Book Iv. Chapter Iii
*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 369
Chap. Iii.
Saubhari and his wives adopt an ascetic life. Descendants of Mndhtri. Legend of Narmad and Purukutsa. Legend of Trianku. Bhu driven from his kingdom by the Haihayas and Tlajanghas. 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 Vaikhnasas (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 1, 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 Mndhtri, 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 Mndhtri is now resumed.
The son of Ambarsha, the son of Mndhtri, was Yuvanwa; his son was Harita 2, from whom the Angirasa Hritas were descended 3.
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In the regions below the earth the Gandharbas called Mauneyas (or sons of the Muni Kayapa), who were sixty millions in number, had defeated the tribes of the Ngas, 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 Mndhtri, the son of Yuvanwa, 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 Narmad to solicit the aid of Purukutsa 4.
Narmad 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 Narmad'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 Narmad in the morning; salutation be to Narmad at night; salutation be to thee, O Narmad! defend me
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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 Narmad named Trasadasyu, whose son was Sambhta 5, whose son was Anaranya, who was slain, by Rvana in his triumphant progress through the nations. The son of Anaranya was Prishadawa; his son was Haryyawa; his son was Sumanas 6; his son was Tridhanwan; his son was Trayyruna; and his son was Satyavrata, who obtained the appellation of Trianku, and was degraded to the condition of a Chndla, or outcast 7. During a twelve years' famine Trianku 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 Viwmitra, being highly pleased with him, elevated him in his living body to heaven 8.
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The son of Trianku was Harichandra 9; his son was
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[paragraph continues] Rohitwa 10; his son was Harita 11; his son was Chunchu 12, who had two sons named Vijaya and Sudeva. Ruruka 13 was the son of Vijaya, and his own son was Vrika, whose son was Bhu (or Bthuka). This prince was vanquished by the tribes of Haihayas and Tlajanghas 14, 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. Bhu, 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
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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 Bhrgava.
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 Tlajanghas, 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, Kmbojas, Pradas, and Pahnavas 15, but that they applied to Vaishtha, the
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family priest of Sagara, for protection. Vaishtha 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 16 shave their heads entirely; the akas he compelled to shave (the upper) half of their heads; the Pradas wore their hair long; and the Pahnavas let their beards grow, in obedience to his commands 17. 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 18.
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This page consists solely of footnotes.
Footnotes
369:1 So Manu; "Having reposited, as the law directs, the holy fires in his breast," &c. Vi. 25.
369:2 The Vyu, Linga, Krma, and Bhgavata agree in this series; the others omit it.
369:3 The words of the text are ###, and the commentator explains the phrase, 'the Angirasa Brahmans, of whom the Hrita family was the chief.' The Linga reads, 'Harita was the son of Yuvanwa, whose sons were the Hritas; they were on the part (or followers) of Angiras, and were Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.' The Vyu has, 'Harita was the son of Yuvanwa, from whom were many called p. 370 Hritas; they were sons of Angiras, and Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.' The Bhgavata has only, These (Ambarsha, Purukutsa, and Harita) were, according to ridhara Swmi's comment, the chiefs of Mndhtri's descendants, being founders of three several branches: or it may mean, he says, merely that they had Mndhtri for their progenitor, Mndhtri being by some also named Angiras, according to Awalyana. It may be questioned if the compilers of the Purnas, 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. Mndhtri himself is the author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. As. Res. Viii. 385. Hrita 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.
370:4 Narmad, the personified Nerbudda river, was, according to the Bhgavata, the sister of the Ngas.
371:5 We have some varieties here. Instead of Trasadasyu the Matsya has Dussaha, whom it makes the husband of Narmad, and father of Sambhti, the father of Tridhanwan. The Bhgavata omits Sambhti; the Linga makes him the brother of Trasadasyu; and the Agni has in his place Sudhanwan.
371:6 Vrishadawa: Vyu. The Matsya, Agni, and Brhma omit all between Sambhta and Tridhanwan. The Bhgavata has a rather different series, or Anaranya, Haryyawa, Aruna, Tribandhana, Trianku. As Anaranya is famous in Hindu story, and Trayyruna is a contributor to the Rig-veda, their omission shews careless compilation.
371:7 The Vyu states he was banished by his father for his wickedness (Adharma). The Brhma P. and Hari Vana 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 Vaishtha, banished him, and he took refuge with wapkas. The Rmyana has a different story, and ascribes Trianku's degradation to the curse of the sons of Vaishtha, 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.
