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Vishnu Puran

PREFACE.

THE literature of the Hindus has now been cultivated for many years with singular diligence, and in many of its branches with eminent success. There are some departments, however, which are yet but partially and imperfectly investigated; and we are far from being in possession of that knowledge which the authentic writings of the Hindus alone can give us of their religion, mythology, and historical traditions.

From the materials to which we have hitherto had access, it seems probable that there have been three principal forms in which the religion of the Hindus has existed, at as many different periods. The duration of those periods, the circumstances of their succession, and the precise state of the national faith at each season, it is not possible to trace with any approach to accuracy. The premises have been too imperfectly determined to authorize other than conclusions of a general and somewhat vague description, and those remain to be hereafter confirmed or corrected by more extensive and satisfactory research.

The earliest form under which the Hindu religion appears is that taught in the Vedas. The style of the language, and the purport of the composition of those works, as far as we are acquainted with them, indicate a date long anterior to that of any other class of Sanscrit writings. It is yet, however, scarcely safe to advance an opinion of the precise belief or philosophy which they inculcate. To enable us to judge of their tendency, we have only a general sketch of their arrangement and contents, with a few extracts, by Mr. Colebrooke, in the Asiatic Researches a few incidental observations by Mr. Ellis, in the same miscellany and a translation of the first book of the Sanhitá, or collection of the prayers of the Rig-veda, by Dr. Rosen and some of the Upanishads, or speculative treatises, attached to, rather than part of, the Vedas, by Rammohun Roy.

Of the religion taught in the Vedas, Mr. Colebrooke’s opinion will probably be received as that which is best entitled to deference, as certainly no Sanscrit scholar has been equally conversant with the original works. “The real doctrine of the Indian scripture is the unity of the Deity, in whom the universe is comprehended; and the seeming polytheism which it exhibits, offers the elements and the stars and planets as gods. The three principal manifestations of the divinity, with other personified attributes and energies, and most of the other gods of Hindu mythology, are indeed mentioned, or at least indicated, in the Veda. But the worship of deified heroes is no part of the system; nor are the incarnations of deities suggested in any portion of the text which I have yet seen, though such are sometimes hinted at by the commentators”.

Some of these statements may perhaps require modification; for without a careful examination of all the prayers of the Vedas, it would be hazardous to assert that they contain no indication whatever of hero-worship; and certainly they do appear to allude occasionally to the Avatáras, or incarnations, of u. Still, however, it is true that the prevailing character of the ritual of the Vedas is the worship of the personified elements; of Agni, or fire; Indra, the firmament; Váyu, the air; a, the water; of Aditya, the sun; Soma, the moon; and other elementary and planetary personages. It is also true that the worship of the Vedas is for the most part domestic worship, consisting of prayers and oblations offered–in their own houses, not in temples–by individuals for individual good, and addressed to unreal presences, not to visible types. In a word, the religion of the Vedas was not idolatry.

It is not possible to conjecture when this more simple and primitive form of adoration was succeeded by the worship of images and types, representing Brahmá, u, iva, and other imaginary beings, constituting a mythological pantheon of most ample extent; or when Ráma and a, who appear to have been originally real and historical characters, were elevated to the dignity of divinities. Image-worship is alluded to by Manu in several passages, but with an intimation that those Brahmans who subsist by ministering in temples are an inferior and degraded class. The story of the Rámá a and Mahábhárata turns wholly upon the doctrine of incarnations, all the chief dramatis personæ of the poems being impersonations of gods and demigods and celestial spirits.

The ritual appears to be that of the Vedas, and it may be doubted if any allusion to image- worship occurs; but the doctrine of propitiation by penance and praise prevails throughout, and u and iva are the especial objects of panegyric and invocation. In these two works, then, we trace unequivocal indications of a departure from the elemental worship of the Vedas, and the origin or elaboration of legends, which form the great body of the mythological religion of the Hindus. How far they only improved upon the cosmogony and chronology of their predecessors, or in what degree the traditions of families and dynasties may originate with them, are questions that can only be determined when the Vedas and the two works in question shall have been more thoroughly examined.

The different works known by the name of Purá as are evidently derived from the same religious system as the Rámá a and Mahábhárata, or from the mytho-heroic stage of Hindu belief. They present, however, peculiarities which designate their belonging to a later period, and to an important modification in the progress of opinion. They repeat the theoretical cosmogony of the two great poems; they expand and systematize the chronological computations; and they give a more definite and connected representation of the mythological fictions, and the historical traditions.

But besides these and other particulars, which may be derivable from an old, if not from a primitive era, they offer characteristic peculiarities of a more modern description, in the paramount importance which they assign to individual divinities, in the variety and purport of the rites and observances addressed to them, and in the invention of new legends illustrative of the power and graciousness of those deities, and of the efficacy of implicit devotion to them.

iva and u, under one or other form, are almost the sole objects that claim the homage of the Hindus in the Purá as; departing from the domestic and elemental ritual of the Vedas, and exhibiting a sectarial fervour and exclusiveness not traceable in the

Rámá a, and only to a qualified extent in the Mahábhárata. They are no longer authorities for Hindu belief as a whole: they are special guides for separate and sometimes conflicting branches of it, compiled for the evident purpose of promoting the preferential, or in some cases the sole, worship of u or of iva.

That the Purá as always bore the character here given of them, may admit of reasonable doubt; that it correctly applies to them as they now are met with, the following pages will irrefragably substantiate. It is possible, however, that there may have been an earlier class of Purá as, of which those we now have are but the partial and adulterated representatives. The identity of the legends in many of them, and still more the identity of the words–for in several of them long passages are literally the same–is a sufficient proof that in all such cases they must be copied either from some other similar work, or from a common and prior original. It is not unusual also for a fact to be stated upon the authority of an ‘old stanza,’ which is cited accordingly; shewing the existence of an earlier source of information: and in very many instances legends are alluded to, not told; evincing acquaintance with their prior narration somewhere else.

The name itself, Purá a, which implies ‘old,’ indicates the object of the compilation to be the preservation of ancient traditions, a purpose in the present condition of the Purá as very imperfectly fulfilled. Whatever weight may be attached to these considerations, there is no disputing evidence to the like effect afforded by other and unquestionable authority. The description given by Mr. Colebrooke of the contents of a Purá a is taken from Sanscrit writers. The Lexicon of Amara Sinha gives as a synonyme of Purá a, Pancha-lakshanam, ‘that which has five characteristic topics:’ and there is no difference of opinion amongst the scholiasts as to what these are.

They are, as Mr. Colebrooke mentions, 1. Primary creation, or cosmogony; 2. Secondary creation, or the destruction and renovation of worlds, including chronology; 3. Genealogy of gods and patriarchs; 4. Reigns of the Manus, or periods called Manwantaras; and 5.

History, or such particulars as have been preserved of the princes of the solar and lunar races, and of their descendants to modern times. Such, at any rate, were the constituent and characteristic portions of a Purá a in the days of Amara Sinha, fifty-six years before the Christian era; and if the Purá as had undergone no change since his time, such we should expect to find them still.

Do they conform to this description? Not exactly in any one instance: to some of them it is utterly inapplicable; to others it only partially applies. There is not one to which it belongs so entirely as to the u Purá a, and it is one of the circumstances which gives to this work a more authentic character than most of its fellows can pretend to. Yet even in this instance we have a book upon the institutes of society and obsequial rites interposed between the Manwantaras and the genealogies of princes, and a life of a separating the latter from an account of the end of the world, besides the insertion of various legends of a manifestly popular and sectarial character. No doubt many of the Purá as, as they now are, correspond with the view which Col. Vans Kennedy takes of their purport. “I cannot discover in them,” he remarks, “any other object than that of religious instruction.”

The description of the earth and of the planetary system, and the lists of royal races which occur in them, he asserts to be “evidently extraneous, and not essential circumstances, as they are entirely omitted in some Purá as, and very concisely illustrated in others; while, on the contrary, in all the Purá as some or other of the leading principles, rites, and observances of the Hindu religion are fully dwelt upon, and illustrated either by suitable legends or by prescribing the ceremonies to be practised, and the prayers and invocations to be employed, in the worship of different deities,” Now, however accurate this description may be of the Purá as as they are, it is clear that it does not apply to what they were when they were synonymously designated as Pancha- as, or ‘treatises on five topics;’ not one of which five is ever specified by text or comment to be “religious instruction.”

In the knowledge of Amara Sinha the lists of princes were not extraneous and unessential, and their being now so considered by a writer so well acquainted with the contents of the Purá as as Col. Vans Kennedy is a decisive proof that since the days of the lexicographer they have undergone some material alteration, and that we have not at present the same works in all respects that were current under the denomination of

Purá as in the century prior to Christianity.

The inference deduced from the discrepancy between the actual form and the older definition of a Purá a, unfavourable to the antiquity of the extant works generally, is converted into certainty when we come to examine them in detail; for although they have no dates attached to them, yet circumstances are sometimes mentioned or alluded to, or references to authorities are made, or legends are narrated, or places are particularized, of which the comparatively recent date is indisputable, and which enforce a corresponding reduction of the antiquity of the work in which they are discovered. At the same time they may be acquitted of subservience to any but sectarial imposture.

They were pious frauds for temporary purposes: they never emanated from any impossible combination of the Brahmans to fabricate for the antiquity of the entire Hindu system any claims which it cannot fully support. A very great portion of the contents of many, some portion of the contents of all, is genuine and old. The sectarial interpolation or embellishment is always sufficiently palpable to be set aside, without injury to the more authentic and primitive material; and the Purá as, although they belong especially to that stage of the Hindu religion in which faith in some one divinity was the prevailing principle, are also a valuable record of the form of Hindu belief which came next in order to that of the Vedas; which grafted hero-worship upon the simpler ritual of the latter; and which had been adopted, and was extensively, perhaps universally established in India at the time of the Greek invasion.

The Hercules of the Greek writers was indubitably the Balaráma of the Hindus; and their notices of Mathurá on the Jumna, and of the kingdom of the Suraseni and the Pandæan country, evidence the prior currency of the traditions which constitute the argument of the

Mahábhárata, and which are constantly repeated in the Purá as, relating to the a va

and Yádava races, to a and his contemporary heroes, and to the dynasties of the solar and lunar kings.

The theogony and cosmogony of the Purá as may probably be traced to the Vedas. They are not, as far as is yet known, described in detail in those works, but they are frequently alluded to in a strain more or less mystical and obscure, which indicates acquaintance with their existence, and which seems to have supplied the Purá as with the groundwork of their systems. The scheme of primary or elementary creation they borrow from the Sánkhya philosophy, which is probably one of the oldest forms of speculation on man and nature amongst the Hindus.

Agreeably, however, to that part of the Paurá ik character which there is reason to suspect of later origin, their inculcation of the worship of a favourite deity, they combine the interposition of a creator with the independent evolution of matter in a somewhat contradictory and unintelligible style.

It is evident too that their accounts of secondary creation, or the development of the existing forms of things, and the disposition of the universe, are derived from several and different sources; and it appears very likely that they are to be accused of some of the incongruities and absurdities by which the narrative is disfigured, in consequence of having attempted to assign reality and significancy to what was merely metaphor or mysticism.

There is, however, amidst the unnecessary complexity of the description, a general agreement amongst them as to the origin of things, and their final distribution; and in many of the circumstances there is a striking concurrence with the ideas which seem to have pervaded the whole of the ancient world, and which we may therefore believe to be faithfully represented in the Purá as.

The Pantheism of the Purá as is one of their invariable characteristics, although the particular divinity, who is all things, from whom all things proceed, and to whom all things return, be diversified according to their individual sectarial bias. They seem to have derived the notion from the Vedas: but in them the one universal Being is of a higher order than a personification of attributes or elements, and, however imperfectly conceived, or unworthily described, is God. In the Purá as the one only Supreme Being is supposed to be manifest in the person of iva or u, either in the way of illusion or in sport; and one or other of these divinities is therefore also the cause of all that is, is himself all that exists.

The identity of God and nature is not a new notion; it was very general in the speculations of antiquity, but it assumed a new vigour in the early ages of Christianity, and was carried to an equal pitch of extravagance by the Platonic Christians as by the

aiva or ava Hindus. It seems not impossible that there was some communication between them.

We know that there was an active communication between India and the Red sea in the early ages of the Christian era, and that doctrines, as well as articles of merchandise, were brought to Alexandria from the former. Epiphanius and Eusebius accuse Scythianus of having imported from India, in the second century, books on magic, and heretical notions leading to Manichæism; and it was at the same period that Ammonius instituted the sect of the new Platonists at Alexandria. The basis of his heresy was, that true philosophy derived its origin from the eastern nations: his doctrine of the identity of God and the universe is that of the Vedas and Purá as; and the practices he enjoined, as well as their object, were precisely those described in several of the Purá as under the name of Yoga.

His disciples were taught “to extenuate by mortification and contemplation the bodily restraints upon the immortal spirit, so that in this life they might enjoy communion with the Supreme Being, and ascend after death to the universal Parent .” That these are Hindu tenets the following pages will testify; and by the admission of their Alexandrian teacher, they originated in India. The importation was perhaps not wholly unrequited; the loan may not have been left unpaid.

It is not impossible that the Hindu doctrines received fresh animation from their adoption by the successors of Ammonius, and especially by the mystics, who may have prompted, as well as employed, the expressions of the Purá as. Anquetil du Perron has given, in the introduction to his translation of the ‘Oupnekhat,’ several hymns by Synesius, a bishop of the beginning of the fifth century, which may serve as parallels to many of the hymns and prayers addressed to u in the u Purá a.

But the ascription to individual and personal deities of the attributes of the one universal and spiritual Supreme Being, is an indication of a later date than the Vedas certainly, and apparently also than the Rámá a, where Ráma, although an incarnation of u, commonly appears in his human character alone.

There is something of the kind in the Mahábhárata in respect to a, especially in the philosophical episode known as the Bhagavad Gítá. In other places the divine nature of

a is less decidedly affirmed; in some it is disputed or denied; and in most of the situations in which he is exhibited in action, it is as a prince and warrior, not as a divinity. He exercises no superhuman faculties in the defence of himself or his friends, or in the defeat and destruction of his foes.

The Mahábhárata, however, is evidently a work of various periods, and requires to be read throughout carefully and critically before its weight as an authority can be accurately appreciated. As it is now in type -thanks to the public spirit of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and their secretary Mr. J. Prinsep–it will not be long before the Sanscrit scholars of the continent will accurately appreciate its value.

The Purá as are also works of evidently different ages, and have been compiled under different circumstances, the precise nature of which we can but imperfectly conjecture from internal evidence, and from what we know of the history of religious opinion in India. It is highly probable, that of the present popular forms of the Hindu religion, none assumed their actual state earlier than the time of ankara Áchárya, the great aiva reformer, who flourished, in all likelihood, in the eighth or ninth century.

Of the ava teachers, Rámánuja dates in the twelfth century, Madhwáchárya in the thirteenth, and Vallabha in the sixteenth; and the Purá as seem to have accompanied or followed their innovations, being obviously intended to advocate the doctrines they taught. This is to assign to some of them a very modern date, it is true; but I cannot think that a higher can with justice be ascribed to them. This, however, applies to some only out of the number, as I shall presently proceed to specify.

Another evidence of a comparatively modern date must be admitted in those chapters of the Purá as which, assuming a prophetic tone, foretell what dynasties of kings will reign in the Kálí age. These chapters, it is true, are found but in four of the Purá as, but they are conclusive in bringing down the date of those four to a period considerably subsequent to Christianity. It is also to be remarked, that the Váyu, u, Bhágavata, and Matsya Purá as, in which these particulars are foretold, have in all other respects the character of as great antiquity as any works of their class

The invariable form of the Purá as is that of a dialogue, in which some person relates its contents in reply to the inquiries of another. This dialogue is interwoven with others, which are repeated as having been held on other occasions between different individuals, in consequence of similar questions having been asked. The immediate narrator is commonly, though not constantly, a or a, the disciple of Vyása, who is supposed to communicate what was imparted to him by his preceptor, as he had heard it from some other sage. Vyása, as will be seen in the body of the work, is a generic title, meaning an ‘arranger’ or ‘compiler.’

It is in this age applied to a Dwaipáyana, the son of Pará ara, who is said to have taught the Vedas and Purá as to various disciples, but who appears to have been the head of a college or school, under whom various learned men gave to the sacred literature of the Hindus the form in which it now presents itself. In this task the disciples, as they are termed, of Vyása were rather his colleagues and coadjutors, for they were already conversant with what he is fabled to have taught them; and amongst them, a represents the class of persons who were especially charged with the record of political and temporal events.

He is called Súta, as if it was a proper name; but it is more correctly a title; and

a was ‘a Súta,’ that is, a bard or panegyrist, who was created, according to our text, to celebrate the exploits of princes; and who, according to the Váyu and Padma Purá as, has a right by birth and profession to narrate the Purá as, in preference even to the Brahmans. It is not unlikely therefore that we are to understand, by his being represented as the disciple of Vyása, the institution of some attempt, made under the direction of the latter, to collect from the heralds and annalists of his day the scattered traditions which they had imperfectly preserved; and hence the consequent appropriation of the Purá as, in a great measure, to the genealogies of regal dynasties, and descriptions of the universe. However this may be, the machinery has been but loosely adhered to, and many of the Patinas, like the Vish u, are referred to a different narrator.

An account is given in the following work of a series of Paurá ik compilations, of which in their present form no vestige appears. a is said to have had six disciples, three of whom composed as many fundamental Sanhitás, whilst he himself compiled a fourth. By a Sanhitá is generally understood a ‘collection’ or ‘compilation.’ The Sanhitás of the Vedas are collections of hymns and prayers belonging to them, arranged according to the judgment of some individual sage, who is therefore looked upon as the originator and teacher of each. The Sanhitás of the Purá as, then, should be analogous compilations, attributed respectively to Mitrayu, án apáyana, a, and a: no such Paurá ik Sanhitás are now known,

The substance of the four is said to be collected in the u Purá a, which is also, in another place, itself called a Sanhitá: but such compilations have not, as far as inquiry has yet proceeded, been discovered. The specification may be accepted as an indication of the Purá as having existed in some other form, in which they are no longer met with; although it does not appear that the arrangement was incompatible with their existence as separate works, for the u Purá a, which is our authority for the four Sanhitás, gives us also the usual enumeration of the several Purá as.

Date of the Purá as

Form of the Purá as

He is called Súta, as if it was a proper name; but it is more correctly a title; and

It is not unlikely therefore that we are to understand, by his being represented as the disciple of Vyása, the institution of some attempt, made under the direction of the latter, to collect from the heralds and annalists of his day the scattered traditions which they had imperfectly preserved; and hence the consequent appropriation of the Purá as, in a great measure, to the genealogies of regal dynasties, and descriptions of the universe. However this may be, the machinery has been but loosely adhered to, and many of the Patinas, like the u, are referred to a different narrator.

The Sanhitás of the Purá as, then, should be analogous compilations, attributed respectively to Mitrayu, án apáyana, a, and a: no such Paurá ik Sanhitás are now known, The substance of the four is said to be collected in the u Purá a, which is also, in another place, itself called a Sanhitá: but such compilations have not, as far as inquiry has yet proceeded, been discovered. The specification may be accepted as an indication of the Purá as having existed in some other form, in which they are no longer met with; although it does not appear that the arrangement was incompatible with their existence as separate works, for the u Purá a, which is our authority for the four Sanhitás, gives us also the usual enumeration of the several

Purá as.

Classification of the Purá as

There is another classification of the Purá as alluded to in the Matsya Purá a, and specified by the Padma Purá a, but more fully. It is not undeserving of notice, as it expresses the opinion which native writers entertain of the scope of the Purá as, and of their recognising the subservience of these works to the dissemination of sectarian

principles.. Thus it is said in the Uttara a

of the Padma, that the Purá as, as well as

other works, are divided into three classes, according to the qualities which prevail in

them. Thus the u, Náradíya, Bhágavata, Gá a

, Padma, and Váráha Purá as, are

Sátwika, or pure, from the predominance in them of the Satwa quality, or that of goodness and purity. They are, in fact, ava Purá as.

The Matsya, Kúrma, Linga, iva, Skanda, and Agni Purá as, are Támasa, or Purá as of darkness, from the prevalence of the quality of Tamas, ‘ignorance,’ ‘gloom.’ They are

indisputably aiva Purá as. The third series, comprising the Brahmá a

, Brahma-

vaivartta, Má eya, Bhavishya, Vámana, and Brahmá Purá as, are designated as Rájasa, ‘passionate,’ from Rajas, the property of passion, which they are supposed to represent.

The Matsya does not specify which are the Purá as that come under these designations, but remarks that those in which the Máhátmya of Hari or u prevails are Sátwika; those in which the legends of Agni or iva predominate are Támasa; and those which dwell most on the stories of Brahmá are Rájasa. I have elsewhere stated , that I considered the Rájasa Purá as to lean to the Sákta division of the Hindus, the worshippers of akti, or the female principle; founding this opinion on the character of the legends which some of them contain, such as the Durgá Máhátmya, or celebrated legend on which the worship of Durgá or Kálí is especially founded, which is a principal episode of the Má eya.

The Brahma-vaivartta also devotes the greatest portion of its chapters to the celebration of Rádhá, the mistress of a, and other female divinities. Col. Vans Kennedy, however, objects to the application of the term Sákta to this last division of the Purá as, the worship of akti being the especial object of a different class of works, the Tantras, and no such form of worship being particularly inculcated in the Bráhma Purá a. This last argument is of weight in regard to the particular instance specified, and the designation of akti may not be correctly applicable to the whole class, although it is to some of the series; for there is no incompatibility in the advocacy of a Tántrika modification of the Hindu religion by any Purá a, and it has unquestionably been practised in works known as Upa-purá as.

The proper appropriation of the third class of the Purá as, according to the Padma Purá a, appears to be to the worship of a, not in the character in which he is

represented in the u and Bhágavata Purá as, in which the incidents of his boyhood are only a portion of his biography, and in which the human character largely participates, at least in his riper years, but as the infant a, Govinda, Bála Gopála, the sojourner in Vrindávan, the companion of the cowherds and milkmaids, the lover of Rádhá, or as the juvenile master of the universe, Jagannátha.

The term Rájasa, implying the animation of passion, and enjoyment of sensual delights, is applicable, not only to the character of the youthful divinity, but to those with whom his adoration in these forms seems to have originated, the Gosains of Gokul and Bengal, the followers and descendants of Vallabha and Chaitanya, the priests and proprietors of Jagannáth and rínáth-dwár, who lead a life of affluence and indulgence, and vindicate, both by precept and practice, the reasonableness of the Rájasa property, and the congruity of temporal enjoyment with the duties of religion.

The Purá as are uniformly stated to be eighteen in number. It is said that there are also eighteen Upa-purá as, or minor Purá as; but the names of only a few of these are specified in the least exceptionable authorities, and the greater number of the works is not procurable. With regard to the eighteen Purá as, there is a peculiarity in their specification, which is proof of an interference with the integrity of the text, in some of them at least; for each of them specifies the names of the whole eighteen.

Now the list could not have been complete whilst the work that gives it was unfinished, and in one only therefore, the last of the series, have we a right to look for it. As however there are more last words than one, it is evident that the names must have been inserted in all except one after the whole were completed: which of the eighteen is the exception, and truly the last, there is no clue to discover, and the specification is probably an interpolation in most, if not in all.

The names that are specified are commonly the same, and are as follows: 1. Bráhma, 2.

Pádma, 3. ava, 4. aiva, 5. Bhágavata, 6. Nárada, 7. Má a

, 8. Ágneya, 9.

Bhavishya, 10. Brahma-vaivartta, 11. Lainga, 12. Váráha, 13. Skánda, 14. Vámana, 15.

Kaurma, 16. Mátsya, 17. Gá a

, 18. Brahmá a

. This is from the twelfth book of the

Bhágavata, and is the same as occurs in the u. In other authorities there are a few variations. The list of the K.úrma P. omits the Agni Purá a, and substitutes the Váyu. The

Agni leaves out the aiva, and inserts the Váyu. The Varáha omits the Gá a

and

Brahmá a

, and inserts the Váyu and Narasinha: in this last it is singular. The

Má eya agrees with the u and Bhágavata in omitting the Váyu. The Matsya, like the Agni, leaves out the aiva.

Some of the Purá as, as the Agni, Matsya, Bhágavata, and Padma, also particularize the number of stanzas which each of the eighteen contains. In one or two instances they disagree, but in general they concur. The aggregate is stated at 400,000 slokas, or 1,600,000 lines. These are fabled to be but an abridgment, the whole amount being a krore, or ten millions of stanzas, or even a thousand millions. If all the fragmentary portions claiming in various parts of India to belong to the Purá as were admitted, their extent would much exceed the lesser, though it would not reach the larger enumeration.

The former is, however, as I have elsewhere stated, a quantity that an individual European scholar could scarcely expect to peruse with due care and attention, unless his whole time were devoted exclusively for many years to the task. Yet without some such labour being achieved, it was clear, from the crudity and inexactness of all that had been hitherto published on the subject, with one exception, that sound views on the subject of Hindu mythology and tradition were not to be expected. Circumstances, which I have already explained in the paper in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society referred to above, enabled me to avail myself of competent assistance, by which I made a minute abstract of most of the Purá as.

In course of time I hope to place a tolerably copious and connected analysis of the whole eighteen before Oriental scholars, and in the mean while offer a brief notice of their several contents.

In general the enumeration of the Purá as is a simple nomenclature, with the addition in some cases of the number of verses; but to these the Matsya Purá a joins the mention of one or two circumstances peculiar to each, which, although scanty, are of value, as offering means of identifying the copies of the Purá as now found with those to which the Matsya refers, or of discovering a difference between the present and the past. I shall therefore prefix the passage descriptive of each Purá a from the Matsya.

It is necessary to remark, however, that in the comparison instituted between that description and the Purá a as it exists, I necessarily refer to the copy or copies which I employed for the purpose of examination and analysis, and which were procured with some trouble and cost in Benares and Calcutta. In some instances my manuscripts have been collated with others from different parts of India, and the result has shewn, that, with regard at least to the Brahmá, u, Váyu, Matsya, Padma, Bhágavata, and Kúrma Purá as, the same works, in all essential respects, are generally current under the same appellations.

Whether this is invariably the case may be doubted, and farther inquiry may possibly shew that I have been obliged to content myself with mutilated or unauthentic works. It is with this reservation, therefore, that I must be understood to speak of the concurrence or disagreement of any Purá a with the notice of it which the Matsya P. has preserved.

The Brahmá Purá a

Brahmá Purá a. “That, the whole of which was formerly repeated by Brahmá to Maríchi, is called the Bráhma Purá a, and contains ten thousand stanzas.” In all the lists of the Purá as, the Bráhma is placed at the head of the series, and is thence sometimes also entitled the Ádi or ‘first’ Purá a. It is also designated as the Saura, as it is in great part appropriated to the worship of Súrya, ‘the sun.’ There are, however, works bearing these names which belong to the class of Upa-purá as, and which are not to be confounded with the Bráhma. It is usually said, as above, to contain ten thousand slokas; but the number actually occurring is between seven and eight thousand.

There is a supplementary or concluding section called the Brahmottara Purá a, and which is different from a portion of the Skánda called the Brahmottara a, which contains about three thousand stanzas more; but there is every reason to conclude that this is a distinct and unconnected work.

The immediate narrator of the Brahmá Purá a is a, who communicates it to the Rishis or sages assembled at Naimishá ya, as it was originally revealed by Brahmá, not to Maríchi, as the Matsya affirms, but to Daksha, another of the patriarchs: hence its denomination of the Brahmá Purá a.

The early chapters of this work give a description of the creation, an account of the Manwantaras, and the history of the solar and lunar dynasties to the time of a, in a summary manner, and in words which are common to it and several other Purá as: a brief description of the universe succeeds; and then come a number of chapters relating to the holiness of Orissa, with its temples and sacred groves dedicated to the sun, to iva, and Jagannáth, the latter especially. These chapters are characteristic of this Purá a, and shew its main object to be the promotion of the worship of a as Jagannáth.

To these particulars succeeds a life of Krish a, which is word for word the same as that of the u Purá a; and the compilation terminates with a particular detail of the mode in which Yoga, or contemplative devotion, the object of which is still u, is to be performed. There is little in this which corresponds with the definition of a Pancha-

a Purá a; and the mention of the temples of Orissa, the date of the original construction of which is recorded, shews that it could not have been compiled earlier than the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

The Uttara a of the Bráhma P. bears still more entirely the character of a Máhátmya, or local legend, being intended to celebrate the sanctity of the Balajá river, conjectured to be the same as the Banás in Marwar. There is no clue to its date, but it is clearly modern, grafting personages and fictions of its own invention on a few hints from older authorities

The Padma Purá a

“That which contains an account of the period when the world was a golden lotus (padma), and of all the occurrences of that time, is therefore called the Pádma by the wise: it contains fifty-five thousand stanzas.” The second Purá a in the usual lists is always the Pádma, a very voluminous work, containing, according to its own statement, as well as that of other authorities, fifty-five thousand slokas; an amount not far from the truth.

These are divided amongst five books, or as; 1. the i

a, or section on

creation; 2. the Bhúmi a

, description of the earth; 3. the Swarga a

, chapter

on heaven; 4. Pátála a

, chapter on the regions below the earth; and 5. the Uttara

a, last or supplementary chapter. There is also current a sixth division, the Kriyá Yoga Sára, a treatise on the practice of devotion.

The denominations of these divisions of the Padma P. convey but an imperfect and partial notion of their contents. In the first, or section which treats of creation, the narrator is Ugra ravas the Súta, the son of a, who is sent by his father to the Rishis at Naimishárá ya to communicate to them the Purá a, which, from its containing an account of the lotus (padma), in which Brahmá appeared at creation, is termed the Pádma or Padma Purá a. The Súta repeats what was originally communicated by Brahmá to Pulastya, and by him to Bhíshma.

The early chapters narrate the cosmogony, and the genealogy of the patriarchal families, much in the same style, and often in the same words, as the u; and short accounts of the Manwantaras and regal dynasties: but these, which are legitimate Paurá ik matters, soon make way for new and unauthentic inventions, illustrative of the virtues of the lake of Pushkara, or Pokher in Ajmir, as a place of pilgrimage.

The Bhúmi a

, or section of the earth, defers any description of the earth until near

its close, filling up one hundred and twenty-seven chapters with legends of a very mixed description, some ancient and common to other Purá as, but the greater part peculiar to itself, illustrative of Tírthas either figuratively so termed–as a wife, a parent, or a Guru, considered as a sacred object–or places to which actual pilgrimage should be performed.

The Swarga a describes in the first chapters the relative positions of the Lokas or spheres above the earth, placing above all tha, the sphere of u; an addition which is not warranted by what appears to be the oldest cosmology. Miscellaneous notices of some of the most celebrated princes then succeed, conformably to the usual narratives; and these are followed by rules of conduct for the several castes, and at different stages of life.

The rest of the book is occupied by legends of a diversified description, introduced without much method or contrivance; a few of which, as Daksha’s sacrifice, are of ancient date, but of which the most are original and modern.

The Pátála a

devotes a brief introduction to the description of Pátála, the regions of

the snake-gods; but the name of Ráma having been mentioned, esha, who has succeeded Pulastya as spokesman, proceeds to narrate the history of Ráma, his descent and his posterity; in which the compiler seems to have taken the poem of Kálida a, the Raghu Van a, for his chief authority. An originality of addition may be suspected, however, in the adventures of the horse destined by Ráma for an A wamedha, which form the subject of a great many chapters.

When about to be sacrificed, the horse turns out to be a Brahman, condemned by an imprecation of Durvásas, a sage, to assume the equine nature, and who, by having been sanctified by connexion with Ráma, is released from his metamorphosis, and dispatched as a spirit of light to heaven. This piece of ava fiction is followed by praises of the

rí Bhágavata, an account of a’s juvenilities, and the merits of worshipping

These accounts are communicated through a machinery borrowed from the Tantras: they are told by Sadá iva to Párvati, the ordinary interlocutors of Tántrika compositions.

The Uttara a is a most voluminous aggregation of very heterogeneous matters, but it is consistent in adopting a decidedly ava tone, and admitting no compromise with any other form of faith. The chief subjects are first discussed in a dialogue between king Dilípa and the Muni Va ha; such as the merits of bathing in the month of Mágha, and the potency of the Mantra or prayer addressed to Lakshmí Nárá a. But the nature of Bhakti, faith in u–the use of ava marks on the body–the legends of

u’s Avatáras, and especially of Ráma–and the construction of images of u– are too important to be left to mortal discretion: they are explained by iva to Párvati, and wound up by the adoration of u by those divinities.

The dialogue then reverts to the king and the sage; and the latter states why u is the only one of the triad entitled to respect; iva being licentious, Brahmá arrogant, and

u alone pure. Va ha then repeats, after iva, the Máhátmya of the Bhagavad Gítá; the merit of each book of which is illustrated by legends of the good consequences to individuals from perusing or hearing it. Other ava Máhátmyas occupy

considerable portions of this a

, especially the Kártíka Máhátmya, or holiness of the

month Kartika, illustrated as usual by stories, a few of which are of an early origin, but the greater part modern, and peculiar to this Purá a.

The Kriyá Yoga Sára is repeated by Súta to the Rishis, after Vyása’s communication of it to Jaimini, in answer to an inquiry how religious merit might be secured in the Kálí age, in which men have become incapable of the penances and abstraction by which final liberation was formerly to be attained. The answer is, of course, that which is intimated in the last hook of the u Purá a–personal devotion to u: thinking of him, repeating his names, wearing his marks, worshipping in his temples, are a full substitute for all other acts of moral or devotional or contemplative merit.

The different portions of the Padma Purá a are in all probability as many different works, neither of which approaches to the original definition of a Purá a. There may be some connexion between the three first portions, at least as to time; but there is no reason to consider them as of high antiquity. They specify the Jains both by name and practices.; they talk of Mlechchhas, ‘barbarians,’ flourishing in India; they commend the use of the frontal and other ava marks; and they notice other subjects which, like these, are of no remote origin. The Pátála a dwells copiously upon the Bhágavata, and is consequently posterior to it.

The Uttara a is intolerantly ava, and is therefore unquestionably modern. It enjoins the veneration of the Sálágram stone and Tulasí plant, the use of the Tapta-mudra, or stamping with a hot iron the name of u on the skin, and a variety of practices and observances undoubtedly no part of the original system. It speaks of the shrines of rí- rangam and Venkatádri in the Dekhin, temples that have no pretension to remote antiquity; and it names Haripur on the Tungabhadra, which is in all likelihood the city of Vijayanagar, founded in the middle of the fourteenth century. The Kriyá Yoga Sára is equally a modern, and apparently a Bengali composition. No portion of the Padma

Purá a is probably older than the twelfth century, and the last parts may be as recent as the fifteenth or sixteenth.

The u Purá a

u Purá a. “That in which Pará ara, beginning with the events of the Varáha Kalpa, expounds all duties, is called the ava; and the learned know its extent to be twenty- three thousand stanzas.” The third Purá a of the lists is that which has been selected for translation, the u. It is unnecessary therefore to offer any general summary of its contents, and it will be convenient to reserve any remarks upon its character and probable antiquity for a subsequent page.

It may here be observed, however, that the actual number of verses contained in it falls far short of the enumeration of the Matsya, with which the Bhágavata concurs. Its actual contents are not seven thousand stanzas. All the copies, and in this instance they are not fewer than seven in number, procured both in the east and in the west of India, agree; and there is no appearance of any part being wanting. There is a beginning, a middle, and an end, in both text and comment; and the work as it stands is incontestably entire. How is the discrepancy to be explained?

The Váyavíya Purá a

“The Purá a in which Váyu has declared the laws of duty, in connexion with the Sweta Kalpa, and which comprises the Máhátmya of Rudra, is the Váyavíya Purá a: it contains twenty-four thousand verses.” The iva or aiva Purá a is, as above remarked, omitted in some of the lists; and in general, when that is the case, it is replaced by the Váyu or Váyavíya. When the iva is specified, as in the Bhágavata, then the Váyu is omitted; intimating the possible identity of these two works.

This indeed is confirmed by the Matsya, which describes the Váyavíya Purá a as

characterised by its account of the greatness of Rudra or Siva; and a

mentions

that the Váyavíya is also called the aiva, though, according to some, the latter is the name of an Upa-purá a. Col. Vans Kennedy observes, that in the west of India the aiva is commonly considered to be an Upa or ‘minor’ Purá a.

Another proof that the same work is intended by the authorities here followed, the Bhágavata and Matsya, under different appellations, is their concurrence in the extent of the work, each specifying its verses to be twenty-four thousand. A copy of the iva Purá a, of which an index and analysis have been prepared, does not contain more than about seven thousand: it cannot therefore be the iva Purá a of the Bhágavata; and we may safely consider that to be the same as the Váyavíya of the Matsya.

The Váyu Purá a is narrated by Súta to the Rishis at Naimishá ya, as it was formerly told at the same place to similar persons by Váyu; a repetition of circumstances not uncharacteristic of the inartificial style of this Purá a. It is divided into four Pádas, termed severally Prakriyá, Upodgháta, Anushanga, and Upasanhára; a classification peculiar to this work. These are preceded by an index, or heads of chapters, in the manner of the Mahábhárata and Rámá a; another peculiarity.

The Prakriyá portion contains but a few chapters, and treats chiefly of elemental creation, and the first evolutions of beings, to the same purport as the u, but in a more obscure and unmethodical style. The Upodgháta then continues the subject of creation, and describes the various Kalpas or periods during which the world has existed; a greater number of which is specified by the aiva than by the ava Purá as. Thirty-three are here described, the last of which is the Sweta or ‘white’ Kalpa, from iva’s being born in it of a white complexion.

The genealogies of the patriarchs, the description of the universe, and the incidents of the first six Manwantaras, are all treated of in this part of the work; but they are intermixed with legends and praises of iva, as the sacrifice of Daksha, the Mahe wara Máhátmya, the Nilakántha Stotra, and others. The genealogies, although in the main the same as those in the ava Purá as, present some variations. A long account of the Pitris or progenitors is also peculiar to this Purá a; as are stories of some of the most celebrated Rishis, who were engaged in the distribution of the Vedas.

The third division commences with an account of the seven Rishis and their descendants, and describes the origin of the different classes of creatures from the daughters of Daksha, with a profuse copiousness of nomenclature, not found in any other Purá a. With exception of the greater minuteness of detail, the particulars agree with those of the

u P. A chapter then occurs on the worship of the Pitris; another on Tírthas, or places sacred to them; and several on the performance of Sráddhas, constituting the Sráddha Kalpa.

After this, comes a full account of the solar and lunar dynasties, forming a parallel to that in the following pages, with this difference, that it is throughout in verse, whilst that of our text, as noticed in its place, is chiefly in prose. It is extended also by the insertion of detailed accounts of various incidents, briefly noticed in the u, though derived apparently from a common original. The section terminates with similar accounts of future kings, and the same chronological calculations, that are found in the u.

The last portion, the Upasanhára, describes briefly the future Manwantaras, the measures of space and time, the end of the world, the efficacy of Yoga, and the glories of iva- pura, or the dwelling of iva, with whom the Yogi is to be united. The manuscript concludes with a different history of the successive teachers of the Váyu Purá a, tracing them from Brahmá to Váyu, from Váyu to Vrihaspati, and from him, through various deities and sages, to Dwaipá a and úta.

The account given of this Purá a in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal was limited to something less than half the work, as I had not then been able to procure a larger portion. I have now a more complete one of my own, and there are several copies in the East India Company’s library of the like extent. One, presented by His Highness the Guicowar, is dated Samvat 1540, or A. D. 1483, and is evidently as old as it professes to be. The examination I have made of the work confirms the view I formerly took of it; and from the internal evidence it affords, it may perhaps be regarded as one of the oldest and most authentic specimens extant of a primitive Purá a.

It appears, however, that we have not yet a copy of the entire Váyu Purá a. The extent of it, as mentioned above, should be twenty-four thousand verses. The Guicowar MS. has but twelve thousand, and is denominated the Púrvárddha, or first portion. My copy is of the like extent.

The index also spews that several subjects remain untold; as, subsequently to the description of the sphere of iva, and the periodical dissolution of the world, the work is said to contain an account of a succeeding creation, and of various events that occurred in it, as the birth of several celebrated Rishis, including that of Vyása, and a description of his distribution of the Vedas; an account of the enmity between Va ha and Viswámitra; and a Naimishá ya Máhátmya. These topics are, however, of minor importance, and can scarcely carry the Purá a to the whole extent of the verses which it is said to contain. If the number is accurate, the index must still omit a considerable portion of the subsequent contents.

The Bhágavata Purá a
rí Bhágavata. “That in which ample details of duty are described, and which opens with (an extract from) the Gáyatri; that in which the death of the Asura Vritra is told, and in which the mortals and immortals of the Sáraswata Kalpa, with the events that then happened to them in the world, are related; that, is celebrated as the Bhágavata, and consists of eighteen thousand ” The Bhágavata is a work of great celebrity in India, and exercises a more direct and powerful influence upon the opinions and feelings of the people than perhaps any other of the Purá as.

It is placed the fifth in all the lists; but the Padma Purá a ranks it as the eighteenth, as the extracted substance of all the rest. According to the usual specification, it consists of eighteen thousand lokas, distributed amongst three hundred and thirty-two chapters, divided into twelve Skandhas or books. It is named Bhágavata from its being dedicated to the glorification of Bhagavat or u.

The Bhágavata is communicated to the Rishis at Naimishá ya by Súta, as usual; but he only repeats what was narrated by uka, the son of Vyása, to Paríkshit, the king of Hastinápura, the grandson of Arjuna. Having incurred the imprecation of a hermit, by which he was sentenced to die of the bite of a venomous snake, at the expiration of seven days; the king, in preparation for . this event, repairs to the banks of the Ganges; whither also come the gods and sages, to witness his death.

Amongst the latter is uka; and it is in reply to Paríkshit’s question, what a man should do who is about to die, that he narrates the Bhágavata, as he had heard it from Vyása; for nothing secures final happiness so certainly, as to die whilst the thoughts are wholly engrossed by u.

The course of the narration opens with a cosmogony, which, although in most respects similar to that of other Purá as, is more largely intermixed with allegory and mysticism, and derives its tone more from the Vedanta than the Sánkhya philosophy. The doctrine of active creation by the Supreme, as one with Vásudeva, is more distinctly asserted, with a more decided enunciation of the effects being resolvable into Máyá, or illusion. There are also doctrinal peculiarities, highly characteristic of this Purá a; amongst which is the assertion that it was originally communicated by Brahmá to Nárada, that all men whatsoever, Hindus of every caste, and even Mlechchhas, outcastes or barbarians, might learn to have faith in Vásudeva.

In the third book the interlocutors are changed to Maitreya and Vidura; the former of whom is the disciple in the u Purá a, the latter was the half-brother of the Kuru princes. Maitreya, again, gives an account of the i -lílá, or sport of creation, in a strain partly common to the Purá as, partly peculiar; although he declares he learned it from his teacher Pará ara, at the desire of Pulastya; referring thus to the fabulous origin of the u Purá a, and furnishing evidence of its priority.

Again, however, the authority is changed, and the narrative is said to have been that which was communicated by esha to the Nágas. The creation of Brahmá is then described, and the divisions of time are explained. A very long and peculiar account is given of the Varáha incarnation of u, which is followed by the creation of the Prajápatis and Swáyambhuva, whose daughter Devahutí is married to Karddama Rishi; an incident peculiar to this work, as is that which follows of the Avatára of u as Kapila the son of Karddama and Devahutí, the author of the Sánkhya philosophy, which he expounds, after a ava fashion, to his mother, in the last nine chapters of this section.

The Manwantara of Swáyambhuva, and the multiplication of the patriarchal families, are next described with some peculiarities of nomenclature, which are pointed out in the notes to the parallel passages of the u Purá a. The traditions of Dhruva, a, Prithu, and other princes of this period, are the other subjects of the fourth Skandha, and are continued in the fifth to that of the Bharata who obtained emancipation.

The details generally conform to those of the u Purá a, and the same words are often employed, so that it would he difficult to determine which work had the best right to them, had not the Bhágavata itself indicated its obligations to the u. The remainder of the fifth book is occupied with the description of the universe, and the same conformity with the u continues.

This is only partially the case with the sixth book, which contains a variety of legends of a miscellaneous description, intended to illustrate the merit of worshipping u: some of them belong to the early stock, but some are apparently novel. The seventh book is mostly occupied with the legend of Prahláda. In the eighth we have an account of the remaining Manwantaras; in which, as happening in the course of them, a variety of ancient legends are repeated, as the battle between the king of the elephants and an alligator, the churning of the ocean, and the dwarf and fish Avatáras.

The ninth book narrates the dynasties of the Vaivaswata Manwantara, or the princes of the solar and lunar races to the time of a. The particulars conform generally with those recorded in the u.

The tenth book is the characteristic part of this Purá a, and the portion upon which its popularity is founded. It is appropriated entirely to the history of a, which it narrates much in the same manner as the u, but in more detail; holding a middle place, however, between it and the extravagant prolixity with which the Hari Van a repeats the story. It is not necessary to particularize it farther. It has been translated into perhaps all the languages of India, and is a favourite work with all descriptions of people.

The eleventh book describes the destruction of the Yádavas, and death of a. Previous to the latter event, a instructs Uddhava in the performance of the Yoga; a subject consigned by the u to the concluding passages. The narrative is much the same, but something more summary than that of the u. The twelfth book continues the lines of the kings of the Kálí age prophetically to a similar period as the u, and gives a like account of the deterioration of all things, and their final dissolution.

Consistently with the subject of the Purá a, the serpent Takshaka bites Paríkshit, and he expires, and the work should terminate; or the close might be extended to the subsequent sacrifice of Janamejaya for the destruction of the whole serpent race. There is a rather awkwardly introduced description, however, of the arrangement of the Vedas and

Purá as by Vyása, and the legend of Má e

ya’s interview with the infant a,

during a period of worldly dissolution. We then come to the end of the Bhágavata, in a series of encomiastic commendations of its own sanctity, and efficacy to salvation.

Mr. Colebrooke observes of the Bhágavata Purá a, “I am inclined to adopt an opinion supported by many learned Hindus, who consider the celebrated rí Bhágavata as the work of a grammarian (Vopadeva), supposed to have lived six hundred years ago.” Col. Vans Kennedy considers this an incautious admission, because “it is unquestionable that the number of the Purá as has been always held to be eighteen; but in most of the

Purá as the names of the eighteen are enumerated, amongst which the Bhágavata is invariably included; and consequently if it were composed only six hundred years ago, the others must be of an equally modern date.”

Some of them are no doubt more recent; but, as already remarked, no weight can be attached to the specification of the eighteen names, for they are always complete; each Purá a enumerates all. Which is the last? which had the opportunity of naming its seventeen predecessors, and adding itself? The argument proves too much. There can be little doubt that the list has been inserted upon the authority of tradition, either by some improving transcriber, or by the compiler of a work more recent than the eighteen genuine Purá as. The objection is also rebutted by the assertion, that there was another Purá a to which the name applies, and which is still to be met with, the Deví Bhágavata.

For, the authenticity of the Bhágavata is one of the few questions affecting their sacred literature which Hindu writers have ventured to discuss. The occasion is furnished by the text itself. In the fourth chapter of the first book it is said that Vyása arranged the Vedas, and divided them into four; and that he then compiled the Itihása and Purá as, as a fifth Veda.

The Vedas he gave to Paila and the rest; the Itihása and Purá as to a, the father of Súta. Then reflecting that these works may not be accessible to women, údras, and mixed castes, he composed the Bhárata, for the purpose of placing religious knowledge within their reach. Still he felt dissatisfied, and wandered in much perplexity along the banks of the Saraswatí, where his hermitage was situated, when Nárada paid him a visit.

Having confided to him his secret and seemingly causeless dissatisfaction, Nárada suggested that it arose from his not having sufficiently dwelt, in the works he had finished, upon the merit of worshipping Vásudeva. Vyása at once admitted its truth, and found a remedy for his uneasiness in the composition of the Bhágavata, which he taught to uka his son.

Here therefore is the most positive assertion that the Bhágavata was composed subsequently to the Purá as, and given to a different pupil, and was not therefore one of the eighteen of which a the Seta was, according to all concurrent testimonies, the depositary. Still the Bhágavata is named amongst the eighteen Purá as by the inspired authorities; and how can these incongruities be reconciled?

The principal point in dispute seems to have been started by an expression of rídhara Swámin, a commentator on the Bhágavata, who somewhat incautiously made the remark that there was no reason to suspect that by the term Bhágavata any other work than the subject of his labours was intended. This was therefore an admission that some suspicions had been entertained of the correctness of the nomenclature, and that an opinion had been expressed that the term belonged, not to the rí Bhágavata, but to the Deví Bhágavata; to a aiva, not a ava, composition.

With whom doubts prevailed prior to rídhara Swámin, or by whom they were urged, does not appear; for, as far as we are aware, no works, anterior to his date, in which they are advanced have been met with. Subsequently, various tracts have been written on the subject. There are three in the library of the East India Company; the Durjana Mukha

i ká, ‘A slap of the face for the vile,’ by Rámá rama; the Durjana Mukha Mahá

i ká, ‘A great slap of the face for the wicked,’ by Ká ináth a

; and the Durjana

Mukha Padma uká, ‘A slipper’ for the same part of the same persons, by a nameless disputant.

The first maintains the authenticity of the Bhágavata; the second asserts that the Deví Bhágavata is the genuine Purá a; and the third replies to the arguments of the first. There is also a work by Purushottama, entitled ‘Thirteen arguments for dispelling all doubts of the character of the Bhágavata’ (Bhágavata swarúpa vihsaya anká nirása trayodasa);

whilst Bá a

, a commentator on the Mitákshara, indulging in a dissertation on the

meaning of the word Purá a, adduces reasons for questioning the inspired origin of this Purá a.

The chief arguments in favour of the authenticity of this Purá a are the absence of any reason why Vopadeva, to whom it is attributed, should not have put his own name to it; its being included in all lists of the Purá as, sometimes with circumstances that belong to no other Purá a; and its being admitted to be a Purá a, and cited as authority, or made the subject of comment, by writers of established reputation, of whom ankara Áchárya is one, and he lived long before Vopadeva.

The reply to the first argument is rather feeble, the controversialists being unwilling perhaps to admit the real object, the promotion of new doctrines. It is therefore said that Vyása was an incarnation of Nárá a, and the purpose was to propitiate his favour. The insertion of a Bhágavata amongst the eighteen Purá as is acknowledged; but this, it is said, can be the Deví Bhágavata alone, for the circumstances apply more correctly to it than to the ava Bhágavata. Thus a text is quoted by Ká ináth from a Purá a–he does not state which–that says of the Bhágavata that it contains eighteen thousand verses, twelve books, and three hundred and thirty-two chapters. Ká ináth asserts that the chapters of the rí Bhágavata are three hundred and thirty-five, and that the numbers apply throughout only to the Deví Bhágavata.

It is also said that the Bhágavata contains an account of the acquirement of holy knowledge by Hayagríva; the particulars of the Sáraswata Kalpa; a dialogue between Ambarísha and uka; and that it commences with the Gayatrí, or at least a citation of it. These all apply to the Deví Bhágavata alone, except the last; but it also is more true of the

aiva than of the ava work, for the latter has only one word of the Gayatrí, dhímahi, ‘we meditate;’ whilst the former to dhímahi adds, Yá nah prachodayát, ‘who may enlighten us.’ To the third argument it is in the first place objected, that the citation of the Bhágavata by modern writers is no test of its authenticity; and with regard to the more ancient commentary of ankara Áchárya, it is asked, “Where is it?”

Those who advocate the sanctity of the Bhágavata reply, “It was written in a difficult style, and became obsolete, and is lost.” “A very unsatisfactory plea,” retort their opponents, “for we still have the works of ankara, several of which are quite as difficult as any in the Sanscrit language.” The existence of this comment, too, rests upon the authority of Mádhwa or Mádhava, who in a commentary of his own asserts that he has consulted eight others. Now amongst these is one by the monkey Hanumán; and although a Hindu disputant may believe in the reality of such a composition, yet we may receive its citation as a proof that Mádhwa was not very scrupulous in the verification of his authorities.

There are other topics urged in this controversy on both sides, some of which are simple enough, some are ingenious: but the statement of the text is of itself sufficient to shew that according to the received opinion of all the authorities of the priority of the eighteen Purá as to the Bhárata, it is impossible that the rí Bhágavata, which is subsequent to the Bhárata, should be of the number; and the evidence of style, the superiority of which to that of the Purá as in general is admitted by the disputants, is also proof that it is the work of a different hand. Whether the Deví Bhágavata have a better title to be considered as an original composition of Vyása, is equally questionable; but it cannot be doubted that the rí Bhágavata is the product of uninspired erudition. There does not seem to be any other ground than tradition for ascribing it to Vopadeva the grammarian; but there is no reason to call the tradition in question. Vopadeva flourished at the court of Hemádri, Rájá of Devagiri, Deogur or Dowlutabad, and must consequently have lived prior to the conquest of that principality by the Mohammedans in the fourteenth century. The date of the twelfth century, commonly assigned to him, is probably correct, and is that of the Bhágavata Purá a.

6. The Naradíya Purá a

Nárada or Naradíya Purá “Where Nárada has described the duties which were observed in the Vrihat Kalpa, that, is called the Náradíya, having twenty-five thousand stanzas.” If the number of verses be here correctly stated, the Purá a has not fallen into my hands. The copy I have analysed contains not many more than three thousand lokas. There is another work, which might be expected to be of greater extent, the Vrihat Náradíya, or great Nárada Purá a; but this, according to the concurrence of three copies in my possession, and of five others in the Company’s library, contains but about three thousand five hundred verses. It may be doubted, therefore, if the Nárada Purá a of the Matsya exists.

According to the Matsya, the Nárada Purá a is related by Nárada, and gives an account of the Vrihat Kalpa. The Náradíya Purá a is communicated by Nárada to the Rishis at Naimishá ya, on the Gomati river. The Vrihannáradíya is related to the same persons, at the same place, by Súta, as it was told by Nárada to Sanatkumára. Possibly the term Vrihat may have been suggested by the specification which is given in the Matsya; but there is no description in it of any particular Kalpa, or day of Brahmá.

From a cursory examination of these Purá as, it is very evident that they have no conformity to the definition of a Purá a, and that both are sectarial and modern compilations, intended to support the doctrine of Bhakti, or faith in u. With this view they have collected a variety of prayers addressed to one or other form of that divinity; a number of observances and holidays connected with his adoration; and different legends, some perhaps of an early, others of a more recent date, illustrative of the efficacy of devotion to Hari.

Thus in the Nárada we have the stories of Dhruva and Prahláda; the latter told in the words of the u: whilst the second portion of it is occupied with a legend of Mohiní, the will-born daughter of a king called Rukmángada: beguiled by whom, the king offers to perform for her whatever she may desire. She calls upon him either to violate the rule of fasting on the eleventh day of the fortnight, a day sacred to u, or to put his son to death; and he kills his son, as the lesser sin of the two.

This shews the spirit of the work. Its date may also be inferred from its tenor, as such monstrous extravagancies in praise of Bhakti are certainly of modern origin. One limit it furnishes itself, for it refers to uka and Paríkshit, the interlocutors of the Bhágavata, and it is consequently subsequent to the date of that Purá a: it is probably considerably later, for it affords evidence that it was written after India was in the hands of the Mohammedans. In the concluding passage it is said, “Let not this Purá a be repeated in the presence of the ‘killers of cows’ and contemners of the gods.” It is possibly a compilation of the sixteenth or seventeenth century.

The Vrihannáradíya is a work of the same tenor and time. It contains little else than panegyrical prayers addressed to u, and injunctions to observe various rites, and keep holy certain seasons, in honour of him. The earlier legends introduced are the birth

of Má e

ya, the destruction of Sagara’s sons, and the dwarf Avatára; but they are

subservient to the design of the whole, and are rendered occasions for praising Nárá a: others, illustrating the efficacy of certain ava observances, are puerile inventions, wholly foreign to the more ancient system of Paurá ik fiction. There is no attempt at cosmogony, or patriarchal or regal genealogy. It is possible that these topics may be treated of in the missing stanzas; but it seems more likely that the Nárada Purá a of the lists has little in common with the works to which its name is applied in Bengal and Hindustan.

The Má e

ya Purá a

Má a or Má eya Purá a. “That Purá a in which, commencing with the story of the birds that were acquainted with right and wrong, every thing is narrated fully by

Má eya, as it was explained by holy sages in reply to the question of the Muni, is called the Má eya, containing nine thousand verses.” This is so called from its being

in the first instance narrated by Má e

ya Muni, and in the second place by certain

fabulous birds; thus far agreeing with the account given of it in the Matsya. That, as well as other authorities, specify its containing nine thousand stanzas; but my copy closes with a verse affirming that the number of verses recited by the Muni was six thousand nine hundred; and a copy in the East India Company’s library has a similar specification.

The termination is, however, somewhat abrupt, and there is no reason why the subject with which it ends should not have been carried on farther. One copy in the Company’s library, indeed, belonging to the Guicowar’s collection, states at the close that it is the end

of the first a

, or section. If the Purá a was ever completed, the remaining portion

of it appears to be lost.

Jaimini, the pupil of Vyása, applies to Má e

ya to be made acquainted with the nature

of Vásudeva, and for an explanation of some of the incidents described in the Mahábhárata; with the ambrosia of which divine poem, Vyása he declares has watered the whole world: a reference which establishes the priority of the Bhárata to the

Má eya Purá a, however incompatible this may be with the tradition, that having finished the Purá as, Vyása wrote the poem.

Má eya excuses himself, saying he has a religious rite to perform; and he refers Jaimini to some very sapient birds, who reside in the Vindhya mountains; birds of a celestial origin, found, when just born, by the Muni amíka, on the field of Kurukshetra, and brought up by him along with his scholars: in consequence of which, and by virtue of their heavenly descent, they became profoundly versed in the Vedas, and a knowledge of spiritual truth.

This machinery is borrowed from the Mahábhárata, with some embellishment. Jaimini accordingly has recourse to the birds, Pingáksha and his brethren, and puts to them the questions he had asked of the Muni. “Why was Vásudeva born as a mortal? How was it that Draupadí was the wife of the five Pá us? Why did Baladeva do penance for Brahmanicide? and why were the children of Draupadí destroyed, when they had a and Arjuna to defend them?” The answers to these inquiries occupy a number of chapters, and form a sort of supplement to the Mahábhárata; supplying, partly by invention, perhaps, and partly by reference to equally ancient authorities, the blanks left in some of its narrations.

Legends of Vritrásura’s death, Baladeva’s penance, Hari chandra’s elevation to heaven, and the quarrel between Va ha and Viswámitra, are followed by a discussion respecting birth, death, and sin; which leads to a more extended description of the different hells than is found in other Purá as. The account of creation which is contained

in this work is repeated by the birds after Má e

ya’s account of it to uki, and is

confined to the origin of the Vedas and patriarchal families, amongst whom are new characters, as Duhsaha and his wife Má i , and their descendants; allegorical personages, representing intolerable iniquity and its consequences.

There is then a description of the world, with, as usual to this Purá a, several singularities, some of which are noticed in the following pages. This being the state of the world in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, an account of the other Manwantaras succeeds, in which the births of the Manus, and a number of other particulars, are peculiar to this work. The present or Vaivaswata Manwantara is very briefly passed over; but the next, the first of the future Manwantaras, contains the long episodical narrative of the actions of the goddess Durgá, which is the especial boast of this Purá a, and is the text-book of the worshippers of Káli, í , or Durgá, in Bengal.

It is the í

Pátha, or Durgá Máhátmya, in which the victories of the goddess over

different evil beings, or Asuras, are detailed with considerable power and spirit. It is read daily in the temples of Durgá, and furnishes the pomp and circumstance of the great festival of Bengal, the Durgá pujá, or public worship of that goddess.

After the account of the Manwantaras is completed, there follows a series of legends, some new, some old, relating to the sun and his posterity; continued to Vaivaswata Manu and his sons, and their immediate descendants; terminating with Dama, the son of Narishyanta. Of most of the persons noticed, the work narrates particulars not found elsewhere.

This Purá a has a character different from that of all the others. It has nothing of a sectarial spirit, little of a religious tone, rarely inserting prayers and invocations to any deity, and such as are inserted are brief and moderate. It deals little in precepts, ceremonial or moral. Its leading feature is narrative, and it presents an uninterrupted succession of legends, most of which, when ancient, are embellished with new circumstances; and when new, partake so far of the spirit of the old, that they are disinterested creations of the imagination, having no particular motive; being designed to recommend no special doctrine or observance.

Whether they are derived from any other source, or whether they are original inventions, it is not possible to ascertain. They are most probably, for the greater part at least, original; and the whole has been narrated in the compiler’s own manner, a manner superior to that of the Purá as in general, with exception of the Bhágavata.

It is not easy to conjecture a date for this Purá a: it is subsequent to the Mahábhárata, but how long subsequent is doubtful. It is unquestionably more ancient than such works as the Brahmá, Padma, and Náradíya Purá as; and its freedom from sectarial bias is a reason for supposing it anterior to the Bhágavata. At the same time, its partial conformity to the definition of a Purá a, and the tenor of the additions which it has made to received legends and traditions, indicate a not very remote age; and, in the absence of any guide to a more positive conclusion, it may conjecturally be placed in the ninth or tenth century.

The Agni Purá a

“That Purá a which describes the occurrences of the Í ána Kalpa, and was related by Agni to Va ha, is called the Ágneya: it consists of sixteen thousand stanzas.” The Agni or Agneya Purá a derives its name from its having being communicated originally by Agni, the deity of fire, to the Muni Va ha, for the purpose of instructing him in the twofold knowledge of Brahma. By him it was taught to Vyása, who imparted it to Súta; and the latter is represented as repeating it to the Rising at Naimishá ya.

Its contents are variously specified as sixteen thousand, fifteen thousand, or fourteen thousand stanzas. The two copies which were employed by me contain about fifteen thousand lokas. There are two in the Company’s library, which do not extend beyond twelve thousand verses; but they are in many other respects different from mine: one of them was written at Agra, in the reign of Akbar, in A. D. 1589.

The Agni Purá a, in the form in winch it has been obtained in Bengal and at Benares, presents a striking contrast to the Má eya. It may be doubted if a single line of it is original. A very great proportion of it may be traced to other sources; and a more careful collation –if the task was worth the time it would require–would probably discover the remainder.

The early chapters of this Purá a describe the Avatáras; and in those of Ráma and

a avowedly follow the Rámá a and Mahábhárata. A considerable portion is then appropriated to instructions for the performance of religious ceremonies; many of winch belong to the Tántrika ritual, and are apparently transcribed from the principal authorities of that system.

Some belong to mystical forms of aiva worship, little known in Hindustan, though perhaps still practised in the south. One of these is the Díkshá, or initiation of a novice; by which, with numerous ceremonies and invocations, in which the mysterious monosyllables of the Tantras are constantly repeated, the disciple is transformed into a living personation of iva, and receives in that capacity the homage of his Guru.

Interspersed with these, are chapters descriptive of the earth and of the universe, which are the same as those of the u Purá a; and Máhátmyas or legends of holy places, particularly of Gaya. Chapters on the duties of kings, and on the art of war, then occur, which have the appearance of being extracted from some older work, as is undoubtedly the chapter on judicature, which follows them, and which is the same as the text of the Mitákshara.

Subsequent to these, we have an account of the distribution and arrangement of the Vedas and Purá as, which is little else than an abridgment of the Vis u: and in a chapter on gifts we have a description of the Purá as, which is precisely the same, and in the same situation, as the similar subject in the Matsya Purá a. The genealogical chapters are meagre lists, differing in a few respects from those commonly received, as hereafter noticed, but unaccompanied by any particulars, such as those recorded or invented in the Má eya.

The next subject is medicine, compiled avowedly, but injudiciously, from the Sau ruta. A series of chapters on the mystic worship of iva and Deví follows; and the work winds up with treatises on rhetoric, prosody, and grammar, according to the Sutras of Pingala and Pánini.

The cyclopædical character of the Agni Purá a, as it is now described, excludes it from any legitimate claims to be regarded as a Purá a, and proves that its origin cannot be very remote. It is subsequent to the Itihásas; to the chief works on grammar, rhetoric, and medicine; and to the introduction of the Tántrika worship of Deví. When this latter took place is yet far from determined, but there is every probability that it dates long after the beginning of our era. The materials of the Agni, Purá a are, however, no doubt of some antiquity.

The medicine of Su ruta is considerably older than the ninth century; and the grammar of Pánini probably precedes Christianity. The chapters on archery and arms, and on regal administration, are also distinguished by an entirely Hindu character, and must have been written long anterior to the Mohammedan invasion. So far the Agni Purá a is valuable, as embodying and preserving relics of antiquity, although compiled at a more’ recent date.

Col. Wilford has made great use of a list of kings derived from an appendix to the Agni Purá a, which professes to be the sixty-third or last section. As he observes, it is seldom found annexed to the Purá a. I have never met with it, and doubt its ever having formed any part of the original compilation. It would appear from Col. Wilford’s remarks, that this list notices Mohammed as the institutor of an era; but his account of this is not very distinct. He mentions explicitly, however, that the list speaks of Sáliváhana and Vikramáditya; and this is quitesufficient to establish its character. The compilers of the Purá as were not such bunglers as to bring within their chronology so well known a personage as Vikramáditya.

There are in all parts of India various compilations ascribed to the Purá as, which never formed any portion of their contents, and which, although offering sometimes useful local information, and valuable as preserving popular traditions, are not in justice to be confounded with the Purá as, so as to cause them to be charged with even more serious errors and anachronisms than those of which they are guilty.

The two copies of this work in the library of the East India Company appropriate the first half to a description of the ordinary and occasional observances of the Hindus, interspersed with a few legends: the latter half treats exclusively of the history of Mina.

The Bhavishya Purá a

“The Purá a in which Brahmá, having described the greatness of the sun, explained to Manu the existence of the world, and the characters of all created things, in the course of the Aghora Kalpa; that, is called the Bhavishya, the stories being for the most part the events of a future period. It contains fourteen thousand five hundred stanzas.” This

Purá a, as the name implies, should be a book of prophecies, foretelling what will be (bhavishyati), as the Matsya Purá a intimates.

Whether such a work exists is doubtful. The copies, which appear to be entire, and of which there are three in the library of the East India Company, agreeing in their contents with two in my possession, contain about seven thousand stanzas. There is another work, entitled the Bhavishyottara, as if it was a continuation or supplement of the former, containing also about seven thousand verses; but the subjects of .both these works are but to a very imperfect degree analogous to those to which the Matsya alludes.

The Bhavishya Purá a, as I have it, is a work in a hundred and twenty-six short chapters,

repeated by Sumantu to atáníka, a king of the u

family. He notices, however, its

having originated with Swayambhu or Brahmá; and describes it as consisting of five parts; four dedicated, it should seem, to as many deities, as they are termed, Brahmá,

ava, aiva, and Twá r a; whilst the fifth is the Pratisarga, or repeated creation. Possibly the first part only may have come into my hands, although it does not so appear by the manuscript.

Whatever it may be, the work in question is not a Purá a. The first portion, indeed, treats of creation; but it is little else than a transcript of the words of the first chapter of Manu. The rest is entirely a manual of religious rites and ceremonies. It explains the ten Sanskáras, or initiatory rites; the performance of the Sandhya; the reverence to be shewn to a Guru; the duties of the different Ásramas and castes; and enjoins a number of Vratas, or observances of fasting and the like, appropriate to different lunar days. A few legends enliven the series of precepts.

That of the sage Chyavana is told at considerable length, taken chiefly from the Mahábhárata. The Nága Panchami, or fifth lunation, sacred to the serpent-gods, gives rise to a description of different sorts of snakes. After these, which occupy about one-third of the chapters, the remainder of them conform in subject to one of the topics referred to by the Matsya. They chiefly represent conversations between a, his son ámba, who had become a leper by the curse of Durvásas, Va ha, Nárada, and Vyása, upon the power and glory of the sun, and the manner in which he is to be worshipped.

There is some curious matter in the last chapters, relating to the Magas, silent worshippers of the sun, from Sákadwípa, as if the compiler had adopted the Persian term Magh, and connected the fire-worshippers of Iran with those of India. This is a subject, however, that requires farther investigation.

The Bhavishyottara is, equally with the preceding, a sort of manual of religious offices, the greater portion being appropriated to Vratas, and the remainder to the forms and circumstances with which gifts are to be presented. Many of the ceremonies are obsolete, or are observed in a different manner, as the Rath-yátrá, or car festival; and the Madanotsava, or festival of spring. The descriptions of these throw some light upon the public condition of the Hindu religion at a period probably prior to the Mohammedan conquest. The different ceremonies are illustrated by legends, which are sometimes ancient, as, for instance, the destruction of the god of love by iva, and his thence becoming Ananga, the disembodied lord of hearts. The work is supposed to be communicated by a to hira, at a great assemblage of holy persons at the coronation of the latter, after the conclusion of the great war.

The Brahma-vaivartta Purá a

“That Purá a which is related by Sá i to Nárada, and contains the account of the greatness of a, with the occurrences of the Rathantara Kalpa, where also the story of Brahma-varáha is repeatedly told, is called the Brahma-vaivartta, and contains eighteen thousand stanzas.” The account here given of the Brahma-vaivartta Purá a agrees with its present state as to its extent. The copies rather exceed than fall short of eighteen thousand stanzas. It also correctly represents its comprising a Máhátmya or legend of a; but it is very doubtful, nevertheless, if the same work is intended.

The Brahma-vaivartta, as it now exists, is narrated, riot by Sá i, but the Rishi

Nárá a to Nárada, by whom it is communicated to Vyása: he teaches it to Súta, and the

latter repeats it to the Rishis at Naimishá ya. It is divided into four a

s, or books;

the Bráhma, Prakriti, Gane a, and a Janma as; dedicated severally to describe the acts of Brahmá, Deví, Gane a, and a; the latter, however, throughout absorbing the interest and importance of the work. In none of these is there any account of the Varáha Avatára of u, which seems to be intended by the Matsya; nor any reference to a Rathantara Kalpa.

It may also be observed, that, in describing the merit of presenting a copy of this Purá a, the Matsya adds, “Whoever makes such gift, is honoured in the Brahma-loka;” a sphere which is of very inferior dignity to that to which a worshipper of a is taught to aspire by this Purá a. The character of the work is in truth so decidedly sectarial, and the sect to which it belongs so distinctly marked, that of the worshippers of the juvenile

a and Rádhá, a form of belief of known modern origin, that it can scarcely have found a notice in a work to which, like the Matsya, a much more remote date seems to belong.

Although therefore the Matsya may be received in proof of there having been a Brahma- vaivartta Purá a at the date of its compilation, dedicated especially to the honour of

a, yet we cannot credit the possibility of its being the same we now possess.

Although some of the legends believed to be ancient are scattered through the different portions of this Purá a, yet the great mass of it is taken up with tiresome descriptions of Vrindavan and Goloka, the dwellings of a on earth and in heaven; with endless repetitions of prayers and invocations addressed to him; and with insipid descriptions of his person and sports, and the love of the Gopís and of Rádhá towards him.

There are some particulars of the origin of the artificer castes, which is of value because it is cited as authority in matters affecting them, contained in the Bráhma a; and in the Prákrita and Gane a as are legends of those divinities, not wholly, perhaps, modern inventions, but of which the source has not been traced. In the life of a the incidents recorded are the same as those narrated in the u and the Bhágavata; but the stories, absurd as they are, are much compressed to make room for original matter, still more puerile and tiresome. The Brahma-vaivartta has not the slightest title to be regarded as a Purá a.

The Linga Purá a

“Where Mahe wara, present in the Agni Linga, explained (the objects of life) virtue, wealth, pleasure, and final liberation at the end of the Agni Kalpa, that Purá a, consisting of eleven thousand stanzas, was called the Lainga by Brahmá himself.”

The Linga Purá a conforms accurately enough to this description. The Kalpa is said to be the Í ána, but this is the only difference. It consists of eleven thousand stanzas. It is said to have been originally composed by Brahmá; and the primitive Linga is a pillar of radiance, in which Mahe wara is present. The work is therefore the same as that referred to by the Matsya.

A short account is given, in the beginning, of elemental and secondary creation, and of the patriarchal families; in which, however, iva takes the place of u, as the indescribable cause of all things. Brief accounts of iva’s incarnations and proceedings in different Kalpas next occur, offering no interest except as characteristic of sectarial notions.

The appearance of the great fiery Linga takes place, in the interval of a creation, to separate u and Brahmá, who not only dispute the palm of supremacy, but fight for it; when the Linga suddenly springs up, and puts them both to shame; as, after travelling upwards and downwards for a thousand years in each direction, neither can approach to its termination. Upon the Linga the sacred monosyllable Om is visible, and the Vedas proceed from it, by which Brahms and u become enlightened, and acknowledge and eulogize the superior might and glory of iva.

A notice of the creation in the Padma Kalpa then follows, and this leads to praises of iva by u and Brahmá. iva repeats the story of his incarnations, twenty-eight in number; intended as a counterpart, no doubt, to the twenty-four Avatáras of u, as described in the Bhágavata; and both being amplifications of the original ten Avatáras, and of much less merit as fictions.

Another instance of rivalry occurs in the legend of Dadhíchi, a Muni and worshipper of

iva. In the Bhágavata there is a story of Ambarísha being defended against Durvásas by the discus of u, against which that aiva sage is helpless: here u hurls his discus at Dadhíchi, but it falls blunted to the ground, and a conflict ensues, in which

u and his partisans are all overthrown by the Muni.

A description of the universe, and of the regal dynasties of the Vaivaswata Manwantara to the time of a, runs through a number of chapters, in substance, and very commonly in words, the same as in other Purá as. After which, the work resumes its proper character, narrating legends, and enjoining rites, and reciting prayers, intending to do honour to iva under various forms. Although, however, the Linga holds a prominent place amongst them, the spirit of the worship is as little influenced by the character of the type as can well be imagined.

There is nothing like the phallic orgies of antiquity: it is all mystical and spiritual. The Linga is twofold, external and internal. The ignorant, who need a visible sign, worship

iva through a ‘mark’ or ‘type’–which is the proper meaning of the word ‘Linga’–of wood or stone; but the wise look upon this outward emblem as nothing, and contemplate in their minds the invisible, inscrutable type, which is iva himself. Whatever may have been the origin of this form of worship in India, the notions upon which it was founded, according to the impure fancies of European writers, are not to be traced in even the

aiva Purá as.

Data for conjecturing the era of this work are defective, but it is more of a ritual than a Purá a, and the Paurá ik chapters which it has inserted, in order to keep up something of its character, have been evidently borrowed for the purpose.

The incarnations of iva, and their ‘pupils,’ as specified in one place, and the importance attached to the practice of the Yoga, render it possible that under the former are intended those teachers of the aiva religion who belong to the Yoga school, which seems to have flourished about the eighth or ninth centuries. It is not likely that the work is earlier, it may be considerably later. It has preserved apparently some aiva legends of an early date, but the greater part is ritual and mysticism of comparatively recent introduction.

The Varáha Purá a

“That in which the glory of the great Varáha is predominant, as it was revealed to Earth by u, in connexion, wise Munis, with the Mánava Kalpa, and which contains twenty-four thousand verses, is called the Váráha Purá a.”

It may be doubted if the Varáha Purá a of the present day is here intended. It is narrated by u as Varáha, or in the boar incarnation, to the personified Earth. Its extent, however, is not half that specified, little exceeding ten thousand stanzas. It furnishes also itself evidence of the prior currency of some other work, similarly denominated; as, in the description of Mathurá contained in it, Sumantu, a Muni, is made to observe, “The divine Varáha in former times expounded a Purá a, for the purpose of solving the perplexity of Earth.”

Nor can the Varáha Purá a be regarded as a Purá a agreeably to the common definition, as it contains hut a few scattered and brief allusions to the creation of the world, and the reign of kings: it has no detailed genealogies either of the patriarchal or regal families, and no account of the reigns of the Manus.

Like the Linga Purá a, it is a religious manual, almost wholly occupied with forms of prayer, and rules for devotional observances, addressed to u; interspersed with legendary illustrations, most of which are peculiar to itself, though some are taken from the common and ancient stock: many of them, rather incompatibly with the general scope of the compilation, relate to the history of iva and Durgá. A considerable portion of the work is devoted to descriptions of various Tírthas, places of ava pilgrimage; and one of Mathurá enters into a variety of particulars relating to the shrines of that city, constituting the Mathurá Máhátmyam.

In the sectarianism of the Varáha Purá a there is no leaning to the particular adoration of

a, nor are the Rath-yátrá and Janmá a

mí included amongst the observances

enjoined. There are other indications of its belonging to an earlier stage of ava worship, and it may perhaps be referred to the age of Rámánuja, the early part of the twelfth century.

The Skanda Purá a

“The Skánda Purá a is that in which the six-faced deity (Skanda) has related the events of the Tatpurusha Kalpa, enlarged with many tales, and subservient to the duties taught by Mahe wara. It is said to contain eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas: so it is asserted amongst mankind.”

It is uniformly agreed that the Skanda Purá a in a collective form has no existence; and

the fragments in the shape of Sanhitás, a

s, and Máhátmyas, which are affirmed in

various parts of India to be portions of the Purá a, present a much more formidable mass of stanzas than even the immense number of which it is said to consist. The most

celebrated of these portions in Hindustan is the Ká í a

, a very minute description

of the temples of iva in or adjacent to Benares, mixed with directions for worshipping Mahe wara, and a great variety of legends explanatory of its merits, and of the holiness of Ká í: many of them are puerile and uninteresting, but some are of a higher character.

The story of Agastya records probably, in a legendary style, the propagation of Hinduism in the south of India: and in the history of Divodása, king of Ká í, we have an embellished tradition of the temporary depression of the worship of iva, even in its metropolis, before the ascendancy of the followers of Buddha, There is every reason to believe the greater part of the contents of the Ká í a anterior to the first attack upon Benares by Mahmud of Ghizni. The Ká í a alone contains fifteen thousand stanzas.

Another considerable work ascribed in upper India to the Skanda Purá a is the Utkala

a, giving an account of the holiness of Urissa, and the Kshetra of Purushottama or Jagannátha. The same vicinage is the site of temples, once of great magnificence and extent, dedicated to iva, as Bhuvane wara, which forms an excuse for attaching an account of a ava Tírtha to an eminently aiva Purá a. There can be little doubt, however, that the Utkala a is unwarrantably included amongst the progeny of the parent work.

Besides these, there is a Brahmottara a

, a Revá a

, a iva Rahasya a, a

Himavat a, and others. Of the Sanhitás, the chief are the Súta Sanhitá, Sanatkumára Sanhitá, Saura Sanhitá, and Kapila Sanhitá: there are several other works denominated Sanhitás.

The Máhátmyas are more numerous still. According to the Súta Sanhitá, as quoted by Col. Vans Kennedy, the Skanda Purá a contains six Sanhitás, five hundred as, and five hundred thousand stanzas; more than is even attributed to all the Purá as. He thinks, judging from internal evidence, that all the as and Sanhitás may be admitted to be genuine, though the Máhátmyas have rather a questionable appearance. Now one kind of internal evidence is the quantity; and as no more than eighty-one thousand one hundred stanzas have ever been claimed for it, all in excess above that amount must be questionable.

But many of the as, the Ká í a

for instance, are quite as local as the

Máhátmyas, being legendary stories relating to the erection and sanctity of certain temples or groups of temples, and to certain Lingas; the interested origin of which renders them very reasonably objects of suspicion. In the present state of our acquaintance with the reputed portions of the Skanda Purá a, my own views of their authenticity are so opposed to those entertained by Col. Vans Kennedy, that instead of admitting all the Sanhitás and as to be genuine, I doubt if any one of them was ever a part of the Skanda Purá a.

The Vámana Purá a

“That in which the four-faced Brahmá taught the three objects of existence, as subservient to the account of the greatness of Trivikrama, which treats also of the iva Kalpa, and which consists of ten thousand stanzas, is called the Vámana Purá a.”

The Vámana Purá a contains an account of the dwarf incarnation of u; but it is related by Pulastya to Nárada, and extends to but about seven thousand stanzas. Its contents can scarcely establish its claim to the character of a Purá a.

There is little or no order in the subjects which this work recapitulates, and which arise out of replies made by Pulastya to questions put abruptly and unconnectedly by Nárada. The greater part of them relate to the worship of the Linga; a rather strange topic for a

ava Purá a, but engrossing the principal part of the compilation. They are however subservient to the object of illustrating the sanctity of certain holy places; so that the Vámana Purá a is little else than a succession of Máhátmyas.

Thus in the opening almost of the work occurs the story of Daksha’s sacrifice, the object of which is to send iva to Pápamochana tírtha at Benares, where he is released from the sin of Brahmanicide. Next conies the story of the burning of Kámadeva, for the purpose of illustrating the holiness of a iva-linga at Kedare wara in the Himalaya, and of Badariká rama. The larger part of the work consists of the Saro-máhátmya, or legendary exemplifications of the holiness of Sthá u tírtha; that is, of the sanctity of various Lingas and certain pools at Thanesar and Kurukhet, the country north-west from Delhi. There are some stories also relating to the holiness of the Gódavarí river; but the general site of the legends is in Hindustan. In the course of these accounts we have a long narrative of the marriage of iva with Umá, and the birth of Kártikeya.

There are a few brief allusions to creation and the Manwantaras, but they are merely incidental; and all the five characteristics of a Purá a are deficient. In noticing the Swárochisha Manwantara, towards the end of the book, the elevation of Bali as monarch of the Daityas, and his subjugation of the universe, the gods included, are described; and this leads to the narration that gives its title to the Purá a, the birth of a as a dwarf, for the purpose of humiliating Bali by fraud, as he was invincible by force. The story is told as usual, but the scene is laid at Kurukshetra.

A more minute examination of this work than that which has been given to it might perhaps discover some hint from which to conjecture its date. It is of a more tolerant character than the Purá as, and divides its homage between iva and u with tolerable impartiality. It is not connected, therefore, with any sectarial principles, and may have preceded their introduction. It has not, however, the air of any antiquity,and its compilation may have amused the leisure of some Brahman of Benares three or four centuries ago.

The Kúrma Purá a

“That in which Janárddana, in the form of a tortoise, in the regions under the earth, explained the objects of life–duty, wealth, pleasure, and liberation–in communication with Indradyumna and the Rishis in the proximity of akra, which refers to the Lakshmí Kalpa, and contains seventeen thousand stanzas, is the Kúrma Purá a.”

In the first chapter of the Kúrma Purá a it gives an account of itself, which does not exactly agree with this description. Súta, who is repeating the narration, is made to say to the Rishis, “This most excellent Kaurma Purá a is the fifteenth. Sanhitás are fourfold, from the variety of the collections. The Bráhmí, Bhágavatí, Saurí, and aví, are well known as the four Sanhitás which confer virtue, wealth, pleasure, and liberation.

This is the Bráhmí Sanhitá, conformable to the four Vedas; in which there are six thousand lokas, and by it the importance of the four objects of life, O great sages, holy knowledge and Parame wara is known.” There is an irreconcilable difference in this specification of the number of stanzas and that given above. It is not very clear what is meant by a Sanhitá as here used. A Sanhitá, as observed above (p. xi), is something different from a Purá a. It may be an assemblage of prayers and legends, extracted professedly from a Purá a, but is not usually applicable to the original.

The four Sanhitás here specified refer rather to their religious character than to their connexion with any specific work, and in fact the same terms are applied to what are called Sanhitás of the Skánda. In this sense a Purá a might be also a Sanhitá; that is, it might be an assemblage of formulæ and legends belonging to a division of the Hindu system; and the work in question, like the u Purá a, does adopt both titles. It says, “This is the excellent Kaurma Purá a, the fifteenth (of the series):” and again, “This is the Bráhmí Sanhitá.” At any rate, no other work has been met with pretending to be the Kúrma Purá a.

With regard to the other particulars specified by the Matsya, traces of them are to be found. Although in two accounts of the traditional communication of the Purá a no mention is made of u as one of the teachers, yet Súta repeats at the outset a dialogue between u, as the Kúrma, and Indradyumna, at the time of the churning of the ocean; and much of the subsequent narrative is put into the mouth of the former.

The name, being that of an Avatára of u, might lead us to expect a ava work; but it is always and correctly classed with the aiva. Purá as, the greater portion of it inculcating the worship of iva and Durgá. It is divided into two parts, of nearly equal length. In the first part, accounts of the creation, of the Avatáras of u, of the solar and lunar dynasties of the kings to the time of a, of the universe, and of the Manwantaras, are given, in general in a summary manner, but not unfrequently in the words employed in the u Purá a.

With these are blended hymns addressed to Mahe wara by Brahmá and others; the defeat of Andhakásura by Bhairava; the origin of four aktis, Mahe warí, ivá, atí, and Haimavatí, from iva; and other aiva legends. One chapter gives a more distinct and connected account of the incarnations of iva in the present age than the Linga; and it wears still more the appearance of an attempt to identify the teachers of the Yoga school with personations of their preferential deity. Several chapters form a Ká í Máhátmya, a legend of Benares. In the second part there are no legends.

It is divided into two parts, the Í wara Gíta 77 and Vyása Gita. In the former the knowledge of god, that is, of iva, through contemplative devotion, is taught. In the latter the same object is enjoined through works, or observance of the ceremonies and precepts of the Vedas.

The date of the Kúrma Purá a cannot be very remote, for it is avowedly posterior to the establishment of the Tántrika, the Sákta, and the Jain sects. In the twelfth chapter it is said, “The Bhairava, Váma, Árhata, and Yámala ástras are intended for delusion.” There is no reason to believe that the Bhairava and Yámala Tantras are very ancient works, or that the practices of the left-hand áktas, or the doctrines of Arhat or Jina were known in the early centuries of our era.

The Matsya Purá a

“That in which, for the sake of promulgating the Vedas, Vis u, in the beginning of a Kalpa, related to Manu the story of Narasinha and the events of seven Kalpas, that, O sages, know to be the Mátsya Purá a, containing twenty thousand stanzas.”

We might, it is to be supposed, admit the description which the Matsya gives of itself to be correct, and yet as regards the number of verses there seems to be a mistatement.

Three very good copies, one in my possession, one in the Company’s library, and one in the Radcliffe library, concur in all respects, and in containing no more than between fourteen and fifteen thousand stanzas: in this case the Bhágavata is nearer the truth, when it assigns to it fourteen thousand. We may conclude, therefore, that the reading of the passage is in this respect erroneous. It is correctly said that the subjects of the Purá a were communicated by u, in the form of a fish, to Manu.

The Purá a, after the usual prologue of Súta and the Rishis, opens with the account of the Matsya or ‘fish’ Avatára of u, in which he preserves a king named Manu, with the seeds of all things, in an ark, from the waters of that inundation which in the season of a Pralaya overspreads the world. This story is told in the Mahábhárata, with reference to the Matsya as its authority; from which it might be inferred that the Purá a was prior to the poem.

This of course is consistent with the tradition that the Purá as were first composed by Vyása; but there can be no doubt that the greater part of the Mahábhárata is much older than any extant Purá a. The present instance is itself a proof; for the primitive simplicity with which the story of the fish Avatára is told in the Mahábhárata is of a much more antique complexion than the mysticism and extravagance of the actual Matsya Purá a. In the former, Manu collects the seeds of existing things in the ark, it is not said how: in the latter, he brings them all together by the power of Yoga.

In the latter, the great serpents come to the king, to serve as cords wherewith to fasten the ark to the horn of the fish: in the former, a cable made of ropes is more intelligibly employed for the purpose.

Whilst the ark floats, fastened to the fish, Manu enters into conversation with him; and his questions, and the replies of u, form the main substance of the compilation. The first subject is the creation, which is that of Brahmá and the patriarchs. Some of the details are the usual ones; others are peculiar, especially those relating to the Pitris, or progenitors. The regal dynasties are next described; and then follow chapters on the duties of the different orders. It is in relating those of the householder, in which the duty of making gifts to Brahmans is comprehended, that we have the specification of the extent and subjects of the Purá as.

It is meritorious to have copies made of them, and to give these away on particular occasions. Thus it is said of the Matsya; “Whoever gives it away at either equinox, along with a golden fish and a milch cow, gives away the whole earth;” that is, he reaps a like reward in his next migration. Special duties of the householder–Vratas, or occasional acts of piety–are then described at considerable length, with legendary illustrations.

The account of the universe is given in the usual strain. aiva legends ensue; as, the destruction of Tripurásura; the war of the gods with Táraka and the Daityas, and the consequent birth of Kártikeya, with the various circumstances of Umá’s birth and marriage, the burning of Kámadeva, and other events involved in that narrative; the destruction of the Asuras Maya and Andhaka; the origin of the Mátris, and the like; interspersed with the ava legends of the Avatáras. Some Máhátmyas are also introduced; one of which, the Narmada Máhátmya, contains some interesting particulars. There are various chapters on law and morals; and one which furnishes directions for building houses, and making images. We then have an account of the kings of future periods; and the Purá a concludes with a chapter on gifts.

The Matsya Purá a, it will be seen even from this brief sketch of its contents, is a miscellaneous compilation, but including in its contents the elements of a genuine Purá a. At the same time it is of too mixed a character to be considered as a genuine

work of the Paurá ik class; and upon examining it carefully, it may be suspected that it is indebted to various works, not only for its matter, but for its words.

The genealogical and historical chapters are much the same as those of the u; and many chapters, as those on the Pitris and Sráddhas, are precisely the same as those of the

a of the Padma Purá a. It has drawn largely also from the Mahábhárata:

amongst other instances, it is sufficient to quote the story of Sávitrí, the devoted wife of Satyavat, which is given in the Matsya in the same manner, but considerably abridged.

Although a aiva work, it is not exclusively so, and it has no such sectarial absurdities as the Kúrma and Linga. It is a composition of considerable interest; but if it has extracted its materials from the Padma, which it also quotes on one occasion, the specification of the Upa-purá as, it is subsequent to that work, and therefore not very ancient.

The Gá a

Purá a

“That which u recited in the Gá a

Kalpa, relating chiefly to the birth of Gá a

from Vinatá, is here called the Gá a verses.”

Purá a; and in it there are read nineteen thousand

The Gá a

Purá a which has been the subject of my examination corresponds in no

respect with this description, and is probably a different work, though entitled the Gá a Purá a. It is identical, however, with two copies in the Company’s library. It consists of no more than about seven thousand stanzas; it is repeated by Brahmá to Indra; and it contains no account of the birth of Garuda.

There is a brief notice of the creation; but the greater part is occupied with the description of Vratas, or religious observances, of holidays, of sacred places dedicated to the sun, and with prayers from the Tántrika ritual, addressed to the sun, to iva, and to u. It contains also treatises on astrology, palmistry, and precious stones; and one, still more extensive, on medicine. The latter portion, called the Preta Kalpa, is taken up with directions for the performance of obsequial rites.

There is nothing in all this to justify the application of the name. Whether a genuine

Gá a

Purá a exists is doubtful. The description given in the Matsya is less particular

than even the brief notices of the other Purá as, and might have easily been written without any knowledge of the book itself, being, with exception of the number of stanzas, confined to circumstances that the title alone indicates.

The Brahmá a

Purá a

“That which has declared, in twelve thousand two hundred verses, the magnificence of the egg of Brahmá, and in which an account of the future Kalpas is contained, is called

the Brahmá a

Purá a, and was revealed by Brahmá.”

The Brahmá a

Purá a is usually considered to be in much the same predicament as the

Skanda, no longer procurable in a collective body, but represented by a variety of

as and Máhátmyas, professing to be derived from it.

The facility with which any tract may be thus attached to the non-existent original, and the advantage that has been taken of its absence to compile a variety of unauthentic

fragments, have given to the Brahmá a

, Skanda, and Padma, according to Col. Wilford,

the character of being the Purá as of thieves or impostors. This is not applicable to the Padma, which, as above shewn, occurs entire and the same in various parts of India. The imposition of which the other two are made the vehicles can deceive no one, as the purpose of the particular legend is always too obvious to leave any doubt of its origin.

Copies of what profess to be the entire Brahmá a

Purá a are sometimes, though rarely,

procurable. I met with one in two portions, the former containing, one hundred and twenty-four chapters, the latter seventy-eight; and the whole containing about the number of stanzas assigned to the Purá a. The first and largest portion, however, proved to be the same as the Váyu Purá a, with a passage occasionally slightly varied, and at the end of

each chapter the common phrase ‘Iti Brahmá a

Purá e’ substituted for ‘Iti Váyu Purá e.’

I do not think there was any intended fraud in the substitution.

The last section of the first part of the Váyu Purá a is termed the Brahmá a

section,

giving an account of the dissolution of the universe; and a careless or ignorant transcriber might have taken this for the title of the whole. The checks to the identity of the work have been honestly preserved, both in the index and the frequent specification of Váyu as the teacher or narrator of it.

The second portion of this Brahmá a is not any part of the Váyu; it is probably current

in the Dakhin as a Sanhitá or a

. Agastya is represented as going to the city Kánchí

(Conjeveram), where u, as Hayagríva, appears to him, and, in answer to his inquiries, imparts to him the means of salvation, the worship of Para aktí.

In illustration of the efficacy of this form of adoration, the main subject of the work is au account of the exploits of Lalitá Deví, a form of Durgá, and her destruction of the demon

Bhá á

sura. Rules for her worship are also given, which are decidedly of a ákta or

Tántrika description; and this work cannot be admitted, therefore, to be part of a genuine Purá a.

The Upa-purá as

The Upa-purá as, in the few instances which are known, differ little in extent or subject from some of those to which the title of Purá a is ascribed. The Matsya enumerates but four; but the Deví Bhágavata has a more complete list, and specifies eighteen. They are,

The Sanatkumára, 2. Nárasinha, 3. Náradíya, 4. iva, 5. Durvásasa, g. Kápila, 7. Mánava, 8. Au ana a, 9. a, 10. Káliká, 11. ámba, 12. Nandi, 13. Saura, 14. Párá ara, 15. Áditya, 16. Máhe wara, 17. Bhágavata, 18. Va ha.

The Matsya observes of the second, that it is named in the Padma Purá a, and contains eighteen thousand verses. The Nandi it calls Nandá, and says that Kártikeya tells in it the story of Nandá.

A rather different list is given in the Revá a

; or, 1. Sanatkumára, 2. Nárasinha, 3.

Nandá, 4. ivadharma, 5. Durvásasa, 6. Bhavishya, related by Nárada or Náradíya, 7.

Kápila, 8. Mánava, 9. Au ana a, 10. Brahmá a

, 11. Vá a, 12. Káliká, 13. Máhe wara,

ámba, 15. Saura, 16. Párá ara, 17. Bhágavata, 18. Kaurma. These authorities, however, are of questionable weight, having in view, no doubt, the pretensions of the Deví Bhágavata to be considered as the authentic Bhágavata.

Of these Upa-purá as few are to be procured. Those in my possession are the iva, considered as distinct from the Váyu; the Káliká, and perhaps one of the Náradíyas, as noticed above. I have also three of the Skandhas of the Deví Bhágavata, which most undoubtedly is not the real Bhágavata, supposing that any Purá a so named preceded the work of Vopadeva.

There can be no doubt that in any authentic list the name of Bhágavata does not occur amongst the Upa-purá as: it has been put there to prove that there are two works so entitled, of which the Purá a is the Deví Bhágavata, the Upa-purá a the rí Bhágavata. The true reading should be Bhárgava, the Purá a of Bhrigu; and the Deví Bhágavata is not even an Upa-purá a. It is very questionable if the entire work, which as far as it extends is eminently a Sákta composition, ever had existence.

The iva Upa-purá a contains about six thousand stanzas, distributed into two parts. It is related by Sanatkumára to Vyása and the Rishis at Naimishá ya, and its character may be judged of from the questions to which it is a reply. “Teach us,” said the Rishis, “the rules of worshipping the Linga, and of the god of gods adored under that type; describe to us his various forms, the places sanctified by him, and the prayers with which he is to be addressed.”

In answer, Sanatkumára repeats the iva Purá a, containing the birth of u and Brahmá; the creation and divisions of the universe; the origin of all things from the Linga; the rules of worshipping it and iva; the sanctity of times, places, and things, dedicated to him; the delusion of Brahmá and u by the Linga; the rewards of offering flowers and the like to a Linga; rules for various observances in honour of Mahádeva; the mode of practising the Yoga; the glory of Benares and other aiva Tírthas; and the perfection of the objects of life by union with Mahe wara.

These subjects are illustrated in the first part with very few legends; but the second is made up almost wholly of aiva stories, as the defeat of Tripurásura; the sacrifice of Daksha; the births of Kártikeya and Gane a the sons of iva, and Nandi and Bhringaríti his attendants and others; together with descriptions of Benares and other places of pilgrimage, and rules for observing such festivals as the ivaratri. This work is a aiva manual, not a Purá a.

The Káliká Purá a contains about nine thousand stanzas in ninety-eight chapters, and is the only work of the series dedicated to recommend the worship of the bride of iva, in one or other of her manifold forms, as Girijá, Deví, Bhadrakálí, Kálí, Mahámáyá. It belongs therefore to the Sákta modification of Hindu belief, or the worship of the female powers of the deities. The influence of this worship spews itself in the very first pages of the work, which relate the incestuous passion of Brahmá for his daughter Sandhyá, in a strain that has nothing analogous to it in the Váyu, Linga, or iva Purá as.

The marriage of iva and Párvati is a subject early described, with the sacrifice of Daksha, and the death of Sati: and this work is authority for iva’s carrying the dead body about the world, and the origin of the Píthasthánas, or places where the different members of it were scattered, and where Lingas were consequently erected. A legend follows of the births of Bhairava and Vetála, whose devotion to different forms of Deví furnishes occasion to describe in great detail the rites and formulæ of which her worship consists, including the chapters on sanguinary sacrifices, translated in the Asiatic Researches.

Another peculiarity in this work is afforded by very prolix descriptions of a number of rivers and mountains at Kámarúpa-tírtha in Asam, and rendered holy ground by the celebrated temple of Durgá in that country, as Kámák hí or Kámákhyá. It is a singular, and yet uninvestigated circumstance, that Asam, or at least the north-east of Bengal, seems to have been in a great degree the source from which the Tántrika and ákta corruptions of the religion of the Vedas and Purá as proceeded.

The specification of the Upa-purá as, whilst it names several of which the existence is problematical, omits other works, bearing the same designation, which are sometimes met with. Thus in the collection of Col. Mackenzie we have a portion of the Bhárgava, and a Mudgala Purá a, which is probably the same with the Gane a Upa-purá a, cited by Col. Vans Kennedy.

I have also a copy of the Gane a Purá a, which seems to agree with that of which he

speaks; the second portion being entitled the Krí á

a, in which the pastimes of

Gane a, including a variety of legendary matters, are described. The main subject of the work is the greatness of Gane a, and prayers and formulæ appropriate to him are abundantly detailed. It appears to be a work originating with the Gánapatya sect, or worshippers of Gane a. There is also a minor Purá a called Ádi, or ‘first,’ not included in the list. This is a work, however, of no great extent or importance, and is confined to a detail of the sports of the juvenile a.

Synopsis of the u Purá a

From the sketch thus offered of the subjects of the Purá as, and which, although admitting of correction, is believed to be in the main a candid and accurate summary, it will be evident that in their present condition they must be received with caution as authorities for the mythological religion of the Hindus at any remote period.

They preserve, no doubt, many ancient notions and traditions; but these have been so much mixed up with foreign matter, intended to favour the popularity of particular forms of worship or articles of faith, that they cannot be unreservedly recognised as genuine representations of what we have reason to believe the Purá as originally were.

The safest sources for the ancient legends of the Hindus, after the Vedas, are no doubt the two great poems, the Rámá a and Mahábhárata. The first offers only a few, but they are of a primitive character. The Mahábhárata is more fertile in fiction, but it is more miscellaneous, and much that it contains is of equivocal authenticity, and uncertain date. Still it affords many materials that are genuine, and it is evidently the great fountain from which most, if not all, of the Purá as have drawn; as it intimates itself, when it declares that there is no legend current in the world which has not its origin in the Mahábhárata.

A work of some extent professing to be part of the Mahábhárata may more accurately be ranked with the Paurá ik compilations of least authenticity, and latest origin. The Hari Van a is chiefly occupied with the adventures of a, but, as introductory to his era, it records particulars of the creation of the world, and of the patriarchal and regal dynasties. This is done with much carelessness and inaccuracy of compilation, as I have had occasion frequently to notice in the following pages. The work has been very industriously translated by M. Langlois.

A comparison of the subjects of the following pages with those of the other Purá as will sufficiently shew that of the whole series the u most closely conforms to the definition of a Pancha- a Purá a, or one which treats of five specified topics. It comprehends them all; and although it has infused a portion of extraneous and sectarial matter, it has done so with sobriety and with judgment, and has not suffered the fervour of its religious zeal to transport it into very wide deviations from the prescribed path. The legendary tales which it has inserted are few, and are conveniently arranged, so that they do not distract the attention of the compiler from objects of more permanent interest and importance.

Book One

The first book of the six, into which the work is divided, is occupied chiefly with the details of creation, primary (Sarga) and secondary (Pratisarga); the first explaining how the universe proceeds from Prakriti, or eternal crude matter; the second, in what manner the forms of things are developed from the elementary substances previously evolved, or how they reappear after their temporary destruction. Both these creations are periodical, but the termination of the first occurs only at the end of the life of Brahmá, when not only all the gods and all other forms are annihilated, but the elements are again merged into primary substance, besides which one only spiritual being exists: the latter takes place at the end of every Kalpa, or day of Brahmá, and affects only the forms of inferior creatures, and lower worlds, leaving the substance of the universe entire, and sages and gods unharmed.

The explanation of these events involves a description of the periods of time upon which they depend. and which are accordingly detailed. Their character has been a source of very unnecessary perplexity to European writers, as they belong to a scheme of chronology wholly mythological, having no reference to any real or supposed history of the Hindus, but applicable, according to their system, to the infinite and eternal revolutions of the universe.

In these notions, and in that of the coeternity of spirit and matter, the theogony and cosmogony of the Purá as, as they appear in the u Purá a,belong to and illustrate systems of high antiquity, of which we have only fragmentary traces in the records of other nations.

The course of the elemental creation is in the u, as in other Purá as, taken from the Sánkhya philosophy; but the agency that operates upon passive matter is confusedly exhibited, in consequence of a partial adoption of the illusory theory of the Vedánta philosophy, and the prevalence of the Paurá ik doctrine of Pantheism. However incompatible with the independent existence of Pradhána or crude matter, and however incongruous with the separate condition of pure spirit or Purusha, it is declared repeatedly that u, as one with the supreme being, is not only spirit, but crude matter; and not only the latter, but all visible substance, and Time.

He is Purusha, ‘spirit;’ Pradhána, crude matter; ‘Vyakta, ‘visible form;’ and Kula, ‘time.’ This cannot but be regarded as a departure from the primitive dogmas of the Hindus, in which the distinctness of the Deity and his works was enunciated; in which upon his willing the world to be, it was; and in which his interposition in creation, held to be inconsistent with the quiescence of perfection, was explained away by the personification of attributes in action, which afterwards came to be considered as real divinities, Brahmá, Vish u, and iva, charged severally for a given season with the creation, preservation, and temporary annihilation of material forms.

These divinities are in the following pages, consistently with the tendency of a ava work, declared to be no other than u. In aiva Purá as they are in like manner identified with iva. The Purá as thus displaying and explaining the seeming incompatibility, of which there are traces in other ancient mythologies, between three distinct hypostases of one superior deity, and the identification of one or other of those hypostases with their common and separate original.

After the world has been fitted for the reception of living creatures, it is peopled by the will-engendered sons of Brahmá, the Prajápatis or patriarchs, and their posterity. It would seem as if a primitive tradition of the descent of mankind from seven holy personages had at first prevailed, but that in the course of time it had been expanded into complicated, and not always consistent, amplification, How could these Rishis or patriarchs have posterity? it was necessary to provide them with wives. In order to account for their existence, the Manu Swáyambhuva and his wife Satarupá were added to the scheme, or Brahmá becomes twofold, male and female, and daughters are then begotten, who are married to the Prajápatis.

Upon this basis various legends of Brahma’s double nature, some no doubt as old as the Vedas, have been constructed: but although they may have been derived in some degree from the authentic tradition of the origin of mankind from a single pair, yet the circumstances intended to give more interest and precision to the story are evidently of an allegorical or mystical description, and conduced, in apparently later times, to a coarseness of realization which was neither the letter nor spirit of the original legend.

Swáyambhuva, the son of the self-born or untreated, and his wife Satarupá, the hundred- formed or multiform, are themselves allegories; and their female descendants, who become the wives of the Rishis, are Faith, Devotion, Content, Intelligence, Tradition, and the like; whilst amongst their posterity we have the different phases of the moon, and the sacrificial fires.

In another creation the chief source of creatures is the patriarch Daksha (ability), whose daughters, Virtues or Passions or Astronomical Phenomena, are the mothers of all existing things. These legends, perplexed as they appear to be, seem to admit of allowable solution, in the conjecture that the Prajápatis and Rishis were real personages, the authors of the Hindu system of social, moral, and religious obligations, and the first observers of the heavens, and teachers of astronomical science.

The regal personages of the Swáyambhuva Manwantara are but few, but they are described in the outset as governing the earth in the dawn of society, and as introducing agriculture and civilisation. How much of their story rests upon a traditional remembrance of their actions, it would be useless to conjecture, although there is no extravagance in supposing that the legends relate to a period prior to the full establishment in India of the Brahmanical institutions.

The legends of Dhruva and Prahláda, which are intermingled with these particulars, are in all probability ancient, but they are amplified, in a strain conformable to the ava purport of this Purá a, by doctrines and prayers asserting the identity of u with the supreme. It is clear that the stories do not originate with this Purá a. In that of Prahláda particularly, as hereafter pointed out, circumstances essential to the completeness of the story are only alluded to, not recounted; shewing indisputably the writer’s having availed himself of some prior authority for his narration.

Book Two

The second book opens with a continuation of the kings of the first Manwantara; amongst whom, Bharata is said to have given a name to India, called after him Bhárata-varsha.

This leads to a detail of the geographical system of the Purá as, with mount Meru, the seven circular continents, and their surrounding oceans, to the limits of the world; all of which are mythological fictions, in which there is little reason to imagine that any topographical truths are concealed.

With regard to Bhárata, or India, the case is different: the mountains and rivers which are named are readily verifiable, and the cities and nations that are particularized may also in many instances be proved to have had a real existence. The list is not a very long one in the u Purá a, and is probably abridged from some more ample detail like that which the Mahábhárata affords, and which, in the hope of supplying information’ with respect to a subject yet imperfectly investigated, the ancient political condition of India, I have inserted and elucidated.

The description which this book also contains of the planetary and other spheres is equally mythological, although occasionally presenting practical details and notions in which there is an approach to accuracy. The concluding legend of Bharata–in his former life the king so named, but now a Brahman, who acquires true wisdom, and thereby attains liberation–is palpably an invention of the compiler, and is peculiar to this Purá a.

The Third Book

The arrangement of the Vedas and other writings considered sacred by the Hindus, being in fact the authorities of their religious rites and belief, which is described in the beginning of the third book, is of much importance to the history of Hindu literature, and of the Hindu religion. The sage Vyása is here represented, not as the author, but the arranger or compiler of the Vedas, the Itihásas, and Purá as.

His name denotes his character, meaning the ‘arranger’ or ‘distributor;’ and the recurrence of many Vyásas, many individuals who new modelled the Hindu scriptures, has nothing in it that is improbable, except the fabulous intervals by which their labours are separated. The rearranging, the refashioning, of old materials, is nothing more than the progress of time would be likely to render necessary. The last recognised compilation is that of

a Dwaipá a, assisted by Brahmans, who were already conversant with the subjects respectively assigned to them.

They were the members of a college or school, supposed by the Hindus to have flourished in a period more remote, no doubt, than the truth, but not at all unlikely to have been instituted at some time prior to the accounts of India which we owe to Greek writers, and in which we see enough of the system to justify our inferring that it was then entire. That there have been other Vyásas and other schools since that date, that Brahmans unknown to fame have remodelled some of the Hindu scriptures, and especially the Purá as, cannot reasonably be contested, after dispassionately weighing the strong internal evidence which all of them afford of the intermixture of unauthorized and comparatively modern ingredients.

But the same internal testimony furnishes proof equally decisive of the anterior existence of ancient materials; and it is therefore as idle as it is irrational to dispute the antiquity or authenticity of the greater portion of the contents of the Purá as, in the face of abundant positive and circumstantial evidence of the prevalence of the doctrines which they teach, the currency of the legends which they narrate, and the integrity of the institutions which they describe, at least three centuries before the Christian era.

But the origin and developement of their doctrines, traditions, and institutions, were not the work of a day; and the testimony that establishes their existence three centuries before Christianity, carries it back to a much more remote antiquity, to an antiquity that is probably not surpassed by any of the prevailing fictions, institutions, or belief, of the ancient world.

The remainder of the third book describes the leading institutions of the Hindus, the duties of castes, the obligations of different stages of life, and the celebration of obsequial rites, in a short but primitive strain, and in harmony with the laws of Manu.

It is a distinguishing feature of the u Purá a, and it is characteristic of its being the work of an earlier period than most of the Purá as, that it enjoins no sectarial or other acts of supererogation; no Vratas, occasional self-imposed observances; no holidays, no birthdays of Krish a, no nights dedicated to Lakshmí; no sacrifices nor modes of worship other than those conformable to the ritual of the Vedas. It contains no Máhátmyas, or golden legends, even of the temples in which u is adored.

The Fourth Book

The fourth book contains all that the Hindus have of their ancient history. It is a tolerably comprehensive list of dynasties and individuals; it is a barren record of events. It can scarcely be doubted, however, that much of it is a genuine chronicle of persons, if not of occurrences. That it is discredited by palpable absurdities in regard to the longevity of the princes of the earlier dynasties must be granted, and the particulars preserved of some of them are trivial and fabulous: still there is an inartificial simplicity and consistency in the succession of persons, and a possibility and probability in some of the transactions which give to these traditions the semblance of authenticity, and render it likely that they are not altogether without foundation.

At any rate, in the absence of all other sources of information, the record, such as it is, deserves not to be altogether set aside. It is not essential to its credibility or its usefulness that any exact chronological adjustment of the different reigns should be attempted. Their distribution amongst the several Yugas, undertaken by Sir Wm. Jones or his Pandits, finds no countenance from the original texts, farther than an incidental notice of the age in which a particular monarch ruled, or the general fact that the dynasties prior to a precede the time of the great war, and the beginning of the Kálí age; both which events we are not obliged, with the Hindus, to place five thousand years ago. To that age the solar dynasty of princes offers ninety-three descents, the lunar but forty-five, though they both commence at the same time.

Some names may have been added to the former list, some omitted in the latter; and it seems most likely, that, notwithstanding their synchronous beginning, the princes of the lunar race were subsequent to those of the solar dynasty. They avowedly branched off from the solar line; and the legend of Sudyumna, that explains the connexion, has every appearance of having been contrived for the purpose of referring it to a period more remote than the truth.

Deducting however from the larger number of princes a considerable proportion, there is nothing to shock probability in supposing that the Hindu dynasties and their ramifications were spread through an interval of about twelve centuries anterior to the war of the Mahábhárata, and, conjecturing that event to have happened about fourteen centuries before Christianity, thus carrying the commencement of the regal dynasties of India to about two thousand six hundred years before that date.

This may or may not be too remote; but it is sufficient, in a subject where precision is impossible, to be satisfied with the general impression, that in the dynasties of kings detailed in the Purá as we have a record which, although it cannot fail to have suffered detriment from age, and may have been injured by careless or injudicious compilation, preserves an account, not wholly undeserving of confidence, of the establishment and succession of regular monarchies amongst the Hindus, from as early an era, and for as continuous a duration, as any in the credible annals of mankind.

The circumstances that are told of the first princes have evident relation to the colonization of India, and the gradual extension of the authority of new races over an uninhabited or uncivilized region. It is commonly admitted that the Brahmanical religion and civilization were brought into India from without.

Certainly, there are tribes on the borders, and in the heart of the country, who are still not Hindus; and passages in the Rámá a and Mahábhárata and Manu, and the uniform traditions of the people themselves, point to a period when Bengal, Orissa, and the whole of the Dekhin, were inhabited by degraded or outcaste, that is, by barbarous, tribes.

The traditions of the Purá as confirm these views, but they lend no assistance to the determination of the question whence the Hindus came; whether from a central Asiatic nation, as Sir Wm. Jones supposed, or from the Caucasian mountains, the plains of Babylonia, or the borders of the Caspian, as conjectured by Klaproth, Vans Kennedy, and Schlegel. The affinities of the Sanscrit language prove a common origin of the now widely scattered nations amongst whose dialects they are traceable, and render it unquestionable that they must all have spread abroad from some centrical spot in that part of the globe first inhabited by mankind, according to the inspired record.

Whether any indication of such an event be discoverable in the Vedas, remains to be determined; but it would have been obviously incompatible with the Paurá ik system to have referred the origin of Indian princes and principalities to other than native sources. We need not therefore expect from them any information as to the foreign derivation of the Hindus.

We have, then, wholly insufficient means for arriving at any information concerning the ante-Indian period of Hindu history, beyond the general conclusion derivable from the actual presence of barbarous and apparently aboriginal tribes–from the admitted progressive extension of Hinduism into parts of India where it did not prevail when the code of Manu was compiled–from the general use of dialects in India, more or less copious, which are different from Sanscrit–and from the affinities of that language with forms of speech current in the western world–that a people who spoke Sanscrit, and followed the religion of the Vedas, came into India, in some very distant age, from lands west of the Indus. Whether the date and circumstances of their immigration will ever be ascertained is extremely doubtful, but it is not difficult to form a plausible outline of their early site and progressive colonization.

The earliest seat of the Hindus within the confines of Hindusthán was undoubtedly the eastern confines of the Panjab. The holy land of Manu and the Purá as lies between the Drishadwatí and Saraswatí rivers, the Caggar and Sursooty of our barbarous maps.

Various adventures of the first princes and most famous sages occur in this vicinity; and the Ásramas, or religious domiciles, of several of the latter are placed on the banks of the Saraswatí.

According to some authorities, it was the abode of Vyása, the compiler of the Vedas and Purá as; and agreeably to another, when on one occasion the Vedas had fallen into disuse, and been forgotten, the Brahmans were again instructed in them by Sáraswata, the son of Saraswatí. One of the most distinguished of the tribes of the Brahmans is known as the Sáraswata; and the same word is employed by Mr. Colebrooke to denote that modification of Sanscrit which is termed generally Prakrit, and which in this case he supposes to have been the language of “the Sáraswata nation, which occupied the banks of the river Saraswatí.”

The river itself receives its appellation from Saraswatí, the goddess of learning, under whose auspices the sacred literature of the Hindus assumed shape and authority. These indications render it certain, that whatever seeds were imported from without, it was in the country adjacent to the Saraswatí river that they were first planted, and cultivated and reared in Hindusthán.

The tract of land thus assigned for the first establishment of Hinduism in India is of very circumscribed extent, and could not have been the site of any numerous tribe or nation.

The traditions that evidence the early settlement of the Hindus in this quarter, ascribe to the settlers more of a philosophical and religious, than of a secular character, and combine with the very narrow bounds of the holy land to render it possible that the earliest emigrants were the members, not of a political, so much as of a religious community; that they were a colony of priests, not in the restricted sense in which we use the term, but in that in which it still applies in India, to an Agrahára, a village or hamlet of Brahmans, who, although married, and having families, and engaging in tillage, in domestic duties, and in the conduct of secular interests affecting the community, are still supposed to devote their principal attention to sacred study and religious offices.

A society of this description, with its artificers and servants, and perhaps with a body of martial followers, might have found a home in the Brahmá-vartta of Manu, the land which thence was entitled ‘the holy,’ or more literally ‘the Brahman, region;’ and may have communicated to the rude, uncivilized, unlettered aborigines the rudiments of social organization, literature, and religion; partly, in all probability, brought along with them, and partly devised and fashioned by degrees for the growing necessities of new conditions of society.

Those with whom this civilization commenced would have had ample inducements to prosecute their successful work, and in the course of time the improvement which germinated on the banks of the Saraswatí was extended beyond the borders of the Jumna and the Ganges.

We have no satisfactory intimation of the stages by which the political organization of the people of Upper India traversed the space between the Saraswatí and the more easterly region, where it seems to have taken a concentrated form, and whence it diverged in various directions, throughout Hindustan. The Manu of the present period, Vaivaswata, the son of the sun, is regarded as the founder of Ayodhyá; and that city continued to be the capital of the most celebrated branch of his descendants, the posterity of Ikshwáku.

The u Purá a evidently intends to describe the radiation of conquest or colonization from this spot, in the accounts it gives of the dispersion of Vaivaswata’s posterity: and although it is difficult to understand what could have led early settlers in India to such a site, it is not inconveniently situated as a commanding position, whence emigrations might proceed to the east, the west, and the south. This seems to have happened: a branch from the house of Ikshwáku spread into Tirhut, constituting the Maithilá kings; and the posterity of another of Vaivaswata’s sons reigned at Vaisáli in southern Tirhut or Saran.

The most adventurous emigrations, however, took place through the lunar dynasty, which, as observed above, originates from the solar, making in fact but one race and source for the whole. Leaving out of consideration the legend of Sudyumna’s double transformation, the first prince of hána, a city south from Ayodhyá, was one of Vaivaswata’s children, equally with Ikshváku.

The sons of Pururavas, the second of this branch, extended, by themselves or their posterity, in every direction: to the east to Ká í, Magadhá, Benares, and Behar; southwards to the Vindhya hills, and across them to Vidarbha or Berar; westwards along the Narmadá to Ku asthali or Dwáraká in Guzerat; and in a north-westerly direction to Mathurá and Hastinápura.

These movements are very distinctly discoverable amidst the circumstances narrated in the fourth book of the u Purá a, and are precisely such as might be expected from a radiation of colonies from Ayodhyá. Intimations also occur of settlements in Banga, Kalinga, and the Dakhin; but they are brief and indistinct, and have the appearance of additions subsequent to the comprehension of those countries within the pale of Hinduism.

Besides these traces of migration and settlement, several curious circumstances, not likely to be unauthorized inventions, are hinted in these historical traditions. The distinction of castes was not fully developed prior to the colonization. Of the sons of Vaivaswata, some, as kings, were Kshatriyas; but one, founded a tribe of Brahmans, another became a Vai ya, and a fourth a údra. It is also said of other princes, that they established the four castes amongst their subjects.

There are also various notices of Brahmanical Gotras, or families, proceding from Kshatriya races: and there are several indications of severe struggles between the two ruling castes, not for temporal, but for spiritual dominion, the right to teach the Vedas. This seems to be the especial purport of the inveterate hostility that prevailed between the Brahman Va ha and the Kshatriya Viswámitra, who, as the Rámá a relates, compelled the gods to make him a Brahman also, and whose posterity became very celebrated as the Kau ika Brahmans.

Other legends, again, such as Daksha’s sacrifice, denote sectarial strife; and the legend of Para uráma reveals a conflict even for temporal authority between the two ruling castes. More or less weight will be attached to these conjectures, according to the temperament of different inquirers; but, even whilst fully aware of the facility with which plausible deductions may cheat the fancy, and little disposed to relax all curb upon the imagination, I find it difficult to regard these legends as wholly unsubstantial fictions, or devoid of all resemblance to the realities of the past.

After the date of the great war, the u Purá a, in common with those Purá as which contain similar lists, specifies kings and dynasties with greater precision, and offers political and chronological particulars, to which on the score of probability there is nothing to object. In truth their general accuracy has been incontrovertibly established.

Inscriptions on columns of stone, on rocks, on coins, decyphered only of late years, through the extraordinary ingenuity and perseverance of Mr. James Prinsep, have verified the names of races, and titles of princes–the Gupta and Andhra Rájás, mentioned in the Purá as–and have placed beyond dispute the identity of Chandragupta and Sandrocoptus: thus giving us a fixed point from which to compute the date of other persons and events.

Thus the u Purá a specifies the interval between Chandragupta and the great war to be eleven hundred years; and the occurrence of the latter little more than fourteen centuries B. C., as shewn in my observations on the passage, remarkably concurs with inferences of the like date from different premises. The historical notices that then follow are considerably confused, but they probably afford an accurate picture of the political distractions of India at the time when they were written; and much of the perplexity arises from the corrupt state of the manuscripts, the obscure brevity of the record, and our total want of the means of collateral illustration.

The Fifth Book

The fifth book of the u Purá a is exclusively occupied with the life of a. This is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Purá a, and is one argument against its antiquity. It is possible, though not yet proved, that a as an Avatára of u, is mentioned in an indisputably genuine text of the Vedas. He is conspicuously prominent in the Mahábhárata, but very contradictorily described there. The part that he usually performs is that of a mere mortal, although the passages are numerous that attach divinity to his person.

There are, however, no descriptions in the Mahábhárata of his juvenile frolics, of his sports in Vrindávan, his pastimes with the cow-boys, or even his destruction of the Asuras sent to kill him. These stories have all a modern complexion: they do not harmonize with the tone of the ancient legends, which is generally grave, and sometimes majestic: they are the creations of a puerile taste, and grovelling imagination.

These Chapters of the u Purá a offer some difficulties as to their originality: they are the same as those on the same subject in the Brahmá Purá a: they are not very dissimilar to those of the Bhágavata.

The latter has some incidents which the u has not, and may therefore be thought to have improved upon the prior narrative of the latter. On the other hand, abridgment is equally a proof of posteriority as amplification. The simpler style of the u Purá a is however in favour of its priority; and the miscellaneous composition of the Brahmá

Purá a renders it likely to have borrowed these chapters from the u. The life of

a in the Hari-van a and the Brahma-vaivartta are indisputably of later date.

The Sixth Book

The last book contains an account of the dissolution of the world, in both its major and minor cataclysms; and in the particulars of the end of all things by fire and water, as well as in the principle of their perpetual renovation, presents a faithful exhibition of opinions that were general in the ancient world. The metaphysical annihilation of the universe, by the release of the spirit from bodily existence, offers, as already remarked, other analogies to doctrines and practices taught by Pythagoras and Plato, and by the Platonic Christians of later days.

Date of the u Purá a

The u Purá a has kept very clear of particulars from which an approximation to its date may be conjectured. No place is described of which the sacredness has any known limit, nor any work cited of probable recent composition. The Vedas, the Purá as, other works forming the body of Sanscrit literature, are named; and so is the Mahábhárata, to which therefore it is subsequent. Both Bauddhas and Jains are adverted to.

It was therefore written before the former had disappeared; but they existed in some parts of India as late as the twelfth century at least; and it is probable that the Purá a was compiled before that period. The Gupta kings reigned in the seventh century; the historical record of the Purá a which mentions them was therefore later: and there seems little doubt that the same alludes to the first incursions of the Mohammedans, which took place in the eighth century; which brings it still lower. In describing the latter dynasties, some, if not all, of which were no doubt contemporary, they are described as reigning altogether one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six years.

Why this duration should have been chosen does not appear, unless, in conjunction with the number of years which are said to have elapsed between the great war and the last of the Andhra dynasty, which preceded these different races, and which amounted to two thousand three hundred and fifty, the compiler was influenced by the actual date at which he wrote.

The aggregate of the two periods would be the Kálí year 4146, equivalent to A. D. 1045. There are some variety and indistinctness in the enumeration of the periods which compose this total, but the date which results from it is not unlikely to be an approximation to that of the u Purá a.

It is the boast of inductive philosophy, that it draws its conclusions from the careful observation and accumulation of facts; and it is equally the business of all philosophical research to determine its facts before it ventures upon speculation. This procedure has not been observed in the investigation of the mythology and traditions of the Hindus.

Impatience to generalize has availed itself greedily of whatever promised to afford materials for generalization; and the most erroneous views have been confidently advocated, because the guides to which their authors trusted were ignorant or insufficient. The information gleaned by Sir Wm. Jones was gathered in an early season of Sanscrit study, before the field was cultivated.

The same may be said of the writings of Paulinus a St. Barolomæo, with the further disadvantage of his having been imperfectly acquainted with the Sanscrit language and literature, and his veiling his deficiencies under loftiness of pretension and a prodigal display of misapplied erudition.

The documents to which Wilford trusted proved to be in great part fabrications, and where genuine, were mixed up with so much loose and unauthenticated matter, and so overwhelmed with extravagance of speculation, that his citations need to be carefully and skilfully sifted, before they can be serviceably employed. The descriptions of Ward are too deeply tinctured by his prejudices to be implicitly confided in; and they are also derived in a great measure from the oral or written communications of Bengali pandits, who are not in general very deeply read in the authorities of their mythology.

The accounts of Polier were in like manner collected from questionable sources, and his Mythologie des Hindous presents a heterogeneous mixture of popular and Paurá ik tales, of ancient traditions, and legends apparently invented for the occasion, which renders the publication worse than useless, except in the hands of those who can distinguish the pure metal from the alloy. Such are the authorities to which Maurice, Faber, and Creuzer have exclusively trusted in their description of the Hindu mythology, and it is no marvel that there should have been an utter confounding of good and bad in their selection of materials, and an inextricable mixture of truth and error in their conclusions.

Their labours accordingly are far from entitled to that confidence which their learning and industry would else have secured; and a sound and comprehensive survey of the Hindu system is still wanting to the comparative analysis of the religious opinions of the ancient world, and to a satisfactory elucidation of an important chapter in the history of the human race. It is with the hope of supplying some of the necessary means for the accomplishment of these objects, that the following pages have been translated.

Conclusion

The translation of the u Purá a has been made from a collation of various manuscripts in my possession. I had three when I commenced the work, two in the Devanagari, and one in the Bengali character: a fourth, from the west of India, was given to me by Major Jervis, when some progress had been made: and in conducting the latter half of the translation through the press, I have compared it with three other copies in the library of the East India Company. All these copies closely agree; presenting no other differences than occasional varieties of reading, owing chiefly to the inattention or inaccuracy of the transcriber.

Four of the copies were accompanied by a commentary, essentially the sane, although occasionally varying; and ascribed, in part at least, to two different scholiasts. The annotations on the first two books and the fifth are in two MSS. said to be the work of

rídhara Yati, the disciple of Paránanda, and who is therefore the same as rídhara Swámí, the commentator on the Bhágavata.

In the other three books these two MSS. concur with other two in naming the commentator Ratnagarbha a, who in those two is the author of the notes on the entire work. The introductory verses of his comment specify him to be the disciple of Vidya-váchaspati, the son of ! yagarbha, and grandson of Mádhava, who composed his commentary by desire of Súryákara, son of Ratínath, Mi ra, son of Chandrákara, hereditary ministers of some sovereign who is not particularized. In the illustrations which are attributed to these different writers there is so much conformity, that one or other is largely indebted to his predecessor.

They both refer to earlier commentaries. rídhara cites the works of Chit-sukha-yoni and others, both more extensive and more concise; between which, his own, which he terms Átma- or Swa-prakása, ‘self-illuminator,’ holds an intermediate character. Ratnagarbha entitles his, avákúta chandriká, ‘the moonlight of devotion to u.’ The dates of these commentators are not ascertainable, as far as I am aware, from any of the particulars which they have specified.

In the notes which I have added to the translation, I have been desirous chiefly of comparing the statements of the text with those of other Purá as, and pointing out the circumstances in which they differ or agree; so as to render the present publication a sort of concordance to the whole, as it is not very probable that many of them will be published or translated. The Index that follows has been made sufficiently copious to answer the purposes of a mythological and historical dictionary, as far as the Purá as, or the greater number of them, furnish, materials.

In rendering the text into English, I have adhered to it as literally as was compatible with some regard to the usages of English composition. In general the original presents few difficulties.

The style of the Purá as is very commonly humble and easy, and the narrative is plainly and unpretendingly told. In the addresses to the deities, in the expatiations upon the divine nature, in the descriptions of the universe, and in argumentative and metaphysical discussion, there occur passages in which the difficulty arising from the subject itself is enhanced by the brief and obscure manner in which it is treated.

On such occasions I derived much aid from the commentary, but it is possible that I may have sometimes misapprehended and misrepresented the original; and it is also possible that I may have sometimes failed to express its purport with sufficient precision to have made it intelligible.

I trust, however, that this will not often be the case, and that the translation of the u Purá a will be of service and of interest to the few, who in these times of utilitarian selfishness, conflicting opinion, party virulence, and political agitation, can find a restingplace for their thoughts in the tranquil contemplation of those yet living pictures of the ancient world which are exhibited by the literature and mythology of the Hindus.

CHAP. I.–Invocation. Maitreya inquires of his teacher, Pará ara, the origin and nature of the universe. Pará ara performs a rite to destroy the demons: reproved by Va ha, he desists: Pulastya appears, and bestows upon him divine knowledge: he repeats the Vis u Purá a. u the origin, existence, and end of all things.

CHAP. II.–Prayer of Pará ara to u. Successive narration of the u Purá a. Explanation of Vásudeva: his existence before creation: his first manifestations.

Description of Pradhána, or the chief principle of things. Cosmogony. Of Prákrita, or material creation; of time; of the active cause. Development of effects; Mahat; Ahankára; Tanmátras; elements; objects of sense; senses; of the mundane egg. u the same as Brahmá the creator; u the preserver; Rudra the destroyer.

CHAP. III.–Measure of time. Moments or Ká hás, &c.; day and night, fortnight, month, year, divine year: Yugas, or ages: Maháyuga, or great age: day of Brahmá: periods of the Manus: a Manwantara: night of Brahmá, and destruction of the world: a year of Brahmá: his life: a Kalpa: a Parárddha: the past, or Pádma Kalpa: the present, or Váráha.

CHAP. IV.–Nárá a’s appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varáha or boar: Prithiví (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.

CHAP. V.– u as Brahmá creates the world. General characteristics of creation. Brahmá meditates, and gives origin to immovable things, animals, gods, men. Specific creation of nine kinds; Mahat, Tanmátra, Aindríya, inanimate objects, animals, gods, men, Anugraha, and Kaumára. More particular account of creation. Origin of different orders of beings from Brahmá’s body under different conditions;and of the Vedas from his mouths. All things created again as they existed in a former Kalpa.

CHAP. VI.–Origin of the four castes: their primitive state. Progress of society. Different kinds of grain. Efficacy of sacrifice. Duties of men: regions. assigned them after death.

CHAP. VII.–Creation continued. Production of the mind-born sons of Brahmá; of the Prajápatis; of Sanandana and others; of Rudra and the eleven Rudras; of the Manu Swáyambhuva, and his wife atarúpá; of their children, The daughters of Daksha, and their marriage to Dharma and others. The progeny of Dharma and Adharma. The perpetual succession of worlds, and different modes of mundane dissolution.

CHAP. VIII.–Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras: their wives and children. The posterity of Bhrigu. Account of rí in conjunction with u. (Sacrifice of Daksha.

CHAP. IX.–Legend of Lakshmí. Durvásas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the Dánavas, and have recourse to u. The churning of the ocean. Praises of rí.

CHAP. X.–The descendants of the daughters of Daksha married to the Rishis.

CHAP. XI.–Legend of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda: he is unkindly treated by his father’s second wife: applies to his mother: her advice: he resolves to engage in religious exercises: sees the seven Rishis, who recommend him to propitiate u.

CHAP. XII.–Dhruva commences a course of religious austerities. Unsuccessful attempts of Indra and his ministers to distract Dhruva’s attention: they appeal to u, who allays their fears, and appears to Dhruva. Dhruva praises u, and is raised to the skies as the pole-star.

CHAP. XIII.–Posterity of Dhruva. Legend of a: his impiety: he is put to death by the Rishis. Anarchy ensues. The production of Nisháda and Prithu: the latter the first king.

The origin of Súta and Mágadha: they enumerate the duties of kings. Prithu compels Earth to acknowledge his authority: he levels it: introduces cultivation: erects cities. Earth called after bins Prithiví: typified as a cow.

CHAP. XIV.–Descendants of Prithu. Legend of the Prachetasas: they are desired by their father to multiply mankind, by worshipping u: they plunge into the sea, and meditate on and praise him: he appears, and grants their wishes.

CHAP. XV.–The world overrun with trees: they are destroyed by the Prachetasas. Soma pacifies them, and gives them Márishá to wife: her story: the daughter of the nymph Pramlochá. Legend of u. Márishá’s former history. Daksha the son of the Prachetasas: his different characters: his sons: his daughters: their marriages and progeny: allusion to Prahláda, his descendant.

CHAP. XVI.–Inquiries of Maitreya respecting the history of Prahláda.

CHAP. XVII.–Legend of Prahláda. ! yaka ipu the sovereign of the universe: the gods dispersed, or in servitude to him: Prahláda, his son, remains devoted to u: questioned by his father, he praises u: ! yaka ipu orders him to be put to death, but in vain: his repeated deliverance: he teaches his companions to adore u.

CHAP. XVIII.–! yaka ipu’s reiterated attempts to destroy his son: their being always frustrated.

CHAP. XIX.–Dialogue between Prahláda and his father: he is cast from the top of the palace unhurt: baffles the incantations of Samvara: he is thrown fettered into the sea: he praises u.

CHAP. XX.– u appears to Prahláda. ! yaka ipu relents, and is reconciled to his son: he is put to death by u as the Nrisinha. Prahláda becomes king of the Daityas: his posterity: fruit of hearing his story.

CHAP. XXI.–Families of the Daityas. Descendants of Ka yapa by Danu. Children of Ka yapa by his other wives. Birth of the Márutas, the sons of Diti.

CHAP. XXII.–Dominion over different provinces of creation assigned to different beings. Universality of u. Four varieties of spiritual contemplation. Two conditions of spirit. The perceptible attributes of u types of his imperceptible properties.

u every thing. Merit of hearing the first book of the u Purá a.

BOOK II.

CHAP. I.–Descendants of Priyavrata, the eldest son of Swáyambhuva Manu: his ten sons: three adopt a religious life; the others become kings of the seven Dwípas, or isles, of the earth. Agnídhra, king of Jambu-dwípa, divides it into nine portions, which he distributes amongst his sons. Nábhi, king of the south, succeeded by Rishabha; and he by Bharata: India named after him Bhárata: his descendants reign during the Swáyambhuva Manwantara.

CHAP. II.–Description of the earth. The seven Dwípas and seven seas. Jambu-dwípa. Mount Meru: its extent and boundaries. Extent of Ilávrita. Groves, lakes, and branches of Meru. Cities of the gods. Rivers. The forms of u worshipped in different Varshas.

CHAP. III.–Description of Bharata-varsha: extent: chief mountains: nine divisions: principal rivers and mountains of Bhárata proper: principal nations: superiority over other Varshas, especially as the seat of religious acts. (Topographical lists).

CHAP. IV.–Account of kings, divisions, mountains, rivers, and inhabitants of the other Dwípas, viz. Plaksha, álmala, Ku a, Krauncha, áka, and Pushkara: of the oceans separating them: of the tides: of the confines of the earth: the Lokáloka mountain. Extent of the whole.

CHAP. V.–Of the seven regions of Pátála, below the earth. Nárada’s praises of Pátála. Account of the serpent esha. First teacher of astronomy and astrology.

CHAP. VI.–Of the different hells, or divisions of Naraka, below Pátála: the crimes punished in them respectively: efficacy of expiation: meditation on u the most effective expiation.

CHAP. VII.–Extent and situation of the seven spheres, viz. earth, sky, planets, Mahar- loka, Jana-loka, Tapo-loka, and Satya-loka. Of the egg of Brahmá, and its elementary envelopes. Of the influence of the energy of u.

