translated in the Mahratta language, Calcutta, 1814, 4to. Vetala-Pantschavimsati, by Sivadasa. The Bhoga Prahbendha; The Bhoga Charitra; and The Vikrama Charitra, manuscripts in the library of the Asiatic Society of London. 7. Erotic Poetry. The Migha Duta (Meghudovta), or Cloud Messenger, a poem in the Sanscrit language, by Cálidása: translated into English verses, with notes and illustrations by Horace Hayman Wilson, esq., assistant-surgeon in the service of the honourable East India Company, and secretary of the Asiatic Society, published under the sanction of the College of Fort William, Calcutta, 1813, 4to; reprinted London, 1815, 8vo. Cálidása, one of the celebrated poets of India, was called by his enraptured countrymen, the Bridegroom of Poetry. The contents of the Cloud Messenger are given by Colebrooke, in the Asiat. Res. vol. x, p. 435, and by Ward in his View, etc. vol. i, p. 516. Analyse du Mégha-Doûtah, poème Sanscrit de Kâlidâsa, par M. A. L. Chézy, Paris, 1817, 8vo. The National Library at Paris possesses three copies of this delicious poem, which consists of only one hundred and sixteen strophees; one under No. 44, in Devanagari, and two, Nos. 115 and 172, in Bengali character. A few strophees of the original, with a Latin translation, had already been presented to the world by Paulinus a S. Bartholomæo, in his Sidharubam, p. 66 -68. The Message, from the Megha Dûta, or Cloud Messenger, a poetical translation of a fragment, in the Asiatic Journal, 1816, Sept. p. 253-256. Chora-Panchâsicâ, a short poem of fifty stanzas, in which the poet Sundara, son of the king of Kantchipoor, sings his early fate. He had the misfortune, in a mighty adventure, while going to visit Vidya, the daughter of the king of Burdvan, Verâ-Singha, to be taken and condemned to death. Bhámani-Vilása, erotic poems by Jagannatha. The erotic poem of Amaru, in a collection of a hundred stanzas, compiled by Sâncarâtschâryya. 8. Lyric Poems. Lyric Poems by Cálidása, as Sringara Tilaka, Prasnottara Mala, Aasjanorwa, or Lachmeer, and some others. Song of Jaya Deva, from the Sanscrit, in the Asiat. Journ. 1828, June, p. 741. Paddhati, a Collection of Poems by S'arngadhara, a manuscript in the library of the Asiatic Society of London. Chunda Stotra, Hymns to Chandi, Calcutta, 1817, 8vo. Chandi, Hymns to Durga, Sanscrit, Calcutta, 1818, 8vo. Chandana, an elegant Sanscrit stanza, in the Asiatic Journal, 1825, April, p. 423. e. Elegy. Elegy on the Death of a Wife, from the Sanscrit of Jagannátha Bandita Raja, in the Asiatic Journal, April, p. 363. 3. Idyls. G'atakarparam,', or the Broken Vase, printed in the original with Indian scholia, Calcutta, 1812. Ghata-Karparam, ou l'Absence, Idylle dialoguée, traduite du Samskrit, par M. de Chézy, in the Journal Asiatique, 1823, vol. vii, p. 39–45. G'atakarparum, oder das zerbrochene Gefäss, ein Sanskritisches Gedicht, herausgegeben, übersetzt, nachgeahmt und erläutert von G. M. Dursch, Berlin, 1828, kl. 4. See Allgem. Liter. Zeit, 1829, No. lxxi, lxxii; and Jahrb. für wissensch. Kritik, 1829, No. lxv, lxvii, lxxiii, lxxvi, by Wilh. von Humboldt. . Das Wiedersehn Elegie aus dem Sanskrit übersetzt von P. von Bohlen, in the Berliner ConversationsBlatt, 1829, No. lix. 7. Didactic Poetry. Ritu Sanhara, the Seasons, a descriptive poem by Cálidása, printed in the original Sanscrit, at Calcutta. A short account is given of it by Sir William Jones, in an advertisement to this edition. See his Works, vol. vi, p. 432s. Wilson gives sixteen verses of it in his edition of the Migha Duta, p. 63. This little poem consists of thirty-two stanzas of various metres. Its title, Ghata-Karparam (Broken Vase), is merely the last word of the singular epilogue with which the poet, whose name is unknown, has thought proper so pleasantly and cheerfully to close this graceful composition. M. Chézy has given it the title of Absence, a name which suits it very well, as its subject matter is the plaints of a young wife, separated from an indifferent husband, whom the rainy season, the happy epoch in which the distant