The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse
produced from Brahmá’s hair: here, according to the commentator
followed by Gorresio, hermits who when they have obtained fresh food
throw away what they had laid up before.
417 Sprung from the washings of Vishṇuu’s feet.
418 Four fires burning round them, and the sun above.
419 The tax allowed to the king by the Laws of Manu.
420 Near the celebrated Rámagiri or Ráma’s Hill, now Rám-ṭek, near
Nagpore—the scene of the Yaksha’s exile in the _Messenger Cloud_.
421 A hundred _Aśvamedhas_ or sacrifices of a horse raise the sacrificer
to the dignity of Indra.
422 Indra.
423 Gorresio observes that Daśaratha was dead and that Sítá had been
informed of his death. In his translation he substitutes for the
words of the text “thy relations and mine.” This is quite
superfluous. Daśaratha though in heaven still took a loving interest
in the fortunes of his son.
424 One of the hermits who had followed Ráma.
425 The lake of the five nymphs.
426 The holy fig-tree.
427 The bread-fruit tree, Artocarpus integrifolia.
428 A fine timber tree, Shorea robusta.
429 The God of fire.
430 Kuvera, the God of riches.
431 The Sun.
432 Brahmá, the creator.
433 Śiva.
434 The Wind-God.
435 The God of the sea.
436 A class of demi-gods, eight in number.
437 The holiest text of the Vedas, deified.
438 Vásuki.
439 Garuḍ.
440 The War-God.
441 One of the Pleiades generally regarded as the model of wifely
excellence.
442 The Madhúka, or, as it is now called, Mahuwá, is the Bassia
latifolia, a tree from whose blossoms a spirit is extracted.
443 “I should have doubted whether Manu could have been the right
reading here, but that it occurs again in verse 29, where it is in
like manner followed in verse 31 by Analá, so that it would
certainly seem that the name Manu is intended to stand for a female,
the daughter of Daksha. The Gauḍa recension, followed by Signor
Gorresio (III 20, 12), adopts an entirely different reading at the
end of the line, viz. _Balám Atibalám api_, ‘Balá and Atibilá,’
instead of Manu and Analá. I see that Professor Roth s.v. adduces
the authority of the Amara Kosha and of the Commentator on Páṇini
for stating that the word sometimes means ‘the wife of Manu.’ In the
following text of the Mahábhárata I. 2553. also, Manu appears to be
the name of a female: ‘_Anaradyam_, _Manum_, _Vañsám_, _Asurám_,
_Márgaṇapriyám_, _Anúpám_, _Subhagám_, _Bhásím iti_, _Prádhá
vyajayata_. Prádhá (daughter of Daksha) bore Anavadyá, Manu, Vanśá,
Márgaṇapriyá, Anúpá, Subhagá. and Bhásí.’ ” _Muir’s Sanskrit Text_,
Vol. I. p. 116.
444 The elephant of Indra.
_ 445 Golángúlas_, described as a kind of monkey, of a black colour, and
having a tail like a cow.
446 Eight elephants attached to the four quarters and intermediate
points of the compass, to support and guard the earth.
447 Some scholars identify the centaurs with the Gandharvas.
448 The hooded serpents, says the commentator Tírtha, were the offspring
of Surasá: all others of Kadrú.
449 The text reads Kaśyapa, “a descendant of Kaśyapa,” who according to
Rám. II. l0, 6, ought to be Vivasvat. But as it is stated in the
preceding part of this passage III. 14, 11 f. that Manu was one of
Kaśyapa’s eight wives, we must here read Kaśyap. The Ganda recension
reads (III, 20, 30) _Manur manushyáms cha tatha janayámása Rághana_,
instead of the corresponding line in the Bombay edition. _Muir’s
Sanskrit Text, Vol I, p. 117._
450 The original verses merely name the trees. I have been obliged to
amplify slightly and to omit some quas versu dicere non est; _e.g._
the _tiniśa_ (Dalbergia ougeiniensis), _punnága_ (Rottleria
tinctoria), _tilaka_ (not named), _syandana_ (Dalbergia ougeiniensis
again), _vandana_ (unknown), _nípa_ (Nauclea Kadamba), _lakucha_
(Artœarpus lacucha), _dhava_ (Grislea tomentosa), Aśvakarna (another
name for the Sál), _Śamí_ (Acacia Suma), _khadira_ (Mimosa catechu),
_kinśuka_ (Butea frondosa), _pátala_ (Bignonia suaveolens).
451 Acacia Suma.
452 The south is supposed to be the residence of the departed.
453 The sun.
454 The night is divided into three watches of four hours each.
455 The chief chamberlain and attendant of Śiva or Rudra.
456 Umá or Párvati, the consort of Śiva.
457 A star, one of the favourites of the Moon.
458 The God of love.
459 A demon slain by Indra.
460 Chitraratha, King of the Gandharvas.
461 Titanic.
462 The Sáriká is the Maina, a bird like a starling.
463 Mahákapála, Sthúláksha, Pramátha, Triśiras.
464 Vishṇu, who bears a _chakra_ or discus.
465 Śiva.
466 See _Additional Notes_—DAKSHA’S SACRIFICE.
467 Himálaya.
468 One of the mysterious weapons given to Ráma.
469 A periphrasis for the body.
470 Triśirás.
471 The Three-headed.
472 The demon who causes eclipses.
473 “This Asura was a friend of Indra, and taking advantage of his
friend’s confidence, he drank up Indra’s strength along with a
draught of wine and Soma. Indra then told the Aśvins and Sarasvatí
that Namuchi had drunk up his strength. The Aśvins in consequence
gave Indra a thunderbolt in the form of a foam, with which he smote
off the head of Namuchi.” GARRETT’S _Classical Dictionary of India_.
