Contenido - ContentsFull text of "Supplement to a Classical dictionary of India: illustrative of the mythology, philosophy, literature, antiquities, arts, manners, customs &c. of the Hindus"PREFACE | A1 | A2 | B1 | B2 | C | D1 | D2 | E | F | G | H1 | H2 | I | J1 | J2 | K1 | K2 | L | 1 | M2 | U | V | Y | Z
K2Krauncha: (sáns. hindú). l, The fifth of the seven great insular continents, or dwipas; the king of this Dwipa was Dyutirndn: it had seven boundary mountains, each in succession twice as lofty as the one preceding it; the inhabitants resided there without apprehension, associating with the bands of divinities; the Brahmans were called Pushkaras; the Kshatriyas, Pushkalas; the Vaisyas were termed Dhanyas; and the Sudras, Trishyas. Kriaswa: (sáns. hindú). l, A sage, who was married to two of the daughters of Daksha; and the deified weapons of the gods were the progeny of Kriaswa. These are also called the Sastra devatas, gods of the divine weapons; a hundred are enumerated in the Ramayana, and they are there termed the sons of Kridswa by Jaya and Vijaya, daughters of the Prajapati, that is of Daksha; 2, A son of Sahadeva; 3, A son of Santrataswa. Krikana, or Krimi: (sáns. hindú). The son of Bhajamana Krimi; also the name of a son of Usinara, a descendant of Anu. Krimibhojana, Krimisa: (sáns. hindú). The names of the two of the hells or divisions of Naraka below Patala. The specific punishments of each are described in the Vishnu Purana, p. 207-9. Kripa and Kripi: (sáns. hindú). The son and daughter of Satyadhriti, who was a proficient in Military science. Being enamoured of the nymph Urvasi he became the parent of two children, a boy and a girl. The Raja Santana whilst hunting, found these children exposed in a clump of long Sara grass; and compassionating their condition took them and brought them up. As they were nurtured through pity (Kripa) they were called Kripa and Kripi. The legend of their birth is thought to be a Puranic invention to explain the origin of their names. The latter became the wife of Drona and mother of Aswatthaman. Kripa was one of the Kuru generals. lie rebuked Kama for wishing to measure weapons with Arjuna, and advised Duryodhana to conclude a treaty with the Pindavas. When Duryodhana was mortally wounded Kripa hastened to him, fetched him water, and inaugurated AswatthAmau general. Kripa is also called Saradvata. Krisanu: (sáns. hindú). An archer mentioned in the Rig Veda. Krishna: (sáns. hindú). The Indian Hercules and Apollo combined. The most renowned demigod of Indian mythology, and most celebrated hero of Indian history, is the eighth Avatara or incarnation of Vishnu. " Vishnu was born as Krishna for the destruction of Kansa, an oppressive monarch, and, in fact, an incarnate Daitya or Titan, the natural enemy of the gods. Kansa being forewarned of his fate seeks to anticipate his destroyer; but Krishna is conveyed secretly away from Mathura, the capital of Kansa, and is brought up as the child of a cowherd at Vrinduvau, a pastoral district near Mathura. It is whilst thus circumstanced that he has been exalted into an object of adoration, and the mischievous follies of the child, the boy, and the lad, are the subject of popular delight and wonder. His male companions are not very prominent in the tale of his youth; but the females, the deified dairy maids, play a more important part in the drama. Amongst the most conspicuous is Radha, and she receives scarcely less universal homage than Krishna himself."* Krishna cannot be said to belong really to the Epic age, but almost exclusively to the Puranic. When the story of his life is divested of the marvellous, he will be found to be an historical personage, belonging to that epoch when the Aryan race, leaving the north-western corner of the peninsula, began to make their way by gradual conquests towards the interior and the east. The enemies whom he attacks and subdues are the aborigines of the interior, who, to heighten the glory of the hero, are called giants and demons, Daityas and Danavas. The Aryans were still a nomad people, pasturing their herds of cattle at the foot of the Himalaya range and in the plains of the Panjab; and the legend would further lead us to believe that the primitive elementary worship now yielded to the more systematic religion of Brahmanism and the institutions of caste. His identification with Vishnu would follow as a natural apotheosis of a monarch and warrior of such fame; but the very legend itself, even as it is given in the Puranas, seems to show that he existed long before the my o Wilson's Works, Vol. IL pp. CG,67. thological triad of Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva had ever been dreamed of. The following is a curtailed account of his birth and actions, borrowed partly from the Puranas, and partly from Monier Williams' Eng.-Sanskrit Dictionary. The king of the Daityas or aborignes, Ahuka, had two sons, Devaka and Ugrasena. The former had a daughter named Devaki, the latter a son called Kansa. Devaki was married to a nobleman of the Aryan race named Vasudeva (or Anakadundubhi), the son of Sura, a descendant of Yadu, and by him had eight sons. Vasudeva had also another wife named Rohini. Kansa, the cousin of Devaki, was informed by the saint and prophet Nirada, that his cousin would bear a son, who would kill him and overthrow his kingdom. Kansa was king of Mathura, and he captured Vasudeva and his wife Devaki, imprisoned them in his own palace, set guards over them, and slew the six children whom Devaki had already borne. She was now about to give birth to the seventh, who was Bala Rama, the play fellow of Krishna, and, like him, supposed to be an incarnation of Vishnu (see Rama); but by divine agency, the child was transferred before birth to the womb of Vasudeva's other wife, Rohini, who was still at liberty, and owas thus saved. Her eighth child was Krishna, who was born at midnight, with a very black skin (the name Krishna, as an adjective, means * black,') and a peculiar curl of hair called the Shrivatsa, resembling a Saint Andrew's cross, on his breast. The gods now interposed to preserve the life of this favoured babj from Kansa's vigilance, and accordingly lulled the guards of the palace to sleep with the Yoga-nidra, or mysterious slumber. Taking the infant, its father Vasudeva stole out undiscovered as far as Yamuna, or Jumna river, which seems to have been the boundary between the Aryans and the aborigines. This he crossed, and on the other side found the cart and team of a nomad Aryan cowherd, called Nanda, whose wife, Yasoda, had by strange coincidence just been delivered of a female child. Vasudeva, warned of this by divine admonition, stole to her bedside, and placing Krishna by her, re-crossed the river, and re-entered the palace, with the female baby of Yasoda in his arms, and thus substituted it for his own son. When Kansa discovered the cheat, he for a while gave up the affair, and set the prisoners at liberty, but ordered all male children to be put to death. Vasudeva then entrusted Krishna to the care of Nanda, the cowherd, who took him to the village of Gokula, or Vraja, and there brought him up. Here Krishna, and his elder brother Bala Rama, who joined him, wandered about together as children, and evinced their divine character by many unruly pranks of surprising strength, such as kicking over the cart, which served as conveyance and domicile to Nanda and his family. The female Daitya Putana was sent to suckle him, but the refractory baby discovering the trick, showed his gratitude by slaying her. Later in life he vanquished the serpent Kaliya in the middle of the Yamuna (Jumna) river. A demon, Arishta, assuming the form of a bull; another, Keshin that of a horse; and a third, Kalanemi, all undertook to destroy the boy, but each fell victims to his superhuman strength. Krishna now incited Nanda and the cowherds to abandon the worship of Indra, and to adopt that of the cows, which supported them, and the mountains, which afforded them pasturage. Indra, incensed at the loss of his offerings, opened the gates of heaven upon the whole race, and would have deluged them, had not our hero plucked up the mountain Govarddhana, and held it as a substantial umbrella above the land. He soon took to repose from his labours, and amused himself with the Gopis, or shepherdesses, of whom he married seven or eight, among whom Radha was the favourite, and to whom he taught the r'v.nJl dance called Rhsa, or Mandala-nrityam. Meanwhile Kansa had not forgotten the prophecies of Narada. He invited the two boys, Krishna and Balarama, to stay with him at Mathura; they accepted, and went. At the gates, Kansa's washerman insulted Krishna, who slew him, and dressed himself in his yellow clothes. He afterwards slew Kansa himself, and placed his father Ugrasena on the throne. A foreign king of the Kalayavana (Indo-Scythian) race soon invaded the Yadu, or Aryan, territory, whereupon Krishna built and fortified the town of Dwaraka, in Guzerat, and thither transferred the inhabitants of Mathura. He afterwards married Satyabhama, daughter of Satrajit, and carried off Rukmini, daughter of Bhishmaka. His harem numbered sixty thousand wives, but his progeny was limited to eighteen thousand sons. When afterwards on a visit to Indra's heaven, he behaved, at the persuasion of his wife, Satyabhama, in a manner very unbecoming a guest, by stealiug the famous parijata tree, which had been produced at the churning of the ocean, and was then thriving in Indra's garden. A contest ensued, in which Krishna defeated the gods, and carried off the sacred tree. At another time, a female Daitya, Usha, daughter of Bana, carried off Krishna's grandson, Aniruddha. His grandfather, accompanied by Rama, went to the rescue, and though Bana was defended by Siva and Skanda, proved victorious. Paundraka, one of Vasudeva's family, afterwards assumed his title and insignia, supported by the king of Benares. Krishna hurled his flaming discus {chakra) at this city, and thus destroyed it. He afterwards exterminated his own tribe, the Yadavas. He himself was killed by a chance shot from a hunter. He is described as having curly black hair, as wearing a club or mace, a sword, a flaming discus, a jewel, a conch, and a garland. His charioteer is Satyaki; his city, Dwaraka; his heaven, Goloka." (Thomson). Krishna is the principal speaker in the Bhagavat Gita; where he expounds the Sankya system of philosophy to Arjuna. In the great war he took part with the Pandavas, and it was mainly owing to his powerful assistance that the opposite party were vanquished. Krishna is known in the Mahabharata by the following names: - Vasudeva, Kesava, Govinda, Janardana, Damodara, Dasara, Narayana, Hrishikesa, Purushottama, Madhava, Madhusudana and Achyuta. Krishna: (sáns. hindú). An Asura or Dasyu mentioned in the Rig Veda, who was slain together with his wives that none of his posterity might survive. " Krishna means black, and the name may, on this occasion, Professor Wilson thinks, allude to the dark complexioued aborigines. But there is another Krishna, even in the Rig Veda, and he and his son Viswaka arc members of the Angirasa family, who may be called Rig Veda aristocrats of good old family descent; and both father and son appear among the Rishis of the hymns." - Mrs. Manning, A. Sf M. /., Vol. /, p, 65. Krishna: (sáns. hindú). l, One of the sons of Havirdhana, a descendant of Prithu; 2, One of the Andhra kings who reigned 10 years. Krishna : (sáns. hindú). l, The name of one of the Narakas, in which those who live by fraud, &c., are punished; 2, The name of the Krishnavena river of the Dakhin, meaning the dark river. Krishna Misra: (sáns. hindú). The author of Prabodha-Chandrodaya; or Rising of the Moon of Awakened Intellect. This is a theological and philosophical drama, supposed to have been written about the twelfth century, with the object of establishing the Vedanta doctrine. What others have assailed by reason and argument Krishna Misra combats by ridicule. His work is praised by Professor Lassen, who calls it peculiarly Indian, and unlike anything in the literature of other countries. - Mrs. Manning. Krishnaveni: (sáns. hindú). The river now called the Krishna or Kistna. Krita: (sáns. hindú). The first Yuga or age; consisting of four thousand eight hundred divine years, thus:
