1876.] 



Prannath Pandit— Morals of Kdliddsa. 



361 



" I have resigned my own. Does such a purpose 



" Prove him no longer dear to me ?" 

 We cannot but exclaim with GJiitralehhd : — 

 " She is a lady 



" Of an exalted spirit, and a wife 



" Of duty most exemplary." 

 Parental duties— The parental relation is a result of the sexual one. 

 In the economy of nature, the subordination of ages is as marked as that 

 of the sexes. The aim of sound morality is not to subvert this natural 

 subordination, but to place it on a satisfactory footing by a well-regulated 

 code of duties and obligations. " There is no other case, which offers, in 

 the same degree, the most respectful spontaneous obedience, on the part of 

 the inferior, without the least degradation ; an obedience imposed by neces- 

 sity first, and then by gratitude ; and nowhere else do we see in the 

 superior party the most absolute authority united to entire devotedness, 

 too natural and too genial to be regarded as a duty."* 



Kalidasa had a clear conception of the intimate connection between 

 the sexual relation and the parental. He tells us of the Royal pair, 

 JDilipa and Sudahshind, that when their son shared the affection which 

 was only reciprocal before, the total amount of affection which they had 

 for each other, instead of decreasing as the rule of thumb would require, on 

 the contrary, increased, f Our poet recognised education and support as 

 parental duties, when he described Dilvpa as the true father of his people, 

 whose education, protection and support, emanated from him ; their so- 

 called fathers being mere progenitors — birth-causes. J The princes of 

 Bagliyls royal race were all educated in their boyhood§ and Bagliu, besides 

 the intellectual training which he received at the hands of learned tutors, |j 

 was initiated into the practice of arms by his own father.^" The education 

 of Aja precedes his marriage** and the necessity of educating and maintain- 

 ing the infant Dasaratha compel the bereaved husband to pass eight long 

 years ere he renounces the world. ft Bdma and his brothers were duly 

 educated. %% It was impossible for Bdma to look to the education of his 

 sons, but the duty was well discharged by the sage Vdlmiki, in whose her- 



* Comte's Positive Philosophy, Vol. II., p. 137. 



f Raghu., III. 24. 



% Raghu., I. 24. 



§ lfa5«Jraf^nr«rT*L I K'dghu., I, 8. 



|| Raghu., III. 29, 30. 



IT Raghu., III. 31. 

 ** Raghu., V. 38,-40. 

 ft Raghu., VIII. 92—94. 

 U Raghu., X. 79. 





