It is intended that the History of India now announced should also comprise the whole period of British administration from the middle of the last century to the present day. But as regards this later history no definite announcement can at present be made. It will be sufficient to state that, should the writer be enabled to complete his design, the entire work will conclude with a history of British administration in India, and a critical review of the policy by which the British Government has been actuated since the first establishment of the late East India Company as a political power. Whilst, however, the volume now presented to the public may be regarded as the first of a series, it may also be treated as complete in itself, inasmuch as it comprises a critical digest of the Mahá Bhárata, which is not only an independent work, but also the most voluminous and perhaps the most valuable Epic which has hitherto been preserved in a written language. To have undertaken the digest of such a work direct from the Sanskrit would probably have proved to be the labour of a lifetime; for a bare translation of the whole poem would alone occupy from twelve to fifteen octavo volumes, without any explanation or comment whatever. Fortunately however the task of analysing and abridging has been greatly facilitated in the present instance by the discovery of a manuscript translation of the more important portions of the Mahá Bhárata, which was lodged in the Library of the Asiatic Society of Bengal many years ago under a wrong title, and which there is reason to believe was drawn up by the late Professor H. H. Wilson.1 The author must also express his obligations to a young Sanskrit scholar, Baboo Obenash Chunder Ghose, who favoured him with oral translations of such portions of the poem as The manuscript was very illegibly written upon paper much embrowned by age, and seems to have been at least fifty years in existence. The whole has now been copied and indexed, and forms nine volumes folio. The original was, by some mistake, put away in the Calcutta library under the head of Bhagavat-Gítá, and was not discovered until four years ago, when the author accidentally sent for the supposed Bhagavat-Gítá, and found, to his surprise and gratification, that the manuscript contained the bulk of the Maha Bhárata. had been omitted from the manuscript in question, together with many popular interpretations of the ancient story which are given by the Pundits to their Native audiences. In conclusion, the author must again be permitted to remark that his primary object is not to illustrate Sanskrit literature, or to treat of questions connected with the Sanskrit language, but to compile a political History of India. Accordingly all matters of mere antiquarian, or philological, or literary interest have been generally excluded from his work, partly because they do not fall within the scope of his labours, and partly because he is conscious that he is unfitted for a task which must be left to Sanskrit scholars. Indeed a History of India, which should be based upon a knowledge of the many languages, living and dead, which appertain to the great Indian continent, would be beyond. the powers of any single individual, and could only be accomplished by a body of encyclopædists whose labours would necessarily extend over many scores of volumes. the same time, however, no ordinary care has been spared to ensure correctness in reproducing the ancient traditions in the very condensed form in which they are now submitted to the general reader, and to verify interpretations of difficult passages by reference to the existing current belief of the people themselves. CONTENTS. New phases of civilization Significance of the religions Indicates the past and present condition of a people confided History of British administration distinct from the history of Imperfect knowledge of Oriental scholars Knowledge of the masses in England of recent growth History of India to be found in the Maha Bhárata and Comprehensive character of the two poems Interminable length and confusion of traditions and ideas Vast influence exercised by the two poems upon the masses Their extraordinary popularity Belief in beneficial results of reading them or hearing them Long chronological interval between the age in which the events took place and the age in which the Mahá Bhárata Events coloured by the ideas of the subsequent age Changes in religion during the interval b PAGE ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. ib. Characteristics of the Vedic period Characteristics of the Brahmanic period Patriarchal simplicity of the Vedic period wanting in the later age of Brahmanical ascendancy Necessity for glancing at the civilization and religion of the The white-complexioned Aryans of the Punjab ib. ib. Similarity between the patriarchal life indicated in the Vedic Prayers for rain, abundant harvests, prolific cattle, bodily Confusion in the personifications Distinction between Indra, the sovereign god who sent the rain, and Varuna, the god of water, or the ocean PAGE Necessity for a further development of the characteristics of the leading deities ib. Characteristics of Indra, or the god of the firmament Attributes of a human hero superadded to those of the god of the firmament ib. of fire Hymned as the discoverer of the soma plant Spiritualization of Indra, into a personified idea of the firma- ment Indra, the hero of the Aryans, and foe of the aborigines Character of the Vedic hymns addressed to Indra Invocations to Indra in his human capacity Invocations to Indra as the Supreme Being Characteristics of Agni or Fire Mysterious attributes of fire. Family associations connected with fire in cold climates Reverence excited amongst a primitive people by the presence ib. ib. ib. ib. |