T R U B N E R’

S OR IE N TAL S E R IE S .

A know ledge of the commonplape, at least, of Oriental literature, philosophy , and religion is as necessary to the genera l reader of the present dayas an acquaintance With the Latin and Greek classics was a generation or so

ago. Immen se strides have been made w ithin the present century in thesebranches of learning ; S anskrit '

has been brought w ithin the range of accuratephilolo

gy,and its invaluable ancient literature thorough ly investigated the

language and sacred books of the Zoroastrians have been laid bare ; E gyp tian ,

Assyrian,and other record s of the remote past have been deciphered

,and a

group of scholar s speak of stil l more recon dite Accadian and Hittite monu

ments but the resul ts of all the scho larship that has been devoted to thesesubjects have been a lmost inaccessible to the public because they were con

tained for the most part in learned or expensive works , or scattered throughout the numbers oi scientific periodical s . Messrs . T R U B N E R CO. , in a spiritof enterprise which does them infinite cred it , have determined to supp ly theconstantlx

-increasing w ant,and to give in a popular . or, at least, a compre

hensive form, all this mass of know ledge to the w or ld .—T tmes .

N ew E ditwn in prepa ration,

Post 8vo, pp . x x x n .—748, w ith Map, cloth .

T HE IN DIAN E MPIR E : IT S HIS T OR Y, PEOPLE.

AN D PR ODU CT S .

B eing a revised form of the article “ India,in the Imperial Gaz etteer

,

remode lled into chapters , brought up to date, and incorporatingthe genera l resu lts of the Census of 1881 .

B y the HON . w . W. HU N T E R , LL.D .

Member of the Viceroy ’s Legislative Council,Director-General of S tatistics to the Government of India.

T h e article ‘ Ind ia,

’

in Volume IV . , is the touch stone of th e w ork , and provesclearly enough the sterling metal of w h ich it is wrought . It represents the essenceo f the 100 volumes whi ch con tain t he results of the statis tica l survey conducted byDr. Hunt er th roughout each of the 240 districts of India . It is , moreover

,the on ly

attempt that has ever been made to show how the Ind ian people have been buil t up ,

and the evidence from the original materials has been for the first time sif ted andexam ined by the light of the local res earch in w hi ch the author was for so longengaged .

—T imes.

THE FOLLOWIN G WOR KS 11AVE ALR E AD Y APPE AR E D

T hird E dition, post 8vo , cloth , pp. x vi—428, price i 6s.

ESSAYS ON T HE SACR ED LAN GU AGE , WR IT IN GS ,AN D R E LIGION OF T HE PAR S IS .

B r MAR T IN HAU G ,PH.D . ,

Late of the U niversities o f T ubingen , Gottingen ,and B onn S uperintendent

of S anskrit S tudies , and Pro fessor of S anskrit in the Poona Col lege .

E ni 'rs n AN D E N LAR GE D B Y Dn. E . W. WE S T .

T o which is added a B iographica l Memoir of the late Dr. HAU Gby Pro f . E . P. E VAN S .

1. History of the R esea’ rches into the S acred Writings and R eligion of the

Parsis, from the E arl iest T imes down to the Present .

11. Languag e s of the Parsi S crip tures .III. T he Zend-Avesta , or the S cii pture of the Parsis .IV . T he Zoroastrian R el igion ,

as to its Origin and D evelopment .

E ssays on th e S acred Language , Wri tings, and R eligion of th e Parsis , ’ by thelate Dr. Martin Hang ,edited by Dr E . W. West . T he author intended , on h is returnfrom Ind ia

,to expand the materials contained in th is w ork into a compreh ensive

account of th e Zo roas trian religion , but the design was fru strated by h is untim elydeath . We have , how ever, in a concise and readab le form ,

a h istory of the researchesinto the sacred w ri t ings and religi on of th e Parsis from t he earliest tim es dow n to

the presen t—a d issertat ion on th e lan guages of the Parsi S criptures , a translationof the Zend-Avesta, or th e S cripture of the Parsis , and a dissertat ion on th e Zoroas ~

trian rel igion ,w ith especial reference to its origin and development .

" —T nnes .

Post 8vo, cloth , pp . v iii—176, price 75 . 6d.

T E X T S FR OM T H E B U D DH I S T CA N O N

COMMON LY KN OWN AS“DHAMMAPADA.

”

With Accompanymg N a r ra tives.T ranslated from the Chinese by S . B E AL , B .A. , Professor of Chinese ,

U niversity Col lege, London .

T he Dhammapada,as hitherto known by the Pal i T ext E dition ,

as editedby Fausbbll , by Max Mul ler ’s E nglish, and Albrecht Weber ’ s German

tran slation s , consists on ly of twenty-six chapters or section s,w hil st the

Chinese version , or rather recension,as now t ran slated by Mr. B ea l , con

sists of thirty-n ine sections . T he student s of Pali who possess Fausboll ’stext, or either of the above—named t ran slations

,w il l therefore need s w ant

Mr. B eal ’ s E nglish rendering of the Chinese version ; the thirteen abovenamed additional section s not being accessible to them in any other formfor

,even if t hey understand Chinese, the Chinese original wou ld be un o

obtainable by them.

“Mr. B eal's rendering of th e Chinese translation is a most valuable aid to the

critica l study of th e work . It conta ins authent ic texts gath ered from ancient

canonical book s, and generally connected wi th some incident in the h istory of

B uddh a. T h eir great i nterest, how ever, consi sts in the ligh t w hich they th row uponeveryday life in Ind ia at the rem ote period at which th ey w ere w ritten , and uponthe method of teach ing adopted by the founder of th e rel igi on . T he m ethodemployed w as principally parable, and the simplicity of the ta les and the excellenceo f the morals inculcated , as w ell as the strange hold w h ich they have retained uponthe m inds of million s of people, make them a

‘ very remarkable study.

"T imes .

Mr. B ea!, by making it accessible in an E nglish dress , has added to the great services he has already rendered to the comparative study of religious h istory .

”-Acadm g/Valuable as exh ibi ting the doctri ne of the B uddh i sts i n its purest, least adulterated form , it brings th emodern reader face to face Wi th that simple creed and rul eof conductw hich w on i ts w ay over th e m inds of myriads, and w hich is now nominallyprofessed by 145 m illions , w ho have overlaid its austere s impl icity w ith innumerableceremonies. forgotten its m axim s, perverted its teach ing , and so inverted its leadi ngprinciple that a relig ion whose founder denied a God , now worsh ips that founder asa god h imself." —S cotm an .

T R U B N E R'S OR IE N T AL S E R IE S .

S econd E dition, post 8v0, cloth , pp . xxiv . —36o, price ros. 6d.

THE HIS T OR Y OF IN DIAN LIT E R AT U R E

B Y ALB RECHT WE B E R .

T ranslated from the S econd German E dition by JOHN MAN N , M.A. , andT HE ODOR ZACHAR IAE , Ph .D . , with the

' sanction of the Author.Dr. B U HLE R , Inspector of S chools in Ind ia, w rites When I was Pro

feasor of O riental Languages in E lphinstone Col lege , I frequently fel t thew an t of such a w ork to w hich I could refer the s tudents .

Professor COWE LL,o f Cambridge , w rites —“ It w il l be especial ly use ful

to the students in our Indian col leges and universities. I used to long forsuch a book when I w as teaching in Calcutta. Hindu students are intenselyinterested in the history of S anskrit l iterature , and this vo lume will supp lythem w ith all they want on the subject.

”

Professor WHIT N E Y, Yale Col lege, N ewhaven , Conn . , w ritesI w as one of the class to whom the work w as original ly given in the form

of academic lectures . At their first appearance they were by far the mostlearned and able treatment of their subject ; and with their recent additionsthey still maintain decided ly the same rank .

”

Is perhaps the most comprehensive and lucid survey of S ansk rit literatureextant. T h e essays contain ed in the volum e w ere originally delivered as academiclectures , and at the tim e of their first publication w ere acknow ledged to be by farthe most learn ed and ab le treatm en t of the subj ect . T h ey haVe now been b roughtup to date by the addition of all th e most importan t results of recent research .

”

T imes .

Post 8vo,cloth , pp . X II. —198 , accompanied by T WO Lang uage

Map s,price 128 .

A SKE T CH OF

T HE MODE R N LAN GU AGE S OF T HE E AS T IN DIE S .

B Y R OB E R T N . CU S T .

T he Author has attempted to fill up a vacuum ,the inconven ience of

which pressed itsel f on his notice . Much had been written about the

languages of the E ast Indies , but the extent of our present know ledge hadnot even been brought to a focus . It occurred to him that it might be ofuse to others to publish in an arranged form the notes which he had col lectedfor his own edification .

S upplies a deficiency which has long been felt — T imes .

“ T he book before us is then a valuable contribution to philological science. Itpasses under review a vas t number of languages , an d it gives , or pro fesses to give , inevery case the sum and substance of th e opinion s and judgments of the best-infOimedw riters. —S aturda.g/ R evzew.

S econd Corrected E dition ,post 8vo , pp . xn .

—116, cloth , p rice 58 .

T HE B IR T H OF T HE WAR -GOD .

A Poem . B Y KALIDASA.

T ran s lated from the S anskrit into E ngl ish Verse byR ALPH T . H . G R IFFIT H ,

M.A.

A very spirited rendering of th e Kumdrasambhara , w hich w as first publishedtw enty-six years ago, and which we are glad to see made once more accessible.

"

Mr . Griffi th 's very spirited rendering is w ell known to most who are at all

interested in Indian li terature, or en joy the tender ness of feeling and rich creati veimag ination of i ts author —1ndian Antzquary .

We are very glad to w elcome a second edition o f Professor Griffi th ’ s adm irabletran slati on . Few translations deserve a second edition better. ”—Athenwum.

Post 8vo , pp . 432 , cloth , price 163 .

A CLAS S ICAL DICT ION AR Y OF HIN DU MYT HOLOGY

AN D R E LIGION , GE OGR APHY, HIS T OR Y, AN D

LIT E R AT U R E .

B Y JOHN DOWS ON ,

Late Professor of Hindustani, S taff Col lege .

“ T his not bnly form s an indispen sable book of reference to studen ts of Ind ianliterature , but is also of great general in terest , as it gi ves in a concise and easilyaccessible fon n all that need be know n about th e personages O f Hindu mythologvw hose names are so fam iliar, but of whom so li ttle is known outs ide the limitedC i rcle of sava nts .

—T imes.It is no sligh t gain w hen such subjects are treated fairly and fully in a modera te

space and w e need only add that the few w ants w h ich w e may hope to see suppliedi n new edi tions detract but little from the genera l excell ence of Mr. Dowson

’

s work .

”

—S a turday R eview.

Post 8vo, w ith View of Mecca,pp . cx 11.—172, cloth , price gs .

S E LE CT ION S FR OM T HE KOR AN .

B Y E DWAR D WILLIAM LAN E ,

T ranslator of “ T h e T housan d and One N igh ts &c.

, &c.

A N ew E dition, R evised and E n larged , w ith an Introduction by

S TAN LE Y LAN E POOLE .

Has been lon g esteem ed in th is country as the compi lation of one Of th e

greatestAr abic scholars of the time,the late Mr. Lane , the w ell know n transla tor of

the ‘ Arab ian N igh ts ’

T he present edito r has enh anced the value of h isrelative's w ork by divesting the text of a great dea l of extraneous matter in troduce dby w ay of commen t , and prefix ing an introduction .

”—T wnes .

Mr. Poole IS both a generous and a learned biographer. Mr. Poole tells usth e facts so far as it is possib le for industry and cri t i cism to ascertain themand for literary sk ill to present them in a condensed and readable form .

—E ‘nglzsh

’

man,Ca lcutta .

Post 8vo, pp . vi.— 368, cloth , price 143 .

MODE R N IN DIA AN D T HE IN DIAN S ,B E IN G A S E R IE S OF IMPR E S S ION S , N OT E S , AN D E S SAYS .

B Y MON IE R WILLIAMS ,Hon . LL .D . of th e U n iversity of Calcutta, Hon . Member of th e B ombay Asiatic

S ociety, B oden Professor of S anskrit in the U ni versity of Oxford .

T hird E d ition,revi sed and augmented by considerable Additions

,

w ith Il lustration s and a Map.

In th is volume w e have the thoughtful impressions of a th oughtful man on some

of the m ost important question s connected w ith our Indi an E mpire . An enlightened ob se rvan t man ,travelling among an en ligh tened observant people, Professor

Moni erWi lliams has brough t before the pub lic in a pleasan t form m ore of the mann ersand custom s of th e Queen ’s Indian subjects than w e ever remember to have seen inany one w ork . He not on ly deserves th e thanks of every E ng lishman for th is ablecontribution to the study Of Modern India—a subject w ith w hich w e shoul d bespecially familiar—but h e deserves the thanks of every Indian

,Parsee or Hindu ,

B uddhist and Moslem , for h is clear expos ition of their manners, their creeds , andth eir necessities . —1

Post 8vo,pp . xliv .

—376, cloth ,

p rice 148.

ME T R ICAL T R AN S LAT ION S PR OM SAN SKR ITWR IT E R S .

With an Introduction ,m any Prose Version s

,and Paralle l Passag es from

C lassica l AuthorsB r J . MU IR

, LL.D .

,Ph .D .

An agreeab le in troduction to H in du poetry .

’—T imes.

A volum e w h ich may be taken as a fair illustration al ike of the religiousand moral sent imen ts and of the legendary lore of th e best S anskrit w riters .E l m tui gh Da ily R en ew

S econd E dition,post 8vo

,pp . xxvi.— 244 , cloth , price 108 . 6d .

T H E G U L I S T A N ;

O R , R OS E GAR D E N OF S HE KH MU S HLIU ’D-D IN S ADI OF S HIR AZ .

T ranslated for the First T ime into Prose and Verse,w ith an Introductory

Preface, and a Life Of the Au thor , from the Atish Kadah,

B Y E DWAR D B . E AS TWICK, C . B . , M.A.

,

It is a very fair rendering of the origi nal . ” —T imes.

T h e new edition has long been desired , and w ill be w elcomed by all who takeany interest in Oriental poetry. T he Gulistan is a typical Persian verse-book Of th eh ighest order. Mr . E as tw ick

'

s rhymed tran slation h as long estab li shed itself ina secure pos1tion as the best version Of S adi’ s finest work .

—Academy.

It is both faith fully and gracefully executed .

"T ablet.

In T wo Volumes,post 8vo, pp . viii —408 and viii —348, cloth , price 288 .

MIS CE LLAN E OU S E S SAYS R E LAT IN G T O IN DIANS U B J E CT S .

B r B R IAN HOU GHT ON HODGS ON ,E S QJ,

Late of the B enga l Civ11S ervice Corresponding Member of the Institute ; ChevalierOf the Leg ion Of Honour late B ritish M in ister at the Court of N epal, &c. , are.

CON T E N T S O l' VOL . 1.

S E CT ION I.—Ou the Kocch ,

B odo,and Dh imal T ribes .—Part I. Vocabulary

Part II. Gramm ar. —Part l II. T h ei r Origin, Location ,N umbers

,Creed , Cus tom s ,

Character , and Condition ,w ith a General Description O f the Climate they dw ell in .

—Appe i idi x .

S E CT ION II.—Ou Himalayan E th nology —I. Comparative Vocabulary of the Lan

guages o f the B rok en T ribes of N epal—_ II. Vocabulary Of the Dial ects Of the Kiran tiLan guage

—III. Grammatical Analysis O f the Vayu Language . T h e vayu Grammar.—IV . Analysis o f the B ahing Dialect o i the Kiran ti Language. T he B ahing Grammar .

—V . On the Véiyu or Hayu T ribe of the Centra l Himalaya—VI. On t ue KiraiuiT ribe of the Central Himalaya .

CON T E N T S OF VOL . 11.

S E CT ION IIl .-On th e Aborigines of N orth-E astern Ind ia. Comparative Vocabulary

Of the T ibetan , B odO, and Gare T ongues .S E CT ION IV .

-Aborigines of the N orth-E astern Frontier .

S E CT ION V .—Aborigines o f the E astern Frontier.

S E CT ION V I—T he IndO-Ch inese B orderers , an d their connection w ith the Hima

layans and T ibetans . Compara tive Vocabulary Of Indo-Chinese B orderers in Arakan .

Comparative Vocabulary oi'

IndO-Chinese B orderers in T enasserim .

S E CT ION VII.

—T he Mongolian Affinities of the Caucasians —Comparison and Analysi s of Caucasian and Mon golian Words .S E CT ION VIII.

—Physical T ype of T ibetans .S E CT ION IX.

—T he Aborigines Of Central India—Comparative Vocabulary of the

Aboriginal Languages Of Cen tral India—Aborig ines of th e E astern Ghats .—Vocabulary Of some Of t he Dialects O f the Hi ll andWandering T ribes in the N orthern S ircars .—Aborigines Of the N i lgiris, w ith R emark s on th eir Affinities .

—S upplement to the

N ilgirian Vocabularies .—T he Aborigines Of S outhern Ind ia and Ceylon .

S E CT ION X.

—R oute Of N epalese Mi ssion to Pekin , w ith R emark s on the WaterS hed and Plateau Of T ibet .

S E CT ION XL— R oute from Kathmandu, th e Capital of N epal, to Darj eeling inS ikim .

—Memorandum relative to th e S even Cos is Of N epal .S E CT ION XII.

-S ome Accounts of the S ystems of Law and Police as recognised inthe S tate Of N epal .S E CT ION XIII.—T he N ative Method of mak ing the Paper denominated Hindustan ,

N épalese .

S E CT ION XIV .

—Pre-eminence of th e Vernaculars or, th e Anglicists Answ eredB eing Letters on the E ducat ion Of th e People Of India .

For the study of the less-known races of India Mr. B rian Hodgson ’s Miscellaneous E ssays Wi ll be foun d very valuable both to t h e philologist and the ethnologist .

T imes.

T R U B N E R'

S OR IE N T AL S E R IE S .

T hird E dition, T wo V ols , post 8vo, pp. viii —268 and viii —326, cloth,price are.

THE LIFE OR LEGEN D OF GAU DAMA,

THE B U DDHA OF T HE B U R M E S E . With Annotations.T heWays to N eibban, and N otice on the Phongyies or B urmese Monks .

B Y T HE RIGHT R E V. P. B IGAN D E T ,

B ishop of R amatha , Vica r-Apostolic of Ava and Pegu.

“T he w ork is furnished wi th copious note s , w h ich not only il lustrate the sub jectmatter , but form a pe rfect encyclopaedia of B uddh ist lore .

"—T imes .

A w ork wh ich wi ll furnis h E uropean studen ts of B uddhism w ith amost valuablehelp in th e prosecuti on of their investigations . "—E d inburgkDa ily R eview.

B ishop B igandet's invaluable w ork .

”—Ind ian Antiquary .

View ed in this ligh t. its importance is suflicient to place stu dents of the sub jectunder a deep ob ligation to its au thor. "—Ca lcut ta R eview.

T his work is one of the greatest authorities upon B uddhi sm .—Dubl in R eview.

Post 8vo,pp . xxi v.—4ao , cloth , price 18s.

CHIN ESE B U DDHISM.

A V OLU ME OF S KET CHES , HIS T ORICAL AN D CRIT ICAL .

B Y J . E DKIN S , D .D .

Author of China’ s Place in Ph ilology, ” R eligion in China,

”fire.

“It contains a vast deal of important in formation on the subject, such as is onlyto be gained by long-contin ued study on the spot.

”—Athena um .

U pon th e Whole, w e know of no w ork comparable to it for th e extent of its

original res earch, and the simp licity w ith w hich thi s complicated system of philosophy, religion ,li te rature, and ritual is set fort —B '

n tash Qua rterly R eview .

T h e who le volum e is replete w ith learning. It des erves most care ful studyfrom all in te rested in the h istory of the religions of th e w orld , an d expre ssly of th osew ho are concerned in the propagation of Ch ristian ity. Dr. E dkin s notices in te rm so f jus t condemnation th e exaggerate d praise bestowed '

upon B uddhism by recen tE nglish w rite rs . —R ecord.

Post 8vc, pp . 496 , cloth , price 188 .

L I N GU IS T IC AN D OR IE N T AL ES SAYS.

WR IT T E N FR OM THE YE AR 1846 T O 1878.

B Y ROB ERT N E E DHAM CU S T ,

Late Member of Her Maje sty’ s Indian Civil S ervice ; Hon. S ecreta ry tothe R oya l Asiatic S ociety ;

and Author of T he Modern Languages of the E as t Indies .We know none wh o has described Indian life , especially the life of the natives

,

w ith so much learning, sympathy , and li te rary talent. " —Academy .

“T h ey seem to us to be ful l of suggestive an d original remarks . ”—S t. Jam ’

s Gazette.Hi s book con tains a vas t amoun t of in formation . T he result of th irty-nve years

of inquiry, reflection . and specula tion ,and that on subjects as ful l of fascination as

of food for though t .

—T ab let.E xhib it such a thorough acquaintance w ith th e histo ry and an tiquities of India

as to entitle him to speak as one having authority.

"—E dinburgh D a i ly R eview.

T he auth or Speak s w ith the authority of pers onal experience.

constant as sociation w ith th e coun try and the people which gives such a vividnessto man y of the pages .“—Atkmwum.

Pos t 8vo, pp. civ.

—348, cloth , price 183 .

B U DDHI S T B I R T H S T OR IE S ; or, J a tak a. T a l e s .

T he O ldest Collection of Folk-lore E xtantB E ING T H E J AT AKAT T HAV A N N A N A,

For the first time E dited in the original Pali.B Y V. FAU S B OLL ;

And T ran slated by T . W. R HYS DAVID S .

T rans lation . Volume I.

T hese are tales supposed to have been told by the B uddha of w hat he had seenand heard in h is previ ous b irth s . T hey are probab ly th e n earest s representat ives

of the original Aryan stories from wh ich sprang the folk-lore of E urope as w e ll asIndia. T he in troduction contains a most interesting disquisition on the m igrationsof these fab les , tracmg their reappearance in the var ious groups of folk-lore legends .Among oth er old friends , vsemee tW i th a version of th e Judgmen t of S olomon .

—T imes .

It is now som e years since Mr . R hys Davids asserted h is right to be heard o n

th is sub ject by hi s able article on B uddh ism in the new edition of th e E ncyclopwdia

B ritann ica .

’ —Leeds M erc ury .

All who are interested in B uddh ist literature ough t to feel deeply indebted toMr. R hys Davids . Hi s w ell-establi shed reputat ion as a Pali scholar is a sufficientg uaran te e for the fideli ty of his vers ion ,

and the style of h is tran slations is deservmgof h igh prai se .

—Academy .

N o more competent expositor of B uddhism could be found than Mr. R hys Davids .In th e Jataka book w e have, then ,

a priceless record of the earliest imaginati veliterature of our race ; and it presents to us a n early complete picture of thesocial li fe and custom s and popula r beliefs of the common people of Aryan tribes ,closely related to ourselves , just as they w ere passing th rough the first stages of

civili sation .—S l. James ‘s Gazette.

Post 8vo, pp . xxviii. —362, cloth , price 148 .

A T A LM U D I C M I S C E L L A N Y ;

O R , A T HOU S AN D AN D ON E E XT R ACT S FROM T HE T ALMU D,

T HE MIDR ASHIM, AN D T HE KAB B ALAH.

Compiled and T rans lated by PAU L ISAAC HE R S HON ,

Author of Genesis According to the T almud , &c.

With N otes and Copious Indexes .T o obtain in so concise and handy a form as th is volume a general idea of the

T almud is a boon to Ch ristians at least .

"T mzes.

“ Its pecu liar and popular character w ill make it attractive to general readers .Mr. Hershon is a very competent scholar. Contain s samples of the good, bad ,

and indiff erent , and especially extracts that th row ligh t upon the S criptures . "B ritish Quarterly R eview.

Will convey to E nglish readers a more complete and truth ful notion of t h e

T almud than any oth er w ork that has yet appeared .

”—Da z ly N ews.

“Without overlooking in th e slightest th e several attractions of the previousvolumes of the Ori ental S eries. ’ w e have no hesitation in sayi ng that this surpassesthem all in m terest .

"—E dinburgh Dai ly R emew .

Mr. Hersh on has thus given E nglish readers what is ,w e believe, a fair set

of specimen s w h ich th ey can te st for th emselves. ”— T he R ecord .

T his book is by far th e best fitted in the pre sent state of know ledge to enable thegeneral reader to gain a fair and unbiassed conception of the mul ti fari ous conten tsof th e w onderfu l m iscellany w hich can on ly be tnuly understood—so Jew ish prideas serts—by the life-long devotion of scholars of th e Chosen People.

“ Inquzrer.

T h e value and importance of th is volume consist in the fact that scarce ly a singleextract is given in its pages but th row s som e ligh t, direct or refracted , upon thoseS cri ptures w h ich are th e common h eritage of J ew and Christian abke .

"—John B ull.

It is a. capital specimen of Hebrew scholarsh ip ; a monumen t of learned, loving ,light-giving labour.”—J ewzsh Herald .

Post 8vo, pp . I LL—228

,cloth , price 78 . 6d.

T HE CLAS S ICAL POE T R Y OF T HE J APAN E S E .

B Y B AS IL HALL CHAMB E R LAIN ,

Author of Yeigo Hefikakn S hirafl.

"

A very curious volume . T he author has man ifestly devoted much labour to th etask of studying the poetical literature of the Japanese, and rendering characteristicspecimen s in to E n g lish verse.

"—Daity N ews.

Mr. Chamberlain ’s volume is , so far as w e are aware, th e first attempt which hasbeen made to interpret the literatu re of the Japanese to theWestern w orld . It is to

the clas sica l poetry of Old Japan that.w e must turn for indigenous Japanese though t ,and in the volume before us w e have a selection from tha t poet ry rendered intograceful E nglish verse .

" —T ablet.It is undoubtedly one of the best trans lations of lyric li terature w h ich has

appeared during the close of th e last year.” —Celestzal E mp ire.

Mr. Chamberlain set himse lf a d i fficult task w hen h e undertook to reproduceJapanese poe try in an E nglish form . B ut h e has evidently laboured can amore, and

efforts are successful to a degree .

—London and China E x press.

Post 8vo, pp. x i i.—i 64 , cloth ,price 103. 6d.

THE HIS T OR Y OF E SAR HADDON (S on of S ennacherib),KIN G or AS S YR IA, 681-668.

T ranslated from the Cuneiform Inscriptions upon Cy linders and T ab lets inthe B ritish Museum Col lection ; together with a Grammatical Analysisof each Word

,E xplanat i ons of the Ideograph s by E xtracts from the

B i-Lingual S yllabaries , and List of E ponyms , &c.

B r E R N E S T A. B U DGE,B .A. ,

Assyrian E xh ibitioner , Ch rist 's College, Cambridge.

S tudents of scriptural archaeology w ill also appreciate the ‘ History of B earhaddon .

’ —T irnes.

“ T here is much to attract th e scholar in this volume . It doe s not pretend topularis e studies w h ich are yet in their in fancy. Its primary ob ject is to translate,ut it does not assume to be more than ten ta tive , and it off ers bo th to th e professedAssyriologis t and to the ordina ry non-Assyriological S emitic sch olar th e mean s ofcontrolling its results ." —Academy .

“Mr. B udge’ s book is,of course, mainly addressed to Assyrian scholars and

students . T hey are not, it is to be feared, a very num erous class . B ut th e morethanks are due to him on that account for the w ay in which h e has acquitted himselfin his laborious task .

”—T ablet.

Post 8vc, pp . 448, cloth , price 21s .

T H E M E S N E V I

(U sual ly known as T HE Ms snsvn i S HE R IF, or HOLY ME S N E VI)or

ME V LAN A (OU R LOR D ) JB LALU ’D-D IN MU HAMME D E R -R U MI.

B ook the First.T ogether with someAccount of the Life and Acts of theAuthor,

of his Ancestors, and of his D escenda nts.

I l lust rated by a S election of Characteristic Anecdotes,as Collecte d

by their Historian ,

M E VLAN A S HE MS U-’D-D IN AHME D , E L E FLAKI, E L‘AR IFI.

