Chapter 88

Whatever, however, may have been the train of ideas which led the Hindú to regard the monkey as a being half human and half divine, there can be little doubt that in the Rámáyana the monkeys of southern India have been confounded with what may be called the aboriginal people of the country. The origin of this confusion may be easily conjectured. Perchance the aborigines of the country may have been regarded as a superior kind of monkeys; and to this day the features of the Marawars, who are supposed to be the aborigines of the southern part of the Carnatic, are not only different from those of their neighbours, but are of a character calculated to confirm the conjecture. Again, it is probable that the army of aborigines may have been accompanied by outlying bands of monkeys impelled by that magpie-like curiosity and love of plunder which are the peculiar characteristics of the monkey race; and this incident may have given rise to the story that the army was composed of Monkeys.”

WHEELER’S _History of India. Vol. II. pp. 316 ff._

Page 342. The Fall Of Báli.

“As regards the narrative, it certainly seems to refer to some real event amongst the aboriginal tribes: namely, the quarrel between an elder and younger brother for the possession of a Ráj; and the subsequent alliance of Ráma with the younger brother. It is somewhat remarkable that Ráma appears to have formed an alliance with the wrong party, for the right of Báli was evidently superior to that of Sugríva; and it is especially worthy of note that Ráma compassed the death of Báli by an act contrary to all the laws of fair fighting. Again, Ráma seems to have tacitly sanctioned the transfer of Tárá from Báli to Sugríva, which was directly opposed to modern rule, although in conformity with the rude customs of a barbarous age; and it is remarkable that to this day the marriage of both widows and divorced women is practised by the Marawars, or aborigines of the southern Carnatic, contrary to the deeply-rooted prejudice which exists against such unions amongst the Hindús at large.”

WHEELER’S _History of India, Vol. II. 324_.

Page 370. The Vánar Host.

“The splendid Marutas form the army of Indras, the red-haired monkeys and bears that of Râmas; and the mythical and solar nature of the monkeys and bears of the Râmâyaṇam manifests itself several times. The king of the monkeys is a sun-god. The ancient king was named Bâlin, and was the son of Indras. His younger brother Sugrívas, he who changes his shape at pleasure (Kâmarúpas), who, helped by Râmas, usurped his throne, is said to be own child of the sun. Here it is evident that the Vedic antagonism between Indras and Vishṇus is reproduced in a zoological and entirely apish form. The old Zeus must give way to the new, the moon to the sun, the evening to the morning sun, the sun of winter to that of spring; the young son betrays and overthrows the old one.… Râmas, who treacherously kills the old king of the monkeys, Bâlin, is the equivalent of Vishṇus, who hurls his predecessor Indras from his throne; and Sugrívas, the new king of the monkeys resembles Indras when he promises to find the ravished Sítá, in the same way as Vishṇus in one of his incarnations finds again the lost vedás. And there are other indications in the Râmâyaṇam of opposition between Indras and the monkeys who assist Râmas. The great monkey Hanumant, of the reddish colour of gold, has his jaw broken, Indras having struck him with his thunderbolt and caused him to fall upon a mountain, because, while yet a child, he threw himself off a mountain into the air in order to arrest the course of the sun, whose rays had no effect upon him. (The cloud rises from the mountain and hides the sun, which is unable of itself to disperse it; the tempest comes, and brings flashes of lightning and thunder-bolts, which tear the cloud in pieces.)

The whole legend of the monkey Hanumant represents the sun entering into the cloud or darkness, and coming out of it. His father is said to be now the wind, now the elephant of the monkeys (Kapikunjaras), now Keśarin, the long-haired sun, the sun with a mane, the lion sun (whence his name of _Keśariṇah putrah_). From this point of view, Hanumant would seem to be the brother of Sugrívas, who is also the offspring of the sun.…

All the epic monkeys of the _Râmâyaṇam_ are described in the twentieth canto of the first book by expressions which very closely resemble those applied in the Vedic hymns to the Marutas, as swift as the tempestuous wind, changing their shape at pleasure, making a noise like clouds, sounding like thunder, battling, hurling mountain-peaks, shaking great uprooted trees, stirring up the deep waters, crushing the earth with their arms, making the clouds fall. Thus Bâlin comes out of the cavern as the sun out of the cloud.…

But the legend of the monkey Hanumant presents another curious resemblance to that of Samson. Hanumant is bound with cords by Indrajit, son of Rávaṇas; he could easily free himself, but does not wish to do so. Rávaṇas to put him to shame, orders his tail to be burned, because the tail is the part most prized by monkeys.…

The tail of Hanumant, which sets fire to the city of the monsters, is probably a personification of the rays of the morning or spring sun, which sets fire to the eastern heavens, and destroys the abode of the nocturnal or winter monsters.”

