Manu, 214, I. 
 
 Avaka, 206, 3. 
 
 Avarana, 119. 
 
 Avarodha, 436, I. 
 
 Avasarpini, 129. 
 
 Avasathya fire, 198, 1. 
 
 Avasti, 6 
 
 Avayava, ‘member of an argu- 
 ment, 72; 75. 
 
 A-vidya, 118. 
 
 A-vyakta, 92; 228. 
 
 Avyakta-ganita, 186, 2. 
 
 Avyayi-bhava, 163. 
 
 Ayodhya, 30, 1; 320; 337,1; 
 3533 361; 479, 1. 
 
 Ayodhya-kanda, 339 ; 368. 
 
 Ayogava, 233. 
 
 Ayur-veda, 194. 
 
 Ayus, 376. 
 
 Azali, ‘ without beginning,’62,2. 
 
 Baber, xix, I. 
 Babhru-vahana, 391. 
 Badarayana, 111; 252,1; 489. | 
 Bagdis, 218, 1. 
 
 Baghdad, xix, I. 
 Bahu-janma-bhak, 20, 2. 
 Bahu-prajah, 20, 2. 
 Bahuriipa, 409, 2. 
 BahuSilin, 382, 4. 
 Bahu-vrihi, 163. 
 Bahv-riéa, 224. 
 
 Baidya, ‘ medical,’ 218, 1. 
 Bailee, 269. 
 
 Bailments, 269. 
 Baital-padisi, 512, 
 
 Baka, 286, 
 
 Bala, ‘ power,’ 59, I. 
 Bala, ‘ strength,’ 387, 2. 
 Baladeva, 387, 2. 
 Bala-devas (nine), 130. 
 Bala-kanda, 339; 368. 
 Bala-krishna, 495. 
 Bilam-bhatta, 307. 
 Bala-rama,334 5 3353 3753 379; 
 3845 391; 398; 408; 495. 
 Bila-ramayana, 369; 488. 
 Balasore, xxi, 2. 
 Bali,197,1; 203; 251; 265; 331.) 
 
 Ballala, 512. 
 Ballantyne, Dr., 71, 1; 81, 1; 
 85; 89, 1; 98, 1; 466, 1. 
 
 521 
 
 Bina, 369; 512. 
 
 Bandyopidhyaya, 218, 1. 
 
 Banerjea, Professor K. M., 
 xxxvi, 3; 60, 1; 76; 84; 
 85,25 1065 19,1. 324,95 
 367, I. 
 
 Banerjea’s Dialogues, 190. 
 
 | Banians, 232, I. 
 
 Banias, 232, I. 
 Banijya, 244, 2. 
 
 | Banik, 232, 1. 
 
 Baniyds, 232, 1. 
 
 Bipudeva Siastri, 185, 2. 
 Barbarians, xxxiv, 1. 
 
 Bard, 491. 
 
 Baroda, xxi, 3. 
 Barth,M.,RevueCritique,261,1. 
 Batn, 36. 
 
 Batri§ Sinhdsan, 512. 
 Bauddha-darSana, 127, 1. 
 Baudhayana, 211, 1; 212; 305. 
 
 Baudhayana Grihya Sitras, 
 196. 
 Baudhayana Srauta  Siitras, 
 157. 
 
 Beames, Mr., xxix, I. 
 
 Bear, Great, 497. 
 
 Bediyas, 218, 1. 
 
 Behar, xvi, 2; 54; 305. 
 
 Benares, xv, 3. 
 
 Benares, college at, xxx, I. 
 
 Benares, school of, 305; 307. 
 
 Benfey, Professor, 509, 2; 
 513, 2. 
 
 Bengal, xv, 3; xvi, 2; 306. 
 
 Bengal, school of law, 305. 
 
 Bengali, xxix. 
 
 Bentinck, Lord William, 258, 2. 
 
 Berkeley, 64,1; 91,23 94, 2; 
 
 99, I. 
 | Bha (in algebra), 192; 193. 
 
 Bhadra, 430, 2. 
 
 Bhadra, 184, 1; 334, 2. 
 
 Bhadrapada, 184, 1. 
 
 Bhadra-pada, 183, 3. 
 
 Bhaga, 188, 
 
 Bhagana, 188. 
 
 Bhagavad-gita, 42, 2; 48, 1; 
 66, 31 100; 100,35 10355 
 LION, 134'52.9203) Savy Ἐν» 
 401; 498. 
 
 Bhagavat, 54, 2; 495. 
 
 Bhagavata-purana,138,2; 329, 
 2; 334; 300,2; 495; 496. 
 
 Bhigavatas, xlviii; 327,2; 494; 
 501. 
 
 Bhagiratha, 346; 364. 
 
 Bhagirathi, 364. 
 
 Bhiguri, 306. 
 
 Bhaiksha, 386. 
 
 Bhakshyabhakshya, 411, 1. 
 
 Bhaktas, 503,11. 
 
 Bhaktas, xlviii. 
 
 2 
 
5292 
 
 Bhakti (faith), 225; 320. 
 
 Bhakti, later theory of, 137. 
 
 Bhalla, 405, I. 
 
 Bhama, 466. 
 
 Bhana, 467. 
 
 Bhandarkar, Professor, 177, 2; 
 196, 1; 243, 2; 252, 1. 
 
 Bhanika, 468. 
 
 Bhanu-datta, 454. 
 
 Bharadvaja, 361; 404, I. 
 
 Bharadvaja (grammarian), 172, 
 
 I. 
 
 Bharadvaja Grihya Sitras, 196. 
 
 Bharadvaja Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 
 Bharata, 3473 3533; 361; 366; 
 419; 465. 
 
 Bharata (Sutras), 465. 
 
 Bharata, xvi; 340,1; 372, 1. 
 
 Bharatam akhyanam, 372, 2. 
 
 Bharata-mallika, 178. 
 
 Bharata-sena, 178. 
 
 Bharata-varsha, xvi; 371; 376. 
 
 Bharati, 483, 2. 
 
 Bharavi, 393, 2; 449. 
 
 Bhartri-hari, 177, 1; 450; 508; 
 512. 
 
 Bhisa, 479. 
 
 Bhasha, xxviii, 1. 
 
 Bhasha-paric¢heda, 71, I. 
 
 Bhashya, xxxvi, 1. 
 
 Bhashya-pradipa, 178. 
 
 Bhashya-pradipoddyota, 178. 
 
 Bhaskara, 186; 188; 190; 
 191. 
 
 Bhaskara¢arya, 106; 186. 
 
 Bhatiyas, 232, I. 
 
 Bhatta, 239, 3. 
 
 Bhatta-divakara, 221, 2. 
 
 Bhatta-narayana, 393, I. 
 
 Bhatti-kavya, 178; 368; 450; 
 451; 454. 
 
 Bhattoji-dikshita, 178. 
 
 Bhau Daji, Dr., 475, 1. 
 
 Bhauma, 189. 
 
 Bhava, 409, 2. 
 
 Bhava-bhiti, 340; 
 368; 369; 470. 
 
 Bhavana, 409, 2. 
 
 Bhava-prakasa, 542. 
 
 Bhavishya, 494; 501. 
 
 Bhavishya-purana, 492, I. 
 
 Bhavita, 192. 
 
 Bhawalpir, xxi, 3. 
 
 Bhayanaka, 454, 1. 
 
 Bhikshu, 219; 245; 260. 
 
 Bhikshuka,xxxii,2; 57,3; 252,1. 
 
 Bhikshus, 57, 3; 58. 
 
 Bhils, 312, 1. 
 
 Bhima, 380; 405; 413; 418. 
 
 Bhimasena, 382, 4. 
 
 Bhishma, 331, 2; 374; 376; 
 385; 3925 3973 401; 403; 
 410, 
 
 BE τὰ 
 
 TN DSH) ex. 
 
 Bhishma-parvan, 374. 
 
 Bhistis (water-bearers), 232, I. 
 
 Bhogavati, 430, 1. 
 
 Bhoja, 369; 407; 512. 
 
 Bhoja-deva, commentary of, 
 102, I. 
 
 Bhoja-prabandha, 512. 
 Bhoja-raja, 
 ΤΟΣ, τὸ 
 Bhopal, xxi, 3. 
 Bhotan, xxxvi. 
 
 Bhrigu, 194; 212; 214; 229;) 
 
 3°55 337; 497, I. 
 
 Bhu, 430, I. 
 
 Bhih, 169. 
 
 Bhukti, 300. 
 
 Bhimi, ‘ earth,’ 93. 
 
 Bhir, 66, 2; 203. 
 
 Bhita, 194. 
 
 Bhutan, xxi, 3: 
 
 Bhiita-yajna, 203; 251. 
 
 Bhuvah or Bhuvar, 66, 2; 169; 
 203; 430, I. 
 
 Bibhatsa, 454, I. 
 
 Bibhatsu, 382, 4; 307. 
 
 Bible ΧΙ exits τ ΟΣ 
 Wid a ale 
 
 Bibliotheca Indica, 37, 1; 46, 
 Ὁ; 198. 1- 
 
 Binary compound, 82. 
 
 Bodhi-sattva, 55,1; 58, 2. 
 
 Bohlen, Von, 508, 1. 
 
 Bohn, 79, I. 
 
 Bohtlingk, Professor, 3, 1; 179; 
 7s AB ΒΟΥ. te 
 
 Bokhara, Io. 
 
 Bombay ceded, xxi, 3. 
 
 Bombay, population of, xvi, 2. 
 
 Bombay, school of law, 305. 
 
 Bopp, 386. 
 
 Borrodaile, Mr. H., 308, 2. 
 
 Bose, 2138, I. 
 
 Bottomry, 269. 
 
 Bower, the Rey. H., 128, 1. 
 
 Brachmanes, 281, I. 
 
 Brahma, 40; see Brahman. 
 
 Brahma (world), 430, 1. 
 
 Brahma, 24. 5; 3442505; 
 Ὁ2, 2; τοῦ; 227, 2; 510: 
 427; 429; 494: 498. 
 
 Brahma (son of), 89, I. 
 
 Brahma (form of marriage), 
 
 199. 
 Brahma¢ari, 376. 
 Brahma-¢arin, 201; 245; 248. 
 Brahma¢arya-vrata, 380, 2. 
 Brahma-ghosha, 418, 4. 
 Brahma-gupta, 185; 185, 3. 
 Brahma-ha, 275. 
 Brahmahatya, 274; 387, 2. 
 Brahma-jijnasa, 113. 
 Brahma-loka, 405. 
 Brahma-mimansa, 108. 
 
 | Brahmana 
 commentary of, | 
 _ Brahmanas (of each Veda), 28; 
 
 Brahman (Supreme Spirit), 12,1; 
 
 2; 114; 114,35; 198; 235¢ 
 
 Brahman (prayer, Veda), 222; 
 5.79. 2. 78: 
 
 Brahmana (portion of Veda), 
 8; 27; 28; 50; 68, 1. 
 (prayer - offerer), 
 
 Δ). 2. 
 
 203. 
 Brahmanda, 494; 501. 
 Brahmanda-purana, 369. 
 Brahmani, 502. 
 Brahmanicide, 318, 1. 
 Brahmanism, xxxviii; 4; 4,1; 
 
 240-245. 
 
 Brahmanism, tyranny of, 52. 
 Brahmans, xx, 1; 221; 240, &c. 
 Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vai- 
 
 Syas, 240. 
 
 Brahmans (of Konkan), 244, 1. 
 Brahma-pura, 126, I. 
 Brahma-purana, 258, 2; 494. 
 Brahma-sampradayins, xlviii. 
 Brahma-siddhanta or Brahma- 
 
 Salons 196: 
 
 Brahmastra, 402, I. 
 Brahmavarta, 217. 
 Brahma-vaivarta,49 4; 495; 502. 
 Brahma-vidya, 227. 
 Brahma-yajna, 203; 251; 252, 
 
 1; 275; 298, 1; 298, 3. 
 Brahmodyam, 208, 2. 
 Brahmojjhata, 275. 
 
 Brahi-i language, xxix. 
 Brihad-aranyakaUpanishad 38; 
 
 393; 124; 144, 6; 347, 3. 
 Brihat-samhita, 185; 189. 
 Brockhaus, Dr.Hermann, 511,1. 
 Brother-in-law, 472, 1. 
 Buddha, 49; 533 543 335- 
 Buddha-vansa, xxxii, I. 
 Buddhi, 64, 3; 74; 92; 96; 
 
 119; 126; 151; 229. 
 Buddhindriyani, 94, 1. 
 Buddhism, xxix, 1; ΧΧΧΥΪ; 
 
 ΧΧΧΥΛΙ Ls) 45) 93, ΤΣ ΒΟ 
 
 215,1; 471; 403; 504. 
 Buddhist ascetics, 281,1; 471; 
 
 473- 
 
 Buddhist canon, xxxii, I. 
 Buddhist council, xxxii, I. 
 Buddhist heavens, 58, 2. 
 Buddhist literature, xxix, I. 
 Buddhist reformation, 52. 
 Buddhist scriptures, xxxii; 59,3. 
 Buddhistic philosophy, xxxvi. 
 Buddhistic scepticism, 317. 
 Buddhists, xxiv, 1; xxxvi, I. 
 Buddhists of Nepal, xxix, I. 
 Budha, 189; 376. 
 Budha-vara, 188, 1. 
 
 Biihler, Dr., 172, 1; 509, 2. 
 
 —S—a. 
 
Bukka, court of king, 127, I. 
 Bundelkhand, xxi, 3. 
 
 Burgess, E., 185, 2; 186. 
 Burial in the ground, 302. 
 Burkhard, Dr. C., 475, 3. 
 Burmah, xxix, 1; Xxxvi. 
 Burmese language, xxix; 312,1. 
 Burnell, Dr., 127, 1; 252, 1. 
 Burnouf, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Bushire, xviii, 2. 
 
 Ca-hara, 192. 
 
 Caitanya (intelligence), 132. 
 
 Caitanya (reformer), xlvii. 
 
 Caitra, 184, 1; 367, I. 
 
 Caitya-yajna, 200. 
 
 Cakra, 193. 
 
 Cakravaka, 421, I. 
 
 Cakravarmana, 172, I. 
 
 Cakra-vartins, 130; 213. 
 
 Cakra-vriddhi, 269. 
 
 Cakshur divyam, 387, 2. 
 
 Cakshusha, Manu, 214, 1. 
 
 Calcutta, xvi, 2; xvili, 2; xxi, 3. 
 
 Calcutta, population of, xvi, 2. 
 
 Calcutta Review, 337,1; 340, 
 2; 343,1; 358, 3. 
 
 Calcutta University, 305, 1; 
 79.6.4 Ve 
 
 Caldwell, Dr., 312, I. 
 
 Campbell, Sir G.,v; xvi, 2; xx,I. 
 
 Campi, 370. 
 
 Campii-ramiyana, 369. 
 
 Camunda, 481; 502. 
 
 Canakya, 487; 488; 508. 
 
 Candila or Candala, 233; 236, 
 2; 275- 
 
 Candana, 422, 2. 
 
 Candi, 502. 
 
 Candra, 241, 2; 262; 332,1; 
 362, 1. 
 
 Candra, 189. 
 
 Candra-gupta, 231, 1; 316; 
 487; 488. 
 
 Candriloka, 466. 
 
 Candrayana penance, 279. 
 
 Ciara, 263. 
 
 Caraka, 194. 
 
 Carana or school, 196. 
 
 Carana-vyiha, 196, 2. 
 
 Carey, 339, I. 
 
 Cariya-pitaka, xxxii, I. 
 
 Caru, 301. 
 
 Caru-datta, 471. 
 
 Carvaka, 132; 226; 410. 
 
 Carvaka-darsana, 127, I. 
 
 Carvakas, 127; 132. 
 
 Carvakas, doctrine of the, 354. 
 
 Caste, xxi, I; xxiv; 218; 231. 
 
 Caste, loss of, 278. 
 
 Categories, Aristotelian, 77, 2. 
 
 Categories of Vaiseshika, 77. 
 
 Catharine, Infanta, xxi, 3. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 | Cattopadhyaya, 218, 1. 
 Catur-anga, 264; 353. 
 Caturjea, 218, 1. 
 Caturmisya, 31, I. 
 Catushtoma, 343, 2. 
 Caula, 198; 201; 246. 
 Causation, theory of, 81. 
 | Cebes, 69, I. 
 Cenna-pattanam, xvi, 
 Census of India, xvi, 
 Centauri, 313, I. 
 
 | Central Asia, xvii. 
 
 > 
 
 » 
 
 | Ceremonies, Sriddha, 204; 
 271; 429. 
 
 Ceylon, xxix, I; 5, 1; 311. 
 
 Chala, 75 
 
 Chaldee translations, 6. 
 
 | Chalita-rama, 369. 
 
 Chambers’ Cyclopaedia, 57, 2 ; 
 Oly Deel 70; 1. 
 
 | Chambhars, ‘ leather-cutters,’ 
 
 7 1 0 tp 
 
 | Chandah-sastra, 163. 
 
 | Chandas, 156; 163; 164; 222. 
 
 | Chandernagore, xxi, 2. 
 
 Clhando-ga, 224. 
 
 C’handogyaUpanishad, 38; 40; | 
 ATs ΒΟ; 118. 
 
 Charles II, xxi, 3. 
 
 | Charter, xxi, 3. 
 
 | Cheda, 192. 
 
 Cheddas, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Chess, 508. 
 
 Childers, Mr. R. C., xxix, 2. 
 
 Chinayxxt 25/15, L3 183, 2. 
 
 Chinese drama, 464. 
 
 Chinese language, xxi, 2; 212,1. 
 
 Chinsura, xxi, 2. 
 
 Chitpavan, 232, I. 
 
 Chittagong, xxxvi. 
 
 Chota Nagpur, xxi, 3. 
 
 Christ, xl; xli, 1; 143, I. 
 
 Christ and other Masters, 31,1; 
 70; ., 
 
 Christianity, xxxviii; xxxix; x]; | 
 143, I. 
 
 Christians, Syrian, xlviii; 135, I. 
 
 Chronicle, 491, 2. 
 
 Chumbi, xxi, 3. 
 
 Chin-tsiu, 4, I. 
 
 Chuteerkote, 358, 3. 
 
 Cicero, 61, 2; 83, 1; 84, 4; 
 88,1; 93, 2. 
 
 Cicero, Tusc. Disp., 69,1; 86, 
 τς 258, 1. 
 
 Cinas, 236, 2. 
 
 Cintamani, 128, 1. 
 
 Citra, 184, 1; 458. 
 
 Citraktt, Citra-kita, 251, 15% 
 358, 3. 
 
 Citramgada, 391. 
 
 Citra-ratha, 356. 
 
 Citta, 64, 3; 102; 126. 
 
 523 
 
 Civil code, 266. 
 Claughton, Bishop, 55, 1. 
 
 | Clay-cart, 471. 
 
 Cochin, xxi, 3. 
 Codes, eighteen, after Yajna- 
 valkya, 303. 
 
 | Colebrooke, xvi, 2; 45, 2; 181, 
 
 I; 294, 2; 200,1; 303; 480. 
 Colebrooke’s Essays, xxix, 2, 
 and passim. 
 
 | Colebrooke’s Indian Algebra, 
 
 186. 
 
 Colebrooke’s Bhiskara, 190. 
 
 Comedy, 465. 
 
 Compound interest, 269. 
 
 Conciliation in religion, 3, I. 
 
 Confidantes, heroine’s, 470. 
 
 Confucius, 3, 1; 4, 1; 49. 
 
 Consumptive persons, 275, I. 
 
 Contract, 268. 
 
 Copernicus, 35. 
 
 Cornelius, xxxiv, I. 
 
 Coromandel coast, xxi, 2. 
 
 Cosmogony (Vaiseshika), 88. 
 
 Court of Directors, first, xxi, 3. 
 
 Cow (sacred), 499. 
 
 Cowell, Professor E. B., xxix, 2; 
 ay. 1 40, 2; ἵν aenoas ὩΣ 
 87; 200,1; 303,1; 475, 3- 
 
 Cowell, Mr. Herbert, 272, 1. 
 
 Cowell’s Tagore Law Lectures, 
 305. 
 
 Creator, 498. 
 
 Crimes (great), 274. 
 
 Crimes (secondary), 275. 
 
 Criminal code, Manu’s, 273. 
 
 Ciida-karman, 198; 201; 246. 
 
 Cilavagga, xxxii, I. 
 
 Cunningham, Major-General, v. 
 
 Ciirni, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Curzon, Mr., 343, I. 
 
 Cust, Mr. R. N., 337,13 340, 
 2; 343, 1. 
 
 Cita, 422, 2. 
 
 Cyclopes, 313, I. 
 
 Dacca, xx, I. 
 
 Dadhi, 419. 
 
 Dadima, 422, 2. 
 Dadi-pathins, xlviii. 
 
 Daiva, 250; 286, 1. 
 
 Daiva form of marriage, 199. 
 Daiva, Staddha, 208. 
 Daivata, 168. 
 
 | Daksha, 182, 1; 2125 245506 
 
 395; 497, 1. 
 Daksha-kratu-hara, 409, 2. 
 Diksheya, 172. 
 