T ranslated , and the Poetry V ersified,in E nglish ,

B Y JAM E S W. R E D H O U S E ,M. R . A. S . , &c.

A complete treasury of occult Oriental lore.

" —S a turday R eview .

T hi s book w ill be a very x aluable h elp to the read er ignorant of Persia, who isde s irous o f obtain ing an insigh t into a very important department of the literatureextant in that language.

"— T ablet.

T R U B N E R'

S OR IE N T AL S E R I E S_

Post 8vo , pp . x vi —280,cloth

,price 68 .

EAST ER N PR OV E R B S AN D E MB LE MSILLU S T R AT IN G OLD T R U THS .

B Y R E V . J . LONG ,

Member of the B engal Asiatic S ociety,We regard the book as valuable , and w ish for it a wide circulation and attentivereading.

”—R eco'rd .

Altogether, it is quite a feast of good things .”—Globe.

It is full of interesting matter. -An tzquary.

Post 8vo,pp . viii—270, cloth , price 78 . 6d.

I N D I A N P O E T R Y ;

Containing a N ew E dition of the Indian S ong of S ongs, from the S anscritof the “Gita Gov inda ”

of J ayadeva ; T wo B ooks from “T he Iliad of

India (Mahabharata ), Proverbia l Wisdom from the S hlokas of theHitopadesa, and other O rienta l Poems .B Y EDWIN ARNOLD ,

Author of “ T he Light of Asia.

In thi s new volum e of Messrs . T riibner’s Oriental S eries, Mr. E dw in Arnold does

good service by illustrating,through th e m edium of h is musmal E nglish m elodies

,

the pow er of Indian poetry to stir E uropean emotions . T he Indian S ong of S ongsis not unknown to scholars . Mr . Arn old w ill have introduced it among popularE nglish poem s . N oth ing could be more graceful and delicate than the shades byw hich Krishn a is portrayed in the gradual process of being w eaned by th e love of

B eautifu l R adh a ,jasm ine-bosomed R adha

,

’

from th e allurements of th e forest nymph s , in whom the five senses are typified.

T imes.

N 0 oth er E nglish poet has ever th row n hi s gen ius and his art so thorough ly intothe w ork of translating E as tern ideas as Mr. Arn old has done in h is splendid paraph rases of language contained in th ese m ighty epics —Da z‘ ly T elegraph .

T he poem aboun ds w ith imagery of E astern luxuriousness and sen suousness ; theair seem s laden w ith the spicy odours of th e tropics , and the verse has a richness anda me lody sufficient to capti vate th e senses of th e dullest .

"— S tandard .

T he tran slator, w h ile producing a very en joyab le poem,has adhered w ith toler‘

ab le fidelity to the original text .—0verland M a zl .

We certain ly w ish Mr. Arnold success in h is attempt to popularise Indianclassics , ’ that bein g ,

as his preface tells us, the goal towards whi ch he bends h isefforts." —Allen ’

s Indian M a i l.

Post 8vo, pp. x vi — 296, cloth ,price 103 . 6d .

T HE MIN D OP ME N CIU S ;O R , POLIT ICAL E CON OMY FOU NDED U PON MOR AL

PHILOS OPHY.

A S YS T E MAT IC DIGE S T or THE D OCT R IN E S or T HE CHIN E S E PHILOS OPHE RM E N CIU S .

T rans lated from the Origina l T ext and C lassified , withComm ents and E xp lanation s ,

B y the R E V . E R N S T FAB E R , R henish Mission S ociety .

T ran slated from the German,w ith Ad ditiona l N otes

,

B y the R E V . A. B . HU T CHIN S ON ,Church Mission

,Hong Kong.

Mr. Faber is already w ell known in the field of Ch inese studies by his digest ofthe doctrines of Con fucius . T he value of th is w ork w ill be perceived when i t isrem embered that at no time Since relation s commenced betw een China and theWest has the former been so pow erful—w e had almost said aggressiven -as now .

For those w ho w il l give it careful study, Mr. Faber ’s w ork i s one of the mostvaluab le of the excellent series to which it belongs . "—N a,ture.

V U ’ P B . 3 3 U I !, y L L U O L 0 .

T HE R E LIGION S OF IN DIA.

B Y A. B AR T H.

T ranslated from the French w ith the authority and assistance of theAuthor .T he author has , at the request of the publ ishers, considerably enlarged

the work for the translator, and has added the literature of the subject todate the tran slation may , there fore, he looked upon as an equivalent of a

new and improved ed ition of the original .Is not on ly a valuable manual of th e religion s of India ,

w h ich mark s a d istinctstep in the treatm en t of the sub j ect, but also a usefu l w ork of reference.

”—Academy .

“ T his volum e is a reproduct i on , W i th corrections and add ition s, of an articlecontributed by the learned auth or tw o years ago to th e E ncyclopedic des S ciencesR eligieuses . ’ It attracted m uch notice w hen i t first appeared ,

and is generallyadm itted to present the best summary extant of th e vas t subj ect w ith wh ich itdeal s ." -T ablet.

T h is is not on ly on th e wh ole the best but th e on ly manual of the rel igions ofIndia , apart from B uddh i sm ,

w hich w e have in E ngl i sh . T he present w orkshow s not only great know ledge of th e facts and pow er of clear ex pomtion ,

but alsogreat insigh t into the inner h istory and th e deeper meaning of the great religion ,

for it is in reality only one , which i t proposes to describe .

”—1V10dern R eview .

T h e me : it of the w ork has been emphati cally recogn ised by themost authoritativeO rientalist s, both in th i s country and on th e contin ent of E uro B ut probablythere are few Indian ists ( i f w e m ay use th e w ord) w ho w ould not erive a good dea lof in format ion from it , and especially from the exten sive bibl iography provided in

the notes —Dublm R evi ew.

S uch a sk etch M. B ar th has drawn w ith a master-hand . ( N ew York) .

Post 8ve , pp . v iii —152, cloth , price 68.

HIN DU PHILOS OPHY.

T HE SAN KHYA KAR IKA OF IS'WAR A KR ISHN A.

An E xposition of the S ystem of Kapila, w ith an Appendix on theN yaya and V ais

’eshika S ys tems.

B Y J OHN DAVI E S , M .A. (Cantab ),

T he system of Kapila contain s nearly all that Ind ia has produced in the

depart ment of pure ph i losophy .

T he n on-Orien ta list finds in Mr. Davies a patient and learned g uide wholeads h im into the intricacies of the phil osophy of India , and supplies h im Wi th a clue ,that he m ay no t be lost in them . In the preface he states that th e system of

Kapila is the ‘earliest attempt on record to give an answ er

,from reason alone,

to the m y sterious question s wh ich arise in every though tful m ind about the origin of

th e w orld , the nature and relation s o fman and h is future destiny,

’

and in h is learnedand ab le notes he exh ibits ‘

the connection of th e S ankhya system w i th th e ph ilosophy of S pinoza ,

’

and th e connection of th e system of Kap ila w ith that of S chopenh auer and Von Hartmann .

’ —Foreign Church Chron zcle.

Mr. Davies’

s volume on Hindu Philosophy i s an undoubted gain to all studentsof the development of thought . T he system of Kapi la, w hich is here given in a tran slation from th e S ankhya Kai ika, is th e on ly contribution of India to pure ph ilosophy .

Presen ts m any points of deep interest to the student of comparative ph i losophy, and w ithout Mr. Davies

’s lucid interpretation it w ould be d ifiicult to appre~

oiate these points in any adequate manner.”—S aturday R eview.

We w elcome Mr. Davies’

s book as a valuab le addi tion to our philosoph icallibrary .

"—N otes and Queries.

T R U B N E R'

S OR IE N T AL S E R IE S .

Post 8vo, pp . x .—I 3o , cloth, price 63 .

A MAN U AL or HIN DU PAN T HE ISM . V E DAN T ASAR A.

T ran slated , w ith copious Annotations,by MAJ OR G . A. JACOB ,

B ombay S taff Corp s Inspector of Army S chool s .T he design of this l ittle w ork is to provide for missionaries , and for

others who,like them

,have little leisure for original research, an accurate

summary of the doctrines of the Vedanta.

“T h e modest title of Major J acob ’

s w ork conveys but an inadequate idea of th e

vast am ount of research embodied in his notes to the text of the Vedantasara . S o

copious,indeed, are th ese , and so much collateral matter do they bring to bear on

th e subj ect , that t he di ligent student Wi ll rise from th eir perusal W i th a faii lyadequate view of Hindu ph i losophy generally. His w ork is one of the best of

i ts kind that w e have seen .

"—Ca lcu tta R evi ew .

Post 8vo, pp . J U L—154, cloth , price 7s . 6d .

T S U N I— IIGOAM

T HE S U PR E ME B E IN G or THE KHOi-KHOI.

B Y T HE OPHILU S HAHN ,Ph .D .

,

Custod ian of th e Grey Col lection , Cape T own Corresponding Memberof the Geegr. S ociety, D resden Corresponding Member of the

Anthropologica l S ociety , Vienna, &c. ,&c.

‘ T h e first instalm en t of Dr. Hahn’s labours w il l be of interest , not at th e Cape

on ly, but in every U niversity of E urope. It is,in fact, a most valuable contribution

to the comparative study of religion and mythology . Accounts of their i eligion and

m ythology w ere scattered about in various book s ; these have been carefully col

lected by Dr. Hahn and printed in h is second chapter, enriched and im proved byw hat he has been able to collect h im self. ” —P rof. M ax Muller in the N ineteen th

Cen tura“ It is full of good things . —S t. James’s Gazette.

In Four Vo lumes . Post 8vo, V ol I. , pp . x i i .

—392 , cloth , price 128 . 6d. ,

V ol. II. ,pp . vi.—4o8, cloth ,

pr ice 1 z s . 6d., V ol . III. ,

pp . viii—414 ,cloth

,price 12s . 6d .

A COMPR E HE N S IV E COMME N TAR Y T O T HE QU R AN .

T o WHICH Is PR E FIXE D S ALE'

s PR E LIMIN AR Y D i scous ss , WIT HADDIT ION AL N OT E S AN D E mE N DAT ION s .

T ogether w ith a Comp lete Index to the T ext, PreliminaryDiscourse

, and N otes .B y R ev. E . M . WHE R R Y,

M.A. , Lodiana.

As Mr. Wh erry’ s book is intended for m issionaries in India,it is no doubt w el l

that they sh ould be prepared to m eet , if they can , the ord inary argum ents and interpretations , and for th is purpose Mr .Wherry ’s addi ti ons Wi ll prove useful. -S aturdayR eview.

Post 8y o, pp . v i. —ao8, cloth , price 8s . 6d .

T HE B HAGAVAD—GIT A.

T ranslated,w ith Introduction and N otes

B Y JOHN DAVIE S ,M.A. (Cantab. )

Let us add that his tran slation of th e B hagavad Gita is, as w e judge, the best

that h as as yet appeared in E nglish , and that h is Ph i lological N otes are of quitepeculiar value .

”—J) ublm R eview.

T R U B N E R’

S OR IE N T AL S E R IE S .

Post 8vo, pp . 96, cloth , price 58.THE QU AT R AIN S OF OMAR KHAYYAM .

T ranslated by E . H. WHIN FIE LD ,M.A. ,

B arrister-at-Law , late H .M . B engal Civil S erv ice.

Post 8vo, pp. x x x n .—336, cloth , price 109 . 6d.

T HE Q U AT R A I N S OP OMA R KHAYYAM.

T he Persian T ext , w ith an E nglish Verse T ranslation .

B y E . H . WHIN FIE LD ,late of the B engal Civi l S ervice .

“Mr. Wbi nfield has executed a difficult task with considerable succes s , and h isversion contain s much that Wi ll be new to those who only know Mr. Fi tzgerald ’ sdeligh tfu l selection .

"

T he m ost prominent features in the Quatrains are their profound agnosticism ,

combined wi th a fatali sm based more on ph i losophic than religious grounds, theirE pi cureanism and the spirit of universal tolerance and chari ty w hich animates th em .

"

—Ca lcutta. R eview.

Post 8vo, pp . xxiv .—268, cloth , price 98 .

T HE PHILOS OPHY OF T HE U PAN ISHADS AN D

AN CIE N T IN DIAN ME TAPHYS ICS .

As exhibited in a series of Ar t icles contributed to the Calcutta R eview .

B y AR CHIB ALD E DWAR D GOU GH, M.A. , Lincoln Col lege , Oxford ;Principal of the Ca lcutta Madrasa.

For practica l purposes th is is perhaps th e most important of the work s that havethu s far appeared in T riibner’s Or ien tal S eries . ’ We cannot doub t that for a llw ho may take i t up the w ork mus t be one of pro found interest." —S a turday R eview.

In T wo Volumes . V ol . I. ,post 8vo, pp . xxiv.

—23o , cloth , p rice 78 . 6d .

A COMPAR AT IV E HIS T OR Y OF T HE E GYPT IAN AN D

ME S OPOTAMIAN R E LIGION S .

B y D R . C . P. T IE LE .

V ol. I.

—HIS T OR Y or T HE E GYPT IAN R E LIGION .

T rans lated from the Dutch w ith the Assis tance of the Author.B y JAME S B ALLIN GAL.

It plac es in the hands of the E nglish readers a h istory of E gyptian R eligionw h ich is very complete, which is based on the best m ateri a ls, and wh ich has beeni llustrated by the latest results of research . In th is volum e there is a great deal ofin formation ,

as w ell as independent investigation , for the trustworthiness of w hi chD r. T iele

'

s nam e is in itself a guaran tee ; and th e description of the successivere l igion s under the Old Kingdom , the Mi dd le Kingdom ,

and the N ew Kingdom,is

given in a manner wh i ch is scholarly and m inute.

—S cotsman.

Post 8vo, pp . x ii.— 302, cloth , price 88 . 6d .

YU S U P AN D ZU LAIKHA.

A POE M B Y J AMI.

T ranslated from the Persian into E nglish Verse.

B Y R ALPH T . H . GR IFFIT H.

Mr Griffith , who has done already good service as tran slator into verse from the

S an sk ri t , h as done further good w ork in this translation from the Persian ,and h e

h as eviden t ly show n not a l i ttle skill in h is rendering the quaint and very orientalstyle of his author into our more prosaic, less figurative , language. T he w ork ,

besides its intrinsic m erits , is of importance as being one of the most popular andfamous poem s of Persia, and that w h ich is read in all the independent native schoo lsof India w here Persi an is taugh t.

”—S cotsman .

T R U B N E R'

S OR IE N T AL S E R IE S .

Po st 8vo , pp . viii. —266, cloth , price gs.LIN GU IS T IC E S SAYS .

B Y CAR L AB E L.

An entirely novel m ethod of deal ing w ith ph ilosophical questions and impart area l human in tei est to the ot herw ise dry technical ities of th e science.

”—S tandard .l ) r. Abel is an opponent from w h om it i s p leasant to differ, for he w rites w ithenthusiasm and temper, and h is mas tery over the E nglish language fits h im to be achamp ion of unpopular doctrines ." —Atheneeum.

Post 8vo , pp . ix .

— 28 i,cloth , price i os. 6d .

T HE SAR VA DAR SAN A SAMGR AHAO R

, R E VIE W OF T H E DIFFE R E N T S YS T E MS OF HIN D UPHILOS OPHY .

B Y MADHAVA ACHAR YA.

T ran slated by E . B COWE LL, M .A.,Professor of S an skrit in the U niversity

of Cambridge , and A. E . GOU GH, M .A.,Pro fessor of Philosophy

in the Presidency Co l lege, Calcutta.

T his work is an interesting specimen of Hindu critical ability . T heauthor successively passes in review the sixteen philosophica l systemscurrent in the fourteenth century in the S outh of Ind ia ; and he give s whatappears to him to be their mos t important tenets .“ T he tran slation is trus tw orthy throughout . A protracted sojourn in India,

w here there is a living tradition ,has fam il iari sed t i e trans lato i s w ith Indian

though t."—Atlzenwum.

Post 8vo,pp . l xv . —368, cloth , price 148 .

T IB E TAN T ALE S DE R IV E D FR OM IN DIAN S OU R CE S .

T ran slated from the T ibetan of the KAH~GYU R .

B Y F. AN T ON V ON S CHIE FN E R .

Done into E nglish from the German ,w ith an Introduction ,

B Y !V. R . S . R ALS T ON , M.A.

“Mr. R alston , w hose n am e is s o fam iliar to all lo vers of R ussian folk-lore, hassupplied some interesting Western analog ies and paralle ls, drawn ,for the mos t part ,

from S lavonic sources , to th e E astern fo lk-tales, culled from the Kahgyur, one of thedivis ions of the T ibetan sacred book s . ”—Academy.

T he tran slation could scarcely h ave fallen into better hands . An In troduction gives the leading facts in the lives of those scho lars w ho have g iven theirattention to gaining a know ledge of the T ibetan literature and language.

—C'a lcuttaR evi e w.

“Ought to interes t all w ho care for the E ast, for amusing stories, or for comparativefolk-lore .—I’att Ma lt Gazette.

Post 8vo, pp . x vi —224 , cloth , price 98 .

U D A N A V A R GA.

A COLLE CT ION OF VE R S E S FR OM T HE B U DDHIS T CAN ON .

Compiled by DHAR MAT R AT A.

B E IN G T HE NORT HERN B U DDHIS T V ERS ION or DHAMMAPADA.

T ranslated from the T ibetan of B kah-hgyur, w ith N otes , andE xtracts from the Commentary of Pradjnavarman,

B y W. WOODVILLE R OCKHILL.

Mr. R ockh ill'

s present w ork is th e first from w h ich assistance w ill be gainedfor a more accurate understand ing o f the Pa li text ; it 18 , in fact , as yet t he on lyterm o f Comparison availab le to us . T he ‘ U danavarga ,

’the T h ibetan version ,

was

originally d iscovered by the late M S chiefner, w ho publ i sh ed t he T ibetan tex t , andhad in tended adding a tran slation , an i ntention frustrated by h is death , but w ln chhas been carried out by Mr. R ock hill . Mr. R ockh i ll m ay be congratulated-forhaving w el l accomplished a diffi cult task .

—S a tu1°day R eview .

T R U B N E R'

S O R I E N T AL S E R IE S .

In T wo Vo lumes,po s t 8vo , pp . xxiv. -566, cloth , accompanied by a

Language Map , p rice 258 .

A S KE T CH OF T HE MODE R N LAN GU AGE S OFAFR ICA.

B Y R OB E R T N E E DHAM CU S T ,

B arrister-at-Law,and late of Her Majesty 's Indian Civil S ervice.

“Any one at all interested in African languages cannot do better than get Mr.

Cus t’

s book . It is encyclopaed ic in its s cape , and the reader gets a start cle ar aw ayin any particular languag e , and i s left free to add to the ini tia l sum of k now ledget here Co llected .

-N a ta t M ercury .

N

“ Mr Cust has con tri ved to produce a w ork of value to linguistic students.a ture.

Post 8vo , pp . i .-3 12, w ith Map s and Plan

, cloth ,price 148 .

A HIS T OR Y OF B U R MA.

Includ ing B urma Proper,Pegu , T aungu , T enasserim , and Arakan . From

the E arlie st T ime to the E nd of the First War w ith B ritish Ind iaB YLIE U T .

-G E N . S IR AR T HU R P . PHAYR E , K C . S . I. ,and C. B . ,

Membre Correspondant de la S ocié té Académique Indo-Chinoisede France .

“ S i r Arthur Phayre ’

s contribution to T rhbner’

s Or ien tal S eri es suppl ies a recogn ised want . and its appearance has been looked forward to for many yearsGeneral Phay re deserves great 01edi t for the patience and industry w h i ch has resul tedin th is H istory of B urma .

—S aturday R evi ew.

T hird E dition. Post 8vo , pp . 276, cloth , price 78 . 6d.

R E L I G I O N I N C H I N A.

B y JOS E PH E DKIN S,D .D . , P uma.

Containing 9. B rief Account of the T h ree R el igion s of the Chinese, w ithObservation s on the Prospects of Christian Conversion amongst thatPeople .

Dr. E dkins has been most careful in noting th e varied and often complex phasesof opin ion ,

so as to give an accoun t of con siderab le value of the subject .

” —S cotsman .

As a m issmnary , it has b een part of Dr E dkin s ’ duty to study the exi st ingreligions in Ch ina , and hi s long residence in th e country has enabled h im to acquirean in timate know ledge of th em as they at present e x 18 t —S a tu.rday R evzew .

Dr. E dk in s ’ valuable w ork ,of w h ich this is a second and revi sed ed i tion , has ,from t he time that it was published , been the standard authority upon the subject

of w h ich it treats. —N onconformist.Dr. E dk ins m ay now be fairly regarded as among th e first authorities on

Chin ese religion and langu age .—B ritish Quarterly R evi ew.

T hird E dition . Post 8vo, pp . x v .-250, cloth , price 7s. 6d .

OU T LIN E S OF T HE HIS T OR Y OF R E LIGION T O T HES PR E AD OF T HE U N IV E R SAL R E LIGION S .

B Y C . P . T IE LE .

D octor of T heology , Professor of the History of R eligions in theU niversity of Leyden.

T ranslated from the Dutch by J . E S T LIN CAR PE N T E R , M.A.

Few book s of its size contain th e result of so much w ide th ink ing,able and labo~

rions study, or enable the reader to gain a better b i rd ’ s-eye view of the latest resultsof in vestigations into th e religious h is tory of nation s. As Pro fessor T iele modestlysays , In th is little book are ou tlines—penci l sketches , I m igh t say—nothi ng more .

’

B ut there are some m en w hose sketch es f i om a thumb-nai l are of far more w orththan an enormous canvas cove ted w ith the crude paint ing of others

,and it is easy to

see that th ese pages, full of in formation , these sen tences , cut and perhaps also dry ,short and clear, condense the fruits of long and thorough research .—S cotsman.

T ICU B N E R’

S OR IE N T AL S E R I E S .

Post 8vo , pp. x .—274 , cloth ,

price 98 .

T HE LIFE OF T HE B U DDHA AN D T HE E AR LYHIS T OR Y OF HIS OR DE R .

D erived from T ibetan Works in the B kah-hgyur and E stan-hgyur.

Fo l lowed by notice s on the E arly History of T ibet and Khoten .

T rans lated byW.W. R OCKHILL , S econd S ecretary U . S . Legation in China.

“ T he volume bears testimony to th e dil igence and f i i lne ss w ith w h ich the authbrh as con su lted and tested the anoien t documen ts bearing upon h is remarkab le sub

j ect .

”—T imes .

Wil l be appreciated by th ose who devote them selves to those B uddh ist studiesw hich have of late years tak en in th ese Western region s so remarkable a development . Its m atter possess es a special interest as being derived from ancient T ibetanw orks, som e porti ons of wh ich ,

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I N D IA N PO E T R Y.

CON T AIN IN G

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS , FR OM THE SAN SKR IT

OF T HE GITA GOVIN DA OF 7AYAD E VA

T WO B OOKS FR OM “ THE ILIAD OF IN DIA TA)

“PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM FR OM THE SHLOKAS OF THE

HIT OPADE S'

A, AN D OTHE R OR IE N TAL POE MS .

E D W I N A R N O L D M .A.

Author of“ T lte L igh t of Asz

'

a

COMPAN IO N OF T HE S T AR OF IN DIA ;

OFFIC E R OF T H E WHIT E E LE PHAN T OF SIAMT HIRD CLASS OF T HE IM PE RIAL ORDE R OF T H E M E DJ IDIE

F E LLOW OF T H E ROYAL ASIAT IC A N D ROYAL G E OGRAPHICAL SOC IE T IE SHONORARY M E M B E R OF T HE SOC IE T E D E G E OGRAPHIE , MARSE ILL E S , E T C. E T C.

FORM E RLY PRINC IPAL OF T H E DE CCAN COLL E G E , POONA,

AN D FE LLOW OF T HE U N IV E RSIT Y OF B OM B AY.

f ourth Q'

c'

nitiou.

LO N D O N

T R U B N E R C O ., L U D GAT E H I LL.

1886.

[All rig/Its reserved !

CO N T E N T S .

FAG!

T HE IN D IAN S ON G or S ON GS

Introduction

Hymn to VishnuS arga the First—T he S port s of KrishnaS arga the S econd—T he Penitence of Krishna.S arga the T hird—Krishna troubledS arga the Fourth—Krishna cheeredS arga the Fi fth—T he Longings of KrishnaS arga the S ixth—Krishna made bolderS arga the S eventh— Krishna supposed fa l seS arga the E ighth—T he R ebuking of KrishnaS arga. the N inth

— T he E nd Of Krishna’ s T ria l

S arga the T enth-Krishna in Paradise

S arga the E leventh— T he U nion Of R adha and K i ishna

M IS CE LLAN E OU S OR IE N TAL POE MS

T he R ajpoot Wife

T heCaliph’s D raught

Hindoo Funera l-S ong

S ong of the S erpent Charmcrs

S ong of the Flour-M il lT aza.ba T az a

T he Mussulman Paradi seDedication of a Poem from the S anskritT he R ajah

’ s R ide

T wo B OOKS FR OM THE ILIAD OR IN D IA

T he G reat JourneyT he E ntry into Hea ven

T HE N IGHT OF S LAU GHT E R

T HE MOR N IN G PR AYE R

PR OVE R B IALWIS DOM FR OM T HE S HLOKAS or T HE

IN DIAN S O N G OF SO N GS .

IN T R OD U CT ION

OM

R E VE R E N CE T O GAN R SHAI

sky is clouded ; and the wood resembles

Ie sky, thick-arched with black T amala boughs

Idha, R adha l take this Soul, that trembles

life’s deep midnight, to T hy golden house.

”

anda spoke,— and

,led by R adha’s spirit,

Ie feet of Krishna found the road aright

refore,in bliss which all high hearts inherit,

vgether taste they Love’

s divine delight.

Hewho wrote these things for thee,

Of the S on of Wemsoodee,

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Was thepoet J agadeva

Him S araswati gave ever

Fanciesfair his mind to throng ,

I/ ihe p ictures palace-walls along ;

E ver to his notes of love

Lakshmi’

s mystic dancers move.

If thy spirit seeks to brood

0n B ari glorious, B ari good ;

[f i tfeeds on solemn numbers,

D im as dreams and soft as slumbers,

Lend thine ear to J agadev,

Lord of all the spells that save.

U mapatidhara’

s strain

Glows like roses after

S haran’

s stream-like song is grand ,

If its tide ye understand ;

B ard more wise beneath the sum.

Is notfound than G'O’vardhun

B hogi holds the listener still

With his shlolces of subtle skill

B utfor sweet words suited well

J agadeva doth excel.

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THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Wonderful Dwarf -who with a threefold stride

Cheated King B ali—where thy footsteps fall

Men’

s sins,OWamuna !are set as ide :

0Keshav, hail thou Help and Hope Of all !

T he sins of this sad earth thou didst assoil,

T he anguish of its creatures thou didst heal ;

Freed are we from all terrors by thy toil :

Hail,Purshuram,

hail !Lord Of the biting steel !

T o thee the fell T en-Headed yielded life,

T hou in dread battle laid’st the mons ter low !

Ah,R ama !dear to Gods and men that strife ;

We praise thee,Master of the matchless

'

bow !

With clouds for garments glorious thou dost fare;

Veiling thy daz z ling majesty and might,

As when Yamuna saw thee with the share,

A peasant—yet the King of Day and N ight.

Merciful-hearted !when thou earnest as B oodh

Albeit ’ twas written in the Scriptures so

T hou bad’st our altars be no more imbrued

With blood of victims : Keshav !bending low

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

We praise thee,Wielder of the sweeping sword

,

B rilliant as curv ing comets in the gloom,

Whose edge shall smite the fierce barbarian horde ;

Hail to thee,Keshav !hail, and hear, and come,

And fill this song of Jayadev with thee,

And make it wise to teach, strong to redeem,

And sweet to living souls. T hou Mystery !

T hou Light Of Life !T hou D awn beyond the dream !

