62. As in the sacred tree the mystic fire.
Literally, 'as the [S']ami-tree is pregnant with fire.' The legend is, that the goddess Párvatí, being one day under the influence of love, reposed on a trunk of this tree, whereby a sympathetic warmth was generated in the pith or interior of the wood, which ever after broke into a sacred flame on the slightest attrition.
63 Hastinápur.
The ancient Delhi, situated on the Ganges, and the capital of Dushyanta. Its site is about fifty miles from the modern Delhi, which is on the Jumná,
64 E'en as Yayáti [S']armishthá adored,
[S']armishthá was the daughter of Vrishaparvan, king of the demons, and wife of Yayáti, son of Nahusha, one of the princes of the Lunar dynasty, and ancestor of Dushyanta. Puru was the son of Yayáti, by [S']armishthá.
65 And for whose encircling bed, Sacred Kusa-grass is spread.
At a sacrifice, sacred fires were lighted at the four cardinal points, and Ku[s']a-grass was scattered around each fire, 66 Koïl,
The Koïl, or Kokil, is the Indian cuckoo. It is sometimes called Para-bhrita ('nourished by another'). because the female is known to leave her eggs in the nest of the crow to be hatched. The bird is as great a favourite with Indian poets as the nightingale with European. One of its names is 'Messenger of Spring.' Its note is a constant subject of allusion, and is described as beautifully sweet, and, if heard on a journey, indicative of good fortune. Everything, however, is beautiful by comparison. The song of the Koïl is not only very dissimilar, but very inferior to that of the nightingale,
67 The peacock on the lawn Ceases its dance,