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Stood amid his work confounded:--mighty penance wrought he then. So fulfilled that rigorous penance--instant Manu 'gan create-- Instant every living creature--Raja! he began to form. Such the old, the famous legend--named the story of the Fish, Which to thee I have related--this for all our sins atones. He that hears it, Manu's legend,--in the full possession he, Of all things complete and perfect--to the heavenly world ascends.

NOTES ON NALA.

[Footnote 1: p. 3. l. 4. _Over, over all exalted_. This repetition is in the original.]

[Footnote 2: p. 3. l. 5. _Holy deep-read in the Vedas_. All the perfections, which, according to the opinions and laws of the Hindus, distinguish the sovereign from the rest of mankind, are here ascribed to the hero of the poem. The study of the Vedas must be cultivated by the three superior castes, and ensures both temporal and eternal beatitude. In the laws of Menu it is said, "Greatness is not conferred by years, not by grey hairs, not by wealth, not by powerful kindred." The divine sages have established this rule--Whoever has read the Vedas and their Angas, he is among us great. (JONES'S MENU, ii. 254). Of all these duties, answered Bhrigu, the principal is to acquire from the Upanishads a true knowledge of the one supreme God: that is the most exalted of all sciences, because it ensures immortality, (xii. 85). For in the knowledge and adoration of one God, which the Veda teaches, all the rules of good conduct before-mentioned in order, are fully comprised, (ib. 87.)

The study of the Vedas is considered the peculiar duty of kings, (vii. 43). The Upanishads are doctrinal extracts of the Vedas.

The Indian law demands in the most rigorous manner from every one of noble birth, the mastery over the _senses_. Menu says, c. ii. 93, "A man by the attachment of his organs to sensual pleasure, incurs certain guilt; but having wholly subdued them, he thence attains heavenly bliss. v. 94. Desire is never satisfied with the enjoyment of desired objects; as the fire is not appeased with clarified butter; it only blazes more vehemently. v. 97. To a man contaminated by sensuality, neither the Vedas, nor liberality, nor sacrifices, nor strict observances, nor pious austerities, ever procure felicity." The control over every kind of sensual indulgence is enjoined upon the king. vii. 44. Day and night must he strenuously exert himself to gain complete victory over his own organs; since that king alone whose organs are completely subdued, can keep his people firm to their duty.

Skill in the management of horses and chariots, which in a subsequent part of the poem is of great importance to Nala, is often mentioned as a praiseworthy accomplishment of kings. In the Ramayana, for instance, in the description of king Dasaratha, which likewise contains the above-mentioned traits of character--"In this city Ayodhya was a king named Dusharutha, descended from Ikshwaku, perfectly skilled in the Veda and Vedangas, prescient, of great ability, beloved by all his people, a great charioteer, constant in sacrifice, eminent in sacred duties, a royal sage, nearly equalling a Muhurshi, famed throughout the three worlds, mighty, triumphant over his enemies, observant of justice, having a perfect command of his appetites." CAREY and MARSHMAN'S translation, sect. vi. p. 64.]

[Footnote 3: p. 3. l. 5. _--in Nishadha lord of earth_. I have accented this word not quite correctly Nishadha, in order to harmonise with the trochaic flow of my metre. It appears to be the same as Nishadha-rashtra and Nishadha-desa. See Wilford's list of mountains, rivers, countries; from the Puranas and other books. Asiatic Researches, vol. viii. BOPP.]

[Footnote 4: p. 3. l. 6. _Loving dice, of truth unblemished_. The Sanscrit word Akshapujah is differently interpreted. Kosegarten renders it in a good sense as "fearing heaven." He argues that it is the poet's object in this passage to describe the good qualities of Nala, and that he does not become a gamester till possessed by the demon Kali. Bopp gives the sense in the text, which seems to connect it with the history of king Yudishthira, to whom it is addressed.]