DE GUBERNATIS, _Zoological Mythology_, Vol. II. pp. 100 ff.

“The Jaitwas of Rajputana, a tribe politically reckoned as Rajputs, nevertheless trace their descent from the monkey-god Hanuman, and confirm it by alleging that their princes still bear its evidence in a tail-like prolongation of the spine; a tradition which has probably a real ethnological meaning, pointing out the Jaitwas as of non-Aryan race.”(1040) TYLOR’S _Primitive Culture_, Vol. I. p. 341.

Page 372.

The names of peoples occurring in the following _ślokas_ are omitted in the metrical translation:

“Go to the Brahmamálas,(1041) the Videhas,(1042) the Málavas,(1043) the Káśikośalas,(1044) the Mágadnas,(1045) the Puṇḍras,(1046) and the Angas,(1047) and the land of the weavers of silk, and the land of the mines of silver, and the hills that stretch into the sea, and the towns and the hamlets that are about the top of Mandar, and the Karṇaprávaraṇas,(1048) and the Oshṭhakarṇakas,(1049) and the Ghoralohamukhas,(1050) and the swift Ekapádakas,(1051) and the strong imperishable Eaters of Men, and the Kirátas(1052) with stiff hair-tufts, men like gold and fair to look upon: And the Eaters of Raw Fish, and the Kirátas who dwell in islands, and the fierce Tiger-men(1053) who live amid the waters.”

Page 374.

“Go to the Vidarbhas(1054) and the Rishṭikas(1055) and the Mahishikas,(1056) and the Matsyas(1057) and Kalingas(1058) and the Kauśikas(1059) … and the Andhras(1060) and the Puṇḍras(1061) and the Cholas(1062) and the Paṇḍyas(1063) and the Keralas,(1064) Mlechchhas(1065) and the Pulindas(1066) and the Śúrasenas,(1067) and the Prasthalas and the Bharatas and Madrakas(1068) and the Kámbojas(1069) and the Yavanas(1070) and the towns of the Śakas(1071) and the Varadas.”(1072)

Page 378. Northern Kurus.

Professor Lassen remarks in the Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, ii. 62: “At the furthest accessible extremity of the earth appears Harivarsha with the northern Kurus. The region of Hari or Vishṇu belongs to the system of mythical geography; but the case is different with the Uttara Kurus. Here there is a real basis of geographical fact; of which fable has only taken advantage, without creating it. The Uttara Kurus were formerly quite independent of the mythical system of _dvípas_, though they were included in it at an early date.” Again the same writer says at p. 65: “That the conception of the Uttara Kurus is based upon an actual country and not on mere invention, is proved (1) by the way in which they are mentioned in the Vedas; (2) by the existence of Uttara Kuru in historical times as a real country; and (3) by the way in which the legend makes mention of that region as the home of primitive customs. To begin with the last point the Mahábhárata speaks as follows of the freer mode of life which women led in the early world, Book I. verses 4719-22: ‘Women were formerly unconfined and roved about at their pleasure, independent. Though in their youthful innocence they abandoned their husbands, they were guilty of no offence; for such was the rule in early times. This ancient custom is even now the law for creatures born as brutes, which are free from lust and anger. This custom is supported by authority and is observed by great rishis, and it is _still practiced among the northern Kurus_.’

“The idea which is here conveyed is that of the continuance in one part of the world of that original blessedness which prevailed in the golden age. To afford a conception of the happy condition of the southern Kurus it is said in another place (M.-Bh, i. 4346.) ‘The southern Kurus vied in happiness with the northern Kurus and with the divine rishis and bards.’

