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Book Iv. Chapter Xxiv

*
"The Vishnu Purana", translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840],

p. 466

Chap. Xxiv.

Future kings of Magadh. Five princes of the line of Pradyota. Ten aiungas. Nine Nandas. Ten Mauryas. Ten ungas. Four Kanwas. Thirty ndhrabhrityas. 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 Vishnu 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 Vrhadratha dynasty, Ripunjaya, will have a minister named Sunika 1, who having killed his sovereign, will place his son Pradyota upon the throne 2: his son will be Plaka 3; his son will be Vikhaypa 4; his son will be Janaka 5; and his son will be Nandivarddhana 6. These five kings of the house of Pradyota will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-eight years 7.

The next prince will be iunaga 8; his son will be Kkavarna 9; his son will be Kshemadharman 10; his son will be Kshatraujas 11; his son will be Vidmisra 12; his son will be jtaatru 13; his son will be

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[paragraph continues] Dharbaka 14; his son will be Udaywa 15; his son will also be Nandivarddhana; and his son will be Mahnandi 16. These ten aiungas will be kings of the earth for three hundred and sixty-two years 17.

The son of Mahnanda will be born of a woman of the dra or servile class; his name will be Nanda, called Mahpadma, for he will be exceedingly avaricious 18. Like another Paraurma, he will be the annihilator of the Kshatriya race; for after him the kings of the earth will be dras. He will bring the whole earth under one umbrella: he

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will have eight sons, Sumlya and others, who will reign after Mahpadma; and he and his sons 19 will govern for a hundred years. The Brahman Kautilya will root out the nine Nandas 20

Upon the cessation of the race of Nanda, the Mauryas will possess the earth, for Kantilya will place Chandragupta 21 on the throne: his son

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will be Vindusra 22; his son will be Aokavarddhana 23; his son will be

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[paragraph continues] Suyaas 24; his son will be Daaratha; his son will be Sangata; his son will be lika; his son will be Somaarmman; his son will be Saadharman 25; and his successor will be Vrihadratha. These are the ten Mauryas, who will reign over the earth for a hundred and thirty-seven years 26.

The dynasty of the ungas will next become possessed of the sovereignty; for Pushpamitra, the general of the last Maurya prince, will

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put his master to death, and ascend the throne 27: his son will be Agnimitra 28; his son will be Sujyeshtha 29; his son will be Vasumitra 30; his son will be rdraka 31; his son will be Pulindaka 32; his son will be Ghoshavasu 33; his son will be Vajramitra 34; his son will be Bhgavata 35; his son will be Devabhti 36. These are the ten ungas, who will govern the kingdom for a hundred and twelve years 37.

Devabhti, the last unga prince, being addicted to, immoral indulgences, his minister, the Kanwa named Vasudeva will murder him, and usurp the kingdom: his son will be Bhmimitra; his son will be Nryana; his son will be Suarman. These four Knwas will be kings of the earth for forty-five years 38.

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Suarman the Knwa will be killed by a powerful servant named ipraka, of the ndhra tribe, who will become king, and found the ndhrabhritya dynasty 39: he will be succeeded by his brother Krishna 40; his son will be r takarni 41; his son will be Prnotsanga 42; his son will be takarni (2nd) 43; his son will be Lambodara 44; his son will be Ivlaka 45; his son will be Meghaswti 46; his son will be Patumat 47; his

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son will be Arishtakarman 48; his son will be Hla 49; his son will be Tlaka 50; his son will be Pravilasena 51; his son will be Sundara, named takarni 52; his son will be Chakora takarni 53; his son will be ivaswti 54; his son will be Gomatiputra 55; his son will be Pulimat 56; his son will be ivar takarni 57; his son will be ivaskandha 58; his son will be Yajnar 59; his son will be Vijaya 60; his son will be Chandrar 61; his son will be Pulomrchish 62. These thirty Andhrabhritya kings will reign four hundred and fifty-six years 63.

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After these, various races will reign, as seven bhras, ten Garddhabas, sixteen akas, eight Yavanas, fourteen Tushras, thirteen Mundas,

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eleven Maunas, altogether seventy-nine princes 64, who will be sovereigns

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of the earth for one thousand three hundred and ninety years; and

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then eleven Pauras will be kings for three hundred years 65. When they are destroyed, the Kailakila Yavanas will be kings; the chief of whom will be Vindhyaakti; his son will be Puranjaya; his son will be Rmachandra; his son will be Adharma, from whom will be Varnga, Kritanandana, udhinandi, Nandiyaas, iuka, and Pravra; these will rule for a hundred and six years 66. From them will proceed thirteen sons;

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then three Bhlkas, and Pushpamitra, and Patumitra, and others, to the number of thirteen, will rule over Mekala 67. There will be nine

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kings in the seven Koalas, and there will be as many Naishadha princes 68.

In Magadh a sovereign named Viwasphatika will establish other tribes; he will extirpate the Kshatriya or martial race, and elevate fishermen, barbarians, and Brahmans, and other castes, to power 69. The nine Ngas will reign in Padmvati, Kntipuri, and Mathur; and the Guptas of Magadh along the Ganges to Prayga 70. A prince named

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[paragraph continues] Devarakshita will reign, in a city on the sea shore, over the Koalas, Odras, Pundras, and Tmraliptas 71. The Guhas will possess Klinga, Mhihaka, and the mountains of Mahendra 72. The race of Manidhanu will occupy the countries of the Nishdas, Naimishikas, and Klatoyas 73.

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[paragraph continues] The people called Kanakas will possess the Amazon country, and that called Mshika 74. Men of the three tribes, but degraded, and bhras and dras, will occupy aurshtra, Avanti, ra, Arbuda, and Marubhmi: and dras, outcastes, and barbarians will be masters of the banks of the Indus, Drvika, the Chandrabhg, and Kshmir 75.

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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 76. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day, until

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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 77; 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 78; mutual assent will be marriage; fine clothes will be dignity 79; 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

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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 Vishnuyaas, 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 80."

Thus, most excellent Muni, the kings who are past, who are present, and who are to be, have been enumerated. From the birth of Parkshit to the coronation of Nanda it is to be known that 1015 years have elapsed 81. When the two first stars of the seven Rishis (the great Bear)

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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 82. At the birth of

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[paragraph continues] Parkshit they were in Magh, and the Kali age then commenced, which consists of 1200 (divine) years. When the portion of Vishnu (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 Vishnu had departed, the son of Dharma, Yudhishthira, with his brethren, abdicated the sovereignty. Observing unpropitious portents, consequent upon Krishna's disappearance, he placed Parkshit upon the throne. When the seven Rishis are in Purvshdh, then Nanda will begin to reign 83, and thenceforward the influence of the Kali will augment.