Fish ! that didst outswim the flood ;

T ortoise !whereon earth hath stood ;

B oar !who with thy tush held’st high

T heworld,that mortals might not die ;

Lion !who hast giants torn ;

Dwarf !who laugh’

dst a king to scorn

Sole Subduer Of the D readed !

Slayer of the many-headed !

Mighty Ploughman ! T eacher tender !

Of thine own the sure Defender !

U nder all thy ten disguises

E ndless praise to thee arises.

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Whatfollows is to theMusic GU R J JAR I and theMode

N IR SAR A )

E ndless praise arises,

O thou God that liest

R apt,on Kumla’s breast,

Happiest,holiest

,highest !

Planets are thy jewels,

Stars thy forehead-gems,

S et like sapphires gleaming

In kingliest anadems ;

E ven the great gold S un-God,

B laz ing through the sky,

Serves thee but for crest-stone,

J ai, j ai l Hari, j ai

As that Lord of day

After night brings morrow,

T hou dost charm away

Life’s long dream Of sorrow.

As on Mansa’

s water

B rood the swans at rest,

S O thy laws sit stately

On a holy breast.

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

O,Drinker of the poison !

Ah, high Delight Of earth !

What light is to the lotus-buds,

What singing is to mirth,

Art thou—art thou that slayedst

Madhou and N arak grim ;

T hat ridest on the King Of B irds,

Making all glories dim.

With eyes like Open lotus-flowers,

B right in the morning rain,

Freeing by one swift piteous glance

The spirit from Life’s pain

Of all the threeWorlds T reasure !

Of sin the Putter-by l

O’

er the T en-Headed Victor !

J ai Hari ! Hari !j ai ’

T hou Shaker Of the Mountain !

T hou Shadow of the Storm

T hou Cloud that unto Lakshmi’s face

Comes welcome, white, and warm !

O thou,—who to great Lakshmi

Art like the silvery beam

Which moon-sick chakors feed upon

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B y Jumna’s silent stream

T o thee this hymn ascendeth,

T hat Jayadev doth sing,

Of worship, love, and mystery ;

High Lord and heavenly King !

And unto whoso hears it

DO thou a blessing bring

Whose neck is gilt with yellow dust

From lil ies that did cling

B eneath the breasts of Lakshmi,

A girdle soft and sweet,

When in divine embracing

T he lips Of Gods did meet ;

And the beating heart above

Of thee—Dread Lord of Heaven

S he left that stamp of love

B y such deep sign be given

Prays Jayadev, the glory

And the secret and the spells

Which close-hid in this story

U nto wise ears he tells.

E N D OF IN T R ODU CT ION .

( 9 )

SAR GA THE

S AM O D AD AM OD A R O.

THE SPOR T S OF KR ISHN A.

B E AU T IFU L R adha, jasmine-bosomed R adha,

All in the Spring-time waited by the wood

For Krishna fair, Krishna the all-forgetful,

Krishna with earthly love’ s false fire consuming

And some one of her maidens sang this song

(Wh a tfollows is to theMusic VASAN TA and the Mode

YAT I.)

I know where Krishna tarries in these early days of

Spring,

When every wind from warm Malay brings fragrance

on its wing ;

10 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B rings fragrance stolen far away from thi ckets of the

clove,

In jungles where the bees hum and the Ko '

i’

l flutes her

love ;

He dances with the dancers,of a merry morrice one

,

All in the budding Spring-time, for’

tis sad to be alone.

I know how Krishna passes these hours of blue and gold,

When parted lovers sigh to meet and greet and closely

hold

Hand fast in hand ; and every branch upon the V akul

tree

D roops downward with a hundred blooms , in every

bloom a bee ;

He is dancing with the dancers to a laughter-moving

tone,

In the soft awakening Spring-time, when’

tis hard to

live alone.

Where Kroons-flowers, that Open at a lover’s lightest

tread,

B reak, and, for shame at what they hear, from whi te

blush modest red ;

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12 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF SON GS .

T he silken-soft paleMogra,whose perfume fine and faint

Can melt the coldness Of a maid,the sternness of a

saint

T here dances with those dancers thine other self, thine

Own,

All in the languorous Spring-time, when none will live

alone.

Where— as if warm lips touched sealed eyes and waked

them—all the bloom

Opens upon the mangoes to feel the sunshine come ;

And Atimuktas wind their arms of softest green about,

Clasping the stems,while calm and clear great Jumna

spreadeth out ;

T here dances and there laughs thy Love, with damsels

many an one,

In the rosy days Of Spring-time, for he

alone.

Mark this song of J agadev!

Deep as pearl in ocean-wave

I/urketh in its lines a wonder

Which the wise alone willponder .

T HE IN D IAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T hough it seemeth of the earth,

Heavenly is the music’

s birth ;

T elling darkly of delights

In the wood, of wasted nights,

Of witless days, andfruitless love,

Andfalsep leasures of the grove,

And rash passions of theprime,

And those dances of Spring-time ,

T ime, which seems so subtle-sweet,

T ime,which pipes to dancing

-feet,

Ah ! so softly—ah ! so sweetly

T hat among those wood-maidsfeatly

Krishna cannot choose but dance,

Letting pass life’

s greater chance.

Yet the winds that sigh so

As they stir the rose,

Wake a sigh from Krishna

Wistfuller than those ;

All their faint breaths swinging

T he creepers to and fro

Pass like rustling arrows

Shot from Kama’s bow

14 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T hus among the dancers

What those z ephyrs bring

Strikes to Krishna’s spiri t

Like a darted sting.

And all as if—far wandered

T he traveller should hear

T he bird of home, the Ko'

i’

l,

With nest-notes rich and clear ;

An d there shoul d come one moment

A blessed fleeting dream

Of the bees among the mangoes

B eside his native stream ;

S O flash those sudden yearnings,

T hat sense of a dearer thing,

T he love and lack of R adha

U pon hi s soul in Spring.

T hen she, the maid of R adha, spake again ;

And pointing far away between the leaves

Guided her lovely Mis tress where to look,

And note how Krishna wan toned in the wood

N ow with this one, now that ; his heart, her priz e,

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .0

-I5

Panting with foolish passions, and his eyes

B eaming with too much love for thosefair girls

Fair,but not so as R adha and she sang

(Wh atfollows is to the Music R AMAGIR I and theMode

S ee, Lady !how thy Krishna passes these idle hours

Decked forth in fold of woven gold, and crowned with

forest-flowers

And scented with the sandal,and gay with gems of

price

R ubies to mate his laughing lips, and diamonds like his

eyes ;

In the company of damselsf"who dance and sing and

play,

LiesKrishna, laughing, toying, dreaming his Spring away.

One,with star-blossomed champirk wreathed, wooes

him to rest his head

On the dark pillow Of her breast so tenderly outspread ;

It will be observed that the “Gopis ” here personify the five

senses . Las sen says , “Manifest/am est puellis istia nil aliud significari

quam res sensiles .

”

16 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

And o’

er his brow with roses blown she fans a fragrance

rare,

T hat falls on the enchanted sense like rain in thirsty air,

While the company of damsels wave many an odorous

spray,

And Krishna,laughing

,toying

,sighs the soft Spring

away.

Another,gaz ing in his face, sits wistfully apart,

Searching it with those looks of love that leap from

heart to heart ;

Her eyes—afire with shy desire, veiled by their lashes

black

Speak so that Krishna cannot choose but send the

message back,

In the company of damsels whose bright eyes in a ring

Shine round him with soft mean ings in the merry light

of Spring.

T he third one of that daz z ling band of dwellers in the

wood

B ody and bosom panting with the pulse of youthful

blood

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . I7

Leans over him,as in his ear a lightsome thing to

speak,

And then with leaf-soft lip imprints a kiss below his

cheek ;

A kiss that thrills, andKrishna turns at the silken touch

T o give it back—ah,R adha !forgetting thee too much .

And one with arch smile becokns him away from

Jumna’s banks,

Where the tall bamboos bristle like spears in battle

ranks,

And plucks his cloth to make him come into the mango

shade,

Where the fruit is ripe and golden,and the milk and

cakes are laid

Oh ! golden-red the mangoes, and glad the feasts of

Spring,

And fair the flowers to lie upon, and sweet the dancers

sing.

Sweetest of all that T emptress who dances for him now

With subtle feet whi ch part and meet in the R ite

measure slow,

18 T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T o the chime of silver bangles and the beat of rose-leaf

hands

And pipe and lute and cymbal played by the woodland

bands ;

So that wholly pas sion-laden—eye, ear, sense, soul o’

er

come

Krishna is theirs in the forest ; his heart forg ets its home.

Krishna ,madefor heavenly things,

’

Mid those woodland singers sings ,

With those dancers dancesfeatly,

Gives back soft embraces sweetly;

Smiles on that one,toys with this,

Glance for glance and kiss for kiss

Meets the merry damselsfa irly,

Plays the round of folly rarely,

l apped in milk-warm spring

-time weather,

He and those brown girls together.

And this sha dowed earthly love

In the twilight of the grove,

Dance and song and soft ca resses,

Meeting looks and tangled tresses,

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20 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Holdingfeasts of foolish mirth

With these Visions of the earth

Learning love, and love imparting

Yet with sense of loss up starting .

For the cloud that veils thefountains

U nderneath the S andal mountains,

How—as if the sunshine drew

All its being to the blue

It takesflight, and seeks to rise

High into the purer skies,

High into the snow andfrost,

On the shining summits lost!

Ah ! and how the Koil’

s strain

S mites the traveller with pain,

When the mango blooms in spring,

And Hoohoo,

” “Koohoo,

”they sing

Pain of p leasures not yet won,

Pain of j ourneys not yet done,

Pain of toiling without gaining,

Pain,

’

mid gladness, of still paining.

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B ut may He guide us all to glory high

Who laughed when R adha glided, hidden, by,

And all among those damsels free and bold

T ouched Krishna with a soft mouth, kind and

And like the others, leaning on his breast,

U nlike the others, left there Love’

s unrest ;

And like the others, joining in his song,

U nlike the others, made him silent long.

(Here ends tha t S arga of the Gita Govinda entitled

SAMODADAMODAR O.)

21

SAR GA THE

L E S HAK E S HAV O.

T HE PE N IT E N C E OF K R ISHN A.

T HU S lingered Krishna in the deep, green wood,

And gave himself, too prodigal, to those

B ut R adha,heart-sick at his falling-off

,

Seeing her heavenly beauty slighted so,

Withdrew and,in a bower of Paradise

Where nectarous blossoms wove a shrine of shade,

Haunted by birds and bees of unknown skies

S he sate deep-sorrowful , and sang this strain

(Whatfollows is to theMusic GU R J J AR i and the Mode

YAT I.)

Ah, my B eloved taken with those glances,

Ah, my B eloved !dancing those rash dances,

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 23

Ah,Minstrel !playing wrongful strains so well

Ah,Krishna !Krishna, with the honeyed lip !

Ah,Wanderer into foolish fellowship !

My Dancer, my Delight -I love thee still.

0Dancer !strip thy peacock-crown away,

R ise !thou whose forehead is the star of day,

With beauty for its silver halo set ;

Come !thou whose greatness gleams beneath its shroud

Like Indra’s rainbow shining through the cloud

Come, for I love thee, my B eloved !yet.

Must love thee— cannot choose but love thee ever,

My best B eloved — set on this endeavour,

T o win thy tender heart and earnest eye

From lips but sadly sweet,from restless bosoms,

T o mine, 0Krishna with the mouth of blossoms

T o mine, thou soul of Krishna !yet I sigh

Half hopeless,thinking of myself forsaken

,

And thee,dear Loiterer

,in the wood o

’

ertaken

With passion for those bold and wanton ones,

24

Who knit thine arms as poison-plants gripe trees

With twining cords—their flowers the braveries

T hat flash in the green gloom, sparkling stars and

stones.

My Prince !my Lotus-faced !my woe !my love’

!

Whose broad brow,with the tilka-spot above,

Shames the bright moon at full with fleck of cloud

T hou to mistake so little for so much !

T hou,Krishna, to be palm to palm with such !

0 Soul made for my joys, pure, perfect,

Ah ,my B eloved !in thy darkness dear ;

Ah,Dancer !with the jewels in thine ear,

Swinging to music of a loveless love ;

0my B eloved in thy fall so high

T hat angels, sages, spirits of the sky

Linger about thee, watching in the grove.

I will be patient still, and draw thee ever,

My one B eloved, sitting by the river

U nder the thi ck kadambas with that throng

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Will there not come an end to earthly madness ?

Shall I not, past the sorrow, have the gladness ?

Must not the love-light shine for him ere long ?

S hine, thou Light by R adha given,

S hine, thou splendid star of heaven !

B e a lamp to Krishna’

sfeet,

S how to all hearts secrets sweet,

Of the wonder and the love

J ayadev hath writ above.

B e the quick Interpreter

U nto wisest ears of her

Who always sings to all, I wait,

He loveth still who loveth late.

”

For (sang on that high Lady in the shade)

My soul for tenderness, not blame, was made ;

Mine eyes look through his evil to his good ;

My heart coins pleas for him ; my fervent thought

Prevents what he will say when these are naught,

And that whi ch I am shall be understood.

T hen spake she to her maiden wistfully

25

26 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

‘

(What follows is to the Music MALAVAGAU DA and the

Go to him,—win him hither

,-wh isper low

How he may find me if he searches well ;

S ay, if he will—joys past his hope to know

Await him here ; go now to him,and tell

Where R adha is, and that henceforth she charms

His S pirit to her arms.

Yes, go !say, if he will, that he may come

May come, my love, my longing, my desire ;

May come forgiven, shriven, to me his home,

And make his happy peace ; nay, and aspire

T o uplift R adha’s veil,and learn at length

What love is in its strength.

Lead him ; say softly I shall chide his blindness,

And vex him with my angers ; yet add this,

He shall not vainly sue for loving-kindness,

N or mi ss to see me close, nor lose the bliss

T hat lives upon my lip, nor be denied

T he rose throne at my side.

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28 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS

And—Love’s large cup at happy overflow,

Yet ever to be filled—his eyes and mine

Will meet in that glad look,when T ime’s great

Closes and shuts out Fate.

Listen to the unsaid things

Of the song tha t R adha sings,

For the soul draws near to bliss,

As it comprehendeth this.

I am J ayadev, who write

All this subtle-rich delight

For your teaching. Ponder,then ,

What it tells to Gods and men.

E rr not, watching Krishna gay,

With those brown girls all at play ,

U nderstand how R adha charms

Her wandering lover to her arms,

Waiting with divinest love

T ill his dream ends in the grove.

For even now (she sang) I see him pause,

Heart-stricken with the waste of heart he makes

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 29

Amid them —all the bows of their bent brows

Wound him no more : no more for all their sakes

Plays be one note upon his amorous lute,

B ut lets the strings lie mute.

Pensive, as if his parted lips should say

My feet with the dances are weary,

T he music has dropped from the song,

T here is no more delight in the lute-strings,

Sweet Shadows !what thing has gone wrong ?

T he wings of the wind have left farming

T he palms of the glade ;

T hey are dead,and the blossoms seem dying

In the place where we played.

We will play no more, beautiful Shadows !

A fancy came solemn and sad,

More sweet,with unspeakable longings

,

T han the best of the pleasures we had

I am not now the Krishna who kissed you ;

T hat ex quisite dream,

T he Vision I saw in my dancing

Has spoiled what you seem.

30 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Ah delicate

With eyes that looked lasting and true,

I awake,-I have seen her

,—my angel

Farewell to the wood and to you !

Oh, whi sper of wonderful pity !

Oh, fair face that shone !

T hough thou be a vrs1on,D ivinest !

T his vision is done.

”

ends that S arga of the Gi ta Govinda

KLE SHAKE SHAVO.)

SA!?GA THE

MU GDHAMADHU S U DAN O.

KR ISHN A T R OU B LE D .

THE R E AT ,— as one who welcomes to her throne

A new-made Queen,and brings before it bound

Her enemies,— so Krishna in his heart

T hroned R adha and—all treasonous follies chained

He played no more with those first play-fellows

B ut, searching through the shadows of the grove

For loveliest R adha,— when he found her not,

Faint with the quest,despairing, lonely, lorn,

And pierced with shame for wasted love and days,

He sate by Jumna,where the canes are thi ck,

And sang to the wood-echoes words like these

32 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

(What follows is to the Music GU R J J AR !and to the

YAT I.)

R adha, E nchantress !R adha, queen of all !

Gone —lost, because she found me sinning here ;

And I so stricken with my foolish fall,

I could not stay her out of shame and fear ;

S he will not hear

In her disdain and grief vainly I call.

And if she heard , what would she do what say ?

How could I make it good that I forgot ?

What profit was it to me, night and day,

T o live, love, dance, and dream,having her not ?

Soul without spot !

I wronged thy patience, till it sighed away.

Sadly I know the truth . Ah !even now

R emembering that one look beside the river,

Softer the vex ed eyes seem,and the proud brow

T han lotus-leaves when the bees make them

My love for ever !

T oo late is Krishna wise— too far art thou !

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 33

Yet all day long in my deep heart I woo thee,

And all night long with thee my dreams are sweet

Why,then

,so vainly must my steps pursue thee ?

Why can I never reach thee,to entreat

,

Low at thy feet,

Dear vanished Splendour !till my tears subdue thee ?

Surpassing One !I knew thou didst not brook

Hal f-hearted worship, and a love that wavers ;

Haho 1 there is the wisdom I mistook,

T herefore I seek with desperate endeavours ;

T hat fault dissevers

Me from my heaven, astraym condemned—forsook !

And yet I seem to feel, to know,thee near me ;

T hy steps make mus ic, measured music, near ;

R adha !my R adha will not sorrow clear me ?

Shine once!speak one word pitiful and dear !

Wilt thou not hear

Canst thou—because I did forget— forsake me ?

Forgive !the sin is sinned, is past, is over ;

N o thought I think shall do thee wrong again0

34 T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T urn thy dark eyes again upon thy lover

B right Spirit !or I perish of this pain.

Loving again !

In dread of doom to love, but not recover.

S o did Krishna sing and sigh

B y the river-bank ; and I ,

J ayadev of Kinduvilva,

R esting—as the moon of silver

S its upon the solemn ocean

Oufullfaith, in deep devotion

T ell it that ye may perceive

How the heart mustfret and grieve ;

How the soul doth tire of earth,

When the lovefrom Heav’

n hath birth.

(sang he on) I am no foe of thine,

T here is no black snake, Kama !in my hair ;

B lue lotus-bloom,and not the poisoned brine,

Shadows my neck ; what stains my bosom

T hou God unfair !

Is sandal-dust, not ashes ; nought of mine

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36 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B ut if thy touch,thy tones

,if the dark blossom

Of thy dear face, thy jasmine-odours shed

From feet to head,

If these be all with me, canst thou be far—be

S o sang he, and I pray that whoso hears

T he music of his burning hopes andfears,

T hat whoso sees this vision by the R iver

Of Krishna,Hari

, (can we name him ever

And marks his ear-ring rubies swinging slow,

As he sits still,unheedful

,bending low

T op lay this tune upon his lute, while all

Listen to catch the sadness musical ,

And Krishna wotteth nought, but, with setface

T urnedfull toward R adha’

s,sings on in thatp lace

May all such souls—prays J ayadev—be wise

T o learn the wisdom which hereunder lies.

(Here ends that S arga of the Gita Govinda entitled

MU GDHAMADHU S U DAN O.)

( 37 )

S AR GA THE

S N IGDHAMADHU S U DAN O.

KR ISHN A CHE E R E D.

T HE N she whom R adha sent came to the canes

T he canes beside the river where he lay

With listless limbs and spirit weak from love

And she sang this to Krishna wistfully

(Whatfollows is to the MusicKAR N ATA and theMode

E KATALI.)

Art thou sick for R adha ? she is sad in turn,

Heaven foregoes its blessings, if it holds not thee ;

All the cooling fragrance of sandal she doth spurn,

Moonlight makes her mournful with radiance silvery

38 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

E ven the southern breez e blown fresh from pearly seas,

Seems to her but tainted by a dolorous brine

And for thy sake discontented,with a great love over

laden,

Her soul comes here beside thee,and sitteth down

with thine.

Her soul comes here beside thee, and tenderly and true

It weaves a subtle mail of proof to ward off sin and

Pain ;

A breastplate soft as lotus-leaf, with holy tears for dew,

T o guard thee from the things that hurt ; and then’

tis gone again

T o strew a blissful place with the richest buds that grace

Kama’s sweet world, a meeting-spot with rose and

jasmine fair,

For the hour when,well-contented, with a love no

longer troubled,

T hou shalt find the way to R adha, and finish sorrows

there.

B ut now her lovely face is shadowed by her fears ;

Her glorious eyes are veiled and dim like moonlight

in eclipse

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 39

B y breaking rain-clouds, Krishna !yet she paints you

in her tears

With tender thoughts— not Krishna, but brow and

breast and lips

And form and mien a King,a great and god-like thing ;

And then with bended head she asks grace from the

Love D ivine,

T o keep thee discontented with the phantoms thou for

swearest,

T ill shemay win her glory, and thou be raised to thine.

Softly now she sayeth ,

Krishna, Krishna, come !”

Lovingly she prayeth,

Fair moon,light him home.

Yet if Hari helps not,

Moonlight cannot aid ;

Ah !the woeful R adha !

Ah !the forest shade !

Ah !if Hari guide not,

Moonlight is as gloom ;

Ah !if moonlight help not,

How shall Krishna come 7

40

S ad for Krishna grieving

In the darkened grove ;

S ad for R adha weaving

D reams of fruitless love !

S trike soft strings to this soft measure,

If thine car would catch its treasure ;

S lowly dance to this deep song,

Let its meaning float along

With grave paces, since it tells

Of a love that sweetly dwells

In a tender distant glory,

Past allfaults of mortal story.

(Whatfollows is to theMusicD E SHAGA and

E KATALI.)

Krishna, till thou come unto her,faint she lies with

love and fear ;

E ven the jewels of her necklet seem a load too great to

bear.

Krishna,till thou come unto her, all the sandal and the

flowers

V ex her with their pure perfection though they grow in

heavenly bowers.

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 4 1

Krishna, till thou come unto her,fair albeit those

bowers may be,

Passion burns her, and love’

s fire fevers her for lack of

thee.

Krishna, till thou come unto her, those divine lids, dark

and tender,

Droop like lotus-leaves in rain-storms,dashed and heavy

in their splendour.

Krishna, till thou come unto her, that rose-couch which

she hath spread

Saddens with its empty place, its double pillow for one

head.

Krishna, till thou come unto her, from her palms she

will not lift

T he dark face hidden deep within them like the moon

in cloudy rift.

Krishna, till thou come unto her, angel though she be,

thy Love

Sighs and suffers, waits and watches—joyless’mid those

joys above

42 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Krishna,till thou come unto her, with the comfort

thy kiss

Deeper than thy loss, 0 Krishna! must be loss

R adha’s bliss .

Krishna, while thou didst forget her— her,

gentle fate

Wonderful her waiting was, her pity sweet, her patience

great.

Krishna,come ! ’

tis grief untold to grieve

to let her sigh ;

Come, for she is sick with love, and thou

remedy.

S o she sang, and J ayadeva

Prays for all,andpraysfor ever,

T hat Gr eat Hari may bestow

U tmost bliss of loving so

On us all —that one who wore

T he herdsman’

s form,and heretofore,

T o save the shepherd’

s threatenedflock,

Up from the earth reared the huge rock

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( 44 )

SA!?GA

S AKAN DKS HAPU N DAR IKAKS HO.

THE LON GIN GS OF KR ISHN A.

SAY I am here !oh, if she pardons me,

S ay where I am,and win her softly hi ther.”

So Krishna to the maid ; and willingly

S he came again to R adha, and she sang

(What follows is to theMusic D E SHIVAR ADI and theMode R U PAKA.)

Low whispers the wind from Malaya

Overladen with love ;

On the hill s all the grass is burned yellow

And the trees in the grove

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 45

Droop with tendrils that mock by their clinging

T he thoughts of the parted ;

And there lies, sore-sighing for

T hy love, altered-hearted.

T o him the moon’

s icy-chill silver

Is a sun at midday ;

T he fever he burns with is deeper

T han starlight can stay

Like one who falls stricken by arrows,

With the colour departed

From all but his red wounds,so lies

T hy love, bleeding-hearted.

T o the music the banded bees make him

He closeth his ear ;

In the blossoms their small horns are blowing

T he honey-song clear ;

B ut as if every sting to his bosom

Its smart had imparted,

Low lies by the edge of the river,

T hy love, aching-hearted.

46 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B y the edge of the river,far wandered

From his once beloved bowers ,

And the haunts of his beautiful playmates,

And the beds strewn with flowers ;

N ow thy name is his playmate— that only

And the hard rocks upstarted

From the sand make the couch where he lies,

T hy Krishna, sad-hearted.

Oh may Hari fill each soul,

As these gentle verses roll

T elling of the anguish borne

B y kindred ones asunder torn !

Oh may Hari unto each

All the lore of loving teach,

All thepain and all the bliss ;

J ayadeva prayeth this

Yea, Lady in the self-same spot he waits

Where with thy kiss thou taught’

st him utmost love,

And drew him,as none else draws

,with thy look ;

And all day long, and all night long,his cry

Is “R adha, R adha,”like a S pell said o’

er ;

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

And in his heart there lives no wish nor hope

Save only this, to slake his S pirit’s thirst

For R adha’s love with R adha’s lips ; and find

Peace on the immortal beauty of thy breast.

(Whatfollows is to theMusic GU R J JAR i and theE KATALI.)

Mistress,sweet and bright and holy !

Meet him in that place ;

Change his cheerless melancholy

Into joy and grace ;

If thou hast forgiven,vex not ;

If thou lovest, go ,

Watching ever by the river,

Krishna listens low

Listens low,and on his reed there

Softly sounds thy name,

Making even mute things plead there

For his hope : ’

tis shame

T hat, while winds are welcome to him,

If from thee they blow,

Mournful ever by the river

Krishna waits thee so !

47

When a bird’s wing stirs the roses,

T wenty times he recomposes

T he flower-seat he has spread

T wenty times, with anx ious glances

Sighing ever by the river,

Krishna droops ag ain.

Loosen from thy foot the bangle,

Lest its golden bell,

!Vith a tiny,tattling jangle,

Any false tale tell

If thou fearest that the moonlight

Will thy glad face know,

Draw those dark braids lower,Lady !

B ut to Krishna go.

Swift and still as lightning’s splendour

Let thy beauty come,

Sudden, gracious, daz z ling, tender ,

T o his arms— its home

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Swift as Indra’s yellow lightning,

Shining through the night,

Glide to Krishna’s lonely bosom,

T ake him love and light.

Grant,at last, love

’

s utmost measure,

Giving, give the whole ;

Keep back nothing of the treasure

Of thy priceless soul

Hold with both hands out unto him

T hy chalice, let him drain

The nectar of its dearest draught,

T ill not a wish remain.

Only go—the stars are setting,

And thy Krishna grieves ;

Doubt and anger quite forgetting,

Hasten through the leaves

Wh erefore didst thou lead him heav’

nward

B ut for this thing’s sake ?

Comfort him with pity, R adha!

Or his heart must break.

49

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

B ut while J ayadeva wr ites

T his rare tale of deep delights

J ayadev, whose heart is given

U ntoHari, Lord in Heaven

S ee that ye too, as ye read,

With a glad and humble heed,

B end your brows beforeHisface,

T hat ye may have bliss and grace.

And then the Maid , compassionate, sang ou

Lady,most sweet !

For thy coming feet

He listens in the wood,with love sore-tried

Faintly S ighing,

Like one a-dying,

He sends his thoughts afoot to meet his bride.

Ah,silent one l

Sunk is the sun,

T he darkness falls as deep as Krishna’s sorrow ;

T he chakor’

s strain

Is not more vain

T han mine, and soon gray dawn will bring white

morrow.

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THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

In the glad meeting,

And quick sweet greeting

Of lips that close beyond T ime’s shadowy portal.

And to thee is given,

Angel of Heaven !

T his glory and thi s j oy with Krishna. Go!

