Page:The Indian Antiquary, Vol. 4-1875.djvu/11

 THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY. [Jaxu&et, 1875. of them are connected in Bense, as the descrip- tion of the seasons ; others form a whole by themselves, and may be most fitly compared to miniature paintings, as presenting to us a complete picture in the narrow frame of one strophe. As to the tradition that their author was Bhartrihari, it probably arose from the circumstance that, according to one story, he is said to have retired to Banaras after he resigned the crown; for the last hundred in the collection of poems attributed to him con- tain the praises of a contemplative life, and the city of Banaras is mentioned as one in which such a life can be profitably spent ; on the other hand, as soon as Bhartrihari* s authorship was generally believed, a strophe in the first hundred in which the faithlessness of women is censured, and a curse is pronounced on them and on the god of love, may well have given rise to the notion that he became disgusted with kingly power on discovering the faithlessness of his wife Anangasena,* and abdicated his throne." Considering the great uncertainty which at- taches to Hindu literary history, we may per- haps think it fortunate that there is something like a consensus as to the date of these poems. Whether the author of these yv&um was a kin" o or a sage, a man of the world or a pedant, no one can help endorsing Professor Lassen's opinion of their literary merits. Some of them are characterized by an epigrammatic point and a subacid humour rarely to be met with in Sanskrit literature, and remind us of the best pieces in the Greek Anthology. FIRST SECTION. Eternal, Holy Spirit, free from bonds of space and time, Whoso essence is self-knowledge, Thee I call to bless iny rhyme. She whom I worship night and day, she loathes my very eight, And on zaj neighbour dotes, who in another* takes delight ; A third she in my humble Belf nothing but good can see : Now ont upon the god of love, and him, and them, and me ! •I^sen observes that the etymology of Iwr name (fort oflwe) coufirms hia now. t if- the elephant. Easy is a fool to manage* easier stiU a maa of sense, Brahma's self is foiled by one of little brains and great pretence. Snatch a jewel, if it please you, from the tiger's raveuing throat ; Cross the ocean, though its billows toss in foam- wreaths round your boat ; Fearless twine an angry cobra like a garland round your head ; But with fools forbear to argne, — better strive to wake the dead. BTyon squeeze with might and mam, Oil from sand you may obtain j If with parching thirst you burn, Some mirage may serve your turn ; If you wander far and wide, Rabbits' horns may grace your side; But you'll never —trust my rale — Please a headstrong, bumptious fool. As well attempt to pierce with flowers the diamond of the mine, As well attempt with honey-drops to sweeten ocean's brine, As welJ go bind with lotus-bands the lord of forest herds,f As strive to lead in wisdom's ways the bad with sugared words. When the Creator made the dolt, He left him not without his bolt ; That fool shows best the wise among Who strokes his beard and holds his tongue.* When but a little I had learned, in my own partial eyes I seemed a perfect Solon and immeasurably wise ; But when a little higher I had climbed in wisdom's school, The fever-fit was over and I knew myself a fool. See that pariah making off there with a filthy greasy bone, How he'll mumble and enjoy it when be finds himself alone ! Not if Indra's self reproved him would be blush and leave his treat, For the mean abhor no meanness if it only yield them meat. X Compare tho epigram of Pall&daa : — Oaf Ttt an-ato'cro? typovipitToros itrrt ffioiruv Tw XoydV iyKpvvjrrav in nu0ot ai<Tp&rarov.