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The day that Krishna 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, Vaiyas, and dras, 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, Devpi of the race of Puru, and Maru of the family of Ikshwku, through the force of devotion continue alive throughout the whole four ages, residing at the village of Kalpa: 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 84. In this manner the earth is possessed through every series of the three first ages, the Krita, Treta, and Dwpara, 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 Devpi 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

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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 Vishnu, 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 Ikshw.ku, Jahnu, Mandhtri, Sagara, and Raghu, who have all perished; of Yayti, 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

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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 Krtavryya 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 85. Fie upon the empire of the sons of Raghu, who triumphed over Danana, and extended their sway to the ends of the earth; for was it not consumed in an instant by the frown of the destroyer? Mandhtri, the emperor of the universe, is embodied only in a legend; and what pious man who hears it will ever be so unwise as to cherish the desire of possession in his soul? Bhagratha, Sagara, Kakutstha, Danana, Rma, Lakshmana, Yudhishthira, and others, have been. Is it so? Have they ever really existed? Where are they now? we know not! The powerful kings who now are, or who will be, as I have related them to you, or any others who are unspecified, are all subject to the same fate, and the present and the future will perish and be forgotten, like their predecessors. Aware of this truth, a wise man will never be influenced by the principle of individual appropriation; and regarding them as only transient and temporal possessions, he will not consider children and posterity, lands and property, or whatever else is personal, to be his own.

Footnotes

466:1
Munika, Vyu; Pulika, Matsya; unaka, Bhg.

466:2
For 23 years, V. and M.

466:3 24
yrs. V.; Tilaka or Blaka, 28, M.

466:4 50
yrs. V.; 53, M.

466:5
Ajaka, 21 yrs. V.; Sryaka, 21, M.; Rajaka, Bhg.

466:6 20
yrs. V. and M.

466:7
This number is also specified by the Vyu and Bhgavata, and the several years of the reigns of the former agree with the total. The particulars of the Matsya compose 145 years, but there is no doubt some mistake in them.

466:8
iunka, who according to the Vyu and Matsya relinquished Benares to his son, and established himself at Girivraja or Rajgriha in Behar, reigns 40 years, V. and M.

466:9 36
yrs. V. and M.

466:10
Kshemakarman, 20 yrs. V.; Kshemadharmman, 36, M.

466:11 40
yrs. V.; Kshemajit or Kshemrchis, 36, M.; Kshetrajna, Bhg.

466:12
Vimbisara, 28 yrs. V.; Vindusena or Vindhyasena, 28, M.; Vidhisra, Bhg.

466:13 25
yrs. V.; 27, M.: but the latter inserts a Kanwyana, 9 yrs., and Bhmimitra or Bhmiputra, 14 yrs., before him. In this and the preceding name we have appellations of considerable celebrity in the traditions of the Bauddhas. Vidmisra, read also Vindhusra, Vilwisra, &c., is most probably their Vimbasra, who was born at the same time with kya, and was reigning at Rjgriha when he began his religious career. The Mahwano says that Siddhatto and Bimbisaro were attached p. 467 friends, as their fathers had been before them: p. 10. kya is said to have died in the reign of Ajtaatru, the son of Vimbasra, in the eighth year of his reign. The Vyu transposes these names, and the Matsya still more alters the order of Ajtaatru; but the Bhgavata concurs with our text. The Buddhist authority differs from the Purnas materially as to the duration of the reigns, giving to Bimbisaro 52 years, and to Ajatasattu 32: the latter, according to the same, murdered his father. Mahwano, p. 10. We may therefore with some confidence claim for these princes a date of about six centuries B. C. They are considered co-temporary with Sudhodana, &c. in the list of the Aikshwkavas (p. 463. n. 20).

467:14
Harshaka, 25 yrs. V.; Vansaka, 24, M.

467:15 33
yrs. V.; Udibhi or Udsin, 33, M. According to the Vyu, Udaya or Udaywa founded Kusumapur or Ptaliputra, on the southern angle of the Ganges. The legends of kya, consistently with this tradition, take no notice of this city in his peregrinations on either bank of the Ganges. The Mahwano calls the son and successor of Ajtaatru, Udayibhadako (Udayinhhadraka): p. 15.

467:16 42
and 43 yrs. V.; 40 and 43, M. The Mahwano has in place of these, Anuruddhako, Mundo, and Ngadso; all in succession parricides: the last deposed by an insurrection of the people: p. 15.

467:17
The several authorities agree in the number of ten aiungas, and in the aggregate years of their reigns, which the Matsya and the Bhgavata call 360: the Vyu has 362, with which the several periods correspond: the details of the Matsya give 363. The Vyu and Matsya call the aiungas, Kshatrabandhus, which may designate an inferior order of Kshatriyas: they also observe, that cotemporary with the dynasties already specified, the Pauravas, the Vrhadrathas, and Mgadhas, there were other races of royal descent; as, Aikshwkava princes, 24: Pnchlas, 25, V.; 27, M: Klakas or Ksakas or Kseyas, 24: Haihayas, 24, V.; 28, M.: Klingas, 32, V.; 40, M.: akas, V.; Amakas, M., 25: Kuravas, 26: Maithilas, 28: rasenas, 23: and Vitihotras, 20.

467:18
The Bhgavata calls him Mahpadmapati, the lord of Mahpadma; which the commentator interprets, 'sovereign of an infinite host,' or 'of immense wealth;' Mahpadma signifying 100.000 millions. The Vyu and Matsya, however, consider Mahpadma as another name of Nanda.

468:19
So the Bhgavata also; but it would be more compatible with chronology to consider the nine Nandas as so many descents. The Vyu and Matsya give eighty-eight years to Mahpadma, and only the remaining twelve to Sumlya and the rest of the remaining eight; these twelve years being occupied with the efforts of Kautilya to expel the Nandas. The Mahwano, evidently intending the same events, gives names and circumstances differently; it may be doubted if with more accuracy. On the deposal of Ngadso, the people raised to the throne the minister Susungo, who reigned eighteen years. This prince is evidently confounded with the iuuga of the Purnas. He was succeeded by his son Klsoko, who reigned twenty years; and he was succeeded by his sons, ten of whom reigned together for twenty-two years: subsequently there were nine, who, according to their seniority, reigned for twenty-two years. The Brahman Chanako put the ninth surviving brother, named Dhana-Nando (Rich-Nanda), to death, and installed Chandagutto. Mahwano, p. 15 and 21. These particulars, notwithstanding the alteration of some of the names, belong clearly to one story; and that of the Buddhists looks as if it was borrowed and modified from that of the Brahmans. The commentary on the Mahwano, translated by Mr. Turnour (Introduction, p. xxxviii.), calls the sons of Klsoko 'the nine Nandas;' but another Buddhist authority, the Dpawano, omits Klsoko, and says that Susungo had ten brothers, who after his demise reigned collectively twenty-two years. Journal of the As. Soc. of Bengal, Nov. 1838, p. 930.

468:20
For the particulars of the story here alluded to, see the Mudr Rkshasa, Hindu Theatre, vol. II. Kautilya is also called, according to the commentator on our text, Vtsyyana, Vishnugupta, and Chnakya. According to the Matsya P., Kantilya retained the regal authority for a century; but there is some inaccuracy in the copies.