CHAP. VIII.–Description of the sun: his chariot; its two axles: his horses. The cities of the regents of the cardinal points. The sun’s course: nature of his rays: his path along the ecliptic. Length of day and night. Divisions of time: equinoxes and solstices, months, years, the cyclical Yuga, or age of five years. Northern and southern declinations. Saints on the Lokáloka mountain. Celestial paths of the Pitris, gods, u. Origin of Gangá, and separation, on the top of Meru, into four great rivers.

CHAP. IX.–Planetary system, under the type of a i umára, or porpoise. The earth nourished by the sun. Of rain whilst the sun shines. Of rain from clouds. Rain the support of vegetation, and thence of animal life. Nárá a the support of all beings.

CHAP. X.–Names of the twelve Ádityas. Names of the Rishis, Gandharbas, Apsarasas, Yakshas, Uragas, and Rákshasas, who attend the chariot of the sun in each month of the year. Their respective functions.

CHAP. XI.–The sun distinct from, and supreme over, the attendants on his car: identical with the three Vedas and with u: his functions.

CHAP. XII.–Description of the moon: his chariot, horses, and course: fed by the sun: drained periodically of ambrosia by the progenitors and gods. The chariots and horses of the planets: kept in their orbits by aerial chains attached to Dhruva. Typical members of the planetary porpoise. Vásudeva alone real.

CHAP. XIII.–Legend of Bharata. Bharata abdicates his throne, and becomes an ascetic: cherishes a fawn, and becomes so much attached to it as to neglect his devotions: he dies: his successive births: works in the fields, and is pressed as a palankin-bearer for the Rájá of Sauvíra: rebuked for his awkwardness: his reply: dialogue between him and the king..

CHAP. XIV.–Dialogue continued. Bharata expounds the nature of existence, the end of life, and the identification of individual with universal spirit.

CHAP. XV.–Bharata relates the story of Ribhu and Nidágha. The latter, the pupil of the former, becomes a prince, and is visited by his preceptor, who explains to him the principles of unity, and departs.

CHAP. XVI.–Ribhu returns to his disciple, and perfects him in divine knowledge. The same recommended to the Rájá by Bharata, who thereupon obtains final liberation.

Consequences of hearing this legend.

BOOK III.

CHAP. I.–Account of the several Manus and Manwantaras. Swárochisha the second Manu: the divinities, the Indra, the seven Rishis of his period, and his sons. Similar details of Auttami, Támasa, Raivata, Chákshusha, and Vaivaswata. The forms of u, as the preserver, in each Manwantara. The meaning of u.

CHAP. II.–Of the seven future Manus and Manwantaras. Story of Sanjná and Chháyá, wives of the sun. Sá i, son of Chháyá, the eighth Manu. His successors, with the divinities, &c. of their respective periods. Appearance of u in each of the four Yugas.

CHAP. III.–Division of the Veda into four portions, by a Vyása, in every Dwápara age. List of the twenty-eight Vyásas of the present Manwantara. Meaning of the word Brahma.

CHAP. IV.–Division of the Veda, in the last Dwápara age, by the Vyása a Dwaipáyana. Paila made reader of the Rich; Vai ampáyana of the Yajush; Jaimini of the Sáman; and Sumantu of the Atharvan. Súta appointed to teach the historical poems.

Origin of the four parts of the Veda. Sanhitás of the Rig-veda.

CHAP. V.–Divisions of the Yajur-veda. Story of Yájnawalkya: forced to give up what he has learned: picked up by others, forming the Taittiríya-yajush. Yájnawalkya worships the sun, who communicates to him the Vájasaneyí-yajush.

CHAP. VI.–Divisions of the Sáma-veda: of the Atharva-veda. Four Paurá ik Sanhitás. Names of the eighteen Purá as. Branches of knowledge. Classes of Rishis.

CHAP. VII.–By what means men are exempted from the authority of Yama, as narrated by Bhíshma to Nakula. Dialogue between Yama and one of his attendants. Worshippers of u not subject to Yama. How they are to be known.

CHAP. VIII.–How u is to be worshipped, as related by Aurva to Sagara. Duties of the four castes, severally and in common: also in time of distress.

CHAP. IX.–Duties of the religious student, householder, hermit, and mendicant.

CHAP. X.–Ceremonies to be observed at the birth and naming of a child. Of marrying, or leading a religious life. Choice of a wife. Different modes of marrying.

CHAP. XI.–Of the Sadácháras, or perpetual obligations of a householder. Daily purifications, ablutions, libations, and oblations: hospitality: obsequial rites: ceremonies to be observed at meals, at morning and evening worship, and on going to rest.

CHAP. XII.–Miscellaneous obligations–purificatory, ceremonial, and moral.

CHAP. XIII.–Of ráddhas, or rites in honour of ancestors, to be performed on occasions

of rejoicing. Obsequial ceremonies. Of the ” a

or monthly ráddha, and the

Sap a

na or annual one. By whom to be performed.

CHAP. XIV.–Of occasional ráddhas, or obsequial ceremonies: when most efficacious, and at what places.

CHAP. XV.–What Brahmans are to be entertained at ráddhas. Different prayers to be recited. Offerings of food to be presented to deceased ancestors.

CHAP. XVI.–Things proper to be offered as food to deceased ancestors: prohibited things. Circumstances vitiating a ráddha: how to be avoided. Song of the Pitris, or progenitors, heard by Ikshwáku.

CHAP. XVII.–Of heretics, or those who reject the authority of the Vedas: their origin, as described by Va ha to Bhíshma: the gods, defeated by the Daityas, praise u: an illusory being, or Buddha, produced from his body.

CHAP. XVIII.–Buddha goes to the earth, and teaches the Daityas to contemn the Vedas: his sceptical doctrines: his prohibition of animal sacrifices. Meaning of the term Bauddha. Jainas and Bauddhas; their tenets. The Daityas lose their power, and are overcome by the gods. Meaning of the term Nagna. Consequences of neglect of duty.

Story of atadhanu and his wife aivyá. Communion with heretics to be shunned.

BOOK IV.

CHAP. I.–Dynasties of kings. Origin of the solar dynasty from Brahmá. Sons of the Manu Vaivaswata. Transformations of Ilá or Sudyumna. Descendants of the sons of

Vaivaswat: those of # a

. Greatness of Márutta. Kings of Vai álí. Descendants of

aryáti. Legend of Raivata: iris daughter Revatí married to Balaráma.

CHAP. II.–Dispersion of Revata’s descendants: those of $ a

: those of Nábhága.

Birth of Ikshwáku, the son of Vaivaswata: his sons. Line of Vikukshi. Legend of Kakutstha; of Dhundhumára; of Yuvaná wa; of Mándhátri: his daughters married to Saubhari.

CHAP. III.–Saubhari and his wives adopt an ascetic life. Descendants of Mándhátri. Legend of Narmadá and Purukutsa. Legend of Tri anku. Báhu driven from his kingdom by the Haihayas and Tálajanghas. Birth of Sagara: he conquers the barbarians, imposes upon them distinguishing usages, and excludes them from offerings to fire, and the study of the Vedas.

CHAP. IV.–The progeny of Sagara: their wickedness: he performs an A wamedha: the horse stolen by Kapila: found by Sagara’s sons, who are all destroyed by the sage: the horse recovered by An umat: his descendants. Legend of Mitrasaha or Kalmáshapáda, the son of Sudása. Legend of wánga. Birth of Ráma and the other sons of Da aratha. Epitome of the history of Ráma: his descendants, and those of his brothers. Line of Ku a. Vrihadbala, the last, killed in the great war.

CHAP. V.–Kings of Mithilá. Legend of Nimi, the son of Ikshwáku. Birth of Janaka. Sacrifice of Síradhwaja. Origin of Sítá. Descendants of Ku adhwaja. Krita the last of the Maithila princes.

CHAP. VI.–Kings of the lunar dynasty. Origin of Soma or the moon: he carries off Tárá, the wife of Vrihaspati: war between the gods and Asuras in consequence: appeased by Brahmá. Birth of Budha: married to Ilá, daughter of Vaivaswata. Legend of his son Purúravas, and the nymph Urva í: the former institutes offerings with fire: ascends to the sphere of the Gandharbas,

CHAP. VII.–Sons of Purúravas. Descendants of Amávasu. Indra born as Gádhi. Legend of Richíka and Satyavatí. Birth of Jamadagni and Vi wámitra. Para uráma the son of the former. (Legend of Para uráma.) Sunah ephas and others the sons of Vi wámitra, forming the Kau ika race.

CHAP. VIII.–Sons of Áyus. Line of Kshatravriddha, or kings of Ká í. Former birth of Dhanwantari. Various names of Pratarddana. Greatness of Alarka.

CHAP. IX.–Descendants of Raji, son of Áyus: Indra resigns his throne to him: claimed after his death by his sons, who apostatize from the religion of the Vedas, and are destroyed by Indra. Descendants of Pratíkshatra, son of Kshatravriddha.

CHAP. X.–The sons of Nahusha. The sons of Yayáti: he is cursed by ukra: wishes his sons to exchange their vigour for his infirmities. Puru alone consents. Yayáti restores him his youth: divides the earth amongst his sons, under the supremacy of Puru.

CHAP. XI.–The Yádava race, or descendants of Yadu. Kárttavírya obtains a boon from Dattátreya: takes Rá a prisoner: is killed by Para uráma: his descendants.

CHAP. XIII.–Descendants of r i. Jyámagha’s connubial affection for his wife

aivyá: their descendants kings of Vidarbha and Chedi.

CHAP. XIII.–Sons of Satwata. Bhoja princes of Mrittikávatí. Súrya the friend of Satrájit: appears to him in a bodily form: gives him the Syamantaka gem: its brilliance and marvellous properties. Satrájit gives it to Prasena, who is killed by a lion: the lion killed by the bear Jámbavat. a suspected of killing Prasena, goes to look for him in the forests: traces the bear to his cave: fights with him for the jewel: the contest prolonged: supposed by his companions to be slain: he overthrows Jámbavat, and marries his daughter Jámbavatí: returns with her and the jewel to Dwáraká: restores the jewel to Satrájit, and marries his daughter Satyabhámá.

Satrájit murdered by atadhanwan: avenged by a. Quarrel between a and Balaráma. Akrúra possessed of the jewel: leaves Dwáraká. Public calamities. Meeting of the Yádavas. Story of Akrúra’s birth: he is invited to return: accused by a of having the Syamantaka jewel: produces it in full assembly: it remains in his charge: a acquitted of having purloined it.

CHAP. XIV.–Descendants of ini, of Anamitra, of waphalka and Chitraka, of Andhaka. The children of Devaka and Ugrasena. The descendants of Bhajamána. Children of úra: his son Vásudeva: his daughter Pritha married to Pá u: her children,

hira and his brothers; also a by Áditya. The sons of Pá u

by Mádrí.

Husbands and children of úra’s other daughters. Previous births of i upála.

CHAP. XV.–Explanation of the reason why i upála in his previous births as

! yaka ipu and Rá a was not identified with u on being slain by him, and was so identified when killed as i upála. The wives of Vásudeva: his children: Balaráma and a his sons by Devakí: born apparently of í and Yasodá. The wives and children of a. Multitude of the descendants of Yadu.

CHAP. XVI.–Descendants of Turvasu. CHAP. XVII.–Descendants of Druhyu.

CHAP. XVIII.–Descendants of Anu. Countries and towns named after some of them, as Anga, Banga, and others.

CHAP. XIX.–Descendants of Puru. Birth of Bharata, the son of Dushyanta: his sons killed: adopts Bharadwája or Vitatha. Hastin, founder of Hastinapur. Sons of Ajámí ha, and the races derived from them, as Pánchálas, &c. Kripa and Kripí found by ántanu. Descendants of Riksha, the son of Ajámí ha. Kurukshetra named from Kuru. Jarásandha and others, kings of Magadhá.

CHAP. XX.–Descendants of Kuru. Devápi abdicates the throne: assumed by Sántanu: he is confirmed by the Brahmans: Bhíshma his son by Gangá: his other sons. Birth of Dhritará r a, Pá u, and Vidura. The hundred sons of Dhritará r a. The five sons of

Pá u: married to Draupadí: their posterity. Paríkshit, the grandson of Arjuna, the reigning king.

CHAP. XXI.–Future kings. Descendants of Paríkshit, ending with Kshemaka. CHAP. XXII.–Future kings of the family of Ikshwáku, ending with Sumitra. CHAP. XXIII.–Future kings of Magadhá, descendants of Vrihadratha.

CHAP. XXIV.–Future kings of Magadhá. Five princes of the line of Pradyota. Ten

ai unágas. Nine Nandas. Ten Mauryas. Ten ungas. Four was. Thirty Ándhrabhrityas. Kings of various tribes and castes, and periods of their rule. Ascendancy of barbarians. Different races in different regions.

Period of universal iniquity and decay. Coming of u as Kalki. Destruction of the wicked, and restoration of the practices of the Vedas. End of the Kálí, and return of the Krita, age. Duration of the Kálí. Verses chanted by Earth, and communicated by Asita to Jamaka. End of the fourth book.

BOOK V.

CHAP. I.–The death of Kansa announced. Earth, oppressed by the Daityas, applies to the gods. They accompany her to u, who promises to give her relief. Kansa imprisons Vásudeva and Devakí. u’s instructions to Yoganidrá.

CHAP. II.–The conception of Devakí: her appearance: she is praised by the gods.

CHAP. III.–Birth of a: conveyed by Vásudeva to Mathurá, and exchanged with the new-born daughter of Ya odá. Kansa attempts to destroy the latter, who becomes Yoganidrá.

CHAP. IV.–Kansa addresses his friends, announces their danger, and orders male children to be put to death.

CHAP. V.–Nanda returns with the infants a and Balaráma to Gokula. Pútaná killed by the former. Prayers of Nanda and Ya odá.

CHAP. VI.– a overturns a waggon: casts down two trees. The Gopas depart to Vrindávana. Sports of the boys. Description of the season of the rains.

CHAP. VII. a combats the serpent Kálíya: alarm of his parents and companions: he overcomes the serpent, and is propitiated by him: commands him to depart from the Yamuná river to the ocean.

CHAP. VIII.–The demon Dhenuka destroyed by Ráma.

CHAP. IX.–Sports of the boys in the forest. Pralamba the Asura comes amongst them: is destroyed by Ráma, at the command of a.

CHAP. X.–Description of autumn. a dissuades Nanda from worshipping Indra: recommends him and the Gopas to worship cattle and the mountains.

CHAP. XI.–Indra, offended by the loss of his offerings, causes heavy rains to deluge Gokula. a holds up the mountain Govarddhana to shelter the cowherds and their cattle.

CHAP. XII.–Indra comes to Gokula: praises a, and makes him prince over the cattle. a promises to befriend Arjuna.

CHAP. XIII.– a praised by the cowherds: his sports with the Gopís: their imitation and love of him. The Rása dance.

CHAP. XIV,– a kills the demon a

, in the form of a bull.

CHAP. XV.–Kansa informed by Nárada of the existence of a and Balaráma: he sends Ke in to destroy them, and Akúra to bring them to Mathurá.

CHAP. XVI.–Ke in, in the form of a horse, slain by a: he is praised by Nárada.

CHAP. XVII.–Akrúra’s meditation on a: his arrival at Gokula: his delight at seeing a and his brother.

CHAP. XVIII.–Grief of the Gopís on the departure of a and Balaráma with Akrúra: their leaving Gokula. Akrúra bathes in the Yamuná; beholds the divine forms of the two youths, and praises u.

CHAP. XIX.–Akrúra conveys a and Ráma near to Mathurá, and leaves them: they enter the town. Insolence of Kansa’s washerman: a kills him. Civility of a flower- seller: a gives him his benediction.

CHAP. XX.– a and Balaráma meet Kubja; she is made straight by the former: they proceed to the palace. a breaks a bow intended for a trial of arms. Kansa’s orders to his servants. Public games. a and his brother enter the arena: the former wrestles with Chá úra, the latter with % i ka, the king’s wrestlers; who are both killed. a attacks and slays Kansa: he and Balaráma do homage to Vásudeva and Devakí: the former praises a.

CHAP. XXI.– a encourages his parents; places Ugrasena on the throne; becomes the pupil of Sándipaní, whose son he recovers from the sea: he kills the marine demon Panchajana, and makes a horn of his shell.

CHAP. XXII.–Jarásandha besieges Mathurá; is defeated, but repeatedly renews the attack.

CHAP. XXIII.–Birth of Kálayavana: he advances against Mathurá. a builds Dwáraká, and sends thither the Yádava tribe: he leads Kálayavana into the cave of Muchukunda: the latter awakes, consumes the Yavana king, and praises a.

CHAP. XXIV.–Muchukunda goes to perform penance. a takes the army and treasures of Kálayavana, and repairs with them to Dwáraká. Balaráma visits Vraja: inquiries of its inhabitants after a.

CHAP. XXV.–Balaráma finds wine in the hollow of a tree; becomes inebriated; commands the Yamuná to come to him, and on her refusal drags her out of her course: Lakshmí gives him ornaments and a dress: he returns to Dwáraká, and marries Revatí.

CHAP. XXVI.– a carries off Rukminí: the princes who come to rescue her repulsed by Balaráma. Rukmin overthrown, but spared by a, founds & a. Pradyumna born of Rukminí.

CHAP. XXVII.–Pradyumna stolen by Sambara; thrown into the sea, and swallowed by a fish; found by Máyádeví: he kills Sambara, marries Máyádeví, and returns with her to Dwáraká. Joy of Rukminí and a.

CHAP. XXVIII.–Wives of a. Pradyumna has Aniruddha: nuptials of the latter. Balaráma beat at dice, becomes incensed, and slays Rukmin and others.

CHAP. XXIX.–Indra comes to Dwáraká, and reports to a the tyranny of Naraka.

a goes to his city, and puts him to death. Earth gives the earrings of Adití to

Kri a, and praises him. He liberates the princesses made captive by Naraka, sends them to Dwáraká, and goes to Swarga with Satyabhámá.

CHAP. XXXI.– a restores her earrings to Adití, and is praised by her: he visits the gardens of Indra, and at the desire of Satyabhámá carries off the Párijáta tree. achí excites Indra to its rescue. Conflict between the gods and a, who defeats them.

Satyabhámá derides them. They praise a.

CHAP. XXXI.– a, with Indra’s consent, takes the Párijáta tree to Dwáraká; marries the princesses rescued from Naraka.

CHAP. XXXII.–Children of a. Ushá, the daughter of Bá a, sees Aniruddha in a dream, and becomes enamoured of him.

CHAP. XXXIII.–Bá a solicits iva for war: finds Aniruddha in the palace, and makes him prisoner. a, Balaráma, and Pradyumna come to his rescue. iva and Skanda aid Bá a: the former is disabled; the latter put to flight. Bá a encounters a, who cuts off all his arms, and is about to put him to death. iva intercedes, and a spares his life. u and iva are the same.

CHAP. XXXIV.– r aka, a Vásudeva, assumes the insignia and style of a, supported by the king of Kai. a marches against, and destroys them. The son of the king sends a magical being against a: destroyed by his discus, which also sets Benares on fire, and consumes it and its inhabitants.

CHAP. XXXV.– ámba carries off the daughter of Duryodhana, but is taken prisoner. Balaráma comes to Hastinapur, and demands his liberation: it is refused: in his wrath he drags the city towards him, to throw it into the river. The Kuru chiefs give up ámba and his wife.

CHAP. XXXVI.–The Asura Dwivida, in the form of an ape, destroyed by Balaráma.

CHAP. XXXVII.–Destruction of the Yádavas. ámba and others deceive and ridicule the Rishis. The former bears an iron pestle: it is broken, and thrown into the sea. The Yádavas go to Prabhása by desire of a: they quarrel and fight, and all perish. The great serpent esha issues from the mouth of Ráma. a is shot by a hunter, and again becomes one with universal spirit.

CHAP. XXXVIII.–Arjuna comes to Dwáraká, and burns the dead, and takes away the surviving inhabitants. Commencement of the Kálí age. Shepherds and thieves attack Arjuna, and carry off the women and wealth. Arjuna regrets the loss of his prowess to

Vyása; who consoles him, and tells him the story of á

vakra’s cursing the Apsarasas.

Arjuna and his brothers place Paríkshit on the throne, and go to the forests. End of the fifth book.

BOOK VI.

CHAP. I.–Of the dissolution of the world: the four ages: the decline of all things, and deterioration of mankind, in the Kálí age.

CHAP. II.–Redeeming properties of the Kálí age. Devotion to u sufficient to salvation in that age for all castes and persons.

CHAP. III.–Three different kinds of dissolution. Duration of a Parárddha. The Clepsydra, or vessel for measuring time. The dissolution that occurs at the end of a day of Brahmá.

CHAP. IV.–Continuation of the account of the first kind of dissolution. Of the second kind, or elemental dissolution; of all being resolved into primary spirit.

CHAP. V.–The third kind of dissolution, or final liberation from existence. Evils of worldly life. Sufferings in infancy, manhood, old age. Pains of hell. Imperfect felicity of heaven. Exemption from birth desirable by the wise. The nature of spirit or god. Meaning of the terms Bhagavat and Vásudeva.

CHAP. VI.–Means of attaining liberation. Anecdotes of Khá i kya and Ke idhwaja. The former instructs the latter how to atone for permitting the death of a cow. Ke idhwaja offers him a requital, and he desires to be instructed in spiritual knowledge.

CHAP. VII.–Ke idhwaja describes the nature of ignorance, and the benefits of the Yoga, or contemplative devotion. Of the novice and the adept in the performance of the Yoga. How it is performed. The first stage, proficiency in acts of restraint and moral duty: the second, particular mode of sitting: the third, Pránáyáma, modes of breathing: the fourth, Pratyáhára, restraint of thought: the fifth, apprehension of spirit: the sixth, retention of the idea. Meditation on the individual and universal forms of u. Acquirement of knowledge. Final liberation,

CHAP. VIII.–Conclusion of the dialogue between Pará ara and Maitreya. Recapitulation of the contents of the u Purá a: merit of hearing it: how handed down. Praises of

Concluding prayer.

U PURÁ A. BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

Invocation. Maitreya inquires of his teacher, Pará ara, the origin and nature of the universe. Pará ara performs a rite to destroy the demons: reproved by Va ha, he desists: Pulastya appears, and bestows upon him divine knowledge: he repeats the u Purá a. u the origin, existence, and end of all things.

OM! GLORY TO VÁSUDEVA Victory be to thee, a

ríkáksha; adoration be to thee,

Víswabhávana; glory be to thee, Hrishike a, Mahápurusha, and Púrvaja.

May that u, who is the existent, imperishable, Brahma, who is Í wara, who is spirit; who with the three qualities is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; who is the parent of nature, intellect, and the other ingredients of the universe; be to us the bestower of understanding, wealth, and final emancipation.

Having adored u, the lord of all, and paid reverence to Brahmá and the rest; having also saluted the spiritual preceptor; I will narrate a Purá a equal in sanctity to the Vedas.

Maitreya, having saluted him reverentially, thus addressed Pará ara, the excellent sage, the grandson of Va ha, who was versed in traditional history, and the Purá as; who was acquainted with the Vedas, and the branches of science dependent upon them; and skilled in law and philosophy; and who had performed the morning rites of devotion.

Maitreya said, Master! I have been instructed by you in the whole of the Vedas, and in the institutes of law and of sacred science: through your favour, other men, even though they be my foes, cannot accuse me of having been remiss in the acquirement of knowledge. I am now desirous, oh thou who art profound in piety! to hear from thee, how this world was, and how in future it will be? what is its substance, oh Brahman, and whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? into what has it been resolved, and into what will its dissolution again occur? how were the elements manifested? whence proceeded the gods and other beings? what are the situation and extent of the oceans and the mountains, the earth, the sun, and the planets? what are the families of the gods and others, the Menus, the periods called Manwantaras, those termed Kalpas, and their subdivisions, and the four ages: the events that happen at the close of a Kalpa, and the terminations of the several ages: the histories, oh great Muni, of the gods, the sages, and kings; and how the Vedas were divided into branches (or schools), after they had been arranged by Vyása: the duties of the Brahmans, and the other tribes, as well as of those who pass through the different orders of life? All these things I wish to hear from you, grandson of Va ha.

Incline thy thoughts benevolently towards me, that I may, through thy favour, be informed of all I desire to know.

Pará ara replied, Well inquired, pious Maitreya. You recall to my recollection that which was of old narrated by my father’s father, Va ha. I had heard that my father had been devoured by a Rákshas employed by Viswámitra: violent anger seized me, and I commenced a sacrifice for the destruction of the Rákshasas: hundreds of them were reduced to ashes by the rite, when, as they were about to be entirely extirpated, my grandfather Va ha thus spake to me: Enough, my child; let thy wrath be appeased: the Rákshasas are not culpable: thy father’s death was the work of destiny.

Anger is the passion of fools; it becometh not a wise man. By whom, it may be asked, is any one killed? Every man reaps the consequences of his own acts. Anger, my son, is the destruction of all that man obtains by arduous exertions, of fame, and of devout austerities; and prevents the attainment of heaven or of emancipation. The chief sages always shun wrath: he not thou, my child, subject to its influence. Let no more of these unoffending spirits of darkness be consumed. Mercy is the might of the righteous.

Being thus admonished by my venerable grandsire, I immediately desisted from the rite, in obedience to his injunctions, and Va ha, the most excellent of sages, was content with me. Then arrived Pulastya, the son of Brahmá, who was received by my grandfather with the customary marks of respect. The illustrious brother of Pulaha said to me;

Since, in the violence of animosity, you have listened to the words of your progenitor, and have exercised clemency, therefore you shall become learned in every science: since you have forborne, even though incensed, to destroy my posterity, I will bestow upon you another boon, and, you shall become the author of a summary of the Purá as; you shall know the true nature of the deities, as it really is; and, whether engaged in religious rites, or abstaining from their performance, your understanding, through my favour, shall be perfect, and exempt from). doubts. Then my grandsire Va ha added; Whatever has been said to thee by Pulastya, shall assuredly come to pass.

Now truly all that was told me formerly by Va ha, and by the wise Palastya, has been brought to my recollection by your questions, and I will relate to you the whole, even all you have asked. Listen to the complete compendium of the Pur pas, according to its tenour. The world was produced from u: it exists in him: he is the cause of its continuance and cessation: he is the world.

Footnotes

An address of this kind, to one or other Hindu divinity, usually introduces Sanscrit compositions, especially those considered The first term of this mantra or brief prayer, Om or Omkára, is well known as a combination of letters invested by Hindu mysticism with peculiar sanctity. In the Vedas it is said to comprehend all the gods; and in the Purá as it is directed to be prefixed to all such formulæ as that of the text. Thus in the Uttara a of the Pádma Purá a: ‘The syllable Om, the mysterious name, or Brahma, is the leader of all prayers: let it therefore, O lovely-faced, ( iva addresses Durgá,) be employed in the beginning of all prayers:’ According to the same authority, one of the mystical imports of the term is the collective enunciation of u expressed by A, of Srí his bride intimated by U, and of their joint worshipper designated by M. A whole chapter of the Váyu Purá a is devoted to this term.

A text of the Vedas is there cited: ‘Om, the monosyllable Brahma;’ the latter meaning either the Supreme Being or the Vedas collectively, of which this monosyllable is the type. It is also said to typify the three spheres of the world, the three holy fires, the three steps of u, &c.–Frequent meditation upon it, and repetition of it, ensure release from worldly existence. See also Manu, II. 76. Vásudeva, a name of u or a, is, according to its grammatical etymology, a patronymic derivative implying son of Vasudeva. The ava Purá as, however, devise other explanations: see the next chapter, and again, b. VI. c. 5.

In this stanza occurs a series of the appellations of u: 1. a

ríkáksha, having

eyes like a lotus, or heart-pervading; or a

ríka is explained supreme glory, and Aksha

imperishable: the first is the most usual etymon. 2. Víswabhávana, the creator of the universe, or the cause of the existence of all things. 3. Hrishíke a, lord of the senses. 4. Mahá purusha, great or supreme spirit; purusha meaning that which abides or is quiescent in body (puri sété), 5. Púrvaja, produced or appearing before creation; the Orphic

‘()*+, -+.. In the fifth book, c. 18, u is described by five appellations, which are considered analogous to these; or, 1. Bhútátmá, one with created things, or

ríkáksha; 2. Pradhánátmá, one with crude nature, or Vi wabhávana; 3. Indriyátmá,

one with the senses, or Hrishike a; 4. Paramátmá, supreme spirit, or Mahápurusha; and Átmá, soul; living soul, animating nature and existing before it, or Púrvaja.

Brahma, in the neuter form, is abstract supreme spirit; and Í wara is the Deity in his active nature, he who is able to do or leave undone, or to do any thing in any other manner than that in which it is

Pumán which is the same with Purusha, incorporated By this and the two preceding terms also the commentator understands the text to signify that u is any form of spiritual being that is acknowledged by different philosophical systems, or that he is the Brahma of the Vedánta, the Í wara of the Pátanjala, and the Purusha of the Sánkhya school.

The three qualities, to which we shall have further occasion to advert, are, Satya, goodness or purity, knowledge, quiescence; Rajas, foulness, passion, activity; and Tamas, darkness, ignorance,

Pradhánabuddhyádisú. This predicate of the Deity distinguishes most of the Purá as from several of the philosophical systems, which maintain, as did the earliest Grecian systems of cosmogony, the eternal and independent existence of the first principle of things, as nature, matter, or Accordingly, the commentator notices the objection. Pradhána being without beginning, it is said how can u be its parent? To which he replies, that this is not so, for in a period of worldly destruction (Pralaya), when the Creator desists from creating, nothing is generated by virtue of any other energy or parent. Or, if this be not satisfactory, then the text may be understood to imply that intellect (Buddhi) &c. are formed through the materiality of crude nature, or Pradhána.

u is commonly derived in the Purá as from the root Vis, to enter, entering into, or pervading the universe, agreeably to the text of the Vedas, ‘Having created that (world), he then afterwards enters into it;’ being, as our comment observes, undistinguished by place, time, or According to the Mátsya P. the name alludes to his entering into the mundane egg: according to the Padma P., to his entering into or combining with Prakriti, as Purusha or spirit. In the Moksha Dharma of the Mahábhárata,
165, the word is derived from the root ví, signifying motion, pervasion, production, radiance; or, irregularly, from krama, to go with the particle vi, implying, variously, prefixed.

Brahmá and the rest is said to apply to the series of teachers through whom this Purá a was transmitted from its first reputed author, Brahmá, to its actual narrator, the sage

Pará ara. See also b. VI. c. 8.

The Guru, or spiritual preceptor, is said to be Kapila or Sáraswata; the latter is included in the series of teachers of the Purá Pará ara must be considered also as a disciple of Kapila, as a teacher of the Sánkhya philosophy.

Maitreya is the disciple of Pará ara, who relates the u Purá a to him; he is also one of the chief interlocutors in the Bhágavata, and is introduced in the Mahábhárata (Vana Parva, 10.) as a great Rishi, or sage, who denounces Duryodhana’s death. In the Bhágavata he is also termed Kausháravi, or the son of Kusharava.

One copy reads Yuga dherma, the duties peculiar to the four ages, or their characteristic properties, instead of Yugánta.

Sacrifice of Pará The story of Pará ara’s birth is narrated in detail in the Mahábhárata (Ádi Parva, s. 176). King Kalmáshapáda meeting with Sakti, the son of Va ha, in a narrow path in a thicket, desired him to stand out of his way. The sage refused: on which the Rája beat him with his whip, and Sakti cursed him to become a

Rákshas, a man-devouring spirit. The Rája in this transformation killed and ate its author, or Sakti, together with all the other sons of Va ha. Sakti left his wife Adri yantí pregnant, and she gave birth to Pará ara, who was brought up by p. 5 his grandfather.

When he grew up, and was informed of his father’s death, he instituted a sacrifice for the destruction of all the Rákshasas; but was dissuaded from its completion by Va ha and other sages or Atri, Pulastya, Pulaha, and Kratu.

The Mahábhárata adds, that when he desisted from the rite, he scattered the remaining sacrificial fire upon the northern face of the Himálaya mountain, where it still blazes forth at the phases of the moon, consuming Rákshasas, forests, and mountains. The legend alludes possibly to some transhimalayan volcano. The transformation of Kalmáshapáda is ascribed in other places to a different cause; but he is every where regarded as the devourer of Sakti or Saktri, as the name also occurs. The story is told in the Linga Purá a (Púrvárddha, s. 64) in the same manner, with the addition, conformably to the Saiva tendency of that work, that Pará ara begins his sacrifice by propitiating Mahádeva. Va ha’s dissuasion, and Pulastya’s appearance, are given in the very words of our text; and the story concludes, ‘thus through the favour of Pulastya and of the wise Va ha, Pará ara composed the ava ( u) Purá a, containing ten thousand stanzas, and being the third of the Purá a compilations’ (Purá asanhitá).

The Bhágavata (b. III. s. 8) also alludes, though obscurely, to this legend. In recapitulating the succession of the narrators of part of the Bhágavata, Maitreya states that this first Purá a was communicated to him by his Guru Pará ara, as he had been desired by Pulastya: i. e. according to the commentator, agreeably to the boon given by Pulastya to Pará ara, saying, You shall be a narrator of Purá as;. The Mahábhárata makes no mention of the communication of this faculty to Pará ara by Pulastya; and as the Bhágavata could not derive this particular from that source, it here most probably refers unavowedly, as the Linga does avowedly, to the u Purá a.

Pulastya, as will be presently seen, is one of the Rishis, who were the mind-born sons of Brahmá. Pulaha, who is here also named, is Pulastya is considered as the ancestor of the Rákshasas, as he is the father of Visravas, the father of Rávana and his brethren. Uttara Rámá a. Mahábhárata, Vana Parva, s. 272. Pádma Pur. Linga Pur. s. 63.

Purá a sanhitá kerttá Bhaván bha 6 vishyati. You shall be a maker of the Sanhitá, or compendium of the Purá as, or of the u Purá a, considered as a summary or compendium of Pauranic traditions. In either sense it is incompatible with the general attribution of all the Purá as to Vyása.

Whether performing the usual ceremonies of the Brahmans, or leading a life of devotion and penance, which supersedes the necessity of rites and

These are, in fact, the brief replies to Maitreya’s six questions (p. 3), or, How was the world created? By How will it be? At the periods of dissolution it will be in
Whence proceeded animate and inanimate things? From u. Of what is the substance of the world? Vish u. Into what has it been, and will it again he, resolved?
He is therefore both the instrumental and material cause of the universe. ‘The answer to the “whence” replies to the query as to the instrumental cause: “He is the world” replies to the inquiry as to the material cause.

And by this explanation of the agency of the materiality, &c. of u, as regards the universe, (it follows that) all will be produced from, and all will repose in him.’ We have here precisely the * ‘ – of the Orphic doctrines, and we might fancy that Brucker was translating a passage from a Purá a when he describes them in these words: “Continuisse Jovem (lege Vishnum) sive summum ortum in se omnia, omnibus ortum ex se dedisse, omnia ex se genuisse, et ex sua produxisse essentia. Spiritum esse universi qui omnia regit vivificat estque; ex quibus necessario sequitur omnia in eum reditura.” Hist. Philos.

Jamblichus and Proclus also testify that the Pythagorean doctrines of the origin of the material world from the Deity, and its identity with him, were much the same. Cudworth, l. c. p. 348.

CHAP. II.

Prayer of Pará ara to u. Successive narration of the u Purá a. Explanation of Vásudeva: his existence before creation: his first manifestations. Description of Pradhána or the chief principle of things. Cosmogony. Of Prákrita, or material creation; of time; of the active cause. Developement of effects; Mahat; Ahankára; Tanmátras; elements; objects of sense; senses; of the mundane egg. u the same as Brahmá the creator;

u the preserver; Rudra the destroyer.

PARÁ ARA said, Glory to the unchangeable, holy, eternal, supreme u, of one universal nature, the mighty over all: to him who is Hiranygarbha, Hari, and ankara, the creator, the preserver, and destroyer of the world: to Vásudeva, the liberator of his worshippers: to him, whose essence is both single and manifold; who is both subtile and corporeal, indiscrete and discrete: to u, the cause of final emancipation, Glory to the supreme u, the cause of the creation, existence, and end of this world; who is the root of the world, and who consists of the world.

Having glorified him who is the support of all things; who is the smallest of the small; who is in all created things; the unchanged, imperishable Purushottama; who is one with true wisdom, as truly known; eternal and incorrupt; and who is known through false appearances by the nature of visible objects: having bowed to u, the destroyer, and lord of creation and preservation; the ruler of the world; unborn, imperishable, undecaying:

I will relate to you that which was originally imparted by the great father of all (Brahmá), in answer to the questions of Daksha and other venerable sages, and repeated by them to Purukutsa, a king who reigned on the banks of the Narmadá. It was next related by him to Sáraswata, and by Sáraswata to me.

Who can describe him who is not to be apprehended by the senses: who is the best of all things; the supreme soul, self-existent: who is devoid of all the distinguishing characteristics of complexion, caste, or the like; and is exempt front birth, vicissitude, death, or decay: who is always, and alone: who exists every where, and in whom all things here exist; and who is thence named Vásudeva?

He is Brahma, supreme, lord, eternal, unborn, imperishable, undecaying; of one essence; ever pure as free from defects. He, that Brahma, was all things; comprehending in his own nature the indiscrete and discrete. He then existed in the forms of Purusha and of Kála. Purusha (spirit) is the first form, of the supreme; next proceeded two other forms, the discrete and indiscrete; and Kála (time) was the last. These four–Pradhána (primary or crude matter), Purusha (spirit), Vyakta (visible substance), and Kála (time)–the wise consider to be the pure and supreme condition of u.

These four forms, in their due proportions, are the causes of the production of the phenomena of creation, preservation, and destruction. u being thus discrete and indiscrete substance, spirit, and time, sports like a playful boy, as you shall learn by listening to his frolics.

That chief principle (Pradhána), which is the indiscrete cause, is called by the sages also Prakriti (nature): it is subtile, uniform, and comprehends what is and what is not (or both causes and effects); is durable, self-sustained, illimitable, undecaying, and stable; devoid of sound or touch, and possessing neither colour nor form; endowed with the three qualities (in equilibrium); the mother of the world; without beginning; and that into which all that is produced is resolved. By that principle all things were invested in the period subsequent to the last dissolution of the universe, and prior to creation.

For Brahmans learned in the Vedas, and teaching truly their doctrines, explain such passages as the following as intending the production of the chief principle (Pradhána). “There was neither day nor night, nor sky nor earth, nor darkness nor light, nor any other thing, save only One, unapprehensible by intellect, or That which is Brahma and Pumán (spirit) and Pradhána (matter).” The two forms which are other than the essence of unmodified u, are Pradhána (matter) and Purusha (spirit); and his other form, by which those two are connected or separated, is called Kála (time).

When discrete substance is aggregated in crude nature, as in a foregone dissolution, that dissolution is termed elemental (Prákrita). The deity as Time is without beginning, and his end is not known; and from him the revolutions of creation, continuance, and dissolution unintermittingly succeed: for when, in the latter season, the equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhána) exists, and spirit (Pumán) is detached from matter, then the form of

u which is Time abides.

Then the supreme Brahma, the supreme soul, the substance of the world, the lord of all creatures, the universal soul, the supreme ruler, Hari, of his own will having entered into matter and spirit, agitated the mutable and immutable principles, the season of creation being arrived, in the same manner as fragrance affects the mind from its proximity merely, and not from any immediate operation upon mind itself: so the Supreme influenced the elements of creation. Purushottama is both the agitator and the thing to be agitated; being present in the essence of matter, both when it is contracted and expanded. V u, supreme over the supreme, is of the nature of discrete forms in the atomic productions, Brahmá and the rest (gods, men, &c.)

Then from that equilibrium of the qualities (Pradhána), presided over by soul, proceeds the unequal developement of those qualities (constituting the principle Mahat or Intellect) at the time of creation. The Chief principle then invests that Great principle, Intellect, and it becomes threefold, as affected by the quality of goodness, foulness, or darkness, and invested by the Chief principle (matter) as seed is by its skin.

From the Great principle (Mahat) Intellect, threefold Egotism, (Ahankára), denominated Vaikaríka, ‘pure;’ Taijasa, ‘passionate;’ and Bhútádi, ‘rudimental, is produced; the origin of the (subtile) elements, and of the organs of sense; invested, in consequence of its three qualities, by Intellect, as Intellect is by the Chief principle. Elementary Egotism then becoming productive, as the rudiment of sound, produced from it Ether, of which sound is the characteristic, investing it with its rudiment of sound.

Ether becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of touch; whence originated strong wind, the property of which is touch; and Ether, with the rudiment of sound, enveloped the rudiment of touch. Then wind becoming productive, produced the rudiment of form (colour); whence light (or fire) proceeded, of which, form (colour) is the attribute; and the rudiment of touch enveloped the wind with the rudiment of colour. Light becoming productive, produced the rudiment of taste; whence proceed all juices in which flavour resides; and the rudiment of colour invested the juices with the rudiment of taste. The waters becoming productive, engendered the rudiment of smell; whence an aggregate (earth) originates, of which smell is the property. In each several element resides its peculiar rudiment; thence the property of tanmátratá, (type or rudiment) is ascribed to these elements.

Rudimental elements are not endowed with qualities, and therefore they are neither soothing, nor terrific, nor stupifying. This is the elemental creation, proceeding from the principle of egotism affected by the property of darkness. The organs of sense are said to be the passionate products of the same principle, affected by foulness; and the ten divinities proceed from egotism affected by the principle of goodness; as does Mind, which is the eleventh. The organs of sense are ten: of the ten, five are the skin, eye, nose, tongue, and ear; the object of which, combined with Intellect, is the apprehension of sound and the rest: the organs of excretion and procreation, the hands, the feet, and the voice, form the other five; of which excretion, generation, manipulation, motion, and speaking, are the several acts.

Then, ether, air, light, water, and earth, severally united with the properties of sound and the rest, existed as distinguishable according to their qualities, as soothing, terrific, or stupifying; but possessing various energies, and being unconnected, they could not, without combination, create living beings, not having blended with each other. Having combined, therefore, with one another, they assumed, through their mutual association, the character of one mass of entire unity; and from the direction of spirit, with the acquiescence of the indiscrete Principle, Intellect and the rest, to the gross elements inclusive, formed an egg, which gradually expanded like a bubble of water.

This vast egg, O sage, compounded of the elements, and resting on the waters, was the excellent natural abode of u in the form of Brahmá; and there u, the lord of the universe, whose essence is inscrutable, assumed a perceptible form, and even he himself abided in it in the character of Brahmá. Its womb, vast as the mountain Meru, was composed of the mountains; and the mighty oceans were the waters that filled its cavity.

In that egg, O Brahman, were the continents and seas and mountains, the planets and divisions of the universe, the gods, the demons, and mankind. And this egg was externally invested by seven natural envelopes, or by water, air, fire, ether, and Ahankára the origin of the elements, each tenfold the extent of that which it invested; next came the principle of Intelligence; and, finally, the whole was surrounded by the indiscrete Principle: resembling thus the cocoa-nut, filled interiorly with pulp, and exteriorly covered by husk and rind.

Affecting then the quality of activity, Hari, the lord of all, himself becoming Brahmá, engaged in the creation of the universe. u with the quality of goodness, and of immeasurable power, preserves created things through successive ages, until the close of the period termed a Kalpa; when the same mighty deity, Janárddana, invested with the quality of darkness, assumes the awful form of Rudra, and swallows up the universe.

Having thus devoured all things, and converted the world into one vast ocean, the Supreme reposes upon his mighty serpent couch amidst the deep: he awakes after a season, and again, as Brahmá, becomes the author of creation.

Thus the one only god, Janárddana, takes the designation of Brahmá, u, and iva, accordingly as he creates, preserves, or destroys.

u as creator, creates himself; as preserver, preserves himself; as destroyer, destroys himself at the end of all things. This world of earth, air, fire, water, ether, the senses, and the mind; all that is termed spirit, that also is the lord of all elements, the universal form, and imperishable: hence he is the cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; and the subject of the vicissitudes inherent in elementary nature. He is the object and author of creation: he preserves, destroys, and is preserved. He, u, as Brahmá, and as all other beings, is infinite form: he is the supreme, the giver of all good, the fountain of all happiness.

Footnotes

The three hypostases of u. ! yagarbha is a name of Brahmá; he who was born from the golden egg. Hari is u, and ankara Siva. The u who is the subject of our text is the supreme being in all these three divinities or hypostases, in his different characters of creator, preserver and destroyer. Thus in the Má eya: ‘Accordingly, as the primal all-pervading spirit is distinguished by attributes in creation and the rest, so he obtains the denomination of Brahmá, u, and iva.

In the capacity of Brahmá he creates the worlds; in that of Rudra he destroys them; in that of u he is quiescent. These are the three Avasthás (ht. hypostases) of the self-born. Brahmá is the quality of activity; Rudra that of darkness; u, the lord of the world, is goodness: so, therefore, the three gods are the three qualities. They are ever combined with, and dependent upon one another; and they are never for an instant separate; they never quit each other.’ The notion is one common to all antiquity, although less philosophically conceived, or perhaps less distinctly expressed, in the passages which have come down to us.

The *(/ . (012 . ‘+3* 3/1. of Plato are said by Cudworth (I. 111), upon the authority of Plotinus, to be an ancient doctrine, ‘4541 6 74: and he also observes, “Orpheus, Pythagoras, and Plato have all of them asserted a trinity of divine hypostases; and as they unquestionably derived much of their doctrine from the Egyptians, it may reasonably be suspected that the Egyptians did the like before them.” As however the Grecian accounts, and those of the Egyptians, are much more perplexed and unsatisfactory than those of the Hindus, it is most probable that we find amongst them the doctrine in its most original as well as most methodical and significant form.

This address to u pursues the notion that he, as the supreme being, is one, whilst he is all: he is Avikára, not subject to change; Sadaikarúpa, one invariable nature: he is the liberator (tára), or he who bears mortals across the ocean of existence: he is both single and manifold (ekánekarúpa): and he is the indiscrete (avyakta) cause of the world, as well as the discrete (vyakta) effect; or the invisible cause, and visible creation.

Jaganmaya, made up, or consisting substantially of the Maya is an affix denoting ‘made’ or ‘consisting of,’ as Ká ha maya, ‘made of wood.’ The world is therefore not regarded by the Pauranics as an emanation or an illusion, but as consubstantial with its first cause.

íyánsam íyasám, ‘the most atomic of the atomic;’ alluding to the atomic theory of the Nyáya or logical

Or Achyuta; a common name of u, from a, privative, and chyuta, fallen; according to our comment, ‘he who does not perish with created’ The Mahábhárata interprets it in one place to mean, ‘he who is not distinct from final emancipation;’ and in

another to signify, ‘exempt from decay’. A commentator on the Ká a

of the Skánda

Purá a explains it, ‘he who never declines (or varies) from his own proper nature.’

This is another common title of u, implying supreme, best (Uttama), spirit (Purusha), or male, or sacrifice, or, according to the Mahábh. Moksha Dharma, whatever sense Purusha may

Paramárthatas, ‘by or through the real object, or sense; through actual’

Bhránti der anatas, ‘false appearances,’ in opposition to actual ‘By the nature of visible objects’: Artha is explained by dri ya, ‘visible;’ swarúpena ‘by the nature of:’ that is, visible objects are not what they seem to be, independent existences; they are essentially one with their original source: and knowledge of their true nature or relation to

u, is knowledge of u himself. This is not the doctrine of Máyá, or the influence of illusion, p. 9 which alone, according to Vedánta idealism, constitutes belief in the existence of matter: a doctrine foreign to most of the Purá as, and first introduced amongst them apparently by the Bhágavata.

A different and more detailed account of the transmission of the Vish u Purá a is given in the last book, 8.

The ordinary derivation of Vásudeva has been noticed above (p. 1): here it is derived from Vas, ‘to dwell,’ from u’s abiding in all things, and all in him. The Mahábhárata explains Vásu in the same manner, and Deva to signify radiant, shining: ‘He causes all things to dwell in him, and he abides in all; whence he is named Vásu: being resplendent as the sun, he is called Deva: and he who is both these, is denominated Vásudeva.’ See also VI. c. 5.

The commentator argues that Vásudeva must be the Brahma, or supreme being, of the Vedas, because the same circumstances are predicated of both, as eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, &c.; but he does not adduce any scriptural text with the name Vásudeva.

Time is not usually enumerated in the Purá as as an element of the first cause, but the Padma and the Bhágavata p. 10 agree with the u in including it. It appears to have been regarded at an earlier date as an independent cause: the commentator on the Moksha Dherma cites a passage from the Vedas, which he understands to allude to the different theories of the cause of creation. Time, inherent nature, consequence of acts, self-will, elementary atoms, matter, and spirit, asserted severally by the Astrologers, the Buddhists, the Mimánsakas, the Jains, the Logicians, the Sánkhyas, and the Vedántis. 8( -+. was also one of the first generated agents in creation, according to the Orphic theogony.

The creation of the world is very commonly considered to be the Lilá, sport or amusement, of the Supreme

The attributes of Pradhána, the chief (principle or element), here specified, conform generally to those ascribed to it by the Sánkhya philosophy (Sánkhya Káriká, p. 16, &c.), although some of them are incompatible with its origin from a first In the Sánkhya this incongruity does not occur; for there Pradhána is independent, and coordinate with primary spirit. The Purá as give rise to the inconsistency by a lax use of both philosophical and pantheistical expressions. The most incongruous epithets in our text are however explained away in the comment. Thus nitya, ‘eternal,’ is said to mean ‘uniform, not liable to increase or diminution: Sadasadátmaka, ‘comprehending what is and what is not,’ means ‘having the power of both cause and effect’, as proceeding from u, and as giving origin to material things. Anádi, ‘without beginning,’ means ‘without birth’, not being engendered by any created thing, but proceeding immediately from the first cause.

‘The mother,’ or literally the womb of the world’, means the passive agent in creation,’ operated on or influenced by the active will of the Creator. The first part of the passage in the text is a favourite one with several of. the Purá as, but they modify it and apply it after their own fashion. In the u the original is ###, rendered as above. The Váyu, Brahmánda, and p. 11 Kúrmma Purá as have ‘The indiscrete cause, which is uniform, and both cause and effect, and whom those who are acquainted with first principles call Pradhána and Prakriti–is the uncognizable Brahma, who was before all.’ But the application of two synonymes of Prakriti to Brahma seems unnecessary at least. The Brahmá P. corrects the reading apparently: the first line is as before; the second is, ###.

The passage is placed absolutely; ‘There was an indiscrete cause eternal, and cause and effect, which was both matter and spirit (Pradhána and Purusha), from which this world was made. Instead of ‘such’ or this,’ some copies read ‘from which Í wara or god (the active deity or Brahmá) made the world.’

The Hari Van a has the same reading, except in the last term, which it makes ### that is, according to the commentator, the world, which is Í wara, was made.’ The same authority explains this indiscrete cause, avyakta kárana, to denote Brahmá, the creator an identification very unusual, if not inaccurate, and possibly founded on misapprehension of what is stated by the Bhavishya P.: ‘That male or spirit which is endowed with that which is the indiscrete cause, &c. is known in the world as Brahmá: he being in the egg,

&c.’ The passage is precisely the same in Manu, I, 11; except that we have ‘visrishta’ instead of ‘vi ha:’ the latter is a questionable reading, and is probably wrong: the sense of the latter is, detached; and the whole means very consistently, ’embodied spirit detached from the indiscrete cause of the world is known as Brahmá.’ The Padma P. inserts the first line, ### &c., but has ‘Which creates undoubtedly Mahat and the other qualities’ assigning the first epithets, therefore, as the u does, to Prakriti only.

The Linga also refers the expression to Prakriti alone, but makes it a secondary cause: ‘An indiscrete cause, which those acquainted with first principles call Pradhána and Prakriti, proceeded from that Í wara ( iva).’ This passage is one of very many instances in which expressions are common to several Purá as that seem to be borrowed from one another, or from some common source older than any of them, especially in this instance, as the same text occurs in Manu.

The expression of the text is rather obscure; ‘All was pervaded (or comprehended) by that chief principle before (recreation), after the (last)’ The ellipses are filled up by the commentator. This, he adds, is to be regarded as the state of things at a Mahá Pralaya, or total dissolution; leaving, therefore, crude matter, nature, or chaos, as a coexistent element with the Supreme. This, which is conformable to the philosophical doctrine, is not however that of the Purá as in general, nor p. 12 that of our text, which states (b. VI. c. 4), that at a Prákrita, or elementary dissolution, Pradhána itself merges into the deity. Neither is it apparently the doctrine of the Vedas, although their language is somewhat equivocal.

The metre here is one common to the Vedas, Trishtubh, but in other respects the language is not characteristic of those The purport of the passage is rendered somewhat doubtful by its close, and by the explanation of the commentator. The former is, ‘One Pradhánika Brahma Spirit: THAT, was. The commentator explains Pradhánika, Pradhána eva, the same word as Pradhána; but it is a derivative word, which may be used attributively, implying ‘having, or conjoined with, Pradhána.’ The commentator, however, interprets it as the substantive; for he adds, ‘There was Pradhána and Brahma and Spirit; this triad was at the period of dissolution.’ He evidently, however, understands their conjoint existence as one only; for he continues, ‘So, according to the Vedas, then there was neither the existent (invisible cause, or matter) nor the non-existent (visible effect, or creation),’ meaning that there was only One Being, in whom matter and its modifications were all comprehended.

Or it might be rendered, ‘Those two other forms (which proceed) from his supreme nature;’ that is, from the nature of u, when he is Nirupádhi, or without adventitious attributes: ### ‘other’ (###); the commentator states they are other or separate from

u only through Máyá, illusion,’ but here implying false notion;’ the elements of creation being in essence one with u, though in existence detached and different.

Pradhána, when unmodified, is, according to the Sánkhyas and Paurá ics, nothing more than the three qualities in equilibrio, or goodness, foulness, and darkness neutralising each other; (Sánkhya 13 Káriká, p. 52;) so in the Matsya P.: ###. This state is synonymous with the non-evolution of material products, or with dissolution; implying, however, separate existence, and detached from spirit This being the case, it is asked who. should sustain matter and spirit whilst separate, or renew their combination so as to renovate creation? It is answered, Time, which is when every thing else is not; and which, at the end of a certain interval, unites Matter, Pradhána, and Purusha, and produces creation. Conceptions of this kind are evidently comprised in the Orphic triad, or the ancient notion of the cooperation of three such principles in creation; as Phanes or Eros, which is the Hindu spirit or Purusha; Chaos, matter or Pradhána; and Chronos, or Kála, time.

Pradhána is styled Vyaya ‘that which may be expended;’ or ámin, ‘which may be modified:’ and Purusha is called Avyaya, ‘inconsumable; or apariná.min, ‘immutable.’ The expressions ‘having entered into,’ and ‘agitated,’ recall the mode in which divine intelligence, mens, -+ ., was conceived by the ancients to operate upon matter:

9( – . . . :(+-* 31 2 3;+- ‘4-*4

. . . . 24*4 33+<34 = >31-:

or as in a more familiar passage;

Spiritus intus alit totamque infusa per artus Mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet:

or perhaps it more closely approximates to the Phœnician cosmogony, in which a spirit mixing with its own principles gives rise to creation. Brucker, I. 240. As presently explained, the mixture is not mechanical; it is an influence or effect exerted upon intermediate agents, which produce effects; as perfumes do not delight the mind by actual contact, but by the impression they make upon the sense of smelling, which communicates it to the mind. The entrance of the supreme u into spirit as well as matter is less intelligible than the view elsewhere taken of it, as the infusion of spirit, identified with the Supreme, into Prakriti or matter alone. Thus in the Padma Purá a: ‘He who is called the male (spirit) of Prakriti, is here named Achyuta; and that same divine

u entered into Prakriti.’ So the Vrihat Naradiya: ‘The lord of the world, who is called Purusha, producing agitation in Prakriti.’ From the notion of influence or agitation produced on matter through or with spirit, the abuse of personification led to actual or vicarious admixture.

Thus the Bhágavata, identifying Máyá with Prakriti, has, ‘Through the operation of time, the Mighty One, who is present to the pure, implanted a seed in Máyá endowed with qualities, as Purusha, which is one with himself.’ B. III. s.5. And the Bhavishya: ‘Some learned men say, that the Supreme Being, desirous to create beings, creates in the commencement of the Kalpa a body of soul (or an incorporeal substance); which soul created by him enters into Prakriti; and Prakriti being thereby agitated, creates many material elements.’ But these may be regarded as notions of a later date. In the Mahábhárata the first cause is declared to be ‘Intellectual,’ who creates by his mind or will: The first (Being) is called Mánasa (intellectual), and is so celebrated by great sages: he is God, without beginning or end, indivisible, immortal, undecaying.’ And again: ‘The Intellectual created many kinds of creatures by his mind.’

Contraction, Sankocha, is explained by Sámya, sameness or equilibrium of the three qualities, or inert Pradhána: and Expansion, Viká a, is the destruction of this equipoise, by previous agitation and consequent developement of material

The term here is Kshetrajna, ’embodied spirit,’ or that which knows the kshetra or ‘body;’ implying the combination of spirit with form or matter, for the purpose of

The first product of Pradhána sensible to divine, though not to mere human organs, is, both according to the Sánkhya and Paurá ic doctrines, the principle called Mahat, literally ‘the Great,’ explained in other places, as in our text, ‘the production of the manifestation of the qualities:’ or, as in the Váyu, ###. We have in the same Purá a, as

well as in the Brahmá a

and Linga, a number of synonymes for this term, as, ###. They

are also explained, though not very distinctly, to the following purport: “Manas is that which considers the consequences of acts to all creatures, and provides for their happiness. Mahat, the Great principle, is so termed from being the first of the created principles, and from its extension being greater than that of the rest.

Mati is that which discriminates and distinguishes objects preparatory to their fruition by Soul. Brahmá implies that which effects the developement and augmentation of created things. Pur is that by which the concurrence of nature occupies and fills all bodies.

Buddhi is that which communicates to soul the knowledge of good and evil. Khyáti is the means of individual fruition, or the faculty of discriminating objects by appropriate designations, and the like. Í wara is that which knows all things as if they were present. Prajná is that by which the properties of things are known. Chiti is that by which the consequences of acts and species of knowledge are selected for the use of soul. Smriti is the faculty of recognising all things, past, present, or to come. Samvit is that in which all things are found or known, and which is found or known in all things: and Vipura is that which is free from the effects of contrarieties, as of knowledge and ignorance, and the like.

Mahat is also called Í wara, from its exercising supremacy over all things; Bháva, from its elementary existence; Eka, or ‘the one,’ from its singleness; Purusha, from its abiding within the body; and from its being ungenerated it is called Swayambhu.” Now in this nomenclature we have chiefly two sets of words; one, as Manas, Buddhi, Mati, signifying mind, intelligence, knowledge, wisdom, design; and the other, as Brahmá, Í wara, &c., denoting an active creator and ruler of the universe: as the Váyu adds, ‘Mahat, impelled by the desire to create, causes various creation:’ and the Mahábhárata has, ‘Mahat created Ahankára.’

The Purá as generally employ the same expression, attributing to Mahat or Intelligence the ‘act of creating. Mahat is therefore the divine mind in creative operation, the -+ . 6142 3;)- */ 24 ‘ -*)- *1+. of Anaxagoras; an ordering and disposing mind, which was the cause of all things: The word itself suggests some relationship to the Phœnician Mot, which, like Mahat, was the first product of the mixture of spirit and matter, and the first rudiment of creation: “Ex connexione autem ejus spiritus prodiit mot . . . hinc seminium omnis creaturæ et omnium rerum creatio.” Brucker, I. 240. Mot, it is true, . appears to be a purely material substance, whilst Mahat is an incorporeal substance; but they agree in their place in the cosmogony, and are something alike in name. How far also the Phœnician system has been accurately described, is matter of uncertainty. See Sánkhya Káriká.

The sense of Ahankára cannot be very well rendered by any European It means the principle of individual existence, that which appropriates perceptions, and on which depend the notions, I think, I feel, I am. It might be expressed by the proposition of Descartes reversed; “Sum, ergo cogito, sentio,” &c. The equivalent employed by Mr. Colebrooke, egotism, has the advantage of an analogous etymology, Ahankára being derived from Aham, ‘I;’ as in the Hari Van a: ‘He (Brahmá), oh Bhárata, said, I will create creatures.’ See also S. Káriká, p. 91.

These three varieties of Ahankára are also described in the Sánkhya Káriká, p. 92. Vaikárika, that which is productive, or susceptible of production, is the same as the Sátwika, or that which is combined with the property of Taijasa Ahankára is that which is endowed with Tejas, heat’ or energy,’ in consequence of its having the property of Rajas, ‘passion’ or ‘activity;’ and the third kind, Bhútádi, or ‘elementary,’ is the Támasa, or has the property of darkness.

From the first kind proceed the senses; from the last, the rudimental unconscious elements; both kinds, which are equally of themselves inert, being rendered productive by the cooperation of the second, the energetic or active modification of Ahankára, which is therefore said to be the origin of both the senses and the elements.

The successive series of rudiments and elements, and their respectively engendering the rudiments and elements next in order, occur in most of the Purá as, in nearly the same words. The Vrihannáradiya observes, ‘They (the elements) in successive order acquire the property of causality one to the other.’ The order is also the same; or, ether (ákás), wind or air (váyu), fire or light (tejas), water and earth; except in one passage of the Mahábhárata (Moksha Dherma, C. 9), where it is ether, water, fire, air, earth. The order of Empedocles was ether, fire, earth, water, air. Cudworth, I. 97. The investment (á a) of each element by its own rudiment, and of each rudiment by its preceding

gross and rudimental elements, is also met with in most of the chief Purá as, as the Váyu, Padma, Linga, and Bhágavata; and traces of it are found amongst the ancient cosmogonists; for Anaximander supposed, that when the world was made, a certain sphere or flame of fire, separated from matter (the Infinite), encompassed the air, which invested the earth as the bark does a tree:’

84* * – ,?-/31- *+ 6/ *+ 2 3;+< ‘+2(1= -41, 24 *1-4 2 *+@*+< :5+, . 3’4 (4- ‘/(1:< -41 * ‘/( * – , – /(1, . * 6?-6( :5+1 -. Euseb. Pr, I. 15. Some of the

Purá as, as the Matsya, Váyu, Linga, Bhágavata, and Má e

ya, add a description of a

participation of properties amongst the elements, which is rather Vedánta than Sánkhya. According to this notion, the elements add to their characteristic properties those of the elements which precede them. Ákas has the single property of sound: air has those of touch and sound: fire has colour, touch, and sound: water has taste, colour, touch, and sound: and earth has smell and the rest, thus having five properties: or, as the Linga P. describes the series.

Tanmátra, ‘rudiment’ or ‘type,’ from Tad, ‘that,’ for Tasmin, ‘in that’ gross element, and mátrá, ‘subtile or rudimental form’. The rudiments are also the characteristic properties of the elements: as the Bhágavata; ‘The rudiment of it (ether) is also its quality, sound; as a common designation may denote both a person who sees an object, and the object which is to be seen: that is, according to the commentator, suppose a person behind a wall called aloud, “An elephant! an elephant!” the term would equally indicate that an elephant was visible, and that somebody saw Bhag. II. 5.

The properties here alluded to are not those of goodness &c., but other properties assigned to perceptible objects by the Sánkhya doctrines, or ánti, ‘placidity;’ Ghoratá, ‘terror;’ and Moha, ‘dulness’ or ‘stupefaction.’ Káriká, V.38. p, 119.

The Bhágavata, which gives a similar statement of the origin of the elements, senses, and divinities, specifies the last to be Di (space), air, the sun, Prachetas, the Aswins, fire, Indra, Upendra, Mitra, and Ka or Prajápati, presiding over the senses, according to the comment, or severally over the ear, skin, eye, tongue, nose, speech, hands, feet, and excretory and generative Bhag. II. 5. 31.

AvyaktáA B The expression is something equivocal, as Avyakta may here apply either to the First Cause or to matter. In either case the notion is the same, and the aggregation of the elements is the effect of the presidence of spirit, without any active interference of the indiscrete principle. The Avyakta is passive in the evolution and combination of Mahat and the rest. Pradhána is, no doubt, intended, but its identification with the Supreme is also implied. The term Anugraha may also refer to a classification of the order of creation, which will be again adverted to.

It is impossible not to refer this notion to the same origin as the widely diffused opinion of antiquity, of the first manifestation of the world in the form of an “It seems to have been a favourite symbol, and very ancient, and we find it adopted among many nations.” Bryant, III. 165. Traces of it occur amongst the Syrians, Persians, and Egyptians; and besides the Orphic egg amongst the Greeks, and that described by Aristophanes, C?2*/- ‘( *13*+- ‘>-?;1+- – 7 ;/54- ‘*/(+. – part of the ceremony in the Dionysiaca and other mysteries consisted of the consecration of an egg; by which, according to Porphyry, was signified the world: (;>-/ /1 6 * – * –

2 3;+-.

Whether this egg typified the ark, as Bryant and Faber suppose, is not material to the proof of the antiquity and wide diffusion of the belief that the world in the beginning existed in such a figure. A similar account of the first aggregation of the elements in the form of an egg is given in all the Purá as, with the usual epithet Haima or Hiranya, ‘golden,’ as it occurs in Manu, I. 9.

Here is another analogy to the doctrines of antiquity relating to the mundane egg: and as the first visible male being, who, as we shall hereafter see, united in himself the nature of either sex, abode in the egg, and issued from it; so “this firstborn of the world, whom they represented under two shapes and characters, and who sprung from the mundane egg, was the person from whom the mortals and immortals were derived. He was the same as Dionusus, whom they styled, ‘()* ,+-+- 61:- *( ,+-+- D420/ +- -42*4

,(1+- ((>* – 2(@:1+- 612?()*4 6 ;+:+-:” or, with the omission of one epithet, , ###.

Janárddana is derived from Jana, ‘men,’ and Arddana, ‘worship;’ ‘the object of adoration to ‘

This is the invariable doctrine of the Purá as, diversified only according to the 20 individual divinity to whom they ascribe identity with Paramátmá or Parame wara. In our text this is u: in the aiva Purá as, as in the Linga, it is iva: in the Brahma- vaivartta it is a. The identification of one of the hypostases with the common source of the triad was an incongruity not unknown to other theogonies; for Cneph, amongst the Egyptians, appears on the one hand to have been identified with the Supreme Being, the indivisible unity, whilst on the other he is confounded with both Emeph and Ptha, the second and third persons of the triad of hypostases. Cudworth, I. 4. 18.

The world that is termed spirit;’ explained by the commentator, ‘which indeed bears the appellation spirit;’ conformably to the text of the Vedas, ‘this universe is indeed ‘ This is rather Vedánta than Sánkhya, and appears to deny the existence of matter: and so it does as an independent existence; for the origin and end of infinite substance is the Deity or universal spirit: but it does not therefore imply the non-existence of the world as real substance.

u is both Bhúte a, ‘lord of the elements,’ or of created things, and Vi warúpa, ‘universal substance:’ he is therefore, as one with sensible things, subject to his own

ya, ‘most excellent;’ being the same, according to the commentator, with supreme felicity.

CHAP. III.

Measure of time. Moments or Ká hás, &c.; day and night; fortnight, month, year, divine year: Yugas, or ages: Maháyuga, or great age: day of Brahmá: periods of the Manus: a Manwantara: night of Brahmá, and destruction of the world: a year of Brahmá: his life: a Kalpa: a Parárrdha: the past, or Pádma Kalpa: the present, or Váráha.

MAITREYA.–How can creative agency be attributed to that Brahma, who is without qualities, illimitable, pure, and free from imperfection?

PARÁ ARA.–The essential properties of existent things are objects of observation, of which no foreknowledge is attainable; and creation, and hundreds of properties, belong to Brahma, as inseparable parts of his essence, as heat, oh chief of sages, is inherent in fire. Hear then how the deity Náráyána, in the person of Brahmá, the great parent of the world, created all existent things.

Brahmá is said to be born: a familiar phrase, to signify his manifestation; and, as the peculiar measure of his presence, a hundred of his years is said to constitute his life: that period is also called Param, and the half of it, Parárddham. I have already declared to you, oh sinless Brahman, that Time is a form of u: hear now how it is applied to measure the duration of Brahmá, and of all other sentient beings, as well as of those which are unconscious, as the mountains, oceans, and the like.

Oh best of sages, fifteen twinklings of the eye make a Ká há; thirty Ká hás, one Kalá; and thirty Kalás, one Muhúrtta. Thirty Muhúrttas constitute a day and night of mortals: thirty such days make a month, divided into two half-months: six months form an Ayana (the period of the sun’s progress north or south of the ecliptic): and two Ayanas compose a year. The southern Ayana is a night, and the northern a day of the gods. Twelve thousand divine years, each composed of (three hundred and sixty) such days, constitute the period of the four Yugas, or ages. They are thus distributed: the Krita age has four thousand divine years; the Tretá three thousand; the Dwápara two thousand; and the Kali age one thousand: so those acquainted with antiquity have declared.

The period that precedes a Yuga is called a Sandhyá, and it is of as many hundred years as there are thousands in the Yuga: and the period that follows a Yuga, termed the Sandhyánsa, is of similar duration. The interval between the Sandhyá and the Sandhyánsa is the Yuga, denominated Krita, Tretá, &c. The Krita, Tretá, Dwápara, and Kali, constitute a great age, or aggregate of four ages: a thousand such aggregates are a day of Brahmá, and fourteen Menus reign within that term. Hear the division of time which they measure.

Seven Rishis, certain (secondary) divinities, Indra, Manu, and the kings his sons, are created and perish at one period; and the interval, called a Manwantara, is equal to seventy-one times the number of years contained in the four Yugas, with some additional years: this is the duration of the Manu, the (attendant) divinities, and the rest, which is equal to 852.000 divine years, or to 306.720.000 years of mortals, independent of the additional period. Fourteen times this period constitutes a Bráhma day, that is, a day of Brahmá; the term (Bráhma) being the derivative form.

At the end of this day a dissolution of the universe occurs, when all the three worlds, earth, and the regions of space, are consumed with fire. The dwellers of Maharloka (the region inhabited by the saints who survive the world), distressed by the heat, repair then to Janaloka (the region of holy men after their decease). When the-three worlds are but one mighty ocean, Brahmá, who is one with Nárá a, satiate with the demolition of the universe, sleeps upon his serpent-bed–contemplated, the lotus born, by the ascetic inhabitants of the Janaloka–for a night of equal duration with his day; at the close of which he creates anew.

Of such days and nights is a year of Brahmá composed; and a hundred such years constitute his whole life. One Parárddha, or half his existence, has expired, terminating with the Mahá Kalpa called Pádma. The Kalpa (or day of Brahmá) termed Váráha is the first of the second period of Brahmá’s existence.

Footnotes

Agency depends upon the Rája guna, the quality of foulness or passion, which is an Perfect being is void of all qualities, and is therefore inert:

Omnis enim per se divom natura necesse est Immortali ævo summa cum pace fruatur:

but if inert for ever, creation could not occur. The objection is rather evaded than answered. The ascribing to Brahma of innumerable and unappreciable properties is supported by the commentator with vague and scarcely applicable texts of the Vedas. ‘In him there is neither instrument nor effect: his like, his superior, is nowhere seen.’ ‘That supreme soul is the subjugator of all, the ruler of all, the sovereign of all.’ In various places of the Vedas also it is said that his power is supreme, and that wisdom, power, and action are his essential properties.

The origin of creation is also imputed in the Vedas to the rise of will or desire in the Supreme: ‘He wished I may become manifold, I may create creatures.’ The Bhágavata expresses the same doctrine: ‘The Supreme Being was before all things alone, the soul and lord of spiritual substance: in consequence of his own will he is secondarily defined, as if of various minds.’ This will however, in the mysticism of the Bhágavata, is personified as Máyá: ‘She (that desire) was the energy of the Supreme, who was contemplating (the untreated world); and by her, whose name is Máyá, the Lord made the universe.’

This, which was at first a mere poetical personification of the divine will, came, in such works as the Bhágavata, to denote a female divinity, coequal and coeternal with the First Cause. It may be doubted if the Vedas authorize such a mystification, and no very decided vestige of it occurs in the u Purá a.

This term is also applied to a different and still more protracted See b. VI. C. 3.

The last proportion is rather obscurely expressed: ‘Thirty of them (Kalás) are the rule for the Muhúrtta.’ The commentator says it means that thirty Kalás make a Ghatiká (or Ghari), and two Ghatikás a Muhúrtta; but his explanation is gratuitous, and is at variance with more explicit passages elsewhere; as in the Matsya: ‘A Muhúrtta is thirty Kalás.’ In

these divisions of the twenty-four hours the Kúrma, Má e

ya, Matsya, Váyu, and

Linga Purá as exactly agree with our authority. In Manu, I. 64, we have the same computation, with a difference in the first article, eighteen Nimeshas being one há. The Bhavishya P. follows Manu in that respect, and agrees in the rest with the Padma, which has,

15 Nimeshas = 1 Ká há

30 Ká hás = 1 Kalá

30 Kalás = 1 a

12 as = 1 Muhúrtta

30 Muhúrttas = 1 day and night.

In the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dherma, it is said that thirty Kalás and one-tenth, or, according to the commentator, thirty Kalás and three Ká hás, make a Muhúrtta. A still greater variety, however, occurs in the Bhágavata and in the Brahma Vaivartta P. These

have,	2	Paramá us	= 1 u
	3	us	= 1 E u
	3	E us	= 1 Truti
	100	Trutis	= 1 Vedha
	3	Vedhas	= 1 Lava
	3	Lavas	= 1 Nimesha
	3	Nimeshas	= 1 a
	5	as	= 1 Ká há

15	Ká hás	= 1 Laghu
15	Laghus	= 1 Náriká
2	Nárikás	= 1 Muhúrtta
6 or 7	Nárikás	= 1 Yama, or watch of the day or night

Allusions to this or either of the preceding computations, or to any other, have not been

found in either of the other Purá as: p. 23 yet the work of Gopála a

, from which Mr.

Colebrooke states he derived his information on the subject of Indian weights and measures (A. R. 5. 105), the Sankhya Parimá a, cites the Varáha P. for a peculiar computation, and quotes another from the Bhavishya, different from that which occurs in the first chapter of that work, to which we have referred. The principle of the calculation adopted by the astronomical works is different: it is, 6 respirations (Prá a) = 1 Vikalá; 60

Vikalás = 1 $ a; 60 $ a

s =1 sydereal day.

The Nimesha, which is the base of one of the Paurá ic modes, is a twinkle of the eye of a man at rest; whilst the Paramá u, which is the origin of the other, and apparently more modern system, considering the works in which it occurs, is the time taken by a

Paramá u, or mote in the sunbeam, to pass through a crevice in a shutter. Some indications of this calculation being in common currency, occur in the Hindustani terms

u (E u) and Lamhu (Laghu) in Indian horometry (A. R. 5. 81); whilst the more ordinary system seems derived from the astronomical works, being 60 Tilas = 1 Vipala; 60 Vipalas = 1 Pala; 60 Palas = 1 $ a or Ghari. Ibid.

These calculations of time are found in most of the Purá as, with some additions occasionally, of no importance, as that of the year of the seven Rishis, 3030 mortal years, and the year of Dhruva, 9090 such years, in the Linga In all essential points the computations accord, and the scheme, extravagant as it may appear, seems to admit of easy explanation.

We have, in the first place, a computation of the years of the gods in the four ages, or,

Krita Yuga 4000

Sandhyá 400

Sandhyánsa 400

Tretá Yuga 3000

Sandhyá 300

Sandhyánsa 300

Dwápara Yuga 2000

Sandhyá 200

Sandhyánsa 200

Kali Yuga 1000

Sandhya 100

Sandhyánsa 100

4800

3600

2400

1200

12000.

If these divine years are converted into years of mortals, by multiplying them by 360, a year of men being a day of the gods, we obtain the years of which the Yugas of mortals are respectively said to consist:

4800 x 360 = 1.728.000

3600 x 360 = 1.296.000

2400 x 360 = 864.000

1200 x 360 = 432.000

4.320.000 a Maháyuga.

So that these periods resolve themselves into very simple elements: the notion of four ages in a deteriorating series expressed by descending arithmetical progression, as 4, 3, 2, 5; the conversion of units into thousands; and the mythological fiction, that these were divine years, each composed of 360 years of men. It does not seem necessary to refer the invention to any astronomical computations, or to any attempt to represent actual chronology.

The details of these, as occurring in each Manwantara, are given in the third book, 1 and 2.

One and seventy enumerations of the four ages, with a’ A similar reading occurs in several other Purá as, but none of them state of what the surplus or addition consists; but it is, in fact, the number of years required to reconcile two computations of the Kalpa. The most simple, and probably the original calculation of a Kalpa, is its being 1000 great ages, or ages of the gods: ### Bhavishya P. Then 4.320.000 years, or a divine age, x 1000 = 4320.000.000 years, or a day or night of Brahmá. But a day of Brahmá is also seventy-one times a great age multiplied by fourteen: 4.320.000 x 71 x 14= 4.294.080.000, or less than the preceding by 25.920.000; and it is to make up for this deficiency that a certain number of years must be added to the computation by Manwantaras.

According to the Súrya Siddhánta, as cited by Mr. Davis (A. R. 2. 231), this addition consists of a Sandhi to each Manwantara, equal to the Satya age, or 5.728.000 years; and one similar Sandhi at the commencement of the Kalpa: thus p. 25 4.320.000 x 71 = 306.720.000 + 1.728.000 = 308.448.000 x 14 = 4318.272.000 + 1.728.000 =

4320.000.000. The Pauranics, however, omit the Sandhi of the Kalpa, and add the whole compensation to the Manwantaras. The amount of this in whole numbers is 1.851.428 in each Manwantara, or 4.320.000 x 71= 306.720.000 + 1.851.428 = 308.571.428 x 14 =

4319.999.992; leaving a very small inferiority to the result of the calculation of a Kalpa by a thousand great ages.

To provide for this deficiency, indeed, very minute subdivisions are admitted into the calculation; and the commentator on our text says, that the additional years, if of gods, are 5142 years, 10 months, 8 days, 4 watches, 2 Muhúrttas, 8 Kalás, 17 Ká hás, 2

Nimeshas, and 1/7th; if of mortals, 1.851.428 years, 6 months, 24 days, 12 Náris, 12 Kalás, 25 Ká has, and 10 Nimeshas. It will be observed, that in the Kalpa we have the regular descending series 4, 3, 2, with cyphers multiplied ad libitum.

The Brahma Vaivartta says 108 years, but this is Brahmá’s life is but a Nimesha of a, according to that work; a Nimesha of iva, according to the Saiva Purá a.

In the last book the Parárddha occurs as a very different measure of time, but it is employed here in its ordinary

In theory the Kalpas are infinite; as the Bhavishya: ‘Excellent sages, thousands of millions of Kalpas have passed, and as many are to come.’ In the Linga Purá a, and others of the Saiva division, above thirty Kalpas are named, and some account given of several, but they are evidently sectarial The only Kalpas usually specified are those which follow in the text: the one which was the last, or the Pádma, and the present p. 26 or Váráha. The first is also commonly called the Bráhma; but the Bhágavata distinguishes the Bráhma, considering it to be the first of Brahmá’s life, whilst the Pádma was the last of the first Parárddha.

The terms Maná, or great Kalpa, applied to the Padma, is attached to it only in a general sense; or, according to the commentator, because it comprises, as a minor Kalpa, that in which Brahmá was born from a lotus. Properly, a great Kalpa is not a day, but a life of Brahmá; as in the Brahma Vaivartta: ‘Chronologers compute a Kalpa by the life of Brahmá. Minor Kalpas, as Samvartta and the rest, are numerous.’ Minor Kalpas here denote every period of destruction, or those in which the Samvartta wind, or other destructive agents, operate.

Several other computations of time are found in different Purá as, but it will be sufficient to notice one which occurs in the Hari Van a, as it is peculiar, and because it is not quite correctly given in M. Langlois’ translation. It is the calculation of the Mánava time, or time of a Menu.

10 divine years = a day and night of a Menu. 10 Mánava days = his fortnight.

10 Mánava fortn. = his month. 12 Mánava months = his season. 6 Mánava seasons = his year.

Accordingly the commentator says 72000 divine years make up his year. The French translation has, “dix années des dieux font un jour de Menu; dix jours des dieux font un pakcha de Menu,” &c. The error lies in the expression “jours des dieux,” and is evidently a mere inadvertence; for if ten years make a day, ten days can scarcely make a fortnight.

CHAP. IV.

Nárá a’s appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varsha or boar: Prithiví (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.

MAITREYA.–Tell me, mighty sage, how, in the commencement of the (present) Kalpa, Nárá a, who is named Brahmá, created all existent things 1.

PARÁ ARA.–In what manner the divine Brahmá, who is one with Nárá a, created progeny, and is thence named the lord of progeny (Prajápati), the lord god, you shall hear.

At the close of the past (or Pádma) Kalpa, the divine Brahmá, endowed with the quality of goodness, awoke from his night of sleep, and beheld the universe void. He, the supreme Nárá a, the incomprehensible, the sovereign of all creatures, invested with the form of Brahmá, the god without beginning, the creator of all things; of whom, with respect to his name Nárá a, the god who has the form of Brahmá, the imperishable origin of the world, this verse is repeated, “The waters are called Nárá, because they were the offspring of Nara (the supreme spirit); and as in them his first (Ayana) progress (in the character of Brahmá) took place, he is thence named Nárá a (he whose place of moving was the waters).”

He, the lord, concluding that within the waters lay the earth, and being desirous to raise it up, created another form for that purpose; and as in preceding Kalpas he had assumed the shape of a fish or a tortoise, so in this he took the figure of a boar. Having adopted a form composed of the sacrifices of the Vedas, for the preservation of the whole earth, the eternal, supreme, and universal soul, the great progenitor of created beings, eulogized by Sanaka and the other saints who dwell in the sphere of holy men (Janaloka); he, the supporter of spiritual and material being, plunged into the ocean. The goddess Earth, beholding him thus descending to the subterrene regions, bowed in devout adoration, and thus glorified the god:–

Príthiví (Earth).–Hail to thee, who art all creatures; to thee, the holder of the mace and shell: elevate me now from this place, as thou hast upraised me in days of old. From thee have I proceeded; of thee do I consist; as do the skies, and all other existing things. Hail to thee, spirit of the supreme spirit; to thee, soul of soul; to thee, who art discrete and indiscrete matter; who art one with the elements and with time. Thou art the creator of all things, their preserver, and their destroyer, in the forms, oh lord, of Brahmá, u, and Rudra, at the seasons of creation, duration, and dissolution. When thou hast devoured all things, thou reposest on the ocean that sweeps over the world, meditated upon, oh Govinda, by the wise.

No one knoweth thy true nature, and the gods adore thee only in the forms it bath pleased thee to assume. They who are desirous of final liberation, worship thee as the supreme Brahmá; and who that adores not Vásudeva, shall obtain emancipation? Whatever may be apprehended by the mind, whatever may be perceived by the senses, whatever may he discerned by the intellect, all is but a form of thee. I am of thee, upheld by thee; thou art my creator, and to thee I fly for refuge: hence, in this universe, Mádhaví (the bride of Mádhava or u) is my designation.

Triumph to the essence of all wisdom, to the unchangeable, the imperishable: triumph to the eternal; to the indiscrete, to the essence of discrete things: to him who is both cause and effect; who is the universe; the sinless lord of sacrifice; triumph. Thou art sacrifice; thou art the oblation; thou art the mystic Omkára; thou art the sacrificial fires; thou art the Vedas, and their dependent sciences; thou art, Hari, the object of all worship. The sun, the stars, the planets, the whole world; all that is formless, or that has form; all that is visible, or invisible; all, Purushottama, that I have said,or left unsaid; all this, Supreme, thou art. Hail to thee, again and again! hail! all hail!

PARÁ ARA.–The auspicious supporter of the world, being thus hymned by the earth, emitted a low murmuring sound, like the chanting of the Sáma veda; and the mighty boar, whose eyes were like the lotus, and whose body, vast as the Níla mountain, was of the dark colour of the lotus leaves, uplifted upon his ample tusks the earth from the lowest regions. As he reared up his head, the waters shed from his brow purified the great sages, Sanandana and others, residing in the sphere of the saints.

Through the indentations made by his hoofs, the waters rushed into the lower worlds with a thundering noise. Before his breath, the pious denizens of Janaloka were scattered, and the Munis sought for shelter amongst the bristles upon the scriptural body of the boar, trembling as he rose up, supporting the earth, and dripping with moisture. Then the great sages, Sanandana and the rest, residing continually in the sphere of saints, were inspired with delight, and bowing lowly they praised the stern-eyed upholder of the earth.

The Yogis.–Triumph, lord of lords supreme; Ke ava, sovereign of the earth, the wielder of the mace, the shell, the discus, and the sword: cause of production, destruction, and existence. THOU ART, oh god: there is no other supreme condition, but thou. Thou, lord, art the person of sacrifice: for thy feet are the Vedas; thy tusks are the stake to which the victim is bound; in thy teeth are the offerings; thy mouth is the altar; thy tongue is the fire; and the hairs of thy body are the sacrificial grass.

Thine eyes, oh omnipotent, are day and night; thy head is the seat of all, the place of Brahma; thy mane is all the hymns of the Vedas; thy nostrils are all oblations: oh thou, whose snout is the ladle of oblation; whose deep voice is the chanting of the Sáma veda; whose body is the hall of sacrifice; whose joints are the different ceremonies; and whose ears have the properties of both voluntary and obligatory rites: do thou, who art eternal, who art in size a mountain, be propitious.

We acknowledge thee, who hast traversed the world, oh universal form, to be the beginning, the continuance, and the destruction of all things: thou art the supreme god. Have pity on us, oh lord of conscious and unconscious beings. The orb of the earth is seen seated on the tip of thy tusks, as if thou hadst been sporting amidst a lake where the lotus floats, and hadst borne away the leaves covered with soil.

The space between heaven and earth is occupied by thy body, oh thou of unequalled glory, resplendent with the power of pervading the universe, oh lord, for the benefit of all. Thou art the aim of all: there is none other than thee, sovereign of the world: this is thy might, by which all things, fixed or movable, are pervaded. This form, which is now beheld, is thy form, as one essentially with wisdom. Those who have not practised devotion, conceive erroneously of the nature of the world.

The ignorant,who do not perceive that this universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance. But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge, as one with thee, oh god. Be favourable, oh universal spirit: raise up this earth, for the habitation of created beings. Inscrutable deity, whose eyes are like lotuses, give us felicity. Oh lord, thou art endowed with the quality of goodness: raise up, Govinda, this earth, for the general good. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed. May this, thy activity in creation, be beneficial to the earth. Salutation to thee. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed.

PARÁ ARA.–The supreme being thus eulogized, upholding the earth, raised it quickly, and placed it on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and from its expansive surface does not sink beneath the waters. Then, having levelled the earth, the great eternal deity divided it into portions, by mountains: he who never wills in vain, created, by his irresistible power, those mountains again upon the earth which had been consumed at the destruction of the world.

Having then divided the earth into seven great portions or continents, as it was before, he constructed in like manner the four (lower) spheres, earth, sky, heaven, and the sphere of the sages (Maharloka). Thus Hari, the four-faced god, invested with the quality of activity, and taking the form of Brahmá, accomplished the creation: but he (Brahmá) is only the instrumental cause of things to be created; the things that are capable of being created arise from nature as a common material cause: with exception of one instrumental cause alone, there is no need of any other cause, for (imperceptible) substance becomes perceptible substance according to the powers with which it is originally imbued.

Footnotes

This creation is of the secondary order, or Pratiserga; water, and even the earth, being in existence, and consequently having been preceded by the creation of Mahat and the It is also a different Pratiserga from that described by Manu, in which Swayambhu first creates the waters, then the egg: one of the simplest forms, and perhaps therefore one of the earliest in which the tradition occurs.

This is the well known verse of Menu, 8, rendered by Sir Wm. Jones, “The waters are called Nárá, because they were the production of Nara, or ‘the spirit’ of God; and since they were his first Ayana, or place of motion, he thence is named Nárá a, or ‘moving on the waters.'” Now although there can be little doubt that this tradition is in substance the same as that of Genesis, the language of the translation is perhaps more scriptural than p. 28 is quite warranted.

The waters, it is said in the text of Manu, were the progeny of Nara, which Kullúka

a explains Paramátmá, the supreme soul; that is, they were the first productions of God in creation. Ayana, instead of ‘place of motion,’ is explained by Ásraya, place of abiding.’ Nárá a means, therefore, he whose place of abiding was the deep. The verse occurs in several of the Purá as, in general in nearly the same words, and almost always as a quotation, as in our text The Linga, Váyu, and Má eya Purá as, citing the same, have a somewhat different reading; or, ‘Ápa (is the same as) Nárá, or bodies (Tanava); such, we have heard (from the Vedas), is the meaning of Apa.

He who sleeps in them, is thence called Náráy a.’ The ordinary sense of Tanu is either ‘minute’ or ‘body,’ nor does it occur amongst the synonymes of water in the Nirukta of the Vedas. It may perhaps be intended to say, that Nárá or Apa has the meaning of ‘bodily forms,’ in which spirit is enshrined, and of which the waters, with u resting upon them, are a type; for there is much mysticism in the Purá as in which the passage thus occurs. Even in them, however, it is introduced in the usual manner, by describing the world as water alone, and V u reposing upon the deep: Váyu P.

The Bhágavata has evidently attempted to explain the ancient text: ‘When the embodied god in the beginning divided the mundane egg, and issued forth, then, requiring an abiding-place, he created the waters: the pure created the pure. In them, his own created, he abode for a thousand years, and thence received the name of Nárá a: the waters being the product of the embodied deity:’ i. e. they were the product of Nara or u, as the first male or Virát, and were therefore termed Nára: and from there being his Ayana or Sthána, his ‘abiding place,’ comes his epithet of Nárá a.

The Varáha form was chosen, says the Váyu, because it is an animal delighting to sport in water, but it is described in many Purá as, as it is in the u, as a type of the ritual of the Vedas, as we shall have further occasion to remark. The elevation of the earth from beneath the ocean in this form, was, therefore, probably at first an allegorical representation of the extrication of the world from a deluge of iniquity by the rites of religion. Geologists may perhaps suspect, in the original and unmystified tradition, an allusion to a geological fact, or the existence of lacustrine mammalia in the early periods of the earth.

Yajnapati, ‘the bestower of the beneficial results of’

Yajnapurusha, ‘the male or soul of sacrifice;’ explained by Yajnamúrtti, ‘the form or personification of sacrifice;’ or Yajnárádhya ‘he who is to be propitiated by ‘

Varáha Avatára. The description of the figure of the boar is much more particularly detailed in other Purá As in the Váyu: “The boar was ten Yojanas in breadth, a thousand Yojanas high; of the colour of a dark cloud; and his roar was like thunder; his bulk was vast as a mountain; his tusks were white, sharp, and fearful; fire flashed from his eyes like lightning, and he was radiant as the sun; his shoulders were round, flit, and large; he strode along like a powerful lion; his haunches were fat, his loins were slender, and his body was smooth and beautiful.” The Matsya P. describes the Varáha in the same words, with one or two unimportant varieties.

The Bhágavata indulges in that amplification which marks its more recent composition, and describes the Varáha as issuing from the nostrils of Brahmá, at first of the size of the thumb, or an inch long, and presently increasing to the stature of an elephant. That work also subjoins a legend of the death of the demon Hiranyáksha, who in a preceding existence was one of Vi u’s doorkeepers, at his palace in Vaikuntha. Having refused admission to a party of Munis, they cursed him, and he was in consequence born as one of the sons of Diti. When the earth, oppressed by the weight of the mountains, sunk down into the waters, u was beheld in the subterrene regions, or Rasátala, by Hiranyáksha in the act of carrying it off.

The demon claimed the earth, and defied u to combat; and a conflict took place, in which Hiranyáksha was slain. This legend has not been met with in any other Purá a, and certainly does not occur in the chief of them, any more than in our text. In the Moksha Dherma of the Mahábhárata, e.35, u destroys the demons in the form of the Varáha, but no particular individual is specified, nor does the elevation of the earth depend upon their discomfiture. The Káliká Upapurá a has an absurd legend of a conflict between

iva as a Sarabha, a fabulous animal, and u as the Varáha, in which the latter suffers himself and his offspring begotten upon earth to be slain.

This, which is nothing more than the developement of the notion that the Varáha incarnation typifies the ritual of the Vedas, is repeated in most of the Purá as in the same or nearly the same

This seems equivalent to the ancient notion of a plastic nature: “All parts of matter, by reason of a certain life in them, being supposed able to form themselves artificially and methodically to the greatest advantage of their present respective ” This, which Cudworth (c. III.) calls hylozoism, is not incompatible with an active creator: “not that he should, 4 *+<(,/ – ‘4-*4, set his own hand to every work, which, as Aristotle says, would be, ‘(/’ . * =/ , unbecoming God; but, as in the case of Brahmá and other subordinate agents, that they should occasion p. 33 the various developments of crude nature to take place, by supplying that will, of which nature itself is incapable.

Action being once instituted by an instrumental medium, or by the will of an intellectual agent, it is continued by powers or a vitality inherent in nature or the matter of creation itself.

The efficiency of such subordinate causes was advocated by Plato, Aristotle, and others; and the opinion of Zeno, as stated by Laertius, might be taken for a translation of some such passage as that in our text: 3*1 6 :@31. 71. !7 4 * . 21-+<;?-> 24* 3’/(;4*12+ . 5 ,+<., ‘+*/5+ 3 */ 24 3<-?0+<34 * !7 4 * . !- (1+3;?-+1.

0( -+1., 24 *+14 *4 6(“34 :᾽ +$)- ‘/2( =>F ‘Nature is a habit moved from itself, according to seminal principles; perfecting and containing those several things which in determinate times are produced from it, and acting agreeably to that from which it was secreted.’ Intell. System, I. 328.

So the commentator illustrates our text by observing that the cause of the budding of rice is in its own seed, and its developement is from itself; though its growth takes place only at a determinate season, in consequence of the instrumental agency of the rain.

CHAP. V.

u as Brahmá creates the world. General characteristics of creation. Brahmá meditates, and gives origin to, immovable things, animals, gods, men. Specific creation of nine kinds; Mahat, Tanmátra, Aindríya, inanimate objects, animals, gods, men, Anugraha, and Kaumára. More particular account of creation. Origin of different orders of beings from Brahmá’s body under different conditions; and of the Vedas from his mouths. All things created again as they existed in a former Kalpa.

MAITREYA.–Now unfold to me, Brahman, how this deity created the gods, sages, progenitors, demons, men, animals, trees, and the rest, that abide on earth, in heaven, or in the waters: how Brahmá at creation made the world with the qualities, the characteristics, and the forms of things.

PARÁ ARA.–I will explain to you, Maitreya, listen attentively, how this deity, the lord of all, created the gods and other beings.

Whilst he (Brahmá) formerly, in the beginning of the Kalpas, was. meditating on creation, there appeared a creation beginning with ignorance, and consisting of darkness. From that great being appeared fivefold Ignorance, consisting of obscurity, illusion, extreme illusion, gloom, utter darkness. The creation of the creator thus plunged inabstraction, was the fivefold (immovable) world, without intellect or reflection, void of perception or sensation, incapable of feeling, and destitute of motion3. Since immovable things were first created, this is called the first creation.

Brahmá, beholding that it was defective, designed another; and whilst he thus meditated, the animal creation was manifested, to the products of which the term Tiryaksrotas is applied, from their nutriment following a winding course. These were called beasts, &c., and their characteristic was the quality of darkness, they being destitute of knowledge, uncontrolled in their conduct, and mistaking error for wisdom; being formed of egotism and self-esteem, labouring under the twenty-eight kinds of imperfection, manifesting inward sensations, and associating with each other (according to their kinds).

Beholding this creation also imperfect, Brahmá again meditated, and a third creation appeared, abounding with the quality of goodness, termed Úrddhasrotas6. The beings thus produced in the Úrddhasrotas creation were endowed with pleasure and enjoyment, unencumbered internally or externally, and luminous within and without. This, termed the creation of immortals, was the third performance of Brahmá, who, although well pleased with it, still found it incompetent to fulfil his end. Continuing therefore his meditations, there sprang, in consequence of his infallible purpose, the creation termed Arváksrotas, from indiscrete nature.

The products of this are termed Arváksrotasas, from the downward current (of their nutriment). They abound with the light of knowledge, but the qualities of darkness and of foulness predominate. Hence they are afflicted by evil, and are repeatedly impelled to action. They have knowledge both externally and internally, and are the instruments (of accomplishing the object of creation, the liberation of soul). These creatures were mankind.

I have thus explained to you, excellent Muni, six creations. The first creation was that of Mahat or Intellect, which is also called the creation of Brahmá. The second was that of the rudimental principles (Tanmátras), thence termed the elemental creation (Bhúta serga). The third was the modified form of egotism, termed the organic creation, or creation of the senses (Aindríyaka). These three were the Prákrita creations, the developements of indiscrete nature, preceded by the indiscrete principle.

The fourth or fundamental creation (of perceptible things) was that of inanimate bodies. The fifth, the Tairyag yonya creation, was that of animals. The sixth was the Úrddhasrotas creation, or that of the divinities. The creation of the Arváksrotas beings was the seventh, and was that of man. There is an eighth creation, termed Anugraha, which possesses both the qualities of goodness and darkness.

Of these creations, five are secondary, and three are primary. But there is a ninth, the Kaumára creation, which is both primary and secondary. These are the nine creations of the great progenitor of all, and, both as primary and secondary, are the radical causes of the world, proceeding from the sovereign creator. What else dost thou desire to hear?

MAITREYA. Thou hast briefly related to me, Muni, the creation of the gods and other beings: I am desirous, chief of sages, to hear from thee a more ample account of their creation.

PARÁ ARA.–Created beings, although they are destroyed (in their individual forms) at the periods of dissolution, yet, being affected by the good or evil acts of former existence, they are never exempted from their consequences; and when Brahmá creates the world anew, they are the progeny of his will, in the fourfold condition of gods, men, animals, or inanimate things. Brahmá then, being desirous of creating the four orders of beings, termed gods, demons, progenitors, and men, collected his mind into itself. Whilst thus concentrated, the quality of darkness pervaded his body; and thence the demons (the Asuras) were first born, issuing from his thigh.

Brahmá then abandoned that form which was, composed of the rudiment of darkness, and which, being deserted by him, became night. Continuing to create, but assuming a different. shape, he experienced pleasure; and thence from his mouth proceeded the gods, endowed with the quality of goodness. The form abandoned by him, became day, in which the good quality predominates; and hence by day the gods are most powerful, and by night the demons.

He next adopted another person, in which the rudiment of goodness also prevailed; and thinking of himself, as the father of the world, the progenitors (the Pitris) were born from his side. The body, when he abandoned, it, became the Sandhyá (or evening twilight), the interval between day and night. Brahmá then assumed another person, pervaded by the quality of foulness; and from this, men, in whom foulness (or passion) predominates, were produced. Quickly abandoning that body, it became morning twilight, or the dawn. At the appearance of this light of day, men feel most vigour; while the progenitors are most powerful in the evening season. In this manner, Maitreya, Jyotsná (dawn), Rátri (night), Ahar (day), and Sandhyá (evening), are the four bodies of Brahmá invested by the three qualities.

Next from Brahmá, in a form composed of the quality of foulness, was produced hunger, of whom anger was born: and the god put forth in darkness beings emaciate with hunger, of hideous aspects, and with long beards. Those beings hastened to the deity. Such of them as exclaimed, Oh preserve us! were thence called Rákshasas: others, who cried out, Let us eat, were denominated from that expression Yakshas.

Beholding them so disgusting, the hairs of Brahmá were shrivelled up, and first falling from his head, were again renewed upon it: from their falling they became serpents, called Sarpa from their creeping, and Ahi because they had deserted the head. The creator of the world, being incensed, then created fierce beings, who were denominated goblins, Bhútas, malignant fiends and eaters of flesh. The Gandharbas were next born, imbibing melody: drinking of the goddess of speech, they were born, and thence their appellation.

The divine Brahmá, influenced by their material energies, having created these beings, made others of his own will. Birds he formed from his vital vigour; sheep from his breast; goats from his mouth; kine from his belly and sides; and horses, elephants, Sarabhas, Gayals, deer, camels, mules, antelopes, and other animals, from his feet: whilst from the hairs of his body sprang herbs, roots, and fruits.

Brahmá having created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, various plants, employed them in sacrifices, in the beginning of the Tretá age. Animals were distinguished into two classes, domestic (village) and wild (forest): the first class contained the cow, the goat, the hog, the sheep, the horse, the ass, the mule: the latter, all beasts of prey, and many animals with cloven hoofs, the elephant, and the monkey. The fifth order were the birds; the sixth, aquatic animals; and the seventh, reptiles and insects.

From his eastern mouth Brahmá then created the Gayatrí metre, the Rig veda, the collection of hymns termed Trivrit, the Rathantara portion of the Sáma veda, and the

BA oma sacrifice: from his southern mouth he created the Yajur veda, the E ubh metre, the collection of hymns called Panchada a, the Vrihat Sáma, and the portion of the Sáma veda termed Uktha: from his western mouth he created the Sáma veda, the Jayati metre, the collection of hymns termed Saptada a, the portion of the Sáma called Vairúpa, and the Atirátra sacrifice: and from his northern mouth he created the Ekavinsa collection of hymns, the harva veda, the Áptoryámá rite, the A ubh metre, and the Vairája portion of the Sáma veda.

In this manner all creatures, great or small, proceeded from his limbs. The great progenitor of the world having formed the gods, demons, and Pitris, created, in the commencement of the Kalpa, the Yakshas, Pisáchas (goblins), Gandharbas and the troops of Apsarasas the nymphs of heaven, Naras (centaurs, or beings with the limbs of horses and human bodies) and Kinnaras (beings with the heads of horses), Rákshasas, birds, beasts, deer, serpents, and all things permanent or transitory, movable or immovable.

This did the divine Brahmá, the first creator and lord of all: and these things being created, discharged the same functions as they had fulfilled in a previous creation, whether malignant or benign, gentle or cruel, good or evil, true or false; and accordingly as they are actuated by such propensities will be their conduct.

And the creator displayed infinite variety in the objects of sense, in the properties of living things, and in the forms of bodies: he determined in the beginning, by the authority of the Vedas, the names and forms and functions of all creatures, and of the gods; and the names and appropriate offices of the Rishis, as they also are read in the Vedas. In like manner as the products of the seasons designate in periodical revolution the return of the same season, so do the same circumstances indicate the recurrence of the same Yuga, or age; and thus, in the beginning of each Kalpa, does Brahmá repeatedly create the world, possessing the power that is derived from the will to create, and assisted by the natural and essential faculty of the object to be created.

Footnotes

The terms here employed are for qualities, Gunas; which, as we have already noticed, are those of goodness, foulness, and darkness. The characteristics, or Swabhávas, are the inherent properties of the qualities, by which they act, as, soothing, terrific, or stupifying: and the forms, Swarúpas, are the distinctions of biped, quadruped, brute, bird, fish, and the like.

Or Tamas, Moha, Mahámoha, Tamisra, Andhatamisra; they are the five kinds of obstruction, viparyyaya, of soul’s liberation, according to the Sánkhya: they are explained to be, 1. The belief of material substance being the same with spirit; 2. Notion of property or possession, and consequent attachment to objects, as children and the like, as being one’s own; 3. Addiction to the enjoyments of sense; 4. Impatience or wrath; and 5. Fear of privation or death. They are called in the Pátanjala philosophy, the five afflictions,

Kle a, but are similarly explained by Avidyá, ‘ignorance;’ Asmitá, ‘selfishness,’ literally ‘I-am-ness;’ Rága ‘love;’ Dwesha, ‘hatred;’ and Abhinive a, ‘dread of temporal suffering.’

Sánkhya Káriká, p. 148-150. This creation by Brahmá p. 35 in the Váráha Kalpa begins in the same way, and in the same words, in most of the Purá as. The Bhágavata reverses the order of these five products, and gives them, Andhatamisra, Tamisra, Mahámoha, Moha, and Tamas; a variation obviously more immethodical than the usual reading of the text, and adopted, no doubt, merely for the sake of giving the passage an air of originality.

This is not to be confounded with elementary creation, although the description would very well apply to that of crude nature, or Pradhána; but, as will be seen presently, we have here to do with final productions, or the forms in which the previously created elements and faculties are more or less perfectly aggregated. The first class of these forms is here said to be immovable things; that is, the mineral and vegetable kingdoms; for the solid earth, with its mountains and rivers and seas, was already prepared for their reception. The ‘fivefold’ immovable creation is indeed, according to the comment, restricted to vegetables, five orders of which are enumerated, or, 1. trees; 2. shrubs; 3. climbing plants; 4. creepers; and 5. grasses.

Tiryak, ‘crooked;’ and Srotas, ‘a canal.’

Twenty-eight kinds of Badhas, which in the Sánkhya system mean disabilities, as defects of the senses, blindness, deafness, &c.; and defects of intellect, discontent, ignorance, and the like. S. Káriká, p. 148, 151. In place of Badha, however, the more usual reading, as in the Bhágavata, Váráha, and Má eya Purá as, is Vidha, ‘kind,’ ‘sort,’ as ###, implying twenty-eight sorts of animals. These are thus specified in the Bhágavata, III. 10: Six kinds have single hoofs, nine have double or cloven hoofs, and thirteen have five claws or nails instead of hoofs. The first are the horse, the mule, the ass, the yak, the sarabha, and the gaura, or white deer. The second are the cow, the goat, the buffalo, the hog, the gayal, the black deer, the antelope, the camel, and the sheep. The last are the dog, shacal, wolf, tiger, cat, hare, porcupine, lion, monkey, elephant, tortoise, lizard, and alligator.

Úrddha, ‘above,’ and Srotas, as before; their nourishment being derived from the exterior, not from the interior of the body: according to the commentator; as a text of the Vedas has it; ‘Through satiety derived from even beholding ambrosia.’

Arvák, ‘downwards,’ and Srotas, ‘canal.’

This reckoning is not very easily reconciled with the creations described; for, as presently enumerated, the stages of creation are seven. The commentator, however, considers the Úrddhasrotas creation, or that of the superhuman beings, to be the same with that of the Indriyas, or senses over which they preside; by which the number is reduced to six.

This creation being the work of the supreme spirit, ### according to the commentator; or it might have been understood to mean, that Brahmá was then created, being, as we have seen, identified with Mahat, ‘active intelligence,’ or the operating will of the Supreme.

As rendered in the text, ‘creation preceded by, or beginning with Buddhi, intelligence.’ The rules of euphony would however admit of a mute negative being inserted, or ‘preceded by ignorance;’ that is, by the chief principle, crude nature or Pradhána, which is one with ignorance: but this seems to depend on notions of a later date, and more partial adoption, than those generally prevailing in our authority; and the first reading therefore has been preferred. It is also to be observed, that the first unintellectual creation was that of immovable objects , the original of which is, all ambiguity of construction is avoided.

The reading is also established by the text of the Linga Purá a, which enumerates the different series of creation in the words of the u, except in this passage, which is there transposed, with a slight variation of the reading. Instead of the first creation was that of Mahat: Intellect being the first in manifestation.’ The reading of the Váyu P. is still more tautological, but confirms that here preferred:

The Anugraha creation, of which no notice has been found in the Mahábhárata, seems to have been borrowed from the Sánkhya philosophy. It is more particularly described in the

Padma, Má e

ya, Linga, and Matsya Purá as; as, ‘The fifth is the Anugraha creation,

which is subdivided into four kinds; by obstruction, disability, perfectness, and acquiescence.’

This is the Pratyaya sarga, or intellectual creation, of the Sánkhyas (S. Káriká, v. 46. p.146); the creation of which we have a notion, or to which we give assent (Anugraha), in contradistinction to organic creation, or that existence of which we have sensible perception. In its specific subdivisions it is the notion of certain inseparable properties in the four different orders of beings: obstruction or stolidity in inanimate things; inability or imperfection in animals; perfectibility in man; and acquiescence or tranquil enjoyment in gods. So also the Váyu P.

Or Vaikrita, derived mediately from the first principle, through its Vikritis, ‘productions’ or ‘developements;’ and Prákrita, derived more immediately from the chief principle itself. Mahat and the two forms of Ahankára, or the rudimental elements and the senses, constitute the latter class; inanimate beings, &c. compose the former: or the latter are considered as the work of p. 38 Brahmá, whilst the three first are evolved from Pradhána. So the Váyu: ‘The three creations beginning with Intelligence are elemental; but the six creations which proceed from the series of which Intellect is the first are the work of Brahmá’.

We must have recourse here also to other Purá as, for the elucidation of this term. The Kaumára creation is the creation of Rudra or Nílalohita, a form of iva, by Brahmá, which is subsequently described in our text, and of certain other mind-born sons of Brahmá, of whose birth the u P. gives no further account: they are elsewhere termed Sanatkumára, Sananda, Sanaka, and Sanátana, with sometimes a fifth, Ribhu, added. These, declining to create progeny, remained, as the name of the first implies, ever boys, kumáras; that is, ever pure and innocent; whence their creation is called the Kaumára. Thus the Váyu.

And the Linga has, ‘Being ever as he was born, he is here called a youth; and hence his name is well known as Sanatkumára.’ This authority makes Sanatkumára and Ribhu the two first born of all, whilst the text of the Hari Van a limits the primogeniture to Sanatkumára. In another place, however, it enumerates apparently six, or the above four with Sana and either. Ribhu or another Sanátana; for the passage is corrupt. The French translation ascribes a share in creation to Sanatkumára: ‘Les sept Prajapatis, Roudra, Scanda, et Sanatkaumára, se mirent a produire les etres repandant partout l’inepuisable energie de dieu.’ The original is, Sankshipya is not ‘repandant,’ but ‘restraining;’ and

E hatah being in the dual number, relates of course to only two of the series.

The correct rendering is, ‘These seven (Prajápatis) created progeny, and so did Rudra; but Skanda and Sanatkumára, restraining their power, abstained (from creation). These sages, however, live as long as Brahmá, and they are only created by him in the first Kalpa, although their generation is very commonly, but inconsistently, introduced in the Váráha or Pádma Kalpas.

This creation, says the text, is both primary (Prákrita) and secondary (Vaikrita). It is the latter, according to the commentator, as regards the origin of these saints from Brahmá: it is the former as affects Rudra, who, though proceeding from Brahmá, in a certain form was in essence equally an immediate production of the first principle.

These notions, the birth of Rudra and the saints, seem to have been borrowed from the Saivas, and to have been awkwardly engrafted upon the ava system. Sanatkumára and his brethren are always described in the Saiva Purá as as Yogis: as the Kúrma, after enumerating them, adds, ‘These five, oh Brahmans, were Yogis, who acquired entire exemption from passion:’ and the Hari Van a, although rather ava than Saiva, observes, that the Yogis celebrate these six, along with Kapila, in Yoga works.

The idea seems to have been amplified also in the Saiva works; for the Linga P. describes the repeated birth of iva, or Vámadeva, as a Kumára, or boy, from Brahmá, in each Kalpa, who again becomes four. Thus in the twenty-ninth Kalpa Swetalohita is the Kumára, and he becomes Sananda, Nandana, Viswananda, Upanandana; all of a white complexion: in the thirtieth the Kumára becomes Virajas, Viváhu, Visoka, Víswabhávana; all of a red colour: in the thirty-first he becomes four youths of a yellow colour: and in the thirty-second the four Kumáras were black.

All these are, no doubt, comparatively recent additions to the original notion of the birth of Rudra and the Kumáras; itself obviously a sectarial innovation upon the primitive doctrine of the birth of the Prajápatis, or will-born sons of Brahmá.

These reiterated, and not always very congruous accounts of the creation are explained by the Purá as as referring to different Kalpas, or renovations of the world, and therefore involving no incompatibility. A better reason for their appearance is the probability that they have been borrowed from different original authorities. The account that follows is evidently modified by the Yogi Saivas, by its general mysticism, and by the expressions with which it begins: ‘Collecting his mind into itself,’ according to the comment, is the performance of the Yoga (Yúyuje).

The term Ambhánsi, lit. ‘waters,’ for the four orders of beings, gods, demons, men, and Pitris, is also a peculiar, and probably mystic term. The commentator says it occurs in the Vedas as a synonyme of gods. The Váyu Purá a derives it from ‘to shine,’ p. 40 because the different orders of beings shine or flourish severally by moonlight, night, day, and twilight: &c.

This account is given in several other Purá as: in the Kúrma with more simplicity; in the Padma, Linga, and Váyu with more detail. The Bhágavata, as usual, amplifies still more copiously, and mixes up much absurdity with the account. Thus the person of Sandhyá, ‘evening twilight,’ is thus described: “She appeared with eyes rolling with passion, whilst her lotus-like feet sounded with tinkling ornaments: a muslin vest depended from her waist, secured by a golden zone: her breasts were protuberant, and close together; her nose was elegant; her tongue beautiful; her face was bright with smiles, and she modestly concealed it with the skirts of her robe; whilst the dark curls clustered round her brow.” The Asuras address her, and win her to become their bride.

To the four forms of our text, the same work adds, Tandrí, ‘sloth;’ Jrimbhiká, ‘yawning;’ Nidrá, ‘sleep;’ Unmáda, ‘insanity;’ Antarddhána, ‘disappearance;’ Pratibimba, ‘reflexion;’ which become the property of Pisáchas, Kinnaras, Bhútas, Gandherbas, Vidyádharas, Sádhyas, Pitris, and Menus. The notions of night, day, twilight, and moonlight being derived from Brahmá, seem to have originated with the Vedas. Thus the commentator on the Bhágavata p. 41 observes, ‘That which was his body, and was left, was darkness: this is the ruti.’ All the authorities place night before day, and the Asuras or Titans before the gods, in the order of appearance; as did Hesiod and other ancient theogonists.

From Raksha, ‘to preserve’ From Yaksha, ‘to eat’

From Srip, serpo, ‘to creep,’ and from Há, ‘to abandon.’ Gám dhayantah, ‘drinking speech.’

This and the preceding enumeration p. 42 of the origin of vegetables and animals occurs in several Purá as, precisely in the same words. The Linga adds a specification of the Aranya, or wild animals, which are said to be the buffalo, gayal, bear, monkey, sarabha, wolf, and lion.

This specification of the parts of the Vedas that proceed from Brahmá occurs, in the same words, in the Váyu, Linga, Kúrma, Padma, and Má eya Purá as. The Bhágavata offers some important varieties: “From his eastern and other mouths he created the Rich, Yajush, Sáma, and Atharvan vedas; the astra, or ‘the unuttered incantation;’ Ijyá, ‘oblation;’ Stuti and Stoma, ‘prayers’ and ‘hymns;’ and Práya chitta, ‘expiation’ or ‘sacred philosophy’ (Bráhma): also the Vedas of medicine, arms, music, and mechanics; and the Itihásas and Purá as, which are a fifth Veda: also the portions of the Vedas called Sorasi, Uktha, Puríshi, ‘ BA ut, Áptoryámá, Atirátra, Vájapeya, Gosava; the four parts of virtue, purity, liberality, piety, and truth; the orders of life, and their institutes and different religious rites and professions; and the sciences of logic, ethics, and polity.

The mystic words and monosyllable proceeded from his heart; the metre Ushnih from the hairs of his body; Gayatrí from his skin; E ubh from his flesh; A ubh from his tendons; Jagati from his bones; Pankti from his marrow; Vrihati from his breath. The consonants were his life; the vowels his body; the sibilants his senses; the semivowels his vigour.” This mysticism, although perhaps expanded and amplified by the Paurá ics, appears to originate with the Vedas: as in the text, ‘The metre was of the tendons.’ The different portions of the Vedas specified in the text are yet, for the most part, uninvestigated.

CHAP. VI.

Origin of the four castes: their primitive state. Progress of society. Different kinds of grain. Efficacy of sacrifice. Duties of men: regions assigned them after death.

MAITREYA.–Thou hast briefly noticed, illustrious sage, the creation termed Arváksrotas, or that of mankind: now explain to me more fully how Brahmá accomplished it; how he created the four different castes; what duties he assigned to the Brahmans and the rest.

PARÁ ARA.–Formerly, oh best of Brahmans, when the truth-meditating Brahmá was desirous of creating the world, there sprang from his mouth beings especially endowed with the quality of goodness; others from his breast, pervaded by the quality of foulness; others from his thighs, in whom foulness and darkness prevailed; and others from his feet, in whom the quality of darkness predominated. These were, in succession, beings of the several castes, Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vaisyas, and údras, produced from the mouth, the breast, the thighs, and the feet of Brahmá.

These he created for the performance of sacrifices, the four castes being the fit instruments of their celebration. By sacrifices, oh thou who knowest the truth, the gods are nourished; and by the rain which they bestow, mankind are supported 3: and thus sacrifices, the source of happiness, are performed by pious men, attached to their duties, attentive to prescribed obligations, and walking in the paths of virtue. Men acquire (by them) heavenly fruition, or final felicity: they go, after death, to whatever sphere they aspire to, as the consequence of their human nature. The beings who were created by Brahmá, of these four castes, were at first endowed with righteousness and perfect faith; they abode wherever they pleased, unchecked by any impediment; their hearts were free from guile; they were pure, made free from soil, by observance of sacred institutes.

In their sanctified minds Hari dwelt; and they were filled with perfect wisdom, by which they contemplated the glory of u. After a while (after the Tretá age had continued for some period), that portion of Hari which has been described as one with Kála (time) infused into created beings sin, as yet feeble though formidable, or passion and the like: the impediment of soul’s liberation, the seed of iniquity, sprung from darkness and desire.

The innate perfectness of human nature was then no more evolved: the eight kinds of perfection, Rasollásá and the rest, were impaired; and these being enfeebled, and sin gaining strength, mortals were afflicted with pain, arising from susceptibility to contrasts, as heat and cold, and the like. They therefore constructed places of refuge, protected by trees, by mountains, or by water; surrounded them by a ditch or a wall, and formed villages and cities; and in them erected appropriate dwellings, as defences against the sun and the cold. Having thus provided security against the weather, men next began to employ themselves in manual labour, as a means of livelihood, (and cultivated) the seventeen kinds of useful grain–rice, barley, wheat, millet, sesamum, panic, and various sorts of lentils, beans, and pease.

These are the kinds cultivated for domestic use: but there are fourteen kinds which may be offered in sacrifice; they are, rice, barley, Másha, wheat, millet, and sesamum; Priyangu is the seventh, and kulattha, pulse, the eighth: the others are, Syámáka, a sort of panic; Nívára, uncultivated rice; Jarttila, wild sesamum; Gaveduká (coix); Markata, wild panic; and (a plant called) the seed or barley of the Bambu (Venu-yava). These, cultivated or wild, are the fourteen grains that were produced for purposes of offering in sacrifice; and sacrifice (the cause of rain) is their origin also: they again, with sacrifice, are the great cause of the perpetuation of the human race, as those understand who can discriminate cause and effect.

Thence sacrifices were offered daily; the performance of which, oh best of Munis, is of essential service to mankind, and expiates the offences of those by whom they are observed. Those, however, in whose hearts the dross of sin derived from Time (Kála) was still more developed, assented not to sacrifices, but reviled both them and all that resulted from them, the gods, and the followers of the Vedas. Those abusers of the Vedas, of evil disposition and conduct, and seceders from the path of enjoined duties, were plunged in wickedness.

The means of subsistence having been provided for the beings he had created, Brahmá prescribed laws suited to their station and faculties, the duties of the several castes and orders, and the regions of those of the different castes who were observant of their duties. The heaven of the Pitris is the region of devout Brahmans. The sphere of Indra, of Kshetriyas who fly not from the field. The region of the winds is assigned to the Vaisyas who are diligent in their occupations and submissive. údras are elevated to the sphere of the Gandharbas.

Those Brahmans who lead religious lives go to the world of the eighty-eight thousand saints: and that of the seven Rishis is the seat of pious anchorets and hermits. The world of ancestors is that of respectable householders: and the region of Brahmá is the asylum of religious mendicants. The imperishable region of the Yogis is the highest seat of

u, where they perpetually meditate upon the supreme being, with minds intent on him alone: the sphere where they reside, the gods themselves cannot behold.

The sun, the moon, the planets, shall repeatedly be, and cease to be; but those who internally repeat the mystic adoration of the divinity, shall never know decay. For those who neglect their duties, who revile the Vedas, and obstruct religious rites, the places assigned after death are the terrific regions of darkness, of deep gloom, of fear, and of great terror; the fearful hell of sharp swords, the hell of scourges and of a waveless sea.

Footnotes

The creation of mankind here described is rather out of its place, as it precedes the birth of the Prajápatis, or their progenitors: but this want of method is common to the Purá as, and is evidence of their being compilations from various sources.

This original of the four castes is given in Manu, and in most of the Purá as. We shall see, however, that the distinctions are subsequently ascribed to voluntary election, to accident, or to positive institutions.

According to Manu, oblations ascend to and nourish the sun; whence the rain falls upon earth, and causes the growth of corn: burnt-offerings are therefore the final causes of the support of mankind.

This description of a pure race of beings is not of general occurrence in the Purá as. It

seems here to be abridged from a much more detailed account in the Brahmá a

, Váyu,

and Má e

ya Purá as. In those works Brahmá is said to create, in the beginning of the

Kalpa, a thousand pairs of each of the four classes of mankind, who enjoy perfect happiness during the Krita age, and only gradually become subject to infirmities as the Tretá or second age advances.

These eight perfections, or Siddhis, are not the supernatural faculties obtained by the performance of the Yoga. They are described, the commentator says, in the Skánda and other works; and from them he extracts their description: 1. Rasollásá, the spontaneous or prompt evolution of the juices of the body, independently of nutriment from without: 2. Tripti, mental satisfaction, or freedom from sensual desire: 3. Sámya, sameness of degree: 4. Tulyatá, similarity of life, form, and feature: 5. Visoká, exemption alike from infirmity or grief: 6. Consummation of penance and meditation, by attainment of true knowledge: 7. The power of going every where at will: 8. The faculty of reposing at any time or in any place. These attributes are alluded to, though obscurely, in the Váyu, and are partly specified in the Má eya Purá a.

In the other three Purá as, in which this legend has been found, the different kinds of inhabited places are specified and p. 46 introduced by a series of land measures. Thus the Má eya states, that 10 Paramá us = 1 Parasúkshma; 10 Parasúkshmas = 1 E u; 10 E us = 1 particle of dust, or Mahírajas; 10 Mahírajasas = 1 Bálágra, ‘hair’s point;’ 10 Bálágras = 1 Likhyá; 10 Likhyás= 1 Yúka; to Yúkas = 1 heart of barley (Yavodara); 10 Yavodaras = 1 grain of barley of middle size; 10 barley grains = 1 finger, or inch; 6 fingers = a Pada, or foot (the breadth of it); 2 Padas = 1 Vitasti, or span; 2 spans = 1 Hasta, or cubit; 4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or staff, or 2 Nárikás; 2000 Dhanus = a Gavyúti; 4 Gavyútis = a Yojana.

The measurement of the Brahmá a

is less detailed. A span from the thumb to the first

finger is a Prade a; to the middle finger, a Nála; to the third finger, a Gokerna; and to the little finger, a Vitasti, which is equal to twelve Angulas, or fingers; understanding thereby, according to the Váyu, a joint of the finger; according to other authorities, it is the breadth of the thumb at the tip. (A. R. 5. 104.) The Váyu, giving similar measurements upon the authority of Manu, although such a statement does not occur in the Manu Sanhitá, adds, that 21 fingers= 1 Ratni; 24 fingers = 1 Hasta, or cubit; 2 Ratnis

= 1 Kishku; 4 Hastas = 1 Dhanu; 2000 Dhanus = l Gavyúti; and 8000 Dhanus = 1 Yojana. Durgas, or strong holds, are of four kinds; three of which are natural, from, their situation in mountains, amidst water, or in other inaccessible spots; the fourth is the

artificial defences of a village (Gráma), a hamlet ( a

ka), or a city (Pura or Nagara),

which are severally half the size of the next in the series.

The best kind of city is one which is about a mile long by half a mile broad, built in the form of a parallelogram, facing the northeast, and surrounded by a high wall and ditch. A hamlet should be a Yojana distant from a city: a village half a Yojana from a hamlet. The roads leading to the cardinal points from a city should be twenty Dhanus (above two feet) broad: a village road should be the same: a boundary road ten Dhanus: a royal or principal road or street should be ten Dhanus (above fifty feet) broad: a cross or branch road should be four Dhanus. Lanes and paths amongst the houses are two Dhanus in breadth: footpaths four cubits: the entrance of a house three cubits: the private entrances and paths about the mansion of still narrower dimensions. Such were the measurements adopted by the first builders of cities, according to the Purá as specified.

These are enumerated in the text, as well as in the Váyu and Má eya P., and are, Udára, a sort of grain with long stalks (perhaps a holcus); Kodrava (Paspalum kora); Chínaka, a sort of panic (P. miliaceum); Másha, kidney bean (Phaseolus radiatus); Mudga (Phaseolus mungo); Masúra, lentil (Ervum hirsutum); Nishpáva, a sort of pulse; Kulattha (Dolithos biflorus); Arhaki (Cytisus Cajan); Chanaka, chick pea (Cicer arietinum); and Sana (Crotolaria).

This allusion to the sects hostile to the Vedas, Buddhists or Jains, does not occur in the parallel passages of the Váyu and Má eya Purá as.

The Váyu goes farther than this, and states that the castes were now first divided according to their occupations; having, indeed, previously stated that there was no such distinction in the Krita age: ‘Brahmá now appointed those who were robust and violent to be Kshetriyas, to protect the rest; those who were pure and pious he made Brahmans; those who were of less power, but industrious, and addicted to cultivate the ground, he made Vaisyas; whilst the feeble and poor of spirit were constituted údras: and he assigned them their several occupations, to prevent that interference with one another which had occurred as long as they recognised no duties peculiar to castes.

These worlds, some of which will be more particularly described in a different section, are the seven Lokas or spheres above the earth: 1. Prájápatya or Pitri loka: 2. Indra loka or Swerga: 3. Marut loka or Diva loka, heaven: 4. Gandharba loka, the region of celestial spirits; also called Maharloka: 5. Janaloka, or the sphere of saints; some copies read eighteen thousand; others, as in the text, which is also the reading of the Padma Purá a:

Tapaloka, the world of the seven sages: and 7. Brahma loka or Satya loka, the world of infinite wisdom and truth. The eighth, or high world of u, is a sectarial addition, which in the Bhágavata is called Vaikuntha, and in the Brahma Vaivartta, Goloka; both apparently, and most certainly the last, modern inventions.

The divisions of Naraka, or hell, here named, are again more particularly enumerated, b.

CHAP. VII.

Creation continued. Production of the mind-born sons of Brahmá; of the Prajápatis; of Sanandana and others; of Rudra and the eleven Rudras; of the Manu Swáyambhuva, and his wife atarúpá; of their children. The daughters of Daksha, and their marriage to Dharma and others. The progeny of Disarms and Adharma. The perpetual succession of worlds, and different modes of mundane dissolution.

PARÁ ARA.–From Brahmá, continuing to meditate, were born mind-engendered progeny, with forms and faculties derived from his corporeal nature; embodied spirits, produced from the person of that all-wise deity. All these beings, front the gods to inanimate things, appeared as I have related to you, being the abode of the three qualities: but as they did not multiply themselves, Brahmá created other mind-born sons, like himself; namely, Bhrigu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Angiras, Maríchi, Daksha, Atri, and Va ha: these are the nine Brahmas (or Brahma rishis) celebrated in the Purá as.

Sanandana and the other sons of Brahmá were previously created by him, but they were without desire or passion, inspired with holy wisdom, estranged from the universe, and undesirous of progeny.

This when Brahmá perceived, he was filled with wrath capable of consuming the three worlds, the flame of which invested, like a garland, heaven, earth, and hell. Then from his forehead, darkened with angry frowns, sprang Rudra, radiant as the noon-tide sun, fierce, and of vast bulk, and of a figure which was half male, half female. Separate yourself, Brahmá said to him; and having so spoken, disappeared. Obedient to which command, Rudra became twofold, disjoining his male and female natures. His male being he again divided into eleven persons, of whom some were agreeable, some hideous, some fierce, some mild; and he multiplied his female nature manifold, of complexions black or white.

Then Brahmá created himself the Manu Swáyambhuva, born of, and identical with, his original self, for the protection of created beings; and the female portion of himself he constituted atarúpá, whom austerity purified from the sin (of forbidden nuptials), and whom the divine Manu Swáyambhuva took to wife.

From these two were born two sons, Priyavrata and Uttánapáda, and two daughters, named Prasúti and Ákúti, graced with loveliness and exalted merit. Prasúti he gave to Daksha, after giving Ákúti to the patriarch Ruchi, who espoused her. Ákúti bore to Ruchi twins, Yajna and Dakshiná, who afterwards became husband and wife, and had twelve sons, the deities called Yámas, in the Manwantara of Swáyambhuva.

The patriarch Daksha had by Prasúti twenty-four daughters: hear from me their names:

Sraddhá (faith), Lakshmí (prosperity), Dhriti (steadiness), E i

(resignation), i

(thriving), Medhá (intelligence), Kríyá (action, devotion), Buddhi (intellect), Lajjá (modesty), Vapu (body), Sánti (expiation), Siddhi (perfection), Kírtti (fame): these thirteen daughters of Daksha, Dharma (righteousness) took to wife.

The other eleven bright-eyed and younger daughters of the patriarch were, Khyáti (celebrity), Sati (truth), Sambhúti (fitness), Smriti (memory), Príti (affection), Kshamá (patience), Sannati (humility), Anasúyá (charity), Úrjjá (energy), with Swáhá (offering), and Swadhá (oblation). These maidens were respectively wedded to the Munis, Bhrigu, Bhava, Maríchi, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, Atri, and Va ha; to Fire (Vahni), and to the Pitris (progenitors).

The progeny of Dharma by the daughters of Daksha were as follows: by Sraddhá he had Káma (desire); by Lakshmí, Darpa (pride); by Dhriti, Niyama (precept); by E i , Santosha (content); by i , Lobha (cupidity); by Medhá, Sruta (sacred tradition); by

Kriyá, $ a

, Naya, and Vinaya (correction, polity, and prudence); by Buddhi, Bodha

(understanding); by Lajjá, Vinaya (good behaviour); by Vapu, Vyavasaya (perseverance). Sánti gave birth to Kshema (prosperity); Siddhi to Sukha (enjoyment); and Kírtti to Yasas (reputation). These were the sons of Dharma; one of whom, Káma, had Hersha (joy) by his wife Nandi (delight).

The wife of Adharma (vice) was Hinsá (violence), on whom he begot a son Anrita (falsehood), and a daughter Nikriti (immorality): they intermarried, and had two sons, Bhaya (fear) and Naraka (hell); and twins to them, two daughters, Máyá (deceit) and Vedaná (torture), who became their wives. The son of Bhaya and Máyá was the destroyer of living creatures, or Mrityu (death); and Dukha (pain) was the offspring of Naraka and Vedaná. The children of Mrityu were Vyádhi (disease), Jará (decay), Soka (sorrow),

E a (greediness), and Krodha (wrath).

These are all called the inflictors of misery, and are characterised as the progeny of Vice (Adharma). They are all without wives, without posterity, without the faculty to procreate; they are the terrific forms of u, and perpetually operate as causes of the destruction of this world. On the contrary, Daksha and the other Rishis, the elders of mankind, tend perpetually to influence its renovation: whilst the Manus and their sons, the heroes endowed with mighty power, and treading in the path of truth, as constantly contribute to its preservation.

MAITREYA.–Tell me, Bráhman, what is the essential nature of these revolutions, perpetual preservation, perpetual creation, and perpetual destruction.

PARÁ ARA.–Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, ‘occasional;’ Prákritika, ‘elemental;’ Atyantika, ‘absolute;’ Nitya, ‘perpetual: The first, alsotermed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep.

In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born.

The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Purá as, constant creation. In this manner the mighty u, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution.

The faculties of u to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns.

Footnotes

It is not clear which of the previous narratives is here referred to, but it seems most probable that the account is intended.

Considerable variety prevails in this list of Prajápatis, Brahmaputras, Bráhmanas, or Brahmarshis; but the variations are of the nature of additions made to an apparently original enumeration of but seven, whose names generally recur. Thus in the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dharma, we have in one place, Maríchi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Va ha, ‘the seven highminded sons of the self-born Brahmá.’ In another place of the same, however, we have Daksha substituted for Va ha: ‘Brahmá then created mind-begotten sons, of whom Daksha was the seventh, with Maríchi,’ &c.

These seven sons of Brahmá are also identified with the seven Rishis as in the Váyu; although, with palpable inconsistency, eight are immediately enumerated, or, Bhrigu, Maríchi, Atri, Angiras, Pulastya, Pulaha, Kratu, and Va ha. The Uttara Khanda of the Padma P. substitutes Kardama for Va ha. The Bhágavata includes Daksha, enumerating nine. The Matsya agrees with Manu in adding Nárada to the list of our text. The Kúrma P. adds Dharma and Sankalpa.

The Linga, Brahmá a

, and Váyu P. also add them, and extend the list to Adharma and

Ruchi. The Hari Van a in one place inserts Gautama, and p. 50 in another Manu. Altogether therefore we have seventeen, instead of seven. But the accounts given of the origin of several of these, shew that they were not originally included amongst the Mánasa putras, or sons of Brahmá’s mind; for even Daksha, who finds a place in all the lists except one of those given in the Mahábhárata, is uniformly said to have sprung from Brahmá’s thumb: and the same patriarch, as well as Dharma, is included in some accounts, as in the Bhágavata and Matsya P., amongst a different series of Brahmá’s progeny, or virtues and vices; or, Daksha (dexterity), Dharma (virtue), Káma (desire), Krodha (passion), Lobha (covetousness), Moha (infatuation), Mada (insanity), Pramoda (pleasure), Mrityu (death), and Angaja (lust).

These are severally derived from different parts of Brahmá’s body: and the Bhagávata, adding Kardama (soil or sin) to this enumeration, makes him spring from Brahmá’s shadow. The simple statement, that the first Prajápatis sprang from the mind or will of Brahmá, has not contented the depraved taste of the mystics, and in some of the Purá as, as the Bhágavata, Linga, and Váyu, they also are derived from the body of their progenitor; or, Bhrigu from his skin, Maríchi from his mind, Atri from his eyes, Angiras from his mouth, Pulastya from his ear, Pulaha from his navel, Kratu from his hand,

Va ha from his breath, Daksha from his thumb, and Nárada from his hip.

They do not exactly agree, however, in the places whence these beings proceed; as for instance, according to the Linga, Maríchi springs from Brahmá’s eyes, not Atri, who there proceeds, instead of Pulastya, from his ears. The Váyu has also another account of their origin, and states them to have sprung from the fires of a sacrifice offered by Brahmá; an allegorical mode of expressing their probable original, considering them to be in some degree real persons, from the Brahmanical ritual, of which they were the first institutors and observers. The Váyu P. also states, that besides the seven primitive Rishis, the Prajápatis are numerous, and specifies Kardama, Ka yapa, esha, Vikránta, Susravas,

Bahuputra, Kumára, Vivaswat, Suchisravas, Práchetasa (Daksha), a

nemi, Bahula.

These and many others were Prajápatis. In the beginning of the Mahábhárata (A. P.) we have again a different origin, and first Daksha, the son of Prachetas, it is said, had seven sons, after whom the twenty-one Prajápatis were born, or appeared. According to the commentator, the seven sons of Daksha were the allegorical persons Krodha, Tamas, Dama, Vikrita, Angiras, Kardama, and Aswa; and the twenty-one Prajápatis, the seven usually specified Maríchi and the rest, and the fourteen Manus. This looks like a blending of the earlier and later notions.

