{"collection":"Hinduism","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/hin/vp/vp096.htm","path":"hin/vp/vp096.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/hin/vp/vp096.htm","text":"The Vishnu Purana, translated by Horace Hayman Wilson, [1840]\nThe progeny of Sagara: their wickedness: he performs an A\u015bwamedha: the horse stolen by Kapila: found by Sagara's sons, who are all destroyed by the sage: the horse recovered by An\u015bumat: his descendants. Legend of Mitrasaha or Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da, the son of Sud\u00e1sa. Legend of Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga. Birth of R\u00e1ma and the other sons of Da\u015baratha. Epitome of the history of R\u00e1ma: his descendants, and those of his brothers. Line of Ku\u015ba. Vrihadbala, the last, killed in the great war.\nSUMATI the daughter of Ka\u015byapa, and Kesin\u00ed the daughter of R\u00e1ja Viderbha, were the two wives of Sagara 1. Being without progeny, the king solicited the aid of the sage Aurva with great earnestness, and the Muni pronounced this boon, that one wife should bear one son, the upholder of his race, and the other should give birth to sixty thousand sons; and he left it to them to make their election. Kesin\u00ed chose to have the single son; Sumati the multitude: and it came to pass in a short time that the former bore Asamanjas 2, a prince through whom the dynasty continued; and the daughter of Vinat\u00e1 (Sumati) had sixty thousand sons. The son of Asamanjas was An\u015bumat.\nAsamanjas was from his boyhood of very irregular conduct. His father hoped that as he grew up to manhood he would reform; but finding that he continued guilty of the same immorality, Sagara abandoned him. The sixty thousand sons of Sagara followed the example of their brother Asamanjas. The path of virtue and piety being obstructed in the world by the sons of Sagara, the gods repaired to the Muni Kapila, who was a portion of Vish\u0144u, free from fault, and endowed with all true wisdom. Having approached him with respect, they said, \"O lord, what will become of the world, if these sons of Sagara are permitted to go on in the evil ways which they have learned from Asamanjas! Do thou, then, assume a visible form, for the protection of the afflicted\nuniverse.\" \"Be satisfied,\" replied the sage, \"in a brief time the sons of Sagara shall be all destroyed.\"\nAt that period Sagara commenced the performance of the solemn sacrifice of a horse, who was guarded by his own sons: nevertheless some one stole the animal, and carried it off into a chasm in the earth, Sagara commanded his sons to search for the steed; and they, tracing him by the impressions of his hoofs, followed his course with perseverance, until coming to the chasm where he had entered, they proceeded to enlarge it, and dug downwards each for a league. Coming to P\u00e1t\u00e1la, they beheld the horse wandering freely about, and at no great distance from him they saw the Rishi Kapila sitting, with his head declined in meditation, and illuminating the surrounding space with radiance as bright as the splendours of the autumnal sun, shining in an unclouded sky. Exclaiming, \"This is the villain who has maliciously interrupted our sacrifice, and stolen the horse! kill him! kill him!\" they ran towards him with uplifted weapons. The Muni slowly raised his eyes, and for an instant looked upon them, and they were reduced to ashes by the sacred flame that darted from his person 3.\nWhen Sagara learned that his sons, whom he had sent in pursuit of the sacrificial steed, had been destroyed by the might of the great Rishi Kapila, he dispatched An\u015bumat, the son of Asamaujas, to effect the animals recovery. The youth, proceeding by the deep path which the princes had dug, arrived where Kapila was, and bowing respectfully, prayed to him, and so propitiated him, that the saint said, \"Go, my\nson, deliver the horse to your grandfather; and demand a boon; thy grandson shall bring down the river of heaven on the earth.