"Pruja-puti being gone, Bhugee-rutha, O Rama! with uplifted arm,
without support, without a helper, immoveable as a dry tree, and
feeding on air, remained day and night on the tip of his great toe
upon the afflicted earth. A full year having now elapsed, the husband
of Ooma, and the lord of animals, who is reverenced by all worlds,
said to the king, I am propitious to thee, O chief of men! I will
accomplish thy utmost desire. To him the sovereign replied, O Hura,
receive Gunga! Bhurga,[17] thus addressed, replied, I will perform
thy desire; I will receive her on my head, the daughter of the
mountain. Muheshwura then, mounting on the summit of Himuvut,
addressed Gunga, the river flowing in the ether, saying, Descend, O
Gunga! The eldest daughter of Himuvut, adored by the universe, having
heard the words of the lord of Ooma, was filled with anger, and
assuming, O Rama! a form of amazing size, with insupportable celerity,
fell from the air upon the auspicious head of Shiva. The goddess
Gunga, irresistible, thought within herself, I will bear down Shunkura
with my stream, and enter Patala. The {226} divine Hura, the
three-eyed god, was aware of her proud resolution, and, being angry,
determined to prevent her design. The purifier, fallen upon the sacred
head of Roodra, was detained, O Rama! in the recesses of the orb of
his Juta, resembling Himuvut, and was unable, by the greatest efforts,
to descend to the earth. From the borders of the orb of his Juta, the
goddess could not obtain regress, but wandered there for many series
of years. Thus situated, Bhugee-rutha beheld her wandering there, and
again engaged in severe austerities.
"With these austerities, O son of Rughoo! Hura being greatly pleased,
discharged Gunga towards the lake Vindoo. In her flowing forth seven
streams were produced. Three of these streams[18] beautiful, filled
with water conveying happiness, Hladinee,[19] Pavunee,[20] and
Nulinee,[21] directed their course eastward: while
Soochukohoo,[22] Seeta,[23] and Sindhoo,[24] three pellucid
mighty rivers, flowed to the west. The seventh of these streams
followed king Bhugee-rutha. The royal sage, the illustrious {227}
Bhugee-rutha, seated on a resplendent car, led the way, while Gunga
followed. Pouring down from the sky upon the head of Shunkura, and
afterwards upon the earth, her streams rolled along with a shrill
sound. The earth was willingly chosen by the fallen fishes, the
turtles, the porpoises, and the birds. The royal sages, the
Gundhurvas, the Yukshas, and the Siddhas, beheld her falling from the
ether to the earth; yea, the gods, immeasurable in power, filled with
surprise, came thither with chariots resembling a city, horses, and
elephants, and litters, desirous of seeing the wonderful and
unparalleled descent of Gunga into the world. Irradiated by the
descending gods, and the splendour of their ornaments, the cloudless
atmosphere shone with the splendour of an hundred suns, while by the
uneasy porpoises, the serpents, and the fishes, the air was coruscated
as with lightning. Through the white foam of the waters, spreading in
a thousand directions, and the flights of water-fowl, the atmosphere
appeared filled with autumnal clouds. The water, pure from defilement,
falling from the head of Shunkura, and thence to the earth, ran in
some places with a rapid stream, in others in a tortuous current; here
widely spreading, there descending into caverns, and again spouting
upward; in some places it moved slowly, stream uniting with stream;
while repelled {228} in others, it rose upwards, and again fell to the
earth. Knowing its purity, the sages, the Gundhurvas, and the
inhabitants of the earth, touched the water fallen from the body of
Bhuva.[25] Those who, through a curse, had fallen from heaven to
earth, having performed ablution in this stream, became free from sin:
cleansed from sin by this water, and restored to happiness, they
entered the sky, and returned again to heaven. By this illustrious
stream was the world rejoiced, and by performing ablution in Gunga,
became free from impurity.
