Such a civilization has built up the enormous literature of the Hindus embodied in the _Vedas_, _Upnishads_, the epic poems of _Ramayna_ and _Mahabharata_, and the immortal works of Kalidasa, a literature comprising in itself an achievement of the human mind which may be considered sublime, and of which any civilization, ancient or modern, may feel justly proud. The poetical merit of Kalidasa’s _Sakuntala_ is universally admitted, and it ranks among the best of the world’s masterpieces of dramatic art. Its beauty of thought and its tenderness in the expression of feeling are exquisite, while its creative fancy is rich, and the charm of its spirit is full. Says Goethe: “_Wouldst thou the life’s young blossoms and the fruits of its decline,_ _All by which the soul is pleased, enraptured, feasted, fed,--_ _Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sweet name combine?_ _I name thee, O_ Sakuntala, _and all at once is said_.” The epic poems of _Ramayna_ and _Mahabharata_ consist of stories and legends which form a splendid superstructure on the teachings contained in the earlier scriptures of the _Vedas_. By relating what the men and women of those times thought, said, and did, these poems illustrate in a highly instructive manner the general character and culture of the early Hindus. The stories contained in these poems, which, in fact, rival the best known epic poems of the world, tell us of the thoughts and beliefs, hopes and fears, joys and sorrows of the people of this earliest recorded period. Through these stories we learn the fundamental concepts which governed the religious and social life of the early Hindus; in them are revealed also the basic moral and spiritual laws which controlled the actions, “not only of gods and supernatural men, but of ordinary men and women of India.” “They explain--by showing the degrees of danger incurred by such vices as anger and pride, deception and faithlessness, intemperance and impiety--the evil consequences of moral transgressions from both man-made and supernatural laws; and at the same time they emphasize the beauty of such virtues as patience and self-control, truthfulness and purity, obedience and filial love.”[3] As an illustration of the fascinating and elevated nature of its lofty idealism, we shall quote two passages from _Ramayna_. In the first, Rama, the ideal king, has determined to execute the will of his late father by staying in the forests as an exile for fourteen years. Sita, his wife and the heroine of the story, begs her lord and husband to allow her to accompany him in his exile to the forests and offers a picture highly expressive of pious conjugal love. Sita says: