with _Uttara Kuru_. He speaks of a mountain, a people, and a city called
_Ottorakorra_. Most of the other ancient authors who elsewhere mention
this name, have it from him. It is a part of the country which he calls
Serica; according to him the city lies twelve degrees west from the
metropolis of Sera, and the mountain extends from thence far to the
eastward. As Ptolemy has misplaced the whole of eastern Asia beyond the
Ganges, the _relative_ position which he assigns will guide us better that
the absolute one, which removes _Ottorakorra_ so far to the east that a
correction is inevitable. According to my opinion the _Ottorakorra_ of
Ptolemy must be sought for to the east of Kashgar.’ Lassen also thinks
that Magasthenes had the Uttara Kurus in view when he referred to the
Hyperboreans who were fabled by Indian writers to live a thousand years.
In his Indian antiquities, (Ind. Alterthumskunde, i. 511, 512. and note,)
the same writer concludes that though the passages above cited relative to
the Uttara Kurus indicate a belief in the existence of a really existing
country of that name in the far north, yet that the descriptions there
given are to be taken as pictures of an ideal paradise, and not as founded
on any recollections of the northern origin of the Kurus. It is probable,
he thinks, that some such reminiscences originally existed, and still
survived in the Vedic era, though there is no trace of their existence in
latter times.” MUIR’S _Sanskrit Texts_, Vol. II. pp. 336, 337.
Page 428.
_Trust to these mighty Vánars._
The corresponding passage in the Bengal recension has “these silvans in
the forms of monkeys, vánaráh kapirupinah.” “Here it manifestly appears,”
says Gorresio, “that these hosts of combatants whom Ráma led to the
conquest of Lanká (Ceylon) the kingdom and seat of the Hamitic race, and
whom the poem calls monkeys, were in fact as I have elsewhere observed,
inhabitants of the mountainous and southern regions of India, who were
wild-looking and not altogether unlike monkeys. They were perhaps the
remote ancestors of the Malay races.”
Page 431.
_"Art thou not he who slew of old_
_The Serpent-Gods, and stormed their hold."_
All these exploits of Rávaṇ are detailed in the _Uttarakáṇḍa_, and
epitomized in the Appendix.
Page 434.
_Within the consecrated hall_.
The Bráhman householder ought to maintain three sacred fires, the
_Gárhapatya_, the _Ahavaniya_ and the _Dakshiṇa_. These three fires were
made use of in many Brahmanical solemnities, for example in funeral rites
when the three fires were arranged in prescribed order.
Page 436.
_Fair Punjikasthalá I met._
“I have not noticed in the Úttara Káṇda any story about the daughter of
Varuṇa, but the commentator on the text (VI 60, 11) explains the allusion
to her thus:
“The daughter of Varuṇa was Punjikasthalí. On her account, a curse of
Brahmá, involving the penalty of death, [was pronounced] on the rape of
women.” MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts_, Part IV. Appendix.
Page 452.
_“__Shall no funereal honours grace_
_The parted lord of Raghu’s race?__”_
“Here are indicated those admirable rites and those funeral prayers which
Professor Müller has described in his excellent work, _Die
Todtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen_, Sítá laments that the body of Ráma
will not be honoured with those rites and prayers, nor will the Bráhman
priest while laying the ashes from the pile in the bosom of the earth,
pronounce over them those solemn and magnificent words: ‘Go unto the
earth, thy mother, the ample, wide, and blessed earth.… And do thou, O
Earth, open and receive him as a friend with sweet greeting: enfold him in
thy bosom as a mother wraps her child in her robes.’ ” GORRESIO.
Page 462.
_Each glorious sign_
_That stamps the future queen is mine_.
We read in Josephus that Caesar was so well versed in chiromancy that when
one day a _soi-disant_ son of Herod had audience of him, he at once
detected the impostor because his hand was destitute of all marks of
royalty.
Page 466.
_In battle’s wild Gandharva dance_.
“Here the commentator explains: ‘the battle resembled the dance of the
Gandharvas,’ in accordance with the notion of the Gandharvas entertained
in his day. They were regarded as celestial musicians enlivening with
their melodies Indra’s heaven and the banquets of the Gods. But the
Gandharvas before becoming celestial musicians in popular tradition, were
in the primitive and true signification of the name heroes, spirited and
ardent warriors, followers of Indra, and combined the heroical character
with their atmospherical deity. Under this aspect the dance of the
Gandharvas may be a very different thing from what the commentator means,
and may signify the horrid dance of war.” GORRESIO.
The Homeric expression is similar, “to dance a war-dance before Ares.”
Page 470.
_By Anaraṇya’s lips of old._
“The story of Anaraṇya is told in the Uttara Kaṇḍa of the Rámáyaṇa.…
Anaraṇya a descendant of Ixváku and King of Ayodhyá, when called upon to
fight with Rávaṇa or acknowledge himself conquered, prefers the former
alternative; but his army is overcome, and he himself is thrown from his
chariot.
When Rávaṇa triumphs over his prostrate foe, the latter says that he has
been vanquished not by him but by fate, and that Rávaṇa is only the
instrument of his overthrow; and he predicts that Rávaṇa shall one day be
slain by his descendant Ráma.” _Sanskrit Texts_, IV., Appendix.
Page 497.
“With regard to the magic image of Sítá made by Indrajit, we may observe
that this thoroughly oriental idea is also found in Greece in Homer’s
Iliad, where Apollo forms an image of Æneas to save that hero beloved by
the Gods: it occurs too in the Æneid of Virgil where Juno forms a
fictitious Æneas to save Turnus:
Tum dea nube cava tenuem sine viribus umbram
In faciem Æneæ (visu mirabile monstrum)
Dardaniis ornat telis; clipeumque jubasque
Divini assimulat capitis; dat inania verba;
Dat sine mente sonum, gressusque effingit euntis.
(_Æneidos_, lib. X.)” GORRESIO.
Page 489.
_"To Raghu’s son my chariot lend."_
“Analogous to this passage of the Rámáyana, where Indra sends to Ráma his
own chariot, his own charioteer, and his own arms, is the passage in the
Æneid where Venus descending from heaven brings celestial arms to her son
Æneas when he is about to enter the battle:
At Venus æthereos inter dea candida nimbos
Dona fereus aderat;…
…
Arma sub adversa posuit radiantia quercum.
Ille, deæ donis et tanto lætus honore,
Expleri nequit, atque oculus per singula volvit,
Miraturque, interque manus et brachia versat
Terribilem cristis galeam flammasque vomentem,
Fatiferumque ensem, loricam ex ære rigentem.
(_Æneidos_, lib. VIII)” GORRESIO.
Page 489.
_Agastya came and gently spake._
“The Muni or saint Agastya, author of several Vedic hymns, was celebrated
in Indo-Sanskrit tradition for having directed the first brahmanical
settlements in the southern regions of India; and the Mahábhárata gives
him the credit of having subjected those countries, expelled the
Rákshases. and given security to the solitary ascetics, who were settled
there. Hence Agastya was regarded in ancient legend as the conqueror and
ruler of the southern country. This tradition refers to the earliest
migrations made by the Sanskrit Indians towards the south of India. To
Agastya are attributed many marvellous mythic deeds which adumbrate and
veil ancient events; some of which are alluded to here and there in the
Rámáyana.” GORRESIO.
The following is the literal translation of the Canto, text and
commentary, from the Calcutta edition:
Having found Ráma weary with fighting and buried in deep thought, and
Rávaṇ standing before him ready to engage in battle, the holy Agastya, who
had come to see the battle, approached Ráma and spoke to him thus: “O
mighty Ráma, listen to the old mystery by which thou wilt conquer all thy
foes in the battle. Having daily repeated the Ádityahridaya (the delighter
of the mind of the Sun) the holy prayer which destroys all enemies (of him
who repeats it) gives victory, removes all sins, sorrows and distress,
increases life, and which is the blessing of all blessings, worship the
rising and splendid sun who is respected by both the Gods and demons, who
gives light to all bodies and who is the rich lord of all the worlds, (To
the question why this prayer claims so great reverence; the sage answers)
Since yonder(1073) sun is full of glory and all gods reside in him (he
being their material cause) and bestows being and the active principle on
all creatures by his rays; and since he protects all deities, demons and
men with his rays.
He is Brahmá,(1074) Vishṇu,(1075) Śiva,(1076) Skanda,(1077)
Prajápati,(1078) Mahendra,(1079) Dhanada,(1080) Kála,(1081) Yáma,(1082)
Soma,(1083) Apàm Pati _i.e._ The lord of waters, Pitris,(1084)
Vasus,(1085) Sádhyas,(1086) Aśvins,(1087) Maruts,(1088) Manu,(1089)
Váyu,(1090) Vahni,(1091) Prajá,(1092) Práṇa,(1093) Ritukartá,(1094)
Prabhákara,(1095) (Thou,(1096) art) Aditya,(1097) Savitá,(1098)
Súrya,(1099) Khaga,(1100) Púshan,(1101) Gabhastimán,(1102)
Śuvarṇasadriśa,(1103) Bhánu,(1104) Hiraṇyaretas,(1105) Divákara,(1106)
Haridaśva,(1107) Sahasrárchish,(1108) Saptasapti,(1109) Marichimán,(1110)
Timironmathana,(1111) Sambhu,(1112) Twashtá,(1113) Mártanda,(1114)
Anśumán,(1115) Hiranyagarbha,(1116) Siśira,(1117) Tapana,(1118)
Ahaskara,(1119) Ravi,(1120) Agnigarbha,(1121) Aditiputra,(1122)
Sankha,(1123) Siśiranáśana,(1124) Vyomanátha,(1125) Tamobhedí,(1126)
Rigyajussámapáraga,(1127) Ghanavríshti,(1128) Apám-Mitra,(1129)
Vindhyavíthíplavangama,(1130) Átapí,(1131) Mandalí,(1132) Mrityu (death),
Pingala,(1133) Sarvatápana,(1134) Kavi,(1135) Viśva,(1136)
Mahátejas,(1137) Rakta,(1138) Sarvabhavodbhava.(1139) The Lord of stars,
planets, and other luminous bodies, Viśvabhávana,(1140)
Tejasvinám-Tejasvi,(1141) Dwádaśátman:(1142) I salute thee. I salute thee
who art the eastern mountain. I salute thee who art the western mountain.
I salute thee who art the Lord of all the luminous bodies. I salute thee
who art the Lord of days.
I respectfully salute thee who art Jaya,(1143) Jayabhadra,(1144)
Haryaśa,(1145) O Thou who hast a thousand rays, I repeatedly salute thee.
I repeatedly and respectfully salute thee who art Áditya, I repeatedly
salute thee who art Ugra,(1146) Víra,(1147) and Sáranga.(1148) I salute
thee who openest the lotuses (or the lotus of the heart). I salute thee
who art furious. I salute thee who art the Lord of Brahmá, Śiva and
Vishṇu. I salute thee who art the sun, Ádityavarchas,(1149) splendid,
Sarvabhaksha,(1150)and Raudravapush.(1151)
I salute thee who destroyest darkness, cold and enemies: whose form is
boundless, who art the destroyer of the ungrateful; who art Deva;(1152)
who art the Lord of the luminous bodies, and who appearest like the heated
gold. I salute thee who art Hari,(1153) Viśvakarman,(1154) the destroyer
of darkness, and who art splendid and Lokasákshin.(1155) Yonder sun
destroys the whole of the material world and also creates it. Yonder sun
dries (all earthly things), destroys them and causes rain with his rays.
He wakes when our senses are asleep; and resides within all beings. Yonder
sun is Agnihotra(1156) and also the fruit obtained by the performer of
Agnihotra. He is identified with the gods, sacrifices, and the fruit of
the sacrifices. He is the Lord of all the duties known to the world, if
any man, O Rághava, in calamities, miseries, forests and dangers, prays to
yonder sun, he is never overwhelmed by distress.
Worship, with close attention Him the God of gods and the Lord of the
world; and recite these verses thrice, whereby thou wilt be victorious in
the battle. O brave one, thou wilt kill Rávaṇa this very instant.”
Thereupon Agastya having said this went away as he came. The glorious Ráma
having heard this became free from sorrow. Rághava whose senses were under
control, being pleased, committed the hymn to memory, recited it facing
the sun, and obtained great delight. The brave Ráma having sipped water
thrice and become pure took his bow, and seeing Rávaṇa, was delighted, and
meditated on the sun.
Page 492. Rávan’s Funeral.
“In the funeral ceremonies of India the fire was placed on three sides of
the pyre; the _Dakshiṇa_ on the south, the _Gárhapatya_ on the west, and
the _Áhavaníya_ on the east. The funeral rites are not described in detail
here, and it is therefore difficult to elucidate and explain them. The
poem assigns the funeral ceremonies of Aryan Brahmans to the Rákshases, a
race different from them in origin and religion, in the same way as Homer
sometimes introduces into Troy the rites of the Grecian cult.” GORRESIO.
