y Qfatttell HntttBraitg ffithrarg Jfttfara, N»m ^ortt BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF HENRY W. SAGE Cornell University Library PR 3991.A6W24 Tales of the Pandaus, 3 1924 013 204 833 Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013204833 f al^0 of tilt fmtsan^, BY A WANDERING CIMMERIAN. LONDON: HARRISON AND SONS, 69 PALL MALL; Booksellers to the Queen and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, ®ak0 : 0f : tln^ : paittrau0, BY ^ ^^RD©^KUi^© ©DiM5i^[S[K^a^rao Camp of the Pandaus. (An rhjhts reserm'd.J ^5\']6^«^ A. BRAN2S0N AND SoN, Printers, Newport, I.W. To W- W- W; my Companion in many of the localities mentioned, 1 dedicate the following little work. "^I^vtfatto^ WORD of explanation is due to tlie Reader of the following " Tales of the Pandaus." They have no claim whatever to be considered exact reproductions of Hindu fable, as they have in fact little or no foundation in legend or chronicle. The main thread of each is purely ima- ginary ; though a certain veri-similitude to recorded quasi- historical legend has been observed throughout the work. The heroes of the MahSbarat, selected as representative champions in the following " Tales of the Pandaus," arg : — (1) YuDisHTiRA — called also Dharm-raja, the "Just" King — ho was Lord of Indra-prastha (ancient Delhi). His name is derived from the Sanskrit v/ordYnAh], ''battle," and stjiira, "7?rm,"=unflinching in the fight. He was eldest and perhaps the most interesting character of the five heroic brethren. (2) Bhim-sen or Bhima, the "Strong" one. He vras commander-in-chief of the Pandau armies. (3) Arjuna, the "Valiant" — Lord of the Sounding Bow — a most interesting character. The fi-iend and ally of Kiishna. (4) Nakoola, the " Wise" one; sometimes called Nizkoola. (5) Sahadbva or Skdiva, the "Handsome" man. The five brethren are sometimes represented as types of the abstract qualities for which they were respectively distinguished. The five stories are reproduced in the order in which they were written : one of them only (Sediva) has previously appeared in print. These stories do not aspire to serve any " moral purpose : " tliey were written simply to amuse fellow-ti'avellers ; mostly at the localities introduced in each story. No. I. was mostly written in camp during one long sunmier's night in the foiTst of Knjjear in Chumba, which forms part of its theatre of action; Nos. II. and III. were also written whilst travelling in the mountain districts of the Himalayas they respectively represent, and where of course reference to classic authorities was impossible ; hence certain slight inac- curacies, in allusions to classic subjects, may have crept in, and might be detected by an exact scholar ; a few of such, however, have been corrected on revision. Nos. IV. and V., though also sketched whilst travelling in tlie localities men- tioned, have slightly more claim to accurijcy of reference, and — though solely imaginary — owe something to consultation of such works as the Rdmdydna, the Mdhdbdrdt, the Hdrivansa, Hitopadesa, &c., and other Sanskrit chronicles. The sequel also (No. VI. to the end) — "The Wars of the Pandaus, &c., &c., may from similar causes evince more of the "lamp" in their composition, as acknowledged further on in the work by the " Wandering Cimmerian."* The Author would, however, respectfully deprecate learned criticism of tliese trivial Tales, written, as they wore, simply to amuse. It will be observed, in the course of the work, that certain minor deities of the Hindu Pantheon have been pressed into the service as leading characters in several of the stories. Here again the Author would emphatically disclaim any ov the slightest wish to cast- ridicule on the Hindu religion, in its purity, as enunciated in the early vedas of the old monotheistic Aryan age ; though he believes that in its nidi'e modern cor- rupt and idolatrous form, as vitiated by priestcraft, it may present legitimate objects of laughter. Such characters as "Krishna," "Hanunian," &c. — regarded by some Hindu »,See pages 136—137, PREFACE. schools of theology as emanations of Deity — may surely serve as vehicles of jest and laughter; and the Author confesses that during a long association with representatives of these cults, he has at times felt his sense of ridicule, not to say disgust, excited at many of their modern fantastic manifestations. Nevertheless, and notwithstanding these hard words, the reader of such works as the early Vedas (Rig Veda, &c.), and their upanishads or sacred hymns, cannot with justice withhold his admiration, or fail to acknowledge the noble poetry they contain ; in which also a belief in an undivided and universal Creator is not only admitted but emphasized. The first article indeed of the Hindu creed expressly affirms tliis: — "There is "one living and true God ; everlasting; without body, parts, " or passions ; of infinite, power, wisdom, and goodness ; the "Maker and Preserver of all things." And again, the Isara- syam, an upanishad (hymn) of the Yajur-Veda, declares : " By "one Supremfe Ruler is this universe pervaded; — over every " world in the whole circle of Nature. Enjoy pure delight, "man! by abandoning all thought of this perishable world, "and covet not the wealth of any creature existing!" The sage of the Yajur-Veda, in his perplexity, pathetically exclaims : " I am in this world like a fi-og in a dry well. Thou " only, O Lord ! art my refuge ; Thou only art my refuge ! " So that any ridicule cast upon the fantastic semi-deities of the Hindoo Pantheon, as fabled by weak and unworthy suc- cessors of the ancient monotheistic Aryans, must not be im- puted to the Author. Par be it from him to disparage the sublime poetry and thought contained in the works quoted. The cosmogony of the Vedas, and the morality of the Rania- yana, merit the respect of all scholars. It will be observed that frequent allusion is made through- out this work to Maya or "heavenly illusion." On this subject, a great authority (Sir W. Jones) has written; "The " wisest among the ancients, and some of the most enlightened " among the moderns, believed that the whole creation was rather VI. TEEFACE. " an energy tlian a work, by 'wliich the Infinite Being — who is "present at all times and in all places — exhibits to the minds "of his creatures a set of perceptions * » # which exist " indeed to every wise and useful purpose, but exist only so far "as they are perceived, a theory no less pious than sublime, "and as/lifferent from iiny principle of atheism as the brightest " sunshine differs from the blackest midnight. This illusive "operation of Deity the Hindoo philosophers called '■'■Maya" A few quotations have been made from the Vedas in the following Tales, especially in No. IV. Story. Passing bye, liowevei-, these ancient poems of early Aryan monotheism, we arrive at the era of the Rarndydna. Of this noble epic the Author of the " Iliad of the East" has written : " In spite of several defects arising from oriental typos of "thought and expression, the work is so rich in poetic beauty "and genuine humour, revealing at the same time so liigh a "moral standard, and a spirit of such large and tender hu- " manity, tliat we must place it far above the Mahabarat, and "pronounce it an honour to any literature." Next, after some centuries, we come to the Mdhdbdrdt, a work of some eighty thousand slokas or verses, which fore- shadows a new philosophy, and, in fact, inaugurates the Vedantic school of Hindu tliought; * but is (as I think ) a debased cult in that religion. It contains within its overgrown bulk, however, a quasi-historical clement which forms the gist of the chronicles whence the exploits of the lieroic Pandaus are ex- tracted. It contains, besides, episodes innumerable, strung together into a vast repertoire, from which modern Hindoos of all sects and castes can draw inspiration as to cosmogony, religion, and ethics in general ; but it is clouded by mytholo- gical obscurities and metaphysical subtleties, which detract from its poetic merit, and the reader has to wade through a vast mass of trivialities before he can arrive here and there at notewortliy ))oints of interest. * See foot note, page 161, iPREPACfi. VU. The Hdrivansa — as the name implies — purports to be the history of Hdri, or Vishnoo the "Preserver:"' and also con- tains the exploits of his earthly representative (avatar) ^m/i«a, the friend and ally of the Pandaus. It contains also a cos- mogony or genesis of Narryana — another name of Hari — who is in it made the chief exponent of creation, and the champion of the Wars of the Gods against the Assnrs or Titans, hostile tg Indra and the Gods of the Hindoo Pantheon. Sections VII. and VIII. of this little work are chiefly founded on its legends (and those of the Prem-Sagur), and have been added to the original five "Tales of the Pandaus." These, and a few other works such as the Meghadatta, &c., have formed the chief books of reference alluded to above. They were but imperfectly known to the Author whilst — during a busy life — sketching the original stories whilst travel- ling; and in his pseudonym of the "Wandering Cimmerian," he has acknowledged his obligation to them in the' "Cave" (see pages 136 and J37). He has also acknowledged in the proper place such other excerpts as he has made from other sources and authors from time to time. Finally — repeating his caution that these stories are written without any "moral purpose'' — he would still hope that, whilst aspiring only to amuse, tliese little legends of India may, in a modest way, possess some interest for such English readers as m,ny not have had opportunities of becoming conversant with.- Sanskrit literature, or with tlie ancient manners and habits of thouglit of a portion of our Aryan brethren in the East. Hillside, 8th August, 1884. No. Page 1 "g^e §fori? of ^ebiva t^e '^^anbau 1 (a cSegettb of Jlnctcnf §n6ta) 2 '^^e ^an6ertrtgs of ^u6t&^ttr, ^tng of ^tn&osi^an (a ^jragntettf) 17 3 "g^e -glegjrcfs of Jlriuna t^e '^anbau C,b (an §6j?C) 4 ^^tma, t^e ^Sajr g^tef (a ^^apso&i?) 81 5 ■gia&ooCa, f^e "g^anfeau (a §iatrj? liate) - 105 6 "p^c ISar of t^e "^ctnbttus !37 ("pctftCe of S^uvu-^s^etva) 7 ^rts^tta, anb t^e §tege of ^af^'ra 147 8 ■@§ec5tasf5>ai?sof-^rts^na&t^c^an&aus 153 9 "g^c "Vision of ^Hax&anb^x^a 161 Cg^e piars of t^e Jlssitrs) 10 ^pmns fo llarri^ana & ^at?a (from 1G8 t^e ^ig IJe&a) E R RATA. Page 85, line 9, for Dionysius read Dionysos. Page 151, line 18, word incomplete in accented vowels, it should be Oiitdddtchehsrdras. .A. LEOEITID OF .A.IsrCIE3SrT UnTODI-A.. I. SHORTLY after the golden age, when men and women of pure race alone dwelt in the wild mountains of Himaleh, a youthful hunter of Cashmere, having wandered beyond the limits of his own lovely valley, lost his way amidst the vast pine forests of Chumba. Game was, however, plentiful, and the youthful Pandau — himself of the Khsdtriya or warrior caste — managed to support life by the produce of his bow and arrows, wild honey, and the many wholesome and delicious fi-uits and berries familiar to him from childhood, which abound in those mountains. After some days' wandering he arrived at the banks of the torrent Eavi, whose stream was just beginning to swell from the first downfalls of the summer rains and from the melted snows of- Muni-Mahesh — the glacier or sacred peak from which issue the head waters of the Ravi, and other torrents which rush from the Barmawur valley — through the rocky chasms of the Chumba gorge. This, however, was of no account in stopping his progress, which he now determined to continue southwards. Plunging in, and holding his bow above his head, he stood in five minutes' time on the opposite bank, and re-adjusted his dress for the ascent of the adjacent mountains. It was not, however, till near sunset that after a long climb he entered the belt of pine forest that encircled a lovely vale of green pastnrage. He there paused to gaze around him. The slanting rays of crimson glinted through the lofty stems of the cedars, which here and there lifted their tufted heads above the forest, some festooned with roses, and even a few of their number feathering into the lovely plain at his feet, 2 THE STOKY OF in which herds of wild cattle were browsing. Across the valley, from tree to tree, woodland birds were darting, seeking their nests before nightfall. The youth stood on a pine-clad knoll of mossy turf, which, jutting out from the surrounding forest towards the west, commanded a view of the vale beneath. He deteiinined to bivouac on tlie spot, and — as game seemed abundant — to make it his resting place for some days, and explore every nook of the lovely vale. His simple couch was soon spread : his wallet contained the materials of a sapper, and by the time the full summer moon rose over the eastern mountains, our young hunter was enjoying the sleep of youth and health. But not dreamless were the youth's slumbers ! The spirits of the wilderness had not then left the earth, and various forms of supernatural being, now denominated creations of the Hindoo mind, still roamed the mighty forests of Himaleh. Siva, the Destroyer, still howled along the glaciers of Himodi — the Land of Snow — or thundered in the mighty torrents which pour from its eternal snows. " Kachshdsas" — Daemons of the Wilderness — still roamed the forests, and "voices without a form" darkly whispered in the gloomy solitudes and mountain tarns, causing the benighted traveller fearful solicitude. Nor were fairer forms of supernatural being wanting : the more gentle Yakshas, and that benign spirit of solitude, since named by the Greeks Alastor — friend of the musing mind — and his fair sisters, nymphs of the dells and fountains, tempered with thek gentle spells the austere tyranny of the evil races ; and to them, and to Vishnoo the Preserver, the youthful Pandau had committed himself on closing his eyes in slumber: — nor was his invocation vain. As the moon began to silver the cedar tops and moss- covered branches of the forest trees, a form of rare beauty arose quietly from forth the herbage of the lovely vale beneath, either from slumber amidst the wild flowers, or — as it seemed — from the margin of a tiny spring or fountain which gushed forth from the mossy soil, white and silvery as the moonbeams which touched it with their sheen. Whether Nymph of the dell or Naid of the stream, she seemed the Peri* or tutelary ' Fairy. SEUIVA THE I'ANDAU. 3 genius of the vale, and the queen of these summer realms. Raising a wand wlrich shimmered in the moonlight, in a twinkling, myriads of similar beings, but far smaller, appeared on all sides, forming a vast circle around her, and adoring her as their queen. Some armed with wands or spears, the points of which shone as diamonds or glow worms : others hovered like fireflies over the mossy streamlets, which, gushing from the fountain, meandered down the " vale and watered the flowers of the meadows. Over all, the summer moonlight fell in soft showers through the feathery branches of the cedars, whose stems also shone like pillars of silver. And still the youtji slumbered on the western heights which overlooked this fairy dell, these mossy fountains, and the fair inhabitants of their margin.- But not alone were these lovely creatures the inhabitants of the valley. In a gloomy recess of the woods stood a dark form — one of the Serpent race, adoring his idol. The wor- ship of the "tree and serpent," that ancient and mystic form of superstition was then young on earth, and the Naga or Serpent-god was a votary of that dark religion. Hanging from the branches of an enormous forest tree, a hideous form like unto a huge brazen serpent was suspended, and around, on surrounding boughs, imp-like forms were peering round the stems, to which they clung with talon-like claws ; their eyes furtive and evil, alternately watching their leader and the young stranger slumbering beneath the moonlight. These seemed the creatures of night, and kept witliin the shadows of the trees and tufted knolls of the pine ridge, whose dark shadows fell across half the vale. Suddenly the night grew overcast, and a still, brooding darkness fell on the valley ; darli clouds began to roll up from the low country, lightning to dart across the mountains, and thunder to mutter in the distance. Whether the natural signs of an approaching tem- pest, or proceeding from the wrath of dfenions, who can say? Suddenly a wail or unearthly shriek sounded through the dark forest, and the echoes of the vale reverberated tlie dismal sound — the heralds of Siva, the dread Destroyer, are ap- proaching. Ill the gleams of the lightning the tall, horrid form of the Naga is seen to stalk across the glade towards the hunter. * * * And still the youth slumbered on the western heights which overlooked this fairy dell, these mossy fountains, and the inhabitants of their marein. b 2 4: THE STORV of Darkness deepens on the valley. A low moaning sound of the wind amidst the pines is heard. The- Destroyer, the spirit of the tempest, is at hand. Suddenly a gleam of ruddy light eastwards illumes the night, and discloses a silrer cloud, or it might be the spray of the fountain concealing the fairy queen and her followers, and a gauze-like mist of silver butterfly fonms floats over the cedar tops ; perchance the winged portion of her subjects, startled,' had flitted through the star-spangled night to other recesses. But the dark spirit of the pines — the gloomy creature of the woods with his attendant imps, peering from tree to tree, gibbering, howling, uttering dismal cries — slowly descends into the vale, and surrounds with a black circle the fountain within whose margin still rested the lovely fairy of the flowers and? her train. Once more, however, a silver cloud arises from the fountain, and gliding away over the hills becomes lost in the purple distance of night. At the same time a lovely form seemed to stand by the hunter, and touching him with her wand to say : — "Arise, oh Sediva ! leave this vale ; other destinies await " thee in thiiiB own much-loved country, and me thou shalt " meet on the margin of thy native streams, ready to help thee "to rule thy race with wisdom, and to fill thy heart with "beauty and goodness! For thee, oh Naga! oh Kajji of the " serpent race ! I consign thee to the dark depths of the morass " prepared for thee, and which shall be called by thy name for " all the years of the age of bronze ! so farewell, oh lord of the "black Nag! We meet no more." * # » A dire tempest raged through the pines and cedars, and dark mountains of the "black" forest of " Diarkhoond. It was daylight, and tlie sun was streaming through the pine tops ; and the festoons of white roses — which floated from many of them like tassels — caught the rising sun, when the young Pandau arose from slumber, and liaving sung his hymn to Vishnoo the Preserver looked around. In the very centre of the lovely vale lay a deep black pool, surrounded with dank spongy herbage, on whose dark waters two solitary, sad-coloured water lairds were sailing. The hunter had not on the preceding evening observed the pond ; it had seemed to him that merely the winding thread of a silver streamlet meandered through the grpcn mossy herbage. Whether he saw these things in a dream, or whether the SEDIVA THE PANDAU. spirits of the mountains and dells had held their colloquy before hiin, ever remained a mystery to his mind, — but the bright Fairy's word came true. Sediva returned to his home in Cashmere after many wanderings, and the recollection of the lovely Spirit who had appeared to him in the wild forests of Chumba remained with him. When and how the fair creature next appeared to hira must form the subject of another chapter. ll N order to obtain a second glimpse of the youthful J|. Pandau wo must transport our readers to the sultry plains of HindostLan — to the city of Hustinapoora, and Matli'ra in the land of Braj — whilst Ogrcgund ruled Cashmere, and Krishna roamed and led the dance on tlie hanks of the Yamuna ;* whilst yet the kingdoili of Magadha flourished, and tlie age of iron had scarcely dawned on the dsedal earth ; ere the gods of Greece — fugitive from the East— had earned immortality, or tlie Thessalian nightfires ceased to illume the fields of fair Parthenope ; or the groans of Polyphemus ceased to echo along the wild Trinacrian shore. Behold our hero, therefore, during his return journey from the southern Himaleh and the source of the holy Gunga (Ganges), bidden to the marriage of Jarasiud, the King of Math'ra, the guest of the King. The youth, however, whilst paying his respects at court, as in duty bound— though banished from Thanesur, where his cousins the Koraus reigned — spent much of his time in the wild jungles along the banks of the blue Yamuna, rendered classic to tlie Hindoo mind of all succeeding centuries by the freaks of Krishna at that very period ; the Gopies of the land of Braj standing in the same relation to that semi-human hero as the Nymphs of ancient Greece or Rome to the heroes and derai-gods of classic story. * The moclern Ji;innE(, b THE STORY OF The young Pandau in one of these hunting excarsions-r- whilst tlie lilac bdchain, and sissoo trees gave forth their fra- grance, and tlie scai-let dak and kurel (wild caper) dotted at intervals the landscape — roamed along the banks of Hansorava (lake of the wild geese), through the groves of Bindrabun, and fields of fair Math'ra, to Maur-bun (abode of peacocks) and Chand-saravar (lake of the moon), and took up his abode for a time at a hermit's cell in the wilderness of Koomunt (Gwalior). From this point of vantage he could survey the surrounding country, note the wandering lion or leopard re- treating to his lair, the droves of wild pig "whiffling through the tulgy wood," or the fi'esh herds of antelope which at that period — as indeed they still do — roamed over the land of Brsij. Denied a career in arms, the vigorous heart of the young Pandau gloried in contests with the wild beasts of the jungle. One day, on returning from his morning's hunt for refuge from the sultry noonday heat, he was surprised to see reclining in the shade of an adjacent chanipa (jessamine) tree a fair damsel, who, though clad in the homely garb of the gopi (milkmaid), evidently , betrayed the princess in disguise. Starting up on the approach of SediYa, she modestly veiled her face from his gaze in accordance with oriental ideas of propriety, and commenced to move away. Our hero, however, being a bold mountaineer, advanced, and saluting the fair unknown, respect- fully offered his services to conduct her to her friends. " Oh, dea certe ! " exclaimed he, as the unknown timidly peeping from beneath her doputtili, or veil, thanked liim, half revealing beauties of rare excellence, and according with eastern ideas of beauty, eye of gazelle, nose of the parrot, gait or waddle of the goose, etc., etc.; beautiful as the full moon as it ariseth over the sands of Hurdwar and lighteth the waters of the dark blue Gunga. Something, moreover, in her served to recall to his memory the remembrance of the lovely Fairy of the Fountain, albeit under the assumed garb of the humble gopi. At this moment, however, a stranger appeared on the scene, hounding across the sward in all the exuberance of youth. By the bright Indra, Krishna ! The youth saluted ; but the hero, surprised apparently at seeing people in this solitary spot, abruptly stopped, and re- garding the young Pandau with attention, suddenly burst into wild laughter, and exclaimed : — 8EDIVA THE PANDAU. V "Aree! oU hunter; we are rivals it seems ! This then, oh " Sediva, oh son of Pand, is the hunter's life in the jungles ! " Shabdsh ! Well, make love to her, young man ; the gopi "breathes not who can resist the golden anklet and the silver* " tongue ; make merry whilst the champa flower scents the " air, and the turtle dove is mating in the mangoe groves ; "but, oh son of a Khsatriya, forbear to cross too often the "playfields of Krishna, for there is danger in the act." " Great sir," answered Sediva, '■ to hear is to obey ; but " whilst thy friend the usurping Korau rules Thanesur, not to " Krishna even will the son of Pand the King give place in "the smiles of his fair love." The frolicsome Krishna smiled. " Thou art bold to. say so, "youth. So thus I withdraw my license, and thus assume "possession of the maid." He advanced to make good his words, but at this moment the fair unknown, throwing back her chumun (veil), revealed the countenance of the charming Fairy of the Fountain, and " a celestial car descending on the instant, she was borne rapidly away from sight, but not before she had bestowed a sweet smile on Sediva, who fancied he caught the words "Why "waste life? Remember my promise in the Valley of the " Fountain," softly wafted to his ear as she vanished in the blue ether. "Oh, dea certe," quoth Krishna, as he pulled out his pipe (or lute) affd drew forth such ravishing sweet music that the wild antelopes gathered round to listen, and the bachain drooped its tufted head across the feathery forest. This was the second appearance of the Fairy to Sediva, and from that day there was friendship between Krishna and Sediva, youngest of the Pandau race. * An allusion to the Pandaus who were Ghandrabuns — of the lunar or sifrer race of Rajpoots. THK STOKY OF III. ^EARS have passed, and lo ! our history leads us to Anant-Nag in Cashmere (since called Islamabad), and to Martnnd (Fountain of the Sun), and the sunny karewah (plateau) of Martund, sacred to the Sun-god. The Fairy of the Fountain has appeared to Sediva, and bid him build there a city and an altar to the triune deity, and a temple to the Sun-god — author of life and happiness — and the Pandau has commenced his labour. How, or in what fashion the Fairy met Sediva, whether as erst Egeria met Numa in the mossy dells of Tibur, there is no record to tell. Who shall say when and how the guardian genius descends to the musing mortal, or the whisper of the unseen guide is wafted from the star one loves ? By degrees the cyclopean walls rose above the plain, and the vast caverns— fabled to have been cleft by Snsravas the Serpent-god — yielded stone to the quarriers of the Pandau, and the pools of Anant-Nag were paved with huge slates triform, and the temple of " Pandau-lerrie" arose on the sunny karewah of Martund. The prince looked upon his work and was glad. Standing on this very spot had the divine Kashyapa — after his labour of draining the primaeval lake which had submerged the valley during the ages of silver and bronze — "contemplated with ecstacy the glory of his kingdom snatched from the waters of desolation ; he beheld the glittering peaks of Himaleh lit up by the splendour of the sun sinking behind Baramoola, the scene of his laliours, whilst the waters of a thousand streams — leaping from the hills in cascades — caught the fleet- ing glory. He cast down the mundane egg, and from its luminous core gushed the Fountain of Martund, sacred to the Sun-god," and he had prophesied that "in after years, hard by this hallowed spot shall arise the noble Temple of the Sun, work worthy of his posterity — worthy of the great lunar race (Pandaus) by whom constructed." So stood Sediva one summer's eve watching the orb of day dipping beyond the western mountains of Waramool ; and SEDIVA THE PANDAU. !» thus he stood till the rising moon began to clothe the grey walls of Martund in silver, and the lamps of night began to shine over the mountains of the "cloudy" Dudina and of " Wuster-Wun," the forest-covered ; and the distant peak of Hdra-mookh stood out clear like the sentinel of the northern sky. Suddenly beside him stood the ethereal form of the Fairy-queen, and a, gentle sigh was wafted in his ear. Sediva was beloved of many fair ones of Cashmere, the land of his exile, and royal damsels filled the house of the Pandau prince, but more dear to Sediva the sigh of the gentle spirit of wisdom and warning, than the smiles even of Shireen herself, sweetest of the sweet ! Bat the prince seemed sad. The melancholy wisdom of Sulieman, the Syrian philosopher, then recently uttered,* had penetrated- those remote lands. "Isaun," the cousin of the royal sage, had conveyed his wis- dom into the land of roses, and the sad philosophy of the "Preacher" filled the heart of the Pandau prince as he turned from the sunset and paced slowly down towards his palace, distant about two koss (four miles; across the lonely karewah. His converse with the Fairy may not be revealed ; — words of warning and whispers of approaching dangers, to be followed however, by success and greatness, were vouchsafed, and an encouragement to be brave and self-rpliant; then gradually, as he paced slowly onwards, the form of the Fairy faded from his sight and floated away like the mists of the morning. He now walked more briskly, for the night was becoming over- cast, and clouds began to gather towards the north ; the ululatus of night creatures began to be heard, and bats flitted ominously across the lurid crepuscule, and the signs of a tempest seemed to be gathering on the forest-clad hills of the Duchin-para. Suddenly the hair stood , erect on the head of the prince. He knew that the spirits of evil were abroad, and that the heralds of the dread "Siva" were approaching. A whirlwind burst over the karewah, and soon the gloomy, many-handed deity of destruction — riding on the tiger steed, wielding the sword of vengeance streaming with the blood of victims slain — stood in his path. * An anachronism. Solomon lived about 1000 E.c. The chronology of India, however, is uncertain, and the two events approximate. It may be mentioned - that the text is in accordance with Mahomedan legends as to Isaun visiting Cashmere. 10 THE STORY OF " Death ! " exclaimed the spectre. "To the enemies of my lord ! " quickly answered the Prince. " To a crested head ! " retorted the gloomy deity, "Of the great crested Kajji-Mg!" cried Sediva. " How ? of ray servant and worshipper. Rash prince, be- "ware ! I say, of a crowned head." "A peacock shall be sacrificed," quickly rejoined Sediva. " Of a man," howled, the destroyer. "Who is still unborn," retorted Sediva. "Thou hast said it," exclaimed the gloomy destroyer. " Thine unborn son, the hope of thy Shireen, shall perish, oh " Pandau. Pass on ; thou hast prophesied the destruction of "thy house." So saying, the gloomy deity of destruction turned aside on his way into the dark forests and wild solitudes of the Pir-Pinjal. Relieved of his presence the sky grew clearer, and the stars began to peep out of the purple sisy. " Cheer up, . Sediva ! " cried a voice at his elbow, and the frolicsome Krishna — pulling his pipe from his mouth — stood and tapped the prince on the shoulder. " Cheer up, Sediva ! " Don't let your spirits go down ; for there's many a maid in " Yamuna's shade waiting for you and your crown." " Potstausend ! that is, I mean SliabashI" cried Sediva, Stumbling over his Hindi, — "A thousand welcomes to Anant- " ghur, oh Krishna ! " and they walked off hand in hand to- wards the king's palace. Descending from the karewah, they passed across the zone of marshy flat around its base. Now, in those remote days the wildfire burned fiercely in the bosom of the marsh, and the great architect — Nature — had scarcely compelled the wandering wildfires of the elemental powers into the stony, heart of Kali,* the Earth-goddess. Before them waved the luminous spirit of the fens, and that vast, gigantic apparition called by the inhabitants of Cash- mere " BrAm-Br^ra-chuk," here presented his figure towering above the rocks and flags of the marsh, his eyes of flame glaring on the two princes. " Ha I by Wittabah ! the Jabberwoch ! " exclaimed Sediva. "Who may you be, great sir?" cried out Krishna. "Stop ' Demeter of the Greeks. SEDIVA THE PANDAU. 11 "where you are, my lad, my pipe is" out! You're just the " fellow I want to liglit me up again ! " But the giant knew his master; waxed pale, and "evanished, "not without stench and with a melodious twang," as has been said or sung of some more modern ghost.* "I tell you, Sediva," says Krishna, "these Cashmere ghosts "are pukka (arrant) howlets ; laugh at them and their " menaces, and all will go well ; " but a shade was on the face of the Pandau as he thought of Siva and his denunciations. Now there was a very old Eishee (or hermit) living at that time in the caves of Susravas. He dwelt at the extremity of the winding cavern of Bramejo, sacred to the planet Mai-s. He was a servant of Snsrdivas the Naga. He had subsisted on fir-cones for fifty years, till his beard turned green, and bristled with spines like the porcupig of Chiui. He was very wise. Sediva bethought him of this sage, and as his way lay along the entrance of his cell he tapped three times on the brazen bell which hung suspended at the cavern's mouth. "Who seeks Cuekchand, the grass-eater?" " The Prince, great sir." " Oh, Pandau ! I know thy need ; go to the temple of Vishnoo "the Preserver; offer this betelnut in clarified butter, perform "the saptopuddie (triple walk round the sacred fire seven steps "at a time), recite a mantra (invocation), and ask a boon." So still on through the moonlit night proceeded the two princes. Arrived at the shrine of Vishnoo tlie Preserver, Sediva performed the sacred rites, related his case, and asked a remedy. A voice from the great Idol within the temple answered, "The remedy has already arrived; thy wife Shireen "has, since thine absence from the palace, given birth to a " daughter f' So Siva the Destroyer was wrong for once in his long life — six Brahminical days=432,000,000 years, I think— and his prophecy of doom became a dead letter. That night Krishna and Sediva crushed a chaurasif (84) shells of Dardu wine ; and Krishna put himself outside * The so-called "Cock -lane ghost," believed in by Samuel Johnson. The allusion to that modern portent, the Jabberwoch, would lead us to conclude that the legend has been touched by a modern hand. t The multiple of twelve months of the year by seven days of theweek. 12x7= 84 = one chaiu:asi, a mystic number according to Hindoo ideas. 12 THE STORY OP (33=) 27 pipes of Eon'd'ho bhang, and sang (3x7 =)21 slokas or verses — each sloka containing an attribute of grace or of good fortune — in token of the escape of the heiress of Anantghur. IV. m.Y. 2268]. Transport we our readers to the" field of Korau-khet (or Kirkhet) near Thanesur, where the mighty deeds of heroes were enacted in the year 1367 B.C., when the exiled Pandaus, having collected their adher- ents, appeared in arms for the recovery of their capitol from the usurper Jiijoodeen the Koran. Sediva, the youngest of the Pandaus, marches with a band from the Cashmere mountains with Ogregund the King. Passing through the Nargaon purgannah by the fountain of Neela-Nag, they try their fortunes by the casting of the walnut in the mystic waters. Such is the omen. On, past Abhisaras, Jumin — native seats of Ogregund the King — through Indra-Kote and Ndgra-Kote — cities of King Hode — across Jalindrii marish-lands and the rolling waters of the Hyphasis, and so to Kirkhet and Thanesur, to besiege Hustin- apoora, the ancient heritage of King Bharut, and of the great solar and lunar races (Koraus and Pandaus.) In arms appear the "melancholy" Yudishtir, eldest of the Pandaus ; his brothers, Arjuna of the sounding bow, Bhimsen and Nizkool, and now the youngest of the Pandau brethren, Sediva, with his power from Cashmere ; a host as valiant as Eama, as active as Hanuman, as numerous as the ants or locusts of the air, appears in arms on the field of Korau-khet, for the recovery of their ancestral throne. On the other side — from Thanesur — Jiijoodeen, eldest of the Koraus, and seventy of the sons of Ditrashtura the King, his brothers, appear in arms to defend the city and uphold their claims to the throne of Chitra-Boorje. Krishna, the jocund friend of Sediva, has also conip, his intentions donbttnl. Now for the clash of shields and deeds of heroes, of the 8EDIVA THE PANDAU. 13 shock of the war chariots, and trampling of the earth-shaking beasts — even elephants ; of flights of arrows dai-keriing the air like the wild fowl of Manasbul, or the flights of the hornets of the Nerbudda; and the noise of the kettle drums of the riders like the thunder of the avalanches on the distant Himodi. No tongue can describe the noise and shouting of the warriors, and the fury of the contending hosts. For many days did the heroes contend for victory. On the seventh day fell King Ogregund of Cashmere, pierced by an arrow from the hand of Balarama, brother of Krishna,* who, though friendly to Bediva, fought for the Korau host, and his steeds galloped wildly over the plain dragging the lifeless body of the King. As he fell he had time to call to Sediva — who fought beside him — " Oh Sediva, the Naga was true ! Did "not the 'trial of the walnut' prophesy disaster? Farewell! " oh Pandau. Let the bards of the valley sing how Ogregund "fell in the van of battle on a distant land." On this day also Sediva himself was wounded by Jirjoodeen, the Korau King, his cousin, whose elephant he sought to surround and capture. On the twelfth day met Krishna and Sediva. Krishna had joined the King of Thanesur with powers from the land of Braj, with BalAr^ma, his brother. Bulhudda-Deo that day fought opposite Sediva, a monstrous man of might, his shield like the orb of the moon as it aviseth, on the festival of Dwarkanath, his spear like the palm tree of Sri-Lankapoora in far Taprobane (Ceylon). "Ho! bo! Ha! ha!" laughed Bulhudda-Deo. Eaising his mace with both hands, and whirling it around his head, he was about to discharge it full on the head of Sediva, who liad that day dismounted to fight on foot amidst his mountaineers^ but the latter — anticipating modern science — delivered a point in tierce, which, passing through his short ribs, would theii and there have terminated the career of anyone less than th^ brother of a demi-god. As it was, he fell prone on the sand and bellowed like the bull of Bhumthal. * So related in the Raja Taringiui — the great chronicle of Kasmir — but this is scarcely in accordance with the Mahabarat, in which Krishna is represented as siding with the I'andaus, who are there related to have been commanded in the field by Bhimsen or Bhima. Balarama also is represented as withdrawing in dis- gust at the internecine character of the war, and afterwards dwelling on the banks of the Surroosootie in strict seclusion. (Bee page 65 "Arjuna.") 14 THE STORY OF "Ah, Sediva, wilt thou slay the kinsman of Krishna?" he gasped for breath. Then Sediva stayed his hand. He remembered his former friendship for Krishna, and spared his fallen foe. He called aloud, — "Arise, oh Bulhudda-Deo, and seek other foes else- " where." He then resumed the fight. The night approaching, on this seventeenth day of the battle, put a stop to the strife of heroes, and Sediva retired to his tent. This happened on the sixth chait k.y. 2268 (1367 B.C.) The same night Sediva lay beneath his spear watching the moon arise over a grove of date trees, in order to sing his customary hymn to Vishnoo the Preserver, when suddenly he became aware of the approach of a strange warrior clad in silver armour, whose crest glittered in the moonlight. He started to his feet; — "Stand! oh Khsatriya, and show the " sign." The stranger advanced, and stretching forth his hand, bare and open; displayed a ring well known to Sediva as his own gift to Krishna in days of friendship long since at Anantghur. " Hail, oh Krishna ! " cried Sediva. "Art thou 'still the "friend of Sediva? Hail! oh, bright one! oh, merciful one! " and forget not the friendly token." It was exchanged — it may not be told — and Sediva was satisfied that Krishna was still his friend. He spake: — "I come, oh Sediva, friend of my mirthful " days, to bring thee news of the war. Enough ! The battle "is finished. The war is over. Thy great cousin, the Koran, " Jiijoodeen the King, is no more. Despairing of the victory " he has this night drank poison, and he lies in his tent in '• robes of state. At the dawn of day the chiefs will seek the " tent of Yudishtir, thy great brother, and hail him king ; and " Thou, oh brave young Pandau, wilt share this glory of thy " brother's. Arjuna, of the sounding bow, has departed with "Nizkool, of the shield; and Bhirasen, the haughty one, de- "cliues the victor's meed. Thou and the great Yudishtir are "alone left of the mighty Pandau race. Go to thy brother's "tent, and be the first to announce the tidings of victoi-y. "Who knows? it may be for thy benefit." "And thou, oh Krishna," said Sediva, "be thou propitious "and a friend to Yudishtir." " Nay, oh Sediva. Not so ; I see within thy brother's SEUIVA THE I'ANDAir. 