THE

MEGHA

DIjTA;

OR,

CLOUD MESSENGER:
A POEM,
THE SANSCRIT JLANGUAGE,

IN

BYCALIDASA.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE,

YITII

NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.

BY HORACE HAYMAN WILSON,

Assistant'

Surgeon in the Service of

to

PUBJLISHIlD

the

Honorable East India (Jompany ) and Secretary

the Asiatic Sociefyt

under the sanction

OP THEJ

COLLEGE OF FORT WILLIAM.

Calcutta 5

PRINTED BY

PEREIRA, AT THE HINDOOSTANEE PRESS,

liTJ,

TJS^>%
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DEDICATION,

TO THE MIGHT HOJKORABLE

THE EARL OF MINTO,

GOVERNOR GENERAL OF
#c.

fyc,

My
JL

INDIA.

#c

Lord,

HAVE taken the liberty of

giving to the following

little

work the

sanction of your Lordship's name, not with the idea, that so humble
tribute
reflect

can add any thing

some

credit

New to public
I

am

am

it's

lustre

upon the pages

criticism,

to

but with the hope, that

which

under the most

it is

first

confident that the countenance of one

which he bestows,

may

prefixed*

production of

eligible auspices, to the notice of the

himself an encourager of

it

and reasonably ambitions of public approval,

naturally anxious to introduce this

labors,
I

to

letters,

will ensure

and who

me, in the

reception.

is

first

who

my

literary

world ; and

has always professed

known

to merit the

palm

instance at least, a favorable

DEDICATION.
It

must be a matter of indifference

to Society,

and

still

more so

to

your Lordship, that an unimportant individual should express his admiration

of the firmness

and energy which India has witnessed

in your

Lordship's political career, and which have been so successfully exerted

in suppressing internal

am

commotion, and prosecuting foreign conquest

unwilling however to pass over the present opportunity of joining

in the voice of an English public, and applauding the justice that has

crowned your Lordship's administration of the East, with the

dignities

of Great Britain,

Wishing
to

that the country to

be transferred,

may long

which your Lordship's

services are

about

continue to benefit by them,

HAVE THE HONOR T BE

YOUR LORDSHIP'S,
MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,

SCT3

JET.

M. WIJLSOM.

PREFACE,

JL

HE antiquity and excellence of

the sacred language of the Hindus,

have naturally attracted attention, and excited curiosity

possessing con-

siderable claims to be regarded as the most ancient form of speech with

which mankind

is

acquainted,

invests the early ages of the

most perfect plan, which

it

appeals strongly to the interest that

world ; and constructed upon perhaps the

human

ingenuity has devised,

an enquiry whether it's perfection be limited by

Hindu

the merits of

compositions partake, or

it's

riot,

it

tempts us to

structure, or

whether

of the beauty of the

language, in which they are composed,

It

has fallen to the

these enquiries,

of Sir

Wm.

of the English nation especially, to prosecute

lot

and the

result has

been conformable to the

patriotic

wish

Jones, that as the continental nations of Europe had been

the most diligent cultivators of the other oriental tongues, the merit of

Sanscrit research might chiefly belong to his

enced by

his advice

and example,

his

own countrymen

influ-

countrymen have labored with no

contemptible success, in this interesting pursuit, and have rendered the

language and
world.

The

^literature
efforts

of this division of the east accessible to the

of Sanscrit Scholars have hitherto however been

PREFACE.

iv

directed rather to the useful, than the pleasing,

The

science than imagination.

complicated

been most successfully investigated,

and much of

their

grammar of

to the philosophers

their

their astronomical

curiosity

the knowledge of those

the administration of justice in Hindoostan,

It

who

European

The Drama

veil

only remains, to explore

it's

most elegant

soil.

of Sacontala, and the songs of

JayadeVa have prepared

the readers of the west, for the character of Sanscrit Poetry.

who know how much

poetical beauty depends

upon

needless to observe, that these works have been

it is

translation into

pen of Sir

Wm.

of an

are charged with

the field of their lighter literature, and transfer some of

flowers to a

than inform-

laws are no longer concealed behind the

unknown tongue, from

illustrated,

whose modern attainments

have rendered ancient science an object rather of

and

Hindus has

the

mythology amply

their philosophy satisfactorily explained ;

works have been exhibited

ation,

rather to works of

To

poetical expression,

much

injured

Jones : even

in this state
1

however they have received the

even in their present dress

impossible to avoid discovering, that they teem with fanciful imagery

and

that

offer little to offend the

It

by a

although that prose proceeded from the elegant

prose,

admiration of the 'Scholars of Europe;

natural feeling,

those

beyond the pale of mythological

it

is

and

allusion they

most fastidious taste.

has been observed by

2
Mr. Colebrooke, and higher

authority

cannot be desired, that the profane Poetry of the Hindus affords better

See the Appendix to Robertson's Disquisition on India.

Essay on Sanscrit and

Preterit

Prosody, Asiatic Researches, Vol. 10.

specimens of style and

rat,

and the

&.

such are the Pur arias, the Mahab'ha-

as sacred:

Rdmayana

than are to be found in the poems which

taste,

by them

are considered

R E F A

which

the portions of these works therefore,

on various occasions have appeared before the public, cannot be allowed

to detract

from the general merits of Sanscrit composition, even though

it

should appear that they have more charms in the eye of literary curiosity,

than of public taste : they are recommended to the Hindus themselves, not

by

conduct of the story, or the elegance of

their beauty, or sublimity, the

the style ; but they

force of habit,

owe their

celebrity to their traditionary divineness, to the

and the power of religious

the followers of

the stories related in them*

Brahma have been accustomed

cellence of the compositions

it

would be

same time, there are few Pandits of

peruse the

faith:

Megka

Dilta than the

to venerate,

sacrilege in

real learning

Rdmayana;

them

who

to

and the ex-

deny

at the

Avould not rather

there are few,

who

in the

do not transfer the palm of poetical pre-emi-

sincerity of unbiassed delight,

nence from Valmici 3 to Ca'li-das.

Of the

latter

though much

is

of thee eminent Bards

detailed

by

tradition:

he

little
is

is

by

history,

the real or supposed author of

a number of poetical works, each of which

is

Drama of Sacontala is

and the

attributed to him,

ascertained

of the highest merit.

The

text of another of his

works, the Rztu Sanhara or Assemblage of the Seasons, has been printed

under the inspection of Sir

be the offspring of
ascribed the

Wm,

Jbis fertile

Raghu

imagination,

Varisa or

Author of the Rdmayana,

Jones.

The
and

present
to

Race of Raghu,. an

poem

is

believed to

the same source are

epic

poem; Cumara

PfiEFAC

vi

SanihViava, the birth of the deity

a regular Drama

Swerga; and a

E.

Cumara, a poem

chiefly

my thological

Urvasi^ the name of one of the courtezans of

entitled

farce called

Hdsydrn a va,

or the Sea of laughter; the

Sringara Tilaca and Prasnottara Mala, two short amatory poems,

and a small

treatise in verse

upon

Bo'&ha,

poetical metre, called Sruta

Several other works are said to be the compositions of Calida's,

which it has been conjectured are

many of

attributed to him, merely in consequence

of the reputation derived from those of which he was really the author.

The aera of Calidas

is

generally asserted to be that of

Vicramaditya,

in whose court he formed one of the nine illustrious writers, characterised

by the

epithet of the

Nine Gems

name Vicrama'ditya how-

as the

ever has been undoubtedly applied to more than to one monarch, the
establishment of this fact leads us no satisfactory result, with respect tc

the age of the

Sir

poet.

Wm.

Jones' conceiving the Vicrama'ditya

mentioned, to be the same as the sovereign from

Hindu

year,

1870,

the Christian aera:

is

dated,

Mr. Bentley,

to

the present

places the poet in the century preceding5

trusting the

Ayeen Acbery, conceives Vicramaditya

Vicrama, successor

whom

to

Bhoja Prabandha and

have been the same as Raja

Raja Bhoja, and places the Nine Gems

in the

court of this monarch, in the end of the 11th, or the beginning of the 12th

century after Christ ; and Mr. Colebrooke,

testimony of an inscription found at Bud-dha

Preface to SaconlaJa.

Essay on Hindu Chronology,

Chr<
Asiatic Researches, Vol.
Preface to the Amera Cosha with Translation.

relying chiefly

Gayd

'

8.

is

upon the

inclined to consider

PREFACE.
the age of

Ambra Sinha

author of the

and Amera Sinha was

years;

also

Amera Cosha,

to

be at

900

least

one of the Nine Gems, and conse-

seems entitled to the

quently a contemporary of Calidas: this last opinion
preference.

be assigned,
whatever name or period the Cloud Messenger may

To
the

it is

society and
production of a poet: the circumstances of eastern

to exclude sublimity, either moral or

climate, tend in a great measure

the same circumstances are

physical from their literary compositions, but
to the

favorable to the less awful graces of poetry,

observation of nature,

and the tender expression of natural

frownino- rock, or foaming cataract, the furious

patriot are not to

elegantly minute

be traced

in Sanscrit verse,

but

sensibility: the

undaunted

tyrant, or

we shall frequently meet

with the impassioned lover, or affectionate husband, with the unobtrusive

blossoms of the flower, and the evanescent tints of the sky

in

point of

language Sanscrit writers are certainly unsurpassed, and perhaps unequalled,

is

and

harmonious

leads

them

their style in general

;

the

is

as full as

sweet, as majestic as

it

exceeding copiousness of the language sometimes

into those tricks of composition,

misdirected ingenuity of Europe, and puns,

constitute the

teration

it is

which formerly exercised the

and quibbles and

endless alli-

stanza; their attention also to minute objects

sometimes terminates in quaintness, and affectation, but from the faults

of either sty

le,

or fancy, the subject of our present enquiry

exempt there are

:

also a

copiousness and consistency in

not often paralelled in oriental writings

and

description,

which the

and a successful

title

of the

it,

is

entirely

which are

a quick succession of thought

,

work

does not lead us to expect,

avoiding of inconsistency or absurdity, which so

PREFACE.

nil

protracted an ape

induced us

apprehend

to

while at the same time,

it is

it is

its

following pages

printed,

is

exquisitely polished

their

perspicuity,

and learned elucidation

work is

by the Hindus,

amongst

classed

withstanding

the style of the

are so highly appreciated

ness,

the theme of the

as forms

le

the

also exceedingly simple,

the merits of the

that notwithstanding

Maha Cavyas

it is

poem might have

or

object of

its

work
short-

Great poems, and not-

much

acumen,

critical

the

manuscript from which the text cf the

and

for

the kindness of Mr.

Colebrgoke,

six Commentaries,

the

Malla, Sanatana

Go"swa"mi,

which the

translator

is

unites with the original,

respective

indebted to

no fewer than

works of Malli Na't'h, Calya'na

Bharata Mallica, Ramana't'h Tercat

Lancara and Hara Govinda Vachespati,

In the conversion of the Me'gha Dulta into English the translator has in
general endeavored to avoid being licentious, without attempting to be
literal ;

the idioms of the languages are too different to admit of a very

precise transfusion of the one into the other,

and

it

has been more the ob-

ject of the following translation, to render thoughts, than

words

few exceptions however, most of which are specified in the notes,

that the ideas of

Calidas,

to the English reader,

it

may be

be found conveyed with tolerable

with a

believed
fidelity:

whose critical sagacity may discover, that the number

of lines in the translation

original,

will

it is

is

nearly double the

amount of

sufficient to observe, that this excess is

those of the

balanced by the

number of syllables, of which one line of Sanscrit contains nearly double

the syllables of which one line of English consists, and that the
nective particles

little

con-

which take up much space in the translation, are in a great

measure unknown

to the readily

compounded language of the

original text*

PREFACE,
The

some apology may he

translator believes that

length,

ix

requisite

and nature of many of the notes accompanying the

some of them were

indispensible

the

translations

was absolutely necessary

it

for

to explain

the allusions to customs, or notions, to domestic manners, or religious

.

to render the

belief,

text

intelligible in

many

and

places,

in others, to

enable the European, reader to judge of the beauty or propriety of the

thoughts;

The

notes to the geographical part of the

will not be regarded as useless or irrelevant, as they

light

upon the ancient geography of

central"

poem,

it is

hoped

may perhaps throw some

Hindoostan.

Illustrating

passages in the poem,, by extracts from other Sansc-nt' authors, as well as

a few verbal and etymological remarks, may

teresting, to the

possibly be serviceable or in

few and meritorious students of the beautiful though in-

language of the original, Tracing the analogies between Greek,

tricate

and Hindu Mythology, furnished an amusement

he thinks communicable

to others

to the translator,

which

and the analogies between the poetry

of the east, and west, are given especially for the benefit of those liberal
critics,

who admire upon

classical

ideas,

and modern

when

the strength of prescription,

writings,

and deny

all

merit to the same or similar

they occur in the works of oriental writers.

taining to observe,

how much men

the beauties of

It is also enter-

resemble each other, in spite of the

accidental varieties of complexion or education of place, or time.

There are perhaps

other subjects in the following pages

explanation, or apology

as

however

this

which require

preface has already exceeded

reasonable limits, they must be consigned to the forbearance of the

reader,

or they

may be

attributed to the inexperience of the translator^

and the occupation of his time and

attention in

more

serious pursuits.

THE

MEGHA DUTA
OR,

CLOUD MESSENGER:
ARGUMENT.
"^4*^"

J\. YACSHA,

or

Demigod

so called,

and a servant of the Hindu God of wealth

Cuve'ra, had incurred the displeasure of his lord, by neglecting a garden entrusted
to
his charge, and allowing it to be injured by the entrance of Aira'vata,
the elephant of
Indra, Deity of the firmament: as a punishment for his offence, he was condemned
to
twelve months banishment from Alaca, the city of the Yacshas, and consequent
separation from his home and wife.
The seat of his exile is the mountain Rdmagiri, and upon
the opening of the poem, he
seclusion

the

poem opens

is. supposed

at the

to have passed a period of eight

commencement of the rainy

season,

are gathering in the south, and proceeding in a northerly course, or

mountains, and the

the distressed

fictitious position

Demigod

of the residence of the

addresses himself,

and

desires the

months

in solitary

when heavy Clouds

towards the Himdla

Yacsjias.

Cloud io waft

To one

of these,

his sorrows to

beloved and regretted wife. For this purpose he first describes the route which the
messenger is to pursue, and this gives the Foetan opportunity of alluding to the principal
mountains, rivers, temples, &c. that are to be met with on the road from Rdmagiri to

ARGUMENT

xu

Oujein, and thence, nearly due north, to the

Himalaya or snowy mountains: the fabulous

of Cuve'ha, Alaca, which are supposed to be in the central
part of the snowy range, are next described, and we then come to the personal descripmountain Caildsa, and the

city

tion of the Yacsha's wife.

situation of the exile,

The Cloud

and he

is

is next instructed how to express the

feelings and
then dismissed from the presence of the Deity, and the

Poem of C alio a'sa.

NOTE.
It may be necessary to observe that in reading the Sanscrit names which occur in the
following work the consonants are to be prononnced as in English with the exception
of C which is uniformly used for
agreeably to Sir Wm. Jones's system. The vowels

have their natural pronunciation, and the accent above a vowel marks
The vowels may be thus pronounced :

A
I

U
E
O

as
as
as
as

in
in
in
in

as

in

English.

America*

A"

City.

Full.
Italian or like a in mack.

U'

as
as

in

its

bein^ lon,

Far.

Italian or like our ee.

do.or like oo,
in

ADVERTISEMENT.
PUBLICATIONS
IX

SAJVSCMIT LITEMtATUJRE,
GRAMMARS.
1.

_JL

GRAMMAR of the Sanscrit language by H.

T.

Colebrooke, Esq.

Vol. the

first,

Calcutta, 1805.

2.

Sanscrit

Grammar by Mr. Wm. Carey, one

Vol. Quarto. Serampore, 1806.

O.

Sanscrit

Grammar by

C.

Wilkins, Esq. one Vol. Qo. London, 1808.

4.

An

Essay on the principles of the Sanscrit language by

first.

Qo.

H. P. Forster, Esq. Vol. the

Calcutta, 1810.
5.

The Grammatical Sutras or aphorisms of Pdnini with selections from various ComNagari character, 2 Vols. Octavo. Calcutta, 1809.
mentators.
6.

fhe Siddhdnta Caumudi a Grammar conformable to the system of Pdnini by Bkatto'ji

Dicshita. Nagari Character, one Vol. Qo. Calcutta, 1812.
7.

The Mugdlia Bod ha

Duodecimo.

Grammar by Vofade'va.

Bengali

Character,

one

Vol.

Serampore, 1S07.

DICTIONARIES.
1.

The Amera

CcsJia or

Vocabulary of

Amera Sinha

with marginal Translation, Notes,

and Alphabetical Index, by H. T. Colebrooke, Esq. one Vol. Qo. Serampore, 1808.
2.

The Vocabulary of He'machaXdra, Nagari Character, one Vol. Octo.

Calcutta, 1807.

ADVERTISEMENT.

3.

The

Am era Cosha,

Medini C6shat Tricanda

and

S'eshn,

Hdr&'oali, four original Vocabularies,

one Vol. Octo. Nagari Character. Calcutta, 1807.

4.

In the press; an Alphabetical Dictionary Sanscrit and English, translated

from a modern compilation by

and enlarged

Ragmumani Vidya Bhu'shana,* by H. H. Wilson, Esq>

LAW.
1.

The

institutes

Menu

of

Translated by Sir

Wm. Jones, now

incorporated with his worts,

2.

Translation of a Digest of Hindu

by H. T. Colebrooke,

The Dayabhao-a

or

Law

Law

compiled by

JagannaVha Tercapancha'nana,

Esq. 4 Vols, large Octo. Calcutta, 1798.

of inheritance, two Treatises translated from the Chapter of the

Mitacshara, and the work of Jimu'ta VaCha^a, by H. T.

Qo.

Colebbooke, Esq. one Vol.

Calcutta, 1810.
4.,*'.

Menu

Sanhila or the institutes of

Bhatta.

Menu

in the original

Nagari Character, one Vol. Qo.

Text with the

gloss of Culluca

Calcutta, 1813.
5.

Mitacshara, or a

work of Ya'jnyavalca, together with lEe

Nagari Character, one Vol. Qo. Calcutta, 1812.

Commentary on

original Text.

the legal

6.

The Dayabhdga

or

Law

ol Inheritance of Jimu'ta Va'hana.

Nagari Character, one

Vol. Qo. Calcutta, 1813.

^POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY.

1.

The.Bhagavat Gita translated by C. Wilkins, Esq.

2.

Translation of the Hitopadesa by C. Welkins, Esq.

3.

Sacontala or the Fatal Ring,

an Indian Drama, Translated by

Sir

Wm.

Jones. See his works.

4.

The

Hitopadesa or Collection of fables, translated by Sir

'

5.

Wm.

Jones. Do.

'

The original Text of the Hitopadesa, with the Das a Cumdra ChantrC) and the
of Bhartrt Hari. Nagari Character, one Vol. Qo, Serampore.

S'atacas

THE

MEGHA DUTA
ok;

OHM- MESSENGER..

CZ,

W"HERE
And

RdmagirPs shadowy woods

those pure streams

extend,

where Si ta bathed^ descend

&tmotattcm&
Verse

Ts a compound term signifying the mountain of Ra'ma, and

any of those hills in which the hero resided during his exile, or peregrinations. His first and most celebrated residence was the mountain ChitracuCa in Bundelcund
1.

Rdmagiri]

may be applied

to

now knownby the name of Comptak, and

that tradition has assigned

to- another

still

lagers
7. 60,

see Capt.

An

it is

We

find

mountain, a part of the Kitnoor range, the honor of

affording him, and his companions, SIta and

progress to the south, and

a place of sanctity, and pilgrimage.

Lacshmatt a, a temporary asylum upon

his

consequently held in veneration by the neighbouring vil-

Blunt's journey from Chuncvrghur to Yertnagoodum, Asiatic Researches,

account of a journey from Mirzapore to Nagpore, however, in the Asiatic Annual

MEGHA

DtyTA

OR

Spoiled of his glories, severed from his wife,

A banished

Yacsha passed

Doomed by

Cuve'ra's anger to sustain,

Twelve

his lonely life

tedious months of solitude

and

j,

pain*

gnnotattcns.
Register for 1806, has determined the situation of the scene of the present poem, to he in
the vicinity of the latter city : the modern name of the mountain is there stated to be
Jtamtec; it is marked in the maps Ramtege, but I understand the proper word is Ramtinci,

which

in the Mahratta

Ra'ma.

It is

language has probably the same import as Rama-girt, the hill of

and is covered with

situated but a short distance to the north of Nagpore,

buildings consecrated to Ra'ma and his associates, which receive the periodical visits of
numerous and devout pilgrims.

Verse 2. Where Sir a bathed.'] In his exile Ra'ma was accompanied by his younger
brother Lacshmana, and his faithful consort Sita, or as she is called in the original, the
daughter of Janaca, until the latter was carried off by the demon or giant Ra'vana see
the Rdmdyana: the performance of her ablutions in the springs of the mountain, is here
:

veneration.
stated to have rendered their water the object of religious
Verse 3. Spoiled of Ms glories.'} In the original, "His greatness was gone to its

setting" a figure with which English poetry

is

perfectly familiar; thus Woolsey in

Henry

the 8th,

Nay

then farewell \
the highest point of all my greatness>
touched
I've
And from that full meridian of my glory,
I haste

now to my

setting.

a demigod of which there exists a Gana or class ; they

Verse 4. A
attendants of
have few peculiar attributes, and are regarded only as the companions or
because
either
to
worship,
Cuve'ra, the god of wealth ; the word is derived from *{*%
by the
beloved
they minister to Cuve'ra, are reverenced themselves by men, or are
comfemale
Apsaras, the courtezans of Ikdra's heaven: they have however their own
by a Companions, or wives, as appears by the poem. One .writer cited and censured
Yacsha]

Is

cloud messenger;

To

these drear hills through circling days confmedj

In dull unvaried grief, the

God

repined;

And

sorrow withering every youthful charm,

Had

slipped the golden bracelet from his arm,

mentator on the Atnera Cosha, derives the name from 5JS^ to eat, because he says they
devour children; occasionally indeed the Yacshas appear as imps of evil, but in general
their character

Verse

5.

Plutus; he

is

perfectly inoffensive.

Cuve'ra]
is

In Hindu mythology performs the functions of the greciait

the lord of wealth, and master of nine inestimable treasures, his capital

on mount Caildsa, and inhabited by Yacshas, Cinnaras, and other inferior

he has a variety of appellations alluding to these circumstances, but is most
fcommonly designated by the one here employed ; the term is expressive of his deformity, being derived from 3? vile, and *1 body, and he is described as having three legs,
is

situated

deities:

and but eight leeth: no images of him occur, nor is any particular worship paid to him,
and in these respects there is a considerable analogy between him, and his grecian
paralell: Plutus is described as blind, malignant and cowardly, and seems to have
received but very slender homage from Greek or Roman, devotion. The term An-er
here used is more literally, Curse ; Imprecation is the great weapon of a Brahman, saint,
and deity, and in either case is deadly and inexpiable The gods themselves are subject
to its force whether denounced by other deities, or by holy men, thus Indra was
:

>

cursed by the Sage,

Gautama, and

peculiar worship from the Hindus,

is

the circumstance of
still

Brahma,

not receiving any

attributed to the operation of an

Anathema

pronounced upon him by Siva.