See also Book I. p. 39.
474 Indra.
475 Popularly supposed to cause death.
476 Garuḍ, the King of Birds, carried off the Amrit or drink of Paradise
from Indra’s custody.
477 A demon, son of Kaśyap and Diti, slain by Rudra or Śiva when he
attempted to carry off the tree of Paradise.
478 Namuchi and Vritra were two demons slain by Indra. Vritra
personifies drought, the enemy of Indra, who imprisons the rain in
the cloud.
479 Another demon slain by Indra.
480 The capital of the giant king Rávaṇ.
481 Kuvera, the God of gold.
482 In the great deluge.
483 The giant Márícha, son of Táḍaká. Táḍaká was slain by Ráma. See p.
39.
484 Indra’s elephant.
485 Bhogavatí, in Pátála in the regions under the earth, is the capital
of the serpent race whose king is Vásuki.
486 the grove of Indra.
487 Pulastya is considered as the ancestor of the Rakshases or giants,
as he is the father of Viśravas, the father of Rávaṇ and his
brethren.
488 Beings with the body of a man and the head of a horse.
489 Ájas, Maríchipas, Vaikhánasas, Máshas, and Bálakhilyas are classes
of supernatural beings who lead the lives of hermits.
490 “The younger brother of the giant Rávaṇ; when he and his brother had
practiced austerities for a long series of years, Brahmá appeared to
offer them boons: Vibhishaṇa asked that he might never meditate any
unrighteousness.… On the death of Rávaṇ Vibhishaṇa was installed as
Rája of Lanká.” GARRETT’S _Classical Dictionary of India_.
491 Serpent-gods.
492 See p. 33.
493 The Sanskrit words for car and jewels begin with _ra_.
494 A race of beings of human shape but with the heads of horses, like
centaurs reversed.
495 The favourite wife of the Moon.
496 The planet Saturn.
497 Another favourite of the Moon; one of the lunar mansions.
498 The Rudras, agents in creation, are eight in number; they sprang
from the forehead of Brahmá.
499 Maruts, the attendants of Indra.
500 Radiant demi-gods.
501 The mountain which was used by the Gods as a churning stick at the
Churning of the Ocean.
502 The story will be found in GARRETT’S _Classical Dictionary_. See
ADDITIONAL NOTES.
503 Mercury: to be carefully distinguished from Buddha.
504 The spirits of the good dwell in heaven until their store of
accumulated merit is exhausted. Then they redescend to earth in the
form of falling stars.
505 See The Descent of Gangá, Book I Canto XLIV.
506 See Book I Canto XXV.
_ 507 Aśoka_ is compounded of _a_ not and _śoka_ grief.
508 See Book I Canto XXXI.
509 An Asur or demon, king of Tripura, the modern Tipperah.
510 Śiva.
511 See Book I, Canto LIX.
512 The preceptor of the Gods.
513 From the root _vid_, to find.
514 Rávaṇ.
515 Or Curlews’ Wood.
516 Iron-faced.
517 Kabandha means a trunk.
518 A class of mythological giants. In the Epic period they were
probably personifications of the aborigines of India.
519 Peace, war, marching, halting, sowing dissensions, and seeking
protection.
520 See Book I, Canto XVI.
521 Or as the commentator Tírtha says, Śilápidháná, rock-covered, may be
the name of the cavern.
522 Pampá is said by the commentator to be the name both of a lake and a
brook which flows into it. The brook is said to rise in the hill
Rishyamúka.
523 Who was acting as Regent for Ráma and leading an ascetic life while
he mourned for his absent brother.
524 The Indian Cuckoo.
525 The Cassia Fistula or Amaltás is a splendid tree like a giant
laburnum covered with a profusion of chains and tassels of gold. Dr.
Roxburgh well describes it as “uncommonly beautiful when in flower,
few trees surpassing it in the elegance of its numerous long
pendulous racemes of large bright-yellow flowers intermixed with the
young lively green foliage.” It is remarkable also for its curious
cylindrical black seed-pods about two feet long, which are called
monkeys’ walking-sticks.
526 “The Jonesia Asoca is a tree of considerable size, native of
southern India. It blossoms in February and March with large erect
compact clusters of flowers, varying in colour from pale-orange to
scarlet, almost to be mistaken, on a hasty glance, for immense
trusses of bloom of an Ixora. Mr. Fortune considered this tree, when
in full bloom, superior in beauty even to the Amherstia.
The first time I saw the Asoc in flower was on the hill where the
famous rock-cut temple of Kárlí is situated, and a large concourse
of natives had assembled for the celebration of some Hindoo
festival. Before proceeding to the temple the Mahratta women
gathered from two trees, which were flowering somewhat below, each a
fine truss of blossom, and inserted it in the hair at the back of
her head.… As they moved about in groups it is impossible to imagine
a more delightful effect than the rich scarlet bunches of flowers
presented on their fine glossy jet-black hair.” FIRMINGER,
_Gardening for India_.
527 No other word can express the movements of peafowl under the
influence of pleasing excitement, especially when after the long
drought they hear the welcome roar of the thunder and feel that the
rain is near.
528 The Dewy Season is one of the six ancient seasons of the Indian
year, lasting from the middle of January to the middle of March.
529 Ráma appears to mean that on a former occasion a crow flying high
overhead was an omen that indicated his approaching separation from
Sítá; and that now the same bird’s perching on a tree near him may
be regarded as a happy augury that she will soon be restored to her
husband.
530 A tree with beautiful and fragrant blossoms.
531 A race of semi-divine musicians attached to the service of Kuvera,
represented as centaurs reversed with human figures and horses’
heads.