MAJOR MACDONALD. §t 



and have found the following verse and translation in the 

 fifth volume (v. 2036 l^OO). 



S&reCtf "?xoS"fe3 OccSX) 



The village of our body in which the deity dwells is hill 

 town (the head.) Therein his (abode ? ) is in back street 

 (the spine.) Therein silence is the first house. As we gaze 

 and continually view it, this is the road of beatitude. 



The similarity between this verse and the one above 

 quoted is sufficiently obvious. They are probably only two 

 different versions of the same passage. It will be observ- 

 ed that Mr. Brown takes it entirely in a mystical sense, 

 and the verse has probably been omitted for that reason, as 

 may be gathered from the following remark in his preface. 

 " A system of obscure and unprofitable doctrines regarding 

 mysticism is much studied among the Telugus ; in such 

 reveries Vemana has indulged at great length, and there his 

 meaning is often doubtful. Of such verses I have retained 

 only a few of the easiest." Mr. Brown remarks elsewhere 

 that the " carelessness of style in this writer often leaves 

 passages thus doubtful, and has led to the erroneous idea 

 entertained among the natives that his verses are all rid- 

 dles, conveying a different meaning from that which ap- 

 pears." I doubt, however, whether this idea is altogether er- 

 roneous, and will conclude this paper by citing two unpub- 

 lished verses from the manuscript, the first of which seems 

 to me remarkable as containing another enigmatical refer- 

 ence to the time and place of Vemana's birth, and the 

 second, as showing that Vemana was often intentionally 

 obscure, 



