This decision brought him back to the next goal of their journey, a visit to Allahabad, where his dearly loved bride—the beautiful Iravati—awaited his coming. His countenance, which for some minutes had been grave and earnest, brightened up, and striking spurs into his horse, as a long flat piece of country stretched out before them, he cried, joyfully, “Come, now for a gallop!” and darting forward, Kulluka saw brandishing his light spear, and shouting the name that carried off the victory in his thoughts—“Iravati!”
“Forward! forward, then!” muttered the Brahman to himself, setting his horse to a gallop, “until the end is reached; for me it is almost done, but for him the journey of life is only beginning. Oh that he may always find it smooth as this! but he also must meet with rocks and slippery precipices, and perhaps also—abysses. But may they only,” he added, smiling to himself, as he thought of the adventure of the preceding evening, “be harmless precipices.”
[1] Badari-natha is a place sacred to Vishnu in the Himálayas. The Badari-natha peaks, in British Gurwhal, form a group of 6 summits from 22,000 to 23,400 feet above the sea. The town of Badari-natha is 55 miles N.E. of Srinagar, on the right bank of the Vishnu-ganga, a feeder of the Alakananda. The temple of Badari-natha is situated in the highest part of the town, and below it a tank, supplied from a sulphureous thermal spring, is frequented by thousands of pilgrims. The temple is 10,294 feet above the sea.
[2] Deva, in Sanscrit, is a god, a divinity.
[3] Siddha, in Sanscrit, means perfected, hence an adept. Siddhanta, a final conclusion, or any scientific work. The Siddhas are a class of semi-divine beings, who dwell in the regions of the sky.
[4] Rama is a name in common use. Rama was the hero of the Ramayana epic, and the form taken by Vishnu in two of his Avataras.
[5] Sanscrit name. Kulluka Bhatta was the famous commentator whose gloss was used by Sir W. Jones in making his translation of Manu.
[6] Guru, a teacher. Pada, a word.
[7] A common Sanscrit name.