"The royal sage, Bhugee-rutha, full of energy, went before, seated on
his resplendent car, while Gunga followed after. The gods, O Rama!
with the sages, the Dityas, the Danuvas, the Rakshuses, the chief
Gundhurvas, and Yukshas, with the Kinnuras, the chief serpents, and
all the Upsuras, together with aquatic animals, following the chariot
of Bhugee-rutha, attended Gunga. Whither king Bhugee-rutha went,
thither went the renowned Gunga, the chief of streams, the destroyer
of all sin.
"After this, Gunga, in her course, inundated this sacrificial ground
of the great Juhnoo of astonishing deeds, {229} who was then offering
sacrifice. Juhnoo, O Raghuva! perceiving her pride enraged, drank up
the whole of the water of Gunga:--a most astonishing deed! At this the
gods, the Gundhurvas, and the sages, exceedingly surprised, adored the
great Juhnoo, the most excellent of men, and named Gunga the daughter
of this great sage.
"The illustrious chief of men, pleased, discharged Gunga from his
ears. Having liberated her, he, recognizing the great Bhugee-rutha,
the chief of kings, then present, duly, honoured him, and returned to
the place of sacrifice. From this deed Gunga, the daughter of Jahnoo,
obtained the name Jahnuvee.
"Gunga now went forward again, following the chariot of Bhugee-rutha.
Having reached the sea, the chief of streams proceeded to Patala, to
accomplish the work of Bhugee-rutha. The wise and royal sage, having
with great labour conducted Gunga thither, there beheld his ancestors
reduced to ashes. Then, O chief of Rughoo's race, that heap of ashes,
bathed by the excellent waters of Gunga, and purified from sin, the
sons of the king obtained heaven. Having arrived at the sea, the king,
followed by Gunga, entered the subterraneous regions, where lay the
sacred ashes. After these, O Rama! had been laved by the water of
Gunga, Bruhma, the lord of all, thus addressed the king: O chief of
men! thy predecessors, {230} the sixty thousand sons of the great
Sugura, are all delivered by thee: and the great and perennial
receptacle of water, called by Sugura's name, shall henceforth be
universally known by the appellation of Sagura.[26] As long, O
king! as the waters of the sea continue in the earth, so long shall
the sons of Sugura remain in heaven, in all the splendour of gods.
"This Gunga, O king! shall be thy eldest daughter, known throughout
the three worlds (by the name) Bhagee-ruthee; and because she passed
through the earth, the chief of rivers shall be called Gunga[27]
throughout the universe. (She shall also be) called Triputhaga, on
account of her proceeding forward in three different directions,
watering the three worlds. Thus is she named by the gods and sages.
She is called Gunga, O sovereign of the Vashyas! on account of her
flowing through Gang;[28] and her third name, O thou observer of
vows! is Bhagee-ruthee. O, accomplished one! through affection to
thee, and regard to me, these names will remain: as long as Gunga, the
great river, shall remain in the world, so long shall thy deathless
fame live throughout {231} the universe. O lord of men! O king!
perform here the funeral rites of all thine ancestors. Relinquish thy
vows,[29] O king! this devout wish of theirs was not obtained by
thine ancestors highly renowned, chief among the pious; not by
Ungshooman, unparalleled in the universe, so earnestly desiring the
descent of Gunga, O beloved one! was this object of desire obtained.
Nor, O possessor of prosperity! O sinless one! could she be (obtained)
by thine illustrious father Dwileepa, the Rajurshi eminently
accomplished, whose energy was equal to that of a Muhurshi, and who,
established in all the virtues of the Kshutras, in secret austerities
equalled myself. This great design has been fully accomplished by
thee, O chief of men! Thy fame, the blessing so much desired, will
spread throughout the world. O subduer of enemies! this descent of
Gunga has been effected by thee. This Gunga is the great abode of
virtue: by this deed thou art become possessed of the divinity itself.
In this stream constantly bathe thyself, O chief of men! Purified, O
most excellent of mortals! be a partaker of the fruit of holiness;
perform the funeral ceremonies of all thy ancestors. May blessings
attend thee, O chief of men! I return to heaven.
