The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 75

ablutions, approached the idol of _Náráyaṇa_, took a cup of clarified
butter, as the religious law prescribes, made a libation of it into the
kindled fire, and drank the remainder while wishing what was agreeable to
his heart. Then, with his mind fixed on the divinity he lay, silent and
composed, together with _Sítá_, on a bed of Kuśa-grass, which was spread
before the altar of Vishṇu, until the last watch of the night, when he
awoke and ordered the palace to be prepared for the solemnity. At
day-break reminded of the time by the voices of the bards, he performed
the usual morning devotion and praised the divinity. In the meantime the
town Ayodhyá had assumed a festive appearance and the inauguration
implements had been arranged … golden water-jars, an ornamented
throne-seat, a chariot covered with a splendid tiger-skin, water taken
from the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna, as well as from other sacred
rivers, tanks, wells, lakes, and from all oceans, honey, curd, clarified
butter, fried grain, Kuśa-grass, flowers, milk; besides, eight beautiful
damsels, and a splendid furious elephant, golden and silver jars, filled
with water, covered with _Udumbara_ branches and various lotus flowers,
besides a white jewelled _chourie_, a white splendid parasol, a white
bull, a white horse, all manner of musical instruments and bards.… In the
preceding chapter … there are mentioned _two_ white _chouries_ instead of
one, and all kinds of seeds, perfumes and jewels, a scimitar, a bow, a
litter, a golden vase, and a blazing fire, and amongst the living
implements of the pageant, instead of the bards, gaudy courtesans, and
besides the eight damsels, professors of divinity, Bráhmaṇas, cows and
pure kinds of wild beasts and birds, the chiefs of town and country-people
and the citizens with their train.”


Page 109.

_Then with the royal chaplains they_
_Took each his place in long array._
_The twice born chiefs, with zealous heed,_
_Made ready what the rite would need._
“Now about the office of a Purohita (house priest). The gods do not eat
the food offered by a king, who has no house-priest (Purohita). Thence the
king even when (not) intending to bring a sacrifice, should appoint a
Bráhman to the office of house-priest.” HAUG’S _Autareya Bráhmanam. Vol.
II. p. 528_.


Page 110.

_There by the gate the Sáras screamed._
The Sáras or Indian Crane is a magnificent bird easily domesticated and
speedily constituting himself the watchman of his master’s house and
garden. Unfortunately he soon becomes a troublesome and even dangerous
dependent, attacking strangers with his long bill and powerful wings, and
warring especially upon “small infantry” with unrelenting ferocity.


Page 120.

_My mothers or my sire the king._
All the wives of the king his father are regarded and spoken of by Ráma as
his mothers.


Page 125.

_Such blessings as the Gods o’erjoyed_
_Poured forth when Vritra was destroyed._
“Mythology regards Vritra as a demon or Asur, the implacable enemy of
Indra, but this is not the primitive idea contained in the name of Vritra.
In the hymns of the Veda Vritra appears to be the thick dark cloud which
Indra the God of the firmament attacks and disperses with his
thunderbolt.” GORRESIO.
“In that class of Rig-veda hymns which there is reason to look upon as the
oldest portion of Vedic poetry, the character of Indra is that of a mighty
ruler of the firmament, and his principal feat is that of conquering the
demon _Vritra_, a symbolical personification of the cloud which obstructs
the clearness of the sky, and withholds the fructifying rain from the
earth. In his battles with Vritra he is therefore described as ‘opening
the receptacles of the waters,’ as ‘cleaving the cloud’ with his
‘far-whirling thunderbolt,’ as ‘casting the waters down to earth,’ and
‘restoring the sun to the sky.’ He is in consequence ‘the upholder of
heaven, earth, and firmament,’ and the god ‘who has engendered the sun and
the dawn.’ ” CHAMBERS’S CYCLOPÆDIA, _Indra_.
“Throughout these hymns two images stand out before us with overpowering
distinctness. On one side is the bright god of the heaven, as beneficent
as he is irresistible: on the other the demon of night and of darkness, as
false and treachorous as he is malignant.… The latter (as his name Vritra,
from var, to veil, indicates) is pre-eminently the thief who hides away
the rain-clouds.… But the myth is yet in too early a state to allow of the
definite designations which are brought before us in the conflicts of Zeus
with Typhôn and his monstrous progeny, of Apollôn with the Pythôn, of
Bellerophôn with Chimaira of Oidipous with the Sphinx, of Hercules with
Cacus, of Sigurd with the dragon Fafnir; and thus not only is Vritra known
by many names, but he is opposed sometimes by Indra, sometimes by Agni the
fire-god, sometimes by Trita, Brihaspati, or other deities; or rather
these are all names of one and the same god.” COX’S _Mythology of the
Aryan Nations. Vol. II. p. 326_.