\" An\u015bumat requested as a boon that his uncles, who had perished through the sage's displeasure, might, although unworthy of it, be raised to heaven through his favour. \"I have told you,\" replied Kapila, \"that your grandson shall bring down upon earth the Ganges of the gods; and when her waters shall wash the bones and ashes of thy grandfather's sons, they shall be raised to Swarga. Such is the efficacy of the stream that flows from the toe of Vish\u0144u, that it confers heaven upon all who bathe in it designedly, or who even become accidentally immersed in it: those even shall obtain Swarga, whose bones, skin, fibres, hair, or any other part, shall be left after death upon the earth which is contiguous to the Ganges.\" Having acknowledged reverentially the kindness of the sage, An\u015bumat returned to his grandfather, and delivered to him the horse. Sagara, on recovering the steed, completed his sacrifice; and in affectionate memory of his sons, denominated S\u00e1gara the chasm which they had dug 4.\nThe son of An\u015bumat was Dil\u00edpa 5; his son was Bhag\u00edratha, who brought Gang\u00e1 down to earth, whence she is called Bh\u00e1girath\u00ed. The son of Bhag\u00edratha was \u015aruta 6; his son was N\u00e1bh\u00e1ga 7; his son was Ambar\u00edsha; his son was Sindhudw\u00edpa; his son was Ayut\u00e1\u015bwa 8; his son was Ritupar\u0144a, the friend of Nala, skilled profoundly in dice 9. The\nson of Ritupar\u0144a was Sarvak\u00e1ma 10; his son was Sud\u00e1sa; his son was Saud\u00e1sa, named also Mitrasaha 11.\nThe son of Sud\u00e1sa having gone into the woods to hunt, fell in with a couple of tigers, by whom the forest had been cleared of the deer. The king slew one of these tigers with an arrow. At the moment of expiring, the form of the animal was changed, and it became that of a fiend of fearful figure, and hideous aspect. Its companion, threatening the prince with its vengeance, disappeared.\nAfter some interval Saud\u00e1sa celebrated a sacrifice, which was conducted by Va\u015bisht\u0301ha. At the close of the rite Va\u015bisht\u0301ha went out; when the R\u00e1kshas, the fellow of the one that had been killed in the figure of a tiger, assumed the semblance of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, and came and said to the king, \"Now that the sacrifice is ended, you must give me flesh to eat: let it be cooked, and I will presently return.\" Having said this, he withdrew, and, transforming himself into the shape of the cook, dressed some human flesh, which he brought to the king, who, receiving it on a plate of gold, awaited the reappearance of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha. As soon as the Muni returned, the king offered to him the dish. Va\u015bisht\u0301ha surprised at such want of propriety in the king, as his offering him meat to eat, considered what it should be that was so presented, and by the efficacy of his meditations discovered that it was human flesh. His mind being agitated with wrath, he denounced a curse upon the R\u00e1j\u00e1, saying, \"Inasmuch as you have insulted all such holy men as we are, by giving me what is not to be eaten, your appetite shall henceforth be excited by similar food.\"\n\"It was yourself,\" replied the R\u00e1j\u00e1 to the indignant sage, \"who commanded this food to be prepared.\" \"By me!\" exclaimed Va\u015bisht\u0301ha; \"how could that have been?\" and again having recourse to meditation, he detected the whole truth. Foregoing then all displeasure towards the king, he said, \"The food to which I have sentenced you shall not be your sustenance for ever; it shall only be so for twelve years.\" The king, who had taken up water in the palms of his hands, and was prepared to curse the Muni, now considered that Va\u015bisht\u0301ha was his spiritual guide, and being reminded by Madayant\u00ed his queen that it ill became him to denounce an imprecation upon a holy teacher, who was the guardian divinity of his race, abandoned his intention.\n[paragraph continues] Unwilling to cast the water upon the earth, lest it should wither up the grain, for it was impregnated with his malediction, and equally reluctant to throw it up into the air, lest it should blast the clouds, and dry up their contents, he threw it upon, his own feet. Scalded by the heat which the water had derived from his angry imprecation, the feet of the R\u00e1j\u00e1 became spotted black and white, and he thence obtained the name of Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da, or he with the spotted (kalm\u00e1sha) feet (p\u00e1da).