exiled king, for the attainment of lustre and glory, and in particular for victory in battle. The following is a specimen of spells intended to strike terror into the enemy:—
- Arise and arm, ye spectral forms,
- Followed by meteoric flames;
- Ye serpents, spirits of the deep,
- Demons of night, pursue the foe! (xi. 10, 1).
Here is a stanza from a hymn (v. 21, 6) to the battle-drum meant to serve the same purpose:—
- As birds start back affrighted at the eagle's cry,
- As day and night they tremble at the lion's roar:
- So thou, O drum, shout out against our enemies,
- Scare them away in terror and confound their minds.
Among the cosmogonic and theosophic hymns the finest is a long one of sixty-three stanzas addressed to the earth (xii. 1). I translate a few lines to give some idea of its style and contents:—
- The earth, on whom, with clamour loud,
- Men that are mortal sing and dance,
- On whom they fight in battle fierce:
- This earth shall drive away from us our foemen,
- And she shall make us free from all our rivals.
- In secret places holding treasure manifold,
- The earth shall riches give, and gems and gold to me:
- Granting wealth lavishly, the kindly goddess
- Shall goods abundantly bestow upon us.
The four hymns of Book XIII. are devoted to the praise of Rohita, the "Red" Sun, as a cosmogonic power. In another (xi. 5) the sun is glorified as a primeval principle under the guise of a Brahman disciple (brahmachārin). In others Prāṇa or Breath (xi. 4), Kāma or Love (ix. 2), and Kāla or Time (xix. 53-54),