[Footnote 5: p. 3. l. 7. _Sense subdued_. The highest notion of this favourite perfection of Indian character, may be given in the words of the author of the Bhagavat-Gita: "The highest perfection to which the soul can attain, is action without passion. The mind is to be entirely independent of external objects; to preserve its undisturbed serenity it should have the conscious power of withdrawing all its senses within itself, as the tortoise draws all its limbs beneath in shell." Action is necessary, but action must produce no emotion--no sensation on the calm spirit within; whatever may be their consequences, however important, however awful, events are to be unfelt, and almost unperceived by the impassive mind; and on this principle Arjuna is to execute the fated slaughter upon his kindred without the least feeling of sorrow or compunction being permitted to intrude on the divine apathy of his soul. Some of the images in which this passionless tranquillity of the spirit is described, appear singularly beautiful:

As to th' unrais'd unswelling ocean flow the multitudinous streams, So to the soul serene, unmov'd--flow in the undisturbing lusts.

And then again the soul, in this state of unbroken quietude,

Floats like the lotus on the lake, unmov'd, unruffled by the tide.]

[Footnote 6: p. 3. l. 8. _Best, a present Manu he_. Manu, or Menu, the representative of the human race; the holy, mythological ancestor of the Hindus. In the Diluvium, the Indian version of the Deluge, (see the latter part of this volume), Manu is the survivor of the human race--the second ancestor of mankind. The first Menu is named "Swayambhuva, or sprung from the self-existing." From him "came six descendants, other Menus, or perfectly understanding the Scripture, each giving birth to a race of his own, all exalted in dignity, eminent in power." Laws of Menu, i. 61. The great code of law "the Hindus firmly believe to have been promulged in the beginning of time by Menu, son or grandson of Brahma, or in plain English the first of created beings, and not the oldest only but the noblest of legislators." Sir W. JONES'S preface to Laws of Menu; Works, vii. 76. In the Ramayana, in like manner, king Dasaratha is compared to the ancient king, Menu. The word Manu, as the name of the ancestor of men, is derived from the Sanscrit root Man, to know (WILSONin voce); in the same manner as the Sanscrit Manisha, knowledge, Manushya, Man--as also the Latin Mens, and the German Mensch. According to this etymology, Man, Mensch, properly means "the knowing," the Being endowed with knowledge. The German word, Meinen, to mean, or be of opinion, belongs to the same stock.]

[Footnote 7: p. 3. l. 9. _So there dwelt in high Vidarbha_. This city is called by our poet Vidarbha Nagara, the city of Vidarbha, and Cundina. According to Wilford it is Burra Nag-poor. BOPP. Colebrooke, Asiatic Researches, remarks, that some suppose it to be the modern Berar, which borders on the mountain Vindhya or Gondwanah. The kingdom of Vidarbha, and its capital Kundini, are mentioned in the very remarkable drama Malati and Madhava. WILSON's Hindu Theatre, ii. 16; and extract from Harivansa, in LANGLOIS Monumens de l'Inde, p. 54.]

[Footnote 8: p. 3. l. 9. _Bhima, terrible in strength_. Bhima-parakrama. There is a play upon the words, Bhima meaning terrible.]

[Footnote 9: p. 3. l. 11. _Many a holy act, on offspring_. He made offerings and performed penance, by which blessings were forced from the reluctant gods. In India not only temporal, but eternal happiness, depends on having children. The son alone by the offering of the Sraddha, or libation for the dead, can obtain rest for the departed spirit of the father. Hence the begetting of a son is a religious duty, particularly for a Brahmin, and is one of the three debts to which he is bound during life. After he has read the Vedas in the form prescribed by Law, has legally begotten a son, and has performed sacrifices to the best of his power, he has paid his three debts, and may then apply his heart to eternal bliss. MENU, vi. 36. By a son a man obtains victory over all people; by a son's son he enjoys immortality; and afterwards, by the son of that grandson, he reaches the solar abode. MENU, ix. 137.