Verse 10. Had slipped the golden bracelet from his arm.'] This is a favorite idea with
Hindu poets, and repeatedly occurs; thus in the elegant drama of Sacontala; Dushmanta
says

or in Sir

.^^TTfs^^grai f^wfc^fSr f^^^M^3TRf^i%H:

Wm. Jones's

version, -" This golden bracelet sullied

by

the flame yhich preys

MEGILL DUTA OR

When

with Ashdrhcfs glooms the air was hung,

And one

dark Cloud around the mountain clung;

12

In form some elephant, whose sportive rage y

Ramparts, scarce equal

Long on

to his

might, engage.

the mass of mead-reviving dew,

The

heavenly exile fixed his eager view^

And

still

Though

16

the melancholy tear suppressed,

bitterest

sorrow wrung his heaving breast 5

grototattonsf.

n me, and which no dew mitigates, but the tears gushing- nightly from my eyes, has fallen
again and again on my wrist, and has been replaced on my emaciated arm."
Verse 11. When with Ashdrhds glooms] The month Ashddha or Ashdrlia comprehends the latter part of June, and the commencement of July, and
which the south-west monsoon, or rainy season usually sets in*

Verse
as

13.

In form some

elephant]

Thus

in the

^f^^H^^pT^fi^lW

is

the period about

Purana Sarcaswa clouds are described

Shaped like buffaloes ,

man's Bussy D'Ambois they are said to assume,

boars

and wild

elephants.

In Chap-

In our faulty apprehensions

The forms of

And Shakespeare

dragons, lions, elephants

although he omits the elephant, gives them with his usual overflow

f imagery, a great variety of shapes.

Sometimes we see a cloud that's dragonisb,

A vapour sometime like a bear or lion 3

CLOUD MESSENGER

Reflexion told what promise of delight,

Sprang from such gathering shades

Where

the

worn

traveller is

to happier sight,,

20

joyed to trace,

His home approaching, and a wife's embrace

What hope
Some

alas

his

yet fancy found,

solace in the glooms that deepened rounds

And bade him

was

24

hail amidst the laboring air,

friendly envoy to his distant

fairs-'

&rawt8tfan&

A
A

towered citadel, a pendant rock,

forked mountain, or blue promontory,

With trees upon 't that nod unto

And mock our eyes with air.

the world,

Anthony, and Cleopatra.

s

Verse

20.

Sprang from suck gathering shades

to

happier sight}

of the rainy season being peculiarly delightful in

affords to the

The commencement

Hindoostan, from the contrast

sultry weather immediately preceding,

it

and also rendering the roads

pleasant, and practicable, is usually selected for travelling. Hence frequent allusions
occur in the poets to the expected return of such persons, as are at this time absent

from their family and home.

MEGHA DUTA OR

Who charged with grateful tidings might impart

New life

and pleasure

to her

drooping heart.

;28

Cheered with the thought he culled each budding flower^

And

wildly

(For who

wooed

the fertilizing power;

a prey

to

Explores not

Verse

32.

The

agonizing

grief,

idlest sources for relief?

expression of this passage

is

somewhat

$2

different

from

it's

construction

in the original, the simplicity of which perhaps unfits it for English verse: the sentiment
u A Cloud is
lias been translated rather than the words, which are to this effect:

wind and water, how therefore should tidings be

The Guhyaca from his
life, and sensible organs.
{ obtained from it by those xvho have
" excessive affliction not remembering this, addressed his suit to it; and verily, those

" but an assemblage of smoke,

fire,

" pained with desire, are unable to discriminate animated from inanimate beings."
The author has here with great ingenuity apologized for the whole plan of his poem,
and attributed the apparent absurdity of talking rationally to a Clcud, to the state
of the Yacshas injnd. The term Guhyaca which occurs in the original, is an appellative
of the same celestial being who is understood by the word Yrcsha explained above.
Itis severally derived by Etymologists from
or

?m

to conceal,

?TfJ

a disagreeable sound,

a privity, because these beings are in charge of the treasures of Cuye'ra,

emit unpleasant sounds,

.or -are

attached

-to

sensual objects.

recent and superficial

writer has derived it from ?H| the podex, founded upon a legend cited in an Essayupen
mount Caucasus, bv Mr. Wilford, Asiatic Researches, Vol. G, which has no relation
to the followers of Cuve'ra: and has asserted that the dark souls of*nen addicted in

CLOUD messenger;
And

To

as to creatures sensible of pain.

nature, loves not to complain ?)

lifeless

Due homage

offered,

The Yacsha

thus the Cloud majestic prayed.

and oblations made,

36

Stot0tattCK&
this

world to

upon

selfish gratification

know

transmigrate into these demigods, a statement founded

not what authority.

Gn

the contrary indeed

they

are

amongst the

highest Jforms which the second quality or that of passion attains,

Menu. 12. 47. See Sir Wm. Jones's translation.

Verse 35. And oblations made,'] The oblation of the blossoms of the Cufaja, (Neriuni
unlidysentericum) is called Argha (3RoT) i n the original, a religions rite which seems to be
analogous to the libation of the earlier periods of the Grecian ritual.

$>TO in the

Amera

of worship, and is perhaps more properly the act of offering a

libation to a venerable person, -or to a deity, although it also implies the oblation itself,
Cosha,

is

described as a

species,

otherwise denominated sWHJ

in a cup, a shell, or

this oblation, of

which water forms the

basis,

any metallic oblong and boat shaped vessel; the vessel

is

presented

in the

spoken

Arglm ; indeed Mr. Wilford states,

in
Asiatic Researches, S, 361, & 8, 274, that Argha
Sanscrit means a boat, whence he
deduces the ship Argo, &c. and whence with Mr. Bryant's assistance we may deduce
the Ark of scripture: the Sanscrit word however has not been found in any of the
vocabularies of the language with the import Mr. Wilford has assigned to it.
The oblation called Argha or Arghya, generally, considered, comprises eight articles,
dialects

-tfcus

is

called by

similar

name

'(Ag^jl )

enumerated,

u The eightfold Arghya

is

formed of water, milk, the points of

Cm a grass,

curds, clarified

and white mustard.'' -In the A'chara Den a of S'rldaUa,

quoted from the Devi Pttmna, they are stated somewhat differently, thus,
'-butter, rice, barley ,

in a passage

MEGHA DUTA

OR-

Hail ! friend of Indra, counsellor divine,

Illustrious offspring* of

a glorious

line

Stanotattons.

" The general Argha proper for any of ttte gods consists of Saffron, the J5e7, unbroken
grain, flowers, curds, Durva grass, Cusa grass, and Sesamum" Water is not mentioned
here, being considered as the vehicle of the whole: the same author adds, that should
any of these not be procurable they may be supplied by the imagination,
"

common to all the Gods, there are peculiar ones for separate
we find a few new blown buds, are sufficient for z-Cioud, and in the Sat xaszca

Besides the Argha

thus

the

Argha

for the

Sun

is

deities r

JPurdnat

thus enumerated,

Sun of water mixed with sandal, and flowers," and

an oblation to the same planet as given by Mr. Coi,ebrooke, Asiatic Researches, 5,
357 is said to consist of Ti!a, flowers, barley, water and red sanders. Water alone is alsosufficient to constitute the Argha.
In the articles which form the Argha of the Hindus,
li

Having presented an Arghj/a

to the

as well as in the

mode of

presentation, that of pouring

it

we
Hindu

out or libating,

trace

it's

analogy with the ancient libation; of course wine could never enter into
offerings
of this kind, but we find that the Greeks had their vvjQahiK kpx or sober sacrifices, from
which wine was excluded: these were of four kinds t u^oWov^a, libations of water,
tx iteXiGitcvla of honey, t yuKuxlocTcotix of milk, and t iXsnoanowoL, of oil; which liquors were
;

sometimes mixed with one another. According to Porphyry most of the libations in the
vvf^akioi,. See Potter's Antiquities of Greece. We have here then three
of the four fluid substances of an Argha, as first enumerated above, if we may compare

primitive times were

the clarified butter with the oil: honey would of eourse be omitted on the same account
as wine, being a prohibited article in Hindu law
with respect to the solid parts of the
:

offering, a reference to the

grains, fruits, flowers

same authority

will shew, that they consisted of green herbs,

and frankincense, analogous to the grasses,

rice,

barley, flowers,

sandal, &c. of the Sanscrit formulce.

Verse

27.

Hail! friend of Indra}

Lydra

is

the sovereign deity of Svcrga, or the

CLtfUD MESSENGER.

Wearer of shapes

And
For

at will

thy worth I know,

bold entrust thee with

better far solicitation

With high

desert,

my

fated

woe

40

fail,

than with the base prevail*

*^

<V

Annotations*

Hindu Olympus ;

the Claud

is

here considered as bis friend or counsellor, in allusion to

where he appears

Lis functions as regent of the atmosphere,

Jupiter tonans, or

ve<px\'^e^'rx Zfu's? the appellative

in the character of the

T^^^used

in the original,

sidered "by Etymologists as irregularly derived from the passive form of

^^

is

con-

to adore,

to worship.

Verse

of a glorious line. ~] According to the original, "Descended from the celebrated line of the Puskcardvartacas, " translated in a prose version of
38.

Illustrious offspring

this passage,

"Diluvian Clouds;"

Colebrooke, on Sanscrit and Pracrit prosody,

Brahman da Purdn'a are divided into
origin from fire, the breath of BrahmA", or the wings of the
see

Asiatic Researches, Vol. 10. Clouds, agreeably to the

three classes according to their

mountains, which were cut off by Indr a

0^).

These

being especially the receptacles of water, thus in the

latter are also called

3^^^^

Purdna Sarcoma,

" The name Pushcara is applied to those Clouds which are swollen with abundant
" water, and which are on that account termed unheard varlacai (or receptacles of that
fluid)."

Verse

39.

Wearer of shapes

at

xmW]

Or Camarupa from

WH

desire,

and 3^f form,

shape; thus Socrates, in the Clouds.

.
JSocs

TlvovTOLi nrnfe'

Why

on v

/3wAwv7?.<

then,

Clouds can assume what shapes they

will, believe

me.

Cumberland's

For
40.
#c]
and indicates considerable elevation of mind something of the same kind occurs

Verse
strain,

Translation.

This a sentiment of rather an original

belter far solicitation fail,

MEG II A DUTA OR

10

Thou

To

art the wretch's aid, affliction's friend I

me, unfortunate, thy succor lend

My lonely state compassionate behold.

Who mourn the vengeance of the God of
Condemned amidst

And

all I

Where

And

44

gold

these dreary rocks to pine,

wish, and

all

48

I love resign.

dwell the Yacshas in their sparkling

fields.

Siva's crescent groves surrounding gilds,

in Massinger's play of the Bondman,

where Pisander

says,

I'd rather .fall under so just a judge,

Than be

And

acquitted by a judge corrupt,

partial in his censure.

Verse 46. The God of gold) Cuve'ka, see above.

Verse 50. Where Siva's crescent realms surrounding gilds."] The crest of Siva is
new moon, which is sometimes described as forming a third eye in his forehead;
Himdla mountains amongst which we shall hereafter find Cailas'a to be situated:
Siva's favorite haunts

he also resides occasionally on that mountain, and

as the particular friend and frequent guest of Cuve'ka,

is

the
the

are

represented

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Direct thy licensed journey, and relate,

To

her

There

True

who mourns

in

Alaca

to her faith,

and stranger

weep our

And

count the moments of the lingering' year

its

still

56

she lives.

aid invigorating gives 5

have here taken a liberty with the order of the original, and brought
little in

advance, in order to preserve the descrip-

more connected

very solicitous in general -about arrangement, but

not have improved upon that of Calida's.
with these lines.

Verse" 53.

Alaca

Verse

And count the moments of

58.

to repose 5

destiny severe.

tion which follows of the Cloud's progress

Verse

woes,

task to

the description of the Yacshd's wife a

56.

my

Her

While hope

52.

52

fate

thou find the partner of

slialt

A painful life she leads, but

Verse

my

is

The

it

is

the

Hindu

poets are not

possible that in this case I

may

10th stanza of the Sanscrit corresponds

the capital of Cuve'ra, and the residence of his dependant deities.

the lingering year.~\

Tempora

si

Or count

the time like those

While hope

it's

Spesque

numeres bene quae numeramus amantes.

who

faithful love.

aid invigorating givesQ

Thus in the

tut nobis

And hope

in

you

causa vigoris
shall

Ovid.

Tristia

erit.

be our cause of strength.

of Ovid,

3, 3, 16.

MEGHA

12

For female

hearts,

when

B.UTA

though

.Oil

fragile as the flower;

Are

firm,

Still

as thou ridest on the friendly gale4

by hope's investing power,

widowed wives thy march advancing

Shall

And

closed

all

whom

no tyrannic laws

hail

60

control^

Shall bless thy shadows, deepening as they

64

roll

Annotations,

Verse

60.

The thought

translation, but the

Darwin

not explained

is

much more

sufficiently obvious:

up

fully in the original than in the

the poet treating the heart as a

petals, an
"
Pellucid forms."
to some of his,
Guard the coy blossom from the pelting shower,

flower, assigns to

Dr.

allusion

Hope

is

the function of shutting

its

offiee

From each chill leaf the silvery drops repel,

And close the timorous floret's golden bell,
Botanical
So should young Sympathy, &c.
Verse

62.

Shall widowed wives thy march advancing

Stances mentioned above:

Ci

Note on V.

hail.']

thus given by

Garden.

This refers to the circum-

20.

Verse 63. And all whom no tyrannic laws control,'] Or in

who is not dependant as I am upon the will of another,"

the original,

"Everyone

CLOUD MESSENGER

The

13

gentle breeze shall fan thy stately way,

In sportive wreathes the Cranes around thee play

^S^^w^i^iT^tgf^^r^^^

Verse

65.

stanza

this

Nothing can be more beautifully harmonious than the original language of

is a school boy absurdity, founded

the exact adaptation of sound to sense,

upon the excessive admiration entertained by early scholars of the expressiveness of the
Greek tongue, and is a thing which experiment does not verify: general notions are all
that can be conveyed by mere sounds, and although the harshness, or softness of the
lines, which describe the steady or clamorous march of the Greeks or Trojans, (see the
opening of the third Book of Homer's
disorder, yet to those

who

Iliad),

"may convey some ideas of discipline or

are ignorant of the precise meaning of the words, they can

.convey even those ideas but very imperfectly; js far however as.
(i

The

The sound

present lines instance

it

can be an echo to the sense,"

very favorably; and the

^^H^^fri & c

proceeds as equably and as smoothly as the gentle breeze which

Verse

66.

it

of the text

describes.

(^I^l)

Valaca,

is said in Mr. Colebrooke's Amera Cosha,

to mean a
word is always feminine, and perhaps therefore means the female bird
indeed some of the Commentators on this poem call it the female of the Vaca,(*ff()

small Crane,- the

only

Ardea Torra and Putea; the rainy season is that of their gestation, which explains
their
attachment to the Cloud, and the allusion to its impregnating faculty mentioned in

the

text of the original,

JTHTOS^f^The periodical journies and orderly

flight of this
with embellishments; they are frequently
as are the wild geese, of which mention is also made below
: thus

kind of bird, have long furnished

alluded to by
iri

Homer,

classical poetry

the passage of the Iliad, referred to in the preceding note, and again,
B. 2. 459,
Tv 5", mot op/idwv %c7tvpm e'&vex ttoMx,

'Aff/w

f'v

Aff,awv/,

Kxl'a-Tpov

a^Ql

piefya

Not less their number than th' embodied cranes,

Or milk white swans in Asia's watery plains,
That

o'er the windings of Coaster's springs,

Stretch their long necks and clap their rustling wings.

Pope.

MEGHA DUTA OH
Pleased on thy

left

the CJidtaca along^

Pursue thy path, and cheer

it

with his song

a^T^WSJWifMH^qT^il^Ti

68

11

Annotations*

The

Milton

translator has omitted the geese.

So

steers the

also describes the flight of these birdsy

prudent Crane,

Her annual voyage borne on winds.

Paradise ,ostt

And' again line 442.

Others on

silver lakes

and

7.

436.

rivers bathed^

Their downy breast,

Yet

The
Verse

67.

oft

they quit,

dank, and rising on

stiff penonstoweiy

The mid aerial sky.

The Chdtaca is a bird supposed

to drink no water but rain water;

of

course he always makes a prominent figure in the description of wet or cloudy weather;
thus in the rainy season of our author's,

(^ft^^R)

Ettu Sanhara or assemblage o

seasons.

In the

The thirsty Cha'iaca impatient eyes,

The promised waters of the laboring skies j
Where heavy Clouds with low but pleasing songj
In slow procession murmuring move along.
translated Amera Cdsha, it appearsthat the Chdtaca is

a bird not yet well

that
it
is
possibly
the
same
kind
but
as
the
a
of
Pipiha,
cuckoo, (Cuculus radiatus)*
known,
The term 3W is rendered by the Commentators in general left, on the left side, but

Ra'mana't'h TuitCALANCARA

interprets

it

beautiful,

and maintains that the cry of

birds to be auspicious should be upon the right side, not upon the

Mallica however

cites astrological

left;

writers to prove, that the Chdtaca

is

Bharata
one of the

exceptions to this rule.

4<

Peacocks, Chdtacas, Chashas, (blue jays) and other male birds, occasionally also Antb*

CLOUD MESSENGER.
And when

And

Id

thy thunders soothe the parching

earth,"

showers expected, raise her mushroom birth 5

The Swans

And track

for

mount Caildsa

shall prepare,

72

thy course attendant through the air.

Annotations
" hpes, going chearfulTy along the left, give good fortune to the host." The Greek
notions agreed with those of Ra'mana't'h and considered the flight of birds upon the
right side to be auspicious, the Romans made it the left, but this difference arose from the
situation of the observer, as in both cases the auspicious quarter was the east
the
ciwoKQhog facing, the north and Aruspex the south
in general^ according to the Hindus
those omens which occur upon the left side are unpropitious. The musical accompani;

ment described in the

text

is

perfectly classical, thus

Virgil speaking of the

birds has,

Vance circumque suprdque

JElhera mulcebant cantu.-

Around, above, the birds of various

Charmed

all the air

kind,.

with song.

JEneid

7.

32.

Teiise 71. " The Rdjahansas desirous of g,oing to the lake Afdnasa, shall accompany
" thee as far as Caildsa, having laid in their provisions for the road, from the new
shoots
" of the filaments of the stalk of the lotus;" This is the closer reading of the text. The

Rdjahansa,

is

described as a white Gander with red legs and

common Goose

is

a favorite bird in

Hindu poetry: not

bill,

and together with the

to shock European prejudice^

have in all cases substituted for these birds, one to which we are rather more
accustomed in verse, the Swan; which however owes its dignity to the idle fable
of it's musical
death the motion of the goose is supposed by the Hindus, to resemble
the shuffling
walk which they esteem graceful in a woman, thus in the
Ritu Sanhdra, or the Seasons?
of our poet,
I

^f^TB^Wf^RT*
Nor

with the goose the smiling fairy

In graceful motion can compare,

MEGHA DUTA OR

16

Short be thy greeting- to this

with Rama's holy

hill

addressed;

This

hill

Thy

ancient friend, whose scorching sorrows mourn,

Thy

frequent absence, and delayed return,

feet imprest

76

Annotations,

Mount

Caildsa

is

the destination of the Cloud, and the Rajahansas are supposed to

migrate annually to the celebrated lake

lies in

the

bosom of the Himalaya

Manasa

or Manasarour, which if

it

exists at all,

mountains, the supposed situation of the mythological

Caildsa.

Verse

The term

73.

SW^^I

in the original

does not seem to convey any very

"ask," or "address," both which meanings may be affixed

precise idea

to

leaves us in the dark as to the object of the address, or enquiry: one com-

it, is still

if translated

mentator explains

it

" ask the way," but

the others seem to agree that

previous to

its

departure

it

this the

Yacsha

means to address, that

is

is

to tell,

not the mountain

perhaps to take leave of it

&:c.

the cause of the friendship supposed to exist between the

Cloud and mountain we shall have further occasion to notice.

Verse 74. With Ra'mas holy feet imprest.'] In the original text we have, " marked
u with the venerable feet of Raghupati." This appellation is given to Ra'ma, as the
most distinguished, the lord or master as it were, of the line of Raghu, an ancestor
of that warrior and himself a celebrated hero and sovereign.
Ra'ma is hence also
termed Raghava, (<!^<f) a regular derivative from Raghu, implying family descent;
the exploits of the two heroes form the chief subject of another poem by our author
entitled Raghuvansa', (^pill) or the race of Raghu. The Commentator Bharata Mallica
has taken much pains with the word
in the plural

number he

is

^t

apprehensive

which occurs in the original and which being

translated " with many feet," he there-

may be

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Yet

ere thy ear can drink

The

lengthened

what

love inspires,

way my guiding
many a

aid requires

Oft on whose path,

full

Shall ease thy

and many a cooling

toils,

lofty hill,

$0

rill 5

SI^T3^^3H^^n^r5J^

^TT'^^ft^lJ^%^n|iq^

||

\s

II

Annotations*
fore cites

Medini

to

shew

that

it

may have

other -senses, and that

it

also implies the

mark

we may render the

Ra'ma, or, with many

of a foot, or a mark, an impression in general, and that consequently

passage " the

Verse

77.

whose

hill

" impressions of

To

classical writers.

sides are

marked with many

traces of

his feet."

drink with the ear

is

a figurative expression,

common

My
Of

know

that tongue's utterance, yet I

in the 13th

the sound.

Pugnas

et

exactos t//rannos,

humeris

aure vulgits.

libit

But thronging crowds

And

80.

will press to hear,

drink the strain with eager ear,

That

The

tells

of bloody

fight,

or sings,

downfall of tyrannic kings.

In the construction of the text of the

vhich Hindu poets are

and Juliet.

Ode of the 2d Book.

Densum

Verse

and

ear hath not yet drunk a hundred words,

Hgmeo
And Horace

in English

Thus Shakespeare.

original, a pleasing artifice occur*,

in the frequent use; the repetition of the

same word

of

in order

force, and heighten its effect, thus we have above, f^! f^t and Sft^i
S^M' or " weary, weary ; feeble, feeble you may repose, &c." In no language perhaps

to encrease

its

has this figure been carried farther than in the English, and
in the well known,

it

may be

a question whether

MEGHA DUTA OS

18

Rise from these streams and seek the upper sky

Then

The

to the north with daring pinions fly:

beauteous Sylphs shall mark thee with amaze,

As backward bent thou

strik'st their

upward gaze,

84

Fallen, fallen,

Fallen, fallens-

Fallen from his high estate.

we may

not be justified in saving,

the figure occures in

" something too much of

this."

Horace's masterly Ode. Justumet Tenacentf &c

A fine instance

of

Illon, Ilion.

Fatalis inceslusque judeXy

Et Tmtlier pcregrina verlit in puherem.

The stanger Harlot, and the judge unjust,
Have levelled Ilion, Ilion, with the dust.
We now begin the geographical part of the Poem, which

Verse 81.
out through the
made
be
accurately conceived

difference of ancient

as far as it can
and modern appellations, seems to be very

two extreme points of the Cloud's progress are the vicinity of

the note on Verse 1, and the mountain Caildsa, or rather the

the

Nao-pur, as mentioned in

Himalaya range. During this course the poet notices some of the most celebrated places,
with the greater number of which we are still acquainted. In the first instance we have
notice the*
here his direction due north from the mountain of Ramagiri; and we shall
other points as they occur.

Verse

83.

