That is, the Lord,' a name given to the god Śiva, when regarded as supreme. As presiding over dissolution he is

associated with Brahmá the Creator, and Vishnu the Preserver; constituting with them the Hindú Triad. Kálidása indulges the religious predilections of his fellow-townsmen by beginning and ending the play with a prayer to Śiva, who had a large temple in Ujjayiní, the modern Oujein, the city of Vikramáditya, situated north-eastward from Gujarát.

2 In these eight forms.

The worshippers of Śiva, who were Pantheists in the sense of believing that Siva was himself all that exists, as well as the cause of all that is, held that there were eight different manifestations of their god, called Rudras; and that these had their types in the eight visible forms enumerated here. The Hindús reckon five elements. The most subtle is Ether (ákása), supposed to convey sound, which is its peculiar attribute or property (guna). The next element-Air, has for its properties sound and feeling. The third-Fire, has sound, feeling, and colour. The fourth-Water, has sound, feeling, colour, and taste. The fifth-Earth, has all the other properties, with the addition of smell.

3 An audience of educated and discerning men.

Lit. 'An audience, who are chiefly men of education and discernment.' Few could have been present at these dramatic representations excepting learned and educated men. The mass of the composition being in Sanskrit, would not have been intelligible to the vulgar and illiterate.

Sakoontala; or, The Lost Ring.

The literal title is 'Śakoontalá recognized by the token or ring.'

5 The present Summer season.

Hindú poets divide the year into six seasons of two months each, viz. 1. Spring (Vasanta), beginning about the middle of March; or, according to some, February. 2. Summer (Gríshma). 3. Rains (Varsha). 4. Autumn (Śarad). 5. Winter (Hemanta). 6. Dews (Śiśira). Practically, however, there are only three seasons in India. 1. The hot season. 2. The rains. 3. The cold weather. In Lower Bengal and Behar, the first of these seasons begins in March, the second in June, and the third in November. The temperature of the cold season is highly exhilarating, and the climate is then superior to that of any portion of the English year. In Calcutta, this season continues for about three months; in Upper India, for about five; and in the Panjáb for about seven. The rains in Bengal Proper are more violent and protracted than in Hindústán and the Panjáb. In the latter country they last for hardly more than two months, and even then only fall at intervals. Plays were acted on solemn and festive occasions, on lunar holidays, and especially at the changes of the season.

6 Of fragrant Páṭalas.

The Páțala or trumpet-flower; Bignonia suaveolens.

7 With sweet Śirísha flowers.

The flowers of the Acacia Sirisha were used by the Hindú

women as ear-ornaments.

8 King Dushyanta.

For the genealogy of King Dushyanta see Introduction, page xxxviii.

9 That wields the trident.

Śiva is called Pinákin, that is, ‘armed with a trident,' or according to some, a bow named Pináka. Śiva not being invited to Daksha's sacrifice, was so indignant, that, with his wife, he suddenly presented himself, confounded the sacrifice, dispersed the gods, and chasing Yajna, 'the lord of sacrifice,' who fled in the form of a deer, overtook and decapitated him.

10

Their waving plumes, that late

Fluttered above their brows, are motionless.

The Chámarí, or chowrie, formed of the white bushy tail of the Yak, or Bos grunniens, was placed as an ornament between the ears of horses, like the plume of the war-horse of chivalry. The velocity of the chariot caused it to lose its play, and appear fixed in one direction, like a flag borne rapidly against the wind.

11 The steeds of Indra and the Sun.

That is, the speed of the chariot resembled that of the Wind and the Sun. Indra was the god of the firmament or atmosphere- the Jupiter Tonans of Hindú mythology—and presided over the forty-nine Winds. He has a heaven of his own (Swarga), of which he is the lord, and, although inferior to the three great deities of the Hindú Triad (Brahmá, Vishnu, and Śiva), he is chief of the secondary gods. The Hindús represent the Sun as seated in a chariot, drawn by seven green horses, having before him a lovely youth without legs, who acts as his charioteer, and who is Aruņa, or the Dawn personified.

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12 Puru's race.

See Dushyanta's pedigree detailed at page xxxviii of the Introduction.

13 The great sage Kanwa.

The sage Kanwa was a descendant of Kasyapa, whom the Hindús consider to have been the father of the inferior gods, demons, man, fish, reptiles, and all animals, by his twelve wives. Kanwa was the chief of a number of devotees, or hermits, who had constructed a hermitage on the banks of the river Máliní, and surrounded it with gardens and groves, where penitential rites were performed, and animals were reared for sacrificial purposes, or for the amusement of the inmates. There is nothing new in asceticism. The craving after self-righteousness, and the desire of acquiring merit by self-mortification, is an innate principle of the human heart, and ineradicable even by Christianity. Witness the monastic institutions of the Romish Church, of which Indian penance-groves were the type. The Superior of a modern Convent is but the antitype of Kanwa; and what is Romanism but humanity developing itself in some of its most inveterate propensities?

14 He has gone to Soma-tirtha.

A place of pilgrimage in the west of India, on the coast of Gujarát, near the temple of Somanáth, or Somnát, made notorious by its gates, which were brought back from Ghazní by Lord Ellenborough's orders in 1842, and are now to be seen in the arsenal at Agra. These places of pilgrimage were generally fixed on the bank of some sacred stream, or in the vicinity of some holy spring. The word tírtha is derived from a Sanskrit root, tri, 'to cross,' implying that the river has to be passed through, either for the washing away of sin, or extrication from some adverse destiny. Thousands of devotees still flock to the most celebrated Tirthas on the Ganges, at Benares, Haridwár, etc.

15 Ingudí.

A tree, commonly called Ingua, or Jiyaputa, from the fruit of which oil was extracted, which the devotees used for their lamps and for ointment. One synonym for this tree is tápasataru, 'the anchorite's tree.'

16 Bark-woven vests.

Dresses made of bark, worn by ascetics, were washed in water, and then suspended to dry on the branches of trees.

17 By deep canals.

It was customary to dig trenches round the roots of trees, to collect the rain-water.

18 My throbbing arm.

A quivering sensation in the right arm was supposed by the Hindús to prognosticate union with a beautiful woman. Throbbings of the arm or eyelid, if felt on the right side, were omens of good fortune in men; if on the left, bad omens. The reverse was true of women.

19 The hard acacia's stem.

The Śamí tree, a kind of acacia (Acacia Suma), the wood of which is very hard, and supposed by the Hindús to contain fire.

20 The lotus.

This beautiful plant, the varieties of which, white, blue, and red, are numerous, bears some resemblance to our water-lily. It is as favourite a subject of allusion and comparison with Hindú poets as the rose is with Persian.

21 With the Sairala entwined.

The Saivala (Vallisneria) is an aquatic plant, which spreads itself over ponds, and interweaves itself with the lotus. The interlacing of its stalks is compared in poetry to braided hair.