This last passage is immediately followed by the explanation of the Sanscrit word Puttra, son, by "the deliverer from hell." Since the son (trayate) delivers his father from the hell, named put, he was therefore called puttra by Brahma himself. This explanation, which it given by the Indian etymologists, appears nevertheless, as is often the case, rather forced; since the final syllable, tra, which is translated by deliver (or preserve, WILSON, in voce) is a common ending of many words, without the peculiar signification of delivering: as with this final syllable on the word Pu, to be pure, is formed the noun Puwitra, pure. WILKINS, Grammar, p. 454; KOSEGARTEN. The affix with which this last is formed however, is not tra, but itra, and it affords therefore no ground of objection to the usual etymology of Puttra. WILSON.

The Indian poetry is full of instances of this strong desire for offspring. In the Ramayana, king Dasaratha performs the Aswamedha, or offering of a horse, to obtain a son. "To this magnanimous king, acquainted in every duty, pre-eminent in virtue, and performing sacred austerities for the sake of obtaining children, there was no son to perpetuate his family. At length in the anxious mind of this noble one the thought arose, 'Why do I not perform an Ushwamedha to obtain a son.'" CAREY and MARSHMAN's translation, sect. viii. p. 74. Compare the Raghu Vansa, canto i., and all that is done by king Dilipa to obtain a son: and the poem of the death of Hidimbha, published by Bopp.]

[Footnote 10: p. 3. l. 14. _--in his hospitable hall_. Hospitality to a Brahmin is of course one of the greatest virtues. "A Brahmin coming as a guest, and not received with just honour, takes to himself all the reward of the housekeeper's former virtue, even though he had been so temperate as to live on the gleanings of harvests, and so pious as to make oblations in five distinct fires." Sir W. JONES, Menu, iii. 100.]

[Footnote 11: p. 3. l. 22. _--as around great Indra's queen_. Sachi.

Sachi, soft as morning light, Blithe Sachi, from her lord Indrani hight.--Sir W. JONES's Hymn to Indra.]

[Footnote 12: p. 4. l. 2. _Mid her handmaids, like the lightning_. There are two words of similar signification in the original; one of them implies life-giving. Lightning in India being the forerunner of the rainy season, is looked on as an object of delight as much as terror. BOPP, from the Scholiast.]

[Footnote 13: p. 4. l. 2. _--shone she with her faultless form_. Sri, or Lakshmi, the goddess of beauty and abundance, at once the Ceres and the Alma Venus of India.

Daughter of ocean and primeval night, Who fed with moonbeams dropping silent dew, And cradled in a wild wave dancing light.--Sir W. JONES's Ode to Lacshmi.]

[Footnote 14: p. 4. l. 4. _--never mid the Yaksha race_. The Yakshas are demigods attendant on Kuvera, the god of wealth, descendants of Kasyapa by his wife Khasa. They inhabit mountains, and have intercourse with the Apsarasas, or heavenly nymphs. Sometimes they appear not altogether as good beings, sometimes entirely harmless. "The souls of men enslaved to their passions will rise no higher than the Yakshas." MENU, xii. 47. The subject of the Meghaduta, or Cloud-Messenger of Kalidasa, so elegantly translated by Mr. Wilson, is the regret of a Yaksha for his beloved wife. Compare Mr. Wilson's note on the Yakshas, Cloud Messenger, p. 69.]

[Footnote 15: p. 4. l. 7. _Nala too, 'mong kings the tiger_. Nara Sardula, the Tiger warrior. I have retained the literal meaning, though, according to Bopp, it means _in fine compositi, Optimus, praestantissimus_. Mr. Southey's Young Tlalala, in Madoc, is the "tiger of the war."]

[Footnote 16: p. 4. l. 8. _Like Kandarpa in his beauty_. Kandarpa is the god of love. Kama, Love, or Kam Deo, God of Love. Dipaka, the Inflamer. Manmatha, Heart-disturber. Ananga, the Incorporeal.

