The Rdindyana.—The subject of the ' Ramayana ' is the descent of Vishnu, for the purpose of averting the threatened destruction of the whole world by the prince of the demons, Havana. Rama, the son of Dasaratha, king of Oude, WAS brought up by wise Brahmins, espe cially Visvatnitra ; while yet very young ho overcame the demons in several battles, and by his superhuman strength obtained the hand of the beautiful SBA. Ile was about to be appointed successor of his aged father, and to be his partner on the throne, when the plan was frustrated by a court intrigue, and lie was compelled to wander abroad as an exile. With SUS, and his brother Lakalimana, who also participated in the divine nature of Vishnu, he dwelt in the inhospit able wilds of the Deets's, in the fore t of Dandaka, at the sources of the Godavery. This course of events was necessary in order to bring hint and Ravana together, for hero Ifrlina made himself terrible to the demons, and having niutilated, among others, SArpanaklia, the sister of Ravana, the dernomprinee, partly out or revenge for this outrage, and partly inflamed by violent love for SBA, carried her off, and brought her in safety to his residence at Lanka (Ceylon). Rama and Laksh mann, unacquainted with the abode of Ravana, wandered about in the peninsula in search of SItA. The ape-king who had been dethroned by his own brother Bali, warn restored to his kingdom by Rama, and from a feeling of gratitude sends out a host of apes for the purpose of finding the abode of SRA. The ape IlanumAn at length discovers it, passes across the strait, seeks out and speaks with Slta, sets fire to Lanka, and conveys the intelligence to Rama, who proceeds with the whole army of apes to the southern point of the peninsula, when an enormous bridge is formed by throwing mountains into the sea. As the army is about to march upon the island, Rama is encountered by N'iblilshana, Ravana's brother, and a Titauhn conflict commences, the description of which is ono of the most sdmired parts of the poem : but the demons arc at length subdued; Havana falls by the hand of Rama; and Situ is recovered, and having been found pure, as well by the ordeal of the gods as by the word of Brahma himself, she is again united to Rama, who, returning to Ayodhya, receives from the hand of his brother Bharata the dominion to which he is entitled.
These are the contents of the first six books, and here the poem terminates. But there is a seventh book, which is obviously a later addition, and consists of matters which are entirely independent of the former narrative : Slth is again separated from Rama, and bears two sons, Kusa and Lava, to Valndki. After her innocence has been again established, she is carried away by the goddess Earth. Kusa and Lava have learned the poem from Valnaki, its mythological author, and recite it at a great sacrificial festival. whereupon Rama acknowledges them as his sons. This is obviously an etymological myth derived from the Sanskrit name of the rhapsodists, kustlava. This agrees with the present introduction to the first book, in which the origin of the poem is told in the same way, and both parts must therefore be regarded as additions made by the last editor. That the ' Ramayana ' has undergone many other alterations, may easily be shown. It contains, in some parts, many things which point to very ancient times, and customs introduced at a later period are not even alluded to ; as, for instance, the burning of widows, which was prac tised in the age of Alexander. In other parts circumstances are referred to which bring us as far down as the 2nd century A.D. the names of comparatively recent nations being mentioned : for the Huns.
The time of the composition of the poem cannot therefore be ascer tained with any further degree of accuracy; and it is still a contro verted question whether the Mahabhdrata or the Ranniyana, in the form in which they have been handed down to us, has the better claim to antiquity. It is more easy to determine what historical fact forms the foundation of it. This is evidently the introduction of the Brah minical worship and civilisation into the peninsula, the wild aborigines of which. as being the opponents of Brahminism, are made to appear in the character of demons. The apes must represent another and a less hostile race, whom the Brahmins made use of in order to overcome the ruder tribes. This fact is indicated by another circumstance in the poem : the guide of llama is the hermit Agastya, to whom tradition ascribes the conversion and cultivation of the Deccan, and who even now shines, according to a sublime symbol, as the radiant Canopus of the South.