Literally the wives of the Sidd'has; the

Sidd'has are originally

human

powers, and a station

beings, but who by devout abstraction have attained superhuman
regions of the air.
apparently intermediate between men and Gods; they tenant the upper

CLOUD MESSENGER.

In doubt

if

by the gale abruptly

Some mountain peak along

The

ponderous Elephants

19

torn,"

the air

who

is

borne:

prop the skies 9

Shall view thy form expansive with surprize

Now first their arrogance exchanged

for

88

shame,

Lost in thy bulk their long unrivalled fame*

Sfonotatfons;

Versb

86.

Some mountain peak along

the air

is

home.']

Thus Lucretius,

4,

MO.

Interdum magni monies avulsaque saxa,

Moniibus anlcire and so 1em subcedere propter.

Mountains hence,

And mountain
Seem

rocks torn from their base abrupt,

oft to hover, blotting

Good's

Quum moniibus

-"

now

the sun.

translation.

Also, B. 6. 188.

adsimilata,

Nubila porlabunt xenti transversa per auras^

For mark what Clouds of mountain bulk the winds,

Drive through the welkin when the tempests rave.

Verse

87.

pass, has according to the Hindus, a regent or presiding deity

has his male and female elephant

Cosha

see

Ibid.

Each of the four quarters^ and the four intermediate points of the com;

each of these deities also

the names of them all are enumerated in the

Mr. CoiiEBROoKE's translation.

Amera

20

MEGIIA DUTA OR

Eastward where various gems with blending

In Indra's

And on

bow

o'er yonder hillock play,

92

thy shadowy form such radiance shed,

As Peacocks plumes around a Crishna

Direct thy course; to

Where

ray,

spread.

Mdlas smiling ground,

fragrant tillage breathes the fields around|

96

^notations;.

A reference

was necessary for the Cloud to

begin the tour by travelling towards the east, in order to get round the lofty hills which
in a manner form the eastern boundary of the Vindhya chain. It would otherwise have
been requisite to have taken it across the most inaccessible part of those mountains,

Verse

91.

to the

map

will shew, that it

where the poet could not have accompanied

it, and which would also have offended

some peculiar notions entertained by the Hindus of the Vindhya hills, as we shall again
have occasion to remark.

Indra's bow is the Rain-how.

The body of Crishn'a is represented of a dark blue color, and the
plumes of the peacock are frequently arranged upon the images of this deity: the

Verse
Verse

92.
93.

plumage of this bird has been often compared to the Rain-bow; thus Milton in the
7th Book, line 445, of Paradise lost.

Whose

gay-train,,

Adorns him colored, with the -Soyid hue,

Of Rainbows, and starry eyes.
The color of the Cloud, and that of tne deity being similar, we thus have a very
close and pleasing comparison.

Verse

95.

It is

not easy after the lapse of ages to ascertain precisely the scite of
poem before us. The easterly progress of the Cloud,

several places enumerated in the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Thy

fertile gifts,

Where

which looks of love reward.

bright-eyed Peasants tread the verdant sward.

Thence

On

ci

and veering

sailing north

Amracut'as

west 5

100

lofty ridges rest;

.11.

to the

'

.!<

...

,-,

Stontstattans.

and the subsequent

direction

by which he

that the place here mentioned must be

,

pom;

is

to reach the

somewhere

in the

mountain

immediate

the chief town of the northern half of the province of

A 'mraciiCa,

vicinity of

Cheteesger'/ji,

prove

Ruttun-

and described

in Captain Blunt's tour, Asiatic Researches, Vol. 7, and also in that of the intelligent
traveller, in the Asiatic Annual Register, for 1806.
The only modern
be found of it are in a place called Malda, a little to the north of Ruthinpoor. In Ptolemy's map there is a town called Maleta, and situated with respect to
the Vind'ht/a mountains, similarly with the Mala of our poet. I should have supposed
that the Mala mentioned from the geography of the Purdnas by Mr. Wilford, (Asiatic

though anonymous

traces that can

Researches, 8, 336), was the same with the place alluded to in the text of

Calidas iC
Malbhoom of Midnapoor7
it will be much farther to the east than will do for our present purpose, and must be
an entirely different place. There is little reason to think that either of these Mdlas are
the country of the Malli who are mentioned by Pliny, and who are more probably the
same with the MxhKoi of Arrian^ and the inhabitants as is stated by Major Rennel^l
however that gentleman

is

correct in applying the

name

to the

of the province of Multan.

Versb

100.

The

the vicinity of the

course pointed out to the Cloud, and an allusion which follows to

Narmada river, furnish us with reasons for supposing,

tain here mentioned,

is

The change

is

of.

sound

that the mounmore commonly designated by the name of Omercuntuc.

not more violent, than it is in a number of evident corruptions
that

MEGHA DUTA OR

Oft have thy showers the mountain's flames allayed.

Then
Not

fear not

e'en the vilest,

Solicits help

The

wearied to demand

it

when a

once was his

its

aid ;

falling friend,

104

to lend,

aid that gratitude exacts denies

Much

less

the virtuous shall the claim despise,.

SnnotationSi
from the Sanscrit language, now eurrent in the dialects of India. The term A'mracuta
means the Mango Peak, and refers to the abundance of Mango trees in the incumbent
and surrounding forests. Should this conjecture be correct, it will invalidate the deriva-

some ingenuity to the word Qmercuntue, in a prefatory note to a

pleasing little oriental poem, published ia England,- called the Metamorphosis of Sona.
The author of that note imagines the proper name to be O/ner Clmndaca, and he is happy
in the affinity of the sound, though not in his definition of the sense, as " the district of
tion assigned with

c<

Omer"

is

exceedingly unmeaning, and erroneous.

a immortal portion ," but

mountain

do nat know of any reason

Amera Chandaca might mean the

for assigning such

an epithet to the

in question.

The Hindus have been

much

and equally
idle detraction some writers have invested them with every amiable attribute, and they
have been deprived by others of the common virtues of humanity. Amongst the excellencies denied to them, gratitudehas been always particularized, and tuere are many of

Verse

102.

the object of

idle panegyric,

who scarcely imagine that the natives of the country

ever heard of such a sentiment. To them, and to all detractors on this head, the above
verse is a satisfactory reply, and that no doubt of its tenor may remain^ I add the literal

the European residents in India,

CLOUD MESSENGER;

When
Thy
Its

o'er the

S3

wooded mountain's towering head,

hovering shades like flowing

tresses

spread;

form shall shine with charms unknown

That heavenly

may gaze

hosts

at,

108

before,'

and adore

This earth's round breast ; bright swelling from the ground.

And

with thy orb as with a nipple crowned;

Next bending down-wards from thy

Oh

112

lofty flight,

Chitracutcfs humbler peak alight 5

Stmotattoraf,'
translation of the original passage.

" Not even a low man when

laid hold

of for

"support by a- friend, will turn away his face with forgetfulness of former khidness;
" how therefore should the exalted act thus."
Verse 112. We have something of this comparison reversed in Siiakespeaee's
beautiful song.

Hide, oh hide, those

Which

On

hills

of snow 3

thy frozen bosom bears,

whose tops the pinks that grow.

Are of those that April wears.

V

Verse

1-13*

The mountain here mentioned must be

in the vicinity of Omercuntuc,

VtkQlUL

O'er the

And

PUTA OR

thy weariness forego,

tall hill

quenching rain-drops on

For speedy

fruits

good and

Thence journeying onwards

Revcfs

that bathes

rill

flames bestow

116

are certain to await $

Assistance yielded to the

And

its

great.

Vind'> kya' $ ridgy chain,

>

its

120

foot attain;

gtmotattotts.

and part of the same range; the name signifies, "the variegated or wonderful peak/*
and is applied to a number of hills the most famous hill of this name, as was mentioned
;

in the

first

note,

is

situated in Bcndel c'liand.

Verse 119. The Vind'hya range of mountains holds a very distinguished station
both in the mythology and geography of Hindoostan, these points are both discussed
at some length in the tour from Mirzapore

gages which

here transcribe the words of

" Rind'h,

to

have been able to investigate,

in Sanscrit

its

Nagpore, already cited, and as in those pasI find

a perfectly accurate statement,

shall

author.

named Vintfhya,

constitutes the limit

between Hindoostan and the

Deccan, the most ancient Hindu authors assign it as the southern boundary of the region,
which they denominate A'ri/abhuma or A'ryavcrta, Modern authors, in like manner make

which discriminates the northern from the southern nations of India. It

reaches almost from the eastern to the western sea and the highest part of the range,
deviates little from the line of the tropic. The mountainous tract, however, which
this the line

retains the appellation, spreads

towards the north

much more widely

and the Godaveri

is

held to be

It
its

meets the Ganges, in several place?

southern limit.

CLOUD MESSENGER;

Where

The

25

amidst rocks whose variegated glow,

royal elephant's rieh trappings show,

Arduous she winds* and next through beds of flowers,

She wins her way, and washes Jamhu bowers

'

-^

'

ii

'

'

i.

I,

...

-',.,
i

124

;'

,
,--_--_^"T

;'

.;

ss

___,

name from a circumstance io which I have just now

the author of a Commentary on the Amercosh, because

Sanscrit etymologists deduce its

alluded;

called Bind'hya, says

it is

(W^f%)

the progress of the sun is obstructed (3^) by it ; suitably to

most elevated ridge of this tropical range of mountains is found to run
from a point, that lies between Chhota Nagpore, and Palamu, to another that is situated

people think

this notion, the

But the course of

in the vicinity of Ougeht.

direction of the principal range of the Vindli hills.

its

source,

where

it

Nermada

the

river better indicates the

From Amracuta,

where

on the same spot with the Sone, and the Hatsu, todisembogues itself into the sea^ the channel of the Nermada

hills, or by a tract of elevated ground, in which numerous

and by their subsequent course towards the' Sone and Jamuna on one

lulls,

is

eonfmed by

rivers take their rise

oxidk

tract through

The

river has

the gulf of Cambaya,

range of

the Tapti

this

side,

%
;

and towards

Oodaver on the other, sufficiently indicate the superior elevation of that

which the Nermada has forced

its

Way.

vast extent of this mountainous tract, contrasted with the small elevation of these

viewed from the plains of Hindoost<m y has furnished grounds for a legend, to which

the mythological writings of the Hindus often allude

himself before his spiritual guide, Ag'astya,
the holy personage. This humiliation

is

still

Vind'hya having once prostrated

command of

remains in that posture by

the punishment of his presumption in emulating

Himalaya and Mem. According to this legend, Vind'hya has one

foot at Chunar: and hence the real name of that fortress is said to be Cherenadri>
i^WW) his other foot is, I think placed, by the same legend, in the vicinity of Gay a :
the lofty height of

the vulgar, very inconsistently, suppose the head of the prostrate mountain, near the tern
pie of Vind'hya Vasini, four miles from MirzaporeT

Verse

120.

The lUxa

is

a name of the Nermada river, which as

we have

seen in

'

MEGHA DUTA OR
Here the

And

soft

dews thy path has

sip the gelid current's rich

Where

To

resume,

perfume,

the wild Elephant delights to shed,

The juice exuding

Then

lost

fragrant from his head;

128

swift proceed, nor shall the blast have force,

check with empty gusts thy ponderous course.

2hmotation&
the preceding note, rises from the mountain A'mracut'a or Omercuntuc.

It

may be hera

observed that the rivers are always personified by the Hindus,

and are in general femaki

Thus we have Ganga' the daughter of Ja'hnu, Yamuna, the daughter
of the Sun, and Revd or Nermada the daughter of Himala, as is said in the hymn,
translated from the Vayu Parana, and given by Captain Blunt, Asiatic Researches, 7>
103. The names of the Nermada river are thus stated in the Amera Coshat
personifications.

Rem, Nermada', Somodbhavd and Mecala-Cangaca" which are explained by the best
Commentators, thus, " who flows, who delights, who is descended front the line of the moon, and
who is the daughter of Mecala ," the last term is applied either to the Vindliya mountain,
or is considered to be the name of a Rishi or saint, and progenitor of the river Goddess.

lt

Tradition has assigned to this river a very Ovidian kind of

tale,

which

is

related in Cap-

Blunt's tour, and which has been repeated in verse, with much elegance and spirit,
by the author of the Metamorphosis of Sona.
Verse 124. Jambu bowers.'] The rose apple (Eugenia Jamboo).
Verse 127. The juice exuding fragrant from his head.] It is rather extraordinary

tain

that this juiee which exudes from the temples of the elephant, especially in the season

CLOUD MESSENGER

27

Reviving nature bounteous

To

shall dispense,

cheer thy journey, every charm of sense;

132

Blossoms with blended green and russet hue,

And

opening buds

shall smile

upon thy view;

Earth's blazing woods in incense shall arise,

And

warbling birds with music

fill

136

the skies.

9tonotattan&
have been unnoticed by writers on natural history.

jof rut, should

any mention of

it

in the

works of Buffon, nor

in the

I have not found

more recent publication of Shaw ;

neither do any other writers on this subject seem to have observed

it:

the author of the

Wild sports of the East states that " on each side of the elephant's temples there is an
" aperture about the size of a pin's head, whence an ichor exudes;" but he does not
appear to have been aware of

nature

its

indeed his descriptions though entertaining

are frequently defective, owing to his extreme ignorance of the languages, the literature

f which he so

liberally devotes to the flames

in the

Amera Cosha

this fluid is

termed

and ^J^ and the elephant while it flows is distinguished by the terms 3f*^I
yij^TjTTlH^J from the animal out of rut, or after the juice has ceased to exude, and who
<R^t

is

then called Nd^l*n? or I*tH^{

all

these

names are expressive of the circumstances;

the exudation and fragrance of this fluid

it's

scent

is

commonly compared

supposed to deceive and attract the bees

-

a work already referred

to, the

Mitu

is

frequently alluded to in Sanscrit poetry

to the odor of
:

the sweetest flowers and

is

then

these circumstances occur ia this passage from

SanMra%

MEGIIA DUTA OR

23

Respectful- Demigods shall curious count,

The

chattering Storks in lengthening order

Shall

mark

who

the Chdtacas

in thy train,

Expect impatiently the dropping

And when

mount;

140

rain:

thy muttering thunders speak thee near,

Shall clasp their brides half extasy, half fear*

Ah much
!

I dread the long protracted

Where charms

so numerous spring to tempt delay

Will not the frequent

Nor

way,

hill

retard thy flight,

flowery plain persuade prolonged delight?

-J

annotations*

Roars the wild Elephant inflamed with love,

And the deep sound reverberates from above;
His ample front

Where

like

some

rich lotus shews,

sport the bees, and fragrant moisturejlews*

144

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Or can

The

23

the Peacock's animated hail,

bird with lucid eyes, to lure thee

fail

148

&nn0tatum&

Verse
abundant

Or can the Peacock's animated

many parts of Hindoostan y and is

lif.
in

haH.~\

habits of this bird are in a great measure aquatic,

season in which they pair; the peacock

is

The wild peacock

especially found in

and the setting

is

exceedingly

marshy places; the

in of the

rains

is

the

therefore always introduced in the description

of cloudy of rainy weather, together with the Cranes and Chatacas, whom we have
already had occasion to notice. Thus in a little poem descriptive of the rainy season, &c,
entitled Ghatatarpara,

Oh

(^6*KmO

the author says, addressing his mistress,

thou whose teeth enamelled

vie,

With smiling Cunda rs pearly ray

Hear how the Peacock's amorous

cry,

Salutes the dark and cloudy day.

And

again in one of the Safoccs or Centos of

BharTbi

Hari', vehere he

the same season,

ft%B^<fc!4J<W!WHT2| ^R^H^j%^^if^?T35#fT||
When smiling forests whence the tuneful cries,
Of clustering pea
Teach tender

And

fowls shrill and frequent rise,

feelings to each

human

breast,

please alike the happy or distressed,

I

is

describing

MEGHA DUTA OR

33

ILo

where awhile the Swans reluctant cower,

Das&ntoPs

Then

And

fields

await the coming shower:

shall their groves diffuse

brighter buds the deepening shade illume:

Then

shall the ancient tree

The marks

152

whose branches wear,

of village reverence arid care,

Shake through each

The

profounder gloom..

leaf, as birds

profanely wrest,

venerend boughs to form the rising nest.

156

flttnotRttcms.

Veese
|je

150.

Dasarna's fields await

found in modern maps;

it is

the

coming

enumerated

in

shower."]

No traces

Major Wiuord's

lists

of this

name

are to

from the Puranas,

Asiatic Researches, Vol. 8, amongst the countries situated behind the Yind>hya mountains,

and corresponds according to him with the Dosarene of Ptolemy and the Periplus;
Ptolemifs map has also a Dosara pad Dosaronis Pluvhtm, and in the Pauranze list of
rivers, there is also a
It

may

Dosarna

river,

which

is

said to rise from the mountain Chitracifta.

possibly correspond at least in part with the

modern

as the etymology of both words refers to similar circumstances:

district

of Chcteesger'&,

Cheleesger'h

is

so

named

supposed to comprise Thirlj/-si.x forts, and according to Bhauata, the

Commentator on our text, Dasania is derived from Dasa, (^l) Ten, and luna (^2?!l),

from

its being-

a strong hold or Bukga, the Droog of the Peninsula, and thence means the

district

of

the Ten-citadels,

Verse

153.

Then

shall the ancient

tree,,

Veneration from the Hindus, as the Indian

In most villages there

and

is

carefully kept

is

at least

#c]
fig,

the

A number
Holy

one of these which

and watered by the

villagers,

is

is

of trees receive particular

fig tree,

the flfyrobalan trees, Sec.

considered particularly sacred,

hung occasionally with garlands, and

-CLOUD MESSENGER.

Where

renown

royal Viclisa confers

Thy warmest

wish

crowns

shall fruit delightful

There Ve travail's stream ambrosial

laves,

A gen lie bank with mildly murmuring waves,

And

there her rippling

Invite thy smiles,

brow and

and sue

1.60

.'

polished face.

embrace.

for thy

Annotations*

deceives the

The

Prandm

or veneratory inclination of the head, or even .offerings and libations.

birds mentioned in the text by the epithet

" who

term

signifies,

this

compound a

^^RfWS^are

eats the food of. his female,"

wife;

and the same circumstance

and the sparrow, whence the same epithet is applied

<of

157.

Where royal Vidisa

the district of Dasarna.

Mallet.
..quality

It is still

It

159.

confers renown.]

is

to

house,

meaning in

stated with respect to the crow,

them

is

well

also.

Vidisg, is

appears to be the modern

a place of some note, and

of the Tobacco raised in

Verse

commonly a

7}^

at the season of pairing- it is said, that the female of this bird

assists in feeding the male,

Verse

the Vacas or Cranes; the

known

described as the capital

Bhilsah in the province of

India for the superior

its vicinity.

The Ve'travati

is

the

modern Betxoah;

it

rises

on the north

side of

the Vindliya chaiu, and pursuing a north easterly course of oiO miles, traverses the
province of Malwa, and the south-west corner of Allahabad and falls into the Jumna

below Cytpee;

_.

in the early part of its course

it

passes through Bhilsa or

idua.

MEGHA DUTA OR

35

o'er the lesser hills thy flight suspend,

Next

And growth

While sweeter fragrance

Than

breaths from each recess,

rich perfumes the hirelingwanton's dressr

On Naga
And

164

erect to drooping flowrets lend

Nadirs banks' thy waters shed,

raise the feeble jasmin's

languid head;

168

(Grant for a while thy interposing shroud,

To

where those damsels woo the

friendly Cloud?

Annotations

Verse

163.

Next

o'er

the lesser hills

thy fight suspend.]

The term

in the text

explained by the Commentators, to signify either the hHl named Nichais;

a mountainous range of little note; or, of little elevation. It is of no great moment but

*fr^Tg|FflT

perhaps the

is

latter,

which meaning we

most satisfactory.
Verse 164. And growth erect to drooping Jowrels lend'] This passage more literally
'
rendered is " that hill which with upright flowers is like the body with its hair on end;
the erection of the hairs of the body
effect

seleet, is the

is

with the Hindus constantly supposed to be the

of pleasure or delight.

On Naga Nodi's banks."] Some of the Commenta-tors notice various readname of this river, which occurs as given in the translation Naganadi, (4>l*^j)
the mountain stream j Nava Nadi> (^*f^t) the new river; and Vananadi, \WWJ) the
Ver9e

ings of the

167.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

As while

The

the garland's flowery stores they seek,

scorching* sun

172

beams singe the tender cheek,

The ear4iung

lotus fades,

Fatigued, and

faint, the

What

23

and vain they chase 5

drops that

dew

the face*

though to northern climes thy journey

lay,

176

Consent to track a shortly devious wayi

TT^-^a^w^^wiWnT^w^ir^i^s

Stonotattons.

forest river.

It is

probably one amongst a number of small streams falling from

tlie

Vin

and indeed the whole province oiMalxca abounds in water, so that as

Jyeen Acbery, " you cannot travel two or three cose, without meeting
with streams of good water, whose banks are shaded by the wild willow and other trees,
.and decorated with *he hyacinth and other beautiful and odoriferous flowers." Gladwin's
translation, Vol. 2. I have given the preference to the Naga Nadi as above, from finding
a river west of the Betxoah, %vhich we have crossed, named the Parbatty, and which rising
in the Vindhya chain runs north-west, till it joins another called in Arrowsmith's map
the Sepra, and the two together fall into the Chmnbul: the word Parbatty or Parvali
d'hya range of

.is

hills,

stated in the

means sprung from the mountains, and Naga Nadi, as I have mentioned, bears a similar
import; so that they possibly are synonimes of the same stream.
Verse 171. As while the garland's jlozoery stores they seek. .The use of garlands in the
decoration of the houses and temples of the Hindus, and of flowers in their offerings
and festivals, furnishes employment to a particular tribe or cast, the Mdlacdras or
~]

wreathe makers ; the females of

this cast are here alluded to.

MEG II A DUTA OR

54

To

fair

And

UjainPs palaces and pride,

beauteous daughters, turn awhile aside

Those glancing

Dark

eyes,

thosHightning looks unseen,

are thy days, and thou in vain hast been.

180

Annotations,

modern

supposed to have been the residence

of our poet, and the capital of his celebrated patron Vicrama'ditya few cities perhaps
can boast of a more continuous reputation, as it has been a place of great note from the

Verse

177.

Ujai/mi, or the

Oujein,

is

earliest periods of

Hindu

tradition,

of the family of Sindiah, and

ing account of

it is

is

down

to the present day.

the capital of his territories.

to be found in the sixth

Volume of

It is

nOw

full

in the possession

and highly interest-

the Asiatic Researches, in the

late Dr. Hunter ; a gentleman,

of his judgement, and the
accuracy
the activity of whose mind was only equalled by the
extensiveness of whose acquirements was only paralelled by the unwearied continuance

narative of a journey from

Agra

to this city

by the

His recent death has inflicted a severe blow. upon literature in

general, and particularly upon the literature of the east.
of his exertions.

Verse

179.
*

Those lightning looks unseen.] Thus Tasso speaking of Clorinda

Lampeggiar gli occhi e folgorar gli sguardi

her eyes, her looks like lightning glow.

Verse 180. Bark are thy days .] The expression of the poet is simply " if you do
" not enjoy the glances, &c. you are defrauded," (sf^rllfc) and the Commentators
these
explain it by adding, " of the object of your life." That is, if you have not seen
compliment
this
all;
at
existed
beauties, you might as well have been blind, or not have
rather hyperbolical but we are acquainted with it in Europe, and the Italian proverb,

Keen

flash

is

" He who has not seen Rome has not seen any thing " conveys a

similar idea,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Diverging thither

Where eddying

Who
The

now

waters
->

35

the road proceeds,

Nirvind'hya leads,

fair

speaks the language amorous maids devise.