Page 125.

_And that prized herb whose sovereign power_
_Preserves from dark misfortune’s hour._
“And yet more medicinal is it than that Moly,
That Hermes once to wise Ulysses gave;
He called it Hæmony, and gave it me,
And bade me keep it as of sovereign use
’Gainst all enchantment, mildew, blast, or damp,
Or ghastly furies’ apparition.” _Comus._
The _Moly_ of Homer, which Dierbach considers to have been the _Mandrake_,
is probably a corruption of the Sanskrit _Múla_ a root.


Page 136.

_True is the ancient saw: the Neem_
_Can ne’er distil a honeyed stream._
The Neem tree, especially in the Rains, emits a strong unpleasant smell
like that of onions. Its leaves however make an excellent cooling
poultice, and the Extract of Neem is an admirable remedy for cutaneous
disorders.


Page 152.

_Who of Nisháda lineage came._
The following account of the origin of the Nishádas is taken from Wilson’s
_Vishṇu Puráṇa_, Book I. Chap. 15. “Afterwards the Munis beheld a great
dust arise, and they said to the people who were nigh: ‘What is this?’ And
the people answered and said: ‘Now that the kingdom is without a king, the
dishonest men have begun to seize the property of their neighbours. The
great dust that you behold, excellent Munis, is raised by troops of
clustering robbers, hastening to fall upon their prey.’ The sages, hearing
this, consulted, and together rubbed the thigh of the king (Vena), who had
left no offspring, to produce a son. From the thigh, thus rubbed, came
forth a being of the complexion of a charred stake, with flattened
features like a negro, and of dwarfish stature. ‘What am I to do,’ cried
he eagerly to the Munis. ‘Sit down (nishída),’ said they. And thence his
name was Nisháda. His descendants, the inhabitants of the Vindhyá
mountain, great Muni, are still called Nishádas and are characterized by
the exterior tokens of depravity.” Professor Wilson adds, in his note on
the passage: “The Matsya says that there were born outcast or barbarous
races, Mlechchhas, as black as collyrium. The Bhágavata describes an
individual of dwarfish stature, with short arms and legs, of a complexion
as black as a crow, with projecting chin, broad flat nose, red eyes, and
tawny hair, whose descendants were mountaineers and foresters. The Padma
(Bhúmi Khaṇḍa) has a similar deccription; adding to the dwarfish stature
and black complexion, a wide mouth, large ears, and a protuberant belly.
It also particularizes his posterity as Nishádas, Kirátas, Bhillas, and
other barbarians and Mlechchhas, living in woods and on mountains. These
passages intend, and do not much exaggerate, the uncouth appearance of the
Gonds, Koles, Bhils, and other uncivilized tribes, scattered along the
forests and mountains of Central India from Behar to Khandesh, and who
are, not improbably, the predecessors of the present occupants of the
cultivated portions of the country. They are always very black,
ill-shapen, and dwarfish, and have countenances of a very African
character.”
Manu gives a different origin of the Nishádas as the offspring of a
Bráhman father and a Súdra mother. See Muir’s _Sanskrit Texts_, Vol. I. p.
481.


Page 157.

_Beneath a fig-tree’s mighty shade,_
_With countless pendent shoots displayed._
“So counselled he, and both together went
Into the thickest wood; there soon they chose
The fig-tree: not that kind for fruit renowned,
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Deccan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother tree, a pillared shade
High overarched, and echoing walks between.”
_Paradise Lost_, Book IX.


Page 161.

_Now, Lakshmaṇ, as our cot is made,_
_Must sacrifice be duly paid._
The rites performed in India on the completion of a house are represented
in modern Europe by the familiar “house-warming.”


Page 169.

