The city subject to HIMÁLAYA'S sway.
No foeman's foot had ever trod those halls,
No foreign bands encamped around the walls.
Then ['S]IVA'S glances fixed their eager hold
On that fair city as with threads of gold.
The God whose neck still gleams with cloudy blue
Burst on the wondering people's upturned view,
And on the earth descended, from the path
His shafts once dinted in avenging wrath.
Forth from the gates a noble army poured
To do meet honour to the mighty Lord.
With all his friends on elephants of state
The King of Mountains passed the city gate,
So gaily decked, the princes all were seen
Like moving hills inwrapt in bowery green.
As the full rushing of two streams that pour
Beneath one bridge with loud tumultuous roar,
So through the city's open gate streamed in
Mountains and Gods with tumult and with din.
So glorious was the sight, wonder and shame,
When ['S]IVA bowed him, o'er the Monarch came;
He knew not he had bent his lofty crest
In reverent greeting to his heavenly guest
HIMÁLAYA, joying in the festive day,
Before the immortal bridegroom led the way
Where heaps of gay flowers burying half the feet
Lay breathing odours through the crowded street.
Careless of all beside, each lady's eye
Must gaze on ['S]IVA as the troop sweeps by.
One dark-eyed beauty will not stay to bind
Her long black tresses, floating unconfined
Save by her little hand; her flowery crown
Hanging neglected and unfastened down.
One from her maiden tore her foot away
On which the dye, all wet and streaming, lay,
And o'er the chamber rushing in her haste,
Where'er she stepped, a crimson footprint traced.
Another at the window takes her stand;
One eye is dyed,--the pencil in her hand.
Here runs an eager maid, and running, holds
Loose and ungirt her flowing mantle's folds,
Whilst, as she strives to close the parting vest,
Its brightness gives new beauty to her breast.
Oh! what a sight! the crowded windows there
With eager faces excellently fair,
Like sweetest lilies, for their dark eyes fling
Quick glances quivering like the wild bee's wing.
Onward in peerless glory ['S]IVA passed;
Gay banners o'er his way their shadows cast,
Each palace dome, each pinnacle and height
Catching new lustre from his crest of light.
On swept the pageant: on the God alone
The eager glances of the dames were thrown;
On his bright form they fed the rapturous gaze,
And only turned to marvel and to praise:
"Oh, well and wisely, such a lord to gain
The Mountain-Maid endured the toil and pain.
To be his slave were joy; but Oh, how blest
The wife--the loved one--lying on his breast!
Surely in vain, had not the Lord of Life
Matched this fond bridegroom and this loving wife,
Had been his wish to give the worlds a mould
Of perfect beauty! Falsely have they told
How the young flower-armed God was burnt by fire
At the red flash of ['S]IVA'S vengeful ire.
No: jealous LOVE a fairer form confessed,
And cast away his own, no more the loveliest.
How glorious is the Mountain King, how proud
Earth's stately pillar, girt about with cloud!
Now will he lift his lofty head more high,
Knit close to ['S]IVA by this holy tie."
Such words of praise from many a bright-eyed dame
On ['S]IVA'S ear with soothing witchery came.
Through the broad streets 'mid loud acclaim he rode,
And reached the palace where the King abode.
There he descended from his monster's side,
As the sun leaves a cloud at eventide.
Leaning on VISH[N.]U'S arm he passed the door
Where mighty BRAHMÁ entered in before.
Next INDRA came, and all the host of heaven,
The noble Saints and those great Sages seven.
Then led they ['S]IVA to a royal seat;
Fair gifts they brought, for such a bridegroom meet:
With all due rites, the honey and the milk,
Rich gems were offered and two robes of silk.
At length by skilful chamberlains arrayed
They led the lover to the royal maid.
Thus the fond Moon disturbs the tranquil rest
Of Ocean glittering with his foamy crest,
And leads him on, his proud waves swelling o'er,
To leap with kisses on the clasping shore.
