HISTORY OF Raja Viráta, was duly celebrated with every magnificence and sign of rejoicing. INDIA. PART II. Review of the foregoing legend of the thirteenth year. Separation of amour of Kichaka from the mythical references to the Pandavas, 1st, Tradition of the amour of Kichaka. Anterior to The foregoing narrative of the thirteenth year of the exile of the Pándavas is no doubt a fiction so far as it refers to the Pandavas; and sufficient stress has been laid upon this point at the opening of the present chapter. But whilst the details by which the Pándavas are associated with Raja Viráta and his family are forced and artificial, the main incidents of the amour of Kíchaka with the waitingmaid of the Rání are of a natural and life-like character, and bear the impress of being the remains of some independent tradition which has been borrowed from a foreign country. Accordingly, the attempt may now be made to divide the whole narrative into two distinct parts, each of which may be considered separately in the following order : 1st, The authentic tradition of the amour of Kíchaka. 2nd, The mythical details by which the tradition of the amour has been joined on to that of the Pándavas. The tradition of the amour of Kíchaka appears to belong to what may be called the Dark Ages of Hindú history. It contains no references whatever and Buddhism. either to the gods of the Aryans, or to the ascendancy of the Bráhmans, or to the institution of The leading Religious ideas caste, or to the doctrines of Buddha. connected with ghosts. religious idea appears to have been a belief in the substantial existence of ghosts as demons capable of wreaking their wrath upon all offenders; a characteristic which is generally supposed to indicate an Pastoral charac- aboriginal people of Turanian origin. At the same time, the wealth of the country appears to have con ter of the people. tion. INDIA. ments. sisted of cattle and horses; a circumstance which HISTORY OF would indicate a pastoral people. The scene, how- PART II. ever, is chiefly laid in the palace of the Raja; and Ancient civilizahere are to be found evidences of refinement and Palace of the Raja. civilization. There are the women's apartments Women's apartwhere the Rání is attended by her maid, and where the Princess Uttará, and the other young damsels of the palace, are instructed in music and dancing by a eunuch, who wears a woman's dress and jewels. There is the Council-hall, where the Raja spends a Council-hall. large portion of his time in the company of his Chieftains; and there is the kitchen, where the Kitchen. sleepy and voracious warrior is supposed to be lording it over the under cooks, and preventing any theft or waste of victuals. ters in the tra amour. logue. The characters that appear in this tradition are Leading characall simple and life-like. They comprise a timid dition of the Raja and a good-natured Rání; a mighty warrior and a captivating waiting-maid; a boyish Prince and his girlish sister. The dialogue varies from Varied diathe grave discourse in the Council-hall to the passionate conversation in the women's apartments, and the merry chatter of light-hearted damsels in the music and dancing-room. The plot is perfectly The plot. intelligible. A beautiful woman of noble birth enters the service of a Rání as a waiting-maid; on which the Rání's brother falls in love with her. But this natural incident, simple as it is in itself, is surrounded by a number of details so strange and significant as to demand a careful consideration. When the Rání first engaged the waiting-maid, she was fearful lest the charms of the new attendant should attract the admiration of the Raja. But the waiting-maid explained that she was guarded by The Rani's jeaspecting the lous fears re waiting-maid allayed by story of the fiv Gandharvas. INDIA. PART II. HISTORY OF five invisible Gandharvas, who would wreak their wrath upon any man who should venture to approach her with improper proposals. Accordingly, the Rání appears to have been satisfied with this explanation, and took the captivating woman into her service as waiting-maid. Difficulty as regards the Gandliarvas. Belief in the amours of invisible demons with mortal women. This reference to the Gandharvas is a real difficulty. It is impossible to say whether in the original tradition the Rání believed the Gandharvas to be invisible spirits or mortal men. There is indeed much to be said on both sides. The belief that demons, or evil spirits, were prone to amours with the daughters of men is even more widely spread than the belief in the loves of the gods; and to this day is deeply implanted in the minds of Hindús and other Orientals. The mishaps of