USHAS, GODDESS OF THE DAWN.

USHAS corresponds to the Latin Aurora, and was a favorite subject of the poets of the Rig-Veda. Dr. Muir gives this paraphrase of one of their hymns:

Hail, Ushas, daughter of the sky,

Who, borne upon thy shining car
By ruddy steeds from realms afar,
And ever lightening, drawest nigh:

Sweetly thou smilest, goddess fair,

Disclosing all thy youthful grace,
Thy bosom bright, thy radiant face,
And lustre of thy golden hair;

(So shines a fond and winning bride,
Who robes her form in brilliant guise,
And to her lord's admiring eyes
Displays her charms with conscious pride;

Or virgin by her mother decked,

Who, glorying in her beauty, shows
In every glance, her power she knows
All eyes to fix, all hearts subject;

Or actress, who, by skill in song

And dance, and graceful gestures light,
And many-colored vestures bright,
Enchants the eager, gazing throng,

Or maid who, wont her limbs to lave
In some cool stream among the woods,
Where never vulgar eye intrudes,
Emerges fairer from the wave);

But closely by the amorous sun

Pursued, and vanquished in the race,
Thou soon art locked in his embrace,
And with him blendest into one.

HYMN TO THE SUN-GOD.

THE great powers presiding over day and night are in the Veda personified in Mitra and Varuna. The former is a well-known personification of the sun, and there are other names which relate to that luminary. The distinction between Mitra and Surya is not ascertained. The following hymn is translated by Dr. J. Muir, in his Sanskrit Texts:

By lustrous heralds led on high

The omniscient Sun ascends the sky,

His glory drawing every eye.

All-seeing Sun, the stars so bright,

Which gleamed throughout the sombre night,
Now scared, like thieves, slink fast away,
Quenched by the splendor of thy ray.

Thy beams to men thy presence show;
Like blazing fires they seem to glow.
Conspicuous, rapid, source of light,
Thou makest all the welkin bright.
In sight of gods and mortal eyes,

In sight of heaven thou scal'st the skies.

Bright god, thou scann'st with searching ken

The doings all of busy men.

Thou stridest o'er the sky, thy rays

Create and measure out our days;
Thine eye all living things surveys.

Seven lucid mares thy chariot bear,
Self-yoked, athwart the fields of air,
Bright Surya, god with flaming hair,
That glow above the darkness, we
Beholding, upward soar to thee,
For there among the gods thy light
Supreme is seen, divinely bright.

THE INDIAN STORY OF THE DELUGE.

THIS legend, versified by Sir M. Williams, is taken from the Brahmana, or inspired commentary on the Veda. The fish which here preserves Manu is declared in the Mahabharata to be an incarnation of Brahma.

There lived in ancient time a holy man,
Called Manu, who by penances and prayers
Had won the favor of the Lord of Heaven.
One day they brought him water for ablution;
Then, as he washed his hands, a little fish
Appeared and spoke in human accents thus:-
"Take care of me, and I will be thy saviour.”
"From what wilt thou preserve me?" Manu asked,
The fish replied: "A flood will sweep away
All creatures; I will rescue thee from that."
But how shall I preserve thee?" Manu said.
The fish rejoined, "So long as we are small,
We are in constant danger of destruction;
For fish eat fish; so keep me in a jar;
When I outgrow the jar, then dig a trench,
Then take me to the ocean, I shall then
Be out of reach of danger." Having thus
Instructed Manu, straightway rapidly

The fish grew larger; then he spake again :—
"In such and such a year the flood will come;
Therefore construct a ship and pay me homage.
When the flood rises, enter thou the ship,
And I will rescue thee." So Manu did

As he was ordered, and preserved the fish,
Then carried it in safety to the ocean;
And in the very year the fish enjoined
He built a ship and paid the fish respect,
And there took refuge when the flood arose.

Soon near him swam the fish, and to its horn
Manu made fast the cable of his vessel.
Thus drawn along the waters Manu passed
Beyond the northern mountain. Then the fish,
Addressing Manu, said: "I have preserved thee;

Quickly attach the ship to yonder tree.
But lest the waters sink from under thee,
As fast as they subside, so fast shalt thou
Descend the mountain gently after them."
Thus he descended from the northern mountain.

The flood had swept away all living creatures;
Manu alone was left. Wishing for offspring,
He earnestly performed a sacrifice.

In a year's time a female was produced.
She came to Manu, then he said to her,

'Who art thou?" She replied, "I am thy daughter.'
He said, "How, lovely lady, can that be?"
"I came forth," she rejoined, "from thine oblations
Cast on the waters; thou wilt find in me
A blessing, use me in sacrifice."

With her he worshiped and with toilsome zeal
Performed religious rites, hoping for offspring:
Thus were created men, called sons of Manu.
Whatever benediction he implored

With her, was thus vouchsafed in full abundance.

HE Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the two great epics of India, and belong to or cover the same period. In the former, the theme is more closely followed than is the case in the latter,

which abounds in episodes and bears internal evidence of being the collected compositions of different poets. The diction of both epics is clearer and more refined than that of the Vedas; they refer to an era of national conquests, and compared with the Vedic hymns are obviously of later date.

India, like Greece afterwards, had in early times a class of bards who were affiliated rather with the warriors than with the priests; who sang the praises of kings and heroes, and kept alive the love of battle and adventure. To them is due the heroic poetry which reflects the contemporary state of society and pictures its primitive manners. But when the Brahmans gained ascendancy, this literature was subjected to a censorship which should fit it to changed beliefs and customs. Many passages inconsistent with Brahmanical law still remain, which the priestly editors failed wholly to redact. Comments at variance with the story appear in the body of the poems, and leading characters are distinguished by epithets which the text contains nothing to justify.

The Ramayana, attributed to Valmiki, shows us the author himself, a hermit sage, dwelling in the forest. The poem, of