The Vedas. Turning now to the literature itself, we find that four very important collections of hymns, or Vedas, coming from the earliest creative period have been preserved to us. The chief of these is the Rig Veda, which consists of about one thousand hymns in fifteen different meters. The form is rhythmical, but the rhythm is usually confined to the last four syllables of each line. There are ten books in the Rig Veda; the authors were chiefly priests or families of priests. The hymns are addressed to heaven, to the dawn, to the sun, and even to the earth, but in most cases to the divinities, particularly to Fire (the fire of the altar, the fire of the lightning, the light of the sun), to Indra (the god of the storm and tempest), and to Soma (the personified god of the intoxicating drink used in sacrifices). For example, the god of fire is addressed: "No god indeed, no mortal is beyond the might of thee, the mighty one." And the storm gods: "I hear their whips, almost close by, when they crack them in their hands; they gain splendor on their With such strength as yours, you have caused men to

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tremble, you have caused the mountains to tremble." The sun and moon are praised. There are prayers for personal blessings, wedding and funeral hymns, a song of creation, and speculative and philosophical poems. The following extract from the Vedic hymn to dawn, as translated by Hopkins, is singularly beautiful:

"Aloft the lights of Dawn, gleaming for beauty, have risen splendid as waves of waters. . . Thou revealest thy bosom, adorning thyself, O Dawn, and gleamest bright in thy greatness. Thy ways are fair, thy paths upon the mountains. Thou goest in calm across the waters, self-shining one. O thou, whose paths are wide, thou lofty daughter of the sky, bring to us wealth and nourishment. Bring sustenance, O Dawn, who dost bring us good as thou willst. At thy clear dawning the birds fly from their nests; and [from their homes come] men who seek for food."

The late Vedic hymn to starlit night belongs in the same class:

"Night comes, the shining goddess, who now looks out afar with many eyes and puts on all her beauties. . At thy appearing we go to

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1 Translations by Max Müller.

rest as birds fly home to the tree. To rest come the throngs of men; to rest, the beasts; to rest, the birds; and even the greedy eagles rest. Keep off from us the she-wolf and the wolf. Keep off the thief, O billowy Night, and be our savior now. O Night, as a conqueror brings a herd of cattle, so do I bring [as a sacrifice] this Hymn to thee."

Other Vedic literature consists of the Brahmanas, ritualistic works designed to explain the Vedic hymns; the Upanishads, philosophical material in prose and poetry based upon the Vedas; and the Sutras, manuals elucidating the religious rites of Brahmanism.

During the period which followed the Brahmanas two religious sects greatly influenced the literature of India: Buddhism and Jainism. The former was based upon the teachings of Buddha, was Eastern in its origin, and was entirely out of sympathy with Brahmanism; the latter, the Western sect, was more agreeable to the older faith. The Pali literature, dating from this sectarian period, includes sermons and other didactic material and histories. From the Buddhistic writings we take this picture of the death of Buddha (Professor Rhys Davids's translation):

"When Buddha was alone with his disciples, then the Blessed One addressed the brethren and said: 'It may be, brethren, that there may be doubt or misgiving in the mind of some brother as to the Buddha, the truth, the path or the way. Inquire, brethren, freely. Do not have to reproach yourselves afterwards with this thought: "Our Teacher was face to face with us, and we could not bring ourselves to inquire of the Blessed One when we were face to face with him." And when he had thus spoken they sat silent. . . . And the venerable Ananda said, 'How wonderful a thing, Lord, and how marvellous! Verily, in this whole assembly there is not one brother who has doubt or misgiving as to Buddha, the truth, the path or the way.' Then Buddha said, 'It is out of the fullness of thy faith that thou hast spoken, Ananda. But I know it for certain.' Then the Blessed One addressed the brethren, saying, 'Behold, brethren, I exhort you, saying, Transitory are all component things; toil without ceasing.' And these were the last words of Buddha."

The Sanskrit period. In contradistinction to the Vedic literature the writings of the Sanskrit period proper are largely secular, not religious. They include epics and Puranas (literature of a doc

trinal character written in epic verse), also curious and characteristic fables, a considerable number of dramas (generally comedies with numerous ludicrous situations), and a body of lyric poetry celebrating love and the beautiful nature world of India. We must confine our attention in this place to two of the great epics.

The Mahabharata, an enormous epic of over two hundred thousand lines (eight times the length of the Iliad and the Odyssey combined), signifies by its title the "Great War" and celebrates the conflict of two races or rival groups of people who sought in ancient times for possession of the valley of the Ganges. The war was fought, it is interesting to note, on the site of the modern Delhi. The verse is heroic, and the story is graphic. However, the main story is broken by long digressions consisting of tales and philosophical discourses. It is probable that the Mahabharata was commenced three or four centuries before Christ but was not completed until after many generations had intervened. This great poem comes from western India.

