A classical dictionary of Hindu mythology and religion, geography, history and literature

Front Cover

From inside the book

Selected pages

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 142 - Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline, And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed? Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine? I name thee, O Sakoontala! and all at once is said.
Page 189 - Where slaves once more their native land behold, No fiends torment, no Christians thirst for gold. To Be, contents his natural desire, He asks no Angel's wing, no Seraph's fire; But thinks, admitted to that equal sky, His faithful dog shall bear him company.
Page 142 - Willst du was reizt und entziickt, willst du was sattigt und nahrt, Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit Einem Namen begreifen; Nenn' ich, Sakontala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.
Page 284 - When once the river had acquired a divine character, it was quite natural that she should be regarded as the patroness of the ceremonies which were celebrated on the margin of her holy waters, and that her direction and blessing should be invoked as essential to their proper performance and success. The connection into which she was thus brought with sacred rites may have led to the further step of imagining her to have an influence on the composition of the hymns which formed so important a part,...
Page 349 - Others of a speculative mystical character are not wanting; yet their number is not so great as might naturally be expected, considering the development which the Hindu, religion received in the periods following after that of the primitive Veda. It seems in the main, that the Atharva is of popular rather than of priestly origin ; that, in making the transition from the Vedic to modern times, it forms an intermediate step rather to the gross idolatries and superstitions of the ignorant mass, than...
Page 30 - The myth of the Asvins is, in my opinion, one of that class of myths in which two distinct elements, the cosmical and the human or historical, have gradually become blended into one. It seems necessary, therefore, to separate these two elements in order to arrive at an understanding of the myth. The historical or human element in it, I believe, is represented by those legends which refer to the wonderful cures effected by the Asvins, and to their performances of a kindred sort ; the cosmical element...
Page 107 - He is represented as a short fat man of a yellow colour, with a protuberant belly, four hands, and the head of an elephant, which has only one tusk. In...
Page 13 - Hari, the lord, creator of the world, Thus by the gods implored, all graciously Replied, 'Your strength shall be restored, ye- gods, — Only accomplish what I now command : Unite yourselves in peaceful combination With these your foes ; collect all plants and herbs Of diverse kinds from every quarter ; cast them Into the sea of milk; take Mandara, The mountain, for a...
Page 146 - Desire first arose in It, which was the primal germ of mind ; [and which] sages, searching with their intellect, have discovered in their heart to be the bond which connects entity with non-entity.

Bibliographic information