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.makes no such references at all and the only few allusions <to the Yavanas do not prove alien interference in politics. The .•signification of 4 Yavana' is not the same as that of c Mlecha,* It is therefore safe to deduce that at the time of the Rarnayana foreign influence was not felt, at any rate not enough to give the foreigners a territorial dominion in the international policy of Indian States.
5. The geographical account of Valmiki regarding Southern India denies the existence of any civiiifed kingdoms there. On the other hand the country South of the Vindhya range is the haunt of savage demons like Viradha and Kabandha. In the royal invitations at DasarajthaV Court no one King of Southern India has a summons, nor does Rama in his journey southwards make alliance with a civilized prince. On the other hand the Kings of Southern India have a prominent reception at the Rajasuya sacrifice of Yudhistira. The geographical -sketch of Bharata-varsha as given ia the Bhishma-parva •shows a very intimate acquaintance with the advanced states of the Dekhan. Hence, since the days of the Ramayana the country has from a political point of view made a decided advance.
6. The test of archery at the marriage of Sita had better be compared with that at Draupadi-Swayamvara* The latter indicates an obvious advance in the dexterity of the test. In the construction of the army also, we see an improvement in the science of war. Rama's army knows not of varied dispositions, whereas in the Bharata war the plan of Vyuhas or arrays has already been devised, by means of which a small force can withstand a powerful one. The ordered supervision of the commandants^ the regular signals of colored standards, the European critics in their study of Oriental works, whose archaic constructions are rarely-palatable to their modern tastes,e was an incarnation, of Vlshnu-^bmt Vishnu himself had not risen to prominence;