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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2009
What the profound observer, quoted above, pronounced generally of fiction, is peculiarly pertinent, when applied to the Hindus. The history of their progress, in the arts of civilized life, is so clouded with mythology, and overcast by time, that our efforts to penetrate the obscurity, have been hitherto of little avail. As the mind, therefore, has little substantial gratification to expect, from this branch of intellectual enjoyment, it may be permitted to indulge in the shadows, that are abundantly presented, and dwell with more interest, than the subject would otherwise excite, on the copious materials afforded by the mass of Hindu fable, within its reach.
page 158 note * Authors of very different character. The first is the Legislator, whose code has been rendered into English by Sir William Jones. The works of Va'chaspatí, the teacher of the Gods, and of Sucra, the preceptor of the (daityas) Titans, have not, it is believed, been found on earth. Para's'aha, the father of Vya'sa, is the reputed author of an institute of laws, and the chief interlocutor of the Vishnu-Purán'a. To Cha'nakya is ascribed a treatise on (Nítí) regal polity, which, though no longer met with, is cited by authors of some antiquity, as Dandi, in the Dasa Kumára. Cha'nakya was the minister of Cha'ndragupta, and the chief agent in his elevation to the throne of Magad'ha.
page 158 note † Sir Wm. Jones translated the term Nítí by Ethics, and he has been followed by all Sanscrit scholars, in the interpretation. This is not, however, the precise import of the term. As applied to a class of writings, or division of science, it would be, more correctly, polity, the art of regal administration, both in peace and war, including the moral, as well as political, obligations of a sovereign.
page 158 note ‡ In some copies, Ugra-Sacti.—H.T.C.
page 158 note * Va'chespati is the same with Vríhaspati, as Usanas is identified with Sucra. Institutes of law, ascribed to Vrihaspati and to Us'anas, are extant.—H.T.C.
page 159 note * The four objects or occupations of human life: Duty, Wealth, Desire, and Final Liberation.
page 159 note † This is a popular notion among the Hindus, originating, probably, in the colour of the bird.
page 159 note * Or rather, because the bird seems, as the Hindus apprehend, to extract his food, by suction, from solution in water, wherefore, a bird of this genus is considered to be an emblem of discrimination, as being capable of separating milk from water.—H.T C.
page 160 note * In some copies the name is written Mahilárópya.—H. T. C.
page 160 note † So Agnolo Firenzuolo, the Florentine translator, has laid the scenes of the several narrative in various real localities, transferred to Italy.
page 163 note * As. Res. IX. 364, and Hindu Algebra, Introd. Also Preface to Sanscrit Dictionary, xiv.Google Scholar
page 164 note * They appear to have been wanting in Mr. Sotheby's copy of the Pancha Tantra.—H.T.C.
page 164 note † The Kátâ is described as a bird frequenting watery places. Golius and Meninski explain 
Kátâ, avis columbæ similis magnitudine et formâ, quæ gregatim volat; et e longinquo aquam petere novit, vocem, kattá, edens, unde illi nomen. There are said also to be two kinds, one much larger than the other. Burckhardt, in his Travels in Syria, calls the Katta a species of partridge, and mentions their being met with in the mountains of Belba, Kerek, Djebel, and Them, in such flocks, that the Arab boys often kill two or three at a time, by throwing a stick at them. The Tittibha is encountered in numerous flocks, but is in size unlike either a pigeon or a partridge, and is a very different bird.
page 165 note * The Tatihrd or Tatíhrí (Sansc. Tittibha) is a Jacana, the Parra Goensis of Gmelin, or Tringa Goensis of Latham. See Am. Diet. p. 125,Google Scholar and Hunter's, Hind. Diet. I. 514.—H.T.C.Google Scholar
page 165 note † The province of Oude and its capital, the modern Faizabad, is usually identified with the ancient city, in popular belief.
page 165 note ‡ The authority of the Kós'alá monarch appears to have extended much beyond the limits of the modern province of Oude: an inscription found at Ratnapur in the Chatís-ghar district, dated Saliváhana 781, or A.D. 859, states that province to be dependent upon the sovereign of Kós'alá.
page 165 note § From subsequent passages, however, it appears that the usual confusion of Baudd'ha and Jaina occurs in the Pancha Tantra; and that, in fact, the latter alone h intended, whichever be named.
page 167 note * The serpent monarch of Pátálá, the region under the earth, inhabited by the Nágas, or snakes.
page 170 note * The form familiar to us is the story of the Gardener, the Bear, and the Fly, in which it occurs in the Anvara Soheili, and Ayar Danish.
page 170 note † In Mr. Sotheby's copy, only twenty-six.—H.T.C.
