in the even asterisms, that it is distributed by his beams.1*

1

According to the Vayu,† the water scattered by the ele

युग्मर्चेषु च यत्तोयं पतत्यर्कोज्झितं दिवः ।
तत्सूर्यरश्मिभिः सर्वं समादाय निरस्यते ॥

Then follows, in all my MSS., including those where the text is accompanied by the two commentaries, a stanza which Professor Wilson has left untranslated:

उभयं पुण्यमत्यर्थं नृणां पापभयापहम् ।

आकाशगंगासलिलं दिव्यं स्नानं महामुने ॥

'Ablution of either kind in the water of the ethereal Ganges is surpassingly holy, removing the sin and the fears of men, and heavenly, great Sage.'

+ गजानां पर्वतानां च मेघानां भोगिभिः सह ।

कुलमेकं पृथग्भूतं योनिरेका जलं स्मृतम् ॥
पर्जन्यो दिग्गजाश्चैव हेमन्ते शीतसंभवाः ।
तुषारवर्षं वर्षन्ति सर्वसस्यविवृद्धये ॥
पृष्ठः परिवाहो नाम तेषां वायुरपाश्रयः ।
योऽसौ बिभर्ति भगवान्गगामाकाशगोचरम् ॥
दिव्यामृतिजलां पुण्यां विधास्वाति पथे स्थिताम् ।
तस्या विष्पन्दजं तोयं दिग्गजाः पृथुभिः करैः ॥
शीकरं संप्रमुञ्चन्ति नीहार इति स स्मृतः ।
दक्षिणेन गिरिर्योऽसौ हेमकूट इति स्मृतः ॥
उदग्धिमवतः शैलादुत्तरस्य च दक्षिणे ।
पुण्ड्रं नाम समाख्यातं नगरं तत्र विस्तृतम् ॥
तस्मिन्निपतितं वर्षं यत्तुषारसमुद्भवम् ।
ततस्तदावही वायुर्हिमवन्तं समुद्वहम् ॥
अनपत्यात्स योगेन सिञ्चमानो महागिरिम् ।
हिमवन्तमतिक्रम्य सृष्टिशेषं ततः परम् ॥
रहाभ्येति ततः पश्चादपरान्तविवृद्धयोः ।
मेघाश्चाप्यायनं चैव सर्वमेतत्प्रकीर्तितम् ॥
सूर्य एव तु वृष्टीनां स्रष्टा समुपदिश्यते ।
ध्रुवेणावेष्टितः सूर्यस्ताभ्यां वृष्टिः प्रवर्तते ॥
ध्रुवेणावेष्टितो वायुर्वृष्टिं संहरते पुनः ।
ग्रहान्निःस्टत्य सूर्यात्तु कृत्स्नेन क्षत्रमण्डले ।
चारस्यान्ते विशन्त्यर्कं ध्रुवेण समवेष्टिताः ॥

The water which the clouds shed upon earth is, in truth, the ambrosia of living beings; for it gives fertility to the plants which are the support of their existence. By this all vegetables grow and are matured, and become the means of maintaining life. With them, again, those men who take the law for their light perform daily sacrifices, and, through them, give nourishment to the gods. And thus sacrifices, the Vedas, the four castes, with the Brahmans at their head, all the residences of the gods, all the tribes of animals, the whole world, all are supported by the rains by which food is produced. But the rain is evolved by the sun; the sun is sustained by Dhruva; and Dhruva is supported by the celestial porpoise-shaped sphere, which

phants of the quarters is, in summer, dew, and, in winter, snow; or the latter is brought, by the winds, from a city called Pundra, which lies between the Himavat and Hemakúta mountains, and falls down upon the former.

In like manner, also, as heat radiates from the sun, so cold radiates from the moon:

सूर्यादुष्णं निःसरते सोमाच्छीतं प्रवर्तते । +

All my MSS. read as follows:

यत्तु मेघैः समुत्सृष्टं वारि तत्प्राणिनां द्विज ।
पुष्णात्यौषधयः सर्वा जीवनायामृतं हि तत् ॥

'As to the water discharged by the clouds, regenerate one, it developes all annuals, for the behoof of living creatures: it is, indeed, nectar to existence.'

Note the affectation of archaism in

: as accusative plural.

From the Vayu-puráňa; but some pages before the passage last extracted.

is one with Nárayana.* Nárayana, the primeval existent, and eternally enduring, seated in the heart of the stellar sphere, is the supporter of all beings.†

The reading: is here followed. But a common reading, and one more in harmony with the context, is

'upheld by Nárayana'.

हृदि नारायणस्तस्य शिशुमारस्य संस्थितः ।
बिभर्ती सर्वभूतानामादिभूतः सनातनः ॥

T,

'Seated in the heart of that planetary porpoise is its supporter, Náráyana, primeval being among all beings, sempiternal.'

CHAPTER X.

Names of the twelve Ádityas. Names of the Rishis, Gandharvas, Apsarasas, Yakshas, Uragas, and Rákshasas, who attend the chariot of the sun in each month of the year. Their respective functions.

1

PARÁSARA.-Between the extreme northern and southern points, the sun has to traverse, in a year, one hundred and eighty degrees, ascending and descending. His car is presided over by divine Adityas,* Rishis, heavenly singers and nymphs, Yakshas, † serpents, and Rakshasas: (one of each being placed in it in every month). The Aditya Dhátri, the sage Pulastya, the Gandharva Tumburu, § the nymph Kratu

1 It might be doubted whether the text meant 180 in each hemisphere, or in both; but the sense is sufficiently clear in the Váyu, &c.; and the number of Mandalas travelled in the year is 360: the Mandalas, 'circles' or 'degrees', being, in fact, the sun's diurnal revolutions, and their numbers corresponding with the days of the solar year; as in the Bhavishya Puráňa:

शोतिमण्डलशतमियन्त्यब्देन वै हयाः । बाह्यतोऽभ्यन्तरं चैव मण्डलं दिवसक्रमात् ॥

'The horses of the sun travel twice 180 degrees in a year, internal and external (to the equator), in the order of the days.'

* Strictly, 'divine beings, namely, Ádityas.'

In the original, Gandharvas, Apsarases, and Grámanis.

The Sun's attendants are said, in the Bhagavata-puráňa, V., XXI., 18, to be Rishis, Gandharvas, Apsarases, Nágas, Grámanís, Yátudhánas, and Devas.

§ One of my MSS. gives Tumbaru.

|| साशीतिमण्डलशतं काष्ठयोरन्तरं द्वयोः ।

आरोहणावरोहाभ्यां भानोरब्देन या गतिः ॥

sthalá,* the Yaksha Rathakrit, the serpent Vásuki, and the Rakshasa Heti, † always reside in the sun's car, in

* Four MSS. have Kŕitasthalá; three, Kritasthali.

The mythological figments named in this sentence are not characterized in the original, Rathakŕit excepted, who is there called a Grámaní, i. e., Yaksha.

In the Sanskrit of our text, no uniform order is observed in registering the appellations of the Sun's attendants during each of the twelve months; these appellations being disposed, in the main, to satisfy metrical exigencies. Professor Wilson's arrangement of the Ádityas, &c., according to the subordination indicated above, admits of amendment; and the Professor, as I show in other notes to this chapter, would probably, have taken a different view of some of th m, had he scrutinized the commentaries more closely. The personages in question may be tabulated as follows: