318 



REVIEW OF THE NAISHADHA CHARITA, 



IX. 



REVIEW 



OF 



THE NAISHADHA CHARITA, 



OR 



ADVENTURES OF NALA RAJA OF NISFIADHA; 



A SANSCRIT POEM, 



BY SHRI HARSHA OF CASHMIR, WITH A COMMENTARY 

 BY PREMA CHANDRA, 



Published by the Asiatic Society, 1836. 



By the Rev. WILLIAM YATES. 



The subject of this poem has been one of the peculiar interest to Indian 

 poets. The celebrated Vyasa deva has dressed it in language elegant 

 and simple ; the paragon of all the Eastern poets, Kalidasa, has orna- 

 mented it with pearls drawn from the very deepest recesses of the sea of 

 oriental learning ; while ShrI Harsha, the author of the present work, 

 has adorned it with a variety of metres, in a very flowing style. 



A concise account of the principal incidents which have rendered this 

 story so interesting, may be agreeable to individuals who have not leisure 

 to read it in the language of the original, which is both diffuse and difficult. 

 The story in epitome is this. Nala, king of Nishadha, and Damayanti 

 or Bhaimi, daughter of BhIma king of Vidarhhd, are represented as being 

 in love before they had seen each other. It is not uncommon in Eastern 

 Romance for youthful minds to be fascinated with the image of the person 

 which their own imaginations have formed. The Poets have described 



