Reading section 10

--_lo, a herd of elephants, Oozing moisture from their temples_--

Where the wild elephant delights to shed The juice exuding fragrant from his head

WILSON's Cloud-Messenger, p. 127, and note.]

[Footnote 95: p. 44. l. 7. _--the three worlds seemed all appalled_. Swerga, heaven, Martya or Bhumi, the earth, and Patala, hell.]

[Footnote 96: p. 44. l. 21. _And Vaisravana the holy_. Vaisravana is another name of Kuvera, the god of wealth.]

[Footnote 97: p. 45. l. 13. _In some former life committed_. The soul, in its transmigration, expiates the sins committed in a former state of being. This necessary corollary from the doctrine of the metempsychosis appear to have prevailed among the pharisaic Jews in the time of our Saviour: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind." JOHN, ix. 2.]

[Footnote 98: p. 46. l. 15. _--in their curious gamesome play_. Kutuhalat, rendered by Bopp 'cum voluptate,' means, 'from curiosity.' WILSON.]

[Footnote 99: p. 47. l. 13. _I with but one robe, him naked_. Bopp's text is incorrect here. Instead of 'Tam. ekavasanam,' the accusative masculine, it should be 'Tam. ekavasana, I with one garment clad,' the nominative feminine, referring to Damayanti, not to Nala: "I with one garment following him naked and deprived of reason, like one crazed, had not slept for many nights." WILSON.]

[Footnote 100: p. 47. l. 28. _That I eat not broken victuals_. Among the kinds of food proscribed to a Brahmin are, "the food of a servile man and the orts of another."]

[Footnote 101: p. 47. l. 28. _--wash not feet with menial hand_. The Latin translation, 'ne faciam pedibus cursum,' is faulty: the sense is, "that I perform not washing of the feet." Damayanti means that she is not to perform menial offices appropriated to persons of low caste. Stipulating for a carriage would be rather extraordinary. WILSON.]

[Footnote 102: p. 49. l. 9. _Narada, the famous hermit_. One of the Devarshis, and a great prophet, who is supposed to be still wandering about the world. 'Nara' signifies a thread or clew, a precept, and 'da,' giver. Whenever he appears he is constantly employed in giving good counsel. WILKINS, note on Bhagavat-Gita.]

[Footnote 103: p. 49. l. 23. _Ere the tenth step he had counted--him the sudden serpent bit_. 'Dasa' means both 'bite' and 'ten.']

[Footnote 104: p. 50. l. 12. _Neither Brahmin fear, nor Sages_. In Indian poetry four classes of holy men, or Rishis, are distinguished, and rise, one above the other, in the following rank: Rajarshis, royal Rishis; Maharshis, great Rishis; Brahmarshis, Brahminical Rishis; and Dewarshis, divine Rishis. KOSEGARTEN. Another enumeration specifies seven grades. WILSON, in voce.]

[Footnote 105: p. 50. l. 26. _Saying thus, of vests celestial--gave he to the king a pair_. The dress of a Hindu consists of two pieces of cloth, one, the lower garment fastened round his waist, and one the upper garment thrown loosely and gracefully over the shoulders. WILSON.]

[Footnote 106: p. 51. l. 6. _In the art of dressing viands_. This, it will be remembered, was one of the gifts bestowed by the gods on Nala at his marriage.]

[Footnote 107: p. 51. l. 12. _--hundred hundreds is thy pay_. Suvarnas, a certain measure of gold. WILSON, Dict. in voce.]

[Footnote 108: p. 52. l. 2. There is in the text a second line, repeating the same sentiment. Bopp proposes to reject the first, I have omitted the second.]

[Footnote 109: p. 53. l. 7. _And a royal grant for maintenance_. See Bopp's note. I have adopted the second sense of the word Agraharah. Such grants were not uncommon in India, as throughout the east. See the grants on copper-plates found near Bombay, Asiatic Researches, i. 362. So the well-known gifts of the king of Persia to Themistocles.]

[Footnote 110: p. 53. l. 15. _--on a royal holiday_. A day proclaimed as fortunate by the king.]

[Footnote 111: p. 54. l. 1. _--like Manmatha's queen divine_. The bride of Kamadeva is Rati, pleasure.]

[Footnote 112: p. 54. ls. 4--10. This long train of similes, in which the images of the lotus flower and the moon so perpetually occur, is too characteristic to be omitted or compressed. I have here and there used the license of a paraphrase.]

[Footnote 113: p. 54. l. 5. _Like the pallid night, when Rahu_. This is a favourite simile of the Indian poets.