 Dikshi, 172. 
 
 | Dakshina, 206; 243, 2. 
 
 Dakshina (fee), 196, 1; 244. 
 Dakshina (fire), 198, 1. 
 Dakshina (hearth), 197, 1. 
 
524 
 
 Dakshina¢arins, 503, 1. 
 
 Dalton, Colonel, vi. 
 
 Daman, xxi, 2. 
 
 Damanaka, 509, 1. 
 
 Damaru, xlvii; 193. 
 
 Damascus, xix, I. 
 
 Damayanti-katha, 369. 
 
 Dam-dupat, 269, 2. 
 
 Damodara, 194; 391, I. 
 
 Dana, 59. 
 
 Danam, 244. 
 
 Dana-samyanana, 354. 
 
 Dancing, 194; 463. 
 
 Danda, 187; 293, 2. 
 
 Dandaka forest, 350,1; 416; 483. 
 
 Dandaka metre, 166. 
 
 Dandi, 261. 
 
 Dandin, 368; 511. 
 
 Danes, xxi, 2. 
 
 Daniel, 148, 4. 
 
 Dante, 414. 
 
 Darius Hystaspes, xviii. 
 
 Darjeeling, xxxvi. 
 
 Darsa, 253. 
 
 Darsanas, 48; 68, τ; 70, 1. 
 
 Darsa-pirnamasa, 31, I. 
 
 Darwinians, 89. 
 
 Dasa, 218, I. 
 
 Dasa-gitika, 185. 
 
 DaSa-hara, 367, J. 
 
 Dasa-kumara-¢arita,263,2; 511. 
 
 Dasama-grantha (Sikh), 327, 2. 
 
 DAsa-pati, 262, 1. 
 
 DaSaratha, 332; 337, 1: 3393 
 346; 340; 425. 
 
 DaSaratha-jataka, 319, 1. 
 
 DaSaratha’s ministers, 342. 
 
 Dasarha, 391, 1. 
 
 Dafa-riipa, Dasa-riipaka, 369; 
 454- 
 
 Dasras, 14. 
 
 Dasyus, 313. 
 
 Datta, 218, I. 
 
 Dattaka-candrika, 308. 
 
 Dattaka-mimansa, 307. 
 
 Dattasyanapakarma, 266. 
 
 Dattatreya, 327, I. 
 
 Dawn, 19; 20. 
 
 Daya, 268; 270. 
 
 Daya-bhaga, 272, 1; 306. 
 
 Daya-krama-samgraha, 307. 
 
 Daya-tattva, 307. 
 
 De, 218, 1. 
 
 Death, 21; 34; 393 43; 217,1. 
 
 Debt, 266. 
 
 Debts, three, 260, 1. 
 
 Decimal figures, 508. 
 
 Defendant, 300. 
 
 Degeneracy, 500. 
 
 Dekhan, xv, 3; xxi, 3. 
 
 Delhi, xx; τ; 21350370) 201. 
 
 Deluge, tradition of the, 393. 
 
 Deposits, law of, 269. 
 
 τ Ἐπ 
 
 | Degasth, 232, 1. 
 
 Desire, 22; 63, I. 
 
 Destroyer, 498. 
 
 Deva, 409, 2. 
 
 Deva-bodha, 306. 
 
 Deva-datta, 54, 2; 403. 
 
 Devah, 280. 
 
 Devaki,138; 333; 3343; 387,2. 
 
 Devala, 172. 
 
 Devalaka, 226, I. 
 
 Devarah, 235. 
 
 Devas, 250. 
 
 Devata, Devatah, 248; 280. 
 
 Deva-vrata, 376. 
 
 Deva-yajna, 203; 251. 
 
 Devi, 503. 
 
 Devi-mahatmya, 494. 
 
 Devrukh, 232, 1. 
 
 Dhamma-pada, xxxii, I; 215, 1. 
 
 Dhamma-samgani, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Dhana, 192. 
 
 Dhananjaya, 369; 382,4; 397; 
 454- 
 
 Dhanishtha, 181. 
 
 Dhanu-bandha, 453. 
 
 Dhanur-veda, 194. 
 
 Dhanvantari, 499. 
 
 Dhar, xxi, 3. 
 
 Dhara, 512. 
 
 Dharana, 103. 
 
 Dharana, 296. 
 
 Dharani (glossary), 171. 
 
 Dharani-dhara, 306. 
 
 Dharanis, 58, 1. 
 
 Dharma, 76; 241,2; 387, 2. 
 
 Dharmadharma, 276, I. 
 
 Dharma-jijasa, 109. 
 
 Dharma-milam, root of law, 
 206. 
 
 Dharma-putra, 382, 4. 
 
 Dharma-raja, 382, 4. 
 
 Dharma-ratna, 306, 2. 
 
 Dharma-sastra,211;215,1; 221. 
 
 Dharma-sitras, 211. 
 
 Dharna, 270, I. 
 
 Dhatu, xxxii, 1; 173. 
 
 Dhatu-patha, 173, I. 
 
 Dhaumya, 305; 390. 
 
 Dhi, 287, 1. 
 
 Dhigvana, 233. 
 
 Dhiralalita, 467, 1. 
 
 Dhira-prasanta, 467, 1. 
 
 Dhirodatta, 467, 1. 
 
 Dhrishta-dyumna, 374; 385; 
 387, 2; 401; 4053 407,1; 
 
 409. 
 
 Dhrita-rashtra, 374; 375; 377. 
 Dhiirjati, 326. 
 
 Dhirta-¢arita, 468. 
 
 Dhyana, 59; 103. 
 
 Dialogue, dramatic, 464. 
 | Dianus, 427, 2. 
 | Didhishu, 205. 
 
 Diet, rules of, 256. 
 
 Dig-ambara, 128; 326. 
 
 Digha-nikaya, xxxii, I. 
 
 Dilipa, 346. 
 
 Dima, 467. 
 
 Dinkard, xviii, 1. 
 
 Diodorus, 221,1; 320. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus, 258,1; 335,1. 
 
 Diogenes, 63, I. 
 
 DionChrysostomos, 316; 316,1. 
 
 Dionysos, 281, I. 
 
 Diophantus, Ig1. 
 
 Dipaka, 455. 
 
 Dipakalika, 306. 
 
 Dipali, 327, 2. 
 
 Dis, 78. 
 
 Diu, xxi, 2. 
 
 Divali, 327, 2. 
 
 Diva-svapna, 201. 
 
 Divya, ordeal, 276. 
 
 Divyadivya, 467. 
 
 Dola-yatra, 327, 2. 
 
 Domestic manners(Hindj), 435. 
 
 Doms, 218, I. 
 
 Dosha, 74; 406, I. 
 
 Dower, 272. 
 
 Draco, laws of, 273, I. 
 
 Drahyayana Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 
 Dramas, xxix; 462; 466. 
 
 Dramas of Greeks, 464. 
 
 Draupadi, 367; 3743 
 405; 4085 495. 
 
 Dravatva, 79. 
 
 Dravida, 218, 1; 236, 2; 305. 
 
 Dravidian races and languages, 
 ΧΧΙΣ FOO 2; 512: 1: 
 
 Dravidian school of law, 308. 
 
 Dravya, 64,1; 77; 86. 
 
 Drikana, 183, 2. 
 
 Drishadvati, 213; 217. 
 
 Drishi, 155, 1. 
 
 Drishta, 92. 
 
 Drishtanta, 75, 455. 
 
 Drona, 374; 383; 388; 392; 
 404. 
 
 Drona-parvan, 368; 374. 
 
 Drupada, 385; 392; 398. 
 
 Dugdha, 419. 
 
 Duhkha, 74, 79. 
 
 Duhésala, 380. 
 
 DuhSasana, 385; 392; 405. 
 
 Durga, 168; 225; 325, 2; 327, 
 25426; 429; 404; 5025 503. 
 
 Durga, images of, 367, I. 
 
 Durga-piija, 367, 1. 
 
 Durmallika, 468. 
 
 Durvasas, 378; 408. 
 
 Durvasasa Upa-purana, 501. 
 
 Dur-vipaika, 66, 1. 
 
 Duryodhana, 374; 379; 381; 
 885; 3975 404. 
 
 Dushyanta, 376; 476. 
 
 Ditangada, 369. 
 
 385; 
 
Dutch in India, xxi, 2. 
 Dvaidha, 301. 
 Dyaipayana, 376, 4. 
 Dyaita-vadin, 80. 
 Dvandva, 163; 261. 
 Dvipara, 188, 2; 220; 
 
 ΠΣ; 432, 2; 410, 1- 
 Dvaraka, 335; 408. 
 Dvesha, 79. 
 
 804; 
 
 Dvi-ja, ‘ twice-born,’ 201; 221: 
 
 240; 297. 
 Dvi-jati, 231. 
 Dvikam Satam, 269. 
 Dvipa, 376, 4; 419. 
 Dvy-anuka, 82. 
 Dyaus, 12; I5. 
 Dyaush-pitar, 12; 12, 2. 
 
 Earth, 198. 
 
 Earth and Heaven (union of), 
 100. 
 
 East India Company, xxi, 3. 
 
 Eastwick, Mr.E.B., 476; 509,1. 
 
 Eclectic School, 100, 3; 127; 
 
 134. 
 
 Eggeling, Professor J., 180. 
 
 Ego, 94. 
 
 Ego-ism, 93. 
 
 Egyptians, ancient, xliii, 1; 
 σα ας 
 
 Ekaéakra, city of, 386. 
 
 Eka-jati, 231. 
 
 Ekakshara, 103, I. 
 
 Ekam eyadvitiyam, 41. 
 
 Ekapadi, 200. 
 
 Ekoddishta Sriddha, 208; 253. 
 
 Eleatics, 63, I. 
 
 Elizabeth, queen, xxi, 3. 
 
 Elphinstone, Mr., 215, f. 
 
 Elphinstone’s India, 98, 2; 
 AO 8: Δ015).3: 
 
 Emanation, xxvi. 
 
 Emisha, 330, 3. 
 
 Empedocles, 63, 1; 84, 2. 
 
 Encomiast, 401. 
 
 Entity, 22. 
 
 Epic poetry, 309. 
 
 Epic poetry, principal charac- 
 teristics of, 310. 
 
 Epics, Indian, compared toge- 
 ther and with Homer, 415. 
 
 Epictetus, 153; 154. 
 
 Epicurus, doctrines of, 83, I. 
 
 Epos, 310. 
 
 Esoteric Hindiism, xxvi. 
 
 Ether, 64, 1; 78; 93; 93, 2. 
 
 Ethnology of India, vi; xvii- 
 XLV Fh, ee 
 
 Etymologist, 171. 
 
 Etymology, 166, 
 
 Eurasians, xvi, 2. 
 
 Every-man (morality), 489. 
 
 Evidence, law of, 276. 
 
 ΤΑΝ ΝΗ ei 
 
 Exoteric Hindiism, xxvi. 
 Expiation, 278 ; 201. 
 
 | 
 
 | Fables, 506; 508. 
 
 _ Factory, first Indian, xxi, 3. 
 Fakir or Faqir, 104, 1. 
 
 False evidence, 275. 
 
 Farrar, Dr., 47,1; 153; 518. 
 Farrukh-siyar, xix, I. 
 
 Fatima, xliii, 1. 
 
 mendicant Buddhist, 
 
 Female 
 |_ 470. 
 | Fetish-worshippers, xxxiv. 
 | Ficus religiosa, 18, 1. 
 Finnish language, 312, I. 
 Firdausi, 6, 1. 
 Fish, eating of, 256. 
 Five per cent, 270. 
 Flesh, eating of, 256; 485. 
 Flood, tradition of, 32. 
 Food, preparation of, xxv, I. 
 Frederic the Great, 263, 2. 
 French possessions, xxi, 2. 
 Funeral ceremonies, 205 ; 253; 
 
 302. 
 
 Furruckabad, 479, I. 
 Future life, belief in a, 34. 
 
 Gabr (infidel), xxxiv, 1. 
 Gabriel, angel, 6. 
 Gada-yuddha, 408. 
 Gadya (prose), 370. 
 Gairs, xxxiv, I. 
 Gajasahvaya, 378, 2. 
 Gilava, 172, I. 
 Gambler, 472. 
 Ganaka, 184. 
 Ganapati, 139, I. 
 Ginapatyas, 139, I; 327, 2. 
 Gandha, 79; 377, I. 
 Gandhamidana, 4109, I. 
 Gandhiara country, 172. 
 Gandhari, 378; 379. 
 | Gandharva, 280. 
 | Gindharva (marriage), 199. 
 Gandharvas, 169; 400. 
 Gandharva-veda, 194. 
 Gindiva, 139; 397; 403; 412,I. 
 Ganesa, 132; 139, 1; 296; 
 327, 2; 427; 429. 
 GaneSa-gita, 139, I. 
 GaneSa-purina, 139, I. 
 Gamgi, 363; 376. 
 Ganges, xv; 281, 1; 411. 
 Ganges, story of, 363. 
 Gingeya, 376. 
 Ginguli, 218, 1. 
 Ganita, 186. 
 Garbha, 466, 2. 
 Garbha Upanishad, 69, 1. 
 Garbhadhana, 246. 
 | Garbha-lambhana, 201; 246. 
 | Girbhikam enas, 245. 
 
 525 
 
 | Garcin de Tassy, M., vii, 1. 
 Garga, 189. 
 Garga-siddhinta, 185. 
 | Garg, 437, 3. 
 | Girgya, 170; 171; 172,1; 305. 
 | Garhapatya fire, 196; 197, 1; 
 198, 1; 205; 206. 
 Garmanes, 281, I. 
 Giros or Garrows, 312, I. 
 | Garuda, 429; 430, 1; 494. 
 Gatha, xviil, 1; xxix,1; 55,1; 
 203; 302. 
 | Gatha Ahunavaiti, 143, 1, 
 | Gathikah, 298. 
 Gauda, 218, I; 339, I. 
 Gauda-pida, 92, 1; 98. 
 Gaur ΤΥ ὟΝ 
 Gauri, 502. 
 Gautama, 51; 53; 76,1; 87; 
 304; 305. 
 Gavaya, 422, I. 
 Gayatri text, 7,1; 19; 146,1; 
 164; 203; 222; 239; 279. 
 | Gayatri metre, 165. 
 | Genealogies, 491, 2. 
 Gentiles, xxxiv. 
 Gesticulations, 
 463. 
 |Ghana arrangement of text, 
 i XO2) ack 25: αὶ 
 | Ghati, 187. 
 Ghatika, 187. 
 Ghatotka¢a, 386; 390, 2; 404. 
 | Ghosha, 218, 1. 
 | Ghrana, 83. 
 | GiriSa, 409, 2. 
 | Gita-govinda, 369; 370; 451. 
 | Glossaries, 171. 
 Gnostics, 68, 2. 
 Goa, xxi, 2. 
 | Go-badhah, 275. 
 | Gobhila’s Grihya Sitras, 195 ; 
 l) 108; 2. 
 | Go-dina, 108. 
 | Godavari, river, 341, 1; 416, 
 | Goethe, 476. 
 | Gogra, river, 341, 2. 
 Gokarna, 356. 
 Gokula, 334. 
 | Goldstiicker, Professor, 158, 1; 
 160, 3. 
 | Gomitrika, 453. 
 Gonarda, 177. 
 Gond, xxi, 3; 312, I. 
 | Gonika, 177. 
 | Gopa, 218, I. 
 Go-patha Brahmana, 28. 
 Gopis, 327, 2; 334; 451. 
 Go-pué¢hagra, 467. 
 Gorakhnith, xxiv, I. 
 Gorakhpur, xxiv, 1. 
 Goraksha, xxiv, I; 244, 2. 
 Gorkha, xxiv, I. 
 
 pantomimic, 
 
526 
 
 Gorresio, 339, 1; 340; 356, 1; 
 366, 1; 440. 
 
 Gos, 218, 1. 
 
 Goshala, 218, 1. 
 
 Goshthi, 468. 
 
 Gotama or Gautama (Buddha), 
 ORK Tis As 
 
 Gotama (of Nyaya), 71; 85. 
 
 Gotama (law-book), 212. 
 
 Gotra or family, 254. 
 
 Gough, Professor A. E.,71; 72; 
 74,23; 78; 177, 1. 
 
 Govardhana, 358, 2; 369. 
 
 Govind, 327, 2. 
 
 Govinda, 301,1: 451; 454. 
 
 Govinda Deva Sastri, 488. 
 
 Govinda-raja, 212; 306. 
 
 Graha-yajna, 297. 
 
 Grama, village, 264. 
 
 Grammar, 171; 508. 
 
 Grantha, 239, 3. 
 
 Granthis, 239, 3. 
 
 Grasa¢c¢chadana, 272. 
 
 Gravitation, Igo. 
 
 Greeks, 183, 2; 363; 464. 
 
 Greeks and Romans, 36. 
 
 Griffith, Professor R., 137, 23 
 339. 1; 364; 395, I. 
 
 Griha-prapadana, 202. 
 
 Griha-stha, 204: 245; 248; 
 240} 252, I. 
 
 Grihya (domestic rites), 195. 
 
 Grihya Sitras,156; 195; 303; 
 511: 
 
 Grishma, 450. 
 
 GudakeSa, 382, 4. 
 
 Guhyaka, 280. 
 
 Guikwar, xxi, 3. 
 
 Gujarat, 128, 2; 243, 2; 335. 
 
 Gujarati, xxix. 
 
 Gujarati native states, xxi, 3. 
 
 Guna (of the VaiSeshika), 77 ; 
 
 79. 
 Guna (three), 67,1; 943; 280; 
 494. 
 Gunadhya, 511, 
 Gungu, 183. 
 Gurjara, 218, I. 
 Guru, 67, 1; 239; 
 245; 247; 248. 
 Guru Nanak, 327, 2. 
 Gurumukhi character, xlviii. 
 Gurutva, 79. 
 Guru-vara, 188, I. 
 Gurv-artha, 385. 
 Gwalior, xxi, 3. 
 
 230, 33 
 
 Hiiberlin, Dr., 110. 
 Hadis, 27. 
 
 Hadis, 218, 1. 
 ΠΣΠΖ, 4.1. 
 Haiderabad, xxi, 3. 
 Haituka, 227. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Haj, 251, I. 
 
 | Hajji, 251, 1. 
 
 Hala, 369. 
 
 | Halayudha, 171; 335, I. 
 
 HallSDrok ἘΣ ἈΣΙΣ 058 8071; 
 185, 23 258, 2); 518: 
 
 Hallisa, 468. 
 
 Hanbal, xlii, 1. 
 
 Hanifa, xlii, 1. 
 
 Hansa, 250. 
 
 Hanuman-nataka, 369, 488. 
 
 Hanumat, 358; 361; 369; 
 418, 4; 424: 426. 
 
 Hapta Hendu, xy, 2. 
 
 Hara, 225; 3233; 409, 2. 
 
 Haravali, 171. 
 
 Hardwick, Mr., 31, 1; 70, 2. 
 
 Hari, 146, 1; 498. 
 
 Hari-dasa’s comment, 87. 
 
 Haridvar, 251, 1. 
 
 Hari Narayana, 429. 
 
 Hari-natha, 370. 
 
 Haris¢andra, 29. 
 
 Hirita, 211; 304. 
 
 Hari-vanéa, 320; 334; 368; 
 3753 417; 417, 2. 
 
 Harriot, 191, I. 
 
 Harsha-vardhana, 512. 
 
 Hasan, xliii, 1. 
 
 Hastinapur, 371; 390. 
 
 Bastina-pura, 138; 3743 375; 
 410; 401, 2. 
 
 Hasya, 454, I. 
 
 Hasyarnava, 488. 
 
 Haug. Professor, xviii, 1; 28. 
 
 Heads of law (eighteen), 266. 
 
 Heathen, xxxiv. 
 
 Heaven, 198. 
 
 Heavens (seven), 225; 430, I. 
 
 Hector, 316, 1; 424. 
 
 Hecuba, 316, 1. 
 
 Hellenic language, xvii. 
 
 Hells, 225; 419, I. 
 
 Hema-¢andra, 129; 171. 
 
 Hemadri, 178. 
 
 Hema-kita, 419, 1. 
 
 Hemanta, 450. 
 
 Heracleitus, 63, 1. 
 
 Herakles, 281, I. 
 
 Hercules, 335, 1; 359; 2. 
 
 Hero, 470. 
 
 Herodotus, xviii; 231, I. 
 
 Heroes (four kinds), 467. 
 
 Heroine, 470. 
 
 Hesiod, 63, 1; 427, I. 
 
 Hetu (reason), 72. 
 
 Hetu-Sastra, 52; 226. 
 
 Hetv-abhasa (fallacy), 75. 
 
 Hidimba, 386; 390, 2; 405. 
 
 Hijra, xliii, 1. 
 
 Hill-tribes, xvii; 312, I. 
 Himalaya, xvi, I; xxi, 3. 
 Himavat, 363; 394; 412. 
 
 Hina-yina, 67, 1. 
 
 Hindi, xxviii; xxix. 
 
