134 
LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF 
who instructs him above all in the Danurveda “ the art of 
arms” At an early age, the pious king Wisvamitra, of the 
rajars\ royal rtsi , (vid. the Rajarsis iti Bali, his successors) 
when he was recognized as an incarnation of Vishnu, invoked 
bis aid to deliver Ids hermitage from the Raksasas who had 
made war against it. This he accomplished and bent the 
bow of Parasu Rama, From this the tale turns to his nup¬ 
tials with the fair Sita, and to the intrigues of fiis stepmother 
Kek&yi, who forms the design to raise her son to the throne. 
After that he voluntarily retires into a hermitage, and sub¬ 
sequently into the forest of Dandaka, accompanied by Sita, and 
Laksmana. Laksmaria mutilates the Raksasin kurpanalca 
who wooed for his love, and by this excites the hatred of Ilawa- 
na, the prince of Langka (Ceylon) and brother to Surpanaka , 
against Rama and his companions. Rawana ravishes the 
beautiful Sita and Kama seeks for her in vain. He makes 
an alliance with the monkey-king Suyriva, and his relative the 
swift Hanuman H nnman discovers the bidden spot where 
Sita was concealed, and then begins the war of Rama and his 
monkey-warriors against, the Raksasas o {Lanykapura. A 
large part of the work is filled with ins'ructive conversations be¬ 
tween the monkey-princes and Rama, and their relations, 
especially between Wibisana , the brother of Rawana, and 
the latter. Finally Rawana is slain by Rama, who with his 
supernatural weapon chakra cuts off his 10 heads, Sita is 
purified by Aqni (the god of the fire) and disappears in 
mother earth. Rama becomes king of Ayoja, and retires in 
old age to the forest hermitage, where be dies. 
The Ramayana .and the Parvas are to the Balinese a sort 
of pattern for princes. The adat of the princes of the first 
caste as well of the second, is contained in those works, holy 
to them, whilst the Vedas and other secret writings furnish 
the rules lor the Brahmans. The princes and the chiefs of 
Bali are to regulate their lives in accordance with the Epic 
writings, and as long as they do so peace and quietness shall 
prevail and augment in the country. In the present time, 
however, many princes are charged with indifference to the 
sacred precepts, and with being thereby the cause of the 
diminution of the fortune and prosperity of Ball. 
A virtuous prince, before undertaking the smallest matter, 
examines first the conduct of the old Xatriyas and demi¬ 
gods, as it is described in the ancient holy literature. The 
conduct of those ancient heroes is permanently in the recol¬ 
lection of the princes of to-day, in order to regulate their ac¬ 
tions according to the holy patterns, wherever they may find 
