408 on SANSCRIT AND 



place of sacrifice. A negociation ensues; which is 

 however ineffectual, and both armies prepare for action. 

 This occupies two cantos. In the eighteenth both ar- 

 mies issue to the field of battle, and the conflict com- 

 mences. The battle continues in the next canto, 

 which describes the discomfiture and slaughter of 

 S'is'ur aula's army. In the last canto, the king, 

 grown desperate, dares Crishn'a to the combat. They 

 engage, and in the Indian manner fight v. ith superna- 

 tural weaj^sons. S'is'upa'la assails his enemy with ser- 

 pents, which the other destroys by means of gigantic 

 cranes. The king has recourse to igneous arms, 

 which Crishn'a extinguishes by a neptunian weapon. 

 The combat is proloncred with other miraculous arms, 

 and finally Crishn'a slays S'is'upa'la with an arrow. 



The following example is from a speech of S'ls'u- 

 pa'la's embassador, in reply to a discourse of S'atyaci 

 brother of Crishn'a, at an interview immediately pre- 

 ceding the battle. 



[See Plate A. Fig. 5.] 



*' A low man, poor in understanding, does not perceive his 

 own advantage : that he should not comprehend it when 

 shown by others, is surprising. The wife, of themselves, 

 know the approach of danger, or ihey put trust in others : but 

 a foolish man does not believe infoimation without personal 

 experience. The proposal, which I made to thee, Crishna, 

 was truly for thy bfuelit : the generous are ready to advise 

 even ilieir enemies bent on their destruction. Peace and wur 

 have been offered at tke same lime by me ; judging their re- 

 spective advantages, thou wilt choose between them. Yet 

 good advice addressed to those whose understanding is astiay, 

 becomes vain, like the beams of the cold moon directed to- 

 wards lakes eager for the warm rays of the sun." 16. 39 — ^I'S. 



Another passage of the same poem is here sub- 

 joined as a specuVien of a different species of this me- 

 tre. It is the opening of the last canto; where S'15-. 