 Hindi (meaning of word), xv. 
 
 Hindi Dharma, 53. 
 
 Hindi-i, xxviii; xxix. 
 
 Hindistan, xv. 
 
 Hindistani, xxix, I; xxxi, 1. 
 
 Hiranya-garbha, 99; 124. 
 
 Hiranya-kasipu, 331; 392, 3- 
 
 Hiranyaksha, demon, 330. 
 
 History of kings of Kasmir, 
 511. 
 
 HitopadeSa, 3,1; 277. 2; 411) 
 I; 424; 510; 511; 512. 
 
 Holi, 469; 487. 
 
 Holkar, xxi, 3. 
 
 Homa (oblation), 203; 251; 
 251, 2. 
 
 Homer, 313, 1; 316; 427, I. 
 
 Hora, 183, 2. 
 
 Horace, 166. 
 
 Horoscope, 188, 1; (of Rama’s 
 birth), 347, I. 
 
 Hospitality, 257. 
 
 Hotri, 224. 
 
 HrishikeSa, 391, I. 
 
 Hult or Holi, 327, 2. 
 
 Him, 279. 
 
 Humiayin, xix, 1. 
 
 Humiayiin Namah, 500, 1. 
 
 Hunter, Dr. (Orissa), 218, 1; 
 251, 1, 
 
 Hurrychund Chintamon, Mr., 
 11) ἃ- 
 
 Husain, xliii, 1. 
 
 Hycke-scorner, 489. 
 
 Hydaspes, river, 376, I. 
 
 Hyderabad, xxi, 3. 
 
 Hydra, 359, 2. 
 
 Iécha, 79. 
 
 Ida, 376. 
 
 Idolatry, 226, 1. 
 
 Idols, 15; 226. 
 
 [ha-mriga, 468. 
 
 Ikshu, 419. 
 
 Ikshvaku, 346; 376. 
 
 Ila, 376. 
 
 lliad, 309; 316; 359, 1; 401, 
 11 450; 1: 
 
 Imims, xliii, 1. 
 
 Immigrants, xvii. 
 
 Incarnation, doctrine of, 320; 
 321. - 
 
 Incarnations of Vishnu, 329. 
 
 India Office Report, xvi, 2. 
 
 India, population of, xvi. 
 
 Indian Antiquary,1 28,1; 232, 1; 
 242, (25, 484, 2. 
 
 Indian Vedantists, 63, I. 
 
 Indices to Veda, 194. 
 
 Indische Alterthumskunde 372, 
 τίς 
 
Indische Spriiche, Béhtlingk’s, 
 507, I. 
 
 Indische Streifen (Weber), 
 EXxil, I; 369; 512. 
 
 Indo-Armenians, Xix, I. 
 
 Indo-Aryans, xxii; 49. 
 
 Indra 132; 10s 7 IO; Ts 
 198; 262; 311; 324; 427; 
 
 429. 
 
 Indra andVishnu, hymns to,30,1. 
 
 Indra, poetical sketch of, 16; 17. 
 
 Indrajit, 424. 
 
 Indrani, 502. 
 
 Indra-prastha, 301. 
 
 Indrasena, 382, 4. 
 
 Indra-vajra, 166; 338, 1. 
 
 Indriya, 74; 83. 
 
 Indu, 13. 
 
 Indus, xv. 
 
 Industrial survey of India, v. 
 
 Inference, 72. 
 
 Inheritance, law of, 270. 
 
 Inscriptions, xxix, I. 
 
 Intercalary month, 184. 
 
 Interest on money, 269. 
 
 Invaders, xvii. 
 
 Travat, 390, 2. 
 
 Iravati, 478. 
 
 Iga Upanishad, 38. 
 
 Tana, 409, 2. 
 
 Isivasya Upanishad, 38. 
 
 Ishika, 405, I. 
 
 Ishti (preference), 329. 
 
 Ishtis (desiderata), 177, I. 
 
 Ishu, 405, 1. 
 
 Islam, xx, 1; xxxix; xli; xlii; 
 alii; 4, 1; 5,33 6. 
 
 Ἰένατα, 84; 87; 97; 409, 2. 
 
 Tévara-CandraVidyasagara, 132. 
 
 Tévara-pranidhana, 102. 
 
 Italic (languages), xvii. 
 
 Itihdsa, 40; 203; 215, I; 
 256; 298; 302; 309; 372, 
 1; 415; 499; 493. 
 
 Itivuttakam, xxxii, I. 
 
 Jagad-amba, Tot. 
 
 Jagan-nath, 218,1; 251, I. 
 
 Jagati, 165; 338, I- 
 
 Jahandar Shah, xix, 1. 
 
 Jahangir, xix, 1; xxi, 3. 
 
 Jahnavi, 365. 
 
 Jahnu, 365. 
 
 Jails in India, xxv. 
 
 Jaimini, 108; 108, 1. 
 
 Jaimini (Mimigsa4), 108; 127, 
 I; 252, 1. 
 
 Jaiminiya- nyaya-mila -vistara, 
 108, I. 
 
 Jainas or Jains, Xxxvi, 1; 127. 
 
 Jaina scriptures, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Jainism, xxxvi, 1; 59,2; 128. 
 
 Jaipur, xxi, 3. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Jaliyds, ‘ fishermen,’ 218, 1. 
 | Jalpa, " mere wrangling,’ 75. 
 | Jamad-agni, 331, 2. 
 Jimbavat, 424. 
 Jambhala-datta, 512. 
 Jambu-dvipa, xvi, 1; 419. 
 Jamshid, 231, I. 
 
 Jana (people), 288, 1. 
 
 Janaka, 337,1; 344,15 347; 
 491, 2. 
 Janamejaya, 
 390, 2. 
 
 Janar, 66, 2; 430, I. 
 
 Janardana, 391, I. 
 
 Jane-o, 246, I. 
 
 Jangiz Khan, xix, 1. 
 
 Janitva, 205. 
 
 Janma-patra, 188, I. 
 
 Janmiashtami, 334, 2. 
 
 Janus, 427, 2. 
 
 Japan, 5, I. 
 
 Japa-yajna, 252; 253; 298,1. 
 
 Japyam, 248. 
 
 Jarbhari, 134, 2. 
 
 atx, 4. Σ 218; te 
 
 Jata, arrangement of text, 162, 
 ais Abaya. 
 
 Jataka, xxxii, I. 
 
 Jata-karman, 201; 246. 
 
 Jati (birth), 218, 1. 
 
 Jati (futile replies), 75. 
 
 Jati (flower), 422, 2. 
 
 Jatu, 385. 
 
 Jatiikarni, 470. 
 
 Javali, 50; 133, 1; 315, 3; 
 318; 353; 306. 
 
 Jaya-deva, 369; 451; 466. 
 
 Jayad-ratha, 367; 380; 392; 
 
 372, τῇ 2751] 
 
 Jews, 68, τ. 
 
 Jhalla (club-fighter), 280. 
 Jihma-yodhin, 408. 
 Jimiita-vahana, 306; 307. 
 Jina, 129; 129, 2. 
 JineSvara, 129. 
 
 Jishnu, 382, 4; 307. 
 
 Jivatman, 42; 62; 85; 119; 
 230. 
 Jaana, 59, 1; 70; 326; 329. 
 Jnana-kanda, 36. 
 Job, 22; 464. 
 Johaentgen, Dr., 221, 2; 293, | 
 Bee 204, Te 
 John of Capua, 509, I. Ϊ 
 Johnson, Professor F., 449; 516. | 
 Jones, Sir W., 3,1; 38, 2; 46, 
 2; ΟἹ, 2; 252, 1; 487. 
 Jovian cycle of sixty years, 189. 
 Judaism, 43 4, I. 
 Junctures (Sandhi), 466. } 
 Jung, Sir Salar, Xx1; 3: 
 
 | Jala, 419. | 
 
 Jupiter (planet), 188. 
 Jupiter Pluvius, 13; 481, 1. 
 Justice, administration of, 265. 
 
 | Jvala-mukhi, 251, I. 
 
 Jyaishtha, 184, 1. 
 
 Jyeshtha, 184, I. 
 
 Jyotis (fire, light), 93. 
 
 Jyotisha (astronomy), 156; 180. 
 
 Jyotishtoma, 196; 239,15; 247; 
 343) 2. 
 
 Kabandha, 358; 368; 428, I. 
 
 Kabir, xlvii. 
 
 Kabirpanthi, xlviii. 
 
 Kadambari, 369; 512. 
 
 Kadri, 430, I. 
 
 Kiafirs, xxxiv, I. 
 
 Kaikeyl, 3443 3493 354 
 
 Kailisa, 406. 
 
 Kaisiki (style), 483, 2. 
 
 Kaiyata or Kaiyyata, 178. 
 
 Kakolikika, 510. 
 
 Kakoliikiya, &1o. 
 
 Kakutstha, 346. 
 
 ἹΚ ΙΑ, 8: Zo: 
 
 Kala, 187; 188. 
 
 Kala-nirnaya, 127, I. 
 
 Kalapa (grammar), 180. 
 
 Kalasoka, 50, 3. 
 
 Kaler δῃέα, 410. 
 
 Kalhana, 511. 
 
 Kali; 33, 15 555 X55 188, 2» 
 229; 304; 321,1; 410; 
 500. 
 
 Kali, 494; 502; 503. 
 
 Kilidisa, 361, 1; 368: 449; 
 451; 474. 
 
 Kalidisa’s dramas, 368. 
 
 Kalika, 501; 502; 504. 
 
 Kalikata, xvi, 2. 
 
 Kalilah Damnah, 509, 1. 
 
 Kalinadi, 479, I. 
 
 Kaliya (serpent), 334. 
 
 Kali-yuga, 304; 333,1. 
 
 Kalki, 335; 339, I. 
 
 Kalpa (period of time), 55, 1; 
 188; 214,1; 324; 333,13 
 4293 497- 
 
 Kalpa (ceremonial), 156; 1573 
 203; 239. 
 
 Kalpa-siitra, 157. 
 
 Kalpa-siitra (Jaina), Xxxvi, I. 
 
 Kalyana, 258, I. 
 
 Kama, 326, 3. 
 
 Kamada, 504. 
 
 Kaimadeva, 429. 
 
 Kama-dhenu, 363. 
 
 Kima-gi, 302. 
 
 Kamiakhy§a, 504. 
 
 Kamaliyatiksha, 382, I. 
 
 Kamandaka, 480. 
 
 Kambojas, 236, 2; 363. 
 
 Kimya Sriddha, 203, 
 
528 
 
 Kamyaka forest, 374; 393. 
 
 Kanada, 76; 89, 1. 
 
 Kanada’s Sitra, 82; 85; 252,1. 
 
 Kanarese, xxx, 2; 312, I. 
 
 Kanauj, 479; 479, 1; 512. 
 
 Kanda (arrow), 405, I. 
 
 Kandahar, 172. 
 
 Kandarpa-keli, 468. 
 
 Kanishka (king), 59, 3- 
 
 Kanjalala, 218, 1. 
 
 Karka, 396. 
 
 Kano}, 363. 
 
 Kanouj Brahmans, 
 252, 1: 
 
 Kansa, 138, 2; 3313 333; 334. 
 
 Kansiris (braziers), 218, I. 
 
 Kanyakubja, 218, 1; 479. 
 
 Kanyatva, 378, 4. 
 
 Kapiala-kundala, 481. 
 
 Kapila, 53; 89,1; 91; 943 363. 
 
 Kapila, 501. 
 
 Kapila’s Aphorisms, 97. 
 
 Kapila-vastu, 53. 
 
 Karamat, xli, 1. 
 
 Karana, 81; 233. 
 
 Karana-mala, 455. 
 
 Karana-Sarira, 64, 2. 
 
 Karanas, eleven, 188, E. 
 
 Karani, 160, 1. 
 
 Karataka, 509, 1. 
 
 Karbala, xliii, 1. 
 
 Karical, xxi, 2. 
 
 Karika (verses), 177, 1. 
 
 Karkandhu, 422, 2. 
 
 Karkata, 347, I. 
 
 Karma-dosha, 67, TI. 
 
 Karma-kanda, 36. 
 
 Karmakara, 218, 1. 
 
 Karma-mimansa, 108. 
 
 Karman, 57; 77; 80; 329. 
 
 Karma-phala, 217; 220; 221; 
 279; 282; 292. 
 
 Karma-vipaka, 66; 66, τ. 
 
 Karmendriyani, 94, I. 
 
 Karna, 374; 384; 385. 
 
 Karna-parvan, 374. 
 
 Karnata, 218, 1; 234, I. 
 
 Karna-vedha, 246. 
 
 Karnikara, 422, 2. 
 
 Kartavirya, 401, 2. 
 
 Karttika, 184, 1. 
 
 Karttikeya, 326, 3; 426, a; 
 429, I; 449. 
 
 Karttiki, 502. 
 
 Karuna, 454, I. 
 
 Karya, 81. 
 
 Karya-darSana, 266. 
 
 Kashaya-vasas, 296. 
 
 Kashtha, 187. 
 
 Kasi, 491, 2. 
 
 Kasi-natha, 327, 2- 
 
 KaSyapa, 172,1; 241, 2; 305; 
 3465 340; 430, 1. 
 
 2785 Miss 
 
 ΤῊΝ Dn ee 
 
 Kasyapa, xxxii, 2. 
 
 Katantra (grammar), 180. 
 
 Kata-pitana, 281. 
 
 Katha, 42, 2; 43. 
 
 Katha Srauta Sutras, 157. 
 
 Katha Upanishad, 24, 2; 38. 
 
 Kathaei, 258, 1. 
 
 Kathaka Grihya Sitras, 196. 
 
 Katharnava, 512. 
 
 Katha-sarit-sigara, 511. 
 
 Kathavatthu, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Katthakya, 169. 
 
 Katyayana, 161; 176; 510. 
 
 Katyayana’s law-treatise, 211; 
 305. 
 
 Katyayana’s Srauta-siitra, 157; 
 159; 343, 2. 
 
 Kaulas, 503, I. 
 
 Kaulika (weaver), 503,1; 513. 
 
 Kaunakhya, 275. 
 
 Kauravas, 374; 383; 397; 407. 
 
 Kaurma, 501. 
 
 KauSalya, 343; 366; 
 ae 
 
 Kausambhi, 487. 
 
 Kaushitaki-brahmana, 28. 
 
 Kaushitaki- brahmana Upani- 
 shad, 37; I15, 4. 
 
 Kaustubha, 399. 
 
 Kautsa, 169. 
 
 Kavi Karna-piraka, 466. 
 
 Kaviraja, 370. 
 
 Kavya, 309, 2; 318; 
 371, 13 415; 468. 
 Kavyadarsa, 368; 453. 
 
 Kavya-lakshana, 450. 
 
 Kavydlankara-vritti, 466; 454. 
 
 Kavya-pradipa, 454. 
 
 Kavya-prakasa, 453. 
 
 Kayastha, 218, 1; 
 2335 209,1. 
 
 Kearns, Rev. I. F., 119, 3. 
 
 Keltic language, xvii. 
 
 Kena Upanishad, 38. 
 
 Kendra, 183, 2. 
 
 Kern, Professor, 59, 3; 128, 1; 
 120. Τῷ 185; 542: 
 
 KeSanta, 246. 
 
 KeSava, 391, I. 
 
 Ketu, 189; 258, I. 
 
 Kevalitman, 324. 
 
 Khadga-bandha, 453. 
 
 Khairpur, xxi, 3. 
 
 Khalifs, xix, 1. 
 
 Khanaka, 386. 
 
 Khandana - khanda - khadya, 
 450. 
 
 Khandava-prastha, 300. 
 
 Khasias, 312, I. 
 
 Khatri, 232, 1; 258, f. 
 
 Khatvamga, xlviii. 
 
 Khila, 215, 1. 
 
 Khirad Afroz, 509, I. 
 
 359; 
 
 319; 
 
 232, 1; 
 
 Khonds or Kus, 312, 1. 
 
 Khuddaka-nikaya, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Khuddaka-pitha, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Kielhorn, Professor F., 172, 08 
 178, I; 509, 2. 
 
 Kinéit-prana, 409. 
 
 King, 4, I. 
 
 Kinsuka, 406; 422, 2. 
 
 Kirata, 3933 449. 
 
 Kirata (mountaineer), 236, 2; 
 393, 2. 
 
 Kiratarjuniya, 236, 2; 374; 
 393, 23 403,35 449; 457- 
 
 Kiritin, 382, 4; 397. 
 
 Kishkindhya-kanda, 339. 
 
 Kokila, 422, I. 
 
 Kolapur, xxi, 3. 
 
 Kole, xxi, 3. 
 
 Kolis, 232, I. 
 
 Kols, 312, 1. 
 
 Konkanasth, 232,1. 
 
 Korawars, 312, I. 
 
 Kosa, 123; 276, 1; 300. 
 
 KoSala, 320; 337, I. 
 
 Kosegarten, 509, I. 
 
 Koshtis, 232, I. 
 
 Kota, 312, I. 
 
 Krama, arrangement of text, 
 Dit} Te 
 
 Krama text, 162, 2. 
 
 Kranti-pata, Ig. 
 
 Kratu, 497, I. 
 
 Kraunéa, 422, I. 
 
 Kraun¢éa-dvipa, 419. 
 
 Kraya-vikrayanusaya, 266. 
 
 Kripa, 3835 3092; 407; 408. 
 
 Kripi, 383, 4. 
 
 Krishi, 234, 2; 244, 2. 
 
 Krishna, 100, 2; 134; 138; 
 2253; 332; 360, 3; 382, 4; 
 3973 491, 2; 495. 
 
 Krishna (life of ), 334; 497. 
 
 Krishna (names of ), 391, 1. 
 
 Krishna (wives of), 315. 
 
 Krishna (Draupadi), 385. 
 
 Krishna-dvaipayana, 489. 
 
 Krishna-misra, 488. 
 
 Krishna-tarkalankara, 307. 
 
 Krishnau, 391, I. 
 
 Krit affixes, 163; 180. 
 
 Krita age, 188, 2; 229; 304; 
 333, I. 
 
 Kritavarman, 407; 408. 
 
 Krittika, 180; 184, I. 
 
 Kshana, 187. 
 
 Kshanti, 59. 
 
 Kshatra, 236, I. 
 
 Kshatriya, 20,1; 25,1; 50; 51; 
 53543) 220; 221; 222. 
 
 Kshattri, 377. 
 
 Kshetra, 151. 
 
 Kshiva, 201. 
 
 Kiich Bahar, xxi, 3. 
 
INDE X. 
 
 Kuht (new moon), 169; 183. | Languages of India, xxvii. 
 Kula, 299, I. Lanka, 339; 341, 1; 347) 13 
 Kulala, 218, 1. 358; 418, 4; 483. 
 Kulirmava, 504. Lassen, Professor, 138, 2; 297, 
 Kulina, ‘ noble,’ 218, τ΄ Ts ΟῚ ΠΣ αν 37a, 0: 
 Kullika, 8, 1; 9, 1; 16, 3; 479; 491, 2. 
 
 24, 33 197,1; 212; 215,| Lasya, dance, 463. 
 
 I; 218, 1; 221, 2; 305;| Latydyana Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 
 306; 502, I. Laugikshi Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 Kumira, 449. Laukika (secular), 282, I. 
 Kumira-sambhava, 108, Laukikigni, 302. 
 
 324, 1; 326, 3; 449. Lau-tsze, Xxxviii,I; 4,1; 5,1. 
 Kumiirila, 55,1; 108,1; 239,3.| Lava, 337, 1; 484. 
 Kumbha-kara or potters, 232,1. Lavana, 419. 
 
 Kumbha-karna, 356, 1. Law, schools of, 305. 
 Kumbhiars or potters, 232, 1. | Laya, 102. 
 
 Kumuda, 430, 2. Left-hand worshippers, 503, I. 
 Ku-nakhin, 275, 1. Lekhya, 296. 
 
 King-fi-tsze (Confucius), 4,1; | Lethe, 69, t. 
 
 CH Lexicographers, 171. 
 Kunthu, 129, 2. Lex talionis, 273. 
 
 Kunti, 374; 375; 376, 2;) Liddon, Canon, 70, 2. 
 
 378; 386; 435. Lidhu, 179, I. 
 
 Kuntibhoja, 378; 392. Likhita(lawyer),212; 304; 305. 
 Kurin, xxxii, 2; xxxvi; xli,1; | Likhita (written document), 
 
 Pe el a 0.5». 5. 300. 
 
 ay aG Tra Ts Li-ki (Chinese book), 4, 1. 
 Kirma, 329; 329, 3; 494. Lila-madhukara, 467. 
 Kuru-kshetra, 374; 401. Lilivati, 186; 186, 2; 193. 
 Kurus, 311; 384. 
 
 Kuruvaka, 422, 2. 
 
 Kus or Khonds, 312, I. 
 
 Kufa, 337, 1; 484. 
 KuSa-dvipa, 419. 
 
 Kufa grass, 203; 205; 278. 
 Kusida-vriddhi, 269. 
 
