Richard Burton - Vikram and the Vampire

The words are found, says Mr. Ward, in the Hindu History compiled by Mrityungaya.

These duties of kings are thus laid down in the Rajtarangini . It is evident, as Professor H. H. Wilson says, that the royal status was by no means a sinecure. But the rules are evidently the closet work of some pedantic, dogmatic Brahman, teaching kingcraft to kings. He directs his instructions, not to subordinate judges, but to the Raja as the chief magistrate, and through him to all appointed for the administration of his justice.

Lunus, not Luna.

That is to say, ‘upon an empty stomach.’

There are three sandhyas amongst the Hindus – morning, midday, and sunset; and all three are times for prayer.

The Hindu Cupid.

Patala, the regions beneath the earth.

The Hindu Triad.

Or Avanti, also called Padmavati. It is the first meridian of the Hindus, who found their longitude by observation of lunar eclipses, calculated for it and Lanka, or Ceylon. The clepsydra was used for taking time.

In the original only the husband ‘practised austere devotion.’ For the benefit of those amongst whom the ‘pious wife’ is an institution, I have extended the privilege.

A Moslem would say, ‘This is our fate.’ A Hindu refers at once to metempsychosis, as naturally as a modern Swedenborgian to spiritism.

In Europe, money buys this world, and delivers you from the pains of purgatory; amongst the Hindus, it furthermore opens the gate of heaven.

This part of the introduction will remind the reader of the two royal brothers and their false wives in the introduction to the Arabian Nights . The fate of Bhartari Raja, however, is historical.

In the original, ‘Div’ – a supernatural being, god, or demon. This part of the plot is variously told. According to some, Raja Vikram was surprised, when entering the city, to see a grand procession at the house of a potter, and a boy being carried off on an elephant, to the violent grief of his parents. The king inquired the reason of their sorrow, and was told that the wicked Div that guarded the city was in the habit of eating a citizen per diem. Whereupon the valorous Raja caused the boy to dismount; took his place; entered the palace; and, when presented as food for the demon, displayed his pugilistic powers in a way to excite the monster’s admiration.

In India, there is still a monastic order the pleasant duty of whose members is to enjoy themselves as much as possible. It has been much the same in Europe. ‘Représentez-vous le couvent de l’Escurial ou du Mont Cassin, où les cénobites ont toutes sortes de commodités, nécessaires, utiles, délectables, superflues, surabondantes, puisqu’ils ont les cent cinquante mille, les quatre cent mille, les cinq cent mille écus de rente; et jugez si monsieur l’abbé a de quoi laisser dormir la méridienne à ceux qui voudront.’ — Saint Augustin, de l’Ouvrage des Moines , by Le Camus, Bishop of Belley, quoted by Voltaire, Dict. phil. , sub v. ‘Apocalypse.’

This form of matrimony was recognised by the ancient Hindus, and is frequent in books. It is a kind of Scotch wedding – ultra-Caledonian – taking place by mutual consent, without any form or ceremony. The Gandharbas are heavenly minstrels of Indra’s court, who are supposed to be witnesses.

The Hindu Saturnalia.

The powders are of wheaten flour, mixed with wild-ginger root, sappan-wood, and other ingredients. Sometimes the stuff is thrown in syringes.

The Persian proverb is – ‘Bala e tavilah bar sar i maimun:’ ‘The woes of the stable be on the monkey’s head!’ In some Moslem countries a hog acts prophylactic. Hence probably Mungo Park’s troublesome pig at Ludamar.

So the moribund father of the ‘babes in the wood’ lectures his wicked brother, their guardian:

’’To God and you I recommend

My children deare this day:

But little while, be sure, we have

Within this world to stay.’’

But to appeal to the moral sense of a goldsmith!

Maha (great) raja (king): common address even to those who are not royal.

The name means, ‘Quietistic Disposition.’

August. In the solar-lunar year of the Hindu the months are divided into fortnights – light and dark.

A flower, whose name frequently occurs in Sanskrit poetry.

The stars being men’s souls raised to the sky for a time proportioned to their virtuous deeds on earth.

A measure of length, each two miles.

The warm region below.

Hindus admire only glossy black hair; the ‘bonny brown hair’ loved by our ballads is assigned by them to low-caste men, witches, and fiends.

A large kind of bat; a popular and silly Anglo-Indian name. It almost justified the irate Scotchman in calling ‘prodigious lecars’ those who told him in India that foxes flew and trees were tapped for toddy.

The Hindus, like the European classics and other ancient peoples, reckon four ages: – The Satya Yug, or Golden Age, numbered 1,728,000 years; the second, or Treta Yug, comprised 1,296,000; the Dwapar Yug had 864,000; and the present, the Kali Yug, has shrunk to 832,000 years.

Especially alluding to prayer. On this point, Southey justly remarks (Preface to Curse of Kehama ): ‘In the religion of the Hindoos there is one remarkable peculiarity. Prayers, penances, and sacrifices are supposed to possess an inherent and actual value, in one degree depending upon the disposition or motive of the person who performs them. They are drafts upon heaven for which the gods cannot refuse payment. The worst men, bent upon the worst designs, have in this manner obtained power which has made them formidable to the supreme deities themselves.’ Moreover, the Hindoo gods hear the prayers of those who desire the evil of others. Hence when a rich man becomes poor, his friends say, ‘See how sharp are men’s teeth!’ and, ‘He is ruined because others could not bear to see his happiness!’

A pond, natural or artificial; in the latter case often covering an extent of ten to twelve acres.

The Hindustani ‘gilahri,’ or little grey squirrel, whose twittering cry is often mistaken for a bird’s.

The autumn or rather the rainy season personified – a hackneyed Hindu prosopopœia.

Light conversation upon the subject of women is a personal offence to serious-minded Hindus.

Cupid in his two forms, Eros and Anteros.

This is true to life; in the East, women make the first advances, and men do the bégueules .

Raja-hans, a large grey goose, the Hindu equivalent for our swan.