Vidyadharas

“ Let the jewel of the golden wheel come first, then the elephant with the four white tusks, and the dark coloured horse, and next Malayavatí. [10] O emperor, behold these are the the jewels which I give thee. Yet further,—behold these nobles of the Vidyádharas, bearing in their hands chowries of the yak's tail, white as the autumnal moon, making, as they walk, and bow, and bend their bodies low in devotion, very rainbows with the rays of their gems,—and among them the villain Matanga and his fellows. ”

“ O princess, what can it be?
Malayavatí.
Girl, I know it well. To-day in a dream, as I was playing this very lute, I was thus addressed by the revered Gaurí,—"Child Malayavatí, I am well pleased with your perfect knowledge of the lute, and with your excessive devotion towards me, which is hard for a young girl; therefore before long a sovereign of the Vidyádharas shall be your husband."
Girl (with delight) .
If it is so, why do you call it a dream? Has not the goddess given you the very desire of your heart? ”

“ When Vidyasagar saw that attempts at persuading his countrymen into his own way of thinking served no useful purpose, he altered his tactics and tried to convince the rulers of the land. For this end he translated his two pamphlets into English and distributed them among his European acquaintances who were all high officials of the Government. These gentlemen, thinking that the Hindu society had become the hotbed of corruption and that emancipation of girl-widows would add to the glory and prestige of the Government, at once instructed him to petition the Government of India. ”

“ When he shall roughly clasp my breasts,
My hands shall restrain his hands, half-glances belying.
For my lover, the proper man is a bee,
Holding my cheeks will drink the honey of my lips,—
Then shall he ravish my every sense!
Vidyāpati says: Your life is blest!
CXXIX.
Rādhā: When Kāna shall come to my house,
I shall gaze on his moon-face with swimming eyes:
When as a woman I say 'Nay, nay,'
Then shall Murāri woo me more wildly! ”

“ Ah damsel fair! with what and what devoted care,
Has Nature given to you the utmost beauty of the moon.
A grass green bodice binds your breasts, a glimpse is only seen;
So jealously you cover them,—but never snow may hide the hills!
Dark sūrm decks your curving restless eyes.
As if the bees would rest their weight upon some wind-bent lotus.
Hearken, young thing, says Vidyāpati; these charms, you know them all,—
Witness be Rājā Shivasimha Rūpanārāyana and Lakshmī Devī.
VI.
Krishna: She left the shrine at cowdust-time, passing gliding
Like a flash of lightning mated with a fresh cloud. ”

“ Looks on her moon-face with brimming eyes.
All of her maidens were filled with joy,
Madan entered the hearts of both.
Twain were enraptured, each in the other's lap:
A sight that fills Vidyāpati with bliss.
LXXVIII.
Sakhī: 'Tell me, O Beauty, what were the night's delights.
How did your Lord fulfil your hopes?
(How curiously, methinks, has Providence
Created man and maid!)
You are the fairest woman of the world
And have attained Murāri, worthiest of men.'
Rādhā: 'I am not able to recite my lover's love,
The fates have not bestowed on me a myriad mouths! ”

“ When Kānu lifts her to his lap, she bends her body back,
Like the young snake, untamed by spells.
'But shut your eyes this once, my fair one,
As a sick man drinks his draught:
A little moment's pain, and then the birth of bliss,—
Why do you turn your face away from this, my girl?'
Hearken, Murāri, saith Vidyāpati:
You are the ocean of desire, and she is artless.
XXXVII.
Rādhā: How can I tell of what was done that night?
Unhappily the hours were spent with Mādhava:
He clasped my breasts and drank the nectar of my lips,
Laying his face on mine, he killed my life. ”

“ I came here to represent a philosophy of India, which is called the Vedanta philosophy. This philosophy is very, very ancient; it is the outcome of that mass of ancient Aryan literature known by the name of the Vedas. It is, as it were, the very flower of all the speculations and experiences and analyses, embodied in that mass of literature — collected and culled through centuries. This Vedanta philosophy has certain peculiarities. In the first place, it is perfectly impersonal; it does not owe its origin to any person or prophet: it does not build itself around one man as a centre. ”