_I longed with all my lawless will_
_Some elephant by night to kill._
One of the regal or military caste was forbidden to kill an elephant
except in battle.
_Thy hand has made no Bráhman bleed._
“The punishment which the Code of Manu awards to the slayer of a Brahman
was to be branded in the forehead with the mark of a headless corpse, and
entirely banished from society; this being apparently commutable for a
fine. The poem is therefore in accordance with the Code regarding the
peculiar guilt of killing Brahmans; but in allowing a hermit who was not a
_Divija_ (twice-born) to go to heaven, the poem is far in advance of the
Code. The youth in the poem is allowed to read the Veda, and to accumulate
merit by his own as well as his father’s pious acts; whereas the exclusive
Code reserves all such privileges to _Divijas_ invested with the sacred
cord.” Mrs. SPEIR’S _Life in Ancient India_, p. 107.


Page 174. The Praise Of Kings

“Compare this magnificent eulogium of kings and kingly government with
what Samuel says of the king and his authority: And Samuel told all the
words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over
you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his
chariots, and to be his horsemen: and some shall run before his chariots.
And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over
fifties, and will set them to work his ground, and to reap his harvest,
and to make his instrument of war, and instruments of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks,
and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards and your oliveyards, even
the best of them, and give them to his servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give
to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your men-servants, and your maid-servants, and your
goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have
chosen you. I. _Samuel_, VIII.
In India kingly government was ancient and consecrated by tradition:
whence to change it seemed disorderly and revolutionary: in Judæa
theocracy was ancient and consecrated by tradition, and therefore the
innovation which would substitute a king was represented as full of
dangers.” GORRESIO.


Page 176. Sálmalí.

According to the Bengal recension Śálmalí appears to have been another
name of the Vipáśá. Śálmalí may be an epithet signifying rich in Bombax
heptaphyllon. The commentator makes another river out of the word.


Page 178. Bharat’s Return.

“Two routes from Ayodhyá to Rájagriha or Girivraja are described. That
taken by the envoys appears to have been the shorter one, and we are not
told why Bharat returned by a different road. The capital of the Kekayas
lay to the west of the Vipáśá. Between it and the Śatadru stretched the
country of the Báhíkas. Upon the remaining portion of the road the two
recensions differ. According to that of Bengal there follow towards the
east the river Indamatí, then the town Ajakála belonging to the Bodhi,
then Bhulingá, then the river Śaradaṇḍá. According to the other instead of
the first river comes the Ikshumatí … instead of the first town Abhikála,
instead of the second Kulingá, then the second river. According to the
direction of the route both the above-mentioned rivers must be tributaries
of the Śatadrú.… The road then crossed the Yamuná (Jumna), led beyond that
river through the country of the Panchálas, and reached the Ganges at
Hástinapura, where the ferry was. Thence it led over the Rámagangá and its
eastern tributaries, then over the Gomati, and then in a southern
direction along the Málini, beyond which it reached Ayodhyá. In Bharat’s
journey the following rivers are passed from west to east: _Kutikoshṭiká_,
_Uttániká_, _Kuṭiká_, _Kapívatí_, _Gomatí_ according to Schlegel, and
_Hiraṇyavatí_, _Uttáriká_, _Kuṭilá_, _Kapívatí_, _Gomatí_ according to
Gorresio. As these rivers are to be looked for on the east of the Ganges,
the first must be the modern _Koh_, a small affluent of the Rámagangá,
over which the highway cannot have gone as it bends too far to the north.
The Uttániká or Uttáriká must be the Rámagangá, the Kuṭiká or Kuṭilá its
eastern tributary, Kośilá, the Kapívatí the next tributary which on the
maps has different names, _Gurra_ or above Kailas, lower down _Bhaigu_.
The Gomatí (Goomtee) retains its old name. The Máliní, mentioned only in
the envoys’ journey, must have been the western tributary of the Sarayú
now called Chuká.” LASSEN’S _Indische Alterthumskunde_, Vol. II. P. 524.


Page 183.

_What worlds await thee, Queen, for this?_
“Indian belief divided the universe into several worlds (_lokáh_). The
three principal worlds were heaven, earth, and hell. But according to
another division there were seven: Bhúrloka or the earth, Bhuvarloka or
the space between the earth and the sun, the seat of the Munis, Siddhas,
&c., Svarloka or the heaven of Indra between the sun and the polar star,
and the seventh Brahmaloka or the world of Brahma. Spirits which reached
the last were exempt from being born again.” GORRESIO.


Page 203.