God of each lovely sight, each lovely sound. Soul-kindling, world-inflaming, star y-crowned, Eternal Cama! or doth Smara bright, Or proud Ananga give thee more delight--SIR W. JONES, _Ode to Camdeo_.]

[Footnote 17: p. 4. l. 12. _Thus of each, O son of Kunti_. Kunti was the mother of King Yudishthira, to whom the poem is related. I have usually omitted this address, which is sometimes made to Yudishthira under the title of Bharata, i. e. descendant of Bharata, or other appellations.]

[Footnote 18: p. 4. l. 15. _There the swans he saw disporting_. In the original this is a far less poetic bird, and the author must crave forgiveness for having turned his geese into swans. If, however, we are to believe Bohlen, in his learned work, Das Alte Indien, the translators are altogether mistaken; they have been misled by the similarity of the word Hansa to Gans--a goose. The original, he asserts, to mean a mythic bird, closely resembling the swan, or perhaps the tall and brilliant flamingo, which Southey has introduced with such effect in one of his rich descriptions in the Curse of Kehama. The goose, however, according to the general opinion, is so common in Indian mythology, that this must be received with much caution. In the modern Tamulic version of the story, translated by Mr. Kindersley, are substituted, "Milk white Aunnays, descending from the skies, like an undulating garland of pearls." The Aunnays are supposed to be a sort of birds of paradise. They are represented as milk white; remarkable for the gracefulness of their walk; and endowed with considerable gifts. Mr. Wilson, in his Meghaduta, has given me a precedent for the change of geese into swans; see p. 27, v. 71, with the note. And Mr. Ellis, Asiatic Researches, vol. xiv. p. 29, has the following note on the subject: "There are three distinctions of Hamsa; the Raja-hamsa, with a milk-white body and deep red beak and legs, this is the Phenicopteros, or flamingo; the Mallicacsha-hamsa, with brownish beak and legs; and the Dhartarashtra-hamsa, with black beak and legs: the latter is the European swan, the former a variety. The gait of an elegant woman is compared by the Hindu poets to the proud bearing of a swan in the water. Sonnerat, making a mistake similar to that in the text, translates a passage in which this allusion occurs, in words to the following purport, 'Her gait resembled that of a goose.' Other writers have fallen into the same error." The swans, ou Plutot les Genies ailes, play the same part in an extract from the Harivansa, translated by M. Langlois, in his Monumens Litteraires de l'Inde, _Paris_, 1827, p. 158. The first part of the Harivansa has just appeared, under the auspices of the Oriental Translation Committee.]

[Footnote 19: p. 5. l. 4. _Like the Aswinas in beauty_. See Asiatic Researches, i. 263; ix. 323. Ramayana, i. 226.]

[Footnote 20: p. 5. l. 7. _Gandharvas_. Celestial choristers, of beautiful forms and complexion, usually seen in Hindu sculptures attendant on the deities.

Celestial genii tow'rd their king advance (So called by men) in heaven Gandharvas named, For matchless music famed. Soon when the bands in lucid rows assemble, Flutes breathe, and citherns tremble.

SIR W. JONES, Ode to Indra.--See Ramayana, l. 125.]

[Footnote 21: p. 5. l. 7. _the Serpents_. The serpents are objects of reverence and veneration in India. They are called Naga, not going; Uragas--breast-going. Their residence is in Patala, though they are occasional visitants both of heaven and earth. See notes to book V. In the Bhagavat Gita, Arjun sees Brahma "sitting on his lotus-throne; all the Reshees and Ooragas (serpents)," Wilkins' translation, p. 91. According to Wilson, (Sanscrit Dict. voce Naga), the race of these beings is said to have sprung from Kadru, the wife of Kasyapa, in order to people Patala, or the regions below the earth.]

[Footnote 22: p. 5. l. 7. _The Rakshasas_. Demons who assume at will the forms of lions, tigers, horses, and other animals, as well as the human shape, with numerous heads and arms. They are represented as cannibals who devour their enemies. See Ramayana.]