{232}
"The renowned one, the sovereign of the gods, the sire of the
universe, having thus spoken, returned to heaven.
"King Bhugee-rutha, the royal sage, having performed the funeral
ceremonies of the descendants of Sugura, in proper order of
succession, according to the ordinance; the renowned one having also,
O chief of men! performed the customary ceremonies, and purified
himself, returned to his own city, where he governed the kingdom.
Having (again,) O Raghura! possessed of abundant wealth, obtained
their king, his people rejoiced; their sorrow was completely removed;
they increased in wealth and prosperity, and were freed from disease.
"Thus, O Rama! has the story of Gunga been related at large by me. May
prosperity attend thee: May every good be thine. The evening is fast
receding. He who causes this relation, securing wealth, fame,
longevity, posterity, and heaven, to be heard among the Brahmans, the
Kshutriyas, or the other tribes of men, his ancestors rejoice, and to
him are the gods propitious: and he who hears this admirable story of
the descent of Gunga, ensuring long life, shall obtain, O Kakootstha!
all the wishes of his heart. All his sins shall be destroyed, and his
life and fame be abundantly prolonged."
{233}
End of the thirty-fifth Section, describing the descent of Gunga.
_Parvati._--X. p. 94.
All the Devetas, and other inhabitants of the celestial regions, being
collected, at the summons of Bhagavat, to arrange the ceremonials of
the marriage of Seeva and Parvati, first came Brahma, mounted on his
goose, with the Reyshees at his stirrup; next Veeshnu, riding on
Garoor his eagle, with the chank, the chakra, the club, and the pedive
in his hands; Eendra also, and Yama, and Cuvera, and Varuna, and the
rivers Ganga and Jumna, and the Seven Seas. The Gandarvas also, and
Apsaras, and Vasookee, and other serpents, in obedience to the
commands of Seeva, all dressed in superb chains and habits of
ceremony, were to be seen in order amidst the crowded and glittering
cavalcade.
And now, Seeva, after the arrival of all the Devetas, and the
completion of the preparations for the procession, set out, in the
utmost pomp and splendour, from the mountain Kilas. His third eye
flamed like the sun, and the crescent on his forehead assumed the form
of a radiated diadem; his snakes were exchanged for chains and
necklaces of pearls and rubies, his ashes for sandal and perfume, and
his elephant's skin for a silken robe, {234} so that none of the
Devetas in brilliance came near his figure. The bridal attendants now
spread wide abroad the carpet of congratulation, and arranged in order
the banquet of bliss. Nature herself assumed the appearance of
renovated youth, and the sorrowing universe recalled its
long-forgotten happiness. The Gandarvas and Apsaras began their
melodious songs, and the Genes and Keeners displayed the magic of
their various musical instruments. The earth and its inhabitants
exulted with tongues of glorification and triumph; fresh moisture
invigorated the withered victims of time; a thousand happy and
animating conceptions inspired the hearts of the intelligent, and
enlightened the wisdom of the thoughtful: The kingdom of external
forms obtained gladness, the world of intellect acquired brightness.
The dwellers upon earth stocked the casket of their ideas with the
jewels of delight, and reverend pilgrims exchanged their beads for
pearls. The joy of those on earth ascended up to Heaven, and the Tree
of the bliss of those in Heaven extended its auspicious branches
downwards to the earth. The eyes of the Devetas flamed like torches on
beholding these scenes of rapture, and the hearts of the just kindled
like touchwood on hearing these ravishing symphonies. Thus Seeva set
off like a garden in full blow, and Paradise was eclipsed by his
motion.--MAURICE, _from the Seeva-Pooraun_.
{235}
_Thereat the heart of the Universe stood still._--X. p. 94.
