PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
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INDIAN IDYLLS. 
 
ruv o' o ; n; Xuroio tpdyoi //.tAirioiu xcwcov, 
 oi/xir’ dxayyiTXai irdXtv rfiikiv olds i diaSai, 
 
 «XX’ avTou fiovXovro fjjir’ avoids/ Auropuyowiv 
 Xutov iwrrofievoi /j,ive/jse\i vcarov rt XaOeaDou. 
 
 — Od. ix. 94. 
 
 “ Whoso has tasted the honey-sweet fruit from the stems of the lotus, 
 Nevermore wishes to leave it, and never once longs to go homeward ; 
 There would he stay if he could, content, with the eaters of lotus, 
 Plucking and eating the lotus, forgetting that he was returning.” 
 
 — Arnold’s Poets of Greece 
 
INDIAN IDYLLS 
 
 jFrcm tfje Sanskrit 
 
 OF THE 
 
 MAH ABHARATA 
 
 BY 
 
 edwin Arnold, c.s.i. 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 “THE LIGHT OF ASIA,” ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL 
 1883 
 
 [All rights reserved] 
 
 1 
 
'Saflantjme -presa 
 
 BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
£fois Dolume 
 
 IS 
 
 INSCRIBED, 
 
 WITH AFFECTION AND RESPECT, 
 
 TO 
 
 THE REV. AV. H. CHANGING, 
 
 WHOSE VIRTUES AND LEARNING ADD HONOUR TO A NAME 
 
 ALREADY RENDERED ILLUSTRIOUS. 
 

 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Sometime ago I wrote and published, in a paper 
 entitled “The Iliad and Odyssey of India,” the 
 following passages : — “There exist two colos- 
 sal, two unparalleled epic poems in the sacred 
 language of India — the Mahabharata and the 
 Ramayana — which were not known to Europe, 
 even by name, till Sir William Jones announced 
 their existence ; and one of which (the larger) 
 since his time has been made public only by 
 fragments, by mere specimens, bearing to those 
 vast treasures of Sanskrit literature such small 
 proportion as cabinet samples of ore have to the 
 riches of a silver mine. Yet these most remark- 
 able poems contain almost all the history of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 viii 
 
 ancient India, so far as it can be recovered ; 
 together with such inexhaustible details of its 
 political, social, and religious life, that the an- 
 tique Hindoo world really stands epitomised in 
 them. The Old Testament is not more inter- 
 woven with the Jewish race, nor the New 
 Testament with the civilization of Christendom, 
 nor the Koran with the records and destinies of 
 Islam, than these two Sanskrit poems with that 
 unchanging and teeming population which Her 
 Majesty rules as Empress of Hindostan. The 
 stories, songs, and ballads ; the histories and 
 genealogies ; the nursery tales and religious dis- 
 courses ; the art, the learning, the philosophy, 
 the creeds, the moralities, the modes of thought, 
 the very phrases, sayings, turns of expression, 
 and daily ideas of the Hindoo people, are taken 
 from these poems. Their children and their 
 wives are named out of them ; so are their 
 cities, temples, streets, and cattle. They have 
 constituted the library, the newspaper, and the 
 Bible, generation after generation, for all the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 succeeding and countless millions of Hindoo 
 people ; and it replaces patriotism with that 
 race and stands in stead of nationality to possess 
 these two precious and inexhaustible hooks, and 
 to drink from them as from mighty and over- 
 flowing rivers. The value ascribed in Hindostan 
 to these two little-known epics has transcended 
 all literary standards established here. They 
 are personified, worshipped, and cited as being 
 something divine. To read or even listen to 
 them is thought by the devout Hindoo suffi- 
 ciently meritorious to bring prosperity to his 
 household here and happiness in the next world. 
 They are held also to give wealth to the poor, 
 health to the sick, wisdom to the ignorant ; and 
 the recitation of certain parvas and shlokes in 
 them can fill the household of the barren, it is 
 believed, with children. A concluding passage 
 of the great poem says — 
 
 ‘ The reading of this Mahd-Bhdrata destroys all sin and 
 produces virtue ; so much so, that the pronunciation of a 
 single shloka is sufficient to wipe away much guilt. This 
 
X 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 Mahd-Bhdrata contains the history of the gods, of the Rishis 
 in heaven and those on earth, of the Gfndharvas and the 
 R&kshasas. It also contains the life and actions of the one 
 God, holy, immutable, and true, who is Krishna, who is the 
 creator and the ruler of this universe— who is seeking the 
 welfare of his creation by means of his incomparable and 
 indestructible power; whose actions are celebrated by all 
 sages ; who has bound human beings in a chain, of which 
 one ord is life and the other death ; on whom the Rishis 
 meditate, and a knowledge of whom imparts unalloyed 
 happiness to their hearts, and for whose gratification and 
 favour all the daily devotions are performed by all worship- 
 pers. If a man reads the MahA-Bh&rata and has faith in its 
 doctrines, he is free from all sin, and ascends to heaven after 
 his death.’ ” 
 
 The present volume contains (besides the two 
 Parvas from, my “Indian Poetry”) such transla- 
 tions as I have from time to time made out of this 
 prodigious epic ; which is sevenfold greater in 
 bulk than the Iliad and Odyssey taken together. 
 The stories here extracted are new to English 
 literature, with the exception of a few passages 
 of the “ Savitri ” and the “ Nala and Damayanti,” 
 which was long ago most faithfully rendered by 
 Dean Milman, the version being published side 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xi 
 
 by side with a clear and excellent Sanskrit text 
 edited by Professor Monier Williams, C.I.E. 
 But that presentation of the beautiful and bril- 
 liant legend, with all its conspicuous merits, 
 seems better adapted to aid the studeut than 
 adequately to reproduce the swift march of 
 narrative and old-world charm of the Indian 
 tale, which I also have therefore ventured to 
 transcribe, with all deference and gratitude to 
 my predecessors. 
 
 I believe certain portions of the mighty Poem 
 which here appear, and many other episodes, to be 
 of far greater antiquity than has been ascribed 
 to the Mahabharata generally. Doubtless, the 
 “ two hundred and twenty thousand lines ” of 
 the entire compilation contain in many places 
 little and lar^e additions and corrections inter- 
 polated in Brahmanic or post-Buddhistic times ; 
 and he who ever so slightly explores this epical 
 ocean, will indeed perceive defects, excrescences, 
 differences, and breaks of artistic style and 
 structure. But in the simpler and nobler 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 xii 
 
 sections, the Sanskrit verse (ofttimes as musical 
 and highly-wrought as Homer’s own Greek), 
 bears testimony, I think, — by evidence too long 
 and recondite for citation here, — to an origin 
 anterior to writing, anterior to Puranic theo- 
 logy, anterior to Homer, perhaps even to Moses. 
 
 EDWIN ARNOLD, C.S.I. 
 
 London, August 1883. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 savitrI; or, love and death . 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE 
 THE SAINT’S TEMPTATION 
 THE BIRTH OP DEATH 
 THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER . 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY . 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I 
 
 38 
 
 184 
 
 207 
 
 221 
 
 238 
 
 244 
 
 264 
 
“ The leaf was darkish, and had prickles on it, 
 
 But in another country — as he said — 
 
 Bore a bright golden flower, — if not in this soil.” 
 
 — Milton’s Cornus. 
 

SAVITRl; 
 
 OK, 
 
 LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 [From the Vana Parva of the Mah&bharata ; line 16,C16, 
 Calcutta 4to edition.] 
 
 I MOUEN not for myself,” quoth Yudkistliir, 
 
 “ Nor for my hero-brothers ; hut because 
 Draupadi hath been taken from us now : 
 
 Never was seen or known another such 
 As queenly, true, and faithful to her vows, 
 
 As Draupadi.” 
 
 Then said Markandya : 
 
 “ Wilt thou hear, Prince, of such another soul, 
 Wherein the nobleness of Draupadi 
 Dwelt, of old days, — the Princess Savitri ? 
 
SAVITRI, OR, 
 
 1 HERE was a Raja, pious-minded, just — 
 
 King of the Madras — valiant, wise, and true ; 
 Victorious over sense, a worshipper; 
 
 Liberal in giving, prudent, dear alike 
 To peasant and to townsman ; one whose joy 
 Lived in the weal of all men — Aswapati — 
 Patient, and free of any woe, he reigned, 
 
 Save that his manhood passing, left him lone, 
 
 A childless lord : for this he grieved; for this 
 Heavy observances he underwent, 
 
 Subduing needs of flesh, and oftentimes 
 Making high sacrifice to Savitri ; 
 
 While, for all food, at each sixth watch he took 
 A little measured dole ; and this he did 
 Through sixteen years (most excellent of kings !) 
 Till, at the last, divinest Savitri 
 Grew well content, and, taking shining shape, 
 Rose through the flames of sacrifice and showed 
 Unto that Prince her heavenly countenance. 
 “Raja!” the Goddess said — the Gift-bringer — 
 
 “ Thy piety, thy purity, thy fasts. 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 3 
 
 The largesse of tliy hands, thy heart’s wide love, 
 
 Thy strength of faith, have pleased me. Choose some 
 boon ; 
 
 Thy dearest wish, monarch of Madra, ask ; 
 
 It is not meet such merit go in vain.” 
 
 The Baja answered : “ Goddess ! for the sake 
 Of children I did bear my heavy vows : 
 
 If thou art well content, grant me, I pray, 
 
 Bair babes, continuers of my royal line; 
 
 This is the boon I choose, obeying law ; 
 
 For — say the holy seers — the first great law 
 Is that a man leave seed.” 
 
 The Goddess said : 
 
 “ I knew thine answer, Baja, ere it came; 
 
 And He, the Maker of all, hath heard my word 
 That this might be. The Self-existent One 
 Consenteth : born there shall be unto thee 
 A girl more sweet than any eyes have seen ; 
 
 There is not found on earth so fair a maid : 
 
 I, that rejoice in the Great Father’s will, 
 
 Know this and tell thee.” 
 
4 
 
 SAVITRI ; OR, 
 
 “ All ! so may it be ! ” 
 
 The Eaja cried, once and again ; and she, 
 
 The goddess, smiled again, and vanished so ; 
 
 While Aswapati to liis palace went. 
 
 There dwelled he, doing justice to all folk; 
 
 Till, when the hour was good, the wise king lay 
 With her that was his first and fairest wife, 
 
 And she conceived a girl — (a girl, my liege ! 
 
 Better thau many boys) — which wonder grew 
 
 In darkness, as the moon among the stars 
 
 Grows from a ring of silver to a round 
 
 In the month’s waxing days, — and, when time came, 
 
 The queen a daughter bore, with lotus eyes, 
 
 Lovely of mould. Joyous, that Eaja made 
 The birth-feast ; and because the fair gift fell 
 From Savitri the goddess, and because 
 It was her day of sacrifice, they gave 
 The name of “ Savitri ” unto the child. 
 
 In grace and beauty grew the maid, as if 
 Lakshmi’s own self had taken woman’s form ; 
 
 And when swift years her blossomed youth made ripe, 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 5 
 
 Like to an image of dark gold she seemed, 
 Gleaming, with waist so fine and breasts so deep, 
 And limbs so rounded. When she moved, all eyes 
 Gazed after her, as though an ApsarfL 
 Had lighted out of Swarga. Hot one dared, 
 
 Of all the noblest lords, to ask for wife 
 That miracle, with eyes purple and soft 
 As lotus-petals, that pure perfect maid, 
 
 Whose face shed heavenly light where she did go. 
 
 Once she had fasted, laved her head, and bowed 
 Before the shrine of Agni, — as is meet, — 
 
 And sacrificed, and spoken what is set 
 Unto the Brahmans, taking at their hands 
 The unconsumed offerings, and so passed 
 Into her father’s presence, bright as Sri, 
 
 If Sri were woman ! — Meekly at his feet 
 She laid the blossoms ; meekly bent her head, 
 Folded her palms, and stood, radiant with youth, 
 Beside the Baja. He, beholding her 
 Come to her growth, and thus divinely fair, 
 
 Yet sued of none, was grieved at heart and spake : 
 
6 
 
 SAVITRI; OR, 
 
 “ Daughter ! ’tis time we wed thee ; but none comes 
 Asking thee ; therefore thou thyself some youth 
 Choose for thy lord, a virtuous prince : whoso 
 Is dear to thee he shall be dear to me ; 
 
 For tills the rule is by the sages taught — 
 
 Hear what is spoken, noble maid ! — ‘ That sire 
 Who giveth not his child in marriage 
 Is blamable ; and blamable that king 
 Who weddeth not ; and blamable that son, 
 
 Who, when his father dieth, guardeth not 
 His mother.’ Heeding this,” the Raja said, 
 
 “ Haste thee to choose ; and so choose that I bear 
 No guilt, dear child ! before tli’ all-seeing gods.” 
 
 Thus spake he ; from the royal presence then 
 Elders and ministers dismissing. She, 
 
 Sweet Savitri, low-lying at his feet, 
 
 With soft shame heard her father, and obeyed. 
 
 Then on a bright car mounting, companied 
 By ministers and sages, Savitri 
 Journeyed through groves and pleasant woodland tow 
 Where pious princes dwelled ; in every spot 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 Paying meet homage at the Brahmans feet ; 
 And so from forest unto forest passed, 
 
 In all the Tirthas making offerings : 
 
 O O 
 
 Thus did the Princess visit place by place. 
 
 iHE King of Madra sate among his lords 
 With Narada beside him, counselling, 
 
 When (Son of Bharat !) entered Savitri, 
 
 Prom passing through each haunt and hermitage 
 Beturning with those sages. At the sight 
 Of Narad seated by the Baja’s side 
 Humbly she touched the earth before their feet 
 With bended forehead. 
 
 Then spake Narada : 
 
 “ Whence cometh thy fair child ? and wherefore, Kin 
 Being so ripe in beauty, giv’st thou not 
 The Princess to a husband ? ” 
 
 ‘ Ev’n for that 
 
 She journeyed,” quoth the Baja: “being come, 
 
8 
 
 SAVITRt; OR, 
 
 Hear for thyself, great Kishi ! what high lord 
 
 My daughter chooseth.” Then, being bid to speak 
 
 Of Narad and the Eaja, Savitri 
 
 Softly said this : “ In Chalva reigned a prince 
 
 Lordly and just, Dyumutsena named, 
 
 Blind, and his only son not come to age ! 
 
 And this sad king an enemy betrayed, 
 
 Abusing his infirmity, whereby 
 
 Of throne and kingdom was that king bereft ; 
 
 And, with his queen and son, a banished man, 
 
 He fled into the wood, and ’neath its shades 
 A life of holiness doth daily lead. 
 
 This Baja’s son, born in the court, but bred 
 ’Midst forest peace, royal of blood, and named 
 Prince Satyavan, — to him my choice is given.” 
 
 “ Aho ! ” cried Narad ; “ evil is this choice 
 Which Savitri hath made, who, knowing not, 
 
 Doth name the noble Satyavan her lord ; 
 
 For noble is the Prince, sprung of a pair 
 So just and faithful found in word and deed, 
 
 The Brahmans styled him “ Truth-born ” at his birth. 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 9 
 
 Horses he loved, and oftentimes would mould 
 Coursers of clay, or paint them on the wall, 
 Wherefore ‘ Chitraswa ’ was he also called.” 
 
 Then spake the king : “ By this he shall have grown, 
 Being of so fair birth, either a prince 
 Of valour, or a wise and patient saint ! ” 
 
 Quoth Narad : “ Like the sun is Satyavan 
 For grace and glory ; like Yrihaspati 
 For counsel ; like Makendra’s self for might ; 
 
 And hath the patience of the all-bearing earth.” 
 
 “ Is he a liberal giver ? ” asked the King : 
 
 O O J 
 
 “ Loveth he virtue ? wears he noble airs ? 
 
 Goeth he like a prince, with sweet, proud looks ? ” 
 
 “ He is as glad to give, if he hath store, 
 
 As Bantideva,” Narada replied ; 
 
 “ Pious he is, and true as Shivi was, 
 
 The son of Usinara; fair of form 
 
 (Yayati was not fairer), sweet of looks 
 
 (The Aswins not more gracious), gallant, kind, 
 
IO 
 
 SAVITRt; OR, 
 
 Eeverent, self-governed, gentle, equitable, 
 Modest, and constant. Justice lives in him, 
 And honour guides. Those who do love a man 
 Praise him for manhood ; they that seek a saint 
 Laud him for purity and passions tamed.” 
 
 “ A prince thou showest me,” the Eaja said, 
 
 “ All virtues owning ! tell me of some faults, 
 
 ■ If fault he hath.” 
 
 “ None lives,” quoth Narad a, 
 
 “ But some fault mingles with his qualities ; 
 
 And Satyavan bears that he cannot mend. 
 
 The blot which spoils his brightness, the defect 
 Porbidding yonder Prince, Eaja, is this, 
 
 ’Tis fated he shall die after a year ! 
 
 Count from to-day one year, he perisheth ! ” 
 
 “ My Savitri ! ” the King cried, “ go, dear child ! 
 Some other husband choose. This hath one fault. 
 But huge it is, and mars all nobleness : 
 
 At the year’s end he dies ; — ’tis Narad’s word, 
 Whom the gods teach ! ” , 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 IT 
 
 But Savitri replied : 
 
 “ Once falls a heritage ; once a maid yields 
 Her maidenhood ; once doth a father say 
 * Choose, I abide thy choice ; ’ — These three things 
 done 
 
 Are done for ever. Be my Prince to live 
 A year or many years ; be he so great 
 As Narada hath said, or less than this ; 
 
 Once have I chosen him, and choose not twice ! 
 
 My heart resolved, my mouth hath spoken it, 
 
 My hand shall execute : — This is my mind ! ” 
 
 Quoth Narad, “ Yea, her mind is fixed, 0 King ! 
 And none will turn her from this path of truth. 
 
 Also the virtues of Prince Satyavan 
 Shall in no other man be found. Give thou 
 Thy child to him ; I gainsay not.” 
 
 Therewith 
 
 The Baja sighed : “ Nay, that which must be, must. 
 She speaketh sooth ; and I will give my child, 
 Since thou our Guru art.” 
 
12 
 
 SAVITRI; OR, 
 
 . Narada said : 
 
 “ Free be the gift of thy fair daughter, then ! 
 May happiness yet light I — Raja, I go ! ” 
 
 So went that sage, returning to his place ; 
 And the King bade the nuptials be prepared. 
 
 ELE bade that all things be prepared, — the robes, 
 The golden cups ; and summoned priest and sage, 
 Brahman, and Eity-yaj, and Purohit ; 
 
 And on a day named fortunate set forth 
 With Savitri. In the mid-wood they found 
 Dyumutsena’s sylvan court : the King, 
 
 Alighting, paced with slow steps to the spot 
 Where sate the blind lord underneath a Sal, 
 
 His mat woven of Ku£a grass. Then passed 
 Due salutations ; worship, as is meet ; — 
 
 All courteously the Raja spake his name 
 All courteously the blind King gave to him 
 Earth, and a seat, and water in a jar ; 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 J -3 
 
 Then asked, “ What, Maharaja ! bringeth thee ? ” 
 And Aswapati, answering, told him all ; — 
 
 With eyes fixed full upon Prince Satyavan 
 He spake : — “ This is my daughter Savitri ; 
 
 Take her from me to be wife of thy son, 
 According to the law ; thou knowest the law.” 
 Dyumutsena said: “Forced from our throne, 
 Wood-dwellers, hermits, keeping state no more, 
 We follow right, and how would right be done 
 If this most lovely lady we should house 
 Here in our woods, unfitting home for her ? ” 
 Answered the Eaja : “ Grief and joy we know, 
 And what is real and seeming, she and I ; 
 
 ISTor fits this fear with our unshaken minds. 
 Deny thou not the prayer of him who bows 
 In friendliness before thee ; put not by 
 His wish who comes well-minded unto thee ! 
 Thy stateless state is noble ; thou and I 
 Are of one rank ; take then this maid of mine 
 To be thy daughter, since she chooses me 
 Thy Satyavan for son.” 
 
14 
 
 SAVlTRl; OR, 
 
 The blind Lord spake : 
 
 “ It was of old my wish to grow akin, 
 
 Eaja ! with thee, by marriage of our blood ; 
 
 But ever have I answered to myself, 
 
 ‘ Nay ! for thy realm is lost ; forego this hope ! ’ 
 Yet now, so let it he, since so thou wilt ; 
 
 My welcome guest thou art ; thy will is mine ! ” 
 
 Then gathered in the forest all those priests, 
 And with due rites the royal houses bound 
 By nuptial tie. And when the Baja saw 
 His daughter, as befits a princess, wed, 
 
 Home went he glad. And glad was Satyavan 
 Winning that beauteous wife, with all gifts rich ; 
 And she rejoiced to be the wife to him. 
 
 So chosen of her soul. But when her sire 
 Departed, from her neck and arms she stripped 
 Jewels and gold, and o’er her radiant form 
 Folded the robe of bark and yellow cloth 
 Which hermits use ; and all hearts did she gain 
 By gentle actions, soft self-government, 
 
 Patience and peace. The queen had joy of her 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 For tender services and mindful cares ; 
 
 The blind king took delight to know her days 
 So holy and her wise words so restrained ; 
 
 And with her lord in sweet converse she lived, 
 Gracious and loving, dutiful and dear. 
 
 But while in the deep forest softly flowed 
 This quiet life of love and holiness 
 The swift moons sped ; and always in the heart 
 Of Savitri by day and night there dwelt 
 The words of Narad a — those dreadful words ! 
 
 Now when the pleasant days were passed which 
 brought 
 
 The day of doom, and Satyavan must die ; 
 
 (For hour by hour the Princess counted them, 
 
 Keeping the words of Narad a in heart), 
 
 Bethinking on the fourth noon he should die, 
 
 She set herself to make the “ Threefold Fast,” 
 
 Three days and nights foregoing food and sleep ; 
 Which when the King Dyumutsena heard, 
 
 Sorrowful he arose and spake her thus : 
 
i6 
 
 SAVITRt, OR, 
 
 “ Daughter ! a heavy task thou takest on ; 
 
 Hardly the saintliest soul might such abide.” 
 
 But Savitri gave answer : “ Have no heed ; 
 
 What I do set myself I will perform ; 
 
 The vow is made, and I shall keep the vow.” 
 
 “ If it be made,” quoth he, “ it must be kept ; 
 
 We cannot bid thee break thy word, once given.” 
 With that the King forbade not, and she sate 
 Still, as though carved of wood, three days and nights. 
 But when the third night waned, and brought the day 
 Whereon her lord must die, she rose betimes, 
 
 Made offering on the altar-flames, and sang 
 
 Softly the morning prayers ; then, with clasped palms 
 
 Laid o’er her bosom, meekly came to greet 
 
 The King and Queen, and lowlily salute 
 
 The grey-haired Brahmans. Thereupon those saints — 
 
 Eesident in the woods — made answer mild 
 
 Unto the Princess: “Be it well with thee, 
 
 And with thy lord, for these good deeds of thine ! ” 
 
 “ May it be well ! ” she answered ; in her heart 
 Full mournfully that hour of fate awaiting 
 Foretold of Narad. 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 17 
 
 Then they said to her : 
 
 “ Daughter ! thy vow is kept. Come now and eat.” 
 But Savitri replied : “ When the sun sinks 
 This evening, I will eat : that is my vow.” 
 
 So, when they could not change her, afterward 
 Came Satyavan the Prince, hound for the woods, 
 
 An axe upon his shoulder ; unto whom 
 Wistfully spake the Princess : “ Dearest Lord ! 
 
 Go not alone to-day ; let me come, too ; 
 
 I cannot be apart from thee to-day.” 
 
 “ Why not to-day ? ” quoth Satyavan. “ The wood 
 Is strange to thee, beloved, and its paths 
 Eough for thy tender feet ; besides, with fast 
 Thy soft limbs faint ; how canst thou walk with me ? ” 
 
 “ I am not weak nor weary,” she replied, 
 
 “ And I can walk. Say me not nay, sweet Lord ! 
 
 I have so great a heart to go with thee.” 
 
 “ If thou hast such good heart,” answered the Prince, 
 
 B 
 
SAVITRi; OR, 
 
 “ I shall say yea, but first entreat the leave 
 Of those we reverence, lest a wrong be done.” 
 
 So, pure and dutiful, she sought that place 
 Where sat the King and Queen, and bending low, 
 Murmured request : “ My husband goeth straight 
 To the great forest, gathering fruits and flowers : 
 
 I pray your leave that I may he with him. 
 
 To make the Agnihotra sacrifice 
 Tetclieth he those, and will not be gainsaid. 
 
 But surely goeth. Let me go ! A year 
 Hath rolled since I did fare from the hermitage 
 To see our groves in bloom. I have much will 
 To see them now.” 
 
 The old King gently said : 
 
 “ In sooth it is a year since she was given 
 To he our son’s wife, and I mind me not 
 Of any boon the loving heart hath asked, 
 
 Nor any one untimely word she spake ; 
 
 Let it he as she prayeth. Go, my child ! 
 
 Have care of Satyavan, and take thy way.” 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 19 
 
 So, being permitted of them both, she went, 
 
 That beauteous lady, at her husband’s side, 
 
 With aching heart, albeit her face was bright. 
 Flower-laden trees her large eyes lighted on, 
 
 Green glades where pea-fowl sported, crystal streams, 
 And soaring hills whose green sides burned with bloom, 
 Which oft the Prince would bid her gaze upon ; 
 
 But she as oft turned those great eyes from them 
 To look on him, her husband, who must die, 
 
 (For always in her heart were Narad’ s words) ; 
 
 And so she walked behind him, guarding him, 
 Bethinking at what hour her lord must die ; 
 
 Her true heart torn in twain, one half to him 
 Close-cleaving, one half watching if Death come. 
 
 Then, having reached where woodland fruits did grow, 
 They gathered those, and filled a basket full ; 
 
 And afterwards the Prince plied hard his axe 
 Cutting the sacred fuel. Presently 
 There crept a pang upon him, a fierce throe 
 Burned through his brows, and, all a-sweat, he came 
 Feebly to Savitri, and moaned: “ 0 wife ! 
 
20 
 
 SAV1TRI; OR, 
 
 I am thus suddenly too weak for work ; 
 
 My veins throb, Savitri ! my blood runs fire ; 
 
 It is as if a threefold fork were plunged 
 Into my brain. Let me lie down, fair love ! 
 
 Indeed, I cannot stand upon my feet.” 
 
 Thereon, that noble lady, hastening near. 
 
 Stayed him, that would have fallen, with quick arms 
 And, sitting on the earth, laid her lord’s head 
 Tenderly in her lap. So bent she, mute, 
 
 Tanning his face, and thinking ’twas the day — 
 
 The hour — which Narad spake — the sure-fixed date 
 Of dreadful end — when lo ! before her rose 
 A shade majestic. Eed his garments were, 
 
 His body vast and dark ; like fiery suns 
 
 The eye which burned beneath his forehead- cloth ; 
 
 Armed was he with a noose, awful of mien. 
 
 This Form tremendous stood by Satyavan, 
 
 Fixing its gaze upon him. At the sight 
 The fearful Princess started to her feet — 
 
 Heedfully laying on the grass his head — 
 
 U [Started she with beating heart, and joined 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 21 
 
 Her palms for supplication, and spake thus 
 In accents tremulous : “ Thou seem’st some god ! 
 Thy mien is more than mortal ; make me know 
 What god thou art, and what thy purpose here.” 
 
 And Yama said (the dreadful God of Death) : 
 “ Thou art a faithful wife, 0 Savitri ! 
 
 True to thy vows, pious, and dutiful, 
 
 Therefore I answer thee. Yama I am ! 
 
 This Prince, thy lord, lieth at point to die ; 
 
 Him will I straightway bind and bear from life ; 
 This is my office, and for this I come.” 
 
 Then Savitri spake sadly : “ It is taught 
 Thy messengers are sent to fetch the dying; 
 Why is it, Mightiest ! thou art come thyself ? ” 
 
 In pity of her love, the Pitiless 
 Answered — the King of all the Dead replied : 
 
 “ This was a prince unparalleled, thy lord ; 
 Virtuous as fair, a sea of goodly gifts, 
 
 Hot to be summoned by a meaner voice 
 Than Yama’s own : therefore is Yama come ! ” 
 
22 
 
 SAVITRI; OR, 
 
 With that the gloomy god fitted his noose, 
 
 And forced forth from the Prince the soul of him — 
 Subtile, a thumb in length — which being reft, 
 
 Breath stayed, blood stopped, the body’s grace was 
 gone, 
 
 And all life’s warmth to stony coldness turned. 
 
 Then binding it, the Silent Presence bore 
 Satyavan’s soul away toward the south. 
 
 But Savitri the Princess followed him ; 
 
 Being so bold in wifely purity, 
 
 So holy by her love, and so upheld, 
 
 She followed him. 
 
 Presently Yama turned. 
 
 “ Go back ! ” quoth he, “ pay him the funeral dues. 
 Enough, 0 Savitri ! is wrought for love ; 
 
 Go back ! too far already hast thou come ! ” 
 
 Then Savitri made answer : “ I must go 
 "Where my lord goes, or where my lord is borne ; 
 Nought other is my duty. Nay, I think, 
 
 By reason of my vows, my services 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 2 3 
 
 Done to tlie Gurus, and my faultless love, 
 
 Grant but thy grace, I shall unhindered go. 
 
 The Sages teach that to walk seven steps 
 One with another maketh good men friends ; 
 
 Beseech thee, let me say a verse to thee : 
 
 Be master of thyself if thou wilt be 
 Servant of Duty. Such as thou shalt see 
 Not self-subduing do no deeds of good 
 In youth or age, in household or in wood. 
 
 But wise men know that Virtue is best bliss, 
 
 And all by some one way may reach to this. 
 
 It needs not men should pass through orders 
 four 
 
 To come to Knowledge : doing right is more 
 Than any learning ; therefore sages say , 
 
 Best and most excellent is Virtue's way.” 
 
 Spake Yama then : “ Return ! — yet am I moved 
 By those soft words: justly their accents fell, 
 
 And sweet and reasonable was their sense. 
 
 See now, thou faultless one ! — except this life 
 
24 
 
 SlVITRl; OR 
 
 I bear away, ask any boon from me ; 
 It shall not be denied.” 
 
 Savitri said : 
 
 “ Let. then, the King, my husband’s father, have 
 His eyesight back ; and be his strength restored ; 
 And let him live anew, strong as the sun.” 
 
 “ I give this gift,” Yama replied ; “ thy wish, 
 Blameless ! shall be fulfilled. But now go back ! 
 Already art thou wearied, and our road 
 Is hard and long. Turn back ! lest thou too die.” 
 
 The Princess answered: “Weary am I not, 
 
 So I walk nigh my lord. Where he is borne 
 Thither wend I. Most mighty of the gods ! 
 
 I follow wheresoe’er thou takest him: 
 
 I know a verse on this, if thou wouldst hear: 
 
 There is nought letter than to le 
 With nolle souls in company ; 
 
 There is naught dearer than to wend 
 With good friends faithful to the end. 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 This is the love whose fruit is sweet , 
 Therefore to bide therein is meet.” 
 
 Spake Yama, smiling : “ Beautiful ! thy words 
 Delight me ; they are excellent, and teach 
 Wisdom unto the wise, singing soft truth. 
 
 Look now ! except the life of Satyavan, 
 
 Ask yet another — any — boon from me.” 
 
 Savitri said : “ Let, then, the pious King, 
 
 My husband’s father, who hath lost his throne, 
 Have back the Baj, and let him rule his realm 
 In happy righteousness. This boon I ask.” 
 
 “ He shall have back the throne,” Yama replied ; 
 “ And he shall reign in righteousness : these things 
 Will surely fall. But now, gaining thy wish, 
 Eeturn anon : so shalt thou ’scape much ill.” 
 
 “ Ah, awful god ! who holdst the world in leash,” 
 The Princess said, “ restraining evil men, 
 
 And leading good men — ev’n unconscious — there 
 Where they attain : hear yet these famous words : 
 
26 SAVITRl; OR, 
 
 The constant virtues of the good are tenderness and love 
 To all that lives ; in earth , air , sea ; great , small, 
 below, above ; 
 
 Compassionate of heart, they keep a gentle thought for 
 each ; 
 
 Kind in their actions, mild in will, and pitiful of speech. 
 TVho pitieth not, he hath not faith; full many an one 
 so lives ; 
 
 But when an enemy seeks help, the good man gladly 
 gives.” 
 
 “ As water to the thirsting,” Yama said, 
 
 “ Princess ! thy words melodious are to me. 
 
 Except the life of Satyavan thy lord, 
 
 Ask one boon yet again, for I will grant.” 
 
 Answer made Savitri : “ The King my sire 
 Hath no male child. Let him see many sons 
 Begotten of his body, who may keep 
 The royal line long regnant. This I ask.” 
 
 “ So it shall be ! ” the Lord of death replied ; 
 
 “ A hundred fair preservers of his race 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 27 
 
 Thy sire shall boast. But this wish being won, 
 Beturn, dear Princess ! thou hast come too far.” 
 
 “ It is not far for me,” quoth Savitri, 
 
 Since I am near my husband ; nay, my heart 
 Is set to go as far as to the end. 
 
 But hear these other verses, if thou wilt : 
 
 By that sunlit name thou bearest, 
 
 Thou , Vaivaswata ! art dearest ; 
 
 Those that as their lord proclaim thee 
 King of Bighteousness do name thee; 
 
 Better than themselves the wise 
 Trust the righteous. Bach relies 
 Most upon the good , and makes 
 Friendship with them. Friendship takes 
 Fear from hearts ; yet friends betray , 
 
 In good men we may trust alway." 
 
 “ Sweet lady ! ” Tama said, “ never were words 
 Spoke better ; never truer heard by ear. 
 
 Lo ! I am pleased with thee. Except this soul, 
 Ask one gift yet again, and get thee home.” 
 
2S 
 
 SAVITRi; OR, 
 
 “ I ask thee, then,” quickly the Princess cried, 
 
 “ Sons, many sons, born of my body ; boys, 
 Satyavan’s children ; lovely, valiant, strong ; 
 Continuers of their line. Grant this, kind god.’ 
 
 “ I grant it,” Yama answered : “ thou shalt bear 
 Those sons thy heart desireth, valiant, strong : 
 Therefore go back, that years be given thee ; 
 
 Too long a path thou treadest, dark and rough.” 
 
 But, sweeter than before, the Princess sang: 
 
 In paths of peace and virtue 
 Always the good remain ; 
 
 And sorrow shall not stay with them , 
 
 Nor long access of pain : 
 
 At meeting or at parting 
 Joys to their bosom strike, 
 
 For good to good is friendly, 
 
 And Virtue loves her like. 
 
 The great sun goes his journey, 
 
 By their strong truth impelled ; 
 
 By their pure lives and, penances 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 29 
 
 Is earth itself upheld : 
 
 Of all which live or shall live 
 Upon its hills and fields , 
 
 Pure hearts are the “ protectors’’ 
 
 For Virtue saves and shields. 
 
 Never are noble spirits 
 Poor while their lilce survive. 
 
 True love has wealth to render, 
 
 And Virtue gifts to give. 
 
 Never is lost or wasted 
 The goodness of the good ; 
 
 Never against a mercy. 
 
 Against a right it stood. 
 
 And — seeing this — that Virtue 
 Is always friend to all , 
 
 The virtuous and true-hearted 
 Men their “protectors ” call. 
 
 “ Line for line, Princess ! as thou sangest so,” 
 Quoth Yama, “ all that lovely praise of good, 
 Grateful to hallowed minds, lofty in sound, 
 
 And couched in dulcet numbers — word by word — 
 
30 
 
 SlVITRi; OR, 
 
 Dearer thou grew’st to me. Oh thou great heart ! 
 Perfect and firm ! ask any boon from me — 
 
 Ask an incomparable boon ! ” 
 
 She cried 
 
 Swiftly, no longer stayed: “Not heaven I crave, 
 
 Nor heavenly joys, nor bliss incomparable, 
 
 Hard to be granted even by thee ; but him, 
 
 My sweet lord’s life, without which I am dead ; 
 
 Give me that gift of gifts ! I will not take 
 Aught less without him, not one boon, — no praise, 
 No splendours, no rewards, — not even those sons 
 Whom thou didst promise. Ah ! thou wilt not now 
 Bear hence the father of them, and my hope ! 
 
 Make thy free word good; give me Satyavan 
 Alive once more ! ” 
 
 And, thereupon, the god, 
 
 The Lord of Justice, high Yaivaswata, 
 
 Loosened the noose and freed the Prince’s soul, 
 
 And gave it to the lady ; saying this, 
 
 With eyes grown tender : “ See, thou sweetest queen 
 Of women ! brightest jewel of thy kind ! 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 3i 
 
 Here is tliy husband. He shall live, and reign 
 Side by side with thee,— saved by thee, — in peace, 
 And fame, and wealth, and health, many long years ; 
 For pious sacrifices, world-renowned. 
 
 Boys shalt thou bear to him, as I did grant — 
 Kshatriya Kings, fathers of Kings to be — 
 
 Sustainers of thy line. Also, thy sire 
 Shall see his name upheld by sons of sons 
 Like the Immortals, valiant, Malavas ! ” 
 
 These gifts the awful Yama gave, and went 
 Unto his place; but Savitri, made glad, 
 
 Having her husband’s soul, sped to the glade 
 Where his corse lay. She saw it there, and ran, 
 And sitting on the earth, lifted its head, 
 
 And lulled it on her lap, full tenderly. 
 
 Thereat warm life returned : the white lips moved ; 
 The fixed eyes brightened, gazed, and gazed again, 
 
 As when one starts from sleep, and sees a face — 
 The well-beloved’s — grow clear, and smiling wakes, 
 So Satyavan. “ Long have I slumbered, dear ! ” 
 
 He sighed, “ why didst thou not arouse me ? Where 
 
SAVITRt; OR. 
 
