162 
HINDOOSTAN. 
married to me by the ceremony of Gandharvas, and, after 
a time, was conducted to my palace by fome of her fa¬ 
mily; but, my memory having failed through delirium, I 
rejected her, and thus committed a grievous offence 
againft the venerable Canna, who is of thy divine lineage : 
afterwards, on feeing this fatal ring, I remembered my love 
and my nuptials; but the whole tranfaClion yet fills me 
with wonder.—My foul was confounded with ftrange ig¬ 
norance that obfcured my fenfes; as if a man were to fee 
an elephant marching before him, yet to doubt what ani¬ 
mal it could be, till he difcovered by the traces of his 
large feet that it was an elephant. 
Caf. Ceafe, my fon, to charge thyfelf with an offence 
committed ignorantly, and, therefore, innocently.—Now 
hear me- 
Dujhvi. I am devoutly attentive. 
Caf. When the nymph Menaca led Sacontala from the 
place where thy defection of her had afflicted her foul,.fhe 
brought her to the palace of Aditi; and I knew, by the 
•power of meditation on the Supreme Being, that thy for- 
getfulnefs of thy pious and lawful confort had proceeded 
from the imprecation of Durvafas, and that the charm 
would terminate on the fight,of thy ring. 
Dujhm. [. AJide.] My name then is cleared from in¬ 
famy. 
Sac. Happy am I that the fon of my lord, who now 
recognifes me, denied me through ignorance, and not 
with real averfion.—The terrible imprecation was heard, 
I fuppofe, when my mind was intent on a different ob¬ 
ject, by my two beloved friends, who, with extreme af¬ 
fection, concealed it from me to fpare my feelings, but 
advifed me at parting to fhow the ring if my hufband 
fhould have forgotten me. 
Caf. [ Turning to Sacontala.] Thou art apprifed, my 
daughter, of the whole truth, and muff no longer refent 
the behaviour of thy lord.— He rejeCted thee when his 
memory was impaired by the force of a charm ; and, when 
the gloom was difpelled, his conjugal affeCrion revived ; 
as a mirror, whofe furface has been fullied, reflects no 
•image; but exhibits perfect refemblances when its polifh 
•has been reftored. 
Dujhm. Such, indeed, was my fituation. 
Caf. My lbn Dufhmanta, haft thou embraced thy child 
by Sacontala, on whofe birth I myfelf performed the ce¬ 
remonies prefcribed in the Veda ? 
Dujhm. Holy Marichi, he is the glory of my houfe. 
Caf. Know too, that his heroic virtue will raife him to 
a dominion extended from fea to fea: before he has paffed 
the ocean of mortal life, he fhall rule, unequalled in com¬ 
bat, this earth with feven peninfulas ; and as he is now 
called Servademana, becaufe he tames even in childhood 
the fierceft animals, fo, in his riper years, he fhall acquire 
the name of Bharata, becaufe he fhall fuftain and nourifh 
•the world. 
Dujhm. A boy educated by the fon of Marichi muff at¬ 
tain the fummit of greatnefs. 
• Adi. Now let Sacontala, Who is reftored to happinefs, 
convey intelligence to Canna of all thefe events: her 
mother Menaca is in my family, and knows .all that has 
paffed. 
Sac. The goddefs propofes what I moft ardenly with. 
Caf. By the force of true piety the whole fcene will be 
prefent to the mind of Canna. 
Dujhm. The devout fage muft be kill exceffively indig¬ 
nant at my frantic behaviour. 
Caf. [ Meditating .] Then let him hear from me the de¬ 
lightful-news, that his fofter-child has been tenderly re¬ 
ceived by her hufband, and that both are happy with the 
little warrior who fprang from them.—Hola! who is in 
waiting ? 
A Pupil enters. 
Pup. Great being, I am here. 
