Their way was through the adamantine rock Which girt the World of Woe; on either side Its massive walls arose, and overhead Arch'd the long passage; onward as they ride, With stronger glare the light around them spread; And lo! the regions dread,

The World of Woe before them, opening wide.

3.

There rolls the fiery flood,
Girding the realms of Padalon around.
A sea of flame it seem'd to be,
Sea without bound;

For neither mortal nor immortal sight, Could pierce across through that intensest light. A single rib of steel,

Keen as the edge of keenest scymitar, Spann'd this wide gulph of fire. The infernal Car Roll'd to the Gulph, and on its single wheel Self-balanced, rose upon that edge of steel. Red-quivering float the vapours overhead, The fiery gulph beneath them spread, Tosses its billowing blaze with rush and roar; Steady and swift the self-moved Chariot went, Winning the long ascent,

Then, downward rolling, gains the farther shore.

4.

But, oh! what sounds and sights of woe, What sights and sounds of fear, Assail the mortal travellers here! Their way was on a causey straight and wide, Where penal vaults on either side were seen, Ranged like the cells wherein

Those wondrous winged alchemists infold Their stores of liquid gold. Thick walls of adamant divide The dungeons; and from yonder circling flood, Off-streams of fire through secret channels glide, And wind among them, and in each provide An everlasting food

Of rightful torments for the accursed brood.

5.

These were the rebel race, who in their might
Confiding impiously, would fain have driven
The Deities supreme from highest Heaven:
But by the Suras, in celestial fight,
Opposed and put to flight,
Here, in their penal dens, the accursed crew,
Not for its crime, but for its failure, rue
Their wild ambition. Yet again they long
The contest to renew,

1 46 They who are acquainted with day and night know that the day of Brahma is as a thousand revolutions of the Yoogs, and that his night extendeth for a thousand more. On the coming of that day all things proceed from invisibility to visibility; so, on the approach of night, they are all dissolved away in that which is called invisible. The universe, even, having existed, is again dissolved; and now again, on the approach of day, by divine necessity, it is reproduced. That which, upon the dissolution of all things else, is not destroyed, is superior and of another nature from that visibility: it is invisible and eternal. He who is thus called invisible and incorruptible is even he who is called the Supreme Abode; which men having once obtained, they never more

And wield their arms again in happier hour; And with united power,

Following Kehama's triumph, to press on From World to World, and Heaven to Heaven, and Sphere

To Sphere, till Hemakoot shall be their own, And Meru-Mount, and Indra's Swerga-Bowers, And Brama's region, where the heavenly Hours Weave the vast circle of his age-long day. I Even over Veeshnoo's empyreal seat They trust the Rajah shall extend their sway, And that the seven-headed Snake, whereon The strong Preserver sets his conquering feet, Will rise and shake him headlong from his throne, When, in their irresistible array,

Amid the Milky Sea they force their way. Even higher yet their frantic thoughts aspire; Yea, on their beds of torment as they lie, The highest, holiest Seeva, they defy, And tell him they shall have anon their day, When they will storm his realm, and seize Mount Calasay.

6.

Such impious hopes torment Their raging hearts, impious and impotent; And now, with unendurable desire And lust of vengeance, that, like inward fire, Doth aggravate their punishment, they rave Upon Kehama; him the accursed rout Acclaim; with furious cries and maddening shout They call on him to save; Kehama! they exclaim;

Thundering the dreadful echo rolls about, And Hell's whole vault repeats Kehama's name.

7.

Over these dens of punishment, the host Of Padalon maintain eternal guard, Keeping upon the walls their vigilant ward. At every angle stood

A watch-tower, the decurion Demon's post, Where raised on high he view'd with sleepless eye His trust, that all was well. And over these, Such was the perfect discipline of Hell, Captains of fifties and of hundreds held Authority, each in his loftier tower; And chiefs of legions over them had power; And thus all Hell with towers was girt around. Aloft the brazen turrets shone In the red light of Padalon; And on the walls between, Dark moving, the infernal Guards were seen,

"The guess, that Brama and his wife Saraswadi may be Abraham and Sarah, has more letters in its favour than are usually to be found in such guesses.”— Niccamp, p.i. c.x. § 2 Į

The true cause why there is no idol of Brama (except the head, which is his share in the Trimourter) is probably to be found in the conquest of his sect. A different reason, how. ever, is implied in the Veda: Of Him, it says, whose glory is so great, there is no image: He is the incomprehensible Being which illumines all, delights all, whence all proceeded; -that by which they live when born, and that to which all must return.'"- Moor's Hindu Pantheon, p. 4.

Gigantic Demons, pacing to and fro;

Who ever and anon,

Spreading their crimson pennons, plunged below, Faster to rivet down the Asuras' chains, And with the snaky scourge and fiercer pains, Repress their rage rebellious. Loud around, In mingled sound, the echoing lash, the clash Of chains, the ponderous hammer's iron stroke, With execrations, groans, and shrieks and cries Combined, in one wild dissonance, arise;

And through the din there broke,
Like thunder heard through all the warring winds,
The dreadful name. Kehama, still they rave,
Hasten and save!

Now, now, Deliverer! now, Kehama, now!
Earthly Almighty, wherefore tarriest thou?

8.

Oh, if that name abhorr'd,

Thus utter'd, could well nigh

Dismay the Powers of Hell, and daunt their Lord, How fearfully to Kailyal's ear it came ! She, as the Car roll'd on its rapid way, Bent down her head, and closed her eyes for dread; And deafening, with strong effort from within, Her ears against the din,

Cover'd and press'd them close with both her hands. Sure if the mortal Maiden had not fed

On heavenly food, and long been strengthened
With heavenly converse for such end vouchsafed,
Her human heart had fail'd, and she had died
Beneath the horrors of this aweful hour.
But Heaven supplied a power
Beyond her earthly nature, to the measure
Of need infusing strength;

And Fate, whose secret and unerring pleasure
Appointed all, decreed

An ample meed and recompense at length.
High-fated Maid, the righteous hour is nigh !
The all-embracing Eye

Of Retribution still beholdeth thee;

Bear onward to the end, O Maid, courageously!

9.

On roll'd the Car, and lo! afar
Upon its height the towers of Yamenpur
Rise on the astonish'd sight.

Behold the infernal City, Yamen's seat
Of empire, in the midst of Padalon,
Where the eight causeys meet.
There on a rock of adamant it stood,
Resplendent far and wide,

Itself of solid diamond edified,
And all around it roll'd the fiery flood.
Eight bridges arch'd the stream; huge piles of brass

Magnificent, such structures as beseem
The Seat and Capital of such great God,
Worthy of Yamen's own august abode.

1" The Dharma-Raja, or king of justice, has two countenances; one is mild and full of benevolence; those alone who abound with virtue see it. He holds a court of justice, where are many assistants, among whom are many just and pious kings: Chitragupta acts as chief secretary. These holy men determine what is dharma and adharma, just and unjust. His (Dharma-Raja's) servant is called Carmala: he brings

A brazen tower and gateway at each end Of each was raised, where Giant Wardens stood, Station'd in arms the passage to defend, That never foe might cross the fiery flood.

10.

Oh what a gorgeous sight it was to see The Diamond City blazing on its height With more than mid-sun splendour, by the light Of its own fiery river!

Its towers and domes and pinnacles and spires, Turrets and battlements, that flash and quiver Through the red restless atmosphere for ever; And hovering over head,

The smoke and vapours of all Padalon, Fit firmament for such a world, were spread, With surge and swell, and everlasting motion, Heaving and opening like tumultuous ocean.

11.

Nor were there wanting there
Such glories as beseem'd such region well;
For though with our blue heaven and genial air
The firmament of Hell might not compare,
As little might our earthly tempests vie
With the dread storms of that infernal sky,
Whose clouds of all metallic elements
Sublimed were full. For, when its thunder broke,
Not all the united World's artillery,
In one discharge, could equal that loud stroke;
And though the Diamond Towers and Battlements
Stood firm upon their adamantine rock,
Yet while it vollied round the vault of Hell,
Earth's solid arch was shaken with the shock,
And Cities in one mighty ruin fell.
Through the red sky terrific meteors scour;
Huge stones come hailing down or sulphur-shower,
Floating amid the lurid air like snow,
Kindles in its descent,

And with blue fire-drops rains on all below.
At times the whole supernal element
Igniting, burst in one large sheet of flame,

And roar'd as with the sound
Of rushing winds, above, below, around;
Anon the flame was spent, and overhead
A heavy cloud of moving darkness spread.

12.

Straight to the brazen bridge and gate The self-moved Chariot bears its mortal load. At sight of Carmala,

On either side the Giant guards divide,

And give the chariot way.

Up yonder winding road it rolls along, Swift as the bittern soars on spiral wing, And lo! the Palace of the Infernal King!

13.

Two forms inseparable in unity Hath Yamen; even as with hope or fear

the righteous on celestial cars, which go of themselves, whenever holy men are to be brought in, according to the directions of the Dharma-Raja, who is the sovereign of the Pitri. This is called his divine countenance, and the righteous alone do see it. His other countenance or form, is called Yama; this the wicked alone can see: it has large teeth and a monstrous body. Yama is the lord of Patala; there he orders some t

The Soul regardeth him doth he appear;
For hope and fear

At that dread hour, from ominous conscience spring,
And err not in their bodings. Therefore some,
They who polluted with offences come,
Behold him as the King

Of Terrors, black of aspect, red of eye, 1 Reflecting back upon the sinful mind, Heighten'd with vengeance, and with wrath divine Its own inborn deformity.

But to the righteous Spirit how benign
His aweful countenance,

Where, tempering justice with parental love,
Goodness and heavenly grace

And sweetest mercy shine! Yet is he still Himself the same, one form, one face, one will; And these his twofold aspects are but one; And change is none

In him, for change in Yamen could not be,
The Immutable is he.

14.

He sat upon a marble sepulchre

Massive and huge, where at the Monarch's feet, The righteous Baly had his Judgement-seat. A Golden Throne before them vacant stood; Three human forms sustain'd its ponderous weight, With lifted hands outspread, and shoulders bow'd Bending beneath the load.

A fourth was wanting. They were of the hue Of coals of fire; yet were they flesh and blood, And living breath they drew ;

And their red eye-balls roll'd with ghastly stare, As thus, for their misdeeds, they stood tormented there.

15.

On steps of gold those living Statues stood, Who bore the Golden Throne. A cloud behind Immovable was spread; not all the light Of all the flames and fires of Padalon Could pierce its depth of night. There Azyoruca 2 veil'd her aweful form In those eternal shadows: there she sate, And as the trembling Souls, who crowd around The Judgement-seat, received the doom of fate, Her giant arms, extending from the cloud,

be beaten, some to be cut to pieces, some to be devoured by monsters, &c. His servant is called Cashmala, who, with ropes round their necks, drags the wicked over rugged paths, and throws them headlong into hell. He is unmerciful, and hard is his heart; every body trembles at the sight of him."-Wilford, Asiatic Researches.

Here, issuing from the car, the Glendoveer Did homage to the God, then raised his head. Suppliants we come, he said,

I need not tell thee by what wrongs opprest, For nought can pass on earth to thee unknown; Sufferers from tyranny we seek for rest, And Seeva bade us go to Yamen's throne; Here, he hath said, all wrongs shall be redrest. Yamen replied, Even now the hour draws near, When Fate its hidden ways will manifest. Not for light purpose would the Wisest send His suppliants here, when we, in doubt and fear, The aweful issue of the hour attend. Wait ye in patience and in faith the end!