Mr. Muir translates the description of the funeral from the Calcutta
edition, as follows: “They formed, with Vedic rites, a funeral pile of
faggots of sandal-wood, with _padmaka_ wood, _uśira_ grass, and sandal,
and covered with a quilt of deer’s hair. They then performed an unrivalled
obsequial ceremony for the Ráxasa prince, placing the sacrificial ground
to the S.E. and the fire in the proper situation. They cast the ladle
filled with curds and ghee on the shoulder(1157) of the deceased; he (?)
placed the car on the feet, and the mortar between the thighs. Having
deposited all the wooden vessels, the [upper] and lower fire-wood, and the
other pestle, in their proper places, they departed. The Ráxasas having
then slain a victim to their prince in the manner prescribed in the
Śástras, and enjoined by great rishis, cast [into the fire] the coverlet
of the king saturated with ghee. They then, Vibhíshaṇa included, with
afflicted hearts, adorned Rávaṇa with perfumes and garlands, and with
various vestments, and besprinkled him with fried grain. Vibhíshaṇa having
bathed, and having, with his clothes wet, scattered in proper form _tila_
seeds mixed with _darbha_ grass, and moistened with water, applied the
fire [to the pile].”
Page 496.
The following is a literal translation of Brahmá’s address to Ráma
according to the Calcutta edition, text and commentary:
“O Ráma, how dost thou, being the creator of all the world, best of all
those who have profound knowledge of the Upanishads and all-powerful as
thou art, suffer Sítá to fall in the fire? How dost thou not know thyself
as the best of the gods? Thou art one of the primeval Vasus,(1158) and
also their lord and creator. Thou art thyself the lord and first creator
of the three worlds. Thou art the eighth (that is Mahádeva) of the
Rudras,(1159) and also the fifth(1160) of the Sádhyas.(1161) (The poet
describes Ráma as made of the following gods) The Aśvinikumáras (the twin
divine physicians of the gods) are thy ears; the sun and the moon are thy
eyes; and thou hast been seen in the beginning and at the end of creation.
How dost thou neglect the daughter of Videha (Janaka} like a man whose
actions are directed by the dictates of nature?” Thus addressed by Indra,
Brahmá and the other gods, Ráma the descendant of Raghu, lord of the world
and the best of the virtuous, spoke to the chief of the gods. “As I take
myself to be a man of the name of Ráma and son of Daśaratha, therefore,
sir, please tell me who I am and whence have I come.” “O thou whose might
is never failing,” said Brahmá to Kákutstha the foremost of those who
thoroughly know Brahmá, “Thou art Náráyaṇa,(1162) almighty, possessed of
fortune, and armed with the discus. Thou art the boar(1163) with one tusk;
the conqueror of thy past and future foes. Thou art Brahmá true and
eternal or undecaying. Thou art Viśvaksena,(1164) having four arms; Thou
art Hrishíkeśa,(1165) whose bow is made of horn; Thou art Purusha,(1166)
the best of all beings; Thou art one who is never defeated by any body;
Thou art the holder of the sword (named Nandaka). Thou art Vishṇu (the
pervader of all); blue in colour: of great might; the commander of armies;
and lord of villages. Thou art truth. Thou art embodied intelligence,
forgiveness, control over the senses, creation, and destruction. Thou art
Upendra(1167) and Madhusúdana.(1168) Thou art the creator of Indra, the
ruler over all the world, Padmanábha,(1169) and destroyer of enemies in
the battle. The divine Rishis call thee shelter of refugees, as well as
the giver of shelter. Thou hast a thousand horns,(1170) a hundred
heads.(1171) Thou art respected of the respected; and the lord and first
creator of the three worlds. Thou art the forefather and shelter of
Siddhas,(1172) and Sádhyas.(1173) Thou art sacrifices; Vashaṭkára,(1174)
Omkára.(1175) Thou art beyond those who are beyond our senses. There is
none who knows who thou art and who knows thy beginning and end. Thou art
seen in all material objects, in Bráhmans, in cows, and also in all the
quarters, sky and streams. Thou hast a thousand feet, a hundred heads, and
a thousand eyes. Thou hast borne the material objects and the earth with
the mountains; and at the bottom of the ocean thou art seen the great
serpent. O Ráma, Thou hast borne the three worlds, gods, Gandharvas,(1176)
and demons. I am, O Ráma, thy heart; the goddess of learning is thy
tongue; the gods are the hairs of thy body; the closing of thy eyelids is
called the night: and their opening is called the day. The Vedas are thy
Sanskáras.(1177) Nothing can exist without thee. The whole world is thy
body; the surface of the earth is thy stability.”
O Śrívatsalakshaṇa, fire is thy anger, and the moon is thy favour. In the
time of thy incarnation named Vámana, thou didst pervade the three worlds
with thy three steps; and Mahendra was made the king of paradise by thee
having confined the fearful Bali.(1178) Sítá (thy wife) is Lakshmí; and
thou art the God Vishṇu,(1179) Krishṇa,(1180) and Prajápati. To kill Rávaṇ
thou hast assumed the form of a man; therefore, O best of the virtuous,
thou hast completed this task imposed by us (gods). O Ráma, Rávaṇa has
been killed by thee: now being joyful (i.e. having for some time reigned
in the kingdom of Ayodhyá,) go to paradise. O glorious Ráma, thy power and
thy valour are never failing. The visit to thee and the prayers made to
thee are never fruitless. Thy devotees will never be unsuccessful. Thy
devotees who obtain thee (thy favour) who art first and best of mankind,
shall obtain their desires in this world as well as in the next. They who
recite this prayer, founded on the Vedas (or first uttered by the sages),
and the old and divine account of (Ráma) shall never suffer defeat.”
Page 503. The Meeting.
The _Bharat-Miláp_ or meeting with Bharat, is the closing scene of the
dramatic representation of Ráma’s great victory and triumphant return
which takes place annually in October in many of the cities of Northern
India. The Rám-Lalá or Play of Ráma, as the great drama is called, is
performed in the open air and lasts with one day’s break through fifteen
successive days. At Benares there are three nearly simultaneous
performances, one provided by H. H. the Maharajah of Benares near his
palace at Ramnaggur, one by H. H. the Maharajah of Vizianagram near the
Missionary settlement at Sigra and at other places in the city, and one by
the leading gentry of the city at Chowká Ghát near the College. The scene
especially on the great day when the brothers meet is most interesting:
the procession of elephants with their gorgeous howdahs of silver and gold
and their magnificently dressed riders with priceless jewels sparkling in
their turbans, the enthusiasm of the thousands of spectators who fill the
streets and squares, the balconies and the housetops, the flowers that are
rained down upon the advancing car, the wild music, the shouting and the
joy, make an impression that is not easily forgotten.
_Still on his head, well trained in lore_
_Of duty, Ráma’s shoes he bore._
Ráma’s shoes are here regarded as the emblems of royalty or possession. We
may compare the Hebrew “Over Edom will I cast forth my shoe.” A curiously
similar passage occurs in LYSCHANDER’S _Chronicon Greenlandiæ Rhythmicon_:
“Han sendte til Irland sin skiden skoe,
Og böd den Konge. Som der monne boe,
Han skulde dem hæderlig bære
Pan Juuledag i sin kongelig Pragt,
Og kjende han havde sit Rige og Magt
Af Norges og Quernes Herre.”
He sent to Ireland his dirty shoes,
And commanded the king who lived there
To wear them with honour
On Christmas Day in his royal state,
And to own that he had his kingdom and power
From the Lord of Norway and the Isles.
_Notes & Queries, March 30, 1872._
Final Notes.
I end these notes with an extract which I translate from Signor Gorresio’s
Preface to the tenth volume of his Rámáyan, and I take this opportunity of
again thankfully acknowledging my great obligations to this eminent
Śanskritist from whom I have so frequently borrowed. As Mr. Muir has
observed, the Bengal recension which Signor Gorresio has most ably edited
is throughout an admirable commentary on the genuine Rámáyan of northern
India, and I have made constant reference to the faithful and elegant
translation which accompanies the text for assistance and confirmation in
difficulties:
“Towards the southern extremity and in the island of Lanká (Ceylon) there
existed undoubtedly a black and ferocious race, averse to the Aryans and
hostile to their mode of worship: their ramifications extended through the
islands of the Archipelago, and some traces of them remain in Java to this
day.
The Sanskrit-Indians, applying to this race a name expressive of hatred
which occurs in the Vedas as the name of hostile, savage and detested
beings, called it the Rákshas race: it is against these Rákshases that the
expedition of Ráma which the Rámáyan celebrates is directed. The
Sanskrit-Indians certainly altered in their traditions the real character
of this race: they attributed to it physical and moral qualities not found
in human nature; they transformed it into a race of giants; they
represented it as monstrous, hideous, truculent, changing forms at will,
blood-thirsty and ravenous, just as the Semites represented the races that
opposed them as impious, horrible and of monstrous size. But
notwithstanding these mythical exaggerations, which are partly due to the
genius of the Aryans so prone to magnify everything without measure, the
Rámáyan in the course of its epic narration has still preserved and noted
here and there some traits and peculiarities of the race which reveal its
true character. It represents the Rákshases as black of hue, and compares
them with black clouds and masses of black collyrium; it attributes to
them curly woolly hair and thick lips, it depicts them as loaded with
chains, collars and girdles of gold, and the other bright ornaments which
their race has always loved, and in which the kindred races of the Soudan
still delight. It describes them as worshippers of matter and force. They
are hostile to the religion of the Aryans whose rites and sacrifices they
disturb and ruin … Such is the Rákshas race as represented in the Rámáyan;
and the war of the Aryan Ráma forms the subject of the epic, a subject
certainly real and historical as far as regards its substance, but greatly
exaggerated by the ancient myth. In Sanskrit-Indian tradition are found
traces of another struggle of the Aryans with the Rákshas races, which
preceded the war of Ráma. According to some pauranic legends, Kárttavírya,
a descendant of the royal tribe of the Yádavas, contemporary with
Parasurama and a little anterior to Ráma, attacked Lanká and took Rávaṇ
prisoner. This well shows how ancient and how deeply rooted in the Aryan
race is the thought of this war which the Rámáyan celebrates.
“But,” says an eminent Indianist(1181) whose learning I highly appreciate,
“the Rámáyan is an allegorical epic, and no precise and historical value
can be assigned to it. Sítá signifies the furrow made by the plough, and
under this symbolical aspect has already appeared honoured with worship in
the hymns of the Rig-veda; Ráma is the bearer of the plough (this
assertion is entirely gratuitous); these two allegorical personages
represented agriculture introduced to the southern regions of India by the
race of the Kosalas from whom Ráma was descended; the Rákshases on whom he
makes war are races of demons and giants who have little or nothing human
about them; allegory therefore predominates in the poem, and the exact
reality of an historical event must not be looked for in it.” Such is
Professor Weber’s opinion. If he means to say that mythical fictions are
mingled with real events,
Forsan in alcun vero suo arco percuote,
as Dante says, and I fully concede the point. The interweaving of the myth
with the historical truth belongs to the essence, so to speak, of the
primitive epopeia. If Sítá is born, as the Rámáyan feigns, from the furrow
which King Janak opened when he ploughed the earth, not a whit more real
is the origin of Helen and Æneas as related in Homer and Virgil, and if
the characters in the Rámáyan exceed human nature, and in a greater degree
perhaps than is the case in analogous epics, this springs in part from the
nature of the subject and still more from the symbol-loving genius of the
orient. Still the characters of the Rámáyan, although they exceed more or
less the limits of human nature, act notwithstanding in the course of the
poem, speak, feel, rejoice and grieve according to the natural impulse of
human passions. But if by saying that the Rámáyan is an allegorical epic,
it is meant that its fundamental subject is nothing but allegory, that the
war of the Aryan Ráma against the Rákshas race is an allegory, that the
conquest of the southern region and of the island of Lanká is an allegory,
I do not hesitate to answer that such a presumption cannot be admitted and
that the thing is in my opinion impossible. Father Paolíno da S.
Bartolommeo,(1182) had already, together with other strange opinions of
his own on Indian matters, brought forward a similar idea, that is to say
that the exploit of Ráma which is the subject of the Rámáyan was a symbol
and represented the course of the sun: thus he imagined that Brahmá was
the earth, Vishṇu the water, and that his avatárs were the blessings
brought by the fertilizing waters, etc. But such ideas, born at a time
when Indo-sanskrit antiquities were enveloped in darkness, have been
dissipated by the light of new studies. How could an epic so dear in India
to the memory of the people, so deeply rooted for many centuries in the
minds of all, so propagated and diffused through all the dialects and
languages of those regions, which had become the source of many dramas
which are still represented in India, which is itself represented every
year with such magnificence and to such crowds of people in the
neighbourhood of Ayodhyá, a poem welcomed at its very birth with such
favour, as the legend relates, that the recitation of it by the first
wandering Rhapsodists has consecrated and made famous all the places
celebrated by them, and where Ráma made a shorter or longer stay, how, I
ask, could such an epic have been purely allegorical? How, upon a pure
invention, upon a simple allegory, could a poem have been composed of
about fifty thousand verses, relating with such force and power the
events, and giving details with such exactness? On a theme purely
allegorical there may easily be composed a short mythical poem, as for
example a poem on Proserpine or Psyche: but never an epic so full of
traditions and historical memories, so intimately connected with the life
of the people, as the Rámáyan.(1183) Excessive readiness to find allegory
whenever some traces of symbolism occur, where the myth partly veils the
historical reality, may lead and often has led to error. What poetical
work of mythical times could stand this mode of trial? could there not be
made, or rather has there not been made a work altogether allegorical, out
of the Homeric poems? We have all heard of the ingenious idea of the
anonymous writer, who in order to prove how easily we may pass beyond the
truth in our wish to seek and find allegory everywhere, undertook with
keen subtlety to prove that the great personality of Napoleon I. was
altogether allegorical and represented the sun. Napoleon was born in an
island, his course was from west to east, his twelve marshals were the
twelve signs of the zodiac, etc.