He gazed on UMÁ. From his lotus eyes
Flashed out the rapture of his proud surprise.
Then calm the current of his spirit lay
Like the world basking in an autumn day.
They met; and true love's momentary shame
O'er the blest bridegroom and his darling came.
Eye looked to eye, but, quivering as they met,
Scarce dared to trust the rapturous gazing yet.
In the God's hand the priest has duly laid
The radiant fingers of the Mountain-Maid,
Bright, as if LOVE with his dear sprays of red
Had sought that refuge in his hour of dread.
From hand to hand the soft infection stole,
Till each confessed it in the inmost soul.
Fire filled his veins, with joy she trembled; such
The magic influence of that thrilling touch.
How grows their beauty, when two lovers stand
Eye fixt on eye, hand fondly linkt in hand!
Then how, unblamed, may mortal minstrel dare
To paint in words the beauty of that pair!
Around the fire in solemn rite they trod,
The lovely lady and the glorious God;
Like day and starry midnight when they meet
In the broad plains at lofty MERU'S feet.
Thrice at the bidding of the priest they came
With swimming eyes around the holy flame.
Then at his word the bride in order due
Into the blazing fire the parched grain threw,
And toward her face the scented smoke she drew,
Which softly wreathing o'er her fair cheek hung,
And round her ears in flower-like beauty clung.
As o'er the incense the sweet lady stooped,
The ear of barley from her tresses drooped,
And rested on her cheek, beneath the eye
Still brightly beaming with the jetty dye.
"This flame be witness of your wedded life:
Be just, thou husband, and be true, thou wife!"
Such was the priestly blessing on the bride.
Eager she listened, as the earth when dried
By parching summer suns drinks deeply in
The first soft droppings when the rains begin.
"Look, gentle UMÁ," cried her Lord, "afar
Seest thou the brightness of yon polar star?
Like that unchanging ray thy faith must shine."
Sobbing, she whispered, "Yes, for ever thine."
The rite is o'er. Her joyful parents now
At BRAHMÁ'S feet in duteous reverence bow.
Then to fair UMÁ spake the gracious Power
Who sits enthroned upon the lotus flower:
"O beautiful lady, happy shalt thou be,
And hero children shall be born of thee;"
Then looked in silence: vain the hope to bless
The bridegroom, ['S]IVA, with more happiness.
Then from the altar, as prescribed of old,
They turned, and rested upon seats of gold;
And, as the holy books for men ordain,
Were sprinkled duly with the moistened grain.
High o'er their heads sweet Beauty's Queen displayed
Upon a stem of reed a cool green shade,
While the young lotus-leaves of which 'twas made
Seemed, as they glistened to the wondering view,
All richly pearled with drops of beady dew.
In twofold language on each glorious head
The Queen of Speech her richest blessings shed;
In strong, pure, godlike utterance for his ear,
To her in liquid tones, soft, beautifully clear.
Now for awhile they gaze where maids divine
In graceful play the expressive dance entwine;
Whose eloquent motions, with an actor's art,
Show to the life the passions of the heart.
The rite was ended; then the heavenly band
Prayed ['S]IVA, raising high the suppliant hand:
"Now, for the dear sake of thy lovely bride,
Have pity on the gentle God," they cried,
"Whose tender body thy fierce wrath has slain:
Give all his honour, all his might again."
Well pleased, he smiled, and gracious answer gave:
['S]IVA himself now yields him KÁMA'S slave.
When duly given, the great will ne'er despise
The gentle pleading of the good and wise.
Now have they left the wedded pair alone;
And ['S]IVA takes her hand within his own
To lead his darling to the bridal bower,
Decked with bright gold and all her sumptuous dower.
She blushes sweetly as her maidens there
Look with arch smiles and glances on the pair;
And for one moment, while the damsels stay,
From him she loves turns her dear face away.
NOTES.
_CANTO FIRST._
The Hindú Deity of War, the leader of the celestial armies, is known
by the names Kártikeya and Skanda. He is represented with six faces
and corresponding arms, and is mounted upon a peacock.
