Book I

Canto LXIV as the temptress of Viśvámitra.

410 The conclusion of this Canto is all a vain repetition: it is manifestly spurious and a very feeble imitation of Válmíki’s style. See _Additional Notes_.

411 “Even when he had alighted,” says the commentator: The feet of Gods do not touch the ground.

412 A name of Indra.

413 Śachí is the consort of Indra.

414 The spheres or mansions gained by those who have duly performed the sacrifices required of them. Different situations are assigned to these spheres, some placing them near the sun, others near the moon.

415 Hermits who live upon roots which they dig out of the earth: literally _diggers_, derived from the prefix _vi_ and _khan_ to dig.

416 Generally, divine personages of the height of a man’s thumb, produced from Brahmá’s hair: here, according to the commentator followed by Gorresio, hermits who when they have obtained fresh food throw away what they had laid up before.

417 Sprung from the washings of Vishṇuu’s feet.

418 Four fires burning round them, and the sun above.

419 The tax allowed to the king by the Laws of Manu.

420 Near the celebrated Rámagiri or Ráma’s Hill, now Rám-ṭek, near Nagpore—the scene of the Yaksha’s exile in the _Messenger Cloud_.

421 A hundred _Aśvamedhas_ or sacrifices of a horse raise the sacrificer to the dignity of Indra.

422 Indra.

423 Gorresio observes that Daśaratha was dead and that Sítá had been informed of his death. In his translation he substitutes for the words of the text “thy relations and mine.” This is quite superfluous. Daśaratha though in heaven still took a loving interest in the fortunes of his son.

424 One of the hermits who had followed Ráma.

425 The lake of the five nymphs.

426 The holy fig-tree.

427 The bread-fruit tree, Artocarpus integrifolia.

428 A fine timber tree, Shorea robusta.

429 The God of fire.

430 Kuvera, the God of riches.

431 The Sun.

432 Brahmá, the creator.

433 Śiva.

434 The Wind-God.

435 The God of the sea.

436 A class of demi-gods, eight in number.

437 The holiest text of the Vedas, deified.

438 Vásuki.

439 Garuḍ.

440 The War-God.

441 One of the Pleiades generally regarded as the model of wifely excellence.

442 The Madhúka, or, as it is now called, Mahuwá, is the Bassia latifolia, a tree from whose blossoms a spirit is extracted.

443 “I should have doubted whether Manu could have been the right reading here, but that it occurs again in verse 29, where it is in like manner followed in verse 31 by Analá, so that it would certainly seem that the name Manu is intended to stand for a female, the daughter of Daksha. The Gauḍa recension, followed by Signor Gorresio (III 20, 12), adopts an entirely different reading at the end of the line, viz. _Balám Atibalám api_, ‘Balá and Atibilá,’ instead of Manu and Analá. I see that Professor Roth s.v. adduces the authority of the Amara Kosha and of the Commentator on Páṇini for stating that the word sometimes means ‘the wife of Manu.’ In the following text of the Mahábhárata I. 2553. also, Manu appears to be the name of a female: ‘_Anaradyam_, _Manum_, _Vañsám_, _Asurám_, _Márgaṇapriyám_, _Anúpám_, _Subhagám_, _Bhásím iti_, _Prádhá vyajayata_. Prádhá (daughter of Daksha) bore Anavadyá, Manu, Vanśá, Márgaṇapriyá, Anúpá, Subhagá. and Bhásí.’ ” _Muir’s Sanskrit Text_, Vol. I. p. 116.

444 The elephant of Indra.

_ 445 Golángúlas_, described as a kind of monkey, of a black colour, and having a tail like a cow.

446 Eight elephants attached to the four quarters and intermediate points of the compass, to support and guard the earth.

447 Some scholars identify the centaurs with the Gandharvas.

448 The hooded serpents, says the commentator Tírtha, were the offspring of Surasá: all others of Kadrú.

449 The text reads Kaśyapa, “a descendant of Kaśyapa,” who according to Rám. II. l0, 6, ought to be Vivasvat. But as it is stated in the preceding part of this passage III. 14, 11 f. that Manu was one of Kaśyapa’s eight wives, we must here read Kaśyap. The Ganda recension reads (III, 20, 30) _Manur manushyáms cha tatha janayámása Rághana_, instead of the corresponding line in the Bombay edition. _Muir’s Sanskrit Text, Vol I, p. 117._

450 The original verses merely name the trees. I have been obliged to amplify slightly and to omit some quas versu dicere non est; _e.g._ the _tiniśa_ (Dalbergia ougeiniensis), _punnága_ (Rottleria tinctoria), _tilaka_ (not named), _syandana_ (Dalbergia ougeiniensis again), _vandana_ (unknown), _nípa_ (Nauclea Kadamba), _lakucha_ (Artœarpus lacucha), _dhava_ (Grislea tomentosa), Aśvakarna (another name for the Sál), _Śamí_ (Acacia Suma), _khadira_ (Mimosa catechu), _kinśuka_ (Butea frondosa), _pátala_ (Bignonia suaveolens).

451 Acacia Suma.

452 The south is supposed to be the residence of the departed.

453 The sun.

454 The night is divided into three watches of four hours each.

455 The chief chamberlain and attendant of Śiva or Rudra.

456 Umá or Párvati, the consort of Śiva.

457 A star, one of the favourites of the Moon.

458 The God of love.

459 A demon slain by Indra.

460 Chitraratha, King of the Gandharvas.

461 Titanic.

462 The Sáriká is the Maina, a bird like a starling.

463 Mahákapála, Sthúláksha, Pramátha, Triśiras.

464 Vishṇu, who bears a _chakra_ or discus.

465 Śiva.

466 See _Additional Notes_—DAKSHA’S SACRIFICE.

467 Himálaya.

468 One of the mysterious weapons given to Ráma.

469 A periphrasis for the body.

470 Triśirás.

471 The Three-headed.

472 The demon who causes eclipses.

473 “This Asura was a friend of Indra, and taking advantage of his friend’s confidence, he drank up Indra’s strength along with a draught of wine and Soma. Indra then told the Aśvins and Sarasvatí that Namuchi had drunk up his strength. The Aśvins in consequence gave Indra a thunderbolt in the form of a foam, with which he smote off the head of Namuchi.” GARRETT’S _Classical Dictionary of India_. See also