I conclude then, that the fundamental theme of the Rámáyan, that is to say
the war of the Aryan Ráma against the Rákshases, an Hamitic race settled
in the south, ought to be regarded as real and historical as far as
regards its substance, although the mythic element intermingled with the
true sometimes alters its natural and genuine aspect.
How then did the Indo-Sanskrit epopeia form and complete itself? What
elements did it interweave in its progress? How did it embody, how did it
clothe the naked and simple primitive datum? We must first of all remember
that the Indo-European races possessed the epic genius in the highest
degree, and that they alone in the different regions they occupied
produced epic poetry … But other causes and particular influences combined
to nourish and develop the epic germ of the Sanskrit-Indians. Already in
the Rig-veda are found hymns in which the Aryan genius preluded, so to
speak, to the future epopeia, in songs that celebrated the heroic deeds of
Indra, the combats and the victories of the tutelary Gods of the Aryan
races over enemies secret or open, human or superhuman, the exploits and
the memories of ancient heroes. More recently, at certain solemn
occasions, as the very learned A. Weber remarks, at the solemnity, for
example of the Aśvamedha or sacrifice of the horse, the praises of the
king who ordained the great rite were sung by bards and minstrels in songs
composed for the purpose, the memories of past times were recalled and
honourable mention was made of the just and pious kings of old. In the
_Bráhmaṇas_, a sort of prose commentaries annexed to the Vedas, are found
recorded stories and legends which allude to historical events of the past
ages, to ancient memories, and to mythical events. Such popular legends
which the _Bráhmaṇas_ undoubtedly gathered from tradition admirably suited
the epic tissue with which they were interwoven by successive hands.… Many
and various mythico-historical traditions, suitable for epic development,
were diffused among the Aryan races, those for example which are related
in the four chapters containing the description of the earth, the Descent
of the Ganges, etc. The epic genius however sometimes created beings of
its own and gave body and life to ideal conceptions. Some of the persons
in the Rámáyan must be, in my opinion, either personifications of the
forces of nature like those which are described with such vigour in the
_Sháhnámah_, or if not exactly created, exaggerated beyond human
proportions; others, vedic personages much more ancient than Ráma, were
introduced into the epic and woven into its narrations, to bring together
men who lived in different and distant ages, as has been the case in times
nearer to our own, in the epics, I mean, of the middle ages.
In the introduction I have discussed the antiquity of the Rámáyan; and by
means of those critical and inductive proofs which are all that an
antiquity without precise historical dates can furnish I have endeavoured
to establish with all the certainty that the subject admitted, that the
original composition of the Rámáyan is to be assigned to about the twelfth
century before the Christian era. Not that I believe that the epic then
sprang to life in the form in which we now possess it; I think, and I have
elsewhere expressed the opinion, that the poem during the course of its
rhapsodical and oral propagation appropriated by way of episodes,
traditions, legends and ancient myths.… But as far as regards the epic
poem properly so called which celebrates the expedition of Ráma against
the Rákshases I think that I have sufficiently shown that its origin and
first appearance should be placed about the twelfth century B.C.; nor have
I hitherto met with anything to oppose this chronological result, or to
oblige me to rectify or reject it.… But an eminent philologist already
quoted, deeply versed in these studies, A. Weber, has expressed in some of
his writings a totally different opinion; and the authority of his name,
if not the number and cogency of his arguments, compels me to say
something on the subject. From the fact or rather the assumption that
Megasthenes(1184) who lived some time in India has made no mention either
of the Mahábhárat or the Rámáyan Professor Weber argues that neither of
these poems could have existed at that time; as regards the Rámáyan, the
unity of its composition, the chain that binds together its different
parts, and its allegorical character, show it, says Professor Weber, to be
much more recent than the age to which I have assigned it, near to our own
era, and according to him, later than the Mahábhárat. As for Megasthenes
it should be observed, that he did not write a history of India, much less
a literary history or anything at all resembling one, but a simple
description, in great part physical, of India: whence, from his silence on
literary matters to draw inferences regarding the history of Sanskrit
literature would be the same thing as from the silence of a geologist with
respect to the literature of a country whose valleys, mountains, and
internal structure he is exploring, to conjecture that such and such a
poem or history not mentioned by him did not exist at his time. We have
only to look at the fragments of Megasthenes collected and published by
Schwanbeck to see what was the nature and scope of his _Indica_.… But only
a few fragments of Megasthenes are extant; and to pretend that they should
be argument and proof enough to judge the antiquity of a poem is to press
the laws of criticism too far. To Professor Weber’s argument as to the
more or less recent age of the Rámáyan from the unity of its composition,
I will make one sole reply, which is that if unity of composition were
really a proof of a more recent age, it would be necessary to reduce by a
thousand years at least the age of Homer and bring him down to the age of
Augustus and Virgil; for certainly there is much more unity of
composition, a greater accord and harmony of parts in the Iliad and the
Odyssey than in the Rámáyan. But in the fine arts perfection is no proof
of a recent age: while the experience and the continuous labour of
successive ages are necessary to extend and perfect the physical or
natural sciences, art which is spontaneous in its nature can produce and
has produced in remote times works of such perfection as later ages have
not been able to equal.”
INDEX OF PRINCIPAL NAMES
Abhijit, 24.
Abhikála, 176.
Abhíra, 444.
Abravanti, 374.
Aditi, 31, 57, 58, 125, 201, 245, 246.
Ádityas, 246, 403.
Agastya, 5, 9, 40, 132, 151, 239, 240, 242, 244, 262, 265, 280, 375, 480,
491, 500.
Ágneya, 178.
Agni, 28, 74, 109, 132, 240, 243, 276.
Agnivarṇa, 82, 220.
Agniketu, 433 note, 459.
Ahalyá, 60, 61, 62.
Ailadhána, 178.
Air, 2, 28, 203.
Airávat, 14, 110, 178, 246, 256, 267, 335, 399, 402, 415, 429, 437, 472.
Aja, 82, 220, 465.
Ájas, 270, 271.
Akampan, 265, 266, 468, 481.
Aksha, 6, 420, 469, 471.
Akurvati, 178.
Alaka, 203 note.
Alambúshá, 59, 198, 199.
Alarka, 104, 107.
Amarávatí, 13, 203 note, 286.
Ambarísha, 72, 73, 74, 82, 220.
Amúrtarajas, 46.
Anala, 455 note.
Analá, 245, 246.
Ananta, 373.
Anaraṇya, 81, 219, 470.
Anasúyá, 9, 226, 227, 228.
Andhak, 264.
Andhras, 549.
Anga, 38.
Angad, 342, 348, 350, 352 ff., 363, 364 note, 367, 374, 379 ff, 391, 402,
425 ff., 439, 442, 445, 448, 456, 458, 459, 475, 479 ff, 505.
Angas, 15, 18, 19, 21, 102.
Angiras, 133, 245.
Anjan, 14, 368, 369.
Anjaná, 392.
Anśudhána, 179.
Anśumán, 50, 53, 56, 82, 220.
Anuhláda, 370.
Aparparyat, 178.
Apartála, 175.
Apsarases, 57, 198, 199, 229, 378.
Aptoryám, 24.
Arishta, 424, 425.
Aríshṭanemi, 49, 245, 392.
Arjun, 86.
Arjuna, 518.
Arthasádhak, 14.
Aruṇ, 246,
Arundhatí, 19, 244, 413.
Aryaman, 124.
Áryan, 92.
Asamanj, 50, 53, 82, 138, 220.
Asit, 81, 219.
Aśok, 14, 175.
Aśoka, 6, 10, 101, 205, 278, 296, 297, 300, 318, 321, 357, 403, 444, 452,
456.
Asta, 377, 379 note.
Asurs, 57, 58, 380, 381, 387, 394, 407, 413, 420.
Aśvagríva, 246.
Aśvamedh, 29, 236 note.
Aśvapati, 89, 131, 178, 183.
Aśvatarí, 346.
Aśvin, 371.
Aśvíní, 343.
Aśvins, 28, 36, 60, 62, 163, 246, 339, 343, 403, 490.
Atikáya, 468, 478 ff.
Atirátra, 24.
Atri, 245, 561.
Aurva, 373 note.
Avantí, 374.
Avindhya, 415.
Ayodhyá, 4, 6, 11, 12, 14, 19, 32, 33, 38, 49, 70, 72, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85,
88, 95, 96, _passim_.
Ayomukh, 374.
Ayomukhi, 310.
Báhíka, 176.
Bahuputra, 245.
Bala, 264.
Bálakhilyas, 63, 235, 270, 271, 374.
Bali, 43, 59, 107, 275, 302, 421.
Báli, 5, 9, 29, 318, 324, 328, 329, 333 ff., 344, 356 ff., 362, 364, 366,
367, 379, 380, 391, 404, 412, 420, 440, 442, 448, 456, 458, 475, 478, 500,
503, 505.
Barbars, 66.
Beauty, 26, 29, 58, 88, 283, 455.
Bhadamadrá, 246.
Bhadra, 52.
Bhaga, 124, 243.
Bhagírath, 53, 54, 55, 82, 220, 372.
Bhágírathí, 56.
Bharadvája, 4, 7, 9, 10, 158, 159, 193, 196, 197, 199, 200, 201, 501.
Bharat, 4, 9, 10, 32, 81, 83, 84, 88, 89, 94, 97, _passim_.
Bharatas, 550.
Bháruṇḍa, 178.
Bhásí, 246.
Bhásakarṇa, 420.
Bhava, 78.
Bhímá, 198.
Bhogavatí, 12 note, 267, 375.
Bhrigu, 40, 63, 73, 81, 85, 86, 88, 133, 220.
Brahmá, 6, 7, 10, 19, 25, 26, 33, 38, 39, 42, 46, 48, 54, 56, 59, 61, 63,
65, 67, 68, 74, 75, 77, 81, _passim_.
Brahmadatta, 46, 47.
Brahmádikas, 133 note.
Bhrahmamálas, 548.
Budha, 287.
Buddhist, 219.
Cancer, 109.
Ceylon, 375 note.
Chaitra, 91.
Chaitraratha, 41, 178, 199, 267, 279, 315, 493.
Chakraván, 376.
Champá, 30.
Chaṇḍa, 448.
Chaṇḍála, 69, 70.
Chandra, 464.
Chatushṭom, 24.
Chitrá, 111, 250, 283.
Chitrakúṭa, 4, 9, 160, 161, 197, 200, 201, 202, 209, 235, 236, 317, 416,
501.
Chitraratha, 132.
Cholas, 549.
Chúli, 47.
Chyavan, 81, 220.
Dadhimukh, 426.
Dadhivakra, 364 note.
Daitya, 125, 152, 211, 246, 289, 306, 371, 418.
Daksha, 36, 78, 228, 245, 257, 396.
Dánav, 255, 270, 306, 307, 311, 371, 372, 382, 432, 443, 477.
Daṇḍak, 9, 99, 103, 117, 124, 126, 130, 166, 181, 199, 211, 238, 271, 374.
Daṇḍaká, 5.
Danú, 245, 246, 313.
Dapple skin, 64, 65.
Dardar, 110, 198.
Dardur, 448.
Darímukha, 371.
Daśárṇa, 374.
Dasáratha, 3, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18 ff., 25, 26, 29, 30, 32, 34, 41, 61, 62,
77, 79, 80 ff., 91, 92, 95, _passim_.
Dasyus, 444.
Devamíḍha, 82.
Devántak, 479, 480.
Devarát, 77, 82, 86.
Devasakhá, 378.
Devavatí, 515.
Dhanvantari, 57 note.
Dhanyamáliní, 481.
Dharmabhrit, 240.
Dharmapál, 14.
Dharmáraṇya, 46.
Dharmavardhan, 179.
Dhritaráshṭrí, 246.
Dhrishṭaketu, 82.
Dhrishṭi, 14, 202.
Dhruvasandhi, 81, 219.
Dhúmra, 371, 448.
Dhúmráksha, 433 note, 465, 466.
Dhúmráśva, 60, 481.
Dhundhumár, 81, 171, 219.
Dikshá, 44.
Dilípa, 5 note, 53, 54, 56, 82, 171, 190, 220.
Diti, 58, 59, 245, 246, 323.
Dragon, 101.
Driḍhanetra, 68.
Drishṭi, 202.
Droṇa, 464.
Drumakulya, 444.
Dundubhi, 333, 335, 338.
Durdhar, 420.
Durdharsha, 433 note.
Durjaya, 256 note.
Durmukha, 432, 433 note.
Durvásas, 521.
Dúshaṇ, 5, 250, 254, 255, 256, 258, 259, 261, 264, 265, 267-271, 294, 461,
502.
Dwida, 364 note.
Dwijihva, 474.
Dwivid, 371, 428, 430, 449, 451, 475, 483, 484.
Dwivida, 28.
Dyumatsena, 129.
Ekapádakas, 549.
Ekaśála, 179.
Fame, 26, 283.
