That such a state of affairs was not favourable to Romantic Love is
obvious. Nevertheless there appears to have been a period—about 1200 or
1500 years ago—when some of the inhabitants of India were familiar with
most of the emotions which enter into Modern Love. This evidence is
contained in the _Seven Hundred Maxims of Hâla_, a collection of poetic
utterances dating back not further than the third century of our era,
and comprising productions by various authors, including as many as
sixteen of the female persuasion. They are written in a sister-language
of Sanscrit, the Prâkrit; and their form indicates that they were
intended to be sung. Herr Albrecht Weber remarks in the _Deutsche
Rundschau_ with reference to this collection: “At the very beginning of
our acquaintance with Sanscrit literature, towards the end of the last
century, it was noticed, and was claimed forthwith as an eloquent proof
of antique relationship, that Indian poetry, especially of the amatory
kind, is in character remarkably allied to our own modern poetry. The
sentimental qualities of modern verse, in one word, were traced in
Indian poetry in a much higher degree than they had been found in Greek
and Roman literature; and this discovery awakened at once, notably in
Germany, a sympathetic interest in a country whose poets spoke a
language so well known to our hearts, as though they had been born among
ourselves.”
Some of these maxims apparently depict the family life of the lower
classes; others appear rather as if they had been intended to be sung by
the Bayaderes, or singing and dancing girls of the Buddhist temples, who
emancipated themselves from the domestic and educational restrictions
placed on other women, and sought to fascinate men with their wit, love,
and æsthetic accomplishments. This suggestion is borne out by the fact
that most of the maxims are feminine utterances, and often of
questionable moral character. Although, therefore, some of these
revelations of early Aryan Love have an unpleasant by-flavour, they are
yet extremely interesting as showing how dependent Romantic Love is on
the freedom and the intellectual and æsthetic culture of woman.
We find in the maxims of Halâ evidences of that important overtone of
Love, Ecstatic Adoration or Poetic Hyperbole, which we have not
encountered elsewhere, so far. What could be more modern than this:—
“Although all my possessions were burnt in the village fire, yet is my
heart delighted, since _he_ took the buckets from me when they were
passed from hand to hand.”