\nIn consequence of the curse of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, the R\u00e1j\u00e1 became a cannibal every sixth watch of the day for twelve years, and in that state wandered through the forests, and devoured multitudes of men. On one occasion he beheld a holy person engaged in dalliance with his wife. As soon as they saw his terrific form, they were frightened, and endeavoured to escape; but the regal R\u00e1kshasa overtook and seized the husband. The wife of the Brahman then also desisted from flight, and earnestly entreated the savage to spare her lord, exclaiming, \"Thou, Mitrasaha, art the pride of the royal house of Ikshw\u00e1ku, not a malignant fiend! it is not in thy nature, who knowest the characters of women, to carry off and devour my husband.\" But all was in vain, and, regardless of her reiterated supplications, he ate the Brahman, as a tiger devours a deer. The Brahman's wife, furious with wrath, then addressed the R\u00e1j\u00e1, and said, \"Since you have barbarously disturbed the joys of a wedded pair, and killed my husband, your death shall be the consequence of your associating with your queen.\" So saying, she entered the flames.\nAt the expiration of the period of his curse Saud\u00e1sa returned home. Being reminded of the imprecation of the Brahmani by his wife Madayant\u00ed, he abstained from conjugal intercourse, and was in consequence childless; but having solicited the interposition of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, Madayant\u00ed became pregnant. The child, however, was not born for seven years, when the queen, becoming impatient, divided the womb with a sharp stone, and was thereby delivered. The child was thence called A\u015bmaka (from A\u015bman, 'a stone'). The son of A\u015bmaka was M\u00falaka, who, when the warrior tribe was extirpated upon earth, was surrounded and concealed by a number of females; whence he was denominated N\u00e1r\u00edkavacha\n[paragraph continues] (having women for armour) 12. The son of M\u00falaka was Da\u015baratha; his son was Ilavila; his son was Vi\u015bwasaha; his son was Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga, called also Dil\u00edpa 13, who in a battle between the gods and the Asuras, being called by the former to their succour, killed a number of the latter. Having thus acquired the friendship of the deities in heaven, they desired him to demand a boon. He said to them, \"If a boon is to be accepted by me, then tell me, as a favour, what is the duration of my life.\" \"The length of your life is but an hour,\" the gods replied. On which, Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga, who was swift of motion, descended in his easy-gliding chariot to the world of mortals. Arrived there, he prayed, and said, \"If my own soul has never been dearer to me than the sacred Brahmans; if I have never deviated from the discharge of my duty; if I have never regarded gods, men, animals, vegetables, all created things, as different from the imperishable; then may I, with unswerving step, attain to that divine being on whom holy sages meditate!\" Having thus spoken, he was united with that supreme being, who is V\u00e1sudeva; with that elder of all the gods, who is abstract existence, and whose form cannot be described. Thus he obtained absorption, according to this stanza, which was repeated formerly by the seven Rishis; \"Like unto Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga will be no one upon earth, who having come from heaven, and dwelt an hour amongst men, became united with the three worlds by his liberality and knowledge of truth 14.\"\nThe son of Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga was D\u00edrghab\u00e1hu; his son was Raghu; his son was Aja; his son was Da\u015baratha 15. The god from whose navel the\nlotus springs became fourfold, as the four sons of Da\u015baratha, R\u00e1ma, Lakshma\u0144a, Bharata, and \u015aatrughna, for the protection of the world. R\u00e1ma, whilst yet a boy, accompanied Visw\u00e1mitra, to protect his sacrifice, and slew T\u00e1d\u0301ak\u00e1. He afterwards killed M\u00e1richa with his resistless shafts; and Sub\u00e1hu and others fell by his arms. He removed the guilt of Ahaly\u00e1 by merely looking upon her. In the palace of Janaka he broke with ease the mighty bow of Mahe\u015bwara, and received the hand of S\u00edt\u00e1, the daughter of the king, self-born from the earth, as the prize of his prowess. He humbled the pride of Para\u015bur\u00e1ma, who vaunted his triumphs over the race of Haihaya, and his repeated slaughters of