REVIEWS OF BOOKS.

HISTORY OF KERALA.-By K. P. Padmanabha Menon, B.A., B.L., M.R.A.S. Edited by Sahithyakusalan T. K. Krishna Menon,

B.A. Cochin Government Press, Vol. I, 1924, 91×6, pp. xxiii +662. Price Rs. 8.

This book purports to be a history of Kerala, written in the form of notes on Visscher's letters from Malabar. Jacobus Canter Visscher, the writer of these letters, was Chaplain at Cochin (1717-1723). They are addressed to his friends at home and contain observations upon "the manners and customs of the people, their laws, rites and ceremonies, the description of their kingdoms, as well as their origin and their modes of government, and other similar subjects" (p. XX). Visscher's object was to record what he saw himself as well as what he heard from others. As contemporary records, Visscher's memoirs are of great value. But a foreigner, however well-equipped and painstaking, has some obvious limitations. A native of the country who has made a thorough study of the subject and is acquainted with indigenous tradition would be of help in corroboration and elucidation. Mr. K. P. Padmanabha Menon has sought to fill the latter rôle. But a series of disjointed letters on different topics, commented upon in the same fashion cannot claim to be a systematic his tory. The book under discussion and similar monographs are more useful as a preparation for writing an accurate history of Kerala than as that history itself.

Mr. Menon's notes are valuable. He has taken into consideration the important researches by other writers, Indian and European, regarding the topics dealt with by Visscher. But some compression and selection even in them would have made

the book less bulky and more readable. The printing and getup are good.

A. B-Ś.

THE WORD OF LALLA THE PROPHETESS.-By Sir Richard Temple, Bt. Cambridge University Press, 1924. 84 × 54, p. xiii+ 292,

Price 16s. net.

It is a rendering into English verse, with annotations, of the Lalla-Väkyäni or Lal-Wakhi, being the Sayings of Lal Ded or Lal Diddi of Kashmir (Granny Lal). She is also known as Lälisri or Lal the Great and Lalla Jogiśvari a mystic poetess of ancient Kashmir. She was a contemporary of Sayyid Ai Hamadānī, the famous saint in the fourteenth century. Lallá was a Saiva Jogini and her sayings as spiritual maxims are cherished treasures of every Kashmiri, whether Hindu or Musalman. She preceded the Medieval Reformers of IndiaRamananda, Kabir and others. Her sayings, apart from their undoubted poetic merits, are important in the history of Hinduism.

The Royal Asiatic Society published the Lalla-vākayāni, in 1920, as one of its monographs (Vol. XVII). It was edited from the linguistic and philosophic points of view by Sir George Grierson and Dr. L. D. Barnett respectively. The present version is professedly for the ordinary reading public of England.. But critical students everywhere will read it with pleasure and profit.

The book is divided into three parts: Pt. I. The Sources. of Lalla's Religion; Part II. Lalla's Religion, Theory and Doctrine; Pt. III. Lalla's Religion. Teaching. Lalla's Word.

There

are, besides, an Introduction, a Concordance, an Index and a valuable Glossary of oriental terms.

The translation, though free, breathes an Indian atmosphere -cf. for instance Lalla's progress to true knowledge through the metaphor of a cotton pod, p. 224-225, xxxviii. The erudite exponent's verification often soars into the region of real poetry. The artistic get-up is fully in keeping with this truly delightful volume.

A. B-S.

THE PANCHATANTRA RECONSTRUCTED.-Vol. I. Text and Critical Apparatus. Vol. II. Introduction and Translation. By Franklin Edgerton, Assistant Professor of Sanskrit in the University of Pennsylvania. 91 × 6, pp. xix+408, ≈+406. New Haven, Connecticut. American Oriental Society, 1924. Hertel mentions more than two hundred versions of the original Sanskrit Pañcatantra in Indian, Pahlavi, Syriac, Arabic and various European languages. In the above-mentioned two volumes, Professor Edgerton aims at collating and comparing all extant texts and translations and critically conjecture his way back to the original source. Vol. I gives the text so reconstructed and the method of comparison with the materials is called the critical apparatus. Vol. II discusses in detail the value of the method and materials and the results of reconstruction. Incidentally it criticizes Hertel's views regarding Interrelationship of versions, and originality and unoriginality of particular stories. A translation follows of the Pañcatantra as it originally might have been according to Professor Edgerton.

Both the Text in Vol. I and examples cited in Vol. II. show the difficulty and the hopelessness of the task. Most of the emendations are at most plausible. The real utility of the book has not so much in its capacity to fix the original source as bringing the subsequent and successive sources together. About the date and authorship of the stories Professor Edgerton has nothing to add to Hertel. His supposition of a Deccan home against Hertel's Kashmir view deserves consideration. Hertel is undoubtedly in the right in considering the Pañcatantra as a political text-book-the different internal divisions, the introductory verse and the well-known scheme of Sanskrit writers on politics are all in Hertel's favour. Professor Edgerton's suggeɛtions to the contrary are either irrelevant or inaccurate.

A study of linguistic genetics is useful and Professor Edgerton is to be congratulated on the vast amount of time. and labour spent in its pursuit. These and the expenses of printing, which is remarkably good, are a credit to the country that encourages such arduous undertakings.

K. P. J.