638 SACCOUNTALA. 



nances, or immoveable, and plunged in the deepest contemplation, are 

 already identified in spirit with the incorruptible essence of Brahma. * 



Douchmanta finds himself in front of the hermitage of Canoua. Leaving 

 his minister and his chief priest on the outside, he enters alone, and calls 

 with a loud voice. A charming girl, in the first flower of youth, whose 

 dazzling beauty could not be concealed by the austerity of her costume, 

 and who in her demeanour resembled the goddess Sri t herself, advanced 

 instantly with the most ravishing grace and modesty towards the young 

 stranger, whom she recognized at once as the King Douchmanta. She 

 bowed before him with respect, presented him with water for his ablu- 

 tions (the first duty towards a guest), entreated him to, take some repose, 

 ?nd, placing milk and fruit before him, inquired the object of his visit. 



"My intention," replied the prince, " was to present my homage to 

 the venerable Canoua, that model of all the virtues ; but perhaps he is 

 not in his hermitage at present." 



" My father, she replied, "has only gone to gather some fruit in the 

 forest ; if my lord would wait, he will doubtless soon return/' 



Struck with the beauty of the youthful recluse, the touching expres- 

 sion of her voice and the nobleness of her features, Douchmanta, in a 

 tone of the deepest agitation, exclaimed, " And who art thou, adorable 

 girl ? Why livest thou in this dreary forest ? Whence comest thou ? 

 Uniting in thy presence all the charms of a goddess, I burn to know 

 thy origin. Inform me, I conjure thee. In vain should I dissimulate. 

 In looking on thee, I feel that I am no longer master of my heart. 



Thus interrogated by the king, the virtuous Saccountala, for such was 

 her name, thus modestly replied " My lord, I am the daughter of the 

 respectable Canoua, a Brahmin of the most fervent devotion, and full of 

 magnanimity, whom men venerate as a saint." 



" But," rejoined Douchmanta, " he to whom you give the name of 

 father has vowed to renounce all human passions, and DharmaJ himself, 

 the god of justice, would sooner forget his duties than the austere 

 Canoua the sacred vow by which he is bound. Tell me, then, I pray 

 thee, how thou canst be his daughter, and clear away the suspicions 

 which are rising in my mind -?" 



" I shall relate to you, oh prince !" replied Saccountala, " how this 

 event took place, and inform you of the circumstances of my birth in 

 detail. A Brahmin, who formerly sojourned at an hermitage, addressed 

 the same inquiry to the venerable Canoua, and received from the holy 

 anchorite the following recital. * It is not long/ he said, ' since Visona- 

 mitra, abandoning himself to the most frightful austerities, inspired the 



* Brahma By this unutterable word the Indians understood that eternal, incor- 

 ruptible, self-existent Being, the soul and mover of the universe, which he fills with 

 his immensity. He must not be confounded with Brachma, which last word is but 

 the personification of one of his qualities, that of Creator ; while by Vishnou and 

 Siva are understood his two other great attributes of preserver and destroyer. 



-}- Sri the same as Laksmi, the Indian Venus, reminding us of the " Et vera 

 incessu patuit" of Virgil. 



$ Dharma the Indian Rhadamanthus, oftenconfounded with Yama, an inflexible 

 judge whose attributes correspond to those of Minos in the Greek mythology. 



Visonamitra a celebrated Monni, who played a principal part in the Rk&m*- 

 yana, as preceptor and counsellor of Kama. In that poem the story of his most 

 marvellous actions is told. 



