“The hostile armies meet on the plain of the Kurus. Bhishma, the half brother of Vichitravirya, being the oldest warrior among them, has command of the Kuru faction; and Bhima, the second son of Pandu, noted for his strength and prowess, is the general of the other party (Arjuna’s).

“The scene of our poem now opens and remains throughout the same—the field of battle. In order to introduce the reader the names of the principal chieftains in each army, Duryodhana is made to approach Drona, his military preceptor, and name them one by one. The challenge is then suddenly given by Bhishma, the Kuru general, by blowing his conch; and he is seconded by all his followers. It is returned by Arjuna, who is in the chariot with the god Krishna, who, in compassion for the persecution he had suffered, had become his intimate friend, and was acting the part of a charioteer to him. He is followed by all the generals of the Pandavas.

“The fight then begins with a volley of arrows from both sides; but when Arjuna perceives it he begs Krishna to draw up the chariot in the space between the two armies while he examines the lines of the enemy. The god does so and points out on those lines the numerous relations of his friend.

“Arjuna is horror-struck at the idea of committing fratricide by slaying his near relations, and throws down his bow and arrows, declaring that he would rather be killed without defending himself than fight against them. Krishna replies with the arguments which form the didactic and philosophical doctrines of the work, and endeavors to persuade him that he mistakes in forming such a resolution. Arjuna is eventually overruled. The fight goes on, and the Pandavas defeat their opponents.”

THIS quotation gives the student a brief statement of what is more or less mythological and allegorical, but if the story of the Mahabharata be taken as that of Man in his evolutionary development, as we think it ought to be, the whole can be raised from the plane of fable, and the student will then have before him an account, to some extent, of that evolution.

“Thus looking at it from the spiritual point of view, the king, Dhritarashtra, is the physical body with its human mind which is acquired by the immortal soul in order to go through the evolutionary journey; the mortal envelope is brought into existence by