If these divine years be converted into years of mortals, by multiplying them by 360, a year of men being a day of the gods, we obtain one million seven hundred and twenty-eight thousand, (1,728,000) ordinary years, the duration of the Krita Yuga, according to the Hindu books. Krita: (sáns. hindú). l, A prince, the son of Kritaratha, king of Mithila; 2, A son of Sannatimat, to whom Hiranyanabha taught the philosophy of the Yoga, and who compiled twenty-four Sanhitas for the use of the Eastern Brahmans who study the Sama Veda. Kritadhwaja: (sáns. hindú). The son of Dharmadhwaja; the Vishnu Purana says of him that he was a king ever intent upon existent supreme spirit. Kritagni, Kritavarman, Kritavirya: (sáns. hindú). Three princes, the sous of Dhanaka, of the Yadava race. Kritaka: (sáns. hindú). l, One of the sons of Vasudeva by his wife Madiri; 2, One of the kings of Magadha. Kritamala: (sáns. hindú). A river that takes its rise in the Malaya hills. Kritanjaya: (sáns. hindú). l, The Vyasa of the seventeenth Dwapara; 2, A prince, the son of Dharmau, of the family of Ikshvaku. Kritanta: (sáns. hindú). The destroyer; a name of Yaraa, the Hindu Pluto. Kritanta-dutaru: (sáns. hindú). Yama's officers; frequently represented as hovering, in a frightful shape, over the beds of the dying, to carry off the departing spirit to Patala. Kritaratha: (sáns. hindú). One of the kings of Mithila, the son of Pratibhandaka. Kritavarman: (sáns. hindú). One of the three warriors on the Kaurava side who survived at the end of the great war; the three visited the wounded Duryodhana on the plain of Kurukshetra. He was ultimately slain by Satyaki at Prabhasa. Kriti: (sáns. hindú). 1, The son of Bahulaswa, and the last of the kings of Mithila, in whom terminated the family of Janaka. Kritirata: (sáns. hindú). One of the kings of Mithila, the son of Mahadriti. Krittika: (sáns. hindú). A lunar mansion in Nagavithi in the K'orthern Avashtana; when the sun is in the first degree of the lunar mansion, Krittika, and the moon is in the fourth of Visdkha, it is the great equinox, or holy equinoctial season. Kritwi: (sáns. hindú). The wife of Anaha, one of the descendants of Hastin. Kriya: (sáns. hindú). * Devotion*, a daughter of Daksha married to Dharma: an allegorical personification of religious rite married to the equally allegorical representation of the Hindu Code, viz., Dharma, moral and religious duty. Wilson's notes to V. P., p. 55; 2, A magical creation, represented in the Vishnu Purdua as a vast and formidable female springing from the southern fire, blazing with ruddy light, and with fiery radiance streaming amidst her hair. Krodha: (sáns. hindú). l, * Passion,' represented as a son of Brahma: one of the allegorical personages occurring in the list of Brahma's progeny amongst the series of ' virtues and vices ;' 2, ' Wrath', a son of Mritha; called in the Vishnu Purana an inflictor of misery, and one of the progeny of vice; also, as a terrific form of Vishnu, operating as a cause of the destruction of this world. Krodhaghara: (sáns. hindú). The chamber of displeasure; an institution still in vogue in Hindu families, wives resorting to it when discontented or angry with their husbands. Krodhavasa: (sáns. hindú). A daughter of Daksha, married to Kasyapa. Kroshtu: (sáns. hindú). A son of Yadu, the family in which Krishna was born. Kshana: (sáns. hindú). A measure of time, said in the Vishnu Purana to be equal to thirty kalas; it is often used to express a very minute portion of time, a moment, an instant. Kshama: (sáns. hindú). * Patience.' One of the daughters of Daksha who was married to the Muni Pulaka. Kshatradhanuan: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Sankriti, a descendant of Raji. Kshatranjas: (sáns. hindú). A king of Magadha, the son of Kshemadarman. Kshatravriddha: (sáns. hindú). One of the five sons of Ayus, from whose family many names of celebrity proceeded. Kshatriyas: (sáns. hindú). The second of the four castes, said to have been produced from the breast, some authorities say the arms, of Brahma; their duty being to protect the earth, the cattle, and brahmans. Kings, governors, and all intrusted with civil and military affairs, in general belong to the Kshatriya caste. Parasurama vowed that he would extirpate the whole Kshatriya race, and thrice seven times, says the Vishnu Purana, he cleared the earth of them: a legend, says Professor Wilson, which intimates a violent and protracted struggle between the Brahmans and Kshatriyas for domination in India. Kshema: (sáns. hindú). * Prosperity.' A son of Dharma by his wife Santi. Kshemadhanwan: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Pundarlka, a descendant of Kusa. Kshemaka: (sáns. hindú). The last prince of the race of Puru: " the race which gave origin to Brahmaus and Kshatriyas, and which was purified by regal sages, terminated with Kshemaka in the Kali age." Kshemya: (sáns. hindú). l, A prince, the son of Ugrayudha, descendant of Dwimidha; 2, A son of Suchi, king of Magadha. Kshetrajna: (sáns. hindú). "Embodied spirit," or that which knows the Kshetra, ' body'; a form of Vishnu, implying the combination of spirit with form or matter, for the purpose of creating . Kshudraka: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Prasenajit, of the line of Ikshvaku. Kubja: (sáns. hindú). A deformed young female servant of Kansa. Meeting her in the high road carrying a pot of unguent, Krishna addressed her sportively, and said ' For whom are you carrying that unguent, tell rae lovely maiden, tell me truly.' Kubja, smitten by his appearance, and well disposed towards Hari, replied mirthfully, *Know you not beloved, that I am the servant of Kansa, and appointed, crooked as I am, to prepare his perfumes.' Krishna asked her for some of it, and she gave him and Balarama as much of the unguent as was sufficient for their persons; and they smeared their bodies with it, till they looked like two clouds, one white and one black, decorated by the many-tinted bow of Indra. Then Krishna made her perfectly straight; and when she was thus relieved from her deformity, she was a most beautiful woman; and from gratitude invited Goviuda to her house. He promised to go some other time. V. P. Kuhu: (sáns. hindú). 1, A daughter of Angiras. The name means the last day of the moon's wane. The four daughters of Angiras designated phases of the moon; 2, The name of a river in the Himalaya. Kukkura: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Andhaka. Kukuras, and Kukkuras, are given in the Vishnu Purana as names of tribes of Bharata. Kukshi: (sáns. hindú). The son and successor of IkshvAku, king of Ayodhya; the second of the solar line of kings. " Manu who life to mortals gave, Begot Ikshvaku good and brave, First of Ayodhya's kings was he, Pride of her famous dynasty. From him the glorious Kukshi sprang Whose fame through all the regions rang." - Griffiths. Kukshi: (sáns. hindú). One of the daughters of Priyavrata, the grea progenitor. Kuladevata: (sáns. hindú). The deity who is the object of hereditary and family worship, and is always one of the leading personages of Hindu mythology, as Siva, Vishnu, or Durga. No house is supposed to be without its tutelary divinity, but the notion attached to this character is now very far from precise. KulapavatuS: (sáns. hindú). Mountain-ranges in Central India: sometimes termed family mountains or systems; embracing the various chains described under Mahendra, Malaya, Riksha, Vindhya, &c. Kulatthas: (sáns. hindú). Aboriginal mountain tribes, described in the Vishnu Purana as * ferocious and uncivilized races.' Kulindas, Kulindapalyakas, Kulutas: (sáns. hindú). Tribes enumerated in the V. P. but not identified. Kumar a: (sáns. hindú). l, A Prajapati, of whom there appear to have been twenty-one; the Vayu Purana states that they are numerous. Kumara-sambhava: (sáns. hindú). The Birth of the War God; a poem by Kalidasa, that has been translated into English verse by Mr. Griffiths. Kumari: (sáns. hindú). A river that rises in the Saktimat mountains. Kumbhaka: (sáns. hindú). A suspension of breath by the closing of both nostrils: being part of the brahmanical ritual for obtaining control of the external senses. Kumbhakarna: (sáns. hindú). A Rakshasa, the son of Visravas, and brother of Ravana. He was brought up in the forest with his brothers, and went about eating Rishis. When Brahma had granted boons to Ravana and Vibhishana, and was about to confer one on Kumbhakarna, the gods interposed, saying he had eaten seven Apsarases and ten followers of Indra, besides Rishis and men; and begged that under the guise of a boon stupefaction might be inflicted on him. Brahma thought on Sarasvati, who arrived, and by Brahma's command entered into Kumbhakarua's mouth, to speak for him. Under this influence he asked that he might receive the boon of sleeping for many years, which was granted to him. 0. S. T., Vol. IV, p. 416. The description given of Kumbhakarna in the Ramayana is ridiculously extravagant and exaggerated. At the siege of Lanka when Havana decided to avail himself of the Services of his gigantic brother, the