an unfortunate bridegroom are invariably ascribed to the machinations of evil spirits; whilst the mishap of a maiden, which might otherwise have excited doubts of her chastity, has been occasionally attributed to the irregular desires of a being from another world. In the present tradition, the waiting-maid is represented as being the subject of jealousy rather than of love; and in this respect her case corresponds to that of Sarah, in the Book of Tobit, whom young Tobias was afraid to marry, lest he should be strangled by her demon lover. But the story of the invisible Gandharvas is also capable of a rational interpretation. The Gandhar Gandharvas, or Hill people, are traditionally rebut subsequent garded as a very handsome race, and the women especially were much admired by the people of the plains; and it was only at a later period, when the Aryan traditions began to assume a mythical form, that the Gandharvas were converted into divine be vas, a Hill tribe, ly converted into celestial beings. The INDIA. earlier and a ings attendant upon the gods, the men as celestial HISTORY OF musicians, and the women as celestial dancers. Ac- PART II. cordingly, in the original tradition, the waiting-maid Possibility of an may have simply explained that she was a Gand- later legend. harva woman, and had five Gandharva husbands, or lovers, who would slay any one who affronted her; whilst the turn in the story, which invests the Gandharvas with a supernatural character, may only belong to the modern form of the legend. a Peculiar status of Kichaka as a brother of the Rání. The character of Kíchaka is well deserving of consideration. He appears to have been a type of peculiar class, who held a certain position in the courts of Hindú Rajas. It has already been seen that Sakuni, the brother of the Rání Gándhári, dwelt at Hastinapur; and Kíchaka, the brother of the Rání of Viráta, appears to have dwelt in like manner in the city of his sister's husband. That a bride should be accompanied by her brother when about to be married to a distant Chieftain, seems to be a very natural arrangement; but it is difficult to perceive on what grounds the brother should take up his permanent residence in the city of his sister's husband. Sakuni however held no prominent position at Hastinapur; but seems to have been a mere gambler, who assisted in the intrigues of his nephews against their rivals. Kíchaka on the other hand appears to have been a man of a different stamp. He evidently possessed a strong will, and maintained a Character of powerful influence over his weak-minded brother-inlaw. He was a man of pleasure and maintained a number of women; but he is said to have been in the habit of taking his friends into his zenana; from which circumstance it might be inferred that he treated his women rather as mistresses than as wives. Kichaka. HISTORY OF Peculiar inci dents in Kichaka's amour. Hindú women. Kichaka and the waitingmaid in the Council-hall. The progress of Kíchaka's amour is strange and primitive throughout, and may be referred to a period of remote antiquity. Kíchaka not only falls in love with his sister's maid, but coolly asks his sister to send the maid to his house; and the Rání yields to his entreaties and despatches her maid-servant ostenWine drank by sibly for a cup of wine, a circumstance which seems to indicate that wine was occasionally drank by Scene between Hindú ladies in the olden time. The scuffle that ensued between Kíchaka and his fair enslaver is perfectly intelligible; but not so the fact that when the insulted woman ran into the Council-hall for protection, she was followed by her admirer and kicked in the presence of the Raja. Another singular feature tween the wait. in the tradition is the dialogue between the servant girl and the Raja, in which the former declares that it is very unbecoming in the Raja to allow her to be kicked in his presence, whilst the latter excuses himself from interfering, on the ground that he did not know what had passed between the pair before they entered the Hall. Dialogue be ing-maid and the Raja. The plot between the cook and the waiting-maid for punishing Kíchaka is in accordance with poetic justice; and more than one European tradition has been preserved in which a gallant had expected to meet a wife, and has suddenly found himself in the presence of an enraged husband. The horrible treatment of the remains of Kíchaka after death is an Oriental idea of perfect revenge; whilst the grim joy of the waiting-woman at the sight is apparently an exaggeration, intended to indicate the righteous anger of a model wife at having her chastity assailed. The climax of the narrative is reached when the |