184

lore of signs, the eloquence of eyes,

*

And

seeks with lavish beauty to arrest,

Thy

course,

The

torrent passed, behold the

and woo thee

to her bridal breast.

Shidhu

glide,/

As though the hair-band bound the slender

188

tide;

annotations.

Verse

Famed Nirmncthya leads.'] This stream has not been found by name
but a number of small rivers occur between the Parbalty, and the river
mentioned below, the Sipra, one of which must be the Nirvind'hya of the poet the
four following lines descriptive of the female personification of the current are eno-lished
rather with respect to the sense, than the words, the plainness of which might perhaps
182.

in the maps,

offend European fastiduousness.

ladies

there
as

is

who behaves
is

There

is

not however any one of Calida'sa's river

so indecorously as several

of Drayton's similar personifications, a/id

not one of them possessed of speech at

made use of by the Iaylef and other

to say nothing of such speech

"
like
lusty nymphs" of that author's
all,

Poly-olbion.

Verse

187.

Behold

the SincChu glide..]

This

is

a stream also with which the maps

EIKGIIA

BUTA OR

Bleached with the withered foliage that the breeze,

Has showered rude

To

from; overhanging trees;

thee she looks for -succor to restore,

Her lagging

and her

waters,

leafy shore,,

$92

Behold the

Glows

whose immortal fame,

in Avanttfs or

Renowned

And

city

VudlcPs name!

for deeds that

worth and love

bards to paint them with poetic

*C! -\

<T-

inspire.

96

fire:

<^*V

#wi0tat(an&
are not acquainted by name; as ljqwever

it is

the nearest river to Oujdtt,

it

rrpy

probably be tLe same with that now called Sagwv.uitee; tie river having been diminished
by the preceding hot weather, the poet compares it to a long 6ingle braid of hair, and

conformably to the personification of

it

as a female, he supposes the braid to

have been

which the hair

bound in consequence of the absence of the Cloud, after the fashion in

a custom we shall again be
is worn by those women whose husbands are absent
called upon to notice.
Verse 182. The synonimes of Oujein are thus enumerated in the vocabulary of
:

Jiemachandra.

Ujjayim, Vis did, Avanfr, and Pushpacarand'ini

Verse

195.

Renowned for deeds, S,c.^} I have here taken 6ome liberty with the text t
of which is " famous for the story of Udayana, and the populous

the literal translation

CLOUD MESSENGER,
The

Of

fairest portion

of celestial birth.

Indra's paradise transferred

The

last

The

only recompense then

reward

g?

to earth;

to acts austerest given

left to

200

heaven.

*=~

annotations.
residence of the learned," the story of
is

Udayana,

or Vatsara'ja, as he

thus told concisely, by the Commentators on the poem:

is

Pradyo'ta was

named,

also

a sovereign

named Va'savadatta', and whom he intended to bestow

In the mean time the princess
in marriage upon a king of the name of Sakjaya.
gees the figure of Vatsara'ja sovereign of Cusha Dwipa in a dream, and becomes

of

Oitjein,

who had

a daughter

enamoured of him; she contrives to inform him of her love, and he carries her off from
her father and his rival, The same story is alluded to in the Malati Madhava, a
Drama by J5havab*Ju'ti, but neither in that nor in the Commentary on the Mcgha
Duta, is mention made of the author, or of the work in which it is related. Mr.
Colebrooke in his learned Essay on Sanscrit, and Pracrit Prosodj/, in the 10th Volume
/at the Asiatic Researches, has stated that the allusion by Biiavabhu'ti was unsupported by other authority, not having perhaps noticed the similar allusion in this
poem.

He

has also given an abstract of the Vdsavadattd of

corresponds in

Verse
it is

many

200.

points with that of

The only recompense

Udayana

then left to heaven.~\

necessary to be acquainted with some of the

State.

The

highest kind of happiness

of that portion of spirit which

source.

is

is

Suband'hu; a

To

much

is

to be attained only

sanctity, as to entitle all

in this verse.

who

is Oitjein

its

original

by the most

while in a state of

but there are certain places, which in the popular

absorption or annihilation; one of Jhese

future

absorption into the divine essence, or the return

combined with the attributes of humanity, to

perfect abstraction from the world, and freedom from passion even

invested with so

which

understand this properly

Hindu notions regarding a

This happiness according to the Philosopher

terrestrial existence,

tale

as here explained.

creed are

die within their precincts, to final

py Awnti, and they are all enumerated

DUTA OR

RIEGIIA

SB

Here

as the early Zephyrs waft along,

In swelling harmony the woodland song,

They

scatter sweetness

That joyful opens

from the fragrant flower,

to the

morning hour;

204

Annotations

.**

AyotThya, MaChura, Maya, Casi, Cdnchi, Avantica', and the

" seven

the

places which grant eternal happiness."

Besides this ultimate

amongst which
paradise.

is

felicity

the Hindus have several minor degrees of happiness,

r
the enjoyment of lNDRA s Swerga or in

The degree and duration of

to the merits of those admitted to

li

city Dwa'raiati', are

Swerga, but whose virtue

is

it,

fact

Mohummedan

of a

the pleasures of this paradise are proportioned

and

**

they,

who have enjoyed

this

exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals

lofty

:"'

region of

the case

now

alluded to seems however to be something different from that so described by Sir Wivr.

Jones;

it

appears

by the explanation of the Commentators,

that the exhausted pleasures

of Swerga, had proved insufficient for the recompence of certain acts of austerity, which

however were not such

as to merit final emancipation; the divine persons

to seek elsewhere for the balance of their reward,

and' for that

had therefore

purpose they returned

to earth bringing with them the fairest portion of Swerga, in which they continued t
live in

the discharge of pious duties,

till

the whole account was settled, and their

liberated spirits were reunited with the great, uniform,

was the city Avanti, whose superior

and thus explained by the poet.

tion of Swerga thus brought to earth

divine privileges are here alluded to,

Verse

201.

There as the early Zephyrs waft along.'] So in Paradise

Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet,

With charm of

And

earliest

birds.

again in Samson Agonistes.

The breath of heaven fresh blowing, pure and sweet,

With day

spring born.

The

por-

sanctity

and

and primeval essence.

lost,

i, 641.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

With

friendly zeal they sport

Who early
And

59

around the maid,

courts their vivifying aid,

cool from .SiprcPs gelid waves embrace,

Each languid

liinh,

Here should thy

208

and enervated grace*

spirit

with thy

toils

decay,

Rest from the labors of the wearying way,

Round

every house the flowery fragrance spreads;

212

Oe'r every floor the painted footstep treads;

Annotations.

Vers

207.

The

Sipra

is

the river upon the banks of which

O'ujein

stands,

and

is called Sipparah in the maps.

In Arrowsmith however there is another stream
with a similar name, the Sipra, which appears to be a continuation of the Sagarmuttee^
considerably to the north-east of Oufeih; there can be no doubt of the position of the

which

river mentioned by the poet.

Tlw painted footstep.] Staining the soles of the feet with a red color
derived from the Mehndee, the Lac, &c. is a favorite practice of the Hindu toilet; it is
thus elegantly alluded to in the ode to one of the female personifications of music, the

Verse .212.

Magini Asauveree.

The rose hath humbly bowed to meet,

With glowing lips her hallowed feet,
And lent them all its bloom.
David Paterso*-, Esq. published in
John
by
odes
Hindu
Oriental Miscellany, Calcutta,

the

new

series of

Gladwin's

MEGIIA DUTA

40

OR

Breathed through each casement, swell the scented air

Soft odors shaken from dishevelled hair

Pleased on each terrace dancing with delight,

The

friendly

Peacock

hails thy grateful flight:

Delay then, certain in Ujayin

216

to find,

All that restores the frame, or cheers the mind*

Hence with new

zeal to Siva

The God whom

earth,

The

ehoir

With awe,

Verse

219.

who

and

homage

hell,

pay,

220

and heaven obey

tend his holy fane shall view,

in thee his neck's celestial blue

The Commentators have thought proper

in explaining this verse

and

the preceding, to transpose the order of the explanations^ I do not see for whit reason,

and have therefore conformed to the text.

Verse 220. The God whom earth and
is

or

and Bhumi or the earth.

hell,

Verse
is

heaven, and hell obey.]

Lord of

the three

the expression of the original text, the worlds are Szverga or heaven,

worlds

222.

compared

With awe

in thee the

same

celestial hue.']

to the color of the neck of Siva,

The dark blue of

which became of

this

Palda

the Cloud

hue, upon his

swallowing the poison produced at the churning of the ocean; the story is thus related
in Wi^jsis's transla&on, of an episode of the Mahabharat, affixed to Ms Bhdgaxat

'CLOUD MESSENGER.

41

Soft through the rustling grove the fragrant gale,

Shall sweets from GanJPhavatPs fount exhale

Where

And

with rich dust the lotus blossoms teem,

youthful beauties frolic in stream,

Here,

till

the sun has vanished in the west,

Till evening brings

Gita.

2.2

" As they continued

to churn

t}\c

its

sacred

228

ritual, rest;

ocean more than enough, that deadly poison issued

its bed, burning like a raging fire, whose dreadful fumes in a moment spread
throughout the world, confounding the three regions of the universe with its mortal
stench, untill See v at the word of Brahma' swallowed the fatal drug to save mankind,

from

which remaining in the throat of that sovereign Dew of magic form, from that time he
was called Neei*-kant because his throat was stained blue."

Verse
tial

word
it

228.

Till evening brings

its

sacred ritual

rest.']

There are three

ceremonies performed by the Brahmans termed Sand'kyas,

Sandlii, (^1**3) junction, because

were, that

is,

at

(^FSfl)

and esseneither from the

daily

they take place at the joinings of the day as

dawn, noon, and twilight, or as the term

is

otherwise derived from

(^q ) with, and fejj) to meditate religiously. When the ceremonies of the Sand'hya
are of a public nature they comprehend the ringing of bells, blowing the Conch, heating
a tabor &c. and this kind of sound the Cloud
act of devotion.

51

is

directed by the Yacsha to excite as aa

MEGHA DUTA OR

<J2

Then

reap the recompense of holy prayer,

Like drums thy thunders echoing

They who with burning

With wanton

gestures,

feet,

in the air.

and aching arms,

and emblazoned charms,

232

In Mahadeva's fane the measure tread,

Or wave

the gorgeous chowrie o'er his head

Shall turn on thee the grateful-speaking eye,

Whose glances gleam iike

bees along the sky,

23Q

3mt0tatt<ra<$.

Verse
upon the

Verse
is

231.

They who

Siva's fane the measure

in

The female

tread."]

attendants

idol.

234.

The gorgeous

Chowrie.']

a brush of Peacock's feathers, or the

The Ckowrie or more properly

tail

Chounri,

handle of such materials as suit the fancy, or the means of the proprietor;

a fan, or to whisk off

flies

and other

i.^jj^)

of a particular kind of Cow, &c. set in a

insects.,

and

this piece

it

of attention

is

used as

always

is

paid by the Hindus to the figures of their gods.

Verse 236. Whose glances gleam like bees

may be new to European imagery, it is just and
is

glance

is

its

for

this

allusion

poetically radiating nature

to the long flight of a line of these insects:

familiar to us,

Although

pleasing; the consequence of the glance

well conveyed by the sting of the bee, while

unaptly compared

"

along the sky.]

Shakespeare speaks

of,

is

not

the lengthened light of a

" Eyes streaming through

the

airy region^ and the continuous flight of bees was noticed so long back as the time

CLOUD MESSENGER,

As from thy

presence, showers benign

43

and sweet,

Cool the parched earth, and soothe their tender

Nay more Bhavani

And pay

And

He

shall herself approve,

thy services with looks of love

When as her

feet

240

Siva's twilight rites begin,

he would clothe him in the reeking skin,

deems thy form the sanguinary hide,

And

casts his elephant attire aside

246

-i

'

-mu4

Snnotatiottk
of Homer, who describes them as proceeding
translator

Pope

Eo7fu5oV

icbtovUi i%

Branching they

Or as

in

in branches,

a circumstance which

his

has omitted.

fly

xvlletriv

elayvdtaiv

abroad o'er vernal flowers,

Pope,

Clustring in heaps on heaps the driving bees, &c.

Etymologists might find a resemblance here between the Greek (jerovlai) and the Sanserif
(Wtfrri) Patantiy they go, fall, or alight.

Verse

238.

And soothe

their tender feet.']

It is to

be recollected that these ladies

are dancing bare-footed.

Divesting the feet of the shoes upon entering an apartment

being a mark of reverence or respect exacted by oriental arrogance, and readily paid

by

oriental servility.

239. Bhavani shall herself approve.'] Bhava'ni is one of the many names
of the consort of Siva; the reason of her satisfaction, and indeed the whole of this
passage, although familiar to a Hindu and although much amplified
in the translation,

Verse

MEGIIA DUTA OR

44

For

at his shoulders like a

dusky robe,

Mantling' impends thy vast and shadowy globe

Where ample

forests, stretched it's skirts

below,

Projecting trees like dangling limbs bestow;

And

248

vermil roses fiercely blooming shed,

Their rich

reflected

glow, their blood-resembling red.

annotations,
requires a little explanation to Be rendered intelligible to

tlie

English reader.

Siva

supposed to be dancing at the performance of the evening Sand? hi/ a and to have
assumed as his cloak the bloody skin of an elephant formerly belonging to an Asuv
destroyed by him ; as this is no very seemly ornament, Bhavani is delighted to find it
is

supplied by the Cloud which being of a dusky red, through the reflexion of the China
roses

now abundant, and being

skirted, as

it

overhangs a

branches of trees, resembles the elephant hide in color and

as in

it's

bulk, and

is

mistaken for

it

by the projecting

dangling limbs, as well

by Siva in his religious enthusiasm; the

formed by the Cloud has often been assigned to

Book

forest,

it's

it

in the west, thus

office

per-

Horace Ode

2,

1,

Nube candentes humeros amictiis>

Augur Apollo.
Or come Apollo versed in fate, and

Thy
So Milton

shroud",

shining shoulders with a veiling Cloud.

in his Penseroso speaking of the

morning describes

it

as,

" Kerchiefed in a comely Cloud.

sentiments of the mind with a similar garb and has,
For true repentance never comes too late,
As soon as born she makes herself a shroud",

Lee

invests

And

a Poet of later day, but of

The weeping mantle of

no

inferior

a fleecy Cloud.

name has made a very

fine use

of this figure,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

45

Amidst the darkness palpable that shrouds.

Deep

as the touchstone's gloom, the night with clouds,

With

glittering lines of yellow lightning break.

And

252

frequent trace in heaven the golden streaks

gtmotattons.

XVe known her long, of worth most excellent,.

But in the day of woe she ever rose,

Upon

mind with added majesty,

As the dark mountain more sublimely tower^
the

Mantled in Clouds and storm.

Miss Baillie's Die Montfort.

The

action,

the elephant skin, and

passage cited by Mr.

Colebrooke

other attributes of Siva, are well described in

Essay on Sanscrit prosody, from the

of Bhavabhu'ti, though there assigned to a form of his consort Durga'.
in his

Drama

Which, with the leading member of the sentence, may be thus rendered^

May

from thy dance

terrific

spring success

The elephant hide that fram thy waist depends^.

Swings to thy motions, and the whirling claws
Have rent the crescent that adorns thy crest
From the torn orb immortal Amrit falls,
And as the drops celestial trickle down,
They dew thy necklace, and each hollow skull r
Laughs loud with

The shout
Verse

251.

Amidst

the

life

attendant spirits yield,

of wonder, and the song of praise.

darkness

palpable thai

siirouds.]

So Miltoh's celebrated

expression,

And through

the palpable obscure find out,

His uncouth way.

The

literal interpretation

of the original passage

with a needle."

is

" the darkness that may be pierced

MEGIIA DUTA OR

10

To

those fond fair

The

who

tread the royal way,

path their doubtful

feet explore betray^'

236

Those thunders hushed, whose shower-foreboding sound,

Would cheek

their ardour,

On

terrace,

some cool

and

their hopes confound.

where the

turtle

dove

260

In gentlest accents breathes connubial love,

Repose awhile, or plead your amorous vows

Through

the long night, the lightning for your spouse

Your path

When

resumed your promised

in the east the

And shun
The

retraced,

Sun

his course; for

flight,

restores the light

264

with the dawning sky,

sorrowing wife dispels the tearful eye,

HTl^lf^^^^^I^rTOT

Annotations
Verse

255.

To

those fond fair

who

tread the royal zeay.~]

We

must here make an

allowance for Indian prejudices which always assign the active part of amorous intercourse to the female} and

make the

mistress seek her lover, not the lover his mistress.

CLOUD MESSENGER

w,

Her Lord

The dewy

And

ill

returned ; so comes the Sun to chase,

tears that stain the

Padmcfs

his eager penitence will bear,

That thou

shouldn't check his progress thro* the air.

Now to

Gambhircfs wave thy shadow

And on

the stream's pellucid surface

like some loved image

Deep

268

face,

flies,

272

lies,

faithfully imprest,

in the maiden's pure unsullied breast

Verse

268.

The dewy

tears that stain the

that exquisitely beautiful flower the Lotus

Pad/no's face."]

The Padma

is

a name of

comparing the dew to tears occurs thus

the Latin Anthology in the hhjllium de Rosa.

Quam

matutinus flentem conspcxit Eous.

Whom weeping marked the

And

again

early eastern gale.

Midsummer night's dream.

Shakespeare
That same dew which some time on the buds,
Was wont to swell like round and orient pearls,
in the

Stood now, within the pretty flowret's eyes,

Like tears.

Verse

Now

GamVhiras stream.'] This river and the Gandhatati in the vicinity ,of the temple of Siva which lately occurred, are probably amongst the numerous
and nameless brooks with which the province of Malwa abounds.
271.

to

MEGHA DUTA OS

4S

And
Or

vain thy struggles to escape her

wiles,"

276

disappoint those sweetly treacherous smiles,

Which

Sapharas insidious

glistening

Bright as the

dart,

thy vanquished heart i

lotus, at

Annotations
Verse

Which glistening Sapharas.'] The Saphara is described as a small white

glistening fish, which darting rapidly through the water, is not unaptly compared to the
twinkling glances of a sparkling eye. Assigning the attributes of female beauty to
a stream ceases to be incongruous, when we advert to it's constant personification by the
277.

Hindus,- and
smiles

it is

as philosophical as

it is

of rivers, nay of the ocean

poetical to affiance a river

itself,

and a Cloud: the

have often been distributed

by poetical

imagination, thus Lucretius invoking Venus says,

Tibi rident azquora pontrf

The ocean waves

laugh on you.
Mr. Goon is very angry at the conversion of this laugh intov
by less daring of his predecessors ; Milton again gives the Ocean

for his late translator

a smile, as effected

nose as well as dimples,

And Metastasio in

Cheered with the grateful smell old Ocean smiles,

ode to Venus has-,

his beautiful

-E

Jlutti ridono,

Nel mar placati.

The waves now

And

placid play;
laugh amidst the deep.

All these however as well as our author are far surpassed

Olbion,

where

hill

and

attributes: with respect to the streams he

objects, but fairly subjects them' to

but

we may b3

by Drayton

dale, forest and" rrver, are constantly described with

t'i3

is

Poty-

male or female

not satisfied with wedding them to various

pain? of parturition; the instances are frequent,

content with the following, especially as

his very learned illustrator,

in his

it is

explained and defended by,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

What
Not

thine

my

O'erhanging

friend

how

for

Bay as,

Rent her ccerulean

Prove

unmoved by female chants ?

breast so firm

now

her waving an

in thy grasp enclosed,

and charms exposed,

vest,

successfully she tempts delay,

And wins thee

loitering

284

from the lengthening way.

Sunatatuju&

When

Poo!, quoth she, was young, a lusty sea-born lass,

Great Albion

And

to this

nymph an

earnest suitor was.

bare himself so well, and so in favor came,

That he

in little

time upon this lovely dame,

Begot three maiden isles his darlings and delight.

As Albion (son of Neptune), from whom that first name of this Britain was supposed, is
well fitted to the fruitful bed of this Pool, thu9 personated as a sea nymph, the plain truth
(as words may certify your eyes saving all impropriety of object) is that in the Pool are
seated three isles Brjintset/, Furse// and St. Helen's, in situation and magnitude as I name

ff

them, nor

is

the fiction of begetting the isles improper seeing Greek antiquities tell us of

divers in the Mediterranean, and the Archipelagns, as Rhodes, Delus, Hiera, the Echinades

and others which have been as it were brought

Amphttrite." Seluen's illustrations.

Verse 281

O''erhanging Baj/as.']

growing near brooks.

scientific

name

am

The

not aware

Vetasa,
if

forth

(^rfQ) or

Bayas,

the botanists have

the translation of the whole of this passage

out of the

is

is

salt

womb

a hind of reed

yet assigned

not very

of

literal.

it

any

MEG HA DUTA OR

50

Thence

satiate lead

That bows

And

along the gentle breeze,

the lofty summits of the trees,

pure with fragrance that the earth in flowers,

Repays profuse

288

to fertilizing showers;

Vocal with sounds the elephants

excite,

To

flight:

Devagiri wings

its

welcome

^^^^r^^wTT^^gw
sn%iP5*&mf^PriH*rM*
v.

thfRT5^tt'5'rt%?

Verse

Verse

wR&a if fiRnm^il V$

\\

So Shakespeare

286.

That boras the lofty summits of ike

287.

As the wind,
That by the top doth take the mountain pine,
Cymbeline.
And make him stoop to the vale,.
That the earth in flowers, $c.\ Thus in Six Phiup Sydney's " Eemedie

trees.~]

*' for love.",

Verse

290.

And

sweet as after gentle showers^

The

breath

is

of some thousand flowers;

Dezagiriis the mountain of

with a place called in the

map DMg-#r,

the

deity,

and may perhaps be the same

situated south of the

Chumbul,

in the centre

ths province of Maltm, and precisely in the line of the Cloud's progress, which as
shall hereafter find has
scite

been continued nearly due north from Ouja'n.

This

of

we

is-

the

of a temple of CARTiesfYA, which as well as that of Siva described above,

we

must suppose to have enjoyed

would not have been

hill

in the days of antiquity considerable reputation,

so particularly specified in the poem*

or they

CLOUD MESSENGER,

51

There change thy form, and showering

roses shed,

Bathed in the dews of heaven, on Scanda's head

Son of the Crescent's God,

whom

holy

ire,

Called from the flame of all devouring

fire,

To

snatch the

And

Lord of Swerga from

despair,

296

timely save the trembling hosts^ of air"

292

-.'.
.

$rot0tatfott&

Verse 2911 Then change thy form, and showering roses shed.'} The Cloud as the
Commentators say is directed to fall in flowers, because it can take what shape it pleases;
we generally understand a poet much better than we comprehend his learned and;
laborious annotators; raining flowers, or by authority, roses,

English poetry.

