ORIENTAL SERIES.

RAMAYANA. 261
a, $iva, and Durga, have never been mixed up with indecencies
and licentiousness. In fact, the worship of Eama has
never degenerated to the same extent as that of some of these
other deities." This is true ; but it maybe observed that Eama
and his wife were pure; there was nothing in their characters suggestive
of license ; and if " the husband of one wife" and the
devoted and affectionate wife had come to be associated with
impure ideas, they must have lost all that gave them a title to
as
'
'
Earn ! Earn ! is a common
veneration. The name of Kama,
form of salutation.
EAMAYAJVA. <
The Adventures of Eama/ The oldest of
the Sanskrit epic poems, written by the sage Valmlki. It is supposed
to have been composed about five centuries B.C., and to have
received its present form a century or two later. The MSS. of
the Eamayawa vary greatly.
There are two well-known distinct
recensions, the Northern and the Bengal The Northern is the
older and the purer ; the additions and alterations in that of
and has even
Bengal are so numerous that it is not trustworthy,
been called " spurious." Later researches have shown that the
variations in MSS. found in different parts of India are so
diverse that the versions can hardly be classed in a certain
number of different recensions. Unfortunately the inferior
edition is the one best known to Europeans. Carey and Marshman
translated two books of it, and Signer Gorresio has given
an Italian translation of the whole. Schlegel published a Latin
translation of the first book of the Northern recension. The
full texts of both these recensions have been printed, and Mr,
Wheeler has given an epitome of the whole work after the Ben-
gal recension. There is also a poetical version by Griffiths.
Besides the ancient Eamayawa, there is another popular work of
comparative modern times called the Adhyatma Eamayawa. The
authorship of it is ascribed to Yyasa, but it is generally con-
sidered to be a part of the Brahmaftda Puraraa, It is a sort of
spiritualised version of the poem, in which Kama is depicted as
a saviour and deliverer, as a god rather than a man. It is divided
into seven books, which bear the same names as those of the
original poem, but it is not so long.
The Eamayana celebrates the life and exploits of Eama
(Eama-chandra), the loves of Eama and his wife Slta, the rape
of the latter by Kavawa, the demon king of Ceylon, the war