_Himálaya._] Mansion of Snow; from _hima_, snow, and _álaya_, mansion.
The accent is on the _second_ syllable.
_Prithu._] It is said that in the reign of this fabulous monarch,
gods, saints, demons, and other supernatural beings, drained or
_milked_ from the earth various treasures, appointing severally one of
their own class as the recipient, or _Calf_, to use the word of the
legend. Himálaya was thus highly favoured by the sacred Mount Meru,
and the other hills. The story is found in the sixth chapter of the
_Harivansa_, which forms a supplement to the _Mahabhárat_.
_Still the fair pearls_, &c.] It was the belief of the Hindús that
elephants wore these precious jewels in their heads.
_Till heavenly minstrels_, &c.] A class of demi-gods, the songsters of
the Hindú Paradise, or Indra's heaven.
_There magic herbs_, &c.] Frequent allusion is made by Kálidás and
other Sanskrit poets to a phosphoric light emitted by plants at night.
_E'en the wild kine_, &c.] The _Chouri_, or long brush, used to whisk
off insects and flies, was with the Hindús what the sceptre is with
us. It was usually made of the tail-hairs of the _Yak_, or _Bos
Grunniens_. Thus the poet represents these animals as doing honour to
the Monarch of Mountains with these emblems of sovereignty.
_That the bright Seven._] The Hindús call the constellation _Ursa
Major_ the seven Rishis, or Saints. They will appear as actors in the
course of the poem.
_And once when Indra's might._] We learn from the _Rámáyana_ that the
mountains were originally furnished with wings, and that they flew
through the air with the speed of the wind. For fear lest they should
suddenly fall in their flight, Indra, King of the Gods, struck off
their pinions with his thunderbolt; but Maináka was preserved from a
similar fate by the friendship of Ocean, to whom he fled for refuge.
_Born once again_, &c.] The reader will remember the Hindú belief in
the Transmigration of Souls. The story alluded to by the poet is
this:--"_Daksha_ was the son of _Brahmá_ and father of _Satí_, whom,
at the recommendation of the _Rishis_, or Sages, he espoused to
_['S]iva_, but he was never wholly reconciled to the uncouth figure
and practices of his son-in-law. Having undertaken to celebrate a
solemn sacrifice, he invited all the Gods except _['S]iva_, which so
incensed _Satí_, that she threw herself into the sacrificial
fire."--(Wilson, Specimens of Hindú Theatre, Vol. II. p. 263.) The
name of _Satí_, meaning good, true, chaste woman, is the modern
_Suttee_, as it is corruptly written.
_As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills._] These hills are placed
in Ceylon. The precious stone grows, it is said, at the sound of
thunder in the rainy season.
_At her stern penance._] This is described in the fifth canto. The
meaning of the name Umá is "Oh, do not."
_The Gods' bright river._] The celestial Ganges, which falls from
heaven upon Himálaya's head, and continues its course on earth.
_Young Káma's arrow._] Káma, the Hindú Cupid, is armed with a bow, the
arrows of which are made of flowers.
_And brighter than A['s]oka's rich leaves._] Nothing, we are told, can
exceed the beauty of this tree when in full bloom. It is, of course, a
general favourite with the poets of India.
_The strings of pearl._]
"Then, too, the pearl from out its shell
Unsightly, in the sunless sea
(As 'twere a spirit, forced to dwell
In form unlovely) _was set free_,
And round the neck of woman threw
_A light it lent and borrowed too_."
MOORE--_Loves of the Angels._
Moore is frequently the best interpreter, unconsciously, of an Indian
poet's thought. It is worth remarking, that the Sanskrit word _muktá_,
pearl (literally _freed_), signifies also the _spirit_ released from
mundane existence, and re-integrated with its divine original.
_The sweetest note that e'er the Köil poured._] The _Kokila_, or
_Köil_, the black or Indian cuckoo, is the bulbul or nightingale of
Hindústan. It is also the herald of spring, like its European
namesake, and the female bird is the especial messenger of Love.