Fate, 42, 68, 70, 71, 81, 119, 122, 123, 130, 181, 182, 195, 256, 293,
296, 309, 343, 349, 351, 354, 386, 404, 415, 439, 492.
Fire, 2, 30, 45, 49, 218, 374.
Fortune, 2, 58, 90, 94, 124, 146, 160, 188, 242, 244, 283, 449, 453.
Fire-god, 74, 124, 328.
Gádhi, 40, 48, 63, 64, 67, 68.
Gaja, 364 note, 371, 429, 449, 459.
Gálava, 518.
Gandhamádan, 28, 159, 381, 429, 446, 476.
Gandharva, 199, 256, 258, 259, 278, 285, 351, 396, 425, 437, 441, 454,
466, 468, 491.
Gandharvas, 267, 270, 281, 283, 306, 307, 308, 318, 364, 370, 375, 377,
388, 394, 409, 420, 432, 449, 455, 472.
Gandharví, 246, 265.
Gangá, 7, 9, 37, 38, 45, 48, 49, _passim_.
Garga, 133.
Garuḍ, 28, 29, 53, 246, 271, 373, 453, 465, 470, 475.
Gautam, 60, 61, 62, 505.
Gautama, 236.
Gaváksha, 364 note, 429, 449, 468, 475, 476.
Gavaya, 364 note, 371, 429, 448, 468.
Gaya, 482.
Gayá, 216.
Gáyatrí, 243.
Ghoralohamukhas, 548.
Ghritáchí, 46, 198, 367.
Girivraja, 46, 176.
Glory, 301.
Godávarí, 245, 247, 248, 249, 282, 303, 310, 374, 500.
Gokarna, 54.
Golabh, 351.
Gomatí, 151, 179, 448, 502, 503.
Gopa, 199.
Guha, 4, 9, 152-156, 162, 192, 193, 194, 208, 501.
Guhyakas, 378.
Háhá, 198.
Haihayas, 81, 219.
Hanúmán, 5, 9, 10, 28, 324 ff., 328, 332, 337, 340, 350, 355, 359, 360,
363, 364 note, 368, 371, 374, 378 ff., 392 ff., 411 ff., 424 ff., 449,
456.
Hara, 448.
Harí, 246.
Hárítas, 66.
Haryaśva, 82.
Hástinapura, 176.
Hastiprishṭhak, 179.
Havishyand, 68.
Hayagriva, 346, 376.
Hemá, 198, 382.
Hemachandra, 60.
Heti, 515.
Himálaya, 3, 14, 45, 48, 49, 50, 53, 54, 61, 67, 76, 81, 88.
Himaváu, 380.
Hiraṇyakaśipu, 391 note, 407.
Hiraṇyanábha, 500.
Hládini, 55, 178.
Honour, 283.
Hotri, 24.
Hraśvaromá, 82.
Huhú, 198.
Ikshumatí, 80, 176.
Ikshváku, 2, 11, 13, 18, 24, 25, 35, 59, 60, 69, 70, 71, 73, 81, 82, 83,
90, 94, 96, 103, 219, 390.
Ilval, 241.
Indra, 2, 5, 13, 14, 25, 28, 29, 36, 39, 40, 43 ff., 50, 56, _passim_.
Indrajánu, 371 note.
Indrajít, 420, 432, 436, 437, 441, 455, 459 ff., 482, 485.
Indraśatru, 433 note.
Indraśira, 178.
Irávatí, 246.
Jábáli, 505.
Jahnu, 55.
Jáhnaví, 49, 55, 154.
Jamadagni, 85, 86, 87, 119.
Jámbaván, 371, 374, 388, 391, 393, 402, 425, 428, 429, 439, 446, 448, 456,
464, 483, 503.
Jambudvip, 51, 373.
Jambumálí, 418, 419, 420, 459, 460.
Jambuprastha, 179.
Jámbuvatu, 364 note.
Janak, 4, 8, 9, 21, 45, 60, 61, 62, 77-85, 88, 090, _passim_.
Janamejaya, 171.
Janasthán, 225, 251, 254, 255, 264, 265, 271, 281, 282, 294, 295, 298,
308, 404, 439, 454, 463, 474, 493, 500.
Játarúpa, 373.
Jaṭáyu, 5.
Jaṭáyus, 245, 247, 280, 288, 290, 308, 385 ff., 500, 502.
Java, 231.
Jáváli, 20, 80, 174, 217, 218, 219, 222.
Jayá, 36.
Jayanta, 14, 175.
Jumna, 109, 501, 502.
Jupiter, 144.
Justice, 3, 35, 42, 149, 243, 346, 454.
Jyotishṭom, 24.
Kabandha, 5, 9, 310-316, 446, 500.
Kadrú, 246.
Kadrumá, 246.
Kaikasí, 516.
Kaikeyí, 3, 4, 9, 27, 32, 88, 96-103, _passim_.
Kailása, 38, 85, 92, 96, 110, 111, 267, 286, 357, 364, 368, 369, 373, 378,
421, 431.
Kakustha, 35, 37, 82, 109, 110, 123, 137, 142, 147, 149, 151, 153, 192,
208, 211, 220, 311.
Kalá, 378.
Kálak, 246.
Kálaká, 245, 246.
Kálakámuka, 256 note.
Kálamahí, 372.
Kalinda, 178.
Kálindí, 81, 160, 220.
Kalinga, 179.
Kalingas, 549,
Kalmáshapáda, 82, 220.
Káma 37, 38, 42, 283, 286, 296.
Kámboja, 13, 66.
Kámbojas, 66.
Kámpili, 47
Kaṇdu, 118, 380, 440.
Kandarpa, 37, 74, 75, 76, 250, 269.
Kaṇva, 440.
Kanyákubja, 47.
Kapil, 51, 52, 53.
Kapivati, 179.
Kardam, 245.
Karṇaprávaraṇas, 548.
Kártikeya, 243.
Kárttavírya, 518.
Káśi, 21, 102.
Kásíkosalas, 548.
Kaśyap, 15, 16, 20, 30, 57-59, 80, 81, 86, 87, 91, 92, 118, 219, 215,
passim.
Kátyáyan, 505.
Kátyáyana, 80, 174.
Kauśalyá, 3, 23, 27, 30, 31, 79, 84, 88, 93, 94, 97, 98, 100, _passim_.
Kauśámbí, 46.
Kauśikas, 549.
Kauśikí, 48, 372.
Káverí, 375.
Kaustubha, 58.
Kávya, 40.
Kekaya, 21, 84, 88, 90, 137, 139, 174, 175.
Kerala, 190.
Keralas, 549.
Kesarí, 371.
Keśini, 49, 50.
Khara, 9, 225, 250 ff., 281, 288, 290, 294, 295, 433, 446, 451, 461, 477,
493.
Kinnars, 270, 306, 308, 318, 321, 373, 425.
Kimpurushas, 28 note.
Kirátas, 66, 549.
Kírtirát, 82.
Kirtirátha, 82.
Kishkindhá, 5, 333, 334, 336, 338, 339, 351, 357, 362, 369, 385, 449, 464,
500.
Kośal, 11, 102, 273, 307, 359, 418.
Kośala, 151, 173.
Krathan, 448.
Kratu, 245.
Krauncha, 310, 378, 476.
Kraunchi, 246.
Kriśáśva, 36, 41, 43.
Krishṇa, 497.
Krishṇagiri, 448.
Krishṇveni, 374.
Krita, 57, 395.
Krodhavaśá, 245, 246.
Kshatriyas, 246, 346.
Kukshi, 81, 219.
Kulingá, 176.
Kumbha, 484.
Kumbhakarṇa, 10, 250, 399, 411, 435 ff., 441, 470 ff.
Kúmuda, 364 note, 448.
Kunjar, 375, 392.
Kuru(s), North, 198, 203, 315.
Kurujángal, 176.
Kuśa, 10, 46, 48, 63, 526.
Kuśadhwaj, 80, 82, 88.
Kuśámba, 46.
Kuśanábha, 46, 47, 48, 63.
Kuśáśva, 60.
Kuśik, 33, 35, 36, 38, 44, 56, 62, 63, 68, 70 ff., 83.
Kuṭíká, 179.
Kuṭikoshṭiká, 179.
Kuvera, 23, 88, 109, 110, 111, 112, 198, 199, 204, 232, 267, 378, 422,
431, 432, 483.
Lakshmaṇ, 4, 8, 11, 32, 36, 38, 40, 41, 44, 45, 56, 61, 79, 80, 82-84, 88,
91, 94, 97, 98, _passim_.
Lakshmí, 88, 116, 146, 227, 400, 453, 462, 497.
Lamba, 397.
Lanká, 5, 10, 265, 267, 284, 286, 293, 295-297, 367, 387, 397, 411, 423
ff., 439, 456 ff.
Lankaṭankaṭá, 515.
Lava, 10, 526.
Lohitya, 179.
Lokapálas, 485.
Lomapád, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 30.
Mádhaví, 520.
Madhu, 26, 51, 57, 87, 95.
Madhúka, 245.
Madhushyand, 68, 74.
Madrakas, 550.
Magadh, 46, 102.
Mágadnas, 548.
Maghá, 83.
Mahábír, 82.
Mahábala, 433 note.
Mahábhárat, 520, 524, 551, 554.
Mahádeva, 61, 515.
Mahákapála, 256 note, 260.
Mahámáli, 256 note.
Mahándhrak, 82.
Mahápadma, 14, 52.
Mahápáráśva, 433, 436, 455, 478, 480, 487.
Mahárath, 68.
Maháromá, 82.
Maháruṇ, 368.
Maháśaila, 368.
Mahendra, 28, 59, 86, 87, 88, 140, 167, 213, 243, 244, 307, 336, 344, 364,
368, 370, 375, 490, 531, 554.
Maheśwar, 369, 498.
Mahí, 372.
Máhishmatí, 518.
Mahishikas, 549.
Mahodar, 433 note, 450, 455, 474, 478 ff.
Mahodaya, 46, 70, 71, 488.
Maináka, 10, 394, 500 note.
Mainda, 28, 364 note, 371, 428, 430, 439, 449, 451, 458, 482, 483.
Makaráksha, 485 note.
Malaja, 39.
Málavas, 548.
Malaya, 198, 324, 328, 375, 379, 430.
Málí, 515, 516.
Máliní, 175, 539.
Malyaván, 454, 455.
Mályavat, 515, 516.
Mánas, 38.
Mandakarṇi, 240.
Mandákiní, 200, 201, 203, 209, 234, 235, 304, 322, 416 note.
Mandalí, 556.
Mandar, 57, 163, 285, 362, 368, 372, 399, 402, 421, 485, 491, 493, 525.
Mandarí, 444.
Mándhátá, 81, 219, 347, 518.
Mándavi, 84.
Máṇḍavya, 226 note.
Mandehas, 373.
Mandodarí, 402, 492, 500, 516.
Mandra, 14.
Maṇibhadra, 441.
Manthará, 40, 96, 97, 99, 187.
Manu, 11, 12, 13, 81, 103, 151, 179, 219, 245, 246, 347, 490, 505, 537,
555.
Marícha, 58.
Márícha, 5, 9, 35, 39, 40, 44, 266, 271-280, 298.
Maríchi, 81, 91, 219, 245.
Maríchipas, 270, 271.
Márkaṇḍeya, 80, 174.
Mars, 93, 144, 339, 404, 445, 467, 489.
Maru, 82, 220.
Maruts, 25, 54, 59, 403, 517, 547, 555.
Máshas, 270, 271.
Mátali, 109, 142, 489, 491, 493.
Matanga, 14, 246, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 336, 337, 380.
Mátangí, 246.
Mátariśva, 389.
Matsya, 102, 523, 537, 549.
Maya, 293, 382, 432, 488.
Máyá, 293, 521.
Máyáví, 333, 334, 379.
Meghamáli, 256 note.
Meghanáda, 10.
Mekhal, 374.
Mená, 49, 394 note.
Menaká, 74.
Mercury, 144, 339, 467.
Meru, 4, 49, 92, 109, 110, 142, 182, 232, 236, 254, 291, 315, 368, 370,
377, 380, 418, 493.
Meruśavarṇi, 382.
Mina, 32.
Miśrakeśí, 199.
Mithi, 82.
Míthilá, 9 note, 21, 45, 60, 61, 78, 81, 83, 84, 85.
Mitraghna, 459.
Mlechchhas, 66, 537, 550.
Modesty, 26.
Moon, 30, 42, 58, 109 ff., 124, 218, 227, 243, 276, 367, 413, 414, 488.
Mriga, 14.
Mrigamandá, 246.
Mrigí, 246.
Mudgalya, 174.
Nábhág, 82, 220.
Nágadantá, 198.
Nágas, 12, 55, 66, 68, 145, 270, 273, 395, 409, 413, 420, 427, 518.
Nahush, 82, 95, 171, 190, 220, 307.
Nairrit, 430.
Nala, 10, 340, 364 note, 428, 444, 445, 448, 449, 468, 475, 483.
Nalá, 246.
Naliní, 55, 203, 204, 267, 436.
Namuchi, 39, 261, 264, 275, 336.
Nandá, 415.
Nandan, 26, 175, 200, 267, 279, 315, 316, 426.
Nandi, 249, 421.
Nandigráma, 4, 6, 9, 224, 502, 503.
Nandíśvara, 471.