371:8 The occurrence of the famine, and Satyavrata's care of the wife and family of Viwmitra, are told, with some variations, in the Vyu, which has been followed by p. 372 the Brhma and Hari Vana. During the famine, when game finis he kills the cow of Vaishtha; and for the three crimes of displeasing his father, killing a cow, and eating flesh not previously consecrated, he acquires the name of Trianku (tri, 'three,' anku, 'sin'). Vaishtha refusing to perform his regal inauguration, Viwmitra celebrates the rites, and on his death elevates the king in his mortal body to heaven. The Rmyana relates the same circumstance, but assigns to it a different motive, Viwmitra's resentment of the refusal of the gods to attend Trianku's sacrifice. That work also describes the attempt of the gods to cast the king down upon earth, and the compromise between them and Viwmitra, by which Trianku was left suspended, head downwards, in mid-air, forming a constellation in the southern hemisphere, along with other new planets and stars formed by Viwmitra. The Bhgavata has an allusion to this legend, saying that Trianku is still visible in heaven. The Vyu 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; but the word should probably be ###, and the whole may be thus rendered: 'Men acquainted with the Purnas recite these two stanzas; "By the favour of Viwmitra the illustrious Trianku 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 Trianku:"' This legend is therefore clearly astronomical, and alludes possibly to some reformation of the sphere by Viwmitra, under the patronage of Trianku, and in opposition to a more ancient system advocated by the school of Vaishtha. It might be no very rash conjecture, perhaps, to identify Trianku with Orion, the three bright stars of whose belt may have suggested the three ankus (stakes or pins) which form his name.
372:9 The Paurnik lists generally dismiss Harichandra very summarily, but he makes a conspicuous figure in legends of an apparently later date. In the Mahbhrata, Sabh Parva, it is stated that he resides in the court of Indra, to which he was elevated for his performance of the Rjasya sacrifice, and for his unbounded liberality. This seems to have served as the groundwork of the tale told in the Mrkandeya and Padma Purnas, of his having given his whole country, his wife and son, and finally himself, to Viwmitra, in satisfaction of his demands for Dakshin. In consequence he was elevated with his subjects to heaven, from whence, having been insidiously led by Nreda 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 Harichandra is popularly believed to be at times still p. 373 visible in the skies. The indignation of Vaishtha at Viwmitra's insatiableness produced a quarrel, in which their mutual imprecations changed them to two birds, the arli, a sort of Turdus, and the Baka, or crane. In these forms they fought for a considerable term, until Brahm interposed, and reconciled them. The Bhgavata alludes to this story, in its notice of Harichandra; but the Vyu refers the conflict to the reign of a different prince: see c. 2. n. 11. According to the iva P., Harichandra was an especial worshipper of that deity; and his wife Satyavat was a form of Jay, one of Durga's handmaids.
373:10 Also read Rohita. Traces of his name appear in the strong holds of Rotas, in Behar and in the Panjab. The Bhgavata has a legend of his having been devoted to Varuna, 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 unahephas, who was offered as a victim in his stead: see hereafter, note on unahephas.
373:11 Omitted: Agni, Linga, and Matsya.
373:12 Omitted: Agni. Dhundhu: Linga and Krma. Champa, founder of Champamlin: Bhgavata. But all other authorities make Champa a different person, a descendant of Anga: see family of Ann, of the lunar race.
373:13 Kuruka: Linga and Krma. Bharuka: Bhgavata.
373:14 Descendants of Yadu. The first springs from a prince who is the twelfth, and the 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 Vyu adds, that they were assisted by akas, Yavanas, Kmbojas, Pravas, and Pahlavas.
374:15 The Haihayas we shall have farther occasion to notice. The akas are, no doubt, the Sac 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 Kmbojas 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: see also before, p. 194. n. 146.) The Pradas 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 Bhgavata enumerates Barbaras. The Vyu adds Mhishikas, Chaulas, Drvas, 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 Brhma P. lengthens the list with the Kolas, the forest races of eastern Gondwana; the Sarpas and thep. 375 Keralas, who are the people of Malabar. The Hari Vana still farther extends the enumeration with the Tusharas or Tokharas, the Turks of Tokharestan; the Chinas, Chinese; the Mdras, people in the Panjab; the Kishkindhas, in Mysore; Kauntalas, along the Narbudda; Bangas, Bengalis; lwas, 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.
375:16 And Kmbojas: Vyu.
375:17 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 and followed, according to Xenophon, by the Lacedmonians. 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.
375:18 So the Vyu, and a similar p. 376 statement is given in Manu, X. 44, where to the akas, Yavanas, Kmbojas, Pradas, and Pahnavas, are added the Pandaras (people of western Bengal), Odras (those of Orissa), Drviras (of the Coromandel coast), Chinas (Chinese), Kirtas (mountaineers), and Daradas (Durds of the Hindu Koh). From this passage, and a similar one in the Rmyana, 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 (see also p. 194. n. 145.) 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 Rmyana particularly and the works of the era of Vikramditya. 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.
