SACCOUNTALA. 637 



buzzing of bees, which fill the mind with sentiments of tranquility and 

 happiness. Trees of every elegant variety of form, intermingling their 

 flexible branches, bending under the weight of. fruits and flowers, yield 

 to the breath of the zephyr, which robs them, as they pass, of their 

 richest odours, and shed the delicious fragrance around. On the en- 

 amelled sward troops of Gaudharvas* and Apsarasf pursue each other 

 in their youthful gambols, and gliding like shadows from place to place, 

 impart a sense of rapture to the enjoyment of these regions of delight. 



Douchmaiita wanders in extasy under these verdant bowers, where 

 the broken rays of the sun admit but a softened light, and as much heat 

 only as is necessary to temper the coolness which prevails in the shade. 



Plunged in a delightful reverie, his uncertain steps are directed to- 

 wards a spot which opens to him an enchanting landscape, where all the 

 scattered beauties he had just been enjoying appeared to be united. 



On the banks of the Malini,J which the swans in numerous pairs of 

 sparkling whiteness disturb as they play, he observed what he supposed 

 to be a consecrated grave, the retreat of some sacred personage. It 

 contained, in fact, in its bosom, the peaceful hermitage of the illustrious 

 descendant of the great Casyapa, the prophet Canoua. From distance 

 to distance along the stream, groupes of Yatis |] and venerable Mounis^T 

 were occupied with their pious duties, and from various points the bril- 

 liant flame of the sacrifice arose majestically towards heaven. 



Filled with religious awe, the king, Douchmanta, laid aside the royal 

 insignia, and having ordered his followers to wait for him, he penetrates 

 the thicket, attended only by his minister and his chief priest, and seeks 

 the spot where the air resounds with the melodious song of the Vedas. ** 

 At every step he makes in this holy retreat, which resembled the celes- 

 tial abode of Brahma, he feels growing within him the liveliest enthu- 

 siasm. Here the Brahmans are to be found, who expound whatever is 

 obscure in their sacred books ; there the venerable Gourous ft initiate 

 their pupils in their sacrificial rites j yonder are those studious Pun- 

 dits JJ who throw light on the obscure mysteries of the subtlest meta- 

 physics ; elsewhere are the inspired poets, who sing in sublime verses 

 the exploits of heroes ; while innumerable Tapasoms, in order to anni- 

 hilate all human passion, either inflict on themselves the severest pe- 



* Gaudharvas an order of male genii, celestial musicians attached to the court of 

 Indra. ^ 



t Apsaras an order of female genii, nymphs destined to embellish with their 

 charms and their voluptuous dances the souarga, or paradise of Indra. 



$ Malirii a river which descends, it is said, from the Himalaya mountains, but 

 as to the course of which nothing certain is known. 



Casyapa a divine personage, as to whose origin and attributes the Indian my- 

 thologists are not much agreed. Like the Uranus of the Greeks, he seems to be 

 nothing else than heaven or space personified, 



|| Yatis a class of religious functionaries, remarkable for the severity of their 

 observances. 



<f[ Mounis a name appropriated to certain solitary individuals devoted to divine 

 contemplation, who condemn themselves to voluntary silence. 



** Vedas books sacred to the Indians, the most ancient monument of their lite- 

 rature. 



ft Gourous spiritual chiefs, under whom the young Indians acquire a know- 

 ledge of religious doctrines. 



%% Pundits sages and philosophers, 



Tapasoms enthusiastic devotees, who make sport of the most cruel suffer- 

 ings, and inflict on themselves penances which horrify the imagination. 