_When from a million herbs a blaze_
_Of their own luminous glory plays._
This mention of lambent flames emitted by herbs at night may be compared
with Lucan’s description of a similar phenomenon in the Druidical forest
near Marseilles, (_Pharsalia_, III. 420.).
_Non ardentis_ fulgere incendia silvae.
Seneca, speaking of Argolis, (Thyestes, Act IV), says:—
Tota solet
Micare flamma silva, et excelsae trabes
_Ardent sine igni_.
Thus also the bush at Horeb (Exod. II.) flamed, but was not consumed.
The Indian explanation of the phenomenon is, that the sun before he sets
deposits his rays for the night with the deciduous plants. See _Journal of
R. As. S. Bengal_, Vol. II. p. 339.


Page 219.

_We rank the Buddhist with the thief._
Schlegel says in his Preface: “Lubrico vestigio insistit V. Cl.
_Heerenius, prof. Gottingensis_, in libro suo de commerciis veterum
populorum (OPP. Vol. HIST. XII, pag. 129,) dum putat, ex mentione
sectatorum Buddhae secundo libro Rameidos iniecta de tempore, quo totum
carmen sit conditum, quicquam legitime concludi posse.… Sunt versus
spurii, reiecti a Bengalis in sola commentatorum recensione leguntur.
Buddhas quidem mille fere annis ante Christum natun vixit: sed post multa
demumsecula, odiointernecivo inter Brachmanos et Buddhae sectatores orto,
his denique ex India pulsis, fingi potuit iniquissima criminatio, eos
animi immortalitatem poenasque et praemia in vita futura negare. Praeterea
metrum, quo concinnati sunt hi versus, de quo metro mox disseram,
recentiorem aetatem arguit.… Poenitet me nunc mei consilii, quod non
statim ab initio, … eiecerim cuncta disticha diversis a sloco vulgari
metris composita. Metra sunt duo: pariter ambo constant quatuor
hemistichiis inter se aequalibus, alterum undenarum syllabarum, alterum
duodenarum, hunc in modum:
[-)] [-] [)] [-] | [-] [)] [)] [-] | [)] [-] [-)]
[)] [-] [)] [-] | [-] [)] [)] [-] | [)] [-] [)] [-)]
Cuius generis versus in primo et secundo Rameidos libro nusquam nisi ad
finem capitum apposita inveniuntur, et huic loco unice sunt accommodata,
quasi peroratio, lyricis numeris assurgens, quo magis canorae cadant
clausulae: sicut musici in concentibus extremis omnium vocum
instrumentorumque ictu fortiore aures percellere amant. Igitur disticha
illa non ante divisionem per capita illatam addi potuerunt: hanc autem
grammaticis deberi argumento est ipse recensionum dissensus, manifesto
inde ortus, quod singuli editores in ea constituenda suo quisque iudicio
usi sunt; praeterquam quod non credibile est, poetam artis suae peritum
narrationem continuam in membra tam minuta dissecuisse. Porro discolor est
dictio: magniloquentia affectatur, sed nimis turgida illa atque effusa,
nec sententiarum pondere satis suffulta. Denique nihil fere novi affertur:
ampli ficantur prius dicta, rarius aliquid ex capite sequente anticipatur.
Si quis appendices hosce legendo transiliat, sentiet slocum ultimum cum
primo capitis proximi apte coagmentatum, nec sine vi quadam inde avulsum.
Eiusmodi versus exhibet utraque recensio, sed modo haec modo illa plures
paucioresve numero, et lectio interdum magnopere variat.”
“The narrative of Ráma’s exile in the jungle is one of the most obscure
portions of the Rámáyana, inasmuch as it is difficult to discover any
trace of the original tradition, or any illustration of actual life and
manners, beyond the artificial life of self-mortification and selfdenial
said to have been led by the Brahman sages of olden time. At the same