15 "horoscope (lagan-puttrie or jiinum-puttrie) the melancholy " Saturn crossing the main line of life. Not to him will the "gay and laughter-loving Krishna join l)is fortunes. I go to " my land of Braj, and the smiling banks of Yamuna, and the "jocund friends of Krishna ! but when Thou, oh son of the " Pandau, shalt succeed thy melancholy brother, then expect " to see Krishna at thy feast — till then, farewell ! " So say- ing, Krishna laid his hand on the head of Sediva, and gradually vanished, and the night received his receding form. Sediva looked around, not without awe, but nothing met his gaze save the moonlit camp, and the moonbeam glittering on his spear-head ; and the rustling of the leaves of the date trees was the only sound that broke the stillness of the night; then he remembered the words of the Fairy of the Fountain, who had warned him of dangers, and prophesied to him of empire, and he desired earnestly to behold once more his charming monitress ; and she came to him as before, in the silence and solitude of night, and led him into the rustling grove of date trees, like the Egeria of old Roman times, and poured the words of wisdom into the ears of the young Pan- dau prince. What other testimony of love she gave may not be revealed, but such love as may be bestowed by the fair spirits of the immortals on frail humanity was. vouchsafed to the young Pandau. At the dawn of day his countenance had changed, and shone like the sun when he ariseth through the mists of the morning and lights up the yellow sands. Having armed, he entered the tent of the great Pandau, and stood like the prophet of the sun and cried aloud : — " Hail ! oh "great Yiadishtir, King of Hustinapoora and Thanesur! thy "rival is no more ; and Thou alone art monarch of Hindosthan "and the lands of the holy Gunga!" ****** So ends this brief legend of ancient India, and this is all that tlie chronicles tell us of Sediva and the Fairy of the Fountain ; but history adds that " the melancholy Yudishtir ruled the whole of India for thirty-six years ; when, becoming weary of the world, he retired into the mountains, and there ended his days in austerity and poverty." Whether Sediva succeeded to the throne, and whether the predictions of Krishna and the Fairy of the Fountain came true, there is absolutely no record to tell, beyond a tradition 16 THE STORY OP SEblVA THE JPANDAtt. that in the wild mountains of Chumba, the King Sediva dedi- cated a temple to Jullundrie, goddess of the waters and rains of spring, and appointed services and festivities in her honor from the time of the blooming of the white roses and the swarming of the halcyon butterfly till the fall of the first summer rains in the cedar forests of Kajjear. But a doubt rests on the exact locality, and the name of Sediva has al- most been forgotten in history, and the name of the Fairy of the Fountain is unknown to the sons of the Rajpoots who dwell in the forests of Chumba and Kdlu, who worship her simply as Jullundrie, the goddess of the rains of summer and of the flowers of the earth. A descendant of the western barbarians who dwelt in the Cimmerian wastes of the land of Thor — ^- extra anni aoUsqife mas" — beyond the genial sun of the Hindoo Pantheon, wandering in those wild mountains one summer time, pitched his camp for many days amidst the cedar slopes of Kajjear, and composed this tale of ancient India.* * The quasi-historical allusions in this legend are mostly in accordance with Hindoo tradition ; though having been written in the forests of Chumba, where reference was impossible, a few slight deviations from the Mahabarat may have": crept in. The imagery of Chapter I. is — deducting the supernatural' — ^referable to the natural phenomena attending the setting in of the summer rains. Thee., representative of the Naga still lives — a prosperous Jogi' — aged I'OO years, whom I have myself witnessed frantically dancing at midnight before liis idol in the forest with liis disciples — a weird sight. — ^1^uirt0^f tt[, -f tilt "f J^antrauf--v- -A. FR-A-G-a^EITT. ISTORY informs us in the Mahabarat — the great epic of tlie Hindoos — that about the end of the Dwapa yog — the age of bronze — Hustinapoora was the capitol of King Bharnt (brother of Rdma), whose posterity ruled in India eight generations, until the ninth in succession named "Kovr" arose; hence his descendants were called Koraus. The thirteenth in succession, called " Cliitra-Boorje," had two sons, "Ditrashtura" and "Pand." The former being blind was excluded from the succession,* and his younger brother Pand succeeded to the throne. He had five sons — Yudishtir, Bhimsen (or Bhima), Arjiina, Nizkool, and Sediva, named after him Pandaus ; but his elder brother, Ditrashtura, had 101 children. Jirjooden, being the eldest, became king on the dea,th of Pand, his uncle; but disputes as to the rightful succession oocumng, Jirjoodeen challenged his cousin Yud- ishtir to decide the case by throw of dice, the losers to go into exile for twelve years. Whereupon-^-the dice being false — the latter lost the wager, and according to compact went into exile with his brethren. * This is in j^cQordance witt Hindoo law ; upon this the Pandau's claim to the throne rested, C 18 THE WANDERINGS OF YUDI8HTIR, It is narrated that during this period they dwelt in Cash- mere, and other parts of India, where traces of their names are to be found lioth in that country and throughout the Himalayan range of mountains and elsewhere. After twelve years they demanded tlieir restoration to the throne, and appeared in arms before Jirjoodeen's capitol — Hustinapoora. After a desperate battle on the plain of Kir- khet or Korau-Khet,* near Than^sur, in the north-west of India, which is said to have lasted eighteen days, the King Jirjoodeen was defeated, and drank poison on the field. Upon this Yudishtir ascended the throne, and ruled the whole of India for 36 years, when becoming weary of the world he retired into the mountains, and there ended his days in auster- ity and self-imposed poverty. Thus mucli we learn from history ; but the details of the "melancholy" Yudishtir's life seem to demand more notice than is contained in the curt narrative of the Mahabarat above quoted. The career of a hero, a philosopher, and a hermit- king such as Yudishtir, is suggestive. We will attempt some sketch of his supposed adventures subsequent to the great battle of Korau-Khet, which restored him to the throne of India 1367 u.c. Let us consider a little as to the epoch of which our liistory treats. Troy had not yet fallen ;f and the melancholy Siilie- man. King of Israel, had not as yet preached the' words of wisdom to the sons of men ; the philosophy of Zoroaster ttie Magian had, however, penetrated into the northern regions of the land of Yudishtir ; but elsewhere a system of religion • Kuru-Kshetra — the plain of the Knraus— lies between the rivers Jumna and Sursooti (apud Bhagava Gita.) I Troy was taken on the 12th June 1184 b.c. Solomon married the daughter of Pharoah King of Egypt lOlS b.o, KING OP HINDOSTHAN. 19 akin to that of the Aramoean idolatry had been introduced into India. At the period of Yudishtir, the institutes of Manu -'—comparatively pare and moral — modified the religion of Hindosthan, which, however, before the epoch of Yudishtir had been moulded by the mythic traditions of the Eamayana. These, together with the Vedas, the great epic poems of Kali- dasa, Vy^sa, and other poets, and the quasi-historical myths of the Mahabarat, with other fables, eked out by later interpretations of priestcraft, have since moulded the Hin- doo religion into a subtle and metaphysical idolatry, such as the world has elsewhere never seen. Any jests at the ex- pense of this idolatry to be found in this brief chronicle must be regarded as aimed not at the essential truths underlying this Vedic faith, but at the fantastic machinery in which it is clothed, and which present to us mythic characters such as Krishna etc., who methinks, will appear to us in this work fit objects of jest and mirth. The ancient traditions of India, however, leave us in doubt as to the probability or otherwise of many semi-historical events, which from certain coincidences in chronology lead the historian to suppose may have happened in the Eastern world. It is difficult sometimes to assign date or locality to such. Thus the Abduction of Helen, and the Siege of Troy, may possibly be but an adumbration of the expedition of Edma to Singhala (Ceylon) or Lankapoora for the recovery of the lost Sita ; or possibly the two events may be but diverse renderings of the same quasi-historical or mythic event adorned by the poetry of their respective "Vates sacer," the Greek Homer or Herodotus, or the Indian Valmiki or Vyasa. We ihpline, howeveir, to a positive rendering of the main facts, and on the whole believe the wars of the Eamayana and of the Iliad to be founded on a substratum of historic fact i » » « The childhood or adolescence of the human mind is observable in both, and the doughty deeds o! demi-gods and semi-human champions is common to the Greek and Indian Aryan. c2 20 THE WANDERINGS OP YTJDISHTIH, Tlie mytbic expedition of Sesostris,* King of Egypt, is assignable to a date prior to tbat of this bistory. His galleys may have perhaps harried the coasts of Malabar, and invading armies may perhaps have entered Northern India through Bactria, whose king — Zoroaster the great Magian — had per- chance been dead several hundred years before. The mythic invasion of Semiramis, the Queen of Assyria, may also (if indeed of the least historical validity) be assigned to a somewhat earlier period (2000 B.C.), and its tradition was in the minds of men. Such, then, are a few of the great historic events which may be supposed to have influenced the career of Yudishtir the Pandau. Let us, however, now take ourselves back to the great day of history, when, on the field of Korau-Khet (1367 b.c.)'|' the victorious Yudishtir had been hailed King of Hindosthan by his brothers Arjuna and Sediva, and the chiefs of the Pandau host. The chawoter of the chief must be left to develop itself: — A dweller, during his long exile, iu that Eastern Paradise, the Vale of Kashmir, the soul of King Yudishtir had been nurtured in scenes of grandeur and sublimity, and his mind expatiated in visionary thought ; a wanderer after the sublime and beautiful, and a poet, the great heart of the Pandau King refused content with empty grandeur. Now in those patriarchal days, when families and small tribes were allowed to govern themselves, the duties of an Eastern monarch were limited to leading in war, or in peace enjoying the delights of luxury and repose. After providing for the protection of his people, Yiidishtir having reduced to order his newly acquired kingdom, found himself free to wander. It is narrated, that in the course of these travels the King met with many strange adventures. * Sesostris reigned about 1475-60 b.c. t 6 chait 15. Y. 8268— J4 March 1367 p.c, lilKG Oil' UlNbOStUAK. 21 Let us endeavour to rescue from oblivion a few of such ! From the days of Keiumurs — according to the Shah- Nameh of Firdoosi, first "king of men" — it would seem that the very existence of an ancient Eastern hero involved that of many genii or "potential sequences," as attendant spirits of good or evil. We find, whether we turn to Indian or Persic sources of infonnation, swarms of supernatural beings involved in the niikrocosm of a great man as part of his very raison- ctetre; and in the case of the mighty Yudishtir, King of Hindosthab, we find a chief malign influence crossing his line of life, as hinted at by the mirthful Krishna elsewhere. It is narrated that this malign influence was embodied in the form of a small Scarlet Sprite or Elf, who had first appeared to the Prince Yudishtir near the Lall Nag, or Scarlet Fountain, in the wild mountains of Kashmir, as he lay resting from the chase one summer's noon amidst the ferns and wild flowers which clothe the margin of the Maniisbul Lake. Tired with the chase, he had slept in the shade of the pine trees, and on awakening had perceived a small Scarlet Elf, clad in the garb of the Nagas or aborigines of tliesc mountains and forests. Gazing at him, the Autochthon had oxclaimed : "Oh, Pandau! behold thine evil genius ; expect to see me "when evil threatens the race of Pand! above all, when thy "j^osperiti/ shall evoke the envy of the base and wicked ! " No more was said, and on arising and rubbing his eyes, the Pandau prince could see nothing save the bright flowers of the mountain potentilla dotting the herbage with its scarlet asters. "Ha, ha!" laughed Yudishtir, "I grow fanciful. I am " called the ' melancholy' Yiidishti r. I fear I must be so in "good truth.'' He would have dismissed the image from his mind, but still the form of the Scarlet Elf clung to the prince's memory, and i2 THE WANDEKING8 OP YUDISHTIR, would often recur in slumber. On the whole, however, the fortunes of the Pandau had prospered ; and, apart from the general misfortune of exile, but little actual sorrow or mis- fortune had reached him : albeit the melancholy drop was ever mingled in his cup of life, and ever and anon the sad wisdom of "the Thinker" would cloud his happiest hour. At such times, too, he would fancy sometimes he caught glimpses more or less distinct of the outlines of the Scarlet Elf of Manasbui — like that of the skeleton at Egyptian feasts — obtruding as a check on his mirthful moods. It was not, however, till the night of the great victory of Korau-Kh^t that the King was again actually visited and addressed by the baleful little fury, a description of whose appearance has been narrated by the chronicles in doubtful guise. At first glance nothing appeared in the figure to denote the sex ; it was not till she spake and announced herself that if became evident. Clad in scarlet mail armour, over which a more intensely scarlet tunic descended to the knees; one long black feather or "kalgi," with elfin locks escaping from the casque, broke the general scarlet hue of the figure ; large black eyes, blazing with baleful light ; a vulture's beak, a long glittering spear, its point tipped with dazzling, burning red ! Enough ! The chronicles are vague ! This brings us to the real commencement of this history — the night of the Uth March, 1367 b.c. # * « At midnight, after the day of the great battle of Korau- Khet, King Yudishtir sate alone in his royal tent, having dismissed his courtiers and attendants. He sat absorbed in thought : the achievement of his life had been accomplished ; the , victory had been won ; the labours of twelve years of growing resolution had that day been crowned with glory kiSG OF HlNDOSTttA.lt. 2^ arid success, and he had been hailed by the assembled chiefs of India not only King of his ancestral throne, but with the augmented splendour of the whole Empire of Iridia-^acknow- ledged by the assembled kings and warriors. Neyertheless, sadness crept over the spirit of the Pandau, and the sigh of the unsatisfied soul of man fell from his kingly heart. The excitement of the battle over, and the glory won, gloomy visions oppressed his spirit. "Farewell," he murmured, "ye visions of my youth and " manhood ! The hope of glory and success. Ye are no more. "Beyond the glittering pageants of earth, and the splendour "which will surround my throne, 1 see vanishing the dear " friends and well wishers of Yudishtir the Pandau Prince in "exile; and in their stead the false, self-interested courtiers " of Yudishtir the King. It is not granted to man to be at " once feared and loved !" As thus he sadly communed with his inmost heart, a shrill, small laugh sounded in his ear, and turning towards the sound, be beheld, as distinct as when she first appeared to him amMst the ferns and wild flowers of the summer, the Scarlet Fury of Mandsbul. She spake : — "At length. Oh King Yudishtir, behold me completely thy " slave ; the vassal of thy greatness ; the creature of the envy " attendant on power ! Hitherto thou hast seen me but sel- " doui, and then indistinctly. Now I am thy constant minister " or master, as thou treatest me. Beware, Oh mortal ! Thou "art from this day haunted by a spirit potent as Siva the " Destroyer, cruel as Kali the Earth-Goddess ! though seem- "ing beautiful as Indra, or Vishnoo the Preserver, in Jiis " coerulian car, as he holds the lotus flower and slumbers on "the bosom of Sesh-Nag, the Imndred-headed. Mark me! "Yudishtir can be loved no more; but I can make hvca feared. " Be wise. Oh King ! and accept the alternative. There is no "going back for great ones such as Thee. Thou hast gained " thy desire, and can Aoyj* no more.'' * * « 24 THE WANDERINGS Ot* YtJfilSttTIK, The King gazed mournfully at the Spirit. "Alas, I know "it too well, Oh envious one! No more — ah, never more — "can Yudishtir know the pure, disinterested love of man or " woman ; but it still remains to him to be jvst ! Enough ; I "abide the choice, and will be called by the sons of men "'Yudishtir, the Just!'' Let this poor heart, destined to the "ants and serpents, be sad; perchance its vision sometimes "fail; but by the bright Indra and the host of heaven, I will " be just and merciful." The Pandau arose, and reared his kingly form : he gazed on high, as he spake, at the starlit heavens spread before his open tent. One bright star shot from the zenith as though in answer to his prayer, and seemed to fall over the king's tent, leaving a mild effulgence in the night air. As, slowly, he withdrew his gaze irom the starry night, the figure of the Scarlet Fury seemed gradually to grow less and less distinct, until at length it quite disappeared — vanished like the gibbous moon as it dips lurid and red into the waves of Coromandeb before the rising blast of the monsoon, or as the gleam of the red meteor of the fens as it vanisheth into the forest glooms of the "land of the tortoise" (Kumaon). The King remained immersed in deep thought until the stars began to pale before the rising dawn ; he then sought the inner chamber of his pavilion to rest, till the rising sun and the trumpets of the camp should call the Pandau host to arms before dispersing to their homes, to receive the last words and thanks of the great King Yudishtir. KING OF HlNDOSTHAN. 25 II. <|lV|^E pass from the tented field of Kovau-Khet to the JjTl/ dim solitudes of the Vindhya and Aravelli ranges of mountain, which guard the great north desert of India — the Marost-bali (plains of death) of more recent times — and the wooded intricate ravines and rocky heights, habi- tations of the Vanaputras (children of the forest), since called Nagas, Bheels, Goonds, or Santhals, according to locality; but all doubtless the aborigines of the Indian peninsula, before driven by the Aryan invaders into the fastnesses and solitudes of the land. At perpetual strife with the Eajpoots — Sooruj- buns, Chandrabuns, and other lofty-descended tribes — these wild nations regarded all strangers as enemies, till once assured of their friendly intentions, but once convinced of the loyalty of a stranger, faithful to the death. Amongst these wild people the great Pandau King Yudislitir sought to win confi- dence, and wandered down through the mighty forests of Western India till he stood upon the wild mountains of the Sahyadri, and salt sea shore of Karnata, and of Coromandeb. At that early period the southern races of India had scarcely grouped themselves into the many petty tribes or nations to be found at tlie present day, but the kingdoms of Sugrtva and Karnata extended down tlje coast ; and the great island of Taprobane (Tapii Ravana), the modern Ceylon, embraced much of the coast now called Malabar and the Ganiatic. Legends relate that a vast island or continent, embracing the Maldive Laccadive, the Chagos Archipalego, and other islands on the west of Travancore existed, where now the stormy seas roll from the Western Ocean ; the whole forming one grand kingdom having for its capitol Sri — or holy — Lankapoora, by the ancient Indians called Singhala, by the Arabs Surrindip. The wild waves now roll over the greater part of this submerged kingdom. 26 THE WANDERINGa OF yllDISHTIR, At the time, however, of which we write, the conquest of Taprobane or Singhala by Rama had, generations back, occur- red. Thither had Sita been abducted by Rawun its giant king, and tliere h6d the scenes of the war waged by Bama and his ally Hanuman for her recovery been localized.* Doubtless Hanuman (the Monkey King), the ally of Bama, may be held to have been one of those indigenous chiefs who allied himself to the conquering Aryans, and who, at the head of his Vana- putras — children of the forest, — performed the doughty deeds venerated in the Bamayana, which have rendered his name as that of a deity to all succeeding generations of Hindoos. Along the coast the galleys of the pirates of the north, since called Runchores — perhaps also of Sesostris — pursued their depredations ; and here again we shall encounter traces of our old friend Krishna, the merry companion of Sediva, whose first " avatar "t is fabled to have occurred on the western coast of India, near the ancient Larice or Soraashtra — the nurdem KAthiawar — where the world-renowned shrines of Sovunauth, Dwarkanauth, and, above all, Sunkernauth, coBMnemorate the sacred event of the " avatar" of -this ddifi-god — victdrious over -the"©teinDTiottlxe.Slwll1" * * * • ■Qv his way south, therefore, in the vast forests of Odaipur near the Aboo mountain, then recently colonized by the conquer- ing clan of Soorujbun Bajpoots — children of the sun — whilst the scarlet dak tree flamed in the forest like the flamingo of the Indus, or the scarlet crane of the Bann of Kach, and the spires of the giant bamboo shot into the yellow air like the minarets of the palace of King Indra — the wandering Pandau King paused one hot noonday, at the dark grove or shrine of the primaeval earfch-goddess, venerated by the Bheels, the northern section of the. Vanaputra tribes. The roar of lions and * Tlio conquest ot Ceylon by Rama— If indeod of any liiatorio validity— is fixed by Asiatic clironologists at about 1400 B.O., but in relation to the genealogy of the Mahabaratit must be aS8igliq,d to rather an earlier epoch, t As an incarnation of Vishnoo the Preserver. K17SG OF HINDOSTHAN. 27 the hiss of serpents resounded in the thicket; and the attend- ants of the King had proposed to resume the march onwards, when a cowherd — who had accompanied the cortege as guide for the last few miles of their march — suddenly sounded his horn, or "siink" (shell). Suddenly the dismal sounds of noxious creatures ceased ; and; instead, the low of herds and song of birds began to be heard in the grove. The King turned to observe the cowherd who had performed such a prodigy. Lol he had vanished; and in his place stood the bright "Narrain Sank," — Krishna in his glorified form as an "avatar" of Vishnoo the Preserver, sitting on his coerulian steed Garood. He smiled serenely, and raised his lotus hand. Sudden niaya (glamour or heavenly illusion) fell on Yiidishtir and his train. They seemed to stand in blissful abodes ; a golden pavilion seemed to overshadow the King, whilst ilowers and scented waters diffused their fragrance overhead ; birds were heard to warble ; and a table, on wliich delicious fruitfe and a feast were placed, stood ready to hand. The " Heaven-born " addressed the King : — " Oh, Pandatt, " behold thy resting-place till the sun dips beyond the distaiitt " Aboo — my present -dwelling! Krishna presents this feast to "the brother of his friend Sediva; not to Yudisbtir the King! " Nevertheless, oh, wise one ! oh, sad one ! I bestow on thee "the shell torn from the grasp of the Dsemon below the dark "sea of Sunkeruauth, in which lay the stolen Veda. Be it "thy sacred horn! Sound it if in danger, and the 'Pre- " server' will aid thee; for Vishnoo loves thee and thy beneficent "soni, though the earthly Krishna may laugh and deride ; oh, " friend and nourisher of the poor and humble ; oh, brother of "Sediva, farewell!" * * « # ■ # He had spoken. The bright blue Vishnoo, seated on his celestial steed Garood, vanished into the blue »ther from the King's sight. ''Hail! and thanks, oil bright one ! and be still propitious "to Yudishtir!" cried the Pandau, as the parting deity 28 THE WANDERINGS OP YtlDlSHTIR, became as a speck in the purple heaven, like a glittering eagle flying over the peaks of Aboo. » » » * The King and his attendants performed the saptopuddie, a sacred dance, and then fell to at the feast prepared. Golden dishes contained the dainties of the world ; cups of crystal and ametliyst, and the agates and polished gems of Kambagh and the cornelian mountains of the west, sparkled on the board ; the limpid wines of Bactria, and the aphim (opiutn) of Som- ashtra* (Malwa) in crystal vessels. "Aree !" cried the followers of the King, "the good Vishnoo "knows how to entertain the friends of Krishna the Jocund!" and without stint they all ate and drank of the heaven-bestowed feast. »**»•»* But lo ! the day declined ; the setting sun began to blaze red through the scarlet dak trees of the forest, and the spires of the bamboo shot into the yellow air like the spears of the heavenly host of Indra against the purple sky. Sleep began to oppress the followers of the King: one by one they fell off into deep slumber — even the great Pandau himself, tired, may be, with the long day's march, reposed on his broidered carpet. * * * ji^j. Jjq,^ long cannot be known. On awakening, all seemed as before the appearance of Krishna ; — the silent forest, the deep shades of the sacred grove surrounded them ; only no dismal sounds of wild beasts were heard. Whether they in truth bad seen the god, and enjoyed his feast ; or whether the effect of heavenly illusion (maya) ; or whether the aphim (opium) of Kamputf had been too strong — who can say! but what con- vinced Yudishtir of th? reality of the scene was that the , " sank," or shell horn — whether of Krishna or the pretended cowherd — was lying by his side ; but he found the rest of the ■ Kambagh the ancient name of Camhay j formerly a district of the Hindoo province of Somashtra or Malwa, which is still a great opium growing district of Western India. i The ancient name of Malwa according to the " Raja Taringini." KING OP HINDOSTHAN, 29 party deeply slumbering ; and, as he arose in the early dawn of day, he observed that their beards and nails had at least a month's growth since they had slept. This also led Yiidishtir to suspect that,,though friendly to the brother of Sediva, the once hostile and frolicsome Krishna had not refrained from playing off one of liis tricks on his former rivals the Pandaus. No further evil results ensued : the noxious creatures were silent, and the King resumed his march, taking with him the sacred horn, which, in the future of Yudishtir's life, will be found of considerable value and renown. * * * So on through the western forests went the great King Yudishtir ; meeting on his way fragments of the great Vana- putra army returning from the wars of Rama and Eawun to their homes in the Vindhya and Sahyadri mountains ; uncouth " children of the forest," worthy of their leader, the Monkey King Hanuman. These men he feasted— ^partly out of policy, partly pity — for gannt and worn appeared they after the long wars in Carnata and the isles of Taprobane | and always did the King's philosciphy embrace the opportunity of performing good deeds, and his charitable heart ever delighted in relieving the wants of the poor and helpless. Many and various were the King's adventures during his long journey South, along the coast of Sugriva and Carnata, till at length he stood on the salt sea shore of Coromandeb, and prepared to cross by Adam's Bridge into the isle of Singhala (Ceylon), the former Paradise of tlie pure races in the golden age of man ; afterwards the abode of Naga and Yakka savages, till rescued by Wijayo thirty generations after the age of Yiidishtir. " This is the sea-beaeh ; here was the victory ; " Here fought the heroes ; struggled the brave ; " Mournfully sighs the wind in the loneliness, "Mournfully breaks the 4esolate wave," 80 THE WANDERINGS OF YnPISHTIR, III. /CT''HE wars of B^ma and Rawun had ceased, and Singbdla \J L (or Taprobane) had quieted down at the time when the great King Yudishtir visited Sri-Lankapoora in search of Itnowledge and wisdom. The abduction of 8ita had been avenged by his ancestor the great B^ma. The memory of the invasion of India by the great Assyrian Queen Semiraniis had long gone bye : all was quiet in the land of Hanuman, except that the galleys of Sesostris, King of Egypt, vexed the coasts of Lerice (Malabar), and Somashtra. ' From Asia Minor to the borders of India the kingdom of Bactria still flourished ; whence also tlie worsliip of the Sun — emblem of life and eternity, as enunciated by Zoroaster its great king — had superseded in these western shores the dark idolatry of the Indian aborigines; but on the other hand the subtle meta- physics of the Aryan conquerors of India had begun to vitiate the comparatively pure, moral code of Mania; and the Saboean worship of images and the host of heaven, so antagonistic to the teaching of the Magi, had penetrated the coasts of India. The great Pandau's mind was full of doubt; priests, whether Brahmins, Aramoeans, Chaldees, or Magi, were alike distrusted by the King of India. Not to such minds as those of Yudish- tir (nor of Gautama the " Boodhist," his descendant), could priestcraft and its jugglery impart respect ; and, notwith- standing Brahminical traditions, we may suspect that the niijid of the Pandau King — finding no basis of truth on which to rest amidst the dreary metaphysics of his people — sought for the light of truth in foreign lands. The royal wanderer determined to roam in the country of the Chaldees, and visit the seats of learning of the day. Ac- cordingly we find the Pandau King wandering in search of wisdom and truth to " Tarshigh and the isles," — this very KING OF HINDOSTHAN. 31 Taprohaiie of which we write — perhaps even to Ethiopia and Egypt (?), and to the Court of royal Babylon, and the Assyrian monarch. It is difficult to determine the limits of his wanderings : his wise words and his knowledge of the starry wisdom of the Chaldees, and his love of the tenets of the Magians, lead us to conclude that at least he had visited Babylon and the plains of Shinar, and the marches of Assyria; and that whilst a gnest at the court of the great Queen Nitocris in the city of Belus, in the- land of Assyria and the ancient Persia, the King met with the adventures to be narrated in the two following chapters of this chronicle. * # # * * * The great King Yudislitir had been feasted by RAraa- Sunker, King of Lankapoora, and had taken ship for the land of the Ichthyophagi — fish-eaters of the north, — and his stately ship rode at anchor on the blue waters of the Arabian Sea, in the port of Teredon, at the mouth of that grea^ river the Euphrates, over against the Arabian shore. The King's ship anchored off the stately harbour on the eve of a bright day in the month of Kartik (March) k.y. 2274 (b.o. 13G1). The galleys of Sesostris, King of Egypt, also rode at anchor in the bay, and the argosies of Tarshish and the isles were land- ing rich goods at the seaport of Teredon. The ships of tlie "Queen of Assyria" — ^perhaps Nitocris* — were decked with silken flags and gilded pennons. The "great queen," herself, had that day returned from war ; and the fleets of the allies, and the armies of Assyria were awaiting her in camp on that sultry eve when the Pandau King's ship arrived in port. At nioonrise the King sounded the " sank," or horn, of Krishna. He sounded it loud and clear over the silver sea, * Yudishtir must have arrived at that dark period in the history of Assyria which is absolutely unknown to history. Semiramis (wife of Ninus) had nourish- ed (if indeed she ever existed) about 1800 or 1900 B.c. Her mythic invasion of India is therefore assignable to about that age, if indeed of any historical import whatever; but until the death olSardanapalus in 767 s.c, all is dark in the history of Asssoja. 32 THE WANDERINGS OF YUDISHTIB, and the hymn of the Indians to Vishnoo the Preserver was heard far across the waves of the harbour, and reached the ear of the " great queen " Nitocris, as she rested in her pavilion on the sea shore, surrounded by her court. " Who sounds the horn of the Ohaldees to the starry host?" enquired the great Queen, of Menes the priest of Belus, the Aramcean, who stood before her chair of state. " Is it not " forbidden, O ! Menes, to worship other than the great god " Baal within the coasts of Assyria and Babylon ? Come, ! " Menes, we will ourselves examine this mystery." The Queen, attended by the high priest and a few chosen ladies of the court, stepped on to the moonlit beach, and strolled towards the sea, on whose smooth strand the small waves were breaking with a soft murmur. The tall spars of the shipping in the bay glittered like silver spears in the Eastern moonlight, and the sheen of stars quivered on the waters of the Arabian sea. " Oh, Menes," saith the Queen, softened by the calm night scene, " doth thy knowledge tell thee aught of these starry " skies ; of this unceasing restless throb of the salt sea ? " Whence this constant ebb and flow of the ocean's billows ? "this nightly rise and sinking of the starry hosts? O, great "onel oh, wise one! Doth thy great god Baal reveal to thee "such knowledge? Why should not the horn of the stranger " salute the silver moon as she ariseth to gladden the night " and light the lovers, oh, son of an Assyrian ! to their fair "ones? Let not the judgment fall on the sounder of the " shell, oh, Menes ! " So spake the Queen* as she paced the solitaiy shore, and gazed on the moonlit sea with softened heart. » » » But see, a skiff approaches : a tall chieftain, in whose helmet * Nitocris was herself a Bactrian, who had married the King of Assyria, and perhaps a Magian in religion, who were originally worshippers of the " Sun God," taut afterwards combined with the Si^boeans to impose priestcraft on the Assyriaii pation, KING OF HINDOSTHAN; 33 glititered one large gem with the kalgi (heron's plume) of royalty, stepped on to a rocky ledge as the boat grounded. He advanced landwards, slowly pacing towards the camp; but paused on observing the Queen's tent and the royal party in front of the pavilion. " Stand, oh stranger ! " cried Menes advancing. " Knowest "thou not the edict? To approach the great Queen's pavilion " is death ? Who art thou ?" "A stranger and a pilgrim," answered the chieftain. "I " come from Taprobane and tlie blue ocean of the South; I "seek the knowledge of the Chaldees and of the wise Ara- "moean race. I crave a peaceful welcome for the stranger " ignorant of your laws ! " " Dost thou worship the great god Baal ? " enquired Menes, zealous for the religion of Belus and his native Babylon. " I worship the Powers of Heaven and the glorious Sun," replied the. chief. "Ahura-Mazda (Ormuzd), the symbol of " Light and Life ; and the Moon, Goddess of the Night and "of the musing Heart of Man, and the placid Realms of "Thought!'? ' "Art thou then a Magian of the forbidden rites, and darest " to proclaim aloud thy religion in the very presence of the "royal Nitocris? Rash stranger, thy life shall pay the for- "feit." He put a whistle to his month, and a shrill sound — such as may be heard betimes at eve from the lonely top of Belus, Temple of Nimrod at Babylon or Nineveh — issued from his lips. In a few seconds a band of armed men — soldiers clad in jet black armour — appeared, and at a sign from the priest, surrounded the Pandau chief; their battle- axes glittering in the moonlight. At this critical moment, however, the Queen herself stepped forward. " Peace, oh Menes! Let me confer with this stranger, who, "as I perceive, is of the Aryan race of India." She turned towards the King: "Oh, KhsAtriya! who art thou? For p 34 TPE WANDKIilNOS Ol' VmiSHTIK, "the sake of thy great Kiug Yiidishtir, I pardon thy pre- " sumption in approaching our pavilion ; but say thy name." "Alas ! Lady," answered the chief, " I am that very Yfi- " dishtir thou hast named. 1 am the King of Hindosthfe, in " search of truth and wisdom for his people." A dark flush deepened on the swarthy countenance of Menes as he heard these words. " Oh rash one," he exclaimed, " then thus I avenge the defeat of grea;t Semiramis ; and thus " I seize the King of India ! Advance, oh guards, and slay " the stranger ! " But Yudishtir — for it was he — stepped forward, and salut- ing the Queen, exclaimed : " Oh, Queen ! oh, Priest ! forbear, " and listen to the words of Yudishtir ; for' I am he. In days "to come I may serve thy kingdom as an ally, oh great Prin- "cess! Behold the proof." • « » The King sounded a long, loud blast upon the horn of Krishna, and, behold ! immediate iiiaya (glamour) fell on the royal camp. They seemed to be surrounded with a vast array of soldiers — archers and -spearmen in bright blue armour, the garb of Vishnoo the Preserver — whilst the bright Incira and the host o| heaven in their golden war-chariots seemed to hover around in the yellow horizoii. " Behold, oh Queen, the powers of the " great Aryan Kingdom, and the mighty race of Pand ; the " allies of Assyria if thou wilt, otherwise its foes." " * The two bands confronted each other, apparently awaiting the Signal from their leaders to join in battle. The moonlight streamed upon their armour. The glare of torches lighted up the rocky shore. " Enough, oh Queen ! I know thy wish and royal heart," resumed the King. "Let not strife ensue between the two " gi-eat races of India and Assyria — Aryans both — rather let "peace and friendship prevail." He waved his hand. Sud- denly the glamour ceased. The Queen saw simply standing before her the tall chieftain who had landed on the moonlit shore. At the same time, however, a whisper as from the rocky harbour-ledge reached Yudishtir's ear ; — KING OF HINDOSTHAN. 35 " Shdbash, oh Fandau ! Thou art advancing in the art of "pleasing the fair dames! Krishna will aid thee ; away with "thought! Behold; be fortunate. Thou wilt find the great " Queen Nitocris much like the g6pies of the land of Braj ! " The King recognised the voice as that of the jocund Krishna; and soon the wild demi-god appeared, leading the dance of youths and maidens ; and several of the ladies of the Queen's retinue join in the jocund dance — whether seduced by the merry strains of the Indian Dionysius, or impelled by native mirth, who knoweth ? The Queen's pavilion was lighted up, and a scene of mirth and festivity succeeded the stormy com- mencement of the night. But the pale chieftain sate graviely with Queen Nitocris, on ivory chairs, by the calm sea, and joined not the revellers. From that hour there was friendship between the Indian and Persian Aryans, and soon afterwards Yudishtir and his retinue accompanied the Queen in her progress up the great river Euphrates to Babylon and tiie land of the Chaldees. The King of Hindosthan became the friend and ally of the Queen of Assyria ; and the Aramcean Menes — High-priest of Belus — no longer forbade the sounding of the sAnk (or horn) of Vishnoo, nor prayer and hymn to the Magian's Sun God; nor invocation of the starry host at moonrise. * » » So the King arrived at mighty Babylon, and a palace on the inner walls of the city was assigned him for a residence, near to the royal courts of Nitocris, overlooking the waters of Euphrates. The chronicle is here obscure. Some have asserted that Yudishtir came to love Queen Nitocris of Assyria, paramour; and, indeed, it is written in the slokes of the shaslrs of Yudishtir the Great, that maya or heavenly illusion gat hold d2 .