difficulty was to know how to awake him, as he was buried in sleep for six months together, and then only awoke for a short time to gorge himself with enormous quantities of food. The messengers tried to enter his room but were blown away from the door by the wind caused by the deep breathing of the sleeping monster. At last, after violent efforts, they forced an entrance; and ten thousand Rakshasas made every sort of din in his ears by beating drums, &c. Then they hammered his limbs with mallets, danced upon him, caused a thousand elephants to walk over his body, piled heaps of food under his very nose, all without eflfect. Nothing availed but the touch of some beautiful women who eventually succeeded in rousing him. Kumbhakarna consented to go out to battle, and displayed extraordinary valour, routing, wounding, and even devouring thousands of the monkey army, but was ultimately conquered and killed by Rama. The figure of Kumbhakarna is a favourite one in village representations of the siege of Lanka, and he is generally exhibited asleep. I. E. P. Kumuda: (sáns. hindú). l, One of the six minor Dwipas, situated beyond the sea; 2, A mountain forming the northern buttress of Mount Meru. Kumudali: (sáns. hindú). A pupil of Pathya and teacher of the Atharva Veda. Kumadvati: (sáns. hindú). A river that rises in the Vindhya mountains. Kundaka: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Kshudraka, and grandfather of Sumitro, who was the last of the kings of the family of Ikshviku. Kundinapur: (sáns. hindú). The capital of Vidarbha, a country of considerable extent and power at various periods. The name remains in Beder, which may have been the ancient capital; but the kingdom seems to have corresponded with the great part of Berar and Kandesh. It is mentioned in the Ramayana amongst the countries of the south. Kuntala, Kunthakas: (sáns. hindú). Kuntala is in one place one of the central countries; in another one of the southern; the name is applied in inscriptions to the province in which Kurgode is situated; part of the Adoni district: and consistently with this position it is placed amongst the dependant or allied states of Vidarbha, in the Dasa Kumara. Kunti or Pritha: (sáns. hindú). The eldest of the five daughters of Sura and Marishi. Sura had a friend named Kuntibhoja, to whom as he had no children, he presented in due form, his daughter Kunti. She was married to Pandu, to whom she bore three sons, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, Pandu, however, had by the curse of a deer, been prevented from having progeny, and she therefore conceived these children by connection with the deities Dharma, Vayu, and Indra respectively. Yudhishthira, as the son of Dharma, is considered justest; Bhima, Vayu's son, the strongest; and Arjuna, Indra's son, the best bowshot. See Karna, for an account of Kunti's son before her marriage; 2, Kunti was also the name of a son of Dharmanetra of the Vadava race; and of a son of Kratha, of the family of Jyamagha. Kuntibhoja: (sáns. hindú). A friend of Sura's who adopted his daughter Kunti; he was an ally of the Pandus in the great war. Kurma Purana: (sáns. hindú). The Purana in which Janarddana, in the form of a tortoise, in the regions under the earth, explained the objects of life - duty, wealth, pleasure and libeiation - in communication with Iridradyumna, and the Rishis in the proximity of Sakra; which refers to the Lakshmi Kalpa, and contains seventeen thousand stanzas. V. P. Kurma or Tortoise Avatara: (sáns. hindú). The second of the ten Avataras of Vishnu. The legend is that at a very remote period when the gods felt their powers weakened, and were desirous of obtaining Amrita (q. v.) the beverage of immortality, Vishnu directed them to churn, together with the demons, the milk-sea, by taking the mountain Mandara for their staff, and his serpent Vasuki for their cord, the gods to stand at the tail, and the demons at the head of the serpent; while he himself consented to support the mountain on his back, after having assumed the shape of a gigantic tortoise. The result of this churning of the sea of milk, was, besides the ultimate recovery of the Amrita, the appearance of a variety of miraculous things and beings; but it also led to a violent contest between the gods and demons, in which the latter were defeated. The idea of the lord of creation assuming the shape of a tortoise, and that of sacrificial liquids, especially clarified butter, becoming tortoise-shaped (Kama, the word for tortoise, meaning literally, ' badly or slowly going'), occurs also in the Yajurveda; but the legend on which the tortoise- A vatara of Vishnu is based seems to belong entirely to the post-Vedic period of Hinduism. Kurmis: (sáns. hindú). Semi-aboriginal cultivators to the south of the Rajputs and Jats. Kuru: (sáns. hindú). 1, One of the sous of Agnidhra, to whom his father gave the country north of the Sweta mountains, bounded by the Srinagavan range; 2, An ancient king, the son of Samvarna, who gave his name to the district Kurukshetra. He was the ancestor of Vichitravirya, the grandfather of the Kurus and Pandavas. Kuru, it is usually supposed, is the prince who gives the designation to Duryodhana and his brothers, thence called Kauravas, in opposition to their cousins the sons of Pandu, termed Pandavas, Kuru being a remote ancestor of both. The Mahabharata however gives a different account, and derives the term Kaurava from the country, Kuru-jangala, or Kurukshetra (Lassen, Ind. Alt. I, p. 593,) which was subject to the family of Duryodhana, the upper part of the Panjab beyond Delhi, or Panniput, which is still commonly called by the Hindus Kurukhetr. Kuru, the prince, was descended from Nahusha, the great grandson of Soma, or the moon, by his grandson Puru. The thirteenth descendant of Kuru was Santanu, who had four sons, Bhishma, Chitrangada, Vichitravirya, and Vyasa. Of these Bhishma and Vyasa lived unmarried, and fhc other two died without offspring; on which, to prevent the extinction of the family, and conformably to the ancient Hindu law, Vyasa had chiklren by his brother's widows. The sons were Dhritarashtra and Pandu, who became the founders of the two families of the Kauravas and Pandavas. Wilsons Works, Vol III, p. 290. Kurus: (sáns. hindú). A very ancient people, who seem to have been originally situated in Central and Northern Asia, as the Vishnu Purana says they inhabited the middle districts of Bharata. They probably entered India with the Aryans or were a tribe of that great race, and settled in Kurukshetra. With this meaning the name applies to both Kurus and Pandavas - hence Arjuna is called the best of the Kurus. In its particular and exclusive sense the name is given only to that party which adhered to Duryodhana, and opposed the Pandavas, Both names belong to the Epic period. Kurukshetra: (sáns. hindú). The plain of the Kurus. A tract of land to the east of the Yamuna or Jumna river, in the upper part of the Doab, near the city of Delhi, and the river Saraswati. Hastinapura was its capital. " The Sarasvati (Sursooty) is an insignificant stream flowing through Sirhind, between the Yamuna and the Shatadru. It eventually loses itself in the sand of the desert, and is, on that account, fabled by the Hindus to flow underground into the ocean. It is held, however, as one of the most sacred streams of India. Lassen calls the Doab the Belgium of India. It is the gateway of the peninsula, where the eastern and western races have always met in battle. Here in later days was fought the battle of Panniput; and here was laid the scene of that war which transferred the sovereignty of middle India from the Kurus to the Pandavas. As it was the gate of India so does it in all probability derive its sacred name from being the first seat of the Aryan race, whence it worked its way from the Indus to the Ganges, and from being retained in their memory with all the respect due to a fatherland." - J. C Thomson. Kurumbas: (sáns. hindú). The aboriginal cultivators of South Kanara. Kuruvarnakas: (sáns. hindú). The aboriginal people of the forests in the upper part of the Doab. Kuruvatsa: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Anavaratha, a descendant of Jyamagha. Kusa: (sáns. hindú). 1. Sacrificial grass; which, on occasion of offerings made to the gods, is placed upon the ground as a seat for them, having its tips towards the east; 2, the name of the fourth of the great insular continents, or Dwipas; so named from a clump of* Kusa grass (Poa) growing there. There reside mankind along with Daityas and Danavas, as well as with spirits of heaven and gods. Kusa: (sáns. hindú). 1, A son of Rama " Kusa and Lava were the twin sons of Rama and Sita, born after Rama had repudiated Sita, and brought up in the hermitage of Valmiki. As they were the first rhapsodists the combined name Kusilava signifies a reciter of poems, or an improvisatore, even to the present day." (Griffiths.) Kusa built Kusasthali, on the brow of the Viudhya, the capital of Kosali; the Ragha Vansa describes Kusa as returning from Kusavati to Ayodhya, 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 Rama's posterity to retire more to the west and south; 2, A son of Valakaswa, a descendant of Pururavas. Kusadhwaj: (sáns. hindú). The younger brother of Janaka, king of Videha. Kusadhwaja: (sáns. hindú). The king of Kasi in the Epic period. According to the Vishnu Purana he was the brother, and according to the Bhagavata, the son, of Siradhwaja. Kusagra: (sáns. hindú). The son of Vrihadratha, one of the ancient kings of Kurukshetra. Kusamba: (sáns. hindú). l, The brother of Vrihadratha, and uncle of Kusagra; 2, The eldest son of Kusa, and founder of Kausambi, afterwards Kanouj. Kusanabha: (sáns. hindú). The second son of Kusa, who also took part in building Kausambi. Kusasthali: (sáns. hindú). 