Nandivardhan, 82.
Nárad, 1, 2, 8, 9, 124, 199, 543.
Narak, 479.
Narántak, 479.
Náráyaṇ, 25, 26, 95, 393, 474, 497, 516, 517, 522, 535, 559.
Narmadá, 374, 448, 518.
Nikumbha, 432, 433 note, 437, 459, 484.
Níla, 28, 340, 352, 360, 364 note, 371, 374, 428, 429, 430, 446, 448, 449,
456, 458, 459, 469, 472, 475, 482.
Nimi, 77, 82.
Niśakar, 389, 390.
Nishádas, 4, 152, 192, 196, 271, 501, 537.
Ocean, 10, 95, 144, 285, 286, 336, 346, 387.
Oshṭhakarṇakas, 548.
Pahlavas, 66.
Páka, 252, 297, 498.
Pampá, 5, 9, 235, 293, 314-321, 327.
Panas, 371, 428, 448, 464.
Panasa, 455 note.
Panchajan, 376.
Panchála, 176, 539.
Panchápsaras, 240.
Panchavaṭa, 9.
Panchavaṭí, 244, 245, 247.
Páṇḍyas, 375, 549.
Paráśara, 517.
Paraśuráma, 119 note, 523, 531.
Paravíráksha, 256 note.
Páriyátra, 376, 448.
Parjanya, 112, 174, 261, 448.
Párvati, 249 note, 515, 542.
Paulastya, 472.
Paulomí, 29, 370.
Pávaní, 55.
Phálguní, 83.
Pináka, 67.
Pitris, 550.
Prabháva, 363.
Prachetas, 1, 245.
Praghas, 420, 459, 460.
Prágvaṭ, 179.
Prahasta, 399, 418, 419, 421, 422, 432 ff., 441, 451, 452, 455, 456, 471,
481.
Praheti, 515.
Prahláda, 391.
Prajangha, 459, 460.
Prajápati, 133 note, 554, 560.
Pralamba, 175.
Pramátha, 256 note.
Pramathí, 260, 448.
Pramati, 455 note.
Prasenajit, 81, 219.
Praśravaṇ, 304, 357, 380, 383, 415, 426.
Prasthalas, 550.
Praśuśśruka, 82, 220.
Pratindhak, 82.
Pravargya, 22.
Prayág, 158, 159, 196.
Prithu, 81, 219.
Prithuśyáma, 256 note.
Proshṭhapadá, 32.
Pulah, 245.
Pulastya, 35, 245, 254, 268, 288, 408, 515.
Pulindas, 550.
Puloma, 370.
Punarvasu, 93.
Puṇḍaríká, 199.
Puṇḍras, 548, 549.
Punjikasthalá, 436, 552.
Puranda, 522.
Purandara, 384, 522.
Purúravas, 286, 544, 545.
Purusha, 256 note, 559.
Purushádak, 82, 220.
Purushottam, 498, 517.
Púshá, 124.
Pushpak, 10, 80, 286, 499, 519.
Pushya, 32, 90, 92, 94, 96, 98, 109, 126.
Rabhasa, 433 note.
Rághava, 5 note.
Raghu, 5, 9, 22, 32 ff., 50, 56, 61, _passim_.
Raghunandana, 522.
Ráhu, 93, 223, 261, 272, 303, 351, 480.
Rain, Lord of, 92, 222.
Rájagriha, 174, 175.
Ráma, _passim_.
Rámáyana, 8 note, 10, 11, 541, 542.
Rambhá, 75, 232, 448.
Ramaṇá, 199.
Raśmiketu, 433 note, 459.
Rávaṇ, 5, 9, 10, 25, 26, 32, 35, _passim_.
Reṇuká, 63, 119.
Richíka, 48, 73, 86.
Right, 42, 68.
Riksharajas, 386, 442.
Rikshaván, 448.
Rishabh, 373, 375, 429, 446, 476, 483.
Rishṭikas, 549.
Rishyamúka, 9, 314, 315, 316, 318 ff., 332, 335, 339, 340, 353, 380, 500.
Rishyaśring, 15-24, 29, 30.
Rohiṇí, 4, 112, 223, 227, 246, 251, 282, 287, 367, 404, 413, 445.
Rohitas, 376, 558.
Rudhiráśana, 256 note.
Rudra, 49, 57, 67, 77, 78, 162, 249, 257, 264, 283, 296, 378, 413, 483.
Rudras, 246, 558.
Rukmiṇí, 517.
Rumá, 346, 349, 350, 363, 366, 367, 371, 385, 403.
Ruman, 371.
Sachí, 29, 202, 234, 238, 276, 286, 297, 370, 408, 415, 494, 519, 522.
Sádhyas, 490, 555, 558, 559.
Sagar, 11, 50 ff., 82, 119, 137, 171, 441.
Sahadeva, 60.
Sahya, 429, 430.
Śaivya, 104, 107, 171, 533.
Śakas, 66, 550.
Śakra, 75, 234, 307, 313, 336, 344, 448, 464.
Śálmalí, 176, 539.
Śályakartan, 178.
Śáman, 186, 326, 359.
Śambar, 479.
Śambara, 99, 100.
Sampáti, 5, 9, 246, 364 note, 385, 387 ff., 412, 455 note, 459, 460, 464.
Samprakshálas, 235.
Sanatkumár, 15, 16.
Sandhyá, 515.
Sanháras, 36.
Sanhráda, 474.
Śaniśchar, 283.
Śankan, 82.
Śankar, 57, 335.
Sánkáśyá, 80, 81, 82, 83.
Śankha, 555.
Śankhan, 220, 432.
Sanrochan, 448.
Śanśray, 245.
Śántá, 16, 19, 29, 30, 31.
Śarabh, 364 note, 439, 476.
Śarabhanga, 9, 233, 234, 235, 236, 265, 502.
Śaradaṇḍá, 176, 539.
Saramá, 452, 453.
Sáraṇ, 446, 447, 455.
Sarandib, 375 note.
Sáranga, 556.
Sarasvatí, 178, 372, 516, 522.
Śárdúla, 441, 449, 450.
Śárdúlí, 246.
Sarjú, 11, 20, 22, 36, 37, 38, 50, _passim_.
Sárvabhauma, 429.
Sarvartírtha, 179.
Śaśivindhus, 81, 219.
Śatabali, 371, 377, 379, 380.
Śatadrú, 178, 539.
Śatahradá, 231.
Śatánanda, 62, 63, 77, 79, 80, 81, 84.
Śatrughna, 32, 83, 84, 88, 89, 97, _passim_.
Śatrunjay, 504.
Satyaván, 129.
Satyavatí, 48.
Sávitrí, 129, 227.
Śavarí, 315, 316, 317.
Saumanas, 373.
Sávarṇí, 377.
Seven Rishis, 23.
Śesha, 245.
Siddhárth, 14, 137, 138, 175.
Siddhas, 28 note, 540, 559.
Śíghraga, 82, 220.
Śilá, 178.
Śilávahá, 178.
Sindhu, 13, 21, 55, 102, 372, 376, 443.
Sinhiká, 10, 396.
Śiśir(a), 372, 555.
Sítá, 4 ff., 55, 78, 79, 83, 84, 88, 93, _passim_.
Śiva, 4, 36, 42, 54, 55, 57, 67, 78, 82, 85, 86, 109, 110, 205, 523, 524,
543, 554.
Skanda, 554.
Soma, 52, 58, 198, 267, 378, 554.
Somadatta, 60.
Somadá, 47.
Somagiri, 376, 378.
Śoṇa, 45, 48, 372.
Śringavera, 4, 192, 196, 223, 501, 502.
Srinjay, 60.
Srutakírti, 84.
Stháṇu, 25, 37, 245.
Stháṇumatí, 179.
Sthúláksha, 256 note, 260.
Sthúlaśiras, 313.
Subáhu, 364 note.
Suchakshu, 55.
Suchandra, 60.
Śuchi, 238.
Sudámá, 178.
Sudáman, 81, 176.
Sudarśan, 82, 83, 220, 373, 378, 448.
Sudarśandwíp, 374.
Sudhanvá, 82.
Sudhriti, 82.
Śúdras, 6, 13, 246.
Sugríva, 5, 6, 9, 28, 29, 314, 316, 318, 324 ff., 337, 339, 344, 346 ff.,
371, 375 ff., 412, 414, 422, 424, 430, 439 ff., 446, 450, 519, 545.
Śuka, 442, 446, 447, 455 ff.
Sukeśa, 515, 516.
Suketu, 39, 82.
Sukí, 246.
Śukra, 124, 210, 279, 384, 429.
Sumáli, 515, 516.
Sumágadhí, 46.
Sumantra, 15, 16, 19, 21, 80, 92, _passim_.
Sumati, 49, 50, 59, 60.
Sumitrá, 27, 30, 32, 88, 94, _passim_.
Sun, 93, 109, 110, 124, 243.
Sunábha, 425.
Śunahśepha, 72, 73, 74
Sunda, 35, 39.
Sunetra, 364 note.
Suparṇa, 53, 125, 231, 343, 349, 388.
Supárśva, 388.
Supátala, 364 note.
Suptaghna, 433 note.
Surá, 58.
Surabhí, 183, 246.
Surapati, 522.
Suras, 58.
Surasá, 246, 395.
Suráshṭra, 21, 102, 376.
Súrasenas, 550.
Śúrpaṇakhá, 5, 9, 249 ff., 267 ff., 288, 502.
Súrya, 555.
Súryáksha, 364 note.
Súryaśatru, 433 note.
Súryaván, 375.
Susandhi, 81, 219.
Susheṇ, 28, 351, 364 note, 376, 379, 380.
Sutanu, 199.
Sutíkshṇa, 9, 234, 236, 237, 240, 241.
Suváhu, 35, 44, 45, 146.
Suvarat, 220.
Suvela, 450, 456, 457.
Suvíra, 21, 102.
Suyajǹa, 20, 132.
Svayambhu, 394.
Svayamprabhá, 382.
Śvetáraṇya, 264.
Swarga, 54, 101, 202, 493.
Swarṇaromá, 82.
Śweta, 448.
Śyáma, 160.
Syandiká, 151.
Śyenagámí, 256 note, 260.
Śyení, 246.
Táḍaká, 38, 39, 40, 41.
Táḍakeya, 266.
Taittiríya, 132.
Takshak, 432.
Takshaka, 267.
Tálajanghas, 81, 219.
Tamasá, 7, 147, 148, 149.
Támrá, 245, 246.
Támraparṇí, 375.
Tapan, 459, 555.
Tára, 364 note, 379 ff.
Tárá, 9, 336, 349 ff., 355, 359, 362, 363, 366, 367, 369, 371, 385, 403,
449, 546.
Tárak, 430.
Tárkshya, 214.
Ten-necked, 250.
Thirty-three Gods, 51.
Thousand-eyed, 41, 59, 60, 74, 75, 76, 86, 90, 112, 252, 297, 504.
Three-eyed God, 86.
Thunderer, 234.
Titan, 58, 67, 72, 79, 109, 114, 124.
Toraṇ, 179.
Town-Destroyer, 59, 60.
Trident, 68.
Trident-wielding, 54, 57.
Trijaṭ, 133.
Trijaṭá, 410, 463.
Trikúṭa, 456, 457, 500, 515.
Triṇavindu, 515.
Trípathagá, 56.
Tripur, 306.
Tripura, 85, 86.
Triśanku, 68-72, 81, 144, 219, 429.
Triśirá, 9.
Triśirás, 256 note, 260, 261, 264, 267, 271, 478, 479, 480, 502.
Tumburu, 198, 199, 232.
Uchchaihśravas, 58, 522.
Udayagiri, 379 note.
Udávasu, 82.
Ujjiháná, 179.
Ukthya, 24.
Umá, 49, 54, 205, 249 note, 471, 542, 543.
Upasad, 22.
Upasunda, 35.
Upendra, 74, 559.
Urmilá, 47, 83, 84, 88, 228.
Urvaśí, 286, 544, 545.
Uśanas, 382.
Utkal, 374.
Uttániká, 179, 539.
Váhli, 13.
Váhlíka, 376.
Vahni, 555.
Vaidyut, 375.
Vaijayanta, 99, 179, 522.
Vaikhánasas, 270, 271, 374.
Vainateya, 388.
Vaiśravaṇ, 265, 285, 378, 414, 515.
Vaiśyas, 246.
Vaitaraṇí, 293.
Vajra, 376.
Vajradanshṭra, 432, 433 note, 466, 467.
Válmíki, 1, 7-11, 161, 519, 542.
Vámadeva, 14, 79, 80, 91, 174, 222, 505.
Vámana, 14, 523.
Váṇa, 81, 219.
Vanáyu, 13.
Vangas, 102.
Varadas, 550.
Varuṇ, 1 note, 28, 42, 67, 88, 109, 124, 228, 243, 272, 293, 338, 377,
383, 448, 471, 518.
Varáśya, 256 note.
Varútha, 179.
Vásav, 92.
Vásava, 236, 522.
Vaśishṭha, 14, 15, 19-22, 25, 32, _passim_.
Vásudeva, 51, 52.
Vásuki, 57, 267, 375, 432, 518, 522.
Vasus, 14, 46, 246, 283, 377, 403, 522, 554.
Vasvaukasárá, 203.
Vátápi, 241, 280.