•)() THE WANDERINGS OF YmiSHTIK,^ of the Aryan King : but at this especial point of his wander- ings, we do not read of the loves of the Pandau and Nitocris, but instead, a weird story of glamour. » » « The "melancholy" Yudishtir is still at times the victim of inetaphysical doubts and subtle thought. In the midst of revels and festivities still would the sad soul of the Pandau muse on the uncertainty of things, and plunge into eddies of thought and self-abstraction, which sometimes led him to deny all outward semblances of things — nay, at times, even his own existence ! Still he seeks in vain a standpoint of philosophic verity! No truth consoles him ! Unhappy Yudishtir ! Wise, benevolent, and just — a heart of gold — but victim of a subtle brain, whose Promethean wild-fire in the end led him — who cat! wonder! — a hermit and a recluse to the snows of Himodi! One night we find Yudishtir, about this period of his search after the Sublime and True, brooding in his balcony in Babylon, overlooking the waters of Euphrates. The dreamy books of the Chaldees, and the slokes of the " souls of the planets," are open before him : he raised his head ; there, on the margin of the waters, appeared, after many moons, the figure of tlie Scarlet Fury of Manasbul — a baleful light in her eyes, which are fixed upon the King. "At length again, oh great Yudishtir, behold thine evil "genius! Shortly wilt thou know the cause." No more was said ; but strange, it seemed to Yudishtir that by her' side stood an indistinct reduplication of herself. The chronicle is here again obscure. A story is related of King Yudishtir, weird and strange; — it is narrated that the King himself often afterwards doubted the reality of his visions ; and attributed them to the effect of maya or divine illusion, which we find so often operating on his mind and career. Be this as it may — though history telleth not what tvltlfi OF tiiNDOSTHAN. 37 and how great were the achievements of the King in the land of the Chaldees — one adventure, miraculous to the mind of the Aryan followers of the great Pandau pilgrim, is recorded, and must now be told. IV. -j^fY MIDST the rugged peaks of the "Black Mountains" J^k, of Iran, the Temple of the God Belus or Baal reared its dark turrets to the sicy. The approach to it for- bidden to all but the priests, except at stated times, when the people of Babylon and Nineveh, crossing the desert, would seek in pilgrimage the awful shrine of the great God Baal. ' Dark and mysterious were the rites of Moloch, performed at this temple amidst the gloom of those ironstone Plutonic peaks ; and it was darkly whispered that the fire consumed the victims — both infants and those who had invaded the secrecy of the temple, or who had incurred the vengeance of the priests of that other great temple of Belus or Ninirod at Babylon — where the high-priest Menes usually officiated. Nevertheless, the Pandau hero, who had during his resi- dence in Babylon preserved friendly relations with Menes, proposed to himself to surmount those dangers, and to solve for himself the secret of the mysteries of Baal. Haviug clad himself, therefore, in the pilgrim's garb, concealing the light tunic of the Khsatriya warrior, the Pandau King selected one tried companion from his suite, and one sultry evening mounted the swift dromedary of Urr (of the Chaldees). All night he rode across the starlit desert, and arrived early in the dawn at the foot of. the Black Mountain of Belus. He there, with his follower, rested in a cavern during the day; but when again the evening star twinkled in the date tops, he commenced 38 THK WANUERINUS OF YUDISHTIR, the ascent. The red sunset lit up the -dark ravines of the mountain with lurid splendour ; but jet black clouds pregnant with lightnings, brooded on its summit. Before the King had advanced half the distance, a thunder- clap resounded down the mountain, followed by the crash of hail. Large crystal globes bounding from slope to slope, broke into thousands of keen jagged fragments, and went clattering down in the torrents which now began to fill the ravines of the mountain. The red lightning played above the peaks, and by its glittering light the King observed with horror that the torrents pouring around him were red, as with blood — who knows! — of victims slain. "Red came the river down, and loud the angry Spirit of the waters moaned;" and shrieks as of voices of the abyss, flew past them as they climbed ; doubt- less signs of the fury of the offended Deityl Soon, however, the Pandau entered a grove of black cypresses, whose dark and inelancholy shadows chilled the blood. An icy wind crept through the gloomy trees, on the gaunt branches of which obscene birds sate screaming ; and weird, dismal forms flitted ominously through the gloom. The travellers were approach- ing the arcanum of Baal-zebub, " King of Flies," or Devils. Onwards ! The King had braced his heart to face all perils, human or divine ; and the horn of Vishnoo ." the Pre- server" hanging by his side assured him of supernatural aid if need should be. Onwards, therefore, he plunged through the glooms of the infernal thicket. They emerged into a long dark causeway, paved with huge slippery slabs of flint or slate, leading up close towards the summit of the mountain, whose thunder-riven peak could now be observed standing forth black and spectral in the lurid sky. Midnight was the hour it be- hoved Yudishtir to reach the highest summit on which stood the frowning Tower of Belus the Terrible, by distant nations yclept Baal-zebub, " King of Flies and Devils ; " but beyond the frowning turrets the Pandau King beheld tlie smiling stars of tlie East, and he knew tliat there was safety to the true and valiant spirit. KlNii OP HINUosTHAN. ' 39 As they advanced, tlie mountain seemed to rock beneath them, and again the crystal globes began to thunder down the ravines, breaking into thousands of glittering hailstones, which clattered upon the rocky slabs on all sides; but, strange! none touched : Yudishtir ; and his companion, cowering under an overhanging rock, sought shelter, and thus escaped the infer- nal deluge. At length, resuming the ascent, the slippery pavement seemed to slide from under their feet, and in some cases vast rocks on which the King had stepped, broke off and went thundfiring down the mountain side into the darkness of the abyss ! At length they turned the corner of a huge rock — itself a moun- tain — when a ghastly form — the skeleton of a Titan — suddenly stood at the King's side, and pointed down 9. chasm on the side of the mountain. The Pandau gazed below, and beheld there what would since be termed the " Witches' Sabbath." The monstrous forms of earth, and the embodiments of the moral deformities of the sinful mind of man ; the grim chim- »ras of the abyss ; and the monstrous larv» conjured into apparent being by the erring perceptions of disease or excess, ■when the v'il which hides the unseen spirit-world has been temporarily withdrawn under the influence of magic or of diemons — more potent in those days than now. The King recognised the simulacra of several grim phantasms of the olden time ; amongst them — enlarged to giant size — the dire Scarlet Fury of tlie Manasbul — the Autochthon of the Lall- Nag. He shuddered ; but turned his eyes away, and calmly resumed his journey upwards; and soon, whilst the gibbous moon hung double-horned over the dark pinnacle of the temple, he reached the last ascent. Behold ! a monstrous form — black and terrible — Baal-zebub himself, the King of Flies (or Devils) stood-r-its outstretched wings across the path — huge and motionless ! motionless, ex- cept that a tremulous shudder of the air alone told of life in ii) THte WANUEUINGS 01'' TfDDlSllTlli, the grim spectre, and a hum as of the "King of Flies" emanated from the dismal form ! Astonishment seized the soul of the Pandan; and his follower fell prone on the rocks, insen- sible. The King's senses swam ; his head began to fail ; his feet to slip, — he would have lost his foothold and fallen headlong from the mountain — when suddenly remembering the horn of Vishnoo the Preserver, his heart was strengthened. He seized it, and sounded first with trembling, uncertain sound ; but at length a blast such as had scared the daemons of Himodi and of Surrindip pealed amidst the rocky tops of Belusthan. ***** " What, frightened at a Bluebottle ! " A weird laugh as of the merry Krishna smote on the King's ear, as he gasped to summon breath and courage for the final trial. * * The glamour ceased, and Yudishtlr soon found himself at the gates of the dark temple of the God Belus of the Chaldees. The door of the temple swung open, and Menes, the Ara- moean High-priest of Baal, stood before the King. " Welcome, oh great Pandau! he exclaimed. "Thou, who " hast bravely surmounted the trial of the senses, raayest ap- "proach the shrine of Belus. We have no secrets from great " ones such as Thee ! Now thou shalt be initiated into the "knowledge of the great Baalim; but, oh Yudishlir! dost " thou believe in the power of the primitive Titan ? the Earth- " Kenner, who rulest this world ? " "Nay, I believe," answered Yiidishtir, "in this proper soul " do I know and feel his power ; but I contemn and defy ; "trusting to higher ones " "Not yet, oh Yudishtir, mayest thou name such within "these halls," shrieked the Priest. " I believe in Ahura-Mazda,* the Sun-God ; Author of " Light and Life," resumed the King ; " who rules this lovely * Yudishtir was evidently a Zoroastrian, and probably believed in Ahura-Mazda (since called Ormuzd) and Ahriman — the Good and Evil Principles — who were be- lieved by the Magians, as also in later times, to divide the rule of the world. KING OF HINDOSTHAN. il "star, the Earth! Did not the Sheikh of Urr— Holy Ibrd- " him — fly from Baal and from Moloch from the land of the "Chaldees?" A sudden peal of thunder shook the mountain; and Menes stretched forth his hand towards the King : he held a small pointed style, with which he touched the Pandau's breast ; a shock, and sudden darkness overtook Yudishtir's senses. On awaking from his trance, the Pandau found himself lying on a stone couch within the temple, Menes gazing at him in meditative aspect ; and, strange to say — the first time for many moons — Yudishtir clearly beheld the Fury of Man- asbul, standing on a small tripod beside him. At the further end of the hall was a gigantic idol of the God Belus, around which two huge serpents were entwined, their folds embracing the limbs of the idol, their glowing eyes fixed on the Priest Menes. The latter observing Yudishtir restored to his senses, advanced to his side, and placing a hand on his heart muttered to himself " Yes, it was too strong ! " Then to the King, — "Arise, oh great King ! the danger has passed ; but offend "not again the mighty spirit of Baal in this his proper temple; " or, wise and strong as thon art, all my knowledge will scarce " suffice to save thee. But now arise ; let us resume our dis- " course. Thou at least believestj so propitiate the God by " prayer and the sacred rites." "Oh, Menes," said the King, "here I am in thy power, "but cease these juggleries, oh Priest. Thou knowest I dis- " cern their falsity ; and even thou wilt shrink from sacrificing "the life of the royal Pandau, the friend and ally of thy great "Queen. I come to learn: be wise, and communicate. " Priestcraft and deception are not for such as thee and me ; "thou knowest it in thy soul." * * » But deep silence fell on the lips of M^nes ; no word did the Aramoean Priest of Belus utter: motioning to the King to 'i'2 THE WANDERINGS OF YUDlsHTlIi. follow, he led him to the gates of the temple, where he pointed to the star of the morning — Aldebaran — then just glimmering above the northern horizon. He waved his salutations, and withdrew within the cloisters of the temple, whose dark shadow fell weird and gigantic across the mountain top. The great gutes swung back, and closed with a clang,, whose echoes reverberated down the sides of the black mountain. Yudishtir took the hint, and lighted by the glimmer of the dawn, slowly wended his way down by the path he had as- cended. He found his follower on the exact spot where he had fallen, just awaking from his trance. They descended to the cave amidst the date thicket where they had remained the preceding dayj and there rested at the foot of the mount- ain. At midda,y they ate their frugal repast of dates and eonserve of tamarind and roses ; and when fair Hesperus — Star of the Evening— began to twinkle over the high solitary palm tree that overshadowed the entrance to the cave, and the cool dews of night began to fall on the desert, they remounted the swift dromedary of Urr, and skimming across the arid plain of Shinar, regained the King's palace residence in Baby- lon, before the dawn of day. Such was the King Yudishtir's adventure ^at the temple of Belus ; and from that day there was enmity in the heart of Men& the Aramrean Priest towards the Pandau, and the Scarlet Fury of Manasbul became a constant visitor to the King ; but Vishnoo the Preserver had him in charge, and no harm resulted to the possessor of Krishna's sank — the brother of Sediva, his friend : nay, the jocund demi-god even condescended to pl^y his pranks at Yudishtir's expense, as will be related in the next chapter. [Note. I hope my readers will not be shocked' at the introduction of " scriptural characters " into this chapter. I atn reminded of an anecdote — whether original or not I do KING OP HINDOSTHAN. 43 not know — introduced by the author of the "Eastern Hunters,'' in his excellent work on the wild sports of Western India, which I am here tempted to repeat. "A Scottish widow who had recently lost her husband, was accosted liy the 'minister,' who condoled with her on her loss. 'Aweel, minister,' said she, ' nae doot the gudeman is now in Beelzebub's bosom ! ' ^Beelzebub's bosom, good woman ! ' exclaimed the minister considerably shocked, 'ye maun mean Abraham's bosom!' 'Aweel, 'stir,' replied the gudewife, 'nae doubt ye may be recht, ye keri'best anent thae gentlefolks .'' " Of course the machinery employed by MSnes in the text must be held as material and delusive.] <^if(\ EHOLD our Hero, the Pandau King, established in a 1^ palace on the walls of Babylon — those vast walls of burnt brick described so minutely by old Herodotus and by the Poet Isaiah, who, however, wrote several centuries later than the period of our history. The great Pandau's rosidence communicated with the open country by a postern gate, and ofttimes did the King of India, mounting his fleet horse or dromedary, pay swift visits to spots in the surrounding plains of Shinar and elsewhere, in search chiefly of the wisdom of the Chaldees : one such has been related. Disguised also — like the Caliph Haroun-al- Eascliid of a later age — he would visit the markets and streets of. the great cities, in order to learn the true condition of the poorer subjects of the Aryan states, lest haply his just and beneficent spirit sliould lose opportunities of helping those "creatures of God" — those "poor cats," as they were contemptu- ously called by the great sati'iips of Persia and Assyria. 44 THE WANDURINGS 01>' YUblSttTIR, Often, too, the King, wandering in the hanging gardens — built by this very Queen Nitocris — of imperial Babylon, would chance to meet the Queen, and pay visits to his royal hostess. The Queen, also, with many of the great satraps of Assyria and Media, and of more remote provinces of the empire, and many Egyptians — men of learning and knowledge — would seek the residence of King Yiidishtir, to hear his winged words, and all would return impressed by his wisdom and sublime knowledge. Nor were visits of the fair and gentle less frequent ; nor was the wise and melancholy King averse to the society of the witty and poetic ; or indifferent to the smiles of beauty, or to the gaiety of the young and fair. At times, indeed, guided by the advice of the merry Krishna, he seemed to conrt such recreation. Often, too, would the Queen Nitocris — accompanied only by her dear friend lonis, daughter of Arces, Satrap of Persepolis — pass long hours of the sultry eve by the waters of Euphrates in company of the wise Pandau prince, her hero and ally. It was the birthday of Queen Nitocris, and the royal Pandau had craved the honour to entertain her and her court at a great banquet at his palace amidst the hanging gardens on the walls of Babylon, along the great river Euphrates. The fete was a nocturnal one ; — the coloured lamps of Cathay glimmered amidst the trees, and, swinging in the soft sum- mer air, illumed the festive scene with softened light ; coloured globes of crystEiil refracted the rays in divers colours, and a thousand torches fed with naphtha and balls of bitumen lighted up the walls and precincts of the palace, and glinted on the sweet bushes of rose and other flowering shrubs in the gardens around. The deep azure canopy of an Assyrian sky shed over all its purple. Nitocris' gay court of beauteous dames and damsels were seated on cloths of gold and colour, under an awning whose crimson and azure silk was embroidered with the flying Lion KING Olf HINDOSTHAN. 45 and Bull of Assyria. Vases of lemon, orange, jessamine, and other scent-bestowing flowers were ranged along the marble alcoves which overlooked the river. Nobles of the highest rank — nay, tributary kings — were there in gay apparel, in many-coloured gala-dresses dipt in the lovely pigments of the East. In a robe of Tyriau purple (spoil of the murex of the distant Mediterranean) even King Sesostris of Egypt accompanied the Queen to Yudishtir's fete ; for peace had been proclaimed between Egypt and Assyria, and the great Sesostris desired to do honour to the King of India — the friend and ally of Queen Nitooris. The sackbnt, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of music en- livened the ear of the royal company. Xhe sprsiy of fragrant waters, falling in soft murmuring showers, refreshed the evening air and lulled the senses, and the refulgent moon of the East shed over the marble domes and towers of Babylon the dreamy majesty of night. After the congratulatory ode to Nitocris the Court arose, and, dispersing, formed groups, who wandered along the ter- races and bye paths of the gardens; especially Yudishtir, conducting Nitocris and her ever dear companion lonis, into the inner garden, sought to surprise the Queen by the unveil- ing of a statue of herself, graved by cunning Indian artists of Indian wood, tinted to represent the visible and breathing effigies of the Queen. Descending some steps, they approached a small pavilion or kiosk, over which chains of roses and other sweet flowers shed perfume, or hung in graceful tassels from a dome of gold and lapis-lazuli. The Pandau, making a deep obeisance to the Queen, stepped forward to draw aside the silken curtain which veiled' the statue, whioli occupied a pedestal in the centre of a small marble cotort within the kiosk. Around were set rose-coloured lamps burning in jewelled cressets, fed by perfumed oils from the rose-gardens of Atropatene (the modern Aderbijan). or from far Samarkand, and the fertile fields at that time existing at tlie etnbouchuie 46 THE WANDERINGS OF YDDISni'IR, of the Oxus and Jnxartes, then a bloonning garden of sweets, now a melancholy wilderness of ravines and sand. * * The curtain was drawn aside by Yudislitir, when lo ! the statue of the Queen glowing as if in life : nay, it even seemed to breathe, as the draperies were made to appear to move and shimmer by a skilful arrangement of the lamps ; but not alone ! by the side of the statue appeared a refulgent figure in golden armour, with battle axe of war, and shield edged with great diamonds, which glittered intensely in the lamplight. The figure covered the Queen's statue, as it were defending it from the royal group approaching. Astonishment fell on the royal group ; but after a moment's pause the Queen seemed to attribute this surprise to design on the part of Yudishtir: she smiled, exclaiming, — " I see, oh Prince, oh dear one ! Thou hast added to thy " design a defender of Nitocris ! I presume the noble warrior "must be thyself! oh bold one! oh son of a Khsatriya! But " raise the helmet, and let us behold the face of our hero ! " But atitonishmeut and anger had seizi-d on the King Yu- dishtir. He stood gazing on the figure, whose eye gleaming from within the closed visor, assured him that the figure before Lim was a breathing mortal. " Nay ! Queen," at length faltered th6 King, "I know not the stranger; and thus I "essay his proof?' So saying, he swung round the light baldrick which hung across his shoulder, and drawing from the jewelled sheath which hung therefrom a keen blue swordr blade, he advanced towards the figure of the stranger warrior. The latter suddenly extended his shield towards Yudishtir to the utmost length of his arm. Intolerable light evolved itself therefrom, and the King advancing, found his arm suddenly arrested as in a vice, and his steps, as it were, glued to the floor of the court; at the same time a merry laugh rang loudly from the mailed figure, and sudden maya (glamour) fell on the royal group. * » - * « « Yftdishtir fumbled for his trumpet — the magic horn of Krishna KINO OF HINFJOSTHAN. t — but alas! it hung not at his side ; forgetful, he had left it in his armoury when he had apparelled for the Queen's lete, 80 the means to resist tlie supernatural impulse were wanting. But Yudishtir recited the "mantra of the rescued," and the blue Narraian,* aider of the Pandaus, answered the invocation. The glamour ceased ; and behold, the statue of the stranger had vanished from the scene. By this Yudishtir knew that the mirthful Krishna had again played on him one of his tricks. All stood serene within the marble dome, but Queen Nitocris frowned. "What is this, oh Pandau! Art thon "magician as wetl as warrior! and darest thou to trifle with "and make a jest of the Queen of Assyria and Babylon? I "thought thee learned and discreet, but this is rude and rash, "oh, Prince!" The Queen in anger returned to her palace leaving Yudish- tir alone with his festive image. From that day the friendship of the great Nitocris for her ally and guest declined ; and the satraps and courtiers, follow- ing suit, began to look coldly on the Pandau King and his followers: — all but lonis ; who secretly loved the stranger, but, out of loyalty to her Queen and friend Nitocris, had "eaten her heart" in silence: she now sought the society of Yudishtir, attempting to console his darker moods, and to persuade him to join more freely in the society of mankind ; she even offered to link her fate with his, and accompany him back to his distant land, so as to soothe at all times, in the years to come, bis melancholy spirit. Nevertheless Yudishtir began to contemplate his return to his Aryan kingdom, by way of India Alba and the great north river (Indus), and the mountains of Caspira ; but reasons for further xlelay and tarry- ing in the land of Assyria shortly presented themselves. *f » * * 9 * The Queen had departed for Nineveh — city of King Ninus ' A name of Vishnoo the Preserver, 48 THE WANDEBINGS OF YUDISHTIR, and of the groat Semirarais his spouse — but suddenly rumours of war arose tln-oughout the land ; and the chiefs of Babylon grew pale as they wliispered of mighty hosts gathering on the frontiers, for tlie overthrow of the Assyrian Empire. King.Yiidishtir decided to remain, and aid his friend and ally the Queen Nitocris. The walls of Nineveh — those huge burnt-brick walls on which five horses can be driven abreast — appeared distinct in the hot air of the desert. Around, as far as the eye can reach, is encafnped a vast array of the hostile host : a few pavilions of purple, azure, and gold, and the fluttering of pennons, tell of the Bactrian horse, each commander in centre of his troop, whos.B spears are fixed in the ground around. On one flank the black tents of the tribes of Media and Parthia, then, as now, nomads of the steppes and wild uplands — the Toorko- mans of the present age — Tartars of the Hindoo Caucasus and the black-capped Aryans of Emodus Mountain ; camped on tlie slopes of theTaurian mountains also, the Hyrcanian highlanders clad in tiger and leopard skins — all the tribu- taries of the Assyrian Empire, surround the City of Nineveh and besiege its Queen; * * * * * # Clouds of hot dust announce the approach of each tribe of the vast array of warriors to the assault of Nineveh. With them they drag huge machines of war, destined to batter the walls, or to raise turrets, full of javelin men, to a level with the battlements and ramparts of tlie city. Anon the trumpets sound ; and issuing from the various camps the rumbling of tlie chariots of the chiefs is heard to thunder over tlie plain like the car of far-resounding B61us as he rides on the storms of the north. Soon bolts of red hot steel, and globes of naphtha, begin to hiss through the sultry air and fall into the city of the great Queen. Masses of half- niolten bronze and other metal hurtle through the air; even KING OF HIKD08THAN. 49 dead horses and dromedaries are hurled aloft by the balistj? — the mechanical invention of the great Sesostris of Egypt whilst the enemy of Assyria. Astonishment falls on the men of Nineveh and on the Assyrian soldiery of its garrison. Enervated by luxury and unchallenged dominion, now first assailed, they begin to fail before the sturdy Bactrian men-at- arms. The leaders fail to sustain their courage ; no general issues orders ; all seems lost ; but not yet is Nineveh or Babylon destined to be overthrown — their cup is not yet quite full.* The arms and knowledge of the stranger supply that which native valour fails to furnish ! Already the walls are beginning to crumble under the fire and battering of the enemy, and the defenders are beginning to give way and forsake the walls, when a stranger chief, completely hid in blue armour, at the head of a.chosen band of warriors —also in bright blue armour and vestments — is seen circulating round the ramparts, exhorting, encouraging, and ari-anging the defence. The men of Nineveh are seen to rally, and repulse the enemy on all sides ; and, soon, even sallying forth to fall upon the rebel camps. The scene is changed ; soon the hosts of Bactria, and the Medes, are seen to draw off discomfited, and their long standards begin to trail away across the desert and beyond the mountains. * * Soon the Queen Nitocris is seen advancing from the midst of Nineveh ; a vast crowd of chiefs and courtiers surrounding the golden chariot in which she rides. Silken banners, em- broidered with the Lion of Assyria, wave overhead as she advances to the walls. Loud shouts summon the stranger warrior to her presence. He raises his helmet visor, lo ! the face of the Aryan King YQdishtir, of late estranged ; now flushed with the light of battle ; his eye sparkling as on the day of the great victory of Korau-Khet. * The reader need hatdly be reminded tliat Nineveh fell in the reign of Labynit — the Belchazzar of Scripture — about the year 606 e.g., and Babylon fell nearly a century later, in the reign of Sardanapalus, about 588 b.c. E 50 THE WANPEKINGS OF YIIDISHTIR, " Is it. Thou, oh Prince, oli dear victorious friend ! " ex- claimed the Queen ; "sit thou in my chariot, and be next to "Nitocris in Assyria. Nay,'' she added in a lower voice, "share, if thou wilt,, the throne of Babylon and Nineveh, oh " saviour of Assyria ! " * * * » * But Yudislitir — for it was the Pandau King — gravely saluted the Queen, simply saying, "Thus, oh Queen, I have "repaid my debt to Assyria ; farewell, and thanks, oh Queen! " I go to my land of India, and the great races of my Aryan " kingdom. Farewell !" He mounted a purple horse, and with his followers, rode off across the desert towards Ctesiphon and the mountains of Elymais, and as the spear-heads of his party caught the last glint of the setting sun, which sank in dusky splendour behind the turrets of Nineveh — this was the last that Queen Nitocris saw of her guest, the great Pandau King Yudishtir. VI. "-i|iYl\HAT like of man the chieftain who slumbers 'neath Ifll/ the shadows — the sad and silent shadows — of the melancholy mujnoon (willow)? The waving of the willows, and the whisper of the night-jar, winnows the gloomy chief; and from the dark brown mountains, and the hoary rocks of Khybur — ^the wild waste of the mountains that guard the great north river — comes the desert-breathing air, crisp with the salt bitumen and the flinty dust of hill tops, on whose ancient wasted summits King Hodi of the Punjaub had erected gloomy beacons ! Dreams he, the chief, of old times, lost in the mist of ages where the feeble lamp of fable scarce illuminates the darkness ! when the old primseval races, mid the gloom of superstition, and the worship of the Eartli KINO OP HIND08THAN. 51 Gods, kindled the fires of Moloch ^nd raised the pyre to diemons ? Or, glancing down the rushing red river of times historic, doth he recognise the Aryans — ^the fair-haired sons of King Shem — driving the grim barbarians into the hills and forests ? Or doth the Chief prophetic see the Macedonian phalanx glittering with iron war-gear? And the war ships of Nearchus? Or the swarming hordes of Asia, of Timoor, and of Ghengis ? Or the thunder of the Saxons, and the rum- bling trains of war-cars ? " * * * * Such like was the dream of King Yudishtir as'he slept in the sultry midnight beneath the moon of India Alba, during his journey to' his own kingdom. He had marched through Ctesiphon, Susa, Persepolis, across Caramania and the Ara- chosian highlands, and so to India Alba and the lands of the Oxydracse, the Malli, and the Sibs ! At many points he had encountered — sometimes with arms — parties of the broken host which had besieged Nineveh, and were now making the best of their' way to their own lands. It had seemed to hjni also at times that he was followed by a troop of the Persian cavalry-^all clad in dazzling whitened by a son of the great Satrap Arces, father of lonis ; and he supposed that his ally, the Queen of Assyria, had sent them for his protection ; but they avoided contact with the Indians. At Persepolis he had. met the wise King of Bactria — father of Queen Nitocris — himself perhaps a descendant from the great Zoroaster ; a venerable sage who had put off the cares of state, ' and retired' to a secluded valley, whence he gave laws to the Magi; but his subjects- had ursui-ped the power of the state, and against his wishes had invaded Babylonia^nevertheless he aided the Aryan King Yudishtir. With him the Pandau much conversed on high questions of religion, and he it was who first contended that beyond the two antagonistic principles of good and evil — Oramasdes and Ahriraanius — was one Su- preme Being, existent from all eternity. This doctrine, no doubt, had penetrated into Egypt and Assyria before the time e2 52 THE WANDERINGS OF YUDISHTIK, of which we treat. He accompauied the Pandau King as far as Olan-Eobat and the lands of the Affshineh—" children of lamentation." On Yudishtir's departure, the venerable white-haired prophet stood on the summit of the Bactrian hill, the rising sun lighting his snowy garments, — he exclaimed: "I bless "thee, oh my son, oh melancholy Pandau ; but I greatly fear "for thee! Avoid, oh Khsatriya, vain imaginings and pain- " ful thought. Trust to Ahura-Mazda, and especially that " Great One I have told thee of, and leave the ordering of "Nature to their rule; obey thou the law, and love thy people, " and do good, and be blessed ! " He raised his arms aloft and invoked the rising Sun — emblem of life and happiness. His image was impressed on the King's mind as he rode ofP that sultry dawn across the mountain, and the memory of his sacred figure as he stood in the sunbeam, remained with Yudishtlr for all the years of his sad and varied life. At Andaca Yudishtir met his brother, Arjuna "of the sounding bow," who had hastened even from the wilds of Kamroop and far Kathaya, to greet the royal pilgrim returned to his kingdom after long wanderings ; and at Torbela also his brother Sediva with the Prince of Kashmir presented themselves to their Sovereign the King of India. For many days did the Pandau brethren travel through the lakes and reedy marishes of the Cophes river to Taxila, Naulibe, and Nicaea,* cities of the Katti. Here they hunted the great river-horse, the hippopotamos of the northern Pun- jaub.f They skirted the mountains of Caspira and the Kaspatyri, until at length the camp of the Pandaus was pitched one summer day in a grove on the banks of Manasir * The site of Alexander's battle with Porus on the Jhelum. t Baber, ynriting early in the 16th century, mentions in his autobiography that as late as his time the hippopotamos existed in the rivers and marshes o( th« Upper Punjaub, feING 01' HiiTDOStltAN. 53 — that very lake where Yftdislitir had first encountered the Scarlet Fury, who had ever since dogged his errant life. That night the royal Pandau sate in his tent alone. All had gone well with him ; nevertheless, sad was his heart ; the prey of melancholy and disappointment : how short of his high de- sire and hopes had been his pilgrimage after Truth and Wisdom! Standing in a dark fir grove, before the symbol of the " Tree and Serpent," behold the Scarlet Fury — with heracompanion elf. * * Silently she crept along the margin of the crimson waters of the Lall-Nag : she entered the Pandan's tent. Pointing her flame-tipped spear at Yudishtir's heart, she spake: — "Thus, after long absence, we meet, oh King, in thy " native hills ! Hast thou thought to disarm envy, and her "companion slander, by absence? Nay, oh Pandau! the " fame of thy thoughts has reached the land of Himodi ; maya " and the evil of glamour has clutched thee ! All thy high " resolves and virtues, thoughts, and winged words, exist but " in thine own imagination ; the world regards thee as lost in " maya ; rememberest thou not ?" The flame of the Fury's spear touched the breast of King Yudishtir. " Ha ! an aspic's bite." The ecstatic mind of the King was aroused* to madness ; he grasped his spear like Saul of distant Israel : no music to assuage the bitter fury of his soul : no mortal at that moment could have met his gaze and lived ! "Ha! is it indeed so," he murmured; "is this the doom of " the searcher of truth, to be the prey of idle mirth and insincerity, "or else of envy and malign hatred? Are moral tortures to " be added to the sad doubts of the thinker? Is all but vanity, " and Krishna right ? His creed ' In evil, good ; in mirth "great wisdom?' He is plausible, and oft in his subtle speech "puts sophistry like truth. Behold his many orations, such "as the Vedas and great Vayasa sing of. His metaphysics "plausible. Hal to live like the hog Sardanapalus, or die in " veiled sorrow like Philoctetes ! "* * The above iuvolves an auuclirouisin, and seems added by a later hand. 54 THE WANDERINGS OF YDDlSHTlR, * * « » # * But still further trials awaited the King: the mirthful Krishna had never quite abandoned liis old foe, the Pandau Thinker, and ever and anon had renewed his tricks at his expense, as in the palace at Babylon, and now again behold Krishna, and his band of gopies, leading the dance beneath the merry moonhght! " Hail ! Yiidishtir ; thou art one of us. Let mirth and " pleasure banish the melancholy wisdom of thy soul I Be- " come thou as Krishna, beholding' the mirthful side of things, "and the laughter-moving aspects of humanity, and the world "of maya! A mad, merry world, oh, wise one! oh, sad one! " Come, I bestow on thee escape from the dire scarlet ones ; '.'the malignant sprites of envy and slander, and vain know- " ledge. Be merry, and be wiser still !" * * The wild demi-god led the dance beneath the moon with his g6pies from the land of BrAj, * * but Yudishtir recited the "mantra of escape" (of the head from sin) and blew a sounding blast upon the sank of Vishnoo, and, behold! the crew of Krishna vanished like a dream : and instead the glorified form of Sank Narrain, the Preserver, stood before him in place of the laughing Krishna, — " Dear' Prince, I venerate thy virtue; but wliat better dur- " ing the interval of thy brief life on earth than to snatch at " sunbeams and bright duty ? Come, let me show thee the "true delights of earth, and the visions of the future." He took Yudishtir by the hand, and led him within the inner pavilion, and seated him on a lion's skin. The lamps "grew pale ; a sense of weariness and of intense drowsiness overshadowed the King's senses^he seemed to fall asleep — and a vision of radiant beauty and of goodness, and celestial divination — it may not be told — was revealed to him. * ♦ The vision roused liim from himself, and inspired him with love for the lower creatures of liis race, and of the children of mankind, as commanded by Oramasdcs. Illusion had fallen KING 01'' H1N008THAN. 55' from bis mind : he gazed aiK)uiKl : Narrain had vanished. He raised the canopy of bis tent, and looked forth at the silent night and its myriad stars. The deep shadows of the fir grove fell across the mountain, but soon the advancing moon- ligbi hegan to creep' higher and higher up the forest which jiSlothed its side, and fairy musio and the soothing plash of waters from the tut'tpd dells of the fir forest, lulled the Pandatfs soul. As he stood observing the'fair night scene, the fireflies — like myriad sparks of fire — were hovering in the pellucid air of night. Every bush and leaf and tree lit with its fairy lamp ; a few hovering o'er the dark waters of the lake, pre- sented to his mind an image of his own bright spirit hovering o'er the dark waters of doubt and sorrow. — " It was a dream," quoth Yudishtir, ''or perhaps the poppy of Kamput was too "powerful." So saying, the King raised the curtain of his tent and disappeared from view. » » * * But the soul of the great Pandau was kindled by the visions he had beheld; all next day he paced the grove before his tent in agonies of thought. * # * * # * At the same hour the following night did King Yudishtir again gaze forth from his tent on the silent night. A thunder- storm, succeeded by crimson sunset, had swept the heavens. In the cloudless East the full moon rose slowly; the air pellucid, the stars glittering in fresh glory ; not a breath of wind ; all still. The sigh of the summer woods only broken by the note of the distant bell- bird in the deep forest. Yudishtir listened with softened heart to its melancholy cry — " The viewless atoms of the air "Around me palpitate and burn,- "All heaven dissolves in gold, and earth "Quivers with new found joy. "Floating on waves of harmony I hear "A stir of kisses, and a sweep of wings ; - " Mine eyelids close." What pageant nears? 'T(6' Love that passes bye! 56 THE WANDERINlxS OF YUDISHTIR, Yudishtir's mournful heart was softened, and he felt an intense desire for sympathy and love. "Ah! for some dear " companion to cheer my solitary heart, and help me to rule " my people with love and wisdom ! Is there none of all the "friends Yudishtir has solaced and benefitted to cheer him "now?" A sigh was wafted on his ear ; he raised his head : behold the figure of a warrior maiden clad in white — in pure white armour — met his gaze, who, raising her veil, disclosed the loving eyes of lonis, filled with tender light and pity for the melancholy King. "At last," she murmured, as holding out her fair arms to- wards him she fell upon his breast, and murmured on his bosom the happy sighs of love. Yudishtir soothed her agitation. "Ah, dear one ! did'st thou never suspect that it was lonis " who led the troop of Persian horse which followed on tliy "march, and escorted thee safely through the lands of the "Affshineh — children of lamentation? Nay, dear Prince! "the Persian men and women both are taught to be brave "and speak the truth, and desert not those they love. I obey " the request of my noble father, Arces, and of Zoroaster, the "great King of Baotria, who blessed thee at Persepolis ; and "come to aid thee to rule thy kingdom with Truth and "wisdom ! " So Yudishtir was comforted ; and his kingly heart found rest and solace, and gained augmented strength from love I [So ends this fragment of the travels of Yudishtir.] The following sequel has been added by a more recent hand. King Yudishtir had returned from the land of Assyria and Baotria, and had married the Princess lonis, daughter of KING OF H1ND08THAN. 57 Arces, Satrap of Persepolis. He mostly took council with his Queen and with his Paiulau brethren — Aijuna "of the sounding bow," Sediva, from the land of Caspira, and Bhim- Sen, the aged war-chief. The King had cast many dark illusions from his mind, and his kingly heart impelled him to consider the welfare of his people, and of the busy world of men. Interest in his kingdom's welfare, and superintendence of the ruling mind, again occupied his attention ; and plans for the good of his people predominated with the King, whose far-reaching mind foresaw and provided for the wants of all. The kingdom was at rest : the allies and tributaries faithful ; and the foes afraid of the King of India. Soon afterwards he journeyed towards his capitol, Ajoodya (Oude). Yudishtir's return home may thus be paraphrased in the words of the Mahabarat:* — " Thence fair Ayoodya's town he gained, "And o'er his father's kingdom reigned ; " Disease or famine ne'er oppress'd " His happy people, richly blest " With all the joys of ample wealth, '' Of sweet content, and perfect health. " No widow mourned her well-loved mate, " No sire his son's untimely fate : " Tliey feared not storm or robbei-'s hand ; " No fire or flood laid waste the land : " The golden age seemed come again ' " To bless the great Yudishtir's reign." Thus far we have traced the wanderings of the royal pil- grim, and have conducted him to his home at fair Ajoodya; but at last the melancholy inherent in the King's mikrocosm gained the; mastery. Brave, beneficent, and wise, he had * Translated by Ralph Griffiths, Esq., M.A., of Benares College. 