THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

304 The Harmony of Virtuedifficult to understand, since it takes its root in an element alwaysmore or less present in criticism, the national element; nationalcharacters, national prejudices, national training preordainfor the bulk of us the spirit in which we approach unfamiliarpoetry. Now the average English mind is capable of appreciatingcharacter as manifested in strong action or powerfully revealingspeech, but constitutionally dull to the subtleties of civilised characterswhich have their theatre in the mind and the heart andmake of a slight word, a gesture or even silence their sufficientrevelation. The nations of Europe, taken in the mass, are stillsemi-civilized; their mind feeds on the physical, external and grosslysalient features of life; where there is no brilliance and glare, thepersonality is condemned as characterless. A strength that shunsostentation, a charm that is not luxuriant, not naked to the firstglance are appreciable only to the few select minds who havechastened their natural leanings by a wide and deep culture. TheHindu on his side dislikes violence in action, excess in speech,ostentation or effusiveness in manner; he demands from his idealtemperance and restraint as well as nobility, truth and beneficence;the Aryan or true gentleman must be mitÀcÀraÕ and mitabhÀØÈ,restrained in action and temperate in speech. This nationaltendency shows itself even in our most vehement work. TheMahabharata is the section of our literature which deals mostwith the external and physical and corresponds best to the Europeanidea of the epic; yet the intellectualism of even the Mahabharata,its preference of mind-issues to physical and emotionalcollisions and catastrophes, its continual suffusion of thesewhen they occur with mind and ideality, the civilisation, depthand lack of mere sensational turbulence, in one word, the Aryancast of its characters are irritating to the European scholars. Thusa historian of Indian literature complains that Bhima is the reallyepic character in this poem. He meant, evidently, the only characterin which vast and irresistible strength, ungovernable impetuousnessof passion, warlike fury and destroying anger aregrandiosely deployed. But to the Hindu whose ideas of epic arenot coloured with the wrath of Achilles, epic motive and characterare not confined to what is impetuous, huge and untamed;he demands a larger field for the epic and does not confine it to