Reading section 1

HINDU LITERATURE

COMPRISING

THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS, NALA AND DAMAYANTI, THE RÁMÁYANA AND ŚAKOONTALÁ

WITH CRITICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES BY

EPIPHANIUS WILSON, A.M.

REVISED EDITION

NEW YORK

P.F. COLLIER & SON

COPYRIGHT, 1900

BY THE COLONIAL PRESS

CONTENTS

THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS

Translator's Preface

Introduction

THE WINNING OF FRIENDS The Story of the Jackal, Deer, and Crow The Story of the Vulture, the Cat, and the Birds The Story of the Dead Game and the Jackal The Prince and the Wife of the Merchant's Son The Story of the Old Jackal and the Elephant

THE PARTING OF FRIENDS The Story of the Lion, the Jackals, and the Bull The Story of the Monkey and the Wedge The Story of the Washerman's Jackass The Story of the Cat who Served the Lion The Story of the Terrible Bell The Story of the Prince and the Procuress The Story of the Black Snake and the Golden Chain The Story of the Lion and the Old Hare The Story of the Wagtail and the Sea

WAR The Battle of the Swans and Peacocks The Story of the Weaver-Birds and the Monkeys The Story of the Old Hare and the Elephants The Story of the Heron and the Crow The Story of the Appeased Wheelwright The Story of the Dyed Jackal The Story of the Faithful Rajpoot

PEACE The Treaty Between the Peacocks and the Swans The Story of the Tortoise and the Geese The Story of Fate and the Three Fishes The Story of the Unabashed Wife The Story of the Herons and the Mongoose The Story of the Recluse and the Mouse The Story of the Crane and the Crab The Story of the Brahman and the Pans The Duel of the Giants The Story of the Brahman and the Goat The Story of the Camel, the Lion, and His Court The Story of the Frogs and the Old Serpent

NALA AND DAMAYANTI

Introduction NALA AND DAMAYANTI.-- Part I Part II

SELECTIONS FROM THE RÁMÁYANA

Introduction Invocation BOOK I.-- CANTO I.--Nárad [_Cantos II., III., IV., and V. are omitted_] VI.--The King VII.--The Ministers VIII.--Sumantra's Speech IX.--Rishyaśring X.--Rishyaśring Invited XI.--The Sacrifice Decreed XII.--The Sacrifice Begun XIII.--The Sacrifice Finished XIV.--Rávan Doomed XV.--The Nectar XVI.--The Vánars XVII.--Rishyaśring's Return XVIII.--Rishyaśring's Departure XIX.--The Birth of the Princes XX.--Viśvámitra's Visit XXI.--Viśvámitra's Speech XXII.--Daśaratha's Speech XXIII.--Vaśishtha's Speech XXIV.--The Spells XXV.--The Hermitage of Love XXVI.--The Forest of Tádaká XXVII.--The Birth of Tádaká XXVIII.--The Death of Tádaká XXIX.--The Celestial Arms XXX.--The Mysterious Powers XXXI.--The Perfect Hermitage XXXII.--Viśvámitra's Sacrifice XXXIII.--The Sone XXXIV.--Brahmadatta XXXV.--Viśvámitra's Lineage XXXVI.--The Birth of Gangá [_Cantos XXXVII. and XXXVIII. are omitted_] XXXIX.--The Son of Sagar XL.--The Cleaving of the Earth XLI.--Kapil XLII.--Sagar's Sacrifice XLIII.--Bhagírath

ŚAKOONTALÁ

Introduction Dramatis Personae Rules for Pronunciation of Proper Names Prologue Act First Act Second Prelude to Act Third Act Third Prelude to Act Fourth Act Fourth Act Fifth Prelude to Act Sixth Act Sixth Act Seventh

POEMS BY TORU DUTT

Introduction BALLADS OF HINDOSTAN.-- Jogadhya Uma Buttoo Sindhu.-- Part I Part II Part III MISCELLANEOUS POEMS.-- Near Hastings France The Tree of Life Madame Thérèse Sonnet Sonnet Our Casuarina-Tree

THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS

* * * * *

SELECTED FROM

THE HITOPADEŚA

[_Translated from the Sanscrit by Sir Edwin Arnold_]

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

A story-book from the Sanscrit at least possesses the minor merit of novelty. The "perfect language" has been hitherto regarded as the province of scholars, and few of these even have found time or taste to search its treasures. And yet among them is the key to the heart of modern India--as well as the splendid record of her ancient Gods and glories. The hope of Hindostan lies in the intelligent interest of England. Whatever avails to dissipate misconceptions between them, and to enlarge their intimacy, is a gain to both peoples; and to this end the present volume aspires, in an humble degree, to contribute.

