1838. j Account of Books of General Literature. 481 



5. The eighteen Upa-puranas, the names of them are given. The 

 general nature of the contents is specified. 



6. The Bdratham, the Rdmdyanum, and some other books, contents 

 explained; the matter of some of them is censured, as tending to 

 bewilder mens' minds, and sink them into gross sensuality. 



Notice of some books connected with the life of Crishna ; the ad- 

 ventures of Nala, and other books, of the kind of poetical, or extrava- 

 gant, romance. 



7. The Ndtaga works, or dramas. 



8. The Jambu class of books, or abstracts of ancient and extensive 

 compositions ; the said epitomes having been made by Cali-dasa, and 

 other poets or learned men ; and being adapted to aid as a guide to an 

 outline acquaintance with the originals. 



9. The Bdna class of books. 



These are explained to be erotic treatises, teaching the art of fasci- 

 nating the eye ; according to the common fable of arrows. 



10. Upa-jdnna, books of adventures ; these describe the great suf- 

 ferings of certain personages, and the happiness which followed. They 

 refer to Harischandra ; Nala ; Cusala, son of Rama ; and Sita, 

 wife of Rama. 



] 1 . The Nigandas ; seven are mentioned. They are of the diction- 

 ary kind, containing works with synonimes or explanations. 



12. The Rdmdyanas, or various Tamil versions of this poem ; four 

 are mentioned. 



13. The Bdrathams, or versions of the Mahdhhdrata ; various other 

 tales, fables, and the like kind of works. 



14. Books peculiar to the Vaishnava system ; a considerable list of 

 these is given, thirty-eight in number ; several of them have the word 

 mystery added to the specific name. Accordingly to the explanation, 

 they relate to the spiritual interpretation of the symbols employed by 

 the sect, or to th& esoteric doctrines, and much of the contents apper- 

 tain to a future state of being. 



15. The Vedanta-sastras. 



The Purva mimansa of Jaimini : comments of Battacharya, 

 Vbyasa, Sancaracharya, and some others. 



16. The Jyotisha system, or astrological works. 



These blend, what we term astronomy and astrology together ; they 

 are ascribed to eighteen rishis, whose names were probably attached to 

 them by later writers. The amount of the whole is stated at four lacs 

 of slocas or four hundred thousand poetical stanzas, in the Grantha, or 

 Prakrit, of the south. 