Váyu, 59, 243, 369, 427, 428, 555.
Vedas, 1 note, 3, 12, 22, 70, 89, 109, 125, 147, 184, 229, 559.
Vedaśrutí, 151.
Vedavatí, 470, 517.
Vegadarśí, 429, 446, 483.
Veṇá, 448, 537.
Vibháṇḍak, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25.
Vibhíshaṇ, 6, 10, 250, 273, 415, 422, 423, 433 ff., 449 ff., 472, 483, 487
ff., 516.
Vibudh, 82.
Vidarbha, 46, 49.
Vidarbhas, 549.
Videha, 79 ff., 129, 130, 142, 166, 195, 227.
Videhan, 9, 79, 95, 104, 119, 125, _passim_.
Videhas, 548.
Vidyádharí, 203 note.
Vidyujjihva, 450.
Vidyunmáli, 364 note.
Vidyutkeśa, 515.
Vihangama, 256 note.
Vijay, 14, 36, 175, 505.
Vikaṭá, 409.
Vikrit, 245.
Vikukshi, 81, 219.
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.
11 One of the most prominent objects of worship in the Rig-veda, Indra
was superseded in later times by the more popular deities Vishṇu and
Śiva. He is the God of the firmament, and answers in many respects
to the Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. See _Additional Notes_.
12 The second God of the Trimúrti or Indian Trinity. Derived from the
root _viś_ to penetrate, the meaning of the name appears to be _he
who penetrates or pervades all things_. An embodiment of the
preserving power of nature, he is worshipped as a Saviour who has
nine times been incarnate for the good of the world and will descend
on earth once more. See _Additional Notes_ and Muir’s Sanskrit Texts
_passim_.
13 In Sanskrit _devarshi_. Rishi is the general appellation of sages,
and another word is frequently prefixed to distinguish the degrees.
A _Brahmarshi_ is a theologian or Bráhmanical sage; a Rájarshi is a
royal sage or sainted king; a _Devarshi_ is a divine or deified sage
or saint.
_ 14 Trikálajǹa_. Literally _knower of the three times_. Both Schlegel
and Gorresio quote Homer’s.
Ὅς ἤδη τ’ ἐόντα, τά τ’ ἐσσόμενα,
πρό τ’ ἐόντα.
“That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view,
The past, the present, and the future knew.”
The Bombay edition reads _trilokajǹa,_ _who knows the three worlds_
(earth, air and heaven.) “It is by _tapas_ (austere fervour) that
rishis of subdued souls, subsisting on roots, fruits and air, obtain
a vision of the three worlds with all things moving and stationary.”
MANU, XI. 236.
15 Son of Manu, the first king of Kośala and founder of the solar
dynasty or family of the Children of the Sun, the God of that
luminary being the father of Manu.
16 The Indians paid great attention to the art of physiognomy and
believed that character and fortune could be foretold not from the
face only but from marks upon the neck and hands. Three lines under
the chin like those at the mouth of a conch (_Śańkha_) were regarded
as a peculiarly auspicious sign indicating, as did also the mark of
Vishṇu’s discus on the hand, one born to be a _chakravartin_ or
universal emperor. In the palmistry of Europe the line of fortune,
as well as the line of life, is in the hand. Cardan says that marks
on the nails and teeth also show what is to happen to us: “Sunt
etiam in nobis vestigia quædam futurorum eventuum in unguibus atque
etiam in dentibus.” Though the palmy days of Indian chiromancy have
passed away, the art is still to some extent studied and believed
in.
17 Long arms were regarded as a sign of heroic strength.
18 “Veda means originally knowing or knowledge, and this name is given
by the Bráhmans not to one work, but to the whole body of their most
ancient sacred literature. Veda is the same word which appears in
the Greek οίδα, I know, and in the English wise, wisdom, to wit. The
name of Veda is commonly given to four collections of hymns, which
are respectively known by the names of Rig-veda, Yajur-veda,
Sáma-veda, and Atharva-veda.”
“As the language of the Veda, the Sanskrit, is the most ancient type
of the English of the present day, (Sanskrit and English are but
varieties of one and the same language,) so its thoughts and
feelings contain in reality the first roots and germs of that
intellectual growth which by an unbroken chain connects our own
generation with the ancestors of the Aryan race,—with those very
people who at the rising and setting of the sun listened with
trembling hearts to the songs of the Veda, that told them of bright
powers above, and of a life to come after the sun of their own lives
had set in the clouds of the evening. These men were the true
ancestors of our race, and the Veda is the oldest book we have in
which to study the first beginnings of our language, and of all that
is embodied in language. We are by nature Aryan, Indo-European, not
Semitic: our spiritual kith and kin are to be found in India,
Persia, Greece, Italy, Germany: not in Mesopotamia, Egypt, or
Palestine.”
_Chips from a German Workshop_, Vol. I. pp. 8. 4.
19 As with the ancient Persians and Scythians, Indian princes were
carefully instructed in archery which stands for military science in
general, of which, among Hindu heroes, it was the most important
branch.
20 Chief of the three queens of Daśaratha and mother of Ráma.
21 From _hima_ snow, (Greek χειμ-ών, Latin hiems) and _álaya_ abode,
the Mansion of snow.
22 The moon (_Soma_, _Indu_, _Chandra_ _etc._) is masculine with the
Indians as with the Germans.
23 Kuvera, the Indian Plutus, or God of Wealth.
24 The events here briefly mentioned will be related fully in the
course of the poem. The first four cantos are introductory, and are
evidently the work of a later hand than Valmiki’s.
25 “Chandra, or the Moon, is fabled to have been married to the
twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch Daksha, or Aśviní and the
rest, who are in fact personifications of the Lunar Asterisms. His
favourite amongst them was Rohiṇí to whom he so wholly devoted
himself as to neglect the rest. They complained to their father, and
Daksha repeatedly interposed, till, finding his remonstrances vain,
he denounced a curse upon his son-in-law, in consequence of which he
remained childless and became affected by consumption. The wives of
Chandra having interceded in his behalf with their father, Daksha
modified an imprecation which he could not recall, and pronounced
that the decay should be periodical only, not permanent, and that it
should alternate with periods of recovery. Hence the successive wane
and increase of the Moon. _Padma_, _Puráṇa_, _Swarga-Khaṇḍa,_ Sec.
II. _Rohiṇí_ in Astronomy is the fourth lunar mansion, containing
five stars, the principal of which is Aldebaran.” WILSON, _Specimens
of the Hindu Theatre. Vol. I. p._ 234.
The Bengal recension has a different reading:
“Shone with her husband like the light
Attendant on the Lord of Night.”
26 The garb prescribed for ascetics by Manu.
27 “Mount Meru, situated like Kailása in the lofty regions to the north
of the Himálayas, is celebrated in the traditions and myths of
India. Meru and Kailása are the two Indian Olympi. Perhaps they were
held in such veneration because the Sanskrit-speaking Indians
remembered the ancient home where they dwelt with the other
primitive peoples of their family before they descended to occupy
the vast plains which extend between the Indus and the Ganges.”
GORRESIO.
28 The third God of the Indian Triad, the God of destruction and
reproduction. See _Additional Notes_.
29 The epithet _dwija_, or _twice-born_, is usually appropriate to
Bráhmans, but is applicable to the three higher castes. Investiture
with the sacred thread and initiation of the neophyte into certain
religious mysteries are regarded as his regeneration or second
birth.
30 His shoes to be a memorial of the absent heir and to maintain his
right. Kálidása (Raghuvaṅśa, XII. 17.) says that they were to be
_adhidevate_ or guardian deities of the kingdom.
31 Jaṭáyu, a semi-divine bird, the friend of Ráma, who fought in
defence of Sítá.
32 Raghu was one of the most celebrated ancestors of Ráma whose
commonest appellation is, therefore, Rághava or descendant of Raghu.
Kálidása in the _Raghuraṇśa_ makes him the son of Dilípa and
great-grandfather of Ráma. See _Idylls from the Sanskrit_, “Aja” and
“Dilípa.”
33 Dundhubi.
34 Literally _ten yojanas_. The yojana is a measure of uncertain length
variously reckoned as equal to nine miles, five, and a little less.
35 Ceylon.
36 The Jonesia Aśoka is a most beautiful tree bearing a profusion of
red blossoms.
_ 37 Brahmá_, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first God of the
Indian Trinity, although, as Kálidása says:
“Of Brahmá, Vishṇu, Śiva, each may be
First, second, third, amid the blessed Three.”
Brahmá had guaranteed Rávaṇ’s life against all enemies except man.
38 Ocean personified.
39 The rocks lying between Ceylon and the mainland are still called
Ráma’s Bridge by the Hindus.
40 “The Bráhmans, with a system rather cosmogonical than chronological,
divide the present mundane period into four ages or _yugas_ as they
call them: the Krita, the Tretá, the Dwápara, and the Kali. The
Krita, called also the Deva-yuga or that of the Gods, is the age of
truth, the perfect age, the Tretá is the age of the three sacred
fires, domestic and sacrificial; the Dwápara is the age of doubt;
the Kali, the present age, is the age of evil.” GORRESIO.
41 The ancient kings of India enjoyed lives of more than patriarchal
length as will appear in the course of the poem.
42 Śúdras, men of the fourth and lowest pure caste, were not allowed to
read the poem, but might hear it recited.
43 The three _ślokes_ or distichs which these twelve lines represent
are evidently a still later and very awkward addition to the
introduction.
44 There are several rivers in India of this name, now corrupted into
_Tonse_. The river here spoken of is that which falls into the
Ganges a little below Allahabad.
45 “In Book II, Canto LIV, we meet with a saint of this name presiding
over a convent of disciples in his hermitage at the confluence of
the Ganges and the Jumna. Thence the later author of these
introductory cantos has borrowed the name and person, inconsistently
indeed, but with the intention of enhancing the dignity of the poet
by ascribing to him so celebrated a disciple.” SCHLEGEL.
46 The poet plays upon the similarity in sound of the two words:
_śoka_, means grief, _śloka_, the heroic measure in which the poem
is composed. It need scarcely be said that the derivation is
fanciful.
47 Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first person of the
divine triad of India. The four heads with which he is represented
are supposed to have allusion to the four corners of the earth which
he is sometimes considered to personify. As an object of adoration
Brahmá has been entirely superseded by Śiva and Vishṇu. In the whole
of India there is, I believe, but one temple dedicated to his
worship. In this point the first of the Indian triad curiously
resembles the last of the divine fraternity of Greece, Aïdes the
brother of Zeus and Poseidon. “In all Greece, says Pausanias, there
is no single temple of Aïdes, except at a single spot in Elis.” See
Gladstone’s Juventus Mundi, p. 253.
48 The _argha_ or _arghya_ was a libation or offering to a deity, a
Bráhman, or other venerable personage. According to one authority it
consisted of water, milk, the points of Kúsa-grass, curds, clarified
butter, rice, barley, and white mustard, according to another, of
saffron, bel, unbroken grain, flowers, curds, dúrbá-grass,
kúsa-grass, and sesamum.
49 Sítá, daughter of Janak king of Míthilá.
50 “I congratulate myself,” says Schlegel in the preface to his, alas,
unfinished edition of the Rámáyan, “that, by the favour of the
Supreme Deity, I have been allowed to begin so great a work; I glory
and make my boast that I too after so many ages have helped to
confirm that ancient oracle declared to Válmíki by the Father of
Gods and men:
Dum stabunt montes, campis dum flumina current,
Usque tuum toto carmen celebrabitur orbe.”
51 “The sipping of water is a requisite introduction of all rites:
without it, says the Sámha Purána, all acts of religion are vain.”
COLEBROOKE.
52 The _darhha_ or _kuśa_ (Pea cynosuroides), a kind of grass used in
sacrifice by the Hindus as _cerbena_ was by the Romans.
53 The direction in which the grass should be placed upon the ground as
a seat for the Gods, on occasion of offerings made to them.
54 Paraśuráma or Ráma with the Axe. See Canto LXXIV.
55 Sítá. Videha was the country of which Míthilá was the capital.
56 The twin sons of Ráma and Sítá, born after Ráma had repudiated Sítá,
and brought up in the hermitage of Válmíki. As they were the first
rhapsodists the combined name Kuśílava signifies a reciter of poems,
or an improvisatore, even to the present day.
57 Perhaps the bass, tenor, and treble, or quick, slow and middle
times. we know but little of the ancient music of the Hindus.
58 Eight flavours or sentiments are usually enumerated, love, mirth,
tenderness, anger, heroism, terror, disgust, and surprise;
tranquility or content, or paternal tenderness, is sometimes
considered the ninth. WILSON. See the _Sáhitya Darpaṇa_ or _Mirror
of Composition_ translated by Dr. Ballantyne and Bábú Pramadádása
Mittra in the _Bibliotheca Indica._
59 Saccharum Munja is a plant from whose fibres is twisted the sacred
string which a Bráhman wears over one shoulder after he has been
initiated by a rite which in some respects answers to confirmation.
60 A description of an Aśvamedha or Horse Sacrifice is given in Canto
XIII. of this Book.
61 This exploit is related in Canto XL.
62 The Sarjú or Ghaghra, anciently called Sarayú, rises in the
Himalayas, and after flowing through the province of Oudh, falls
into the Ganges.