After these lines were written, I was amused at finding a parallel
passage in a sermon:
_Quando o Sol parou às vozes de Josuè, aconteceram no mundo todas
aquellas consequencias, que parando o movimento celeste, consideram os
Filosofos. As plantas por todo aquelle tempo nam creceram; as
calidades dos elementos, e dos mixtos, nam se alteraram; a geraçam e
corrupçam com que se conserva o mundo, cessou; as artes e os
exercicios de hum e outro Emisferio estiveram suspensos; os Antipodas
nam trabalhavam, porque lhes faltava a luz, os de cima cançados de
tam comprido dia deixavam o trabalho; estes pasmados de verem o Sol
que se nam movia; aquelles tambem pasmados de esperarem pelo Sol, que
nam chegava; cuidavam que se acabàra para elles a luz; imaginavam que
se acabava o mundo: tudo era lagrimas, tudo assombros, tudo horrores,
tudo confusoens_.--VIEYRA, Sermoens, _tom. ix. p._ 505.
_Surya._--X. p. 105.
_Surya_, the Sun. The poets and painters describe his car as drawn by
seven green horses, preceded by _Arun_, or the Dawn, who acts as his
charioteer, and followed by thousands of genii, worshipping him, and
modulating his {236} praises. Surya is believed to have descended
frequently from his car in a human shape, and to have left a race on
earth, who are equally renowned in the Indian stories with the
Heliadai of Greece. It is very singular that his two sons, called
_Aswinau_, or _Aswinicumarau_, in the Dual, should be considered as
twin brothers, and painted like Castor and Pollux; but they have each
the character of Æsculapius among the gods, and are believed to have
been born of a nymph, who, in the form of a mare, was impregnated with
sun-beams.--Sir W. JONES.
That sun, O daughter of Ganga! than which nothing is higher, to which
nothing is equal, enlightens the summit of the sky--with the sky
enlightens the earth--with the earth enlightens the lower
worlds;--enlightens the higher worlds, enlightens other worlds;--it
enlightens the breast,--enlightens all besides the breast.--Sir W.
JONES, _from the Veda_.
_Forgetful of his Dragon foe._--X. p. 105.
_Ra'hu_ was the son of _Cas'yapa_ and _Dity_, according to some
authorities; but others represent _Sinhica'_ (perhaps the sphinx) as
his natural mother. He had four arms; his lower parts ended in a tail
like that of a dragon; and his aspect was grim and gloomy, like the
_darkness_ of the chaos, whence he had also the name of _Tamas_. He
was {237} the adviser of all mischief among the _Daityas_, who had a
regard for him: but among the _De'vatas_ it was his chief delight to
sow dissension; and when the gods had produced the _amrit_, by
churning the ocean, he disguised himself like one of them, and
received a portion of it; but the Sun and Moon having discovered his
fraud, _Vishnu_ severed his head and two of his arms from the rest of
his monstrous body. That part of the nectareous fluid which he had
time to swallow secured his immortality: his trunk and dragon-like
tail fell on the mountain of _Malaya_, where _Mini_, a _Brahman_,
carefully preserved them by the name of _Ce'tu_; and, as if a complete
body had been formed from them, like a dismembered _polype_, he is
even said to have adopted _Ce'tu_ as his own child. The head, with two
arms, fell on the sands of _Barbara_, where _Pi't'he'na's_ was then
walking with _Sinhica'_, by some called his wife: They carried the
_Daitya_ to their palace, and adopted him as their son; whence he
acquired the name of _Paite'he'nasi_. This extravagant fable is, no
doubt, astronomical; _Ra'hu_ and _Ce'tu_ being clearly the _nodes_, or
what astrologers call the _head_ and _tail_ of the dragon. It is
added, that they appeased _Vishnu_, and obtained re-admission to the
firmament, but were no longer visible from the earth, their
enlightened sides being turned from it; that _Ra'hu_ strives, during
eclipses, to wreak vengeance on the Sun {238} and Moon, who detected
him; and that _Ce'tu_ often appears as a comet, a whirlwind, a fiery
meteor, a water-spout, or a column of sand.--WILFORD. _Asiatic
Researches_.
