SCENES FROM THE RAMAYAN ETC.

There are two recensions of the Ramayana, one belonging to Benares and the North-West of India, the other to Bengal proper. The Ramayana is the oldest and most glorious poem if India, and its author, the saint Valmiki, who is consequently called Adi-kavi or the Father of poetry, is held in the greatest veneration. The account given in the beginning of the poem, of the incidents which led to its composition beautifully harmonizes with the main composition and touchingly shows how exquisitely tender and pure was that saintly heart which breathed forth a poem unrivalled perhaps in the world for its pathos and moral purity. One day the saint accompanied by his disciple resorted to the holy stream Tamasa and finding the waters pure as the heart of the good asked his disciple to fetch his garment of bark. He put it on, and descended into the stream, performed his ablutions and muttered his prayers. Thus this book is the product of extensive study and research of this epic.