 Kufika Srauta Siitras, 157. 
 Kufi-lavau, 337, 1. 
 Kusumanjali, 71,1; 82,1; 87. 
 Kita-sthah, 142, 1. 
 
 Kuthumi or Kuthumi, 305. 
 Kuttaka, 186; 186, 1. 
 Kuvalayananda, 466. 
 
 Kuvera, god of wealth, 262; 
 
 I; 
 
 494. 
 Linga-Sarira, 64, 2; 110. 
 Limgavat, Lingi-its, xlvii. 
 Lipta, 183, 2. 
 Loans, law of, 266. 
 Locke, 90, 2. 
 Logic, Hindi, 72; 508. 
 Logician, Hindi, 73. 
 Loha-kira (smiths), 232, I. 
 Lohars (smiths), 232, 1. 
 Lokakshi, 305. 
 Lokialoka, 419, I. 
 Lokas, xxviii, 1; 430. 
 Lokayatas, 132. 
 
 356; 426. Lokayatikas, 132. 
 Kymar range of mountains, Lokmin, 508. 
 358, 2. Loma-harshana, 490. 
 
 Lomapida, 342. 
 
 Lonaris, 232, 1. 
 
 Lorinser, Dr., 138, 2; 143,1; 
 147, 1; 149, I. 
 
 Lotus de la bonne loi, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Lotus-stanza, 453. 
 
 Lucretius, 63, 1; 65,1; 83, 1; 
 87,1; 90,1; 93,25; 118,3. 
 
 Lunar line of kings, 376; 491, 2. 
 
 Lunéita-kefa, 128, 3. 
 
 Luptopama, 454. 
 
 Lusty Juventus, 489. 
 
 Laestrygones, 313, I. 
 
 Laghu-kaumudi, 178. 
 
 Lakhima-devi, 308. 
 
 Laksha, 193. 
 
 Liksha, 385. 
 
 Lakshana, 249, 467. 
 
 Lakshma, 429. 
 
 Lakshmana, 347; 350; 358; 
 366; 424; 425; 483. 
 
 Lakshmi, 327, 2; 330; 360; 
 370; 387, 2; 502. 
 
 Lalita-vistara, xxix, I; XXxXii, 
 1; 55,1; 59, I. 
 
 Lambadies, 312, I. 
 
 Lambaka, 511, 
 
 Macchiavelli, 487. 
 Madayantika, 480. 
 Madhava, 127, 1; 391, 1; 480. 
 
 Mm 
 
 Linga, 179, 1; 206, 3; 3253) 
 
 29 
 
 ὃ 
 
 | Madhavadarya, 108, 1; 127; 
 127, 1; 132; 305; 308; 
 372, 2; 437,33 591. 
 
 Madhu-parka, 256; 485. 
 
 | Madhusidana, 391, I. 
 
 Madhusiidana Gupta, 194. 
 
 Madhvas, xlvii. 
 
 Madhya-desa, 234, I. 
 
 Madhya-laya, 478. 
 
 Madhyama, 469. 
 
 Madhyama-kaumudi, 542. 
 
 Madhya-mandira, 127, 1. 
 
 Madhyandina Sakha, 
 
 252, I. 
 
 Madhyandinas, 252, I. 
 
 Madras, xvi, 2; XXi, 3; 305. 
 
 Madreyau, 382, 4; 383. 
 
 Madri, 258, 1; 315; 374- 
 
 Madya, 256. 
 
 Magadha, xxix, 1; 54; 363. 
 
 Magadha, kings of, 316. 
 
 Magadhi, xxix, 2; xxxvi, I. 
 
 Magha, 184, I. 
 
 Migha, 16, 2; 184, 1; 450. 
 
 Magha, month of, 181. 
 
 Migha, poem of, 392, 3. 
 
 Mahi-bhiarata, 34; 213; 252,1; 
 
 309; 363, 2; 367; 368; 
 371; 404, I. 
 
 Mahi-bhishya, 102, 1; 177. 
 
 Mahi-bhita, 93; 228. 
 
 Mahi-deva, 326, 499. 
 
 Mahajan, 269, 2. 
 
 Mahia-kavyas, 450. 
 
 Maha-nataka, 369; 467. 
 
 Mahaniddesa, xxxii, I. 
 
 Maha-nirvana, 504. 
 
 Mahi-padma, 431, 2. 
 
 Maha-pitakas, 274. 
 
 Mahia-prasthinika-parvan, 375. 
 
 Mahia-puranas, 495. 
 
 Mahar, 66, 2; 439, I. 
 
 Mahi-rashtra, 218, 1; 305. 
 
 Mahirishtri, xxix, 2. 
 
 Maharshis, 148, 2; 214,1; 304. 
 
 Mahisiyha-gati, 382, I. 
 
 Mahi-Sravakas, 57, 3- 
 
 Mahat, 93; 101; 228; 229. 
 
 | Mahatala, 430, I. 
 
 | Mahatmya, 408, 1. 
 
 | Mahavagga, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Mahi-vira, 120, 2. 
 | Mahavira-éarita or “°¢aritra, 
 | 340; 361,1; 362,1; 368; 
 479; 482; 483. 
 Mahi-yajna, 197; 107,1; 203; 
 | 251; 272; 201,3. 
 Mahi-yamaka, 454. 
 Maha-yana, 67, 1. 
 Mahi-yuga, 188; 229; 333, I. 
 Mahé, xxi, 2. 
 Mahefvara, 127, 1; 171; 307; 
 501. 
 
 161; 
 
530 
 
 Mahesvari, 502. 
 
 Mahisha, 421,1; 429. 
 Mahishya, 160, I; 233. 
 Mahmid, xix, I. 
 
 Maithila, 218, 1. 
 
 Maithila school, 307. 
 
 Maitra Srauta Siitras, 157. 
 Maitraksha-jyotika, 281. 
 Maitrayana, 46, 2. 
 MaitrayaniUpanishad, 46; 46,2. 
 Maitrayantya Upanishad, 46. 
 MaitrayaniyaGrihya Sitras,196. 
 Maitreyi, 437, 3. 
 
 Maitri Upanishad, 46, 2. 
 Majjhima-nikaya, xxxii, I. 
 Makamiat of Hariri, 464. 
 Makaranda, 480. 
 
 Ma-karas, 503, I. 
 
 Malabar coast, xxi, 3; 221,2. 
 Mala-misa, 184. 
 
 Malati, 422, 2; 480. 
 Malati-madhava, xxxvi; 166; 
 
 4790. 
 Malavika, 468; 478. 
 Malavikagnimitra, 475; 477. 
 Malayalam, xxx, 2; 312, I. 
 Malcolm’s Persia, 231, I. 
 Male-arasars,‘ hill-kings,’312,1. 
 Mali, 218,1. 
 Malik, xlii, τ. 
 Malimluéa, 184. 
 Mallah (prize-fighters), 280. 
 Malwa, xxi, 3. 
 Malyavat, 4109, I. 
 Mammata, 453. 
 Minapamana, 261, 2. 
 Manas, 64; 64, 3; 743 78; 
 
 86; 93; 119; 126; 228. 
 Mana-sara, 194. 
 ManavaGrihya Sitras,196; 501. 
 Manava Srauta Siitras, 157. 
 Mainava-kalpa-siitra, 196; 213,2. 
 Manavas, 213; 215, I. 
 Manavas, Code of, 221; 294. 
 Mandakini, 353, I. 
 Mandakranta, 449. 
 Mandala, 20, 2. 
 Mandala of the Rik, ninth, 9, 1. 
 Mandanis, 293, 2. 
 Mandara, 359, 3; 499. 
 Mando¢éa, 189. 
 Mandodari, 435. 
 Mandiki-siksha, 160, 2. 
 Mindukya Upanishad, 38. 
 Margala, 189. 
 Margala-vara, 188, I. 
 Mang-tsze, 4, I. 
 Mankind, deterioration of, 497. 
 Manning, Mrs., xi, I. 
 Mano-maya, 123. 
 Minsa-bhakshana, 256. 
 Mansel, Dean, 124. 
 Manthara, 513. 
 
 1 ND he: 
 
 Mantra-mahodadhi, 504. 
 Mantra portion of the Veda, 8; 
 Ὁ: 143 252, I. 
 Mantra period, 52. 
 Mantra-jargaras, 252, I. 
 Mantras (texts), 7,1; 8,1; 25; 
 504; 505. 
 Manu, 8,1; 9,1; 32,1; 68,1; 
 211; 228; 306; 492, I. 
 Manu’s Code, 212. 
 Manvshya-loka, 206. 
 Manushya-yajna, 203; 251. 
 Many-antara,214,1; 229; 33351; 
 491: 
 Many-artha-muktavali, 306. 
 Mara (demon), 58, I. 
 Marathi, xxix. 
 Marathi country, xxi, 3; 243, 2. 
 Marathi empire, 262, 2. 
 Margasirsha, 184, I. 
 Mari¢a, 356; 497, I. 
 Mari¢i, 214; 280; 305; 346. 
 Markandeya, 367. 
 Markandeya-purana, 387, 2; 
 
 494- 
 
 Markham, Mr. C. R., vi. 
 
 Marriage, forms of, 250. 
 
 Marriage portion, 272. 
 
 Marriage rite, 199; 250. 
 
 Mars, 188. 
 
 Marshman, 339, I. 
 
 Maruta (the Wind), 387, 2. 
 
 Maruts. 13; 17; 400. 
 
 Marvadi (merchants), 232, I. 
 See additional note, p. 541. 
 
 Maéaka Srauta Siitras, 157. 
 
 Matali, 359. 
 
 Materialists, 133, 1; 254. 
 
 Mathas (monasteries), 131. 
 
 Mathavya, 265, 1. 
 
 Mathematical science, 182. 
 
 Mathura, 332, 2; 335. 
 
 Matsya, 329; 397; 494: 
 
 Matsya-purana, 492. 
 
 Matula, 381,1. 
 
 Mauna-vrata, 260. 
 
 Maunji-bandhana, 247; 297. 
 
 Mausala-parvan, 375; 411,1. 
 
 Maya, 92; 118; 152. 
 
 Maya(mother of Buddha), 54,1. 
 
 Mecca, xliii, I. 
 
 Mechanical arts, 194. 
 
 Medhatithi (lawyer), 212; 306. 
 
 Medicine, 194. 
 
 Medini, 171. 
 
 Megasthenes, xviii; 215; 231,1; 
 245, 1; 263, 2; 281,1; 3153 
 320; 487. 
 
 Megasthenes, caste-divisions of, 
 5.141, 1: 249]. 2, 
 
 Megha-dita, 361,1; 368; 391,25 
 399,1; 4493 475) 1. 
 
 | Mekhala, 247. 
 
 | Menaka, 363. 
 
 Mencius, 4, I. 
 
 Mercury, 188. 
 
 Meru(mount),359, 33 412; 419. 
 
 Metaphor, 455. 
 
 Metaphysics, Hindi, 72. 
 
 Metempsychosis, 14, 1; 
 67. 1; 68; 1; 510: 
 
 Metre, 163; 165, I. 
 
 Mill, J.S., 77, 2- 
 
 Mill’s India, 104; 231, 1; 261, 3. 
 
 Millar, 231, 1. 
 
 Milman, Dean, 141, 1; 386. 
 
 Milton’s Satan, 356, I. 
 
 Miminsa, 48; 108; 214, 1; 
 2273 239, 3. 
 
 Mimiansaka, 7, 1; 110; 227. 
 
 Mimiansi-sitra, 108, 1; 110, I. 
 
 Mind-born sons, 497, I. 
 
 Minerva, 358, 1. 
 
 Miracles, xli, I. 
 
 Misals.of Sikhs, 327, 2. 
 
 Misarii-misra, 308. 
 
 Misra, 308, I. 
 
 Miéra-damodara, 369. 
 
 Miéra-vritta, 468. 
 
 Mitakshara, 294; 306; 307. 
 
 Mithi, 491, 2. 
 
 Mithila, 347; 347,35 491, 2. 
 
 Mithila (school of law), 294; 
 3953 307. 
 
 Mithya-jnana, 114. 
 
 Mitra, 13; 19; 218, I. 
 
 Mle¢¢ha, xxxiv, 1; 236,2; 250; 
 280; 405. 
 
 Mleé¢cha-deSa, 236, 2. 
 
 Mlec¢chas, 405. 
 
 M’Mahon, Rev. J. H., 79, 13 
 ΠᾺΡ» πὲ 
 
 Modaka, 218, I. 
 
 Modern India, xxi, 3. 
 
 Mogul Empire, xix, I. 
 
 Mohammed, see Muhammad. 
 
 Moksha, 70; 131. 
 
 Moksha-dharma, 375. 
 
 Monasteries, 471. 
 
 Money-lender, 269. 
 
 Mongol language, 312, I. 
 
 Mongol tribes, xix, I. 
 
 Monks, xxxii, 2. 
 
 Months, names of, 183, 3- 
 
 Montriou, W. A., 295, I. 
 
 Moor’s Hindi Pantheon, 336. 
 
 Moral (prohibitions), 58. 
 
 Morality, 489. 
 
 Mri¢¢hakatika, 103, 2; 299, 13 
 316; 326, 33 331,13; 3085 
 464; 471. 
 
 Mriga-Siras, 184, I. 
 
 Muéukunda, 500. 
 
 Mudra-rakshasa, 486; 487. 
 
 Mugdha-bodha, 178. 
 
 Mugdha-bodhini, 178. 
 
 20; 
 
Muhammad, xli; xlii, 1; xliii; 
 ἘΝ ΟΣ ania ie 
 
 Muhammad Kasim, xix, I. 
 
 Muhammad Shah, xix, 1. 
 
 Muhammadans in Bengal, xx, I. 
 
 Muhammadans, Indian, xx, 1. 
 
 Moharram, xiliii, 1. 
 
 Muhirta, 187. 
 
 Muhirtas, 180. 
 
 Muir, Dr. John, 15, I, 2; and 
 passim. 
 
 Muir, Sir W., xxx, 1. 
 
 Muir University College, xxx, I. 
 
 Mika, 393. 
 
 Mukha, opening, 466, 2. 
 
 Mukhopidhyaya, 218, 1. 
 
 Mukhurjea, 218, I. 
 
 Muktambaras, 128, 3. 
 
 Mukti, 70. 
 
 Mila Maha-bhirata, 492. 
 
 Mila-prakriti, 92. 
 
 Mila-ramiyana, 314; 340, I; 
 
 492. 
 Mila-samhitah, 492. 
 Mila Sitra, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Mullens’ Essay, 69, 1; 98, 1. 
 Miller, Professor Max, 4, 1; 
 12, 2; 15, 2; and passim. 
 
 Mumbai, xvi, 2. 
 
 Munda, 296. 
 
 Mundaka Upanishad, 38 ; 42; 
 ABW Ἴ 10, .,Ἂς 
 
 Muni, 260; 261, 
 
 Muraja-bandha, 453. 
 
 Murari, 361, 1; 369. 
 
 Mirdhavasikta, 233. 
 
 Murshidabad, xx, I. 
 
 Marta, 187. 
 
 Mirtti, 64, 1. 
 
 Musala, 375. 
 
 Musalin (club-armed), 335, I. 
 
 Musalmian invasion, xx, I. 
 
 Musalmans, 251. 
 
 Mushrooms, eating of, 256. 
 
 Music, 194. 
 
 Muslims, xx, 1; Xxxiv, 1; 5,1; 
 Oe 257, )%- 
 
 Muttra, 358, 2. 
 
 Mysore (State), xxi, 3. 
 
 Mythology, Grecian, 322; 426; 
 
 Ζ 7. ᾿ 
 Mythology, Post-vedic, 324; 
 417; 427-433. 
 
 Natiketas, 43. 
 
 Nadi, 187. 
 
 Nadika, 187. 
 
 Nadir Shah, xix, I. 
 
 Niga (serpent-demons), xxxvii, 
 1; 335,13; 381; 429; 
 430, I. 
 
 Niga-kanyis, 430, I. 
 
 Naga-loka, 430, I. 
 
 INDE X. 
 
 Niginanda, 486, 1; 488. 
 Niga-pancamf, 430, I. 
 Nigasihvaya, 378, 2. 
 Nigoji-bhatta, 102, 1; 178. 
 Nahusha, xxxvii, 1; 376. 
 Naigama, 168. 
 
 Naighantuka, 167; 168. 
 Naimittika Sriddha, 208. 
 Nair tribe, 387, I. 
 
 Nairuktas (etymologists), 169. 
 Nairuktikas, 167, 1. 
 Naishadha, 450,1; 451; 486, 1. 
 Naishthika, 245. 
 
 Naivedya, 226. 
 
 Naiyayikas, 73; 76; 77; 84, 
 
 I; 97- 
 
 Nakshatra, 182; 182, 1; 188, 
 I; 189; 207; 
 
 Nakshatra-darsa, 184. 
 
 Nakula, 380; 387, 2; 402; 
 413. 
 
 Nakulifa, 127, I. 
 
 Nala (Story of), 16, 2; 257, 
 ἌΛΛΩΣ 11: 
 
 Nala (king), 346. 
 
 Nala (monkey-general), 358. 
 
 Nalodaya, 450; 451. 
 
 Nama-karana, 246. 
 
 Nama-karman, 246. 
 
 Namiaz, 251, I. 
 
 Names of India, xv. 
 
 Nainaka (coin), 269; 296. 
 
 Nanak Shah, 327, 2. 
 
 Nana Sahib, 232, 1. 
 
 Nanda, 334. 
 
 Nanda, 501. 
 
 Nandana, 480. 
 
 Nanda-pandita, 307; 308. 
 
 Nindi, 326, 3; 469; 501. 
 
 Nandi-grama, 354. 
 
 Nandi-siitra, xxxvi, I. 
 
 Napita, 218, 1; 514. 
 
 Nara, 382, 4; 383. 
 
 Narabhimani, 467. 
 
 Naraéa, 405. 
 
 Narada, 29; 40; 212; 304; 
 3053 410; 426; 497, I. 
 
 Nirada-panéaratra, xlviii. 
 
 Nirada-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Niradiya, 494; 501. 
 
 Narakas, 66, 2; 439, I. 
 
 Narifansa, 169. 
 
 Nirifanst, 203; 208. 
 
 Nara-sipha, 331; 501; 502. 
 
 Nara-sipgha Upa-purina, 501. 
 
 Nariyana, 225; 391,1; 360; 
 399. 
 
 Narmada, 341, 2. 
 
 Nartaka, 463; 466. 
 
 Nisatyau, 14; 169; 387, 2. 
 
 Nisik (from nastka), 355, 3- 
 
 Nistika, 52; 226. 
 
 Nistikyam, 276. 
 
 Mm 2 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 
 521 
 
 Nathadarya-cidimani, 307. 
 
 Nathooboy, Sir Mungoldas, 
 XXVii, I. 
 
 Natika, 468. 
 
 Natya, 463. 
 
 Nityarisaka, 468. 
 
 Nava Sak (nine divisions), 
 218, I. 
 
 Niyaka, 467; 471. 
 
 Nayar, 387, I. 
 
 Nayika, 467; 471. 
 
 Nearchus, xviii. 
 
 Nectar, 500. 
 
 Negapatam, xxi, 2. 
 
 Nekyomanteia, 414. 
 
 Nemi, 129, 2. 
 
 Nepal, xxi, 3; xxxvi; 54; 504. 
 
 Nestor, 424. 
 
 New Testament, 143, I. 
 
 ΝΙέ, 174,1. 
 
 Niéa, soy: 
 
 Nicholson, John, 321, I. 
 
 Nidina-sitra, 163. 
 
 NidarSana (example), 72. 
 
 Nigama, 168; 503, I. 
 
 Nigamana (conclusion), 72. 
 
 Nighantu, 167; 170; 252, I. 
 
 Night, 19; 25; 422. 
 
 Nigraha-sthina, 75. 
 
 Nihilism, 56; 124. 
 
 NihSreyasa, 70. 
 
 | Nikshepa, 266. 
 
 Nila, 419, I. 
 
 Nila-kantha (Siva), 325. 
 Nilakantha-bhatta, 308. 
 Nil-giri hills, 312, 1. 
 Nimb tree, leaves of, 303. 
 Nimesha, 187; 402. 
 Nimi, 129, 2; 346; 491, 2. 
 Nimitta-karana, 81. 
 Ninda, 28. 
 
 Nipa, 422, 2. 
 
 Nipata, 162; 171. 
 
 | Nir-guna, 96; 116; 122, 1; 495. 
 
 Nirnaya, 75. 
 
 Nirnaya-sindhu, 208. 
 
 Nirukta, 134, 2; 156; 166; 
 168; 225. 
 
 Nirukta-parifishta, 169; 171. 
 
 Nirvahana, 466, 2; 467. 
 
 Nirvana, xxxviili; 54,2; 55,1; 
 57; 6a, x; 70. 
 
 Nir-vikalpa, 122, 2. 
 
 Niryukti, xxxvi, I. 
 
 | Nishidas, 169; 313, I. 
 
 Nishadha, 419, 1. 
 Nishadt, 386. 
 
 Nishka, 296. 
 Nish-kramana, 246. 
 Nishphala, 155, 2. 
 
 Niti, 487, 1; 505; 506. 
 Niti-Sastras, 157; 505. 
 Niti-Sastras proper, 505. 
 
532 
 
 Nitya (Sraddha), 197, 1; 208; | 
 253. 
 
 Nitya-siddha, 131. 
 
 Nivritti, 175. 
 
 Niyama, 103. 
 
 Nizam, xxi, 3. 
 
 Non-Aryan races, 314. 
 
 Northern Buddhists, 504. 
 
 North-west provinces, xx, I. 
 
 Notation (in algebra), 101. 
 
 Nri-sinha Upa-purana, 501. 
 
 Nritya, 463. 
 
 Nullity, 22. 
 
 Numa Pompilius, 5, 2. 
 
 Numeration, system of, 193. 
 
 Nishirvan, 509, I. 
 
 Nyagrodha tree, 408. 
 
 Nyasa-dharin, 269. 
 
 Nyaya, 48; 53; 61; 71; 76; 
 96, 1; 227. 
 
 Nyaya (Siitras), 71, I. 
 
 Nyaya-mala-vistara, 127, I. 
 
 Nydya-siitra-vritti, 71, I. 
 
 Odras, 236, 2. 
 
 Odyssey, 309; 358, 1; 389; 
 4143 420, I. 
 
 Old and New Testament, 4, I. 
 
 Om, 103; 169; 203; 222, 1. 
 
 Omar, xviii; xliii, 1. 
 
 Omens, 104. 
 
 Ordeal, ten forms of, 276, I. 
 
 Ordeal, trial by, 276; 300. 
 
 Oriental Congress, v, I. 
 
 Orissa, xvi, 2; xxi, 3; 218,1; 
 Zit Whe 
 
 Ormuzd, xviii, 1; 12. 
 
 Orphic hymns, 116, 1. 
 
 Othman, xliii, 1. 
 
 Ottoman tribe, xix, I. 
 
 Oude or Oudh, xx, 1; 54, 3. 
 
 Ovid’s Metamorphoses, 333, I. 
 
 Oxus, xvii; 10. 
 
 Pacittiya, xxxii, I. 
 
 Pada (traditional art), 88. 
 Pada text, 161; 162; 252,1. 
 Padartha, 64, 1; 77; 90, 2. 
 Padma, 369; 494. 
 Padma-bandha, 453. 
 Padma-pura, 479. 
 Padma-purana, 305. 
 
 Padya (verse), 370. 
 
 Pahlavas, 363. 
 
 Pahlavi, 6; 6, 1; 509, 1. 
 Paisaéa (marriage), 199; 250. 
 Paitamaham astram, 359, 3. 
 Paitamaha-siddhanta, 185. 
 Paithinasi, 305. 
 
 PakaSasani, 382, 4. 
 
 Paka-yajha, 197; 197,13; 239; | 
 | 
 
 252; 282. 
 
 Pala, 187; 296. 
 
 EIN pDISE ex. 
 
 Paliexxix τὶ 
 Palibothra, xviii; 316; 325,1. 
 ἘΠῚ1 4: 215. τὸ 
 Pan¢agavya penance, 278. 
 Panéagni, 198, 1. 
 Panéa-janah, 169; 403. 
 Panéajanya, 403. 
 Panéa-koga, 123. 
 Panéala, 51; 390. 
 Panéa-lakshana, 492; 496. 
 Pan¢anana, 325, 3. 
 Panéan-ga, xxxvi, 1; 188, I. 
 Panéa-ratraka, 340, I. 
 Panéaratras, xlviii. 
 Panéa-siddhantika, 185. 
 Panéa-tantra, 65, 2; 297, 2; 
 509,1; 510; 511; 512; 515. 
 Panéa-tapas, 105; 260. 
 Panéavati, 355, 23. 
 Panéa-vinga Brahmana, 28. 
 Pan¢éa-yajna, 197. 
 Panci-karana, 120, 3. 
 Panéi-krita, 120, 3. 
 Pan¢copakhyana, 510. 
 Pandavas, 348, 2; 374; 401; 
 408; 495. 
 Pandits, xxix; XXX. 
 Pandu, 3743 377- 
 Pani-grahana, 200. 
 Panigrahanika mantrah, 268. 
 Panin, 172. 
 Panini, xxviii, 1; 127; 160; 
 ΤΟ. 25) Lal 510. 
 Panini-darsana, 127, I. 
 Panini’s grammar, 163; 171. 
 Panjab,xvii; xx,1; 239,33 258,1- 
 Panjabi language, xxix. 
 Pantheism, xxvi; 373 
 120; 124; 490. 
 Para, 80. 
 Paradas, 236, 2. 
 Parajika, xxxii, I. 
 Paraka (penance), 278. 
 Parama-hansa, xlviii. 
 Paramanu, 187. 
 Paramarthika (existence), 118. 
 Paramatman, 42; 62; 65; 85; 
 230; 326. 
 Param-itas (Buddhist), 59. 
 Pardfara, 211; 305; 376; 490; 
 498; 501. 
 ParaSara’s Code, 127, 1; 304; 
 305; 308. 
 ParaSara-siddhanta, 185. 
 ParaSara-smriti-vyakhya, 308. 
 Paraskara’s Grihya-siitra, 195 ; 
 211, 1; 208, 4. 
 Parasmai-pada, 174. 
 Parasu-rama, 331; 331,23 348; 
 349; 399; 411. 
 Paratva, 79. 
 Parda-nishin, 436, 1. 
 Paribhasha, 173, 2. 
 
 112; 
 
 Paribhashendu-sekhara, 178, 1. 
 
 Parijata, 499. 
 
 Parikara, 455. 
 
 Parikshit, 390, 2; 495. 
 
 Parimanani, 79. 
 
 Parishad, 225; 227. 
 
 Parisishta (supplements), 194. 
 
 Parits (washermen), 232, I. 
 
 Parivara, Xxxii, I. 
 
 Parivrajaka,58; 245; 260; 479. 
 
 Parmenides, 63, I. 
 
 Parsis, xviii; xxxiv; 5; 6; 6,1. 
 
 Parsva-natha, 120, 2. 
 
 Partha, 382, 4; 383. 
 
 Partnership, 267. 
 
 Parushye, 267. 
 
 Parvana Sraddha, 208; 253. 
 
 Parvati, 325; 325, 2; 326, 3; 
 27. Cp 420; 507; us 
 
 Paryanka-bandha, 103,2; 320,3. 
 
 Pasa, 193. 
 
 Pashandin (heretic), 226; 302. 
 
 Pasu-kalpa, 200. 
 
 Pasupata (weapon), 393. 
 
 Pasupatas, 127, I. 
 
 Pasu-pati, 127, I. 
 
 Pasu-yajna, 31, I. 
 
 Pata, 189. 
 
 Pataka-sthanaka, 467. 
 
 Patala,66,2; 364; 419,1; 430,I. 
 
 Pataliputra, 177,23 221,1; 487. 
 
 Patanjala-darsana, 127, I. 
 
 Patanjali, 102; 177; 297, I. 
 
 Pati-ganita, 186, 2. 
 
 Patisambhida, xxxii, I. 
 
 Pativrata, 435. 
 
 Patriarchs, 497. 
 
 Patrin, 405, I. 
 
 Patroclus, 424. 
 
 Patthana, xxxii, I. 
 
 Paulastya, 356, I. 
 
 Paulisa-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Pauloma, 372, I. 
 
 Paundra (trumpet), 402. 
 
 Paundrakas, 236, 2. 
 
 Paurava, 404. 
 
 Paurnamasa, 253. 
 
 Pausha, 184, I. 
 
 Paushya, 372, I. 
 
 Pavitra, 246, 1. 
 
 Payannas, ΧΧΧΥΪ, I. 
 
 Pazand, 6, 1. 
 
 Pegu, xxxvi. 
 
 Penance, 278; 201. 
 
 Penelope, 358, I. 
 
 Perfections (Buddhist), 59. 
 
 Persia, xvii. 
 
 Persia (ancient), 4. 
 
 Persi-Armenians, xix, I. 
 
 Persian language, xvii. 
 
 Persians, xv; xviii; xix, 1; 363. 
 
 Pervasion in logic, 73. 
 
 Peshwa, 262, 2. 
 
Petavatthu, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Phaedo of Plato, 69, 1. 
 
 Phaedrus, 45, I. 
 
 Phala, 74. 
 
 Phalguna, 184, 1; 327,2; 382,4; | 
 307; 4609. 
 
 Phalguni, 184, 1. 
 
 Phallus, 325, I. 
 
 Philosophy, common creed, 61. 
 
 Philosophy, six systems of, 48. | 
 
 Pickford, Mr. John, 483, I. 
 
 Pi¢ula, 422, 2. 
 
 Pilpay’s fables, 509, 1. 
 
 Pinda, 208; 253; 254; 271. 
 
 Pingala, 163. 
 
 Pingala-naga, 163. 
 
 Pippala, 42, 2. 
 
 Pisaéa, 280. 
 
 Pischel, Dr. R., 475, 3: 
 
 Pisistratus, 372. 
 
 Pisuni, 353, I. 
 
 Pitamaha, 400, 2. 
 
 Pitris, 9, 1; 21; 169; 248; 
 2543; 280. 
 
 Pitri-yajna, 203; 251. 
 
 Piya-dasi, 59, 3. 
 
 Plaintiff, 300. 
 
 Plaksha-dvipa, 419. | 
 
 Planets, nine, 189. 
 
 Plassy (battle), xxi, 3. 
 
 Plato, 45,1; 61, 2; 64,2; 68,1; | 
 S45 2: SO, ροῦν τ 05. ᾽ν 
 Tid, 21.16.2. ΤΥ 5.1» 145,05 
 
 7 hie 
 Plato (Republic), 231, I. 
 Plato (Timaeus), 231, I. 
 Platonic idealism, 113. 
 Platonic realism, 80. 
 Platonists, 64, 2. 
 Plays, Hindi, 462. 
 Pliny, xviii. 
 Poems, artificial, 449; 451. 
 Poems, Homeric, 415. 
 Poison, 499. 
 Poita, 246, 1. 
 Polyandry, 387, I. 
 Polygamy, 250. 
 Polyphemus, 428, I. 
 Pondicherry, xxi, 2. 
 Portuguese, xxi, 2. 
 Porus, 376, I. 
 Post-vedic literature, 212. 
 Prabha-kara, 239, 3. 
 Prabhisa, 391. 
 Prabhis, 232, I. 
 Prabodha-candrodaya,488; 489. 
 Pra¢anda-pandava, 369. 
 Pradhana, 64, 1; 92; 100, 2; 
 IOI; 115, 2; 469. 
 Pradhana, 502. 
 Prad-vivika, 299, I. 
 Prahasana, 468. 
 Prahlada, 331. 
 
 ‘ 
 
 INDE X. 
 
 Prajapati, 164; 215; 225; 241; 
 278; 329, 3- 
 
 Prajipatis, 214, 1; 250; 304. 
 
 Prijipatya (marriage), 199; 
 250. 
 
 Prajapatya penance, 278. 
 
 Prajna, 59. 
 
 Prakarana, 467. 
 
 Prakarant, 468. 
 
 Prakaranika, 468. 
 
 Prakrinta, 454. 
 
 Prakrit, xvii; xxix; 55,1; 316; 
 
 409. 
 Prikrit of the plays, xxix, I. 
 Prakrita, xxix; 454. 
 Prakrita-prakaSa, xxix, 2. 
 Prakriti, 90; 94; 96; 151; 
 502; 503. 
 Prama4, 70; 72; 74; 92. 
 
 Pramana (philosophical), 71; 
 
 92; 102; 126; 230. 
 
 | Pramanam, 241; 300. 
 | Prameya, 74. 
 
 Prana, 40; 187. 
 Prana-maya, 123. 
 Pranatman, 124. 
 
 Pranava, 103. 
 
 Pranayama, 103. 
 
 Pranidhi, 59, 1; 263; 269. 
 Pragada, xxxvii, I. 
 
 Prasanna Kumar Thakur, 307; | 
 
 308, I. 
 Prasanna-raghava, 369; 488. 
 Prasna Upanishad, 38. 
 Prastavana (prologue), 469. 
 Prasthana, 468. 
 Prastuta, 454. 
 Prathamam retas, 502. 
 Pratibhasika (existence), 118. 
 Pratigraha, 244; 268. 
 Pratijna (proposition), 72. 
 Pratima, 226, 1; 248. 
 Pratimi-paricaraka, 226, I. 
 Pratimukha, 466, 2. 
 Prati-nayaka, 468. 
 Pratipadika, 173. 
 Pratisakhyas, Vedic, 160. 
 Prati-sarga (re-creation), 491; 
 
 497. 
 Pratishthina, 401, 2. 
 Pratitakshara, 307. 
 Prativadin (defendant), 300, 
 Prativasudevas, 130. 
 Prativindhya, 390, 2. 
 Pratiyamina, 454. 
 Pratyabhijna, 127, 1. 
 Pratyabhijha-darsana, 127, I. 
 Pratyahara (grammatical), 173, 
 3; 179, 1- 
 Pratyahara (restraint), 103. 
 Pratyaksha, 72; 126; 230; 
 
 354- 
 Praudha Brahmana, 28, 
 
 533 
 
 | Pravaéana, 156. 
 | Pravaha, 189. 
 | Pravahana, 51. 
 Pravara-sena, 475, 2. 
 | Pravargya, 343, 2. 
 | Pravesaka, 469. 
 | Pravritti, 74. 
 | Prayaiga, 361. 
 | Prayas-citta, 66,1; 217; 220; 
 221; 278; 282; 291; 295; 
 | 302; 411,1. 
 | Prayatna, 79. 
 Prayer, 58, 1; 469. 
 | Prayoga, 402, I. 
 | Prayojana (motive), 75. 
 Precepts (moral), 3, 1; 282; 
 440; 457; 512; 515. 
 Prem Chunder Tarkabigish, 
 475s 3: 
 Premiss in logic, 72. 
 Prem Sagar, xxix, I; 138, 2; 
 490. 
 Prenkhana, 468. 
 | Preserver, 498. 
 Presidency towns, xvi, 
 Preta-kiryani (funeral rites), 
 
 ? 
 -. 
 
 410. 
 Pretya-bhava, 74. 
 Priam, 316, 1; 400, 2. 
 Prinsep’s tables, 346, 1. 
 Prishatka, 405, 1. 
 Pritha, 374; 379, 2; 
 410. 
 Prithaktva, 79. 
 | Prithivi, 14; 63, 1; 78; 93; 
 426; 485. 
 Privileges, six (of Brahmans), 
 244,1. 
 Priya-darsi, 50, 3. 
 Problems (from Lilavati), 193. 
 Pronunciation, 160; 542. 
 Properties (amga), 467. 
 Propertius, 258, I. 
 Property, law of, 267. 
 Proposition in logic, 72. 
 Protagoras, 114, 1; 143, I- 
 Pudgala, 131. 
 Piiga, 299, 1. 
 Puggala, Sex I. 
 Pukkasa, 233. 
 Pulaha, 497, 1. 
 Pulastya, sage, 305; SEG 0%; 
 
 378; 
 
 497, 1. 
 
 Pulastya-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 | Pundarika, 430, 2. 
 
 Punsavana, 201; 246. 
 
 Purina, 40; 101; 203; 215, 
 1; 256; 298; 369; 489; 
 490; 494; 501. 
 
 Puri, 218, 1; 251, I. 
 
 Piirna-prajfia, 127, I. 
 
 | Poroéana, 386. 
 
 Purohita, 263, 2; 280, 
 
 | 
 | 
 | 
 } 
 . 
 | 
 
534 
 
 Puru, 334; 376. 
 
 Purusha, 24; 24, 2; 24, 3; 92; 
 97; 100,2; 151; 503. 
 
 Purusha-pasu, 95. 
 
 Purusha-sikta, 7, I; 12, I; 
 EA Ls 24; 10. 1 kena Ἢ; 
 322: Δ 27: 
 
 Purushottama, ΤΟΙ, 2; 146, 4; 
 391, 13 542. 
 
 Pirva, 207. 
 
 Pirva-mimansa, 108. 
 
 Pirva-paksha, 100. 
 
 Pishan, 19. 
 
 Pushkara, 327, 2; 419. 
 
 Pushpa-danta, 129, 2; 430, 2. 
 
 Pushpaka, 356; 361; 483. 
 
 Pushpamitra, 177, 2. 
 
 Pushya, 184, 1. 
 
 uty 255. 
 
 Put-tra, 255, I. 
 
 Pythagoras, 49; 68,1; 91,2; 
 152; LOL. 
 
 Qualities, three, 67, 1; 94; 
 280; 404. 
 
 Qualities of the Vaiseshika, 79. 
 
 Quality, 77. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth, xxi, 3. 
 
 Queen Victoria, xxxy, I. 
 
 Races (solar and lunar), 491, 2. 
 
 Radha, 327, 2; 335; 378. 
 
 Radha orRarh, 218,1; 451; 495. 
 
 Radheya, 378. 
 
 Raffles, Sir Stamford, xxi, 2. 
 
 Raga (musical), 194. 
 
 Raghava, 346. 
 
 Raghavabhyudaya, 369. 
 
 Raghavapandaviya, 370; 450; 
 512. 
 
 Raghava-vilasa, 370. 
 
 Raghu, 346. 
 
 Raghu-nandana, 258, 2; 307. 
 
 Raghu-nathabhyudaya, 370. 
 
 Raghu-vansa, 190; 236, 1; 346, 
 1; 361,1; 368; 449; 455. 
 
 Ragini (musical), 194. 
 
 Rahasya, 35; 279. 
 
 Rahu, 189. 
 
 Rahula, 54, I. 
 
 Raivata, Manu, 214, I. 
 
 Raivataka (mountain), 201. 
 
 Rajadharma, 375. 
 
 Rajaks (washermen), 218, I. 
 
 Rajanya, 25,1; 159, 1; 236. 
 
 Rajarshis, 145, 7. 
 
 Rajas (guna), 94; 151; 229; 
 280; 324. 
 
 Rajasa Puranas, 493; 494. 
 
 Raja-Sekhara, 369; 488. 
 
 Rajasiiya, 391; 450. 
 
 Raja-tarangini, 369; 511. 
 
 Raja-yakshma, 241, 2. 
 
 PN snes: 
 
 Rajendralala Mitra, xxxvi, 1; 
 97, 13 505. 
 
 Rajput, 218,1: 232,1; 227,1. 
 
 Rajput States, xxi, 3. 
 
 Rajputana, xxi, 3; 327, 2. 
 
 Raka, 169; 182. 
 
 Rakshasa (demon), 280; 313; 
 350, I; 400. 
 
 Rakshasa (marriage), 199. 
 
 Rakshasi, 357. 
 
 Rama, 251,1; 346; 483; 484. 
 
 Rama’s banishment, 350. 
 
 Rama’s birth, 347. 
 
 Rama (second), 332. 
 
 Rama and Lakshmana, 347; 
 353 1. 
 
 Rama and Ravana, 359. 
 
 Rama-¢andra, 318, 1; 331, 2; 
 222: 448. 1 2021. 
 
 Ramaé¢andra-¢aritra-sara, 370. 
 
 Rama-¢arana, 370. 
 
 Ramage’s Beautiful Thoughts, 
 154. 
 
 Rama-gita, 370. 
 
 Rama-hridaya, 370. 
 
 Rama-lila, 367. 
 
 Ramananda, xlvii. 
 
 Rama-navami, 367, I. 
 
 Ramanuja, xlvii; 127, 1; 327, 2. 
 
 Rama-setu, 358, 2. 
 
 Ramavats, xlvii. 
 
 Rama-vilasa, 370. 
 
 Ramayana, 309; 318; 337; 
 368; 3693; 370. 
 
 Ramayana (epitome of), 337. 
 
 Ramayana (recension of), 338; 
 339: 
 
 Ramayana-mahatmya, 369. 
 
 Ramazan (month), 6. 
 
 Ramdoolal Dey, 255, 3. 
 
 Ramesurum, 358, 3. 
 
 Ramopakhbyana, 367; 368, 1. 
 
 Rampur, xxi, 3. 
 
 Ramisies, 312, 1. 
 
 Rangaris (dyers), 232, 1. 
 
 Rasa, 793 454; 467. 
 
 Rasaka, 468. 
 
 Rasa-manijari, 454. 
 
 Rasana, 83. 
 
 Rasiatala, 430, I. 
 
 RaseSvara, 127; 127, I. 
 
 Rasi, 188; 192. 
 
 Ratha-¢arya, 384. 
 
 Ratha-kara, 160; 
 PEWS Ἰς 
 
 Rathinga, 421, 1. 
 
 Rationalism, 226. 
 
 Rationalistic Brahmanism, 61. 
 
 Ratnavali, 436,1; 486; 487. 
 
 Raudra, xlviii; 454; 468. 
 
 Raudri, 502. 
 
 Ravana, 312, I; 3313; 332; 
 3393 3415 3555 392,3; 483. 
 
 160, I; 
 
 Ravana, description of, 344; 
 420; 427. 
 Ravi-gupta, 3, I. 
 