Besides this general notice of the origin of Rudra and his separate forms, we have in the next chapter an entirely different set of beings so denominated; and the eleven alluded to in the text are also more particularly enumerated in a subsequent chapter. The origin of Rudra, as one of the agents in creation, is described in most of the Purá as. The Mahábhárata, indeed, refers his origin to u, representing him as the personification of his anger, whilst Brahmá is that of his kindness.

The Kúrma P. makes him proceed from Brahmá’s mouth, whilst engaged in meditating on creation. The Varáha P. makes this appearance of Rudra the consequence of a promise made by iva to Brahmá, that he would become his son. In the parallel passages in other Purá as the progeny of the Rudra created by Brahmá is not confined to the eleven, but comprehends infinite numbers of beings in person and equipments like their parent; until Brahmá, alarmed at their fierceness, numbers, and immortality, desires his son Rudra, or, as the Matsya calls him, Vámadeva, to form creatures of a different and mortal nature.

Rudra refusing to do this, desists; whence his name Sthánu, from Sthá, ‘to stay.’ Linga, Váyu P. &c.

According to the Váyu, the female became first twofold, or one half white, and the other black; and each of these, again, becomes manifold, being the various energies, or aktis, of Mahádeva, as stated by the Kúrma, after the words ### which are those of our text.

The Linga and Váyu specify many of their names. Those of the white complexion, or mild nature, include Lakshmí, Saraswatí, Gaurí, Umá, &c. Those of the dark hue, and fierce disposition, Durgá, Kálí, Chandí, Mahárátrí, and others.

Brahmá, after detaching from himself the property of anger, in the form of Rudra, converted himself into two persons, the first male, or the Manu Swáyambhuva, and the first woman, or atarúpá: so in the Vedas; ‘So himself was indeed (his) son.’ The commencement of production through sexual agency is here described with sufficient distinctness, but the subject has been rendered p. 52 obscure by a more complicated succession of agents, and especially by the introduction of a person of a mythic or mystical character, Viráj. The notion is thus expressed in Manu: “Having divided his own substance, the mighty power Brahmá became half male and half female; and from that female he produced Viráj. Know me to be that person whom the male Viráj produced by himself.” I. 32, 33.

We have therefore a series of Brahmá, Viráj, and Manu, instead of Brahmá and Manu only: also the generation of progeny by Brahmá, begotten on Satarúpá, instead of her being, as in our text, the wife of Manu. The idea seems to have originated with the Vedas,

as Kullúka a

quotes a text; ‘Then (or thence) Virát was born.’ The procreation of

progeny by Brahmá, however, is at variance with the whole system, which almost invariably refers his creation to the operation of his will: and the expression in Manu, ‘he created Viráj in her,’ does not necessarily imply sexual intercourse. Viráj also creates, not begets, Manu.

And in neither instance does the name of atarúpá occur. The commentator on Manu, however, understands the expression asrijat to imply the procreation of Viráj; and the same interpretation is given by the Matsya Purá a, in which the incestuous passion of Brahmá for atarúpa, his daughter in one sense, his sister in another, is described; and by her he begets Viráj, who there is called, not the progenitor of Manu, but Manu himself.

This therefore agrees with our text, as far as it makes Manu the son of Brahmá, though not as to the nature of the connexion. The reading of the Agni and Padma P. is that of the

u; and the Bhágavata agrees with it in one place, stating distinctly that the male half of Brahmá, was Manu, the other half, atarúpá: Bhágav. III. 12. 35: and although the production of Viráj is elsewhere described, it is neither as the son of Brahmá, nor the father of Manu. The original and simple idea, therefore, appears to be, the identity of Manu with the male half of Brahmá, and his being thence regarded as his son. The Kúrma

gives the same account as Manu, and in the same words.

The Linga P. and Váyu P. describe the origin of Viráj and atarúpá from Brahmá; and they intimate the union of atarúpá with Purusha or Viráj, the male portion of Brahmá, in the first instance; and in the second, with Manu, who is termed Vairája, or the son of Viráj. The Bráhma P., the words of which are repeated in the Hari Van a, introduces a new element of perplexity in a new name, that of Ápava. According to the commentator, this is a name of the Prajápati Va ha. As, however, he performs the office of Brahmá, he should be regarded as that divinity: but this is not exactly the case, although it has been so rendered by the French translator. Ápava becomes twofold, and in the capacity of his male half begets offspring by the female.

Again, it is said u created p. 53 Viráj, and Viráj created the male, which is Vairája or Manu; who was thus the second interval (Antaram), or stage, in creation. That is, according to the commentator, the first stage was the creation of Ápava, or Va ha, or Viráj, by u, through the agency of Hiranyagarbha or Brahmá; and the next was that of the creation of Manu by Viráj. atarúpá appears as first the bride of Ápava, and then as the wife of Manu. This account therefore, although obscurely expressed, appears to be essentially the same with that of Manu; and we have Brahmá, Viráj, Manu, instead of Brahmá and Manu. It seems probable that this difference, and the part assigned to Viráj, has originated in some measure from confounding Brahmá with the male half of his individuality, and considering as two beings that which was but one. If the Purusha or Viráj be distinct from Brahmá, what becomes of Brahmá?

The entire whole and its two halves cannot coexist; although some of the Paurá ics and the author of Manu seem to have imagined its possibility, by making Viráj the son of Brahmá. The perplexity, however, is still more ascribable to the personification of that which was only an allegory. The division of Brahmá into two halves designates, as is very evident from the passage in the Vedas given by Mr. Colebrooke, (As. R. VIII. 425,) the distinction of corporeal substance into two sexes; Viráj being all male animals,

atarúpá all female animals. So the commentator on the Hari Van a explains the former to denote the horse, the bull, &c.; and the latter, the mare, the cow, and the like. In the Bhágavata the term Viráj implies, Body, collectively, as the commentator observes; ‘As the sun illuminates his own inner sphere, as well as the exterior regions, so soul, shining in body (Virája), irradiates all without and within.’

All therefore that the birth of Viráj was intended to express, was the creation of living body, of creatures of both sexes: and as in consequence man was produced, he might be said to be the son of Viráj, or bodily existence. Again, atarúpá, the bride of Brahmá, or of Viráj, or of Manu, is nothing more than beings of varied or manifold forms, from Sata, ‘a hundred,’ and ‘form;’ explained by the annotator on the Hari Van a by Anantarúpá, ‘of infinite,’ and Vividharúpá, ‘of diversified shape;’ being, as he states, the same as Máyá, ‘illusion,’ or the power of multiform metamorphosis.

The Matsya P. has a little allegory of its own, on the subject of Brahmá’s intercourse with

atarúpá; for it explains the former to mean the Vedas, and the latter the Savitrí, or holy prayer, which is their chief text; and in their cohabitation there is therefore no evil.

The Bráhma P. has a different order, and makes Víra the son of the first pair, who has Uttánapáda, &c. by Kámyá. The commentator on the Hari Van a quotes the Váyu for a confirmation of this account; but the passage there is, ‘ atarúpá bore to the male Vairája (Manu) two Víras,’ i. e. heroes or heroic sons,Uttánpáda and Priyavrata. It looks as if the compiler of the Bráhma P. had made some very unaccountable blunder, and invented upon it a new couple, Víra and Kámyá: no such person as the former occurs in any other Purá a, nor does Kámyá, as his wife.

The Bhágavata adds a third daughter, Devahúti; for the purpose apparently of introducing a long legend of the Rishi Kardama, to whom she is married, and of their son Kapila: a legend not met with any where else.

Ruchi is reckoned amongst the Prajápatis by the Linga and Váyu Purá as.

These descendants of Swáyambhuva are all evidently allegorical: thus Yajna is ‘sacrifice,’ and $ á ‘donation’ to Brahmans.

The Bhágavata (b. IV. c. 1) says the Tushitas, but they are the divinities of the second, not of the first Manwantara, as appears also in another part of the same, where the Yámas are likewise referred to the Swáyambhuva Manwantara.

These twenty-four daughters are of much less universal occurrence in the Purá as than the more extensive series of fifty or sixty, which is subsequently described, and which appears to be the more ancient legend.

The twenty-four daughters of Daksha are similarly named and disposed of in most of the Purá as which notice them. The Bhágavata, having introduced a third daughter. of Swáyambhuva, has a rather different enumeration, in order to assign some of them, the wives of the Prajápatis, to p. 55 Kardama and Devahúti. Daksha had therefore, it is there said (b. IV. c. 1), sixteen daughters, thirteen of whom were married to Dharma, named Sraddhá, Maitrí (friendship), Dayá (clemency), Sánti E i , i , Kriyá, Unnati (elevation), Buddhi, Medhá, Titikshá (patience), Hrí (modesty), Múrtti (form); and three, Sati, Swáhá, and Swadhá, married, as in our text. Some of the daughters of Devahúti repeat these appellations, but that is of slight consideration.

They are, Kalá (a moment), married to Maríchi; Anasúyá to Atri; Sraddhá to Angiras; Havirbhu (oblation-born) to Pulastya; Gati (movement) to Pulaha; Kriyá to Kratu; Khyáti to Bhrigu; Arundhati to Va ha; and Sánti to Atharvan. In all these instances the persons are manifestly allegorical, being personifications of intelligences and virtues and religious rites, and being therefore appropriately wedded to the probable authors of the Hindu code of religion and morals, or to the equally allegorical representation of that code, Dharma, moral and religious duty.

The same remark applies here. The Purá as that give these details generally concur with our text, but the Bhágavata specifies the progeny of Dharma in a somewhat different manner; or, following the order observed in the list of Dharma’s wives, their children are, Rita (truth), Prasáda (favour), Abhaya (fearlessness), Sukha, Muda (pleasure), Smaya (wonder), Yoga (devotion), Darpa, Artha (meaning), Smriti (memory), Kshema, Prasraya (affection), and the two saints Nara and Nárá a, the sons of Dharma by Múrtti. We have occasional varieties of nomenclature in other authorities; as, instead of ruta, Sama; Kúrma P.: instead of Dandanaya, Samaya; and instead of Bodha, Apramáda; Linga P.: and Siddha in place of Sukha; Kúrma P.

The text rather abruptly introduces Adharma and his family. He is said by the commentator to be the son of Brahmá, and the Linga P. enumerates him among the Prajápatis, as well as Dharma. According to the Bhágavata, he is the husband of Mrishá (falsehood), and the father of Dambha (hypocrisy) and Máyá (deceit), who were adopted by Nirritti.

The series p. 56 of their descendants is also somewhat varied from our text; being in each descent, however, twins which intermarry, or Lobha (covetousness) and Nikriti, who produce Krodha (wrath) and Hinsá: their children are, Kali (wickedness) and Durukti (evil speech): their progeny are, Mrityu and Bhí (fear); whose offspring are, Niraya (hell) and Yátaná (torment).

The three first of these are more particularly described in the last book: the last, the Nitya, or constant, is differently described by Col. Vans Kennedy (Ancient and Hindu Mythology, p. 224, note). “In the 7th chapter,” he observes, “of the u Purá a four kinds of Pralaya are described. The Naimittika takes place when Brahmá slumbers: the Prákritika when this universe returns to its original nature: Atyantika proceeds from divine knowledge: and Nitya is the extinction of life, like the extinction of a lamp, in sleep at night.” For this last characteristic, however, our text furnishes no warrant; nor can it be explained to signify, that the Nitya Pralaya means no more p. 57 than “a man’s falling into a sound sleep at night.”

All the copies consulted on the present occasion concur in reading as rendered above. The commentator supplies the illustration, ‘like the flame of a lamp;’ but he also writes, ‘That which is the destruction of all that are born, night and day, is the Nitya, or constant.’ Again, in a verse presently following we have the Nitya Sarga, ‘constant or perpetual creation,’ as opposed to constant dissolution: ‘That in which, oh excellent sages, beings are daily born, is termed constant creation, by those learned in the Purá as.’

The commentator explains this, ‘The constant flow or succession of the creation of ourselves and other creatures is the Nitya or constant creation: this is the meaning of the text.’ It is obvious, therefore, that the alternation intended is that of life and death, not of waking and sleep.

CHAP. VIII.

Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras: their wives and children. The posterity of Bhrigu. Account of rí in conjunction with u. Sacrifice of Daksha.

PARÁ ARA.–I have described to you, oh great Muni, the creation of Brahmá, in which the quality of darkness prevailed. I will now explain to you the creation of Rudra.

In the beginning of the Kalpa, as Brahmá purposed to create a son, who should be like himself, a youth of a purple complexion appeared, crying with a low cry, and running about. Brahmá, when he beheld him thus afflicted, said to him, “Why dost thou weep?” “Give me a name,” replied the boy. “Rudra be thy name,” rejoined the great father of all creatures: “be composed; desist from tears.” But, thus addressed, the boy still wept seven times, and Brahmá therefore gave to him seven other denominations; and to these eight persons regions and wives and posterity belong.

The eight manifestations, then, are named Rudra, Bhava, arva, I ána, Pa upati, Bhíma, Ugra, and Mahádeva, which were given to them by their great progenitor. He also assigned to them their respective stations, the sun, water, earth, air, fire, ether, the ministrant Brahman, and the moon; for these are their several forms. The wives of the sun and the other manifestations, termed Rudra and the rest, were respectively, Suverchalá, Ushá, Vikesí, Sivá, Swáhá, Di á, Díkshá, and Rohiní.

Now hear an account of their progeny, by whose successive generations this world has been peopled. Their sons, then, were severally, Sanai chara (Saturn), ukra (Venus), the fiery-bodied Mars, Manojava (Hanumán), Skanda, Swarga, Santána, and Budha (Mercury).

It was the Rudra of this description that married Satí, who abandoned her corporeal existence in consequence of the displeasure of Daksha. She afterwards was the daughter of Himaván (the snowy mountains) by Mená; and in that character, as the only Umá, the mighty Bhava again married her. The divinities Dhátá and Vidhátá were born to Bhrigu by Khyáti, as was a daughter, rí, the wife of Nárá a, the god of gods.

MAITREYA.–It is commonly said that the goddess rí was born from the sea of milk, when it was churned for ambrosia; how then can you say that she was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti.

PARÁ ARA.– rí, the bride of u, the mother of the world, is eternal, imperishable; in like manner as he is all-pervading, so also is she, oh best of Brahmans, omnipresent.

u is meaning; she is speech. Hari is polity (Naya); she is prudence (Níti). u is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the creator; she is creation. rí is the earth; Hari the support of it. The deity is content; the eternal Lakshmí is resignation. He is desire; rí is wish.

He is sacrifice; she is sacrificial donation (Dakshiná). The goddess is the invocation which attends the oblation; Janárddana is the oblation. Lakshmí is the chamber where the females are present (at a religious ceremony); Madhusúdana the apartment of the males of the family. Lakshmí is the altar; Hari the stake (to which the victim is bound). rí is the fuel; Hari the holy grass (Ku a). He is the personified Sáma veda; the goddess, lotus- throned, is the tone of its chanting. Lakshmí is the prayer of oblation (Swáhá); Vásudeva, the lord of the world, is the sacrificial fire. Saurí ( u) is ankara ( iva); and rí is the bride of iva (Gaurí). Ke ava, oh Maitreya, is the sun; and his radiance is the lotus-seated goddess. u is the tribe of progenitors (Pitrigana); Padma. is their bride (Swadhá), the eternal bestower of nutriment. rí is the heavens; u, who is one with all things, is wide extended space.

The lord of rí is the moon; she is his unfading light. She is called the moving principle of the world; he, the wind which bloweth every where. Govinda is the ocean; Lakshmí its shore. Lakshmí is the consort of Indra (Indrání); Madhusúdana is Devendra. The holder of the discus ( u) is Yama (the regent of Tartarus); the lotus-throned goddess is his dusky spouse (Dhúmorná). rí is wealth; ridhara ( u) is himself the god of riches (Kuvera). Lakshmí, illustrious Brahman, is Gaurí; and Ke ava, is the deity of ocean (Varuna). rí is the host of heaven (Devasená); the deity of war, her lord, is Hari. The wielder of the mace is resistance; the power to oppose is rí. Lakshmí is the Ká há and the Kalá; Hari the Nimesha and the Muhúrtta. Lakshmí is the light; and Hari, who is all, and lord of all, the lamp. She, the mother of the world, is the creeping vine; and u the tree round which she clings. She is the night; the god who is armed with the mace and discus is the day. He, the bestower of blessings, is the bridegroom; the lotus-throned goddess is the bride.

The god is one with all male–the goddess one with all female, rivers. The lotus-eyed deity is the standard; the goddess seated on a lotus the banner. Lakshmí is cupidity; Nárá a, the master of the world, is covetousness. Oh thou who knowest what righteousness is, Govinda is love; and Lakshmí, his gentle spouse, is pleasure. But why thus diffusely enumerate their presence: it is enough to say, in a word, that of gods, animals, and men, Hari is all that is called male; Lakshmí is all that is termed female: there is nothing else than they.

Footnotes

The creation of Rudra has been already adverted to, and that seems to be the primitive form of the legend. We have here another account, grounded apparently upon aiva or Yogi mysticism.

The appearance of Rudra as a Kumára, ‘a boy,’ is described as of repeated occurrence in the Linga and Váyu Purá as, as already noticed; and these Kumáras are of different complexions in different Kalpas. In the ava Purá as, however, we have only one original form, to which the name of Nílalohita, the blue and red or purple complexioned is assigned. In the Kúrma this youth comes from Brahmá’s mouth: in the Váyu, from his forehead.

This is the Paurá ic etymology: or rud, ‘to weep,’ and dru, ‘to run’ The grammarians derive the name from rud, ‘to weep,’ with ra affix.

The Váyu details the application of each name severally. These eight Rudras are therefore but one, under as many appellations, and in as many types. The Padma, Má eya, Kúrma, Linga, and Váyu agree with our text in the nomenclature of the Rudras, and their types, their wives, and progeny. The types are those which are enumerated in the Nándí, or opening benedictory verse, of Sakuntalá; and the passage of the u P. was found by Mons. Chezy on the envelope of his copy.

He has justly corrected Sir Wm. Jones’s version of the term ‘the sacrifice is performed with solemnity;’ as the word means, ‘Brahmane officiant,’ ‘the Brá who is qualified by initiation (Díkshá) to conduct the rite.’ These are considered as the bodies, or visible forms, of those modifications of Rudra which are variously named, and which, being praised in them, severally abstain from harming them: Váyu P.

The Bhágavata, III. 12, has a different scheme, as usual; but it confounds the notion of the eleven Rudras, to whom the text subsequently adverts, with that of the eight here specified. These eleven it terms Manyu, Manu, Mahínasa, Mahán, Siva, Ritadhwaja, Ugraretas, Bhava, Kála, Vámadeva, and Dhritavrata: their wives are, Dhí, Dhriti, Rasalomá, Niyut, Sarpí, Ilá, Ambiká, Irávatí, Swadhá, Díkshá, Rudrání: and their places are, the heart, senses, breath, ether, air, fire, water, earth, sun, moon, and tapas, or ascetic devotion. The same allegory or mystification characterises both accounts.

See the story of Daksha’s sacrifice at the end of the chapter.

The story of Umá’s birth and marriage occurs in the iva P. and in the Ká í Khanda of the Skanda P.: it is noticed briefly, and with some variation from the Purá as, in the

Rámá a, first book: it is also given in detail in the Kumára Sambhava of Kálidása.

The family of Bhrigu is more particularly described in the tenth chapter: it is here mentioned merely to introduce the story of the birth of the goddess of prosperity, rí.

SACRIFICE OF DAKSHA.

(From the Váyu Purá a.)

“There was formerly a peak of Meru, named Sávitra, abounding with gems, radiant as the sun, and celebrated throughout the three worlds; of immense extent, and difficult of access, and an object of universal veneration. Upon that glorious eminence, rich with mineral treasures, as upon a splendid couch, the deity iva reclined, accompanied by the daughter of the sovereign of mountains, and attended by the mighty Ádityas, the powerful Vasus, and by the heavenly physicians, the sons of Aswiní; by Kuvera, surrounded by his train of Guhyakas, the lord of the Yakshas, who dwells on Kailása.

There also was the great Muni Usanas: there, were Rishis of the first order, with Sanatkumára at their head; divine Rishis, preceded by Angiras; Vi wavasu, with his bands of heavenly choristers; the sages Nárada and Párvata; and innumerable troops of celestial nymphs. The breeze blew upon the mountain, bland, pure, and fragrant; and the trees were decorated with flowers, that blossomed in every season. The Vidyádharas and Siddhas, affluent in devotion, waited upon Mahádeva, the lord of living creatures; and many other beings, of various forms, did him homage. Rákshasas of terrific semblance, and Pisáchas of great strength, of different shapes and features, armed with various weapons, and blazing like fire, were delighted to be present, as the followers of the god.

There stood the royal Nandí, high in the favour of his lord, armed with a fiery trident, shining with inherent lustre; and there the best of rivers, Gangá, the assemblage of all holy waters, stood adoring the mighty deity. Thus worshipped by all the most excellent of sages and of gods, abode the omnipotent and all-glorious Mahádeva.

“In former times, Daksha commenced a holy sacrifice on the side of Himaván, at the sacred spot Gangadwára, frequented by the Rishis. The gods, desirous of assisting at this solemn rite, came, with Indra at their head, to Mahádeva, and intimated their purpose; and having received his permission, departed in their splendid chariots to Gangadwára, as tradition reports. They found Daksha, the best of the devout, surrounded by the singers and nymphs of heaven, and by numerous sages, beneath the shade of clustering trees and climbing plants; and all of them, whether dwellers on earth, in air, or in the regions above the skies, approached the patriarch with outward gestures of respect.

The Ádityas, Vasus, Rudras, Maruts, all entitled to partake of the oblations, together with G u, were present. The four classes of Pitris, Ushmapás, Somapás, Ájyapás, and Dhúmapás, or those who feed upon the flame, the acid juice, the butter, or the smoke of offerings, the Aswins and the progenitors, came along with Brahmá. Creatures of every class, born from the womb, the egg, from vapour, or vegetation, came upon their invocation; as did all the gods, with their brides, who in their resplendent vehicles blazed like so many fires. Beholding them thus assembled, the sage Dadhícha was filled with indignation, and observed, ‘The man who worships what ought not to be worshipped, or pays not reverence where veneration is due, is guilty, most assuredly, of heinous sin.’

Then addressing Daksha, he said to him, ‘Why do you not offer homage to the god who is the lord of life (Pa ubhartri)?’ Daksha spake; ‘I have already many Rudras present, armed with tridents, wearing braided hair, and existing in eleven forms: I recognise no other Mahádeva.’ Dadhícha spake; ‘The invocation that is not addressed to Í a, is, for all, but a solitary (and imperfect) summons.

In asmuch as I behold no other divinity who is superior to ankara, this sacrifice of Daksha will not be completed.’ Daksha spake; I offer, in a golden cup, this entire oblation, which has been consecrated by many prayers, as an offering ever due to the unequalled u, the sovereign lord of all.

“In the meanwhile, the virtuous daughter of the mountain king, observing the departure of the divinities, addressed her lord, the god of living beings, and said–Umá spake– ‘Whither, oh lord, have the gods, preceded by Indra, this day departed? Tell me truly, oh thou who knowest all truth, for a great doubt perplexes me.’ Mahe wara spake; Illustrious goddess, the excellent patriarch Daksha celebrates the sacrifice of a horse, and thither the gods repair.’ Deví spake; Why then, most mighty god, dost thou also not proceed to this solemnity? by what hinderance is thy progress thither impeded?’ Mahe wara spake;

‘This is the contrivance, mighty queen, of all the gods, that in all sacrifices no portion should be assigned to me. In consequence of an arrangement formerly devised, the gods allow me, of right, no participation of sacrificial offerings.’ Deví spake; ‘The lord god lives in all bodily forms, and his might is eminent through his superior faculties; he is unsurpassable, he is unapproachable, in splendour and glory and power. That such as he should be excluded from his share of oblations, fills me with deep sorrow, and a trembling, oh sinless, seizes upon my frame. Shall I now practise bounty, restraint, or penance, so that my lord, who is inconceivable, may obtain a share, a half or a third portion, of the sacrifice?’

“Then the mighty and incomprehensible deity, being pleased, said to his bride, thus agitated; and speaking; ‘Slender-waisted queen of the gods, thou knowest not the purport of what thou sayest; but I know it, oh thou with large eyes, for the holy declare all things by meditation. By thy perplexity this day are all the gods, with Mahendra and all the three worlds, utterly confounded. In my sacrifice, those who worship me, repeat my praises, and chant the Rathantara song of the Sáma veda; my priests worship me in the sacrifice of true wisdom, where no officiating Brahman is needed; and in this they offer me my portion.’ Deví spake;

‘The lord is the root of all, and assuredly, in every assemblage of the female world, praises or hides himself at will.’ Mahádeva spake; ‘Queen of the gods, I praise not myself: approach, and behold whom I shall create for the purpose of claiming my share of the rite.’

“Having thus spoken to his beloved spouse, the mighty Mahe wara created from his mouth a being like the fire of fate; a divine being, with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet; wielding a thousand clubs, a thousand shafts; holding the shell, the discus, the mace, and bearing a blazing bow and battle-axe; fierce and terrific, shining with dreadful splendour, and decorated with the crescent moon; clothed in a tiger’s skin, dripping with blood; having a capacious stomach, and a vast mouth, armed with formidable tusks: his ears were erect, his lips were pendulous, his tongue was lightning; his hand brandished the thunderbolt; flames streamed from his hair; a necklace of pearls wound round his neck; a garland of flame descended on his breast: radiant with lustre, he looked like the final fire that consumes the world.

Four tremendous tusks projected from a mouth which extended from ear to ear: he was of vast bulk, vast strength, a mighty male and lord, the destroyer of the universe, and like a large fig-tree in circumference; shining like a hundred moons at once; fierce as the fire of love; having four heads, sharp white teeth, and of mighty fierceness, vigour, activity, and courage; glowing with the blaze of a thousand fiery suns at the end of the world; like a thousand undimmed moons: in bulk like Himádri, Kailása, or Meru, or Mandara, with all its gleaming herbs; bright as the sun of destruction at the end of ages; of irresistible prowess, and beautiful aspect; irascible, with lowering eyes, and a countenance burning like fire; clothed in the hide of the elephant and lion, and girt round with snakes; wearing a turban on his head, a moon on his brow; sometimes savage, sometimes mild; having a chaplet of many flowers on his head, anointed with various unguents, and adorned with different ornaments and many sorts of jewels; wearing a garland of heavenly Karnikára flowers, and rolling his eyes with rage.

Sometimes he danced; sometimes he laughed aloud; sometimes he stood wrapt in meditation; sometimes he trampled upon the earth; sometimes he sang; sometimes he wept repeatedly: and he was endowed with the faculties of wisdom, dispassion, power, penance, truth, endurance, fortitude, dominion, and self-knowledge.

“This being, then, knelt down upon the ground, and raising his hands respectfully to his head, said to Mahádeva, ‘Sovereign of the gods, command what it is that I must do for thee.’ To which Mahe wara replied, Spoil the sacrifice of Daksha.’ Then the mighty Vírabhadra, having heard the pleasure of his lord, bowed down his head to the feet of Prajápati; and starting like a lion loosed from bonds, despoiled the sacrifice of Daksha, knowing that the had been created by the displeasure of Deví. She too in her wrath, as the fearful goddess Rudrakálí, accompanied him, with all her train, to witness his deeds.

Vírabhadra the fierce, abiding in the region of ghosts, is the minister of the anger of Deví. And he then created, from the pores of his skin, powerful demigods, the mighty attendants upon Rudra, of equal valour and strength, who started by hundreds and thousands into existence. Then a loud and confused clamour filled all the expanse of ether, and inspired the denizens of heaven with dread. The mountains tottered, and earth shook; the winds roared, and the depths of the sea were disturbed; the fires lost their radiance, and the sun grew pale; the planets of the firmament shone not, neither did the stars give light; the Rishis ceased their hymns, and gods and demons were mute; and thick darkness eclipsed the chariots of the skies.

“Then from the gloom emerged fearful and numerous forms, shouting the cry of battle; who instantly broke or overturned the sacrificial columns, trampled upon the altars, and danced amidst the oblations. Running wildly hither and thither, with the speed of wind, they tossed about the implements and vessels of sacrifice, which looked like stars precipitated from the heavens. The piles of food and beverage for the gods, which had been heaped up like mountains; the rivers of milk; the banks of curds and butter; the sands of honey and butter-milk and sugar; the mounds of condiments and spices of every flavour; the undulating knolls of flesh and other viands; the celestial liquors, pastes, and confections, which had been prepared; these the spirits of wrath devoured or defiled or scattered abroad.

Then falling upon the host of the gods, these vast and resistless Rudras beat or terrified them, mocked and insulted the nymphs and goddesses, and quickly put an end to the rite, although defended by all the gods; being the ministers of Rudra’s wrath, and similar to himself 6. Some then made a hideous clamour, whilst others fearfully shouted, when Yajna was decapitated. For the divine Yajna, the lord of sacrifice, then began to fly up to heaven, in the shape of a deer; and Vírabhadra, of immeasurable spirit, apprehending his power, cut off his vast head, after he had mounted into the sk. Daksha the patriarch, his sacrifice being destroyed, overcome with terror, and utterly broken in spirit, fell then upon the ground, where his head was spurned by the feet of the cruel Vírabhadra. The thirty scores of sacred divinities were all presently bound, with a band of fire, by their lion-like foe; and they all then addressed him, crying, ‘Oh Rudra, have mercy upon thy servants: oh lord, dismiss thine anger.’

Thus spake Brahmá and the other gods, and the patriarch Daksha; and raising their hands, they said, ‘Declare, mighty being, who thou art.’ Vírabhadra said, ‘I am not a god, nor an Áditya; nor am I come hither for enjoyment, nor curious to behold the chiefs of the divinities: know that I am come to destroy the sacrifice of Daksha, and that I am called Vírabhadra, the issue of the wrath of Rudra. Bhadrakálí also, who has sprung from the anger of Deví, is sent here by the god of gods to destroy this rite. Take refuge, king of kings, with him who is the lord of Umá; for better is the anger of Rudra than the blessings of other gods.’

“Having heard the words of Vírabhadra, the righteous Daksha propitiated the mighty god, the holder of the trident, Mahe wara. The hearth of sacrifice, deserted by the Brahmans, had been consumed; Yajna had been metamorphosed to an antelope; the fires of Rudra’s wrath had been kindled; the attendants, wounded by the tridents of the servants of the god, were groaning with pain; the pieces of the uprooted sacrificial posts were scattered here and there; and the fragments of the meat-offerings were carried off by flights of hungry vultures, and herds of howling jackals. Suppressing his vital airs, and taking up a posture of meditation, the many-sighted victor of his foes, Daksha fixed his eyes every where upon his thoughts. Then the god of gods appeared from the altar, resplendent as a thousand suns, and smiled upon him, and said, ‘Daksha, thy sacrifice has been destroyed through sacred knowledge: I am well pleased with thee:’ and then he smiled again, and said, ‘What shall I do for thee; declare, together with the preceptor of the gods.’

“Then Daksha, frightened, alarmed, and agitated, his eyes suffused with tears, raised his hands reverentially to his brow, and said, ‘If, lord, thou art pleased; if I have found favour in thy sight; if I am to be the object of thy benevolence; if thou wilt confer upon me a boon, this is the blessing I solicit, that all these provisions for the solemn sacrifice, which have been collected with much trouble and during a long time, and which have now been eaten, drunk, devoured, burnt, broken, scattered abroad, may not have been prepared in vain.’ ‘So let it be,’ replied Hara, the subduer of Indra. And thereupon Daksha knelt down upon the earth, and praised gratefully the author of righteousness, the three-eyed god Mahádeva, repeating the eight thousand names of the deity whose emblem is a bull.”

Footnotes

The sacrifice of Daksha is a legend of some interest, from its historical and archeological relations. It is obviously intended to intimate a struggle between the worshippers of iva and of u, in which at first the latter, but finally the former, acquired the ascendancy. It is also a favourite subject of Hindu sculpture, at least with the Hindus of the aiva division, and makes a conspicuous figure both at Elephanta and Ellora. A representation of the dispersion and mutilation of the gods and sages by Vírabhadra, at the former, is published in the Archæologia, VII. 326, where it is described as the Judgment of Solomon! a figure of Vírabhadra is given by Niebuhr, vol. II. tab. 10: and the entire group in the Bombay Transactions, vol. I. p. 220. It is described, p. 229; but Mr. Erskine has not verified the subject, although it cannot admit of doubt. The groupe described, p. 224, probably represents the introductory details given in our text. Of the Ellora sculptures, a striking one occurs in what Sir C. Malet calls the Doomar Leyna cave, where is “Veer Budder, with eight hands. In one is suspended the slain Rajah Dutz.” A. R. VI. 396. And there is also a representation of ‘Ehr Budr,’ in one of the colonades of Kailas; being, in fact, the same figure as that at Elephanta. Bombay Tr. III. 287.

The legend of Daksha therefore was popular when those cavern temples were excavated. The story is told in much more detail in several other Purá as, and with some variations, which will be noticed: but the above has been selected as a specimen of the style of the Váyu Purá a, and as being a narration which, from its inartificial, obscure, tautological, and uncircumstantial construction, is probably of an ancient date. The same legend, in the same words, is given in the Bráhma P.

Or this may he understood to imply, that the original story is in the Vedas; the term being, as usual in such a reference. Gangadwára, the place where the Ganges descends to the plains–or Haridwar, as it is more usually termed–is usually specified as the scene of action, The Linga is more precise, calling it Kanakhala, which is the village still called Kankhal, near Haridwar (Megha Dúta). It rather inaccurately, however, describes this as upon Hansa peak, a point of the Himalaya.

The Kúrma P. gives also this discussion between Dadhícha and Daksha, and their dialogue contains some curious matter. Daksha, for instance, states that no portion of a sacrifice is ever allotted to iva, and no prayers are directed to be addressed to him, or to his bride. Dadhícha apparently evades the objection, and claims a share for Rudra, consisting of the triad of gods, as one with the sun, who is undoubtedly hymned by the several ministering priests of the Vedas. Daksha replies, that the twelve Ádityas receive special oblations; that they are all the suns; and p. 64 that he knows of no other. The Munis, who overhear the dispute, concur in his sentiments. These notions seem to have been exchanged for others in the days of the Padma P. and Bhágavata, as they place Daksha’s neglect of iva to the latter’s filthy practices, his going naked, smearing himself with ashes, carrying a skull, and behaving as if he were drunk or crazed: alluding, no doubt, to the practices of aiva mendicants, who seem to have abounded in the days of ankara Áchárya, and since.

There is no discussion in the Bhágavata, but Rudra is described as present at a former assembly, when his father-in-law censured him before the guests, and in consequence he departed in a rage. His follower Nandí curses the company, and Bhrigu retorts in language descriptive of the Vámácháris, or left hand worshippers of iva. “May all those,” he says, “who adopt the worship of Bhava ( iva), all those who follow the practices of his worshippers, become heretics, and oppugners of holy doctrines; may they neglect the observances of purification; may they be of infirm intellects, wearing clotted hair, and ornamenting themselves with ashes and bones; and may they enter the aiva initiation, in which spirituous liquor is the libation.”

This simple account of Sati’s share in the transaction is considerably modified in other accounts. In the Kúrma, the quarrel begins with Daksha the patriarch’s being, as he thinks, treated by his son-in-law with less respect than is his due. Upon his daughter Satí’s subsequently visiting him, he abuses her husband, and turns her out of his house. She in spite destroys herself. iva, hearing of this, comes to Daksha, and curses him to be born as a Kshetriya, the son of the Prachetasas, and to beget a son on his own daughter. It is in this subsequent birth that the sacrifice occurs.

The Linga and Matsya allude to the dispute between Daksha and Sati, and to the latter’s putting an end to herself by Yoga. The Padma, Bhágavata, and Skánda in the Kásí Khanda, relate the dispute between father and daughter in a like manner, and in more detail. The first refers the death of Sag, however, to a prior period; and that and the Bhágavata both ascribe it to Yoga. The Kásí Khanda, with an improvement indicative of a later age, makes Sati throw herself into the fire prepared for the solemnity.

The description of Vírabhadra and his followers is given in other Purá as in the same strain, but with less detail.

Their exploits, and those of Vírabhadra, are more particularly specified elsewhere, especially in the Linga, Kúrma, and Bhágavata Purá as. Indra is knocked down and trampled on; Yama has his staff broken; Saraswatí and the Mátris have their noses cut off; Mitra or Bhaga has his eyes pulled out; Pushá has his teeth knocked down his throat; Chandra is pummelled; Vahni’s hands are cut off; Bhrigu loses his beard; the Brahmans are pelted with stones; the Prajápatis are beaten; and the gods and demigods are run through with swords or stuck with arrows.

This is also mentioned in the Linga and in the Hari Van a: and the latter thus accounts for the origin of the constellation Mrigasíras; Yajna, with the head of a deer, being elevated to the planetary region, by Brahmá.

As he prays to iva presently, it could not well be meant here that Daksha was decapitated, although that is the story in other places. The Linga and Bhágavata both state that Vírabhadra cut off Daksha’s head, and threw it into the fire. After the fray therefore, when iva restored the dead to life, and the mutilated to their limbs, Daksha’s head was not forthcoming: it was therefore replaced by the head of a goat, or, according to the Kásí Khanda, that of a ram. No notice is taken in our text of the conflict elsewhere described between Vírabhadra and u. In the Linga, the latter is beheaded, and his head is blown by the wind into the fire.

The Kúrma, though a aiva Purá a, is less irreverent towards u, and after describing a contest in which both parties occasionally prevail, makes Brahmá interpose, and separate the combatants. The Kásí Khanda of the Skánda P. describes u as defeated, and at the mercy of Vírabhadra, who is prohibited by a voice from heaven from destroying his antagonist: whilst in the Hari Van a, u compels iva to fly, after taking him by the throat and nearly strangling him. The blackness of iva’s neck arose from this throttling, and not, as elsewhere described, from his drinking the poison produced at the churning of the ocean.

CHAP. IX.

Legend of Lakshmí. Durvásas gives a garland to Indra: he treats it disrespectfully, and is cursed by the Muni. The power of the gods impaired: they are oppressed by the Dánavas, and have recourse to u. The churning of the ocean. Praises of rí.

PARÁ ARA.–But with respect to the question thou hast asked me, Maitreya, relating to the history of rí, hear from me the tale as it was told to me by Maríchi.

Durvásas, a portion of ankara ( iva), was wandering over the earth; when be beheld, in the hands of a nymph of air, a garland of flowers culled from the trees of heaven, the fragrant odour of which spread throughout the forest, and enraptured all who dwelt beneath its shade. The sage, who was then possessed by religious phrensy, when he beheld that garland, demanded it of the graceful and full-eyed nymph, who, bowing to him reverentially, immediately presented it to him. He, as one frantic, placed the chaplet upon his brow, and thus decorated resumed his path; when he beheld (Indra) the husband of achí, the ruler of the three worlds, approach, seated on his infuriated elephant Airávata, and attended by the gods.

The phrensied sage, taking from his head the garland of flowers, amidst which the bees collected ambrosia, threw it to the king of the gods, who caught it, and suspended it on the brow of Airávata, where it shone like the river Jáhnaví, glittering on the dark summit of the mountain Kailása. The elephant, whose eyes were dim with inebriety, and attracted by the smell, took hold of the garland with his trunk, and cast it on the earth. That chief of sages, Durvásas, was highly incensed at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, and thus angrily addressed the sovereign of the immortals: “Inflated with the intoxication of power, Vásava, vile of spirit, thou art an idiot not to respect the garland I presented to thee, which was the dwelling of Fortune ( rí).

Thou hast not acknowledged it as a largess; thou hast not bowed thyself before me; thou hast not placed the wreath upon thy head, with thy countenance expanding with delight. Now, fool, for that thou hast not infinitely prized the garland that I gave thee, thy sovereignty over the three worlds shall be subverted.

Thou confoundest me, akra, with other Brahmans, and hence I have suffered disrespect from thy arrogance: but in like manner as thou hast cast the garland I gave thee down on the ground, so shall thy dominion over the universe be whelmed in ruin. Thou hast offended one whose wrath is dreaded by all created things, king of the gods, even me, by thine excessive pride.”

Descending hastily from his elephant, Mahendra endeavoured to appease the sinless Durvásas: but to the excuses and prostrations of the thousand-eyed, the Muni answered, “I am not of a compassionate heart, nor is forgiveness congenial to my nature. Other Munis may relent; but know me, akra, to be Durvásas.

Thou hast in vain been rendered insolent by Gautama and others; for know me, Indra, to be Durvásas, whose nature is a stranger to remorse. Thou hast been flattered by Va ha and other tender-hearted saints, whose loud praises (lave made thee so arrogant, that thou hast insulted me. But who is there in the universe that can behold my countenance, dark with frowns, and surrounded by my blazing hair, and not tremble? What need of words? I will not forgive, whatever semblance of humility thou mayest assume.”

Having thus spoken, the Brahman went his way; and the king of the gods, remounting his elephant, returned to his capital Amarávati. Thenceforward, Maitreya, the three worlds and akra lost their vigour, and all vegetable products, plants, and herbs were withered and died; sacrifices were no longer offered; devout exercises no longer practised; men were no more addicted to charity, or any moral or religious obligation; all beings became devoid of steadiness; all the faculties of sense were obstructed by cupidity; and men’s desires were excited by frivolous objects.

Where there is energy, there is prosperity; and upon prosperity energy depends. How can those abandoned by prosperity be possessed of energy; and without energy, where is excellence? Without excellence there can be no vigour nor heroism amongst men: he who has neither courage nor strength, will be spurned by all: and he who is universally treated with disgrace, must suffer abasement of his intellectual faculties.

The three regions being thus wholly divested of prosperity, and deprived of energy, the Dánavas and sons of Diti, the enemies of the gods, who were incapable of steadiness, and agitated by ambition, put forth their strength against the gods. They engaged in war with the feeble and unfortunate divinities; and Indra and the rest, being overcome in fight, fled for refuge to Brahmá, preceded by the god of flame (Hutá ana).

When the great father of the universe had heard all that had come to pass, he said to the deities, “Repair for protection to the god of high and low; the tamer of the demons; the causeless cause of creation, preservation, and destruction; the progenitor of the progenitors; the immortal, unconquerable u; the cause of matter and spirit, of his unengendered products; the remover of the grief of all who humble themselves before him: he will give you aid.” Having thus spoken to the deities, Brahmá proceeded along with them to the northern shore of the sea of milk; and with reverential words thus prayed to the supreme Hari:–

“We glorify him who is all things; the lord supreme over all; unborn, imperishable; the protector of the mighty ones of creation; the unperceived, indivisible Nárá a; the smallest of the smallest, the largest of the largest, of the elements; in whom are all things, from whom are all things; who was before existence; the god who is all beings; who is the end of ultimate objects; who is beyond final spirit, and is one with supreme soul; who is contemplated as the cause of final liberation by sages anxious to be free; in whom are not the qualities of goodness, foulness, or darkness, that belong to undeveloped nature.

May that purest of all pure spirits this day be propitious to us.

May that Hari be propitious to us, whose inherent might is not an object of the progressive chain of moments or of days, that make up time. May he who is called the supreme god, who is not in need of assistance, Hari, the soul of all embodied substance, be favourable unto us. May that Hari, who is both cause and effect; who is the cause of cause, the effect of effect; he who is the effect of successive effect; who is the effect of the effect of the effect himself; the product of the effect of the effect of the effect, or elemental substance; to him I bow. The cause of the cause; the cause of the cause of the cause; the cause of them all; to him I bow. To him who is the enjoyer and thing to be enjoyed; the creator and thing to be created; who is the agent and the effect; to that supreme being I bow.

The infinite nature of u is pure, intelligent, perpetual, unborn, undecayable, inexhaustible, inscrutable, immutable; it is neither gross nor subtile, nor capable of being defined: to that ever holy nature of u I bow. To him whose faculty to create the universe abides in but a part of but the ten-millionth part of him; to him who is one with the inexhaustible supreme spirit, I bow: and to the glorious nature of the supreme u, which nor gods, nor sages, nor I, nor ankara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of u, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahmá, u, and iva: oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon thy servants; oh

u, be manifest unto us.”

Pará ara continued.–The gods, having heard this prayer uttered by Brahmá, bowed down, and cried, “Be favourable to us; be present to our sight: we bow down to that glorious nature which the mighty Brahmá does not know; that which is thy nature, oh imperishable, in whom the universe abides.” Then the gods having ended, Vrihaspati and the divine Rishis thus prayed: “We bow down to the being entitled to adoration; who is the first object of sacrifice; who was before the first of things; the creator of the creator of the world; the undefinable: oh lord of all that has been or is to be; imperishable type of sacrifice; have pity upon thy worshippers; appear to them, prostrate before thee.

Here is Brahmá; here is Trilochana (the three-eyed iva), with the Rudras; Pushá, (the sun), with the Ádityas; and Fire, with all the mighty luminaries: here are the sons of Aswiní (the two Aswiní Kumáras), the Vasus and all the winds, the Sádhyas, the

Vi wadevas, and Indra the king of the gods: all of whom bow lowly before thee: all the tribes of the immortals, vanquished by the demon host, have fled to thee for succour.”

Thus prayed to, the supreme deity, the mighty holder of the conch and discus, shewed himself to them: and beholding the lord of gods, bearing a shell, a discus, and a mace, the assemblage of primeval form, and radiant with embodied light, Pitámahá and the other deities, their eyes moistened with rapture, first paid him homage, and then thus addressed him:

“Repeated salutation to thee, who art indefinable: thou art Brahmá; thou art the wielder of the Pináka bow ( iva); thou art Indra; thou art fire, air, the god of waters, the sun, the king of death (Yama), the Vasus, the Máruts (the winds), the Sádhyas, and Vi wadevas. This assembly of divinities, that now has come before thee, thou art; for, the creator of the world, thou art every where. Thou art the sacrifice, the prayer of oblation, the mystic syllable Om, the sovereign of all creatures: thou art all that is to be known, or to be unknown: oh universal soul, the whole world consists of thee. We, discomfited by the Daityas, have fled to thee, oh u, for refuge. Spirit of all, have compassion upon us; defend us with thy mighty power. There will be affliction, desire, trouble, and grief, until thy protection is obtained: but thou art the remover of all sins.

Do thou then, oh pure of spirit, shew favour unto us, who have fled to thee: oh lord of all, protect us with thy great power, in union with the goddess who is thy strength.” Hari, the creator of the universe, being thus prayed to by the prostrate divinities, smiled, and thus spake: “With renovated energy, oh gods, I will restore your strength. Do you act as I enjoin. Let all the gods, associated with the Asuras, cast all sorts of medicinal herbs into the sea of milk; and then taking the mountain Mandara for the churning-stick, the serpent Vásuki for the rope, churn the ocean together for ambrosia; depending upon my aid.

To secure the assistance of the Daityas, you must be at peace with them, and engage to give them an equal portion of the fruit of your associated toil; promising them, that by drinking the Amrita that shall be produced from the agitated ocean, they shall become mighty and immortal. I will take care that the enemies of the gods shall not partake of the precious draught; that they shall share in the labour alone.”

Being thus instructed by the god of gods, the divinities entered into alliance with the demons, and they jointly undertook the acquirement of the beverage of immortality. They collected various kinds of medicinal herbs, and cast them into the sea of milk, the waters of which were radiant as the thin and shining clouds of autumn. They then took the mountain Mandara for the staff; the serpent Vásuki for the cord; and commenced to churn the ocean for the Amrita. The assembled gods were stationed by a at the tail of the serpent; the Daityas and Dánavas at its head and neck. Scorched by the flames emitted from his inflated hood, the demons were shorn of their glory; whilst the clouds driven towards his tail by the breath of his mouth, refreshed the gods with revivifying showers. In the midst of the milky sea, Hari himself, in the form of a tortoise, served as a pivot for the mountain, as it was whirled around.

The holder of the mace and discus was present in other forms amongst the gods and demons, and assisted to drag the monarch of the serpent race: and in another vast body he sat upon the summit of the mountain. With one portion of his energy, unseen by gods or demons, he sustained the serpent king; and with another, infused vigour into the gods.

From the ocean, thus churned by the gods and Dánavas, first uprose the cow Surabhi, the fountain of milk and curds, worshipped by the divinities, and beheld by them and their associates with minds disturbed, and eyes glistening with delight. Then, as the holy Siddhas in the sky wondered what this could be, appeared the goddess Váruní (the deity of wine), her eyes rolling with intoxication. Next, from the whirlpool of the deep, sprang the celestial Párijáta tree, the delight of the nymphs of heaven, perfuming the world with its blossoms. The troop of Ápsarasas, the nymphs of heaven, were then produced, of surprising loveliness, endowed with beauty and with taste.

The cool-rayed moon next rose, and was seized by Mahádeva: and then poison was engendered from the sea, of which the snake gods (Nágas) took possession. Dhanwantari, robed in white, and bearing in his hand the cup of Amrita, next came forth: beholding which, the sons of Diti and of Danu, as well as the Munis, were filled with satisfaction and delight. Then, seated on a full-blown lotus, and holding a water-lily in her hand, the goddess rí, radiant with beauty, rose from the waves. The great sages, enraptured, hymned her with the song dedicated to her praise. Vi wavasu and other heavenly quiristers sang, and Ghritáchí and other celestial nymphs danced before her. Gangá and other holy streams attended for her ablutions; and the elephants of the skies, taking up their pure waters in vases of gold, poured them over the goddess, the queen of the universal world.

The sea of milk in person presented her with a wreath of never-fading flowers; and the artist of the gods (Viswakermá) decorated her person with heavenly ornaments. Thus bathed, attired, and adorned, the goddess, in the view of the celestials, cast herself upon the breast of Hari; and there reclining, turned her eyes upon the deities, who were inspired with rapture by her gaze. Not so the Daityas, who, with Viprachitti at their head, were filled with indignation, as u turned away from them, and they were abandoned by the goddess of prosperity (Lakshmí.)

The powerful and indignant Daityas then forcibly seized the Amrita-cup, that was in the hand of Dhanwantari: but u, assuming a female form, fascinated and deluded them; and recovering the Amrita from them, delivered it to the gods. akra and the other deities quaffed the ambrosia. The incensed demons, grasping their weapons, fell upon them; but the gods, into whom the ambrosial draught had infused new vigour, defeated and put their host to flight, and they fled through the regions of space, and plunged into the subterraneous realms of Pátála.

The gods thereat greatly rejoiced, did homage to the holder of the discus and mace, and resumed their reign in heaven. The sun shone with renovated splendour, and again discharged his appointed task; and the celestial luminaries again circled, oh best of Munis, in their respective orbits. Fire once more blazed aloft, beautiful in splendour; and the minds of all beings were animated by devotion. The three worlds again were rendered happy by prosperity; and Indra, the chief of the gods, was restored to power. Seated upon his throne, and once more in heaven, exercising sovereignty over the gods, akra thus eulogized the goddess who bears a lotus in her hand:–

“I bow down to rí, the mother of all beings, seated on her lotus throne, with eyes like full-blown lotuses, reclining on the breast of u. Thou art Siddhi (superhuman power): thou art Swadhá and Swáhá: thou art ambrosia (Sudhá), the purifier of the universe: thou art evening, night, and dawn: thou art power, faith, intellect: thou art the goddess of letters (Saraswatí). Thou, beautiful goddess, art knowledge of devotion, great knowledge, mystic knowledge, and spiritual knowledge; which confers eternal liberation.

Thou art the science of reasoning, the three Vedas, the arts and sciences: thou art moral and political science. The world is peopled by thee with pleasing or displeasing forms. Who else than thou, oh goddess, is seated on that person of the god of gods, the wielder of the mace, which is made up of sacrifice, and contemplated by holy ascetics?

Abandoned by thee, the three worlds were on the brink of ruin; but they have been reanimated by thee. From thy propitious gaze, oh mighty goddess, men obtain wives, children, dwellings, friends, harvests, wealth. Health and strength, power, victory, happiness, are easy of attainment to those upon whom thou smilest.

Thou art the mother of all beings, as the god of gods, Hari, is their father; and this world, whether animate or inanimate, is pervaded by thee and u. Oh thou who purifiest all things, forsake not our treasures, our granaries, our dwellings, our dependants, our persons, our wives: abandon not our children, our friends, our lineage, our jewels, oh thou who abidest on the bosom of the god of gods. They whom thou desertest are forsaken by truth, by purity, and goodness, by every amiable and excellent quality; whilst the base and worthless upon whom thou lookest favourably become immediately endowed with all excellent qualifications, with families, and with power.

He on whom thy countenance is turned is honourable, amiable, prosperous, wise, and of exalted birth; a hero of irresistible prowess: but all his merits and his advantages are converted into worthlessness from whom, beloved of u, mother of the world, thou avertest thy face. The tongues of Brahmá, are unequal to celebrate thy excellence. Be propitious to me, oh goddess, lotus-eyed, and never forsake me more.”

Being thus praised, the gratified rí, abiding in all creatures, and heard by all beings, replied to the god of a hundred rites ( atakratu); “I am pleased, monarch of the gods, by thine adoration. Demand from me what thou desirest: I have come to fulfil thy wishes.” “If, goddess,” replied Indra, “thou wilt grant my prayers; if I am worthy of thy bounty; be this my first request, that the three worlds may never again be deprived of thy presence. My second supplication, daughter of ocean, is, that thou wilt not forsake him who shall celebrate thy praises in the words I have addressed to thee.”

“I will not abandon,” the goddess answered, “the three worlds again: this thy first boon is granted; for I am gratified by thy praises: and further, I will never turn my face away from that mortal who morning and evening shall repeat the hymn with which thou hast addressed me.”

Pará ara proceeded.–Thus, Maitreya, in former times the goddess rí conferred these boons upon the king of the gods, being pleased by his adorations; but her first birth was as the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti: it was at a subsequent period that she was produced from the sea, at the churning of the ocean by the demons and the gods, to obtain ambrosia. For in like manner as the lord of the world, the god of gods, Janárddana, descends amongst mankind (in various shapes), so does his coadjutrix rí.

Thus when Hari was born as a dwarf, the son of Adití, Lakshmí appeared from a lotus (as Padmá, or Kamalá); when he was born as Ráma, of the race of Bhrigu (or Para uráma), she was $ í; when he was Rághava (Rámachandra), she was Sítá; and when he was

a, she became Rukminí. In the other descents of u, she is his associate.

If he takes a celestial form, she appears as divine; if a mortal, she becomes a mortal too, transforming her own person agreeably to whatever character it pleases u to put on. Whosoever hears this account of the birth of Lakshmí, whosoever reads it, shall never lose the goddess Fortune from his dwelling for three generations; and misfortune, the fountain of strife, shall never enter into those houses in which the hymns to rí are repeated.

Thus, Brahman, have I narrated to thee, in answer to thy question, how Lakshmí, formerly the daughter of Bhrigu, sprang from the sea of milk; and misfortune shall never visit those amongst mankind who daily recite the praises of Lakshmí uttered by Indra, which are the origin and cause of all prosperity.

Footnotes

Durvásas was the son of Atri by Anasúyá, and was an incarnation of a portion of iva.

Vidyádharí. These beings, male and female, are spirits of an inferior order, tenanting the middle regions of the atmosphere. According to the Váyu, the garland was given to the nymph by Deví.

He observed the Vrata, or vow of insanity; equivalent to the ecstasies of some religious fanatics. In this state,’ says the commentator, ‘even saints are devils.’

They became Nih-satwa; and Satwa is explained throughout by Dhairyya, ‘steadiness,’ ‘fortitude.’

The first effect of primary cause is nature, or Prakriti: the effect of the effect, or of Prakriti, is Mahat: effect in the third degree is Ahankára: in the fourth, or the effect of the effect (Ahankára) of the effect (Mahat) of the effect (Prakriti), is elementary substance, or Bhúta.

u is each and all. So in the succeeding ascending scale, Brahmá is the cause of mortal life; the cause of Brahmá is the egg, or aggregate elementary matter: its cause is, therefore, elementary matter; the cause of which is subtile or rudimental matter, which originates from Ahankára, and so on. u is also each and all of these.

With thy akti, or the goddess rí or Lakshmí.

Or with the Súkta, or hymn of the Vedas, commencing, “Hiranya vernám,” &c.

The churning of the ocean does not occur in several of the Purá as, and is but cursorily alluded to in the iva, Linga, and Kúrma Purá as. The Váyu and Padma have much the same narrative as that of our text; and so have the Agni and Bhágavata, except that they refer only briefly to the anger of Durvásas, without narrating the circumstances; indicating their being posterior, therefore, to the original tale. The part, however, assigned to Durvásas appears to be an embellishment added to the original, for no mention of him occurs in the Matsya P. nor even in the Hari Van a, neither does it occur in what may be considered the oldest extant versions of the story, those of the Rámáyana and Mahábhárata: both these ascribe the occurrence to the desire of the gods and Daityas to become immortal. The Matsya assigns a similar motive to the gods, instigated by observing that the Daityas slain by them in battle were restored to life by ukra with the Sanjíviní, or herb of immortality, which he had discovered.

The account in the Hari Van a is brief and obscure, and is explained by the commentator as an allegory, in which the churning of the ocean typifies ascetic penance, and the ambrosia is final liberation: but this is mere mystification. The legend of the Rámáyana is translated, vol. I. p. 410. of the Serampore edition; and that of the Mahábhárata by Sir C. Wilkins, in the notes to his translation of the Bhágavata Gítá. See also the original text, Cal. ed. p. 40. It has been presented to general readers in a more attractive form by my friend H. M. Parker, in his Draught of Immortality, printed with other poems, Lond.

The Matsya P. has many of the stanzas of the Mahábhárata interspersed with others. There is some variety in the order and number of articles produced from the ocean.

As I have observed elsewhere (Hindu Theatre, I. 59. Lond. ed.), the popular enumeration is fourteen; but the Rámáyana specifies but nine; the Mahábhárata, nine; the Bhágavata, ten; the Padma, nine; the Váyu, twelve; the p. 78 Matsya, perhaps, gives the whole number.

Those in which most agree, are, 1. the Háláhala or Kálakúta poison, swallowed by iva:

Váruní or Surá, the goddess of wine, who being taken by the gods, and rejected by the Daityas, the former were termed Suras, and the latter Asuras: 3. the horse

Uchchai ravas, taken by Indra: 4. Kaustubha, the jewel worn by u: 5. the moon: 6.

Dhanwantari, with the Amrita in his a

lu, or vase; and these two articles are in the

Váyu considered as distinct products: 7. the goddess Padmá or rí: 8. the Apsarasas, or nymphs of heaven: 9. Surabhi, or the cow of plenty: 10. the Párijáta tree, or tree of heaven: 11. Airávata, the elephant taken by Indra.

The Matsya adds, 12. the umbrella taken by Varuna: 13. the earrings taken by Indra, and given to Adití: and apparently another horse, the white horse of the sun: or the number may be completed by counting the Amrita separately from Dhanwantari. The number is made up in the popular lists by adding the bow and the conch of u; but there does not seem to be any good authority for this, and the addition is a sectarial one: so is that of the Tula í tree, a plant sacred to a, which is one of the twelve specified by the Váyu P. The Uttara Khanda of the Padma P. has a peculiar enumeration, or, Poison;

G há or Alakshmí, the goddess of misfortune, the elder born to fortune; the goddess of wine; Nidrá, or sloth; the Apsarasas; the elephant of Indra; Lakshmí; the moon; and the Tula í plant.

The reference to Mohiní, the female form assumed by u, is very brief in our text; and no notice is taken of the story told in the Mahábhárata and some of the Purá as, of the Daitya Ráhu’s insinuating himself amongst the gods, and obtaining a portion of the Amrita: being beheaded for this by u, the head became immortal, in consequence of the Amrita having reached the throat, and was transferred as a constellation to the skies; and as the sun and moon detected his presence amongst the gods, Ráhu pursues them with implacable hatred, and his efforts to seize them are the causes of eclipses; Ráhu typifying the ascending and descending nodes. This seems to be the simplest and oldest form of the legend. The equal immortality of the body, under the name Ketu, and his being the cause of meteorical phenomena, seems to have been an after-thought. In the Padma and Bhágavata, Ráhu and Ketu are the sons of Sinhiká, the wife of the Dánava Viprachitti.

The four Vidyás, or branches of knowledge, are said to be, Yajna vidyá, knowledge or performance of religious rites; Mahá vidyá, great knowledge, the worship of the female principle, or Tántrika worship; Guhya vidyá, knowledge of mantras, mystical prayers, and incantations; and Átma vidyá, knowledge of soul, true wisdom.

Or Várttá, explained to mean the ilpa ástra, mechanics, sculpture, and architecture; Áyur-veda, medicine, &c.

The cause of this, however, is left unexplained. The Padma P. inserts a legend to account for the temporary separation of Lakshmí from u, which appears to be peculiar to that work. Bhrigu was lord of Lakshmípur, a city on the Narmadá, given him by Brahmá. His daughter Lakshmí instigated her husband to request its being conceded to her, which offending Bhrigu, he cursed u to be born upon earth ten times, to be separated from his wife, and to have no children. The legend is an insipid modern embellishment.

CHAP. X.

The descendants of the daughters of Daksha married to the Rishis.

MAITREYA.–Thou hast narrated to me, great Muni, all that I asked of thee: now resume the account of the creation subsequently to Bhrigu.

PARÁ ARA.–Lakshmí, the bride of u, was the daughter of Bhrigu by Khyáti. They had also two sons, Dhátri and Vidhátri, who married the two daughters of the illustrious Meru, Áyati and Niryati; and had by them each a son, named Prá a and

% a

. The son of the latter was Má eya, from whom Veda iras was born. The

son of Prá a was named Dyutimat, and his son was Rájavat; after whom, the race of Bhrigu became infinitely multiplied.

Sambhúti, the wife of Maríchi, gave birth to Paurnamása, whose sons were Virajas and Sarvaga. I shall hereafter notice his other descendants, when I give a more particular account of the race of Maríchi.

The wife of Angiras, Smriti, bore daughters named Siniválí, Kuhu, Ráká, and Anumati (phases of the moon). Anasúyá, the wife of Atri, was the mother of three sinless sons, Soma (the moon), Durvásas, and the ascetic Dattátreya. Pulastya had, by Príti, a son called in a former birth, or in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, Dattoli, who is now known as the sage Agastya. Kshamá, the wife of the patriarch Pulaha, was the mother of three sons, Karmasa, Arvarívat, and u. The wife of Kratu, Sannati, brought forth the sixty thousand Bálakhilyas, pigmy sages, no bigger than a joint of the thumb, chaste, pious, resplendent as the rays of the sun. Va ha had seven sons by his wife Urjjá, Rajas, Gátra, Úrddhabáhu, Savana, Anagha, Sutapas, and ukra, the seven pure sages.

The Agni named Abhimání, who is the eldest born of Brahmá, had, by Swáhá, three sons of surpassing brilliancy, Pávaka, Pavamána, and uchi, who drinks up water: they had forty-five sons, who, with the original son of Brahmá and his three descendants, constitute the forty-nine fires. The progenitors (Pitris), who, as I have mentioned, were created by Brahmá, were the Agnishwáttas and Varhishads; the former being devoid of, and the latter possessed of, fires. By them, Swadhá had two daughters, Mená and Dháraní, who were both acquainted with theological truth, and both addicted to religious meditation; both accomplished in perfect wisdom, and adorned with all estimable qualities. Thus has been explained the progeny of the daughters of Daksha. He who with faith recapitulates the account, shall never want offspring.

Footnotes

The commentator interprets the text to refer to Prá a: ‘Veda iras was born the son of

Prá a.’ So the Bhágavata has. The Linga, the Váyu, and Má e

ya, however, confirm

our reading of the text, making Veda iras the son of Má e

Prá a, or, as read in the

two former, Pá u, was married to a

ríká, and had by her Dyutimat, whose sons were

Srijá a and Asruta or a. % a

(also read % u) married Manaswiní,

and had Má eya, whose son, by Murddhanyá, was Veda iras: he married Pívarí, and had many children, who constituted the family, or Brahmanical tribe, of Bhárgavas, sons of Bhrigu. The most celebrated of these was U anas, the preceptor of the Daityas, who, according to the Bhágavata, was the son of Veda iras; but the Váyu makes him the son of Bhrigu by Paulomí, and born at a different period.

Alluding especially to Ka yapa, the son of Maríchi, of whose posterity a full detail is subsequently given. The Bhágavata adds a daughter, Devakulyá; and the Váyu and Linga, four daughters, E i , i , Twishá, and Apachiti. The latter inserts the grandsons of Paurnamása. Virajas, married to Gaurí, has Sudháman, a Lokapála, or ruler of the east quarter; and Parvasa (quasi Sarvaga) has, by Parvasí, Yajnaváma and Ka yata, who were both founders of Gotras, or families. The names of all these occur in different forms in different MSS.

The Bhágavata adds, that in the Swárochisha Manwantara the sages Uttathya and Vrihaspati were also sons of Angiras; and the Váyu, &c. specify Agni and Kírttimat as the sons of the patriarch in the first Manwantara. Agni, married to Sadwatí, has Parjanya, married to Maríchi; and their son is Hiranyaroman, a Lokapála. Kírttimat has, by Dhenuká, two sons, u and Dhritimat.

The Bhágavata gives an account of Atri’s penance, by which the three gods, Brahmá,

u, and iva, were propitiated, and became, in portions of themselves, severally his sons, Soma, Datta, and Durvásas. The Váyu has a totally different series, or five sons, Satyanetra, Havya, Ápomurtti, Sani, and Soma; and one daughter, Sruti, who became the wife of Kardama.

The text would seem to imply that he was called Agastya in a former Manwantara, but the commentator explains it as above. The Bhágavata calls the wife of Pulastya, Havirbhú, whose sons were the Muni Agastya, called in a former birth Dahrágni or

G harágni, and Visravas. The latter had by Ilavilá, the deity of wealth, Kuvera; and by Kesiní, the Rákshasas Rá a, a, and Vibhí a. The Váyu specifies three sons of Pulastya, Dattoli, Vedabáhu, and Viníta; and one daughter, Sadwatí, married (see note 3) to Agni.

The Bhágavata reads Karma ha, Varíyas, and u. The Váyu and Linga have Kardama and Ambarísha in place of the two first, and add Vanakapívat and a daughter, Pívarí, married to Veda iras (see note 1). Kardama married ruti (note 4), and had by her Sankhapáda, one of the Lokapálas, and a daughter, Kámyá, married to Priyavrata (note ). Vana-kapívat, also read Dhana-k. and Ghana-k., had a son, u, married to Yasodhará, and they were the parents of Kámadeva.

The different authorities agree in this place. The Váyu adds two daughters, Punyá and Sumatí, married to Yajnaváma (see note 2).

The Bhágavata has an entirely different set of names, or Chitraketu, Surochish, Virajas, Mitra, Ulwana, Vasubhridyána, and Dyumat. It also specifies Saktri and others, as the issue of a different marriage. The Váyu and Linga have the same sons as in our text,

reading Putra and Hasta in place of Gátra: they add a daughter, a

riká, married to

(see note). The eldest son, according to the Váyu, espoused a daughter of

Má eya, and had by her the Lokapála of the west, Ketumat. The seven sons of

Va ha are termed in the text the seven Rishis, appearing in that character in the third Manwantara.

The eldest son of Brahmá, according to the commentator, upon the authority of the Vedas. The Váyu P. enters into a very long detail of the names and places of the whole forty-nine fires. According to that, also, Pávaka is electric or Vaidynta fire; Pavamána is that produced by friction, or Nirmathya; and uchi is solar, Saura, fire. Pavamána was the parent of Kavyaváhana, the fire of the Pitris; uchi of Havyaváhana, the fire of the gods; and Pavamána of Saharaksha, the fire of the Asuras. The Bhágavata explains these different fires to be so many appellations of fire employed in the invocations with which different oblations to fire are offered in the ritual of the Vedas: ### explained by the commentator, ###.

According to the commentator, this distinction is derived from the Vedas. The first class, or Agnishwáttas, consists of those householders who, when alive, did not maintain their domestic fires, nor offer burnt-sacrifices: the second, of those who kept up the household flame, and presented oblations with fire. Manu calls these Agnidagdhas and the reverse, which Sir W. Jones renders, ‘consumable by fire,’ &c. Kullúka a gives no explanation of them. The Bhágavata adds other classes of Pitris; or, the Ájyapas, drinkers of ghee;’ and Somapás, drinkers of the acid juice.’ The commentator, explaining the meaning of the terms Ságnayas and Anágnyas, has, ### which might be understood to signify, that the Pitris who are ‘without fire’ are those to whom oblations are not offered; and those ‘with fire’ are they to whom oblations are presented.

The Váyu carries this genealogy forward. Dháraní was married to Meru, and p. 85 had by him Mandara and three daughters, Niyati, Áyati, and Velá: the two first were married to Dhátri and Vidhátri . Velá was the wife of Samudra, by whom she had Sámudrí, married to Prachínavarhish, and the mother of the ten Prachetasas, the fathers of Daksha, as subsequently narrated. Mená was married to Himávat, and was the mother of Maináka, and of Gangá, and of Párvati or Umá.

No notice is here taken of Sati, married to Bhava, as is intimated in c. 8, when describing the Rudras. Of these genealogies the fullest and apparently the oldest account is given in the Váyu P.: as far as that of our text extends, the two nearly agree, allowing for differences of appellation originating in inaccurate transcription, the names frequently varying in different copies of the same work, leaving it doubtful which reading should be preferred. The Bhágavata, as observed above, has created some further perplexity by substituting, as the wives of the patriarchs, the daughters of Kardama for those of Daksha. Of the general statement it may be observed, that although in some respects allegorical, as in the names of the wives of the Rishis; and in others astronomical, as in the denominations of the daughters of Anginas; yet it seems probable that it is not altogether fabulous, but that the persons in some instances had a real existence, the genealogies originating in imperfectly preserved traditions of the families of the first teachers of the Hindu religion, and of the descent of individuals who took an active share in its propagation.

CHAP. XI.

Legend of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda: he is unkindly treated by his father’s second wife: applies to his mother: her advice: he resolves to engage in religious exercises: sees the seven Rishis, who recommend him to propitiate u.

PARÁ ARA continued.–I mentioned to you, that the Manu Swáyambhuva had two heroic and pious sons, Priyavrata and Uttánapáda. Of these two, the latter had a son whom he dearly loved, Uttama, by his favourite wife Suruchi. By his queen, named Suníti, to whom he was less attached, he also had a son, called Dhruva 1. Observing his brother Uttama on the lap of his father, as he was seated upon his throne, Dhruva was desirous of ascending to the same place; but as Suruchi was present, the Rája did not gratify the desire of his son, respectfully wishing to be taken on his father’s knee.

Beholding the child of her rival thus anxious to be placed on his father’s lap, and her own son already seated there, Suruchi thus addressed the boy: “Why, child, do you vainly indulge in such presumptuous hopes? You are born from a different mother, and are no son of mine, that you should aspire inconsiderately to a station fit for the excellent Uttama alone. It is true you are the son of the Rája, but I have not given you birth. This regal throne, the seat of the king of kings, is suited to my son only; why should you aspire to its occupation? why idly cherish such lofty ambition, as if you were my son? do you forget that you are but the offspring of Suníti.”

The boy, having heard the speech of his step-mother, quitted his father, and repaired in a passion to the apartment of his own mother; who, beholding him vexed, took him upon her lap, and, gently smiling, asked him what was the cause of his anger, who had displeased him, and if any one, forgetting the respect due to his father, had behaved ill to him. Dhruva, in reply, repeated to her all that the arrogant Suruchi had said to him in the presence of the king. Deeply distressed by the narrative of the boy, the humble Suníti, her eyes dimmed with tears, sighed, and said, “Suruchi has rightly spoken; thine, child, is an unhappy fate: those who are born to fortune are not liable to the insults of their rivals. Yet be not afflicted, my child, for who shall efface what thou hast formerly done, or shall assign to thee what thou hast left undone.

The regal throne, the umbrella of royalty, horses and elephants, are his whose virtues have deserved them: remember this, my son, and be consoled. That the king favours Suruchi is the reward of her merits in a former existence. The name of wife alone belongs to such as I, who have not equal merit. Her son is the progeny of accumulated piety, and is born as Uttama: mine has been born as Dhruva, of inferior moral worth. Therefore, my son, it is not proper for you to grieve; a wise man will be contented with that degree which appertains to him: but if you continue to feel hurt at the words of Suruchi, endeavour to augment that religious merit which bestows all good; be amiable, be pious, be friendly, be assiduous in benevolence to all living creatures; for prosperity descends upon modest worth as water flows towards low ground.”

Dhruva answered; “Mother, the words that you have addressed to me for my consolation find no place in a heart that contumely has broken. I will exert myself to obtain such elevated rank, that it shall be revered by the whole world. Though I be not born of Suruchi, the beloved of the king, you shall behold my glory, who am your son. Let Uttama my brother, her child, possess the throne given to him by my father; I wish for no other honours than such as my own actions shall acquire, such as even my father has not enjoyed.”

Having thus spoken, Dhruva went forth from his mother’s dwelling: he quitted the city, and entered an adjoining thicket, where he beheld seven Munis sitting upon hides of the black antelope, which they had taken from off their persons, and spread over the holy kusa grass. Saluting them reverentially, and bowing humbly before then, the prince said, “Behold in me, venerable men, the son of Uttánapáda, born of Suníti. Dissatisfied with the world, I appear before you.” The Rishis replied; ”

The son of a king, and but four or five years of age, there can be no reason, child, why you should be dissatisfied with life; you cannot be in want of any thing whilst the king your father reigns; we cannot imagine that you suffer the pain of separation from the object of your affections; nor do we observe in your person any sign of disease. What is the cause of your discontent? Tell us, if it is known to yourself.”

Dhruva then repeated to the Rishis what Suruchi had spoken to him; and when they had heard his story, they said to one another, “How surprising is the vehemence of the Kshetriya nature, that resentment is cherished even by a child, and he cannot efface from his mind the harsh speeches of a step-mother. Son of a Kshetriya, tell us, if it be agreeable to thee, what thou hast proposed, through dissatisfaction with the world, to accomplish. If thou wishest our aid in what thou hast to do, declare it freely, for we perceive that thou art desirous to speak.”

Dhruva said; “Excellent sages, I wish not for riches, neither do I want dominion: I aspire to such a station as no one before me has attained. Tell me what I must do to effect this object; how I may reach an elevation superior to all other dignities.” The Rishis severally thus replied.–Maríchi said; “The best of stations is not within the reach of men who fail to propitiate Govinda. Do thou, prince, worship the undecaying (Achyuta).” Atri said; “He with whom the first of spirits, Janárddana, is pleased, obtains imperishable dignity. I declare unto you the truth.” Angiras said; “If you desire an exalted station, worship that Govinda in whom, immutable and undecaying, all that is, exists.”

Pulastya said; “He who adores the divine Hari, the supreme soul, supreme glory, who is the supreme Brahma, obtains what is difficult of attainment, eternal liberation.” “When that Janárddana,” observed Kratu, “who in sacrifices is the soul of sacrifice, and who in abstract contemplation is supreme spirit, is pleased, there is nothing man may not acquire.”

Pulaha said; “Indra, having worshipped” the lord of the world, obtained the dignity of king of the celestials. Do thou adore, pious youth, that u, the lord of sacrifice.” “Any thing, child, that the mind covets,” exclaimed Va ha, “may be obtained by propitiating u, even though it he the station that is the most excellent in the three worlds.”

Dhruva replied to them; “You have told me, humbly bending before you, what deity is to be propitiated: now inform me what prayer is to he meditated by me, that will offer him gratification. May the great Rishis, looking upon me with favour, instruct me how I am to propitiate the god.” The Rishis answered; “Prince, thou deservest to hear how the adoration of u has been performed by those who have been devoted to his service. The mind must first be made to forsake all external impressions, and a man must then fix it steadily on that being in whom the world is.

By him whose thoughts are thus concentrated on one only object, and wholly filled by it; whose spirit is firmly under control; the prayer that we shall repeat to thee is to be inaudibly recited: ‘Om! glory to Vásudeva, whose essence is divine wisdom; whose form is inscrutable, or is manifest as Brahmá, u, and iva.’ This prayer, which was formerly uttered by your grandsire, the Manu Swáyambhuva, and propitiated by which,

u conferred upon him the prosperity he desired, and which was unequalled in the three worlds, is to be recited by thee. Do thou constantly repeat this prayer, for the gratification of Govinda.”

Footnotes

The Matsya, Bráhma, and Váyu Purá as speak of but one wife of Uttánapáda, and call her Sunritá: they say also that she had four sons, Apaspati (or Vasu), Ayushmanta, Kírttimat, and Dhruva. The Bhágavata, Padma, and Náradíya have the same account as that of the text.

The instructions of the Rishis amount to the performance of the Yoga. External impressions are first to be obviated by particular positions, modes of breathing, &c.: the mind must then be fixed on the object of meditation; this is Dhárana: next comes the meditation, or Dhyána; and then the Japa, or inaudible repetition of a Mantra, or short prayer; as in the text. The subject of the Yoga is more fully detailed in a subsequent book.

CHAP. XII.

Dhruva commences a course of religious austerities. Unsuccessful attempts of Indra and his ministers to distract Dhruva’s attention: they appeal to u, who allays their fears, and appears to Dhruva. Dhruva praises u, and is raised to the skies as the pole-star.

THE prince, having received these instructions, respectfully saluted the sages, and departed from the forest, fully confiding in the accomplishment of his purposes. He repaired to the holy place, on the banks of the Yamuná, called Madhu or Madhuvana, the grove of Madhu, after the demon of that name, who formerly abided there. atrughna (the younger brother of Ráma) having slain the Rákshas a, the son of Madhu, founded a city on the spot, which was named Mathurá. At this holy shrine, the purifier from all sin, which enjoyed the presence of the sanctifying god of gods, Dhruva performed penance, as enjoined by Maríchi and the sages: he contemplated u, the sovereign of all the gods, seated in himself.

Whilst his mind was wholly absorbed in meditation, the mighty Hari, identical with all beings and with all natures, (took possession of his heart.) u being thus present in his mind, the earth, the supporter of elemental life, could not sustain the weight of the ascetic. As he stood upon his left foot, one hemisphere bent beneath him; and when he stood upon his right, the other half of the earth sank down. When he touched the earth with his toes, it shook with all its mountains, and the rivers and the seas were troubled, and the gods partook of the universal agitation.

The celestials called Yámas, being excessively alarmed, then took counsel with Indra how they should interrupt the devout exercises of Dhruva; and the divine beings termed

Kushmá a

s, in company with their king, commenced anxious efforts to distract his

meditations. One, assuming the semblance of his mother Suníti, stood weeping before him, and calling in tender accents, “My son, my son, desist from destroying thy strength by this fearful penance. I have gained thee, my son, after much anxious hope: thou canst not have the cruelty to quit me, helpless, alone, and unprotected, on account of the unkindness of my rival. Thou art my only refuge; I have no hope but thou. What hast thou, a child but five years old, to do with rigorous penance?

Desist from such fearful practices, that yield no beneficial fruit. First comes the season of youthful pastime; and when that is over, it is the time for study: then succeeds the period of worldly enjoyment; and lastly, that of austere devotion. This is thy season of pastime, my child. Hast thou engaged in these practices to put an end to thine existence? Thy chief duty is love for me: duties are according to time of life. Lose not thyself in bewildering error: desist from such unrighteous actions. If not, if thou wilt not desist from these austerities, I will terminate my life before thee.”

But Dhruva, being wholly intent on seeing u, beheld not his mother weeping in his presence, and calling upon him; and the illusion, crying out, “Fly, fly, my child, the hideous spirits of ill are crowding into this dreadful forest with uplifted weapons,” quickly disappeared. Then advanced frightful Rákshasas, wielding terrible arms, and with countenances emitting fiery flame; and nocturnal fiends thronged around the prince, uttering fearful noises, and whirling and tossing their threatening weapons. Hundreds of jackals, from whose mouths gushed flame as they devoured their prey, were howling aloud, to appal the boy, wholly engrossed by meditation.

The goblins called out, “Kill him, kill him; cut him to pieces; eat him, eat him;” and monsters, with the faces of lions and camels and crocodiles, roared and yelled with horrible cries, to terrify the prince. But all these uncouth spectres, appalling cries, and threatening weapons, made no impression upon his senses, whose mind was completely intent on Govinda. The son of the monarch of the earth, engrossed by one only idea, beheld uninterruptedly u seated in his soul, and saw no other object.

All their delusive stratagems being thus foiled, the gods were more perplexed than ever. Alarmed at their discomfiture, and afflicted by the devotions of the boy, they assembled and repaired for succour to Hari, the origin of the world, who is without beginning or end; and thus addressed him: “God of gods, sovereign of the world, god supreme, and infinite spirit, distressed by the austerities of Dhruva, we have come to thee for protection. As the moon increases in his orb day by day, so this youth advances incessantly towards superhuman power by his devotions. Terrified by the ascetic practices of the son of Uttánapáda, we have come to thee for succour. Do thou allay the fervour of his meditations.

We know not to what station he aspires: to the throne of Indra, the regency of the solar or lunar sphere, or to the sovereignty of riches or of the deep. Have compassion on us, lord; remove this affliction from Our breasts; divert the son of Uttánapáda from persevering in his penance.” u replied to the gods; “The lad desireth neither the rank of Indra, nor the solar orb, nor the sovereignty of wealth or of the ocean: all that he solicits, I will grant. Return therefore, deities, to your mansions as ye list, and be no more alarmed: I will put an end to the penance of the boy, whose mind is immersed in deep contemplation.”

The gods, being thus pacified by the supreme, saluted him respectfully and retired, and, preceded by Indra, returned to their habitations: but Hari, who is all things, assuming a shape with four arms, proceeded to Dhruva, being pleased with his identity of nature, and thus addressed him: “Son of Uttánapáda, be prosperous. Contented with thy devotions, I, the giver of boons, am present. Demand what boon thou desirest. In that thou hast wholly disregarded external objects, and fixed thy thoughts on me, I am well pleased with thee. Ask, therefore, a suitable reward.”

The boy, hearing these words of the god of gods, opened his eyes, and beholding that Hari whom he had before seen in his meditations actually in his presence, bearing in his hands the shell, the discus, the mace, the bow, and scimetar, and crowned with a diadem, the bowed his head down to earth; the hair stood erect on his brow, and his heart was depressed with awe. He reflected how best he should offer thanks to the god of gods; what he could say in his adoration; what words were capable of expressing his praise: and being overwhelmed with perplexity, he had recourse for consolation to the deity.

“If,” he exclaimed, “the lord is contented with my devotions, let this be my reward, that I may know how to praise him as I wish. How can I, a child, pronounce his praises, whose abode is unknown to Brahmá and to others learned in the Vedas? My heart is overflowing with devotion to thee: oh lord, grant me the faculty worthily to lay mine adorations at thy feet.”

Whilst lowly bowing, with his hands uplifted to his forehead, Govinda, the lord of the world, touched the son of Uttánapáda with the tip of his conch-shell, and immediately the royal youth, with a countenance sparkling with delight, praised respectfully the imperishable protector of living beings. “I venerate,” exclaimed Dhruva, “him whose forms are earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, intellect, the first element (Ahankára), primeval nature, and the pure, subtile, all-pervading soul, that surpasses nature. Salutation to that spirit that is void of qualities; that is supreme over all the elements and all the objects of sense, over intellect, over nature and spirit. I have taken refuge with that pure form of thine, oh supreme, which is one with Brahma, which is spirit, which transcends all the world. Salutation to that form which, pervading and supporting all, is designated Brahma, unchangeable, and contemplated by religious sages.

Thou art the male with a thousand heads, a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, who traversest the universe, and passest ten inches beyond its contact. Whatever has been, or is to be, that, Purushottama, thou art. From thee sprang Virát, Swarát, Samrát, and Adhipurusha. The lower, and upper, and middle parts of the earth are not independent of thee: from thee is all this universe, all that has been, and that shall be: and all this world is in thee, assuming this universal form. From thee is sacrifice derived, and all oblations, and curds, and ghee, and animals of either class (domestic or wild). From thee the Rig-Veda, the Sáma, the metres of the Vedas, and the Yajur-Véda are born. Horses, and cows having teeth in one jaw only, proceed from thee; and from thee come goats, sheep, deer.

Brahmans sprang from thy mouth; warriors from thy arms; Vaisyas from thy thighs; and

údras from thy feet.

From thine eyes come the sun; from thine ears, the wind; and from thy mind, the moon: the vital airs from thy central vein; and fire from thy mouth: the sky from thy navel; and heaven from thy head: the regions from thine ears; the earth from thy feet. All this world was derived from thee. As the wide-spreading Nyagrodha (Indian fig) tree is compressed in a small seed, so, at the time of dissolution, the whole universe is comprehended in thee as its germ.

As the Nyagrodha germinates from the seed, and becomes first a shoot, and then rises into loftiness, so the created world proceeds from thee, and expands into magnitude. As the bark and leaves of the Plantain tree are to be seen in its stem, so thou art the stem of the universe, and all things are visible in thee. The faculties of the intellect, that are the cause of pleasure and of pain, abide in thee as one with all existence; but the sources of pleasure and of pain, singly or blended, do not exist in thee, who art exempt from all qualities.

Salutation to thee, the subtile rudiment, which, being single, becomes manifold, Salutation to thee, soul of existent things, identical with the great elements. Thou, imperishable, art beheld in spiritual knowledge as perceptible objects, as nature, as spirit, as the world, as Brahmá, as Manu, by internal contemplation. But thou art in all, the element of all; thou art all, assuming every form; all is from thee, and thou art from thyself. I salute thee, universal soul: glory be to thee. Thou art one with all things: oh lord of all, thou art present in all things.

What can I say unto thee? thou knowest all that is in the heart, oh soul of all, sovereign lord of all creatures, origin of all things. Thou, who art all beings, knowest the desires of all creatures. The desire that I cherished has been gratified, lord, by thee: my devotions have been crowned with success, in that I have seen thee.”

u said to Dhruva; “The object of thy devotions has in truth been attained, in that thou hast seen me; for the sight of me, young prince, is never unproductive. Ask therefore of me what boon thou desirest; for men in whose sight I appear obtain all their wishes.” To this, Dhruva answered; “Lord god of all creatures, who abidest in the hearts of all, how should the wish that I cherish be unknown to thee? I will confess unto thee the hope that my presumptuous heart has entertained; a hope that it would be difficult to gratify, but that nothing is difficult when thou, creator of the world, art pleased. Through thy favour, Indra reigns over the three worlds. The sister-queen of my mother has said to me, loudly and arrogantly, ‘The royal throne is not for one who is not born of me;’ and I now solicit of the support of the universe an exalted station, superior to all others, and one that shall endure for ever.” u said to him;”

The station that thou askest thou shalt obtain; for I was satisfied with thee of old in a prior existence. Thou wast formerly a Brahman, whose thoughts were ever devoted to me, ever dutiful to thy parents, and observant of thy duties. In course of time a prince became thy friend, who was in the period of youth, indulged in all sensual pleasures, .and was of handsome appearance and elegant form. Beholding, in consequence of associating with him, his affluence, you formed the desire that you might be subsequently born as the son of a king; and, according to your wish, you obtained a princely birth in the illustrious mansion of Uttánapáda. But that which would have been thought a great boon by others, birth in the race of Swáyambhuva, you have not so considered, and therefore have propitiated me.

The man who worships me obtains speedy liberation from life. What is heaven to one whose mind is fixed on me? A station shall be assigned to thee, Dhruva, above the three worlds; one in which thou shalt sustain the stars and the planets; a station above those of the sun, the moon, Mars, the son of Soma (Mercury), Venus, the son of Súrya (Saturn), and all the other constellations; above the regions of the seven Rishis, and the divinities who traverse the atmosphere. Some celestial beings endure for four ages; some for the reign of a Manu: to thee shall be granted the duration of a Kalpa. Thy mother Suníti, in the orb of a bright star, shall abide near thee for a similar term; and all those who, with minds attentive, shall glorify thee at dawn or at eventide, shall acquire exceeding religious merit.

Thus the sage Dhruva, having received a boon from Janárddana, the god of gods, and lord of the world, resides in an exalted station. Beholding his glory, U anas, the preceptor of the gods and demons, repeated these verses: “Wonderful is the efficacy of this penance, marvellous is its reward, that the seven Rishis should be preceded by Dhruva. This too is the pious Suníti, his parent, who is called Súnritá.” Who can celebrate her greatness, who, having given birth to Dhruva, has become the asylum of the three worlds, enjoying to all future time an elevated station, a station eminent above all? He who shall worthily describe the ascent into the sky of Dhruva, for ever shall be freed from all sin, and enjoy the heaven of Indra. Whatever be his dignity, whether upon earth or in heaven, he shall never fall from it, but shall long enjoy life, possessed of every blessing.

Footnotes

A marginal note by a Bengali Pundit asserts it to be a fact, then when a jackal carries a piece of meat in his mouth, it shews in the dark as if it was on fire.

The commentator understands this passage to imply merely that the supreme pervades both substance and space, being infinitely vast, and without limit. ‘Having a thousand heads,’ &c. denotes only infinite extension: and the ‘ten inches beyond the contact of the universe’ expresses merely non-restriction by its boundaries.

Explained severally the Brahmá a

, or material universe; Brahmá, the creator; Manu, the

ruler of the period; and supreme or presiding spirit.

So the inscription upon the temple of Sais: %,& /’;1 ‘ – * ,/,+- ., 24 (-, 24

!3 ;/-+-. So the Orphic verse, cited by Eusebius, beginning

)- 6 6?;4. H4315/ +- !- * * 6/ ‘ -*4 2@25/1*41, 2.*.5.

‘One regal body in which all things are p. 94 comprehended (viz. Virát), fire, and water, and earth, and air, and night, and day, and Intelligence (viz. Mahat) the first generator, and divine love; for all these does Jupiter include in his expansive form.’ It proceeds also, precisely in the Paurá ic strain, to describe the members of this universal form: the heaven is his head, the stars his hair, the sun and moon his eyes, &c.

A piece of natural history quite correct as applied to the front teeth, which in the genus ox occur in the lower jaw only.

This is also conformable to the doctrine, that the rudiments of plants exist in their cotyledons.

In life, or living beings, perception depends not, according to Hindu metaphysics, upon the external senses, but the impressions made upon them are communicated to the mental organ or sense, and by the mind to the understanding–Samvid in the text–by which they are distinguished as pleasurable, painful, or mixed. But pleasure depends upon the quality of goodness, pain on that of darkness, and their mixture on that of foulness, inherent in the understanding; properties belonging to Jíve wara, or god, as one with life, or to embodied spirit, but not as Parame wara, or supreme spirit.

The station or sphere is that of the north pole, or of the polar star. In the former case, the star is considered to be Suníti, the mother of Dhruva. The legend, although as it is related in our text it differs in its circumstances from the story told by Ovid of Callisto and her son Areas, whom Jove Imposuit cælo vicinaque sidera fecit, suggests some suspicion of an original identity. In neither of the authorities have we, perhaps, the primitive fable. It is evident from the quotation that presently follows in the text, of a stanza by Nanas, that the Purá a has not the oldest version of the legend; and Ovid’s representation of it is after a fashion of his own: all that has been retained of the original is the conformity of the characters and of the main incident, the translation of a mother and her son to the heavens as constellations, in which the pole-star is the most conspicuous luminary.

The Vaimánika devas, the deities who travel in Vimánas, ‘heavenly cars,’ or rather ‘moving spheres.’

The text says merely ###; the commentator says, ‘perhaps formerly so called;’ ###. We have already remarked that some Purá as so denominate her.

The legend of Dhruva is narrated in the Bhágavata, Padma (Swerga a

), Agni, and

Náradíya, much to the same purport, and partly in the same words, as our text. The Bráhma and its double the Hari Van a, the Matsya, and Váyu merely allude to Dhruva’s having been transferred by Brahmá to the skies, in reward of his austerities. The story of his religious penance, and adoration of u, seems to be an embellishment interpolated by the ava Purá as, Dhruva being adopted as a saint by their sect. The allusion to Súnritá in our text concurs with the form of the story as it appears elsewhere, to indicate the priority of the more simple legend.

CHAP. XIII.

Posterity of Dhruva. Legend of a: his impiety: he is put to death by the Rishis. Anarchy ensues. The production of Nisháda and Prithu: the latter the first king. The origin of Súta and Mágadha: they enumerate the duties of kings. Prithu compels Earth to acknowledge his authority: he levels it: introduces cultivation: erects cities. Earth called after him Prithiví: typified as a cow.

PARÁ ARA.–The sons of Dhruva, by his wife ambhu, were Bhavya and Sli i . Suchcháyá, the wife of the latter, was the mother of five virtuous sons, Ripu, Ripunjaya, Vipra, Vrikala, and Vrikatejas. The son of Ripu, by Vrihatí, was the illustrious Chakshusha, who begot the Manu Chákshusha on í, of the family of Var a, the daughter of the venerable patriarch A ya. The Manu had, by his wife Navalá, the daughter of the patriarch Vairája, ten noble sons, Uru, Pura, Satadyumna, Tapaswí, Satyavák, Kavi, BA oma, Atirátra, Sudyumna, and Abhimanyu. The wife of Uru, Ágneyí, bore six excellent sons, Anga, Sumanas, Swáti, Kratu, Angiras, and iva. Anga had, by his wife Suníthá, only one son, named a, whose right arm was rubbed by the Rishis, for the purpose of producing from it progeny. From the arm of a, thus rubbed, sprang a celebrated monarch, named Prithu, by whom, in olden time, the earth was milked for the advantage of mankind.

MAITREYA.–Best of Munis, tell me why was the right hand of a rubbed by the holy sages, in consequence of which the heroic Prithu was produced.

PARÁ ARA.–Suníthá was originally the daughter of Mrityu, by whom she was given to Anga to wife. She bore him a, who inherited the evil propensities of his maternal grandfather. When he was inaugurated by the Rishis monarch of the earth, he caused. it to be every where proclaimed, that no worship should be performed, no oblations offered, no gifts bestowed upon the Brahmans. “I, the king,” said he, “am the lord of sacrifice; for who but I am entitled to the oblations.” The Rishis, respectfully approaching the sovereign, addressed him in melodious accents, and said, “Gracious prince, we salute you; hear what we have to represent.

For the preservation of your kingdom and your life, and for the benefit of all your subjects, permit us to worship Hari, the lord of all sacrifice, the god of gods, with solemn and protracted rites; a portion of the fruit of which will revert to you. u, the god of oblations, being propitiated with sacrifice by us, will grant you, oh king, all your desires. Those princes have all their wishes gratified, in whose realms Hari, the lord of sacrifice, is adored with sacrificial rites.” “Who,” exclaimed a, “is superior to me? who besides me is entitled to worship? who is this Hari, whom you style the lord of sacrifice? Brahmá, Janárddana. ambhu, Indra, Váyu, Ravi (the sun), Hutabhuk (fire), a, Dhátá, Púshá, (the sun), Bhúmi (earth), the lord of night (the moon); all these, and whatever other gods there be who listen to our vows; all these are present in the person of a king: the essence of a sovereign is all that is divine. Conscious of this, I have issued my commands, and look that you obey them.

You are not to sacrifice, not to offer oblations, not to give alms. As the first duty of women is obedience to their lords, so observance of my orders is incumbent, holy men, on you.” “Give command, great king,” replied the Rishis, “that piety may suffer no decrease. All this world is but a transmutation of oblations; and if devotion be suppressed, the world is at an end.” But a was entreated in vain; and although this request was repeated by the sages, he refused to give the order they suggested. Then those pious Munis were filled with wrath, and cried out to each other, “Let this wicked wretch be slain.

The impious man who has reviled the god of sacrifice who is without beginning or end, is not fit to reign over the earth.” And they fell upon the king, and beat him with blades of holy grass, consecrated by prayer, and slew him, who had first been destroyed by his impiety towards god.

Afterwards the Munis beheld a great dust arise, and they said to the people who were nigh, “What is this?” and the people answered and said, “Now that the kingdom is without a king, the dishonest men have begun to seize the property of their neighbours. The great dust that you behold, excellent Munis, is raised by troops of clustering robbers, hastening to fall upon their prey.” The sages, hearing this, consulted, and together rubbed the thigh of the king, who had left no offspring, to produce a son. From the thigh, thus rubbed, came forth a being of the complexion of a charred stake, with flattened features (like a negro), and of dwarfish stature.

“What am I to do?” cried he eagerly to the Munis. “Sit down” (Nishida), said they; and thence his name was Nisháda. His descendants, the inhabitants of the Vindhya mountain, great Muni, are still called Nishádas, and are characterized by the exterior tokens of depravity. By this means the wickedness of Versa was expelled; those Nishádas being born of his sins, and carrying them away. The Brahmans then proceeded to rub the right arm of the king, from which friction was engendered the illustrious son of a, named Prithu, resplendent in person, as if the blazing deity of Fire bad been manifested.

There then fell from the sky the primitive bow (of Mahádeva) named Ajagava, and celestial arrows, and panoply from heaven. At the birth of Prithu all living creatures rejoiced; and a, delivered by his being born from the hell named Put, ascended to the realms above. The seas and rivers, bringing jewels from their depths, and water to perform the ablutions of his installation, appeared.

The great parent of all, Brahmá, with the gods and the descendants of Angiras (the fires), and with all things animate or inanimate, assembled and performed the ceremony of consecrating the son of a. Beholding in his right hand the (mark of the) discus of

u, Brahmá recognised a portion of that divinity in Prithu, and was much pleased; for the mark of u’s discus is visible in the hand of one who is born to be a universal emperor, one whose power is invincible even by the gods.

The mighty Prithu, the son of Veda, being thus invested with universal dominion by those who were skilled in the rite, soon removed the grievances of the people whom his father had oppressed, and from winning their affections he derived the title of Rája, or king 6.

The waters became solid, when he traversed the ocean: the mountains opened him a path: his banner passed unbroken (through the forests): the earth needed not cultivation; and at a thought food was prepared: all kine were like the cow of plenty: honey was stored in every flower. At the sacrifice of the birth of Prithu, which was performed by Brahmá, the intelligent Súta (herald or bard) was produced, in the juice of the moon-plant, on the very birth-day7: at that great sacrifice also was produced the accomplished Mágadha: and the holy sages said to these two persons,

“Praise ye the king Prithu, the illustrious son of a; for this is your especial function, and here is a fit subject for your praise.” But they respectfully replied to the Brahmans, “We know not the acts of the new-born king of the earth; his merits are not understood by us; his fame is not spread abroad: inform us upon what subject we may dilate in his praise.” “Praise the king,” said the Rishis, “for the acts this heroic monarch will perform; praise him for the virtues he will display.”

The king, hearing these words, was much pleased, and reflected that persons acquire commendation by virtuous actions, and that consequently his virtuous conduct would be the theme of the eulogium which the bards were about to pronounce: whatever merits, then, they should panegyrize in their encomium, he determined that he would endeavour to acquire; and if they should point out what faults ought to be avoided, he would try to shun them. He therefore listened attentively, as the sweet-voiced encomiasts celebrated the future virtues of Prithu, the enlightened son of a.

“The king is a speaker of truth, bounteous, an observer of his promises; he is wise, benevolent, patient, valiant, and a terror to the wicked; he knows his duties; he acknowledges services; he is compassionate and kind-spoken; he respects the venerable; he performs sacrifices; he reverences the Brahmans; he cherishes the good; and in administering justice is indifferent to friend or foe.”

The virtues thus celebrated by the Súta and the Magadhá were cherished in the remembrance of the Rája, and practised by him when occasion arose. Protecting this earth, the monarch performed many great sacrificial ceremonies, accompanied by liberal donations. His subjects soon approached him, suffering from the famine by which they were afflicted, as all the edible plants had perished during the season of anarchy. In reply to his question of the cause of their coming, they told him, that in the interval in which the earth was without a king all vegetable products had been withheld, and that consequently the people had perished. “Thou,” said they, “art the bestower of subsistence to us; thou art appointed, by the creator, the protector of the people: grant us vegetables, the support of the lives of thy subjects, who are perishing with hunger.”

On hearing this, Prithu took up his divine bow Ajagava, and his celestial arrows, and in great wrath marched forth to assail the Earth. Earth, assuming the figure of a cow, fled hastily from him, and traversed, through fear of the king, the regions of Brahmá and the heavenly spheres; but wherever went the supporter of living things, there she beheld

ya with uplifted weapons: at last, trembling with terror, and anxious to escape his arrows, the Earth addressed Prithu, the hero of resistless prowess. “Know you not, king of men,” said the Earth, “the sin of killing a female, that you thus perseveringly seek to slay me.”

The prince replied; “When the happiness of many is secured by. the destruction of one malignant being, the death of that being is an act of virtue.” “But,” said the Earth, “if, in order to promote the welfare of your subjects, you put an end to me, whence, best of monarchs, will thy people derive their support.” “Disobedient to my rule,” rejoined Prithu, “if I destroy thee, I will support my people by the efficacy of my own devotions.” Then the Earth, overcome with apprehension, and trembling in every limb, respectfully saluted the king, and thus spake: “All undertakings are successful, if suitable means of effecting them are employed.

I will impart to you means of success, which you can make use of if you please. All vegetable products are old, and destroyed by me; but at your command I will restore them, as developed from my milk. Do you therefore, for the benefit of mankind, most virtuous of princes, give me that calf, by which I may be able to secrete milk. Make also all places level, so that I may cause my milk, the seed of all vegetation, to flow every where around.”

Prithu accordingly uprooted the mountains, by hundreds and thousands, for myriads of leagues, and they were thenceforth piled upon one another. Before his time there were no defined boundaries of villages or towns, upon the irregular surface of the earth; there was no cultivation, no pasture, no agriculture, no highway for merchants: all these things (or all civilization) originated in the reign of Prithu. Where the ground was made level, the king induced his subjects to take up their abode. Before his time, also, the fruits and roots which constituted the food of the people were procured with great difficulty, all vegetables having been destroyed; and he therefore, having made Swáyambhuva Manu the calf, milked the Earth, and received the milk into his own hand, for the benefit of mankind.

Thence proceeded all kinds of corn and vegetables upon which people subsist now and perpetually. By granting life to the Earth, Prithu was as her father, and she thence derived the patronymic appellation Prithiví (the daughter of Prithu). Then the gods, the sages, the demons, the Rákshasas, the Gandharbhas, Yakshas, Pitris, serpents, mountains, and trees, took a milking vessel suited to their kind, and milked the earth of appropriate milk, and the milker and the calf were both peculiar to their own species.

This Earth, the mother, the nurse, the receptacle, and nourisher of all existent things, was produced from the sole of the foot of u. And thus was born the mighty Prithu, the heroic son of a, who was the lord of the earth, and who, from conciliating the affections of the people, was the first ruler to whom the title of Rája was ascribed.

Whoever shall recite this story of the birth of Prithu, the son of a, shall never suffer any retribution for the evil he may have committed: and such is the virtue of the tale of Prithu’s birth, that those who hear it repeated shall be relieved from affliction.

Footnotes

The descent of Puru from Dhruva is similarly traced in the Matsya Purá a, but with some variety of nomenclature: thus the wife of Dhruva is named Dhanyá; and the eldest son of the Manu, Taru. The Váyu introduces another generation, making the eldest son of

i , or as there termed i , father of Udáradhí; and the latter the father of Ripu, the father of Chakshusha, the father of the Manu. The Bhágavata has an almost entirely different set of names, having converted the family of Dhruva into personifications of divisions of time and of day and night. The account there given is, Dhruva had, by his wife Bhramí (revolving), the daughter of i umára (the sphere), Kalpa and Vatsara.

The latter married Suvíthi, and had six sons, Pushpá a, Tigmaketu, Isha, Urjja, Vasu, Jaya. The first married Prabhá and Doshá, and had by the former, Prátah (dawn), Madhyadina (noon), and Sáya (evening); and by the latter, Pradosha, Ni ítha, and

a, or the beginning, middle, and end of night. The last has, by í, Chakshush, married to Ákúti, and the father of Chákshusha Manu. He has twelve sons, Puru, Kritsna, Rita, Dyumna, Satyavat, Dhrita, Vrata, BA oma, Atirátra, Pradyumna, Sivi, and Ulmuka. The last is the father of six sons, named as in our text, except the last, who is called Gaya. The eldest, Anga, is the father of a, the father of Prithu.

These additions are evidently the creatures of the author’s imagination. The Bráhma

Purá a and Hari Van a have the same genealogy as the u, reading, as do the Matsya and Váyu, Pushkarini or Ví í, the daughter of Ví á, instead of a. They, as well as copies of the text, present several other varieties of nomenclature. The Padma P.

(Bhúmi a

) says Anga was of the family of Atri, in allusion perhaps to the

circumstance mentioned in the Bráhma P. of Uttánapáda’s adoption by that Rishi. With the Dírghasatra, ‘long sacrifice;’ a ceremony lasting a thousand years.

That is, the land will be fertile in proportion as the gods are propitiated, and the king will benefit accordingly, as a sixth part of the merit and of the produce will be his. So the commentator explains the word ‘portion.’

The Matsya says there were born outcast or barbarous races, Mlechchas, as black as collyrium. The Bhágavata describes an individual of dwarfish stature, with short arms and legs, of a complexion as black as a crow, with projecting chin, broad flat nose, red eyes, and tawny hair; whose descendants were mountaineers and foresters:

The Padma (Bhu. Kh.) has a similar description, adding to the dwarfish stature and black complexion, a wide mouth, large ears, and a protuberant belly. It also particularizes his posterity as Nishádas, Kirátas, Bhillas, Bahanakas, Bhramaras, Pulindas, and other barbarians, or Mlechchas, living in woods and on mountains.

These passages intend, and do not much exaggerate, the uncouth appearance of the Goands, Koles, Bhils, and other uncivilized tribes, scattered along the forests and mountains of central India, from Behar to Kandesh, and who are not improbably the predecessors of the present occupants of the cultivated portions of the country. They are always very black, ill-shapen, and dwarfish, and have countenances of a very African character.

A Chakra-verttí, or, according to the text, one in whom the Chakra, the discus of u, abides (varttate); such a figure being delineated by the lines of the hand. The grammatical etymology is, ‘he who abides in, or rules over, an extensive territory called a Chakra.’

From rága, ‘passion’ or ‘affection;’ but the more obvious etymology is ráj, to shine’ or ‘be splendid.’

The birth of Prithu is to be considered as the sacrifice, of which Brahmá, the creator, was the performer; but in other places, as in the Padma, it is considered that an actual sacrificial rite was celebrated, at which the first encomiasts were produced. The Bhágavata does not account for their appearance.

‘Having willed or determined the Manu Swáyambhuva to be the calf:’. So the Padma P. The Bhágavata has, ‘Having made the Manu the calf.’ By the calf,’ or Manu in that character, is typified, the commentator observes, the promoter of the multiplication of progeny:

The Matsya, Bráhma, Bhágavata, and Padma enter into a greater detail of this milking, specifying typically the calf, the milker, the milk, and the vessel. Thus, according to the Matsya, the Rishis milked the earth through Vrihaspati; their calf was Soma; the Vedas were the vessel; and the milk was devotion. When the gods milked the earth, the milker was Mitra (the sun); Indra was the calf; superhuman power was the produce. The gods had a gold, the Pitris a silver vessel: and for the latter, the milker was Antaka (death); Yama was the calf; the milk was Swadhá, or oblation.

The Nága, or snake-gods, had a gourd for their pail; their calf was Takshaka;

Dhritará r a (the serpent) was their milker; and their milk was poison. For the Asuras, Máyá was the milk; Virochana, the son of Prahláda, was the calf; the milker was Dwimurddhá; and the vessel was of iron. The Yakshas made a their calf; their vessel was of unbaked earth; the milk was the power of disappearing. The Rákshasas and others employed Raupyanábha as the milker; their calf was Sumáli; and their milk was blood. Chitraratha was the calf, Vasuruchi the milker, of the Gandharbas and nymphs, who milked fragrant odours into a cup of lotus leaves.

On behalf of the mountains, Meru was the milker; Himavat the calf; the pail was of crystal; and the milk was of herbs and gems. The trees extracted sap in a vessel of the Palá a, the Sál being the milker, and the Plaksha the calf. The descriptions that occur in the Bhágavata, Padma, and Bráhma Purá as are occasionally slightly varied, but they are for the most part in the same words as that of the Matsya. These mystifications are all probably subsequent modifications of the original simple allegory, which typified the earth as a cow, who yielded to every class of beings the milk they desired, or the object of their wishes.

Another reading is, ‘It counteracts evil dreams.’ The legend of Prithu is briefly given in the Mahábhárata, Rája Dherma, and occurs in most of the Purá as, but in greatest detail in our text, in the Bhágavata, and especially in the Padma, Bhúmi a, s. 29, 30. All the versions, however, are essentially the same.

CHAP. XIV.

Descendants of Prithu. Legend of the Prachetasas: they are desired by their father to multiply mankind, by worshipping u: they plunge into the sea, and meditate on and praise him: he appears, and grants their wishes.

PRITHU had two valiant sons, Antarddhi and Pálí. The son of Antarddhána, by his wife

í, was Havirdhána, to whom $ á, a princess of the race of Agni, bore six sons, Práchínaverhis, ukra, Gaya, a, Vraja, and Ajina. The first of these was a mighty prince and patriarch, by whom mankind was multiplied after the death of Havirdhána. He was called Práchínaverhis from his placing upon the earth the sacred grass, pointing to the east. At the termination of a rigid penance the married á, the daughter of the ocean, who had been previously betrothed to him, and who had by the king ten sons, who were all styled Prachetasas, and were skilled in military science: they all observed the same duties, practised religious austerities, and remained immersed in the bed of the sea for ten thousand years.

MAITREYA.–You can inform me, great sage, why the magnanimous Prachetasas engaged in penance in the waters of the sea.

PARÁ ARA.–The sons of Práchínaverhis were originally informed by their father, who had been appointed as a patriarch, and whose mind was intent on multiplying mankind, that the had been respectfully enjoined by Brahmá, the god of gods, to labour to this end, and that he had promised obedience: “now therefore,” continued he, “do you, my sons, to oblige me, diligently promote the increase of the people, for the orders of the father of all creatures are entitled to respect.”

The sons of the king, having heard their father’s words, replied, “So be it;” but they then inquired of him, as he could best explain it, by what means they might accomplish the augmentation of mankind. He said to them; “Whoever worships u, the bestower of good, attains undoubtedly the object of his desires: there is no other mode. What further can I tell you? Adore therefore Govinda, who is Hari, the lord of all beings, in order to effect the increase of the human race, if you wish to succeed.

The eternal Purushottama is to be propitiated by him who wishes for virtue, wealth, enjoyment, or liberation. Adore him, the imperishable, by whom, when propitiated, the world was first created, and mankind will assuredly be multiplied.”

Thus instructed by their father, the ten Prachetasas plunged into the depths of the ocean, and with minds wholly devoted to Nárá a, the sovereign of the universe, who is beyond all worlds, were engrossed by religious austerity for ten thousand years: remaining there, they with fixed thoughts praised Hari, who, when propitiated, confers on those who praise him all that they desire.

MAITREYA.–The excellent praises that the Prachetasas addressed to u, whilst they stood in the deep, you, oh best of Munis, are qualified to repeat to me.

PARÁ ARA.–Hear, Maitreya, the hymn which the Prachetasas, as they stood in the waters of the sea, sang of old to Govinda, their nature being identified with him:–

“We bow to him whose glory is the perpetual theme of every speech; him first, him last; the supreme lord of the boundless world; who is primeval light; who is without his like; indivisible and infinite; the origin of all existent things, movable or stationary. To that supreme being who is one with time, whose first forms, though he be without form, are day and evening and night, be adoration. Glory to him, the life of all living things, who is the same with the moon, the receptacle of ambrosia, drunk daily by the gods and progenitors: to him who is one with the sun, the cause of heat and cold and rain, who dissipates the gloom, and illuminates the sky with his radiance: to him who is one with earth, all-pervading, and the asylum of smell and other objects of sense, supporting the whole world by its solidity.

We adore that form of the deity Hari which is water, the womb of the world, the seed of all living beings. Glory to the mouth of the gods, the eater of the Havya; to the eater of the Kavya, the mouth of the progenitors; to u, who is identical with fire; to him who is one with air, the origin of ether, existing as the five vital airs in the body, causing constant vital action; to him who is identical with the atmosphere, pure, illimitable, shapeless, separating all creatures. Glory to a, who is Brahmá in the form of sensible objects, who is ever the direction of the faculties of sense.

We offer salutation to that supreme Hari who is one with the senses, both subtle and substantial, the recipient of all impressions, the root of all knowledge: to the universal soul, who, as internal intellect, delivers the impressions received by the senses to soul: to him who has the properties of Prakriti; in whom, without end, rest all things; from whom all things proceed; and who is that into which all things resolve. We worship that Purushottoma, the god who is pure spirit, and who, without qualities, is ignorantly considered as endowed with qualities.

We adore that supreme Brahma, the ultimate condition of u, unproductive, unborn, pure, void of qualities, and free from accidents; who is neither high nor low, neither bulky nor minute, has neither shape, nor colour, nor shadow, nor substance, nor affection, nor body; who is neither etherial nor susceptible of contact, smell, or taste; who has neither eyes, nor ears, nor motion, nor speech, nor breath, nor mind, nor name, nor race, nor enjoyment, nor splendour; who is without cause, without fear, without error, without fault, undecaying, immortal, free from passion, without sound, imperceptible, inactive, independent of place or time, detached from all investing properties; but (illusively) exercising irresistible might, and identified with all beings, dependent upon none. Glory to that nature of u which tongue can not tell, nor has eye beheld.”

Thus glorifying u, and intent in meditation on him, the Prachetasas passed ten thousand years of austerity in the vast ocean; on which Hari, being pleased with them, appeared to them amidst the waters, of the complexion of the full-blown lotus leaf.

Beholding him mounted on the king of birds, I a

, the Prachetasas bowed down their

heads in devout homage; when u said to them, “Receive the boon you have desired; for I, the giver of good, am content with you, and am present.” The Prachetasas replied to him with reverence, and told him that the cause of their devotions was the command of their father to effect the multiplication of mankind. The god, having accordingly granted to them the object of their prayers, disappeared, and they came up from the water.

Footnotes

The text of the Váyu and Bráhma (or Hari Van a) read, like that of the u, Mons. Langlois understands the two last words as a compound epithet; “Se jouirent dupouvoir de se rendre invisibles.” The construction would admit of such a sense, but it seems more probable that they are intended for names. The lineage of Prithu is immediately continued through one of them, Antarddhána, which is the same as Antarddhi; as the commentator states with regard to that appellation, and as the commentator on the Hari Van a remarks of the succeeding name, ‘one of the brothers being called Antarddhána or Antarddhi,’ leaves no other sense for Pálin but that of a proper name. The Bhágavata gives Prithu five sons, Vijitáswa, Haryyaksha, Dhumrakésa, Vrika, and Dravina, and adds that the elder was also named Antarddhána, in consequence of having obtained from Indra the power of making himself invisible.

The Bhágavata, as usual, modifies this genealogy; Antarddhána has by í three sons, who were the three fires, Pávaka, Pavamána, and Suchi, condemned by a curse of Va ha to be born again: by another wife, Nabhaswatí, he has Havirddhána, whose sons are the same as those of the text, only giving another name, Varhishad as well as Práchínaverhis, to the first. According to the Mahábhárata (Moksha Dharma), which has been followed by the Padma P., Práchinavarhis was born in the family of Atri.

The text is; Ku a or varhis is properly ‘sacrificial grass’ (Poa); and Práchinágra, literally, ‘having its tips towards the east;’ the direction in which it should be placed upon the ground, as a seat for the gods on occasion of offerings made to them. The name therefore intimates, either that the practice originated with him, or, as the commentator explains it, that he was exceedingly devout, offering sacrifices or invoking the gods every where.

The Hari Van a adds a verse to that of our text, reading, ###, which Mons. Langlois has rendered, ‘Quand il marchoit sur la terre les pointes de cousa etoient courbées vers l’Orient;’ which he supposes to mean, ‘Que ce prince avait tourné ses pensées et porté sa domination vers l’Orient:’ a supposition that might have been obviated by a little further consideration of the verse of Manu to which he refers.

“If he have sitten on culms of grass with their points towards the east,” &c. The commentary explains the passage as above, referring ### to ### not to ### as, ###. ‘He was called Práchinavarhis, because his sacred grass, pointing east, was going upon the very earth, or was spread over the whole earth.’ The text of the Bhágavata also explains clearly what is meant: ‘By whose sacred grass, pointing to the east, as he performed sacrifice after sacrifice, the whole earth, his sacrificial ground, was overspread.’

CHAP. XV.

The world overrun with trees: they are destroyed by the Prachetasas. Soma pacifies them, and gives them Márishá to wife: her story: the daughter of the nymph Pramlochá. Legend of u. Márishá’s former history. Daksha the son of the Prachetasas: his different characters: his sons: his daughters: their marriages and progeny: allusion to Prahláda, his descendant.

WHILST the Prachetasas were thus absorbed in their devotions, the trees spread and overshadowed the unprotected earth, and the people perished: the winds could not blow; the sky was shut out by the forests; and mankind was unable to labour for ten thousand years. When the sages, coming forth from the deep, beheld this, they were angry, and, being incensed, wind and flame issued from their mouths. The strong wind tore up the trees by their roots, and left them sear and dry, and the fierce fire consumed them, and the forests were cleared away.

When Soma (the moon), the sovereign of the vegetable world, beheld all except a few of the trees destroyed, he went to the patriarchs, the Prachetasas, and said, “Restrain your indignation, princes, and listen to me. I will form an alliance between you and the trees. Prescient of futurity, I have nourished with my rays this precious maiden, the daughter of the woods. She is called Márishá, and is assuredly the offspring of the trees. She shall be your bride, and the multiplier of the race of Dhruva. From a portion of your lustre and a portion of mine, oh mighty sages, the patriarch Daksha shall be born of her, who, endowed with a part of me, and composed of your vigour, shall be as resplendent as fire, and shall multiply the human race.

“There was formerly (said Soma) a sage named u, eminent in holy wisdom, who practised pious austerities on the lovely borders of the Gomati river. The king of the gods sent the nymph Pramlochá to disturb his penance, and the sweet-smiling damsel diverted the sage from his devotions. They lived together, in the valley of Mandara, for a hundred and fifty years; during which, the mind of the Muni was wholly given up to enjoyment.

At the expiration of this period the nymph requested his permission to return to heaven; but the Muni, still fondly attached to her, prevailed upon her to remain for some time longer; and the graceful damsel continued to reside for another hundred years, and delight the great sage by her fascinations.

Then again she preferred her suit to be allowed to return to the abodes of the gods; and again the Muni desired her to remain. At the expiration of more than a century the nymph once more said to him, with a smiling countenance, ‘Brahman, I depart;’ but the Muni, detaining the fine-eyed damsel, replied, ‘Nay, stay yet a little; you will go hence for a long period.’ Afraid of incurring an imprecation, the graceful nymph continued with the sage for nearly two hundred years more, repeatedly asking his permission to go to the region of the king of the gods, but as often desired by him to remain. Dreading to be cursed by him, and excelling in amiable manners, well knowing also the pain that is inflicted by separation from an object of affection, she did not quit the Muni, whose mind, wholly subdued by love, became every day more strongly attached to her.

“On one occasion the sage was going forth from their cottage in a great hurry. The nymph asked him where he was going. ‘The day,’ he replied, ‘is drawing fast to a close: I must perform the Sandhya worship, or a duty will be neglected.’ The nymph smiled mirthfully as she rejoined, ‘Why do you talk, grave sir, of this day drawing to a close: your day is a day of many years, a day that must be a marvel to all: explain what this means.’ The Muni said, ‘Fair damsel, you came to the river-side at dawn; I beheld you then, and you then entered my hermitage. It is now the revolution of evening, and the day is gone. What is the meaning of this laughter?

Tell me the truth.’ Pramlochá. answered, ‘You say rightly,’ venerable Brahman, ‘that I came hither at morning dawn, but several hundred years have passed since the time of my arrival. This is the truth.’ The Muni, on hearing this, was seized with astonishment, and asked her how long he had enjoyed her society: to which the nymph replied, that they had lived together nine hundred and seven years, six months, and three days. The Muni asked her if she spoke the truth, or if she was in jest; for it appeared to him that they had spent but one day together: to which Pramlochá replied, that she should not dare at any time to tell him who lived in the path of piety an untruth, but particularly when she had been enjoined by him to inform him what had passed.

“When the Muni, princes, had heard these words, and knew that it was the truth, he began to reproach himself bitterly, exclaiming, ‘Fie, fie upon me; my penance has been interrupted; the treasure of the learned and the pious has been stolen from me; my judgment has been blinded: this woman has been created by some one to beguile me: Brahma is beyond the reach of those agitated by the waves of infirmity 1. I had subdued my passions, and was about to attain divine knowledge. This was foreseen by him by whom this girl has been sent hither. Fie on the passion that has obstructed my devotions. All the austerities that would have led to acquisition of the wisdom of the Vedas have been rendered of no avail by passion that is the road to hell.’

The pious sage, having thus reviled himself, turned to the nymph, who was sitting nigh, and said to her, ‘Go, deceitful girl, whither thou wilt: thou hast performed the office assigned thee by the monarch of the gods, of disturbing my penance by thy fascinations. I will not reduce thee to ashes by the fire of my wrath. Seven paces together is sufficient for the friendship of the virtuous, but thou and I have dwelt together. And in truth what fault hast thou committed? why should I be wroth with thee? The sin is wholly mine, in that I could not subdue my passions: yet fie upon thee, who, to gain favour with Indra, hast disturbed my devotions; vile bundle of delusion.’

“Thus spoken to by the Muni, Pramlochá stood trembling, whilst big drops of perspiration started from every pore; till he angrily cried to her, ‘Depart, begone.’ She then, reproached by him, went forth from his dwelling, and, passing through the air, wiped the perspiration from her person with the leaves of the trees. The nymph went from tree to tree, and as with the dusky shoots that crowned their summits she dried her limbs, which were covered with moisture, the child she had conceived by the Rishi came forth from the pores of her skin in drops of perspiration.

The trees received the living dews, and the winds collected them into one mass. “This,” said Soma, “I matured by my rays, and gradually it increased in size, till the exhalation that had rested on the tree tops became the lovely girl named Márishá. The trees will give her to you, Prachetasas: let your indignation be appeased. She is the progeny of u, the child of Pramlochá, the nursling of the trees, the daughter of the wind and of the moon. The holy u, after the interruption of his pious exercises, went, excellent princes, to the region of u, termed Purushottama, where, Maitreya, with his whole mind he devoted himself to the adoration of Hari; standing fixed, with uplifted arms, and repeating the prayers that comprehend the essence of divine truth.”

The Prachetasas said, “We are desirous to hear the transcendental prayers, by inaudibly reciting which the pious u propitiated Ke ava.” On which Soma repeated as follows: “‘ u is beyond the boundary of all things: he is the infinite: he is beyond that which is boundless: he is above all that is above: he exists as finite truth: he is the object of the Veda; the limit of elemental being; unappreciable by the senses; possessed of illimitable might: he is the cause of cause; the cause of the cause of cause; the cause of finite cause; and in effects, he, both as every object and agent, preserves the universe: he is Brahma the lord; Brahma all beings; Brahma the progenitor of all beings; the imperishable: he is the eternal, undecaying, unborn Brahma, incapable of increase or diminution: Purushottama is the everlasting, untreated, immutable Brahma. May the imperfections of my nature be annihilated through his favour.’ Reciting this eulogium, the essence of divine truth, and propitiating Ke ava, u obtained final emancipation.

“Who Márishá was of old I will also relate to you, as the recital of her meritorious acts will be beneficial to you. She was the widow of a prince, and left childless at her husband’s death: she therefore zealously worshipped u, who, being gratified by her adoration, appeared to her, and desired her to demand a boon; on which she revealed to him the wishes of her heart. ‘I have been a widow, lord,’ she exclaimed, ‘even from my infancy, and my birth has been in vain: unfortunate have I been, and of little use, oh sovereign of the world.

Now therefore I pray thee that in succeeding births I may have honourable husbands, and a son equal to a patriarch amongst men: may I be possessed of affluence and beauty: may I he pleasing in the sight of all: and may I be born out of the ordinary course. Grant these prayers, oh thou who art propitious to the devout.’ Hrishike a, the god of gods, the supreme giver of all blessings, thus prayed to, raised her from her prostrate attitude, and said, ‘In another life you shall have ten husbands of mighty prowess, and renowned for glorious acts; and you shall have a son magnanimous and valiant, distinguished by the rank of a patriarch, from whom the various races of men shall multiply, and by whose posterity the universe shall be filled. You, virtuous lady, shall be of marvellous birth, and you shall be endowed with grace and loveliness, delighting the hearts of men.’ Thus having spoken, the deity disappeared, and the princess was accordingly afterwards born as Márishá, who is given to you for a wife.”

Soma having concluded, the Prachetasas took Márishá, as he had enjoined them, righteously to wife, relinquishing their indignation against the trees: and upon her they begot the eminent patriarch Daksha, who had (in a former life) been born as the son of Brahmá. This great sage, for the furtherance of creation, and the increase of mankind, created progeny. Obeying the command of Brahmá, he made movable and immovable things, bipeds and quadrupeds; and subsequently, by his will, gave birth to females, ten of whom he bestowed on Dharma, thirteen on Ka yapa, and twenty-seven, who regulate the course of time, on the moon.

Of these, the gods, the Titans, the snake-gods, cattle, and birds, the singers and dancers of the courts of heaven, the spirits of evil, and other beings, were born. From that period forwards living creatures were engendered by sexual intercourse: before the time of Daksha they were variously propagated, by the will, by sight, by touch, and by the influence of religious austerities practised by devout sages and holy saints.

MAITREYA.–Daksha, as I have formerly heard, was born from the right thumb of Brahmá: tell me, great Muni, how he was regenerate as the son of the Prachetasas. Considerable perplexity also arises in my mind, how he, who, as the son of Márishá, was the grandson of Soma, could be also his father-in-law.

PARÁ ARA.–Birth and death are constant in all creatures: Rishis and sages, possessing divine vision, are not perplexed by this. Daksha and the other eminent Munis are present in every age, and in the interval of destruction cease to be: of this the wise man entertains no doubt. Amongst them of old there was neither senior nor junior; rigorous penance and acquired power were the sole causes of any difference of degree amongst these more than human beings.

MAITREYA.–Narrate to me, venerable Brahman, at length, the birth of the gods, Titans, Gandharbas, serpents, and goblins.

PARÁ ARA.–In what manner Daksha created living creatures, as commanded by Brahmá, you shall hear. In the first place he willed into existence the deities, the Rishis, the quiristers of heaven, the Titans, and the snake-gods. Finding that his will-born progeny did not multiply themselves, he determined, in order to secure their increase, to establish sexual intercourse as the means of multiplication. For this purpose he espoused Asikní, the daughter of the patriarch Ví a, a damsel addicted to devout practices, the eminent supportress of the world.

By her the great father of mankind begot five thousand mighty sons, through whom he expected the world should be peopled. Nárada, the divine Rishi, observing them desirous to multiply posterity, approached them, and addressed them in a friendly tone: “Illustrious Haryaswas, it is evident that your intention is to beget posterity; but first consider this: why should you, who, like fools, know not the middle, the height, and depth of the world, propagate offspring? When your intellect is no more obstructed by interval, height, or depth, then how, fools, shall ye not all behold the term of the universe?”

Having heard the words of Nárada, the sons of Daksha dispersed themselves through the regions, and to the present day have not returned; as rivers that lose themselves in the ocean come back no more.

The Haryaswas having disappeared, the patriarch Daksha begot by the daughter of Ví a a thousand other sons. They, who were named Savaláswas, were desirous of engendering posterity, but were dissuaded by Nárada in a similar manner. They said to one another, “What the Muni has observed is perfectly just. We must follow the path that our brothers have travelled, and when we have ascertained the extent of the universe, we will multiply our race.” Accordingly they scattered themselves through the regions, and, like rivers flowing into the sea, they returned not again. Henceforth brother seeking for brother disappears, through ignorance of the products of the first principle of things. Daksha the patriarch, on finding that all these his sons had vanished, was incensed, and denounced an imprecation upon Nárada.

Then, Maitreya, the wise patriarch, it is handed down to us, being anxious to people the world, created sixty daughters of the daughter of Ví á; ten of whom he gave to

Dharma, thirteen to Ka yapa, and twenty-seven to Soma, four to a

nemi, two to

Bahuputra, two to Angiras, and two to Kri á wa. I will tell you their names. A í, Vasu, Yámí, Lambá, Bhánú, Marutwatí, Sankalpa, Muhúrttá, Sádhyá, and Vi wá were the ten wives of Dharma, and bore him the following progeny.

The sons of Vi wá were the Vi wádevas; and the Sádhyas, those of Sádhyá. The Máruts, or winds, were the children of Marutwatí; the Vasus, of Vasu. The Bhánus (or suns) of Bhánu; and the deities presiding over moments, of Muhúrttá. Ghosha was the son of Lambá (an arc of the heavens); Nágavíthí (the milky way), the daughter of Yámí (night). The divisions of the earth were born of A i; and Sankalpa (pious purpose), the soul of all, was the son of Sankalpá. The deities called Vasus, because, preceded by fire, they abound in splendour and might, are severally named Ápa, Dhruva, Soma, Dhava (fire), Anila (wind), Anala (fire), Pratyúsha (day-break), and Prabhása (light). The four sons of

Ápa were y

a, rama (weariness), Sránta (fatigue), and Dhur (burthen). Kála

(time), the cherisher of the world, was the son of Dhruva.

The son of Soma was Varchas (light), who was the father of Varchaswí (radiance). Dhava had, by his wife Manohará (loveliness), $ a, Hutahavyaváha, i ira, Prá a, and

The two sons of Anila (wind), by his wife ivá, were Manojava (swift as thought) and Avijnátagati (untraceable motion). The son of Agni (fire), Kumára, was born in a clump of ara reeds: his sons were Sákha, Visákha, Naigameya, and haja. The offspring of the Krittikás was named Kártikeya. The son of Pratyúsha was the Rishi named Devala, who had two philosophic and intelligent sons.

The sister of Váchaspati, lovely and virtuous, Yogasiddhá, who pervades the wholes world without being devoted to it, was the wife of Prabhása, the eighth of the Vasus, and bore to him the patriarch Viswakarmá, the author of a thousand arts, the mechanist of the gods, the fabricator of all ornaments, the chief of artists, the constructor of the self- moving chariots of the deities, and by whose skill men obtain subsistence. Ajaikapád, Ahirvradhna, and the wise Rudra EJ r i, were born; and the self-born son of Twashtri was also the celebrated Vi warúpa. There are eleven well-known Rudras, lords of the three worlds, or Hara, Bahurúpa, Tryambaka, Aparájita, Vrishakapi, Sambhu, Kaparddí, Raivata, Mrigavyádha, Sarva, and Kapáli; but there are a hundred appellations of the immeasurably mighty Rudras.

The daughters of Daksha who were married to Ka yapa were Aditi, Diti, Danu, á , Surasá, Surabhi, Vinatá, Támrá, Krodhava á, K á, Khasá, Kadru, and Muni; whose progeny I will describe to you. There were twelve celebrated deities in a former Manwantara, called Tushitas, who, upon the approach of the present period, or in the reign of the last Manu, Chákshusha, assembled, and said to one another, “Come, let us quickly enter into the womb of Adití, that we may be born in the next Manwantara, for

thereby we shall again enjoy the rank of gods:” and accordingly they were born the sons of Ka yapa, the son of Maríchi, by Adití, the daughter of Daksha; thence named the twelve Ádityas; whose appellations were respectively, u, akra, Áryaman, Dhútí, Twá r i, Púshan, Vivaswat, Savitri, Mitra, a, An a, and Bhaga. These, who in the Chákshusha Manwantara were the gods called Tushitas, were called the twelve Ádityas in the Manwantara of Vaiva wata.

The twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch who became the virtuous wives of the moon were all known as the nymphs of the lunar constellations, which were called by their names, and had children who were brilliant through their great splendour. The wives of

nemi bore him sixteen children. The daughters of Bahuputra were the four

lightnings. The excellent Pratyangirasa Richas were the children of Angiras, descended from the holy sage: and the deified weapons of the gods were the progeny of Kri á wa.

These classes of thirty-three divinities are born again at the end of a thousand ages, according to their own pleasure; and their appearance and disappearance is here spoken of as birth and death: but, Maitreya, these divine personages exist age after age in the same manner as the sun sets and rises again.

It has been related to us, that Diti had two sons by Ka yapa, named ! yaka ipu and the invincible ! yáksha: she had also a daughter, Sinká, the wife of Viprachitti.

! yaka ipu was the father of four mighty sons, Anuhláda, Hláda, the wise Prahláda, and the heroic Sanhláda, the augmentor of the Daitya race. Amongst these, the illustrious Prahláda, looking on all things with indifference, devoted his whole faith to Janárddana. The flames that were lighted by the king of the Daityas consumed not him, in whose heart Vásudeva was cherished; and all the earth trembled when, bound with bonds, he moved amidst the waters of the ocean.

His firm body, fortified by a mind engrossed by Achyuta, was unwounded by the weapons hurled on him by order of the Daitya monarch; and the serpents sent to destroy him breathed their venomous flames upon him in vain. Overwhelmed with rocks, he yet remained unhurt; for he never forgot u, and the recollection of the deity was his armour of proof. Hurled from on high by the king of the Daityas, residing in Swerga, earth received him unharmed. The wind sent into his body to wither him up was itself annihilated by him, in whom Madhusúdana was present.

The fierce elephants of the spheres broke their tusks, and vailed their pride, against the firm breast which the lord of the Daityas had ordered them to assault. The ministrant priests of the monarch were baffled in all their rites for the destruction of one so steadily attached to Govinda: and the thousand delusions of the fraudulent Samvara, counteracted by the discus of a, were practised without success. The deadly poison administered by his father’s officers he partook of unhesitatingly, and without its working any visible change; for he looked upon the world with mind undisturbed, and, full of benignity, regarded all things with equal affection, and as identical with himself. He was righteous; an inexhaustible mine of purity and truth; and an unfailing model for all pious men.

Footnotes

Or, ‘immersed in the six Úrmis’; explained hunger, thirst, sorrow, stupefaction, decay, and death.

There is some confusion here in regard to the person addressed, but the context shews that the insertion of Maitreya’s name is an inadvertence, and that the passage is a continuation of Soma’s speech to the Prachetasas.

The phrase is ‘made up of the farther boundary of Brahma;’ implying either ‘comprehending the supreme, or Brahma, and transcendental wisdom, Pára;’ or, consisting of the farthest limits (Pára) or truths of the Vedas or Brahma;’ that is, being the essence of the Vedánta philosophy. The hymn that follows is in fact a mantra or mystical prayer, commencing with the reiteration of the word Para and Pára; as, ###. Para means ‘supreme, infinite; and Pára, ‘the farther bank or limit,’ the point that is to be attained by crossing a river or sea, or figuratively the world or existence. u, then, is Para, that which nothing surpasses; and Pára, the end or object of existence: he is Apára pára, the farthest bound of that which is illimitable, or space and time: he is Param parebhyah, above or beyond the highest, being beyond or superior to all the elements: he is Paramártha rúpí, or identical with final truth, or knowledge of soul: he is Brahma pára, the object or essence of spiritual wisdom. Parapárabhúta is said to imply the farther limit (Pára) of rudimental matter (Para). He is Para, or chief Paránam, of those objects which are beyond the senses: and he is Párapára, or the boundary of boundaries; that is, he is the comprehensive in-vesture of, and exterior to, those limits by which soul is confined; he is free from all incumbrance or impediment. The passage may be interpreted in different ways, according to the ingenuity with which the riddle is read.

