hundred
thousand verses. The style is forcible, often terse and nervous: the
action is well sustained, and the whole effect produced is that of a
poem written in commemoration of actual conflict between members of
rival clans who lived somewhere southeast of the Punjab. In portrayal of
character the Hindoo poem somewhat resembles its Grecian
counterpart--the "Iliad"; the noble devotion and chivalric character of
its chief hero, Arjuna, reminds us of Hector--and the wily, sinful
Duryodhana, is a second Ulysses. The "Mahabharata" was probably begun in
the third or fourth century B.C., and completed soon after the beginning
of the Christian era.

The "Bharata" war is a war between rival cousins of the house of
Bharata, a race of heroes mentioned in the Rig-veda collection.
Duryodhana deprives his cousin Yudhisthira of his throne by inducing him
to squander his fortune, kingdom, family, and self--and then banishes
Yudhisthira and the latter's four brothers for twelve years. The
gambling was conducted in an unfair manner, and the cousins feel that
their banishment was the result of treachery, although pretended to be
mercy in lieu of death. When the twelve years are over they collect
armies of sympathizers, and on the Sacred Plain of the Kurus (the Holy
Land of India) the great war is fought out. The good prevails,
Duryodhana is slain, and Yudhisthira recovers his kingdom. This story is
told so graphically that the "Mahabharata" still has the charm that
comes from plot and action, as well as that of poetic beauty.

A concluding passage of this great poem says: "The reading of this
'Mahabharata' destroys all sin and produces virtue, so much so that the
pronunciation of a single shloka is sufficient to wipe away much guilt.
It has bound human beings in a chain, of which one end is life and the
other death. If a man reads the 'Mahabharata' and has faith in its
doctrines, he is free from all sin and ascends to heaven after his
death."

The present selection is the episode of Nala and Damayanti. It is one of
the most charming of the "Mahabharata" stories, and its Oriental flavor
and delicacy have been well preserved by the translator, Sir Edwin
Arnold.

L.F.C.

THE MAHABHARATA

NALA AND DAMAYANTI

Part I

A prince there was, named Nala, Virasen's noble breed,
Goodly to see, and virtuous; a tamer of the steed;
As Indra 'midst the gods, so he of kings was kingliest one,
Sovereign of men, and