“ Those who lack some personal experience of the dreadful difficulties of social reform in our own day, after a generation of wide-spread liberal education, can form no idea of the appalling dangers Vidyasagar had to brave in his heroic attack on the strongholds of bigoted conservatism. Verily he was an ocean of sound and fruitful learning. Two years later, while the shade of the coming gloom of the Indian Mutiny was scarcely perceptible, he prevailed upon the Government to inaugurate a silent, beneficial revolution in Hindu Society by passing the famous Widow-marriage Act ”

“ Fly the myriads of Madan's arrows!
Even an instant to behold such loveliness
Suffices to eclipse the Triple Worlds:
But and I see her once again,
My mourning may depart!
Says Vidyāpati: In sooth,
For your dear sake, I'll bring her.
RĀDHĀ BAYASANDHI XV.
Dūtikā: Childhood and youth are mingled both,
Her eyes have taken the road to her ears:
Wily are her words, and her low laugh
As if the moon appeared on earth.
She takes a mirror to array herself,
And asks: 'What is the game of love, my dear?'
How many times she secretly regards her bosom,
Smiling to see her breasts! ”

“ And day by day she wastes away.
He stays abroad, he sends no news,—
How shall the Braj girls live?
The best and fairest of the world endures
The poison and the pain of parting!
She who might have no bed except his bosom,
Now grovels on the ground,—
As if the full round moon lay fallen asunder
In a withered campak garland.
From then till now I have consoled her,
Nought else has saved her life!
Vidyāpati says: O pitiless Mādhava,
She swooned away to hear your name!
CX.
Sakhī: Making a promise to return 'To-morrow,' her lover went away,—
Writing the word 'To-morrow,' the wall is full! ”

“ No man more thoroughly understood the dignity of labour than Vidyasagar. That ancient tenet of Karma he followed by instinct. He was as much at home with the lowest as with the highest and took equal delight in being eminently useful to them all without parade of noble intentions. India mourns the loss of the son who embodied her spirit and glory. Can such a blameless life be without value in the sight of the Lord? ”

“ Form this, it is apparent that Vidyasagar was not well disposed towards the Hindu system of joint family. It was not his innate fault. It was his English education that produced in him this failing. It was his want of insight that led him to meddle with the customs of Hindu Society, which is self-evident from the dismemberment of his joint family. The practice of the Hindu in his own household, in his dealings with Society, and in everything else is conducive to the attainment of spiritual knowledge. ”

“ The followers of the Vishishtâdvaitic system have as much reverence for the Upanishads as the followers of the Advaita, and the Vishishtadvaitists claim as much authority for the Vedanta as the Advaitist. So do the dualists; so does every other sect in India. But the word Vedantist has become somewhat identified in the popular mind with the word Advaitist, and perhaps with some reason, because, although we have the Vedas for our scriptures, we have Smritis and Purânas — subsequent writings — to illustrate the doctrines of the Vedas ”

“ But in the heart of everything the same truth reigns. The Lord has declared to the Hindu in His incarnation as Krishna, "I am in every religion as the thread through a string of pearls. Wherever thou seest extraordinary holiness and extraordinary power raising and purifying humanity, know thou that I am there." And what has been the result? I challenge the world to find, throughout the whole system of Sanskrit philosophy, any such expression as that the Hindu alone will be saved and not others. Says Vyasa, "We find perfect men even beyond the pale of our caste and creed." ”

“ Krishna: The night is late, the fair one timorous and fearful:
When will she of the olifant gait be here?
The path is filled with dreadful snakes,
How many dangers do her path beset, and she with feet so tender!
To the feet of Providence I trust her,
Success attend the Beauty's tryst!
The sky is black, the earth is sodden,—
My heart is anxious for her danger.
Heavy the darkness in every airt,—
Her feet may slip, she cannot find the path:
Her glance beguiles each living thing
Lakshmī comes in human form!
Says Vidyāpati the poet:
The maid enamoured yields to none but Love. ”

“ Yet it has nothing to say against philosophies which do build themselves around certain persons. In later days in India, other philosophies and systems arose, built around certain persons — such as Buddhism, or many of our present sects. They each have a certain leader to whom they owe allegiance, just as the Christians and Mohammedans have. But the Vedanta philosophy stands at the background of all these various sects, and there is no fight and no antagonism between the Vedanta and any other system in the world. ”