Thus Thompson

is

a common event

ill

in the opening of his Spring*

Veiled in a shower,

Of shadowing
And*

roses on our plains descend^

Milton, rather more intelligibly,

The flowery roof,'
Showered

Verse

Stfg;

Maridacini"

Parvati and

Bathed

roses,

the dews

in

the celestial (Ganges.

of heaven.'] " Moistened with the waters of the

Scanda, or Carticeya, is the sen of Siva and

Mars of Hindu mythology; there are various legends respecting

His birth one of which is presently noticed by the poet
Verse' 293. Several instances of the solitary production of offspring', occur in the
Hindu as Well as in the Grecian mythology. Thus as Pallas sprang from the
brow of Jupiter, we have' Scanda generated solely by the deity Siva ; Gunga
the

MEGHA DUTA OR

Next bid iby thunders

And
Fit.

o'er the

mountain

float,

echoing caves repeat the pealing note

music

for the bird

whose lucid

Gleams

like the

Whose

moulting plumes

Lend

brilliant

eye,

horned beauty of the sky,

to love

pendants to

Sdd

maternal dear->?

BhavaWs

ear,

Annotations,
BDrings from the head of the same deity, and Gane'sa is the self-born son of the
goddess Parvati": the miraculous birth of the warrior deity Scanda, was for the
purpose of destroying Tar AC a an Asur. or demon, who by the performance of continued

had acquired powers formidable to the gods: the eccentric genius

of Southey, has rendered it unnecessary, by his last poem, the Curse of Kekama, for
me to explain the nature, or results of these acts of devotion the germ of Scanda was
and severe

austerities

cast

by Siva

into the flame of

Agni, the god of

encreasing burthen, transferred

of the deity Scanda,

it

to the goddess

fire,

who being unable

Gunga

to sustain the

she accordingly was delivered

afterwards received and reared amongst thickets of the

by the six daughters of a king named Critic a, or accord-

who was

S'ara reed, (Saccharum Sara J

ing to other legends by the wives of seven great Ehfris or Saints; in either case they
form in astronomy the asterism of the Pleiades: upon his coming to maturity Scanda

encountered and killed the demon, who had filled the region of Indra with dismay.
Emissmnque imd de scde Typhoea icira,
Ctelilibus, fecissc

metum,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

To him whose

53

youth in SaT thickets strayed,

304

Reared by the nymphs, thy adoration paid,

Resume thy

The

road,

and

glorious tale of

to the

world proclaim,

Rantide va's fame,

Sprung from the blood of countless oxen shed,

And

fair river

308

through the regions spread,

Annotations*
Celestial hostilities and,

" Things to our thought^

66
So unimaginable as hate

in heaven,

" And war so near the place of god in bliss,

many analogies between Greek and Hindu faith.
3

Form one

of the

Veres 301, &c. Whose moulting plume? to love maternal dear.'] Scanda or Carticeya is represented mounted upon a Peacocfc, and Bhava'ni we have already seen is
the wife of Siva, and half mother to this deity
we have also noticed the frequency
;

f the allusion to the delight the Peacock

cloudy, and rainy weather.

Verse
moon

is

supposed to

feel

upon the appearance of

RantideVa is the name of a king of the Chandralans or family of

from his performance of the Gome dim, ()li?W) or sacrifice of the cow,
which is prohibited in the present period of the world, he must belong to one of the
preceding Yugs or ages: I find in Sir Wm. Jones's lists, (see his Chronology of the
Hindus, Asiatic Researches Vol. 2), the eighteenth name in the line of the moon, in
the second age, is Rantina'va, and as that is the .only name resembling the appellation
the

306.

in our text,

Verse

it is

307,

perhaps a corruption or error for Rahtid-e'va.

Sprung from

the blood

of

countless

oxen shed.]

The

sacrifice

of the

MEGIIA DUTA OR

te

Each

lute

armed

spirit' from

thy path

retires,

Lest drops ungenial damp the tuneful wires

Celestial couples

Turn on

horse or of

tlie

periods of the

but

typical,

which

it

thy distant course their

was

skies,

downward

set at liberty

was performed upon the victim, after

passage however is unfavorable to such a

sacrificing only

the text of this

metamorphosis of the blood of the kine into a

that blood was

312

eyes,

cow, the Tn^gfT or ^flsrpgr appears to have heen common in the earliest
Hindu ritual; It lias been conceived that the sacrifice was not real

and that the form of

notion, as the

bending from the

diffused.

The

river,

certainly implies

expression of the original literally rendered

is,

" sprung

from the blood of the daughters of Suribhi." that is, kine; Suribhi being a celebrated
at the churning of the ocean, and famed for granting to her votaries
" Daughter of Surebhi" is an expression of common occur*
desired.
they
whatever

cow produced

rence to denote the cow.

Verse 308. And a fair river through the regions spread.']

The name of

this river

is

not mentioned in the text of the poemj but is said by the Commentators to be the
Charmanvati, and such a name occurs in Major Wilpord's lists from the Purdnas,

amongst those streams which seem to arise from the north-west portion of the Vind'hya
the modern appellation of the Charmanvati is generally conceived to be the
mountains
Chumbul which corresponds with it in source and situation, and which as it must have
been traversed by the Cloud in it's northerly course, would most probably have been des:

cribed by the poet.

It

may be

curious to trace the change of Charmanvati into Chumbul,

Tavernicr
which seems very practicable notwithstanding their present dissimilarity.
describing the route from Surat to Agra by way of Brampore, calls this river the
Chammelnadi; the possessive termination Vaii (^rff) having been confounded with Nadi
(7\?f\ a river; Chammelnadi is therefore the Chammel river: again the addition Nadi,

being regarded as superfluous

or

Chambdj

the

it

has been dropped altogether, and

word Chammel may

readily be deduced

we have

the Chanandt

from Charman as ia the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

And watch

To
As

$5

thee lessening in thy long descent:

rob' the river's scanty stores intent

clothed in sacred darkness not thine own,

Thine

is

316

the azure of the costly stone;

central sapphire, in the loosened girth,

Of scattering

The

pearls, that strung the

blooming earth.

streamlet traversed, to the eager sight,

Of DdsaparcPs

fair

Welcomed with

Whose

arching"

320

impart delight

looks that sparkling eyes bestow,

brows

like graceful creepers

glow,

Annotations.
dialects of Hindoostan, the letters

pronounciation

may

easily convert

N. and L. are constantly interchangeable, and

Verse 310. These two lines occur a little earlier in the Sanscrit, but
more connected with the two following, and to be rather awkward in
'position,

Verse

as they

seemed

their original

they have been introduced here.

315.

In sacred darkness

not thine omn.~\

Being of the same dark

..blue

Crish'na; a hue the poet charges the Cloud with having stolen.
Verse 317. A central sapphire, StC.] This comparison when understood
imagined, but to understand
looking

careless

Channel into Chammel, or Chambel.

obliquely

continuous line
ViiftSE 320.

it,

we must suppose

is

color as

happily

ourselves above the Cloud, and to be

downwards upon its dark body, as shining drops of

it, and connect it with the earth.

rain form a

on either side of

J)as'cpura according to

its

etymology should mean a

district;

that of

MEGHA DUTA OR

56

Whose upturned

The

lashes, to thy lofty

way,

pearly ball, and pupil dark display

Such

contrast as the lovely

When

the black bee

Hence

to the land of

O'er Curv?s

With

Cauda shews,

pleased amidst her snows.

Brahma's favored

fatal field

deepest glooms

Dewed with

sits

324

thy journey runs

hang

sons,

S8

o'er the deadly plain,

the blood of mighty warriors slain 5

gimctatfe.
the ten

cities ;

it is

said

name of a
if he
of Rantide'va

however by the Commentators

by one of them, MallinaVh, to be that of the city

it may possibly be the modern Rintimpore or Rantampore,

to be the

city,
is

ani

correct

especially as that town, lying

the north of the Chumbnl, and in the line from Oujein to Tahnesar, is consequently in the course of the Cloud's progress, and the probable position of Dasapura.
Verse 325. Such contrast as the lovely Cunda stews.] The Cunda (Jasmi?mm ptubcs*

little to

tens) bears a beautiful white flower,

of its cup, they afford a very delicate

and white

Verse

and the large black bee being seated in the centre

and truly poetical resemblance to the dark Iris,

ball of a full black eye.

327.

the abode of

Hence

Brahma'

^
land of Brahma's favored sons.'] Brahma'varta (^fl^) ia
or the holy land of the Hindus, it is thus described by Menu. 2, 17.
to the

" Between the two divine rivers Saraswati and Drhhadwati lies the tract of land whiei
the sages have named Brahma'verta, because it was frequented by the Gods."
!',

Verse

328.

CurwQUtra

($^^)

the field

of the Gurus,

is

the scene of the eel*;

CLOUD MESSENGER.

57

There Arjun's wrath opposing armies

And

countless arrows strong

Thick

Gdndiva

felt,

332

dealt,

as thy drops, that in the pelting shower,

Incessant hurtle round the shrinking flower.

*\

Annotations
brated battle between them and the Parous, which forms the subject of the Mahdb'harala;
it lies

little

It is not far

to the south-east of Tahnesar,

and

is still

a place of note and pilgrimage.

from Panniput, the seat of another celebrated engagement, that between

the assembled princes of Ilindoostan, and the combined strength of the Muhrattas.

part of the country indeed presenting few obstacles to the

movement of

This

large armies,

has in every period of the history of Ilindoostan been the theatre of contention.

Verse

531.

Pandava

Arjun was

the friend and pupil of CrishjsT a, and the third of the

He has

been long ago introduced to European readers, especially

princes.

Mr. Wilkins's masterly translation of the B'hdgavat Gila, and appears in the open
ing of that philosophical poem, in a very amiable light.

in

" Alas! that for the lust of the enjoyments of dominion, we stand here ready to murder"
" the kindred of our own blood; I would rather patiently suffer that the sons of Dhrita" rastra, with their weapons
" me unguarded in the field."

Verse

332.

in their hands,

should come upon

me and

unopposed,

kill

As the horses and swords of Chivalry received particular names, so

Hindu knights have been similarly honored; Gdndiva is the bow

the weapons of the

of Arjun.

Verse

Thick as thy drops that in the pelting shower.'}

analogies in western composition; thus, in Lucretius^
333.

Lucida

The

tela diei.

lucid arrows of the day.'

This verse has abundant

MEG Li A

58

DtJTA Oft

O'er SaraswatPs waters wing your coarse,

And inward
Most

The

holy, since oppressed with heaviest grief,

ploughshare's mighty Lord, here sought relief;

From

And

33Q

prove their purifying force;

kindred

to these

and

strife,

Rev at*

withdrew,

340

banks, and holy musing flew,

annotations*

The K sharp

sleet

of arrowy shower," of Milton, and

Iron sleet of arrowy shower.
Hurtles in the dusky

its

imitation by

Gray;

air,

Are passages well known.

Verse 335. The Saraswati, or as it is corruptedly called, the Sarsootj/, falls from
the southern portion of the Himalaya mountains, and runs into the great desart where
the maps lose it. It flows a little to the nor-west of Curucshetra, and though rather
oujt

of the line of the Cloud's progress, not sufficiently so to prevent the introduction!

poem of a stream so celebrated, and so holy.

Verse 331. We have here the reason why the waters of the Saraswati are objects of
religious veneration: Balaba'ma is the elder brother of CrJshna, he is called ("^'^"tfi^O
HalabhrIt, &C. from his jjeiiig armed with a ploughshare,
La'ngaliya,
into the

(^W^

which he

is

said to have

employed

as Bills

were formerly used,

for

pulling his enemies

down from their horses, &c. which enabled him then to dispatch them with his club
?lthou<rh Crishn' a took an active part in the warfare between the CuruspaA Pandits,

Balaba'ma

refused to join either party, and retired into voluntary seclusion,

filled

with grief at the nature of the contest, deserting even according to Calida'sa, tho
inebriating eyes

Verse

339.

of

his wife.

Re'vatx

is

the wife of

Balarama;

see the preceding note.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Thy journey next

Where

59

o'er Canac^hala bends,

Jaiinu's daughter from the

*n_

hills

descends,

Annotations,

Verse

3il.

The name

is

Calac'hala

in

the original but

it

more properly

given above; the meaning of the word agreeably to a forced etymology,

plained in the Gungddzsara Mahatmya section of the Scanda Parana,

" What man (^

u

) so zeiched,

there, thence the holy sages

It also occurs in this

And

in

(*sB)

as not to

have called

is

as

thus ex-

is

obtain, (*l) future happiness from bathing

this Tirtha

by the name of Came^Iiata,"

passage of the Jleri Van/a portion of the Mahab'harat,

u Gangddzcdra* Canac' kola, and where the moon impends."

both instances is applied to the place where the Ganges descends into the low

ground of HindoosLan.

The name

&n

Lieut.

impartial witness,

is

EtiLl

Webb,

in

retained
his

as appears from the testimony of

survey of the sources of the Ganges, a

" the party

survey which has essentially improved the geography of those regions
the
village
of Canaeliala" (Kanhlud) on the
arrived at Haridwdra and encamped at
;

west bank of the Ganges, at the distance of about two miles from the fair."

Researches

Verse

Guxg a'

342.

or

Asiatic

11, 449.

tlie

Where Ja'hnu's daughter from the hills

Ganges, which river " after forcing its

descends.']

Ja'hnu's daugliier

way through an

is

extensive tract

" of mountainous country here first enters on the plains." Ii is rather extraordinary
that Calida'sa should have omitted the name of Haridzcdm (Htrrdzrdr), and preferred
Canac'hala; especially as the former occurs in the Puranas, in the Scanda Purana as
mentioned in the note, page 450, Vol. 11. of the Researches, and in this passage from
the Mai.si/a

Parana

cited in the

Purana

Sarvastva.

The Ganges is every where easy of access except in three places, Haridzxdra, Praya'ga,
" and her junction with the sea." Ja'hnu is the name of a sage who upon being disturbed

in his

devotions

by the passage

.of .the

river,

drank up

its

waiters.

Upon

relenting

MEG HA DUTA

60

Whose

Oil

lengthening stream, to Sagars virtue given,

Conducts

his

numerous progeny

She who with smiiling .waves

Through Sambhu's
Unheeding

The

locks,

to

heaven

344

disportive strayed.

and with

as she flowed delighted

his tresses played %

down,

gathering storm of Gouri's jealous frown,

348

Annotations.
however, he allowed the stream to re-issue from his

ear,

and the

affinity

of

Gunga'

to the saint arises from this second birth.

Verse

343.

To Sagar's

The Ganges according

rites of Bhagirat'ha the

virtue given.']

brought from heaven, by the religious

Sa'gar, who as well as that king had engaged

in

to the legend

was

great grandson of

a long series of acts of austerity, for

the purpose of procuring the descent of the river to wash the ashes of Sagar's 60,000
sons; the youths had been reduced to this state, by the indignation of

Capila, a saint,
was to be the
victim of an As'wamecTha by their father; their misfortunes did not however cease with
their existence, as their admission to Sroerga depended according to the instructions of
Garuda, upon the use of the water of the Ganges in the administration of their funeral
At this period the Ganges watered the plains of heaven alone, and it was no
rites.
to induce her to resign those for an humble and earthly course. Sagar,
undertaking
easy

whose devotions they had disturbed

in their eager quest of the horse,

that

Ansuman, and grandson Dwilipa, died without being able to effect the descent
of the heavenly stream, but his great grandson Bhagirat'ha was more fortunate, and
his long continued austerities were rewarded by the fall of the Ganges, the bathing
of the ashes of his ancestors with the holy water, and the establishment of them in

his son

is told in the first Book of the Jiamdi/ar-a,

Ramuyana with translation, by the worthy
and indefatigable missionaries, Messrs. Carey and MaRshman.
Verse 3i5. She who with smiling waxes disportive strayed,] The earth being unable

the enjoyments of Swerga

the whole story

from the 32d, to the 35th, section

see the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Should her clear current tempt thy

61

thirsty lip,

And

thou inclining bend the stream to

Thy

form like Indra's Elephant displayed,

sip,

Shall clothe the crystal waves with deepest shade,

With jsacred glooms

As where

the

the darkening waves shall glide*

Jumna mixes with

the tide.

to bear the sudden descent of so great a river as the Ganges, Siva was induced at the
intercession of Bhagirat'ha,

to interpose his sacred

head

accordingly

Gunga

first

alighted on the head of the deity and remained for a considerable period wandering

amongst the

tresses of his long

and entangled

hair,

to the

extreme jealousy and displea-

sure, according to Calidasa, of the

Verse 351.

Thy form

like

Goddess Gouri' or Parvati', Siva's consort.

Indra's Elephant.'] We have already noticed that pre-

siding deities are attached to the various points of the compass,

deities is furnished

ed

is

and that each of these

with a male and female Elephant; amongst these the mo9t distinguish-

Aira'vata; the Elephant of Indra

in his capacity of

Regent of the

east.

Yerse 354. As where the Jumna mingles with the tide. ] The waters of t\\e Jumna or
Yamuna are described as much darker than those of the Ganges at the point of their confluence, from the circumstances of the stream being less shallow and less discolored with
clay or sands occasionally indeed the waters of the Ganges there are so white from the
diffusion of earthy particles, that according to the creed of the natives, the river flows
with milk. The confluence of rivers always forms a sacred 6pot in India, but the meeting
,of the Ganges and Jumna, at Prayaga or Allahabad, from the sanctity of both the currents,

and from the supposed subterraneous addition of the Saraswati,

holiness,

is

a place of distinguished

MEGIIA DUTA OR

C3

As

Siva's Bull upon his sacred neck,

Amidst

So

>'

his ermine,

shall thy

Whose

sides are silvered

the

From

sable speck,

35Q

shade upon the mountain show,

Where Gunga

And

owns some

with eternal snow ;

leads her purifying waves,

Musk Deer

spring frequent from the caves*

360

writhing boughs should forest flames arise,

Whose

breath the

air,

and brand the Yae

supplies,

-r

9tonofatfon&

Verse 355.

As Siva's Bull upon

his sacred neck.,J

The Bull

is

the vehicle of Siva,

God is always painted of a milk white color.

Verse 360. And the Musk Deer spring frequent from the caves..]
called the Thibet Musk " but its favorite residence is among

and the animal of the

is

This animal

is

what

the lofty Himalley

" (Himalaya) mountains, which divide Tartary from Hindoostan.'" See the best account
of the Musk Deer yet published, in Gladwin's Oriental Miscellany, Calcutta 1798,
accompanied with accurate drawings by Mr.

Verse
is

361.

Should forest /lames

Home

arise.']

of frequent occurrence, and the causes of

intertwining
trees,

branches

of the

Saral,

The
it

(Pinus

of the figure, teeth, hoofs,

See.

conflagration of the woods in India,

are here described by the poet.

longifolia)

of the Bambu,

The

and other

being set in motion by the wind, their mutual friction engenders flame; this

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Instant afford the aid

And
For

'tis

63

thine to lend,

364

with a thousand friendly streams descend

still

From

on earth prosperity proceeds.

acts of love,

and charitable deeds.

Annotations,
spread abroad by the

air,

and according

to tbe

Poet by the thick

tails

of the

Yac

f Tartary or Bos Grunniens (from which Chowries are made), readily communicates
to the surrounding foliage, dried

the burning of a forest

citing,

is

up by tbe heat of the sun and exceedingly inflammable;

so well described in the Rlttt Sanhdra that I cannot avoid

the passage although

its

length perhaps requires an apology.

t^s^wf^^ttf j^f^fe^^^^^
|

Which omitting a few repetitions and excrescences may be

The forest flames; the foliage sear and

thus translated:
dry,

Bursts in a blaze beneath the torrid sky;

Fanned by the gale the

fires

II

resplendent grow,

Brighter than blooming Sajflower's vermil glow?

II

; :

fk

Mfc'GHA

Shame

And
So

is

DUTA OR

the fruit of actions indiscreet,

vain presumption ends but in defeat;

shall the S'arabhas

Themselves

to pain,

who

308

thee oppose,

and infamy expose;

When

round their heads, amidst the lowering sky.

White

as a brilliant smile, thy hail stones

fly.

$72

Brighter than Minium's fierceness, as they wind

Around the branch, or shoot athwart the rind,

Play through the leaves, along the trunk ascend,
And o'er the top in tapering radiance end

The

crackling

Bambu

rushing flames surround,

Roar through the rocks, and through the

The dry blade full to their rage supplies,

And instant

flame along the herbage

Like palest gold the towering ray

caves resound;

flies

aspires,

And wafting gusts diffuse the wasting fires,

Wide fly the sparks, the burning branches fall,
And one relentless blaze envelops all,
The S'araVha is a fabulous animal described as

possessing eight legs,

Verse 369.
and of a fieroe untractable nature; it is supposed to haunt these mountains especially.
Verse 372. White as a brilliant smile.'] It is remarkable that a laugh or smile, is
always compared to objects of a white color by Hindu writers.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Next

to the

mountain with the

Of him who wears

foot imprest,

the crescent for his crest,

Devoutly pass, and with religious glow,

Around
i

the spot in pious circles

376
f

ii

-,

"

go

Annotations,

Verse
print of

373.

Next

to

some

saint

or deity,

The mountain with

on

hills

the fool imprest.']

or detached stones,

The
is

fancied or artificial

common occurrence

in the creeds of the east; the idea is not confined to the inhabitants of Hindoostan,

but

is

may be seen in Turner's journey

The Mussulmans also have the same notion Avith

asserted similarly by those of Nepal, Ceylon, and Ava, as

to Nepal, Symes's

respect to

Embassy

to

Ava,

many of the prophets,

Sec.

for they believe

that the marks of

Adam's

feet

remain

on a mountain in the centre of Ceylon, and that those of Abraham were impressed upon
a stone which was formerly at Mecca, and which he had used as a temporary scaffold in
constructing the upper part of the primary Caaba: a number of similar stories may be
found in MirJchond, and other Mohummedan authors.

The Himalaya mountains

are the

scene of most of Siva's adventures, his religious abstraction, his love, marriage, &c.
and the place here mentioned may have some connexion with the Ghat, and neighbouring

Raper's account of the survey of the Ganges^

Pairi,
Haraca
the
of
name
foot
by the
of Hara or Siva.
Verse 376. Around the spot in pious circles go.] Circumambulating a venerable
thus in Saconlala y Caxna thus
object, or person, is a ususal mark of profound respect
hill at

Haridxsdra, mentioned in Capt.

addresses his foster

<c

And

daughter on the eve of herdeparture,

My best beloved

again in

come and walk with me round the sacrificial

the Ramayana we have the same ceremony described thus;

fire.'*

MEGIIA DUTA OR

6$

For

there have Saints the sacred altar raised,

And

there eternal offerings have blazed;

And

blest the faithful worshippers, for they,

The

stain of sin, with life shall cast

And

after death

To

and immortal

Here wake the chorus

Loud

The

380

a glad admittance gain,

Siva's glorious,

Deep and

away:

train

bid the thunder's sound,

384

reiterated roll around,

as a hundred drums % while softer strains,

swelling gale breathes sweetly through the canes

" Hearing the words of Janaka the four supporters of Raghu's race previously placed
" according to the direction of Vashis'tha, took the hands of the four damsels within
" their's, and with their spouses circQmambulated the fire, the altar, the king, and the
" sa-es."
Ramayana with translation, 1, CO, 87.

Verse

380.

The swelling gale

breathes sweetly through the

the wind in the hollow reeds, or Bambus,

may

of the pipe or flute, of which it was the origin

Et Zephyri cava per calamorum

cttnes.~]

The

whistling of

easily be conceived to afford the music

if

we may

sibila

believe Lucretius.

primum,

A^restes docuere catas inflate cicutas.

And Zephyr
Taught the

whistling through the hollow reeds,

first

swains the hollow reeds to sound.

Good's

translation,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

And

ffl

from the lovely songsters of the

Hymns

to the victor of

Thence

And

Tripura

snow clad

to the

hills

skies,

sm

rise.

thy course direct,

Crouncha? s celebrated pass selec's

That

And

pass the swans in annual flight explore i

erst

a Heroes mighty arrows

392

tore.