1, The capital of Anartta, which was part of Kutch of Guzemt; it appears to have been the same, or in the same spot, as Dwaraka. The Vishnu Purana says, " that city Kusasthali which was formerly your capital, and rivalled the city of the immortals, is now known as Dvvaraka; and theie reigns a. portion of Vishnu in the person of Baladeva," &c.; 2, The city built by Kusa on the brow of the Viudhya. (See Kusa.) Kushidi: (sáns. hindú). A pupil of Paushyinji, and teacher of the Samaveda. Kushmandas: (sáns. hindú). A class of deities mentioned in the Vishnu Purana and other Puranas. They are described as taking counsel with Indra how best to interrupt the devout exercises of Dhruva, when, as a child, he commenced the rigorous penance that caused alarm in the celestial regions. Kusika: (sáns. hindú). According to the Brahma and Harl Vansa, the father of Gadhi, the incarnation of Indra. Kusumayudha: (sáns. hindú). A name of Kamadeva, the Hindu Cupid. The word means. " He whose weapons are flowers." O. S. T., Vol. I, p. 112. Kuthumi: (sáns. hindú). A pupil of Paushyinji and teacher of the Sama Veda. Kuvalayaswa: (sáns. hindú). The son of Vrihadaswa. This prince, inspired with the spirit of Vishnu, destroyed the Asura Dhundu, who had harassed the pious sage Uttanka; and he was thence entitled Dhundumara. In his conflict with the demon he was attended by his sons to the number of twenty-one thousand; and all these, with the exception of only three, perished in the engagement, consumed by the fiery breath of Dhundu; a legend originating probably in some earthquake or volcano. V. P. Kuvera: (sáns. hindú). The Hindu Plutus; he is the son of Visravas by Ilavila, and is the god of riches and regent of the north; the keeper of gold, silver, precious stones, pearls, and all the treasures in the earth, which he gives to those for whom they are destined by Isvara. He is the chief of the Yakshas, and Guhyakas, into owhose forms transmigrate the souls of those men who in this life are absorbed in the pursuit of riches. He is represented in external appearance as a mere man, but with a deformed body, of -white colour, having three legs and but eight teeth, with a crown on his head, and a club in one of his hands. His whole body is adorned with various ornaments, and his vehicle is a self-moving chariot. The poets have written many stories concerning him, and when they praise a man on account of his riches they compare him to Kuvera. His attendants are Kinneras, who are shaped like men with heads of horses. Kuvera is said to have performed austerity for thousands of years, in consequence of which he obtained from Brahma as a boon that he should be one of the guardians of the world and the god of riches. He afterwards consulted his father, Visravas, about an abode, and at his suggestion took possession of the city of Lanka, which had formerly been built by Visvakarman for the Rakshasas, but had been abandoned by them through fear of Vishnu, and was at that time unoccupied. O. S. T., Vol. IV, p. 414. In the Ramayana Kailasa is spoken of as the residence of Kuvera. "Having quickly passed over that dreadful desert, you shall then see the white mountain, called Kailasa, and there the celestial palace of Kuvera, formed by Visvakarman, in colour like a brilliant cloud, and decorated with gold." O. S. T., Vol. IV, p. 308. And in one passage Siva is represented as paying a visit to Kuvera on mount Kailasa, and as acknoAvledging the divine character of Rama. O. S. T., Vol. IV, p. 310. But in general Kuvera is represented as residing in Alaka, (also in the Himalaya) which is termed in the Cloud Messenger the city of the blessed, and is always described as abounding in wealth and magnificence, and being surrounded with a garden of surpassing loveliness, in which was a lake covered with lotuses. Laghu: (sáns. hindú). A measure of time equal to fifteen Kashtas. Lajja: (sáns. hindú). Modesty - One of the daughters of Daksha, who was married to Dharma. Lakshmana: (sáns. hindú). One of the sons of Dasaratha, and brother of Rama, to whom he was faithfully attached throughout all his vicissitudes. Then Lakshman's truth was nobly shown, Then were his love and courage known, When for his brother's sake he dared All perils, and his exile shared. He followed Rama to the wilderness and was with him when crowned. The latest incident recorded of him is that he was entrusted with the care of Sita, when she was taken to the hermitage of Valmiki and delivered of twins, Kusa and Lava. In Dr. Muir's O. S. T., Vol. IV, p. 107, the following legend of lakshmana's death occurs: Time, in the form of an ascetic came to the palace gate of Rama; and asked as the messenger of Brahmi, to see Rama. He was admitted and received with honour, but stated that his message must be delivered in private, and that any one who witnessed the interview would lose his life. Rama informed Lakshmana of this and desired him to stand outside. * * * * Soon after the irritable Rishi Durvasas came, and insisted on seeing Rama immediately, under a threat, if refused, of cursing Rama and all his family. Lakshmana, preferring to save his kinsmen, though knowing that his own death must be the consequence of interrupting the interview of Rama with Time, entered the palace and reported the Rishi's message to Rama. Rama came out, and when Durvasas had got the food he wished and departed, Rama reflected with great distress on the words of Time, which required that Lakshmana should die. Lakshmana, however, exhorted Rama not to grieve but to abandon him, and not break his own promise. The counsellors concurring in this advice Rama abandoned Lakshmana, who went to the river Sarayu, suppressed all his senses, and was conveyed bodily by Indra to heaven. Lakshmana: (sáns. hindú). One of the wives of Krishna. Lakshmi: (sáns. hindú). " Prosperity." The daughter of Brighu, and bride or Sakti of Vishnu. The goddess of fortune, wealth and prosperity. She is also represented as the counterpart of Vishnu. Vishnu is meaning; she is speech. Vishnu is understanding; she is intellect. He is righteousness; she is devotion. He is the Creator; she is creation, &c. &c in a word Vishnu is all that is called male; Lakshmi is all that is termed female; there is nothing else than they. V. P., p. 61. She is represented as having been born from the churning of the ocean, * rising from the waves, radiant with beauty.' Indra recited a hymn to her praise, calling her the mother of all beings. Mr. Griffiths thus translates the story of her birth from the Ramayana and adds a note from Schlegel. * That this story of the birth of Lakshmi is of considerable antiquity is evident from one of her names Kshurahahi-tanaya, daughter of the Milky Sea, which is found in Amarasinha, the most ancient of Indian lexicographers. The similarity to the Greek myth of Venus being born from the foam of the sea is remarkable/ * In this description of Lakshmi one thing only offends me, that she is said to have four arms. Each of Vishnu's arms, single as far as the elbow, there branches into two; but Lakshmi in all the brass seals that I possess or remember to have seen has two arms only. Nor does this deformity of redundant limbs suit the pattern of perfect beauty.' (Schlegel.) Mr. Griffith has omitted the offensive epithet four-armed. In a passage quoted by Dr. Muir it is said that when Vishnu was incarnate as Rama then Lakshmi became Sita; and that when he was born as Krishna she became Rukmini. O- S. T., Vol. IV, p. 392." " Lakshmi is not found in the Rig Veda in the sense which the word bears in the later mythology, of a goddess personifying good fortune, though the word itself occurs in a kindred signification." O. S. T., Vol. V, p. 348. The beautiful goddess is also said to have been produced at the churning of the ocean. In the Brahma Vaivartta Purana, Lakshmi is said to be a portion of Prakriti; and in another place is made to issue from the mind of Krishna; in a different part of the work she is described as one of two goddesses into which the first Sarasvati was divided, the two being Sarasvati proper, and Kamala or Rukhmi.- Wilson's Works, Vol. Ill, p. 102. 2, The name of a daughter of Daksha who was married to Dharma. Lalabaksha: (sáns. hindú). One of the Narakas, that in which those are punished who eat their meals without offering food to the gods, to the manes, or to guests. V. P., p. 208. Lalita: (sáns. hindú). A distinguished name of the personified female energy. See Sakti. Lamba: (sáns. hindú). One of the daughters of Daksha and wife of Dharma. Lambodara: (sáns. hindú). One of the Audhra kings who reigned eighteen years: he was the son of Salakarni the 2ud. Langalas: (sáns. hindú). One of the aborigmal tribes who dwelt ia jungles and forests. Langali: (sáns. hindú). A pupil of Paushyinji and teacher of the Sama Veda. Langalini: (sáns. hindú). A river that has its source in Maheudra. Lanka: (sáns. hindú). The island of Ceylon, the ancient capital of Ravana, described in the Ramayana as the capital town of the kings of the race of Pulastya, known as Yakshas. Some pandits in the north of India deny the identity of Lanka and Ceylon. Laukika: (sáns. hindú). "Worldly," the opposite to Daivika or " Divine'* - e. g., The Apsarasas are thus distinguished, thirty-four of them being specified as Laukika, and ten as Daivika. Lauhitya: (sáns. hindú). An ancient river mentioned in the Puranas, now part of the Brahmaputra. Lava: (sáns. hindú). The younger of the twin sons of Rama by Sita, and king of Srawasti, in northern Kosala, by which a part of Oude is commonly understood. He was trained up by his mother in the hermitage of Valmiki, and appears to have become a strong muscular man; having also acquired great skill in archery. When Rama sent off a horse, previous to its sacrifice, Kusa and Lava seized it, and maintained their hold till Rama himself came and recognised his two sons. Lavana: (sáns. hindú). l, A Rakshasa Chief, the son of Madhu, who reigned at Mathura; he was killed by Satrughna, who took possession of his capital; 2, One of the Narakas, (the salt) in which those ;are punished who associate with women in a prohibited degree. Lekhas: (sáns. hindú). A class of deities of the sixth Manwantara. Lesa: (sáns. hindú). A son of Suhotra, of the line of the kings of Kasi. Libations: (sáns. hindú). To be offered to the gods, sages, and progenitors, with the parts of the hand severally sacred to each. The offerer is first to bathe, dress in clean clothes, and scatter water thrice to gratify the gods; as many times to please the Rishis; and once to propitiate Prajapati; he must also make three libations to satisfy the progenitors. For full details see V. P., pp. 302, 303. Light, or fire: (sáns. hindú). Sec Tejas. Lila: (sáns. hindú). A pastime; but mythologically used of certain libidinous amusements of gods among mortals on earth. Krishna's adventures with the Gopis and Siva's pastimes at Madura, are termed Lilas in Sanskrit books. Linga Purana: (sáns. hindú). The Purana in which Siva explained the objects of life, viz., virtue, wealth, pleasure, and final liberation at the end of the Agni Kalpa. Professor Wilson says there is nothing in it like the phallic orgies of antiquity: it is all mystical and spiritual. The Linga is twofold, external and internal whatever may have been the origin of this form of worship in India, the notions upon which it was founded, according to the impure fancies of European writers, are not to be traced in even Saiva Puranas. Lingam: (sáns. hindú). In grammar means Gender. Mythologically it designates a phallic emblem, and is represented by a cylindrical stone rounded