Let him attain,

For his long pain,

T he priz e it promised,—see thee coming slow

,

A vision first,but then

B y glade and glen

A lovely, loving soul , true to its home ;

His Queen— his Crown—his All,

Hast’

ning at last to fall

U pon his breast, and live there. R adha,come !

Come and come thOu,Lord of all

,

U nto whom the T hree W'

orlds call ;

T hou, that didst in angry might,

Kansa,like a comet

,smite

T hou,tha t in thy passion tender,

As incarnate spell and sp lendour,

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Hung on R adha’

s gloriousface

In the garb of Krishna’

s grace

As above the bloom the bee,

I'Vhen the honeyed revelry

Is too subtle-sweet an one

N ot to hang and dally on

T hou tha t art the T hree Worlds’ glory,

Of life the light, of every story

T hemeaning and the mark,of love

T he root and flower, 0’

the sky above

T he blue, of bliss the heart, of those,

T he lovers, that which did impose

T he gentle law,that each should be

T he other’

s Heav’

n and harmony.

ends that S arga of the Gi ta Govinda entitled

SAKAN DKSHAPU N DAR IKAKSHO.)

53

( 54 )

D H R I S H T AV A I K U T

KR ISHN A MADE B OLDE R .

B U T seeing that, for all her loving w ill,

T he flower-soft feet of R adha had not power

T o leave their place and go, she sped again

T hat maiden—and to Krishna’s eager ears

T old how it fared with his sweet mistress there.

(Whatfollows is to theMusic GON DAKIR i and theMode

R U PAKA.)

Krishna ! ’

tis thou must come, (she sang)

E ver she waits thee in heavenly bower

T he lotus seeks not the wandering bee,

T he bee must find the flower.

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 55

All the wood over her deep eyes roam,

Marvelling sore where tarries the bee,

Who leaves such lips of nectar unsought

As those that blossom for thee.

Her steps would fail if she tried to come,

Would fal ter and fail, with yearning weak ;

At the first of the road they would falter and pause,

And the way is strange to seek.

Find her where she is sitting,then

,

With lotus-blossom on ankle and arm

lVearing thine emblems, and musing of nought

B ut the meeting to be— glad, warm.

T o be but wherefore tarrieth he ?

What can stay or delay him —go!

S ee if the soul of Krishna comes,

T en times she sayeth to me so ;

T en tw ee lost in a languorous swoon,

N ow he cometh— he cometh,”she cries ;

And a love-look lightens her eyes in the gloom,

And the darkness is sweet with her sighs.

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T ill, watching in vain,she glideth again

U nder the shade of the whispering leaves

With a heart too full of its love at last

T o heed how her bosom heaves.

S ha ll not thesefair'

verses swell

T he number of the wise who dwell

In the realm of Kama’

s bliss ?

J ayadeva prayeth this,

J ayadev, the bard of Love,

S ervant of the Gods above.

For all so strong in Heaven itself

Is Love, that R adha sits drooping there,

Her beautiful bosoms panting with thought,

And the braids drawn back from her ear.

And— angel albeit— her rich lips breathe

Sighs,if sighs were ever so sweet

And— if spirits can tremble—she trembles now

From forehead to jewelled feet.

And her voice of music sinks to a sob,

And her eyes, like eyes of a mated roe,

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 57

Are tender with looks of yielded love,

With dreams dreamed long ago ;

Long—long ago, but soon to grow truth ,

T o end, and be waking and certain and

Of which dear surety murmur herlips,

As the lips of sleepers do

And,dreaming

, she loosens her girdle-pearls,

And opens her arms to the empty air,

T hen starts, if a leaf of the champak falls,

Sighing, 0 leaf !is be there 7

Why dost thou linger in this dull spot,

Haunted by serpents and evil for thee ?

Why not hasten to N anda’s House

It is plain,if thine eyes could see.

May these words of high endeavour

Full of grace and gentlefavour

.Find out those whose hearts canfeel

What the message did reveal,

58 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Words that R adha'

s messenger

T hrough theforest to his home,

Guiding him tofind the road

Which led—though long— to Love’

s 0

(Here ends that S arga of the Gi ta Govinda

DHR ISHTAVAIKU N T O.)

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60 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

(What follows is to the Music MALAVA and the Mode

YATI .)

’T is time — he comes not -will he come

Can he leave me thus to pine ?

Yami hekam sharanam !

Ah !what refuge then is mine ?

For his sake I sought the wood,

T hreaded dark and devious ways ;

Yami hekam sharanam

Can it be Krishna betrays

Let me die then,and forget

Anguish ,patience

,hope, and fear

Yami hé kam sharanam

Ah,why have I held him dear ?

Ah,this soft night torments me,

T hinking that his faithless arms

Yami hé kam sharanam

Clasp some shadow of my charms.

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 61

Fatal shadow— foolish mock

When the great love shone confessed

Yami hekam sharanam

Krishna’s lotus loads my breast ;

’

T is too heavy, lacking him ;

Like a broken flower I am

N ecklets,jewels

,what are ye ?

Yami hekam sharanam

T a-mi hekam sharanam !

T he sky is still , the forest sleeps

Krishna forgets—he loves no more ;

He fails in faith , and R adha weeps.

B ut thepoet J ayadev

He who is great Hari’

s slave,

He whofinds asylum sweet

Only at great Hari’

sfeet

He whofor your comfort sings

All this to the Vina’

s strings

Prays that R adha’

s tender moan

In your hearts be thought upon,

62 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

And that all her holy grace

Live there like the loved one’

sface.

Yet,if I wrong him !(sang she)—can he fail ?

Could any in the wood win back his kis ses ?

Could any softest lips of earth prevail

T o hold him from my arms ? any love-blisses

B lind him once more to mine ? 0 Soul , my priz e!

Art thou not merely hindered at this hour ?

Sore-wearied , wandering, lost ? how otherwise

Shouldst thou not hasten to the bridal-bower ?

B ut seeing far away that Maiden come

Alone,with eyes cast down and lingering steps,

Again a little while she feared to hear

Of Krishna false ; and her quick thoughts took

In a fine jealousy, with words like these

Something then of earth has held him

From his home above,

Some one of those slight deceivers

Ah,my foolish love !

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 63

Some new face,some winsome playmate

,

With her hair untied,

And the blossoms tangled in it,

Woos him to her side.

On the dark orbs of her bosom

Passionately heaved

Sink and rise the warm,white pearl-strings,

Oh, my love deceived

Fair ? yes, yes !the rippled shadow

Of that midnight hair

Shows above her brow—as clouds do

O’

er the moon—most fair

And she knows,with wilful paces,

How to make her z one

Gleam and please him ; and her ear-rings

T inkle love ; and grown

Coy as he grows fond, she meets him

With a modest show

Shaming truth with truthful seeming,

While her laugh—light, low

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

And her subtle month that murmurs,

And her silken cheek,

And her eyes, say she dissembles

Plain as speech could speak .

T ill at length, a fatal victress,

Of her triumph vain,

On his neck she lies and smiles there

Ah,my Joy —my Pain !

B ut may R adha’

sfond annoy,

And may Krishna’

s dawning j oy,

Warm and waken love morefit

J ayadeva prayeth it

And the griefs and sins assuage

Of this blind and evil age.

0Moon !(she sang) that art so pure and pale,

IsKrishna wan like thee with lonely waiting ?

O lamp of love !art thou the lover’s friend,

And wilt not bring him,my long pain abating ?

fruitless moon !thou dost increase my pain

faithless Krishna !I have striven in vain.

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 65

And then,lost in her fancies sad

, she moaned

Whatfollows is to theMusic GU R J JAB T and the Mode

E KATALI.)

In vain,in vain

E arth will of earth !I mourn more than I blame ;

If he had known,he would not sit and paint

T he tilka on her smooth black brow, nor claim

Quick kisses from her yielded lips—false, faint

False,fragrant, fatal Krishna’s quest is o’er

B y Jumna’s shore !

Vain—it was vain !

T he temptress was too near, the heav’

n too far ;

I can but weep because he sits and ties

Garlands of fire-flowers for her loosened hair,

And in its silken shadow veils his eyes

And buries his fond face. Yet I forgave

B y J umna’

s wave

Vainly !all vain

Make then the most Of that whereto thou’

rt given,

Feign her thy Paradise—thy Love of loves ;E

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

S ay that her eyes are stars, her face the heaven ,

Her bosoms the two worlds, with sandal-groves

Full-scented, and the kiss-marks—ah,thy dream

B y Jumna’s stream !

It shall be vain

And vain to string the emeralds on her arm,

And hang the milky pearls upon her neck,

Saying they are not jewels, but a swarm

Of crowded, glossy bees, come there to suck

T he rosebuds of her breast, the sweetest flowers

Of Jumna’s bowers.

T hat shall be vain !

N or wilt thouso believe thine own blind wooing,

N or slake thy heart’s thirst even with the cup

Which at the last she brims for thee,undoing

Her girdle of carved gold,and yielding up,

Love’s uttermost : brief the poor gain and pride

B y Jumna’

s tide

B ecause still vain

Is love that feeds on shadow ; vain , as thou dost,

T o look so deep into the phantom eyes

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68 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

If thou must say Krishna is forfeit wholly

VVholly forsworn and lost—let the grief. dwell

Where the sin doth,— ex cept in this sad heart,

Which cannot shun its part.

0greatHari purgefrom wrong

T he soul of him who writes this song ;

Purge the souls of those that read

From everyfault of thought and

With thy blessed light assuage

T he darkness of this evil age!

J ayadev the bard of love,

S ervant of the Gods above,

Prays itf or himself and y

Gentle hea rts who listen — too.

T hen in this other strain she wailed his

(What follows is to the Music D E SHAVARADI

Mode R U PAKA.

S he, not R adha,wins the crown

Whose false lips seemed dearest ;

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

What was distant gain to him

When sweet loss stood nearest

Love her,therefore

,lulled to loss

On her fatal bosom ;

Love her with such love as she

Can give back in the blossom.

Love her,0 thou rash lost soul !

With thy thousand graces ;

Coin rare thoughts into fair words

For her face of faces ;

Praise it,fling away for it

Life’s purpose in a sigh,

All for those lips like flower-leaves,

And lotus-dark deep eye.

N ay, and thou shalt be happy too

T ill the fond dream is over ;

And she shall taste delight to hear

T he wooing of her lover ;

T he breez e that brings the sandal up

From distant green Malay,

Shall seem all fragrance in the night,

Al l coolness in the day.

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T he crescent moon shall seem to swim

Only that she may see

T he glad eyes of my Krishna gleam,

And her soft glances he

It shall be as a silver lamp

S et in the sky to show

T he rose-leaf palms that cling and clasp,

And the breast that beats below.

T he thought of parting shal l not lie

Cold on their throbbing lives,

T he dread of ending shall not chill

T he glow beginning gives ;

S he in her beauty dark shall look

As long as clouds can be

As gracious as the rain-time cloud

Kissing the shining sea.

And he, amid his playmates old,

At least a little while,

Shall not breathe forth again the sigh

T hat spoils the song and smile ;

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Shall be left wholly to his choice,

Free for his pleasant sin ,

With the golden-girdled damsels

Of the bowers I found him in.

For me,his Angel

,only

T he sorrow and the smart,

T he pale grief sitting on the brow,

T he dead hope in the heart ;

For me the loss of losing,

For me the ache and dearth ;

My king crowned with the wood-flowers

My fairest upon earth

Hari,Lord and King of love!

From thy throne of light above

S toop to help us,deign to take

Our sp irits to theefor the sake

Of this song, which speaks thefears

Of all who weep with R adha’

s tears.

B ut love is strong to pardon, slow to part,

And still the Lady,in her fancies, sang

72

Wind of the Indian stream !

Alittle—oh !a little—breathe once more

T he fragrance like his month’

s blow from

One last word as he fades into a dream ;

B odiless Lord of love !

Show him once more to me a minute’s space,

My Krishna, with the love-look in his face,

And then I come to my own place above ;

I will depart and give

All back to Fate and her : I will submi t

T o thy stern will, and bow myself to it,

E nduring still, though desolate, to live

If it indeed be life,

E ven so resigning,to sit patience-mad

,

T o feel the z ephyrs burn,the sunl ight sad,

T he peace of holy heaven,a restless strife.

Haho !what words are these ?

How can I live and lose him ? how not go

Whither love draws me for a soul loved so ?

How yet endure such sorrow —or how cease ?

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 73

Wind of the Indian wave !

If that thou canst, blow poison here, not nard

God of the five shafts !shoot thy sharpest hard,

And kil l me, R adha,—R adha who forgave !

Or, bitter R iver,

Yamun !be Yama’s sister !he Death ’

s kin !

Swell thy wave up to me and gul f me in ,

Cooling this cruel, burning pain for ever.

Ah I if only visions stir

Grief sopassionate in her,

Wh at divine grief will not take,

Spirits in heaven for the sake

Of those who miss love? Oh, be wise

Mark this story of the skies

Meditate Govinda ever,

S itting by the sacred river,

T he mystic stream,which o

’

er his feet

Glides slow,with murmurs low and sweet,

T ill none can tell whether those be

B lue lotus-blooms,seen veiledly

U nder the wave, or mirrored gems

R eflectedfrom the diadems

B ound on the brows Go

out their pure abc

And leave their

T o guide great to his ski

(Here ends that of the Gita Gavin

V IPR ALAB DHAVAR N AN E N AGAR AN AB A

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76 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Krishna —then thou hast found me —and thine eyes

Heavy and sad and stained,as if with weeping !

Ah is it not that those,whi ch were thy priz e,

So radiant seemed that all night thou wert keeping

Vigils of tender wooing — have thy Love !

Here is no place for vows broken in making ;

T hou Lotus-eyed !thou soul for whom I strove

Go !ere I listen,my just mind forsaking.

Krishna !my Krishna with the woodland-wreath !

R eturn,or I shall soften as I blame ;

T he while thy very lips are dark to the teeth

With dye that from her lids and lashes came,

Left on the mouth I touched . Fair traitor !go !

S ay not they darkened,lacking food and sleep

Long waiting for my face ; I turn it—so

Go !ere I half believe thee, pleading deep ;

B ut wilt thou plead,when

,like a love-verse

On the smooth polish of an emerald,

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

I see the marks she stamped, the kisses dinted

Large-lettered,by her lips ? thy speech withheld

Speaks all too plainly ; go,—abide thy choice !

If thou dost stay, I shall more greatly grieve thee

N ot records of her victory — peace, dear voice

Hence with that godlike brow,lest I believe thee.

For dar’st thou feign the saffron on thy bosom

Was not implanted in disloyal embrace ?

Or that this many-coloured love-tree blossom

Shone not, but yesternight, above her face ?

Comest thou here, so late, to be forgiven,

O thou,in whose eyes T ruth was made to live ?

0 thou,so worthy else of grace and heaven ?

O thou,so nearly won ? E re I forgive,

Go, Krishna !go —lest I should think, unwise,

T hy heart not false, as thy long lingering seems,

Lest, seeingmyself so imaged in thine eyes,

I shame the name of Pity—turn to dreams

T he sacred sound of vows ; make Virtue grudge

Her praise to Mercy,calling thy sin slight ;

77

78 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Go therefore, dear offender !go !thy Judge

Had best not see thee to give sentence right.‘

B ut may he grant us peace at last and bliss

Who heard,— and smiled to hear

,—delays like

Delays that dallied with a dream come true,

Fond wilful angers ; for the maid laughed too

T o see, as R adha ended,her hand tak

’

e

His dark robefor her veil, and Krishna make

T he word she spokefor parting kindliest sign

He should not go, but stay. 0grace d ivine,

B e ours too I J ayadev, the Poet of love,

Prays itfrom Hari,lordliest above.

(Here ends tha t S arga of the Gi ta Govinda entitled

KHAN DITAVAR N AN E V ILAKSHALAKS HMIPAT I.)

T he text here is not closely followed.

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80 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

What joy in all the three worlds precious

T o thy mind ?

Md kooroo mdnini mdnamayé,‘

Ah,be kind !

N 0 longer from his earnest eyes conceal

T hy delights ;Lift thy face, and let the jealous veil reveal

All his rights ;

T he glory of thy beauty was but given

For content ;

Md hooroo ma'

nini mdnamaye,

Oh,relent !

R emember, being distant, how he bore thee

In his heart ;

Look on him sadly turning from before thee

T o depart ;

Is he not the soul thou lovedst, sitting lonely

In the wood ?

Md hooroo mdnini mdnamaye,

’

T is not good

My proud one do not indulge in scorn .

T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 8x

He who grants thee high delight in bridal-bower

Pardons long ;

What the gods do love may do at such an hour

Without wrong ;

Why weepest thou ? why keepest thou in anger

T hy lashes down ?

Md hooroo mdnini mdnamaye,

Do not frown

Lift thine eyes now,and look on him

,bestowing,

Without speech ;

Let him pluck at last the flower so sweetly growing

In his reach

T he fruit of lips, of loving tones, of glances

T hat forgive ;

Md kooroo mdnini mdnamaye,

Let him live !

him speak with thee, and pray to thee,

prove thee

All his truth ;

his silent loving lamentation move thee

Asking ruth

82 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

How knowest thou ? Ah,listen

,dearest

He is there ;

Md kooroo mdnini mdnamaye,

T hou must bear !

0rare voice, which is a spell

U nto all on earth who dwell

0rich voice of rap turous love,

Making melody above

Krishna’

s,Hari

’

s—one in two,

S ound these mortal verses through!

S ound like tha t softflute which made

S uch a magic in the sha de

Calling deer-eyed maidens nigh,

Waking wish and stirring sigh,

T hrilling blood and melting breasts,

Whisp ering love’

s divine unrests,

Winning blessings to descend ,

B ringing earthly ills to end

B e thou heard in this song now

T hou,the great E nchantment, thou

ends that S arga of the Gi la Govinda entitled

KALAHAN TAR ITAVAR N AN E MU GDHAMU KU N DO.)

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84 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T his bids me trust my burning wish, and come,

T hat checks me with its memories,drawing near

Lift up thy look, and let the thing it saith

E nd fear with grace, or darken love to death.

Or only speak once more, for though thou slay me,

T hy heavenly mouth must move, and I shall hear

Dulcet delights of perfect music may me

Again— again that voice so blest and dear ;

Sweet Judge !the prisoner prayeth for his doom

T hat he may hear his fate divinely come.

Speak once more!then thou canst not choosebut show

T hy month’

s unparalleled and honeyed wonder

Where, like pearls hid in red-lipped shells, the row

Of pearly teeth thy rose-red lips lie under ;

Ahme !I am that bird that woos the moon,

And pipes— poor fool to make it glitter soon.

Yet hear me ou— because I cannot stay

T he passion of my soul,because my gladness

Will pour forth from my heart — sin ce that far day

When through the mist of all my sin and sadness

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 85

T hou didst vouchsafe—Surpassing One —to break,

All else I slighted for thy noblest sake.

T hou, thou hast been my blood, my breath ,my being ;

T he pearl to plunge for in the sea of life ;

T he sight to strain for,past the bounds of seeing ;

T he victory to w in through longest strife ;

My Queen !my crowned Mistress my sphered bride !

T ake this for truth , that what I say beside

Of bold love— grown full-orbed at sight of thee

May be forgiven with a quick remission ;

For, thou divine ful filment of all hope !

T hou all-undreamed completion of the vision !

I gaz e upon thy beauty, and my fear

Passes as clouds do, when the moon shines clear.

So if thou’

rt angry still, this shall avail ,

Look straight at me,and let thy bright glance wound

me ;

Fetter me gyve me !look me in the gaol

Of thy delicious arms ; make fast around me

T he silk-soft manacles of wrists and hands,

T hen kill me I shall never break those bands.

86 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T he starlight jewels flashing on thy breast

Have not my right to hear thy beating heart ;

T he happy jasmine-buds that clasp thy waist

Are soft usurpers of my place and part ;

If that fair girdle only there must shine,

Give me the girdle’s life- the girdle mine

T hy brow like smooth B andhfika-leaves ; thy cheek

Which the dark-tinted Madhuk’

s velvet shows ;

T hy long-lashed Lotus eyes, lustrous and meek ;

T hy nose a T ila-bud ; thy teeth like rows

Of Kunda-petals !he who pierceth hearts

Poin ts wi th thy lovelinesses all five darts .

B ut R adiant, Perfect, Sweet, Supreme, forgive !

My heart is wise— my tongue is foolis h still

I kn ow where I am come—I know I live

I know that thou art R adha—that this will

Last and be heaven : that I have leave to rise

U p from thy feet, and look into thine eyes !

And, nearer coming, I ask for grace

N ow that the blest eyes turn to mine ;

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( 88 )

S AR GA THE E LE VE N TH .

R A D H I K AM I L A N E

S A N A N D A D AM O D A R O.

T HE U N ION OF R ADHA AN D KR ISHN A.

THU S followed soft and lasting peace, and griefs

D ied while she listened to his tender tongue,

Her eyes of antelope alight with love ;

And while he led the way to the bride-bower

T he maidens of her train adorned her fair

With golden marriage-cloths, and sang this song

Whatfollows is to the Music VASAN TA and

YAT I.)

Follow,happy R adha !follow,

In the quiet falling twilight

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS . 89

T he steps of him who followed thee

S o steadfastly and far ;

Let us bring thee where the banjulas

Have spread a roof of crimson,

Lit up by many a marriage-lamp

Of planet, sun, and star

For the hours of doubt are over,

And thy glad and faithful lover

Hath found the road by tears and prayers

T o thy divinest side ;

And thou wilt not now deny him

One delight of all thy beauty,

B ut yield up open—hearted

His pearl,his priz e, his bride.

Oh ,follow !while we fill the air

With songs and softest music ;

Landing thy wedded loveliness,

Dear Mistress past compare !

For there is not any splendour

Of Apsarases immortal

N o glory of their beauty rich

B ut R adha has a share ;

THE IN D IAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

Oh, follow !while we sing the song

T hat fills the worlds with longing ,

T he music of the Lord of love

Who melts all hearts with bliss ;

For now is born the gladness

T hat springs from mortal sadness,

And all soft thoughts and things and

Were presages of this.

T hen ,follow

,happiest Lady !

Follow him thou lovest wholly ;

T he hour is come to follow now

T he soul thy spells have led ;

His are thy breasts like jasper-cups,

And his thine eyes like planets ;

T hy fragrant hair, thy stately neck,

T hy queenly sumptuous head ;

T hy soft small feet, thy perfect lips,

T hy teeth like jasmine petals,

T hy gleaming rounded shoulders ,

And long caressing arms,

B eing thine to give, are his ; and his

T he twin strings of thy girdle,

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92 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T hough now,if in the forest

T hou should’st bend one blade of Kusha

With silken touch of passing foot,

His heart would know and hear ;

Would hear the wood-buds saying,

It is R adha’s foot that passes

Would hear the wind sigh love-sick,

It is R adha’s fragrance,this

Would hear thine own heart beating

Within thy panting bosom,

And know thee coming, coming,

His— ever,—ever -his

Mine -hark !we are near enough for hearing .

S oon she will come— she will smile—e she will

Honey-sweet words of heavenly endearing

0soul listen ; my B ride is on her way !a:

Hear’st him not,my R adha 7

Lo,night bendeth o

’

er thee

Darker than dark T amala-leaves

T o list thy marriage-song ;

Dark as the touchstone that tries gold ,

And see now— ou before thee

THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

T hose lines of tender light that creep

T he clouded sky along :

0 night !that trieth gold of love,

T his love is proven perfect !

0 lines that streak the touchstone sky,

Flash forth true shining gold !

0 rose-leaf feet,go boldly !

0 night —that lovest lovers

T hy softest robe of silence

About these bridals fold !

See’st thou not, my R adha ?

Lo,the night, thy bridesmaid,

Comes -her eyes thick-painted

With soorma of the gloom

T he night that binds the planet-worlds

For jewels on her forehead,

And for emblem and for garland

Loves the blue-black lotus-bloom ;

T he night that scents her breath so sweet

With cool and musky odours,

T hat joys to . spread her veil of shade

Over the limbs of love ;

93

94 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

And when ,with loving weary ,

Yet dreaming love,they slumber

,

Sets the far stars for silver lamps

T o light them from above.

So came she where he stood, awaiting her

At the bower’s entry, like a god to see,

With marriage-gladness and the grace of heaven.

T he great pearl set upon his glorious head

Shone like a moon among the leaves, and shone

Like stars the gems that kept her gold gown close

B ut still a little while she paused— abashed

At her delight, of her deep joy afraid

And they that tended her sang once more this

(Wha tfollows is to the Music VAR ADI and theR U PAKA.)

E nter, thrice-happy !enter, thrice-desired

And let the gates of Hari shut thee in

With the soul destined to thee from of old.

T remble not !lay thy lovely shame aside ;

Lay it aside with thine unfastened z one,

And love him with the love that knows not fear,

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96 THE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON G’

S .

T he music of her bangles passed the porch

Shame, which had lingered in her downcast eyes,

Departed shamed! and like the mighty deep,

Which sees the moon and rises, all his life

U prose to drink her beams.

(Here ends that S arga of the Gila Govinda entitled

R ADHIKAMILAN E S AN AN DADAMODAR O.)

Hari keep you ! He whose might,

On the King of Serpents seated,

Flashes forth in daz z ling light

From the Great Snake’s gems repeated

Hari keep you ! He whose graces,

Manifold in majesty,

Mul tiplied in heavenly places

Multiply on earth— to see

T his complete anticipation (salagj d lajj dpi ) of the lineU pon whose brow shame is ashamed to sit

occur s at the close of the S arga, part of which is here perforce

omitted, along with the whole of the last one.

yu m. I N D IA N S ON G OF S ON GS .

B etter with a hundred eyes

THE

Her bright charms who by him lies .

Wha t skill may be in singing,

What worship sound in song,

What lore be taught in loving,

What right divinedfrom wrong

S uch things hath J ayadeva

In this his Hymn of Love,

Wh ich lauds Govinda ever,

Displayed ; may all approve

E N D OF T HE IN DIAN S ON G OF S ON GS .

97

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( 101 )

THE R Aj POOT

SIN G something, Jymul R ao!for the goats are gathered

now,

And no more water is to bring ;

T he village-gates are set, and the night is gray as yet,

God hath given wondrous fancies to thee —sing !

T hen Jymul’

s supple fingers, with a touch that doubts

and lingers,

Sets athrill the saddest wire of all the six ;

And the girls sit in a tangle, and hush the tinkling bangle,

While the boys pile the flame with store of sticks.

And vain of village praise, but full of ancient days,

He begins with a smile and with a sigh

Who knows the babul-tree by the bend of the R avee

Quoth Gunesh, I !”and twenty voices, I !

102 THE R Aj POOT .WIFE .

Well—lis ten there below,in the shade of bloom and

bough,

Is a musj id of carved and coloured stone ;

AndAbdool S hureefKhan— I spit,to name that man

Lieth there, underneath, all alone.

He was Sultan Mahmood’

s vassal, and wore an Amiris.

tassel

In his green hadj-turban,at N ungul.

Yet the head which went so proud,it is not in his shroud;

T here are bones in that grave,—but not a skull !

And,deep drove in hi s breast, there moulders with the

rest

A dagger,brighter once than Chundra’s ray ;

A R ajpoot lohar whet it, and a R ajpoot woman set it

Past the power of any band to tear away.

T was the R anee N eila true, the wife of S oorj De‘

hu,

Lord of the R ajpoots of N ourpoor

You shall hear the mournful story, with its sorrow

its glory,

And curse S hureef Khan,— the soor I”

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104 T HE R A7POOT WIFE .

Andmany a starless midnight the shout of S oorj Dehu

B roke up with spear and matchlock the Muslim’

s

Illahu.

And many a day of battle upon the Muslim proud

Fell S oorj , as Indra’

s lightning falls from the silent cloud .

N or ever shot nor arrow,nor spear nor slinger’s stone,

Could pierce the mail that N eila the R anee buckled on

B ut traitor’s subtle tongue-thrust through fence of steel

can break ;

And S oorj was taken sleeping, whom none had ta’

en

awake.