 Is gone that gloomy man that haled at me ? ” 
 Answered the Princess : “ Long, indeed, thy sleep, 
 Dear lord ! and deep ; for he that haled at thee 
 "Was Yama, God of Death: hut he is gone; 
 
 And thou, being rested and awake, rise now, 
 
 If thou canst rise, for look ! the night is near ! ” 
 
 Thus, newly living, newly waked, the Frince 
 Glanced all around upon the blackening groves 
 And whispered : “ I came forth to pluck the fruits, 
 Oh, slender-waisted ! with thee : then — some pang 
 Shot through my temples while I hewed the wood, 
 And I lay down upon thy lap, dear wife ! 
 
 And slept. This I do well remember ! Next — 
 Was it a dream ? — that vast, dark, mighty One 
 Whom I beheld ? Oh, if thou saw'st and know’st, 
 Was it in fancy or in truth he came ? ” 
 
 Softly she answered : “ Night is falling fast ; 
 To-morrow I will tell thee all, dear lord ! 
 
 Get to thy feet and let us seek our home. 
 
 Gods guide us! for the gloom spreads fast around; 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 33 
 
 The creatures of the forest are abroad 
 Which roam and cry by night. I hear the leaves 
 Rustle with beasts that creep. I hear this way 
 The yell of prowling jackals ; beasts do haunt 
 In the southern wood ; their noises make me fear ! ” 
 
 “ The wood is black with shadows,” quoth the 
 Prince ; 
 
 “ You would not know the path ; you could not see it. 
 We cannot go ! ” 
 
 She said : “ There was to-day 
 A fire within the forest, and it burned 
 A withered tree ; yonder the branches flame ! 
 
 I’ll fetch a lighted brand and kindle wood : 
 
 See, there is fuel here ! Art thou so vexed 
 Because we cannot go ? Grieve not ! The path 
 Is hidden, and thy limbs are not yet knit. 
 
 To-morrow, when the way grows clear, depart ; 
 
 But, if thou wilt, let us abide to-night.” 
 
 And Satyavan replied : “ The pains are gone 
 
 Which racked my brow ; my limbs seem strong again. 
 
 o 
 
34 
 
 SAVITRt; OR, 
 
 Fain would I reach our home, if thou wilt aid. 
 
 Ever betimes I have been wont to come 
 At evening to the place where those we love 
 Await us. Ah ! what trouble they will know, 
 Father and mother, searching now for us ! 
 
 They prayed me hasten back. How they will weep 
 Hot seeing me ! for there is none save me 
 To guard them. £ Quick return,’ they said ; ‘ our 
 lives 
 
 Live upon thine ; thou art our eyes, our breath, 
 
 Our hope of lineage ; unto thee we look 
 For funeral cakes, for mourning feasts, for all ! ’ 
 What will these do alone, not seeing me 
 Who am their stay ? Shame on the idle sleep 
 And foolish dreams which cost them all this 
 pain ! ’ 
 
 I cannot tarry here ! My sire, belike, 
 
 Having no eyes, asks at this very hour 
 News of me from each one that walks the wood. 
 
 Let us depart ! Not, Savitri, for us 
 
 Think I, but for those reverend ones at home 
 
 Mourning me now. If they fare well, ’tis well 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 35 
 
 With me ; if ill, naught’s well ! What would please 
 them 
 
 Is wise and good to do.” 
 
 Thereat he heat 
 
 Faint hands, eager to go. And Savitri, 
 
 Seeing him weeping, wiped his tears away 
 And gently spake : “ If I have kept the fast, 
 
 Made sacrifices, given gifts, and wrought 
 Service to holy men, may this black night 
 Be bright to those and thee ! for we will go ; 
 
 I think I never spoke a false word once 
 In all my life, not even in jest : I pray 
 My truth may help to-night them, thee and me ! ” 
 
 “ Let us set forth ! ” he cried ; “ if any harm 
 Hath fallen on those so dear, I could not live ; 
 
 I swear it by my soul ! As thou art sweet, 
 
 Helpful, and virtuous, aid me to depart.” 
 
 Then Savitri arose and tied her hair, 
 
 And lifted up her lord upon his feet ; 
 
 Who, as he swept the dry leaves from his cloth, 
 
36 
 
 SAVITRI; OR, 
 
 Looked on the basket full of fruit. “ But thou,” 
 The Princess said, “ to-morrow shall bring these ; 
 Give me thine axe ; the axe is good to take ! ” 
 
 So saying, she hung the basket on a branch, 
 
 And in her left hand carrying the axe, 
 
 Came back, and laid Iris arm across her neck, 
 
 Her right arm winding round him. So they went. 
 
 [The story concludes happily. 'Whilst the Prince and 
 Princess find a path through the shades of the forest, the 
 king, Dyumutsena, much affiicted at their absence, is sud- 
 denly restored to sight, and becomes consoled by his Rishis, 
 who are convinced that Satyavan and Savitri will return 
 safe and well. Before dawn the absent pair do, indeed, 
 come hack, and, being eagerly questioned, the Prince is un- 
 able to explain what has befallen, but Savitri relates it all, 
 telling how biarada had foreseen that her husband must die, 
 and how she had kept the “ Threefold Fast ” and gone with 
 him to the wood in order to avert his doom. Whilst the 
 Rishis are praising the virtuous Princess, and loudly declaring 
 that her piety and courage have conquered Death himself, 
 messengers arrive from Dyumutsena’s city, announcing that 
 the usurper has been overthrown there, and Satyavan’s father 
 re-proclaimed as king. Dyumutsena returns accordingly in 
 triumph to his capital, with his queen, with Savitri, and 
 with her husband’; and all the good fortunes promised them- 
 by Yama duly befall. Markandya finishes the narrative by 
 saying :] 
 
LOVE AND DEATH. 
 
 37 
 
 So did fair Savitri from Yama save 
 Her lord, and all his house to glory lead. 
 
 And Draupadi, as wise and beautiful, 
 
 Shall, like that princess (0 great Yudhisthir ’), 
 Bring you past bitter seas to blessed shores. 
 
 Then was the Prince of Pandavas consoled ; 
 He also, who shall read with heart intent 
 Savitri’ s holy story, will wax glad, 
 
 And know that all fares well, and suffer not 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 [From the Vana Parva of the Mahabliarata, line 2073, Calcutta 
 4to Edition.] 
 
 PAET I. 
 
 A Prince there was named ETala, Yirasen’s noble 
 breed, 
 
 Goodly to see, and virtuous ; a tamer of the steed ; 
 
 As Indra ’midst the gods, so he of kings was kingliest 
 one, 
 
 Sovereign of men, and splendid as the golden glittering 
 sun ; 
 
 Pure; knowing Yedas ; gallant; ruling greatly Nis- 
 hadh’s lands ; 
 
 Dice-loving, but a proud, true chief of her embattled 
 bands ; 
 
 By lovely ladies lauded ; free, trained in self-control ; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 39 
 
 A shield and bow ; a Manu on earth ; a royal soul ! 
 
 And in Vidarbha’s city the Kaja Bhima dwelled; 
 
 Save offspring from his perfect bliss no blessing was 
 withheld ; 
 
 For offspring many a pious rite full patiently he 
 wrought, 
 
 Till Damana the Brahman unto his house was brought ; 
 
 Him Bhima, ever reverent, did courteously entreat ; 
 
 Within the Queen’s pavilion led him to rest and eat ; 
 
 Whereby that sage, grown grateful, gave her, for joy 
 of joys, 
 
 A girl, the gem of girlhood, and three brave, lusty 
 boys, — 
 
 Damana, Dama, Danta, their names, — Damayanti she ; 
 
 Ho daughter more delightful, no sons could goodlier 
 be ! 
 
 Stately and bright and beautiful did Damayanti grow; 
 No land there was which did not the slender-waisted 
 know ; 
 
40 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 A hundred slaves her fair form decked with robe and 
 ornament, 
 
 Like Sachi’s self to serve her a hundred virgins bent ; 
 
 And, ’midst them, Bhima’s daughter, in peerless glory 
 dight, 
 
 Gleamed as the lightning glitters against the murk of 
 night, 
 
 Having the eyes of Lakshmi, long-lidded, black, and 
 bright. 
 
 Nay, never Gods, nor Yakshas, nor mortal men 
 among, 
 
 Was one so rare and radiant e’er seen, or sued, or 
 sung, 
 
 As she, the heart-consuming, in heaven itself desired. 
 
 And Nala, too, of princes the tiger-prince, admired 
 
 As Kama was, in beauty like the bodied Lord of 
 Love : 
 
 And ofttimes Nala praised they all other chiefs above 
 
 In Damayanti’s hearing, and oftentimes to him 
 
 With worship and with wonder her beauty they would 
 limn, 
 
N ALA AND DAMAYANTl 
 
 4i 
 
 So that — unmet, unknowing, unseen — in each for each 
 A tender thought and longing grew up, from seed of 
 speech ; 
 
 And love (thou son of Kunti !) those gentle hearts did 
 reach. 
 
 THUS Nala, hardly bearing in his heart 
 The longing, wandered in his palace-woods, 
 
 And marked some water-birds, with painted plumes, 
 Disporting. One, by stealthy steps, he seized ; 
 
 But the sky- traveller spake to Nala this : 
 
 “ Kill me not, Prince ! and I will serve thee well ; 
 Por I in Damayanti’s ear will say 
 Such good of Nishadh’s lord, that never more 
 Shall thought of man possess her, save of thee.” 
 
 Thereat the Prince gladly gave liberty 
 To his soft prisoner, and all the swans 
 Blew, clanging, to Yidarbha — a bright flock — 
 Straight to Yidarbha, where the Princess walked ; 
 And there beneath her eyes those wingM ones 
 
42 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Lighted. She saw them sail to earth, and marked, 
 Sitting amid her maids, their graceful forms ; 
 
 While these, for wantonness, ’gan chase the swans, 
 Which fluttered this and that way, through the 
 grove : 
 
 Each girl with tripping feet her bird pursued ; 
 
 And Damayanti, laughing, followed hers ; 
 
 Until, at point to grasp, the flying prey 
 Deftly eluding touch, spake as men speak 
 Addressing Bhima’s daughter: 
 
 o o 
 
 “ Lady dear ! 
 
 Loveliest Damayanti ! Nala dwells 
 In near Nishadha : oh, a nohle prince ! 
 
 Not to he matched of men ; an A£win he 
 For goodliness. Incomparable maid ! 
 
 Wert thou but wife to that surpassing chief, 
 
 Bich would the fruit grow from such lordly birth. 
 Such peerless beauty, slender-waisted one ! 
 
 Gods, men, and Gandharvas have we beheld, 
 
 But never none among them like to him. 
 
 As thou art Pearl of princesses, so he 
 
NALA AND D AM AY A NT t. 
 
 43 
 
 Is Crown of princes ; happy would it fall 
 One such perfection should another wed.” 
 
 And when she heard that bird (0 King of men !) 
 The Princess answered, “ G-o, dear swan, and tell 
 This same to bTala ; ” and the egg-born said, 
 
 “ I go,” and flew ; and told the Prince of all. 
 
 BUT Damayanti, having heard the bird, 
 
 Lived fancy-free no more; by Nala’s side 
 
 Her soul dwelt, while she sate at home distraught, 
 
 Mournful and wan, sighing the hours away, 
 
 With eyes upcast and passion-laden looks : 
 
 So that eftsoons her limbs failed, and her mind, 
 
 By love o’erweighted, found no rest in sleep, 
 
 No grace in company, no joy at feasts. 
 
 Uor night nor day brought peace : always she heaved 
 Sigh upon sigh, till all her maidens knew, 
 
 By glance and mien and moan, how changed she was, 
 Her own sweet self no more : then to the king 
 They told how Damayanti loved this Prince ; 
 
44 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 Which thing when Bhima from her maidens heard, 
 Deep pondering for his child what should be done, 
 And why the Princess was beside herself, 
 
 That Lord of lands perceived his daughter grown, 
 And knew that for her high Swayamvara 
 The time was come. 
 
 So to the Bajas all 
 
 The King sent word : “ Ye lords of earth ! attend 
 Of Damayanti the Swayamvara.” 
 
 And when these learned of her Swayamvara, 
 
 Obeying Bhima, to his court they thronged, — 
 Elephants, horses, cars, — over the laud 
 In full files wending, hearing flags and wreaths 
 Of countless colours, with gay companies 
 Of fighting men. And these high-hearted chiefs 
 The strong-armed King welcomed with worship fair 
 As fitted each, and led them to their seats. 
 
 Now, at that hour, there passed towards Indra’ 
 heaven, 
 
 Thither from earth ascending, those twain saints 
 
NALA AND DAM AY AN Tt. 
 
 45 
 
 The wise, the pure, the mighty-minded ones, 
 
 The self-sustained, Narad and Parvata. 
 
 The mansion of the Sovereign of the Gods 
 In honour entered they ; and He, the lord 
 Of clouds, dread Indra, softly them salutes, 
 Enquiring of their weal, and of the world, 
 Wherethrough their name is famous ; — how it fares ? 
 
 Then Narad said, “ Well is it, Lord of gods ! 
 
 With us and with our world; and well with those 
 Who rule the peoples, 0 thou King in heaven ! ” 
 
 But He that slew the demons spake again: 
 
 “ The princes of the earth, just-minded, brave, 
 
 Those who in battle fearing not to fall, 
 
 See death on the descending steel, and charge 
 Full front against it, turning not their face; 
 
 Theirs is this realm eternal, as to me 
 The Cow of plenty, Kamadhuk, belongs ! 
 
 Where be my Kshatriya warriors ? wherefore now 
 See I none coming of those slaughtered lords, 
 
 Chiefs of mankind, our always-honoured guests ? ” 
 
46 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t. 
 
 And unto Indra Narad gave reply: 
 
 “ King of the air ! no wars are waged below ; 
 None fall in fight to enter here. The lord 
 Of high Vidarbha hath a daughter, famed 
 For loveliness beyond all earthly maids. 
 
 The Princess Damayanti, far-renowned. 
 
 Of her, dread Sakra ! the Swayamvara 
 Shall soon befall, and thither now repair 
 The kings and princes of all lands to woo — 
 Each for himself — this pearl of womanhood. 
 For, oh, thou Slayer of the demons ! all 
 Desire the maid.” 
 
 Drew round, while Narad spake, 
 The Masters, th’ Immortals, pressing in 
 With Agni and the greatest, near the throne, 
 
 To listen to the speech of Narada ; 
 
 Whom having heard, all cried delightedly, 
 
 “We too will go ! ” Whereupon those high Gods, 
 With chariots and with heavenly retinues, 
 
 Sped to Vidartha, where the kings were met. 
 
 And Nala, knowing of the kingly tryst, 
 
NALA AND D AM AY ANT t 
 
 47 
 
 Went thither joyous ; heart-full with the thought 
 Of Damayanti. 
 
 Thus it chanced the G-ods 
 Beheld that prince wending along his road, 
 
 Goodly of mien as is the Lord of Love. 
 
 The world’s Protectors saw him — like a sun 
 For splendour — and in very wonder paused 
 Some time irresolute ; so fair he was : 
 
 Then in mid-sky their golden chariots stayed, 
 
 And through the clouds descending called to him : 
 “ Bho ! Nala of Nishadha ! noblest prince, 
 
 Be herald for us ; bear our message now ! ” 
 
 "Yea ! ” FTala made reply, “ this will I do ; ” 
 
 And then, — palm unto palm in reverence pressed — 
 Asked : “ Shining Ones ! who are ye ? unto whom, 
 And what words bearing, will ye that I go ? 
 
 Deign to instruct me what it is ye bid.” 
 
 Thus the Prince spake, and Indra answered him : 
 
48 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 “ Thou seest th’ immortal Gods ! Iudra am I, 
 
 And this is Agni, and the other here 
 Varuna, Lord of Waters; and beyond, 
 
 Yama, the King of Death, who parteth souls 
 From mortal frames. To Damayanti go ; 
 
 Tell our approach! Say this: ‘The world’s dread 
 Lords, 
 
 Wishful to see thee, come ; desiring thee — 
 
 Indra, Yaruna, Agni, Yama, alL 
 
 Choose of these powers to which thou wilt be given.’ ” 
 But Nala, hearing that, joined palms again 
 And cried : “ Ah ! send me not with one accord 
 For this, most mighty Gods ! How should a man 
 Sue for another, being suitor too ? 
 
 How bear such errand ? Have compassion, Gods ! ” 
 
 Then spake they : “ Yet thou saidst ‘ This will 1 
 do,’ 
 
 Hishadha’s prince ! and wilt thou do it not, 
 Forswearing faith? Kay, but depart, and soon!” 
 
 So bid, but lingering yet again, he said: 
 
NA LA AND D AM AY A NT 1 
 
 49 
 
 “ Well guarded are tlie gates ; how shall I find 
 Speech with her ? ” 
 
 “ Thou shalt find ! ” Indra replied ; 
 And, lo ! upon that word ISTala was brought 
 To Damayantfs chamber. There he saw 
 Yidarbha’s glory sitting ’mid her maids, 
 
 In majesty and grace surpassing all, 
 
 So exquisite, so delicate of form, 
 
 Waist so fine-turned, such limbs, such lighted eyes, 
 The moon hath meaner radiance than she. 
 
 Love, at the sight of that soft-smiling face, 
 
 Sprang to full passion while he stood and gazed. 
 
 Yet, faith and duty urging, he restrained 
 
 His beating heart ; but, when those beauteous maids 
 
 Spied Nala, from their cushions they uprose, 
 
 Startled to see a man, yet startled more 
 Because he showed so heavenly bright and fair. 
 
 In wondering pleasure each saluted him, 
 
 Uttering no sound, but murmuring to themselves : 
 
 “ Aho ! the grace of him ; aho ! the brilliance ; 
 
 Alio ! what glorious strength lives in his limbs ! 
 
5 ° 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 What is he ? is he God, Gandharva, Yaksha ? ” 
 But this unspoken, for they dared not breathe 
 One syllable, all standing shyly there 
 To see him, and to see his youth so sweet. 
 
 Yet, softly glancing back to his soft glance, 
 
 The Princess presently, with fluttering breath, 
 Accosted Nala, saying : “ Fairest prince ! 
 
 Who by that faultless form hast filled my heart 
 With sudden joy, coming as come the gods, 
 Unstayed, I crave to know thee, who thou art ? 
 How didst thou enter ? how wert thou unseen ? 
 Our palace is close guarded, and the King 
 Hath issued mandates stern.” 
 
 Tenderly spake 
 
 The Prince, replying to those tender words : 
 
 “ Most lovely ! I am Nala ! I am come 
 A herald of the gods unto thee here. 
 
 The gods desire thee — the immortal Four — 
 Indra, Varuna, Yama, Agni. Choose, 
 
 Oh brightest ! one from these to be thy lord. 
 By their help is it I have entered in 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 5 r 
 
 Unseen ; none could beliold me at thy gates, 
 Nor stay me passing : and to speak their will 
 They sent me, fairest one and best ! do thou, 
 Knowing the message, judge as seemeth well.” 
 
 SliE bowed her head, hearing the great gods named, 
 And then, divinely smiling, said to him : 
 
 “ Pledge thyself faithfully to me, and I 
 Will ask, 0 Kaja ! only how to pay 
 That debt with all I am, with all I have ; 
 
 For I and mine are thine — in full trust thine ! 
 
 Make me this promise, Prince ! Thy gentle name, 
 Sung by the swan, first set my thoughts afire ; 
 
 And for thy sake, — only for thee, sweet lord — 
 
 The kings were summoned hither. If, alas ! 
 
 Fair Prince ! thou dost reject my sudden love 
 So proffered, then must poison, flame, or flood, 
 
 Or knitted cord be my sad remedy ! ” 
 
 So spake Vidarblia’s pride, and Nala said : 
 
 “ With gods in waiting, with the world’s dread lords 
 
52 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t. 
 
 Hastening to woo, canst thou desire a man ? 
 Bethink ! I unto these, that make and mar, 
 
 These all-wise Ones, almighty, am like dust 
 Under their feet. Lift thy heart to the height 
 Of that I bring. If mortal man offend 
 The most high gods, death is what springs of it : 
 Spare me to live, thou faultless lady ! choose 
 Which of these excellent great gods thou wilt : 
 Wear the unstained robes! bear on thy brows 
 The wreaths, which never fade, of heavenly blooms 
 Be, as thou may’st, a goddess, and enjoy 
 Godlike delights ! Him who enfolds the earth, 
 Creating and consuming, brightest god, 
 
 Hutasa, eater of the sacrifice, 
 
 What woman would not take ? Or him whose rod 
 Herds all the gathered generations still 
 On virtue’s path, Bed Yama, king of death, 
 
 What woman would affront ? Or him, the All-good, 
 All-wise, destroyer of the demons, first 
 In heaven, Mahendra, — who of womankind 
 Is there that would not take ? Or, if thy mind 
 Incline, doubt not to choose Varuna: he 
 
N ALA AND D AM AY ANT t 
 
 Is of these world-protectors. From a heart 
 Full friendly cometh what I tell thee now.” 
 
 Unto Nishadha’s prince the maid replied, 
 Tears of distress dimming her lustrous eyes : 
 “Humbly I reverence these mighty gods, 
 But thee I choose, and thee I take for lord, 
 And this I vow ! ” 
 
 With folded palms she stood 
 And lips a-tremble, while his answer fell : 
 
 “ Sent on such embassy, how shall I dare 
 Speak, sweetest Princess ! for myself to thee ? 
 Bound by my promise for the gods to sue, 
 
 How can I be a suitor for myself ? 
 
 Silence is here my duty ; afterwards, 
 
 If I shall come in mine own name, I’ll come 
 Mine own cause pleading. Ah ! might that so be 
 
 Checking her tears, Damayanti sadly smiled, 
 And said full soft : “ One way of hope I see, 
 
 A blameless way, 0 Lord of men ! wherefrom 
 
54 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT 1. 
 
 No fault shall rise, nor any danger fall. 
 
 Thou also, Prince, with Indra and these gods, 
 
 Must enter in where my Swayamvara 
 Is held ; then I, in presence of those gods, 
 
 Will choose thee, dearest ! for my lord ; and so 
 Blame shall not be to thee.” 
 
 With which sweet words 
 Soft in his ears, Nishadha straight returned 
 There where the Gods were gathered, waiting him ; 
 Whom the world’s Masters on his way perceived, 
 
 And spying, questioned, asking of his news. 
 
 “ Saw’st thou her, Prince ? didst see the sweet-lipped 
 one ? 
 
 What spake she of us ? Tell us true ! tell all ! ” 
 
 Quoth Nala : “ By Your worshipful behest 
 Sent to her house, the great gates entered I, 
 
 Though the grey porters watched ; but none might 
 
 spy 
 
 My entering, by Your power, 0 radiant Ones ! 
 
 Except the Baja’s daughter ; her I saw 
 
NALA AND DAM A Y ANT-1. 
 
 55 
 
 Amidst her maidens, and by them was seen. 
 
 On me with much amazement they did gaze 
 Whilst I your high divinities extolled ; 
 
 But she, who hath the lovely face, with mind 
 Set upon me, hath chosen me, ye Gods ! 
 
 Bor thus she spake, my princess : ‘ Let them come, 
 And come thou, like a lordly tiger, too, 
 
 Unto the place of my Swayamvara ; 
 
 There will I choose thee in their presence, Prince ’ 
 
 To be my lord ; and so there will not fall 
 Blame, thou strong-armed, to thee ! ’ This she did say 
 Even as I tell it ; and what shall he next 
 To will is yours, 0 ye immortal Ones ! ” 
 
 bOOlST, when the moon was good, and day and hour 
 Were found propitious, Bhima, king of men, 
 Summoned the chiefs to the Swayamvara : 
 
 Upon which message all those eager lords 
 Eor love of Damayanti hastened there. 
 
 Glorious with gilded pillars was the court, 
 
 Whereto a gate-house opened, and thereby 
 
56 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 Into the square like lions from the hills 
 
 Paced the proud guests ; and there their seats they took, 
 
 Each in his rank, the masters of the lands, 
 
 With crowns of fragrant blossoms garlanded. 
 
 And polished jewels swinging in their ears. 
 
 Of some the thews, knitted and rough, stood forth 
 Like iron maces ; some had slender limbs, 
 
 Sleek and fine-turned, like the five-headed snake ; 
 Lords with long-flowing hair, glittering lords, 
 High-nosed, and eagle-eyed, and heavy-browed ; 
 
 The faces of those kings shone in a ring 
 As shine at night the stars ; and that great square 
 As thronged with Puijas was as Xaga-land 
 Is full of serpents, thick with warlike chiefs 
 As mountain caves with panthers. Unto these 
 Entered in matchless majesty of form 
 The Princess Damayanti. As she came, 
 
 The glory of her ravished eyes and hearts, 
 
 So that the gaze of all those haughty kings 
 Fastening upon her loveliness, grew fixed — 
 
 Hot moving save with her — step after step, 
 
 Onward and always following the maid. 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANT t 
 
 57 
 
 But while the styles and dignities of all 
 Were cried aloud (0 Son of Bharat !), lo ! 
 
 The Princess marked five in that throng alike 
 In form and garb and visage. There they stood 
 Each from the next undifferenced, and each 
 Uala’s own self ; — yet which might ISTala be 
 In nowise could that doubting maid descry ; 
 
 Who took her eye seemed Hal a while she gazed, 
 
 Until she looked upon his like, and so 
 Pondered the lovely lady, sore perplexed. 
 
 Thinking, “ How shall I tell which be the gods 
 And which is noble Uala ? ” Deep distressed 
 And meditative waxed she, seeking hard 
 What those signs were, delivered us of old, 
 
 Whereby gods may be known. “ Of all those signs 
 Taught by our elders, lo ! I see not one, 
 
 Where stand yon five,” — so murmured she, and turned 
 Over and over every mark she knew. 
 
 At last, resolved to make the gods themselves 
 Her help at need, with reverent heart and voice 
 Humbly saluted she those heavenly Ones, 
 
 And with joined palms and trembling accents spake: 
 
53 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT 1 
 
 “ As when, hearing the swans, I chose my Prince, 
 
 By that sincerity I call the gods 
 
 To show my love to me and make him known ! 
 
 As in my heart, and soul, and speech I stand 
 True to my choice, by that sincerity 
 I call the all-knowing gods to make me know ! 
 
 As the high gods created Nishadh’s chief 
 To be my lord, by their sincerity 
 I bid them show themselves and make me know ! 
 As my vow, sealed to him, must be maintained 
 For his name and for mine, I call the gods 
 By this sincerity to make me know ! 
 
 Let them appear, the Masters of the worlds, 
 
 The high Gods, each one in his proper shape, 
 
 That I may see Nishadha’s chief, my choice, 
 Whom minstrels praise and Damayanti loves.” 
 
 Hearing that earnest speech, so passion-fraught, 
 So full of truth, of strong resolve, of love, 
 
 Of singleness of soul and constancy, — 
 
 Even as she spake the Gods disclosed themselves : 
 By well-seen signs the effulgent Ones she knew. 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTL 
 
 59 
 
 S 'hadowless stood they ; with unwinking eyes, 
 
 And skins which never moist with sweat ; their feet 
 Light gliding o’er the ground, not touching it ; 
 
 The unfading blossoms on their brows not soiled 
 By earthly dust, but ever fair and fresh ; 
 
 Whilst by their side, garbed so and visaged so, 
 
 But doubled by his shadow, stained with dust, 
 
 The flower-cups wiltering in his wreath, his skin 
 Pearly with sweat, his feet upon the earth, 
 
 And eyes awink, stood Nala. One by one 
 Glanced she on those Divinities, then bent 
 Her gaze upon the Prince, and, joyous, said, 
 
 “ I know thee, and I name my rightful lord, 
 
 Taking Nishadha’s chief ! ” Therewith she drew 
 Modestly nigh, and held him by the cloth, 
 
 With large eyes beaming love, and round his neck 
 Hung the bright chaplet, love’s delicious crown ; 
 
 So choosing him, him only, whom she named 
 Before the face of all to be her lord. 
 
 Ah ! — then brake forth from all those suitors proud, 
 “ Ha ! ” and “ Aho ! ” but from the Gods and saints 
 
6o 
 
 NALA AND D AM AY ANT t. 
 
 “ Sadhu ! well done ! well clone ! ” and all admir 
 The happy Prince, praising the grace of him ; 
 While Yirasena’s son, delightedly, 
 
 Spake to the slender- waisted these fond words : 
 
 “ Fair Princess ! since, before all Gods and men, 
 Thou makest me thy choice, right glad am I 
 Of this thy will, and true lord will I he. 
 
 For so long, loveliest ! as my breath endures 
 Thine am I ! thus I plight my troth to thee ! ” 
 So, with joined palms, unto that beauteous maid 
 His gentle faith he pledged, rejoicing her ; 
 
 And hand in hand, radiant with mutual love, 
 Before great Agni and the Gods they passed, 
 
 The world’s Protectors worshipping. 
 
 Then those 
 
 The Lords of life, the powerful Ones, bestowed, 
 Being well pleased, on FTala, chosen so, 
 
 Eight noble boons. The boon which Indra gave 
 Was grace, at times of sacrifice, to see 
 The visible god approach with step divine ; 
 
 And Agni’s boon was this, that he would come 
 
NALA AND DAM AY AN Tl 
 
 6i 
 
 Whenever Nala called ; for everywhere 
 Hutasa shineth, and all worlds are his. 
 
 Yama gave skill in cookery, steadfastness 
 In virtue; and Varuna, king of floods, 
 
 Bade all the waters ripple at his word. 
 
 These boons the high Gods doubled by the gift 
 Of bright wreaths wove with magic blooms of heaven, 
 And, those bestowed, ascended to their seats. 
 
 Also with wonder and with joy returned 
 
 The Eajas and the Maharajas all, 
 
 hull of the marriage feast; for Bhima made, 
 
 In pride and pleasure, stately nuptials : 
 
 So Damayanti and the prince were wed. 
 
 Then, having tarried as is wont, that lord, 
 Nishadha’s chief, took the King’s leave and went 
 Unto his city, bringing home with him 
 His jewel of all womanhood ; with whom 
 Blissful he lived, as lives by Sachi’s side 
 The Slayer of the Demons. Like a sun 
 Shone Nala on his throne, ruling his folk 
 In strength and virtue, guardian of his state. 
 
62 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 Also the Aswamedha rite he made, 
 
 Greatest of rites, the offering of the horse, 
 
 As did Yayati ; and all other acts 
 Of worship; and to sages gave rich gifts. 
 
 Many sweet days of much delicious love, 
 
 In pleasant gardens and in shadowy groves, 
 Tassed they together, sojourning like gods. 
 And Damayanti bore unto her lord 
 A boy named Indrasen, and next a girl 
 Named Indrasena; so in happiness 
 The good Prince governed, seeing all his lands 
 Wealthy and well, in piety and peace. 
 
 Now, at the choosing of Nishadha’s chief 
 By Bhima’s daughter, when those Lords of life 
 The effulgent gods departed, Dwapara 
 They saw with Kali coming. Indra said — 
 The Demon-slayer — spying them approach : 
 
 “ Whither with Dwapara goest thou to-day, 
 
 0 Kali ! ” And the sombre Shade replied : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 6 3 
 
 “ To Damayantfs high Swayamvara 
 I go, to make her mine, since she hath grown 
 Into my heart.” But Indra, laughing, said : 
 
 “ Ended is that Swayamvara ; for she 
 Hath taken Baja ISTala for her lord, 
 
 Before us all.” But Kali, hearing this, 
 
 Brake into wrath — while he stood worshipping 
 That band divine — and furiously cried: 
 
 “ If she hath set a man above the gods 
 To wed with him, for such sin let there fall 
 Doom, rightful, swift, and terrible, on her ! ” 
 “Kay!” answered unto him those heavenly Ones; 
 “ But Damayanti chose with our good-will, 
 
 And what maid but would choose so fair a prince, 
 Seeing he hath all qualities, and knows 
 Virtue, and rightly practises the vow t s, 
 
 And reads the four great Vedas, and what’s next, 
 The holy stories, whilst perpetually, 
 
 The gods are honoured in his house with gifts ? 
 
 Ko hurt he does ; kind to all living things ; 
 
 True of word is he ; faithful, liberal, just ; 
 
 Steadfast and patient, temperate and pure ; 
 
6 4 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t 
 
 A king of men is Nala, like the gods ! 
 
 He that would curse a prince of suck a mould, 
 Thou foolish Kali ! lays upon himself 
 A sin to wreck himself : the curse comes back 
 And sinks him in the bottomless vast gulf 
 Of Narak.” 
 
 Thus the Gods to Kali spake 
 And mounted heavenward ; whereupon that Shade, 
 Frowning, to Dwapara burst forth : “ My rage 
 Beareth no curb ! henceforth in Nala I 
 Will dwell ; his kingdom I will make to fall ; 
 
 His bliss with Damayanti I will mar ; 
 
 And thou within the dice shalt enter straight, 
 
 And help me, Dwapara ! to drag him down.” 
 
 Which evil compact binding, those repaired — 
 
 Kali and Dwapara — to Nala’s house, 
 
 And haunted in Nishadha, where he ruled, 
 
 Seeking occasion ’gainst the blameless Prince. 
 
 Long watched they : twelve years rolled e’er Kali saw 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 65 
 
 The fateful fault arrive ; Nishadha’s lord, 
 
 Easing himself, and sprinkling hands and lips 
 With purifying water, passed to prayer 
 His feet unwashed, offending; — Kali straight 
 Possessed the heedless Eaja, entering him. 
 
 That hour there sate with Hala, Pushkara, 
 
 His brother; and the evil spirit hissed 
 Into the ear of Pushkara, “ Ehi ! 
 
 Arise and challenge Kala at the dice! 
 
 Throw with the Prince ! it may he thou shalt win 
 (Luck helping thee — and I), Hishadha’s throne, 
 
 Town, treasures, palace ; thou may’st gain them all ! ” 
 And Pushkara, hearing Kali’s evil voice, 
 
 Made near to Hala with the dice in hand, 
 
 (A great piece for the “ Bull ” and little ones 
 For “ Cows,” and Kali hiding in the “ Bull ”). 
 
 So Pushkara came to K ala’s side and said : 
 
 “ Play with me, brother, at the ‘ Cows and Bull.’ ” 
 And being put off, cried mockingly, “ Kay, play ! ” 
 Shaming the Prince, whose spirit chafed to leave 
 A gage unfaced ; but when Vidarbha’s pride, 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 N ALA AND DAM A YANTt. 
 
 The Princess — heard him, Nala started up : 
 “Yea, Pushkara, I will play!” fiercely he said, 
 And to the game addressed. 
 
 His gems he lost, 
 
 Armlets, and belt, and necklet ; next the gold 
 Of the palace and its vessels ; then the cars 
 Yoked with swift steeds ; and last the royal robes ; 
 For, cast by cast, the dice against him fell, 
 Bewitched by Kali, and cast after cast 
 The passion of the dice gat hold on him 
 Until not one of all his faithfullest 
 Could stay the madman’s hand and gamester’s heart 
 Of who was named “ Subduer of his Foes.” 
 
 The townsmen gathered with the ministers ; 
 
 Unto the palace-gate they thronged (my King !) 
 
 To see their lord, if so they might abate 
 This sickness of his soul. The charioteer 
 Forth-standing from the midst, low worshipping, 
 Spake thus to Damayanti : “ Great Princess ! 
 
 Before thy door all the grieved city stands : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 67 
 
 Say to our lord for us : ‘ Thy folk are here ; 
 
 They grieve that evil fortunes hold their liege, 
 
 Who was so high and just.’ ” Then she, deject, 
 Passed in, and to Nishadha’s ruler said, 
 
 Her soft voice broken and her bright eyes dimmed : 
 “ Eaja ! the people of thy town are here ; 
 
 Before our gates they gather — citizens 
 And councillors — desiring speech with thee. 
 
 In lealty they come, wilt thou be pleased 
 We open to them ? — wilt thou ? ” So she asked 
 Again and yet again ; but not one word 
 To that sad lady with the lovely brows 
 Did Hala answer, wholly swallowed up 
 Of Kali and the gaming ; so that those 
 The citizens and councillors cried out : 
 
 “ Our lord is changed ! he is not Nala now ! ” 
 
 And home returned, ashamed and sorrowful ; 
 Whilst ceaselessly endured that foolish play 
 Moon after moon — the Prince the loser still. 
 
 I HEN Damayanti, seeing so estranged 
 Her lord, the praised-in-song, the chief of men. 
 
68 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT 1. 
 
 Watching, all self-possessed, his phantasy 
 And how the gaming held him, — sad and ’feared, 
 
 The heav} r fortunes pondering of her prince, — 
 
 Hating the fault, but to the offender kind, 
 
 And fearing Nala should be stripped of all, 
 
 This thing devised. Vriliatsena she called, 
 
 Her foster-nurse and faithful ministrant. 
 
 True, skilful at all service, soft of speech, 
 
 Kind-hearted ; and she said : “ Vriliatsena ! 
 
 Go call the ministers to council now, 
 
 As though ’twere Nala hade ; and make them count 
 What store is gone of treasure, what abides,” 
 
 So went Vriliatsena, and summoned those ; 
 
 And when they knew these tilings as from the Prince, 
 “ Truly we too shall perish ! ” cried they all ; 
 
 And all to Nala went ; and all the town 
 A second time assembling, thronged the gates : 
 
 Which Bhima’s daughter told ; but not one word 
 Answered the Prince ; and when she saw her lord 
 Put by her plea, utterly slighting it, 
 
 Back to her chamber, full of shame, she goes, 
 
 And there still hears the dice are falling ill, 
 
N ALA AND D AM AY ANT 1. 
 
 69 
 
 Still hears of ISTala daily losing more ; 
 
 So that again this to her nurse she spake : 
 
 “Send to Yarshneya, good Vfihatsena! 
 
 Say to the charioteer — in Nala’s name — 
 
 ‘ A great thing is to do ; come thou ! ’ ” And this, 
 As soon as Damayanti uttered it, 
 
 Vrihatsena, by faithful servants, told 
 Unto the son of Yrishni, who, being come 
 At fitting time and place, heard the sweet queen 
 In mournful music speak these wistful words : ■ 
 
 “ Thou knowest how thy Kaja trusted thee ; 
 
 Now he hath fallen on evil: succour him! 
 
