4 The Waterulies. 



diameter, and the display is enriched by every shade of color connecting 

 the one form with the other. That these have found place in the rich 

 literature of the Hindus is quite certain. But some confusion has arisen 

 on account of the presence and importance of Nelumbo nucifera, the 

 pink-tipped sacred lotus of India. Nelumbo is unquestionably the sacred 

 plant of the Buddhists, the flower upon which Buddha sits, the padma 

 of the Hindu prayer. The only question is whether the few statements 

 assigning a religious value to Nymphaea are to be entirely disregarded, 

 or whether plants of this genus did really receive a minor degree of 

 worship. " Lotus-eyed," " lotus-hearted " and the figure of water on the 

 lotus leaf, all so frequent in Sanskrit literature, certainly refer to 

 Nelumbo. 1 But when we read in the Mahabharata (Vana Parva, ch. 

 307, 19) of a hero "possessed of a complexion bright as the copper- 

 colored lotus leaves," we think at once of N. rubra or its varieties. An 

 examination of the Sanskrit, however, 2 reveals that the root padma occurs 

 here (padmatdmradalojjvalam), showing that the plant in the poet's mind 

 was Nelumbo, and we may translate " lotus-petals " in place of " lotus- 

 leaves," improving the simile. Again in Adi Parva (ch. I, 86) we read 

 "As the Full-Moon with its mild light opens the buds of the waterlily, 

 so does this Purana with the light of Sruti expand the human intellect." 

 This waterlily is probably N. lotus or N. rubra, as they are night 

 bloomers. Kalidasa makes a similar reference in Sakoontala, 



" And now 

 While the round Moon withdraws his looming disc 

 Beneath the western sky, the full-blown flower 

 Of the night-loving: lotus sheds her leaves 

 In sorrow for his loss, bequeathing naught 

 But the sweet memory of her loveliness 

 To my bereaved sight:" (Williams, 1856, p. 92.) 



There is some poetic license here ; for Nelumbo does not open at 

 night, but does shed its petals when full-blown, while Nymphaea lotus 

 opens at night, but retreats under water after three nights, taking its 

 petals with it ! It seems, however, that N. lotus is the plant referred 

 to; for Williams adds in a note (p. 14) that "the moon is often called 

 the ' lover or lord of the lotuses '." 



l Cf. Dhammapada, ch. iv, 58, 9; ch. xxvi, 401; Miiller 1881. Mahabharata, Adi Parva, 

 ch. 122, 29 ; ch. 199, 11 ; Vana parva, ch. 5, 16 ; ch. 231, 13 ; ch. 307, 23 ; Dutt 1895. 

 1 Kindly made for me by my learned friend Albert J. Edmunds of Philadelphia. 



