434 ON SANSCRiT AND 



The example of the firft mentioned metre, here in- 

 serted, is from the Me'gha-duta, This elegant little 

 poem, attributed as before observed to Ca'lida'sa, 

 and comprising no more than 1 1 6 stanzas, supposes a 

 Yacsha or attendant of Cuve'ra to have been separated 

 from a beloved wife by an imprecation of the god 

 Guve'ra, who was irritated by the negligence of the 

 attendant in suffering the celeftial garden to be trodden 

 down by Indra's elephant. The distracted demigod, 

 banished from heaven to the earth, where he takes his 

 abode on a hill on which Ra'ma once sojourned, * 

 entreats a passing cloud to convey an affectionate mes- 

 sage to his wife. 



ATandacrdta. metre. 

 [See Plate C. Fig. 2.] 



C. Jiitam vanss e, bhuvana-vidite, pusbcaravartacanam, 

 Ja'na'mi twain, pracrlti-purusan, ca marupam, Maghonah, 

 Tena' rt'hitwan, twaji, vid'hi-sasad duraband'hur, gatd- 



ham. 

 Ya'chna' m6gha' varam ad'higune, nad'hame labd'haea'ma. 



7. Santapta'na'n twam asi s'aran'an ; tat, payo, priya'ya'h 

 Saiides'am me hara, d'hanapati-cmd'ha-vis leshitasya, 

 Gantavya' te vasatir Alaca' namayacshes wara n'am. 

 Va'hyodyana-st'hita-hara-s'iras' -chandiica -d'hcuta* 

 harmya'. 



** I KNEW thee sprung from the celebrated race ofdihivian 

 clouds, a minister of Indra, who dost assume any form at 

 pleasure : to thee I become an humble suitor, being se- 

 parated by tlie power of fate from my beloved spouse : a 

 request preferred in vain to the noble is better ihan success- 

 ful solicitation to the vile. 7.^hou art the refuge of the in- 

 llamtd : therefore do thou, O cloud, convey to my beloved a 

 message from me ivho am banished by the wrath of the god of 

 riches. Thou must repair to Ahca the abode of the lord of 

 Vacibas, a palace of which the whitened by the moonbeam 



Called Rametpri. 