The Ramayana, on the other hand, comes from eastern India. It is concerned with the wanderings of a national hero named Rama and is much more brief and more romantic than the Mahabharata. The poet Valmiki is reputed to be its author. It was probably written a few centuries later than its predecessor. The Ramayana includes national legends and descriptions of religious systems, and involves much symbolism and mystery.

In recent times India has earned an international reputation as a center of thought and literature. The ancient Indian classics have become familiar and their power is recognized; the philosophical systems of India have been generally exploited; and in India itself during the last few generations a veritable renaissance has taken place, especially in Bengal. In the field of literature no such interesting figure has arisen in India for many generations as Rabindranath Tagore. He was born in 1860, of a gifted family of Bengal. From his early youth he has written a great deal—of natural objects, of love, of philosophy, of the communion of the soul with the Infinite. His songs are sung in his own province and reproduced in other dialects of India. His various writings in prose, drama, and

verse, written in Bengali and translated by himself into English, have gained for him international prominence. In 1913 the Nobel prize for literature was presented to him. Very few writers of our own day have such deep culture, such rare gifts, and such powers of expression. The subtle charm of Tagore is found at its best in his "song offerings" entitled "Gitanjali." The English edition bears an eloquent introduction by W. B. Yeats. These songs remind us of the Belgian Maeterlinck and of the choicest poets of Ireland; all lovers of beauty must be deeply moved by them, for they belong to the high tide of the poetry of our generation.1

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PERSIAN LITERATURE

It is natural to consider Persian literature in connection with that of India, for both had their beginnings in the Iranian region before these two branches of the Aryan people separated. As Professor Jackson says, "The morning stars sang together when poetry was born in these distant lands, and poesy's youthful voice was first lifted in a sacred hymn of praise, alike in the region of the Indus and the Ganges and in the realm of the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf.”

There are three distinct periods in Persian literature. The first is termed the Old Iranian, and this centers in the sacred writings of the prophet and teacher named Zarathushtra, or Zoroaster (seventh century B.C. or earlier); the second, termed Middle or Pahlavi, extends from the third to the ninth or tenth century of our era; the third, or the New, dates properly from the time of the Mohammedan conquest (A.D. 641). Old Persian is closely allied to Sanskrit; the same is true of Pahlavi and modern Persian, though changes have naturally taken place through the centuries.

1 Others of Rabindranath Tagore's writings will also be of interest, such as "The Gardener" (early lyric poems of love and life), "The Crescent Moon" (a series of child poems), and a philosophical work entitled "Sădhana: the Realization of Life." The last-named book is a straightforward, interesting account of the great religious scriptures of India, with many quotations.

2 See the interesting chapter in "Lectures in Literature," published by the Columbia University Press.

The old Persian records include a number of cuneiform inscriptions. Most interesting of these is a series consisting of five historical tablets carved by order of Darius I on the side of the mountain at Behistun. The Avesta or Zend-Avesta is the most considerable literary monument of old Persia. It is the only portion preserved of a once very considerable literature. (The Roman Pliny tells us of two million verses composed by Zoroaster!) A series of hymns in verse is the most sacred portion of the Avesta. This bible of the Zoroastrian religion also contains many texts and prayers, legal and ritualistic matter, and the Old Iranian account of creation. Zoroaster tells of his communion with the god Ormazd and of heaven and the future, and like a true prophet he calls upon mankind to repent. The Avesta has been made accessible to Europeans largely within the last century; the history of its translation into European languages and of the critical work done in connection with it is of great interest.

During the Pahlavi period very little of consequence in the history of literature was produced. The writings included translations of the Avesta and commentaries on it, texts on religion, histories, and even romances.

The New period, on the other hand, contains a large body of attractive material, and this is what we commonly think of as Persian literature. First, we note the poet Firdausi (born A. D. 935), whose chief work was the epic "Shah Namah," or "Book of Kings"; it occupied him thirty-five years. The first edition of this epic appeared in 1010. It is designed to cover the history of Persia from the earliest mythical times, 3600 B.C., to the Mohammedan conquest. It is a vast work of sixty thousand couplets and is concerned mainly with the wars between the Iranians and the Turanians. There are some episodes of special attractiveness, such as that of Sohrab and Rustum used by Matthew Arnold in his poem of that title. The New period contains other epic poems, historical and romantic, and dramas, novels, short stories, legends, and fables, to say nothing of examples of other branches of literature. But the literature of this period is mainly in lyric verse. It has been said that "Persia is the land of lyric poetry, the home of the nightingale and