58 THE WANDERINGS Of YUDlSHTiU, reigned for the good of liis people thirty years, for himself and pleasure six. Then tlie cry of the unsatisfied spirit arose within his heart, "Oh virtue, art thou but a vain name?" Having called his brethren and chiefs around him he resigned the kingdom, and proceeding to the everlasting mountains of Himodi, there — amidst the evidence of glorified nature — took up his abode. Whether the light of Truth, that "inner sun" so dwelt upon by the Indian mystics, arose to lighten his sad and clouded mind, no man knoweth! The King gave no sign. Let us hope, however, that some rays of comfmi fell on his kingly heart in his self-exiled scditafe, land -diat the hope oi Nirvana — aksoiption itito divinity — comforted his ntMe spirit; else were human virtue fallacious, and justice, generosity, and benevolence on earth a delusion and a snare. Gautama the Bhooda, his descendant; discouraged at the growing sin and errors of Brahminism, then declining from its pristine virtue, had not yet arisen to preach tlie practice of virtue for its own sake, and thus to purify men's hearts ; yet we seem to recognise in the character of Yiidishtir much of the mystic self-communion and introspection which was more fully developed in his great descendant Gautama— the " Light of Asia" — for whose philosophy Brahminism wAs at the age of Yudishtir paving the way. It had reached its epigce, and was about to diecline into priestcraft and superstition, and absurd ceremonial, till a glorified materialism, such as indeed is the Bhoodism of Gautama, the virtuous apostate, resulted as a protest. One more scene in Yudishtir's life, and we must leave hiiu to history: — A multitude of mountain men and quarriers of stone were carrying huge blocks of granite and stone, and slabs of slate, hewn from the rocky top of Hattoo. Cakes were broiling in KING OK H1ND08THAN. 59 the giants' ■ chulas (ovens) on the sumnlit of the mountain amidst the pine trees. Ah-eady the distant -Walls of ancient " Pinjore" raised their turrets in the distant yellow haze, and its Oyclopian domes arose from the fragrant earth. The mighty torrent of the Hyphasis — river of Manasa-Rawa — trma the snows of Kailas roared through, the dark glens of Key^istMl and Kahloor.* The Pail^tts sat in council on JacatalA,t and a great feast was appointed to ■conckide their meetings, and celebrate the completion of their work. ArjftTia, ^tediva, and Bhima — great Krishna also, had condescended to attend the banqaet. Two spare couches for the absent Pandaus — Bhirasen and Nizkool — were reserved on either side the royal table. Other tables were set for the courtiers,' below the raised dais of the princes, in the hall of state. The jocund Krishna raised the shell. He spake> "Achaubisif of libations to great Yudishtir! Oh, " King, I know thy heart. The earthly Krishna has derided " and jested at thee ; the heavenly Vishnoo has blessed thee, "and will still preserve! Be just ; be merciful ; and listen to "the sweet song of Vyasa. Thus Vyasa sang: — "TRUE GLORY. " To whom is glory justly due ? "To those who pride and hate subdue; " Who, mid the joys that lure the sense " Lead lives of holy abstinence ; "Who when reviled, their tongues restrain, "And injured, injure not again: " Who ask of none, but freely give, "Most liberal to all that live ; * The djrpiiicle. seems vague ' hereabouts, but it is recorded that Pinjore was actually built by the Pandaus about this date. Bhimsen the second Pandau is specially named as being engaged in the work. t The modem Simla. J Chaubisi 12 X 7=84, the number of months in the year, multiplied by the number of days in the week, a mystic number. 60 THE WanderiKgs ok vod1sh*ib, " Who welcome to their homes the gaest, "And banish envy from their breast ; " With reverent study love to pore " On precepts of our sacred lore ; " Who work not, speak not, think not sin, " In body pure, and pure within : " Whom avarice can ne'er mislead, " To guilty thought or sinful deed ; " Whose fancy never seeks to roam " From the dear wives who cheer their home ; "Whose hero souls cast fear away, " When battling in a rightful fray ; " Who speak the truth with dying breath, " Undaunted by approaching death ; "Their lives illumed with beacon light " To guide their brother's steps aright ; " Wlio, loving all, to all endeared, " Fearless of all, by none are feared ; "To whom the world, with all therein, " Dear as themselves is more than kin ; " Who yield to others, wisely meek, " The honours which they scorn to seek ; "Who toil that rage and hate may cease, "And lure embittered foes to peace ; " Who serve their God, the laws obey, "And earnest, faithful, work and pray ; " To these— rthe bounteous, pure, and true, "Is highest glory justly due."* Then Sediva took up the song. "Oh King, and dear " brother, before I depart to my land of Kashiapa, hear the " song which that Kokila — sweet bird of song — Valmiki sang " to Rama, our great ancestor — The Song of the Suppliant "Dove," Again Vyasa sang : — From the Mahabarat (slightly altered); translated by Professor Ralph T. H. Griffiths, M.A., Benares College. KING OF HINDOSTHAN. 61 " Chased by a hawk, there came a dove " With worn and weary wing, " And took her stand upon the hand " Of Kasi's' noble king. "The monarch smoothed her ruffled plumes, "And laid her on his breast ; "And cried, 'No fear shall vex thee here, "'Rest, pretty egg-born, rest! '"Fair Kasi's realm is rich and wide, " ' With golden harvests gay ; " ' But all that's mine will I resign " ' Ere I my guest betray ! ' "But panting for his half-won spoil " The hawk was close behind, "And with wild eye, and eager cry, "Caime swooping down the wind. "'This bird,' he cried, 'my destined prize, ""Tis not for thee to shield, 'M'Tis mine by right, and toilsome flight, '"O'er hill and dale and field. " ' Hunger and thirst oppress me sore, " ' And I am faint with toil : " ' Thou should'st not stay a bird of prey "'Who claims but rightful spoil. " ' They say thou art a glorious king, '"And justice is thy care ; " ' Then justly reign in thy domain, " ' Nor rob the birds of air ! ' Then cried the king — " ' Mine oath forbids me to betray " ' My little twice-born guest ; f The modern Benares, <>2 THE WANDERINGS OP YUDISHTIR, ,, " ' See how sjie clings with trembling wings " ' To hpr protector's breast ! ' - The hawk, replies — , ' " ' If such flffed.ion for the dove " '.Thy pitying heart has stirred, "' Let thine own flesh my m^w, refresh. "'The falcon loves to feed on doves, ' " 'And such is, Heaven's decree.' The King now offers himself for the Dove. " H'6 carved the flesh froiii off his side, "AiiA threw it in the scale'; "Atid when alone was left the bone, " He threw himself therein. * , * -, ' * * "TheWt'ssed gods from every sphfere, " By Indra led, came nigh ; ' ■ "While drum and flute, and shell and lute, , " Made music in the sky. " They rained immortal chaplets down, . . " Which hands celestial twined, ■ ' "And softly shed upon his bedd , , "Pure amrit;, drink divine. "Then god and seraph, bard and nymph, " Their heavenly voices raised ; "And; a glad throng, with dance and song, " The glorious monarch praised. ." They set him on a golden car, "That blazed with many a gem ; "Then swiftly through the air they flew, "And bore him home^witlr them. - , ;,., "Thus Kasi's lord by noble deed, " Won heaven and deatliless fame. "And when the weak protection seek "From thee, do thou the same,'" KING OF HINDOSTHAN. 6^ But, behold! two monstrous forms — scarlet as fire — suddenly appear occupying the Pandaus' vacant seats. Astonishment and dismay fell on the royal circle ; but with a fearful, shout the mighty Krishna — his figure changed into the glorified form of Sank Narrain, victorious over the " Da!mon of the Shell" — straight arose in his wrath visible to all. He spake: "Avaunt, oh, Furies of Manasir : oh, envious ones ! Nar- " rain curses and will destroy the scarlet pests of earth — envy " i&nd slander its attendant imp ! " He then delivered one of those moral and metaphysical dis- quisitions for which he is in history and poetry so remarkable.* As he spake the Furies suddenly collapsed, and shrank to normal stature ; whereupon Krishna suddenly seized them in his grasp, and hurled them into the giants' chulas (ovens). A crimson glare illumined the forest. " Shabash ! I score one "now, methinks, at last over these imps of Manasir,'' re- marked the jocund Krishna. "Thus perish Envy and Slander "from the earth! Farewell, oh, Pandaus, and forget not " Vishnoo's parting blessing ! " A cloud enveloped him, and shrouded his radiant form as glorified from this his second "avatar," he rose above the mountain Hattoo on his eagle steed Garood ; and waving a last farewell to the Pandau brethren, floated far away across the. mountain tops to the peaks of "Kailas" — the snowy Olympus of the Hindoos. The Pandau company all arose: "Hail, oh bright one ; and farewell I " They performed the saptopuddie— the sacred dance — and sang the parting hymn to Vishnoo the Preserver, friend of the Pandau race. , * Vide the Mahabarat patsim; in wliich poem are interspersed — ^perhaps inter- polated by recent hands — strange metaphysical subtilties delivered by Krishna at the most incongruous times, even on the edge of battle. They form most remarkable episodes in the great Hindoo epic, and perhaps detract from its unity and heroic character. The tricks of Krishna narrated in this story may perhaps be assigned to a certain jester or court buffoon of Tudishtir's suite, 64 THE WANDERINGS OP YUDISHTIR. The. wandering Cimmerian wlio wrote of Sediva and the "Fairy of the Fountain," roamed some moons later across the waters of tlie swifi-rolling Hyphasis, contemplated the triform top of " Hattoo," and resting for refuge in" a cavern, whilst the hail rattled on the rocky summit of the mountain, listened to the legends of the " Giants' Chulas" which loomed across the valley before him, and weaved in outline this second story of the ancient Pandaus — the weird Wanderings of Yudishtir, King of India. [Note. — I would not bo understood as wishing to scoff at the Hindoo religion in its purity,, but simply at a few of its absurd interpretations by corrupt Brahmins of a later age, whose priestcraft has obscured and brought into ridicule the real moral excellence of many of its precepts. 'As regards the enigmatical character of Krishna — the acknowledged ex- ponent of Hindoo mf)rality, and by many regarded as an "avatar" or incarnation of Vishnoo the Preserver, and a model hero — ample authority could be quoted for his merry quips and pranks {e.g., the Prem Sagur passim). It will be observed that, apart from a proclivity to the society of fair milkmaids (gdpies) — reprehensible no doubt — Krishna's tricks af?; harmless in themselves, and generally conducive to the benefit of their object. "Merry and wise" would seem to have been tlie motto the hero adopted whilst in the flesh. He is. now supposed to be awaiting further avatar in "Kailas" or " Swerga," an inferior heaven of Hindoo mythology, not greatly differing from the Mahomedan Paradise. Happy may lie re§t theve t'll the crowing of the "Coq-Cigrues '"j (From a, Native pioture.) -A-iq- I ID-STL. <%jYt\E learn from the Mahabarat that the great battle of IfTl/ Korau-khet, between the Koraus and Pandaus for the throne of the kingdom whose capitol was at that period called " Hustinapoora," was fought on the great plain between the rivers Jumma and Sursootie near Thanesur, hence called Kuruksh^tra, — the plain of the Koraus. Chron- ologists have fixed the date at about March, 1367 b.c. A few incidents of the great battle may be cursorily men- tioned as a prelude to the following legend. In the war between the kindred Koraus and Pandaus, the heroes on the side of the former were " Bhishtma," the aged general and commander-in-chief of the Korau host, and " Karma," " Kripa," " Ashwotha'na," " Vikram," &c. On the other side "Bhima" (the second Pandau) was commander-in- chief, and " Virta," Drapada," " Purujit," and " Sharya," were heroes of the Pandaus in the great battle. " Bhisthma" is represented as sounding the conch as chal- lenge ; then "Arjiina," the Pandau, answers, but on the eve of battle pauses and communes with "Krishna," who acts as his charioteer, upon which an extraordinary argument (as narrated in the Bhagava-Gita) ensues, and Balaraina — brother of Krishna — is stated to have become so grief-stricken at this war of kindred as, soon after the commencement of the battle, to withdraw from the field and seek retirement from the world. The despondency of Arjuna, however, is overcome by the arguments of Krishna, and the battle commences. p 66 THE llEGRETS OF The character of Arjuna is throughout represented in a very amiable light : he is mentioned as the friend and pupil of Krishna, by whose sister, Soobhadra, he had one son — Abimanya. Arjiina's bow is named "Gandiva," and his conch or horn "Panchajanya" — being the tibia, or thigh-bone, of the giant Panchajana, This preamble may perhaps serve to introduce us to the following legend or story of the hero Arjuna. I. - T eve, on the great day of Korau-Khet — 6th Kartik li.Y. 2268— 14th of March, 1367 e.g., being the seventeenth day of the great battle, "Arjuna of the sounding bow" — third of the Pandau brethren — having seen the battle won, rested on his spear at sunset. He summoned to his side three trusty chiefs : — "Oh, comrades of Arjuna," he exclaimed, "let us refrain from bowing hefore the King "Yudishtir, my great brother, now victor of Hindosthan. " The- battle is won ! Let us depart hence, and swell not the " victor's triumph, achieved by us and the other valiant heroes. " We have saluted him victor, but the king will believe us "slain in the last great onset. Let us depart, and seek ad- " ventures in the sunny south ; in that Kamroop — abode of "love — whose King fell by my hand in the battle of yesterday." » » * » » » Ere the storms of the southwest had set in, or ere the rains of summer had began to deluge the fern-covered mountains of the South, the Pandau and his companions, journeying south- wards, had arrived at " Darjegling," that "bright spot" of the ancient Khassia range which lies beneath the lofty wall of Thibet — the land of Bhota under the giant peaks of Kanchan- jinga, of Gauri-Sankur, and of Deodunga. Thence they, surveyed the glory of the Southern Himalayas. Range over AkjUNA THE PANDAU. 07 range of forest-covered mountain met their view ; between them green lovely valleys and mossy dells ; trees of semi- tropical character, tasselled with wavy orchids ; gigantic tree ferns and climbing arums ; differing from the northern mountains amidst which hitherto Arjuna had chiefly wandered. Here were seen also lofty flowering trees, and shrubs and wild flowers of varied hue, with orchids both dotting the herb- age and hanging from the forest trees. Gay plumaged birds and gorgeous butterflies — themselves like floating flowers — flittering through the tufted groves, met their view on all sides. The melody of falling waters fell on the ear with plashing murmur, and the foam of rushing torrents glittered far below them in the tufted valleys of the Teesta. Etjuxta scatet unda fugax de rupe siipind. "Here let us rest awhile," exclaimed Arjuna. "Here let "us abide a space and learn the condition of mankind in this " ' bright spot ; ' whether haply in this paradise the Gods have "granted to man content and happiness. Here let us rest oui "arms from the jarring clangor of war and the intrigues of the "court and camp." Burly indigenes approached, and pointed out the shrine of the tutelary goddess — the Autochthon of these hills. So here in the land of ferns and flowers, abode Arjuna and his com- panions for many moons. Having hung his shield and sounding arms in the temple of. the goddess, Arjuna had adopted the garb of the simple mountaineers : armed solely with the mountain staff and dii-k, he was wont to wander alone over these lovely hills, and thread the mazes of the wild forests, and explore every nook of the winding dells and flowery slopes which alternate with the fir apd cedar forests and pine-clad summits in these bright regions. Soon, however, the summer rains set in, and the waters began to pour down every rivulet, and cascades to gush from every rocky ridge,, and gleaming torrents to rush down the deep f2 68 THE RiBGRETS 01' glens between the mountain spurs which radiate from the giant axis of Himaleh and Thibet. The herbage and mosses of a humid climate rapidly clothed the landscape, and ferns and lovely grasses waved their delicate fronds across the margin of the waters. Fairyland, if any- where on earth, is here ! and the fervid soul of the Pandau warrior soon caught inspiration from the spirits of the wilder- ness, and peopled the wild sylvan solitudes with fairy forms of witchery and beauty. Whether we are to accept his visions as realities, or as the idyls of the imagination or of maya (heavenly illusion), we nmst leave to the reader to determine ; are they not written in the chronicles of the princes — the Sins and Penances of Arjuna the Pandau ! Pass we on then through the preliminary steps of Arjuna's lite at the "bright spot," and proceed to narrate the first adventure which led to the events recorded in the sequel of this legend. In a bright vista of the flowery woods dwelt an aged hermit chief whose home was blessed with two fair children — daughters of the varied type of the indigenes of these mount- ains. One, dark-eyed as the ebon-berries of the canthus, the other fair and golden as the blooming spires of the clematis of Kamroop. On a day in his lone wanderings, whilst the sun, bursting through the mists, illumined the damp forest with sudden glory, came Arjuna to the fern-clad flowery valley of the chief — for chief of a wandering tribe was the hermit 016a- jhin. His fair daughters were wandering in the sunlight. At first sight of Arjuna, like startled deer, bounded away the damsels ; anon like deer, pausing to listen and gaze from between the fern leaves, they began to consider that after all the stranger was not so formidable as the fleet unicorn of the steppes, or the mail-clad rhinoceros of the Bhabur (Terai), or the shaggy bear of the uplands which sometimes invaded AEjnNA THE PANDAU. 69 the forests. Soon the hermit appearing, welcomed the stranger, and appeased his daughters' fears. Fruits and the fermented millet were offered ; and Arjuna related a fictitious tale of adventure and misfortune as his history. Tears fell from the soft brown eyes of Kalindra, the dark-eyed of the sisters, but smiles and sunny glances bestowed the sympathy and approval of the laughing eyes of KoreUa, the younger of the fair sisters. Alas! which the lovelier? asked the eye of the Pandau of his heart ! Meantime the sky gloomed over, and the rainful clouds of the south gathered over the mountain-tops. "Oh, courteous stranger!" cried Oloaghin, " thread not the gloomy forest at this late hour ; here rest "till the storm be passed, oh, wanderer from the north!" So the Pandau stayed and brake bread and ate salt beneath the roof of Oloaf bin the hermit. Alas ! for the broken vows ; alas ! for the hearts that love and break i * * * But the story of many moons must not be anticipated. "Oh, son," cried Oloajhin, "welcome art thou as the radi- "ant arch which spans the valley of the Lachen when the " stormy rains of the southwest recede, and the mists roll away "from the snowy peaks of Donkria* and Nubra,* and the "bright face of Darjegling — heaven haunted — smiles amidst "the clouds!" But Arjuna departed ere nightfall, and slept ribt beneath the roof of Oloajhin. On the morrow, the subtle fairies who carry out the behests of Kama (the Indian Cupid) planted the fiery seed of love in the heart of the Pandau warrior, and he loved Kalindra the soft-eyed and tender-hearted daughter of Oloaghin the hermit; but Koreila, the fair-haired, loved the stranger who had sought her father's house ofttimes since the day when he first appeared to them in the forest amidst the fern-trees. The rains still fell — ^the foliage still grew — and in flowery bowers hid the fairies of the dells. The trellised vines and * Peaks of Kanchanilnga. 70 THE REGliETS Oi' tasselled orchids hid the nymphs bt the rushing streailis, which leapt in cascades over the rocks amid the wild flowers ; their waters heard, but scarce seen amidst the foliage, were veiled by lovely masses of ferns and grasses, and behind this leafy gauzy screeh the fair spirits of the summer waters sang, and wove the songs of dreamland. "Art thou not one of us ? " they whispered, as Kalindra, the soft-eyed, passed along their margin, and murmured love ; but to Koreila, the fair-haired, the whispering naids of the waters sang not, only the spirits who dance in the sunbeams and rainbows played in airy circles, though invisible, around her sunny head. • » # • « * So the birds sang, and the waters played, and the sunflies flitted amidst the bowers of the land of ferns and flowers; and Arjuna the Pandau loved, and was beloved by the fair daughters of Oloaphin the Hermit of the Lachen. II. •'^ll'N these blooming pastures the simple people of the Jl mountain were wont to assemble on some pine-clad summit to sing the songs of the forest and the mounl^ ain — the lives and loves of former times. There the shepherds and hunters would meet the fair ones of the valleys in some moonlit grove or starry plateau, and dance and sing through- out the summer night. To these gatherings would resort Arjuna and his companions, and mix in the merry throng. Thither also would repair Kalindra and her sister the bright, latlghter-loving Koreila — ^gems of the forest; and ofttimes Wotild Arjuna stroll beneath the stars, the love-warm breath of the beautiful stirring his wavy locks, and the tresses of the fair girls, caught by the soft summer wind, would float across his face as he led them to the dance. Then the fiery heart Of the Pandau kindled and he spake ; — AE.TUNA THE PANDAU. 71 " Oh, Kalindra ! fair art thou, oh darling of the south ! " Wilt thou be the bride of the stranger, and live like the fairy "forms we know of in the bowers of roses and scented braes of " Kamroop ? Be thou my love and spouse ! " Kaliiidra answered not, but throwing back her head glanced 9t him with Tove-lighted eyes. So those two became lovers, and met in the dewy eve and starry night, and their souls be- came as one. But soon Arjuna wandered in search of varied beauty by the crystal waters of Eungeet and the verdant banks of the snow- greeii Teesta. He had gazed on the roseate tints of the sun setting over the peaks of Kanchanjinga ; had viewed the mossy forest glades and valleys of the Brahmaputra — God- descended — even as far as Kamroop — abode of love — and the moonlit caverns of Drapadaia ; and the mystic city Alaka — city of the blest — had glittered on the inner sun of the Pandau's heart ; but always he returned to the abodes of men, and the loving Kalindra and the fair Koreila welcomed the wandering hero to their home. "When, oh rash one I wilt thou rest and enjoy sweet repose ''and the love of thy fair spouses?" And Arjuna soothed their fair tresses, and whispered love, and for a space was silent, and dwelt in love and the warmth of friendship whilst the snows of the north rained on the "land of ferns and flowers," and the "bright spot" was involved in cloud, and the wind howled through the arches of the forest, and the withered orchids and arums waved and flaunted in the wind like the rent flags and streamers of the great day of battle of Korau-kh^t ! Warm in the beauty of youth abode the chief, and repented not of his absent home, — Arjuna was content in the smiles of beauty. Thus Arjuna sang: — THE SONG OF ARJUNA. " There by the mountain claspt in loving arms "Alaka, city of the blessed, lies : " Her bright feet bathed in Gunga's flood, she charms 72 THE REGRETS OF " With marvellous beauty e'en immortal eyes. " Thou too, free rover, shalt her beauty prize, "And often wander to mine own dear town ! " Nor shall sweet Alaka thy love dispise, "But proudly wear upon her domes a crown " Of the pure drops of pearl thou pourest softly down. "And she has charms which nought but thine excel ; " High as thyself her airy turrets soar, » * « * "And for thy lightnings in the midnight air, "Look in the maiden's eyes and own a rival there. "Unmatched is she for lovely girls who learn "To choose the flowers that suit them best, and bring " The varied treasures of each month in turn " To aid those charms which need no heightening : " The amaranth, bright glory of the spring ; "The lotus gathered from the summer flood ; "Acacias, taught around their brows to cling ; "And jasmine's fragrant white, their locks to ?tnd ; "And, bursting at the rain, the young kadumba bud. • • * • " The tell-tale sunbeam of the morning throws " Upon the path each roving beauty chose, " Falls on some faded flower, some loosened zone, "A withered lotus or a dying rose ; "A bracelet which her haste forgot to close, " Here a dropt diadem of orient pearl, " The fond impatience of its mistress shows ; "And here the jasmine bud that deckt the curl, "Lying upon the grass, betrays the amorous girl. " beauties, worthy of that beauteous place, " That sweetest city which I know so well, "Where mine own brethren of ethereal race, "Blest with the love of those fair angels dwell, " In homes too beautiful for tongue to tell ! " Those homes by night a starry radiance fills " Shot from the jewelled flames where breathe the smell " Of roses, and, while melting music thrills, " They quaff the precious wine the heavenly tree distils.* • From the "Messenger Cloud" of Kalidasa, translated by R. T. H. Grif&ths, Esq., M.A., Principal of the Benares College. ARJUNA THE PANDAU. 73 Such was the song of Arjuna which he^sang to the assembled warriors and nymphs on the mountain-top, beneath the canopy of cedar, in the starlit grove of Darjegliug. But alas for the errant heart of man ! The soul of the Pandau, after a time, began to chafe under the inaction of soft delights. " Shall the warrior's spirit thus succumb, and "be lost in -sloth? Shall he who stood in arms for great "Yudishtir, beside the war-chief Bhima, thus yield to silly "damsels of the mountain? Mayhap Yudishtir dies or wan- "ders from his throne — he was ever sad and errant! — who, " then, bnt Arjuna to rule the mighty kingdom of Hindosthan ? " The helmet, sword, and bow, rather than the flowery chaplets "best become the brows of the Khsatriya chief!" Thus would the Pandau sometimes murmur to his inner soul : but Kalindra, enlightened by love, had art to penetrate the latent sadness of his, soul, and by soft caresses and endearing charms still kept the hero to her side ; yet ever and anon he chafed his rosy chains, and his mood was such that any predominant event might snap them. Ere the rains of the ensuing spring had revived the blossoms of the flowery forests, this event was suddenly supplied, through the arts of the evil races who dwell in the wilderness of Himodi, amidst the sounding avalanches and glaciers of the regions of ice and snow which surround the desolate lakes, whence issue the cold waters of the Lachen and Lacboong, in the wilderness of Bhot. III. /^^HE evil races who dwelt in the icy caverns amidst the ^^, dark mountains and glaciers, which involve the sources of the dark green Teesta, had seen the loves of the Pandau and his mountain maids. Envy, the curse of the pro- fane and evil races, sprouted in their hearts, and filled them 74 THE REGRETS OF with rage and hatred : especially Lambron, who dwelt in the path of the icy north wind, aroused his troubled spirit for mischief. Calling around him his companions, he exclaimed : "See ye, oh Naga-born! this wanderer from the north hath "gained the love of the fair mountain maids! Is the Lunar "race of mortals (Pandaus) for ever thus to gain happiness " on earth, whilst the great primaeval serpentr-race repines and "languishes in gloomy forests and caverns of the icy wilder- "ness? Shall not the ancestral hatred of our race to theirs "be still predominant? Say, shall this Pandau mortal be "suffered to enjoy soft delights uninterrupted by our spells? "Haste, oh Sprites! and having invoked Narok and Sib, the "great Autochtlienes of these mountains, devise some spell "whereby the accursed strangers may feel the power of our "great primseval race — the vengeance of the Naga denii-gods !" A council of the Evil Spirits and EAchshasas of the wild Bhut mountains is held : a dire resolve of vengeance is takeii ; and plans for the destruction of Arjiina and chiefs resolved on. Forthwith — like fiery blood-red serpents — the wicked sprites or sorceresses issue forth from the icy wilderness of Clmraul- hdri. On their errand of mischief they wind down through the icy chasms and gorges of the Lachen towards the Teesta. They emerge from the Cachar belt of dark forest which clothes the lofty ranges below the peaks of Himodi. Arrived at the swollen waters of Teesta they plunge in. Lo, a herd of swine ! — like black informed imposthumes, on touching water, appear the foul sorceresses of the Naga-born ! Arrived at the hither bank they assume the forms of fair girls, and ascend to the "bright spot," where they present themselves at the dances of the mountaineers frequented by Arjuna and his comrades, and mix in the mazy throng. They lavish their witcheries on Arjuna and the other chiefs. "Ah! give us souls,'' they cried, "like Kalindra and Ko- " reila," and turned their eager black eyes on the Pandau and his friends. Guarded by love, great Arjuna resists their ARJUNA THE TAilbAU. 75 blaiidisliihents ; but the other chiefs, not so fortunate in love, gaze on the false fair forms of the Naga sorceresses. The Indian Anteros pervades their souls. Circe-like the foul fair sprites assert their predominance, and the degradation of the Pandau's followers is achieved. * * * * But the subtle fire which visits the brain of Arjuna — heaven-descended — detects the delusive aspects. "I am weak ''in love; but say, oh Kama," he cries, "doth not the immortal " spark inherited from my bright ancestors give me power to '' distinguish good from evil — aye, often good in evil, and evil "in apparent good? The pure soul, though errant, detects " the star of truth ! How else regard the gambols of my "cousin Krishna, else so wilful! To the uninitiated, sinful; to "the bright soul-bestower of happiness, virtue! But this is a "mystery! Enough! Tell me not my love Of the fair Kal- ''indra, which guards me from such as these is sinful in the " sight of Indra and the heavenly choir ! " Thus mused the hero to his inner spirit, but earthly passion for the beautiful had dimmed his ken, and mdya, or heavenly- illusion, fell oit him too, and obscured his radiant soul ! ****** One day Koreila came to him in tears. "Alas, my brother ! " she said, " thy dear Kalindra hatti departed for the north ; for "the cold waters of Llarna-zeroo, where indeed is tbe home of "my father Olciayhin. Thither hath he taken thy spouse to " wed her to the chief of Undes." She spake in gtile : Kal- indra was simply ill, fevered with the changing seasons ; but Koreila loved the stranger, and wished to Hire him for herself. " Shall we not also love, oh dear one of my heart ? " sighed the sunny-haired maiden ; " when my melailcho'ly sister leaves "thee for another?" The Pandau stood astonished. He had been some time * Arjuna was a pupil of Krislinaj and evidently imblied with the peculiar phil- osophy of the demi-god, whose metaphysics are before the world in the Mahabarat, where they may be consiUted in the original. 76 THE REGRETS OF absent on a journey, and had not seen Kalindra, nor heard of her illness. " Doth she willingly cpnsent to wed the chief ? " asked he of Koreila. "Alas I yes," sighed the false maiden. " Oh, dear prince, " forget her. My affection shall console thee. My love shall "make thee forget her fickle heart. Let us,' too, love in . the "sweet spring season and be happy." Arjuna sighed, and turned aside towards the yellov? sunset. Alone, he stood in the silent shadow of the pines beneath the tearful clouds, whose misty shadows dimmed the mountain. " Inconstant like the moon, which lasts but for a month, and " then veils her lovely face behind the canopy of heaven. Alas! "Kalindra; I thought Thou at least wert constant, and the "light Koreila heartless. How different the truth!" He sought his couch as the moon rose dim and tearful over the cedar tops. From that sad eve Arjuna sought Koreila alone ; and the fair maiden — false to sister and friends — at length fled with the Pandau from her native mountains towards the seaboard of Ophir and the isles — land of merchandise and wealth. lY. /^^'HE Pandau and his false enchantress had wandered to \3 L Kamroop and far Cathay — even to Taprobane and the islands — thence to the north-west ; had met the great Yudishtir on his return from the land of Assyria ; and had journeyed with him to Ajoodya and Kumaon — land of the tortoise. Here he parted from the regal court, and left the king engaged in the active ruling of his kingdom, having re- covered from the delusions and maya of his earlier years. Just, beneficent, and wise, the reign of the great Yudishtir promised to be long and happy. ARJUNA THE PANDAU. 77 What else reiiMtined for Arjuna and his spouse but to return to the sunny home of Koreila, amidst the ferns and flowers of the fair south mountains? Moreover the heart of the Pandau was moved by words of war, and danger to his friends and people. The Nagas — evil races of the snows — had descended in force upon the hills of Darjegling — the bright spot — and had proved too strong for the simple mountaineers of those regions ; though aided by their Pandau allies — the followers of Arjuna. Urgent appeals for aid had reached the chief. Aijuna spake : — " With Krishna's aid how easy to defeat "them! but, alas! the merry champion hath sought Kailas ! "(tlie Olympus of Hindoos). Ah! mayhap the great Yu- . "dishtir will trust me with his sank or horn to summon the "warlike host of Vis'hnoo to our aid ! " He sought the King of India, and Yudishtir accorded the boon of his desire. So Arjuna journeyed with his fair false spouse Koreila toward the southern mountains. Arrived there, he joined his powers in arms. United with the friendly indigenes, they marched into the land of Mairaona and Tendong, and there found the Naga host drawn up grim and defiant along the banks of Teesta, — Eachshasas and Yakkas, their allies, swarming on the surrounding mountains beneath the snow. As the Pandaus approached, these last hurled down rocks Ejnd vast fragmfents of ice, which, splintering on the rocks, went thunder- ing down the sides of the mountain, overthrowing many in their course. A war of the Titan races seemed at hand ! The night fell dark, and the damp mists filled the forest. The gibbous moon, whose sickly beams hung o'er the dark and melancholy waves of Teesta, and the watchfires of the contending hosts gleamed red and lurid on the snow-fringed forests and haunted shades around. In a hollow of the mountains, amidst the pine trees, Oloaphin the hermit-chief and his tribe, were camped, as allies of the Pandaus. The Prince Arjuna, on the eve of battle, sought the chieftain's camp. " I come, oh Oloaghin, to de- 78 THE regkEts of " mand the sign of peace. Wherefore, oh deceitful one, hast " thou rent from me ray Kalindra, and wedded her to the chief "of Chum hi, our great foe? " Oloafhin started. "Alas! what sayest thou? oh Prince "Arjuna, for at length I know thy rank and name, hast thou " not forsaken my fair child Kalindra, and fled with her false " sister, oh wicked one, oh inconstant one ? Nay, thou shalt " see Kalindra at dawn of day, and learn from her the truth.'' Astonishment fell on the Pandau's heart. He paused, and deeply meditating, sat beneath a giant pine tree awaiting dawn. At length the yellow sun struggled through the mountain mists, and revealed the armies of the Pandaus and the Nagas joining battle. Arjuna started to his feet. " The prince nnist " not be late in battle ; to lead his warriors is Arjuna's high "behest. On sons of Khsatriyas!" he shouted, "on to the " attack ! Be brave, oh followers of the' Pandau ! " He plunged into the rolling tide of Teesta, and attacked the foe. Who shall tell of the fury of the battle between the warlike Ghandrabuns and the Daemons and Nagas of the snow? Rocks, and pine trees torn from the mountain side were hurled adown the banks of Teesta, and deeds of fury and of magic, npt to be believed in days like these, were enacted in the dark gorges of Bhota. The battle fluctuated : the victory rolled this way and that: at times the Pandaus forced back to the river: anon a rally, and the stormy fight rolled upwards. At midday the combat slackened ; by mutual consent the tired ch^pjpiong drew off a space to breathe. Arjjina rested on his spear beneath a cedar ; the flame of' h^^tlsi wap,ed a little in his soul. He recalled the words of Oloafhin, and thoughts of his beloved Kalindra stole into hia-heiart. Suddenly she stood, on the tufted slope beside him. "Ah, " dear prince, I was faithful ! " she exclaimed. " Behold the "prpg^. The or^qle, hatji said thou canst not win the fight. AHJUNA THE I'ANDAU. 79 '.',?3^C9pt a maiden sacrifice herself : I die for thee ! Farewell !" The, maiden flung her arms aloft, and from a towering rock, whose dark cliS impended o'er the flood, like a wounded s^tricken dove, fell fluttering into the abyss ! Motionless the Paudau stood, his arms extended towards tlje maiden of his- love. Too late! Koreila, in the shades of the forest, had been jealously watching the interview of her lover and sister ; but now, sud- denly struck with sorrow and remorse, she also — shrieking wildly — rushed from the shelter of the pine trees to the cliff whence Kalindra had fallen, and threw herself headlong into the waters of the rushing Teesta. ****** Two streams now join the flood of Teesta at the point where the sisters fell. One, placid and murmuring over mossy beds, through scented, thickets, scarcely showing rare gleams of gently flowing water through the ferns and grasses of its marge ; the other, turbulently rushing down its rocky bed within its storm-rent glen, its torrent broken by passionate, Ipaps over dark rocks and boulders ; and finally, by one grand plunge, joining its sister stream at the deep green flood of Teesta. These streams are called respectively "Kalindra'' and " Koreila," in memory of the sisters. ****** Years afterwards a pious Jogi was seen at the great temple of Kama-kaya in Kamroop, celebrated for his austerities and the severity of his penance. In form a noble-looking wamor, his face betrayed the melancholy of a great mind saddened by some sinister event, and the pilgrims who resorted to the shrine gazed on him with respect and pity. At length, after many years, rumours came that the great King Yudislitir had abdicated the throne and sought a her- mit's cell in Himalaya. Bhima, the great war chief, was dead, and the nobles of the kingdom had sought in vain for Arjuna, the third Pandau, now heir to the throne of India, 80 THE BBGHETS OF ARJUNA THE PANDAU. Proclamation throughout the land was made, and the chiefs of the tributary kingdoms made search for the missing prince. At length the high-priest of Kama-bdya stood forth and sum- moned the people to the great temple. Advancing from the shrine he stood before the silent Jogi and salut«d. "Great "sir," he said, "behold thy people!" and to the crowd, "Oh " twice-born, behold your King, the long-lost Arjuna ! Oh, "son," he resumed; "it is enough: thy penance hath redeemed " the errors of thy youth ; and restored thy sad lost ones to " Nirvdna (absorption), or at least to Swerga* (heaven) : be- "hold the proof." He led the Pandau — for it was indeed Arjuna — within the temple, and there drawing aside a veil, Arjiina beheld the charming sisters reclining as in life in the Hindoo Paradise; and even as he gazed, immortal glory shone around them, and they gradually melted into rosy mist, and floated away to Kailas, the Olympus of Hindus. So the heart of Arjuna was comforted, and he resumed his regal garb. Escorted by the chiefs, and followed by the ac- clamations of the people, he journeyed to Ajoodya — the royal city — and there ascended the throne of his ancestors. The wandering Cimmerian who wrote the history of Sediva, and of Yiidishtir the Pandau, roamed down the valley of the dark rolling Teesta, and pacing on the sandy shore beside the whirlpool where the flashing clear waters of the Rungeet join the dark green flood of Teesta, wove this strain of the loves and fate of Arjuna and his two fair spouses, sisters of Kamroop. * Swerga — the inferior heaven of Hindoos — a qualified paradise corresponding in some degree to the Mahomedan paradise. %mti$mniim of an %ntnnn \nln Note.