468:21
This is the most important name in all the lists, as it can scarcely be doubted that he is the Sandrocottus, or, as Athenus writes more correctly, the Sandrocoptus, of the Greeks, as I have endeavoured to prove in the introduction to the Mudr Rkshasa. The relative positions of Chandragupta, Vidmisra, or Bimbisra, and Ajtaatru, serve to confirm the identification. kya was cotemporary with both the latter, dying in the eighth year of Ajtaatru's reign. The Mahwano says he reigned twenty-four years afterwards; but the Vyu makes his whole reign but twenty-five years, which would place the close of it B. C. 526. The rest of the aiunga dynasty, according to the Vyu and Matsya, reigned 143 or 140 years; bringing their close to B. C. 383. Another century being deducted for the duration of the Nandas, would place the accession of p. 469 Chandragupta B. C. 283. Chandragupta was the cotemporary of Seleucus Nicator, who began his reign B. C. 310, and concluded a treaty with him B. C. 305. Although therefore his date may not be made out quite correctly from the Paurnik premises, yet the error cannot be more than twenty or thirty years. The result is much nearer the truth than that furnished by Buddhist authorities. According to the Mahwano a hundred years had elapsed from the death of Buddha to the tenth year of the reign of Klsoko (p. 15). He reigned other ten years, and his sons forty-four, making a total of 154 years between the death of kya and the accession of Chandragupta, which is consequently placed B. C. 389, or above seventy years too early. According to the Buddhist authorities, Chan-ta-kutta or Chandragupta commenced his reign 396 B. C. Burmese Table; Prinsep's Useful Tables. Mr. Turnour, in his Introduction, giving to Klsoko eighteen years subsequent to the century after Buddha, places Chandragupta's accession B. C. 381, which, he observes, is sixty years too soon; dating, however, the accession of Chandragupta front 323 B. C. or immediately upon Alexander's death, a period too early by eight or ten years at least. The discrepancy of dates, Mr. Turnour is disposed to think, proceeds from some intentional perversion of the buddhistical chronology. Introd. p. L. The commentator on our text says that Chandragupta was the son of Nanda by a wife named Mur, whence he and his descendants were called Mauryas. Col. Tod considers Maurya a corruption of Mori, the name of a Rajput tribe. The Tka on the Mahwano builds a story on the fancied resemblance of the word to Mayra, S. Mori, Pr. 'a peacock.' There being abundance of pea-fowl in the place where the Skya tribe built a town, they called it Mori, and there princes were thence called Mauryas. Turnour, Introduction to the Mahwano, p. xxxix. Chandragupta reigned, according to the Vyu P., 24 years; according to the Mahwano, 34; to the Dpawasano, 24.

469:22
So the Mahwano, Bindusro. Burmese Table, Bin-tu-sara. The Vyu has Bhadrasra, 25 years; the Bhgavata, Vrisra. The Matsya names but four princes of this race, although it concurs with the others in stating the series to consist of ten. The names are also differently arranged, and one is peculiar: they are, atadhanwan, Vrihadratha, uka, and Daaratha.

469:23
Aoka, 36 years, Vyu; uka, 26, Mats.; Aokavarddhana, Bhg.; Aoko and Dhammaoko, Mahwano. This king is the most celebrated of any in the annals of the Buddhists. In the commencement of his reign he followed the Brahmanical faith, but became a convert to that of Buddha, and a zealous encourager of it. He is said to have maintained in his palace 64,000 Buddhist priests, and to have erected 84,000 columns or topes throughout India. A great convocation of Buddhist priests was held in the eighteenth year of his reign, which was followed by missions to Ceylon and other places. According to Buddhist chronology he ascended the throne 218 years after the death of Buddha, B. C. 325. As p. 470 the grandson of Chandragupta, however, he must have been some time subsequent to this, or, agreeably to the joint duration of the reigns of Chandragupta and Bindusra, supposing the former to have commenced his reign about B. C. 315, forty-nine years later, or B. C. 266. The duration of his reign is said to have been thirty-six years, bringing it down to B. C. 230: but if we deduct these periods from the date assignable to Chandragupta, of B. C. 283, we shall place Aoka's reign from B. C. 234 to 198. Now it is certain that a number of very curious inscriptions, on columns and rocks, by a Buddhist prince, in an ancient form of letter, and the Pli language, exist in India; and that some of them refer to Greek princes, who can be no other than members of the Seleucidan and Ptoleman dynasties, and are probably Antiochus the Great and Ptolemy Euergetes, kings of Syria and Egypt in the latter part of the third century before Christ. Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, February and March, 1838. The Indian king appears always under the appellation Piyada or Priyadarn, 'the beautiful;' and is entitled Devnam-piya, 'the beloved of the gods.' According to Buddhist authorities, the Rasawhin and Dpawano, quoted by Mr. Turnour (J. As. Soc. of Bengal, Dec. 1837, p. 1056, and Nov. 1838, p. 930), Piyada or Piyadaano is identified both by name and circumstances with Aoka, and to him therefore the inscriptions must be attributed. Their purport agrees well enough with his character, and their wide diffusion with the traditionary report of the number of his monuments. His date is not exactly that of Antiochus the Great, but it is not very far different, and the corrections required to make it correspond are no more than the inexact manner in which both Brahmanical and Buddhist chronology is preserved may well be expected to render necessary.

470:24
The name of Daaratha, in a similar ancient character as that of Piyada's inscriptions, has been found at Gaya amongst Buddhist remains, and like them decyphered by Mr. Prinsep, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Aug. 1837, p. 677. A different series of names occurs in the Vyu; or, Kuala, 8 yrs.; Bandhuplita, Indraplita, Daavarman, 7 yrs.; atadhara, 8 yrs.; and Vrihadawa, 7 yrs. The Bhgavata agrees in most of the names, and its omission of Daaratha is corrected by the commentator.

470:25
atadhanwan, Bhg.

470:26
The Vyu says nine Sumrttyas reigned 137 years. The Matsya and Bhgavata have ten Mauryas, and 137 years. The detailed numbers of the Vyu and Matsya differ from their totals, but the copies are manifestly corrupt.

471:27
The Bhgavata omits this name, but states that there were ten ungas, although, without Pushpamitra, only nine are named. The Vyu and Matsya have the same account of the circumstances of his accession to the throne; the former gives him a reign of sixty, the latter of thirty-six years. In a play attributed to Klidsa, the Mlavikgnimitra, of which Agnimitra is the hero, his father is alluded to as the Senn or general, as if he had deposed his master in favour, not of himself, but of his son. Agnimitra is termed king of Vidia, not of Magadh. Pushpamitra is represented as engaged in a conflict with the Yavanas on the Indus; thus continuing the political relations with the Greeks or Scythians of Bactria and Ariana. See Hindu Theatre, vol. I. 347.