 Realism, 8o. 
 
 Reasoning, 72. 
 
 Reciters of the 
 338. 
 
 Recorde, Robert, 191, I. 
 
 Regions, seven, 430. 
 
 Regnier, M. Adolphe, 161, 1. 
 
 Religions of the world, xxxviili, 1; 
 ly Ue 
 
 Retaliation, 273. 
 
 Revati, 391. 
 
 Revenue, 264. 
 
 Rewah, xxi, 3. 
 
 Rhetoric (figures of), 466. 
 
 Rhyme (employment of), 452. 
 
 Ribhus, 17; 17, 1; 160, 1. 
 
 Ri¢ika, 30, 1. 
 
 Right-hand worshippers, 503, I. 
 
 Rig-veda, 9; 22; 24; 26; 110; 
 2524 Le 
 
 Rig-veda-pratisakhya, 158, 3; 
 162. 
 
 Rigvedi Brahmans, 232, 1; 
 yee 
 
 Riju-yodhin, 408. 
 
 Rik, 9, 1. 
 
 Rina, 192. 
 
 Rinadana, 266. 
 
 Rishabha, 129, 2. 
 
 Rishi, 7; 7,13; 30; 200; 248; 
 250; 376; 399- 
 
 Rishyasringa, 342. 
 
 Ritu-samhara, 450. 
 
 Ritv-ij, 238, 1; 239. 
 
 Rivalry between sects, 493. 
 
 Rock inscriptions, xxix, I. 
 
 Roer, Dr., 38, 25 41,1; 71,1; 
 211, 1; 294, 2; 205, I. 
 
 Rohilkhand, xxi, 3. 
 
 Rohini, 241, 2; 3343 387, 2. 
 
 Rohita, 29. 
 
 Roma-harshana, 401. 
 
 Romaka-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Roman alphabet, xxx, I. 
 
 Rost, Dr., xlvii; 258, 1; 486; 
 Geile, 2. 
 
 Roth, Professor,g; 40,1; 168,1. 
 
 Royal Asiatic Society,168; 189. 
 
 Rai (in algebra), 192. 
 
 Rudra, 324; 325, 1; 
 400, 2. 
 
 Rudra-bhatta, 454. 
 
 Rudraksha berries, 326, 3. 
 
 Rudra-yamala Tantra, 504. 
 
 Runjit Sinh, 327, 2. 
 
 Ripa, 79; 192; 387, 2. 
 
 Ripaka, 455. 
 
 Ryot (cultivator), 235, 2; 264, 2. 
 
 Ramayana, 
 
 3993 
 
 Sabaktagin, xix, I. 
 
 ᾿  e σὰς 2... τῶ «πο ἐπ χων ὰ οὐ  Χ.ὁ αθι ν᾿ 
 
Sabara-svimin, 108, 1. 
 
 Sabda (sound), 7. 
 
 Sabda (verbal authority), 72; 
 126; 230. 
 
 Sabda-kalpadruma, 66, 1. 
 
 Sabda-lakshana, 450. 
 
 Sabdalankara, 454. 
 
 Sabha, 266; 392. 
 
 Sabha-parvan, 374. 
 
 Sabhya (fire), 198, I. 
 
 Sa¢-¢id-dnanda, 116; 121, 2; 
 125: ὙΣ 
 
 Sacrifice, xxxvii, 2; 31,1; 428. 
 
 Sad-A¢ira, 217; 206. 
 
 Sad-dharma-pundarika, xxxii, I. 
 
 Sadhu, 131. 
 
 Sadhyas, 148, 2; 280; 400. 
 
 Sadi of Shiraz, 3, I. 
 
 Sagara, 89, 1; 346; 363. 
 
 Sagara, 364. 
 
 Sagarika, 487. 
 
 Sahadeva, 380; 387, 2; 402. 
 
 Sahasa, 267. 
 
 Sahitya-darpana, 369; 453; 454- 
 
 Sahokti, 455. 
 
 Saiqal-gar, 232, I. 
 
 Saiva-darSana, 127, I. 
 
 Saiva Puranas, 494. 
 
 Saiva sect, xlvii; 104; 327, 2. 
 
 Saka-dvipa, 419. 
 
 Sakala-Sakha, τότ. 
 
 Sakalya, 172, I. 
 
 Sakapini, 169. 
 
 Sak4ra, 472, I. 
 
 Sakas, 236, 2; 363. 
 
 Sakatayana, 170; 171; 172,1. 
 
 Sakha, 161; 196. 
 
 Sakhinta-ga, 224. 
 
 Sakrasyansa, 387, 2. 
 
 Sikshinah (witnesses), 300. 
 
 Saktas, 325,1; 325, 2; 327, 25 
 494; 502. 
 
 Sakti, 101; 225; 325,2; 502. 
 
 Sakuni, 374; 381; 385; 3925 
 410, I. 
 
 Sakuntala, 69,1; 104; 140, 1; 
 262, 1; 265, 1; 363; 436,1; 
 
 475: 
 Sakya (Buddha), 54; 54, 2; 
 58, 2; 59, 3. 
 Salatura, Salaturiya, 172. 
 Salis (weavers), 232, 1. 
 Salmali-dvipa, 419. 
 Salya (king), 1945 3793 3923. 
 405, 1; 406. 
 Salya-parvan, 374. 
 Sama, 300. 
 Samadhi, 103; 326. 
 Samahara, 179, I. 
 Saman, 9; 398. 
 Saminodaka-bhiva, 254. 
 Saminya, 77; 80. 
 Samanya-dharma, 454. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Samavakara, 467. 
 
 Samfvartana, 204; 246; 249. 
 
 Samaviaya, 77; 80. 
 
 Samavayi-karana, 62, 3; 64,1; 
 81. 
 
 Sima-veda, 7, 1; 
 ΔΒΑ x. 
 
 Sama-veda priest, 224. 
 
 Sima-veda Upanishads, 38. 
 
 Samayaéara, 156; 195. 
 
 Simayacarika Satras, 156; 195; 
 210; 211; 216; 221. 
 
 Samba, 501. 
 
 Sambhu, 193. 
 
 Sambhiya samutthina, 266. 
 
 Sambika, 485. 
 
 Samhira (restraint), 402, 1. 
 
 Samhita text, 162. 
 
 Samhitas of the Veda, 9; 9, 1; 
 28; 252, 1; 279. 
 
 Sami tree, 205. 
 
 Samlapaka, 468. 
 
 Samoyedic language, 312, I. 
 
 Sampradiayin, xlvii. 
 
 SamSaptaka, 405. 
 
 SamSaya, 75. 
 
 Samsrishti, 455. 
 
 Samudra-mathana, 467. 
 
 Samvarta’s Code, 211; 305. 
 
 Samvat, 474. 
 
 Samvido vyatikrama, 266. 
 
 Samyavastha, 94. 
 
 Samyoga, 79. 
 
 San (in grammar), 174, I. 
 
 Sanat-kumiara, 40; 501. 
 
 Sanéayana (of ashes), 207. 
 
 Sandhi (juncture in drama), 
 466, 2. 
 
 Sandhi (rules of ), 163; 252, 1. 
 
 Sandhyas, 248; 284, I. 
 
 Sandhyd-vandana, 252, I. 
 
 Sandilya, Aphorisms of, 137, 2. 
 
 Sandrokottos or Sandrakottus, 
 23%; 1; 487. 
 
 Sargita, 478. 
 
 Samgita-damodara, 194. 
 
 Samgita-darpana, 194. 
 
 Samgita-ratnikara, 194; 466. 
 
 Sangraha-parvan, 371, I. 
 
 Sani (Saturn), 189. 
 
 Sani-vira, 188, I. 
 
 Sanjaya, 379; 400; 407,1. 
 
 Sanhjha, 173, 2; 426, 5. 
 
 Ὁ, 03-283 
 
 535 
 
 | Samrkhayana, 157. 
 
 | Sarkhya-karika, 49, 1; 
 
 Sankhiyana-brahmana, 28. 
 Sankhiyana Gribya Sotras, 195. 
 Sinkhya philosophy, 42; 48; 
 53; 61; 84; 89; 96, 1; 
 127, 1; 227; 510. 
 Sinkhya Gunas, 62, 3; 95, 1. 
 Sankhya Sitras, 52,1; 89, 1. 
 Samkhya (synthesis), 71. 
 Sankhyah (numbers), 79. 
 62, 3; 
 66, 3; 84,2; 89,1; 90,2; 
 
 92,1. 
 
 Sankhya-pravaéana, 89, 1; 229; 
 293, 35 510. 
 
 Siankhya-prava¢ana-bhishya, 
 89, 1; 95. 
 
 Sankirna, 468. 
 
 Sannydsin, 245; 260; 306, I. 
 
 Sauskiara (ceremonies), 197 ; 
 201; 239; 245; 246; 250. 
 
 Sanskara (quality), 79; 150. 
 
 Sanskarana, 171. 
 
 Sanskrit (meaning of), xxviii. 
 
 Sanskrita, xxix; 171. 
 
 Santa (rasa), 454, I. 
 
 Santa, Dafaratha’s daughter, 
 
 42. 
 
 Santanava, 376. 
 
 Santanava’s Phit-sitras, 172, I. 
 
 Santanu, 376. 
 
 Sintapana (penance), 278. 
 
 Santhals, 312, I. 
 
 Santi, 410. 
 
 Santi-parvan, 368; 375; 411. 
 
 Sanyutta-nikiya, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Sapindata (sapindaship), 254; 
 271. 
 
 Sapta-bhamga-naya, 1321. 
 
 Saptapadi bhava, 200. 
 
 Saptarshayah(seven patriarchs), 
 
 497, I. 
 Sapta-Sataka, 369. 
 Sapta-Sati, 369. 
 Sapta sindhavah, xv, 2. 
 Sara, 405, 1; 455. 
 Sarabharga (an ascetic), 258,1. 
 Sarad, 450. 
 
 | Sarada-tilaka, 504. 
 
 Sarama, sons of, 206. 
 
 Sirasvata, 218, I. 
 
 Sarasvati, xvii; 213; 217; 301; 
 363; 408, 1; 426; 502. 
 
 Sankara Acirya or Sankari- | Sarasvati-kanthabharana, 454. 
 arya, 42, 2; 48, 1; 84; | Sarayd, river, 341, 2. 
 I1I, 2; 114; 116; 119; Sardila-vikridita metre, 221, 2. 
 134; 306,1; 327, 25 4513 | Sarga (creation), 401. 
 
 475, 23. 
 Samkara (of figures), 455. 
 Sankara-jitiyah, 232. 
 Samkara-misra, 73; 79. 
 Satrkha, 193; 212; 304; 305: 
 403. 
 
 i 
 / 
 Ι 
 
 Sarira, 74; 83. 
 
 Sarmishthi-yayati, 468. 
 
 Sarmga-deva, 194; 406. 
 
 Sarmgadhara-paddhati, 3, 1; 
 369. 
 
 Sarpiri, 4309, I. 
 
536 
 
 Sarpis, 419. 
 
 Sarva, 409, 2. 
 Sarva-darsana-sangraha, go, 2; 
 £27/3, 32/3 340. 
 Sarva-naman, 179, I. 
 Sarvato-bhadra, 453. 
 Sarva-bhauma, 430, 2. 
 
 Sastra, 48; 266; 
 372, 2. 
 Sastram Aiyar, 128, 1. 
 Satanika, 390, 2. 
 Satapatha-brahmana, 7,1; 28; 
 32: 34; 38; 68,1; 159; 
 298, I; 3233 329, 2; 330, 
 33 343, 2. 
 Satara, xxi, 3. 
 Satatapa’s Code, 212; 305. 
 Sati, 204, 1; 209; 215; 251, 
 I; 258; 258, 2; 315. 
 Satru-ghna, 347; 483. 
 Satrunjaya-mahatmya, 369. 
 Sattaka, 468. 
 Sattva, 94; 151; 229; 280; 
 324. 
 Sattvati or 
 355: 2: 
 Sattvika Puranas, 493-495. 
 Saturn, 188. 
 Satya (age), 66,2; 331; 336; 
 430, 1. 
 Satyaki, 398; 409. 
 Satyashadha Srauta 
 157. 
 Satyavan, 395. 
 Satyavati, 372, 1; 376. 
 Saubala, 381, 1. 
 Saubaleyi, 378. 
 Saubali, 381, 1; 378. 
 Sauda, xxxi, I. 
 Saudhanvana, 160, I. 
 Saumanas, 431, 2. 
 Saumitri, 347. 
 Saumitta, 479. 
 S'aunaka, 161. 
 Saunaka Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 Saunakiya Craturadhyayika, 
 161. 
 Sauptika-parvan, 3753; 409, I. 
 Saura, 187; 189; 501. 
 S'auraseni, xxix, 2. 
 Saura-siddhanta, 185. 
 Sauryas or Sauras, 327, 2. 
 Sauti, 491, I. 
 Sautramani, 304, 2. 
 Savala, 363. 
 Savana (month), 187; 189. 
 Savanas (three), 247; 260. 
 Savitri, 19; 199; 348, I. 
 Savitri (Gayatri), 20; 203; 
 222; 222. Τῷ. 270: 
 Savya-sa¢in, 382, 4; 307. 
 Sayaka (arrow), 405, 1. 
 Sayana, 42; 127,1; 164; 167. 
 
 2875, 005 
 
 Satvati (style), 
 
 Siitras, 
 
 ΤΙΝ hax: 
 
 Scepticism, 50; 52; 1333 3533 
 416. 
 Schlegel, Augustus William, 
 
 339, 1. 
 
 Schools of Hindi law, 305. 
 
 Scythians, 363. 
 
 Seclusion of Hindi women, 
 436, I. 
 
 Sects, Hindi, xlvii; 327, 2; 
 328. 
 
 Seekers after God (Farrar’s), 
 153. 
 
 Seleukos Nikator, xviii. 
 
 Semitic race, 5, I. 
 
 Sena (tribe), 218, 1. 
 
 Senaka (grammarian), 172, I. 
 
 Seneca, 153; 154. 
 
 Sentiments, moral, 282; 440; 
 459; 512. 
 
 Serampore, Xxi, 2. 
 
 Sesamum seed, 208. 
 
 Sesha, serpent, 243,13 335, 13 
 429; 430, I. 
 
 Seshadri, Rey. Narayan, 243, 1. 
 
 Seton-Karr, Mr., 258, 2. 
 
 Setu, 358, 2. 
 
 | Setu-bandha, 368; 475, 2. 
 
 Setu-kavya, 475, 2. 
 Shad-vinsa Brahmana, 28. 
 Shafi-’'l, xlii, τ. 
 
 Shahadat, 251, 1. 
 
 Shah ’Alam, xix, 1. 
 Shahjahan, xix, 1. 
 Shakespeare, 120, 1; 433; 436. 
 Shams-ul-Umra, xxi, 3. 
 Shankar P. Pandit, 477. 
 Shat-karmani, 244. 
 
 Shi (Chinese book), 4, 1. 
 Shivas, XxX, Π xliii, 1. 
 
 Shirk, xli, τ. 
 
 Shir Shah Sir, xix, 1. 
 
 Shi (Chinese book), 4, 1. 
 Siamese language, 312, I. 
 Siddha (divine being), 148, 2; 
 
 409. 
 Siddhanta (astronomical), 184. 
 Siddhanta (in logic), 75. 
 Siddhanta (Jaina), xxxvi, I. 
 Siddhanta-kaumudi, 178. 
 Siddhanta-muktavali, 71, 1. 
 Siddhanta-siromani, 186. 
 Siddhartha, 54, 2; 487. 
 Sighroééa, 188. 
 Sikalgars, 232, 1. 
 Sikh chiefs, 327, 2. 
 Sikhs of the Panjab, xxi, 3; 
 BVA, 2 
 Sikkim, xxi, 3; XXxvi. 
 Siksha, 156; 160. 
 Sila (morality), 59; 216. 
 Siladitya, 369; 512. 
 Silara (king), 306. 
 Silimukha, 405, 1. 
 
 Silpa (mechanical arts), 194. 
 
 Silpaka, 468. 
 
 Silpa-Sastra, 194. 
 
 Simantonnayana, 201; 246. 
 
 Sima-vivada-dharma, 267. 
 
 Simla, 387, 1. 
 
 Simpis (tailors), 232, 1. 
 
 Sinclair, Mr. W. F., 232, 13 
 234, 2. 
 
 Sindhi language, xxix. 
 
 Sindhu, xv. 
 
 Sindia, xxi, 3. 
 
 Singapore, xxi, 2. 
 
 Singing, 194; 463. 
 
 Sinha, xxix, 1; 54, 2; 421, 1. 
 
 Sinhala, 347, I. 
 
 Sinhasana-dvatrinsat, 512. 
 
 Sinivali, 169; 183. 
 
 Sinsapa, 513. 
 
 Sipahis, 232, 1. 
 
 Sipala, 206, 3. 
 
 Sirhind, xxi, 3. 
 
 Sisira, 450. 
 
 Sisu-pala, 392; 418, 1. 
 
 Sisupala-badha, 449; 461. 
 
 Sita (black), 502. 
 
 Sita, 337,15 3553 4253 4833 
 484. 
 
 Sita, rape of, 339. 
 
 Sita-phal, 353, 1. 
 
 Sitikantha, 409, 2. 
 
 Siva, 12,1; 61; 281,1; 3243 
 325; 409, 2; 427; 4293 
 
 4933 494: 498; 501. 
 
 Siva-dharma, 501. 
 
 Siva-ratri, 327, 2. 
 
 Siva Siitras, 173, 1. 
 
 Sivaji, xxiii; 262, 2. 
 
 Sivika, 360. 
 
 Six privileges of Brahmans, 244. 
 
 Skanda, 369 ; 426; 4943 502. 
 
 Slavonic language, xvii. 
 
 Slesha, 455. 
 
 Sloka, 166; 221. 
 
 Sloka (invention of), 314, I; 
 484. 
 
 Smarta-bhatta¢arya, 307, 2. 
 
 Smarta Siitras, 156; 195. 
 
 S'masana (burning - ground), 
 204; 302. 
 
 Smith, Mr. G., 394, 1. 
 
 Smriti, 8, 1; 52; 110; 155; 
 2163 221: 228; 206: 204: 
 
 440. 
 Smriti-Candrika, 308. 
 Smriti-tattva, 307. 
 Snana, 204; 249. 
 Snitaka, 204; 298. 
 Sneha, 79. 
 
 Socrates, 69, 1. 
 
 Soka, 484. 
 
 Solar line of kings, 346. 
 Solomon, Song of, 464. 
 
 ee ee eS eee ee ee a a. 
 
 ee 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Soma (ceremonies and_ sacri- | Stenzler, Prof., v, 1; 195, 2; 
 
 fice), 9, 1; 31, 1; 279. 
 
 Soma (juice), 279. 
 
 Soma (god), 108. 
 
 Soma (moon), 241, 2; 376. 
 
 Soma (plant), 9, 1; 17. 
 
 Soma-deva, 511. 
 
 Soma-deva Bhatta, 511. 
 
 Somia-rudra, 279. 
 
 Soma-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Soma-vansa, 376; 491, 2. 
 
 Soma-vara, 188, 1. 
 
 Somnath, 325, 1. 
 
 Sonars, 232, I. 
 
 Soul (universal), 12, 1; 24; 
 561. “Ὡς 
 
 South Behar (Magadha),128, 2. 
 
 South Indian school, xxx, 2; 
 308. 
 
 Sparsa, 79. 
 
 Sphotayana, 172, 1. 
 
 Spirit (universal), 12, 1; 24; 
 36; 112. 
 
 Spirituous liquor (drinking), 
 256 
 
 56. 
 
 Sraddha, 29,1; 133, 5; 204; 
 208; 253; 254; 271; 275, 
 I; 303; 410; 429; 431,1. 
 
 Sraddha, 348, 1. 
 
 Srag-bandha, 453. 
 
 Sramana, 54, 2; 57; 281, 1; 
 315, 3; 471. 
 
 Srauta-sitra, 156; 157; 194; 
 195- 
 
 Srivakas, 57, 3; 131. 
 
 Sravana (nakshatra), 184, 1. 
 
 Sravapa (month), 181; 184, | 
 Byet30,, Τὰ 
 
 Srivasti (city), 54, 3. 
 
 Sravishtha, 181. 
 
 Sreni, 299, 1; 300. 
 
 Sreshthin, 299, I. 
 
 Sti, 426; 499. 
 
 Sridhara-sena, 368. 
 
 Sridhara-svamin, 495. 
 
 Sti-gadita, 468; 450. 
 
 Sti-harsha, 486; 450, 1. 
 
 Sti-kantha, 479. 
 
 Srimgara, 454, 1; 467; 508. 
 
 Sringira-tilaka, 454. 
 
 Sringata, 422, 2. 
 
 Srimgin, 419, I. 
 
 Sri-vatsa, 334. 
 
 Sruta, 7, 1; 155- 
 
 Sruta-bodha, 163; 475, 2. 
 
 Srutakarman, 390, 2. 
 
 Srutasena, 390, 2. 
 
