[Footnote 14: Lieut. Wilford supports the theory that there were eight Vikramadityas, the last of whom established the era. For further particulars, the curious reader will consult Lassen’s Anthologia, and Professor H. H. Wilson’s Essay on Vikram (New), As. Red.. ix. 117.]
[Footnote 15: History tells us another tale. The god Indra and the King of Dhara gave the kingdom to Bhartari-hari, another son of Gandhar-ba-Sena, by a handmaiden. For some time, the brothers lived together; but presently they quarrelled. Vikram being dismissed from court, wandered from place to place in abject poverty, and at one time hired himself as a servant to a merchant living in Guzerat. At length, Bhartari-hari, disgusted with the world on account of the infidelity of his wife, to whom he was ardently attached, became a religious devotee, and left the kingdom to its fate. In the course of his travels, Vikram came to Ujjayani, and finding it without a head, assumed the sovereignty. He reigned with great splendour, conquering by his arms Utkala, Vanga, Kuch-bahar, Guzerat, Somnat, Delhi, and other places; until, in his turn, he was conquered, and slain by Shalivahan.]
[Footnote 16: The words are found, says Mr. Ward, in the Hindu History compiled by Mrityungaya.]
[Footnote 17: These duties of kings are thus laid down in the Rajtarangini. It is evident, as Professor H. H. Wilson says, that the royal status was by no means a sinecure. But the rules are evidently the closet work of some pedantic, dogmatic Brahman, teaching kingcraft to kings. He directs his instructions, not to subordinate judges, but to the Raja as the chief magistrate, and through him to all appointed for the administration of his justice.]
[Footnote 19: That is to say, “upon an empty stomach.”]
[Footnote 20: There are three sandhyas amongst the Hindus--morning, mid-day, and sunset; and all three are times for prayer.]
[Footnote 22: Patali, the regions beneath the earth.]
[Footnote 24: Or Avanti, also called Padmavati. It is the first meridian of the Hindus, who found their longitude by observation of lunar eclipses, calculated for it and Lanka, or Ceylon. The clepsydra was used for taking time.]
[Footnote 25: In the original only the husband “practiced austere devotion.” For the benefit of those amongst whom the “pious wife” is an institution, I have extended the privilege.]