— This scene actually represents the incremation of Thakoor Sing; last Raja of Mitt, as witnessed by the Author at the GonHuence of the two Rivers Beas and Parbuttie, on the gth July, 1853. ^ Bfttma, •!• " f fte •{• Dar-c W;*-<- A. iei3:-A.FSOD-^. I. •^ff^HAT, and how great, were the deeds of Bhima the ||T|/ War-chief, the leader of the Pandau host on the field of Korau-Kh6t, in the Land of Braj, previous to the great battle — are they not written in the Bhagavad-Gita and in the chronicles of the Mahabarat? Here we will relate the adventures of the hero in Maharash- tra and the land of Hanuirian, whilst in exile with his brethren, before he came to Kumaon — land of the tortoise — and to Mahendra in the mountains of Himodi — abode of snow. In rank second only to the great Yudishtir, the soul of Bhima had ever gloried in deeds of arms : he sought the society of heroes and champions such as Arjuna his great brother, and other warlike chiefs. Driven into exile by the adverse verdict of the dice,* he had collected a band of warlike Pandaus, sworn to the expulsion of the Koraus, and to the conquest of Giants (Devs) and E^chshasas (evil spirits) who at that time harried the Land of Snow, and had even descended as far as Kali-Kumaon and the lowlands of Brah- madeo in the plains of Hindosthan. They constituted them- selves also champions and custodians of the sacred places in the lands of the Holy Gunga (Ganges); of Ootera-khoond, and Kailas, the makrocosm of Hindoos ; and of Mahendra, the axis of Himodi in the land of snow. But first Bhima dwelt in Maharashtra, in the wild Sahyadri Mountains which bound the vale of Waee, where the hill of Pandoghur still bears the name of the errant chiefs, and where the heroes are still worshipped as ancestors in its temples. * Seepage 17 "Yudishtir.' G ^2 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEP. In the land where, ages after, great Sivajee the " Mountain Eat," led his hrave Mahrattas to regain their freedom, where black basalt and red laterite cliffs crop out amidst the forests of Sahyadri and Maharashtra like giant pyramids athwart the deep blue sky, the Pandau brethren dwelt, and brooded on the coming day which should restore their broken fortunes. From Mahabuleshwar — great mountain of strength and power — Bhima looked forth over the black waters of the western ocean, then just beginning to darken under the blast of the approaching monsoon, and pondered many things ; and his soul kindled as he recalled to mind that the time approached in which it behoved the five Pandau brethren to return from exile and assert their rights in face of the usurping Koraus. On his return to his castle-home one eve, the chief found awaiting him a messenger from the great Yudishtlr, his elder brother, exhorting him to repair to the hills of Kumaon, there to levy war to meet the foe after eighteen moons had sped. Whereupon he called his Pandau brethren, who dwelt with him, and consulted also the chiefs who had followed liis for- tunes in exile, and they had said — " First let us consult the "champion Krishna, who liaunts the banks of his loved "Yamuna, but visits also the valleys of the Godaveri and "Kishtna, which rush forth from the western mountains of " Inyddri and Sahyadri hereabouts." * # * At the Pussurni defile Krishna led the dance, in the beauti- ful vale of Waee, his temporary abode, and soon the hero Bhima found the merry champion. He spake — "I say not "brave Bhima, that I will assist Yudishtlr, thy melancholy "brother, for Krishna loves not sorrow and needless gloom. " Seek thou first my friend and pupil, thy brother, the valiant "Arjuna, and Sediva his friend. Who knows? he may per- "suade me to join thy host in arms. But first go thou forth "through the forests of Nerbudda and of Omerkantuk. To " the south thou wilt find great Hanuman and the Vanaputras " — children of the forest. Seek thou the advice and the " alliance of great Hanuman, the friend of Rama ! " BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 83 II. ■-i^N tbe wild forests wliicli clothe the banks of the sacred Jl Godaveri — holiest of rivers* — southward of Goondwana, in the densest shades, dwelt the Vanaputras — children of the woods — Bheels, Goonds, or Santhals. Of these wild tribes great Hanuman was King. Whether He, the ally of Rama — since worshipped as the Monkey-Deity — or his descend- ant the legend telleth not ; though a demi-god may well be credited with longevity, and have lived the ten generations since great Rama lived on earth. Be it so : what then ? An aged warrior chief, whose age exceeded that of man, and who had fought in the wars of Lankapoora and Singhala, centuries before the epoch of Yudishtir, still lived on earth. Therefore the war-chief BMma sought his aged kinsman in the deep forest solitudes, where he dwelt, to consult him as to the forth- coming war against the Koraus. The aged cliieftain's country extended from the wild west mountains of Sugriva and Carnata, even to Oraerkantuk and' the eastern mountains of Vindhya, of Seoni and of Goomeh. Originally Commander-in-chigf of the armies of the Toombudra and of Carnata, since the war great Hanuman had seized the kingdom, and, establishing a sylvflin monarchy, now ruled the wild tribes of the south from sea to sea. In a remote tangle of hills his stronghold reared its turrets above the forest ; the approaches, unknown save to tbe sons of the wilderness who served the chief, were guarded by fierce Vanaputras — called like their chief also Hanumans — monkeys of the wilderness ; such as they doubtless seemed to their more civilized allies, the proud and high-born Rajpoots of the north, descended from the Sun and Moon: but ever unsubdued, these children of t"he forest, and a terror both to friend and foe ! ' See foot note page 100. q2 84 BHIMA, THE WAE-CHIEP. Arrived at Omerk^ntuk, great Bhiina paused, set up his tent, and sought an oracle from the shrine ot the Diirga on its summit. The goddess spake — "0 Pandau! advance on the " meridian of Oojein 45 Icoss s.w., till Canopus gleams at sun- "set over the lofty sandal tree which impends over the sacred " stream of Mahanuddie : thence turn west, and take thy bow ; " discharge three arrows successively over the lofty tree with "thine utmost strength, oh Vrik6dam,* and on the spot where " the furthest falls, seek further guidance to the presence of "great Hanuman." The chief advanced according to the oracle, and on the third day at even found the omens good. Arrived, he drew the bow, and the arrows whistled through the leaves of the sadred neeiu-tree. Lost to sight in air the arrows sped, and each fell ten furlongs beyond the last, two koss within the forest shades. To this day the Pandau' s bow-shot is shewn to the sons of the stranger who visit those deep shades. As the last arrow fell a wild and sudden yell broke the stillness of the forest, and presently three fierce men of the woods (called also Hanumans) bounded into the glade where Bhima stood. Prostrate they fell before him, their heads on Bhima's feet. " Great sir, behold thy slaves ; the servants of great Hanuman, "who sends thee greeting. Oh, Pandau, deign to follow! "follow ! ! follow ! ! 1 " They waited not for reply, but bounding into the thicket, presently returned with several hundred other apes — the sons of Vanaputras — who, escorting Bhima and his chiefs, and the ten picked followers who accompanied him, they bore him through the forest several koss till night fell dark on the earth. The moon had risen, and just showed the path beneath the gloomy arches of the forest : a flare of fire suddenly lighted up the dark background of trees, and showed the sylvan camp of the Vanaputra King. Hanuman himself, arrayed in armour, stood alone in the crimson torchlight. The Pandau advanced, and would have performed the genu- • A name of Bhima, signifying "great eater. " BHIMA, THE WAK-CHIEF. 85 flexion due to ancestors — for Hanuman had been allied in war, and even by a maiden given in marriage, to great Earaa — but the jungle chief embraced the Pandau and sate him by his side on ebon chairs before the fire, and called for food and for the juice of forest fruit, and soon made merry with his guest, and called his wives and children and kinsfolk of the clan to the feast, and spake no word of war or of wisdom till the mor- row's sun lighted up the forest glades and meres. As the sun arose next morn, great Bhima sang the hymn to Siirya (the Sun) — the "mystic orb triform" — to Lakshmi, to Bhavani the terrible, and to great Diirga. Thus he sang:* — To Surya— " Fountain of living light " That o'er all nature streams "Of this vast mikrocosm, nerve and soul, " Whose swift and subtle beams " Eluding mortal sight, "Pervade, attend, sustain th' eflfulgent whole. "Unite, impel, dilate, calcine. "Oh Sun, thy power I sing. * * * " To Lakshmi — "Daughter of ocean and primaeval night, " Who fed with moonbeams dropping silver dew, "And cradled in a wild wave's dancing light, " Saw'st with a smUe new spheres and creatures new ! "Thee, Goddess, I salute. . . * " To Bhavani — "When time was drowned in sacred sleep "And raven darkness brooded o'er the deep. " The darter of the swift blue bolt I sing, "Till vanquished Assurs felt avenging pains." To Durga — " Diirga ! thou has deigned to shield "Man's feeble virtue with celestial night; " Sliding from your jasper field, "And on a lion borne hast braved the fight ; " For when the daemon Vice thy realms defied. * These verses are from various Vedas, and form part of the Upaniahads or Sacred Hymns of the Hindoos. They have been partly translated into verse by Sir William Jones and other oriental scholars. 86 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. "And, armed -with death and arched bow, "Thy golden lance, goddess mountain-bom, "Touched but the Pest — he roared and died." To Kartikaya — great god of war — Bhima sacrificed a ram, and to his followers gave of the sacred flesh. But see! King Hanuman in state approaches from the deep forest glade, where he had rested, and salutes great Bhima. " Hail, Vrikodam ! Now, O Pandau ! Thou< shalt view an "exemplar of war, such as thou earnest to learn, war chief! "Note it well, for the wise have said; the salutary counsels "of Vishnu-Sarman* have declared 'Let the lion smell blood " and he will know its taste;' ' Take the camel to the brook and "'he will quaff enough for seven days.' And again hath Sar- " ' man said : 'Six faults ought to be avoided by the man seeking '"success in this world — sleep, sloth, fear, anger, laziness, pro- " 'lixity.' And again: 'As frogs to'the pool, as birds to the full "'lake, so wealth and wisdom cometh to the active man!' and " Bhima, I, Hanuman, have said. In knowledge of war, take " lessons from the beasts of earth and birds of air and creatures "of the forest. Behold my servants advance to the review "and to salute the morn. Observe around the forest edge an "army of great apes — the sons of Hanumans of the great " Vanaputra host who fought at Lanka ; and in the mere and " fens observe a vast array of cranes, with swans their allies, " are marshalled under their King Hiranya-Gerbha. Oh Pan- " dau, behold the attack and defence of the warlike tribes of '' Carnata, and from them take lessons." The old King shouted to the apes : "Advance, oh Sons of "the Forest, and storm the fens!" and to the cranes, "Oh, " nephews of a flamingo, defend the islands of the lake, and "show the stranger prince the stratagems of war! " He waved his hand, and in a second the army of apes bounded into the forest and vanished in the shades. • The Author of The Hitopadesa. BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 87 Bhima beheld them not, and thought them dispersed. " Oh, "King," he cried, "the Eoyal Koraus and Pandaus fight not "thus. With pomp and sounding arms, amidst the clash of "shields, the sons of Khsatriyas meet the foe; and chariots of " war and earth-shaking beasts, as elephants and horses, bear "the champions to the shock of warl " "I know it well," replied the King. "Did I not see great "Rama, and his brother, brave Lutchman, lead his warlike "Chandrabuns in arms to Serindip? but not thus do Vana- "putras fight. Behold I" BhIma gazed towards the lake, and presently beheld dark forms like serpents gliding through the sedges, concealed by bush and sedge and tufted marish-grasses, but ever creeping toward the foe, themselves unseen. " Behold the attack ! " cried Hanuman, as suddenly a flight of keen arrows sped silently across the waters of the jheel (lake-marsh) over the heads of the flamingoes and cranes, and quivered in the forest trees opposite, for it was but mimic war. These latter no sooner saw the apes approach the margin of the lake than — concentrated in the very centre almost beyond the reach of arrows — they suddenly rose in one vast flock, and spreading out in form of the letter V — Hiranya-Gerbha at the apex of the wedge — flew past in mid air, filling the heaven with their warlike cries. "Now," cried Hanuman, "oh Pandau, note well their flight; " and take thy second lesson in warfare. Observe the wedge- "like flight of the army, its wings contracted or expanded as " desired by skilful Hiranya-Gerbha their leader. Eemember " Thou thus to form and bend thy cohort either way in battle ! "Those cranes know well the secret of advancing and retreat. " Behold Hiranya-Gerbha in the van ; he bends his flight to " north, his flank augments to left to face the foe, his right " thrown back. Again he whirls to east; see, without confusion "he supports his centre, himself the pivot : again he wheels to " south and back upon his centre, and lengthens or shortens 88 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. "the flanks at his desire. SnddeBly descending, he drops into " the further mere, beyond the apes. Enough ! let the concli "sound the peace! My apes shall join the feast, and brave " Hiranya-Gerbha and his flamingoes, swans, and cranes shall "also taste of Hanuman's largesse." Such was the review of the apes and cranes ; and such the lesson of war given by King Hauuman to his guest in the forest of Goondwana. For three days did King Hanuman feast his warlike guests, and much did the aged chief impart of wisdom, ac- quired by long experience. Full of wise words and proverbs was the monkey-king; and weird wisdom distilled from his lips as honey from the calix of the full cadumba flower. Scarlet was his hue like the dhak ;* azure the colour of his garments in honour of great Vishnoo! his arms a mace, a sword, a shield, with greaves and head gear of iron-bronze. " Oh, Vrik6dam ! " said he in course of talk, " avoid thou "flatterers; especially on the march. Eemember the fate of "the elephant Karpiira-Tilaka, and be wary on thy march "against the foe!" "How was that?" asked Bhima. "Thus," replied the King. "Karpiira-Tilaka was wander- " ing near a lake ; Dirgha-Rava (long yell), a jackal, accosted " him, — ' king, mighty art thou ! let me be thy slave, and "'guide thee, oh monarch of the forest, to the sweetest flowery "'trees and cane.' The elephant felt flattered, and turned "aside from his well known browsing track to follow the "treacherous crafty one, and presently fell into a deep marsh "from which he could not extricate himself. The jackal " laughed 'Ah, fool ! ' cried he, seeing his victim was helplessly "engulphed, 'now get out if you can. Perhaps you would like " ' to take hold of my tail with your trunk and rise up ! ' So " saying, he left Karpura-Tilaka in the mud, and ran off to " call his comrades, who feasted on the body of the unfortunate • Erythrina f ulgens. tit BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 89 "elephant. The liunter, Bhavani (terrible), however, avenged "the king of boasts, and slew twenty jackals with his arrows, " amongst them Dirgha-Rava." Bhima asked : " Is it right to study warfare in the field or "in books, as the wise have commanded?" Tlie King replied — " Vishnu-Sarman hath said : ' Knowledge "'oi arms and books conduce to reputation. The first is liable "'to ridicule in old age; the second is respected always;' "Again : 'As a young woman loves not to embrace the old husband, so Lakshmi (good fortune — success) loves not to " ' embrace,the inactive, the lazy, the fatalist, the coward.'" " But, come, tell me, Hanuman ! thou who hast seen the "wars of great Eama and of Lutchman, what should the "leader do who wishes obedience?" " Conquer himself!" replied the King, "and all will cheer- " fully obey him." "Should he be bold or prudent?" enquired Bhima. The King replied : " He ought to fear danger only so long " as it is distant ; but when we see danger near we ought to "fight like ten thousand Rachshasas (devils). He who re- "joices on a design that has not come to pass, will incur dis- " grace like Dirgha-Mukha (long bill) the crane." "How was that?" enquired Bhima. "A wary goose whilst seeking for the new shoots of the " water lily at night, was for a moment deceived in a pool "which reflected the image of the stars in great number. "Again, in the daytime he would not bite the whit« water-lily " fearing it to be a star. Thus a person once afraid of decep- "tion and imaginary dangers, looks for evil in truth itself. " Hence I say anticipate not evils." " Oh, Bhima, fear not things unknown. Be not like Pinja- "Uka, the lion, afraid of the lowing of an ox." "How was that?" asked Bhima. "Listen," said Hanuman. "Sanjivaka, a bull, having be- "come lame, was abandoned by his master in passing through 90 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 'a forest. He there grew fat. In the same forest Pinja-laka '(the tawny one), a lion, was enjoying the sweets of autliority ' acquired by his own arm. One day, tormented with thirst, 'he went to the bank of the Yamuna to drink. He there heard the lowing of the bull, a sound hitherto unheard by ' the lion. As soon as he heard it he retreated from the water without drinking, and stood musing in silence what it could be. In this position he was discovered by two jackals, Kera- 'taka and Daraanaka, sons of his minister. 'See, our master "fears! let us leave his service. How much more should we ' ' fear, who live by his prowess. The miseries of a dependant "are manifold : — for silence, he is reputed a fool ; if eloquent, ' crazy or a prattler ; by patient submission, regarded as ' timid ; if he cannot endure bad treatment he is considered ■"■"ill-tre'd ; sits he at your side, is called intrusive ; at a dis- "tance, diffident. Oh, brother, let us fly, and keep our yells ' to ourselves.' " Hanuman added : " The jackal who fell into the indigo vat was worshipped for liis blue colour till he yelled at night and was found out. And it has been said--- an alligator, dangerous as he is, becomes powerless when he ' leaves the water : a lion that has left the forest will be the equal of jackals ! "* "Aree ! wise art thou, oh .King Hanuman ! I thank thee ' for thy lessons of life and warfare. Now let me depart for 'the land of the tortoise (Kumaon), where the daemons of the 'snow from distant Potyid (Tibet) are oppressing the lands 'of Mahendra and of Ootera-khoond — Clientage of Abimanya, ' son of great Arjuna, my brother, the sounder of the bow, 'and of his dear spouse Soobhadra, sister of great Krishna. 'Who knows? maybe, the merry champion will bring powers 'from Dwaraka, his great city, as an ally. But, first, oh ' ancestor, bless my son, Ghatotkatcha, that he may be pros- 'perous in the coming war." The Monkey-Deity raised his war-club, and waved it three * From the Hitopadesa, or "Counsels of the Wise" of Vishnii-SarmEin, BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 91 times over the head of Bhima and his son ; " Be brave and " prosper, oh sons of Pand ! When I hear thou hast slain tliiiie "enemies the E^chshasas I shall rejoice; but when I hear "that great Douryodhana (Jirjoodeen) the Korau and his "brethren have fallen by thy hand, I shall weep; for ye both "are descended from great Rama, my ancient ally and chief. " But such is the decree of fete, and of Bliowani. I have seen " the omen. The gloomy visions of the future throw their dark " shadows on my prophetic soul. I have seen amongst the "dead the shadows of old Bhisthma and of Drona, with Ac- "thathana his son, and ot Kama andSahya;* and many more " brave Koraus, and other chiefs must tall. Such is the omen "of Parvati ; and great Dtirga bath revealed it, and so it will "be! — Enough! I have spoken! Hanuman hath said it! " Now to the parting feast." Seated around the watchfires, Hanuman, his wives, and children, with their guest|, drank cups of the red juice of tte hybiscus, and poured libations to tlie manes of ancestors and other great ones. The dark forest glooms were lighted up with crimson fires ; torches of the aloe wood and the perfume of sweet sandal wood scented the night air. The weird forms of apes and of other sylvan creatures at times passed athwart the glimpses of the firelight, and the leafy turrets of the dwelling of King Hanuman nodded overhead. Long did Bhima re- member the parting feast of his friend the Monkey-Deity. Merrily they quaffed the effervescent juices of the south ; and songs of war and mystery were chaunted to the night. Strange cries of the forest at times interrupted the conversation, and still King Hanuman sate on his ebon chair nodding sagely, and quaffing Strong wine ; and ever and anon conveying wise words and sayings of mystic import to Bhima. He spake : "A decrepid old man cannot enjoy the pleasures of life, as a * These five chiefs all commanded the Koraus in succession in the great hattle of Korau- Khet, according to the Mahaharat, and were successively killed, mostly by Bhima and his son. 92 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. " toothless dog only licks a bone with his tongue ! " He glanced at the canopy of stars. " Enough ! 'tis past the dark depth of " midnight, and by the dawn thou hast, oh friend, to part on " thy behest." At length he called for betel (the signal for ending a feast), "Behold the betel: it hath thirteen virtues, oh, Pandau! — is " pungent, bitter, spicy, sweet, an alterative, astringent, a car- "minative, a, destroyer of phlegm, a vermifuge, a sweetener of "the breath, a remover of impurities, a kindler of the flame "of love. Oh, friend, these thirteen properties of betel are "hard to be met with even in paradise. Om, oni ! May " Vishnoo, and great Kartikaya bless and prosper thee ! " Farewell ! " Having thus dismissed his guests, Hanuman, his wives, and clan arose, and soon vanished into the leafy shades. All rose and sang the hymn to Vishnoo — " Om, om, mani " padmi horn ! " Hail to the dweller in the lotus ! Amen ! ! " * * III. •'^STN the morning an army of apes stood ready to accompany Jl Bhima and the Pandaus on the march as far as the mountain Cliitrakiita, near to the plunging waves of Nerbudda, in the dominions of Chitra- Varna — King of Pea- cocks, and to Jambu-dwipa in the Vindhyas, sacred to Karti- kaya (or Skanda) God of war, Rider of the peacock steed. Here also was Rama's Mountain, so famed in after ages in the poem of the "Cloud Messenger," the sweet song of Kalidasa. Here dwelt the Yaksha — spirit-servant of Kuvera, god of wealth — who mourned his sad lot or penance to wander for twelve months apart from his beloved spouse.' He had been the friend of Nakoula (or Nizkoola) the Pandau, brother of Bhima; and blessing him, thus he sang:* — * From the " Cloud Messenger " of Kalidasa, translated by E. T. H. Griffiths, M.A, BHIMA, THE WAB-CHIEF. 93 " May favouring gales thy airy course impel, . "And tuneful rain-birds shall thy way attend; "A pomp of wreathing cranes thy state shall swell, " On silver pinions rustling round their friend. "From many a stream shall lordly swans ascend, " When the glad thunder of thy voice they hear; "And wild with joy, their eager course shall bend, " To Mana's mountain lake still following near, "Till high Kail^sa's peak, thy journey's end appear. " Now with one brief adieu, one last embrace, "Turn from this steep away, " Where E§.ma's blessed feet once left their trace, "Though my hot tears wiU mourn thy shortened stay." " Here bend a little from thy straight career ; "And though thou speedest on to northern skies, "Turn and behold a wondrous sight, for near " Thy path Oojeiu's* imperial domes arise ; " Should'st thou not see her women's glorious eyes "That iiash to love or kindle to disdain " In fire that with the lightning splendor vies, " Those looks that bind the heart as with a chain — "Thy birth has been for nought, thy life is all in vain." * * * # "Now from the level of thine airy road "Glide gently down, and amorously sink "Upon Nervindliya's breast, who long has glowed " With love of thee. " She with the wild swans clamorous on thy brink, "And their white wings around her for a zone, "From thy soft pressure will not coyly shrink; "Her trembling wavelets wiU her rapture own, "And testify her love by every gesture shown. "Sail on refresht, dear envoy, nor forget " To look with pity upon Sindu. * * *" " By Wittabah ! desist, Assur! or tell thy tale to soft ' Nizkoola. Nay, gentle Yaksha ; tempt not with promises of » The Awanti of the Mahabarat, whose King, Drapada, became an ally of the Fandaus, and was afterwards slain by Droua the Korau at the great battle. 94 BHIMA, lUE WAR-CHIEF. " soft delight. My vows are paid to great Kartikaya (god of "war). I haste to free Kailas from the grip of dsemons. " When soft Nizkoola — youth of wavy hair — shall seek thy "cavern, then counsel him to visit Oojein, and comfort those "fair ones thou hast named. Besides, King Drapada may "accord his alliance to my brother. Farewell to thee, " Assur, and to the sounding waters of Nerbudda ! I go to " seek the great peacock shrine of Kartikaya in the sacred "groves of Maurbun. Farewell, bright Ones! ^nd forget " not Bhinia the Pandau." He had said. He mounted his steel-clamped rdth (or war car), and with his son Ghatotkatcha — called "Rachshas of the terrible aspect," by DitrS,shtura — and followed by his chiefs on purple horses, the warlike Pandau was driven by his charioteer, Cravalgani, into dusty space across Seoni forest to the East. » * * "Thence to the temple of the mighty lord " Whom Chandi loves, and all the world reveres ; ' ' There for a moment shalt thou be adored " By those who serve him when thy hues appear " Like Siva's neck,* as though their god were near. " Then through the garden pleasant gales shall stray "From Gandhavati's fountain, crystal clear, "Bearing the scent of lotus-blooms away, " Shaken by lovely girls who in the water play." # » ♦ » "There gleams the temple loved and honoured most "By Skanda, Lord of war, who at the head " Of the bright legions of the heavenly host, "Embattled gods to arms and conquest led. " Send forth thy thunder till the glorious voice "By rocky dale and cascades multiplied, " Bidding the peacock in the shade rejoice — " Calls him to dance upon the mountain-side : "Majestic bird, whom Skanda loves to ride,t "Whom Skanda's mother holds so wondrous dear, ' Siva — azure-necked. t Skanda, or Kartikaya, the War God, is represented as riding on a peacock. BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. 95 " That ■when his moulted plumes in all their pride "Of starry radiance, fall and glitter near, " She lifts them from the ground to grace her royal ear. "Thy homage rendered to the Warrior-God — "Whose infant steps amid the thickets strayed " Where the reeds wave over the holy sod, " Speed on, but let thy course awhUe be stayed, "And through the lands her author's glory bore, " Enshrined within her waves to spread for evermore. "Then speeding on to Brahmavartha's land, " Hover above the Kiirii's fatal field, "Rich with the blood of many a slaughtered band — " Where the proud banner waved, the war-cry pealed — " Where the sword smote upon the helm and shield — "When god-like ArjUna with arrowy hail "Laid low the heads of kings who scorned to yield." This last couplet of the Yaksha is prophetic. Bhima in the sacred grove of Skanda listened. " Ha ! propliesiest thou "to me of victory? great Kartikaya! I thank thee." To Thanesiir's fair plains he sped triumphant. Near there, on the solitary field of Koran-Kliet, he stood and mused. The waves of Sdrasvati gently murmured o'er their pebbly bed: in the marshes fed the cranes and flamingoes of the south ; and flocks of wild geese and "koolen" of the North filled the air — their screams predominant. "Ha! this second lesson of the swans 1 " He watched their flight, and stood long apart profoundly thinking. " Yes, Hanuman was right : here shall be the battle-field. I " go to great Yudishtlr to consult the omens : but first to " help the warriors in the land of the tortoise." He turned to mount his car, but it had gone on past Thanesur, driven by Gavalgani — such had been the chieftain's order, for it be- hoved him to escape the notice of the ruling Koraus. So Bhinia alone stood on the wide plain of Kiirii-Kshetra. The yellow sun had sank in dusky purple ; over the Eastern mountains the silver orb of the moon, veiled in mist, rose calmly. The heart of Bhima was softened, "Alas, my brethren, and " my kindred, must ye perish that the Pandau's fate may be 96 BHIMA, THE WAK-CHIEK. "accomplished? Doth great Arjuna pronounce it just? I "pause to consult him, and great Krishna his ally." He sighed as he sadly turned aside. Seldom had the strong heart of Bhima softened ; but now he lifted up his voice and wept. The clouds of the rising, monsoon drove ' across the heavens, and the quick gleams of moonlight flickered over the wasted field and waters, and a vision of the future rose on the moon of Bhima's inner spirit. He beheld the ghosts of the dead that were to be, the spectres of the dread harvest of Siva the destroyer, rider of the tiger-steed. The shades of the coming dead fled quickly over the plain, flitting before him across the moon's path, and Bhima caught here and there the pale visages as they vanished in the night-mists. Fitfully the scream of owls and yells of distant jackals were wafted down the night-breeze ; and the cruel moan of the ghoul-i-biaban (the daemon of the desert) sounded in the darkness. Presently he beheld a vision of the field strewn with slain, the Shades of Bhisthma, of Drona, of Karma, and of Sharya, his kinsmen — all Koraus — with Takouni, King of Gdndara, and of the great archer Derichti-Keba, Prince of Potyid (Tibet), and of Virta, King of Sirmoor and Keyonthdl, slain by Sediva his nephew, and of Drapada, King of Oojein. The shades of night which veiled the ghosts of the Korau heroes, fell dark and sombre o'er the plain. The moon sent forth a baleful gleam over the sad waves of Sarasvati ; and at length its light was veiled in an eclipse ; then darkness, profound and terrible, sank upon the plain, as Siva — rider of the tiger steed — and Bhowani the Avenger passed swiftly across the darkened land with raven wing. This was the vision of Bhima, which he saw in the month of A'swina, in the year K.Y. 2266 — 1369 b.c. — when the mnon was at the full inthe 13th cycle of the Sosos or Brihis- pati chdka (cycle of Jupiterj. m BHIMA, THE WAE-CHIEP. 97 IV. EXT year in spring great Bhima arrived in the lake country of Kunijion, whose Autochthenes — Naini- Devi and Eich6ba, goddesses of the waters of the Gangetic watershed — favoured him with their aid against the Eachshasas and Assurs of the north who had assailed Kailas — the Olympus of Hindoos. The laughter-loving Krishna also — the sounder of the shell — had come from far Dwaraka to aid the Pandaus in the war. He loved the com- pany of heroes ; especially of Arjuna, and of Sediva his young brother, and they had persuaded the demi-god to join his power to aid brave Bliima in his war against the Assurs of the north and east. He had vouchsafed his aid against the daeraon-born. To the Pandau company also may be added the seven sages (8ath Rikhi) who dwelt upon the border of the lake beloved of Bhima — the Bheem-Tal of present times: " The seven great saints who star the northern sky." They supplied counsels of wisdom and sage advice, especially the sage Markhandaya — author of the " Vanapurdna," Book of the Forest — had exhorted the heroes to arms. He it was who inspired King Hanuman with the words of wisdom which fell from the lips of the sylvan demi-god. At J6simut, on Alak- nanda stream, the Monkey-Deity arrived to view the children of his ancient friend advance to meet the foe. But Bhima recollected the words of Hanuman, and whilst listening to all, formed his own plans for victory alone in his secret mind. Arjuna had destroyed the giant Panchajanya, whose tibia or thigh-bone formed his war-horn. The giant's brood had vowed Vengeance on the Pandau brethren, and were banded in arms along Mahendra crest of Himodi, which overlooks the land of mountain and chasm, now called "Gurhwal" — land of fortresses or steep-places — and of Kali-Kumaon — land of tlie H 98 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. tortoise — at whose capitol, Cliampavat, Bliima had assembled one division of his army for tlie war. On the eve of the advance brave Bhima spake : — " Chiefs, " few words suffice in War I I, Bhima, lead the van up Alak- "nanda's stream; great Arjuna, chief of the sounding bow, " my valiant brotlier, aligned on Bhagir^thi's stream, protects "the flank; Nizkoola, with brave Purujit to aid him, will " advance by Surjoo's flashing wave and form our right reserve. "Enough! advance to victory, O Sons of Pand, and smite "the serpent race! " Let us follow Bliima into the snowy solitudes of Kailas, and the caverns of Alaknanda, where dwelt the spirits of the • wilderness ; daemons both good and evil, whose struggles for ascendency in man's mikrocosm form the burden of many a Hindoo Veda and Shastr. On the banks of the river Kali-Gunduk or Snrjoo, which flashes through the green forests of those regions in silver and in foam, had the Pandau's great ancestor Eama (himself an exile) dwelt and wandered with Sita his beloved spouse, ravished from him by the giant Eawun of Singhala, as has been related in the Eamayana, and elsewhere in the slokes of the bards. Bhima was inspired by the memory of his mis- fortunes; and in his speech to the assembled warriors narrated the idyl of tlie fair Sita and of the hero Eama. Bivouacked in the forest of Tupobun (Tupasiabdn) — grove of lamentation — where the sad Eama had bemoaned his mel- ancholy loss with his dear loved brother Lutchman, the soul of brave Bhimsen (Bhima) glowed with pity, and inspired the hero to noble deeds of arms against the giant posterity of the cruel ravisher, E&wun. Arjuna, too, wept bitter tears as he recalled the story, and Vowed revenge. His penance, is it not written in the chronicles of the land of Braj ! Krishna, leaving his fair shepherdesses (g6pies), in the land of Braj, arrived to greet his friend Arjuna, and joined great Bhima in arms at Gopie-eshur on Alaknanda stream. BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEP. 99 Balarama, brother of Krishna — ho who after, disgusted at the war of kindred, retired from the field of Korau-Khet, and dwelt on the banks of Sarasvati riyer — was also there ; and, though the Pandaus were preparing instant war against the Koraus, now he stood in arms beside great Krishna, and did the mighty deeds the chronicles and bards narrate. At the teerut or shrine of the meeting of the waters, Bhlma sacrificed to Kartikaya, the war-god, five hundred horses.* On all the sacred river heads and teeruts did the Pandau host do Sndn (religious bathing) and penance — "dhoop dheep naved" of modern Brahminism. Need the march of the host be detailed? Shall the warrior pen tell of ceremonial such as priestly craft has in all ages sought to impose upon the lordly Khsatriyas? As the Pandau invasion of Gurhwal is legendary' — though somewhat mythical as to its warlike character — shall we be tempted to record the details ? Tiie pen of tlie stranger can supply the chronicles scarcely known to the sons of the Raj- poots themselves who live along those marches ; but it were long to narrate them all : suffice to say they indicate the Pandau's march against the foe. [From Haridwar — Siva's door or mouth — along the sacred streams, as many as fifty places of sndn or bathing invite the modern pilgrim to his religious duties. I give those of tiie pilgrimage to Budrinauth as an example : — (1), The pilgrimage begins at Khun-khiil where was the palace of King Khvn, an ally of the Pandaus in this invasion. (2), At Haridwar the mighty Gunga issues from between the mountains Nil and Bhil, on to the plain, where the footstep of Hari is seen near to Tupobun. (3), At Eudra-prayag — the meeting place of the eleven deities of the Hindoo Swerga — the pilgrims fast and bathe ; and after worshipping the cow, gird • Probably by the Aswamedlia, which has been supposed to be an emblematic sacrifice or dedication of horses to Kartikaya. loo BHIMA, THE WAR-CHlEF. up their loins and adjust their dress for the mountain journey. (4), Again they bathe at Deva-prayag — the junction of the Bhagirathi* and Alaknanda waters. (5), " Goopta-Gunga," the hidden or cavernous river, where the gods themselves come and perform snan. (6), On through the mountains of Bheek (aconite), where the poison plant — sacred emblem of Siva, the destroyer — grows freely. The pilgrims, their heads muffled in their cloaks, rush onwards over the hills to (7), Kedar-nauth, where a temple, and flaming springs and holy rocks abound. Here the pilgrims cast rings and bangles and necklaces and flowers to Siva. (8), Gopie-eshur — sacred to Krishna, who here arrived — leaving his gopies in the land of BrAj — on to the head waters of the Alaknanda, to (9), Peepulkoss, and (10), Garoodgunga — the stream where sacred stones, charms proof against serpents, are found (hence the exclamation "Garoor, garoor," made by the Hindoos on seeing snakes). (11), J6simut (the cooking place) ; sacred to Hanuman, the Monkey-Deity. (12), Vishnugunga; (13), Kalliankote; (14), Wakimut; (15), Budrinauth (where six minor places of snan are found); to (16), Bussoodara, on the Alaknanda stream, where the pilgrimage terminates. The whole may perhaps represent the course of the Pandau's march in their invasion of Gurhwal, 1368 b.c, and I shall so assume it.J The Pandau army marched from Kedar-Khund — now called Delira-Dun — to Gunga's sacred stream. Crossing the Sewa- liks, great Yudishtir camped at Nagsidh on the holy hill, there to meet the foe should the Koraus haply attack the rear of brave Bhima's army. Afterwards, when Bhima had destroyed the foe, he ascended the Alaknanda's mystic stream to Budri- nauth and Kedarnauth, in the lioly land of Ootera-khoond, even • The pre-eminently sacred rivers of India, are ; (1), the Godavery ; (2), the Ganges ; (3), the Bhagii-athi ; (4), the Barasvati. The Alaknanda means the "river from afar on high," but is not included amongst the pre-eminently sacred streams. The reverence of Hindoos for the streams or waters tributary to the Ganges does not extend further north than the spring-head of the Jumna, nor further south than one tcerut on the Gunduk in Nopal, where the sacred stones called Salik-Bam, and grains of gold are found. BHIMA, THE WAR-OHIEF. 