471:28 8
yrs. V.; omitted M.

471:29 7
yrs. V. and M.; but the latter places him after Vasumitra; and in the drama the son of Agnimitra is called Vasumitra.

471:30 8
yrs. V.; 10 yrs. M.

471:31
Andraka, V.; Antaka, M.: they agree in his reign, 2 years. Bhadraka, Bhg.

471:32 3
yrs. V. and M.

471:33 3
yrs. V.; omitted, M.; Ghosha, Bhg.

471:34 9
yrs. M.

471:35
Bhga, M.; 32 yrs. V. and M.

471:36
Kshemabhmi, V.; Devabhmi, M.; 10 yrs. both.

471:37
The Bhgavata says, 'more than a hundred.' The commentator explains it: 112. The Vyu and Matsya have the same period.

471:38
The names of the four princes agree in all the authorities. The Matsya transfers the character of Vyasan to the minister, with the further addition of his being a Brahman; Dwija. In the lists given by Sir Wm. Jones and Col. Wilford, the four Knwas are said to have reigned 345 years; but in seven copies of the Vishnu P., from different parts of India, the number is, as given in the text, forty-five. There is however authority for the larger number, both in the text of the Bhgavata and the comment. The former has, #### and the latter, ### p. 472 There is no doubt therefore of the purport of the text; and it is only surprising that such a chronology should have been inserted in the Bhgavata, not only in opposition to all probability, but to other authority. The Vyu and Matsya not only confirm the lower number by stating it as a total, but by giving it in detail; thus:

Vasudeva will reign

9
years

Bhmimitra

14

Nryana

12

Suarman

10

Total

45

[paragraph continues] And six copies of the Matsya concur in this statement.

472:39
The expressions Andhrajtiyas and Andhrabhrityas have much perplexed Col. Wilford, who makes three races out of one, ndhras, Andhrajtiyas, and Andhrabhrityas. As. Res. Ix. 101. There is no warrant for three races in the Purnas, although the Matsya, and perhaps the Vyu, distinguishes two, as we shall hereafter see. Our text has but one, to which all the terms may be applied. The first of the dynasty was an ndhra by birth or caste (jtiya), and a servant (bhritya) of the last of the Knwa race. So the Vyu; ###: the Matsya; ### and the Bhgavata; ###. The terms 'an Andhra by caste' and 'a Bhritya or servant,' with the addition, in the last passage, of Vrishala, 'a dra,' all apply to one person and one dynasty. Wilford has made wild work with his triad. The name of the first of this race is variously read: Sindhuka, Vyu; iuka, Matsya; Balin, Bhg.; and, according to Wilford, Chhismaka in the Brahmanda P., and draka or raka in the Kumrik Khanda of the Sknda P. As. Res. Ix. 107. He reigned 23 years, Vyu and Matsya. If the latter form of his name be correct, he may be the king who is spoken of in the prologue to the Mrichchhakat.

472:40 10
yrs. V.; 18, M.

472:41 56
yrs. V.; 18, M.; 10, Brahmanda, Wilford; Simlakarni, Mats.; ntakarna, Bhg.

472:42
Omitted, V.; 18 yrs. M.; Paurnamsa, Bhg.

472:43
Omitted, V. and Bhg.; 56 yrs. M.; but the latter has before him a rvaswni, 18 yrs.

472:44 18
yrs. M.

472:45
Apilaka, 12 yrs. V. and M.; Chivilika or Vivilika, Bhg.

472:46
Omitted, V. and M.

472:47
Patumvi, 24 yrs. V.; Drirhamna, Bhg.

473:48
Nemi-krishna, 25 yrs. V.; Arishtakarni, 25 yrs. M.

473:49
Hla, 1 yr. V.; 5 yrs. M.; Hleya, Bhg.

473:50
Mandalaka, 5 yrs. M.; omitted, Bhg.

473:51
Purshasena, 21 yrs. V.; Purindrasena, 5 yrs. Mats.; Purshataru, Bhg.

473:52
takarni only, V. and M.; the first gives him three years, the second but one. Sunanda, Bhg.

473:53
Chakora, 6 months, V.; Vikarni, 6 months, M.

473:54 28
yrs. V. and M.

473:55
Gotamputra, 21 yrs. V. and M.

473:56
Pulomat, 28 yrs. M.; Purimat, Bhg.

473:57
Omitted, V.; 7 yrs. M.; Medhairas, Bhg.

473:58
Omitted, V.; 7 yrs. M.

473:59 29
yrs. V.; 9 yrs. M.

473:60 6
yrs. V. and M.

473:61
Dandar, 3 yrs. V.; Chandrar, 10 yrs. M.; Chandravijaya, Bhg.

473:62
Pulovpi, 7 yrs. V.; Pulomat, 7 yrs. M.; Sulomadhi, Bhg.

473:63
The Vyu and Bhgavata state also 30 kings, and 456 years; the Matsya has 29 kings, and 460 years. The actual enumeration of the text gives but 24 names; that of the Bhgavata but 23; that of the Vyu but 17. The Matsya has the whole 29 names, adding several to the list of our text; and the aggregate of the reigns amounts to 435 years and 6 months. The difference between this and the total specified arises probably from some inaccuracy in the MSS. As this list appears to be fuller than any other, it may be advisable to insert it as it occurs in the Radcliffe copy of the Matsya P.

1.

iuka

23

yrs.

2.

Krishna

18

3.

Simalakarni

18

4.

Purnotsanga

18

5.

rvaswni

18

6.

takarni

56

7.

Lambodara

18

8.

Aptaka

12

9.

Sangha

18

10.

takarni

18

11.

Skandhaswti

7

12.

Mrigendra

3

13.

Kuntalaswti

28

14.

Swtikarna

1

15.

Pulomvit

36

16.

Gorakshwar

25

17.

Hla

5

18.

Mantalaka

5

19.

Purndrasena

5

20.

Rajdaswti

0

6
months

21.

ivawti

28

22.

Gautamiputra

21

23.

Pulomat

28

p. 474

24.

ivar

7

25.

Skandhaswti

7

26.

Yajnar

9

27.

Vijaya

6

28.

Vadar

10

29.

Pulomat

7

Total

435

yrs. 6 m.

[paragraph continues] Several of the names vary in this list from those in my copy. The adjuncts Swti and tikarna appear to be conjoined or not with the other appellations, according to the convenience of, the metre, and seem to be the family designations or titles. The dynasty is of considerable chronological interest, as it admits of some plausible verifications. That a powerful race of Andhra princes ruled in India in the beginning of the Christian era, we learn from Pliny, who describes them as possessed of thirty fortified cities, with an army of 100,000 men and 1000 elephants. The Andr of this writer are probably the people of the upper part of the peninsula, Andhra being the proper designation of Telingana. The Peutingerian tables, however, place the Andre-Indi on the banks of the Ganges, and the southern princes may have extended or shifted the site of their power. Towards the close of the dynasty we find names that appear to agree with those of princes of middle India, of whom mention is made by the Chinese; as, Yue-gnai (Yajnar), king of Kiapili, A. D. 408; Des Guignes, I. 45; and Ho-lo-mien (Pulomn), king of Magadh in 621; ibid. I. 56. The Paurnik lists place these two princes more nearly together, but we cannot rely implicitly upon their accuracy. Calculating from Chandragupta downwards, the Indian date of Yajna and the Chinese Yue-gnai corresponds; for we have,

10

Mauryas

137

yrs.