 The more that Pushkara conquers in the play, 
 
 The wilder rage of gaming takes thy lord : 
 
 The more for Pushkara the dice fall well, 
 
 More contrary they happen to the Prince ; 
 
 Nor heeds he, as were meet, kindred or friends ; 
 Nay, of myself he putteth by the prayer 
 Unanswered, being bewitched : for well I deem 
 This is not noble-minded Nala’s sin, 
 
 But some ill spell possesseth him to shut 
 His ears to me. Thou, therefore, charioteer, 
 
70 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 Our refuge be ! do what I shall command ; 
 
 My heart is dark with fear; — yea, it may hap 
 Our lord will perish ! wherefore, harnessing 
 His chosen steeds, which fly as swift as thought, 
 Take these our children in the chariot 
 And drive to Kundina, delivering there 
 Unto my kin the little ones, and car 
 And horses. Afterwards abide thou there, 
 
 Or otherwhere depart.” 
 
 Varshneya heard 
 The words of Damayanti, and forthwith 
 In Nala’s council-hall recounted them, 
 
 The chief men being present ; who thus met. 
 And, long debating, gave him leave to go. 
 
 So with that royal pair to Bhima’s town 
 Drove he, and at Yidarbha rendered up, 
 Together with the swift steeds and the car, 
 The sweet maid Indrasena, and the Prince 
 Indrasen, and made reverence to the king — 
 Saddened, for sake of Nala. Afterward 
 Taking his leave, unto Ayodhya 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 7 1 
 
 Varshneya went, exceeding sorrowful, 
 
 And with King Kituparna (Bharat’s Prince !) 
 Took service as a charioteer. 
 
 These gone, 
 
 The praised-of-poets, Nala, still played on, 
 
 Till Pushkara his kingdom’s wealth had won, 
 
 And whatso was to lose beside. Thereat 
 With scornful laugh mocked he that beggared Prince, 
 Saying : “ One other throw ! once more ! — yet, sooth, 
 What canst thou stake ? Nothing is left for thee 
 Save Damayantx ; all the rest is mine. 
 
 Play we for Damayanti, if thou wilt.” 
 
 But hearing this from Pushkara, the Prince 
 So in his heart by grief and shame was torn, 
 
 No word he uttered, only glared in wrath 
 Upon his mocker, upon Pushkara. 
 
 Then, his rich robes and jewels stripping off, 
 Uncovered, with one cloth, ’mid wailing friends, 
 Sorrowful passed he forth, his great state gone. 
 
72 
 
 NA LA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 His Princess with one garment following him, 
 
 Piteous to see ! And there, without the gates. 
 
 Three nights they lay, Nishadha’s King and Queen. 
 Upon the fourth day Pushkara proclaimed 
 Throughout the city : “ Whoso yieldeth help 
 To Nala dieth ! let my will be known ! ” 
 
 So, for this bitter word of Pushkara’s power 
 (0 Yudhisthir !) the townsmen rendered not 
 Service nor love, but left them outcast there, 
 Unhelped, whom all the city should have helped. 
 
 Yet three nights longer tarried he, his drink 
 The common pool, his meat such fruits and roots 
 As miserable hunger plucks from earth ; 
 
 Then fled they from their walls, the Prince going first, 
 The Princess following. 
 
 After grievous days, 
 
 Pinched ever with sharp famine, Xala saw 
 A flock of gold-winged birds lighting anigh, 
 
 And to himself the famished Kaja said : 
 
 “ Lo ! here is food ! this day we shall have store ; ” 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTl 
 
 73 
 
 Then lightly cast his cloth and covered them ; 
 
 But these, fluttering aloft, bore up with them 
 Nala’s one cloth ; and hovering overhead, 
 
 Uttered sharp-stinging words, reviling him 
 Even as he stood, naked to all the airs, 
 
 Downcast and desperate : “ Thou brain-sick Prince ! 
 We are the Dice ; we come to ravish hence 
 Thy last poor cloth ; we were not well content 
 Thou should’st depart owning a garment still.” 
 
 And when he saw the Dice take wings and fly, 
 Leaving him bare, to Damayanti spake 
 This melancholy Prince : “ 0 blameless one ! 
 
 They of whose malice I am driven forth, 
 
 Finding no sustenance, sad, famine-gaunt — 
 
 They whose decree forbade Nishadha’s folk 
 Should succour me, their Baja ; these have come — 
 Demon and Dice — and, like to winged birds, 
 
 Have borne away my cloth. To such shame fall’n, 
 Such utmost woe ; wretched, demented — I 
 Thy lord am still, and counsel thee for good. 
 
 Attend ! hence be there many roads which go 
 Southwards ; some pass Avanti’s walls, and some 
 
74 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 Skirt Eikshavan, the Forest of the Bears ; 
 
 This wends to Vindhya’s lofty peaks, and this 
 To those green hanks where quick Payoshni runs 
 Seaward between her hermitages, rich 
 1 n fruits and roots ; and yon path leadeth thee 
 Unto Vidarbha, that to Kosala, 
 
 And therefrom southward — southward — far away.” 
 
 So spake he to the Princess wistfully, 
 
 Between his words pointing along the paths 
 Which she should take (0 King !) ; but Bhima’s child 
 Made answer, bowed with grief, her soft voice choked 
 AVith sobs, these piteous accents uttering : 
 
 “ My heart beats quick ; my body’s force is gone, 
 Thinking, dear Prince ! on this which thou hast said, 
 Pointing along the paths. What ! robbed of realm, 
 Stripped of thy wealth, bare, famished, parched with 
 thirst, 
 
 Thus shall I leave thee in the untrodden wood ? 
 
 Ah, no ! while thou dost muse on good days fled, 
 Hungry and weeping, I, in this wild waste 
 
NALA AND D AM AY ANT t 
 
 75 
 
 Will charm thy griefs away, solacing thee. 
 
 The wisest doctors say, ‘ In every woe 
 No better physic is than wifely love.’ 
 
 And, Nala ! I will make it true to thee.” 
 
 “ Thou mak’st it true,” he said ; “ thou sayest well. 
 Sweet Damayanti ! neither is there friend 
 To sad men given better than a wife. 
 
 I had no thought to leave thee, foolish love ! 
 
 Why didst thou fear ? Alas ! ’tis from myself 
 That I would fly — not thee, thou faultless one.” 
 
 “Yet, if,” the Princess answered, “ Maharaj, 
 Thou hadst no thought to leave me, why by thee 
 Was tbe way pointed to Yidarbha’s walls ? 
 
 I know thou would’st not quit me, noblest Lord ! 
 Being thyself, but only if thy mind 
 Were sore distraught; and see, thou gazest still 
 Along the southward road, my dread thereby 
 Increasing : thou that wert wise as the gods ; 
 
 If it be thy fixed thought, ‘ ’Twere best she went 
 Unto lier people ’ — be it so — I go ; 
 
76 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 But hand in hand with thee ; thus let us fare 
 Unto Yidarhha, where the king my sire 
 Will greet thee well and honour thee, and we 
 Happy and safe within his gates shall dwell” 
 
 AS is thy father’s kingdom,” Nala said, 
 
 “ So too was mine ; be sure, whate’er befall, 
 
 Never will I go thither. How, in sooth, 
 
 Should I, who came there glorious, gladdening thee, 
 Creep back, thy shame and scorn, disconsolate ? ” 
 
 So to sweet Damayanti spake the Prince, 
 
 Beguiling her, whom now one cloth scarce clad, — 
 
 For but one garb they shared ; and thus they strayed 
 Hither and thither, faint for meat and drink ; 
 
 Until a little hut they spied, and there 
 Nishadha’s monarch entering, sate him down 
 On the bare ground, the Princess by his side — 
 Yidarbha’s glory — wearing that scant cloth, 
 
 Without a mat, soiled by the dust and mire. 
 
 At Damayanti’s side he sank asleep 
 Outworn, and beauteous Damayanti slept, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 77 
 
 Spent with strange trials, — she so gently reared, 
 
 So soft and holy ! But while slumbering thus, 
 
 No placid rest knew Nala ; troubled-tossed, 
 
 He woke, forever thinking of his realm 
 Lost, lieges estranged, and all the griefs 
 Of that wild wood. These on his heart came back, 
 And “ What if I shall do it ? what, again, 
 
 If I shall do it not ? ” so murmured he ; 
 
 “Would death be better, or to leave my love ? 
 
 For my sake she endures this woe, my fate 
 Too fondly sharing ; freed from me, her steps 
 Would turn unto her people. At my side 
 Sure suffering is her portion ; but, apart, 
 
 It might be she would somewhere comfort find.” 
 
 Thus with himself debating o’er and o’er, 
 
 The Prince resolves abandonment were best: 
 
 “ For how,” saith he, “ should any in the wood 
 Harm her, so radiant in her grace, so good, 
 
 So noble, virtuous, faithful, famous, pure ? ” 
 
 Thus mused his miserable mind, seduced 
 By Kali’s cursed mischiefs to betray 
 
73 
 
 N ALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 His sleeping wife. Then, seeing his loin-cloth gone 
 And Damayanti clad, he drew anigh, 
 
 Thinking to take of hers, and muttering, 
 
 “ May I not rend one fold and she not know ? ” 
 
 So meditating, round the cabin crept 
 Prince Kala, feeling up and down its walls ; 
 
 And presently within the purlieus found 
 A naked knife, keen-tempered ; therewithal 
 Shred he away a piece, and hound it on ; 
 
 Then made with desperate steps to seek the waste, 
 Leaving his Princess sleeping ; hut anon 
 Turns hack again in changeful mood, and glides 
 Into the hut, and, gazing wistfully 
 On slumbering Damayanti, moans with tears : 
 
 “ Ah, Sweetheart ! whom nor wind nor sun before 
 Hath ever rudely touched ; thou to be couched 
 In this poor hut, its floor thy bed, and I, 
 
 Thy lord, deserting thee, stealing from thee 
 Thy last robe ! 0 my Love with the bright smile ! 
 
 My slender-waisted queen ! will she not wake 
 To madness ? Yea, and w 7 ken she wanders lone 
 In the dark wood, haunted with beasts and snakes, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTl 
 
 79 
 
 How will it fare with Bhima’s tender child, 
 
 The bright and peerless ? My most noble wife ! 
 May the great sun, may the eight Powers of air, 
 
 The Eudras, Maruts, and the Aswins twain 
 Guard thee, thou true and dear one, on thy way ! ” 
 
 Thus to his sleeping queen, in all the earth 
 Unmatched for beauty, spake he piteously, 
 
 Then broke away once more, by Kali driven ; 
 
 But yet another and another time 
 Stole back into the hut for one last gaze, 
 
 That way by Kali dragged, this way by love. 
 
 Two hearts he had, this trouble-stricken Prince — 
 One beating “ Go ! ” one throbbing “ Stay ! ” and thus 
 Backwards and forwards swings his mind between ; 
 Till, mastered by the sorrow and the spell, 
 
 Frantic flies Nala, leaving there alone 
 That tender sleeper, sighing as she slept. 
 
 He flies — the soulless prey of Kali flies ; 
 
 Still, while he hurries through the forest drear, 
 Thinking upon the sweet face he hath left. 
 
8o 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 Far distant (King !) was Nala, when, refreshed, 
 
 The slender- waisted wakened, shuddering 
 At the wood’s silence ; hut, when seeking him, 
 
 She found no Nala, sudden anguish seized 
 Her frightened heart, and lifting high her voice, 
 
 Loud cried she “ Maharaja ! Nishadh’s Prince, 
 
 Ha, Lord ! ha, Maliaraj ! ha, Master ! why 
 Hast thou abandoned me ? How am I lost, 
 
 Am doomed, undone ; left in this lonesome gloom ! 
 Wert thou not named, 0 Nala ! true and just f 
 Yet art thou these to quit me while I slept ? 
 
 And hast thou so forsaken me, thy wife — 
 
 Thine own fond wife, who never wrought thee wrong, 
 When by all others wrong was wrought on thee ? 
 How mak’st thou good to me now, lord of men ! 
 Those words which long ago before the gods 
 Thou didst pronounce ? Alas ! death will not come 
 Except at his appointed time to men ; 
 
 And therefore for a little I shall live, 
 
 Whom thou hast lived to leave. Nay, ’tis a jest ! 
 
 Fie ! truant ! runaway ! enough thou playest : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 81 
 
 Come forth, my lord ! I am afraid, — come forth ! 
 Linger not, for I see — I spy thee there ; 
 
 Thou art within yon thicket ! why not speak 
 One word, Kishadha ? Nala ! cruel Prince ! 
 
 Thou knowest me lone, and comest not to calm 
 My terrors, and be with me in my need. 
 
 Art gone indeed ? I’ll not bemoan myself, 
 
 Nor whatso may befall me ; I must think 
 How desolate thou art, and weep for thee. 
 
 "VVhat wilt thou do, thirsty and hungry, spent 
 With wandering, when, at nightfall ’mid the trees, 
 Thou hast me not, sweet Prince, to comfort thee ! ” 
 
 Thereat, distracted by her bitter pain. 
 
 Like one whose heart is fire, forward and back 
 She runs, hither and thither, weeping, wild. 
 
 One while she sinks to earth, one while she springs 
 Quick to her feet ; now utterly o’ercome 
 By fear and fasting, now by grief driven mad, 
 Wading and sobbing ; till anon, with moans 
 And broken sighs and tears, Bhima’s fair child, 
 
 The ever-faithful wife, speaks thus again : 
 
 F 
 
82 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 “ By whomsoever ’s spell this harm hath fallen 
 On Nishadh’s lord, I pray that evil one 
 May hear a bitterer plague than Nala doth. 
 
 To him, whoever set my guileless Prince 
 On these ill deeds, I pray some direr might 
 May bring ev’n darker days, and life to live 
 More miserable still ! ” 
 
 Thus, woe-begone, 
 
 Mourned that great-hearted wife her vanished lord, 
 Seeking him ever in the gloomy shades, 
 
 By wild beasts haunted. Roaming everywhere, 
 
 Like one possessed — frantic, disconsolate, 
 
 Went Bhima’s daughter. “ Ha, ha ! Maharaj ! ” 
 
 So crying runs she, so in every place 
 Is heard her ceaseless wail, as when is heard 
 The fish-hawk’s cry, which screams, and circlin 
 screams, 
 
 And will not stint complaining. 
 
 Suddenly, 
 
 Straying too near his den, a serpent’s coils 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 83 
 
 Seized Bhima’s daughter ! a prodigious snake, 
 Glittering and strong, and furious for food, 
 
 Knitted about the Princess. She, o’erwlielmed 
 With horror and the cold enfolding death, 
 
 Spends her last breath in pitiful laments 
 Por Nala,. not herself. “ Ah, Love ! ” she cried, 
 
 “ That would have saved me, who must perish now, 
 Seized in the lone wood by this hideous snake, 
 
 Why art thou not beside me ? What will be 
 Thy thought, Nishadlia ! me remembering 
 In days to come, when, from the curse set free, 
 
 Thou hast thy noble mind again, thyself, 
 
 Thy wealth — all save thy wife ? Then thou’lt be sad, 
 Be weary, wilt need food and drink, but I 
 Shall minister no longer ! Who will tend 
 My love, my lord, my lion among kings, 
 
 My blameless Nala, — Damayanti dead ? ” 
 
 That hour a hunter, roving through the brake, 
 Heard her bewailing, and with quickened steps 
 Made nigh ; and, spying a woman, almond-eyed 
 Lovely, forlorn, by that fell monster knit, 
 
S 4 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 He ran, and, as lie came, with keen shaft clove, 
 Through gaping mouth and crown, tli’ unwitting worm, 
 Slaying it. Then the woodman from its folds 
 Freed her, and laved the snake’s slime from her limbs 
 With water of the pool, comforting her 
 And giving food ; and afterwards (my King !) 
 
 Inquiry made : “ What doest in this wood, 
 
 Thou with the fawn’s eyes ? and how earnest thou, 
 
 My mistress, to such pit of misery ? ” 
 
 And Damayanti, spoken fair by him, 
 
 Eecounted all which had befallen her. 
 
 But, gazing on her graces, scantly clad 
 With half a cloth, those smooth full sides, those breasts 
 Beauteously swelling, form of faultless mould, 
 
 Sweet youthful face, fair as the moon at full, 
 
 And dark eyes by long curving lashes swept ; 
 
 Hearing her tender sighs and honeyed speech, 
 
 The hunter fell to hot desire : he dared 
 Essay to woo, with whispered words at first, 
 
 And then, by amorous approach, the queen; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 35 
 
 Who, presently perceiving what he would, 
 
 And all that baseness of him — being so pure, 
 
 So chaste and faithful — like a blazing torch 
 Took fire of scorn and anger ’gainst the man, 
 
 Her true soul burning at him ; till the wretch, 
 Wicked in heart, but impotent of mind, 
 
 Glared on her, splendidly invincible 
 In weakness, loftily defying force, 
 
 A living flame of lighted chastity. 
 
 She then, albeit so desolate, so lone, 
 
 Abandoned by her lord, stripped of her state, 
 
 Like a proud princess stormed, flinging away 
 
 All terms of supplication, cursing him 
 
 With wrath which scorched. “ If I am clear in heart 
 
 And true in thought unto Mshadha’s king, 
 
 Then may’st thou, vile pursuer of the beasts ! 
 
 Sink to the earth stone-dead ! ” 
 
 While she did speak 
 
 The hunter breathless fell to earth, stone-dead, 
 
 As falls a tree-trunk blasted by the bolt. 
 
86 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 lHAT ravisher destroyed, the Lotus-eyed 
 Fared forward, threading still the fearful wood, 
 Lonely and dim, with trill of jhillikas 
 Eesounding, and fierce noise of many beasts 
 Laired in its shade ; lions and leopards, deer, 
 Close-hiding tigers, sullen bison, wolves, 
 
 And shaggy bears. Also the glades of it 
 
 Were filled with fowl which crept, or flew, and cried. 
 
 A home for savage men and murderers ; 
 
 Thick with a world of trees, whereof was Sal, 
 Sharp-seeded, weeping gum ; knotted Bambus ; 
 Dhavas with twisted roots ; smooth Aswatthas, 
 Large-leaved and clinging through the cloven rocks ; 
 Tindukas, iron-fibred, dark of grain ; 
 
 4 
 
 Ingudas, yielding oil, and Ivinsukas 
 With scarlet flowerets flaming. Thronging these 
 Were Arjuns and Arishta clumps, which bear 
 The scented purple clusters ; Syandans, 
 
 And tall Silk-cotton trees and Mango-belts 
 All silver-speared, with wild Kose-apples blent, 
 
 ’Mid Lodhra tufts and Khadirs, interknit 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 87 
 
 By clinging rattans, climbing everywhere 
 From stem to stem. Therewith were intermixed — 
 Bound pools where rocked the lotus — Amalaks, 
 Plakshas with fluted leaves, Kadambas sweet, 
 Udumbaras ; and on the jungle-edge 
 Tangles of reed and jujube, whence there rose 
 Bel-trees and BTyagrodhas, dropping roots 
 Out of the air ; broad-leaved Priyalas ; palms, 
 
 And date-trees ; and the gold Myrobalan, 
 
 And plant of fear, Vibhitika. All these 
 Crowded the wood ; and many a crag it held 
 With precious ore of metals interveined ; 
 
 And many a creeper-covered cave, wherein 
 The spoken word rolled round ; and many a cleft 
 Where the thick stems were like a wall to see ; 
 
 And many a winding stream, and reedy jheel, 
 
 And glassy lakelet, where the woodland beasts 
 In free peace gathered. 
 
 Wandering onward thus, 
 The Princess saw far-gliding forms of dread, 
 Pisachas, Bakshasas, ill sprites and fiends 
 
88 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Which haunt, with swinging snakes, the undergrowth. 
 Dark pools she saw, and drinking-holes, and peaks 
 Wherefrom brake down in tumbling cataracts 
 The wild white waters, marvellous to hear. 
 
 Also she passed — this daughter of a king — 
 
 Where snorted the fierce buffaloes, and where 
 The grey boars rooted for their food, and where 
 The black bears growled, and serpents in the grass 
 Bustled and hissed. But all along the way 
 Safe paced she in her majesty of grace, 
 
 High fortune, courage, constancy, and right, 
 Vidarbha’s glory, — seeking, all alone, 
 
 Lost Nala ; and less terror at those sights 
 Came to sad Damayanti for herself, 
 
 Threading the dreadful forest, than for him : 
 
 Most was her mind on Nala’s fate intent. 
 
 Bitterly grieving stood that sweet Princess 
 Upon a rock, her tender limbs a-thrill 
 With heavy fears for Nala, while she spake : 
 
 “ Broad-chested chief ! my long-armed lord of men 
 Nishadha’s king ! ah whither art thou gone, 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 89 
 
 Leaving me thus in the unpeopled wood ? 
 
 The AAvamedlia sacrifice thou mad’st, 
 
 And all the rites, and royal gifts hast given ; 
 
 A lion-hearted prince, holy and true 
 
 To all save me ! That which thou didst declare 
 
 Hand in hand with me, once so fond and kind, 
 
 Eecall it now, thy sacred word, thy vow, 
 Whithersoever, Baja, thou art fled. 
 
 Think how the message of the gold-winged swans 
 Was spoken by thine own lips then to me ! 
 
 True men keep faith ; this is the teaching taught 
 In Yedas, Angas, and Upangas all, 
 
 Hear which we may : — wilt thou not therefore, Prince, 
 Wilt thou not, terror of thy foes ! keep faith, 
 
 Making thy promise good to cleave to me ? 
 
 Ha ! Hala, lord ! am I not surely still 
 
 Thy chosen, thy beloved ? Answerest thou not 
 
 Thy wife in this dark horror-haunted shade ? 
 
 The tyrant of the jungle, fierce and fell, 
 
 With jaws agape to take me, crouches nigh, 
 
 And thou not here to rescue me ! not thou 
 Who saidst none other in this world was dear 
 
90 
 
 NA LA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 But Damayanti ! Show the fond speech true 
 Uttered so often. Why repliest not 
 To me, thy well-beloved ; me, distraught, 
 
 Longed-for and longing ; me, my prince and pride ! 
 That am so weary, weak, and miserable, 
 
 Stained with the mire, in this torn cloth half-clad, 
 Alone and weeping, seeing no help near ? 
 
 Ah ! stag of all the herd ! leav’st thou thy hind 
 Astray, regarding not her tears which roll ? 
 
 My Xala ! Maharaja ! it is I 
 
 Who cry, thy Damayanti, true and pure, 
 
 Lost in the wood, and still thou answerest not ! 
 High-born, high-hearted ! full of grace and strength 
 In all thy limbs, shall I not find thee soon 
 On yonder hill ? shall I not see, at last, 
 
 In some track of this grim beast-haunted wood, 
 Standing or seated, or upon the leaves 
 Lying, or coming, him who is of men 
 The glory, but for me the grief-maker ? 
 
 If not, whom shall I question, woe-begone, 
 
 Saying : ‘ In any region of this wood 
 
 Hast thou, perchance, seen Xala ? ’ Is there none 
 
NALA AND DAM A Y ANTI. 
 
 9i 
 
 In all the forest would reply to me 
 With tidings of my lord, wandered away, 
 
 Kingly in mind and form, of hosts of foes 
 
 The conqueror ? Who will say, with blessed voice, 
 
 ‘ That Baja with the lotus eyes is nigh, 
 
 Whom thou dost seek !’ — Kay ! here comes one to ask, 
 The golden forest-king, his great jaws armed 
 With fourfold fangs ; — a tiger standeth now 
 Face to face in my path. I’ll speak with him 
 Fearlessly : — ‘ Dreadful chief of all this waste ! 
 
 Thou art the sovereign of the beasts, and I 
 Am daughter of Yidarbha’s king ; my name 
 The Princess Damayanti ; know thou me 
 Wife of Nishadha’s lord — of Nala — styled 
 Subduer of his Foes. Him seek I here, 
 
 Abandoned, sorrow- stricken, miserable ! 
 
 Comfort me, mighty beast ! if so thou canst, 
 
 Saying thou hast seen Hala ; but if this 
 Thou canst not do, then — ah ! thou savage lord ! 
 Terrible friend ! devour me, setting me 
 Free from my woes ! ’ — The tiger answereth not ; 
 
 He turns and quits me in my tears, to stalk 
 
92 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Down where the river glitters through the reeds, 
 Seeking its seaward way. Then will I pray 
 Unto this sacred Mount of clustered crags, 
 Broad-shouldered, shining, lifting high to heaven 
 Its diverse-coloured peaks, where the mind climbs, 
 Its hid heart rich with silver veins and gold, 
 
 And stored with many a precious gem unseen : 
 Clear towers it o’er the forest, broad and bright 
 Like a green banner ; and the sides of it 
 House many living things, lions and boars, 
 
 Tigers and elephants, and bears and deer. 
 
 Softly around me from its feathered flocks 
 The songs ring, perched upon the kinsuk trees, 
 
 The asokas, vakuls, and punnaga boughs, 
 
 Or hidden in the karnikara leaves, 
 
 Or tendrils of the dliava or the fig ; 
 
 Full of grey glens it spreads, where waters leap 
 And bright birds lave. This king of hills I sue 
 For tidings of my lord : ‘ 0 Mountain -lord ! 
 Far-seen and celebrated hill, that cleav’st 
 The blue o’ the sky, refuge of living things, 
 
 Most noble eminence ! I worship thee ; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 93 
 
 Tliee I salute, who am a monarch’s child, 
 
 The daughter and the consort of a prince, 
 
 The high-born Damayanti, unto whom 
 Bhima, Vidarbha’s chief, that puissant lord, 
 Was sire, renowned o’er earth. Protector he 
 Of the four castes, performer of the rites 
 Called Eajasuya and the Aswamedh, 
 
 A bounteous giver, first of rulers, known 
 Por his large shining eyes ; holy and just, 
 
 Fast to his word, unenvious, sweet of speech, 
 Gentle and valiant, dutiful and pure, 
 
 The guardian of Yidarbha, of his foes 
 The slayer. Know me, 0 majestic mount ! 
 For that king’s daughter, bending low to thee. 
 In Nishadh lived the father of my lord, 
 
 The Maharaja Yirasena named, 
 
 Wealthy and great; whose son, of regal blood, 
 High-fortuned, powerful, and noble-souled, 
 Buleth by right the realm paternal : he 
 Is Kala, terror of all enemies, 
 
 Dark Nala, praised in song, Nala the just, 
 
 The pure, deep-seen in Yedas, sweet of speech, 
 
94 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Drinker of soma-juice, and worshipper 
 Of Agni ; sacrificing, giving gifts ; 
 
 First in the wars, a perfect princely lord ! 
 
 His wife am I, great Mountain ! and come here, 
 Fortuneless, husbandless, and spiritless, 
 Everywhere seeking him, my best of men. 
 
 O Mount, whose double ridge stamps on the sky 
 Yon line, by fivescore splendid pinnacles 
 Indented ! tell me, in this gloomy wood 
 Hast thou seen Nala ? — Nala, wise and bold, 
 Like a tusked elephant for might, long-armed, 
 Indomitable, gallant, glorious, true ; 
 
 Nala, Nisliadha’s chief — hast thou seen him ? 
 Ah, mountain ! why consolest thou me not, 
 Answering one word to sorrowful, distressed, 
 Lonely, lost Damayanti ? ” 
 
 Then she cried : 
 
 “ But answer for thyself, hero and lord ; 
 
 If thou be’st in the forest, show thyself. 
 Alas ! when shall I hear that voice, as low, 
 As tender as the murmur of the rain, 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 95 
 
 When great clouds throng ; as sweet as amrit-drink ? 
 Thy voice once more, my Nala ! calling to me 
 Full softly ‘ Damayanti ! ’ Dearest Prince ' 
 
 That would be music soothing to those ears, 
 
 As sound of sacred legends ; that would stay 
 My pains, and comfort me, and bring me peace.” 
 
 Thereafter, turning from the mount, she went 
 Northwards, and, journeying three nights and days, 
 Came on a green incomparable grove, 
 
 By holy men inhabited : a haunt 
 Placid as Paradise, whose indwellers 
 Like to Yasistha, Bhrigu, Atri were, 
 
 Those ancient saints. Bestraining sense they lived, 
 Heedful in meats, subduing passion, pure, 
 
 Breathing within, their food water and herbs, 
 Ascetics, very holy, seeking still 
 The heavenward road, clad in. the bark of trees 
 And skins, all idle gauds of earth laid by. 
 
 This hermitage, peopled by gentle ones, 
 
 Glad Damayanti saw, circled with herds 
 Of wild things grazing fearless, and with troops 
 
96 
 
 NALA AND DA MAY ANTI. 
 
 Of monkey-folk o’erhead ; and when she saw, 
 
 Her heart was lightened for its quietness. 
 
 So drew she nigh, that lovely wanderer — 
 Bright-browed, long-tressed, large-hipped, full-bosomed, 
 fair, 
 
 With pearly teeth and honeyed mouth, in gait 
 Bight queenly still, having those long black eyes, 
 
 The wife of Virasena’s son, the gem 
 Of all dear women, glory of her time — 
 
 Sad Damayanti entered their abode, 
 
 Those holy men saluting reverently 
 
 With modest body bowed. Thus stood she there ; 
 
 And all the saints spake gently “ Swagatam ! 
 
 Welcome ! ” and gave the greetings which are meet ; 
 And afterwards “ Bepose thyself ” they said ; 
 
 “What would’st thou have of us ? ” Then with soft words 
 The slender- waisted spake : “ Of all these here 
 So worshipful, in sacrifice and rite, 
 
 Amid your beasts and birds, in tasks and toils 
 And blameless duties, is it well ? ” And they 
 Answered : “ We thank you, noble lady ; well ! 
 
 Tell us, most beauteous one, thy name, and say 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 97 
 
 What thou desirest. Seeing thee so fair, 
 
 So noble, yet so sorrowful, our minds 
 Are lost in wonder. Weep not; comfort take. 
 Art thou the goddess of the wood ? art thou 
 The mountain Yakshi, or belike the sprite 
 Which lives under the river ? Tell us true, 
 Gentle and faultless form.” 
 
 Whereat reply 
 
 Thus made she to the Pdshis : “ Eone of these 
 Am I, good saints ; no goddess of the wood, 
 
 Nor yet a mountain nor a river sprite. 
 
 A woman ye behold, most holy ones, 
 
 Whose moving story I will tell ye true. 
 
 The Baja of Vidarbha is my sire, 
 
 Bhima his name, and — best of Twice-born — know 
 My husband is Nishadha’s chief, the famed, 
 
 The wise, and valiant, and victorious prince, 
 
 The high and lordly Nala ; of the gods 
 A steadfast worshipper, of Brahmanas 
 The friend ; his people’s shield, honoured and strong ; 
 Truth-speaking, skilled in arms, sagacious, just ; 
 
 G 
 
9 3 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Terrible to all foes ; fortunate ; lord 
 Of many conquered towns ; a godlike man ; 
 Princeliest of princes — Xala ; one that bath 
 A countenance like the full moon’s for light, 
 
 And eyes of lotus. This true offerer 
 Of sacrifices — this close votary 
 Of Vedas and Vedangas, in the war 
 Deadly to enemies, like sun and moon 
 For splendour — by a certain evil band 
 Being defied to dice, my virtuous Prince 
 Was, by their wicked arts, of realm despoiled, 
 Wealth, jewels, all. I am his woeful wife, 
 
 The Princess Damayanti. Seeking him 
 Through thickets have I roamed, over rough hills, 
 By crag and river, and the reedy lake, 
 
 By marsh and waterfall and jungle-bush, 
 
 In quest of him, my lord, my warrior, 
 
 My hero, — and still roam, uncomforted. 
 Worshipful brethren ! say if he hath come — 
 Xishadha’s chief, my Xala — hitherward 
 Unto your pleasant homes, — he for whose sake 
 I wander in the dismal pathless wood, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 99 
 
 With bears and tigers haunted — terrible ? 
 
 Ah ! if I find him not ere there be passed 
 Many more nights and days, peace will I win ; 
 
 For death shall set my mournful spirit free. 
 
 What cause have I to live, lacking my Prince ? 
 
 Why should I longer breathe, whose heart is 
 dead 
 
 With sorrow for my lord ? ” 
 
 To Bhima’s child, 
 
 So in the wood bewailing, made reply 
 Those holy truthful men : “ Beautiful one ! 
 
 The future is for thee ; fair will it fall : 
 
 Our eyes, by long devotions opened, see 
 Even now thy lord ; thou shalt behold him soon, 
 Nishadha’s chief, the famous Nala, strong 
 In battle, loving justice. Yea, thy Prince 
 Thou wilt regain, Bhima’s sad daughter ! freed 
 From troubles, purged of sin ; and witness him, 
 
 With all his gems and glories, governing 
 Nishadha once again, invincible, 
 
 Joy of his friends and terror of his foes. 
 
IOO 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 Yea, noblest ! thou slialt have thy love anew, 
 In days to come.” 
 
 So speaking, from the sight 
 Of Damayanti at that moment passed 
 Hermits, with hermitage and holy fires 
 Evanishing. In wonderment she stood 
 Gazing bewildered. Then the Princess cried : 
 
 “ Was it in dream I saw them ? whence befell 
 This unto me ? where are the brethren gone ? 
 
 The ring of huts, the pleasant stream that ran 
 With birds upon its crystal banks, the grove 
 Delightful with its fruits and flowers ? ” Long while 
 Pondered and wondered Damayanti there, 
 
 Her bright smile fled, pale, strengthless, sorrowful ; 
 Then to another region of the wood, 
 
 With sighs and eyes welling great tears, she passed 
 Lamenting ; till a beauteous tree she spied 
 The Asoka— best of trees. Pair rose it there 
 Beside the forest, glowing with the flame 
 Of gold and crimson blossoms, and its boughs 
 Full of sweet-singing birds. 
 
NALA AND DAM A Y ANTI. 
 
 IOI 
 
 “ A/iovat ! Look ! ” 
 
 She cried. “ Ah, lovely tree ! that wavest here 
 Thy crown of countless shining clustering blooms 
 As thou wert woodland-king ! Asoka tree ! 
 
 Tree called the ‘ Sorrow-ender ’ — Heart’s-ease tree ! 
 Be what thy name saith ; end my sorrow now, 
 Saying, ah ! bright Asoka ! thou hast seen 
 My Prince, my dauntless Nala, — seen that lord 
 Whom Damayanti loves and his foes fear ; 
 
 Seen great Nishadha’s chief, so dear to me : 
 
 His tender princely skin in rended cloth 
 Scantily clad ! Hath he passed wandering 
 Under thy brandies, grievously forlorn ? 
 
 Answer, Asoka ; ‘ Sorrow-ender,’ speak ! 
 
 That I go sorrowless. 0 Heart’s-ease ! be 
 Truly heart’s-easing, — ease my heart of pain ! ” 
 
 Thus, wild with grief, she spake unto the tree, 
 Round and round pacing, as to reverence it ; 
 
 And then, unanswered, the sweet lady went 
 Through wastes more dreadful, passing many a Ran, 
 Many still-gliding rillets, many. a peak 
 
102 
 
 NALA AND DAM A Y ANTI. 
 
 Tree-clad, with beasts and birds of wondrous sort, 
 In dark ravines, and caves, and lonely glooms. 
 These things saw Damayanti, Bhima’s child, 
 Seeking her lord. 
 
 At last, on the long road, 
 
 She, whose soft smile was once so beautiful, 
 
 A caravan encountered. Merchantmen 
 "With trampling horses, elephants, and wains 
 Made passage of a river, running slow 
 In cool clear waves. The quiet waters gleamed, 
 Shining and wide-outspread, between the canes 
 Which bordered it, wherefrom echoed the cries 
 Of fish-hawks, curlews, and red chakravaks ; 
 With sounds of leaping fish, and watersnakes, 
 And tortoises, amid its shoals and flats 
 Sporting or feeding. 
 
 When she spied that throng, 
 All-maddened with her anguish, weak and wan, 
 Half-clad, bloodless and thin, her long black locks 
 Matted with dust, breathlessly brake she in 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 103 
 
 Upon them — Uala’s wife — so beauteous once, 
 
 So honoured. Seeing her, some fled in fear ; 
 
 Some gazed, speechless from wonder ; some called out, 
 Mocking the mournful face with words of scorn ; 
 
 But some (my King !) had pity of her woe, 
 
 And spake her fair, inquiring, “Who art thou, 
 
 And whence ? and in this wood what seekest thou, 
 
 To come so wild ? Thy mien astonisheth ! 
 
 Art of our kind, or art thou something strange, 
 
 The spirit of the forest, or the hill, 
 
 Or river- valley ? Tell us true, then we 
 Will buy thy favour. If indeed thou be’st 
 Yakshi or Eakshasi, or she-creature 
 Haunting this region, be propitious ! send 
 Our caravan in safety on its path, 
 
 That we may quickly, by thy fortune, go 
 Homeward, and all fair chances fall to us.” 
 
 Hereby accosted, softly gave response 
 That royal lady, weary for her lord, 
 
 Answering the leader of the caravan 
 
 And those that gathered round, a marvelling throng 
 
104 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Of men, and boys, and elders : “ Oh, believe 
 I am, as you, of mortal birth, but born 
 A Kaja’s child, and made a Baja's wife. 
 
 Him seek I, chieftain of Nishadha named, 
 Prince Hala, famous, glorious, first in war. 
 
 If ye know aught of him, my king, my joy, 
 My tiger of the jungle, my lost lord, 
 
 Quick ! tell me, comfort me ! ” 
 
 Then he who led 
 
 Their line, the merchant Suchi, answering, 
 
 Spake to the peerless Princess : “ Hear me now ; 
 
 I am the captain of this caravan, 
 
 But nowhere one named as thy Prince is named 
 Have I or these beheld. Of evil beasts 
 The woods were full ; cheetahs, and bears, and cats, 
 Tigers, and elephants, bison and boar : 
 
 Those saw we in the brake on every side, 
 
 But nowhere aught of human shape save thee. 
 
 May Manibhadra have us in his grace, 
 
 The lord of Yakslias, as I tell thee truth ! ” 
 
 Then sadly spake she to the trader-chief 
 
AM LA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 105 
 
 And to his band : “ Whither wend ye, I pray ? 
 Please ye acquaint me where this Sartha goes ? ” 
 
 Beplied the captain : “ Unto Chedi’s realm, 
 Where rules the just Subahu, journey we, 
 
 To sell our merchandise, daughter of men.” 
 