63 The ruins of the ancient capital of Ráma and the Children of the Sun
may still be traced in the present Ajudhyá near Fyzabad. Ajudhyá is
the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hindus.
64 A legislator and saint, the son of Brahmá or a personification of
Brahmá himself, the creator of the world, and progenitor of mankind.
Derived from the root _man_ to think, the word means originally
_man_, the thinker, and is found in this sense in the Rig-veda.
Manu as a legislator is identified with the Cretan Minos, as
progenitor of mankind with the German Mannus: “Celebrant carminibus
antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriæ et annalium genus est,
Tuisconem deum terra editum, et filium Mannum, originem gentis
conditoresque.” TACITUS, _Germania_, Cap. II.
65 The Sál (Shorea Robusta) is a valuable timber tree of considerable
height.
66 The city of Indra is called Amarávatí or Home of the Immortals.
67 Schlegel thinks that this refers to the marble of different colours
with which the houses were adorned. It seems more natural to
understand it as implying the regularity of the streets and houses.
68 The _Śataghní_ _i.e. centicide_, or slayer of a hundred, is
generally supposed to be a sort of fire-arms, or the ancient Indian
rocket; but it is also described as a stone set round with iron
spikes.
69 The Nágas (serpents) are demigods with a human face and serpent
body. They inhabit Pátála or the regions under the earth. Bhogavatí
is the name of their capital city. Serpents are still worshipped in
India. See Fergusson’s _Tree and Serpent Worship_.
70 The fourth and lowest pure caste whose duty was to serve the three
first classes.
71 By forbidden marriages between persons of different castes.
72 Váhlí or Váhlíka is Bactriana; its name is preserved in the modern
Balkh.
73 The Sanskrit word Sindhu is in the singular the name of the river
Indus, in the plural of the people and territories on its banks. The
name appears as _Hidku_ in the cuneiform inscription of Darius’ son
of Hystaspes, in which the nations tributary to that king are
enumerated.
The Hebrew form is _Hodda_ (Esther, I. 1.). In Zend it appears as
_Hendu_ in a somewhat wider sense. With the Persians later the
signification of _Hind_ seems to have co-extended with their
increasing acquaintance with the country. The weak Ionic dialect
omitted the Persian _h_, and we find in Hecatæus and Herodotus Ἴνδος
and ἡ Ἰνδική. In this form the Romans received the names and
transmitted them to us. The Arabian geographers in their ignorance
that Hind and Sind are two forms of the same word have made of them
two brothers and traced their decent from Noah. See Lassen’s
Indische Alterthumskunde Vol. I. pp. 2, 3.
74 The situation of Vanáyu is not exactly determined: it seems to have
lain to the north-west of India.
75 Kámboja was probably still further to the north-west. Lassen thinks
that the name is etymologically connected with _Cambyses_ which in
the cuneiform inscription of Behistun is written Ka(m)bujia.
76 The elephants of Indra and other deities who preside over the four
points of the compass.
77 “There are four kinds of elephants. 1 _Bhaddar_. It is well
proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long
tail, and is bold and can bear fatigue. 2 _Mand_. It is black, has
yellow eyes, a uniformly sized body, and is wild and ungovernable. 3
_Mirg_. It has a whitish skin, with black spots. 4 _Mir_. It has a
small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened when it thunders.”
_Aín-i-Akbarí._. Translated by H. Blochmann, Aín 41, _The Imperial
Elephant Stables_.
78 Ayodhyá means _not to be fought against_.
79 Attendants of Indra, eight Gods whose names signify fire, light and
its phenomena.
80 Kaśyap was a grandson of the God Brahmá. He is supposed to have
given his name to Kashmír = Kaśyapa-míra, Kaśyap’s Lake.
81 The people of Anga. “Anga is said in the lexicons to be Bengal; but
here certainly another region is intended situated at the confluence
of the Sarjú with the Ganges, and not far distant from Daśaratha’s
dominions.” GORRESIO. It comprised part of Behar and Bhagulpur.
82 The Koïl or _kokila_ (Cuculus Indicus) as the harbinger of spring
and love is a universal favourite with Indian poets. His voice when
first heard in a glorious spring morning is not unpleasant, but
becomes in the hot season intolerably wearisome to European ears.
83 “Sons and Paradise are intimately connected in Indian belief. A man
desires above every thing to have a son to perpetuate his race, and
to assist with sacrifices and funeral rites to make him worthy to
obtain a lofty seat in heaven or to preserve that which he has
already obtained.” GORRESIO.
84 One of the Pleiades and generally regarded as the model of wifely
excellence.
85 The Hindu year is divided into six seasons of two months each,
spring, summer, rains, autumn, winter, and dews.
86 It was essential that the horse should wander free for a year before
immolation, as a sign that his master’s paramount sovereignty was
acknowledged by all neighbouring princes.
87 Called also Vidcha, later Tirabhukti, corrupted into the modern
Tirhut, a province bounded on the west and east by the Gaudakí and
Kauśikí rivers, on the south by the Ganges, and on the north by the
skirts of the Himálayas.
88 The celebrated city of Benares. See Dr. Hall’s learned and
exhaustive Monograph in the _Sacred City of the Hindus_, by the Rev.
M. A. Sherring.
89 Kekaya is supposed to have been in the Panjáb. The name of the king
was Aśvapati (Lord of Horses), father of Daśaratha’s wife Kaikeyí.
90 Surat.
91 Apparently in the west of India not far from the Indus.
92 “The Pravargya ceremony lasts for three days, and is always
performed twice a day, in the forenoon and afternoon. It precedes
the animal and Soma sacrifices. For without having undergone it, no
one is allowed to take part in the solemn Soma feast prepared for
the gods.” Haug’s _Aitareya Bráhmaṇam_. Vol. II. p. 41. note _q.v._
_ 93 Upasads_. “The Gods said, Let us perform the burnt offerings called
Upasads (_i.e._ besieging). For by means of an _Upasad_, _i.e._
besieging, they conquer a large (fortified) town.”—_Ibid._ p. 32.
94 The Soma plant, or Asclepias Acida. Its fermented juice was drunk in
sacrifice by the priests and offered to the Gods who enjoyed the
intoxicating draught.
95 “Tum in cærimoniarum intervallis Brachmanæ facundi, sollertes,
crebros sermones de rerum causis instituebant, alter alterum
vincendi cupidi. This public disputation in the assembly of Bráhmans
on the nature of things, and the almost fraternal connexion between
theology and philosophy deserves some notice; whereas the priests of
some religions are generally but little inclined to show favour to
philosophers, nay, sometimes persecute them with the most rancorous
hatred, as we are taught both by history and experience.… This śloka
is found in the MSS. of different recensions of the Rámáyan, and we
have, therefore, the most trustworthy testimony to the antiquity of
philosophy among the Indians.” SCHLEGEL.
96 The _Angas_ or appendices of the Vedas, pronunciation, prosody,
grammar, ritual, astronomy, and explanation of obscurities.
97 In Sanskrit _vilva_, the _Ægle Marmelos_. “He who desires food and
wishes to grow fat, ought to make his Yúpa (sacrificial post) of
Bilva wood.” Haug’s _Aítareya Bráhmanam. Vol. II._ p. 73.
98 The _Mimosa Catechu_. “He who desires heaven ought to make his Yúpa
of Khádira wood.”—_Ibid._
99 The _Butea Frondosa_. “He who desires beauty and sacred knowledge
ought to make his Yúpa of Paláśa wood.”—_Ibid._
100 The _Cardia Latifolia_.
101 A kind of pine. The word means literally the tree of the Gods.
Compare the Hebrew עצי יהוה “trees of the Lord.”
102 The Hindus call the constellation of Ursa Major the Seven Rishis or
Saints.
103 A minute account of these ancient ceremonies would be out of place
here. “Ágnishṭoma is the name of a sacrifice, or rather a series of
offerings to fire for five days. It is the first and principal part
of the Jyotishṭoma, one of the great sacrifices in which especially
the juice of the Soma plant is offered for the purpose of obtaining
Swarga or heaven.” GOLDSTÜCKER’S DICTIONARY. “The _Ágnishṭoma_ is
Agni. It is called so because they (the gods) praised him with this
Stoma. They called it so to hide the proper meaning of the word: for
the gods like to hide the proper meaning of words.”
“On account of four classes of gods having praised Agni with four
Stomas, the whole was called _Chatushṭoma_ (containing four
Stomas).”
“It (the Ágnishṭoma) is called _Jyotishṭoma_, for they praised Agni
when he had risen up (to the sky) in the shape of a light
(_jyotis_).”
“This (Ágnishṭoma) is a sacrificial performance which has no
beginning and no end.” HAUG’S _Aitareya Bráhmaṇam_.
The Atirátra, literally _lasting through the night_, is a division
of the service of the Jyotishṭoma.
The Abhijit, _the everywhere victorious_, is the name of a
sub-division of the great sacrifice of the Gavámanaya.
The Viśvajit, or _the all-conquering_, is a similar sub-division.
Áyus is the name of a service forming a division of the Abhiplava
sacrifice.
The _Aptoryám_, is the seventh or last part of the Jyotishṭoma, for
the performance of which it is not essentially necessary, but a
voluntary sacrifice instituted for the attainment of a specific
desire. The literal meaning of the word would be in conformity with
the _Prauḍhamanoramá_, “a sacrifice which procures the attainment of
the desired object.” GOLDSTÜCKER’S DICTIONARY.
“The _Ukthya_ is a slight modification of the Ágnishṭoma sacrifice.
The noun to be supplied to it is _kratu_. It is a Soma sacrifice
also, and one of the seven Saṇsthas or component parts of the
Jyotishṭoma. Its name indicates its nature. For _Ukthya_ means ‘what
refers to the Uktha,’ which is an older name for Shástra, _i.e._
recitation of one of the Hotri priests at the time of the Soma
libations. Thus this sacrifice is only a kind of supplement to the
Ágnishṭoma.” HAUG. _Ai. B._
104 “Four classes of priests were required in India at the most solemn
sacrifices. 1. The officiating priests, manual labourers, and
acolytes, who had chiefly to prepare the sacrificial ground, to
dress the altar, slay the victims, and pour out the libations. 2.
The choristers, who chant the sacred hymns. 3. The reciters or
readers, who repeat certain hymns. 4. The overseers or bishops, who
watch and superintend the proceedings of the other priests, and
ought to be familiar with all the Vedas. The formulas and verses to
be muttered by the first class are contained in the
Yajur-veda-sanhitá. The hymns to be sung by the second class are in
the Sama-veda-sanhitá. The Atharva-veda is said to be intended for
the Brahman or overseer, who is to watch the proceedings of the
sacrifice, and to remedy any mistake that may occur. The hymns to be
recited by the third class are contained in the Rigveda,” _Chips
from a German Workshop._
105 The Maruts are the winds, deified in the religion of the Veda like
other mighty powers and phenomena of nature.
106 A Titan or fiend whose destruction has given Vishṇu one of his
well-known titles, Mádhava.
107 The garden of Indra.
108 One of the most ancient and popular of the numerous names of Vishṇu.
The word has been derived in several ways, and may mean _he who
moved on the (primordial) waters_, or _he who pervades or influences
men or their thoughts_.
109 The Horse-Sacrifice, just described.
110 To walk round an object keeping the right side towards it is a mark
of great respect. The Sanskrit word for the observance is
_pradakshiṇá_, from pra pro, and _daksha_ right, Greek δεξίος, Latin
dexter, Gaelic deas-il. A similar ceremony is observed by the Gaels.
“In the meantime she traced around him, with wavering steps, the
propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the
Druidical mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person
who makes the _deasil_ walking three times round the person who is
the object of the ceremony, taking care to move according to the
course of the sun.”
SCOTT. _The Two Drovers._
111 The _Amrit_, the nectar of the Indian Gods.
_ 112 Gandharvas_ (Southey’s Glendoveers) are celestial musicians
inhabiting Indra’s heaven and forming the orchestra at all the
banquets of the principal deities.
_ 113 Yakshas_, demigods attendant especially on Kuvera, and employed by
him in the care of his garden and treasures.
_ 114 Kimpurushas_, demigods attached also to the service of Kuvera,
celestial musicians, represented like centaurs reversed with human
figures and horses’ heads.
_ 115 Siddhas_, demigods or spirits of undefined attributes, occupying
with the _Vidyádharas_ the middle air or region between the earth
and the sun.
Schlegel translates: “Divi, Sapientes, Fidicines, Præpetes,
illustres Genii, Præconesque procrearunt natos, masculos,
silvicolas; angues porro, Hippocephali Beati, Aligeri, Serpentesque
frequentes alacriter generavere prolem innumerabilem.”
116 A mountain in the south of India.
117 The preceptor of the Gods and regent of the planet Jupiter.
118 The celestial architect, the Indian Hephæstus, Mulciber, or Vulcan.
119 The God of Fire.
120 Twin children of the Sun, the physicians of Swarga or Indra’s
heaven.
121 The deity of the waters.
122 Parjanya, sometimes confounded with Indra.
123 The bird and vehicle of Vishṇu. He is generally represented as a
being something between a man and a bird and considered as the
sovereign of the feathered race. He may be compared with the Simurgh
of the Persians, the ’Anká of the Arabs, the Griffin of chivalry,
the Phœnix of Egypt, and the bird that sits upon the ash Yggdrasil
of the Edda.