10

ungas

112

4

Kanwas

45

27

Andhras

437

731

Deduct for Chandragupta's date

312

B. C.

419

A. C.

[paragraph continues] A date remarkably near that derivable from the Chinese annals. If the Indian Pulomn be the same with the Chinese Ho-lo-mien, there must be some considerable omission in the Paurnik dynasty. There is a farther identification in the case of Ho-lo-mien, which makes it certain that a prince of Magadh is intended, as the place of his residence is called by the Chinese Kia-so-mo-pulo-ching and Potoli-tse-Ching; or in Sanscrit, Kusuma-pura and Ptali-putra. The equivalent of the latter name consists, not only in the identity of the sounds Ptali and Po-to-li, but in the translation of 'putra' by 'tse;' each word meaning in their respective languages 'son.' No doubt can be entertained therefore that the city intended is the metropolis of Magadh, Ptaliputra or Palibothra. Wilford identifies Pulomat or Pulomn with the Po-lo-muen of the Chinese; but Des Guignes interprets Po-lo-muen ku, 'royaume des Brahmanes.' Buchanan (Hamilton), following the Bhgavata as to the name of the last king, Sulomadhi, would place him about A. D. 846; but his premises are far from accurate, p. 475 and his deduction in this instance at least is of no weight. Geneal. of the Hindus, Introd. p. 16. He supposes the Andhra kings of Magadh to have retained their power on the Ganges until the Mohammedan invasion, or the twelfth century, when they retired to the south, and reigned at Warankal in Telingana. Inscriptions and coins, however, confirm the statement of the Purnas, that a different dynasty succeeded to the Andhras some centuries before the Mohammedan conquests; and the Chinese also record, that upon the death of the king of Magadh, Ho-lo-mien (Puloman?), some time before A. D. 648, great troubles in India took place. Des Guignes. Some very curious and authentic testimony to the actual existence of these Andhra kings has been lately afforded by the discovery of an ancient inscription in Guzerat, in which Rudra Dm, the Kshatrapa or Satrap of Surashtra, is recorded to have repeatedly overcome takarni, king of the southern country (Dakshinapatha). The inscription is without date, but it is in an old character, and makes mention of the two Maurya princes, Chandragupta and Aoka, as if not very long prior to its composition. Mr. J. Prinsep, to whom we are indebted for the decyphering and translating of this important document, has been also successful in decyphering the legends on a series of coins belonging to the princes of Surshtra, amongst whom the name of Rudra Dm occurs; and he is inclined, although with hesitation, to place these princes about a century after Anoka, or Rudra Dm about 153 B. C. J. As. Soc. Bengal, May 1837, and April 1838. According to the computation hazarded above from our text, the race of Andhra kings should not commence till about 20 years B. C., which would agree with Pliny's notice of them; but it is possible that they existed earlier in the south of India, although they established their authority in Magadh only in the first centuries of the Christian era.

475:64
These parallel dynasties are thus particularized in our other authorities:

bhras, 7, M.; 10, V; kings of Avabhriti, 7, Bhg.

Garddabhins, 10, M. V. Bhg.

akas, 18, M. V.; Kankas, 16, Bhg.

Yavanas, 8, M. V. Bhg.

Tushras, 14, M. V.; Tushkaras, 14, Bhg.

Marndas, 13, V.; Purndas, 13, M.; Surndas, 10, Bhg.

Maunas, 18, V.; Hnas, 19, M.; Maulas, 11, Bhg.

Total--85 kings, Vyu; 89, Matsya; 76, and 1399 years, Bhg.

[paragraph continues] The other two authorities give the years of each dynasty severally. The numbers are apparently intended to be the same, but those of the Matsya are palpable blunders, although almost all the MSS. agree in the reading. The chronology of the Vyu is, bhras, 67 years; Garddabhins, 72; akas, 380; Yavanas, 82; Tushras, 500 (all the copies of the Matsya have 7000); Marndas, 200; and Mlechchhas, intending perhaps Maunas, 300 yrs. Total 1601 years, or less than 19 years to a reign. They are not however continuous, but nearly cotemporary dynasties; and if they comprise, as they probably do, the Greek and Scythian princes of the west of India, the periods may not be very wide p. 476 of the truth. The Matsya begins the list with one more dynasty, another Andhra (see n. 39), of whom there were seven: 'When the dominion of the Andhras has ceased, there shall be seven other Andhras, kings of the race of their servants; and then nine bhras.' The passage of the Vyu, although somewhat similar in terms, has a different purport: 'Of these, the Andhras having passed away, there shall be seven cotemporary races; as, ten bhras,' &c. The passage is differently read in different copies, but this is the only intelligible reading. At the same time it subsequently specifies a period for the duration of the Andhra dynasty different from that before given, or three hundred years, as if a different race was referred to: 'The Andhras shall possess the earth two hundred years and one hundred.' The Matsya has twice five hundred: 'The rparvatya Andhras twice five hundred years.' One MS. has more consistently fifty-two years. But there is evidently something faulty in all the MSS. The expression of the Matsya, 'rparvatya Andhras,' is remarkable; rparvat being in Telingana. There is probably some confusion of the two races, the Magadh and Tailinga kings, in these passages of the Purnas. The Bhgavata has a dynasty of seven Andhra kings, but of a different period (see n. 39). Col. Wilford has attempted a verification of these dynasties; in some instances perhaps with success, though certainly not in all. The bhras he calls the shepherd kings of the north of India: they were more probably Greeks or Scythians or Parthians, along the lower Indus: traces of the name occur, as formerly observed, in the Abiria of Ptolemy, and the hrs as a distinct race still exist in Guzerat. Araish Mehfil. The akas are the Sac, and the duration of their power is not unlikely to be near the truth. The eight Yavana kings may be, as he supposes, Greek princes of Bactria, or rather of western India. The Tushras he makes the Parthians. If the Bhgavata has the preferable reading, Tushkras, they were the Tochari, a Scythian race. The Murndas, or, as he has it, Maurndas, he considers to be a tribe of Huns, the Morund of Ptolemy. According to the Matsya they were of Mlechchha origin, Mlechchha-sambhava. The Vyu calls them Arya-mlechchhas; quere, Barbarians of Ariana. Wilford regards the Maunas as also a tribe of Huns; and the word is in all the MSS. of the Matsya, Hnas; traces of whom may be still found in the west and south of India. Inscription at Merritch. Journ. R. As. vol. III. p. 103. The Garddabhins Wilford conjectures to be descendants of Bahram Gor, king of Persia; but this is very questionable. That they were a tribe in the west of India may be conjectured, as some strange tales prevail there of a Gandharba, changed to an ass, marrying the daughter of the king of Dhr. As. Res. VI. 35, and IX. 147; also 'Cutch' by Mrs. Postans, p. 18: fables suggested no doubt by the name Garddabha, signifying an ass. There is also p. 477 evidently some affinity between these Garddabhins and the old Gadhia Pysa, or ass-money, as vulgarly termed, found in various parts of western India, and which is unquestionably of ancient date. Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Dec. 1835, p. 688. It may be the coinage of the Garddabha princes; Garddabla, being the original of Gadha, meaning also an ass. I have elsewhere conjectured the possibility of their being current about a century and a half before our era. Journ. R. As. Soc. vol. Iii. 385. Col. Tod, quoting a parallel passage in Hindi, reads, instead of Garddhabhin, Gor-ind, which he explains the Indras or lords of Gor; but the reading is undoubtedly erroneous.