 Thus by the chieftain of the band informed, 
 
 The peerless Princess journeyed with them, still 
 Seeking her lord ; and at the first the way 
 Fared through another forest, dark and deep. 
 Afterwards came the traders to a pool, 
 
 Broad, everywhere delightful, odorous 
 With cups of opened lotus, and its shores 
 Green with rich grass and edged with garden trees ; 
 A place of flowers, and fruit, and singing birds. 
 
 So cool and clear and peacefully it gleamed, 
 
 That men, with cattle, weary from the march, 
 Clamoured to pitch ; and, on their captain’s sign, 
 The pleasant hollow entered they, and camped, 
 
 All the long caravan, at sunset’s hour. 
 
io6 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 There in the quiet of the middle night 
 Deep slumbered these, when sudden on them fell 
 A herd of elephants, thirsting to drink; 
 
 In rut, the mada oozing from their heads ; 
 
 And when those great beasts spied the caravan 
 And smelled the tame cows of their kind, they rushed 
 Headlong and mad with must, o’erwhelming all, 
 
 In onset vast and irresistible. 
 
 As when from some tall peak into the plain 
 Thunder and smoke and crash the rolling rocks, 
 Through splintered stems and thorns so breaking a way, 
 On swept the herd to where, beside the pool, 
 
 Those sleepers lay, and trampled them to earth, 
 
 Half risen, helpless, shrieking in the dark 
 “ Halia ! the elephants.” Of those unslain, 
 
 Some in the thickets sought a shelter ; some, 
 
 Yet dazed with sleep, stood panic-stricken, mute ; 
 
 Till, here with tusks and there with trunks, the beasts 
 Gored them and battered them and trod them flat 
 Under their monstrous feet. Then might be seen 
 Camels with camel-drivers perishing, 
 
 And men flying in fear who struck at men ; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 107 
 
 Terror and deatli and clamour everywhere : 
 
 While some, despairing, cast themselves to earth ; 
 And some, in fleeing, fell and died ; and some 
 Climbed to the tree-tops. Thus on every side 
 Scattered and ruined was that caravan, 
 
 Cattle and merchants, by the herd assailed. 
 
 So hideous was the tumult, all three worlds 
 
 ♦ 
 
 Seemed filled with fright, and one was heard to call : 
 “ The fire is in the tents ! fly for your lives ! 
 
 Stay not ! ” and others cried : “ Look where we leave 
 Our treasures trodden down ! gather them ! Halt ! 
 Why run ye, losing ours and yours ? Hay, stay ! 
 Stand ye and we will stand ; ” and then to these 
 One voice cried “ Stand ! ” another “ Fly ! we die ! ” 
 Answered by such again as shouted, “ Stand ! 
 
 Think what we lose, 0 cowards ! ” 
 
 While this rout 
 
 Eaged, amid dying groans and sounds of fear, 
 
 The Princess, waking startled, terror-struck, 
 
 Saw such a sight as might the boldest daunt, 
 
 Such scene as those great lovely lotus eyes 
 
io8 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 Ne’er gazed upon before. Sick with new dread, 
 Her breath suspended ’twixt her lips, she rose, 
 
 And heard of those surviving some one moan 
 Amidst his fellows : “ From whose evil act 
 Is this the fruit ? hath worship not been paid 
 To mighty Manibhadra ? gave we not 
 The reverence due to Yaishravan, that king 
 Of all the Yakshas ? was not offering made 
 At th’ outset to all spirits which impede ? 
 
 Was this the evil portent of the birds ? 
 
 \ 
 
 Were the stars adverse ? or what else hath fall’n ? ” 
 
 And others said, wailing for friends and goods : 
 
 “ Who was that woman, with mad eyes, that came 
 Into our camp, ill-favoured, hardly cast 
 In mortal mould ? By her, be sure, was wrought 
 This direful sorcery. Demon or witch, 
 
 Yakshi or Eakshasi, or gliding ghost, 
 
 Or something frightful was she. Hers this deed 
 Of midnight murders ; doubt there can be none ! 
 
 Ah ! if we could but spy that hateful one, 
 
 The ruin of our march, the woe-maker, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 109 
 
 With stones, clods, canes, and clubs, nay, with clenched 
 fists, 
 
 We’d strike her dead, the murderess of our hand.” 
 
 Trembling, the Princess heard those angry words, 
 And, saddened, maddened, shamed, breathless, she fled 
 Into the thicket, doubtful if such sin 
 Might not be hers, and with fresh dread distressed. 
 
 “ Alio ! ” she weeps, “ pitiless grows the wrath 
 Of fate against me ; not one gleam of good 
 Arriveth ! Of what fault is this the fruit ? 
 
 I cannot call to mind a wrong I wrought 
 To any — even a little thing — in act, 
 
 Or thought, or word ; whence then hath come this 
 curse ? 
 
 Belike from ill deeds done in bygone lives 
 It hath befall’n, and what I suffer now 
 Is payment of old evils undischarged. 
 
 Grievous the doom ! my palace lost, my lord, 
 
 My children, kindred ; I am torn away 
 Prom home, and love, and all, to roam accurst 
 In this plague-haunted waste.” 
 
I IO 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 When broke the day, 
 
 Those which escaped alive, with grievous cries, 
 Departed, mourning for their fellows slain. 
 
 Each one a kinsman or a friend laments, 
 
 Father or brother, son, or comrade dear. 
 
 And Damayanti, hearing, weeps anew, 
 
 Saying : “ What dreadful sin was that I wrought 
 Long, long ago, which, when I chance to meet 
 These wayfarers in the unpeopled wood, 
 
 Dooms them to perish by the elephants, 
 
 In my dark destiny enwrapped ? No doubt 
 More and more sorrow I shall bear or bring ; 
 
 For none dies ere his time : this is the lore 
 Of ancient sages; this is why, being glad 
 If I could die, I was not trampled down 
 Under the elephants. There haps to man 
 Nothing except by destiny. Why else, 
 
 Seeing that never have I wrought one wrong 
 From childhood’s hours, in thought, or word, or deed, 
 Hath this woe fall'll ? May be — meseems it may, 
 The mighty gods, at the Swayamvara 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 1 1 1 
 
 Slighted by me for Nala’s dearest sake, 
 
 Are wroth, and by their dread displeasure thus 
 To loss and loneliness I am consigned.” 
 
 So, woe-begone and wild, this noble wife, 
 
 Deserted Damayanti, wailed her griefs ; 
 
 And afterwards, with certain Brahmanas 
 
 Saved from the rout, good men that knew the Yeds, 
 
 Sadly her road she finished, like the moon, 
 
 Who goeth clouded in the month of rain. 
 
 Thus, travelling long, the Princess drew at last 
 Nigh to a city at the evening hour ; 
 
 The dwelling-place it was of Chedi’s chief, 
 
 The just Subahu. Through its lofty gates 
 Painfully passed she, clad in half a cloth ; 
 
 And as she entered — sorrow-stricken, wan, 
 
 Foot- weary, stained with mire, with unsmootlied hair, 
 Unbathed, and eyes of madness — those who saw 
 Wondered and stared, and watched her as she toiled 
 Down the long city street. The children broke 
 From play, and — boys with girls — followed her steps, 
 So that she came — a crowd encompassing — 
 
I 12 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Unto the king’s door. On the palace roof 
 The mother of the Maharaja paced, 
 
 And marked the throng and that sad wayfarer ; 
 
 Then to her nurse spake the queen-mother this : 
 
 “ Go thou and bring yon woman unto me ! 
 
 The people trouble her ; mournful she walks, 
 Seeming unfriended, yet bears she a mien 
 Made for a king’s abode, and, all so wild, 
 
 Still show her wistful eyes like the great eyes 
 Of Lakshmi’s self.” So downwards went the nurse, 
 And bade the rude folk back, and to the roof 
 Of the great palace led that wondering one, 
 
 Desolate Damayanti ; whom the queen 
 Courteous besought : “ Though thou art wan of face, 
 Thou wear’st a noble air, which through thy griefs 
 Shineth as lightning doth behind its cloud. 
 
 Tell me thy name, and whose thou art, and whence 
 No low-born form is thine, albeit thou com’st 
 Wearing no ornaments, and all alone 
 Wan derest, not fearing men ; by some spell safe.” 
 
 Hearing which words, the child of Bliima spake 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 113 
 
 Gratefully this : “ A woeful woman I, 
 
 And woeful wife, but faithful to my vow : 
 
 High-born, hut like a servant, like a slave, 
 
 Lodging where it may hap, and finding food 
 
 From the wild roots and fruits, wherever night 
 
 Brings me my resting-place. Yet is my lord 
 
 A prince noble and great, with countless gifts 
 
 Endued; and him I followed faithfully 
 
 As ’twere his shadow, till hard fate decreed 
 
 That he should fall into the rage of dice ; 
 
 And, worsted in that play, into the wood 
 
 He fled, clad in one cloth, frenzied and lone ; 
 
 And I his steps attended in the wood, 
 
 Comforting him, my husband. But it chanced, 
 
 Hungry and desperate, he lost his cloth ; 
 
 And I, one garment bearing, followed still 
 
 My lord unclad, despairing, reasonless, 
 
 Through many a weary night not slumbering. 
 
 But when, at length, a little while I slept, 
 
 My Prince abandoned me, rending away 
 
 Half of my garment, leaving there his wife, 
 
 Who never wrought him wrong ! That lord I seek 
 
 H 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 114 
 
 By day and night, with heart and soul on fire, — 
 
 Seek, but still find not, though he is to me 
 Brighter than light which shines from lotus-cups, 
 Divine as are the immortals, dear as breath, 
 
 The master of my life, my pride, my joy ! ” 
 
 Whom, grieving so, her sweet eyes blind with tears, 
 Gently addressed Subahu’s mother, sad 
 To list as she to tell : “ Stay with us here, 
 
 Thou ill-starred lady ! great the friendliness 
 I have for thee. The people of our court 
 Shall thy lost husband seek ; or, it may be, 
 
 He, too, will wander hither of himself 
 By devious paths : yea, mournful one, thy lord 
 Thou wilt regain, abiding with us here.” 
 
 And Damayanti, bowing, answered thus 
 Unto the queen : “ I will abide with thee 
 0 mother of illustrious sons ! if so 
 They feed me not on orts, nor seek from me 
 To wash the feet of comers, nor that I 
 Be set to speak with any stranger men 
 Before the curtain ; and if any man 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 1 15 
 
 Sue me, that lie be punished ; and if twice, 
 
 Then that he die, guilty of infamy. 
 
 This is my earnest prayer ; but Brahmanas 
 Who seek my husband or bear news of him, 
 
 Such will I speak with. If it may be thus, 
 
 Gladly would I abide, great lady, here ; 
 
 If otherwise, it is not in my mind 
 To sojourn longer.” 
 
 Very tenderly 
 
 Quoth the queen-mother : “ All which thou dost ask 
 We will ordain. The gods reward thy love 
 Which holds such honour.” Comforting her so, 
 
 To the king’s daughter, young Sunanda, spake 
 The Maharajni : “ See, Sunanda ! here, 
 
 Clad as a handmaid but in form divine, 
 
 One of thy years, gentle and true. Be friends ; 
 
 Take and give pleasure in glad company, 
 
 Each with the other keeping happy hearts.” 
 
 So went Sunanda joyous to her house, 
 
 Leading with loving hands the Princess in, 
 
 The maidens of the court accompanying. 
 
1 16 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY AN T± 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Not long (0 Maharaj !) was Hal a fled 
 From Damayanti, when, in midmost glooms 
 Of the thick wood, a flaming fire he spied, 
 
 And from the fire’s heart heard proceed a voice 
 Of one imperilled, crying many times : 
 
 “ Haste hither, Pnnyashloka ! Hal a, haste ! ” 
 
 “ Fear not ! ” the Prince replied, “ I come,” and spran 
 Across the burning bushes, where he saw 
 A snake — a king of serpents — lying curled 
 In a great ring ; which reared its dancing crest, 
 Saluting ; and in human accents spoke : 
 
 “ Maharaj ! kindly lord ! I am the snake 
 Ivarkotaka ; by me was once betrayed 
 The famous Eishi Harada ; his wrath 
 Doomed me, thou chief of men, to bear this spell. 
 
 ‘ Coil thy false folds,’ he said, ‘ for ever here, 
 
 A serpent, motionless upon this spot, 
 
NALA AND DAMAY ANTI. 
 
 ”7 
 
 Till it shall chance that ISTala passeth by 
 
 And bears thee hence ; then only from my curse 
 
 Canst thou be freed.’ And, prisoned by that curse, 
 
 I have no power to stir, though the wood burns ; 
 
 No, not a coil ! Good-fellowship I’ll show 
 If thou wilt succour me. I’ll be to thee 
 A faithful friend, as no snake ever yet. 
 
 Lift me, and quickly from the flames bear forth ; 
 
 Lor thee I shall grow light.” Thereat shrank up 
 That monstrous reptile to a finger’s length ; 
 
 And grasping this, into a place secure 
 
 From burning Nala bore it, where the air 
 
 Breathed freshly, and the fire’s black path was stayed. 
 
 Then made the Prince to lay the serpent down, 
 
 But yet again it speaks : “ Nishadlia’s lord ! 
 
 Grasp me and slowly go, counting thy steps ; 
 
 For, Piaja, thou shalt have good fortune hence.” 
 
 So Nala slowly went, counting his steps ; 
 
 And when the tenth pace came, the serpent turned 
 And bit the Prince. No sooner pierced that tooth 
 Than all the likeness of Nishadha changed ; 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 1x8 
 
 And, wonder-struck, lie gazed upon himself ; 
 While from the dust he saw the snake arise 
 A man, and, speaking as Ivarkotaka, 
 Comfort him thus : 
 
 “ Thou art by me transformed 
 That no man know thee ; and that evil one — 
 Possessing and undoing thee with grief — 
 
 o o o 
 
 Shall so within thee by my venom smart, 
 
 Shall through thy blood so ache, that, till he quit, 
 
 He shall endure the woe he did impart. 
 
 Thus by my potent spell, most noble Prince — 
 
 Who sufferest too long — thou wilt be freed 
 From him that haunts thee. Fear no more the wood, 
 Thou tiger of all princes ! fear thou not 
 Horned nor fanged beasts, nor any enemies, 
 
 Though they be Brahmans. Safe thou goest now, 
 Guarded from grief and hurt, chieftain of men ! 
 
 By this kind poison. In the fields of war 
 Henceforth the victory always falls to thee ; 
 
 Go joyous therefore, Prince ! give thyself forth 
 For Vahuka the Charioteer : repair 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 To Bituparna’s city, who is skilled 
 In play, and dwells in fair Ayodhya. 
 
 Wend thou, Mshadha, thither ; he will teach 
 Great subtlety in numbers unto thee, 
 
 Exchanging this for thine own matchless gift 
 Of taming horses. From the lordly line 
 Descended of Ikshvaku, glad and kind 
 The king will be ; and thou, learning of him 
 His deepest art of dice, wilt win back all, 
 
 And clasp again thy Princess. Therefore waste 
 Ho thought on woes. I tell thee truth ; thy realm 
 Thou shalt regain : and, when the time is come 
 That thou hast need to put thine own form on, 
 
 Call me to mind, 0 prince ! and tie this cloth 
 Around thy body. Wearing it, thy shape 
 Thou shalt resume.” 
 
 Therewith the serpent gave 
 A magic twofold robe, not wove on earth, 
 
 Which (0 thou son of Kuru !) Hala took; 
 
 And so the snake, transformed, vanished away. 
 
120 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 1HE great snake being gone, Nishadha’s chief 
 Set forth, and on the tenth day entered in 
 At Eituparna’s town : there he besought 
 The presence of the Eaja, and spake thus : 
 
 “ I am the chariot- driver Vahuka ; 
 
 There is not on this earth another man 
 Hath gifts like mine to tame and guide the steed ; 
 Moreover, thou mayest use me in nice needs 
 And dangerous, where kings lack faithful hearts : 
 Specially seen I am in dressing meats ; 
 
 And whatso other duties may befall, 
 
 Though they be weighty, I will execute 
 If, Eituparna ! thou wilt take me in.” 
 
 “ I take thee,” quoth the king ; “ dwell here with 
 me. 
 
 Such service as thou knowest, render us. 
 
 ’Tis, Vahuka, for ever in my heart, 
 
 To have my steeds the swiftest ; be thy task 
 To train me horses like the wind for speed. 
 
 My charioteer I make thee, and thy wage 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 121 
 
 Ten thousand gold suvernas. Thou wilt have 
 Tor fellows Yarshneya and Jivala; 
 
 With those abiding, lodge thou happy here.” 
 
 So, entertained and honoured of the king, 
 
 In Eituparna’s city ISTala dwelled, 
 
 Lodging with Yarshneya and Jivala. 
 
 There sojourned he (my Eaja !) thinking still, 
 
 Of sweet Yidarbha’s Princess, day by day ; 
 
 And sunset after sunset one sad strain 
 He sang : “ Where resteth she, that roamed the wood, 
 Hungry, and parched, and worn, but always true ? 
 Doth she remember yet her faultful lord ? 
 
 Ah ! who is near her now ? ” So it befell 
 Jivala heard him ever sighing this, 
 
 And questioned : “ Who is she thou grievest for ? 
 
 Say, Yahuka ! fain would I know her name. 
 
 Long life be thine, but tell me who he is, 
 
 The blameful man that was the lady’s lord.” 
 
 And Xala answered him : “ There lived a man, 
 
122 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Evil and rash, that had a noble wife. 
 
 False to his word he was, and thus it fell 
 That, somewhere, for some reasons, (ask not me), 
 He quitted her, this rash one. And — so wrenched 
 Apart from hers — his spirit, bad and sad, 
 
 Muses and moans, with grief’s slow fire consumed, 
 Night-time and day-time. Thence it is he sings 
 At every sunset this unchanging verse, 
 
 An outcast on the earth, by hazard led 
 Hither or thither. Such a man thou seest, 
 
 Woeful, unworthy, holding in his heart 
 Always that sin. I was that lady’s lord, 
 
 Whom she did follow through the dreadful wood, 
 Living by me abandoned at this hour. 
 
 If yet in truth she lives, youthful, alone, 
 Unpractised in the ways, not meriting 
 Fortunes so hard — Ah ! if indeed she lives 
 Who roamed the thick and boundless forest, full 
 Of prowling beasts, roamed it, my Jivala ! 
 Unguarded by her guilty lord, — forsook, 
 
 Betrayed, good friend ! ” 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 123 
 
 Thus did Nishadha grieve, 
 
 Calling sweet Damayanti to his mind. 
 
 So tarried he within the Eaja’s house, 
 
 And no man knew his place of sojourning. 
 
 , stripped of state, the Prince and Princess 
 
 thus 
 
 Were sunk to servitude, Bhima made quest, 
 Sending his Brahmans forth to search for them 
 With strait commands, and for their road-money 
 Liberal store. “ Seek everywhere,” he said 
 Unto the twice-born, “ Xala ; — everywhere 
 My daughter Damayanti ; whoso comes 
 Successful in this search, discovering her — 
 With lost Nishadha’s lord — and bringing them, 
 A thousand cows to that man will I give. 
 
 And village lands whence shall be revenue 
 As great as from a city. If so be 
 Ye cannot bring me Nala and my child, 
 
 To him that learns their refuge I will give 
 The thousand cows.” 
 
124 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Thereby rejoiced they went, 
 Those Brahmans, hither and thither, up and down, 
 Into all regions, rajaships, and towns, 
 
 Seeking Nishadha’s Baja and his wife. 
 
 But Bala nowhere found they ; nowhere found 
 Sweet Damayanti, Bhima’s beauteous child. 
 
 Until, straying to pleasant Cliedipur 
 One day a twice-born came, Sudeva named, 
 
 And entered in, and spying round about — 
 
 Upon a feast-day by the king proclaimed, — 
 
 He saw forth-passing through the palace gate 
 A woman — Bhima’s daughter — side by side 
 With young Sunanda. Little praise had now 
 That beauty which in old days shone so bright ; 
 Marred with much grief it was, like sunlight dimmed 
 By fold on fold of wreathed and creeping mist. 
 
 But when Sudeva marked the great dark eyes, 
 Lustreless though they were, and she so worn, 
 
 So listless, “ Lo ! the Princess,” whispered he ; 
 
 “ ’Tis the king’s daughter,” quoth he to himself : 
 
 And thus mused on : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANT t. 
 
 125 
 
 “ Yea ! as I used to see 
 ’Tis she ! none other woman hath such grace ! 
 
 My task is done, I gaze on that one form 
 Which is like Lakshmi’s, whom all worlds adore : 
 
 I see the bosoms rounded, dark, and smooth 
 As they were sister-moons ; the soft moon-face, 
 Which with its gentle light makes all things bright 
 Where it doth gleam; the large deep lotus-eyes, 
 That, like to Eati’s own, the queen of love, 
 
 Beam, each a lovelit star, filling the worlds 
 With longing. Ah ! fair lotus-flower, plucked up 
 By fate’s hard grasp from far Yidarbha’s pool, 
 
 How is thy cup muddied and slimed to-day ! 
 
 Ah ! moon, how is thy night like to tlT eclipse 
 When Eahu swallows up the silver round ! 
 
 Ah ! tearless eyes, weary with weeping him, 
 
 How are ye like to gentle streams run dry ! 
 
 Ah ! lake of lilies, where grief’s elephant 
 
 Hath swung his trunk, and turned the crystal black, 
 
 And scattered all the blue and crimson cups, 
 
 And frightened off the birds. Ah! lily- cup, 
 
 Tender, and delicately leaved, and reared 
 
126 
 
 NALA AND DA MAY ANTI. 
 
 To blossom in a palace built of gems, 
 
 How dost thou wither here, wrenched by the root, 
 Sun-scorched and faded ! Noblest, loveliest, best — 
 Who bear’st no gems, yet so becomest them — 
 
 How like the new moon’s silver horn thou art 
 When envious black clouds blot it ! Lost for thee 
 Are love, home, children, friends, and kinsmen ; lost 
 All joy of that fair body thou dost wear, 
 
 Only that it may last to find thy lord ! 
 
 Truly a woman’s ornament is this ; 
 
 The husband is her jewel, — lacking him 
 
 She hath none, though she shine with priceless pearls. 
 
 Piteous must be her state ; and, torn from her, 
 
 Doth Nala cling to life, or day by day 
 Waste with long yearning ? Oh, as I behold 
 Those black locks, and those eyes — dark and long 
 shaped, 
 
 As are the liundred-petalled lotus’ leaves — 
 
 And watch her joyless who deserves all joy, 
 
 My heart is sore. When will she over-pass 
 The river of this sorrow, and come safe 
 Unto its farther shore ? When will she meet 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 127 
 
 Her lord, as moon and moon- star in the sky 
 Mingle ? For, as I think, in winning her 
 Nala should win his happy days again, 
 
 And — albeit banished now — have back his lands. 
 Alike in years and graces, and alike 
 In lordly race these were : no bride could seem 
 Worthy Nishadha. if it were not she ; 
 
 Nor husband worthy of Vidarbha’s pride, 
 
 Save it were Nala. It is meet I bring 
 Comfort forthwith to yon despairing one, 
 
 The consort of the just and noble Prince, 
 
 For whom I see her heart-sick. I will go 
 And speak good tidings to that moon-faced queen, 
 
 Who once knew nought of sorrow, and to-day 
 Stands yonder, plunged heart-deep in woeful thought.” 
 
 So, all those signs and marks considering, 
 
 Which stamped her Bhima’s child, Sudeva drew 
 Nearer, and said : “ Vaidarbhi ! Nala’s wife, 
 
 I am the Brahmana Sudeva, friend 
 Unto my lord thy brother, and I come, 
 
 By royal Bhima’s mandate, seeking thee. 
 
128 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 That Maharaj, thy father, dwells in health ; 
 
 Thy mother and thy house are well, and well — 
 With promise of long years — thy little ones, 
 Sister and brother. Yet, for thy sake, queen, 
 Thy kindred sit as men with spirit gone. 
 
 In search of thee a hundred twice-born rove 
 Over all lands.” 
 
 But (0 King Yudhisthir !) 
 Hardly one word she heard before she broke 
 With question after question on the man, 
 
 Asking of this dear name, and that, and this, 
 
 All mingled with quick tears and tender sighs, 
 
 And hungry gazing on her brother’s friend, 
 
 Sudeva — best of Brahmanas — come there. 
 
 Which soon Sunanda marked, watching them speak 
 Apart, and Damayanti all in tears. 
 
 So went she to her mother, saying : “ See ! 
 
 The handmaid thou didst give me talks below 
 With one who is a Brahman, all her words 
 •Mingled with weeping; if thou wilt, demand 
 What this man knows.” 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 129 
 
 Therewith swept forth, amazed, 
 
 The mother of the Baja, and beheld 
 How Nala’s wife spake with the Brahmana; 
 
 Whom straight she bade them summon ; and, being 
 brought, 
 
 In this wise questioned : “ Knowest thou whose wife, 
 Whose daughter, this one is, and how she left 
 Her kin ; and wherefore, being heavenly-eyed 
 And noble-mannered, she hath wandered here ? 
 
 I am full fain to hear it ; tell me all 
 Ho whit withholding; answer faithfully; 
 
 Who is our slave-girl with the goddess-gait ? ” 
 
 The Brahmana Sudeva, so addressed 
 Seating himself at ease, unto the queen 
 Told Damayanti’s story, how all fell. 
 
 Sudeva said : “ There reigns in majesty 
 King Bhima at Vidarbha, and of him 
 The Princess Damayanti here is child ; 
 And Virasena’s son — Nala — is lord 
 
 I 
 
13 ° 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t. 
 
 Over Nishadha, praised in song, and wise ; 
 
 And of that Prince this lady is the wife. 
 
 In play Iris brother worsted Nala, stripped 
 Of lands and wealth the Prince ; who fled his realm, 
 Wandering with Damayanti where none knew. 
 
 In quest of Damayanti we have roamed 
 The earth’s face over, till I found her here 
 In thy son’s house, the king’s, — the very same, 
 
 Since like to her for grace no woman lives 
 Of all fair women. Where her eyebrows meet 
 A pretty mole, born with her, shall be seen, 
 
 A little lotus-bud, not visible 
 By reason of the dust of toil which clouds 
 Her face and veils its moonlike beauty. That 
 The Wondrous Maker on the rare work stamped 
 To be His mark. But as the waxing moon 
 Goes thin and darkling for a while, then rounds 
 The crescent’s rims with splendour, so this queen 
 Hath lost not queenliness, being now obscured. 
 Soiled with the grime of chares, unbeautified, 
 
 She shows true gold. The fire which trieth gold 
 Denoteth less itself by instant heat 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 131 
 
 Than Damayanti by her goodlihood. 
 
 At first sight knew I her : she hath that mole ! ” 
 
 Whilst yet Sudeva spake (0 King of men !) 
 
 Sunanda from her forehead washed away 
 
 The gathered dust, and forth the mark appeared 
 
 ’Twixt Damayanti’s brows, as when clouds break, 
 
 And in the sky the moon, the night-maker, 
 
 Glitters to view. Seeing that spot, awhile 
 Sunanda and the mother of the king 
 Gazed voiceless ; then they clasped her neck and 
 wept, 
 
 Rejoicing ; till the queen, staying her tears, 
 
 Exclaimed : “ My sister’s daughter, Dear ! thou art 
 By this same mark : thy mother and myself 
 Were sisters by one father, he that rules 
 Dasarna, King Sudaman. She was given 
 To Bliima, and to Virabahu I. 
 
 Once at Dasarna, in my father’s house, 
 
 I saw thee, newly born. Thy race and mine, 
 
 Princess, are one ; henceforward, therefore, here 
 As I am, Damayanti, slialt thou he.” 
 
132 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 With gladdened heart did Damayanti bend 
 Before her mother’s sister, answering thus : 
 
 “ Peaceful and thankful dwelled I here with thee 
 Being unknown ; my every need supplied, 
 
 My life and honour by thy succour safe. 
 
 Yet, Maharajni ! even than this dear home 
 One would be dearer ; ’tis so many days 
 Since we were parted ; suffer me to go 
 Where those my tender little ones were led, 
 
 Too long, poor babes ! of me and of their sire. 
 Bereft. If, lady, thou dost think to do 
 Kindness to me, this is my wish, to wend 
 Unto Vidarbha swiftly ; wilt thou bid 
 They bear me thither ? ” 
 
 Was no sooner heard 
 
 That fond desire than the queen-mother gave 
 Willing command, and soon an ample troop — 
 The king consenting — gathered for her guard. 
 
 So was she sent upon a palanquin, 
 
 With soldiers, pole-bearers, and meat and drink, 
 And garments as befitted — happier — home. 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 133 
 
 Thus to Vidarbha came its pride again, 
 
 By no long road ; and joyously her kin 
 Brought the sweet Princess in, and welcomed her. 
 In peace and safety all her house she found ; 
 
 Her children well, — father and mother, friends. 
 The gods she worshipped, and to Brahmanas 
 Due reverence made, and whatso else was meet 
 That Damayanti did, regal in all. 
 
 To wise Sudeva fell the thousand cows 
 By Bhima granted, with the village lands, 
 
 And noble gifts beside. 
 
 But when there passed 
 One night of rest within the palace walls, 
 
 The wistful Princess to her mother said : 
 
 “ If thou would’st have me live, I tell thee true, 
 Dear mother ! it must be by bringing back 
 My Nala, my own lord, and only so.” 
 
 When this she spake, right sorrowful became 
 The Rani, weeping silently, nor gave 
 One word of answer ; and the palace girls, 
 
134 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 Seeing this grief, sate round them weeping too, 
 And crying : “ Halia ! where is gone her lord ? ” 
 And loud the lamentation was of all. 
 
 Afterwards to the Maharaj his queen 
 Told what was said : “ Lord ! all uncomforted, 
 
 Thy daughter Damayanti weeps and grieves, 
 Lacking her husband. Even to me she spake 
 Before our damsels, laying shame aside : 
 
 ‘ Find Nala ! let the people of the com’t, 
 
 Strive day and night to learn -where Mala is.’ ” 
 
 Then Bliima, hearing, called his Brahmanas, 
 Willing and wise, and issued hest to go 
 Into all regions, seeking for the Prince ; 
 
 But first, by mandate of the Maharaj, 
 
 To Damayanti all those twice-born came, 
 
 Saying : “ Now we depart ! ” Then Bhima’s child 
 Gave ordinance : “ To whatsoever lands 
 Ye wend, speak this, — wherever gather men, 
 Speak this, — in every place these verses speak : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 135 
 
 “ Whither art thou departed, falsest lover, 
 
 Who stole the half of thy beloved’s cloth, 
 
 And left her to awaken and discover 
 
 The wrong thou wroughtest to the love of both. 
 
 “She, as thou didst command, a sad watch keepeth, 
 With woeful heart wearing the vended dress ; 
 Prince ! hear her cry, who thus for ever weepeth ; 
 
 Be gentle, Hero ! comfort her distress. 
 
 “ And furthermore,” the Princess said, “ since fire 
 Leaps into flame when the wind fans the spark, 
 
 Be this too spoken, that his heart may burn : 
 
 “ By every husband nourished and protected 
 Should every wife be. Think upon the wood ! 
 Why these thy duties hast thou so neglected, 
 
 Prince ! that wast called noble and true and good ? 
 
 “ Art thou become compassionate no longer, 
 
 Shunning, perchance, my fortune’s broken way 1 
 Ah ! Husband, love is most ! let love be stronger ; 
 
 ‘ Ahimsa paro dharmas ’ * thou didst say. 
 
 * Signifying : “ Kindness is chief of duties.” 
 
136 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 “ These verses while ye speak,” quoth the Princess, 
 
 “ Should any man make answer, note him well, 
 
 In any place, and who he is, and where 
 He dwells. And if one listens to these words 
 Intently, and shall so reply to them, 
 
 Good Brahmans ! hold ye fast his speech, and bring, 
 Breath by breath, all of it unto me here; 
 
 But so that he shall know not whence ye speak, 
 
 If ye go back. Do this unweariedly, 
 
 And if one answer, be he high or low, 
 
 Wealthy or poor, learn all he was, and is, 
 
 And what he doth.” 
 
 Hereby enjoined, they went, 
 Those twice-born, into all the lands to seek 
 Prince Nala in his loneliness. Through towns, 
 Cities, and villages, hamlets and camps, 
 
 By shepherds’ huts and hermit’s caves they passed, 
 Searching for Nala ; yet they found him not ; 
 Albeit in every region (0 my King !) 
 
 The words of Damayanti, as she taught, 
 
 Spake they again in hearing of all men. 
 
NALA AND DAMAY ANTI. 
 
 1 37 
 
 Suddenly, after many days, there came 
 A Brahman home, Parnada was he called, 
 
 Who unto Bhima’s child in this wise spake : 
 
 “ 0 Damayanti ! seeking Nala still, 
 
 Ayodkya’s streets I entered, where I saw 
 The Maharaj ; he, Noble-minded one ! 
 
 Heard me thy verses say, as thou hadst said ; 
 
 Great Kituparna heard those very words, 
 
 Excellent Princess ! but he answered nought ; 
 
 And no man answered, out of all the throng 
 Ofttimes addressed. But when I had my leave. 
 
 And was withdrawn, a man accosted me 
 Privately, one of Pdtuparna’s train, 
 
 Yahuka named, the Piaja’s charioteer. 
 
 Something misshapen, with a shrunken arm, 
 
 But skilled in driving; very dexterous 
 In cookery and sweetmeats. He with groans, 
 
 And tears which rolled and rolled, asked of my 
 health, 
 
 And then these verses murmured wistfully : 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 138 
 
 “ Even when their loss is largest , noble ladies 
 Keep the true treasure of their hearts unspent, 
 Attaining heaven through faith, which undismayed is 
 By wrong, unaltered by abandonment. 
 
 “ Such an one guards with Virtue's golden shield 
 
 Her name from harm ; pious , and pure, and tender ; 
 And though her lord forsook her, will not yield 
 To wrath , even against that vile offender : 
 
 “ Even against the ruined, rash, ungrateful, 
 
 Faithless, fond Prince, from whom the birds did steal 
 His only cloth — whom now a penance fateful 
 
 Dooms to sad days — that dark-eyed will not fed 
 
 “ Anger ; — for if she saw him , she should see 
 
 A man consumed with grief, and loss, and shame ; 
 
 III or well lodged, ever in misery, 
 
 Her unthroned lord a slave without a name. 
 
 “ Such words I heard him speak,” Parnada said, 
 
 “ And, hastening thence, I tell them to thee here : 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 i 
 
 Thou knowest and wilt judge ; make the king know. 
 
 But Damayanti listened with great eyes 
 Welling quick tears, while thus Parnada spoke ; 
 
 And afterwards crept secretly and said 
 Unto her mother : “ Breathe no word hereof, 
 
 Dear mother, to the king, but let me speak 
 With wise Sudeva in thy presence soon. 
 
 Nothing should Bhima know of what I plan, 
 
 But, if thou lovest me, by thee and me 
 This shall be wrought. As I was safely led 
 By good Sudeva home, so let him go — 
 
 With none less happy fortune, — to bring back 
 Ere many days my Nala : let him seek 
 Ayodlrya, mother dear, and fetch my Prince.” 
 
 But first Parnada, resting from his road, — 
 
 That best of twice-born, — did the Princess thank 
 With honourable words and gifts : “If home 
 My Nala cometh, Brahman,” so she spake, 
 
 “ Great guerdon will I give ! Thou hast well done 
 For me herein ; better than any man, 
 
140 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Helping me find again my wandered lord.” 
 
 To which fair words made soft reply and prayers 
 For “ peace and fortune ” that high-minded one, 
 And so passed home, his service being wrought. 
 
 Next, to Sudeva spake the sad Princess, 
 
 This (0 my King !) — her mother standing by : 
 
 “ Good Brahman ! to Ayodhya’s city go ; 
 
 Say in the ears of Baja Bituparn, 
 
 As though thou cam’st a simple traveller : 
 
 ‘ The daughter of King Bhima once again 
 Maketh to hold her high Sway am vara ; 
 
 The kings and princes from all lands repair 
 Thither ; the time draws nigh ; to-morrow’s dawn 
 Shall bring the day. If thou wouldst be of it, 
 Speed quickly, conquering King ! at sun-setting 
 Another lord she chooseth for herself ; 
 
 Since whether Nala liveth or is dead 
 None knowetli.’ ” 
 
 These the words which he should say, 
 And, learning them, he sped and thither came, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 That Brahmana Sudeva, and he spake 
 To Maharaja Bituparna so. 
 
 iNow when the Baja Bituparna heard 
 Sudeva’s words, he said to Yahuka 
 Bight pleasantly : “ Much mind I have to go 
 Where Damayanti holds Swayamvara ; 
 
 If to Vidarbha in a single day 
 
 Thou deemest we might drive, my charioteer ! ” 
 
 Of Bala, by his Master thus addressed, 
 
 Bent was the heart with anguish, for he thought : 
 “ Can Damayanti purpose this ? could grief 
 So change her ? is it not some fine device 
 For my sake schemed ? or doth my Princess seek, 
 All holy as she was, this guilty joy, 
 
 Being so wronged by me, her rash weak lord ? 
 Frail is a woman’s heart and my fault great ; 
 Thus might she do it, being far from home, 
 
142 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT 1. 
 
 Bereft of friends, desolate with long woe 
 Of love for me, my slender- waisted one ! 
 
 Yet, no ! no ! no ! she would not, — she that is 
 My children’s mother ! Be it false or true, 
 
 Best shall I know in going ; therefore now 
 The will of Bituparna must I serve.” 
 
 Thus pondering in himself, the troubled Prince 
 With joined palms meekly to his master said : 
 
 “ I shall thy mind accomplish ! I can drive 
 In one day, Eaja, toVidarbha’s gates.” 
 
 Then in the royal stables, steed by steed, 
 Stallions and mares, Vahuka scanned them all, 
 
 By Eituparna prayed sudden to choose. 
 