It is also read Sampráptí, which has the same import.
page 171 note * The story is narrated in several of the Purán'as, and is alluded to in the Rǐg-Veda. As. Res. vol. viii, p. 387.Google Scholar
page 173 note * Pún. 4. 3. 125.Google Scholar
page 174 note * A similar list occurs in the Bháráví Tantra.
page 175 note * It is by no means certain, that all these names are rightly interpreted, or even rightly extracted from the text; but the greater part do not admit of doubt.
page 176 note * A gold coin. That there existed some connexion between this and the gold Denarius of the Romans, is not improbable, as has been shewn in another place. As. Res. XV. The indication of treasure by the presence of a snake, is a common superstition among the Hindús.Google Scholar
page 178 note * This text is attributed to Angiras, and forms part of the declaration or Sankapa, pronounced by the widow at the time of her ascending the pile.—As. Res. vol. iv, p. 210.Google Scholar
page 180 note * It is also read Labdha Pran'as'ana, and Labdha Pran'ás'a, but the sense is the same.
page 182 note * Aparíkshita Káritwa, inconsiderate conduct; acting without previous investigation.
page 183 note * The Nidhi is properly a treasure; and is especially a kind of wealth appertaining to Kuvéra, the God of Riches. The nidhis, or their superintendants at least, are personifications; and are, as such, worshipped (See Mégha Duta, in a note). The worship is of the Tántrika description. The Sáradá Tilaka, a celebrated authority of that school, contains the following directions for adoring the Sánkha and Padma-nidhis, in conjunction with LAKSHMÍ, the Goddess of Prosperity. “1. Let the votary worship the Sánkha-nidhi, and his spouse upon the right hand of the Goddess: him corpulent; and her full breasted: both adorned with pearls and rubies, both exhibiting gentle smiles upon their lotus-like countenances, locked in each others arms, and each holding a lotus and a shell, both scattering showers of pearls, and each bearing a conch upon the forehead. 2. Let him adore the Padma nidhi, placed with his wife upon the left hand of the Goddess: both of the colour of minium, each in the other's embrace, and either holding a red lotus and a blue one: both employed in raining jewels, and either wearing a lotus as a crest: the male Padma nidhi corpulent, the female slender.”
page 184 note * The name of a Bauddha or Jaina convent.
page 184 note † The deified sage who is the object of Jaina worship.
page 185 note * The Pura kóshtapála purusháh: The men who guarded the avenues of the city. Possibly there may be some etymological connexion between Kóshtapála (Sanscrit), and Kotwál (Persian), an officer of police.
page 185 note † Nacula: Viverra mungo, C.
page 187 note * See remarks at the close of this Essay.
page 187 note † One of the twelve great Lingas, and well known to have been especially worshipped at Ujjayan. This Linga was destroyed by Altumák, in 1231.
page 189 note * Udayana or Vatsa, the King of Kausambhí, is probably intended here; he was celebrated for his skill on the Vína, or Lute. This prince is the hero of the first chapters of the Vrihat. Kat'há, which gives this account of his descent. He is the son of Sahasra'níka, the son of Sata'ni'ka, the son of Janaméjaya, the son of Parikshit, the son of Arjuna. The genealogy of Arjuna's descendants, which Dr. Buchanan Hamilton derives from the B'hágavat, has no prince of this name. The son of Sahas'ra'ni'ka is termed A'swame'd'haja. The two works are also at variance, regarding the founder of Kausambhí, the Vrihat Kat'há ascribing it to Saha'sra'ni'ka, which is, so far, apparently most correct, that various works concur in styling Valsa king of Kausambhí, whilst the Bhágavat, however, calls the founder of that city Chakra, the fourth prince from Sahas'ra'ni'ka. Hindu genealogies, Introduction 13, and table 9.
page 189 note † The Nágas are the serpents, which inhabit the region under the earth. Siddhi means superhuman power which may be obtained by their worship. Their being opposed to Kuve'ra, and desirous of encroaching on his wealth, although here stated in a popular form, is like many things in this work, no longer a familiar notion amongst the Hindus.
page 191 note * From Chakra, a wheel, and Dhara, who bears; the use of this denominative may spare some repetition.
page 192 note * The entire enumeration in the text is 7 swara, 3 gráma, 21 múrch'hana, 19 tóla, 3 mótrá, 3 laya, 3 st'hána, 6 yatis, 9 rasa, 36 varna, 40 bháshá, 150 gítá. See the author's remarks, at the close of this essay. Mr. Wilson reads nara for rasa, and three divisions of yatis in place of 6 yatis.—H.T.C.
page 195 note * A story of a monkey revenging himself on a king, who had caused a number of tame monkeys to be killed, and the marrow of their bones applied to relieve burns in his horses, scorched by the stables being burnt, here follows; and is succeeded by a tale of a monkey, a thief, and a goblin. Both are omitted, as deficient in interest; the entire fifth section being too long for insertion.
page 199 note * As relating to vocal music, several of the terms may here be understood in their ordinary sense: mátrá refers to syllabic length, or vowel sounds; varnnas are consonants; bháshá signifies language; and gítá tune or song.—H.T.C.