477:65
The copies agree in reading Pauras, but the commentator remarks that it is sometimes Maunas, but they have already been specified; unless the term be repeated in order to separate the duration of this dynasty from that of the rest. Such seems to be the purport of the similar passage of the Bhgavata. These kings (Andhras, &c.) will possess the earth 1099 years, and the eleven Maulas 300.' No such name as Pauras occurs in the other authorities. The analogy of duration identifies them with the Mlechchhas of the Vyu: 'Eleven Mlechchhas will possess the earth for three centuries:' and the Vyu may refer to the Maunas, as no other period is assigned for them. The periods of the Bhgavata, 1099 and 300, come much to the same as that of our text, 1390; the one including the three centuries of the Maunas, the other stating it separately. The Vyu apparently adds it to the rest, thus making the total 1601, instead of 1390. It is evident that the same scheme is intended by the several authorities, although some inaccuracy affects either the original statement or the existing manuscripts.

477:66
Kilakila, Kolakila, Kolikila, Kilinakila, as it is variously read. Sir Wm. Jones's Pandit stated that he understood it to be a city in the Mahratta country (As. Res. Xi. 142); and there has been found a confirmation of his belief in an inscription, where Kilagila, as it is there termed, is called the capital of Mrasinha Deva, king of the Konkan. Journ. R. As. Soc. vol. IV. p. 282. This inscription dates A. D. 1058. The Purnas refer probably to a long antecedent date, when the Greek princes, or their Indo-Scythic successors, following the course of the Indus, spread to the upper part of the western coast of the peninsula. The text calls them Yavanas; and the Vyu and Matsya say they were Yavanas in institutions, manners, and policy. The Bhgavata names five of their princes, Bhutnanda, p. 478 Bangiri, iunandi, Yanandi, and Pravra, who will reign 106 years, and they are therefore imperfect representatives of the series in our text. The Matsya has no farther specific enumeration of any dynasty. The Vyu makes Pravra the son of Vindhyaakti; the latter reigning 96 years, and the former 60: the latter is king of Knchana puri, 'the golden city,' and is followed by four sons, whose names are not mentioned. Between Vindhyaakti and Pravra, however, a dynasty of kings is introduced, some of the names of which resemble those of the Kilakila princes of the text. They are, Bhogin the son of Seshanga, Sadchandra, Nakhavat, Dhanadhamita, Vinaja, Bhutinanda--at a period before the end of the ungas? (the copies have ###)--Madhunandi, his younger brother Nandiyaas; and in his race there will be three other Rjs, Dauhitra, iuka, and Ripukyn. These are called princes of Vidia or Videa; the latter meaning perhaps 'foreign,' and constitute the Nga dynasty. Our text calls Vindhyaakti a Murddhbhishikta, a warrior of a mixed race, sprung from a Brahman father and Kshatriya mother.

478:67
The text of this passage runs thus: ###. 'Their sons,' the commentator explains by 'thirteen sons of Vindhyaakti and the rest.' The Bhgavata has a different statement, identifying the sons of the Vindhya race with the Bhlikas, and making them thirteen: 'The Bhlikas will be their thirteen sons.' As the commentator; 'There will be severally thirteen sons, called Bhlikas, of Bhtananda and the rest.' The following verse 'Pushpamitra, a king, and then Durmitra:' who or what they were does not appear. The commentator says, Pushpamitra was another king, and Durmitra was his son. Here is evidently careless and inaccurate compilation. The Vyu, though not quite satisfactory, accords better with our text. 'Pravra,' it says, will have four sons: when the Vindhya race is extinct, there will be three Bhlka kings, Supratka, Nabhra, who will reign thirty years, and akyamnbhava (quere this name), king of the Mahishas. The Pushpamitras will then be, and the Patumitras also, who will be seven kings of Mekal. Such is the generation.' The plural verb with only two Bhlka names indicates some omission, unless we correct it to it 'they two will reign;' but the following name and title, akyamnbhava, king of the Mahishas, seems to have little connexion with the Bhlikas. If, in a subsequent part of the citation, the reading 'trayodaa' be correct, it must then be thirteen Patumitras; but it will be difficult to know what to do with Sapta, 'seven' If for Santati we might read p. 479 Saptati, 'seventy,' the sense might be, 'these thirteen kings ruled for seventy-seven years.' However this may be, it seems most correct to separate the thirteen sons or families of the Vindhya princes from the three Bhlikas, and them from the Pushpamitras and Patumitras, who governed Mekal, a country on the Narbada (see p. 186. n. 18). What the Bhlikas, or princes of Balkh, had to do in this part of India is doubtful. The Durmitra of the Bhgavata has been conjectured by Col. Tod (Trans. R. As. Soc. I. 325) to be intended for the Bactrian prince Demetrius: but it is not clear that even the Bhgavata considers this prince as one of the Bhlikas, and the name occurs nowhere else.

479:68
For the situation of Koal, see p. 190. n. 79. The three copies of the Vyu read Komal, and call the kings, the Meghas, more strong than sapient. The Bhgavata agrees with our text. The Vyu says of the Naishadhas, or kings of Nishadha, that they were all of the race of Nala. The Bhgavata adds two other races, seven Andhras (see note 63) and kings of Vaidra, with the remark that these were all cotemporaries, being, as the commentator observes, petty or provincial rulers.

479:69
The Vyu has Viwasphni and Viwasphini; the Bhgavata, Viwasphrtti, or in some MSS. Viwaphiji. The castes he establishes or places in authority, to the exclusion of the Kshatriyas, are called in all the copies of our text Kaivarttas, Patus, Pulindas, and Brahmans. The Vyu (three MSS.) has Kaivarttas, Panchakas, Pulindas, and Brahmans. The Bhgavata has, Pulindas, Yadus, and Mdrakas. The Vyu describes Viwasphni as a great warrior, and apparently as a eunuch: He worshipped the gods and manes, and dying on the banks of the Ganges went to the heaven of Indra.