 Slowly he picked four coursers, under-fleshed, 
 
 But big of hone and sinew ; fetlocked well 
 
 For journeying, high-bred, heavy-framed ; of blood 
 
 To match the best, yet gentle ; blemish-free ; 
 
 Broad in the jaw, with scarlet nostrils spread ; 
 Bearing the Avarthas, the ten true marks ; 
 
 Beared on the banks of Indus, swift as wind. 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTL 
 
 143 
 
 Which, when, the .Raja looked upon, he cried, 
 
 Half wrathful : “ What thing thinkest thou to do ? 
 Wilt thou betray me ? How should sorry jades, 
 Lean-ribbed and ragged, take us all that way, 
 
 The long road we must swiftly travel hence ? ” 
 
 Vahuka answered : “ See ! on all these four 
 The ten sure marks ; one curl upon each crest, 
 Two on the cheeks, two upon either flank, 
 
 Two on the breast, and on each crupper one. 
 
 These to Vidarbha — doubt it not — will go. 
 
 Yet, Raja, if thou wilt have others, speak, 
 
 And I shall yoke them.” 
 
 Rituparna said : 
 
 “ I know thou hast deep skill in stable-craft ; 
 
 Yoke therefore such four coursers as thou wilt ; 
 But quickly.” 
 
 Then those horses, two by two, 
 High mettled, spare, and strong, Prince Nala put 
 Under the bars; and when the car was hitched, 
 
144 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 And eagerly the Kaja made to mount, 
 
 At sign the coursers bent their knees and lay 
 Along the earth. Then Nala (0 my King !) 
 
 With kindly voice cheering the gaunt bright steeds, 
 Loosed them, and grasped the reins, and hade ascend 
 Yarshneya : so he started headlong forth. 
 
 At cry of Vahuka the four steeds sprang 
 Into the air, as they would fly with him. 
 
 And when the Kaja felt them, fleet as wind 
 Whirling along, mute sate he and amazed. 
 
 And much Yarshneya mused to hear and see 
 The thundering of the wheels, the fiery four 
 So lightly held, Vahuka’s matchless art ; 
 
 “ Is Matali, who driveth Indra’s ear, 
 
 Our charioteer ? for all the marks of him 
 Are here ; or Salihotra can this be, 
 
 The god of horses, knowing all their ways, 
 
 That here in mortal form his greatness hides ? 
 
 Or is it, can it be, Nala the Prince, 
 
 Nala the steed- tamer ? ” Thus pondered he 
 “ Whatever Nala knew, this one doth know ; 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 145 
 
 Alike the mastery seems of both ; alike 
 I judge their years. If this man be not he, 
 Two N alas are there in the world for skill. 
 They say there wander mighty powers on earth 
 In strange disguises, who, divinely sprung, 
 
 Veil themselves from us under human mould ; 
 Bewilderment it brings me, this his shape 
 Misshapen ; from conclusion this alone 
 Withholds me ; yet I know not what to think ! 
 In age and manner one, and so unmatched 
 In form ! else Yahuka I must have deemed 
 Nala, with Nala’s gifts.” 
 
 So, in his heart, 
 
 Varshneya watching, wondered, being himself 
 The second charioteer. But Bituparn 
 Sate joyous with the speed, delightedly 
 Marking the driving of the Prince ; the eyes 
 Attent ; the hand so strong upon the reins ; 
 The skill so quiet, wise, and masterful ; 
 
 Great joy the Maharaja had to see. 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 JjY stream and mountain, woodland path and pool, 
 Swiftly, like birds that skim in air, they sped ; 
 
 Till, as the chariot plunged, the Raja saw 
 His shoulder- mantle falling to the ground ; 
 
 And, loath to lose the robe, albeit so pressed, 
 
 To Nala cried he : “ Let me take it up ! 
 
 Check the swift horses, wondrous charioteer ! 
 
 And bid Yarshneya light and fetch my cloth.” 
 
 But Nala answered : “ Far it lies behind 
 A yojana already we have passed ; 
 
 We cannot turn again to gather that.” 
 
 A little onward Rituparna saw 
 Within the wood a tall myrobolan 
 Heavy with fruit ; liereat eager he cried ; 
 
 “ Now, Yahuka ! my skill thou mayest behold. 
 In the arithmic. All arts no man knows ; 
 Each hath his wisdom, but in one man’s wit 
 Is perfect gift of one thing and not more. 
 From yonder tree how many leaves and fruits 
 Think’st thou he fallen there upon the earth ? 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 147 
 
 Just one above a hundred of the leaves, 
 
 And of the fruits five score, unto a nut ! 
 
 And on those two limbs hang of dancing leaves 
 Five crores exact ; and should’st thou pluck yon boughs 
 Together with their shoots, on those twain boughs 
 Swing twice a thousand nuts and ninety- five.” 
 
 Vahuka checked the chariot, wonderingly, 
 
 And answered : “ Imperceptible to me 
 Is this thou boastest, slayer of thy foes ; 
 
 But I to proof will put it, hewing down 
 The tree, and, having counted, I shall know. 
 
 Before thine eyes those branches twain I’ll lop ; 
 
 How prove thee, Maharaja ! otherwise, 
 
 Whether this be or be not ? I will tell — 
 
 One by one — fruits and leaves before thee, King ! 
 Varshneya for a space can rein the steeds.” 
 
 To him replied the Baja : “ Time is none 
 How to delay.” 
 
 Vahuka answered quick — 
 
 (His own set purpose serving) : “Stay this space, 
 
148 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Or by thyself drive on. The road is good ; 
 
 The son of Vrishni will he charioteer ! ” 
 
 At this the Eaja answered soothingly : 
 
 “ There is not in the earth another man 
 That hath thy skill ; and by thy skill I look 
 To reach Vidarblia, 0 thou steed-tamer ! 
 
 Thou art my trust ; make thou not hindrance now. 
 Yet would I suffer, too, what thou dost ask 
 If surely thou canst reach Vidarbha’s gate 
 Before yon sun hath sunk.” 
 
 Nala replied : 
 
 “ When I have counted those Vibhitak boughs, 
 Vidarblia I will reach ; now keep thy word.” 
 
 Ill-pleased the Raja said : “ Halt then and count ! 
 Take one bough from the branch which I shall show, 
 And tell its fruits, and satisfy thy soul.” 
 
 So, leaping from the car, eager he shore 
 The bough and counted ; and, all wonder-struck, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 149 
 
 To Eituparna spake : “ Lo, as thou said’st, 
 
 So many fruits there be upon this bough ! 
 Exceeding marvellous is this thy gift ; 
 
 I burn to know such learning, how it comes.” 
 
 Answered the Eaja, for his journey fain : 
 
 “ My mind is quick in numbers, skilled to count ; 
 I have that science.” 
 
 “ Give it me, dear Lord ! ” 
 Vahuka cried ; “ teach me, I pray, this lore ; 
 
 And take from me my skill in horse-taming.” 
 
 Spake Eituparn — impatient to proceed, 
 
 Yet of such skill desirous : — “ Be it so ! 
 
 As thou hast prayed, receive my secret art, 
 Exchanging with me thy deep mastery 
 Of horses.” 
 
 Thereupon did he impart 
 His rules of numbers, and th’ arithmic lore. 
 
 But wonderful ! so soon as Nala knew 
 
NALA AND DA MAY ANTI. 
 
 15° 
 
 That hidden gift, the accursed Kali leapt 
 Forth from his breast, the evil spirit’s mouth 
 Spewing the poison of Karkotaka, 
 
 Even as it issued. From the afflicted Prince 
 That hitter plague of Kali passed away ; 
 
 And for a space Prince Nala lost himself, 
 
 Pent by such agony. But when he saw 
 The evil one take visible shape again, 
 
 Freed from the serpent’s poison, Nishadh’s lord 
 Had thought to curse him there ; hut Kali stood 
 With clasped palms trembling, and besought the 
 Prince, 
 
 Saying : “ Thy wrath restrain ! Sovereign of men ! 
 
 I will repay thee well. Thy virtuous wife, 
 
 Indrasen’s angered mother, laid her ban 
 Upon me, when thou didst forsake her : since 
 Within thee have I dwelled in anguish sore, 
 
 Tortured and tossed and burning, night and day, 
 
 With venom from the Great Snake’s fang, which 
 passed 
 
 Into me by thy blood. Be pitiful ! 
 
 I take my refuge in thy mercy ! Hear 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 l 
 
 My promise, Prince ! wherever men henceforth 
 Shall name thee before people, praising thee, 
 
 This shall protect them from the dread of me ; 
 
 1ST ala shall guard from Kali, if so now 
 Thou spare to curse me, seeking grace of thee.” 
 
 Thus supplicated, Nala stayed his wrath. 
 Acceding ; and the direful Kali fled 
 Into the wounded tree, possessing it. 
 
 But of no eyes save Nala’s was he seen, 
 
 Nor heard of any other ; and the Prince 
 His sorrows shaking off — when Kali passed, 
 
 After that numbering of the leaves — in joy 
 Unspeakable, and glowing with new hope, 
 
 Mounted the car again, and urged his steeds. 
 
 But from that hour the tall myrobolan 
 Possessed by Kali, stood there sear and dead. 
 
 Then, onward — onward — speeding like the birds, 
 Those coursers flew ; and fast and faster still 
 The glad Prince cheered them forward, all elate ; 
 And proudly rode the Eaja toward the walls 
 
152 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 Of far Vidarbha. Thus he journeyed down — 
 Exultant Nala — free of trouble now, 
 
 Quit of the evil spell, but bearing still 
 His form misshapen and the shrunken limb. 
 
 At sunset in Vidarbha (Good my Liege ! ) 
 
 The watchers on the walls proclaimed : “ There comes 
 The Raja Rituparna ! ” Bhima bade 
 Open the gates ; and thus they entered in, 
 
 Making all quarters of the city shake 
 
 With rattling of the chariot-wheels. But when 
 
 The horses of Prince Nala heard that sound, 
 
 For joy they neighed, as when of old their lord 
 Drew nigh. And Damayanti in her bower 
 Far off that rattling of the chariot heard — 
 
 As when, at time of rain, is heard the voice 
 Of clouds low-thundering — and her bosom thrilled 
 At echo of that ringing sound. It came 
 Loud and more loud, like Nala’s, when, of old, 
 Gripping the reins, he cheered his mares along. 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 153 
 
 It seemed like Nala to the Princess, then, 
 
 That clatter of the trampling of the hoofs ; 
 
 It seemed like ISTala to the stabled steeds ; 
 
 Upon the palace-roof the peacocks heard 
 And screamed ; the elephants -within their stalls 
 Heard it and trumpeted ; the coursers tied 
 Snorted for joy to hear that leaping car : 
 
 Peacocks and elephants and cattle stalled 
 All called and clamoured with uplifted heads, 
 
 As wild things do at noise of coming rain. 
 
 o o 
 
 Then to herself the Princess spake : “ This car. 
 
 The rolling of it, echoing all around, 
 
 Gladdens my heart ! It must be Uala comes. 
 
 My chief of men ! If I see not this day 
 My Prince, that hath the bright and moon-like face ; 
 My hero of unnumbered gifts, my lord ; 
 
 Ah, I shall die ! If this day fall I not 
 Into his opening arms at last — at last ! 
 
 And feel his close embrace, oh, beyond doubt, 
 
 I cannot live ! If, ending all, to-day 
 Nishadha comes not, with these ringing wheels 
 
154 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Like far-off thunder, then to-night I’ll leap 
 Into the golden, flickering, fiery flames ! 
 
 If now — now — now — my lion draws not nigh, 
 My warrior, strong as the wild elephant, 
 
 My Prince of princes, I shall surely die. 
 Nought call I now to mind he said or did 
 That was not rightly said and justly done ; 
 
 No idle word he spoke, even in free speech ; 
 Patient and lordly, generous to bestow 
 Beyond all givers ; — scorning to be base, 
 
 Yea, even in secret; such Nishadha was. 
 
 Alas ! when day and night I think of him, 
 How is my heart consumed, reft of its joy ! " 
 
 So meditating, like one torn by thoughts, 
 
 She mounted to the palace-roof to see ; 
 
 And thence, in the mid-court, the car beheld 
 Arriving : Eituparn and Vahuka 
 She saw, with Vrislmi’s son, descend and loose 
 The panting horses, wheeling back the car. 
 
 Then Eituparn, alighting, sought the king, 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 155 
 
 Bhima the Maharaja, far-renowned, 
 
 Whom Bhima with fair courtesies received ; 
 
 For well he deemed such breathless visit made 
 With deep cause, knowing not the women’s plots. 
 
 “ Swagatam ! ” cried he, “ what hath brought thee, 
 Prince ? ” 
 
 For nothing wist he that the Eaja came 
 Suitor of Damayanti. Questioned so, 
 
 This Baja Bituparna, shrewd as brave — 
 
 Seeing no kings nor princes in the court, 
 
 Bor noise of the Swayamvara, nor crowd 
 Of Brahmans gathering, weighing all those things — 
 Answered in this wise : “ I am come, great Lord ! 
 
 To make thee salutations ! ” But the king 
 Laughed in his beard at Bituparna’s word, 
 
 That this of many weary yojanas 
 Should be the mark ! “ Alioswid ! hath he passed 
 
 Through twenty towns,” thought he, “ and hither flown 
 To say good-morrow ? Bay, it is not that ! 
 
 Well, I shall know it when he tells it me.” 
 
 Thereat, with friendly speech his noble guest 
 
156 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 The king to rest dismissed. “ Eepose thyself,” 
 
 Quoth he ; “ the road was long ; weary thou art ! ” 
 And Eituparn, with sentences of grace 
 Eeplying to this graciousness, was led 
 By slaves to his allotted sleeping-rooms ; 
 
 And after Eituparn Varshneya went. 
 
 Yahuka, left alone, the chariot ran 
 Into its shed, and from the foamy steeds 
 Unbuckled all the harness, thong by thong, 
 
 Speaking soft words to them ; then sate him down, 
 Alone, forgotten, on the driving-seat. 
 
 But Damayanti, seeing Eituparn, 
 
 And Vrislini’s son, and him called Yahuka, 
 
 Spake sorrowful : “ Whose was the thunder then 
 Of that fleet car ? It seemed like Nala’s own, 
 
 Yet here I see no Nala ! Hath yon man 
 My lord’s art learned, or the other one, that thus 
 Their car should thunder as when Nala comes ? 
 
 Could Eituparna drive as Nala doth, 
 
 So that those chariot-wheels should sound like his ? ” 
 
N ALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 157 
 
 And, after having pondered (0 my King !), 
 The beauteous Princess sent her handmaiden 
 To Vahuka, that she might question him. 
 
 uO, Keshini ! ” the Princess said, “ inquire 
 Who is that man upon the driving-seat, 
 
 Misshapen, with the shrunken arm : approach 
 Composedly, question him winningly 
 With greetings kind, and bid him answer thee 
 According to the truth. I feel it here — 
 
 A doubt, a hope — that this, perchance, maybe 
 My Lord and Prince ; there is some new-born joy 
 Fluttering within my breast. Accost him, girl ; 
 And, ’ere thou partest, what Parnada said 
 Say thou, and hear his answer, blameless one ! 
 
 And bring it on thy lips ! ” 
 
 Then went the maid 
 Demurely, and accosted Vahuka 
 While Damayanti watched them from the roof. 
 
1 5 S 
 
 NALA AND DAMAYANTl. 
 
 “ Kuslialam te bravimi / health and peace 
 I wish thee !” said she. “ Wilt thou answer true 
 What Damayanti asks ? She sends to ask 
 Whence set ye forth and wherefore are ye come 
 Hither ? Vidarbha’s Princess fain would know.” 
 
 “ ’Twas told my Raja,” Valiuka replied, 
 
 “ That Damayanti, for the second turn, 
 
 Holds her Swayamvara : the Brahman’s word 
 Was ‘ This shall be to-morrow : ’ so he sped, 
 
 My Raja, on that news, with steeds which fly 
 A hundred yojanas, swift as the winds, 
 
 Exceeding fleet ! His charioteer am I.” 
 
 “ Who then, ” Keshini asked, “ is he that rode, 
 The third ? whence cometh he, and what his race ? 
 And thou thyself whence sprung ? and tell me why 
 Thou servest thus ? ” 
 
 Then Yahuka replied : 
 “ Varshneya is the third who rode with us, 
 The famous charioteer of Nala he; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 When thy Prince fled he went to Koshala 
 And took our service. I, in horse-taming 
 And dressing meat have skill, so am I made 
 King Rituparna’s driver and his cook.” 
 
 “ Knowetli Yarshneya, then, where Nala fled ? ” 
 Inquired the maid, “ and did he tell thee this, 
 
 Or what spake he ? ” 
 
 “ Of that unhappy Prince 
 He brought the children thither, and then went 
 Even where he would, of Nala wotting naught; 
 Nor wottetlr any man, fair damsel ! more. 
 
 Hidden from mortal eyes Nishadha lives, 
 Wandering the world, his very body changed : 
 
 Of Nala only Nala’s own heart knows, 
 
 And by no sign will he bewray himself.” 
 
 Keshini said : “ That Brahman, who did wend 
 First to Ayodhya, bore a verse to say 
 Over and over everywhere : strange words, 
 
 Made by a woman’s wit. List unto them : 
 
i6o 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 “ Whither art thou departed, falsest lover ! 
 
 Who stole the half of thy beloved’s cloth ; 
 
 And left her to awaken and discover 
 
 The wrong thou wroughtest to the love of both ? 
 
 “ She, as thou didst command, a sad watch kcepcth , 
 With woeful heart wearing the rended dress ; 
 
 Prince ! hear her cry , who thus for ever weepeth ; 
 
 Be gentle, hero ! comfort her distress ! ” 
 
 “ Wliat was it thou didst utter, hearing this ? 
 
 Some gentle speech ! — say it again ! the queen 
 My peerless mistress, fain would know from me. 
 
 Nay, on thy faith ! when thou didst hear that man, 
 What was it thou replied’st ? She would know.” 
 
 (Descendant of the Kurus !) Nala’s heart — 
 
 While so the maid spoke — well-nigh burst with grief, 
 And from his eyes fast flowed the rolling tears ; 
 
 But mastering his anguish, holding down 
 The passion of his pain, with voice which strove 
 To speak through sobs, the Prince repeated this : 
 
NALA AND D AM AY ANT 1. 
 
 161 
 
 “ Even against the ruined , rash, ungrateful, 
 
 Faithless, fond Prince, from whom the birds did steal 
 His only cloth, whom now a penance fatefid 
 
 Dooms to sad days — that dark-eyed will not feel 
 
 “Anger ; — for if she saw him , she should see 
 
 A man consumed with grief, and loss, and shame ; 
 
 III or well lodged, always in misery, 
 
 Her unthroned lord a slave without a name.” 
 
 Speaking these verses, woeful Nala moaned, 
 
 And, overcome by thought, restrained no more 
 His welling tears; fast broke they forth (OKing!).- 
 But Keshini returning, told his words 
 To Damayanti, and the grief of him. 
 
 When Damayanti heard, sore troubled still, 
 Yet in her heart supposing him her Prince, 
 Again she spake : “ Speed, Keshini ! and watch 
 Whatever this man doeth ; near him stand, 
 Holding thy peace, and mark the ways of him, 
 And all his acts, going and coming ; note 
 
 L 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTt. 
 
 162 
 
 If aught there he of strange in any deed. 
 
 Let them not give him fire, my girl ! not though 
 This hindereth sore ; nor water, though he ask 
 Even with beseeching. Afterward observe, 
 
 And bring me what befalls, and every sign 
 Of earthly or unearthly power he shows ; 
 
 And whatsoever else Vahuka doth, 
 
 See it and say.” 
 
 Thereon Keshini sped, 
 
 Obeying Damayanti ; and, at hand, 
 
 Whatever by that horse-tamer was wrought, 
 
 The damsel w T atclied ; and all his ways, and came 
 Back to the Princess, unto whom she told 
 Each thing Vahuka did, as it befell, 
 
 And what the signs were, and the wondrous marks 
 Of earthly and unearthly gifts in him. 
 
 “ Certes ! ” quoth she, “ the man is magical, 
 
 But high and holy-mannered. Never yet 
 Saw I another such, nor heard of one ! 
 
 Passing the low door of the inner court, 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 163 
 
 Where we must stoop, he did not bow his head, 
 But as he came the lintel lifted up 
 And gave him space ! Bhima the king had sent 
 Many and diverse meats for Bituparn, 
 
 Of beast and bird and fish — great store of food — 
 For cleansing which the chatties stood hard by, 
 All empty ; yet he did but look on them, 
 
 Wishing, and lo ! the water brimmed the pots ! 
 Then having washed the meats, he hasted forth 
 In quest of fire, and holding towards the sun 
 A knot of withered grass, the bright flame blazed 
 Instant amidst it ! Wonderstruck I was 
 This miracle to see, and hither ran 
 With other stranger marvels to impart; 
 
 For, Princess ! when he touched the blazing grass 
 He was not burned, and water flows for him 
 At will, or ceases flowing. And this, too, 
 
 The strangest thing of all, did I behold : 
 
 He took some faded leaves and flowers up 
 And idly handled them, but while his hands 
 Toyed with them, lo ! they blossomed forth again 
 With lovelier life than ever, and fresh green, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI 
 
 164 
 
 Straight on their stalks ! These marvels have I seen 
 And hastened hack to tell thee, Mistress dear.” 
 
 But when she knew such wonders of the man, 
 
 More certainly she deemed those acts and gifts 
 Betokened Nala ; and, so minded, full 
 Of trust to find her lord in Yahuka, 
 
 With happier tears and softening voice she said 
 To Keshini : “ Run yet again, my girl ! 
 
 And, while he wots not, from the kitchen take 
 Meat he hath dressed and bring it here to me.” 
 
 So went the maid, and, waiting secretly, 
 
 Brake from the mess a morsel, hot and spiced, 
 
 And bearing it with faithful swiftness, gave 
 To Damayanti. She (0 Kuru King !) 
 
 That knew so well the dishes dressed by him, 
 
 Touched — tasted it — and, laughing, weeping, cried, 
 Beside herself with joy : “ Yes, yes ! ’tis he ! 
 
 That charioteer is Nala ! ” Then, a-pant — 
 
 Even while she washed her mouth — she bade the 
 maid 
 
 * Damayanti would not neglect the religious obligation to wash the 
 lips after eating, although in a moment of such emotion. 
 
NA LA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 165 
 
 Go with the children twain to Vahuka; 
 
 Who, when he saw his little Indrasen 
 And Indrasena, started up and ran, 
 
 And caught, and folded them upon his breast, 
 
 Holding them there, his darlings, each as fair 
 As children of the gods : then, quite undone 
 With love and yearning, loudly sobbed the Prince. 
 
 Until, — perceiving Keshini, who watohed, — 
 Shamed to he known, he set his children down, 
 
 And said : “ In sooth, good friend, this lovely pair 
 So like mine own are, that, at seeing them, 
 
 I am surprised into these foolish tears. 
 
 Thou comest here too often ; men will think 
 
 Thee light, or me : remember we are here 
 
 Strangers and guests. Go thy ways, girl ! in peace ! ” 
 
 But 
 
 seeing that great trouble of his soul, 
 
 Lightly came Keshini and pictured all 
 To Damayanti. She, burning to know 
 If truly this were Hal a, bade the maid 
 
NALA AND DA MA Y A NT I. 
 
 166 
 
 Seek the Queen’s presence, saying this for her : 
 “ Mother ! long watching Vahuka, I deem 
 The charioteer is Nala ! One doubt lives, — 
 His altered form. I must myself have speech 
 With Vahuka; thou, therefore bid him come, 
 Or suffer me to seek him. Be this done 
 Forthwith, good mother, whether known or not 
 Unto the Maharaja.” 
 
 When she heard, 
 
 The Queen told Bhima what the Princess prayed, 
 Who gave consent ; and having thus good leave 
 From father and from mother (0 my King !) 
 Command was sent that Vahuka be brought 
 Where the court-ladies lodged. 
 
 So met those twain 
 
 And when Prince Nala’s gaze fell on his wife, 
 
 He stood with beating heart and tearful eyes : 
 
 And when sweet Damayantl looked on him, 
 
 She could not speak, for anguish of keen hope 
 To have him close ; but sate there, mute and wan, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 
 
 Wearing a sad-liued cloth, her lustrous hair 
 Falling unhanded, and the mourning-mark 
 Stamped with grey ashes on her lovely brow. 
 
 Then, when she found a voice, these were the 
 words 
 
 That came from her : “ Didst ever, Vahuka ! — 
 
 If Vahuka thy name be, as thou sayest, — 
 
 Know one of noble nature, honourable, 
 
 Who in the wild woods left his wife asleep, — 
 
 His innocent fond wife, weary and worn ? 
 
 Knowest thou the man ? I’ll say his name to thee 
 ’Twas Nala, Eaja Nala ! Ah ! and when 
 In any thoughtless hour had I once wrought 
 The smallest wrong that he should leave me so 
 There in the wood by slumber overcome ? 
 
 Before the gods I chose him for my lord, 
 
 The gods themselves rejecting : tell me how 
 This Prince could so abandon in her need 
 His true, his loving wife, she who did bear 
 His babes, — abandon her to whom he swore, 
 
 My hand clasped, in the sight of all the gods, 
 
1 68 
 
 NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Of Agni’s self : ‘ Thy true lord I will be ! ’ 
 
 Thou saidst it ; where is now that promise fled ? ” 
 
 While thus she spake (0 Conqueror of thy Foes !) 
 Fast from her eyes the woe-sprung waters ran ; 
 
 And Nala, seeing those night-black loving eyes 
 Reddened with weeping, seeing her falling tears, 
 Brake forth : “ Ah ! that I lost my throne and realm 
 In dicing, was not done by deed of mine : 
 
 ’Twas Kali wrought it ! Kali, 0 my wife ! 
 
 Drave me to leave thee ! Therefore, long ago 
 That evil one was stricken by the ban 
 Which thou didst utter, wandering in the wood, 
 Desolate, night and day grieving for me. 
 
 Possessing me he dwelt ; but, cursed by thee, 
 Tortured he dwelt, consuming with thy words 
 In fierce and fiercer pain, as when is piled 
 Brand upon burning brand. But he is gone ! 
 Patience and penance have o’ermastered him. 
 
 Princess ! the end is reached of our long woes ! 
 
 That evil one being parted, freeing me, 
 
 See, I am here ! and wherefore would I come 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Fairest ! except for tliee ? Yet answer this ; 
 How should a wife, right-minded to her lord, — 
 Her own and lawful lord, — compass to choose 
 Another love, as thou, that tremblest, didst ? 
 
 Thy messengers over all regions ran 
 
 By the king’s name proclaiming : ‘ Bhima’s child 
 
 A second husband chooseth for herself, 
 
 Whomso she will, as pleaseth, being free.’ 
 
 Those shameless tidings brought the Baja here 
 At headlong speed — and me ! ” 
 
 Tenderly smiled 
 
 Damayanti through her tears, with faltering lips 
 And joined palms answering her aggrieved Prince 
 “ Judgest thou me guilty of such a sin ? 
 
 When for thy sake I put the gods aside, 
 
 Thee did I choose, Nishadha ! my one lord. 
 
 In quest of thee did all those Brahmans range 
 In all ten regions, telling all one tale, 
 
 Taught them by me ; and so Parnada came 
 To Koshala, where Bitupama dwells, 
 
 And found thee in his house, and spoke to thee 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt. 
 
 170 
 
 Those words, and had thy gentle answer back. 
 
 Mine the device was, Prince ! to bring thee quick ; 
 
 For well I wist no man in all this world 
 Could in one day the fleetest coursers urge 
 A hundred yojanas save thee, dear Prince ! 
 
 I touch thy feet and tell thee this is truth ; 
 
 And true it is that never any wrong 
 Against thee, even in fancy, have I dreamed. 
 
 Witness for me, as I am loyal and pure, 
 
 The ever-shifting, all-beholding Air, 
 
 That wanders o’er the earth ; let him withdraw 
 My breath and slay me, if I sinned in aught ! 
 
 Witness for me yon golden Sun which goes 
 With bright eye over us ; let him withhold 
 Warm life and kill me, if I sinned in aught ! 
 
 Witness for me the white Moon, whose pale spell 
 Is on all flesh and spirit ; let that orb 
 Deny me peace and end me, if I sinned ! 
 
 These be the Watchers and the Testifiers, 
 
 The three chief Gods that rule the three wide 
 worlds ; 
 
 I cry unto them ! let them speak for me ; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 171 
 
 And thou shalt hear them answer for my faith, 
 
 Or once again, this day, abandon me.” 
 
 Then Yayu shewed — the all-enfolding Air — 
 
 And spake : “Not one wrong hath she wrought thee, 
 Prince ! 
 
 I tell thee sooth, the treasure of her truth 
 Faultless and undefiled she hath kept, 
 
 By us regarded, and sustained by us 
 These many days. Her tender plot it was, 
 
 Planned for thy sake, which brought thee ; since who 
 else 
 
 Could in one day drive fivescore yojanas ? 
 
 Nala ! thou hast thy sweet leal wife again ; 
 
 Thou, Damayanti ! hast thy Nala back : 
 
 Away with doubtings ! take her to thy breast, 
 Thrice-happy Prince ! ” 
 
 And while great Yayu spake. 
 Look ! there showered flowers down out of the sky 
 Upon them ; and the drums of heaven beat 
 Beautiful music; and a gentle wind, — 
 
172 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Fragrant, propitious — floated, kissing them. 
 
 But Nala, when he saw these things befall, — 
 Wonderful, gracious, — when he heard that Voice 
 Divinely sounding (Lord of Bharat’s line !) 
 Yielded all doubt of his delightful love. 
 
 Then cast he round about his neck the cloth — 
 Unstained by earth, enchanted — and (0 King !) 
 Called the great snake to memory : whereupon 
 His proper self returned. Bliima’s fair child 
 Saw her dear lord his stately form resume. 
 
 “ Ah, Nala ! Nala ! ” cried she, while her arms 
 Clasped him and clung ; and Nala to his heart 
 Pressed that bright lady — glowing, as of old, 
 With princely majesty. Their children twain 
 Next he caressed; while she, at happy peace, 
 Her beautiful glad face laid on his breast, 
 Sighing with too much joy. And Nala stood 
 A great space silent, gazing on her face, 
 Sorrow-stamped still, her long deep-lidded eyes, 
 Her melting smile : himself ’twixt joy and woe. 
 
 Afterwards, all that story of the Prince, 
 
NALA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 173 
 
 And all of Damayanti, Bhima’s queen 
 Told to the Maharaja joyously; 
 
 And Bhirna said : “ To-xnorrow will I see — 
 
 When Nala hath his needful offerings made — 
 
 Our daughter and this wandering lord well knit.” 
 
 O O 
 
 But all that night they sat, hand clasped in 
 hand, 
 
 Eejoicing, and relating what befell 
 In the wild wood, and of the woeful times. 
 
 And afterwards in Bhima’s royal house 
 Serenely dwelled the Princess and the Prince, 
 
 Each making for the other peaceful joy. 
 
 So, in the fourth year, bTala was rejoined 
 To Damayanti, comforted and free, 
 
 Eestful, attained, tasting delights again. 
 
 Also the glad Princess, gaining her lord, 
 
 Laid sorrows by, and blossomed out anew, 
 
 As doth the laughing earth when the rain falls, 
 Bringing her unseen hidden treasures forth 
 Of blade and flower and fruit. The ache was gone, 
 The loneliness and load ! Heart-full of ease 
 
174 
 
 AM LA AND DAM A YANTI. 
 
 Lovelier she grew and brighter, like the moon 
 Mounting at midnight in the cloudless blue. 
 
 I HAT night being spent, Prince Nala in his state 
 Led forth Vidarbha’s pride before the court ; 
 
 And Bhima, in an hour found fortunate, 
 
 Be-wed those married lovers. Dutifully 
 Nala paid homage to the Maharaj, 
 
 And reverently did Damayauti bow 
 Before her father. He the Prince received 
 With grace and gladness, as a son restored, 
 
 Making fair welcome, and with words of praise 
 Exalting Damayanti, tried and true ; 
 
 Which in all dignity Prince Nala took, 
 
 Returning, as was meet, words honourable. 
 
 Thereat into the city spread the noise 
 Of this rejoicing ; all the townspeople, 
 
 Learning of Nala joyously returned, 
 
 Made all their quarters gay with float of flags, 
 Flutter of cloths and garlands ; sprinkled free 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTt 
 
 i75 
 
 The king’s ways with fresh water and with cups 
 Of fragrant flowers, and hung long wreaths of flowers 
 From door to door the white street-fronts before ; 
 
 And decked each temple-porch, and went about 
 The altar-gods. 
 
 When Eituparna heard 
 How Vahuka is Xala in disguise, 
 
 And of the meeting, right-rejoiced at heart 
 That Eaja grew. And being softly prayed 
 By ISTala favourable thoughts, the king 
 Made royal and gentle answer, with like grace 
 By Nala met. To whom spake Eituparn : 
 
 “Joy go with thee and her, happily joined ! 
 
 But say, Nishadha ! wrought I anything 
 Wrongful to thee whilst sojourning unknown 
 Within my walls ? If any words or deeds, 
 
 Purposed or purposeless, have vexed thee, friend ! 
 
 For one and all thy pardon grant to me ! ” 
 
 And Nala answered: “JSTever act or word 
 The smallest, Eaja ! need’st thou to excuse ! 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 176 
 
 If this were otherwise, thy slave was I, 
 
 And might not question, but must pardon thee. 
 
 Yet good to me thou wert, princely and just, 
 
 And kin thou art ; and friendly from this time 
 Deign thou to be. Happily was I lodged, 
 
 Well tended, well befriended, in thy house ; 
 
 In mine own palace never better stead ! 
 
 The skill in steeds which pleased thee, that is mine 
 And, Eaja ! I will give it all to thee, 
 
 If thou be’st minded.” 
 
 So Nishadha taught 
 
 O 
 
 All his great gift in horses to the king, 
 
 Who heard each rule approved, and ordinance ; 
 And having gained this knowledge, gave in turn 
 His deepest lore of numbers and the dice 
 To Nala, afterwards departing home 
 To his own place, another charioteer 
 Driving his steeds ; and Eituparna gone, 
 
 Not long did Nala dwell in Bhiina’s town. 
 
 O 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 1 77 
 
 When one moon he had dwelled there, (taking leave,) 
 
 Nishadlia to his city started forth 
 
 With chosen train. A shining car he drove ; 
 
 And elephants sixteen, and fifty horse, 
 
 And footmen thirty score, came in the rear. 
 
 Swiftly did Nala journey, making earth 
 Quake with his flying car, and wrathfully 
 With quick steps entered he his palace doors. 
 
 The son of Virasena, Nala, stood 
 
 Once more before the gamester Puslikara ! 
 
 Spake he : “ Play yet again ! much wealth is mine, 
 And that, all which I have — yea, my Princess — 
 Set I for stakes. Set thou this realm and throw ! 
 My mind is fixed a second chance to try, 
 
 And, Pushkara ! we will play for all or none. 
 
 Who wins his throne and treasures from a Prince 
 Must stand the hazard of the counter-cast ; 
 
 This is the accepted law. If thou dost blench, 
 
 The next game we will play is ‘ life or death ’ 
 
 In chariot fight, when, or of thee or me 
 One shall lie satisfied : ‘ Descended realms 
 
 M 
 
i 7 8 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t 
 
 By whatsoever means are to be sought,’ 
 
 The sages say, ‘ by whatsoever won.’ 
 
 Choose therefore, Pushkara ! which way of these 
 Shall please thee ! either meet me with the 
 dice, 
 
 Or with thy bow confront me in the field.” 
 
 When Pushkara that heard, lightly he smiled, 
 Concluding victory sure ; and to the Prince 
 Answered exulting : “ Dishtya ! * hast thou gained 
 Stakes for a counter-game, Nishadha, now ? 
 
 Dishtya ! shall I have my hard- won prize, 
 
 Sweet Damayanti ? Dishtya ! didst thou come 
 In kissing-reach again of thy fair wife ? 
 
 Soon, in thy new gold splendid, she shall shine 
 Before all men beside me, as in heaven 
 On Sakra waits the loveliest Apsara. 
 
 See now, I thought on thee, I looked for thee, 
 
 Ever and ever, Prince ! There is no joy 
 Like casting in the game with such as thee. 
 
 And when to-day I win thy blameless one, 
 
 * An exclamation of pleasure and surprise. 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 1 79 
 
 The smooth-limbed Damayantl, then shall be 
 What was to be, and I can rest content ; 
 
 For always in my heart her beauty lives.” 
 
 Listening the idle talk that babbler poured, 
 
 Angry Prince Nala fain had lopped away 
 His head with vengeful khudga, but unmoved, 
 Albeit the wrath blazed in his bloodshot eyes, 
 
 He made reply : “ Play ! mock me not with jests ; 
 Thou wilt not jest when I have cast with thee ! ” 
 
 Then was the game set, and the Princes threw, 
 Nala and Pushkara; and — the numbers named — 
 By Nala was the hazard gained : he swept 
 His brother’s stake, — gems, treasure, kingdom, — off; 
 At one stroke all the mighty venture won. 
 
 Then quoth that conquering Prince to Pushkara, 
 Scornfully smiling : “ Mine is now once more 
 Nishadha’s throne ; mine is this realm again, 
 
 Its curse plucked forth ; Vidarbha’s glory thou, 
 Outcast ! shall ne’er so much as look upon ! 
 
 Fool ! who art now become her bond and slave 
 
i8o 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 Not by thy gifts that evil stroke was wrought 
 Wherefrom I fled before; ’twas Kah’s spell, 
 
 Albeit thou knew’st not, fool ! o’ermastered me. 
 Yet will I visit not in wrathful wise 
 My wrong on thee ; live as thou wilt ! I grant 
 Wherewith to live, and set apart henceforth 
 Thy proper goods and substance, and fit food. 
 