This part of the legend is peculiar to our text, and the whole story of Márishá’s birth is nowhere else so fully detailed. The penance of the Prachetasas, and its consequences, are related in the Agni, Bhágavata, Matsya, Padma, Váyu, and Bráhma Purá as, and allusion is briefly made to Márishá’s birth. Her origin from u and Pramlochá is narrated in a different place in the Bráhma Purá a, where the austerities of u, and the necessity for their interruption, are described. The story, from that authority, was translated by the late Professor Chezy, and is published in the first number of the Journal Asiatique.

The second birth of Daksha, and his share in the peopling of the earth, is narrated in most of the Purá as in a similar manner. It is perhaps the original legend, for Daksha seems to be an irregular adjunct to the Prajápatis, or mind-born sons of Brahmá; and the allegorical nature of his posterity in that character intimates a more recent origin. Nor does that series of descendants apparently occur in the Mahábhárata, although the existence of two Dakshas is especially remarked there (Moksha Dh.). In the Ádi Parva, which seems to be the freest from subsequent improvements, the Daksha noticed is the son of the Prachetasas. The incompatibility of the two accounts is reconciled by referring the two Dakshas to different Manwantaras. The Daksha who proceeded from Brahmá as a Prajápati being born in the first, or Swáyambhuva, and the son of the Prachetasas in the Chákshusha Manwantara. The latter however, as descended from Uttánapáda, should belong to the first period also. It is evident that great confusion has been made by the Purá as in Daksha’s history.

That is, they are the Nakshatras, or lunar asterisms.

‘They are removed’, which the commentator explains by ‘are absorbed, as if they were fast asleep;’ but in every age or Yuga, according to the text–in every Manwantara, according to the comment–the Rishis reappear, the circumstances of their origin only being varied. Daksha therefore, as remarked in the preceding note, is the son of Brahmá in one period, the son of the Prachetasas in another. So Soma, in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, was born as the son of Atri; in the Chákshusha, he was produced by churning the ocean. The words of our text occur in the Hari Van a, with an unimportant variation:

‘Birth and obstruction are constant in all beings, but Rishis and those men who are wise are not perplexed by this;’ that is, not, as rendered above, by the alternation of life and death; but, according to the commentator on the Hari Van a, by a very different matter, the prohibition of unlawful marriages. Utpatti, ‘birth of progeny,’ is the result of their will; Nirodha, ‘obstruction,’ is the law prohibiting the intermarriage of persons connected by the offering of the funeral cake; to which Rishis and sages are not subject, either from their matrimonial unions being merely platonic, or from the bad example set by Brahmá, who, according to the Vedas, approached his own daughter; we have already had occasion to advert to. The explanation of the text, however, given by the commentator appears forced, and less natural than the interpretation preferred above.

This is the usual account of Daksha’s marriage, and is that of the Mahábhárata, Adi P. (p. 113), and of the Bráhma Purá a, which the Hari Van a, in the first part, repeats. In another portion, the Pushkara Máhátmya, however, Daksha, it is said, converts half himself into a female, by whom he begets the daughters presently to be noticed: This seems to be merely a new edition of an old story.

The commentator explains it to mean the origin, duration, and termination of subtile rudimental body; but the Padma and Linga P. distinctly express it, ‘the extent of the earth.’

Nárada’s interference, and the fruitless generation of the first progeny of Daksha, is an old legend. The Mahábhárata (Ádi P. p. 113) notices only one set of sons, who, it is said, obtained Moksha, or liberation, through Náreda’s teaching them the Sánkhya philosophy. The Bráhma, Matsya, Váyu, Linga, Padma, Agni, and Bhágavata Purá as tell the story much as in the text, and not unfrequently in the same words. In general they merely refer to the imprecation denounced upon Nárada, as above. The Bhágavata specifies the imprecation to be perpetual peripateticism. Daksha says to him, ‘There shall not be a resting-place for thee in all these regions.’

The Kúrma repeats the imprecation merely to the effect that Nárada shall perish, and gives no legend. In the Brahma Vaivartta, Nárada is cursed by Brahmá, on a similar occasion, to become the chief of the Gandharbas, whence his musical propensities: but the Bhágavata, VI. 7, has the reverse of this legend, and makes him first a Gandharba, then a údra, then the son of Brahmá. The Bráhma P., and after it the Hari Van a and the Váyu P., have a different and not very intelligible story. Daksha, being about to pronounce an imprecation upon Nárada, was appeased by Brahmá and the Rishis, and it was agreed between them that Nárada should be again born, as the son of Ka yapa, by one of Daksha’s daughters. This seems to be the gist of the legend, but it is very confusedly told. The version of the Bráhma P., which is the same as that of Hari Van a, may be thus rendered: “The smooth-speaking Nárada addressed the sons of Daksha for their destruction and his own; for the Muni Ka yapa begot him as a son, who was the son of Brahmá, on the daughter of Daksha, through fear of the latter’s imprecation. He was formerly the son of hí (Brahmá), and the excellent sage Ka yapa next begot him, as if he were his father, on Asikní, the daughter of Ví a.

Whilst he was engaged in beguiling the sons of the patriarch, Daksha, of resistless power, determined on his destruction; but he was solicited by Brahmá, in the presence of the great sages, and it was agreed between them that Nárada, the son of Brahmá, should be born of a daughter of Daksha. Consequently Daksha gave his daughter to hí, and by her was Nárada born.” Now several difficulties occur here. Asikní is the wife, not the daughter, of Daksha; but this may be a blunder of the compiler, for in the parallel passage of the Váyu no name occurs. In the next place, who is this daughter? for, as we shall see, the progeny of all Daksha’s daughters are fully detailed, and in no p. 119 authority consulted is Nárada mentioned as the son of either of them, or as the son of Ka yapa.

Daksha, too, gives his daughter, not to Ka yapa, but to hí, or Brahmá.

The commentator on the Hari Van a solves this by saying he gives her to Brahmá for Ka yapa. The same bargain is noticed in the Váyu, but Nárada is also said there to be

adopted by Ka yapa. Again, however, it gives Daksha’s imprecation in the same words as the Hari Van a; a passage, by the way, omitted in the Bráhma: ‘Nárada, perish (in your present form), and take up your abode in the womb.’ Whatever may be the original of this legend, it is evidently imperfectly given by the authorities here cited. The French translation of the passage in the Hari Van a can scarcely be admitted as correct: assuredly is not ‘le Devarchi Dakcha, epoux d’’Asikní, fille de Virána, fut l’aïeul de cet illustri mouni ainsi régénéré.’ ### is more consistently said by the commentator to mean

Ka yapa. The Váyu P. in another part, a description of the different orders of Rishis, states that the Devarshis Parvata and Náreda were sons of Ka yapa: In the account of Kárttavírya, in the Bráhma P. and Hari Van a, Nárada is introduced as a Gandharba, the son of Varidása; being the same, according to the commentator on the latter, as the Gandharba elsewhere called Upavarhana.

The prior specification (p. 115) was fifty. The Mahábhárata, Adi P. 113, and, again, Moksha Dharma, has the same number. The Bhágavata, Kúrma, Padma, Linga, and Váyu

state sixty. The former is perhaps the original, as the fullest and most consistent details relate to them and their posterity.

This is the usual list of Dharma’s wives. The Bhágavata substitutes Kakud for A í. The Padma P., Matsya P., and Hari Van a contain two different account of Daksha’s descendants: the first agrees with our text; the second, which is supposed to occur in the Padma Kalpa, is somewhat varied, particularly as to the wives of Dharma, who are said to be five. The nomenclature varies, or,

Padma P.	Hari Van a.	Matsya.
Lakshmí	Lakshmí	Lakshmí
Saraswatí	Kírttí	Saraswatí
Gangá	Sádhyá	Sádhyá
Vi we á	Vi wá	Vi we á
Sávitrí	Marutwatí	Urjjaswatí.

There is evident inaccuracy in all the copies, and the names may in some instances be erroneous. From the succeeding enumeration of their descendants, it appears that Káma was the son of Lakshmí; the p. 120 Sádhyas, of Sádhyá; the Vi wádevas, of Vi wá; the Máruts, of Marutwatí; and the Vasus, of Deví, who may be either the Saraswatí or Sávitrí of the previous enumeration.

The Vi wádevas are a class of gods to whom sacrifices should be offered daily. Manu,

They are named in some of the Purá as, as the Váyu and Matsya: the former specifying ten; the latter, twelve.

The Sádhyas, according to the Váyu, are the personified rites and prayers of the Vedas, born of the metres, and partakers of the sacrifices. The same work names twelve, which are all names of sacrifices and formulæ, as Dar a, Paurnamása, Vrihada wa, Rathantara,

&c. The Matsya P., Padma P., and Hari V. have a different set of seventeen appellations, apparently of arbitrary selection, as Bhava, Prabhava, Í a, i, &c.

Or, according to the Padma P., because they are always present in light, or luminous irradiation.

The Váyu supplies their names, Kshamávartta (patient) and Manaswin (wise).

The passage is, Whose sons they are does not appear; the object being, according to the comment, to specify only the eleven divisions or modifications of the youngest Rudra,

EJ a

.’ We have, however, an unusual variety of reading here in two copies of the

comment: ‘The eleven Rudras, in whom the family of EJ ri (a synonyme, it may be observed, sometimes of Viswakarmá) is included, were born. The enumeration of the Rudras ends with Aparájita, of whom Tryambaka is the epithet.’ Accordingly the three last names in all the other copies of the text are omitted in these two; their places being supplied by the three first, two of whom are always named in the lists of the Rudras.

According to the Váyu and Bráhma P. the Rudras are the children of Ka yapa by Surabhi: the Bhágavata makes them the progeny of Bhúta and Sarúpá: the Matsya, Padma, and Hari V., in the second series, the offspring of Surabhi by Brahmá. The names in three of the Paurá ic authorities run thus:

Váyu. Matsya. Bhágavata.

Ajaikapád Ajaikapád Ajaikapád Ahirvradhna Ahirvradhna Ahirvradhna Hara Hama Ugra

Nirrita Nirritti Bhíma

Í wara Pingala Váma

Bhuvana Dahana Mahán Angáraka Aparájita Bahurúpa Arddhaketu Mrigavyádha Vrishakapi Mrityu Senání Aja

Sarpa Sajja Bhava

Kapálí Kapálí Raivata.

The Bráhma or Hari V., the Padma, the Linga, &c. have other varieties; and the Lexicons

have a different reading from all, as in that of G á

dhara they are Ajaikapad, Ahivradhna,

Virúpaksha, Sure wara, Jayanta, Bahurúpaka, Tryambaka, Aparájita, Vaiva wata,

ávitra, and Hara.

The variety seems to proceed from the writers applying to the Rudras, as they may legitimately do, different appellations of the common prototype, or synonymes of Rudra or iva, selected at will from his thousand and eight names, according to the Linga P.

The posterity of Daksha’s daughters by Dharma are clearly allegorical personifications chiefly of two classes, one consisting of astronomical phenomena, and the other of portions or subjects of the ritual of the Vedas.

There is some, though not much, variation in these names in different Purá as. The Bhágavata has Saramá, ha, and Timi, the parents severally of canine animals, beasts with uncloven hoofs, and fishes, in place of Vinatá, Khasá, and Kadru; disposing of the

first and last differently. The Váyu has Pravá in place of á

, and Anáyush or

Danáyush for Surasá. The Padma P., second series, substitutes Kálá, Anáyush, Sinhiká,

Pi áchá, Vách for a

, Surasá, Surabhi, Támrá, and Muni; and omits K á

and Khasá.

In the Uttara a of the same, Ka yapa’s wives are said to be but four, Aditi, Diti, Kadru, and Vinatá.

In the sixth reign, or that of Chákshusha Manu, according to the text; but in book III. ch.

the Tushitas are the gods of the second or Swárochisha Manwantara. The Váyu has a much more complete legend than any other Pura on this subject. In the beginning of the Kalpa twelve gods, named Jayas, were created by Brahmá, as his deputies and assistants in the creation. They, lost in meditation, neglected his commands; on which he cursed them to be repeatedly born in each Manwantara till the seventh. They were accordingly, in the several successive Manwantaras, Ajitas, Tushitas, Satyas, Haris, Vaikunthas, Sádhyas, and Ádityas. Our authority and some others, as the Bráhma, have apparently intended to refer to this account, but have confused the order of the series.

The Purá as that contain this genealogy agree tolerably well in these names. The Bhágavata adds many details regarding some of the Ádityas and their descendants.

The Nakshatra Yoginis, or chief stars of the lunar mansions, or asterisms in the moon’s path.

None of the authorities are more specific on the subject of a

nemis’ progeny. In the

Mahábhárata this is said to be another name of Ka yapa. The Bhágavata substitutes Tárksha for this personage, said by the commentator to be likewise another name of Ka yapa. His wives are, Kadru, Vinatá, Patangi, and Yáminí, mothers of snakes, birds, grasshoppers, and locusts.

Enumerated in astrological works as brown, red, yellow, and white; portending severally wind, heat, rain, famine.

The Richas, or verses, thirty-five in number, addressed to presiding divinities, denominated Pratyangirasas. The Bhágavata calls the wives of Anginas, Swadhá and Satí, and makes them the mothers of the Pitris and the Atharvan Veda severally.

The astra devatas, ‘gods of the divine weapons;’ a hundred are enumerated in the

Rámá a, and they are there termed the sons of Kri á wa by Jayá and Vijayá, daughters of the Prajápati; that is, of Daksha. The Bhágavata terms the two wives of Kri á wa, Archish (flame) and $ á; the former is the mother of Dhúmaketu (comet); the latter, of four sages, Devala, Veda iras, a, and Manu. The allegorical origin of the weapons is undoubtedly the more ancient.

This number is founded upon a text of the Vedas, which to the eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, and twelve Ádityas, adds Prajápati, either Brahmá or Daksha, and Vashatkára, ‘deified oblation.’ They have the epithet Chhandajá, as born in different Manwantaras, of their own will.

The Purá as generally concur in this genealogy, reading sometimes Anuhráda, Hráda,

&c. for Anuhláda and the rest. Although placed second in the order of Ka yapa’s descendants, the Daityas are in fact the elder branch. Thus the Mahábhárata, Moksha Dherma, calls Diti the senior wife of Ka yapa: and the Váyu terms ! yaka ipu and

! yáksha the eldest of all the sons of that patriarch. “Titan and his enormous brood” were “heaven’s first born.”

CHAP. XVI.

Inquiries of Maitreya respecting the history of Prahláda.

MAITREYA.–Venerable Muni, you have described to me the races of human beings, and the eternal u, the cause of this world; but who was this mighty Prahláda, of whom you have last spoken; whom fire could not burn; who died not, when pierced by weapons; at whose presence in the waters earth trembled, shaken by his movements, even though in bonds; and who, overwhelmed with rocks, remained unhurt. I am desirous to hear an account of the unequalled might of that sage worshipper of u, to whose marvellous history you have alluded. Why was he assailed by the weapons of the sons of Diti? why was so righteous a person thrown into the sea? wherefore was he overwhelmed with rocks? why bitten by venomous snakes? why hurled from the mountain crest? why cast into the flames? why was he made a mark for the tusks of the elephants of the spheres? wherefore was the blast of death directed against him by the enemies of the gods? why did the priests of the Daityas practise ceremonies for his destruction? why were the thousand illusions of Samvara exercised upon him? and for what purpose was deadly poison administered to him by the servants of the king, but which was innocuous as food to his sagacious son?

All this I am anxious to hear: the history of the magnanimous Prahláda; a legend of great marvels. Not that it is a wonder that he should have been uninjured by the Daityas; for who can injure the man that fixes his whole heart on u? but it is strange that such inveterate hatred should have been shewn, by his own kin, to one so virtuous, so unweariedly occupied in worshipping u. You can explain to me for what reason the sons of Diti offered violence to one so pious, so illustrious, so attached to u, so free from guile. Generous enemies wage no war with such as he was, full of sanctity and every excellence; how should his own father thus behave towards him? Tell me therefore, most illustrious Muni, the whole story in detail: I wish to hear the entire narrative of the sovereign of the Daitya race.

CHAP. XVII.

Legend of Prahláda. ! yaka ipu, the sovereign of the universe: the gods dispersed or in servitude to him: Prahláda, his son, remains devoted to u: questioned by his father, he praises u: ! yaka ipu orders him to be put to death, but in vain: his repeated deliverance: he teaches his companions to adore u.?

PARÁ ARA.–Listen, Maitreya, to the story of the wise and magnanimous Prahláda, whose adventures are ever interesting and instructive. ! yaka ipu, the son of Diti, had formerly brought the three worlds under his authority, confiding in a boon bestowed upon him by Brahmá 1. He had usurped the sovereignty of Indra, and exercised of himself the functions of the sun, of air, of the lord of waters, of fire, and of the moon. He himself was the god of riches; he was the judge of the dead; and he appropriated to himself, without reserve, all that was offered in sacrifice to the gods. The deities therefore, flying from their seats in heaven, wandered, through fear of the Daitya, upon the earth, disguised in mortal shapes. Having conquered the three worlds, he was inflated with pride, and, eulogized by the Gandharbas, enjoyed whatever he desired. The Gandharbas, the Siddhas, and the snake-gods all attended upon the mighty ! yaka ipu, as he sat at the banquet. The Siddhas delighted stood before him, some playing on musical instruments, some singing songs in his praise, and others shouting cries of victory; whilst the nymphs of heaven danced gracefully in the crystal palace, where the Asura with pleasure quaffed the inebriating cup.

The illustrious son of the Daitya king, Prahláda, being yet a boy, resided in the dwelling of his preceptor, where he read such writings as are studied in early years. On one occasion he came, accompanied by his teacher, to the court of his father, and bowed before his feet as he was drinking. ! yaka ipu desired his prostrate son to rise, and said to him, “Repeat, boy, in substance, and agreeably, what during the period of your studies you have acquired.” “Hear, sire,” replied Prahláda, “what in obedience to your commands I will repeat, the substance of all I have learned: listen attentively to that which wholly occupies my thoughts. I have learned to adore him who is without beginning, middle, or end, increase or diminution; the imperishable lord of the world, the universal cause of causes.”

On hearing these words, the sovereign of the Daityas, his eyes red with wrath, and lip swollen with indignation, turned to the preceptor of his son, and said, “Vile Brahman, what is this preposterous commendation of my foe, that, in disrespect to me, you have taught this boy to utter?” “King of the Daityas,” replied the Guru, “it is not worthy of you to give way to passion: that which your son has uttered, he has not been taught by me.” “By whom then,” said ! yaka ipu to the lad, “by whom has this lesson, boy, been taught you? your teacher denies that it proceeds from him.” ” u, father,” answered Prahláda, “is the instructor of the whole world: what else should any one teach or learn, save him the supreme spirit?” “Blockhead,” exclaimed the king, “who is this u, whose name you thus reiterate so impertinently before me, who am the sovereign of the three worlds?”

“The glory of u,” replied Prahláda, “is to be meditated upon by the devout; it cannot be described: he is the supreme lord, who is all things, and from whom all things proceed.” To this the king rejoined, “Are you desirous of death, fool, that you give the title of supreme lord to any one whilst I survive?” ” u, who is Brahma,” said Prahláda, “is the creator and protector, not of me alone, but of all human beings, and even, father, of you: he is the supreme lord of all. Why should you, sire, be offended?”

! yaka ipu then exclaimed,

“What evil spirit has entered into the breast of this silly boy, that thus, like one possessed, he utters such profanity?” “Not into my heart alone,” said Prahláda, “has u entered, but he pervades all the regions of the universe, and by his omnipresence influences the conduct of all beings, mine, fattier, and thine.” “Away with the wretch!” cried the king; “take him to his preceptor’s mansion. By whom could he have been instigated to repeat the lying praises of my foe?”

According to the commands of his father, Prahláda was conducted by the Daityas back to the house of his Guru; where, assiduous in attendance on his preceptor, he constantly improved in wisdom. After a considerable time had elapsed, the sovereign of the Asuras sent for him again; and on his arrival in his presence, desired him to recite some poetical composition. Prahláda immediately began, “May he from whom matter and soul originate, from whom all that moves or is unconscious proceeds, he who is the cause of all this creation, u, be favourable unto us!” On hearing which, ! yaka ipu exclaimed, “Kill the wretch! he is not fit to live, who is a traitor to his friends, a burning brand to his own race!” and his attendants, obedient to his orders, snatched up their weapons, and rushed in crowds upon Prahláda, to destroy him.

The prince calmly looked upon them, and said, “Daityas, as truly as u is present in your weapons and in my body, so truly shall those weapons fail to harm me:” and accordingly, although struck heavily and repeatedly by hundreds of the Daityas, the prince felt not the least pain, and his strength was ever renewed. His father then endeavoured to persuade him to refrain from glorifying his enemy, and promised him immunity if the would not be so foolish as to persevere but Prahláda replied, that he felt no fear as long as his immortal guardian against all dangers was present in his mind, the recollection of whom was alone sufficient to dissipate all the perils consequent upon birth or human infirmities.

! yaka ipu, highly exasperated, commanded the serpents to fall upon his disobedient and insane son, and bite him to death with their envenomed fangs: and thereupon the great snakes Kuhaka, Takshaka, and Andhaka, charged with fatal poison, bit the prince in every part of his body; but he, with thoughts immovably fixed on a, felt no pain from their wounds, being immersed in rapturous recollections of that divinity. Then the snakes cried to the king, and said, “Our fangs are broken; our jewelled crests are burst; there is fever in our, hoods, and fear in our hearts; but the skin of the youth is still unscathed: have recourse, monarch of the Daityas, to some other expedient.”

“Ho, elephants of the skies!” exclaimed the demon; “unite your tusks, and destroy this deserter from his father, and conspirer with my foes. It is thus that often our progeny are our destruction, as fire consumes the wood from which it springs.” The young prince was then assailed by the elephants of the skies, as vast as mountain peaks; cast down upon the earth, and trampled on, and gored by their tusks: but he continued to call to mind Govinda, and the tusks of the elephants were blunted against his breast. “Behold,” he said to his father, “the tusks of the elephants, as hard as adamant, are blunted; but this is not by any strength of mine: calling upon Janárddana is my defence against such fearful affliction.”

Then said the king to his attendants, “Dismiss the elephants, and let fire consume him; and do thou, deity of the winds, blow up the fire, that this wicked wretch may be consumed.” And the Dánavas piled a mighty heap of wood around the prince, and kindled a fire, to burn him, as their master had commanded. But Prahláda cried, “Father, this fire, though blown up by the winds, burneth me not; and all around I behold the face of the skies, cool and fragrant, with beds of lotus flowers.”

Then the Brahmans who were the sons of Bhárgava, illustrious priests, and reciters of the Sáma-Veda, said to the king of the Daityas, “Sire, restrain your wrath against your own son. How should anger succeed in finding a place in heavenly mansions? As for this lad, we will be his instructors, and teach him obediently to labour for the destruction of your foes. Youth is the season, king, of many errors; and you should not therefore be relentlessly offended with a child. If he will not listen to us, and abandon the cause of Hari, we will adopt infallible measures to work his death.” The king of the Daityas, thus solicited by the priests, commanded the prince to be liberated from the midst of the flames.

Again established in the dwelling of his preceptor, Prahláda gave lessons himself to the sons of the demons, in the intervals of his leisure. “Sons of the offspring of Diti,” he was accustomed to say to them, “hear from me the supreme truth; nothing else is fit to be regarded; nothing, else here is an object to be coveted. Birth, infancy, and youth are the portion of all creatures; and then succeeds gradual and inevitable decay, terminating with all beings, children of the Daityas, in death: this is manifestly visible to all; to you as it is to me.

That the dead are born again, and that it cannot be otherwise, the sacred texts are warrant: but production cannot be without a material cause; and as long as conception and parturition are the material causes of repeated birth, so long, be sure, is pain inseparable from every period of existence. The simpleton, in his inexperience, fancies that the alleviation of hunger, thirst, cold, and the like is pleasure; but of a truth it is pain; for suffering gives delight to those whose vision is darkened by delusion, as fatigue would be enjoyment to limbs that are incapable of motion. This vile body is a compound of phlegm and other humours. Where are its beauty, grace, fragrance, or other estimable qualities?

The fool that is fond of a body composed of flesh, blood, matter, ordure, urine, membrane, marrow, and bones, will be enamoured of hell. The agreeableness of fire is caused by cold; of water, by thirst; of food, by hunger: by other circumstances their contraries are equally agreeable. The child of the Daitya whotakes to himself a wife introduces only so much misery into his bosom; for as many as are the cherished affections of a living creature, so many are the thorns of anxiety implanted in his heart; and he who has large possessions in his house is haunted, wherever he goes, with the apprehension that they may be lost or burnt or stolen.

Thus there is great pain in being born: for the dying man there are the tortures of the judge of the deceased, and of passing again into ‘the womb. If you conclude that there is little enjoyment in the embryo state, you must then admit that the world is made up of pain. Verily I say unto you, that in this ocean of the world, this sea of many sorrows,

u is your only hope. If ye say, you know nothing of this; ‘we are children; embodied spirit in bodies is eternal; birth, youth, decay, are the properties of the body, not of the soul 5.’ But it is in this way that we deceive ourselves. I am yet a child; but it is my purpose to exert myself when I am a youth. I am yet a youth; but when I become old I will do what is needful for the good of my soul. I am now old, and all my duties are to be fulfilled. How shall I, now that my faculties fail me, do what was left undone when my strength was unimpaired?’

In this manner do men, whilst their minds are distracted by sensual pleasures, ever propose, and never attain final beatitude: they die thirsting. Devoted in childhood to play, and in youth to pleasure, ignorant and impotent they find that old age is come upon them. Therefore even in childhood let the embodied soul acquire discriminative wisdom, and, independent of the conditions of infancy, youth, or age, strive incessantly to be freed.

This, then, is what I declare unto you; and since you know that it is not untrue, do you, out of regard to me, call to your minds u, the liberator from all bondage. What difficulty is there in thinking upon him, who, when remembered, bestows prosperity; and by recalling whom to memory, day and night, all sin is cleansed away? Let all your thoughts and affections be fixed on him, who is present in all beings, and you shall laugh at every care. The whole world is suffering under a triple affliction.

‘What wise man would feel hatred towards beings who are objects of compassion? If fortune be propitious to them, and I am unable to partake of the like enjoyments, yet wherefore should I cherish malignity towards those who are more prosperous than myself: I should rather sympathise with their happiness; for the suppression of malignant feelings is of itself a reward. If beings are hostile, and indulge in hatred, they are objects of pity to the wise, as encompassed by profound delusion. These are the reasons for repressing hate, which are adapted to the capacities of those who see the deity distinct from his creatures. Hear, briefly, what influences those who have approached the truth.

This whole world is but a manifestation of u, who is identical with all things; and it is therefore to be regarded by the wise as not differing from, but as the same with themselves. Let us therefore lay aside the angry passions of our race, and so strive that we obtain that perfect, pure, and eternal happiness, which shall be beyond the power of the elements or their deities, of fire, of the sun, of the moon, of wind, of Indra, of the regent of the sea; which shall be unmolested by spirits of air or earth; by Yakshas, Daityas, or their chiefs; by the serpent-gods or monstrous demigods of Swerga; which shall be uninterrupted by men or beasts, or by the infirmities of human nature; by bodily sickness and disease, or hatred, envy, malice, passion, or desire; which nothing shall molest, and which every one who fixes his whole heart on Ke ava shall enjoy.

Verily I say unto you, that you shall have no satisfaction in various revolutions through this treacherous world, but that you will obtain placidity for ever by propitiating u, whose adoration is perfect calm. What here is difficult of attainment, when he is pleased? Wealth, pleasure, virtue, are things of little moment. Precious is the fruit that you shall gather, be assured, from the exhaustless store of the tree of true wisdom.”

Footnotes

The boon, according to the Váyu Purá a, was, that he should not be slain by any created being: the Kúrma adds, except by u. The Bhágavata has a similar boon as the Váyu, and therefore, says the commentator, u assumed the form of the Nrisinha, as being that of neither a man nor an animal.

The Purá as teach constantly incompatible doctrines. According to this passage, the Supreme Being is not the inert cause of creation only, but exercises the p. 128 functions of an active Providence. The commentator quotes a text of the Veda in support of this view: ‘Universal soul entering into men, governs their conduct.’ Incongruities, however, are as frequent in the Vedas as in the Purá as; but apparently the most ancient parts of the Hindu ritual recognised an active ruler in the Creator of the universe; the notion of abstract deity originating with the schools of philosophy.

This is the purport of the sentence apparently, and is that which the comment in part confirms. Literally it is, ‘A blow is the pleasure of those whose eyes are darkened by ignorance, whose limbs, exceedingly benumbed, desire pleasure by exercise: The commentator divides the sentence, however, and reads it, ‘As fatigue would be like pleasure to paralyzed limbs; and a blow is enjoyment to those who are blinded by delusion; that is, by love; for to them a slap, or even a kick, from a mistress would be a favour.’ It is not improbably an allusion to some such venerable pastime as blindman’s buff. This interpretation, however, leaves the construction of the first half of the sentence imperfect, unless the nominative and verb apply to both portions.

They are so far from being sources of pleasure in themselves, that, under different contrasts, they become sources of pain. Heat is agreeable in cold weather: cold is agreeable in hot weather; heat would then be disagreeable. Drink is pleasant to a thirsty man: thirst is agreeable to one who has drunk too much; and more drink would be painful. So of food, and of other contrasts.

‘Divine knowledge is the province only of those who can separate soul from body; that is, who live independent of bodily infirmities and passions. We have not overcome corporeal vicissitudes, and have therefore no concern with such abstruse inquiries.’ This is the commentator’s explanation of the passage.

Alluding, says the commentator, to the fable of a washerman, who, whilst washing his clothes in the Ganges, proposed daily to drink of its waters, but forgot his purpose in his occupation: or of a boy, who proposed the same as he pursued fish after fish, and never accomplished his intention, being engrossed by his sport: both died without drinking.

The three kinds of affliction of the Sánkhya philosophy: internal, as bodily or mental distress; external, as injuries from men, animals, &c.; and superhuman, or inflictions by gods or demons. See S. Káriká, ver. 1.

The construction of the text is elliptical and brief, but the sense is sufficiently clear. The order of the last páda is thus transposed by the commentator: ‘Whence (from feeling pleasure) the abandonment of enmity is verily the consequence.’

The original rather unpoetically specifies some of these, or fever, ophthalmia, dysentery, spleen, liver, &c. The whole of these defects are the individuals of the three species of pain alluded to before.

CHAP. XVIII.

! yaka ipu’s reiterated attempts to destroy his son: their being always frustrated.

THE Dánavas, observing the conduct of Prahláda, reported it to the king, lest they should incur his displeasure. He sent for his cooks, and said to them, “My vile and unprincipled son is now teaching others his impious doctrines: be quick, and put an end to him. Let deadly poison be mixed up with all his viands, without his knowledge. Hesitate not, but destroy the wretch without delay.” Accordingly they did so, and administered poison to the virtuous Prahláda, as his father had commanded them. Prahláda, repeating the name of the imperishable, ate and digested the food in which the deadly poison had been infused, and suffered no harm from it, either in body or mind, for it had been rendered innocuous by the name of the eternal. Beholding the strong poison digested, those who had prepared the food were filled with dismay, and hastened to the king, and fell down before him, and said, “King of the Daityas, the fearful poison given by us to your son has been digested by him along with his food, as if it were innocent.

! yaka ipu, on hearing this, exclaimed, “Hasten, hasten, ministrant priests of the Daitya race! instantly perform the rites that will effect his destruction!” Then the priests went to Prahláda, and, having repeated the hymns of the Sáma-Veda, said to him, as he respectfully hearkened, “Thou hast been born, prince, in the family of Brahmá, celebrated in the three worlds, the son of ! yaka ipu, the king of the Daityas; why shouldest thou acknowledge dependance upon the gods? why upon the eternal? Thy father is the stay of all the worlds, as thou thyself in turn shalt be. Desist, then, from celebrating the praises of an enemy; and remember, that of all venerable preceptors, a father is most venerable.” Prahláda replied to them, “Illustrious Brahmans, it is true that the family of Maríchi is renowned in the three worlds; this cannot be denied: and I also admit, what is equally indisputable, that my father is mighty over the universe.

There is no error, not the least, in what you have said, ‘that a father is the most venerable of all holy teachers:’ he is a venerable instructor, no doubt, and is ever to be devoutly reverenced. To all these things I have nothing to object; they find a ready assent in my mind: but when you say, ‘Why should I depend upon the eternal?’ who can give assent to this as right? the words are void of meaning.” Having said thus much, he was silent a while, being restrained by respect to their sacred functions; but he was unable to repress his smiles, and again said, “What need is there of the eternal? excellent! What need of the eternal? admirable! most worthy of you who are my venerable preceptors! Hear what need there is of the eternal, if to hearken will not give you pain. The fourfold objects of men are said to be virtue, desire, wealth, final emancipation. Is he who is the source of all these of no avail? Virtue was derived from the eternal by Daksha, Maríchi, and other patriarchs; wealth has been obtained front him by others; and by others, the enjoyment of their desires: whilst those who, through true. wisdom and holy contemplation, have come to know his essence, have been released from their bondage, and have attained freedom from existence for ever.

The glorification of Hari, attainable by unity, is the root of all riches, dignity, renown, wisdom, progeny, righteousness, and liberation. Virtue, wealth, desire, and even final freedom, Brahmans, are fruits bestowed by him. How then can it be said, ‘What need is there of the eternal?’ But enough of this: what occasion is there to say more? You are my venerable preceptors, and, speak ye good or evil, it is not for my weak judgment to decide.”

The priests said to him, “We preserved you, boy, when you were about to be consumed by fire, confiding that you would no longer eulogize your father’s foes: we knew not how unwise you were: but if you will not desist from this infatuation at our advice, we shall even proceed to perform the rites that will inevitably destroy you.” To this menace, Prahláda answered, “What living creature slays, or is slain? what living creature preserves, or is preserved? Each is his own destroyer or preserver, as he follows evil or good.”

Thus spoken to by the youth, the priests of the Daitya sovereign were incensed, and instantly had recourse to magic incantations, by which a female form, enwreathed with fiery flame, was engendered: she was of fearful aspect, and the earth was parched beneath her tread, as she approached Prahláda, and smote him with a fiery trident on the breast. In vain! for the weapon fell, broken into a hundred pieces, upon the ground. Against the breast in which the imperishable Hari resides the thunderbolt would be shivered, much more should such a weapon be split in pieces. The magic being, then directed against the virtuous prince by the wicked priest, turned upon them, and, having quickly destroyed them, disappeared.

But Prahláda, beholding them perish, hastily appealed to a, the eternal, for succour, and said, “Oh Janárddana! who art every where, the creator and substance of the world, preserve these Brahmans from this magical and insupportable fire. As thou art

u, present in all creatures, and the protector of the world, so let these priests be restored to life. If, whilst devoted to the omnipresent u, I think no sinful resentment against my foes, let these priests be restored to life. If those who have come to slay me, those by whom poison was given me, the fire that would have burned, the elephants that would have crushed, and snakes that would have stung me, have been regarded by me as friends; if I have been unshaken in soul, and am without fault in thy sight; then, I implore thee, let these, the priests of the Asuras, be now restored to life.” Thus having prayed, the Brahmans immediately rose up, uninjured and rejoicing; and bowing respectfully to Prahláda, they blessed him, and said, “Excellent prince, may thy days be many; irresistible be thy prowess; and power and wealth and posterity be thine.” Having thus spoken, they withdrew, and went and told the king of the Daityas all that had passed.

Footnotes

This is not the doctrine of the impassibility of soul, taught in the Vedas: ‘We do not recognise either the doctrine that supposes the slayer to slay, or the slain to be killed; this (spiritual existence) neither kills nor is killed.’ The same is inculcated at great length, and with great beauty, in the Bhagavat Gítá: ‘Weapons wound it not; fire doth not p. 136 consume it; water cannot drown it; nor doth it wither before the winds:’ or, as rendered by Schlegel, ‘Non ilium penetrant tela; non ilium comburit flamma; neque illum perfundunt aquæ; nec ventus exsiccat.’ P. 17. new edition. But in the passage of our text, all that the Hindus understand of Fate, is referred to. Death or immunity, prosperity or adversity, are in this life the inevitable consequences of conduct in a prior existence: no man can suffer a penalty which his vices in a preceding state of being have not incurred, nor can he avoid it if they have.

CHAP. XIX.

Dialogue between Prahláda and his father: he is cast from the top of the palace unhurt: baffles the incantations of Samvara: he is thrown fettered into the sea: he praises u.

WHEN ! yaka ipu heard that the powerful incantations of his priests had been defeated, he sent for his son, and demanded of him the secret of his extraordinary might. “Prahláda,” he said, “thou art possessed of marvellous powers; whence are they derived? are they the result of magic rites? or have they accompanied thee from birth?” Prahláda, thus interrogated, bowed down to his father’s feet, and replied, “Whatever power I possess, father, is neither the result of magic rites, nor is it inseparable from my nature; it is no more than that which is possessed by all in whose hearts Achyuta abides.

He who meditates not of wrong to others, but considers them as himself, is free from the effects of sin, inasmuch as the cause does not exist; but he who inflicts pain upon others, in act, thought, or speech, sows the seed of future birth, and the fruit that awaits him after birth is pain. I wish no evil to any, and do and speak no offence; for I behold Ke ava in all beings, as in my own soul. Whence should corporeal or mental suffering or pain, inflicted by elements or the gods, affect me, whose heart is thoroughly purified by him? Love, then, for all creatures will be assiduously cherished by all those who are wise in the knowledge that Hari is all things.”

When he had thus spoken, the Daitya monarch, his face darkened with fury, commanded his attendants to cast his son from the summit of the palace where he was sitting, and which was many Yojanas in height, down upon the tops of the mountains, where his body should be dashed to pieces against the rocks. Accordingly the Daityas hurled the boy down, and he fell cherishing Hari in his heart, and Earth, the nurse of all creatures, received him gently on her lap, thus entirely devoted to Ke ava, the protector of the world.

Beholding him uninjured by the fall, and sound in every bone, ! yaka ipu addressed himself to Samvara, the mightiest of enchanters, and said to him, “This perverse boy is not to be destroyed by us: do you, who art potent in the arts of delusion, contrive some device for his destruction.” Samvara replied, “I will destroy him: you shall behold, king of the Daityas, the power of delusion, the thousand and the myriad artifices that it can employ.”

Then the ignorant Asura Samvara practised subtile wiles for the extermination of the firm-minded Prahláda: but he, with a tranquil heart, and void of malice towards Samvara, directed his thoughts uninterruptedly to the destroyer of Madhu; by whom the excellent discus, the flaming Sudarsana, was dispatched to defend the youth; and the thousand devices of the evil-destinied Samvara were every one foiled by this defender of the prince.

The king of the Daityas then commanded the withering wind to breathe its blighting blast upon his son: and, thus commanded, the wind immediately penetrated into his frame, cold, cutting, drying, and insufferable. Knowing that the wind had entered into his body, the Daitya boy applied his whole heart to the mighty upholder of the earth; and Janárddana, seated in his heart, waxed wroth, and drank up the fearful wind, which had thus hastened to its own annihilation.

When the devices of Samvara were all frustrated, and the blighting wind had perished, the prudent prince repaired to the residence of his preceptor. His teacher instructed him daily in the science of polity, as essential to the administration of government, and invented by U anas for the benefit of kings; and when he thought that the modest prince was well grounded in the principles of the science, he told the king that Prahláda was thoroughly conversant with the rules of government as laid down by the descendant of Bhrigu.

! yaka ipu therefore summoned the prince to his presence, and desired him to repeat what he had learned; how a king should conduct himself towards friends or foes; what measures he should adopt at the three periods (of advance, retrogression, or stagnation); how he should treat his councillors, his ministers, the officers of his government and of his household, his emissaries, his subjects, those of doubtful allegiance, and his foes; with whom should he contract alliance; with whom engage in war; what sort of fortress he should construct; how forest and mountain tribes should be reduced; how internal grievances should be rooted out: all this, and what else he had studied, the youth was commanded by his father to explain. To this, Prahláda having bowed affectionately and reverentially to the feet of the king, touched his forehead, and thus replied:–

“It is true that I have been instructed in all these matters by my venerable preceptor, and I have learnt them, but I cannot in all approve them. It is said that conciliation, gifts, punishment, and sowing dissension are the means of securing friends (or overcoming foes); but I, father–be not angry–know neither friends nor foes; and where no object is to be accomplished, the means of effecting it are superfluous. It were idle to talk of friend or foe in Govinda, who is the supreme soul, lord of the world, consisting of the world, and who is identical with all beings.

The divine u is in thee, father, in me, and in all every where else; and hence how can I speak of friend or foe, as distinct from myself? It is therefore waste of time to cultivate such tedious and unprofitable sciences, which are but false knowledge, and all our energies should be dedicated to the acquirement of true wisdom. The notion that ignorance is knowledge arises, father, from ignorance. Does not the child, king of the Asuras, imagine the fire-fly to be a spark of fire. That is active duty, which is not for our bondage; that is knowledge, which is for our liberation: all other duty is good only unto weariness; all other knowledge is only the cleverness of an artist. Knowing this, I look upon all such acquirement as profitless.

That which is really profitable hear me, oh mighty monarch, thus prostrate before thee, proclaim. He who cares not for dominion, he who cares not for wealth, shall assuredly obtain both in a life to come. All men, illustrious prince, are toiling to be great; but the destinies of men, and not their own exertions, are the cause of greatness. Kingdoms are the gifts of fate, and are bestowed upon the stupid, the ignorant, the cowardly, and those to whom the science of government is unknown. Let him therefore who covets the goods of fortune be assiduous in the practice of virtue: let him who hopes for final liberation learn to look upon all things as equal and the same.

Gods, men, animals, birds, reptiles, all are but forms of one eternal u, existing as it were detached from himself. By him who knows this, all the existing world, fixed or movable, is to be regarded as identical with himself, as proceeding alike from u, assuming a universal form. When this is known, the glorious god of all, who is without beginning or end, is pleased; and when he is pleased, there is an end of affliction.”

On hearing this, ! yaka ipu started up from his throne in a fury, and spurned his son on the breast with his foot. Burning with rage, he wrung his hands, and exclaimed, “Ho Viprachitti! ho Ráhu! ho Bali! bind him with strong bands, and cast him into the ocean, or all the regions, the Daityas and Dánavas, will become converts to the doctrines of this silly wretch. Repeatedly prohibited by us, he still persists in the praise of our enemies.

Death is the just retribution of the disobedient.” The Daityas accordingly bound the prince with strong bands, as their lord had commanded, and threw him into the sea. As he floated on the waters, the ocean was convulsed throughout its whole extent, and rose in mighty undulations, threatening to submerge the earth.

This when ! yaka ipu observed, he commanded the Daityas to hurl rocks into the sea, and pile them closely on one another, burying beneath their incumbent mass him whom fire would not burn, nor weapons pierce, nor serpents bite; whom the pestilential gale could not blast, nor poison nor magic spirits nor incantations destroy; who fell from the loftiest heights unhurt; who foiled the elephants of the spheres: a son of depraved heart, whose life was a perpetual curse. “Here,” he cried, “since he cannot die, here let him live for thousands of years at the bottom of the ocean, overwhelmed by mountains.

Accordingly the Daityas and Dánavas hurled upon Prahláda, whilst in the great ocean, ponderous rocks, and piled them over him for many thousand miles: but he, still with mind undisturbed, thus offered daily praise to u, lying at the bottom of the sea, under the mountain heap. “Glory to thee, god of the lotus eye: glory to thee, most excellent of spiritual things: glory to thee, soul of all worlds: glory to thee, wielder of the sharp discus: glory to the best of Brahmans; to the friend of Brahmans and of kine; to

a, the preserver of the world: to Govinda be glory.

To him who, as Brahmá, creates the universe; who in its existence is its preserver; be praise. To thee, who at the end of the Kalpa takest the form of Rudra; to thee, who art triform; be adoration. Thou, Achyuta, art the gods, Yakshas, demons, saints, serpents, choristers and dancers of heaven, goblins, evil spirits, men, animals, birds, insects, reptiles, plants, and stones, earth, water, fire, sky, wind, sound, touch, taste, colour, flavour, mind, intellect, soul, time, and the qualities of nature: thou art all these, and the chief object of them all. Thou art knowledge and ignorance, truth and falsehood, poison and ambrosia. Thou art the performance and discontinuance of acts thou art the acts which the Vedas enjoin: thou art the enjoyer of the fruit of all acts, and the means by which they are accomplished. Thou, u, who art the soul of all, art the fruit of all acts of piety.

Thy universal diffusion, indicating might and goodness, is in me, in others, in all creatures, in all worlds. Holy ascetics meditate on thee: pious priests sacrifice to thee. Thou alone, identical with the gods and the fathers of mankind, receivest burnt-offerings and oblations. The universe is thy intellectual form; whence proceeded thy subtile form, this world: thence art thou all subtile elements and elementary beings, and the subtile principle, that is called soul, within them. Hence the supreme soul of all objects, distinguished as subtile or gross, which is imperceptible, and which cannot be conceived, is even a form of thee. Glory be to thee, Purushottama; and glory to that imperishable form which, soul of all, is another manifestation of thy might, the asylum of all qualities, existing in all creatures. I salute her, the supreme goddess, who is beyond the senses; whom the mind, the tongue, cannot define; who is to be distinguished alone by the wisdom of the truly wise.

Om! salutation to Vásudeva: to him who is the eternal lord; he from whom nothing is distinct; he who is distinct from all. Glory be to the great spirit again and again: to him who is without name or shape; who sole is to be known by adoration; whom, in the forms manifested in his descents upon earth, the dwellers in heaven adore; for they behold not his inscrutable nature. I glorify the supreme deity u, the universal witness, who seated internally, beholds the good and ill of all. Glory to that u from whom this world is not distinct.

May he, ever to be meditated upon as the beginning of the universe, have compassion upon me: may he, the supporter of all, in whom every thing is warped and woven, undecaying, imperishable, have compassion upon me. Glory, again and again, to that being to whom all returns, from whom all proceeds; who is all, and in whom all things are: to him whom I also am; for he is every where; and through whom all things are from me. I am all things: all things are in me, who am everlasting. I am undecayable, ever enduring, the receptacle of the spirit of the supreme. Brahma is my name; the supreme soul, that is before all things, that is after the end of all.

Footnotes

These are the four Upáyas, ‘means of success,’ specified in the Amera-kosha.

Celebrated Daityas. Viprachitti is one of the chief Dánavas, or sons of Danu, and appointed king over them by Brahmá. Ráhu was the son of Sinhiká, more known as the dragon’s head, or ascending node, being a chief agent in eclipses. Bali was sovereign of the three worlds in the time of the dwarf incarnation, and afterwards monarch of Pátála.

With Nága pá as, ‘snake-nooses;’ tortuous and twining round the limbs like serpents.

Acts of devotion–sacrifices, oblations, observance of rules of purification, almsgiving, and the like–opposed to ascetic and contemplative worship, which dispenses with the ritual.

Havya and Kavya, oblations of ghee or oiled butter; the former presented to the gods, the latter to the Pitris.

Mahat, the first product of nature, intellect.

The preceding passage was addressed to the Purusha, or spiritual nature, of the supreme being: this is addressed to his material essence, his other energy, that is, to Pradhána,

Or rather, woven as the warp and woof; meaning ‘woven by the long threads,’ and ‘by the cross threads.’

CHAP. XX.

u appears to Prahláda. ! yaka ipu relents, and is reconciled to his son: he is put to death by u as the Nrisinha. Prahláda becomes king of the Daityas: his posterity: fruit of hearing his story.

THUS meditating upon u, as identical with his own spirit, Prahláda became as one with him, and finally regarded himself as the divinity: he forgot entirely his own individuality, and was conscious of nothing else than his being the inexhaustible, eternal, supreme soul; and in consequence of the efficacy of this conviction of identity, the imperishable u, whose essence is wisdom, became present in his heart, which was wholly purified from sin. As soon as, through the force of his contemplation, Prahláda had become one with u, the bonds with which he was bound burst instantly asunder; the ocean was violently uplifted; and the monsters of the deep were alarmed; earth with all her forests and mountains trembled; and the prince, putting aside the rocks which the demons had piled Upon him, came forth from out the main.

When he beheld the outer world again, and contemplated earth and heaven, he remembered who he was, and recognised himself to be Prahláda; and again he hymned Purushottama, who is without beginning or end; his mind being steadily and undeviatingly addressed to the object of his prayers, and his speech, thoughts, and acts being firmly under control. “Om! glory to the end of all: to thee, lord, who art subtile and substantial; mutable and immutable; perceptible and imperceptible; divisible and indivisible; indefinable and definable; the subject of attributes, and void of attributes; abiding in qualities, though they abide not in thee; morphous and amorphous; minute and vast; visible and invisible; hideousness and beauty; ignorance and wisdom; cause and effect; existence and non-existence; comprehending all that is good and evil; essence of perishable and imperishable elements; asylum of undeveloped rudiments.

Oh thou who art both one and many, Vásudeva, first cause of all; glory be unto thee. Oh thou who art large and small, manifest and hidden; who art all beings, and art not all beings; and from whom, although distinct from universal cause, the universe proceeds: to thee, Purushottama, be all glory.”

Whilst with mind intent on Vi u, he thus pronounced his praises, the divinity, clad in yellow robes, suddenly appeared before him. Startled at the sight, with hesitating speech Prahláda pronounced repeated salutations to u, and said, “Oh thou who removest all worldly grief, Ke ava, be propitious unto me; again sanctify me, Achyuta, by thy sight.” The deity replied, “I am pleased with the faithful attachment thou hast shown to me: demand from me, Prahláda, whatever thou desirest.” Prahláda replied, “In all the thousand births through which I may be doomed to pass, may my faith in thee, Achyuta, never know decay; may passion, as fixed as that which the worldly-minded feel for sensual pleasures, ever animate my heart, always devoted unto thee.”

Bhagaván answered, “Thou hast already devotion unto me, and ever shalt have it: now choose some boon, whatever is in thy wish.” Prahláda then said, “I have been hated, for that I assiduously proclaimed thy praise: do thou, oh lord, pardon in my father this sin that he Bath committed. Weapons have been hurled against me; I have been thrown into the flames; I have been bitten by venomous snakes; and poison has been mixed with my food; I have been bound and cast into the sea; and heavy rocks have been heaped upon me: but all this, and whatever ill beside has been wrought against me; whatever wickedness has been done to me, because I put my faith in thee; all, through thy mercy, has been suffered by me unharmed: and do thou therefore free my father from this iniquity.”

To this application Vis u replied, “All this shall be unto thee, through my favour: but I give thee another boon: demand it, son of the Asura.” Prahláda answered and said, “All my desires, oh lord, have been fulfilled by the boon that thou hast granted, that my faith in thee shall never know decay. Wealth, virtue, love, are as nothing; for even liberation is in his reach whose faith is firm in thee, root of the universal world.” u said, “Since thy heart is filled immovably with trust in me, thou shalt, through my blessing, attain freedom from existence.” Thus saying, u vanished from his sight; and Prahláda repaired to his father, and bowed down before him.

His father kissed him on the forehead, and embraced him, and shed tears, and said, “Dost thou live, my son?” And the great Asura repented of his former cruelty, and treated him with kindness: and Prahláda, fulfilling his duties like any other youth, continued diligent in the service of his preceptor and his father. After his father had been put to death by

u in the form of the man-lion, Prahláda became the sovereign of the Daityas; and possessing the splendours of royalty consequent upon his piety, exercised extensive sway, and was blessed with a numerous progeny. At the expiration of an authority which was the reward of his meritorious acts, he was freed from the consequences of moral merit or demerit, and obtained, through meditation on the deity, final exemption from existence.

Such, Maitreya, was the Daitya Prahláda, the wise and faithful worshipper of Vish u, of whom you wished to hear; and such was his miraculous power. Whoever listens to the history of Prahláda is immediately cleansed from his sins: the iniquities that he commits, by night or by day, shall be expiated by once hearing, or once reading, the history of Prahláda. The perusal of this history on the day of full moon, of new moon, or on the eighth or twelfth day of the lunation, shall yield fruit equal to the donation of a cow. As

u protected Prahláda in all the calamities to which he was exposed, so shall the deity protect him who listens constantly to the tale.

Footnotes

Literally, ‘having smelt his forehead.’ I have elsewhere had occasion to observe this practice: Hindu Theatre, II. 45.

Here is another instance of that brief reference to popular and prior legends, which is frequent in this Purá a. The man-lion Avatára is referred to in several of the Purá as, but I have met with the story in detail only in the Bhágavata. It is there said that

! yaka ipu asks his son, why, if Vish u is every where, he is not visible in a pillar in the hall, where they are assembled. He then rises, and strikes the column with his fist; on which u, in a form which is neither wholly a lion nor a man, issues from it, and a conflict ensues, which ends in ! yaka ipu’s being torn to pieces. Even this account, therefore, is not in all particulars the same as the popular version of the story.

The days of full and new moon are sacred with all sects of Hindus: the eighth and twelfth days of the lunar half month were considered holy by the avas, as appears from the text. The eighth maintains its character in a great degree from the eighth of Bhádra being the birthday of a; but the eleventh, in more recent ava works, as the Brahma Vaivartta P., has taken the place of the twelfth, and is even more sacred than the eighth.

Or any solemn gift; that of a cow is held particularly sacred; but it implies accompaniments of a more costly character, ornaments and gold.

The legend of Prahláda is inserted in detail in the Bhágavata and Náradíya Purá as, and

in the Uttara a

of the Padma: it is adverted to more briefly in the Váyu, Linga,

Kúrma, &c., in the Moksha Dharma of the Mahábhárata, and in the Hari Van a.

CHAP. XXI.

Families of the Daityas. Descendants of Ka yapa by Danu. Children of Ka yapa by his other wives. Birth of the Márutas, the sons of Diti.

THE sons of Sanhráda, the son of ! yaka ipu, were Áyushmán, ivi, and Váshkala. Prahláda had a son named Virochana; whose son was Bali, who had a hundred sons, of whom Bá a was the eldest.

! yáksha also had many sons, all of whom were Daityas of great prowess; Jharjhara,

akuni, Bhútasantápana, Mahánábha, the mighty-armed and the valiant Táraka. These were the sons of Diti.

The children of Ka yapa by Danu were Dwimúrddhá, ankara, Ayomukha, anku iras, Kapila, Samvara, Ekachakra, and another mighty Táraka, Swarbhánu, Vrishaparvan, Puloman, and the powerful Viprachitti; these were the renowned Dánavas, or sons of Danu.

Swarbhánu had a daughter named Prabhá; and há was the daughter of Vrishaparvan, as were Upadánaví and Haya irá.

Vaiswánara had two daughters, Pulomá and Káliká, who were both married to Ka yapa, and bore him sixty thousand distinguished Dánavas, called Paulomas and Kálakanjas, who were powerful, ferocious, and cruel.

The sons of Viprachitti by Sinhiká (the sister of ! yaka ipu) were Vyan a, alya the strong, Nabha the powerful, Vátápi, Namuchi, Ilwala, Khasrima, Anjaka, Naraka, and Kálanábha, the valiant Swarbhánu, and the mighty Vaktrayodhí. These were the most eminent Dánavas, through whom the race of Danu was multiplied by hundreds and thousands through succeeding generations.

In the family of the Daitya Prahláda, the Niváta Kavachas were born, whose spirits were purified by rigid austerity.

Támrá (the wife of Ka yapa) had six illustrious daughters, named ukí, yení, Bhásí, Sugríví, uchi, and Gridhriká. ukí gave birth to parrots, owls, and crows; yení to hawks; Bhásí to kites; Gridhriká to vultures; uchi to water-fowl; Sugríví to horses, camels, and asses. Such were the progeny of Támrá.

Vinatá bore to Ka yapa two celebrated sons, I a

and a: the former, also called

a, was the king of the feathered tribes, and the remorseless enemy of the serpent race.

The children of Surasá were a thousand mighty many-headed serpents, traversing the sky.

The progeny of Kadru were a thousand powerful many-headed serpents, of immeasurable might, subject to I a; the chief amongst whom were esha, Vásuki, Takshaka,

ankha, weta, Mahápadma, Kambala, Áswatara, Elápatra, Nága, Karkkota, Dhananjaya, and many other fierce and venomous serpents.

The family of Krodhavasá were all sharp-toothed monsters, whether on the earth, amongst the birds, or in the waters, that were devourers of flesh.

Surabhi was the mother of cows and buffaloes: Irá, of trees and creeping plants and shrubs, and every kind of grass: Khasá, of the Rákshasas and Yakshas: Muni, of the

Apsarasas: and Arish á

, of the illustrious Gandharbas.

These were the children of Ka yapa, whether movable or stationary, whose descendants multiplied infinitely through successive generations. This creation, oh Brahman, took place in the second or Swárochisha Manwantara. In the present or Vaivaswata Manwantara, Brahmá being engaged at the great sacrifice instituted by a, the creation of progeny, as it is called, occurred; for he begot, as his sons, the seven Rishis, who were formerly mind-engendered; and was himself the grand-sire of the Gandharbas, serpents, Dánavas, and gods.

Diti, having lost her children, propitiated Ka yapa; and the best of ascetics, being pleased with her, promised her a boon; on which she prayed for a son of irresistible prowess and valour, who should destroy Indra. The excellent Muni granted his wife the great gift she had solicited, but with one condition: “You shall bear a son,” he said, “who shall slay Indra, if with thoughts wholly pious, and person entirely pure, you carefully carry the babe in your womb for a hundred years.” Having thus said, Ka yapa departed; and the dame conceived, and during gestation assiduously observed the rules of mental and personal purity.

When the king of the immortals, learnt that Diti bore a son destined for his destruction, he came to her, and attended upon her with the utmost humility, watching for an opportunity to disappoint her intention. At last, in the last year of the century, the opportunity occurred. Ditiretired one night to rest without performing the prescribed ablution of her feet, and fell asleep; on which the thunderer divided with his thunderbolt the embryo in her womb into seven portions.

The child, thus mutilated, cried bitterly; and Indra repeatedly attempted to console and silence it, but in vain: on which the god, being incensed, again divided each of the seven portions into seven, and thus formed the swift-moving deities called Márutas (winds).

They derived this appellation from the words with which Indra had addressed them (Má rodíh, ‘Weep not’); and they became forty-nine subordinate divinities, the associates of the wielder of the thunderbolt.

Footnotes

The Padma P. makes these the sons of Prahláda. The Bhágavata says there were five sons, but does not give the names. It also inserts the sons of Hláda, making them the celebrated demons Ilwala and Vátápi. The Váyu refers to Hláda, other Daityas, famous in Paurá ic legend, making his son, Nisunda; and his sons, Sunda and Upasunda; the former the father of Marícha and Táraká; the latter, of Múka.

The Padma P. and Váyu name several of these, but they are not of any note: the latter gives the names of two daughters, who are more celebrated, Pútaná and akuni.

The descendants of ! yáksha are said, in the Padma P., to have extended to seventy- seven crores, or seven hundred and seventy millions. Some copies, for Táraka, read Kálanábha.

The Padma and Váyu P. furnish a much longer list of names, but those of most note are the same as in the text, with which also the Bhágavata for the most part agrees.

The Bhágavata makes Prabhá the wife of Namuchi: according to the Váyu, she is the mother of Nahusha.

Married to Yayáti, as will be related.

The text might be understood to imply that the latter two were the daughters of Vaiswánara; and the Bhágavata has, “The four lovely daughters of Vaiswánara were Upadánaví, Haya iras, Pulomá, and Kálaká.” The Padma substitutes Vajrá and Sundarí for the two former names. The Váyu specifies only Pulomá and Káliká as the daughters of Vaiswánara, as does our text. Upadánaví, according to the Bhágavata, is the wife of

! yáksha; and Haya iras, of Kratu.

Though not specified by the text as one of the Dánavas, he is included in the catalogue of the Váyu, and the commentator on the Bhágavata calls him a son of Danu.

The word is also read Kúlakas and Kálakeyas: the Mahábhárata, I. 643, has Kálakanjas.

The text omits the two most celebrated of the Sainhikeyas, or sons of Sinhiká, Ráhu and Ketu, who are specified both in the Bhágavata and the Váyu; the former as the eldest son. Of the other sons it is said by the Váyu that they were all killed by Para uráma.

Two names of note, found in the Váyu, are omitted by the u; that of Puloman, the father of achí, the wife of Indra, and mother of Jayanta; and Maya, the father of Vajrakámá and Mahodarí.

The Bhágavata says the Paulomas were killed by Arjuna, who therefore, the commentator observes, were the same as the Niváta Kavachas: but the Mahábhárata describes the destruction of the Niváta Kavachas and of the Paulomas and Kálakeyas as the successive exploits of Arjuna. Vana P. 8. I. 633. The story is narrated in detail only in the Mahábhárata, which is consequently prior to all the Purá as in which the allusion occurs. According to that work, the Niváta Kavachas were Dánavas, to the number of thirty millions, residing in the depths of the sea; and the Paulomas and Kálakanjas were the children of two Daitya dames, Pulomá and Kálaká, inhabiting Hiranyapura, the golden city, floating in the air.

All the copies read which should be, ‘ úkí bore parrots; and Ulúkí, the several sorts of owls? but Ulúkí is nowhere named as one of the daughters of Támrá; and the reading may be, ‘Owls p. 149 and birds opposed to owls, i. e. crows. The authorities generally concur with our text; but the Váyu has a somewhat different account; or, ukí, married to

I a, the mother of parrots: yení, married to a, mother of Sampáti and G á

Bhásí, the mother of jays, owls, crows, peacocks, pigeons, and fowls: Kraunchi, the

yu:

parent of curlews, herons, cranes: and Dhritaráshtrí, the mother of geese, ducks, teal, and other water-fowl. The three last are also called the wives of I a.

Most of the Purá as agree in this account; but the Bhágavata makes Vinatá the wife of Tárksha, and in this place substitutes Saramá, the mother of wild animals. The Váyu adds the metres of the Vedas as the daughters of Vinatá; and the Padma gives her one daughter Saudáminí.

The dragons of modern fable. Anáyush or Danáyush is substituted for Surasá in the Váyu, and in one of the accounts of the Padma. The Bhágavata says Rákshasas were her offspring. The Matsya has both Surasá and Anáyush, making the former the parent of all quadrupeds, except cows; the latter, the mother of diseases.

The Váyu names forty: the most noted amongst whom, in addition to those of the text, are Airávata, Dhritará r a, Mahánila, Baláhaka, Anjana, A r a, Durmukha,

Kálíya, a

ríka, Kapila, Náhusha, and % i.

By $ A a some understand, serpents, some Rákshasas; but by the context carnivorous animals, birds, and fishes seem intended. The Váyu makes Krodhava á the mother of twelve daughters, Mrigí and others, from whom all wild animals, deer, elephants, monkeys, tigers, lions, dogs, also fishes, reptiles, and Bhútas and Pi áchas, or goblins, sprang.

One copy only inserts a half stanza here; “Krodhá was the mother of the Pi áchas;” which is an interpolation apparently from the Matsya or Hari Van a. The Padma P., second legend, makes Krodhá the mother of the Bhútas; and Pi áchá, of the Pi áchás.

The Bhágavata says, of animals with cloven hoofs. The Váyu has, of the eleven Rudras, of the bull of iva, and of two daughters, í and Gandharbí; from the former of whom descended horned cattle; and from the latter, horses.

According to the Váyu, Khasá had two sons, Yaksha and Rákshas, severally the progenitors of those beings.

The Padma, second series, makes Vách the mother of both Apsarasas and Gandharbas: the Váyu has long lists of the names of both classes, as well as of Vidyádharas and Kinnaras. The Apsarasas are distinguished as of two kinds, Laukika, ‘worldly,’ of whom thirty-four are specified; and Daivika, or ‘divine,’ ten in number: the latter furnish the individuals most frequently engaged in the interruption of the penances of holy sages, such as Menaká, Sahajanyá, Ghritáchí, Pramlochá, Viswáchi, and Púrvachitti. Urva í is of a different order to both, being the daughter of Nárá a. Rambhá, Tilotamá

Misrake í, are included amongst the Laukika nymphs. There are also fourteen I as, or troops, of Apsarasas, bearing peculiar designations, as Áhútas, Sobhayantís, Vegavatís,

&c.

The Kúrma, Matsya, Bráhma, Linga, Agni, Padma, and Váyu Purá as agree generally with our text in the description of Ka yapa’s wives and progeny. The Váyu enters most into details, and contains very long catalogues of the names of the different characters descended from the sage. The Padma and Matsya and the Hari Van a repeat the story, but admit several variations, some of which have been adverted to in the preceding notes.

We have a considerable variation here in the commentary, and it may be doubted if the allusion in the text is accurately explained by either of the versions. In one it is said that ‘Brahmá, the grandsire of p. 151 the Gandharbas, &c., appointed the seven Rishis, who were born in a former Manwantara, to be his sons, or to be the intermediate agents in creation: he created no other beings himself, being engrossed by the sacrificial ceremony.’ Instead of “putratwe,” ‘in the state of sons,’ the reading is sometimes “pitratwe,” ‘in the character of fathers;’ that is, to all other beings. Thus the gods and the rest, who in a former Manwantara originated from Ka yapa, were created in the present period as the offspring of the seven Rishis. The other explanation agrees with the preceding in ascribing the birth of all creatures to the intermediate agency of the seven Rishis, but calls them the actual sons of Brahmá, begotten at the sacrifice of Vanilla, in the sacrificial fire. The authority for the story is not given, beyond its being in other Purá as, it has the air of a modern mystification. The latter member of the passage is separated altogether from the foregoing, and carried on to what follows: thus; “In the war of the Gandharbas, serpents, gods, and demons, Diti having lost her children,” &c.; the word ‘virodha’ being understood, it is said, This is defended by the authority of the Hari Van a, where the passage occurs word for word, except in the last half stanza, which, instead of ### occurs

###. The parallel passages are thus rendered by M. Langlois: ‘Le Mouni Swarotchicha avoit cessé de régner quand cette création eut lieu: c’était sous l’empire du Menou Vevaswata le sacrifice de Varouna avait commencé. La première création fut celle de Brahmá, quand il jugea qu’il était temps de procéder à son sacrifice, et que, souverain aïeul du monde, il forma lui-même dans sa pensée et enfanta les sept Brahmarchis.’

This legend occurs in all those Purá as in which the account of Ka yapa’s family is related.

CHAP. XXII.

Dominion over different provinces of creation assigned to different beings. Universality of u. Four varieties of spiritual contemplation. Two conditions of spirit. The perceptible attributes of u types of his imperceptible properties. u every thing. Merit of hearing the first book of the u Purá a.

WHEN Prithu was installed in the government of the earth, the great father of the spheres established sovereignties in other parts of the creation. Soma was appointed monarch of the stars and planets, of Brahmans and of plants, of sacrifices and of penance. a was made king over kings; and a, over the waters. Vis u was the chief of the Ádityas; Pávaka, of the Vasus; Daksha, of the patriarchs; Vásava, of the winds. To Prahláda was assigned dominion over the Daityas and Dánavas; and Yama, the king of justice, was appointed the monarch of the Manes (Pitris). Airávata was made the king of elephants; I a, of birds; Indra, of the gods. Uchchai ravas was the chief of horses; Vrishabha, of kine. esha became the snake-king; the lion, the monarch of the beasts; and the sovereign of the trees was the holy fig-tree.

Having thus fixed the limits of each authority, the great progenitor Brahmá stationed rulers for the protection of the different quarters of the world: he made Sudhanwan, the son of the patriarch Viraja, the regent of the east; Sankhapáda, the son of the patriarch Kardama, of the south; the immortal Ketumat, the son of Rajas, regent of the west; and

! yaroman, the son of the patriarch Parjanya, regent of the north. By these the whole earth, with its seven continents and itscities, is to the present day vigilantly protected, according to their several limits.

All these monarchs, and whatever others may be invested with authority by the mighty

u, as instruments for the preservation of the world; all the kings who have been, and all who shall be; are all, most worthy Brahman, but portions of the universal u. The rulers of the gods, the rulers of the Daityas, the rulers of the Dánavas, and the rulers of all malignant spirits; the chief amongst beasts, amongst birds, amongst men, amongst serpents; the best of trees, of mountains, of planets; either those that now are, or that shall hereafter be, the most exalted of their kind; are but portions of the universal u. The power of protecting created things, the preservation of the world, resides with no other than Hari, the lord of all. He is the creator, who creates the world; he, the eternal, preserves it in its existence; and he, the destroyer, destroys it; invested severally with the attributes of foulness, goodness, and gloom.

By a fourfold manifestation does Janárddana operate in creation, preservation, and destruction. In one portion, as Brahmá, the invisible assumes a visible form; in another portion he, as Maríchi and the rest, is the progenitor of all creatures; his third portion is time; his fourth is all beings: and thus he becomes quadruple in creation, invested with the quality of passion. In the preservation of the world he is, in one portion, u; in another portion he is Manu and the other patriarchs; he is time in a third; and all beings in a fourth portion: and thus, endowed with the property of goodness, Purushottama preserves the world.

When he assumes the property of darkness, at the end of all things, the unborn deity becomes in one portion Rudra; in another, the destroying fire; in a third, time; and in a fourth, all beings: and thus, in a quadruple form, he is the destroyer of the world. This, Brahman, is the fourfold condition of the deity at all seasons.

Brahmá, Daksha, time, and all creatures are the four energies of Hari, which are the causes of creation. u, Manu and the rest, time, and all creatures are the four energies of u, which are the causes of duration. Rudra, the destroying fire, time, and all creatures are the four energies of Janárddana that are exerted for universal dissolution. In the beginning and the duration of the world, until the period of its end, creation is the work of Brahmá, the patriarchs, and living animals. Brahmá creates in the beginning; then the patriarchs beget progeny; and then animals incessantly multiply their kinds: but Brahmá is not the active agent in creation, independent of time; neither are the patriarchs, nor living animals.

So, in the periods of creation and of dissolution, the four portions of the god of gods are equally essential. Whatever, oh Brahman, is engendered by any living being, the body of Hari is cooperative in the birth of that being; so whatever destroys any existing thing, movable or stationary, at any time, is the destroying form of Janárddana as Rudra. Thus Janárddana is the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer of the whole world–being threefold–in the several seasons of creation, preservation, and destruction, according to his assumption of the three qualities: but his highest glory is detached from all qualities; for the fourfold essence of the supreme spirit is composed of true wisdom, pervades all things, is only to be appreciated by itself, and admits of no similitude.

MAITREYA.–But, Muni, describe to me fully the four varieties of the condition of Brahma, and what is the supreme condition.

PARÁ ARA.–That, Maitreya, which is the cause of a thing is called the means of effecting it; and that which it is the desire of the soul to accomplish is the thing to be effected. The operations of the Yogi who is desirous of liberation, as suppression of breath and the like, are his means: the end is the supreme Brahma, whence he returns to the world no more. Essentially connected with, and dependant upon, the means employed for emancipation by the Yogi, is discriminative knowledge; and this is the first variety of the condition of Brahma. The second sort is the knowledge that is to be acquired by the Yogi whose end is escape from suffering, or eternal felicity.

The third kind is the ascertainment of the identity of the end and the means, the rejection of the notion of duality. The last kind is the removal of whatever differences may have been conceived by the three first varieties of knowledge, and the consequent contemplation of the true essence of soul. The supreme condition of u, who is one with wisdom, is the knowledge of truth; which requires no exercise; which is not to be taught; which is internally diffused; which is unequalled; the object of which is self- illumination; which is simply existent, and is not to be defined; which is tranquil, fearless, pure; which is not the theme of reasoning; which stands in need of no support.

Those Yogis who, by the annihilation of ignorance, are resolved into this fourfold Brahma, lose the seminal property, and can no longer germinate in the ploughed field of worldly existence. This is the supreme condition, that is called u, perfect, perpetual, universal, undecaying, entire, and uniform: and the Yogi who attains this supreme spirit (Brahma) returns not to life again; for there he is freed from the distinction of virtue and vice, from suffering, and from soil.

There are two states of this Brahma; one with, and one without shape; one perishable, and one imperishable; which are inherent in all beings. The imperishable is the supreme being; the perishable is all the world. The blaze of fire burning on one spot diffuses light and heat around; so the world is nothing more than the manifested energy of the supreme Brahma: and inasmuch, Maitreya, as the light and heat are stronger or feebler as we are near to the fire, or far off from it, so the energy of the supreme is more or less intense in the beings that are less or more remote from him. Brahma, u, and iva are the most powerful energies of god; next to them are the inferior deities, then the attendant spirits, then men, then animals, birds, insects, vegetables; each becoming more and more feeble as they are farther from their primitive source. In this way, illustrious Brahman, this whole world, although in essence imperishable and eternal, appears and disappears, as if it was subject to birth and death.

The supreme condition of Brahma, which is meditated by the Yogis in the commencement of their abstraction, as invested with form, is u, composed of all the divine energies, and the essence of Brahma, with whom the mystic union that is sought, and which is accompanied by suitable elements, is effected 7 by the devotee whose whole mind is addressed to that object. This Hari, who is the most immediate of all the energies of Brahma, is his embodied shape, composed entirely of his essence; and in him therefore is the whole world interwoven; and from him, and in him, is the universe; and he, the supreme lord of all, comprising all that is perishable and imperishable, bears upon him all material and spiritual existence, identified in nature with his ornaments and weapons.

MAITREYA.–Tell me in what manner u bears the whole world, abiding in his nature, characterised by ornaments and weapons.

PARÁ ARA.–Having offered salutation to the mighty and indescribable u, I repeat to you what was formerly related to me by Va ha. The glorious Hari wears the pure soul of the world, undefiled, and void of qualities, as the Kaustubha gem. The chief principle of things (Pradhána) is seated on the eternal, as the Srivatsa mark. Intellect abides in Mádhava, in the form of his mace. The lord (Í wara) supports egotism (Ahankára) in its twofold division, into elements and organs of sense, in the emblems of his conch-shell and his bow. In his hand u holds, in the form of his discus, the mind, whose thoughts (like the weapon) fly swifter than the winds. The necklace of the deity Vaijayantí, composed of five precious gems, is the aggregate of the five elemental rudiments. Janárddana bears, in his numerous shafts, the faculties both of action and of perception.

The bright sword of Achyuta is holy wisdom, concealed at some seasons in the scabbard of ignorance. In this manner soul, nature, intellect, egotism, the elements, the senses, mind, ignorance, and wisdom, are all assembled in the person of Hrishike a. Hari, in a delusive form, embodies the shapeless elements of the world, as his weapons and his

ornaments, for the salvation of mankind. a

rikáksha, the lord of all, assumes nature,

with all its products, soul and all the world. All that is wisdom, all that is ignorance, all that is, all that is not, all that is everlasting, is centred in the destroyer of Madhu, the lord of all creatures.

The supreme, eternal Hari is time, with its divisions of seconds, minutes, days, months, seasons, and years: he is the seven worlds, the earth, the sky, heaven, the world of patriarchs, of sages, of saints, of truth: whose form is all worlds; first-born before all the first-born; the supporter of all beings, himself self-sustained: who exists in manifold forms, as gods, men, and animals; and is thence the sovereign lord of all, eternal: whose shape is all visible things; who is without shape or form: who is celebrated in the Vedanta as the Rich, Yajush, Sáma, and Atharva Vedas, inspired history, and sacred science.

The Vedas, and their divisions; the institutes of Manu and other lawgivers; traditional scriptures, and religious manuals; poems, and all that is said or sung; are the body of the mighty u, assuming the form of sound. All kinds of substances, with or without shape, here or elsewhere, are the body of u. I am Hari. All that I behold is Janárddana; cause and effect are from none other than him. The man who knows these truths shall never again experience the afflictions of worldly existence.

Thus, Brahman, has the first portion of this Purá a been duly revealed to you: listening to which, expiates all offences. The man who hears this Purá a obtains the fruit of bathing in the Pushkara lake for twelve years, in the month of Kártik. The gods bestow upon him who hears this work the dignity of a divine sage, of a patriarch, or of a spirit of heaven.

Footnotes

These are similarly enumerated in the Váyu, Bráhma, Padma, Bhágavata, &c., with some additions; as, Agni, king of the Pitris; Váyu, of the Gandharbas; Súlapáni ( iva), of the Bhútas; Kuvera, of riches, and of the Yakshas; Vásuki, of the Nágas; Takshaka, of serpents; Chitraratha, of the Gandharbas; Kámadeva, of the Apsarasas; Viprachitti, of the Dánavas; Ráhu, of meteors; Parjanya, of clouds; Samvatsara, of times and seasons; Samudra, of rivers; Himavat, of mountains.

We have already had occasion to notice the descent of these Lokapálas, as specified in the Váyu P.; and it is evident, although the u does not supply a connected series of generations, yet that both accounts are derived from a common source.

Vibhúti, superhuman or divine power or dignity.

The question, according to the commentator, implies a doubt how the supreme being, who is without qualities, can be subject to specific variety, or to existence in divided and different conditions.

Of Brahmabhúta; of him who, or that which, becomes identified with the supreme spirit, which is the same respectively with absolute wisdom, Jnána, and discriminative wisdom, Vijnána; leading to felicity, or the condition of Brahma, expressed by the words, Sat chit ánandam, ‘entire tranquillity of mind,’ or ‘internal enjoyment:’ the same also with the combination of wisdom and tranquillity, which the devotee believes to exist in Adwaita, ‘non- duality,’ or unity of god and himself: and finally, the same with the aggregate of these three processes, or the conviction that spirit is one, universal, and the same.

The epithets of Jnyána, ‘wisdom,’ here employed, are taken from the Yoga philosophy. ‘Requires no exercise,’ Nirvyápára, is explained, ‘without the practice of abstract contemplation,’ &c. . ‘Not to be taught,’ Anákhyeyam; ‘not capable of being enjoined.’ ‘Internally diffused,’ Vyáptimátram, means ‘mental identification of individual with universal spirit’ . The phrase translated ‘the object of which is self-illumination,’ is explained ###. ‘Simply existent’ is said to mean, ‘being unmodified by the accidents of happiness,’ &c.; consequently it is not to be defined . So the Yoga Pradípa explains Samádhi, or contemplation, to be the entire occupation of the thoughts by the idea of Brahma, without any effort of the mind. It is the entire abandonment of the faculties to one all-engrossing notion. ‘Tranquil,’ Pra ántam, is, ‘being void of passion,’ &c. ‘Fearless; not dreading agitation or perplexity by ideas of duality. ‘Pure;’ undisturbed by external objects. ‘Not the theme of reasoning’; that is, ‘not to be ascertained by logical deduction.’ ‘Stands in no need of support’; not resting or depending upon perceptible objects.

The great Yoga is produced. This great Yoga, or union, is to have its relation or dependance, which is u; and its seed, or mystical ejaculations; and to be accompanied with Mantras and silent repetitions, or Japa.

Or of pearl, ruby, emerald, sapphire, and diamond.

We have in the text a representation of one mode of Dhyána, or contemplation, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more definite by thinking upon its types; or in which, at least, the thoughts are more readily concentrated by being addressed to a sensible emblem, instead of an abstract truth. Thus the Yogi here says to himself, “I meditate upon the jewel on u’s brow, as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principle of things;” and so on: and thus through a perceptible substance proceeds to an imperceptible idea.

Ákhyánáni is said to denote the Purá as, and Anuváda the Kalpa, Sara, and similar works, containing directions for supplementary rites.

The celebrated lake Pokher in Ajmer.

U PURÁ A. BOOK II.

CHAP. I.

Descendants of Priyavrata, the eldest son of Swáyambhuva Manu: his ten sons: three adopt a religious life; the others become kings of the seven Dwípas, or isles, of the earth. Agnídhra, king of Jambu-dwípa, divides it into nine portions, which he distributes amongst his sons. Nábhi, king of the south, succeeded by Rishabha; and he by Bharata: India named after him Bhárata: his descendants reign during the Swáyambhuva Manwantara.

MAITREYA.–You have related to me, venerable preceptor, most fully, all that I was curious to hear respecting the creation of the world; but there is a part of the subject which I am desirous again to have described. You stated that Priyavrata and Uttánapáda were the sons of Swáyambhuva Manu, and you repeated the story of Dhruva, the son of Uttánapáda: you made no mention of the descendants of Priyavrata, and it is an account of his family that I beg you will kindly communicate to me.

PARÁ ARA.–Priyavrata married Kámyá, the daughter of the patriarch Kardama, and had by her two daughters, Samrát and Kukshi, and ten sons, wise, valiant, modest, and dutiful, named Agnídhra, Agnibáhu, Vapushmat, Dyutimat, Medha, Medhatithi, Bhavya, Savala, Putra, and the tenth was Jyotishmat, illustrious by nature as by name. These were the sons of Priyavrata, famous for strength and prowess. Of these, three, or Medha, Putra, and Agnibáhu, adopted a religious life: remembering the occurrences of a prior existence, they did not covet dominion, but diligently practised the rites of devotion in due season, wholly disinterested, and looking for no reward.

Priyavrata having divided the earth into seven continents, gave them respectively to his other seven sons. To Agnídhra he gave Jambu-dwípa; to Medhatithi he gave Plaksha- dwípa: he installed Vapushmat in the sovereignty over the Dwípa of Sálmali; and made Jyotishmat king of Ku a-dwípa: he appointed Dyutimat to rule over Krauncha-dwípa; Bhavya to reign over Sáka-dwípa; and Savala he nominated the monarch of the Dwípa of Pushkara.

Agnídhra, the king of Jambu-dwípa, had nine sons, equal in splendour to the patriarchs: they were named Nábhi, Kimpurusha, Harivarsha, Ilávrita, Ramya, ! vat, Kuru, Bhadrá wa, and Ketumála, who was a prince ever active in the practice of piety.

Hear next, Maitreya, in what manner Agnídhra apportioned Jambu-dwípa amongst his nine sons. He gave to Nábhi the country called Hima, south of the Himavat, or snowy

mountains. The country of Hemakú a country of Nishadha.

he gave to Kimpurusha; and to Harivarsha, the

The region in the centre of which mount Meru is situated he conferred on Ilávrita; and to Ramya, the countries lying between it and the Níla mountain. To ! vat his father gave the country lying to the north of it, called weta; and, on the north of the weta mountains, the country bounded by the ringaván range he gave to Kuru. The countries on the east of Meru he assigned to Bhadrá wa; and Gandhamádana, which lay west of it, he gave to Ketumála.’ Having installed his sons sovereigns in these several regions, the pious king Agnídhra retired to a life of penance at the holy place of pilgrimage,

álagráma.

The eight Varshas, or countries, Kimpurusha and the rest, are places of perfect enjoyment, where happiness is spontaneous and uninterrupted. In them there is no vicissitude, nor the dread of decrepitude or death: there is no distinction of virtue or vice, nor difference of degree as better or worse, nor any of the effects produced in this region by the revolutions of ages.

Nábhi, who had for his portion the country of Himáhwa, had by his queen Meru the magnanimous Rishabha; and he had a hundred sons, the eldest of whom was Bharata. Rishabha having ruled with equity and wisdom, and celebrated many sacrificial rites, resigned the sovereignty of the earth to the heroic Bharata, and, retiring to the hermitage of Pulastya, adopted the life of an anchoret, practising religious penance, and performing all prescribed ceremonies, until, emaciated by his austerities, so as to be but a collection of skin and fibres, he put a pebble in his mouth, and naked went the way of all flesh 7.

The country was termed Bhárata from the time that it was relinquished to Bharata by his father, on his retiring to the woods.

Bharata, having religiously discharged the duties of his station, consigned the kingdom to his son Sumati, a most virtuous prince; and, engaging in devout practices, abandoned his life at the holy place, álagráma: he was afterwards born again as a Brahman, in a distinguished family of ascetics. I shall hereafter relate to you his history.

From the illustrious Sumati was born Indradyumna: his son was hin: his son was Pratihára, who had a celebrated son, named Pratiharttá: his son was Bhava, who begot Udgítha, who begot Prastára; whose son was Prithu. The son of Prithu was Nakta: his son was Gaya: his son was Nara; whose son was Virát. The valiant son of Virát was Dhímat, who begot Mahánta; whose son was Manasyu; whose son was EJ r i: his son was Víraja: his son was Rája: his son was atajit, who had a hundred sons, of whom Viswagjyotish was the eldest. Under these princes, Bhárata-varsha (India) was divided into nine portions (to be hereafter particularized); and their descendants successively held possession of the country for seventy-one periods of the aggregate of the four ages (or for the reign of a Manu).

This was the creation of Swáyambhuva Manu, by which the earth was peopled, when he presided over the first Manwantara, in the Kalpa of Varáha

Footnotes

The text reads Kanyá; and the commentator has, ‘he married the daughter of Kardama, whose name was Kanyá.’ The copies agree in the reading, and the Váyu has the same name, Kanyá; but the Má eya, which is the same in other respects as our text, has Kámyá: Kámyá also is the name elsewhere given by the Váyu to the daughter of Kardama. Kámyá, as has been noticed, appears in the Bráhma and Hari V. as the mother of Priyavrata, but erroneously; and the same authorities specify a Kámyá as the wife of that sovereign. So the commentator on the Hari V. states, ‘another Kámyá is mentioned (in the text), the daughter of Kardama, the wife of Priyavrata.’. The name Kanyá is therefore most probably an error of the copyists. The Bhágavata calls the wife of Priyavrata, Varhishmatí, the daughter of Vi wakarman.

These names nearly agree in the authorities which specify the descendants of Priyavrata, except in the Bhágavata: that has an almost entirely different series of names, or Ágnidhra, Idhmajihwa, Yajnabáhu, Mahávíra, ! yaretas, Medhatithi, I ha, Savana, Vitihotra, and Kavi; with one daughter, Urjjaswatí. It also calls the Manus Uttama, Tamasa, and Raivata the sons of Priyavrata by another wife.

According to the Bhágavata, he drove his chariot seven times round the earth, and the ruts left by the wheels became the beds of the oceans, separating it into seven Dwípas.

Even the Bhágavata concurs with the other Purá as in this series of Priyavrata’s grandsons.

Of these divisions, as well as of those of the earth, and of the minor divisions of the Varshas, we have further particulars in the following chapter.

This place of pilgrimage has not been found elsewhere. The term is usually applied to a stone, an ammonite, which is supposed to be a type of u, and of which the worship is enjoined in the Uttara a of the Padma P. and in the Brahma Vaivartta, authorities of no great weight or antiquity. As these stones are found chiefly in the Gandak river, the Sálagráma Tírtha was probably at the source of that stream, or at its confluence with the Ganges. Its sanctity, and that of the stone, are probably of comparatively modern origin.

‘The great road,’ or ‘road of heroes.’ The pebble was intended either to compel perpetual silence, or to prevent his eating. The Bhágavata p. 164 adverts to the same circumstance. That work enters much more into detail on the subject of Rishabha’s devotion, and particularizes circumstances not found in any other Purá a. The most interesting of these

are the scene of Rishabha’s wanderings, which is said to be Konka, A a, Kú a

ka, and

southern Karnátaka, or the western part of the Peninsula; and the adoption of the Jain belief by the people of those countries.

Thus it is said, “A king of the Konkas, A as, and Kú a

kas, named Arhat, having

heard the tradition of Rishabha’s practices (or his wandering about naked, and desisting from religious rites), being infatuated by necessity, under the evil influence of the Kali age, will become needlessly alarmed, and abandon his own religious duty, and will foolishly enter upon an unrighteous and heretical path. Misled by him, and bewildered by the iniquitous operation of the Kali age, disturbed also by the delusions of the deity, wicked men will, in great numbers, desert the institutes and purifications of their own ritual; will observe vows injurious and disrespectful to the gods; will desist from ablutions, mouth-washings, and purifications, and will pluck out the hair of the head; and will revile the world, the deity, sacrifices, Brahmans, and the Vedas.”

It is also said, that Sumati, the son of Bharata, will be irreligiously worshipped by some infidels, as a divinity. Besides the import of the term Arhat, or Jain, Rishabha is the name of the first, and Sumati of the fifth Tírthakara, or Jain saint of the present era. There can be no doubt, therefore, that the Bhágavata intends this sect; and as the Jain system was not matured until a comparatively modern date, this composition is determined to be also recent. The allusions to the extension of the Jain faith in the western parts of the Peninsula, may serve to fix the limit of its probable antiquity to the 11th or 12th century, when the Jains seem to have been flourishing in Guzerat and the Konkan. As. Res. XVII. 232.

This etymology is given in other Purá as; but the Matsya and Váyu have a different one, deriving it from the Manu, called Bharata, or the cherisher, one who rears or cherishes progeny. The Váyu has, in another place, the more common explanation also:

The Agni, Kúrma, Má e

ya, Linga, and Váyu Purá as agree with the u in these

genealogical details. The Bhágavata has some additions and variations of nomenclature, but is not essentially different. It ends, however, with atajit, and cites a stanza which would seem to make Viraja the last of the descendants of Priyavrata.

The descendants of Priyavrata were the kings of the earth in the first or Swáyambhuva Manwantara. Those of Uttánapáda, his brother, are placed rather incongruously in the second or Swárochisha Manwantara: whilst, with still more palpable inconsistency, Daksha, a descendant of Uttánapáda, gives his daughter to Ka yapa in the seventh or Vaivaswata Manwantara. It seems probable that the patriarchal genealogies are older than the chronological system of Manwantaras and Kalpas, and have been rather clumsily distributed amongst the different periods.

CHAP. II.

Description of the earth. The seven Dwípas and seven seas. Jambu-dwípa. Mount Meru: its extent and boundaries. Extent of Ilávrita. Groves, lakes, and branches of Meru. Cities of the gods. Rivers. The forms of u worshipped in different Varshas.

MAITREYA.–You have related to me, Brahman, the creation of Swáyambhuva; I am now desirous to hear from you a description of the earth: how many are its oceans and islands, its kingdoms and its mountains, its forests and rivers and the cities of the gods, its dimensions, its contents, its nature, and its form.

PARÁ ARA.–You shall hear, Maitreya, a brief account of the earth from me: a full detail I could not give you in a century.

The seven great insular continents are Jambu, Plaksha, Sálmali, Ku a, Krauncha, áka, and Pushkara: and they are surrounded severally by seven great seas; the sea of salt water ( a), of sugar-cane juice (Ikshu), of wine (Surá), of clarified butter (Sarpi), of curds (Dadhi), of milk (Dugdha), and of fresh water (Jala).

Jambu-dwípa is in the centre of all these: and in the centre of this continent is the golden mountain Meru. The height of Meru is eighty-four thousand Yojanas; and its depth below the surface of the earth is sixteen thousand. Its diameter at the summit is thirty-two thousand Yojanas; and at its base, sixteen thousand: so that this mountain is like the seed- cup of the lotus of the earth.

The boundary mountains (of the earth) are Himaván, Hemakú a

, and Nishadha, which lie

south of Meru; and Níla, weta, and ringí, which are situated to the north of it. The two central ranges (those next to Meru, or Nishadha and Níla) extend for a hundred thousand (Yojanas, running east and west). Each of the others diminishes ten thousand Yojanas, as it lies more remote from the centre. They are two thousand Yojanas in height, and as many in breadth. The Varshas or countries between these ranges are Bhárata (India),

south of the Himaván mountains; next Kimpurusha, between Himaván and Hemakú a ; north of the latter, and south of Nishadha, is Hariversha; north of Meru is Ramyaka,

extending from the Níla or blue mountains to the weta (or white) mountains; ! maya lies between the weta and ringí ranges; and Uttarakuru is beyond the latter, following the same direction as Bhárata. Each of these is nine thousand Yojanas in extent. Ilávrita is of similar dimensions, but in the centre of it is the golden mountain Meru, and the country extends nine thousand Yojanas in each direction from the four sides of the mountain.

There are four mountains in this Varsha, formed as buttresses to Meru, each ten thousand Yojanas in elevation: that on the east is called Mandara; that on the south, Gandhamádana; that on the west, Vipula; and that on the north, Supár wa: on each of

these stands severally a Kadamba-tree, a Jambu-tree, a Pípal, and a a

; each spreading

over eleven hundred Yojanas, and towering aloft like banners on the mountains. From the Jambu-tree the insular continent Jambu-dwípa derives its appellations.

The apples of that tree are as large as elephants: when they are rotten, they fall upon the crest of the mountain, and from their expressed juice is formed the Jambu river, the waters of which are drunk by the inhabitants; and in consequence of drinking of that stream, they pass their days in content and health, being subject neither to perspiration, to foul odours, to decrepitude, nor organic decay. The soil on the banks of the river, absorbing the Jambu juice, and being dried by gentle breezes, becomes the gold termed Jámbunada, of which the ornaments of the Siddhas are fabricated.

The country of Bhadrá wa lies on the east of Meru, and Ketumála on the west; and between these two is the region of Ilávrita. On the east of the same is the forest Chaitraratha; the Gandhamádana wood is on the south; the forest of Vaibhrája is on the west; and the grove of Indra, or Nandana, is on the north. There are also four great lakes, the waters of which are partaken of by the gods, called oda, Mahábhadra, ítoda, and % asa.

The principal mountain ridges which project from the base of Meru, like filaments from the root of the lotus, are, on the east, ítánta, Mukunda, Kurarí, Mályaván, and Vaikanka;

on the south, Trikú a

, i ira, Patanga, Ruchaka, and Nishadha; on the west, ikhivásas,

Vaidúrya, Kapila, Gandhamádana, and Járudhi; and on the north, ankhakú a

, Rishabha,

Nága, Hansa, and Kálanjara. These and others extend from between the intervals in the body, or from the heart, of Meru.

On the summit of Meru is the vast city of Brahmá, extending fourteen thousand leagues, and renowned in heaven; and around it, in the cardinal points and the intermediate quarters, are situated the stately cities of Indra and the other regents of the spheres. The capital of Brahmáis enclosed by the river Ganges, which, issuing from the foot of u, and washing the lunar orb, falls here from the skies, and, after encircling the city, divides into four mighty rivers, flowing in opposite directions. These rivers are the ítá, the Alakanandá, the Chakshu, and the Bhadrá.

The first, falling upon the tops of the inferior mountains, on the east side of Meru, flows over their crests, and passes through the country of Bhadrá wa to the ocean: the Alakanandá flows south, to the country of Bhárata, and, dividing into seven rivers on the way, falls into the sea: the Chakshu falls into the sea, after traversing all the western mountains, and passing through the country of Ketumála: and the Bhadrá washes the country of the Uttara kurus, and empties itself into the northern ocean.

Meru, then, is confined between the mountains Níla and Nishadha (on the north and south), and between Mályaván and Gandhamádana (on the west and east): it lies between them like the pericarp of a lotus. The countries of Bhárata, Ketumála, Bhadrá wa, and Uttarakuru lie, like leaves of the lotus of the world, exterior to the boundary mountains.

G hara and Devakú a

are two mountain ranges, running north and south, and connecting

the two chains of Nishadha and Níla. Gandhamádana and Kailása extend, east and west, eighty Yojanas in breadth, from sea to sea. Nishadha and Páriyátra are the limitative mountains on the west, stretching, like those on the east, between the Níla and Nishadha ranges: and the mountains Tri ringa and Járudhi are the northern limits of Meru, extending, east and west, between the two seas.

Thus I have repeated to you the mountains described by great sages as the boundary mountains, situated in pairs, on each of the four sides of Meru. Those also, which have been mentioned as the filament mountains (or spurs), ítánta and the rest, are exceedingly delightful. The vallies embosomed amongst them are the favourite resorts of the Siddhas and Chá as: and there are situated upon them agreeable forests, and pleasant cities, embellished with the palaces of u, Lakshmí, Agni, Súrya, and other deities, and peopled by celestial spirits; whilst the Yakshas, Rákshasas, Daityas, and Dánavas pursue their pastimes in the vales. These, in short, are the regions of Paradise, or Swarga, the seats of the righteous, and where the wicked do not arrive even after a hundred births.

In the country of Bhadrá wa, u resides as Hayasírá (the horse-headed); in Ketumála, as Varáha (the boar); in Bhárata, as the tortoise (Kúrma); in Kuru, as the fish (Matsya); in his universal form, every where; for Hari pervades all places: he, Maitreya, is the supporter of all things; he is all things. In the eight realms of Kimpurusha and the rest (or all exclusive of Bhárata) there is no sorrow, nor weariness, nor anxiety, nor hunger, nor apprehension; their inhabitants are exempt from all infirmity and pain, and live in uninterrupted enjoyment for ten or twelve thousand years.

Indra never sends rain upon them, for the earth abounds with water. In those places there is no distinction of Krita, Treta, or any succession of ages. In each of these Varshas there are respectively seven principal ranges of mountains, from which, oh best of Brahmans, hundreds of rivers take their rise.

Footnotes

The geography of the Purá as occurs in most of these works; and in all the main features, the seven Dwípas, seven seas, the divisions of Jambu-dwípa, the situation and extent of Meru, and the subdivisions of Bhárata, is the same. The Agni and Bráhma are word for word the same with our text; and the Kúrma, Linga, Matsya, Má eya, and Váyu present many passages common to them and the u, or to one another. The Váyu, as usual, enters most fully into particulars. The Bhágavata differs in its nomenclature of the subordinate details from all, and is followed by the Padma. The others either omit the subject, or advert to it but briefly.

The Mahábhárata, Bhíshma Parva, has an account essentially the same, and many of the stanzas are common to it and different Purá as. It does not follow the same order, and has some peculiarities; one of which is calling Jambu-dwípa, Sudar ana, such being the name of the Jambu-tree: it is said also to consist of two portions, called Pippala and a a, which are reflected in the lunar orb, as in a mirror.

The shape of Meru, according to this description, is that of an inverted cone; and by the comparison to the seed-cup its form should be circular: but there seems to be some uncertainty upon this subject amongst the Paurá ics. The Padma compares its form to the bell-shaped flower of the Dhatura. The Váyu represents it as having four sides of different colours; or, white on the east, yellow on the south, black on the west, and red on the north; but notices also various opinions of the outline of the mountain, which, according to Atri, had a hundred angles; to Bhrigu, a thousand: Sávarni calls it octangular; Bháguri, quadrangular; and Varsháyani says it has a thousand angles: Gálava makes it saucer-shaped; Garga, twisted, like braided hair; and others maintain that it is circular.

The Linga makes its eastern face of the colour of the ruby; its southern, that of the lotus; its western, golden; and its northern, coral. The Matsya has the same colours as the Váyu, and both contain this line: ‘Four-coloured, golden, four-cornered lofty:’ but the Váyu compares its summit, in one place, to a saucer; and observes that its circumference must be thrice its diameter. The Matsya also, rather incompatibly, says the measurement is that of a circular form, but it is considered quadrangular. According to the Buddhists of Ceylon, Meru is said to be of the same diameter throughout. Those of Nepal conceive it to be shaped like a drum.

A translation of the description of Meru and its surrounding mountains, contained in the

Brahmá a

, which is the same exactly as that in the Váyu, occurs in the As. Researches,

VIII. 343. There are some differences in Col. Wilford’s version from that which my MSS. would authorize, but they are not in general of much importance. Some, no doubt, depend upon variations in the readings of the different copies: of others, I must question the accuracy.

This diminution is the necessary consequence of the diminished radius of the circle of Jambu-dwípa, as the mountain ranges recede from the centre.

These, being the two outer Varshas, are said to take the form of a bow; that is, they are exteriorly convex, being segments of the circle.

The whole diameter of Jambu-dwípa has been said to be 100,000 Yojanas. This is thus divided from north to south: Ilávrita, in the centre, extends each way 9000, making 18000: Meru itself; at the base, is 16000: the six Varshas, at 9000 each, are equal to 54000: and the six ranges, at 2000 each, are 12000: and 18 + 16 + 54 + 12 = 100. From east to west the Varshas are of the extent necessary to occupy the space of the circle.

The Bhágavata and Padma call these Mandara, Merumandara, Supár wa, and Kumuda.

Nauclea Kadamba, Eugenia Jambu, Ficus religiosa, and F. Indica. The Bhágavata substitutes a mango-tree for the Pípal; placing it on Mandara, the Jambu on Merumandara, the Kadamba on Supár wa, and the a on Kumuda.

The Bhágavata substitutes Sarvatobhadra for the Gandhamádana forest; and calls the lakes, lakes of milk, honey, treacle, and sweet water.

The Váyu gives these names, and many more; and describes at great length forests, lakes, and cities of gods and demigods upon these fabulous mountains, or in the valleys between them. (As. Res. VIII. 354.)

The Lokapálas, or eight deities in that character, Indra, Yama, a, Kuvera, Vivaswat, Soma, Agni, and Váyu. Other cities of the gods are placed upon the spurs, or filament mountains, by the Váyu; or that of Brahmá on Hema ringa, of ankara on Kálanjara, of I a on Vaikanka, and of Kuvera on Kailása. Himavat is also specified by the same work as the scene of iva’s penance, and marriage with Umá; of his assuming the form of a Kiráta, or forester: of the birth of Kártikeya, in the ara forest; and of his dividing the mountain Krauncha with his spear. This latter legend, having been somewhat misunderstood by Col. Wilford, is made the theme of one of his fanciful verifications.

“Here, he (the author of the Váyu) says, in the forest of ankha, was born á

Kártikeya, Mars with six faces.

nana or

Here he wished or formed the resolution of going to the mountains of Crauncha, Germany, part of Poland, &c. to rest and recreate himself after his fatigues in the wars of the gods with the giants. There, in the skirts of the mountains p. 170 of Crauncha, he flung his sword; the very same which Attila, in the fifth century, asserted he had found under a clod of earth. It was placed in his tomb, where it is probably to be found.” As. Res. VIII.

The text of which this is in part a representation is, ###. The legend here alluded to is told at length in the Vámana Purá a. Mahishásura, flying from the battle, in which Táraka had been slain by Kártikeya, took refuge in a cave in the Krauncha mountain. A dispute arising between Kártikeya and Indra, as to their respective prowess, they determined to decide the question by circumambulating the mountain; the palm to be given to him who should first go round it.

Disagreeing about the result, they appealed to the mountain, who untruly decided in favour of Indra. Kártikeya, to punish his injustice, hurled his lance at the mountain Krauncha, and pierced at once it and the demon Mahisha. Another division of Krauncha is ascribed to Para uráma. Megha Dúta, v.59. Krauncha is also sometimes considered to be the name of an Asura, killed by Kártikeya; but this is perhaps some misapprehension of the Paurá ic legend by the grammarians, springing out of the synonymes of Kártikeya, Kraunchári, Kraunchadá a, &c., implying the foe or destroyer of Krauncha, occurring in the Amara, and other Koshas.

The Bhágavata is more circumstantial. The river flowed over the great toe of u’s left foot, which had previously, as he lifted it up, made a fissure in the shell of the mundane egg, and thus gave entrance to the heavenly stream. The Váyu merely brings it from the lunar orb, and takes no notice of u’s interposition. In a different passage it describes the detention of Gangá amidst the tresses of iva, in order to correct her arrogance, until the divinity was moved by the penance and prayers of king Bhagíratha to set her free.

The Mahábhárata represents iva’s bearing the river for a hundred years on his head, merely to prevent its falling too suddenly on the mountains.

Although the Váyu has this account, it subsequently inserts another, which is that also of the Matsya and Padma. In this the Ganges, after escaping from iva, is said to have formed seven streams; the Naliní, Hládiní, and Pavaní going to the east; the Chakshu,

ítá, and Sindhu to the wrest; and the Bhágirathí to the south. The Mahábhárata calls them Vaswaukasára, Naliní, Pavaní, Gangá, ítá, Sindhu, and Jambunadí. The more usual legend, however, is the first, and it offers some trace of actual geography. Mr. Faber, indeed, thinks that Meru, with the surrounding Varsha of Ilávrita, and its four rivers, is a representation of the garden of Eden. (Pagan Idolatry, I. 315.)

However this may he, it seems not unlikely to have originated in some imperfect account of four great rivers flowing from the Himálaya, and the high lands north of that range, towards the cardinal points: the Bhadrá, to the north, representing the Oby of Siberia; and the ítá, the river of China, or Hoangho. The Alakanandá is well known as a main branch of the Ganges, near its source; and the Chakshus is very possibly, as Major Wilford supposed, the Oxus. (As. Res. VIII. 309.) The printed copy of the Bhágavata, and the MS. Padma, read Bankshu; but the former is the more usual reading. It is said, in the Váyu, of Ketumála, through which this river runs, that it is peopled by various races of barbarians.

The text applies the latter name so variously as to cause confusion: it is given to one of the four buttresses of Meru, that on the south; to one of the filament mountains, on the west; to a range of boundary mountains, on the south; and to the Varsha of Ketumála: here another mountain range is intended, or a chain running north and south, upon the east of Ilávrita, connecting the Níla and Nishadha ranges. Accordingly the Váyu states it to be 34000 Yojanas in extent; that is, the diameter of Meru 16000, and the breadth of Ilávrita on each side of it, or together 18000.

A similar range, that of Mályaván, bounds Ilávrita on the west. It was probably to avoid the confusion arising from similarity of. nomenclature, that the author of the Bhágavata substituted different names for Gandhamádana in the other instances, calling the buttress, as we have seen, Merumandara; the southern forest, Sarvatobhadra; and the filament mountain, Hansa; restricting the term Gandhamádana to the eastern range: a correction, it may be remarked, corroborative of a subsequent date.

These eight mountains are similarly enumerated in the Bhágavata and Váyu, but no mention is made in them of any seas, and it is clear that the eastern and western oceans cannot be intended, as the mountains Mályavat and Gandhamádana intervene. The commentator would seem to understand ‘ ava’ as signifying ‘mountain,’ as he says between the seas means within Mályavat and Gandhamádana; The Bhágavata describes these eight mountains as circling Meru for 18000 Yojanas in each direction, leaving, according to the commentator, an interval of a thousand Yojanas between them and the base of the central mountain, and being 2000 high, and as many broad: they may be understood to be the exterior barriers of Meru, separating it from Ilávritta.

The names of these mountains, according to the Bhágavata, are G hara and Devakú a on the east, Pavana and Parípátra on the west, Tri ringa and Makara on the north, and

Kailása and Karavíra on the south. Without believing it possible to verify the position of these different creations of the legendary geography of the Hindus, it can scarcely admit of doubt that the scheme was suggested by imperfect acquaintance with the actual character of the country, by the four great ranges, the Altai, Muztag or Thian-shan, Ku- en-nun, and Himálaya, which traverse central Asia in a direction from east to west, with a greater or less inclination from north to south, which are connected or divided by many lofty transverse ridges, which enclose several large lakes, and which give rise to the great rivers that water Siberia, China, Tartary, and Hindustan. (Humboldt on the mountains of Central Asia, and Ritter. Geogr. Asia.)

More ample details of the Varshas are given in the Mahábhárata, Bhágavata, Padma, Váyu, Kúrma, Linga, Matsya, and Má eya Purá as; but they are of an entirely fanciful nature.

Thus of the Ketumála-varsha it is said, in the Váyu, the men are black, the women of the complexion of the lotus; the people subsist upon the fruit of the Panasa or jack-tree, and live for ten thousand years, exempt from sorrow or sickness: seven Kula or main ranges of mountains in it are named, and a long list of countries and rivers is added, none of which can be identified with any actually existing, except perhaps the greats river the Suchakshus, the Amu or Oxus. According to the Bhágavata, u is worshipped as Kámadeva in Ketumála. The Váyu says the object of adoration there is Í wara, the son of Brahmá. Similar circumstances are asserted of the other Varshas. See also As. Res. VIII. 352.

CHAP. III.

Description of Bhárata-varsha: extent: chief mountains: nine divisions: principal rivers and mountains of Bhárata proper: principal nations: superiority over other Varshas, especially as the seat of religious acts. (Topographical lists.)

THE country that lies north of the ocean, and south of the snowy mountains, is called Bhárata, for there dwelt the descendants of Bharata. It is nine thousand leagues in extent, and is the land of works, in consequence of which men go to heaven, or obtain emancipation.

The seven main chains of mountains in Bhárata are Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, uktimat, Riksha, Vindhya, and Páripátra.

From this region heaven is obtained, or even, in some cases, liberation from existence; or men pass from hence into the condition of brutes, or fall into hell. Heaven, emancipation, a state in mid-air, or in the subterraneous realms, succeeds to existence here, and the world of acts is not the title of any other portion of the universe.

The Varsha of Bhárata is divided into nine portions, which I will name to you; they are Indra-dwípa, Kaserumat, Tá a, Gabhastimat, Nága-dwípa, Saumya, Gandharba, and Vá a; the last or ninth Dwípa is surrounded by the ocean, and is a thousand Yojanas from north to south.

On the east of Bhárata dwell the Kirátas (the barbarians); on the west, the Yavanas; in the centre reside Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vai yas, and údras, occupied in their respective duties of sacrifice, arms, trade, and service.

The atadru, Chandrabhágá, and other rivers, flow from the foot of Himálaya: the Vedasmriti and others from the Parípátra mountains: the Narmadá and Surasá from the Vindhya hills: the Tápí, í, and Nirvindhyá from the Riksha mountains; the Godáverí, Bhimarathí, avení, and others, from the Sahya mountains: the Kritamálá, Tá í, and others, from the Malaya hills: the Trisámá, Rishikulyá, &c. from the Mahendra: and the Rishikulyá, Kumárí, and others, from the uktimat mountains. Of such as these, and of minor rivers, there is an infinite number; and many nations inhabit the countries on their borders.

The principal nations of Bhárata are the Kurus and Pánchálas, in the middle districts: the people of Kámarupa, in the east: the r as, Kalingas, Magadhas, and southern nations, are in the south: in the extreme west are the Saurá r as, úras, Bhíras, Arbudas: the Kárushas and Málavas, dwelling along the Páripátra mountains: the Sauvíras, the Saindhavas, the Húnas, the Sálwas, the people of ákala, the Madras, the Rámas, the

has, and the Párasíkas, and others. These nations drink of the water of the rivers above enumerated, and inhabit their borders, happy and prosperous.

In the Bhárata-varsha it is that the succession of four Yugas, or ages, the Krita, the Treta, the Dwápara, and Kali, takes place; that pious ascetics engage in rigorous penance; that devout men offer sacrifices; and that gifts are distributed; all for the sake of another world. In Jambu-dwípa, u, consisting of sacrifice, is worshipped, as the male of sacrificial rites, with sacrificial ceremonies: he is adored under other forms elsewhere.

Bhárata is therefore the best of the divisions of Jambu-dwípa, because it is the land of works: the others are places of enjoyment alone.

It is only after many thousand births, and the aggregation of much merit, that living beings are sometimes born in Bhárata as men. The gods themselves exclaim, “Happy are those who are born, even from the condition of gods, as men in Bhárata-varsha, as that is the way to the pleasures of Paradise, or the greater blessing of final liberation. Happy are they who, consigning all the unheeded rewards of their acts to the supreme and eternal

u, obtain existence in that land of works, as their path to him. We know not, when the acts that have obtained us heaven shall have been fully recompensed, where we shall renew corporeal confinement; but we know that those men are fortunate who are born with perfect faculties in Bhárata-varsha.”

I have thus briefly described to you, Maitreya, the nine divisions of Jambu-dwípa, which is a hundred thousand Yojanas in extent, and which is encircled, as if by a bracelet, by the ocean of salt water, of similar dimensions.

Footnotes

As Bhárata-varsha means India, a nearer approach to the truth, with regard to its extent, might have been expected; and the Váyu has another measurement, which is not much above twice the actual extent, or 1000 Yojanas from Kumári (Comorin) to the source of the Ganges.

These are called the Kula parvatas, family mountains, or mountain ranges or systems. They are similarly enumerated in all the authorities, and their situation may be determined with some confidence by the rivers which flow from them. Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the northern Circars to Gondwana, part of which, near Ganjam, is still called Mahindra Malei, or hills of Mahindra: Malaya is the southern portion of the western Ghats: uktimat is doubtful, for none of its streams can be identified with any certainty: Sahya is the northern portion of the western Ghauts, the mountains of the Konkan: Riksha is the mountains of Gondwana: Vindhya is the general name of the chain that stretches across central India, but it is here restricted to the eastern division; according to the Váyu it is the part south of the Narmada, or the Sathpura range: Páripátra, as frequently written Páriyátra, is the northern and western portion of the Vindhya: the name, indeed, is still given to a range of mountains in Guzerat (see Col.

Tod’s map of Rajasthán), but the Chambal and other rivers of Málwa, which are said to flow from the Páriyátra mountains, do not rise in that province.

All these mountains therefore belong to one system, and are connected together. The classification seems to have been known to Ptolemy, as he specifies seven ranges of mountains, although his names do not correspond, with exception of the Vindus mons: of the others, the Adisathrus and Uxentus agree nearly in position with the Páriyátra and Riksha: the Apocopi, Sardonix, Bettigo, and Orudii must be left for consideration. The

Bhágavata, Váyu, Padma, and Már e seven.

ya add a list of inferior mountains to these

This last is similarly left without a name in all the works: it is the most southerly, that on the borders of the sea, and no doubt intends India proper. Wilford places Isere a division called Kumáriká. No description is anywhere attempted of the other divisions. To these the Váyu adds six minor Dwípas, which are situated beyond sea, and are islands, Anga- dwípa, Yama-d., Matsya-d., Kumuda or Ku a-d., Varáha-d., and Sankha-d.; peopled for the most part by Mlechchhas, but who worship Hindu divinities.

The Bhágavata and Padma name eight such islands, J aprastha, Chandra ukla, Avarttana, Rá aka, Mandahára, Pánchajanya, Sinhalá, and Lanká. Col. Wilford has endeavoured to verify the first series of Upadwípas, making Varáha Europe; Ku a, Asia Minor, &c.; ankha, Africa; Malaya, Malacca: Yama is undetermined; and by Anga, he says, they understand China. How all this may be is more than doubtful, for in the three Purá as in which mention is made of them, very little more is said upon the subject.

By Kirátas, foresters and mountaineers are intended, the inhabitants to the present day of the mountains east of Hindustan. The Yavanas, on the west, may be either the Greeks of Bactria and the Punjab–to whom there can be little doubt the term was applied by the Hindus–or the Mohammedans, who succeeded them in a later period, and to whom it is now applied. The Váyu calls them both Mlechchhas, and also notices the admixture of barbarians with Hindus in India proper.

The same passage, slightly varied, occurs in the Mahábhárata: it is said especially of the mountainous districts, and may allude therefore to the Gonds and Bhils of central India, as well as to the Mohammedans of the north-west. The specification implies that infidels and outcastes had not yet descended on the plains of Hindustan.

This is a very meagre list, compared with those given in other Purá as. That of the Váyu is translated by Col. Wilford, As. Res. vol. VIII; and much curious illustration of many of the places by the same writer occurs, As. Res. vol. XIV. The lists of the Mahábhárata, Bhágavata, and Padma are given without any arrangement: those of the Váyu, Matsya, Má eya, and Kúrma are classed as in the text. Their lists are too long for insertion in this place. Of the rivers named in the text, most are capable of verification. The atadru, ‘the hundred channelled’–the Zaradrus of Ptolemy, Hesidrus of Pliny–is the Setlej. The Chandrabhágá, Sandabalis, or Acesines, is the Chinab.

The Vedasmriti in the Váyu and Kúrma is classed with the Vetravatí or Betwa, the Charmanwati or Chambal, and Siprá and Párá, rivers of Malwa, and may be the same with the Beos of the maps. The Narmadá or Narbadda, the Namadus of Ptolemy, is well known; according to the Váyu it rises, not in the Vindhya, but in the Riksha mountains, taking its origin in fact in Gondwana. The Surasá is uncertain. The Tápí is the Tápti, rising also in Gondwana: the other two are not identified. The Godaveri preserves its name: in the other two we have the Beemah and the a. For Kritamálá the Kúrma reads Ritumálá, but neither is verified. The Támraparní is in Tinivelly, and rises at the southern extremity of the western Ghats.

The Rishikulyá, that rises in the Mahendra mountain, is the Rasikulia or Rasíkoila, which flows into the sea near Ganjam. The Trisámá is undetermined. The text assigns another Rishikulyá to the uktimat mountains, but in all the other authorities the word is Rishíka. The Kumárí might suggest some connexion with Cape Comorin, but that the Malaya mountains seem to extend to the extreme south. A Rishikulyá river is mentioned (Vana P.

3026) as a Tírtha in the Mahábhárata, in connexion apparently with the hermitage of Va ha, which in another passage (v. 4096) is said to be on mount Arbuda or Abu. In that case, and if the reading of the text be admitted for the name of the river, the uktimat range would be the mountains of Guzerat; but this is doubtful.

The list of nations is as scanty as that of the rivers: it is, however, omitted altogether in the Bhágavata. The Padma has a long catalogue, but without arrangement; so has the Mahábhárata. The lists of the Váyu, Matsya, and Má eya class the nations as central, northern, eastern, southern, and western. The names are much the same in all, and are

given in the 8th vol. of the As. Res. from the Brahmá a

, or, for it is the same account,

the Váyu. The Má e

ya has a second classification, and, comparing Bhárata-varsha to

a tortoise, with its head to the east, enumerates the countries in the head, tail, flanks, and feet of the animal. It will be sufficient here to attempt an identification of the names in the text, but some further illustration is offered at the end of the chapter.

The Kurus are the people of Kurukshetra, or the upper part of the Doab, about Delhi. The Pánchálas, it appears from the Mahábhárata, occupied the lower part of the Doab, extending across the Jumna to the Chambal. Kullúka a, in his commentary on Manu,

59, places them at Kanoj. Kámarupa is the north-eastern part of Bengal, and western portion of Asam. r a is Bengal proper, with part of south Behar and the Jungle Mahals. Kalinga is the sea-coast west of the mouths of the Ganges, with the upper part of the Coromandel coast. Magadhá is Behar.

The Saurá r as are the people of Surat, the Surastrene of Ptolemy. The úras and Bhíras, in the same direction, may be the Suri and Phauni or Phryni of Strabo. The Arbudas must be the people about mount Abu, or the natives of Mewar. The Kárushas and Málavas are of course the people of Malwa. The Sauvíras and Saindhavas are usually conjoined as the Sindhu-Sauvíras, and must be the nations of Sindh and western Rajputána.

By the Minas we are to understand the white Huns or Indo-Scythians, who were established in the Punjab and along the Indus at the commencement of our era, as we know from Arrian, Strabo, and Ptolemy, confirmed by recent discoveries of their coins, The álwas or, as also read, ályas are placed by the Váyu and Matsya amongst the central nations, and seem to have occupied part of Rájasthan, a álwa Rája being elsewhere described as engaging in hostilities with the people of Dwaraká in Guzerat.

ákala, as I have elsewhere noticed, is a city in the Punjab (As. Res. XV. 108), the Sagala of Ptolemy (ibid. 107); the Mahábhárata makes it the capital of the Madras, the Mardi of the ancients; but they are separately named in the text, and were situated something more to the south-east.

The Rámas and has are not named in the other Purá as, but the latter are amongst the western, or more properly north-western nations subjugated by Nakula, in his Dig-vijaya. Mahábh. Sabhá P. Ambas and has are included in the list extracted by Col. Wilford from the Varáha Sanhitá, and the latter are supposed by him to be the Ambastæ of Arrian. The Párasíkas carry us into Persia, or that part of it adjoining to the Indus. As far as the enumeration of the text extends, it seems applicable to the political and geographical divisions of India about the era of Christianity.

Enjoyment in Swarga, like punishment in Naraka, is only for a certain period, according to the merit or demerit of the individual. When the account is balanced, the man is born again amongst mankind.

A crippled or mutilated person, or one whose organs are defective, cannot at once obtain liberation; his merits must first secure his being born again perfect and entire.

TOPOGRAPHICAL LISTS,

From the Mahábhárata, Bhíshma Parva, II. 342.

MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS.

SANJAYA speaks to Dhritará r a.–Hear me, monarch, in reply to your inquiries, detail to you the particulars of the country of Bhárata.

Mahendra, Malaya, Sahya, uktimat, Gandhamádana, Vindhya, and Páripátra are the seven mountain ranges: as subordinate portions of them are thousands of mountains; some unheard of, though lofty, extensive, and abrupt; and others better known, though of lesser elevation, and inhabited by people of low stature: there pure and degraded tribes, mixed together, drink of the following streams: the stately Gangá, the Sindhu, and the Saraswatí; the Godavari, Narmadá, and the great river Báhudá ; the atadru, Chandrabhágá, and great river Yamuná; the Drishadwatí, Vipá á, and Vipápá, with coarse sands; the Vetravatí, the deep í, the Irávatí, Vitastá, í and

Devíká ; the Vedasmritá, Vedavatí , Tridivá, Ikshumálaví , Karí í, Chitrabahá, the deep Chitrasená, the Gomatí, the Dhútapápá, and the great river Gandakí; the Kau ikí, Ni chitá , Krityá, Nichitá, Lohatariní, Rahasyá, atakumbhá, and also the arayú, the Charmanvatí, Chandrabhágá, Hastisomá, Dis, arávatí, í, Pará, and Bhímarathí, Káverí, Chulaká, Víná, Satabalá, Nivárá, Mahitá,Suprayogá Pavitrá , alá, Sindhu,

Rajání, Puramáliní, Purvábhirámá, Víra, Bhímá, Oghavatí, Palá iní, Pápáhará, Mahendrá,

Pá a

lavatí, Karí í, Asikní, the great river Ku achírá, the Makarí, Pravará, Mená,

Hemá, and Dhritavatí, Purávatí, A á, Saivyá, Kápí, Sadánírá, Adhrishyá, the great river Ku adhárá, Sadákántá, ivá, Viravatí, Vástu, Suvástu, Gaurí, Kampaná, ! vatí, Vará, Vírankará, Panchamí, Rathachitrá, Jyotirathá, Viswámitrá, Kapinjalá, Upendrá, Bahulá, Kuchírá, Madhuváhiní, Vinadí, Pinjalá, á, E AB á, Vidi á, á, Támrá, Kapilá, Selu, Suvámá, Vedá wá, Hari ravá, Mahopamá, íghrá, Pichchhalá, the deep Bháradwájí, the Kau ikí, the Sona, Bahudá, and Chandramá, Durgá, Amtra ilá, Brahmabodhyá, Vrihadvatí, Yavakshá, Rohí, Jámbunadí, Sunasá, Tamasá, Dásí, Vasá,

á, Así, Nálá, Dhritamatí, Púrná á, Támasí, Vrishabhá, Brahmamedhyá, Vrihadvatí.

These and many other large streams, as the á, whose waters are always salubrious, and the slow-flowing Mandaváhiní, the Brahmá í, Mahágaurí, Durgá, Chitropalá, Chitrarathá, Manjulá, Mandákiní, í, the great river Ko á, the Muktimatí, Maningá, í, Utpalavatí, Lohityá, Karatoyá, Vrishakáhwá, Kumárí, Rishikulyá, Márishá, Saraswatí, Mandákiní, Punyá, Sarvasangá; all these, theuniversal mothers, productive of abundance, besides hundreds of inferior note, are the rivers of Bhárata, according to remembrance.

PEOPLE AND COUNTRIES.

Next hear from me, descendant of Bharata, the names of the inhabitants of the different countries, They are the Kurus, Pánchalás, álwas, Mádreyas, and dwellers in thickets

(Jángalas), úrasenas, Kálingas, Bodhas, Málás, Matsyas, y

as, Sauvalyas, Kuntalas,

Ká íkosálas, Chedyas, Matsyas, Kárúshas, Bhojas, Sindhupulindas, Uttamas, Da á as, Mekalas, Utkalas, Pánchálas, Kau ijas, # has, Dhurandharas, Sodhas, Madrabhujingas, Ká is, Aparaká is, Játharas, Kukuras, Dasá as, Kuntis, Avantis,

Aparakuntis, Goghnatas, % a

kas, a

s, Vidarbhas, Rúpaváhikas, A wakas ,

Pánsurá r as, Gopará r as, Karítis, the people of Adhivájya, Kuládya, Mallará r a, and Kerala; the Varápásis, Apavárhas, Chakras, Vakrátapas and akas, Videhas, Mágadhas, Swakshas, Malayas, and Vijayas; the Angas, Vangas, Kalingas and

Yakrillomas, Mallas, Sudellas, Prahládas, Máhikas and a ikas, Báhlíkas, Vá a Ábhíras and Kálajoshakas, Aparántas, Parántas, Pahnavas, alas,

dhánas,

Atávi ikharas and Merubhútas, Upávrittas, Anupávrittas, Swará r as, Kekayas,

parántas, Máheyas, Kakshas, dwellers on the sea-shore, and the Andhas and many

tribes residing within and without the hills; the Malajas, Mágadhas, Mánavarjjakas; those north of the Mahi (Mahyuttaras), the Právrisheyas, Bhárgavas, r as, Bhárgas, Kirátas,

s; and the people on the Yamuná (Yámunas), akas, Nishádas, Nishádhas,

Ánarttas; and those in the south-west (Nairritas), the Durgalas, Pratimásyas, Kuntalas, Ku alas, Tíragrahas, Súrasenas, Íjikas, KanyakáB as, Tilabáras, Samíras, Madhumattas, Sukandakas, Ká míras, Sindhusauvíras, Gandháras, Dar akas, Abhisáras, Utúlas,

aiválas, and Báhlíkas; the people of Darví, the Vá avas, Darvas, Vátajamarathorajas, Báhubádhas, Kauravyas, Sudámas, Sumallis, Badhnas, Karíshakas, Kulindápatyakas, Vátáyanas, Da á as, Romá as, Ku avindus, Kakshas, Gopála-kakshas, Jángalas,

Ku akas, Kirátas, Barbaras, Siddhas, Vaidehas, Támraliptas, Audras, r as, dwellers in sandy tracts ( ai ikatas), and in mountains (Párvatíyas). Moreover, chief of the sons of Bharata, there are the nations of the south, the Drávíras, Keralas, Práchyas, Múshikas, and Vánavásakas; the Karnátakas, Máhishakas, Vikalyas and Múshakas,

Jillikas, Kuntalas, Sauhridas, Nalakánanas, a

kas, Cholas, Kaunkanas, Málavánas,

Samangas, Karakas, Kukkuras, Angáras, Dhwajinyutsavasanketa, Trigarttas, álwasenis,

akas, Kokarakas, a

s, Samavegavasas. There are also the Vindhyachulukas,

Pulindas and Kalkalas, Málavas, Mallavas, Aparavallabhas, Kulindas, Kálavas,

A hakas, as, Múshakas, Tanabálas, Saníyas, Ghatasrinjayas, Alindayas,

Pa ivá a

s, Tanayas, Sunayas, Da ívidarbhas, Kántikas, E AB as, AB as, northern

and other fierce barbarians (Mlechchhas), Yavanas, Chínas, Kámbojas; ferocious and uncivilized races, akridgrahas, Kulatthas, Hú as, and Párasíkas; also as, Chínas, Da amálikas, those living near the Kshatriyas, and Vai yas and údras; also údras, Ábhíras, Daradas, Ká míras, with i s, Khásíras, Antacháras or borderers, Pahnavas, and dwellers in mountain caves (Girigahvaras), Átreyas, Bháradwájas, Stanayoshikas, Proshakas, Kálinga, and tribes of Kirátas, Tomaras, Hansamárgas, and Karabhanjikas.

These and many other nations, dwelling in the east and in the north, can be only thus briefly noticed .

Footnotes

In attempting to verify the places or people specified in the text, various difficulties are to be encountered, which must serve to apologize for but partial success. Some are inherent in the subject, such as the changes which have taken place in the topography of India since the lists were compiled, and the imperfectness of the specification itself: states and tribes and cities have disappeared, even from recollection, and some of the natural features of the country, especially the rivers, have undergone a total alteration. Buchanan (Description of Eastern Hindustan), following Rennell over the same ground at an interval of some thirty or forty years, remarks that many of the streams laid down in the Bengal Atlas (the only series of maps of India yet published, that can be regarded as of authority) are no longer to be traced. Then the lists which are given are such mere catalogues, that they afford no clue to verification beyond names; and names have been either changed or so corrupted, as to be no longer recognizable. On the other hand, much of the difficulty arises from our own want of knowledge. Scattered through the Purá as and other works, the names given in the topographical lists recur with circumstances which fix their locality; but these means of verification have not yet been sufficiently investigated. There are also geographical treatises in Sanscrit, which there is reason to believe afford much accurate and interesting information: they are not common. Col.

Wilford speaks of having received a number from Jaypur, but upon his death they disappeared. After a considerable interval some of his MSS. were purchased for the Calcutta Sanscrit College, but by far the larger portion of his collection had been dispersed. A few leaves only on geographical subjects were found, from which I translated and published a chapter on the geography of some of the districts of Bengal: (Calcutta Quarterly Magazine, Dec. 1824:) the details were accurate and valuable, though the compilation was modern. Notwithstanding these impediments, however, we should be able to identify at least mountains and rivers to a much greater extent than is now practicable, if our maps were not so miserably defective in their nomenclature. None of our surveyors or geographers have been Oriental scholars. It may be doubted if any of them have been conversant with the spoken language of the country: they have consequently put down names at p. 180 random, according to their own inaccurate appreciation of sounds carelessly, vulgarly, and corruptly uttered; and their maps of India are crowded with appellations which bear no similitude whatever either to past or present denominations. We need not wonder that we cannot discover Sanscrit names in English maps, when, in the immediate vicinity of Calcutta, Barnagore represents Varáhanagar, Dakshineswar is metamorphosed into Duckinsore,and Ulubaría is Anglicised into Willoughbruy. Going a little farther off, we have Dalkisore for Darikeswarí, Midnapore for Medinipur, and a most unnecessary accumulation of consonants in Caughmahry for Kákamárí. There is scarcely a name in our Indian maps that does not afford proof of extreme indifference to accuracy in nomenclature, and of an incorrectness in estimating sounds, which is in some degree, perhaps, a national defect.

The printed edition reads aktimat, which is also found in some MSS., but the more usual reading is that of the text. I may here add that a uktimat mountain occurs in Bhíma’s invasion of the eastern region. Mahábh. Sabhá P. Gandhamádana here takes the place of Riksha.

For additional mountains in the Váyu, see Asiatic Researches, VIII. 334 The Bhágavata, Padma, and Má eya add the following: Maináka, which it appears from the

Rámá a is at the source of the Sone, that river being termed Mainákaprabhava.

‘Kishkindhya Ká a

;’ Trikú a

, called also in Hemachanchra’s vocabulary Suvela;

Rishabha, Kú a

ka, Konwa, Devagiri (Deogur or Ellora, the mountain of the gods; the

Apocopi are said by Ptolemy to be also called mountains of the gods); Rishyamuka, in the Dekhin, where the Pampá rises; rí- aila or rí-parvata, near the a (As. Res. V. 303); Venkata, the hill of Tripatí, Váridhára, Mangala-prastha, $ a, Chitrakú a (Chitrakote in Bundelkhand), Govarddhana (near Mathurá), Raivata, the range that branches off from the western portion of the Vindhya towards the north, extending nearly to the Jumna; according to Hemachandra it is the I ara range; it is the Aravali of Tod; Kakubha, Níla (the blue mountains of Orissa), Gohamukha, Indrakíla, Ramagiri (Ram- tek, near Nag-pur), Valakrama, Sudháma, Tungaprastha, Nága (the hills east of Ramghur), Bodhana, Pandara, Durjayanta, Arbuda (Abu in Guzerat), Gomanta (in the

western Ghats), Kú a in different works.

See note 4, p. 175.

aila, Kritasmara, and Chakora. Many single mountains are named

The Sarsuti, or Caggar or Gaggar, N. W. of Tahnesar. See below.

The Báhudá is elsewhere said to rise in the Himalaya. Wilford considers it to be the Mahánada, which falls into the Ganges below Malda. The Mahábhárata has amongst the Tírthas, or places of pilgrimage, two rivers of this name, one apparently near the Saraswatí, one more to the east. Hemachandra gives as synonymes Árjuní and Saitaváhiní, both implying the ‘white river:’ a main feeder of the Mahánada is called Dhavalí or Daub, which has the same meaning.

The Drishadwatí is a river of considerable importance in the history of the Hindus, although no traces of its ancient name exist. According to Manu it is one boundary of the district called Brahmávartta, in which the institution of castes, and their several duties, had for ever existed: implying that in other places they were of more recent origin. This holy land, ‘made by the gods,’ was of very limited extent. Its other boundary was the Saraswatí. That the Drishadwatí was not far off we learn from Manu, as Kurukshetra, Matsya, Panchála, and úrasena, or the upper part of the Doab, and country to the east, were not included in Brahmávartta; they constituted Brahmarshi-de a, contiguous to it: Kullúka a explains Anantara, ‘something less or inferior;’ but it more probably means ‘not divided from,’ ‘immediately contiguous.’ We must look for the Drishadwatí, therefore, west of the Jumna. In the Tírtha Yátrá of the Mahábhárata we find it forming one of the boundaries of Kurukshetra. It is there said, ‘Those who dwell on the south of the Saraswatí, and north of the Drishadwatí, or in Kurukshetra, dwell in heaven.’ In the same place, the confluence of the Drishadwatí with a stream of Kurukshetra, called the Kau ikí, is said to be of peculiar sanctity. Kurukshetra is the country about Tahnesur or Stháne wara, where a spot called Kurukhet still exists, and is visited in pilgrimage.

The Kirin-kshetra of Manu may be intended for the country of the Kurus, in the more immediate vicinity of Delhi. According to Wilford, the Drishadwatí is the Caggar; in which case our maps have taken the liberty of transposing the names of the rivers, as the Caggar now is the northern stream, and the Sursooty the southern, both rising in the Himálaya, and uniting to form one river, called Gagar or Caggar in the maps, but more correctly Sarsuti or Saraswatí; which then runs south-west, and is lost in the desert. There have no doubt been considerable changes here, both in the nomenclature and in the courses of the rivers.

The Beyah, Hyphasis, or Bibasis. The Ráví or Hydraotes or Adris.

The Jhelum, but still called in Kashmir the Vitastá, the Bidaspes or Hydaspes.

This river, according to the u P., rises from the Riksha mountains, but the Váyu and Kúrma bring it from the Vindhya or Sathpura range. There are several indications of its position in the Mahábhárata, but none very precise. Its p. 182 source appears to be near that of the a: it flows near the beginning of the $ aka forest, which should place it rather near to the sources of the Godávarí: it passes through Vidarbha or Berar, and,

hira having bathed in it, comes to the Vaidúrya mountain and the Narmadá river. These circumstances make it likely that the Payín Gangá is the river in question.

The Devá, or Goggra.

Both these are from the Páripátra range. In some MSS. the latter is read Vedasiní and Vetasiní. In the Rámá a occur Vedá and Vedavainasiká, which may be the same, as they seem to be in the direction of the Sone. One of them may be the Beos of eastern Malwa, but it rises in the Riksha mountain.

From Páripátra, Kúrma; from Mahendra, Váyu.

One copy has Ikshumáliní; two others, Ikshulá and Krimi: one MS. of the Váyu has an Ikshulá from Mahendra: the Matsya has Ikshudá; Wilford’s list has Drákshalá.

Of these rivers, the two first are named in the Padma P., but not in the Váyu, &c. The Gomati in Oude, the Gandak, and the Kosi are well known. The Dhutapápá is said to rise in the Himálaya.

In different MSS. read Michitá and Nisritá. In the Váyu and Matsya, Ni chirá or Nirvirá is said to flow from the Himálaya.

Also Lohatá í and Lohachá í.

The Sarayú or Sarju is commonly identified with the Deva. Wilford says it is so by the Paurá ics, but we have here proof to the contrary. They are also distinguished by the people of the country. Although identical through great part of their course, they rise as different streams, and again divide and enter the Ganges by distinct branches.

The recurrence of the same name in this, as in several similar subsequent instances, is possibly an error of the copyist; but it is also sometimes likely that one name is applied to different rivers. In one MS. we have, in place of this word, Chaitravatí; and in another Vetravatí.

Read also atávarí. According to Wilford, the arávatí is the Ban-gangá.

The Váyu has Párá, which is a river in Malwa, the Párvatí. MSS. read Vá í and á.