[Footnote 23: p. 6. l. 6. _--and with passion heart-possessed_. It is, literally, her mind (or thought), being possessed by the _heart-sleeper_, (i. e. love, reposing or dwelling in the heart). WILSON.]

[Footnote 24: p. 6. l. 8. _The Swayembara_. The self-election. The princesses in India enjoyed this singular privilege. The festival was proclaimed, and from the assembled suitors the lady selected her future husband. The Swayembara is not among the eight kinds of marriages mentioned in the third book of Menu, as customary among the higher castes, in which the parents in general arrange such contracts. The provision in the ninth book (v. 90), appears to belong to the lower classes.--"Three years let a damsel wait, though she be marriageable; but after that term let her choose for herself a bridegroom of equal rank." In the Raghuvansa, a poem, parts of which the author of this translation, if he could command leisure to make himself better acquainted with Sanscrit, would consider well worthy of being introduced to the English reader, there is a very remarkable and beautiful book, describing a Swayembara. This is likewise held at Vidarbha by the daughter of the king. The Mahabharata also describes the Swayembara of the princess Draupadi.]

[Footnote 25: p. 6. l. 17. _The lord of many peasants_. Vaisya, the third caste, husbandmen and traders.]

[Footnote 26: p. 6. l. 22. _All with rich and various garlands_. The use of garlands in the decoration of the houses and temples of the Hindus, and of flowers in their offerings and festivals, furnishes employment to a particular tribe or caste, the malacaras, or wreath makers. WILSON, note 57, on Meghaduta or Cloud-messenger.]

[Footnote 27: p. 7. l. 2. _Indra's world_. Indra is the God of heaven, of the thunder and lightning, storm and rain: his dwelling is sometimes placed on mount Meru, as the heaven of the Greeks on Olympus. His city is called Amaravati; his palace Vaijayanti; his garden Nandana. (KOSEGARTEN.)

Hail, mountain of delight, Palace of glory, bless'd by glory's king. With prospering shade embower me, whilst I sing Thy wonders yet unreached by mortal flight. Sky-piercing mountain! in thy bowers of love, No tears are seen, save where medicinal stalks Weep drops balsamic o'er the silvered walks. No plaints are heard, save where the restless dove Of coy repulse, and mild reluctance talks. Mantled in woven gold, with gems inchas'd, With emerald hillocks graced, From whose fresh laps, in young fantastic mazes, Soft crystal bounds and blazes, Bathing the lithe convolvulus that winds Obsequious, and each flaunting arbour binds.--SIR W. JONES, Ode to Indra.]

[Footnote 28: p. 7. l. 3. _Narada and Parvata_. Two of the divine Munis or Rishis. Narada is the son of Brahma; a friend of Krishna, a celebrated lawgiver, and inventor of the vina, or lute. (WILSON, Dict. in voce.) Narada is mentioned as one of the "ten lords of created beings, eminent in holiness." MENU, i. 34, 35.]

[Footnote 29: p. 7. l. 5. _Them salutes the cloud-compeller_. 'Maghavan' is by some explained 'the cloudy.' I have adopted the word used by the translators of Homer.]

[Footnote 30: p. 7. l. 12. _Theirs this everlasting kingdom_. Kshetriyas, or warriors, slain in battle, are transported to Swerga, the heaven of Indra, by the Apsarasas or nymphs of heaven: hence they are his "ever-honoured guests." "Those rulers of the earth, who, desirous of defeating each other, exert their utmost strength in battle, without ever averting their faces, ascend after death directly to heaven." MENU, vii. 89. Indra means to say, "Why are none new-killed in battle now-a-days, that I see none arriving in my heaven, Swerga?"]

