338 Lieiit.-Colonel Tod on Sculptures in (he Temples of Ellora. 



" Tlie battle raged. Steel met steel ; the mace resounds on the helm ; the 

 heroes are inebriated with tiie war-song ; bucklers are broken in pieces. 

 The gods convene above. Never, say they, such deeds did mortals per- 

 form : they fight on mountains of slain, o'er whose sides descend rivers of 

 blood. 



" Then did Uttitai seize his trident. TheYoginis'm his train, he rushed 

 into the field. Eacii held the patera to drink the blood of the slain. Ma- 

 HADEo followed his favourite to obtain a gem for his necklace.* In the 

 lake of battle Uttitat cut down the lotus; his trident broke the dam 

 which kept in its waters. Mahadeo filled his chaplet : ihc Devis glutted 

 with blood. Jesswunt Rahtore bowed to his lord as he opposed the hero ; 

 but with a laugh Uttitai threw his head at the feet of Mahadeo. Once 

 more the Mirs of the nortii t engaged ; fresh heroes of Canouj replaced 

 the slain. Rembha and the heavenly fair descended. Uttitai was their 

 choice, but the Urvdsist (Quarrelled for the hero : they agreed to share him 

 amongst them. Thrice the hero broke the circle of fight. When the war- 

 shell reached his ear, his head touched heaven : the host of Canouj fled 

 before him ; the Yoginis exclaimed, ' Victory to Uttitai !' while each host 

 called aloud, • Renown to the lord of the trident !' The ^psoras hovered 

 o'er the hero, each eagerly struggled ; but nor Rembha nor Afsara was 

 destined; Gui\ga§ herself received her son in her embrace: the wave 

 closed o'er the form of Uttitai. 



" The GandarvaW took flight for the regions above : to the god of the 



The Eddn affords affords many specimens of the same character. In the following runic- 

 verses, a northern hero is introduced boasting of liimself : 



" I am master of nine accomplishments. I play well at chess ; I know how to engrave runic 

 letters ; I am apt at my book, and know how to handle the tools of the smith ; I traverse the 

 snow in skaits of wood ; I excel in shooting with the bow, and in managing the oar ; I sing to 

 the harp and compose verses." 



Chand gives his hero, Prithi-Raja, thirty-two accomplishments, besides seventy-two graces 

 of a minor description I 



* By this metaphor the Bard prepares us for the death of the hero. 



f A title applied to the Syuds, of which tribe was the prophet Mahommed. 



X A title of the Apsaras, implying " dwellers on the breast" (Jira). 



§ The virtues of the Ganges as a lustral stream are well known. To die on its banks it 

 certain beatitude, and the ashes of great men are conveyed many hundred miles to be consigned 

 to its waters. 11 A celestial chorister. 