_Suras._--X. p. 105.
The word _Sura_ in Sanscrit signifies both wine and true wealth;
hence, in the first _C'hand_ of the _Ramayan_ of VALMIC, it is
expressly said that the _Devetas_, having received the _Sura_,
acquired the title of _Suras_, and the _Daityas_ that of _Asura_, from
not having received it. The _Veda_ is represented as that wine and
true wealth.--PATERSON. _Asiat. Researches_.
_Camdeo._--X. p. 106.
Eternal CAMA! or doth SMARA bright,
Or proud ANANGA, give thee more delight?
_Sir W. Jones_.
He was the son of MAYA, or the general _attracting_ power, and
married to RETTY, or _Affection_, and his bosom friend is BESSENT,
or _Spring_. He is represented a a beautiful youth, sometimes
conversing with his mother and consort in the midst of his gardens and
temples; sometimes riding by moonlight on a parrot or lory, a attended
by dancing girls or nymphs, the foremost {239} whom bears his colours,
which are a _fish_ on a red ground. His favourite place of resort is a
large tract of country round _Agra_, and principally the plains of
_Matra_, where KRISHEN also, and the nine GOPIA, who are clearly
the _Apollo_ and _Muses_ of the Greeks, usually spend the night with
music and dance. His bow of sugar-cane or flowers, with a string of
bees, and his _five_ arrows, each pointed with an Indian blossom of a
heating quality, are allegories equally new and beautiful.
It is possible that the words _Dipuc_ and _Cupid_, which have the same
signification, may have the same origin; since we know that the old
Hetrurians, from whom great part of the Roman language and religion
was derived, and whose system had a near affinity with that of the
Persians and Indians, used to write their lines alternately forwards
and backwards, as furrows are made by the ploughs.--Sir W. JONES.
Mahadeva and Parvati were playing with dice at the ancient game of
Chaturanga, when they disputed, and parted in wrath; the goddess
retiring to the forest of Gauri, and the god repairing to Cushadwip.
They severally performed rigid acts of devotion to the Supreme Being;
but the fires which they kindled blazed so vehemently as to threaten a
general conflagration. The Devas, in great alarm, hastened to Brahma,
who led them {240} to Mahadeva, and supplicated him to recall his
consort; but the wrathful deity only answered, That she most come by
her own free choice. They accordingly dispatched Gunga, the river
goddess, who prevailed on Parvati to return to him, on condition that
his love for her should be restored. The celestial mediators then
employed Cama-Deva, who wounded Mahadeva with one of his flowery
arrows; but the angry divinity reduced him to ashes with a flame from
his eye. Parvati soon after presented herself before him in the form
of a Cirati, or daughter of a mountaineer, and seeing him enamoured of
her, resumed her own shape. In the place where they were reconciled, a
grove sprang up, which was named Camavana; and the relenting god, in
the character of Cameswara, consoled the afflicted Reti, the widow of
Cama, by assuring her that she should rejoin her husband when he
should be born again in the form of Pradyumna, son of Crishna, and
should put Sambara to death. This favourable prediction was in due
time accomplished, and Pradyumna having sprung to life, he was
instantly seized by the demon Sambara, who placed him in a chest,
which he threw into the ocean; but a large fish, which had swallowed
the chest, was caught, in a net, and carried to the palace of a
tyrant, where the unfortunate Reti had been compelled to do menial
service. {241} It was her lot to open the fish, and seeing an infant
in the chest, she nursed him in private, and educated him, till he had
sufficient strength to destroy the malignant Sambara. He had before
considered Reti as his mother; but the minds of them both being,
irradiated, the prophecy of Mahadeva was remembered, and the God of
Love was again united with the Goddess of Pleasure.--WILFORD.
_Asiatic Researches_.
_Eating his very core of life away._--XI. p. 113.