the Kshatriya tribe. Obedient to the commands of his father, and cherishing no regret for the loss of sovereignty, he entered the forest,\naccompanied by his brother Lakshma\u0144a and by his wife, where he killed in conflict Vir\u00e1dha, Kharad\u00fashana and other R\u00e1kshasas, the headless giant Kabandha, and B\u00e1li the monkey monarch. Having built a bridge across the ocean, and destroyed the whole R\u00e1kshasa nation, he recovered his bride S\u00edt\u00e1, whom their ten-headed king R\u00e1va\u0144a had carried off, and returned to Ayodhy\u00e1 with her, after she had been purified by the fiery ordeal from the soil contracted by her captivity, and had been honoured by the assembled gods, who bore witness to her virtue 16.\nBharata made himself master of the country of the Gandharbas, after destroying vast numbers of them; and \u015aatrughna having killed the R\u00e1kshasa chief Lava\u0144a, the son of Madhu, took possession of his capital Mathur\u00e1.\nHaving thus, by their unequalled valour and might, rescued the whole world from the dominion of malignant fiends, R\u00e1ma, Lakshma\u0144a, Bharata, and \u015aatrughna reascended to heaven, and were followed by those of the people of Ko\u015bala who were fervently devoted to these incarnate portions of the supreme Vish\u0144u.\nR\u00e1ma and his brothers had each two sons. Ku\u015ba and Lava were the sous of R\u00e1ma; those of Lakshma\u0144a were Angada and Chandraketu; the sons of Bharata were Taksha and Pushkara; and Sub\u00e1hu and \u015a\u00farasena 17 were the sons of \u015aatrughna.\nThe son of Ku\u015ba was Atithi; his son was Nishadha; his son was Nala 18; his son was Nabhas; his son was Pu\u0144d\u0301ar\u00edka; his son was Kshemadhanwan; his son was Dev\u00e1n\u00edka; his son was Ah\u00ednagu 19; his son was P\u00e1rip\u00e1tra; his son was Dala 20; his son was Chhala 21; his son was Uktha 22; his son was Vajran\u00e1bha; his son was \u015aankhan\u00e1bha 23; his son was Abhyutthit\u00e1\u015bwa 24; his son was Vi\u015bwasaha 25; his son was Hira\u0144yan\u00e1bha, who was a pupil of the mighty Yog\u00ed Jaimini, and communicated the knowledge of spiritual exercises to Y\u00e1jnawalkya 26. The son of this\nsaintly king was Pushya; his son was Dhruvasandhi 27; his son was Sudar\u015bana; his son was Agnivar\u0144a; his son was \u015a\u00edghra; his son was Maru 28, who through the power of devotion (Yoga) is still living in the village called Kal\u00e1pa, and in a future age will be the restorer of the Kshatriya race in the solar dynasty. Maru had a son named Prasu\u015bruta; his son was Susandhi; his son was Amarsha; his son was Mahaswat 29; his son was Vi\u015brutavat 30; and his son was Vrihadbala, who was killed in the great war by Abhimanyu, the son of Anjuna. These are the most distinguished princes in the family of Ikshw\u00e1ku: whoever listens to the account of them will be purified from all his sins 31.}\n377:1 So the R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a. Sumati is called the daughter of Arisht\u0301anemi: the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata calls her \u015aaivy\u00e1. The story of Sagara and his descendants is told at length in the R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a, first book, and in the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata, Vana Parva, III. 106, et seq., as well as in most of the Pur\u00e1\u0144as.\n377:2 Or Panchajana: Br\u00e1hma.\n378:3 The Bh\u00e1gavata has, for a Pur\u00e1\u0144a, some curious remarks on this part of the story, flatly denying its truth. 'The report is not true, that the sons of the king were scorched by the wrath of the sage; for how can the quality of darkness, made up of anger, exist in a world-purifying nature, consisting of the quality of goodness; the dust of earth, as it were, in the sky? How should mental perturbation distract that sage, who was one with the supreme, and who has promulgated that Sankhy\u00e1 philosophy, which is a strong vessel, by which he who is desirous of liberation passes over the dangerous ocean of the world by the path of death?'