earlier date, and are spoken of under the title of Purâņas by Amara Sinha in the first century B.C. Therefore, to derive any satisfactory conclusion as to dates from the mention of the Purâņas in the Vairagya Śataka, we should require to know what Purâņas are referred to in the particular passages-whether the works known to us as Purâņas or those known under that name to Amara Sinha,1

Telang, in the preface to his editions of the Nîti and Vairâgya Śatakas, is in favour of assigning the close of the first or beginning of the second century to the author of these philosophical poems, in opposition to some authorities, who would place his date at 56 A.D. He grounds his view on the following considerations. Tradition informs us that the author of the Śatakas was Bhartrihari, the brother of King Vikrama, and that he also composed a grammatical work called the Vâkyapadîya. This work shows us that its author lived at least one generation after Patanjali's commentary on Panini's Grammar, called Mahâbhâshya, had come into general use. The date of Patanjali varies according to different authorities from 200 B.C. to 25 A.D. Bhartrihari, in the Vâkyapadîya, notices the fact that the Mahâbhâshya had gone through changes and rearrangements of text; possibly interpolations and additions. The period between 144 B.C. (which Telang considers the probable date of Patanjali) and 56 B.C. would have been hardly long enough to account for alterations and interpolations in the text of the Mahâbhâshya, and therefore 56 B.C., as the date of Bhartrihari, must be abandoned. We have, however, seen that Vikramâditya was said to be the brother of Bhartrihari. Now there appears to be a general consensus of opinion that this Vikramâditya was the founder of the Saka era, and that he lived about 78 A.D.

This date allows an interval of more than two centuries between Patanjali and Bhartrihari, a period of sufficient

1 Some, however, have placed Amara Sinha in the middle of the third century A.D., or even later.

length to account for the alterations and interpolations which existed in the text of the Mâhabhâshya referred to in the Vâkyapâdiya. On these grounds, then, such as they are, the authorship of these Śatakas has been assigned to the end of the first or to the beginning of the second century A.D.

Some attempt has been made to fix Bhartrihari's date by comparison with that of Kalidâsa. But the date of Kalidasa himself is not sufficiently well ascertained to arrive at any certain conclusion by that method.

Much, therefore, as to the date and authorship of these poems must be left to probability and conjecture.

Note.-The text from which the following translation has been made is that edited by Kâshinâth Trimbak Telang, Bombay, 1874.

THE SATAKAS OF BHARTRIHARI.

NITI SATA KA.

Concerning Morality.

1. SALUTATION to the deity who is not definable in time or space: infinite-pure intelligence in incarnate form: who is peace and glory: whose sole essence is self-knowledge.

2. That woman is attracted by another man whom I supposed to be always devoted to me: to her another man is attached: while a certain other woman takes pleasure in my doings. Fie on her and on him, on the god of love, on that woman, and on myself.

3. The man who is entirely ignorant is easily guided: "the wise man is still more easily led: but even the Supreme Being himself cannot influence the smatterer.

4. A man may forcibly get back a jewel from the teeth of a crocodile: he may cross over the raging waves of the sea: he may wear an angry serpent on his head as if it were a garland of flowers: but he cannot win over the mind of one who is foolish and obstinate.

5. A man may get oil from sand by violent pressure : he may drink water from a mirage when oppressed by thirst: he may get possession of the horn of a hare: but he cannot win over the mind of one who is foolish and obstinate.

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6. He who would lead evil men into the path of virtue by a few soft words, is as one who binds an elephant with a young lotus-fibre: as one who tries to cut the diamond with a filament of sirisha; or as one who desires to make the salt sea sweet with a drop of honey.

7. The Creator has given man, as it were, a cloak to conceal his ignorance: with that he can cover himself at all times, for it is always at hand. That gift is silence, the special ornament of the ignorant in the assembly of the wise.

8. When I knew but a little, I was blinded by pride, as an elephant is blinded by passion: my mind was exalted, and in my arrogance I thought I knew all things. Then I came into the presence of the wise who know many kinds of wisdom, and my pride left me even like a fever.

9. A dog eats with delight putrid abominable bones, and though the king of the gods may stand before him, takes no heed: even so a mean man considers not the worthlessness of that which belongs to him.

10. The Ganges falls from heaven upon the head of Śiva; from the head of Siva on to the mountain; from the top of the mountain to the earth, always falling lower and lower: even in so many ways is the fall of one whose judgment has departed from him.

II. Fire can be quenched by water, the heat of the sun can be kept off by a parasol, a wild elephant can be guided by a sharp hook, an ox or an ass by a stick: sickness can be subdued by the help of physicians, poison by the assistance of various charms. A cure has been ordained by the Śâstras for everything, but there is no medicine for the cure of a fool.

12. The man who has no sense of literature and music is like a beast, though he has not horns and a tail: he may not eat grass, but yet he lives a life exactly like that of the cattle.

13. Those in whom is neither wisdom, nor penance, hor liberality, nor knowledge, nor good disposition, nor

virtue, nor righteousness, may live in the world of mortals in the form of men, but they pass through the world like beasts encumbering the earth.

14. It is better to wander in a mountain-pass with the wild beasts than to live in the palace of the gods with a fool.

The Praise of Wisdom.

15. When wise men dwell in poverty-men whose words are adorned with polished sayings from the Sâstras, and who impart sacred learning to their disciples-then that prince in whose kingdom they dwell is chargeable with folly, and the wise men, though poor, are the rulers of the land. Should not those bad examiners be worthy of condemnation who (through) carelessness cause jewels to fall from their true value?

16. O kings! cast off your pride before those who have the inward treasure of wisdom: they are not despoiled by robbers, but their treasure, always increasing, grows greater when it is shared with the needy: not even at the end of the world does it perish. Who indeed may compare with them?

17. Despise not wise men who have attained to knowledge of the truth. They are not held bound by riches, for they count wealth even as grass. The stalk of a waterlily will not bind an elephant who is infuriated by passion.

18. The Creator in his anger may hinder the swan from sporting in the lotus-bed, his dwelling; but he cannot take away his faculty of separating milk from water.

19. Bracelets are no ornament to a man, nor strings of pearls clear as the moon; nor yet bathing, nor perfumes, nor flowers, nor decorated hair. Perfect eloquence alone adorns a man. Adornments may perish, but the ornament of eloquence abides for ever.

20. Wisdom, indeed, is the highest ornament that a man possesses. It is a valuable to be carefully guarded, for wisdom gains food, glory, and blessing. It is the lord