T hen at the noon,in durbar

,swore fiercely S hureefKhan

T hat S oorj should die in torment, or live a Mussulman.

B ut S oorj laughed lightly at him,and answered, Work

your will

T he last breath ofmybody shall curse your Prophet still.”

With words of insult shameful, and deeds of cruel kind ,

T hey vex ed that R ajpoot’s body, but never moved his

mind.

THE R A7POOT WIFE . 105

And one is come who sayeth ,“Ho !R ajpoots !S oorj is

bound

Your lord is caged and baited by S hureef Khan, the

hound.

T he Khan hath caught and chained him,like a beast,

in iron cage,

And all the camp of Islam spends on him spite and

rage ;

All day the coward Muslims spend on him rage and

spite ;

If ye have thought to help him,

’twere good ye go to

night.

U p sprang a hundred horsemen,flashed in each hand a

sword

In each heart burned the gladness of dying for their

lord ;

U p rose each R ajpoot rider,and buckled on with speed

T he bridle-chain and breast-cord, and the saddle of his

steed .

106 THE R A!POOT WIFE .

B ut unto none sad N eila gave word to mount and ride ;

Only she called the brothers of S oorj unto her side,

And said, “ T ake order straightway to seek this camp

with me ;

If love and craft can conquer,a thousand is as three.

If love be weak to save him, S oorj dies—and ye

return,

For where a R ajpoot dieth, the R ajpoot widows burn.

”

T hereat the R anee N eila unbraided from her hair

T he pearls as great as Kashmir grapes S oorj gave his

wife to wear,

And all across her bosoms—like lotus-buds to see

S he wrapped the tins elled sari of a dancing Kunchenee ;

And fastened on her ankles the hundred silver bells,

T o whose light laugh of mus ic the N autch-girl darts and

dwells.

And all in dress a N autch-girl,but all in heart a queen

,

S he set her foot to stirrup with a sad and settled mien.

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108 THE R A!POOT WIFE .

S oorj spake unto his spirit, T he end is coming soon.

Iwould the end might hasten,could N eila only know

What is that N autch-girl singing with voice so known

and low ?

Singing beneath the cage-bars the song of love and fear

My N eila sang at parting —what doth that N autch-girl

here

Whence comes she by the music of N eila’s tender

strain,

S he, in that shameless tinsel —O N autch-girl, sing

again

Ah, S oorj !—so followed answer here thine Owll

N eila stands,

Faithful in li fe and death alike,—look up, and take my

hands

Speak low ,lest the guard hear us — to-night

,if thou

must die,

S hureef shall have no triumph, but bear thee company .

”

THE R A7POOT WIFE . 109

S o sang she like the Koil that dies beside its mate ;

With eye as black and fearless, and love as hot and great.

T hen the Chief laid his pale lips upon the little palm,

And sank down with a smile of love, his face all glad

and calm ;

And through the cage-bars N eila felt the brave heart

stop fast,

0 S oorj —she cried—“I follow ! have patience to

the last.

turned and went. Who passes? challenged the

Mussulman

A N autch-girl,I. What seek

’

st thou ?

presence of the Khan ;

Ask if the high chief-captain be pleased to hear me

S ing ;

And S hureef, full of feasting, the Kunchenee bade bring.

T hen,all before the Muslims , aflame with lawless wine,

E ntered the R anee N eila, in grace and face divine

n o THE R Aj’POOT WIFE .

And all before theMus lims,wagging their goatish chins,

T he R ajpoot Princess set her to the “b ee-dance ” that

begins ,

If my love loved me, he should be a bee,

I the yellow champak, love the honey of me.

Al l thewreathed movements danced she of that dance ;

N ot a step she slighted,not a wanton glance ;

In her unveiled bosom chased th’ intruding bee,

T o her waist-and lower— she !a R ajpoot, she !

Sang the melting music, swayed the languorous limb

S hureef’

s drunken heart beat —S hureef’s eyes wax ed

dim.

From hi s finger S hureef loosed an Ormuz pearl

B y the Prophet,” quoth he

,

’

tis a winsome girl !

T ake this ring ; and’prithee, come and have thy

I would hear at leisure more of such a lay .

”

Glared hi s eyeson her eyes, passing o’

er the plain,

Glared at the tent-purdah—never glared again!

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1 12 THE R Aj’POOT WIFE .

T hey have built it, set it, all as R ajpoots do,

From the cage of iron taken S oorj D ehu ;

In the lap of N eila, seated on the pile,

Laid his head—she radiant,like a queen the while.

T hen the lamp is lighted, and the ghee is poured

S oorj , we burn together : 0my love, my lord !

In the flame and crackle dies her tender tongue,

D ies the R anee, truest, all true wives among.

At the dawn a clamour runs from tent to tent;

Like the wild geese cackling when the night is spent.

S hureef Khan lies headless ! gone is S oorj D ehu !

And the wandering N autch-girl,who has seen her,who ?

T his but know the sentries, at the breath of morn

Forth there fared two horsemen, by the first was borne

T he urn of clay,the vessel that R ajpoots use to bring

T he ashes of dead kinsmen to Gungas’ holy spring.

KIN'

G S ALADIN

LON G years ago— so tells B occaccio .

e f a i t h f ul wi f e , embr a c i ng t en d er l y

husband d ead ,

t h e bl a z i ng py r e b e s i de h im, a s i t

es a b r i da l b ed ,

h i s s i ns wer e tw en ty t hous and , twant

u send t i mes o 'er-t o l d ,

l l br i ng h i s s oul t o spl end our , f o r

l ov e so l ar ge and bo l d .

From t h e Pancha T an t ra :

Fi ve B o ok s ( o f Wi s dom) .

1 12 THE R Af POOT WIFE .

T hey have built it, set it, all as R ajpoots do,

From the cage of iron taken S oorj D ehu ;

In the lap of N eila, seated on the pile,

Laid his head— she radiant, like a queen the

T hen the lamp is lighted, and the ghee is poured

S oorj , we burn together 0my love,my lord !

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114 KIN G SALADIN .

And when their war and what their armament,

T ook thought to cross the seas to Lombardy.

Wherefore, with wise and trustful Amirs twain,

All habited in garbs that merchants use,

With trader ’s band and gipsire on the breasts

T hat best loved mail and dagger, Saladin

S et forth upon his journey perilous.

In that day ,lordly land was Lombardy !

A sea of country-plenty,islanded

With cities rich ; nor richer one than thee,

Marble Milano ! from whose gate at dawn

VVith ear that little recked the matin~ bell,

B ut a keen eye to measure wall and foss

T he Soldan rode ; and all day long he rode

For Pavia ; passing basili c, and shrine,

And gaz e of vineyard-workers, wotting not

You trader was the Lord of Heathenesse.

All day he rode ; yet at the wane of day

N o gleam of gate,or ramp

,

”or rising spire,

N or T essin’

s sparkle underneath the stars

Promised him Pavia ; but he was’ware

Of a gay companyupon the way ,

Ladies and lords, with horses , hawks, and hounds

KIN G SALADIN . 115

Cap-plumes and tresses fluttered by the wind

Of merry race for home. Go said the king

T o one that rode upon his better hand,

And pray these gentles of their courtesy

How many leagues to Pavia, and the gates

What hour they close them ?” T hen the Saracen

S et spur, and being joined to him that seemed

First of the hunt,he told the message— they

Checking the jangling bits, and chiding down

T he unfinished laugh to listen—but by this

Came up the king, his bonnet in his hand,

T heirs dofled to him : Sir T rader,”

T orel said

(Messer T orello ’twas,of Istria),

“T hey shut the Pavian gate at even-song,

An d even-song is sung. T hen turning half,

Muttered,Pardie

,the man is worshipful,

A stranger too Fair lord !” quoth Saladin,

Please you to stead some weary travellers,

Saying where we may lodge, the town so far

And night so near.” Of my heart, willingly,

Made answer T orel, I did think but now

T o send my knave an errand—he shall ride

And bring you into lodgment—oh !no thanks,

m6 KIN G SALADIN .

Our Lady keep you ! then with whispered hest

He called ;their guide and sped them. B eing gone,

T orello told his purpose, and the band,

With ready z eal and loosened bridle-chains,

R ode for his hunting-palace, where they set

A goodly banquet underneath the planes,

And hung the house with guest-lights,and anon

Welcomed the wondering strangers,thereto led

U nwitting,by a world of winding paths ;

Messer T orello, at the inner gate,

“laiting to take them in—a goodly host,

Stamped current with God’s image for a man

Chief among men,truthful

,and just

,and free.

T hen he, Well met again

,fair sirs ! Our knave

Hath found you shelter better than the worst

Please you to leave your selles, and being bathed,

Grace our poor supper here. T hen Saladin,

Whose sword had yielded ere hi s courtesy,

Answered, “Great thanks, Sir Knight, and this much

blame,

You spoil us for our trade !two bonnets dofled,

And travellers’ questions holding you afield,

For those you give us this.

” “Sir !not your meed,

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118 KIN G SALADIN .

Are valorous as gentle —we, alas !

Are Cyprus merchants making trade toFrance

Dull sons of Peace.

” “ B y Mary !” T orel cried,

B ut for thy word,I ne

’

er heard speech so fit

T o lead the war, nor saw a hand that sat

Liker a soldier’s in the sabre’s place ;

B ut sure I hold you sleepless ! T hen himself

Playing the Chamberlain,with torches borne

,

Led them to restful beds,commending them

T o sleep and God, Who hears—Allah or God

When good men do his creatures charities.

At dawn the cock ,and neigh of saddled steeds,

B roke the king’s dreams of battle— not their

B ut goodly jennets from T orello’s stalls,

Caparisoned to hear them ; be their host

U p, with a gracious radiance like the sun,

T o bid them speed. B eside him in the court

Stood Dame Adalieta comely she,

And of her port as queenly,and serene

As if the braided gold about her brows

Had been a crown. Mutual good-morrow given,

T hanks said and stayed, the lady prayed her guest

T o take a token of his sojourn there,

KIN G SALADIN . 119

Marking her good-will, not his worthiness ;“A gown of miniver— these furbelows

Are silk I spun—my lord wears ever such

A housewife’s gift !but those ye love are far ;

Wear it as given for them.

”

T hen Saladin“A precious gift

,Madonna

,past my thank s ;

And—but thou shalt not hear a no from me

Past my receiving ; yet I take it ; we .

Were debtors to your noble courtesy

Out of redemption— this but bankrupts us.

“ N ay, sir,-God shield you said the knight and

And Saladin,with phrase of gentilesse

R eturned, or ever that he rode alone,

Swore a great oath in guttural Arabic,

An oath by Allah— startling up the ears

Of those three Christian cattle they bestrode

T hat never yet was princelier-natured man,

N or gentler lady —and that time should see

For a king’s lodging quittance royal repaid .

It was the day of the Passaggio

Ashore the war-steeds champed the burnished bit ;

120 KIN G SALADIN .

Afloat the galleys tugged the mooring-chain

T he town was out ; the Lombard armourers

R ed-hot with riveting the helmets up,

And whetting ax es for the heathen heads

Cooled in the crowd that filled the squares and streets

T o speed God ’s soldiers. At the none that day

Messer T orello to the gate came down,

Leading his lady — sorrow’

s hueless rose

Grew on her cheek,and thrice the destrier

Struck fire,impatient, from the pavement-squares,

Or ere she spoke,tears in her lifted eyes

,

Goest thou,lord of mine ?” Madonna

, yes !

Said T orel, “ for my soul’s weal and the Lord

R ide I to-day : my good name and my house

R eliant I intrust thee,and— because

It may be they shall slay me,and because,

B eing so young,so fair, and so reputed

,

T he noblest will entreat thee—wait for me,

Widow or wife, a year, and month, and day ;

T hen if thy kinsmen press thee to a choice,

And if I be not come, hold me for dead ;

N or link thy blooming beauty with the grave

Against thine heart.” Good my lord answered she,

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Clashed with keen Damasc, many a weary month

Wasted afield ; but yet the Christians

Won nothing nearer to Christ’s sepulchre

N ay, but gave ground. At last, in Acre pent,

On theirloose files,enfeebled by the war,

Came stronger smiter than the Saracen

T he deadly Pest : day after day they died,

Pikeman and knight-at-arms day after day

A thinner line upon the leaguered wall

Held off the heathen —held them off a space ;

T hen,over-weakened

,yielded

,and gave up

T he city and the stricken garrison.

So to sad chains and hateful servitude

Fell all those purple lords—Christendom’

s stars,

Once high in hOpe as soaring Lucifer,

N ow low as sinking Hesper : with them fell

Messer T orello— never one so poor

Of all the hundreds that his bounty fed

As he in prison—ill-entreated,bound

,

Starved of sweet light, and set to shameful tasks

And that great load at heart to know the days

Fast flying,and to live accounted dead.

One joy his gaolers left him,— his good hawk ;

KIN G SALADIN . 123

T he brave, gay bird that crossed the seas with

And often,in the mindful hour of eve,

With tameless eye and spirit masterful,

In a feigned anger checking at his hand,

T he good gray falcon made his master cheer.

One day it chanced Saladin rode afield

With shawled and turbaned Amirs,and his hawks

Lebanon-bred, and mewed as princes lodge

Flew foul, forgot their feather, hung at wrist,

And slighted call. T he Soldan,quick in wrath

,

B ade slay the cravens, scourge the falconer,

And seek some wight who knew the heart of hawks,

T o keep it hot and true. T hen spake a Sheikh

T here is a Frank in prison by the sea,

Far-seen herein.

”Give word that he be brought,

Quoth Saladin, and bid him set a cast

If he hath skill , it shall go well for him .

T hus by the winding path of circumstance

One palace held, as prisoner and prince,

T orello and his guest : unwitting each,

N ay and unwitting,though they met and spake

124 KIN G SALADIN .

Of that goshawk and this—signors in serge,

And chapmen crowned, who knows — till on a time

Some trick of face, the manner of some smile,

Some gleam of sunset from the glad day gone,

Caught the king’s eye, and held it.“N az arene !

What native art thou ? asked he. Lombard I,

A man of Pavia.

“And thy name ? T orel,

Messer T orello called in happier times,

N ow best uncalled. Come hi ther, Christian

T he Soldan said,and led the way ,

by,

court

And hall and fountain,to an inner room

R ich with king ’s robes : therefrom he reached a gown,

And “Know’

st thou this ?” he asked.

“Hig h lord !I

might

E lsewhere, quoth T orel, “here’twere mad to say

You gown my wife unto a trader gave

Who shared our board .

” “N ay, but that gown is

And she the giver, and the trader I,

Quoth Saladin ; “ I !twice a king to-day,

Owing a royal debt and paying it.

T hen T orel, sore amaz ed, Great lord,I blush,

R emembering how the Master of the E ast

Lodged sorrily. It’

s Master’s Master thou !

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126 KIN G S ALADIN .

T hat galley of the Genovese which sailed

With Frankish prisoners is gone down at sea.

”

Gone down cried T orel. “Ay !what recks it,

friend,

T o fall thy visage for ? quoth Saladin ;

One galley less to ship-stuffed Genoa!”

Good my liege !” T orel said, “ it bore a scroll

Inscribed to Pavia, saying that I lived ;

For in a year, a month, and day, not come,

I bade them hold me dead ; and dead I am,

Albeit living, if my lady w ed,

Perchance constrained. Certes,spake Saladin,

“A noble dame—the like not won,once lost

How many days remain ?” T en days,my prince,

And twelvescore leagues between my heart and me

Alas !how to be passed ? T hen Saladin

Lo !I am loath to lose thee— wilt thou swear

T o come again if all go well with thee,

Or come ill speeding ?” “Yea,I swear

,my king

,

Out of true love,” quoth T orel, “heartfully .

T hen Saladin,T ake here my S ignet-seal

My admiral will loose his swiftest sail

U pon its sight ; and cleave the seas, and go

KIN G SALADIN . 27

And clip thy dame,and say the T rader sends

A gift, remindful of her courtesies.

”

Passed were the year,andmonth

, and day and passed

Out of all hearts but one Sir T orel’s name,

Long given for dead by ransomed Pavians

For Pavia, thoughtless of her E astern graves,

A lovely widow,much too gay for grief,

Made peals from half a hundred campan iles

T o ring a wedding in . T he seven bells

Of Santo Pietro,from the nones to noon,

B oomed with bronz e throats the happy tidings out ;

T ill the great tenor, overswelled with sound,

Cracked itself dumb. T hereat the sacristan,

Leading his swinked ringers down the stairs,

Came blinking into sunlight—all his keys

J ingling their little peal about his belt

Whom,as he tarried, locking up the porch,

A foreign S ignor,browned with southern suns,

T urbaned and slippered, as the Muslims use,

Plucked by the OOpe. Friend,” quoth he—’twas a

tongue

Italian true, but in a Muslim mouth

Why are your belfries busy—is it peace

128 KIN G SALADIN .

Or Vlctory, that so ye din the ears

Of Pavian lieges T ruly,no liege thou

Granted the sacristan, who knowest not

T hat Dame Adalieta weds to-night

Her fore-betrothed, —Sir T orel’

s widow she,

T hat died i’ the chain ?” T o-night the stranger

Ay, sir, to-night —why not to-night — to-night !

And you shall see a goodly Christian feast

If so you pass their gates at even-song,

For all are asked.

”

N o more the questioner,

B ut folded o’

er his face the E astern hood,

Lest idle eyes should mark how idle words

Had struck him home. So quite forgot — so soon

And this the square wherein I gave the joust,

And that the loggia,where I fed the poor ;

And you my palace, where—oh, fair !oh , false

T hey robe her for a. bridal . Can it be

Clean out of heart,

'

with twice six flying moons,

T he heart that beat on mine as it would break,

T hat faltered forty oaths. Forced !forced — not false

Well I will sit,wife, at thy wedding-feast,

And let mine eyes give my fond faith the lie.

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130 KIN G SALADIN .

In mine own land, if any stranger sit

A wedding-guest, the bride, out of her grace,

In token that she knows her guest’s good-will ,

In token she repays it, brims a cup,

Wherefrom he drinking she in turn doth drink ;7

S o is our use.

’

T he little page made speed

And told the message. T hen that lady pale

E ver a gentle and a courteous heart

Lifted her troubled eyes and smiled consent

On the swart stranger. B y her side, untouched ,

Stood the brimmed gold ; “B ear thi s, she said, “and

He hold a Christian lady apt to learn

A kindly lesson B ut Sir T orel loosed

From off hi s finger—never loosed before

T he ring she gave him on the parting day ;

And ere he drank,behind his veil of beard

Dropped in the cup the ruby, quafl'

ed,and sent.

T hen she, with sad smile, set her lips to drink,

And—something in the Cyprus touching them,

Glanced— gaz ed—the ring —her ring —Jove!

she eyes

T he wistful eyes of T orel —how ,heartsure,

U nder all guise knowing her lord returned,

KIN G SALADIN . 131

S he springs to meet him coming — telling all

In one great cry of joy.

0me !the rout,

T he storm of questions !stilled, when T orel spake

His name,and

,known of all

,claimed the B rideWife,

Maugre the wasted feast, and woful groom .

All hearts but hi s were light to see T orel ;

B ut Adalieta’

s lightest, as she plucked

T he bridal-veil away. Something therein

A lady’s dagger—small, and bright, and fine

Clashed out upon the marble.

“Wherefore that ?

Asked T orel ; answered she, I knew you true ;

And I could live, so long as I might wait ;

B ut they— they pressed me hard !my days of grace

E nded to-night—and I had ended too,

Faithful to death, if so thou hadst not come.

T HE CALIPH’

S D E A U GH T .

U PON a day in R amadan

When sunset brought an end of fast,

And in his station every man

Prepared to share the glad repast

Sate Mohtasim in royal state,

T he pillaw smoked upon the gold ;

The fairest slave of those that wait

Mohtasim’

s jewelled cup did hold.

Of crystal carven was the cup,

With turquoise set along the brim,

A lid of amber closed it up ;’

T was a great king that gave it him.

T he slave poured sherbet to the brink,

Stirred in wild honey and pomegranate,

With snow and rose-leaves cooled the drink,

And bore it where the Caliph sate.

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134 THE CALIPH ’

S DR AU GHT .

Call louder,fool !Mohtasim

’

s ears

Are long as B arak’s—ii he heed

Your prophet’s ass ; and when he hears,

He’

ll come upon a Spotted steed !”

T he Caliph’s face was stern and red,

He snapped the lid upon the cup ;

Keep this same Sherbet, slave,”he said,

T ill such time as I drink it up.

Wallah the stream my drink Shall be,

My hollowed palm my only bowl,

T ill I have set that lady free,

And seen that R oumi dog’s head roll.”

At dawn the drums of war were beat,

Proclaiming,T hus saith Mohtasim

,

Let all my valiant horsemen meet,

And every soldier bring with him

A S potted steed.

’ So rode they forth,

A sight of marvel and of fear ;

Pied horses prancing fiercely north ;

T he crystal cup borne in the rear !

THE CALIPH ’S DR AU GHT . 135

When to Ammoria he did win,

He smote and drove the dogs of R oum,

And rode his S potted stallion in,

Crying, Labbayki I am come !”

T hen downward from her prison-place

Joyful the Arab lady crept ;

S he held her hair before her face,

S he kissed his feet, She laughed and wept.

S he pointed where that lord was laid

T hey drew him forth,he whined for grace

T hen with fierce eyes Mohtasim said

“ S he whom thou smotest on the face

Had scorn, because she called her king

Lo !he is come !and dost thou think

T o live, who didst this bitter thing

While Mohtasim at peace did drink

Flashed the fierce sword—rolled the lord’s

T he wicked blood smoked in the sand.

N ow bring my cup !”the Caliph said.

Lightly he took it in his hand,

As down his throat the sweet

Mohtasim in his saddle

And cried,

B y God!delicious is

alan

draught

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138

S ON G OF T HE S E R PE N T

CHAR M E R S .

COME forth, oh, Snake !come forth, oh, glittering S

Oh shining, lovely, deadly N ag !appear,

Dance to the music that we make,

T his serpent-song, so sweet and clear,

B lown on the beaded gourd, so clear,

So soft and clear.

Oh, dreadLord Snake !come forth and S pread thy

And drink the milk and suck the eggs ; and Show

T hy tongue ; and own the tune is good

Hear,Maharaj how hard we blow !

Ah,Maharaj ! for thee we blow ;

S ee how we blow !

S ON G OF THE S E R PE N T-CHAR ME R S . 139

Great U ncle Snake creep forth and dance to-day !

T his music is the music snakes love best ;

T aste the warmwhi te new milk, and play

Standing erect, with fangs at rest,

Dancing on end,Sharp fangs at rest

,

Fierce fangs at rest.

Ah,wise Lord N ag !thou comest —Fear thou not !

We make salaam to thee, the Serpent ing,

Draw forth thy folds, knot after knot ;

Dance, Master !while we softly S ing

Dance, Serpent !while we play and S ing,

We play and sing.

Dance, dreadful King !whose kisses strike men dead ;

Dance this side, mighty Snake !the milk is here!

[T hey seize the Cobra by the neck!

Ah, shabash !pin his angry head !

T hou fool !this nautch Shall cost thee dear ;

Wrench forth his fangs !this piping clear,

It costs thee dear !

S ON G OF

Pour the golden grain in ;

T hose that twist the Chu'rrak

T he cakes soonest win :

Good stones, turn !

T he fire begins to burn ;

Gunga,stay not !

T he hearth is nearly hot.

Grind the hard gold to silver,

Sing quick to the stone ;

Feed its mouth with dal and bajri,

It will feed us anon.

Sing, Gunga! to the mill-stone,

It helps the wheel hum ;

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x42

AKB AR sate high in the ivory hall,

His chief musician he bade them call ;

Sing,said the king

,that song of glee,

T aza ba taza , now ba now.

Sing me that music sweet and free,

T aza ba taza,now ba now ;

Here by the fountain sing it thou,

T aza ba taza ,now ba now.

B ending full low,his mins trel took

T he Vina down from its painted nook,

Swept the strings of silver so

T aza ba taz a, now ba now,

Made the gladsome Vina go

T aza ba taz a, now ba now ,

TAZA B A TAZA. 143

Sang with light strains and brightsome brow

T aza ba taza, now ba now.

What is the lay for love most fit ?

What is the melody echoes it ?

E ver in tune and ever meet,

T aza ba taza ,now ba now

E ver delightful and ever sweet

T az a ba taz a,now ba now ;

Soft as the murmur of love’S first vow,

T az a ba taz a , now ba now.

”

What is the bliss that is best on earth ?

Lovers’ light whispers and tender mirth ;

B right gleams the sun on the Green Sea’s isle,

B ut a brighter light has a woman’

s smile

E ver, like sunrise, fresh of hue,

T aza ba taza ,now ba now

E ver, like sunset, S plendid and new,

T aza ba taza , now ba now .

”

T hereunto groweth the graceful vine

T o cool the lips of lovers with wine,

M4 TAZA B A TAZA.

Haste thee and bring the amethyst cup,

T hat happy lovers may drink it up ;

And so renew their gentle play,

T aza ba taza ,now ba now ,

E ver delicious and new alway,

T aza ba taza,now ba now.

”

T hereunto S igheth the evening gale

T o freshen the cheeks which love made pa

T his is why bloometh the scented flower,

T o gladden with grace love’s secret bower ~

Love is the z ephyr that always blows,

T aza ba taza,now ba now

Love is the rose-bloom that ever glows,

T aza ba taza, now ba now.

”

Akbar, the mighty one, smiled to hear

T he musical strain so soft and clear ;

Danced the diamonds over his brow

T o taza ba taza,now ba now

His lovely ladies rocked in a row

T o taza ba taza,now ba now ;

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( 146 )

T HE M U S S U LMA N

(From theArabic of the Fifty-sixth Surat of the Kordn,entitled T he Inevitable

”

)

WHE N the Day of Wrath and Mercy cometh,

doubt it come

U nto hell some it shall lower, and ex alt to heaven

some.

When the E arth with great Shocks shaketh,and the

mountains crumble flat,

and Dead Shall be divided fourfold -ou this

S ide and that.

T he “ Companions of the R ight Hand (ah !how joyful

they will be0

T he Companions of the Left Hand (oh !what misery

to see !)

THE M U S S U LMAN PAR ADIS E . 147

moreover,as of old times loved the truth

taught it well,

First in faith, they Shall be foremost in reward.

rest to hell.

B ut those souls attaining Allah, oh ! the Gardens of

good cheer

Kept to bless them !Yea, besides the “ faithful, many

S hall be there.

Lightly lying on soft couches, beautiful with’broidered

gold,

Friends with friends, they shall be served by youths

immortal,who S hall hold

Akwdb,abareek —cups and goblets, brimming with

celestial wine,

Wine that hurts not head or stomach this and fruits

of heav’

n which Shine

B right,desirable ; and rich flesh of what birds they

relish best.

Yea ! and— feasted— there Shall soothe them damsels

fairest,stateliest ;

148 THE M U S S U LMAN PAR ADIS E .

Damsels, having eyes'

of wonder,large black eyes, like

hidden pearls,

Lulu-l-makndn” : Allah grants them for Sweet love

those matchless girls.

N ever in that Garden hear they Speech of folly,S in

,or

dread ,

Only PE ACE ; SALAMU N only ; that one word for”

ever said.

R ight Hand (ah !those bowers

T hey S hall lodge ’mid thom less lots-groves ; under

mawz-trees thick with flowers

Shaded, fed, by flowing waters ; near to fruits that

never cloy,

Hanging ever ripe for plucking ; and at hand the

tender joy

Of those Maids of Heaven—the Hfiris:

we gave a birth

Specially creating. Lo! they are not as

earth.

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D E D ICA T ION OF A POE M

SWE E T,on the dais ies of your E nglisn grave

I lay this little wreath of Indian flowers,

Fragrant for me because the scent they have

B reathes of the memory of our wedded hours

For others scentless and for you, in heaven,

T oo pale and faded, dear dead wife !to wear,

Save that they mean—what makes all faul t for

T hat he who brings them lays his heart, too,

April 9, 1865.

( 151 )

T HE R Aj AH’

S

A PU N JAB S ON G.

N OW is the Devil-horse come to Sindh

Wah !wah !gooroo —that is true !

His belly is stuffed with the fire and the

B ut a fleeter steed had R unjeet Dehu !

It’

s forty koss from Lahore to the ford,

Forty and more to far Jummoo

Fast may go the Feringhee lord,

B ut never so fast as R unjeet Dehu !

R unjeet Dehu was King of the Hill,

Lord and eagle of every crest ;

N ow the swords and the Spears are still,

God will have it—and God knows best !

152 T HE R AfAH’

S R IDE .

R ajah R unjeet sate in the sky,

Watching the loaded Kafilas in

Affghan,Kashmeree

,passing by

,

Paid him pushm to save their skin.

Once he caracoled into the plain,

Wah ! the S parkle of steel on steel

And up the pass came singing again

With a lakh of S ilver borne at his heel.

Once be trusted the Mussulman’

s w‘

Ord,

Wah !wah !trust a liar to lie !

Down from his eyrie they tempted my B ird,

And clipped his wings that he could not fly.

Fettered him fast in far Lahore,

Fast by the gate at the R unchenee Pul ;

S ad was the S oul of Chunda KOur,

Glad the merchants of rich Ku'rnool.

T en months R unjeet lay in Lahore

Wah !a hero’s heart is brass!

T en months never did Chunda Kour

B raid her hair at the tiring-glass.

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154 THE R Aj ’AH’S R IDE .

Forty horsemen mounting behind,

Forty bridle-chains flung free,

Wah !wah better chase the wind !

Chunda Kour sate sad in Jummoo

Hark what horse-hoof echoes without ?

R ise and welcome R unjeet D ehu

Wash the T oorkman’

s nostrils out !

Forty koss he has come, my life

Forty koss back he must carry me

R ajah R unjeet visits his wife,

He steals no steed like an Afreedee

T hey bade me teach them how to ride

Wah !wah now I have taught them well !

Chunda Kour sank low at his S ide

R ajah R unjeet rode the hilL

When he came back to far Lahore

Long or ever the night began

Spake he,T ake your horse once more

,

He carries well—when he hears a man.

”

All for his honour and grace and truth ;

Sent him back to his mountain-hold

Muslim manners have touch of ruth ;

Sent him back, with dances and drum

Wah my R ajah R unjeet Dehu

T o Chunda Kour and his Jummoo home

Wah !wah !futteh !—wah, gooroo !

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( 159 )

T WO B OOKS FR OM T H E ILIAD OF

IN D IA

(N owfor thefirst time translated.)

T HE R E ex ist certain colossal, unparalleled, epic poemsin the sacred language of India, which were not knownto E urope, even by name, till Sir William Jones an

nounced their ex istence ; and whi ch,S ince his time

,

have been made public only by fragments—by mereS pecimens—bearing to those vast treasures of Sanskrit

literature such small proportion as cabinet samples of

ore have to the riches of a mine. Yet these twainmighty poems contain all the history of ancient

India, so far as it can be recovered, together with suchinex haustible details of its political, social

,and reli

gions life that the antique Hindu world really standsepitomised in them. T he Old T estament is not moreinterwoven with the Jewish race, nor the N ew T estament with the civilisation of Christendom,

nor the

Koran with the records and destinies of Islam, than

are these two Sanskrit poems— the Mahabharata

and R amayana— with that un changing and teemingpopulation which Her Majesty

, Queen Victoria, rules

160 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

as E mpress of Hindustan. T he stories,songs

,and

ballads,the his tories and genealogies, the nursery

tales and religious discourses, the art,the learning

,

the philosophy, the creeds , the moralities, the modesof thought ; the very phrases, sayings

,turns of ex

pression,and daily ideas of the Hindu people

,

taken from these poems. T heir children and theirwives are named out of them ; so are their cities,temples, streets, and cattle. T hey have constitutedthe library

,the newspaper, and the B ible— generation

after generation—to all the succeeding and countlessmillions o f Indian people ; and it replaces patriotismwith that race and stands in stead of nationality topossess these two precious and inex haustible books

,and

to drink from them as from mighty and overflowingrivers. T he value ascribed in Hindustan to these yetlittle-known epics has transcended all literary standardsestablished in the West. T hey are personified, wor

shipped, and cited from as something divine. T o reador even listen to them is thought by the devout Hindusufficiently meritorious to bring prosperity to his household here and happiness in the nex t world ; they are

held also to give wealth to the poor, health to the sick,

wisdom to the ignorant ; and the recitation of certain

parvas and shlokas in them can fill the household of

the barren , it is believed, with children. A concludingpassage of the great poem says

T he reading.of this Mahabharata destroys all sin and pro

duces virtue ; so much so, that the pronunciation of a single

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162 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

is chief of the Kauravas. T hey are instructed by one

master,Drona, a B rahman

,in the arts of war and

peace, and learn to manage and brand cattle

,hunt wild

animals , and tame horses. T here is in the early portiona striking picture of an Aryan tournament

,wherein the

young cousins display their skill, highly arrayed, amid

vast crowds,”and Arjuna especially distinguishes him

self. Clad in golden mail,he shows amaz ing feats with

sword and bow . He shoots twenty-one arrows into thehollow of a buffalo-horn while his chariot whirls along ;he throws the “ chakra

,

” or sharp quoit,without once

missing his victim and, after winning the priz es,

kneels respectfully at the feet of his instructor toreceive his crown. T he cousins, after this, march out

to fight with a neighbouring king, and the Pandavas,

who are always the favoured family in the poem,win

most of the credit,so that Yudhishthira is elected from

among them Yummy,or heir apparent. T his incensesDuryodhana, who, by appealing to his father, Dhritarashtra

,procures a division of the kingdom

,the Pandavas

being sent to V acanavat, now Allahabad. All this partof the story refers obviously to the advances graduallymade by the Aryan conquerors of India into the junglespeopled by aborigines. Forced to quit their new city

,

the Pandavas hear of themarvellous beauty of Draupadf,whose S wag/amvam ,

or “ choice of a suitor,”is about to

be celebrated at Kampilya. T his again furnishes a

strange and glittering picture of the old times ; vastmasses of holiday people, with rajahs, elephants, troops,

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 163

jugglers, dancing-women , and showmen,are gathered

in a gay encampment round the pavilion of the KingDraupada, whose lovely daughter is to take for herhusband (on the well-understood condition that she

approves of him) the fortunate archer who can strikethe eye of a golden fish,

whirling round upon the t0p

of a tall pole, with an arrow shot from an enormouslystrong how . T he princess, adorned with radiant gems,holds a garland of flowers in her hand for the victorioussuitor ; but none of the rajahs can bend the bow.

Arjuna, disguised as a B rahman ,performs the feat with

ease,and his youth and grace win the heart of Draupadi

more completely than his skill . T he princess henceforth follows the fortunes of the brothers

,and

,by a

strange ancient custom,lives with them in common.

T he Pandavas, now allied to the King Draupada and

become strong , are so much dreaded by. the Kauravasthat they are invited back again

,for safety’s sake

,to

Hastinapura, and settle near it in the city of Indraprastha, now D elhi. T he reign of Yudhishthira and

his brothers is very prosperous there ; “every subjectwas pious ; there were no liars, thieves, or cheats ; no

droughts, floods,or locusts ; no confiagrations nor in

vaders , nor parrots to eat up the grain.

”

T he Pandava king, having subdued all enemies,now

performs the R aj asaga,or ceremony of supremacy

,

and here again occur wonderfully interesting pictures.

Duryodhana comes thither, and his jealousy is inflamedby the magnificence of the rite. Among other curious

164 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

incidents is one which seems to show that glass was

already known . A pavil ion is paved with black cry

stal,

” which the Kaurava prince mistakes for water,and draws up his garments lest he should be wetted.

”

B ut now approaches a turning-point in the epic.Furious at the wealth and fortune of his cousins ,Duryodhana invites them to Hastinapura to join in a

great gambling festival. T he passion for play was as

strong apparently with these antique Hindus as thatfor fighting or for love : N 0 true Kshatriya must ever

decline a challenge to combat or to dice.

”

T he brothersgo to the entertainment

,which is to ruin their pro

sperity ; for S akuni, themost skil ful and lucky gambler,has loaded the “

coupun,”so as to win every throw.

Mr. Wheeler’s ex cellent summary again says

T hen Yudhishthira and S akuni sat down to play , and what

ever Yudhishthira laid as stakes Duryodhana laid something ofequal value but Yudhishthira lost every game. He first lost

a very beautiful pearl nex t a thousand bags each containinga thousand pieces of gold nex t 3 great piece of gold so pure

that it was as soft as wax nex t a chariot set w ith jewels and

hung all round w ith golden bells ; nex t a thousand war-ele

phants with golden howdahs set with diamonds nex t 3. lakhof slaves all dressed in rich garments nex t a lakh of beautifulslave-girls, adorned from head to foot with golden ornaments

nex t all the remainder of his goods ; nex t all his cattle ; and

then the whole of his R aj , ex cepting only the lands which hadbeen granted to the B rahmans .

”

After this tremendous run of ill-luck, he madlystakes Draupadi the B eautiful

,and loses her. T he

princess is dragged away by the hair,and Duryodhana

mockingly bids her come and sit upon his knee, for

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166 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

afforded in the battle,the King of Virata discovers the

princely rank of the Pandavas, and gives his daughterin marriage to the son of Arjuna. A great council isthen held to consider the question of declaring war on

the Kauravas, at which the speeches are quite Homeric,the god Krishna taking part. T he decision is to

prepare for war, but to send an embassy first. Mean

time Duryodhana and Arjuna engage in a singularcontest to obtain the aid of Krishna, whom both of

them seek out. T hi s celestial hero is asleep when theyarrive

,and the proud Kaurava

,as Lord of Indraprastha

,

sits down at his head ; Arjun a, more reverently, takesa place at his feet. Krishna, awaking

,offers to give

his vast army to one of them,and himself as counsellor

to the other ; and Arjuna gladly allows Duryodhanato take the army

,which turns out much the worse

bargain. T he embassy,meantime

,is badly received ;

but it is determined to reply by a counter-message,

while warlike preparations continue. T here is a greatdeal of useless negotiation

,against which D raupadi

protests, like another Constance,saying

,

“War,war !

no peace ! Peace is to me a war !”

Krishna consolesher with the words

,

“Weep not !the time has nearlycome when the Kauravas will be slain

,both great and

small, and their wives will mourn as you have beenmourning. T he ferocity of the chief of the Kauravasprevails over the wise counsels of the blind old kingand the warnings of Krishna

,so that the fatal conflict

must now begin upon the plain of Kurukshetra.

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 167

All is henceforth martial and stormy in the parvasthat ensue. T he two enormous hosts march to the

field, generalissimos are selected,and defiances of the

most violent and abusive sort ex changed. Yet thereare traces of a singular civilisation in the rules whichthe leaders draw up to be observed in the war. T hus

,

no stratagems are to be used ; the fighting men are tofraternise, if they will, after each combat ; none may

slay the flier, the unarmed, the charioteer, or the beaterof the drum horsemen are not to attack footmen,

and

nobody is to fling a spear till the preliminary challengesare finished ; nor may any third man interfere whentwo combatants are engaged. T hese curious regulations—which would certainly much embarrass V on Moltke—are

,sooth to say, not very strictly observed

,and

,no

doubt, were inserted at a later age in the body of thepoem by its B rahman editors. T hose same interpolatershave overloaded the account of the eighteen days ofterrific battle which follow with many episodes and

interruptions, some very eloquent and philos0phic

indeed,the whole B hagavad-Gftta comes in hereabouts

as a religious interlude. E ssays on laws, morals, and

the sciences are grafted , with lavish indifference to the

continuous flow of the narrative, upon its most important portions but there is enough of solid and tremen

dous fighting,notwithstanding, to pale the Crimson pages

of the Greek Iliad itself. T he field glitters, indeed,with kings and princes in panoply of gold and jewels,who engage in mighty and varied combats, till the

168 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

earth swims in blood, and the heavens themselves are

obscured with dus t and flying weapons. One by one

the Kaurava chiefs are slain,and B hi

'

rna,the giant

,

at last meets in arms Duhsasana,the Kaurava prince

who had dragged Draupadf by the hair. He strikeshim down with the terrible mace of iron

,after whi ch

he cuts off his head,and drinks of his blood

, saying,N ever have I tasted a draught so delicious as this.

”

So furious now becomes the war that even the just andmild Arjuna commits two breaches of Aryan chivalry

,

—killing an enemy while engaged with a third man,

and shooting Karna dead while he is ex tricating h ischariot-wheel and without a weapon . At last none are

left of the chief Kauravas ex cept Duryodhana,who

retires from the field and hides in an island of the lake.

T he Pandavas find him out,and heap such reproaches

on him that the surly warrior comes forth at length,

and agrees to fight with B hima. T he duel proves of

a tremendous nature,and is decided by an act of

treachery ; for Arjuna, standing by,reminds B hima

,

by a gesture, of his oath to break the thigh of Duryodhana

,because he had hidden Draupadi sit on his knee.

T he giant takes the hint, and strikes a foul blow,which

cripples the Kaurava hero,and he falls helpless to

earth. After this the Pandava princes are declared

victorious,and Yudhishthira is proclaimed king.

T he great poem soon softens its martial music intoa pathetic strain. T he dead have to be burned

,and

the living reconciled to their new lords ; while after

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170 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

latter half of March and the first half of April,—in

fact,at E aster-time ; and it may be observed here that

this is not the only strange coincidence in the sacrifice.

It was thus an adventure of romantic conquest, mingledwith deep religion and arrogant ostentation ; and the

entire description of the Aswamediza would prove mostinteresting. T he horse is found, is adorned with thegolden plate

,and turned loose

,wandering into distant

regions where the army of Arjuna— for it was he wholed Yudhishthira

’

s forces— goes through twelve amazing adventures. T hey come

,for instance

,to a land of

Amaz ons,all of wonderful beauty

,wearing armour of

pearls and gold,and equally fatal either to love or to

fight with. T hese daz z ling enemies, however, finallysubmit

,as also the R ajah of the rich city of B abhru

vahan,which possessed high walls of solid silver

,

and was lighted with precious jewels for lamps. T he

serpent people, in the same way, who live beneath theearth in the city of V asuki

,yield

,after combat

,to

Arjuna. A thousand million semi-human snakemen

dwelt there, with wives of consummate loveliness,

possessing in their realm gems which would restoredead people to life, as well as a fountain of perpetualyouth. Finally

,Arjuna

’

s host marches back in greatglory

,and with a vast train of vanquished monarchs, to

the city ofHastinapura, where all the subject kings haveaudience of Yudhishthira, and the immense preparations begin for the sacrifice of the snow-white horse.

After all these stately celebrations, it might be

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 17,

ex pected that the great poem woul d conclude with theestablished glories of the ancient dynasty. B ut if themartial part of the colossal epic is “Kshatriyan,

”and

the religious episodes “ B rahmanic,the conclusion

breathes the spirit of B uddhism. Yudhishthira sitsgrandly on the throne ; but earthly greatness does not

content the soul of man,nor can riches render weary

hearts happy. A wonderful scene,which reads like a

rebuke from the dead addressed to the living upon themadness of all war, occurs in this part of the poem.

T he Pandavas and the old King Dhritarashtra beingtogether by the banks of the Ganges, the great saintV yasa undertakes to bring back to them all the

departed, slain in their fratricidal conflict. T he spectacle is at once terrible and tender.B ut this revealing of the invisible world deepens the

discontent of the princes,and when the sage Vyasa

tells them that their prosperity is near its end,they

determine to leave their kingdom to younger princes,

and to set out with their faces towards Mount Meru,

where is Indra’s heaven . If, haply, they may reach it,there will be an end of this world’s joys and sorrows

,

and “union with the Infinite ” will be obtained. My

translations from the Sanskrit of the two concludingparvas of the poem (of which the above is a swift sum

mary) describe the Last Journey ” of the princes and

their E ntry into Heaven and herein occurs one of

the noblest religious apologues not only of this great

E pic but of any creed, —a beautiful fable of faithful

172 T WO B OOKS FR OM T HE

love which may be contrasted , to the advantage of theHindu teaching

,with any Scriptural representations

of Death,and of Love

,which stronger is than Death.

”

T here is always something selfish in the anx iety of

Orthodox people to save their own souls,and our best

religious language is not free from that taint of piousegotism. T he Parvas of the Mahabharata which con

tain Yudhishthira’s approach to Indra’s paradise teach,

on the contrary, that deeper and better lesson nob‘ly

enjoined by an Ameri can poet

T he gate of heaven opens to none alone,

S ave thou one soul, and it shall save thine own.

”

T hese prefatory remarks seemed necessary to introduce the subjoined close paraphrase of the “ B ook of

the Great Jcurney,”—and the B ook of the E ntry into

Heaven ; being the Seventeenth and E ighteenth

Parvas of the noble but,as yet, almost unknowfi

Mahabharata.

THE MAHAPR AS THAN IKA PAR VA OF

MAHAB HAR ATA.

T HE GR E AT J OU R N E Y.

T o N arag/en,Lord of lords, be glory given,

T o sweet S araswati, the Queen in Heaven,

T o great Vgasa,else

, pay reverence due,

S o shall this story,its high coursepurs ue.

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( 74 T WO B OOKS FR OM T HE

Surname-

d of fights,and set him over all,

R egent,to rule in Parik shita’s name

N earest the throne ; and Parikshita kin

He crowned, and unto old S uhhadra said

T his, thy son’

s son,shall wear the Kuru crown

,

And Yadu’

s offspring, Vaj ra, shall be first

In Yadu’

s house. B ring up the little prince

Here in our Hastinpur, but Vajra keep

At Indraprasth ; and let it be thy last

Of virtuous works to guard the lads,and guide.

’

So ordering ere he went, the righteous king

Made offering of white water,heedfully

,

T o V asudev,to R ama

,and the rest,

All funeral rites performing ; nex t be spread

A funeral feast, whereat there sate as guests

N arada,Dwaipayana, B haradwaj ,

And Markandeya, rich in saintly years,

And T ajnavalkya, Hari,and the priests.

T hose holy ones be fed with dainty meats

In kingliest wise, naming the name of Him

Who bears the bow and— that it should be well

For him and his— gave to the B rahmanas

ILIAD OF IN DIA 175

Jewels of gold and silver, lakhs on lakhs,

Fair broidered cloths,gardens and villages

,

Chariots and steeds and slaves.

Which being done,

0 B est of B harat’s line — he bowed him low

B efore his Guru’

s feet, —at Kripa’

s feet,

T hat sage all honoured,— saying

,T ake my prince ;

T each Parikshita as thou taughtest me ;

For hearken,min isters and men of war

Fix ed is my mind to quit all earthly state.

’

Full sore of heart were they,and sore the folk

T o hear such speech, and bitter spread the word

T hrough town and country,that the king would go

And all the people cried , Stay with us, Lord 1’

B ut Yudhishthira knew the time was come,

Knew that life passes and that virtue lasts,

And put aside their love.

S o—with farewells

T enderly took of lieges and of lords

Girt he for travel,with his princely kin,

176 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Great Yudhishthira,Dharma’s royal son.

Crest-gem and belt and ornaments be stripped

From off his body, and for broidered robe

A rough dress donned, woven of jungle-bark

And what he did—O Lord of men —so did

Arjuna,B hima

,and the twin-born pair

,

N akula with S ahadev, and she—in grace

T he peerless—D raupadi. Lastly these six ,

T hou son of B harata in solemn form

Made the high sacrifice of N aishtiki,

Quenching their flames in water at the close ;

And so set forth,’midst wailing of all folk

And tears of women,weeping most to see

T he Princess Draupadi—that lovely priz e

Of the great gaming, Draupadi the B right

Journeying afoot ; but she and all the Five

R ejoiced, because their way lay heavenwards.

Seven were they, setting forth, -princess and king,

T he king’s four brothers, and a faithful dog.

T hose left Hastinapur ; but many a man,

And all the palace household, followed them

T he first sad stage ; and, ofttimes prayed to part,

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178 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Clear-lined like lotus-petals ; last the dog,

Following the Pandavas.

At length they reach

T he far Lauchityan S ea, which foameth whi te

U nder U dayachala’

s ridge—Know ye

T hat all this while N akula had not ceased

B earing the holy bow,named Gandiva,

And jewelled quiver, ever filled with shafts

T hough one should shoot a thousand thousand

Here— broad across their path—the heroes see

Agni,the god. As though a mighty hill

T ook form of front and breast and limb, he spake.

Seven streams of shining splendour rayed his brow,

While the dread voice said I am Agni, chiefs

0 sons of Pandu,I am Agni Hail !

O long-armed Yudhishthira, blameless king,

0 warlike B hima,— O Arjuna, wise,

0 brothers twin-born from a womb divine,

Hear !I am Agni,who consumed the wood

B y will of N arayan for Arjuna’

s sake.

Let this your brother give Gandiva back,

T he matchless how : the use for it is o’er.

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 179

T hat gem-ringed battle-discus which he whirled

Cometh again to Krishna in his hand

For avatars to be and need is none

Henceforth of this most ex cellent bright bow,

Gandiva,which I brought for Partha’s aid

From high Varuna. Let it be returned.

Cast it herein !’

And all the princes said,

Cast it, dear brother !’ So Arjuna threw

Into that sea the quiver ever-filled,

And glittering bow. T hen led by Agni’s light,

U nto the south they turned, and so south-west,

And afterwards right west,until they saw

Dwaraka,washed and bounded by a main

Loud-thundering on its shores and here— O B est

Vanished the God ; while yet those heroes walked,

N ow to the north-west bending, where long coasts

Shut in the sea of salt, now to the north,

Accomplishing all quarters, journeyed they ;

T he earth their altar of high sacrifice,

Which these most patient feet did pace around

T ill Meru rose.

180 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

At last it rose ! T hese S ix,

T heir senses subjugate, their spirits pure,

Wending alone, came into sight—far off

In the eastern sky—of awful Himavan ;

And,midway in the peaks of Himavan

,

Meru, the Mountain of all mountains, rose,

Whose head is Heaven ; and under Himavan

Glared a wide waste of sand,dreadful as death.

T hen,as they hastened o

’

er the deadly waste,

Aiming for Meru, having thoughts at soul

Infinite,eager

,-lo !Draupadi reeled,

With faltering heart and feet ; and B hima turned

Gaz ing upon her ; and that hero spake

T o Yudhishthira : Master, B rother, King

Why doth she fail ? For never all her life

Wrought our sweet lady one thing wrong,I think.

T hou knowest, make us know,why hath she failed

T hen Yudhishthira answered : ‘ Yea,one thing.

S he loved our brother better than all else,

B etter than heaven : that was her tender sin,

Fault of a faultless soul ; she pays for that.’

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182 T W’

O B OOKS FR OM THE

B hima anew : B rother and Lerd the man

Who never erred from virtue,never broke

Our fellowship,and never in the world

Was matched for goodly perfectness of form

Or gracious feature,— N akula has fallen !’

B ut Yudhishthira, holding fix ed his eyes,

T hat changeless, faithful, all-wise king—replied

Yea, but he erred. T he godlike form he wore

B eguiled him to believe none like to him,

And he alone desirable, and things

U nlovely to be slighted. Self-love slays

Our noble brother. B hima,follow ! E ach

Pays what his debt was. ’

Which Arjuna heard,

Weeping to see them fall ; and that stout son

Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes,

T hat prince, who drove through crimson waves of

In old days,with his chariot—steeds of milk,

He, the arch-hero, sank ! B eholding this,“

The yielding of that soul unconquerable,

Fearless, divine, from Sakra’

s self derived,

ILIAD OF IN DIA. ,83

Arjuna’

s,—B hi’ma cried aloud : 0 king !

T his man was surely perfect. N ever once,

N ot even in slumber when the lips are loosed,

Spake he one word that was not true as truth.

Ah, heart of gold, why art thou broke ? 0King !

Whence falleth he

And Yudhishthira said,

N ot pausing : Once he lied,a lordly lie!

He bragged—our brother— that a single day

Should see him utterly consume,alone

,

All those his enemies,—whi ch could not be.

Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech.

Howbeit, a finished hero should not shame

Himself in such wise, nor his enemy,

If he will faultless fight and blameless die

T his was Arjuna’

s sin. Follow thou me !’

So the king still went on. B ut B hima nex t

Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank ;

Yet, sinking cried, behind the steadfast prince

‘Ah, brother, see !I die ! Look upon me,

184 T WO B OOKS FR OM T HE

T hy well-beloved ! Wherefore falter I,

Who strove to stand

And Yudhishthira said

‘More than was well the goodly things of earth

Pleased thee, my pleasant brother Light the offence,

And large thy virtue but the o’

er-fed flesh

Plumed itself over spirit. Pritha’

s son,

For this thou failest, who so near didst gain.

’

T henceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode,

N ot looking hack, —nay !not for B hima’

s sake,

B ut walking with his face set for the Mount

And the hound followed him,—only the hound.

After the deathly sands,the Mount !and lo !

Sakra shone forth,—the God, filling the earth

And heavens with thunder of his chariot-wheels.

Ascend,

’

he said,with me

,Pritha

’

s great son !’

B ut Yudhishthira answered,sore at heart

For those his kinsfolk,fallen on the way :

‘0 T housand-eyed, O Lord of all the’

Gods,

Give’

that my brothers come with me, who fell!

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186 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Yet Yudhishthira answered : 0Most High,

0 T housand-eyed andWisest !can it be

T hat one ex alted should seem pitiless ?

N ay, let me lose such glory : for its sake

I would not leave one living thing I loved.

’

T hen sternly Indra spake : ‘He is unclean,

And into Swarga such shall enter not.

T he Krodhavasha’

s hand destroys thefruits

Of sacrifice,if dogs defile the fire.

B ethink thee,Dharmaraj , qui t now this beast !

T hat which is seemly is not hard of heart. ’

Still he replied : ’

T is written that to spurn

A suppliant equals in offence to slay

A twice-born ; wherefore, not for Swarga’

s bliss

Quit I, Mahendra,this poor clinging dog,

So without any hope or friend save me,

S o wistful, fawning for my faithfulness,

So agoniz ed to die, unless I help

Who among men was called steadfast and just.’

ILIAD OF IN DIA

Quoth Indra : N ay !the altar-flame is foul

Where a dog passeth ; angry angels sweep

T he ascending smoke aside, and all the fruits

Of offering,and the merit of the prayer

Of him whom a hound toucheth. Leave it here

He that will enter heaven must enter pure.

Why didst thou quit thy brethren on the way,

Quit Krishna, quit the dear-loved Draupadf,

Attaining, firm and glorious, to this Mount

T hrough perfect deeds, to linger for a brute ?

Hath Yudhishthira vanquished self, to melt

With one poor passion at the door of bliss ?

S tay’

st thou for this, who didst not stay for them,

Draupadi, B hfma

B ut the king yet spake

T is known that none can hurt or help the dead.

T hey, the delightful ones, who sank and died,

Following my footsteps, could not live again

T hough I had turned,—therefore I did not turn ;

B ut coul d help profit,I had turned to help.

T here be four sins,O Sakra

,grievous sins

T he first is mak ing suppliants despair,

187

T WO B OOKS FR OM T HE

T he second is to slay a nursing wife,

T he third is spoiling B rahmans’ goods by force,

T he fourth is injuring an ancient friend.

T hese four I deem not direr than the sin,

If one, in coming forth from woe to weal,

Abandon any meanest comrade then.

’

Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled ;

Vanished the bound —and in its stead stood there

T he Lord of Death and Justice, Dharma’

s self !

Sweet were the words which fell from those dread lips,

Precious the lovely praise : O thou true king,

T hou that dost bring to harvest the good seed

Of Pandu’

s righteousness ; thou that hast ruth

As be before, on all which lives —0 S on,

I tried thee in the Dwaita wood,what time

T he Yaksha smote them,bringing water ; then

T hou prayedst for N akula’s life —tender and just

N ot B hima’s nor Arjuna’

s,true to both

,

T o Madri as to Kunti,to both queens.