Caf. Haften, Golava, through the light air, and in my 
name inform the venerable Canna, that Sacontala has a 
charming fon by Dulhmanta, whofe affection for her was 
reftored with his remembrance, on the termination of the 
fpell railed by the angry Durvafas. 
Pup. As the divinity commands. [ He goes out, 
Caf. My fon, re-afcend the car of Indra with thy confort 
and child, and return happy to thy imperial feat. 
DuJJm. Be it as Marichi ordains. 
Caf Henceforth may the god of the atmofphere with 
copious rain give abundance to thy affectionate fubjeCls; 
and mayft thou with frequent facrifices maintain the 
Thunderer’s friendfhip! By numberlefs interchanges of 
good offices between you both, may benefits reciprocally 
be conferred on the inhabitants of the two worlds ! 
Dujhm. Powerful being, I will be ftudious, as far as I 
am able, to attain that felicity. 
Caf. What other favours can I beftow on thee ? 
Dujhm. Can any favours exceed thofe already be¬ 
llowed ?—Let every king apply himfelf to the attainment 
of happinefs for his people ; let Serefwati, the goddefs of 
liberal arts, be adored by all readers of the Veda; and 
may Siva, with an azure neck and red locks, eternally 
potent and felf-exifting, avert from me the pain of ano¬ 
ther birth in this periftiable world, the feat of crimes and 
of punifhment.— Exeunt. 
The early progrefs which the Hindoos appear to have 
made in the fcience of Astronomy, has excited the ad¬ 
miration and attention of many eminent mathematicians 
in Europe. They are poffeffed of ancient aftronomical 
tables, from which they compile their almanacs, and cal¬ 
culate eclipfes; though they feem now to be unacquainted 
with the principles upon which their anceftors conftruCted 
them. Various predictions, founded on judicial aftrology, 
help to fill up thofe almanacs; wherein fome days are 
marked as lucky, and others as unlucky; and they like- 
wife pretend to foretel future contingencies by means of 
horofcopes, juft the fame as Francis Moore does in 
England. 
In all their arithmetical calculations, the Hindoos have 
the credit of being remarkably expert. Their operations 
are indeed very numerous, ingenious, and difficult; but, 
when once learnt, perfectly fure. They apply to them 
from their early infancy; and they are fo much accuftomed 
to calculate fums the moft complicated, that they will do 
almoft infantly what Europeans would be long in per¬ 
forming. They divide the units into a great number of 
fractions. It is a ftudy that feems peculiar to them, and 
which requires much time to learn. The moft frequent 
divifion of the unit is into a hundred parts, which is only 
to be learnt confecutively, as the fractions are different 
according to the things that are numbered. There are 
fractions for money, for weights, for meafures, in fliort 
for every thing that may be brought under arithmetical 
inveftigation. 
The Hindoos reckon from the rifing to the next rifing 
fun, fixty nafigey ; each nafigey is divided into fixty vein¬ 
ary, and each veinary into fixty taipary: nafigey are 
equal to one of our hours; 2§ veinary to one of our 
minutes ; and 2^ taipary to one of our feconds : therefore 
a nafigey, or, as it may be called, the Hindoo hour, is equal 
to 24 of our minutes; and the veinary, or Hindoo minute , 
to 24. of our feconds. 
Their week confills of feven days, to each of which 
they have given the name of one of the planets, and ar¬ 
ranged them exaCtly in the fame order that has been 
adopted by Europeans: 
Sunday is Additavaram, or day of the Sun. 
Monday •— Somavaram — Moon. 
Tuefiday. — Mangalavaram — Mars. 
Wednefday — Boutavaram Mercury, 
Thurfday — Brahafpativaram —• Jupiter. 
Friday — Soucravaram — Venus. 
Saturday — Sanyvaram —- Saturn. 
But their planets, like their gods, are frequently called 
by different names ; or are varioufly pronounced and fpelt 
in different parts of the empire, whiclris often productive 
of great confufion to ftrangers, 
n Their 