That snatched my love from the uplifted sword, Like the pale moon from Rahu's ravenous jaws.

WILSON'S Malati and Madhava, p. 62.

-------------and now thou fall'st, a prey To death, like the full moon to Rahu's jaws Consigned.

Ibid. p. 115.

In Indian mythology, eclipses are caused by the dragon Rahu attempting to swallow up the moon. The origin of their hostility is given in a passage quoted by Mr. Wilkins from the Mahabharata, in his notes to the Bhagavat-Gita:--"And so it fell out that when the Soors were quenching their thirst for immortality, Rahu, an Asoor, assumed the form of a Soor, and begun to drink also; and the water had but reached his throat, when the sun and moon, in friendship to the Soors, discovered the deceit, and instantly Narayan cut off his head as he was drinking, with his splendid weapon, chakra. And the gigantic head of the Asoor, emblem of a monstrous summit, being thus separated from his body by the chakra's edge, bounded into the heavens with a dreadful cry, whilst the ponderous trunk fell, cleaving the ground asunder, and shaking the whole earth unto its foundations, with all its islands, rocks, and forest. And from this time the head of Rahu resolved on eternal enmity, and continueth even unto this day at times to seize upon the sun and moon." p. 149.]

[Footnote 114: p. 54. l. 15. _To the unadorned a husband._ "Married women must be honoured and adorned by their fathers and brethren, by their husbands, and by the brethren of their husbands, if they seek abundant prosperity." MENU, iii, 55.]

[Footnote 115: p. 54. l. 22.--_the moon's bride_. Rohinia. The moon, as in the northern mythologies, is a male deity. See WILFORD, in Asiatic Researches, iii, 384. Rohinia is explained by Mr. Wilson, the fourth lunar asterism, figured by a wheeled carriage, and containing five stars, probably [Greek: a b g d e], Tauri. In mythology the asterism is personified as one of the daughters of Daksha, and wives of the moon.--Sanscrit Dict. in voce. Comp. Vikrama and Urvasi, p. 57.]

[Footnote 116: p. 57. _Dasarna_. Dasarna is mentioned in the Cloud Messenger of Kalidasa.

Dasarna's fields await the coming shower.

See likewise Mr. Wilson's note, p. 37.]

[Footnote 117: p. 59. l. 2. _By the wind within the forest--fanned, intensely burns the fire._ Kosegarten supposes this to mean, that as the incessant wind kindles the fire in the grove of bamboos, so their repeated words may fan the fire of pity in the heart of Nala.]

[Footnote 118: p. 63. l. 9. _To desire this deed unholy._ A second marriage in a woman is considered in India an inexpiable breach of conjugal fidelity. "A virtuous wife ascends to heaven, though she have no child, if after the decease of her lord she devotes herself to pious austerity. But a widow, who from a wish to bear children, slights her deceased husband by marrying again, brings disgrace on herself here below, and shall be excluded from the seat of her lord." MENU, v, 160-161. "She who neglects her former (purva) lord, though of a lower class, and takes another (para) of a higher, becomes despicable in this world, and is called para purva, or one who had a different husband before." Ibid. 163.]

[Footnote 119: p. 64. l. 4. _With the ten good marks distinguished._ Avarttas are "locks," curls, or twists of the hair in certain forms on different parts of the body--here they are apparently: forehead 1, head 2, chest 2, ribs 2, flanks 2, crupper 1. In the Magha, v. 9, we have the term Avarttina applied to horses; on which the commentator observes, "Avarttina signifies horses having the ten Avarttas, marks of excellence; they are, two on the breast, two on the head, two on the hollows of the ribs, two on the hollows of the flanks, and one on the crupper (Prapata); these are called the ten Avarttas. Avartta means an eddy, or whirlpool, and the name is applied to dispositions of the hair of a horse which resemble a whirlpool." WILSON.]

[Footnote 120: p. 64. l. 4. _--born in Sindhu_. The Sindhu is the Indian name for the Indus; the neighbouring territory is called Sind. See Asiatic Researches, viii. 336.]

[Footnote 121: p. 65. l. 7. _Matali_. The charioteer of Indra. See Rhaguvansa, xii, 86, and Sacontala.]

[Footnote 122: p. 66. l. 10. _Ten miles, lo, it lies beyond us._ A Yojana; according to some eleven, according to others five or six English miles. I have given a round number.]

[Footnote 123: p. 66. l. 12. _Vibhitak_. 'Beleric Myrobalan.' WILSON, Sanscrit Dict. in voce.]

