were overcome in their wars with the demons.

58. _Propitiatory offering_.

Compare note 25.

59. _His blushing charioteer_.

Compare note 11.

60. _Night-loving lotus_.

Some species of the lotus, especially the white esculent kind,
open their petals during the night, and close them during the
day, whence the moon is often called the 'lover, or lord of the
lotuses.'

61. _The very centre of the sacred fire_.

Fire was an important object of veneration with the Hindus, as
with the ancient Persians. Perhaps the chief worship recognized
in the Vedas is that of Fire and the Sun. The holy fire was
deposited in a hallowed part of the house, or in a sacred
building, and kept perpetually burning. Every morning and
evening, oblations were offered to it by dropping clarified
butter and other substances into the flame, accompanied with
prayers and invocations.

62. _As in the sacred tree the mystic fire_.

Literally, 'as the [S']ami-tree is pregnant with fire.' The legend
is, that the goddess Parvati, being one day under the influence
of love, reposed on a trunk of this tree, whereby a sympathetic
warmth was generated in the pith or interior of the wood, which
ever after broke into a sacred flame on the slightest attrition.

63 _Hastinapur_.

The ancient Delhi, situated on the Ganges, and the capital of
Dushyanta. Its site is about fifty miles from the modern Delhi,
which is on the Jumna,

64 _E'en as Yayati [S']armishtha adored_,

[S']armishtha was the daughter of Vrishaparvan, king of the
demons, and wife of Yayati, son of Nahusha, one of the princes of
the Lunar dynasty, and ancestor of Dushyanta. Puru was the son of
Yayati, by [S']armishtha.

65 _And for whose encircling bed, Sacred Kusa-grass is spread_.

At a sacrifice, sacred fires were lighted at the four cardinal
points, and Ku[s']a-grass was scattered around each fire, 66
_Koil_,

The Koil, or Kokil, is the Indian cuckoo. It is sometimes called
Para-bhrita ('nourished by another'). because the female is known
to leave her eggs in the nest of the crow to be hatched. The bird
is as great a favourite with Indian poets as the nightingale with
European. One of its names is 'Messenger of Spring.' Its note is
a constant subject of allusion, and is described as beautifully
sweet, and, if heard on a journey, indicative of good fortune.
Everything, however, is beautiful by comparison. The song of the
Koil is not only very dissimilar, but very inferior