XXIV.

THE AMREETA.

1.

So spake the King of Padalon, when, lo! The voice of lamentation ceased in Hell, And sudden silence all around them fell, Silence more wild and terrible Than all the infernal dissonance before. Through that portentous stillness, far away, Unwonted sounds were heard, advancing on And deepening on their way; For now the inexorable hour Was come, and, in the fulness of his power, Now that the dreadful rites had all been done, Kehama from the Swerga hasten'd down,

To seize upon the throne of Padalon.

2.

He came in all his might and majesty, 3 With all his terrors clad, and all his pride; And, by the attribute of Deity, Which he had won from Heaven, self-multiplied,

By Samudr (Oceanus) a daughter was born unto her, called Rama-Devi. She is most beautiful; she is Lacshmi; and her name is Asyotcarsha, or Asyotcrishta. Like a jewel she remains concealed in the Ocean."- Wildford, Asiat. Res. 3 What is this to the coming of Seeva, as given us by Mr. Maurice, from the Seeva Paurana?

"In the place of the right wheel blazed the Sun, in the place of the left was the Moon; instead of the brazen nails and bolts, which firmly held the ponderous wheels, were dis

2" In Patala (or the infernal regions) resides the sovereign Queen of the Nagas (large snakes or dragons): she is beautiful, and her name is Asyoruca. There, in a cave, she performed Taparya with such rigorous austerity, that fire sprang from her body, and formed numerous agnitiraths (places of sacred fire) in Patala. These fires, forcing their way through the earth, waters, and mountains, formed various openings or mouths,called from thence the flaming mouths, or juala muihi.

in lieu of the canopy on the top of the chariot was overspread the vault of Heaven; the counterpoise of the wheels was on the east and west, and the four Semordres were instead of the cushions and bolsters; the four Vedas were placed as the horses of the chariot, and Saraswaty was for the bell; the piece of wood by which the horses are driven was the threelettered Mantra, while Brama himself was the charioteer, and the Nacshatras and stars were distributed about it by way of ornaments. Sumaru was in the place of a bow, the

Again and yet again with curious taste Searching its subtle flavour ere he drink: Even so Kehama now forbore his haste, Having within his reach whate'er he sought, On his own haughty power he seem'd to muse, Pampering his arrogant heart with silent thought. Before him stood the Golden Throne in sight, Right opposite; he could not choose but see Nor seeing choose but wonder. Who are ye

Who bear the Golden Throne tormented there? He cried; for whom doth Destiny prepare The Imperial Seat, and why are ye but Three?

6.

FIRST STATUE.

I of the Children of Mankind was first, Me miserable! who, adding store to store, Heapt up superfluous wealth; and now accurst, For ever I the frantic crime deplore.

SECOND STATUE.

I o'er my Brethren of Mankind the first Usurping power, set up a throne sublime, A King and Conqueror: therefore thus accurst, For ever I in vain repent the crime.

THIRD STaTue.

I on the Children of Mankind the first, In God's most holy name, imposed a tale Of impious falsehood; therefore thus accurst, For ever I in vain the crime bewail.

7.

Even as thou here beholdest us, Here we have stood, tormented thus,

1 Mr. Wilkins has given the genuine history of this liquor, which was produced by churning the sea with a mountain. "There is a fair and stately mountain, and its name is Meroo, a most exalted mass of glory, reflecting the sunny rays from the splendid surface of its gilded horns. It is clothed in gold, and is the respected haunt of Dews and Gandharvas. It is inconceivable, and not to be encompassed by sinful man; and it is guarded by dreadful serpents. Many celestial medicinal plants adorn its sides; and it stands, piercing the heaven with its aspiring summit, a mighty hill, inaccessible even by the human mind. It is adorned with trees and pleasant streams, and resoundeth with the delightful songs of various birds.