According to the Váyu, this rises in the Sahya m., and flows towards the south: it is therefore the Beema of Aurungabad.

The Kaverí is well known, and has always borne the same appellation, being the Chaberis of Ptolemy.

Read Chuluká.

Read also Tápí; the Taptí river of the Dekhin. Read Ahitá and Sahitá.

Rises in the Sahya mountain, and flows southwards: Váyu, &c. Read Vichitrá.

Several rivers are called by this name, as well as the Indus: there is one of some note, the Káli Sindh in Malwa.

Also Vájiní.

This agrees best in name with the Beema: it is also mentioned as a tírtha in the Mahábhárata.

From uktimat: Kúrma and Váyu. There is a Balásan from the eastern portion of the Himálaya, a feeder of the Mahánada, which may be the Palásiní, if the mountain be in this direction.

Also Pippalalávatí. The Váyu has a Pippalá from the Riksha mountain. Also Ku avírá.

Also Mahiká and % á

chí.

Also ená.

Read Kritavatí and Ghritavatí. Also Dhu ulyá.

Also a.

In place of both Suvártháchí. From Páripátra: Váyu and Matsya. Also Ku anára.

Also a ikánta.

Also Vastrá and Suvastrá.

One of the tírthas in the Mahábhárata.

According to the Mahábhárata, this rises in the Vaidúrya mountain, part of the southern Vindhya or Sathpura range.

Also Kuvíra.

Three MSS. agree in reading this Ambuváhiní. Also Vainadí.

Also á: it is possibly meant for the Tungabhádra or Toombudra.

A river in Malwa, so called from the city of the same name, which I have elsewhere conjectured to be Bhilsa. Megha Dúta, 31. There is a ‘Bess’ river in the maps, which joins the Betwa at Bhilsa, and is probably the river of the text.

The Varna or Suvamá, ‘the beautiful river,’ Wilford identifies with the Ramgangá. Also Mahapagá, ‘the great river.’

Also Kuchchilá.

The Sona river, rising in Maináka or Amarakantak, and flowing east to the Ganges.

This and the preceding both rise from the Vindhya mountain: the latter is also read Antassilá, ‘the river flowing within or amidst rocks.’

Also Parokshá.

We have a Suraná in the Váyu, and Surasá in the Kúrma and Matsya, flowing from the Riksha mountain.

The Tamasá or Tonse, from Riksha.

This and the preceding scarcely merit a place amongst the rivers, being two small streams which fall into the Ganges east and west of Benares, which is thence denominated Varanásí.

á á or á á, from the Páripátra mountain. Also Mánaví.

The á of the Dakhin is probably here intended, although its more ordinary designation seems to be that already specified, a or í. The meaning is much the same; the one being the ‘dark river,’ the other simply the ‘dark,’ the Niger.

A river from uktimat: Váyu.

A river in Cuttack, according to Wilford: it is one of the tírthas of the Mahábhárata, and apparently in a different direction. Buchanan (Eastern Hindustan) has a river of this name in Dinajpur.

Both from the Vindhya: Váyu and Kúrma. There is a Goaris in Ptolemy in central India. From Riksha: Váyu.

Also Munja and Makaraváhiní.

From Riksha: Váyu. According to the Mahábhárata, it rises in the mountain Chitrakote. The í in Cuttack. It is named in the Mahábhárata as a river of Kalinga.

CHAP. IV.

Account of kings, divisions, mountains, rivers, and inhabitants of the other Dwípas, viz. Plaksha, álmala, Ku a, Krauncha, áka, and Pushkara: of the oceans separating them: of the tides: of the confines of the earth: the Lokáloka mountain. Extent of the whole.

IN the same manner as Jambu-dwípa is girt round about by the ocean of salt water, so that ocean is surrounded by the insular continent of Plaksha; the extent of which is twice that of Jambu-dwípa.

Medhatithi, who was made sovereign of Plaksha, had seven sons, ántabhaya, i ira, Sukhodaya, Ánanda, iva, Kshemaka, and Dhruva; and the Dwípa was divided amongst them, and each division was named after the prince to whom it was subject. The several kingdoms were bounded by as many ranges of mountains, named severally Gomeda, Chandra, Nárada, Dundubhi, Somaka, Sumanas, and Vaibhrája. In these mountains the sinless inhabitants ever dwell along with celestial spirits and gods: in them are many holy places; and the people there live for a long period, exempt from care and pain, and enjoying uninterrupted felicity.

There are also, in the seven divisions of Plaksha, seven rivers, flowing to the sea, whose names alone are sufficient to take away sin: they are the Anutaptá, ikhí, Vipásá, Tridivá, Kramu, Amritá, and Sukritá. These are the chief rivers and mountains of Plaksha-dwípa, which I have enumerated to you; but there are thousands of others of inferior magnitude. The people who drink of the waters of those rivers are always contented and happy, and there is neither decrease nor increase amongst them, neither are the revolutions of the four ages known in these Varshas: the character of the time is there uniformly that ofthe Treta (or silver) age.

In the five Dwípas, worthy Brahman, from Plaksha to áka, the length of life is five thousand years, and religious merit is divided amongst the several castes and orders of the people. The castes are called Áryaka, Kuru, Vivása, and Bháví, corresponding severally with Brahman, Kshetriya, Vai ya, and údra. In this Dwípa is a large fig-tree (F. religiosa), of similar size as the Jambu-tree of Jambu-dwípa; and this Dwípa is called Plaksha, after the name of the tree. Hari, who is all, and the creator of all, is worshipped in this continent in the form of Soma (the moon). Plaksha-dwípa is surrounded, as by a disc, by the sea of molasses, of the same extent as the land. Such, Maitreya, is a brief description of Plaksha-dwípa.

The hero Vapushmat was king of the next or álmala-dwípa, whose seven sons also gave designations to seven Varshas, or divisions. Their names were weta, Háríta, Jímúta, Rohita, Vaidyuta, Mánasa, and Suprabha. The Ikshu sea is encompassed by the continent of Sálmala, which is twice its extent. There are seven principal mountain ranges, abounding in precious gems, and dividing the Varshas from each other; and there are also seven chief rivers.

The mountains are called Kumuda, Unnata, Valáhaka, Drona, fertile in medicinal herbs, Kanka, Mahisha, and Kakkudwat. The rivers are Yauní, Toyá, á, Chandrá, uklá, Vimochaní, and Nivritti; all whose waters cleanse away sins. The Brahmans, Kshetriyas, Vai yas, and údras of this Dwípa, called severally Kapilas, Arunas, Pítas, and Rohitas (or tawny, purple, yellow, and red), worship the imperishable soul of all things, u, in the form of Váyu (wind), with pious rites, and enjoy frequent association with the gods. A large álmalí (silk-cotton) tree grows in this Dwípa, and gives it its name. The Dwípa is surrounded by the Surá sea (sea of wine), of the same extent as itself.

The Surá sea is entirely encircled by Ku a-dwípa, which is every way twice the size of the preceding continent. The king, Jyotishmat, had seven sons, Udbhida, Venumán, Swairatha, Lavana, Dhriti, Prabhákara, and Kapila, after whom the seven portions or Varshas of the island were called Udbhida, &c. There reside mankind along with Daityas and Dánavas, as well as with spirits of heaven and gods. The four castes, assiduously devoted to their respective duties, are termed Dámís, ushmis, Snehas, and Mandehas, who, in order to be relieved of the obligations imposed upon them in the discharge of their several functions, worship Janárddana, in the form of Brahmá, and thus get rid of the unpleasant duties which lead to temporal rewards.

The seven principal mountains in this Dwípa are named Vidruma, Hema aila, Dyutimán, Pushpaván, Ku e aya, Hari, and Mandara; and the seven rivers are Dhútapápá, iva, Pavitrá, Sammati, Vidyudambhá, Mahhvanyá, Sarvapápahará: besides these, there are numerous rivers and mountains of less importance. Ku a-dwípa is so named from a clump of Ku a grass (Poa) growing there. It is surrounded by the Ghrita sea (the sea of butter), of the same size as the continent.

The sea of Ghrita is encompassed by Krauncha-dwípa, which is twice as large as Ku a- dwípa. The king of this Dwípa was Dyutimán, whose sons, and the seven Varshas named after them, were Ku ala, Mallaga, R a, Pívara, Andhakáraka, Muni, and Dundubhi.

The seven boundary mountains, pleasing to gods and celestial spirits, are Krauncha,

Vámana, Andhakáraka, Devavrit, a

ríkaván, Dundubhi, and Maha aila; each of

which is in succession twice as lofty as the series that precedes it, in the same manner as each Dwípa is twice as extensive as the one before it. The inhabitants reside there without apprehension, associating with the bands of divinities.

The Brahmans are called Pushkaras; the Kshetriyas, Pushkalas: the Vai yas are termed Dhanyas; and the údras, Tishyas. They drink of countless streams, of which the principal are denominated Gaurí, Kumudwatí, Sandhyá, Rátri, Manojavá, Kshánti, and

ríká. The divine u, the protector of mankind, is worshipped there by the

people, with holy rites, in the form of Rudra. Krauncha is surrounded by the sea of curds, of a similar extent; and that again is encompassed by áka-dwípa.

The sons of Bhavya, the king of áka-dwípa, after whom its Varshas were denominated, were Jalada, Kumára, Sukumára, Maníchaka, Kusumoda, Maudákí, and Mahádruma. The seven mountains separating the countries were Udayagiri, Jaládhára, Raivataka, yáma, Ámbikeya, Ramya, and Ke arí.

There grows a large Sáka (Teak) tree, frequented by the Siddhas and Gandharbas, the wind from which, as produced by its fluttering leaves, diffuses delight. The sacred lands of this continent are peopled by the four castes. Its seven holy rivers, that wash away all sin, are the Sukumárí, Kumárí, Naliní, Dhenuká, Ikshu, Venuká, and Gabhastí. There are also hundreds and thousands of minor streams and mountains in this Dwípa: and the inhabitants of Jalada and the other divisions drink of those waters with pleasure, after they have returned to earth from Indra’s heaven. In those seven districts there is no dereliction of virtue; there is no contention; there is no deviation from rectitude.

The caste of Mriga is that of the Brahman; the Mágadha, of the Kshetriya; the Mánasa, of the Vai ya; and the Mandaga of the údra: and by these u is devoutly worshipped as the sun, with appropriate ceremonies. áka-dwípa is encircled by the sea of milk, as by an armlet, and the sea is of the same breadth as the continent which it embraces.

The Kshíroda ocean (or sea of milk) is encompassed by the seventh Dwípa, or Pushkara, which is twice the size of Sáka-dwípa. Savana, who was made its sovereign, had but two sons, Mahávíra and Dhátakí, after whom the two Varshas of Pushkara were so named.

These are divided by one mighty range of mountains, called Mánasottara, which runs in a circular direction (forming an outer and an inner circle). This mountain is fifty thousand Yojanas in height, and as many in its breadth; dividing the Dwípa in the middle, as if with a bracelet, into two divisions, which are also of a circular form, like the mountain that separates them.

Of these two, the Mahávíra-varsha is exterior to the circumference of Mánasottara, and Dhátakí lies within the circle; and both are frequented by heavenly spirits and gods.

There are no other mountains in Pushkara, neither are there any rivers. Men in this Dwípa live a thousand years, free from sickness and sorrow, and unruffled by anger or affection.

There is neither virtue nor vice, killer nor slain: there is no jealousy, envy, fear, hatred, covetousness, nor any moral defect: neither is there truth or falsehood. Food is spontaneously produced there, and all the inhabitants feed upon viands of every flavour. Men there are indeed of the same nature with gods, and of the same form and habits.

There is no distinction of caste or order; there are no fixed institutes; nor are rites performed for the sake of advantage. The three Vedas, the Purá as, ethics, and polity, and the laws of service, are unknown. Pushkara is in fact, in both its divisions, a terrestrial paradise, where time yields happiness to all its inhabitants, who are exempt from sickness and decay. A Nyagrodha-tree (Ficus indica) grows on this Dwípa, which is the especial abode of Brahmá, and he resides in it, adored by the gods and demons. Pushkara is surrounded by the sea of fresh water, which is of equal extent with the continent it invests.

In this manner the seven island continents are encompassed successively by the seven oceans, and each ocean and continent is respectively of twice the extent of that which precedes it.

In all the oceans the water remains at all times the same in quantity, and never, increases or diminishes; but like the water in a caldron, which, in consequence of its combination with heat, expands, so the waters of the ocean swell with the increase of the moon. The waters, although really neither more nor less, dilate or contract as the moon increases or wanes in the light and dark fortnights. The rise and fall of the waters of the different seas is five hundred and ten inches.

Beyond the sea of fresh water is a region of twice its extent, where the land is of gold, and where no living beings reside. Thence extends the Lokáloka mountain, which is ten thousand Yojanas in breadth, and as many in height; and beyond it perpetual darkness invests the mountain all around; which darkness is again encompassed by the shell of the egg.

Such, Maitreya, is the earth, which with its continents, mountains, oceans, and exterior shell, is fifty crores (five hundred millions) of Yojanas in extent. It is the mother and nurse of all creatures, the foundation of all worlds, and the chief of the elements.

Footnotes

So the commentator explains the terms í and R í; but these words most commonly designate divisions of time peculiar to the Jainas; during the former of which men are supposed to decline from extreme felicity to extreme distress; and in the latter, to ascend from misery to happiness. The author of the text had possibly the Jaina use of these terms in view; and if so, wrote after their system was promulgated.

The Kúrma is the only Purá a in which the white island, weta-dwípa, the abode of

u, is included in the geography of the world: an incidental description of it is quoted

by Col. Wilford from the Uttara a

of the Padma Purá a (As. Res. XI. 99); and it is

in this and in the Brahma Vaivartta that allusions to it are most frequent and copious. A slight alteration has been here made in the order of the description.

The description of the Dwípas in the Agni, Bráhma, Kúrma, and Váyu Purá as agrees with that of our text. The Má eya, Linga, and Matsya contain no details. The Bhágavata and Padma follow the same order as the u, &c. but alter all the names, and, many of the measurements. The account of the Mahábhárata is very irregular and confused. The variations throw no additional light upon the geographical system of the Purá as. Some traces of this appear discoverable in the west; and the seven Dwípas, with their surrounding seas, may have some connexion with the notion of the seven climates, as Col. Wilford has supposed.

That learned, but fanciful writer bestowed great pains upon the verification of these fictions, and imagined the different Dwípas to represent actual divisions of the globe: Jambu being India; Ku a, the Kush of Scripture, or the countries between Mesopotamia and India: Plaksha being Asia Minor; álmali, eastern Europe; Krauncha, Germany;

áka, the British isles; and Pushkara, Iceland. The white or silver island, or island of the moon, was also, according to him, the island of Great Britain. Whatever may be thought of his conclusions, his essays on these subjects, particularly in the eighth, tenth, and eleventh volumes of the Asiatic Researches, contain much curious and interesting matter.

Although the Hindus seem to have had a notion of the cause of the tides, they were not very accurate observers of the effect. The extreme rise of the tide in the Hugli river has never exceeded twenty feet, and its average is about fifteen. (As. Res. vol. XVIII. Kyd on the Tides of the Hugli.)

The a á

The á

ha is properly a shallow hemispherical vessel, a saucer; but

compounded in this form, implies the shell of the mundane egg. The Bhágavata thus describes these portions of the world: “Beyond the sea of fresh water is the mountain belt, called Lokáloka, the circular boundary between the world and void space. The interval between Meru and Mánasottara is the land of living beings. Beyond the fresh water sea is the region of gold, which shines like the bright surface of a mirror, but from which no sensible object presented to it is ever reflected, and consequently it is avoided by living creatures.

The mountain range by which it is encircled is termed Lokáloka, because the world is separated by it from that which is not world; for which purpose it was placed by Í wara on the limit of the three worlds; and its height and breadth are such that the rays of the heavenly luminaries, from the sun to the polar-star, which spread over the regions within the mountain, cannot penetrate beyond it.” According to Col. Wilford, however, there is a chasm in the belt, and a sea beyond it, where u abides; but he has not given his authorities for this. (As. Res. XI. 54.) The Mohammedan legends of Koh Kaf, ‘the stony girdle that surrounds the world,’ are evidently connected with the Lokáloka of the Hindus. According to the iva Tantra, the El Dorado, at the foot of the Lokáloka mountains, is the play-ground of the gods.

This comprises the planetary spheres; for the diameter of the seven zones and oceans– each ocean being of the same diameter as the continent it encloses, and each successive continent being twice the diameter of that which precedes it–amounts to but two crones and fifty-four lacs. The golden land is twice the diameter of Pushkara, or two crones and fifty-six lacs; and the Lokáloka is but ten thousand Yojanas. So that the whole is five crores ten lacs and ten thousand (5.10.10.000). According to the iva Tantra, the golden land is ten crores of Yojanas, making, with the seven continents, one fourth of the whole measurement. Other calculations occur, the incompatibility of which is said by the commentators on our text, and on that of the Bhágavata, to arise from reference being made to different Kalpas, and they quote the same stanza to this effect: ‘Whenever any contradictions in different Purá as are observed, they are ascribed by the pious to differences of Kalpas and the like.’

CHAP. V.

Of the seven regions of Pátála, below the earth. Nárada’s praises of Pátála. Account of the serpent esha. First teacher of astronomy and astrology.

PARÁ ARA.–The extent of the surface of the earth has been thus described to you, Maitreya. Its depth below the surface is said to be seventy thousand Yojanas, each of the seven regions of Pátála extending downwards ten thousand. These seven, worthy Muni, are called Atala, Vitala, Nitala, Gabhastimat, Mahátala, Sutala, and Pátála. Their soil is severally white, black, purple, yellow, sandy, stony, and of gold. They are embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous Dánavas, Daityas, Yakshas, and great snake-gods.

The Muni Nárada, after his return from those regions to the skies, declared amongst the celestials that Pátála was much more delightful than Indra’s heaven. “What,” exclaimed the sage, “can be compared to Pátála, where the Nágas are decorated with brilliant and beautiful and pleasure-shedding jewels? who will not delight in Pátála, where the lovely daughters of the Daityas and Dánavas wander about, fascinating even the most austere; where the rays of the sun diffuse light, and not heat, by day; and where the moon shines by night for illumination, not for cold; where the sons of Danu, happy in the enjoyment of delicious viands and strong wines, know not how time passes?

There are beautiful groves and streams and lakes where the lotus blows; and the skies are resonant with the Koïl’s song. Splendid ornaments, fragrant perfumes, rich unguents, the blended music of the lute and pipe and tabor; these and many other enjoyments are the common portion of the Dánavas, Daityas, and snake-gods, who inhabit the regions of Pátála.”

Below the seven Pátálas is the form of u, proceeding from the quality of darkness, which is called esha, the excellencies of which neither Daityas nor Dánavas can fully enumerate. This being is called Ananta by the spirits of heaven, and is worshipped by sages and by gods. He has a thousand heads, which are embellished with the pure and visible mystic sign: and the thousand jewels in his crests give light to all the regions. For the benefit of the world he: deprives the Asuras of their strength. He rolls his eyes fiercely, as if intoxicated. He wears a single ear-ring, a diadem, and wreath upon each brow; and shines like the white mountains topped with flame.

He is clothed in purple raiment, and ornamented with a white necklace, and looks like another Kailása, with the heavenly Gangá flowing down its precipices. In one hand he holds a plough, and in the other a pestle; and he is attended by Vá í (the goddess of wine), who is his own embodied radiance. From his mouths, at the end of the Kalpa, proceeds the venomed fire that, impersonated as Rudra, who is one with Balaráma, devours the three worlds.

esha bears the entire world, like a diadem, upon his head, and he is the foundation on which the seven Pátálas rest. His power, his glory, his form, his nature, cannot be described, cannot he comprehended by the gods themselves. Who shall recount his might, who wears this whole earth, like a garland of flowers, tinged of a purple dye by the radiance of the jewels of his crests.

When Ananta, his eyes rolling with intoxication, yawns, then earth, with all her woods, and mountains, and seas, and rivers, trembles. Gandharbas, Apsarasas, Siddhas, Kinnaras, Uragas, and Chár as are unequal to hymn his praises, and therefore he is called the infinite (Ananta), the imperishable. The sandal paste, that is ground by the wives of the snake-gods, is scattered abroad by his breath, and sheds perfume around the skies.

The ancient sage Garga, having propitiated esha, acquired from him a knowledge of the principles of astronomical science, of the planets, and of the good and evil denoted by the aspects of the heavens.

The earth, sustained upon the head of this sovereign serpent, supports in its turn the garland of the spheres, along with their inhabitants, men, demons, and gods.

Footnotes

In the Bhágavata and Padma P. they are named Atala, Vitala, Sutala, Talátala, Mahátala, Rasátala, and Pátála. The Váyu has Rasátala, Sutala, Vitala, Gabhastala, Mahátala,

rítala, and Pátála. There are other varieties.

Allusion is here made, perhaps, to the description given in the Mahábhárata, Udyoga Parva, p. 218, of Nárada’s and Mátali’s visit to Pátála. Several of the particulars there given are not noticed in the Purá as.

There is no very copious description of Pátála in any of the Purá as. The most circumstantial are those of the Váyu and Bhágavata: the latter has been repeated, p. 205

with some additions, in the first chapters of the Pátála K a

of the Padma Purá a. The

Mahábhárata and these two Purá as assign different divisions to the Dánavas, Daityas, and Nágas; placing Vásuki and the other Nága chiefs in the lowest: but the Váyu has the cities of the principal Daityas and Nágas in each; as in the first, those of the Daitya Namuchi, and serpent Kálíya; in the second, of Hayagríva and Takshaka; in the third, of Prahláda and Hemaka; in the fourth, of Kálanemi and Vainateya; in the fifth, of

! yáksha and Kirmíra; and in the sixth, of Pulomán and Vásuki: besides others. Bali the Daitya is the sovereign of Pátála, according to this authority.

The Mahábhárata places Vásuki in Rasátala, and calls his capital Bhogavatí. The regions of Pátála, and their inhabitants, are oftener the subjects of profane, than of sacred fiction, in consequence of the frequent intercourse between mortal heroes and the Nága-kanyás, or serpent-nymphs. A considerable section of the Vrihat Kathá, the Súryaprabhá lambaka, consists of adventures and events in this subterraneous world.

esha is commonly described as being in this situation: he is the great serpent on which

u sleeps during the intervals of creation, and upon whose numerous heads the world is supported. The Purá as, making him one with Balaráma or Sankarshana, who is an impersonation or incarnation of esha, blend the attributes of the serpent and the demigod in their description.

With the Swastika, a particular diagram used in mystical ceremonies.

One of the oldest writers on astronomy amongst the Hindus. According to Mr. Bentley, his Sanhitá dates 548 B. C. (Ancient Astron. of the Hindus, p. 59.)

CHAP. VI.

Of the different hells or divisions of Naraka, below Pátála: the crimes punished in them respectively: efficacy of expiation: meditation on u the most effective expiation.

PARÁ ARA.–I will now, great Muni, give you an account of the hells which are situated beneath the earth and beneath the waters, and into which sinners are finally sent.

The names of the different Narakas are as follows: Raurava, úkara, Rodha, Tála, Vi asana, Mahájwála, Taptakumbha, a, Vimohana, Rudhirándha, Vaitaraní,

Krimí a, Krimibhojana, Asipatravana, a, Lálábhaksha, Dá a, Púyaváha, Pápa, Vahnijwála, Adho iras, Sandansa, Kálasútra, Tamas, Avíchi, wabhojana, ha, and another Avíchi. These and many other fearful hells are the awful provinces of the kingdom of Yama, terrible with instruments of torture and with fire; into which are hurled all those who are addicted when alive to sinful practices.

The man who bears false witness through partiality, or who utters any falsehood, is condemned to the Raurava (dreadful) hell. He who causes abortion, plunders a town, kills a cow, or strangles a man, goes to the Rodha hell (or that of obstruction). The murderer of a Brahman, stealer of gold, or drinker of wine, goes to the Súkara (swine) hell; as does any one who associates with them. The murderer of a man of the second or third castes, and one who is guilty of adultery with the wife of his spiritual teacher, is sentenced to the Tála (padlock) hell: and one who holds incestuous intercourse with a sister, or murders an ambassador, to Taptakumbha (or the hell of heated caldrons).

The seller of his wife, a gaoler, a horsedealer, and one who deserts his adherents, falls into the Taptaloha (red-hot iron) hell. He who commits incest with a daughter-in-law or a daughter is cast into the Mahájwála hell (or that of great flame): and he who is disrespectful to his spiritual guide, who is abusive to his betters, who reviles the Vedas, or who sells them, who associates with women in a prohibited degree, into the a (salt) hell. A thief and a contemner of prescribed observances falls into Vimohana (the place of bewildering). He who hates his father, the Brahmans, and the gods, or who spoils precious gems, is punished in the Krimibhaksha hell (where worms are his food): and he who practises magic rites for the harm of others, in the hell called Krimí a (that of insects).

The vile wretch who eats his meal before offering food to the gods, to the manes, or to guests, falls into the hell called Lálábhaksha (where saliva is given for food). The maker of arrows is sentenced to the Vedhaka (piercing) hell: and the maker of lances, swords, and other weapons, to the dreadful hell called Vi asana (murderous). He who takes unlawful gifts goes to the Adhomukha (or head-inverted) hell; as does one who offers sacrifices to improper objects, and an observer of the stars (for the prediction of events).

He who eats by himself sweetmeats mixed with his rice, and a Brahman who vends Lac, flesh, liquors, sesamum, or salt, or one who commits violence, fall into the hell (where matter flows, or) Púyaváha; as do they who rear cats, cocks, goats, dogs, hogs, or birds. Public performers, fishermen, the follower of one born in adultery, a poisoner, an informer, one who lives by his wife’s prostitution, one who attends to secular affairs on the days of the Parvas (or full and new moon), an incendiary, a treacherous friend, a soothsayer, one who performs religious ceremonies for rustics, and those who sell the acid Asclepias, used in sacrifices, go to the Rudhirándha hell (whose wells are of blood).

He who destroys a bee-hive, or pillages a hamlet, is condemned to the í hell. He who causes impotence, trespasses on others’ lands, is impure, or who lives by fraud, is punished in the hell called (black, or) a. He who wantonly cuts down trees goes to the Asipatravana hell (the leaves of whose trees are swords): and a tender on sheep, and hunter of deer, to the hell termed Vahnijwála (or fiery flame); as do those who apply fire to unbaked vessels (potters). The violator of a vow, and one who breaks the rules of his order, falls into the Sandansa (or hell of pincers): and the religious student who sleeps in the day, and is, though unconsciously, defiled; and they who, though mature, are instructed in sacred literature by their children, receive punishment in the hell called

wabhojana (where they feed upon dogs).

These hells, and hundreds and thousands of others, are the places in which sinners pay the penalty of their crimes. As numerous as are the offences that men commit, so many are the hells in which they are punished: and all who deviate from the duties imposed upon them by their caste and condition, whether in thought, word, or deed, are sentenced to punishment in the regions of the damned.

The gods in heaven are beheld by the inhabitants of hell, as they move with their heads inverted; whilst the god, as they cast their eyes downwards, behold the sufferings of those in hell. The various stages of existence, Maitreya, are inanimate things, fish, birds, animals, men, holy men, gods, and liberated spirits; each in succession a thousand degrees superior to that which precedes it: and through these stages the beings that are either in heaven or in hell are destined to proceed, until final emancipation be obtained.

That sinner goes to Naraka who neglects the due expiation of his guilt.

For, Maitreya, suitable acts of expiation have been enjoined by the great sages for every kind of crime. Arduous penances for great sins, trifling ones for minor offences, have been propounded by Swáyambhuva and others: but reliance upon a is far better than any such expiatory acts, as religious austerity, or the like. Let any one who repents of the sin of which he may have been culpable have recourse to this best of all expiations, remembrance of Hari: by addressing his thoughts to Nárá a at dawn, at night, at sunset, and midday, a man shall be quickly cleansed from all guilt: the whole heap of worldly sorrows is dispersed by meditating on Hari; and his worshipper, looking upon heavenly fruition as an impediment to felicity, obtains final emancipation.

He whose mind is devoted to Hari in silent prayer, burnt-offering, or adoration, is impatient even of the glory of the king of the gods. Of what avail is ascent to the summit of heaven, if it is necessary to return from thence to earth. How different is the meditation on Vásudeva, which is the seed of eternal freedom. Hence, Muni, the man who thinks of

u, day and night, goes not to Naraka after death, for all his sins are atoned for.

Heaven (or Swarga) is that which delights the mind; hell (or Naraka) is that which gives it pain: hence vice is called hell; virtue is called heaven. The selfsame thing is applicable to the production of pleasure or pain, of malice or of anger. Whence then can it be considered as essentially the same with either? That which at one time is a source of enjoyment, becomes at another the cause of suffering; and the same thing may at different seasons excite wrath, or conciliate favour. It follows, then, that nothing is in itself either pleasurable or painful; and pleasure and pain, and the like, are merely definitions of various states of mind. That which alone is truth is wisdom; but wisdom may be the cause of confinement to existence; for all this universe is wisdom, there is nothing different from it; and consequently, Maitreya, you are to conclude that both knowledge and ignorance are comprised in wisdom.

I have thus described to you the orb of the earth; the regions below its surface, or Pátálas; and the Narakas, or hells; and have briefly enumerated its oceans, mountains, continents, regions, and rivers: what else do you wish to hear?

Footnotes

The Bhágavata places the Narakas above the waters. The commentator on our text endeavours to reconcile the difference, by explaining the text to imply a dark cavity in which the waters are received, not the original abysses where they were collected at first, and above which Tartarus lies.

Some of these names are the same that are given by Manu, b. IV. v. 88-90. Kullúka

a refers to the Má e

ya P. for a description of the twenty-one divisions of hell;

but the account there given is not more ample than that of our text. The Bhágavata enumerates twenty-eight, but many of the names differ from the above. In the last instance the term Avíchi is either inaccurately repeated, or the adjective Apara is intended to distinguish it from the previous Avíchi. In Manu, Mahávíchi occurs.

The Padma P. (Kriya Yoga Sára) and the iva Dharma, which appears to be a section of the Skánda P., contain a number of interesting circumstances previous to the infliction of punishment. It appears also from them that Yama fulfils the office of judge of the dead, as well as sovereign of the damned; all that die appearing before him, and being confronted with Chitragupta, the recorder, by whom their actions have been registered. The virtuous are thence conveyed to Swarga, or Elysium, whilst the wicked are driven to the different regions of Naraka, or Tartarus.

‘Who teaches the Vedas for hire.’ This notion still prevails, and renders the few Pandits who are acquainted with the Vedas very unwilling to teach them for a gratuity.

‘Thereby,’ observes the commentator, ‘defrauding or disappointing children.’

Rangopajivina: the commentator explains it wrestlers and boxers, but Ranga applies to any stage or arena.

The term in the text is Máhishika, which might mean a feeder of buffaloes; but the commentator quotes a text from the Smriti, authorizing the sense above followed.

This is the interpretation of Parvakárí; it is also read Parvagámí, he who cohabits with his wife on prohibited days.’

An account of Naraka is found in only a few of the Purá as, and in less detail than in the

text. The Bhágavata and Váyu have similar descriptions of them. The Má e

ya enters

into detail in some of the instances only. A short account is found in the iva, Garura, and Brahma Vaivartta P. and in the Ká í a of the Skánda P. The fullest descriptions, however, are those mentioned in a previous note as being in the iva Dharma of the Skánda, and Kriya Yoga Sára of the Padma; works of a somewhat equivocal character, and belonging rather to Tántra than Paurá ik literature.

The commentator observes that the sight of heavenly bliss is given to the damned in order to exacerbate their torments; whilst the inflictions of hell are exhibited to the gods to teach them disregard of even heavenly enjoyments, as they are but of temporary duration.

That is, when punishment or reward in hell or heaven, proportioned to the sin or virtue of the individual, has been received, he must be born again as a stone or plant, and gradually migrate through the several inferior conditions, until he is once more born a man; his future state is then in his own power.

Manu is here especially intended, as the commentator observes.

This remembrance of u is the frequent reiteration of any or all of his names: hence the lower orders of Hindus procure a starling or parrot, that, in the act of teaching it to cry Ráma or a or Rádhá, they may themselves repeat these appellations; the simple recitation of which, even if accidentally, irreverently, or reluctantly performed, is meritorious. Thus according to the u Disarms Tantra: ‘Let a man ever and every where repeat the names of the discus-armed ( u); for its repetition, even by one who is impure, is a means of purification. Hari removes all sins, even when invoked by evil- minded persons, as fire burns one by whom it is unwillingly approached.’

The object of the text, according to the commentator, is to shew that the common notions of heaven and hell are erroneous; that they are only temporal pleasure and temporal pain; and virtue and vice, being the origin of transient, and therefore unreal effects, are themselves unrealities: there is nothing real but faith in u.

Text and comment are here somewhat obscure; but the purport of the former seems to be the explanation of the existence of Jnyán wisdom, both as a genus and a species: in the former case it is all that is; and in the latter, it may be either true or false wisdom: the latter being influenced by notions of self or individuality, and therefore the cause of confinement to existence; the former dissipating the belief of self, and being therefore the cause of liberation from bodily being.

CHAP. VII.

Extent and situation of the seven spheres, viz. earth, sky, planets, Mahar-loka, Janaloka, Tapo-loka, and Satya-loka. Of the egg of Brahmá, and its elementary envelopes. Of the influence of the energy of u.

MAITREYA.–The sphere of the whole earth has been described to me by you, excellent Brahman, and I am now desirous to hear an account of the other spheres above the world, the Bhuvar-loka and the rest, and the situation and the dimensions of the celestial luminaries.

PARÁ ARA. The sphere of the earth (or Bhúr-loka), comprehending its oceans, mountains, and rivers, extends as far as it is illuminated by the rays of the sun and moon; and to the same extent, both in diameter and circumference, the sphere of the sky (Bhuvar-loka) spreads above it (as far upwards as to the planetary sphere, or Swar-loka). The solar orb is situated a hundred thousand leagues from the earth; and that of the moon an equal distance from the sun. At the same interval above the moon occurs the orbit of all the lunar constellations. The planet Budha (Mercury) is two hundred thousand leagues

above the lunar mansions. ukra (Venus) is at the same distance from Mercury. Angáraka (Mars) is as far above Venus; and the priest of the gods (Vrihaspati, or Jupiter) as far from Mars: whilst Saturn (Sani) is two hundred and fifty thousand leagues beyond Jupiter. The sphere of the seven Rishis (Ursa Major) is a hundred thousand leagues above Saturn; and at a similar height above the seven Rishis is Dhruva (the pole-star), the pivot or axis of the whole planetary circle. Such, Maitreya, is the elevation of the three spheres (Bhúr, Bhuvar, Swar) which form the region of the consequences of works. The region of works is here (or in the land of Bhárata).

Above Dhruva, at the distance of ton million leagues, lies the sphere of saints, or Mahar- loka, the inhabitants of which dwell in it throughout a Kalpa, or day of Brahmá. At twice that distance is situated Janaloka, where Sanandana and other pure-minded sons of Brahmá, reside. At four times the distance, between the two last, lies the Tapo-loka (the sphere of penance), inhabited by the deities called Vaibhrájas, who are unconsumable by fire. At six times the distance (or twelve Crores, a hundred and twenty millions of leagues) is situated Satya-loka, the sphere of truth, the inhabitants of which never again know death.

Wherever earthy substance exists, which may be traversed by the feet, that constitutes the sphere of the earth, the dimensions of which I have already recounted to you. The region that extends from the earth to the sun, in which the Siddhas and other celestial beings move, is the atmospheric sphere, which also I have described. The interval between the sun and Dhruva, extending fourteen hundred thousand leagues, is called by those who are acquainted with the system of the universe the heavenly sphere.

These three spheres are termed transitory: the three highest, Jana, Tapa, and Satya, are styled durable: Maharloka, as situated between the two, has also a mixed character; for although it is deserted at the end of the Kalpa, it is not destroyed. These seven spheres, together with the Pátálas, forming the extent of the whole world, I have thus, Maitreya, explained to you.

The world is encompassed on every side and above and below by the shell of the egg of Brahmá, in the same manner as the seed of the wood-apple is invested by its rind. Around the outer surface of the shell flows water, for a space equal to ten times the diameter of the world. The waters, again, are encompassed exteriorly by fire; fire by air; and air by Mind; Mind by the origin of the elements (Ahankára); and that by Intellect: each of these extends ten times the breadth of that which it encloses; and the last is encircled by the chief Principle, Pradhána, which is infinite, and its extent cannot be enumerated: it is therefore called the boundless and illimitable cause of all existing things, supreme nature, or Prakriti; the cause of all mundane eggs, of which there are thousands and tens of thousands, and millions and thousands of millions, such as has been described.

Within Pradhána resides Soul, diffusive, conscious, and self-irradiating, as fire is inherent in flint, or sesamum oil in its seed. Nature (Pradhána) and soul (Pumán) are both of the character of dependants, and are encompassed by the energy of u, which is one with the soul of the world, and which is the cause of the separation of those two (soul and nature) at the period of dissolution; of their aggregation in the continuance of things; and of their combination at the season of creation. In the same manner as the wind ruffles the surface of the water in a hundred bubbles, which of themselves are inert, so the energy of

u influences the world, consisting of inert nature and soul.

Again, as a tree, consisting of root, stem, and branches, springs from a primitive seed, and produces other seeds, whence grow other trees analogous to the first in species, product, and origin, so from the first unexpanded germ (of nature, or Pradhána) spring Mahat (Intellect) and the other rudiments of things; from them proceed the grosser elements; and from them men and gods, who are succeeded by sons and the sons of sons. In the growth of a tree from the seed, no detriment occurs to the parent plant, neither is there any waste of beings by the generation of others. In like manner as space and time and the rest are the cause of the tree (through the materiality of the seed), so the divine Hari is the cause of all things by successive developements (through the materiality of nature).

As all the parts of the future plant, existing in the seed of rice, or the root, the culm, the leaf, the shoot, the stem, the bud, the fruit, the milk, the grain, the chaff, the ear, spontaneously evolve when they are in approximation with the subsidiary means of growth (or earth and water), so gods, men, and other beings, involved in many actions (or necessarily existing in those states which are the consequences of good or evil acts), become manifested only in their full growth, through the influence of the energy of

This u is the supreme spirit (Brahma), from whence all this world proceeds, who is the world, by whom the world subsists, and in whom it will be resolved. That spirit (or Brahma) is the supreme state of u, which is the essence of all that is visible or invisible; with which all that is, is identical; and whence all animate and inanimate existence is derived. He is primary nature: he, in a perceptible form, is the world: and in him all finally melts; through him all things endure. He is the performer of the rites of devotion: he is the rite: he is the fruit which it bestows: he is the implements by which it is performed. There is nothing besides the illimitable Hari.

Footnotes

Bhúr-loka, the terrestrial sphere, is earth and the lower regions; from thence to the sun is the Bhuvar-loka, or atmospheric sphere; and from the sun to Dhruva is the Swar-loka, or heaven; as subsequently explained in the text, and in other Purá as.

A similar account of the situations and distances of the planets occurs in the Padma, Kúrma, and Váyu Purá as. The Bhágavata has one or two varieties, but they are of no great importance.

An account of these Lokas is met with only in a few of the Purá as, and is not much more detailed in them than in our text. The Váyu is most circumstantial. According to that authority, Mahar, which is so called from a mystical term Maha, is the abode of the

I adevas, the Yámas and others, who are the regents or rulers of the Kalpa, the Kalpádhikáris they are so designated also in the Kúrma. The Ká í a refers the name to Mahas, ‘light,’ the sphere being invested with radiance. Its inhabitants are also called lords of the Kalpa: but the commentator explains this to denote Bhrigu and the other patriarchs, whose lives endure for a day of Brahmá.

The different accounts agree in stating, that when the three lower spheres are consumed by fire, Mahar-loka is deserted by its tenants, who repair to the next sphere, or Jana-loka. Jana-loka, according to the Váyu, is the residence of the Rishis and demigods during the night of Brahmá, and is termed Jana because the patriarchs are the progenitors of

mankind. The Ká í a

agrees with the u in peopling it with Sanandana and the

other ascetic sons of Brahmá, and with Yogis like themselves. These are placed by the Váyu in the Tapo-loka, and they and the other sages, and the demigods, after repeated appearances in the world, become at last Vairájas in the Brahmá or Satya loka. After many divine ages of residence there with Brahmá, they are, along with him, absorbed, at the end of his existence into the indiscrete.

The commentator on the Ká í a explains Vairája to mean ‘relating to, or derived from, Brahmá or Viráj.’ The Vairájas are there, as in the u Purá a, placed in the Tapo-loka, and are explained to be ascetics, mendicants, anchorets, and penitents, who have completed a course of rigorous austerities. It maybe doubted, however, if the Paurá iks have very precise notions regarding these spheres and their inhabitants,

The Purá as of a decidedly sectarial character add other and higher worlds to the series. Thus the Kúrma identifies Brahmá-loka with u-loka, and has a Rudra-loka above it. The iva places u-loka above Brahmá-loka, and Rudra-loka above that. In p. 214 the Ká í a as we have, instead of those two, Vaikuntha and Kailása, as the lofty worlds of u and iva; whilst the Brahma Vaivartta has above all a Go-loka, a world or heaven of cows and a. These are all evidently additions to the original system of seven worlds, in which we have probably some relation to the seven climates of the ancients, the seven stages or degrees of the earth of the Arabs, and the seven heavens of the Mohammedans, if not to the seven Amshaspends of the Parsis. Seven, suggested originally perhaps by the seven planets, seems to have been a favourite number with various nations of antiquity.

Amongst the Hindus it was applied to a variety of sacred or mythological objects, which are enumerated in a verse in the Hanumán Nátaka. Ráma is described there as piercing seven palm-trees with an arrow, on which other groups of seven take fright, as the seven steeds of the sun, the seven spheres, Munis, seas, continents, and mothers of the gods.

Kritika and Akritika; literally ‘made and unmade:’ the former being renewed every Kalpa, the latter perishing only at the end of Brahmá’s life.

Of the Kapittha (Feronia Elephantum).

See before the order in which the elements are evolved.

The followers of Anaximander and Democritus taught “an ‘/1( 4 2 3;)- ‘an infinity of worlds;’ and that not only successive in that space which this world of ours is conceived now to occupy, in respect of the infinity of past and future time, but also a contemporary infinity of coexistent worlds, at all times, throughout endless and unbounded space.” Intellect. System, I. 303. Literally ‘in wood,’ the attrition of two pieces of which does not create, but developes, their latent heat and flame.

Thus in Scipio’s dream the divinity is made the external limit of the universe: “Novem tibi orbibus vel potius globis connexa sunt omnia, quorum unus est cælestis externus qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse deus arcens et continens ceteros:” which Macrobius explains as to be understood of the Supreme First Cause of all things, only in respect of his supremacy over all, and from his comprehending as well as creating all things, and being regarded as the soul of the world: “Quod et virtutes omnes, quæ illam primæ omnipotentiam summitates sequuntur, aut ipse faciat aut ipse contineat: ipsam denique Jovem veteres vocaverunt, et apud theologos Jupiter est mundi anima.” In Somn. Scip. c. XVII.

The two passages in parentheses are the additions of the commentator, intended to explain how the deity is the material cause of the world. He is not so of his own essence, not so immediately, but through the interposition of Pradhána: ‘As however he is the source of Prakriti, he must be considered the material as well as immaterial cause of being.’

CHAP. VIII.

Description of the sun: his chariot; its two axles: his horses. The cities of the regents of the cardinal points. The sun’s course: nature of his rays: his path along the ecliptic.

Length of day and night. Divisions of time: equinoxes and solstices, months, years, the cyclical Yuga, or age of five years. Northern and southern declinations. Saints on the Lokáloka mountain. Celestial paths of the Pitris, gods, u. Origin of Gangá, and separation, on the top of Meru, into four great rivers.

PARÁ ARA.–Having thus described to you the system of the world in general, I will now explain to you the dimensions and situations of the sun and other luminaries.

The chariot of the sun is nine thousand leagues in length, and the pole is of twice that longitude; the axle is fifteen millions and seven hundred thousand leagues long; on which is fixed a wheel with three naves, five spokes, and six peripheries, consisting of the ever- during year; the whole constituting the circle or wheel of time. The chariot has another axle, which is forty-five thousand five hundred leagues long.

The two halves of the yoke are of the same length respectively as the two axles (the longer and the shorter). The short axle, with the short yoke, are supported by the pole- star: the end of the longer axle, to which the wheel of the car is attached, moves on the Mánasa mountain. The seven horses of the sun’s car are the metres of the Vedas, Gáyatrí, Vrihatí, R ih, Jayatí, E ubh, A ubh, and Pankti.

The city of Indra is situated on the eastern side of the Mánasottara mountain; that of Yama on the southern face; that of a on the west; and that of Soma on the north: named severally Vaswokasárá, Samyamaní, Mukhyá, and Vibhávarí.

The glorious sun, Maitreya, darts like an arrow on his southern course, attended by the constellations of the Zodiac. He causes the difference between day and night, and is the divine vehicle and path of the sages who have overcome the inflictions of the world.

Whilst the sun, who is the discriminator of all hours, shines in one continent in midday, in the opposite Dwípas, Maitreya, it will be midnight: rising and setting are at all seasons, and are always (relatively) opposed in the different cardinal and intermediate points of the horizon. When the sun becomes visible to any people, to them he is said to rise; when he disappears from their view, that is called his setting. There is in truth neither rising nor setting of the sun, for he is always; and these terms merely imply his presence and his disappearance.

When the sun (at midday) passes over either of the cities of the gods, on the Mánasottara mountain (at the cardinal points), his light extends to three cities and two intermediate points: when situated in an intermediate point, he illuminates two of the cities and three intermediate. points (in either case one hemisphere). From the period of his rise the sun moves with increasing rays until noon, when he proceeds towards his setting with rays diminishing (that is, his heat increases or diminishes in proportion as he advances to, or recedes from, the meridian of any place).

The east and west quarters are so called from the sun’s rising and setting there 7. As far as the sun shines in front, so far he shines behind and on either hand, illuminating all places except the summit of Meru, the mountain of the immortals; for when his rays reach the court of Brahmá, which is there situated, they are repelled and driven back by the overpowering radiance which there prevails: consequently there is always the alternation of day and night, according as the divisions of the continent lie in the northern (or southern) quarter, or inasmuch as they are situated north (or south) of Meru.

The radiance of the solar orb, when the sun has set, is accumulated in fire, and hence fire is visible at a greater distance by night than by day: during the latter a fourth of the rays of fire blend with those of the sun, and from their union the sun shines with greater intensity by day. Elemental light, and heat derived from the sun or from fire, blending with each other, mutually prevail in various proportions, both by day and night. When the sun is present either in the southern or the northern hemisphere, day or night retires into the waters, according as they are invaded by darkness or light: it is from this cause that the waters look dark by day, because night is within them; and they look white by night, because at the setting of the sun the light of day takes refuge in their bosom.

When the sun has travelled in the centre of Pushkara a thirtieth part of the circumference of the globe, his course is equal in time to one Muhúrtta; and whirling round like the circumference of the wheel of a potter, he distributes day and night upon the earth. In the commencement of his northern course, the sun passes to Capricornus, thence to Aquarius, thence to Pisces, going successively from one sign of the Zodiac to another. After he has passed through these, the sun attains his equinoctial movement (the vernal equinox), when he makes the day and night of equal duration.

Thenceforward the length of the night decreases, and the day becomes longer, until the sun reaches the end of Gemini, when he pursues a different direction, and, entering Cancer, begins his declension to the south. As the circumference of a potter’s wheel revolves most rapidly, so the sun travels rapidly on his southern journey: he flies along his path with the velocity of wind, and traverses a great distance in a short time.

In twelve Muhúrttas he passes through thirteen lunar asterisms and a half during the day; and during the night he passes through the same distance, only in eighteen Muhúrttas. As the centre of the potter’s wheel revolves more slowly than the circumference, so the sun in his northern path again revolves with less rapidity, and moves over a less space of the earth in a longer time, until, at the end of his northern route, the day is again eighteen Muhúrttas, and the night twelve; the sun passing through half the lunar mansions by day and by night in those periods respectively. As the lump of clay on the centre of the potter’s wheel moves most slowly, so the polar-star, which is in the centre of the zodiacal wheel, revolves very tardily, and ever remains in the centre, as the clay continues in the centre of the wheel of the potter.

The relative length of the day or night depends upon the greater or less velocity with which the sun revolves through the degrees between the two points of the horizon. In the solstitial period, in which his diurnal path is quickest, his nocturnal is slowest; and in that in which he moves quick by night, he travels slowly by day. The extent of his journey is in either case the same; for in the course of the day and night he passes through all the signs of the Zodiac, or six by night, and the same number by day: the length and shortness of the day are measured by the extent of the signs; and the duration of day and night by the period which the sun takes to pass through them. In his northern declination the sun moves quickest by night, and slowest by day; in his southern declination the reverse is the case.

The night is called Ushá, and the day is denominated a

, and the interval between

them is called Sandhya. On the occurrence of the awful Sandhya, the terrific fiends termed Mandehas attempt to devour the sun; for Brahmá denounced this curse upon them, that, without the power to perish, they should die every day (and revive by night), and therefore a fierce contest occurs daily between them and the sun. At this season pious Brahmans scatter water, purified by the mystical Omkára, and consecrated by the Gáyatri; and by this water, as by a thunderbolt, the foul fiends are consumed. When the first oblation is offered with solemn invocations in the morning rite, the thousand-rayed deity shines forth with unclouded splendour.

Omkára is u the mighty, the substance of the three Vedas, the lord of speech; and by its enunciation those Rákshasas are destroyed. The sun is a principal part of u, and light is his immutable essence, the active manifestation of which is excited by the mystic syllable Om. Light effused by the utterance of Omkára becomes radiant, and burns up entirely the Rákshasas called Mandehas. The performance of the Sandhya (the morning) sacrifice must never therefore be delayed, for he who neglects it is guilty of the murder of the sun. Protected thus by the Brahmans and the pigmy sages called Bálakhilyas, the sun goes on his course to give light to the world.

Fifteen twinklings of the eye (Nimeshas) make a Ká há; thirty Ká hás, a Kalá; thirty Kalás, a Muhúrtta (forty-eight minutes); and thirty Muhúrttas, a day and night: the portions of the day are longer or shorter, as has been explained; but the Sandhyá is always the same in increase or decrease, being only one Muhúrtta. From the period that a line may be drawn across the sun (or that half his orb is visible) to the expiration of three Muhúrttas (two hours and twenty-four minutes), that interval is called Prátar (morning), forming a fifth portion of the day.

The next portion, or three Muhúrttas from morning, is termed Sangava (forenoon): the three next Muhúrttas constitute mid-day: the afternoon comprises the next three Muhúrttas: the three Muhúrttas following are considered as the evening: and the fifteen Muhúrttas of the day are thus classed in five portions of three each. But the day consists of fifteen Muhúrttas only at the equinoxes, increasing or diminishing in number in the northern and southern declinations of the sun, when the day encroaches on the night, or the night upon the day.

The equinoxes occur in the seasons of spring and autumn, when the sun enters the signs of Aries and Libra. When the sun enters Capricorn (the winter solstice), his northern progress commences; and his southern when he enters Cancer (the summer solstice).

Fifteen days of thirty Muhúrttas each are called a Paksha (a lunar fortnight); two of these make a month; and two months, a solar season; three seasons a northern or southern declination (Ayana); and those two compose a year. Years, made up of four kinds of months, are distinguished into five kinds; and an aggregate of all the varieties of time is termed a Yoga, or cycle. The years are severally called Samvatsara, Parivatsara, Idvatsara, Anuvatsara, and Vatsara. This is the time called a Yuga.

The mountain range that lies most to the north (in Bhárata-varsha) is called ringaván (the horned), from its having three principal elevations (horns or peaks), one to the north, one to the south, and one in the centre; the last is called the equinoctial, for the sun arrives there in the middle of the two seasons of spring and autumn, entering the equinoctial points in the first degree of Aries and of Libra, and making day and night of equal duration, or fifteen Muhúrttas each.

When the sun, most excellent sage, is in the first degree of the lunar mansion, Krittiká, and the moon is in the. fourth of Vi ákhá, or when the sun is in the third degree of

Vi ákhá, and the moon is in the head of Krittiká (these positions being cotemporary with the equinoxes), that equinoctial season is holy (and is styled the Mahávishubha, or the great equinox). At this time offerings are to be presented to the gods and to the manes, and gifts are to be made to the Brahmans by serious persons; for such donations are productive of happiness. Liberality at the equinoxes is always advantageous to the donor: and day and night; seconds, minutes, and hours; intercalary months; the day of full moon (Paurnamásí); the day of conjunction (Amávásya), when the moon rises invisible; the day when it is first seen ( iniválí); the day when it first disappears (Kuhú); the day when the moon is quite round (Ráká); and the day when one digit is deficient (Anumati), are all seasons when gifts are meritorious.

The sun is in his northern declination in the months Tapas, Tapasya, Madhu, Mádhava,

ukra, and uchi; and in his southern in those of Nabhas, Nabhasya, Isha, Úrja, Sahas, Sahasya.

On the Lokáloka mountain, which I have formerly described to you, reside the four holy protectors of the world; or Sudháman and Sankhapád, the two sons of Kardama, and

! yaroman, and Ketumat. Unaffected by the contrasts of existence, void of selfishness, active, and unencumbered by dependants, they take charge of the spheres, themselves abiding on the four cardinal points of the Lokáloka mountain.

On the north of Agastya, and south of the line of the Goat, exterior to the Vaiswánara path, lies the road of the Pitris. There dwell the great Rishis, the offerers of oblations with fire, reverencing the Vedas, after whose injunctions creation commenced, and who were discharging the duties of ministrant priests: for as the worlds are destroyed and renewed, they institute new rules of conduct, and reestablish the interrupted ritual of the Vedas.

Mutually descending from each other, progenitor springing from descendant, and descendant from progenitor, in the alternating succession of births, they repeatedly appear in different housed and races along with their posterity, devout practices and instituted observances, residing to the south of the solar orb, as long as the moon and stars endure.

The path of the gods lies to the north of the solar sphere, north of the Nágavithi, and south of the seven Rishis. There dwell the Siddhas, of subdued senses, continent and pure, undesirous of progeny, and therefore victorious over death: eighty-eight thousand of these chaste beings tenant the regions of the sky, north of the sun, until the destruction of the universe: they enjoy immortality, for that they are holy; exempt from covetousness and concupiscence, love and hatred; taking no part in the procreation of living beings, and detecting the unreality of the properties of elementary matter. By immortality is meant existence to the end of the Kalpa: life as long as the three regions (earth, sky, and heaven) last is called exemption from (reiterated) death. The consequences of acts of iniquity or piety, such as Brahmanicide or an A wamedha, endure for a similar period, or until the end of a Kalpa, when all within the interval between Dhruva and the earth is destroyed.

The space between the seven Rishis and Dhruva, the third region of the sky, is the splendid celestial path of u ( upada), and the abode of those sanctified ascetics who are cleansed from every soil, and in whom virtue and vice are annihilated. This is that excellent place of u to which those repair in whom all sources of pain are extinct, in consequence of the cessation of the consequences of piety or iniquity, and where they never sorrow more. There abide Dharma, Dhruva, and other spectators of the world, radiant with the superhuman faculties of u, acquired through religious meditation; and there are fastened and inwoven to all that is, and all that shall ever be, animate or inanimate.

The seat of u is contemplated by the wisdom of the Yogis, identified with supreme light, as the radiant eye of heaven. In this portion of the heavens the splendid Dhruva is stationed, and serves for the pivot of the atmosphere. On Dhruva rest the seven great planets, and on them depend the clouds. The rains are suspended in the clouds, and from the rains come the water which is the nutriment and delight of all, the gods and the rest; and they, the gods, who are the receivers of oblations, being nourished by burnt- offerings, cause the rain to fall for the support of created beings. This sacred station of

u, therefore, is the support of the three worlds, as it is the source of rain.

From that third region of the atmosphere, or seat of u, proceeds the stream that washes away all sin, the river Gangá, embrowned with the unguents of the nymphs of heaven, who have sported in her waters. Having her source in the nail of the great toe of

u’s left foot, Dhruva receives her, and sustains her day and night devoutly on his head; and thence the seven Rishis practise the exercises of austerity in her waters, wreathing their braided locks with her waves.

The orb of the moon, encompassed by her accumulated current, derives augmented lustre from her contact. Falling from on high, as she issues from the moon; she alights on the summit of Meru, and thence flows to the four quarters of the earth, for its purification.

The ítá, Alakanandá, Chakshu, and Bhadrá are four branches of but one river, divided according to the regions towards which it proceeds. The branch that is known as the Alakanandá was borne affectionately by Mahádeva, upon his head, for more than a hundred years, and was the river which raised to heaven the sinful sons of Sagara, by washing their ashes. The offences of any man who bathes in this river are immediately expiated, and unprecedented virtue is engendered.

Its waters, offered by sons to their ancestors in faith for three years, yield to the latter rarely attainable gratification. Men of the twice-born orders, who offer sacrifice in this river to the lord of sacrifice, Purushottama, obtain whatever they desire, either here or in heaven. Saints who are purified from all soil by bathing in its waters, and whose minds are intent on Ke ava, acquire thereby final liberation. This sacred stream, heard of, desired, seen, touched, bathed in, or hymned, day by day, sanctifies all beings; and those who, even at a distance of a hundred leagues, exclaim “Gangá, Gangá,” atone for the sins committed during three previous lives. The place whence this river proceeds, for the purification of the three worlds, is the third division of the celestial regions, the seat of

Footnotes

The sun’s car is 10.000 Yojanas broad, and as many deep, according to the Váyu and Matsya. The Bhágavata makes it thirty-six hundred thousand long, and one fourth that broad. The Linga agrees with the text.

There is no great difference in this number in other accounts. The length of this axle, which extends from Meru to Mánasa, is nearly equal to the semidiameter of the earth, which, according to the Matsya P., is 18.950.000 Yojanas.

The three naves are the three divisions of the day, morning, noon, and night; the five spokes are the five cyclic years; and the six peripheries are the six seasons. The Bhágavata explains the three naves to be three periods of the year, of four months each, and gives twelves spokes as types of the twelve months. The Váyu, Matsya, and Bhavishya Purá as enter into much more detail. According to them, the parts of the wheel are the same as above described: the body of the car is the year; its upper and lower half are the two solstices; Dharma is its flag; Artha and Káma the pins of the yoke and axle; night is its fender; Nimeshas form its floor; a moment is the axle-tree; an instant the pole; minutes are its attendants; and hours its harness.

This shorter axle is, according to the Bhágavata, one fourth of the longer.

We are to understand here, both in the axle and yoke, two levers, one horizontal, the other perpendicular. The horizontal arm of the axle has a wheel at one end; the other extremity is connected with the perpendicular arm. To the horizontal arm of the yoke are harnessed the horses; and its inner or right extremity is secured to the perpendicular. The upper ends of both perpendiculars are supposed to be attached to Dhruva, the pole-star, by two aerial cords, which are lengthened in the sun’s southern course, and shortened in his northern; and retained by which to Dhruva, as to a pivot, the wheel of the car traverses the summit of the Mánasottara mountain on Pushkara-dwípa, which runs like a ring round the several continents and oceans. The contrivance is commonly compared to an oil mill, and was probably suggested by that machine as constructed in India. As the Mánasottara mountain is but 50.000 leagues high, and Meru 84.000, whilst Dhruva is 1500.000, both levers are inclined at obtuse angles to the nave of the wheel and each other. In images of the sun, two equal and semicircular axles connect a central wheel with the sides of the car.

In the Linga the city of Indra is called Amarávati; and in it and the Váyu that of a is termed Sukhá.

The terms Púrva and Apara mean properly ‘before and behind;’ but ‘before’ naturally denotes the east, either because men, according to a text of the Vedas, spontaneously face, as if to welcome the rising sun, or because they are enjoined by the laws so to do. When they face the rising sun, the west is of course behind them. The same circumstance determines the application of the term Dakshina, properly ‘right,’ 6/71 ., or ‘dexterum,’ to the south. Uttara, ‘other’ or ‘last,’ necessarily implies the north.

This is rather obscure, but it is made out clearly enough in the commentary, and in the parallel passages in the Váyu, Matsya, Linga, Kúrma, and Bhágavata. The sun travels round the world, keeping Meru always on his right: to the spectator who fronts him therefore, as he rises, Meru must be always on the north; and as the sun’s rays do not penetrate beyond the centre of the mountain, the regions beyond, or to the north of it, must be in darkness; whilst those on the south of it must be in light: north and south being relative, not absolute terms, depending upon the position of the spectator with regard to the sun and to Meru. So the commentator: It was probably through some misapprehension of this doctrine that Major Wilford asserted, “by Meru the Paurá iks understa nd in general the north pole, but the context of the Purá as is against this supposition.” As. Res. VIII. 286. There is no inconsistency, however, in Meru’s being absolutely in the centre of the world, and relatively north to the inhabitants of the several portions, to all of whom the east is that quarter where the sun first appears, and the other quarters are thereby regulated.

Similar notions are contained in the Váyu.

The sun travels at the rate of one-thirtieth of the earth’s circumference in a Muhúrtta, or

31.50.000 Yojanas; making the total 9 crores and 45 lakhs, or 9.45.00.000; according to the Váyu, Lingo, and Matsya Purá as.

This passage, which is somewhat at variance with the general doctrine, that the length of the day depends upon the velocity of the sun’s course, and which has not been noticed in any other Paurá ik text, is defended by the commentator, upon the authority of the Jyotish ástra, or astronomical writings. According to them, he asserts, the signs of the Zodiac are of different extent. Aquarius, Pisces, and Aries are the shortest; Taurus, Capricornus, and Gemini are something longer; Leo and Scorpio longer still; and the remaining four the longest of all. According to the six which the sun traverses, the day or night will be the longer or shorter. The apparent contradiction may however be reconciled by understanding the sun’s slow motion, and the length of a sign, to be equivalent terms.

The same story occurs in the Váyu, with the addition that the Mandehas are three crores in number. It seems to be an ancient legend, imperfectly preserved in some of the

Purá as.

The sacred syllable Om has been already described. The Gayatrí, or holiest verse of the Vedas, not to be uttered to ears profane, is a short prayer to the sun, identified as the

supreme, and occurs in the tenth hymn of the fourth section of the third a

ka of the

Sanhitá of the Rig-veda: ‘We meditate on that excellent light of the divine sun: may he illuminate our minds.’ Such is the fear entertained of profaning this text, that copyists of the Vedas not unfrequently refrain from transcribing it, both in the Sanhitá and Bháshya.

Or, in the text, with the prayer that commences with the words Súrya jyotir, ‘That which is in the sun (or light) is adorable,’ &c. The whole prayer is given in Colebrooke’s account of the religious ceremonies of the Hindus. As. Res. V. 355.

But this comprehends the two Sandhyás, ‘morning and evening twilight.’ Two Náris, or half a Muhúrtta before sunrise, constitute the morning Sandhyá; and the same interval after sunset the evening. Sandhya, meaning ‘junction,’ is so termed as it is the juncture or interval between darkness and light; as in the Váyu and Matsya.

The four months are named in the Váyu, and are, 1. the Saura, or solar-sydereal, consisting of the sun’s passage through a sign of the Zodiac: 2. the Saumya or Chándra or lunar month, comprehending thirty lunations or Tithis, and reckoned most usually from new moon to new moon, though sometimes from full moon to full moon: 3. the Sávana or solar month, containing thirty days of sunrise and sunset: and 4. the Nákshatra or lunar asterismal month, which is the moon’s revolution through the twenty-eight lunar mansions.

The five years forming this Yuga, or cycle, differ only in denomination, being composed of the months above described, with such Malamásas, or intercalary months, as may be necessary to complete the period, according to Vriddha Garga. The cycle comprehends, therefore, sixty solar- sydereal months of 1800 days; sixty-one solar months, or 1830 days; sixty-two lunar months, or 1860 lunations; and sixty-seven lunar-asterismal months, or 1809 such days. Col. Warren, in his Kála Sankalitá, considers these years to be severally cycles. “In the cycle of sixty,” he observes, “are contained five cycles of twelve years, each supposed equal to one year of the planet (Jupiter).

I only mention this cycle because I found it mentioned in some books; but I know of no nation nor tribe that reckons time after that account. The names of the five cycles, or Yugs, are, 1. Samvatsara, 2. Parivatsara, 3. Idvatsara, 4. Anuvatsara, 5. Udravatsara. The name of each year is determined from the Nákshatra, in which Vrihaspati sets and rises heliacally, and they follow in the order of the lunar months.” K. S. 212. It may be reasonably doubted, however, if this view be correct; and the only connexion between the cycle of five years and that of Vrihaspati may be the multiplication of the former by the latter (5 x 12), so as to form the cycle of sixty years: a cycle based, the commentator remarks, upon the conjunction (Yuga) of the sun and moon in every sixtieth year. The original and properly Indian cycle, however, is that of five years, as Bentley remarks. “The astronomers of this period (1181 B. C.) framed a cycle of five years for civil and religious ceremonies.” Ancient and modern Hindu Astronomy. It is in fact, as Mr.

Colebrooke states, the cycle of the Vedas, described in the Jyotish, or astronomical sections, and specified in the institutes of Pará ara as the basis of calculation for larger cycles. As. Res. VIII. 470.

Reference is here made apparently, though indistinctly, to those positions of the planets which indicate, according to Bentley, the formation of the lunar mansions by Hindu astronomers, about 1424 B. C. Hindu Astronomy, p. 3 and 4. The Váyu and Linga

Purá as specify the positions of the other planets at the same time, or the end, according to the former, of the Chákshusha Manwantara. At that time the sun was in Vi ákhá, the moon in Krittiká, Venus in Pushyá, Jupiter in Púrvaphalguní, Mars in Áshá há, Budha in

$ A há, ani in Revatí, Ketu in Ásleshá, and Ráhu in Bharaní. There are differences between some of these and the positions cited by Bentley, but most of them are the same. He considers them to have been observations of the occultations of the moon by the planets, in the respective lunar mansions, 1424-5 B. C. According to the Váyu, these positions or origins of the planets are from the Vedas. The Linga, less accurately perhaps, reads referring it to the works of law.

These are the names of the months which occur in the Vedas, and belong to a system now obsolete, as was noticed by Sir Wm. Jones. As. Res. III. 258. According to the classification of the text, they correspond severally with the lunar months Mágha, Phálguna, Chaitra, Vai ákha, G ha, Áshárha, or from December to June; and with

rá a, Bhádra, Áswina, Kártika, Agraháyana, and Pausha, from July to December. From this order of the two series of the months, as occurring in the Vedas, Mr.

Colebrooke infers, upon astronomical computations, their date to be about fourteen centuries prior to the Christian era. As. Res. VII. 283.

The Váyu has the same names, but ascribes a different descent to the first, making Sudháman the son of Viraja. Sankhapád is the son of Kardama: the other two are the sons of Parjanya and Rajas, consistently with the origin ascribed to these Lokapálas in the patriarchal genealogies of that Purá a.

Allusion is here made to some divisions of the celestial sphere which are not described in any other part of the text. The fullest, but still in some respects a confused and partly inaccurate account is given in the Matsya Purá a; but a more satisfactory description occurs in the comment on the Bhágavata, there cited from the Váyu, but not found in the copies consulted on the present occasion. According to those details, the path (Márga) of the sun and other planets amongst the lunar asterisms is divided into three portions or

hánas, northern, southern, and central, called severally Airávata, Járadgava (Ajagava, Matsya P.), and Vaiswánara. Each of these, again, is divided into three parts or Víthis: those of the northern portion are termed Nágavithi, Gajavíthi, and Airávati; those of the centre are Árshabhí Govíthí, and Járadgaví; and those of the south are named Ajavíthí, Mrígavithí, and Vaiswánarí. Each of these Víthis comprises three asterisms.

Nágavíthi	Aswiní í Krittiká
Gajavíthí	Rohiní Mriga iras Ardrá
Airávati	Punarvasu Pushyá Ásleshá
Árshabhí	Maghá Púrvaphalguní Uttaraphalguní
Govíthí	Hastá Chitrá Swáti
Járadgaví	Vi ákhá Anurádhá G há
Ajavíthi	Múlá Purváshá há Uttaráshá há
Mrigavíthí	á $ A há Satábhishá
Vaiswánarí	Púrva Bhádrapadá Uttara Bhádrapadá Revatí.

See also As. Res. IX. table of Nakshatras, 346. Agastya is Canopus; and the line of the goat, or Ajavíthi, comprises asterisms which contain stars in Scorpio and Sagittarius.

A marginal note in one MS. explains the phrase of the text, ### to signify as far as to the moon and stars; but the Pitri yána, or path of the Pitris, lies amongst the asterisms; and, according to the Paurá ik system of the heavens, it is not clear what could be meant by its being bounded by the moon and stars. The path south of the solar orb is, according to the Vedas, that of smoke or darkness.

The stars of the Nágavíthi are those of Aries and Taurus; and by the seven Rishis we are here to understand Ursa Major.

This, according to the Vedas, is all that is to be understood of the immortality of the gods: they perish at the period of universal dissolution.

That is, generally as affecting created beings, not individuals, whose acts influence their several successive births.

From Ursa Major to the polar star.

The popular notion is, that iva or Mahádeva receives the Ganges on his head; but this, as subsequently explained, is referred, by the avas at least, to the descent of the Alakanandá, or Ganges of India, not to the celestial Ganges.

Or, in other words, ‘flows into the sea.’ The legend here alluded to is more fully detailed in a subsequent book.

The situation of the source of the Ganges of heaven identifies it with the milky way.

CHAP. IX.

Planetary system, under the type of a i umára or porpoise. The earth nourished by the sun. Of rain whilst the sun shines. Of rain from clouds. Rain the support, of vegetation, and thence of animal life. Nárá a the support of all beings.

THE form of the mighty Hari which is present in heaven, consisting of the constellations, is that of a porpoise, with Dhruva situated in the tail. As Dhruva revolves, it causes the moon, sun, and stars to turn round also; and the lunar asterisms follow in its circular path; for all the celestial luminaries are in fact bound to the polar-star by aerial cords. The porpoise-like figure of the celestial sphere is upheld by Nárá a, who himself, in planetary radiance, is seated in its heart; whilst the son of Uttanápáda, Dhruva, in consequence of his adoration of the lord of the world, shines in the tail of the stellar porpoise.

The upholder of the porpoise-shaped sphere is the sovereign of all, Janárddana. This sphere is the supporter of Dhruva; and by Dhruva the sun is upstayed. Upon the sun depends this world, with its gods, demons, and men. In what manner the world depends upon the sun, be attentive, and you shall hear.

During eight months of the year the sun attracts the waters, which are the essence of all fluids, and then pours them upon earths (during the other four months) as rain 2: from rain grows corn; and by corn the whole world subsists. The sun with his scorching rays absorbs the moisture of the earth, and with them nourishes the moon. The moon communicates, through tubes of air, its dews to the clouds, which, being composed of smoke, fire, and wind (or vapour), can retain the waters with which they are charged: they are therefore called Abhras, because their contents are not dispersed 3. When however they are broken to pieces by the wind, then watery stores descend, bland, and freed front every impurity by the sweetening process of time.

The sun, Maitreya, exhales watery fluids from four sources, seas, rivers, the earth, and living creatures. The water that the sun has drawn up from the Gangá of the skies he quickly pours down with his rays, and without a cloud; and men who are touched by this pure rain are cleansed from the soil of sin, and never see hell: this is termed celestial ablution. That rain which falls whilst the sun is shining, and without a cloud in the sky, is the water of the heavenly Ganges, shed by the solar rays. If, however, rain falls from a bright and cloudless sky whilst the sun is in the mansion of Krittiká and the other asterisms counted by odd numbers, as the third, fifth, &c., the water, although that of the Gangá of the sky, is scattered, by the elephants of the quarters, not by the rays of the sun: it is only when such rain falls, and the sun is in the even asterisms, that it is distributed by his beams.

The water which the clouds shed upon earth is in truth the ambrosia of living beings, for it gives fertility to the plants which are the support of their existence. By this all vegetables grow and are matured, and become the means of maintaining life. With them, again, those men who take the law for their light perform daily sacrifices, and through them give nourishment to the gods. And thus sacrifices, the Vedas, the font’ castes, with the Brahmans at their head, all the residences of the gods, all the tribes of animals, the whole world, all are supported by the rains by which food is produced. But the rain is evolved by the sun; the sun is sustained by Dhruva; and Dhruva is supported by the celestial porpoise-shaped sphere, which is one with Nárá a. Nárá a, the primeval existent, and eternally enduring, seated in the heart of the stellar sphere, is the supporter of all beings.

Footnotes

A more particular description of this porpoise occurs farther on.

Consequently, the Linga P. observes, there is no waste of water in the universe, as it is in constant circulation.

The theory of the clouds is more fully detailed in the Váyu, Linga, and Matsya p. 231 Purá as: it is the same in its general tenor, but comprises additional circumstances. Clouds, according to those authorities, are of three classes: 1. Ágneya, originating from fire or heat, or in other words evaporation: they are charged with wind and rain, and are of various orders, amongst which are those called Jímúta, from their supporting life; 2. Brahmaja, born from the breath of Brahmá: these are the clouds whence thunder and lightning proceed: and 3. Pakshaja, or clouds which were originally the wings of the mountains, and which were cut off by Indra: these are also termed Pushkáravarttakas, from their including water in their vortices: they are the largest and most formidable of

all, and are those which, at the end of the Yugas and Kalpas, poor down the waters of the deluge. The shell of the egg of Brahmá, or of the universe, is formed of the primitive clouds.

According to the Váyu, the water scattered by the elephants of the quarters is in summer dew, and in winter snow; or the latter is brought by the winds from a city called r a, which lies between the Himavat and Hemakuta mountains, and falls down upon the former. In like manner, also, as heat radiates from the sun, so cold radiates from the moon.

CHAP. X.

Names of the twelve Ádityas. Names of the Rishis, Gandharbhas, Apsarasas, Yakshas, Uragas, and Rákshasas, who attend the chariot of the sun in each month of the year. Their respective functions.

PARÁ ARA.–Between the extreme northern and southern points the sun has to traverse in a year one hundred and eighty degrees, ascending and descending 1. His car is presided over by divine Ádityas, Rishis, heavenly singers and nymphs, Yakshas, serpents, and Rákshasas (one of each being placed in it in every month). The Áditya Dhátri, the sage Pulastya, the Gandharba Tumburu, the nymph halá, the Yaksha Rathakrit, the serpent Vásuki, and the Rákshas Heti, always reside in the sun’s car, in the month of Madhu or Chaitra, as its seven guardians. In Vai ákh or Mádhava the seven are Áryamat, Pulaha, Náreda, Punjikásthalí, Rathaujas, Kachaníra, and Praheti. In uchi or G ha they are Mitra, Atri, Háhá, Mená, Rathaswana, Takshaka, and Paurusheya. In the month

ukra or Áshádha they are a, Va ha, Huhu, Sahajanyá, Rathachitra, Nága, and Budha. In the month Nabhas (or Srá a) they are Indra, Angiras, Viswávasu, Pramlochá, rotas, and Elapatra (the name of both serpent and Rákshas). In the month Bhádrapada they are Vivaswat, Bhrigu, Ugrasena, Anumlocha, Ápú a, ankhapála, and Vyághra. In the month of Áswin they are Púshan, Gautama, Suruchi, Ghritáchí, Sushena, Dhananjaya, and Váta. In the month of Kártik they are Parjanya, Bharadwája, (another) Viswávasu, Viswáchí, Senajit, Airávata, and Chápa. In Agraháyana or Márga írsha they are Ansu, Ka yapa, Chitrasena, Urvasi, Tárkshya, Mahápadma, and Vidyut. In the month

of Pausha, Bhaga, Kratu, R áyu, Purvachittí, a

nemi, aka, and Sphúrja are

the seven who abide in the orb of the sun, the glorious spirits who scatter light throughout the universe. In the month of Mágha the seven who are in the sun are EJ r i, Jamadagni, $ ra, Tilottamá, Ritajit, Kambala, and Brahmápeta. Those who abide in the sun in the month Phálguna are u, Visvamitra, Súryaverchchas, Rambhá, Satyajit, Aswatara, and Yajnápeta.

In this manner, Maitreya, a troop of seven celestial beings, supported by the energy of

u, occupies during the several months the orb of the sun. The sage celebrates his praise, and the Gandharba sings, and the nymph dances before him: the Rákshas attends upon his steps, the serpent harnesses his steeds, and the Yaksha trims the reins: the numerous pigmy sages, the Bálakhilyas, ever surround his chariot. The whole troop of seven, attached to the sun’s car, are the agents in the distribution of cold, heat, and rain, at their respective seasons.

Footnotes

It might be doubted whether the text meant 180 in each hemisphere or in both, but the sense is sufficiently clear in the Váyu, &c., and the number of % alas travelled in the

year is 360: the % a

las, ‘circles’ or ‘degrees,’ being in fact the sun’s diurnal revolutions,

and their numbers corresponding with the days of the solar year; as in the Bhavishya P. ‘The horses of the sun travel twice 180 degrees in a year, internal and external (to the equator), in the order of the days.’

A similar enumeration of the attendants upon the sun’s car occurs in the Váyu, &c. For Yakshas, the generic term there employed is Grá ís, but the individuals are the same. The Kúrma and Bhavishya refer the twelve Ádityas to different months:–

Dhátri Áryamat	u. Chaitra Vai ákha	Kúrma. Vai ákha Chaitra	Bhavishya. Kártika Vai ákha
Mitra	G ha	Márga írsha	Márga írsha
a	Áshá ha	Mágha	Bhádra
Indra	rá a	G ha	Áswina
Vivaswat	Bhádra	rá a	G ha
Púshan	Áswina	Phálguna	Pausha
Parjanya	Kártika	Áswina	rá a
Ansu	Márga írsha	Áshá ha	Áshá ha
Bhaga	Pausha	Bhádra	Mágha
EJ r i	Mágha	Kártika	Phálguna
u	Phálguna	Pausha	Chaitra.

CHAP. XI.

The sun distinct from, and supreme over, the attendants on his car: identical with the three Vedas and with

u: his functions.

MAITREYA.–You have related to me, holy preceptor, the seven classes of beings who are ever present in the solar orb, and are the causes of heat and cold: you have also described to me their individual functions, sustained by the energy of u: but you have not told me the duty of the sun himself; for if, as you say, the seven beings in his sphere are the causes of heat, cold, and rain, how can it be also true, as you have before mentioned, that rain proceeds from the sun? or how can it be asserted that the sun rises, reaches the meridian, or sets, if these situations be the act of the collective seven.

PARÁ ARA.–I will explain to you, Maitreya, the subject of your inquiry. The sun, though identified with the seven beings in his orb, is distinct from them as their chief. The entire and mighty energy of u, which is called the three Vedas, or Rich, Yajush, and Sáman, is that which enlightens the world, and destroys its iniquity. It is that also which, during the continuance of things, is present as u, actively engaged in the preservation of the universe, and abiding as the three Vedas within the sun. The solar luminary, that appears in every month, is nothing else than that very supreme energy of

u which is composed of the three Vedas, influencing the motions of the planet; for the Richas (the hymns of the Rig-veda) shine in the morning, the prayers of the Yajush at noon, and the Vrihadrathantara and other portions of the Sáman in the afternoon. This triple impersonation of u, distinguished by the titles of the three Vedas, is the energy of u, which influences the positions of the sun.

But this triple energy of u is not limited to the sun alone, for Brahmá, Purusha ( u), and Rudra are also made up of the same triform essence. In creation it is

Brahmá, consisting of the Rig-veda in preservation it is u, composed of the Yajur- veda; and in destruction Rudra, formed of the Sáma-veda, the utterance of which is consequently inauspicious.

Thus the energy of u, made up of the three Vedas, and derived from the property of goodness, presides in the sun, along with the seven beings belonging to it; and through the presence of this power the planet shines with intense radiance, dispersing with his beams the darkness that spreads over the whole world: and hence the Munis praise him, the quiristers and nymphs of heaven sing and dance before him, and fierce spirits and holy sages attend upon his path. u, in the form of his active energy, never either rises or sets, and is at once the. sevenfold sun and distinct from it. In the same manner as a man approaching a mirror, placed upon a stand, beholds in it his own image, so the energy (or reflection) of u is never disjoined (from the sun’s car, which is the stand of the mirror), but remains month by month in the sun (as in the mirror), which is there stationed.

The sovereign sun, oh Brahman, the cause of day and night, perpetually revolves, affording delight to the gods, to the progenitors, and to mankind. Cherished by the Sushumna ray of the sun, the moon is fed to the full in the fortnight of its growth; and in the fortnight of its wane the ambrosia of its substance is perpetually drunk by the immortals, until the last day of the half month, when the two remaining digits are drunk by the progenitors: hence these two orders of beings are nourished by the sun. The moisture of the earth, which the sun attracts by his rays, he again parts with for the fertilization of the grain, and the nutriment of all terrestrial creatures; and consequently the sun is the source of subsistence to every class of living things, to gods, progenitors, mankind, and the rest. The sun, Maitreya, satisfies the wants of the gods for a fortnight (at a time); those of the progenitors once a month; and those of men and other animals daily.

Footnotes

This mysticism originates in part apparently from a misapprehension of metaphorical texts of the Vedas, such as ‘that triple knowledge (the Vedas) shines;’ and ‘the hymns of the Rich shine;’ and in part from the symbolization of the light of religious truth by the light of the sun, as in the Gáyatri To these are to be added the sectarial notions of the

avas.

The formulæ of the Sáma-veda are not to be used along with those of the Rich and Yajush, at sacrifices in general.

The Váyu, Linga, and Matsya P. specify several of the rays of the sun from amongst the many thousands which they say proceed from him. Of these, seven are principal, termed Sushumna, Harike a, Vi wakarman, Vi wakárya, Sampadvasu, Arvavasu, and Swaráj, supplying heat severally to the moon, the stars, and to Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

CHAP. XII.

Description of the moon: his chariot, horses, and course: fed by the sun: drained periodically of ambrosia by the progenitors and gods. The chariots and horses of the planets: kept in their orbits by aerial chains attached to Dhruva. Typical members of the planetary porpoise. Vásudeva alone real.

PARÁ ARA.–The chariot of the moon has three wheels, and is drawn by ten horses, of the whiteness of the Jasmine, five on the right half (of the yoke), five on the left. It moves along the asterisms, divided into ranges, as before described; and, in like manner as the sun, is upheld by Dhruva; the cords that fasten it being tightened or relaxed in the same way, as it proceeds on its course. The horses of the moon, sprung from the bosom of the waters, drag the car for a whole Kalpa, as do the coursers of the sun. The radiant sun supplies the moon, when reduced by the draughts of the gods to a single Kalá, with a single ray; and in the same proportion as the ruler of the night was exhausted by the celestials, it is replenished by the sun, the plunderer of the waters: for the gods, Maitreya, drink the nectar and ambrosia accumulated in the moon during half the month, and from this being their food they are immortal. Thirty-six thousand three hundred and thirty- three divinities drink the lunar ambrosia. When two digits remain, the moon enters the orbit of the sun, and abides in the ray called Amá; whence the period is termed Amávásya. In that orbit the moon is immersed for a day and night in the water; thence it enters the branches and shoots of the trees; and thence goes to the sun. Consequently any one who cuts off a branch, or casts down a leaf, when the moon is in the trees (the day of its rising invisible), is guilty of Brahmanicide.

When the remaining portion of the moon consists of but a fifteenth part, the progenitors approach it in the afternoon, and drink the last portion, that sacred Kali which is composed of ambrosia, and contained in the two digits of the form of the moon. Having drank the nectar effused by the lunar rays on the day of conjunction, the progenitors are satisfied, and remain tranquil for the ensuing month. These progenitors (or Pitris) are of three classes, termed Saumyas, Varhishadas, and Agnishwáttas. In this manner the moon, with its cooling rays, nourishes the gods in the light fortnight, the Pitris in the dark fortnight; vegetables, with the cool nectary aqueous atoms it sheds upon them; and through their developement it sustains men, animals, and insects; at the same time gratifying them by its radiance.

The chariot of the son of Chandra, Budha or Mercury, is composed of the elementary substances air and fire, and is drawn by eight bay horses of the speed of the wind. The vast car of ukra (Venus) is drawn by earth-born horses, is equipped with a protecting fender and a floor, armed with arrows, and decorated by a banner. The splendid car of Bhauma (Mars) is of gold, of an octagonal shape, drawn by eight horses, of a ruby red, sprung from fire. Vrihaspati (Jupiter), in a golden car drawn by eight pale-coloured horses, travels from sign to sign in the period of a year: and the tardy-paced ani (Saturn) moves slowly along in a car drawn by piebald steeds.

Eight black horses draw the dusky chariot of Ráhu, and once harnessed are attached to it for ever. On the Parvas (the nodes, or lunar and solar eclipses), Ráhu directs his course from the sun to the moon, and back again from the moon to the sun. The eight horses of the chariot of Ketu are of the dusky red colour of Lac, or of the smoke of burning straw.

I have thus described to you, Maitreya, the chariots of the nine planets, all which are fastened to Dhruva by aerial cords. The orbs of all the planets, asterisms, and stars are attached to Dhruva, and travel accordingly in their proper orbits, being kept in their places by their respective bands of air. As many as are the stars, so many are the chains of air that secure them to Dhruva; and as they turn round, they cause the pole-star also to revolve. In the same manner as the oil-man himself, going round, causes the spindle to revolve, so the planets travel round, suspended by cords of air, which are circling round a (whirling) centre. The air, which is called Pravaha, is so termed because it bears along the planets, which turn round, like a disc of fire, driven by the aerial wheel.

The celestial porpoise, in which Dhruva is fixed, has been mentioned, but you shall hear its constituent parts in more detail, as it is of great efficacy; for the view of it at night expiates whatever sin has been committed during the day; and those who behold it live as many years as there are stars in it, in the sky, or even more. Uttánapáda is to be considered as its upper jaw; Sacrifice as its lower. Dharma is situated on its brow;

Nárá a in its heart. The Áswins are its two fore feet; and a and Áryamat its two hinder legs. Samvatsara is its sexual organ; Mitra its organ of excretion. Agni, Mahendra, Ka yapa, and Dhruva, in succession, are placed in its tail; which four stars in this constellation never set.

I have now described to you the disposition of the earth and of the stars; of the insular zones, with their oceans and mountains, their Varshas or regions, and their inhabitants: their nature has also been explained, but it may be briefly recapitulated.

From the waters, which are the body of u, was produced the lotus-shaped earth, with its seas and mountains. The stars are u; the worlds are u; forests, mountains, regions, rivers, oceans are u: he is all that is, all that is not. He, the lord, is identical with knowledge, through which he is all forms, but is not a substance. You must conceive therefore mountains, oceans, and all the diversities of earth and the rest, are the illusions of the apprehension. When knowledge is pure, real, universal, independent of works, and exempt from defect, then the varieties of substance, which are the fruit of the tree of desire, cease to exist in matter. For what is substance? Where is the thing that is devoid of beginning, middle, and end, of one uniform nature? How can reality be predicated of that which is subject to change, and reassumes no more its original character? Earth is fabricated into a jar; the jar is divided into two halves; the halves are broken to pieces; the pieces become dust; the dust becomes atoms.

Say, is this reality? though it be so understood by man, whose self-knowledge is impeded by his own acts. Hence, Brahman, except discriminative knowledge, there is nothing any where, or at any time, that is real. Such knowledge is but one, although it appear manifold, as diversified by the various consequences of our own acts. Knowledge perfect, pure, free from pain, and detaching the affections from all that causes affliction; knowledge single and eternal–is the supreme Vásudeva, besides whom there is nothing. The truth has been thus communicated to you by me; that knowledge which is truth; from which all that differs is false. That information, however, which is of a temporal and worldly nature has also been imparted to you; the sacrifice, the victim, the fire, the priests, the acid juice, the gods, the desire for heaven, the path pursued by acts of devotion and the rest, and the worlds that are their consequences, have been displayed to you. In that universe which I have described, he for ever migrates who is subject to the influence of works; but he who knows Vásudeva to be eternal, immutable, and of one unchanging, universal form, may continue to perform them, as thereby he enters into the deity.

Footnotes

So is the car, according to the Váyu. The orb of the moon, according to the Linga, is only congealed water; as that of the sun is concentrated heat.

There is some indistinctness in this account, from a confusion between the division of the moon’s surface into sixteen Kalás or phases, and its apportionment, as a receptacle of nectar, into fifteen Kalás or digits, corresponding to the fifteen lunations, on the fourteen of which, during the wane, the gods drink the amrita, and on the fifteenth of which the Pitris exhaust the remaining portion. The correspondence of the two distinctions appears to be intended by the text, which terms the remaining digit or Kalá, composed of Amrita, the form or superficies of the two Kalás. This, the commentator observes, is the fifteenth, not the sixteenth. The commentator on our text observes, also, that the passage is sometimes read, Lava meaning ‘a moment,’ ‘a short period.’ The Matsya and Váyu express the parallel passage so as to avoid all perplexity, by specifying the two Kalás as referring to time, and leaving the number of nectareous Kalás undefined: ‘They, the Pitris, drink the remaining Kalás in two Kalás of time.’ Col. Warren explains Kalá, or, as he ‘writes it, Calá, in one of its acceptations, ‘the phases of the moon, of which the Hindus count sixteen.’ Kála Sankalita, 359. So the Bhágavata terms the moon, and the Váyu, after noticing the exhaustion of the fifteenth portion on the day of conjunction, states the recurrence of increase or wane to take place in the sixteenth phase at the beginning of each fortnight.

The Váyu and Matsya add a fourth class, the Kavyas; identifying them with the cyclic years; the Saumyas and Agnishwáttas with the seasons; and the Varhishads with the months.

The Váyu makes the horses ten in number, each of a different colour.

The Matsya, Linga, and Váyu add the circumstance of Ráhu’s taking up, on these occasions, the circular shadow of the earth.

The different bands of air attached to Dhruva are, according to the commentator, varieties of the Pravaha wind; but the Kúrma and Linga enumerate seven principal winds which perform this function, of which the Pravaha is one.

The four last are therefore stars in the circle of perpetual apparition. One of these is the pole-star; and in Ka yapa we have a verbal affinity to Cassiopeia. The i umára, or porpoise, is rather a singular symbol for the celestial sphere; but it is not more preposterous than many of the constellations of classical fiction. The component parts of it are much more fully detailed, in the Bhágavata, whence it has been translated by Sir Wm. Jones. As. Res. II. 402. The Bhágavata, however, mystifies the description, and says it is nothing more than the Dhá á, or symbol, by which u, identified with the starry firmament, is to be impressed upon the mind in meditation. The account of the planetary system is, as usual, fullest in the Váyu, with which the Linga and Matsya nearly agree.

The Bhavishya is nearly, also, the same. They all contain many passages common to them and to our text. In the Agni, Padma, Kúrma, Bráhma, I a, and Vámana descriptions occur which enter into less detail than the u, and often use its words, or passages found in other Purá as. Many intimations of a similar system occur in the Vedas, but whether the whole is to be found in those works is yet to be ascertained. It must not be considered as a correct representation of the philosophical astronomy of the Hindus, being mixed up with, and deformed by, mythological and symbolical fiction.

Only, however, as far as they are intended to propitiate u, and not for any other purpose.

CHAP. XIII.

Legend of Bharata. Bharata abdicates his throne, and becomes an ascetic: cherishes a fawn, and becomes so much attached to it as to neglect his devotions: he dies: his successive births: works in the fields, and is pressed as a palankin-bearer for the Rájá of Sauvíra: rebuked for his awkwardness: his reply: dialogue between him and the king.

MAITREYA.–Reverend sir, all that I asked of you has been thoroughly explained; namely, the situation of the earth, oceans, mountains, rivers, and planetary bodies; the system of the three worlds, of which u is the stay. The great end of life has also been expounded by you, and the preeminence of holy knowledge. It now remains that you fulfil the promise you made some time since, of relating to me the story of king Bharata, and how it happened that a monarch like him, residing constantly at the sacred place álagráma, and engaged in devotion, with his mind ever applied to Vásudeva, should have failed, through time sanctity of the shrine, and the efficacy of his abstractions, to obtain final emancipation; how it was that he was born again as a Brahman; and what was done by the magnanimous Bharata in that capacity: all this it is fit that you inform me.

PARÁ ARA.–The illustrious monarch of the earth resided, Maitreya, for a considerable period at álagráma, his thoughts being wholly dedicated to god, and his conduct distinguished by kindness and every virtue, until he had effected, in the highest degree, the entire control over his mind. The Rájá was ever repeating the names, Yajne a, Achyuta, Govinda, Mádhava, Ananta, Ke ava, a, u, Hrishike a; nothing else did be utter, even in his dreams; nor upon anything but those names, and their import, did he ever meditate. He accepted fuel, flowers, and holy grass, for the worship of the deity, but performed no other religious rites, being engrossed by disinterested, abstract devotion.

On one occasion he went to the Mahanadi, for the purpose of ablution: he bathed there, and performed the ceremonies usual after bathing, Whilst thus occupied, there came to the same place a doe big with young, who had come out of the forest to drink of the stream. Whilst quenching her thirst, there was heard on a sudden the loud and fearful roaring of a lion; on which the doe, being excessively alarmed, jumped out of the water upon the bank. In consequence of this great leap, her fawn was suddenly brought forth, and fell into the river; and the king, seeing it carried away by the current, caught hold of the young animal, and saved it from being drowned.

The injury received by the deer, by her violent exertion, proved fatal, and she lay down, and died; which being observed by the royal ascetic, he took the fawn in his arms, and returned with it to his hermitage: there he fed it and tended it every day, and it throve and grew up under his care. It frolicked about the cell, and grazed upon the grass in its vicinity; and whenever it strayed to a distance, and was alarmed at a wild beast, it ran back thither for safety. Every morning it sallied forth from home, and every evening returned to the thatched shelter of the leafy bower of Bharata.

Whilst the deer was thus the inmate of his hermitage, the mind of the king was ever anxious about the animal, now wandering away, and now returning to his side, and he was unable to think of anything else. He had relinquished his kingdom, his children, all his friends, and now indulged in selfish affection for a fawn. When absent for a longer time than ordinary, he would fancy that it had been carried off by wolves, devoured by a tiger, or slain by a lion. “The earth,” he would exclaim, “is embrowned by the impressions of its hoofs. What has become of the young deer, that was born for my delight? How happy I should be if he had returned from the thicket, and I felt his budding antlers rubbing against my arm. These tufts of sacred grass, of which the heads have been nibbled by his new teeth, look like pious lads chanting the Sáma-veda.” Thus the Muni meditated whenever the deer was long absent from him; and contemplated him with a countenance animated with pleasure as he stood by his side. His abstraction was interrupted, the spirit of the king being engrossed by the fawn, even though he had abandoned family, wealth, and dominion. The firmness of the prince’s mind became unsteady, and wandered with the wanderings of the young deer. In the course of time the king became subject to its influence. He died, watched by the deer, with tears in its eyes, like a son mourning for his father; and he himself, as he expired, cast his eyes upon the animal, and thought of nothing else, being wholly occupied with one idea.

In consequence of this predominant feeling at such a season, he was born again, in the Jambumárga forests, as a deer, with the faculty of recollecting his former life; which recollection inspiring a distaste for the world, he left his mother, and again repaired to the holy place álagráma. Subsisting there upon dry grass and leaves, he atoned for the acts which had led to his being born in such a condition; and upon his death he was next born as a Brahman, still retaining the memory of his prior existence. He was born in a pious and eminent family of ascetics, who were rigid observers of devotional rites. Possessed of all true wisdom, and acquainted with the essence of all sacred writings, he beheld soul as contradistinguished from matter (Prakriti).

Embued with knowledge of self, he beheld the gods and all other beings as in reality the same. It did not happen to him to undergo investiture with the Brahmanical thread, nor to read the Vedas with a spiritual preceptor, nor to perform ceremonies, nor to study the scriptures. Whenever spoken to, he replied incoherently and in ungrammatical and unpolished speech. His person was unclean, and he was clad in dirty garments. Saliva dribbled from his mouth, and he was treated with contempt by all the people. Regard for the consideration of the world is fatal to the success of devotion. The ascetic who is despised of men attains the end of his abstractions. Let therefore a holy man pursue the path of the righteous, without murmuring; and though men contemn him, avoid association with mankind. This, the counsel of ! yagarbha, did the Brahman call to mind, and hence assumed the appearance of a crazy ideot in the eyes of the world. His food was raw pulse, potherbs, wild fruit, and grains of corn. Whatever came in his way he ate, as part of a necessary, but temporary infliction. Upon his father’s death he was set to work in the fields by his brothers and his nephews, and fed by them with vile food; and as he was firm and stout of make, and a simpleton in outward act, he was the slave of every one that chose to employ him, receiving sustenance alone for his hire.

The head servant of the king of Sauvíra, looking upon him as an indolent, untaught Brahman, thought him a fit person to work without pay (and took him into his master’s service to assist in carrying the palankin.)

The king having ascended his litter, on one occasion, was proceeding to the hermitage of Kapila, on the banks of the Ikshumatí river, to consult the sage, to whom the virtues leading to liberation were known, what was most desirable in a world abounding with care and sorrow. Amongst those who by order of his head servant had been compelled gratuitously to carry the litter was the Brahman, who had been equally pressed into this duty, and who, endowed with the only universal knowledge, and remembering his former existence, bore the burden as the means of expiating the faults for which he was desirous to atone. Fixing his eyes upon the pole, he went tardily along, whilst the other bearers moved with alacrity; and the king, feeling the litter carried unevenly, called out, “Ho bearers! what is this? Keep equal pace together.” Still it proceeded unsteadily, and the Rájá again exclaimed, “What is this? how irregularly are you going!” When this had repeatedly occurred, the palankin-bearers at last replied to the king, “It is this man, who lags in his pace.” “How is this?” said the prince to the Brahman, “are you weary? You have carried your burden but a little way; are you unable to bear fatigue? and yet you look robust.”

The Brahman answered and said, “It is not I who am robust, nor is it by me that your palankin is carried. I am not wearied, prince, nor am I incapable of fatigue.” The king replied, “I clearly see that you are stout, and that the palankin is borne by you; and the carriage of a burden is wearisome to all persons.” “First tell me,” said the Brahman, “what it is of me that you have clearly seen, and then you may distinguish my properties as strong or weak. The assertion that you behold the palankin borne by me, or placed on me, is untrue. Listen, prince, to what I have to remark. The place of both the feet is the ground; the legs are supported by the feet; the thighs rest upon the legs; and the belly reposes on the thighs; the chest is supported by the belly; and the arms and shoulders are propped up by the chest: the palankin is borne upon the shoulders, and how can it be considered as my burden?

This body which is seated in the palankin is defined as Thou; thence what is elsewhere called This, is here distinguished as I and Thou. I and thou and others are constructed of the elements; and the elements, following the stream of qualities, assume a bodily shape; but qualities, such as goodness and the rest, are dependant upon acts; and acts, accumulated in ignorance, influence the condition of all beings. The pure, imperishable soul, tranquil, void of qualities, preeminent over nature (Prakriti), is one, without increase or diminution, in all bodies. But if it be equally exempt from increase or diminution, then with what propriety can you say to me, ‘I see that thou art robust?’ If the palankin rests on the shoulders, and they on the body; the body on the feet, and the feet on the earth; then is the burden borne as much by you as by me. When the nature of men is different, either in its essence or its cause, then may it be said that fatigue is to be undergone by me. That which is the substance of the palankin is the substance of you and me and all others, being an aggregate of elements, aggregated by individuality.”

Having thus spoken, the Brahman was silent, and went on bearing the palankin; but the king leaped out of it, and hastened to prostrate himself at his feet; saying, “Have compassion on me, Brahman, and cast aside the palankin; and tell me who thou art, thus disguised under the appearance of a fool.” The Brahman answered and said, “Hear me, Rája,. Who I am it is not possible to say: arrival at any place is for the sake of fruition; and enjoyment of pleasure, or endurance of pain, is the cause of the production of the body. A living being assumes a corporeal form to reap the results of virtue or vice. The universal cause of all living creatures is virtue or vice: why therefore inquire the cause (of my being the person I appear).”

The king said, “Undoubtedly virtue and vice are the causes of all existent effects, and migration into several bodies is for the purpose of receiving their consequences; but with respect to what you have asserted, that it is not possible for you to tell me who you are, that is a matter which I am desirous to hear explained. How can it be impossible, Brahman, for any one to declare himself to be that which he is? There can be no detriment to one’s-self from applying to it the word I.” The Brahman said, “It is true that there is no wrong done to that which is one’s-self by the application to it of the word I; but the term is characteristic of error, of conceiving that to be the self (or soul) which is not self or soul. The tongue articulates the word I, aided by the lips, the teeth, and the palate; and these are the origin of the expression, as they are the causes of the production of speech. If by these instruments speech is able to utter the word I, it is nevertheless improper to assert that speech itself is I.

The body of a man, characterized by hands, feet, and the like, is made up of various parts; to which of these can I properly apply the denomination I? If another being is different specifically from me, most excellent monarch, then it may be said that this is I; that is the other: but when one only soul is dispersed in all bodies, it is then idle to say, Who are you? who am I? Thou art a king; this is a palankin; these are the bearers; these the running footmen; this is thy retinue: yet it is untrue that all these are said to be thine. The palankin on which thou sittest is made of timber derived from a tree. What then? is it denominated either timber or a tree? People do not say that the king is perched upon a tree, nor that he is seated upon a piece of wood, when you have mounted your palankin.

The vehicle is an assemblage of pieces of timber, artificially joined together: judge, prince, for yourself in what the palankin differs really from the wood. Again; contemplate the sticks of the umbrella, in their separate state.

Where then is the umbrella? Apply this reasoning to thee and to me. A man, a woman, a cow, a goat, a horse, an elephant, a bird, a tree, are names assigned to various bodies, which are the consequences of acts. Man is neither a god, nor a man, nor a brute, nor a tree; these are mere varieties of shape, the effects of acts. The thing which in the world is called a king, the servant of a king, or by any other appellation, is not a reality; it is the creature of our imaginations: for what is there in the world, that is subject to vicissitude, that does not in the course of time go by different names.

Thou art called the monarch of the world; the son of thy father; the enemy of thy foes; the husband of thy wife; the father of thy children. What shall I denominate thee? How art thou situated? Art thou the head or the belly? or are they thine? Art thou the feet? or do they belong to thee? Thou art, oh king, distinct in thy nature from all thy members! Now then, rightly understanding the question, think who I am; and how it is possible for me, after the truth is ascertained (of the identity of all), to recognise any distinction, or to speak of my own individuality by the expression I.’

Footnotes

One copy addresses Pará ara, Bhagavan sarvabhutesa, ‘Sacred sovereign, lord of all creatures;’ rather an unusual title for a sage, even though an inspired one. The other two copies begin, Samyagákhyátam, ‘All has been thoroughly explained.’

See page 264.

The Mahánadí is properly a river in Orissa, but the name is applicable to any great stream, and its connexion with álagráma Tírtha makes it probable that it is intended for the Gandaki or Gandaka, in which the álagram or Ammonite is most abundantly found. It may be here noticed that álagráma is named amongst the Tírthas in the Mahábhárata.

The applicability of this simile is not explained by the commentator: it refers possibly to the cropped or shaven heads of the religious students.

According to the Bhágavata, Jambumárga is the Kálanjara mountain or Kalanjar in Bundelkhand.

! yagarbha or Brahmá is named here instead of the Yoga doctrine, which is sometimes ascribed to him as its author.

As a Kála sanyama, a state of suffering or mortification lasting only for a season; or, in other words, bodily existence; the body being contemplated as a sore, for which food is the unguent; drink, the lotion; and dress, the bandage.

A river in the north of India.

That is, What have you discerned of me, my body, life, or soul?

The condition–that is, the personal individuality–of any one is the consequence of his acts; but the same living principle animates him which is common to all living things.

The body is not the individual; therefore it is not the individual, but the body, or eventually the earth, which bears the burden.

That is, speech, or any or all of the faculties or senses, is not soul.

The aggregate limbs and senses no more constitute the individual, than the accidental combination of certain pieces of wood makes the fabric anything else than wood: in like manner as the machine is still timber, so the body is still mere elementary matter. Again; the senses and limbs, considered separately, no more constitute the man, than each individual stick constitutes the umbrella. Whether separate or conjoined, therefore, the parts of the body are mere matter; and as matter does not make up man, they do not constitute an individual.

Ehe term in this and the preceding clause is Pumán; here used generically, there specifically.

CHAP. XIV.

Dialogue continued. Bharata expounds the nature of existence, the end of life, and the identification of individual with universal spirit.

PARÁ ARA.–Having heard these remarks, full of profound truth, the king was highly pleased with the Brahman, and respectfully thus addressed him: “What you have said is no doubt the truth; but in listening to it my mind is much disturbed. You have shewn that to be discriminative wisdom which exists in all creatures, and which is the great principle that is distinct from plastic nature; but the assertions–‘I do not bear the palankin—the palankin does not rest upon me–the body, by which the vehicle is conveyed, is different from me–the conditions of elementary beings are influenced by acts, through the influence of the qualities, and the qualities are the principles of action;’–what sort of positions are these. Upon these doctrines entering into my ears, my mind, which is anxious to investigate the truth, is lost in perplexity.

It was my purpose, illustrious sage, to have gone to Kapila Rishi, to inquire of him what in this life was the most desirable object: but now that I have heard from you such words, my mind turns to you, to become acquainted with the great end of life. The Rishi Kapila is a portion of the mighty and universal u, who has come down upon earth to dissipate delusion; and surely it is he who, in kindness to me, has thus manifested himself to me in all that you have said. To me, thus suppliant, then, explain what is the best of all things; for thou art an ocean overflowing with the waters of divine wisdom.” The Brahman replied to the king, “You, again, ask me what is the best of all things, not what is the great end of life; but there are many things which are considered best, as well as those which are the great ends (or truths) of life. To him who, by the worship of the gods, seeks for wealth, prosperity, children, or dominion, each of these is respectively best.

Best is the rite or sacrifice, that is rewarded with heavenly pleasures. Best is that which yields the best recompense, although it be not solicited.

Self-contemplation, ever practised by devout ascetics, is to them the best. But best of all is the identification of soul with the supreme spirit. Hundreds and thousands of conditions may be called the best; but these are not the great and true ends of life. Hear what those are. Wealth cannot be the true end of life, for it may be relinquished through virtue, and its characteristic property is expenditure for the gratification of desire. If a son were final truth, that would be equally applicable to a different source; for the son that is to one the great end of life, becomes the father of another. Final or supreme truth, therefore, would not exist in this world, as in all these cases those objects which are so denominated are the effects of causes, and consequently are not finite. If the acquisition of sovereignty were designated by the character of being the great end of all, then finite ends would sometimes be, and sometimes cease to be.

If you suppose that the objects to be effected by sacrificial rites, performed according to the rules of the Rik, Yajur, and Sama Vedas, be the great end of life, attend to what I have to say.

Any effect which is produced through the causality of earth partakes of the character of its origin, and consists itself of clay; so any act performed by perishable agents, such as fuel, clarified butter, and Ku a grass, must itself be of but temporary efficacy. The great end of life (or truth) is considered by the wise to be eternal; but it would be transient, if it were accomplished through transitory things. If you imagine that this great truth is the performance of religious acts, from which no recompense is sought, it is not so; for such acts are the means of obtaining liberation, and truth is (the end), not the means.

Meditation on self, again, is said to be for the sake of supreme truth; but the object of this is to establish distinctions (between soul and body), and the great truth of all is without distinctions. Union of self with supreme spirit is said to be the great end of all; but this is false; for one substance cannot become substantially another. Objects, then, which are considered most desirable are infinite.

What the great end of all is, you shall, monarch, briefly learn from me. It is soul: one (in all bodies), pervading, uniform, perfect, preeminent over nature (Prakriti), exempt from birth, growth, and decay, omnipresent, undecaying, made up of true knowledge, independent, and unconnected with unrealities, with name, species, and the rest, in time present, past, or to come. The knowledge that this spirit, which is essentially one, is in one’s own and in all other bodies, is the great end, or true wisdom, of one who knows the unity and the true principles of things. As one diffusive air, passing through the perforations of a flute, is distinguished as the notes of the scale (Sherga and the rest), so the nature of the great spirit is single, though its forms be manifold, arising from the consequences of acts. When the difference of the investing form, as that of god or the rest, is destroyed, then there is no distinction.”

Footnotes

You ask what is reyas, not what is Paramártha: the first means literally ‘best,’ ‘most excellent,’ and is here used to denote temporary and special objects, or sources of happiness, as wealth, posterity, power, &c.; the latter is the one great object or end of life, true wisdom or truth, knowledge of the real and universal nature of soul.

But this is to be understood as applying to the doctrines which distinguish between the vital spirit (Jívátmá) and the supreme spirit (Paramátmá), the doctrine of the Yoga. It is here argued, that it is absurd to talk of effecting a union between the soul of man and supreme soul; for if they are distinct essentially, they cannot combine; if they are already one and the same, it is nonsense to talk of accomplishing their union. The great end of life or truth is not to effect the union of two things, or two parts of one thing, but to know that all is unity.

CHAP. XV.

Bharata relates the story of Ribhu and Nidágha. The latter, the pupil of the former, becomes a prince, and is visited by his preceptor, who explains to him the principles of unity, and departs.

PARÁ ARA continued.–Having terminated these remarks, the Brahman repeated to the silent and meditating prince a tale illustrative of the doctrines of unity. “Listen, prince,” he proceeded, “to what was formerly uttered by Ribhu, imparting holy knowledge to the Brahman Nidágha. Ribhu was a son of the supreme Brahmá, who, from his innate disposition, was of a holy character, and acquainted with true wisdom. Nidágha, the son of Pulastya, was his disciple; and to him Ribhu communicated willingly perfect knowledge, not doubting of his being fully confirmed in the doctrines of unity, when he had been thus instructed.

“The residence of Pulastya was at Víranagara, a large handsome city on the banks of the Devíká river. In a beautiful grove adjoining to the stream the pupil of Ribhu, Nidágha, conversant with devotional practices, abode. When a thousand divine years had elapsed, Ribhu went to the city of Pulastya, to visit his disciple. Standing at the doorway, at the end of a sacrifice to the Vi wadevas, he was seen by his scholar, who hastened to present him the usual offering, or Arghya, and conducted him into the house; and when his hands and feet were washed, and he was seated, Nidágha invited him respectfully to eat (when the following dialogue ensued):–

“Ribhu. ‘Tell me, illustrious Brahman, what food there is in your house; for I am not fond of indifferent viands.’

“Nidágha. ‘There are cakes of meal, rice, barley, and pulse in the house; partake, venerable sir, of whichever best pleases you.’

“Ribhu. ‘None of these do I like; give me rice boiled with sugar, wheaten cakes, and milk with curds and molasses.’

“Nidágha. ‘Ho dame, be quick, and prepare whatever is most delicate and sweet in the house, to feed our guest.’

“Having thus spoken, the wife of Nidágha, in obedience to her husband’s commands, prepared sweet and savoury food, and set it before the Brahman; and Nidágha, having stood before him until he had eaten of the meal which he had desired, thus reverentially addressed him:–

“Nidágha. ‘Have you eaten sufficiently, and with pleasure, great Brahman? and has your mind received contentment from your food? Where is your present residence? whither do you purpose going? and whence, holy sir, have you now come?’

“Ribhu. ‘A hungry man, Brahman, must needs be satisfied when he has finished his meal. Why should you inquire if my hunger has been appeased? When the earthy element is parched by fire, then hunger is engendered; and thirst is produced when the moisture of the body has been absorbed (by internal or digestive heat). Hunger and thirst are the functions of the body, and satisfaction must always be afforded me by that by which they are removed; for when hunger is no longer sensible, pleasure and contentment of mind are faculties of the intellect: ask their condition of the mind then, for man is not affected by them. For your three other questions, Where I dwell? Whither I go? and Whence I come? hear this reply. Man (the soul of man) goes every where, and penetrates every where, like the ether; and is it rational to inquire where it is? or whence or whither thou goest?

I neither am going nor coming, nor is my dwelling in any one place; nor art thou, thou; nor are others, others; nor am I, I. If you wonder what reply I should make to your inquiry why I made any distinction between sweetened and unsweetened food, you shall hear my explanation. What is there that is really sweet or not sweet to one eating a meal? That which is sweet, is no longer so when it occasions the sense of repletion; and that which is not sweet, becomes sweet when a man (being very hungry) fancies that it is so. What food is there that first, middle, and last is equally grateful. As a house built of clay is strengthened by fresh plaster, so is this earthly body supported by earthly particles; and barley, wheat, pulse, butter, oil, milk, curds, treacle, fruits, and the like, are composed of atoms of earth. This therefore is to be understood by you, that the mind which properly judges of what is or is not sweet is impressed with the notion of identity, and that this effect of identity tends to liberation.’

“Having heard these words, conveying the substance of ultimate truth, Nidágha fell at the feet of his visitor, and said, ‘Shew favour unto me, illustrious Brahman, and tell me who it is that for my good has come hither, and by whose words the infatuation of my mind is dissipated.’ To this, Ribhu answered, ‘I am Ribhu, your preceptor, come hither to communicate to you true wisdom; and having declared to you what that is, I shall depart. Know this whole universe to be the one undivided nature of the supreme spirit, entitled Vásudeva.’ Thus having spoken, and receiving the prostrate homage of Nidágha, rendered with fervent faith, Ribhu went his way.”

CHAP. XVI.

Ribhu returns to his disciple, and perfects him in divine knowledge. The same recommended to the Rájá by Bharata, who thereupon obtains final liberation. Consequences of hearing this legend.

“AFTER the expiration of another thousand years, Ribhu again repaired to the city where Nidágha dwelt, to instruct him farther in true wisdom. When he arrived near the town, he beheld a prince entering into it, with a splendid retinue; and his pupil Nidágha standing afar off, avoiding the crowd; his throat shrivelled with starvation, and bearing from the thicket fuel and holy grass. Ribhu approached him, and saluting him reverentially (as if he was a stranger) demanded why he was standing in such a retired spot. Nidágha replied, ‘There is a great crowd of people attending the entrance of the king into the town, and I am staying here to avoid it.’ ‘Tell me, excellent Brahman,’ said Ribhu, ‘for I believe that thou art wise, which is here the king, and which is any other man.’ The king,’ answered Nidágha, is he who is seated on the fierce and stately elephant, vast as a mountain peak; the others are his attendants.’

You have shewn me,’ observed Ribhu, ‘at one moment the elephant and the king, without noticing any peculiar characteristic by which they may be distinguished. Tell me, venerable sir, is there any difference between them? for I am desirous to know which is here the elephant, which is the king.’ ‘The elephant,’ answered Nidágha, ‘is underneath; the king is above him. Who is not aware, Brahman, of the relation between that which bears and that which is borne?’ To this Ribhu rejoined, ‘Still explain to me, according to what I know of it, this matter: what is it that is meant by the word underneath, and what is it that is termed above?’ As soon as he had uttered this, Nidágha jumped upon Ribhu, and said, ‘Here is my answer to the question you have asked: I am above, like the Rájá.; you are underneath, like the elephant. This example, Brahman, is intended for your information.’ Very well,’ said Ribhu, you, it seems, are as it were the Rájá, and I am like the elephant; but come now do you tell me which of us two is you; which is I.’

“When Nidágha heard these words, he immediately fell at the feet o the stranger, and said, Of a surety thou art my saintly preceptor Ribhu the mind of no other person is so fully imbued with the doctrines of unity as that of my teacher, and hence I know that thou art he.’ To this Ribhu replied, ‘I am your preceptor, by name Ribhu, who, pleased with: the dutiful attention he has received, has come to Nidágha to give him instruction: for this purpose have I briefly intimated to you divine truth, the essence of which is the non- duality of all.’ Having thus spoken to Nidágha, the Brahman Ribhu went away, leaving his disciple profoundly impressed, by his instructions, with belief in unity. He beheld all beings thenceforth as the same with himself, and, perfect in holy knowledge, obtained final liberation.

“In like manner do thou, oh king, who knowest what duty is, regarding equally friend or foe, consider yourself as one with all that exists in the world. Even as the same sky is apparently diversified as white or blue, so Soul, which is in truth but one, appears to erroneous vision distinct in different persons.

That One, which here is all things, is Achyuta ( u); than whom there is none other. He is I; he is thou; he is all: this universe is his form. Abandon the error of distinction.”

PARÁ ARA resumed.–The king, being thus instructed, opened his eyes to truth, and abandoned the notion of distinct existence: whilst the Brahman, who, through the recollection of his former lives, had acquired perfect knowledge, obtained now exemption from future birth. Whoever narrates or listens to the lessons inculcated in the dialogue between Bharata and the king, has his mind enlightened, mistakes not the nature of individuality, and in the course of his migrations becomes fitted for ultimate emancipation 1.

Footnotes

This legend is a good specimen of a sectarial graft upon a Paurá ik stem. It is in a great measure peculiar to the u P., as although it occurs also in the Bhágavata, it is narrated there in a much more concise manner, and in a strain that looks like an abridgment of our text.

U PURÁ A. BOOK III.

CHAP. I.

Account of the several Manus and Manwantaras. Swárochisha the second Manu: the divinities, the Indra, the seven Rishis of his period, and his sons. Similar details of Auttami, Támasa, Raivata, Chákshusha, and Vaivaswata. The forms of u, as the preserver, in each Manwantara. The meaning of u.

MAITREYA.–The disposition of the earth and of the ocean, and the system of the sun and the planets, the creation of the gods and the rest, the origin of the Rishis, the generation of the four castes, the production of brute creatures, and the narratives of Dhruva and Prahláda, have been fully related by thee, my venerable preceptor. I am now desirous to hear from you the series of all the Manwantaras, as well as an account of those who preside over the respective periods, with akra, the king of the gods, at their head.

PARÁ ARA.–I will repeat to you, Maitreya, in their order, the different Manwantaras; those which are past, and those which are to come.

The first Manu was Swáyambhuva, then came Swárochisha, then Auttami, then Támasa, then Raivata, then Chákshusha: these six Manus have passed away. The Manu who presides over the seventh Manwantara, which is the present period, is Vaivaswata, the son of the sun.

The period of Swáyambhuva Manu, in the beginning of the Kalpa, has already been described by me, together with the gods, Rishis, and other personages, who then flourished. I will now, therefore, enumerate the presiding gods, Rishis, and sons of the Manu, in the Manwantara of Swárochisha. The deities of this period (or the second Manwantara) were the classes called Párávatas and Tushitas; and the king of the gods was the mighty Vipa chit. The seven Rishis were Úrja, Stambha, Prá a, Dattoli, Rishabha, Ni chara, and Arvarívat; and Chaitra, Kimpurusha, and others, were the Manu’s sons.

In the third period, or Manwantara of Auttami, Su ánti was the Indra, the king of the gods; the orders of whom were the Sudhámas, Satyas, ivas, Pradar anas, and Vasavertis; each of the five orders consisting of twelve divinities. The seven sons of Va ha were the seven Rishis; and Aja, Para u, Divya, and others, were the sons of the Manu.

The Surúpas, Haris, Satyas, and udhís were the classes of gods, each comprising twenty-seven, in the period of Támasa, the fourth Manu. ivi was the Indra, also designated by his performance of a hundred sacrifices (or named atakratu). The seven Rishis were Jyotirdhámá, Prithu, Kávya, Chaitra, Agni, Vanaka, and Pivara. The sons of Támasa were the mighty kings Nara, Khyáti, ántahaya, Jánujangha, and others.

In the fifth interval the Manu was Raivata: the Indra was Vibhu: the classes of gods, consisting of fourteen each, were the Amitábhas, Abhútarajasas, Vaikunthas, and Sumedhasas: the seven Rishis were ! yaromá, Vedasrí, Urddhabáhu, Vedabáhu, Sudháman, Parjanya, and Mahámuni: the sons of Raivata were Balabandhu, Susambhávya, Satyaka, and other valiant kings.

These four Manus, Swárochisha, Auttamí, Támasa, and Raivata, were all descended from Priyavrata, who, in consequence of propitiating u by his devotions, obtained these rulers of the Manwantaras for his posterity.

Chákshusha was the Manu of the sixth period: in which the Indra was Manojava: the five classes of gods were the Ádyas, Prastútas, Bhavyas, Prithugas, and the magnanimous Lekhas, eight of each: Sumedhas, Virajas, Havishmat, Uttama, Madhu, Abhináman, and

u were the seven sages: the kings of the earth, the sons of Chákshusha, were the powerful Uru, Puru, atadyumna, and others.

The Manu of the present period is the wise lord of obsequies, the illustrious offspring of the sun: the deities are the Ádityas, Vasus, and Rudras; their sovereign is Purandara:

Va ha, Ka yapa, Atri, Jamadagni, Gautama, Vi wámitra, and Bharadwája are the seven Rishis: and the nine pious sons of Vaivaswata Manu are the kings Ikshwáku,

Nabhaga, $ a

, Sanyáti, Narishyanta, Ná A a

, Karusha, Prishadhra, and the

celebrated Vasumat.

The unequalled energy of u combining with the quality of goodness, and effecting the preservation of created things, presides over all the Manwantaras in the form of a divinity. Of a portion of that divinity Yajna was born in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara, the will-begotten progeny of Ákútí. When the Swárochisha Manwantara had arrived, that divine Yajna was born as Ajita, along with the Tushita gods, the sons of Tushitá. In the third Manwantara, Tushita was again born of Satyá, as Satya, along with the class of deities so denominated. In the next period, Satya became Hari, along with the Haris, the children of Harí. The excellent Hari was again born in the Raivata Manwantara, of Sambhúti, as Mánasa, along with the gods called Abhútarajasas. In the next period,

u was born of Vikunthi, as Vaikuntha, along with the deities called Vaikunthas. In the present Manwantara, u was again born as Vámana, the son of Ka yapa by Adití. With three paces he subdued the worlds, and gave them, freed from all embarrassment, to Purandara. These are the seven persons by whom, in the several Manwantaras, created beings have been protected. Because this whole world has been pervaded by the energy of the deity, he is entitled u, from the root Vis, ‘to enter’ or ‘pervade;’ for all the gods, the Manus, the seven Rishis, the sons of the Manus, the Indras the sovereigns of the gods, all are but the impersonated might of u.

Footnotes

The gods were said to be the Yámas; the Rishis were Maríchi, Angiras, and the sons were Priyavrata and Uttánapáda. The Váyu adds to the Yamas, the Ajitas, who share with the former, it observes, sacrificial offerings. The Matsya, Padma, Bráhma P. and Hari Van a substitute for the sons, the grandsons of Swáyambhuva, Agnídhra and the rest.

This Manu, according to the legend of his birth in the Má eya P., was the son of Swarochish, so named from the splendour of his appearance when born, and who was the son of the nymph Varuthiní by the Gandharba Kali. The text, in another place, makes him a son of Priyavrata.

The Váyu gives the names of the individuals of these two classes, consisting each of twelve. It furnishes also the nomenclature of all the classes of divinities, and of the sons of the Manus in each Manwantara. According to the same authority, the Tushitas were the sons of Kratu: the Bhágavata calls them the sons of Tushitá by Veda iras. The divinities of each period are, according to the Váyu, those to whom offerings of the Soma juice and the like are presented collectively.

The Váyu describes the Rishis of each Manwantara as the sons, or in some cases the descendants in a direct line, of the seven sages, Atri, Angiras, Bhrigu, Ka yapa, Pulaha, Pulastya, and Va ha; with some inconsistency, for Ka yapa, at least, did not appear himself until the seventh, Manwantara. In the present series Úrja is the son of Va ha, Stambha springs from Ka yapa, Prá a from Bhrigu, Dattoli is the son of Pulastya, Rishabha descends from Angiras, Ni chara from Atri, and Arvarívat is the son of Pulaha. The Bráhma P. and Hari Van a have a rather different list, or Aurva, Stambha, Ka yapa, Prá a, Vrihaspati, Chyavana, and Dattoli; but the origin of part of this difference is nothing more than an imperfect quotation from the Váyu Purá a; the two first, Aurva and Stambha, being specified as the son of Va ha and the descendant of Ka yapa, and then the parentage of the rest being omitted: to complete the seven, therefore, Ka yapa becomes one of them. Some other errors of this nature occur in these two works, and from the same cause, a blundering citation of the Váyu, which is named as their authority. A curious peculiarity also occurs in these mistakes. They are confined to the first eight Manwantaras. The Bráhma P. omits all details of the last six, and the Hari Van a inserts them fully and correctly, agreeably to the authority of the Váyu. It looks, therefore, as if the compiler of the Hari Van a had followed the Bráhma, as far as it went, right or wrong; but had had recourse to the original Váyu P. when the Bráhma failed him. Dattoli is sometimes written Dattoni and Dattotri; and the latter appears to have been the case with the copy of the Hari Van a employed by M. Langlois, who makes one of the Rishis of this Manwantara, “le penitent Atri.” He is not without countenance in some such reading, for the Padma P. changes the name to Dattátreya, no doubt suggested by Datta- atri. p. 261 Dattátreya, however, is the son of Atri; whilst the Váyu calls the person of the text the son of Pulastya. There can be no doubt therefore of the correct reading, for the son of Pulastya is Dattoli.

The Váyu agrees with the text in these names, adding seven others. The Bhágavata has a different series. The Padma has four other names, Nabha, Nabhasya, Prasriti, Bhavana. The Bráhma has ten names, including two of these, and several of the names of the Rishis of the tenth Manwantara. The Matsya has the four names of the Padma for the sons of the Manu, and gives seven others, Havíndhra, Sukrita, Múrtti, Apas, Jyotir, Aya, Smrita (the names of the Bráhma), as the seven Prajápatis of this period, and sons of Va ha. The sons of Va ha, however, belong to the third Manwantara, and bear different appellations. There is, no doubt, some blundering here in all the books except the Váyu, and those which agree with it.

The name occurs Auttami, Auttama, and Uttama. The Bhágavata and Váyu agree with our text in making him a descendant from Priyavrata. The Má eya calls him the son of Uttama, the son of Uttánapáda: and this appears to be the correct genealogy, both from our text and the Bhágavata.

The Bráhma and Hari Van a have, in place of these, the Bhánus; but the Váyu and Má eya concur with the text.

All the authorities agree in this; but the Bráhma and Hari Van a appear to furnish a different series also; or even a third, according to the French translation: ‘Dans le troisième Manwantara parurent comme Saptarchis les fils de Vasichtha, de son nom appelés Vâsichthas, les fils de Hiranyagarbha et les illustres enfans d’Ourdja.’ The meaning of which is, ‘There were (in the first Manwantara) seven celebrated sons of Va ha, who (in the third Manwantara) were sons of Brahmá (i. e. Rishis), the

illustrious posterity of Urjjá. We have already seen that Urjjá was the wife of Va ha, by whom she had seven sons, Rajas,’ in the Swáyambhuva Manwantara; and these were born again as the Rishis of the third period. The names of these persons, according to the Matsya and Padma, are however very different from those of the sons of Va ha, given Kaukundihi, Kurundi, Dalaya, ankha, Praváhita, Mita, and Sammita.

The Váyu adds ten other names to those of the text. The Bráhma gives ten p. 262 altogether different. The Bhágavata an Padma have each a separate nomenclature.

Of these, the Bráhma and Hari V notice only the Satyas: the Matsya and Padma have only Sádhyas. The Váyu Bhágavata, Kúrma, and Má eya agree with the text.

He is the son of Priyavrata, according to the text, the Váyu, &c. The Má e

ya has a

legend of his birth by a doe; and from his being begotten in dark, tempestuous weather, he derives his name.

Severally, according to the Váyu, the progeny of Bhrigu, Ka yapa, Angiras, Pulastya, Atri, Va ha, and Pulaha. There is considerable variety in some of the names. Thus the Matsya has Kavi, Prithu, Agni, Salpa, Dhímat, Kapi, Akapi. The Hari Van a has Kávya, Prithu, Agni, Jahnu, Dhátri, Kapivat, Akapivat. For the two last the Váyu reads Gátra and Vanapítha. The son of Pulaha is in his place, Arvarívat or Vanakapívat. Gátra is amongst

the sons of Va ha. The Váyu is therefore probably most correct, although our text, in regard to these two denominations, admits of no doubt.

The Váyu, &c. agree with the text; the Váyu naming eleven. The Bráhma, Matsya, and Padma have a series of ten names, Sutapas, Tapomúla, &c.; of which, seven are the Rishis of the twelfth Manwantara.

Raivata, as well as his three predecessors, is regarded usually as a descendant of

Priyavrata. The Má e

ya has a long legend of his birth, as the son of king Durgama

by the nymph Revatí, sprung from the constellation Revatí, whom Ritavách, a Muni, caused to fall from heaven. Her radiance became a lake on mount Kumuda, thence called Raivataka; and from it appeared the damsel, who was brought up by Pramucha Muni.

Upon the marriage of Revatí, the Muni, at her request, restored the asterism to its place in the skies.

The Bráhma inserts of these only the Abhútarajasas, with the remark, that ‘they were of like nature (with their name):’ i. e. they were exempt from the quality of passion. M. Langlois, in rendering the parallel passage of the Hari Van a, has confounded the epithet and the subject: ‘dont les dieux furent les Pracritis, dépourvu de colere et de passion.’ He is also at a loss what to do with the terms Páriplava and Raibhya, in the following passage; asking, ‘qu’est ce que Páriplava? qu’est ce que Rêbhya?’ If he had had the commentary at hand, these questions would have been unnecessary: they are there said to be two classes of divinities.

There is less variety in these names than usual. Vedabáhu is read Devabáhu; Sudháman, Satyanetra; and Mahámuni, Muni, Yajur, Vá ha, and Yadudhra. According to the Váyu, those of the text are respectively of the lineage of Angiras, Bhrigu, Va ha, Pulastya, Atri, Pulaha, and Ka yapa. There is considerable variety in the names of the Manu’s sons.

Chákshusha, according to the best authorities, descended from Dhruva; but the

Má eya has a legend of his birth as the son of a Kshatriya, named Anamitra; of his being exchanged at his birth for the son of Vi ránta Rájá, and being brought up by the prince as his own; of his revealing the business when a man, and propitiating Brahmá by his devotions; in consequence of which he became a Manu. In his former birth he was born from the eye of Brahmá; whence his name, from Chakshush, ‘the eye.’

The authorities agree as to the number, but differ as to the names; reading for Ádyas, Áryás and Ápyas; for Prastútas, Prabhútas and Prasútas; for Prithugas, Prithukas and Prithusas; and, which is a more wide deviation, Ribhus for Bhavyas. M. Langlois omits the Prasútas, and inserts Divaukasas; but the latter, meaning ‘divinities,’ is only an epithet.

The Váyu reads Sudháman for the first name; Unnata for Uttama; and Abhimána for Abhináman. The latter occurs also Abhinámin (Matsya) and Atináman (Hari V.) The latter reads, no doubt incorrectly, Bhrigu, Nabha, and Vivaswat for Uttama, Madhu, and Havishmat. The sons of Chákshusha are enumerated.

There is no great variety of nomenclature in this Manwantara. The Váyu adds to the deities the Sádhyas, Vi was, Maruts, and gods sprung from Bhrigu and Angiras. The Bhágavata adds the Ribhus: and most include the two Áswins as a class. Of the Maruts, however, the Hari Van a remarks that they are born in every Manwantara, seven times seven (or forty-nine); that in each Manwantara four times seven, or twenty-eight, obtain emancipation, but their places are filled up by persons reborn in that character. It may be suspected, however, that these passages have been derived from the simple statement of the Matsya, that in all the Manwantaras classes of Rishis appear by seven and seven, and having established a code of law and morality, depart to felicity. The Váyu has a rather different list of the seven Rishis; or Vasumat, the son of Va ha; Vatsára, descended from Ka yapa; Vi wámitra, the son of Gádhi, and of the Ku ika race; Jamadagni, son of Kuru, of the race of Bhrigu; Bharadwája, son of Vrihaspati; aradwat, son of Gautama, of the family of Utatthya; and Brahmakosha or Atri, descended from Brahmá. All the other authorities agree with our text.

The nominal father being the patriarch Ruchi.

There is no further account of this incarnation in the u Purá a. Fuller details occur in the Bhágavata, Kúrma, Matsya, and Vámana Purá as. The first of these (b. VIII. c. 15-

23) relates the penance and sacrifices of Bali, son of Virochana, by which he had overcome Indra and the gods, and obtained supreme dominion over the three spheres.

u, at the request of the deities, was born as a dwarf, Vámana, the son of Adití by Ka yapa; who, applying to Bali for alms, was promised by the prince whatever he might demand, notwithstanding ukra, the preceptor of the Daityas, apprised him whom he had to deal with. The dwarf demanded as much space as he could step over at three steps; and upon the assent of Bali, enlarged himself to such dimensions as to stride over the three worlds. Being worshipped however by Bali and his ancestor Prahláda, he conceded to them the sovereignty of Pátála.

See the same etymology.

CHAP. II.

Of the seven future Manus and Manwantaras. Story of Sanjná and Chháyá, wives of the sun. Sá i, son of Chháyá, the eighth Manu. His successors, with the divinities, &c. of their respective periods. Appearance of Vishnu in each of the four Yugas.

MAITREYA.–You have recapitulated to me, most excellent Brahman, the particulars of the past Manwantaras; now give me some account of those which are to come.

PARÁ ARA.–Sanjná, the daughter of Vi wakarman, was the wife of the sun, and bore him three children, the Manu (Vaivaswata), Yama, and the goddess Yamí (or the Yamuná river). Unable to endure the fervours of her lord, Sanjná gave him Chháyá as his handmaid, and repaired to the forests to practise devout exercises.

The sun, supposing Chháyá to be his wife Sanjná, begot by her three other children,

anai chara (Saturn), another Manu (Sá i), and a daughter Tapatí (the Tapti river). Chháyá, upon one occasion, being offended with Yama, the son of Sanjná, denounced an imprecation upon him, and thereby revealed to Yama and to the sun that she was not in truth Sanjná, the mother of the former. Being further informed by Chháyá that his wife had gone to the wilderness, the sun beheld her by the eye of meditation engaged in austerities, in the figure of a mare (in the region of Uttara Kuru). Metamorphosing himself into a horse, he rejoined his wife, and begot three other children, the two Áswins and Revanta, and then brought Sanjná back to his own dwelling. To diminish his intensity, Vi wakarman placed the luminary on his lathe, to grind off some of his effulgence; and in this manner reduced it an eighth, for more than that was inseparable. The parts of the divine ava splendour, residing in the sun, that were filed off by Vi wakarman, fell blazing down upon the earth, and the artist constructed of them the discus of u, the trident of iva, the weapon of the god of wealth, the lance of Kártikeya, and the weapons of the other gods: all these Vi wakarman fabricated from the superfluous rays of the sun.

The son of Chháyá, who was called also a Manu, was denominated Sá i, from being of the same caste ( a) as his elder brother, the Manu Vaivaswata. He presides over the ensuing or eighth Manwantara; the particulars of which, and the following, I will now relate. In the period in which Sá i shall be the Manu, the classes of the gods will be Sutapas, Amitábhas, and Mukhyas; twenty-one of each.

The seven Rishis will be Díptimat, Gálava, Ráma, Kripa, $ i; my son Vyása will be the sixth, and the seventh will be Rishyasringa. The Indra will be Bali, the sinless son of Virochana, who through the favour of u is actually sovereign of part of Pátála. The royal progeny of Sá i will be Virajas, Arvarívas, Nirmoha, and others.