off at the top; and at the other end inserted in masonry or in the ground, but transfixiug another horizontal and flat stone named Yoni. This emblem is placed in the open field, on the way side, and in temples, and worshipped from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin; and from the mouths of the Ganges to those of the Indus. The worship of the Lingam and Yoni marks the Saivas; the worship of the Liugam alone denotes the Vira Saivas. The latter attach a further meaning to the word, indicating various heavens or Lokas in the invisible world. The uppermost is the Brahma, or sometimes Siva lingam; concerning which metaphor is exhausted. Lingadhari: (sáns. hindú). One who wears a small liugam on his person, usually in a little silver box, hanging on his breast from a string round the neck; or sometimes fastened to his right arm. Lobha: (sáns. hindú). "Covetousness," a son of Brahma - being one of his progeny of virtues and vices as enumerated in the Vishnu Purana. In another part of the same Purana, Lobha is described as the son of Dharma by one of the daughters of Daksha; also as the son of Adharma (vice) and it states that he was married to Nikriti, and their progeny was Krodha, Hiusa, &c. Lohitas: (sáns. hindú). A class of deities in the twelfth Manwantara. Lokakshi: (sáns. hindú). One of the pupils of Paushyinji, and a tobcher of the Sam a Veda. Lokaloka: (sáns. hindú). The mountain belt beyond the sea of fresh water; the circular boundary between the world and void space. The mountain range encircling the world is termed Lokaloka, because the world is separated by it from that which is not world. The Mahommedan legends of Eoh Kaf, * the stony girdle that surrounds the world,' are evidently connected with the Lokiloka of the Hindus. According to the Siva Tantra, the £1 dorado, at the foot of the Lokaloka mountains, is the play-ground of the gods. V. P., p. 202. Loka Palaka: (sáns. hindú). World-protector, an epithet constantly given by Hindu writers to a rajah. Loka-palas: (sáns. hindú). The rulers stationed by Brahmi for the protection of the different quarters of the world: they are termed the regents of the east, south, west and north. In another part of the Vishnu Purana eight are mentioned as regents of the spheres; or eight deities in that character; Indra, Yama, Varuna, Kuveiti, Vivaswat, Soma, Agni, and Vayu. Lokas: (sáns. hindú). The seven spheres above the earth. For a full account of these lokas, see the Vishnu Purana, pp. 212-215. In the Brahma Vaivartta Purana another Loka is mentioned as the residence of Krishna denominated Goloka; it is far above the three worlds, and has, at five hundred millions of yojanas beloi it, the'separate Lokas of Vishnu and iva, Vaikunta and Kailas. This region is indestructible, while all else is subject to annihilation, and in the centre of it abides Krishna, of the colour of a dark cloud, in the bloom of youth, clad in yellow raiment, splendidly adorned with celestial gems, and holding a flute. He is exempt from Maya and all qualities, eternal, alone, and the Pai*amitma, or supreme soul of the world. Lomaharshana: (sáns. hindú). A name of Suta. Mabali: (sáns. hindú). A name of Bali, q. v. Mabalipuram: (sáns. hindú). A sacred place 34 miles north of Madras called the Seven Pagodas. Mada: (sáns. hindú). Insanity. One of the progeny of Brahma, Vishnu Parana, p. 50. Madayanti: (sáns. hindú). The wife of the Raja Saudasa, q. v. Madhava-Madhu: (sáns. hindú). The names of two of the months as they occur in the Vedas, and belonging to a system now obsolete; corresponding to the lunar months Magha and Palguna, or December and January. Madhava: (sáns. hindú). A name of Krishna, which may be either derived as a patronymic from Matha, who is mentioned among his ancestors, or be considered equivalent to Madhusudana. * Slayer of Madhu.' Madhavacharya: (sáns. hindú). The founder of a school of philosophy, opposed to the system of Vyasa in the Brahma Sutras; and that contained in the last portion of the Bhagavat Gita; maintaining that the Divine being and the soul of man (Paramatma and Jivatma) are two, separate and distinct. Hence his system is spoken of as the Dvaita. It closely resembles that termed the Satwata which was revived by Ramanuja chary a and is now found to prevail to some extent in all large communities. See Satwata. Madhavas: (sáns. hindú). The name of a tribe, descendants of Madhu the son of Vrisha. Madhu: (sáns. hindú). 1, One of the sons of Karttavirya; 2, A son of Vrisha; 3, A son of Devakshatra. All the above are of the race of Yddu to whose family, ih6 Yadavas, Krishna belonged; 4, The name of a formidable Rakshasa chief, termed a great demon, probably one of the aborigines, who was killed by Krishna. Madhuvana: (sáns. hindú). The grove of Madhu, the demon referred to above. After his death Satrughna founded a city on the spot which was called MatHura: this became celebrated as a holy shrine, and it was hcie that Dhruva performed penance. Madhwacharya: (sáns. hindú). A celebrated Vaishnava teacher, who is placed by Professor Wilson in the thirteenth century. Madhyandina: (sáns. hindú). A teacher of the white Yajush. Madira: (sáns. hindú). One of the wives of Vasudeva. Madra: (sáns. hindú). l, One of the four sons of Sivi; who has given a name to a province and tribe in the north of India; 2, The name of a river that rises in the Vindhya mountains. Madrabhujingas, Madras, Madreyas: (sáns. hindú). Tribes of people mentioned in the Pui-anas but not yet satisfactorily identified. Madri: (sáns. hindú). One of the wives of Pandu, and mother of Nakula and Sahadeva, by the celestial twin-sons, the Aswiui. Magadha: (sáns. hindú). The modern Behar. A celebrated country in the Puranas, which furnish lists of the kings who reigned over it. Magadha: (sáns. hindú). The bard and herald of the Hindus, being attached to the state of all men of rank to chaunt their praises, celebrate their actions, and commemorate their ancestry. Wilson. The name of a herald, a bard who was produced at the sacrifice performed by Brahma at the birth of Prithu. Magha: (sáns. hindú). A lunar mansion in Asbarbhi, in the Central Avasthana. Magha: (sáns. hindú). The name of one of the lunar months corresponding to December. Mahabali: (sáns. hindú). A name of Bali, q. v. Mahabhadra: (sáns. hindú). One of the four great lakes, the waters of which are partaken of by the gods. The Bhagavata calls it a lake of honey. Mahabharata: (sáns. hindú). This huge epic, which is in all probability later in date than the Ramayana, and consists of about 220,000 long lines, is rather a cyclopaedia of Hindu mythology, legendary history, and philosophy, than a poem with a single subject. It is divided into eighteen books, nearly every one of which would form a large volume; and the whole is a vast thesaurus of national legends, said to have been collected and arranged by Vyasa (the supposed compiler of the Vedas and Puranas), a name derived from a Sanskrit verb, meaning " to fit together," or " arrange." The following is an outline of the leading story, though this occupies little more than a fifth of the whole work, numerous episodes and digressions on all varieties of subjects being interspersed throughout the poem: - According to the legendary history of India, two dynasties were originally dominant in the north - called Solar and Lunar under whom numerous petty princes held authority, and to* whom they acknowledged fealty. The most celebrated of the Solar line, which commenced in Ikshvaku, and reigned in Oude, was the Rama of the Ramayana. Under this dynasty the Brahmanical system gained ascendancy more rapidly and completely than under the Lunar kings in the more northern districts, where fresh arrivals of martial tribes preserved an independent spirit among the population already settled in those parts. The most famous of the Lunar race, who reigned in Hastinapura, or ancient Delhi, was Bharata, whose authority is said to have extended over a great part of India, and from whom India is to this day called by the natives Bharat-varsha (the country or domain of Bharata.) This Bharata was an ancestor of Kuru, the twentythird in descent from whom was the Brahman Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa (the supposed author of the Mahabharata), who had two sons, Dhritarahtra and Pandu. The former, though blind, consented to assume the government when resigned by his younger brother Pandu, and undertook to educate, with his own hundred sons, the five reputed sons of his brother. These five sons were, - 1st, Yudhishthira {i.e., "firm in battle"); 2nd, Bhima {i.e., " terrible"); 3rd, Arjuna {i. e., " upright"); 4th, Nakula (i. e., "a mungoose"); 5th, Sahadeva {i. e., "a twining plant.") The three first were born from Pandu's wife, Pritha, or Kunti, but were really her children by three gods, viz., Dharma, Vayu and Indra'respectively. The two last were children of his wife Madri, by the Asvini-Kumaras, or " twin-sons," i. e., of the Sun. As, however, Pandu had acknowledged these princes as his sons, the objection to their birth was overruled by his example. Pandu {i. e., *' the pale") was probably a leper, and so incapable of succession. To make the genealogy more clear it may he shown in a tabular form as drawn up by Professor M. Williams. The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with much artistic delicacy, and maintained consistently throughout the poem. The eldest, Yudhishthira, is a pattern of justice, integrity, and chivalrous honour and firmness, Bhima is a type of brute courage and strength, of gigantic stature, impetuous and irascible; he is capable, however, of warm, uuselfish love, and shows devoted affection for his mother and brothers. Arjuna, who is the chief hero of the poem, is represented as a man of undaunted courage, and, at'the same time, generous, modest, and tender-hearted; of super-human strength, withal, and matchless in arms and athletic exercises. Nakula and Sahadeva are amiable, noble-minded, and spirited. All five are as unlike as possible to the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, commonly called the Kuru princes, or Kauravas, who are represented as mean, spiteful, dishonourable, and vicious. The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, were educated together at Hastinapur by a Brahman named Drona, who found in the Pandu princes apt scholars. Their education finished, a grand tournament is held, at which the cousins display their skill in archery, the management of chariots, horses, &c. Arjuna especially distinguishes himself by prodigies of strength and skill; but suddenly a stranger enters the lists, named Karna, who, after performing the same feats, challenges Arjuna to single combat. But