\n379:4 S\u00e1gara is still the name of the ocean, and especially of the bay of Bengal, at the mouth of the Ganges. On the shore of the island called by the same name, tradition places a Kapil\u00e1\u015brama, or hermitage of Kapila, which is still the scene of an annual pilgrimage. Other legends assign a very different situation for the abode of the ascetic, or the foot of the Him\u00e1laya, where the Ganges descends to the plains. There would be no incompatibility, however, in the two sites, could we imagine the tradition referred to a period when the ocean washed, as it appears once to have done, the base of the Him\u00e1laya, and Saugor (S\u00e1gara) was at Har\u00eddwar.\n379:5 Or Khat\u0301w\u00e1nga: Br\u00e1hma and Hari Van\u015ba: but this is apparently an error. See note 14.\n379:6 Omitted: Matsya and Agni. Vi\u015bruta: Linga.\n379:7 N\u00e1bhin: Bh\u00e1gavata.\n379:8 Ayut\u00e1yus: V\u00e1yu, Linga, and K\u00farma. \u015arut\u00e1yus: Agni. Ayutajit: Br\u00e1hma.\n379:9 'knowing the heart of the dice.' The same epithet, as well as that of 'friend of Nala,' is given him in the V\u00e1yu, Bh\u00e1gavata, and Br\u00e1hma Pur\u00e1\u0144as, p. 380 and in the Hari Van\u015ba, and leaves no doubt of their referring to the hero of the story told in the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata. Nara however, as we shall hereafter see, is some twenty generations later than Ritupar\u0144a in the same family; and the V\u00e1yu therefore thinks it necessary to observe that two Nalas are noticed in the Pur\u00e1\u0144as, and the one here adverted to is the son of V\u00edrasena; whilst the other belongs to the family of Ikshw\u00e1ku. The same passage occurs in the Br\u00e1hma P. and Hari V.; and the commentator on the latter observes, 'Nala the son of Nishadha is different from Nala the son of V\u00edrasena.' It is also to be observed, that the Nala of the tale is king of Nishadha, and his friend Ritupar\u0144a is king of Ayodhya. The Nala of the race of Ikshw\u00e1ku is king of Ayodhy\u00e1: he is the son of Nishadha, however, and there is evidently some confusion between the two. We do not find V\u00edrasena or his son in any of the lists. See n. 19.\n380:10 There is considerable variety in this part of the lists, but the V\u00e1yu and Bh\u00e1gavata agree with our text. The Matsya and others make Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da the son or grandson of Ritupar\u0144a, and place Sarvak\u00e1ma or Sarvakarman after him. See further on.\n380:11 The V\u00e1yu, Agni, Br\u00e1hma, and Hari Van\u015ba read Amitrasaha, 'foe-enduring;' but the commentator on our text explains it Mitra, a name of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, Saha, 'able to bear' the imprecation of; as in the following legend, which is similarly related in the Bh\u00e1gavata. It is not detailed in the V\u00e1yu. A full account occurs in the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata, \u00c1di P., s. 176, but with many and important variations. Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da, whilst hunting, encountered \u015aaktri, the son of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, in the woods; and on his refusing to make way, struck the sage with his whip. \u015aaktri cursed the king to become a cannibal; and Visw\u00e1mitra, who had a quarrel with Va\u015bisht\u0301ha, seized the opportunity to direct a R\u00e1kshas to take possession of the king, that he might become the instrument of destroying the family of the rival saint. Whilst thus influenced, Mitrasaha, a Brahman, applied to Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da for food, and the king commanded his cook to dress human flesh, and give it to the Brahman, who, knowing what it was, repeated the curse of \u015aaktri, that the king should become a cannibal; which taking effect with double force, Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da began to eat men. One of his first victims was \u015aaktri, whom he slew and ate; and then killed and devoured, under the secret impulse of Vi\u015bw\u00e1mitra's demon, all the other sons of Va\u015bisht\u0301ha. Va\u015bisht\u0301ha however liberated him from the R\u00e1kshas who possessed him, and restored him to his natural character. The imprecation of the Brahman's wife, and its consequences, are told in the Mah\u00e1bh\u00e1rata as in the text; but the story of the water falling on his feet appears to have grown out of the etymology of his name, which might have referred to some disease of the lower extremities, the prince's designation being at length, Mitrasaha Saud\u00e1sa Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da, or Mitrasaha, son of Sud\u00e1sa, with the swelled feet.