_When holy Nárad._] A divine sage, son of Brahmá.
_The holy bull._] The animal on which the God ['S]iva rides, as Indra
on the elephant.
_Who takes eight various forms._] ['S]iva is called Wearer of the
Eight Forms, as being identical with the Five Elements, Mind,
Individuality, and Crude Matter.
_Where the pale moon on ['S]iva's forehead._] ['S]iva's crest is the
new moon, which is sometimes described as forming a third eye in his
forehead. We shall find frequent allusions to this in the course of
the poem.
_CANTO SECOND._
_While impious Tárak._] A demon who, by a long course of austerities,
had acquired power even over the Gods. This Hindú notion is familiar
to most of us from Southey's "Curse of Keháma."
_Whose face turns every way._] Brahmá is represented with four faces,
one towards each point of the compass.
_The mystic Three._] "The triad of qualities," a philosophical term
familiar to all the systems of Hindú speculation. They are thus
explained in the _Tattwa Samása_, a text-book of the Sánkhya
school:--"Now it is asked, What is the 'triad of qualities'? It is
replied, The triad of qualities consists of 'Goodness,' 'Foulness,'
and 'Darkness.' By the 'triad of qualities' is meant the 'three
qualities.' Goodness is endlessly diversified, accordingly as it is
exemplified in calmness, lightness, complacency, attainment of wishes,
kindliness, contentment, patience, joy, and the like; summarily, it
consists of happiness. 'Foulness' is endlessly diversified,
accordingly as it is exemplified in grief, distress, separation,
excitement, anxiety, fault-finding, and the like; summarily, it
consists of pain. 'Darkness' is endlessly diversified, accordingly as
it is exemplified in envelopment, ignorance, disgust, abjectness,
heaviness, sloth, drowsiness, intoxication, and the like; summarily,
it consists of delusion."
_Thou, when a longing_, &c.] "Having divided his own substance, the
mighty power became half male, half female, or _nature active and
passive_."--_Manu_, Ch. I.
So also in the old Orphic hymn it is said,
[Greek: Zeus arsên geneto, Zeus ambrotos epleto numphê.]
"Zeus was a male; Zeus was a deathless damsel."
_The sacred hymns._] Contained in the Vedas, or Holy Scriptures of the
Hindús.
_The word of praise._] The mystic syllable OM, prefacing all the
prayers and most of the writings of the Hindús. It implies the Indian
triad, and expresses the Three in One.
_They hail thee, Nature._] The object of Nature's activity, according
to the Sánkhya system, is "the final liberation of individual soul."
"The incompetency of nature, an irrational principle, to institute a
course of action for a definite purpose, and the unfitness of rational
soul to regulate the acts of an agent whose character it imperfectly
apprehends, constitute a principal argument with the theistical
Sánkhyas for the necessity of a Providence, to whom the ends of
existence are known, and by whom Nature is guided.... The atheistical
Sánkhyas, on the other hand, contend that there is no occasion for a
guiding Providence, but that the activity of nature, for the purpose
of accomplishing soul's object, is an intuitive necessity, as
illustrated in the following passage:--As it is a function of milk, an
unintelligent (substance), to nourish the calf, so it is the office of
the chief principle (nature) to liberate the soul."--Prof. Wilson's
_Sánkhya Káriká_.
_Hail Thee the stranger Spirit_, &c.] "Soul is witness, solitary,
bystander, spectator, passive."--_Sánkh. Kár._ verse xix.
_See, Varun's noose._] The God of Water.
_Weak is Kuvera's hand._] The God of Wealth.
_Yama's sceptre._] The God and Judge of the Dead.
_The Lords of Light._] The Ádityas, twelve in number, are forms of the
sun, and appear to represent him as distinct in each month of the
year.
_The Rudras._] A class of demi-gods, eleven in number, said to be
inferior manifestations of ['S]iva, who also bears this name.