each champion is obliged to tell his name and pedigree, and Karna's parentage being doubtful (he was really the illegitimate son of Pritha, by Surya (the sun), and, therefore, half-brother of Arjuna), he is obliged to retire ignominiously from the arena. Thus publicly humiliated, Karna joins the party of their enemies, the Kurus, to whom he renders important service. Enraged at the result of this contest, the Kurus endeavour to destroy the Pandavas by setting fire to their house; but they, warned of their intention, escape by an under-ground passage to the woods. Soon after, in the disguise of mendicant Brahmans, they repair to the Swayamvara of Draupadi, daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala. Arjuna, by the exhibition of his gymnastic skill, wins the favour of the lovely princess, who becomes his bride. Strengthened by Drupada's alliance, the Pindu princes throw off their disguise, and the king, Dhritarashtra, is induced to settle all differences by dividing his kingdom between them and his own sons, the Kurus. Yudhishthira, however, afterwards stakes and loses his whole territory at dice. His brothers then pass twelve years in the woods, in disguise, after which the war is again renewed. Krishna, king of Dwaraka, in Guzerat (an incarnation of Vishnu), joins the Pandavas, as charioteer to Arjuna. The rival armies meet near Delhi. The battle, which lasts for eighteen days, terminates in favour of the Pandavas, who recover their possessions, and the elder brother is elevated to the throne; Duryodhana and all the Kurus being slain in the conflict. Thus the undivided kingdom of Hastinapur became the possession of the sons of Pandu; but they were so grieved by the dreadful slaughter which their ambition had occasioned, that they resigned their power. Their famous ally, Krishna - who previous to his founding the city of Dwaraka, had been expelled from Mathura (Muttra), the seat of his family - was accidentally killed in a thicket, and his sons, driven from their paternal possessions, sought refuge beyond the Indus.* Sec Bhagavat Gita, Pandavas, Arjuna, &c. Mahabhoja: (sáns. hindú). A pious prince, the son of Satwatu. The name is sometimes read Mahabhaga. Mahadeva: (sáns. hindú). A Eudra - the name of the eighth manifestation of the Rudra- an account which Wilson says is grounded apparently on Saiva or Yogi mysticism; 2, A name of Siva. Mahajwala: (sáns. hindú). The name of one of the Karakas, in which tho crime of incest is punished. Mahamaya: (sáns. hindú). The king of Atala, the first of the seven regions of Patala. Mahamoha: (sáns. hindú). " Extreme illusion," causing addiction to the enjoyments of sense; one of the five kinds of obstruction to the soul's liberation; or as they are called in the Patanjala philosophy, one of the five afflictions- the * five-fold Ignorance' of the Vishnu Purana. Mahan: (sáns. hindú). One of the eleven Rudras. Williams. Indian Epic Poetry. Mahanabha: (sáns. hindú). A daitya of great prowess, one of the sons of Iliranyaksha, Mahanada - A river in Orissa. Mahanandi: (sáns. hindú). One of the ten Saisunaga kings of Magadha, the son of Nandivarddhana. Mahanila: (sáns. hindú). A powerful many-headed serpent. One of the progeny of Kadru. Mahantu: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Dhimat; he lived during the Swayambhuva Manwantara. Mahapadma: (sáns. hindú). l, A prince, the son of Mahananda; his name was Nanda, but he was remarkably avaricious. He was born of a Sudra woman, and after him the kings of the earth were to be all Sudras. Like Parasurama he endeavoured to annihilate the Kshatriya race, and brought the whole earth under one umbrella. He and his descendants, termed the nine Nandas, reigned a hundred years; when the dynasty was overturned by the Brahman Kautilya (also called Chanakya and Chanaki) who placed Chandragupta on the throne. (See the Mudra Rakshasa, Hindu Theatre, Vol. 2.) 2. The name of one of the progeny of Kadru, a powerful manyheaded serpent. Mahapurusha: (sáns. hindú). Great or supreme spirit; purusha meaning that which abides or is quiescent in body; incorporated spirit. It is a name applied to Vishnu; who is any form of spiritual being acknowledged by different philosophical systems: he is the Brahma of the Vedanta, the Iswara of the Patanjala, and the Purusha of the Sankhya school. Maharashtra: (sáns. hindú). The name in the Pui-anas of the Mahratta country. Mahar-loka: (sáns. hindú). The heaven of celestial spirits, the sphere of saints, situated at the distance of ten million-leagues above Dhruva: 'the inhabitants dwell in it throughout a Kalpa or day of Brahma; Those who are distinguished for piety, abide, at the time of dissolution, in Mahar-loka, with the Pitris, the Manus, the seven Rishis, the various orders of celestial spirits, and the gods. Then at the end of a Kalpa, when the heat of the flames that destroy the world reaches to Mahar-loka, the inhabitants repair to Janaloka, within subtile forms, destined to become re-embodied, in similar capacities as their former, when the world is renewed at the beginning of the succeeding Kalpa. This continues throughout the life of Brahma; at the expiration of his life all are destroyed; but those who have thus attained a residence in the Brahma-loka by having identified themselves in spirit with the Supreme, are finally resolved into the sole existing Brahma. See Wilson's Notes to V. P., p. 633. Mahamagha: (sáns. hindú). The occurrence of the full moon in or about the asterism Magha, with other astronomical incidents, which occur once in twelve years, and which time is auspicious for bathiug. At Khumbakhonam there is a large tank, the water of which is supposed to rise once in twelve years, on the above occasion, and when people in great numbers assemble from distant places to bathe and obtain remission of sins. Maharoman: (sáns. hindú). One of the kings of Mithila, the son of Kritardta. Mahaswat: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Amarsha, a descendant of Rama. Mahat: (sáns. hindú). Intellect; the first product of Pradhana, sensible to divine, though not to merely human organs, is, both according to the S£nkhya and Purana doctrines, the principle called Mahat, literally the Great, explained as ' the production of the manifestation of the qualities :' Mahat, the Great principle, is so termed from being the first of the created principles, and from its extension being greater than that of the rest. Mahat is also called Iswara, from its exercising supremacy over all things. The Purunas generally attribute to Mahat, or Intelligence, the act of creating. Mahat is therefore the divine mind in creative operation, the vovs 6 SiaKofffiMu Tc iravTuv alrios of Auaxagoras; an ordering and disposing mind, which was the cause of all things. See Wilson's Notes to V. P., p. 15. Mahatala: (sáns. hindú). The fifth of the seven divisions of Patala, with a sandy soil, embellished with magnificent palaces, in which dwell numerous Danavaet, Daityas Yakshas, and the great suakc-gcds. Mahavichi: (sáns. hindú). The name of one of the Narakas beneath the earth. Mahavira: (sáns. hindú). I , One of the sons of Priyavrata, according to the Bhagavata; the one who had Krauncha-dwipa assigned to him; 2, A son of Savana, king of the seventh dwipa; 3, The name of a division of Pushkara dwipa. Mahavira: (sáns. hindú). The twenty-fourth Tirthankara of the Jains. His first birth, which occurred at a period indefinitely remote, was as Nayasira, headman of a village in the country of Vijaya. His piety and humanity elevated him next to the heaven called Saudharma, where he enjoyed happiness for some oceans of years. He was next born as Marichi, the grandson of the first Tirthankara Rishaba, thence transferred to the BraJimaloka, whence he returned to earth as a worldly-minded and sensual brahman, the consequence of which was his repeated births in the same caste, each birth being separated by an interval passed in one of the Jain heavens, and each period of life extending to many lakhs of years. He then became Visvabhuta, prince of Rajagriha, and next a Ydsudeva named Triprishta (q. v.) then a chakravartti Priyamitra (q. v.) then a Nandana leading a life of devotion. On the return of the spirit of Nandana to earth it first animated the womb of the wife of a brahman, but Mahendra, disapproving of the receptacle as of low caste, transferred it to the womb of Trisala the wife of Siddharta, of the family of Iksvaku, and prince of Ravana, in Bharatakshetra. Mahavira was born on the thirteenth of the light fortnight of Chaitra: the fifty-six nymphs of the universe assisted at his birth, and his consecration was perfonned by Sakra and the other sixty-three Indras. The name given by his father was Varddhamana, as causing increase of riches and prosperity, but Sakra gave him also the appellation of Mahavira as significant of his power and supremacy over men and gods. Mahavira married Yasoda, daughter of the prince Samaravira. By her he had a daughter Priyadarsana, who was married to Jamali, a prince, one of the saint's pupils, and founder of a schism. Siddhartha and his wife died when their son was twenty-eight years old, on which Mahavira adopted an ascetic life, the government dovolviugou his elder brother Nandivnrddhana. After tea years of abstineuce and self-denial at home he commenced an erratic life, and the attainment of the degree of a Jina. During the first six years of his peregrinations, Mahavira observed frequent fasts of several month's duration, during each of which he kept his eyes fixed upon the tip of his nose, and maintained perpetual silence. He was invisibly attended by a Yaksha named Siddhartha, who, at the command of Indra watched ov'er his personal security, and where speech was necessary acted as spokesman. In his travels he acquired a singular follower named Gosala, a man of low caste who acted as a sort of buffoon. It is not the duty of a Jain ascetic to inflict tortures on himself: his course of penance is one of self-denial, fasting, and silence; and pain, however meritorious its endurance, must be inflicted by others, not himself. Mahav ira voluntarily exposed himself to maltreatmen t at the hands of various savage tribes, offering no resistance, but rather rejoicing in his sufferings. At the end of the ninth year he relinquished his silence in answer to a question put by Gosala, but continued engaged in the practice of mortification and in an erratic life. In the course of twelve years and six months he attained the Kevalay or only knowledge. This occurred under a Sal tree, on the north bank of the Rijupalika. Indra instantly hastened to the spot accompanied by thousands of deities, who all did homage to the saint. He commenced his