&tm0tatton&
of the sides, are the females of the Cinnaras r
demigods attendant upon Ccjve'ra, and the musicians of Swerga.
Verse 388. Hymns to the victor of Tripura rise.~\ Tripura is the name of a city c-r

Verse 387.

rather as
celebrated

its

The

lovely songsters

etymology implies,

Demon

three cities collectively

these formed the domain of a

or Asur destroyed by Siva, and were reduced to ashes by that Deity

according to the Commentators

we have here a full and complete

concert in honor of

Mahade VA.
Verse

381.

any thing of

And

this

Crouncha's celebrated pass select.]

pass or hole

have not been able to make

it to be on the very
( sff l^ a)
of
the
mountain,
snowy
and
calls
it
also
(^q=i3)
^FgTJ tne g" ate f the geese, who
fly annually this way to the Manasarovara lake: Crouncha is described as a mountain in
the Mahabharat, and being personified is there called the son of Maindca: a mountain

the original text states

ekirt

also

called

Crouncha

situated in the north.

Meru
It

Poet by using the term

Wilford's lists amongst these mountains

some distance from the plains, and perhaps the

occurs in Mr.

must

^WIZ

lie at

implies

its

relative situation with the loftiest part of the

range or proper snow clad mountains.

ViiRSE 380. And erst a Hero's mighty arrows

tore."]

The Crouncha

pass, or defile

MEG1IA DUTA OR

hS

Winding thy way, due

north through the

defile,

Thy

form compressed, with borrowed grace

The

sable foot that

shall smile

Bali marked with dread,

A God triumphant o'er

creation spread.

396

Annotations.
have been made by the arrows of Bhrigupati, or
Parasura'ma who was educated by Siva on mount Cailasa, and who thus opened himself
a passage from the mountains upon the occasion of his travelling southwards to destroy
the Cshetrii/a or military race. Parasura'ma is an Avatar or descent of Vishn'u in the

in the Crovncha mountain,

is

said to

Jamadagni, and this Saint being also descended from the

named Bhrigupati, or, Chief of that race.
Verse 390. The sable foot that Bali marked with dread.'] The story of Bali and
the Vamana or dwarf Avatar has been frequently repeated from the account of Sonnerat
and the relations in the Asiatick Researches. A9 the former is not very prolix it may
be here inserted to save the trouble of further reference. " The fifth incarnation was in
a Bramin dwarf, under the name of Vamen; it was wrought to restrain the pride of the
giant Bely. The latter, after having conquered the Gods, expelled them from Sorgon;
person of the son of the Saint
celebrated sage

Bhrigu

his son is

Vichenou, under the

he was generous, true to his word, compassionate, and charitable.
form of a very little Bramin, presented himself before him, while he was sacrificing,
and asked him for three paces of land to build a hut. Bely ridiculed the apparent
imbecility of the dwarf, in telling him, that he ought not to limit his

so trifling; that his generosity

could bestow a

much

demand

to

larger donation of land.

a bequest
Vamf.n

answered, that being of so small a stature, what he asked was more than sufficient.
The prince immediately granted his request, and to ratify his donation, poured water
into his right hand, which was no sooner done, than the dwarf grew so prodigiously,
that his body filled the universe! He measured the earth with one pace and the heavens

word

The prince
with another and then summoned Bely to give him
then recognized Vichenou, adored him, and presented his head to him; but the God,
satisfied with his submission, sent him to govern the Pandalon, and permitted him to
his

return every year to the earth, the day of the

Sonnerat's Voyages

full

in the

moon,

in the

for the third.

month of November."

East Indies, Calcutta

edition, Vol. l 3

p. 22.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Ascended thence a transient period

Renowned

C3

rest.

CaildsaPs venerated guest

That mount whose

A polished mirror,

sides

with brightest lustre shine,

400

worthy charms divine

3rniotatfon&
Tj:rse 393.

CaUasa's venerated

guest.']

Caildsa^ as

it

here appears, a part of the

mountain of costly gems or of

crystal, the scite of Cuvera's

borrow
from
the notes to Scutkey's Curse
capital, and the favorite haunt of Siva
r
of Kehdmr, a description of it from Bald-eus, curious enough in itsel ,but still more so for
its strange medley of accuracy and incorrectness, and its uncouth transformation, and

Slimala range,

is

in

fable a

commixture of the

Sanserif names.

I shall

" The residence of

xor a

(Is warn or "spt")

is

upon

the silver mount Calqja (Caildsa or ef^^r), to the south of the famous mountain Mahamern,
being a most delicious place, planted with all sorts of trees, that bear fruit all the year

The

and other flowers send forth a most odoriferous scent; and the pond
mount is inclosed .with pleasant -walks of trees, that afford an agreeable
shade whilst the Peacocks and divers other birds entertain the ear with their harmonious
The circumjacent woods are inhabited by a
noise, as the beautiful women, do the eyes.
certain people called Munis or Rixis, (Rishis or 4^)5 who avoiding the conversation
of others, spend their time in offering daily sacrifices to their God.
It is observable, that though these Pagans are generally black themselves, they do re-

round.

roses

at the .foot of the

present these Rixis-to be of a

fair

complexion, with long white beards, and long garments

'hanging cro6S-ways, from about the neck down over the breast. They are in such high
esteem among them that they belieye whom they bless are blessed, and whom they curse
are cursed.

Within the mountain lives another generation, called Jexaquinnera (Yacsha or jjm and
Cinnara or fifv^T) aud Quendra, (Indra or 575T) who are free from all trouble, and spend
Round about the
their days in continual contemplation, praises and prayers to God.
mountain stand seven ladders by which you ascend to a spacious plain, in the middle
whereof is a bell of silver and a square table, surrounded with nine precious stones o,f

MEGHA DUTA OR

70

Whose

base a

Ra van

Shaken not sundered,

Whose

lofty

from
stable

its

centre

wrung,

though unstrung:

peaks to distant realms in sight,

404

Present a Siva's smile, a lotus white

Stanotattong.
divers colours; upon this table lies a silver rose called Tamarnpua (?) winch contains two
women as bright and fair as a pearl one is called Brigasiri, (?) i. e. the lady of the mouth,
:

the lady of the tongue. Because they praise God with the mouth
(?)
(Siva-lingaJ which
end tongue. In the centre of this rose is, the triangle of Quivelinga,
of this descrippart
latter
The
Baldjeus.
they say is the permanent residence of God."

the other Tabasiri,

tion

is

quite

new

i.

e.

to the Pandits

and

suspect

is

rather

Mohummedan than Hindu.

This alludes to a legend

situation, although he
its
from
of Ra'vana's having attempted to remove the mountain
did not succeed as well as Satan and his compeers, when
" From their foundations loosening to and fro,

Verse

402.

Shaken not sundered,

stable

though unstrung.-]

" They plucked the seated hills,"

He considerably unhinged its foundations. The story perhaps originates with the curious
observed by Selden of
vibrating rock at Mahabalipuram, of which it may be said as is
Penzance, that it is so
Main-amber i. e. Ambrose's stone in Cornwall, not far from
with one finger you may
yet
it,
remove
united strength cannot
great that

wag

many men's

it."

The

lofty

Verse 403. Whose lofty peaks to distant realms in sight.}

Himalaya range of mountains are very justly stated by the Poet,

to

peaks of the

be

visible to

from situations more remote

surrounding regions (tjffifH) they are seen in the south
discerned, and the supposition of their
than those in which any other peaks have been
recent enquiries, which will
exceeding even the Andes in elevation, has been confirmed by
Asiatic Researches
become public with the appearance of the 12th Volume of the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

And

lo

When
Beam

Thy

those peaks than ivory

71

more

clear,

yet unstained the parted tusks appear,

with

new

around

lustre, as

their head,

glossy glooms metallic darkness spread;

As shews a Halabhrita's

More

fair

408

sable vest,

the pallid beauty of his breast.

Annotations
Verse

403.

Thy

glossy glooms metallic darlcness spread."]

The

expression in the

may ^ e rendered, " shining like antimony mixed up with oil,"

a mixture used for darkening the eye lashes or the edges of the eye-lids, a practice
common to the females of the east. It is also explained to mean merely, " black divided

original (f^igfH^I^flJV)

antimony," and the shining greyish blue of the sulphuret of antimony, the substance
alluded to, may often be observed in the hue of heavy Clouds.

Verse 409.

Halab'hrita

is

name of Balara'ma, and

explained his use of a plough share as a weapon ; he

clothed in a dark blue vest, and

is

is

implies as has been before

represented of a white color,

thus alluded to in the introduction to the Gita Govinda

of Jayabe'va.

translated by Sir Wm Jon= s in his Essay on the Chronology of the Hindus. " Thou
" bearest on thy bright body a mantle shining like a blue Cloud, or like the water of the
" Yamuna tripping towards thee through fear ->f thy furrowing ploughshare, Oh Ce'savaJ
" assuming the form of Balara'ma, be victorious Oh Heril Lord of the universe."

Thus

MEGIIA DUTA OR

Haply

across thy long

In sport

may Goum

and mountain way,

with her Siva stray,

Her

serpent bracelet from her wrist displaced.

And

in her arms, the

Should thus

it

mighty

fortune,

A path their holy

be

it

footsteps

412

God embraced

thine to lend s

may ascend

io*

Close in thy hollow form thy stores comprest,

While by
Next

Thy

let

the touch of feet celestial blest*

each maid of heaven, each blooming

girl^

420

graceful form Jn sportive mischief whirl j

Annotations,

Verse

412.

In sport may Gottri with her Siva

stray.']

have already noticed that

mountains are the scene of Siva's loves and sports: they may still be considered
as his favorite haunts for some traces of him seem to start up in every direction amongst
them. See the late travels to the source of the Ganges t and Col. Hardwicke's Tour
these

to Sirinagur.

Verse

420.

Thy

graceful form in sportive mischief whirl.]

The meaning of

this

eaa

CLOUD MESSENGER.

73

While lightning gems around each

wrist that wind,

Release the treasures in thy breast confined

Nor

fear their

aim thy progress

A grateful succor in

Where

424

the sultry day

For soon thy thunders

Of heart

to delay

shall disperse

a train5

as timid, as of purpose vain.

bright the mountain's crystal glories break,

428

Explore the golden lotus-covered lake

Annotations.
who know what a Goolab-pash is a small vessel for
In such a capacity is the Cloud to be used by the youthful

only be readily conceived by those

sprinkling rose water, &c.

goddesses.

Verse 421.

While lightning gems around each wrist that wind.'] The diamond and
thunderbolt according to Hindu notions are of one substance, and are called by the

same appellation, ($*%)

may

as the fall of the thunderbolt is usually followed

thus be considered as

it's

by

substance upon the wrists of our young ladies,

is

in like

manner supposed

to

and
same

rain,

eause, the propinquity and the mutual friction of the

occasion

the dispersion of the fluid treasures of the Cloud.

" Unsteady in their sports," is the

literal expression of the original, but the Commentators dilate the sentiment in the
-manner here adopted our joint want of gallantry may find a precedent even in the poet
pf this science, for Ovid makes Hero write thus to Leander,

Verse

426.

Of heart as

timid as of purpose vain,"]

Ut corpus

Weak as

teneris ita mens infirm a puellis,

her frame the tender virgin's mind.

; ;

MEGHA DUTA OR

7*

Imbibe the dews of Md nasa^ and

A friendly veil
Or

life

round Airavata's head

dispensing with the

Where

heavenly

Now on

spreacL,

trees,

Zephyrs go,

with fainting blossoms blow.

432

the mountain's side like some dear friend,

Behold the

city of the

Gods impend

Annotations.

Verse

Manasa, Manasarovara or commonly Man-sarour is a celebrated lake

Himalaya mountains, and was long said to he the source
rivers with respect to the first of these the statement
Brahmaputra
and
Ganges,
of the
has been found to be erroneous, and we have no positive proofs of its accuracy with regard
to the latter. Some period has elapsed since it was visited by Europeans, and the chief
429.

situated in the centre of the

information possessed at present, has been derived from the vague reports of
Pilgrims, the lake being of great note in their sacred books and

Hindu

an object of their

veneration.

We here take leave of

the geographical part of the

poem which

to Calidasa's accuracy, and now come to the region of unmixed

Cuve'ra and his attendant demigods,

Vekse

430.

friendly veil round

Airavata's

head.]

is

highly creditable

fable, the

residence of

Indra's Elephant

ut supra,

Verse 351.

Verse

432.

trees,

one of the

in the

Amtra

-Verse

Where heavenly
five

trees,

with fainting blossoms

kinds which flourish in Imsra's heaven.

blozc.~]

They

Literally the Culpa,

are thus enumerated

Cosha.

434.

The

city

of

the

Gods impend']

Alaca the capital of Cuve'ra.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Thy

goal behold, where Gangers winding

Skirts like

Where

And

75

a costly strain the sacred

brilliant pearls

Clouds

rill,

436

hill

descend in lucid showers,

like tresses, clothe her lofty towers,

There every palace with thy glory

vies,

440

Whose

soaring summits kiss the lofty skies 5

Whose

beauteous inmates bright as lightning glare.

And

tabors

mock

The rainbow
And

the thunders of the air

flickering gleams along the walls,

glittering rain, in sparkling

There

lovely triflers

Dress

all their care,

diamonds

falls*

444

wanton through the day,

and

all their

labour play;,

3tonotatt<m&

Verse 440. I have availed myself of the aid of the Commentators to make out this
passage rather more fully than it occurs in the original, and consequently more intelligibly
to the English reader:

the poet describes the toilet of the Yacshinis, or female

through the six seasons

of the year, by mentioning as the

Yacshasy

selected flowers, ihos$

MEGHA DUTA

ft*

One while

Or

Oil

the fluttering lotus fans the

fair,

Ciuida top-knots crown the jetty hair;

Now

o'er the

Now' midst

448

cheek the Lod'h's pale pollen shines,

their curls the

Amaranth entwines

These graces varying with the varying year,

Sirisha blossoms deck the tender ear;

352

Or new Cadamhas with thy coming born,

The

parted locks, and polished front adorn.

Annotations,,
peculiar to each period.

months of our autumn

Thus the Lotus blooms in Sarat or the sultry season, two

(Jasminum pubesccns) in Sls'ira or the dewy season,

the Cunda

the Lo(Th) a species of tree, ( Symplocos racemosa

winter; the Curuvaca (Gompkrcena gfobosa)

Rox)

is

in

blossom in Uimat/ta or

in Vasanta or spring, the Sirisha (Mimosa

months or Griskma, and the Nipa or Cadamba (Nauclea Cadamba)

at the setting in of the rains: it is to the Commentators also, that I am indebted for the
the fact is,
sole occupation of the Goddesses being pleasure and dress
Sirisha) in the hot

To
To

dress,

and

troll the tongue,

sing, to dance,

and

roll the eye,

constitutes a very well educated female according to the customs of Hindoostan:

we

cannot help however being pleased with the simplicity and propriety of taste, which
gives to the graceful ornaments of nature so prominent a part in the decoration of
ienriniae

beauty.

CLOUD MESSENGER,

Thus graced

they

And gems, and

woo

77

the Yacshas to their arms,

wine, and music, aid their charms;

The

strains divine

And

wines from grapes of heavenly growth

The gems
Like

with art

456

celestial thrill,
distil;

bestrew each terrace of delight,

stars that glitter

There when the Sun

What deeds

through the shades of night.

460

restores the rising day,

of love his tell-tale beams display;

Sfartotatioit

Verse
lost,

45S.

And wines from

grapes of heavenly growth

distil ;]

So Milto.v, Paradise

5,426,
In Heaven the trees,Of life ambrosial fruitage bear, and vines yield nectar?

And

again line 835,

Rubied nectar

flows,

Fruit of delicious vines the growth of Heaven.

Verse. 460.

Like

stars that glitter

The

through the shades of night.']

Starres thai are the Jewels of the night.

Thus B. JoNSON*

MEGHA DUTA OR

78

The

withered garlands on the pathway found,

The

faded lotus prostrate on the ground,

The

pearls that bursting zones

464

have taught

to

roam.

Speak of fond maids, and wanderers from home.

High on

The

its

costly

stem with diamonds bright,

splendid lamp glows vivid through the night

468

annotation.
Speak of fond maids and wanderers from home.'] I have already mentioned
send the lady \o seek her loyer, and they usually add a very
always
that the Hindus
reasonable degree of ardor and impatience ; our poet in another place, compares the

Verse

466.

female so engaged to a rapid current: thus in the Ritu Sanhdra.

Fast flow the turbid torrents as they sweep,

The shelving vallies to rejoin the Deep,

And like

Who

the damsel prodigal of charms,

seeks impatiently her lover's arms,

Bound o'er each obstacle with headlong force,

And banks and trees demolish in their course.
Verse 468. The splendid lamp glows vivid through the
more nearly in an Epigram in the Anthology.

night.'}

The meaning

is

given

Ludite, sed vigiles nolite extinguere h/chnos.

concentrated and in part omitted, two verses of the original,

I cannot admit however
offensive to our notions of the decorum of composition.

I
as'

have indeed in

this place

CLOUD MESSENGER.

79

Or the soft glories of the lunar beam.

In gems condensed, diffuse their grateful gleam J

-A

C\

"

"

'

Annotation.
that

Hindu

literature, speaking generally,

more

is

liable to the

reproach of indecency

than that of Europe: nothing can be found in their serious works half so licentious as are
many passages in the writings of Ovid, Catullus, Prop ertius, and even the elegant
Flaccus;- to descend to modern times Ariosto and Boccacio amongst the Italians;
Brantome, Crebillon, Voltaire, La Fontaine, and the Avriters of many recent
philosophical novels

amongst the French,

furnish us with

more than

paralells for the

most indelicate of the Hindu writers; with respect to ourselves, not to go back to the days
in which " obscenity was wit" we have little reason to reproach the Hindus with want
f delicacy, when we find the exceptionable though elegant poetry of Little generally
circulated,

and avowedly admired.

society before

to trespass

we condemn

should also recollect the circumstances of Indian

ungarbled expressions, which we conceive

These authors write to men only

upon the boundaries of decorum.

never think of a

woman

as a reader:

alone, conversation takes

now even

commonly greater

in polished

liberties

would

they

European society, amongst men

than any Hindu composition, and

to infer that were our writings addressed only to the male portion

is fair

it

of society, they

would in that case be

and Gibbon and Hume,

partake of a similar character: extreme attention to delicacy

regarded as puerile or fastidious

seem

We

their authors for the

to consider

it

it is

so

now

so in historical Avriting:

in

if

works of science,

then

we were

not apprehensive of sullying

we
would take place to a greater extent than it has done in works of imagination. I am not
sure that were this to happen the quantity of virtue in the world would be much dimiwhat every one knows, surely every one may
nished; what is natural, cannot be vicious
safe
in ignorance, or which is only defended by
only
mind
which
is
that
and
express;
decorum, possesses but a very feeble defence and impotent security. I have said more
those minds whose purity

are interested in preserving, the breach of the rules of delicacy

than was perhaps necessary, but I am anxious that the Hindus should
have justice done to them, and not be held up to the world, as they have been by a
mistaken, and I am afraid, a spiteful zeal, as monsters of impurity.

upon

this subject

Verse 469.

The moon gem

or Chandracdnla

(^f^rri)*

MEGIIA DUTA OR

SO

What

though while Siva with the

God

of gold>

Delights a friendly intercourse to hold

The

472

Ltord of Love, remembering former woe,

Wields not

Yet

still

The

in

Alaca

he triumphs,

fatal

for

each maid

bow, with love-inspiring

And wanton

bow

his bee-strung

supplies,.

476

eyes,.

glances emulate the dart,

That speeds unerring

to the beating heart*

^^^t^n^^wTT^i^if^^iM^HRT

8roiotatta,

Verse
befell the

Lord of Love remembering former woe.'] This alludes to- the fate which
he
Hindu Cupid upon his assailing Siva, whom at the desire of the Gods
473.

TJie

Siva in his wrath reduced the little deity to ashes

subsequently restored to
by a flame from the eye in his forehead, and although lie was
the whole story
animation, he is here supposed to remain in dread of his former enemy
and to Durga.
is spiritedly told in Sir Win. Jones's hymns to Camdeo
eye darting arrows is an idea
The
dart.']
the
emulate
glances
inflamed with the love of Pv'rvati

Vbrse

477.

And

wanton

CLOUD MESSENGER.

The

.81

gale that blows eternally, their guide,

480

Hiirh over Alaca the Clouds divide,

Scattered they

And

by

fear,

conscious crime spoke retribution near:

Some just award,

The

as if dispersed

lie,

showers that lately

for

soiledj

484

painted floor, or gilded roof despoiled.

North-ward from where Cuvera holds

Where

Indra's

bow

his state,

surmounts the arching

^K^^5^1I^Ii^^ft^:

<*ate

v6^||
||

Annotations,
familiar to English poetry, as in these instances.

jHer eye darted contagious

Her

Feathered
I

all

with swift desire.

mote perceive how

in

jLegions of love:, with

Darling

And
Verse

484.

fire.

Milton.

eves carried darts offire^

Greene's Never

little

wings did

fly,

Spenser. Sonnet,
Pope's Elegy.

their deadly arrows fiery brig

those love darting eyes shall roll no more.

Ti;e painted fioor.~]

It

is-

too late.

her glancing sight,

customary amongst the Hindus upon

occasions to Smooth and paint the ground on

which worship

is

to

16.

festival

be performed, or the

MEGHA DUTA OR

82

Where on rich boughs,

And low

the clustering flower depends.

Manddra bends

to earth, the tall

Pride of the grove, whose wants

And

my

nurtures like a child ;

There

is

Where

And

my

fair supplies s

dwelling

lies.

the fountain emerald steps denote,

golden buds, on stalks of coral

for

488

whose

limpids waves the

492

floaty

Swans

forsake.

Pleased at thy sight, the mount encircled lake:.

?%HI^TO^^R^Rf^fS'

annotations

115,

assembly to be held; as

a shower of rain

Verse
Verse

is

this spot is generally in

an open area within the

Trails

of^he house,

of course- very hostile- to such decoration.

488.

The

490.

And nurtures

of the most pleasing

tall

Manddra.']
like

The Coral

a child.]

tree, Erythrina Indica.

Tender attachment

features* in the poetical compositions of the

to natural objects

Hindus.

It is

is

one

very fre-

quently expressed, and. perhaps in few- places with more beauty than in the Drama of
Sacontaiva, where upon departingfrom the bower of her foster father, she bids adieu to the
plants she had carefully tended, and the orphan fawn she had reared.

The whole of

this

scene must be read with pleasure, and may beclassed with the departure of Goldsmith's
village family

from Auburn, and the farewell of

Eve

to the

bowers of Paradise.

CLOUD MESSENGER.
Soft from, the pool ascends a -shelving, ground*
r

Where

shades devoted to delight abound;

Where

the caerulean summit towers above*

The

golden circle of a plaintain grove

Lamented haunts; whom now

As

493

in thee I view,

500

glittering lightnings girt thy base of blue.

See where the clustering. MdcVhavi entwines,

And

bright Curuvaca the wreath confines

Annotations,

Verse

498.

of a plaintain grove.'] Milton, applies the epithet

of heaven, as often as Calidasj thus in the fourth book within a

The golden

golden to the fruits

circle

few lines we have.

Blooming ambrosial

Of vegetable.
And

Gold,

fruit,

again,"

Others whose

Hung
Verse 50K
Eengahnsis)

is

fruit

burnished with Golden rind ?

amiable, Hesperian fables true.

