646 SACCOUNTALA. 



having fallen for an instant into error, finds no repose until his fault is 

 expiated. 



" Acknowledge then this boy for thy son, and grant him all a father's 

 affection ; for the gods will destroy the earthly happiness of the man 

 who refuses to his child to fulfil the duties which the law of nature pre- 

 scribes, and he will for ever be excluded from the celestial abodes. A 

 son has always been regarded by our ancestors as a shoot which is des- 

 tined to perpetuate the lustre of their race. Unhappy, then, the father 

 who, in abandoning his son, renounces the most sacred of his duties. 

 Protect thy son, I repeat to thee, O powerful king of men. In making 

 him happy, thou wilt contribute to thy own welfare, and the sacred laws 

 of justice and of truth will not be overthrown by the very man who 

 ought to make them reign upon the earth. Let truth, that sublime 

 virtue, which alone, as our sages declare, prevails over all that is great- 

 est in the world, which alone assimilates our nature to that of the gods, 

 which is the eternal Brahma himself; let this sacred truth at length 

 issue from thy mouth, already too long defiled by an infamous falsehood. 

 Avow, O king, thy engagements solemnly contracted, and prove that 

 thy affection for me was sincere. But if thy heart indeed conceals the 

 blackest perfidy if thou hast played towards me the guilty part of a 

 vile seducer if thou deniest, without shame, the faith thou hast sworn 

 to me I leave thee without regret : for a being such as thou, would 

 be no longer worthy of my affection. Nevertheless, I declare to thee, 

 Douchmanta, all abandoned by thee as my son now remains, he will yet 

 one day reign over the whole world : for such are the decrees of fate." 



In concluding this address, Saccountala prepared to leave the hall of 

 audience, when a voice from heaven was heard by Douchmanta, as he 

 sat surrounded by his priests, his ministers, and the first personages of 

 the state, pronouncing these solemn words : 



" Protect thy son, O Douchmanta, and honour his mother. Saccoun- 

 tala has spoken truly thou art the father of the boy; and as it is by 

 our intervention that he is to rise under the shelter of thy throne, thou 

 wilt give to him the name of Bharata."* 



" You have heard this miraculous voice/' said Douchmanta, turning 

 towards his high priest and his ministers, intoxicated with the purest 

 joy; ef as for me, I did not need this confirmation brought by the mes- 

 senger of the gods. I recognized Saccountala from the first, and did 

 not doubt that this boy was my son. But had I declared it on my own 

 testimony alone, my people might have refused to .give credit to the 

 statement, and might have ascribed to my son an illegitimate origin. It 

 was to remove this injurious suspicion, that I waited for this favour from 

 the goodness of the gods." 



Giving himself up to the rapturous burst of paternal affection, he 

 opened his arms to his son, who threw himself into them, and covered 

 him with kisses. 



" And thou, dear Saccountala, with what pleasure do I not pardon the 

 hard words which, in the bitterness of thy indignation, thou hast not 

 feared to address to me ; but do thou also pardon this necessary strata- 

 gem, to convince my people of the legitimacy of our union, and that in 

 my son they might joyfully recognize his father." 



* Bharata. This word is derived from the Sanscrit root Bhri, which signifies, 

 to support, protect, nourish ; and which has evidently produced the Greek and 

 Latin verb <pipw, fero. 



