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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1890.
which the Chembian planted on Môru after having lowered the standards of the boar, tho plough, the stag, the lion, the lute, the bow, and the fish, may be pre-eminent for ever!
The second canto contains 54 stanzas and is an address to women, inviting them to listen to the song celebrating the deeds of their sovereign. This gives the poet an opportunity to dwell on the charms of the fair sex, their love, little jealousies and quarrels, - subjects so congenial to the imaginative mind of oriental bards. Many of the stanzas do not bear trauslation; as a specimen, however, I shall translate a few which are free from objection:
(S. 3) Ye (maidens) of soft speech !, come like peacocks, waking from sleep, your tresses waving, your ankle-rings resounding, and open the doors. — (S. 16) Open the doors adorned with gold, ye good girls !, who pretend to sleep till break of day, to punish your lovers for their faults and to thwart their desires. -- (S. 38) Open your golden doors, ye maidens!, on whose feet the ankle-rings ever clamour, warning you not to walk, lest your slender waist break, unable to bear the weight of the pair of breasts. - (S. 44) Ye who have heard of the might of the bow, terrible to its foes, wielded by that Karuņkara (Rama) who conquered Lanka, open the doors, and let me sing of the battle fought by that Karunakara who conquered Kalinga, - (S. 43) Ye maidens who, in amoroue dalliance, loosen the kalinga (clothes), keeping the káñchi (girdle), open the doors, and let me sing of the battle in which the Chenni (Chola), who wears the anklet, destroyed Kalinga, keeping Kanohi. - (S. 45) Ye who think of all the faults of your ardent lovers in their absence, and forget them in their presence, open your massive golden doors. — (S. 54) Open your golden doors, and listen, ye maidens who twist and fasten in your locks, alike the bright red flowers of the kalunir and the hearts of young men full of love.
Cantos 8 and 4 contain imaginary descriptions of the parched desert and weird temple sacred to Kalidevi, the goddess of war. As an example of the author's peculiar style and powers of description, I shall translate a few of the stanzas, describing the desert :
(Canto 3 ; s. 6) The shadows of the eagles, which circle in the skies in search of prey over that desert, seem to flee from it, afraid of the heat, and stop in no place. - (S. 8) The red ground of that desert appears like & furnace of glowing fire; and like clouds of smoke issuing from the furnace, are the troops of doves Aitting over it. - Hear, why the greencolored steeds of Sarya do not course through the skies at night, as they do in the day. Is it not because they find it hard to pass over the desert, sacred to the goddess, without taking rest after every journey across it?- (S. 13) Alas! It is to screen themselves from the fierce and expanding heat of this desert, that the gods have placed the clouds and the halo in the sky. (8. 12) Is it not, alas ! the sweat, dropping from the panting clouds and moon after they cross the desert, that falls in rain and der? - (8.10) Is it not owing to the heat of this desert, into which even men cannot venture, that the gods are afraid to set foot on this earth?
In the succeeding three cantos 5 to 7, the goddess, her attendant demons and goblins, and their horrible witchcraft are described.
Canto 8 is entitled Rachaparamparyam or 'the royal genealogy,' and contains a short account of the ancestors of Kulottunga. To give it a fictitious interest, the poet states that the account is taken from the history inscribed on the side of the mountain Mêru, by the great Chola king Karikala, as dictated by the Rishi Närada, who then foretold the whole of the history of the Chola family, down to the accession of Kulottunga. The pedigree of the Cholas is traced as follows:
(S. 9) From the lotus-navel of the first Vishnu sprang Brahman; the latter begat the hero Marlohi ; his beloved son was Kaby&pa ; and he begat the resplendent Sarya. -(S. 10) His son, Manu, while protecting the earth, sacrificed his beloved son, as not dearer to him than the young calf (which that son had run over), and was praised by all living beings (for his stern justice) His son was Ikahvaku,- (S. 11) The heroic son, begotten by Ikshvaku, conquered all
