INDIA. PART III. his Raj from return of Raja Nala, and adorned their houses with banners HISTORY OF and garlands, and hung chains of flowers from door to door, and strewed the roadways with leaves and blossoms. And all was gladness in the palace at Vidarbha, for Raja Bhíma was transported with joy when he beheld the long-lost husband of his beloved daughter; and Raja Rituparna was filled with wonder and delight when he knew that his fiercely driving charioteer was no other than Raja Nala. Then they Nala recovers took counsel together how they might compel the evil- Pushkara. minded Pushkara to restore the Raj to his elder brother. And Nala had learned the whole art of throwing dice from his old master Raja Rituparna, and he saw how Pushkara had won the Raj, and resolved to win it back in like manner. So when one month had passed away and Nala was perfect in the game, he set off to Nishadha, with elephants and horses and chariots, and challenged his brother Pushkara to another throw, in which he would stake Damayanti against the Raj; and the wicked Pushkara eagerly agreed, and exulted in the certainty of winning the wife of Nala. But the throw was against Pushkara, and thus Nala won back his Raj and all his treasure; but when Pushkara humbled himself before him, Nala forgave him all, and dismissed him with many gifts to his own city. Then Nala returned to Happy reign of Vidarbha and brought away his beautiful Damayantí; and henceforth he reigned at Nishadha, as Indra reigns in heaven, and performed every holy rite in honour of the gods, with all the munificence of a royal devotee. Nala. foregoing tradi tion of Nala and Damayanti. The foregoing story of Nala and Damayantí is Review of the worthy of consideration on two grounds. In the first place, it furnishes abundant evidence that the events which form the groundwork of the tradition, and which have already been referred to the Vedic age, must have long preceded the age in which the poem was composed; and thus, as will presently be seen, it throws an extraordinary light upon the civilization PART III. HISTORY OF of two different eras, which have been distinguished INDIA. as the Vedic and Brahmanic periods. In the second place, it exhibits some of the most graphic pictures of Hindú life and manners which are to be found in Hindú literature, whilst it displays a knowledge of the human heart and an appreciation of woman's devotion, which stamps it as the production of a genuine bard. Conflict of ideas indicative of two different eras. heroic and re the character of Nala. As regards the light which the story throws upon two different eras, it may be remarked that there is throughout a conflict of ideas, especially as regards the character of the ancient Rajas, the social intercourse which prevailed between the two sexes, and the custom of widows re-marrying, which can only be referred to two different ages corresponding Opposition of to Vedic and Brahmanic times. Thus the character ligious ideas in, of Nala as delineated at the opening of the story indicates such an opposition of heroic and religious ideas, that it is impossible to conceive of them both as existing in the same individual. It is easy to imagine a Kshatriya hero as a great archer, skilful in taming horses, beloved of women, and fond of gambling; but it is difficult to believe that such a hero would be deeply read in the Vedas, and it is impossible to reconcile the existence of a strong passion for gambling with the statement that the gambler had all his passions under perfect control. Moreover, being beloved of women may have been the characteristic of a hero of the old days of Aryan chivalry, but it would not be regarded as a virtue in Brahmanic times, when women were supposed to lead a life of seclusion, and were treated as entirely subservient to the other sex, and given in marriage without the slightest reference to the state of their INDIA. tercourse which period troduction of details. affections. This point of view is still more plainly HISTORY OF illustrated by the evident freedom of intercourse PART III. which prevailed between the sexes in the Vedic Freedom of inperiod, and the efforts of the narrator to disguise prevailed in the this freedom by the interpolation of detail which veiled by the inmay be fairly regarded as supernatural. Thus there supernatural is the plain statement that Nala and Damayantí were deeply in love with each other; and from this statement only one inference can be drawn, namely, that they had seen each other, and consequently had been inspired with a mutual affection. Such an idea forms indeed the very essence of the Swayamvara, but it would scarcely be relished in a later age when women were kept in the inner apartments, and were never seen by men until