"The Soors, and all the glorious hosts of heaven, having ascended to the summit of this lofty mountain, sparkling with precious gems, and for eternal ages raised, were sitting in solemn synod, meditating the discovery of the Amreeta, the Water of Immortality. The Dew Narayan being also there spoke unto Brahma, whilst the Soors were thus consulting together, and said, ' Let the Ocean, as a pot of milk, be churned by the united labour of the Soors and Asoors; and when the mighty waters have been stirred up, the Amreeta shall be found. Let them collect together every medicinal herb, and every precious thing, and let them stir the Ocean, and they shall discover the Amreeta.'

"There is also another mighty mountain, whose name is Mandar, and its rocky summits are like towering clouds. It is clothed in a net of the entangled tendrils of the twining creeper, and resoundeth with the harmony of various birds. Innumerable savage beasts infest its borders; and it is the respected haunt of Kennars, Dews, and Apsars. It standeth eleven thousand Yojan above the earth, and eleven thousand more below its surface.

Such countless ages, that they seem to be
Long as eternity,

And still we are but Three.

A Fourth will come to share

Our pain, at yonder vacant corner bear His portion of the burthen, and compleat The Golden Throne for Yamen's Judgement-seat. Thus hath it been appointed: he must be

Equal in guilt to us, the guilty Three. Kehama, come! too long we wait for thee !

8.

Thereat, with one accord,

The Three took up the word, like choral song, Come Rajah! Man-God! Earth's Almighty Lord! Kehama, come! we wait for thee too long.

9.

A short and sudden laugh of wondering pride Burst from him in his triumph to reply Scornful he deign'd not; but with alter'd eye Wherein some doubtful meaning seem'd to lie, He turn'd to Kailyal. Maiden, thus he cried, I need not bid thee see

How vain it is to strive with Fate's decree, When hither thou hast fled to fly from me, And lo! even here thou find'st me at thy side. Mine thou must be, being doom'd with me to share The Amreeta-cup of immortality; 1 Yea, by Myself I swear,

It hath been thus appointed. Joyfully Join then thy hand and heart and will with mine, Nor at such glorious destiny repine,

Nor in thy folly more provoke my wrath divine.

"As the united bands of Dews were unable to remove this mountain, they went before Veeshnoo, who was sitting with Brahma, and addressed them in these words: 'Exert, O masters! your most superior wisdom to remove the mountain Mandar, and employ your utmost power for our good.'

"Veeshnoo and Brahma having said, it shall be according to your wish,' he with the lotus eye directed the King of Serpents to appear; and Ananta arose, and was instructed in that work by Brahma, and commanded by Narayan to perform it. Then Ananta, by his power, took up that king of mountains, together with all its forests and every inhabitant thereof; and the Soors accompanied him into the presence of the Ocean, whom they addressed, saying, We will stir up thy waters to obtain the Amreeta.' And the Lord of the Waters replied, Let me also have a share, seeing I am to bear the violent agitation that will be caused by the whirling of the mountain!' Then the Soors and Asoors spoke unto Koorma-raj, the King of the Tortoises, upon the strand of the Ocean, and said, ' My lord is able to be the supporter of this mountain.' The Tortoise replied, 'Be it so;' and it was placed upon his back.

"So the mountain being set upon the back of the Tortoise, Eendra began to whirl it about as it were a machine. The mountain Mandar served as a churn, and the serpent Faseakee for the rope; and thus in former days did the Detes, and Asoors, and the Danoos, begin to stir up the waters of the ocean for the discovery of the Amreeta.

"The mighty Asoors were employed on the side of the ser pent's head, whilst all the Soors assembled about his tail. Ananta, that sovereign Dew, stood near Narayan.

"They now pull forth the serpent's head repeatedly, and as often let it go; whilst there issued from his mouth, thus vio lently drawing to and fro by the Soors and Asoors, a conti