The Mudhavi

entwines.]

This creeper, (Gcertn&ria racemosa, or Banisleria

often alluded to by the Poets for

its

superior elegance, and the beauty

of its red bloossoms.

Verse

502.

Cunrcaca

blue species of Barleria.

is

the crimson Amaranth, the Sanscrit

name

is

also applied to a

MEGHA DUTA OR

Si

Profuse, Asoca sheds

And budding Cesara

These are

As

And

my

would

The grateful

radiant flower,

adorns the bower;

for the

my

willingly,

my

with

rivals

its

fondness,

504

one would greet*

charmer's

feet,

would the other

nectar of her honied

sip,

508

lip,

#nti0tatton&

Verse
Sir

503.

Wm. Jones

Asoca tree in

Profuse, Asoca sheds

says,

full

Verse 504.

its

radiant flower. ~]

Jonesia Asoca, speaking of which

" The vegetable world scarcely exhibits a richer

sight, than

an

bloom.

And budding

desara.~\

A tree yielding a

strong smelling flower, (Mimusops

elengi).

Verse 505.

These are

my rivals, #c]

These allusions

refer to

some particular notions

of the Hindus respecting the Cesara and Asoca, which plants are said to blossom upon
being touched respectively by the face, or foot of a female the story is probably original!/
poetical, thus Drayton in his Shepherd's Serina, expatiates upen a similar idea.
;

The verdant meads

When

are seen,

she doth view them,

In fresh and gallant green,

Straight to renew them.:

And

every

Broad
Proud

Upon

little

grass,

itself spreadeth,

that this
it

bonny

treadeth.

laS3,

CL0U1) MESSENGER.

A golden

column on a

Begirt with jewels

Here when

The

85

crystal base,

rises o'er the

place;

the evening twilight shades the skies,

blue necked Peacock to the summit

And moves

in graceful circles to the tone,

My fair awakens

from her tinkling zone.

These be thy guides ; and

The marks
Where

512

flies,

faithfully preserve,

516

I give thee; or e'en more, observe,

painted emblems holy wealth design,

Cuvlra's

abode

treasures; that

is

mine:

annotations.

Verse
it

The blue necked Peacock

512.

lays its nest

upon the ground

is

to the

said by

summit flies'] The wild Peacock although

Capt. Williamson, to roost constantly on

the loftiest trees.

Vehse

514.
is

Mj/

fair

a favorite

awakens from

her

Hindu ornament

tinkling

zone.']

girdle of small bells

also silver circles at the ancles

(atjrsrftc^r)
tvnicn emit a ringing noise as the wearer moves.

VfcKSE 518.

CuvifflA's Treasures.']

The

Thick with sparkling oriental gems.

portal shone.

Paradise

losl i

3 } 507.

and

wrists

MEG HA DUTA OR

86

Haply

honors_are not

its

Dimmed by my

now

and in

fate,

to boast,

my

For Avhen the sun withdraws

exile lost;

520

his cheering rays 9

Faint are the charms the Camala displays.

#nnptatta;n$,

For such Cuve'ar's nine

ing upon Amera,

tlius

treasui'es are

sometimes supposed tote: JRamasrama .comment-

enumerates them from the S'abdarnaza.

" The Padma, Mahapadma,

Mucunda, Nanda, Nila and

Chantt, are the nine Nid'his." The S'abda Eetnavali also has the same reading. In
Nid'hi (f^l), is the
is substituted for *1%.
Hemachandra and the Sabda Mala
generic name, but how it should be rendered into English, I am not prepared to say. Mr.
Sanclia, Macara, Cach'hapa,

Colebrqoke, calls the particular Nid'his, auriferous g.sms See his translation of the
Amera Cosha. Some of the words bear the meanings of precious or holy things, thus
:

Padma

is

the letuSj Sane' ha the shell or cone hi

numbers, thus
all of

Padma

is

10,000 Millions and

them are not received

in either the

again,>

Mahapadma

some of them imply large

is

100,000 Millions, &c. but

one or the other acceptation: we may translate

almost all into Things, thus, a lotus, a large lotus, a shell, a certain fish, a tortoise, a crest,
a mathematical figure used by the Jainas, Nila refers only to color, but (?karva the ninth

means a Dwarf: Mr. Kindersley translating through the medium of the Tamuth&s called
eight of Cuvera's gems, the coral, pearl, cat's eye, emerald, diamond, sapphire, ruby
and topaz. The ninth he leaves undetermined. In Dr. Hunter's Dictionary, I find one
only of the nine in the Hindoostance lansruaare, *Ll or rr*<J~*' Neelum. or Neelmun, derived
from *1(^Hj33 a blue gem, and interpreted the Sapphire. ^^Q^ Padma-cotor means a
ruby, and possibly the Padma may be the same; perhaps ^^^1 the tortoise, means tortoise

and Macara may he an error for Maraca or Maracata an emerald, or it may imply the
same stone from the green color of the fish: these however are mere conjectures. Agreeably
to the system of the Tantricas the Nid'his are personified, and upon certain occasions, as
the worship of Lacshmi, the goddess of prosperity, &c. come in for a share of religious

shell,

veneration: they have also their peculiar mantras, or mystical Verses.

VfittSi;

522.

The Camala

is

name

of the lotus.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

To

'

those loved scenes repaired, thai awful size,

Like a young Elephant,

Lest terror seize

Hangs

my

fair

o'er the hillock,

Thence

to the inner

24

in haste disguise;

one, as thy form

and portends the

mansion bend thy

storm."

sight,

28

Diffusing roujid a mild and quivering light,

As when through evening

Where

the bright

fire-fly

shades, soft flashes play,

wings

his glittering

way.

Annotations.

Verse

wings his glittering wa7/.~\ The fire-fly presents a

very beautiful appearance, as it's soft and twinkling light is contrasted with the deep shade
of the bushes, in which ic may be seen ia great numbers during the wet season. The phenomenon is common to the east and the west Indies, and it may be amusing to see the
530.

Where

the bright fire -fly

produced by it on different persons and at different periods Moore meeting with it ia

America, writes some elegant stanzas on the subject, and adds to the lightness of his verse,

effect

the solidity of prose in the authority of this note. "

which these

fire-flies light

up the woods

ces mouches se devdoppant de V

The

lively

and varying illumination with

at night gives quite

an idea of .enchantment. Puis

obscurite

de

ce.s

arbres, et s'approchant de

nous, nous let

coyions sur lesprangers voisins, qu'ils mettoient tout en

feu, nous rendant la

fruits,

que

vue de leurs beaux

L, Histoire Des Antilles." See Moore's Odes and
have now to hear the description of a traveller of 1672, the learned

la nuit avoit ravie $?c.

Epistles.

We

and very

devout,

Johannes Fryer, M. D.
" The next Day at Twelve a Clock at Noon we struck into our old
Road at
Moorbar, from whence before we were misguided ; we packed hence by Five -in the
k

MEG HA DUTA OR

3a

There

The

in the fane,

first

Whose

full

best

a beauteous

work of the

creature stands

532

Creator's hands

slender limbs inadequately bear,

orbed bosom, and a weight of care ;

2rvmictati0ri.
Afternoon, and

left

our Burnt

Wood

on the Right-hand, but entered another made us

better Sport, deluding us with false Flashes, that

me

the Trees

untouch'd by Fire, they retained their wonted Verdure.

Coolies beheld the Sight with Horror and Amazement, and were consulting to set
down, and shift for themselves; whereof being informed, I cut tie o or three with v>y

on a Flame, and presently, as

The

you would have thought

if

Sword, and by breathing a Vein,

Devil) out,

let Shitan (the

who was

crept into their

Fancies, and led them as they do a startling Jade, to smell to what their Wall-Eye3
represented amiss; where we found an Host of Flies, the Subject both of our Fear and

Wonder, which the sultry Heat and Moisture had generated into Being, the certain
Prodromus of the ensuing Rain, which follow'd us from the Hills.
This gave my Thoughts the Contemplation of that Miraculous Bush crowned with
Innocent Flames, that gave to Moses so pleasant and amful a Prospect; the fire that consumes
every thing, seeming rather to dress than offend it."
Verse 5S2. The first best work of the Creators hands."] Literally the first creation of

Brahma' and first may refer

Milton speaking of Eve.

to time, or to degree

Oh Fairest of creation,
Of all God's works.

last

and

it

n.ost probably here

means best; So

best,

Paradise

lost 9,

896.

perhaps the most pleasing part of this elegant little poem, the deswho
I may perhaps come under the denomination of those
cription of the Yacsha's wife.
Pinkertow
a
Mr.
according to the illiberal and arrogant criticism of such a writer as
judgprove, " That the climate of India, while it inflames the imagination, impairs the
" ment," when standing in very little awe of such a poetical censor, I advance an

We now enter upon

opinion, that

we have few specimens

tenderness or delicate feeling.

either in classical or

modern Poetry, of more genuine

CLOUD MESSENGER.
Whose

And fawn
Lone
Her

whose

teeth like pearls,

like eyes

still

89

Bimbas show,

lips like

538

tremble as they glow.

widowed Chacravuci mourns,

as the

faithful

memory

to her

husband

turns,

i.,

gtmotatiotu

Vfrse
red

535.

fruit to

which the

Ver.se 537.

known

Whose

in India,

observed to

fly

The

tips like

lip is

Bimbas

show."]

The Bimha (Bryonia

very commonly compared.

Chacravaci

is

the ruddy goose (Anas Casarca,)

by the appellation, Brahmany Duck or Goose.

in pairs

more commonly

These birds are always

during the dav, but are supposed to remain separate during

the night: in the Hindoostanee Philology of Messrs.

amusing account of the popular belief on

u poetry of

grandis) bears a

the Hindus

is

GiIchrist and Roebuck, an

this subject is thus given,

their turtle dove, for constancy

" This bird

and connubial

in the

affection,

11

with the singular circumstance of the pair being doomed for ever to nocturnal separa-

*'

tion for having offended one of the

Hindu

*'

Ye mare kurtar ke ruen

(Munis or
mut maro ko,e

divinities

" Chukwa chukwee do June

in

Saints) whence,

bich hora ho,e

" Mark heaven's decree and man forbear.

" To aim thy shafts or puny thunder,

" At
"

these poor fowls a hapless pair,

Who

pass the lonely nights asunder.

(t

If we believe popular tradition

"

effect

and

assertions,

the cause

is

so far confirmed by the

observable in the conduct of these birds to the present day,

who

are said to

" occupy the opposite banks of a water, or stream regularly every evening, and exclaim
.

the live long night to each other, thus

Aa

MEGIIA DUTA OR

90

And

sad,

Half of

and

my

shalt thou find

silent,

soul,

and partner of

my

my

wife,

540

life,

Annotation*

" Chuchi,ee muen a,oon? Nuheen nuheen chucJcnoa r

il
Ckuckzoa muen a,oon ? Nuheen nuheen chuckui eei
" Say shall I come my dear to thee,
" Ah no indeed that cannot be,
" But may I wing my love to you,
" Nay chuck alas this will not do.'*"

Verse

5-i'O.

Half of my
Part of

^!f*frfcj

^t 2

(
expression,

-*)

my

"

My
My

half,

to have

obtained a

my

of my life.'] So Mil/row,
and thee claim,

soul I seek thee

other half,

second existence,"

are the words of the original; and the other

uncommon in Sanscrit than in western poetry thus

thinks, profane expressions of endearment, seem
Malaprop
Mrs.
very extensive circulation my life, my soul are common to most
is

these tender, and as

soul and partner

not more

of the European languages, and the most frequent epithet, by which a mistress is
addressed in Persian or Hindoostance j^W- is of a similar import. Amongst the Romans,
rita

and anima were used

friendship, as

Horace

calls

in the

same manner, or even

in the temperate

warmth of

Virgil,

Animoz dimidium mecer

Half of my

And Fropehtius

soul,

addressing his mistress calls her bis

Mratas rumpam, men

I'll

We may suppose the

as

we

burst,

my

life,

vita,

life,-

catena. ',
1

the brazen chains.

Romans derived

these pretty words from the Greeks, and indeed

learn from Juvenal 6, 194, they were very fond of employing, though not in the

most becoming manner, the original terms ZU mi 4^%v, the English translation of which
has been given at some length by Mrs. Tighe, in her poem of Psyche, and with some
addition by Lord Byron in his Anglo-Greek song, the burthen of which is the old
sentiment in a modern antique shape, or

Greek of the Morea,

my

life

I love you

in the Zaij

<r#s

ttymu of the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Nipped by

chill

Their shrinking
I view her

And

now

those dear

sorrow, as the flowers enfold,

petals,

from the withering cold

long weeping swells her eyes,

are dried

lips,

Sad on her hand her

And

91

pallid

by parching

sighs

544

cheek declines,

half unseen through veiling tresses shines;

As when a darkling night the moon enshrouds,

A few faint rays break straggling through the Clouds.

548

testatum*
Verse 541.

Nipped

bj/ chill

sorrow as the Jlowers

enfold.*]

Sain

TLord Lttti*eton.'s

Monody.

sudden blast from Jppenninus blows,

Cold with perpetual snows;
The tender blighted plant shrinks up its leaves, and

Verse
Catullus,

543.

Long weeping

swells

her

eyes.']

Flendo turgiduli rubent

Her

dies.

In this she resembles the Lesbia of

oculi,

swollen eyes are red with weeping*

MEGIIA DUTA OR

92

Now at thy
And
I

mark

sight I

sacred sacrifice augments her

mark her now, with

This wasted

Now
And

figure,

woe

fancy's aid retrace,

and

this

haggard face ;

from her favorite bird she seeks

tells

Mourns

And

fresh sorrows flow,

52

relief,

the tuneful Sdried her grief,

o'er the feathered prisoner's kindred fate,

fondly questions of

it's

553

absent mate,

gmtotatton.

Verse 550.
Ovid.

And sacred sacrifice

augments ker woe. ~J

Thus Laodameia

to

Protesilaus

in

Thura damus lacrymamque super,

up, and add our

We offer incense
The commentators however

are not agreed

tears.

how to interpret

thispassage in the original text,

(<Rlfc|T^^T) nor the expression, (HMrlfn^") " She falls before thee," they seem however

to conceive
at

it

lord

is

its

being the period

proscribed, and therefore either falls in a swoon, or with excess of affliction:

the sacrifice
3tT3i3pT?

3^

means, that the approach of the Cloud reminding her of

which absent husbands usually return home, she recollects that the return of her own
is

to

be performed to render the Gods propitious, or

usually performed by

" In the

city,"

not,

women

it is

a sacrifice called

at the beginning of the rainy season

some

interpret

" Before, in front,"

Verse 551. The Sdried' (Gracula

name of Maina ; it is represented as a

religiosa) is

a small bird better known by the

female, while the Parrot

is

described as a male

CLOUD MESSENGER.
In vain the lute for harmony

And round

is

9a

strung,

the robe-neglected shoulder slung;

And

faltering accents strive to catch in vain,

Our

race's old

commemorative

580

strain:

=s

....

^mtotattows.
bird,

and

as these

two have

Hindu

in all

tales,

the faculty of

human

speech, they are

constantly introduced, the one inveighing- against the faults of the male sex, and the other
exposing- the defects of the female

they are thus represented in the fourth story of that

entertaining- collection the Buetal Pucheesee.

Ladies have always been distinguished for maintaining pet animals, and fhe fancy
eems to have been equally prevalent in the east and .west, and in ancient or modern

may rival the Sdrica of the wife

see Cowper's Poems.
of the Yacsha, and Bullfinch of Mrs. Throckmorton
Verse 557. In vain the lute for harmony is strung.~] The lute is here put for the

times: the swallow of Lesbia, Passer

delicice

meat puellce,
:

Veena or Beeny a stringed instrument of sacred origin, and high celebrity amongst the

Hindus. In Bengal however players on this instrument are very rarely met with, and
amongst the natives of this province, the English fiddle is it's substitute in the Jalras or
Dra?natic performances still current amongst them, I have seen the entrance of Na'reda,
:

the traditionary inventor of the Veena, bearing in

the most harmonious and scientific of all the

of

it

may be found

Veh.se 558.

in the first

Volume of the

Robe-neglected

is

Ei qua possum

Verse

560.

it's

stead a violin.

Hindu instruments

The Veena

is

much

of music: a description

Asiatic Researches.

here put for HNffi^T dirty

clothes, so

Laodameia

says

squalore tuos imitare labores, &c.

And with my squalid vesture ape thy toils.

Our race's old commemorative strain.] " The verse made

kindred" a circumstance that points out some

affinity to the

and family bards.

Bb

in

honour of

my

songs of the ancient minstrels,

MEGIIA DUTA OR

91

The

falling tear that

from reflexion springs,

Corrodes incessantly the silvery strings

Recurring woe

The

skilful

still

hand

pressing on the heart,

forgets

And idly wandering

its

strikes

no measured tone,

But wakes a sad wild warbling of

At times such

564

grateful art,

its

own.

solace animates her mind,

As widowed wives

in cheerless absence find;

She counts the flowers now faded on the

That graced with monthly

568

floor,

piety the door,

annotations.

Verse

56S.

As

widoz&ed wives in cheerless absence jind.~\

So in Hero's

epistle to

Jjeander,

Fcemined tardus fallimus arte moras,

With

Verse

570.

a month.

women

use,

That graced with monthly

we

cheat the lazy time.

'piety the door. ~]

The Hindus pay a

species of

many inanimate objects: amongst others the door way, or door post
such homage as is rendered by hanging up a flower or a garland there once

adoration to
receives

arts, as

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Thence reckons up

And

far

Conceives

my

fond

But much

Or

compelled to roam;

I dread

like these the

572

term of exile run,

my homeward journey

Lightened by tasks

When

the period since from home,

from her, was

And deeming

95

is

begun.

day proceeds^

bitterer night succeeds:

576

thou shalt view her on the earth's cold breast.

lonely couch of separation

rest,.

Disturbed by tears those pallid cheeks that burn,

And

visions of her dearer half's return.

8tm0tattcn&

Veb.se 576.

So Catullus.
Nunc et amara dies, et noctis amarior umbra
The day is bitter now, but bitterer still,
[Will be night's shadows.

est,

580

MIIGHA DUTA OR

96

Now seeking

sleep,

And waking now,

a husband to

his

restore,

absence to deplore;

Deprived of slumber by returning woes.

Or mocked by

idle

phantoms of repose

Till her slight form,

Shews

like the

consumed by

moon,

fast

Crisp from the purifying

ceaseless pair.,

hastening to

wave her

584

it's

wane.

hair

Conceals the charms, no more her pleasing care;

And

588

with neglected nails her fingers chase,

Fatigued, the

tresses

wandering

o'er her face.

Annotations.

Verse 582.

In the

1th Idyll of

$>oir%g

0*%vj

5'

a,W 8Ts omw y"Kvmg

d'ev&vg Iowa,

You come when

yXvmg

have the same circumstances stated;

vxvog e%v\ pe 9

vnvog myj [xt.

pleasing sleep has closed mine eye,

vision with

In the translation of the Sanscrit,

slightly

oy.a.

v/e

Fawkes's Translation.
my slumbers fly.
have here intermixed two stanzas and part of a third,
altered the arrangement.

And iike a

and

Theocritus,

CLOUD MESSENGER.

Firm winds

When
And

the

fillet,

as

it first

fate relentless forced

97

was wove,

me from my

592

love

never flowery wreathes, nor costly pearls,

Must hope

to decorate the fettered curls

Xvoosed by no hand, until the law divine,

Accomplished, that delighted hand

is

596

mine.

^^^mircsfCTfaww^^f^

ii

tfr<> li

annotations.

Verse

collected,

The Vem is a braid into

when they have lost their

the dancing girls also wear their hair in this manner.

Neglecting the ornament

59,1.

Firm winds

the

fillet,

as

which the long hair of the Hindoostanee

husbands

it first

was

women is

ayore.]

of this part especially, has been in all ages, except the present perhaps, an indication

of grief;

we have

Theocritus

thus in Ovid.

Nee

mihi pectendos cura

Nor

yield I

takes the hair off

Eppau/

Oqe

SVk

'it vis

now my

prebcre capillos t

comb.
amorous damsels,
one
of
his
from
entirely,

Mtpalyg-ncitrou

Mt

t^%^

V^ Se

"Koax
Idj/ll 2,

lepiiM

Soon from my

And my fair
Forlorn

est

tresses to the

89.

cheeks the crimson color fled,

tresses perished

I lived,

on

my head

of body quite bereft,

For bones and skin were

all that I

Cc

had

left.

Fawkes's

Translation.

MEGIIA DUTA OR

OS

Dull as the flower

when

clouds through aether sweep,

Not wholly waking, nor resigned

Her heavy

To

to sleep

eyelids languidly unclose,

where the moon

its

silvery radiance

Mild through the chamber; once a welcome

Avoided now, and hateful

600

throws
light,

to her sight.

Those charms

that glittering ornaments oppress,

Those

slumbers that proclaim distress,

That

restless

slender figure

worn by

604

grief severe,

Shall surely gain thy sympathizing tear j.

For

the soft breast

is

swift to overflow,

In moist compassion, at the claims of woe.

608<

Annotations
Verse

607.

For

the sofi breast

from the original, which

says, " a

is

swift to overflow. ~\
soft

heart

is

This sentiment

is

rather dilated

always the abode of compassion," the

CLOUD MESSENGER.

The same

when compelled

to part,

Her

love

was mine,

Her

well

known

Nor

vain conceit suggests unmeaning words;

No

boaster I !

With

And

is

left

possess her heart

still

faith this confidence affords,

and time

612

shall quickly teach,

observation joined,

O'er her

tenor however

fond wife as

99

how just my

speech.

limbs shall glad pulsations play,

signs auspicious indicate thy

given in the translation, and

may be

way;

616

the meaning of Tibullus,

when

he expresses himself thus:

Flchis r non

tita

sunt duro prcecordia ferro,

Vincta, nee in tenero stat tibi corde silex,

Sure thou wilt weep ;

For well I know nor flint nor ruthless steel,
Can arm the breast of such a gentle maid. Grainger

Verse
limbs,

615.

0]er her

and a throbbing

occuring in the female

left

limbs shall glad pulsation piaj/.~\

in the left eye, are

:

in the

Palpitations in the left

here described as auspicious omens,

male the right side

is

when

the auspicious side, corresponding

with the ideas of the Greeht thus described by Potter.

MEGHA DUTA OR

100

And

While
-

trembling on the

like the lotus

its

deep roots the sportive

So tremulous throbs the

Loose

o'er

whose

lids

Soothed by expected
O'er her

tidings,

And watch

bliss

should gentle sleep,

and suspend thy

banish,

sort of internal

lest

flight,

624

the awful sound,

and her dreams confound,

*- ..__-..

*S

TsxaMav from

620

fall.

in silent patience through the night 5

Her slumber

cno

eye's enchanting ball,

neglected tresses

Withhold thy thunders,

" The third

fish divide*

and frame exhausted creep,

soft limbs

Delay thy

tide,

"S

Annotations.
omens were the TlaA/xo/ or TlxX^im

sluvhyMl*.

so called

Palpitating ; such were the palpitations of the heart, the eye, or any of

the muscles, called in Latin, saltationes, and Bcfi&og or a ringing in the ears, which in the
right- ear

was a lucky omen; so also was the palpitation of the right-eye

telleth us.