The ninth Manu will be Daksha-sá i. The Páras, Maríchigarbhas, and Sudharmas will be the three classes of divinities, each consisting of twelve; their powerful chief will be the Indra Adbhuta. Savana, Dyutimat, Bhavya, Vasu, Medhatithi, Jyotishmán, and Satya will be the seven Rishis. Dhritaketu, Driptiketu, Panchahasta, Mahámáyá, Prithu rava, and others, will be the sons of the Manu.

In the tenth Manwantara the Manu will be Brahmá-sá i: the gods will be the Sudhámas, Viruddhas, and atasankhyas: the Indra will be the mighty ánti: the Rishis will be Havishmán, Sukriti, Satya, Apámmúrtti, Nábhága, Apratimaujas, and Satyaketu: and the ten sons of the Manu will be Sukshetra, Uttarnaujas, ! a, and others.

In the eleventh Manwantara the Manu will be Dharma-sá i: the principal classes of gods will be the Vihangamas, Kámagamas, and Nirmánaratis, each thirty in number; of whom Vrisha will be the Indra: the Rishis will be Ni chara, Agnitejas, Vapushmán,

u, Áruni, Havishmán, and Anagha: the kings of the earth, and sons of the Manu, will be Savarga, Sarvadharma, Deváníka, and others.

In the twelfth Manwantara the son of Rudra, Sá i, will be the Manu: Ritudhámá will be the Indra: and the Haritas, Lohitas, Sumanasas, and Sukarmas will be the classes of gods, each comprising fifteen.

Tapaswí, Sutapas, Tapomúrtti, Taporati, Tapodhriti, Tapodyuti, and Tapodhana will be the Rishis: and Devaván, Upadeva, Deva a, and others, will be the Manu’s sons, and mighty monarchs on the earth.

In the thirteenth Manwantara the Manu will be Rauchya: the classes of gods, thirty-three in each, will be the Sudhámans, Sudharmans, and Sukarmans; their Indra will be Divaspati: the Rishis will be Nirmoha, Tatwadersín, Nishprakampa, Nirutsuka, Dhritimat, Avyaya, and Sutapas: and Chitrasena, Vichitra, and others, will be the kings.

In the fourteenth Manwantara, Bhautya will be the Manu; Suchi, the Indra: the five classes of gods will be the Chákshushas, the Pavitras, A has, Bhrájiras, and Vávriddhas: the seven Rishis will be Agnibáhu, uchi, ukra, Magadhá, Gridhra, Yukta, and Ajita: and the sons of the Manu will be Uru, Gabhíra, Bradhna, and others, who will be kings, and will rule over the earth.

At the end of every four ages there is a disappearance of the Vedas, and it is the province of the seven Rishis to come down upon earth from heaven to give them currency again. In every Krita age the Manu (of the period) is the legislator or author of the body of law, the Smriti: the deities of the different classes receive the sacrifices during the Manwantaras to which they severally belong: and the sons of the Manu them. selves, and their descendants, are the sovereigns of the earth for the whole of the same term. The Manu, the seven Rishis, the gods, the sons of the Manu, who are the kings, and Indra, are the beings who preside over the world during each Manwantara.

An entire Kalpa, oh Brahman, is said to comprise a thousand ages, or fourteen Manwantaras; and it is succeeded by a night of similar duration; during which, he who wears the form of Brahmá, Janárddana, the substance of all things, the lord of all, and creator of all, involved in his own illusions, and having swallowed up the three spheres, sleeps upon the serpent esha, amidst the ocean. Being after that awake, he, who is the universal soul, again creates all things as they were before, in combination with the property of foulness (or activity): and in a portion of his essence, associated with the property of goodness, he, as the Manus, the kings, the gods, and their Indras, as well as the seven Rishis, is the preserver of the world. In what manner u, who is characterised by the attribute of providence during the four ages, effected their preservation, I will next, Maitreya, explain.

In the Krita age, u, in the form of Kapila and other inspired teachers, assiduous for the benefit of all creatures, imparts to them true wisdom. In the Treta age he restrains the wicked, in the form of a universal monarch, and protects the three worlds. In the Dwápara age, in the person of Veda-vyása, he divides the one Veda into four, and distributes it into innumerable branches: and at the end of the Kali or fourth age he appears as Kalki, and reestablishes the iniquitous in the paths of rectitude. In this manner the universal spirit preserves, creates, and at last destroys, all the world.

Thus, Brahman, I have described to you the true nature of that great being who is all things, and besides whom there is no other existent thing, nor has there been, nor will there be, either here or elsewhere. I have also enumerated to you the Manwantaras, and those who preside over them. What else do you wish to hear?

Footnotes

That is, her shadow or image. It also means ‘shade.’ The Bhágavata, however, makes both Sanjná and Chháyá daughters of Vi wakarman. According to the Matsya, Vivaswat, the son of Ka yapa and Adití, had three wives, Rájní, the daughter of Raivata, by whom he had Revanta; Prabhá, by whom he had Prabhata; and by Sanjná, the daughter of EJ r i, the Manu and Yama and Yamuná. The story then proceeds much as in the text.

Yama, provoked at her partiality for her own children, abused Chháyá, and lifted up his foot to kick her. She cursed him to have his leg affected with sores and worms; but his father bestowed upon him a cock, to eat the worms, and remove the discharge; and Yama, afterwards propitiating Mahádeva, obtained the rank of Lokapála, and sovereign of Tartarus.

The Matsya says he trimmed the sun every where except in the feet, the extent of which he could not discern. Consequently in pictures or images the feet of the sun must never be delineated, under pain of leprosy, &c.

The term is iviká, which properly means ‘a litter,’ The commentator calls it Astra, ‘a weapon.’

This legend is told, with some variations of no great importance, in the Matsya,

Má eya, and Padma P. (Swarga a

), in the Bhágavata, and Hari Van a, &c.

The Má e

ya, whilst it admits Sá i to be the son of the sun, has a legend of his

former birth, in the Swárochisha Manwantara, as Suratha Rájá, who became a Manu by having then propitiated Deví. It was to him that the Durgá Máhátmya or í , the popular narrative of Durga’s triumphs over various demons, was narrated.

The Váyu has Jámadagnya or Para uráma, of the Ku ika race; Gálava, of that of Bhrigu; Dwaipáyana (or Vyása), of the family of Va ha; Kripa, the son of aradwat; Díptimat, descended from Atri; Rishyasringa, from Ka yapa; and Aswattháman, the son of $ a, of the Bháradwája family. The Matsya and Padma have Satánanda in place of Diptimat.

The four following Sá is are described in the Váyu as the mind-engendered sons of a daughter of Daksha, named either Suvratá (Váyu) or Priyá (Bráhma) by himself and the three gods, Brahmá, Dharma, and Rudra, to whom he presented her on mount Meru; whence they are called also Meru-sá is. They are termed Sá is from their being of one family or caste. According to the same authority, followed by the Hari Van a, it appears that this Manu is also called Rohita. Most of the details of this and the following Manwantaras are omitted in the Matsya, Brahmá, Padma, and Má eya Purá as. The Bhágavata and Kúrma give the same as our text; and the Váyu, which agrees very nearly with it, is followed in most respects by the Hari Van a. The Matsya and Padma are peculiar in their series and nomenclature of the Manus themselves, calling the 9th Rauchya, 10th Bhautya, 11th Merusavá i, son of Brahmá, 12th Ritu, 13th Ritadháman, and 14th Viswaksena. The Bhágavata calls the two last Manus, Deva-sá i and Indra- sá i.

Hence the Váyu identifies the first with days, the second with nights, and the third with hours.

The son of the Prajápati Ruchi (Váyu), by the nymph Mániní, the daughter of the Apsaras Pramlochá (Má eya).

Son of Ravi, by the goddess Bhútí, according to the Váyu; but the Má eya makes Bhútí the son of Angiras, whose pupil ánti, having suffered the holy fire to go out in his master’s absence, prayed to Agni, and so propitiated him, that he not only relighted the flame, but desired ánti to demand a further boon. ánti accordingly solicited a son for his Guru; which son was Bhúti, the father of the Manu Bhautya.

Although the Purá as which give an account of the Manwantaras agree in some of the principal details, yet in the minor ones they offer many varieties, some of which have been noticed. These chiefly regard the first six and the eighth. Except in a few individual peculiarities, the authorities seem to arrange themselves in two classes; one comprehending the u, Váyu, Kúrma, Bhágavata, and Má eya; and the other the Matsya, Padma, Bráhma, and Hari Van a.

The Má e

ya, although it agrees precisely with the u in its nomenclature, differs

from it, and from all, in devoting a considerable number of its pages to legends of the origin of the Manus, all of which are evidently of comparatively recent invention, and several of which have been no doubt suggested by the etymology of the names of the Manus.

A thousand ages of the gods and fourteen Manwantaras are not precisely the same thing, as has been already explained.

The order of the text would imply, that as Brahmá he sleeps upon esha; but if this be intended, it is at variance with the usual legend, that it is as u or Nárá a that the deity sleeps in the intervals of dissolution. The commentator accordingly qualifies the phrase Brahmarúpadhara by the term Divá: ‘ u wears the form of Brahmá by day; by night he sleeps on esha, in the person of Nárá a.’ This however may be suspected to be an innovation upon an older system; for in speaking of the alternations of creation and dissolution, they are always considered as consentaneous with the day and night of Brahmá alone.

As a Chakravarttin.

CHAP. III.

Division of the Veda into four portions, by a Vyása, in every Dwápara age. List of the twenty-eight Vyásas of the present Manwantara. Meaning of the word Brahma.

MAITREYA.–I have learnt from you, in due order, how this world is u; how it is in u; how it is from u: nothing further is to be known: but I should desire to hear how the Vedas were divided, in different ages, by that great being, in the form of Veda-vyása? who were the Vyásas of their respective eras? and what were the branches into which the Vedas were distributed?

PARÁ ARA.–The branches of the great tree of the Vedas are so numerous, Maitreya, that it is impossible to describe them at length. I will give you a summary account of them.

In every Dwápara (or third) age, u, in the person of Vyása, in order to promote the good of mankind, divides the Veda, which is properly but one, into many portions: observing the limited perseverance, energy, and application of mortals, he makes the Veda fourfold, to adapt it to their capacities; and the bodily form which he assumes, in order to effect that classification, is known by the name of Veda-vyása. Of the different Vyásas in the present Manwantara, and the branches which they have taught, you shall have an account.

Twenty-eight times have the Vedas been arranged by the great Rishis in the Vaivaswata Manwantara in the Dwápara age, and consequently eight and twenty Vyásas have passed away; by whom, in their respective periods, the Veda has been divided into four. In the first Dwápara age the distribution was made by Swayambhu (Brahmá) himself; in the second, the arranger of the Veda (Veda-vyása) was Prajápati (or Manu); in the third,

U anas; in the fourth, Vrihaspati; in the fifth, Savitri; in the sixth, Mrityu (Death, or Yama); in the seventh, Indra; in the eighth, Va ha; in the ninth, Sáraswata; in the tenth, Tridháman; in the eleventh, Trivrishan; in the twelfth, Bharadwája; in the thirteenth, Antaríksha; in the fourteenth, Vapra; in the fifteenth, Trayyá a; in the sixteenth, Dhananjaya; in the seventeenth, Kritanjaya; in the eighteenth, a; in the nineteenth, Bharadwája; in the twentieth, Gotama; in the twenty-first, Uttama, also called Haryátmá; in the twenty-second, a, who is likewise named Rája ravas; in the twenty- third, Soma ushmá a, also E avindu; in the twenty-fourth, Riksha, the descendant of Bhrigu, who is known also by the name Válmíki; in the twenty-fifth, my father akti was the Vyása; I was the Vyása of the twenty-sixth Dwápara, and was succeeded by Jaratkáru; the Vyása of the twenty-eighth, who followed him, was a Dwaipáyana. These are the twenty-eight elder Vyásas, by whom, in the preceding Dwápara ages, the Veda has been divided into four. In the next Dwápara, $ i (the son of $ a) will be the Vyása, when my son, the Muni a Dwaipáyana, who is the actual Vyása, shall cease to be (in that character).

The syllable Om is defined to be the eternal monosyllabic Brahma. The word Brahma is derived from the root Vriha (to increase), because it is infinite (spirit), and because it is the cause by which the Vedas (and all things) are developed. Glory to Brahma, who is addressed by that mystic word, associated eternally with the triple universe, and who is one with the four Vedas. Glory to Brahma, who, alike in the destruction and renovation of the world, is called the great and mysterious cause of the intellectual principle (Mahat); who is without limit in time or space, and exempt from diminution or decay; in whom (as connected with the property of darkness) originates worldly illusion; and in whom resides the end of soul (fruition or liberation), through the properties of light and of activity (or goodness and foulness). He is the refuge of those who are versed in the Sánkhya philosophy; of those who have acquired control over their thoughts and passions. He is the invisible, imperishable Brahma; varying in form, invariable in substance; the chief principle, self-engendered; who is said to illuminate the caverns of the heart; who is indivisible, radiant, undecaying, multiform. To that supreme Brahma be for ever adoration.

That form of Vásudeva, who is the same with supreme spirit, which is Brahma, and which, although diversified as threefold, is identical, is the lord, who is conceived by those that contemplate variety in creation to be distinct in all creatures. He, composed of the Rik, Sauna, and Yajur-Vedas, is at the same time their essence, as he is the soul of all embodied spirits. He, distinguished as consisting of the Vedas, creates the Vedas, and divides them by many subdivisions into branches: he is the author of those branches: he is those aggregated branches; for he, the eternal lord, is the essence of true knowledge.

Footnotes

The text has, ‘Hear from me an account of the Vyásas of the different Manwantaras;’ but this is inconsistent with what follows, in which the enumeration is confined to the Vaivaswata Manwantara.

This name occurs as that of one of the kings of the solar dynasty, and is included by Mr. Colebrooke amongst the persons of royal descent, who are mentioned as authors of hymns in the Rig-veda. As. Res. VIII. 383.

A similar list of Vyásas is given in the Kúrma and Váyu Purá as. Many of the individuals appear as authors of different hymns and prayers in the Vedas; and it is very possible that the greater portion, if not all of them, had a real existence, being the framers or teachers of the religion of the Hindus before a complete ritual was compiled.

We have already had occasion to explain the sanctity of this monosyllable, which ordinarily commences different portions of the Vedas, and which, as the text describes it, is identified with the supreme, undefinable deity, or Brahma. So in the Bhagavad-gíta: ‘Repeating Om, the monosyllable, which is Brahma, and calling me to mind:’ which is not exactly the same idea that is conveyed by Schlegel’s version;

‘Monosyllabum mysticum Om pronuntiando, numen adorans, mei memor;’ where ‘numen adorans,’ although it may be defended as necessary to the sense, is not expressed by the words of the text, nor compatible with Hindu notions. In one of the MSS. employed, the transcriber has evidently been afraid of desecrating this sacred monosyllable, and has therefore altered the text.

The daily prayers of the Brahman commence with the formula, Om bhúh, bhuvah, swar: Om earth, sky, heaven: these are the three mystical terms called Vyáhritis, and are scarcely of less sanctity than the ava itself. Their efficacy, and the order of their repetition preceding the Gáyatrí, are fully detailed in Manu, II. 76-81. In the Mitákshara they are directed to be twice repeated mentally, with Om prefixed to each; Om bhúh, Om bhuvah, Om swar; the breath being suppressed by closing the lips and nostrils.

The form or sensible type of Vásudeva is here considered to be the monosyllable Om, and which is one with the three mystical words, Bhúh, Bhuvar, Swar, and with the Vedas: consequently the Vyáhritis and the Vedas are also forms of Vásudeva, diversified as to their typical character, but essentially one and the same.

CHAP. IV.

Division of the Veda, in the last Dwápara age, by the Vyása a Dwaipáyana. Paila made reader of the Rich; Vai ampáyana of the Yajush; Jaimini of the Shun; and Sumantu of the Atharvan. Súta appointed to teach the historical poems. Origin of the four parts of the Veda. Sanhitás of the Rig-veda.

PARÁ ARA.–The original Veda, in four parts, consisted of one hundred thousand stanzas; and from it sacrifice of ten kinds, the accomplisher of all desires, proceeded. In the twenty-eighth Dwápara age my son Vyása separated the four portions of the Veda into four Vedas. In the same manner as the Vedas were arranged by him, as Vedavyása, so were they divided in former periods by all the preceding Vyásas, and by myself: and the branches into which they were subdivided by him were the same into which they had been distributed in every aggregate of the four ages. Know, Maitreya, the Vyása called

a Dwaipáyana to be the deity Nárá a; for who else on this earth could have composed the Mahábhárata? Into what portions the Vedas were arranged by my magnanimous son, in the Dwápara age, you shall hear.

When Vyása was enjoined by Brahmá to arrange the Vedas in different books, he took four persons, well read in those works, as his disciples. He appointed Paila reader of the Rich; Vai ampáyana of the Yajush; and Jaimini of the Soma-veda: and Sumantu, who was conversant with the Atharva-veda, was also the disciple of the learned Vyása. He also took Súta, who was named a, as his pupil in historical and legendary traditions.

There was but one Yajur-veda; but dividing this into four parts, Vyása instituted the sacrificial rite that is administered by four kinds of priests: in which it was the duty of the Adhwaryu to recite the prayers (Yajush) (or direct the ceremony); of the Hotri, to repeat the hymns (Richas); of the Udgátri, to chaunt other hymns (Sáma); and of the Brahman, to pronounce the formulæ called Atharva. Then the Muni, having collected together the hymns called Richas, compiled the Rigveda; with the prayers and directions termed Yajushas he formed the Yajur-veda; with those called Sáma, Sáma-veda; and with the Atharvas he composed the rules of all the ceremonies suited to kings, and the function of the Brahman agreeably to practice.

This vast original tree of the Vedas, having been divided by him into four principal stems, soon branched out into an extensive forest. In the first place, Paila divided the Rig- veda, and gave the two Sanhitás (or collections of hymns) to Indrapramati and to Báshkali. Báshkali subdivided his Sanhitá into four, which he gave to his disciples Baudhya, Agnimá hara, Yajnawalka, and Pará ara; and they taught these secondary shoots from the primitive branch. Indrapramati imparted his Sanhitá to his son

% ukeya, and it thence descended through successive generations, as well as disciples. Vedamitra, called also ákalya, studied the same Sanhitá, but he divided it into five Sanhitás, which he distributed amongst as many disciples, named severally Mudgala, Goswalu, Vátsya, álíya, and i ira.

Sákapú i made a different division of the original Sanhitá into three portions, and added a glossary (Nirukta), constituting a fourth. The three Sanhitás were given to his three pupils, Krauncha, Vaitálaki, and Valáka; and a fourth, (thence named) Niruktakrit, had the glossary. In this way branch sprang from branch. Another Báshkali composed three other Sanhitás, which he taught to his disciples Káláyani, Gárgya, and Kathájava. These are they by whom the principal divisions of the Rich have been promulgated.

Footnotes

According to the Grihya portion of the Sáma-veda, there are five great sacrificial ceremonies; 1. Agnihotra, burnt-offerings, or libations of clarified butter on sacred fire; 2. Der amása, sacrifices at new and full moon; 3. Cháturmasya, sacrifices every four months; 4. Pa u-yajna or A wamedha, sacrifice of a horse or animal; and 5. Soma-yajna, offerings and libations of the juice of the acid asclepias. These, again, are either Prákrita, ‘simple,’ or Vaikrita, ‘modified;’ and being thus doubled, constitute ten.

The composition of the Mahábhárata is always ascribed to the Vyása named a Dwaipáyana, the cotemporary of the events there described. The allusion in the text establishes the priority of the poem to the u Purá a.

Or rather, ‘he took Paila as teacher.’ The expression is, Rigveda rávakam Pailam jagráha.

rávaka means properly ‘he who causes to hear,’ ‘a lecturer,’ ‘a preacher;’ although, as in the case of its applicability to the laity of the Buddhists and Jainas, it p. 276 denotes a disciple. The commentator however observes, that the text is sometimes read ‘one who had gone through the Rig-veda.’ So in the preceding verse it is said, ‘he took four persons, well read in the Vedas, as his disciples,’ and again it is said, ‘Sumantu, conversant with the Atharva-veda, was his disciple.’ It is clear, therefore, that the Vedas were known, as distinct works, before a Dwaipáyana; and it is difficult to understand how he earned his title of arranger, or Vyása: at any rate, in undertaking to give order to the prayers and hymns of which the Vedas consist, Paila and the others were rather his coadjutors than disciples; and it seems probable that the tradition records the first establishment of a school, of which the Vyása was the head, and the other persons named were the teachers.

The Itihása and Purá as; understanding by the former, legendary and traditional narratives. It is usually supposed that by the Itihása the Mahábhárata is especially meant; but although this poem is ascribed to a Dwaipáyana, the recitation of it is not attributed to his pupil, Roma or Loma- a: it was first narrated by Vai ampáyana, and after him by Sauti, the son of a.

From this account, which is repeated in the Váyu P., it appears that the original Veda was the Yajush, or in other words was a miscellaneous body of precepts, formulæ, prayers, and hymns, for sacrificial ceremonies; Yajush being derived by the grammarians from Yaj, ‘to worship.’

The derivation of the Váyu Purá a, however, is from Yuj, ‘to join,’ ‘to employ;’ the formulæ being those especially applied to sacrificial rites, or set apart for that purpose from the general collection. The commentator on the text however, citing the former of these passages from the Váyu, reads it, confining the derivation to Yaj, ‘to worship.’ The concluding passage, relating to the Atharvan, refers, in regard to regal ceremonies, to those of expiation, ánti. The function of the Brahman is not explained; but from the preceding specification of the four orders of priests who repeat at sacrifices portions of the several Vedas, it relates to the office of the one that is termed specifically the Brahman: so the Váyu has ‘He constituted the function of the Brahman at sacrifices with the Atharva-veda.’

Both in our text and in that of the Váyu this name occurs both Báshkala and Báshkali. Mr. Colebrooke writes it Báhkala and Báhkali. As. Res. VIII. 374.

The Váyu supplies the detail. % ukeya, or, as one copy writes, Má e

ya, taught the

Sanhitá to his son Satya ravas; he to his son Satyahita; and he to his son Satya rí. The latter had three pupils, ákalya, also called Devamitra (sic in MS.), Rathántara, and another Báshkali, called also Bharadwája. The Váyu has a legend of ákalya’s death, in consequence of his being defeated by Yájnavalkya in a disputation at a sacrifice celebrated by Janaka.

These names in the Váyu are Mudgala, Golaka, Kháliya, Mátsya, ai ireya.

The commentator, who is here followed by Mr. Colebrooke, states that he was a pupil of Indrapramati; but from the Váyu it appears that ákapú i was another name of Rathántara, the pupil of Satya rí, the author of three Sanhitás and a Nirukta, or glossary; whence Mr. Colebrooke supposes him the same with Yáska. As. Res. VIII. 375. It is highly probable that the text of the Váyu may be made to correct that of the u in this place, which is inaccurate, notwithstanding the copies agree: they read, Here

ákapú ir-atha-itaram is the necessary construction; but quere if it should not be

ákapú i Rathántara. Now in describing the pupils of Satya rí, Rathántara was named clearly enough. In another passage it would seem to be implied that this Báshkali was the author of the Sanhitás, and Rathántara of the Nirukta only. However this may be, his being the author of the Nirukta identifies him with ákapú i, and makes it likely that the two names should come in juxta-position in our text, as well as in the Váyu. It must be admitted, however, that there are some rather inexplicable repetitions in the part of the Váyu where this account occurs, although two copies agree in the reading. That a portion of the Vedas goes by the name of Rathantara we have seen; but as far as is yet known, the name is confined to different prayers or hymns of the Uhya Gána of the Sáma-veda. The text of the u also admits of a different explanation regarding the work of ákapú i, and instead of a threefold division of the original, the passage may mean that he composed a third Sanhitá. So Mr. Colebrooke says “the u P. omits the ákhás of

A waláyana and Sánkhyáyana, and intimates that ákapú i gave the third varied edition from that of Indrapramati.” The Váyu, however, is clear in ascribing three Sanhitás or

ákhás to ákapú i.

In the Váyu the four pupils of Sákapú i are called Kenava, Dálaki, atavaláka, and Naigama.

This Báshkali may either be, according to the commentator, the pupil of Paila, who, in addition to the four Sanhitás previously noticed, compiled three others; or he may be another Báshkali, a fellow-pupil of ákapúrni. The Váyu makes him a disciple of Satya rí, the fellow-pupil of ákalya and Rathántara, and adds the name or title Bháradwája.

In the Váyu they are called Nandáyaníya, Pannagári, and Árjjava.

Both the u and Váyu Purá as omit two other principal divisions of the Rich, those of A waláyana and Sánkhyáyana or the Kau ítakí. As. Res. VIII. 375. There is no specification of the aggregate number of Sanhitás of the Rich in our text, or in the Váyu; but they describe eighteen, including the Nirukta; or as Mr. Colebrooke states, sixteen (As. Res. VIII. 374); that is, omitting the two portions of the original, as divided by Paila. The Kúrma Purá a states the number at twenty-one; but treatises on the study of the Vedas reduce the ákhás of the Rich to five.

CHAP. V.

Divisions of the Yajur-veda. Story of Yájnawalkya: forced to give up what he has learned: picked up by others, forming the Taittiríya-yajush. Yájnawalkya worships the sun, who communicates to him the Vájasneyí-yajush.

PARÁ ARA.–Of the tree of the Yajur-veda there are twenty-seven branches, which Vai ampáyana, the pupil of Vyása, compiled, and taught to as many disciples. Amongst these, Yájnawalkya, the son of Brahmaráta, was distinguished for piety and obedience to his preceptor.

It had been formerly agreed by the Munis, that any one of them who, at a certain time, did not join an assembly held on mount Meru should incur the guilt of killing a Brahman, within a period of seven nights. Vai ampáyana alone failed to keep the appointment, and consequently killed, by an accidental kick with his foot, the child of his sister. He then addressed his scholars, and desired them to perform the penance expiatory of Brahmanicide on his behalf. Without any hesitation Yájnawalkya refused, and said, “How shall I engage in penance with these miserable and inefficient Brahmans?” On which his Guru, being incensed, commanded him to relinquish all that he had learnt from him. “You speak contemptuously,” he observed, “of these young Brahmans, but of what use is a disciple who disobeys my commands?”

“I spoke,” replied Yájnawalkya, “in perfect faith; but as to what I have read from you, I have had enough: it is no more than this–” (acting as if he would eject it from his stomach); when he brought up the texts of the Yajush in substance stained with blood. He then departed. The other scholars of Vai ampáyana, transforming themselves to partridges (Tittiri), picked up the texts which he had disgorged, and which from that circumstance were called Taittiríya; and the disciples were called the Charaka professors of the Yajush, from a, ‘going through’ or ‘performing’ the expiatory rites enjoined by their master.

Yájnawalkya, who was perfect in ascetic practices, addressed himself strenuously to the sun, being anxious to recover possession of the texts of the Yajush. “Glory to the sun,” he exclaimed, “the gate of liberation, the fountain of bright radiance, the triple source of splendour, as the Rig, the Yajur, and the Sáma Vedas. Glory to him, who, as fire and the moon, is one with the cause of the universe: to the sun, that is charged with radiant heat, and with the Sushumna ray (by which the moon is fed with light): to him who is one with the notion of time, and all its divisions of hours, minutes, and seconds: to him who is to be meditated upon as the visible form of u, as the impersonation of the mystic Om: to him who nourishes the troops of the gods, having filled the moon with his rays; who feeds the Pitris with nectar and ambrosia, and who nourishes mankind with rain; who pours down or absorbs the waters in the time of the rains, of cold, and of heat.

Glory be to Brahmá, the sun, in the form of the three seasons: he who alone is the dispeller of the darkness of this earth, of which he is the sovereign lord: to the god who is clad in the raiment of purity be adoration. Glory to the sun, until whose rising man is incapable of devout acts, and water does not purify, and touched by whose rays the world is fitted for religious rites: to him who is the centre and source of purification. Glory to Savitrí, to Súrya, to Bháskara, to Vivaswat, to Áditya, to the first-born of gods or demons. I adore the eye of the universe, borne in a golden car, whose banners scatter ambrosia.”

Thus eulogized by Yájnawalkya, the sun, in the form of a horse, appeared to him, and said, “Demand what you desire.” To which the sage, having prostrated himself before the lord of day, replied, “Give me a knowledge of those texts of the Yajush with which even my preceptor is unacquainted.” Accordingly the sun imparted to him the texts of the Yajush called Ayátayáma (unstudied), which were unknown to Vai ampáyana: and because these were revealed by the sun in the form of a horse, the Brahmans who study this portion of the Yajush are called Vájis (horses). Fifteen branches of this school sprang from wa and other pupils of Yájnawalkya.

Footnotes

The Váyu divides these into three classes, containing each nine, and discriminated, northern, middle, and eastern. Of these, the chiefs were severally yámáyani, Á i, and Ánalavi, or Álambi. With some inconsistency, however, the same authority states that Vai ampáyana composed and gave to his disciples eighty-six Sanhitás.

The parallel passage in the Váyu rather implies that the agreement was to meet within seven nights.

Also called the black Yajush. No notice of this legend, as Mr. Colebrooke observes (As. Iles. VIII. 376), occurs in the Veda itself; and the term Taittiríya is more rationally accounted for in the A í or index of the black Yajush. It is there said that

Vai ampáyana taught it to Yaska, who taught it to Tittiri, who also became a teacher; whence the term Taittiríya, for a grammatical rule explains it to mean, ‘The Taittiríyas are those who read what was said or repeated by Tittiri.’ Pá ini, 4. 3. 102. The legend, then, appears to be nothing more than a Paurá ik invention, suggested by the equivocal sense of Tittiri, a proper name or a partridge. Much of the mythos of the Hindus, and obviously of that of the Greeks and Romans, originates in this source. It was not confined, at least amongst the former, to the case that Creuzer specifies; “Telle ou telle expression cessa d’etre comprise, et l’on inventa des mythes pour eclaircir ces malentendus;” but was wilfully perpetrated, even where the word was understood, when it afforded a favourable opportunity for a fable. It may be suspected in the present instance that the legend is posterior, not only to the Veda, but to the grammatical rule, or it would have furnished

Pá ini with a different etymology.

This is another specimen of the sort of Paronomasia explained in the preceding note. The Charakas are the students of a ákhá, so denominated from its teacher Charaka. (As. Res.

VIII. 377.) So, again, Pá ini 4. 3. 107: ‘The readers of that which is said by Charaka are Charakas:’ Charaka has no necessary connexion with Chara, ‘to go.’ The Váyu states they

were also called a

kas, from Chat, ‘to divide,’ because they shared amongst them their

master’s guilt. ‘Those pupils of Vai ampáyana were called a

of Brahmanicide was shared; and Charakas from its departure.’

kas by whom the crime

The Váyu names the fifteen teachers of these schools, wa, Vaidheya, álin, Madhyandina, Sapeyin, Vidagdha, Uddálin, Támráyani, Vátsya, Gálava, ai iri, Á a

vya,

a, Ví a, and Sampárayana, who were the founders of no fewer than 101 branches of the Vájasaneyi, or white Yajush. Mr. Colebrooke specifies several of these, as the Jábálas, Baudháyanas, Tápaníyas, &c. As. Res. VIII. 376.

CHAP. VI.

Divisions of the Sáma-veda: of the Atharva-veda. Four Paurá ik Sanhitás. Names of the eighteen Purá as. Branches of knowledge. Classes of Rishis.

YOU shall now hear, Maitreya, how Jaimini, the pupil of Vyása, divided the branches of the Sáma-veda. The son of Jaimini was Sumantu, and his son was Sukarman, who both studied the same Sanhitá under Jaimini. The latter composed the Sáhasra Sanhitá (or compilation of a thousand hymns, &c.), which he taught to two disciples, ! yanábha, also named Kau alya (or of Ko ala), and Paushyinji. Fifteen disciples of the latter were the authors of as many Sanhitás: they were called the northern chaunters of the Sáman. As many more, also the disciples of ! yanábha, were termed the eastern chaunters of the Sáman, founding an equal number of schools. Lokákshi, Kuthumi, Kushídí, and Lángali were the pupils of Paushyinji; and by them and their disciples many other branches were formed. Whilst another scholar of ! yanábha, named Kriti, taught twenty-four Sanhitás to as many pupils; and by them, again, was the Sáma-veda divided into numerous branches.

I will now give you an account of the Sanhitás of the Atharva-veda. The illustrious Muni Sumantu taught this Veda to his pupil Kabandha, who made it twofold, and communicated the two portions to Devader a and to Pathya. The disciples of Devader a were Maudga, Brahmabali, aulkáyani, and Pippaláda. Pathya had three pupils, Jájali, Kumudádi, and aunaka; and by all these were separate branches instituted. aunaka having divided his Sanhitá into two, gave one to Babhru, and the other to Saindhaváyana; and from them sprang two schools, the Saindhavas and Munjake as. The principal subjects of difference in the Sanhitás of the Atharva-veda are the five Kalpas or ceremonials: the Nakshatra Kalpa, or rules for worshipping the planets; the Vaitána Kalpa, or rules for oblations, according to the Vedas generally; the Sanhitá Kalpa, or rules for sacrifices, according to different schools; the Ángirasa Kalpa, incantations and prayers for the destruction of foes and the like; and the Sánti Kalpa, or prayers for averting evil.

Accomplished in the purport of the Purá as, Vyása compiled a Paurá ik Sanhitá, consisting of historical and legendary traditions, prayers and hymns, and sacred chronology 6. He had a distinguished disciple, Súta, also termed a, and to him the great Muni communicated the Purá as. Súta had six scholars, Sumati, Agnivarchas, Mitrayu, án apáyana, a, who is also called Ká yapa, and

Sá i. The three last composed three fundamental Sanhitás; and a himself compiled a fourth, called ika. The substance of which four Sanhitás is collected into this ( u) Purá a.

The first of all the Purá as is entitled the Bráhma. Those who are acquainted with the Purá as enumerate eighteen, or the Bráhma, Pádma, ava, aiva, Bhágavata, Náradíya, Má eya, Ágneya, Bhavishyat, Brahma Vaivartta, Lainga, Váráha, Skánda,

Vámana, Kaurmma, Mátsya, Gárura, Brahmá a .

The creation of the world, and its successive reproductions, the genealogies of the patriarchs and kings, the periods of the Manus, and the transactions of the royal dynasties, are narrated in all these Purá as. This Purá a which I have repeated to you, Maitreya, is called the V ava, and is next in the series to the Padma; and in every part of it, in its narratives of primary and subsidiary creation, of families, and of periods, the mighty u is declared in this Purá a.

The four Vedas, the six Angas (or subsidiary portions of the Vedas, viz. ikshá, rules of reciting the prayers, the accents and tones to be observed; Kalpa, ritual; Vyá a, grammar; Nirukta, glossarial comment; Chhandas, metre; and Jyotish, (astronomy), with Mímánsá (theology), Nyáya (logic), Dharma (the institutes of law), and the Purá as, constitute the fourteen principal branches of knowledge: or they are considered as eighteen, with the addition of these four; the Áyur-veda, medical science (as taught by Dhanwantari); Dhanur-veda, the science of archery or arms, taught by Bhrigu; Gándharba-veda, or the drama, and the arts of music, dancing, of which the Muni Bharata was the author; and the Artha ástram, or science of government, as laid down first by Vrihaspati.

There are three kinds of Rishis, or inspired sages; royal Rishis, or princes who have adopted a life of devotion, as Viswamitra; divine Rishis, or sages who are demigods also, as Nárada; and Brahman Rishis, or sages who are the sons of Brahmá, or Brahmans, as Va ha and others.

I have thus described to you the branches of the Vedas, and their subdivisions; the persons by whom they were made; and the reason why they were made (or the limited capacities of mankind). The same branches are instituted in the different Manwantaras. The primitive Veda, that of the progenitor of all things, is eternal: these branches are but its modifications (or Vikalpas).

I have thus related to you, Maitreya, the circumstances relating to the Vedas, which you desired to hear. Of what else do you wish to be informed?

Footnotes

The Váyu makes Sukarman the grandson of Sumantu, his son being called Sunwat.

Some copies read Paushpinji. The Váyu agrees with our text, but alludes to a legend of Sukarman having first taught a thousand disciples, but they were all killed by Indra, for reading on an unlawful day, or one when sacred study is prohibited.

The Váyu specifies many more names than the u, but the list is rather confused. Amongst the descendants of those named in the text, Ráyánaníya (or Rá áyaníya), the son of Lokákshi, is the author of a Sanhitá still extant: Saumitri his son was the author of three Sanhitás: Pará ara, the son of Kuthumi, compiled and taught six Sanhitás: and

áligotra, a son of Lángali, established also six schools. Kriti was of royal descent: he and Paushyinji were the two most eminent teachers of the Sáma-veda.

According to the commentator, Munjake a is another name for Babhru; but the Váyu seems to consider him as the pupil of Saindhava, but the text is corrupt.

The Váyu has an enumeration of the verses contained in the different Vedas, but it is very indistinctly given in many respects, especially as regards the Yajush. The Rich is said to comprise 8600 Richas. The Yajush, as originally compiled by Vyása, 12000: of which the Vájasaneyi contains 1900 Richas, and 7600 Brahmanas; the Charaka portion contains 6026 stanzas: and consequently the whole exceeds 12000 verses. The stanzas of the Sáman are said to be 8014; and those of the Atharvan 5980. Mr. Colebrooke states the verses of the whole Yajush to be 1987; of the Salapalka Brahmana of the same Veda 7624; and of the Atharvan 6015.

Or of stories (Ákhyánas) and minor stories or tales (Upákhyánas); of portions dedicated to some particular divinity, as the íva-gitá, Bhagavad-gítá and accounts of the periods called Kalpas, as the Bráhma Kalpa, Váráha Kalpa.

For remarks upon this enumeration, see Introduction.

A similar enumeration is given in the Váyu, with some additions. Rishi is derived from Rish, ‘to go to’ or ‘approach.’ The Brahmarshis, it is said, are descendants of the five patriarchs, who were the founders of races or Gotras of Brahmans, or Ka yapa,

Va ha, Angiras, Atri, and Bhrigu. The Devarshis are Nara and Nárá a, the sons of Dharma; the Bálakhilyas, who sprung from Kratu; Kardama, the son of Pulaha; Kuvera, the son of Pulastya; Achala, the son of Pratyúsha; p. 285 Nárada and Parvata, the sons of Ka yapa. Brahmarshis are Ikshwáku and other princes. The Brahmarshis dwell in the sphere of Brahmá; the Devarshis in the region of the gods; and the Rájarshis in the heaven of Indra.

No notice is taken here of a curious legend which is given in the Mahábhárata, in the Gadá Parvan. It is there said, that during a great drought the Brahmans, engrossed by the care of subsistence, neglected the study of the sacred books, and the Vedas were lost. The Rishi Sáraswata alone, being fed with fish by his mother Saraswatí, the personified river so named, kept up his studies, and preserved the Hindu scriptures.

At the end of the famine the Brahmans repaired to him to be taught, and sixty thousand disciples again acquired a knowledge of the Vedas from Sáraswata. This legend appears to indicate the revival, or more probably the introduction, of the Hindu ritual by the race of Brahmans, or the people called Sáraswata; for, according to the Hindu geographers, it was the name of a nation, as it still is the appellation of a class of Brahmans who chiefly inhabit the Panjab. (As. Res. VII. 219, 338, 341.) The Sáraswata Brahmans are met with in many parts of India, and are usually fair-complexioned, tall, and handsome men.

They are classed in the Játi málás, or popular lists of castes, amongst the five Gaura Brahmans, and are divided into ten tribes: they are said also to be especially the Purohits or family priests of the Kshatriya or military castes: (see the Játi málá, printed in Price’s Hindi Selections, II. 280:) circumstances in harmony with the purport of the legend, and confirmatory of the Sáraswatas of the Panjab having been prominent agents in the establishment of the Hindu religion in India. The holy land of the Hindus, or the primary seat, perhaps, of Brahmanism, has for one of its boundaries the Saraswatí river.

CHAP. VII.

By what means men are exempted from the authority of Yama, as narrated by Bhíshma to Nakula. Dialogue between Yama and one of his attendants. Worshippers of u not subject to Yama. How they are to be known.

MAITREYA.–You have indeed related to me, most excellent Brahman, all that I asked of you; but I am desirous to hear one thing which you have not touched on. This universe, composed of seven zones, with its seven subterrestrial regions, and seven spheres–this whole egg of Brahmá.–is every where swarming with living creatures, large or small, with smaller and smallest, and larger and largest; so that there is not the eighth part of an inch in which they do not abound. Now all these are captives in the chains of acts, and at the end of their existence become slaves to the power of Yama, by whom they are sentenced to painful punishments. Released from these inflictions, they are again born in the condition of gods, men, or the like: and thus living beings, as the ástras apprise us, perpetually revolve. Now the question I have to ask, and which you are so well able to answer, is, by what acts men may free themselves from subjection to Yama?

PARÁ ARA.–This question, excellent Muni, was once asked by Nakula of his grandfather Bhíshma; and I will repeat to you the reply made by the latter.

Bhíshma said to the prince, “There formerly came on a visit to me a friend of mine, a Brahman, from the Kalinga country, who told me that he had once proposed this question to a holy Muni, who retained the recollection of his former births, and by whom what was, and what will be, was accurately told. Being importuned by me, who placed implicit faith in his words, to repeat what that pious personage had imparted to him, he at last communicated it to me; and what he related I have never met with elsewhere.

“Having, then, on one occasion, put to him the same question which you have asked, the Kalinga Brahman recalled the story that had been told him by the Muni–the great mystery that had been revealed to him by the pious sage, who remembered his former existence–a dialogue that occurred between Yama and one of his ministers.

“Yama beholding one of his servants with his noose in his hand, whispered to him, and said, ‘Keep clear of the worshippers of Madhusúdana. I am the lord of all men, the

avas excepted. I was appointed by Brahmá, who is reverenced by all the immortals, to restrain mankind, and regulate the consequences of good and evil in the universe. But be who obeys Hari, as his spiritual guide, is here independent of me; for

u is of power to govern and control me. As gold is one substance still, however diversified as bracelets, tiaras, or earrings, so Hari is one and the same, although modified in the forms of gods, animals, and man. As the drops of water, raised by wind from the earth, sink into the earth again when the wind subsides, so the varieties of gods, men, and animals, which have been detached by the agitation of the qualities, are reunited, when that disturbance ceases, with the eternal. He who through holy knowledge diligently adores the lotus foot of that Hari, who is reverenced by the gods, is released from all the bonds of sin; and you must avoid him as you would avoid fire fed with oil.’

“Having heard these injunctions of Yama, the messenger addressed the lord of righteousness, and said, ‘Tell me, master, how am I to distinguish the worshipper of Hari, who is the protector of all beings?’ Yama replied, ‘You are to consider the worshipper of

u, him who never deviates from the duties prescribed to his caste; who looks with equal indifference upon friend or enemy; who takes,; nothing (that is not his own), nor injures any being. Know that person of unblemished mind to be a worshipper of u. Know him to be a devout worshipper of Hari, who has placed Janárddana in his pure mind, which has been freed from fascination, and whose soul is undefiled by the soil of the Kali age. Know that excellent man to be a worshipper of u, who, looking upon gold in secret, holds that which is another’s wealth but as grass, and devotes all his thoughts to the lord. Pure is he as a mountain of clear crystal; for how can u abide in the hearts of men with malice and envy, and other evil passions? the glowing heat of fire abides not in a cluster of the cooling rays of the moon.

He who lives pure in thought, free from malice, contented, leading a holy life, feeling tenderness for all creatures, speaking wisely and kindly, humble and sincere, has Vásudeva ever present in his heart. As the young Sál-tree by its beauty declares the excellence of the juices which it has imbibed from the earth, so when the eternal has taken up his abode in the bosom of any one, that man is lovely amidst the beings of this world. Depart, my servant, quickly from those men whose sins have been dispersed by moral and religious merit, whose minds are daily dedicated to the imperceptible deity, and who are exempt from pride, uncharitableness, and malice. In the heart in which the divine Hari, who is without beginning or end, abides, armed with a sword, a shell, and a mace, sin cannot remain; for it cannot coexist with that which destroys it, as darkness cannot continue in the world when the sun is shining.

The eternal makes not his abode in the heart of that man who covets another’s wealth, who injures living creatures, who speaks harshness and untruth, who is proud of his iniquity, and whose mind is evil. Janárddana occupies not his thoughts who envies another’s prosperity, who calumniates the virtuous, who never sacrifices nor bestows gifts upon the pious, who is blinded by the property of darkness. That vile wretch is no worshipper of u, who through avarice is unkind to his nearest friends and relations, to his wife, children, parents, and dependants. The brute-like man whose thoughts are evil, who is addicted to unrighteous acts, who ever seeks the society of the wicked, and suffers no day to pass without the perpetration of crime, is no worshipper of Vásudeva.

Do you proceed afar off from those in whose hearts Ananta is enshrined; from him whose sanctified understanding conceives the supreme male and ruler, Vásudeva, as one with his votary, and with all this world.

Avoid those holy persons who are constantly invoking the lotus-eyed Vásudeva, u, the supporter of the earth, the immortal wielder of the discus and the shell, the asylum of the world. Come not into the sight of him in whose heart the imperishable soul resides, for he is defended from my power by the discus of his deity: he is designed for another world (for the heaven of u).’

“‘Such,’ said the Kalinga Brahman, ‘were the instructions communicated by the deity of justice, the son of the sun, to his servants, as they were repeated to me by that holy personage, and as I have related them to you, chief of the house of Kuru’ (Bhíshma). So also, Nakula, I have faithfully communicated to you all I heard from my pious friend, when he came from his country of Kalinga to visit me. I have thus explained to you, as was fitting, that there is no protection in the ocean of the world except u; and that the servants and ministers of Yama, the king of the dead himself, and his tortures, are all unavailing against one who places his reliance on that divinity.”

I have thus, resumed Pará ara, related to you what you wished to hear, and what was said by the son of Vivaswat 3. What else do you wish to hear?

Footnotes

Nakula is one of the Pá a

va princes, and consequently grand-nephew, not grandson, of

Bhíshma: he is great grandson of Pará ara; and it is rather an anomaly for the latter to cite a conversation in which Nakula formerly bore a part.

Or Yama and Niyama. The duties intended by these terms are variously enumerated. The commentator on the text specifics under the first head, absence of violence or cruelty to other beings (Ahinsá), honesty (Asteya), truth (Satya), chastity (Brahmácháryya), and disinterestedness or non-acceptance of gifts (Aparigraha). Under Niyama are comprehended purity ( aucha), contentment (Santosha), devotion (Tapas), study of the Vedas (Swádhyáya), and adoration of the supreme (Í wara- idhána).

Or Vaivaswata. This section is called the Yama gíta.

CHAP. VIII.

How u is to be worshipped, as related by Aurva to Sagara. Duties of the four castes, severally and in common: also in time of distress.

MAITREYA.–Inform me, venerable teacher, how the supreme deity, the lord of the universe, u, is worshipped by those who are desirous of overcoming the world; and what advantages are reaped by men, assiduous in his adoration, from the propitiated Govinda.

PARÁ ARA.–The question you have asked was formerly put by Sagara to Aurva. I will repeat to you his reply.

Sagara having bowed down before Aurva, the descendant of Bhrigu, asked him what were the best means of pleasing u, and what would be the consequence of obtaining his favour. Aurva replied, “He who pleases u obtains all terrestrial enjoyments; heaven and a place in heaven; and what is best of all, final liberation: whatever he wishes, and to whatever extent, whether much or little, he receives it, when Achyuta is content with him. In what manner his favour is to be secured, that also I will, oh king, impart to you, agreeably to your desire. The supreme u is propitiated by a man who observes the institutions of caste, order, and purificatory practices: no other path is the way to please him.

He who offers sacrifices, sacrifices to him; he who murmurs prayer, prays to him; he who injures living creatures, injures him; for Hari is all beings. Janárddana therefore is propitiated by him who is attentive to established observances, and follows the duties prescribed for his caste. The Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vai ya, and the údra, who attends to the rules enjoined his caste, best worships u. Ke ava is most pleased with him who does good to others; who never utters abuse, calumny, or untruth; who never covets another’s wife or another’s wealth, and who bears ill-will towards none; who neither beats nor slays any animate or inanimate thing; who is ever diligent in the service of the gods, of the. Brahmans, and of his spiritual preceptor; who is always desirous of the welfare of all creatures, of his children, and of his own soul; in whose pure heart no pleasure is derived from the imperfections of love and hatred. The man, oh monarch, who conforms to the duties enjoined by scriptural authority for every caste and condition of life, is he who best worships u: there is no other mode.”

Aurva having thus spoken, Sagara said to him, “Tell me then, venerable Brahman, what are the duties of caste and condition: I am desirous of knowing them.” To which Aurva answered and said, “Attentively listen to the duties which I shall describe as those severally of the Brahman, the Kshatriya, the Vai ya, and the údra. The Brahman should make gifts, should worship the gods with sacrifices, should be assiduous in studying the Vedas, should perform ablutions and libations with water, and should preserve the sacred flame.

For the sake of subsistence he may offer sacrifices on behalf of others, and may instruct them in the ástras; and he may accept presents of a liberal description in a becoming manner (or from respectable persons, and at an appropriate season). He must ever seek to promote the good of others, and do evil unto none; for the best riches of a Brahman are universal benevolence. He should look upon the jewels of another person as if they were pebbles; and should, at proper periods, procreate offspring by his wife. These are the duties of a Brahman.

“The man of the warrior tribe should cheerfully give presents to Brahmans, perform various sacrifices, and study the scriptures. His especial sources of maintenance are arms and the protection of the earth. The guardianship of the earth is indeed his especial province: by the discharge of this duty a king attains his objects, and realizes a share of the merit of all sacrificial rites. By intimidating the bad, and cherishing the good, the monarch who maintains the discipline of the different castes secures whatever region he desires.

“Brahmá, the great parent of creation, gave to the Vai ya the occupations of commerce and agriculture, and the feeding of flocks and herds, for his means of livelihood; and sacred study, sacrifice, and donation are also his duties, as is the observance of fixed and occasional rites.

“Attendance upon the three regenerate castes is the province of the údra, and by that he is to subsist, or by the profits of trade, or the earnings of mechanical labour. He is also to make gifts; and he may offer the sacrifices in which food is presented, as well as obsequial offerings.

“Besides these their respective obligations, there are duties equally incumbent upon all the four castes. These are, the acquisition of property, for the support of their families; cohabitation with their wives, for the sake of progeny; tenderness towards all creatures, patience, humility, truth, purity, contentment, decency of decoration, gentleness of speech, friendliness; and freedom from envy and repining, from avarice, and from detraction. These also are the duties of every condition of life.

“In times of distress the peculiar functions of the castes may be modified, as you shall hear. A Brahman may follow the occupations of a Kshatriya or a Vai ya; the Kshatriya may adopt those of the Vai ya; and the Vai ya those of the Kshatriya: but these two last should never descend to the functions of the údra, if it be possible to avoid them; and if that be not possible, they must at least shun the functions of the mined castes. I will now, Rájá, relate to you the duties of the several Ásramas or conditions of life.”

Footnotes

Sagara, as we shall see, was a king of the solar race. Aurva was a sage, the grandson of Bhrigu. When the sons of king Kritavírya persecuted and slew the children of Bhrigu, to recover the wealth which their father had lavished upon them, they destroyed even the children in the womb.

One of the women of the race of Bhrigu, in order to preserve her embryo, secreted it in her thigh (Uru), whence the child on his birth was named Aurva: from his wrath proceeded a flame, that threatened to destroy the world; but at the persuasion of his ancestors he cast it into the ocean, where it abode with the face of a horse. Aurva was afterwards religious preceptor to Sagara, and bestowed upon him the Ágneyástram, or fiery weapon, with which he conquered the tribes of barbarians, who had invaded his patrimonial possessions. Mahábh. Ádi Parvan, Dána Dharma P., Hari Van a.

Most of the Purá as, especially the Kúrma, Padma, Vámana, Agni, and I a

, contain

chapters or sections more or less in detail upon the moral and ceremonial duties of the Hindus; and a considerable portion of the Mahábhárata, especially in the Moksha Dharma Parvan, is devoted to the same subject. No other Paurá ik work, however, contains a series of chapters exactly analogous to those which follow, and which contain a compendious and systematic description of the Ácháras, or personal and social obligations of the Hindus. The tenor of the whole is conformable to the institutes of Manu, and many passages are the same.

The Pákayajna, or sacrifice in which food is offered, implies either the worship of the Vi wadevas, the rites of hospitality, or occasional oblations, on building a house, the birth of a child, or any occasion of rejoicing. It is to be understood, however, that this injunction intends his performing these ceremonies through the agency of a Brahman, as a údra cannot repeat the Mantras or prayers that accompany them; and it might be a question how far he might be present, for he ought not even to hear such prayers repeated. The performance of funeral rites involves some personal share, and the údra

must present the cakes, but it must be done without Mantras; as the Mitákshara; ‘This rite (the presentation of cakes) must be performed by the údras, without formula:, on the twelfth day.’

The Váyu P. directs the performance of the five great sacrifices by údras, only omitting the Mantras: It may be suspected that the Purá as relaxed in some degree from the original rigour; for it may be inferred that the great ceremonies were altogether withheld from údras in the time of Manu, who declares that none have any right or part (Adhikára) in his code except those who perform rites with Mantras, or the three regenerate castes (II. 16); and denounces as heinous sins teaching the p. 293 Vedas to

údras, performing sacrifices for them, or taking gifts from them. X. 309, 110, 111. Yájnawalkya, however, allows them to perform five great rites with the Namaskára, or the simple salutation: which Gotama confirms. Some restrict the sense of Mantra, also, to the prayers of the Vedas, and allow the údras to use those of the Purá as; as úlapáni: and the Titthi Tatwa is cited in the údra Kamalákára as allowing them any Mantras except those of the Vedas.

This last clause reconciles what would else appear to be an incompatibility with Manu, who permits the Vai ya in time of distress to descend to the servile acts of a údra. X. 98.

CHAP. IX.

Duties of the religious student, householder, hermit, and mendicant.

AURVA continued.–“When the youth has been invested with the thread of his caste, let him diligently prosecute the study of the Vedas, in the house of his preceptor, with an attentive spirit, and leading a life of continence. He is to wait upon his Guru, assiduously observant of purificatory practices, and the Veda is to be acquired by him, whilst he is regular in the performance of religious rites. In the morning Sandhya he is first to salute the sun; in the evening, fire; and then to address his preceptor with respect. He must stand when his master is standing; move when he is walking; and sit beneath him when he is seated: he must never sit, nor walk, nor stand when his teacher does the reverse. When desired by him, let him read the Veda attentively, placed before his preceptor; and let him eat the food he has collected as alms, when permitted by his teacher. Let him bathe in water which has first been used for his preceptor’s ablutions; and every morning bring fuel and water, and whatsoever else may be required.

“When the scriptural studies appropriate to the student have been completed, and he has received dismissal from his Guru, let the regenerate man enter into the order of the householder; and taking unto himself, with lawful ceremonies, house, wife, and wealth, discharge to the best of his ability the duties of his station; satisfying the manes with funeral cakes; the gods with oblations; guests with hospitality; the sages with holy study; the progenitors of mankind with progeny; the spirits with the residue of oblations; and all the world with words of truth. A householder secures heaven by the faithful discharge of these obligations. There are those who subsist upon alms, and lead an erratic life of self- denial, at the end of the term during which they have kept house.

They wander over the world to see the earth, and perform their ablutions, with rites enjoined by the Vedas, at sacred shrines: houseless, and without food, and resting for the night at the dwelling at which they arrive in the evening. The householder is to them a constant refuge and parent: it is his duty to give them a welcome, and to address them with kindness; and to provide them, whenever they come to his house, with a bed, a seat, and food. A guest disappointed by a householder, who turns away from his door, transfers to the latter all his own misdeeds, and bears away his religious merit. In the house of a good man, contumely, arrogance, hypocrisy, repining, contradiction, and violence are annihilated: and the householder who fully performs this his chief duty of hospitality is released from every kind of bondage, and obtains the highest of stations after death.

“When the householder, after performing the acts incumbent on his condition, arrives at the decline of life, let him consign his wife to the care of his sons, and go himself to the forests.

Let him there subsist upon leaves, roots, and fruit; and suffer his hair and beard to grow, and braid the former upon his brows; and sleep upon the ground: his dress must be made of skin or of Ká a or Ku a grasses; and he must bathe thrice a day; and he must offer oblations to the gods and to fire, and treat all that come to him with hospitality: he must beg alms, and present food to all creatures: he must anoint himself with such unguents as the woods afford; and in his devotional exercises he must be endurant of heat and cold. The sage who diligently follows these rules, and leads the life of the hermit (or Vánaprastha), consumes, like fire, all imperfections, and conquers for himself the mansions of eternity.

“The fourth order of men is called that of the mendicant; the circumstances of which it is fit, oh king, that you should hear from me. Let the unimpassioned man, relinquishing all affection for wife, children, and possessions, enter the fourth order. Let him forego the three objects of human existence (pleasure, wealth, and virtue), whether secular or religious, and, indifferent to friends, be the friend of all living beings. Let him, occupied with devotion, abstain from wrong, in act, word, or thought, to all creatures, human or brute; and equally avoid attachment to any. Let him reside but for one night in a village, and not more than five nights at a time in a city; and let him so abide, that good-will, and not animosity, may be engendered. Let him, for the support of existence, apply for alms at the houses of the three first castes, at the time when the fires have been extinguished, and people have eaten.

Let the wandering mendicant call nothing his own, and suppress desire, anger, covetousness, pride, and folly. The sage who gives no cause for alarm to living beings need never apprehend any danger from them. Having deposited the sacrificial fire in his own person, the Brahman feeds the vital flame, with the butter that is collected as alms, through the altar of his mouth; and by means of his spiritual fire he proceeds to his own proper abode. But the twice-born man, who seeks for liberation, and is pure of heart, and whose mind is perfected by self-investigation, secures the sphere of Brahmá, which is tranquil, and is as a bright flame that emits not smoke.”

Footnotes

These directions are the same as those prescribed by Manu, though not precisely in the same words. II. 175, et seq.

So Manu, III. 4, &c.

The great obligations, or, as Sir Wm. Jones terms them, sacraments, the Maháyajnas, or great sacrifices, are, according to Manu, but five; Brahmayajna, sacred study; Pitriyajna, libations to the manes; Devayajna, burnt-offerings to the gods; Baliyajna, offerings to all creatures; and Nriyajna, hospitality. III. 70, 71. The Prajápatiyajna, or propagation of offspring, and Satyayajna, observance of truth, are apparently later additions.

This is also the doctrine of Manu, III. 100.

Manu, VI. 3, &c. Manu, VI. 33, &c.

The text uses the term Dwijáti, which designates a man of the three first castes. The commentator cites various authorities to prove that its sense should be Brahman only, who alone is permitted to enter the fourth order.–‘Entrance into the fourth order is never for the Kshatriya and Vai ya. Entrance into the fourth order is for Brahmans, according to Swayambhu. So says Dattátreya: “Let the Brahman proceed from his dwelling is also the expression of Yama, Samvartta, and Baudháyana.”‘ But this is not the general understanding of the law, nor was it originally so restricted apparently. Manu does not so limit it.

CHAP. X.

Ceremonies to be observed at the birth and naming of a child. of marrying, or leading a religious life. Choice of a wife. Different modes of marrying.

SAGARA then addressed Aurva, and said, “You have described to me, venerable Brahman, the duties of the four orders and of the four castes. I am now desirous to hear from you the religious institutes which men should individually observe, whether they be invariable, occasional, or voluntary. Describe these to me; for all things are known, chief of Bhrigu’s race, unto you.” To this Aurva replied, “I will communicate to you, oh king, that which you have asked, the invariable and occasional rites which men should perform: do you attend.

“When a son is born, let his father perform for him the ceremonies proper on the birth of a child, and all other initiatory rites, as well as a ráddha, which is a source of prosperity. Let him feed a couple of Brahmans, seated with their faces to the east; and according to his means offer sacrifices to the gods and progenitors. Let him present to the manes balls of meat mixed with curds, barley, and jujubes, with the part of his hand sacred to the gods, or with that sacred to Prajápati. Let a Brahman perform such a ráddha, with all its offerings and circumambulations, on every occasion of good fortune.

“Next, upon the tenth day after birth, let the father give a name to his child; the first term of which shall be the appellation of a god, the second of a man, as arman or Varman; the former being the appropriate designation of a Brahman, the latter of a warrior; whilst Gupta and Dása are best fitted for the names of Vai yas and údras. A name should not be void of meaning; it should not be indecent, nor absurd, nor ill-omened, nor fearful; it should consist of an even number of syllables; it should not be too long nor too short, nor too full of long vowels; but contain a due proportion of short vowels, and be easily articulated. After this and the succeeding initiatory rites, the purified youth is to acquire religious knowledge, in the mode that has been described, in the dwelling of his spiritual guide.

“When he has finished his studies, and given the parting donation to his preceptor, the man who wishes to lead the life of a householder must take a wife. If he does not propose to enter into the married state, he may remain as a student with his teacher, first making a vow to that effect, and employ himself in the service of his preceptor and of that preceptor’s descendants; or he may at once become a hermit, or adopt the order of the religious mendicant, according to his original determination.

“If he marry, he must select a maiden who is of a third of his age; one who has not too much hair, but is not without any; one who is not very black nor yellow complexioned, and who is not from birth a cripple or deformed. He must not marry a girl who is vicious or unhealthy, of low origin, or labouring under disease; one who has been ill brought up; one who talks improperly; one who inherits some malady from father or mother; one who has a beard, or who is of a masculine appearance; one who speaks thick or thin, or croaks like a raven; one who keeps her eyes shut, or has the eyes very prominent; one who has

hairy legs, or thick ancles; or one who has dimples in her cheeks when she laughs. Let not a wise and prudent man marry a girl of such a description: nor let a considerate man wed a girl of a harsh skin; or one with white nails; or one with red eyes, or with very fat hands and feet; or one who is a dwarf, or who is very tall; or one whose eyebrows meet, or whose teeth are far apart, and resemble tusks. Let a householder marry a maiden who is in kin at least five degrees remote from his mother, and seven from his father, with the ceremonies enjoined by law.

“The forms of marriage are eight, the Brahmá, Daiva, the Ársha, Prájápatya, Asúra, Gándharba, Rákshasa, and Pai ácha; which last is the worst: but the caste to which either form has been enjoined as lawful by inspired sages should avoid any other mode of taking a wife. The householder who espouses a female connected with him by similarity of religious and civil obligations, and along with her discharges the duties of his condition, derives from such a wife great benefits.”

Footnotes

To the Nándímukhas. The Pitris, or progenitors, are so termed here from words occurring in the prayer used on the occasion of a festive ráddha. As. Res. VII. 270.

With the Daiva tírtha, the tips of the fingers; or with the Prájapatya tírtha, the part of the hand at the root of the little finger. Manu, II. 58, 59. The second is called by Manu the Káya tírtha, from Ka, a synonyme of Prajápati.

The ráddha is commonly an obsequial or funeral sacrifice, but it implies offerings to the progenitors of an individual and of mankind, and always forms part of a religious ceremony on an occasion of rejoicing or an accession of prosperity, this being termed the Abhyudaya or Vriddhi ráddha. As. Res. VII. 270.

So Manu, II. 30, 31, 32. The examples given in the comment are, Soma arman, Indravarman, Chandragupta, and ivadása, respectively appropriate appellations of men of the four castes.

Or Sanskáras; initiatory ceremonies, purificatory of the individual at various stages.

Or the vow or pledge he has taken, that he will follow for life the observances of the student or ascetic; both of which are enumerated in the # aya Sindhu, as acts prohibited in the Kali age; a man is not to continue a student or Brahmáchári, i. e. a cænobite, for life; nor is he to become a mendicant without previously passing through the order of householder. In practice, however, the prohibition is not unfrequently disregarded.

By this is to be understood, according to the commentator, merely a young girl, but at the same time one not immature; for otherwise, he observes, a man of thirty, by which age he completes his sacred studies, would espouse a girl of but ten years of age. According to Manu, however, the period of religious study does not terminate until thirty-six; and in the East a girl of twelve would be marriageable. The text of Yájnawalkya has merely the word Yavíyasí, ‘a very young woman.’ It is worthy of remark here, that neither that text, nor the text of Manu, nor the interpretation of our text, authorizes the present practice of the nuptials of children. The obligation imposed upon a man of a life of perfect continence until he is more than thirty is singularly Malthusian.

For the credit of Hindu taste it is to be noticed that the commentator observes the hemistich in which this last clause occurs is not found in all copies of the text.

See Manu, III. 5, &c.

These different modes of marriage a described by Manu, III. 27, &c.

CHAP. XI.

Of the Sadácháras, or perpetual obligations of a householder. Daily purifications, ablutions, libations, and oblations: hospitality: obsequial rites: ceremonies to be observed at meals, at morning and evening worship, and on going to rest.

SAGARA again said to Aurva, “Relate to me, Muni, the fixed observances of the householder, by attending to which he will never be rejected from this world or the next.”

Aurva replied to him thus: “Listen, prince, to an account of those perpetual observances, by adhering to which both worlds are subdued. Those who are called Sádhus (saints) are they who are free from all defects; and the term Sat means the same, or Sádhu: those practices or observances (Ácháras) which they follow are therefore called Sadácháras, the institutions or observances of the pious.’ The seven Rishis, the Manus, the patriarchs, are they who have enjoined and who have practised these observances. Let the wise man awake in the Muhúrtta of Brahmá. (or in the third Muhúrtta, about two hours before sunrise), and with a composed mind meditate on two of the objects of life (virtue and wealth), and on topics not incompatible with them.

Let him also think upon desire, as not conflicting with the other two; and thus contemplate with equal indifference the three ends of life, for the purpose of counter- acting the unseen consequences of good or evil acts. Let him avoid wealth and desire, if they give uneasiness to virtue; and abstain from virtuous or religious acts, if they involve misery, or are censured by the world. Having risen, he must offer adoration to the sun; and then, in the south-east quarter, at the distance of a bowshot or more, or any where remote from the village, void the impurities of nature. The water that remains after washing his feet he must throw away into the courtyard of the house.

A wise man will never void urine on his own shadow, nor on the shadow of a tree, nor on a cow, nor against the sun, nor on fire, nor against the wind, nor on his Guru, nor men of the three first castes; nor will he pass either excrement in a ploughed field, or pasturage, or in the company of men, or on a high road, or in rivers and the like, which are holy, or on the bank of a stream, or in a place where bodies are burnt; or any where quickly. By day let him void them with his face to the north, and by night with his face to the south, when he is not in trouble. Let him perform these actions in silence, and without delay; covering his head with a cloth, and the ground with grass. Let him not take, for the purposes of cleanliness, earth from an ant-hill, nor a rat-hole, nor from water, nor from the residue of what has been so used, nor soil that has been employed to plaster a cottage, nor such as has been thrown up by insects, or turned over by the plough. All such kinds of earth let him avoid, as means of purification.

One handful is sufficient after voiding urine; three after passing ordure: then ten handfulls are to be rubbed over the left hand, and seven over both hands. Let him then rince his mouth with water that is pure, neither fetid, nor frothy, nor full of bubbles; and again use earth to cleanse his feet, washing them well with water.

He is to drink water then three times, and twice wash his face with it; and next touch with it his head, the cavities of the eyes, ears, and nostrils, the forehead, the navel, and the heart. Having finally washed his mouth, a man is to clean and dress his hair, and to decorate his person, before a glass, with unguents, garlands, and perfumes. He is then, according to the custom of his caste, to acquire wealth, for the sake of subsistence; and with a lively faith worship the gods. Sacrifices with the acid juice, those with clarified butter, and those with offerings of food, are comprehended in wealth: wherefore let men exert themselves to acquire wealth for these purposes.

“As preparatory to all established rites of devotion the householder should bathe in the water of a river, a pond, a natural channel, or a mountain torrent; or he may bathe upon dry ground, with water drawn from a well, or taken from a, river, or other source, where there is any objection to bathing on the spot. When bathed, and clad in clean clothes, let him devoutly offer libations to the gods, sages, and progenitors, with the parts of the hand severally sacred to each. He must scatter water thrice, to gratify the gods; as many times, to please the Rishis; and once, to propitiate Prajápati: he must also make three libations, to satisfy the progenitors.

He must then present, with the part of the hand sacred to the manes, water to his paternal grandfather and great-grandfather, to his maternal grandfather, great-grandfather, and his father; and at pleasure to his own mother and his mother’s mother and grandmother, to the wife of his preceptor, to his preceptor, his maternal uncle, and other relations, to a dear friend, and to the king.

Let him also, after libations have been made to the gods and the rest, present others at pleasure for the benefit of all beings, reciting inaudibly this prayer; ‘May the gods, demons, Yakshas, serpents, Rákshasas, Gandharbas, Pisáchas, Guhyakas, Siddhas,

Kushmá a

s, trees, birds, fish, all that people the waters, or the earth, or the air, be

propitiated by the water I have presented to them. This water is given by me for the alleviation of the pains of all those who are suffering in the realms of hell. May all those who are my kindred, and not my kindred, and who were my relations in a former life, all who desire libations from me, receive satisfaction from this water. May this water and sesamum, presented by me, relieve the hunger and thirst of all who are suffering from those inflictions, wheresoever they may be.’ Presentations of water, given in the manner, oh king, which I have described, yield gratification to all the world: and the sinless man, who in the sincerity of faith pours out these voluntary libations, obtains the merit that results from affording nutriment to all creatures.

“Having then rinced his mouth, he is to offer water to the sun, touching his forehead with his hands joined, and with this prayer; ‘Salutation to Vivaswat, the radiant, the glory of

u; to the pure illuminator of the world; to Savitrí, the granter of the fruit of acts.’ He is then to perform the worship of the house, presenting to his tutelary deity water, flowers, and incense. He is next to offer oblations with fire, not preceded by any other rite, to Brahmá. Having invoked Prajápati, let him pour oblations reverently to his household gods, to Ká yapa and to Anumati, in succession.

The residue of the oblation let him offer to the earth, to water, and to rain, in a pitcher at hand; and to Dhátri and Vidhátri at the doors of his house, and in the middle of it to Brahmá. Let the wise man also offer the Bali, consisting of the residue of the oblations, to Indra, Yama, a, and Soma, at the four cardinal points of his dwelling, the east and the rest; and in the north-east quarter he will present it to Dhanwantari. After having thus worshipped the domestic deities, he will next offer part of the residue to all the gods (the Vi wadevas); then, in the north-west quarter, to Váyu (wind); then, in all directions, to the points of the horizon, to Brahmá, to the atmosphere, and to the sun; to all the gods, to all beings, to the lords of beings, to the Pitris, to twilight.

Then taking other rice, let the householder at pleasure cast it upon a clean spot of ground, as an offering to all beings, repeating with collected mind this prayer; ‘May gods, men, animals, birds, saints, Yakshas, serpents, demons, ghosts, goblins, trees, all that desire food given by me; may ants, worms, moths, and other insects, hungered and bound in the bonds of acts; may all obtain satisfaction from the food left them by me, and enjoy happiness. May they who have neither mother, nor father, nor relations, nor food, nor the means of preparing it, be satisfied and pleased with the food presented for their contentment. Inasmuch as all beings, and this food, and I, and u are not different, I therefore give for their sustenance the food that is one with the body of all creatures. May all beings, that are comprehended in the fourteen orders of existent things, be satisfied with the food bestowed by me for their gratification, and be delighted.’

Having uttered this prayer, let the devout believer cast the food upon the ground, for the nourishment of all kinds of beings; for the householder is thence the supporter of them all. Let him scatter food upon the ground for dogs, outcasts, birds, and all fallen and degraded persons.

“The householder is then to remain at eventide in his courtyard as long as it takes to milk a cow, or longer if he pleases, to await the arrival of a guest. Should such a one arrive, he is to be received with a hospitable welcome; a seat is to be offered to him, and his feet are to be washed, and food is to be given him with liberality, and he is to be civilly and kindly spoken to; and when he departs, to be sent away by his host with friendly wishes. A householder should ever pay attention to a guest who is not an inhabitant of the same village, but who comes from another place, and whose name and lineage are unknown.

He who feeds himself, and neglects the poor and friendless stranger in want of hospitality, goes to hell. Let a householder who has a knowledge of Brahmá reverence a guest, without inquiring his studies, his school, his practices, or his race.

“A householder should also at the perpetual ráddha entertain another Brahman, who is of his own country, whose family and observances are known, and who performs the five sacramental rites. He is likewise to present to a Brahman learned in the Vedas four handfulls of food, set apart with the exclamation Hanta; and he is to give to a mendicant religious student three handfulls of rice, or according to his pleasure when he has ample means. These, with the addition of the mendicant before described, are to be considered as guests; and he who treats these four descriptions of persons with hospitality acquits himself of the debt due to his fellow men.

The guest who departs disappointed from any house, and proceeds elsewhere, transfers his sins to the owner of that mansion, and takes away with him such a householder’s merits. Brahmá, Prajápati, Indra, fire, the Vasus, the sun, are present in the person of a guest, and partake of the food that is given to him. Let a man therefore be assiduous in discharging the duties of hospitality; for he who eats his food without bestowing any upon a guest feeds only upon iniquity.

“In the next place the householder must provide food for a married damsel, remaining in her father’s dwelling; for any one who is ill; for a pregnant woman; for the aged and the infants of his house; and then he may eat himself. He who eats whilst these are yet unfed is guilty of sin in this life, and when he dies is condemned in hell to feed upon phlegm. So he who eats without performing ablutions is fed in hell with filth; and he who repeats not his prayers, with matter and blood: he who eats unconsecrated food, with urine; and he who eats before the children and the rest are fed is stuffed in Tartarus with ordure.

Hear therefore, oh king of kings, how a householder should feed, so that in eating no sin may be incurred, that invariable health and increased vigour may be secured, and all evils and hostile machinations may be averted.

Let the householder, having bathed, and offered libations to the gods and manes, and decorated his hand with jewels, proceed to take his meal, after having repeated the introductory prayers, and offered oblations with fire, and having given food to guests, to Brahmans, to his elders, and to his family. He must not eat with a single garment on, nor with wet hands and feet, but dressed in clean clothes, perfumed, and wearing garlands of flowers: he must not eat with his face to any intermediate point of the horizon, but fronting the east or the north: and thus, with a smiling countenance, happy and attentive, let him partake of food, of good quality, wholesome, boiled with clean water, procured from no vile person nor by improper means, nor improperly cooked. Having given a portion to his hungry companions, let him take his food without reproach out of a clean handsome vessel, which must not be placed upon a low stool or bed.

He must not eat in an unfit place or out of season, nor in an incommodious attitude; nor must he first cast any of his meal into the fire. Let his food be made holy with suitable texts; let it be good of its kind; and it must not be stale, except in the case of fruit or meat; nor must it be of dry vegetable substances, other than jujubes or preparations of molasses; but never must a man eat of that of which the juices have been extracted. Nor must a man eat so as to leave no residue of his meal, except in the case of flour, cakes, honey, water, curds, and butter.

Let him, with an attentive mind, first taste that which has a sweet flavour: he may take salt and sour things in the middle course, and finish with those which are pungent and bitter. The man who commences his meal with fluids, then partakes of solid food, and finishes with fluids again, will ever be strong and healthy. In this manner let him feed without fault, silent, and contented with his food; taking, without uttering a word, to the extent of five handfulls, for the nutriment of the vital principle.

Having eaten sufficiently, the householder is then to rinse his mouth, with his face turned towards the east or the north; and having again sipped water, he is to wash his hands from the wrist downwards. With a pleased and tranquil spirit he is then to take a seat, and call to memory his tutelary deity; and then he is thus to pray: ‘May fire, excited by air, convert this food into the earthly elements of this frame, and in the space afforded by the etherial atmosphere cause it to digest, and yield me satisfaction! May this food, in its assimilation, contribute to the vigour of the earth, water, fire, and air of my body, and afford unmixed gratification!

May Agasti, Agni, and submarine fire effect the digestion of the food of which I have eaten; may they grant me the happiness which its conversion into nutriment engenders; and may health ever animate my form! May u, who is the chief principle of all invested with bodily structure and the organs of sense, be propitiated by my faith in him, and influence the assimilation of the invigorating food which I have eaten! For verily

u is the eater and the food and the nutriment: and through this belief may that which I have eaten be digested.’

“Having repeated this prayer, the householder should rub his stomach with his hand, and without indolence perform such rites as confer repose, passing the day in such amusements as are authorized by holy writings, and are not incompatible with the practices of the righteous; until the Sandhyá, when he must engage in pious meditation. At the Sandhyá, at the close of the day he must perform the usual rites before the sun has quite set; and in the morning he must perform them before the stars have disappeared.

The morning and evening rites must never be neglected, except at seasons of impurity, anxiety, sickness, or alarm. He who is preceded by the sun in rising, or sleeps when the sun is setting, unless it proceed from illness and the like, incurs guilt which requires atonement; and therefore let a man rise before the sun in the morning, and sleep not until after be has set. They who sinfully omit both the morning and the evening service go after death to the hell of darkness. In the evening, then, having again dressed food, let the wife of the householder, in order to obtain the fruit of the Vai wadeva rite, give food, without prayers, to outcasts and unclean spirits.

Let the householder himself, according to his means, again shew hospitality to any guest who may arrive, welcoming him with the salutation of evening, water for his feet, a seat, a supper, and a bed. The sin of want of hospitality to a guest who comes after sunset is eight times greater than that of turning away one who arrives by day. A man should therefore most especially shew respect to one who comes to him in the evening for shelter, as the attentions that gratify him will give pleasure to all the gods. Let the householder, then, according to his ability, afford a guest food, potherbs, water, a bed, a mat, or, if he can do no more, ground on which to lie.

“After eating his evening meal, and having washed his feet, the householder is to go to rest. His bed is to be entire, and made of wood: it is not to be scanty, nor cracked, nor uneven, nor dirty, nor infested by insects, nor without a bedding: and he is to sleep with his head either to the east or to the south; any other position is unhealthy.

In due season a man should approach his wife, when a fortunate asterism prevails, in an auspicious moment, and on even nights, if she is not unbathed, sick, unwell, averse, angry, pregnant, hungry, or over-fed. He should be also free from similar imperfections, should be neatly attired and adorned, and animated by tenderness and affection. There are certain days on which unguents, flesh, and women are unlawful, as the eighth and fourteenth. lunar days, new moon and full moon, and the entrance of the sun into a new sign. On these occasions the wise will restrain their appetites, and occupy themselves in the worship of the gods, as enjoined by holy writ, in meditation, and in prayer; and he who behaves differently will fall into a hell where ordure will be his food.

Let not a man stimulate his desires by medicines, nor gratify them with unnatural objects, or in public or holy places. Let him not think incontinently of another’s wife, much less address her to that end; for such a man will be born in future life as a creeping insect. He who commits adultery is punished both here and hereafter; for his days in this world are cut short, and when dead he falls into hell. Thus considering, let a man approach his own wife in the proper season, or even at other times.”

Footnotes

Sir Wm. Jones renders Áchára, ‘the immemorial customs of good men’ (Manu, II. 6);

following the explanation of Kullúka a

, which is much the same as that of our text.

‘Áchára means the use of blankets or bark, &c. for dress. Sádhus are pious or just men.’ Ácháras are, in fact, all ceremonial and purificatory observances or practices, not expiatory, which are enjoined either by the Vedas or the codes of law.

That is, he may omit prescribed rites, if they are attended with difficulty or danger: he may forego ablutions, if they disagree with his health; and he may omit pilgrimage to holy shrines, if the way to them is infested by robbers. Again, it is injoined in certain ceremonies to eat meat, or drink wine; but these practices p. 301 are generally reprehended by pious persons, and a man may therefore disregard the injunction.

Many of these directions are given by Manu, IV. 45.

That is, wealth is essential to the performance of religious rites, and it is also the consequence of performing them. A householder should therefore diligently celebrate them, that he may acquire property, and thus be enabled to continue to sacrifice.

According to Gautama there are seven kinds of each of the three sorts of sacrificial rites particularized in the text, or those in which the Soma juice, oiled butter, or food are presented. Of the latter, according to Manu, there are four varieties, the offering of food to the Vi wadevas, to spirits, to deceased ancestors, and to guests. II. 86. The seven of Gautama are, offerings to progenitors on certain eighth days of the fortnight, at the full and change, at ráddhas generally, and to the manes on the full moon of four different months, or rávan, Agrahá a, Chaitra, and Áswin.

A person may perform his ablutions in his own house, if the weather or occupation prevent his going to the water. If he be sick, he may use warm water; and if bathing be altogether injurious, he may perform the Mantra snána, or repeat the prayers used at ablution, without the actual bath.

The whole series is thus given by Mr. Colebrooke; As. Res. V. 367. Triple libations of tila (sesamum seeds) and water are to be given to the father, paternal grandfather, and great grandfather; to the mother, maternal grandfather, great grandfather, and great great grandfather: and single libations are to be offered to the paternal and maternal grandmother and great grandmother, to the paternal uncle, brother, son, grandson, daughter’s son, son-in-law, maternal uncle, sister’s son, father’s sister’s son, mother’s sister, and other relatives. With exception of those, however, offered to his own immediate ancestors, which are obligatory, these libations are optional, and are rarely made.

The first part of this prayer is from the Sáma-veda, and is given by Mr. Colebrooke. As. Res. V. 367.

The rite is not addressed to Brahmá specially, but he is to be invoked to preside over the oblations offered to the gods and sages subsequently particularized.

Ká yapa, the son of Ka yapa, is Áditya, or the sun. Anumati is the personified moon, wanting a digit of full. The objects and order of the ceremony here succinctly described differ from those of which Mr. Colebrooke gives an account (As. Res. VII. 236), and from the form of oblations given by Ward (Account of the Hindus, II. 447); but, as observed by Mr. Colebrooke, “oblations are made with such ceremonies, and in such form, as are adapted to the religious rite which is intended to be subsequently performed.” As. Res. VII. 237.

See also Manu, III. 84, and the As. Res. VII. 275.

Or this ceremony may be practised instead of the preceding.

This prayer is said by Mr. Colebrooke to be taken from the Purá as (As. Res. VII. 275): he translates the last clause, May they who have neither food, nor means of obtaining it.’ In our text the understanding Anna siddhi to mean ‘means of dressing food,’ Páka sádhana. The following passages of the prayer are evidently peculiar to the u

Purá a.

Either fourteen classes of Bhútas or spirits, or the same number of living beings, or eight species of divine, one of human, and five of animal creatures.

This, according to the commentator, is equal to the fourth part of a I i ká, which, considering the latter synonymous with Muhúrtta, or one-thirtieth of the day and night, would be twelve minutes.

These precepts, and those which follow, are of the same tenor as those given by Manu on the subject of hospitality (III. 99, &c.), but more detailed.

By stale, as applied to meat, is intended in this place probably meat which has been previously dressed as part of an offering to the gods or manes: meat which p. 307 is dressed in the first instance for an individual being prohibited; as by Yájnawalkya: ‘Let him avoid flesh killed in vain;’ or that which is not the residue of an offering to the gods, &c. So also Manu, V. 7.

By dried vegetables, &c. is to be understood unboiled vegetables, or potherbs dressed without being sprinkled with water: Instead of ‘jujubes,’ the reading is sometimes ‘myrobalans:’ the other term, is explained ‘sweet-meats.’ The construction here, however, is somewhat obscure.

As oil-cake, or the sediment of any thing after expression. So Manu, II. 101. and IV. 93.

So Manu, IV. 128.

CHAP. XII.

Miscellaneous obligations–purificatory, ceremonial, and moral.

AURVA continued.–“Let a respectable householder ever venerate the gods, kine, Brahmans, saints, aged persons, and holy teachers. Let him observe the two daily Sandhyás, and offer oblations to fire. Let him dress in untorn garments, use delicate herbs and flowers, wear emeralds and other precious stones, keep his hair smooth and neat, scent his person with agreeable perfumes, and always go handsomely attired, decorated with garlands of white flowers. Let him never appropriate another’s property, nor address him with the least unkindness.

Let him always speak amiably and with truth, and never make public another’s faults. Let him not desire another’s prosperity, nor seek his enmity. Let him not mount upon a crazy vehicle, nor take shelter under the bank of a river (which may fall upon him).

A wise man will not form a friendship nor walk in the same path with one who is disesteemed, who is a sinner or a drunkard, who has many enemies, or who is lousy, with a harlot or her gallant, with a pauper or a liar, with a prodigal, a slanderer, or a knave. Let not a man bathe against the strength of a rapid stream, nor enter a house on fire, nor climb to the top of a tree; nor (in company) clean his teeth or blow his nose, nor gape without covering his mouth, nor clear his throat, nor cough, nor laugh loudly, nor emit wind with noise, nor bite his nails, nor cut grass, nor scratch the ground, nor put his beard into his mouth, nor crumble a clod of clay; nor look upon the chief planetary bodies when he is unclean. Let him not express disgust at a corpse, for the odour of a dead body is the produce of the moon.

Let a decent man ever avoid by night the place where four roads meet, the village tree, the grove adjacent to the place where bodies are burnt, and a loose woman. Let him not pass across the shadow of a venerable person, of an image, of a deity, of a flag, of a heavenly luminary. Let him not travel alone through a forest, nor sleep by himself in an empty house. Let him keep remote from hair, bones, thorns, filth, remnants of offerings, ashes, chaff, and earth wet with water in which another has bathed. Let him not receive the protection of the unworthy, nor attach himself to the dishonest. Let him not approach a beast of prey; and let him not tarry long when he has risen from sleep. Let him not lie in bed when he is awake, nor encounter fatigue when it is time to rest. A prudent man will avoid, even at a distance, animals with tusks and horns; and he will shun exposure to frost, to wind, and to sunshine.

A man must neither bathe, nor sleep, nor rinse his mouth whilst he is naked: he must not wash his mouth, or perform any sacred rite, with his waistband unfastened: and he must not offer oblations to fire, nor sacrifice to the gods, nor wash his mouth, nor salute a Brahman, nor utter a prayer, with only one garment on. Let him never associate with immoral persons: half an instant is the limit for the intercourse of the righteous with them. A wise man will never engage in a dispute with either his superiors or inferiors: controversy and marriage are to be permitted only between equals.

Let not a prudent man enter into contention: let him avoid uprofitable enmity. A small loss may be endured; but he should shun the wealth that is acquired by hostility.

“When a man has bathed, he must not wipe his limbs with a towel nor with his hands, nor shake his hair, nor rinse his mouth before he has risen. Let him not (when sitting) put one foot over another, nor stretch forth his foot, in the presence of a superior, but sit with modesty in the posture called Vírásana (or on his knees). He must never pass round a temple upon his left hand, nor perform the ceremony of circumambulating any venerable object in the reverse direction. A decent man will not spit, nor eject any impurity, in front of the moon, fire, the sun, water, wind, or any respectable person; nor will he void urine standing, nor upon the highway: he will never step over phlegm, ordure, urine, or blood; nor is the expectoration of the mucus of the throat allowable at the time of eating, offering sacrifices or oblations, or repeating prayers, or in the presence of a respectable person.

“Let not a man treat women with disrespect, nor let him put entire faith in them. Let him not deal impatiently with them, nor set them over matters of importance. A man who is attentive to the duties of his station will not go forth from his house without saluting the chaplets, flowers, gems, clarified butter, and venerable persons in it. At proper seasons he will salute respectfully the places where four roads meet, when engaged in offering oblations with fire. Let him liberally relieve the virtuous who are poor, and reverence those who are learned in the Vedas.

He who is a worshipper of the gods and sages, who gives cakes and water to the manes, and who exercises hospitality, obtains the highest regions after death. He who speaks wisely, moderately, and kindly, goes to those worlds which are the inexhaustible sources of happiness. He who is intelligent, modest, devout, and who reverences wisdom, his superiors, and the aged, goes to heaven.

“On the days called Parvas, on periods of impurity, upon unseasonable thunder, and the occurrence of eclipses or atmospheric portents, a wise man must desist from the study of the Vedas. The pious man who suppresses anger and envy, who is benevolent to all, and allays the fears of others, secures, as the least of his rewards, enjoyment in Swarga. A man should carry an umbrella, as a defence against sun and rain; he should bear a staff when he goes by night, or through a wood; and he should walk in shoes, if he desires to keep his body from harm. As he goes along he should not look up, nor about him, nor afar off, but keep his eyes upon the ground to the extent of a couple of yards.

“The householder who expels all sources of imperfection is in a great degree acquitted of the three ordinary objects of existence, desire, wealth, and virtue; sinless amongst the sinful; speaking amicably to all men; his whole soul melting with benevolence; final felicity is in his grasp. The earth is upheld by the veracity of those who have subdued their passions, and, following righteous practices, are never contaminated by desire, covetousness, and wrath.

Let therefore a wise man ever speak the truth when it is agreeable, and when the truth would inflict pain let him hold his peace. Let him not utter that which, though acceptable, would be detrimental; for it were better to speak that which would be salutary, although it should give exceeding offence. A considerate man will always cultivate, in act, thought, and speech, that which is good for living beings, both in this world and in the next.”

Footnotes

Manu, IV. 71. “He who breaks clay, or cuts grass, or bites his nails, will speedily fall to ruin.”

Manu, IV. 130.

Manu, IV. 57.

Ib. id. 78.

Ib. id. 45.

Ib. id. 52.

Manu, IV. 101, &c. The legislator is much more copious on this subject than the author of the Purá a.

So Manu, IV. 538. “Let him say what is true, but let him say what is pleasing. Let him speak no disagreeable truth, nor let him speak agreeable falsehood. This is a primeval rule.”

That the preceding chapter agrees in many respects very closely with the contents of the fourth book of the Institutes of Manu, on economics and private morals, will be evident from the instances cited of some of the parallel passages. Several others might have been adduced.

CHAP. XIII.

Of ráddhas, or rites in honour of ancestors, to be performed on occasions of rejoicing.

Obsequial ceremonies. Of the ” a

annual one. By whom to be performed.

or monthly ráddha, and the a

na or

AURVA continued.–“The bathing of a father without disrobing is enjoined when a son is born; and he is to celebrate the ceremony proper for the event, which is the ráddha offered upon joyous occasions. With composed mind, and thinking on nothing else, the Brahman should offer worship to both the gods and progenitors, and should respectfully circumambulate, keeping Brahmans on his left hand, and give them food. Standing with his face to the east, he should present, with the parts of the hand sacred to the gods and to Prajápati, balls of food, with curds, unbruised grain, and jujubes; and should perform, on every accession of good fortune, the rite by which the class of progenitors termed Nándímukha is propitiated.

A householder should diligently worship the Pitris so named, at the marriage of a son or daughter, on entering a new dwelling, on giving a name to a child, on performing his tonsure and other purificatory ceremonies, at the binding of the mother’s hair during gestation, or on first seeing the face of a son, or the like.

The ráddha on such occasions, however, has been briefly alluded to. Hear now, oh king, the rules for the performance of obsequial rites.

“Having washed the corpse with holy water, decorated it with garlands, and burnt it without the village, the kinsmen, having bathed with their clothes on, are to stand with their faces to the south, and offer libations to the deceased, addressing him by name, and adding, ‘wherever thou mayest be.’ They then return, along with the cattle coming from pasture, to the village; and upon the appearance of the stars retire to rest, sleeping on mats spread upon the earth.

Every day (whilst the mourning lasts) a cake or ball of food is to be placed on the ground, as an offering to the deceased; and rice, without flesh, is to be daily eaten. Brahmans are to be fed for as many days as the mourner pleases, for the soul of the defunct derives satisfaction accordingly as his relatives are content with their entertainment. On the first day, or the third, or seventh, or ninth (after the death of a person), his kinsmen should change their raiment, and bathe out of doors, and offer a libation of water, with (tila) sesamum-seeds. On the fourth day the ashes and bones should be collected: after which the body of one connected with the deceased by offerings of funeral cakes may be touched (by an indifferent person), without thereby incurring impurity; and those who are related only by presentation of water are qualified for any occupation.

The former class of relatives may use beds, but they must still refrain from unguents and flowers, and must observe continence, after the ashes and bones have been collected (until the mourning is over). When the deceased is a child, or one who is abroad, or who has been degraded, or a spiritual preceptor, the period of uncleanness is but brief, and the ceremonies with fire and water are discretional. The food of a family in which a kinsman is deceased is not to be partaken of for ten days; and during that period, gifts, acceptance, sacrifice, and sacred study are suspended. The term of impurity for a Brahman is ten days; for a Kshatriya, twelve; for a Vai ya, half a month; and a whole month for a údra.

On the first day after uncleanness ceases, the nearest relation of the deceased should feed Brahmans at his pleasure, but in uneven numbers, and offer to the deceased a ball of rice upon holy grass placed near the residue of the food that has been eaten. After the guests have been fed, the mourner, according to his caste, is to touch water, a weapon, a goad, or a staff, as he is purified by such contact. He may then resume the duties prescribed for his caste, and follow the avocation ordinarily pursued by its members.

“The ráddha enjoined for an individual is to be repeated on the day of his death (in each month for a year), but without the prayers and rites performed on the first occasion, and without offerings to the Vi wadevas. A single ball of food is to be offered to the deceased, as the purification of one person, and Brahmans are to be fed. The Brahmans are to be asked by the sacrificer if they are satisfied; and upon their assent, the prayer, ‘May this ever satisfy such a one’ (the deceased) is to be recited.

“This is the ráddha called ” a

, which is to be performed monthly to the end of a

twelvemonth from the death of a person; at the expiration of which the ceremony called

na is to be observed. The practices of this rite are the same as those of the

monthly obsequies, but a lustration is to be made with four vessels of water, perfumes, and sesamum: one of these vessels is considered as dedicated to the deceased, the other three to the progenitors in general; and the contents of the former are to be transferred to the other three, by which the deceased becomes included in the class of ancestors, to whom worship is to be addressed with all the ceremonies of the ráddha.

The persons who are competent to perform the obsequies of relations connected by the offering of the cake are the son, grandson, great grandson, a kinsman of the deceased, the descendants of a brother, or the posterity of one allied by funeral offerings. In absence of all these, the ceremony may be instituted by those related by presentations of water only, or those connected by offerings of cakes or water to maternal ancestors. Should both families in the male line be extinct, the last obsequies may be performed by women, or by the associates of the deceased in religious or social institutions, or by any one who becomes possessed of the property of a deceased kinsman.

“Obsequial rites are of three descriptions, initiative, intermediate, and subsequent. The first are those which are observed after the burning of the corpse until the touching of water, weapons, (or until the cessation of uncleanness).

The intermediate ceremonies are the Sráddhas called ” a

, which are offered every

month: and the subsequent rites are those which follow the a, when the deceased is admitted amongst the ancestors of his race; and the ceremonies are thenceforth general or ancestral. The first set of rites (as essential) are to be performed by the kindred of the father or mother, whether connected by the offering of the cake or of water, by the associates of the deceased, or by the prince who inherits his property.

The first and the last rites are both to be performed by sons and other relations, and by daughter’s sons, and their sons; and so are the sacrifices on the day of the person’s death. The last class, or ancestral rites, are to be performed annually, with the same ceremonies as are enjoined for the monthly obsequies; and they may be also performed by females. As the ancestral rights are therefore most universal, I will describe to you, oh king, at what seasons, and in what manner, they should be celebrated.”

Footnotes

The offerings of the Hindus to the Pitris partake of the character of those of the Romans to the lares and manes, but bear a more conspicuous part in their ritual. They are said indeed by Manu (III. 203), in words repeated in the Váyu and Matsya Purá as and Hari Van a, to be of more moment than the worship of the gods: These ceremonies are not to be regarded as merely obsequial; for independently of the rites addressed to a recently deceased relative, and in connexion with him to remote ancestors and to the progenitors of all beings, which are of a strictly obsequial or funereal description, offerings to deceased ancestors, and the Pitris in general, form an essential ceremony on a great variety of festive and domestic occasions.

The # aya Sindhu, in a passage referred to by Mr. Colebrooke (As. Res. VII.), specifies the following ráddhas:

The Nitya, or perpetual; daily offerings to ancestors in general: 2. The Naimittika, or

occasional; as the ” a

,or obsequial offerings on account of a kinsman recently

deceased: 3. The Kámya, voluntary; performed for the accomplishment of a special design: 4. The Vriddhi; performed on occasions of rejoicing or prosperity: 5. The

na; offerings to all individual and to general ancestors: 6. The Pá a ráddha;

offerings to the manes on certain lunar days called Parvas, or day of full moon and new moon, and the eighth and fourteenth days of the lunar fortnight: 7. The I hi; for the advantage of a number of learned persons, or of an assembly of Brahmans, invited for the purpose: 8. The uddhi; one performed to purify a person from some defilement; an expiatory ráddha: 9. The Karmánga; one forming part of the initiatory ceremonies, or Sanskáras, observed at conception, birth, tonsure, 10. The Daiva; to which the gods are invited: 11. The Yátrá ráddha; held by a person going a journey: and 12. The i

ráddha; one performed to promote health and p. 315 wealth. Of these, the four which are considered the most solemn are the rite performed for a parent, or near relative, lately deceased; that which is performed for kindred collectively; that observed on certain lunar days; and that celebrated on occasions of rejoicing. # aya Sindhu.

Manu directs the balls to be made from the remainder of the clarified butter constituting the previous oblation to the gods. III. 215. Kullúka a explains, however, the oblation to consist partly of Anna food, or boiled rice. The latter is the article of which the balls chiefly consist. Yájnawalkya directs them to be made of rice and sesamum-seeds. The Váyu P. adds to these two ingredients, honey and butter: but various kinds of fruit, of pulse, and of grain, and water, frankincense, sugar, and milk, are also mixed up in the

a s.

Their size also differs; and according to Angiras, as quoted by Hemádri in the ráddha Mayúkha, they may be of the dimension of the fruit of the jujube, or of the hog-plum, of the fruit of the Bel, or of the wood-apple, or of a fowl’s egg. Some authorities direct

s of a different size for different ráddhas; prescribing them no larger than the

wood-apple at the first or pure funereal ceremony, and as big as a cocoa-nut at the

monthly and annual ráddha. In practice the a

may be conveniently held by the hand.

is usually of such a magnitude that it

We have here the authority of the text for classing the Nándímukhas amongst the Pitris the same G a or class is presently agai,The Mantra of the Vriddhi or festival ráddha is also said, in the # aya Sindhu. According to the authorities, however, which are cited in that work, there seems to be some uncertainty about the character of the Nándímukhas; and they are addressed both as Pitris and gods: being in the former case either the ancestors prior to the great grandfather, ancestors collectively, or a certain class of them; and in the latter, being identified with the Vi wadevas, or a class of them called also Úrddhavaktra. The term Nándímukha is also applied to the rite itself, or to the Vriddhi

ráddha, and to one addressed to maternal ancestors. # aya Sindhu.

An oblation of water must be next presented from the joined palms of the hand, naming the deceased and the family from which he sprang, and saying, ‘May this oblation reach thee.'” As. Res. VII. 244.

The proper period of mourning is ten days, on each of which offerings of cakes, and libations of water, are to be made to the deceased, augmenting the number of cakes each day, so that on the last day ten cakes are presented. When the period is shorter, the same number of ten cakes must be distributed amongst the several days, or they may be all presented on one day. # aya Sindhu.

It should be, more correctly, on that day on which the mourning ceases, or, as previously mentioned, the first, third, seventh, or ninth; but the authorities vary, and, besides these, the second and fourth days, and certain days of the fortnight or month, are specified.

# aya Sindhu.

They are no longer unclean. The a

s, or those connected by offerings of cakes to

common ancestors, extend to seven degrees, ascending or descending. The Samánodakas, or those similarly connected by presentations of water, to fourteen degrees.

That is, a mere guest or stranger is not to partake of it. The food directed to be given to Brahmans is given in general only to the relatives of the deceased, who are already unclean. In this respect our text and the modern practice seem to differ from the primitive system, as described by Manu, III. 187. The eleventh or twelfth day is the term on which the ráddha which crowns the whole of the funeral rites is to be performed, and when Brahmans are to be invited. # aya Sindhu.

The number of a

s, however, is for each case the same, or ten. # aya Sindhu.

So Manu, III. 251. It may be doubted if the monthly ráddha was part of the ancient

system, although Kullúka B afancied omission of the text.

supposes it to be referred to (v. 548), and supplies the

Púrva, ‘first;’ Madhyama, ‘middle;’ and Uttara, ‘last.’

CHAP. XIV.

Of occasional ráddhas, or obsequial ceremonies: when most efficacious, and at what places.

AURVA proceeded.–“Let the devout performer of an ancestral oblation propitiate Brahmá, Indra, Rudra, the Á wins, the sun, fire, the Vasus, the winds, the Vi wadevas, the sages, birds, men, animals, reptiles, progenitors, and all existent things, by offering adoration to them monthly, on the fifteenth day of the moon’s wane (or dark fortnight), or on the eighth day of the same period in certain months, or at particular seasons, as I will explain.

“When a householder finds that any circumstance has occurred, or a distinguished guest has arrived, on which account ancestral ceremonies are appropriate, the should celebrate them. He should offer a voluntary sacrifice upon any atmospheric portent, at the equinoctial and solstitial periods, at eclipses of the sun and moon, on the sun’s entrance into a zodiacal sign, upon unpropitious aspects of the planets and asterisms, on dreaming unlucky dreams, and on eating the grain of the year’s harvest.

The Pitris derive satisfaction for eight years from ancestral offerings upon the day of new moon when the star of the conjunction is Anurádhá, Vi ákhá, or Swáti; and for twelve years when it is Pushya, Ardrá, or Punarvasu. It is not easy for a man to effect his object, who is desirous of worshipping the Pitris or the gods on a day of new moon when the stars are those of $ A há, Purvabhádrapadá, or atábhishá.

Hear also an account of another class of Sráddhas, which afford especial contentment to progenitors, as explained by Sanatkumára, the son of Brahmá, to the magnanimous Purúravas, when full of faith and devotion to the Pitris he inquired how he might please them. The third lunar day of the month Vai ákha (April, May), and the ninth of Kártika (October, November), in the light fortnight; the thirteenth of Nabha (July, August), and the fifteenth of Mágha (January, February), in the dark fortnight; are called by ancient teachers the anniversaries of the first day of a Yuga, or age (Yugádya), and are esteemed most sacred.

On these days, water mixed with sesamum-seeds should be regularly presented to the progenitors of mankind; as well as on every solar and lunar eclipse; on the eighth lunations of the dark fortnights of Agrahá a, Mágha, and Phálguna (December– February); on the two days commencing the solstices, when the nights and days alternately begin to diminish; on those days which are the anniversaries of the beginning of the Manwantaras; when the sun is in the path of the goat; and on all occurrences of meteoric phenomena. A ráddha at these seasons contents the Pitris for a thousand years: such is the secret which they have imparted.

The fifteenth day of the dark half of the month Mágha, when united with the conjunction of the asterism over which a presides (Satábhishá), is a season of no little sanctity, when offerings are especially grateful to the progenitors. Food and water presented by men who are of respectable families, when the asterism $ A há is combined with the day of new moon, content the Pitris for ten thousand years; whilst they repose for a whole age when satisfied by offerings made on the day of new moon when Árdrá is the lunar mansion.

“He who, after having offered food and libations to the Pitris, bathes in the Ganges, Satlaj, Vipá á (Beyah), Saraswatí, or the Gomatí at Naimisha, expiates all his sins. The Pitris also say, ‘After having received satisfaction for a twelvemonth, we shall further derive gratification by libations offered by our descendants at some place of pilgrimage, at the end of the dark fortnight of Mágha.’ The songs of the Pitris confer purity of heart, integrity of wealth, prosperous seasons, perfect rites, and devout faith; all that men can desire. Hear the verses that constitute those songs, by listening to which all those advantages will be secured, oh prince, by you.

‘That enlightened individual who begrudges not his wealth, but presents us with cakes, shall be born in a distinguished family. Prosperous and affluent shall that man ever be, who in honour of us gives to the Brahmans, if he is wealthy, jewels, clothes, land, conveyances, wealth, or any valuable presents; or who, with faith and humility, entertains them with food, according to his means, at proper seasons. If he cannot afford to give them dressed food, he must, in proportion to his ability, present them with unboiled grain, or such gifts, however trifling, as he can bestow. Should he be utterly unable even to do this, he must give to some eminent Brahman, bowing at the same time before him, sesamum-seeds adhering to the tips of his fingers, and sprinkle water to us, from the palms of his hands, upon the ground; or he must gather, as he may, fodder for a day, and give it to a cow; by which he will, if firm in faith, yield us satisfaction.

If nothing of this kind is practicable, he must go to a forest, and lift up his arms to the sun and other regents of the spheres, and say aloud–I have no money, nor property, nor grain, nor any thing whatever it for an ancestral offering. Bowing therefore to my ancestors, I hope the progenitors will be satisfied with these arms tossed up in the air in devotion.’ These are the words of the Pitris themselves; and he who endeavours, with such means as he may possess, to fulfil their wishes, performs the ancestral rite called a ráddha.”

Footnotes

We may here take the opportunity of inquiring who are meant by the Pitris; and, generally speaking, they may be called a race of divine beings, inhabiting celestial regions of their own, and receiving into their society the spirits of those mortals for whom the rite of fellowship in obsequial cakes with them, the í a, has been duly performed. The Pitris collectively, therefore, include a man’s ancestors; but the principal members of this order of beings are of a different origin.

The Váyu, Matsya, and Padma Purá as, and Hari Van a, profess to give an account of the original Pitris. The account is much the same, and for the most part in the same words, in all. They agree in distinguishing the Pitris into seven classes; three of which are without form, or composed of intellectual, not elementary substance, and assuming what forms they please; and four are corporeal. When they come to the enumeration of the particular classes they somewhat differ, and the accounts in all the works are singularly imperfect. According to a legend given by the Váyu and the Hari Van a, the first Pitris were the sons of the gods. The gods having offended Brahmá, by neglecting to worship him, were cursed by him to become fools; but upon their repentance he directed them to apply to their sons for instruction.

Being taught accordingly the rites of expiation and penance by their sons, they addressed them as fathers; whence the sons of the gods were the first Pitris. So the Matsya has ‘The Pitris are born in the Manwantaras as the sons of the gods.’ The Hari Van a makes the sons assume the character of fathers, addressing them, ‘Depart, children.’ Again; the Váyu

declares the seven orders of Pitris to have been originally the first gods, the Vairájas, whom Brahmá, with the eye of Yoga, beheld in the eternal spheres, and who are the gods of the gods. Again; in the same work we have the incorporeal Pitris called Vairájas, from being the sons of the Prajápati Viraja. The Matsya agrees with this latter statement, and adds that the gods worship them. The Hari Van a has the same statement, but more precisely distinguishes the Vairájas as one class only of the incorporeal Pitris. The commentator states the same, calling the three incorporeal Pitris, Vairájas, Agnishwáttas, and Varhishads; and the four corporeal orders, Sukálas, Ángirasas, Suswadhas, and Somapás.

The Vairájas are described as the fathers of Mená, the mother of Umá. Their abode is variously termed the Sántánika, Sanátana, and Soma loka. As the posterity of Viraja, they are the Somasads of Manu. The other classes of Pitris the three Purá as agree with Manu in representing as the sons of the patriarchs, and in general assign to them the same offices and posterity. They are the following:–

Agnishwáttas–sons of Maríchi, and Pitris of the gods (Manu, Matsya, Padma): living in Soma-loka, and parents of Achchodá (Matsya, Padma, Hari Van a). The Váyu makes them residents of Viraja-loka, sons of Pulastya, Pitris of the demigods and demons, and parents of Pívarí; omitting the next order of Pitris, to whom these circumstances more accurately refer. The commentator on the Hari V. derives the name from Agnishu, ‘in or by oblations to fire,’ and Átta, ‘obtained,’ ‘invoked.’

Varhishads–sons of Atri, and Pitris of the demons (Manu): sons of Pulastya, Pitris of the demons, residents in Vaibhrája, fathers of Pívarí (Matsya, Padma, Hari V.).

These three are the formless or incorporeal Pitris.

Somapás–descendants of Bhrigu, or sons of Kavi by Swadhá, the daughter of Agni; and Pitris of the Brahmans (Manu and Váyu P.). The Padma calls them Ushmapás. The Hari

calls the Somapás, to whom it ascribes the same descent as the Váyu, the Pitris of the

údras; and the Sukálas the Pitris of the Brahmans.

Havishmantas–in the solar sphere, sons of Angiras, and Pitris of the Kshatriyas (Manu, Váyu, Matsya, Padma, Hari Van a).

Ájyapás–sons of Kardama, Pitris of the Vai yas, in the Kámaduha-loka (Manu, &c.); but the lawgiver calls them the sons of Pulastya. The Pitris of the Vai yas are called Kávyas in the Nandi Upapurá a; and in the Hari Van a and its comment they are termed Suswadhas, sons of Kardama, descended from Pulaha.

Sukálins–sons of Va ha, and Pitris of the údras (Manu and Váyu P.). They are not mentioned in the Padma. The Matsya inserts the name and descent, but specifies them as amongst the incorporeal Pitris. It may be suspected that the passage is corrupt. The Hari Van a makes the Sukálas sons of Va ha, the Pitris of the Brahmans; and gives the title of Somapás to the Pitris of the údras. In general this work follows the Váyu; but with omissions and transpositions, as if it had carelessly mutilated its original.

Besides these Pitris or progenitors, other heavenly beings are sometimes made to adopt a similar character: thus Manu says, “The wise call our fathers Vasus; our paternal grandfathers, Rudras; our paternal great grandfathers, Ádityas; agreeably p. 322 to a text of the Vedas:” that is, these divine beings are to be meditated upon along with, and as not distinct from, progenitors. Hemádri quotes the Nandi Upapurá a for a different practice, and directs u to be identified with the father, Brahmá with the grandfather, and iva with the great grandfather. This, however, is aiva innovation.

The avas direct Aniruddha to be regarded as one’s-self, and Pradyumna,

A a, and Vásudeva as the three ancestors. Again, they are identified with V a, Prájápatya, and Agni; or, again, with months, seasons, and years. # aya

Sindhu. It may be doubted how far any of these correctly represent the original notions inculcated by the texts of the Vedas, from which, in the most essential particulars, they are derived.

When the Yogatára, or principal star seen, is the chief star or stars of these asterisms or lunar mansions respectively, see the table given by Mr. Colebrooke: As. Res. IX. p. 346. The first three named in the text are stars in Scorpio, Libra, and Arcturus: the second three are stars in Cancer, Gemini, and Orion: and the third are stars in the Dolphin, Pegasus, and Aquarius.

CHAP. XV.

What Brahmans are to be entertained at ráddhas. Different prayers to be recited. Offerings of food to be presented to deceased ancestors.

AURVA proceeded.–“Hear next, oh prince, what description of Brahman should be fed at ancestral ceremonies. he should be one studied in various triplets of the Rich and Yajur Vedas; one who is acquainted with the six supplementary sciences of the Vedas; one who understands the Vedas; one who practises the duties they enjoin; one who exercises penance; a chanter of the principal Sáma-veda, an officiating priest, a sister’s son, a daughter’s son, a son-in-law, a father-in-law, a maternal uncle, an ascetic, a Brahman who maintains the five fires, a pupil, a kinsman; one who reverences his parents.

A man should first employ the Brahmans first specified in the principal obsequial rite; and the others (commencing with the ministering priest) in the subsidiary ceremonies instituted to gratify his ancestors.

“A false friend, a man with ugly nails or black teeth, a ravisher, a Brahman who neglects the service of fire and sacred study, a vender of the Soma plant, a man accused of any crime, a thief, a calumniator, a Brahman who conducts religious ceremonies for the vulgar; one who instructs his servant in holy writ, or is instructed in it by his servant; the husband of a woman who has been formerly betrothed to another; a man who is undutiful to his parents; the protector of the husband of a woman of the servile caste, or the husband of a woman of the servile caste; and a Brahman who ministers to idols–are not proper persons to be invited to au ancestral offering.

On the first day let a judicious man invite eminent teachers of the Vedas, and other Brahmans; and according to their directions determine what is to be dedicated to the gods, and what to the Pitris. Associated with the Brahmans, let the institutor of an obsequial rite abstain from anger and incontinence. He who having eaten himself in a

ráddha, and fed Brahmans, and appointed them to their sacred offices, is guilty of incontinence, thereby sentences his progenitors to shameful suffering. In the first place, the Brahmans before described are to be invited; but those holy men who come to the house without an invitation are also to be entertained.

The guests are to be reverently received with water for their feet, and the like; and the entertainer, holding holy grass in his hand, is to place them, after they have rinsed their mouths, upon seats. An uneven number of Brahmans is to be invited in sacrifices to the manes; an even or uneven number in those presented to the gods; or one only on each occasion.

“Then let the householder, inspired by religious faith, offer oblations to the maternal grandfather, along with the worship of the Vi wadevas, or the ceremony called

Vai wadeva, which comprehends offerings to both paternal and maternal ancestors, and to ancestors in general.

Let him feed the Brahmans who are appropriated to the gods, and to maternal ancestors, with their faces to the north; and those set apart for the paternal ancestors, and ancestors in general, with their faces to the east. Some say that the viands of the ráddha should be kept distinct for these two sets of ancestors, but others maintain that they are to be fed with the same food, at the same time. Having spread Ku a grass for seats, and offered libations according to rule, let the sensible man invoke the deities, with the concurrence of the Brahmans who are present. Let the man who is acquainted with the ritual offer a libation to the gods with water and barley, having presented to them flowers, perfumes, and incense.

Let him offer the same to the Pitris, placed upon his left; and with the consent of the Brahmans, having first provided seats of Ku a grass doubled, let him invoke with the usual prayers the manes to the ceremony, offering a libation, on his left hand, of water and sesamum. He will then, with the permission of the Brahmans, give food to any guest who arrives at the time, or who is desirous of victuals, or who is passing along the road; for holy saints and ascetics, benefactors of mankind, are traversing this earth, disguised in various shapes. On this account let a prudent man welcome a person who arrives at such a season; for inattention to a guest frustrates the consequences of an ancestral offering.

“The sacrificer is then to offer food, without salt or seasoning, to fire, three several times, with the consent of the assistant Brahmans; exclaiming first, ‘To fire, the vehicle of the oblations; to the manes Swáhá!’ Next addressing the oblation to Soma, the lord of the progenitors; and giving the third to Vaivaswata. He is then to place a very little of the residue of the oblation in the dishes of the Brahmans; and next, presenting them with choice viands, well dressed and seasoned, and abundant, he is to request them civilly to partake of it at their pleasure.

The Brahmans are to eat of such food attentively, in silence, with cheerful countenances, and at their ease. The sacrificer is to give it to them, not churlishly, nor hurriedly, but with devout faith.

“Having next recited the prayer for the discomfiture of malignant spirits, and scattered sesamum-seeds upon the ground, the Brahmans who have been fed are to be addressed, in common with the ancestors of the sacrificer, in this manner: ‘May my father, grandfather, and great grandfather, in the persons of these Brahmans, receive satisfaction! May my father, grandfather, and great grandfather derive nutriment from these oblations to fire!

May my father, grandfather, and great grandfather derive satisfaction from the balls of food placed by me upon the ground! May my father, grandfather, and great grandfather be pleased with what I have this day offered them in faith!

May my maternal grandfather, his father, and his father, also enjoy contentment from my offerings! May all the gods experience gratification, and all evil beings perish! May the lord of sacrifice, the imperishable deity Hari, be the acceptor of all oblations made to the manes or the gods! and may all malignant spirits, and enemies of the deities, depart from the rite.’

“When the Brahmans have eaten sufficiently, the worshipper must scatter some of the food upon the ground, and present them individually with water to rinse their mouths; then, with their assent, he may place upon the ground balls made up of boiled rice and condiments, along with sesamum-seeds. With the part of his hand sacred to the manes he must offer sesamum-seeds, and water from his joined palms; and with the same part of his hand he must present cakes to his maternal ancestors. He should in lonely places, naturally beautiful, and by the side of sacred streams, diligently make presents (to the manes and the Brahmans).

Upon Ku a grass, the tips of which are pointed to the south, and lying near the fragments of the meat, let the householder present the first ball of food, consecrated with flowers and incense, to his father; the second to his grandfather; and the third to his great grandfather; and let him satisfy those who are contented with the wipings of his hand, by wiping it with the roots of Ku a grass. After presenting balls of food to his maternal ancestors in the same manner, accompanied by perfumes and incense, he is to give to the principal Brahmans water to rinse their mouths; and then, with attention and piety, he is to give the Brahmans gifts, according to his power, soliciting their benedictions, accompanied with the exclamation ‘Swadhá!’ Having made presents to the Brahmans, he is to address himself to the gods, saying, ‘May they who are the Vi wadevas be pleased with this oblation!’

Having thus said, and the blessings to be solicited having been granted by the Brahmans, he is to dismiss first the paternal ancestors, and then the gods. The order is the same with the maternal ancestors and the gods in respect to food, donation, and dismissal.

Commencing with the washing of the feet, until the dismissing of the gods and Brahmans, the ceremonies are to be performed first for paternal ancestors, and then for ancestors on the mother’s side. Let him dismiss the Brahmans with kindly speeches and profound respect, and attend upon them at the end of the ráddha; until permitted by them to return. The wise man will then perform the invariable worship of the

Vi wadevas, and take’ his own meal along with his friends, his kinsmen, and his dependants.

“In this manner an enlightened householder will celebrate the obsequial worship of his paternal and maternal ancestors, who, satisfied by his offerings, will grant him all his desires. Three things are held pure at obsequies, a daughter’s son, a Nepal blanket, and sesamum-seeds; and the gift, or naming, or sight of silver is also propitious. The person offering a ráddha should avoid anger, walking about, and hurry; these three things are very objectionable. The Vi wadevas, and paternal and maternal ancestors, and the living members of a man’s family are all nourished by the offerer of ancestral oblations.

“The class of Pitris derives support from the moon, and the moon is sustained by acts of austere devotion. Hence the appointment of one who practises austerities is most desirable. A Yogi set before a thousand Brahmans enables the institutor of obsequial rites to enjoy all his desires.”

Footnotes

The Brahmans here particularized are termed E áchiketa, Trimadhu, and E a; and are so denominated, according to the commentator, from particular parts of the Vedas. The first is so called from studying or reciting three Anuvákas of the Ká haka branch of the Yajur-veda, commencing with the term E áchiketa; the second, from three Anuvákas of the same Veda, beginning Madhuvátá, &c.; and the third, from a similar portion, commencing Brahmavan namámi. The first and third terms occur in Manu, III. 185; and Kullúka a explains E áchiketa to mean a portion of the Yajur- veda, and the Brahman who studies it; and E a, a part of the Rich, and the Brahman who is acquainted with it. The # aya Sindhu explains the terms m a like manner, but calls the E a, as well as the E áchiketa prayers, portions of the Yajush. The Trimadhu it assigns to the Rich. Other explanations are also given to the terms E áchiketa and E a: the first being explained a Brahman who thrice performs the ceremony called Chayana; and the last, one who, after the seven ascending generations, worships the Pitris termed Somapás. These explanations are however considered less correct than the preceding, and which are thus given in the authority cited.

For the six Angas.

So the commentator distinguishes the Vedavit, the Brahman who understands the meaning of the text of the Vedas, from the rotriya, who practises the rites he studies.

Portions of the Sáman contained in the Á yaka are called the G ha, ‘elder’ or ‘principal’ Sáman.

Manu, III. 150.

As two or five at a ceremony dedicated to the gods; three at the worship of the Pitris.

# aya Sindhu.

The worship of the Vi wadevas forms a part of the general ráddhas, and of the daily sacrifices of the householder. According to the Váyu this was a privilege conferred upon them by Brahmá and the Pitris, as a reward for religious austerities practised by them upon Himálaya. Their introduction as a p. 327 specific class seems to have originated in the custom of sacrificing to the gods collectively, or to all the gods, as the name Vi wadevas implies.

They appear, however, as a distinct class in the Vedas, and their assumption of this character is therefore of ancient date. The daily offering to them is noticed by Manu, III. 90, 172; and offerings to ‘the gods’ are also enjoined at the beginning and end of a

ráddha. Kullúka a understands here the Vi wadevas, and it probably is so; but in another verse different divinities are specified:

“First having satisfied Agni, Soma, Yama, with clarified butter, let him proceed to satisfy the manes of his progenitors.” v. 211. Manu also directs them to be worshipped first and last in order. See As. Res. VII. 265, 271, &c.

The text is ‘with their assent;’ but no noun occurs in the sentence with which the relative is connected. It must mean the Brahmans, however, as in this passage of Vriddha Par tiara; ‘Let the sacrificer place his left hand on the Brahman’s right knee, and say, “Shall I invoke the Vi wadevas?” and being desired to invoke them, let him address them with the two Mantras, “Vi wadevas, he is come! Vi wadevas, hear him!”‘

This notion occurs more than once in the Váyu, in nearly the same words.

This places the initiatory oblations noticed by Manu subsequent to the offerings to the Vi wadevas.

The Rakshoghna Mantra: the extinguishing of a lamp, lighted to keep off evil spirits, which is accompanied by a Mantra, or prayer. As. Res. VII. 274.

Part of this passage is in the words of Manu, III. 207. It is omitted in the MSS. in the Bengali character.

Manu, III. 296.

“Then let the Brahmans address him, saying, ‘Swadhá!’ for in all ceremonies relating to deceased ancestors, the word Swadhá is the highest benison.” Manu, III. 252.

We have here the words of Manu; III. 235. Three things are held pure at such obsequies, the daughter’s son, the Nepal blanket, and sesamum-seed.’ Sir Wm. Jones’s translation of these terms rests upon the explanation of Kullúka a of this and the verse preceding; ‘Let him give his daughter’s son, though a religious student, food at a ráddha, and the blanket for a seat.’ The commentator on our text says that some understand by Dauhitra, clarified butter made from the milk of a cow fed with grass gathered on the day of new moon; and some explain it a plate or dish of buffalo horn. Kutapa he interprets by

ma Muhúrtta, the eighth hour of the day, or a little after noon, although he admits

that some render it a blanket made of goats’ wool. These explanations are also noticed in the # aya Sindhu, upon the authority of the Matsya P., Kutapa is said to mean eight things; which equally consume (Tapa) all sin (Ku), or noon, a vessel of rhinoceros’ horn, a nepal blanket, silver, holy grass, sesamum, kine, and a daughter’s son.

So the Matsya P. has ‘the gift, sight, and name of silver are desired.’ The notion originates with Manu, III. 202.

The same doctrine is inculcated by the Váyu P.; but it appears to be a Paurá ik innovation, for Manu places the Brahman intent on scriptural knowledge and on austere devotion on a level, and makes no mention of the Yogi. III, 134.

CHAP. XVI.

Things proper to be offered as food to deceased ancestors: prohibited things. Circumstances vitiating a ráddha: how to be avoided. Song of the Pitris, or progenitors, heard by Ikshwáku.

AURVA continued.–“Ancestors are satisfied for a month with offerings of rice or other grain, with clarified butter, with fish, or the flesh of the hare, of birds, of the hog, the goat, the antelope, the deer, the gayal, or the sheep, or with the milk of the cow, and its products. They are for ever satisfied with flesh (in general), and with that of the long- eared white goat in particular. The flesh of the rhinoceros, the Kála áka potherb, and honey, are also especial sources of satisfaction to those worshipped at ancestral ceremonies.

The birth of that man is the occasion of satisfaction to his progenitors who performs at the due time their obsequial rites at Gaya. Grains that spring up spontaneously, rice growing wild, Panic of both species (white or black), vegetables that grow in forests, are fit for ancestral oblations; as are barley, wheat, rice, sesamum, various kinds of pulse, and mustard. On the other hand, a householder must not offer any kind of grain that is not consecrated by religious ceremonies on its first coming into season; nor the pulse called Rájamásha, nor millet, nor lentils, nor gourds, nor garlick, nor onions, nor nightshade, nor camels’ thorn, nor salt, nor the efflorescence of salt deserts, nor red vegetable extracts, nor any thing that looks like salt, nor any thing that is not commendable; nor is water fit to be offered at a ráddha that has been brought by night, or has been abandoned, or is so little as not to satisfy a cow, or smells badly, or is covered with froth.

The milk of animals with undivided hoofs, of a camel, a ewe, a deer, or a buffalo, is unfit for ancestral oblations. If an obsequial rite is looked at by a eunuch, a man ejected from society, an outcast, a heretic, a drunken man, or one diseased, by a cock, a naked ascetic, a monkey, a village hag, by a woman in her courses or pregnant, by an unclean person, or by a carrier of corpses, neither gods nor progenitors will partake of the food. The ceremony should therefore be performed in a spot carefully enclosed. Let the performer cast sesamum on the ground, and drive away malignant spirits. Let him not give food that is fetid, or vitiated by hairs or insects, or mixed with acid gruel, or stale. Whatever suitable food is presented with pure faith, and with the enunciation of name and race, to ancestors, at an obsequial oblation, becomes food to them (or gives them nourishment).

In former times, O king of the earth! this song of the Pitris was heard by Ikshwáku, the son of Manu, in the groves of Kalápa (on the skirts of the Himálaya mountains):

‘Those of our descendants shall follow a righteous path who shall reverently present us with cakes at Gaya. May he be born in our race who shall give us, on the thirteenth of Bhádrapada and Mágha, milk, honey, and clarified butter; or when he marries a maiden, or liberates a black bull, or performs any domestic ceremony agreeable to rule, accompanied by donations to the Brahmans!”

Footnotes

See Manu, III. 266. The articles are much the same; the periods of satisfaction somewhat vary.

The expression Gavya implies all that is derived from a cow, but in the text it is associated with ‘flesh;’ and, as the commentator observes, some consider the flesh of the cow to be here intended: but this, he adds, relates to other ages. In the Kali or present age it implies milk and preparations of milk, The sacrifice of a cow or calf formed part of the ancient ráddha. It then became typical, or a bull was turned loose, instead of being slaughtered; and this is still practised on some occasions. In Manu, the term Gavya is coupled with others, which limit its application: ‘A whole year with the milk of cows, and food made of that milk.’ III. 272.

Nagna is literally ‘naked,’ but, as explained in the following chapter, means a Jain mendicant. No such person is included by Manu (III. 239, &c.) amongst those who defile a ráddha by looking upon it. The Váyu contains the same prohibition.

Níla vrisha; but this animal is not altogether or always black. In the Bráhma P., as quoted in the # aya Sindhu, it is said to be of a red colour, with light face and tail, and white hoofs and horns; or a white bull, with black face, &c.; or a black bull, with white face, tail, and feet.

Very full descriptions of the ráddha occur in almost all the Purá as, especially in the

Váyu, Kúrma, Má e

ya, Vámana, and I a. The Matsya and Padma ( hi

a) contain descriptions which are much the same as that of the Váyu. The accounts of the Bráhma, Agni, and Varáha are less full and regular than in some of the others; and in none of them is the subject so fully and perspicuously treated as in our For satisfactory information, however, the ráddha Mayúkha and the # aya Sindhu should be consulted.

CHAP. XVII.

Of heretics, or those who reject the authority of the Vedas: their origin, as described by Va ha to Bhíshma: the gods, defeated by the Daityas, praise u: an illusory being, or Buddha, produced from his body.

PARÁ ARA.–Thus, in former days, spake the holy Aurva to the illustrious monarch Sagara, when he inquired concerning the usages proper to be practised by mankind; and thus I have explained to you the whole of those observances against which no one ought to transgress.

MAITREYA.–You have told me, venerable sir, that an ancestral rite is not to be looked upon by certain persons, amongst whom you mentioned such as were apostates. I am desirous to learn whom you intended by that appellation; what practices bestow such a title upon a man; and what is the character of the individual to whom you alluded.

PARÁ ARA.–The Rig, Yajur, and Sáma Vedas constitute the triple covering of the several castes, and the sinner who throws this off is said to be naked (or apostate). The three Vedas are the raiment of all the orders of men, and when that is discarded they are left bare. On this subject hear what I heard my grandfather, the pious Va ha, relate to the magnanimous Bhíshma:

There was formerly a battle between the gods and demons, for the period of a divine year, in which the gods were defeated by the demons under the command of Hráda. The discomfited deities fled to the northern shore of the milky ocean, where engaging in religious penance they thus prayed to u: “May the first of beings, the divine u, be pleased with the words that we are about to address to him, in order to propitiate the lord of all worlds; from which mighty cause all created things have originated, and into whom they shall again dissolve!

Who is able to declare his praise? We, who have been put to shame by the triumph of our foes, will glorify thee, although thy true power and might be not within the reach of words. Thou art earth, water, fire, air, ether, mind, crude matter, and primeval soul: all this elementary creation, with or without visible form, is thy body; all, from Brahmá to a stock, diversified by place and time. Glory to thee, who art Brahmá, thy first form, evolved from the lotus springing from thy navel, for the purpose of creation.

Glory to thee, who art Indra, the sun, Rudra, the Vasus, fire, the winds, and even also ourselves. Glory to they, Govinda, who art all demons, whose essence is arrogance and want of discrimination, unchecked by patience or self-control. Glory to thee, who art the Yakshas, whose nature is charmed with sounds, and whose frivolous hearts perfect knowledge cannot pervade.

Glory to thee, who art all fiends, that walk by night, sprung from the quality of darkness, fierce, fraudulent, and cruel. Glory to thee, Janárddana, who art that piety which is the instrument of recompensing the virtues of those who abide in heaven. Glory to thee, who art one with the saints, whose perfect nature is ever blessed, and traverses unobstructed all permeable elements. Glory to thee, who art one with the serpent race, double-tongued, impetuous, cruel, insatiate of enjoyment, and abounding with wealth. Glory to thee, who art one with the Rishis, whose nature is free from sin or defect, and is identified with wisdom and tranquillity. Glory to thee, oh lotus-eyed, who art one with time, the form that devours, without remorse, all created things at the termination of the Kalpa.

Glory to thee, who art Rudra, the being that dances with delight after he has swallowed up all things, the gods and the rest, without distinction. Glory to thee, Janárddana, who art man, the agent in developing the results of that activity which proceeds from the quality of foulness. Glory to thee, who art brute animals, the universal spirit that tends to perversity, which proceeds from the quality of darkness, and is encumbered with the twenty-eight kinds of obstructions. Glory to thee, who art that chief spirit which is diversified in the vegetable world, and which, as the essence of sacrifice, is the instrument of accomplishing the perfection of the universe. Glory to thee, who art every thing, and whose primeval form is the objects of perception, and heaven, and animals, and men, and gods. Glory to thee, who art the cause of causes, the supreme spirit; who art distinct from us and all beings composed of intelligence and matter and the like, and with whose primeval nature there is nothing that can be compared. We bow to thee, O lord, who hast neither colour, nor extension, nor bulk, nor any predicable qualities; and whose essence, purest of the pure, is appreciable only by holy sages. We bow to thee, in the nature of Brahma, untreated, undecaying; who art in our bodies, and in all other bodies, and in all living creatures; and besides whom there is nothing else. We glorify that Vásudeva, the sovereign lord of all, who is without soil, the seed of all things, exempt from dissolution, unborn, eternal, being in essence the supreme condition of spirit, and in substance the whole of this universe.”

Upon the conclusion of their prayers, the gods beheld the sovereign deity Hari, armed with the shell, the discus, and the mace, riding on I a. Prostrating themselves before him, they addressed him, and said, “Have compassion upon us, O lord, and protect us, who have come to thee for succour from the Daityas. They have seized upon the three worlds, and appropriated the offerings which are our portion, taking care not to transgress the precepts of the Veda. Although we, as well as they, are parts of thee, of whom all beings consist, yet we behold the world impressed by the ignorance of unity, with the belief of its separate existence.

Engaged in the duties of their respective orders, and following the paths prescribed by holy writ, practising also religious penance, it is impossible for us to destroy them. Do thou, whose wisdom is immeasurable, instruct us in some device by which we may be able to exterminate the enemies of the gods.”

When the mighty u heard their request, he emitted from his body an illusory form, which he gave to the gods, and thus spake This deceptive vision shall wholly beguile the Daityas, so that, being led astray from the path of the Vedas, they may be put to death; for all gods, demons, or others, who shall be opposed to the authority of the Veda, shall perish by my might, whilst exercised for the preservation of the world. Go then, and fear not: let this delusive vision precede you; it shall this day be of great service unto you, oh gods!”

Footnotes

This idea is expressed in nearly the same terms in the Váyu P.: ‘The three Vedas are the covering of all beings, and they who throw it off through delusion are called Nagnas, naked.’ The notion is probably original with neither of the Purá as, and the metaphorical sense of the term is not that in which it was first employed; ascetics, whether of the Bauddha or of the Digambara order of Jains, being literally Nagnas, or going naked. The qualified application of it, however, was rendered necessary by the same practice being familiar to ascetics of the orthodox faith. To go naked was not necessarily a sign of a heretic, and therefore his nudity was understood to be, rejecting the raiment of holy writ. Thus the Váyu P. extends the word to all ascetics, including naked Brahmans, who practise austerities fruitlessly, that is, heretically or hypocritically: ‘The Brahman who unprofitably bears a staff, shaves his head, goes naked, makes a vow, or mutters prayers, all such persons are called Nagnas and the like.’

A son of ! yaka ipu ().

CHAP. XVIII.

Buddha goes to the earth, and teaches the Daityas to contemn the Vedas: his sceptical doctrines: his prohibition of animal sacrifices. Meaning of the term Bauddha. Jainas and Bauddhas; their tenets. The Daityas lose their power, and are overcome by the gods.

Meaning of the term Nagna. Consequences of neglect of duty. Story of atadhanu and his wife aivyá. Communion with heretics to be shunned.

PARÁ ARA.–After this, the great delusion, having proceeded to earth, beheld the Daityas engaged in ascetic penances upon the banks of the Narmadá river; and approaching them in the semblance of a naked mendicant, with his head shaven, and carrying a bunch of peacock’s feathers, he thus addressed them in gentle accents: “Ho, lords of the Daitya race! wherefor is it that you practise these acts of penance? is it with a view to recompense in this world, or in another?” “Sage,” replied the Daityas, “we pursue these devotions to obtain a reward hereafter; why should you make such an inquiry?” “If you are desirous of final emancipation,” answered the seeming ascetic, “attend to my words, for you are worthy of a revelation which is the door to ultimate felicity.

The duties that I will teach you are the secret path to liberation; there are none beyond or superior to them: by following them you shall obtain either heaven or exemption from future existence. You, mighty beings, are deserving of such lofty doctrine.” By such persuasions, and by many specious arguments, did this delusive being mislead the Daityas from the tenets of the Vedas; teaching that the same thing might be for the sake of virtue and of vice; might be, and might not be; might or might not contribute to liberation; might be the supreme object, and not the supreme object; might be effect, and not be effect; might be manifest, or not be manifest; might be the duty of those who go naked, or who go clothed in much raiment: and so the Daityas were seduced from their proper duties by the repeated lessons of their illusory preceptor, maintaining the equal truth of contradictory tenets 3; and they were called Arhatas, from the phrase he had employed of “Ye are worthy (Arhatha) of this great doctrine;” that is, of the false doctrines which he persuaded them to embrace.

The foes of the gods being thus induced to apostatize from the religion of the Vedas, by the delusive person sent by u, became in their turn teachers of the same heresies, and perverted others; and these, again, communicating their principles to others, by whom they were still further disseminated, the Vedas were in a short time deserted by most of the Daitya race. Then the same deluder, putting on garments of a red colour, assuming a benevolent aspect, and speaking in soft and agreeable tones, addressed others of the same family, and said to them, “If; mighty demons, you cherish a desire either for heaven or for final repose, desist from the iniquitous massacre of animals (for sacrifice), and hear from me what you should do. Know that all that exists is composed of discriminative knowledge.

