which entitle them to be considered a system. Accordingly the Paurán'icas, mythologists, constitute a distinct school, differing widely of course from the several philosophical schools, but in many respects coinciding with them: one of these coincidences is the doctrine of the triguna, the three qualities, or principles of good, evil and passion, which is received both by the mythologists and the philosophers, with the usual difference that the former dogmatize and the latter reason on it. According to the mixed system oftheogony and ontology, which constitutes the philosophy of the Puránas, there are three races of intelligent beings, differing from each other in quality and lineage. The first are collectively called Asura from their natural antipathy to the Sura; in these the evil principle, támasam, prevails and they are by nature, therefore, evil, Cacodæmons. The second race are the A'ditya, so called from their mother Aditì, one of the sixty daughters of Dacsha-prajapati, the son of Brahma, and the eldest wife of Casyapa, and Sura, derived from a root signifying wealth: in them the good principle, sátwicam, prevails, and they are, therefore, by nature good, Eudæmons, The third and last are the Human race, Mánava, descended from Manù the. sister of Aditì and fourth wife of Casyapa; in them the principle of passion, rájasam, prevails, and mankind are left, under the direction of their wills and inclinations, to aspire to virtue or to deviate into vice. The Asura are here first mentioned though they are in fact younger than the Sura, as they first possessed the earth and are called, therefore, Purva Dévàh the ancient Gods. They are divided into three tribes; the two first are the Daitya, proper ly so called, this being used, also, as a collective term, and the Danava; brothers on the father's side of the Sura and Mánava, but from different mothers, the former being the offspring of Ditì (Dis in the feminine) and the latter of Danù, also daughters of Dacsha and second and third wives of Casyapa. The third tribe are the Rácshasa the descendents of Héti, a being created by Brahmà from water, by Bhayà, the sister of Yama, the God of death and hell. The Daitya and Danava seem to have kept themselves pure, but the Rácshasa intermixed with these, with the Gand harva, a tribe of Suras, and with the Human race, from whom sprang their princes; not as the Giants of old, by the sons of God entering in unto the daughters of men, but from a human father and a demoniac mother, Rávana, their king, being the son of the Brahman Visravas, the son of Pulastya, the son of Brahmà, by Caicasì, the daughter of Sumáli, the son of Vidyu, the son of Héti. These, to the extreme of malignancy, unite the violence of passion in excess and are, therefore, in general, for there are some exceptions, utterly incapable of virtue. The habitation of all the Asura tribes is properly the infernal regions, Pátála, as that of the Sura and of the Manava is respectively the celestial heavens and the earth, but the Rácshasa are represented as having held the. three worlds in subjection, and it was to repress their in tolerable tyranny that Vishnu became incarnate in the seventh Avatára as Ráma-cliandra. These extracts are intended to exemplify the position, that, whatever eminence may be acquired, neither virtue nor the permanent benefit of vir tue can be possessed by those innately wicked; they are from the 2nd Canto (இராவணன் மந்திரப்பட லம) of the Sixth Book (யுத்ததாணடம்), in which Cumbacarnen, one of the brothers of Rávanen, reproves, in a council of the Giant chiefs, the conduct of the former, in forcibly seizing and detaining Sitei, the wife of Rámen, and yainly endeavours to persuade him to restore her to her husband. Previously to the holding of this council, Anuman, one of the leaders of the silvan tribes that accompanied Ramen to the attack of Ilangei, who, though in the form of an ape, was in reality an incarnation of Payanen, the God of the wind, had penetrated to the capital of Rávanen in search of Sitei and, having been taken prisoner, had been allowed to depart, after his tail, wrapped in oiled cloth, had been set on fire as the punishment of his intrusion; with the torch so furnished him, he had laid the whole city in ashes, finally escaping unhurt in defiance of the utmost efforts of the Giants:hence the allusions in some of the following verses, RA'MA YAN'AM. கோவியல்பறிந்ததெனவேறொருகுலத்தோன் Thou hast lamented as if thou hadst lost every kingly attribute by this beautiful city having been devoured by the flames; but is it right to desire the wife of one of another race and to detain her in captivity? is any sin the wicked commit a greater sin than this? என்றொருவனில்லுறை தவத்தியையிரங்க யன Contrary to the precepts of religion, thou hast detained in captivity and overwhelmedwith sorrow, a woman wha was engaged in devotion, belonging to the house of another, O perpetrator of violent acts! and if in that day the glory of the Araccer was obscured, would it be wise in us to sanction so disgraceful an act? தூயவரமுறைமையே துடங்குநதொன்மையோ ராய்வநிறகமற்றவுணராதியாக தீயவாறத்தினாற்றேவராயது மாயமோவஞ்சமாவா மையெகொலோ அறந்துறந்தமரரைவென்றவாண்டொழிற் றிறந்தெரிந்திடிலதுதானுஞ் செய்தவ நிறந்திறம்பாவகையியற்றுநீரமையன மறந்துறாதவரதருமவரத்தின மாட்சியால் மூவரைவென்று மூவுலகு முற்றுறக விவன்கண் வென் னுமேல்வீடுகண்டவ The ancients followed the path of the virtuous, but besides these all the other Auner (Giants) are evil doers : the station of Gods is obtained by virtue, but is it obtained by delusion, deceit and violence? If we consider the mighty deeds by which, even after we had forsaken virtue, weconquered the Gods, we shall find that they were not an effect proceeding from any acts of devotion performed by ourselves, but from the power conferred on us by those who had forsaken evil (i. e. by the Sages and the Gods by whom we were endowed with power). Having conquered the divine Triad, and having received under their protection the whole world, while exulting in prosperity, they are dead and have toiled in vain ; who then among the