One of the wonders of this country is the _Jiggerkhar_, (or
liver-eater.) One of this class can steal away the liver of another by
looks and incantations. Other accounts say, that, by looking at a
person, he deprives him of his senses, and then steals from him
something resembling the seed of a pomegranate, which he hides in the
calf of his leg. The _Jiggerkhar_ throws on the fire the grain before
described, which thereupon spreads to the size of a dish, and he
distributes it amongst his fellows, to be eaten; which ceremony
concludes the life of the fascinated person. A _Jiggerkhar_ is able to
communicate his art to another, which he does by learning him the
incantations, and by making him eat a bit of the liver-cake. If any
one cut open the calf of the magician's leg, extract the grain, and
give it to the afflicted person {242} to eat, he immediately recovers.
Those _Jiggerkhars_ are mostly women. It is said, moreover, that they
can bring intelligence from a great distance in a short space of time;
and if they are thrown into a river, with a stone tied to them, they
nevertheless will not sink. In order to deprive any one of this wicked
power, they brand his temples, and every joint in his body, cram his
eyes with salt, suspend him for forty days in a subterraneous cavern,
and repeat over him certain incantations. In this state he is called
_Detche-reh_. Although, after having undergone this discipline, he is
not able to destroy the liver of any one, yet he retains the power of
being able to discover another _Jiggerkhar_, and is used for detecting
these disturbers of mankind. They can also cure many diseases, by
administering a potion, or by repeating an incantation. Many other
marvellous stories are told of these people.--AYEEN ACBERY.
An Arabian old woman, by name Meluk, was thrown in prison, on a charge
of having bewitched, or, as they call it, eaten the heart of a young
native of Ormuz, who had lately, from being a Christian, turned
Mahommedan. The cause of offence was, that the young man, after
keeping company some time with one of her daughters, had forsaken her:
He himself, who was in a pitiable condition, and in danger of his
life, was one of her {243} accusers. This sort of witchcraft, which
the Indians call eating the heart, and which is what we call
bewitching, as sorcerers do by their venomous and deadly looks, is not
a new thing, nor unheard of elsewhere; for many persons practised it
formerly in Sclavonia, and the country of the Triballes, as we learn
from Ortelius, who took the account from Pliny, who, upon the report
of Isigones, testifies, that this species of enchantment was much in
use among these people, and many others whom he mentions, as it is at
present here, especially among the Arabians who inhabit the western
coast of the Persian gulph, where this art is common. The way in which
they do it is only by the eyes and the mouth, keeping the eyes fixed
steadily upon the person whose heart they design to eat, and
pronouncing, between their teeth, I know not what diabolical words, by
virtue of which, and by the operation of the devil, the person, how
hale and strong soever, falls immediately into an unknown and
incurable disease, which makes him appear phthysical, consumes him
little by little, and at last destroys him. And this takes place
faster or slower as the heart is eaten, as they say; for these
sorcerers can either eat the whole or a part only; that is, can
consume it entirely and at once, or bit by bit, as they please. The
vulgar give it this name, because they believe that the devil, acting
upon {244} the imagination of the witch when she mutters her wicked
words, represents invisibly to her the heart and entrails of the
patient, taken out of his body, and makes her devour them. In which
these wretches find so delightful a task, that very often, to satisfy
their appetite, without any impulse of resentment or enmity, they will
destroy innocent persons, and even their nearest relatives, as there
is a report that our prisoner killed one of her own daughters in this
manner.
This was confirmed to me by a similar story, which I heard at Ispahan,
from the mouth of P. Sebastian de Jesus, a Portugueze Augustinian, a
man to be believed, and of singular virtue, who was prior of their
convent when I departed. He assured me, that, on one of the places
dependent upon Portugal, on the confines of Arabia Felix, I know not
whether it was at Mascate or at Ormuz, an Arab having been taken up
for a similar crime, and convicted of it, for he confessed the fact,
the captain, or governor of the place, who was a Portugueze, that he
might better understand the truth of these black and devilish actions,
of which there is no doubt in this country, made the sorcerer be
brought before him before he was led to his punishment, and asked him,
If he could eat the inside of a cucumber without opening it, as well
as the heart of a man? The sorcerer said yes; and, in order to {245}
prove it, a cucumber was brought: he looked at it, never touching it,
steadily for some time, with his usual enchantments, and then told the
captain he had eaten the whole inside; and accordingly, when it was
opened, nothing was found but the rind. This is not impossible; for
the devil, of whom they make use in these operations, having, in the
order of nature, greater power than all inferior creatures, can, with
God's permission, produce these effects, and others more marvellous.