instructions on a stage erected for the purpose by the deities, a model of which is not uncommonly represented in Jain temples. The following is the introductory lecture ascribed to Mahavira by his biographer. *' The world is without bounds like a formidable ocean; its cause is action {Karma) which is as the seed of the tree. The being, (Jiua) invested with body, but devoid of judgment, goes like a well-sinker ever downwards, by the acts it performs, whilst the embodied being which has attained purity goes ever upwards by its own acts, like the builder of a palace. Let not any one injure life, whilst bound in the bonds of action; but be as assiduous in cherishing the life of another as his own. Never let any one speak falsehood but always speak the truth. Let every one who has a bodily form avoid giving pain to others as much as to himself. Let no one take property not given to him, for wealth is like the external life of men, and he who takes away such wealth commits as it were murder. Associate not with women, for it is the destruction of life; let the wise observe continence, which binds them to the Supreme. Be not encumbered with a family, for by the anxiety it involves the person separated from it falls like an ox too heavily laden. If it be not in their power to shun thefec more subtle destroyers of life, let those who desire so to do avoid at least the commission of all gross offences." When Mahavira's fame began to be widely diffused, it attracted the notice of the brahmans of Magadha, and several of their most eminent teachers undertook to refute his doctrines. Instead of effecting their purpose, however, they became converts, and constituted his Ganadharas, heads of schools, the disciples of Mahavira, and teachers of his doctrines, both orally and scripturally. The period of his liberation having arrived, Mahavira resigned his breath, and his body was burned by Sakra and other deities, who divided amongst them such parts as were not consumed by the flames, as the teeth and bones, which they preserved as relics; the ashes of the pile were distributed amongst the assistants; the gods erected a splendid monument on the spot, and then returned to their respective heavens. - Wilson's Works, Vol. /, p. 304. Mahavirya: (sáns. hindú). l, A prince, the son of Vrihaduktha, one of the kings of Mithila; 2, A son of Bhavanmanyu, a descendant of Bharata. Mahavishuba: (sáns. hindú). The great equinox when the sun is in the third degree of Visakha and the moon is in the head of Krittika. At this time offerings are to be presented to the gods and to the manes, and gifts are to be made to the Brahmans by serious persons. Liberality at the equinoxes is always advantageous to the donor. V. P., p. 225. Mahayajnas: (sáns. hindú). The great Sacrifices, the great obligations, or as Sir W. Jones terms them sacraments, are but five: viz: - The Prajapatiyajna, or propagation of offspring, and Satyajna, observance of truth, are apparently later additions. - Wilson*s Notes to V. P. Mahayuga : (sáns. hindú). The aggregate of four Yugas or ages: viz: - If these divine years are converted into years of mortals, by multiplying them by 360, a year of men being a day of the gods we obtain the years of which the Yugas of mortals are respectively said to consist: So that these periods resolve themselves into very simple elements; the notion of four ages in a deteriorating scries expressed by descending arithmetical progression, as 4, 3, 2, 1: the conversion of units into thousands; and the mythological fiction that these were divine years, each composed of 360 years of men. It does not seem necessary to refer the invention to any astronomical computations, or to any attempt to represent actual chronology - Wilson's Notes to V. P. Mahendra: (sáns. hindú). l, One of the seven main chains of mountains in Bharata. Mahendra is the chain of hills that extends from Orissa and the northern Circars to Gondwana, part of which, near Ganjam, is still called Mahendra Malei, or hills of Mahendra; 2, The name of a star in the tail of the celestial porpoise; 3, The name of a river mentioned in the Puranas. Maheswara: (sáns. hindú). A name of Siva, * the great Lord/ Maheyas: (sáns. hindú). People living near the Mahi river. Mahi: (sáns. hindú). A river, the Mahy of Western Malwa. Mahikas, or Mahishas: (sáns. hindú). Supposed to be the ancient name for the inhabitants of Mysore. Mahinasa: (sáns. hindú). One of the eleven Budras. Mahishakas: (sáns. hindú). An ancient name of the people of Mysore. Mahishmat: (sáns. hindú). A prince of the Yada race, the son of Sahanji. Mahishmati: (sáns. hindú). A city on the road to the south (Mahabharata, Udyoga Parva) which is commonly identified with Chuli Maheswar, on the Narmada. Mayodaya: (sáns. hindú). The ancient name of the city of Kanouj, q. v. Mahyuttaras: (sáns. hindú). A people to the north of the river Mahi. Mainaka: (sáns. hindú). A son of Himavat and Mena; the brother of Gauga and Parvati. Maitreya: (sáns. hindú). l, A disciple of Parasara, to whom the Vishnu Purana is related in reply to his inquiries; he is also one of the chief interlocutors in the Bhagavata, and is introduced in the Mahabharata, (Vana Parva, S. 10) as a great Rishi, or sage, who denounces Duryodhana's death. In the Bhagavata he is also termed Kausharavi; 2, A son of Mitrayu, from whom the Maitreya Brahmans were descended. Maitreyas: (sáns. hindú). A tribe of Brahmans descended from Mitrayu. Maitri: (sáns. hindú). Friendship, daughter of Daksha, wife of Dharma. Makara: (sáns. hindú). A huge amphibious monster, usually taken to be the shark or crocodile, but depicted in the signs of the zodiac with the head and forelegs of an antelope, and the body and tail of a fish. It is the ensign of the god of love. Varuna, the god of the sea, rides upon it through the waves, showing it to have been fish of some sort. It is now the name of a shark in many parts of India. Makandi: (sáns. hindú). The capital of Southern Panchala, the country north of the Ganges as far as to the Chambal. Maladas, Malajas, Malas: (sáns. hindú). Tribes of people enumerated in the Puranas, but not satisfactorily identified. Malavas: (sáns. hindú). An aboriginal tribe dwelling along the Paripatra mountains. Malaya: (sáns. hindú). One of the seven chief chains of mountains in Bharata; the southern portion of the Western Ghauts. Malyavan: (sáns. hindú). One of Siva's principal attendants, who for interceding for one of his fellow-servants Pushpadanta (q. v.) was sentenced to a similar punishment - namely, to leave the paradise of Kailasa and be born as a human being. After a due interval Malyavdn was born at Pratishta, under the name of Gunadhya. - Wilson's Works, Vol. lll p. 152. Malyavan: (sáns. hindú). A mountain at the base of Meru, to the east. Malayas: (sáns. hindú). The aboriginal tribes of the Southern Ghauts. Malina: (sáns. hindú). The son of Tansu, a descendant of Puru. Mallarashtra: (sáns. hindú). A name given in the Puranas to the Mahratta country. Mallas: (sáns. hindú). In Bhima's Dig-Vijaya we have two people of this name, both in the east, one along the foot of the Himalaya, and the other more to the south. Manas: (sáns. hindú). Mind ,o that which considers the consequences of acts to all creatures, and provides for their happiness. It is sometimes used as a synonym of Mahat. Manasa: (sáns. hindú). l, A form of Vishnu, when he was born of Sambhuti, along with the gods Abhutarajasas, in the Rawala Manwantara; 2, One of the four great lakes, the waters of which are partaken of by the gods. Manasottara: (sáns. hindú). A prodigious rauge of mountains, running in a circular direction (forming an outer and an inner circle,) situated in Pushkara, the seventh Dwipa. The mountains are represented as 50,000 leagues high, and on the eastern face of the summit, the city of Indra is situated; that of Yama in the southern face; that of Varuna in the west, and that of Soma in the north. Manaswini: (sáns. hindú). The wife of Mikranda, the great Muni. Manasya: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Mahanta, who reigned over India in the first, or Swayambhuva Manwantara. Mancha: (sáns. hindú). A raised platform, with a floor and a roof, ascended by a ladder. V. P., p. 553. Mandahara: (sáns. hindú). A minor Dwipa; the Bhagavata and Padma name eight such islands, peopled for the most part by Mlechchhas, but who worship Hindu divinities. Mandara: (sáns. hindú). The mountain which was used by the gods as a churning stick, at the churning of the sea of milk. Mandehas: (sáns. hindú). Terrific fiends who attempt every night to devour the sun. The night is called Usha, and the day is denominated Vyushta, and the interval, between them is called Sandhya. On the occurrence of the awful Sandhya, the Mandehas do their utmost to devour the sun; for Brahma denounced this curse upon these terrific fiends, that without the power to perish they should die every day (and revive by night,) and therefore a fierce contest occurs daily between them and the sun. V. P. The Vayu says the Mandehas are three crores in number. Professor Wilson says the story seems to be an ancient legend imperfectly preserved in some of the Puranas. Mandhatri: (sáns. hindú). A prince, the son of Tuvanaswa, of whose birth the Vishnu Purana relates the following extraordinary legend. Yuvanaswa had no son, at which he was deeply grieved. The Munis instituted a religious rite to procure him progeny, one night during its performance, the sages, having placed a vessel of consecrated water upon the altar, had retired to repose. It was past midnight when the king awoke, exceedingly thirsty; and unwilling to disturb any of the holy inmates of the dwelling, he looked about for something to drink. In his search he came to the water in the jar, which had been endowed with prolific efficacy by sacred texts, and he drank it. When the Rishis arose and found that the water had been drunk, they inquired who had taken it, and said, ' The queen that has drunk this water shall give birth to a mighty and valiant son.' * It was I,' exclaimed the Raja * that unwittingly drank the water ;' and accordingly, in due course, the Raja gave birth to a child from his right side. Indra became its nurse; and hence the boy was named Mandhairi. The boy grew up and became a mighty monarch. He married Bindumati, and had by her three sous and fifty daughters. The latter were all married to the sage Saubhari, q. v. Mandukeya: (sáns. hindú). A teacher of the Rig Veda, the son of Indrapramati who imparted his Sanhita to his son, and it thence descended through successive generations as well as disciples. Mangala: (sáns. hindú). The fiery-bodied Mars, son of the Rudra Sarva and his wife Vikesi. Mani: (sáns. hindú). A powerful serpent, one of the progeny of Kadru. Manidhanga: (sáns. hindú). The king of a tract of country near the Vindhya mountains. Manojava: (sáns. hindú). 