[132] p. 77. l. 22. —of her mouth ablution made. Washing the mouth after food, which Damayanti in her height of emotion does not forget, is a duty strictly enjoined in the Indian law, which so rigidly enforces personal cleanliness. "With a remnant of food in the mouth, or when the Sraddha has recently been eaten, let no man even meditate in his heart on the holy texts." Menu, iv, 109. "Having slumbered, having sneezed, having eaten, having spitten, having told untruths, having drunk water, and going to read sacred books, let him, though pure, wash his mouth." v. 145.
[133] p. 79. l. 17. —hair dishevelled, mire-defiled. As a sign of sorrow and mourning.
[134] p. 80. l. 4. I will be. "I will be," must be the commencement of the prayer uttered by the bridegroom at the time of marriage. It does not correspond with any of those cited by Mr. Colebrooke. It is probably analogous to that given by him, Asiatic Researches, viii, p. 301. Wilson.
[135] p. 81. l. 11. He through all the world that wanders—witness the all-seeing lord. See the curious Law of Ordeal, Asiatic Researches, vol. i, p. 402, "On the trial by fire, let both hands of the accused be rubbed with rice in the husk, and well examined: then let seven leaves of the Aswatha (the religious fig-tree) be placed on them, and bound with seven threads." Thou, O fire, pervadest all beings; O cause of purity, who givest evidence of virtue and of sin, declare the truth in this my hand.
[136] p. 81. l. 27. —flowers fell showering all around. These heavenly beings are ever ready, in the machinery of Hindu epics, to perform their pleasing office (of showering flowers on the head of the happy pair) on every important occasion: they are called Pushpa-vrishti, or flower-rainers. Moor, Hindu Pantheon, 194. See in the Raghuvansa, ii, 60. No sooner has king Dílípa offered himself to die for the sacred cow of his Brahminical preceptor, than "a shower of flowers" falls upon him.
[137] p. 86. l. 3. —stands the Apsara in heaven. The birth of the Apsarasas is thus related in the Ramayana.
Then from the agitated deep upsprung
The legion of Apsarasas, so named
That to the watery element they owed
Their being. Myriads were they born, and all
In vesture heavenly clad, and heavenly gems;
Yet more divine their native semblance, rich
With all the gifts of grace and youth and beauty.
A train innumerous followed, yet thus fair
Nor god nor demon sought their widowed love;
Thus Rághava they still remain, their charms
The common treasure of the host of heaven.
—Wilson's Translation, Preface to the Drama of Vikrama and Urvasi, p. 13.
[138] p. 87. l. 16. Pushkara appeased. The Calcutta edition has a better reading than that of Bopp. Instead of Prasantè Pushkare (Pushkara appeased), it is Prasantè tu pure, (the city being tranquil, the rejoicings having ceased). Wilson.
[139] p. 87. l. 21. Nala sate, as in Nandana. Nandâna is the garden of Indra.