[14] The legend of S. Antony is but a western echo of the stories of these nymphs, whom the jealous gods employed as weapons to destroy the virtue of sages whose accumulated asceticism was becoming _mountainous_ and dangerous. Like the Devil, and long before him, they baited the hook with a pretty woman. [15] See the Rámayan, book 1. [16] '_destroyer of guilt_.' [17] Whose true head was cut off and replaced by that of a ram. [18] An astronomical simile: the ninth and tenth signs of the lunar zodiac. [19] They were not human, but semi-divine; still, it is impossible to express the idea of incarnation except in terms of humanity. [20] '_man of silence_,' which, according to Kalidas and Bhartrihari, is the golden rule whether for fools or sages. [21] _Suskamásheshá_: an incomparable expression, meaning, as applied to the thin streak of the new moon at dusk, that everything of it was gone, except its beauty: _venustas, et prœterea nihil_! [22] Because the former birth is always forgotten. But see the sequel. [23] This power of gods and ascetics of a high order, frequently alluded to, reposes upon _yoga_, i.e. intense concentration, which is the secret of Pátanjali. There is a kernel of truth in it, after all. [24] _Time_ is another name of Shiwa. [25] The whole creation, according to Manti (i. 80) is the sport of the deity. Night A SLEEP AND A DREAM. I. A Lotus of the Day But Anushayiní[1], when she disappeared in the forest, fell down to earth like a falling star, and entered the womb of the favourite wife of the King of Indirálaya[2], and was born after the manner of mortals as his daughter. And at that moment she lit up the birth chamber with the radiance diffused from her body, which put the lamps to shame. And the nurses and waiting women were astonished, for wonderful to say! the lids of the child's eyes were fringed with long black lashes, looking like rain-clouds hanging low to hide the rising moon. And suddenly those lashes rose like a curtain, and there came from beneath them a flood of blue colour, which pervaded the room like the odour of camphor and sandal-wood made visible to the eye, and overcame the senses of all that stood by, till they were within a little of swooning away. And like men lying on their backs and gazing into the depths of the sky, they felt as it were enveloped in the colour of heaven, and lost their perception of mundane affairs. For though they knew it not, they were looking at the reflection of the glory of the moon-crested god.