\n383:12 His name M\u00falaka, or 'the root,' refers also to his being the stem whence the Kshatriya races again proceeded. It may be doubted if the purport of his title N\u00e1r\u00edkavacha is accurately explained by the text.\n383:13 This prince is confounded with an earlier Dil\u00edpa by the Br\u00e1hma P. and Hari Van\u015ba.\n383:14 The term for his obtaining final liberation is rather unusual; 'By whom the three worlds were affected or beloved:' the three worlds being identified with their source, or the supreme. The text says of this stanza ###, and the V\u00e1yu, citing it, says ###, the legend is therefore from the Vedas.\n383:15 The lists here differ very materially, as the following comparison will best shew: p. 384\n| Vish\u0144u. | Matsya. | R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a. | \n| Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da | Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da | Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da | \n| A\u015bmaka | Sarvakarman | \u015aankana | \n| M\u00falaka | Anara\u0144ya | Sudar\u015bana | \n| Da\u015baratha | Nighna | Agnivar\u0144a | \n| Ilavila | Anamitra | \u015aighraga | \n| Vi\u015bwasaha | Raghu | Maru | \n| Dil\u00edpa | Dil\u00edpa | Prasusruka | \n| D\u00edrghab\u00e1hu | Aja | Ambar\u00edsha | \n| Raghu | D\u00edrghab\u00e1hu | Nahusha | \n| Aja | Ajap\u00e1la | Yay\u00e1ti | \n| Da\u015baratha | Da\u015baratha | N\u00e1bh\u00e1ga | \n| | | Aja | \n| | | Da\u015baratha. | \n[paragraph continues] The V\u00e1yu, Bh\u00e1gavata, K\u00farma, and Linga agree with our text, except in the reading of a few names; as \u015aataratha for Da\u015baratha the first; Vairiv\u00edra for Ilavila; and Kritasarman, Vriddhasarman, or Vriddhakarman, for Vi\u015bwasaha. The Agni and Br\u00e1hma and Hari Van\u015ba agree with the second series, with similar occasional exceptions; shewing that the Pur\u00e1\u0144as admit two series, differing in name, but agreeing in number. The R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a, however, differs from both in a very extraordinary manner, and the variation is not limited to the cases specified, as it begins with Bhag\u00edratha, as follows:\n| Pur\u00e1\u0144as. | R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a. | \n| Bhag\u00edratha | Bhag\u00edratha | \n| \u015aruta | Kakutshtha | \n| N\u00e1bh\u00e1ga | Raghu | \n| Ambar\u00edsha | Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da | \n| Sindhudw\u00edpa | | \n| Ayut\u00e1\u015bwa | | \n| Ritupar\u0144a | | \n| Sarvak\u00e1ma | | \n| Sud\u00e1sa | | \n| Kalm\u00e1shap\u00e1da. | | \n[paragraph continues] The entire Paur\u00e1\u0144ik series comprises twenty descents, and that of the R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a sixteen. Some of the last names of the poem occur amongst the first of those of the Pur\u00e1\u0144as, but there is an irreconcilable difference in much of the nomenclature. The Agni, under the particular account of the descent of R\u00e1ma, has for his immediate predecessors Raghu, Aja, Da\u015baratha, as in our text; and the author of the Raghu Van\u015ba agrees with the Pur\u00e1\u0144as from Dil\u00edpa downwards.\n385:16 This is an epitome of the R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a, the heroic poem of V\u00e1lm\u00edki, on the subject of R\u00e1ma's exploits. A part of the R\u00e1m\u00e1ya\u0144a was published, with a translation by Messrs. Carey and Marshman, several years since; but a much more correct edition of the text of the two first books, with a Latin translation of the first, and part of the second, have been more recently published by Professor Schlegel; a work worthy of his illustrious name. A summary of the story may be found in Sir Wm. Jones's Works, Maurice's Hindustan, Moor's Pantheon, &c. It is also the subject of the Uttara R\u00e1ma Charitra in the Hindu Theatre, in the introduction to which an outline of the whole is given. The story is therefore, no doubt, sufficiently familiar even to English readers. It seems to be founded on historical fact; and the traditions of the south of India uniformly ascribe its civilization, the subjugation or dispersion of its forest tribes of barbarians, and the settlement of civilized Hindus, to the conquest of Lank\u00e1 by R\u00e1ma.