Of hermit saints, these words addressed:[1]
In all this world, 1 pray thee, who
Is virtuous, heroic, true ?
Firm in his vows, of grateful mind,
To every creature good and kind ?
Bounteous, and holy, just, and wise,
Alone most fair to all men's eyes?
Devoid of envy, firm, and sage,
Whose tranquil soul ne'er yields to rage?
Whom, when his warrior wrath is high,
Do Gods embattled fear and fly ?
Whose noble might and gentle skill
The triple world can guard from ill ?
Who is the best of princes, he
Who loves his people's good to see ?
The store of bliss, the living mine
Where brightest joys and virtues shine ?
Queen Fortune's
[2] best and dearest friend,
Whose steps her choicest gifts attend?
Who may with Sun and Moon compare,
With Indra,[3] Vishnu,[4]Fire, and Air?
Grant, Saint divine',[5] the boon I ask,
For thee, I ween, an easy task,
To whom the power is given to know
If such a man breathe here below.'
Then Nárad, clear before whose eye
The present, past, and future lie,[6]
Made ready answer : * Hermit, where
Are graces found so high and rare ?
Yet listen, and my tongue shall tell
In whom alone these virtues dwell.
From old Ikshváku's[7]line he came,
Known to the world by Rama's name:
With soul subdued, a chief of might,
In Scripture versed, in glory bright.
His steps in virtue's paths are bent,
Obedient, pure, and eloquent.
In each emprise he wins success,
And dying foes his power confess.
Tall and broad-shouldered, strong of limb,
Fortune has set her mark on him.
Graced with a conch -shell's triple line,
His throat displays the auspicious sign.[8]
- ↑ This colloquy is supposed to have taken place about sixteen years after Kama's return from his wanderings and occupation of his ancestral throne.
- ↑ Called also Śri and Lakshmí, the consort of Vishnu, the Queen of Beauty as well as the Dea Fortuna. Her birth 'from the full-flushed wave' is described in Canto XLV of this Book.
- ↑ One of the most prominent objects of worship in the Rig-veda, Indra was superseded in later times by the more popular deities Vishnu and Śiva. He is the God of the firmament, and answers in many respects to the Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. See Additional Notes.
- ↑ The second God of the Trimurti or Indian Trinity. Derived from the root viś to penetrate, the meaning of the name appears to be he who penetrates or pervades all things. An embodiment of the preserving power of nature, he is worshipped as a Saviour who has nine times been incarnate for the good of the world and will descend on earth once more. See Additional Notes and Muir's Sanskrit Texts passim.
- ↑ In Sanskrit devarshi. Rishi is the general appellation of sages, and another word is frequently prefixed to distinguish the degrees. A Brahmarshi is a theologian or Bráhmanical sage; a Rájarshi is a royal age or sainted king; a Devarshi is a divine or deified sage or saint.
- ↑ Trikálajńa. Literally knower of the three times. Both Schlegel and Gorresion quote Homer's.
Ος ήσητά τ' έόυτα, τά τ' έσσόμευα,
πρό τ' έόυτα.
- That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view The past, the present, and the future knew.
- That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view The past, the present, and the future knew.
- ↑ Son of Manu, the first king of Kośala and founder of the solar dynasty or family of the Children of the Sun, the God of that luminary being the father of Manu.
- ↑ The Indians paid great attention to the art of physiognomy and believed that character and fortune could be foretold not from the face only but from marks upon the neck and hands. Three lines under the chin like those at the mouth of a conch (Śańkha) were regarded as a peculiarly auspicious sign indicating, as did also the mark of Vishnu's discus on the hand, one born to be a chakravartin or universal emperor. In the palmistry of Europe the line of fortune, as well as the line of life, is in the hand. Cardan says that marks on the nails and teeth also show what is to happen to us: 'Sunt etiam in nobis vestigia quaedam futurorum eventuum in unguibus atque etiam in den-
tibus.' Though the palmy days of Indian chiromancy have passed away, the art is still to some extent studied and believed in,