Hear thou my word ! B ecause thou didst not mount

T his car divine, lest the poor hound be shent

Who looked to thee,10! there is none in heaven

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190 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

N arad the wise, who laudeth purity,

S o cried he : T hou art risen,unmatched king

,

Whose greatness is above all royal saints.

Hail,son of Pandu !like to thee is none

N ow or before among the sons of men,

Whose fame hath fil led the three wide worlds ,

com’

st

B earing thy mortal body, which doth shine

With radiance as a god’s.

’

T he glad king heard

N arad’e loud praise ; he saw the immortal gods;

Dharma,Mahendra and dead chiefs and saints

,

Known upon earth,in blessed heaven he saw ;

B ut only those.

‘ I do desire,’

he said,

T hat region,be it of the B lest as this,

Or of the Sorrowful some otherwhere,

Where my dear brothers are, and Draupad'

f.

I cannot stay elsewhere! I see them not

T hen answer made Purandara, the God

O thou compassionate and noblest One,

R est in the pleasures which thy deeds have

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 191

How,being as are the Gods, canst thou live bound

B y mortal chains ? T hou art become of U s,

Who live above hatred and love, in bliss

Pinnacled, safe, supreme. S un of thy race,

T hy brothers cannot reach where thou hast climbed

Most glorious lord of men,let not thy peace

B e touched by stir of earth ! Look !this is Heaven.

S ee where the saints sit, and the happy souls,

Siddhas and angels, and the gods who live

For ever and for ever.’

King of gods,’

Spake Yudhishthira, but I will not live

A little space without those souls I loved.

O Slayer of the demons !let me go

Where B hfina and my brothers are, and she,

My Draupadf, the princess with the face

Softer and darker than the V rihat-leaf,

And soul as sweet as are its odours. Lo !

Where they have gone, there will I surely go.

( 192 )

T H E ILIAD OF

T HE

OR ,

“T HE E N T R Y IN T O HE AVE N .

”

T o N arayen, Lord of lords, be glory given,

T o Queen S aras'wati bepraise in heaven ;

U nto Vydsa p ay the reverence due,

S o may this story its high coursepursue.

T HE N Janmejaya said I am fain to learn

How it befell with my great forefathers,

T he Pandu chiefs and Dhritarashtra’s sons,

B eing to heaven ascended. If thou know ’

st,

And thou know ’

st all,whom wise Vyasa

T ell me, how fared it with those mighty souls ?

Answered the Sage : Hear of thy forefathers

Great Yudhishthira and the Pandu lords

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194 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

I cannot look upon him ! Sith ’

tis so,

Where are my brothers ? T hither will I go !’

Smiling,bright N arada

,the Sage, replied

Speak thou not rashly S ay not this,0King '

T hose who come here lay enmities aside.

0Yudhishthira, long-armed monarch, hear !

Duryodhana is cleans ed Of sin ; he sits

Worshipful as the saints,worshipped by saints

And kings who lived and died in vixtue’

s path,

Attaining to the joys which heroes gain

Who yield their breath in battle. E ven so

He that did wrong thee,knowing not thy worth,

Hath won before thee hi ther,raised to bliss

For lordliness, and valour free of fear.

Ah,well-beloved Prince !ponder thou not

T he memory of that gaming,nor the griefs

Of Draupadi , nor any vanished hurt

Wroug ht in the passing shows of life by craft

Or wasteful war. T hrone happy at the side

Of this thy happy foeman,—Wis er now ;

For here is Paradise, thou chief of men !

And in its holy air hatreds are dead. ’

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 19;

T hus by such lips addressed the Pandu king

Answered uncomforted : Duryodhana,

If he attains,attains ; yet not the less

E vil he lived and ill he died,— a heart

Impious and harmful,bringing woes to all,

T o friends and foes. His was the crime which cost

Our land its warriors, horses, elephants ;

His the black sin that set us in the field,

B urning for rightful vengeance. Ye are gods,

And just ; and ye have granted heaven to him.

Show me the regions, therefore, where they dwell,

My brothers, those, the noble-souled, the loyal,

Who kept the sacred laws,who swerved no step

From virtue’s path, who spake the truth, and lived

Foremost of warriors. Where is Kunti’s son,

T he hero-hearted Karna Where are gone

Satyaki, Dhrishtadyumna, with their sons

And where those famous chiefs who fought for me.

Dying a splendid death ? I see them not.

0 N arada,I see them not ! N o Kin

Draupada!no Virata!no glad face

Of Dhrishtaketu !no Shikandina,

Prince of Panchala,nor his princely boys !

196 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

N or Abhimanyu the un conquerable !

President Gods of heaven! I see not here

R adha’s bright son ,nor Yudhamanyu,

N or U ttamanjaso, his brother dear !

Where are those noble Maharashtra lords,

R ajahs and rajpoots,slain for love of me ?

Dwell they in glory elsewhere,not yet seen ?

If they be here,high Gods !and those with them

For whose sweet sakes I lived,here will I live,

Meek-hearted but if such he not adjudged

W'

orthy, I am not worthy,nor my soul

W’ illing to rest without them . Ah,I burn,

N OW in glad heaven,with grief, bethinking me

Of those my mother’s words , what time I poured

Death-water for my dead at Kurkshetra,

Pour for Prince Karna,S on !

”

but I wist not

His feet were as my mother’s feet, his blood

Her blood,my blood. 0 Gods !I did not know ,

Albeit Sakra’s self had failed to break

Our battle, where he stood. I crave to see

Surya’

s child,that glorious chief who fell

B y S aryasachi’

s hand,unknown of me ;

And B hima !ah,my B hima !dearer far

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198 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Matted the thick thorns carpeting its slope

T he smell of $111 hung foul on them ; the mire

About their roots was trampled fil th Of flesh

Horrid with rottenness, and splashed with gore

Curdling in crimson puddles ; where there buz z ed

And sucked and settled creatures of the swamp,

Hideous in wing and sting, gnat-clouds and flies,

With moths,toads

,newts

,and snakes red-gulleted,

And livid,loathsome worms

,writhing in slime

Forth from skull-holes and scalps and tumbled bones.

A burning forest shut the roadside in

On either hand, and’mid its cracklin g boughs

Perched ghastly birds, or'

flapped amongst the flames,

Vultures and kites and crows,— with braz en plumes

And beaks Of iron ; and these grisly fowl

Screamed to the shrieks Of Prets,lean

,fami shed

Featureless, eyeless, having pin-point mouths,

Hungering,but hard to fill

,—all swooping down

T o gorge upon the meat of wicked ones ;

Whereof the limbs disparted,trunks and heads,

Offal and marrow,littered all the way.

B y such a path the king passed,sore afeared

If he had known of fear,for the air stank

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 99

With carrion stench, sickly to breathe ; and lo

Presently ’thwart the pathway foamed a flood

Of boiling waves, rolling down corpses. T his

T hey crossed, and then the Asipatra wood

Spread black in sight, whereof the undergrowth

Was sword-blades, spitting, every blade, some wretch

All around poison trees ; and nex t to this,

Strewn deep with fiery sands, an awful waste,

Wherethrough the wicked toiled with blistering feet,’Midst rocks of brass, red hot, which scorched, and pools

Of bubbling pitch that gulfed them. Last the gorge

Of Kutashala Mali,-frightful gate

Of utmost Hell,with utmost horrors filled.

Deadly and nameless were the plagues seen there

Whi ch when the monarch reached, nigh overborne

B y terrors and the reek of tortured flesh,

U nto the angel spake he : ‘Whither goes

T his hateful road,and where be they I seek

,

Yet find not ?’

Answer made the heavenly One‘Hi ther, great King, it was commanded me

T O bring thy steps. If thou be’st overborne,

It is commanded that I lead thee back

T o where the Gods wait. Wilt thou turn and mount

200 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

T hen (0 thou S on of B harat z) Yudhishthir

T urned heavenward his face, so was he moved

With horror and the hanging stench,and spent

B y toil of that black travel. B ut his feet

Scarce one stride measured, when about the place

Pitiful accents rang : Al as,sweet King

Ah, saintly Lord I—Ah ,T hou that hast attained

Place with the B lessed,Pandu

’

s Offspring —pause

A little while,for love of us who cry !

N ought can harm thee in all this baneful place

B ut at thy coming there ’

gan blow a breez e

B almy and soothin g,bringing us relief.

0 Pritha’

s son,mightiest of men we breathe

Glad breath again to see thee ; we have peace

One moment in our ag onies. Stay here

One moment more,B harata’s child ! Go not

,

T hou Victor of the Kurus ! B eing here,

Hell softens and our bitter pain s relax .

’

T hese pleadings, wailing all around the place,

Heard the King Yudhishthira,—words Of woe

Humble and eager ; and compassion seiz ed

His lordly mind. Poor souls unknown !’ he sighed,

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202 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Peaceful in Paradise with all his crew,

T hroned by Mahendra and the shining gods ?

How should these fail of blis s, and he attain ?

What were their sins to his, their splendid faults ?

For if they slipped,it was in virtue’s way

Serving good laws,performing holy rites

,

B oundless in gifts and faithful to thedeath.

T hese be their well-known voices ! Are ye here.

Souls I loved best ? Dream I,belike

,asleep

,

Or rave I, maddened with accursed sights

And death-reeks of this hellish air ?’

T hereat

For pity and for pain the king wax ed wroth .

T hat soul fear could not shake , nor trials tire,

B urned terrible with tenderness,the while

His eyes searched all the gloom,his planted feet

Stood fast in the mid horrors. Well-nigh, then ,

He cursed the gods ; well-nigh that steadfast mind

B roke from its faith in virtue. B ut he stayed

T h’ indignant passion,

softly speaking this

U nto the angel : Go to those thou serv’

st

T ell them I come not thither. S ay I stand

ILIAD OF IN DIA.

Here in the throat of hell, and here will hide

N ay, if I perish—while my well-belov’

d

Win ease and peace by any pains of mine.

’

Whereupon,nought replied the shining One,

B ut straight repaired unto the upper light,

Where Sakra sate above the gods, and spake

B efore the gods the message of the king.

Afterward what befell ? the prince inquired .

Afterward, Princely One !” replied the Sage,

At hearing and at knowing that high deed

(Great Yudhishthira braving hell for love) ,

T he Presences of Paradise uprose,

E ach Splendour in his place,—god Sakra chief ;

T ogether rose they, and together stepped

Down from their thrones, treading the nether road

Where Yudhishthira tarried. Sakra led

T he shining van, and Dharma, Lord of laws,

Paced glorious nex t. 0 S on of B harata,

203

204 T WO B OOKS FR OM T HE

While that celestial company came down

Pure as the white stars sweeping through the sky,

And brighter than their brilliance— look !Hell’

s shades

Melted before them ; warm gleams drowned the gloom ;

Soft,lovely scenes rolled over the ill sights

Peace calmed the cries of torment ; in its bed

T he boiling river shrank, quiet and clear ;

T he Asipatra Vana— awful wood

B lossomed with colours ; all those cruel blades,

And dreadful rocks, and piteous scattered wreck

Of writhing bodies, where the king had passed,

Vanished as dreams fade. Cool and fragrant went

A wind before their faces,as these Gods

Drew radiant to the presence of the king

Maruts ; and V asus eight, who shine and serve

R ound Indra ; R udras Aswins ; and those S ix

Immortal Lords Of light beyond our light,

T h’

Adityas ; S addhyas Siddhas,—those were there,

With angels,saints

,and habitants of heaven

,

Smiling resplendent round the steadfast prince.

T hen spake the God of gods these gracious words

T o Yudhishthira, standing in that place

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206 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

Which passeth with these shadows. E ven thus

T hy B hima came a little space t’

account,

Draupadi, Krishna,—all whom thou didst love,

N ever again to lose ! Come, First of Men

T hese be delivered and their quittance made.

Al so the princes, son of B harata !

Who fell beside thee fighting, have attained.

Come thou to see ! Karna, whom thou didst mourn,

T hat mightiest archer, master in all wars,

He hath attained,shining as doth the sun ;

Come thou and see ! Grieve no more,King Of Men !

Whose love helped them and thee,and hath its meed.

R ajas and maharajahs,warriors, aids,

All thine are thine for ever. Krishna waits

T o greet thee coming,’companied by gods

,

Seated in heaven,from toils and confli cts saved.

S on !there is golden fruit of noble deeds,

Of prayer, alms, sacrifice. T he most just Gods

Keep thee thy place above the highest saints,

Where thou shalt sit,divine, compassed about

With royal souls in bliss,as Hari sits ;

Seeing Mandhata crowned,and B hagirath,

Daushyanti, t irata,with all thy line.

ILIAD OF IN DIA. 207

N ow therefore wash thee in this holy stream,

Gunga’s pure foun t, whereof the bright waves bless

All the T hreeWorlds. It will so change thy flesh

T o likeness of th’ immortal, thou shalt leave

Passions and aches and tears behind thee there.

’

And when the awful Sakra thus had said,

Lo !Dharma spake,-th’ embodied Lord of R ight

B ho !bho I am well pleased ! Hail to thee, Chief !

Worthy, and wise, and firm. T hy faith is full,

T hy virtue, and thy patience, and thy truth,

And thy self-mastery. T hrice I put thee, King !

U nto the trial. In the Dwaita wood,

T he day of sacrifice,— then thou stood’

st fast ;

N ex t,on thy brethren’

s death and Draupadi’

s,

When,as a dog, I followed thee, and found

T hy spirit constant to the meanest friend.

Here was the third and sorest touchstone, S on !

T hat thou shouldst hear thy brothers cry in hell,

And yet abide to help them . Pritha’

s child,

We love thee ! T hou art fortunate and pure,

Past trials now . T hou art approved,and they

208 T WO B OOKS FR OM THE

T hou lov’

st have tasted hell only a space,

N ot meriting to suffer more than when

An evil dream doth come,and Indra’s beam

E nds it with radiance— as this vision ends.

It is appointed that all flesh see death,

And therefore thou hast borne the passing pangs,

B riefest for thee, and bri ef for those Of thine,

B hima the faithful,and the valiant twins

N akla and S ahadev,and those great hearts

Karna,Arjuna

,with thy princess dear

,

Draupadi. Come,thou best-beloved S on

,

B lessed of all thy line ! B athe in this stream,

It is great Gunga, flowing through T hreeWorlds.

’

T hus high-accosted, the rejoicing king

(T hy ancestor, O Liege !) proceeded straight

U nto that river’s brink,which floweth pure

T hrough the T hree Worlds,mighty

,and sweet. and

praised.

T here, being bathed, the body of the kin

Put off its mortal,coming up arrayed

In grace celestial, washed from soils of sin,

From passion,pain

,and change. S O, hand in hand

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( 210 )

FR OM THE

OF MAHA’

B HA’

FA TA ,

“N IGH T OF S LA U GH T E R .

”

T o N arayen,B est of Lords, be glory given,

T o grea t S araswati, the Queen in Heaven ;

U nto Vydsa, too, bepaid his meed,

S o shall this story worthily proceed.

T hose vanquished warriors then, S anjaya said

,

Fled southwards ; and, near sunset, past the tents,

U nyoked ; abiding close in fear and rage.

T here was a wood beyond the camp,— untrod

,

Quiet,— and in its leafy harbour lay

T he Princes,some among them bleeding still

From spear and arrow-gashes ; all sore-spent,

THE N IGHT OF S LAU GHT E R . 211

Fetching fain t breath ,and fighting o’er again

In thought that battle. B ut there came the noise

Of Pandavas pursuing—fierce and loud

Outcries of victory—whereat those chiefs

Sullenly rose,and yoked their steeds again

,

Driving due east ; and eastward still they drave

U nder the night, till drouth and desperate toil

Stayed horse and man ; thentook they lair again ,

T he panting horses, and theWarriors,wroth

With chilled wounds, and the death-stroke of their

King.

N ow were they come,my Prince

,S anjaya said,

U nto a jungle thick with stems,whereon

T he tangled creepers coiled ; here entered they

Watering their horses at a stream— and pushed

Deep in the thicket. Many a beast and bird

Sprang startled at their feet ; the long grass stirred

With serpents creeping Off the woodland flowers

Shook where the pea-fowlhid, and,where frogs plunged,

T he swamp rocked all its reeds and lotus-buds.

A banian-tree, with countless dropping boughs

E arth-rooted, spied they, and beneath its aisles

212 FR OM THE “ SAU PT IKA PAR VA.

”

A pool ; hereby they stayed, tethering their steeds,

And dipping water, made the evening prayer.

B ut when the ‘Day-maker sank in the west

And N ight descended—gentle, soothing N ight,

Who comforts all, with silver splendour decked

Of stars and constellations,and soft folds

Of velvet darkness drawn—then those wild things

Which roam in darkness woke,wandering

U nder the gloom. Horrid the forest grew

With roar,and yelp, and yell, around that

Where Kripa,Kritavarman

,and the son

Of Drona lay, beneath the banian-tree ;

Full many a piteous passage instancing

In their lost battle-day Of dreadful blood ;

T ill sleep fell heavy on the wearied lids

Of B hoja’

s child and Kripa. T hen these Lords

T O princely life and silken couches used

Sought on the bare earth slumber, spent and sad,

As houseless outcasts lodge.

B ut,Oh

, my King !

T here came no sleep to Drona’s angry son,

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214 FR OM THE “ SAU PT IKA PAR -VA

B loody and plucked, and all the ground wax ed black

With piled crow-carcases ; whilst the great Owl

Hooted for joy of vengeance, and again

Spread the wide, deadly, dusky wings.

U p sprang

T he son of Drona : ‘Lo !this owl,

’ quoth he,

T eacheth me wisdom ; 10!one slayeth so

Insolent foes asleep. T he Pandu Lords

Are all too strong in arms by day to kill ;

T hey triumph,being many. Yet I swore

B efore the King, my Father, I woul d kill

And kill —even as a foolish fly should swear

T o quench a flame. It scorched, and I shall die

If I dare open battle ; but by art

Men vanquish fortune and the mightiest Odds.

If tbere be two ways to a wis e man ’

s wish,

Yet only one way sure, he taketh this ;

And if it be an evil way, condemned

For B rahmans, yet the Kshattriya may do

What vengeance bids against hi s foes. Our foes,

T he Pandavas,are furious, treacherous, base,

Halting at nothing ; and how say the wise

THE N IGHT OF S LAU GHT E R . 215

In holy Shasters Wounded, wearied, fed,

Or fasting ; sleeping, waking, setting forth,

Or new arriving ; slay thine enemies ;”

And so again,

“At midnight when they sleep,

Dawn when they watch not ; noon if leaders fall ;

E ve, should they scatter ; all the times and hours

Are times and hours fitted for killing foes.”

So did the son Of D rona steel his soul

T O break upon the sleeping Pandu chiefs

And slay them in the darkness. B eing set

On this unlordly deed, and clear in scheme,

He from their slumbers roused the warriorsKripa and Kritavarman.

”

( 216 )

M OR N IN G P R A

OU R Lord the Prophet (peace to him !) doth

Silrah the Seventeenth, intituled N ight

Pray at the noon ; pray at the sinking sun ;

In night-time pray ; but most when night is

For daybreak ’

s prayer is surely borne on high

B y angels, changing guard within the sky ;

And in another place Dawn ’

s prayer is m

T han the wide world, with all its treasured st

T herefore the Faithful, when the growing lig

Gives to discern a black hair from a white,

Haste to the mosque, and, bending Mecca-wa

R ecite Al—t ihah while ’

tis scarce yet day“Praise be toAllah—Lord of all that live

Merciful King and J udge T o T hee we give

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218 THE MOR N IN G PR AYE R .

B y rough stones broken and deep pools of rain ;

And there through toilfully, with steps of pain,

Leaning upon his staff an Old J ew went

T o synagogue, on pious errand bent

For those he “People of the B ook,”—and some

Are chosen of All ah’s will, who have not come

U nto full light of wisdom. T herefore he

Ali— the Caliph Of proud days to be

Knowing this good old man,and why he stirred

T hus early, e’

er the morning mills were heard,

Out of his nobleness and grace of soul

Would not thrust past, though the J ew blocked

whole

B readth of the lane, slow-hobbling. So they went,

T hat ancient first ; and in soft discontent,

After him Al i—noting how the sun

Flared nigh, and fearing prayer might be begun ;

Yet no command upraising, no harsh cry

T o stand as ide —because the dignity

Of silver hairs is much, and morn ing praise

Was precious to the J ew ,too. T hus their ways

Wended the pair ; Great Ali, sad and slow,

Following the greybeard, while the E ast, a-glow,

THE MOR N IN G PR AYE R . 219

B laz ed with bright S pears Of gold athwart the blue,

And the Muez z in’

s call came “Illahu !

Allah-il-Allah

In the mosque, our Lord

(On whom be peace !) stood by the Mehrab-board

In act to bow,and t ihah forth to say.

B ut as his lips moved, some strong hand did lay

Over his mouth a palm invisible,

So that no voice on the Assembly fell.

Ya ! R abbi ‘lalamina” thrice he tried

T o read, and thrice the sound of reading died,

Stayed by this unseen touch . T hereat amaz ed

Our Lord Muhammed turned,arose, and gaz ed ;

And saw— alone o f those within the shrine

A splendid Presence, w ith large eyes divine

B eaming, and golden pinions folded down,

T heir speed still tokened by the fluttered gown.

GAB R IE L he knew,the spirit who doth stand

Chief of the Sons of Heav’

n,at God’s right hand

Gabriel !why stayest thou me ?”the Prophet said,

Since at this hour the t ihah should be read.

”

220 THE MOR N IN G PR AYE R .

B ut the bright Presence, smiling, poin ted wh

Al i towards the outer gate drew near,

U pon the threshold shaking off hi s shoes

And giving alms of entry,

as men use.

Yea !”spake th’ Archangel, sacred is the

Of morning-praise,andworth theworld’s wide

T hough earth were pearl and silver ; therefo:

Stayed thee, Muhammed,in the act to cry

,

Lest Ali, tarrying in the lane, should miss,

For hi s good deed, its blessing and its bliss.

T hereat th’ Archangel vanished —and our I

R ead t ihah forth beneath the Mehrab-boa:

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Habitation

( T o FIR S T E DI T ION ).

T o you, dear Wife— to who mbeside so well ?

Counsellor and tried,at every shift,

I bring my“B ook Of Counsels : let it tell

Largeness of love by littleness

And take this growth of foreign

(A scholar’s thanks for gentle help in toil )

Wh ose leaf, “ though dark,”like Milton’s Ha

B ears a bright goldenflower, if not in the

April 9, 1861.

P R E FA C E

T O THE “ B OOK OF GOOD COU N S E LS

is a work of high antiquity and

ex tended popularity. T he prose is doubtless as old as

our own era ; but the intercalated verses and proverbs

compose a selection from writings of an age ex tremely

remote. T he Mahabharata and the tex tual Veds are of

those quoted ; to the first Ofwhich ProfessorM .Williams

(in his admirable edition of the N ala , 1860) assigns the

modest date of 350 B .C. ,while he claims for the B ig

Veda an antiquity as high as I 300 B .C. T heHitopadesa

may thus be fairly styled T he Father of all Fables ;

for from its numerous translations have probably come

E sop and Pilpay, and in latter days R eineke Fuchs.

Originally compiled in Sanskrit, it was rendered, by

order Of N ushirvan,in the six th century A.D.,

into Persic.

From the Persic it passed, A.D . 850,into the Arabic

,

and thence into Hebrew and Greek . In its own land

it Obtained as wide a circulation. T he E mperor Akbar,

impressed with the wisdom of its max ims and the

224 PR E PACE .

ingenuity of its apologues, commended the work of

translating it to his own Viz ier, Abdul Faz el. T hat

Minister accordingly put the book into a familiar style,

and published it with ex planations, under the title of

the Criterion of Wisdom. T he E mperor had also sug

gested the abridgment Of the long series of shlokes

which here and there interrupt the narrative, and the

Viz ier found this advice sound,and followed it

,like

the present T ranslator. T o this day, in India, the

Hitopadesa, under its own or other names (as theAnvdri

S uhaili ) , retains the delighted attention of young and

old, and has some representative in all the Indian

vernaculars. A selection from the metrical Sanskrit‘

proverbs and max ims is here given.

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226 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

B ringing dark things into daylight, solving doubts

that vex the mind,

Like an Open eye is Wisdom—he that hath her not

is blind.

”

Childless art thou ? dead thy children ? leaving thee

to want and doole

Less thy misery than his is,who lives father to a fool.

One wise son makes glad his father,forty fools

him not

One moon silvers all that darkness which the

stars did dot.

E ase and health,obeisant children,

wisdom, and a fair

voiced wife

T hus,great King !are counted up the five felicities

of life.

the son the sire is honoured ; though the bow-cane

bendeth true,

the strained string crack in using, and what ser

vice shall it do

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 227

T hat which will not be, will not be—and what is to

be, will be :

Why not drink this easy physio, antidote of misery ?

N ay !but faint not, idly sighing, D estiny is mightiest,’

Sesamum holds Oil in plenty, but it yieldeth none

unpressed .

”

Ah !it is the Coward ’s babble, ‘Fortune taketh,

tune gave

Fortune !rate her like a master, and she serves

like a slave.

”

T wo-fold is the life we live in—Fate andWill together

run

T wo wheels bear life’s chariot onward—Will it move

on only one ?”

Look !the clay dries into iron,but the potter moulds

the clay

Destiny to-day is master—Man was master yester

day.

228 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

Worthy ends come not by wi shing. Wouldst thou?

U p, and win it, then !

While the hungry lion slumbers, not a deer comes to

his den .

”

glass, in splendid settings, something of the

may gain ;

in company of wise ones, fools to wisdom

attain .

”

Labours spent on the unworthy,of reward

labourer balk ;

Like the parrot, teach the heron twenty words,

not talk.

”

Ah !a thousand thoughts of sorrow, and a

things of dread,

the fools unheeded, enter day by day

man’

s head.

”

Of the day’s impending dangers,Sickness, Death, and

Misery,

One will be ; the wise man,waking, ponders Which

that one will be.

”

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230 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM:

jaw ;

What is written on the forehead, that will be, and

nothing more.

”

Counsel in danger ; of it

U nwarned, be nothing begun

B ut nobody asks a Prophet,

Shall the risk of a dinner be run

Avarice begetteth anger ; blind desires from her

begin ;

A right fruitful mother is she of a countless spawn

of sin.

”

B e second and not first —the share’s the same

If all go well. If not,the Head’s to blame.

”

Passion will be Slave or Mistress : follow her, she

brings to woe ;

Lead her,’

tis the way to Fortune. Choose the path

that thou wilt go.

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

When the time of troublecometh, friends may ofttimes

irk us most

For the calf at milking-hour the mother’s leg is tying

post.”

In good-fortune not elated, in ill-fortune not dismayed,

E ver eloquent in council, never in the fight afl’

rayed,

Proudly emulous of honour, steadfastly on wisdom set ;

T hese six virtues in the nature of a noble soul aremet.

Whoso hath them, gem and glory of the three wide

worlds is he ;

Happy mother she that bore him, she who nursed him

on her knee.

”

Small things wax ex ceeding mighty, being cunningly

combined ;

Furious elephants are fastened with a rope of grass

blades twined.

”

“Let the household hold together, though the house he

ne’

er so small ;

Strip the rice-husk from the rice-grain, and it groweth

not at all.”

232 PR OVE R B IAL WISDOM.

Sickness, anguish, bonds, and woe

Spring from wrongs wrought long ago.

Keep wealth for want, but spend it for thy wit

And wife,and wealth, and all, to guard thy life

Death, that must come, comes nobly when we

Our wealth, and life, and all,to make men live

Floating on his fearless pinions, lost amid th

day skies,

E ven thence the E agle’s vision kens the carcass

it lies

B ut the hour that comes to all things comes 11

Lord of Air,

And he rushes, madly blinded,to die helpless

snare.

thy door not to the stranger, be he friend

he foe,

the tree will shade the woodman while

doth lay it low .

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234

He who does and thinks no wrong

He who suffers,being strong

He whose harmlessness men know

U nto Swarga such doth go.

”

In the land where no wise men are, men of

are lords

And the castor—oil’s a tree, where no tree else its shade

affords.

