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JOURNAL R. A. S. (CEYLON). [Vol. Ill, 



It is in regard to these attributes, with the arrogance of an 

 Ovid, when he said, 



Jamque opus exigi ; quod nec Jovis ira, nee ignis 

 Nee poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetustas ; 



the author of the " Kavyasekhara,' 1 speaks of himself in the 



following strain : — 



' Like a Brahaspati on earth renown'd, 

 The limits of each science fully found, 

 Radiant with heaven-derived religion's beams. 

 On learning s head a living gem he streams.'* 



He is represented as holding " an umbrella in hand, and 

 hence his name, Sat-ata. He is called Bar am or Bamha, 

 from his acknowledged greatness ; Vidi from his being the 

 author of destination ; Siwu-wat from his having four faces ; 

 Lb-ejara from his being the teacher of the world; Piyum-yon, 

 from his having been produced out of a lotus; V en-put, from 

 his being the son of Vishnu; Ata-kara, from his having eight 

 arms; Sarasawiya-kal, from being the husband of Saraswati; 

 Piyum-dsana from his having a lotus for his seat ; Ve-guru, 

 from being the teacher of the Vedas ; Ran-geba, from his 

 golden lustre; Ata-net, from his having eight eyes; Sura-detu 

 from being the ancestor of the Gods ; and L6-isuru, the chief 

 of the world. The above names are collected by one of our 

 poets in the following couplets : 



We have already seen, that the Asuras were inimical to 

 Sakra, whence they were called Dew-rupu or Sura-saturu. 

 This is in consequence of their expulsion from Tawtisa, one 

 of Indra's heavens, to the foot of Maha-mera, where they 

 now reside. Fearful of a repetition of their attacks, the four 



* See my Sidat Sangarawa, p. exci. 

 t e^ceS^j e3©E)di). — Kdvyastkhara. 