_E'en as on earth_, &c.] Thus the commandment,--Thou shalt not kill,
is abrogated by the injunction to kill animals for sacrifice.
_The heavenly Teacher._] Vrihaspati, the son of Angiras.
_His own dear flower._] The lotus, on which Brahmá is represented
reclining.
_Their flashing jewels._] According to the Hindú belief, serpents wear
precious jewels in their heads.
_Chakra._] A discus, or quoit, the weapon of Vishnu.
_As water bears to me._] "HE, having willed to produce various beings
from his own divine substance, first with a thought created the
waters, and placed in them a productive seed."--_Manu_, Ch. I.
_Mournful braids._] As a sign of mourning, especially for the loss of
their husbands, the Hindústáni women collect their long hair into a
braid, called in Sanskrit _ve[n.]i_.
_The mango twig._] We shall meet with several allusions to this tree
as the favourite of Love and the darling of the bees.
_CANTO THIRD._
_Who angers thee, &c._] To understand properly this speech of Káma, it
is necessary to be acquainted with some of the Hindú notions regarding
a future state. "The highest kind of happiness is absorption into the
divine essence, or the return of that portion of spirit which is
combined with the attributes of humanity to its original source. This
happiness, according to the philosopher, is to be obtained only by the
most perfect abstraction from the world and freedom from passion, even
while in a state of terrestrial existence.... Besides this ultimate
felicity, the Hindús have several minor degrees of happiness, amongst
which is the enjoyment of Indra's Swarga, or, in fact, of a Muhammadan
Paradise. The degree and duration of the pleasures of this paradise
are proportioned to the merits of those admitted to it; and they who
have enjoyed this lofty region of Swarga, but whose virtue is
exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals."--Prof. Wilson's _Megha
Dúta_. Compare also "The Lord's Song."--_Specimens of Old Indian
Poetry_, pp. 67, 68.
Indra, therefore, may be supposed to feel jealous whenever a human
being aspires to something higher than that heaven of which he is the
Lord.
The "chain of birth" alluded to is of course the metempsychosis, or
transmigration of souls, a belief which is not to be looked upon (says
Prof. Wilson in the preface to his edition of the _Sánkhya Káriká_) as
a mere popular superstition. It is the main principle of all Hindú
metaphysics; it is the foundation of all Hindú philosophy. The great
object of their philosophical research in every system, Brahminical
or Buddhist, is the discovery of the means of putting a stop to
further transmigration; the discontinuance of corporeal being; the
liberation of soul from body.
_As on that Snake._] Sesha, the Serpent King, is in the Hindú
mythology the supporter of the earth, as, in one of the fictions of
the Edda,--
"That sea-snake, tremendous curled,
Whose monstrous circle girds the world."
He is also the couch and canopy of the God Vishnu, or, as he
is here called, Krish[n.]a,--that hero being one of his incarnations,
and considered identical with the deity himself.
_The threefold world._] Earth, heaven, and hell.
_His fearful Rati._] The wife of Káma, or Love.
_To where Kuvera &c._] The demi-god Kuvera was regent
of the north.
_Nor waited for the maiden's touch._] Referring to the Hindú
notion that the A['s]oka blossoms at the touch of a woman's
foot. So Shelley says,
"I doubt not, the flowers of that garden sweet
Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet."
_Sensitive Plant._
_Grouping the syllables._] This comparison seems forced rather too far
to suit a European taste. Kálidás is not satisfied with calling the
mango-spray the Arrow of Love; he must tell us that its leaves are the
feathers, and that the bees have marked it with the owner's name.
_That loveliest flower._] The Karnikára.
_His flowery Tilaka._] The name of a tree; it also means a mark made
with coloured earths or unguents upon the forehead and between the
eyebrows, either as an ornament or a sectarial distinction; the poet
intends the word to convey both ideas at once here. In this passage is
another comparison of the mango-spray: it is called the _lip_ of Love;
its _rouge_ is the blush of morning, and its darker beautifying powder
the clustering bees. From the universal custom of dying the lips, the
Sanskrit poets are constantly speaking of their "vermeil tints," &c.,
as will be sufficiently evident in the course of this work.
