ibres is twisted the sacred
string which a Brahman wears over one shoulder after he has been
initiated by a rite which in some respects answers to confirmation.

60 A description of an Asvamedha or Horse Sacrifice is given in Canto
XIII. of this Book.

61 This exploit is related in Canto XL.

62 The Sarju or Ghaghra, anciently called Sarayu, rises in the
Himalayas, and after flowing through the province of Oudh, falls
into the Ganges.

63 The ruins of the ancient capital of Rama and the Children of the Sun
may still be traced in the present Ajudhya near Fyzabad. Ajudhya is
the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hindus.

64 A legislator and saint, the son of Brahma or a personification of
Brahma himself, the creator of the world, and progenitor of mankind.
Derived from the root _man_ to think, the word means originally
_man_, the thinker, and is found in this sense in the Rig-veda.

Manu as a legislator is identified with the Cretan Minos, as
progenitor of mankind with the German Mannus: "Celebrant carminibus
antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est,
Tuisconem deum terra editum, et filium Mannum, originem gentis
conditoresque." TACITUS, _Germania_, Cap. II.

65 The Sal (Shorea Robusta) is a valuable timber tree of considerable
height.

66 The city of Indra is called Amaravati or Home of the Immortals.

67 Schlegel thinks that this refers to the marble of different colours
with which the houses were adorned. It seems more natural to
understand it as implying the regularity of the streets and houses.

68 The _Sataghni_ _i.e. centicide_, or slayer of a hundred, is
generally supposed to be a sort of fire-arms, or the ancient Indian
rocket; but it is also described as a stone set round with iron
spikes.

69 The Nagas (serpents) are demigods with a human face and serpent
body. They inhabit Patala or the regions under the earth. Bhogavati
is the name of their capital city. Serpents are still worshipped in
India. See Fergusson's _Tree and Serpent Worship_.

70 The fourth and lowest pure caste whose duty was to serve the three
first classes.

71 By forbidden marriages between persons of different castes.

72 Vahli or Vahlika is Bactriana; its name is preserved in the modern
Balkh.

73 The Sanskrit word Sin