The same father told me, that one of these sorcerers, whether it was
the same or not I do not know, having been taken for a similar
offence, was asked, If he could eat the heart of the Portuguese
captain? and he replied no; for the Franks had a certain thing upon
the breast, which covered them like a cuirass, and was so
impenetrable, that it was proof against all his charms. This can be
nothing else than the virtue of baptism, the armour of the faith, and
the privilege of the sons of the church, against which the gates of
hell cannot prevail.
To return, however, to my first subject:--This witch of Combru made
some difficulty at first to confess her guilt; but seeing herself
pressed with threats of death, and being led, in fact, to the public
square, where I saw her with the sick young man, she said, that though
she had not been the cause of his complaint, perhaps she could cure
{246} it, if they would let her remain alone with him, in his house,
without interruption; by which she tacitly confessed her witchcraft:
For it is held certain in these countries, that these wicked women can
remove the malady which they have caused, if it be not come to the
last extremity. And of many remedies which they use to restore health
to the sufferers, there is one very extraordinary, which is, that the
witch casts something out of her mouth, like the grain of a
pomegranate, which is believed to be a part of the heart that she had
eaten. The patient picks it up immediately, as part of his own
intestines, and greedily swallows it; and by this means, as if his
heart was replaced in his body, he recovers by degrees his health. I
dare not assure you of these things as certainly true, not having
myself seen them, surpassing as they do the course of nature. If they
are as is said, it can be only in appearance, by the illusions of the
devil; and if the afflicted recover actually their health, it is
because the same devil ceases to torment them. Without dwelling longer
upon these curious speculations,--the witch having given hopes that
she would cure the patient, the officers promised that she should
receive no injury, and they were both sent home; but an archer was set
over her as a guard, that she might not escape.--PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
{247}
_The Calis._--XI. p. 114.
The Calis and Pandaris are the protectresses of cities; each city has
its own. They address prayers to these tutelary divinities, and build
temples to them, offering to them blood in sacrifice, and sometimes
human victims. These objects of worship are not immortal, and they
take their name from the city over which they preside, or from the
form in which they are represented. They are commonly framed of a
gigantic stature, having several arms, and the head surrounded with
flames; several fierce animals are also placed under their
feet.--SONNERAT.
_Sani, the dreadful God, who rides abroad_
_Upon the King of the Ravens._--XI. p. 114.
Mr. Moor has a curious remark upon this subject:
"Sani being among the astrologers of India, as well as with their
sapient brethren of Europe, a planet of malignant aspects, the
ill-omened raven may be deemed a fit _Vahan_ for such a dreaded being.
But this is not, I think, a sufficient reason for the conspicuous
introduction of the raven into the mythological machinery of the Hindu
system, so accurate, so connected, and so complete in all its parts;
although the investigations that it hath hitherto undergone have not
fully developed or reached such points {248} of perfection. Now let me
ask the reason, why, both in England and in India, the raven it so
rare a bird? It breeds every year, like the crow, and is much longer
lived; and while the latter bird abounds every where, to a degree
bordering on nuisance, a pair of ravens, for they are seldom seen
singly or in trios, are scarcely found duplicated in any place.
Perhaps, take England or India over, two pair of ravens will not be
found, on an average, in the extent of five hundred or a thousand
acres. I know not, for I write where I have no access to books, if our
naturalists have sought the theory of this; or whether it may have
first occurred to me, which it did while contemplating the character
and attributes of Sani, that the raven destroys its young; and if this
notion be well founded, and on no other can I account for the rareness
of the annual-breeding long-lived raven, we shall at once see the
propriety of symbolizing it with Saturn, or Kronos, or Time, devouring
or destroying his own offspring.--MOOR's _Hindu Pantheon_, p. 311.
