No. 11.— 1858-9.] SINHALESE MYTHOLOGY. 



283 



" Verily even now the fire of Siva's wrath burns in this like the submarine 

 fire in the ocean : otherwise how couldst thou, agitator of the soul ! 

 with nothing left but ashes, be so scorching towards such as me?" 

 Ananga is represented, like his Grecian parallel Eros, with a 

 bow and arrow. The description of these weapons in our 

 books is truly beautiful : the bow is a sugar-cane, (whence the 

 appellation of Siya-sew, or a " creeper-bow," sweet in its taste, 

 and lovely in its appearance ; the bow-string is made of a line 

 of bees, those lovely denizens of the forest, who sip the 

 liquid sweets of flowers ; and the arrows are five in number 

 (pan-sera), each tipped with a flower, Hence the name 

 Mala-viya or Kusum-dunu, " flowery bow," which the poet 

 describes in the following lines : — 



The five species of flowers here described are : the white 

 azzling Jasmine, the matchless Asoka* the unspotted Idda, 

 he far-famed Maha-nel (Lotus. Nelumbium, speciosum), 

 nd the odorous Mango. t They are also given in the following 

 passage in the paraphrase to the Amara Kdsha : — 

 ^d§^<;®©>«)jas5£)gs3£)io£)s)(^'(3a533, ^afoc^siS^oo 



aO<a)33D«)B 333 033553 8 



and are different from those enumerated by a Sinhalese poet 

 'n the following line : — 



8€)£> ®8ss*i©q ®e,SD ©SH ®®©C? ^160®$$. 

 which are the Jasmine, Idda, Ktna, Domba, and Bolidda. 



* This is the Jonesia Asoka, which is represented as producing a very 

 ovely flower, and it is supposed that the contact of the stem of the As6ka 

 ree with the foot of a woman of superior beauty, makes it blossom. 



f It is believed, (and I here speak upon the authority of Mr. W 

 Ferguson), that the tree which produced the balm of Gilead in the Scrip- 

 tures, Bdellium, Myrrh and Incense or Frankincense, are the produce 

 of the same natural order of plants to which our Mango belongs- 