The Rilmayana; since the last recasting of the poem, has under gone several revisions, four of which are known to exist (Weber, ' Verzeichniss der Berliner Sanskrit-Handschriften,' 1853, p. 119), which differ from one another leas in substance than in style and arrangement. That which contains the oldest and the best text is confirmed by com mentaries; a critical edition of it to the end of the second book, accom panied by an elegant Latin translation (as far as ii. c. 20), by A. W.
von Schlegel, appeared at Bonn, 1829, 3 vols. The same recension is represented also by the Oxford manuscript (' Catal. Cod. MSS. Sans criticorum,' 1860, voL 1., p. 6). An edition, based ou a different text, was commenced by Carey and Manshman (Serampore, 1,806-10, 4 vols. 4to); it goes as far as iii. c. 63, and contains also an English translation. The whole Itilindyana, according to the Bengali or amplified recension, was edited, with an Italian translation, by G. Gorresio (Paris, 1843-58, 10 vols.); there is also a French translation of the same by M. H. Fauche (Paris, 1854, ff., 9 vols.) Ma)oVhdrata.—For the second of the two great epic poems, see the article Man:0ml RATA.
Laws and Jurieprudence.—Besides the book of Manu, which has obtained the highest reputation among the Dharmasastras; or law codes [AIANU], there were many similar books, which were likewise referred to sacred mythological personages, as Vishnu, Vrihaspati, Manila, and others. The principal sources from which they draw are the ' Silmaydeharikrusatraa; a class of works belonging to the last period of the old Vaidie literature, in which the laws of caste, the rules of discipline, the occupations of kiugs, householders, &c., and the adminstration of justice, are accurately detailed. (M. Maller, 'History of Anc. Sanskrit Lit.; p. 134.) There was a considerable number of these works, according to the different Vedas or Vaidic schools to which each professed to belong, the names by which they went being either those of their authors or of the families in which they were first current. These names were retained by the compilers of the Dharma 'astral ; and the law-book of Apastamba, for example, is distinctly traceable to the Samaydehalrikasatras which bear the same name. The subjects of which the Dharmasiatras treat are these three : Ahdra, comprising domestic and civil observances and all matters relating to caste; Ft/ars/Ara, of the duties of kings and the adminis tration of justice; and Prdyaschitta, of the civil consequences of caste defilement, or other sinful actions, and of the way how to avoid those consequences by purification and penance. This threefold division is strictly adhered to in the law.code of Yeijnaralkya (edited by Prof. Stenzler, in Sanskrit and German, Berlin, 1849), the first after Manu iu point of time and authority. In the other law-codes (eighteen of which were printed, together with that of Yajnavalkya, at Calcutta, 1845, If.), prominence is given to one or other of those three divisions. In the laws of Vishnu, for example, the judicial portion is very meagre, whereas the first and third are more fully treatssl than either in Mann or Yijnavalkya. The laws of Dablia and Parfustm contain nothing about civil law at all, but se much the more about purification, penance, &e.. There niftier :zenritio, as they are also called (Sniriti mucous imme morial usage), are for the most part of small extent, and touch upon civil law only incidentally ; they are, moreover, although received in common by all the schools, no longer final authorities, even where they do treat of law. For that purpose recourse must be had to the Com mentaries and Digests. " Some of the former are merely explanatory of the text, but others are regarded as final authorities ; and these latter, together with the Digests, form the immediate groundwork for the opinions of lawyers in the respective schools where the doctrines they uphold may prevail. Many of the Commentaries on the Snwitis —such, for instance, as those on alarm's institutes—are not considered to be final authorities, any more than the Smritis themselves ; but others again which, by the introduction of quotations from other writers, and by interpreting and enlarging on the meaning of the author, partake so far of the nature of general Digests, are referred to for the final decision of questions. Tho ' alitAkshart1' (printed at Cale., 1812) is a remarkable instance of this ; since, though professedly only a commentary on the Smriti of Yajnavalkya, it is consulted afl tt final authority over the whole of India, with the exception of Bengal alma" (Morley, ' The Administration of Justice in Brit. India,' 1858, p. 213.1 In the Bombay presidency are Nllakantlia's ' Maynkha,' and in the Deccan the `Suiritichandrika ' by Devandabhatta, of equal authority with the ' Mitaksharft ; whereas in Bengal the latter has been entirely superseded by the ' Dtlya Maga' (on the laws of inherit ance) by JImata Vallatia. For the modern law literature in Sanskrit, which is very extensive, consult Wilson's preface to Macnaghten'e Principles of Hindu and Mohammedan Law,' London, 1860 ; Morley, "The Administration of Justice in Brit. India,' p. 213-36 ; Sir A. Steele,' Summary of the Law and Custom of Hindu Castes,' Bombay, 1827, p. 1-29; Borrsdaihe'a Introduction to his translation of the ' Vvavaham alayilkha; Surat. 1827.