“ A man wins honour and celebrity in society, when he pursues the course indicated by the Age. Vidyasagar did it, and his reputation soon rose to its highest eminence. Or else, why should he, being born in an orthodox Hindu family, surrounded from his early years by devout followers of the religion of the Rishis, himself vastly erudite in the different branches of the Sanskrit Literature, thus lose his regard for the religious usages and practices of his forefathers, and be deprived of the power of casting an insight into the true import of the sacred Sastras of his ancestors? ”

“ The language of the book is as plain, melodious, and elegant as that of his former productions.
Some might insinuate that, instead of narrating and illustrating the lives of good and great men of the country, he went to seek for them in foreign lands. But it should be borne in mind, that Vidyasagar had the very liberal views of a real Hindu. He was not prejudiced against any nation, country, or religion. He appreciated merits, wherever he found them. Besides, there can be no objection or harm in trying to imitate the virtues of a man, though he be of a different nation or religion. ”

“ Her thighs excel the plaintain-stem, or trunk of royal olifant.
Her hands and feet, the lotus of the land:
Her nails surpass pomegranate-seeds, the moon, or gems.
Her speech is more than nectar-sweet.
Says Vidyāpati: Her shape is unsurpassed,
Peerless is Rādhā's beauty:
Rājā Shivasimha Rūpanārāyana
Is the eleventh Avatar!
LII.
Sakhī: Rādhā's love is young,
No obstacle can stay her:
She has started all alone,
Reckless of any path.
She casts away the jewelled necklace
That weighed upon her jutting breasts:
She casts the rings and bracelets from her hands. ”

“ Vidyāpati prays for your consent.
XLVIII.
Rādhā: O Hari, if you will insist on touching me,
The sin of murdering a wife will fall on you:
You are a guileful lover full of passion
I know not whether it be sweet or bitter.
When passion is outpoured, I shiver
Like an arrow-smitten bounding antelope:
O do not realise your hopes before the time,—
Savour is never lacking to the wise man's end.
Vidyāpati says: I see it clear,
That honeyed fruit is never green. ”

“ The essence of the knowledge of the Vedas was called by the name of Vedanta, which comprises the Upanishads; and all the sects of India — Dualists, Qualified-Monists, Monists, or the Shaivites, Vaishnavites, Shâktas, Sauras, Gânapatyas, each one that dares to come within the fold of Hinduism — must acknowledge the Upanishads of the Vedas. They can have their own interpretations and can interpret them in their own way, but they must obey the authority. That is why we want to use the word Vedantist instead of Hindu. ”

“ The one theme of the Vedanta philosophy is the search after unity. The Hindu mind does not care for the particular; it is always after the general, nay, the universal. "What is that, by knowing which everything else is to be known?" That is the one theme. "As through the knowledge of one lump of clay all that is of clay is known, so, what is that, by knowing which this whole universe itself will be known?" That is the one search. The whole of this universe, according to the Hindu philosophers, can be resolved into one material, which they call Âkâsha. ”

“ The founder received hearty cooperation from some influential gentlemen, conspicuous among whom were Vidyasagar, Raja Radhakanto Deva Bahadur, Pundit Madan Mohan Tarkalanker, Ram Gopal Ghose, Sambhu Nath Pundit and Raja Daksina Rajnan. He himself contributed largely to the expenses, his sympathy being real and tangible. Hindus in general are exceedingly conservative in social matters and look upon all schemes of innovation with serious misgivings. ”

“ This is a pearl tiara, not the moon,
No eye upon my forehead, but a scarlet beauty-spot:
Not poison, but a trace of musk upon my throat,
A necklace on my breast, and not the lord of serpents.
Blue silk my robe, and not a tiger's skin,
This is a lotus of delight, and not a skull!
All this is loveliness, says Vidyāpati:
Not ashes on her limbs, but dust of Malaya.
XCVIII.
Dūtika: Often, in meditation on the name of Mādhava,
She changes into Mādhava himself:
Forgetful of her own desires and of her own identity,
She is enamoured of her own charms.
O Mādhava, your love is peerless! ”