101 to the sacred peaks of Gungootri, Jumnootri, and to Bhagir- Atha's sacred spring-head. Here had Bhagirathi (so the Vedas tell) performed auster- ities, till at last the holy Gunga (Ganges) — emerging from the cleft of heaven — had descended for the use of mortals on the dark blue head of Vishnoo, and thence to. earth. The gushing waters of the mighty torrent mingled with the stream of Alak- nanda. Here the Pandau army pitched their camp on the margin of the rushing waters, hard by the fountain of Brahma- vartha's lake, where Arjuna, the friend of Krishna, had-dwelt and pondered wisdom, as well as learnt to "lay low with arrowy hfLil the heads of kings who scorn to yield." " On to the place where infant Gunga leaps " From the dark woods that belt the Mountain-King ; — " Hurling her torrent down the rugged steeps ; "Those holy waters, as the sages sing "To Sagars' children bliss and heaven could bring. " Fresh from her native sky, a sportive maid, " On Siva's awful head she dared to cling; "And with the laughter of her foam repaid "His consort's jealous frown as with his hair she played. "Drink, for the flood is living crystal; drink — * » » » "Should Gryphon hosts, by mad presumption led, " Vex't by thy thunder, mount the realms of air "To ride thee down beneath their impious tread, "Laugh with thy rain to see them baffled there, "And with the dashing of thy hailstones scare "Thy scattered foes. . » « "Skirting the mansion of eternal snows ." Compress thy form, and winding round explore "Where Kraunoha's parted rocks a pass disclose "Traversed by swans — ^those rocks that burst before "The might of Eama and the axe he bore." Note. — These extracts are from the "Messenger Cloud" of Ealidasa (translated by R. T. H. GrifBfchs, M.A., of Benares). The plot of which is the supposed invo- cation of a Taksha, or exiled spirit, servant of Kuvera — the Hindoo god of wealth — to carry his sorrow to his spouse at Alaka, mystic city of Kailas. The imagery 102 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. But the destiny of great Bhimar was war ! Let soft Nizkoola sigh for mountain maids ; brave Bhima dares the fight with roving Assurs, and with Eachshasas and Naga daemons of the waste and snows I "B'hiim, b'hum, Mahadeo ! B'hum, b'hiim, Mahadeo ! "* The battle is arrayed: swarming on the banlcs of Holy Gunga behold the NS,ga-born, the foes of Krishna and of Pand. " On, sons of Fand, and smite the serpent race ! " The battle closed. The roaring waters of Alaknanda rolled many' a corpse to earth at Eudra-prayag or Tupobun — forest of tears. The sorrow of great Rama is avenged. The cavernous dark cliffs reverberate the shouts of heaven-borti chiefs and champions. The startled tiger slinks into the grassy lowlands, and the mailed rhinoceros of the Bliabur plunges madly into the marshes of Brahmadeo ; and the wild elephant of the great Saul forests of the Gogra escaping, hides himself in the deepest shades of the land of the black tortoise and of the Sewaliks, dread Shiva's rugged haunt. The battle rolled upwards to Budrinauth.f The corpses of Nagas slain rolled down the torrents of the Alaknanda, the Douli, the Gauri, and the Vishu, as far as Lall Nagri and the plains of Kali-Kumaon ; and the water- sheds of the Kosila and Ramgunga became as mirghats or places of the dead : and the hot springs of Seetabhumi, and of Chitrasellar, at the meeting of the lower waters, were choked with Nagas slain. The Pandaus advanced and planted their standards on the crest of Himalaya, and on "Mahendra" the axis of Kailas. ^^ B'hum, Vhum, Mahadeo! B'hum, b'hiim, Mahadeo!" of the whole poem is singularly true in its descriptive rendering of the natural features of its supposed path : and iu fact forms the most romantic and graphic description of the route of the Faudaus towards Kailas supposed in the text. The reader is confidently refered to this beautiful little poem for the details. *A military cry equivalent to the British Hwi-rah! or the Alwi of the Anglo-Dane. t Here the temple of Pandau-Keshwar, the most ancient in Gurhwal, was in after ages founded in the Paudau's honour by the sage Shunkur-Achaj. BHIMA, THK WAK-CHIEF. 103 Kailas is won 1 and its snows resound with sljouts of victory ! The horn of Bhiraa and of Arjuna, and the sounding shell (sank) of Krishna, sound tbe paeans and the pealing blast of victory.- The dteraons and tiie serpent race have fled into black night and Tartarus ! The coernlian Vislinoo, on Garood his sacred steed, has appeared as tlie Deity propitious to the victorious Pandau host ; and even Siva — friend of the Koraus — has veiled his head in Gunga's stream, in wliich a liecatomb of dead has rolled from the crimsoned snows J Enough 1 the vengeance of the Destroyer has been appeased and satisfied. "B'hiim, b'hmn, Mahadeo! Ehum, Vhum, MahadeoJ" ****** But Bhlma remembered that still further trials awaited him, and he returned with his host towards the plains of India. He concentrated the Pandau Army in the Dun of Delira pre- vious to advancing to the field of Korau-Khet, with the allies collected from afar. Sediva the Pandau, with Ogregund the King, had arrived with his mountaineers from distant Kash- mir. Flushed with recent victory, with one consent they hail brave Bhima Chief of the Pandau host. Even his brother, the great Yudishtir, consents to serve under his command and guidance during the approaching war. After sacrifice to Kartikaya — God of War — Bhima, with tbe Pandau army, advanced towards Hustinapoora, and soon found the Korau host drawn up in order of battle in front of Thanesur. ***** The chronicles of the MS,habarat tell us tlie rest ; of how the noble field was won, and great Yudishtir re-instated on his father's throne. Are they not also recorded in the legends of Yudishtir and of Arjiina, and of Sediva, the Pandaus!* * See page 12 "Sediva," and 65 "Axjuna," where however a very incomplete account of the great battle is given, owing to causes mentioned at the end of the " Story of Sediva," page 16 ; and in the rescript of the Mahabarat afterwards con- sulted by me (Burnouf's French translation) the names of the heroes on both sides differ from those in other translations by English scholars. lu the version above alluded to, Ditrashtura occupies a conspicuous place, and his prophetic address ending each sloka "O Sandjaya!" narrates in advance the eventualities of the 104 BHIMA, THE WAR-CHIEF. After the great battle, the lamentations of the women who beheld their fathers, brothers, sons, and kindred slain on the fatal field are recorded in the Mahabar^t, where they are com- pared to a flock of screaming sea-fowl settling on the dead. The victorious Pandaus stand around. ,Tlie reproaches of Gandhari — mother of Jirjoodeen and the Koraiis — are an- swered by Bliima. Gandhari also apostrophises Krishna, showing him the dead, and praising them. Bhima answers her reproaches ; whereupon the blind Ditrashtura — the aged father of the Koraus — seized with sudden fury, hurls a spear at Bhima, and transfixes an image of the hero which, at the advice of Krishna, his charioteer (GavalgSini) had set up on his war-car. Bhima thus escapes: and shortly he withdrew his people into the outer valleys of Kumaon, where he dwelt apart ; marrying thereafter a daughter of Sirmoor. He after- wards journeyed into Kcyonthal and the valley of the Sutlej. He assisted his brother, the great Yudishtir, in building Pin- jore, and setting his kingdom in order, as has been related in the " Wanderings of King Yudishtir." Such are some of the deeds of Bhima the War-Chief. The wandering Citnmerian who wrote of Sediva, of Yudish- tir, and of Arjuna, stood on the wild bluff of Mah4buleshw4r (mountain of strength) and gazed at the fiery disc of the sun sinking into the western waves. Afterwards he threaded the forests of Maharashtra and Seoni plateau : years later, wandering amidst the woods and mountains of Kali-Kumaon along the flashing waters of Surjoo and Bheem-Tal, and down the sacred streams of Ootera-klioond, he realised the facts of Bhima's and the Pandaus' valiant deeds in the " land of the tortoise," and composed this history. great war, wherein it may be stated generally that Bhishtma commfmded the Koraus six days, Drona three days. Karma two days, Sharya half-a-day. Bhishtma is slain by Bhima ; Drona attempts a night attack, which is partly successful, but is finally killed by Bhima and his son Ghatotkatcha, or by the arrows of Arjuna ; and the other Koraus slain as enumerated in the text at i^age 96. Valley of the Sutlej. "Baktmla," fl|e J^antrau* J^. FA.IK-Y" T.A.X-.E. -:JS?rV T tlie time when brave Bhima was preparing war against ¥"% the tribes of Nagas anil serpent-born Assurs, who had vexed Mahendra and the marches of Gurhwal and Kurn'aon, Nakoola, the fourth Pandau, dwelt at Brahma- deo, in the great saiil forests of the Gogra, at the foot of the mountains of Kali-Kuniilon. Here the united waters of the flashing Surjoo* and Ramgunga meet, and here had great Rama, his ancestor, wandered with the faithful Sita and his brother Lakshman. Here, in the flowery woods along the silver stream, the youthful Pandau — twin brother of Sediva — was wont to wander in pursuit of the \yild deer of the forest and of the fairy forms of Naga damsels. Tliis was accounted a sin unto the youthful Kshatriya, and the champions did not cease to reproach him ; all save the merry Krishna, who wonld exclaim hi jest — "Oli, Pandaus! in the chase all "game is lawful! Let not the sin fall on the liead of Na- "koola, the wisef youth, for loving the fair shepherdesses of " Kumaon and of Kailas. Love is of no race or special progeny; "'Tis the gift of Kama, and the joy of Swerga!" Neverthe- less it was inexpedient for the Pandau exilo, whose behest * The Surjoo is here called Kaligunga, but the imme Surjoo reappears at Ajoodhya in Oude, lower down, as the name of the sacred river. On this stream from its spring-head (at Surhamool) under the peaks of Panch-chooli to Ajoodhya — there are twelve places of snan, or religious ablution, the details of which need scarcely be entered on, though they bear in part on the mythic history of the Pandaus. I" Na^'oola means wise. He is sometimes called Nizkoold, and it will appear fur- ther on that he so denominates himself. I 106 NAKOOLA, THK PANDAU. it plainly was to aid brave Bliima and his brethren to recover the throne of their ancestors, thus to lose himself in soft delight ; so whether the magic spell about to be related fell on the youthful Prince by design of Krishna or other great ones to dispel illusion, or whether maya (heavenly illusion) gat hold of him, who can say? Hard by the oasis in the forest, where Nakoola dwelt, was the evil wood of Dandaka, where roam multiform types of daemons such as cannibal giants (liachshasas) "that assume forms at pleasure," on whom had fallen the curse of Yama (hell). Let us curse (with water in the palm of the hand) such sons of perdition and their imps, — Bhutas, Pisachas, Paimagas, Danavas, Daityas, Yech, and all evil serpents ! Garroor ! garroor ! ! "In the evil forest Dandaka, eternal silence seemed to reign : the large trees towered till they reached the light branchless, then they spread forth in massive boughs, and crushed them down so as to exclude tlie sunshine. If any attenuated beam forced its way through the upper foliage it was strangled by the creeping plants that twisted round the naked trunks and swung their fibrous arms from tree to tree. There were few sounds and less movement ; yet one was conscious that the forest teemed with life — the intense stillness itself revealed this. It was not the calm of solitude, but the suspended breath which betrays the lurking-place. The large-bladed grass grew to a monstrous height ; it was of a bright metallic green that showed the dank mephitic slime which nourished it. Fungi of all sizes and shapes and colours sprung up amidst it; but there were no flowers — none save spotted orchids, the impure daughters of mortality, who thrive upon the ^tid ?ir, *n4 draw their poison,ous brilliancy from corruption. It was the home of such as loathe the day ; but for all the daemons and evil that it sheltered, and the silent menace of the faint musky air, it was not without a dangerous fasci- nation and a sinister beauty of its own, NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. 107 "Keacler! deceive not thyself! the ngliness of sin is not always apparent. No! the Beautiful the Ideal (for they are one) includes all ttie opposite principles of life: here, too, all that is involves the existence of its contrary. The Angel of Light infers'tlie Prince of Darkness; the music of the spheres the sombrous harmony of Gehenna ; the radiance of the em- pyrean the magnificent gloom of the abyss ! "* The glamour of the. dangerous forest had fallen on Nakoola; the obscurity weighed on him he&vily, yet had it a mysterious charm for him. Involved in lurid thought he paced the silent arches of the foi'est — his bow in hand, lest haply he be assailed by ghostly terror of magic, such as g^reat B&ma — wandering with the Hermit Agastya in the gloom — had encountered ; Khidimba or Vaka, or " Kirmira of the brilliant eyes." Prone on the spongy soil he saw, still mouldering after the long ages, the giant skeleton of Dunboodhi, slain by Balin in the mythic ages. The crows dance on the slain giant. And other mossy skeletons of giants slain, were there; under the gloomy arches of the forest, they sometimes rose and walked in silence, their tall forms reaching to the topmost branches of the forest, the gleam of decay glittering in the cavernous sockets of their skulls where eyes had been. # * « « « # Nakoola had one day wandered in the direction of this haunted forest, and had approached the sacred grove of Rameshwar and Trizoog-narrain, "temple of the three ages," when he chanced to arouse a stag — silver white — whose antlers branched like the fronds of the sissoo tree, a prodigy of beauty! He pushed on, bow in hand, and soon sighted the quarry amidst the cedars of Bhimesur, and pressed it even as far as Gauri-Goophar — the cave of stalactytes, sacred to Mahadeo — into which the stag rushed headlong, Natoola in hot pursuit. * This passage — paraphrased from the Ramayana — seems to point to the Assyrian creed of Ormuad and Ahriman alluded to in page 40 of "Tudishtir." I am in- debted to a work by Prederioka Eobertson— ' ' the Iliad of the East "—for this sug- gestive passage. 1 2 108 NAK0OI,A, THE PANDAU. He found liimself in a sylvan park, unknown to him but, as lie afterwards eliscovered, a place of evil omen to the Pandaus, for here his great descendant. Raja Kuttool, was defeated, and his progeny destroyed, by the invader Anook Pal, who came by way of Seul and Bhagesir, and planted ,his standards at Biidrinauth, where also he set up a stone of victory. The silver stag, now glancing amidst the pine trees, anon plunging into the feathery brakes along the banks of Suijoo, misled the ardent Pandau further and further into the snowy solitudes towards KaiMs ; his branching antlers swaying in the wind like the tufted bachain of the forest of Maurbun — abode of peacocks — its rustling fronds, like unto the palm tree of Lanka, swaying in the blast of the monsoon of the southwest: a portent ! and Nakoola eagerly pursued, as the stag rushed into the cavern of the silver fern, into the mossy grotto, where the gleaming stalactytes hung iu festoons like roses from the lofty dome of Swerga ! NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. 109 Soon tlie deepening shadows warned him he had left day- light far behind: at length he paused, and gazed around him. A soft green valley met his view, on which a softened light, as though of fairy stars, was shed from the canopy of heaven ; but the rocks seemed to have closed around him, and his exit seemed barred behind. At the same moment the silvern stag appeared to vanish in the glooms of the cavern, and in its place Nakoola saw a venerable sage, with flowing silver tresses sur- mounted by the kalgi of royalty, and by his side a venerable fairy queen, in garments of light green tissue. The hermit spake : — " Oh, Prince, 1 know thy quest ; the "fairy forms of earth are thy desire. Thou art beguiled. " Here have I led thee that thou mayest behold the varied "forms of Fairyland and the faces of the Apsaras, and the "celestial nymphs of Swcrga (paradise); only thou must obey " one condition I will tell thee of on the morrow. Enough ! " Rest here to-night ; behold thy couch. Eat freely of the "feast prepared by fairy hands. Sleep well, and awake in "'Swerga' of the immortals: not to many of earth is such "boon vouchsafed." Nakoola paused irresolute. "Oh, elephant amongst sages, '"can I afterwards return to earth? Sufficient for Nizkoola " the fairy forms of earth — the fair daughters of men — the " mortal maidens of Aryavarta ! "* "Fear not," replied the Fairy Sage; "after due time thou "shalt return and aid thy brethren to battle for their rights: "but first thou must purge tliy soul of weakness : such is the "command of great Krishna, thy friend and mine, for I am " Eishyasringa, the Sage, "Son of the Doe," giver of the rains "of summer; who married the Fairy Queen of Swerga, and "reigns in Fairyland; King Indra also, ruler of the host of "heaven, hath commended thee to my care." Nakoola was thereby somewhat reassured, and after singing his customary liymn to the "Preserver" — Dweller in the Lotus — he partook of the Fairy's feast ; and, tired with his • The land of genuine Hindooa. 110 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. long day's cliase, soon fell fast, asleep on the verdant couch of fei-ns and wild flowers, lulled by the plashing waters of the fairy grottp which soothed him with their murmur. * * *, The Pandau slept, and awoke in"Swerga," the Fairyland^ of Hindoos. * » * Sakantala ! who shall describe the fairy forms of Apsaras, and of Gandaras, celestial nymphs, beautiful as the mom! Narrate, bard ! the names of some of the angelic throng that people the rosy realms of Swerga and. the heaven of great Indra! — Menaka, fairest of the nymphs, Swirna^Rekha, Ratna, Rambha, Kandapa, Karpuri-Manjari, Kalindra, and Koreila, a thousand of the daughters of Kama and of Yakshas, — "The bards that chaunt celestial lays And Nymphs of heavenly birth!" Only one mortal, Lilavati, was amongst them ; — the Fairy Queen of the silver locks was there as queen of the celestial revels. She spake : — " Oh, mortal ! behold the Beauties of " Swerga. Thou hast doubtless heard of the swayamhara " [the choice of a husband by a young princess]. Now thou "shalt choose from amongst this bevy of fair angels thy bride, "to whom thou must be faithful henceforth, and love no other, " else thou canst not escape fi-om Kara (hell)." She turned towards the fair flock of nymphs: " Essay your various graces, "oh, daughters, for the sake of the Pandau Prince, whose " choice is free ! " * * * * Not to the pen of the wandering Cimmerian is it vouchsafed — or even lawful — to recount the graces and beauties of that fair host. Let the picture rest behind a rosy veil ! The Pandau youth was lost in maya; but at length, last of all the beauties, came fair Liiavati, daughter of Oojein, alone of that fair group a mortal. "Enough, oh Queen," cried Nakoola. "Enough for Niz- "koola the fair maids of earth. I seek no further; but choose " fair Liiavati as my spouse." -As he spake, a violet shadow passed across the rose pavilion NAKOOLA, THE PANDAD. Ill of the nymphs, and fair Lilavati advaticing, bent h'er head befbre the Prince, and by the Queen's command toolt him by the hand and raised him from the mossy fountain on the brink of which he had reclined. No sooner had she done so than the Sage Rishyasringa and his Queen threw a silver broidered mantle over their heads, recited an unknown mantra or charm, and'wa'ved above their heads, as they stood before her, three times, her fairy wand; and in an instant they found themselves on the flowery banks of Sipra in fair Oojein, queen of the Vindhyas, L'ilavati's native city, where, in the sweet gardens and pastures' on the banks of Sipra, on the slopes of the forest glades. King Drapada had constructed fair alcoves and' marble fountains, and terraces planted with scented shrubs and glittering floWers". II. IMALAYA, King of Mountains, and the steep and lofty Vindhya, stand scowling on each other, and ex- changing looks of defiance. "I am the King of Mountains," exclaims proud Himalaya; "the clouds haVe "robed' me in purple, and crowned my forehead with snow. " I tower up to heaven, rending the azure veil which conceals "the home of the inimbrtalsj The secrets of the three worlds "are mine ; I overlook the whole earth, and from the sighing "ocean the dark-winged vapours ascend and whisper to me " their griefs. 1 am in the confidence of the stars, and know " the story of their loves ; I know, too, why some of them fell " from heaven." * * * xhe sullen Vindhya wraps his misty cloak around him. "I am weary of this giant," he cries ; " he impedes my view, and robs me of the sunlight : "his ill-bred boastings offend me;" he adds, "but for this " shapeless monster 1 had been King of Mountains ! " Pair Gung^, daughter of old Himalaya, King of Mountains, 112 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAO. was beloved of Surya (the Sun). She heard the sullen speech, and turned away her head. The young and dreamy Gunga trembled. Oh youthful maiden, whose dreams are haunted by wonder, whose heart is fluttered by whispers, awake! 'Tis Love awaits thee, O graceful daughter of Mena. The friendly Yaksha who had sung to brave Bhima as he passed by Eama's mountain on his way to the land of the tortoise, saw the passing pageant : thus he sang : — ' ' The sweet cool smell of lakes and pleasant showers, ' ' The beauty and the perfume of the flowers, ' 'And all delights of sight and sound and smell, " Dear youth, be thine ! ' ' Oh, gentle youth, mark thou each place of rest, " Where thou wilt fain with weary wings delay, ' ' To gather strength upon some mountain crest, ' ' Or drink, exhausted, from some river's breast, ' ' Of Love the draught divine. " Unlike stern Bhima, Nakoola lent an eager ear to the Seraph's glowing words. Much did the youth question the friendly Yaksha touching the fair ones of whom he sang. "Ah, friend," replied the Seraph, "rest at Oojein-(or "Avantij the city brought from Swerga.* There are the gar- "dens built by King Drapada on the shores of Sipra's fairy- " haunted fountains. Listen!" ' ' Near there the bright imperial city stands, "The blest Avanti* or Visala, glorious town ' ' Brought by the happy saints, unsatisfied "With all that Paradise can offer, down " To be their best reward, their virtue's worthiest crown. "The sweet soft zephyr laden with the scent, ' ' Which every lotus opening to the air * It appears that the exhausted pleasures of Swerga are insufficient recompense for certain acts of Hindoo austerity, hence some are permitted to revisit earth to work out the balance of merit for final absorption— Nirvana— or emancipation, with the fairest XJortion of Swerga. This portion is held to include the city of Avanti or Oojein, which is built on the river Sipra, alluded to by the Yaksha in the poem — 2'he Cloud Mtmengtr — quoted in former tales. NAKOOLA, THE PANDAC. Ili5 " Of morning from its ritied stores has lent, " Plays wooingly around the loosened hair ' ' And fevered cheek of every lady there ; " There as it blows o'er Sipra, fresh and strong, " Bids all the swans upon her bank prepare " To hail the sunrise with their sweetest song, "And loves with its own voice the music to prolong. "Rest on these flower-sweet terraces, and feel " From open casements where the women braid ' ' Their long soft locks, delicious odour steal. " Here hail thy lovers with a loving glance; " 0, rest in this sweet spot, nor lose this blessed chance. " Whilst thy dear image in the crystal deep " Blend with the fancies of her maiden dream, "Then will she work to win thee with the glance " Of fimiy darters for the love of eyes. ' ' Steel not thy heart against her love, nor deem " Her lily's smile but to allure the prize ; " 0, yield thee to her prayer, yield thee, and be wise. "Ah, yes ! I see thee in her loving arms, "Those feathery branches of the tall bamboo; "And spread beneath thee are her yielded oliarms, ' 'And her smooth sides uncovered to thy view ; "How could such loveliness unheeded woo! " Who could resist her softly pleading smUe, " With heart all cold and dead, if e'er he knew " What joy it is to kiss each breast like isle? " Who, who would turn away, nor linger there awhile? " Then will celestial maids with laugh and shout, ' ' Open their lovely arms thy form to seize. " Nizkoola listened to the Seraph's siren song, and dwelt a space at Oojein ; and fair Lilavati, finding lierself amidst the scenes of her youth, soon collected around her a troop of companions as beautiful as herself. In the gardens of King Drapada, King of Oojein, along the verdant banks of Sipra, the Pandau strayed with Lilavati and other fait ones in the cool of evening, beneath the refresh- ing rain-clouils of tin: monsoon. Tliere he roamed with his 114 nakooLa, the 1>AN1>AU. beloved. Thft sweet smell of earth and of flowers, renovated with the showers, pervaded the thickets, and the voices of the woodland birds smote on the ear with pleasant sound. The buds of roses and sweet jasmin, and the crirtison of the pome- granate glittered lilije- stars amidst the green and revivified foliage-.; whilst the glance of; the peacock and other brilliant birds in the setting: sun, lighted up the terraces and bye-paths of the mangoe groves ; andihe plash of the fish, and scurrying eddies of the water-fowl ' on the pleasant lake and streams of Sipra, added to the charm of the scene. Pair Lilavati and her companions there appeared with the tilaka (brow mark) of love on their fair foreheads. Amidst, playful laughter and conversation and songs the fair nymphs there assembled, passed the happy hours. Some swinging in- the trees, others dabbling in the water-channels, presenting a scene of oriental abandon such as poets of a later age have sung of. Seated at the feast — whilst a pause in the conversation took place — vNakoola urged fair Lilavati to sing a song of dreamland, or at least a tale such as she had heard in the fairy's palace. Thus she sang: — "0, Khsatriya champions, "and dear companions, listen to the Story of the Hennit " Kishyasringa, Son of the Doe, who became King of Fairy- "land, and married, our brilliant queen. Vibhandaka, the "morose anchorite, dwelt with his son Eishyasringa in the "deep forest. Blameless was the life of the young hermit, "whose only companions were the innocent animals of the "forest, and birds of the musky thickets. His fame had " spread throughout the land, till at length King Somapadma.- "grew jealous. Said he, — 'How will it be when the youth "'beholds for the first time the lovely face of woman?' He "then commanded j 'fit me out a spacious vessel; plant it "' with trees and shrubs, with mosses, ferns, and flowers, so "'that it may seem a blooming island: let the loveliest " ' maidens in the kingdom ernbark ! then let the wind and NAKOOLA, THE I'ANUAU. 1;15 " ' floating river dr^ft these bloonjing young messengers to tf^e, "'solitary hermitage of the youthful Rishyasringa.' "It. was tjje marvellous hour which closes the tropical day, "when light becomes an illusion, and ecstatic nature beholds "the vision of her expired lord. The greyness of twilight is "not there ; mystery casts off the shade, and clothes itself in. "radiance. Overhead the hushed twittering of birds nestled " close under the canopy of leaves ; the narrow path through "the flowery wppd stretching into the heart of the silent forest; " the long grass and feathery ferns kissed by the translucejij; " light. Jasmin and the glossy leaves of asoba and of champa, " magnolia, and of myrtle, rustled in the balmy wind. The "youth felt that they concealed a secret. What? "As he stood, on the air came floating to him gradually, " slowly, as sail the swans adown the sacred river, a breath that " grew into a whisper — a whisper that broke into a song— :a song "that 'woke the jealous birds up in their nests. The young " maidens — in guise of anchorites — approach ; radiant as the. " sun, their gems sparkling beneath their homely garments ; '• their silver nupurras ringing out the rhythm of their footsteps. " They salute Rishyasringa. ' Show us your hermitage, gentle "youth,' they cried. * * * » "WJiat more to say? Need the rest be added? After "'much speech, and gentle conference, the damsels departed, "leaving the youthful hermit to his reflections, — the prey of " Love ! He describes his longings to his father, the morose " Vibhandaka : but ultimately he escapes from the forest, and "traces the footsteps of the departed fair ones, and marries "the princess, daughter of King Somapadma, and at length " becomes King of Faii-yland ! Hence I say, oh youths and " maidens, woman is to be both loved and feared ; great is the " power of woman's love ! " Again Nakoola enquired : — "Thou art learned, oh fair Lila- "vslti, in the wisdom of Bhuscara,* tell me then this question: * The eminent Hindoo mathcmaticitin, Bliuscara, was author of a work on 116 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAD. " Of pure lotus flowers at a sacrifice, ^ was offered to Siva „ „ ! ,, to Vishnii „ „ 1 „ to Surya „ „ ^ „ to Bhowani "and six flowers remained for the venerable priest. Tell me " quickly the number of flowers." Fair Lilavati laughed and scai'cely turned aside, and answered " 120 flowers were there, oh j'outli." Again did Nakoola ask — "The square root of half the "number of a swarm of bees is gone to a shriib of jasmin, and "so are 8-9th's of the whole swarm; a female is buzzing to " one remaining male that is humming within a lotus in which "she is confined, having been allured to it by its fragrance at " night. 8ay, lovely woman ! the number of bees."* Fair Lilavati smiled, and turned away her face towards the flowers ; then laughing, she said, — " Oh, learned youth,j' the "answer is easy ; the number of the bees is 72 ; and now, in " my turn, will I ask thee a question : ' If the earth is sup- " ported, as sages say, on an elephant which stands on a tortoise, " which again swims in a sea of milk; how many apples can "I, Lilavati, pelt thee with before thou canst catch me?'" So saying, the fleet, laughing girl fled like the wind adown the shady grove, ever and anon turning to fling an apple at her lover who eagerly pursued her, like the classic Galatea. " lasciva puella, "fugit ad salices, sed cupit ante videri." algebra called Lilavati, His era is uncertain, but has been assigned to about 1150 A.D., so that an anachronism is involved in the text; but Sir W. Jones attributes the origin of Hindoo algebra and astronomy to as early a date as 2000 B.C., and Oojein was always considered its nidus or nursery, and in fact was a sort of Indian Greenwich, as the first parallel of longitude is drawn through that ancient city to Lanka. Tradition asserts that Varaha-Mihma, the father of arithmetic, lived In the era of Vikramaditya, about be b.c. The Surya Vidhanta is the celebrated work on astronomy of Arybhatta or Bhuscara the great Hindoo astronomei-s. The tables of Tirvalore claim the epoch 3102 b.c., at wliich time a conjunction of all the planets is asserted — the beginning of the Itali-Yog or iron age of Hindoo my- thology. Gungadhar and Suryadhara were also eminent Hindoo mathematicians. * From "Colebrooke's History of Algebra" (slightly altered); translated from tUe Sanskrit of the Bija Ganita or Viga Ganita. t Nakoola=wise. NAKOOLA, THE PANDAII. 117 But the swift-footed Nakoola presently overtook the flying fair in the glen lit by the evening star, arresting her further flight. He laughed, "Ah, fair one! answer, or 1 seize thy "zone: oh beautiful and dear Lilavati. 4 doves can be had " for 3 dramraas, 7 cranes for 5 drammas, 9 geese for 7 dram- "mas, and 3 peacocks for 9 drammas. Let us take 100 of "these birds for 100 drammas to the King, — say how?" Lilavati considered a little ; then she laughed and said : — "Find the pulverizer,* oh, Nakoola, and I will tell thee'" Again she fled, and again fleet Nakoola overtook the nymph. Panting, she said, — " Oh, wise one, tell me this : In an "amorous struggle ^ of a necklace of pearls fell to the ground, "-}; rested on the couch, ^ was saved by the lady, and ylj was "stolen by her lover, and 6 pearls remained. Say, of how "many pearls was the necklace composed?" Nakoola plucked a stem of jasmin and wrote on the sand 3 1? 6 tS ^ pearls^answer, 30. "Right, oh wise one! Now tell me this one thing more, "and I cease to tease thee. How many dronas are required "to pluck a mangoe from tliat fruit tree, the lowest mangoe "being 16 cubits from the ground ?"f Nakoola laughed in triumph. " Now I have caught thee, "auspicious woman ! 1 Bliinia equals IG Dronas! Therefoie, "auspicious nymph, Drona the Kuru is pulverized, and ex- " eluded from the problem. Go, ask dear Mahru." Nakoola caught fair Lilavati, and led her to the jasmin bower and rested till the long evening shadows crept across the grass beneath the trees of the grove, and the cool breeze of evening drew their fair companions also from their shady retreats to wander in the scented gardens. The company reassembled under a blooming champak tree. * The common mxiltiple of fractions is so termed in Hindoo arithmetic. t A drona, a mystic number=one-16th of a cubit ; hence the joke in the text. Bhima the Pandau being the rival of Drona the Kuru, as wl}l have been gathered ill former stories. ll'S NAKOOLA, THE TANDAU. Again the rtiaidens cnqiiiretl, " Tell us a story, dear LilaVati." A'gaiii Lilavati related— " Vasliist, or Vishvainit'ra (1 for- "get wliicli), was, oil companio'ns, truly said to be an elephant "amongst anchorites. His austerities could caTl down Devs "and Gandanrs to his aid, and the bolts of Indfa fell on many "at his desire. Then the question arose, 'Who can stop this " ' sainl, who threatens to conquer the gods ? No one seems "'capable of mastering this ascetic!' Then the Apsara " (fairy) Menaka laughed, and said, 'I am!' — A dreani that " Love had wfoi'ight into the form of woman, seemed this "lovely Menikk: tenderness softened her eyes, Wd deepened "the shade of their laslies ; and laughter played around lier "mouth, and kissed her cheek with dimples; fancy unbound "her hair, tod twisted it into wavelets; grace moulded her "form, and passion touched it with langour. * # # " Down amongst the rushes aiid sedges of tte shores of Lake -' PushkAra, the nymph laid her in the still eventide, her lus- " trous hair floated down to the water, and swain on the glisten- "ing ripples. The timid reeds just touched her with their " shadows, knd the golden flags leant towards her and grew " pale. Listening to the bubbling waters .MenAka lay, gazing "upwards through the sedges, watching the soft tints of evening. "Thus the Hermit found her. 'Who art thou, star of '"beauty? I love thee!' he exclainied. " She answered, ' Oh, Bull of Herinits ! I ani Menaka.' . "Need I say more? oh, companions. Vashist was con- "quered, aiid reinained five years in the bonds of love. " Therefore, slgain I say, oh youth, woman is strong! " Nakoola said, " Bho ! oh auspicious nymph ; but you forgot "to say that the Apsara Rartiblia— whose eyes are like the lotus " — tried her hand in vain to ensiiare ihe saiint wlien Menaka "ceased to charm ; and finally that elephant amongst hermits "at length escaped, and obtained emancipation from the desire "of love."* * Partly pnraplaraaed from the Ramayana. iNAKOOLA, THE TANDAtT. 11& The friendly Yaksha who had sang to Nifltocilt when lie reached Nerbudha's sounding waters, now joined in the festiv- ities. Being urged to prophecy, or sing a song of dreamland, he sighed, and called on Kuvera and G-anesh. The company all stood silent. The Yakslw sang: — " To distant Alaka fly uncontrolleii, " Where dwell thy brethren in theit stately hato ; "Mid gilded palaces and marble \VallS, " On which the silver light ol Siva's oreaoBiA* falls. " Hence, as thou mounteat up, each loV^y maid, " Passing her tresses from her brow in glee, "Thy rapid course through realms of air shall see, "And whisper blessings as she looks on thee ! • " Quick from this garden, moist with verdure, rise, "And turn thee northward ; in thy lofty flight "The nymphs of air, with eager upturned ej-es, ' " Shall look on thee with wonder and delight. " Then turning east,' yon glorious gems that bl'eml " Their light and. shade in Indra'B heavenly boWi* " To thy dark ground a softened light shall lend, "And make thee glorious with a borrowed glow, "As the gay splendors of the peacock throw " New beauty round the youthful Krishna spread. " Linger awhile, then launching lightly forth, " Leave the dark glades which wood nymphs wander o'er, " Pursue thine airy journey to the north ; "Soon over Vindhya's mountain wilt thou soar, "And Sipra's rippling stream, whose waters glide " Beneath their feet, without their rush and roar, " In many a rock-barred channel, summer-dried. " Each sylph shall watch thee with observant eyes, "And mark the rain birds eager for the rain " Flocking to meet thee from the distant skies, " Will with her tender glance thy heart prevail, " With too successful blandishments assail " Thy yielding heart ! > * The crest of Siva is the new moon, and the HimaLya mountains, amid which Alaka is situated, are his 'favourite haunt. Indra's heavenly bow — the Rainbow* Note by R. T. H, Griffiths, m.a., on the Chmd Messengm^ of Ealidasa, 120 NAK0OT,A, THE PANnAlT., " On, on my her3,lcl ! as thou sailest nigh, "A green of deeper glory will invest " Visala's groves where the pale leaf is dry. "There shall the swans awhile their pinions rest, "There the rose-apple in full beauty drest " Shall show her fruit, then shall the crane prepare, " Warned of the evening rain, to build her nest, "And many a tender spray shall rudely tear " From the old village tree, the peasants' sacred care, "The famous hill of Chitrakiita* woos " Thy friendly presence ! " III. -:5b^ AKOOLA, thns urged bj' the Yakslia, proceeded to I ^ the forest of Yaiula-Madana in the mountain Rishyamukha , where was tiie dwelling of King Hanuman — Son of the Wind. The Monkey-Deity was there, with all his Simians — Gaya and Gavotsha, Sarabha, Manda, Dviiida, Nila, Ntila, Teiia, and .Tambaval, "most ancient of apes." The sage Markandhyn also, the oompilei- of the Vana- purana, was there as guest of King Hanuman. He it was, indeed, who is said to have hispired the wise words and deep sayings of the Monkey-Deity, King of the Woods. Surrounded by his apes and cranes, Hanuman stood aiid welcomed Nakoola by the eight rites of hospitality (Arghya), such as he had before extended to Bhima. " Wittabo ! oh, brother of Bhima. Goest thou also to the "war? or seekcst thou the fairy forms of earth? for well I "know thy heart, youth. I say not unto thee 'tis well, for "hath not,Vishnu-Sarman said, 'The beauty of the cuckoo is " ' its song ; the beauty of woman is constancy to her husband ; "'the beauty of the ill-favoured is kindness; the beauty of " ' the poor is patience ; the beauty of princes is valour ! ' So * Jfear Omerkautuk— see "Bhima," page 02, NAKOOLA, THE TANDAU. 121 "there are many kinds of merit, oh Pandau. Perhaps thou "liast found a gnide in Lilavati. Listen: — In Sriparonti a "rumour was prevalent that a goblin — by name Ghanta-Karna "(bell-iear) — haunted the summit of a mountain. The case was "this — a thief, who had stolen a bell, was Icilled by a tiger. " Some monkeys picked up the bell, and kept ringing it. The " people alj, fled from the continual ringing, believing that a "fury was there. A certain woman of that place, however, "had satisfied herself that monkeys were ringing it. She " proceeded to the forest with fruits, and scattered them about. "The monkeys therefore left the bell, which the woman seized " and returned to the city, where she obtained great rewards "from the king.* Hence I say, despise not woman's wit! "Perhaps thou hast done wisely in trusting to a woman's "guidance ; but remember Lakshmi (wealth, success) some- " times favours the base ; Parvdti is f(jund associated with the " plebeian ; Kama pays court to the unworthy ; the cloud " rains on the mountain." , Nakoola replied, — " Nay, O ancestor ! my dear Lilavati " hath left paradise and kindred to follow my destiny." " 'Tis well, oh tiger amongst princes ; but in the sandal trees " are seriMuts; in the water are lotuses, but alligators also; in our "enjoyments are envious spies; no pleasures are unimpeded." Nizkoola laughed. " By Wittabah I oh. King, who then "can- trust a woman? Canst thou truly say, oh ancestor, "that a fair one e'er betrayed thee?" Hanuman replied, — " Listen, Bull of Pandaus. In a "pleasure-lake of the south — in times long past — I fell in "love with Karpura-Manjari, daughter of a flamingo named " Karpura-Keli ; and at the same time the Princess Eatna- "Manjari, daughter of King Kamlapa-Keli, King of Vidyad- "hara in Singhala-dwipa (Ceylon), regarded me with favour. "The two young ladies equally favored my suit; but it liap- "pened that Princess Ratna being jealous, sought the advice * Paraphrased from the Hitopadesa. 