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],
p. 369
Chap. Iii.
Saubhari and his wives adopt an ascetic life. Descendants of Mndhtri. Legend of Narmad and Purukutsa. Legend of Trianku. Bhu driven from his kingdom by the Haihayas and Tlajanghas. 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 Vaikhnasas (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 1, 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 Mndhtri, 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 Mndhtri is now resumed.
The son of Ambarsha, the son of Mndhtri, was Yuvanwa; his son was Harita 2, from whom the Angirasa Hritas were descended 3.
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In the regions below the earth the Gandharbas called Mauneyas (or sons of the Muni Kayapa), who were sixty millions in number, had defeated the tribes of the Ngas, 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 Mndhtri, the son of Yuvanwa, 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 Narmad to solicit the aid of Purukutsa 4.
Narmad 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 Narmad'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 Narmad in the morning; salutation be to Narmad at night; salutation be to thee, O Narmad! defend me
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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 Narmad named Trasadasyu, whose son was Sambhta 5, whose son was Anaranya, who was slain, by Rvana in his triumphant progress through the nations. The son of Anaranya was Prishadawa; his son was Haryyawa; his son was Sumanas 6; his son was Tridhanwan; his son was Trayyruna; and his son was Satyavrata, who obtained the appellation of Trianku, and was degraded to the condition of a Chndla, or outcast 7. During a twelve years' famine Trianku 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 Viwmitra, being highly pleased with him, elevated him in his living body to heaven 8.
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The son of Trianku was Harichandra 9; his son was
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[paragraph continues] Rohitwa 10; his son was Harita 11; his son was Chunchu 12, who had two sons named Vijaya and Sudeva. Ruruka 13 was the son of Vijaya, and his own son was Vrika, whose son was Bhu (or Bthuka). This prince was vanquished by the tribes of Haihayas and Tlajanghas 14, 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. Bhu, 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
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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 Bhrgava.
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 Tlajanghas, 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, Kmbojas, Pradas, and Pahnavas 15, but that they applied to Vaishtha, the
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family priest of Sagara, for protection. Vaishtha 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 16 shave their heads entirely; the akas he compelled to shave (the upper) half of their heads; the Pradas wore their hair long; and the Pahnavas let their beards grow, in obedience to his commands 17. 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 18.
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This page consists solely of footnotes.
Footnotes
369:1 So Manu; "Having reposited, as the law directs, the holy fires in his breast," &c. Vi. 25.
369:2 The Vyu, Linga, Krma, and Bhgavata agree in this series; the others omit it.
369:3 The words of the text are ###, and the commentator explains the phrase, 'the Angirasa Brahmans, of whom the Hrita family was the chief.' The Linga reads, 'Harita was the son of Yuvanwa, whose sons were the Hritas; they were on the part (or followers) of Angiras, and were Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.' The Vyu has, 'Harita was the son of Yuvanwa, from whom were many called p. 370 Hritas; they were sons of Angiras, and Brahmans with the properties of Kshatriyas.' The Bhgavata has only, These (Ambarsha, Purukutsa, and Harita) were, according to ridhara Swmi's comment, the chiefs of Mndhtri's descendants, being founders of three several branches: or it may mean, he says, merely that they had Mndhtri for their progenitor, Mndhtri being by some also named Angiras, according to Awalyana. It may be questioned if the compilers of the Purnas, 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. Mndhtri himself is the author of a hymn in the Rig-veda. As. Res. Viii. 385. Hrita 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.
370:4 Narmad, the personified Nerbudda river, was, according to the Bhgavata, the sister of the Ngas.
371:5 We have some varieties here. Instead of Trasadasyu the Matsya has Dussaha, whom it makes the husband of Narmad, and father of Sambhti, the father of Tridhanwan. The Bhgavata omits Sambhti; the Linga makes him the brother of Trasadasyu; and the Agni has in his place Sudhanwan.
371:6 Vrishadawa: Vyu. The Matsya, Agni, and Brhma omit all between Sambhta and Tridhanwan. The Bhgavata has a rather different series, or Anaranya, Haryyawa, Aruna, Tribandhana, Trianku. As Anaranya is famous in Hindu story, and Trayyruna is a contributor to the Rig-veda, their omission shews careless compilation.
371:7 The Vyu states he was banished by his father for his wickedness (Adharma). The Brhma P. and Hari Vana 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 Vaishtha, banished him, and he took refuge with wapkas. The Rmyana has a different story, and ascribes Trianku's degradation to the curse of the sons of Vaishtha, 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.
