EXTERIXG ANOTHER'S BODY. 35 



words express the goddess Laksmi (i) ; distress (ha) ; forbidding 

 (alam) ; Brahma (ka) ; part of a wagon (ara, 'spoke') ; protection 

 (sam) ; next tell the letter which follows the letter kha (in the 

 kavarga of the Hindu alphabet, namely ga) ; do you wish also the 

 letter which follows the letter na (in the ta-varga of the Hindu 

 alphabet, namely ta) . All this makes up the theme i + ha -f- alam + 

 ka -f- ara -|- sarh + ga -f- tam. = ihalamkarasarhgatam." (2) " What 

 is ever in the mind of those who desire? " (Answer : Iha " effort ") ; 

 what city was burned by the monkey? (Answer: Lanka, in Ceylon) ; 

 what do people desire of sugar-cane? (Answer: rasam 'juice'); 

 and what is beautiful in the hansa-bird? (Answer: gatam, "its 

 gait ").*" This again makes up the theme : iha -j- lamka -\- rasarii + 

 gatam. (3) "What sort of a word of skilled poets is this?" Thus 

 the parrot had put this tangled riddle, and when the Queen, her 

 mind bewildered, did not answer, the parrot with successive arrange- 

 ment of the word into single syllables, two syllables, and all its 

 syllables gave the answer: ihalariikarasamgatam ("a compound of 

 elifort and rhetoric"). 



Salutary Instruction {HitopadcQa) by the Parrot {228-2^^). 



Then the queen asked the parrot : " Recite some well-spoken 

 words devoted to salutary instruction !" The parrot, thus requested 

 by the queen, then replied : " Listen ! A deed that is done after care- 

 ful deliberation ; speech that is well-weighed ; passions completely 

 under control never work mischief. Thought charged with recti- 

 tude ; speech adorned with sweetness ; and a body inclined with 

 courtesy do not belong to ignoble men. Wrath of noble men en- 

 dures but one moment; their vow for as long as it is set. But their 

 responsibilities in the world last as long as life itself. Self-praise 

 and abuse of others ; envy of the good qualities of noble men ; and 

 inconsequent chatter drag one down low. Speech without malice 

 towards others; serene dignity of countenance; and a mind discreet 

 about what it has heard, these qualities lead a man aloft." 



*o The gait of the hansa is considered beautiful. A graceful woman is 

 haiisagamini, Manu, 3. 10. In 7. 603 of the present text five animals are said 

 to be conspicuous for their graceful gait: haiisa, elephant, bull, kraunca-bird, 

 and crane. Cf. Bohtlingk, " Indische Spriiche," 7360. 