124 This Canto will appear ridiculous to the European reader. But it
should be remembered that the monkeys of an Indian forest, the
“bough-deer” as the poets call them, are very different animals from
the “turpissima bestia” that accompanies the itinerant organ-grinder
or grins in the Zoological Gardens of London. Milton has made his
hero, Satan, assume the forms of a cormorant, a toad, and a serpent,
and I cannot see that this creation of semi-divine Vánars, or
monkeys, is more ridiculous or undignified.
125 The consort of Indra, called also Śachí and Indráṇí.
126 The _Michelia champaca_. It bears a scented yellow blossom:
“The maid of India blest again to hold
In her full lap the Champac’s leaves of gold.”
_Lallah Rookh._
127 Vibháṇdak, the father of Rishyaśring
128 A hemiśloka is wanting in Schlegel’s text, which he thus fills up in
his Latin translation.
129 Rishyaśring, a Bráhman, had married Śántá who was of the Kshatriya
or Warrior caste and an expiatory ceremony was necessary on account
of this violation of the law.
130 “The poet no doubt intended to indicate the vernal equinox as the
birthday of Ráma. For the month _Chaitra_ is the first of the two
months assigned to the spring; it corresponds with the latter half
of March and the former half of April in our division of the year.
_Aditi_, the mother of the Gods, is lady of the seventh lunar
mansion which is called _Punarvasu_. The five planets and their
positions in the Zodiac are thus enumerated by both commentators:
the Sun in Aries, Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Libra, Jupiter in
Cancer, Venus in Pisces.… I leave to astronomers to examine whether
the parts of the description agree with one another, and, if this be
the case, thence to deduce the date. The Indians place the nativity
of Ráma in the confines of the second age (tretá) and the third
(dwápara): but it seems that this should be taken in an allegorical
sense.… We may consider that the poet had an eye to the time in
which, immediately before his own age, the aspects of the heavenly
bodies were such as he has described.” SCHLEGEL.
131 The regent of the planet Jupiter.
132 Indra = Jupiter Tonans.
133 “_Pushya_ is the name of a month; but here it means the eighth
mansion. The ninth is called _Asleshá_, or the snake. It is evident
from this that Bharat, though his birth is mentioned before that of
the twins, was the youngest of the four brothers and Ráma’s junior
by eleven months.” SCHLEGEL.
134 A fish, the Zodiacal sign _Pisces_.
135 One of the constellations, containing stars in the wing of Pegasus.
136 Ráma means the Delight (of the World); Bharat, the Supporter;
Lakshmaṇ, the Auspicious; Śatrughna, the Slayer of Foes.
137 Schlegel, in the _Indische Bibliothek_, remarks that the proficiency
of the Indians in this art early attracted the attention of
Alexander’s successors, and natives of India were so long
exclusively employed in this service that the name Indian was
applied to any elephant-driver, to whatever country he might belong.
138 The story of this famous saint is given at sufficient length in
Cantos LI-LV.
This saint has given his name to the district and city to the east
of Benares. The original name, preserved in a land-grant on copper
now in the Museum of the Benares College, has been Moslemized into
Ghazeepore (the City of the Soldier-martyr).
139 The son of Kuśik is Viśvámitra.
140 At the recollection of their former enmity, to be described
hereafter.
141 The Indian nectar or drink of the Gods.
142 Great joy, according to the Hindu belief, has this effect, not
causing each particular hair to stand on end, but gently raising all
the down upon the body.
143 The Rákshasas, giants, or fiends who are represented as disturbing
the sacrifice, signify here, as often elsewhere, merely the savage
tribes which placed themselves in hostile opposition to Bráhmanical
institutions.
144 Consisting of horse, foot, chariots, and elephants.
145 “The Gandharvas, or heavenly bards, had originally a warlike
character but were afterwards reduced to the office of celestial
musicians cheering the banquets of the Gods. Dr. Kuhn has shown
their identity with the Centaurs in name, origin and attributes.”
GORRESIO.
146 These mysterious animated weapons are enumerated in Cantos XXIX and
XXX. Daksha was the son of Brahmá and one of the Prajápatis,
Demiurgi, or secondary authors of creation.
147 Youths of the Kshatriya class used to leave unshorn the side locks
of their hair. These were called _Káka-paksha_, or raven’s wings.
148 The Rákshas or giant Rávaṇ, king of Lanká.
149 “The meaning of Aśvins (from _aśva_ a horse, Persian asp, Greek
ἵππος, Latin _equus_, Welsh ech) is Horsemen. They were twin deities
of whom frequent mention is made in the Vedas and the Indian myths.
The Aśvins have much in common with the Dioscuri of Greece, and
their mythical genealogy seems to indicate that their origin was
astronomical. They were, perhaps, at first the morning star and
evening star. They are said to be the children of the sun and the
nymph Aśviní, who is one of the lunar asterisms personified. In the
popular mythology they are regarded as the physicians of the Gods.”
GORRESIO.
150 The word Kumára (a young prince, a Childe) is also a proper name of
Skanda or Kártikeya God of War, the son of Śiva and Umá. The babe
was matured in the fire.
151 “At the rising of the sun as well as at noon certain observances,
invocations, and prayers were prescribed which might under no
circumstances be omitted. One of these observances was the
recitation of the Sávitrí, a Vedic hymn to the Sun of wonderful
beauty.” GORRESIO.
_ 152 Tripathaga_, _Three-path-go,_ flowing in heaven, on earth, and
under the earth. See Canto XLV.
153 Tennyson’s “Indian Cama,” the God of Love, known also by many other
names.
_ 154 Umá_, or _Parvatí_, was daughter of Himálaya, Monarch of mountains,
and wife of Śiva. See Kálidasa’s _Kumára Sambhava_, or _Birth of the
War-God_.
_ 155 Stháṇu_. The Unmoving one, a name of Śiva.
156 “The practice of austerities, voluntary tortures, and mortifications
was anciently universal in India, and was held by the Indians to be
of immense efficacy. Hence they mortified themselves to expiate
sins, to acquire merits, and to obtain superhuman gifts and powers;
the Gods themselves sometimes exercised themselves in such
austerities, either to raise themselves to greater power and
grandeur, or to counteract the austerities of man which threatened
to prevail over them and to deprive them of heaven.… Such
austerities were called in India _tapas_ (burning ardour, fervent
devotion) and he who practised them _tapasvin_.” GORRESIO.
_ 157 The Bodiless one._
158 “A celebrated lake regarded in India as sacred. It lies in the lofty
region between the northern highlands of the Himálayas and mount
Kailása, the region of the sacred lakes. The poem, following the
popular Indian belief, makes the river Sarayú (now Sarjú) flow from
the Mánasa lake; the sources of the river are a little to the south
about a day’s journey from the lake. See Lassen, _Indische
Alterthumshunde_, page 34.” GORRESIO. _Manas_ means mind; _mánasa_,
mental, mind-born.
_ 159 Sarovar_ means best of lakes. This is another of the poet’s
fanciful etymologies.
160 The confluence of two or more rivers is often a venerated and holy
place. The most famous is Prayág or Allahabad, where the Sarasvatí
by an underground course is believed to join the Jumna and the
Ganges.
161 The botanical names of the trees mentioned in the text are Grislea
Tormentosa, Shorea Robusta, Echites Antidysenterica, Bignonia
Suaveolens, Œgle Marmelos, and Diospyrus Glutinosa. I have omitted
the _Kutaja_ (Echites) and the _Tiṇḍuka_ (Diospyrus).
162 Here we meet with a fresh myth to account for the name of these
regions. _Malaja_ is probably a non-Aryan word signifying a hilly
country: taken as a Sanskrit compound it means _sprung from
defilement_. The word _Karúsha_ appears to have a somewhat similar
meaning.
163 “This is one of those indefinable mythic personages who are found in
the ancient traditions of many nations, and in whom cosmogonical or
astronomical notions are generally figured. Thus it is related of
Agastya that the Vindhyan mountains prostrated themselves before
him; and yet the same Agastya is believed to be regent of the star
Canopus.” GORRESIO.
He will appear as the friend and helper of Ráma farther on in the
poem.
164 The famous pleasure-garden of Kuvera the God of Wealth.
165 “The whole of this Canto together with the following one, regards
the belief, formerly prevalent in India, that by virtue of certain
spells, to be learnt and muttered, secret knowledge and superhuman
powers might be acquired. To this the poet has already alluded in
Canto xxiii. These incorporeal weapons are partly represented
according to the fashion of those ascribed to the Gods and the
different orders of demi-gods, partly are the mere creations of
fancy; and it would not be easy to say what idea the poet had of
them in his own mind, or what powers he meant to assign to each.”
SCHLEGEL.
166 “In Sanskrit _Sankára_, a word which has various significations but
the primary meaning of which is _the act of seizing_. A magical
power seems to be implied of employing the weapons when and where
required. The remarks I have made on the preceding Canto apply with
still greater force to this. The MSS. greatly vary in the
enumeration of these _Sankáras_, and it is not surprising that
copyists have incorrectly written the names which they did not well
understand. The commentators throw no light upon the subject.”
SCHLEGEL. I have taken the liberty of omitting four of these which
Schlegel translates “Scleromphalum, Euomphalum, Centiventrem, and
Chrysomphalum.”
167 I omit, after this line, eight _ślokes_ which, as Schlegel allows,
are quite out of place.
168 This is the fifth of the _avatárs_, descents or incarnations of
Vishṇu.
169 This is a solar allegory. Vishṇu is the sun, the three steps being
his rising, culmination, and setting.
170 Certain ceremonies preliminary to a sacrifice.
171 A river which rises in Budelcund and falls into the Ganges near
Patna. It is called also _Hiraṇyaráhu_, Golden-armed, and
_Hiraṇyaráha_, Auriferous.
172 The modern Berar.
173 According to the Bengal recension the first (Kuśámba) is called
Kuśáśva, and his city Kauśáśví. This name does not occur elsewhere.
The reading of the northern recension is confirmed by Foê Kouê Ki;
p. 385, where the city _Kiaoshangmi_ is mentioned. It lay 500 _lis_
to the south-west of _Prayága_, on the south bank of the Jumna.
_Mahodaya_ is another name of Kanyakubja: _Dharmáraṇya_, the wood to
which the God of Justice is said to have fled through fear of Soma
the Moon-God was in Magadh. Girivraja was in the same neighbourhood.
See Lasson’s I, A. Vol. I. p. 604.
174 That is, the City of the Bent Virgins, the modern Kanauj or Canouge.
175 Literally, Given by _Brahma_ or devout contemplation.
176 Now called Kośí (Cosy) corrupted from Kauśikí, daughter of Kuś]a.
“This is one of those personifications of rivers so frequent in the
Grecian mythology, but in the similar myths is seen the impress of
the genius of each people, austere and profoundly religious in
India, graceful and devoted to the worship of external beauty in
Greece.” GORRESIO.
177 One of the names of the Ganges considered as the daughter of Jahnu.
See Canto XLIV.
178 The Indian Crane.
179 Or, rather, geese.
180 A name of the God Śiva.
181 Garuḍa.
182 Ikshváku, the name of a king of Ayodhyá who is regarded as the
founder of the Solar race, means also a _gourd_. Hence, perhaps, the
myth.
183 “The region here spoken of is called in the Laws of Manu
_Madhyadeśa_ or the middle region. ‘The region situated between the
Himálaya and the Vindhya Mountains … is called _Madhyadeśa_, or the
middle region; the space comprised between these two mountains from
the eastern to the western sea is called by sages Áryávartta, _the
seat of honourable men_.’ (MANU, II, 21, 22.) The Sanskrit Indians
called themselves Áryans, which means _honourable_, _noble_, to
distinguish themselves from the surrounding nations of different
origin.” GORRESIO.
184 Said to be so called from the Jambu, or Rose Apple, abounding in it,
and signifying according to the Puránas the central division of the
world, the known world.
185 Here used as a name of Vishṇu.
186 Kings are called the husbands of their kingdoms or of the earth;
“She and his kingdom were his only brides.” _Raghuvaṅśa._
“Doubly divorced! Bad men, you violate
A double marriage, ’twixt my crown and me,
And then between me and my married wife.”
King Richard II. Act V. Sc. I.
187 The thirty-three Gods are said in the _Aitareya Bráhmaṇa_, Book I.
ch. II. 10. to be the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve
Ádityas, Prajápati, either Brahmá or Daksha, and Vashatkára or
deified oblation. This must have been the actual number at the
beginning of the Vedic religion gradually increased by successive
mythical and religious creations till the Indian Pantheon was
crowded with abstractions of every kind. Through the reverence with
which the words of the Veda were regarded, the immense host of
multiplied divinities, in later times, still bore the name of the
Thirty-three Gods.
188 “One of the elephants which, according to an ancient belief popular
in India, supported the earth with their enormous backs; when one of
these elephants shook his wearied head the earth trembled with its
woods and hills. An idea, or rather a mythical fancy, similar to
this, but reduced to proportions less grand, is found in Virgil when
he speaks of Enceladus buried under Ætna:”
“adi semiustum fulmine corpus
Urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Ætnam
Impositam, ruptis flammam expirare caminis;
Et fessum quoties mutat latus, intre mere omnem
iam, et cœlum subtexere fumo.”
Æneid. Lib. III. GORRESIO.