Mr. Ward says:

"Their grammars are very nu

merous, and reflect the highest credit on the ingenuity of their authors."1

"The

Professor Sir Monier Williams remarks : grammar of Panini is one of the most remarkable literary works that the world has ever seen, and no other country can produce any grammatical system at all comparable to it, either for originality of plan or analytical subtlety." The Professor again says: "His Sastras are a perfect miracle of condensation.”

A commentary on Panini's gram mar was written by Katyayana, author of Varttikas. He was criticised by Patanjali, who wrote the Mahabhashya, which is, according to Professor Sir Monier Williams, "one of the most wonderful grammatical works that the genius of any country has ever produced."3

The following grammarians are said to have preceded Panini :-Apisali, Kasypa, Gargya, Galava, Sakravarmana, Bharadwaja, Sakatyana, Sakalya, Senaka, and Sphotayana.

As regards lexicons, the Reverend Mr. Ward says: "Their dictionaries also do the highest eredit to the Hindu learned men, and prove how highly the Sanskrit was cultivated in former periods."

Ward's Mythology of the Hindus. 2Indian Wisdom, p. 172. 3 Monier Williams' Indian Wisdom, pp. 176 and 177. Patanjali is said to have been born at Gonarda in the east of India and lived for some time in Kashmir. His mother's name (according to some) was Ganika. Panini was, however, a native of Slatura, to the northwest of Attock on the Indus. His mother, Dakshi, was descended from Daksha. Professor Goldstücker thinks he has grounds to decide that Panini lived before Buddha,

II. POETRY.

Blessings be with them and eternal praise,
The poets who on earth have made us heirs
Of Truth and pure delight by heavenly lays.

-Wordsworth.

COUNT BJORNSTJERNA says: "Poetry rules over all in India; it has lent its forms, its coloring, and its charms even to the most abstract sciences, yea, even to religion."

Professor Max Dunker says: "The treasures of poetry in India are inexhaustible."2 Among such a "poetical people" as the Hindus--as Professor Heeren3 aptly terms them-poetry flourished in wonderful luxuriance, and its various branches were cultivated with marvellous success. Professor Heeren says: "The various branches of poetry, such as the narrative and the dramatic, the lyric as well as the didactic and the apologue, have all flourished in Sanskrit literature, and produced the most excellent results.'

194

Mr. Elphinstone says: "All who have read the heroic poems in the original are enthusiastic in their praise, and their beauties have been most felt by those whose own productions entitle their judgment to most respect. Nor is this admiration confined to critics who have peculiarly devoted themselves to Oriental literature. Milman and Schlegel vie with Wilson and Jones in their applause; and from one or other of these writers we learn the simplicity and originality of the composition; the sublimity, grace and pathos of particular passages; the natural dignity of actors; the holy purity of manners, and the inexhaustible fertility of imagination in the authors."5 Theogony of the Hindus, p. 80. 2 History of Antiquity, Vol. IV, p. 27. 3 Hist. Researches, Vol. II, p. 186. Hist. Researches, Vol. II, p. 147. 5Elphinstone's History of India, p. 155.

III.-EPIC POETRY.

And here the singer for his art,
Not all in vain may plead,

The song that nerves a nation's heart,
Is in itself a deed,

--Tennyson.

PROFESSOR HEEREN says: "The literature of the Hindus is rich in epic poetry." The Ramayana and the Mahabharata, however, are the principal epics, the epics par excellence of India. Professor Monier Williams thus

speaks of them : "Although the Hindus, like the Greeks, have only two great epic poems, namely, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, yet to compare these with the Iliad or the Odyssey is to compare the Indus and the Ganges rising in the snows of the world's most colossal ranges, swollen by numerous tributaries spreading into vast shallows or branching into deep divergent channels, with the streams of Attica or the mountainous torrents of Thessally. There is, in fact, an immensity of bulk about this, as about every other department. of Sanskrit literature, which to a European, accustomed to a more limited horizon, is absolutely bewildering."2

Of these remarkable poems, the Ramayana is the older, while the Mahabharata is the larger of the two. Apart from their high poetical merits, in which they defy rivalry and discard comparison, their enormous bulk is a standing puzzle to the European critics.

1

Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 147. Indian Epic Poetry, p. 1.

A comparison with the other great epics of the old world will give an idea of their enormous size.

The Iliad and Odyssey together contain 30,000 lines. Schlegel calls Ramayana "the noblest of epics."

Ramayana," says Professor Monier Williams, "is undoubtedly one of the greatest treasures in Sanskrit literature." Sir W. Jones says: "The Ramayana is an epic poem on the story of Rama, which, in unity of action, magnificence of imagery and elegance of style far surpasses the learned and elaborate work of Nonnus."1

After giving the argument of the Ramayana, Prof. Heeren, with his usual moderation, says: "Such, in few words, is the chief subject of Ramayana, while the devolopment and method of handling this simple argument is so remarkably rich and copious as to suffer little from a comparison in this respect with the most admired productions of the epic muse."2

Professor Sir M. Monier Williams says: "There is not in the whole range of the Sanskrit literature a more charming poem than the Ramayana. The classical purity, clearness and simplicity of its style, the exquisite

1 Asiatic Researches, p. 255. A writer in the Westminister Review for April 1868 offers Mahabharata such a remote antiquity as to leave behind not only Manu but even the writings of Asvalyana, etc. Count Bjornstjerna dates it at 2000 B C. Dr. Mittra points out that "the Mahabharata, in the course of its thousands of verses, nowhere alludes to Buddhism and Buddha, and must therefore, and on other grounds not worth naming here, date from before the birth of Sakya."--The Indo Aryans, Vol. I, p. 38.

2 Heeren's Historical Researches, Vol. II, p. 149.

touches of true poetic feeling with which it abounds, its graphic descriptions of heroic incidents, nature's grandest scenes, the deep acquaintance it displays with the conflicting workings and most refined emotions of the human heart, all entitle it to rank among the most beautiful compositions that have appeared at any period or in any country. It is like a spacious and delightful garden, here and there allowed to run wild, but teeming with fruits and flowers, watered by perennial streams, and even its most tangled jungle intersected with delightful pathways. The character of Rama is nobly portrayed. It is only too consistently unselfish to be human. We must in fact bear in mind that he is half a god, yet though occasionally dazzled by flashes from his superior nature, we are not often blinded or bewildered by it. At least in the earlier portion of the poem he is not generally represented as more than a heroic, nobleminded, pious, virtuous man, whose bravery, unselfish generosity, filial obedience, tender attachment to his wife, love for his brothers and freedom from all resentful feelings, we can appreciate and admire. When he falls a victim to the spite of his father's second wife, he cherishes no sense of wrong. When his father decides on banishing him, not a murmur escapes his lips. In noble language he expresses his resolution to sacrifice himself rather than allow his parent to break his pledged word. As to Sita, she is a paragon of domestic virtues."2

1"When identified with the deity, he seems himself unconscious of his true character. It is even possible that the passages which make him an incarnation of Vishnu may be later interpolations."

2Indian Epic Poetry, p. 12.