122 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. " of the Fairy Swirna-Reklia, wlio presented her picture, only "making it a condition that it should not be touched ; wliere- "upon the Princess Ratna-ManjAri took an occasion, when I "was conversing with her rival, Karpura-Manjari, tjie beauti- "ful flamingo, to invite us both to visit the niche where the "fairy's picture stood. We did so, and I — my curiosity being "excited — touched Swirna-Rekha with my hand. For so "doing, I was spurned by her — though only a picture — with "her foot, beautiful as a lotus, and found myself in my own "country, a thousand koss distant, and I never saw my dear "Karpura-Manjari more; hence I say, fairy guidance is a " doubtful thing." Again Nakoola laughed, "0, Lilavati! hearest thou?" But fair Lilavati, offended, turned aside her face — beautiful as the moonbeam — and wept, and said: "There are to whom " all kindness and just persuasions are thrown away : to whom "one must ever speak in words of -menace.'' Hanuman shook his head gravely. " O, Pandau, a hundred " kind acts are lost upon the wicked ; a hundred wise words "are lost upon the stupid ; a hundred precepts are lost upon "the obstinate; a hundred sensible hints are lost upon the "fool. Nevertheless, I say not, oh, fair Lilavati, that thou art " like Swirna-Eekha, that cruel fairy I have told thee of. Listen, "oh, auspicious woman! and answer me this riddle — Wisdom " and Beauty are twins ; canst thou, choose between them ? " "No,'' said Lilavati; "I choose both."* Nakoola enquired : " But say, oh Ancestor ! what were the " deeds of Great Eama and the faithful Lakshraan when the "heroes, with Thee and Siigriva and the Simian army, des- "troyed Rawun in Lanka? Be pleased to narrate the circum- " stances, oh. Son of the Wind." * A play upon the words Nakoola (wise) and Sahadeva (beautiful, handsome), who were the twin sons of Madri, and so only half-brothers of the three elder PandauB. I fear we have the authority of the Mahabarat for the existence of polyandry as a recognised institution of ancient India, — even the possession of a wife amongst a family of brothers seems to have been no uncommon practice. NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. 123 Hannman paused, aTid pondered apace ; then he sighed iand " said, " Oh, young tiger amongst heroes ! Though the shades "of night involve the forest, and before the sunrise in the "morn I and my guard of Vanaputras must part for the north, " I will renall the great war of my youth to tell thee, his de- "scendant, of great Rama's deeds in Lanka and the southern "lands; but first I must perform the agnihobra sacrifice to "the manes of great Rama and his noble brother Lakshman." He resumed, — "Mala the 'magnaminons ape,' who. built the "mole across the sea to Lanka said, 'Once in the hill country "' Vishnu-Kdrman, the celestial architect, met my mother, "'the boautiful ape, on the mountains of Mahabun, I am their "'son.' Guided by Nala, therefore, Nakoola — when great "Rlma and his brother Lakshman both lay sorely wounded by "the sea before Lanka — I, Hanuman, Son of the Wind, alone "went to the hill country of the Hu, Hu, and Ha, Ha princes "of the Gandaurs, to fetch thence the simples growing there "to cure their wounds; and missing them, I tore up by the "root this hill Yanda-Maddna, with all its simples growing "on it, and carried it to Lanka. Did I not also rescue the "Apsara (fairy) Yandakali from the slaughtered alligator? " Behold, she is my wife. Hence I say, oh, Pandau, thou "hast done wisely in asking me to relate the heroes' deeds." He paused, and the surrounding apes applauded. Again Hannman spake: — "Thou knowest, oh, Pandau! "how the noble RS.ma, with the fair Sita and his faithful "brother Lakshman, went into voluntary exile, so that the "oath of his old father Dusaratha, made to Kaikeyi, Bharut's "mother, might be fulfilled. Thou hast heard how, on the " banks of the flashing Surjoo and elsewhere the hero wandered, " and how the lovely Sita — ravished from his forest home by "the cruel giant RS,wun — was carried to Lanka. The faith- "ful and 'eminent' vulture, Jaytayu, fell in defence of his "friend's wife, fair Sita, and, dying, disclosed the route the "ravisher had fled. Thus much thou hast heard, and may be k2 124 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. "knowest that after deep sorrow and much adventure in the "wilderness seeking further trace of his lost love, the noble " Eama found King Sugriva, Chief of Apes, amidst the Vind- "hya's wild domain. Oh, Prince, I was great Siigriva's "friend, and followed him in exile when, unjustly driven away "from the pleasant forests by Balin, his jealous brother, he "remained an exile in the Vindhyas. Great Bcima lent his "aid, and with our assistance slew great Balin, and reinstated " Sugriva, on the throne of the Simian races; — but still no trace " of Sita lost, and Rama languished in his sorrow ! * * "At length one day we ate our frugal nieal beneath a lofty "peak in Vindhya's solemn mountains. Below us lay the "gorges of Nerbudha, and the gleaming waters of its channel " — then a chain of lakes — forest fringed, and haunted by the " flamingoes, cranes, and birds of air. On a terrace below us " two eagles were conversing, and we Simians who know the " voice of birds, heard them say how lonely Sita was in far "Lanka's isle. Enough! the word was told to noble Rama, " who, aided by the Simian army, marched to Lanka. Has "not great Valmiki (and Kalidasa in his sweet song of " Sacantala) told of the great war of Lanka ! Sugriva led the "host of which I, Hanuman, was also chief. Oh, excellent "youth! I recall the famous deeds of. heroes such as Rama, "and Sugriva with his apes. The Simian host marched "gaily through the pleasant forests of the south. I laugh "when I recall the active days and festive nights around "the sylvan fires. Oh, excellent asoka tree, under whose "sacred shade fair Janida gave me the parting kiss! oh, cave "of bliss! oh, pleasant, wholesome times! may blessed Mark- "andhya and fair Vyasa note ye in the annals, so that all "posterity may know the record ! At length we reached the "sea. Thus did noble Rama order the array of battle : — ' Let " Sugriva be in the midst of the army — a king is the centre " round which his people gather. Nila, with a chosen band, " shall precede the host ; at its head shall march the giant NAkOOLA, U'MB PANUAU. l25 "Simians Naya, Gaya, Gavaya, and Gavotsha, as in the "prairie the large buffaloes lead on the herd. Let the noble " Simian Kishabha — because he is a bull amongst apes — com- "mand the right wing. The left sliall have for chief Gandh- " anadara, whose impetuous valour is like that of an elephant "in the season of rut. I, with Hanuman, Son of the Wind, "will follow; and near me Lakshman, borne by illustrious "Angada — like Siva, carried by the supernal bnll ! Jambaval, '' Sushera, and Vega Larsin, shall protect the rear. Thus, if " it seem good to thee, O magnanimous lord of quadrumanous " creatures ! will we determine the order of your army.' " ' Let the noble Bama be obeyed,' cried Siigriva. "But the heart of Bama was very sad ; he whispered to his "brother, faithful Lakshman — ' So long ! so many honrs quite " ' lost ! So much of beauty and of fervour missed ! How shall " ' all be given back to mo since life itself is short — too short " ' for love. Bach moment spends it. Time drives him ever "'on. At eaqh step, weeping, he leaves a fragment of his soul.' "'Nfly, brother,' answered liakshman, 'surely the stars are " ' gentile. Bama, dear Lord ! hold high thy heart ; thou art "'marching to conquer back the radiance of thy life!' * . * * * * « "The scene is changed. " Night. Bawun — scourge of the three worlds — stood "alone on the ramparts of his celestial town of Lanka. He "was not deceived; he knew his hour was come. Standing " there with folded arms he watched the Simian army landing "and ranging on the beach. Scorn — the master-passion of "the fiend — pervaded him. The shore was too far off for "any tramp of feet to reach the solitary watcher. At length "his brother Kanibukurna, at last aroused from apathy, ap- " proaches him. ' Oh, brother, Bama is very noble. They call "'him the friend of living creatures! It bad been better to '"dare this prince to combat than to carry off his wife. My "'counsel, brother, is to send back Sita. A bad deed weakens 126 Makoola, the i'Andau. '"the arm, and spoils one for honest warfare.' But Ka,wun'B " brow grew dark, and he gave tlie word to close in battle. ****** "The battle closed on the shores of Lanka. Kama is "wounded, as is also Lakshman, sorely, and Silgriva thus "laments : ' O, Kama, Khig of Men ! my Benefactor, King, " ' and Lord ! 0, heavens, that I should see thee thus. * * "'I will die with thee, my Lord. Thy poor Sugriva will "'stretch him by thy side. Angada shall lead the Simians " ' back to the sweet, quiet forests ; I will return no more. I '"will not see again the pleasant cave of Rishkandya, nor " ' Tara, gentlest of the apes. Bear her my greetings, Simians; "'and say I perished with the noble Rama.' But wise Vib- " hishama reprove^d the aiHicted ape. * * * 'Twas then, "Oh Prince, I flew to Mahabun, and brought back the " mountain Yanda-Madana with all its simples, to cure the "noble R^ma and brave Lakshman. Meantime the faithful, "loving Sita was prisoner in Lanka's town. The cruel "Rawun seeks her love, and urges unlawful arguments to " move her. Thus that noble lady answered : — ' You speak to me of passion, and fire of throbbing pulses, and longings for more full delight. Love has another sense to me : it is a radiance, not a flame; and kindles rather light than heat. Love! I have known its rapture, King of Rachshasas. I, your captive, have known its rapture! Think you to "'waken unholy fire in the breast where reigns a star? to "'drag down to lust a heart that has been given wings?' " Holding out both her arms she called on Kama. * * * "Oh, Nakoola! I saw Narada — messenger of tlie gods — "descend from Swerga to comfort the dear, faithful lady; the "while the noble Rama, recovered from his wound, and saw "his lovely, faithful Sita in a trance* * In this passage the quasi modem idea of "rapport" is clearly foreshadowed; and throughout the mystic literature of ludiii we meet with the ■modernized idea of odic force in the mysterious force in nature called akaz in Sanskrit occultism. Hi tt ( a c u i NAKOOLA, THE TANDAU. 127 " Soon after this the assault is given, and Lanka and its " band of Raclishasas destroyed. " I stood and saw the reconciliation of noble Rama and his "lovely Sita — faithful proved by the eight rites of Arghya " sacrifice — who then departed for Ajoodhya, his native city. "I stood and pondered all these great events. Again the " Simian army crossed the sea, and the brave Vanaputras — "children of the forest — dispersed to their sweet leafy homes "amidst the woods.* "Now, oh Prince, I must depart for Josimut — the cooking " place — there to make ready to welcome brave Bhima and the '•'sons of Kiinti — the elder Pandans — when they shall arrive "to storm Mahendra, axis of the Land of Snow. Be thou "also amongst them, oh tiger of princes, else posterity and " the bards will curse thy name. Go, seek thou thy brotlier " Sediva — beloved of the gods — who now has left Kashmir, and "now awaits thee near to Indra-Killa and Nagrakot, where "great Arjuna heard 'sweet voices from the sky.' Consult "with him and Ogregund the King, how best to aid brave "Bhima in the war. Be brave and fortunate; and I, even I, " Hanunidn — ,8on of the Wind — will bless thee." The aged sylvan king waved his war-club thrice over the head of Nakoola, and disappeared into the silent shades; but as the sun rose next morn Nakoola heard the rush of the Simian army as they bounded through the forest trees on their way to distant Himalaya. * The above may be cousidered, in few words, as the "argument" of the Kam- Jiyana of Valmiki, a work of 24,000 slokaa or verses. It has been translated, and parts beautifully paraphrased in Fredericka Robertson's "The lUad of the East,' to which work I am indebted for the speeches of Rama, Sugriva, Sita, and Ha- wun, given in the text in an abreviated form, as also for other excerpts in the story of " Nakoola." 128 nakoola, the pandac. IV. 'JbT\ AKOOLA, aroused from soft delights, then journeyed 1^^ towards Kdshmlr to meet King Ogregund, who, witli the young Pandau Prince Sedira, was marching to- wards the south to join Yudishtir in the Dehra Dun. He arrived at the forest of Eishyamukhi, and first sought the cell of Markandhya, the Hermit, hut it happened that through this selfsame forest, great Hiranya-Kashipu, King of Daityas — giant aborigines — was passing on his way to war with Ananta, King of the Nagas and Assurs, who inhabit Patala (hell). Nakoola called aloud to Markandhya : — " Oh, elephant " amongst saints ! Bho ! I perceive adverse omens. What "means this vast array of evil powers?" He turned and beheld the Hermit dancing the saptopuddie (mystic dance) in front of his cell in a glade of the forest. Entranced in ecstacy appeared the Hermit's countenance ; his white hair streaming in the wind. The birds of the forest were staring at the sage with astonished eyes. Nakoola called aloud: — "Bho! bho! Vibhu! Why art "thou dancing in rapture?" Markandhya stood in silence ; his arms extended. At length after long cogitation he recited the gaydtri,* and spake as follows : — " Who knoweth the old King Indra-dyumna, "eldest of anchorites? The old owl knew him not; the old " crane Nddi-jangha knew him not ; but the ancient tortoise " Akupara was older still, and knew him. I have wrested the " omen. Hence I say, oh Prince, after meeting Ogregund and "thy twin brother, go to the Land of the Tortoise (Kumaon) " and join brave Bhima in the war." * The Gayatrl is considered the holiest verse in all the Vedas. It is to be found in the Rig Veda — "We meditate on that excellent Light of the Divine Sun : may he illuminate our minds ! " -NAKOOLA, THE I'ANDAU. 129 Nakoola enquired again — "What means this array of hell, "O Vibha?" Again the Hermit stood in silence, and deeply pondering, sought an omen. The sough of the evening wind sounded in the pine trees : the moan of evil spirits was heard in the gloom of the forest. At this moment a chariot, drawn by two milk-white steeds, was seen approaching. Behold ! the merry, merry Krishna ! — Govinda the cowherd — drawn by the steeds Siigiiva and Saivya, had entered the forest. Seeing the Hermit and the Pandau, he stayed his course, and alighted at the Hermit's cell. Nakoola saluted. " Hail ! oh, hairy one !* there be adverse " omens." In answer Krishna recited a mantra (invocation) and in- ivoked the Sun. ' "Let us implore Light, oh son of Madri! in "this gloomy forest, then shall we plaiiily see with whom to "fight. Where is Vyasa, my Suta? (charioteer, bard, hench- "man), oh Indra! I call for Light ! Eudra, "the weepers," "and the spirits of the winds are abroad, and moan in the " gloomy trees. Would that the friendly Hanutnan — Son of " the Wind — were here to chase the evil races and malignant " spirits of Damaka from the forest, shades." Markandhya now raised his voice and cried : — "Oh " Champions ! this is maya (illusion). It is the sixth, lunar "day, when spirits fly abroad! Let us invoke Siirya (the "Sun), Lord of Light, under his 108 names, by the Agni- "hobra sacrifice. Pull the mandara flowers, oh stag-eyed! " Bho ! " He again recited the gayatri, and lo ! the evil crew of dajmon giants, vanished, and the wood nymphs and spirits of the fountains began to peep forth from behind the leafy screen of foliage as the flush of sunset lighted up the arches * A na:rne of Krishna. It may be stated that in the Vedas — I think the Atliar. ' vana Vdda — a thousand synonyms of Siva are given, and each deity of the Hindoo Pantheon had numerous epithets or etymons. 130 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. of the forest, and the glow-worms lit up their tiny lanterns in the mossy dells as the " stars of the north arose and showed their heads of fire." The Hermit invited the champions to his cell, and spread beneath the stars the frugal meal of sweet herbs and fruits, with crystal water from the holy stream. So Krishna, with Nakoola and Vyasa the poet — reclining on the grass — entered into con- versation on many things — wise, beautiful, and sublime-^with the sage Markandhya, author of the Vanapurana chronicle. Nakoola enquired : " Oh, elephant amongst saints ! be "pleased to narrate events since I, with Sabadeva, assisted "great Bhinia to slay Jatasura and Muniman the cannibals: "the surviving cannibal fled to the east. I also parted from "my brother, and journeyed to the south." After a while Markandhya proceeded to relate as follows : " When the exiled Pandaus dwelt in the forest of Dwaila, and "lived by the produce of the chase, the surviving wild animals "of the wood came to great Yudishtir and petitioned, 'Oh, "'just one, spare our remnant!' Whereupon the chiefs de- " parted to the Kamyaka wood near to Vindhu Lake. They "afterwards dispersed for sake of hunting, — Yudishtir to the "east, Bhimsen to west, Arjuna to south, Sabadeva to the "north, oh Son of Madri! But first I saw Arjuna: he pro- "ceeded to Indrakilla, where he 'heard sweet voices from the "sky.' There he devoted himself to heaven, and performed "Yapa. He fought with Narayama — Lucifer himself — and "obtained from Siva the Gandiva bOw, as a gift to destroy " Ka.nia, Bhisthma, Kripa, Drona, and the Kuraus : also " Danavas, Kachshasas, Bhutas, Pisdchas, Gandharas, Paima- "gas, and Daityas. May they be accursed! 'Om! " Kuvera and Vardna gave weapons and a divine car to "Arjuna, who resided in paradise five years, and consulted the " heavenly bards. Ohitrasena taught him songs and music ; " Partha taught him to hunt ; and Urvasi, best of Apsaras^ "gave him secret weapons, oh greatest of males! After this NAKOOLA, TUS! PANDAU. 131 <' be batbed at Jambu-nugger and in Agastya Lake, and per- " formed the Agnipatra sacrifice. 'Om ! " Turning to Krisbna, he continued : — " Oh, bairy one ! Iby "pupil Arjuna visited the island Tri-Kuta-Swetun.* He "narrated to me his maritime adventures. He sounded the " devadatta conch-shell, and Narada, messenger of the gods, " appeared at his behest. "At the mountain Sweta-Mandara, the superior Yaksha " Mamvara^under Kuvera, King of Yakshas — rules 88,000 "swift Gandharas, and four times that number of Kimpur- "ashas and Kimeras.\ To reach them the son of Kunti "(Arjuna) performed Samadhi ; and at Vadara he obtaiitied "the merit of the Vajapeya sacrifice. 'Om ! "Oh, tiger of Princes! listen to advice : — Kartikaya — God " of War — delights in Sarasvati waters : its spring is in an " antr-hill. Seek the teerut of the Aswinis, there one becomes "handsome, oh Partha! At Vansa-Mutaka bathe and obtain " the delivery of thy race ! 'Om ! " I have seen at Manusha, on Papaga river, the antelopes. " changed to men by the power of austerity. I stood on holy "ground at Brahmagoni. The omen hath declared the Pan- "daus shall visit the leafy hermitage of Naka and of NarayAna "in Kailasa ; also the gardens and palaces of Mainaka and "Visaladari, in paradise! but first they must endure war and " hardships : such is the omen I have wrested. 'Om, 'om ! " Such were a few of the words of Markandhya the Hermit. The poet Vyasa, " the compiler" — then a youth — heard them as they fell in slokas from the Hermit's lips. Afterwards, in ex- treme old age, when called on to narrate the events of the great war, which he had witnessed in his youth, he wrote them in the Vedas, and compiled the chronicles of the Mahabarat. As the sun rose next morning, lo the army of King Ogre- gnnd of Kashmir, with Scdiva the Pandau, his ally, is heard ' Believed by some to be Britain, t Note the similitude to the classic "chimsera." 132 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. approaching with sound of trumpet, drum, and cymbal from the north ; and soon the warlike pageant entered the deodara grore which overshadowed Markandhya's cell ; Sahadeva (8e- diva) the Pandau Prince, advancing in the van of the army, whilst Damoodara-!-son of Ogregund — brought up the rear of the Kashmir army. On Saliadeva's banner appeared the Lotus of Kashmir ; on Gonerda's standard— .-borne on a golden stick — was " an inhabitant of water, having an expanded mouth, destructive of all fishes, and conducive to fear;'' on Prince Daraoodara's banner, the serpent Sesh appeared in warlikeguise. Nakoola hastened to the front, and fell on his" brother Sahadeva's neck and wept. Afterwards Krishna mounted his car, drawn by the two white steeds Sugriva and Saivya, and drove the twin sons of Madri — Nakoola and Sahadeva — to the beautiful city of Siikhtimati, the destined spouse of Nakoola. The lady started on first meeting him : she had beheld him in a dream, and loved him ; and now the vision of her youth was realized. The day was spent in feasting and in courtly pastimes. But now a portentous incident occurred : Hiranya-Kashipu, King of Giants, had been scared, not killed, by Markandhya's charm ; in the evening, roused by envy, he stole great Krishna's milk-white steeds, and drove away towards Nara. Thus had Sala, son of Ayu — King of Frogs — stolen the horses of holy Vamad^va, vvho cursed him, and his fate soon overtook liini, being killed by Yatudanas; and his sister Susobhana languished in silence, and would not approach water even at the command of tlie Eaja, her husband. So did Markandhya's curse affect Hiranya-Kdshipii. In the morning the dead body of the giant was found in a ravine. Like Pliaeton, he had essayed to guide the fiery coursers o'er the mountains, but they had spurned the car, and hurled the giant from his seat ; and lo ! his body rolled down the cliffs of the Dhaola-Dharj and lodged on a vast rock near Nagra-killa. The vultures danced on the dead giant. NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. 133 Fair Lilavati had followed Nakoola to the city of the beautiful Sukhtimati, and had there met the Princess, also Sahadeva, " the handsome man." Love, the anteros of Kama — the Indian Cupid — suddenly possessed her soul. Voiceless, the ready-tongued nymph gazed upon the " handsome one." On his part, Sahadeva was transfixed with admiration. On the other hand, Nakoola saw with rapture the lovely Princess who had dreamed of him in youth, and now for the first time beheld the image of her fancy. Amidst such fires of contrary destiny what could spring but the garood (phoenix) of desire ! In the warlike sports which followed on the meeting of the twin-bom Pandau chiefs, the two fair ones' eyes were fixed, each on her new found champion, who on their part engaged in the Warlike games in view to the admiration and applause of each his fairy mistress. The words of Hanuman and his far-reaching riddle, " How to choose between wisdom and beauty" came to remembrance, and Lilavati sighed and wept in secret as she recalled it ; but Kama was strong within her horoscope; and although the wise and auspicious lady remembered the warning of the Fairy Queen in the grotto of Eishyasringa, son of the doe, whilst she was an inhabitant of the fairy halls of Swerga, the impulse of the god was too mighty to resist. In the soft evening twilight, as the stars came out and lighted with their glimmering radiance the grove where the camps of the warlike Pandaus lay, Lilavati sought the pavilion of the Kashmir Prince and declared her love. Alas ! Shireen, the " Sweet one," had accompanied Sediva from far Anant-Ghnr, with the gem of love, her blooming daughter, she who had escaped dread Siva's curse,* and Sediva turned away his face, and wept for the fair and false Lilavati. "Oh, auspicious woman! oh, best of Apsaras," whispered he, " be faithful to dear and wise Nakoola, and let us together « See "Sediva," page 11, 134 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. " face the foe as becometh twin-brothers ; besides, I love the " beautiful Shireen ; and even should a second spouse be law- "ful to the youngest Pandau, be sure 'twould not be Thee." Sediva spake in honour, and Lilavati trembled. Covering her burning face in her doputtuh (mantle), she went slowly forth from the pavilion into the silent grove. Awhile she stood beneath the sacred, peepul tree which shaded her pavilion, and wept bitter tears of love and shame and sorrow ; then she hastily cast aside her diadem and the mystic charms she wore, of silver and of burnished copper and of gold, and plucked a champuk flower, which she placed on the coverlet of Nakoola's couch, together with a fairy picture of herself, made by the poet Chitrasena whilst she dwelt in Swerga ; then covering her face with her fair hands, she flod wildly into the night. The Kshatriya guard who paced in front of the camp beheld, as the moon rose, a white form flit across the darkened grove ; the peasants gathered at supper in the village hamlet on the mountain slopes beheld a misty form glide amidst the shadows of the pine trees and ascend the wooded upland ; a hunter, as he sate with bow and arrow watching the forest slopes under the starry top of Maimona, beheld a fairy form rush past him towards the snow ; he trembled, for he remembered the story of the yech, who beguiles and devours men, and had tempted the hunter Bhairava to the abyss which led to Nara (hell): he turned toward the crescent moon — the crest of Siva — and recited an invocation for the " escape of the head from sin." The goorul-antelope of the cliff rose from his rocky lair upon the wild hill-top, and gazed at the intruder, then bounded into the moonlit glen beneath ; and the ancient owl, who had dwelt for ages past in the deep grove of cedars which shaded the alpine Temple of Deodara, hooted wildly from his gloomy eyry, as he blinked and saw the shadowy form of Lilar- vati rush through the shadows of night ; and the lion of the uplands, as he stood on a moonlit top of Sveta-Parvat, and gazed around to seek his nightly prey, trembled, and with tail NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. 135 drooping on the ground, slunk gloomily away as he heheld the wild dishevelled form of Lilavati still ascending towards the sacred hill KaiMs. Lastly, the Hermit Markandhya, who had ascended the mountains and was gazing on the midnight heavens to observe the starry host and cast an horoscope and wrest knowledge from the constellations, saw the fair nymph, ' and raised a hymn of thanks to great Bhowani for the au- spicious omen of the flying fair one. And this was the last of mortals who beheld dear Lilavllti on earth ; and no man knoweth further whither she went — whether to Kailas, or whether she returned to Fairyland or Swerga, and resumed her place amongst the Apsaras she had left to follow Nakoola, who can say? But this one thing Nakoola knew, that ever and anon at moonrise— ^and often in his dreams —the fairy form of dear Lilav8,ti stood trembling in the vague twilight, and stretched forth her lotus hand to- wards him as though invoking a blessing. So Nakoola was comforted,' and wedded fair Sukhtimati, and allied himself to Sediva his twin-brother. Accompanied by Krishna, together they marched with Ogregund the King adown the slopes and forests of Himaleh towards the camp of brave BMma in the Dehra Dun, where also great Yiidishtir and the Pandau reserve were camped. Nakoola proceeded on- wards to the Land of the Tortoise (Kumaon), and near his old dwelling place in the oasis hard by Brahmadeo, he joined the band of Kshatriyas and warlike Pandaus ; afterwards, guided by tall Purujit, his kinsman, he advanced with the right reserve along the banks of flashing Surjoo, and aided brave Bhima in his victory over the KAchshasas and Nagas of the snow. # * * * » Eishyasringa, " Son of the Doe "- -he who had become a king in Indra's paradise — again met Nakoola as he returned from the war. In the cedar grove where the youthful Pandau had first sighted the silver stag, the Fairy King stood beneath the canopy of the lofty deodara trees; thus he spake — "Young 136 NAKOOLA, THE PANDAU. " Chief ! thoii hast redeemed thy name, and so far hast done " well thy part to vindicate the Pandaus' destiny ! More yet "remains; so draw not back thy hand. Be brave! be faith- " ful to thy fair spouse the Princess Sukhtimati ! She who " was appointed as thy guide of life — dear Lilavati — has her- " self fallen short of wisdom : she hath returned to paradise, " and thou mayest not meet her more ; nevertheless, she and "the Apsaras of our lofty, dome in Swerga will observe thy "fate with sympathy and love. Me thou shalt see no more on "earth ; but on thee I bestow the Fairy blessing. Farewell, "oh child of wisdom!" Eishyasringa, "Son of the Doe-:- giver of the rains of summer" — waved his wand over Nakoola, and vanished from ami I'ANDAUtJ. The rival Kings -^ Duryodhana the Kiiru, and Yiidishtir the Pandan, raised high above the rest on lofty elephants, sur- vey their respective hosts. The principal chiefs or champions in war-cars or chariots, each conveying two, the driver and his chief. The lesser chiefs on horses housed with glittering trappings. Their followers on foot, chiefly armed with spear and bow, and sword and mace, and orbed shield. How shall the wandering stranger describe the glittering lines of warlike Kshatriyas drawn up in battle array facing each other, ready to join issue in the deciding throw for em- pire. Not to the pen of the wandering Cimmerian is it given to recount in fitting strain the high emprise and lofty deeds of semi-human champions, enacted in the 14th century before the dawn of Christianity on earth. The poet might t«ll of deities of the Hindoo Pantheon — ' Indra, Varuna, &c., hovering around and above the combatants in the sultry air ; and the Stars and Constellations in their courses tremWing for the issue of the great event which shall confer a sovereign on the sunny land of Ind ! He might tell of the thunder of the war-cars, of the shouts of the contending heroes, the shrieks of elephants and of horses taught to battle for their riders ; of the air darkened by flights of arrows, as spikes of thistle-down floating in the wind ; of the plunge of fire-rockets in the surging grass, which taking fire involves the combatants inflame and smoke; of the cruel aspect of the victors, the agitation and despair of the conquered ! In the distance, on the walls and towers of Histinapoora, the mothers, sisters, and wives of the Kuraus stand, anxiously expectant of the issue ; whilst Ditrashtura, the aged father of the Kuraus, sitting in his palace gate, awaits tidings of the great battle from his Suta (charioteer) Sandjaya. The hosts approach each otlier, and halt when a bow-shot apart. Silence ! The leaders are seen to pause. Tfie chiefs gather round them and confer. What hinders them instantly KUKAUS AHJ) PANDAD8. 143 to close ill battle? Bat one thing — the consanguinity of the contenjing factions I Still silence ! At length an aged chief- tain of the Kuraus ( Bhishtnia) sounds the challenge, and great Arjuna, the Pandau, impatient for the fight, answers by a blast from his heaven-bestowed concli-shell. Alone he ad- vances in front of the two armies ; then observing faces ef his kindred in the opposing line, he pauses and consults his charioteer-^supposed great Krishna. His soul is softened : he argiies the question of the war of kindred, with his god-like Suta (charioteer). Too late! The die is cast : to fall or con- quer is the Pandau's high emprise ; and soon the battle joins. Here we must pause, and- reverting to the written records of the Cave,* and to the ancient chronicles above alluded to, content ourselves with the bald legends they present to us of the fabled deeds of a few heroes of the war, conspicuous for their birth or prowess, or the part they enact in the great drama of the Wars of the Kuraus and Pandaus, as related in the Mahabarat. II. '^f'N the montli of Kartik, k.y. 2268, when the moon was Jl near the full, brave Bhima, commander of the Pandau army, advanced from Kgdar^Khund across the fcievaKk mountains, and marched adown the sandy Sarasvati stream to- wards Thanesur plain. Soon he discovered the Kurau host under the conmiand of aged Bhishtnia in his front, drawn up on the plain of Thanesur (afterwards called Kiini-Kshetra), covering their capitol city, Hustinapoora. The army halted. Silent the warlike Kshatriyas sfajod in arms — their arms and war-cars resplendent in the sun. Brave Bhiina paused a space, then communed with Yudislitira,f here called Dhurni Eaja, "King of Justice." Arjuna "of the sounding bow,'' and the "twin sons of Madri" — Nakoola and Sahadeva — also join the * Sec foot note, page 137, \ TudlU — battle, and ntlura — fii-m=Unflinchiiig in war. Dhurm-Raja= King of Justice or Religious Virtue, lii THE WAR OV THE council. They consult the omens ; Markandhya, with wise VyS,sa is standing nigh. Say, Kartikaya, God of War! the names of heroes and of godlilce chiefs on both sides ! Bat are they not narrated in the Bhisthma-parva, and in the Drona-parva, and in the other chronicles of theVarna-purana, written by Markandhya the Sage ! First. Bhishtma — surnamed also Devavrata — sounds the challenge. Arjuna, whose Suta (charioteer) was great Krishna, sounds the devadatta conch-shell in reply ! then advancing to the fight he recognises so many faces of kindred in the oppos- ing line that he pauses, and communes with Krishna whether he be justified in engaging in such a fratricidal strife. An extraordinary mataphysical argument ensues, which ends in Krishna assuaging his scruples, and convincing him of the justice of his cause in accepting wage of battle. Arjiina, the "rider of white horses," then again advances, and the battle joins. He "recites formulas" as he shoots his arrows from the Gandiva bow, whilst K^sava loudly blows the Panchajanya war-horn. Arjuna overthrows the "Monkey Standard" of Dh^uajaya, and drives on triumphant ; and at the very outset Bhima slays King Bhagadatta. Various flags are described. In the battle, Sikhandi, aided by Arjuna, kills the driver of Bhishtma's car, anl captures his flag. Yuiishtif then con- centrates the Pandau army, and falls on Baishtma (son of Ganga); and so the battle goes on till the tenth day, when Bhishtma falls by the hand of Arjuna. He remains on the field "wounded to the quick." A great destruction of the Kuraus ensues. Tiie dying Bhishtma "hears cheering voices from the sky." Geese from the holy lake Manasa circumambu- late the hero as he lies; and fan him with their pinions till the sun and moon are in a happy position ; then Bhishtma sends for Arjuna, and " takes water from him." Arjuna recites a mantra (or hymn) over the fallen chief, who dies recommending peace with the Pandans. The death of Bhishtma closes the first period of the great battle. KURA0S AND I'ANDAUS. 145 On the deatli of Bhishtma, the Kuraus proceed to elect a successor in chief command. Kama refuses to take command Wore Drona (Acharya), his preceptor in arras, who accordingly is chosen to succeed Bhishtma. He immediately leads an attack in the " chaka^vyiika" formation — apparently an echelon — -on the Pandau array. Ahhimaiiya, son of Arjiina, assails the echelon, and discharges arrows at Kama which " cut his armour as a snake enters an ant-hill." He commands the Pandau van. He is opposed by the Kurd Duhsasana, who, however, is wounded and carried off the field ; but at length, after achieving vast success, Abhiraanya is himself wounded by Subhadecoss, a brother of Kama; but still he holds the field and .wages fight. The Kuraus are at length repulsed ; " their faces parched, their eyes rolling, their bodies covered with sweat, the hair of their bodies standing on end, intent on flight, bad in the bowels," so says the c'.iarioteer Sandjaya to his master the aged Ditrashtnra, sitting on the walls of Hustinapoora. Their flight, however, was for the present arrested by the fool Lackshraana, who soon pays the penalty of his temerity, and is killed by Abhimanya; but Abhimanya at length himself is slain, and falls "with his face to the foe." Arjiiiia then advances and " recites formulas" as he plies the Gandiva bow. Drona hurls a spear and dis- ables Yu lishtira's car-steeds. The King is hurled fro ii his chariot, but is saved from Di-ona by his brother Sahadeva (Sediva), wliose chariot he mounts. He rallys the Pandaus, and concentrates for a final charge on the partly successful Kurau host. The hero Alambdsha then makes head, but is utterly destroyed by Bhima : " he fell like a heap of black coUyriura and the flame tip of the red kinsuta tree in bloom." Kritavarna alone confronts tiie victorious Pandaus, and puts them to temporary rout, but is at length killed by Satyaki, who, following up his success, rides on and achieves great success : he is one of the chief Pandau heroes. Thus the battle fluctuates. At length the great Kuru hero 146 TH)S WAR OF THE KUBAUS AfiD TANDAUS. Drona, who has performed prodigies of valour, falls by the hand of Dhrishtdp-yiimna : Arjuna had tried in vain to save him. At one period of the fight the Pandaus are worsted. Dur- ing the rout Ashtokthdna seeing Vyasa "the compiler," thus humbly addressed him : "Blio! O muni, what is this? What "defect have I?" He is icomforted by Vyasa, and resumes the fight. The Pandaus, moreover, are rallied by YMishtira, the "firm one" in battle; and finally, as we have seen, achieve a mighty victory. In the Bhishtma-parva the Kuraus are finally described as " terrified, confounded with fear as beasts at the roaring of a lion, bad in the boweh ! utterly disorganized and routed, and all their leaders slain." Then we have the spectacle of the mothers, sisters, wives of the slain JKuraus, streaming across the plain from Hustinaf- poora, and settling on the dead as screaming sea-fowl on the sea^washed shores .of Abusin — "Father of Waters" — .as nar- rated in a former story,* which, together with the incidents there related, forms the closing scene of the great battle ; wherein, moreover, Daryodhafia, the usuper, liaving despaired of success, swallows poison- on the field, leaving absolute victory to his rival. King Yudishtir, surnamed " The Just." So ends the great battle, and it may here be remarked that the conditions of warfare amongst the ancient Indian Aryans appear to have been essentially humane, and many passages might be quoted where clemency towards the enemy is incul- cated and practised ; and often do we meet with the appeal to the Kshatriya's oath " To spare the fallen foe who says ' I yield me ! ' " an honourable act of grace which seems to have been scrupulously observed by the brave Aryan warriors of ancient times ; and, a large humanity is clearly recognizable through all the monstrous fables and myths which involve their chroni- cles, and with which the heroic march of their great epic the Mahabarat is clouded. * See page 104, "Bhima," mmiitta $c tft^ 3mt ot Datft'ra. /^^•'HE readers of tlie preceding tales will have noted that U L the semi-human chauipion Krishna played no incon- siderable part in the Wars of the Kuraus and Pandaus: he. was in fact the cousin of the latter. The "Harivansa" — written by Vyasa the son of Parasara and Satyavfiti — and the "Prera-Sagur" (or ocean of love), both give us a mythic history of his life, differing in many respects, but both claiming iiim as an avatar of Vishnu or H&n ; and his brother BaUramd as an avatar of Seshnag or Ananta. Their exploits are of course mythic, or at least fabu- lous ; and the Harivansa contains also a mythological account of the genesis and geodesy of creation of which Hari was the fabled primseval exponent — the "dweller in the lotus" of life. A quasi-historical account of his deeda on earth is given in both works, whilst the Prein-Sagur — a comparatively modern work in Hindi — relates adventures of a most grotesque and fantastic nature — warlike and amatory. They may be dis- missed with a very few words. Krishna's birtli is stated to have occurred at midnight, on Wednesday the 8th day of the dark half of tire month Bhddon: "all nature rejoices," but Eaja "Hans'" or "Causa," the enemy of the house of Vasondeva, orders tlie destruction of Brahmins, Vaishnavas, Jogis, Jatis, hermits, suniasies, bhair- agis, and other votaries of Hari, in hopes of destroying him ; in fact, the history of the dangers encountered by Krishna in infancy are somewhat analogous to those of the classic Jupiter at the hands of Saturn. His mother's name according to the Prem-Sagur was Rohini, who gave birth to him " amidst the. cows" in the Land of Braj ; and, according to. the same au- thority, his youth comprehended some rather remarkable exploits, of which the following — amongst many more — may be mentioned as examples : — 1J8 KRISHNA "Putana," a she-demon, is sent to destroy Krishna at Gr6kul, Iiis birthplace, but is lierselt exterminated, and the yopng hero's parents are comforted. Next a ." serpent-shaped demon" devours Krislina and certain cowherds, his friends, but the former swells to such a degree that " the serpent's belly is bufst and he falls." Krishna's brother BdMrama vies in prowess, and slays Dhenuk "a demon in form of an ass"; whereupon Krishna, not to be behind, disposes of tlie great water-serpent Kali, who dwelt in tlie river Yainana. Krishna, seeking to reform society, abolishes the worship of Indra, and builds the mystic mountain " Goverdhun," wliere he and Balarama "dance tlie circular dance" with cowherdesses^ beneath the moon.