479:70
Such appears to be the purport of our text. The nine Ngas might be thought to mean the same as the descendants of esha Nga, but the Vyu has another series here, analogous to that of the text: 'The nine Nka kings will possess the city Champvat, and the seven Ngas (?) the pleasant city Mathura. Princes of the Gupta race will possess all these countries, the banks of the Ganges to Prayga and Sketa and Magadh.' p. 480 This account is the most explicit, and probably most accurate, of all. The Nkas were Rjs of Bhgalpur; the Ngas, of Mathura; and the intermediate countries along the Ganges were governed by the Guptas, or Rjs of the Vaiya caste. The Bhgavata seems to have taken great liberties with the account, as it makes Viwasphrtti king over Anugang, the course of the Ganges from Haridwar, according to the commentator, to Prayga, residing at Padmvat: omitting the Ngas altogether, and converting 'gupta' into an epithet of 'medini,' the preserved or protected earth. Wilford considers the Ngas, Nkas, and Guptas to be all the same: he says, 'Then came a dynasty of nine kings, called the nine Ngas or Ngas; these were an obscure tribe, called for that reason Guptavanas, who ruled in Padmvati.' That city he calls Patna; but in the Mlati and Mdhava, Padmvat lies amongst the Vindhya hills. Kntipuri he makes Cotwal, near Gwalior. The reading of the Vyu, Champvati, however, obviates the necessity of all vague conjecture. According to Wilford there is a powerful tribe still called Nkas between the Jamuna and the Betwa. Of the existence and power of the Guptas, however, we have recently had ample proofs from inscriptions and coins, as in the Chandragupta and Samudragupta of the Allatabad column; Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, March and June, 1834; and Kumragupta, Chandragupta, Samudragupta, aigupta, As. Res. XVII. pl. 1. fig. 5, 7, 13, 19; and Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, Nov. 1835, pl. 38 and 39; and in other numbers of the same Journal: in all which, the character in which the legends are written is of a period prior to the use of the modern Devanagari, and was current in all probability about the fifth century of our era, as conjectured by Mr. Prinsep: see his table of the modifications of the Sanscrit alphabet from 543 B. C. to 1200 A. D. Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, March 1838.

480:71
The Vyu also mentions the descendants of Devarakshita or Daivarakshitas as kings of the Koalas, Tmralipta, and the sea coast; so far conforming with our text as to include the western parts of Bengal, Tamlook, Medinipur, and Orissa. One copy reads Andhra, perhaps for Odra, Orissa; and one has Champ for the capital, which is probably an error, although the two other MSS., being still more faulty, do not offer the means of correction.

480:72
The Vyu has the same. The countries are parts of Orissa and Berar.

480:73
The Vyu has sons of Manidhanya for the ruling dynasty, but names the countries those of the Naishadhas, Yudakas, aikas, and Klatoyas. The first name applies to a tract of country near p. 481 the Vindhya mountains, but the last to a country in the north. The west or southwest, however, is probably intended in this place.

481:74
The Stri Rjya is usually placed in Bhote. It may perhaps here designate Malabar, where polyandry equally prevails. Mshika, or the country of thieves, was the pirate coast of the Konkan. The Vyu reads Bhokshyaka or Bhokhyaka for Mshika. The Bhgavata omits all these specifications subsequent to the notice of Viwasphrtti.

481:75
From this we might infer that the Vishnu P. was compiled when the Mohammedans were making their first encroachments on the west. They seem to have invaded and to have settled in Sindh early in the eighth century, although Indian princes continued on the Indus for a subsequent period. Scriptor. Arab. de rebus Indicis. Gildemeister, p. 6. They were engaged in hostilities in 698 or 700 with the prince of Kabul, in whose name, however disguised by its Mohammedan representations of Ratil, Ratbal, or Ratibal, it is not difficult to recognise the genuine Hindu appellation of Ratanpl, or Ratnapl. Their progress in this direction has not been traced; but at the period of their invasion of Sindh they advanced to Multan, and probably established themselves there and at Lahore within a century. Kashmir they did not occupy till a much later date, and the Rja Tarangini takes no notice of any attacks upon it; but the Chinese have recorded an application from the king of Kashmir, Chin-tho-lo-pi-li, evidently the Chandrpida of the Sanscrit, for aid against the Arabs, about A. D. 713. Gildemeister, p. 13. Although, therefore, not actually settled at the Panjab so early as the beginning, they had commenced their incursions, and had no doubt made good their footing by the end of the eighth or commencement of the ninth century. This age of the Purna is compatible with reference to the cotemporary race of Gupta kings, from the fourth or fifth to the seventh or eighth century; or, if we are disposed to go farther back, we may apply the passage to the Greek and Indo-Scythian princes. It seems more likely to be the former period; but in all such passages in this or other Purnas there is the risk that verses inspired by the presence of Mohammedan rulers may have been interpolated into the original text. Had the Mohammedans of Hindustan, however, been intended by the latter, the indications would have been more distinct, and the localities assigned to them more central. Even the Bhgavata, the date of which we have good reason for conjecturing to be the middle of the twelfth century, and which influenced the form assumed about that time by the worship of Vishnu, cannot be thought to refer to the Mohammedan conquerors of p. 482 upper India. It is there stated, that rulers fallen from their castes, or dras, will be the princes of Saurshtra, Avanti, Abhra, ra, Arbuda, and Mlava; and barbarians, dras, and other outcastes, not enlightened by the Vedas, will possess Kshmr, Kaunt, and the banks of the Chandrabhg and Indus.' Now it was not until the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries that the Mohammedans established themselves in Guzerat and Malwa, and the Bhgavata was unquestionably well known in various parts of India long before that time. (Account of Hindu Sects, As. Res. vol. XVI.) It cannot therefore allude to Mohammedans. By specifying the princes as seceders from the Vedas, there is no doubt that the barbarians and outcastes intended are so only in a religious sense; and we know from indisputable authorities that the western countries, Guzerat, Abu, Mlava, were the chief seats, first of the Buddhists, and then of the Jainas, from a period commencing perhaps before the Christian era, and scarcely terminating with the Mohammedan conquest. Inscriptions from Abu, As. Res. vol. Xvi.

482:76
The commentator, having no doubt the existing state of things in view, interprets the passage somewhat differently: the original is, ###. The comment explains 'strong', and adds, the Mlechchhas will be in the centre, and the ryyas at the end:' meaning, if any thing, that the unbelievers are in the heart of the country, and the Hindus on the borders: a description, however, never correct, except as applicable to the governments; and in that case inconsistent with the text, which had previously represented the bordering countries in the hands of outcastes and heretics. All that the text intends, is to represent infidels and foreigners high in power, and the Brahmans depressed. It is not unlikely that the reading is erroneous, notwithstanding the copies concur, and that the passage should be here the same as that of the Vyu; 'Intermixed with them, the nations, adopting every where barbaric p. 483 institutions, exist in a state of disorder, and the subjects shall be destroyed.' The expression Mlechchhchrcha being used instead of Mlechchhachrycha. A passage similar to that of the text, noticing the intermixture of Hindus and barbarians, occurs in a different place (see p. 175. n. 4), and designates tare condition of India in all ages: at no period has the whole of the population followed Brahmanical Hinduism.