travellers return to the bosom of their families, brings not back to her embraces. s It is as follows: This book is the first ever printed in Sanscrit; and as it is by the press alone that the ancient literature of India can long be preserved, a learner of that most interesting language, who had carefully perused one of the popular grammars, could hardly begin his course of study with an easier or more elegant work, than the Ritusa'nhara, or CC Vana-Bhatta is the author of an incomplete descriptive poem, bearing the title of Câdambarî, full of double allusions. FABLES. See concerning the Hindoo fables from books and oral traditions, the Abbé Dubois Description of the Character, etc. of the People of India, p. 502, etc. Gilchrist's Oriental Fabulist, or Polyglot translations of Esop's and other Ancient Fables, into Hindostanee, Persian, Arabic, Sanscrit, etc., Calcutta, 1802, 8vo. a. Pancha Tantra. Though it be impossible to trace the channel by which they came into Europe, it is universally adImitted that the old tales which first roused the inventive faculties of our ancestors are of oriental origin. It is too late to enquire whether Persia was their birthplace; for if so, they must have been clad in the Pahlvi language; and both body and dress are irrecoverably lost. It is to the Hindoos, then, that we must look for the source of nearly all that has interested and amused our forefathers and ourselves in this department of literature. The Pancha Tantra is the parent stock of the Hitópadésa', Pilpay's Fables, and several other similar col Assemblage of Seasons. Every line composed by Cálidása is exquisitely polished; and every couplet in the poem exhibits an Indian landscape, always beautiful, sometimes highly coloured, but never beyond nature. Four copies of it have been diligently collated; and, where they differed, the clearest and most natural reading has constantly had the preference. The Hitópadésa is not the only Sanscrit epitome of the Pancha Tantra. Another abridgement of it, following the original much more closely, both in matter and arrangement, is the Cat'hámrita-nichte (Treasure of the Nectar of Tales), by Ananta Bhatta. Note of Mr. Colebrooke, Transactions of Asiatic Society, vol. i. p. 200. lections. Mr. Colebrooke gave a sketch of the contents of this ancient work, in the preface to his edition of the Hitópadésa; and professor Wilson a full and interesting analysis of it in his Analytical Account of the Pancha Tantra, illustrated with occasional Translations, in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. i, part ii, London, 1826, p. 155–200. From this the following brief account is taken. The Pancha Tantra is so called from its being divided into five tantras, or sections; it is better known, however, in common speech, by the denomination Panchópákhyána, which may be rendered the Five (collections of) Stories. And under this appellation the work may be met with in most parts of India. It is attributed to Vishnu Sarmá, who is said to have extracted the essence of all the most celebrated works of this class, and to have composed the Niti Sastra, in five tantras or chapters. Its origin is thus narrated. Amara Sucti, a learned and munificent prince, had three sons, without capacity or diligence. Observing their aversion to study, the king called his counsellors, and said to them, "You are aware that my sons are disinclined to application, and are incapable of reflection. When I contemplate their conduct, my kingdom is full of thorns, and yields me no pleasure. Better is a dead son than one who is a fool. Better that a family should become extinct, than that a son, endowed with their form, wealth, and family credit, should want understanding! If, therefore, their minds can be aroused to a due sense of their situation, do you declare it." On this, one of his counsellors answered him, "As life is short, and to acquire a knowledge of sciences demands much time, some means should be found of shortening the path of learning, and of communicating the substance of each science in a compen |