ORIENTAL SERIES.

2io MRIGANKA-LEKHAMUDGALA,
offering a flattering similitude, although not without some
attractive features." Williams
"
observes, The dexterity with
which the plot is arranged, the ingenuity with which the inci-
dents are connected,
the skill with which the characters are
delineated and contrasted, the holdness and felicity of the
diction, are scarcely unworthy of our own great dramatists."
There are translations in French and several editions of the
text
IVLKJGAI^KA-LEKHA. A play in four acts, written by
Viswa-natha at Benares. The piece takes its name from the
heroine, a princess of Kamarupa. It is a comparatively modern
work.
MJJITYU. <
Death.' A name of Yama, the god of the dead,
MUCHUKTJJSTDA.
1
called 'king of men.
In the Puranas, son of Mandhatri, and
He rendered assistance to the gods in
their wars with the Asuras or demons, and he asked and
obtained as a reward the boon of a long uninterrupted sleep.
Whosoever disturbed him was to be burnt to ashes by fire
issuing from his body. Kala-yavana was lured into his cave
by Knsh?za and woke the sleeper, who cast a fiery glance upon
the intruder which destroyed him. Muchukunda then paid
laud and honour to Knslma, who gave him power to go to
whatever celestial region he wished, and to enjoy all
heavenly
pleasures. Muchukunda left his cave and went to Gandharaadana
to perform penance. The Maha-bharata says he was
reproved by Kuvera for trusting to his priest more than to his
own prowess for success in war, but he replied that the religious
aid of Brahmans was as necessary as the warlike powers of
Kshatriyas.
MUDGALA* A Yedic Bisbi from whom the Maudgalya
Brahmans sprang. There were several other Brahmans named
Mudgala. A sage of this name is recorded in the Maha-bharata
to have " lived a life of poverty, piety, and self-restraint, offer-
ing hospitality to thousands of Brahmans, according to his
humble means, with the grain which he gleaned like a pigeon,
and which (like the widow of Zarephath's oil) never underwent
diminution, or rather increased again, when it was required,"
The choleric sage Dur-vasas went to test the patience of Mudgala,
and six times devoured all the food which his host possessed
without ruffling his temper. Dur-vasas in his admiration de*