_The Hermit's servant._] By name Nandi.
_His neck of brightly-beaming blue._] An ancient legend tells us that
after the deluge the ocean was churned by Gods and demons, in order to
recover the Amrit and other treasures that had been lost in it:--
"Then loud and long a joyous sound
Rang through the startled sky:
'Hail to the Amrit, lost and found!'
A thousand voices cry.
But from the wondrous churning streamed
A poison fierce and dread,
Burning like fire: where'er it streamed
Thick noisome mists were spread.
The wanting venom onwards went,
And filled the Worlds with fear,
Till Brahmá to their misery bent
His gracious pitying ear;
And ['S]iva those destroying streams
Drank up at Brahmá's beck.
Still in thy throat the dark flood gleams,
God of the azure neck!"
Specimens of Old Indian Poetry--_Churning of the Ocean._
_Gates of sense._] The eyes, ears, &c.
_CANTO FOURTH._
_Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be._] The Moon, in Hindú
mythology, is a male deity.
_This line of bees._] Káma's bow is sometimes represented as strung in
this extraordinary manner.
_And stain this foot._] "Staining the soles of the feet with a red
colour, derived from the Mehndee, the Lac, &c., is a favourite
practice of the Hindú toilet."--WILSON.
_CANTO FIFTH._
_And worn with resting on her rosary._] The Hindús use their rosaries
much as we do, carrying them in their hands or on their wrists. As
they turn them over, they repeat an inaudible prayer, or the name of
the particular deity they worship, as Vish[n.]u or S'iva. The
_Rudrákshá málá_ (which we may suppose Umá to have used) is a string
of the seeds or berries of the Eleocarpus, and especially dedicated to
S'iva. It should contain 108 berries or beads, each of which is
fingered with the mental repetition of one of S'iva's 108
appellations.
_Not e'en her boy._] Kártikeya, the God of War.
_Of those poor birds._] The Chakraváki. These birds are always
observed to fly in pairs during the day, but are supposed to remain
separate during the night.
_That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred._]
"Amor in cor gentil ratto s'apprende."
DANTE.
_CANTO SIXTH._
_The Heavenly Dame._] Arundhatí, wife of one of the Seven Saints.
_The Boar._] An Avatár, or incarnation of Vish[n.]u. In this form he
preserved the world at the deluge.
_That thirsty bird._] The Chátaka, supposed to drink nothing but
rain-water.
_Proud Alaká._] The capital of Kuvera, the God of Wealth.
_The bright Champac._]
"The maid of India blest again to hold
In her broad lap the Champac's leaves of gold."
_Lalla Rookh._
_Angiras._] One of the Seven Saints; the father of Vrihaspati, the
teacher of the gods.
_Vast grew his body._] Alluding to the Vámana, or Dwarf Avatár of
Vish[n.]u, wrought to restrain the pride of the giant Bali, who had
expelled the Gods from heaven. In that form he presented himself
before the giant, and asked him for three paces of land to build a
hut. Bali ridiculed and granted the request. The dwarf immediately
grew to a prodigious size, so that he measured the earth with one
pace, and the heavens with another.
_Sumeru._] Another name of the sacred Mount Meru; or rather the same
word, with su, good, prefixed.
_CANTO SEVENTH._
_Kailása's side._] A mountain, the fabulous residence of Kuvera, and
favourite haunt of S'iva, placed by the Hindús among the Himálayas.
_Kalí came behind._] The name of one of the divine matrons. The word
also signifies in Sanskrit a row or succession of clouds, suggesting
the comparison which follows.
_In twofold language._] In Sanskrit and Prakrit. The latter is a
softened modification of the former, to which it bears the same
relation as Italian to Latin; it is spoken by the female characters
of the Hindú drama.
THE END.