Understand my words, for they have been uttered by the wise. This world subsists without support, and engaged in the pursuit of error, which it mistakes for knowledge, as well as vitiated by passion and the rest, revolves in the straits of existence.” In this manner, exclaiming to them, “Know!” (Budhyadwam), and they replying, “It is known” (Budhyate), these Daityas were induced by the arch deceiver to deviate from their religious duties (and become Bauddhas), by his repeated arguments and variously urged persuasions, When they had abandoned their own faith, they persuaded others to do the same, and the heresy spread, and many deserted the practices enjoined by the Vedas and the laws.

The delusions of the false teacher paused not with the conversion of the Daityas to the Jaina and Bauddha heresies, but with various erroneous tenets he prevailed upon others to apostatize, until the whole were led astray, and deserted the doctrines and observances inculcated by the three Vedas. Some then spake evil of the sacred books; some blasphemed the gods; some treated sacrifices and other devotional ceremonies with scorn; and others calumniated the Brahmans. “The precepts,” they cried, “that lead to the injury of animal life (as in sacrifices) are highly reprehensible. To say that casting butter into flame is productive of reward, is mere childishness. If Indra, after having obtained godhead by multiplied rites, is fed upon the wood used as fuel in holy fire, he is lower than a brute, which feeds at least upon leaves. If an animal slaughtered in religious worship is thereby raised to heaven, would it not be expedient for a man who institutes a sacrifice to kill his own father for a victim?

If that which is eaten by one at a ráddha gives satisfaction to another, it must be unnecessary for one who resides at a distance to bring food for presentation in person.” “First, then, let it be determined what may be (rationally) believed by mankind, and then,” said their preceptor, “you will find that felicity may be expected from my instructions. The words of authority do not, mighty Asuras, fall from heaven: the text that has reason is alone to be acknowledged by me, and by such as you are.” By such and similar lessons the Daityas were perverted, so that not one of them admitted the authority of the Vedas.

When the Daityas had thus declined from the path of the holy writings, the deities took courage, and gathered together for battle. Hostilities accordingly were renewed, but the demons were now defeated and slain by the gods, who had adhered to the righteous path. The armour of religion, which had formerly protected the Daityas, had been discarded by them, and upon its abandonment followed their destruction 8.

Thus, Maitreya, you are to understand that those who have seceded from their original belief are said to be naked, because they have thrown off the garment of the Vedas.

According to the law there are four conditions or orders of men (of the three first castes), the religious student, the householder, the hermit, and the mendicant. There is no fifth state; and the unrighteous man who relinquishes the order of the householder, and does not become either an anchoret or a mendicant, is also a naked (seceder).

The man who neglects his permanent observances for one day and night, being able to perform them, incurs thereby sin for one day; and should he omit them, not being in trouble, for a fortnight, he can be purified only by arduous expiation. The virtuous must stop to gaze upon the sun after looking upon a person who has allowed a year to elapse without the observance of the perpetual ceremonies; and they must bathe with their clothes on should they have touched him: but for the individual himself no expiation has been declared. There is no sinner upon earth more culpable than one in whose dwelling the gods, progenitors, and spirits, are left to sigh unworshipped. Let not a man associate, in residence, sitting, or society, with him whose person or whose house has been blasted by the sighs of the gods, progenitors, and spirits.

Conversation, interchange of civilities, or association with a man who for a twelvemonth has not discharged his religious duties, is productive of equality of guilt; and the person who eats in the house of such a man, or sits down with him, or sleeps on the same couch with him, becomes like him instantaneously. Again; he who takes his food without shewing reverence to the gods, progenitors, spirits, and guests, commits sin. How great is his sin! The Brahmans, and men of the other castes, who turn their faces away from their proper duties, become heretics, and are classed with those who relinquish pious works.

Remaining in a place where there is too great an intermixture of the four castes is detrimental to the character of the righteous. Men fall into hell who converse with one who takes his food without offering a portion to the gods, the sages, the manes, spirits, and guests. Let therefore a prudent person carefully avoid the conversation, or the contact, and the like, of those heretics who are rendered impure by their desertion of the three Vedas. The ancestral rite, although performed with zeal and faith, pleases neither gods nor progenitors if it be looked upon by apostates.

It is related that there was formerly a king named atadhanu, whose wife aivyá was a woman of great virtue. She was devoted to her husband, benevolent, sincere, pure, adorned with every female excellence, with humility, and discretion. The Rájá and his wife daily worshipped the god of gods, Janárddana, with pious meditations, oblations to fire, prayers, gifts, fasting, and every other mark of entire faith, and exclusive devotion. On one occasion, when they had fasted on the full moon of Kártika, and had bathed in the Bhagirathí, they beheld, as they came up from the water, a heretic approach them, who was the friend of the Rájá’s military preceptor.

The Rájá, out of respect to the latter, entered into conversation with the heretic; but not so did the princess; reflecting that she was observing a fast, she turned from him, and cast her eyes up to the sun. On their arrival at home, the husband and wife, as usual, performed the worship of u, agreeably to the ritual. After a time the Rájá, triumphant over his enemies, died; and the princess ascended the funeral pile of her husband.

In consequence of the fault committed by atadhanu, by speaking to an infidel when he was engaged in a solemn fast, he was born again as a dog. His wife was born as the daughter of the Rájá of Ká í, with a knowledge of the events of her preexistence, accomplished in every science, and endowed with every virtue.

Her father was anxious to give her in marriage to some suitable husband, but she constantly opposed his design, and the king was prevented by her from accomplishing her nuptials. With the eye of divine intelligence she knew that her own husband had been regenerate as a dog, and going once to the city of Vaidi á she saw the dog, and recognised her former lord in him. Knowing that the animal was her husband, she placed upon his neck the bridal garland, accompanying it with the marriage rites and prayers: but he, eating the delicate food presented to him, expressed his delight after the fashion of his species; at which she was much ashamed, and, bowing reverently to him, thus spake to her degraded spouse: “Recall to memory, illustrious prince, the ill-timed politeness on account of which you have been born as a dog, and are now fawning upon me. In consequence of speaking to a heretic, after bathing in a sacred river, you have been condemned to this abject birth. Do you not remember it?”

Thus reminded, the Rájá recollected his former condition, and was lost in thought, and felt deep humiliation. With a broken spirit he went forth from the city, and falling dead in the desert, was born anew as a jackal. In the course of the following year the princess knew what had happened, and went to the mountain Koláhala to seek for her husband.

Finding him there, the lovely daughter of the king of the earth said to her lord, thus disguised as a jackal, “Dost thou not remember, oh king, the circumstance of conversing with a heretic, which I called to thy recollection when thou wast a dog?” The Rájá, thus addressed, knew that what the princess had spoken was true, and thereupon desisted from food, and died. He then became a wolf; but his blameless wife knew it, and came to him in the lonely forest, and awakened his remembrance of his original state. “No wolf art thou,” she said, “but the illustrious sovereign atadhanu.

Thou wast then a dog, then a jackal, and art now a wolf.” Upon this, recollecting himself, the prince abandoned his life, and became a vulture; in which form his lovely queen still found him, and aroused him to a knowledge of the past. “Prince,” she exclaimed, “recollect yourself: away with this uncouth form, to which the sin of conversing with a heretic has condemned you!” The Rájá was next born as a crow; when the princess, who through her mystical powers was aware of it, said to him, “Thou art now thyself the eater of tributary grain, to whom, in a prior existence, all the kings of the earth paid tribute.” Having abandoned his body, in consequence of the recollections excited by these words, the king next became a peacock, which the princess took to herself, and petted, and fed constantly with such food as is agreeable to birds of its class.

The king of Ká í instituted at that time the solemn sacrifice of a horse. In the ablutions with which it terminated the princess caused her peacock to be bathed, bathing also herself; and she then reminded atadhanu how he had been successively born as various animals. On recollecting this, he resigned his life. He was then born as the son of a person of distinction; and the princess now assenting to the wishes of her father to see her wedded, the king of Ká í caused it to be made known that she would elect a bridegroom from those who should present themselves as suitors for her hand.

When the election took place, the princess made choice of her former lord, who appeared amongst the candidates, and again invested him with the character of her husband. They lived happily together, and upon her father’s decease atadhanu ruled over the country of Videha. He offered many sacrifices, and gave away many gifts, and begot sons, and subdued his enemies in war; and having duly exercised the sovereign power, and cherished benignantly the earth, he died, as became his warrior birth, in battle. His queen again followed him in death, and, conformably to sacred precepts, once more mounted cheerfully his funeral pile. The king then, along with his princess, ascended beyond the sphere of Indra to the regions where all desires are for ever gratified, obtaining ever- during and unequalled happiness in heaven, the perfect felicity that is the rarely realised reward of conjugal fidelity.

Such, Maitreya, is the sin of conversing with a heretic, and such are the expiatory effects of bathing after the solemn sacrifice of a horse, as I have narrated them to you. Let therefore a man carefully avoid the discourse or contact of an unbeliever, especially at seasons of devotion, and when engaged in the performance of religious rites preparatory to a sacrifice. If it be necessary that a wise man should look at the sun, after beholding one who has neglected his domestic ceremonies for a month, how much greater need must there be of expiation after encountering one who has wholly abandoned the Vedas? one who is supported by infidels, or who disputes the doctrines of holy writ? Let not a person treat with even the civility of speech, heretics, those who do forbidden acts, pretended saints, scoundrels, sceptics, and hypocrites. Intercourse with such iniquitous wretches, even at a distance, all association with schismatics, defiles; let a man therefore carefully avoid them.

These, Maitreya, are the persons called naked, the meaning of which term you desired to have explained. Their very looks vitiate the performance of an ancestral oblation; speaking to then destroys religious merit for a whole day. These are the unrighteous heretics to whom a man must not give shelter, and speaking to whom effaces whatever merit he may that day have obtained. Men, indeed, fall into hell as the consequence of only conversing with those who unprofitably assume the twisted hair, and shaven crown; with those who feed without offering food to gods, spirits, and guests; and those who are excluded from the presentation of cakes, and libations of water, to the manes.

Footnotes

The situation chosen for the first appearance of the heresy agrees well enough with the great prevalence of the Jain faith in the west of India in the eleventh and twelfth centuries (As. Res. XVI. 318), or perhaps a century earlier, and is a circumstance of some weight in investigating the date of the u Purá a.

A bunch of peacock’s feathers is still an ordinary accompaniment of a Jain mendicant. According to the Hindi poem, the Prithu Rai Charitra, it was borne by the Buddhist Amara Sinha; but that work is not, perhaps, very good authority for Bauddha observances, at least of an ancient date.

In this and the preceding contradictions it is probable that the writer refers, although not with much precision, to the sceptical tenets of the Jainas, whence they are called commonly Syádvádis, assertors of probabilities, or of what may be. These usually form seven categories, or, 1. a thing is; 2. it is not; 3. it is, and it is not; 4. it is not definable; 5. it is, but is not definable; 6. it is not, neither is it definable; 7. it is, and it is not, and is not definable. Hence the Jains are also termed Saptavádis and Saptabhangis, assertors and oppugners of seven propositions. As. Res. XVII. 271; and Trans. Royal As. Soc. I. 555.

Here is farther confirmation of the Jains being intended by our text, as the term Arhat is more particularly applied to them, although it is also used by the Buddhists.

We have therefore the Bauddhas noticed as a distinct set. If the author wrote from a personal knowledge of Buddhists in India, he could not have written much later than the 10th or 11th century.

That is, according to the commentator, a ráddha may be performed for a man who is abroad by any of his kinsmen who are tarrying at home; it will be of equal benefit to him as if he offered it himself; he will equally eat of the consecrated food.

We have in these passages, no doubt, allusion to the Várhaspatyas, or followers of Vrihaspati, who seem to have been numerous and bold at some period anterior to the 14th century. As. Res. XVI. 5.

We may have in this conflict of the orthodox divinities and heretical Daityas some covert allusion to political troubles, growing out of religious differences, and the final predominance of Brahmanism. Such occurrences seem to have preceded the invasion of India by the Mohammedans, and prepared the way for their victories.

There is a play upon the word Bali, which means ‘tribute,’ or ‘fragments of a meal scattered abroad to the birds,’ &c.

The legend is peculiar to the u Purá a, although the doctrine it inculcates is to be found elsewhere.

Haitukas, ‘causalists;’ either the followers of the Nyáya or ‘logical’ philosophy, or Bauddhas, those who take nothing upon authority, and admit nothing that cannot be proved; or it is explained, those who by argument cast a doubt upon the efficacy of acts of devotion.

U PURÁ A. BOOK IV.

CHAP. I.

Dynasties of kings. Origin of the solar dynasty from Brahmá. Sons of the Manu Vaivaswata. Transformations of Ilá or Sudyumna. Descendants of the sons of Vaivaswat; those of # ha. Greatness of Marutta. Kings of Vai álí. Descendants of aryáti.

Legend of Raivata; his daughter Revatí married to Balaráma.

MAITREYA.–Venerable preceptor, you have explained to me the perpetual and occasional ceremonies which are to be performed by those righteous individuals who are diligent in their devotions; and you have also described to me the duties which devolve upon the several castes, and on the different orders of the human race. I have now to request you will relate to me the dynasties of the kings who have ruled over the earth.

PARÁ ARA.–I will repeat to you, Maitreya, an account of the family of Manu, commencing with Brahmá, and graced by a number of religious, magnanimous, and heroic princes. Of which it is said, “The lineage of him shall never be extinct, who daily calls to mind the race of Manu, originating with Brahmá.” Listen therefore, Maitreya, to the entire series of the princes of this family, by which all sin shall be effaced.

Before the evolution of the mundane egg, existed Brahmá, who was ! yagarbha, the form of that supreme Brahma which consists of u as identical with the Rig, Yajur, and Sáma Vedas; the primeval, uncreated cause of all worlds. From the right thumb of Brahmá was born the patriarch Daksha; his daughter was Aditi, who was the mother of the sun. The Manu Vaivaswata was the son of the celestial luminary; and his sons were

Ikshwáku, Nriga, $ a

and Prishadhra.

, aryáti, Narishyanta, Prán u, Nábhága, # a

, Karúsha,

Before their birth, the Manu being desirous of sons, offered a sacrifice for that purpose to Mitra and a; but the rite being deranged, through an irregularity of the ministering priest, a daughter, Ilá, was produced. Through the favour of the two divinities, however, her sex was changed, and she became a man, named Sudyumna. At a subsequent period, in consequence of becoming subject to the effects of a malediction once pronounced by

iva, Sudyumna was again transformed to a woman in the vicinity of the hermitage of Budha, the son of the deity of the moon.

Budha saw and espoused her, and had by her a son named Purúravas. After his birth, the illustrious Rishis, desirous of restoring Sudyumna to his sex, prayed to the mighty

u, who is the essence of the four Vedas, of mind, of every thing, and of nothing; and who is in the form of the sacrificial male; and through his favour Ilá once more became Sudyumna, in which character he had three sons, Utkala, Gaya, and Vinata.

In consequence of his having been formerly a female, Sudyumna was excluded from any share in his paternal dominions; but his father, at the suggestion of Va ha, bestowed upon him the city hána, and he gave it to Purúravas.

Of the other sons of the Manu, Prishadhra, in consequence of the crime of killing a cow, was degraded to the condition of a údra. From Karúsha descended the mighty warriors termed Kárúshas (the sovereigns of the north). The son of # ha, named Nábhága, became a Vai ya: his son was Bhalandana; whose son was the celebrated Vatsaprí: his son was Pránsu; whose son was Prajáni; whose son was Khanitra; whose son was the very valiant Chakshupa; whose son was Vin a; whose son was Vivin ati; whose son was Khaninetra; whose son was the powerful, wealthy, and valiant Karandhama; whose son was Avikshi (or Avikshit); whose son was the mighty Marutta, of whom this well known verse is recited;

“There never was beheld on earth a sacrifice equal to the sacrifice of Marutta: all the implements and utensils were made of gold. Indra was intoxicated with the libations of Soma juice, and the Brahmans were enraptured with the magnificent donations they received. The winds of heaven encompassed the rite as guards, and the assembled gods attended to behold it.” Marutta was a Chakravarttí, or universal monarch: he had a son named Narishyanta; his son was Dama; his son was Rájyavarddhana; his son was Sudhriti; his son was Nara; his son was Kevala; his son was Bandhumat; his son was Vegavat; his son was Budha; his son was Trinavindu, who had a daughter named Ilavilá. The celestial nymph Alambushá becoming enamoured of E avindu, bore him a son named Vi ála, by whom the city Vaisáli was founded.

The son of the first king of Vai álí was Hemachandra; his son was Suchandra; his son was Dhúmrá wa; his son was Srinjaya; his son was Sahadeva; his son was Kri á wa; his son was Somadatta, who celebrated ten times the sacrifice of a horse; his son was Janamejaya; and his son was Sumati. These were the kings of Vai álí; of whom is said, “By the favour of E avindu all the monarchs of Vai álí were long lived, magnanimous, equitable, and valiant.”

aryáti, the fourth son of the Manu, had a daughter named Sukanyá, who was married to the holy sage Chyavana: he had also a righteous son, called Ánartta. The son of the latter was Revata, who ruled over the country called after his father Ánartta, and dwelt at the capital denominated Ku asthalí. The son of this prince was Raivata or Kakudmín, the eldest of a hundred brethren. He had a very lovely daughter, and not finding any one worthy of her hand, he repaired with her to the region of Brahmá to consult the god where a fit bridegroom was to be met with.

When he arrived, the quiristers Háhá, Húhú, and others, were singing before Brahmá; and Raivata, waiting till they had finished, imagined the ages that elapsed during their performance to be but as a moment. At the end of their singing, Raivata prostrated himself before Brahmá, and explained his errand. “Whom should you wish for a son-in- law?” demanded Brahmá; and the king mentioned to him various persons with whom he could be well pleased.

Nodding his head gently, and graciously smiling, Brahmá said to him, “Of those whom you have named the third or fourth generation no longer survives, for many successions of ages have passed away whilst you were listening to our songsters: now upon earth the twenty-eighth great age of the present Manu is nearly finished, and the Kali period is at hand. You must therefore bestow this virgin gem upon some other husband, for you are now alone, and your friends, your ministers, servants, wife, kinsmen, armies, and treasures, have long since been swept away by the hand of time.” Overcome with astonishment and alarm, the Rája then said to Brahmá, “Since I am thus circumstanced, do thou, lord, tell me unto whom the maiden shall be given:” and the creator of the world, whose throne is the lotus, thus benignantly replied to the prince, as he stood bowed and humble before him:

“The being of whose commencement, course, and termination, we are ignorant; the unborn and omnipresent essence of all things; he whose real and infinite nature and essence we do not know–is the supreme u. He is time, made up of moments and hours and years; whose influence is the source of perpetual change. He is the universal form of all things, from birth to death. He is eternal, without name or shape. Through the favour of that imperishable being am I the agent of his power in creation: through his anger is Rudra the destroyer of the world: and the cause of preservation, Purusha, proceeds also from him. The unborn having assumed my person creates the world; in his own essence he provides for its duration; in the form of Rudra he devours all things; and with the body of Ananta he upholds them. Impersonated as Indra and the other gods he is the guardian of mankind; and as the sun and moon he disperses darkness. Taking upon himself the nature of fire he bestows warmth and maturity; and in the condition of the earth nourishes all beings.

As one with air he gives activity to existence; and as one with water he satisfies all wants: whilst in the state of ether, associated with universal aggregation, he furnishes space for all objects. He is at once the creator, and that which is created; the preserver, and that which is preserved; the destroyer, and, as one with all things, that which is destroyed; and, as the indestructible, he is distinct from these three vicissitudes. In him is the world; he is the world; and he, the primeval self-born, is again present in the world. That mighty

u, who is paramount over all beings, is now in a portion of himself upon the earth. That city Ku asthalí which was formerly your capital, and rivalled the city of the immortals, is now known as Dwáraka, and there reigns a portion of that divine being in the person of Baladeva; to him, who appears as a man, present her as a wife: he is a worthy bridegroom for this excellent damsel, and she is a suitable bride for him.”

Being thus instructed by the lotus-born divinity, Raivata returned with his daughter to earth, where he found the race of men dwindled in stature, reduced in vigour, and enfeebled in intellect. Repairing to the city of Ku asthalí, which he found much altered, the wise monarch bestowed his unequalled daughter on the wielder of the ploughshare, whose breast was as fair and radiant as crystal.

Beholding the damsel of excessively lofty height, the chief, whose banner is a palm-tree, shortened her with the end of his ploughshare, and she became his wife. Balaráma having espoused, agreeably to the ritual, Revatí, the daughter of Raivata, the king retired to the mountain Himálaya, and ended his days in devout austerities.

Footnotes

The complete series of the different dynasties is found elsewhere only in the Váyu, the

Brahmá a

(which is the same), the Matsya, and the Bhágavata Purá as. The Bráhma P.

and the Hari Van a, the Agni, Linga, Kúrma, and I a Purá as have lists of various

extent, but none beyond the families of Pá u

and Kris a. The Má eya contains an

account of a few of the kings of the solar dynasty alone; and the Padma, of a part of the solar and lunar princes only, besides accounts of individuals. In the Rámá a, Mahábhárata, and in the other Purá as, occasional short genealogies and notices of individual princes occur. In general there is a tolerable conformity, but this is not invariably the case, as we shall have occasion to observe.

In the historical passages of all the Purá as in which such occur, and especially in the

u and Váyu, verses, apparently the fragments of a more ancient narrative, are frequently cited. It may also be noticed, as a peculiarity of this part of the Purá a, that the narration is in prose.

Daksha is elsewhere said to have been one of the mind-born sons of Brahmá, or to have been the son of the Prachetasas.

According to the nomenclature sometimes followed, and as we shall have reason to conclude intended in this place, there are ten sons of Manu. The commentator regards

them, however, as but nine, considering Nabhága-A a

but one name, or # a

the

father of Nábhága. The number is generally stated to be nine, although there is some

variety in the names, particularly in this name, which occurs NábháB a ,

NábháB ha; and also separated, as Nábhága, Nabhaga, or Nabhága; # a

, $ a ,

and a

: the latter, as in the Kúrma, distinctly stated, Bráhma P. The commentator on

the Hari Van a quotes the Vedas for NábháB a

: but the name occurs as

NábháA ha in the Aitareya Brá a of the Rigveda, where a story is told of his being excluded from all share of his inheritance, on the plea of his being wholly devoted to a religious life. See also As. Res. VIII. 384.

The name as ordinarily written, Na-bhága, ‘no-share,’ has nevertheless an obvious connexion with the legend. The name of Nriga is found only in our text, the Padma, and the Bhágavata: the Váyu has Najava. Prán u is also the reading of the Váyu and Agni, but not of the rest, which have a, Vanya, $ a, Ku anábha or Kavi, in its place. The Mahábhárata, Adi P., p. 113, has a, $ u, Narishyanta, Nábhága, Ikshwáku,

Kárúsha, aryáti, Ilá, Prishadhra, and Nábhágá a

. The Padma P., in the Pátála

a, says there were ‘ten,’ and names them Ikshwáku, Nriga, $ a

Karúsha, aryáti, Narishyanta, Prishadhra, Nábhága, and Kavi.

, $ a ,

That sacrifice being wrongly offered, through the improper invocations of the Hotri.’ It is also read ‘frustrated.’ This is rather a brief and obscure allusion to what appears to be an ancient legend, and one that has undergone various modifications. According to the Matsya, no change of sex took place in the first instance. The eldest son of Manu was Ida or Ila, whom his father appointed sovereign of the seven Dwípas. In his progress round his dominions, Ila came to the forest of ambhu or iva; entering into which, he was changed to a female, Ilá, agreeably to a promise made formerly by iva to Párvatí, who had been once unseasonably broken in upon by some sages, that such a transformation should be inflicted on every male who trespassed upon the sacred grove. After a season, the brothers of Ila sought for him, and finding him thus metamorphosed, applied to

Va ha, their father’s priest, to know the cause. He explained it to them, and directed them to worship iva and his bride.

They did so, accordingly; and it was announced by the deities, that, upon the performance of an A wamedha by Ikshwáku, Ila should become a Kimpurusha, named Sudyumna, and that he should be a male one month, and a female another month, alternately. The Váyu, which is followed by most of the other authorities, states, that upon Manu’s offering their share of the sacrifice to Mitra and a, instead of a boy, a girl was born: according to the Vedas. Manu desired her to follow him; whence her name

Ilá (from ila or a

, ‘come’. There, however, Manu propitiates Mitra and a, and the

girl Ilá is changed into the boy Ila or Sudyumna by their favour: as the Má e

ya.

Sudyumna’s subsequent change to a female again, is told much as in the Matsya; but his being alternately male and female is not mentioned in the Váyu any more than it is in our text. The Bhágavata agrees in that respect with the Matsya, but it has evidently embellished the earlier part of the legend by the introduction of another character,

raddhá, the wife of the Manu.

It is said that it was by her instigation, as she was desirous of having a girl, that the ministering Brahmans altered the purpose of the rite, in consequence of which a girl, instead of a boy, was born. The similarity of the name has induced the learned author of the Origin of Pagan Idolatry to conceive that he has found the Ila of the Hindus in the Il or Ilus of the Phœnicians. “The Phœnician Il is the masculine Ila of the Hindus and Indo- Scythæ, and Ila was a title of Manu or Buddha, who was preserved in the ark at the time of the deluge:” I. 156: and he thence concludes that Ila must be Noah; whilst other circumstances in his Phœnician history identify him with Abraham. I. 159. Again; “Ilus or Il is a regular Cuthic name of Buddha, which the Phœnicians, I have no doubt, brought with them; for Buddha or Manu, in the character of Ina, is said to have married his own daughter, who is described as the offspring of an ancient personage that was preserved in an ark at the time of the deluge.” I. 223.

Now whatever connexion there may be between the names of Ila, Il, Ilus, Ilium, Ilá ‘the earth,’ and Ilos ‘slime,’ there is no very obvious resemblance between the Paurá ik legends of Ilá and the Mosaic record; nor do the former authorize the particulars of Ina stated by Mr. Faber, on the authority probably of Col. Wilford.

The Manu Satyavrata, who was preserved in the ark, is never called Ila, nor is he the father of Ilá. Buddha was not so preserved, nor is Ila ever a title of Buddha. Budha (not Buddha), the husband of Ilá, never appears as her father, nor is he a Manu, nor is she the daughter of any ancient personage preserved in an ark. There is not therefore, as far as I am aware, any circumstance in the history of Ila or Ilá which can identify either with Abraham or Noah.

The Matsya calls the name of the third Haritá wa; the Váyu &c., Vinatá wa; the

Má eya, Vinaya; and the Bhágavata, Vimala. All but the last agree in stating that Utkala (Orissa) and Gaya in Behar are named after the two first. The Matsya calls the third the sovereign of the east, along with the Kauravas; the Váyu makes him king of the west. The Bhágavata calls them all three rulers of the south.

The authorities agree in this location of Sudyumna. hána was situated on the eastern side of the confluence of the Ganges and Jumna; the country between which rivers was the territory of the direct male descendants of Vaivaswata. In the Hari Vaasa it

is said that he reigned in hána, having killed $ a

ka, Ambarísha, and $ a.

Langlois had no doubt 79-4: in his copy, as he renders it, ‘Il donna naissance à trois enfans;’ though, as he observes, Hamilton had called these the sons of Ikshwáku. The Bráhma P. has not this passage, nor does the commentator on the Hari Van a give any explanation; neither does any thing of the kind occur elsewhere. We have however, subsequently in the text, $ a named as a son of Ikshwáku; and in the Padma P., i

a, and in the Uttara a of the Rámáyá a, we have a detailed narrative of

$ a, the son of Ikshwáku, whose country was laid waste by an imprecation of Bhárgava, whose daughter that prince had violated. His kingdom became in consequence the $ aka forest.

The Mahábhárata, Dána Dharma, alludes to the same story. If therefore the preferable reading of the Hari Van a be Suta, ‘son,’ it is at variance with all other authorities. At the same time it must be admitted, that the same work is singular in asserting any collision between $ a and his brothers and Sudyumna, and the passage seems to have grown out of that careless and ignorant compilation which the Hari Van a so perpetually presents. It is not improbably a gratuitous perversion of this passage in the Matsya;

‘Ambarísha was the son of Nábhága; and $ a

had three sons.’

This story has been modified apparently at different periods, according to a progressive horror of the crime. Our text simply states the fact. The Váyu says he was hungry, and not only killed, but ate the cow of his spiritual preceptor, Chyavana. In the Má eya he is described as being out a hunting, and killing the cow of the father of Bábhravya, mistaking it for a Gavaya or Gayal. The Bhágavata, as usual, improves upon the story, and says that Prishadhra was appointed by his Guru Va ha to protect his cattle. In the night a tiger made his way into the fold, and the prince in his haste, and in the dark, killed the cow upon which he had fastened, instead of the tiger.

In all the authorities the effect is the same, and the imprecation of the offended sage degraded Prishadhra to the caste of a údra. According to the Bhágavata, the prince led a life of devotion, and perishing in the flame of a forest, obtained final liberation. The obvious purport of this legend, and of some that follow, is to account for the origin of the different castes from one common ancestor.

The Bhágavata also places the Kárúshas in the north; but the country of the Kárúshas is usually placed upon the Parípátra or Vindhya mountains.

The Váyu has Nábhága, the son of a

; the Má eya has, the son of $ a

; the

Bhágavata also calls him the son of $ a

. According to that authority, he became a

Vai ya by his actions. The other Purá as generally agree that the descendants of this person became Vai yas; but the Matsya and Váyu do not notice it. The Má eya details a story of Nábhága’s carrying off and marrying the daughter of a Vai ya; in consequence of which he was degraded, it is said, to the same caste, and deprived of his share of the patrimonial sovereignty, which his son and successor recovered.

The Bráhma P. and Hari Van a assert that two sons of Nábhágá a

again became

Brahmans; but the duties of royalty imply the Kshatriya caste of his posterity; and the commentator on our text observes that the son of Nábhága was born before his father’s degradation, and consequently the race continued Kshatriya; an assertion unsupported by any authority, and it must therefore appear that .a race of Vai ya princes was recognised by early traditions.

Bhanandana: Bhágavata.

Vatsapríti: Bhágavata. Vatsasrí: Má e

The latter has a story of the destruction of

the Daitya Kujámbha by Vidúratha, the father of Sunandá, the wife a of Vatsasrí. The Váyu has Sahasrári.

Pramati: Bhágavata.

According to the Má e

ya, the priests of the royal family conspired against this

prince, and were put to death by his ministers. Chakshusha: Bhágavata.

Víra: Má eya.

Rambha precedes Vivin ati: Bhágav.

Balá wa or Balaká wa or Subalá wa, according to the Má eya, which explains his name Karandhama to denote his creation of an army, when besieged by his revolted tributaries, by breathing on his hands.

Both forms occur, as the commentator observes. The Má e

ya has a long story of this

prince’s carrying off the daughter of Vi ála, king of Vaidi a. Being attacked and captured by his confederated rivals, he was rescued by his father, but was so much mortified by his disgrace, that he vowed never to marry nor reign. The princess, also becoming an ascetic, met with him in the woods, and they were finally espoused; but Avikshit kept his other vow, and relinquished his succession in favour of his son, who succeeded to the kingdoms of both Karandhama and Vi ála,

Most of our authorities quote the same words, with or without addition. The Váyu adds, that the sacrifice was conducted by Samvartta, whom the Bhágavata terms a Yogi, the son of Angiras; and that Vrihaspati was so jealous of the splendour of the rite, that a great quarrel ensued between him and Samvartta. How it involved the king is not told, but apparently in consequence, Marutta, with his kindred and friends, was taken by

Samvartta to heaven. According to the Má e

ya, Marutta was so named from the

paternal benediction, ‘May the winds be thine,’ or ‘be propitious to thee.’ He reigned, agreeably to that record, 85000 years.

Omitted in the Bhágavata.

A rather chivalric and curious story is told of Dama in the Má eya. His bride Sumaná, daughter of the king Da árha, was rescued by him from his rivals. One of them, Bapushmat, afterwards killed Marutta, who had retired into the woods, after relinquishing

his crown to his son. Dama in retaliation killed Bapushmat, and made the a

, or

obsequial offering to his father, of his flesh: with the remainder he fed the Brahmans of Rákshasa origin: such were the kings of the solar race.

The Bhágavata has Bandhavat, Oghavat, and Bandha.

The Váyu and Bhágavata both add that she was the wife of Vi ravas, and mother of Kuvera. In the Linga P. she is said to have been the wife of Pulastya, and mother of Vi ravas. The weight of authority is in favour of the former statement.

The Bhágavata names three sons, Vi ála, únyabandhu, and Dhúmaketu. Vai álí is a city of considerable renown in Indian tradition, but its site is a subject of some uncertainty.

Part of the difficulty arises from confounding it with Vi álá, another name of Ujayin; Hemachandra. Also in the Megha Dúta; ‘Having arrived at Avanti, proceed to the illustrious city before indicated Vi álá.’ ‘To the city Ujjayiní, named Vi álá. Comment. Vai álí however appears to be very differently situated. According to the Buddhists, amongst whom it is celebrated as a chief seat of the labours of ákhya and his first disciples, it is the same as Prayága or Allahabad; but the Rámá a (I. 45) places it much lower down, on the north bank of the Ganges, nearly opposite to the mouth of the Sone; and it was therefore in the modern district of Sáran, as Hamilton (Genealogies of the Hindus) conjectured. In the fourth century it was known to the Chinese traveller Fa-hian as Phi-she-li, on the right bank of the Gandak, not far from its confluence with the Ganges. Account of the Foe-küe-ki: Trans. R. As. Soc. no. IX. p. 128.

Dhumráksha and Samyama: Bhágavata.

The text is clear enough; but, as elsewhere noticed (Hindu Theatre, II. 296), the commentator on the Bhágavata interprets the parallel passage, very differently, or

‘Kri á wa with Devaja,’ or, as some copies read, Devaka or Daivata, as if there were two sons of Samyama.

The Bhágavata changes the order of these two, making Janamejaya the son of Sumati; or Pramati, Váyu. Sumati, king of Vai álí, is made cotemporary with Ráma: Rámá a,

I.47. 17. The dynasty of Vai ála kings is found only in our text, the Váyu, and Bhágavata. Hamilton places them from 1920 to 1240 B. C.; but the latter is incompatible with the date he assigns to Ráma, of 1700 B. C. The co-temporary existence of Sumati and Ráma, however, is rather unintelligible, as, according to our lists, the former is the thirty-fourth, and the latter the sixtieth, from Vaivaswata Manu.

The circumstances of their marriage, of Chyavana’s appropriating a share of offerings to the Aswiní Kumáras, and of sis quarrel with Indra in consequence, are old in detail in the Bhágavata and Padma Purá as.

In most of the other Purá as, Reva or Raiva. The Linga and Matsya insert Rochamána before him; and the Bhágavata adds to Ánartta, Uttánavarhish and Bhú a.

The Bhágavata ascribes the foundation of Ku asthalí to Revata, who built it, it is said, within the sea. The subsequent legend shews that it was the same, or on the same spot, as Dwáraká; and Ánartta was therefore part of Cutch or Guzerat. See

So called from its many Dwáras or gateways: Váyu.

The object of this legend, which is told by most of the authorities, is obviously to account for the anachronism of making Balaráma cotemporary with Raivata; the one early in the Treta age, and the other at the close of the Dwápara.

CHAP. II.

Dispersion of Revata’s descendants: those of $ a

: those of Nábhága. Birth of

Ikshwáku, the son of Vaivaswata: his sons. Line of Vikukshi. Legend of Kakutstha; of Dhundhumára; of Yuvaná wa; of Mándhátri: his daughters married to Saubhari.

PARÁ ARA.–Whilst Kakudmin, surnamed Raivata, was absent on his visit to the region of Brahmá, the evil spirits or Rákshasas named yajanas destroyed his capital

Ku asthalí. His hundred brothers, through dread of these foes, fled in different directions; and the Kshatriyas, their descendants, settled in many countries.

From $ a

, the son of the Manu, sprang the Kshatriya race of Dhá a

ka.

The son of Nabhága was Nábhága; his son was Ambarísha; his son was Virúpa; his son was Prishada wa; his son was Rathínara, of whom it is sung, “These, who were Kshatriyas by birth, the heads of the family of Rathínara, were called Ángirasas (or sons of Angiras), and were Brahmans as well as Kshatriyas.”

Ikshwáku was born from the nostril of the Manu, as he happened to sneeze. He had a hundred sons, of whom the three most distinguished were Vikukshi, Nimi, and $ a. Fifty of the rest, under Sakuni, were the protectors of the northern countries. Forty-eight were the princes of the south.

Upon one of the days called a

ka, Ikshwáku being desirous of celebrating ancestral

obsequies, ordered Vikukshi to bring him flesh suitable for the offering. The prince accordingly went into the forest, and killed many deer, and other wild animals, for the celebration. Being weary with the chase, and being hungered, he sat down, and ate a hare; after which, being refreshed, he carried the rest of the game to his father. Va ha, the family priest of the house of Ikshwáku, was summoned to consecrate the food; but he declared that it was impure, in consequence of Vikukshi’s having eaten a hare from amongst it (making it thus, as it were, the residue of his meal).

Vikukshi was in consequence abandoned by his offended father, and the epithet a áda (hare-eater) was affixed to him by the Guru. On the death of Ikshwáku, the dominion of the earth descended to a áda, who was succeeded by his son Puranjaya.

In the Treta age a violent war broke out between the gods and the Asuras, in which the former were vanquished. They consequently had recourse to u for assistance, and propitiated him by their adorations. The eternal ruler of the universe, Nárá a, had compassion upon them, and said, “What you desire is known unto me. Hear how your wishes shall be fulfilled. There is an illustrious prince named Puranjaya, the son of a royal sage; into his person I will infuse a portion of myself, and having descended upon earth I will in his person subdue all your enemies.

Do you therefore endeavour to secure the aid of Puranjaya for the destruction of your foes.” Acknowledging with reverence the kindness of the deity, the immortals quitted his presence, and repaired to Puranjaya, whom they thus addressed: “Most renowned Kshatriya, we have come to thee to solicit thy alliance against our enemies: it will not become thee to disappoint our hopes.” The prince replied, “Let this your Indra, the monarch of the spheres, the god of a hundred sacrifices, consent to carry me upon his shoulders, and I will wage battle with your adversaries as your ally.” The gods and Indra readily answered, “So be it;” and the latter assuming the shape of a bull, the prince mounted upon his shoulder.

Being then filled with delight, and invigorated by the power of the eternal ruler of all movable and immovable things, he destroyed in the battle that ensued all the enemies of the gods; and because he annihilated the demon host whilst seated upon the shoulder (or the hump, Kakud) of the bull, he thence obtained the appellation Kakutstha (seated on the hump).

The son of Kakutstha was Anenas, whose son was Prithu, whose son was Viswaga wa, whose son was Árdra, whose son was Yuvaná wa, whose son was ravasta, by whom the city of rávastí was founded. The son of ravasta was Vrihada wa, whose son was Kuvalayá wa. This prince, inspired with the spirit of u, destroyed the Asura Dhundhu, who had harassed the pious sage Uttanka; and he was thence entitled Dhundhumára. In his conflict with the demon the king was attended by his sons, to the number of twenty-one thousand; and all these, with the exception of only three, perished in the engagement, consumed by the fiery breath of Dhundhu. The three who survived were Drídhá wa, Chandrá wa, and Kapilá wa; and the son and successor of the elder of these was Haryyá wa; his son was Nikumbha; his son was Sanhatá wa; his son was

Kri á wa; his son was Prasenajit; and his son was another Yuvaná wa.

Yuvaná wa had no son, at which he was deeply grieved. Whilst residing in the vicinage of the holy Munis, he inspired them with pity for his childless condition, and they instituted a religious rite to procure him progeny. One night during its performance the sages having placed a vessel of consecrated water upon the altar had retired to repose. It was past midnight, when the king awoke, exceedingly thirsty; and unwilling to disturb any of the holy inmates of the dwelling, he looked about for something to drink. In his search he came to the water in the jar, which had been sanctified and endowed with prolific efficacy by sacred texts, and he drank it.

When the Munis rose, and found that the water had been drunk, they inquired who had taken it, and said, “The queen that has drunk this water shall give birth to a mighty and valiant son.” “It was I,” exclaimed the Rájá, “who unwittingly drank the water!” and accordingly in the belly of Yuvaná wa was conceived a child, and it grew, and in due time it ripped open the right side of the Rájá, and was born, and the Raji, did not die. Upon the birth of the child, “Who will be its nurse?” said the Munis; when, Indra, the king of the gods, appeared, and said, “He shall have me for his nurse” (mám dhásyati); and hence the boy was named Mándhátri.

Indra put his fore finger into the mouth of the infant, who sucked it, and drew from it heavenly nectar; and he grew up, and became a mighty monarch, and reduced the seven continental zones under his dominion. And here a verse is recited; “From the rising to the going down of the sun, all that is irradiated by his light, is the land of Mándhátri, the son of Yuvaná wa.”

Mándhátri married Vindumatí, the daughter of a avindu, and had by her three sons, Purukutsa, Ambarísha, and Muchukunda; he had also fifty daughters.

The devout sage Saubhari, learned in the Vedas, had spent twelve years immersed in a piece of water; the sovereign of the fish in which, named Sammada, of large bulk, had a very numerous progeny. His children and his grandchildren were wont to frolic around him in all directions, and he lived amongst them happily, playing with them night and day. Saubhari the sage, being disturbed in his devotions by their sports, contemplated the patriarchal felicity of the monarch of the lake, and reflected, “How enviable is this creature, who, although horn in a degraded state of being, is ever thus sporting cheerfully amongst his offspring and their young. Of a truth he awakens in my mind the wish to taste such pleasure, and I also will make merry amidst my children.”

Having thus resolved, the Muni came up hastily from the water, and, desirous of entering upon the condition of a householder, went to Mándhátri to demand one of his daughters as his wife. As soon as he was informed of the arrival of the sage, the king rose up from his throne, offered him the customary libation, and treated him with the most profound respect. Having taken a seat, Saubhari said to the Rájá, “I have determined to marry: do you, king, give me one of your daughters as a wife: disappoint not my affection. It is not the practice of the princes of the race of Kakutstha to turn away from compliance with the wishes of those who come to them for succour.

There are, O monarch, other kings of the earth to whom daughters have been born, but your family is above all renowned for observance. of liberality in your donations to those who ask your bounty. You have, O prince, fifty daughters; give one of them to me, that so I may be relieved from the anxiety I suffer through fear that my suit may be denied.”

When Mándhátri heard this request, and looked upon the person of the sage, emaciated by austerity and old age, he felt disposed to refuse his consent; but dreading to incur the anger and imprecation of the holy man, he was much perplexed, and, declining his head, was lost a while in thought. The Rishi, observing his hesitation, said, “On what, O Rájá, do you meditate? I have asked for nothing which may not be readily accorded: and what is there that shall he unattainable to you, if my desires be gratified by the damsel whom you must needs give unto me?” To this, the king, apprehensive of his displeasure, answered and said, “Grave sir, it is the established usage of our house to wed our daughters to such persons only as they shall themselves select from suitors of fitting rank; and since this your request is not yet made known to my maidens, it is impossible to say whether it may be equally agreeable to them as it is to me.

This is the occasion of my perplexity, and I am at a loss what to do.” This answer of the king was fully understood by the Rishi, who said to himself, “This is merely a device of the Rájá to evade compliance with my suit: the has reflected that I am an old man, having no attractions for women, and not likely to be accepted by any of his daughters: even be it so; I will be a match for him:” and he then spake aloud, and said, “Since such is the custom, mighty prince, give orders that I be admitted into the interior of the palace.

Should any of the maidens your daughters be willing to take me for a bridegroom, I will have her for my bride; if no one be willing, then let the blame attach alone to the years that I have numbered.” Having thus spoken, he was silent.

Mándhátri, unwilling to provoke the indignation of the Muni, was accordingly obliged to command the eunuch to lead the sage into the inner chambers; who, as he entered the apartments, put on a form and features of beauty far exceeding the personal charms of mortals, or even of heavenly spirits. His conductor, addressing the princesses, said to them, “Your father, young ladies, sends you this pious sage, who has demanded of him a bride; and the Rája has promised him, that he will not refuse him any one of you who shall choose him for her husband.” When the damsels heard this, and looked upon the person of the Rishi, they were equally inspired with passion and desire, and, like a troop of female elephants disputing the favours of the master of the herd, they all contended for the choice. ”

Away, away, sister!” said each to the other; “this is my election, he is my choice; he is not a meet bridegroom for you; he has been created by Brahmá on purpose for me, as I have been created in order to become his wife: he has been chosen by me before you; you have no right to prevent his becoming my husband.” In this way arose a violent quarrel amongst the daughters of the king, each insisting upon the exclusive election of the Rishi: and as the blameless sage was thus contended for by the rival princesses, the superintendent of the inner apartments, with a downcast look, reported to the king what had occurred. Perplexed more than ever by this information, the Rájá exclaimed, “What is all this! and what am I to do now! What is it that I have said!” and at last, although with extreme reluctance, he was obliged to agree that the Rishi should marry all his daughters.

Having then wedded, agreeably to law, all the princesses, the sage took them home to his habitation, where he employed the chief of architects, Vi wakarman, equal in taste and skill to Brahmá himself, to construct separate palaces for each of his wives: he ordered him to provide each building with elegant couches and seats and furniture, and to attach to them gardens and groves, with reservoirs of water, where the wild-duck and the swan should sport amidst beds of lotus flowers. The divine artist obeyed his injunctions, and constructed splendid apartments for the wives of the Rishi; in which by command of Saubhari, the inexhaustible and divine treasure called Nanda took up his permanent abode, and the princesses entertained all their guests and dependants with abundant viands of every description and the choicest quality.

After some period had elapsed, the heart of king Mándhátri yearned for his daughters, and he felt solicitous to know whether they were happily circumstanced. Setting off therefore on a visit to the hermitage of Saubhari, he beheld upon his arrival a row of beautiful crystal palaces, shining as brilliantly as the rays of the sun, and situated amidst lovely gardens, and reservoirs of pellucid water. Entering into one of these magnificent palaces, he found and embraced a daughter, and said to her, as the tears of affection and delight trembled in his eyes, “Dear child, tell me how it is with you.

Are you happy here? or not? Does the great sage treat you with tenderness? or do you revert with regret to your early home?” The princess replied, “You behold, my father, how delightful a mansion I inhabit, surrounded by lovely gardens and lakes, where the lotus blooms, and the wild swans murmur. Here I have delicious viands, fragrant unguents, costly ornaments, splendid raiment, soft beds, and every enjoyment that affluence can procure. Why then should I call to memory the place of my birth? To your favour am I indebted for all that I possess. I have only one cause of anxiety, which is this; my husband is never absent from my dwelling: solely attached to me, he is always at my side; he never goes near my sisters; and I am concerned to think that they must feel mortified by his neglect: this is the only circumstance that gives me uneasiness.”

Proceeding to visit another of his daughters, the king, after embracing her, and sitting down, made the same inquiry, and received the same account of the enjoyments with which the princess was provided: there was also the same complaint, that the Rishi was wholly devoted to her, and paid no attention to her sisters. In every palace Mándhátri heard the same story from each of his daughters in reply to his questions; and with a heart overflowing with wonder and delight he repaired to the wise Saubhari, whom he found alone, and, after paying homage to him, thus addressed him: “Holy sage, I have witnessed this thy marvellous power; the like miraculous faculties I have never known any other to possess. How great is the reward of thy devout austerities!” Having thus saluted the sage, and been received by him with respect, the Rájá resided with him for some time, partaking of the pleasures of the place, and then returned to his capital.

In the course of time the daughters of Mándhátri bore to Saubhari a hundred and fifty sons, and day by day his affection for his children became more intense, and his heart was wholly occupied, with the sentiment of self. “These my sons,” he loved to think, “will charm me with their infant prattle; then they will learn to walk; they will then grow up to youth and to manhood: I shall see them married, and they will have children; and I may behold the children of those children.” By these and similar reflections, however, he perceived that his anticipations every day outstripped the course of time, and at last he exclaimed, “What exceeding folly is mine! there is no end to my desires. Though all I hope should come to pass for ten thousand or a hundred thousand years, still new wishes would spring up.

When I have seen my infants walk; when I have beheld their youth, their manhood, their marriage, their progeny; still my expectations are unsatisfied, and my soul yearns to behold the descendants of their descendants.

Shall I even see them, some other wish will be engendered; and when that is accomplished, how is the birth of fresh desires to he prevented? I have at last discovered that there is no end to hope, until it terminates in death; and that the mind which is perpetually engrossed by expectation, can never be attached to the supreme spirit. My mental devotions, whilst immersed in water, were interrupted by attachment to my friend the fish. The result of that connexion was my marriage; and insatiable desires are the consequences of my married life. The pain attendant upon the birth of my single body, is now augmented by the cares attached to fifty others, and is farther multiplied by the numerous children whom the princesses have borne to me. The sources of affliction will be repeatedly renewed by their children, and by their espousals, and by their progeny, and will be infinitely increased: a married life is a mine of individual anxiety.

My devotions, first disturbed by the fish of the pool, have since been obstructed by temporal indulgence, and I have been beguiled by that desire for progeny which was communicated to me by association with Sammada. Separation from the world is the only path of the sage to final liberation: from commerce with mankind innumerable errors proceed. The ascetic who has accomplished a course of self-denial falls from perfection by contracting worldly attachments: how much more likely should one so fall whose observances are incomplete?

My intellect has been a prey to the desire of married happiness; but I will now so exert myself for the salvation of my soul, that, exempt from human imperfections, I may be exonerated from human sufferings. To that end I will propitiate, by arduous penance,

u, the creator of the universe, whose form is inscrutable, who is smaller than the smallest, larger than the largest, the source of darkness and of light, the sovereign god of gods. On his everlasting body, which is both discrete and indiscrete substance, illimitably mighty, and identical with the universe, may my mind, wholly free from sin, be ever steadily intent, so that I may be born no more. To him I fly for refuge; to that u, who is the teacher of teachers, who is one with all beings, the pure eternal lord of all, without beginning, middle, or end, and besides whom is nothing.”

Footnotes

According to the Váyu, the brothers of Raivata founded a celebrated race called áryáta, from aryáti. The Bráhma P. says they took refuge in secret places (gahana); for which the Hari Van a substitutes (parvata B a) mountains. The Váyu has neither, and says merely that they were renowned in all regions.

So the Váyu, Linga, Agni, Bráhma, and Hari Van a. The Matsya names three sons of

$ a

, $ a

ketu, Chitranátha, and adhri a

. The Bhágavata adds, that the sons

of $ a

obtained Brahmanhood upon earth, though born Kshatriyas.

But who is Nabhága? for, as above observed, c. 1. n. 2, the son of the Manu is Nabhága-

A a

, and there is in that case no such person as Nabhága: on the other hand, if

Nabhága and # a

Bhágavata.

he distinct names, we have ten sons of Vaivaswata, as in the

The descendants of # a

, through his son Nabhága, have been already specified; and

after all, therefore, we must consider the text as intending a distinct person by the name Nabhága; and such a name does occur in the lists of the Agni, Kúrma, Matsya, and Bhágavata, unquestionably distinct from that with which it is also sometimes compounded. The Bhágavata repeats the legend of the Aitareya Brá a, with some additions, and says that Nabhága having protracted his period of study beyond the usual age, his brothers appropriated his share of the patrimony. On his applying for his portion, they consigned their father to him, by whose advice he assisted the descendants of Angiras in a sacrifice, and they presented him with all the wealth that was left at its termination. Rudra claimed it as his; and Nabhága acquiescing, the god confirmed the gift, by which he became possessed of p. 359 an equivalent for the loss of territory. Most of the authorities recognise but one name here, variously read either Nabhága or Nábhága, the father of Ambarísha. The Váyu, as well as the Bhágavata, concurs with the text.

The Bhágavata considers Ambarísha as a king, who reigned apparently on the banks of the Yamuná. He is more celebrated as a devout worshipper of u, whose discus protected him from the wrath of Durvásas, and humbled that choleric saint, who was a portion of iva: a legend which possibly records a struggle between two sects, in which the votaries of u, headed by Ambarísha, triumphed.

The Agni, Bráhma, and Matsya stop with Ambarísha. The Váyu and Bhágavata proceed as in the text, only the latter adds to Virúpa, Ketumat and ambhu.

The same verse is cited in the Váyu, and affords an instance of a mixture of character, of which several similar cases occur subsequently. Kshatriyas by birth, become Brahmans by profession; and such persons are usually considered as Ángirasas, followers or descendants of Angiras, who may have founded a school of warrior-priests. This is the obvious purport of the legend of Nabhága’s assisting the sons of Angiras to complete their sacrifice, referred to in a former note, although the same authority has devised a different explanation. Rathínara (or Rathítara, as read in some copies, as well as by the Bhágavata and Váyu) being childless, Angiras begot on his wife sons radiant with divine glory, who as the sons of the monarch by his wife were Kshatriyas, but were Brahmans through their actual father. This however is an afterthought, not warranted by the memorial verse cited in our text.

So the Bhágavata.

The Matsya says that Indra (Devará )

was born as Vikukshi, and that Ikshwáku had one

hundred and fourteen other sons, who were kings of the countries south of Meru; and as many who reigned north of that mountain. The Váyu and most of the other authorities agree in the number of one hundred, of whom fifty, with akuni at their head, are placed in the north; and forty-eight in the south, according to the Váyu, of whom Vimati was the chief. The same authority specifies also Nimi and $ a as sons of Ikshwáku, as does the Bhágavata, with the addition of their reigning in the central regions.

The distribution of the rest in p. 360 that work is twenty-five in the west, as many in the east, and the rest elsewhere; that is, the commentator adds, north and south. It seems very probable that by these sons of Ikshwáku we are to understand colonies or settlers in various parts of India.

The Váyu states that he was king of Ayodhyá, after the death of Ikshwáku. The story occurs in all the authorities, more or less in detail.

The Váyu says it was in the war of the starling and the stork; a conflict between

Va ha and Viswámitra, metamorphosed into birds, according to the Bhágavata; but that work assigns it to a different period, or the reign of Hari chandra. If the tradition have any import, it may refer to the ensigns of the contending parties; for banners, with armorial devices, were, as we learn from the Mahábhárata, invariably borne by princes and leaders.

The Bhágavata adds, that he captured the city of the Asuras, situated in the west; whence his name Puranjaya, ‘victor of the city:’ he is also termed Paranjaya, ‘vanquisher of foes:’ he is also called Indraváha, ‘borne by Indra.’

Suyodhana: Matsya, Agni, Kúrma.

Vi waka: Linga. Vi wagandhi: Bhágav. a

rá wa: Bráhma P. and Hari V.

Ándhra: Váyu. Áyu: Agni. Chandra: Bhágavata.

ávasta and ávasti: Bhágav. ravastí: Matsya, Linga, and Kúrma, which also say that

ravastí was in the country of Gaura, which is eastern Bengal; but it is more usually placed in Ko ala, by which a part of Oude is commonly understood. In my Dictionary I

have inserted rávantí, upon the authority of the Triká a

esha, but it is no doubt an

error for rávasti; it is there also called Dharmapattana, being a city of some sanctity in the estimation of the Buddhists. It is termed by Fa-Hian, She-wei; by Hwan Tsang, She- lo-va-si-ti; and placed by both nearly in the site of Fyzabad in Oude. Account of the Foe- kue-ki.

This legend is told in much more detail in the Váyu and Bráhma Purá as. Dhundhu hid himself beneath a sea of sand, which Kuvalyá wa and his sons dug up, undeterred by the flames which checked their progress, and finally destroyed most of them. The legend originates probably in the occurrence of some physical phenomenon, as an earthquake or volcano.

The series of names agrees very well to Sanhatá wa, called á wa in the Bhágavata. We have there some variations, and some details not noticed in our text. The Váyu, Bráhma, Agni, Linga, Matsya, and Kúrma, ascribe two sons to Sanhatá wa, whom the two first name Kri á wa and Akri á wa, and the rest Kri á wa and á wa. Senajit or Prasenajit is generally, though not always, termed the son of the younger brother; but the commentator on the Hari Van a calls him the son of Sanhatá wa, whilst the Matsya,

Agni, Linga, and Kúrma omit him, and make Mándhátri the son of á wa. The mother of Prasenajit and the wife of Akri á wa or Sanhatá wa, according to the different interpretations, was the daughter of Himavat, known as Drishadvatí, the river so termed.

The wife of Yuvaná wa, according to the Váyu, or of Prasenajit, according to the Bráhma, was Gaurí, the daughter of Rantínara, who, incurring the imprecation of her husband, became the Báhudá river. The Bráhma and Hari Van a call Yuvaná wa her son; but in another place the Hari Van a contradicts itself, calling Gaurí the daughter of Matímara, of the race of Puru, the mother of Mándhátri; here following apparently the Matsya, in which it is so stated. The Bráhma P. is not guilty of the inconsistency. The Váyu of course gives the title to Mándhátri, with the addition that he was called Gaurika, after his mother.

Mándhátri’s birth from Gaurí is the more remarkable, as it is incompatible with the usual legend given in our text and in the Bhágavata, which seems therefore to have been of subsequent origin, suggested by the etymology of the name. In the Bhágavata, Mándhátri is also named Trasadasyu, or the terrifier of thieves.

The Váyu cites this same verse and another, with the remark, that they were uttered by those acquainted with the Purá as and with genealogies.

The Bráhma and Agni omit Ambarísha, for whom the Matsya substitutes Dharmasena. The following legend of Saubhari occurs elsewhere only in the Bhágavata, and there less in detail.

The great Nidhi: a Nidhi is a treasure, of which there are several belonging to Kuvera; each has its guardian spirit, or is personified.

Of Mamatá, ‘mineness;’ the notion that wives, children, wealth, belong to an individual, and are essential to his happiness.

CHAP. III.

Saubhari and his wives adopt an ascetic life. Descendants of Mándhátri. Legend of Narmadá and Purukutsa. Legend of Tri anku. Báhu driven from his kingdom by the Haihayas and Tálajanghas. Birth of Sagara: he conquers the barbarians, imposes upon them distinguishing usages, and excludes them from offerings to fire, and the study of the Vedas.

HAVING thus communed with himself, Saubhari abandoned his children, his home, and all his splendour, and, accompanied by his wives, entered the forest, where he daily practised the observances followed by the ascetics termed Vaikhánasas (or anchorets having families), until he had cleansed himself from all sin. When his intellect had attained maturity, he concentrated in his spirit the sacramental fires, and became a religious mendicant. Then having consigned all his acts to the supreme, he obtained the condition of Achyuta, which knows no change, and is not subject to the vicissitudes of birth, transmigration, or death.

Whoever reads, or hears, or remembers, or understands, this legend of Saubhari, and his espousal of the daughters of Mándhátri, shall never, for eight successive births, be addicted to evil thoughts, nor shall he act unrighteously, nor shall his mind dwell upon improper objects, nor shall he be influenced by selfish attachments. The line of Mándhátri is now resumed.

The son of Ambarísha, the son of Mándhátri, was Yuvaná wa; his son was Harita, from whom the Angirasa Háritas were descended.

In the regions below the earth the Gandharbas called Mauneyas (or sons of the Muni Ka yapa), who were sixty millions in number, had defeated the tribes of the Nágas, or snake-gods, and seized upon their most precious jewels, and usurped their dominion. Deprived of their power by the Gandharbas, the serpent chiefs addressed the god of the gods, as he awoke from his slumbers; and the blossoms of his lotus eyes opened while listening to their hymns. They said, “Lord, how shall we be delivered from this great fear?” Then replied the first of males, who is without beginning, “I will enter into the

person of Purukutsa, the son of Mándhátri, the son of Yuvaná wa, and in him will I quiet these iniquitous Gandharbas.” On hearing these words, the snake-gods bowed and withdrew, and returning to their country dispatched Narmadá to solicit the aid of Purukutsa.

Narmadá accordingly went to Purukutsa, and conducted him to the regions below the earth, where, being filled with the might of the deity, he destroyed the Gandharbas. He then returned to his own palace; and the snake-gods, in acknowledgment of Narmadá’s services, conferred upon her as a blessing, that whosoever should think of her, and invoke her name, should never have any dread of the venom of snakes. This is the invocation; “Salutation be to Narmadá in the morning; salutation be to Narmadá at night; salutation be to thee, O Narmadá! defend me from the serpent’s poison.”

Whoever repeats this day and night, shall never be bitten by a snake in the dark nor in entering a chamber; nor shall he who calls it to mind when he eats suffer any injury from poison, though it be mixed with his food. To Purukutsa also the snake-gods announced that the series of his descendants should never be cut off.

Purukutsa had a son by Narmadá named Trasadasyu, whose son was Sambhúta, whose son was A ya, who was slain, by Rá a in his triumphant progress through the nations. The son of A ya was Prishada wa; his son was Haryya wa; his son was Sumanas; his son was Tridhanwan; his son was Trayyá a; and his son was Satyavrata, who obtained the appellation of Tri anku, and was degraded to the condition of a

Chá á

la, or outcast. During a twelve years’ famine Tri anku provided the flesh of deer

for the nourishment of the wife and children of Viswamitra, suspending it upon a spreading fig-tree on the borders of the Ganges, that he might not subject them to the indignity of receiving presents from an outcast. On this account Vi wámitra, being highly pleased with him, elevated him in his living body to heaven.

The son of Tri anku was Hari chandra; his son was Rohitá wa; his son was Harita; his son was Chunchu, who had two sons named Vijaya and Sudeva. Ruruka was the son of Vijaya, and his own son was Vrika, whose son was Báhu (or Báthuka). This prince was vanquished by the tribes of Haihayas and Tálajanghas, anti his country was overrun by them; in consequence of which he fled into the forests with his wives. One of these was pregnant, and being an object of jealousy to a rival queen, the latter gave her poison to prevent her delivery. The poison had the effect of confining the child in the womb for seven years. Báhu, having waxed old, died in the neighbourhood of the residence of the Muni Aurva.

His queen having constructed his pile, ascended it with the determination of accompanying him in death; but the sage Aurva, who knew all things, past, present, and to come, issued forth from his hermitage, and forbade her, saying, “Hold! hold! this is unrighteous; a valiant prince, the monarch of many realms, the offerer of many sacrifices, the destroyer of his foes, a universal emperor, is in thy womb; think not of committing so desperate an act!” Accordingly, in obedience to his injunctions, she relinquished her intention. The sage then conducted, her to his abode, and after some time a very splendid boy was there born. Along with him the poison that had been given to his mother was expelled; and Aurva, after performing the ceremonies required at birth, gave him on that account the name of Sagara (from Sa, ‘with,’ and Gara, ‘poison’). The same holy sage celebrated his investure with the cord of his class, instructed him fully in the Vedas, and taught him the use of arms, especially those of fire, called after Bhárgava.

When the boy had grown up, and was capable of reflection, he said to his mother one day, “Why are we dwelling in this hermitage? where is my father? and who is he?” His mother, in reply, related to him all that had happened. Upon hearing which he was highly incensed, and vowed to recover his patrimonial kingdom; and exterminate the Haihayas and Tálajanghas, by whom it had been overrun. Accordingly when he became a man he put nearly the whole of the Haihayas to death, and would have also destroyed the akas, the Yavanas, Kámbojas, Páradas, and Pahnavas, but that they applied to Va ha, the

family priest of Sagara, for protection. Va ha regarding them as annihilated (or deprived of power), though living, thus spake to Sagara: “Enough, enough, my son, pursue no farther these objects of your wrath, whom you may look upon as no more. In order to fulfil your vow I have separated them from affinity to the regenerate tribes, and from the duties of their castes.” Sagara, in compliance with the injunctions of his spiritual guide, contented himself therefore with imposing upon the vanquished nations peculiar distinguishing marks.

He made the Yavanas shave their heads entirely; the akas he compelled to shave (the upper) half of their heads; the Páradas wore their hair long; and the Pahnavas let their beards grow, in obedience to his commands. Them also, and other Kshatriya races, he deprived of the established usages of oblations to fire and the study of the Vedas; and thus separated from religious rites, and abandoned by the Brahmans, these different tribes became Mlechchhas. Sagara, after the recovery of his kingdom, reigned over the seven- zoned earth with undisputed dominion.

Footnotes

So Manu; “Having reposited, as the law directs, the holy fires in his breast,” &c. VI. 25. The Váyu, Linga, Kúrma, and Bhágavata agree in this series; the others omit it.

The commentator explains the phrase, ‘the Angirasa Brahmans, of whom the Hárita family was the chief.’ The Linga reads, ‘Harita was the son of Yuvaná wa, whose sons were the Háritas; they were on the part (or followers) of Angiras, and were Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.’ The Váyu has, ‘Harita was the son of Yuvaná wa, from whom were many called p. 370 Háritas; they were sons of Angiras, and Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.’ The Bhágavata has only, These (Ambarísha, Purukutsa, and Harita) were, according to ridhara Swámi’s comment, the chiefs of Mándhátri’s descendants, being founders of three several branches: or it may mean, he says, merely that they had Mándhátri for their progenitor, Mándhátri being by some also named Angiras, according to A waláyana.

It may be questioned if the compilers of the Purá as, or their annotators, knew exactly what to make of this and similar phrases, although they were probably intended to intimate that some persons of Kshatriya origin became the. disciples of certain Brahmans, particularly of Angiras, and afterwards founders of schools of religious instruction themselves. Mándhátri himself is the author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. As. Res. VIII.

Hárita is the name of an individual sage, considered as the son of Chyavana, and to whom a work on law is attributed. It is probably rather that of a school, however, than of an individual.

Narmadá, the personified Nerbudda river, was, according to the Bhágavata, the sister of the Nágas.

We have some varieties here. Instead of Trasadasyu the Matsya has Dussaha, whom it makes the husband of Narmadá, and father of Sambhúti, the father of Tridhanwan. The Bhágavata omits Sambhúti; the Linga makes him the brother of Trasadasyu; and the Agni has in his place Sudhanwan.

Vrishada wa: Váyu. The Matsya, Agni, and Bráhma omit all between Sambhúta and Tridhanwan. The Bhágavata has a rather different series, or A ya, Haryya wa,

a, Tribandhana, Tri anku. As A ya is famous in Hindu story, and Trayyá a is a contributor to the Rig-veda, their omission shews careless compilation.

The Váyu states he was banished by his father for his wickedness (Adharma). The Bráhma P. and Hari Van a detail his iniquity at length; and it is told more concisely in the Linga. He carried off the betrothed wife of another man, one of the citizens according to the two former, of Vidarbha according to the latter: for this, his father, by the advice of Va ha, banished him, and he took refuge with wapákas. The Rámá a has a different story, and ascribes Tri anku’s degradation to the curse of the sons of Va ha, to whom the king had applied to conduct his sacrifice, after their father had refused to do so. Before that, he is described as a pious prince, and the object of his sacrifice was to ascend to heaven.

The occurrence of the famine, and Satyavrata’s care of the wife and family of

Vi wámitra, are told, with some variations, in the Váyu, which has been followed by p. 372

the Bráhma and Hari Van a. During the famine, when game finis he kills the cow of Va ha; and for the three crimes of displeasing his father, killing a cow, and eating flesh not previously consecrated, he acquires the name of Tri anku (tri, ‘three,’ anku, ‘sin’). Va ha refusing to perform his regal inauguration, Vi wámitra celebrates the rites, and on his death elevates the king in his mortal body to heaven. The Rámá a relates the same circumstance, but assigns to it a different motive, Vi wámitra’s resentment of the refusal of the gods to attend Tri anku’s sacrifice. That work also describes the attempt of the gods to cast the king down upon earth, and the compromise

between them and Vi wámitra, by which Tri anku was left suspended, head downwards, in mid-air, forming a constellation in the southern hemisphere, along with other new planets and stars formed by Vi wámitra.

The Bhágavata has an allusion to this legend, saying that Tri anku is still visible in heaven. The Váyu furnishes some further information from an older source. Both my copies leave a blank where it is marked, and a similar passage does not elsewhere occur; the whole may be thus rendered: ‘Men acquainted with the Purá as recite these two stanzas; “By the favour of Vi wámitra the illustrious Tri anku shines in heaven along with the gods, through the kindness of that sage. Slowly passes the lovely night in winter, embellished by the moon, decorated with three watches, and ornamented with the constellation Tri anku:”‘

This legend is therefore clearly astronomical, and alludes possibly to some reformation of the sphere by Vi wámitra, under the patronage of Tri anku, and in opposition to a more ancient system advocated by the school of Va ha. It might be no very rash conjecture, perhaps, to identify Tri anku with Orion, the three bright stars of whose belt may have suggested the three ankus (stakes or pins) which form his name.

The Paurá ik lists generally dismiss Hari chandra very summarily, but he makes a conspicuous figure in legends of an apparently later date. In the Mahábhárata, Sabhá Parva, it is stated that he resides in the court of Indra, to which he was elevated for his performance of the Rájasúya sacrifice, and for his unbounded liberality. This seems to

have served as the groundwork of the tale told in the Má e

ya and Padma Purá as, of

his having given his whole country, his wife and son, and finally himself, to Vi wámitra, in satisfaction of his demands for $ á. In consequence he was elevated with his subjects to heaven, from whence, having been insidiously led by Náreda to boast of his merits, he was again precipitated. His repentance of his pride, however, arrested his downward descent, and he and his train paused in mid-air.

The city of Hari chandra is popularly believed to be at times still visible in the skies. The indignation of Va ha at Vi wámitra’s insatiableness produced a quarrel, in which their mutual imprecations changed them to two birds, the aráli, a sort of Turdus, and the Baka, or crane. In these forms they fought for a considerable term, until Brahmá interposed, and reconciled them. The Bhágavata alludes to this story, in its notice of

Hari chandra; but the Váyu refers the conflict to the reign of a different prince: see c. 2.

11. According to the iva P., Hari chandra was an especial worshipper of that deity; and his wife Satyavatí was a form of Jayá, one of Durga’s handmaids.

Also read Rohita. Traces of his name appear in the strong holds of Rotas, in Behar and in the Panjab. The Bhágavata has a legend of his having been devoted to a, before his birth, by his father, who having on various pleas deferred offering his son as promised, was afflicted by a dropsy. Rohita at last purchased unah ephas, who was offered as a victim in his stead: see hereafter, note on unah ephas.

Omitted: Agni, Linga, and Matsya.

Omitted: Agni. Dhundhu: Linga and Kúrma. Champa, founder of Champamáliní: Bhágavata. But all other authorities make Champa a different person, a descendant of Anga: see family of Ann, of the lunar race.

Kuruka: Linga and Kúrma. Bharuka: Bhágavata.

Descendants of Yadu. The first springs from a prince who is the twelfth, and he second from one who is the eighteenth, in the lunar line, and both are thus cotemporary with a prince who is the thirty-fifth of the solar dynasty. The Váyu adds, that they were assisted by akas, Yavanas, Kámbojas, Páravas, and Pahlavas.

The Haihayas we shall have farther occasion to notice. The akas are, no doubt, the Sacæ or Sakai of the classical geographers, Scythians and Indo-Scythians, Turk or Tartar tribes, who established themselves, about a century and a half before our era, along the western districts of India, and who are not improbably connected with our Saxon forefathers. The Yavanas are the Ionians or Greeks. The Kámbojas were a people on the northwest of India, of whom it is said that they were remarkable for a capital breed of horses. There is an apparent trace of their name in the Caumogees of Kaferistan, who may have retreated to the mountains before the advance of the Turk tribes. (Elphinstone’s Caubul, 619) The Páradas and Pahlavas or Pahnavas may designate other bordering tribes in the same direction, or on the confines of Persia. Along with these, in the legend that follows, the Bhágavata enumerates Barbaras.

The Váyu adds Máhishikas, Chaulas, Dárvas, and Khasas: the two former of which are people on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts; the two latter are usually placed amongst the mountaineers of the Hindu Kosh. The Bráhma P. lengthens the list with the Kolas, the forest races of eastern Gondwana; the Sarpas and the Keralas, who are the people of Malabar. The Hari Van a still farther extends the enumeration with the Tusharas or Tokharas, the Turks of Tokharestan; the Chinas, Chinese; the Mádras, people in the Panjab; the Kishkindhas, in Mysore; Kauntalas, along the Narbudda; Bangas, Bengalis;

álwas, people in western India; and the Konkanas, or inhabitants of the Concan. It is evident from the locality of most of the additions of the last authority, that its compiler or corrupter has been a native of the Dekhin.

And Kámbojas: Váyu.

The Asiatic nations generally shave the head either wholly or in part. Amongst the Greeks it was common to shave the fore part of the head, a custom introduced, according to Plutarch, by the Abantes, whom Homer calls -‘1=/- 2+;+”-*/. and followed, according to Xenophon, by the Lacedæmonians. It may be doubted, however, if the Greeks or Ionians ever shaved the head completely. The practice prevails amongst the Mohammedans, but it is not universal. The akas, Scythians or Tartars, shave the fore part of the head, gathering the hair at the back into a long tail, as do the Chinese. The mountaineers of the Himalaya shave the crown of the head, as do the people of Kaferistan, with exception of a single tuft. What Oriental people wore their hair long, except at the back of the head, is questionable; and the usage would be characteristic rather of the Teutonic and Gothic nations. The ancient Persians had long bushy beards, as the Persepolitan sculptures demonstrate. In Chardin’s time they were out of fashion, but they were again in vogue in that country in the reign of the last king, Fateh Shuh.

So the Váyu, &c.; and a similar statement is given in Manu, X. 44, where to the akas,

Yavanas, Kámbojas, Páradas, and Pahnavas, are added the a

ras (people of western

Bengal), L r as (those of Orissa), Dráviras (of the Coromandel coast), Chinas (Chinese), Kirátas (mountaineers), and Daradas (Durds of the Hindu Koh).

From this passage, and a similar one in the Rámá a, in which the Chinas are mentioned, the late Mr. Klaproth inferred those works to be not older than the third century B. C., when the reigning dynasty of Thsin first gave that name to China.

It was probable, he supposed, that the Hindus became acquainted with the Chinese only about 200 B. C., when their arms extended to the Oxus; but it is difficult to reconcile this date with the difference of style between the Rámá a particularly and the works of the era of Vikramáditya. It would seem more likely that the later appellations were interpolated. It must have been a period of some antiquity, when all the nations from Bengal to the Coromandel coast were considered as Mlechchhas and outcasts.

CHAP. IV.

The progeny of Sagara: their wickedness: he performs an A wamedha: the horse stolen by Kapila: found by Sagara’s sons, who are all destroyed by the sage: the horse recovered by An umat: his descendants. Legend of Mitrasaha or Kalmáshapáda, the son of Sudása. Legend of wánga. Birth of Ráma and the other sons of Da aratha. Epitome of the history of Ráma: his descendants, and those of his brothers. Line of Ku a. Vrihadbala, the last, killed in the great war.

SUMATI the daughter of Ka yapa, and Kesiní the daughter of Rája Viderbha, were the two wives of Sagara. Being without progeny, the king solicited the aid of the sage Aurva with great earnestness, and the Muni pronounced this boon, that one wife should bear one son, the upholder of his race, and the other should give birth to sixty thousand sons; and he left it to them to make their election. Kesiní chose to have the single son; Sumati the multitude: and it came to pass in a short time that the former bore Asamanjas, a prince through whom the dynasty continued; and the daughter of Vinatá (Sumati) had sixty thousand sons. The son of Asamanjas was An umat.

Asamanjas was from his boyhood of very irregular conduct. His father hoped that as he grew up to manhood he would reform; but finding that he continued guilty of the same immorality, Sagara abandoned him. The sixty thousand sons of Sagara followed the example of their brother Asamanjas. The path of virtue and piety being obstructed in the world by the sons of Sagara, the gods repaired to the Muni Kapila, who was a portion of

u, free from fault, and endowed with all true wisdom. Having approached him with respect, they said, “O lord, what will become of the world, if these sons of Sagara are permitted to go on in the evil ways which they have learned from Asamanjas! Do thou, then, assume a visible form, for the protection of the afflicted universe.” “Be satisfied,” replied the sage, “in a brief time the sons of Sagara shall be all destroyed.”

At that period Sagara commenced the performance of the solemn sacrifice of a horse, who was guarded by his own sons: nevertheless some one stole the animal, and carried it off into a chasm in the earth, Sagara commanded his sons to search for the steed; and they, tracing him by the impressions of his hoofs, followed his course with perseverance, until coming to the chasm where he had entered, they proceeded to enlarge it, and dug downwards each for a league.

Coming to Pátála, they beheld the horse wandering freely about, and at no great distance from him they saw the Rishi Kapila sitting, with his head declined in meditation, and illuminating the surrounding space with radiance as bright as the splendours of the autumnal sun, shining in an unclouded sky. Exclaiming, “This is the villain who has maliciously interrupted our sacrifice, and stolen the horse! kill him! kill him!” they ran towards him with uplifted weapons. The Muni slowly raised his eyes, and for an instant looked upon them, and they were reduced to ashes by the sacred flame that darted from his person.

When Sagara learned that his sons, whom he had sent in pursuit of the sacrificial steed, had been destroyed by the might of the great Rishi Kapila, he dispatched An umat, the son of Asamaujas, to effect the animals recovery. The youth, proceeding by the deep path which the princes had dug, arrived where Kapila was, and bowing respectfully, prayed to him, and so propitiated him, that the saint said, “Go, my son, deliver the horse to your grandfather; and demand a boon; thy grandson shall bring down the river of heaven on the earth.” An umat requested as a boon that his uncles, who had perished through the sage’s displeasure, might, although unworthy of it, be raised to heaven through his favour. “I have told you,” replied Kapila, “that your grandson shall bring down upon earth the Ganges of the gods; and when her waters shall wash the bones and ashes of thy grandfather’s sons, they shall be raised to Swarga.

Such is the efficacy of the stream that flows from the toe of u, that it confers heaven upon all who bathe in it designedly, or who even become accidentally immersed in it: those even shall obtain Swarga, whose bones, skin, fibres, hair, or any other part, shall be left after death upon the earth which is contiguous to the Ganges.” Having acknowledged reverentially the kindness of the sage, An umat returned to his grandfather, and delivered to him the horse. Sagara, on recovering the steed, completed his sacrifice; and in affectionate memory of his sons, denominated Ságara the chasm which they had dug.

The son of An umat was Dilípa; his son was Bhagíratha, who brought Gangá down to earth, whence she is called Bhágirathí. The son of Bhagíratha was ruta; his son was Nábhága; his son was Ambarísha; his son was Sindhudwípa; his son was Ayutá wa; his son was a, the friend of Nala, skilled profoundly in dice. The son of a was Sarvakáma; his son was Sudása; his son was Saudása, named also Mitrasaha.

The son of Sudása having gone into the woods to hunt, fell in with a couple of tigers, by whom the forest had been cleared of the deer. The king slew one of these tigers with an arrow. At the moment of expiring, the form of the animal was changed, and it became that of a fiend of fearful figure, and hideous aspect. Its companion, threatening the prince with its vengeance, disappeared.

After some interval Saudása celebrated a sacrifice, which was conducted by Va ha. At the close of the rite Va ha went out; when the Rákshas, the fellow of the one that had been killed in the figure of a tiger, assumed the semblance of Va ha, and came and said to the king, “Now that the sacrifice is ended, you must give me flesh to eat: let it be cooked, and I will presently return.” Having said this, he withdrew, and, transforming himself into the shape of the cook, dressed some human flesh, which he brought to the king, who, receiving it on a plate of gold, awaited the reappearance of Va ha.

As soon as the Muni returned, the king offered to him the dish. Va ha surprised at such want of propriety in the king, as his offering him meat to eat, considered what it should be that was so presented, and by the efficacy of his meditations discovered that it was human flesh. His mind being agitated with wrath, he denounced a curse upon the Rájá, saying, “Inasmuch as you have insulted all such holy men as we are, by giving me what is not to be eaten, your appetite shall henceforth be excited by similar food.”

“It was yourself,” replied the Rájá to the indignant sage, “who commanded this food to be prepared.” “By me!” exclaimed Va ha; “how could that have been?” and again having recourse to meditation, he detected the whole truth. Foregoing then all displeasure towards the king, he said, “The food to which I have sentenced you shall not be your sustenance for ever; it shall only be so for twelve years.”

The king, who had taken up water in the palms of his hands, and was prepared to curse the Muni, now considered that Va ha was his spiritual guide, and being reminded by Madayantí his queen that it ill became him to denounce an imprecation upon a holy teacher, who was the guardian divinity of his race, abandoned his intention.

Unwilling to cast the water upon the earth, lest it should wither up the grain, for it was impregnated with his malediction, and equally reluctant to throw it up into the air, lest it should blast the clouds, and dry up their contents, he threw it upon, his own feet. Scalded by the heat which the water had derived from his angry imprecation, the feet of the Rájá became spotted black and white, and he thence obtained the name of Kalmáshapáda, or he with the spotted (kalmásha) feet (páda).

In consequence of the curse of Va ha, the Rájá became a cannibal every sixth watch of the day for twelve years, and in that state wandered through the forests, and devoured multitudes of men. On one occasion he beheld a holy person engaged in dalliance with his wife. As soon as they saw his terrific form, they were frightened, and endeavoured to escape; but the regal Rákshasa overtook and seized the husband.

The wife of the Brahman then also desisted from flight, and earnestly entreated the savage to spare her lord, exclaiming, “Thou, Mitrasaha, art the pride of the royal house of Ikshwáku, not a malignant fiend! it is not in thy nature, who knowest the characters of women, to carry off and devour my husband.” But all was in vain, and, regardless of her reiterated supplications, he ate the Brahman, as a tiger devours a deer. The Brahman’s wife, furious with wrath, then addressed the Rájá, and said, “Since you have barbarously disturbed the joys of a wedded pair, and killed my husband, your death shall be the consequence of your associating with your queen.” So saying, she entered the flames.

At the expiration of the period of his curse Saudása returned home. Being reminded of the imprecation of the Brahmani by his wife Madayantí, he abstained from conjugal intercourse, and was in consequence childless; but having solicited the interposition of Va ha, Madayantí became pregnant. The child, however, was not born for seven years, when the queen, becoming impatient, divided the womb with a sharp stone, and was thereby delivered. The child was thence called A maka (from A man, ‘a stone’). The son of A maka was Múlaka, who, when the warrior tribe was extirpated upon earth, was surrounded and concealed by a number of females; whence he was denominated Náríkavacha (having women for armour).

The son of Múlaka was Da aratha; his son was Ilavila; his son was Vi wasaha; his son

was w

ánga, called also Dilípa, who in a battle between the gods and the Asuras,

being called by the former to their succour, killed a number of the latter. Having thus acquired the friendship of the deities in heaven, they desired him to demand a boon. He said to them, “If a boon is to be accepted by me, then tell me, as a favour, what is the duration of my life.” “The length of your life is but an hour,” the gods replied. On which,

ánga, who was swift of motion, descended in his easy-gliding chariot to the world

of mortals. Arrived there, he prayed, and said, “If my own soul has never been dearer to me than the sacred Brahmans; if I have never deviated from the discharge of my duty; if I have never regarded gods, men, animals, vegetables, all created things, as different from the imperishable; then may I, with unswerving step, attain to that divine being on whom holy sages meditate!”

Having thus spoken, he was united with that supreme being, who is Vásudeva; with that elder of all the gods, who is abstract existence, and whose form cannot be described.

Thus he obtained absorption, according to this stanza, which was repeated formerly by

the seven Rishis; “Like unto w

ánga will be no one upon earth, who having come

from heaven, and dwelt an hour amongst men, became united with the three worlds by his liberality and knowledge of truth.”

The son of w

ánga was Dírghabáhu; his son was Raghu; his son was Aja; his son was

Da aratha. The god from whose navel the lotus springs became fourfold, as the four sons of Da aratha, Ráma, a, Bharata, and atrughna, for the protection of the world. Ráma, whilst yet a boy, accompanied Viswámitra, to protect his sacrifice, and slew

Tá a

ká. He afterwards killed Máricha with his resistless shafts; and Subáhu and others

fell by his arms. He removed the guilt of Ahalyá by merely looking upon her. In the palace of Janaka he broke with ease the mighty bow of Mahe wara, and received the hand of Sítá, the daughter of the king, self-born from the earth, as the prize of his prowess.

He humbled the pride of Para uráma, who vaunted his triumphs over the race of Haihaya, and his repeated slaughters of the Kshatriya tribe. Obedient to the commands of his father, and cherishing no regret for the loss of sovereignty, he entered the forest, accompanied by his brother a and by his wife, where he killed in conflict Virádha, Kharadúshana and other Rákshasas, the headless giant Kabandha, and Báli the monkey monarch. Having built a bridge across the ocean, and destroyed the whole Rákshasa nation, he recovered his bride Sítá, whom their ten-headed king Rá a had carried off, and returned to Ayodhyá with her, after she had been purified by the fiery ordeal from the soil contracted by her captivity, and had been honoured by the assembled gods, who bore witness to her virtueBharata made himself master of the country of the Gandharbas, after destroying vast numbers of them; and atrughna having killed the Rákshasa chief a, the son of Madhu, took possession of his capital Mathurá.

Having thus, by their unequalled valour and might, rescued the whole world from the dominion of malignant fiends, Ráma, a, Bharata, and atrughna reascended to heaven, and were followed by those of the people of Ko ala who were fervently devoted to these incarnate portions of the supreme u.

Ráma and his brothers had each two sons. Ku a and Lava were the sous of Ráma; those of a were Angada and Chandraketu; the sons of Bharata were Taksha and Pushkara; and Subáhu and úrasena were the sons of atrughna.

The son of Ku a was Atithi; his son was Nishadha; his son was Nala ; his son was

Nabhas; his son was a

ríka; his son was Kshemadhanwan; his son was Deváníka; his

son was Ahínagu; his son was Páripátra; his son was Dala; his son was Chhala; his son was Uktha; his son was Vajranábha; his son was ankhanábha; his son was

Abhyutthitá wa; his son was Vi wasaha; his son was ! yanábha, who was a pupil of the mighty Yogí Jaimini, and communicated the knowledge of spiritual exercises to Yájnawalkya.

The son of this saintly king was Pushya; his son was Dhruvasandhi; his son was

Sudar ana; his son was Agn a; his son was íghra; his son was Maru, who through the power of devotion (Yoga) is still living in the village called Kalápa, and in a future age will be the restorer of the Kshatriya race in the solar dynasty. Maru had a son named Prasu ruta; his son was Susandhi; his son was Amarsha; his son was Mahaswat; his son was Vi rutavat; and his son was Vrihadbala, who was killed in the great war by Abhimanyu, the son of Anjuna. These are the most distinguished princes in the family of Ikshwáku: whoever listens to the account of them will be purified from all his sins.

Footnotes

So the Rámá a. Sumati is called the daughter of a

nemi: the Mahábhárata calls

her aivyá. The story of Sagara and his descendants is told at length in the Rámá a, first book, and in the Mahábhárata, Vana Parva, III. 106, et seq., as well as in most of the Purá as.

Or Panchajana: Bráhma.

The Bhágavata has, for a Purá a, some curious remarks on this part of the story, flatly denying its truth. ‘The report is not true, that the sons of the king were scorched by the wrath of the sage; for how can the quality of darkness, made up of anger, exist in a world- purifying nature, consisting of the quality of goodness; the dust of earth, as it were, in the sky? How should mental perturbation distract that sage, who was one with the supreme, and who has promulgated that Sankhyá philosophy, which is a strong vessel, by which he who is desirous of liberation passes over the dangerous ocean of the world by the path of death?’

Ságara is still the name of the ocean, and especially of the bay of Bengal, at the mouth of the Ganges. On the shore of the island called by the same name, tradition places a

Kapilá rama, or hermitage of Kapila, which is still the scene of an annual pilgrimage. Other legends assign a very different situation for the abode of the ascetic, or the foot of the Himálaya, where the Ganges descends to the plains. There would be no incompatibility, however, in the two sites, could we imagine the tradition referred to a period when the ocean washed, as it appears once to have done, the base of the Himálaya, and Saugor (Ságara) was at Harídwar.

Or w

ánga: Bráhma and Hari Van a: but this is apparently an error.

Omitted: Matsya and Agni. Vi ruta: Linga. Nábhin: Bhágavata.

Ayutáyus: Váyu, Linga, and Kúrma. rutáyus: Agni. Ayutajit: Bráhma.

‘knowing the heart of the dice.’ The same epithet, as well as that of ‘friend of Nala,’ is given him in the Váyu, Bhágavata, and Bráhma Purá as, p. 380 and in the Hari Van a, and leaves no doubt of their referring to the hero of the story told in the Mahábhárata. Nara however, as we shall hereafter see, is some twenty generations later than a in the same family; and the Váyu therefore thinks it necessary to observe that two Nalas are noticed in the Purá as, and the one here adverted to is the son of Vírasena; whilst the other belongs to the family of Ikshwáku.

The same passage occurs in the Bráhma P. and Hari V.; and the commentator on the latter observes, ‘Nala the son of Nishadha is different from Nala the son of Vírasena.’ It is also to be observed, that the Nala of the tale is king of Nishadha, and his friend a is king of Ayodhya. The Nala of the race of Ikshwáku is king of Ayodhyá: he is the son of Nishadha, however, and there is evidently some confusion between the two. We do not find Vírasena or his son in any of the lists.

There is considerable variety in this part of the lists, but the Váyu and Bhágavata agree with our text. The Matsya and others make Kalmáshapáda the son or grandson of

a, and place Sarvakáma or Sarvakarman after him. See further on.

The Váyu, Agni, Bráhma, and Hari Van a read Amitrasaha, ‘foe-enduring;’ but the commentator on our text explains it Mitra, a name of Va ha, Saha, ‘able to bear’ the imprecation of; as in the following legend, which is similarly related in the Bhágavata. It is not detailed in the Váyu. A full account occurs in the Mahábhárata, Ádi P., but with many and important variations. Kalmáshapáda, whilst hunting, encountered aktri, the son of Va ha, in the woods; and on his refusing to make way, struck the sage with his whip. aktri cursed the king to become a cannibal; and Viswámitra, who had a quarrel with Va ha, seized the opportunity to direct a Rákshas to take possession of the king, that he might become the instrument of destroying the family of the rival saint.

Whilst thus influenced, Mitrasaha, a Brahman, applied to Kalmáshapáda for food, and the king commanded his cook to dress human flesh, and give it to the Brahman, who, knowing what it was, repeated the curse of aktri, that the king should become a cannibal; which taking effect with double force, Kalmáshapáda began to eat men. One of his first victims was aktri, whom he slew and ate; and then killed and devoured, under the secret impulse of Vi wámitra’s demon, all the other sons of Va ha. Va ha however liberated him from the Rákshas who possessed him, and restored him to his natural character.

The imprecation of the Brahman’s wife, and its consequences, are told in the Mahábhárata as in the text; but the story of the water falling on his feet appears to have grown out of the etymology of his name, which might have referred to some disease of the lower extremities, the prince’s designation being at length, Mitrasaha Saudása Kalmáshapáda, or Mitrasaha, son of Sudása, with the swelled feet.

His name Múlaka, or ‘the root,’ refers also to his being the stem whence the Kshatriya races again proceeded. It may be doubted if the purport of his title Náríkavacha is accurately explained by the text.

This prince is confounded with an earlier Dilípa by the Bráhma P. and Hari Van a.

The term for his obtaining final liberation is rather unusual; ‘By whom the three worlds were affected or beloved:’ the three worlds being identified with their source, or the supreme. The text says of this stanza, and the Váyu, citing it, says, the legend is therefore from the Vedas.

The lists here differ very materially, as the following comparison will best shew:

Matsya. Rámá a.

Kalmáshapáda Kalmáshapáda Kalmáshapáda

A maka	Sarvakarman	ankana
Múlaka	A ya	Sudar ana
Da aratha	Nighna	BA a
Ilavila	Anamitra	ighraga
Vi wasaha	Raghu	Maru
Dilípa	Dilípa	Prasusruka
Dírghabáhu	Aja	Ambarísha
Raghu	Dírghabáhu	Nahusha
Aja	Ajapála	Yayáti
Da aratha	Da aratha	Nábhága
		Aja
		Da aratha.

The Váyu, Bhágavata, Kúrma, and Linga agree with our text, except in the reading of a few names; as ataratha for Da aratha the first; Vairivíra for Ilavila; and Kritasarman, Vriddhasarman, or Vriddhakarman, for Vi wasaha. The Agni and Bráhma and Hari

Van a agree with the second series, with similar occasional exceptions; shewing that the Purá as admit two series, differing in name, but agreeing in number.

The Rámá a, however, differs from both in a very extraordinary manner, and the variation is not limited to the cases specified, as it begins with Bhagíratha, as follows:

Purá as. Rámá a.

Bhagíratha Bhagíratha

ruta Kakutshtha

Nábhága Raghu Ambarísha Kalmáshapáda Sindhudwípa

Ayutá wa

a Sarvakáma Sudása Kalmáshapáda.

The entire Paurá ik series comprises twenty descents, and that of the Rámá a sixteen. Some of the last names of the poem occur amongst the first of those of the Purá as, but there is an irreconcilable difference in much of the nomenclature. The Agni, under the particular account of the descent of Ráma, has for his immediate predecessors Raghu, Aja, Da aratha, as in our text; and the author of the Raghu Van a agrees with the Purá as from Dilípa downwards.

This is an epitome of the Rámá a, the heroic poem of Válmíki, on the subject of Ráma’s exploits. A part of the Rámá a was published, with a translation by Messrs. Carey and Marshman, several years since; but a much more correct edition of the text of the two first books, with a Latin translation of the first, and part of the second, have been more recently published by Professor Schlegel; a work worthy of his illustrious name. A summary of the story may be found in Sir Wm. Jones’s Works, Maurice’s Hindustan, Moor’s Pantheon.

It is also the subject of the Uttara Ráma Charitra in the Hindu Theatre, in the introduction to which an outline of the whole is given. The story is therefore, no doubt, sufficiently familiar even to English readers. It seems to be founded on historical fact; and the traditions of the south of India uniformly ascribe its civilization, the subjugation or dispersion of its forest tribes of barbarians, and the settlement of civilized Hindus, to the conquest of Lanká by Ráma.

The Váyu specifies the countries or cities over which they reigned. Anguda and Chitraketu, as the Váyu terms the latter, governed countries near the Himálaya, p. 386 the capitals of which were Ángadi and Chandravaktrá. Taksha and Pushkara were sovereigns of Gandhára, residing at Taksha ílá and Pushkaravatí. Subáhu and úrasena reigned at Mathurá; and in the latter we might be satisfied to find the úrasenas of Arrian, but that there is a subsequent origin, of perhaps greater authenticity, in the family of Yadu, as we shall hereafter see.

‘Ku a built Ku asthalí on the brow of the Vindhya, the capital of Ko alá; and Lava reigned at rávastí in Uttara (northern) Ko alá:’ The Raghu Vaasa describes Ku a as returning from Ku avati to Ayodhyá, after his father’s death; but it seems not unlikely that the extending power of the princes of the Doab, of the lunar family, compelled Ráma’s posterity to retire more to the west and south.

The Bhágavata is the only Purá a that omits this name, as if the author had been induced to correct the reading in order to avoid the necessity of recognising two Nalas.

Here again we have two distinct series of princes, independently of variations of individual names. Instead of the list of the text, with which the Váyu and Bhágavata nearly, and the Bráhma and Hari Van a indifferently conform, we have in the Matsya, Linga, Kúrma, and Agni the following: Ahínagu, Sahasrá wa, Sahasráya or Sahasrabala,

Chandrávaloka, Tárapí a

or Tárádhí a, Chandragiri, Bhánúratha or Bhánumitra, and

rútáyus, with whom the list ends, except in the Linga, which adds Báhula, killed by Abhimanyu: enumerating therefore from Deváníka but seven or eight princes to the great war, instead of twenty-three, as in the other series. The Raghu Vaasa gives much the same list as our text, ending with BA a.

Bala: Bhágavata. Nala: Hari V.

Sthala: Bhágavata. ala: Váyu and Bráhma. ila: Raghu Van a. Omitted: Bhágavata.

ankha: Bráhma. Khagana: Bhág.

Dúshitá wa: Váyu. Adhyúshitá wa: Bráhma. Vidhriti: Bhágavata. Omitted: Bráhma and Bhágavata.

Omitted: Bráhma and Hari V.: but included with similar particulars by the Váyu, Bhágavata, and Raghu Van a: see also p. 283, where Kau alya is likewise given as the synonyme of ! yagarbha, being, as the commentator observes, his am, his epithet or attribute, born in, or king of, Ko alá. The Váyu accordingly terms him ###, but in the Bhágavata the epithet Kau alya is referred by the commentator to Yájnawalkya, the pupil of ! yanábha. The author of the Raghu Van a, not understanding the meaning of the term, has converted Kau alya into the son of ! yanábha. Raghu V. 18. 27.

The Bhágavata, like our text, calls the prince the pupil of Jaimini. The Váyu, more correctly, ‘the pupil of the sage’s grandson.’ There seems to be, however, something unusual in the account given of the relation borne by the individuals named to each other. As a pupil of Jaimini, ! yanábha is a teacher of the Sáma-veda, but Yájnawalkya is the teacher of the Vájasaneyi branch of the Yajush. Neither of them is specified by Mr.

Colebrooke amongst the authorities of the Pátanjala or Yoga philosophy; nor does either appear as a disciple of Jaimini in his character of founder of the Mímánsá school. Trans.

As. Soc. vol. I.

Arthasiddhi: Bráhma P. and Hari V.

Maruta: Bráhma P. and Hari V. These authorities omit the succeeding four names. Sahaswat: Váyu.

Vi wasaha: Bhágavata.

The list closes here, as the author of the Purá as, Vyása, is cotemporary with the great war. The line of Ikshwáku is resumed prophetically in the twenty-second chapter.

CHAP. V.

Kings of Mithilá. Legend of Nimi, the son of Ikshwáku. Birth of Janaka. Sacrifice of Síradhwaja. Origin of Sítá. Descendants of Ku adhwaja. Kriti the last of the Maithila princes.

THE son of Ikshwáku, who was named Nimi, instituted a sacrifice that was to endure for a thousand years, and applied to Va ha to offer the oblations. Va ha in answer said, that he had been preengaged by Indra for five hundred years, but that if the Rájá, would wait for some time, he would come and officiate as superintending priest. The king made no answer, and Va ha went away, supposing that he had assented. When the sage had completed the performance of the ceremonies he had conducted for Indra, he returned with all speed to Nimi, purposing to render him the like office.

When he arrived, however, and found that Nimi had retained Gautama and other priests to minister at his sacrifice, he was much displeased, and pronounced upon the king, who was then asleep, a curse to this effect, that since he had not intimated his intention, but transferred to Gautama the duty he had first entrusted to himself, Va ha, Nimi should thenceforth cease to exist in a corporeal form.

When Nimi woke, and knew what had happened, he in return denounced as an imprecation upon his unjust preceptor, that he also should lose his bodily existence, as the punishment of uttering a curse upon him without previously communicating with him.

Nimi then abandoned his bodily condition. The spirit of Va ha also leaving his body, was united with the spirits of Mitra and a for a season, until, through their passion for the nymph Urva í, the sage was born again in a different shape. The corpse of Nimi was preserved from decay by being embalmed with fragrant oils and resins, and it remained as entire as if it were immortal.

When the sacrifice was concluded, the priests applied to the gods, who had come to receive their portions, that they would confer a blessing upon the author of the sacrifice. The gods were willing to restore him to bodily life, but Nimi declined its acceptance, saying, “O deities, who are the alleviators of all worldly suffering, there is not in the world a deeper cause of distress than the separation of soul and body: it is therefore my wish to dwell in the eyes of all beings, but never more to resume a corporeal shape!” To this desire the gods assented, and Nimi was placed by them in the eyes of all living creatures; in consequence of which their eyelids are ever opening and shutting.

As Nimi left no successor, the Munis, apprehensive of the consequences of the earth being without a ruler, agitated the body of the prince, and produced from it a prince who was called Janaka, from being born without a progenitor. In consequence of his father being without a body (videha), he was termed also Vaideha, ‘the son of the bodiless;’ and the further received the name of Mithi, from having been produced by agitation (mathana).

The son of Janaka was Udávasu; his son was Nandivarddhana; his son was Suketu; his son was Devaráta; his son was Vrihaduktha; his son was Mahávírya; his son was

Satyadhriti; his son was $ a

ketu; his son was Haryya wa; his son was Maru; his son

was Pratibandhaka; his son was Kritaratha; his son was Krita; his son was Vibudha; his son was Mahádhriti; his son was Kritiráta; his son was Mahároman; his son was

aroman; his son was Hraswaroman; his son was Síradhwaja.

Síradhwaja ploughing the ground, to prepare it for a sacrifice which he instituted in order to obtain progeny, there sprang up in the furrow a damsel, who became his daughter Sítá. The brother of Síradhwaja was Ku adhwaja, who was king of Ká í; he had a son also, named Bhánumat. The son of Bhánumat was Satadyumna; his son was uchi; his son was Úrjjaváha; his son was atyadhwaja; his son was Kuni; his son was Anjana; his son was

Ritujit; his son was a

nemi; his son was rutáyus; his son was Supár wa; his son

was Sanjaya; his son was Kshemári; his son was Anenas; his son was Mínaratha; his son was Satyaratha; his son was Sátyarathi; his son was Upagu; his son was ruta; his son was Sáswata; his son was Sudhanwan; his son was Subhása; his son was Su ruta; his son was Jaya; his son was Vijaya; his son was Rita; his son was Sunaya; his son was Vítahavya; his son was Dhriti; his son was Bahulá wa; his son was Kriti, with whom terminated the family of Janaka. These are the kings of Mithilá, who for the most part will be proficient in spiritual knowledge.

Footnotes

1, None of the authorities, except the Váyu and Bhágavata, contain the series of kings noticed in this chapter.

This shews that the Hindus were not unacquainted with the Egyptian art of embalming dead In the Ká í a, s. 30, an account is given of a Brahman who carries his mother’s bones, p. 389 or rather her corpse, from Setuhandha or Ráme wara to Ká í. For this purpose he first washes it with the five excretions of a cow, and the five pure fluids, or milk, curds, ghee, honey, and sugar. He then embalms it with Yakshakarddama, a composition of Agallochum, camphor, musk, saffron, sandal, and a resin called Kakkola;

and envelopes it severally with Netra vastra, flowered muslin; a

mvara, silk; Surasa

vastra, coarse cotton; MáA& ha, cloth dyed with madder; and Nepala Kambala, nepal blanketing. He then covers it with pure clay, and puts the whole into a coffin of copper,

Támra a

. These practices are not only unknown, but would be thought impure in

the present day.

These legends are intended to explain, and were probably suggested by, the terms Vaideha and Mithilá, applied to the country upon the Gandak and Kai rivers, the modern The Rámá a places a prince named Mithi between Nimi and Janaka, whence comes the name Mithilá. In other respects the list of kings of Mithilá agrees, except in a few names. Janaka the successor of Nimi is different from Janaka who is celebrated as the father of Síta.

One of them, which, does not appear, is also renowned as a philosopher, and patron of philosophical teachers. Mahábhárata, Moksha Dharma. According to the Váyu P., Nimi founded a city called Jayantapur, near the Á rama of Gautama. The remains of a city called Janakpur, on the northern skirts of the district, are supposed to indicate the site of a city founded by one of the princes so named.

This identifies Síradhwaja with the second Janaka, the father-in-law of Ráma. The story of Sítá’s birth, or rather discovery, is narrated in the Aránya a of the Rámá a, the Vana Parva of the Mahábhárata, and in the Váyu, Brahma Vaivartta, Káliká, and other Purá

The Rámá a says, ‘of Sanka ya,’ which is no doubt the correct Fa Hian found the kingdom of Sang-kia-shi in the Doab, about Mainpuri. Account of the Foe-kuë- ki. The Bhágavata makes Ku adhwaja the son of Síradwaja.

The Bhágavata differs from our authority here considerably, by inserting several princes between Kúsadhwaja and Bhánumat; or, Dharmadhwaja, who has two sons, Kritadhwaja and Khá i kya; the former is the father of Ke idhwaja, the latter of Bhánumat. See the last book of the

akuni, and the last of the series, according to the Váyu,

Between this prince and uchi the series of the Bhágavata is Sanadhwaja, Urddhwaketu, Aja, The following variations are from the same authority.

Kshemadhí.

Yuyudhána, Subhá a,

is the reading of all the copies; but why the future verb, ‘will be,’ is used does not

Descendants of two of the other sons of the Manu are noticed in the Bhágavata; from Nriga, it is said, proceeded Sumati, Bhútajyotish, Vasu, Pratíka, Oghavat, and his sister

Oghavatí, married to Sudar ana. The Linga gives three sons to Nriga, Vrisha, $ a

ka,

and a, and alludes to a legend of his having been changed to a lizard by the curse of a Brahman. Narishyanta’s descendants were Chitrasena, Daksha, Madhwat, Púrva, Indrasena, Vítihotra, Satya rava, Uru ravas, Devadatta, Agnive ya, also called Já a, a form of Agni, and progenitor of the Ágnive ya Brahmans.

In the Bráhma P. and Hari V. the sons of Narishyat, whom the commentator on the latter considers as the same with Narishyanta, are termed Sacas, Sacæ or Scythians; whilst, again, it is said that the son of Narishyanta was Dama, or, as differently read, Yams. As this latter affiliation is stated in the authorities, it would appear as if this Narishyanta was one of the sons of the Manu; but this is only a proof of the carelessness of the

compilation, for in the u, Váyu, and Má e

ya Purá as, Narishyanta, the father

of Dama, is the son of Marutta, the fourteenth of the posterity of $ a

or Ned a .

CHAP. VI.

Kings of the lunar dynasty. Origin of Soma, or the moon: he carries off Tárá, the wife of Vrihaspati: war between the gods and Asuras in consequence: appeased by Brahmá. Birth of Budha: married to Ilá, daughter of Vaivaswata. Legend of his son Pururavas, and the nymph Urva í: the former institutes offerings with fire: ascends to the sphere of the Gandharbas.

MAITREYA.–You have given me, reverend preceptor, an account of the kings of the dynasty of the sun: I am now desirous to hear a description of the princes who trace their lineage from the moon, and whose race is still celebrated for glorious deeds. Thou art able to relate it to me, Brahman, if thou wilt so favour me.

PARÁ ARA.–You shall hear from me, Maitreya, an account of the illustrious family of the moon, which has produced many celebrated rulers of the earth; a race adorned by the regal qualities of strength, valour, magnificence, prudence, and activity; and enumerating amongst its monarchs Nahusha, Yayáti, Kártavíryárjuna, and others equally renowned.

That race will I describe to you: do you attend.

Atri was the son of Brahmá, the creator of the universe, who sprang from the lotus that grew from the navel of Nárá a. The son of Atri was Soma (the moon), whom Brahmá installed as the sovereign of plants, of Brahmans, and of the stars. Soma celebrated the Rájasúya sacrifice, and from the glory thence acquired, and the extensive dominion with which he had been invested, he became arrogant and licentious, and carried off Tárá, the wife of Vrihaspati, the preceptor of the gods.

In vain Vrihaspati sought to recover his bride; in vain Brahmá commanded, and the holy sages remonstrated; Soma refused to relinquish her. U anas, out of enmity to Vrihaspati, took part with Soma. Rudra, who had studied under Angiras, the father of Vrihaspati, befriended his fellow-student. In consequence of U anas, their preceptor, joining Soma, Jambha, Kujambha, and all the Daityas, Dánavas, and other foes of the gods, came also to his assistance; whilst Indra and all the gods were the allies of Vrihaspati.

Then there ensued a fierce contest, which, being on account of Táraká (or Tárá), was termed the Tárakámaya or Táraká war. In this the gods, led by Rudra, hurled their missiles on the enemy; and the Daityas with equal determination assailed the gods. Earth, shaken to her centre by the struggle between such foes, had recourse to Brahmá for protection; on which he interposed, and commanding U anas with the demons and Rudra with the deities to desist from strife, compelled Soma to restore Tárá to her husband.

Finding that she was pregnant, Vrihaspati desired her no longer to retain her burden; and in obedience to his orders she was delivered of a son, whom she deposited in a clump of long Munja grass.

The child, from the moment of its birth, was endued with a splendour that dimmed the radiance of every other divinity, and both Vrihaspati and Soma, fascinated by his beauty, claimed him as their child. The gods, in order to settle the dispute, appealed to Tárá; but she was ashamed, and would make no answer. As she still continued mute to their repeated applications, the child became incensed, and was about to curse her, saying, “Unless, vile woman, you immediately declare who is my father, I will sentence you to such a fate as shall deter every female in future from hesitating to speak the truth.”

On this, Brahmá again interfered, and pacified the child; and then, addressing Tárá, said, “Tell me, daughter, is this the child of Vrihaspati, or of Soma?” “Of Soma,” said Tárá, blushing. As soon as she had spoken, the lord of the constellations, his countenance bright, and expanding with rapture, embraced his son, and said, “Well done, my boy; verily thou art wise:” and hence his name was Budha.

It has already been related how Budha begot Purúravas by Ilá. Purúravas 3 was a prince renowned for liberality, devotion, magnificence, and love of truth, and for personal beauty. Urva í having incurred the imprecation of Mitra and a, determined to take up her abode in the world of mortals; and descending accordingly, beheld Purúravas. As soon as she saw him she forgot all reserve, and disregarding the delights of Swarga, became deeply enamoured of the prince.

Beholding her infinitely superior to all other females in grace, elegance, symmetry, delicacy, and beauty, Pururavas was equally fascinated by Urva í: both were inspired by similar sentiments, and mutually feeling that each was every thing to the other, thought no more of any other object. Confiding in his merits, Purúravas addressed the nymph, and said, “Fair creature, I love you; have compassion on me, and return my affection.” Urva í, half averting her face through modesty, replied, “I will do so, if you will observe the conditions I have to propose.

What are they?” inquired the prince; “declare them.” “I have two rams,” said the nymph, “which I love as children; they must be kept near my bedside, and never suffered to be carried away: you must also take care never to he seen by me undressed; and clarified butter alone must be my food.” To these terms the king readily gave assent.

After this, Purúravas and Urva í dwelt together in Alaká, sporting amidst the groves and lotus-crowned lakes of Chaitraratha, and the other forests there situated, for sixty-one thousand years. The love of Purúravas for his bride increased every day of its duration; and the affection of Urva í augmenting equally in fervour, she never called to recollection residence amongst the immortals. Not so with the attendant spirits at the court of Indra; and nymphs, genii, and quiristers, found heaven itself but dull whilst Urva í was away.

Knowing the agreement that Urva í had made with the king, Vi wavasu was appointed by the Gandharbas to effect its violation; and he, coming by night to the chamber where they slept, carried off one of the rams. Urva í was awakened by its cries, and exclaimed, Ah me! who has stolen one of my children?

Had I a husband, this would not have happened! To whom shall I apply for aid?” The Rájá overheard her lamentation, but recollecting that he was undressed, and that Urva í might see him in that state, did not move from the couch. Then the Gandharbas came and stole the other ram; and Urva í, hearing it bleat, cried out that a woman had no protector who was the bride of a prince so dastardly as to submit to this outrage. This incensed Purúravas highly, and trusting that the nymph would not see his person, as it was dark, he rose, and took his sword, and pursued the robbers, calling upon them to stop, and receive their punishment.

At that moment the Gandharbas caused a flash of brilliant lightning to play upon the chamber, and Urva í beheld the king undressed: the compact was violated, and the nymph immediately disappeared. The Gandharbas, abandoning the rams, departed to the region of the gods.

Having recovered the animals, the king returned delighted to his couch, but there he beheld no Urva í; and not finding her any where, he wandered naked over the world, like one insane. At length coming to Kurukshetra, he saw Urva í sporting with four other nymphs of heaven in a lake beautified with lotuses, and he ran to her, and called her his wife, and wildly implored her to return. “Mighty monarch,” said the nymph, “refrain from this extravagance. I am now pregnant: depart at present, and come hither again at the end of a year, when I will deliver to you a son, and remain with you for one night.” Purúravas, thus comforted, returned to his capital. Urva í said to her companions, “This prince is a most excellent mortal: I lived with him long and affectionately united.” “It was well done of you,” they replied; “he is indeed of comely appearance, and one with whom we could live happily for ever.”

When the year had expired, Urva í and the monarch met at Kurukshetra, and she consigned to him his first-born Áyus; and these annual interviews were repeated, until she had borne to him five sons. She then said to Purúravas, “Through regard for me, all the Gandharbas have expressed their joint purpose to bestow upon my lord their benediction: let him therefore demand a boon.” The Rájá replied, “My enemies are all destroyed, my faculties are all entire; I have friends and kindred, armies and treasures: there is nothing which I may not obtain except living in the same region with my Urva í. My only desire therefore is, to pass my life with her.”

When he had thus spoken, the Gandharbas brought to Purúravas a vessel with fire, and said to him, “Take this fire, and, according to the precepts of the Vedas, divide it into three fires; then fixing your mind upon the idea of living with Urva í, offer oblations, and you shall assuredly obtain your wishes.” The Rájá took the brasier, and departed, and came to a forest.

Then he began to reflect that he had committed a great folly in bringing away the vessel of fire instead of his bride; and leaving the vessel in the wood, he went disconsolate to his palace. In the middle of the night he awoke, and considered that the Gandharbas had given him the brasier to enable him to obtain the felicity of living with Urva í, and that it was absurd in him to have left it by the way.

Resolving therefore to recover it, he rose, and went to the place where he had deposited the vessel; but it was gone. In its stead he saw a young A wattha tree growing out of a

ami plant, and he reasoned with himself, and said, “I left in this spot a vessel of fire, and now behold a young A wattha tree growing out of a ami plant. Verily I will take these types of fire to my capital, and there, having engendered fire by their attrition, I will worship it.” Having thus determined, he took the plants to his city, and prepared their wood for attrition, with pieces of as many inches long as there are syllables in the Gayatrí: he recited that holy verse, and rubbed together sticks of as many inches as he recited syllables in the Gayatrí.

Having thence elicited fire, he made it threefold, according to the injunctions of the Vedas, and offered oblations with it, proposing as the end of the ceremony reunion with Urva í. In this way, celebrating many sacrifices agreeably to the form in which offerings are presented with fire, Purúravas obtained a seat in the sphere of the Gandharbas, and was no more separated from his beloved. Thus fire, that was at first but one, was made threefold in the present Manwantara by the son of Ilá.

Footnotes

The Váyu says the essence of Soma (Somatwa) issued from the eyes of Atri, and impregnated the ten The Bhágavata says merely that Soma was born from the eyes of Atri. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. give a grosser name to the effusion.

He who’ Much erroneous speculation has originated in confounding this Budha, the son of Soma, and regent of the planet Mercury, ‘he who knows,’ the intelligent, with Buddha, any deified mortal, or ‘he by whom truth is known;’ or, as individually applicable, Gautama or ákya, son of the Raja uddhodana, by p. 394 whom the Buddhists themselves aver their doctrines were first promulgated. The two characters have nothing in common, and the names are identical only when one or other is misspelt.

The story of Purúravas is told much in the same strain as follows, though with some variations, and in greater or less detail, in the Váyu, Matsya, Vámana, Padma, and Bhágavata Purá It is also referred to in the Mahábhárata, vol. I. p. 113. It is likewise the subject of the Vikrama and Urva í of Kálídása, in which drama the incidents offensive to good taste are not noticed. See Hindu Theatre, vol. I. p. 587. The Matsya Purá a, besides this story, which is translated in the introduction to the drama, has in another part, c. 94, an account of a Purúravas, who, in the Chákshusha Manwantara, was king of % r a, and who by the worship of u obtained a residence with the Gandharbas.

One copy has sixty-one years; the Bráhma and Hari V. have fifty-nine: one period is as likely as the other.

It does not appear why this passage is The length of the sticks, conformably to the number of syllables in the usual form of the Gayatrí, would be twenty-four inches.

The Bhágavata attaches to the operation a piece of mysticism of a Tántrika origin: Purúravas, whilst performing the attrition, mentally identifies himself and Urva í with the two sticks, and repeats the Mantra.

The division of one fire into three is ascribed to Purúravas by the Mahábhárata and the The commentator on the former specifies them as the Gárhapatya, $ a, and Áhavaníya, which Sir Wm. Jones, Manu, II. 231, renders nuptial, ceremonial, and sacrificial fires; or rather, 1. household, that which is perpetually maintained by a householder; 2. a fire for sacrifices, placed to the south of the rest; and 3. a consecrated fire for oblations; forming the Tretágni, or triad of sacred fires, in opposition to the Laukika, or merely temporal ones.

To Purúravas it would appear the triple arrangement was owing; but there are some other curious traditions regarding him, which indicate his being the author of some important innovations in the Hindu ritual. The Bhágavata says, that before his time there was but one Veda, one caste, one fire, and one god, Nárá a; and that, in the beginning of the Treta age, Purúravas made them all ‘three:’ that is, according to the commentator, the ritual was then instituted:

The Matsya P. has an account of this prince’s going to the orbit of the sun and moon at every conjunction, when oblations to progenitors are to be offered, as if obsequial rites had originated with Purúravas.

The Mahábhárata states some still more remarkable particulars. ‘The glorious Purúravas, endowed, although a mortal, with the properties of a deity, governing the thirteen islands of the ocean, engaged in hostilities with the Brahmans in the pride of his strength, and seized their jewels, as they exclaimed against his oppression. Sanatkumára came from the sphere of Brahmá to teach him the rules of duty, but Purúravas did not accept his instructions, and the king, deprived of understanding by the pride of his power, and actuated by avarice, was therefore ever accursed by the offended great sages, and was destroyed.’

CHAP. VII.

Sons of Purúravas. Descendants of Amávasu. Indra born as Gádhí. Legend of Richíka and Satyavatí. Birth of Jamadagni and Vi wámitra. Para uráma the son of the former. (Legend of Para uráma.) Sunah ephas and others the sons of Vi wámitra, forming the Kau ika race.

PURÚRAVAS had six sons, Áyus, Dhímat, Amávasu, Vi wavasu, atáyus, and

rutáyus. The son of Amávasu was Bhíma; his son was Kánchana; his son was Suhotra, whose son was Jahnu. This prince, whilst performing a sacrifice, saw the whole of the place overflowed by the waters of the Ganges. Highly offended at this intrusion, his eyes red with anger, he united the spirit of sacrifice with himself, by the power of his devotion, and drank up the river. The gods and sages upon this came to him, and appeased his indignation, and reobtained Gangá from him, in the capacity of his daughter (whence she is called Jáhnaví).

The son of Jahnu was Sumantu; his son was Ajaka; his son was Valáká wa7; his son was Ku á, who had four sons, Ku ámba, Ku anábha, Amúrttaya, and Amávasu. Ku ámba, being desirous of a son, engaged in devout penance to obtain one who should be equal to Indra. Observing the intensity of his devotions, Indra was alarmed lest a prince of power like his own should be engendered, and determined therefore to take upon himself the character of Ku ámba’s son.

He was accordingly born as Gádhi, of the race of Ku a (Kau ika). Gádhi had a daughter named Satyavatí. Richíka, of the descendants of Bhrigu, demanded her in marriage. The king was very unwilling to give his daughter to a peevish old Brahman, and demanded of him, as the nuptial present, a thousand fleet horses, whose colour should be white, with one black ear. Richíka having propitiated a, the god of ocean, obtained from him, at the holy place called A watírtha, a thousand such steeds; and giving them to the king, espoused his daughter.

In order to effect the birth of a son, Richíka prepared a dish of rice, barley, and pulse, with butter and milk, for his wife to eat; and at her request he consecrated a similar mixture for her mother, by partaking of which she should give birth to a prince of martial prowess. Leaving both dishes with his wife, after describing particularly which was intended for her, and which for her mother, the sage went forth to the forests. When the time arrived for the food to be eaten, the queen said to Satyavatí, “Daughter, all persons wish their children to be possessed of excellent qualities, and would be mortified to see them surpassed by the merits of their mother’s brother.

It will be desirable for you, therefore, to give me the mess your husband has set apart for you, and to eat of that intended for me; for the son which it is to procure me is destined to be the monarch of the whole world, whilst that which your dish would give you must be a Brahman, alike devoid of affluence, valour, and power.” Satyavatí agreed to her mother’s proposal, and they exchanged messes.

When Richíka returned home, and beheld Satyavatí, he said to her, “Sinful woman, what hast thou done! I view thy body of a fearful appearance. Of a surety thou hast eaten the consecrated food which was prepared for thy mother: thou hast done wrong.

In that food I had infused the properties of power and strength and heroism; in thine, the qualities suited to a Brahman, gentleness, knowledge, and resignation. In consequence of having reversed my plans, thy son shall follow a warrior’s propensities, and use weapons, and fight, and slay.

Thy mother’s son shall be born with the inclinations of a Brahman, and be addicted to peace and piety.” Satyavatí, hearing this, fell at her husband’s feet, and said, “My lord, I have done this thing through ignorance; have compassion on me; let me not have a son such as thou hast foretold: if such there must be, let it be my grandson, not my son.” The Muni, relenting at her distress, replied, “So let it be.”

Accordingly in due season she gave birth to Jamadagni; and her mother brought forth Viswamitra. Satyavatí afterwards became the Kau ikí river. Jamadagni married uká, the daughter of ú, of the family of Ikshwáku, and had by her the destroyer of the Kshatriya race, Para uráma, who was a portion of Nárá a, the spiritual guide of the universe.

Footnotes

Considerable variety prevails in these names, and the Matsya, Padma, Bráhma, and Agni enumerate The lists are as follows:

Mahábhárata. Áyus	Matsya. Áyus	Agni. Áyus	Kúrma. Áyus	Bhágavata. Áyus
Dhímat	Dhritimat	Dhímat	Máyus	rutáyus
Amávasu	Vasu	Vasu	Amáyus	Satyáyus
$ háyus	$ háyus	U ráyus	Vi wáyus	Ráya
Vanáyus	Dhanáyus	Antáyus	atáyus	Vijaya
atáyus	atáyus	atáyus	rutáyus	Jaya
	A wáyus	Ritáyus
	Divijáta	Divijáta.

The list of the Bráhma is that of the Mahábhárata, with the addition of atáyus and Vi wáyus; and the Padma agrees with the Matsya.

Son of Vijaya: Bhágavata. This line of princes is followed only in our text, the Váyu, Bráhma, and Hari , and the Bhágavata.

Kánchanaprabha: Bráhma.

Hotraka: Bhágavata.

The Bráhma and Hari V. add of this prince, that he was the husband of Káverí, the daughter of Yuvaná wa, who by the imprecation of her husband became the Káverí river: another indication of the Dakshina origin of these works. The p. 399 Hari V. has another Jahnu, to whom it gives the same spouse, as we shall hereafter see.

Sunuta: Bráhma. Puru: Bhágavata.

Valaka: Bráhma. Ajaka: Bhágavata.

The Bráhma and Hari V. add that Kú a was in alliance with the Pahlavas and foresters.

Our authorities differ as to these names:

Váyu.	Bráhma and Hari V.	Bhágavata.
Ku á wa or, Ku asthamba	Ku á wa	Ku ámba
Ku anábha	Ku anábha	Ku anábha
Amurttarayasa	Amurttimat	Amurttaraya
Vasu	Ku ika	Vasu.

The Rámá a has Ku ámba, Ku anábha, Amurttarayasa, and Vasu; and makes them severally the founders of Kau ámbi, of Mahodaya (which afterwards appears the same as Kanoj), Dharmá ya, and Girivraja; the latter being in the mountainous part of Magadhá. I. s. 29.

The Bráhma and Hari make Gádhi the son of Ku ika; the Váyu and Bhágavata, of Ku ánaba; the Rámá a, of Ku anábha.

The Rámá a notices the marriage, but has no The Mahábhárata, Vans P., has a rather more detailed narration, but much the same as in the text. According to the commentator, A watírtha is in the district of Kanoj; perhaps at the confluence of the Kálanadí with the Ganges. The agency of the god of Ocean in procuring horses, is a rather curious additional coincidence between a and Neptune.

In the Mahábhárata, Bhrigu, the father of Richíka, prepares the

So the Rámá a, after stating that Satyavatí followed her husband in death, adds, that she became the Kau ikí river; the Cosi, which, rising in Nepal, flows through Puraniya into the Ganges, opposite nearly to Rájamahal.

The text omits the story of Para uráma, but as the legend makes a great figure in the

ava works in general, I have inserted it from the Mahábhárata, where it is twice related, once in the Vana Parva, and once in the Rájadharma section of the ánti Parva. It is told also at length in the ninth book of the Bhágavata, in the Padma and Agni Purá as,

&c.

LEGEND OF PARA URÁMA.

(From the Mahábhárata.)

“JAMADAGNI (the son of Richíka) was a pious sage, who by the fervour of his devotions, whilst engaged in holy study, obtained entire possession of the Vedas. Having gone to king Prasenajit, he demanded in marriage his daughter uká, and the king gave her unto him. The descendant of Bhrigu conducted the princess to his hermitage, and dwelt with her there, and she was contented to partake in his ascetic life. They had four sons, and then a fifth, who was Jámadagnya, the last but not the least of the brethren, Once when her sons were all absent, to gather the fruits on which they fed, uká, who was exact in the discharge of all her duties, went forth to bathe.

On her way to the stream she beheld Chitraratha, the prince of Mrittikávatí, with a garland of lotuses on his neck, sporting with his queen in the water, and she felt envious of their felicity. Defiled by unworthy thoughts, wetted but not purified by the stream, she returned disquieted to the hermitage, and her husband perceived her agitation. Beholding her fallen from perfection, and shorn of the lustre of her sanctity, Jamadagni reproved her, and was exceeding wroth. Upon this there came her sons from the wood, first the eldest, wat, then a, then Vasu, and then Vi wavasu; and each, as he entered, was successively commanded by his father to put his mother to death; but amazed, and influenced by natural affection, neither of them made any reply: therefore Jamadagni was angry, and cursed them, and they became as idiots, and lost all understanding, and were like unto beasts or birds.

Lastly, Ráma returned to the hermitage, when the mighty and holy Jamadagni said unto him, ‘Kill thy mother, who has sinned; and do it, son, without repining.’ Ráma accordingly took up his axe, and struck off his mother’s head; whereupon the wrath of the illustrious and mighty Jamadagni was assuaged, and he was pleased with his son, and said, ‘Since thou hast obeyed my commands, and done what was hard to be performed, demand from me whatever blessings thou wilt, and thy desires shall be all fulfilled.’

Then Ráma begged of his father these boons; the restoration of his mother to life, with forgetfulness of her having been slain, and purification from all defilement; the return of his brothers to their natural condition; and, for himself, invincibility in single combat, and length of days: and all these did his father bestow.

“It happened on one occasion, that, during the absence of the Rishi’s sons, the mighty monarch Kárttavírya, the sovereign of the Haihaya tribe, endowed by the favour of Dattátreya with a thousand arms, and a golden chariot that went wheresoever he willed it to go, came to the hermitage of Jamadagni, where the wife of the sage received him with all proper respect.

The king, inflated with the pride of valour, made no return to her hospitality, but carried off with him by violence the calf of the milch cow of the sacred oblation, and cast down the tall trees surrounding the hermitage. When Ráma returned, his father told him what had chanced, and he saw the cow in affliction, and he was filled with wrath. Taking up his splendid bow, Bhárgava, the slayer of hostile heroes, assailed Kárttavírya, who had now become subject to the power of death, and overthrew him in battle. With sharp arrows Ráma cut off his thousand arms, and the king perished. The sons of Kárttavírya, to revenge his death, attacked the hermitage of Jamadagni, when Ráma was away, and slew the pious and unresisting sage, who called repeatedly, but fruitlessly, upon his valiant son.

They then departed; and when Ráma returned, bearing fuel from the thickets, he found his father lifeless, and thus bewailed his unmerited fate: ‘Father, in resentment of my actions have you been murdered by wretches as foolish as they are base! by the sons of Kárttavírya are you struck down, as a deer in the forest by the huntsman’s shafts! Ill have you deserved such a death; you who have ever trodden the path of virtue, and never offered wrong to any created thing! How great is the crime that they have committed, in slaying with their deadly shafts an old man like you, wholly occupied with pious cares, and engaging not in strife! Much have they to boast of to their fellows and their friends, that they have shamelessly slain a solitary hermit, incapable of contending in arms!’ Thus lamenting, bitterly and repeatedly, Ráma performed his father’s last obsequies, and lighted his funeral pile.

He then made a vow that he would extirpate the whole Kshatriya race. In fulfilment of this purpose he took up his arms, and with remorseless and fatal rage singly destroyed in fight the sons of Kárttavírya; and after them, whatever Kshatriyas he encountered, Ráma, the first of warriors, likewise slew. Thrice seven times did the clear the earth of the Kshatriya caste ; and he filled with their blood the five large lakes of Samanta-panchaka, from which he offered libations to the race of Bhrigu. There did he behold his sire again, and the son of Richíka beheld his son, and told him what to do.

Offering a solemn sacrifice to the king of the gods, Jámadagnya presented the earth to the ministering priests. To Ka yapa he gave the altar made of gold, ten fathoms in length, and nine in height. With the permission of Ka yapa, the Brahmans divided it in pieces

amongst them, and they were thence called a

váyana Brahmans. Having given the

earth to Ka yapa, the hero of immeasurable prowess retired to the Mahendra mountain, where he still resides: and in this manner was there enmity between him and the race of Kshatriyas, and thus was the whole earth conquered by Ráma.”

The son of Viswámitra was unah ephas, the descendant of Bhrigu, given by the gods, and thence named Devaráta. Viswámitra had other sons also, amongst whom the most

celebrated were Madhuchhandas, Kritajaya, Devadeva, a

ka, Kachchapa, and Hárita;

these founded many families, all of whom were known by the name of Kau ikas, and intermarried with the families of various Rishis.

Footnotes

The circumstances of Richíka’s marriage, and the birth of Jamadagni and Vi wámitra, are told much in the same manner as in our text both in the Mahábhárata and Bhágavata.

In the beginning of the legend occurs the account of Kárttavíryárjuna, with the addition that he oppressed both men and The latter applying to u for succour, he descended to earth, and was born as Para uráma, for the especial purpose of putting the Haihaya king to death.

In the Rájadharma the sons of the king carry off the The Bhágavata makes the king seize upon the cow, by whose aid Jamadagni had previously entertained Arjuna and all his train: borrowing, no doubt, these embellishments from the similar legend of

Va ha and Vi wámitra, related in the Rámá a.

The characteristic weapon of Ráma is however an axe (para u), whence his name Ráma, ‘with the ‘ It was given to him by iva, whom the hero propitiated on mount Gandhamádana. He at the same time received instruction in the use of weapons generally, and the art of war. Rája Dharma.

This more than ‘thrice slaying of the slain’ is explained in the Rájadharma to mean, that he killed the men of so many generations, as fast as they grew up to

It is sometimes read Narotsedha, ‘as high as a ‘

The story, as told in the Rájadharma section, adds, that when Ráma had given the earth to Ka yapa, the latter desired him to depart, as there was no dwelling for him in it, and to repair to the seashore of the south, where Ocean made for him (or relinquished to him) the maritime district named úrpáraka. The traditions of the Peninsula ascribe the formation of the coast of Malabar to this origin, and relate that Para uráma compelled the ocean to retire, and introduced Brahmans and colonists from the north into Kerala or

According to some accounts he stood on the promontory of Dilli, and shot his arrows to the south, over the site of Kerala. It seems likely that we have proof of the local legend being at least as old as the beginning of the Christian era, as the mons Pyrrhus of Ptolemy is probably the mountain of Para u or Para uráma. See Catalogue of Mackenzie Collection, Introd. p. xcv. and vol. II. p. 74.

The Rájadharma also gives an account of the Kshatriyas who escaped even the thrice seven times repeated destruction of their race. Some of the Haihayas were concealed by the earth as women; the son of Viduratha, of the race of Puru, was preserved in the Riksha mountain, where he was nourished by the bears; Sarvakarman, the son of Saudása, was saved by Pará ara, performing the offices of a údra; Gopati, son of ivi, was nourished by cows in the forests; Vatsa, the son of Pratarddana, was concealed amongst the calves in a cow-pen; the son of Deviratha was secreted by Gautama on the banks of the Ganges; Vrihadratha was preserved in Gridhrakúta; and descendants of Marutta were saved by the ocean.

From these the lines of kings were continued; but it does not appear from the ordinary lists that they were ever interrupted. This legend however, as well as that of the

Rámá a, b. I. c. 52, no doubt intimates a violent and protracted struggle between the Brahmans and Kshatriyas for supreme domination in India, as indeed the text of the Mahábhárata more plainly denotes, as Earth is made to say to Ka yapa, ‘The fathers and grandfathers of these Kshatriyas have been killed by the remorseless Ráma in warfare on my account.’

The story of unah ephas is told by different authorities, with several As the author of various úktas in the Rich, he is called the son of Ajigartta. The Rámá a makes him the middle son of the sage Richíka, sold to Ambarísha, king of Ayodhyá, by his parents, to be a victim in a human sacrifice offered p. 405 by that prince. He is set at liberty by Vi wámitra, but it is not added that he was adopted. The Bhágavata concurs in the adoption, but makes unah ephas the son of Vi wámitra’s sister, by Ajigartta of the line of Bhrigu, and states his being purchased as a victim for the sacrifice of

Hari chandra.

The Váyu makes him a son of Richíka, but alludes to his being the victim at

Hari chandra’s sacrifice. According to the Rámá a, Viswámitra called upon his sons to take the place of unah ephas, and on their refusing, degraded them to the condition of

Chá á

las. The Bhágavata says, that fifty only of the hundred sons of Viswámitra were

expelled their tribe, for refusing to acknowledge unah ephas or Devaráta as their elder brother. The others consented; and the Bhágavata expresses this; ‘They said to the elder, profoundly versed in the Mantras, We are your followers:’ as the commentator; ###. The Rámá a also observes, that unah ephas, when bound, praised Indra with Richas or hymns of the Rig-veda. The origin of the story therefore, whatever may be its correct version, must be referred to the Vedas; and it evidently alludes to some innovation in the ritual, adopted by a part only of the Kau ika families of Brahmans.

The Bhágavata says one hundred sons, besides Devaráta and others, as a

ka,

Hárita, &c. Much longer lists of names are given in the Váyu, Bhágavata, Bráhma, and Hari V. The two latter specify the mothers. Thus Deva ravas, Kati (the founder of the Kátyáyanas), and Hiranyáksha were sons of ilavatí; uka, Gálava, Sankriti, Mudgala,

Madhuchchandas, and Devala were sons of u; and a

were the sons of Drishadvatí.

ka, Kachchhapa, and Hárita

The same works enumerate the Gotras, the families or tribes of the Kau ika Brahmans: these are, Párthivas, Devarátas, Yájnawalkyas, Sámarshanas, Údumbaras, Dumlánas, Tarakáyanas, Munchátas, Lohitas, Renus, Karishus, Babhrus, Páninas, Dhyánajyápyas,

yálantas, Hiranyákshas, ankus, Gálavas, Yamadútas, Devalas, álankáyanas, Báshkalas, Dadativádaras, au ratas, aindhaváyanas, # átas, Chunchulas,

álankrityas, Sankrityas, Vá yas, and an infinity of others, multiplied by intermarriages with other tribes, and who, according to the Váyu, were originally of the regal caste, like Viswámitra; but, like him, obtained Brahmanhood through devotion.

Now these Gotras, or some of them at least, no doubt existed, partaking more of the character of schools of doctrine, but in which teachers and scholars were very likely to have become of one family by intermarrying; and the whole, as well as their original founder, imply the interference of the Kshatriya caste with the Brahmanical monopoly of religious instruction and composition.

CHAP. VIII.

Sons of Áyus. Line of Kshatravriddha, or kings of Ká í. Former birth of Dhanwantarí. Various names of Pratarddana. Greatness of Alarka.

ÁYUS, the eldest son of Purúravas, married the daughter of Ráhu (or Áráhu), by whom he had five sons, Nahusha, Kshatravriddha, Rambha, Raji, and Anenas.