Professor Lassen goes on to say: ‘Ptolemy (vi. 16.) is also acquainted with _Uttara Kuru_. He speaks of a mountain, a people, and a city called _Ottorakorra_. Most of the other ancient authors who elsewhere mention this name, have it from him. It is a part of the country which he calls Serica; according to him the city lies twelve degrees west from the metropolis of Sera, and the mountain extends from thence far to the eastward. As Ptolemy has misplaced the whole of eastern Asia beyond the Ganges, the _relative_ position which he assigns will guide us better that the absolute one, which removes _Ottorakorra_ so far to the east that a correction is inevitable. According to my opinion the _Ottorakorra_ of Ptolemy must be sought for to the east of Kashgar.’ Lassen also thinks that Magasthenes had the Uttara Kurus in view when he referred to the Hyperboreans who were fabled by Indian writers to live a thousand years. In his Indian antiquities, (Ind. Alterthumskunde, i. 511, 512. and note,) the same writer concludes that though the passages above cited relative to the Uttara Kurus indicate a belief in the existence of a really existing country of that name in the far north, yet that the descriptions there given are to be taken as pictures of an ideal paradise, and not as founded on any recollections of the northern origin of the Kurus. It is probable, he thinks, that some such reminiscences originally existed, and still survived in the Vedic era, though there is no trace of their existence in latter times.” MUIR’S _Sanskrit Texts_, Vol. II. pp. 336, 337.

Page 428.

_Trust to these mighty Vánars._

The corresponding passage in the Bengal recension has “these silvans in the forms of monkeys, vánaráh kapirupinah.” “Here it manifestly appears,” says Gorresio, “that these hosts of combatants whom Ráma led to the conquest of Lanká (Ceylon) the kingdom and seat of the Hamitic race, and whom the poem calls monkeys, were in fact as I have elsewhere observed, inhabitants of the mountainous and southern regions of India, who were wild-looking and not altogether unlike monkeys. They were perhaps the remote ancestors of the Malay races.”

Page 431.

_"Art thou not he who slew of old_ _The Serpent-Gods, and stormed their hold."_

All these exploits of Rávaṇ are detailed in the _Uttarakáṇḍa_, and epitomized in the Appendix.

Page 434.

_Within the consecrated hall_.

The Bráhman householder ought to maintain three sacred fires, the _Gárhapatya_, the _Ahavaniya_ and the _Dakshiṇa_. These three fires were made use of in many Brahmanical solemnities, for example in funeral rites when the three fires were arranged in prescribed order.

Page 436.

_Fair Punjikasthalá I met._

“I have not noticed in the Úttara Káṇda any story about the daughter of Varuṇa, but the commentator on the text (VI 60, 11) explains the allusion to her thus:

“The daughter of Varuṇa was Punjikasthalí. On her account, a curse of Brahmá, involving the penalty of death, [was pronounced] on the rape of women.” MUIR, _Sanskrit Texts_, Part IV. Appendix.

Page 452.

_“__Shall no funereal honours grace_ _The parted lord of Raghu’s race?__”_

“Here are indicated those admirable rites and those funeral prayers which Professor Müller has described in his excellent work, _Die Todtenbestattung bei den Brahmanen_, Sítá laments that the body of Ráma will not be honoured with those rites and prayers, nor will the Bráhman priest while laying the ashes from the pile in the bosom of the earth, pronounce over them those solemn and magnificent words: ‘Go unto the earth, thy mother, the ample, wide, and blessed earth.… And do thou, O Earth, open and receive him as a friend with sweet greeting: enfold him in thy bosom as a mother wraps her child in her robes.’ ” GORRESIO.

Page 462.

_Each glorious sign_ _That stamps the future queen is mine_.

We read in Josephus that Caesar was so well versed in chiromancy that when one day a _soi-disant_ son of Herod had audience of him, he at once detected the impostor because his hand was destitute of all marks of royalty.

Page 466.

_In battle’s wild Gandharva dance_.

“Here the commentator explains: ‘the battle resembled the dance of the Gandharvas,’ in accordance with the notion of the Gandharvas entertained in his day. They were regarded as celestial musicians enlivening with their melodies Indra’s heaven and the banquets of the Gods. But the Gandharvas before becoming celestial musicians in popular tradition, were in the primitive and true signification of the name heroes, spirited and ardent warriors, followers of Indra, and combined the heroical character with their atmospherical deity. Under this aspect the dance of the Gandharvas may be a very different thing from what the commentator means, and may signify the horrid dance of war.” GORRESIO.

The Homeric expression is similar, “to dance a war-dance before Ares.”

Page 470.

_By Anaraṇya’s lips of old._

“The story of Anaraṇya is told in the Uttara Kaṇḍa of the Rámáyaṇa.… Anaraṇya a descendant of Ixváku and King of Ayodhyá, when called upon to fight with Rávaṇa or acknowledge himself conquered, prefers the former alternative; but his army is overcome, and he himself is thrown from his chariot.

When Rávaṇa triumphs over his prostrate foe, the latter says that he has been vanquished not by him but by fate, and that Rávaṇa is only the instrument of his overthrow; and he predicts that Rávaṇa shall one day be slain by his descendant Ráma.” _Sanskrit Texts_, IV., Appendix.

