May there be prosperity to all!
[1] This kind of statement often occurs in stories in proof of the just reign of a monarch. The Hindu idea is that so long as justice and equity characterise a king’s rule, even beasts naturally inimical are disposed to live in friendship. When timely rain fails or famine stalks through the land, turning his eyes from the natural causes, the orthodox Hindu will say that such a king is now reigning over them unjustly, and hence the calamity.—Translator.
[2] “Distinguishing the peculiarities of an animal by its footsteps, &c., is often met with in Indian stories. Precisely the reverse of this is the tale of the four blind men who disputed about the form of an elephant. One of them had felt only the elephant’s ears, and said it was like a winnow; another examined the breast and a foreleg, and said it was like a thick stump of wood; the third felt the trunk, and said it was like a heavy crook; while the fourth, having touched only the tail, declared it was like a sweeping rake.”—W. A. Clouston.
[3] The night-watch hearing the tutelary goddess of the village mourning, is a very ancient idea. It also occurs, for example, in the story of Viravara, in the Sanskrit book of fables entitled “Hitopadesa.” Sambhavi and Mahamayi are different names of Kâlî—a fierce goddess, much worshipped as the presiding deity of cholera and smallpox.—T.
[4] A ghaṭikâ = 24 minutes.—T.
[5] Apparently the arrows were attached to some kind of mechanism which discharged them on the opening of the jar. There is “nothing new under the sun.” Dynamite is perhaps a discovery of our own times, but “infernal machines,” which served the purpose of king-killers, are of ancient date.
[6] The Hindûs, at their meals, squat on the ground, with leaves in place of earthenware dishes, on which their food is served.—T.
[7] A sum of money varying in different localities of the South of India. In the Chola grants “pon” also occurs.
[8] An Indian word meaning clumps of trees.