”

Foe is friend,and friend is foe,

As our actions make them so.

”

T hat friend only is the true friend who abides when

trouble comes ;

T hat man only is the brave man who can bear the

battle-drums

Words are wind ; deed proveth promise : he

helps at need is kin ;

or win.

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 235

Friend and kinsman—more their meaning than the

idle-hearted mind ;

Many a friend can prove unfriendly, many a kinsman

less than kind :

He who shares his comrade’s portion, be he beggar,

be he lord,

Comes as truly, comes as duly, to the battle as the

board

Stands before the king to succour, follows to the pile

to sigh

He is friend, and he is kinsman ; less would make the

name a lie.

”

Stars gleam ,lamps flicker, friends foretell of fate ;

T he fated sees, knows , hears them—all too late.

”

Absent, flatterers’ tongues are daggers—present

,softer

than the silk ;

Shun them !’

tis a draught of poison hidden under

harmless milk ;

236 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

Shun them when they promise little ! Shun

when they promise much !

For enkindled, charcoal burneth—cold, it doth

the touch.

”

In years, or moons, or half-moons three,

Or in three days— suddenly,

Knaves are shent—true men go free.

Anger comes to noble natures, but leaves there no

strife or storm

Plunge a lighted torch beneath it, and the ocean grows

not warm .

N oble hearts are golden vases—close the bond true

metals make ;

E asily the smith may weld them,harder far it is to

break.

E vil hearts are earthen vessels—at a touch they crack

a-twain,

And what craftsman’

s ready cunning can unite the

shards again

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238 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

Wealth is friends, home, father, brother—title

spect and fame ;

Yea,and wealth is held for wisdom—that it

be so is shame.

Home is empty to the childl ess ; hearts to . the

friends deplore :

E arth unto the idle-minded and the three w

the poor.”

S ay the sages, nine things name not : Age, d

joys and woes,

Coun sel, sickness,shame, alms

,penance ;

Poverty disclose.

B etter for the proud Of spiri t,death

,than liJ

losses told ;

Fire consents to be ex tinguished, but submits

be cold.

As Age doth banish beauty,

As moonl ight dies in gloom,

As Slavery ’

s menial duty

Is Honour ’s certain tomb ;

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 239

As Han s name and Hara’s

Spoken,charm sin away,

S O Poverty can surely

A hundred virtues slay.

Half-known knowledge, present pleasure purchased

with a future woe,

And to taste the salt of service—greater griefs no

man can know.

”

All ex istence is not equal, and all living is not

life ;

Sick men live ; and he who, banished, pines for chil

dren,home, and wife ;

And the craven-hearted eater Of another’s leavings

lives,

And the wretched captive,waiting for the word of

doom, survives ;

B ut they hear an anguished body,and they draw a

deadly breath

And life cometh to them only on the happy day Of

death.

”

240

and all is bad

T hrust thy slipper on, and think thee that the earth

is leather-clad.

”

All is known,digested, tested ; nothing new is left to

learn

When the soul, serene, reliant, Hope’

s delusive dreams

can S purn.

”

Hast thou never watched, a-waiting'

till the great

man’

s door unbarred

D idst thou never linger parting , saying many a

last word ?

S pak’

st thou never word Of folly, one light thing thou

would’st recall ?

R are and noble hath

did befall !

T rue R eligion -’tis not blindly prating

gurus prate,

B ut. to love, as God hath loved them,all things, be

they small or great ;

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242 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

Gifts, bestowed with words of kindness, making giving

doubly dear

Wisdom,deep

,complete

,benignant

, Of all arrogancy

clear ;

Valour,never yet forgetful of sweet Mercy ’s pleading

prayer ;

Wealth, and scorn of wealth to spend it—Oh ! but

these he virtues rare !”

Sentences of studied wisdom,nought avail they un

applied ;

T hough the blind man hold a lantern, yet his foot

steps stray aside.

”

Would’st thou know whose happy dwelling Fortune

entereth unknown ?

His, who careless of her favour, standeth fearless in

his own ;

His, who for the vague to-morrow barters not the

sure to-day

Master of himself, and sternly steadfast to the right

ful way

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM. 243

Very mindful of past service, valiant, faithful , true of

heart

U nto such comes Lakshmi smiling—comes, and will

not lightly part.”

B e not haughty,being wealthy ; droop not, having

lost thine all ;

Fate doth play with mortal fortunes as a girl doth

toss her ball.”

Worldly friendships, fair but fleeting ; shadow s of the

clouds at noon ;

Women, youth, new corn,and riches ; these he plea

sures passing soon.

”

For thy bread be not o’

er thoughtful—Heav’

n for all

hath taken thought

When the babe is born, the sweet milk to the mother’

s

breast is brought.

He who gave the swan her silver,and the hawk her

plumes of pride,

And his purples to the peacock—He will verily

provide.

”

244 PR OVE R B IAL WISDOM.

T hough for good ends, waste not on wealth a !minute

Mud may be wiped, but wise men

B runettes,and the B anyan’

s shadow,

Well-springs, and a brick-buil t wall,

Are all alike cool in the summer ,

And warm in the winter—all.”

Ah !the gleaming, glancing arrows of a lovely woman ’

s

eye!

Feathered with her jetty lashes, perilous they pass

thee by

Loosed at venture from the black

brow,they part

,

All too penetrant and deadly for an

heart.”

B eautiful the Koi’l seemeth for the sweetness

song,

B eautiful the world esteemeth pious souls for patience

strong

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246 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM

E ase,ill-health

,home-keeping, sleeping

,woman

service,and content

In the path that leads to greatness these be six

obstructions sent.”

Seeing how the soorma wasteth, seeing how the ant-1

hill grows,

Little adding unto little—live, give, learn, as life-time

goes ”

Drops of water falling, falling, falling, brim the

o’

er ;

Wisdom comes in little lessons—little gains make

largest store.

”

Men their cunning schemes may S pin

God knows who shall lose or win.

”

Shoot a hundred shafts, the quarry lives and flies

not due to death ;

When his hour is come, a grass-blade bath a point to

step his breat

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM. 247

R obes were none, nor oil of unction,when the King

of B easts was crowned’

T was his own fierce roar proclaimed him,rolling all

the kingdom round .

”

What but for their vassals,

E lephant and man

Swing of golden tassels,

Wave Of silken fan

B ut for regal manner

T hat the Chattra’ brings

,

Horse, and foot, and banner

What would come of kings ?

At the work-time, asking wages—i s it like a faithful

herd

When the work’

s done, grudging wages—is that acting

like a lord ?

Serve the S un with sweat of body ; starve thy maw

to feed the flame ;

Stead thy lord with all thy service ; to thy death go,

quit of blame.

”

248 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

Many prayers for him are uttered whereon many a

life relies ;’

T is but one poor fool the fewer when the greedy

jack-daw dies.

Give thy Dog the merest mouthful , and he

at thy feet,

Wags his tail,and fawns

,and grovels, in his eag erness

to eat ;

B id the E lephant be feeding, and the best

bring ;

Gravely after much entreaty condescends that3)mighty kin

B y their own deeds men go downward,by them men

mount upward all,

Like the diggers of a well,and like the builders of a

wall.”

R ushes down the hill the crag, which upward’ twas so

hard to roll

So to virtue slowly rises—so to vice quick sinks ‘

the

soul ”

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250 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

a fool may tread on jewels, setting 111 his turban

glass ;

at selling, gems are gems, and fardels

fardels pass.

”

Horse and weapon ,lute and volume

,man and

gift of speech,

Have their uselessness or uses in the one who

each.

”

N ot disparagement nor slander kills the spirit of the

brave ;

Fling a torch down,upward ever burns the brilliant

flame it gave.

”

Wisdom from the mouth of children be it overpast of

none ;

What man scorns to walk by lamplight in the absence

of the sun ?

Strength serves R eason. Saith the Mahout,when he

beats the braz en drum,

HO!ye elephants, to this work must your mighti

nesses come.

’

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 251

Mighty natures war with mighty : when the raging

tempests blow,

O’

er the green rice harmless pass they, but they lay

the palm-trees low.

”

N arrow-necked to let out little,big of belly to keep

much ,

As a flagon is—theViz ier of a Sultan should be such.

who thinks a minute little,like a fool misuses

more ;

who counts a cowry nothing, being wealthy, will

be poor.”

B rahmans, soldiers, these and kinsmen—of the three

set none in charge

For the B rahman,though you rack him,

yields no

treasure small or large ;

And the soldier, being trusted, writes his quittance

with his sword,

And the kinsman cheats his kindred by the charter

of the word ;

252

B ut a servant old in service, worse than any one'

i s

Who,by long-tried license fearless, knows his master’s

anger nought.

N ever tires the fire of burning,

slaying,

N or the sea of drinking rivers,

betraying.

From false friends that breed thee strife,

From a house with serpents rife,

Saucy slaves and brawling wife

Get thee forth, to save thy life.

”

poison trees,

Pluck them by the roots together ;’

tis the thing

giveth ease.

”

Long-tried friends are friends to cleave to—never

leave thou these i’ the lurch :

burned a church ?”

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254

company,

As the sooty soorman

eye.

Where the azure lotus blossoms, there the alligators

hide ;

In the sandal-tree are serpents. Pain and pleasure

live allied.

”

R ich the sandal—yet no part is but a vile thing

there ;

Snake and wasp haunt root and blossom ; on

boughs sit ape and bear.

As a bracelet of crystal, once broke, is not mended.

So the favour of princes, once al tered, is ended.”

Wrath of kings,

full of dread ;

B ut one falls on one man

victims dead.”

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 255

All men scorn the soulless coward who his manhood

doth forget :

On a lifeless heap of ashes fearlessly the foot is set.

Simple milk, when serpents drink it, straightway into

venom turns ;

And a fool who heareth counsel all the wisdom of it

spurns.

”

“A modest manner fits a maid,

And Patience is a man’

s adorning ;

B ut brides may kiss, nor do ami ss,

And men may draw,at scathe and scorning.

Serving narrow-minded masters dwarfs high natures

to their siz e

Seen before a convex mirror, elephants do show as

mice.

”

E lephants destroy by touching,snakes with point of

tooth beguile ;

Kings by favour kill,and traitors murder with a fatal

smile.

”

256 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

Of the wife the lord is jewel, though no gems upon

her beam ;

Lacking him,she lacks adornment

,howsoe

’

er her

jewels gleam

Hairs three-lakhs, and hal f-a-lakh hairs, on a man so

many grow

And so many years to Swarga shall the true wife

surely go

When the faithful wife, embracing tenderly her

husband dead,

Mounts the blaz ing pyre beside him,as it were a

bridal-bed ;

T hough his sins were twenty thousand, twenty thou

sand times o’er-told,

S he shall bring his soul to S plendour,for her love so

large and bold.

”

Counsel unto six ears spoken,unto all is notified

When a King holds consul tation,let it be with one

beside.

”

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258 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

Hard it is to conquer nature : if a dog were made a

King,

’

Mid the coronation trumpets he would gnaw his

sandal-string.

”

no Council where no Sage is—’

tis no Sage that

fears not Law ;

no Law which T ruth confirms not—’

tis no T ruth

which Fear can awe.

T hough base be the Herald,nor hinder nor let,

For the mouth Of a king is he ;

T he sword may be whet, and the battle set,

B ut the word of his message goes free.”

B etter few and chosen fighters than of shaven-crowns

a host,

For in headlong flight confounded, with the base the

brave are lost.

Kind is kin,howe’er a stranger—kin unkind is stranger

shown ;

Sores hurt, though the body breeds them—drugsrelieve, though desert-grown.

”

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 259

B etel nut is bitter,hot

,sweet

,spicy

,binding

,

alkaline

A demul cent—an astringent—foe to evils intestine ;

Giving to the breath a fragrance -to the lips a

crimson red ;

A detergent,and a kindler of Love’s flame that lieth

dead.

Praise the Gods for the good betel —these he thirteen

virtues given,

Hard to meet in one thing blended, even in their

happy heaven .

”

i s brave whose tongue is silent of the trophies of

his sword ;

15 great whose quiet bearing marks hi s greatness

well assured.

When the Priest, the Leech, the Viz ier of a King his

flatterers be,

Very soon the King will part with health,and wealth

and piety.

”

260 PR OVE R B IAL W'

IS DOM.

faith,

T houghtless,spiritless

,or careless, changing

with every breath,

Or the man who scorns his rival—if a prince

choose a foe,

R ipe for meeting and defeating, certes he

choose him so.

”

B y the valorous and unskilful great

are not wrought ;

Courage, led by careful Prudence, unto

is brought.”

Grief kills gladness, winter summer, midnight-gloom

the light of day,

Kindnesses ingratitude, and pleasant friends drivepain

away

E ach ends each, but none of other surer conquerors

can be

T han Impolicy Of Fortune—Of Misfortune Policy .

”

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262 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

T ruth,munificence

,and valour

,are the vi

King ;

R oyalty, devoid of either, sinks to a rejecte

Hold thy vantage —alligators on the land

afraid ;

And the lion’

s but a jackal who hath left

shade.

”

T he people are the lotus-leaves, their mona

sun

When he doth sink beneath the waves t

every one.

When he doth rise they rise again with

blossom rife,

T o bask awhile in his warm smile, who is

and life.

”

the cows bring forth are cattle— only

then is born

An authentic lord of pastures, with his

scratching horn.

”

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM . 263

When the soldier in the battle lays his life down for

his king,

U nto Swarga’

s perfect glory such a deed his soul

shall bring.

T is the fool who, meeting trouble, straightway Destiny

reviles,

Knowing not his own misdoing brought his own mis

chance the whiles.

”

T ime-not-come and Quick-at-Peril,’ these two fishes

’

scaped the net ;

What-will-be-will-be,

’

he perished, by the fishermen

beset.”

S ex , that tires of being true,

B ase and newis brave to you !

Like the jungle-cows ye range,

Changing food for sake Of change.

T hat which will not be will not be, and what is to be

will be

Why not drink this easy physio, antidote of misery ?

264 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

enemy,

Wakes from folly like one falling in his slumber from

a tree.

’

Fellow be with kindly foemen,rather than with

friends unkind ;

Friend and foeman are distinguished not by title,but

by mind.

”

Whoso setting duty hi g hest, speaks at need unwel

come things,

D isregarding fear and favour,such an one may sue

cour kings.

”

B rahmans for their lore have honour ; Kshattriyas for

their bravery ;

Vaisyas for their hard-earned treasure ; Sud ras for

humility.

”

Seven foemen of all foemen,very hard to vanquish

T he T ruth-teller; the Just-dweller, and the man from

passion free,

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266 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM .

Hunger hears not,cares not, spares not ; no

the starving beg ;

When the snake is pinched with craving,

eats her egg.

Of the T ree Of State the root

Kings are— feed what brings the fr

Courtesy may cover mal ice ; on their heads t

men bring,

Meaning all the while to burn them,logs an

—oh,my King !

And the strong and subtle river, rippling at t

foot,

While it seems to lave and kiss it, under

hanging root.

Weep not ! Life the hired nurse is,bold

little space ;

Death, the mother who doth take us back

proper place.

PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM 267

Gone, with all their gauds and glori es : gone,like

peasants, are the Kings,

Whereunto this earth was witness,whereof all her

record rings.”

For the body,daily wasting, is not seen to waste away

,

U ntil wasted ; as in water set a jar of unbaked clay.

”

And day after day man goeth near and nearer to his

fate,

As step after step the victim thither where its S layers

wait.”

Like as a plank of drift-wood

T ossed on the watery main,

Another plank encountered,

Meets,— touches,—parts again ;

So tossed, and drifting ever,

On life’s unresting sea,

Men meet, and greet, and sever,

Parting eternally .

268

Soul ! take fill of love ; nor losin‘

o GrieveO ’ O

E ach beloved object born

Sets within the heart a thorn,

B leeding, when they be uptorn.

”

If thine own house, this rotting frame, doth wi‘

l

T hinking another’s lasting— goest thou thither ?

Meeting makes a parting sure,

Life is nothing but death’s door.”

the downward-running rivers never turn and

stay ,

So the days and nights stream deathward,b

human lives away.

”

B ethinking him of darkness grim,and death

shunned pain,

A man strong-souled relax es hold, like leather

in rain.

”

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270 PR OVE R B IAL WIS DOM.

B athe there, thou son of Pandu !with reverenc

rite,

For never yet was water wet could wash the

white.

”

T hunder for nothing, like December’

s cloud,

Passes unmarked : strike hard, but speak not 10

Minds deceived by evil natures,from the good

faith withhold ;

When hot conjee once has burned them,childre

upon the cold.

”

E N D.

PRINT E D B Y B ALLANT YN E , HANSON AN D C0.

E DIN B U RGH AN D LONDON

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Crown 8vo, pp. viii. and 406, cloth, price 75 . 6d.

T H E S E C R E T O F D E AT H .

(Fram the S anskrit.)

WIT H S OM E COLLE CT E D PO E M S .

B y E DWIN AR N OLD, M .A & c. & c.

MO R N IN G POS T . E ach new w ork of M r. Arnold’s shows

his sty le to be as vigorous , his imag ination as f ertile as ever.

He is unequa lled as an exponent of the treasures to be f ound inthe rich mine of Or iental literature. In the first threeVa llis ’ or ‘Lotus S tems

’of the

‘Ka tha Upanishad,’the purest

philosophical doctrines are convey ed in a species of parable,f ullof Oriental imag ery and viv id colouring .

”

T HE WHIT E HALL R evIE w. T he poem is a g reat, almost a

priceless, contribution to religion, topoetry , and to thought.”

ILLU S T R AT E D LO N DO N N E WS .He has drawn upon the

treasures of S anskrit, Greek, Latin, French,'

and German, f or

his varied and interesting collection ; and his touch is tha t not

only of a cunning hand, but of one who f eels that respect is dueto what he touches.

DAILY T E LE G R APH—“N othing can ex ceed theg racef ulpurity ,the sympathetic and reverent tenderness , w ith which this lovelylotus-blossom is unf olded by its f a ithful admirer .

”

GLO B E . T he story is told w ith a truly Oriental w ealth ofimagery ,

and is no less viv id in its land scape than subtle in its

philosophy .

”

S COT S MAN .T ranslations and orig inal poems a like g ive

proof of a scholarly and cultured tas te,and of g race and dignity

of diction ; and not seldom of a fine combination of vigour of

phrase w ith delicacy of thought.”

MO R N IN G ADV E R T IS E R —“E very poem in the present collec

tion w ill amply susta in M r. Arnold’s reputation as a w riter of

E ng lish verse of undoubted originality , versatility ,andpower.

”

LON DO N : T R U B N E R CO ., LU DGAT E HILL.

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Post 8vo, pp. x ii. and 282, cloth, price 75. 6d.

| N D I A N I D Y L L S .

(From the S anskrit of the Mahdbhdrata. )

B y E DWIN AR N OLD ,M .A & c. & c.

DAILY T E LE G R APH. N obody who reads the heart-stirr ingepics put into magnificent rhy thm which are contained in this

book can ever aga in afi ct to despise the people whose g eniusestablished such an imperishable monument.”

GLO B E . All the idy lls are marked by the g race of dictionand tenderness of tone which are among M r. Arnold

’s leading

characteristics, w hile it needs scarcely to be said that the sty le is

pure and eleva ted throug hout. T he imag ery ,too

,is full of

f orce andfire.

”

FO R T N IGHT LY R evIE w.

—“In his recently published volume of‘ Indian Idy lls

’

M r. Arnold continues his task of interpretingto E nglish readers the tender thoughts and gr acef ul imagery ofthe E ast. T he volume consists of e ight graphicpieces f rom the‘M ahdbhdra ta

,

’one of the tw o colossal and unparalleled epic

poems of India, which w ere not know n to E urope even by name

till S ir William 7ones announced thei r ex istence.

”

S T . J AmE s’

s GAZ E T T E M r. Arnold has eaten of the lotus

f ruit of E as tern song ,andfinds it hard to leave it. And of this

w e are f ar f rom compla ining , seeing that this tas te of his hasenabled many of us to travel into rea lms of g old

’which w e

could hardly enter w ithout some such skilf ul g uide.

”

N E W YO R K T IM E S .T he ‘ Indian Idy lls

’

partake of the

same character as his previous w orks, T he L ight of As za,

’

Pearls of the Faith,’and others

,being deeply imbued w ith the

spirit of Orienta l poetry , and having the pow er of renderingthat spirit in E ng lish language w ith a verisimilitucte and f orcewhich cannot f ail to convince the reader of the truth of its

LON DON : T R U B N E R CO., LU DGAT E HILL

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Crown 8vo, pp. x iv. and 320, with green borders ,cloth, price 75 . 6d.

P E A R L S O F T H E FA I T HO R , IS LAM

’S R OSAR Y.

B eing the N inety-nine B eautiful N ames ofAllah

(Asma-el

With Comments in Versef rom various Oriental S ources.

As made by an Indian M ussulman.

B y E DW IN AR N OLD ,M .A. , & c. & c.

T IME S .

—“M r. E dw in Arnold has succeeded in producing a

delightf ul collection of Or iental stories in verse.

”

ILLU S T R AT E D LO N DO N N E ws-(G A. S ALAX—“I am reading

M r . E dw in Arnold’

s book w ith in tense delight, f or the sake ofits maj esty and eloquence, its w ea lth and beauty of imag ery , and

its sw eet and harmonious numbers .

”

DAILY C HR O N IC L E . T he subj ect is inves ted w ithf ascinatingbeauty by the w ealth of Orienta l illustrations display ed.

”

S OOT S MAN .

— “M r . Arnold brings to the perf or mance of histaskpeculiar qualifica tions—greatpoeticg if ts , broad sympathies,and ex tensive know ledg e of Oriental tong ues, ideas , and methodsof thought.

”

S OOIE T Y. T here is such a delightf ul imagery and rhy th

mical cadence in every line that it pos itively thrills one w ith a

feeling of abounding pleasure. T he air of pure devotion, theunsurpassable pow er of description,

the inimitable eloquence and

w onderful g race, display ed w ith a lavish prof usion ,render this

w ork a lmost peerless .

”

VAN IT Y FAIR . We cordia lly recommend this book to those

w ho know the w orld of Is lam and to those who do not. T he

former w ill be pleased to see in an E ng lish dress that which

they have admired in its E astern garb the la tter w ill be sur

prised to f ind how much the M ohammedan traditions resemble

those w hi ch they have been accustomed to revere both in the Old

T estament and the N ew ,and to admire in some of the more

solemnportions of the Arabian N ights .

’

S T AN DAR D M r. Arnold has caught the spirit of theE astern or igina l, so childlike and y et so sage, so simple yet so

p rof ound, so tender inf eeling y et so strong in sense.”

LO N DON : T R iiB N E R CO .,LU DGAT E HILL.

4

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Crown 8vo, pp. x ii. and 294, cloth , price 75. 6d.

T H E L I G H T O F A S I A;OR , T HE G R E AT R E N U N CIAT ION .

(M ahabhinishkramana .)

B eing the Life and T eaching of Gautama, Prince Of India, and

Founder Of B uddhism.

(As told in V erse by an Indian B uddhist

B y E DW IN AR N OLD, M .A. , & c. & c.

IN T E R N AT IO N AL R E VIew—( O LIVE R WE N D E LL HO LM E S ) . —“It isa w ork of g reat beauty . It tells a story of intense interest, whichnever f lag s f or a momen t ; its descr iptions are drawn by the

hand of a mas ter w ith the ey e of a poet and the f amiliarity ofan expert w ith the obj ects descr ibed ; its tone is so [Of ly that

there is nothing w ith w hi ch to compare it but the N ew T esta

ment; it is f ull of variety , now picturesque, now pathetic, nowris ing into the noblest rea lms of thought and aspiration ; it

finds language penetrating , f luent, elevated , impass ioned,mus ica l alw ay s, to clothe its varied thoughts and sentiments.

”

MO R N IN G Poem— “AdmArnold, one of the most musical and

though iy’

ul of modern w r iters of verse, has given to the w orld in

T he Light of Asia’a poem which isf or many reasons remark

able. E ntirely apart f rom the v ivid beauty of the scene as

set f orth in these noble lines, it is w orthy of note w ith wha t

in irnitable success the figure of onomatopa’ia is employ ed ; it isimpossible to conceive of any thing moreperf ect in this w ay than

such a line as that descriptive of the successive rises of the

(Himalay an)precipice. N ot the leas t of his mer its is thathe w rites such pure and delicious E ng lish T he L ight ofAsia is a noble and w orthy poem .

”

DAILY T E LE GR APH. T he L ight of Asia’is a remarkable

poem,and w orthy of a place among st the great poems of our

time. M r. Arnold isf ar more than a coiner of sw eet w ords

he is the exponent of noble impressions . He is a scholar and a

philosopher ; but he is a lso a true singer.

”

CALC U'

I‘

I‘

A E N GLIS HMAN . In M r. E dwin Arnold, Indian

poetry and Indian thought have at leng th f ound a w orthy E nglish exponent. He bring s to his w ork thef aci lity of a ready pen, athorough know ledge of his subj ect, a grea t sympathyf or thepeopleof this country , and a command of public attention at home.

”

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S mall 4to, pp. x x .-196, handsome ly bound in cloth, price 215.

T HE ILLU S T R A T E D E D IT IO N OF

T H E L I G H T O F A S I A ;O R , T HE G R E AT R E N U N CIAT IO N .

(M ahabhinikhkrama na . )

B y E DW IN AR N OLD, M .A. , & c. & c.

With Illustrat ions taken, for the mos t part, from Photographs

of B uddhist S culptures and Frescoes , found in Ancient R uins

in India,averaging 2000 years old

,many of them being identi

hed by eminent archaeological authorities , both in India and a t

home, as actua lly illustrating S cenes in the Life of GAU T AMA

B U DDHA, the Founder of B uddhism, and the hero of Mr.

Arnold’s poem.

T m es . T he volume def ers agreeablyeditions de luxe in being Of a portable siz e.

”

S COT S MAN . N ot only is the poem beautified by its illustrations , but the illustrations thems elves have a high value f orarchwolog ists. T he illustrations are adm irably produced ,and in typography a nd in paper there i s nothing lef t to bedesired . A like, then, because of its ex ternal beauty and its in

trinsicmerits , this book must be most highly commended.

”

DAILY T E L E G R APH. T ha t the cha racter q“

these tr ulyremarkable illus trations w ill be f ully appreciated on ly by those

who have thoroughly entered into the spirit of the poem,and

who theref ore know how to interpret them, philosophically as

w ell as artisticalbt,’is no misf ortune to the possessor of this

beautiful edition. While the engrav ings cannot f ail to

diligent research in the subtleties inpoetic and philosophicthought which abound on every page of thepoem.

”

S PE CT AT O R . A singular ly well-printed and w ell-got-up

e ii tion of A!r . Aruold ’s w ell-known epic. T he volume is not

too large, as almost all editions de luxe are, and its illus trationshave a meaning .

”

B OOKS E LLE R _ T he volume is illus trated in a very rerna rk~

able manner , the whole of the designs being litera l copies ofsculptura l monumen ts of B uddhzlstic origin .

about the book is in ha rmony w ith the centra l idea

LO N DON T R U B N E R CO . , LU D GAT E HILL

7

U N IFOR M E DIT ION OF

E DWIN AR N OLD’ S POE T IGALWORKS .

In S ix V olumes, crown 8vo, uniformly bound in cloth,price I

, 165. S old only in S ets.

T HE LIGHT OF AS IA ;

OR , T HE GR E AT R E N U N CIAT ION .

IN DIAN PO E T R Y

T H E IN DIAN SON G OF SON GS , &c.

PE AR LS OF T HE FAIT H

O R , ISLAM’

S R OSAR Y.

IN DIAN IDYLLS .

FR OM T H E SAN S KR IT .

T HE S E C R E T OF DE AT H.

FR OM T HE SAN SKR IT .

T HE S O N G C E LE S T IAL ;

O R , B HAGAVAD-GITA. From Sanskrit.

For description of the editions of the separate volumes

seepreviouspages.

LO

S

N DON : T R U B N E R CO LU DGAT E HILL.