Page 497.

“With regard to the magic image of Sítá made by Indrajit, we may observe that this thoroughly oriental idea is also found in Greece in Homer’s Iliad, where Apollo forms an image of Æneas to save that hero beloved by the Gods: it occurs too in the Æneid of Virgil where Juno forms a fictitious Æneas to save Turnus:

Tum dea nube cava tenuem sine viribus umbram In faciem Æneæ (visu mirabile monstrum) Dardaniis ornat telis; clipeumque jubasque Divini assimulat capitis; dat inania verba; Dat sine mente sonum, gressusque effingit euntis.

(_Æneidos_, lib. X.)” GORRESIO.

Page 489.

_"To Raghu’s son my chariot lend."_

“Analogous to this passage of the Rámáyana, where Indra sends to Ráma his own chariot, his own charioteer, and his own arms, is the passage in the Æneid where Venus descending from heaven brings celestial arms to her son Æneas when he is about to enter the battle:

At Venus æthereos inter dea candida nimbos Dona fereus aderat;… … Arma sub adversa posuit radiantia quercum. Ille, deæ donis et tanto lætus honore, Expleri nequit, atque oculus per singula volvit, Miraturque, interque manus et brachia versat Terribilem cristis galeam flammasque vomentem, Fatiferumque ensem, loricam ex ære rigentem.

(_Æneidos_, lib. VIII)” GORRESIO.

Page 489.

_Agastya came and gently spake._

“The Muni or saint Agastya, author of several Vedic hymns, was celebrated in Indo-Sanskrit tradition for having directed the first brahmanical settlements in the southern regions of India; and the Mahábhárata gives him the credit of having subjected those countries, expelled the Rákshases. and given security to the solitary ascetics, who were settled there. Hence Agastya was regarded in ancient legend as the conqueror and ruler of the southern country. This tradition refers to the earliest migrations made by the Sanskrit Indians towards the south of India. To Agastya are attributed many marvellous mythic deeds which adumbrate and veil ancient events; some of which are alluded to here and there in the Rámáyana.” GORRESIO.

The following is the literal translation of the Canto, text and commentary, from the Calcutta edition:

Having found Ráma weary with fighting and buried in deep thought, and Rávaṇ standing before him ready to engage in battle, the holy Agastya, who had come to see the battle, approached Ráma and spoke to him thus: “O mighty Ráma, listen to the old mystery by which thou wilt conquer all thy foes in the battle. Having daily repeated the Ádityahridaya (the delighter of the mind of the Sun) the holy prayer which destroys all enemies (of him who repeats it) gives victory, removes all sins, sorrows and distress, increases life, and which is the blessing of all blessings, worship the rising and splendid sun who is respected by both the Gods and demons, who gives light to all bodies and who is the rich lord of all the worlds, (To the question why this prayer claims so great reverence; the sage answers) Since yonder(1073) sun is full of glory and all gods reside in him (he being their material cause) and bestows being and the active principle on all creatures by his rays; and since he protects all deities, demons and men with his rays.

He is Brahmá,(1074) Vishṇu,(1075) Śiva,(1076) Skanda,(1077) Prajápati,(1078) Mahendra,(1079) Dhanada,(1080) Kála,(1081) Yáma,(1082) Soma,(1083) Apàm Pati _i.e._ The lord of waters, Pitris,(1084) Vasus,(1085) Sádhyas,(1086) Aśvins,(1087) Maruts,(1088) Manu,(1089) Váyu,(1090) Vahni,(1091) Prajá,(1092) Práṇa,(1093) Ritukartá,(1094) Prabhákara,(1095) (Thou,(1096) art) Aditya,(1097) Savitá,(1098) Súrya,(1099) Khaga,(1100) Púshan,(1101) Gabhastimán,(1102) Śuvarṇasadriśa,(1103) Bhánu,(1104) Hiraṇyaretas,(1105) Divákara,(1106) Haridaśva,(1107) Sahasrárchish,(1108) Saptasapti,(1109) Marichimán,(1110) Timironmathana,(1111) Sambhu,(1112) Twashtá,(1113) Mártanda,(1114) Anśumán,(1115) Hiranyagarbha,(1116) Siśira,(1117) Tapana,(1118) Ahaskara,(1119) Ravi,(1120) Agnigarbha,(1121) Aditiputra,(1122) Sankha,(1123) Siśiranáśana,(1124) Vyomanátha,(1125) Tamobhedí,(1126) Rigyajussámapáraga,(1127) Ghanavríshti,(1128) Apám-Mitra,(1129) Vindhyavíthíplavangama,(1130) Átapí,(1131) Mandalí,(1132) Mrityu (death), Pingala,(1133) Sarvatápana,(1134) Kavi,(1135) Viśva,(1136) Mahátejas,(1137) Rakta,(1138) Sarvabhavodbhava.(1139) The Lord of stars, planets, and other luminous bodies, Viśvabhávana,(1140) Tejasvinám-Tejasvi,(1141) Dwádaśátman:(1142) I salute thee. I salute thee who art the eastern mountain. I salute thee who art the western mountain. I salute thee who art the Lord of all the luminous bodies. I salute thee who art the Lord of days.