 Nay, doubt not I shall show thee favour too, 
 
 And be in friendship with thee, if thou wilt, 
 
 W T ho art my brother. Peace abide with thee ! ” 
 
 Thus all-victorious Nala comforted 
 His brother and embraced him, sending him 
 In honour to his town ; and Pushkara — 
 
 Gently entreated — to Nishadha spake, 
 
 With folded palms and humbled face, these words 
 “ Unending be thy glory ! may thy bliss 
 Last and increase for twice five thousand years, 
 Who grantest me wherewith to live, just lord ! 
 And where to dwell.” Thereafter, well bested, 
 Pushkara sojourned with the Prince one moon, 
 
 So to his town departed, heart-content, 
 
NALA AND DAMAYANTI. 1S1 
 
 With slaves and foot-soldiers and followers, 
 
 Gay as a rising sun (0 Bharat’s Glory !) : 
 
 Thus sent he Pushkara, rich and safe, away. 
 
 Then, with flags and drums and jewels, robed and 
 royally arrayed, 
 
 N ala into fair Nishadha entry high and dazzling 
 made ; 
 
 At the gates the Eaja halting, spake his people words 
 of love, 
 
 Gathered were they from the city, gathered from the 
 field and grove ; 
 
 From the mountain and the maidan, all athrill with 
 joy to see 
 
 JSTala come to guard his children. “ Happy now our days 
 will be,” 
 
 Said the townsfolk, said the elders, said the villagers ; 
 “ 0 king ! ” 
 
 Standing all with palms upfolded : “ peace and fortune 
 thou wilt briug 
 
 To thy city, to thy country ; boundless welcome do we 
 give, 
 
1 82 
 
 NALA AND DAM AY ANT t 
 
 As the gods in heaven to Indra when with them He 
 comes to live.” 
 
 After, when the show was ended, and the city, calm 
 and glad, 
 
 Best from tumult of rejoicing and its flood of feasting 
 had, 
 
 Girt with shining squadrons Hala fetched his Pearl of 
 Women home : 
 
 Like a queen did Damayanti hack unto her palace 
 come ; 
 
 By the Maharajah Bhima, by that mighty monarch 
 sent 
 
 Itoyally, with countless blessings, to her kingdom in 
 content : 
 
 There, beside his peerless Princess and his children, 
 bore he sway 
 
 Godlike; even as Indra ruling ’mid the bliss of Nandana, 
 
 Bore he sway, my noble Nala, princeliest of all lords 
 who reign 
 
 In the lands of Jambudwipa, winning power and fame 
 
 again ; 
 
NALA AND DAM AY ANTI. 
 
 183 
 
 Kuling well his realm re-conquered, like a just and 
 perfect king. 
 
 All the appointed gifts bestowing, all the rites 
 remembering. 
 
 End of Xala and DamayantI. 
 
( 1 84 ) 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 From the Vcina Parva of the Mahabhfirata, page 825, line 
 17,305, of the Calcutta 4 to text. 
 
 [In the section preceding the five Pandu Princes have 
 been wandering in the forest, greatly distressed for 
 want of water. The concluding portion of this 
 translation illustrates a passage in my previously 
 published version of the “ Swargdrohana,” where 
 the god Pharma praises the King Yudhisthira for 
 his equity and self-denial.] 
 
 Then Yudhisthira spake to Nakula : 
 
 “ Thou Son of Madri ! climb upon a tree, 
 
 And look to all ten quarters, if, by chance, 
 
 Water be nigh, or plants which love the pool ; 
 
 Thy brothers faint with thirst.” 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 i 
 
 So Nakula 
 
 Clomb a tall tree ; and looking, cried aloud, 
 
 “ Green leaves and water plants I see, which love 
 The marish and the pool ; also, I hear 
 The cry of cranes ; yonder will water lie ! ” 
 
 “ Go ! ” said the King, “ and fetch for us to drink, 
 Filling thy quiver.” 
 
 Then sped Nakula, 
 
 Obeying Yudhisthira with swift feet, 
 
 And found a crystal pool brimmed to the bank : 
 The great red-crested cranes stalked on its marge. 
 And down he flung to drink ; but a Voice cried, 
 
 “ Beware to drink, rash youth ! ere thou hast made 
 Answers to such things as I ask of thee ; 
 
 The law of this fair water standeth thus : 
 
 Arise, and hear, and speak ; afterwards drink, 
 
 And fill thy quiver.” 
 
 But the eager Prince 
 
 Being so parched, quaffed deep, not heeding him, 
 
i86 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 The Yaksha of the place, and thereupon 
 Fell lifeless in the reeds. 
 
 So when they looked 
 To see him coming, and he tarried long, 
 
 Again spake Yudhisthrra : “ Nakula 
 Lingers too much, my brothers ! — Sahadev ! 
 
 Go thou ; and bring him back, and bring to drink.’’ 
 
 “ I go,” quoth Sahadev ; and sought the pool, 
 And saw the water, and saw Nakula 
 Prone on the earth. Then mightily he grieved, 
 Spying the Prince outstretched ; yet, all so fierce 
 His drouth was, that he ran and flung him down, 
 Making to quaff; when, once again, the Voice 
 Sounded, “ Beware to drink, ere thou dost give 
 Answer to what things I will ask of thee ; 
 
 This is the law of me, who am the Lord 
 Of the fair water ; rise, and hear, and speak ; 
 
 Then thou shalt drink, and draw.” 
 
 Yet, so the stress 
 
 Of thirst o’ercame him, that he heeded not, 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 i 
 
 But drank, and rose, and — reeled among the reeds 
 Lifeless. 
 
 Then, once again, great Kunti’s son 
 Spake, saying : “ 0 Arjuna ! Bear of foes ! 
 
 These, our twain brethren, tarry : go thyself, 
 
 And speed, and bring them back, and bring to drink 
 Our trust thou art, for we are sore distressed.” 
 
 Which hearing, Gudakesa seized his bow 
 And arrows, and with drawn sword sought the pool. 
 But coming thither saw those heroes stretched — 
 His brethren, best of men, — in deadly swoon, 
 
 Or dead indeed ; and deep distraught he stood, 
 Seeing them thus. All round the wood he gazed, 
 With lifted bow, and arrow on the string, 
 
 Seeking some foe ; but when none came in sight, 
 
 So wild his thirst was, and the pool so clear, 
 
 He bent his knee to drink, but bending, heard 
 That Voice cry, “Dost thou this without my leave ? 
 Despite me, Kunti’s son ! thou canst not drink, 
 
 And shalt not, till thou makest answers good 
 
 * “He of 'the knotted locks,” a name of Arjuna. 
 
iS8 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 Unto my asking; then may’st thou be free, 
 
 Oh, horn of Bharata ! to drink and draw.” 
 
 Thus sternly stayed, the Prince exclaimed in wrath : 
 “ Come forth and show thyself, and fight with me ! 
 Pierced by my arrows thou shalt yield the pool.” 
 
 Then shot he shafts this way and that ; and spoke 
 Those spells which make a feathered barb fly straight ; 
 And darts he flung, of magic might, which find 
 Th’ escaping foe, tracking his winding feet ; 
 
 Karnis , Nar&chas, Nalikas he threw, 
 
 That angry Trince, covering the sky and wood 
 With searching steel. Thereat the Voice anew 
 Mock’d him, low-laughing : “ Son of Pritha ! vain 
 Thine anger is ; answer me fair, and drink ; 
 
 But if thou drinkest ere thou answerest, 
 
 Thou shalt not live.” Yet was his throat so parched 
 The Prince regarded not ; and stooped, and drank, 
 
 And fell down dead. 
 
 Then Yudhisthira spake : 
 “ Bhima ! thou Terror of thy foes ! see now ! 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 189 
 
 Arjuna, Hakula, Sahadev are gone 
 To fetch us water ; but they come not back. 
 Seek them, and bring to drink.” 
 
 And Bhima said, 
 
 “ So he it ; ” and he went unto the place 
 Where those, his mighty-hearted brethren, lay. 
 
 But when he saw them — all three — dead and stark, 
 Sore grieved that long-armed Lord, and gazed around, 
 Deeming some Yaksha or some Bakshasa 
 Had wrought their doom, and chafing for the fight. 
 
 “ But first,” quoth he, “ ’twere good to drink,” — so 
 sore 
 
 The drouth oppressed, — and to the pool he sped, 
 Thinking to quaff, when yet again that Voice 
 Echoed, “ Dare not to drink — so stands the law 
 Of this fair water ; answer first — then drink ! ” 
 
 But Bhima, parched and haughty, answered naught, 
 Lapping the sweet wave ; and in lapping fell. 
 
 Then, long time left alone, Kunti’s wise son 
 U prose — great Y udhisthira — sorro wf ul, 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 190 
 
 Perplexed in thought ; and strode into the wood : 
 
 A leafy depth, where never foot was heard 
 Of man, but shy deer roamed, and shaggy bears 
 Bustled, and jungle-hens clucked in the shade ; 
 
 With tall trees crowded, in whose crown the bees 
 Swarmed buzzing, and strange birds builded their 
 nests. 
 
 Through this green darkness wending, Yudliisthir 
 Passed to the pool, and marked its silver face 
 Shine in the light, rimmed round with golden cups 
 Of lotus-blossoms, all as if ’twere made 
 By Yiswakarma, architect divine ; 
 
 And all its gleaming shallows and bright bays 
 With water-plants were broken, lilies, reeds ; 
 
 And framed about with ketuk-groves, and clumps 
 Of sweet rose-laurel and the sacred fig ; 
 
 Insomuch that the King stood wondering there, 
 Albeit heart-sorrowful. 
 
 For there he saw, 
 
 Stretched dead together — as the world’s lords die, 
 Indra and all, at every Yuga’s end — 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 i 
 
 His warrior brethren. There Arjuna lay, 
 
 Beside his bow and arrow ; Bhima there, 
 
 With Nakula and Sahadev ; each void 
 Of life and motion ; and beholding these, 
 
 His soul sank, and he fetched a grievous sigh. 
 Bitterly at that sight lamented he, 
 
 Saying, “ Ah, Bhima ! 0 my brother ! named 
 From the grim wolf ; vain is the vow thou mad’st 
 To break the thigh of fell Duryodhana 
 In battle with thy mace. Dead art thou now, 
 
 And those words wind. Brother and faithful friend 
 Who wast so princely-hearted, and upheld' st 
 The fortune of the Kurus ! vows of men 
 Fail ofttimes, being blind ; but this of thine 
 Was noble, wherefore hath it borne not fruit ? 
 
 0 Dhananjaya ! Conqueror of wealth ! 
 
 My joy, my brave Arjuna ! at thy birth 
 The glad gods said to Kunti : ‘ This thy son 
 Shall be like Indra with the thousand eyes.’ 
 
 And northwards of the Paripatra hills 
 
 All people cried : ‘ Here is the chief shall bring 
 
 The glory back to us, having such strength 
 
192 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 That in the battle none will make him fly, 
 
 And none shall stand when he pursuetli.’ How — 
 Ah, Jishnu ! — how is this befallen here, 
 
 Killing those hopes with thee, — with thee, whose lov 
 Made all our dangers sweet ? And Sahadev, 
 
 And Nakula ! so valiant in the fight, 
 
 So high and gallant, gifted like the gods, 
 
 How have ye fallen ? who could conquer you ? 
 
 Is my heart stone that now it breaketh not, 
 
 Seeing these great twins gone, the first of men, 
 Heroes, the half of whose renowned work 
 Was yet to do ? Ye knew the Shastras — knew 
 The tunes and places and observances, 
 
 And kept the rites ; how lie ye on the earth, 
 Unconquered ones ! thus slain, thus overcome, 
 
 And not a wound to show — nay ! but the strings 
 Not slipped into the notches of your bows ? ” 
 
 So broke the sorrow forth from Yudhisthir 
 Beholding all four brethren lying still, 
 
 Prone, like four corpses set asleep by Death ; 
 
 Much grieved he, and the marvel chilled his blood : 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 193 
 
 Nor wist he, though so wise, whither to look 
 For that which slew them. Yet, close-pondering, 
 
 Unto himself he spake : “ No hurts they bear 
 Made by a mortal weapon, nor is print 
 Of footmark nigh, save theirs ; this is some Bhut ! 
 Some Spirit of the Waste ! — But let me drink, 
 
 And afterward consider ; it may he 
 
 The vile Duryodhana hath drugged the pool, 
 
 By counsel of Gandhara’s king ; the wise 
 Trust never him with senses unsubdued, 
 
 To whom things lawful and unlawful count 
 One and the same ; yea ! but this thing may be 
 Wrought by hid hatred of Duryodhana.” 
 
 Thus mused the King, but murmured presently : 
 
 “ Pure and unsullied seems the water ; fresh 
 My brothers’ faces are ; no poison-stain 
 Mars limb or lip ! ’tis Yama’s self hath come, 
 
 The conqueror of all, and slain them here, 
 
 Whom none but he dared strike, being so strong.” 
 
 So saying, to the brink he drew, athirst, 
 
 And stooped to drink ; — when, close at hand, he heard 
 
 N 
 
194 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 A bird’s cry, and the Yaksha, taking shape, 
 
 Spake : ■“ A grey crane I am, feeding on fish 
 And water- weeds ; ’tis I have sent yon four 
 Unto the regions of the dead, and thou 
 Shalt go, the fifth, great Eaja ! following them, 
 
 Except thou makest answers fair and good 
 To all that I shall ask. Dare not to drink, 
 
 Thou Son of Ivunti ! for my law is strong ; 
 
 Answer ; and afterwards, drink thou, and draw ! ” 
 
 Spake Yudhistliir: “Who art thou? Art thou 
 chief 
 
 Of Eudras, or of Vasus, or Maruts ? 
 
 Tell me ! No bird wrought thus, unless a bird 
 Might overthrow Himavan, and the peaks 
 Of Paripatra, or the Vindhya crags, 
 
 Or Malabar’s black gliats. Ah ! terrible 
 And mighty One, this is a dread deed wrought ! 
 
 This is a marvel, if thou slewed’st those 
 Whom Gods, and Gandliarvas, and Asuras, 
 
 And Demons dared not face in fight. I know 
 Naught of thy mind, nor if thou didst this thing 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 195 
 
 Desiring aught ; wonder and fear possess 
 My burdened heart ! I pray thee, show thyself, 
 Eeveal what God thou art, who hauntest here.” 
 
 “ Yea, King ! ” came answer ; “ I am not a bird 
 Wading the shallows, hut a Yaksha dread, 
 
 And I, as now thou seest me, killed these four.” 
 
 Baja ! (so Vaisampayana went on), 
 
 When Yudhisthira heard those scornful words, 
 
 And saw that form, backward he drew a space, 
 
 Gazing upon the Shape with eyes of flame, 
 
 Bulked like a crag, with towering head which topped 
 The fan-palms waving near ; shining as shines 
 The glory of the sun, not to be borne 
 For splendour ; coloured like an evening cloud, 
 
 And like a cloud still shifting. Then it spake, 
 
 That monstrous Shade : “ These four, though I forbade, 
 Drank of the pool, despite me, and were slain. 
 
 Drink not, 0 King ! if thou desirest life ; 
 
 0 Son of Pritha, drink not ! Kunti’s child ! 
 
 Answer my questionings, then drink, and live ! ” 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 196 
 
 “ I would not break thy rule,” quoth Yudhisthir ; 
 
 “ The wise have said, ‘ Keep everywhere the law,’ 
 And, Yaksha ! wherein thou wilt question me 
 None can speak better than he understands ; 
 
 So, what I know, that will I answer. Ask ! ” 
 
 Then thus he questioned, and the King replied : — 
 Yaksha. 
 
 What teacheth division ’twixt spirit and frame ? 
 
 And which is the practice assisteth the same ? 
 
 What finally freeth the spirit ? And how 
 Doth it find a new being ? Resolve me these now. 
 
 King. 
 
 The Yeds division plainly show; 
 
 By worship rightly man doth go ; 
 
 Dharma the soul will surely free ; 
 
 In Truth its final rest shall be. 
 
 Yaksha. 
 
 How cometh a man in the Yeds to be wise ? 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 597 
 
 What bringeth the knowledge of God to his eyes ? 
 What learning shall teach him the uttermost lore ? 
 And whence will he win it ? Eeply to these four. 
 
 King : 
 
 By hearing Scripture man acquires ; 
 
 By doing it his soul aspires ; 
 
 The utmost lore is conquering sense, 
 Which eometh of obedience, 
 
 Yaksha . 
 
 How wendeth a Brahman to heavenly rest ? 
 
 And what is the work that befitteth him best ? 
 
 And which are the sins that disgrace him ? and why 
 Doth he know himself humble and mortal ? Eeply ! 
 
 King . 
 
 Eeading the Vedas leads to rest ; 
 
 Pure meditation fits him best ; 
 
 Slander and cruelty defame ; 
 
 And Death marks him and all the same. 
 
198 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 Yakslia. 
 
 Who is it that gifted with senses to see, 
 
 To hear, taste, smell, handle ; and seeming to he 
 Sagacious, strong, fortunate, able, and fair ; 
 
 Hath never once lived, though he breatheth the 
 air ? 
 
 King. 
 
 The man who, having, doth not give 
 Out of his treasure to these five — 
 
 Gods, guests, and Pitris, kin and friend ; 
 Breathes breath, but lives not to life’s end ? 
 
 Yaksha. 
 
 What thing in the world weigheth more than the 
 world ? 
 
 What thing goeth higher than white clouds are curled ? 
 What thing flieth quicker than winds o’er the main ? 
 And what groweth thicker than grass on the plain ? 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 199 
 
 King. 
 
 A mother’s heart outweighs the earth ; 
 
 A father’s fondness goeth forth 
 Beyond the sky ; thought can outpass 
 The winds, and woes grow more than grass. 
 
 Yakslia. 
 
 Whose eyes are unclosed, though he slumbers all 
 day? 
 
 And what’s born alive without motion ? and, say, 
 What moveth, yet lives not ? and what, as it goes, 
 Wastes not, but still waxes ? Besolve me now 
 those. 
 
 King. 
 
 With unclosed eyes a fish doth sleep ; 
 
 And new-laid eggs their place will keep ; 
 Stones roll ; and streams, that seek the sea, 
 The more they flow the wider be. 
 
200 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 YaJcsha. 
 
 Wliat help is the best help to virtue ? and, then, 
 What way is the best way to fame among men ? 
 
 What road is the best road to heaven ? and how 
 Shall a man live most happy ? Eesolve me these now. 
 
 King. 
 
 Capacity doth virtue gain ; 
 
 Gift-giving will renown obtain ; 
 
 Truth is to heaven the best of ways ; 
 
 And a kind heart wins happy days.” 
 
 YaJcsha.. 
 
 Wliat soul hath a man’s which is his, yet another’s ? 
 Wliat friend do the gods grant, the best of all others ? 
 Wliat joy in existence is greatest ? and how 
 May poor men be rich and abundant ? say thou. 
 
 King. 
 
 Sons are the second souls of man, 
 
 And wives the heaven-sent friends ; nor can 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 Among all joys health be surpassed ; 
 Contentment answereth thy last.” 
 
 Yaksha. 
 
 Which Virtue of virtues is first ? and which bears 
 Most fruit ? and which causeth the ceasing of tears 
 
 King. 
 
 To bear no malice is the best ; 
 
 And Beverence is fruitfullest ; 
 
 Subduing self sets grief at rest. 
 
 Yaksha. 
 
 Still, tell me what foeman is worst to subdue ? 
 
 And what is the sickness lasts lifetime all through < 
 Of men that are upright, say which is the best ? 
 And of those that are wicked, who passeth the rest 
 
 King. 
 
 Anger is man’s unconquered foe ; 
 The ache of greed doth never go ; 
 
202 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 Who loveth most of saints is first ; 
 
 Of had men cruel men are worst.” 
 
 Yaksha. 
 
 Good Prince ! tell me true, is a Brahmana made 
 By birthright ? or shall it be rightfully said, 
 
 If he reads all the Veds, and the Srutis doth 
 know, 
 
 He is this ? or doth conduct of life make him so ? ” 
 
 King. 
 
 0 Yaksha ! listen to the truth : 
 
 Not if a man do dwell from youth 
 Beneath a Brahman’s roof, nor when 
 The Srutis known to holy men 
 Are learned, and read the Vedas through, 
 Doth this make any Brahman true. 
 
 Conduct alone that name can give ; 
 
 A Brahmana must steadfast live, 
 
 Devoid of sin and free from wrong ; 
 
 For he who walks low paths along, 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 Still keeping to the way, shall come 
 Sooner and safer to his home 
 Than the proud wanderer on the hill ; 
 And reading, learning, praying, still 
 Are outward deeds which ofttimes leave 
 Barren of fruit minds that helieva 
 Who practises what good he knows 
 Himself a Brahmana he shows ; 
 
 And if an evil nature knew 
 
 The sacred Yedas through and through. 
 
 With all the Srutis, still must he, 
 
 Lower than honest Sudra he. 
 
 To know and do the right, and pay 
 The sacrifice, in peace alway, 
 
 This maketh one a Brahmana.” 
 
 YaJcsha. 
 
 Bight skilfully hast thou my questionings met. 
 Most pious of princes and learned ! hut yet 
 Besolve me who liveth though death him befall ? 
 And what man is richest and greatest of all ? 
 
204 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 King. 
 
 Dead though he be, that mortal lives 
 Whose virtuous memory survives ; 
 
 And richest, greatest, that one is 
 Wliose soul — indifferent to bliss 
 Or misery, to joy or pain, 
 
 To past or future, loss or gain — 
 
 Sees with calm eyes all fates befall, 
 
 And, needing nought, possesseth all. 
 
 Then spake the Yaksha : “ Wondrously, 0 King 
 Hast thou replied, and wisely hast fulfilled 
 The law of this fair water ; therefore drink ! 
 
 And choose which one of these thy brethren dead 
 Shall live again.” 
 
 So Yudhisthira said, 
 
 “ Let Nakula, 0 Yaksha ! have his life — 
 
 My dark-browed brother with the fiery eyes — 
 Straight like a Tala-tree, broad-chested, tall, 
 That long-armed lord.” 
 
THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 205 
 
 “ But see where Bliima lies 
 Dead,” spake the Spirit, “ dearest unto thee ; 
 
 And where Arjuna sleeps, thy guard and guide ! 
 Why dost thou crave the life of Nakula — 
 
 Not thine own mother’s son — in Bhima’s stead, 
 
 Who had the might of countless elephants, 
 
 Whom all the people called thy ‘ Well-Beloved ? ’ 
 
 Or wouldst thou see Nakula alive again 
 In place of great Arjuna, thine own blood, 
 
 Whose valour was the tower of Panda vas ? ” 
 
 But Yudhisthira answered : “ Faith and right, 
 Being preserved, save all, and, being lost, 
 
 Leave nought to save : these therefore I will set 
 First in my heart. Faithful and right it is 
 To choose by justice, putting self aside. 
 
 Let Nakula live, 0 Yaksha ! for men call 
 King Yudhisthira ‘just; ’ nor will he lose, 
 
 Even for love, that name ; make Nakula live ! 
 
 Kunti and Madri were my father’s wives ; 
 
 Shall one he childless, and the other see 
 Her sons returning ? Madri is to me 
 
206 
 
 THE ENCHANTED LAKE. 
 
 As Kunti, as my mother, at this hour ; 
 
 As she who bore me she that bore the twins ; 
 And justice shall she have, since I am judge ; 
 Let Nakula live, thou Yakslia ! ” 
 
 Then the Voice 
 
 Sighed sweet, evanishing : “ Thou noblest Prince ! 
 Thou best of Bharat’s line ! as thou art just, 
 
 Lo ! all thy brethren here shall live again.” 
 
( 207 ) 
 
 THE SAINT’S TEMPTATION. 
 
 [From the Vana Parva of the Mah&bh&rata, p. 565, line 
 10,007, Calcutta 4 I 0 edition.] 
 
 
 Born of the White Doe, in the woods he dwelled, 
 That sinless saint, pious and mild and pure, 
 Sad-minded, solitary ; for his eyes 
 Had never lighted on a human face 
 
 Except his sire, Vibhandika’s ; and thus 
 Always young Bishyasringa’s heart was set 
 On sanctities (0 King !). 
 
 At which far time 
 
 Lomapad, friend of Dasarath, was lord 
 In Anga ; and, ’tis told, spake falsely once 
 Unto a Brahmana. But, thereupon 
 
2oS 
 
 THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 The Brahmans fled from that dishonoured court ; 
 
 So, when no priest was left, no Puroliit, 
 
 He of the thousand eyes, Indra, withheld 
 His rains, whereby sore suffered all the folk ; 
 
 And (0 my King !) Lomapad sent in grief, 
 
 Praying his wisest if they knew the cause 
 Of Indra’s wrath, and what should make Him rain. 
 
 Thus questioned, these took counsel ; and one 
 spake — 
 
 A chief of sages — “ 0 Superior Lord ! 
 
 The Bralrmanas are angered for thy word 
 Forsworn ; thou therefore make them fit amends, 
 
 And hither bring Eishyasring, who dwells 
 Alone amid the groves, holy and mild ; 
 
 Whose eyes have never seen a woman’s face ; 
 
 Whose heart is pure. If the fair boy shall come, 
 
 The clouds of Indra will let fall their drops 
 That very day ; of this thing doubt ye not ! ” 
 
 Hearing their words the Baja purged his guilt 
 With lavish gifts, soothing the Bralrmanas ; 
 
THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 209 
 
 And when their hearts were won, he came again 
 Unto his kingdom, making all folks glad. 
 
 And, next, the Lord of Anga called his best 
 Among the ministers to compass means 
 How Bishyasringa might he brought ; and those, 
 Deep-read in Shastra, Artha, Niti, all, 
 
 Counselled the wiles of woman ; — whereupon 
 A band of comely winsome girls were hid 
 Unto the palace, skilled in arts to please ; 
 
 And the kino; said : “ Beautiful damsels ! bring 
 Bishyasringa hither, that saint’s son ; 
 
 Entice, allure, persuade : ye know men’s hearts.” 
 But they, fearing the king, yet fearing more 
 The saint’s curse if they vexed him, one by one 
 Answered : “ Yea, Baja ! hearts of men we know, 
 But in this thing how can we serve thy will ? ” 
 
 Then one arose, white-haired and wrinkled deep, 
 An ancient dame, who spake unto the king : 
 
 “ See, Maharaja ! I will fetch this boy, 
 
 Albeit an ocean of austerities. 
 
 Do thou command that there be granted me 
 
 0 
 
2 10 
 
 THE SAINT'S TEMPTATION. 
 
 Means for my need, that so I may prevail, 
 
 And bring the Kishi’s son, this pearl of saints.” 
 
 “ What needest thou ? ” said he ; and when lie 
 knew, 
 
 Much store of silver and of gold and gems 
 He gave the dame, who from the ring of girls, 
 Laughing, drew forth the fairest, wilfullest ; 
 
 And muttering “ He will come ! ” passed to the woods. 
 
 And there she built — so Lomarsha went on — 
 
 Not by the king’s word, but her ow r n device, 
 
 A floating bower to swim upon the stream. 
 
 Full sweet she fashioned it, from woven boughs 
 Of verdure, interlaced with palms and vines, 
 
 And clasped by climbing stems, and hung with fruit 
 Golden and rosy, and with bright blooms decked ; 
 Afterwards on the river launched her boat — 
 
 The damsel seated ’neatlx its leafy screen — 
 
 So that it came with paddle, stream, and breeze, 
 Through the trees stealing, down the silvery road, 
 Softly and silent, to the Eishi's haunt ; 
 
THE SAINT'S TEMPTATION. 21 1 
 
 Where lightly tripped the lovely girl ashore, 
 
 And looking in his eyes, demurely spake 
 
 “ 0 Muni ! is it peace with you ? are all the Eishis 
 well ? 
 
 And have you roots and fruits enough ? and take you 
 joy to dwell 
 
 AH lonely in this hermitage, which I am come to 
 see ? 
 
 And add you, day by day, dear saint ! unto your 
 sanctity ? 
 
 And, Brahman ! doth your sire rejoice to watch you 
 fast and pray ? 
 
 And do you sing, 0 Bishyasring ! the Yedas every 
 day ? ” 
 
 Answered that blushing boy delightedly : 
 
 “ 0 unknown one ! who shinest like the splendour 
 of a star, 
 
 Peace and good-will ! for due to thee my salutations 
 
 are. 
 
212 
 
 THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 Accept, I pray thee, at my hands, the Padya* and 
 this thrift 
 
 Of roots and fruits, as duty bids, a hermit’s humble gift : 
 And he thou pleased upon this mat of Kusa grass to sit, 
 Or, better, let the black deer’s skin be smoothly spread 
 on it : 
 
 Fair is the day which bring eth thee ! All, sweet saint, 
 where may be 
 
 Thy hermitage, and what vow fills the holy hours of 
 thee? ” 
 
 Plight archly answered him the laughing girl : 
 
 “ Oh, son of pious Kasyapa ! my charming bower lies 
 Under a mountain far removed from these austerities, 
 Three yojanas away, — away ; — nor is it meet for me 
 Thus to be reverenced, nor to touch this water, nor to 
 see 
 
 A Piislii kneeling at my feet ; much otherwise my state ! 
 Love is the vow which fills my life and makes my 
 heart elate.” 
 
 * Water for the feet ; a necessary and graceful part of Hindoo 
 hospitality. 
 
THE SAINT’S TEMPTATION. 
 
 213 
 
 Perplexed, yet radiant, the boy replied : 
 
 “ What should I do to pleasure thee ? I’ll bring thee 
 fruits we find 
 
 Within our groves, Bhallatakas, Ingudas with gold rind, 
 Karushakas, Amalakas, Dhanwanas honey-sweet, 
 
 Or Pippalas ; see ! these are here ; wilt thou not take 
 and eat ? ” 
 
 But smilingly she put them by, and reached 
 Bare cakes to him, spiced as no hermit knows, 
 Pleasant of taste, which the boy ate with joy. 
 
 And on his neck and wrists lightly she hung 
 Garlands of subtle-scented blooms ; and crowned 
 Her own bright brows ; and drew a light robe on, 
 Laughing ; and so, with murmuring song, unbound 
 Her body-cloth, and waving, weaving it, 
 
 Paced the soft Ivanduka with beating feet, 
 
 And bosoms lithely swayed, as flower-cups sway 
 When the wind shakes their clusters ; at the last 
 Danced to his side, and for a moment set 
 Palm to his palm, and limb to limb, and lip 
 
214 
 
 THE SAINT’S TEMPTATION. 
 
 To trembling lip, and breast to beating breast : 
 
 Then turned aside and drew the branches down 
 Of Sarja, Tilak, and Asoka trees, 
 
 Plucking their buds, shameless and well-content, 
 Because she saw love lighted in his heart. 
 
 For knowing well her triumph, and the saint 
 Obtained, — once more she clasped her soft brown arms 
 About him, and with eyes fixed on his eyes 
 Withdrew; having enkindled passion’s flame 
 Where only fires of sacrifice had burned. 
 
 When she was gone, young Bishyasringa stood 
 As one some dream of glory leaves distraught, 
 Spiritless ; then within his lonely cell 
 Sate with face fixed through many silent hours, 
 Her beauties meditating. 
 
 Presently 
 
 Vibhandaka, of Kasyapa the son, 
 
 Pieturned. Much insight of the Yeds had bleared 
 
 O 
 
THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 215 
 
 His ancient orbs ; a thick pile covered him, 
 
 Body and legs and arms, to the finger-ends : 
 
 A holy man, purified, dedicate 
 To contemplation. He, arriving, saw 
 The lad in deep thought plunged, sitting apart, 
 Dejected, fetching sigh on sigh, with 'glance 
 Upturned. Whereat inquired Yibhandaka : 
 
 “ My child ! why hast thou gathered not the wood ? 
 Didst thou perform the sacrifice to-day ? 
 
 And didst thou lead the calf to suck the cow ? 
 
 Why art thou sad ? I pray thee tell me true, 
 
 Hath one been with thee here to-day ? ” 
 
 The boy 
 
 Gave answer : “ Yea ! a Brahmacharya came, 
 
 His locks were braided and his comely form 
 Seemed not too tall nor short ; fair-voiced he was, 
 Coloured as is new gold, with broad bright eyes, 
 Which were like lotus-blossoms. As gods shine 
 So of his own divine grace glittered he. 
 
 A glory had he like the sacred sun ; 
 
 And, ah ! his dark deep glance ; and oh ! his hair 
 
THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 216 
 
 Tied iip with blue ; sweet-smelling, lustrous, long ! 
 
 A necklace curled and clung about his neck 
 Sparkling like lightning on a dusky sky ; 
 
 And underneath his throat swelled forth to sight 
 Two globes, flower-soft and smooth, fair-fashioned, 
 large ; 
 
 His waist so fined that back and front came close ; 
 Below his hips outrounded wondrously ; 
 
 A jewelled girdle hung above his thighs, 
 
 And some strange tinkling ornaments adorned 
 His feet. Also upon his arms were gems, 
 
 Which chattered like the breast-beads of my string, 
 All ! but more musically, when he moved ; 
 
 ’Twas as the songs of wild swans on the lake ! 
 
 The cloths he wore were goodly, not like mine, 
 
 And when he spoke, those honeyed words which fell 
 Gladdened my heart and passed into my soul, 
 
 Deep — deep ! till dearer seemed it than the notes 
 
 Of Ko'ils piping ! Also, as the woods 
 
 When in the Madliva month the breezes blow, 
 
 Shake fragrance forth, so there did waft from him 
 Sweet breaths on every air ! Over his brows 
 
THE SAINT’S TEMPTATION. 
 
 217 
 
 The locks sate smooth, drawn forward from his braids, 
 And in his ears swung little painted stones 
 Brighter than Chakravaka birds ! Sometimes 
 With skilful hand he tossed a fruit aloft, 
 
 Which fell to earth, and bounding to his palm. 
 
 Was beaten back again and yet again, 
 
 Wondrous to see ! while this and that way waved 
 His body like a tree which the wind bends. 
 
 Ah ! while I saw him so, like a young god, 
 
 My heart grew full ! I worshipped that fair Saint l 
 Bull oft, too, he embraced me, holding me 
 Close by the hair, and, drawing down my cheek. 
 
 And, covering up my mouth with his soft mouth. 
 Upon my lips made tender sounds; and this 
 Wrought me strange joy ! He would not willingly 
 Accept ‘ foot-water,’ nor the fruits I brought, — 
 
 He had a vow was otherwise, he said, — 
 
 But gave me unknown fruits, more delicate 
 Than aught we ever taste of here ; no rind 
 They had, nor pulp like ours. Also he gave 
 Sweet juices to me, which I drank, and felt 
 A quickening glow, lifting my eyebrows up. 
 
2 I 8 
 
 THE SAINTS TEMPTATION. 
 
 Those wreaths of scented blossoms strung with silk 
 Are from his hand ; he left them here, dear saint ! — 
 Who by his fasts, no doubt, so splendid shows — 
 When he withdrew to seek his hermitage. 
 
 Now he is gone, I am become as nought ; 
 
 My senses fail, my body burns ! I ask 
 Only to go to him, or else that he 
 Should ever come to us. Father ! demand 
 His presence : learn his Bralimacharya’s name ! 
 
 I wish to exercise with that wise man 
 The penance they perform : I long to do it ! 
 
 My heart will break if I see him no more ! ” 
 
 Vibhandaka spake sternly : “ Son ! there walk 
 Wonderful Bakshasas in this our wood, 
 
 Dreadful for strength and cunning comeliness ; 
 Ofttimes to interrupt our rites they seek ; 
 
 Ofttimes, with winsome wiles and beauteous shapes, 
 Tempt saints to abandon Swarga’s heavenly mark. 
 
 He who will rule his mind and reach toward bliss 
 
 With such makes no society, nor looks 
 
 The way of these, the abominable, who snare 
 
THE SAINT'S TEMPTATION. 
 
 219 
 
 The pious. Yea, my son ! those drinks she gave 
 Are evil and forbidden, and conduce 
 To sin. Yon wreaths, moreover, must not lie 
 Within a hermitage where Munis live ; 
 
 For soul-compelling is their subtle scent. 
 
 ISTay, ’twas a Bakshasi ! ” 
 
 So did the sage 
 
 Counsel that youthful saint, admonishing him, 
 And afterwards set forth to seek the witch : 
 
 But, nowhere finding her, came home again. 
 
 Yet it befell, upon another day, 
 
 Vibhandaka went forth to pluck those fruits 
 Which are most meet to make the sacrifice 
 Of Sravan, and she came again, the girl, 
 
 Silently shining through the trees. And he 
 Saw her, and, seeing, utterly forgot 
 Bisliis and Bakshasis, so joyed he was, 
 
 So with strong love transported ; for she sighed 
 “ Bishyasring ! ” and with that word he took 
 Her palm, and led her to the lonely hut, 
 
 Whose porch they entered. 
 
220 
 
 THE SAINT'S TEMPTATION. 
 
 Afterwards (0 King !) 
 Laughingly did she win him to the hank 
 With honeyed arts, and lightly him entrance, 
 Floating and fondling down the silvery stream 
 Until they came to Anga. There she drew 
 The green boat in, and moored it ’neath the shade, 
 Love’s ark — plain to he seen, and by all folk 
 Named Navyasrama, ‘ The Floating Shrine.’ 
 
 So Lomapad brought in the Kishi’s son : 
 
 And lo ! great Indra’s wrath was gone ; the rain 
 Burst o’er the land and drenched the thirsty fields ; 
 But Rishyasringa to his forest cell 
 Came back no more ! 
 
( 221 ) 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 From the Drona Parva of the Maliabharata, line 2040, 
 page 606, vol. iv., Calcutta 4 to edition. 
 
 [The brave and virtuous son of Arjuna and Subhadra , 
 the young Abhimanyu, has been slain in battle, after 
 splendid exploits; and Prince Yudhisthira is bitterly 
 bewailing that loss. “ What is death ? Whence is 
 this death ? ” he exclaims. The sage Vydsa thus 
 replies to him ;] 
 
 I. 
 
 I WILL relate 
 An ancient story for thy comfort, Prince, 
 
 By Narad told to King Akampana ! 
 
 For that great lord had lost his only son, 
 
222 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Which is of earthly woes hardest to bear. 
 
 Thou, too, shalt learn how death began, and this 
 Shall free thee from the ache of love bereaved. 
 
 Hear the old story ; it is sweet to hear — 
 
 Excellent, holy, purging sins away, 
 
 Prolonging life because it stayeth grief ; 
 
 Good for the heart and soul, strengthening the will, 
 Best of auspicious scriptures. Hay, I say 
 To tell or hear this read is all as if 
 The blessed Yeds were chanted; it should he 
 Said with the morning prayer for kings to con, 
 
 If they will keep their children, realms, and wealth 
 With minds at ease. 
 
 My son, in ages past, 
 
 In the far Krita Yuga, lived this King 
 Akampana. His foes beset him sore, 
 
 And slew in fight Hari, his son, a Prince 
 God Narayen’s match, for might ; youthful and fair ; 
 Skilful in arms, wise, pleasant — in the war 
 Fearless as Sakra. But they hemmed him round, 
 Striking such blows amidst his enemies, 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 That when he fell there lay about his corpse 
 A bloody belt of chiefs and elephants. 
 
 Long mourned the King his sire, by night and day 
 Weeping, knowing no joys, uncomforted; 
 
 Whom that most holy saint, great Narada, 
 
 Hearing his grief, in pity visited. 
 
 But when the King saw Narad entering, 
 
 Uprose he from the dust, and clasped those feet, 
 
 And poured his sorrows into those wise ears, 
 ^Recounting all the battle, how ’twas lost, 
 
 And how the Prince fell. “ Ah ! my brave, fair 
 son ” — 
 
 So broke he forth — “ Oh ! my most gallant boy ! 
 
 That wast upon our side like Indra’s self 
 For help, like Vishnu in thy shining mail, 
 
 Slain art thou ’midst thy foes. Ah ! Bliagavan, 
 
 All ! Pdshi, he is gone ; my pride is dead ! 
 
 What is this death ? whence cometh it ? what curse 
 Hath given it means and might and power to kill, 
 Blasting the bloom of life ? Thou, who art wise, 
 
 Tell me the truth of this ; I crave to know.” 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 224 
 
 Then Narad, hearing his most piteous cry, 
 
 That teacher of all truth, spake tenderly 
 The ancient tale I tell, which whoso hears 
 He shall not weep though his one son be dead. 
 
 Narada said : “ Listen, thou long-armed king, 
 
 And grieve no more when thou hast heard. At first, 
 Long back in the beginning, He who rules, 
 
 Almighty Shining Brahma, made what lives 
 
 To be unchanged ; so was there length of days 
 
 Illimitable, but not growth in days 
 
 Which comes by change; and Brahma, seeing His worlds 
 
 Fixed in fair changelessness, waxed ill content, 
 
 Bethinking to unmake what He had made, 
 
 That good should pass to better. And there went, 
 
 0 monarch ! from the discontent of Him — 
 
 Bethinking how He should destroy to save — 
 
 A flame, the spirit of His brooding thought, 
 
 Which, filling all the regions, had consumed 
 The heavens and earth and worlds from west to east — 
 From north to south, the heavens and earth and worlds, 
 With all their creatures — those which live and move, 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 225 
 
 And those which live unmoving, plants and trees. 
 
 So was that thought of Brahma terrible. 
 
 But thereupon he of the matted locks, 
 
 Hara — whom men do also Sthanu call, 
 
 King of night-wandering ghosts, Shiva the god — 
 
 Unto dread Brahma’s presence straight repaired. 
 Awful in sunlike majesty sat He ; 
 
 And seeing Hara at His feet, come there 
 For love of living beings : “ Son ! ” He said, 
 
 “ What need hath brought thee ? Let the wish be known ; 
 That which thou dost desire, it shall be wrought ; 
 
 For thou art Sthanu, and thy will is mine.” 
 
 Spake Hara : “ 0 thou Light of all the Worlds ! 
 
 Thine are the worlds, and thou hast peopled them ; 
 
 And all things in their orders are by Thee, 
 
 And in Thee live. Wilt thou not save Thine own ? 
 
 But now they fear to perish everywhere, 
 
 Slain by tills fire which flameth from Thy mood 
 
 And I, who see it, and who love them, come, 
 
 Moved with compassion. Have thou mercy, Lord ! ” 
 
 P 
 
226 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Brahma replied : “ I did not think to slay. 
 
 Lo ! I am favourable. Life shall live : 
 
 For love, not hate, this mood did move in me ; 
 Because the Angel of the Earth hath come, 
 Constantly praying : ‘ Father, lighten me ! 
 
 Make and unmake this burden sore to bear, 
 
 My children, lest we multiply to harm.’ 
 
 Yet, having made them, how should I unmake, 
 Seeing I gave gifts indestructible, 
 
 Giving their lives ? I cannot slay, yet these 
 Must change ; therefore that mood did move in me.” 
 
 Spake Kara, “ 0 Protector of the Worlds ! 
 
 Be favourable still, be wroth no more ; 
 
 Let not the lives, moving and motionless, 
 
 Perish, 0 Bliagavan ! Let there be henceforth 
 Three states of time for children of the earth, 
 
 The Past, the Present, and the Future; these 
 Let them possess, Thou Lord of All ! Thy mind 
 Burneth in moving, and therewith a flame 
 Proceeded, scorching mountains, rivers, lakes, 
 
 Forests and beasts that dwell there, and the beings, 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 227 
 
 Moving and motionless, of all the earth. 
 
 Ah ! Bhagavan, he thou then propitious ; yield 
 Thine ill content which slayeth. This I crave. 
 
 Also the flame, which hath proceeded forth 
 By reason of it ; draw it back, dread Lord, 
 
 Into Thyself ; from Thee it sprang ; Thou art 
 Master to bless or hair. Make Thine acts bless 
 These that are Thine to sweep away or save, 
 
 These that must perish if Thou pity not. 
 
 0 Maker who unmakest ! I am here — 
 
 The messenger of all the guardian gods 
 Which keep thy worlds — beseeching Thee, Supreme, 
 Destroy not that which Thou hast wrought so fair ! 
 Bor this at Thy great feet I bend and plead.” 
 
 1 
 
 Hearing Mahadev’s prayer (quoth Xarada) 
 
 The awful Brahma gave consent, and drew 
 Back to Himself that earth-devouring flame. 
 
 Then He who maketh and unmaketh worlds 
 Spake of the making and unmaking — how 
 The purpose groweth so. And when the fire 
 Was wholly quenched, and all His spirit still, 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Lo ! Brahma meditated ; and there rose, 
 
 Live from His thought, a Presence feminine — 
 Delicate, tender, splendid, with great eyes. 
 
 Dark the sweet face was, dark the stately limbs ; 
 But beauty blossomed red on lip and breasts, 
 
 And in her ears swung ear-rings of soft gold. 
 
 She, being so born, drew backward from the throne, 
 Awestruck to gaze upon those Gods. But He 
 Who maketh and unmaketh spake to her 
 Saying, “ Thou Death, thou Mrityu — go, destroy 
 Those who must die ! I have created thee 
 Unto this work ; bring to appointed end 
 The moving and unmoving ; kill and slay 
 All creatures at their time. This is my will. 
 
 Obey, and fear not.” 
 
 Thus commanded, Death — 
 Fair Mrityu, with those eyes like lotuses — 
 
 Spake not, but bowed her head and sobbed, her tears 
 Fast welling ; so that on dread Brahma’s hand 
 Fell the bright tears ; for Brahma drew her close, 
 Saying “ I bid thee for the good of all.” 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 229 
 
 II. 
 
 But Xaracla went on : Then she assuaged 
 Her sorrow, and replied, “ Father and Lord ! ” 
 Clasping her palms across her beauteous breast, 
 
 And trembling like a tendril in the wind — 
 
 “ Father and Lord,” sighed Mrityu, “ wherefore then 
 Mad’st Thou me woman ? How shall I fulfil 
 This dreadful duty, this injurious task ? 
 
 I shall be. guilty, I shall be defiled. 
 
 Be gracious ; let this work light not on me ! 
 
 Why must they die ? the friend, the citizen, 
 
 The son, the mother, father, brother, bride 
 And bridegroom — all so happy, all so fair — 
 
 Why should these be destroyed ? I am afraid 
 To kill them ; I shall sadden at their tears, 
 
 Grieve with their groans. Master of all ! dear God ! 
 Bid me not dwell with Yama, slaying men. 
 
 I pray Thee rather give me leave to live 
 In holy silences and pains and prayers. 
 
 This boon I crave, great Father ; grant the boon ; 
 And I, thy child, will go to Dhenuka, 
 
230 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Where I will dwell in sacred solitudes, 
 Religious, worshipping thee. But, God of gods, 
 I shall not have the heart to take away 
 The dear lives of the dying creatures. Save, 
 Save me from such a sin ! ” 
 
 Brahma replied : 
 
 “ Mrityu ! thou art created unto this, 
 
 To make an end of all that lives. Go, child ! 
 Make them to end, each at his time ; spare none ! 
 Such is my will, and never otherwise ; 
 
 Thou shalt he blameless, doing Brahma’s will.” 
 
 But she — thus Narada went on — stood there 
 To slay reluctant, clasping pitying palms 
 Across her breast, and lifting eyes of ruth 
 To Brahma’s eyes. Thereat there spread in 
 heaven 
 
 Silence a space, whilst Death, for love of men, 
 Gazed on the face of God, and that dread face 
 Waxed well contented; and great Brahma smiled. 
 Looking upon His creatures, who therewith 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 231 
 
 Fared well throughout the three wide worlds, because 
 The countenance of Him was Had a<jain. 
 
 So passed she from the Almighty Presence, mute, 
 This tender angel sent to slay mankind, 
 
 Refusing still to slay ; and forthwith went 
 To Dhenuka, where, countless ages through, 
 
 In meditation and rapt vows she stood 
 Fixed like a rock. All for the love of men 
 For sixteen padmas stood she, seeking grace, 
 Withholding heart and soul from peace and joy ; 
 
 And afterward for padmas twenty-five 
 Praying for men ; and then through many more 
 She sojourned with the creatures of the field, 
 
 Praying for them. Next, upon Nanda’s banks, — 
 Nanda which flows cool, holy, crystal, pure, — 
 
 Seven thousand years and one kept she firm fast, 
 
 And afterwards went east to Kausiki, 
 
 Where dews and airs of heaven were all her food ; 
 Until, accomplishing the pilgrimage, 
 
 By Panchaganga and at Ganga’s wave, 
 
 Under the feet of sacred Himalay, 
 
 And so to topmost Himalay, where gods 
 
2J2 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Have offered sacrifice, she, too, a god, 
 
 Lay prostrate, praying, still as is a stone ; 
 
 And yet again at Naimish, Pushkara, 
 
 Gokarna and Malaya, wheresoe’er 
 The holiest places are, there sojourned she, 
 Fasting and meditating, making vows 
 For men to Brahma, suing him for them. 
 
 Whereby the Eternal Father of the worlds, 
 Being well pleased — quoth Narad — called to her 
 With kindly mind, saying, “ My. Mrityu ! 
 
 Why dost thou exercise such heavy vows ? ” 
 
 And gentle Death answered the Lord of life : 
 
 “ That I may never have, 0 Lord ! to kill 
 
 Thy creatures, and that they may dwell in peace, 
 
 This thing I ever wish, this boon I crave. 
 
 Master and Father ! I did fear the guilt 
 Of slaying, and I feared to disobey ; 
 
 Therefore I make these penances, Supreme ! 
 Comfort me who am Thine, and terrified ; 
 
 Forgive me, for I would be innocent ; 
 
 Have pity, Lord of lords ! on me and these ! ” 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 233 
 
 Then He Who knows what was, is, and will be, 
 Made mild reply : “ Blood-guilty art thou not, 
 
 0 Mrityu ! if thou slayest these which live. 
 
 What I have uttered, I have uttered. Vain 
 Can never be my words. These are to die. 
 
 Go, gentle spirit ! therefore, slay me these ; 
 
 Slay all four orders of the things which live ; 
 
 Thee shall the Eternal Virtue purify ; 
 
 Thee shall the Mighty Ones, who guard my worlds. 
 Succour and aid. Yama shall help thee ; plagues, 
 Pestilence, dearth, shall be thy ministers ; 
 
 And I, the Almighty God, before all gods 
 Give thee this sign, that, being free from sin, 
 
 Thou shalt be called ‘ Passionless,’ Niraji, 
 
 She that doth slay for love, and slaying saves.” 
 
 So once again, commanded past reply, 
 
 Mrityu her meek palms folded o’er her breast, 
 
 And bowed her brow, and answered : “ If, dread Lord, 
 This must be done, and I must be the means, 
 
 Upon my head be put Thine high behest ! 
 
 Yet let it be Thy will I strike them not ; 
 
-34 
 
 THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 Let their sins slay them, and die so with them. 
 Avarice, ambitions, envies, calumnies, 
 
 Wars, wraths, hates, conquests, follies, passions, plots 
 Of mutual mischiefs — let those work Thy word 
 And bring to end the beings suffering them.” 
 
 CJ o o 
 
 “ Thus it shall be,” spake Brahma. “ Go, fair child 
 Fulfil My purpose, make death enter so ; 
 
 Thou shalt be blameless now and evermore. 
 
 See ! the bright tears that fell upon my hand 
 From forth thine eyes, 1 turn to woes of flesh 
 Which shall consume them — aches, diseases, griefs. 
 Born of thy sorrow these will smite ; but, born 
 Of thy compassion, these shall heal witli peace, 
 
 When the day cometli that each one must die. 
 
 Fear not! thou shalt be innocent; thou art 
 The solace as the terror of all flesh, 
 
 Bighteous and rightful, doing Brahma’s will. 
 
 Therefore fare forth and slay, making these end 
 With pangs of passion, stings of wild desires, 
 
 Vain sins which kill. Such shall thy virtue be ; 
 
 And thou shalt purify thee by thyself, 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 23 
 
 Making the good wax and the evil wane 
 By nature of the evil’s self — by wrongs, 
 
 By wrath, by lust, self-love, and sinfulness.” 
 
 So, ever since that time — quoth Narada — 
 Mrityu, no longer thinking to resist, 
 
 Works the great will of God, and slays what lives, 
 Taking the breath of creatures at life’s close ; 
 
 Not with her own kind hand ; — she doth not kill ! 
 By ills and pests and hurts which evil breeds — 
 
 As many as those tender tears that rolled 
 Forth from her eyes — they perish ; so men call 
 Their plagues Vyadhi, that which “ hunts ” to death. 
 
 Wherefore, my King ! said Narad, it is vain 
 To mourn the dead. The elements divine, 
 
 Which enter in at birth come forth at death. 
 
 All changes, and the gods are mortal, too. 
 
 But thou, lament no more thy princely son ; 
 
 He hath attained that excellent abode, 
 
 Airy, invisible, which knows not time, 
 
 Nor chance, nor any change. Weep not for him ; 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 236 
 
 He sits with kings and heroes who are passed 
 Into the everlasting happy house, 
 
 Where no wars are, nor wounds ; and good men dwell. 
 
 King ! this is Death ! this is that Mrityu ! 
 
 Thus — when the hour is come — the creatures end, 
 
 Obeying the vast purposes of Him 
 
 Who maketh and unmaketh. Mrityu takes 
 
 Their breath. She slays not ; of themselves they die. 
 
 The gentle Spirit with the staff in hand 
 
 Strikes none, but succours all. Therefore the wise, 
 
 Knowing that such is Brahma’s will, and good, 
 
 Never lament their dead; grieve- thou no more! 
 
 And when the holy Narada made end, 
 
 (Vyasa said,) this King Akampana 
 
 Shed no more tears, but spake unto the Saint : 
 
 “ Lo ! now my woe is gone, my heart is healed ! 
 Oh ! wisest of all Bishis, I have peace ; 
 
 I thank thee for the blessing of such lore ; 
 
 I clasp thy feet.” Therewith Narada went 
 
THE BIRTH OF DEATH. 
 
 2 37 
 
 To Nandana, leaving him comforted. 
 
 Son of the Pandavas, be patient too ! 
 
 Thy prince, thy gallant Abhimanyu, 
 
 Fell like a lord of men, and hath his meed 
 In Swarga with the blessed. Eise thou up, 
 Quit grief, and take thy weapons, and renew 
 The battle with thy brothers on the plain. 
 
 Whoso reads and wlioso hears , 
 
 This fair story of old years , 
 
 Well and wisely gives his pains ; 
 Since thereby his spirit gains 
 Piety and peace and bliss ; 
 
 Nay , and heavenward leadeth this ; 
 And , on earth, its wisdom brings 
 Wealth and health and happy things. 
 
THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER. 
 
 From the Sauptika Parva of the MahAbharata. 
 
 To Narayen, Best of Lords , be glory given, 
 
 To great Saraswati, the Queen in Heaven ; 
 
 Unto Vydsa, too , be paid his meed, 
 
 So shall this story worthily proceed. 
 
 “ Those vanquished warriors then,” Sanjaya said, 
 “ Fled southwards ; and, near sunset, past the tents, 
 Unyoked; abiding close in fear and rage. 
 
 There was a wood beyond the camp, — untrod, 
 Quiet, — and in its leafy harbour lay 
 The Princes, some among them bleeding still 
 From spear and arrow-gashes ; all sore-spent, 
 
THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER. 
 
 239 
 
 Fetching faint breath, and fighting o’er again 
 In thought that battle. But there came the noise 
 Of Pandavas pursuing, — fierce and loud 
 Outcries of victory, — whereat those chiefs 
 Sullenly rose, and yoked their steeds again, 
 
 Driving due east ; and eastward still they drave 
 Under the night, till drouth and desperate toil 
 Stayed horse and man ; then took they lair again, 
 The panting horses, and the Warriors, wroth 
 With chilled wounds, and the death-stroke of their 
 King. 
 
 “ Now were they come, my Prince,” Sanjaya said, 
 
 “ Unto a jungle thick with stems, whereon 
 The tangled creepers coiled ; here entered they — 
 Watering their horses at a stream — and pushed 
 Deep in the thicket. Many a beast and bird 
 Sprang startled at their feet; the long grass stirred 
 With serpents creeping off ; the woodland flowers 
 Shook where the peafowl hid, and, where frogs plunged, 
 The swamp rocked all its reeds and lotus-buds. 
 
 A banian-tree, with countless dropping houghs 
 
240 
 
 THE NIGHT OF SLAUGHTER. 
 
 Earth-rooted, spied they, and beneath its aisles 
 A pool ; hereby they stayed, tethering their steeds ; 
 And dipping water, made the evening prayer. 
 
 “ But when the ‘ Day-maker ’ sank in the west 
 And Night descended — gentle, soothing Night, 
 
 Who comforts all, with silver splendour decked 
 Of stars and constellations, and soft folds 
 Of velvet darkness drawn — then those wild things 
 Which roam in darkness woke, wandering afoot 
 Under the gloom. Horrid the forest grew 
 With roar, and yelp, and yell, around that place 
 Where Kripa, Kritavarman, and the son 
 Of Drona lay, beneath the banian-tree, 
 
 Full many a piteous passage instancing 
 In their lost battle-day of dreadful blood ; 
 
 Till sleep fell heavy on the wearied lids 
 Of Bhoja’s child and Kripa. Then these Lords — 
 To princely life and silken couches used — 
 
 Sought on the bare earth slumber, spent and sad. 
 
 As houseless outcasts lodge. 
 
THE NIGHT OF SLA UGHTER. 
 
 241 
 
 “ But, 0 my King ! 
 
 There came no sleep to Drona’s angry son, 
 
 Great Aswatthaman. As a snake lies coiled 
 
 And hisses, breathing, so his panting breath 
 
 Hissed rage and hatred round him, while he lay, 
 
 Chin uppermost, arm-pillowed, with fierce eyes 
 
 Boving the wood, and seeing sightlessly. 
 
 Thus chanced it that his wandering glances turned 
 
 Into the fig-tree’s shadows, where there perched 
 
 A thousand crows, thick-roosting, on its limbs ; 
 
 Some nested, some on branclilets, deep asleep, 
 
 Heads under wings — all fearless ; nor, 0 Prince ! 
 
 Had Aswatthaman more than marked the birds, 
 
 When, lo ! there fell out of the velvet night, 
 
 Silent and terrible, an eagle-owl, 
 
 With wide, soft, deadly, dusky wings, and eyes 
 
 Flame-coloured, and long claws, and dreadful beak ; 
 
 Like a winged sprite, or great Garood himself. 
 
 Offspring of Bharata ! fit lighted there 
 
 Upon the banian’s bough ; hooted, but low, 
 
 The fury smothering in its throat ; — then fell 
 
 With murderous beak and claws upon those crows, 
 
 Q 
 
242 
 
 THE NIGHT OF SLA UGHTER. 
 
 Bending the wings from this, the legs from that, 
 From some the heads, of some ripping the crops ; 
 Till, tens and scores, the fowl rained down to earth 
 Bloody and plucked, and all the ground waxed black 
 With piled crow-carcases ; whilst the great owd 
 Hooted for joy of vengeance, and again 
 Spread the wide, deadly, dusky wings. 
 
 “Up sprang 
 
 The son of Drona : ‘ Lo ! this owl/ quoth he, 
 
 ‘ Teacheth me wisdom ; lo ! one slayeth so 
 Insolent foes asleep. The Pandu Lords 
 Are all too strong in arms by day to kill ; 
 
 They triumph, being many. Yet I swore 
 Before the King, my Father, I would “ kill ” 
 
 And “ kill ” — even as a foolish fly should swear 
 To quench a flame. It scorched, and I shall die 
 If I dare open battle ; but by art 
 Men vanquish fortune and the mightiest odds. 
 
 If there be two ways to a wise man’s wish, 
 
 Yet only one way sure, he taketh this ; 
 
 And if it be an evil way, condemned 
 
THE NIGHT OF SLA UGHTER. 
 
 243 
 
 For Brahmans, yet the Ivshattriya may do 
 What vengeance bids against his foes. Our foes, 
 The Pandavas, are furious, treacherous, base, 
 Halting at nothing; and how say the wise 
 In holy Shasters ? — “ Wounded, wearied, fed, 
 
 Or fasting ; sleeping, waking, setting forth, 
 
 Or new arriving ; slay thine enemies ; ” 
 
 And so again, “ At midnight when they sleep, 
 Dawn when they watch not ; noon if leaders fall ; 
 Eve, should they scatter ; all the times and hours 
 Are times and hours fitted for killing foes.” ’ 
 
 “ So did the son of Drona steel his soul 
 To break upon the sleeping Pandu chiefs 
 And slay them in the darkness. Being set 
 On this unlordly deed, and clear in scheme, 
 
 He from their slumbers roused the warriors twain, 
 Kripa and Kritav^rman.” 
 
( 244 ) 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY 
 
 [From the Maliaprastlianilca Parva of the Maliabhdr&ta.] 
 
 To Narayen, Lord of lords, be glory given, 
 To sweet Saraswati, the Queen in Heaven , 
 To great Vydsa, eke, pay reverence due , 
 
 So shall this story its high course pursue. 
 
 Then Janmejaya prayed : “ Tliou Singer, say, 
 What wrought the princes of the Pandavas 
 On tidings of the battle so ensued, 
 
 And Krishna, gone on high ? ” 
 
 Answered the Sage : 
 
 “ On tidings of the wreck of Vrislmi’s race, 
 
 King Yudhishthira of the Tandavas 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 245 
 
 Was minded to be done with earthly things, 
 
 And to Arjuna spake : ‘ 0 noble Prince, 
 
 Time endeth all ; we linger, noose on neck, 
 
 Till the last day tightens the line, and kills. 
 
 Let us go forth to die, being yet alive.’ 
 
 And Kunti’s son, the great Arjuna, said : 
 
 ‘ Let us go forth to die ! — Time slayeth all ; 
 
 We will find Death, who seeketh other men.’ 
 And Bhimasena, hearing, answered : ‘ Yea ! 
 
 We will find Death ! ’ and Sahadev cried : ‘ Yea ! 
 And his twin brother ISTakula : ’ whereat 
 The princes set their faces for the Mount. 
 
 “ But Yudhishthira — ere he left his realm, 
 
 To seek high ending — summoned Yuyutsu, 
 Surnamed of fights, and set him over all, 
 
 Eegent, to rule in Parikshita’s name 
 Nearest the throne ; and Parikshita king 
 He crowned, and unto old Subhaclra said : 
 
 ‘ This, thy son’s son, shall wear the Kuru crown, 
 And Yadu’s offspring, Vajra, shall be first 
 In Yadu’s house. Bring up the little prince 
 
+6 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 Here in our Hastinpur, but Yajra keep 
 At Indraprasth ; and let it be thy last 
 Of virtuous works to guard the lads, and guide.’ 
 
 “ So ordering ere he went, the righteous king 
 Made offering of white water, heedfully, 
 
 To Vasudev, to Rama, and the rest, — 
 
 All funeral rites performing ; next he spread 
 A funeral feast, whereat there sate as guests 
 Narada, Dwaipayana, Bharadwaj, 
 
 And Markandeya, rich in saintly years, 
 
 And Tajnavalkya, Hari, and the priests. 
 
 Those holy ones he fed with dainty meats 
 In kingliest wise, naming the name of Him 
 Who bears the bow ; and — that it should be well 
 For him and his— gave to the Brahmanas 
 Jewels of gold and silver, lakhs on lakhs, 
 
 Fair broidered cloths, gardens and villages, 
 
 r 
 
 Chariots and steeds and slaves. 
 
 “ Which being done, — 
 0 Best of Bharat’s line ! — he bowed him low 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 247 
 
 Before his Guru’s feet, — at Kripa’s feet, 
 
 That sage all honoured, — saying, ‘ Take my prince ; 
 Teach Pariksliita as thou taughtest me ; 
 
 For hearken, ministers and men of war ! 
 
 Fixed is my mind to quit all earthly state.’ 
 
 Full sore of heart were they, and sore the folk 
 To hear such speech, and bitter spread the word 
 Through town and country, that the king would go; 
 And all the people cried, ‘ Stay with us, Lord ! ’ 
 But Yudhishthira knew the time was come, 
 
 Knew that life passes and that virtue lasts, 
 
 And put aside their love. 
 
 “ So — with farewells 
 Tenderly took of lieges and of lords — 
 
 Girt he for travel, with his princely kin, 
 
 Great Yudhishthira, Dharma’s royal son. 
 
 Crest-gem and belt and ornaments he stripped 
 From off his body, and for broidered robe 
 A rough dress donned, woven of jungle-bark ; 
 
 And what he did — 0 Lord of men ! — so did 
 Arjuna, Bhima, and the twin-born pair, 
 
248 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 Nakula with Sahadev, and she — in grace 
 The peerless — Draupadi. Lastly these six, 
 
 Thou son of Bharata ! in solemn form 
 Made the high sacrifice of Naishtiki, 
 
 Quenching their flames in water at the close ; 
 
 And so set forth, ’midst wailing of all folk 
 And tears of women, weeping most to see 
 The Princess Draupadi — that lovely prize 
 Of the great gaming, Draupadi the Bright — 
 Journeying afoot; but she and all the Five 
 Rejoiced, because their way lay heavenwards, 
 
 “Seven were they, setting forth, — princess and kin 
 The king’s four brothers, and a faithful dog. 
 
 Those left Hastinapur ; but many a man, 
 
 And all the palace household, followed them 
 The first sad stage ; and, ofttimes prayed to part, 
 
 Put parting off for love and pity, still 
 Sighing ‘ A little farther ! ’ — till day waned ; 
 
 Then one by one they turned, and Kripa said, 
 
 Let all turn back, Yuyutsu ! These must go.’ 
 
 So came they homewards, but the Snake-King’s child 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 249 
 
 Ulupi, leapt in Ganges, losing them ; 
 
 And Chitranagad with her people went 
 Mournful to Munipoor, whilst the three queens 
 Brought Parikshita in. 
 
 “ Thus wended they, 
 
 Pandu’s five sons and loveliest Draupadi', 
 
 Tasting no meat, and journeying due east ; 
 
 On righteousness their high hearts bent, to heaven 
 
 Their souls assigned ; and steadfast trode their feet, 
 
 » 
 
 By faith upborne, past nullah, ran, and wood, 
 
 Eiver and jlieel and plain. King Yudhishthir 
 Walked foremost, Bhima followed, after him 
 Arjuna, and the twin-born brethren next, 
 
 Nakula with Sahadev ; in whose still steps — 
 
 0 best of Bharat’s offspring ! — Draupadi, 
 
 That gem of women, paced ; with soft, dark face, — 
 Beautiful, wonderful ! — and lustrous eyes, 
 
 Clear- lined like lotus-petals ; last the dog, 
 
 Following the Pandavas. 
 
 “ At length they reach 
 
 The far Lauchityan Sea, which foaineth white 
 
o 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 Under Udayachala’s ridge. — Know ye 
 That all this while Nakula had not ceased 
 Bearing the holy bow, named Gandiva, 
 
 And jewelled quiver, ever filled with shafts 
 Though one should shoot a thousand thousand times. 
 Here — broad across their path — the heroes see 
 Agni, the god. As though a mighty hill 
 Took form of front and breast and limb, he spake. 
 Seven streams of shining splendour rayed his brow, 
 While the dread voice said : ‘ I am Agni, chiefs ! 
 
 0 sons of Pandu, I am Agni ! Hail ! 
 
 0 long-armed Yudhishthira, blameless king, — 
 
 0 warlike Bhima, — 0 Arjuna, wise, — 
 
 0 brothers twin-born from a womb divine, — 
 
 Hear ! I am Agni, who consumed the wood 
 By will of Xarayan for Arjuna’s sake. 
 
 Let this your brother give Gandiva back, — 
 
 The matchless bow ! the use for it is o’er. 
 
 That gem- ringed battle discus which he whirled 
 Cometh again to Krishna in his hand 
 For avatars to be ; but need is none 
 Henceforth of this most excellent bright bow, 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 251 
 
 Gandiva, which I brought for Partha’s aid 
 Prom high Varuna. Let it be returned. 
 Cast it herein ! ’ 
 
 “ And all the princes said, 
 
 ‘ Cast it, dear brother ! ’ So Arjuna threw 
 Into that sea the quiver ever-filled, 
 
 And glittering bow. Then led by Agni’s light, 
 Unto the south they turned, and so south-west, 
 
 And afterwards right west, until they saw 
 Dwaraka, washed and bounded by a main 
 Loud-thundering on its shores ; and here — 0 
 Best ! — 
 
 Vanished the God; while yet those heroes walked, 
 Now to the north-west bending, where long coasts 
 Shut in the sea of salt, now to the north. 
 Accomplishing all quarters, journeyed they ; 
 
 The earth their altar of high sacrifice, 
 
 Which these most patient feet did pace around, 
 
 Till Meru rose. 
 
 “ At last it rose ! These Six, 
 
 Their senses subjugate, their spirits pure, 
 
52 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 Wending alone, came into sight — far off 
 In the eastern sky — of awful Himavan ; 
 
 And, midway in the peaks of Himavan, 
 
 Mem, the Mountain of all mountains, rose, 
 
 Whose head is Heaven ; and under Himavan 
 Glared a wide waste of sand, dreadful as death, 
 
 “ Then, as they hastened o’er the deadly waste, 
 Aiming for Meru, having thoughts at soul 
 Infinite, eager, — lo ! Draupadf reeled, 
 
 With faltering heart and feet ; and Bhhna turned, 
 Gazing upon her ; and that hero spake 
 To Yudhishthira : ‘ Master, Brother, King ! 
 
 Why doth she fail ? For never all her life 
 Wrought our sweet lady one thing wrong, I think. 
 Thou knowest, make us know, why hath she failed ? ’ 
 
 “ Then Yudhishthira answered : ‘ Yea, one tiling. 
 She loved our brother better than all else, — 
 
 Better than heaven : that was her tender sin, 
 
 Fault of a faultless soul ; she pays for that.’ 
 
 So spake the monarch, turning not his eyes, 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 253 
 
 Though Draupadi lay dead — striding straight on 
 For Meru, heart-full of the things of heaven, 
 
 Perfect and firm. But yet a little space, 
 
 And Sahadev fell down, which Blihna seeing, 
 
 Cried once again : ‘ 0 King, great Madri’s son 
 Stumbles and sinks. Why hath he sunk ? — so true, 
 So brave and steadfast, and so free from pride ! ’ 
 
 “ ‘ He was not free,’ with countenance still fixed, 
 Quoth Yudhishthira ; ‘ he was true and fast 
 And wise, yet wisdom made him proud ; he hid 
 One little hurt of soul, but now it kills.’ 
 
 “ So saying, he strode on — Kunti’s strong son — 
 And Bhrma, and Arjuna followed him, 
 
 And Hakula, and the hound ; leaving behind 
 Sahadev in the sands. But Nakula, 
 
 Weakened and grieved to see Sahadev fall — 
 
 His loved twin-brother — lagged and stayed ; and next 
 Prone on his face he fell, that noble face 
 Which had no match for beauty in the land, — 
 Glorious and godlike Kabul a ! Then sighed 
 
4 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 Bhima anew : ‘ Brother and Lord ! the man 
 Who never erred from virtue, never broke 
 Our fellowship, and never in the world 
 Was matched for goodly perfectness of form 
 Or gracious feature, — Nakula has fallen ! ’ 
 
 “ But Yudliislithira, holding fixed his eyes, — 
 That changeless, faithful, all-wise king, — replied : 
 
 ‘ Yea, but he erred. The godlike form he wore 
 Beguiled him to believe none like to him, 
 
 And he alone desirable, and things 
 Unlovely to be slighted. Self-love slays 
 Our noble brother. Blhma, follow ! Each 
 Pays what his debt was.’ 
 
 “ Which Arjuna heard, 
 
 Weeping to see them fall ; and that stout son 
 Of Pandu, that destroyer of his foes, 
 
 That prince, who drove through crimson waves of war, 
 In old days, with his chariot-steeds of milk, 
 
 He, the arcli-hero, sank ! Beholding this, — 
 
 The yielding of that soul unconquerable, 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 2 55 
 
 Fearless, divine, from Sakra’s self derived, 
 
 Arjuna’s, — Bln'ma cried aloud : ‘ 0 king ! 
 
 This man was surely perfect. Never once, 
 
 Not even in slumber when the lips are loosed, 
 Spake he one word that was not true as truth. 
 
 Ah ! heart of gold, why art thou broke ? 0 King ! 
 
 Whence falleth he ? ’ 
 
 “ And Yudhishthira said, 
 
 Not pausing : ‘ Once he lied, a lordly lie ! 
 
 He bragged — our brother — that a single day 
 Should see him utterly consume, alone, 
 
 All those his enemies, — which could not be. 
 
 Yet from a great heart sprang the unmeasured speech. 
 Howbeit, a finished hero should not shame 
 Himself hr such wise, nor his enemy, 
 
 If he will faultless fight and blameless die : 
 
 This was Arjuna’s sin. Follow thou me ! ’ 
 
 “ So the king still went on. But Bhirna next 
 Fainted, and stayed upon the way, and sank ; 
 
 Yet, sinking cried, behind the steadfast prince : 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 236 
 
 ‘ Ah ! brother, see ! I die ! Look upon me, 
 Thy well-beloved ! Wherefore falter I, 
 Who strove to stand ? ’ 
 
 “ And Yudhishthira said : 
 
 ‘ More than was well the goodly tilings of earth 
 Pleased thee, my pleasant brother ! Light the offence, 
 And large thy virtue ; hut the o’er-fed flesh 
 Plumed itself over spirit. Pritha’s son, 
 
 For this thou failest, who so near didst gain.’ 
 
 “ Thenceforth alone the long-armed monarch strode 
 Not looking hack, — nay ! not for Bhima’s sake, — 
 But walking with his face set for the Mount : 
 
 And the hound followed him, — only the hound. 
 
 “ After the deathly sands, the Mount ! and lo ! 
 Sakra shone forth, — the God, filling the earth 
 And heavens with thunder of his chariot-wheels. 
 
 ‘ Ascend,’ he said, ‘ with me, Pritha’s great son ! ’ 
 
 But Yudhishthira answered, sore at heart 
 For those his kinsfolk, fallen on the way : 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 257 
 
 * 0 Thousand- eyed, 0 Lord of all the Gods, 
 
 Give that my brothers come with me, who fell ! 
 dSTot without them is Swarga sweet to me. 
 
 She too, the dear and kind and queenly, — she 
 Whose perfect virtue Paradise must crown, — 
 
 Grant her to come with us ! Dost thou grant this ? ’ 
 
 “ The God replied : ‘ In heaven thou shalt see 
 Thy kinsmen and the queen — these will attain — 
 With Krishna. Grieve no longer for thy dead, 
 
 Thou chief of men ! their mortal covering stripped, 
 They have their places ; but to thee the gods 
 Allot an unknown grace : thou shalt go up 
 Living and in thy form to the immortal homes.’ 
 
 “ But the king answered : ‘ 0 thou Wisest One, 
 Who know’st what was, and is, and is to be, 
 
 Still one more grace ! This hound hath ate with me, 
 Followed me, loved me : must I leave him now ? ’ 
 
 “‘Monarch,’ spake Indra, ‘thou art now as We, — 
 Deathless, divine ; thou art become a god ; 
 
 Glory and power and gifts celestial, 
 
 K 
 
58 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 And all tlie joys of heaven are thine for aye : 
 
 What hath a beast with these? Leave here thy hound.’ 
 
 “ Yet Yudhislitliira answered : ‘ 0 Most High, 
 
 0 Thousand-eyed and Wisest ! can it he 
 That one exalted should seem pitiless ? 
 
 Nay, let me lose such glory : for its sake 
 
 1 would not leave one living thing I loved.’ 
 
 “ Then sternly Indra spake : ‘ He is unclean, 
 
 And into Swarga such shall enter not. 
 
 The Krodhavasha’s hand destroys the fruits 
 Of sacrifice, if dogs defile the fire. 
 
 Bethink thee, Dharmaraj, quit now this beast ! 
 
 That which is seemly is not hard of heart.” 
 
 “ Still he replied : ‘ ’Tis written that to spurn 
 A suppliant equals in offence to slay 
 A twice-born ; wherefore, not for Swarga’s bliss 
 Quit I, Mahendra, this poor clinging dog, — 
 
 So without any hope or friend save me, 
 
 So wistful, fawning for my faithfulness, 
 
 So agonised to die, unless I help 
 
 Who among men was called steadfast and just.’ 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 259 
 
 “ Quotli Indra : ‘ Nay ! the altar-flame is foul 
 Where a dog passeth ; angry angels sweep 
 The ascending smoke aside, and all the fruits 
 Of offering, and the merit of the prayer 
 Of him whom a hound toucheth. Leave it here ! 
 He that will enter heaven must enter pure. 
 