* The tricks of Krishna are innumerable and far from edifying; and his frolics with the fair and frail g6pics (cowherdesses) of the "Land of Braj," must be pronounced, I fear, reprehensible. In those days the "circular dance" beneath the merry moon- light seems to have been their principal pastime in the "Laiidj of Braj." Meantime, continued attacks by Hans, the Enemy, continue: Krishna's steed Nand is seized by Varuna, but is rescued by Krishna, who further slays tiiree demons in form respectively of a bull, a horse, and a wolf, sent against him by Hans ; also the elephant Kubalaya^ two gigantic wrestlers^ and finally Hans himself. Such exploits, amongst n any others, go to prove: — as ex- plained in the Prem-Sagur — that Krishna was born for the express purpose of saving Math'ra from the tyranny of Raja Hans or Cansa as aforesaid. Balarama then slays the demon Pralamb, and wages war with " Dubid the Monkey," whom he slays by pronouncing the mystic word "Hun," and releases twenty thousand captive kings, amongst them King Vrij "tlie lizard of the dry well." He farther slays the Titanic J£ab, son of LAb, with- one of the swords called "dhop," with which his army is armed. * This fantastic myth of Goverdhun seems a prototype of tlie "raised hilla" so (^fteu met with iu Scandinavian fairy mythology. AND THE SIEfiK OF MATH'rA. 1'19 Generally botb the brethren (like the classic Castor and Pollux) enact the part of Rescuers and Preservers from evil. But apart from, and underlying, these fantastic myths, we seem to approach a quasi-historic element in the history of Krishna, and we arrive at the period when the warlike brethren take part in the war of the Kuraus and Pandaus, which forms the subject matter of the foregoing sections of this little work. It appears that Kunti, the mother of the three elder Pan- daus, was Krishna's paternal aunt. He determines to assist their cause, and sends the virtuous Akrour as his ambassador to Hustinapoora to ascertain the state of things. Akrour re- turns and reports tiie exile of the Pandaus, whereupon Krishna allies himself especially to Arjuna, and with his son Prad- yumna, accompanies him to the wars, which cuhuinate in the great battle of Kurau-Khet, as already related. It seems doubtful whether the war of which the Siege of Math'ra was the climax — about to be related — was prior or subsequent to tlie great war of the Mahab&rat. On the whole, I am inclined to consider it as subsequent to that great event, for we find the lirethren, Krishna and BalaraiDa, resorting to Yudishtir's great sacrifice after his restoration to the throne, at which Sisupal is dissatisfied, and inveighs against Krishna, whereupon his head is cut off by the quoit " Sudarsan," but a mystic light emanates from his body. It appears that this arch-enemy, in previous stages of existence, had been first Hiranya-Kashipu, second Eawun, third Sisupal. The Titan My then builds a palace for King Yudishtir. Further, the warlike brethren visit the field of Kuru-Kshetra to view an eclipse, and there, at the request of their mother recover from Hades their six elder brethren slain by " Hans." These events naturally lead up to the great event, The Siege of Math'ba. /^^''HIS great quasi-liistorical event which caused the re- \J L moval of Krishna and his tribe of Jadous to the western seaboard is alluded to in the chronicles of the Mahabarat, the Harivansa, and the Prem-Sdgur. 180 KRISHNA In its hare outlines it may probably rest on a basis of historic fact ; though of course embellished by mythic exag- gerations : the following are the primary circumstances as related by some of the chronicles. Krishna, having overcome his arch-enemy Raja Hans or Cansa, places his Ally and friend "Oagrasein" on the throne of Math'ra, and calls a grand council of war. Vasondeva ; Satyaca, Daronca ; Bhodia ; Vetar^ca ; Vicondara ; Prince Bhayesaka ; rich Viprithon ; Babhron, the treasurer ; Satya Varmon ; brave Bhowritedjas, Kiifg of Math'ra (son of Oiigraseiii) — rail children of the Jadous — band themselves together and repulse no less than 17 attacks or invasions by Kaja Djarasandha, King of Magadha. It appears that Swapti and Prapti, daughters of Djarasandha had been the wives of " Hans" or Cansa, the deposed King of Math'ra ; Djarasandha accordingly marches to avenge Cansa against Ougrasein whose cause is supported by Krishna, aided further by 30 Kings, whose names are given ; amongst them tl)e R^as of Karouncha, Daulavaktra; Tchedi; Kalinga; Budri (bravest of the brave); Samereli ; Kesica ; King Bhichmaka and his valiant son Roukmin (rival of Aijuna in battle) ; and others. Although repulsed 17 times, Djarasandha (or Lucifer him- self according to some accounts; instigates certain Mleclichas* (barbarians) to attack Krishna, who retreats across the mount- ains towards Dwar'ha on the Sea. Djarasandha then advances with 23 armies-^each army consisting of 21,870 chariots and as many war elephants, 109,380 foot and 66,000 horse^ such it appears being the prescribed number of the Akshanhini or corps d'armee of ancient India. The Prem-S^ur adds that 30 millions of " very unclean and frightful barbarians, whose arms and necks are thick, teeth large, aspect filthy, eyes red," &c., &e., under * These Mlechcbas or barbarians are often alluded to in Sanscrit chronicl^j filid were apparently Scytliians, or Hedl&ns from Central Asia. Iiid.a was mote than rtfiee overnm by hordes of them, espeeially on thfc overthrow of the Median Em- pire, B.C. AND THE SIEGE OP MATh'rA. 151 Djarasind, Arbr'e Krishna into the mountains, and at length capture Math'ra." There is probably a basis of historical truth in this ex- aggerated fable, as doubtless the seat of the Jadou's power was removed from Math'ra to the seaboard under overwhelming pressure, and it is stated that on the side of Krishna and Ougrasein only Djanadliana and his Vrichuies at last remained. * « « « * # Behold therefore great Krishna at length retreating : Tiie Brahmans recite the daily prayer, the Sdvitri in his behalf. In his perplexity Krishna implores the Gods has ancestors. BalaramA's evening prayer is also given corresponding witli the (quotidien) evening prayer of Krishna, Baladeva, and other great ones — " That I may be preserved by Brahma and "the Gods ; by the 5 elements ; by the 11 Rudras ; the 12 " Adityas ; the 8 Vasoua ; and the 12 great Aswinis — By Hri, *' Sri, Lakslimi, &c. — Tliat I be preserved in the 4 Seas, in " the Ganges, BSrasvati, &c.— By the 3 Fires ; the 3 Veds ; " the roclc Costoubha ; the horse Out d tchehsravas ; the " Amrit ; the Cow ; the wise Virgins ; the blue Chattah, &c. »»**#♦ During the retreat across the mountains our friend Krishna is found at his old tricks : he marries the beautiful Bukmini, whom he carries off on her marriage-day from a temple. She was the daughter of Bhishmak, King of Kandalpur. She be- came his principal wife — the others being Jamavati (ever jealous of Eukniini), Satyabhana, Kalnidi, Mitribindi (his cousin), Satya (for whom 7 bulls wefo slain !) ; Bhadra ; Laksmani ; each wife had 1 daughter and 1 sons ; but according to the Prem-Sagur Krishna had other 16,108 wives ! ! On the other hand BalarAma is constant to one! wife— the virtuous Rewati,r^whom he married at Krishna's request. Arrived at Dwarka or Dwaravali, Krishna was welcomed by the Bhojas, Vrichnies, and Andacas, and "dwelt in Majesty," and his entry is described in glowing language. He would seem to have soon renewed the war : the Hirivansa relates 152 KRISHNA AND THE 8IEOE OP MATh'kA. that after the great " Sacrifice of Kashyapa " he declares war against the Danavas and giant Daityas ; Arjuna the Pandan, and'Krishna's son Pradyamna accompany tlie Hero to the war. They conquer Vadjranabha, but the " Swans " persuade his darUghterPoobhavati to marry Pardyumna and peace is made. The loves and marriage of the young couple with their court- ship "by moonlight" is dwelt upon, and forms a romantic episode — -but war is soon after resumed, and terrible deeds are enacted. At its conclusion the " General " Anadhrichti reproaches Krishna with the deaths of Asoloman, Pouloman, Nisounda; also of Naraka, Sobha, Sahoa^ Menda, Dwirida(a Monkey,)* and great Hayagriva killed in the war. Krishna " blowing with the power of an elephant " replies " General ! It's false ! " He then becomes furious ; attacks DjwSra (who ever he may be) and fights Siva himself, and his son Kartikaya (the war god) into the bargain; but Durga, in form of Kotavi- the "naked woman," interposes her golden lance between the combatants and forbids the fight. Krishna e.xclaims : " Goddess, go back ! Go back ! stay not my arm." Then our old friend Krishna (who. however, scarcely appears in so amiable a light as when first introduced to the reader,) here appears to pass into final beatitude; and from Chapter •( 182 of the Harivansa we are presented with the Dream of Markandhya, containing an extraordinary cosmogony and my- thologicail genesis of .Hari or Narryan — of whom tiie earthly Krishna was considered the avatar — ending with the Wars of the Titans, the defeat of Madhou by the "Man Lion," and the final overthrow, of " Tripoma," the flying city of the Assurs. To enter on this would be a work in itself, and foreign to the snbject in hand) which only purports to be "Tales of the Pandaus" and their friends, of whom the earthly Krishna was chief. The poet adds — "0, Sonaca! I have now told thee of "the ancient virtues, and foretold tlie vices of tlie coming ages; "what more can 1 tell thee?" * Probably an aboriginal chief. f ^c fast ^m^ -'iW'T will have beefi gathered ffofn former sections of this Jl. work that the Pandaus, having overcome and all but exterminated their rivals the Kuraiis at the great battle of Kuru-Kshetraj had regained their ancestral throne. Under tiie sway of Yudishtira "the Just," who reigned at Hustinnpoora (or Ayodhya) with patriarchal mildness, the kingdom enjoyed peace and prosperity for more than thirty years, during which period Aryaoarta — the Holy Land in- habited by genuine Hindoos — may be held to have realized the visions of an oriental Arcadia, as depicted in the RamayanS, during tiie reign of the virtuoiis monarch Dasardtha, the father of Rama, the hero of the great epic. It may perhaps be interesting to introduce a few paraphrases of that noble poem, as typical of the civilization and social life of ancient India. On pleasant Sarju'a fertile side There lies a rich domain, With countless herds of cattle thronged, And gay with goldeli grain. There, huflt by Manil,* Prince of men, That saint by all revered, Ayodhya, famed through every land, Her stately towers iipfeared. Her vast extent, her structures high. With every beauty deckt, •Like Indra's city, showed the skUl Of godlike architfect. Or like a bright cresttion sprung Manu was the first prince of the Solar dynasty. 154 THE J-AST DAYS OF KHISHNA From limner's magie art, She seemed too beautiful for stone : So fair was every part. Twelve leagues the queenly city lay Down the broad river's side, And, guarded well with moat and walls, The foeman's power defied. Her ample streets were nobly planned. And streams of water flowed To keep the fragrant blossoms fresh. That strewed her royal road. There many a princely palace stood In line on level ground ; Here temple, and triumphal arc. And rampart banner-crowned. There gilded turrets rose on high Above the waving green Of mango-groves, and bloomy trees. Arid flowery knolls between. On battlement and gilded spire The pennon waved in state ; And warders, with the ready bow. Kept watch at every gate. She shone a very mine of gems. The throne of .Fortune's Queen :. So many-hued her gay parterres. So bright her fountains' sheen. Her pleasure-grounds were filled at eve With many a happy throng. And ever echoed with the sound Of merry feast and song. For meat and drink of noblest sort In plenty there were stored : And all enjoyed their share of wealth, Kor heaped the miser's hoard. At morn the blossom-scented air The clouds of incense stirred. And blended with the wreath's perfume The sweet fresh smell of curd. Streamed through her streets, in endless line. Slow wain and flying car : Horse, elephant, and merchant train, ANU THK I'ANljADg. l55 And envoys from afar. Her ample arsenals were filled With s"^^ro^d, and club, and mace : And wondrous engines, dealing death, Within her towers had place. Nor there unkjiown the peaceful arts That youthful souls entrance, Of player, minstrel, mime, a.nd bard, And girls that weave the dance. There rose to heaven the Veda-chant, Here blent the lyre and lute : There rang the stalwart archer's string, Here softly breathed the flute. The swiftest horses whirled her cars. Of noblest form and breed : Vanayu's mare that mocked the wind. And Vahli's fiery steed. There elephants, that once had roamed On Vindhya's mountains, vied Witti monsters from the bosky dells That shag Himaleh's side. The.best oE Brahmans, gathered there. The flame of worship fed ; And, versed in all the Vedas' lore. Their lives of virtue led. By penance, charity, and truth. They kept each sense controlled. And givijig freely of their store Rivalled the saints of old. Her dames were peerless for the charm Of figure, voice, and face : For lovely modesty and truth. And woman's gentle grace. Their husbands, loyal, wise, and kind. Were heroes in the field, And sternly battling with the foe, Could die, but never yield. The poorest man was richly blest With knowledge, wit, and health ; Each lived contented with his own. Nor envied other's Wealth. All scorned to lie : no miser there His buried silver stored : 156 THE LAST DAYS OF IvRiSHKA The braggart and the boast were shunned, The slanderous tongue abhorred. Each kept his high observances, And loved one faithful sj^ouse ; And troops of happy children crowned. With fruit, their holy vows.* It may be stated generally that two seats of ancient empire, ruled over by descendapts of Satyayrata tl)e seventh Manu — during whose life all liying creatures, except himself and his family, were destroyed. by a deluge — are recorded as having existed in upper India ; one at Ayodhya (Oude), ruled by a scion of the Solar race, and another at Pratishtana, ruled by the Jjmar race ; whilst another kingdom was afterwards established at Magadha (Behar) by a governor appointed by a prince of the lunar race. Besides these, moreover, in the south of India were three other ancient kingdoms — Pandya, Chola, and Chera. Madura was chief city of Pandya, and its king's name, Pandion, is mentioned by Pliny, Arrian, and Ptolemy. The name Pandion suggests that this kingdom may probably have been an offset of the Pandau (or lunar) empire of Upper India, of which the great Yudislitira was chief ; and for practical purposes we may perhaps assume YMishtifa to have ruled the Empire of India, or at least to have exercised sway as suzerain over most of the provinces or minor kingdoms composing it. In the story of "The Wander- ings of Yudishtir" it has been so assumed, and in it we have endeavoured to imagine a few of the progresses of the "Just King" towards various outlying portions of his empire ; these are, however, purely imaginary, as also are most of the ro- mantic legends attributed to him or his brethren in the "Tales of the Pandaus " already ventured on. No hint of such things is to be found in the chronicles of the Mahabarat or elsewhere. It is generally assumed that the Pandaus, after their victory, dwelt at Hnstinapoora in happiness and lionour. The last section of the great epic, however, brings us to a From the "Ramayana," by R. T. H. Griffiths, m.a., of Benares, AND THE PANDAU8. 157 time when, owing to the misfortunes which overtook Krisliiia and the great tribe of Jadons — the chief allies and supporters of the Pandaus — a political crisis in their affairs was brought about, and King Yudishtira was led to contemplate the abdi- cation of the throne, having previously endeavoured to reconcile conflicting interests by establishing for his successors — as kij)g and ministers respectively — representatives of the various possible claimants to power, associated also with a female re- gent or guardian of the kingdom in the interests of the young Prince Purrojit, grandson of Arjuna. From these fragments and hints the historical novelist might build a fabric of romance, and introduce much calculated to interest readers in the probable raarcli of affairs in the great Aryan Kingdom of the northwest during the period of the Pandaus' ascendancy ; dramatic scenei'y might be created ; and the characteristics of tlie great king himself — Yudishlira the "just one" — supported and advised by his four brethren, all remarkable for various forms of prowess — present suggestive pictures and interesting studies of Asiatic character ; their at- tributes, indeed, in some aspects would almost seem intended to represent the types of the abstract quality by which each was distinguished — Strength, Valour, Wisdom, Beauty. Such traits suggest also didactic teachings, religious developments, and high-flown moral sentiments. Such a view of the sub- ject must be left for'future research or fancy. In this place, dropping imaginary fable, we will at once proceed to the closing scenes of the great drama, as presented to us in the MahabarS;t ; wherein, amidst a maze of metaphysical obscuri- ties involving ceremonial and ethical teachings, the Pandaus approach the end of their career ; and whereby, indeed, some support is given to -the theory above suggested, in the extra- ordinary death of the five heroes in succession whilst ascending the mountain^ of Himodi — abode of snow — so often the arena of their wanderings and adventures in life, now the scene of the;ir transuiigi-ation oi' apotheosis from earth. 15« THE. LAST DAYS OK KRISHNA Without furtlier preface tiien we proceed to narrate the "Last Days of tlie Sons of Pand," as given in the concluding section of that portion of the Mahabarat translated into Persian by the Mahoniedan N^kheib Khan, in comparatively modern times. * « Krishna dwelt at Dwarka amidst his tribe of Jadous (perhaps Magi) with liis aged father Basdeo, and liis brother Bahirama. Santek and Kerretburma were his grandsons. Disputes, accu- sations of theft, and jealousies occurred amidst the kindred chiefs, and a general slaughter ensued. Balaramti, from distress of mind, then retires iiito the forest and there dies. Krishna goes in search of him, and witnesses his death; having already beheld the bodies of his sons Pardtfman, Samba, and Charde- pas, with others, slain in the tumult. Krishna, whilst in the forest, is himself wounded by a hunter in the heel of the foot by an arrow, whose head is found to be the mystic thunderbolt swallowed by the fish, and recovered on the salt sea shore by the hunter in his nets. Krishna is "translated !" and all the celostial spirits, the Ek'ven Rudras (weepers), Assurs, Deotas, and Seraphs, convey the soul of Krishna to paradise. » * * » * » Tlie news of these sad events is conveyed by Narok, the charioteer, to Yudishtir and the Pandaus at Hustinapoora, who are plunged into great grief at hearing of the desti-iicti<)n of the tribe of Jadou. Arjuna proceeds to Dwarka to advise and assist. He finds the city "like a widow sorrowing for her husband." The aged Basdeo, the father of Krishna dies ; Aijuna performs the funeral rites, and afterwards conducts the surviving family and wives to Hustinapoora. He, however, falls in with bands of robbers on the way, and his arm being weakened and arrows blunted with age and disuse, he incurs some loss, "his strength of arm to wield his bow having declined." Arjuna finds the bodies of the slain Jadous lying along the ANb THE I'ANDAUa. ] f)9 shore. He burns Pardanian, Santek, Kerretburna, and Ek- uror ; and, finally, incremates Krisbna and Bsllarama (or Bulbliuddur, as he is designated). He then advises and con- ducts a general emigration of tlie survivors of the tribe of Jadou to Hustinapoora. His adventures on the way are described. Many of Krishna's wives burn themselves (perform Suttie); others retire into tlio forests and become suniassies ; the rest go to Delhi. Arjuna visits Vyasa the Sage, whose advice he seeks, and then returns to Hustinapoora. On hearing of the final destruction of the race of Jadou, Yudishtir determines to abdicate the sovereignty: he sends for Hejis, the son of Ditrashtura and for Purrojit, the grand- son of Arjuna, and placed the diadem on the brow of the latter, appointing Hejis as his wuzzeer. Also he summoned Sephedra, the sister of Krishna and wife of Arjuna, and commended them both to her care. Then King Yudishtir and his hrethren re- paired to the Ganges and bathed, and announced to the people their determin«,tion again to go into exile. They set out on their journey followed by the people of the whole city, who, in tears, beseech them to remain; but, steadfast in their purpose, they pursue their journey. Many .of the wives destroy them- selves : Abouni, wife of Aijiina, walks into the Ganges and disappears. However, at length .the escort of people gradually drop behind and return to the city, and Yudishtir and his brethren are left to pursue their melancholy journey alone, or accompanied only by their faithful dog. Arjuna throws his bow and quiver of arrows^boing useless — into the lake Post, where also the "cliaka" of Krishna had already been deposited. In single file, at intervals between according to age, the Five Pandau Brethren pursued tlieir melancholy journey up the rugged slopes of Hinialeh, Yudishtir leading, then Bhima, Arjuna, Nakoola, and last of all gediva. As sorrowfully and painfully they wend their way towards the rugged upland, Sediva drops and dies. The brethren pause. "Alas! how should this noble youth succumb?" Yudishtir sighs, "Alas! he was 160 THE i,AST DAYS OF KUISHNA AND THE PANDAUS. vain iiid not perfect. Bretltren, let us proceed toward Kai^k." Next Nakoola falls, " How is tins, nh, just one ! The wise! Nakoola perislies! Alas!" quoth YiidTsbtii-, "he triisted itt knowledge! Proceed." Then great Arjnna sinks on earth, " His arrows were too keen and unsparing," said Yfldishtir. " Onwards ! " Next brave Bliima falls. '' Too much he trusted in his strength. Alas! my brother." Yudislitir, now alone left alive of the Pandans^ continues his solitary Way, aceonlpfliiied only by the faithful dog. At length great Yiidislitir himself perc'eites the approach of dissolution, and falls ; but Vishnu himself supports him, and promises paradise. The noble chief exclaims, — "Not so, oh Yama! except this faithful dog ac- company : he has followed his master to the last, and possesses the virtues of the best of men without their sins. Let him attain metempsychosis and Attain to paradise. My brethren have already attained the reward of their virtues ; this faitlr- ful creature alone remains unrewarded." Whereupon Vishnu explains that iit truth this generous aniiijal is no other than an embodiment of " Dharm "^eharity, virtue, justice — who had accompanied Yudishtfr in life, and now finds salvatiofl with him. So ends the life of great Yudishtfr on earth. • ***«* His adventures in Purgatory and Paradise are narrated in the Mahab&rat, and are quite Datitesqoe in character, btt ard of too metaphysical and faritastie a nature to merit detail. They are to be found in the concluding section of the Malifibarat, as translated into Persian by the Mahomedan Nekhaib Khan; but a^ many other mt'taphySical subtleties and rules of conduct &c. are involved in poi-tions of that grestt epic, 4nd seem in fact to be interpolations — some I should judge of comparatively modern times-—! prefer to end the Legend of the Pandaus, as is indeed suggested in the text, in the heroic style the occasion mei'its, and to say that amidst the gton'ficd aspects fif nature, great Yudishtir and his brethren, after a noble career, closed tlifeir })ilgriinage on earth in calm introsfwction of the Past, and in sublime aspirations for the Future. /^^^O such of my readers as have followed the erratic \P L fortunes of the Pandaus, a few final words concerning their friends and allies — mythic and earthly — may not be out of place. The doughty deeds of the champion Krishna have been given, but the sage "Markandhya," their chief adviser and historian, has been but briefly i-epresented, although he, with his pupil Vyasa, the "compiler," were the chief authors of the Mahabarat, the chronicle which narrates the Pandaus' deeds of arms, and tliey are in fact credited with inaugurating the mystic Brahminical Philosophy which ranks amongst the six or seven schools of Hindoo thought.* The Harivansa contains tlie account of the exploits of Hari on earth (or Krishna), epitomized in the last section of this little work, but tlie second part seems almost a resciipt of the cosmogony of the Maliabarat (Book LXIV.), and may be considered as embodying the same vedanta or theory of creation, in which the genesis of Narryana or Hari (of whom Krishna was considered an avatar; is especially pronounced. After a chapter or two of a mctaphjsical character, devoted .to the "manifestation of Pousiikara," tlie author of the Hari- vansa proceeds to tlie dream or " Vision of Markandhya." * The Schools of Philosophy, according to Hindoos, are — (1) The Atheistical Sanldiya, attributed to Kapiia ; Materialistic, the plastic principle. (2)- The Togas of Patanjali and the Bhagavad-Gita. (3) The Parva-Mimansa, attributed to Jaimini. (4> The Vedanta, attributed to the Vyasa (compiler) ; Krishna Dwaipayana-^ iihe mystic Brahminical school. (5) The Nyaya of Gautama^— the Logical Method. (6) The Vaisheshika of Kanadar-the Atomic System. Soiue authors divide No. 2 into two branches, viz. (1) Emancipation by asceti- cism ; (2) that of the Bhagavad-Gita, asceticism as applied to life — salvation by good works. N 162 THE VISION OF MARKANDHYA, From amidst the mythological subtleties which involve this strange myth, the following synopsis may be given as not without interest to the general reader. But first let us imagine the Sage as he sits beneath the stars at Lis caamah or cell in the forest of Eishyamukhi, where he has already been introduced to the reader (page 128). Near there had lovely Uma, daughter of Himalaya, Lady of the Mountain, dwelt and practised austerity. Enamoured of the gloomy Siva, the maiden dwelt apart to try whether by pious austerities she might win the object of her love, whose virtues she appreciates. Her friends expostulate, and en- deavour to dissuade her. The faithful Uma, in noble lan- guage, defends her love for Siva. She exclaims : — " "lis ever thus, the Mighty and the Just "Are scorned by souls that grovel in the dust; "Their lofty goodness and their motives wise "Shine all in vain before such blinded eyes ; " Say, who is greater, he who strives for power, " Or he who succours in misfortune's hour? V « # 4: 4: " She sent a maiden to her sire, and prayed " He for her sake might grant some bosky shade, " That she might dwell in solitude, and there " Give all her soul to penance and to prayer. ***** "Her gentleness had made the fawns so tame, "To her kind hand for fresh sweet grass they came ; "Then came the hermits of the holy wood " To see the Vot'ress in her solitude. "In hermit's mantle was she clad ; her look " Fix't in deep thought upon the holy book; ' ' So pure the grove, all war was made to cease, ' ' And savage monsters liv'd in joy and peace ; "Pure was the grove; each newly-built abode "And leafy shrines, where fires of worship glowed." * So fair Uma had fairly won the Gloomy Deity, and became his spouse — "Parbuttie" — the Lady of the Mountain. Their * From Kalidasa'a "Birth of the WBr God," AND THE WAR OP THE TITANS. 163 son was Kartikaya "or Skanda," the War God, who has figured in the preceeding "Tales of the Paiidaus." Many legends cluster around the sacred shores of the great lake of K(iru-Ksh<5tra, mentioned, as formerly existing, by Varaha-Mihira. Here, at eclipses, during the days of " Parva " — full moon and planetary conjunction — the waters of all other lakes are supposed to unite, hence the bather obtains the merit of the combined snan or sacred ablution. Great are its virtues. Here Indra slew the Kshatriyas ; his thunder bolts being of the horse's head of the mythic Dadhyanch supplied by the Aswinis.* To this mystic spot had repaired King Yudishtira and the Pandaus to do penance for Kshatriyas slain. Mournfully the heroic brethren stood and sang the ode to Vishnoo and gfreat Siva on the desolate shores. In the sacred grove of Eishyamukhi — that elephant of saints — Markandhya the Hermit, had taken his abode. After bathing in the sacred lake the Pandau brethren stood before him. " Bho ! Muni ! Give us clean breasts: the blood "of Kshatriyas rests on us. Let the head escape from sin! " Aum ! " Yudishtira, the Just, cast his conch or warhorn of victory — Ananta-Vijay — before the sage. Bhima, the War-Chief, let fall the warhorn Pounda, at the feet of Markandhya. Arjunaj the Valiant — "Lord of the Sounding Bow''— cast on earth the Panchajanya trumpet that so oft had scared the foe. Nakoola, the Wise, cast down the conch "Soogasha;" and Sediva, the Handsome one, his horn " Mdni-poosh-paka." Deep in thought the Hermit stood. At length he said: "O Chiefs! turn to the east, and recite the hymn to great "Bhowani; but look not round ! " The Pandaus, with uplifted arms, invoked the silent Deity, and chaunted the sacred hymn to "the Avenger." * (1) The Kimmeras, musicians o£ Kuvei-a, God oi Wealth, are represented with horses' heads. (2) Indi-a's park, caUed Nandara. 164 THE VISION OP MAKKANDHYA, " Few turn," exclaimed the hermit. They did so. Lo ! the warhorns had vanislied from earth ^' Oh, children of Manu," continued the Sage, "the sacri- "fice is accepted. Go in peace." VySsa, the " compiler," saw the sacrifice, and wrote it on a pepul leaf. This was in the years when great Yudishtir dwelt at Hustin- apura, and ruled the kingdom of his ancestors, whilst Purrek- chit, his grandson, was minister, and rich Vipron, treasurer of state. He it was of whom the weird and wise Hanaman had said, "Public officers are like obstinate tumours; until they "are squeezed, they disgorge not the inner substance of the " king ! " so saying, he had laughed and vanished into the leafy shades ; but King Yudishtir only smiled, and bestowed a jewel on old Vipron. So the Pandaus had departed to Hustinapoora, and Mark- andhya, the sage, continued to dwell alone in the Eishyamukhi wood. There it was he pondered the wise words of the Maha- barat, which the Compiler Vyasa wrote on leaves of the sacred pepul. There it was the hermit wrested omens from the stars, and talked with seraphs, and saw visions of the past and future. One night the sage sat beneath the canopy of heaven and deeply pondered on the origin of things. As the stars came out and glimmered through the leafy canopy of his sylvan home, in the month of Aswin, at the time of "Parva," in the planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Mars — when the moon was at the full — Markandhya saw the vision of tlie origin of earth and heaven — the genesis of Sank Narryana. He sang it to the winds of heaven, and Vyasa, his pupil, wrote it in a book, and related it to Djanamedjaya and to Parikcliet, his , father, years after the five great Pandau kings had souglvt Kailas. Markandhya chaunted aloud a hymn to Narryana from the Rig Veda, and soon he saw a vision.* * Bee "Hymn to Narryana," page 168, f aijt|ana, xrr fnhtmsHtt (^uit of il^^ §ahim From a Xative Picture AND THE WAK OF THE TITANS. 165 Floating as a babe on the prioiEeval ocean of chaos, Narry- ana was addressed by Markandhya : — " Who art Thou, Lord ?" « I am Narryana, son of the golden lotus ! " From the bosom of darkness (tamas) a great Assur of darkness named "Madhou" arises, and another named "Kit- abha,"— "born from the bosom of passion (radjas)." They are destroyed by Brahm, and Manasa, Brahma, Bhowrah, and Iswara are created. Then ensnes the contest of Narryana or Vishnoo the " Preserver "—with " Madhou," his eyes yellow as honey.* Madhou falls into lake Poushkara; "its hills with their metallic veins resemble clouds lit up by lightning." The "churning of the ocean" is then described. The for- mation of the " egg of the world," and the avatar of the Boar, who roots up the dry land of the earth with his tusks. Indra is raised to the throne of Jieaven. "Atthe time when the mountains had wings" — during the War of the Titans — arise the great Giants (Assurs) "Hir- anya-Kasipu, Hiranya-Garbha, and Hiranya-Yaksha. They are slain by Narryana in form of the "boar," or by the " Man Lion," in which form he especially overcomes Hiranya-Kasipu, king of giants. The War of the Giants, who are at first triumphant, is particularly described in Chap. 226 et seq. of the Harivansa. " Indra and his marouts draw off in retreat." Universal terror prevails. "The howls of Crodhavasas, ''Kalakeyas, Angapontras, Bahonsalins, Vegas, Vegalayas, " Senhikeyas, Samhradejas (of loud voices), the Vidwechas ; "of Capila, "Son of the earth," resound on all sides; the shrieks of Vyaghrakchas, "Birds, Infants of the Night;" Inhabitants of Hell, are heard; and "the Rudras — "whose eyes are like the suns " — groan aloud." ■ A play on the word Madhou — honey. 1 66 THE VISION OF MARKANDHYA, At length Hiranya-Kasipu, "armed with thunder and a trident," is slain by the Man-Lion. Praise of the Man-Lion (Chap. 233). During the War of the Titans the following champions are "told off" to fight in pairs: — Savitha v the Rakshas Bana, Bala v. Dhronva, Poliloman v. Vayon, Namoutchi v. Dhara, Hayagriva v. Pouchan, Sambava v. Bhaga, Sarabha and Sallablia v. Soma, Bela — brother of Krita ("of the honey yellow eyes") v. Mrigrayadha; whilst the "horrible Rehon" (of one hundred heads and one hundred stomachs)," is confronted by Adjecapad. Such were a few of the champions enumerated as engaged in the great final battle between the Devs and Assurs, in which the latter appear to have been victors. It may be added that many of these names have meanings in the original more or less grotesque. The Chief of the Assurs — " Kondjambha — flaunts on the field of battle like a storm at the ending of the ages." Indra, with his Marouts, draws ofE the field in retreat ; and BiU — the King of the Giants — surrounded by his army, "was com- "plimented by his friends, and shows to all eyes with the " majesty of Hiranya-Kashipu." The reign of the Assurs is established, and the Giant Bali reigns as king in their flying city, "Tripoma." But now, at last, the Gods appeal to Brahma, to whom they address prayer by voice of Kasyapa ; they also address Vish- noo, the " Preserver," who intervenes in favor of Indra and the host of heaven. Soon the eternal Brahma appears with the Saints Poulastya, Poulaha, Mantchi, Brighon, &c., chaunt- ing the Vedas, "especially the Tiymns of the Rig Veda and Sama." The clouds disperse ; all nature recovers ; and Bali (Chap. 257 — 261) is relegated to hell ; and the great war of the Gods and Titans ends with the destruction of " Tripo'ma," the flying city of the Assurs ; whilst Indra and the deities of the inferior Hindoo Pantheon at length reign supreme in heaven. AND THE WAR OF THE TITANS. 167 Such, in brief, is the "argument" of this strange cosmog- ony and mythic genesis of creation, as enunciated by Mark- andhya and his pupil Vvasa; and which, as before explained (page 161), in itself forms a school of Brahminical mystic philosophy. It is difficult to reconcile the pure and beautiful monotheistic hymns of the eavly Vedas with this strange legend ; one such hymn has been put into the mouth of Mar- kandhya, and appears at the end of this section, but it forms only the original poetic thesis of Hindoo cosmogony, and was probably written ages before the era of Markandhya and the Mahab arat. We have now examined, however imperfectly, a few of the legends which cluster round the life of the errant Pandaus on earth, or illustrate their apotheosis. The dust of ages which covers these time-worn chronicles has somewhat sheltered them from the view of the " Wandering Cimmerian,'' and dimmed his vision and guage of their mythic value ; nevertheless, having ended his labours in the " Cave," he now ventures to offer his "Tales of the Pandaus'' to the indulgence of a romance -loving public. -^5ttwtn fa Baragana*^ " -rfl*' P I EI T of spirit, who, thro' every part "^K^ Of space expanded and of endless time, '^'"^ Beyond (lie stretch of lab'ring thought sublime, Bad'st uproar into beauteous order start, 'i Before Heaven was. Thou art! * ^ * * * " Wrapt in eternal solitary shade, " Th' impenetrable, gloom of light intense, "Impervious, inaccessible, immense, "Ere spirits were infused or forms displayed, " Brahm his own mind surveyed. * 4: 4: * « " Leap'd into being a shape suprem,ely fair ! " Primceval Maya was the Goddess named. "First an all-potent, all-pervading sound, " Badeflov) the waters — and tlte waters flowed, "Excelling in their meamreless abode — "Diffusive, multUuxJinous, profound, "Above, beneath, around; " Then o'er the vast expanse primordial wind " Breathed gently, till a lucid bubble rose, " Wltich grew in perfect shape an egg refmed, " Till from its bursting shell, with lowly state, "A Form cerulian flmitered o'er the deep — "Brightest of beings, greatest of the great, "But heavenly-pensive on the Lotus lay, " That blossomed at his touch and sJied a golden ray. " Hail, primal blossom ! hail, ewpyreaifgem ! " Kamul or Padna, or whate'er high name "Forth from thy verdant stem "Full gifted Brahma, rapt in solemn thought "He stood, and round his eyes far-darting threw; "But whilst his viewless origin he sought, * Galled also "Venamali, Pertamber, Fadmanabha, &c. HYMNS TO KARA YAK A AND MAYA. 169 "One plain he saw of limng waters blue, " T/teir spring, nor saw nor knew. " Then in his parent stalk again retired " With restless pain for ages; he enquired " Wliat were his powers, by whom and why conferred : " With doubts perplexed, with keen impatience fired " He rose, and rising, heard " Th' unknown all-hnowvng word, "Brahma! no more in vain research persist; " My veil thou can'st not move. Go, bid all worlds exist. " Hail, self-existent in celestial speech, " 'Narayana,' from thy wat'ry cradle named !" * * % '^^tati Jo ia^a, ivtm i\t :|ig T^a. "Omniscient Spirit, whose all-ruling power, "Bids from each sense bright em,a/nations beam, "Glows in the rainbow, sparkles in the stream, "Smiles «» the bud, and glistens in the flower " That crovms each vernal bower; "Sighs in the gale a/nd warbles in the throat "Ofemry bird that hails the blooming spring, "Or tells his tale in mamy a liquid note; « « V « "Breathes in rich fragrance from the sandal grove. * * # V "In air, in floods, in caverns, woods, and plains; " Thy will inspirits all, thy sov'reign Maya reigns. "Blue crystal vault and elemental fires " That in the ethereal fiuid blaze am,d breathe ' ' Thou, tossing main, whose snaky branches wreathe " This pensile orb with intertwisted gyres "Mowntains whose radiant spires "Presumptuous rear tJieir summit to the skies, "And blend their em'rald hue with sapphire light, "Smooth meads and lavms that glow viith various dyes ' ' Of dew-bespangled leaves and blossoms bright, "Hence! vanish from my sight; "Delusive pictures! unsubstantial sliows! "My soul absorbed One only Being knows, 170 HYMN TO MAYA. " Of all perceptions one abundant source, " Whence ev'ry olyect ev'ry moment flows. "Suns hence derive their force, " Jlence planets learn their course, "But suns ami fading worlds I view no more; "God only I perceive; God only I adore!" Nqts— These Hymns are from the Rig Veda, Vol. XIII. of Sir W. Jones' Works. u Printed by Brannon and Son, Newport, Isle of Wight.