[Footnote 124: p. 66. l. 21. _Kotis_. A Koti is ten millions.]

[Footnote 125: p. 68. l. 11. _Kali_. It must be remembered that Kali, while within the body of Nala, had been enchanted by the serpent Karkotaka.]

[Footnote 126: p. 68. l. 16. Damayanti; who had cursed in the forest all who had caused the misery of Nala.]

[Footnote 127: p. 68. l. 25. Compare Prospero's power in the Tempest.]

[Footnote 128: p. 70. l. 4. _All the region round him echoing--with the thunders of his car._ This scene rather reminds us of the watchman reporting the rapid approach of Jehu, "The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously." II Kings ix, 20.]

[Footnote 129: p. 70. l. 6. _In their joy they pawed and trampled._ The horses of Nala had been before conveyed to the city of king Bhima by Varshneya.]

[Footnote 130: p. 70. l. 16. _--as at sound of coming rain._ The rejoicing of the peacocks at the approach of rain is very sweetly described in the play of Malati and Madhava, translated by Mr. Wilson.

Ah Malati, how can I bear to contemplate The young Tamala, bowed beneath the weight Of the light rain; the quivering drops that dance Before the cooling gale; the joyful cry That echoes round, as pleased the pea-fowl hail The bow of heaven propitious to their loves.--p. 108.

In the Cloud Messenger, the Yaksha who addresses the cloud, fears lest it should be delayed by the cry of the peacock--

Or can the peacock's animated hail The bird with lucid eyes, to lure thee fail.--l. 147.

In another passage,

Pleased on each terrace, dancing with delight, The friendly peacock hails thy grateful flight.--l. 215.]

[Footnote 131: p. 76. l. 19. _--much and various viands came_. The reader must remember the various gifts bestowed on king Nala by the gods upon his marriage.]

[Footnote 132: p. 77. l. 22. _--of her mouth ablution made_. Washing the mouth after food, which Damayanti in her height of emotion does not forget, is a duty strictly enjoined in the Indian law, which so rigidly enforces personal cleanliness. "With a remnant of food in the mouth, or when the Sraddha has recently been eaten, let no man even meditate in his heart on the holy texts." MENU, iv, 109. "Having slumbered, having sneezed, having eaten, having spitten, having told untruths, having drunk water, and going to read sacred books, let him, though pure, wash his mouth." v. 145.]

[Footnote 133: p. 79. l. 17. _--hair dishevelled, mire-defiled_. As a sign of sorrow and mourning.]

[Footnote 134: p. 80. l. 4. _I will be._ "I will be," must be the commencement of the prayer uttered by the bridegroom at the time of marriage. It does not correspond with any of those cited by Mr. Colebrooke. It is probably analogous to that given by him, Asiatic Researches, viii, p. 301. WILSON.]

[Footnote 135: p. 81. l. 11. _He through all the world that wanders--witness the all-seeing lord._ See the curious Law of Ordeal, Asiatic Researches, vol. i, p. 402, "On the trial by fire, let both hands of the accused be rubbed with rice in the husk, and well examined: then let seven leaves of the Aswatha (the religious fig-tree) be placed on them, and bound with seven threads." Thou, O fire, pervadest all beings; O cause of purity, who givest evidence of virtue and of sin, declare the truth in this my hand.]

[Footnote 136: p. 81. l. 27. _--flowers fell showering all around._ These heavenly beings are ever ready, in the machinery of Hindu epics, to perform their pleasing office (of showering flowers on the head of the happy pair) on every important occasion: they are called Pushpa-vrishti, or flower-rainers. MOOR, Hindu Pantheon, 194. See in the Raghuvansa, ii, 60. No sooner has king Dilipa offered himself to die for the sacred cow of his Brahminical preceptor, than "a shower of flowers" falls upon him.]

[Footnote 137: p. 86. l. 3. _--stands the Apsara in heaven._ The birth of the Apsarasas is thus related in the Ramayana.

Then from the agitated deep upsprung The legion of Apsarasas, so named That to the watery element they owed Their being. Myriads were they born, and all In vesture heavenly clad, and heavenly gems; Yet more divine their native semblance, rich With all the gifts of grace and youth and beauty. A train innumerous followed, yet thus fair Nor god nor demon sought their widowed love; Thus Raghava they still remain, their charms The common treasure of the host of heaven.

--WILSON's Translation, Preface to the Drama of Vikrama and Urvasi, p. 13.]