\n385:17 The V\u00e1yu specifies the countries or cities over which they reigned. Anguda and Chitraketu, as the V\u00e1yu terms the latter, governed countries near the Him\u00e1laya, p. 386 the capitals of which were \u00c1ngadi and Chandravaktr\u00e1. Taksha and Pushkara were sovereigns of Gandh\u00e1ra, residing at Taksha\u015b\u00edl\u00e1 and Pushkaravat\u00ed. Sub\u00e1hu and \u015a\u00farasena reigned at Mathur\u00e1; and in the latter we might be satisfied to find the \u015a\u00farasenas of Arrian, but that there is a subsequent origin, of perhaps greater authenticity, in the family of Yadu, as we shall hereafter see. 'Ku\u015ba built Ku\u015basthal\u00ed on the brow of the Vindhya, the capital of Ko\u015bal\u00e1; and Lava reigned at \u015ar\u00e1vast\u00ed (see p. 355. 361) in Uttara (northern) Ko\u015bal\u00e1:' &c. The Raghu Vaasa describes Ku\u015ba as returning from Ku\u015bavati to Ayodhy\u00e1, after his father's death; but it seems not unlikely that the extending power of the princes of the Doab, of the lunar family, compelled R\u00e1ma's posterity to retire more to the west and south.\n386:18 The Bh\u00e1gavata is the only Pur\u00e1\u0144a that omits this name, as if the author had been induced to correct the reading in order to avoid the necessity of recognising two Nalas. See above, n. 9.\n386:19 Here again we have two distinct series of princes, independently of variations of individual names. Instead of the list of the text, with which the V\u00e1yu and Bh\u00e1gavata nearly, and the Br\u00e1hma and Hari Van\u015ba indifferently conform, we have in the Matsya, Linga, K\u00farma, and Agni the following: Ah\u00ednagu, Sahasr\u00e1\u015bwa, Sahasr\u00e1ya or Sahasrabala, Chandr\u00e1valoka, T\u00e1rap\u00edd\u0301a or T\u00e1r\u00e1dh\u00ed\u015ba, Chandragiri, Bh\u00e1n\u00faratha or Bh\u00e1numitra, and \u015ar\u00fat\u00e1yus, with whom the list ends, except in the Linga, which adds B\u00e1hula, killed by Abhimanyu: enumerating therefore from Dev\u00e1n\u00edka but seven or eight princes to the great war, instead of twenty-three, as in the other series. The Raghu Vaasa gives much the same list as our text, ending with Agnivar\u0144a.\n386:20 Bala: Bh\u00e1gavata. Nala: Hari V.\n386:21 Sthala: Bh\u00e1gavata. \u015aala: V\u00e1yu and Br\u00e1hma. \u015aila: Raghu Van\u015ba.\n386:22 Omitted: Bh\u00e1gavata.\n386:23 \u015aankha: Br\u00e1hma. Khagana: Bh\u00e1g.\n386:24 D\u00fashit\u00e1\u015bwa: V\u00e1yu. Adhy\u00fashit\u00e1\u015bwa: Br\u00e1hma. Vidhriti: Bh\u00e1gavata.\n386:25 Omitted: Br\u00e1hma and Bh\u00e1gavata.\n386:26 Omitted: Br\u00e1hma and Hari V.: but included with similar particulars by the V\u00e1yu, Bh\u00e1gavata, and Raghu Van\u015ba: see also p. 283, where Kau\u015balya is likewise given as the synonyme of Hira\u0144yagarbha, being, as the commentator observes, his Vishesha\u0144am, his epithet or attribute, born p. 387 in, or king of, Ko\u015bal\u00e1. The V\u00e1yu accordingly terms him ###, but in the Bh\u00e1gavata the epithet Kau\u015balya is referred by the commentator to Y\u00e1jnawalkya, the pupil of Hira\u0144yan\u00e1bha. The author of the Raghu Van\u015ba, not understanding the meaning of the term, has converted Kau\u015balya into the son of Hira\u0144yan\u00e1bha. Raghu V. 18. 27. The Bh\u00e1gavata, like our text, calls the prince the pupil of Jaimini. The V\u00e1yu, more correctly, 'the pupil of the sage's grandson.' There seems to be, however, something unusual in the account given of the relation borne by the individuals named to each other. As a pupil of Jaimini, Hira\u0144yan\u00e1bha is a teacher of the S\u00e1ma-veda (see p. 283), but Y\u00e1jnawalkya is the teacher of the V\u00e1jasaneyi branch of the Yajush (p. 281). Neither of them is specified by Mr. Colebrooke amongst the authorities of the P\u00e1tanjala or Yoga philosophy; nor does either appear as a disciple of Jaimini in his character of founder of the M\u00edm\u00e1ns\u00e1 school. Trans. R. As. Soc. vol. I.\n387:27 Arthasiddhi: Br\u00e1hma P. and Hari V.\n387:28 Maruta: Br\u00e1hma P. and Hari V. These authorities omit the succeeding four names.\n387:29 Sahaswat: V\u00e1yu.\n387:30 Vi\u015bwasaha: Bh\u00e1gavata.\n387:31 The list closes here, as the author of the Pur\u00e1\u0144as, Vy\u00e1sa, is cotemporary with the great war. The line of Ikshw\u00e1ku is resumed prophetically in the twenty-second chapter.","title":"The Vishnu Purana: Book IV: Chapter IV","type":"page"}