 Why didst thou quit thy brethren on the way, 
 Quit Krishna, quit the dear-loved Draupadi, 
 Attaining, firm and glorious to this Mount 
 Through perfect deeds, to linger for a brute ? 
 Hath Yudhishthira vanquished self, to melt 
 With one poor passion at the door of bliss ? 
 Stay’st thou for this, who didst not stay for 
 them, — 
 
 Draupadi, Bhima ? ’ 
 
 “ But the king yet spake : 
 
 ‘ ’Tis known that none can hurt or help the dead. 
 They, the delightful ones, who sank and died, 
 Following my footsteps, could not live again 
 Though I had turned, — therefore I did not turn ; 
 But could help profit, I had turned to help. 
 
26 o 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 There be four sins, 0 Sakra, grievous sins : 
 
 The first is making suppliants despair, 
 
 The second is to slay a nursing wife, 
 
 The third is spoiling Brahmans’ goods by force, 
 
 The fourth is injuring an ancient friend. 
 
 These four I deem not direr than the sin, 
 
 If one, in coming forth from woe to weal, 
 
 Abandon any meanest comrade then.’ 
 
 “ Straight as he spake, brightly great Indra smiled ; 
 Vanished the hound; — and in its stead stood there 
 The Lord of Death and Justice, Dharma’s self ! 
 Sweet were the words which fell from those dread lips, 
 Precious the lovely praise : ‘ 0 thou true king ! 
 Thou that dost bring to harvest the good seed 
 Of Pandu’s righteousness ; thou that hast ruth 
 As he before, on all which lives ! — 0 Son, 
 
 I tried thee in the Dwaita wood, what time 
 The Yaksha smote them, bringing water ; then 
 Thou prayedst for Nakula’s life — tender and just — 
 Not Bhhna’s nor Arj una’s, true to both, 
 
 To Madri as to Kunti, to both queens. 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 261 
 
 Hear tliou my word ! Because thou didst not mount 
 This car divine, lest the poor hound be shent 
 Who looked to thee, lo ! there is none in heaven 
 Shall sit above thee, King ! — Bharata’s son, 
 
 Enter thou now to the eternal joys, 
 
 Living and in thy form. Justice and Love 
 •Welcome thee, Monarch ! thou shalt throne with us ! ’ 
 
 “ Thereat those mightiest Gods, in glorious train, 
 Mahendra, Dharma, — with bright retinue 
 Of Maruts, Saints, Aswin-Kumaras, Nats, 
 
 Spirits and Angels, — bore the king aloft, 
 
 The thundering chariot first, and after it 
 Those airy-moving Presences. Serene, 
 
 Clad in great glory, potent, wonderful, 
 
 They glide at will ; at will they know and see ; 
 
 At wish their wills are wrought ; for these are pure, 
 Passionless, hallowed, perfect, free of earth, 
 
 In such celestial midst the Pandu king 
 Soared upward ; and a sweet light filled the sky 
 And fell on earth, cast by his face and form, 
 Transfigured as he rose ; and there was heard 
 
262 
 
 THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 The voice of Narad, — it is he who sings, 
 
 Sitting in heaven, the deeds that good men do 
 In all the quarters, — Narad, chief of bards, 
 
 Narad the wise, who laudeth purity, — 
 
 So cried he : ‘ Thou art risen, unmatched king, 
 "Whose greatness is above all royal saints. 
 
 Hail, son of Pandu ! like to thee is none 
 Now or before among the sons of men, 
 
 Whose fame hath filled the three wide worlds, who com’ 
 Bearing thy mortal body, which doth shine 
 With radiance as a god’s.’ 
 
 “ The glad king heard 
 Narad’s loud praise ; he saw the immortal gods, — 
 Dharrna, Mahendra ; and dead chiefs and saints, 
 Known upon earth, in blessed heaven he saw ; 
 
 But only those. ‘ I do desire,’ he said, 
 
 ‘ That region, be it of the Blest as this, 
 
 Or of the Sorrowful some otherwhere, 
 
 Where my dear brothers are, and Draupadi. 
 
 I cannot stay elsewhere ! I see them not ! ’ 
 
 “ Then answer made Purandara, the God : 
 
THE GREAT JOURNEY. 
 
 263 
 
 ‘ 0 tliou compassionate and noblest One ! 
 
 Eest in the pleasures which thy deeds have gained. 
 How, being as are the Gods, canst thou live bound 
 By mortal chains ? Thou art become of Us, 
 
 Who live above hatred and love, in bliss 
 Pinnacled, safe, supreme. Son of thy race. 
 
 Thy brothers cannot reach where thou hast climbed ! 
 Most glorious lord of men, let not thy peace 
 Be touched by stir of earth ! Look ! this is Heaveu. 
 See where the saints sit, and the happy souls, 
 Siddhas and angels, and the gods who live 
 Por ever and for ever.’ 
 
 “ * King of gods,’ 
 
 Spake Yudhislithira, ‘but I will not live 
 A little space without those souls I loved. 
 
 0 Slayer of the demons ! let me go 
 Where Bhima and my brothers are, and she, 
 
 My Draupadi, the princess with the face 
 Softer and darker than the Vrihat-leaf, 
 
 And soul as sweet as are its odours. Lo ! 
 
 Where they have gone, there will I surely go.’ ” 
 
( 264 ) 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 [From the Sivargdrohana Parva of the Mahdbhdrata .] 
 
 To Narayen, Lord of lords, be glory given, 
 To Queen Sciraswati be praise in heaven ; 
 Unto Vyasa pay the reverence due , — 
 
 So may this story its high course pursue. 
 
 Then Janmejaya said : “ I am fain to learn 
 How it befell with my great forefathers, 
 
 The Pandu chiefs and Dhritarashtra’s sons, 
 
 Being to heaven ascended. If thou know’st, — 
 And thou know’st all, whom wise Vyasa taught, — 
 Tell me, how fared it with those mighty souls ? ” 
 Answered the sage : “ Hear of thy forefathers — 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 265 
 
 Great Yuclhishthira and the Pandu lords — 
 
 How it befell. When thus the blameless king 
 Was entered into heaven, there he beheld 
 Duryodhana, his foe, throned as a god 
 Amid the gods ; splendidly sate that prince, 
 
 Peaceful and proud, the radiance of his brows 
 Far-shining like the sun’s ; and round him thronged 
 Spirits of light, with Sadhyas, — companies 
 Goodly to see. But when the king beheld 
 Duryodhana in bliss, and not his own, — 
 
 Not Draupadi, not Bhuna, nor the rest, — 
 
 With quick-averted face and angry eyes 
 The monarch spake : ‘ Keep heaven for such as these, 
 If these come here ! I do not wish to dwell 
 Where he is, whom I hated rightfully, 
 
 Being a covetous and witless prince. 
 
 Whose deed it was that in wild fields of war 
 Brothers and friends by mutual slaughter fell, 
 
 While our swords smote, sharpened so wrathfully 
 By all those wrongs borne wandering in the woods : 
 But Draupadi’s the deepest wrong, for he — 
 
 He who sits there — haled her before the court. 
 
265 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 Seizing that sweet and virtuous lady — he ! — 
 With grievous hand wound in her tresses. Gods, 
 I cannot look upon him ! Sith ’tis so, 
 
 Where are my brothers ? Thither will I go ! ’ 
 
 “ Smiling, bright Xarada, the Sage, replied : 
 
 ‘ Speak thou not rashly ! Say not this, 0 King ! 
 Those who come here lay enmities aside. 
 
 0 Yudhishthira, long-armed monarch, hear ! 
 Duryodliana is cleansed of sin ; he sits 
 Worshipful as the saints, worshipped by saints 
 And kings who lived and died in virtue’s path, 
 Attaining to the joys which heroes gain 
 Who yield their breath in battle. Even so 
 He that did wrong thee, knowing not thy worth, 
 Hath won before thee hither, raised to bliss 
 For lordliness, and valour free of fear. 
 
 Ah, well-beloved Prince ! ponder thou not 
 The memory of that gaming, nor the griefs 
 Of Draupadf, nor any vanished hurt 
 Wrought in the passing shows of life by craft 
 Or wasteful war. Throne happy at the side 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 267 
 
 Of this thy happy foeman, — wiser now ; 
 
 For here is Paradise, thou chief of men ! 
 
 And in its holy air hatreds are dead.’ 
 
 “ Thus by such lips addressed, the Pandu king 
 Answered uncomforted : £ Duryodhana, 
 
 If he attains, attains ; yet not the less 
 Evil he lived and ill he died, — a heart 
 Impious and harmful, bringing woes to all, 
 
 To friends and foes. His was the crime which cost 
 Our land its warriors, horses, elephants ; 
 
 His the black sin that set us in the field, 
 
 Burning for rightful vengeance. Ye are gods, 
 
 And just ; and ye have granted heaven to him : 
 Show me the regions, therefore, where they dwell, 
 My brothers, those, the noble-souled, the strong, 
 Who kept the sacred laws, who swerved no step 
 From virtue’s path, who spake the truth, and lived 
 Foremost of warriors. Where is Kunti’s son, 
 
 The hero- hearted Kama ? Where are gone 
 Satyaki, Dhrishtadyumna, with their sons ? 
 
 And where those famous chiefs who fought for me, 
 
68 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HE A VEN. 
 
 Dying a splendid death ? I see them not. 
 
 0 Narada, I see them not ! No King 
 Draupada ! no Virata ! no glad face 
 Of Dhrishtaketu ! no Shikandina, 
 
 Prince of Panchala, nor his princely boys ! 
 
 Nor Abhimanyu the unconquerable ! 
 
 President Gods of heaven ! I see not here 
 Padha’s bright son, nor Yudhamanyu, 
 
 Nor Uttamanjaso, his brother dear ! 
 
 Where are those noble Maharashtra lords, 
 
 Eajas and Rajpoots, slain for love of me ? 
 
 Dwell they in glory elsewhere, not yet seen ? 
 
 If they be here, high Gods ! and those with them 
 For whose sweet sakes I lived, here will I live, 
 Meek-liearted; but if such be not adjudged 
 Worthy, I am not worthy, nor my soul 
 Willing to rest without them. Ah ! I burn, 
 
 Now in glad heaven, with grief, bethinking me 
 Of those my mother’s words, what time I poured 
 Death- water for my dead at Kurkshetra, — 
 
 “ Pour for Prince Kama, son ! ” but I wist not 
 His feet were as my mother’s feet, his blood 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 269 
 
 Her bloody my blood. 0 Gods ! I did not know, — 
 Albeit Sakra’s self had failed to break 
 Our battle, where he stood. I crave to see 
 Surya’s child, that glorious chief who fell 
 By Saryasachi’s hand, unknown of me ; 
 
 And Bhhna ! ah, my Bhima ! dearer far 
 Than life to me ; Arjuna, like a god ; 
 
 Nakula and Sahadev, twin lords of war, 
 
 With tenderest Draupadi ! Show me those souls ! 
 
 I cannot tarry where I have them not. 
 
 Bliss is not blissful, just and mighty Ones ! 
 
 Save if I rest beside them. Heaven is there 
 Where Love and Faith make heaven. Let me go ! ’ 
 
 “ And answer made the hearkening heavenly Ones : 
 ‘ Go, if it seemeth good to thee, dear son ! 
 
 The King of gods commands we do thy will.’ 
 
 “ So saying [the Sage went on] Dharma’s own voice 
 Gave ordinance, and from the shining bands 
 A golden Deva glided, taking hest 
 To guide the king there where his kinsmen were. 
 
270 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HE A YEN. 
 
 So wended these, the holy angel first, 
 
 And in his steps the king, close following. 
 
 Together passed they through the gates of pearl, 
 Together heard them close; then to the left 
 Descending, — by a path evil and dark, 
 
 Hard to be traversed, rugged, — entered they 
 The ‘ Sinners’ Eoad.’ The tread of sinful feet 
 Matted the thick thorns carpeting its slope ; 
 
 The smell of sin hung foul on them ; the mire 
 About their roots was trampled filth of flesh 
 Horrid with rottenness, and splashed with gore 
 Curdling iu crimson puddles ; where there buzzed 
 And sucked and settled creatures of the swamp, 
 Hideous in wing and sting, gnat-clouds and flies, 
 
 With moths, toads, newts, and snakes red-gulleted, 
 And livid, loathsome worms, writhing in slime 
 Forth from skull-holes and scalps and tumbled bones. 
 A burning forest shut the roadside in 
 On either hand, and ’mid its crackling boughs 
 Perched ghastly birds, or flapped amongst the flames, — 
 Vultures and kites and crows, — with brazen plumes 
 And beaks of iron ; and these grisly fowl 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HE A VEN. 
 
 271 
 
 Screamed to the shrieks of Prets, — lean, famished 
 ghosts, 
 
 Featureless, eyeless, having pin-point mouths, 
 Hungering, but hard to fill, — all swooping down 
 To gorge upon the meat of wicked ones ; 
 
 Whereof the limbs disparted, trunks and heads, 
 
 Offal and marrow, littered all the way. 
 
 By such a path the king passed, sore afeared 
 If he had known of fear, for the air stank 
 With carrion stench, sickly to breathe ; and lo ! 
 Presently, ’thwart the pathway foamed a flood 
 Of boiling waves, rolling down corpses. This 
 They crossed, and then the Asipatra wood 
 Spread black in sight, whereof the undergrowth 
 Was sword-blades, spitting, every blade, some wretch ; 
 All around poison trees ; and next to this, 
 
 Strewn deep with fiery sands, an awful waste, 
 Wherethrough the wicked toiled with blistering feet, 
 ’Midst rocks of brass, red hot, which scorched, and pools 
 Of bubbling pitch that gulfed them. Last the gorge 
 Of Kutashala Mali, — frightful gate 
 Of utmost Hell, with utmost horrors filled. 
 
272 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEA VEN 
 
 Deadly and nameless were the plagues seen there ; 
 Which when the monarch reached, nigh overborne 
 By terrors and the reek of tortured flesh. 
 
 Unto the angel spake he: ‘ Whither goes 
 This hateful road, and where he they I seek, 
 
 Yet find not ? ’ Answer made the Heavenly One : 
 
 ‘ Hither, great King, it was commanded me 
 To bring thy steps. If thou be’st overborne, 
 
 It is commanded that I lead thee hack 
 
 To where the Gods wait. Wilt thou turn and mount ? ’ 
 
 “ Then (0 thou Son of Bharat !) Yudhishthir 
 Turned heavenward his face, so was he moved 
 With horror and the hanging stench, and spent 
 By toil of that black travel. But Ins feet 
 Scarce one stride measured, when about the place 
 Pitiful accents ran : ‘ Alas, sweet King ! — 
 
 Ah, saintly Lord ! — Ah, Thou that hast attained 
 Place with the blessed, Pandu’s offspring ! — pause 
 A little while, for love of us who cry ! 
 
 Nought can harm thee in all this baneful place ; 
 
 But at thy coming there ’gan blow a breeze 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HE A YEN. 
 
 273 
 
 Balmy and soothing, bringing us relief. 
 
 0 Pritha’s son, mightiest of men ! we breathe 
 Glad breath again to see thee ; we have peace 
 One moment in our agonies. Stay here 
 One moment more, Bharata’s child ! Go not, 
 
 Thou Victor of the Kurus ! Being here. 
 
 Hell softens and our bitter pains relax.’ 
 
 “ These pleadings, wailing all around the place, 
 Heard the King Yudhishthira, — words of woe 
 Humble and eager ; and compassion seized 
 His lordly mind. 1 Poor souls unknown ! ’ he sighed, 
 And hellwards turned anew ; for what those were, 
 Whence such beseeching voices, and of whom, 
 
 That son of Pandu wist not, — only wist 
 That all the noxious murk was filled with forms, 
 Shadowy, in anguish, crying grace of him. 
 
 Wherefore he called aloud, ‘ Who speaks with me ? 
 What do ye here, and what things suffer ye ? ’ 
 
 Then from the black depth piteously there came 
 Answers of whispered suffering : ‘ Kama I, 
 
 0 King ! ’ and yet another, ‘ 0 my Liege, 
 
 s 
 
274 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 Thy Bhima speaks ! ’ and then a voice again, 
 
 ‘ I am Arjuna, brother ! ’ and again, 
 
 ‘ Nakula is here and Sahadev ! ’ and last 
 
 A moan of music from the darkness sighed, 
 
 ( 
 
 Draupadi cries to thee ! ’ Thereat broke forth 
 The monarch’s spirit, — knowing so the sound, 
 
 Of each familiar voice, — ‘ What doom is this ? 
 
 What have my well-beloved wrought to earn 
 Death with the damned, or life loatlilier than death 
 In Narak’s midst ? Hath Kama erred so deep, 
 Bhima, Arjuna, or the glorious twins, 
 
 Or she, the slender-waisted, sweetest, best, 
 
 My princess, — that Duryodhana should sit 
 Peaceful in Paradise with all his crew, 
 
 1 hroned by Mahendra and the shining Gods ? 
 
 How should these fail of bliss, and he attain ? 
 
 What were their sins to his, their splendid faults ? 
 Por if they slipped, it was in virtue’s way, 
 
 Serving good laws, performing holy rites, 
 
 Boundless in gifts, and faithful to the death. 
 
 These be their well-known voices ! Are ye here, 
 Souls I loved best ? Dream I, belike, asleep, 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 275 
 
 Or rave I, maddened with accursed sights 
 And death-reeks of this hellish air ? ’ 
 
 “ Thereat 
 
 Tor pity and for pain the king waxed wroth. 
 
 That soul fear could not shake, nor trials tire, 
 Burned terrible with tenderness, the while 
 His eyes searched all the gloom, his planted feet 
 Stood fast in the mid horrors. Well-nigh, then, 
 He cursed the gods ; well-nigh that steadfast mind 
 Broke from its faith in virtue. But he stayed 
 Th’ indignant passion, softly speaking this 
 Unto the angel : ‘ Go to those thou serv’st ; 
 
 Tell them I come not thither. Say I stand 
 Here in the throat of hell, and here will bide — 
 Nay, if I perish — while my well-belov’d 
 Win ease and peace by any pains of mine.’ 
 
 “Whereupon, nought replied the shining One, 
 But straight repaired unto the upper light, 
 
 Where Sakra sate above the gods ; and spake 
 Before the gods the message of the king.” 
 
276 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HE A VEN. 
 
 “ Afterward, what befell ? ” the Prince inquired. 
 
 “ Afterward, Princely One ! ” replied the Sage, 
 
 “ At hearing and at knowing that high deed 
 (Great Yudliishthira braving hell for love), 
 
 The Presences of Paradise uprose, 
 
 Each Splendour in his place, — god Sakra chief ; 
 Together rose they, and together stepped 
 Down from their thrones, treading the nether road 
 Where Yudliishthira tarried. Sakra led 
 The shining van, and Dharma, Lord of laws, 
 
 Paced glorious next. 0 Son of Bharata, 
 
 While that celestial company came down — 
 
 Pure as the white stars sweeping through the sky, 
 
 And brighter than their brilliance — look ! hell’s shades 
 Melted before them ; warm gleams drowned the gloom ; 
 Soft, lovely scenes rolled over the ill sights ; 
 
 Peace calmed the cries of torment ; in its bed 
 The boiling river shrank, quiet and clear ; 
 
 The Asipatra Yana — awful wood — 
 
 Blossomed with colours ; all those cruel blades, 
 
 And dreadful rocks, and piteous scattered wreck 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HE A VEN. 
 
 277 
 
 Of writhing bodies, where the king had passed, 
 Vanished as dreams fade. Cool and fragrant went 
 A wind before their faces, as these Gods 
 Drew radiant to the presence of the king, — 
 
 Maruts ; and Vasus eight, who shine and serve 
 Eound Indra ; Eudras : Aswins ; and those Six 
 Immortal Lords of light beyond our light, 
 
 Th’ Adityas ; Sadhyas ; Siddhas, — those were there, 
 With angels, saints, and habitants of heaven, 
 
 Smiling resplendent round the steadfast prince. 
 
 “ Then spake the God of gods these gracious words 
 To Yudhishthira, standing in that place : — 
 
 “ ! King Yudhishthira ! 0 thou long-armed Lord, 
 
 This is enough ! All heaven is glad of thee. 
 
 It is enough ! Come, thou most blessed one, 
 
 Unto thy peace, well-gained. Lay now aside 
 Thy loving wrath, and hear the speech of Heaven. 
 
 It is appointed that all kings see hell. 
 
 The reckonings for the life of men are twain : 
 
 Of each man’s righteous deeds a tally true, 
 
 t 
 
 A tally true of each man’s evil deeds. 
 
278 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 Who hath wrought little right, to him is paid 
 A little bliss in Swarga, then the woe 
 Which purges ; who much right hath wrought, from 
 him 
 
 The little ill by lighter pains is cleansed, 
 
 And then the joys. Sweet is peace after pain, 
 
 And bitter pain which follows peace : yet they, 
 
 Who sorely sin, taste of the heaven they miss, 
 
 And they that suffer quit their debt at last. 
 
 Lo ! we have loved thee, laying hard on thee 
 Grievous assaults of soul, and this black road. 
 
 Bethink thee : by a semblance once, dear son ! 
 
 Drona thou didst beguile ; and once, dear son ! 
 Semblance of hell hath so thy sin assoiled, 
 
 Which passeth with these shadows. Even thus 
 Thy Bhima went a little space t’ account, 
 
 Draupadf, Krishna, — all whom thou didst love, 
 
 Never again to lose ! Come, First of Men ! 
 
 These be delivered and their quittance made. 
 
 Also the princes, son of Bharata ! 
 
 Who fell beside thee fighting, have attained. 
 
 Come thou to see ! Kama, whom thou didst mourn, — 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEM YEN. 
 
 2 79 
 
 That mightiest archer, master in all wars, — 
 
 He hath attained, shining as doth the sun ; 
 
 Come thou and see ! Grieve no more, King of 
 Men ! 
 
 Whose love helped them and thee, and wins its 
 meed. 
 
 Eajas and Maharajas, warriors, aids, — 
 
 All thine are thine for ever. Krishna waits 
 To greet thee coming, ’companied by gods, 
 
 Seated in heaven, from toils and conflicts saved. 
 
 Son ! there is golden fruit of noble deeds, 
 
 Of prayer, alms, sacrifice. The most just Gods 
 Keep thee thy place above the highest saints, 
 
 Where thou shalt sit, divine, compassed about 
 With royal souls in bliss, as Hari sits ; 
 
 Seeing Mandhata crowned, and Bhagirath, 
 
 Daushyanti, Bharata, with all thy line. 
 
 Xow therefore wash thee in this holy stream, 
 
 Gunga’s pure fount, whereof the bright waves bless 
 All the Three Worlds. It will so change thy flesh 
 To likeness of th’ immortal, thou shalt leave 
 Passions and aches and tears behind thee there.’ 
 
2 8o THE ENTRY INTO HEAVEN. 
 
 “ And when the awful Sakra thus had said, 
 
 Lo ! Dharma spake, — tli’ embodied Lord of 
 Right : 
 
 O 
 
 “ ‘ Bho ! bho ! I am well pleased ! Hail to thee, 
 Chief ! 
 
 Worthy, and wise, and firm. Thy faith is full, 
 
 Thy virtue, and thy patience, and thy truth, 
 
 And thy self-mastery. Thrice I put thee, King ! 
 
 Unto the trial. In the Dwaita wood, 
 
 The day of tempting, — then thou stoodest fast ; 
 
 Next, on thy brethren’s death and Draupadis, 
 
 When, as a dog, I followed thee, and found 
 Thy spirit constant to the meanest friend. 
 
 Here was the third and sorest touchstone, son ! 
 
 That thou should’st hear thy brothers cry in hell, 
 
 And yet abide to help them. Pritha’s child, 
 
 We love thee ! Thou art fortunate and pure, 
 
 Past trials now. Thou art approved, and they 
 Thou lov’st have tasted hell only a space, 
 
 Not meriting to suffer more than when 
 An evil dream doth come, and Indra’s beam 
 
THE ENTRY INTO HEA VEN. 
 
 281 
 
 Ends it with radiance — as this vision ends. 
 
 It is appointed that all flesh see death, 
 
 And therefore thou hast borne the passing pangs, 
 Briefest for thee, and brief for those of thine, — 
 
 Bhbna the faithful, and the valiant twins 
 Nakula and Sahadev, and those great hearts 
 Kama, Arjuna, with thy princess dear, 
 
 Draupadi. Come, thou best-beloved son, 
 
 Blessed of all thy line ; bathe in this stream, — 
 
 It is great Gunga, flowing through Three Worlds.’ 
 
 “ Thus high-accosted, the rejoicing King 
 (Thy ancestor, 0 Liege !) proceeded straight 
 Unto that river’s brink, which floweth pure 
 Through the Three Worlds, mighty, and sweet, and 
 praised. 
 
 There, being bathed, the body of the King 
 Put off its mortal, coming up arrayed 
 In grace celestial, washed from soils of sin, 
 
 From passion, pain, and change. So, hand in hand 
 With brother-gods, glorious went Yudhishtliir, 
 
 Lauded by softest minstrelsy, and songs 
 
282 
 
 THE ENTRY INTO HEA VEN. 
 
 Of unknown music, where those heroes stood- 
 The princes of the Pandavas, his kin — 
 
 And lotus-eyed and loveliest Draupadi, 
 Waiting to greet him, gladdening and glad. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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 EDINBURGH AND LONDON. 
 
Jltr. (B&ftmt JUttoUfs Marks 
 
 NOW READY. 
 
 Crown 8vo, pp. xvi. and 238, limp parchment wrapper, price 2s. 6d. 
 
 THE LIGHT OF ASIA; 
 
 Ok, THE GREAT RENUNCIATION. 
 
 Being the Life and Teaching of Gautama, Prince of India and 
 Founder of Buddhism. 
 
 (Told in verse by an Indian Buddhist.) 
 
 By EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., C.S.I., 
 
 ^Author of “ Indian Poetry,” &c. 
 
 The Times. — “ Mr. Edwin Arnold’s poem, ‘ The Light of Asia,’ is 
 the most sympathetic account ever published in Europe of the life and 
 teaching of the Sakya Saint, Prince Gautama Siddartha, the Lord 
 Budda.” 
 
 International Review. — “ It is a work of great beauty. It tells a 
 story of intense interest, which never flags for a moment ; its descrip- 
 tions are drawn by the hand of a master with the eye of a poet and 
 the familiarity of an expert with the objects described ; its tone is so 
 lofty that there is nothing with which to compare it but the New 
 Testament ; it is full of variety, now picturesque, now pathetic, now 
 rising into the noblest realms of thought and aspiration ; it finds lan- 
 guage penetrating, fluent, elevated, impassioned, musical always, to 
 clothe its varied thoughts and sentiments.” — Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
 
 Morning Post. — “ Mr. Arnold, one of the most musical and thought- 
 ful of modern writers of verse, has given to the world in ‘ The Light 
 of Asia’ a poem which is for many reasons remarkable. . . . Entirely 
 apart from the vivid beauty of the scene as set forth in these noble 
 lines, it is worthy of note with what inimitable success the figure of 
 onomatopoeia is employed ; it is impossible to conceive of anything 
 more perfect in this way than such a line as that descriptive of the 
 successive rises of the (Himalayan) precipice. . . . Not the least of his 
 merits is that he writes such pure and delicious English. . . . ‘ The 
 Light of Asia’ is a noble and worthy poem.” 
 
2 
 
 Athenaeum. — “But it is not merely on account of its subject that 
 this poem deserves attention ; it is full of poetic merit, and its descrip- 
 tions are often exceedingly beautiful.” 
 
 The Pioneer, Allahabad. — “ ‘ The Light of Asia ’ is charming to 
 read, suggestive of thought, and deserving of study. ... For eleva- 
 tion of thought, uniformly picturesque and appropriate expression, and 
 faultless music of rhythm — these qualities sustained'throughout a long 
 and symmetrical composition — ‘ The Light of Asia ’ is altogether with- 
 out a rival in contemporary literature. No such poem has appeared 
 since ‘ Childe Harold.’ ” 
 
 New York Daily Tribune. — “ Mr. Arnold has constructed a poem, 
 which for affluence of imagination, splendour of diction, and virile de- 
 scriptive power, will not be easily matched among the most remarkable 
 productions in the literature of the day. ... A poem equally striking 
 for the novelty of its conception, its vigour of execution, and the ex- 
 quisite beauty of its descriptive passages.” 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — “ ‘ The Light of Asia ’ is a remarkable poem, and 
 worthy of a place amongst the great poems of our time. Mr. Arnold 
 is far more than ‘ a coiner of sweet words ’ — he is the exponent of 
 noble impressions. He is a scholar and a philosopher ; but he is also 
 a true singer.” 
 
 Pall Mall Gazette. — “ With much skill Mr. Arnold has illustrated 
 his narrative with a series of Indian pictures, the fascination of which 
 will be felt by those who know India.” 
 
 Observer. — “ Mr. Arnold’s skill has not failed him. With a sure 
 hand he has limned for us a portrait which is admirable in its fidelity 
 to the accepted traditions of the original, which his knowledge of India 
 and her people has enabled him to surround with the proper accessories, 
 without once descending to the commonplace. . . . On these, as on 
 other points, however, the author’s wide knowledge of India and 
 genuine interest in his subject enhance the value of his researches, and 
 entitle his opinions to respect, whilst his powers of description carry 
 the reader with them. In fact, in reading this remarkable poem, many 
 will in imagination be transported again to the East, or revive with 
 pleasure, in wonderful freshness, long dormant memories of that far- 
 off land.” 
 
 Edinburgh Courant.— “ We must testify to the grace and beauty of 
 the poem. It is in truth ‘ an Idyll of the King,’ with Gautama in- 
 stead of Arthur for its hero, and Nirvana instead of the Christian 
 ideal and the Holy Graal as his aim. There is a fragrance of Tenny- 
 son’s best poem about it, but there is no slavish imitation of the 
 Laureate.” 
 
 Calcutta Englishman. — “In Mr. Edwin Arnold, Indian poetry and 
 Indian thought have at length found a worthy English exponent. He 
 brings to his work the facility of a ready pen, a thorough knowledge of 
 his subject, a great sympathy for the people of this country, and a 
 command of public attention at home.” 
 
 LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 
 
Post 8vo, pp. viii. and 270, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 INDIAN POETRY: 
 
 [Containing a New Edition of “The Indian Song 
 of Songs,” 
 
 From the Sanskrit of the “ Gita Govinda ” of Juyadeva ; Two Books 
 from “ The Iliad of India’' ( Mahabharata ), “ Proverbial 
 Wisdom ” from the Shlokas of tlxe Hitopadesa, 
 and other Oriental Poems. 
 
 By EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., C.S.I., 
 
 Author of the “Light of Asia," Companion of the Star of India, Officer of the 
 Order of the White Elephant of Siam, and of the-Imperial Ottoman Hedjidieh, 
 Fellow of the Royal Asiatic and Royal Geographical Societies, &c. <fcc. 
 
 Times. — “ In this new volume of Messrs. Triibner’s Oriental Series, 
 Mr. Edwin Arnold does good service by illustrating, through the 
 medium of his musical English melodies, the power of Indian poetry 
 to stir European emotions. ‘The Indian Song of Songs’ is not un- 
 known to scholars. Mr. Arnold will have introduced it among 
 popular English poems.” 
 
 Standard. — “ The poem abounds with imagery of Eastern luxurious- 
 ness and sensuousness ; the air seems laden with the spicy odours of 
 the tropics, and the verse has a richness and a melody sufficient to 
 captivate the senses of the dullest.” 
 
 Overland Mail. — “ The translator, while producing a very enjoyable 
 poem, has adhered with tolerable fidelity to the original text.” 
 
 Allen’s Indian Mail. — “We certainly wish Mr. Arnold success in 
 his attempt ‘ to popularise Indian classics,’ that being, as his preface 
 tells us, the goal towards which he bends his efforts.” 
 
 Notices of the First Edition. 
 
 Daily Telegraph. — “Critics .... of a deeper reading and wider 
 sympathies will commend his discretion no less than the poetic skill 
 with which he has clothed this pastoral, crowded as it is with intensely 
 local imagery, in an English dress. . . . The remaining poems in the 
 
4 
 
 volume are but four in number, but two of them, the ‘Rajpoot’s Wife’ 
 and the ‘ Rajah’s Ride,’ have such verve and swing in them that we 
 hope for some more such ballads from Mr. Arnold’s pen.” 
 
 Manchester Critic. — “This is a really valuable book of poetry. 
 We cordially recommend the book to every lover of poetry.” 
 
 Scotsman. — “ Mr. Arnold exhibits himself a master of the accom- 
 plishment of verse. . . . The volume furnishes an hour’s very agreeable 
 and refined poetical reading.” 
 
 London Quarterly Review. — “ Mr. Edwin Arnold has bestowed his 
 unquestionable poetic talents on a very worthy object in translating 
 the Sanskrit idyll, ‘Gita Govinda,’ into English verse. . . . ‘The 
 Indian Song of Songs ’ is distinctly a new possession for the lovers of 
 English exotic poetry.” 
 
 Academy. — “ It has been reserved to Mr. Arnold to give us such a 
 version as can convey to the European reader an adequate idea of the 
 beauty of Jayadeva’s verse. It is the best yet published, and is not 
 likely to be soon surpassed.” 
 
 The Calcutta Englishman. — “ In Mr. Edwin Arnold this beautiful 
 composition has found at once an accurate and an elegant translator. 
 He has contrived to present the ‘ Song of Songs ’ in a dress which, 
 while it preserves the spirit of the original, can hardly fail to fascinate 
 the English reader. It has none of the stiffness of a translation, and 
 no more of the strangeness than necessarily belongs to Oriental meta- 
 phor and imagery. We have no hesitation in pronouncing Mr. Arnold’s 
 ‘ Song of Songs ’ the worthiest translation any Sanskrit poem of length 
 has yet found.” 
 
 Morning Post. — “ Complete mastery of the English language, com- 
 bined with genuine poetic fervour, has enabled the translator of ‘ The 
 Indian Song of Songs ’ to spread before his readers a feast of dulcet 
 sounds and lyrical language. Music seems to flow from his pen as 
 naturally as rain from the cloud or song from the throat of the thrush.” 
 
 LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. 
 
Crown 8vo, pp. xiv. and 319, with green borders, cloth, price 7s. 6d. 
 
 PEARLS OF THE FAITH; 
 
 Or, ISLAM’S ROSARY. 
 
 Being the Ninety-nine Beautiful Names of Allah 
 (Asma-el-’Husna). 
 
 With, Comments in Verse f rom various Oriental Sources as made 
 by an Indian Mussulman. 
 
 By EDWIN ARNOLD, M.A., C.S.I., 
 
 Author of “ The Light of Asia,” &c. &c. 
 
 “ Allah hath most excellent names, therefore call upon Him by the 
 same.”— Koran, Ch. 7, “A1 Aaraf.” 
 
 The Times. — “Mr. Edwin Arnold has succeeded in producing a 
 delightful collection of Oriental stories in verse.” 
 
 The Daily News. — “Mr. Edwin Arnold is decidedly the poet of the 
 Eastern world, in quite another sense than that of Byron and Moore. 
 His ‘ Light of Asia ’ has been accepted in America, and even in India 
 itself, as almost an inspired revelation of the mystery of Buddhism. 
 In his 1 Song of Songs ’ he showed himself a sort of Indian Psalmist. 
 In the present poem he sets to musical words the rosary of an Indian 
 Mussulman, and really displays an astonishing wealth and variety of 
 mystical and devotional imagery and allegory, not without a keen per- 
 ception of the finer and larger human feeling and instinct which has 
 given to the faith of the Moslem its fascination, and is, perhaps, the 
 secret of its power. In setting forth the joys of Paradise which await 
 the Paithful, and the penalties of unbelief and wrong-doing, the dis- 
 ciple of the Prophet follows the example of many a Christian preacher. 
 Whatever advantage he may claim as a proselytiser must be sought, 
 and may be found, perhaps, in the comparative simplicity of his 
 dogma.” 
 
 Tlie Daily Telegraph. — “Following upon the 1 Indian Song of Songs 
 and the ‘ Light of Asia,’ this book completes the trilogy designed by 
 Mr. Edwin Arnold, with a view to spread among English-speaking 
 
6 
 
 people, through the fascinating medium of musical verse, a better 
 knowledge of the religions which mainly share with Christianity the 
 faith of the human race, and to excite towards them a more generous, 
 because more enlightened, feeling. The ‘ Indian Song of Songs ’ 
 revealed much that is beautiful and lovely in the creed of him who is 
 sometimes called the 1 benighted Hindu ’ ; the ‘ Light of Asia ’ drew 
 the veil of misrepresentation and error from the face of Buddhism, and 
 now, in these pages, we behold as in a mirror the ineffable image of 
 the Muhammedan Allah. Having written the first and second with 
 so large-hearted and generous an appreciation of whatever is good in 
 humanity and human belief, Mr. Arnold could write the third in no 
 other way than as we have it ... . showing that a religion often ac- 
 credited with engendering fierceness and intolerance, is, in its essence, 
 as tender as a woman and as gentle as a child, while animated by ideas 
 that reach upward to the summit of moral and spiritual grandeur.” 
 
 The Illustrated London News (G. A. Sala). — “I am reading Mr. 
 Edwin Arnold’s book with intense delight, for the sake of its majesty 
 and eloquence, its wealth and beauty of imagery, and its sweet and 
 harmonious numbers.” 
 
 The Leeds Mercury. — “Mr. Arnold. . . . appends to each some 
 illustrative legend, tradition, record, or comment, drawn from various 
 sources. These are given in verse, and many of their passages are 
 splendidly written.” 
 
 Life. — “A volume of tasteful verses.” 
 
 The Edinburgh Daily Review. — “ This new volume is one of great 
 interest and value, and it contains many gems.” 
 
 The Bookseller. — “There is music in Mr. Arnold’s lines, and great 
 diversity of metre ; and if the Koran sounds as sweetly to the Eastern 
 ear, it is scarcely to be wondered at that they regard it with loving 
 awe.” 
 
 LONDON: TRUBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL.