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      And all he prayed for won.

      And lords who saw that stranger dame

      So beautiful to view,

      Rejoiced within their hearts, and came

      And paid her honour too.

      There Rishyaśring passed blissful days,

      Graced like the king with love and praise

      And shone in glorious light with her,

      Sweet Śántá, for his minister,

      As Brahmá‘s son Vaśishṭha, he

Who wedded Saint Arundhatí.2

1 “Sons and Paradise are intimately connected in Indian belief. A man desires above every thing to have a son to perpetuate his race, and to assist with sacrifices and funeral rites to make him worthy to obtain a lofty seat in heaven or to preserve that which he has already obtained.” Gorresio.

2 One of the Pleiades and generally regarded as the model of wifely excellence.

      Canto 11. The Sacrifice Decreed.

The Dewy Season1 came and went;

      The spring returned again:

      Then would the king, with mind intent,

      His sacrifice ordain.

      He came to Rishyaśring, and bowed

      To him of look divine,

      And bade him aid his offering vowed

      For heirs, to save his line.

      Nor would the youth his aid deny:

      He spake the monarch fair,

      And prayed him for that rite so high

      All requisites prepare.

      The king to wise Sumantra cried

      Who stood aye ready near;

      “Go summon quick each holy guide,

      To counsel and to hear.”

      Obedient to his lord’s behest

      Away Sumantra sped,

      And brought Vaśishṭha and the rest,

      In Scripture deeply read.

      Suyajǹa, Vámadeva came,

      Jávali, Kaśyap’s son,

      And old Vaśishṭha, dear to fame,

      Obedient every one.

      King Daśaratha met them there

      And duly honoured each,

      And spoke in pleasant words his fair

      And salutary speech:

      “In childless longing doomed to pine,

      No happiness, O lords, is mine.

      So have I for this cause decreed

      To slay the sacrificial steed.

      Fain would I pay that offering high

      Wherein the horse is doomed to die,

      With Rishyaśring his aid to lend,

      And with your glory to befriend.”

      With loud applause each holy man

      Received his speech, approved the plan,

      And, by the wise Vaśishṭha led,

      Gave praises to the king, and said:

      “The sons thou cravest shalt thou see,

      Of fairest glory, born to thee,

      Whose holy feelings bid thee take

      This righteous course for offspring’s sake.”

      Cheered by the ready praise of those

      Whose aid he sought, his spirits rose,

      And thus the king his speech renewed

      With looks of joy and gratitude:

      “Let what the coming rites require

      Be ready as the priests desire,

      And let the horse, ordained to bleed,

With fitting guard and priest, be freed,2

      Yonder on Sarjú‘s northern side

      The sacrificial ground provide;

      And let the saving rites, that naught

      Ill-omened may occur, be wrought.

      The offering I announce to-day

      Each lord of earth may claim to pay,

      Provided that his care can guard

      The holy rite by flaws unmarred.

      For wandering fiends, whose watchful spite

      Waits eagerly to spoil each rite,

      Hunting with keenest eye detect

      The slightest slip, the least neglect;

      And when the sacred work is crossed

      The workman is that moment lost.

      Let preparation due be made:

      Your powers the charge can meet:

      That so the noble rite be paid

      In every point complete.”

      And all the Bráhmans answered, Yea,

      His mandate honouring,

      And gladly promised to obey

      The order of the king.

      They cried with voices raised aloud:

      “Success attend thine aim!”

      Then bade farewell, and lowly bowed,

      And hastened whence they came.

      King Daśaratha went within,

      His well loved wives to see:

      And said: “Your lustral rites begin,

      For these shall prosper me.

      A glorious offering I prepare

      That precious fruit of sons may bear.”

      Their lily faces brightened fast

      Those pleasant words to hear,

      As lilies, when the winter’s past,

      In lovelier hues appear.

1 The Hindu year is divided into six seasons of two months each, spring, summer, rains, autumn, winter, and dews.

2 It was essential that the horse should wander free for a year before immolation, as a sign that his master’s paramount sovereignty was acknowledged by all neighbouring princes.

      Canto 12. The Sacrifice Begun.

      Again the spring with genial heat

      Returning made the year complete.

      To win him sons,

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