74. In other states of being.

Dim recollections of occurrences in former states of existence are supposed occasionally to cross the mind.  Compare note 37.

75. The Chamberlain.

The attendant on the women’s apartment.  He is generally a Brahman, and usually appears in the plays as a tottering and decrepit old man, leaning on his staff of office. 76. The king of serpents on his thousand heads.

A mythological serpent, the personification of eternity, and king of the Nagas, or snakes, who inhabit Patala, the lowermost of the seven regions below the earth.  His body formed the couch of Vishnu, reposing on the waters of Chaos, whilst his thousand heads were the god’s canopy.  He is also said to uphold the world on one of his heads.

77. The chamber of the consecrated fire.

Compare note 61.

78. Two heralds.

These heralds were introduced into Hindu plays something in the same manner as a Chorus; and, although their especial duty was to announce, in measured verse, the periods of the day, and particularly the fixed divisions into which the king’s day was divided, yet the strain which they poured forth frequently contained allusions to incidental circumstances.  The royal office was no sinecure.  From the Da[s’]a-kumara, it appears that the day and night were each divided into eight portions of one hour and a half, reckoned from sunrise; and were thus distributed:  Day—­l.  The king, being dressed, is to audit accounts; 2.  He is to pronounce judgment in appeals; 3.  He is to breakfast; 4.  He is to receive and make presents; 5.  He is to discuss political questions with his ministers; 6.  He is to amuse himself; 7.  He is to review his troops; 8.  He is to hold a military council.  Night—­l.  He is to receive the reports of his spies and envoys; 2.  He is to sup or dine; 3.  He is to retire to rest after the perusal of some sacred work; 4 and 5.  He is to sleep; 6.  He is to rise and purify himself; 7.  He is to hold a private consultation with his ministers, and instruct his officers; 8.  He is to attend upon the Purohita or family priest, for the performance of religious ceremonies.  See Wilson’s Hindu Theatre, vol. i. p. 209.

79. Feeling a quivering sensation in her right eyelid.

Compare note 18.

80. The protector of the four classes of the people, the guardian of the four conditions of the priesthood.

A remarkable feature in the ancient Hindu social system, as depicted in the plays, was the division of the people into four classes or castes:—­1st.  The sacerdotal, consisting of the Brahmans.—­2nd.  The military, consisting of fighting men, and including the king himself and the royal family.  This class enjoyed great privileges, and must have been practically the most powerful.—­3rd.  The commercial, including merchants and husbandmen.—­4th.  The servile, consisting of servants and slaves.