time, however, the story throws some light upon the significance of the
poem, and upon the character in which the Brahmanical author desired to
represent Ráma; and consequently it deserves more serious consideration
than the nature of the subject-matter would otherwise seem to imply.
“According to the Rámáyana, the hero Ráma spent more than thirteen years
of his exile in wandering amongst the different Brahmanical settlements,
which appear to have been scattered over the country between the Ganges
and the Godáveri; his wanderings extending from the hill of Chitra-kúṭa in
Bundelkund, to the modern town of Nasik on the western side of India, near
the source of the Godáveri river, and about seventy-five miles to the
north-west of Bombay. The appearance of these Brahmanical hermitages in
the country far away to the south of the Raj of Kasala, seems to call for
critical inquiry. Each hermitage is said to have belonged to some
particular sage, who is famous in Brahmanical tradition. But whether the
sages named were really contemporaries of Ráma, or whether they could
possibly have flourished at one and the same period, is open to serious
question. It is of course impossible to fix with any degree of certainty
the relative chronology of the several sages, who are said to have been
visited by Ráma; but still it seems tolerably clear that some belonged to
an age far anterior to that in which the Rámáyana was composed, and
probably to an age anterior to that in which Ráma existed as a real and
living personage; whilst, at least, one sage is to be found who could only
have existed in the age during which the Rámáyana was produced in its
present form. The main proofs of these inferences are as follows. An
interval of many centuries seems to have elapsed between the composition
of the Rig-Veda and that of the Rámáyana: a conclusion which has long been
proved by the evidence of language, and is generally accepted by Sanskrit
scholars. But three of the sages, said to have been contemporary with
Ráma, namely, Viśvámitra, Atri and Agastya, are frequently mentioned in
the hymns of the Rig-Veda; whilst Válmíki, the sage dwelling at
Chitra-kúṭa, is said to have been himself the composer of the Rámáyana.
Again, the sage Atri, whom Ráma visited immediately after his departure
from Chitra-kúṭa, appears in the genealogical list preserved in the Mahá
Bhárata, as the progenitor of the Moon, and consequently as the first
ancestor of the Lunar race: whilst his grandson Buddha [Budha] is said to
have married Ilá, the daughter of Ikhsváku who was himself the remote
ancestor of the Solar race of Ayodhyá, from whom Ráma was removed by many
generations. These conclusions are not perhaps based upon absolute proof,
because they are drawn from untrustworthy authorities; but still the
chronological difficulties have been fully apprehended by the Pundits, and
an attempt has been made to reconcile all contradictions by representing
the sages to have lived thousands of years, and to have often re-appeared
upon earth in different ages widely removed from each other. Modern
science refuses to accept such explanations; and consequently it is
impossible to escape the conclusion that if Válmíki composed the Rámáyana
in the form of Sanskrit in which it has been preserved, he could not have
flourished in the same age as the sages who are named in the Rig-Veda.”
WHEELER’S _History of India, Vol._ II, 229.