_A thousand eyes were quench'd in endless night,_
_To form that magic globe._--XI. p. 117.
A similar invention occurs in Dr. Beaumont's Psyche, one of the most
extraordinary poems in our language. I am far from claiming any merit
for such inventions, which {249} no man can value more cheaply,--but
such as it is, I am not beholden for it to this forgotten writer,
whose strange, long, but by no means uninteresting work I had never
read till after two editions of Kehama were printed.
A stately mirror's all-enamell'd case
The second was; no crystal ever yet
Smil'd with such pureness: never ladies' glass
Its owner flattered with so smooth a cheat.
Nor could Narcissus' fount with such delight
Into his fair destruction him invite.
For He in that and self-love being drown'd,
Agenor from him pluck'd his doting eyes:
And, shuffled in her fragments, having found
Old Jezabels, he stole the dog's due prize.
Goliah's staring bacins too he got,
Which he with Pharaoh's all together put.
But not content with these, from Phaeton,
From Joab, Icarus, Nebuchadnezzar,
From Philip and his world-devouring son,
From Sylla, Cataline, Tully, Pompey, Cæsar,
From Herod, Cleopatra, and Sejanus,
From Agrippina and Domitianus,
{250}
And many surly stoics, theirs he pull'd;
Whose proudest humours having drained out,
He blended in a large and polish'd mould;
Which up he fill'd with what from Heaven he brought,
In extract of those looks of Lucifer,
In which against his God he breathed war.
Then to the North, that glassy kingdom, where
Establish'd frost and ice for ever reign,
He sped his course, and meeting Boreas there,
Pray'd him this liquid mixture to restrain.
When lo! as Boreas oped his mouth and blew
For his command, the slime all solid grew.
Thus was the mirror forged, and contain'd
The vigour of those self-admiring eyes
Agenor's witchcraft into it had strain'd;
A dangerous juncture of proud fallacies;
Whose fair looks so inamour'd him, that he
Thrice having kiss'd it, nam'd it Philanty.
Inchanted Psyche ravish'd was to see
The Glass herself upon herself reflect
With trebled majesty. The sun, when he
Is by Aurora's roseat fingers deckt,
{251}
Views not his repercussed self so fair
Upon the eastern main, as she did here.
_Be true unto yourselves._--XII. p. 127.
The passage in which Menu exhorts a witness to speak the truth is one
of the few sublime ones in his Institutes. "The soul itself is its own
witness; the soul itself is its own refuge; offend not thy conscious
soul, the supreme internal witness of men! . . The sinful have said in
their hearts, none see us. Yes, the gods distinctly see them, and so
does the spirit within their breasts . . The guardian deities of the
firmament, of the earth, of the waters, of the human heart, of the
moon, of the sun, and of fire, of punishment after death, of the
winds, of night, of both twilights, and of justice, perfectly know the
state of all spirits clothed with bodies. . . O friend to virtue! that
supreme Spirit, _which thou believest one and the same with thyself_,
resides in thy bosom perpetually, and is an all-knowing inspector of
thy goodness or of thy wickedness. If thou beest not at variance, by
speaking falsely, with Yama, the subduer of all, with Vaivaswata the
punisher, with that great Divinity who dwells in thy breast,--go not
on a pilgrimage to the river Ganga, nor to the plains of Curu, for
thou hast no need of expiation.--_Ch. viii. p._ 84, 85, 86, 91, 92.
{252}
_The Aunnay Birds._--XII. p. 128.
The Aunnays act a considerable part in the history of the Nellah
Rajah, an amusing romance, for a translation of which we are indebted
to Mr. Kindersley. They are milk-white, and remarkable for the
gracefulness of their walk.