1, The son of the Rudra Isana; 2, (Hanuman.) The son of the Vasu Anila (Wind) Manojava means * swift as thought ;' 3, The Indra of the sixth Manwantara was called Manojava. Manmatha: (sáns. hindú). A name of the Indian Cupid, the son of Vishnu, called also Kama, q. v. He is represented as the cause of sensual love both in mortals and celestials, but more especially in the female sex: whilst his wife, Rati, inflames the fire in the male sex - like Venus of old. Mantra: (sáns. hindú). A hymn of invocation or form of prayer in the Sanskrit language. Mantras are used in the performance of every religious rite. They are of various sorts, invocatory, evocatory, deprecatory, conservatory. They are beneficent or hurtful, salutary or pernicious. By means of them it is believed that great and various effects may be produced. Some are for casting out evil spirits; some for inspiring love or hatred, for curing diseases or bringing them on, for causing death or averting it. Some are of a contrary nature to others, and counteract their effect: the stronger overcomiug the influence of the weaker. Some are potent enough, it is said, to occasion the destruction of a whole army: while there are others which the gods themselves are constrained to obey. The Purohitas, or domestic chaplains, of all Hindus, understand them best. They are indispensably necessary to them for accompanying the ceremonies which it is their office to conduct. But Brahmans generally are conversant with these formulas; and when rallied upon the present state of their Mantras, wholly divested as they are of their boasted efficacy and power, they answer that this loss of their influence is to be attributed to the Kali yuga; the age of the world in which we now live, the iron age, the time of evil and misfortune in which everything has degenerated. See Dubois. Manu: (sáns. hindú). The head or ruler of an extensive period of time, termed a Manwantara. Each Kalpa, or creation of the world, is divided into fourteen Manwantaras or intervals, over which a Manu presides. Six of these periods have passed; the first Manu was Swayambhuva; the second Swarochisa, the third Auttami; the fourth Tamasa; the fifth Raivata; the sixth Chakshusha; these six Manus have passed away; the Manu who presides over the seventh, which is the present period, is Vaivaswata, the son of the sun, the wise lord of obsequies. The Vishnu Purana contains an account of the Manwantaras yet to come; and the names of the Manus who will preside over each. The Jainas have also fourteen Manus to whom they give names different to those in the Hindu Puranas. Manu: (sáns. hindú). The Noah of the Hindus. The Satapatha Brahmana contains an important legend of the deluge, but speaks of Manu simply, without assigning to him any patronymic, such as Vaivaswata, so that it is uncertain which Manu is referred to. O. S. T., Vol. r, p- 217. Mollier Williams write of him as the seventh Manu, or Manu of the preseut period, called Vaivaswata, and regarded as one of the progenitors of the human race. He is represented as conciliating the favour of the Supreme in an age of universal depravity. Dr. Muir gives a translation of the legend in his Orig. Sans. Texts, Vol. I, p. 182; Prof. Max Müller has also translated it on his An. Sans. Lit., p. 425. The following translation is from Prof. M. Williams' Indian Epic Poetry. " It happened one morning that they brought water to Manu, as usual, for washing his hands. As he was washing a fish came into his hands. It spake to him thus: ' Take care of me and I will preserve thee.' Manu asked, ' From what wilt thou preserve me.' The fish answered, ' A flood will carry away all living beings; I will save thee from that.' He said, 'How is thy preservation to be accomplished' ? The fish replied, ' while we are small, we are liable to constant destruction, and even one fish devours another; thou must first preserve me in an earthen vessel; when I grow too large for that dig a trench, and keep me in that. When I grow too large for that, thou must convey me to the ocean; I shall then be beyond the risk of destruction.' So saying, it rapidly became a great fish, and still grew larger and larger. Then it said, ' After so many years the deluge will take place; then construct a ship, and pay me homage, and when the waters rise, go into the ship, and I will rescue thee.' Manu therefore, after preserving the fish as he was directed, bore it to the ocean; and at the very time the fish had declared he built a ship and did homage to the fish. When the flood rose he embarked in the ship and the fish swam towards him, and he fastened the ship's cable to its horn. By its means he passed beyond this northern mountain. The fish then said ' I have preserved thee; now do thou fasten the ship to a tree. But let not the water sink from under thee while thou art on the mountain. As fast as it sinks do thou go down with it'. He therefore so descended; and this was the manner of Manu's descent from the northern mountain. The flood had carried away all living creatures. Manu alone was left. Wishing for offspring he diligently performed a sacrifice. In a year's time a female was produced. She came to Manu. He said to her, ' Who art thou ?' She answered, ' Thy daughter.' He asked, ' How lady art thow my daughter?' She replied, *The oblations which thou didst offer in the waters, viz., clarified butter, thick milk, whey and curds; from these hast thou begotten me. I can confer blessings.' With her he laboriously performed another sacrifice, desirous of children. By her he had offspring, called the offspring of Manu; and whatever blessings he prayed for were all granted to him." " From this interesting legend we learn that, according to its author's belief, Manu was not the creator of mankind, as some later accounts considered him to have been, but himself belonged to an earlier race of living beings, which was entirely destroyed by the deluge which is described. The legend regards him as a representative of his generation, who for some reason, perhaps his superior wisdom, or sanctity, or position, was selected out of the crowd of ordinary mortals to be rescued from the impending destruction. That he was regarded as a mere man, and not as a being of a superior order, is shown by the fact of his requiring the aid of a higher power to preserve him. A supernatural fish, apparently some divine person, conceived as taking the form of a creature which would be perfectly secure and at home in the midst of the raging waters, undertook to deliver him, and guided the ship on which he was directed to embark, through all dangers to its destined haven. No one but Manu took refuge in the ship, for he alone, the story expressly records, was preserved, while all the other living beings were overwhelmed. Finding himself the sole Burvivoi- when the waters subsided, he became desirous of progeny; und with intense devotion performed certain religious rites in the hope of realizing his wish through their efficacy. As a result of his oblations, a woman arose from the waters Into which they had been cast. A male and a female now existed, the destined parents of a new race of men who sprang from their union, - a union the fruitfulness of which was assured by their assiduous practice of sacred ceremonies. From Manu and Ida, we are expressly told, the race known as that of Manu, ". c, the race of men, was produced. The legend says nothing whatever of this race being originally characterized by any distinction of castes, or about four sons, the ancestors of Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras beiug born to Manu and Idd. We must therefore suppose that the author of the legend intends to represent the early race of mankind, or at least the first inhabitants of Bharatavarsha, as descended from one common progenitor without any original varieties of caste, however different the professions and social position of their descendants afterwards became. We are consequently entitled to regard this legend of the Satapatha Brahmana as at variance with the common fable regarding the separate origin of the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras." - Muir. 0. 8. 7'., Vol. Ip. 185. Manu: (sáns. hindú). The great Hindu law-giver who lived about 800 b. c. The institues of Manu, or code of laws still extant, is sometimes attributed to Swayambhuva the first Manu. The Manu of the present period is sometimes considered the author of the Dharmashastra, the code which bears his name. " The name belongs to the Epic and Puranic periods. In the former we may trace in it the remains of the tradition of a first man, alike progenitor, or even creator, like Prometheus, of his descendants, and law-giver. We should conceive its historical value to be the allusion to some legendary personage, such as every nation can boast of, who first wakes his country-men from barbarism and a wild life, to the light of civilization and systematic government." Thomson. Manu was " a legislator and saint, a son of Brahma, or a personification of Brahma himself, the creator of the world and progenitor of mankind. Derived from the root man to think, the word means originally man, the thinker, and is found in this sense in the Rig Veda. " Manu as a legislator is identified with the Cretan Minos; as progenitor of mankind with the German Mannus: ' Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et anualium genus est, Tuisconem deum terra editum, et filium Mannum, origiuem gentis conditoresque. Tacitus, Germania, Cap. II."- Griffiths. Manu: (sáns. hindú). 1, The name, according to the Bhagavata of one of the eleven Rudras; 2, A sage, the son of Krisaswa and Dhishana. Manwantara: (sáns. hindú). A period equal to seventy-one times the number of years contained in the four Yugas, with some additional years: this is the duration of the Manu, the (attendant) divinities, and the rest, which is equal to 852,000 divine years, or to 306,720,000 years of mortals, independent of the additional period. Fourteen times this period constitutes a Brahma day, that is a day of Brahma, or a Kalpa. Margashirsha: (sáns. hindú). The month which comprises the latter half of November and the former half of Decemher. " It is otherwise called Agrahayana "the commencement of the year;" and although the Hindus now begin their year in the month Vaishaka (April, May) we find in Prinsep's Useful Tables, part 11, p. 1 8, that in Bentley's opinion, this mouth would have begun the year, before the use of a fixed calendar in India, between b. c. 693 and 451. 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