Page 249.

_And King Himálaya’s Child._
Umá or Párvatí, was the daughter of Himálaya and Mená. She is the heroine
of Kálidása’s _Kumára-Sambhava_ or _Birth of the War-God_.


Page 250.

_Strong Kumbhakarṇa slumbering deep_
_In chains of never-ending sleep._
“Kumbhakarṇa, the gigantic brother of the titanic Rávaṇ,—named from the
size of his ears which could contain a _Kumbha_ or large water-jar—had
such an appetite that he used to consume six months’ provisions in a
single day. Brahmá, to relieve the alarm of the world, which had begun to
entertain serious apprehensions of being eaten up, decreed that the giant
should sleep six months at a time and wake for only one day during which
he might consume his six months’ allowance without trespassing unduly on
the reproductive capabilities of the ” _Scenes front the Rámáyan_, p. 153,
2nd Edit.


Page 257.

_Like Śiva when his angry might_
_Stayed Daksha’s sacrificial rite._
The following spirited version of this old story is from the pen of Mr. W.
Waterfield:
“This is a favorite subject of Hindú sculpture, especially on the temples
of Shiva, such as the caves of Elephanta and Ellora. It, no doubt, is an
allegory of the contest between the followers of Shiva and the worshippers
of the Elements, who observed the old ritual of the Vedas; in which the
name of Shiva is never mentioned.
Daksha for devotion
Made a mighty feast:
Milk and curds and butter,
Flesh of bird and beast,
Rice and spice and honey,
Sweetmeats ghí and gur,(1038)
Gifts for all the Bráhmans,
Food for all the poor.
At the gates of Gangá(1039)
Daksha held his feast;
Called the gods unto it,
Greatest as the least.
All the gods were gathered
Round with one accord;
All the gods but Umá,
All but Umá’s lord.
Umá sat with Shiva
On Kailása hill:
Round them stood the Rudras
Watching for their will.
Who is this that cometh
Lilting to his lute?
All the birds of heaven
Heard his music, mute.
Round his head a garland
Rich of hue was wreathed:
Every sweetest odour
From its blossoms breathed.
’Tis the Muni Nárad;
’Mong the gods he fares,
Ever making mischief
By the tales he bears.
“Hail to lovely Umá!
Hail to Umá’s lord!
Wherefore are they absent
For her father’s board?
Multiplied his merits
Would be truly thrice,
Could he gain your favour
For his sacrifice.”
Worth of heart was Umá;
To her lord she spake:—
“Why dost thou, the mighty,
Of no rite partake?
Straight I speed to Daksha
Such a sight to see:
If he be my father,
He must welcome thee.”
Wondrous was in glory
Daksha’s holy rite;
Never had creation
Viewed so brave a sight.
Gods, and nymphs, find fathers,
Sages, Bráhmans, sprites,—
Every diverge creature
Wrought that rite of rites.
Quickly then a quaking
Fell on all from far;
Umá stood among them
On her lion car.
“Greeting, gods and sages,
Greeting, father mine!
Work hath wondrous virtue,
Where such aids combine.
Guest-hall never gathered
Goodlier company:
Seemeth all are welcome.
All the gods but me.”
Spake the Muni Daksha,
Stern and cold his tone:—
“Welcome thou, too, daughter,
Since thou com’st alone.
But thy frenzied husband
Suits another shrine;
He is no partaker
Of this feast of mine.
He who walks in darkness
Loves no deeds of light:
He who herds with demons
Shuns each kindly sprite.
Let him wander naked.—
Wizard weapons wield,—
Dance his frantic measure
Round the funeral field.
Art thou yet delighted
With the reeking hide,
Body smeared with ashes.
Skulls in necklace tied?
Thou to love this monster?
Thou to plead his part!
Know the moon and Gangá
Share that faithless heart
Vainly art thou vying
With thy rivals’ charms.
Are not coils of serpents
Softer than thine arms?”
Words like these from Daksha
Daksha’s daughter heard:
Then a sudden passion
All her bosom stirred.
Eyes with fury flashing.
Speechless in her ire,
Headlong did she hurl her
’Mid the holy fire.
Then a trembling terror
Overcame each one,
And their minds were troubled
Like a darkened sun;
And a cruel Vision,
Face of lurid flame,
Umá’s Wrath incarnate,
From the altar came.
Fiendlike forms by thousands
Started from his side,
’Gainst the sacrificers
All their might they plied:
Till the saints availed not
Strength like theirs to stay,
And the gods distracted
Turned and fled away.
Hushed were hymns and chanting,
Priests were mocked and spurned;
Food defiled and scattered;
Altars overturned.—
Then, to save the object
Sought at such a price,
Like a deer in semblance
Sped the sacrifice.
Soaring toward the heavens,
Through the sky it fled?
But the Rudras chasing
Smote away its head.
Prostrate on the pavement
Daksha fell dismayed:—
“Mightiest, thou hast conquered
Thee we ask for aid.
Let not our oblations
All be rendered vain;
Let our toilsome labour
Full fruition gain.”
Bright the broken altars
Shone with Shiva’s form;
“Be it so!” His blessing
Soothed that frantic storm.
Soon his anger ceases,
Though it soon arise;—
But the Deer’s Head ever
Blazes in the skies.”
_Indian Ballads and other Poems._


Page 286. Urvasí.

“The personification of Urvasî herself is as thin as that of Eôs or
Selênê. Her name is often found in the Veda as a mere name for the
morning, and in the plural number it is used to denote the dawns which
passing over men bring them to old age and death. Urvasî is the bright
flush of light overspreading the heaven before the sun rises, and is but
another form of the many mythical beings of Greek mythology whose names
take us back to the same idea or the same root. As the dawn in the Vedic
hymns is called Urûkî, the far-going (Têlephassa, Têlephos), so is she
also Uruasî, the wide-existing or wide-spreading; as are Eurôpê,
Euryanassa, Euryphassa, and many more of the sisters of Athênê and
Aphroditê. As such she is the mother of Vasishtha, the bright being, as
Oidipous is the son of Iokastê; and although Vasishtha, like Oidipous, has
become a mortal bard or sage, he is still the son of Mitra and Varuṇa, of