Captain Tod's Comments on a Sanscrit Insaiption. 153 



Herbert's description of Hialmar's funeral, will suit exactly the young 

 Prince of Uderjapura. 



" On a rich pall the chief is laid, 



" Clad in bright steel, with helmed head, 



" The iron gauntlet in his hand, 



" And in its grasp the elfin brand ; 



" He seems like living there to lie, 



" Save ihe wan cheek and rayless eye." 



These remarks were unintentionally and incidentally brought in. Our 

 A'si-garh reminded me of the Asgard, the first city which the Asi, under 

 Orfi», had; and Chand's mythology has long suggested the ideas of com- 

 parison, independent of many other fancies, which afford some proofs, 

 tending to show a common Scythian origin of Odin's colony, and of some, at 

 least, of the martial races of India. Our Saxon ancestry brought customs with 

 them into Britain, which belong to the East. But after all, if these be only 

 coincidences, it may not be uninteresting to remark the same train of mind 

 in countries so widely different, as Scandinavia and the banks of the Indus. 



But it is time to close these remarks. I will take the liberty of doing so 

 in the words of the son and successor of Chand, and with which the work 

 closes, the sack of Delhi, and death of Prince Raina-si, the son of Puithwi- 

 rAja. 



" Glory to Prithwiraja ! Renown to the Chohdn! Renown to Prince 

 " Raina-si, who gave his head for the land/.'^tered with his blood, Un- 

 " fading 4*e-the wreath of praise. He, whose wisdom is blind, cannot un- 

 " derstand this story. Should princes not reward you * in reading it, 

 " murmur not, HiNGULAjf will reward you. To hear the renown of 

 " Prithwiraja, the jackall would assume the part of the lion. To hear 

 " the renown of Prithwiraja, the miser would unlock his stores. To 

 " hear the renown of Prithwiraja, the dumb would shake his head in 

 " delight ; for its relation is a sea of virtues. The ignorant, on hearing it, 

 " will become stored with wisdom. In hearing it, the coward will become 

 " a hero. It is not the bard who says this, it is Saraswati herself: for 

 " Uma t delights to hear it ; and the lord of the lyre § dwells in its praise. 



* Addressed to liis brotlicr, and future bards. 



f Tlie patroness of bards. 



t One of tlie many names of Durca'. 



§ Na'reoa. 



Vol. I. X 



