JOUENAL 



OF THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



Part L— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &c. 



No. I.— 1869. 



Further Notes on the Prithirdj-rdyasa. — By F. S. Growse, Esq.. M. A. 



(Continued from Vol. XXXVII. page 134.) 



[Received 17th February, 1869.] 



My former paper on the poems of Chanel Barclay was little more 

 than a bare literal translation, which necessarily repeated the involved 

 style of the original, and left the real points of interest anything but 

 obvious to the casual reader. To remedy this defect, I now propose 

 before proceeding any further in the MS., to indicate some of 

 those features in the first Canto which appear to me most worthy of 

 attention. 



The shape into which the poem is thrown, is curious. The whole 

 of it, with the exception of the first 120 introductory lines, is sup- 

 posed to be a prophecy declared in the remote past by the great sage 

 Vyasa to King Anangpal, who solicits further information whenever 

 there occurs a pause in the narrative. The clumsiness of this device, 

 might be considered an indication of antiquity ; but in my opinion 

 it is rather due to an affected imitation of the style of the Puranas, 

 which are invariably cast in the form of a dialogue. 



The bard begins by announcing his intention to compose a work 

 equal in extent to the Mahabharat, and which he trusts will soon 

 become equally renowned, and make the name of Chand as glorious 

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