483:77
That is, there will be no Trthas, places held sacred, and objects of pilgrimage; no particular spot of earth will have any especial sanctity.

483:78
Gifts will be made from the impulse of ordinary feeling, not in connexion with religious rites, and as an act of devotion; and ablution will be performed for pleasure or comfort, not religiously with prescribed ceremonies and prayers.

483:79
The expression Sadveadhrin is explained to mean either one who wears fine clothes, or who assumes the exterior garb of sanctity. Either interpretation is equally allowable.

484:80
The Bhgavata agrees with the text in these particulars. The chief star of Tishya is in the constellation Cancer.

484:81
All the copies concur in this reading. Three copies of the Vyu assign to the same interval 1050 years: and of the Matsya five copies have the same, or 1050 years; whilst one copy has 1500 years. The Bhgavata has 1115 years; which the commentator explains, 'a thousand years and a hundred with fifteen over.' He notices nevertheless, although he does not attempt to account for the discrepancy, that the total period from Parkshit to Nanda was actually, according to the duration of the different intermediate dynasties, as enumerated by all the authorities, fifteen centuries; viz.

Magadh kings

1000

yrs.

Pradyota, &c.

138

iunga, for reckoning from Sahadeva, who was cotemporary with Parkshit, and taking the number of the Vrhadrathas from the Matsya, we have thirty-two of them, five of the Pradyota race, and ten aiungas, or in all forty-seven; which, as the divisor of 1050, gives rather more than twenty-two years to a reign. The Vyu and the Matsya further specify the interval from Nanda to Pulomat, the last of the ndhra kings, as being 836 years; a total that does notp. 485 agree exactly with the items previously specified:

9

Nandas

100

yrs.

10

Mauryas

137

10

ungas

112

4

Kanwas

45

29

Andhras

460

62

854

[paragraph continues] In either case the average duration of reign is not improbable, as the highest number gives less than fourteen years to each prince. It is important to remember that the reign of Parkshit is, according to Hindu chronology, coeval with the commencement of the Kali age; and even therefore taking the longest Paurnik interval we have but sixteen centuries between Chandragupta--or considering him as the same with Sandrocoptos, nineteen centuries B. C.--for the beginning of the Kali age. According to the chronology of our text, however, it would be but B. C. 1415; to that of the Vyu and Matsya, B. C. 1450; and to that of the Bhgavata, 1515. According to Col. Wilford's computations (As. Res. vol. IX. Chron. Table, p. 116) the conclusion of the great war took place B. C. 1370: Buchanan conjectures it to have occurred in the thirteenth century B. C. Vysa was the putative father of Pndu and Dhritarshtra, and consequently was cotemporary with the heroes of the great war. Mr. Colebrooke infers from astronomical data that the arrangement of the Vedas attributed to Vysa took place in the fourteenth century B.C. Mr. Bentley brings the date of Yudhishthira, the chief of the Pndavas, to 575 B. C. (Historical View of Hindu Astronomy, p. 67); but the weight of authority is in favour of the thirteenth or fourteenth century B. C. for the war of the Mahbhrata, and the reputed commencement of the Kali age.

485:82 A
similar explanation is given in the Bhgavata, Vyu, and Matsya Purnas; and like accounts from astronomical writers are cited by Mr. Colebrooke, As. Res. vol. IX. p. 358. The commentator on the Bhgavata thus explains the notion: "The two stars (Pulaha and Kratu) must rise or be visible before the rest, and whichever asterism is in a line south from the middle of those stars, is that with which the seven stars are united; and so they continue for one hundred years." Col. Wilford has also given a like explanation of the revolution of the Rishis; As. Res. vol. IX. p. 83. According to Bentley the notion originated in a contrivance of the astronomers to shew the quantity of the precession of the equinoxes. "This was by assuming an imaginary line or great circle passing through the poles of the ecliptic and the beginning of the fixed Magh, which circle was supposed to cut some of the stars in the Great Bear. The seven stars in the Great Bear the circle so assumed was called the line of the Rishis, and being fixed to the beginning of the lunar asterism Magh, the precession would be solved by stating the degree &c. of any moveable lunar mansion cut by that fixed line or circle as an p. 486 index. Historical View of Hindu Astronomy, p. 65.

486:83
The Bhgavata has the same; and this agrees with the period assigned for the interval between Parkshit and Nanda of 1050 years; as, including Magh, we have ten asterisms to Purvshdh, or 1000 years. The Vyu and Matsya are so very inaccurate in all the copies consulted, that it is not safe to affirm what they mean to describe. Apparently they state that at the end of the Andhra dynasty the Rishis will be in Krittik, which furnishes other ten asterisms; the whole being nearly in accordance with the chronology of the text, as the total interval from Parkshit to the last of the Andhras is 1050 + 836 =1886, and the entire century of each asterism at the beginning and end of the series need not be taken into account. The copies of the Matsya read, 'The seven Rishis are on a line with the brilliant Agni;' that is, with Krittik, of which Agni is the presiding deity. The Vyu intends in all probability the same phrase, but the three copies have, ### a very unintelligible clause. Again, it seems as if they intended to designate the end of the Andhra race as the period of a complete revolution, or 2700 years; for the Vyu has, 'The races at the end of the Andhas will be after 2700 years:' the Matsya has, ### and at the close of the passage, after specifying as usual that 'the seven Rishis were in Magh in the time of Parkshit,' the Vyu adds, ### a passage which, though repeated in the MSS., is obviously most inaccurate; although it might perhaps be understood to intimate that the Rishis will be in the twenty-fourth asterism after the Andhra race; but that would give only 1400 years from Parkshit to Pulomat; whilst if the twenty-fourth from Magh was intended, it would give 2400 years: both periods being incompatible with previous specifications. The Matsya has a different reading of the second line, but one not much more satisfactory; 'A hundred years of Brahm will be in the twenty-fourth (asterism?).' In neither of these authorities, however, is it proposed by the last-cited passages to illustrate the chronology of princes or dynasties: the specification p. 487 of the period, whatever it may be, is that of the era at which the evil influence of the Kali age is to become most active and irresistible.

487:84
The Bhgavata has the same. Devpi, as the commentator observes, being the restorer of the lunar, and Maru of the solar race.

489:85
To be the cause of Sankalpa, 'conviction, belief;' and Vikalpa, 'doubt, disbelief.' The Bhgavata indulges in a similar strain, and often in the same words. The whole recalls the words of the Roman satirist;

... I,
demens, et svas curre per Alpes,

Ut pueris placeas, et declamatio fias.
aitareya brahmana| aitareya brahmana
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