NS a 
a a ai att a i ial al rene 
Vol. 1V, No. 6.] The Age of Kalidasa. 337 
[N.S.] 
a aoaa ateaifea: gave ufcranfacae:—and may Siva remove 
my re-birth. 
This is typical of the true Brahmana—the Brahmana to whom 
even when he is performing the 41 of his father the thought does 
not occur to offer the first share of the fq to the soul of his sire, 
but to those who have “@ arTar @ faar @ avy: ”; the Brahmana 
who, even after this first share is disposed of, does not think of 
offering the rest to him for whom the ceremony is intended, but 
approaches the priest with the query wWeag @ a4 ; the Brahmana 
whose father goes without a share of the fyw until and unless the 
priest utters the permission taT@ @taata#! What an example of 
' self-sacrifice! @ 24q is the query, not aa @aq. Even the cdea of 
an offer is absent, not to say of the departed dear one who is to 
receive the offer. 
Such a Brahmana is praying. The last clause of the prayer 
suggests that to him the glow of life has faded. he time has 
come when he is reminded. of a re-birth. At such amoment, with 
the noblest work of his life finished, the prayer must have 
proceeded from the bottom of his heart and embodies his dearest 
wishes, not to himself but to others—the princes and the people. 
The verse deserves, and will repay, careful study. 
The prayer ecaat afaaeat ayiaara—Let the declarations of 
those that are learned in the Vedas gain respect—is out of place 
unless we suppose that it refers to current contempt of Vedic 
teachings. Along with this let us read the last line of the opening 
verse—aqyattu: TI aaa fe: etc.—Siva known by his directly 
perceived forms, etc. A plain statement like aq 4 iw—-May the 
Lord protect you—is a perfect form of wifi Why then this 
solicitude to tell people how ¢w is known? An exactly similar 
anxiety is shown by the poet elsewhere where he says ware: fecuta- 
waged frsqerare 4: —May Siva, who is easily reached by steady 
devotion, promote your welfare. There too are: - Bas 
would have been a complete and welcome benediction. But the 
poet is not satisfied without telling in the same breath with the 
benediction that wre is fercufwutagey: | Kalidasa never says 
anything superfluous. If any poet in India may boast of the 
avoidance of a@wyfairaa, it is he. I —- “ not see how to 
explain the presence = Bites ae 
except on the supposition that, when the poet “et the country 
was full of sceptics seg ridiculed Vedic rites and disputed the 
very existence of God. His third drama is more explicit. 