The "Hitopadeśa" is a work of high antiquity, and extended popularity. The prose is doubtless as old as our own era; but the intercalated verses and proverbs compose a selection from writings of an age extremely remote. The "Mahabharata" and the textual Veds are of those quoted; to the first of which Professor M. Williams (in his admirable edition of the "Nala," 1860) assigns a date of 350 B.C., while he claims for the "Rig-Veda" an antiquity as high as B.C. 1300. The "Hitopadeśa" may thus be fairly styled "The Father of all Fables"; for from its numerous translations have come Æsop and Pilpay, and in later days Reineke Fuchs. Originally compiled in Sanscrit, it was rendered, by order of Nushiraván, in the sixth century, A.D., into Persic. From the Persic it passed, A.D. 850, into the Arabic, and thence into Hebrew and Greek. In its own land it obtained as wide a circulation. The Emperor Acbar, impressed with the wisdom of its maxims and the ingenuity of its apologues, commended the work of translating it to his own Vizir, Abdul Fazel. That minister accordingly put the book into a familiar style, and published it with explanations, under the title of the "Criterion of Wisdom." The Emperor had also suggested the abridgment of the long series of shlokes which here and there interrupt the narrative, and the Vizir found this advice sound, and followed it, like the present Translator. To this day, in India, the "Hitopadeśa," under other names (as the "Anvári Suhaili"[1]), retains the delighted attention of young and old, and has some representative in all the Indian vernaculars. A work so well esteemed in the East cannot be unwelcome to Western readers, who receive it here, a condensed but faithful transcript of sense and manner.

As often as an Oriental allusion, or a name in Hindoo mythology, seemed to ask some explanation for the English reader, notes have been appended, bearing reference to the page. In their compilation, and generally, acknowledgment is due to Professor Johnson's excellent version and edition of the "Hitopadeśa," and to Mr. Muir's "Sanscrit Texts."

A residence in India, and close intercourse with the Hindoos, have given the author a lively desire to subserve their advancement. No one listens now to the precipitate ignorance which would set aside as "heathenish" the high civilization of this great race; but justice is not yet done to their past development and present capacities. If the wit, the morality, and the philosophy of these "beasts of India" (so faithfully rendered by Mr. Harrison Weir) surprise any vigorous mind into further exploration of her literature, and deeper sense of our responsibility in her government, the author will be repaid.

EDWIN ARNOLD.

[1] "The Lights of Canopus," a Persian paraphrase; as the "Khirad Afroz," "the lamp of the Understanding," is in Hindustani.

THE BOOK OF GOOD COUNSELS

INTRODUCTION

HONOR TO GUNESH, GOD OF WISDOM

This book of Counsel read, and you shall see, Fair speech and Sanscrit lore, and Policy.

ON the banks of the holy river Ganges there stood a city named Pataliputra. The King of it was a good King and a virtuous, and his name was Sudarsana. It chanced one day that he overheard a certain person reciting these verses--

"Wise men, holding wisdom highest, scorn delights, as false as fair, Daily live they as Death's fingers twined already in their hair.

Truly, richer than all riches, better than the best of gain, Wisdom is, unbought, secure--once won, none loseth her again.

Bringing dark things into daylight, solving doubts that vex the mind, Like an open eye is Wisdom--he that hath her not is blind."

Hearing these the King became disquieted, knowing that his own sons were gaining no wisdom, nor reading the Sacred Writings,[2] but altogether going in the wrong way; and he repeated this verse to himself--

"Childless art thou? dead thy children? leaving thee to want and dool? Less thy misery than his is, who is father to a fool."

And again this--

"One wise son makes glad his father, forty fools avail him not:-- One moon silvers all that darkness which the silly stars did dot."

"And it has been said," reflected he--

"Ease and health, obeisant children, wisdom, and a fair-voiced wife-- Thus, great King! are counted up the five felicities of life. For the son the sire is honored; though the bow-cane bendeth true, Let the strained string crack in using, and what service shall it do?"

"Nevertheless," mused the King, "I know it is urged that human efforts are useless: as, for instance--

"That which will not be, will not be--and what is to be, will be:-- Why not drink this easy physic, antidote of misery?"

"But then that comes from idleness, with people who will not do what they should do. Rather,

"Nay! and faint not, idly sighing, 'Destiny is mightiest,' Sesamum holds oil in plenty, but it yieldeth none unpressed. Ah! it is the Coward's babble, 'Fortune taketh, Fortune gave;' Fortune! rate her like a master, and she serves thee like a slave."

"For indeed,

"Twofold is the life we live in--Fate and Will together run:-- Two wheels bear life's chariot onward--will it move on only one?"

"And

"Look! the clay dries into iron, but the potter moulds the clay:-- Destiny to-day is master--Man was master yesterday."