the day of their betrothal. Accordingly, the Hindú bard has endeavoured to veil this implied freedom of intercourse by intimating that they had fallen in love with each other without having seen each other; and that they carried on an amatory correspondence by means of birds with golden plumage, who were gifted with a power of speech far beyond the mere imitative faculty of parrots, and corresponding in every respect to the intellectual faculty as exercised by human beings. Thus, whilst it is possible to believe that the interest of a youth or maiden may be awakened by a description of a beautiful damsel or a handsome hero, it is impossible to believe that the deep affection of the love-sick Damayantí for the gallant Nala could have existed without a sight of the beloved object; and it is still more impossible to believe that the episode of the speaking birds is anything more than a pretty fable introduced by the Hindú bard. Again, it is distinctly intimated that incident of the Incident of Nala making his way apartments dis to the inner guised by the spell. INDIA. PART III. The second immediately before the Swayamvara the hero made his way into the presence of Damayantí, on which occasion the royal maiden pledged her troth to Nala, by promising to choose no other husband. Here again the prudish bard appears to be shocked, not at the interview itself, but at the possibility of such an interview taking place in the inner apartments. Accordingly, the incident is disguised by a story of a power to pass where he pleased without being hindered, which is said to have been granted to Nala by the god Indra, and which, like the story of the birds, may be safely rejected as a mere creation of the imagination. Again, the sequel turns upon a plot which was diametrically opposed to later ideas. Damayantí secures the presence of her long-lost posed to Brah husband at her father's city, by pretending that she was about to choose a second husband; an idea which appears so perfectly in accordance with the usages of the Vedic period, that the Raja of Ayodhya does not doubt the rumour for a moment; but, at the same time, was so foreign to the ideas of the Brahmans, that the poet duly represents a second marriage as something unholy. Indeed an insinuation in the present day of the possibility of a second marriage, would be regarded as the deepest insult which could possibly be inflicted upon the father of the widow. manical ideas. Conception of an avenging Ne. mesis. The main purpose of the story seems to be to illustrate that conception of an avenging Nemesis which was undoubtedly familiar to the ancient bards. The ruin of Nala was brought about by an evil spirit named Kali, a personification of the Kali age, who envied his excess of happiness, and sudGambling not denly reduced him to the extremest misery. As regards the gambling, it is curious to remark that regarded as a vice. INDIA. whilst the progress of the match and the evils of HISTORY OF dice are delineated with a master hand, gambling itself is not held up to reprobation. On the contrary, whilst Nala loses his Raj by the dice, he recovers it by the same means, and even deliberately perfects himself in dice-throwing for the purpose of effecting this object. tures in the her maidens. ra of Damayanti that of Draupa dí. The pictures which are presented in succession Graphic picto the eye are calculated to impart a vivid concep- story. tion of the civilization which prevailed in ancient times. The damsels chasing the birds in the royal Damayanti and garden, the melancholy of the love-sick maiden, and the flocking of the Rajas to the Swayamvara, are all told with considerable power. The description of The Swayamvathe Swayamvara is unique, and contains none of compared with those rude incidents which characterize the Swayamvara of Draupadí, and which must be referred to a rude and patriarchal age. On the other hand, Damayantí appears throughout as a maiden of high rank and blood; and whilst she is invested with the right of choice, and exhibits an undisguised preference for one particular hero, yet her maidenly modesty is preserved with rare delicacy, and even the public expression of her affection in no way militates against her conduct, as a pure, loving, and unsophisticated girl. The picture of the gambling The gambling match is equally sensational, though far less coarse compared with and barbarous than the gambling match of Yudhish- thira. thira. The interest does not turn upon such a rude scene as that which transpired in the gambling booth of the Kauravas, and in which a matron was rudely handled by a successful gamester. Indeed, in the present instance, the interest of the scene turns upon the alarm of the Council and the people; match of Nala that of Yudhish |