[453] Janaka was a sovereign of Mithila, and father of Sitá, the wife of Rámachandra. The name of Janaka became a general name of all Mâithila kings.
[454] In the Indian genealogies, several Sahadevas are mentioned. As we are evidently upon fabulous ground, we may be excused from attempting to establish that the Sahadeva of the text is the son of Pandu, or another.
[455] Probably कर मण्डलं kara mandalam, from kara, “hand,” and mandalam, “an orb, a round cup.”
[456] I have not yet ascertained the correct Sanskrit title of this book of the Hindus; but Bashest is Vasishta, a celebrated Muni, who rivalled and vanquished Visvamitra.
[457] Visvamitra, a Muni, the son of Gádhi, originally of the military order, but who became by long and painful austerities a Brahmarshi, in which character he appears in the Rámáyaná, as the early preceptor and counsellor of Ráma.
[458] The Pápîha is believed to be the falio nisus, also a kind of cuckoo (luculus radiatus); possibly the chátaca of the Hindus, supposed to drink no water but rain-water—(See Megda duta, “the Cloud-Messenger,” translated from Sanskrit into English, by H. H. Wilson, Esq., p. 14). The Papîha is celebrated in Indian romance for his fidelity to his mate. Kalá, having been separated from Kamrup (see the Adventures of Kamrup, translated from the Hindustanee into French, by M. Garcin de Tassy, p. 96) says: “Le Papîha erre-t-il dans la forêt sans celle à qui l’unit l’amour?”
[459] Náisán means a Syrian month, which corresponds to April; the drops of Náisán, or of spring-rain, are believed to produce pearls, if they fall into shells, and venom if they drop upon serpents.
[460] सुमेरु Suméru, the sacred mountain Méru, on the summit of which Brahma resides.
[461] A fabulous mountain, anciently imagined by the Asiatics to surround the world, and to bound the horizon on all sides.
[462] Tyrhoot, a district in the province of Bahar, situated principally between the 27th and 28th degrees of north latitude.