 Sruti, 27; 28, 2; 353 49, 1; 
 52; 155; 222; 228; 296. | 
 
 Sruti-dvaidham, 224. 
 
 Stage-manager, 469. 
 
 Stanzas, fanciful shapes of, 453. 
 
 States, native, xxi, 3. 
 
 197 > 21ο, Ὧν ax ἘΣ Δ0Βὴ 
 1; 208, 4; 304, 3; 472, 2. 
 
 Steya, 267; 274. 
 
 Sthalipika, 200. 
 
 Sthinu, 326; 400, 2. 
 
 Sthapati (architect), 194. 
 
 Sthapatya-veda, 194. 
 
 Sthavara, 67, 1. 
 
 Sthila-Sarira, 64, 2. 
 
 St. Paul, xxxiii; xl, 1. 
 
 St. Peter, xxxiv. 
 
 St. Thomas, xlviii. 
 
 Strabo, xviii; 228; 231, 1; 
 258; Τὰ 209, a4na05; Ue 
 279; Το ΒΥ. Ὁ 489, δὲ 
 311, 1; 320; 487. 
 
 Stri-dhana, 272; 272, 1. 
 
 Stri-parvan, 375. 
 
 Stri-pun-dharma, 267. 
 
 Stri-sangrahana, 267. 
 
 Subala (king), 378; 392. 
 
 Subandhu, 369; 512. 
 
 Subhadra, 382, 3; 390, 2; 391. 
 
 Subhankara, 194. 
 
 Su-bhata, 369. 
 
 Subodhini, 307. 
 
 Sudatta, 54, 3. 
 
 Suddhodana, 53. 
 
 Sidra, 220; 231; 438. 
 
 Siidraka, 471. 
 
 Sifi-ism, xliii, 1; 36; 112,1. 
 
 Sugata, 54, 2. 
 
 Sugriva, 358; 361; 424. 
 
 Suicide, 302. 
 
 Suka, 495. 
 
 Suka-saptati, 512. 
 
 Sukha, 79. 
 
 Sukra, 189; 304; 409, 2. 
 
 Sukra-vara, 188, I. 
 
 Sikshma-dharma, 387, 2. 
 
 Sikshma-Sarira, 64, 2; 206, 3. 
 
 Sukti, 120, 2. 
 
 Sulaiman I, 509, 1. 
 
 Sila-pani, 306. ἡ 
 
 Sulka, 272. 
 
 Sumantu, 305. 
 
 Sumatra (island), xxi, 2. 
 
 Sumitra, 344. 
 
 Sun, 10. 
 
 Sunahsepha, 28; 30. 
 
 Sundara-kinda, 339; 369. 
 
 Sundara-misra, 369. 
 
 Sumga dynasty, 478. 
 
 Sunitha, 392. 
 
 Sunnah or Sunna, xliii, 1; 27. 
 
 Sunni, xx, 1; xliii, 1. 
 
 Sfinya,g3,2; 115,3; 192; 193. 
 
 Suparna, 280. 
 
 Supplements to Veda, 194. 
 
 Suppressions of breath, three, 
 247. 
 
 Su-prabuddha, 54, 1. 
 
 537 
 
 Supratika, 430, 2. 
 
 Supreme Being, epithets of, 45. 
 Sra (Yadava king), 378. 
 Surabhi, 499. 
 
 Surd-pina, 274; 419. 
 Surishtra, 416. 
 
 Surat, xviii; xxi, 3. 
 
 Surgery, 194. 
 
 Surgriva, 339. 
 
 Suris (spirit sellers), 218, 1. 
 Sirpa-nakha, 355; 368. 
 Surunga, 386. 
 
 wig χά ΤΟ 2043-334: 
 
 9349. 
 
 Sirya-siddhanta, 185; 186; 
 188. 
 
 Sirya, 348, 1. 
 
 Sirya-sikta, 199, 1. 
 
 Su-shupti, 121, I. 
 
 Su-Sruta, 194. 
 
 Sita (charioteer, bard), 378; 
 4913 495- 
 
 Sutala, 430, I. 
 
 | Sitars (carpenters), 232, 1. 
 
 | Sutasoma, 390, 2. 
 
 Sutlej, xv, 3. 
 
 Siitra, xxxii, 2; xxxvi, I; 71. 
 
 Siitra-dhira or carpenter, 232,1, 
 
 Siitra-pitaka, xxxii, 1; 59, 3. 
 
 Sitras of Panini, 173; 174. 
 
 Siitras (aphorisms), 28; 48; 
 481. 
 
 Sitras (Buddhist), 158, 2. 
 
 Sitratman, 62, 1; 124. ΄ 
 
 Sutta-nipita, xxxii, I. 
 
 Suttee (Sati), 204, I, 
 
 Suvarna, 296. 
 
 Su-yodhana, 379. 
 
 Sva (in algebra), 192. 
 
 Sva-dharma, 300. 
 
 Svidhyiya, 203; 252; 252,1, 
 
 Svami-Nirayana, 542. 
 
 Svar, 66, 2; 169; 203; 430,1. 
 
 Svargirohanika-parvan, 375. 
 
 Sviro¢isha (Manu), 214, I. 
 
 Svayam-bhi, 214,1; 225; 228. 
 
 Svayambhuva (Manu), 214; 
 229; 333, I. 
 
 Svayamvara, 257; 378; 388; 
 437,23 438. 
 
 Sveta, 135, I. 
 
 Sveta (mountains), 419, I. 
 
 Sveta-dvipa, 138, 2. 
 
 Svetaketu, 51. 
 
 Sveta-lohita, 135, I. 
 
 Svetambaras, 128. 
 
 Sveta-Sikha, 135, I. 
 
 Svetaéva, 135, I. 
 
 Svetasvatara Upanishad, 45; 
 46. 09 9.5.6 
 
 Sveta-vahana, 382, 4; 383; 207. 
 
 Swamy, Sir M. Ο,, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Swinging festival, 327, 2. 
 
538 
 
 Syad-vada andSyad-vadins, 131. 
 Syama-rahasya, 504. 
 
 Syan (in grammar), 174, 1. 
 Syllogism, 73. 
 
 Synthesis, 71; 91. 
 
 Tadaka, 356. 
 
 Taddhita affixes, 163; 186. 
 
 Tagore Law Lectures, 272, I. 
 
 ΤΑΙ (oilman), 218, 1; 232,1. 
 
 Taittiriya (Yajur-veda), 9; 9, 
 Lis ϑς 2. 
 
 Taittiriyas or Taittiriyakas, 
 PGT DRG Bair. Te 
 
 Taittiriya-brahmana, 28; 330, 3. 
 
 Taittiriyaranyaka, 160, 
 
 Taittirlya Upanishad, 37. 
 
 Taj-jalan, 112,1. 
 
 Takshaka, 356; 430, I. 
 
 Talatala, 430, 1. 
 
 Talava-kara Upanishad, 38, 1. 
 
 Talmud, 27. 
 
 Tamas, 78; 94; 151; 229; 
 280; 324. 
 
 Tamasa (Manu), 214,1; 494. 
 
 Tamil xxx, 12. ἃ. 
 
 Tamisra (hell), 242. 
 
 Tamraparni, 347, I. 
 
 Tandava, 463. 
 
 Tandula, 276, 1. 
 
 Tandya Brahmana, 28. 
 
 Tanjore, xxi, 2. 
 
 Tan-matras, 93; 228. 
 
 Tantis (weavers), 218, I. 
 
 Tantra; ἸΟῚ; 3225, 15 
 505; 510. 
 
 Tantri, 218, I. 
 
 Tantrika doctrines, 325, 2; 503. 
 
 Tapah or tapar (heavenly 
 sphere), 66, 2; 430, I. 
 
 Tapas (austerity), 326. 
 
 Tapas (theory of), 344, 2. 
 
 Tapta-krié¢hra (penance), 278. 
 
 Tapta-masha, 276, 1. 
 
 Taraka (a Daitya), 326, 3. 
 
 Taramga, 511. 
 
 Targum, 6. 
 
 Tarka, 75 5 227. 
 
 Tarka-sangraha, 71, 1; 81; 
 82; 88. 
 
 Tarka-vidya, 227. 
 
 Tarkin, 227. 
 
 Tarpana, 248. 
 
 Tartar tribes, xix, I; 312, I. 
 
 Tatha-gata, 54, 2. 
 
 Tatpara (measure of time),187. 
 
 Tatpurusha, 163. 
 
 Tattva, go; 90, 2. 
 
 Tattva-jnanam, 114. 
 
 Tattva-samasa, 24, 1; 89, 1; 
 294, I. 
 
 Tattvas, twenty-five, 91; 92; 
 227. | 
 
 501- 
 
 ΕΠ Ee 
 
 Tauists, XXXviii, I. 
 
 Tau-te-King, 4, I. 
 
 Tawhid, 251, I. 
 
 Taxation, six heads of, 265. 
 
 Taxes, 264. 
 
 Te Deum, 148, 2. 
 
 Tejas, 78; 93; 387, 2. 
 
 Telemachus, 438. 
 
 Telingi, 232, 1. 
 
 Telis or oilmen, 232, I. 
 
 Telugu; xxx, 2. 302, 1. 
 
 Telugu country, 252, I. 
 
 Terms in arithmetic and alge- 
 bra, 192. 
 
 Tertiary compound, 82. 
 
 Testamentary power, 270. 
 
 Teutonic language, xvii. 
 
 Thales; 63; 15 121, 2. 
 
 Thera-gatha, xxxii, 1. 
 
 Theri-gatha, xxxii, I. 
 
 Thirty-three gods, 324, 2. 
 
 Thomson, Mr., 136, 1; 149. 
 
 Thracians, 258, 1. 
 
 Thunderer, 17. 
 
 Tibetan language, 312, I. 
 
 Ditka ΧΧΧΥΙΡῚ. 
 
 Tila, 208. 
 
 Tilaka, xlvii. 
 
 Timaeus, 61, 2; 62,3; 64, 2; 
 68. Ὁ Chis TEA ἘΠῚ Τ᾿ 
 
 Time, hymn in praise of, 25. 
 
 Timir, xxxi, I. 
 
 Tirhut, 305. 
 
 Tirtha, 251, 1; 408, 1. 
 
 Tirtha-kara, 129. 
 
 Tirthan-kara, 129. 
 
 Tithi, 188. 
 
 Tithi-tattva, 307. 
 
 Tomara, 405, I. 
 
 Tonk, xxi, 3. 
 
 Topics of the Nyaya, 71; 75. 
 
 Torana, 194. 
 
 Tota kahani, 512. 
 
 Townships, 264. 
 
 Toxicology, 194. 
 
 Tradition (smriti), 155. 
 
 Tragedy, 465. 
 
 Trailokya, 225. 
 
 Trajan, Emperor, 316. 
 
 Tranquebar, xxi, 2. 
 
 Transfiguration, 147, I. 
 
 Transmigration, 14,1; 34; 67; 
 68,1; 225; 229; 330; 510. 
 
 Trasa-renu, 82. 
 
 Travancore, xxi, 3. 
 
 Trayam brahma, 222. 
 
 Trayi vidya, 222. 
 
 Treasure-trove, 265. 
 
 Treta (age), 188, 2; 229; 304; 
 3953 3315 333, 1. 
 
 Treta (three fires), 197; 198, I. 
 
 Trevelyan, Sir C., xxx, 1. 
 
 Triad, 14, 1; 225; 324. 
 
 Tribes, aboriginal, xvii, 1. 
 
 Tri-danda, 133, 3. 
 
 Tri-dandin, 143, 1; 293, 2. 
 
 Tri-kanda, 171. 
 
 Tri-karman, 542. 
 
 Tri-linga, 232, I. 
 
 iDrimMicth; αν 1; 224; 5117: 
 480; 494: 496. 
 
 Tri-na¢iketa, 222, 1. 
 
 Tri-pada, 165. 
 
 Tri-pitaka, xxxii, 2; 4,1; 59,3. 
 
 Tripura-daha, 468. 
 
 Trishtubh metre, 165; 338, I. 
 
 Tristla, 193. 
 
 Tri-suparna, 222, I. 
 
 Tri-vikrama, 331, 1; 369. 
 
 Tri-vrit, 164; 247. 
 
 Trotaka, 468. 
 
 Troyer, M., 511, 2. 
 
 Agile ν, τῷ Rech Sy 
 
 Truti, 187. 
 
 Try-ambaka, 325, 3. 
 
 dinidates v2 ier 
 
 Tukarama, xlviii. 
 
 Tula, 276, 1; 300. 
 
 Tulasi, 276, 1; 542. 
 
 Tulasi-dasa or T ulsi-das, xxix, 1; 
 
 370. 
 
 Tullberg, Dr., 477, I. 
 
 Tulya-yogita, 455. 
 
 Tumlung, xxi, 3. 
 
 Tungusic (Mantchu) language, 
 Fe fale 
 
 Turanian languages, 312, 1. 
 
 Turanian races, Xxx, 2; 5, 1; 
 236. 
 
 Turkish language, 312, I. 
 
 Turks, xix, I. 
 
 Turphari, 134, 2. 
 
 Tushita, 58, 2. 
 
 Titi-nama, 512. 
 
 Tvashtri, 17; 387, 2. 
 
 Ucéa, 189. 
 
 Udaharana, 72. 
 
 Udaka-dana, 253; 254. 
 
 Udana, xxxii, I. 
 
 Udatta-raghava, 369. 
 
 Udattokti, 469. 
 
 Udayana (king), 486; 487. 
 
 Udayana Adarya, 87. 
 
 Uddhara, 272. 
 
 Uddisa, 504. 
 
 Udgatri, 9,1; 224. 
 
 Udyoga-parvan, 374. 
 
 Ugra, 409, 2. 
 
 Ugra-Sravas, 401,1. 
 
 Ujjayini (Oujein), 185; 323,1; 
 4743 475, I- 
 
 Ujjvala-datta, 172, I. 
 
 Ulka-mukha, 244; 281. 
 
 Ullapya, 468. 
 
 Ulika, 76, 1. 
 
Ulipi, 390, 2; 430, 1. 
 Ulysses, 424. 
 Umi, 363; 502; 503. 
 Umipati, 409, 2. 
 Umayyad Khalif, xliii, 1. 
 Umritsur, xlviii. 
 Unadi-sitras, 172, 1. 
 Unclean animals, xxv, 1. 
 Unity of the Godhead, xli, 1. 
 Unmarried girls, 273. 
 Upidaina-kirana, 64, 1. 
 Upa-dharma, 253. 
 Upadhi, 74, 1; 122, 6. 
 Upadhyaya, 239. 
 Upili, xxxii, 2. 
 Upama, 454. 
 Upamina, 72; 126; 454. 
 Upameya, 454. 
 Upanaya, 72. 
 Upanayana, 198; 201; 246. 
 Upimgas, xxxvi, I. 
 Upanishads, 8; 24,1; 353; 3513 
 37's 66, ὙΠ 54 234; 
 Upansu, 253. 
 Upapiataka, 275. 
 Upa-purana, 157; 501. 
 Upa-riipaka, 466; 468. 
 Upasad, 343, 2. 
 Upasaka, 57. 
 Upa-samhriti, 466, 2. 
 Upasarga, 162; 171. 
 Upavisa (fast), 327, 2. 
 Upa-veda, 194. 
 Upiaya, 59, 1. 
 Upendra-vajra, 166, 
 Uposhita (fasting), 259. 
 Urdii language, xxxi, I. 
 Uriya language, xxix. 
 Urvasi, 376. 
 USanas, 211; 304. 
 Ushas, 14; 20; 426. 
 Usury, 269. 
 Utkala, 218, 1. 
 Utpreksha, 454. 
 Utsarpini, 129. 
 Utsava, 327, 2. 
 Utsrishtikanka, 468. 
 Uttara, 207. 
 Uttara-kanda, 339; 361; 367, 1. 
 Uttara-miminsa, 108. 
 Uttara-paksha, 109. 
 Uttara-rama-éarita, 340; 367,1; 
 368; 479; 482; 484. 
 Uttardyana, 403. 
 
 Vaé (word), 222. 
 
 Vacaspati Misra, 102, 1; 308. 
 Va¢ya, 454. 
 
 Vida (controversy), 75. 
 Vadhina Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 Vadin (plaintiff), 300. 
 Vag-dandayoh parushye, 277. 
 Vahana, 429. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Vaidika, 282, 1. 
 
 Vaidika (repeaters of Veda), 
 252, 1. 
 
 Vaidya, 218, 1; 233. 
 
 Vaijayanti, 307; 308. 
 
 Vaikartana, 379, I. 
 
 Vaikhanasa Srauta Sitras, 157. 
 
 Vaikuntha, 337. 
 
 Vaiminika, 280. 
 
 Vairigya, 102; 508. 
 
 Vaisikha, 184, 1. 
 
 VaiSampiyana, 372, I; 375; 
 
 491, 1. 
 
 VaiSseshika philosophy, 48; 53; 
 64,1; γι; 76; 82; 87; 95; 
 227. 
 
 Vaiseshika Sutras, 71, 1; 73; 
 75) I. 
 
 Vaishnavas, xlvii; 327, 2; 495. 
 
 Vaishnavi, 502. 
 
 Vaisravana, 356. 
 
 Vaisvadeva-homa, 197, I. 
 
 Vaisya, 25,1; 220; 231; 232, 1; 
 ΕΣ, 
 
 Vaitanika oblations, 197 ; 260. 
 
 Vaitarani, 414. 
 
 Vaivasvata (seventh Manu), 32, 
 Yo aia pes 454,1: 540. 
 Vajasaneyins, 9; 161. 
 Vajasaneyi-pratisakhya, 161; 
 
 163. 
 
 Vajasaneyi-samhita, 28; 38. 
 
 Vaka, 386. 
 
 Viakovakyam, 298; 298, 2. 
 
 Vakula, 422, 2. 
 
 Valabhi, 369. 
 
 Valabhi, 450. 
 
 Valabhi-pura, 368. 
 
 Vallabhaéarya, xlvii; 327, 2. 
 
 Valli (Katha Upanishad), 44. 
 
 Valmiki, 314, I; 317; 318; 
 367; 368; 370; 415; 484. 
 
 Vamiacarins, 503, I. 
 
 Vamadeva, 342. 
 
 Vamana (dwarf), 323; 331; 
 430, 2; 466; 494. 
 
 Vamana’s Kasika Vritti, 178. 
 
 Vana, 405, 1; 512. 
 
 Vana-parvan, 363, 2; 368; 374. 
 
 Vanaprastha, 219; 245; 247; 
 260; 304. 
 
 Vanis, 232, I. 
 
 Vansa (genealogy), 491. 
 
 Vansa-brahmana, 127, I. 
 
 VapSanuéarita, 491. 
 
 Vansa-sthavila, 497. 
 
 Vira, 188, 1. 
 
 Varada, 400, 2. 
 
 Variha (boar), 330; 422, 1. 
 
 Variha-mihira, 185; 189; 369. 
 
 Variha Srauta Sitras, 157; 494. 
 
 Varihi, 502. 
 
 | Varaji (betel-grower), 218, 1. 
 
 539 
 
 Virinasi, 491, 2. 
 Viranivata (city), 385. 
 Vararuci, xxix, 2. 
 Vardhamina, 129, 2. 
 Virdhushika, 269. 
 Vairdhushya, 275. 
 
 Varendra, 218, 1. 
 
 Varhaspatya Sitras, 132. 
 
 Varna (caste), 218, 1; 231. 
 
 Varna-sankarah, 232. 
 
 Varsha, 419; 450. 
 
 Varta-karma, 244. 
 
 Varttika-kara, 176. 
 
 Varttikas, 161; 176; 177, 1; 
 510. 
 
 Varina; 12's 11} 1Ὑ5} Τῦν 185 
 29; 189; 199; 206; 262; 
 429; 501. 
 
 Viruni, 499. 
 
 Vasanta (spring), 450. 
 
 Vasantaka, 487. 
 
 Vasanta-sena, 471; 473. 
 
 Vasantotsava, 468. 
 
 Visava-datta, 369; 486; 512. 
 
 Vasishtha, 212; 305; 318, 1; 
 3423 349; 363; 402, 1; 
 408,15 4345 491,25 407,1; 
 501. 
 
 Visishtha, 370. 
 
 Visishtha-ramayana, xxxii, 1; 
 370. 
 
 Viasishtha-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Vastu, 64,1; 112; 1143 454; 
 406. 
 
 Vastu-pariksha, 202. 
 
 Vistu-purusha, 194. 
 
 Vasu (king), 218, 1; 372, I. 
 
 Vasu-deva, 315; 333- 
 
 Vasudeva, 333; 334; 379; 
 391, I. 
 
 Visudevas (nine), 130. 
 
 Visuki (serpent), 330; 356; 
 439, 15 499- 
 
 Vasus, 399; 400. 
 
 Vasu-shena, 379; 384, 2. 
 
 Vata or Banyan (Ficus Indica), 
 42, as 
 
 Vatsa, 436, I. 
 
 Vatsalya, 454, I. 
 
 Vatsa-raja, 486. 
 
 Vatsyayana, 76. 
 