371:8 The occurrence of the famine, and Satyavrata's care of the wife and family of Viwmitra, are told, with some variations, in the Vyu, which has been followed by p. 372 the Brhma and Hari Vana. During the famine, when game finis he kills the cow of Vaishtha; and for the three crimes of displeasing his father, killing a cow, and eating flesh not previously consecrated, he acquires the name of Trianku (tri, 'three,' anku, 'sin'). Vaishtha refusing to perform his regal inauguration, Viwmitra celebrates the rites, and on his death elevates the king in his mortal body to heaven. The Rmyana relates the same circumstance, but assigns to it a different motive, Viwmitra's resentment of the refusal of the gods to attend Trianku's sacrifice. That work also describes the attempt of the gods to cast the king down upon earth, and the compromise between them and Viwmitra, by which Trianku was left suspended, head downwards, in mid-air, forming a constellation in the southern hemisphere, along with other new planets and stars formed by Viwmitra. The Bhgavata has an allusion to this legend, saying that Trianku is still visible in heaven. The Vyu 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; but the word should probably be ###, and the whole may be thus rendered: 'Men acquainted with the Purnas recite these two stanzas; "By the favour of Viwmitra the illustrious Trianku 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 Trianku:"' This legend is therefore clearly astronomical, and alludes possibly to some reformation of the sphere by Viwmitra, under the patronage of Trianku, and in opposition to a more ancient system advocated by the school of Vaishtha. It might be no very rash conjecture, perhaps, to identify Trianku with Orion, the three bright stars of whose belt may have suggested the three ankus (stakes or pins) which form his name.
372:9 The Paurnik lists generally dismiss Harichandra very summarily, but he makes a conspicuous figure in legends of an apparently later date. In the Mahbhrata, Sabh Parva, it is stated that he resides in the court of Indra, to which he was elevated for his performance of the Rjasya sacrifice, and for his unbounded liberality. This seems to have served as the groundwork of the tale told in the Mrkandeya and Padma Purnas, of his having given his whole country, his wife and son, and finally himself, to Viwmitra, in satisfaction of his demands for Dakshin. In consequence he was elevated with his subjects to heaven, from whence, having been insidiously led by Nreda 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 Harichandra is popularly believed to be at times still p. 373 visible in the skies. The indignation of Vaishtha at Viwmitra's insatiableness produced a quarrel, in which their mutual imprecations changed them to two birds, the arli, a sort of Turdus, and the Baka, or crane. In these forms they fought for a considerable term, until Brahm interposed, and reconciled them. The Bhgavata alludes to this story, in its notice of Harichandra; but the Vyu refers the conflict to the reign of a different prince: see c. 2. n. 11. According to the iva P., Harichandra was an especial worshipper of that deity; and his wife Satyavat was a form of Jay, one of Durga's handmaids.
373:10 Also read Rohita. Traces of his name appear in the strong holds of Rotas, in Behar and in the Panjab. The Bhgavata has a legend of his having been devoted to Varuna, 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 unahephas, who was offered as a victim in his stead: see hereafter, note on unahephas.
373:11 Omitted: Agni, Linga, and Matsya.
373:12 Omitted: Agni. Dhundhu: Linga and Krma. Champa, founder of Champamlin: Bhgavata. But all other authorities make Champa a different person, a descendant of Anga: see family of Ann, of the lunar race.
373:13 Kuruka: Linga and Krma. Bharuka: Bhgavata.
373:14 Descendants of Yadu. The first springs from a prince who is the twelfth, and the 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 Vyu adds, that they were assisted by akas, Yavanas, Kmbojas, Pravas, and Pahlavas.
374:15 The Haihayas we shall have farther occasion to notice. The akas are, no doubt, the Sac 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 Kmbojas 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: see also before, p. 194. n. 146.) The Pradas 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 Bhgavata enumerates Barbaras. The Vyu adds Mhishikas, Chaulas, Drvas, 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 Brhma P. lengthens the list with the Kolas, the forest races of eastern Gondwana; the Sarpas and thep. 375 Keralas, who are the people of Malabar. The Hari Vana still farther extends the enumeration with the Tusharas or Tokharas, the Turks of Tokharestan; the Chinas, Chinese; the Mdras, people in the Panjab; the Kishkindhas, in Mysore; Kauntalas, along the Narbudda; Bangas, Bengalis; lwas, 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.
375:16 And Kmbojas: Vyu.
375:17 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 and followed, according to Xenophon, by the Lacedmonians. 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.
375:18 So the Vyu, and a similar p. 376 statement is given in Manu, X. 44, where to the akas, Yavanas, Kmbojas, Pradas, and Pahnavas, are added the Pandaras (people of western Bengal), Odras (those of Orissa), Drviras (of the Coromandel coast), Chinas (Chinese), Kirtas (mountaineers), and Daradas (Durds of the Hindu Koh). From this passage, and a similar one in the Rmyana, 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 (see also p. 194. n. 145.) 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 Rmyana particularly and the works of the era of Vikramditya. 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.