Khhtiai oQbxhfJWG

My

fibi

6 Stylos

right eye-twinkles."

as Theocritus

CLOUD MESSENGER.
Where

101

her fond arms, like winding shrubs she flings,

Around my neck, and

Behold her

to

my bosom

rising with the early

623

clings.

morn,

Fair as the flower that opening buds adorn ;

And

strive to

With

animate her drooping mind,

cooling rain drops, and refreshing wind y

632

Restrain thy lightnings, as her timid gaze,

Shrinks from the bright intolerable blaze;

And murmuring softly,

With words

gentle sounds prepare,

like these to raise

her from despair*

636

Bnnotaifon&
Verse 627.

Like winding

shrubs.']

So doth the woodbine the sweet honey suckle,

Gently entwist, the female ivy so,
Enrings the barky fingers of the elm.
Midsummer Night's Dream.

Verse 630.

Fair as the Jlower that opening buds adorn.^

The Commentators have

;;

MEGHA DUTA OR

102

Oh

wife adored ! wliose lord

Behold his

friend,

and messenger

Who now approach

With many a
Such

tender,

in

me

640

and consoling thought

where absent

wanderer lightly on

my

lives for thee

thy beauteous presence fraught,

tasks are mine:

I speed the

still

his

lovers stray,

way

And

with

New

hopes the braid of absence to unbind.'

thunders teach his lagging mind,

6 44

taken great pains to explain this allusion to the flower, or in the original the Malali

a kind of Jasmin; their labor

is

however very

Catullus

calls

Alba parthenice

velut }

familiar to Poetry, thus

idle,

as the

comparison has always been

a lady,

ZiUteumve papaver,

Like the white Parthenice, or yellow poppy.

And Chaucer

has,

That Emilie

Than
Verse

on Verse.
Verse

is

that fayrer

was

to seene,

the lily upon his stalk green.

641.

Such

6ii.

The braid of absence

tasks are mine.]

is

This allusion has been explained in the Note

the Ve'ni, see

Note on Verse 591.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

As beauteous Mait'hili with glad

103

surprize,"

Bent on the Son of air her opening* eyes

So

my

Thy
She

pleased uplifted gaze,

fair partner's

friendly presence with delight surveys;

618

smiles, she speaks, her misery foregoes,

And

deep attention on thy words bestows

For such dear

Scarce

less

tidings happiness impart,

than mutual meeting to the

....

<es

65.2

heart.'

gj

^i^rmTT^^rr?i^^f^^ii^p;^r

i^~

J
,.

'

..

~,_

._

Brmotatfan&
Verse
nativity,

64^.

Mait'hili'

is

name of

Sita, derived from MiChila,

and the modern Tirhut: the allusion relates

the place of her

to the discovery of her in Lanca,

by

Rama's envoy Hanuman, the monkey chief, said to be the son of the wind.
Verse 151. Scarce less than mutual meeting to the heart.'} They have a proverb
similar to this in the Hindoostanee language,
js

common

in the

"a

letter is half a

meeting," the expression

Poetry of the Rekhtu, and occurs thus in a Ghuzul by Jiuat.

CJ Ij Ls ia*ai
It also exists in the

^Jt>

^i L_> fLo &=> c?* $

Arabic language, and

JLockett's translation of the

is

thus given in one of the exercises of Capt.

Meeut Amil> and the Shereh Meeut Amil, or an Arabic

^jramraar, and Commentary.

* 9a

fi

9 a

,*

Correspondence they say

is

f*

half an interview.'*

; ;

MEGH4

104

DIJTA

OR

Being, of years protracted, aid thy friend

?

And

my words

with

Say thus ;

Nor

'

Thy

suggestions blend

Rama's mountain

strays,

cares but those of absence blight his days

If he

On

own

lord o'er

His only wish by

For

thine

is

blest

still

me

his friend to

know,

with health, that thou art so

this fear especially

must wait,

every creature of our passing state.

What

though

658

to distance driven

660

by wrath divine

Imagination joins his form with thine;

Such

as I view

Such

his regrets, his scorching

is

his

emaciate frame,

pangs the same;

661

Annotations.
Vterse 659.

For still

this fear especially

must

wait.~\ It is

to be recollected here that even

these heavenly beings are of a perishable nature, and subject to the infirmities of exist-

ence: the whole are swept away at each

Which

Maha

pralaya or destruction of the universe}

like the baseless fabric of a vision }

Leaves not a wreck behind.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

105

To

And

By

Since fate

To me

Pourtrays the sufferings of his constant mind

Oh, were he

every sigh of thine5 bis sigh replies,

tears responsive trickle

from his eyes,

thee unheard, by those bright eyes unseen 3

resists,

and regions intervene,

Woo

And

present, fondly

would he seek,

breathe these tender accents in thine ear.'

The world

" Thy

&

%t2

thee in close approach his words to hear,

" Goddess beloved, how

6
f And

668

the message of his love consigned,

A In secret whiser that inviting cheek;

6i

vainly I explore,

to trace the

semblance

adore

graceful form the flexile tendril shews;

like thy locks the

*n

Ee

peacock's plumage glows

67Q

MEGHA DUTA OR

loa

" Mild
" And

" In

as thy cheeks, the

moons new beams appear,

those soft eyes adorn the timid deer;

630

rippling brooks thy curling brows I see,

" But only view combined

these

charms

in thee*

&nnotatton&
Verse

679.

face to the

be found

Mild

moon

in

as thy cheeks the moon's

new beams

appear."]

Comparing a beautiful

has been supposed peculiar to oriental poets; instances however

English verse

may

perhaps that passage in Pope, where speaking of an amiable

female and the mopn, he says,

" Serene

in virgin

modesty she shines,"

exactly in point, although the general idea is similar*

Sp enser hdwever

may

not be

is sufficiently

precise.

Her spacious forehead like the clearest moon,

Whose full grovvne orbe begins now to be

spent,

Largely displayed in native silver shone,;

Giving wide room to Beauty's regiment.

Verse

682.

But only view combined these charms

This turn of the compliment,

in thee.]

closely faithful to the original, conveys a high idea of the gallantry of a

and as

this

Hindu Bard;

gallantry cannot be the ten times repeated retail of Romantic folly,

Chivalrous frenzy,

it

may be

or
considered as the natural expression of unsophisticated

We

have in these lines a complete description of beauty agreeably to

Hindu fancy, and I do not think the series of comparisons will much suffer, by bein-

tenderness.

contrasted with any similar series in classical or

modern

indeed that so continued and simple a strain of imagery

and

it

may be doing

imitations which

is

tliem an injustice to bring forward

certainly of inferior beauty.

Sylvia's like

More

autumn

is

writers.

not aware

as

analogous a passage and

its

To- begin with Pope.

ripe, yet

is

am

often to be found in the latter,

mild as May,

bright than morn, yst fresh as early day

This as well as the rest of the Pastoral

borrowed from Theocritus, Ovid,

anJ

CLOUD MESSENGER.
" E'en
**

lor

m these wilds our unrelenting fate,

Proscribes the union, love

and

68

art create

Innotatte,
*

VirgMi.

Ill

the 7th Eclogue of the latter Poet, these comparisons occur.

Nerine Galalea, thi/mo mihi dulcior Uj/blce,

Candidior eycnisyhcderd formosior alba,

Oh
This

is

Galalea nymph, than swans

more

bright,

More sweet than -thyme, more fair than

an imitation of Theocritus in his 11th Idyll.
MoV%w

ivy white.

yqupolipct, (piupalepct, o^QsMOt;. u'^oLg.-

Softer than

Wanton

Lambs you seem, than

curds more white,

as calves before the uddered kine ;

Blight as the unripe fruitage of the vine.

Ovid

also has imitated

Wartosf-.

and amplified

this

FA-WJf*s*.

same passage.

Candidior niveifdio- Galalea ligustriy

1

Floridior pratis, lev go procerior alno,

Splendidior wlro f teriero ktscisivior h rsio i

Laivior assiduo dktritri cequors conchis y

Solibus hybernis, cestivd.graiior nmbrcr,

Nobilior pomis, platano competitor altd

t

Lueidior glade, malitrar dulcior uvu,

Mollior

El
IXft-rD'EJr

si

has translated, and

Oh

cygni plumis,

el

nbn

el

lade coacto-y

fitgias riguo formosior horto.

much improved

M-etamoiJ

this passage j

lovely Galatea, whiter far,

Than
More

falling snows,

and rising

lilies are,

flowery than the meads, as crystal bright,

Erect as alders, and of equal height j

B. 15.

1.

MEGHA DUTA OR

108

" When
" O'er

with the colors that the rock supplies,

the rude stone thy pictured beauties

" Fain would

I think,

" And

fail

seek to

in

once more

homage

In vain ; for envious tears

" And veil

the lovely

we

rise,

fondly meet

at thy'feet;

my

,088

purpose blight^

image from

my

sight,

Annotations.

More wanton than a kid .more sleek thy skin,

Than orient shells that on the shore are seen;
Than apples fairer when the boughs they lade;
Pleasing as winter sun, or summer shade
More grateful to the sight than goodly plains,
And softer to the touch than down of swans,
Or curds new turned and sweeter to the taste.
Than swelling grapes that to the vintage haste,
More clear than ice, or running streams that stray,
Through garden plats, but Ah more swift than they.
Ovid's description is very much in the style of Persian Poetry, and infinitely less ap
We may add another
propriate, less simple and less delicate than the passage above.
;

specimen of perhaps superior merit, from one of that school which can never be too

b.i-hly

rated; the Lover in one of Foro's dramas thus describes his mistress.
View well her face, and in that little round.

You may

observe a world of variety

.-

For coral, lips for svyeet perfume, her breath

For jewels, eyes; for threads of purest gold,
;

Verse CSS.

Hair

for delicious ehoice of flowers, cheeks

Wonder in every
When with the colors

mineral colors;" (^Tr^pr:) that

is,

portion of that form.

(hat the rock supplies..]

" Hiyin^painted you with

according to the Cooi;nentators with red chalk, &c.

;

CLOUD MESSENGER:

109

Why should

,"

Direct his shafts at this afflicted heart;

the

God who

wields the five-fold dart,

692

s.

8mtotattmt&

Our

very limited acquaintance with the high land which

is

the scene of the

Yacska's

supposed to have

oar specifying the mineral suhstances which he maybe

employed the expression in the text however is one of many circumstances that render
it probable, that the mountains which run across the northern-most part of the Peninsula,
are rich in the objects of mineralogical enquiry we know that copper mines have been
exile, prevents
:

discovered in the eastern extremity of them, the Ore of which

is very productive The

Salagram stones or Ammonites are -found in the Narmada, and the several kinds of
:

usually called ?f^3} and rfT<5^

or River-born, and Tapti-born, in reference to their being found in the course of the

Macskicas, a class of ores not yet investigated, are

Tapti river.

Verse 69L

Why should the God who wields

Ca'made'va, the Hindu

Cupid, is represented, as the Eros of the Greeks, armed with a Bow and arrows These
weapons are of peculiar construction and most poetically formed; the bow is of sugar
cane, the bow string consists of a line of bees, and the arrows are tipped each with a
separate flower ; the weapons and application of the allegory, will be best explained by a
the Jive-fold darl.~]

verse in Sir

Wm. Jones's, hymn to this Deity.

He bends the luscious cane, and
With

He

bees

with

how

sweety hut

ah

twists the string,

how

keen their sting

free Jlowrets tips the ruthless darts,

Which through

five senses pierce

enraptured hearts

Strong Chumpa, rich in odorous gold,

Area nursed in heavenly mould;

Warm

.Dry Ncigesar in silver smiling

Hot Kriticum our

And

last to kindle fierce the

Jjove shaft, whidi

sense beguiling,

Gods

scorching flame,

bright Bela name.

Cupid is armed
allegory
In the Romaunt of the Rose, there is something of a similar
and of a
"
dight,"
and
shaven
well
were
"
five
which,
ten brode arrows," of
with
:

nature to produce virtuous attachment

while the other

five,

hell," were Pride, ViUaine, &c. and of pernicious properties,

JFf

" also black

as fiend in

MEGHA DUTA OR

110

w Nor

spare to agonize an aching breast,

" By sultry suns, and banishment oppressed

" Oh that these heavy hours would swiftly
!

*6

And

*6

Believe

"

fly,

lead a happier fate, and milder sky.

me

my doom

Dearest that

698

severe,

Obtains from heavenly eyes the frequent tear

" And where the spirits of these groves attend,

" The pitying drops in pearly showers descend
j

700

8rot0taticm&

Verse
the Deities

699.

of the

And
soil ;

where the

spirits

of

these groves attend.']

Hindu

so completely has

nature; our poetical creed

is

like

St''halt

Devafas are literally

Grecian faith, peopled inanimate

addicted to a similar practice, as in the beautiful modern

Drama, Tobin's Hone?/ moon, whei'e Zamora exclaims,

And if as some believe.
There is a spirit in the waving' woods ;

imitation of the ancient

Life in the leaping torrent

And

seated

hills,

Brooding on
Here, to

Never

in the rocks,

a contemplative soul,

all things

all nature, I

round them

repeat

to love but you.

my Vow,

HI

CLOUD MESSENGER,
w As

oil in sleep

That

they

mark my

outstretched arms,

clasp in blissful dreams thy fancied charms,

" Play through

the air,

and

fold in fond

"

Impassive matter, and etherial space.

Soft

and

delightful to

my

embrace,

701

senses blows,

" The breeze that south-ward wafts HimaWs

" And rich impregnated with gums divine,
w Exuding

snows,

70S

fragrant from the shattered pine,

Annotations.

Verse

702.

That clasp

Pur nel sonno

Vieri' colei

Le

whom

And
Play

with as

almen' taVora,

innamora^

Metastasio. Cantata.

love in sleep appears,

soothes my grief, and calms my
I

through the air, <$c-]

Di
And

che

mie pene a consolar:

She

Verse 703.

dreams thy fancied charms. ]

in blisful

qua Vun

braccio, e di Id Valtro gira,

And here one arm, and

much success as JEneas,
Ter conatus

fears.

So poor Olympia in Amosxo,

ibi collo

there the other tost,

dare brachia circum,

Ter frustra comprensa manus effugit imago,

Thrice round her neck my eager arms I threw,
Thrice from

my empty arms

the

Phantom

flew.

Pitt,

MEGHA PUTA OR

\12

"

Diffuses sweets to

Jf

Has

it

" What

all,

but most to

not touched ; does

are

my

tasks

it

me 5

not breathe of thee ?

to speed the lagging night,

" And

urge impatiently the rising light;

" The

light returned, I sicken at the ray?

" And shun

" Vain
" But

are

712

as eagerly the shining day;

my labors

fate proscribes,

in this lonely state,

and we must how

716

to fate/

TIl^l^flf^^^H^T^^f^I 7!^^^

||

\o^

It

Verse 710. Has it not touched; does it not breathe of thee f\

-have here another
elegant and tender compliment, in a strain even superior to the
similar thought in Ben.
Jokson's admired little Ode from the Qreek.

We

But thou thereon

And

sent

it

didst only breathe.

back to me^

Since when it looks and smells I swear,

Botofcitself but thee.

CLOUD MESSENGER,
" Let then my

" Who

US

firmness save thee from despair,

trust myself,

nor sink beneath

my

care %

Annotations
Verse 717.
for this

sudden

Let then

my

saw

firmness

We are scarcely prepared

not by any means unnatural: the task of

thee from despalr.J

fortitude of the Yacsha, .but it

is

consoling partners in affliction, necessarily diverts the mind from

its

own

distress; the

upon one's .self here recommended, is analogous to the advice given by the
dream which Jupiter sends to Agamemnon. Homer's Iliad. B. 2d.

lofty reliance

h aym % Cpqetrt
Do you rely upon your own

<-J

Or
t\>

it is

mind.
something in the manner of a passage -in the elegant poem of Catullus addressed

Himself.

Quin te ammo offirmas, ttque istinc

Et Diis invitis, desme esse miser,
Trust to thy

And
Goldsmith's

Traveller

hostile

reducis9

on strength of soul

self,

rely,

Gods, and wretchedness, defy.

winds up with morality ef this description when he remarks.

ourselves in every place consigned,

Still to

Our own
Milton's

strain

we make

feiicity

or find.

however in Satan's sublime apostrophe to Hell, is

Hail horrors hail and thou profoundest Hell,

still

more elevated.

Receive thy new possessor: one who brings,

mind not

to be

changed by place or time;

The Mind is Us own place, and

Can make a Heaven of Hell, a
Reference to this noble principle

A tmana

is

in itself,

hell of

Heaven.

very frequent in the writings of the Hindus.

The

Budha or Knozdedge of Spirit, a small treatise which contains the ethical part of
philosophy, and which has been lately translated and published by Dr. Taylor,

'the V.cdanta

Gg

; ;

MEGHA DUTA OR

HI

i
'

Trust to

futurity, for

still

we view

" The always wretched, always

Life

Now

like

blest are

720

few

a wheel's revolving orb turns round

whirled in

air,

now dragged

along the ground.

^nnotattonsi,
concludes with this stanza.

te

He who

has

made

no concern respecting

the pilgrimage of his

situation, place,

own

spirit,

or time, which

is

a pilgrimage in which there

every where

in

is

which neither

cold nor heat are experienced, which bestows perpetual happiness and freedom from

soitow

he

beatitude."

is

without action, knows

fine

all things,

pervades

all

things,

passage inculcating the same feeling occurs

in

and obtains eternal

Menu, where

the

legislator exhorts a witness to speak the truth.

The

soul itself its

own

witness, the soul itself

supreme internal witness of men."

Verse 720. The always wretched always

soul, the

is its

Sir

own

Wm.

refuge: offend not thy conscious

Jones's Translation.

We have here a fine tone

of morality, in which the writings of the Hindus are generally very abundant
the
vicissitudes of fortune have been commented on much in the
same strain by a great
variety of poets,, amongst whom the Sanscrit bard is entitled to a
pre-eminent station.
Several passages, and indeed whole poems, De Fortund are given in Burmannus; as thus
blest are few.']

in

Epigram

113.

By Ausonius.
Fortune nunquam

Semper movetur,

Et summa

sistit in

eodem

statu,

xariat et mutat vices,

innim mergit, ac mersa erigit.

one position never stays,

in

Fortune

in

But

unceasing and unwearied strays,

still

CLOUD MESSENGER.

*'

When

113

from his serpent couch that swims the deep,

" Sdrangi

rises

from

72-1

celestial sleep

When four more months unmarked have run their course

" To us all gloom the curse has lost its force;
;

u The

grief from separation born expires,

" And Autumn's

nights reward our chaste desires.

728

&nnotatton&

And

still diversifies

each human state,

Exalts the lowly, or subverts the great.

Again in the same collection we meet with fortune's wheel.

Tula nee in solido rcrum For tuna favorc est.

Cum

No

minime

credas, impulit

ilia

rolam.

trust in fortune's favor should'st thou feel,

When

least expected, lo

she whirls her

Whtd.

Tibulhis consoles himself with a similar reflection,

Vexaiur celerifors

levis orbe rota,

Fate round the world

Verse
he

is

724.

The

here, called the

serpent couch

holder of the

is

is

driven on whirling wheel.

the great snake Atlanta,

bow

upon which Vishnu, or as

Sarnga, (the horn bow) reclines, during four

months, from the 11th ofAshafha to the 11th of Cartic or as

it

Iras

occurred in this year

(1813) from the of 23d June to the 26th of October: the sleep of Vishn'u, during the four
months of the periodical rains in Hindooslan, seems to bear an emblematical relation to
it has been compared to the Egyptian Hieroglyphical account of the sleep
that season
of Horus, typical of the annual overflow of the Nile, by the late Mr. Paterson in his
;

ingenious essay on the origin of the

Hindu

religion

Asiatic Researches Vol. 8.

MEGHA DUTA

116

" Once more

my

ct

Laid by

And now

jOB
'

view thee as mine eyes unclose,

side,

mark

and

lulled

by

soft repose,

thee startle from thy sleep,

" Loose thy enfolding arms, and wake

to

weep;

"

My anxious love

"

Till, as the smile relumes that lucid eye,

long vainly seeks reply

" Thy arch avowal owns,

"

My

" Let

"

thus.,

Oh

that jealous fear,

" Affrighted slumber, and aroused

" While

732

736

the tear,

Goddess with the dark black

eyes^

fond assurance confidence supplies;

not the tales that idle tatlers bear,

Subvert thy

faith,

nor teach thee to despair:

740

^f^lft^Tff^^H^^^T^^H

*:

_~7^

'

Annotations*

Verse 739 This passage may either be explained, u do not lose your trust in me,"
or " do not break your faith with me." we may indeed conceive the two sentiments to be
involved in each other, as they are in this passage,

Lingua
Torse a

Prove

te

me/idace,

nC accusa,

della

miafede,

ma

Irene ha tante

CLOUD MESSENGER.
True

love

117

no time nor distance can destroy,

" And independant of all

present joy,

grows in absence, as renewed delight,

,"

It

(*

Some dear memorials, some loved

744

lines excite."

Such, vast Dispenser of the dews of heaven,

Such

is

my suit, and

such thy promise given

Fearless upon thy friendship I rely,

Nor ask

748

that promise, nor expect reply;

gnnotattons,
Jrene mi conosce

e Irene il crede;

Metastasis.
Ah no i
slanderous
tongues
my
truth
impeach,
Do
And can they gain Irene's ear,
Do not a thousand trials teach,
How firm my faith then vain their speech,
She knows my heart, and vainer still my iear.'

Cantata.

Verse

748.

Nor

ask that promise nor expect reply.]

remark the ingenuity of the Poet

the apparent absurdity of the

We

cannot help pausing here to

He sets out with excusing

in the conduct of his work.

Yacsha's addressing himself to

a Cloud as to a rational

being, by introducing a pleasing and natural sentiment, see Verse 32.

received his charge and something

pr

assent.

To

is

The Cloud

has

now

expected by way of reply, expressive either of refusal

have given the Cloud any thing

Hh

like, the faculty of speech,

would have been

MEGHA DUTA OK

US

To

thee the thirsty Chdtacas complain

Thy

only answer

And

still

is

the falling rain

such answer from the

Good

proceeds.

Who grant our wishes, not in words, but deeds,

Thy task performed,

consoled the mourner's

752

mind

*,

Haste thy return these solitudes to find

Soar from the mountain, whose exalted brow,

The horns of Siya's bull majestic plough,

And

hither speeding, to

756

my sorrowing hearty

Shrunk like the bud at dawn,

relief impart.

W-f^^fef^fftfaH^ W-

||

\Jfr

I!

annotations.
straining probability over-much,

and we see in the above

lines with

what neatness

Calida'sa has extricated himself from the dilemma.

Verse

757.

Thus Ovid
Prospera

in his Tristia.
sic vobis

maneat Fortuna nee unquam r

Contacti simili sorte rogelis opem.

So may on thee propitious fortune wait,

Nor

may'st thou need such aid, nor mourn so sad a

fate.

CLOUD MESSENGER.

With welcome news my woes tumultuous

still,

And all my wishes tenderly fulfil.

Then

to

*760

whatever scenes invite thy way,

Waft thy

And

19

rich stores, and grateful glooms convey

ne'er

may destiny

like

mine

divide,

Thy brilliant spouse, the lightning,

This said he ceased

from thy

side.

764

the messenger of air,

Conveyed to Alaca his wild despair

The God of wealth relenting

And swift
Removed

learnt his state,

768

curtailed the limit of his fate

the curse, restored

And blest with ceaseless joy

^r^^nntfafa

II

him

to his wife,

their everlasting

^>js?;r^j

THE END.

ir

life.

E M M *A T
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Note
90. Note
102. Note
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Note
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