 Vatup (in grammar), 173, 3. 
 
 Vayu, 13; 78; 93; 4206. 
 
 Viyu-puraina, 494. 
 
 Veda, xxviii; xxxii,2; 2; 216; 
 489; 502. 
 
 Veda (repetition of ), 203; 244; 
 252; 252, 1; 279. 
 
 Vedabhyisa, 244. 
 
 Vedingas (six), 155; 
 I71; 
 
 Vedanta, xliii, 1; 
 108; III; 21 
 
 157; 
 big tan 
 
540 
 
 Vedanta-paribhasha, 119, 1. 
 Vedanta-sira, 111,2; 123, 4. 
 Vedanta-siitra, 48,1; 252, I. 
 Vedantist formula, 41. 
 Vedantists, 42. 
 Vedirs, 312, I. 
 Vedartha-prakasa, 372, 2. 
 Veda-vahya, 155, 2. 
 Vedic Nakshatras 
 seven), 182, I. 
 Vedic prosody, 165. 
 Veni-samhara, 393, 1; 488. 
 Venus (planet), 188. 
 Vernacular dialects, xxx; xxx, 
 I. 
 Vetala, 512. 
 Vetala-panca-vinsati, 512. 
 Vibhaga, 79; 267. 
 Vibhandaka, 342. 
 
 Vibhanga, xxxii, 1. 
 Vibhishana, 312, 1; 356, 1; 
 358; 361; 383, 3; 455- 
 
 Vicitra-virya, 376; 377. 
 
 Vidarbha-raja, 369. 
 
 Videha, 337,1; 416; 491, 2. 
 
 Vidhi, 27. 
 
 Vidhi-yajna, 253. 
 
 Vidura, 377; 386; 3923; 399; 
 410; 435. 
 
 Vidishaka or jester, 470; 478. 
 
 Vidya, 287, 2; 298. 
 
 Vighatika, 187. 
 
 Viharas, 471. 
 
 Vija, 228; 466, 2. 
 
 Vija-ganita, 184, 3; 186; 192. 
 
 Vijaya, 382, 43 307. 
 
 Vijaya-nagara, 127, I. 
 
 Vijnana-bhikshu, 89, 1; 102, I. 
 
 Vijnana-maya-koSa, 123. 
 
 Vijnanesvara, 294. 
 
 Vikala, 188. 
 
 Vikara (production), 92; 151. 
 
 Vikarana, 174. 
 
 Vikartana, 370, I. 
 
 Vikramaditya, 474; 475, 13 
 512. 
 
 Vikramorvasi, 475; 477. 
 
 Vikrita, 468. 
 
 Vikshepa, 119; 122, 3. 
 
 Vikukshi, 346. 
 
 Vilasika, 468. 
 
 Village government, 264. 
 
 Vimana-vatthu, xxxii, I. 
 
 Vimarsha or hindrance, 466, 2. 
 
 Vinadi, 187. 
 
 Vinaya-pitaka, xxxii, 2; 59, 3. 
 
 Vindhya, xvi, 1; 311. 
 
 Vipatha, 405, I. 
 
 Vira, 129, 2; 454, 1; 467. 
 
 Vira-Carita, 483. 
 
 Viradha, 313, I. 
 
 ΓΑ], 245 24,35 214,1} 229, 
 
 Vira-mitrodaya, 307. 
 
 (twenty- 
 
 LN yD mAs 
 
 Virana, 202. 
 
 Vira-Sayana, 410, 
 
 Virata (king), 374. 
 
 Virata-parvan, 374. 
 
 Virgil, 64, 2; 68, 1; 69, 1; 
 τ16; τὸ 
 
 Virtipa, 111. 
 
 Virtipaksha, 409, 2; 431, 2. 
 
 Virya, 59. 
 
 Visakha, 184, I. 
 
 Visesha, 77; 80; 82. 
 
 Viseshokti, 455. 
 
 Visha (poison), 194; 276, 1. 
 
 Vishaya, 64, 1; 833 933 454. 
 
 Vishkambha, 469. 
 
 Vishnu, 12,1; 61; 89,1; 211; 
 PNY 281. τῷ Θ᾿ 5222: 
 429: 493; 500. 
 
 Vishnu (of the Rig-veda), 322 ; 
 
 324. 
 Vishnu-gupta, 488. 
 Vishnu-purana, 101; 369; 387, 
 
 2: 390, 2; 494; 496. 
 Vishnu-Sarman, 511. 
 Vishnu-yaSas, 336, I. 
 Vishuvat, 101. 
 
 Visikha, 405, 1. 
 Vision of the Universal Form, 
 
 146; 400. 
 
 Visravas, 356, I. 
 
 Visvadevas, 400. 
 Visvakarman, 387, 2. 
 Visvamitra, 20,1; 30,1; 194; 
 
 305; 318, τ; 347; 362; 
 
 402, 1; 408, I. 
 Visva-natha Kaviraja, 370; 
 
 459. 
 Visva-prakaSa, 671. 
 Visva-riipa, 206 ; 4009, 2. 
 Visve Devah, 198; 208. 
 Vitala, 430, I. 
 Vitana (hearths), 197; 197, I. 
 Vitanda (cavilling), 75. 
 Vithi, 468. 
 Vithoba, xlvii, τ. 
 Viththal, xlviii. 
 Vivada-¢andra, 308. 
 Vivada-cintamani, 308. 
 Vivadah svamipalayoh, 267. 
 Vivada-ratnakara, 308, 
 Vivada-tandava, 307. 
 Vivaha (marriage), 199; 246; 
 250. 
 Vi-vasana, 128, 3. 
 Vivasvat, 346. 
 Vopadeva, 178; 495. 
 Vow of continence, 380, 2. 
 Vraja, 334. 
 Vrata, 131; 259; 327; 2. 
 Vratyata, 275. 
 Vriddha Yajnavalkya, 
 
 212; 
 
 | 205. 
 | Vriddhi, 269. 
 
 Vriddhi-pirta, 208. 
 
 Vrihaj-jataka, 185. 
 
 Vrihan-nala, 396; 397. 
 
 Vrihannaradiya, 501. 
 
 Vrihaspati, 189; 211; 305. 
 
 Vrihaspati (aphorisms of), 132; 
 122: 
 
 Vrihaspati-siddhanta, 185. 
 
 Vrihat, 212. 
 
 Vrihat-katha, 511. 
 
 Vrikodara, 382. 
 
 Vriksha-bandha, 453. 
 
 Vrindavana, 334. 
 
 Vrisha, 379, I. 
 
 Vrishabha, 129, 2. 
 
 Vrishnis, 399. 
 
 ἡ γᾶ, 12: 1; 387. 2604 ale 
 
 Viitti, 207): 467. 
 
 Vyahritis (three), 203; 222, 1. 
 
 Vyaja-stuti, 455. 
 
 Vyakarana (grammar), 156; 
 τό; AN 
 
 Vyakta-ganita, 186, 2. 
 
 Vyapaka, ‘ pervader,’ 73. 
 
 Vyapti, 733 74, τ. 
 
 Vyapya, 73. 
 
 Vyasa, 48; 111: 212; 258,23 
 3953 910; 3795 372, 25 
 376; 3793 386; 407, τ; 
 410; 489; 401,1; 495. 
 
 Vyatireka, 455. 
 
 Vyavahara, 217; 261; 282; 
 288; 295; 299. 
 
 Vyavahara-cintamani, 308. 
 
 Vyavahara-mayikha, 308. 
 
 Vyavahara-padam, 300. 
 
 Vyavahara-tattva, 307. 
 
 Vyavaharika (existence), 118, 
 
 Vyavakalana, 192. 
 
 Vyayoga, 467. 
 
 Wahabi, xliv. 
 
 Walid I, xix, 1. 
 
 Watson, Dr. Forbes, vi. 
 
 Weaver, two-headed, 513. 
 
 Weber, 15, 2; 28,1; 32; 68,13 
 181; 316, 1; 369; 477; 512. 
 
 Weber’s Indische Streifen, 34, 1. 
 
 Weber’s Indische Studien, 45, 
 2; 333, I. 
 
 Western school, 308. 
 Wheeler, Mr. Talboys, 221, 2; 
 255, 33 319, 1; 3709, I. 
 Whitney, Prof. W. D., xi; xxi; 
 
 9; 10,1; 40, 1; 161, 4; 
 1625 182,12; 18352; 185 5 
 Whitney’s Oriental Studies, xxi, 
 33 333, I- 
 Widows, marriage of, 259; 
 
 437, 2. ; 
 Wife (directions for choosing), 
 
 240. 
 Wilkins, Sir C., 136, 1. 
 
 “ὦ Ne! ee - 
 
Wills Act (Hindi), 270, 3. 
 Wilson, Professor H. H., 28, 3; 
 84, 2; and passim. 
 Wilson’s Glossary, 270, 1. 
 Wilson’s Hindi Theatre, 263, 2. 
 Winking of eyes, 16, 2. 
 Witnesses, 16, 3; 277; 300. 
 Wives (four or three), 250 ; 296. 
 Wives, character of, 435. 
 Women and wives, duties of, 
 287. 
 Women, position of, xlvi; 145, 
 73 440. 
 World, destruction of, 497. 
 Wort-spiel, 451. 
 Written evidence, 252, 1; 296; 
 300. 
 
 Ya (in algebra), 193. 
 Yadavas, 334; 375; 491, 2. 
 Yadu, 334; 376. 
 
 Yajanam, 244. 
 
 Yajanam, 244. 
 
 Yajna, 323. 
 
 Yajna-patra, 205. 
 Yajnavalkya, 199; 211; 239, 
 2e2hs ἘΣ naso, lees00s 
 
 Yijnavalkya, Code of, 294. 
 
 Yajnavalkya, commentary on, 
 306. 
 
 Yajnavalkya Vrihad, 295. 
 
 Yajnika-deva, 159 
 
 Yajnika (ritualist), 169; 252,1. 
 
 Yajnhopavita, 201; 203; 239, | 
 
 4: 246. 
 Yajur-veda, 9, 1; 28; 45, 2. 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 541 
 
 Yajur-veda, Black, 9, 1; 46; | Yoga, 48; ΟἹ, 2; 101; 102; 
 
 482. 1. 
 
 Yajur-veda, White, 9,1; 252,1. 
 
 Yajurvedi, 232,1. 
 
 Yajus, 9, 1. 
 
 Yajvan (sacrificer), 280. 
 
 Yak (in grammar), 174, I. 
 
 Yaksha, 280; 400. 
 
 Yama,14; 20; 21; 43; 198; 
 q06;; (ati 6...» 84. 2) 
 305; 426; 420. 
 
 Yama (abode of), 67, I. 
 
 Yama (forbearance), 103. 
 
 Yama (hymn to), 21; 302. 
 
 Yamaka, xxxii, 1; 454. 
 
 Yamau (twins), 382, 4. 
 
 Ὑ ΤΩΙ, ΑἹ. 
 
 Yamuna (river), 376, 4; 416. 
 
 Yar (in grammar), 174, I. 
 
 Yanaon, xxi, 2. 
 
 Wakes, 10,1, 1675 167,05 
 228. 
 
 Yasoda, 334. 
 
 YaSodhara, 54, I. 
 
 YaSovarman, 479. 
 
 Yates, Dr., 166; 453. 
 
 Vat, 1325200. 
 
 Yatudhinas, 313. 
 
 Yaugandharayana, 487. 
 
 Yavanas, 236, 2; 319; 363. 
 
 Yavat-tivat, 192. 
 
 Yayati, 334; 376. 
 
 Yazd, xviii, I. 
 
 Yazid, xliii, 1. 
 
 Yellow garments, 296. 
 
 Yi (Chinese book), 4, I. 
 
 142, 3; 164; 227; 297; 
 226. 
 
 Yoga (Sitras of), 102, 1. 
 
 Yoga-kshema, 265. 
 
 Yogas (twenty-seven), 188, 1. 
 
 Yoga-visishtha, 370. 
 
 YogeSa, 326, 3. 
 
 Yogin, 104; 122, 5; 326, 3. 
 
 Yojana (measure), 188; 190. 
 
 Yoni (female symbol), 325, 1. 
 
 Yuddha-kinda, 339. 
 
 Yudhi-shthira, 367; 3743 375; 
 380; 385; 387, 2; 390, 1; 
 306; 3993 402; 403; 407; 
 410; 418. 
 
 Yuga (Jaina), 129. 
 
 Yugas (four), 188; 
 189; 229. 
 
 Yukti, 120, 5. 
 
 Wtpay 326343; ἃ. 
 
 Yathika, 422, 2. 
 
 Yuva-raja (heir-apparent), 385. 
 
 188, 2; 
 
 Zahr, 36. 
 
 Zakat, 251, 1. 
 
 Zamindar, 264, 2. 
 
 Zand, xvii; 6, 1. 
 
 Zand-Avasta, xviii; 4,1; 143,1. 
 
 Zarathustra or Zardusht, 6. 
 
 Zeno, ΟἹ, 2. 
 
 ZEUS σὰν TLIO, a ΜῈ be 
 
 Zodiac (division of), 180. 
 
 Zoroaster, xviii; xliii,1; 6; 49. 
 
 Zoroastrian Persians, xviii; 
 XxXvi, 2; 4, I. 
 
 Addition to nole τ, page 232. 
 
 Since this note was printed off, I have received a letter from Mr. Sinclair, in which he informs 
 
 me that the name Chitpavan is supposed to mean ‘the race of the corpse’ or ‘race of the 
 burning-ground,’ and refers me to the ‘ Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,’ Bombay Branch, 
 January 1850, p. 47. He also requests me to correct Patane, which is a misprint for Pathare, 
 and to explain that Marwidi merely means ‘a merchant from Marwid’ (i.e. Marwar). 
 
THE INDO-ROMANIC ALPHABET 
 
 WITH THE 
 
 EQUIVALENT SANSKRIT LETTERS AND RULES FOR 
 PRONUNCIATION. 
 
 VOWELS. 
 
 A, a, for 3, pronounced as in rural; A, ἃ, for "IT, T, as in tar, father; 
 I, i, for , f, as in fill; 1,1, for ἕ, T, as in police; U, τι, for 3, ,, as in full; 
 U, u, for KH, ., asin rude; Ri, ri, for Y,,, as in merrily; Ri, rz, for Y, «, 
 as in marine; E, 6, for Z, ὉΣ as in prey; Ai, ai, for why as in aisle; O, 0, 
 for ἘΠ, ἵ, as in go; Au, au, for a, ἢ, as in Haus (German); 2 or m, for *, 
 i.e. the Anusvara, sounded like ἢ in French mon, or like any nasal; ἢ, for Σ, 
 i.e. the Visarga or ἃ distinctly audible aspirate. 
 
 CONSONANTS, 
 
 K, k, for ®, pronounced as in Kill, seek; Kh, kh, for @, as in inkhorn; 
 G, g, for 1, as in gun, dog; Gh, gh, for 4, as in loghut; N, m, for θ᾿, as in 
 sing (siz). 
 
 é, ό, for “1, as in dolée (in music),=English ch in ehureh, lureh (luré) ; Ch, 
 ch, for 3B, as in churehhill (¢uréhill); J, j, for 31, as in jet; Jh, gh, for R, as 
 in hedge-hog (hejhog); N, ἡ, for 3, as in singe (5117). 
 
 T, t, for , as in true (fru); Th, th, for f, as in an¢hill (anfhill); D, d, for 
 %, as in drum (drum); Dh, dh, for €, as in redhaired (redhaired); N, n, for 
 TW, as in none (num). 
 
 T, t, for τί, as in water (as pronounced in Ireland); Th, th, for Y, as in 
 nut-hook (but more dental); D, d, for @, as in dice (more like th in this) ; 
 Dh, dh, for 4, as in adhere (more dental); N, 2, for 4, as in not, in. 
 
 P, p, for , as in put, sip; Ph, ph, for Τῇ, as in uphill; B, ὃ, for ξ΄, as in 
 bear, rub; Bh, bh, for 4, as in abhor; M, m, for A, as in map, jam. 
 
 Y, y, for 4, as in yet; R, 7, for T, as in red, year; L, 1, for τῷ, as in lie; 
 V, v, for q, as in vie (but like w after consonants, as in twice). 
 
 5΄, ὅ, for 57, as in sure, session; Sh, sh, for ἘΓ, as in shun, hush; S, s, for 
 q, as in sir, hiss. H, ἢ, for Ἐ, as in hit. 
 
 Fuller directions for pronunciation will be found in a ‘ Practical Grammar 
 of the Sanskrit Language,’ by Monier Williams, third edition, published by 
 the Delegates of the Clarendon Press, Oxford, and sold by Macmillan & Co., 
 and by W. H. Allen & Co., 13, Waterloo Place. Also in a Sanskrit-English 
 Dictionary, published by the same. 
 
ΟΝ TAL: WORKS 
 
 BY 
 
 MONIER WILLIAMS, M.A., 
 
 BoDEN PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 1. AN ENG LISH-SANSKRIT DICTIONARY, in one vol. 4to. 
 Published under the patronage of the Court of Directors of 
 the East India Company. W.H. Allen & Co., Waterloo Place, 
 London. 1851. Price £3 33. 
 
 2. A SANSKRIT-ENGLISH DICTIONARY, in one vol. 4to. 
 Published for the University of Oxford by Macmillan & Co., 
 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London; also W. H. Allen 
 & Co., London. 1872. Price £4 14s. 6d. 
 
 ‘This is a most laboriously and carefully constructed and 
 excellent work, which no student of Sanskrit can do without.’— 
 W. D. Whitney, Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philo- 
 logy in Yale College (from the Harvard College Courant). 
 
 3. A PRACTICAL GRAMMAR OF THE SANSKRIT 
 LANGUAGE, arranged with reference to the Classical Lan- 
 guages of Europe, for the use of English Students. Third 
 Edition. Published for the University of Oxford by Mac- 
 millan & Co.; also W. H. Allen & Co., London. 1864. 
 Price 158. 
 
 ‘I am accustomed to recommend Williams’s Grammar to 
 any one who takes up the study (of Sanskrit) by himself, without 
 a teacher, because it is more intelligible and easily managed,’— 
 W. D. Whitney (from the Harvard ‘Colley ge Courant). 
 
 4. A SANSKRIT MANUAL, containing the Accidence of Gram- 
 mar, and Progressive Exercises for Composition, and a 
 Vocabulary by A. E. Gough. Second Edition. W. H. 
 Allen & Co., London. 1868. Price 7s. 6d. 
 
 5. SAKUNTALA; a Sanskrit Drama. The Devanagari Recen- 
 sion of the Text, with Critical Notes and Literal Translations. 
 W. Η. Allen & Co., London. 1853. Price 218. 
 
Io. 
 
 1ττ- 
 
 12. 
 
 15 
 
 14. 
 
 ΤῊΣ 
 
 16. 
 
 Works by Professor Monier Williams (continued). 
 
 . A FREE TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH PROSE AND 
 
 VERSE OF THE SANSKRIT DRAMA SAKUNTALA. 
 Fourth Edition. W.H. Allen & Co., London. 1872. Price 8s. 
 
 . ANOTHER EDITION OF THE ABOVE, illuminated and 
 
 illustrated. Stephen Austin, Hertford. 1855. 
 
 . VIKRAMORVAST; a Sanskrit Drama, published as a Class- 
 
 Book for the East India College. W. H. Allen & Co., 
 London. 1849. Price 5s. 
 
 . STORY OF NALA; a Sanskrit Poem, with full Voeabulary, 
 
 and Dean Milman’s Translation. Published at the Oxford 
 University Press. 1860. Price 153. 
 
 THE STUDY OF SANSKRIT IN RELATION TO MIS- 
 SIONARY WORK IN INDIA;; a Lecture delivered before 
 the University of Oxford on April 19, 1861, with Notes and 
 Additions. Willams & Norgate, London; J. H. & James 
 Parker, Oxford. Price 28. 
 
 INDIAN EPIC POETRY; being the Substance of Lectures 
 delivered in Oxford. Williams & Norgate, London and 
 Edinburgh. 1863. Price 53. 
 
 A PRACTICAL HINDUSTANI GRAMMAR. _ Second 
 Edition. Longmans & Co., London. 1865. Price 58. 
 
 AN EASY INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF 
 HINDUSTANI. Longmans & Co., London. 1859. Price 
 2s. 6d. 
 
 HINDUSTANI PRIMER. Longmans & Co., London. 1859. 
 Price 1s. 8d. 
 
 BAGH O BAHAR;; the Hindistani Text, with Notes and 
 Introductory Essay on the Application of the Roman Alphabet 
 to the Languages of India. Longmans & Co., London. 1859. 
 Price 6s. 6d. 
 
 ORIGINAL PAPERS illustrating the History of the Applica- 
 tion of the Roman Alphabet to the Languages of India. 
 Longmans & Co., London. 1859. Price 12s. 
 
τ - Due 
 
2 i 4 ἌΡ᾽ ; BL1201 .M746 
 Bx τὸ 5 Ἶ 5 3 Indian wisdom; or, examples of the 
 
 eton Theological Seminary—Speer 
 
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 1 1012 00163 2712