The son of Kshatravriddha was Suhotra, who had three sons, Ká a, Le a, and Ghritsamada. The son of the last was aunaka, who first established the distinctions of the four castes. The son of Ká a was Ka irájá; his son was Dírghatamas; his son was Dhanwantari, whose nature was exempt from human infirmities, and who in every existence had been master of universal knowledge.

In his past life (or when he was produced by the agitation of the milky sea), Nárá a had conferred upon him the boon, that he should subsequently be born in the family of Kásirájá, should compose the eightfold system of medical science, and should be thereafter entitled to a share of offerings made to the gods. The son of Dhanwantari was Ketumat; his son was Bhímaratha; his son was Divodása; his son was Pratarddana, so named from destroying the race of Bhadra ya.

He had various other appellations, as atrujit, ‘the victor over his foes,’ from having vanquished all his enemies; Vatsa, or ‘child,’ from his father’s frequently calling him by that name; Ritadhwaja, ‘he whose emblem was truth,’ being a great observer of veracity; and Kuvalayá wa, because he had a horse (a wa) called Kuvalaya. The son of this prince was Alarka, of whom this verse is sung in the present day; “For sixty thousand and sixty hundred years no other youthful monarch except Alarka, reigned over the earth.”

The son of Alarka was Santati; his son was Sunítha; his son was Suketu; his son was Dharmaketu; his son was Satyaketu; his son was Vibhu; his son was Suvibhu; his son

was Sukumára; his son was $ a

ketu; his son was ahotra; his son was Bharga;

his son was Bhargabhúmi; from whom also rules for the four castes were promulgated. These are the Ká ya princes, or descendants of Ká a. We will now enumerate the descendants of Raji.

Footnotes

Dharmavriddha: Váyu. Vriddha arman: Yajna arman: Padma.

Darbha: Dambha: Padma.

Vipápman: Agni and Vidáman: Padma. The two last authorities proceed no farther with this line.

Sunahotra: Váyu, Bráhma.

Ká ya: Bhágavata.

Sála: Váyu, Bráhma, Hari : whose son was Á i sena, father of Charanta; Váyu: of Ka yapa; Bráhma and Hari V.

Here is probably an error, for the Váyu, Bhágavata, and Bráhma agree in making

unaka the son of Ghritsamada, and father of aunaka.

The expression is ‘The originator or causer of the distinctions (or duties) of the four ‘ The commentator, however, understands the expression to signify, that his descendants were of the four castes. So also the Váyu: ‘The son of Ghritsamada was

unaka, whose son was aunaka. Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vai yas, and údras were born in his race; Brahmans by distinguished deeds.’ The existence of but one caste in the age of purity, however incompatible with the legend which ascribes the origin of the four tribes to Brahmá, is every where admitted. Their separation is assigned to different individuals, whether accurately to any one may be doubted; but the notion indicates that the distinction was of a social or political character.

Ká iya: Bráhma.

Dírghatapas: Váyu. Ghritsatamas: The Bhágavata inserts a Rá r a before this prince, and the Váyu a Dharma after him.

The eight branches of medical science are, alya, extraction of extraneous bodies;
aláká, treatment of external organic affections: these two constitute surgery: 3. Chikitsá, administration of medicines, or medical treatment in general; 4. Bhútavidyá, treatment of maladies referred to demoniac possession; 5. Kaumárabhritya, midwifery and management of children; 6. Agada, alexipharmacy; 7. Rasáyana, alchemical therapeutics; 8. & a, use of aphrodisiacs. Dhanwantari, according to the Brahma Vaivartta P., was preceded in medical science by Átreya, Bharadwája, and Charaka: his pupil u ruta is the reputed author of a celebrated work still extant. It seems probable that Ká í or Benares was at an early period a celebrated school of medicine.

Some rather curious legends are connected with this prince in the Váyu and Bráhma

Purá as, and Hari Van a, and especially in the Ká í a

of the Skánda Purá a.

According to these authorities, iva and Párvatí, desirous of occupying Ká í, which Divodása possessed, sent Nikumbha, one of the I as of the former, to lead the prince to the adoption of Buddhist doctrines; in consequence of which he was expelled from the sacred city, and, according to the Váyu, founded another on the banks of the Gomatí. We have, however, also some singular, though obscure intimations of some of the political events of this and the succeeding reign.

The passage of the Váyu is, ‘The king Divodása, having slain the hundred sons of Bhadra ya, took possession of his kingdom, which was conquered by that hero. The son of Bhadra ya, celebrated by the name of Durdama, was spared by Divodása, as being an infant. Pratarddana was the son of Divodása by Drishadvatí; and by that great prince, desirous of destroying all enmity, (was recovered) that (territory) which had been seized by that young boy (Durdama).’ This is not very explicit, and something is wanted to complete the sense. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. tell the story twice over, chiefly in the words of the Váyu, but with some additions. In ch. 29. we have, first, the first three lines of the above extract; then comes the story of Benares being deserted; we then have the two next lines; then follow,

‘That prince (Durdama) invading his patrimonial possessions, the territory which Divodása had seized by force was recovered by the gallant son of Bhadhra ya, Durddama, a warrior desirous, mighty king, to effect the destruction of his foes.’ Here the victory is ascribed to Durddama, in opposition to what appears to be the sense of the Váyu, and what is undoubtedly that of our text, which says that he was called Pratarddana from destroying the race of Bhadra ya, and atrujit from vanquishing all his foes. By Vairasya anta, ‘the end of hostility or enmity,’ is obviously not to be understood here, as

Langlois has intimated, a friendly pacification, but the end or destruction of all enemies.

In the 32d chapter of the Hari Van a we have precisely the same lines, slightly varied as to their order; but they are preceded by this verse; ‘The city (that on the Gomati), before the existence of Benares, of Bhadra ya, a pious prince of the Yadu race: This verse is not in the Bráhma P. After giving the rest of the above quotation, except the last line, the

passage proceeds, ‘The king called a

ratha was the son of Bhímaratha; and by him,

great king, a warrior desirous of destroying his foes was (the country) recovered, the children (of Durdama) being infants.’

According to the same authority, we are here to understand Bhímaratha and a

ratha as

epithets of Divodása and Pratarddana. From these scanty and ill-digested notices it appears, that Divodása, on being expelled from Benares, took some city and district on the Gomati from the family of Bhadra ya; that Durdama recovered the country, and that Pratarddana again conquered it from his descendants. The alternation concerned apparently only bordering districts, for the princes of Máhíshmati and of Ká í continue, in both an earlier and a later series, in undisturbed possession of their capitals and their power.

The Váyu, Agni, Bráhma , and Hari V. interpose two sons of Pratarddana, Garga or Bharga and Vatsa; and they make Vatsa the father of Alarka, except the Bráhma, which has atrujit and Ritadhwaja as two princes following Vatsa.

The Váyu, Bráhma, and Hari repeat this stanza, and add that Alarka enjoyed such protracted existence through the favour of Lopamudrá, and that having p. 409 lived till the period at which the curs upon terminated, he killed the Rákshas Kshemaka, by whom it had been occupied after it was abandoned by Divodása, and caused the city to be reinhabited. The Hari V. agrees as usual with the Bráhma, except in the reading of one or two names.

It is to be observed, however, that the Agni makes the Ká í princes the descendants of Vitatha, the successor of Bharata. The Bráhma P. and Hari V., determined apparently to be right, give the list twice over, deriving it in one place from Kshatravriddha, as in our text, the Váyu, and the Bhágavata; and in another, with the Agni, from Vitatha. The series of the Bráhma, however, stops with Lauhi, the son of Alarka, and does not warrant the repetition which the carelessness of the compiler of the Hari Van a has superfluously inserted.

Several varieties occur, in the series that follows, as the comparative lists will best show:

Bhágavata. Bráhma. Váyu. Agni.

Alarka Alarka Alarka Alarka Santati Sannati Sannati Dharmaketu Sunítha Sunítha Sunítha Vibhu Suketana Kshema Suketu Sukumára

Dharmaketu Ketumat $ a

ketu Satyaketu

Satyaketu Suketu uhotra

$ a

ketu Dharmaketu Gárgya

Sukumára Satyaketu Gargabhúmi Vítihotra Vibhu Vatsabhúmi Bhárga Anartta

Bhargabhúmi Sukumára

$ a

ketu

Ve uhotri Bharga Vatsabhúmi.

Our text is clear enough, and so is the Bhágavata, but the Váyu, Bráhma, and Hari contain additions of rather doubtful import. The former has, ‘The son of uhotra was the celebrated Gárgya; Gargabhúmi was the son of Gárgya; and Vatsa, of the wise Vatsa: virtuous Brahmans and Kshatriyas were the sons of these two.’ By the second Vatsa is perhaps meant Vatsabhúmi; and the purport of the passage is, that Gárgya (or possibly rather Bharga, one of the sons of Pratarddana) and Vatsa were the founders of two races (Bhúmi, ‘earth,’ implying ‘source’ or founder’, who were Kshatriyas by birth, and Brahmans by profession.

The Bráhma and Hari V., apparently misunderstanding this text, have increased the perplexity. According to them, the son of uhotra was Bharga; Vatsabhúmi was the son of Vatsa; and Bhargabhúmi (Bhrigubhúmi, Bráhma) was from Bhárgava. ‘These sons of Angiras were born in the family of Bhrigu, thousands of great might, Brahmans, Kshatriyas and Vai yas.’ The commentator has, ‘Another son of Vatsa, the father of Alarka, is described, Vatsabhúmi, &c. From Bhárgava, the brother of Vatsa. (They were) Angirasas from Gálava belonging to that family, (and were born) in the family of Bhrigu from the descent of Vi wámitra.’ The interpretation is not very clear, but it authorizes the notion above expressed, that Vatsa and Bharga, the sons of Pratarddana, are the founders of two races of Kshatriya-Brahmans.

On the subject of note some farther illustration is derivable from the Mahábhárata,

ánti P. Dána-dharma. Harya wa the king of the Ká is, reigning between the Ganges and the Yamuná, or in the Do-ab, was invaded and slain by the Haihayas, a race descended, according to this authority, from aryáti, the son of Manu (see p. 358). Sudeva, the son of Harya wa, was also attacked and defeated by the same enemies. Divodása, his son, built and fortified Benares as a defence against the Haihayas, but in vain, for they took it, and compelled him to fly.

He sought refuge with Bharadwája, by whose favour he had a son born to him, Pratardana, who destroyed the Haihayas under their king Vítihavya, and reestablished the kingdom of Ká í. Vítihavya, through the protection of Bhrigu, became a Brahman. The Mahábhárata gives a list of his descendants, which contains several of the names of the Ka ya dynasty of the text; thus, Ghritsamada is said to be his son, and the two last of the line are unaka and aunaka. See n. 7.

CHAP. IX.

Descendants of Raji, son of Áyus: Indra resigns his throne to him: claimed after his death by his sons, who apostatize from the religion of the Vedas, and are destroyed by Indra.

Descendants of Pratíkshatra, son of Kshatravriddha.

RAJI had five hundred sons, all of unequalled daring and vigour. Upon the occurrence of a war between the demons and the gods, both parties inquired of Brahmá which would be victorious. The deity replied, “That for which Raji shall take up arms.” Accordingly the Daityas immediately repaired to Raji, to secure his alliance; which he promised them, if they would make him their Indra after defeating the gods. To this they answered and said, “We cannot profess one thing, and mean another; our Indra is Prahláda, and it is for him that we wage war.”

Having thus spoken, they departed; and the gods then came to him on the like errand. He proposed to them the said conditions, and they agreed that he should be their Indra. Raji therefore joined the heavenly host, and by his numerous and formidable weapons destroyed the army of their enemies.

When the demons were discomfited, Indra placed the feet of Raji upon his head, and said, “Thou hast preserved me from a great danger, and I acknowledge thee as my father; thou art the sovereign chief over all the regions, and I, the Indra of the three spheres, am thy son.” The Rájá. smiled, and said, “Even be it so. The regard that is conciliated by many agreeable speeches is not to be resisted even when such language proceeds from a foe (much less should the kind words of a friend fail to win our affection).” He accordingly returned to his own city, and Indra remained as his deputy in the government of heaven.

When Raji ascended to the skies, his sons, at the instigation of Nárada, demanded the rank of Indra as their hereditary right; and as the deity refused to acknowledge their supremacy, they reduced him to submission by force, and usurped his station. After some considerable time had elapsed, the god of a hundred sacrifices, Indra, deprived of his share of offerings to the immortals, met with Vrihaspati in a retired place, and said to him, “Cannot you give me a little of the sacrificial butter, even if it were no bigger than a jujube, for I am in want of sustenance?” “If,” replied Vrihaspati, “I had been applied to by you before, I could have done any thing for you that you wished; as it is, I will endeavour and restore you in a few days to your sovereignty.”

So saying, he commenced a sacrifice for the purpose of increasing the might of Indra, and of leading the sons of Raji into error, and so effecting their downfall. Misled by their mental fascination, the princes became enemies of the Brahmans, regardless of their duties, and contemners of the precepts of the Vedas; and thus devoid of morality and religion, they were slain by Indra, who by the assistance of the priest of the gods resumed his place in heaven. Whoever hears this story shall retain for ever his proper place, and shall never be guilty of wicked acts.

Rambha, the third son of Áyus, had no progeny. Kshatravriddha had a son named Pratíkshatra; his son was Sanjaya; his son was Vijaya; his son was Yajnakrit; his son was Harshavarddhana; his son was Sahadeva; his son was Adína; his son was Jayasena; his son was Sankriti; his son was Kshatradharman. These were the descendants of Kshatravriddha. I will now mention those of Nahusha.

Footnotes

The Matsya says he taught the sons of Raji the Jinadharma or Jain

The Bhágavata enumerates however, as his descendants, Rabhasa, Gambhíra, and Akriya, whose posterity became The same authority gives as the descendants of Anenas, the fourth son of Áyus, uddha, uchi, Trikakud, and ántákhya.

The Váyu agrees with our text in making Pratipaksha (Pratikshatra) the son of Kshattravriddha; but the Bráhma and Hari V. consider Anenas to be the head of this branch of the posterity of Áyus. The Bhágavata substitutes Ku a, the Le a, of our text, the grandson of Kshatravriddha, for the first name; and this seems most likely to be correct. Although the different MSS. agree in reading ### it should be perhaps ### the patronymic Kshátravriddha; making then, as the Bhágavata does, Pratíkshatra the son of the son of Kshatravriddha.

Jaya: Bhágavata, Váyu.

Vijaya: Váyu. Krita: Bhágavata,

Harya wa: Bráhma, Hari Haryavana: Bhágavata.

The last of the list: Váyu. Ahína: Bhágavata.

Kshatravriddha: Bráhma, Hari

CHAP. X.

The sons of Nahusha. The sons of Yayáti: he is cursed by ukra: wishes his sons to exchange their vigour for his infirmities. Puru alone consents. Yayáti restores him his youth: divides the earth amongst his sons, under the supremacy of Puru.

YATI, Yayáti, Sanyáti, Áyáti, Viyati, and Kriti were the six valiant sons of Nahusha. Yati declined the sovereignty, and Yayáti therefore succeeded to the throne. He had two wives, Devayání the daughter of Usanas, and há the daughter of Vrishaparvan; of whom this genealogical verse is recited: “Devayání bore two sons, Yadu and Turvasu.

há, the daughter of Vrishaparvan, had three sons, Druhyu, Anu, and Puru.” Through the curse of U anas, Yayáti became old and infirm before his time; but having appeased his father-in-law, he obtained permission to transfer his decrepitude to any one who would consent to take it.

He first applied to his eldest son Yadu, and said, “Your maternal grandfather has brought this premature decay upon me: by his permission, however, I may transfer it to you for a thousand years. I am not yet satiate, with worldly enjoyments, and wish to partake of them through the means of your youth. Do not refuse compliance with my request.” Yadu, however, was not willing to take upon him his father’s decay; on which his father denounced an imprecation upon him, and said, “Your posterity shall not possess dominion.” He then applied successively to Druhyu, Turvasu, and Anu, and demanded of them their juvenile vigour.

They all refused, and were in consequence cursed by the king. Lastly he made the same request of há’s youngest son, Puru, who bowed to his father, and readily consented to give him his youth, and receive in exchange Yayáti’s infirmities, saying that his father had conferred upon him a great favour.

The king Yayáti being thus endowed with renovated youth, conducted the affairs of state for the good of his people, enjoying such pleasures as were suited to his age and strength, and were not incompatible with virtue. He formed a connexion with the celestial nymph Vi wáchí, and was wholly attached to her, and conceived no end to his desires. The more they were gratified, the more ardent they became; as it is said in this verse, “Desire is not appeased by enjoyment: fire fed with sacrificial oil becomes but the more intense. No one has ever more than enough of rice, or barley, or gold, or cattle, or women: abandon therefore inordinate desire.

When a mind finds neither good nor ill in all objects, but looks on all with an equal eye, then every thing yields it pleasure. The wise man is filled with happiness, who escapes from desire, which the feeble minded can with difficulty relinquish, and which grows not old with the aged. The hair becomes grey, the teeth fall out, as man advances in years; but the love of wealth, the love of life, are not impaired by age.” “A thousand years have passed,” reflected Yayáti, “and my mind is still devoted to pleasure: every day my desires are awakened by new objects.

I will therefore now renounce all sensual enjoyment, and fix my mind upon spiritual truth. Unaffected by the alternatives of pleasure and pain, and having nothing I may call my own, I will henceforth roam the forests with the deer.”

Having made this determination, Yayáti restored his youth to Puru, resumed his own decrepitude, installed his youngest son in the sovereignty, and departed to the wood of penance (Tapovana). To Turvasu he consigned the south-east districts of his kingdom; the west to Druhyu; the south to Yadu; and the north to Anu; to govern as viceroys under their younger brother Puru, whom he appointed supreme monarch of the earth.

Footnotes

The Bhágavata refers briefly to the story of Nahusha, which is told in the Mahábhárata more than once, in the Vana Parva, Udyoga , Dána Dharma P., and others; also in the Pádma and other Purá as. He had obtained the rank of Indra; but in his pride, or at the suggestion of achí, compelling the Rishis to bear his litter, he was cursed by them to fall from his state, and reappear upon earth as a serpent. From this form he was set free by philosophical discussions with hira, and received final liberation. Much speculation, wholly unfounded, has been started by Wilford’s conjecture that the name of this prince, with Deva, ‘divine,’ prefixed, a combination which never occurs, was the same as Dionysius or Bacchus.

Authorities generally agree as to the names of the first three of his sons: in those of the others there is much variety, and the Matsya, Agni, and Padma have seven names, as follows omitting the three first of the text:

Matsya.	Agni.	Padma.	Linga.
Udbhava Pan chi Sunyáti Meghayáti	Udbhava Panchaka Pálaka Megha	Udbhava Pava Viyáti Meghayáti	aryáti Champaka Andhaka

Or, as his name implies, he became a devotee, a Yati: Bhágavata, &c.

The story is told in great detail in the Adi Parvan of the Mahábhárata, also in the Bhágavata, with some additions evidently of a recent há, the daughter of Vrishaparvan, king of the Daityas, having quarrelled with Devayání, the daughter of

úkra (the religious preceptor of the same race), had her thrown into a well. Yayáti, hunting in the forest, found her, and taking her to her father, with his consent espoused her. Devayání, in resentment of há’s treatment, demanded that she should become her handmaid; and Vrishaparvan, afraid of ukra’s displeasure, was compelled to comply.

In the service of his queen, however, Yayáti beheld há, and secretly wedded her. Devayání complaining to her father of Yayáti’s infidelity, ukra inflicted on him premature decay, with permission to transfer it to any one willing to give him youth and strength in exchange, as is related in the text. The passage specifying the sons of Yayáti is precisely the same in the Mahábhárata as in our text, and is introduced in the same way.

Bhrigutunga, according to the Bráhma.

The elder brothers were made % a

la-nripas, kings of circles or districts: Bhágavata.

The situation of their governments is not exactly agreed upon.

Váyu and Bráhma Bhágavata.

	Padma.	and Hari V.
Turvasu Druhyu Yadu Anu	South-east West South-west North	South-east West South North	West South-east South North

The Linga describes the ministers and people as expostulating with Yayáti, for illegally giving the supremacy to the youngest son; but he satisfies them by shewing that he was justified in setting the seniors aside, for want of filial duty. The Mahábhárata, Udyoga P. Gálava Charitra, has a legend of Yayáti’s giving a daughter to the saint Gálava, who through her means obtains from different princes eight hundred horses, white with one black ear, as a fee for his preceptor Viswámitra. Yayáti, after his death and residence in Indra’s heaven, is again descending to earth, when his daughter’s sons give him the benefit of their devotions, and replace him in the celestial sphere. It has the air of an old story. A legend in some respects similar has been related in our text.

CHAP. XI.

The Yádava race, or descendants of Yadu. Kárttavírya obtains a boon from Dattátreya: takes Rá a prisoner: is killed by Para uráma: his descendants.

I WILL first relate to you the family of Yadu, the eldest son of Yayáti, in which the eternal immutable u descended upon earth in a portion of his essence; of which the glory cannot be described, though for ever hymned in order to confer the fruit of all their wishes–whether they desired virtue, wealth, pleasure, or liberation–upon all created beings, upon men, saints, heavenly quiristers, spirits of evil, nymphs, centaurs, serpents, birds, demons, gods, sages, Brahmans, and ascetics.

Whoever hears the account of the race of Yadu shall be released from all sin; for the supreme spirit, that is without form, and which is called u, was manifested in this family.

Yadu had four sons, Sahasrajit, i, Nala, and Raghu. atajit was the son of the elder of these, and he had three sons, Haihaya, u, and Haya. The son of Haihaya was Dharmanetra; his son was Kuntí; his son was Sáhanji; his son was Mahishmat; his son was Bhadrasena; his son was Durdama; his son was Dhanaka, who had four sons, Kritavíryya, Kritágni, Kritavarman, and Kritaujas. Kritavíryya’s son was Arjuna, the sovereign of the seven Dwípas, the lord of a thousand arms.

This prince propitiated the sage Dattátreya, the descendant of Atri, who was a portion of

u, and solicited and obtained from him these boons–a thousand arms; never acting unjustly; subjugation of the world by justice, and protecting it equitably; victory over his enemies; and death by the hands of a person renowned in the three regions of the universe. With these means he ruled over the whole earth with might and justice, and offered ten thousand sacrifices. Of him this verse is still recited; “The kings of the earth will assuredly never pursue his steps in sacrifice, in munificence, in devotion, in courtesy, and in self-control.” In his reign nothing was lost or injured; and so he governed the whole earth with undiminished health, prosperity, power, and might, for eighty five thousand years.

Whilst sporting in the waters of the Narmadá, and elevated with wine, Rá a came on his tour of triumph to the city Máhishmatí, and there he who boasted of overthrowing the gods, the Daityas, the Gandharbas and their king, was taken prisoner by Kárttavírya, and confined like a tame beast in a corner of his capital.

At the expiration of his long reign Kárttavírya was killed by Para uráma, who was an embodied portion of the mighty Nárá a. Of the hundred sons of this king, the five principal were úra, úrasena, a, Madhu, and Jayadhwaja.

The son of the last was Tálajangha, who had a hundred sons, called after him Tálajanghas: the eldest of these was Vítihotra; another was Bharata, who had two sons, Vrisha and Sujátí.

The son of Vrisha was Madhu; he had a hundred sons, the chief of whom was i, and from him the family obtained the name of i. From the name of their father, Madhu, they were also called Mádhavas; whilst from the denomination of their common ancestor Yadu, the whole were termed Yádavas.

Footnotes

Or, ‘in which a was’ It might have been expected, from the importance of this genealogy, that it would have been so carefully preserved, that the authorities would have closely concurred in its details. Although, however, the leading specifications coincide, yet, as we shall have occasion to notice, great and irreconcilable variations occur.

The two first generally There are differences in the rest; as,

Váyu. Bráhma. Bhágavata. Kúrma.

Níla Nala Nala Níla Ajita Anjika Aripu Jina Raghu Payoda Aripu Raghu

The Bráhma and Hari V. read Sahasráda for the first name; and the Linga has Balasani in place of Nala. The Agni makes atajit also a son of Yadu.

uhaya: Bhágavata, &c. Uttánahaya: a

sons of Sahasráda: Bráhma and Hari V.

Dharmatantra: Váyu. Dharma: Kúrma.

Kírtti: Váyu.

haya: Matsya. They were the

Sanjneya: Váyu. Sankana: Sahanja of Sahanjani pura: Bráhma. Sanjnita: Linga. Sanhana: Matsya. Sohanji: Bhágavata.

By whom the city of Máhíshmatí on the Narbadda was founded: Bráhma , Hari V.

So the Bhágavata; but the Váyu, more correctly, has

Kanaka: Váyu, &c. Varaka: Andhaka: Kúrma.

According to the Váyu, Kárttavírya was the aggressor, invading Lanká, and there taking Rá a The circumstances are more usually narrated as in our text.

Kárttavírya’s fate was the consequence of an imprecation denounced by Ápava or Va ha, the son of a, whose hermitage had been burnt, according to the Mahábhárata, Rája-dharma, by Chitrabhánu, or Fire, to whom the king had in his bounty

presented the world. The Váyu makes the king himself the incendiary, with arrows given him by Súrya to dry up the ocean.

Urjjita: Bhágavata.

Vrishabha: Bhágavata. $ a

: Matsya. $ a: Kúrma. Prishokta: Padma.

i: Linga. áksha: Bráhma.

a, in all except the Bhágavata.

King of Avanti: Bráhma and Hari Van

Ananta: Váyu and Agni; elsewhere omitted.

Durjaya only: Váyu,

This Madhu, according to the Bhágavata, was the son of Kárttavírya. The Bráhma and Hari make him the son of Vrisha, but do not say whose son Vrisha was. The commentator on the latter asserts that the name is a synonyme of Payoda, the son of Yadu, according to his authority, and to that alone.

The Bhágavata agrees with our text, but the Bráhma, Hari , Linga, and Kúrma make a the son of Madhu, and derive the family name of is or Vá eyas from him.

The text takes no notice of some collateral tribes, which appear to merit Most of the other authorities, in mentioning the sons of Jayadhwaja, observe that from them came the five great divisions of the Haihaya tribe. These, according to the Váyu, were the Tálajanghas, Vítihotras, Ávantyas, E i keras, and Játas. The Matsya and Agni omit the first, and substitute Bhojas; and the latter are included in the list in the Bráhma, Padma, Linga, and Hari V. For Játas the reading is Sanjátas or Sujátas. The Bráhma P. has also Bháratas, who, as well as the Sujátas, are not commonly specified, it is said, ‘from their great number.’

They are in all probability invented by the compiler out of the names of the text, Bharata and Sujáti. The situation of these tribes is central India, for the capital of the Tálajanghas was Máhishmatí or Chulí-Maheswar, still called, according to Col. Tod, Sahasra-báhuki- basti, ‘the village of the thousand-armed;’ that is, of Kárttavíryya. Annals of Rajasthan, I.

n. The E i keras and Vítihotras are placed in the geographical lists behind the Vindhyan mountains, and the termination -kaira is common in the valley of the Narmadá,

as Bairkaira, &c., or we may have E i kera abbreviated, as E a

ri on the Tapti.

The Ávantyas were in Ujayin, and the Bhojas were in the neighbourhood probably of Dhár in Malwa. These tribes must have preceded, then, the Rajput tribes, by whom these countries are now occupied, or Rahtores, Chauhans, Pawars, Gehlotes, and the rest. There are still some vestiges of them, and a tribe of Haihayas still exists, at the top of the valley

of Sohagpur in Bhagel- ,

aware of their ancient lineage, and though few in number,

celebrated for their valour. Tod’s Rajasthan, I. 39.

The scope of the traditions regarding them, especially of their overrunning the country, along with akas and other foreign tribes, in the reign preceding that of Sagara (see p. 373), indicates their foreign origin also; and if we might trust to verbal resemblances, we might suspect that the Hayas and Haihayas of the Hindus had some connexion with the Hia, Hoiei-ke, Hoiei-hu, and similarly denominated Hun or Turk tribes, who make a figure in Chinese history. Des Guignes, Histoire des Huns, I. 7, 55, 231. II. 253, &c. At the same time it is to be observed that these tribes do not make their appearance until some centuries after the Christian era, and the scene of their first exploits is far from the frontiers of India: the coincidence of appellation may be therefore merely accidental.

In the word Haya, which properly means ‘a horse,’ it is not impossible, however, that we have a confirmatory evidence of the Scythian origin of the Haihayas, as Col. Tod supposed; although we cannot with him imagine the word ‘horse’ itself is derived from haya. Rajasthan, I. 76.

CHAP. XII.

Descendants of r i. Jyámagha’s connubial affection for his wife aivyá: their descendants kings of Vidarbha and Chedi.

L !ER

I, the son of Yadu, had a son named Vrijinívat; his son was Swáhí; his son

was Rushadru; his son was Chitraratha; his son was a avindu, who was lord of the fourteen great gems; he had a hundred thousand wives and a million of sons. The most renowned of them were Prithuya as, Prithukarman, Prithujaya, Prithukírtti, Prithudána, and Prithu ravas. The son of the last of these six was Tamas; his son was U anas, who celebrated a hundred sacrifices of the horse; his son was iteyus; his son was Rukmakavacha; his son was Parávrit, who lead five sons, Rukméshu, Prithurukman, Jyámagha, Pálita, and Harita.

To this day the following verse relating to Jyámaghais repeated: “Of all the husbands submissive to their wives, who have been or who will be, the most eminent is the king Jyámagha, who was the husband of aivyá.” aivyá was barren; but Jyámagha was so much afraid of her, that he did not take any other wife. On one occasion the king, after a desperate conflict with elephants and horse, defeated a powerful foe, who abandoning wife, children, kin, army, treasure, and dominion, fled. When the enemy was put to flight, Jyámagha beheld a lovely princess left alone, and exclaiming, “Save me, father! Save me, brother!” as her large eyes rolled wildly with affright.

The king was struck by her beauty, and penetrated with affection for her, and said to himself, “This is fortunate; I have no children, and am the husband of a sterile bride; this maiden has fallen into my hands to rear up to me posterity: I will espouse her; but first I will take her in my car, and convey her to my palace, where I must request the concurrence of the queen in these nuptials.” Accordingly he took the princess into his chariot, and returned to his own capital.

When Jyámagha’s approach was announced, aivyá came to the palace gate, attended by the ministers, the courtiers, and the citizens, to welcome the victorious monarch: but when she beheld the maiden standing on the left hand of the king, her lips swelled and slightly quivered with resentment, and she said to Jyámagha, “Who is this light-hearted damsel that is with you in the chariot?”

The king unprepared with a reply, made answer precipitately, through fear of his queen; “This is my daughter-in-law.” “I have never had a son,” rejoined aivyá, “and you have no other children. Of what son of yours then is this girl the wife?” The king disconcerted by the jealousy and anger which the words of aivyá displayed, made this reply to her in order to prevent further contention; “She is the young bride of the future son whom thou shalt bring forth.” Hearing this, aivyá smiled gently, and said, “So be it;” and the king entered into his great palace.

In consequence of this conversation regarding the birth of a son having taken place in an auspicious conjunction, aspect, and season, the queen, although passed the time of women, became shortly afterwards pregnant, and bore a son. His father named him Vidarbha, and married him to the damsel he had brought home. They had three sons, Kratha, Kai ika, and Romapáda.

The son of Romapáda was Babhru, and his son was Dhriti. The son of Kai ika was Chedi, whose descendants were called the Chaidya kings. The son of Kratha was Kunti; his son was Vrish i; his son was Nirvriti; his son was Dasárha; his son was Vyoman; his son was Jímúta; his son was Vikriti; his son was Bhímaratha; his son was Navaratha; his son was Da aratha; his son was akuni; his son was Karambhi; his son was Devaráta; his son was Devakshatra; his son was Madhu; his son was Anavaratha; his son was Kuruvatsa; his son was Anuratha; his son was Puruhotra; his son was An u; his son was Satwata, from whom the princes of this house were termed Sátwatas. This was the progeny of Jyámagha; by listening to the account of whom, a man is purified from his sins.

Footnotes

In the Bráhma and Hari V. we have two families from r i; one which is much the same as that of the text; the other makes short work of a long story, as we shall again notice.

Vajravat: Kúrma.

ánti: Kúrma. Swáha: Tri anku Linga.

Vishánsu: Rishabha: Linga. Ku ika: Kúrma. Ru eku: Bhágavata.

Or articles the best of their kind; seven animate, and seven inanimate; a wife, a priest, a general, a charioteer, a horse, an elephant, and a body of foot soldiers; or, instead of the last three, an executioner, an encomiast, a reader of the Vedas; and a chariot, an umbrella, a jewel, a sword, a shield, a banner, and a

The text states this in plain prose, but the Váyu quotes a verse which makes out but a hundred hundred or 10,000 sons.

The Matsya has the first, third, and fifth of our text, and Prithudharma, Prithukírtti, and The Kúrma has also six names, but makes as many successions.

Suyajna: Agni, Bráhma, Dharma: Bhágavata.

Ushat: Bráhma, Hari

itíkshu: ineyus: Bráhma. Purujit: Bhágavata. The Váyu has Maruta and Kambalavarhish, brothers, instead.

Considerable variety prevails The Bráhma and Hari V. have Marutta the Rájarshi, Kambalavarhish, ataprasúti, Rukmakavacha: the Agni–Marutta, Kambalavarhish, Rukmeshu: whilst the Bhágavata makes Ruchaka son of U anas, and father to the five princes who in the text are the grandsons of Rukmakavacha.

The Bhágavata has Rukmeshu, Rukman, Jyámagha, Prithu, and The p. 421 Váyu reads the two last names Parigha and Hari. The Bráhma and Hari V. insert Parajit as the father of the five named as in the text.

Most of the other authorities mention that the elder of the five brothers, Rukmeshu, succeeded his father in the sovereignty; and that the second, Prithurukman, remained in his brother’s Pálita and Harita were set over Videha (Linga) or Tirhut, and Jyámagha went forth to settle where he might: according to the Váyu he conquered Madhyade a (the country along the Narmadá), Mekalá, and the uktimat mountains. So the Bráhma P. states that he established himself along the Rikshavat mountain, and dwelt in uktimati. He names his son, as we shall see, Vidarbha: the country so called is Berar, and amongst his descendants we have the Chaidyas or princes of Boghelkand, and Chandail, and Dasárha, more correctly perhaps $ a, Chattisgher; so that this story of Jyámagha’s adventures appears to allude to the first settlement of the Yádava tribes along the Narmadá, more to the south and west than before.

The Bhágavata has Ku a; the Matsya, Kau ika: all the authorities agree in specifying three

Lomapáda:

Vastu: Váyu. Kriti:

Áhuti: Váyu. Iti: Dyuti: Matsya. Bhriti: Kúrma. This latter is singular in carrying on the line of Romapáda for twelve generations farther.

The Bhágavata, however, makes the princes of Chedi continuous from Romapáda; as, Babhru, Dhriti, U íka, Chedi–the Chaidyas, amongst whom were Damaghosha and

i upála.

Kumbhi:

: Váyu. $ i : Matsya,

Nivritti: Váyu. Nidhriti: The Bráhma makes three sons, Avanta, Da árha, and Balivrishahan. In the Linga it is said of Dasárha that he was ‘destroyer of the host of copper (faced; European?) foes.’

Vikala:

Nararatha: Bráhma, Hari

$ haratha: Devaráta: Linga.

Soma: Devanakshatra: Padma.

There is great variety in the succeeding appellations:

Bhágavata.	Váyu.	Bráhma.	Matsya.	Padma.	Kúrma.
Madhu	Madhu	Madhu	Madhu	Madhu	Madhu
Kuruva a	Manu	Manava as	Uruvas	Puru	Kuru
Anu	Puruvatsa	Purudwat	Purudwat	Punarvasu	Anu
Puruhotra Áyu	Purudwat Satwa	Madhu and Satwa	Jantu	Jantu	Ansa
Satwata	Satwata	Satwata	Satwata	Satwata	Andhaka Satwata

The Linga has Purushaprabhu, Manwat, Pratarddana, Satwata; and the Agni, Dravavasu, Puruhuta, Jantu, and Sátwata. Some of these originate, no doubt, in the blunders of copyists, but they cannot all be referred to that source.

CHAP. XIII.

Sons of Satwata. Bhoja princes of Mrittikávatí. Súrya the friend of Satrájit: appears to him in a bodily form: gives him the Syamantaka gem: its brilliance and marvellous properties. Satrájit gives it to Prasena, who is killed by a lion: the lion killed by the bear Jámbavat. a suspected of killing Prasena, goes to look for him in the forests: traces the bear to his cave: fights with him for the jewel: the contest prolonged: supposed by his companions to be slain: he overthrows Jámbavat, and marries his daughter Jámbavatí: returns with her and the jewel to Dwáraká: restores the jewel to Satrájit, and marries his daughter Satyabhámá. Satrájit murdered by atadhanwan: avenged by a.

Quarrel between a and Balaráma. Akrúra possessed of the jewel: leaves Dwáraká. Public calamities. Meeting of the Yádavas. Story of Akrúra’s birth: he is invited to return: accused by a of having the Syamantaka jewel: produces it in full assembly: it remains in his charge: a acquitted of having purloined it.

THE sons of Satwata were Bhajina, Bhajamána, Divya, Andhaka, Devávriddha, Mahábhoja, and i. Bhajamána had three sons, Nimi, a, and i, by one wife, and as many by another, atajit, Sahasrajit, and Ayutajit. The son of Devávriddha was Babhru of whom this verse is recited; “We hear when afar, and we behold when nigh, that Babhru is the first of men, and Devávriddha is equal to the gods: sixty-six persons following the precepts of one, and six thousand and eight who were disciples of the other, obtained immortality.”

Mahábhoja was a pious prince; his descendants were the Bhojas, the princes of Mrittikávatí, thence called Márttikávatas. i had two sons, Sumitra and Yudhájit; from the former Anamitra and ini were born. The son of Anamitra was Nighna, who had two sons, Prasena and Satrájit. The divine Áditya, the sun, was the friend of the latter.

On one occasion Satrájit, whilst walking along the sea shore, addressed his mind to Súrya, and hymned his praises; on which the divinity appeared and stood before him. Beholding him in an indistinct shape, Satrájit said to the sun, “I have beheld thee, lord, in the heavens as a globe of fire: now do thou shew favour unto me, that I may see thee in thy proper form.” On this the sun taking the jewel called Syamantaka from off his neck, placed it apart, and Satrájit beheld him of a dwarfish stature, with a body like burnished copper, and with slightly reddish eyes. Having offered his adorations, the sun desired him to demand a boon, and he requested that the jewel might become his.

The sun presented it to him, and then resumed his place in the sky. Having obtained the spotless gem of gems, Satrájit wore it on his neck, and becoming as brilliant thereby as the sun himself, irradiating all the region with his splendour, he returned to Dwáraká. The inhabitants of that city, beholding him approach, repaired to the eternal male, Purushottama, who, to sustain the burden of the earth, had assumed a mortal form (as

a), and said to him, “Lord, assuredly the divine sun is coming to visit you.”

But a smiled, and said, “It is not the divine sun, but Satrájit, to whom Áditya has presented the Syamantaka gem, and he now wears it: go and behold him without apprehension.” Accordingly they departed. Satrájit having gone to his house, there deposited the jewel, which yielded daily eight loads of gold, and through its marvellous virtue dispelled all fear of portents, wild beasts, fire, robbers, and famine.

Achyuta was of opinion that this wonderful gem should be in the possession of Ugrasena; but although he had the power of taking it from Satrájit, he did not deprive him of it, that he might not occasion ally disagreement amongst the family. Satrájit, on the other hand, fearing that a would ask him for the jewel, transferred it to his brother Prasena.

Now it was the peculiar property of this jewel, that although it was an inexhaustible source of good to a virtuous person, yet when worn by a man of bad character it was the cause of his death. Prasena having taken the gem, and hung it round his neck, mounted his horse, and went to the woods to hunt.

In the chase he was killed by a lion. The lion, taking the jewel in his mouth, was about to depart, when he was observed and killed by Jámbavat, the king of the bears, who carrying off the gem retired into his cave, and gave it to his son Sukumára to play with. When some time had elapsed, and Prasena did not appear, the Yádavas began to whisper one to another, and to say, “This is a’s doing: desirous of the jewel, and not obtaining it, he has perpetrated the murder of Prasena in order to get it into his possession.”

When these calumnious rumours came to the knowledge of a, he collected a number of the Yádavas, and accompanied by them pursued the course of Prasena by the impressions of his horse’s hoofs. Ascertaining by this means that he and his horse had been killed by a lion, he was acquitted by all the people of any share in his death.

Desirous of recovering the gem, he thence followed the steps of the lion, and at no great distance came to the place where the lion had been killed by the bear. Following the footmarks of the latter, he arrived at the foot of a mountain, where he desired the Yádavas to await him, whilst he continued the track.

Still guided by the marks of the feet, he discovered a cavern, and had scarcely entered it when he heard the nurse of Sukumára saying to him, “The lion killed Prasena; the lion has been killed by Jámbavat: weep not, Sukumára, the Syamantaka is your own.” Thus assured of his object, a advanced into the cavern, and saw the brilliant jewel in the hands of the nurse, who was giving it as a plaything to Sukumára. The nurse soon descried his approach, and marking his eyes fixed upon the gem with eager desire, called loudly for help.

Hearing her cries, Jámbavat, full of anger, came to the cave, and a conflict ensued between him and Achyuta, which lasted twenty-one days. The Yádavas who had accompanied the latter waited seven or eight days in expectation of his return, but as the foe of Madhu still came not forth, they concluded that he must have met his death in the cavern. “It could not have required so many days,” they thought, “to overcome an enemy;” and accordingly they departed, and returned to Dwáraká, and announced that

a had been killed.

When the relations of Achyuta heard this intelligence, they performed all the obsequial rites suited to the occasion. The food and water thus offered to a in the celebration of his ráddha served to support his life, and invigorate his strength in the combat in which he was engaged; whilst his adversary, wearied by daily conflict with a powerful foe, bruised and battered in every limb by heavy blows, and enfeebled by want of food, became unable longer to resist him. Overcome by his mighty antagonist, Jámbavat cast himself before him and said, “Thou, mighty being, art surely invincible by all the demons, and by the spirits of heaven, earth, or hell; much less art thou to be vanquished by mean and powerless creatures in a human shape; and still less by such as we are, who are born of brute origin.

Undoubtedly thou art a portion of my sovereign lord Nárá a, the defender of the universe.” Thus addressed by Jámbavat, a explained to him fully that he had descended to take upon himself the burden of the earth, and kindly alleviated the bodily pain which the bear suffered from the fight, by touching him with his hand. Jámbavat again prostrated himself before a, and presented to him his daughter Jámbavatí, as an offering suitable to a guest. He also delivered to his visitor the Syamantaka jewel.

Although a gift from such an individual was not fit for his acceptance, yet a took the gem for the purpose of clearing his reputation. He then returned along with his bride Jámbavatí to Dwáraká..

When the people of Dwáraká beheld a alive and returned, they were filled with delight, so that those who were bowed down with years recovered youthful vigour; and all the Yádavas, men and women, assembled round Ánakadundubhi, the father of the hero, and congratulated him. a related to the whole assembly of the Yádavas all that had happened, exactly as it had befallen, and restoring the Syamantaka jewel to Satrájit was exonerated from the crime of which he had been falsely accused. He then led Jámbavatí into the inner apartments.

When Satrájit reflected that he had been the cause of the aspersions upon a’s character, he felt alarmed, and to conciliate the prince he gave him to wife his daughter Satyabhámá. The maiden had been previously sought in marriage by several of the most distinguished Yádavas, as Akrúra, Kritavarman and atadhanwan, who were highly incensed at her being wedded to another, and leagued in enmity against Satrájit.

The chief amongst them, with Akrúra and Kritavarman, said to atadhanwan, “This caitiff Satrájit has offered a gross insult to you, as well as to us who solicited his daughter, by giving her to a: let him not live: why do you not kill him, and take the jewel? Should Achyuta therefore enter into feud with you, we will take your part.” Upon this promise atadhanwan undertook to slay Satrájit.

When news arrived that the sons of Pá u

had been burned in the house of wax, a,

who knew the real truth, set off for Bá ávata to allay the animosity of Duryodhana, and to perform the duties his relationship required. atadhanwan taking advantage of his absence, killed Satrájit in his sleep, and took possession of the gem.

Upon this coming to the knowledge of Satyabhámá, she immediately mounted her chariot, and, filled with fury at her father’s murder, repaired to Bá ávata, and told her husband how Satrájit had been killed by atadhanwan in resentment of her having been married to another, and how he had carried off the jewel; and she implored him to take prompt measures to avenge such heinous wrong. a, who is ever internally placid, being informed of these transactions, said to Satyabhámá, as his eyes flashed with indignation, “These are indeed audacious injuries, but I will not submit to them from so vile a wretch.

They must assail the tree, who would kill the birds that there have built their nests. Dismiss excessive sorrow; it needs not your lamentations to excite any wrath.” Returning forthwith to Dwáraká, a took Baladeva apart, and said to him, “A lion slew Prasena, hunting in the forests; and now Satrájit has been murdered by atadhanwan. As both these are removed, the jewel which belonged to them is our common right. Up then, ascend your car, and put atadhanwan to death.”

Being thus excited by his brother, Balaráma engaged resolutely in the enterprise; but

atadhanwan, being aware of their hostile designs, repaired to Kritavarman, and required his assistance. Kritavarman, however, declined to assist him, pleading his inability to engage in a conflict with both Baladeva and a. atadhanwan thus disappointed, applied to Akrúra; but he said, “You must have recourse to some other protector. How should I be able to defend you?

There is no one even amongst the immortals, whose praises are celebrated throughout the universe, who is capable of contending with the wielder of the discus, at the stamp of whose foot the three worlds tremble; whose hand makes the wives of the Asuras widows, whose weapons no host, however mighty, can resist: no one is capable of encountering the wielder of the ploughshare, who annihilates the prowess of his enemies by the glances of his eyes, that roll with the joys of wine; and whose vast ploughshare manifests his might, by seizing and exterminating the most formidable foes.”

“Since this is the case,” replied atadhanwan, “and you are unable to assist me, at least accept and take care of this jewel.” “I will do so,” answered Akrúra, “if you promise that even in the last extremity you will not divulge its being in my possession.” To this

atadhanwan agreed, and Akrúra took the jewel; and the former mounting a very swift mare, one that could travel a hundred leagues a day, fled from Dwáraká.

When a heard of atadhanwan’s flight, he harnessed his four horses, aivya, Sugríva, Meghapushpa, and Baláhaka, to his car, and, accompanied by Balaráma, set off in pursuit. The mare held her speed, and accomplished her hundred leagues; but when she reached the country of Mithilá, her strength was exhausted, and she dropped down and died. atadhanwan dismounting, continued his flight on foot. When his pursuers came to the place where the mare had perished, a said to Balaráma, “Do you remain in the car, whilst I follow the villain on foot, and put him to death; the ground here is bad; and the horses will not be able to drag the chariot across it.”

Balaráma accordingly stayed with the car, and a followed atadhanwan on foot: when he had chased him for two kos, he discharged his discus, and, although

atadhanwan was at a considerable distance, the weapon struck off his head. a then coining up, searched his body and his dress for the Syamantaka jewel, but found it not. He then returned to Balabhadra, and told him that they had effected the death of

atadhanwan to no purpose, for the precious gem, the quintessence of all worlds, was not upon his person. When Balabhadra heard this, he flew into a violent rage, and said to Vásudeva, “Shame light upon you, to be thus greedy of wealth! I acknowledge no brotherhood with you. Here lies my path.

Go whither you please; I have done with Dwáraká, with you, with all our house. It is of no use to seek to impose upon me with thy perjuries.” Thus reviling his brother, who fruitlessly endeavoured to appease him, Balabhadra went to the city of Videha, where Janaka received him hospitably, and there he remained. Vásudeva returned to Dwáraká. It was during his stay in the dwelling of Janaka that Duryodhana, the son of Dhritará r a, learned from Balabhadra the art of fighting with the mace. At the expiration of three years, Ugrasena and other chiefs of the Yádavas, being satisfied that a had not the jewel, went to Videha, and removed Balabhadra’s suspicions, and brought him home.

Akrúra, carefully considering the treasures which the precious jewel secured to him, constantly celebrated religious rites, and, purified with holy prayers, lived in affluence for fifty-two years; and through the virtue of that gem there was no dearth nor pestilence in the whole country. At the end of that period, atrughna, the great grandson of Satwata, was killed by the Bhojas, and as they were in bonds of alliance with Akrúra, he accompanied them in their flight from Dwáraká.

From the moment of his departure various calamities, portents, snakes, dearth, plague, and the like, began to prevail; so that he whose emblem is Garúda called together the Yádavas, with Balabhadra and Ugrasena, and recommended them to consider how it was that so many prodigies should have occurred at the same time. On this Andhaka, one of the elders of the Yadhu race, thus spake: “Wherever waphalka, the father of Akrúra, dwelt, there famine, plague, dearth, and other visitations were unknown. Once when there was want of rain in the kingdom of Kásirájá, waphalka was brought there, and immediately there fell rain from the heavens. It happened also that the queen of Ká írájá conceived, and was quick with a daughter; but when the time of delivery arrived, the child issued not from the womb.

Twelve years passed away, and still the girl was unborn. Then Ká írájá spake to the child, and said, ‘Daughter, why is your birth thus delayed? come forth; I desire to behold you, why do you inflict this protracted suffering upon your mother?’ Thus addressed, the infant answered, ‘If, father, you will present a cow every day to the Brahmans, I shall at the end of three years more be born.’ The king accordingly presented daily a cow to the Brahmans, and at the end of three years the damsel came into the world.

Her father called her Gándiní, and he subsequently gave her to waphalka, when he came to his palace for his benefit. Gándiní, as long as she lived, gave a cow to the Brahmans every day. Akrúra was her son by waphalka, and his birth therefore proceeds from a combination of uncommon excellence. When a person such as he is, is absent from us, is it likely that famine, pestilence, and prodigies should fail to occur? Let him then he invited to return: the faults of men of exalted worth must not be too severely scrutinized.”

Agreeably to the advice of Audhaka the elder, the Yádavas sent a mission, headed by

Ke ava, Ugrasena, and Balabhadra, to assure Akrúra that no notice would be taken of any irregularity committed by him; and having satisfied him that he was in no danger, they brought him back to Dwáraká. Immediately on his arrival, in consequence of the properties of the jewel, the plague, dearth, famine, and every other calamity and portent, ceased. a, observing this, reflected that the descent of Akrúra from Gándiní and

waphalka was a cause wholly disproportionate to such an effect, and that some more powerful influence must be exerted to arrest pestilence and famine. “Of a surety,” said he to himself, “the great Syamantaka jewel is in his keeping, for such I have heard are amongst its properties.

This Akrúra too has been lately celebrating sacrifice after sacrifice; his own means are insufficient for such expenses; it is beyond a doubt that he has the jewel.” Having come to this conclusion, he called a meeting of all the Yádavas at his house, under the pretext of some festive celebration. When they were all seated, and the. purport of their assembling had been explained, and the business accomplished, a entered into conversation with Akrúra, and, after laughing and joking, said to him, “Kinsman, you are a very prince in your liberality; but we know very well that the precious jewel which was stolen by Sudhanwan was delivered by him to you, and is now in your possession, to the great benefit of this kingdom. So let it remain; we all derive advantage from its virtues.

But Balabhadra suspects that I have it, and therefore, out of kindness to me, shew it to the assembly.” When Akrúra, who had the jewel with him, was thus taxed, he hesitated what he should do. “If I deny that I have the jewel,” thought he, “they will search my person, and find the gem hidden amongst my clothes. I cannot submit to a search.” So reflecting, Akrúra said to Nárá a, the cause of the whole world, “It is true that the Syamantaka jewel was entrusted to me by atadhanwan, when he went from hence. I expected every day that you would ask me for it, and with much inconvenience therefore I have kept it until now.

The charge of it has subjected me to so much anxiety, that I have been incapable of enjoying any pleasure, and have never known a moment’s ease. Afraid that you would think me unfit to retain possession of a jewel so essential to the welfare of the kingdom, I forbore to mention to you its being in my hands; but now take it yourself, and give the care of it to whom you please.” Having thus spoken, Akrúra drew forth from his garments a small gold box, and took from it the jewel. On displaying it to the assembly of the Yádavas, the whole chamber where they sat was illuminated by its radiance. “This,” said Akrúra, “is the Syamantaka gem, which was consigned to me by atadhanwan: let him to whom it belongs now take it.”

When the Yádavas beheld the jewel, they were filled with astonishment, and loudly expressed their delight. Balabhadra immediately claimed the jewel as his property jointly with Achyuta, as formerly agreed upon; whilst Satyabhámá, demanded it as her right, as it had originally belonged to her father. Between these two a considered himself as an ox between the two wheels of a cart, and thus spake to Akrúra in the presence of all the Yádavas: “This jewel has been exhibited to the assembly in order to clear my reputation; it is the joint right of Balabhadra and myself, and is the patrimonial inheritance of Satyabhámá.

But this jewel, to be of advantage to the whole kingdom, should be taken charge of by a person who leads a life of perpetual continence: if worn by an impure individual, it will be the cause of his death. Now as I have sixteen thousand wives, I am not qualified to have the care of it. It is not likely that Satyabhámá will agree to the conditions that would entitle her to the possession of the jewel; and as to Balabhadra, he is too much addicted to wine and the pleasures of sense to lead a life of self-denial.

We are therefore out of the question, and all the Yádavas, Balabhadra, Satyabhámá, and myself, request you, most bountiful Akrúra, to retain the care of the jewel, as you have done hitherto, for the general good; for you are qualified to have the keeping of it, and in your hands it has been productive of benefit to the country. You must not decline compliance with our request.” Akrúra, thus urged, accepted the jewel, and thenceforth wore it publicly round his neck, where it shone with dazzling brightness; and Akrúra moved about like the sun, wearing a garland of light.

He who calls to mind the vindication of the character of a from false aspersions, shall never become the subject of unfounded accusation in the least degree, and living in the full exercise of his senses shall be cleansed from every sin.

Footnotes

The Agni acknowledges but four but all the rest agree in the number, and mostly in the names, Mahábhoja is sometimes read Mahabhága.

Krimi: Bráhma, Agni, Kúrma.

Panava: Váyu. a: Bráhma. a: A a: Bhágavata.

$ hi: Bhágavata, Bráhma.

The Bráhma and Hari add to the first three ara and Puranjaya, and to the second Dásaka.

By the á á river: Bráhma : a river in Malwa.

These are made incorrectly the descendants of Babhru in the Hari

The Bhágavata, Matsya, and Váyu agree in the main, as to the genealogy that follows, with our The Váyu states that i had two wives, Mádrí and Gándhárí; by the former he had Yudhájit and Anamitra, and by the latter Sumitra and Devamí hush. The Matsya also names the ladies, but gives Sumitra to Gándhárí, and makes Mádrí the mother of Yudhájit, Devamí husha, Anamitra, and ini. The Agni has a similar

arrangement, but substitutes $ a

for i, and makes him the fifteenth in descent

from Satwata. The Linga, Padma, Bráhma P., and Hari V. have made great confusion by altering, apparently without any warrant, the name of i to r i.

The Bhágavata makes them sons of Yudhájit; the Matsya and Agni, as observed in the preceding note, his brothers as well as Sumitra’s.

This alludes to events detailed in the Mahábhárata.

The Váyu calls Sudhanwan or atadhanwan king of Mithilá.

A rather violent anachronism to make Janaka cotemporary with Balaráma.

The text gives the commencement of the prayer, but the commentator does not say whence it is taken: ‘Oh, goddess! the murderer of a Kshatriya or Vai ya, engaged in religious duties, is the slayer of a Brahman;’ e. the crime is equally heinous.

Some of the circumstances of this marvellous gem seem to identify it with a stone of widely diffused celebrity in the East, and which, according to the Mohammedan writers, was given originally by Noah to Japhet; the Hijer al mattyr of the Arabs, Sang yeddat of the Persians, and Jeddah tash of the Turks, the possession of which secures rain and The author of the Habib us Seir gravely asserts that this stone was in the hands of the Mongols in his day, or in the tenth century.

a’s reflecting, the commentator observes, is to be understood of him only as consistent with the account here given of him, as if he were a mere man; for, as he was omniscient, there was no occasion for him to reflect or a however appears in this story in a very different light from that in which he is usually represented; and the adventure, it may be remarked, is detached from the place in which we might have expected to find it, the narrative of his life, which forms the subject of the next book.

The story of the Syamantaka gem occurs in the Bhágavata, Váyu, Matsya, Bráhma, and Hari , and is alluded to in other Purá as. It may be considered as one common to the whole series. Independently of the part borne in it by a, it presents a curious and no doubt a faithful picture of ancient manners, in the loose self-government of a kindred clan, in the acts of personal violence which are committed, in the feuds which ensue, in the public meetings which are held, and the part that is taken by the elders and by the women in all the proceedings of the community.

CHAP. XIV.

Descendants of ini, of Anamitra, of waphalka and Chitraka, of Andhaka. The children of Devaka and Ugrasena. The descendants of Bhajamána. Children of úra: his son Vasudeva: his daughter Prithá married to Pá u: her children hira and his

brothers; also a by Áditya. The sons of Pá u

úra’s other daughters. Previous births of i upála.

by Mádrí. Husbands and children of

THE younger brother of Anamitra was ini; his son was Satyaka; his son was Yuyudhána, also known by the name of Sátyaki; his son was Asanga; his son was Túni; his son was Yugandhara. These princes were termed aineyas.

In the family of Anamitra, Pri ni was born; his son was waphalka, the sanctity of whose character has been described: the younger brother of waphalka was named Chitraka.

waphalka had by Gándiní, besides Akrúra, Upamadgu, Mridura, árimejaya, Giri,

Kshatropakshatra, atrughna, Arimarddana, Dharmadhris, $ a

Gandhamojávaha, and Prativáha. He had also a daughter, Sutárá.

sarman,

Devavat and Upadeva were the sons of Akrúra. The sons of Chitrika were Prithu and Vipritha, and many others. Andhaka had four sons, Kukkura, Bhajamána, uchi,

Kambalavarhish. The son of Kukkura was a

; his son was Kapotaroman; his son

was Viloman; his son was Bhava, who was also called Chandanodakadundubhi; he was a friend of the Gandharba Tumburu; his son was Abhijit; his son was Punarvasu; his son was Áhuka, and he had also a daughter named Áhukí.

The sons of Áhuka were Devaka and Ugrasena. The former had four sons, Devavat, Upadevá, Sudeva, and Devarakshita, and seven daughters, Vrikadevá, Upadevá, Devarakshitá, rídevá, ántidevá, Sahadevá, and Devakí: all the daughters were married to Vasudeva.

The sons of Ugrasena were Kansa, Nyagrodha, Sunáman, Kanka, anku, Subhúmi,

Rá r apála, hi, and E i mat; and his daughters were Kansá, Kansavatí, Sutanu, Rá r apálí, and Kankí.

The son of Bhajamána was Vidúratha; his son was úra; his son was amin; his son was Pratíkshatra; his son was Swayambhoja; his son was Hridika, who had Kritavarman,

atadhanu, Devamí husha, and others. úra, the son of Devamí husha, was married to Márishá, and had by her ten sons. On the birth of Vasudeva, who was one of these sons, the gods, to whom the future is manifest, foresaw that the divine being would take a human form in his family, and thereupon they sounded with joy the drums of heaven: from this circumstance Vasudeva was also called Ánakadunbubhi. His brothers were Devabhága, Deva ravas, Aná i , Karundhaka, Vatsabálaka, rinjaya, yáma,

amíka, and I úsha; and his sisters were Prithá, rutadevá, rutakírttí, ruta ravas, and Rájádhideví.

úra had a friend named Kuntibhoja, to whom, as he had no children, the presented in due form his daughter Pritha. She was married to u, and bore him hira, Bhíma, and Arjuna, who were in fact the sons of the deities Dharma, Váyu (air), and Indra.

Whilst she was yet unmarried, also, she had a son named a, begotten by the divine

Áditya (the sun). u

had another wife, named Mádrí, who had by the twin sons of

Áditya, Násatya and Dasra, two sons, Nakula and Sahadeva.

rutadevá was married to the Kárusha prince Vriddha arman, and bore him the fierce

Asura Dantavaktra. $ a

ketu, raja of Kaikeya, married rutakírtti, and had by her

Santarddana and four other sons, known as the five Kaikeyas. Jayasena, king of Avanti, married Rájádhideví, and had Vinda and Anavinda. ruta ravas was wedded to Damaghosha, raja of Chedi, and bore him i upála.

This prince was in a former existence the unrighteous but valiant monarch of the Daityas,

! yaka ipu, who was killed by the divine guardian of creation (in the man-lion Avatára). He was next the ten-headed sovereign Rá a, whose unequalled prowess, strength, and power were overcome by the lord of the three worlds, Ráma. Having been killed by the deity in the form of Rághava, he had long enjoyed the reward of his virtues in exemption from an embodied state, but had now received birth once more as i upála, the son of Damaghosha, king of Chedi.

In this character he renewed, with greater inveteracy than ever, his hostile hatred towards

the god surnamed a

rikáksha, a portion of the supreme being, who had descended to

lighten the burdens of the earth; and was in consequence slain by him: but from the circumstance of his thoughts being constantly engrossed by the supreme being, i upála was united with him after death; for the lord giveth to those to whom he is favourable whatever they desire, and he bestows a heavenly and exalted station even upon those whom he slays in his displeasure.

Footnotes

Bhúti: Váyu. Kuni: Bhágavata. Dyumni:

The Agni makes these all brother’s sons of Satyaka, and adds another, Rishabha, the father of

The authorities are not agreed waphalka, according to the Agni, as just remarked, comes from ini, the son of Anamitra. The Bhágavata, instead of Pri ni, has

i, son of Anamitra; the Bráhma and Hari V. have i; and the Agni, i, son of Yudhájit. The Matsya also makes Yudhájit the ancestor of Akrúra, through Rishabha and Jayanta. Yudhájit in the Bráhma, &c. is the son of r i.

The different authorities vary in the reading of these names, though they generally concur in the

The Matsya and Padma call them sons of Akrúra, but no doubt

ami: Váyu. a i: ini Agni. This last makes them the sons of Babhru, and calls the first Sundara.

i: Bhágavata, Váyu, Matsya, $ a

: Agni. $ u: Bráhma, Hari V.

The Bhágavata puts Viloman The Linga makes it an epithet of Kapotaroman, saying he was Vilomaja, ‘irregularly begotten.’ In place of Viloman we have Raivata, Váyu; Taittiri, Matsya; Tittiri, Agni.

Nava: Bala: Linga. Nala: Matsya. Tomas: Kúrma. Anu: Bhágavata.

The Matsya, Váyu, and Agni agree with our The Linga, Padma, and Kúrma read Ánakadundubhi as a synonyme of Bala. The Bráhma and Hari V. have no such name, but here insert Punarvasu, son of Taittiri. The Bhágavata has a different series, or Anu, Andhaka, Dundubhi, Arijit, Punarvasu, Áhuka.

This Bhajamána is the son of Andhaka, according to all the best authorities; so the Padma calls this branch the Ándhakas. The Agni makes him the son of

Váta, Niváta, amin: Váyu.

Soná wa: Sonáksha: Padma. ini: Bhájavata.

Bhojaka: Bhoja: Padma.

Ten sons:

Devárha: Váyu, Padma, Agni, and Matsya; and a different series follows, or

Kambalavarhish, Asamaujas, Samaujas, Sudanstra, Suva a, $ a

, Anamitra, Nighna,

Satrájit. They all make Vasudeva the son of úra, however; but the three first leave it doubtful whether that úra was the son of Bhajamána or not. The Bhágavata and Bráhma agree with the text, which is probably correct. The Bráhma has úra son of

Devamí hush, although it does not specify the latter amongst the sons of Hridika.

Ánaka a larger, and Dundubhi a smaller

The Mahábhárata is the best authority for these

The Padma calls him king of

The Bráhma and Hari V. make rutadevá mother of i upála, and Prithukírtti of Dantavaktra.

CHAP. XV.

Explanation of the reason why i upála in his previous births as ! yaka ipu and

Rá a was not identified with u on being slain by him, and was so identified when killed as i upála. The wives of Vasudeva: his children: Balaráma and a his sons by Devakí: born apparently of í and Yasodá. The wives and children of a.

Multitude of the descendants of Yadu.

MAITREYA.–Most eminent of all who cultivate piety, I am curious to hear from you, and you are able to explain to me, how it happened that the same being who when killed by u as ! yaka ipu and Rá a obtained enjoyments which, though scarcely attainable by the immortals, were but temporary, should have been absorbed into the eternal Hari when slain by him in the person of i upála.

PARÁ ARA.–When the divine author of the creation, preservation, and destruction of the universe accomplished the death of ! yaka ipu, he assumed a body composed of the figures of a lion and a man, so that ! yaka ipu was not aware that his destroyer was u: although therefore the quality of purity, derived from exceeding merit, had been attained, yet his mind was perplexed by the predominance of the property of passion; and the consequence of that intermixture was, that he reaped, as the result of his death by the hands of u, only unlimited power and enjoyment upon earth, as

Da ánana, the sovereign of the three spheres; he did not obtain absorption into the supreme spirit, that is without beginning or end, because his mind was not wholly dedicated to that sole object.

So also Da ánana being entirely subject to the passion of love, and engrossed completely by the thoughts of Jánakí, could not comprehend that the son of Da aratha whom he beheld was in reality the divine Achyuta. At the moment of his death he was impressed with the notion that his adversary was a mortal, and therefore the fruit he derived from being slain by u was confined to his birth in the illustrious family of the kings of Chedi, and the exercise of extensive dominion. In this situation many circumstances brought the names of u to his notice, and on all these occasions the enmity that had accumulated through successive births influenced his mind; and in speaking constantly with disrespect of Achyuta, he was ever repeating his different appellations.

Whether walking, eating, sitting, or sleeping, his animosity was never at rest, and a was ever present to his thoughts in his ordinary semblance, having eyes as beautiful as the leaf of the lotus, clad in bright yellow raiment, decorated with a garland, with bracelets on his arms and wrists, and a diadem on his head; having four robust arms, bearing the conch, the discus, the mace, and the lotus.

Thus uttering his names, even though in malediction, and dwelling upon his image, though in enmity, he beheld a, when inflicting his death, radiant with resplendent weapons, bright with ineffable splendour in his own essence as the supreme being, and all his passion and hatred ceased, and he was purified front every defect.

Being killed by the discus of u at the instant he thus meditated, all his sins were consumed by his divine adversary, and he was blended with him by whose might he had been slain. I have thus replied to your inquiries. He by whom the divine u is named or called to recollection, even in enmity, obtains a reward that is difficult of attainment to the demons and the gods: how much greater shall be his recompense who glorifies the deity in fervour and in faith!

Vasudeva, also called Ánakadandubhi, had í, Pauraví, Bhadrá, Madirá, Devakí, and several other wives. His sons by í were Balabhadra, Sá a, aru, Durmada, and others. Balabhadra espoused Revatí, and had by her # ha and Ulmuka. The sons of

a were Má i , Má i mat, í u, Satyadhriti, and others. Bhadrá wa, Bhadrabáhu, Durgama, Bhúta, and others, were born in the family of í (of the race of Puru). The sons of Vasudeva by Madirá were Nanda, Upananda, Krítaka, and others. Bhadrá bore him Upanidhi, Gada, and others.

By his wife Vai álí he had one son named Kau ika. Devakí bore him six sons, Kírttimat,

a, Udáyin, Bhadrasena, Rijuda a, and Bhadradeha; all of whom Kansa put to death.

When Devakí was pregnant the seventh time, Yoganidrá (the sleep of devotion), sent by

u, extricated the embryo from its maternal womb at midnight, and transferred it to that of í; and from having been thus taken away, the child (who was Balaráma) received the name of A a. Next, the divine u himself, the root of the vast universal tree, inscrutable by the understandings of all gods, demons, sages, and men, past, present, or to come, adored by Brahmá and all the deities, he who is without beginning, middle, or end, being moved to relieve the earth of her load, descended into the womb of Devakí, and was born as her son Vásudeva. Yoganidrá, proud to execute his orders, removed the embryo to Yasodá, the wife of Nanda the cowherd.

At his birth the earth was relieved from all iniquity; the sun, moon, and planets shone with unclouded splendour; all fear of calamitous portents was dispelled; and universal happiness prevailed. From the moment he appeared, all mankind were led into the righteous path in him.

Whilst this powerful being resided in this world of mortals, he had sixteen thousand and one hundred wives; of these the principal were Rukminí, Satyabhámá, Jámbavatí,

Játaha iní, and four others. By these the universal form, who is without beginning, begot a hundred and eighty thousand sons, of whom thirteen are most renowned, Pradyumna, Chá a, Sámba, and others. Pradyumna married Kakudwatí, the daughter of Rukmin, and had by her Aniruddha. Aniruddha married Subhadrá, the granddaughter of the same Rukmin, and she bore him a son named Vajra. The son of Vajra was Báhu; and his son was Sucháru.

In this manner the descendants of Yadu multiplied, and there were many hundreds of thousands of them, so that it would be impossible to repeat their names in hundreds of years. Two verses relating to them are current: “The domestic instructors of the boys in the use of arms amounted to three crores and eighty lacs (or thirty-eight millions). Who shall enumerate the whole of the mighty men of the Yádava race, who were tens of ten thousands and hundreds of hundred thousands in number?”

Those powerful Daityas who were killed in the conflicts between them and the gods were born again upon earth as men, as tyrants and oppressors; and, in order to check their violence, the gods also descended to the world of mortals, and became members of the hundred and one branches of the family of Yadu. u was to them a teacher and a ruler, and all the Yádavas were obedient to his commands.

Whoever listens frequently to this account of the origin of the heroes of the race of

i, shall be purified from all sin, and obtain the sphere of u.

Footnotes

Pauraví is rather a title attached to a second í, to distinguish her from the first, the mother of Balaráma: she is also said by the Váyu to be the daughter of Báhlíka.

The enumeration of our text is rather imperfect. The Váyu names the wives of Vasudeva, Pauraví, í, Madirá, Rudrá, Vai ákhí, Devakí; and adds two bondmaids, Sugandhí and Vanarají. The 440 Bráhma P. and Hari V. name twelve wives, and two slaves; Rohiní, Madirá, Vai ákhí, Bhadrá, Sunámní, Sahadevá, ántidevá, rídevá, Devarakshitá, Vrikadeví, Upadeví, Devaki; and antanu and Báravá.

The children of the two slaves, according to the Váyu, were r a, who became a king, and Kapila, who retired to the woods. In the Bhágavata we have thirteen wives, Pauraví,

í, Bhadrá, Madirá, Rochaná, Ilá, Devakí, Dhritadeví, ántidevá, Upadeví, rídevá, Devarakshitá, and Sahadevá: the last seven in this and the preceding list are the daughters of Devaka.

The wives and children of a are more particularly described in the next book. The Bráhma and Hari V. add some details of the descendants of Vasudeva’s brothers:

thus Devabhága is said to be the father of Uddhava; A i

of Deva ravas, a great

scholar or i t. Deva ravas, another brother of Vasudeva, had atrughna and another son called Ekalavya, who for some cause being exposed when an infant, was found and brought up by the Nishádas, and was thence termed Nishádin. Vatsavat (Vatsabálaka) and I úsha being childless, Vasudeva gave his son Kau ika to be adopted by the former, and a gave Chá a and three others to the latter. Kanaka (Karundhaka) had two sons, Tantrija and Tantripála. Aváksrinjima ( rinjaya) had also two, Víra and

A wahanu.

The gracious amíka became as the son (although the brother) of yáma, and disdaining the joint rule which the princes of the house of Bhoja exercised, made himself paramount.

hira was his friend. The extravagant numbers of the Yádavas merely indicate that they were, as they undoubtedly were, a powerful and numerous tribe, of whom many traces exist in various parts of India.

CHAP. XVI.

Descendants of Turvasu.

PARÁ ARA.–I shall now summarily give you an account of the descendants of Turvasu.

The son of Turvasu was Vahni; his son was Gobánu; his son was Trai ámba; his son was Karandhama; his son was Marutta. Marutta had no children, and he therefore adopted Dushyanta, of the family of Puru; by which the line of Turvasu merged into that of Puru. This took place in consequence of the malediction denounced on his son by Yayáti.

Footnotes

Varga:

Bhánumat: Bhágavata, which also inserts Bhaga before

Tribhánu: Váyu. Tri ánu: Bráhma. Trai áli: Tri ári: Matsya.

Besides Bharata, who, as will be hereafter seen, was the son of Dushyanta, the Váyu, Matsya, Agni, and Bráhma Purá as enumerate several descendants in this line, for the purpose evidently of introducing, as the posterity of Turvasu, the nations of the south of India: the series is Varuttha, (Karutthama, Bráhma), Ándíra (Ákríra, Bráhma); whose

sons are Pá y

a, á a

, Chola, Kerala; the Hari V. adds Kola, and the Agni very

incorrectly Gandhára.

The curse alluded to is the failure of his line (Prajásamuchcheda), denounced upon Turvasu as the punishment of refusing to take his father’s infirmities upon He was also sentenced to rule over savages and barbarians, Mlechchhas, or people not Hindus. The Mahábhárata adds that the Yavanas sprang from Turvasu. As sovereign of the southeast, he should be the ancestor of the people of Arracan, Ava, &c.; but the authorities cited in the preceding note refer the nations of the Peninsula to him, and consequently consider them as Mlechchhas. Manu also places the Dráviras or Tamuls amongst Mlechchhas; and these and similar passages indicate a period prior to the introduction of Hinduism into the south of India.

CHAP. XVII.

Descendants of Druhyu.

THE son of Druhyu was Babhru; his son was Setu; his son was Áradwat his son was Gándhára; his son was Dharma; his son was Dhrita; his son was Duryáman; his son was Prachetas, who had a hundred sons, and they were the princes of the lawless Mlechchhas or barbarians of the north.

Footnotes

Also Áraddha in MSS., and Á a

, Matsya, which last seems to be the preferable

reading. The Váyu has Áruddha; the Bráhma, Angárasetu; but Ára acountry, contiguous to, or synonymous with, Gándhára.

is a northern

Of Gándhára it is said in the Váyu that it is a large country named after him, and is famous for its breed of horses: The Matsya reads the beginning of the second line,

shewing that Á a

and Gándhára are much the same.

The Bráhma and Hari V., in opposition to all the rest, make Dharma and his successors the descendants of Anu.

Ghrita:

Durdama: Váyu and Bhágavata. The Matsya, Bráhma, and Agni insert a Vidupa, Duduha, or Vidula, before

So the Bhágavata and The Mahábhárata says the descendants of Druhya are the Vaibhojas, a people unacquainted with the use of cars or beasts of burden, and who travel on rafts: they have no kings.

CHAP. XVIII.

Descendants of Anu. Countries and towns named after some of them, as Anga, Banga, and others.

ANU, the fourth son of Yayáti, had three sons, Sabhánara, Chákshusha, and Paramekshu. The son of the first was Kálánara; his son was rinjaya; his son was Puranjaya; his son was Janamejaya; his son was Mahámani; his son was Mahámanas, who had two sons,

U ínara and Titikshu. U ínara had five sons, ivi, E a, Gara, Krimi, Dárvan. ivi had four sons, Vrishadarbha, Suvíra, Kaikeya, and Madra. Titikshu had one son, Ushadratha; his son was Hema; his son was Sutapas; his son was Bali, on whose wife five sons were begotten by Dírghatamas, or Anga, Banga, Kalinga, Suhma, and r a; and their descendants, and the five countries they inhabited, were known by the same names.

The son of Anga was Pára; his son was Divaratha; his son was Dharmaratha; his son was Chitraratha; his son was Romapáda, also called Da aratha, to whom, being childless,

Da aratha, the son of Aja, gave his daughter ántá to be adopted. After this, Romapáda had a son named Chaturanga; his son was Prithuláksha; his son was Champa, who founded the city of Champá.

The son of Champa was Haryyanga; his son was Bhadraratha, who had two sons, Vrihatkarman and Vrihadratha. The son of the first was Vrihadbhánu; his son was Vrihanmanas; his son was Jayadratha, who, by a wife who was the daughter of a Kshatriya father and Brahmani mother, had a son named Vijaya; his son was Dhriti; his son was Dhritavrata; his son was Satyakarman; his son was Adhiratha, who found Karna in a basket on the banks of the Ganges, where he had been exposed by his mother, Pritha. The son of a was Vrishasena. These were the Anga kings. You shall next hear who were the descendants of Puru.

Footnotes

By some unaccountable caprice the Bráhma and Hari V., unsupported by any other authority, here substitute for Anu the name of Kaksheyu, a descendant of Puru, and transfer the whole series of his posterity to the house of Puru.

Paksha and Parapaksha: Váyu. Parameshu: Paroksha: Bhágavata.

Kálánala: Váyu. Koláhala:

Mahá ála: Mahá íla: Bhágav.

Nriga: Vana: Bhágavata.

Nava: ama: Bhágavata.

Vrata: Suvrata: Matsya. Daksha: Bhágavata. According to the Bráhma P. and Hari V. the five sons of U ínara were the ancestors of different tribes. ivi was the progenitor of the aivas; Nriga of the Yaudheyas; Nava of the Navará r as; Vrata of the Á has; and Krimi founded the city Krimilá.

Bhadra and Bhadraka: Matsya, These sons of ivi give name to different provinces and tribes in the west and north-west of India.

Rushadratha: Tushadratha: Matsya.

a: Sena: Matsya.

Odra, or in some copies Andhra: Bhágavata.

Of Suhma it may be remarked, that it is specified in the Siddhánta Kaumudí as an example of Paniní’s rule; 3.24; by which Nagara compounded with names of countries in the east becomes Nágara, as Sauhmanágara, ‘produced, &c. in a city of Suhma.’ The descendants of Anu, according to the Mahábhárata were all Mlechchhas. The last named work, as well as the Váyu and Matsya Purá as, have an absurd story of the circumstances of the birth of Dírghatamas, who was the son of Ujási or Utathya, the elder brother of Vrihaspati by Mamatá, and of his begetting Anga and the rest.

They agree in assigning descendants of all four castes to them; the Váyu stating that Bali had and the Matsya ascribing it to a boon given by Brahmá to Bali: ‘Do thou establish the four perpetual castes.’ Of these, the Brahmans are known as Báleyas: The Matsya calls Bali, the son of Virochana, and ‘existing for a whole Kalpa;’ identifying him therefore, only in a different period and form, with the Bali of the Vámana Avatára.

Anápána: Váyu. Khanápána: Bhágavata. Adhiváhana: Dadhivahana: Matsya.

This prince is said in the Váyu to have drank the Soma juice along with

The Matsya and Agni insert a

This is noticed in the Rámá a, in the story of the hermit Rishya ringa, to whom

ántá was given in marriage. Her adoptive father is called in the Rámá a, as the is in the Agni and Matsya, Lomapáda: the meaning is the same, ‘hairy foot.’ Rámá a, IX. X. See also Prelude to the Uttara Ráma Cheritra, Hindu Theatre, I. 289.

The Bhágavata differs here from all the other authorities in omitting Champa, the founder of Champapurí, a city of which traces still remain in the vicinity of Bhagalpur, having inserted him previously amongst the descendants of Ikshwáku. Champá is every where recognised as the capital of Anga, and the translators of the Rámá a were very wide of the truth, when they conjectured that it might be Angwa or

Vrihaddarbha: Bráhma. The Bhágavata omits the two successors of Champa, and makes Vrihadratha, Vrihatkarman, and Vrihadbhánu, sons of Prithuláksha.

The Váyu, Matsya, and Hari make Vijaya the brother of Jayadratha. The Bhágavata agrees with our text. The mother of Vijaya from her origin was of the Súta caste, the genealogist and charioteer. Manu, X. 47. Her son was of the same caste, children taking the caste of the mother: consequently the descendants of Vijaya, kings of Anga, were Sútas; and this explains the contemptuous application of the term Súta to

a, the half brother of the Pá us; for he, as p. 446 will presently be mentioned, was adopted into the Anga family, and succeeded to the crown.

Some variety prevails in the series of princes here, but this arises from not distinguishing the collateral lines, the descendants of Jayadratha from those of The Váyu and Matsya give the latter as in our text, but they agree also with the Agni and Bráhma in the successors of Jayadratha, as $ haratha or Vrihadratha, and Janamejaya or Vi wajit.

Súrasena: Váyu. a: Bráhma.

CHAP. XIX.

Descendants of Puru. Birth of Bharata, the son of Dushyanta: his sons killed: adopts Bharadwája or Vitatha. Hastin, founder of Hastinapur. Sons of Ajámí ha, and the races derived from them, as Pánchálas, &c. Kripa and Kripí found by ántanu. Descendants of Riksha, the son of Ajámí ha. Kurukshetra named from Kuru. Jarásandha and others, kings of Magadhá.

THE son of Puru was Janamejaya; his son was Práchinvat; his son was Pravíra; his son was Manasyu; his son was Bhayada; his son was Sudyumna; his son was Bahugava; his son was Samyáti; his son was Ahamyáti; his son was Raudrá wa, who had ten sons, Riteyu, Kaksheyu, i leyu, Ghriteyu, Jaleyu, Sthaleyu, Santateyu, Dhaneyu, Vaneyu, and Vrateyu. The son of Riteyu was Rantinára, whose sons were Tansu, Apratiratha, and Dhruva.

The son of the second of these was wa, and his son was Medhátithi, from whom the Ká wáyána Brahmanas descended. Anila was the son of Tansu, and he had four sons, of whom Dushyanta was the elder. The son of Dushyanta was the emperor Bharata; a verse explanatory of his name is chaunted by the gods; “The mother is only the receptacle; it is the father by whom a son is begotten. Cherish thy son, Dushyanta; treat not akuntalá with disrespect. Sons, who are born from the paternal loins, rescue their progenitors from the infernal regions. Thou art the parent of this boy; akuntalá has spoken truth.” From the expression ‘cherish,’ Bharaswa, the prince was called Bharata.

Bharata had by different wives nine sons, but they were put to death by their own mothers, because Bharata remarked that they bore no resemblance to him, and the women were afraid that he would therefore desert them. The birth of his sons being thus unavailing, Bharata sacrificed to the Maruts, and they gave him Bharadwája, the son of Vrihaspati by Mamata the wife of Utathya, expelled by the kick of Dirghatamas, his half brother, before his time.

This verse explains the purport of his appellation; “‘Silly woman,’ said Vrihaspati, ‘cherish this child of two fathers’ (bhara dwá-jam). ‘No, Vrihaspati,’ replied Mamatá, ‘do you take care of him.’ So saying, they both abandoned him; but from their expressions the boy was called Bharadwája.” He was also termed Vitatha, in allusion to the unprofitable (vitatha) birth of the sons of Bharata. The son of Vitatha was Bhavanmanyu; his sons were many, and amongst them the chief were Vrihatkshatra, Mahávíryya, Nara, and Garga. The son of Nara was Sankriti; his sons were Ruchiradhí and Rantideva. The son of Garga was Sini, and their descendants called Gárgyas and ainyas, although Kshatriyas by birth, became Brahmans.

The son of Mahávíryya was Urukshaya, who had three sons, Trayyá a, Pushkarin, and Kapi; the last of whom became a Brahman. The son of Vrihatkshatra was Suhotra, whose son was Hastin, who founded the city of Hastinápur. The sons of Hastin were Ajamí ha, Dwimí ha, and Purumí ha.

One son of Ajamí ha was wa, whose son was Medhátithi; his other son was Vrihadishu, whose son was Vrihadvasu; his son was Vrihatkarman; his son was Jayadratha; his son was Vi wajit; his son was Senajit, whose sons were Ruchirá wa,

Ká ya, $ hadhanush, and Vasahanu. The son of Ruchirá wa was Prithusena; his son was Pára; his son was Nípa; he had a hundred sons, of whom Samara, the principal, was the ruler of Kámpilya. Samara had three sons, Pára, Sampára, Sada wa.

The son of Pára was Prithu; his son was Sukriti; his son was Vibhrátra; his son was Anuha, who married Kritwí, the daughter of uka (the son of Vyása), and had by her Brahmadatta; his son was Vi waksena; his son was Udaksena; and his son was Bhallá a .

The son of Dwimí ha was Yavínara; his son was Dhritimat; his son was Satyadhriti; his son was $ hanemi; his son was Supár wa; his son was Sumati; his son was Sannatimat; his son was Krita, to whom ! yanábha taught the philosophy of the Yoga, and he compiled twenty-four Sanhitás (or compendia) for the use of the eastern Brahmans, who study the Sáma-veda.

The son of Krita was Ugráyudha, by whose prowess the Nípa race of Kshatriyas was destroyed; his son was Kshemya; his son was Suvíra; his son was Nripanjaya; his son was Bahuratha. These were all called Pauravas.

Ajamí ha had a wife called Níliní, and by her he had a son named Níla; his son was

ánti; his son was u ánti; his son was Purujánu; his son was Chakshu; his son was Haryya wa, who had five sons, Mudgala, rinjaya, Vrihadishu, Pravíra, and Kámpilya. Their father said, “These my five (pancha) sons are able (alam) to protect the countries;” and hence they were termed the Pánchálas.

From Mudgala descended the Maudgalya Brahmans: he had also a son named

Bahwa wa, who had two children, twins, a son and daughter, Divodása and Ahalyá. The son of aradwat or Gautama by Ahalyá was atánanda; his son was Satyadhriti, who was a proficient in military science. Being enamoured of the nymph Urva í, Satyadhriti was the parent of two children, a boy and a girl. ántanu, a Raja, whilst hunting, found these children exposed in a clump of long ara grass; and, compassionating their condition, took them, and brought them up.

As they were nurtured through pity (kripá), they were called Kripa and Kripí. The latter became the wife of $ a, and the mother of Aswattháman.

The son of Divodása was Mitráyu; his son was Chyavana; his son was Sudása; his son was Saudása, also called Sahadeva; his son was Somaka; he had a hundred sons, of whom Jantu was the eldest, and Prishata the youngest. The son of Prishata was Drupada;

his son was $ a

dyumna; his son was $ a

ketu.

Another son of Ajamí ha was named Riksha; his son was a; his son was Kuru, who gave his name to the holy district Kurukshetra; his sons were Sudhanush, Jahnu, Paríkshit, and many others.

The son of Sudhanush was Suhotra; his son was Chyavana; his son was Krítaka; his son was Uparichara the Vasu, who had seven children, Vrihadratha, Pratyagra, Ku ámba, Mávella, Matsya, and others.

The son of Vrihadratha was Ku ágra; his son was Rishabha; his son was Pushpavat; his son was Satyadhrita; his son was Sudhanwan; and his son was Jantu. Vrihadratha had another son, who being born in two parts, which were put together (sandhita) by a female fiend named Jará, he was denominated Jarásandha; his son was Sahadeva; his son was Somápi; his son was Sruta ravas. These were kings of Magadhá.

Footnotes

Abhayada: Váyu. Vítamaya: Vátáyudha: Matsya. Chárupáda: Bhágavata. The Mahábhárata, Ádi P., p. 136, 138, has two accounts of the descendants of Puru, differing materially in the beginning from each other, and from the lists of the Purá as. In the first, Pravíra is made the son of Puru; his son is Manasyu, who has three sons, akta, Sanhanana, and Vágmin; and there the line stops. Another son of Puru is Raudrá wa, whose sons are Richeyu and the rest, as in our text; making them the second in descent, instead of the eleventh. In the second list, the son of Puru is Janamejaya, whose successors are Práchinvat, Samyáti, Ahamyáti, arvabhauma, Jayatsena, Aváchína, Ariha, Mahábhauma, Ayutanáyin, Akrodhana, Devátithi, Ariha, Riksha, Matinára, who is therefore the fifteenth from Puru, instead of the fourth as in the first account, or the twelfth as in the text.

Dhundu: Váyu. ambhu: Sudhanwan: Bráhma.

Bahuvidha: Agni and

Sampáti:

Omitted: Váyu. Bahuvádin:

Bhadrá wa:

Rájeyu: Váyu. Richeyu: They were the sons of the Apsaras Ghritáchí: or of Misrake í: Mahábhárata. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. have very unaccountably, and in opposition to all other authorities, transferred the whole of the descendants of Anu to this family; substituting for Anu the second name in our text, Kaksheyu.

The Váyu names also ten daughters, Rudrá, údrá, Madrá, Subhágá, Amalajá, Talá, Khalá, Gopajálá, Támrarasá, and Ratnakútí; and adds that they were married to Prabhákara, a Rishi of the race of

The Bráhma P. and Hari V. have a legend of the birth of Soma, the moon, from him and one of these ten; who succeeded to the power and prerogatives of Atri. The sons of the other wives were less distinguished, but they formed families eminent amongst holy Brahmans, called Swastyátreyas.

Atimára or Atibhára: Bhágavata. Antinára: Matinára: Mahábhárata, Agni and Bráhma. According to the Matsya and Hari V. (not in the Bráhma P.), Gaurí, the daughter of this prince, was the mother of Mándhátri, of the family of Ikshwáku.

In place of these the Matsya has Amúrttirayas and Nrichandra, and there are several varieties in the In place of the first we have Vasu or Trasu, Váyu; Tansurogha, Agni; Tansurodha, Bráhma; and Sumati, Bhágavata. Pratiratha is read for the second in the Agni and Brahmá; and for the third, Suratha, Agni; Subáhu, Hari V.

Medhátithi is the author of many hymns in the Rig-veda, and we have therefore Brahmans and religious teachers descended from

Malina: Váyu. Raibhya: Bhágavata. Dharmanetra: Bráhma The Hari V. omits him, making sad blundering work of the whole passage. Thus the construction is such as to intimate that Tansu or Tansurodha had a wife named Ilá, the daughter of Medhátithi; that is, his brother’s great-granddaughter: but this, as the commentator observes, is contrary to common sense, and he would read it therefore, ‘The daughter of him who was named Ilin;’ a Raja so called: but in the Váyu and Matsya we have Iliná, the daughter of Yama, married to Tansu, and mother of Malina or Anila; more correctly perhaps Ailina.

The blunder of the Hari V. therefore arises from the compiler’s reading Yasya, ‘of whom,’ instead of Yamasya, ‘Yama.’ It is not an error of transcription, for the metre requires Yasya, and the remark of the commentator proves the correctness of the reading. The name occurs Ílina, the son of Tansu, in the Mahábhárata, agreeably to the Anuvan a

loka, which is there quoted. ‘Saraswatí bore Tansu to Matinára, and Tansu begot a son, Ílina, by Kálingí.’

The Váyu, Matsya, and Bhágavata agree with our text in making these the grandsons of Tansu: even the Bráhma concurs, but the Hari V. makes them his sons, having apparently transformed Tansosuta, the son of Tansu, into a synonyme of Tansu, or Tansurodha; as in these parallel passages: ‘The son of Tansu was the illustrious sage Dharmanetra: Upadánaví had from him four excellent sons.’ Bráhma P. ‘Tansurodha was a royal sage, the illustrious institutor of laws. Upadánaví had four sons from Tansurodha.’ Hari V.

The commentator explains Dharmanetra to be ‘institutor of laws.’ We have Upadánaví before, as the daughter of Vrishaparvan the Daitya, married to ! yáksha. Hamilton (Buchanan) calls her the wife of Sughora. The four sons are named in other authorities, with some variations: Dushyanta, Sushyanta or Rishyanta or Sumanta, Pravíra and Anagha or Naya. The Mahábhárata enumerates five, Dushyanta, úra, Bhíma, Vasu, and Pravasu, but makes them the sons of Ílina and grandsons of Tansu.

These two lokas are taken from the Mahábhárata, Ádi Parvan, 112, and are part of the testimony borne by a heavenly messenger to the birth of Bharata. They are repeated in the same book, in the account of the family of Puru, p. 139. They occur, with a slight variation of the order, in other Purá as, as the Váyu, &c., and shew the greater antiquity of the story of akuntalá, although they do not narrate it. The meaning of the name Bharata is differently explained in akuntalá; he is said to be so called from supporting’ the world: he is also there named arvadamana, ‘the conqueror of all.’

The Bráhma and Hari V., the latter especially, appear to have modified this legend, with the view perhaps of reconciling those circumstances which are related of Bharadwája as a sage with his history as a king. Whilst therefore they state that Bharadwája was brought by the winds to Bharata, they state that he was so brought to perform a sacrifice, by which a son was born, whom Bharadwája also inaugurated. In the Váyu, Matsya, and Agni, however, the story is much more consistently narrated; and Bharadwája, being abandoned by his natural parent, is brought by the winds, as a child, not as a sage; and being adopted by Bharata, is one and the same with Vitatha, as our text relates.

Thus in the Váyu, the Maruts bring to Bharata, already sacrificing for progeny, Bharadwája, the son of Vrihaspati; and Bharata receiving him, says, “This Bharadwája shall be Vitatha.” The Matsya also says, the Maruts in compassion took the child, and being pleased with Bharata’s worship, gave it to him, and he was named Vitatha. And the Agni tells the whole story in one verse: ‘Then the son of Vrihaspati, being taken by the winds; Bharadwája was transferred with sacrifice, and was Vitatha.’ The account given in the Bhágavata is to the same purpose.

The commentator on the text also makes the matter clear enough: ‘The name of Bharadwája in the condition of son of Bharata was Vitatha.’ It is clear that a new-born infant could not be the officiating priest at a sacrifice for his own adoption, whatever the compiler of the Hari Van a may please to assert. From Bharadwája, a Brahman by birth, and king by adoption, descended Brahmans and Kshatriyas, the children of two fathers: The Mahábhárata, in the Ádi Parvan, tells the story very simply. In one place, it says that Bharata, on the birth of his children proving vain, obtained from Bharadwája, by great sacrifices, a son, Bhúmanyu; and in another passage it makes Bhúmanyu the son of Bharata by Sunandá, daughter of arvasena, king of Ká í. The two are not incompatible.

Manyu: Bhágavata. Suketu: But the Bráhma and Hari V. omit this and the next generation, and make Suhotra, Anuhotra, Gaya, Garga, and Kapila the sons of Vitatha: they then assign to Suhotra two sons, Ká íka and Ghritsamati, and identify them and their descendants with the progeny of Áyu, who were kings of Ká í; a piece of confusion unwarranted by any other authority except the Agni.

Vrihat, Ahárya, Nara, Garga:

Guruvírya and Trideva: Váyu. The first is called Gurudhí, Matsya; and Guru, Bhágavata: they agree in The Bhágavata describes the great liberality of this prince, and his practice of Yoga. According to a legend preserved in the Megha Duta, his sacrifices of kine were so numerous, that their blood formed the river Charmanvatí, the modern Chambal.

ivi:

The other authorities concur in this statement; thus furnishing an additional instance of one caste proceeding from No reason is assigned: the commentator says it was from some cause.

Durbhakshaya: Váyu. Urukshat: Duritakshaya: Bhágavata.

Trayyá i, Pushkará i, Kavi; all became Brahmans: Matsya: and there were three chief branches of the Kávyas, or descendants of Kavi; Gargas, Sankritis, and Kávyas.

In the Mahábhárata, Suhotra is the son of Bhúmanyu; and in one place the father of Ajamí ha, &c., and in another of The Bráhma P. in some degree, and the Hari Van a in a still greater, have made most extraordinary confusion in the instance of this name.

In our text and in all the best authorities we have three Suhotras, perfectly distinct: 1. Suhotra great-grandson of Amávasu, father of Jahnu, and ancestor of Viswámitra and the Kau ikas; 2. Suhotra son of Kshatravriddha, and grandson of Ayus, and progenitor of the race of Ká í kings; and 3. Suhotra the son of Vrihatkshatra, grandson of Vitatha, and parent of Hastin. In the two blundering compilations mentioned, we have, first (Hari V. c. 20), a Suhotra son of Vrihatkshatra, of the race of Puru; his descent is not given, but, from the names which follow Suhotra, the dynasty is that of our present text: secondly (Hari V. c. 27), Suhotra son of Kánchana, of the line of Amávasu, and father of Jahnu,

&c.: thirdly (Hari V. c. 29), Suhotra the son of Kshatravriddha, and progenitor of the Ká í kings: fourthly (Hari V. 32), we have the first and third of these personages confounded; Suhotra is made the son of Vitatha, and progenitor of the Ká í kings, the dynasty of whom is repeated; thus connecting them with the line of Puru instead of Áyus, in opposition to all authority.

Again, we have a notable piece of confusion, and Suhotra the son of Vitatha is made the father of Vrihat, the father of the three princes who in our text and in the Hari V. (c. 20) are the sons of Hastin; and amongst whom Ajamí ha is made the father of Jahnu, and ancestor of the Kau ikas, instead of being, as in c. 27, and as every where else, of the family of Amávasu. The source of all this confusion is obvious. The compilers extracted all the authentic traditions accurately enough, but, puzzled by the identity of name, they have also mixed the different accounts together, and caused very absurd and needless perplexity. It is quite clear also that the Hari Vanua does not deserve the pains taken, and taken fruitlessly, by Mr. Hamilton and M. Langlois to reduce it to consistency.

It is of no weight whatever as an authority for the dynasties of kings, although it furnishes some particular details, which it has picked up possibly from authentic sources not now available.

It was finally ruined by the encroachments of the Ganges, but vestiges of it were, at least until lately, to be traced along the river, nearly in a line with Delhi, about sixty miles to the

In one place, son of Suhotra; in another, grandson of Hastin: Mahábhárata.

The copies agree in this reading, yet it can scarcely be wa has already been noticed as the son of Apratiratha. According to the Bhágavata, the elder son of Ajamí ha was Priyamedhas, from whom a tribe of Brahmans descended. The Matsya has Vrihaddhanush, and names the wife of Ajamí ha, Dhúminí. It also however, along with the Váyu, makes wa the son of Ajamí ha by his wife Kesiní.

Vrihaddhanush: Bhágavata. Also called Vrihaddharman: Hari

Vrihatkaya: Bhágavata.

Satyajit: Hari

A wajit: Vi ada: Bhágavata. 31.

Bhágavata. Matsya. Hari V.

Ruchirá wa Ruchirá wa Ruchira Ká ya Ká ya wetaketu

$ hahanu $ há wa Mahimnára

Vatsa Vatsa k. of Avanti.

Vatsa k. of Avanti.

Kámpilya appears to be the Kampil of the Mohammedans, situated in the It was included in southern Pánchála. The Matsya makes Samara the son of Ká ya.

Vibhrája in MSS., also in the Váyu.

The Bhágavata omits the descents subsequent to Nípa, and makes Brahmadatta the son of Nípa by In the Hari V. is a curious legend of the different transmigrations of Brahmadatta and his six companions, who were successively as many Brahmans, then foresters, then p. 453 deer, then water-fowl, then swans, and finally Brahmans again, when with the king they obtained liberation. According to the Bhágavata, Brahmadatta composed a treatise on the Yoga, a Yoga tantra.

$ asena: Hari

Bhalláka: Váyu. Bhalláda: Bhágavata. The Váyu makes him the last of the The Hari V. adds that he was killed by a. The Matsya names his successor Janamejaya, when the race of the Nípas was exterminated by Ugráyudha; as noticed below.

So the Váyu and Bhágavata. The Matsya and Hari , with less consistency, derive this family also from Ajamí ha.

Kritimat: Bhágavata.

Between these two the Váyu inserts Mahat and The Matsya, Sudhanwan, arvabhauma, Mahápaurava, and Rukmadhara. The Bráhma P., Sudharman,

arvabhauma, Mahat, and Rukmaratha.

The Bhágavata says he was the author of six Sanhitás of the Sáma-veda.

The Hari says he killed Nípa, the grandfather of Prishata, but it had previously

stated that it was the son of Bhallá a

, several descents after Nípa, who was killed by

Ugráyudha: and again (c. 32), Prishata, conformably to other authorities, appears as the father of Drupada, in the family of rinjaya. The Hari V. relates the destruction of Ugráyudha by Bhíshma, in consequence of his demanding in marriage the widow of

ántanu: after which, Prishata, it is said, recovered possession of Kámpilya.

Puranjaya: Bhágavata.

Purujáti: Váyu. Puruja: Bhágavata. The Bráhma and Hari V. omit Níla and ánti.

Riksha: Váyu. Prithu: Arka: Bhágavata. Omitted: Bráhma.

Báhyáswa: Bhadrá wa: Mats. Bharmyaswa: Bhágavata.

Jaya: Sanjaya: Bhágavata.

Yavínara: Agni and Bhágavata. Javínara:

Kapila: Krimilá wa: Bráhma.

Pánchála was at first the country north and west of Delhi, between the foot of the Himálaya and the It was afterwards divided into northern and southern Pánchála, separated by the Ganges. Mákandi on the Ganges and Kámpilya were the chief cities of the latter; Ahikshetra in the former. The Pánchálas, according to the Mahábhárata, expelled a from Hastinápur, but it was recovered by Kuru. The purport of the term Pánchála is similarly explained in other Purá as. In the Mahábhárata they are the grandsons of Ajamí ha.

The Matsya says that they, as well as the Ká was, were all followers or partisans of Angiras: The Hari has nearly the same words.

Badhryá wa: Váyu. Panchá wa: Bandhyá wa: Matsya. Bhármya: Bhágavata. But there is some indistinctness as to his descent. The Matsya and Hari V. give the son of Mudgala only his patronymic Maudgalya. According to the first, his son was Indrasena; and his son, Bandhyá wa. The second makes Badhryá wa the son of Maudgalya by Indrasena. The Bhágavata makes Bhármya, the patronymic of Mudgala, the son of Bharmyá wa, and who is the father of Divodása and Ahalyá.

In the Rá a, atánanda appears as the family priest of Janaka, the father of ítá.

From whom the Maitreya Brahmans were descended: Hari In the Matsya and Agni the son of Mitráyu is called Maitreya. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. here close the lineage of Divodása: the Agni adds but one name, Somápi. They then proceed with the descendants of rinjaya, one of the Pánchálas, or Panchadhanush, Somadatta, Sahadeva, and then as in our text. The Váyu and Bhágavata agree with the latter in making the line continuous from Divodása. According to the Matsya and Bráhma P. the race of Ajamí ha became extinct in the person of Sahadeva, but Ajamí ha himself was reborn as Somaka, in order to continue his lineage, which was thence called the Somaka family.

It was in the reign of Drupada that the possessions of the Pánchálas were divided; $ a,

assisted by the Pá a

vas, conquering the country, and ceding the southern portion again

to Drupada, as related in the Mahábhárata. The two princes last named in the list figure in the great war.

The Hari gives him two brothers, Dhú a and Sudar ana. In the Mahábhárata one list agrees with the text; the other calls a the son of Ajamí ha by his wife Rikshá.

One other is named in the Bhágavata, Matsya, Bráhma, and Agni; Animejaya, Arimarddana, and Nishadhá The Hari V. has Sudhanwat in place of Jahnu; having also Sudhanush.

Krita: Váyu. Kritayajna: Bráhma. Krimi: Kriti: Bhágavata.

The story of Uparichara, or a Vasu who by command of Indra became king of Chedi, is told in the Mahábhárata, Ádi Parvan (vol. p. 85). He is there said to have at first five sons, Vrihadratha, king of Magadhá, Pratyagra, Ku ámba, also called Maniváhana, Mávella, and Yadu, by his wife Giriká; afterwards he has, by Adriká, an Apsaras condemned to the form of a fish, Matsya a son, and Satyavatí or Kálí a daughter: the latter was the mother of Vyása. The same legend is referred to in the accounts of Uparichara and his family in the Bhágavata, Matsya, Hari V., &c.

Vrishabha:

Satyahita: Váyu. Satyahita: Bhágavata. Satyadhrita or Pushya:

This story is told in the 16th section of the Sabhá Parvan of the Mahábhárata, where also he is called the son of In the Váyu he is the son of Satyahita. The Agni has Satyahita, Urjja, Sambhava, Jarásandha; and the Matsya, Satyadhrita, Dhanusha,

arva, Sambhava, Jarásandha.

Somádhi: Váyu. Udápi: Udáyus: Bráhma. Somavit: Matsya.

rutakarman: ruta arman Bráhma.

CHAP. XX.

Descendants of Kuru. Devápi abdicates the throne: assumed by ántanu: he is confirmed by the Brahmans: Bhíshma his son by Gangá: his other sons. Birth of Dhritará r a,

Pá u, and Vidura. The hundred sons of Dhritará r a. The five sons of Pá u: married to Draupadí: their posterity. Paríkshit, the grandson of Arjuna, the reigning king.

PARÍKSHIT, the son of Kuru, had four sons, Janamejaya, rutasena, Ugrasena, and Bhímasena. The son of Jahnu was Suratha; his son was Vidúratha; his son was Sárvabhauma; his son was Jayasena Árávin; his son was Ayutáyus; his son was Akrodhana; one of his sons was Devatithi, and another was called Riksha; his son was Dilípa; his son was Pratípa, who had three sons, Devápi, ántanu, and Báhlíka.

The first adopted in childhood a forest life, and ántanu became king. Of him this verse is spread through the earth; ” ántanu is his name, because if he lays his hands upon an old man, he restores him to youth, and by him men obtain tranquillity ( ánti).”

In the kingdom over which ántanu ruled there was no rain for twelve years. Apprehensive that the country would become a desert, the king assembled the Brahmans, and asked them why no rain fell, and what fault he had committed. They told him that he was as it were a younger brother married before an elder, for he was in the enjoyment of the earth, which was the right of his elder brother Devápi. “What then am I to do?” said the Rájá: to which they replied, “Until the gods shall be displeased with Devápi, by his declining from the path of righteousness, the kingdom is his, and to him therefore you should resign it.”

When the minister of the king, Asmarisárin, heard this, he collected a number of ascetics who taught doctrines opposed to those of the Vedas, and sent them into the forest; where meeting with Devápi, they perverted the understanding of the simple-minded prince, and led him to adopt heretical notions. In the meantime, ántanu being much distressed to think that he had been guilty of the offence intimated by the Brahmans, sent them before him into the woods, and then proceeded thither himself, to restore the kingdom to his elder brother.

When the Brahmans arrived at the hermitage of Devápi, they informed him, that, according to the doctrines of the Vedas, succession to a kingdom was the right of the elder brother: but he entered into discussion with them, and in various ways advanced arguments which had the defect of being contrary to the precepts of the Vedas.

When the Brahmans heard this, they turned to ántanu, and said, “Come hither, Rájá; you need give yourself no further trouble in this matter; the dearth is at an end: this man is fallen from his state, for he has uttered words of disrespect to the authority of the eternal, untreated Veda; and when the elder brother is degraded, there is no sin in the prior espousals of his junior.”

ántanu thereupon returned to his capital, and administered the government as before; and his elder brother Devápi being degraded from his caste by repeating doctrines contrary to the Vedas, Indra poured down abundant rain, which was followed by plentiful harvests.

The son of Báhlíka was Somadatta, who had three sons, Bhúri, Bhúri ravas, and ala.

The son of ántanu was the illustrious and learned Bhíshma, who was born to him by the holy river-goddess, Gangá; and he had by his wife Satyavatí two sons, Chitrángada and Vichitravíryya. Chitrángada, whilst yet a youth, was killed in a conflict with a Gandharba, also called Chitrángada. Vichitravíryya married Ambá and Ambaliká, the daughters of the king of Ká í; and indulging too freely in connubial rites, fell into a consumption, of which he died.

By command of Satyavatí, my son a-dwaipáyana, ever obedient to his mother’s wishes, begot upon the widows of his brother the princes Dhritará r a and Pá u, and upon a female servant, Vidura. Dhritará r a had Duryodhana, Duhsá ana, and other

sons, to the cumber of a hundred. Pá u

having incurred the curse of a deer, whose mate

he had killed in the chase, was deterred from procreating children; and his wife Kuntí, bare to him in consequence three sons, who were begotten by the deities Dharma, Váyu, and Indra; namely, hira, Bhíma, and Arjuna: and his wife Mádrí had two sons, Nakula and Sahadeva, by the celestial sons of A winí.

These had each a son by Draupadí. The son of hira was Prativindhya; of Bhíma,

rutasoma; of Arjuna, rutakírtti; of Nakula, atáníka; and of Sahadeva, rutakarman.

The Pá a

vas had also other sons. By his wife Yaudheyí, hira had Devaka.

The son of Bhíma by ! i mbá was I otkacha, and he had also Sarvatraga by his wife Ká í. The son of Sahadeva by Vijayá was Suhotra; and Niramitra was the son of Nakula by umatí. Arjuna had Irávat by the serpent-nymph Ulupí; Babhruváhana, who was adopted as the son of his maternal grandfather, by the daughter of the king of Manipura; and, by his wife Subhadrá Abhimanyu, who even in extreme youth was renowned for his valour and his strength, and crushed the chariots of his foes in fight.

The son of Abhimanyu by his wife Uttará was Paríkshit, who, after the Kurus were all destroyed, was killed in his mother’s womb by the magic Bráhma weapon, hurled by Aswattháman: he was however restored to life by the clemency of that being whose feet receive the homage of all the demons and the gods, and who for his own pleasure had assumed a human shape ( a). This prince, Paríkshit, now reigns over the whole world with undivided sway.

Footnotes

This, although it occurs in other authorities, appears to be an error, for these are the sons of a subsequent Paríkshit. The Matsya omits Paríkshit here, and the Bhágavata states that he had no In most of the Purá as, however, the line of Paríkshit is continued, but there is very great confusion in the lineage. According to the Váyu, Janamejaya was the son of Paríkshit, whose son was rutasena, whose son was Bhímasena. Janamejaya had also a son named Suratha; but Suratha was also the name of the son of Jahnu, from whom the line continues as in the text. The Bráhma P. and Hari V. also make Suratha the son both of Janamejaya and of Jahnu; and they observe that there are two Rikshas, two Paríkshits, three Bhímasenas, and two Janamejayas, in the lunar race. Some of the confusion probably originates with the Mahábhárata, which, as before noticed, gives two lists from Puru to ántanu, differing from one another and from all the lists of the Purá as.

In the first of these lists such collateral names have been retained as appear to have furnished our text and that of other Purá as with distinct persons: thus making the members of one fraternity so many descents. Of the two lists, however, the second is probably to be regarded as the more recent, if not more correct; for Vai ámpáyana repeats it at Janamejaya’s request, because the latter is not satisfied with the summary account which the former had first communicated to him. Mahábh. vol. I, p. 136 and p. 138.

The Mahábhárata merely states that Devápi retired to a religious The story of his heresy is narrated, much as in the text, in the Bhágavata, Váyu, &c. The Matsya adds, that he was also leprous; on which account his subjects contemned him. p. 459 He was probably set aside in favour of his younger brother, either on that account or on that of his heresy; such a disposition being conformable to Hindu law.

According to the Bhágavata and Matsya he is still alive at a place called Kalápa gráma, where, in the Krita age of the next Maháyuga, he will be the restorer of the Kshatriya race.

The Matsya says that Báhlíka had a hundred sons or lords of the Bahlíkas.

Before her marriage to ántanu, Satyavatí had a son, a-dwaipáyana or Vyása, by Pará ara: he was therefore the half brother of Vichitravíryya, and legally qualified to raise up offspring to him by his This law is abrogated in the present age. The whole story of the sons of ántanu is told at length in the Mahábhárata.

The Mahábhárata names some of them rather differently, and adds some Thus Yaudheya was the son of hira by his wife Deviká, daughter of Govásana of the aivya tribe. The son of Bhímasena was Sarvaga, by Balandhará, princess of Ká í; he had also I okkacha by ! i mbá. Abhimanyu was the p. 460 son of Arjuna by Subhadrá. The wives and sons of the other two are the same, but umatí is termed a princess of Chedí, and Vijayá of Madra.

In the details immediately preceding, the Purá as generally concur, deriving them probably from the same source, the Ádi Parvan of the Mahábhárata, and employing very frequently the same The period at which the chapter closes is supposed to be that at which the Vyása, who arranged or compiled the Purá as, is believed to have flourished. Paríkshit died of the bite of a snake, according to the Mahábhárata, Ádi P. The Bhágavata is supposed to have been narrated to him in the interval between the bite and its fatal effect.

CHAP. XXI.

Future kings. Descendants of Paríkshit, ending with Kshemaka.

I WILL now enumerate the kings who, will reign in future periods. The present monarch, Paríkshit, will have four sons, Janamejaya, rutasena, Ugrasena, and Bhímasena. The son of Janamejaya will be atáníka, who will study the Vedas under Yájnyawalkya, and military science with Kripa; but becoming dissatisfied with sensual enjoyments, he will acquire spiritual knowledge from the instructions of aunaka, and ultimately obtain salvation. His son will be Aswamedhadatta (a son given by the gods in reward for the sacrifice of a horse); his son will be Asíma- a; his son will be Nichakra, who will remove the capital to Kau ámbí, in consequence of Hastinápura being washed away by the Ganges; his son will be R a; his son will be Chitraratha; his son will be

imat; his son will be a; his son will be Sunítha; his son will be Richa; his son will be Nrichakshu; his son will be Sukhíhala; his son will be Pariplava; his son will be Sunaya; his son will be Medhávin; his son will be Nripanjaya; his son will be Mridu; his son will be Tigma; his son will be Vrihadratha; his son will be Vasudána; and his son will be another atáníka; his son will be Udayana; his son will be Ahínara; his son will be

apán his son will be Niramitra; his son will be Kshemaka: of him this verse is recited; “The race which gave origin to Brahmans and Kshatriyas, and which was purified by regal sages, terminated with Kshemaka; in the Kali age.”

Footnotes

The style now adopted is that of prophecy, as Vyása could not consistently have recorded the events which were posterior to his

Also read Paríkshita, Paríksha, and Paríkshi.

The Váyu and Matsya relate, rather obscurely, a dispute between Janamejaya and Vai ampáyana, in consequence of the former’s patronage of the Brahmans of the Vájasaneyi branch of the Yajur-veda, in opposition to the latter, who was the author of the black or original Janamejaya twice performed the A wamedha according to

the Vájasaneyi ritual, and established the Trisarví, or use of certain texts by A maka and others, by the Brahmans of Anga, and by those of the middle country. He perished however in consequence, being cursed by Vai ampáyana. Before their disagreement, Vai ampáyana related the Mahábhárata to Janamejaya. Mahábh., Adi Parvan.

The reading of the text is rather, ‘his (Paríkshit’s) other son will be atáníka;’ but the commentator refers ‘his’ to The Váyu, Matsya, and Bhágavata also make

atáníka the son of Janamejaya. The Bráhma P. has a totally different series, or Paríkshit,

Súryá a

, Chandrá a

, Janamejaya, a, J a, Sukumára, and Aja yáma.

The Bhágavata interposes Sahasráníka. The Vrihatkathá has the same descent, but calls the son of Sahasráníka, Udayana or The Bhágavata has A wamedhaja.

Adhisáma : Váyu. Adhisoma k.: Matsya. The former states that the Váyu P. was narrated in this king’s reign, in the second year of a three years’ sacrifice at Kurukshetra.

Nemichakra: Bhágav. Vichakshus: They agree with the text as to the removal of the capital, and the cause.

Ukta: Bhág. Bhú & ha:

Suchidratna, Váyu; Suchidrava,; Kaviratha, Bhág.; is interposed between Chitraratha and Vrishnímat.

Sutírtha: Váyu.

Ruchi: Váyu. Omitted: and Bhág.

Chitráksha: Váyu.

Sukhínala: Bhág.

Sutapas:

Puranjaya:

Úrva: Dúrva: Bhág.

Tigmátman: Timi: Bhágavata.

Sudása: Bhág. Vasudáman:

The Matsya concurs with the text (see above, note 5); the Bhágavata has

Vahínara: Bhág.

$ apáni: Bhág., Váyu,

Nimi: Bhág.

Kshepaka: Váyu.

The same memorial verse is quoted in the Matsya and Váyu, preceded by one which states the number of princes twenty-five. The specification however, commencing with atáníka, is twenty-six or twenty-seven.

CHAP. XXII.

Future kings of the family of Ikshwáku, ending with Sumitra.

I WILL now repeat to you the future princes of the family of Ikshwáku.

The son of Vrihadbala will be a; his son will be Urukshepa; his son will be Vatsa; his son will be Vatsavyúha; his son will be Prativyoman; his son will be Divákara; his son will be Sahadeva; his son will be Vrihada wa; his son will be Bhánuratha; his son will be Supratítha; his son will be Marudeva; his son will be Sunakshatra; his son will be Kinnara; his son will be Antaríksha; his son will be Suvarna; his son will be Amitrajit; his son will be Vrihadrája; his son will be Dharman; his son will be Kritanjaya; his son will be anjaya; his son will be Sanjaya; his son will be ákya; his son will be uddhodana; his son will be Rátula; his son will be Prasenajit; his son will be Kshudraka; his son will be aka; his son will be Suratha; his son will be Sumitra. These are the kings of the family of Ikshwáku, descended from Vrihadbala. This commemorative verse is current concerning them; “The race of the descendants of Ikshwáku will terminate with Sumitra: it will end in the Kali age with him.”

Footnotes

Vrihadratha: Váyu,

Vrihatkshaya: Váyu. a: Bhág. Omitted:

Omitted: Váyu. Urukshaya: Urukriya: Bhág.

Omitted by all

Vatsavriddha: Bhág.

Prativyúha: Váyu.

The Bhágavata inserts Bhánu. The Matsya says that Ayodhyá was the capital of Divákara. The Váyu omits the next twelve names; probably a defect in the

Dhruvá wa:

Bhánumat: Bhág. Bhávyaratha or Bhávya:

Pratiká wa: Bhág. Pratípá wa:

The Bhágavata and Matsya prefix a Supratípa or Supratíka.

Pushkara: Bhág.

Suparvan or Sumantra: Sutapas: Bhág.

Amantravit:

Vrihadbrája: Bhág,

Omitted: Varhish: Bhág.

The Bhágavata and Váyu have ákya. My copy of the Matsya has ádhya, but the Radcliffe , more correctly, no doubt, akya.

In some copies Krodhodana; but it is also uddhodana, and Váyu; uddhoda, Bhág.

Ráhula: Váyu. Siddhártha or Pushkala: Lángala: Bhág. This and the two preceding names are of considerable chronological interest; for ákya is the name of the author or reviver of Buddhism, whose birth appears to have occurred in the seventh, and death in the sixth century before Christ (B. C. 621-543). There can be no doubt of the individual here intended, although he is out of his place, for he was the son, not the father, of uddhodana, and the father of Ráhula; as he is termed in the Amara p. 464 and Haima Koshas, audhodani or uddhodana suta the son of uddhodana, and Ráhulasú the parent of Ráhula: so also in the Maháwan o, Siddhártha or ákya is the son of

uddhodano, and father of Ráhulo. Turnour’s translation, p. 9. Whether they are rightly included amongst the princes of the race of Ikshwáku is more questionable; for

uddhodana is usually described as a petty prince, whose capital was not Ayodhyá, but Kapila or Kapilavastu.

the same time it appears that the provinces of the Doab had passed into the possession of princes of the lunar line, and the children of the sun may have been reduced to the country north of the Ganges, or the modern Gorakhpur, in which Kapila was situated.

The Buddhists do usually consider their teacher ákya to be descended from Ikshwáku. The chronology is less easily adjusted, but it is not altogether incompatible. According to the lists of the text, ákya, as the twenty-second of the line of Ikshwáku, is cotemporary with Ripunjaya, the twenty-second and last of the kings of Magadhá, of the family of Jarásandha; but, agreeably to the Buddhist authorities, he was the friend of Bimbasára, a king who in the Paurá ik list appears to be the fifth of the ai unága dynasty, and tenth from Ripunjaya.

The same number of princes does not necessarily imply equal duration of dynasty, and Ikshwáku’s descendants may have outlasted those of Jarásandha; or, as is more likely–for the dynasty was obscure, and is evidently imperfectly preserved–several descents may have been omitted, the insertion of which would reconcile the Paurá ik lists with those of the Buddhists, and bring ákya down to the age of Bimbasára. It is evident, from what

occurs in other authorities, that the Aikshwákava princes are regarded as cotemporaries even of the ai unága dynasty: see c. 24. n. 17.

Kshulika: Váyu. Kulaka or Kshullaka: Omitted: Bhág. In the Mahávíra Charitra, a work written by the celebrated Hemachandra, in the twelfth century, we have a Prasenajit, king of Magadhá, residing at Rajgriha, succeeded by reníka, and he by Kúlika. The Bauddhas have a Prasenajit cotemporary with ákya, son of Mahápadma, king of Magadhá. There is some confusion of persons either in the Paurá ik genealogies or in the Buddhist and Jain traditions, but they agree in bringing the same names together about the same period.

Omitted: Bhág.

The Váyu and Bhágavata have the same We have here twenty-nine or thirty princes of the later solar line, cotemporary with the preceding twenty-six or twenty-seven of the later dynasty of the moon.

CHAP. XXIII.

Future kings of Magadhá: descendants of Vrihadratha.

I WILL now relate to you the descendants of Vrihadratha, who will be the kings of Magadhá. There have been several powerful princes of this dynasty, of whom the most celebrated was Jarásandha; his son was Sahadeva; his son is Somápi; his son will be

rutavat; his son will be Ayutáyus; his son will be Niramitra; his son will be Sukshatra; his son will be Vrihatkarman; his son will be Senajit; his son will be rutanjaya; his son will be Vipra; his son will be uchi; his son will be Kshemya; his son will be Suvrata; his son will be Dharma; his son will be Su uma; his son will be $ hasena; his son will be Sumati; his son will be Suvala; his son will be Suníta; his son will be Satyajit; his son will be Vi wajit; his son will be Ripunjaya. These are the Várhadrathas, who will reign for a thousand years.

Footnotes

Somádhi; Váyu, Matsya: and they now affect greater precision, giving the years of the Somádhi 58, V.; 50, M.

ruta ravas, 67 V.; 64, M,

36 V.; Apratípa, 26, M. 4. 100 yrs. V.; 40, M.
8 V.; 56, M.; Sunakshatra, Bhág.

23 V. and M.; Vrihatsena, Bhág.

23 V.; 50, M.; Karmajit, Bhág.

40 V. and M.

Mahábala, 25 V.; Vidhu, 28, M. 10. 58 yrs. V.; 64, M.
28 yrs. V. and M. 12. 60 yrs. V.; 64, M.
5 V.; Sunetra, 35, M.; Dharmanetra, Bhág.

38 V.; Nivritti, 58, M.; Sama, Bhag.

48 V.; Trinetra, 28, M.; Dyumatsena, Bhág.

33 V.; Mahatsena, 48, M.

22 V.; Netra, 33, M.

40 V.; Abala, 32, M.

80 V.; omitted, M.

35 V.; omitted, M.

50 V. and M.; Puranjaya and Vi wajit are identified, Bhág.

Our list and that of the Váyu specifies twenty-one kings after Sahadeva: the Bhágavata specifies twenty, and in another passage states that to be the My copy of the Matsya names but nineteen, and the Radcliffe but twelve; but both agree in making the total thirty-two. They all concur with the text also in stating that 1000 years had elapsed from the great war, at the death of the last Várhadratha prince; and this is more worthy of credit than the details, which are obviously imperfect.

CHAP. XXIV.

Future kings of Magadhá. Five princes of the line of Pradyota. Ten ai unágas. Nine Nandas. Ten Mauryas. Ten ungas. Four was. Thirty Ándhrabhrityas. Kings of various tribes and castes, and periods of their rule. Ascendancy of barbarians. Different races in different regions. Period of universal iniquity and decay. Coming of u as Kalki. Destruction of the wicked, and restoration of the practices of the Vedas. End of the Kali, and return of the Krita, age. Duration of the Kali. Verses chanted by Earth, and communicated by Asita to Janaka. End of the fourth book.

THE last of the Vríhadratha dynasty, Ripunjaya, will have a minister named Sunika, who having killed his sovereign, will place his son Pradyota upon the throne: his son will be Pálaka; his son will be Vi ákhayúpa; his son will be Janaka; and his son will be Nandivarddhana. These five kings of the house of Pradyota will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-eight years.

The next prince will be i unaga; his son will be Ká a; his son will be Kshemadharman; his son will be Kshatraujas; his son will be Vidmisára; his son will be Ájáta atru; his son will be Dharbaka; his son will be Udayá wa; his son will also be Nandivarddhana; and his son will be Mahánandi. These ten ai unágas will be kings of the earth for three hundred and sixty-two years.

The son of Mahánanda will be born of a woman of the údra or servile class; his name will be Nanda, called Mahápadma, for he will be exceedingly avaricious. Like another Para uráma, he will be the annihilator of the Kshatriya race; for after him the kings of the earth will be údras. He will bring the whole earth under one umbrella: he will have eight sons, Sumálya and others, who will reign after Mahápadma; and he and his sons will govern for a hundred years. The Brahman ilya will root out the nine Nandas

Upon the cessation of the race of Nanda, the Mauryas will possess the earth, for A i lya will place Chandragupta on the throne: his son will be Vindusára; his son will be

A okavarddhana; his son will be Suya as; his son will be Da aratha; his son will be Sangata; his son will be áli úka; his son will be Soma armman; his son will be

Sa adharman; and his successor will be Vrihadratha. These are the ten Mauryas, who will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-seven years.

The dynasty of the ungas will next become possessed of the sovereignty; for Pushpamitra, the general of the last Maurya prince, will put his master to death, and ascend the throne: his son will be Agnimitra; his son will be & ha; his son will be Vasumitra; his son will be Árdraka; his son will be Pulindaka; his son will be Ghoshavasu; his son will be Vajramitra; his son will be Bhágavata; his son will be Devabhúti. These are the ten ungas, who will govern the kingdom for a hundred and twelve years.

Devabhúti, the last unga prince, being addicted to, immoral indulgences, his minister, the wa named Vasudeva will murder him, and usurp the kingdom: his son will be Bhúmimitra; his son will be Nárá a; his son will be Su arman. These four Ká was will be kings of the earth for forty-five years.

Su arman the Ká wa will be killed by a powerful servant named ipraka, of the Ándhra tribe, who will become king, and found the Ándhrabhritya dynasty: he will be succeeded by his brother a; his son will be rí á i; his son will be Púrnotsanga; his son will be á i (2nd); his son will be Lambodara; his son will be Ivílaka; his son will

be Meghaswáti; his son will be Patumat; his son will be a

karman; his son will be

Hála; his son will be Tálaka; his son will be Pravilasena; his son will be Sundara, named

á i; his son will be Chakora á i; his son will be ivaswáti; his son will be Gomatiputra; his son will be Pulimat; his son will be iva rí á i; his son will be

ivaskandha; his son will be Yajna rí; his son will be Vijaya; his son will be Chandra rí; his son will be Pulomárchish. These thirty Andhrabhritya kings will reign four hundred and fifty-six years.

After these, various races will reign, as seven Ábhíras, ten Garddhabas, sixteen akas,

eight Yavanas, fourteen Tusháras, thirteen % a

s, eleven Maunas, altogether seventy-

nine princes, who will be sovereigns of the earth for one thousand three hundred and ninety years; and then eleven Pauras will be kings for three hundred years. When they are destroyed, the Kailakila Yavanas will be kings; the chief of whom will be Vindhya akti; his son will be Puranjaya; his son will be Rámachandra; his son will be Adharma, from whom will be Varánga, Kritanandana, udhinandi, Nandiya as, i uka, and Pravíra; these will rule for a hundred and six years. From them will proceed thirteen sons; then three Báhlíkas, and Pushpamitra, and umitra, and others, to the number of thirteen, will rule over Mekala.

There will be nine kings in the seven Koalas, and there will be as many Naishadha princes.

In Magadhá a sovereign named Vi J i ka will establish other tribes; he will extirpate the Kshatriya or martial race, and elevate fishermen, barbarians, and Brahmans, and other castes, to power. The nine Nágas will reign in Padmávati, Kántipuri, and Mathurá; and the Guptas of Magadhá along the Ganges to Prayága. A prince named Devarakshita will reign, in a city on the sea shore, over the Ko alas, L r as, r as, and Támraliptas. The Guhas will possess Kálinga, Máhihaka, and the mountains of Mahendra. The race of % idhanu will occupy the countries of the Nishádas, Naimishikas, and Kálatoyas.

The people called Kanakas will possess the Amazon country, and that called Múshika. Men of the three tribes, but degraded, and Ábhíras and údras, will occupy aurá r a, Avanti, úra, Arbuda, and Marubhúmi: and údras, outcastes, and barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, Dárvika, the Chandrabhágá, and Káshmir.

These will all be contemporary monarchs, reigning over the earth; kings of churlish spirit, violent temper, and ever addicted to falsehood and wickedness. They will inflict death on women, children, and cows; they will seize upon the property of their subjects; they will be of limited power, and will for the most part rapidly rise and fall; their lives will be short, their desires insatiable, and they will display but little piety.

The people of the various countries intermingling with them will follow their example, and the barbarians being powerful in the patronage of the princes, whilst purer tribes are neglected, the people will perish. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until the world will be wholly depraved. Then property alone will confer rank; wealth will be the only source of devotion; passion will be the sole bond of union between the sexes; falsehood will be the only means of success in litigation; and women will be objects merely of sensual gratification.

Earth will be venerated but for its mineral treasures; the Brahmanical thread will constitute a Brahman; external types (as the staff and red garb) will be the only distinctions of the several orders of life; dishonesty will be the universal means of subsistence; weakness will be the cause of dependance; menace and presumption will be substituted for learning; liberality will be devotion; simple ablution will be purification; mutual assent will be marriage; fine clothes will be dignity; and water afar off will be esteemed a holy spring.

Amidst all castes he who is the strongest will reign over a principality thus vitiated by many faults. The people, unable to bear the heavy burdens imposed upon them by their avaricious sovereigns, will take refuge amongst the valleys of the mountains, and will be glad to feed upon wild honey, herbs, roots, fruits, flowers, and leaves: their only covering will be the bark of trees, and they will be exposed to the cold, and wind, and sun, and rain. No man’s life will exceed three and twenty years. Thus in the Kali age shall decay constantly proceed, until the human race approaches its annihilation.

When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon earth: he will be born in the family of uya as, an eminent Brahman of Sambhala village, as Kalki, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties. By his irresistible might he will destroy all the Mlechchhas and thieves, and all whose minds are devoted to iniquity.

He will then reestablish righteousness upon earth; and the minds of those who live at the end of the Kali age shall be awakened, and shall be as pellucid as crystal. The men who are thus changed by virtue of that peculiar time shall be as the seeds of human beings, and shall give birth to a race who shall follow the laws of the Krita age, or age of purity. As it is said; “When the sun and moon, and the lunar asterism Tishya, and the planet Jupiter, are in one mansion, the Krita age shall return.”

Thus, most excellent Muni, the kings who are past, who are present, and who are to be, have been enumerated. From the birth of Paríkshit to the coronation of Nanda it is to be known that 1015 years have elapsed. When the two first stars of the seven Rishis (the great Bear) rise in the heavens, and some lunar asterism is seen at night at an equal distance between them, then the seven Rishis continue stationary in that conjunction for a hundred years of men. At the birth of Paríkshit they were in Maghá, and the Kali age then commenced, which consists of 1200 (divine) years.

When the portion of u (that had been born from Vasudeva) returned to heaven, then the Kali age commenced. As long as the earth was touched by his sacred feet, the Kali age could not affect it. As soon as the incarnation of the eternal u had departed, the son of Dharma, hira, with his brethren, abdicated the sovereignty. Observing unpropitious portents, consequent upon a’s disappearance, he placed Paríkshit upon the throne. When the seven Rishis are in Purváshá há, then Nanda will begin to reign, and thenceforward the influence of the Kali will augment.

The day that a shall have departed from the earth will be the first of the Kali age, the duration of which you shall hear; it will continue for 360,000 years of mortals. After twelve hundred divine years shall have elapsed, the Krita age shall be renewed.

Thus age after age Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vai yas, and údras, excellent Brahman, men of great souls, have passed away by thousands; whose names and tribes and families I have not enumerated to you, from their great number, and the repetition of appellations it would involve.

Two persons, Devápi of the race of Puru, and Maru of the family of Ikshwáku, through the force of devotion continue alive throughout the whole four ages, residing at the village of Kalápa: they will return hither in the beginning of the Krita age, and, becoming members of the family of the Manu, give origin to the Kshatriya dynasties. In this manner the earth is possessed through every series of the three first ages, the Krita, Treta, and Dwápara, by the sons of the Manu; and some remain in the Kali age, to serve as the rudiments of renewed generations, in the same way as Devápi and Maru are still in existence.

I have now given you a summary account of the sovereigns of the earth; to recapitulate the whole would be impossible even in a hundred lives. These and other kings, who with perishable frames have possessed this ever-during world, and who, blinded with deceptive notions of individual occupation, have indulged the feeling that suggests, “This earth is mine–it is my son’s–it belongs to my dynasty,” have all passed away. So, many who reigned before them, many who succeeded them, and many who are yet to come, have ceased, or will cease, to be.

Earth laughs, as if smiling with autumnal flowers, to behold her kings unable to effect the subjugation of themselves. I will repeat to you, Maitreya, the stanzas that were chanted by Earth, and which the Muni Asita communicated to Janaka, whose banner was virtue.

“How great is the folly of princes, who are endowed with the faculty of reason, to cherish the confidence of ambition, when they themselves are but foam upon the wave. Before they have subdued themselves, they seek to reduce their ministers, their servants, their subjects, under their authority; they then endeavour to overcome their foes. ‘Thus,’ say they, ‘will we conquer the ocean-circled earth;’ and, intent upon their project, behold not death, which is not far off. But what mighty matter is the subjugation of the sea-girt earth to one who can subdue himself.

Emancipation from existence is the fruit of self-control. It is through infatuation that kings desire to possess me, whom their predecessors have been forced to leave, whom their fathers have not retained. Beguiled by the selfish love of sway, fathers contend with sons, and brothers with brothers, for my possession. Foolishness has been the character of every king who has boasted, ‘All this earth is mine–every thing is mine–it will be in my house for ever;’ for he is dead.

How is it possible that such vain desires should survive in the hearts of his descendants, who have seen their progenitor, absorbed by the thirst of dominion, compelled to relinquish me, whom he called his own, and tread the path of dissolution? When I hear a king sending word to another by his ambassador, ‘This earth is mine; immediately resign your pretensions to it;’ I am moved to violent laughter at first, but it soon subsides in pity for the infatuated fool.”

These were the verses, Maitreya, which Earth recited, and by listening to which ambition fades away like snow before the sun. I have now related to you the whole account of the descendants of the Manu; amongst whom have flourished kings endowed with a portion of u, engaged in the preservation of the earth. Whoever shall listen reverently and with faith to this narrative, proceeding from the posterity of Manu, shall be purified entirely from all his sins, and, with the perfect possession of his faculties, shall live in unequalled affluence, plenty, and prosperity.

He who has heard of the races of the sun and moon, of Ikshwá.ku, Jahnu, % hátri, Sagara, and Raghu, who have all perished; of Yayáti, Nahusha, and their posterity, who are no more; of kings of great might, resistless valour, and unbounded wealth, who have been overcome by still more powerful time, and are now only a tale; he will learn wisdom, and forbear to call either children, or wife, or house, or lands, or wealth, his own. The arduous penances that have been performed by heroic men obstructing fate for countless years, religious rites and sacrifices of great efficacy and virtue, have been made by time the subject only of narration.

The valiant Prithu traversed the universe, every where triumphant over his foes; yet he was blown away, like the light down of the Simal tree, before the blast of time. He who was Kártavíryya subdued innumerable enemies, and conquered the seven zones of the earth; but now he is only the topic of a theme, a subject for affirmation and contradiction. Fie upon the empire of the sons of Raghu, who triumphed over Da ánana, and extended their sway to the ends of the earth; for was it not consumed in an instant by the frown of the destroyer?