I respectfully salute thee who art Jaya,(1143) Jayabhadra,(1144) Haryaśa,(1145) O Thou who hast a thousand rays, I repeatedly salute thee. I repeatedly and respectfully salute thee who art Áditya, I repeatedly salute thee who art Ugra,(1146) Víra,(1147) and Sáranga.(1148) I salute thee who openest the lotuses (or the lotus of the heart). I salute thee who art furious. I salute thee who art the Lord of Brahmá, Śiva and Vishṇu. I salute thee who art the sun, Ádityavarchas,(1149) splendid, Sarvabhaksha,(1150)and Raudravapush.(1151)

I salute thee who destroyest darkness, cold and enemies: whose form is boundless, who art the destroyer of the ungrateful; who art Deva;(1152) who art the Lord of the luminous bodies, and who appearest like the heated gold. I salute thee who art Hari,(1153) Viśvakarman,(1154) the destroyer of darkness, and who art splendid and Lokasákshin.(1155) Yonder sun destroys the whole of the material world and also creates it. Yonder sun dries (all earthly things), destroys them and causes rain with his rays. He wakes when our senses are asleep; and resides within all beings. Yonder sun is Agnihotra(1156) and also the fruit obtained by the performer of Agnihotra. He is identified with the gods, sacrifices, and the fruit of the sacrifices. He is the Lord of all the duties known to the world, if any man, O Rághava, in calamities, miseries, forests and dangers, prays to yonder sun, he is never overwhelmed by distress.

Worship, with close attention Him the God of gods and the Lord of the world; and recite these verses thrice, whereby thou wilt be victorious in the battle. O brave one, thou wilt kill Rávaṇa this very instant.”

Thereupon Agastya having said this went away as he came. The glorious Ráma having heard this became free from sorrow. Rághava whose senses were under control, being pleased, committed the hymn to memory, recited it facing the sun, and obtained great delight. The brave Ráma having sipped water thrice and become pure took his bow, and seeing Rávaṇa, was delighted, and meditated on the sun.

Page 492. Rávan’s Funeral.

“In the funeral ceremonies of India the fire was placed on three sides of the pyre; the _Dakshiṇa_ on the south, the _Gárhapatya_ on the west, and the _Áhavaníya_ on the east. The funeral rites are not described in detail here, and it is therefore difficult to elucidate and explain them. The poem assigns the funeral ceremonies of Aryan Brahmans to the Rákshases, a race different from them in origin and religion, in the same way as Homer sometimes introduces into Troy the rites of the Grecian cult.” GORRESIO.

Mr. Muir translates the description of the funeral from the Calcutta edition, as follows: “They formed, with Vedic rites, a funeral pile of faggots of sandal-wood, with _padmaka_ wood, _uśira_ grass, and sandal, and covered with a quilt of deer’s hair. They then performed an unrivalled obsequial ceremony for the Ráxasa prince, placing the sacrificial ground to the S.E. and the fire in the proper situation. They cast the ladle filled with curds and ghee on the shoulder(1157) of the deceased; he (?) placed the car on the feet, and the mortar between the thighs. Having deposited all the wooden vessels, the [upper] and lower fire-wood, and the other pestle, in their proper places, they departed. The Ráxasas having then slain a victim to their prince in the manner prescribed in the Śástras, and enjoined by great rishis, cast [into the fire] the coverlet of the king saturated with ghee. They then, Vibhíshaṇa included, with afflicted hearts, adorned Rávaṇa with perfumes and garlands, and with various vestments, and besprinkled him with fried grain. Vibhíshaṇa having bathed, and having, with his clothes wet, scattered in proper form _tila_ seeds mixed with _darbha_ grass, and moistened with water, applied the fire [to the pile].”

Page 496.

The following is a literal translation of Brahmá’s address to Ráma according to the Calcutta edition, text and commentary: