118. A[s']oka-tree.
The A[s']oka (Jonesia Asoka) is one of the most beautiful of Indian trees. Sir W. Jones observes that 'the vegetable world scarce exhibits a richer sight than an A[s']oka-tree in full bloom'. It is about as high as an ordinary cherry-tree. The flowers are very large, and beautifully diversified with tints of orange-scarlet, of pale yellow, and of bright orange, which form a variety of shades according to the age of the blossom.
119. And with his artless smiles Gladdens their hearts.
Chézy is enraptured with this verse: ' … strophe incomparable, que tout père, ou plutôt toute mère, ne pourra lire sans sentir battre son coeur, tant le poète a su y rendre, avec les nuances les plus délicates, l'expression vivante de l'amour maternel.' Compare Statius, Theb., book v. line 613.
'Heu ubi siderei vultus? ubi verba ligatis
Imperfecta sonis? risusque et murmura soli
Intellecta mihi?'
120. It is against propriety to make too minute inquiries about the wife of another man.
The Hindús were very careful to screen their wives from the curiosity of strangers; and their great lawgiver, Manu, enjoined that married women should be cautiously guarded by their husbands in the inner apartments (antahpura) appropriated to women (called by the Muhammadans, Haram, and in common parlance, in India andar-mahall). The chief duty of a married woman's life seems to have been to keep as quiet as possible, to know as little as possible, to hear, see, and inquire about nothing; and above all, to avoid being herself the subject of conversation or inquiry; in short, the sole end and object of her existence was to act as a good head-servant, yielding to her husband a servile obedience, regulating the affairs of his family, preparing his daily food, and superintending his household. (Manu, ix. 11, 16.) But notwithstanding the social restrictions to which women were subjected, even in the earlier periods of Indian history, it seems probable that they were not rigidly excluded from general society until after the introduction of Muhammadan customs into India. It appears from the plays that they were allowed to go into public on certain occasions; they took part in bridal processions, and were permitted to enter the temples of the gods, [S']akoontalá appears in the court of King Dushyanta and pleads her own cause; and Vásavadattá, in the Ratnávalí, holds a conversation with her father's envoy. Even in later times, the presence of men, other than husbands or sons, in the inner apartments, was far from being prohibited. See Wilson's Hindú Theatre, p. xliii.
121. Her long hair Twined in a single braid.
Hindú women collect their hair into a single long braid as a sign of mourning, when their husbands are dead or absent for a long period.
122. Shines forth from dim eclipse.