[Footnote 31: p. 7. l. 12. _--even as Kamadhuk is mine_. Kamadhuk, the cow of plenty. She was brought forth on churning the ocean to produce the amrita, or drink of immortality. The interpretation is doubtful; it may be that this realm is to them the cow of plenty, (as bestowing upon them all their wishes), as the cow of plenty is mine. See BOPP's and KOSEGARTEN's notes.]

[Footnote 32: p. 7. l. 15. _Thus addressed by holy Sakra_. Sakra, a name of Indra.

Hail, Dyapeter, dismay to Bala's pride, Or speaks Purander best thy martial fame, Or Sacra, mystic name.--SIR W. JONES, Hymn to Indra.

Bala and Vritra were the "giants" slain by Indra.]

[Footnote 33: p. 7. l. 23. _As they spake, the world-protectors_. The world-protectors are the eight gods next below the trine supreme, Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu. They are Indra, the god of heaven; Surya, the god of the sun; Soma or Chandra, the god of the moon; Agni, the god of fire; Pavana, the god of the wind; Kuvera, the god of wealth; Varuna, the god of water; Yama, the god of the infernal regions. At present four only of these gods are introduced; Indra, Yama, Agni, and Varuna. Compare, however, Mr. WILSON's note to Vikrama and Urvasi, Hindu Theatre, i. 219.]

[Footnote 34: p. 8. l. 8. _--equal to the god of love_. Manmatha, a name of Kandarpa, or Camdeo, the god of love.]

[Footnote 35: p. 11. l. 2. _Pledge me to thy faith, O raja_. Bopp has rendered '_pranayaswa_,' _uxorem duc_, but this is questionable. The root '_ni_,' with the preposition '_pari_,' has that sense, but with '_pra_' its usual acceptation is 'to love, to bear affection.' I have not met with it in the sense 'to marry.' Bopp is followed by Rosen in assigning this sense to '_prani_.' WILSON.]

[Footnote 36: p. 7. l. 4. _In full trust is thine_. Bopp connects '_visrabdha_' with '_pranaya_,' and renders them _speratas nuptias_. I should rather join it adverbially with '_sarvam_, all;' that is, 'yours in full trust or confidence: grant me your affection.' There is something indelicate, though inartificial, in Damayanti's urging matrimony so earnestly. WILSON.]

[Footnote 37: p. 11. l. 8. _--the vile noose will I endure_. Hanging was not considered by the Hindus an undignified mode of self-destruction. See Hindu Theatre, ii. 237 and 299.]

[Footnote 38: p. 11. l. 17. _He, who all the world compressing_. Nala here recites the separate pretensions and attributes of the great deities, first, of Hutasa, a name of Agni, the god of fire. The sense here is extremely obscure. Bopp renders it literally. 'Qui hanc terram totam contraxit,' seems ambiguous. It may refer to the agency of fire in compacting the world and again consuming it, or simply shrivelling it up, while in the act of consuming.]

[Footnote 39: p. 11. l. 19. _He, in awe of whose dread sceptre_. Yama: he is called the Dharma raja, king of justice. WILFORD in Asiatic Researches. Compare SOUTHEY's description in the Curse of Kehama, Canto xxii., with the note from Wilford on which it is founded; and his interview with Sawitri in BOPP's collection of Extracts from the Mahabharata.]

[Footnote 40: p. 11. l. 21. _--slayer of the infernal host_. Indra. He was the conqueror of the Danavas or daemons:

When through the waves of war thy charger sprang, Each rock rebellowed, and each forest rang, The vanquish'd Asurs felt avenging pains.--SIR W. JONES, Ode to Indra.]

[Footnote 41: p. 11. l. 23. _--in thy mind if thou couldst choose_. (At the close full stop misprinted for comma). Varuna, the god of waters. Schlegel and Rosen consider that a sloka, describing the attributes of Varuna, has been lost--that in this line 'varanam, seligendum' should be written instead of 'Varunam.' The Calcutta edition has the same reading, however, and the change is not necessary: if any alteration be made it should probably be in the first word, and 'Vriyatam' be read in place of 'Kriyatam.' WILSON.]