Page:Advice to the Indian Aristocracy.djvu/36

 unnatural accounts of the characters mentioned in them such as beasts, birds, reptiles, etc., and these are described on some occasions as having the power of speaking, of being in the habit of wearing clothes and jewels. And these descriptions are taken literally, and not as fables. In praising a person for his wealth, bravery, power, greatness, etc., poets paint him with superhuman qualities. In describing wars, duels, fights, intrigues, plots, and in treating of astronomy, etc., they blunder hopelessly, because they have no real knowledge of the subjects they deal with. The chief objects of the poets or of those who first told these Puranic stories in prose was to teach morality to the common classes of people. And to bring the moral lessons home to the humble classes, their attention was first excited by marvellous stories. The Pandits, however, fail to realize this and hold the fables for realities.