Reading section 97

Vinata, 179, 379, 380, 388, 448.

Vinatá, 53, 125, 246.

Vindhya, 14, 51, 242, 364, 370, 374, 380.

Vindu, 55.

Vipáśá, 176, 539.

Vírabáhu, 364 note.

Virádha, 5, 9, 229, 232, 404, 446, 502.

Viráj, 124.

Viramatsya, 178.

Virochan, 40, 43.

Virtue, 223, 272.

Virúpáksha, 52, 420, 433, 459, 460, 487.

Viśákhás, 144, 430.

Viśálá, 56, 57, 59, 60, 62.

Vishṇu, 1 note, 2, 3, 25, 32, 40, _passim_.

Viśravas, 35, 309, 408, 515, 516.

Viśváchi, 198.

Viśvajit, 24.

Viśvakarmá, 28, 42, 198, 376, 387, 444, 445, 448, 499, 500, 515, 556.

Viśvámitra, 9, 32 ff., 39, 41, 44, 45, _passim_.

Viśvarúpa, 353.

Viśvas, 377.

Viśvávasu, 198.

Viśvedevas, 162.

Vitardan, 474.

Vivasvat, 81, 171, 219, 245, 386, 532.

Vraṇa, 444.

Vrihadratha, 82.

Vrihaspati, 28, 31, 95, 124, 210, 307, 464, 517.

Vritra, 125, 264, 288, 387, 487, 491, 536.

Vulture-king, 9.

War-god, 124, 476.

Wind, 30, 218.

Wind-god, 10, 36, 42, 68, 325, 326, 379, 392 ff., 417 ff., 449, 470, 478, 481, 488, 502, 503.

Yavadwípa, 372.

Yajnakopa, 433 note, 459.

Yajush, 326.

Yajnaśatru, 256 note.

Yaksha, 236 note, 306, 318, 363, 375, 394, 420, 422, 425, 431, 454, 458, 468.

Yáma, 68, 71, 112, 117, 124, 140, 166, 171, 241, 248, 262, 275, 287, 313, 343 ff., 432, 437, 449, 472, 475, 496, 518, 554.

Yamuná, 158, 159, 160, 178, 214, 223, 372.

Yámun, 372.

Yavanas, 66, 550.

Yayáti, 82, 95, 107, 119, 163, 186, 307, 344.

Yudhájit, 84, 88, 180, 190.

Yúpáksha, 420, 472.

Yuvanáśva, 81, 219.

FOOTNOTES

1 The MSS. vary very considerably in these stanzas of invocation: many lines are generally prefixed in which not only the poet, but those who play the chief parts in the poem are panegyrized. It is self-apparent that they are not by the author of the Rámáyan himself.

2 “Válmíki was the son of Varuṇa, the regent of the waters, one of whose names is Prachetas. According to the _Adhyátmá Rámáyaṇa_, the sage, although a Bráhman by birth, associated with foresters and robbers. Attacking on one occasion the seven Rishis, they expostulated with him successfully, and taught him the _mantra_ of Ráma reversed, or _Mará, Mará_, in the inaudible repetition of which he remained immovable for thousands of years, so that when the sages returned to the same spot they found him still there, converted into a _valmík_ or ant-hill, by the nests of the termites, whence his name of Válmíki.”

WILSON. _Specimens of the Hindu Theatre, Vol. I. p. 313_.

“Válmíki is said to have lived a solitary life in the woods: he is called both a _muni_ and a _rishi_. The former word properly signifies an anchorite or hermit; the latter has reference chiefly to wisdom. The two words are frequently used promiscuously, and may both be rendered by the Latin _vates_ in its earliest meaning of _seer_: Válmíki was both poet and seer, as he is said to have sung the exploits of Ráma by the aid of divining insight rather than of knowledge naturally acquired.” SCHLEGEL.

3 Literally, _Kokila_, the Koïl, or Indian Cuckoo. Schlegel translates “luscinium.”

4 Comparison with the Ganges is implied, that river being called the purifier of the world.

5 “This name may have been given to the father of Válmíki allegorically. If we look at the derivation of the word (_pra_, before, and _chetas_, mind) it is as if the poet were called the son of Prometheus, the Forethinker.” SCHLEGEL.

6 Called in Sanskrit also _Bála-Káṇḍa_, and in Hindí _Bál-Káṇḍ_, _i.e._ the Book describing Ráma’s childhood, _bála_ meaning a boy up to his sixteenth year.

7 A divine saint, son of Brahmá. He is the eloquent messenger of the Gods, a musician of exquisite skill, and the inventor of the _víṇá_ or Indian lute. He bears a strong resemblance to Hermes or Mercury.

8 This mystic syllable, said to typify the supreme Deity, the Gods collectively, the Vedas, the three spheres of the world, the three holy fires, the three steps of Vishṇu etc., prefaces the prayers and most venerated writings of the Hindus.

9 This colloquy is supposed to have taken place about sixteen years after Ráma’s return from his wanderings and occupation of his ancestral throne.

10 Called also Śrí and Lakshmí, the consort of Vishṇu, the Queen of Beauty as well as the Dea Fortuna. Her birth “from the full-flushed wave” is described in Canto XLV of this Book.