THE

1855.

BAITÁL PACHÍSÍ;

OR,

TWENTY-FIVE TALES OF A DEMON:

A NEW EDITION OF THE HINDÍ TEXT, WITH EACH WORD EXPRESSED
IN THE HINDÚSTÁNÍ CHARACTER IMMEDIATELY UNDER THE CORRESPONDING WORD
in the nagarí; and with a perfECTLY

LITERAL ENGLISH INTERLINEAR TRANSLATION,

ACCOMPANIED BY A FREE TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH AT THE FOOT OF

EACH PAGE, AND EXPLANATORY NOTES:

BY

W. BURCKHARDT BARKER, M. R. A. S.,

ORIENTAL INTERPRETER; AND PROFESSOR OF THE ARABIC, TURKISH, PERSIAN, AND

HINDUSTÁNÍ LANGUAGES AT ETON.

EDITED BY

E. B. EASTWICK, F.R.S.,

PROFESSOR OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES, AND LIBRARIAN IN THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE.

HERTFORD:

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN.

BOOKSELLER TO THE EAST INDIA COLLEGE.

M.DCCC.LV.

TO

EDWARD B. EASTWICK, ESQ., F.R.S., F.S. A.,

ETC., ETC., ETC.,

WHO, BY HIS LABOURS IN EVERY FIEld of orieNTAL LITERATURE,

AND MORE ESPECIALLY BY HIS EDITIONS AND ENGLISH VERSIONS OF THE CLASSIC

WRITERS OF HINDÚstán and persia,

HAS ENABLED THE ENGLISH PUBLIC TO APPRECIATE THE LITERATURE OF THE EAST;

AND TO WHOM

ALL ORIENTAL STUDENTS OWE A DEEP DEBT OF GRATITUDE:

THIS ATTEMPT TO FOLLOW IN THE PRACTICAL COURSE WHICH HE HAS SO

SUCCESSFULLY PURSUED,

IS DEDICATED, AS A SLIGHT TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION AND ESTEEM,

BY THE TRANSLATOR.

PREFACE.

IN presenting a new work to the English Student of Oriental Literature, some account of its origin, and of the phases through which it has passed, will be expected. The Baitál Pachísí, or Twenty-five Tales of a Demon, was translated from the Sanskrit original, Vetálapanchavinshati, into Braj-bhákhá, in the reign of Muḥammad Shah, by Surat Kabishwar, who undertook the task on the requisition of Rájá Jai Singh Sawáí, ruler of Jaipur,—a prince who seems to have been distinguished among his contemporaries by his superior enlightenment, and by his efforts to advance learning; as may, indeed, be gathered from the fact that he sent Embassies to the Courts of France and Portugal for the express purpose of obtaining the assistance of learned Europeans, under whose superintendence he caused the Elements of Euclid to be translated into Sanskrit. In 1805, Shrí Lallú Jí Lál Kab (the translator of the Prem Ságar, the Latá'if-i Hindí, the Singhásan Battísí, and other works), undertook, in conjunction with other learned natives, to prepare a Hindí version of the Baitál Pachísí; and we may presume, from the fact that he took the Braj-bhákhá for his original, that the Sanskrit version had ceased to exist. That this is the only conclusion which can be arrived at, will be obvious when it is remembered that the English version of Kálí Krishna, published at Calcutta in 1834, was derived from the same source. The translation now presented to the Oriental student is from the Hindí version of Shrí Lallú Jí Lál Kab to which we have already referred.

This collection of stories, and the tales of the Singhásan. Battísí, may be said to resemble our stories of the Knights of the Round Table, being intended as a eulogy of one of the most famous heroes of the Hindús, Vikramájít (Vikramáditya), king of Oujein (Ujjayiní). This monarch was subjected, at the outset of his career, to a terrible danger from a Jogi, who intended to sacrifice him to the Goddess Deví (see the Introduction to the Tales). Before attempting his assassination, the Jogí despatched the hero to fetch a fiend who had taken up his abode in a dead body; and Vikram so pleased the fiend by his courage and adroit replies, that he forewarned him of the Jogi's purpose. Being thus put on his guard, Vikram was enabled to slay the Jogí (as detailed