AMBA. 105 



Draw near, my son/' he said ; " and thou, my beloved daughter, 

 approach, and listen to the will of your father. The time is come, 

 when we must make ready all things for the arrival of the wise and 

 honoured Adhar. My (laughter, let those pious ceremonies, with 

 which virtuous women prepare themselves ere they enter the dwell- 

 ing of their husband, be duly performed : and do thou Govinda, son 

 of my choice, set my household in order, that all may be in readiness 

 to receive with honour the bridegroom, who comes to claim his be- 

 trothed. To-morrow we will sacrifice to Ganesa, who is the guardian 

 of travellers : this night must be given to penance and holy medita- 

 tion. Amra, retire : and thou, Govinda, take up that faggot of 

 Tulsi-wood, with the rice and the flowers for the evening oblation, 

 and follow me to the temple." So saying, the old man turned away 

 hastily ; and without looking back, pursued his path through the 

 sacred grove. 



Alas for those he had left behind ! Govinda remained silent and 

 motionless. Amra would have obeyed her father, but her limbs 

 refused their office. She trembled she was sinking : she timidly 

 looked up to Govinda as if for support ; his arms were extended to 

 receive her : she fell upon his neck, and wept unrestrained tears. 

 He held her to his bosom as though he would have folded her into 

 his inmost heart, and hidden her there for ever. He murmured 

 passionate words of transport and fondness in her ear. He drew 

 aside her veil from her pale brow, and ventured to print a kiss upon 

 her closed eyelids. " To night," he whispered, " in the grove of 

 mangoes by the river's bank ! " She answered only by a mute ca- 

 ress ; and then, supporting her steps to her own apartments, he 

 resigned her to the arms of her attendants, and hastened after his 

 preceptor. He forgot, however, the materials for the evening sacri- 

 fice, and in consequence not only had to suffer a severe rebuke from 

 the old priest, but the infliction of a penance extraordinary, which 

 detained him in the presence of his preceptor till the night was far 

 advanced. At length, however, Sarma retired to holy meditation 

 and mental abstraction, and Govinda was dismissed. 



He had hitherto maintained, with habitual and determined self- 

 command, that calm, subdued exterior., which becomes a pupil in 

 the presence of his religious teacher; but no sooner had he crossed 

 the threshold, and found himself alone breathing the free night air 

 of heaven, than the smothered passions burst forth. He paused for 

 one instant to anathematise in his soul the Sastras and their contents, 

 the gods and "their temples, the priests and the sacrifices ; the futile 

 ceremonies and profitless, suffering to which his life was abandoned, 

 VOL. in. 1834. p 