conquerors of the Gods are truly great? Who shall describe those, who, having overcome both good and bad works, have obtained eternal felicity? but who among these, the giants, have, from their innate wickedness, at any time performed virtuous acts like the Sages and the Gods? கோனகரமுழுவதுகினதுகொற்றமுஞ் வானாஞ்சுட்டதனநுணரதலமாடசியோ. This royal city and thy former victories have been consumed by the chastity of Jánicì, the mistress of the world; if not, what glory is there in the thought that they were burned by an ape? மீனுடைநெடுங்கடஇலங்கைவேந்தன்முன் றனுடைநெடுந்தவந்தளர்ந்து சாயவதோர It was foretold that the power of the King of Ilangei surrounded by the ocean, obtained by long penance, should decline by means of a female of the human race; know this to be now accomplished, O thou who art adorned with a wreath of sweet flowers! "All besides is evanescent sound'-The term in the original, translated by the two concluding words, is 4, which signifies literally a loud turbu lent noise; the line is thus translated and explained by the Latin commentator. "Cætera omnia conditionem habent strepitus. Sensus est eam esse veram virtutem, quæ in animo culpam non admittit, nam animum culpa fædatum habentis, verba, et habitus, et actiones ipsæ quæ virtutem spirent, habent conditionem strepitus; tum, quia ad id ordinari solent, ut a cæteris videantur et audiantur; tum, quia eo tantum tempore quo videntur et audiuntur, ut virtuosa laudantur, sed statim, uti strepitus, evanescunt, quia non valent alicui beatitatem afferre".-I have followed this interpretation as it agrees with that of Víra-màmuni and as it corresponds exactly to the expression of the original; but the word may metaphorically be rendered, ostentation, hypocrisy. Parimèl-azhager paraphrases it by which signifies literally the confused clamor arising from a mob, but is often synonimous with , the term commonly used to express pomposity, ostentation, hypocrisy. மனத்து of the mind. the interior. The first of these terms is connected in the obl. form with the latter, which serves as a preposition; together they signify in the mind.-, the finale suffering elision before a vowel, fault lit. a spot, stain.- without; this is properly the 3rd pers. sing. masc. of the negative verb. in the nom. case, signifying lit. he who has not, and governing the following verbal. See Note Page 15.- the being.—a measures; the 3d pers. neu. sing. of the conj. noun measure, governed by the preceding and governing the succeeding term.- virtue.—g), Sans., of noise, clamour; the obl. for the gen. possess the quality; the 3d pers. neu. plu. of for quality.- others; the nom. plu. in the neu. gend. of another, a stranger. NOTE. means also, vexation, trouble, but its literal signification, is that here assigned to it, as it is a Sanscrit word derived from the root o sound, by the upaserga and the pratyeya: it's synonym, ra, though undoubtedly of Sans. derivation also, is of uncertain formation, no such word, either as a simple or a compound term, existing in that language. There is indeed reason to suspect that it is purely factitious, originating in a mistake of the early Tamil lexicographers: in Sans. the terms 1⁄2 and are both from the root sound, and signify sound generally, a noise; with this meaning, they occur at the beginning of the 3rd line of the 6th Sect. 1st Book of the Amara-simhma, conjoined by Sand hi thus &c., and from L the three first syllables of this adventitious compound, the Tamil word &c..-There is a single instance of the use of this word in Sanscrit, in a book called Jánici-parinayam by a very modern author; it occurs in the following sentence உ) விதாரவாரெஜ தானு உண்டுவ8, where it means the sound produced by a swarm of large bees, but it is universally condemned as corrupt. Refer not virtue to another day; She 'll prove thy never-dying friend. "Another day"-by connecting the word thus translated, (up) that day, with the time of death, a signification somewhat differing from this version is given to this couplet and it is explained defer not the practice of virtue until the day of death &c; that is, fulfil at once all acts of charity on which thou hast resolved, and do not leave them to be performed by others, after thy decease. This however is not correct; must be con strued absolutely, not relatively, the meaning of the Author being that which is indicated by the version I have preferred, and which may thus be less literally explained-The chief benefits of virtue accruing after death, and the time of death being uncertain, practise virtue now, deferring it to no future day, that thou mayest be certain of enjoying the benefits so accruing. By substituting "receive" for the literal meaning of us do, practise, the personification is not interrupted. "She'll prove thy never-dying friend"-The author having in the first verse described virtue in its largest sense, under which is included the merit resulting both from active benevolence, or charity, and from the practice of devotion, or in other words from the discharge of our duty towards our neighbour and towards our God, as the cause of temporal felicity either on earth, or in the celestial abodes to which the meritorious Soul successively transmigrates, and as, ultimately, productive of eternal felicity in the spiritual heaven, where all transmigration ends, represents it, consequently, in the second verse, as the most profitable object the human mind can pursue. This notion, the profitableness of virtue arising from it's beneficial effects, is inculcated generally throughout the chapter, and by this verse particularly: the manner in which virtue operates to produce this effect, and the nature of the profit thence derived, are explained by the commentators, in conformity with the actual intention of the author, on principles peculiar to the divine philosophy of the Hindus. It is a dogma, common to all the schools and sects of India and one of the few in which they exactly coincide, though confessedly derived originally from the Naiyáyca, or Rationalists, that Dherma, the consciousness of good |